A 40-year-old man was arrested and brought before Cork District Court charged with having a pistol and ammunition in a housing estate in Cork city in the early hours of Monday.

Jonathan OSullivan, of 55, Barretts Buildings, Gurranabraher, Cork, was arrested by Garda Keith Shier and charged with two counts  namely having a firearm and having ammunition.

There was no application for bail by OSullivan on his first appearance at Cork District Court yesterday.

However, solicitor Diarmuid Kelleher said the defendants solicitor, Joseph Cuddigan, will apply for bail for OSullivan on the next court appearance. Judge Olann Kelleher remanded the accused in custody until March 31.

The firearm charge states: On March 23 at Ardcullen, Hollyhill, Cork, in the District Court area of Cork city, he did have in his possession a firearm, to wit, a black .380 ACP calibre Grand Power model G9A automatic pistol in such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable inference that he had not got it in your possession for a lawful purpose, contrary to the Firearms Act as amended by the Criminal Justice Act.

The wording on the second charge is similar but refers to a single round of ammunition, namely a .380 ACP calibre round, contrary to the same legislation.

Garda Shier testified yesterday he arrested the accused at 2am on March 23 and charged him with the two offences.

I cautioned him and asked if had anything to say and he made no reply to both charges, he said.

Sgt Gearoid Davis told the court there was an objection to the accused being granted bail.

Mr Kelleher said the accused is not working and is in receipt of a disability payment. Mr Cuddigan was appointed to represent the accused on free legal aid.

The defendant wore a grey tracksuit in court yesterday.

The court appearance followed an investigation at around 1.30am on Monday when gardai got a report of a suspicious car in the Knocknaheeny area.

Gardai from Gurranabraher Garda Station patrolled the area and found a car matching the description. The car was searched and gardai discovered a suspected handgun, which was sent for analysis, and the car was also found to have false registration plates.

At Mayfield Garda Station, Superintendent Michael Comyns of the Serious Crime Investigation Unit in Cork City said: I want to thank the members of the public who called us when they spotted something they didnt think was normal. The community should be commended for their actions and as a result, we have possibly saved a life here.
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Swiss precious metals refinery Argor Heraeus said on Monday it was suspending operations at its facility in Switzerland for two weeks from March 23.

One of the world's biggest gold refiners, Argor Heraeus said the move followed a local government order that industrial production in the area should cease to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Argor Heraeus is located in the canton of Ticino near Switzerland's border with Italy, where the virus has spread rapidly.

(Reporting by Peter Hobson, editing by Louise Heavens)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
As the coronavirus is increasing its spread across Africa, the continent received a much-needed care package from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who vowed to assist the continent since African countries started registering confirmed cases of COVID-19.

A cargo flight containing more than 6 million medical items arrived Sunday in Ethiopias capital, Addis Ababa. The supplies from Jack Ma, the founder of Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba, will be distributed to African countries in need of supplies to battle the spreading COVID-19 pandemic.

An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Guangzhou, China, arrived with 5.4 million facemasks, 1.08 million testing kits, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 protective face shields, according to Ethiopian officials and the Jack Ma Foundation.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week pledged to distribute the supplies to other countries in Africa.

According to press reports, Jack Ma has sent similar shipments of medical supplies to countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.
Salt & Straw, the small-batch ice cream shop that started life as a Northeast Portland food cart, has closed its 17 stores across seven U.S. cities, the company announced Monday.

The company has laid off 662 employees, or about 95 percent of its staff, over the past week, according to founding owner Kim Malek.

I hope Ill never have to do anything harder, Malek said through tears Tuesday. Its just unthinkable.

First opened as a Northeast Alberta Street ice cream cart by Malek and her cousin, Tyler, in 2011, Salt & Straw has four scoop shops in the Portland area, one each in Northeast, Southeast and Northwest Portland, and the fourth in Lake Oswego. Wiz Bang Bar, the Maleks soft serve bar at Pine Street Market, closed last week after Gov. Kate Browns March 16 order banning on-premises dining at restaurant and bars across the state. At that time, Salt & Straws stores stopped offering samples and scoops, but remained open part-time to offer take-out and delivery pints.

According to Malek, President Trumps activation of the National Guard in California and Washington, two states where Salt & Straw has stores, helped her decide to shut for the health and safety of her staff and customers.

Over the past week, some Portland food and drink producers have expressed their relief at continuing to serve retail accounts, including grocery stores, after their dining and tap rooms have closed. But Salt & Straw has long focused on expanding its own stores, including two new Miami scoop shops which were expected to open this summer. Currently, Salt & Straws kitchens are also closed, meaning the company is not producing any ice cream. Malek says she will evaluate the situation over the next couple of weeks. All options are up for consideration at this point, Malek said.

After the coronavirus pandemic diminishes, Malek hopes to reopen and hire her team back. For now, she asks Salt & Straw fans to reach out to their government representatives and demand they take action to help small businesses and the millions of employees across the nation affected by COVID-19.

We need help, Malek said. "We really need help. Everybody in the food industry needs help. "

-- Michael Russell

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What started as a trickle is now becoming a flood: More craft beverage distilleries across Central New York and beyond are using their expertise and equipment to produce coronavirus-killing alcohol-based sanitizers.

Several of the areas small distilleries, which typically make vodka, gin, whiskey etc., have joined in an effort coordinated through Centerstate CEO, the local economic development agency. It will get their hand sanitizers to emergency personnel, hospitals and law enforcement agencies.

Distillers involved in that project include Old Home Distillers and Madison County Distillery, both in Madison County, Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles, Lock 1 Distilling in Phoenix, Oswego County and Watermans Distillery in the Southern Tier. Some are also involved in their own sanitizer projects on the side.

Other companies are doing their own bit: The larger 1911 Established distillery, part of Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, is making its own hand sanitizer to donate to health and emergency agencies and to market to individuals. Hall Island Distilling in Cicero has been working for the past week to make a surface sanitizer for the health and retail industries in partnership with Haun Welding Supply.

Even the big Anheuser-Busch brewery just outside of Baldwinsville is getting involved in producing and packaging a sanitizer.

The distillers are all capable of making a product to the minimum 60 percent alcohol level the Centers for Disease Control says is needed to kill the virus. They are making ethyl alcohol (ethanol), then mixing it with glycerin and hydrogen peroxide to make the sanitizer (which makes it undrinkable).

- Eddie Brennan, president of Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards and 1911 Established, holds up two bottles of hand sanitizer made at this distillery. 1911 Established temporarily converted operations to make hand sanitizer instead of alcohol, to help with shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syrac

1911 Established in the past few days temporarily turned over its entire distillery on Route 20 in LaFayette into to making high-proof enthanol and mixing it into a hand sanitizer. Some will be donated to hospitals, nursing homes and similar operations, Beak & Skiff president and general manager Eddie Brennan said. The rest will be marketed to individuals at a reasonable cost, he said.

Our team has really come together quickly to make this happen, Brennan said.

1911s head distiller Ed OBrien said he can produce about 40 to 50 gallons every few days. Brennan said the company has already heard from more than 4,000 interested customers since it posted its intention to make the sanitizer on Facebook over the weekend.

Though it is a brewer, not a distiller, Anheuser-Busch can produce and package sanitizers. The A-B brewery in the Radisson Business Park on Route 31 is New York states largest brewery.

Anheuser-Busch, the global brewing giant with a plant near Baldwinsville, N.Y., is making a hand santizer for use during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

As we have in the past, we are leveraging our capabilities, our relationships and our reach to provide assistance to those in need, Cesar Vargas, A-Bs U.S. chief external affairs officer, said in a statement. "As a first step, we are using our supply and logistics network to produce and distribute bottles of hand sanitizer to our internal teams and, with the help and direction of the American Red Cross, to the communities where its needed most. We are in this together and there is more to come.

The Centerstate CEO effort to coordinate the production and distribution of hand sanitizers mostly involves smaller distillers, who have struggled to keep themselves afloat during a shut-down of their on-premises tasting rooms due to the coronavirus. (They can sell their products for pick-up and delivery).

Its kind a win-win for the distilleries and for the community to be able to get these sanitizers despite the overall shortage, said Ben Reilley, a former Cazenovia distillery operator who helped Centerstate recruit distillers to the project. Its great to see the community come together like this.

They also found help through Jason Barrett of Black Button Distilling in Rochester, who helped come up with a recipe for the sanitizer. Lock 1 Distilling is helping match up the products with the agencies that need them.

Centerstate is also consulting with the Onondaga County Emergency Management office to connect producers with recipients, said Eleanor Hanna, spokesperson for Centerstate.

The emergency management office is doing triage to determine who has the greatest need and who a given product matches best, she said. CenterState CEO has a team working on this helping to funnel information for that process and to make connections to resources.

They are also still looking for suppliers. Those interested can contact support@centerstateceo.com.

While most of the sanitizers are not potable, or drinkable, there is one exception., Old Home Distillers in Lebanon, Madison County, is making a 140-proof (70 percent alcohol) corn whiskey that is drinkable and can be used as a effective cleaner for certain applications, like food preparation surfaces.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

First CNY coronavirus death: Elderly person with health problems

Coronavirus: Former doctors, specialists answer the call to help with pandemic

Where can I still go? What NYs coronavirus stay at home order means

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
At least four people remain in detention while 12 were released after apologising to the government.

Cambodia has been accused of arresting and detaining individuals who expressed concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement released on Tuesday, said at least 17 people have been arrested since January for sharing information about the deadly disease, which has killed more than 16,500 people worldwide. It urged the government to immediately stop its clampdown.

As of Tuesday, at least 87 people in Cambodia have been officially confirmed to have contracted the disease, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to HRW, at least four members or supporters of the dissolved opposition group, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), were among those arrested and are in pretrial detention.

Those charged face penal code violations including incitement, conspiracy, and spreading false information.

Among those is Phut Thona Lorn, also known as Lorn Ly, a local CNRP supporter, who is currently in detention in the tourist city of Siem Reap.

Earlier, Lorn Ly shared two videos on his Facebook account in which the speaker said the Cambodian government needed Vietnams assistance to learn more about a foreign national who had tested positive for coronavirus after departing Cambodia for Japan.





Lorn Ly was accused by authorities of spreading fake news, and the Siem Reap provincial court charged him with spreading false information.

The Cambodian government is misusing the COVID-19 outbreak to lock up opposition activists and others expressing concern about the virus and the governments response, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The government should stop abusing peoples free speech rights and instead focus on providing the public with accurate and timely information about COVID-19, he said on the organisations website.

14-year old girl questioned

Five women were among the 17 arrested for sharing information about the coronavirus.

Twelve of them were released after signing pledges to apologise and not spread fake news in the future.

According to HRW, authorities have also arrested and questioned a 14-year-old girl who had taken to social media to express her fears about rumours of positive coronavirus cases at her school and in her province.

Prime Minister Hun Sen had initially downplayed the risk of the coronavirus spreading in Cambodia, and on January 30, he threatened to eject reporters or officials wearing face masks from a news conference.

In mid-February, Cambodias PM Hun Sen welcomed passengers and crew of MS Westerdam, a cruise ship suspected of having coronavirus infections on board [File: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

On February 14, Hun Sen travelled to the southwestern port city of Sihanoukville to greet over 2,000 passengers and crew of the MS Westerdam, a cruise ship refused entry by several countries on suspicion that some passengers contracted the coronavirus.

As he greeted the passengers who took photos with him, there were no reported infections on board the ship. An elderly passenger, who disembarked and travelled to Malaysia, later tested positive in Kuala Lumpur.

On March 17, Hun Sen was forced to change course and imposed a 30-day ban on arrivals from Italy, Germany, Spain, France, the United States, and Iran.

However, a joint military exercise with China proceeded as scheduled.





HRW said Hun Sen has so far failed to implement a public health campaign to inform the population about the risks of the disease.

The relatively low number of cases reported raises the question of whether sufficient tests are being conducted or necessary information is being shared with the people, HRW added.

The rights group also said that Cambodians must be provided accurate and up-to-date information about the virus, access to services, notice of service disruptions, and other aspects of the response to the outbreak.

On Monday, Hun Sen ordered provincial authorities to allow the use of schools as makeshift hospitals, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

A medical team also arrived from China to help Cambodia contain the spread of the virus, according to the countrys health department.

The government said it also received more than 100,000 pieces of medical protective gear and equipment, including face masks, from China.
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Two of the countrys biggest house builders - Glenveagh Homes and Ballymore Developments - have secured planning permission for fast track plans for more than 330 residential units at two separate sites in Dublin.

This follows An Bord Pleanala giving the green light to Glenveagh Homes to construct 192 apartments at Castleknock, Dublin 15.

The appeals board has granted planning permission for the proposal for five five-storey apartment blocks at Balroy House, Carpenterstown Rd, Castleknock in the face of widespread local opposition.

In total 125 objections were lodged against the proposal. One of those to object was former Labour TD, Joan Burton.

Ms Burton was a TD at the time of making a joint objection with Cllr John Walsh (Lab).

The Burton objection claimed that the proposal is detrimental to the local environment and damaging to residential amenity.

Joan Burton

The objection claimed that the scale and height of the proposed five-block, five-storey over-basement development is inappropriate and out of keeping with the pattern of development in the surrounding area.

Elected councillors for the area claimed that the developments density is too high and there is no capacity in schools or childcare in the area.

However, the An Bord Pleanala inspector in the case, Senior Planning Inspector, Ronan OConnor stated that the provision of a higher density residential development at this location is desirable with regard to its intermediate suburban location and its proximity to high frequent transport services".

Mr OConnor stated that in addition, the site is located in an area with a wide range of social infrastructure facilities.

He said:

The height, bulk and massing, detailed design and layout of the scheme are acceptable. I am also satisfied that the development would not have any significant adverse impacts on the amenities of the surrounding area.

He further stated that the future occupiers of the scheme will benefit from a high standard of internal amenity.

The appeals board has also granted planning permission to Ballymore Property Developments for 142 residential units at Seamount Rd and Seamount Abbey at Malahide in north Dublin.

The plan is made up of 58 detached, semi-detached and terraced homes alone with 76 apartments along with eight one bed maisonette apartments.

The appeals board found that the proposal would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenities of the area and would be acceptable in terms of urban design, height and quantum of development.
President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that recommendations for the coronavirus outbreak become obligations.

"We have agreed that further measures are needed to be able to curb, slow down the spread of the [coronavirus] infection. Thus, new restrictions on free movement and new restrictions for Romanians will be introduced in the sense that what has been a recommendation until now becomes an obligation," said the head of state, after the meeting of assessment and presentation of measures regarding the management of the COVID-19 epidemic, with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, Minister of Defense Nicolae Ciuca, and Minister of Health Victor Costache.He indicated that people will be able to go to work and make the necessary purchases."We have agreed to prepare electronic surveillance measures for people who are in quarantine or isolation, because these measures need to be fully observed," Iohannis said.The president also mentioned the Army will be used to manage the situation."The army will provide personnel who will come to supplement the public order forces, the Gendarmerie and the Police," said Iohannis.He reiterated that the most vulnerable people are those over 65."It is obvious that we need special measures, but also special restrictions so as to thus protect people over 65 years. Special restrictions will be introduced for these people, meaning that they will have to stay at home practically all the time," emphasized Iohannis.The head of state explained that these measures will be provided for in a military ordinance, which will be drafted by the end of the day, and the restrictions will come into effect as of Wednesday."We have discussed other measures that need to be taken, either by Government emergency ordinance, or by Government decisions, or by military ordinances. These restrictions that I have just mentioned will be processed today in a military ordinance, which will be finalized by the end of this day and restrictions, dear Romanian, will take effect as of tomorrow," said Iohannis.
American lawyer Larry Klayman has filed a USD 20 trillion lawsuit against China for the creation and the release of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 334,000 people globally.

Klayman, his advocacy group Freedom Watch and Buzz Photos, a Texas company, filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging that the novel coronavirus was "designed by China to be a biological weapon of war", and that whether or not the country intended to release it, China violated "US law, international laws, treaties, and norms."

"Because China has agreed by treaty to outlaw such weapons, these actions cannot be official governmental actions of the People's Republic of China and are not subject to any possible claim of legal immunity from suit," the lawsuit said, as cited by Law and Crime.

It went on to allege that the purpose of maintaining the virus within the laboratory was to use it to "kill US citizens and other persons and entities in nations perceived to be an enemy of China."

The virus, which first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has spread 189 countries or territories, infected more than 334,000 people and killed over 14,500, as per the latest data available on the Health Organisation website.

"COVID-19 is an extremely dangerous disease because it has an extremely aggressive nature, was designed to mutate from person to person, spreads very quickly and easily, no vaccine exists yet on account of it being a new disease, the means of transmission are not fully known with certainty, and treatments are only just being worked out, and the disease appears to be about ten times as deadly as the flu," the lawsuit read.

It said that the lawsuit was designed by China such as to be an effective and catastrophic biological warfare weapon to kill mass populations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hospitals, cities, and states across the U.S. are begging for more masks, gloves and ventilators as they face a surging number of coronavirus cases, warning that without help, front-line workers will get sick, patients will die and the healthcare delivery system could collapse.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged that finding all the gear was no simple task.

He tweeted, "the World market for face masks and ventilators is Crazy. We are helping the states to get equipment, but it is not easy."

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAYING:

"1 billion gloves, to procure. Five hundred million N95 masks. Some 200 million shields. You get the picture."

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday laid out the sheer scale of personal protective equipment - or PPE - his state needed to confront the epidemic.

The need is already desperately apparent. Nurses outside a hospital in Oakland vented their frustrations at having to care for patients without proper gear.

Katy Roemer is with the California Nurses Association, and likened conditions to going into battle unarmed.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) REGISTERED NURSE KATY ROEMER, SAYING:

"We are willing to fight that war. We're here. Our patients need us, we step up every time. But if you're asked to go into a war, you need to have the weapons to fight that war."

The national need is spurring innovation.

A company in Montana has begun 3D-printing protective masks, and developed a model that others with printers can reproduce.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SEW MUCH MORE STORE MANAGER WENDY REIVES, SAYING:

"It's a rectangle that's folded in half, and sewn and then the directions tell you how to put these pleats in."

Wendy Reives is the manager of a fabric shop in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where people can learn to sew surgical masks, and drop them off for hospitals.

The Center for Disease Control say such masks are acceptable, as a last resort.

Before it gets to that, the Chester County Hospital outside Philadelphia is trying to stock up on supplies before they run out, soliciting donations from the community.

Story continues

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appealed for ventilators, masks and other medical equipment as the number of coronavirus cases spiraled and critical items were in short supply.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, SAYING:

"The good news, that 400 ventilators from the federal stockpile are arriving now to help New York City. That's going to make a huge difference. Now, our need for ventilators is in the thousands."

State governors and others have called on Trump to leverage the Defense Production Act, a measure that would allow the U.S. government to speed up manufacturing. The Republican president on Sunday said he hesitated to utilize it because "nationalizing our businesses is not a good concept."

He's also said many companies were voluntarily producing the needed material without needing to be directed.

On Tuesday he tweeted, "The Defense Production Act is in full force, but havent had to use it because no one has said NO! Millions of masks coming as back up to States."

One example of companies stepping forward: on Tuesday, Ford said it had joined GE and 3M in the emergency push for equipment.

Footage shows the carmaker producing face shields at a 3D-printing facility.

Ford says it plans to make up to 75,000 shields this week, for testing at Detroit-area hospitals.
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise across the U.S., many state authorities are trying anything they can to address the health crisis.

On Tuesday, the state of New York will begin two clinical trials of potential treatments for COVID-19: One will study the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, and the other, a combination of the related drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic Zithromax.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press briefing that he remains optimistic about these drugs. The Food and Drug Administration gave the go-ahead to test chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as potential COVID-19 treatments last week. However, other officials, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci, are far from optimistic that those drugs will prove effective against the novel coronavirus.

New York has been especially hard hit by the pandemic, with the state confirming that it has over 20,000 COVID-19 infections so far. The dramatic increase in that figure is likely due to the recent ramp-up in the state's testing capabilities -- it's now able to test more 16,000 people a day. Gov. Cuomo has also asked for all hospitals across the state to double their patient capacity in anticipation of a surge of serious COVID-19 cases to come.

Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TEVA) announced that it would donate around 10 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine to hospitals and healthcare organizations. Other companies, such as Mylan and Bayer, have made similar promises, with the latter announcing last week it would donate 3 million tablets of another malaria drug, Resochin, for use in treating COVID-19.
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The United Methodist Church in Dolgeville has a drive-thru food pantry for Dolgeville residents.

They have pre-made boxes of food, depending on the number of people in your family. This includes 15 meals per person. They put these boxes in shopping carts and bring them directly out to your car.

We spoke to the United Methodist Church food pantry coordinator. Mr. Volney Seeley told us the process for signing up, "Well, first they have to fill out a form. They show identification, proof of address, and birth certificates for their children or whatever. We get them signed up and they can come once a month." He also told us how many families they have helped, "Prior to this coronavirus, we average about 120 families a month. We've actually, on our books since the 1st of July, we've had 200 families sign up. Some come once a year. Some come three or four times a year, whenever they need it. Others come every month."

The drive-thru food pantry is held every Thursday from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. If you are a Dolgeville resident and would like pick up food, sign ups are every Monday from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Make sure to bring proof of residency and birth certificates for your children.
Amid coronavirus pandemic, global airlines body IATA said on Tuesday that the airlines would face USD 252 billion-loss of passenger revenue in 2020, which would be 44 per cent lower than 2019 figures.

"On March 5, we thought that the pessimistic scenario was a revenue loss of USD 113 billion. That was based on wide spreading of COVID-19, but not as severe as the current blanket of travel restrictions," said Alexandre De Juniac, Director General, International Air Transport Association (IATA).

He told reporters in a conference call that "if this lasts for a three-month period, we see a 38 per cent fall in global demand and a USD 252 billion loss of passenger revenue44 per cent down on 2019".

International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 290 airlines comprising 82 per cent of the global air traffic.

India has banned international flights for a period of one week from Sunday. Moreover, there would be no domestic flights in India from Tuesday midnight to March 31.

"IATA has been asking governments to provide a lifeline of financial support. A liquidity crisis is coming at full speed. Revenues have fallen off a cliff," Juniac told reporters.

"And no amount of cost cutting can save the day if no cash is coming in the door. Without financial relief airlines will go bust. And that could happen en masse," he added.

In India, GoAir has laid off its expat pilots, introduced leave without pay for its employees and announced paycut of up to 50 per cent for its top leadership.

IndiGo has announced a pay cut of up to 25 per cent for its senior employees. Air India has stated that due to "insurmountable dip" in revenues, it will cut allowances of all employees -- except cabin crew members -- by 10 per cent for next three months.

IATA's Chief Economist Brian Pearce told reporters in the conference call, "We have never had a situation when a global epidemic has coincided with a recession. This means that recovery would be gradual whenever the travel restrictions are removed, which we expect to happen in the next few months. The recovery would not be quick."



Apart of top 30 airlines in the world, the rest of the airline industry has high debt levels, Pearce noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Local market opened sharply higher in line with Asian markets. At 9:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 1219.24 9oints or 4.69% at 27,200.82. The Nifty 50 index was up 344.60 points or 4.53% at 7,954.85.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 3.56%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 2.42%. Both these indices under preformed the BSE Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 244 shares rose and 72 shares fell. A total of 27 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories jumped 6.65%. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 27 March 2020 to consider and approve raising of funds by issuance of commercial paper.

Reliance Industries surged 6.88%. Reliance Industries (RIL) said it has responded to its call-of-duty to be at the service of the nation 24x7 in collective fight against Covid-19. RIL has already initiated a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy that is comprehensive, sustainable, and resilient. This approach can be ramped up further to scale as required by the nation. RIL has deployed the combined strengths of Reliance Foundation, Reliance Retail, Jio, Reliance Life Sciences, Reliance Industries, and all the 6,00,000 members of the Reliance Family on this action plan against COVID-19.

Yes Bank rose 2.29%. Yes Bank said that the meeting of the board of directors of YES Bank will be held on 26 March 2020, to consider raising funds.

Century Enka crashed 8.01%. Century Enka informed that the company, considering the gravity of COVID-19 and the directions issued by local authorities and also in compliance with the directives and advisory of state and central government, the company has decided to temporarily shut down its plant operation at Pune Site. The company would continue to run its critical operations at Pune site for safety of process, people and equipment as permitted under the Government directives. Operations at Bharuch Site are also being scaled down and shall be brought down to 50% capacity.

Bajaj Electricals fell 0.07%. Bajaj Electricals (BEL) rights issue of equity shares opened on 18 February 2020 and closed on 3 March 2020. The Issue saw participation from most of its existing large institutional investors, as well as retail investors. The Rs 349.94 crore rights issue offered an opportunity to all its existing shareholders to participate in the capital raise, with the promoters committing to take up their rights entitlement. Pursuant to the rights issue, the company has allotted 11287956 equity shares on rights basis at a price of Rs 310 per share on 13 March 2020.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian markets were trading sharply higher after the US Federal Reserve launched unlimited bond buying and other fresh steps and the US Congress appeared closer to a deal on a massive stimulus package to boost the world's largest economy hammered by the coronavirus.

In US, stocks booked sharp losses on Monday as the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation overshadowed the Federal Reserve's pledge to buy unlimited bonds and bolster emergency lending facilities to support the flow of credit into the economy.

The central bank's unscheduled announcement comes as investors remain unhappy with a lack of government action to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

AHMEDABAD: The total number of Covid-19 patients in Gujarat rose to 33 with three more coronavirus positive cases reported in the state, the health department said on Tuesday.

Out of the three new cases two are of local transmission in Gandhinagar, while one patient reported from Surat has travel history to Saudi Arabia.

"Three new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Gujarat. The total number of cases has risen to 33," the state health department said in a release.

One COVID-19 patient has died in the state so far.

The death of a 67-year-old man was reported from Surat on Sunday.

He had interstate travel history and was suffering from various ailments like kidney failure and asthma, officials earlier said.
Turkey says it is administering coronavirus patients a special drug sent from China.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Tuesday that drugs were delivered via air ambulances to 40 cities across Turkey, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

"We have brought a special drug used in China, which is claimed to have resulted in improvements in intensive care patients, cutting their time in care from 11-12 days to four days," said Koca on Monday.

He didn't provide additional information, but a member of the Health Ministrys Coronavirus Science Committee later revealed the name of the drug as Favipiravir.

Favipiravir, also known as Avigan, is a Japanese anti-flu drug, which China says has been helpful in shortening treatment time of COVID-19 patients.

Turkey has so far recorded 1,529 cases of the coronavirus, with 37 fatalities. As of Tuesday, the countrys defense minister said there were no confirmed cases among the military.

The government has responded to the spread of the virus by closing schools and universities, as well as public venues such as cafes, bars and Turkish baths. Turkey has also suspended collective prayers in mosques and places of worship, postponed sporting events and halted flights to 20 countries.

On Tuesday, the Turkish Interior Ministry imposed fresh restrictions on daily life. Buses are now required to carry fewer passengers, and grocery stores must limit their hours and number of customers allowed inside at one time.

Turkish defense firms are mass producing ventilators, and the government has hired an additional 32,000 health care workers to cope with the influx of patients. The Health Ministry also said China had delivered 50,000 rapid coronavirus detection kits, and another batch of 300,000 were expected by Thursday.

Fearing the virus could spread in its prisons, Turkey is also mulling legislation that would free some of its 300,000 detainees.

This story contains reporting from Agence France-Presse.
New Delhi, March 24 : After Rahul Gandhi made a sharp attack on the Modi government for allegedly not procuring enough protective equipment for health workers, BJP'S Amit Malviya hit back at him, alleging the former Congress chief was "missing the opportunity to loot the exchequer".

Taking to Twitter, BJP's national social media cell chief said: "Congress's allegations that India didn't have enough Protective Personal Equipment [PPE] in time is completely bogus. Perhaps they are missing the opportunity to loot the exchequer." He also targetted Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra.

Earlier, in another tweet, Malviya said: "WHO advisory, dated 27Feb, 'healthcare workers who are involved in direct care of Covid patients need to use PPE'. India had imported 21,000 coveralls in 1st week of Feb and another 30,000 in 1st week of Mar. Besides we have indigenous capacity to produce 35,000 suits per week." BJP sources also claimed that in a record time of 20 days, some manufacturers have successfully passed the required tests and are in a position to supply nearly 35,000 pieces per week.

This counter assault comes in the wake of Gandhi alleging: "I am feeling sad, because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared.". He quoted a Haryana doctor who expressed frustration at non-availability of N95 masks and gloves. However, the doctor later clarified that he wasn't fully aware of the situation and called it "misinformation".

Latest updates on Gandhi Jayanti 2019
A West Virginia couple were sentenced to more than three years each after pleading guilty in a scheme to fraudulently collect renters insurance benefits.

Jimmie Thompson, 27, and Thanikwa Thompson, 25, of Martinsburg, were sentenced to 37 months each on March 16 and ordered to pay more than $54,000 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell said in a news release. They pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in December.

The couple took out an $85,000 renters insurance policy from Allstate Insurance Co. in February 2018, Powells office said in a news release. They purchased a space heater later that month and put it against an inflatable air mattress in their apartment before leaving the apartment with their dog to let the heater catch the apartment on fire, prosecutors said.

The couple filed a fraudulent claim with Allstate to recover $50,000 of losses from the fire and for a hotel room for several months of temporary housing, the release said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Fraud Virginia
Forces beyond your control can take away everything that you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor

Our normal way of life is being challenged right now. With many of us being told to stay at home in order to reduce the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, some of us may feel as if our world has suddenly shrunk. We may have had to postpone precious events and vacations with family and friends.

But challenge can be the birthplace of creativity.

With the prospect of museums and art galleries being shut through April and beyond, why not use this as a chance to explore art and culture online. Of course, theres absolutely no substitute for seeing a great work of art in person, but many world-class museums and art institutes offer glorious peeks into their collections: from curator talks to in-depth object blogs to interactive online exhibitions.

If culture is an important part of your life, you can still plan those visits from the comfort of your armchair, as these websites testify.

Step Back in Time to 18th-Century America

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not upon our circumstances, Martha Washington said.

Miniature portrait of Martha Washington, circa 1776, by Charles Willson Peale. (Everett Historical/Shutterstock)

You can learn more about Mrs. Washington through the Colonial Williamsburg website, along with the many people who were integral to the founding of America. The website is a great resource for a poignant time in American history. You can explore the timeline of events from the Stamp Act to the Revolution, for example, or explore how colonial Americans lived by learning about their food and crafts. Theres the recipe for Martha Washingtons favorite Great Cake and video tutorials for colonial crafts such as how to make a spring wreath, to name a couple.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit ColonialWilliamsburg.org

Discover Michelangelos Drawings and the Ruins of Ancient Syria

On the Getty website, you can experience a whole world of art. Of note are the overviews of current exhibitions at the Getty Center, such as Michelangelo: Mind of the Master, which generously includes a free online audio tour of 17 of the more than two dozen drawings on display.

According to the audio tour introduction, Michelangelo used his drawings to prepare paintings, and to create and explore his ideas. But only 600 of his drawings exist, as he burned many due to his fiercely competitive nature.

Temple of Bel, cella entrance, circa 1799, by Jean-Baptiste Reville and Pierre Gabriel Berthault after Louis-Francois Cassas. Etching from Voyage Pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoenicie, de la Palestine, et de la Basse Egypte, Paris, vol. 1, pl. 46. Platemark: 18 inches by 11.4 inches. (The Getty Research Institute)

Engravings and photographs, from the 18th and 19th century respectively, are curated together in The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra, an exclusively online exhibition by The Getty Research Institute. The exhibits pay tribute to ancient Syria before war destroyed the caravan city of Palmyra.

Temple of Bel, cella (inner chamber) entrance, 1864, by Louis Vignes. Albumen print; 8.8 inches by 11.4 inches. (The Getty Research Institute)

French artist and architect Louis-Francois Cassas drew the ancient site in 1785. These illustrations were made into incredible etchings in his 17991800 publication Voyage Pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoenicie, de la Palestine, et de la Basse Egypte. These panoramic etchings conform to the voyage pittoresque tradition, inviting the viewer to simultaneously marvel at the grandeur of antiquity and lament its inevitable decay, according to the website. Then in 1864, French photographer Louis Vignes captured the site on film.

To find out more about these exhibitions, visit Getty.edu

See Northern Renaissance Masterpieces Up Close

The Closer To Van Eyck website enables us to see the minutest of details in nearly all of the paintings of 15th-century painter Jan van Eyck and some of his followers. Considered a master of the Northern Renaissance, van Eyck revolutionized oil painting by painting layer upon layer of translucent glazes, which allowed for exceptional blending and luminosity, where the brushwork is hard to see.

On the website, you can control what you see by zooming in or out of the high-resolution images, so much so that you can see the cracked oil paint on the exquisitely painted wood panels. Alongside each artwork are details about the piece.

Outer panels of the closed altarpiece: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, 1432, by Jan (Maaseik?, circa 1390-Bruges, 1441) and Hubert van Eyck (Maaseik, circa 1366/1370-Ghent, 1426). Oil on panel. Saint Bavos Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. (KIK-IRPA/Lukasweb.be-Art in Flanders vzw)

Van Eycks The Ghent Altarpiece can be seen before, during, and after its recent restoration, although the upper register of the opened altarpiece is yet to be restored.

A copy of the lost painting Head of Christ and an illuminated manuscript called the Turin-Milan Hours are among van Eycks other works. Some of the paintings on the website can be seen as 3D objects: for example, the altarpieces in their frames.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit CloserToVanEyck.KIKIRPA.be

The Epoch Times 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.
The first signs of problems on the Costa Luminosa began March 8, when a woman had disembarked in Puerto Rico complaining of trouble breathing and had been hospitalized. On March 14, the cruise line learned that the woman and her husband, who had been traveling with her, had tested positive for the virus. The next day, the ship quarantined passengers to their cabins and tried to dock in the Canary Islands.
A day earlier, an article in The Atlantic authored by two doctors called for "a true national pause  a cessation of all nonessential activities" for at least two weeks in the United States, which could significantly slow the progression of the pandemic.

Trump said Tuesday, "I would love to have the country opened up, and just raring to go, by Easter," which is on April 12 this year.

Trump has been motivated by a desire to reverse at least some of the massive economic fallout from restrictions of varying forms around the country in reaction to the virus outbreak.

"It's going to be a lot more people," said Tan, who works at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

"If you don't keep the restrictions or make them stricter, you're going to have more people infected, hospitalized, and dying from the disease," said Dr. Tina Tan, a board member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Those doctors said that President Donald Trump , governors and health officials should actually impose even stronger restrictions to stem the spread of the pandemic than are in effect now.

Doctors who specialize in infectious diseases warned Tuesday that deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus could dramatically increase if the Trump administration relaxes guidelines that have encouraged Americans to minimize contact with one another.

Twenty Democratic members of the House of Representatives in a letter to Trump on Tuesday urged him to "immediately issue a nationwide 'shelter-in-place' order" for at least two weeks for the same reason.

Tan said she agreed that a shutdown of that type could decrease the death toll that is now looming.

"We're going to completely overwhelm the hospital system," without tighter restrictions than those in effect now, Tan said.

"There are many systems right now that are right on the edge. It doesn't take much to push them over."

"Look at Italy," she said, referring to the country that at the moment has the highest number of active coronavirus cases.

"They made some restrictions, then tightened," she said. "Then a lot of people died." More than 6,800 people in Italy have died from the outbreak.

"Loosening restrictions makes absolutely no sense if you look at it from a health perspective," Tan said. "I really think now that people are worth more than actually trying to save the economy right now."

Dr. Greg Poland, a member of the vaccine research group at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said, "This is fundamentally a tension, worldwide, between politics, economics and lives, and how is that going to shake out?"

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"That's what I'm worried about," Poland said.

Poland said the rate of transmission of the coronavirus has been increasing exponentially. Like Tan, he said that relaxing guidelines could speed up the number of cases and deaths.

"From a pandemic point of view, the more you keep people distanced from one another, and [practice regular] handwashing, they cannot get infected," he said.

"We haven't even reached the peak of this pandemic yet," he said.

Bringing people back together in business and social settings in coming weeks "means that you are doing that with the full knowledge that you are increasing surge demand on the medical system, and increasing mortality," Poland said.

"As you increase the demand on the health-care system, the mortality rate goes up. It skyrockets," Poland said.

He said tight restrictions that discourage interactions between people should be continued for some time to slow the spread of the virus.

"This is not weeks, this is months, plural," Poland said.

"What we're seeing right now is a reflection of transmissions that happened 14 to 28 days ago," he said. "The reality is you have to have no cases, wait 14 to 28 days, and see if there are no [additional] cases, and then say 'all clear.'"

He compared the pandemic to a house fire.

"If your house is on fire, and I come squirt some water in a corner for a while, yeah, I don't burn that corner, but the rest of the house is on fire," Poland said. "There is no halfway [response], and if there is, the house still burns down."

An analysis by researchers at Imperial College in London projected that 2.2 million Americans could die from the coronavirus without suppression efforts like the ones adopted by states and encouraged by the federal government.

With restrictions, the death toll could drop to 1.1 million, or even less, depending on the strength and prevalence of the restrictions.

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday that the U.S. has "several more weeks" to go before officials should consider lifting stringent coronavirus mitigation measures such as stay-at-home orders.

"This is going to be a long fight," said Gottlieb, who is a CNBC contributor.

"I think we need to keep this going for several more weeks, but there is an end to this, and we know where it is," Gottlieb said.
In West Bengal's capital Kolkata, the police arrested 225 people on Monday for violating the instruction to stay at home. The arrest of 225 people was made between 5 pm and midnight on March 23. The Kolkata police said that the violators will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servants. West Bengal had announced a lockdown from 5 pm on March 23 till midnight of March 27 to prevent the spread of viral infection.

Kolkata's police commissioner Anuj Sharma has urged the people to stay at home and cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order. "I appeal to all citizens to #StayHome and cooperate with the administration. @KolkataPolice will continue the drive against violators," he tweeted.

Also read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: FM extends tax deadlines to give relief to individuals, businesses

'Naka checkings' are underway at every important junction in Kolkata.

State's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also requested people to follow the guidelines set by the government and avoid coming out of their homes unless there was an emergency. Banerjee also asked people to cooperate with the government to fight the menace.

West Bengal reported its first death due to coronavirus on March 23. A 57-year-old resident of Dum Dum was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata on March 16. The patient was tested positive on March 21. According to CM, the patient had a travel history to Italy and that his son and other family members stay there.

So far, seven patients have tested positive for the viral infection in West Bengal. Whereas, across the country, the tally of COVID-19 patients has risen to 482, as of March 24, 8 am, according to ICMR. The number of deaths stand at 11.

Also read: Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline extended to June 30 from March 31

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Deadline for income tax return filing extended till June 30 from March 31
C era Care will hire and train 10,000 people to help with the unprecedented understaffing levels that have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK-wide care home provider started recruiting new staff on Tuesday with the aim of getting thousands who have recently lost their jobs back into work.

The company said it is looking to hire frontline staff, training up professional carers as well as hiring people for lighter touch roles like delivering groceries and running errands.

It comes as Brits across the country face months of employment uncertainty after the Government introduced new social distancing measures and ordered the closure of all bars, shops, restaurants, gyms and more.

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 companys co-founder and CEO, Dr Ben Maruthappu, said that Cera Care wanted to do our part in stepping up to tackle the coronavirus.

He told the Standard: We want to help people who have lost their jobs, in areas like hospitality or the gig economy.

We will train them and put them in the care system, to help bolster the NHS and make an impact on coronavirus.

Cera Care also plans to pass on new hires to smaller care companies who are finding it more difficult to recruit.

The company uses is technology tools to make working in the care sector easier / Cera Care

Dr Maruthappu said that there are 9.2 million people over the age of 70 in the UK at the moment who need a way to get basic amenities - right down to toothpaste.

Meanwhile, the number of people in the UK who need care but are not receiving it was estimated at 1.2 million even before the pandemic, he said.

So the majority of jobs Cera Care is looking to fill are for frontline staff - professional carers delivering regulated services, Dr Maruthappu said.

This includes work like helping the elderly and vulnerable with daily living like cooking, washing and getting in and out of bed.

Cera Care is also looking to hire people for lighter touch roles, like delivering food and medicine as well as running errands.

With coronavirus now really affecting the majority of the nation, there are tremendous pressures on the social care system, Dr Maruthappu said.

The demand is unprecedented. So we are putting people back to work, but also supporting older, vulnerable people and the NHS."

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Waterloo station looking empty PA Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

The company opened applications on Tuesday morning and have already seen a flood of people apply.

Our ambition is to create a network and a community to beat coronavirus," Dr Maruthappu said.

We are really hoping these are long-term roles and we want people to join the care sector permanently."

Dr Maruthappu said that the social care system is a sector in desperate need of staff and extra resources - not just during the coronavirus outbreak.

Even before coronavirus, it was a sector that had huge demand for staff and the outbreak has only compounded the situation.

If we are able to put these many people back in work, help people living at home and build a community that older people can be a part of that would be fantastic, Dr Maruthappu said.

Even for me, this coronavirus is challenging and worrying, like trying to purchase the food I want in the supermarket.

But imagine if you are someone in their 80s with dementia trying to shop. It would be terrifying."
By PTI

BEIJING: China on Tuesday reopened a section of its iconic Great Wall to visitors, as the country limped back to normalcy after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Badaling section of the Great Wall will be open daily from 9 am to 4 pm.

The daily number of visitors will be capped at 19,500.

Around 60 kilometers from Beijing, it's the most popular section of the wall for tourists.

As of 2 pm on Tuesday, a total of 892 tickets had been reserved by visitors to visit the area, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China in January closed all its museums and tourist centres all over the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

To be permitted entry, visitors must book tickets on the official website or through social media app WeChat in advance and register with their personal information to get a health code.

ALSO READ: China to lift lockdown over coronavirus epicentres Hubei province, Wuhan

On their arrival at the Badaling Great Wall, they will have their temperatures checked.

A one-way circular tour route has been designed to prevent the gathering of crowds.

The cableway, the China Great Wall Museum, the ancient Great Wall and some other sections, however, will remain closed.

The Badaling Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Beijing's Yanqing district.

The scenic section received more than 9.9 million visitors in 2018.

China on Tuesday announced that it will lift the three-month lockdown on more than 50 million people in the central Hubei province, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

There have been more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 in China and 3,277 deaths from the virus.
Amid the rising coronavirus cases in Delhi and other parts of India, Delhi Police on Tuesday (March 24) evicted anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters from Shaheen Bagh area in the national capital to curb the outbreak of the deadly virus.

It is to be noted that Delhi government has already imposed Section 144 in Delhi which bars the gathering of more than five people at one place. The anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh started on December 15, 2019 and was going on for the last 101 days. A team of Delhi Police officials reached the protest site on Tuesday morning and urged the protesters to vacate the area. The police are now removing the tent and other materials from the protest site. It is learnt that some protesters were detained too from the protest site.

Notably, only five women were continuing to protest at Shaheen Bagh after the restrictions imposed by Delhi government on the assembly of more than five people. The protesters were present at the protest site even during the 'Janata Curfew' call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Symbolically, the anti-CAA protestors, majority of whom were women, left their slippers on wooden beds present at the protest site.

The people of Shaheen Bagh, however, came out to their balconies and rooftops in huge numbers at 5 pm on Sunday (March 22) to clap and clang utensils as suggested by PM Modi to thank the work done by medical professionals, Army and police in fighting coronavirus.

The anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh have refused to end the stir despite appeals by the government, police and civil society members since the outbreak of coronavirus over the past two weeks.

The anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh was going on at Road 13A, which is an important link between Delhi and Noida. The blockade of this road had created a lot of problems for people who used to travel between Delhi and Noida using this road.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Workers at San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital are urging the city to provide more personal protective equipment after health care workers there recently tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In addition to more gear like masks, the workers are also calling on the city to come up with a plan to keep them, as well as their families, further protected from exposure to COVID-19.

Members of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 are speaking out after San Francisco Public Health Department Director Grant Colfax on Monday acknowledged that two hospital workers tested positive for the virus and said the unit where they worked was under quarantine.

Colfax added the hospital's staff was getting "the best" protective gear and that patients at the facility there were being monitored on an hourly basis for symptoms.

"SEIU 1021 and our members stand with the Department of Public Health and the Mayor to fight this disease at Laguna Honda Hospital, and throughout all of DPH facilities, but we need resources and protective gear to be successful, and an affirmative plan from the city to thwart exposure," Theresa Rutherford, San Francisco SEIU 1021 president and nursing assistant at Laguna Honda, said in a statement.

Because Laguna Honda is a long-term care facility for the elderly -- one of the most vulnerable populations to COVID-19 -- hospital staff is asking for protective gear, including N95 masks, to all workers at the facility.

"Protective gear should be available to everyone that works at the facility -- from custodians, clerical staff, food service workers, health care workers as well as other workers such as law enforcement personnel who enter Laguna Honda during the course of their duties," Rutherford said.

The workers are also demanding testing for COVID-19 be available to all workers and patients who may have been exposed.

"We require DPH's affirmative plan to ensure that an outbreak at SF's largest long-term care facility does not occur," Rutherford added.

Mayor London Breed on Monday said despite a nationwide shortage of PPE in hospitals, the city had acquired 1 million masks from Gov. Gavin Newsom, in addition to masks and gloves being donated by large private companies like Facebook. Breed also mentioned a plan to house frontline workers, like health care workers, needing quarantine in hotels.

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Amid the ongoing frenzy about the spread of the novel Coronavirus across the world and especially in India, Bollywood actors have left no stone unturned in their appeals and advisories to their fans and followers. Joining the likes of Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher and many others, Super 30 actor Hrithik Roshan has also shared a very important message for his fans through his social media accounts earlier on Tuesday.

The War actor has urged for utmost co-operation from the citizens of India in the one minute fifty seconds long video shared by him.

Read | Hrithik Roshan, Kartik Aaryan & others laud 'Janta Curfew', PM Modi gives quirky responses

Hrithik has also listed many precautions to be followed in order to minimise the rate of deaths in the country. The actor can be seen claiming that we have reached a deadlock with the Coronavirus epidemic. "There is no turning back now", said Hrithik in the video.

Watch the video here:

Help stop the spread. There are simple steps to be followed .      #COVID19 #StayHomeIndia pic.twitter.com/v0jZth8xF1  Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) March 24, 2020

Read | Hrithik Roshan gets the perfect view while on quarantine; See pic

Hrithik Roshan had been one of the many celerities who had enthusiatically participated in the Janta Curfew implemented by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, March 22 across the nation. In a video shared by actor, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan can be seen standing with his neighbours --- producer Sajid Nadiadwala ---- and clapping to honour the efforts of the Coronavirus warriors in the country.

Have a look:

A big salute to all the essential workers of the nation selflessly putting their lives at risk to service and safeguard our society . .#JantaCurfew @akshaykumar #sajidnadiadwala pic.twitter.com/MOQKi6ZbCG  Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) March 22, 2020

Read | Shahid Kapoor opens up about his love for Hrithik Roshan through his Instagram Q&A

Coronavirus in India

As of date, 536 positive cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) with Maharashtra reporting the highest at 106. Nine 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 and shut down over 32 states and Union territories.

Read | Hrithik Roshan reminisces sleeping under the stars with his sons, shares nostalgic videos
Passengers from Europe at the Incheon International Airport mote to take a bus which would take them to a quarantine facility, Monday. / Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong



Calls are growing among medical experts for the government to quarantine and conduct coronavirus testing on people arriving from the United States, as the number of confirmed cases there has soared in recent weeks.



The total number of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. was 46,145 as of Monday (local time), with 582 deaths.



On Monday, eight people who had recently returned from the United States to Korea were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus  the Korea Center for Disease Control and prevention (KCDC) said four additional cases from the U.S. were confirmed Tuesday.



"As the number of cases in the U.S. is increasing quickly, the government should conduct virus test on all arrivals from North America," said Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious diseases medicine at Korea University Guro Hospital.



Currently, arrivals from the U.S. get tested only when they show symptoms.



For arrivals from Europe, the government is running the virus test on all passengers and releases only those who test negative.



"Not only people arriving from Europe, people who come from the United States need to have a two-week quarantine," Uhm Joong-sik from Gacheon University Gil Medical Center, told a local newspaper outlet. "Given that more than half of arrivals from Europe and the United States are Korean nationals, they would not have a problem complying with self-quarantine regulations."



The government said it was aware of the new coronavirus danger from the U.S. and was discussing what to do. "We're discussing testing and quarantining arrivals from countries outside Europe such as the U.S.," Yoon Tae-ho, the chief quarantine official said.



Meanwhile, Korea reported 76 new infections Monday, bringing the total to 9,037, with 124 fatalities. The total number includes 3,507 who have recovered from the infection after testing positive and going through the quarantine process, showing the number of people recovering has now surpassed new cases.



Twenty-two out of 76 contracted the virus overseas  18 in Europe and four in the U.S.  according to the KCDC.



The government said it had completed testing 32,000 patients and medical service providers at elderly care centers in Daegu and found 224 had contracted the virus. The government took the action in response to a growing number of infection clusters. On Monday, Daegu saw another 14 cases at care facilities for the elderly.



The government announced Tuesday it had also changed virus screening rules for arrivals from Europe to ease the long delays in processing. It said that instead of keeping people in facilities until the test results become available, those without symptoms would be released but required to take a second test at a public medical center near their final destinations.


There is a lot we will learn about ourselves and the society we have built, in the weeks to come. There is a lot we have learned already. Some of these pandemic lessons will be almost unbearably painful; others will sparkle with hope, offering direction on how to emerge more resilient than ever before.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is a lot we will learn about ourselves and the society we have built, in the weeks to come. There is a lot we have learned already. Some of these pandemic lessons will be almost unbearably painful; others will sparkle with hope, offering direction on how to emerge more resilient than ever before.

For instance, consider what we are learning now, about the depth of our ability to care for each other.

Almost from the minute the scope of the pandemic crisis became evident to most North Americans, from those first strange days where we realized that life as we knew it was about to change, the most powerful force to rise up and meet the challenge has been the helpers. They are everywhere, if you know where to look.

On Facebook, people set up groups to seek and receive assistance to get through daily life. Journalists covering the crisis opened their inboxes to find readers reaching out, asking how they could help people struggling to get by. Non-profits have seen volunteers stepping up to donate food or money or hygiene supplies.

Volunteers hand out sandwiches that were donated to support people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo files)

These efforts will have to continue for a very long time. The crisis has only just started in Canada, and every week the need will rise. What ought to give us hope is how many people have recognized that the coming months will be painful, and want to do whatever they can to help ease a neighbour's burden.

Which is what makes the province's latest initiative so inspired. On Monday, Premier Brian Pallister announced the launch of a new website, helpnextdoormb.ca, which is designed to connect willing community volunteers with folks who need help of various kinds, such as grocery delivery or picking up medications.

The website is, as far as I know, the first provincial effort quite like it, and made by and for Manitobans. In partnership with local software developers, the non-profit North Forge Technology Exchange built the site in just five days. At first glance, minutes after the premier announced it, the site looked straightforward and easy to use.

It's a great idea. The greatest untapped resource in Manitoba isn't its government, but its people: there are roughly 1.4 million of us, an incredible wealth of human resources. We don't have to be experts in responding to epidemics: between all of us who are able, we can get a whole lot of the crucial little things done.

Frankly, after the pandemic eventually passes, the helpnextdoormb.ca website should stay. The need has always been there for this sort of good faith connection and mutual aid: people were vulnerable before this virus, and one way to honour the lessons of crisis would be to sustain the momentum of care we are now building.

Sheilah Lee Restall started the One Neighbourhood Initiative to connect volunteers with those most at-risk of COVID-19 to get them supplies they need. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press files)

These are days of hope, in that way. They are days that invite us to rise to the occasion, to make public use of our privately honed skills, to contribute where we can. With the established patterns of life disrupted so completely, this sometimes requires some creative thinking, and that is where the possibilities to help are endless.

Share your COVID-19 story Click to Expand At a time like this, we believe its important to turn to our readers. You are the ones living through this state of emergency. You are the ones adapting to the challenges of COVID-19. You are the ones impacted by the novel coronavirus. And thats why we are launching a special experiment with a reader-generated column that will allow us to share your experiences, your thoughts and your concerns about the pandemic. In short, please tell us your stories during this historic time. Using this form on our website, you will find an easy way to put down in words your contribution. Our editors will then take it from there and compile a running feed that will help our community come together.

Just look at how folks have adapted to meet the needs of the moment already. Last week, local distilleries Patent 5 and Capital K switched from crafting booze to making hand sanitizer, whipping up litres of the stuff within hours and taking donations of raw materials, such as glycerin and hydrogen peroxide, to keep churning out more.

Patent 5 is distributing the resulting hand sanitizer free of charge to organizations working with vulnerable people. Capital K is doing the same for health-care workers and others on the front lines. Across the world other distilleries have similarly put their equipment and skills to use for the public good in this way.

That's just one example of a creative way to repurpose existing skills to meet the need. There are countless more.

For instance, on Monday morning, Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili, a doctor, held a livestream Q&A about COVID-19 targeted at children, inspired by the prime minister's address to kids the previous day. Parents wrote in with their kids' questions, which Meili answered in clear and easy-to-understand ways.

Elsewhere, graphic designers chipped in with posters for people to put on their doors, noting that residents inside have a high-risk condition such as chronic illness or an autoimmune disorder, requesting visitors stay away. Artists created downloadable colouring pages to keep kids busy while their parents work.

The greatest untapped resource in Manitoba isn't its government, but its people: there are roughly 1.4 million of us, an incredible wealth of human resources. We don't have to be experts in responding to epidemics: between all of us who are able, we can get a whole lot of the crucial little things done.

Across North America, I have seen veterinarians offering to provide services to folks out of work due to pandemic containment measures; experts on every possible subject giving online courses; and social workers offering advice on how to apply for unemployment insurance or navigate similar complex public systems.

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.

The sheer diversity of these individual volunteer initiatives is dazzling. It is also a stirring reminder of the fact that everyone has some sort of gift to offer the world. It could be art or knowledge, technical skill or physical labour, or simply a capacity to be present and reach out to people in need of support.

Or, of course, there's always cash. In recent weeks, ordering takeout has gone from an occasional indulgence to an act of critical support for suffering local businesses. Buying gift cards and tipping generously, for those of us who are financially able to do so, can also be a key way to contribute to the overall well-being of the community.

Whatever way we choose to contribute, the time is now to get it done. If the pandemic has taught us anything in just these last few weeks, it's that within our community we already have all the gifts that we need to sustain us, from our skills and know-how to a simple willingness to do whatever more vulnerable people need done.

Let's not let that energy falter. Let's keep it up. And one day, when we sit down to write the legacy of this crisis, it will begin like this: when we were called to deliver the best of ourselves for the public good, Manitobans rose up to help.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Iran announced a record surge in the number of coronavirus cases diagnosed overnight while confirmed deaths also climbed to almost 2,000.

The country - the hardest-hit in the Middle East - confirmed 1,762 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to at least 24,811.

Meanwhile deaths climbed by 112 to at least 1,934. Serious questions have been raised over the reliability of Iran's data after the country initially downplayed and tried to cover up the severity of the outbreak.

Iran, like most other coronavirus-hit countries, is also facing a shortfall of test kits which has hampered its ability to provide accurate figures.

Iran diagnosed 1,762 new cases of coronavirus between Monday and Tuesday, a record single-day rise and putting the national total up to 24,811 (pictured, a man in a mask walks past closed stores in Tehran)

Iran also announced another 122 deaths from the illness, bringing the total to almost 2,000 - though serious questions have been raised over the reliability of the figures (pictured, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, centre, wears a mask during a coronavirus committee meeting)

World health authorities have warned that coronavirus cases are still spiking across the globe with Europe and the US now accounting for most of the new infections

The dead include the mother-in-law of the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the state-run IRNA news agency said Monday.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour warned the public that numbers of the infected likely will rise further as Iran now has more ability to test and screen suspected cases.

The ministry also has launched a website for the public to report if they suspect they have the virus, which will link them to medical staff who will come to them for tests.

So far, 41 million people have used the site, Jahanpour said. Iran is home to some 80 million people.

As the situation in Iran worsened, the International Monetary Fund warned that a lack of medical supplies in Iraq, Sudan and Yemen could lead to a surge in prices.

That could cause widespread problems in even some of the wealthiest Middle Eastern economies, which rely heavily on the price of oil - which has been tanking in recent weeks - for much of their income.

The dead includes the mother-in-law of one of Ayatollah Khamenei's sons, according to Iranian state media (file image)

Already, countries have reacted by either urging or ordering hundreds of millions of people to stay home.

The IMF, which traditionally has urged governments to implement greater austerity measures, now urges Mideast governments to offer temporary tax relief and cash transfers.

'Given the large numbers of people employed in the service sector, there will be wide reverberations if unemployment rises and wages and remittances fall,' the IMF's director for the Middle East, Jihad Azour, said in statement.

In Egypt, tourist cancellations have reached 80 per cent, while retail and hospitality sectors have also been hard-hit in countries like the United Arab Emirates where tourism is a pillar of the economy, according to the IMF.

The arrival of the global pandemic in Syria with one positive case, as well as in the Gaza Strip, has raised concerns the virus could run rampant in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Middle East.

Iran is the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, after coronavirus began spreading out of the holy city of Qom in February

Empty streets are seen as preventative measures are taken against coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Tabriz, Iran

War-torn Libya and Yemen, which have yet to report any cases, are also a source of concern.

Lines have formed outside grocery stores, banks and gas stations across the Syrian capital, Damascus, as people braced for wider closures. The government has already closed restaurants, cafes and other businesses, and has halted public transportation.

Pakistani authorities meanwhile said they'd shut down train operations across the country from Wednesday until March 31 in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus as nationwide cases jumped to over 900.

In Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria, dozens of people early Tuesday prayed to God for help against the virus.

Online video showed people praying from their windows and balconies.

Others showed some three dozen people marching in a side street and chanting: 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger,' drawing criticism from people who said the demonstrators should have stayed at home.
Leo Varadkar today announced

******

Good afternoon.

This morning, the Cabinet met to decide on the next steps that the Government will take to respond to the Coronavirus Emergency.

These are unprecedented actions to respond to an unprecedented emergency.

We agreed action in three areas.

(1) New measures to slow the spread of the virus as recommended by the CMO and the NPHET - an expert team of public health doctors, virologists and scientists.

(2) New measures to assist those who have lost or will lose their jobs as a consequence of the Emergency and a scheme to ensure that many others do not and remain on the payroll rather than being laid off.

(3) New emergency legislation that we are asking the Dail and Seanad to enact before the end of the week.

Before I go through them in detail, I want to once again thank all of you contributing to this Great National Effort. Thank you to:

our health service and civil service;

our local authorities;

our volunteers and NGOs,

our Defence Forces;

our Gardai;

our retailers, farmers and transport workers;

carers and care workers;

our postal workers; and

those working in industry like pharma, food production and food service, and medical devices.

Thanks also to everyone helping others in a million different ways. All those in religious life, our journalists and broadcasters, and everyone doing their best to raise the spirits of our country.

You are rising to this challenge and the nation is grateful.

This morning the NPHET met and has recommended some new actions to help us slow the virus. We have accepted its advice and it will be published today in accordance with standard practice.

Above all, today I want to thank the people of Ireland for listening to our advice when it comes to physical distancing, regular handwashing, taking care when sneezing and coughing, and reducing the number of social events and gatherings you attend. Its too early to know for sure, but we believe it is making a difference.

However, we now believe we need to do more. We need to flatten the curve and suppress this virus.

So, I am asking you to stay home if at all possible. That is the best way to slow the virus, ensure our hospitals are not overwhelmed and buy us the time we need to build more capacity - testing, contact tracing, beds, ventilators.

So, you should only leave home to go to work if you cant work from home and your attendance is essential. You should only go to the shops for essential supplies, out for medical or dental appointments, to care for others or to take physical exercise.

Non-essential indoor visits to other peoples homes should be avoided. Social gatherings of individuals outdoors should be of no more than 4, unless you are all from same household.

We are in this for long haul.

This could go on for weeks or months and we need to maintain our humanity, we need to see our families and loved ones and look after our mental and physical health. And we can do it if we maintain a physical distance of 2 metres or more.

No unnecessary travel should take place within the country or overseas, now or over the Easter break.

In order to assist all of this, the restrictions I announced in Washington DC are being extended until Sunday 19th April.

And, the following new actions are being taken:

All theatres, clubs, gyms/leisure centres, hairdressers, betting shops, marts, markets, casinos, bingo halls, libraries and other similar outlets are to shut;

All hotels to limit occupancy to essential non-social and non-tourist reasons;

All non-essential retail outlets are to close to members of the public and all other retail outlets are to implement physical distancing; [a list of essential stores is provided]

All cafes and restaurants are to limit supply to take away food or delivery;

All sporting events are cancelled, including those behind closed doors;

All playgrounds and holiday/caravan parks will close;

All places of worship are to restrict numbers entering at any one time to ensure adequate physical distancing;

All organised social indoor and outdoor events of any size are not to take place.

Gardai will increase interventions where venues are not in compliance with, or where groups of people are not adhering to recommended physical distancing.

All household contacts of a suspect case (i.e. a person who is awaiting a test or test result) should restrict movements until the test is reported negative or for 14 days since the onset of symptoms, whichever is shorter.

As I mentioned earlier, individuals should work from home unless attendance at workplace is absolutely essential.

Social gatherings of individuals outdoors should be no more than four persons, unless all are from the same household.

All non-essential indoor visits to other persons homes should be avoided.

All crowded places, including public amenities, should be avoided.

All scheduled cruise ship travel will cease.

Any setting that should close has been specifically identified.

The requirement that workers work from home, unless attendance is absolutely essential, is not to be read as meaning that factories or construction sites have to shut. The authorities are available to work with employers and unions on how to make physical distancing effective.

There will be an increased presence of park rangers and Gardai in parks and public places to ensure physical distancing is being observed. In Ireland, since independence, we have always had policing by consent rather than coercion. I dont intend for that to change now. Thats not our way. The new powers afforded to the Gardai will be used sparingly and only when necessary.

Lets all play our part and ensure they are not used at all.

I believe a liberal democracy can do this without the need for authoritarian or draconian actions.

The impact of Covid-19 on our economy and employment has been sudden and will be enormous.

I believe we need to maintain social solidarity, unity and a sense of community in this time of trial.

In recognition of the fact that so many fellow citizens have lost their jobs so suddenly, we are raising the COVID Unemployment Payment to 350 a week. This is approximately 75% of average earnings in the sectors most affected, and compares favourably to what is being done in other countries. The first payments will be made on Friday.

The COVID Illness Benefit will also increase to 350 per week and can be topped up by employers. This will be paid to people self-isolating.

In order to encourage employers and companies badly affected by the Emergency to keep staff on the payroll, a wage subsidy scheme will be introduced to co-fund 70% of the cost of salaries up to a maximum of 38,000 a year. At a salary of 38,000 the subsidy will equate to 410 a week in take-home pay.

The cost of this will be great. Many billions of euro in the coming months. But we can bear it and we will be able to pay it back as a nation. We do so willingly because it is the right thing to do and because we owe it to our fellow citizens.

I believe that maintaining the link between employees and employers and companies will make it easier for us to bounce back when this is all over. We will keep our economic infrastructure intact. We will give businesses the best chance of making it through this.

The self-employed will also be covered. I know the sacrifices so many of our self-employed have made to build up their businesses and practices and I know how worried they are now.

The Government will do everything it can to help sustain you and bring you through this Emergency.

Ministers Donohoe, Humphreys and Doherty will set out in detail how all these measures will apply.

Finally, Cabinet this morning approved the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest COVID Bill. This legislation, for the duration of the Emergency, will:

freeze rents,

prevent evictions,

make it easier for health care professionals to re-register and return to work, and

enable former members of our Defence Forces to rejoin at the rank they left. We need you to serve your country once again.

We also approved a framework agreement with the private hospitals. They will operate effectively as public hospitals under Section 38 of the Health Act for the duration of the Emergency thus adding over two thousand beds, 9 laboratories, critical care capacity and thousands of staff to our health service.

Private and public patients will be treated equally and the private hospitals have agreed to do this on a not-for-profit basis. I want to thank them for their co-operation.

I briefed the leaders of the other parties yesterday and we will be briefing spokespeople today and during the week. In contrast to what we have seen in some other countries, our political parties have united against a common foe and I want to thank them for their understanding, goodwill and co-operation to date.

Finally another reminder to everyone to follow the public health advice and to keep following the five key steps. They might seem simple, but they are vital to protect us all: regular hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance, and staying at home if feeling unwell.

We cannot yet stop this virus but working together we can slow it in its tracks and push it back. These are extraordinarily difficult times for everyone  in Ireland and around the world. But no matter what happens, we will always put your life and your health ahead of any other concern.

All our resources are being deployed in this great national effort. And I know that the Irish people will continue to face this head-on, to make the changes that are required, and will pull through to the other side.

Four years ago we commemorated the 1916 Rising and we celebrated the men and women who helped us win our freedom and our independence.

I never believed that we would be called upon to match their courage, or their example.

Today we are.

Working together our country will come through this Emergency. We will be tested  but will succeed.

Our greatest generation was not in the past.

Better times are yet to come.

Thank you.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
KYODO NEWS - Mar 24, 2020 - 14:58 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan will impose an entry ban on foreign travelers from 18 European countries and Iran to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

The measures would be the broadest set of border controls implemented by Japan so far amid the spreading pandemic, which has killed more than 15,000 people worldwide and threatens to trigger a global recession and derail this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

Motegi also said Japan will likely extend its suspension of visas issued to Chinese and South Korean nationals past the March 31 deadline because the coronavirus remains a threat.

The countries to be subject to the entry ban are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the Vatican.

Foreign travelers who have been to any of these countries within 14 days of arriving in Japan will be turned away. The measures will be finalized soon by a government task force chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a government source said.

The Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a warning against going to these countries, raising the travel advisory on them to level 3 in a move that has become a de facto step toward an entry ban.

"Barring special circumstances, there won't be any exceptions" to this rule, Motegi told a press conference Tuesday.

Japan has already closed its doors to some regions in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Iran, in addition to the whole of Iceland and San Marino as well as parts of China and South Korea.

Regarding the suspension of visas issued to Chinese and South Korean nationals, Motegi said the measure will remain in place "unless the coronavirus miraculously disappears from the world tomorrow."

"I don't imagine that it will, though," he added.

Japan suspended the visas, including those issued to residents of Hong Kong and Macau, on March 9 and has asked all other travelers from the two Asian countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival.

The decision has dealt a big blow to Japan's economy, reliant on tourists from its closest neighbors. It also drew a strong backlash from South Korea, which called the measures "unscientific" and "unfair" and quickly retaliated with similar steps.

Related coverage:

Olympic flame to be carried by car instead of torchbearers

Trump defends Asian Americans amid concerns over virus-linked racism

U.S. calls for postponement of Tokyo Games due to virus outbreak
Washington: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says he was tested a week ago for the novel coronavirus, but continued working at the Capitol because he had no symptoms of the illness and believed it was "highly unlikely" he was sick.

Republican Senator Rand Paul contracted coronavirus. Credit:AP

Paul also said he did not have direct contact with anyone who tested positive for the virus or was sick.

Paul announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for the virus, becoming the first case of COVID-19 in the US Senate and raising fears about further transmission of the virus among senators, including more than two dozen who are in their 70's or 80's.

Paul's refusal to self-quarantine after being tested sparked bipartisan outrage, including from some of his colleagues. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, chastised Paul on Twitter, saying his decision to return to the Capitol before he learned the test results was "absolutely irresponsible."
TDT | Manama

The National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) yesterday highlighted that more than 30,000 volunteers have registered on the e-Volunteer platform, since its launch last week.

The Taskforce expressed its utmost gratitude to the Kingdoms selfless citizens, who have truly demonstrated the values of national social responsibility and solidarity in confronting the spread of the virus, noting that the Kingdoms strong social fabric remains key to overcoming all current and future challenges.

The Taskforce emphasized that the e-Volunteer platform is still open and accessible for registrations, and applications are being classified in accordance to need and the opportunities available.

On this note, the Taskforce noted that the first group of volunteers to be contacted will be those who have a medical background and who have applied to volunteer within Field Work and Health Services. Bahrain on March 15 put out a call for volunteers to support the Kingdoms efforts to combat the coronavirus spread.

The national taskforce said it is being organised through an e-Volunteer Platform. The opportunities range from medical and administrative services to logistic support, as well as a number of other activities aimed at supporting the Kingdoms efforts in containing COVID-19. Any one interested in volunteering can still sign up on volunteer.gov.bh/.
Workers disinfect a train in preparation for the restoration of public transport in Wuhan (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua/AP)

China will lift restrictions on movement in most areas of Hubei province on Wednesday, ending a lockdown of the area brought on by the coronavirus.

People who are cleared will be able to leave the province after midnight on Tuesday.

Restrictions on the hardest-hit city of Wuhan will remain until April 8.

China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan and the wider province on January 23 as Covid-19 began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday, when many Chinese travel.

Hubei has had almost no new infections for more than a week.

The move to end the lockdown shows the authorities apparent faith in the success of the drastic measures in much of China.

Expand Close People wearing face masks walk through a rapeseed farm used to produce canola oil in Chinas central Jiangxi province. It borders Hubei province, the epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP / Facebook

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Whatsapp People wearing face masks walk through a rapeseed farm used to produce canola oil in Chinas central Jiangxi province. It borders Hubei province, the epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP

After barring people from leaving or entering Wuhan, authorities swiftly expanded what were, at the time, unprecedented measures to most of Hubei and its tens of millions of residents, as well as many other parts of a country with a population of 1.4 billion.

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It remains unclear, however, whether other cities and provinces, such as the capital Beijing, will allow people leaving Hubei to enter their jurisdictions. Quarantine rules are expected to remain in place for those travelling outside their local areas.

Officials have now largely turned their attention to the threat of the virus returning from abroad, with almost all new cases being recorded among passengers travelling in from overseas.

Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities have ordered mandatory 14-day quarantines for all returnees, mainly in hotels and other government-designated locations where those staying must pay their own way.

Exceptions are allowed in some cases, including for those living alone, who must quarantine themselves at home.

Expand Close Precaution: A worker disinfects the Hankou Salvation Church in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province, yesterday. Photo: STR/AFP via Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Precaution: A worker disinfects the Hankou Salvation Church in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province, yesterday. Photo: STR/AFP via Getty Images

In a move to slam the door on the crisis, starting on Wednesday, Beijing will also require everyone arriving from overseas to be tested for the coronavirus in addition to being quarantined.

In a notice published online on Tuesday, Beijing city authorities said those who have entered the capital within the last 14 days will also undergo mandatory testing.

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Currently, the imported risk from the epidemics rapid spread overseas continues to rise, said the notice.

Chinas National Health Commission reported 78 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, among which 74 were imported.

At the same time, the government is pushing efforts to kick-start the worlds second-largest economy and put money in the pockets of workers who have gone weeks without salaries.

While most of Beijings world-famous tourist sites remain closed, parts of the Great Wall have reopened and some restaurants are reopening for business on the condition that customers do not sit facing each other.

The government says work has restarted on about 90% of major public construction projects across the country, excluding Hubei.

While many migrant workers remain trapped by travel bans, industrial production has also restarted, including in the crucial car manufacturing industry, which is largely based in Wuhan, and in businesses that provide critical links in global supply chains.
I never did like bats. When I was a little girl they scared me because they were in so many creepy movies, and when a teenager I was warned by the big boys theyd fly straight to my head to tangle in my hair. Both fears invalid, as I now know, but theres a real reason to dislike bats.

Theyre probably where coronavirus came from.

There are teams of scientists spread throughout the world trying to capture bats from remote caves in Africa and other countries to study their viruses and find ways to prevent their spread to humans.

The coronavius spread from Wuhan, China, from a market where live animals were sold for food. Market owners deny bats were sold but admit animals on sale may have been infected by bats. Scientists had already proven strains of the Ebola virus emanated from Sierra Leone, where many cultural events take place in and around caves infested by bats.

Scientists from an agency called Predict, funded with $200 million from USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, operate in 30 countries. Theyve accumulated thousands of samples and discovered more than 900 new viruses. Unfortunately, Coronavirus was one they hadnt found until it found us.

Predict is a part of the Global Virome Project, a ten-year plan to identify as many as possible of the more than a million and half unknown viruses in bats, birds and mammals. Its thought that about half of those could be zoonotic, meaning they have the ability to jump from animals to people.

When trying to predict what a virus might do, scientists study three things: virulence, contacts and the length of time during which people are infected. Those things teach them what they call the basic reproductive rate, meaning how far and how fast the disease will spread.

When Ebola ravaged Africa from 2013 to 2016, scientists speculated its cause was a two-year-old boy whod been playing around a tree where bats dwelt. Tribal funeral customs may have exposed his entire village to the disease and from there it jumped across Africas porous borders to dozens of countries, infecting more than 28,000 people.

That spurred global health agencies to intensify bat-catching activity, no matter the hardships and risks involved.

According to Simon Township, writing for the United Kingdoms Telegraph, scientists unfurl huge nets across cave openings at night, catch snarling bats with snapping fangs, disentangle them, weigh and measure them, and then take blood samples, oral and rectal swabs before releasing them into the night.

The samples are studied in labs, and while many precautions are taken, several scientists have contracted diseases while processing them. James Bangura, the lead surveillance officer for the government of Sierra Leone, contracted viruses three times and was forced to live apart from his family. He was awarded a presidential silver medal for his work and is now Predicts project coordinator in his country.

In the past two years Predict has taken about 49,000 thousand samples from bats, rodents, primates and livestock.

Today samples are sent carefully to other laboratories, but in the early days of research they were often smuggled in carry-on luggage on commercial flights, with scientists alerting each other surreptitiously that they were coming as VIPs, a code term for Vial-in-Pocket travelers.

Despite their work, there are still millions of undiscovered viruses out there, waiting to pounce on mankind.

Viruses surprise us all the time, said Professor Tracey Goldstein, the co-principal lead on pathogen detection for Predict.

Yeah, we learned that the hard way, but lets be grateful to the bat-and rat-hunters trying to protect us all.

A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of North Hudson Community Action Corp.

Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.com.
The health care system isnt the only thing under stress during the coronavirus pandemic.

People throughout the country are losing jobs. Seniors and people with underlying health conditions are increasingly disconnected from their loved ones, as theyre stuck at home alone without any way to get groceries or prescriptions. Demands on organizations helping New Yorks most vulnerable have increased. Here are five ways residents can give back during this unprecedented health crisis.

Donating personal protective equipment

Many hospitals in New York have been running low on personal protective equipment such as face masks, gowns and other medical supplies. The governor has already put out a call for any hospital gear donations. Interested donors or volunteers can reach out directly through this webpage.

Many resources have popped up online identifying which hospitals are in need of certain supplies, with instructions for who to contact and how to send those resources. New York City medical students have also coordinated a system to pick up supplies from those donating surgical masks or N95 respirators. The City has compiled a page of resources describing how New Yorkers can donate needed supplies to hospitals as well.

Donations of personal protective equipment can also be sent to the Afya Foundation, an organization which collects surplus medical supplies and distributes them to hospitals and health centers in the New York area.

Donate other resources

Other than personal protective equipment, many organizations are also taking donations for other resources. The Bowery Mission, which helps people facing homelessness and hunger, is looking for certain foods and cleaning supplies amid the outbreak. Outreach teams for the citys homeless like New York City Relief have also reported a need for more hand sanitizer and socks to distribute. Organizations such as Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York, which provides residences for foster youth and people with developmental disabilities, has also asked for hygiene products such as hand sanitizer, soap, body lotion, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and feminine hygiene products.

Donating money

Nonprofits across New York are already seeing the strain from the coronavirus outbreak. Most have had to cancel major fundraising events while at the same time facing unprecedented demand for their services.

Food banks and soup kitchens have been particularly strained trying to feed New Yorkers. Organizations such as Food Bank For New York City, New York Common Pantry, Long Island Cares and Feeding Westchester are continuing to provide food assistance. Others, such as Citymeals on Wheels and Gods Love We Deliver, bring meals directly to the homes of seniors and those with serious medical needs, respectively.

Most human services organizations helping vulnerable New Yorkers continue to see a demand for their services. And others, such as arts groups and after-school providers, are offering virtual galleries and activities despite their facilities being closed. Here are some of the organizations that have recently expressed the need for donations: Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York, Alliance for Positive Change, BronxWorks, Time In Childrens Arts Initiative, Win, Shine Foundation, Birch Family Services, Ronald McDonald House New York, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City and The Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Not sure which nonprofits to donate to? You can donate to a number of community foundations and United Way affiliates throughout New York that have created emergency response funds that will support charities across the state. You can also donate to the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, which is giving funding directly to restaurant workers or nonprofits helping such workers and providing zero-interest loans for restaurants.

But donations can also go toward institutions other than charities. You can buy gift cards and merchandise from your favorite local restaurants to help them stay afloat. Volunteers of America Greater New York is also accepting grocery store gift cards for older adults it works with. GoFundMes have also been created to raise funds for sex workers and cinema workers, among others.

Volunteering

While people are supposed to stay at home, there are a number of ways people can volunteer in person  if youre healthy and havent been exposed to the coronavirus  or remotely. Volunteer New York! has created a map of volunteer opportunities  such as driving seniors to medical appointments or distributing food at local pantries  in the Lower Hudson Valley. New York Cares is also offering online orientation sessions for those interested in volunteering during this time, whether its to help with meal delivery, virtual tutoring for students or phone calls to people who are lonely in hospitals, shetlers and nursing homes.

Mutual aid groups  informally set up for New Yorkers to help their neighbors with tasks such as grocery deliveries, financial support, translation help or guidance applying for unemployment insurance  have cropped in neighborhoods across New York. A website has been created to streamline assistance and volunteers requests and to compile links to groups across the five boroughs.

If youre interested in providing professional volunteer support to nonprofits  such as helping with human resources, finances, public relations or technology  the Taproot Foundation connects interested volunteers to nonprofits in need of help, many of which can be supported remotely.

Other ways to help

The countrys blood supply is facing a major shortage, as blood drives across the United States have been canceled. The New York Blood Center and American Red Cross have encouraged healthy people to make an appointment to donate.

Animal shelters have also called on people to take time to adopt or foster pets in light of the coronavirus  which just might be a helpful remedy to social isolation, too.
The United States could become the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak after a very large acceleration in the number of cases, a spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Over the last 24 hours, 85 per cent of new cases were in Europe and the United States, Margaret Harris told reporters. Of those, 40 per cent were from the US.

Asked whether the US could become the new epicentre, Ms Harris told reporters: We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential.

... They [the US] have a very large outbreak and an outbreak that is increasing in intensity, she added.

Overall, the Covid-19 outbreak was accelerating very rapidly and Ms Harris said she expected large increases in case numbers and deaths from the 334,981 infections and 14,510 deaths reported.

It appears likely the US, which has more than 46,000 infections and 530 deaths, will overtake Italy in the number of positive cases.

Authorities have suggested the US is on track to eventually overtake Chinas nearly 82,000 infections.

It comes as Donald Trump, the US president, acknowledged the difficulty in procuring crucial healthcare supplies amid the pandemic, saying the world market... is crazy and it is not easy for the federal government help US states obtain face masks and ventilators.

Mr Trump also said he wanted to reopen the country for business in weeks, not months, and claiming  without providing evidence  that continued closures could result in more deaths than the pandemic itself.

We cant have the cure be worse than the problem, Mr Trump told reporters at a briefing Monday. We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems.

Health experts have made it clear that the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system in the US unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction by staying home from work and isolating themselves.

Life is fragile, and economies are fragile, Mr Trump said, insisting he could protect both.

While acknowledging there were trade-offs  theres no question about that  he claimed that, if closures stretch on for months, there would be probably more death from that than anything that were talking about with respect to the virus.

When asked about easing federal recommendations urging Americans to limit social contact, Mr Trump replied: Im not looking at months, I can tell you right now.

He said states with large numbers of cases could continue to enforce stricter measures while other parts of the country return to work.

Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Show all 20 1 /20 Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Top: Nabi Younes market, Mosul Bottom: Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Grand Mosque, Mecca Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Nabi Younes market, Mosul Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Basra Grand Mosque, Iraq Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Taj Mahal hotel, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Dubai Mall, UAE Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Gateway of India, Mumbai Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Victoria Memorial, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sidon, Lebanon Reuters

Mr Trump tweeted he would be waiting until the end of the current 15-day period of recommended closures and self-isolation before making any decisions, which would be 30 March.

At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were exploring new guidance making it possible for people working in critical infrastructure jobs who have been exposed to the virus to return to work faster by wearing a mask for a certain period of time, Mike Pence, the vice president, said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 10:20:05|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Health Ministry of Libya's UN-backed government said Monday that China has offered to train Libyan doctors to tackle any possible coronavirus infections.

"The Ministry of Health of the Government of National Accord, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has received an offer by its counterpart in China to hold an international training program to introduce experts in Libya to the protocols used by China in diagnosing and treating cases of the novel coronavirus," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The training program, which will be conducted using distance training techniques, offers introduction of the methods adopted by China in dealing with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, along with ways to deal with the obstruction of the respiratory passages (of patients) during the infection stage," said the statement.

A team of Chinese experts who have taken part in the epidemic fight in China will run the training program, which will also provide an introduction to acute cases, it said.

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj last week declared a state of emergency and mobilization against possible coronavirus infections in the country.

Noting no infections have been detected in Libya, Serraj said his country has allocated half a billion dinars (360 million U.S. dollars) to take protective measures against any possible infections.

On Monday, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala told a press conference here that Libya has officially requested technical help from China against the virus.
Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency / Korea Times file



The head of South Korea's police made a public commitment Tuesday to a thorough investigation into a "cruel and shocking" sexual crime against women and underage girls centered on group chat rooms of the Telegram messenger service.



Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, vowed to mobilize every available means and power of the authorities to look thoroughly into the so-called "Nth room case" and legally punish all related offenders.



He was responding to five online petitions, filed by the presidential office, demanding a strict probe into the scandal and the revelation of personal information of an arrested main suspect in his 20s. More than 5 million people signed the petitions on the Cheong Wa Dae website in less than a week.



Min said it was a "cruel and shocking crime completely taking away the lives of children, teenagers and women."





Celebrities campaign to expose identities of sex offenders Telegram Nth room suspect to stand in 'photo line' President urges thorough probe into Telegram child porn case "Through strict investigation, the police will fully transform social awareness that is insensitive to digital sex crimes and strongly eliminate digital sex crimes from our society," Min said.



Nearly two dozen people have been caught in connection with a hardcore pornography ring using Telegram. At least 74 people, including 16 minors, were sexually abused and exploited, according to investigators.



The perpetrators allegedly approached the victims largely seeking part-time jobs and secured nude pictures from them with the promise of payment. They then blackmailed them to photograph or film themselves doing sexual acts, often gruesome ones.



They shared this material in a number of chat rooms for entrance fees of up to 1.55 million won (US$1240) starting in 2018, police said. The total number of followers reportedly reached more than 260,000.



Min said police would regard all related people including distributors and possessors of the materials as accomplices to the crime.



He announced the establishment of a special investigation bureau on digital sex crimes as part of efforts for a "systemic and comprehensive" probe.



On concerns about the difficulty of tracing overseas servers used for such crimes, Min pledged the strengthening of cooperation with foreign investigative authorities such as Interpol and the FBI.



In reply to the petitions, Gender Equality and Family Minister Lee Jung-ok said the government will map out administrative measures against digital sex crimes and push for a revision to related legislation for tougher punishment.




K ind-hearted residents and local businesses have inundated a school with offers of help after burglars stole food meant for children of key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Thieves broke into Gosfield School, Essex, last week and stole frozen foods from four commercial freezers.

The food had been earmarked for the children of key workers amid the Covid-19 outbreak - including doctors and nurses - who have been allowed to keep attending school so their parents do not need to stay home to look after them.

Gosfield School wrote a message on its Facebook page on Monday, saying staff were incredibly saddened to find that the schools food had been stolen

Burglars ransacked the school's kitchens during last Friday night and Saturday morning / Gosfield School

A spokesman wrote: We are so incredibly saddened to share with you this morning that Gosfield School catering department suffered an extensive burglary over the weekend.

CCTV footage shows that the theft took place on Friday night and early Saturday morning.

"Items taken include four commercial-sized freezers full of food, all of the dry foods in the kitchen and all chilled food taken from our catering refrigerators.

The spokesman added that this meant that the school would be unable to feed children and staff in the foreseeable future.

They requested all children of key workers still attending school bring in their own packed lunches and water bottles.

The school asked children of key workers to bring in their own packed lunches following the theft / Gosfield School

The post was shared more than 24,000 times, and inundated with comments offering sympathy and support.

As a teacher I am just totally appalled and saddened to see this. It is just unbelievable, one person wrote.

I cannot imagine how these staff are feeling right now! This is horrendous given the current circumstances, wrote another.

Several people offered to help the school replenish their supplies.

Ben Snow wrote: Ben from Brakes here. Ive sorted a delivery for tomorrow and Emma Simmons should be calling to help with the order. If there is ANYTHING I can do Im at the end of the phone as usual.

A spokesman for the school wrote in a separate post on Monday that they had been utterly overwhelmed by peoples kind words and offers of help.

They added that The Pavilion Restaurant in Essex had arrived with a donation of food for the school.

In a post today, the school wrote that they had received donations from local school Samuel Ward Academy, and Brakes, a food business.

Following the generous loan of a freezer from Samuel Ward Academy, Brakes Foods were here bright and early with an emergency delivery," they wrote.

We have been overwhelmed with offers of support and we will list everyone we possibly can to say thank you.

A school spokesman told the Standard they had received around 30 separate donations from businesses and local residents  including gifts from local pensioners and restaurants in Spitalfields market.

Weve had phone call after phone call, they added. Its been absolutely phenomenal.
The Hailakandi district administration of Assam on Tuesday filed an FIR against a man for not informing police or health officials about his return from abroad amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The FIR under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) was lodged with Hailakandi Sadar police station, Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said.

Departmental action will also be taken against the mans father, a government employee, for not informing authorities about his son's return, Jalli said.

The deputy commissioner said that the man's family members misled the district authorities by claiming he would return after three days but during further enquiry, it was found that he had already reached home.

A rapid response team went to the man's residence and took him for screening, Jalli said.

The deputy commissioner said that any person returning from coronavirus-hit states or countries must immediately self-report to the nearest police station or health centre, failing which strict action will be taken against him or her.

The returnees' families will also face action if they do not extend cooperation to the administration or try to mislead the authorities, Jalli added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Lee County Sheriffs Office in Florida responded to calls from concerned local residents about a pit bull on the loose in their neighborhood. When the officers arrived on scene, they found that the dog was not a threat but a friendly pet that had gotten lost. A Facebook post about the event went viral with many users commending the actions of the officers.

The Sheriffs Office had responded to a call in the areas south district about a pit bull on the loose, and residents were worried.

Upon arriving at the scene, they were pleasantly surprised to learn that, according to their Facebook post, the wonderful dog was just out looking for friends to play with. The officers proceeded to play for a bit with the brown pit bull before returning him to his loving home. They even posted some pictures of the adorable pup next to their squad car.

As it turned out, the pooch had escaped his yard after the owners accidentally left a gate unlocked. But thanks to the officers efforts, the pup was returned to his owners.

Pit bulls have a bit of a bad reputation, and oftentimes the public views them as being more dangerous than other dogs. That may be, in part, because many of them have been used and bred for dog fighting.

However, according to the ASPCA, they are no more likely to be aggressive towards humans than other breeds, even if they were originally bred for fighting. Research on pet dogs confirms that dog aggressive dogs are no more likely to direct aggression toward people than dogs that arent aggressive to other dogs, the ASPCA website explains.

The ASPCA also notes that even if some types of behaviors may be breed specific, each dog is an individual that should be treated as such.

The Facebook post describing the event went viral with 47,000 likes. Thousands of users commented to commend the officers for reuniting the pooch and his family and shared their own views on this often misunderstood dog breed.

One comment read, Thank you officers for taking care of someones pretty sweet baby.

While another remarked, I think they are beautiful dogs and misunderstood. My Dad raised them. And I sat out in the back yard at 3 years old with ten of them and played . never got any thing but a lick which I called a kiss. Raise them right no different than any other dog.

A particularly poignant comment said, I love this! The media has made people panic over them, theyre actually one of the most loyal and tolerant dogs, but some people have bred them and trained them to be violent, and due to the widespread fears of these dogs, they are harder to socialize with people and other animals. We need stories like this to drown out the breed bashing and more people to teach proper training and care, hero stories, or simply fun stories like this one.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Theres a certain art to Gov. Mike DeWines response to the coronavirus crisis.

DeWine, a Republican, has received mostly exemplary reviews for both his actions and communication during the pandemic. The regular, gentle landing of his new orders restricting Ohioans activities over the last couple of weeks has left some, including cleveland.com readers, wondering if this has been part of a playbook of sorts by the governor.

Is DeWine working from a carefully crafted road map?

I think that he has communications professionals around him advising on how to roll this out, so I suspect that it is following principles of good crisis communications, but I would be surprised if it was a playbook in the strong sense, said Michael Neblo, political science professor at Ohio State University with expertise in political psychology.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierny said the governors playbook on the rollout of what amounts to the most drastic upheaval of Ohioans daily lives in decades is simple.

His playbook is 40 years of government experience, Tierney said.

Schools, colleges and universities were put on an extended spring break, and possibly arent returning to in-person classes this year, per the governor. Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned, with DeWine and health officials recommending groups no larger than 10. Bars and restaurants are closed, save for carryout and delivery only.

The culmination of DeWines orders came Sunday when he issued, through the health department, a stay-at-home directive for Ohio residents and ordered nonessential businesses closed.

Both Neblo and Cathleen Swody, an organizational psychologist, founder and partner of consulting firm Thrive Leadership and professor at the University of Connecticut, said DeWine is effectively using communication tools to accomplish his goals.

DeWines daily afternoon briefings create a sense of structure in what is an inherently chaotic time, Swody said. His reliance on health professionals, such as Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, and clear, concise language also adhere to recommended practices in times of crisis.

Even some of DeWines on-camera actions  keeping distance between those sharing the stage with him and limiting crowd size  convey the message he is trying to send subconsciously, Swody said.

DeWine has set a tone of, Be concerned about this, but dont panic about it, she said. Thats a really key area to focus in on so that people are paying attention. Theyre not being dismissive of the recommendations but at the same time, theyre not panicking.

A trademark of DeWines press conferences in the roughly two weeks since Ohios first confirmed coronavirus case are his suggestions turning into orders. DeWine has signaled days beforehand that he was considering barring mass gatherings, sending students home, closing nonessential businesses and telling Ohioans to stay home and minimize contact whenever possible.

All of those suggestions eventually became orders carried out by the Ohio Department of Health.

Hes inoculating people to think about decisions and implications that are big, Swody said. Shutting down restaurants and daycares are big. But if you give people a couple days to think about it, it takes some of the stress out.

Neblo said the governor is also trying to use a  technically unofficial  power of his office as well.

The reason hes signaling these things is hes trying to use persuasion before he uses the power of his office, he said. Persuasion is one of the powers of his office. All else equal, its better to persuade people to do the right thing than to force them to do the right thing.

"Its pretty good crisis communication and crisis governance, Neblo said.

Consistent messaging is also key during times of crisis, Swody said. During the 2008-2010 financial crisis, Swody said firms that were in constant, direct communication with their employees had a far less chaotic atmosphere.

Over the past three weeks, the only time DeWine hasnt followed this strategy did lead to a mild panic. On March 16 and without warning, DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that they were backing a lawsuit to postpone the March 17 primary election. When the court denied it, the governors office went silent for several hours, leading journalists, activists, politicians, poll workers and voters to guess whether there would be a primary the next day. Later that night, Acton issued a health order closing polling places and the election was effectively suspended until June 2.

DeWine and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have received the majority of praise nationally for their responses to the coronavirus, including their communication. The two could not be further apart on just about any spectrum, in terms of politics and style.

DeWine, a Republican, has a small-town demeanor from both his youth in Yellow Springs and his time as Greene County prosecutor. While politically forceful, he rarely raises his slow, even-toned voice in a public setting.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

Cuomo, a Democrat, is New York royalty. The son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, the Queens native has sometimes found himself at the center of controversy for his brash remarks.

Whether they know it or not, both DeWine and Cuomo are operating on similar wavelengths these days with press conferences that feature blunt, straight-to-the-point responses.

Swody contrasted that messaging with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, who in a now-deleted March 14 tweet posted a photo with his family in a crowded restaurant, defying public health officials recommendations. The next day, he declared a state of emergency. On March 18, he urged Oklahomans to avoid restaurants.

That creates a real disconnect, which leads to confusion, Swody said.

DeWines actions have also been contrasted with the response of Republican President Donald Trump, who continued to downplay the severity of the outbreak as DeWine was rolling out health department directives. The presidents disjointed messaging has also contributed significantly to uneasiness with investors as the stock market has cratered.

Swody said DeWines calm and collected approach compared with that of Trumps erratic response has likely contributed to a seemingly calmer environment in Ohio.

People respond well to that, Swody said. Theyre more likely to adhere to the message. Whereas having a very bombastic, highly emotional tone, thats contagious too. People will pick up on that and people do not make great decisions when theyre panicking.

Neblo said DeWine is potentially getting his message through to a Republican base that has been more skeptical of the possible impacts of coronavirus. Other Republicans around the country have fed into the narrative that it is no worse than the flu, including Trump, who suggested Monday that the disruption to daily life will be over in 15 days.

I think hes trying to communicate the seriousness of the situation as a Republican in an environment where theres been mixed messages on that, Neblo said of DeWine. Hes trying to do well by the state that he governs. In that sense, I guess the only little bit of psychology behind it that isnt just straightforward as this issue of there being mixed messages on the Republican side, and he doesnt want to mix messages.

Swody and Neblo both agreed DeWine has also done a good job in removing politics as much as possible from the situation.

Im of the view that politics is never completely out of the equation, Neblo said. But Im also of the view that sometimes politicians just want to get it right and trust that if they do a good job, theyll be treated well politically too. I think this is a case of that.

This post has been updated with comments from Gov. Mike DeWines office.

Read more cleveland.com politics coverage:

Does coronavirus spread along Ohios highways? Not so simple

Trump delays Real ID deadline amid coronavirus response

Heres the Ohio Houses unusual system of voting during the coronavirus outbreak

Sen. Rand Pauls positive coronavirus test negatively affects other senators, but Ohio senators still on the job
China Aviation Daily | Mar. 24, 2020

Trends of COVID-19 Outbreak and Flight Completion in China

Jan 24 China waived fees for all transport ticket cancellations nationwide

Jan 25 30 Chinese provincial-level regions activated top-level response to Covid-19

Jan 31 WHO declared a PHEIC for the outbreak of COVID-19 on Jan 31

Feb 4 CAAC required domestic airlines to maintain international flight operations

Feb 11 CAAC announced that students can enjoy full refunds or free-of-charge flight changes before Mar 31

Feb 12 CAAC said that airlines don't need to return refund fees to passengers who refunded tickets before free-refund policy

Mar 4 Notice by the MoF and CAAC on financial support policy for civil air transport enterprises during the Prevention and Control Period of Covid-19

Mar 9 CAAC Issues 16 Industry Support Policies in Response to Covid-19

Mar 21 CAAC called for a safe and orderly operation to ensure inbound international flights scheduled to land at PEK are redirected to designated entry airports in nearby cities

Correlation between flight completion and epidemic in hard-hit countries

U.S.

Under covid-19, the current number of operated flights in the United States is about 70% of the peak value (28,273 on March 12) since February 1.

UK

Affected by the epidemic, the current number of operated flights in the UK is about 34% of the peak value (5,571 on February 21) since February 1.

Italy

Hard-hit by covid-19, the current number of operated flights in Italy is ONLY 5% of the peak value (3,386 on February 21) since February 1.

Spain

Affected by the epidemic, the current number of operated flights in Spain is ONLY 14% of the peak value (4,210 on March 8) since February 1.

South Korea

Under covid-19, the current number of operated flights in South Korea is ONLY 21% of the peak value (1,874 on February 2) since February 1.

Japan

Due to the epidemic, the current number of operated flights in Japan is about 70% of the peak value (4,145 on February 2) since February 1.

CARDI Analysis

By comparing the daily number of seats on flights operated by Chinese and other hard-hit countries' airlines in 2019 and 2020 provided by Airsavvi , we make the CARDI (Real-time Dynamic Indicators of Novel Coronavirus Affecting Airline Operations) to quantitatively analyze the impact of the epidemic and observe real-time changes of the curve.

Mainland China

With the effective execution of anti-epidemic measures, the national outbreak is gradually being controlled, and operated flights have started to rise steadily after experiencing a sustained fall.

U.S.

As the US travel ban went into force, transatlantic route and transpacific routs have witnessed rapid seat declines. It's predicted that other countries will also experience more serious reduction in future flight operations.

*Transatlantic route: round trip flight between UK/Italy/Spain/Germany and the US Transpacific route: round trip flight between Mainland China/Hong Kong SAR/Japan/South Korea/Australia and the US

Europe

Europe has witnessed rapid seat declines due to the severe impact of the epidemic and the unprecedented lockdown of the country.

North-East Asia

South Korea and Japan

Other Countries/Regions
Some medical specialists think that the sudden inability to smell or taste familiar odors and flavors could be an early sign of the novel coronavirus infection. This sign could be as innocuous-looking as feeling that food suddenly tastes bland, or that familiar strong smells aren't getting through. Yet, it could signal the need to isolate oneself because it is a little-known yet characteristic sign of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that is racing around the world.

Dressed in full protective gear a healthcare worker collects a sample from a man sitting inside his car as part of the operations of a coronavirus mobile testing unit. Image Credit: JHDT Productions / Shutterstock

Telltale signs

The loss of the faculty of smell and taste, called anosmia and ageusia, respectively, go together and may indicate the presence of the disease, even if no other typical symptoms are noted. The report came from UK ENT specialists who work on diseases of the ear, nose, and throat (ENT). They looked at reports of cases from ENT consultants the world over and concluded that adults anywhere in the world who suddenly cannot smell properly any more should go into self-isolation for seven days to stop further transmission of the disease and delay its spread within the community. They admit that they have insufficient data to strongly support this conclusion, yet they feel that the importance of this preliminary finding justifies its dissemination.

In an email, British Rhinological Society chief Claire Hopkins said, "We really want to raise awareness that this is a sign of infection and that anyone who develops loss of sense of smell should self-isolate. It could contribute to slowing transmission and save lives." Along with ENT UK president Nirmal Singh, Hopkins made a joint statement supporting the need for all professionals in the health sector to protect themselves with appropriate personal protective equipment if their patients report not being able to smell things. She reports that she herself sees roughly 12 patients a month now, in contrast to 1 earlier.

Evidence from all over

The statement was based on multiple international reports that show anosmia is an early and significant sign of coronavirus patients. For instance, a significant citation comes from South Korea, where testing has been carried out on a mass scale. Here, 30% of 2,000 patients who tested positive first presented with the loss of smell. All of these were mild cases. The statement says, "These patients might be some of the hitherto hidden carriers that have facilitated the rapid spread of COVID-19."

There is the potential to reduce COVID-19 transmission by requesting that individuals with new onset of anosmia self-isolate. A lost sense of smell as marker of COVID-19 infection... for full details see below pic.twitter.com/udkBMwwJ1F  ENT UK (@ENT_UK) March 20, 2020

The British physicians are backed by American ENT specialists. The website of the American Academy of Otolaryngology now carries the information that many stories have come in indicating that anosmia or hyposmia (a reduced sense of smell) and ageusia are significant COVID-19 symptoms, often seen in patients who later turned out to be positive on virus tests, though they had no other symptoms.

The website advises that if the patient's anosmia or hyposmia cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by allergies or sinusitis, the physician should think immediately of testing for coronavirus. The condition should lead to the recommendation that the patient self-isolate as well.

In Italy's worse-affected areas too, doctors say they have found that anosmia and ageusia are telltale signs that an apparently healthy person is harboring the virus and is probably spreading it to others. Marco Metra, cardiology chief at Brescia's main hospital, which has 700 coronavirus patients out of a total of 1,200 patients, says, "Almost everybody who is hospitalized has this same story. The patient says, 'My wife has just lost her smell and taste, but otherwise she is well.' So she is likely infected, and she is spreading it."

German virologist Hendrik Streeck personally interviewed coronavirus patients in Germany's Heinsberg district, by house to house visiting. He reports an even higher percentage  about 66% - of the over 100 patients he met with mild coronavirus infection had loss of smell and taste lasting for several days. Others say these symptoms occur in about half of the patients and set in after the earliest respiratory symptoms. However, they can differentiate people who should be tested from those who don't need it.

A third specialist, Clemens Wendtner, added two details: the loss of smell is transient, usually lasting a few weeks at most, and it is independent of the severity of clinical illness and the presence of congestion. The symptoms cannot be relieved by nasal drops or sprays.

The association of anosmia with coronavirus infection was noted during an outbreak in New Rochelle, New York when many ENT doctors noted that patients who said they couldn't smell as well as before later turned out to be infected with the virus. One doctor, Rachel Kaye, who received this information from her colleagues in New Rochelle, says, "This raised a lot of alarms for me personally," because those patients "won't know to self-quarantine."

As a result, she says, many ENT doctors have already stopped making routine examinations and are wearing personal protective equipment, as is the case in her department.

The British statement also advises not ordering sinus endoscopies on anyone unless it is really essential because the virus is known to multiply in the nasal cavity and the oropharynx. If the patient undergoing the procedure sneezes or coughs, there is a high risk of viral spread to the physician performing the procedure.

Devotion and death

The advisory comes against a painful background: two ENT specialists in Britain are among those in critical condition due to novel coronavirus infection. While saying this, Hopkins also said that in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic, reports had said that many ENT as well as eye specialists had been infected and had died of coronavirus infection.

In keeping with this grim picture, the American doctors also remind their members of the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that all clinical specialists make it a priority to make themselves free for urgent and emergency patients for the next few weeks, and to postpone elective or routine surgeries and examinations for this period.

The website also says, "There is evolving evidence that otolaryngologists are among the highest risk group when performing upper airway surgeries and examinations. A high rate of transmission of COVID-19 to otolaryngologists has been reported from China, Italy, and Iran, many resulting in death."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days in an unprecedented drastic measure to try halt the spread of coronavirus shortly after which the Centre said all road, rail and air services will remain suspended during this period.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi, on Tuesday. Photograph: DD News/PTI Photo

COVID-19 has claimed 11 lives in the country with authorities reporting one death each in Delhi--the second in the national capital--and Maharashtra on Tuesday and over 500 persons being afflicted by the viral infection. Fears are also mounting that more could be hit as the global coronavirus toll inches towards 17,000.

In his second address to the nation in less than a week on the growing concerns over COVID-19, Modi said the lockdown will be in force from Tuesday midnight, as he announced a Central allocation of Rs 15,000 crore to strengthen the health infrastructure to tackle the disease.

Fears over the spread of the disease have already led the governments in the states and union territories to clamp a lockdown till March 31the date till which road, rail and air services have been suspended. However, freight movement will continue to carry essential commodities across the country, officials said.

IMAGE: People watch the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on coronavirus pandemic, in Prayagraj, on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

According to 6-page guidelines released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, fair price shops and those dealing with food, groceries, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish and animal fodder will remain open.

The guidelines also stipulated that making false claim to get any relief during lockdown may result in imprisonment up to two years.

"To save India, to save every Indian, there will be a complete ban on people from stepping outside their houses from 12 midnight today," he said, and showed a poster saying corona means 'Koi Road Par Na Nikle' (No one should come out on roads).

"Lockdown is being imposed on every state, union territory, district, village, mohalla and street."

IMAGE: Police personnel stand guard as a passenger wearing a mask walks past during lockdown amid coronavirus pandemic, in Mumbai, on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The lockdown will be like curfew' and more stringent than the 'janta curfew', which was observed on Sunday where millions across the country stayed indoors.

Modi folded his hands a few times in an emotional gesture to emphasise his request to citizens to adhere to his call, saying it is applicable to everyone from the prime minister to a citizen in a village.

"If we don't handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family will go backwards by 21 years," he said, asserting that the tough measure is necessary for a decisive battle against the coronavirus outbreak.

"One step outside can make way for coronavirus into your house".

IMAGE: Cops punish offenders flouting lockdown imposed in Ahmedabad. Photograph: PTI Photo

Acknowledging that the decision will have an economic cost, Modi said saving people's lives is of the paramount interest to his government.

He also made a vigorous push for enforcing social distancing as the only way to tackle the coronavirus amid incidents of people violating the lockdown conditions in several parts of the country.

Experts and the experience of countries fighting the deadly virus make it clear that the social distancing is the only way to combat the disease, he asserted.

Social distancing not only for infected but for every citizen including the prime minister.

I have full faith that we will emerge victorious from this challenge,  he said, as he asked people to take care of themselves and their family.

Addressing fears that there could be a shortage of essential commodities and medicines, the prime minister said there is absolutely no need to panic. Centre and states will work together to ensure availability of essential commodities, medicines...

Modi also urged people not to indulge in panic buying, saying that by converging around shops, they are risking the spread of COVID-19. The remarks come against the backdrop of people rushing to provision shops to make mass purchases.

IMAGE: Deserted city roads on the second day of the complete lockdown in the national capital. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo

In an interaction with senior journalists from the print media via video links earlier in the day, Modi said citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

He also said it is imperative to keep the 'fighting spirit' of the people up to stop the pandemic in its march.

As 32 states and union territories imposed complete lockdown till March 31, the Centre asked them to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders .

Cases were booked against hundreds of people in different parts of the country including in Delhi for violating prohibitory orders.

In Hyderabad, police said it had to resort to mild caning against the violators.

IMAGE: Deserted Telegu Talli flyover during the complete lockdown in Hyderabad. Photograph: PTI Photo

With the lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Two states -- Punjab and Maharashtra -- and a Union Terrotory -- Puducherry -- have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis, according to state officials. The western state, with 107 cases, has accounted for the highest number of this viral infections followed by Kerala(91).

The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

IMAGE: People who floutde lockdown guidelines are made to squat at Chakeri area of Kanpur on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further.

The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated by the Union Health ministry on Tuesday evening, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 519, including 470 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals.

The latest death in Mumbai has not been taken into account by the health ministry.

However, the ministry reported a second death in Delhi but did not give details.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

IMAGE: A masked passenger walks past the flight information board during lockdown in wake of coronavirus outbreak, at airport, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

39 people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

Authorities have also taken a serious view of several people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely critical to contain the spread of the disease.

A top functionary of the central government called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been told that public gatherings could lead to escalation of the prevailing situation.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.
South Carolina election officials may recommend postponing the statewide June 9 primary, citing concerns about safe and secure elections amid the spread of the contagious new coronavirus.

Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the S.C. Election Commission, confirmed the discussions to The Post and Courier on Tuesday.

"We're concerned about the June primaries and the general election, and really all of the elections that are scheduled to occur for 2020," Whitmire said.

The statewide primary will determine who will be the respective Republican and Democratic nominees for different races, including the high profile battles for U.S. Senate and U.S. House, as well as for other contests.

All 124 seats in the state House of Representatives are up for reelection this year, along with the 46 seats in the state Senate.

The discussions here mirror conversations among election officials nationwide.

So far, at least 13 states have postponed voting as officials determine how to proceed in the midst of a worldwide health pandemic.

In addition to delaying South Carolina's June Republican and Democratic primaries, other options under consideration include implementing no-excuse absentee voting and early voting.

South Carolina does not currently have early voting or same-day voter registration.

To cast a ballot early in person, voters must instead visit their voter registration office in their county of residence, complete an application and cast their ballot. But in order to vote absentee, voters must give one of 18 permitted reasons. None apply to the current global health pandemic.

Whitmire said state officials also are considering:

Removing the witness requirement on absentee ballots.

Allowing voters with disabilities and first-responders to print their ballots online, a practice historically granted only to voters in the military and overseas citizens.



Opening early voting centers that could be spread out in communities to help limit contact.

Letting voters submit absentee voting applications online.

The most drastic option would be a shift to a vote-by-mail system, like those used in Colorado and Washington state.

That would require mailing ballots to every one of South Carolina's 3.3 million registered voters who would then cast their ballot by sending it back in the mail or turn it in at a designated drop-off site.

Whitmire said expanding to a vote-by-mail system would be the most dramatic option, since it would fundamentally change how South Carolinians vote.

"Nothing is out of the question," he said. "These are strange times and we are considering things today that we wouldn't have even been thinking about two months ago."

In order for elections to be altered in South Carolina, it would require an executive order from Gov. Henry McMaster or action by the state Legislature.

Earlier this month, McMaster used his executive powers to postpone 45 municipal and county elections that had been scheduled for March and April. They will instead be held after May 1.

Brian Symmes, McMaster's spokesman, confirmed the governor's office has been in talks with election officials about potential changes.

"There are plans and contingencies being deliberated daily among state officials and local officials about how to best protect South Carolinians from this virus. There is nothing that the governor won't do to further that cause," Symmes said.

Outside of possible changes to the elections calendar, Whitmire noted the coronavirus is threatening to disrupt the way elections are conducted in South Carolina.

"Are we going to lose poll managers? Will we lose polling places, since many of them are in schools and churches?" Whitmire said, ticking through the stream of questions being raised.

Poll workers in the state tend to be older, Whitmire said, noting that this army of election workers is classified by health officials as being at greater risk for catching the virus.

Of the roughly 2,300 voting sites in the state, many are in community spaces like schools, churches and, in the case of Greenwood County, one polling site is in a nursing home.

It would not be unprecedented if South Carolina delayed its June primaries, Whitmire said. South Carolina postponed its statewide primaries in both 1992 and 1994, when the primaries were held in August.
Details added (first version posted on 16:46)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

Trend:

Azerbaijans Heydar Aliyev Foundation has transferred 500,000 manat to national Fund to Support Fight against Coronavirus to contribute to the measures taken by the government to prevent wide spread of coronavirus in Azerbaijan, Trend reports on March 24.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has constantly rendered support to its beneficiaries in the field of combating coronavirus.

Upon the instructions of Azerbaijani First Vice-President, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva within the fight against coronavirus, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation provided disinfectants, masks and other personal protective equipment to nurseries, orphanages and boarding schools in Baku and in the Azerbaijani districts, the social service institution for people who have reached the retirement age, the Children's Neuropsychiatric Center, as well as to institutions rendering neuropsychiatric social services in Baku and in the districts of the country.

These institutions were disinfected. The necessary organizational support in observing the social isolation regime and the existing rules of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers was provided.
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to extend the lockdown, currently being enforced in 17 districts, to the entire state to combat coronavirus and an announcement on the duration of the curbs is likely later on Tuesday, a senior official said.

"All of UP to be locked down by Wednesday," Additional Chief Secretary of Information Awanish Awasthi said, without providing further details.

Seventeen of the state's 75 districts that reported positive cases of coronavirus have already been placed under lockdown.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 33 cases of coronavirus, including a foreigner.

The districts currently under lockdown are Agra, Lucknow, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Lakhimpur Kheiri, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Kanpur, Meerut, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Pilibhit, Jaunpur.

The lockdown in these districts started on March 23 and was scheduled till March 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York

By Ross Kerber and Megan Davies

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to rapidly reopen the economy despite signs the coronavirus is still spreading may backfire, with higher deaths and citizens remaining fearful of going out, some investors said.

U.S. markets have been roiled by the spread of the virus in the country and as states have shut parts of their economies.

Trump said on Monday that at the end of a 15-day shutdown period, which would run to the end of the month, "we will make a decision as to which way we want to go."

Last week, Trump urged Americans to halt most social activities for 15 days. It is unclear what power Trump actually has to simply turn the economy back on by executive order.

News of Trump reopening the U.S. economy anytime soon would not be taken well by investors, who remain anxious about the coronavirus uncertain trajectory and its economic toll, said Axel Merk, chief investment officer of Merk Investments.

"Markets will react badly because they have learned that this approach doesn't work," Merk said. "From a medical point of view, you have to break the exponential growth and you do that with shelter in place policies."

The S&P 500 Index <.SPX> sank 3% on Monday. It is down more than 30% from its Feb. 19 peak and is at levels not seen since the end of 2016, giving up nearly all of its gains from before Trump was elected.

BLEAK ESTIMATES

Initial estimates of the pandemics economic fallout have grown bleaker in recent days.

U.S. unemployment could hit 30% and second-quarter economic output could be half the norm, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said.

Jennifer Pline, head of wealth management for Cambridge Trust in Boston, said it is too soon to judge whether to reopen the economy just yet.

"As were just starting to close things down fairly tightly, we need to wait a while until we get more traction and less contagion with the virus."

The cost of a mistake could be deadly. A March 16 study by Imperial College in London predicts 2.2 million deaths in the United States in an unmitigated epidemic, with critical care bed capacity exceeded as early as the second week in April.

Story continues

Economists at Northwestern University and Berlins Freie University estimated an optimal containment policy in the United States would deepen the subsequent recession but save 600,000 lives.

Ellis Phifer, market strategist for Raymond James in Memphis, Tenn. said he has struggled with the question of whether it would be best to reopen parts of the economy.

Its really hard to determine which costs more, Phifer said of the dueling approaches of lifting restrictions sooner or later. On balance, he would be inclined to follow the advice of public health experts like Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who have largely advocated for more restrictions.

TESTING KEY

In an interview last week, Richmond Federal Reserve president Thomas Barkin said any call to try to resume normal economic activity will depend on widespread testing quick enough that businesses can establish protocols to ensure worker and customer safety.

David Kotok, chairman & chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors, said what is imperative is to get accurate antibody tests, and to read the recovery rate as well as confirmed cases and deaths.

"I don't think the market will get the economic growth if people are dying all over the place," said Kotok.

Others thought that the more important thing would be to get the economy back open.

"You leave this USA shut for another 60 days and you may have no economy or healthcare left," said John Lekas at Leader Capital.

Rob Arnott, founder of asset manager Research Affiliates said the toll of job losses and other economic hardship that may stem from shutdowns and other measures could potentially be more harmful than the virus itself.

Our way of handling this will kill a lot more people than it saves, said Arnott.

But now the measures are taken and the population is fearful, there may be no going back.

Gregory Daco, Chief U.S, Economist at Oxford Economics, said even if the lockdowns were lifted, "businesses and households would remain very cautious, and financial intermediation would remain under stress... And, with the rest of the world under lockdown, you would presumably further alienate yourself."

(Reporting by Ross Kerber, Megan Davies, Ira Iosebashvili, Noel Randewich, Howard Schneider; writing by Megan Davies; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at a March 12 news conference at Pennsylvania Emergency Management Headquarters in Harrisburg, where he announced the closure of schools and other facilities in Montgomery County due to the spread of the coronavirus. Late Sunday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied a challenge to an order Wolf issued last week expanding the closures to all "non-life-sustaining" businesses across the state. Read more

A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a group of gun rights advocates legal challenge to Gov. Tom Wolfs statewide order closing all non-"life-sustaining businesses, clearing the way for enforcement of the mandate to begin.

In an order issued late Sunday, the justices denied a petition brought by a Bucks County gun buyer and a Lancaster County gun store owner, who argued that the coronavirus clampdown violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The appellate court offered no explanation for its decision in a two-page order. Three of its justices dissented, saying they were troubled by the uncertainty set off by Wolfs decision to close nearly all businesses in the state aside from exceptions including health-care facilities, grocery stores, pharmacies, and restaurant takeout and delivery services.

Justice David N. Wecht described the legal limbo in which gun store owners find themselves. Unlike most other businesses, they cant simply move their operations online, given the strict regulatory measures in place around firearms sales, Wecht wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Christine Donohue and Kevin M. Dougherty.

In Pennsylvania, licensed firearms dealers must perform background checks, and state law requires that they conduct their business only on licensed premises or at lawfully sanctioned gun shows.

Quite simply, if firearm dealers are not able to conduct any business in person at their licensed premises, then no transfers of firearms can be completed, Wecht wrote. This amounts to an absolute and indefinite prohibition upon the acquisition of firearms by the citizens of this commonwealth  a result in clear tension with the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution [and] the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Wecht urged the governor to modify his order to allow gun store operators to continue in some form. But instead of a general waiver that would designate gun shops an essential or life-sustaining" business, the dissenting justices suggested that some accommodation be made for gun stores similar to those implemented for restaurants.

For gun stores, the justices suggested, in-person business could be limited to only the portion of the sale that must be conducted face-to-face and on a licensed property.

Wecht, a Democrat elected to the court as part of the 2016 vote that tipped its balance, self-quarantined last week after one of his children tested positive for the coronavirus, court administrators said.

Joshua Prince, the Berks County attorney representing the plaintiffs, called the decision a major blow to the constitutional rights of Pennsylvanians. He noted, however, that since the court denied the case a hearing instead of ruling on the legal arguments, anyone cited for violating the order would still be able to challenge its constitutionality in court.

I am truly sorry to all Pennsylvanians that our Supreme Court has chosen to sit idly by, while the governor through executive fiat eviscerates our constitutional rights, Prince said in a statement.

Also on Sunday, Philadelphia sought permission to join the case, saying it supported Wolfs decision as Pennsylvanias most populous county and the hardest hit by the coronavirus spread.

Though Wolfs order has been in effect since Thursday, enforcement by the Pennsylvania State Police, the Liquor Control Board, and the Departments of Health and Agriculture was delayed until Monday morning to give businesses time to prepare and the administration the opportunity to review thousands of waiver requests from companies and industry representatives around the state.

Businesses and some Republican state lawmakers have criticized the order as overly broad. While the governors office granted several exception waivers over the weekend, Wolf, a Democrat, has defended the measure as a necessity as Pennsylvanias level of coronavirus infections continues to rise exponentially.
This week will mark a turning point for the impact of the coronavirus in Ireland.

It signals a new, crucial phase in the escalation of numbers infected and in the response of the health service, as well as the public.

1. Dramatic rise in people testing positive for COVID-19

We are moving from the hundreds and heading towards thousands of people testing positive for the virus.

It was only on March 1 that the first case involving a student was found but it seems like we have been living with it for months.

Yesterday the toll reached 1,125 and community transmission, where a person picks it up during their daily life without knowing the source, is at 45pc, compared to travel which now accounts for just one-third of cases.

The virus is now circulating widely among us.

GPs have been swarmed with patients seeking a test and limited testing facilities have taken time to roll out, leaving patients waiting several days to provide a swab.

But the HSE said this will change this week, with 41 testing centres open today and more on the way to make inroads into the backlog of 40,000 people awaiting tests. Around 6,000 tests a day will be carried out.

2. Increased admissions to hospital and intensive care

The trend in growing numbers of coronavirus patients being admitted to hospital, and importantly put in intensive care, has been growing in momentum in recent days and this will intensify.

Hospitals will be under pressure this week due to the rising demand but it will remain manageable at this point.

There are over 2,200 empty beds because so much other activity has been cancelled or transferred. Nearly 200 intensive care beds were at the ready at the weekend and more are to be procured from private hospitals. As of Sunday, 211 cases had been admitted to hospital.

The European Society of Anaesthesiology, in an analysis from Italy, said patients who survive the infection are spending an average of 15 days in intensive care. The rate of increase in admissions in the coming weeks will be pivotal.

3. Keeping our distance from each other

It is inevitable that social distancing - or physical distancing, as it has more accurately been christened - will continue for many months ahead. Further restrictions are expected this week to prevent people descending in big groups on popular outdoor sites. We can expect more enforcement of the two-metre distance rule in public places between two people. This is still just the second week of social distancing and the hope is more of us will become more conditioned to it in our daily activities.

But there is also the risk that it will become too much for some people to practise. However, we can expect more people to limit their movements further as the coronavirus outbreaks cause more deaths and continue to rip through so much of our society.

4. Reward of lives saved for sticking to the rules

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar predicted a possible 15,000 cases of coronavirus here at the end of the month, which is next Tuesday. The reward will be if the rate of increase has slowed because of the nations sacrifice in business closures, loss of jobs and social distancing.

It may be difficult to measure the impact, but Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said there were already signs that fewer contacts of positive cases are coming from outside households. The truth is that any slowing down in the increase will have saved lives.

5. Age groups who fall victim to coronavirus

As the spread of the virus increases, the age groups of those infected will be important in determining the severity of the infection on the nation. Currently the mean age of those infected in the Republic is around 44 years.

The virus can kill and cause severe illness in a person of any age but those who are older or people with underlying medical conditions are in greatest danger. One-third of those in hospital are over 65.

Its early days still for international figures, but the median age in Ireland compares to 63 years in Italy and 64 years in Britain.

Irelands median is like Germanys which is 46. Germany has had a high number of cases but a low death rate of just 0.4pc.

This compares to 9pc in Italy and 5.3pc in Britain.

Irelands fatality rate with four deaths is around 0.6pc. That gives some hope that the fatalities here may be low, but much can change in the coming weeks. Germany is known to test aggressively and find every case so there may be a lesson there for the Republic.

6. Toll on healthcare workers

It is vital for healthcare workers to be protected as much as possible from the virus. They have a concentration of exposure to it as their work can involve face-to-face contact with patients.

The latest figures for the Republic show that 208 health workers have got the virus.

There are genuine fears that they will not have the protective equipment they need.

Several GPs have said that promised additional packages of this equipment, which were due last week, had still not arrived by yesterday.

Without the proper masks, goggles and gowns they are at risk.

The HSE has made strenuous efforts to secure more supplies and a consignment worth 28m is due from China shortly, with the HSE intending to spend 240m on such supplies this year.

Its inevitable that more health workers will become infected and have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Figures released yesterday show 60,000 people have responded to the HSEs recruitment drive for health workers to act as supports as the fight intensifies and reserves are needed to step in.

7. Tougher scrutiny of decision-making

Recent days have seen some unravelling of the quiet political consensus that has been a feature since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. There is a clear intent on the part of all to ensure everyone is seen to wear the green jersey and not be critical of decisions.

However, Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail are questioning some of the health and economic responses. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin called for more information on where clusters of cases are breaking out.

Sinn Fein TD Louise OReilly said there should be a relaxation in EU state aid rules that would allow the Government to help companies financially to scale up the production of the required clothing for health workers.

As the impact of the coronavirus intensifies, further decisions will be more open to critical scrutiny from politicians and medics, particularly in relation to the pace at which the country moves to tougher restrictions.
Three United Nations human rights experts have expressed "grave concern" over the fate of three human rights lawyers forcibly disappeared by the Chinese authorities after attending an informal meeting of dissidents in the southeastern port city of Xiamen in December.



Ding Jiaxi, Zhang Zhongshun and Dai Zhenya are currently being held without access to family visits or lawyers under a form of detention known as Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), which is used to "disappear" people accused of crimes relating to national security.



The experts said said RSDL is not compatible with international human rights law, because it enables the authorities to circumvent judicial processes and detain people incommunicado for up to six months.



"This puts individuals at heightened risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," the experts said. "Enforced disappearance is a grave and flagrant violation of human rights and is unacceptable in all circumstances."



"U.N. human rights experts expressed their grave concern about the welfare of [Ding, Zhang and Dai]," the experts said in a statement on the U.N. Human Rights Council's official website.



"We see parallels between this recent crackdown and previous attempts to silence dissenting voices in China," the joint statement said, adding that nine other rights activists who attended the event had also been summoned for questioning or detained in a nationwide crackdown led by state security police in the eastern province of Shandong.



"It has also unfortunately become common practice for Chinese authorities to provide limited or conflicting information on the victims and the charges they face," the experts said. "The families are often kept in the dark about the well-being of their loved ones."



They said the detention of Ding, Zhang and Dai would likely have a further "chilling effect" on rights activism and civil society in China.



"We worry that these defenders are just being persecuted for the exercise of their most basic human rights," the experts said.



The experts said they are "in a dialogue" with Chinese authorities on the three lawyers' cases.



The U.S. State Department raised the cases of the three lawyers in an annual human rights report on .



'Subversion of state power'

On Dec. 26, police from Shandong coordinated with other police nationwide to arrest human rights activists and participants who gathered in Xiamen, Fujian, in early December to organize civil society and plan nonviolent social movements in the country, the report said.



People who attended were detained on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power and subversion of state power." The latter charge carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence.



While their families waited to learn their whereabouts, other rights activists who had gone to the Xiamen event, and even those indirectly connected to them, fled the country or went on the run.



Among them was New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong, who was eventually detained in Guangdong province on subversion charges.



"Several others involved in the meeting, including human rights lawyers, were held for several days in police custody in various jurisdictions for questioning and investigation," the State Department report said.



Reported by Man Hoi-tsan and Lu Xi for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
We have put together two graphs to show the development of confirmed coronavirus cases in Luxembourg since the start of the outbreak.

Note: this article was written based on data from 23 March. It was subsequently updated to reflect new figures from 24 March. Updates are in italics.

You can expect to see a lot more of the below two graphs in the coming days, weeks, and possibly months until the outbreak subsides and life returns to normal.

You may note, perhaps with some disappointment, that we have not included the rate of recovery nor the number of tests carried out - this is because we don't have full data on this for the entire time-span, as this has not been made available to date.

What we do know is that Minister of Health Paulette Lenert confirmed in a press conference on Sunday that Luxembourg is carrying out around 1,500 tests per day, which she described as one of the highest rates of testing per capita in the EU.

A note before we look at the data

Before we look at the data, we would like to provide a little clarification on the data available more broadly through social media. You may have seen, for instance, that Luxembourg has one of the highest rates of new infections per capita. There are plenty of graphs floating around which show this, usually placing us second behind Iceland.

But why do these two countries stand out? The graphs that are making the rounds on social media could be seen as suggesting that the outbreak is far worse in Iceland and Luxembourg than elsewhere, but this is a conclusion that cannot be drawn. What we know is that Iceland is in fact testing at an exceptionally high rate - their government issued a statement saying that "Iceland has tested a higher proportion of inhabitants than any other country per capita."

While we unfortunately can't calculate the rate of testing in Luxembourg due to this data not being available, we do know that Prime Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed around 750 tests were carried out per day in a press conference on Friday 20 March, which at the time he described as a 'leading' rate in the EU, and as we noted above this has since risen to around 1,500 according to Paulette Lenert.

As such, it would be natural for the number of confirmed cases to continue increasing for the time being - a sentiment with which epidemiologist Joel Massong agrees. What needs to be understood here is that one cannot easily compare any two countries based solely on the confirmed rate of infection, or growth thereof. To compare a bit more accurately, we would also need to know how many tests are carried out in total, and the criteria for testing - if one country tests anyone who asks to be tested while another only tests those with severe symptoms, for instance, this would also explain some of the discrepancy we are seeing.

As such, we will not be making international comparisons in this article, and focus solely on Luxembourg's data.

Evolution of total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Luxembourg

You will have seen charts like this one both here on RTL Today and in other national media. The graph below shows the evolution in the total number of confirmed cases in Luxembourg.

This is the most basic chart one can present, and arguably the one that looks the most alarming due to the steep increase of the curve. That said, it is not the most interesting chart one could produce - and is more a reflection of the lack of data available. As we noted above, it would be far more interesting to see the rate of positive test results per number of tests carried out, for instance, but unfortunately we do not have sufficient data to do this.

What we can do is look at how many new cases are confirmed each day, so let's look at that next.

Daily change in confirmed cases

The below graph shows how many new confirmed cases have been communicated by the ministry of health in a given day since the start of the outbreak.

This looks a bit more reassuring than the above graph, but is based on the exact same data. As you can see, we saw a pretty substantial drop in confirmed cases after the spike on 21 March, as a decreasing number of new cases were confirmed in the subsequent two days (the most recent for which data is available at the time of writing, morning of 24 March).

So, does this mean that we can expect the trend to continue? Unfortunately, while there is the suggestion of an inflection point, it's too early to tell, and quite unlikely. As noted by Paulette Lenert, the government is "expecting a rising number of infections". The chart also shows that we have seen large day-to-day drops previously, such as between 12 March and 13/14 March, and again between 15 and 16 March, followed by substantial increases. An important reminder is that one cannot glean much from looking at short-term developments in such a limited dataset.

Update: As we suspected, the downward trend did not last. Do keep in mind that the reasons for this can be many, and this does not mean that the current strategy does not work. We know for instance that more tests are being done, and we are still well within the two weeks since the panic shopping behaviour we saw following an increase in cases, with people packed close to each other in supermarkets. These are just a small selection of factors. Beyond that, this is a long-term game plan, and the important thing for it to work is that we all stick to it.

The strategy adopted by many European governments aims to 'flatten the curve' - a phrase you are likely to have seen pretty much every day since the early days of the outbreak. If it works, what we would expect to see is a gradual decrease of new daily confirmed cases over time, but for a longer time than if the virus had been allowed to run its course without measures such as social distancing.

So what conclusion can we draw from all of this? In sum:

1 - International comparisons are very difficult at the moment due to differing data availability and testing procedures;

2 - The most common graph (total number of confirmed infections) is interesting, but has its limitations;

3 - We can't draw many real conclusions based on the current publicly available data; and most importantly

4 - Respect the measures taken by the government, as it will only work if we are all in this together and do our part.
CHICAGO  Illinois consumers have filed more than 700 price gouging complaints accusing stores of raising prices on household goods during the rush to stock up because of the new coronavirus.

State investigators who are working from home because of the coronavirus are conducting phone interviews with consumers who file price gouging complaints with the Illinois attorney generals office, said Tori Joseph, a spokeswoman for that agency.

We are handling these using our authority under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. We are contacting businesses directly  some businesses say they have only increased prices in response to suppliers increasing prices. We ask for information on suppliers so that we can follow up with those entities. We have not taken any enforcement actions to date, Joseph said in an emailed statement.

In Illinois, the price gouging law only applies to petroleum and fuel products. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order March 16 that extends the states authority to police price hikes on household products and medical supplies.

Attorney General Kwame Raouls office announced last week it will look into complaints regarding the price of essential medical supplies, including protective gear, and other products like toilet paper and food.

State investigators also are monitoring products on websites like Amazon, eBay and Facebook, and the department is contacting companies regarding ads or offers that may be misleading.

The city of Chicago received 175 price gouging complaints between March 1 and Monday. The state received 526 complaints during the same period..

Most of the complaints filed with the city involved toilet paper and hand sanitizer, but a few also cited price increases on food and beverage products, said Isaac Reichman, a spokesman for the citys Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department.

YOUR GUIDE TO CORONAVIRUS
A n emergency field hospital is being built to cope with the UK's escalating coronavirus pandemic, the government has announced.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre in London's Docklands will open next week.

The military have helped build it and it has capacity for 4,000 patients across two wards.

The Standard revealed on Monday that military planners and NHS officials had met to discuss the venue.

It comes as the Government issued a call for 250,000 volunteers to help the NHS get through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Excel Centre in London's Docklands is the site of the new hospital (file image) / PA

Mr Hancock said the new scheme would help the NHS and local services to support vulnerable people. "Were seeking a quarter of a million volunteers to help the NHS for shopping, the delivery of medicines and supporting those who are shielded to protect their own health," he said.

"The NHS volunteer responders is a new scheme set up so that people can come and help and to make sure that the NHS and local services that are needed get all the support that they can."

It comes amid mounting concern at the virus gradually pushing Britain's health service to crisis point.

Last week Northwick Hospital in Harrow, part of the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, declared a critical incident due to a surge in coronavirus patients. The Trust, which has reported six deaths related to coronavirus at Northwick Park, later stood down the alert.

Northwick Park declared a critical incident last week due to a virus surge / AFP via Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University Hospital Lewisham, both run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in south-east London, also reportedly turned away coronavirus patients due to strain on intensive care beds.

The Standard has learnt that at least seven doctors at University College London Hospitals, in Bloomsbury, are feared to have been infected.

NHS Englands national medical director Stephen Powis said it is "absolutely right" that sick patients in hospitals are tested first, but that "after that we absolutely need to be able to test our staff" to identify those who can continue working and those who have developed immunity.

Praising the Nightingale hospital as an extraordinary feat," he added: From a standing start a day or two ago a hospital will be built that will be able to take its first patients at the start of next week.

"The NHS is pulling out all the stops at present, amazing staff doing amazing things."

On the first day of the UK's nationwide lockdown, Mr Hancock also warned staying at home is now the front line in the fight against Covid-19, as the death toll in the UK jumped to 422 this afternoon.
The rampaging coronavirus continues to roil the global economy, upending trade and commerce. As countries seal borders to prevent the spread of the flu-like virus, the shipping industry, too, has taken a hit. Indian logistics players in the sector say they are finding it difficult to keep the business lines operational.

Shipsy, a Gurugram-based company that connects exporters and importers with shipping companies and helps manage the logistics through a digital platform, said bookings were down by more than 25%. With all major cities locked down, the export business could take a bigger hit.

Eight percent of the overall trading volume happens through our platform, we used to get around 80,000 to 90,000 container bookings every month, that has fallen by a good 25%, cofounder Soham Choksi said.

Another player in the shipping space, Freightwalla, which manages cargo movement for exporters, said the entire industry was facing multiple challenges and the situation was changing dynamically. With labour being asked to stay at home and many fleeing to their hometowns, industrial production had been hit, in turn, affecting the export sector.

Demand in Europe and North America is expected to fall significantly if the spread of the virus is not contained quickly, so that will directly impact our business here in the coming weeks or months, Freightwalla co-founder Sanjay Bhatia 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

The shipping industry rides on container movement across the globe.

The unprecedented shutdown across the world has hindered the movement greatly. Initially, containers were not moving out of China, as there was no one to unload them at the docks, industry executives say. This led to a pile-up of demand for containers from Indian exporters. Now when China is showing signs of revival, Indian ports are facing a lockdown. The bottom line, loading of cargo continues to be a problem.

Even in some cases local administration is interfering in dock activities and asking porters to shut operations as cities are under lockdown, but shipping and freight movement is exempted by government order, this is creating problems at an operational level, said a top export industry executive on condition of anonymity. These problems were being faced in ports across the country, he added.

Choksi of Shipsy pointed out that ports were clogged in many parts of the world. Containers that would get emptied and reloaded in three days were taking more than two weeks to turn around, causing an acute shortage in India.

But then there are demand issues as well, consumers are only buying must-haves, discretionary spends are going down, hence even while manufacturing in China is coming back to normal, the overall situation remains grim, said Choksi.

The situation in India is better than in large parts of Europe and the United States, where the virus has spread aggressively. Even in the best-case scenario, the Western nations will take time to spring back to normal.

Sectors like textile that account for 10% of Indias exports could see a major decline in revenue, as demand will fall in China, the US and Europe, industry executives say.
RTE has confirmed that broadcaster Claire Byrne has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Staff were informed by management on Saturday that a case had been confirmed at the station.

In a statement to her colleagues this afternoon, Ms Byrne said she had tested positive for Covid-19.

"I made the decision that I wanted you all to know this at the earliest opportunity. The HSE contact tracing system worked with me over the weekend.

"I am well now and through the peak of the condition and I want to thank everyone who has been in touch with me to express support and in particular, those in RTE who spent their weekend dealing with issues that arose as a result of my diagnosis."

She said she was getting better and was working with Medmark and her own GP who will assess when it is safe for her to return to work.

Ms Byrne will present the Claire Byrne Live programme this evening through Skype from her home and broadcaster Sarah McInerney will be co-presenting in studio.

On Saturday, RTE said in line with HSE guidelines, public health services would be in contact with those individuals who had direct contact with the person who tested positive.

Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.

Generally, a person needs to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person, within one to two metres, to be considered at-risk or a close contact.

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A nurse helping to save the lives of coronavirus patients has been handed a 40 parking ticket by health bosses, it has emerged.

The nurse had just finished a 12-hour night shift working on a Covid-19 ward when she arrived at her car and discovered a parking ticket.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) described the move by health bosses at a time when the NHS is facing its biggest ever threat as "soul-destroying".

Pat Cullen, RCN (NI) director, also revealed the nurse paid the fine, which was half of the money she earned during her 12-hour shift.

The shameful development comes as Health Minister Robin Swann gave a commitment that hospital parking fees will be waived for NHS staff in the coming months.

Ms Cullen said: "I am absolutely gutted for the nurse in question.

"I was absolutely speechless when I saw the photograph of the ticket.

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"The nurse had just finished a 12-hour shift and came out to her car and found the ticket.

"Her car wasn't even obstructing anyone.

"When she arrived at the hospital for work there weren't any spaces available.

"So she parked up responsibly with the intention of returning to move her car when she got a chance.

"Of course, she didn't get the opportunity and this is what happened.

"We have nurses who are putting their own health at risk to care for patients with coronavirus, they are working 12 hours straight, they aren't even getting a break, and this is what happens.

"Not only that, but the 40 fine was half of what she earned during her shift.

"It's soul-destroying. What kind of message does this send to our nurses?"

The staffing shortages in Northern Ireland and across the UK are so severe that regulatory bodies have issued appeals to recently retired doctors and nurses to return to the front line to help care for patients.

Elective operations have been cancelled and hospital doctors are preparing to be redeployed into Covid-19 wards as an increasing number of patients become critically ill.

The challenge facing the NHS - the greatest crisis in its 71-year history - comes just months after tens of thousands of health service staff staged industrial action in a row over pay and conditions.

Ms Cullen continued: "Our nurses are putting their own health on the line.

"They are treating patients with coronavirus, raising the possibility that they may also contract the virus.

"We are hearing from nurses whose family are asking them to sit in different rooms when they come home from their shifts because they are scared of catching coronavirus.

"We are hearing nurses who are asking whether any of the hotels in Belfast will let them have a room where they can change and shower or stay between shifts.

"Our nurses are doing everything they can to help save lives, to look after critically ill patients, and I think we should be cutting them a bit of slack."
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Ineos is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills. If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

The UKs third richest man Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of chemicals giant INEOS, has announced plans to build a hand sanitiser plant in the UK in 10 days.

The new plant will produce one million bottles a month of the much-needed product to help combat the spread of coronavirus, according to the company.

The sanitiser, which is in short supply across Europe, will be given to hospitals free of charge.

They product will be made according to World Health Organisation (WHO) specifications and be specifically designed to kill bacteria and viruses, INEOS said.

The company also intends to make pocket bottle hand sanitisers for personal use for people across the UK and Europe, and is already in talks with retail outlets across Europe.

Read more: Buckinghamshire distillery makes hand sanitiser out of honey

INEOS said it will supply hospitals, schools, workplaces, pharmacies, and supermarkets.

INEOS is Europes largest producer of the two key raw material needed for hospital grade hand sanitiser at its sites in Grangemouth, Scotland and in northern Germany so is uniquely placed to branch out into major production of hand sanitiser.

(Yahoo Finance)

The new plant will be located near Middlesbrough and a second factory is planned in Germany.

One of the main ways that the coronavirus is spread is hand to mouth. The first piece of advice given by the WHO to prevent this is regularly using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser or washing your hands with soap and water.

The move comes amid a global shortage of hand sanitiser, caused by stockpiling and increased usage. Sales in the UK surged 225% in February, before Covid-19 had even hit Britain in earnest.

A World Health Organisation spokesperson said on Tuesday 85% of coronavirus cases reported over the past 24 hours have been in Europe and the United States.

Read more: Louis Vuitton's parent company to make hand sanitiser for French hospitals

INEOS to build hand sanitiser plant near Middlesbrough in 10 days to make 1 million bottles per month

It is becoming increasingly clear that hand to mouth infection is a significant cause of Corona virus contagion and INEOS is Europes largest manufacturer of the core ingredient of hand sanitiser. We will build two factories in the UK and Germany in 10 days to produce very substantial supplies, said Ratcliffe.

Story continues

Ineos is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills. If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part.

LVMH (MC.PA), the French luxury giant that owns brands like Louis Vuitton, said recently it would switch production at all of its cosmetics and perfume factories to start producing hand sanitiser instead. The product will be supplied to French authorities battling to control the outbreak.

A small Buckinghamshire distillery that usually makes gin and vodka out of honey has also begun making hand sanitiser amid the global shortage  highlighting how businesses both great and small are throwing their weight behind efforts to fight Covid-19.

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Nearly all the nations schools may be closed, but it has not stopped tens of thousands of superintendents from working round the clock to arrange social services and meals for students and stand up some kind of distance learning program.



Just as with principals, superintendents are being pushed to become rapid innovators, problem-solvers, and troubleshooters as they try to adapt to the realities of the coronavirus pandemic. They have always been, in some sense, the public face of their school system. But now the pressure is on them to an even greater extent.

Its not so much that the job duties themselves have changed: Superintendents are still the key executives and decisionmakers. Its more that, like a filter put on a snapshot, their work has intensified and become more focused, and its certainly being closely scrutinized. The pandemic is requiring them to exercise their most important leadership musclesthe ones that separate the very best superintendents from the just-sort-of-OK ones.

You have to rely heavily on your leadership skills, and you have to know and trust your judgment, and I want to say your informed judgment, said Samantha Fuhrey, the superintendent of the Newton County, Ga. district, who was one of four finalists for the national Superintendent of the Year . You do that anyway, but because this is such a huge issue for communities, you have to be even more judicious about the things you say, how you say them, and the level of transparency you provide to your community.

EdWeek interviewed several superintendents for their insights on how the role is changing. They represent districts of different sizes, geographic diversity, located in different states that closed schools on different time-frames. But one thing they share is a commitment to adapting to difficult new times for public schools.

I dont think we can overcommunicate': Samantha Fuhrey, Newton County Schools, Ga.

Heres a little bit how superintendent the job looks these days for Superintendent Fuhrey.

Early one morning last week, she was frantically working with her division heads, because a second staffer in the district had tested positive for COVID-19, and the district needed to figure out how to communicate that news without frightening students or parentsor violating the staffers privacy.

And by the afternoon? She was heading out for another public appearance, after a pastor at a local megachurch had asked experts to do a community forum about the coronavirus. (Fuhrey was scheduled to appear alongside an official from the local health department, followed by a live-streamed Q and A.)

And while she knew she wouldnt have all the answersGeorgia, like other states, is wrestling with complex policy questions about the length of the school year and student credit hoursshe knew her very presence sent a signal.

Communication. I dont think we can overcommunicate in a situation like this, she said.

It has not all been smooth sailing. On Twitter, some urged the district to post pictures of the ill employees; others said the district was keeping information hidden, a rumor the district had to tamp down. She had a tricky balancing act between two different constituencies with different understandings about privacy.

That was a definite challenge for us, and I think working with the medical community was interestingtheyre accustomed to HIPPA [the health-privacy law] and we are with FERPA [which protects student privacy]. They couldnt understand the magnitude of the response we would receive if we were to say nothing at all, Fuhrey said. " ... I kept thinking, If someones child is sick, they will have my head on a stake somewhere.

As for instruction, broadband access isnt universal in the county, so instead the system has moved to a hybrid model, with those who have access using online learning materials and others using printed materials. Weve made calls to every child in our school system to say, do you have internet? A laptop? What can we do to help you? Fuhrey said.

For those who still cant connect, Newton County has put resource bins out in front of each of its schools, each separated out by grade or topic area, where parents and children can pick up materials, from early learning up through physical science. The district has already had to replenish several of them.

And importantly, Fuhrey has made efforts to connect with students, too. She wants them to know that despite these extraordinary times, theyre going to be OK.

At the board meeting last week, Furhey took a few minutes to address the districts high school seniors and recognize their fears about missing rites of passage like graduation or promand to reassure them that, regardless of how long schools are closed, shell make sure they get a graduation ceremony of sorts.

Heres how shes thinking about an online event for now, if it comes to that: You bring in your validictorian, your salutatorian, your class president, and record their speeches. You get all the pictures taken, and if one of the kids is missing a picture, have them send one, she explained. Then well call out each name, and as we put kids pictures up there and we focus on their pictures, Ill confer diplomas. We can do that at least to give them some semblance of an experience.

And if I were a parent at this time and my child were a senior, I would have them dress up in their cap and gown.

Dealing with the pandemic is an ongoing challenge, but one thing Furhey she takes to heart is that is that her own staff have expressed gratitude for her can-do approach.

One of the things they said is, It helps us so much, in the moment of crisis when we all feel like the world is falling apart, we hear your voice and you are so calm, Furhey recounted an email shes recently received. I think people always respected the work Ive done but to hear them say that in the storm, youre the lighthouse, and were looking to you, is a powerful thing to hear from a staff member.

Trying to do right by other kids': A. Katrise Perera, Gresham-Barlow School District, Ore.

Superintendent Pereras grandmother worked in her Catholic schools cafeteria when Perera was a child. Her grandmothers wages helped cover the tuition costs so Perera could attend the school. Thats what Perera thinks about as she navigtes the coronavirus crisis as the superintendent of the Gresham-Barlow district, in Gresham, Ore., east of Portland.

I owe her whatever breath I have left in me. I certainly honor her legacy by trying to do right by other kids, she said.

Her district of about 11,000 students has some unique challenges, including as a large populationperhaps 25 percentwho are transient. Theyre not necessarily homeless but move frequently for housing and economic reasons. So her biggest challenge right now is knowing how to maintain some of the supports those students received when school was in session, particularly social-emotional learning.

SEL has been a big focus for us this year, knowing the challenges they have outside of our facilities, and the SEL support and the continuation of that has been a challenge. Kids who were making good progresshow do we ensure they dont fall back into that state of lull? she said.

The district had put a rich SEL curriculum, expanding the AVID college-readiness program to elementary school, and using professional development for teachers and administrators from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. And its seen some benefits, like lowered discipline rates and fewer outbursts in classrooms and more attention to positive behavior incentives, and doesnt want to lose ground.

So far, the districts teachers have used those structures to check in with individual students that may need some extra help at home via phone calls.

There isnt an easy answer here, Perera said. We know some of our students, the only structure they have is at school and the safest place they have is school.

The district is not neglecting students other needs. As the district entered its spring break this week, it will continue to offer bagged lunches to students. Its arranged child care in partnership with a local provider. The district, like many in Oregon, doesnt yet have the capacity for fully online instruction, so Perera said the goal is to keep students from slipping back while out of school. Its supplied activities for parents both in print and online. Over this spring break, its fielding a survey of its families technology needs, from which it plans to develop more extensive online learning plans now that schools are closed through at least April 28.

Overall, Perera said, shes proud of how her district has responded, and how the community has stepped up to help her, too, even as shes also aware of the toll these times are taking on the community.

There is always that strong sense of how can we help our students. That has been consistent, and probably even more pronounced, she said. But, she noted, this is stressful. Im trying to maintain myself, and keep a level head, and be an example to my employees by staying calm and collected, even though inside, I may feel like Im falling apart.

Leading in a pandemic or a crisis is new for me, but Im making sure I have the capacity and Im trying to take of myself to take care of others.

Our obligation is to serve students": Jason Glass, Jefferson County Schools, Colo.

The Jefferson County, Colo., district, like many others, has by now adapted to a new routine of sorts. It provides grab-and-go lunches rather than regular school meals. Its conducting most of its administrative business through online conference calls, with all the annoyances that entails.

Unlike many of its brethren, though, the 85,000-student district has fully pivoted to online learningand has put its e-learning program into place in record speed. Its still taking student attendance, and it plans to use the results of online learning to inform grades and credits.

Before COVID-19 changed the equation, the district had taken some steps towards an online learning program, but did not have a full one set up. Only two grades had a one-to-one device program; other grades had a computer cart with a bunch of other devices teachers used as needed.

But as it became clear that schools were likely to be closed, the district sprang into action. Schools made inventories of which students had a device at home that could work for online learning; those that didnt were assigned one. By Friday, March 13, it made sure every student had an account with a password. Over that weekend and the following Monday, the district quickly put together some professional development on online learning, while also relying on teachers ingenuity and professional expertise.

So far, it estimates nearly 95 percent of its students are participating.

To be sure, teachers are generally using asynchronous learning, which does not require all students to be online or responding at the same time. They assign reading, research, videos to watch or to react to, instruction, and then assignments for students to complete. Attendance is taken by looking to see whether a student engaged at some point during the day and did the assignments.

So I think thats been an extraordinary breakthrough, a whole district that is having a big experiment with asynchronous learning and competency-based learning, not that I would ever have wished wed be doing it under these circumstances, Glass said.

There are plenty of things that havent quite worked out yet, he freely acknowledges.

We are in this cycle of implement, reflect, adapt, and repeat ... Its a learning cycle because theres a lot of stuff happening we didnt expect and didnt know how it would work.

For example, What is the appropriate volume of assignments or tasks you should give to students? You have some students who are saying, Were doing this 10, 15 hours a day, and some that are done in an hour. So thats one of the calculations our staff has to makewhats the reasonable amount to expect of students?

Jefferson County pushed forward even as other districts paused remote-learning programs , some out of fear of running afoul of federal rules guaranteeing access for students with disabilities. (The U.S. Department of Education clarified last weekend that, while schools must still help students with disabilities access resources and materials provided online, concerns about those students should not prevent them from attempting to offer online instructional programs.)

Glass said that just wasnt an option for his team.

We just felt like thats not what our moral obligation is, Glass said. Our obligation is to serve students, and we dont do that if we throw up our hands and give up. It is not perfect, and we may end up having to do compensatory services [additional help under federal law for students with disabilities] for things we missed out on, and thats OK.

Not all parents are happy; some think the district made the wrong call. But the teachers union has been a key partner, and educators have really stepped up to the plate, Glass said.

I just have to say how extraordinary our professional educators and staff have been in running with this. People have demonstrated incredible adaptability and agility in meeting this new challenge. I got a few emails form people who think were doing the wrong thing, but overwhelmingly I hear from people who are appreciative that were trying.

Ive asked our teachers and the community to extend their grace to us because, of course were making mistakes, but were getting better.

Is he ever afraid given that many expect schools to be out for the rest of the year?

I have those moments of fear, too, but we really dont have time for them. You cant be paralyzed, he said. Yes, were all afraid, but weve got to have grace, and poise, and keep going in spite of the fear. Im asking it of my people, so I have to ask it of myself as well.

Image: Empty classrooms at the Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego, Oregon, one of the first to close this month due to the coronvirus. Ken Hawkins/ZUMA Wire
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Nargiz Sadikhova  Trend:

Kazakhstan has evacuated its citizens from Kyrgyzstan due to coronavirus outbreak, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Those evacuated were undergoing treatment in Kyrgyzstan and did not have the opportunity to return in time, the ministry said.

Countrys main goal is to maximally support its citizens who are in a difficult situation. Thus, children with a special diagnosis needed special transportation, the ministry said.

By a decision of State Commission on Provision of Emergency State under the president of Kazakhstan, quarantine regime has been introduced in Kazakhstans Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities at 00:00 (GMT +6) on March 19, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.

First two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 68 people.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.

As of today, over 381,500 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 16,500. Meanwhile, over 101,800 people have reportedly recovered.

Several countries are working on a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) has reportedly asked the Federal Reserve to remove the asset cap placed on the bank as a penalty for creating millions of fake bank accounts in 2016. Reuters first reported the news, citing an anonymous source.

The banking giant says that by removing the cap, which currently requires the bank to stay below $1.95 trillion in assets, it will be able to further assist customers and businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank at the end of 2019 had about $1.93 trillion in total assets, not leaving too much room for growth before hitting the cap. So, in order to stay in compliance and take on new assets, the bank would have to restructure the balance sheet and let certain parts run off.

Although growth projections will likely slow in most business lines at most banks, there could be new opportunities. For instance, Congress is preparing to grant hundreds of billions in new spending authority to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in order to help struggling businesses. Wells Fargo is a top SBA lender.

Bank of America analyst Erika Najarian said Wells Fargo could also likely benefit from deposit growth as people move their money to safer institutions during this time of uncertainty, according to Banking Dive.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Arati Randolph said the bank could not comment on regulatory matters, and the Federal Reserve, which previously said the cap would be in place until the bank improved its governance and risk controls, did not comment either.

Last month, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $3 billion fine to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of its settlement over the bank's fraudulent account scandal.
Michelle Keegan was awkwardly interrupted by her barking dogs during a live This Morning interview filmed from her bedroom on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old could not go to the studio as the nation is currently on lockdown amid the COVID:19 pandemic but still wanted to promote the new series of BBC show Our Girl

Calling Phillip Schofied and Holly Willoughby from home, Michelle, who plays Georgie Lane in the show, joked; 'Good job Ive cleaned, my house has never looked so clean!'

It's all gone wrong!' Michelle Keegan was awkwardly interrupted by her barking dogs during live This Morning interview filmed in her bedroom on Tuesday

Then talking about Our Girl, she said: 'So Georgie is back and training a new batch of medics. Theres an underlying sense of grief for Elvis that we'll see earlier in the series

'Last season ended on a cliff-hanger and the thing is you dont know who survives, its down the line, she's got a promotion...'

Then her dogs start barking. Michelle said: 'See its all gone wrong already. Im shutting my door. sorry about that they get back to afghan and she's conflicted about whether to go or not.'

Michelle said: 'Im shutting my door. sorry about that they get back to afghan and she's conflicted about whether to go or not'

Laughter: As Michelle left the room, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were left in fits of giggles

Michelle said that there won't be any sign of romance with Captain James in the new series.

She said: 'No, unfortunately hes not back this season. I think with Georgie she's married to her job in a sense she puts her job first. Shes trying to get over the death of Elvis and she needs closure with that.'

Michelle also spoke about how she's finding being in self-isolation.

Getting on with it: Michelle, pictured with one of the offending pooches also spoke about how she's finding being in self-isolation saying she's exercising and doing jigsaw puzzles

Role: She was on the show to promote her final series of starring as Georgie Lane in BBC show Our Girl (BBC still)

She said: 'Dont get me wrong Im keeping busy. Ive been doing jigsaws non-stop, Ive been exercising, taking the dogs for a walk, and cleaning.

'Im enjoying being home with my dogs and Mark, and I want to say hi to my family and friends I've not seen in a while.'

Michelle has now left Our Girl and said she's looking forward to pastures new.

She said: 'Ive done it for four years now and for me, having other opportunities and youre away from home a lot of the time...

'It was a hard decision because I had a great time its one of those bittersweet things really, but I also got to travel around the world.'
In 2016, communities in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam experienced the most severe drought and saline intrusion in more than 60 years. With water sources dried up or saline contaminated, many of the poorest families were forced to buy fresh water for their daily needs, at a price they could ill afford. Many had also taken out loans for rice seedlings and fertiliser, which they struggled to repay.

To provide support to the most vulnerable families affected by the drought and saline intrusion, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam provided emergency relief co-financing by Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and implemented through Oxfam and the Vietnam Red Cross.

Once the most urgent needs were identified, 436 households in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre were provided with fresh water and water tanks, and other emergency relief. Additionally, with support from the Central Emergency Response Fund, the UNDP also worked with World Vision and the Vietnam Red Cross to provide support to a further 6,000 affected households in Ba Tri district in Ben Tre, and Ham Thuan Bac and Bac Binh districts in the south-central province of Binh Thuan.

Photo: VNA

Intensified backing

In early 2020, the UN and UNDP worked with the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority to send working groups to assess the situation in the Mekong Delta region, and provide information as a basis for other members in the Partnership for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to support.

An aid package worth $185,000 was financed to help the Mekong Delta region cope with drought and saltwater intrusion. As many as 300 affected households have provided water tanks in Ben Tre province in the region and about 180 households are offered livelihood support in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

The UNDP is also supporting a policy dialogue in preventing saltwater intrusion and natural disasters and an application of mobile technologies to update damage caused by natural disasters, including drought and saltwater intrusion.

This is the second historic drought and saltwater intrusion spell in Vietnam in the Mekong Delta. Never has such a menace eaten into the main land as it is doing now. It has come a month and a half earlier than in previous years. In some areas, the drought and saltwater intrusion has entered some 90km deep, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep.

He said that inhabitants from the delta are suffering from grave shortages of water for their livelihood and production.

Thus the UNDPs support is of great importance to the sufferers, he stressed.

According to Vietnams General Statistics Office, the total area of agricultural land in the region is 2.6 million hectares. With this land resource, the region produces about 50 per cent of the total amount of food in Vietnam and ensures food security and livelihoods for approximately 70 per cent of the regions population. Agricultural products of the region are also exported to the international market. Thus the regions development of the agriculture sector directly correlates with poverty reduction.

The main agricultural products of the delta include rice, fruit, fish, and shrimp. It contributes 30 per cent of the agricultural production value, 57 per cent of total rice production, and 41 per cent of aquaculture production of the whole country. More than two million hectares of agricultural land are dedicated to rice production. There are only 150,000ha of cash crops such as vegetables, soybean, maize, and sugar cane, and 320,000ha of perennial crops like durian, coconut, mango, and longan.

However, according to international experts, the Mekong Delta is the most vulnerable to climate change and weather extreme events. Not only that, Vietnam as a whole is also considered one of the 10 countries at most extreme risk to natural disasters and climate change.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, climate change has contributed to temperature increases of more than 0.50C and a 20cm rise in sea level over the past 50 years in Vietnam. Extreme climate events also have been increasing. In past years, disasters have caused hundreds of deaths, destroyed nearly 100,000 houses, and accumulated losses equivalent to 1.3 per cent of GDP annually.

Supporting other regions

In order to support the country in overcome these menaces, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has just approved $30.2 million in funding for a new project that will address water insecurity issues and support climate-resilient agriculture for vulnerable smallholder farmers in Vietnams Central Highlands and south-central coast regions.

The GCF is established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.

Led by the MARD and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) National Designated Authority to the GCF and technically supported by the UNDP, the new six-year initiative will directly benefit around 222,400 people in the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa. The beneficiaries account for about 10 per cent of the provinces population. The initiative will provide modern irrigation systems, improved water security and livelihood options, increased knowledge of climate risks and resilient agricultural techniques, and access to localised climate advisories and market information.

In addition, over 335,000 people are expected to indirectly benefit from bettered institutional capacities through training and technical assistance, enhanced access to climate risk information, and widespread dissemination of best practices in climate-resilient agriculture.

The project is an innovative bend of finance between GCF grant and loan finance provided by Asian Development Bank (ADB) to have and integrated approach to building resilience.

We are proud of having worked closely with the MARD and the MPI to mobilise international climate finance to build climate resilience for vulnerable communities, especially the poor and ethnic minority groups, said Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP resident representative in Vietnam.

This second project focuses on climate-induced drought areas in central highlands and central coast of Vietnam, while our first GCF project focuses on improving resilience of vulnerable coastal communities. Together, these projects will set Vietnam on the path for building a sustainable climate resilient future and model for others in the region, she said.

With significant economic growth over recent decades, Vietnam is widely, and rightly, considered a development success story. However, poverty persists in some communities particularly among ethnic minorities.

Agriculture and water resources are the foundation of the livelihoods of about 64 per cent and 48 per cent of the people in the Central Highlands and the south central coast region, respectively. However, climate change-induced rainfall variability and droughts are leading to reduced water availability in agriculture, resulting in increasing declines in agricultural production.

The Central Highlands and south-central coast are expected to experience wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons with an increased risk of severe droughts. Only about 27.8 per cent of the regions agricultural land is irrigated, and farmers are forced to exploit groundwater for irrigation. Accordingly, farmers face reduced crop productivity, which in turn is impacting food security and incomes.

Small-scale farmers with plots of less than one hectare, who are dependent on one or two rain-fed crops a year, are most vulnerable to climate change impacts. During severe and prolonged droughts, they are unable to access sufficient water to maintain agricultural productivity because the existing irrigation systems are unable to meet the corresponding growth in demand for water, and alternative sources such as rivers, streams, ponds, and wells.

As well as investing in climate-resilient infrastructure  supporting smallholder farmers to connect to the irrigation systems financed by the ADB  the project places an emphasis on community-driven adaptation.

This project focuses on sustainable water management and will help accelerate Vietnams National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan and Sustainable Development Goals, especially the countrys priority actions to eradicate poverty, achieve food security, reduce inequality, and to realise sustainable communities, Wiesen noted.

The project also complements the Vietnamese governments efforts to ameliorate the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities under the UNDPs first GCF coastal resilience project, which is building 4,000 new storm-and-flood resistant houses and regenerating 4,000 hectare coastal mangroves to protect vulnerable communities whose lives and livelihoods are being impacted by the climate crisis.

Up to now, more than 2,400 new storm-and-flood resilient houses have been built, 1,400ha of coastal mangroves regenerated, and more than 32,000 people have been trained and get access to climate risk and resilient information.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:51:11|Editor: xuxin

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ABUJA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior Nigerian official has reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus, after returning from a foreign trip, according to local media on Tuesday.

Abba Kyari, the chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, had tested positive to the COVID-19 late Monday, two days after taking the test conducted by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, the local ThisDay newspaper reported, citing presidency sources.

There has been no official confirmation yet, but several presidency sources did not deny the top presidential aide's current health condition while speaking to Xinhua on Tuesday.

Kyari had recently returned to Nigeria after an official trip to Germany, another local online newspaper reported.

He was last seen at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday but did not show any signs of illness, according to the local Arise TV.

Presidency sources, however, told Xinhua that he had been in self-isolation after seeing some symptoms of the COVID-19 for which he personally called for a test.

He was conspicuously absent from his office on Monday and Tuesday, although Presidency officials have continued to keep mum over the latest development.
Apple users wondering if theyve caught COVID-19 now can ask digital assistant Siri for advice.

The company on Saturday rolled out a self-screening feature that allows users to ask, Hey Siri, do I have the coronavirus? Siri then takes them through a questionnaire prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and U.S. Public Health Service to determine if theyre exhibiting symptoms of the disease, such as fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath  or if theyve had contact with someone with the virus.

If users indicate their symptoms arent extremely life-threatening, Siri instructs them to stay at home and avoid contact with other people, wash their hands frequently and thoroughly, and maintain social distancing  that is, a separation of six feet between people. If the symptoms persist, theyre advised to contact a physician.

For extreme and life-threatening cases, Siri recommends a call to 911.

The app doesnt delve into the realm of diagnoses.

There are a number of symptoms that could be COVID-19 or something else, explained Seth Martin, MD, MHS, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

The only way to make a real diagnosis is to have testing performed to determine if those symptoms are actually due to COVID-19, he told TechNewsWorld. An app cant do that.

In addition to the questionnaire and advice, Siri provides App Store links to telehealth applications that could include virtual consultations with medical professionals.

Team CDC and Microsoft

Also on Saturday, the CDC announced its Coronavirus Self-Checker, which is powered by Microsofts Healthcare Bot service.

The chatbot is designed to screen Americans unsure about seeking medical care for COVID-19. In addition to asking questions based on CDC guidelines, the bot provides links to information and local health department contacts. However, it does not have information about coronavirus testing sites or treatment recommendations, other than to stay at home and take care of yourself  and in severe cases, dial 911.

This is most useful for the worried well,' said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Those are people who are not sick but concerned that they may be, she told TechNewsWorld. It lets them  if theyre not running a fever, dont have a dry cough, no shortness of breath  release some of their anxiety.

The Healthcare Bot service is designed to address some of the critical needs of frontline responders to the COVID-19 pandemic, noted Hadas Bitran, group manager at Microsoft Healthcare Israel, and Jean Gabarra, general manager at Microsofts Health AI, in an online post.

In particular, the need to screen patients with any number of cold or flu-like symptoms  to determine who has high enough risk factors to need access to limited medical resources and which people may more safely care for themselves at home  is a bottleneck that threatens to overwhelm health systems coping with the crisis, they wrote.

Microsofts Healthcare Bot service uses artificial intelligence to screen patients and free up medical personnel to provide critical care to those who need it, Bitran and Gabarra explained.

The bot, which runs in Microsofts Azure public cloud, can be customized for the needs of individual organizations. In addition to the CDC, healthcare providers using the service include Providence, which serves seven Western states; Novant Health, serving four states in the Southeast; and Virginia Mason Health System, which serves the pacific Northwest.

Watch Your Privacy

Symptom checkers can benefit both the medical system and consumers, noted Michael Arrigo, a HIPAA expert witness with No World Borders.

The tools can gather valuable epidemiology data about an epidemic. However, data collected by a checker needs to be stripped of identifying information so it cant be traced back to individual patients, he cautioned.

For consumers, the checkers can be a convenient way to obtain data for their personal symptom logs, as well as a useful diagnostic for a layperson with limited medical knowledge.

Convenience and education are great benefits of these checkers, Arrigo said.

While potentially beneficial, Arrigo recommended that both Apple and the CDC give consumers more information about the apps before they start using them.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The apps are well-intentioned, but they could have the unintentional consequence of disintermediating the patient from their physician, who is the best source for information, he said.

Because the prevailing opinions are that symptoms can take several days to appear in an infected person, these apps are not too useful at identifying some infected contagious people and could lead to a false sense of security, Arrigo added.

If the intent is to relieve a potentially overwhelmed primary care front line of defense, a big disclosure needs to go up front, stating that a consumer should check their symptoms multiple times because symptoms can take several days to appear, he said. In the interim, you could be unwittingly be exposing others during that incubation period.

Data gathered by the symptom checkers represents personal health records under federal law, which are subject to regulation by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, noted Arrigo.

The CDC does not share any of the personal information submitted to the Coronavirus Self Checker with Microsoft, reported Nextgov, a publication that covers government and technology. Microsoft provides the bot, but the CDC owns and maintains the checking tool.

Use Common Sense

Some consumers are creating their own symptom checkers based on information theyre gathering online, noted Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C.

Symptom trackers from authoritative sources give consumers a better alternative to the do-it-yourself approach.

Done properly, they can lessen peoples fears, suggest constructive actions people can take, perform at-home triage, and relieve the strain on the health sector, Cannon told TechNewsWorld.

As always, people should only take health advice from sources who know their stuff, like the infectious disease experts at major health systems or government public health agencies, he cautioned.

Like Dr. Seuss said, Do a lot of spitting out the hot air, and be careful what you swallow,' Cannon added.

People should also use common sense, said UTHealths Troisi. If someone in your house has been diagnosed with coronavirus and you start having symptoms, and the symptom checker says you dont need to be tested, it might be a good idea to ignore that advice.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was on Tuesday freed after eight months in detention after the administration revoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against him.

A swarm of media personnel and supporters, many of them in masks, waited for him outside his residence after he was released.

The National Conference leader, who turned 50 on March 10, has been under detention since August 5, when the Centre announced the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and its bifurcation into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The order revoking the PSA against him was issued by Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra. Abdullah was booked under the stringent act on February 5, hours before his six-month custody under preventive detention was to end.

The government has revoked his detention with immediate effect, the order stated.

Abdullah's mother was the first to arrive at the makeshift detention centre after came in that her son was about to be released. He was kept at the state guesthouse Hari Nivas, just a few hundred metres from his official residence.

His father, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, was also charged under the PSA and released on March 13 after 221 days in detention. PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti continues to be under detention.

On February 5, Omar Abdullah, who was junior foreign minister and commerce minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, was served with a three-page dossier that was challenged in the Supreme Court by his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot.

The Supreme Court last week asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to inform by this week if it was releasing him.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah told the counsel appearing for the Centre that Abdullah's sister's plea against his detention would be heard on merit if he was not released soon.

The petition, which may now become infructuous, could have come up for hearing on Wednesday or later this week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Donald Trump has retweeted his daughter Tiffany Trump's claim that the US has 'eight days to slow the spread' of coronavirus, as the president faces criticism for suggesting he could lift lockdowns in the United States early.

Tiffany shared an image from the CDC which shows '15 days' crossed out and replaced with '8', despite health experts warning that it could be a matter of months before social distancing measures can safely be lifted.

President Trump yesterday said that he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days, and America would be open for business 'very soon'.

The US coronavirus death toll surpassed 500 on Monday as the total number of cases went past 43,000 and fifteen states went into various forms of lock-down.

Tiffany Trump (pictured last November) has tweeted that the US has 'eight days to slow the spread' of coronavirus, as the president faces criticism for suggesting he could lift lockdowns in the United States early

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters as he speaks about the coronavirus in Washington on Monday

Fears that Mr Trump is trying to rush to lift the lockdown mounted after the president talked economics and down played the medical portion at a daily White House coronavirus briefing Monday.

'America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,' President Trump said at the briefing.

'A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.'

An Upper East Side resident walks passed PQR Pizza Quadrata Romana located at 1631 2nd Avenue in Manhattan which is closed and boarded up due to COVID-19 pandemic on Monday

Empty streets in Manhattan, New York, as numbers of coronavirus cases continue to rise in the city which is in lockdown from Monday

President Trump complained about the caution brought by health care professionals, saying he told his team they would close the 'entire world.'

'I was telling them, if it was up to the doctors, they would keep it shut down, they would say "let's shut down the entire world."' You can't do that,' he said.

Experts have rushed to condemn lifting lockdowns early.

Tom Inglesby, a director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tweeted a thread aimed at 'anyone advising the end of social distancing' .

He wrote: 'COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the yr ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country.'

Inglesby, who is listed as specializing in pandemics and infectious diseases, also said in his tweets: 'How do we gain time to let hosps get more supplies & prepare for high number of pts? How do we lower the speed of spread of COVID in US? How do we lower odds that ICUs will run out of vents, hospitals run out of space? The answer for now is large scale social distancing.'

A former Barack Obama health official told Politico: 'It is way too early to even consider rolling back any guidelines. With cases and deaths rising by the day, the country must double down, not lighten up, on social distancing and related measures.'

The US death toll surpassed 500 on Monday as fifteen states went into various forms of lock-down.

President Donald Trump said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days. The US death toll surpassed 500 on Monday as fifteen states went into various forms of lock-down

The death toll from the virus in America is now 554, a sharp rise of more than 100 people in one day. Experts say the spike is yet to come and that the current state of crisis will last for another several months, at least.

President Trump is yet to mandate a national lock-down because the problem is worse in some states than in others.

Michigan, Massachusetts, Indiana, Oregon and West Virginia were the latest states to tell residents to stay at home and the city of Denver is urging its resident to.

Now, 16 are under stay-at-home rules. New York and California were the first, along with Washington state.

New York is by far the worst affected state in the country, with more than 20,000 of the cases in the US occurring there. An astonishing 12,000 are in New York City.
According to fresh reports, Pres Buharis chief of staff, Abba Kyari is allegedly ill with the Wuhan coronavirus.

Abba Kyari, President Muhammadu Buhari

In a report compiled by SaharaReporters,it claims that President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, is seriously sick, and suspected to have gotten coronavirus.

According to the media outlet, Kyari has been seriously down since returning from a trip to Egypt and Germany.

Egypt has 327 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 14 deaths while Germany has 29,056 infections and 123 deaths.

The report went further to state that though Kyari is coughing severely, he is still attending meetings including with Buhari, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council.
It is now clear that Vakeel Saab will not release in May. The film that was scheduled for May 15th has been stalled due to the corona outbreak. Though Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been locked until March 31st, the shootings will resume only after everything comes to normalcy. Producers have already decided not to worry about release dates.

The biggest headache for the Telugu film industry is to streamline all the releases once the theaters open. Pawan Kalyan and Dil Raju have decided to postpone the movie.



Pawan Kalyan has been lending his total support to the Narendra Modi government in containing the coronavirus.

He has also now appealed to the public to not neglect the lockdown period and asked everyone to stay at home.

Pawan Kalyan has two movies on the sets  Vakeel Saab and director Krishs period movie.
SANTA ROSA (BCN)

The Santa Rosa Police Department on Tuesday said two of its employees have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The Police Department is hosting a briefing on the disclosure at 2:30 p.m.

The briefing will update the department's efforts to prevent exposure to staff, discuss how the city will contribute to addressing the needs of officers who have or could become exposed to the virus, and how the department will continue to service and protect the community.

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.
Trump removed US health expert job in China before coronavirus outbreak: Report

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 1:52 PM

The administration of US President Donald Trump eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing tasked with detecting disease outbreaks in China several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, a report says.

The US epidemiologist, Linda Quick, was embedded in China's disease control agency but her position was eliminated in July, Reuters reported Monday, citing four sources with knowledge of the issue.

"It was heartbreaking to watch," Bao-Ping Zhu, a Chinese American who served in that role between 2007 and 2011, told Reuters. "If someone had been there, public health officials and governments across the world could have moved much faster."

The report said that after Quick left in July, no other foreign disease experts were embedded to lead the program, which was funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Zhu and the other sources said the American expert was a trainer of Chinese field epidemiologists who were deployed to the epicenter of outbreaks to help track, investigate and contain diseases.

Trump, however, dismissed the Reuters report during a White House press briefing on Sunday shortly after this story was first published, describing it as "100 percent wrong."

"This is just like all the other stuff that you...that the press was asking," Trump said. "Every one of those things that were said were 100 percent wrong and this sounds like another one of them."

US health experts have sharply rebuked the Trump administration for initially downplaying the crisis and lagging behind in testing efforts.

The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has spread rapidly worldwide, killing more than 13,600 people and infecting more than 317,000.

In the US, more than 35,000 people have gone down with the virus out of whom nearly 460 have died, according to worldometers.info.

The global pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems in some countries, including Italy, and threatens to do so in the United States and elsewhere.

Relations between the US and China have deteriorated since the outbreak, as Trump has labeled the coronavirus the "Chinese virus," a description the Chinese have condemned as racist and stigmatizing.

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Whats new: Anthony Fauci, a U.S. immunologist who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said in an interview with Science that he has never used the term Chinese virus to describe Covid-19 and he never will.

Fauci also said U.S. President Donald Trumps statement suggesting China could have revealed the discovery of the coronavirus three or four months earlier than it did doesnt comport with the facts, because that would translate to China knowing about the virus in September.

Background: Fauci made his comment on the use of Chinese virus to describe Covid-19 in response to a reporters question on whether he ever had or ever would use the terms China virus or Chinese virus.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the coronavirus the Chinese virus, which has angered Beijing and generally goes against global efforts to avoid associating the virus with a particular location due to concerns about stigmatization.

Science said China did not reveal its discovery of the new virus until late December, and made the viruss sequencing public by Jan. 10.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full Caixin article in Chinese, click here.

Read related Caixin news in English:

AmCham Urges Phase Two U.S.-China Deal to Ease Coronavirus Disruption

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com)
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Thirteen new cases have been confirmed in Chernivtsi region today.

Ukraine's Health Ministry has provided its fresh report on COVID-19 in Ukraine, saying that the number of confirmed cases in the country is nearing 100.

"At the moment of this briefing, the number of the confirmed cases is 97," Ukraine's Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko said on Tuesday afternoon, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

He recalled that 11 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours. Ten of them are in Kyiv region and one is in Ternopil region.

"Today, another 13 cases have been confirmed in Chernivtsi region," he said.

"These are mostly the individuals who were in contact with previously confirmed cases, which we had 25 in that region," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, as of 10:00 Kyiv time on March 24, there were 84 confirmed coronavirus cases in Ukraine.
Russian doctors to diagnose patients using telemedicine  bill

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

14:52 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  Members of the State Duma and the Federation Council have drafted a bill enabling doctors to screen and diagnose patients as well as prescribe treatments, if necessary, using telemedicine technologies.

The document, according to a statement of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russias Parliament, is to improve access of citizens to health care, including people in need of coronavirus diagnostics.

It is expected that the initiative is to be submitted to the State Duma in the nearest future, a co-author of the amendments sought by the document to be introduced to federal laws on information and on health care, Deputy Char of the Federation Council Andrey Turchak says.

The new provisions of the federal laws are to permit usage of telemedicine technologies in the sphere of health care provision.

According to Turchak, the legislation currently in force in Russia empowers doctors only to consult and interview patients distantly, whereas in other countries a much more wide range of services is provided by telemedicine means.

Another co-author of the draft law, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Irina Rukavishnikova, adds that senators intend to closely cooperate with Russias Health Ministry in drafting the amendments as concerns the list of diseases to be diagnosed distantly and the development of telemedicine technologies saving doctors time and reduce their workload.

The senator has also pointed out yet another important factor urging the development of telemedicine technologies, that is the provision of emergency medical aid to patients before doctors can be on the spot by professionally instructing those already present there.

The bill also envisages the introduction of means permitting additional identification and authentication of those distantly providing medical aid by registering their biometric data, the use of enhanced encrypted and certified digital signatures, medical organization identifications and other data set forth by Russias government.

Other co-authors of the bill are First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Igor Kagramanyan and State Duma lawmakers Alexander Khinshtein and Dmitry Morozov.
BAKU, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan said on Saturday it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, after the death toll in Iran rose to 43, the highest number outside of China.

Iran is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, with several countries in the region reporting cases stemming from Iran.

Two Azerbaijanis have been placed in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, the government said in a statement, adding that both had arrived from Iran.

It said the decision to close the border had been taken "in light of the World Health Organisation's recommendations and the experience of other countries related to the risk of the spread of coronavirus".

The government will start a process to bring back its citizens from Iran, as well as returning Iranian citizens living in Azerbaijan, the statement added.

Azerbaijan registered its first case of coronavirus on Feb. 28. There are currently three people infected with the virus in Azerbaijan. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Clelia Oziel)
by Shafique Khokhar

Bishops and clergymen organise their services on Facebook and YouTube. Capuchin monk notes that only churches are closed; families are united in prayer. Panaflex boards are placed at the doors of Karachi churches. Bangladeshi authorities postpone school exams.

Lahore (AsiaNews) - In Pakistan and Bangladesh, like in many other countries, local dioceses have turned to the Internet to broadcast their Masses after the authorities imposed restrictions on public gatherings.

The aim is to accompany the faithful in spirit and not abandon them at this time of difficulty with the coronavirus spreading more and more.

In South Asia, Pakistan has with the highest number of infections, 903 as of today, with six deaths so far.

The Catholic Church has again urged to faithful to respect the rules, whilst in Sind, the provincial government called on the military to deploy troops to help doctors and patients and patrol the streets.

In Lahore, Fr Shahzad Khokhar posted Sundays Mass on the Capuchins own YouTube channel, Capuchin interfaith dialogue Pakistan. "The doors of God are always open, he said. Let's repent, hope and pray.

The Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation launched a prevention programme in various parts of the city.

In Karachi Card Joseph Coutts had bilingual (Urdu-English) panaflex boards prepared, with information on prevention and restrictions to follow, placed at the doors of all the churches of the archdiocese.

Ashir Liaquat, a priest at St Patrick's Cathedral, celebrated Mass that was carried on social media.

During the service, he invited the faithful to pray for the victims of COVID-19, for the doctors and health workers who "are aware of the deadly risk, but are ready to help and sacrifice", and for the scientists who are developing the vaccine. He noted that "Only churches are closed; homes and families are united in prayer.

In Bangladesh, the outbreak is still contained, with 33 positive cases and three deaths. All of the countrys dioceses have called on the faithful not to attend Mass.

Archbishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi posted an appeal on Facebook. Protect yourself from the coronavirus, do not come to Mass, do alternative prayer services. Stay home, wash your hands and keep your distance.

Archbishop Moses M Costa of Chattogram has organised two Masses a day, at 3.30 pm and 6 pm, carried on the Archdioceses webpage.

In Dhaka, 200 worshippers attended the Sunday service at the Tejgaon parish church, the oldest and largest in the country. Kiron Corraya was present. Usually we are at least 1,500. I am praying intensely to Almighty God to save the world from the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to postpone school exams set to start on 1 April, whilst the National Association of Shop Owners (Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity) had all the stores closed from 25 to 31 March. Only markets, pharmacies and food stores remain open.

(Sumon Corraya contributed to this article)
Tim Martin, founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon. (Vickie Flores/In Pictures via Getty Images Images)

The boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) has told staff they could face delays being paid and urged them to consider taking a job at supermarkets like Tesco (TSCO.L) instead.

In a video sent to staff this week, Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said his company would be making use of the new government wage subsidy scheme but warned staff they would likely face delays in being paid.

The government promised to pay about 80% of wages, Martin said in the video, which was reviewed by Yahoo Finance UK. Therell probably be some delays to paying it for which I also apologise but I feel sure theyre going to come through on their promise.

Read more: Wetherspoon boss lashes out at Boris Johnson over coronavirus comments

In the meantime, Martin said Wetherspoons 40,000 staff could consider looking for work at a supermarket.

Weve had lots of calls from supermarkets, he said. Tesco alone want 20,000 people to join them. Thats half the number of people who work in our pubs.

If Im being honest, I say you can get the furlough payments and stay at home. If youre offered a job at a supermarket, many of you will want to do that. If you think its a good idea  do it. I can completely understand it.

If youve worked for us before, I promise you well give you first preference if you want to come back. We will obviously completely understand that you dont want to wait around to re-open.

Read more: Wetherspoon boss denies 'putting profits before people' on coronavirus

The comments provoked criticism from unions and some Wetherspoon staff. The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and SpoonStrike, a group set up to organise collective staff action at JD Wetherspoon, said the pub group had no regard for the financial and mental wellbeing of their employees.

Whilst other companies such as Costa have promised their staff 8 weeks fully paid, Wetherspoons have left over 40,000 people without their next pay date, with no means of paying for rent, bills or food, and no warning, the groups said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Story continues

Boris Johnson with Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, during a visit to Wetherspoons Metropolitan Bar in London, Wednesday July 10, 2019. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

BFAWU and SpoonStrike also claimed JD Wetherspoon had told staff they would only be paid for hours worked up until Sunday 22 March and would also not receive bonuses that had already been awarded.

This country will not forget the way in which employers have treated their staff during this crisis, said Ian Hodson, president of the BFAWU. Now is the time for all workers to come together and oppose greedy inaction by millionaire bosses.

Eddie Gershon, a spokesperson for JD Wetherspoon, said: There has been a complete misinterpretation of what Wetherspoon said.

The company made clear that all employees would get paid this Friday for all work carried out until the pubs shut, Gershon said.

As we understand it, tens of thousands of hospitality workers and others have already lost their jobs, but Wetherspoon is retaining all its employees, using the government scheme for the purpose for which it is intended.

Wetherspoon believes that the actions it has taken are responsible and sensible in the difficult circumstances.

Martin said in the video sent to staff there was no money coming in through the tills, which is not something we ever planned for as you can appreciate.

Our main aim is to re-open, he said in the video. Its very important to the country that we reopen. It might be weeks, it might be months.

Last week, the outspoken pub boss said it was a tactical error for the UK government to tell the public to avoid pubs and restaurants and said: If pubs remain open on a sensible basis, then thats a plus. Martin refused to rule out job cuts at the time.

The UK government this week ordered all non-essential shops shut and said the public should stay at home in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 13:14:30|Editor: Lu Hui

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A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks along the Fifth Avenue in New York, the United States, March 23, 2020. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York City has reached 13,119 as of Monday night local time, according to data of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. A total of 124 deaths have been reported in the city, according to the CSSE. The largest U.S. city with a population of 8.6 million has become a new epicenter of the outbreak, taking about 30 percent of the nation's tally of 43,901. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

NEW YORK, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York City has reached 13,119 as of Monday night local time, according to data of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 124 deaths have been reported in the city, according to the CSSE.

The largest U.S. city with a population of 8.6 million has become a new epicenter of the outbreak, taking about 30 percent of the nation's tally of 43,901.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday in an interview with CNN that the situation in the city would get worse.

"It's the beginning of something that will get worse throughout April and into May and we've got to brace ourselves and we've got to change our lives and we absolutely need help from Washington," he said.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, said on Monday that 28 percent of coronavirus tests in the New York metropolitan area turned out positive, compared with less than 8 percent of the rest of the country.

"Clearly, the virus had been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community," she said at a White House briefing, adding that all New Yorkers should "absolutely social distance and self-isolate at this time."

Monday was the first day that all non-essential businesses have been closed in New York state. Streets in Manhattan were almost empty as any kind of public gathering of any scale has been banned statewide. The New York Stock Exchange temporarily closed its trading floor and shifted to all-electronic trading.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who issued the stay-at-home order last week, showed up at the Jacob K. Javits Center on Monday and announced an initial delivery of hospital supplies to the center where the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has started to build a 1,000-bed temporary hospital.

The hospital is in addition to the four sites selected by the Army Corps of Engineers that will create temporary hospitals in southern New York state with a total capacity of around 4,000 beds.

The governor said the federal administration has deployed hundreds of thousands of N-95 masks, surgical masks, gloves, gowns and face shields to New York State, with many of which already located at the Javits Center.

The FEMA hospital is expected to open next week and there will be about 320 federal staff that come to work in it, said Cuomo.

"Luckily, Javits has plenty of space. We've been expanding Javits. This was never an anticipated use, but you do what you have to do. That's the New York way, that's the American way. And we're going to get this done," he added.

On Monday night, Mayor de Blasio said on Twitter that the city has release some prisoners in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in jails.

At least 38 people have tested positive for the disease at the notorious Rikers Island complex and its nearby facilities by the weekend, local media reported.

The mayor tweeted that 75 people with "very limited time left on their sentences" have been released from Rikers Island, and the city is making final decisions on another 200 candidates for potential release on Monday evening.

"By Wednesday we will decide on the next 100-200 people. We want to do this smartly and safely," he added.
Stacey Dooley has revealed that she's making a documentary about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The broadcaster, 33, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a video urging her followers to get in touch with their own experiences of self-isolation, after the UK was placed in lockdown to try and prevent the spread of the virus.

Stacey also shared that she was 'in awe' of the National Health Service and its staff who continue to care for those affected by the virus.

Scroll down for video

We need you! Stacey Dooley, 33, has revealed that she's making a documentary about the coronavirus pandemic as she took to Instagram to urge fans to get involved on Tuesday

In the lengthy video, Stacey explained that she was filming the documentary in her flat, but was still adhering to social distancing by ensuring that the cameraman stood at least two metres away.

She explained: 'Hi gang, hello, I'm sire you're sick of these videos that everyone is posting online, I'm working from home for obvious reasons, I'm making a documentary for BBC Three about coronavirus.'

Turning her phone towards cameraman Josh, she continued: 'We're desperate to hear how are you guys, how you're getting on?

Important: The broadcaster announced that she would be presenting a new programme about the outbreak (pictured in Stacey Dooley: On The Psych Ward)

'How are you staying sane, how are you being productive, would love to hear about the unsung heroes so those that are prioritising others, putting their owns concerns, their own needs to the one side and making sure that the older crowd, those who are a bit more vulnerable are looked after.

'You might be getting shopping you might be working with the homeless, you might be associated with some kind of charity some kind of NGO, food distribution, giving blood.'

'The NHS workers on the front line we are so in awe of you we are so grateful, we recognise the severity of the situation, police, the supermarket workers everybody thank you so so much, I'd love to see your videos send us your clips quick bio what life is like now.'

Important: Stacey explained that she wanted her followers to get in touch with stories of what they were doing to help during the outbreak, and how they were coping in isolation

Stacey finished the video by reassuring her followers that things will improve, and urged them to stay positive by embracing the little things during their self-isolation.

She added: 'We know everyone is feeling very anxious, there's a lot of uncertainty, let's try and celebrate the small victories I suppose.

'Yeah get in touch be apart of the doc. Take care stay safe we'll hear from you soon.'

In the description for her video Stacey included her email address so her followers could easily get in touch.

It seems that the Strictly Come Dancing star is continuing to fulfil her work commitments, despite the government's announcement on Monday that the entire country will be placed in lockdown for three weeks.

It gets better! She ended the video by reassuring her fans that things will improve, and praised NHS staff for taking care of those affected by the virus

Members of the public will now only be permitted to leave their homes for essential food shopping, one form of exercise a day, or to travel to work.

This also gave police the authority to disperse large gatherings in public spaces such as parks, and fine those who are flouting the rules.

It also comes after Stacey's boyfriend Kevin Clifton announced that he had quit Strictly Come Dancing after seven years in the professional lineup.

The British dancer broke the sad news on Instagram, confirmed he decided to leave after landing his dream role in the stage adaptation of Strictly Ballroom.
Geauga Public Health is modifying its services effective March 24 through April 13 as the department focuses on the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, staffers are increasingly being diverted to participate in contact tracing efforts and responding to public inquiries, according to a news release from the agency.

One confirmed case can generate many contacts, all of whom staff attempt to contact, inform, interview and monitor. This work is a team effort, the release stated. Additionally every new order from Columbus generates hundreds of questions via phone and email.

READ MORE COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

When the phone rings, we try to pick it up, Geauga County Health Commissioner Tom Quade said in a statement. Until we do, we dont know if its a case, a question, or someone tattling on someone else who they believe is not abiding by one of the state orders. Once we pick it up, we are committed to a conversation and that takes time.

Quade said that he has responded to more than 30 people regarding the stay at home order issued by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine March 22. Quade will personally visit employers hes received the most complaints about.

In addition to training and temporary reassignment of staff to address COVID-19, the health department stated it has an obligation to protect its staff and minimize the number of contacts they have. Because of this, the health department is modifying its business practices.

According to the release, programs that will be prioritized include: Communicable Disease prevention and control, Public Information, Food Safety, Private Water Testing, and Animal Bites.

In-person contact with the public will be suspended until April 14.
So far those figures have not compared the number of deliveries to the number of equipment needed. And that gap seems huge.

Mr. Cuomo crystallized the issue on Tuesday when he said that the timeline doesnt work.

I dont need ventilators in six months, he said. And I dont need ventilators in five months, four months or three months.

The reality is that timing is impossible, producers of the equipment say. For example, Medtronic, one of the leading manufacturers of ventilators, now makes about 225 of its high-end machines each week, up from 100 in more normal times. But it is a daunting task because there are 1,500 unique parts supplied from 14 countries. The company is aiming for 500 a week, a Medtronic spokesman said. Even that would not satisfy current demand.

Last week, Mr. Trump urged states to fend for themselves, looking for whatever they could find on the open market. But that only underlined how poorly prepared federal stockpiles were for a pandemic  a situation that the last three administrations had rehearsed in an effort to improve plans. The presidents comments set off a scramble that only accelerated the criticism of how the White House has handled the allocation of scarce supplies.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, argued that in sending each of the states off to find their own equipment, were competing against each other, were competing against other countries. The result, he said, was were overpaying.

Mr. Trump responded that Mr. Pritzker and other governors shouldnt be blaming the federal government for their own shortcomings. We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!

But it is increasingly clear that the federal government will not be able to back up the states, at least at the scale needed, for the first wave of patients. And by letting companies voluntarily produce the necessary equipment, rather than under orders in the Defense Production Act, the administration is not responsible for whether the quotas are met, or if the output reaches hospitals.
Hyderabad: Rapidly upwards spiralling cases of positive coronavirus are taking a vicious hold of Hyderabad.

On Monday, the Telangana state government reported five new cases from the city and its immediate neighbourhood and another from the districts.

With most people returning from trips abroad to the state belonging to the city, it is expected that the number of Covid-19 cases in Hyderabad will rise further in days and weeks ahead.

With number of Covid-19 cases rising to 33, and 97 possible suspects under close watch, the state health department announced that the government was considering a state-wide fever surveillance.

It said that containment procedures have been initiated in all localities from where Covid-19 positive cases have been identified.

Overall, the state government announced six new Covid-19 cases on Monday. The sixth case was reported from Karimangar, that of a 23-year-old male who has no travel history. However, this individual was one among those who were in close proximity or contact with a group of 10 Indonesian Islamic preachers, all of whom have tested positive for disease and are undergoing treatment here in the city.

The cases reported on Monday include one from Medchal, in the area where one person who returned from abroad.

The other cases are one from Shantinagar in Saidabad, from Balkampet, Somajiguda, Gachibowli and from Kukatpally. The health department said that four of the patients declared Covid-19 positive today were in their twenties. The oldest person declared a Covid-19 victim was a 56-year-old man from Kukatpally in Medchal district, with a travel history to Sri Lanka.

The case from Shantinagar in Saidabad is of a 30-year old male, who recently returned to the city from London. The department said that the other patients include a 21-year-old male student and a resident of Balkampet, who recently returned from France, a 20-year-old male, who is a resident of Somajiguda, who returned back home here from New York, and a 25-year-old man who lives in Gachibowli and returned home from London recently.
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
Akur8, a Paris, France-based SaaS Insurtech startup, raised 8m in a Series A funding.

Backers included BlackFin Capital Partners and MTech Capital.

The company, which has raised 10m ($11.2m) in total funding, intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations, its business reach and its dev efforts.

Led by Samuel Falmagne, CEO, Anne-Laure Klein, COO, and Jean-Marc Leoni, CTO, Akur8 has developed an AI-based solution for risk modeling and pricing for retail and commercial insurance customers to offer fast and appropriate prices. Delivered in SaaS, the platform is now used by multiple insurance companies throughout Europe and America.

FinSMEs

24/03/2020
Toronto, Canada, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hong Kong Superstar Josie Ho (Actress, Rocker, Producer), and her husband Conroy Chan (Rapper, Actor & 852 Films Producer) both confirm they tested negative for COVID-19. The couple returned to Hong Kong from 2020 Paris Fashion Week last month as guests of the iconic luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent and took it upon themselves to self-isolate for a month. During their self-isolation period, Josie and Conroy took the COVID-19 test to be sure they had not contracted anything in their recent travels. The tests came back negative. Josie says Hand washing non-stop helped them stay healthy, along with keeping a safe distance from anyone around them (we practiced social distancing, it works). To fans, the powerhouse couple want to say thank you for your care and love, we love you all back, stay safe and blessings.

Attachment
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: In the wake of Section 144 being imposed, Koyambedu wholesale market is out of bounds for public and will be only open for the retailers, announced Chennai Corporation in a release on Tuesday.

Following a meeting with Police Commissioner AK Visvanathan, Corporation Commissioner G Prakash announced that the retailers are requested to buy the essentials from Koyambedu and sell it in their respective areas.

Public can buy it in their own areas and need not visit big markets like Koyambedu, Chintadripet or Kothawalchavadi, said Prakash.

Office goers are requested to carry their ID cards with them and further, every Corporation Zone will have two flying squads with three members each.

Corporation Commissioner also told the 5,000 people home quarantined to stay and home. It will become a criminal offence to leave the houses and strict action will be taken, he said.

Eight police check posts have been set up in Chennai Corporation limits.


More than a million Canadians have heeded Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus call to return to Canada in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were 959,000 Canadian citizens and 43,890 permanent residents who came back to Canada by air and land between March 14 and 20, after Trudeau made a public plea for their quick return, according to Canada Border Services Agency.

Some 553,000 of them flew back while 449,000 crossed the land border entry, with the rest by sea.

Last Monday, Canada announced its travel ban, affecting everyone except Canadian citizens, permanent residents and Americans. Two days later, it closed its land border with the United States except for essential travel.

Coupled with reduced international commercial flights, the news prompted Canadians abroad to make a dash to the border, with long lines at land ports of entry. Wait times near Lacolle, Que., and Lansdowne, Ont., were as long as three hours over the weekend.

We are the first line of defence of the county in the fight against this new enemy. The pressure on our frontline members last week was crazy. I have never seen that before, said Jean-Pierre Fortin, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, which represents 11,000 of the border agency employees.

Is the border shutdown working? To a certain extent. Is it perfect? No. But we are fighting an unknown enemy and this is a major step to stop the virus overseas. These are good measures.

Fortin credited Ottawas gradual closing of the border, first limiting international flights to the Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary airports, before extending the restrictions to the land border.

We have had less traffic at the airports and it has shifted to land border with people coming back from the United States, said Fortin. We ask people to please come back during the week, early morning and late at night to spread (out) the traffic.

There are 6,500 frontline border officers stationed at Canadian airports and 117 land border posts. Fortin said they are equipped with masks, goggles and gloves.

Fortin expected it will take another two to three weeks for the land border traffic to slow down and said the next priority will be to step up border patrol between official ports of entry, with mobile teams, to stamp out any irregular entry.

Read more about:
By Emily A. Greenfield

The outbreak of COVID-19 is promoting public health literacy across all sectors of our society. Superintendents are explaining the concept of flattening the curve as a reason for school closures. Clergy members are writing emails to describe how socio-physical distancing practices can protect the health and well-being of their communities. Even my 2 1/2-year-old daughter tells me that we wash our hands so coronavirus wont get us.

But there is another lesson within this global health crisis: the importance of social infrastructure.

Social infrastructure refers to the physical places that allow us to connect with others outside of our own private networks of family and friends. It encompasses place-based organizations most typically associated with the public sector, such as libraries, schools, senior centers, and parks. But it also includes private organizations, like faith-based facilities, gyms, and voluntary associations. Stores, restaurants, and other commercial spaces also are part of the social infrastructure, as they, too, provide physical space for people to gather and commune.

Individuals in communities throughout the world are learning firsthand what life is like when social infrastructure is not available. To slow the spread of COVID-19, policymakers and organizational leaders are closing down facilities and limiting access to the spatial places that allow for social connection. The phenomenon of going dark increasingly characterizes spaces as local as neighborhood parks to as global as Disney World.

As the places that typically anchor our community contact shut down, we become like a fish that suddenly realizes the importance of water when caught on dry land. We are recognizing the ways in which social infrastructure sustains us. As Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist who popularized the term through his 2018 book titled Palaces for the People, stated, social infrastructure (is) just as real as the infrastructure for water, food, energy or transit. In fact, research studies conducted in countries across the world and over decades have found that people with higher levels of social participation experience better health and psychological well-being, on average, compared to those with less involvement.

Yet, as distressing as these developments might be, many people are taking comfort in the fact that this void of social infrastructure is likely temporary  a necessary, time-limited social ill to preserve and protect the long-term societal good. And in the meantime, individuals and organizations are finding ways to experience the benefits of social infrastructure through digital platforms, including video-conferencing apps and social media sites.

For many people, however, the social infrastructure will remain out-of-reach long after the spread of COVID-19 has passed. Mobility impairment, economic limitations, neighborhoods with high rates of crime, cultural barriers, and the inaccessible design of buildings and outdoor spaces will continue to be roadblocks that limit universal access to social infrastructure, global health pandemic or not.

As a social gerontologist, I have always found it telling that we in the United States discuss issues of social isolation, whereas people in other parts of the world focus on matters of social exclusion. Social isolation refers to individuals in relation to other individuals: Socially isolated individuals are those who have limited contact with others. Social exclusion, in contrast, involves individuals in relationship to society  a state in which people are unable to participate in economic, social, political and cultural life, according to the United Nations.

Of course, those of us without access to social infrastructure because of todays population health crisis understand that our state of being has little to do with us as individuals. We can appreciate that our lack of access to social infrastructure is the result of the historical moment in which we live  defined by the decisions of policymakers at many levels, as well as rapidly evolving social norms that dictate socially acceptable behavior.

Eventually, when the time comes that socio-physical distancing measures begin to reverse, and the lights of social infrastructure begin to turn back on, will we be more mindful of those still in the dark? Will we better appreciate how choices we make as a society  and not just as individuals  let some people in and leave others out? And what we will do about it in our own communities and on behalf of the communities to which we are connected? Answers to these questions remain a lesson in the making.

Emily A. Greenfield, Ph.D.; is an associate professor at Rutgers Universitys School of Social Work.

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.
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Atheists and skeptics have consistently asserted that the Bible is nothing more than a collectivized set of fairy tales whose historical validity is on par with Aesops fables. But is this the case?

Pushing aside the bias that exists between those holding a wholly naturalistic vs. supernaturalistic worldview, is there a neutral, historical way to examine the Bible to determine whether it fits within the purview of legend and myth?

The Differences Between the Bible and Myth

Historian and Old Testament expert Dr. John Oswalt thinks that there is. In his book, The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature, Oswalt builds a case for the Bible not being myth by carefully identifying and comparing the characteristics of mythology and Scripture. Oswalt says, If one simply lists the component parts of a dog alongside those of a man, one might conclude that they are essentially the same. But if one takes dog as a whole and man as a whole, what can one conclude but that they are in their essences different? So also, if we look at the Bible as a whole, where else is there anything like it in its world, or indeed, in the world?[1]

One must be careful, says Oswalt, of confusing essentials and accidentals when looking at the Bible and mythology. Accidentals involve similarities in two things that are not of major importance where the essence of a thing is concerned, whereas essentials are the exact opposite. So, for example, hair might be an accidental and self-consciousness an essential for human beings.

In chapters three and four of his book, Oswalt carefully chronicles various differentiators between the Bible and myths, and leaves little room for doubt about how they diverge from one another. He sums up his analysis by stating, Whatever the Bible is, it is not myth. That is to say, I have concluded that the similarities between the Bible and the rest of the literatures of the ancient Near East are superficial, while the differences are essential.[2] This conclusion echoes Harvard professor G. Ernest Wright who said, The God of Israel has no mythology.[3]

Three other observations by Oswalt are worth noting. First, although the idea of one God is dominant today, this has not always been the case. Noting the uniqueness of the Bible, Oswalt declares: The single most obvious difference between the thought of the Old Testament and that of Israels neighbors is monotheism. How many monotheistic religions are there in the world today? There are only three: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And where do these three get their monotheism? All from one source: the Old Testament.[4]

The second thought emerges from the first. Oswalt identifies the Bible as belonging to a category of transcendence, while myth  given its characteristics  is assigned to a class called continuity. He says, I have called the Bibles view transcendence and the other one continuity. In the first, the divine is other than the cosmos; in the second, the divine is inseparable from the cosmos. This difference is so significant that even today there are only three religions that believe in true transcendence . . . and all of them have derived that conviction from one source only: the Bible.[5]

Lastly, Oswalt is quick to mention that just because the Bible does not belong to the genre of myth, that doesnt make its claims true.[6]

The Myth that Jesus is a Myth

Because skeptics have viewed the Bible as myth, they oftentimes also attempt to paint Jesus of Nazareth as a legendary figure. While the controversial figure Bruno Bauer (1809  1882) put forward a series of widely-disputed works nearly 200 years ago arguing that Jesus never lived, today the myth that Jesus is only a myth has received the equivalent of the death penalty in historical and scholarly circles (although various internet atheist haunts still try in vain to resurrect the charge). As Princeton professor Bruce Metzger wrote decades ago, Today no competent scholar denies the historicity of Jesus.[7]

Among the many issues confounding the mythological Jesus hypothesis, is the fact that the time between Jesus death and the writing of his biographies leave too little room for legend to creep in. This point has been attested to by A. N. Sherwin-White in his work Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament. Its important to note that Sherwin-White wasnt a Christian, but a scholarly historian of the ancient world.

Using the writings of Herodotus, Sherwin-White maintained that it takes the passing of at least two generations before myths can develop, be introduced, and remain in the record of a historical figure. When Sherwin-White considers the New Testament gospels, he says that for the gospels to be fables, the rate of legendary accumulation would have to have been "unbelievable." [8]

Why? Simply because living eyewitnesses can refute distorted claims of a known individual and bring any false stories down in flames; the legend is unable to take. For example, it took centuries after Arrian and Plutarchs biographies of Alexander the Great before miraculous stories of the great conqueror began to circulate.

What Did the Bible Authors Think of Myth?

The Greek term for myth is very straightforward: mythos refers to a narrative or story without distinction of fact or fiction; a fictional narrative as opposed to the truth of history.[9]

What did the Bibles authors think of myth? The term is referenced five times in the New Testament, primarily by Paul, and never referred to positively.

Paul says that his readers should not pay attention to myths (1 Tim. 1:4), have nothing to do with irrelevant, silly myths (1 Tim. 4:7), that there is a time coming when people will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Tim. 4:4), and that no one should devote themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. (Titus 1:14).

The strongest distinction between myth and historical fact where the gospel is concerned is made by Peter who, when laying out his message, clearly differentiates the eyewitness testimony of the disciples vs. myth: For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Pet. 1:1618).[10]

Peters statements serve two purposes where myth is concerned. First, it underscores the difference between fact and sheer fantasy  the latter being how skeptics attempt to label the Bible.

But second, Peter refers to something brought out by C. S. Lewis in his famous essay Myth Became Fact. If anyone should know the difference between fantasy and truth, its Lewis who was the chair of Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.

In his essay, Lewis asserts that myth isnt devoid of truth, but rather embodies more than sheer abstract thought and fact. Referencing the sky as a myth, Lewis says that deeply experiencing something that truly exists allows it to become more than simple fact; it becomes a myth, perhaps in the same way a great figure such as Abraham Lincoln takes on mythical qualities because of how he embodies the American spirit. In Jesus, Lewis says, we have the marriage of heaven and earth: Perfect Myth and Perfect Fact[11], which is something that Peter experienced on the mountain with Jesus.

The Danger of Believing that the Bible is Mere Myth

What impact is felt on a society when the Bible is discarded as a fairy tale? Oswalt looks back on previous cultures to make predictions about our own. When God and His Word are looked upon as mere fable, the prognosis Oswalt delivers is troubling and (sadly) representative of what is happening today:

First and foremost, ethics as an internal compass will disappear from among us. Ethics will certainly remain as civic desiderata, and there will be various public attempts to enforce them, but in the society at large they will be meaningless.

Truth will progressively be replaced by power, since there is no standard of reliability outside of each persons own needs and wishes.

Right and wrong will become increasingly useless terms as they lose any agreed-upon basis outside of those same wants and needs. The terms will continue to be used, but only as code words for those who can shout the loudest.

There will be a dramatic upsurge in interest in the occult.

Any attempt to control absolute freedom in any area and at any level will be labeled as hate-mongering.

Individuals will be increasingly devalued at the same time that individual freedom is more and more loudly trumpeted.

Altruism and other forms of self-denial for the good of others will steadily disappear.

Acceptance of responsibility for ones own behavior, accompanied by appropriate changes of behavior, will be a rarity.

The study of history, except as an arcane antiquarian interest, will disappear.

The possibility of a genuine transformation of ones character from the worse to the better will be dismissed out of hand.[12]

These features, says Oswalt, in one form or another, are the common characteristics of those cultures where continuity thinking has prevailed.[13]

For many reasons, the significance of properly or improperly labeling the Bible as myth cannot be overstated. Thankfully, the God of the Bible is not myth  He is real and can be encountered today for those who are willing.

[1] John Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation of Just Ancient Literature (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), Kindle Edition, Loc 3021.

[2] Oswalt, Loc 638.

[3] G. E. Wright, The Old Testament Against its Environment (London: SCM, 1950), 26.

[4] Oswalt, Loc 915.

[5] Oswalt, Loc 2894.

[6] Oswal, Loc 1174.

[7] Bruce Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content (New York: Abingdon, 1965), pg. 78.

[8] A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 188-91.

[9] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (660). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

[10] See also Johns clear declaration of eye witness testimony and encounters with Jesus, which he repeats seven times in 1 John 1:1-4.

[11] C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), pg. 67.

[12] Oswalt, Loc 3006.

[13] Oswalt, Loc 3009.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered more businesses and workplaces to close as he extended restrictions on social gatherings from midnight on Wednesday.

Open house inspections, beauticians, market places and food courts in shopping centres - with the exception of takeaway - will all be forced to close.

The official 'do not travel' advice for overseas trips outside Australia will also turn into a full ban in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Cases in Australia increased to 2,146 on Tuesday, with the death toll rising to eight.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered more businesses and workplaces to close as he extended restrictions on social gatherings from midnight on Wednesday

Below is a full list of restrictions imposed by Mr Morrison.

They come into effect at 11.59pm on Wednesday March 25.

BUSINESS

* From midnight on Wednesday food courts in shopping centres will only be available for takeaway food.

* Auctions and open house inspections are banned.

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

* Outdoor and indoor markets are banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories.

* Personal services such as beauty therapy and tattoo parlours (but not physiotherapy) are banned.

* Hairdressers and barbers can continue but must strictly manage social distancing and restrict the amount of time a patron can be in the premises to no more than 30 minutes.

* Amusement parks and arcades, and indoor and outdoor play centres must close.

* Boot camps and personal training must be limited to 10 people.

* Galleries, museums, libraries and swimming pools must close.

Pictured: Coronavirus screening at a medical centre. A full ban on international travel has been put in place in Australia in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus

SOCIAL DISTANCING

* Weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses. No more than five people are allowed in attendance.

* Funerals are limited to no more than ten people.

SCHOOLS

* It is safe to send children to school up to the end of term.

* But some pupil-free days will be needed to plan distance learning.

* Schools will reopen after the term break with a mix of distance learning and in-school learning for all 'essential workers'.

* PM to meet with teachers and other sector representatives about keeping schools open and protecting staff.

ESSENTIAL WORKERS

* Everyone who still has a job is an essential worker.

TRAVEL

* The official 'do no travel' warning will turn into an outright ban on overseas travel, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel.

* New offence of profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to such things as medical supplies and masks.

EXPORTS

* New offence of profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to such things as medical supplies and masks.
A truck carrying oil palm fruits passes through Felda Sahabat plantation in Lahad Datu in Malaysia's state of Sabah in Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's Sabah state has ordered the closure of palm oil plantations in three districts after a coronavirus outbreak originating from a religious gathering in Kuala Lumpur, which is also linked to nearly a thousand cases of the virus.

The suspension comes as the world's second-biggest palm oil producer reported 106 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally of infections to 1,624 - the highest in Southeast Asia.

Sabah, the state with Malaysia's highest palm oil output, will suspend operations at palm oil plantations and factories in the districts of Tawau, Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan from this week until the end of the month, a notice issued by the Sabah state government said on Tuesday.

"The closure of the oil palm plantations and factories is aimed at preventing the movement of plantation workers as there were some workers in Tawau, Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan who have tested positive for COVID-19," the state government wrote.

Sabah, located in the east of the country, accounts for about 25% of palm oil production in Malaysia.

Plantation company Sabah Softwoods Berhad (SSB) confirmed that seven employees had tested positive for the virus.

"The first case is an imam who attended the religious gathering held at Masjid Sri Petaling in February," Chief Executive Hattah Jaafar told Reuters.

"SSB management had immediately instructed to lockdown the estate to halt operations and restrict movement of staff in order to stop any further spreading of the virus," he said.

Malaysia has said that 16,000 people attended the religious gathering held between Feb. 27 and March 1. Most of the participants were Malaysian residents but there were also attendees from 25 countries.

The health ministry on Tuesday said that the recent surge in infections in Malaysia could be because participants at the religious gathering may have spread it in the community.

The ministry said the cluster linked to that event also involved people who had been to weddings and mosques.

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu and Joseph Sipalan; writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Giles Elgood, Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Goodman)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 06:06:32|Editor: huaxia

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the nation at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, on March 23, 2020.(Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua) (EDITORIAL USE ONLY)

LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday evening a series of measures that aim to restrict social contact in the country in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Johnson made the announcement during a TV address to the nation.

Starting from Monday night, people in Britain will only be allowed to leave their homes for "very limited purposes", including shopping for basic necessities, for any medical need, for one form of exercise a day, and to travel to and from work when necessary, said the prime minister.

Meanwhile, all shops selling non-essential goods, such as clothing and electronic stores, are ordered to close, and libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship will be closed.

All social events are banned and even gatherings of more than two people in public, except for people one lives with, are banned.

Police have powers to enforce the rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings, according to Johnson. 
Chennai, March 24 : Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Tuesday warned of one-year jail term for people who violate the prohibitory orders issued till March 31 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking to reporters, he said that people are coming out and arguing with the police when they have been asked to be confined inside their homes.

He said that people are not taking the lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus seriously. The Chief Minister appealed to the people to be confined to their homes as they did on March 22, the day of the nationwide 'Janata Curfew'.

Narayanasamy warned the violators of prohibitory orders that they can be arrested and jailed for a year as per the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act.

According to him, from Wednesday onwards all shops barring pharmacies, groceries, vegetable/fruit stores and milk booths will remain closed till March 31.
We expect this new SARS-CoV-2 assay to dramatically expand the tools available to public health agencies fighting this pandemic, said Ted Olsen, PathSensors President.

PathSensors Inc, a Baltimore biotechnology company, announced today that they are developing a CANARY  biosensor to detect the Novel SARS Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent for the coronavirus disease COVID19. The biosensor will be available for research purposes in May 2020 and validation data on the new SARS-CoV-2 product will be available June 2020.

CANARY  technology provides a unique opportunity to reduce the impending public health impact of COVID-19 with rapid results and high specificity. The initial application for this PathSensors product will be for testing of environmental swabs and air monitoring in sensitive spaces such as hospitals, offices, food services, etc. PathSensors will continue to advance the assays capabilities as the novel virus is further characterized. As the SARS-CoV-2 biosensor is commercialized, PathSensors expects new uses to emerge, such as rapid specimen screening.

Third-party laboratory validations have demonstrated that commercially available CANARY  products are highly sensitive and specific. PathSensors offers three instrumentation platforms that are easy to use and typically generate test results in less than 5 minutes. PathSensors expects the SARS-CoV-2 product to be a valuable tool for fighting the spread of COVID-19.

An expert in virology and biological threats, Dr. David Hodge was involved in commissioning and overseeing a third-party evaluation of CANARY  technology while working at the Department of Homeland Security as the Senior Program Manager for Basic Research and Assay Development. Our evaluation of CANARY technology resulted in promising sensitivity of detection data," said Dr. Hodge, PathSensors Scientific Advisor. "A SARS-CoV-2 assay would be a powerful solution to a critical problem."

PathSensors has a long history of manufacturing rapid and highly sensitive detection kits for dangerous biologic agents such as anthrax, orthopox, ricin, listeria, and many others. We expect this new SARS-CoV-2 assay to dramatically expand the tools available to public health agencies fighting this pandemic said Ted Olsen, PathSensors President.

About COVID-19

A novel coronavirus was discovered in late 2019 in China before spreading around the world. The disease, COVID-19, causes severe pneumonia-like symptoms and can be spread via human-to-human transmission prior to any symptoms. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause diseases including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There is still much to learn about the novel coronavirus and the impacts of COVID-19 on global health.

About CANARY Technology

CANARY  is a biosensor technology that delivers extremely rapid detection of pathogens with high sensitivity and specificity. Originally developed by scientists at MITLincoln Laboratory to combat bioterrorism threats, CANARY  technology has been licensed and commercialized by PathSensors, Inc.

About PathSensors, Inc.

PathSensors is a leading environmental testing company, built on CANARY  technology which is exclusively licensed from MIT-Lincoln Laboratory. CANARY  offers cutting-edge pathogen detection capabilities to a variety of industries including food safety, agriculture, and bioterrorism. The companys mission is to make the world a safer place by detecting pathogens that can cause sickness or worse while creating high technology jobs in the state of Maryland.

Author:

Simone Stanley

Business Development Associate

(443) 877-4015

sstanley@pathsensors.com

Contact:

Joe Kennedy

Sales Manager

(443) 887-4005

jkennedy@pathsensors.com
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation, second time in a week, at 8 PM on Tuesday (March 24, 2020) on the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic and the efforts being taken by the Centre and the state governments to contain it.

"Will address the nation at 8 PM today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19," PM Modi had tweeted.

                  , 24   8      Will address the nation at 8 PM today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2020

Heres what he may announce in his address to the nation tonight-

PM Modi has been interacting with various stakeholders on ways to check the spread of the deadly virus. He might announce some measures that all stakeholders had agreed to adopt in order to stop coronavirus spread. The PM can announce financial package for various sectors, including civil aviation and tourism, to deal with the fall-out of the coronavirus pandemic that has severely impacted the economy.

Many businesses have suffered irreparable losses due to shutdown and restrictions in the aftermath of the coronavirus epidemic and thousands of jobs have been lost. PM Modi might announce a special package for such sectors in his address to the nation tonight.

PM Modi might also extend social distancing measures taking inspiration from other countries which succeeded in containing the coronavirus. Some announcement on second edition of Janata curfew can also be expected.

As inrterim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi urged him to consider advising the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures, particularly wage support, to construction workers who are in distress, the PM might as well announce something for daily wage earners.

PM Modi might ask people to not believe in rumours and to stay home and follow lockdown measures announced by the Centre and the respective state governments. The PM had earlier addressed the nation on efforts to combat the virus on March 19.

In his last address on the virus outbreak, PM Modi had called for "resolve and restraint" to fight the disease. He had also announced setting up of a task force, to be headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to look at measures to limit economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Modi has been interacting with various stakeholders on ways to check the spread of the virus. On Wednesday, he will interact with people of Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on the pandemic.

Nearly 500 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday. As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31.
SOUTH COVENTRY  By now, most of us have heard of the critical shortage of medical masks for health care workers to use in the battle against coronavirus.

But Kate Kircher and her husband Bud, both 73, decided to do something about it.

A lifelong seamstress taught by her mother, who had six children, Kircher has made clothes, gifts, quilts and other sewn items as long as Laura Kane can remember.

Kane is Kirchers daughter and a local nurse.

Kanes brother and sister-in-law are respiratory experts in Maryland and there is also an emergency room nurse in the family, so Kircher is deeply aware of the need for masks to protect against the spread of the virus.

Kircher was always making something with her hands. She tried to teach me, but I guess I dont have the gift, Kane said with a laugh.

For years, I tried to convince her to sell her work at craft shows. The things she makes are so beautiful, but she is very generous and she just gives them away, Kane said.

Now Kircher is giving away the masks that she is making, with assistance, for the first time, from her husband Bud.

Its hysterical that she has my father involved. He has never done anything like this before, said Kane.

Hes working on the patterns while I wash all the material and put it together, Kircher said matter-of-factly on Monday during a break from her sewing. He wants to help as much as I do.

I enjoy taking a very small part in all the help thats needed out there. I knew there was a reason I kept all this material, she added with a laugh.

Kircher said she is also inspired by all the stories of people trying to help.

This crisis has brought a lot of good things out in people. Of course, I hate that people are suffering, but this is a good lesson for us all to learn  we have to pay attention to science, Kircher said.

The science says the masks may help, but the national shortage is of a particular type of mask called N95 which fits more tightly over the mouth and nose and prevents more fluid penetration than regular surgical masks, like the type Kircher is making.

The federal government is now mulling whether to release stockpiled N95 masks that have exceeded their manufacturer-designated shelf life.

According to the Food and Drug Administration: While a surgical mask may be effective in blocking splashes and large-particle droplets, a face mask, by design, does not filter or block very small particles in the air that may be transmitted by coughs, sneezes, or certain medical procedures. Surgical masks also do not provide complete protection from germs and other contaminants because of the loose fit between the surface of the face mask and your face.

But any barrier is helpful.

The Centers for Disease Control has indicated that supply has gotten so short, as a last resort, homemade masks like a bandanna or a scarf can be used, although their protective ability is unknown.

Part of the reason for the shortage, according to Sundays New York Times, is that about half the worlds masks are manufactured in China, which has been holding on to them in the midst of its own health crisis.

The outbreak also comes after a particularly mask-intensive few months. Wildfires in California and in Australia had already diminished the supply of some humanitarian organizations, the New York Times reported Sunday.
Emily St. John Mandel, author of "The Glass Hotel." (Sarah Shatz)

Maybe Emily St. John Mandels next book should be about people who are happy, healthy, wealthy and wise. In her hit 2014 novel  Station Eleven , the world was devastated by a global pandemic; six years later shes out with The Glass Hotel, which turns on a massive financial crisis. And now weve got both.

I dont see anything particularly prescient in  Station Eleven , Mandel protested in mid-March, on a phone call from New York, as the coronavirus began sweeping across America. Yet she couldnt help tacking on a warning: I would not recommend reading Station Eleven in the middle of a pandemic.

Readers seem to feel differently; its currently No. 3 among Amazons dystopian fiction bestsellers. She attributes some of that success to the upcoming HBO Max series , which started production in Chicago this winter.

Mandel hadnt intended for the book, which focuses on tiny communities that coalesce 20 years after most of humanity is wiped out, to be predictive. The Canadian native, who now lives in New York, had looked to history in crafting her futuristic fiction. I was particularly focused on the smallpox epidemic in the 1790s in North America, explorers writing about its impact on the Native communities around where I grew up, she said.

Something that became clear to me is pandemics are an inevitability. This is not to minimize the horror or the tragedy in any way. But this is just something that happens every so often. Its happened before and itll happen again.

(Knopf)

The same goes for financial crises. In The Glass Hotel, a key character was inspired by Bernie Madoff , whose Ponzi scheme was uncovered when his investors tried to cash out during the 2008 financial crisis. We can only imagine (or maybe Mandel can) what will crawl out from under our current economic catastrophe.

The Glass Hotel starts well before the 2008 downturn and far away from the towers of finance. A girl named Vincent is growing up on a remote Canadian island when her mother disappears, leaving her to be shuttled among relatives. Her older half-brother, Paul, fails to help; hes an addict who cant see beyond his own needs.

Story continues

After Paul (probably accidentally) gives a (sort of rival) musician a bad dose of a drug that kills him, the half-siblings reunite in Vancouver. Then, haunted by his own actions, Paul spins off, while Vincent stays and becomes the books emotional core. She is joined by a kaleidoscopic array of characters connected with the Ponzi schemes forthcoming collapse. Among them are Jonathan Alkaitis, an unscrupulous financier; his staff, who speak in one collective plural we; and Leon Prevant, a laid-off shipping executive.

That last name might ring a bell to close readers of Station Eleven. Prevant was there too, briefly  a senior colleague of Miranda Carroll. Both characters were felled by the first books lethal Georgia Flu; their resurrection in The Glass Hotel stems partly from Mandels desire to tell their stories in a different way.

It was an act of character reinvention, a gesture at a multibook multiverse. Which is doable because its fiction, Mandel said. I have this desire for cohesion. Theres something satisfying about bringing people back from previous works.

The characters in The Glass Hotel often wonder about paths not taken, stories untold. Vincent imagines being stuck working as a bartender or not becoming Alkaitis girlfriend. None of these scenarios seemed less real than the life shed landed in, so much so that she was struck sometimes by a truly unsettling sense that there were other versions of her life being lived without her, other Vincents engaged in different events, she thinks. Then Mandel winks to Station Eleven fans: Imagining an alternate reality  where the terrifying new swine flu in the Republic of Georgia hadnt been swiftly contained. The fictions are connected, but the characters trajectories are different, the stories contingent and divergent.

In some ways, their mental exercises reflect the work of a novelist: To imagine a handful of story lines, play them out, decide on the best one, while perhaps keeping the counternarratives playing in ones head. When I suggested this to Mandel, though, she brushed it off. She is not interested in discussing, as Id posed it to her, the project of fiction. Unlike many contemporary novelists, she didnt study writing in college; she didnt get an MFA; she never had a writing mentor. Instead, she went to school for contemporary dance and entered the working world as an administrative assistant.

(Vintage)

It would have been really easy to not come to New York and not write, she said. I imagine this parallel life where I was a dancer in Toronto. Its probably more plausible than the life Im living now. The life, that is, of an author whose last book sold more than 1 million copies. Its an idea that really interests me. The pivotal decisions that send your life in one direction instead of another.

The big decision for Vincent is to allow Alkaitis to pick her up while shes bartending at a remote high-end hotel. Vincent throws off her working-class background like a faded hoodie and swiftly adapts to his luxurious milieu, becoming his companion and consort. They have a few years of phenomenal wealth and elite, if boring, dinners and parties and yacht rides, floating through what she calls the kingdom of money.

Mandel doesnt objectify Vincent nor make her vain, but its clear that beauty is her passport. Vincent makes one friend, Mirella, another young woman with an older, much richer boyfriend. Both are intelligent and adaptable, pliable and dependent. Im fascinated by trophy wives as a phenomenon, Mandel said. The relationships are inherently transactional. You can call it prostitution, if its a case like Vincent or Mirella, but does it have to be seen in a negative light?

Mandel has been working on a television pilot for the story with the help of veteran screenwriter Semi Chellas . Although many novelists have jumped to television, for Mandel its a refreshing detour; shes learning the demands of a different medium that rarely treats trophy wives with the tenderness her novel does. What I run into when I talk about this is class incomprehension  this idea that we need to understand why Vincent would run off with Jonathan. And to me, having grown up in a very working-class environment, it seems like, well, why wouldnt she?

It seems obvious to Mandel that you would choose to reinvent yourself. Its this opportunity for adventure, for an entirely new life. She feels so stuck. Then this guy comes along with this golden ticket to get out of the life shes in.

Of course, the golden ticket has an expiration date. As Alkaitis scheme unravels, his bankrupted investors clamor to get their money back. One commits suicide. Another winds up homeless. A third takes seasonal warehouse work to survive. They were all looking for a golden ticket too. Alkaitis promised impossible returns and, like Madoff, blamed his investors for their greed. Vincent survives because shes willing to walk away into exile from that moneyed kingdom.

With this book I did want to write about money, Which is not something you encounter a lot in fiction, Mandel says. Not quite as often as maybe we should, given how central money is to all of our lives.

With the economy currently in free-fall, Mandels fixation on money seems, again, prophetic. Perhaps shes plugged into the zeitgeist. Or as a novelist, maybe shes just really good at envisioning a variety of possible futures  or imagining futures we once considered unimaginable.

Kellogg is formerly books editor of the Los Angeles Times. She can be found online @paperhaus.




When Lucy Del Gaudio parks in a veteran space, attends events for former service members, or is out with her husband on Veterans Day, she hardly is recognized.

They're like: Oh, thank you for your service, Mr. Del Gaudio, said the Army vet from the Desert Storm era. That's something that women face all the time... it's a harder identification and they automatically assume that he's the veteran, not you.

That invisibility hurts female veterans in bigger ways  from homelessness to health care  and Del Gaudio is working hard to combat that. But it was a long journey for her as she had to first overcome sexual trauma she experienced in the military before giving back.

I felt like my service was tarnished. I really didn't discuss it until a friend in 2014 convinced her to join a veterans organization, se explained. He goes: Lucy, you should join. Your story should be heard. Other women veterans should know what you experienced and you could help them."

Lucy Del Gaudio joined the Army after her father passed away and her mother couldn't afford to keep in her college.

Bit of a Private Benjamin

Del Gaudio joined the Army out of necessity. Her father passed away while she and her sister were in college, and her mother could only afford to keep one of them in school. Del Gaudios older brothers both served  one in the Army and the other in the Marines.

She chose the Army, for its shorter basic training.

A self-described city kid from the New York metro area, Del Gaudio was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina where she experienced fire ants and muggy weather.

"I was a bit of a Private Benjamin," Lucy Del Gaudio said of her time in Army basic training.

I was a bit of a Private Benjamin, she said. I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

She transferred to Fort Devens in Massachusetts and then to Germany when the first Gulf War was heating up. While not technically considered a Desert Storm veteran, her role supported the operations in Kuwait.

Then I had an experience in Germany that brought me back stateside, she said. And that's when I transferred from Active Army to Reserves and I did my final years in the military as a reservist.

Story continues

The self-healing of myself

When Del Gaudio transitioned back to civilian life, she was unprepared. She didnt know how to budget, a common challenge for veterans who are used to having housing, meals, and clothes provided for them. She also had a hard time finding housing, moving back in with her family.

She didnt know how to write a resume, translating what she did in the Army to job skills that employers were looking for.

I was a Morse code interceptor, she said. What could a Morse code interceptor really do in the business field?"

Eventually, she found herself in information technology and later as a program manager job for Prudential Advisors where she runs financial wellness programs for employees and military members.

They really took a shot on me, she said. They saw the experiences I had on what I've done in this space, in the veterans space, but they also saw all the other things that I do, not just the IT person.

Lucy Del Gaudio turned to a holistic regimen of running, meditation, and yoga, instead of depending on medication, to manage her depression and anxiety.

The sexual trauma had taken a toll. By 2016, she was 269 pounds and was on a cocktail of medications for depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure.

When told she was about to become a diabetic, Del Gaudio pledged to change. She went holistic, with the blessing of her family, doctor, and therapist. The last time she took her meds was on April 7, 2017. She started running, did yoga, and meditated.

That's when everything, my scope really changed and where I did the self-healing of myself, she said. And then, I really took the deep dive into the women veterans space and to the advocacy part of it.

All catered to men

When Del Gaudio experienced sexual trauma in the military, it was in the 90s and it was handled differently than today. But she realizes it remains difficult for female veterans to talk about it.

That's one of my biggest advocacy roles, is to talk to women about their experiences, tell them that it's okay to talk about it, to identify as a woman survivor because we're all survivors,  she said. We didn't ask for what happened to us and you don't expect to join the military and that to happen to you, but it does.

Del Gaudio is tackling other issues unique to female veterans through her volunteerism that is supported by her employer through its Prudential Veterans Initiative. She noted female homelessness is on the rise, and one of the biggest problems for women veterans in New Jersey is transition housing.

You can't have a child because of the way they're set up, she said, noting that the 10 beds in the state dedicated to women veterans dont allow children. Just realistically, the transition housing is all catered to men.

Lucy Del Gaudio dedicates her time to advocating for female veteran's issues, such as transition housing and VA health care.

Another problem women veterans face is a lack of gender-specific healthcare through the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system. Del Gaudio is fighting to get a womens clinic in the state and at least one mammogram machine for the 27,000 women veterans in New Jersey.

When women do visit the VA, they often face harassment while there. A lot of women don't like using the VA because that takes place, she said.

Its not always a fight, though. There are celebrations, too, like last June when the state of New Jersey designated June 12 as Women Veterans Appreciation Day. It was a milestone that Del Gaudio had spent 22 months knocking on policymakers doors to get it to happen.

I think people don't realize historically the value of the woman veteran, back from the Civil War when we got dressed as men to fight the war, Del Gaudio said. We have an opportunity to teach our children what women have done in the military. It's a really great history.

Janna is an editor for Yahoo Finance and Cashay. Follow her on Twitter @JannaHerron.

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KENT COUNTY, MI  Two related businesses in Rockford are accused of marketing a Coronavirus Defender Patch, falsely claiming it will protect from COVID-19, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Nessel said she issued a cease-and-desist letter Tuesday, March 24, to Frequency Apps Corp. and Biores Technologies.

A telephone recording for Biores Technologies had a greeting for Frequency Apps. A call seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Nessel said the companies are marketing a Coronavirus Defender Patch, which the companies falsely claim will help protect people from contracting the coronavirus  .

She said that the businesses claim the patch will help aid the immune system to defend itself against exposure to the virus, and can help lessen the effect of the virus if you already have it.

She said the patch was offered for $49.99, but those who bought a 45-day supply could receive a free 30-day supply.

Providing consumers with a false sense of security that these patches could somehow protect them from this virus is simply wrong, Nessel said in a statement.

I will not tolerate deceptive and misleading business practices at any time, but especially not during this time of uncertainty surrounding Michigans battle with COVID-19.

She said the companies likely violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. The companies have 10 days to respond by agreeing to not market or sell the patches to Michigan consumers and to provide contact information for those who bought patches.

Meanwhile, Nessel said, her office has received 1,578 complaints of price-gouging related to COVID-19 through 7 a.m. Tuesday. That includes 649 complaints filed electronically through the offices Consumer Protection website and 929 complaints on the phone.

Complaints can be made online or by calling the Consumer Protection tip line at 877-765-8388. The tip line is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Also on MLive:

Tuesday, March 24: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

How to report if your non-essential workplace is still open during Michigans coronavirus stay home order

What Grand Rapids residents are saying about Michigans stay-at-home order
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas lieutenant governor said Monday night that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the Centers for Disease Control says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will take care of ourselves.

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the comments while appearing on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight. Patrick, 69, went on the program after President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he wanted the country getting back to business in weeks, not months.

Lets get back to work. Lets get back to living. Lets be smart about it, Patrick said. And those of us who are 70 plus, well take care of ourselves. But dont sacrifice the country.

A spokeswoman for Patrick did not immediately return to an email seeking comment late Monday. Patrick went on to suggest on the show that there were lots of grandparents like him and that he doesnt want the whole country to be sacrificed.

Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction  staying home from work and isolating themselves  the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.

Patrick is a firebrand conservative and former talk radio show host who was elected to office in 2014. He was the Texas chairman of Trumps presidential campaign in 2016 and has pushed the Texas Senate that he oversees further to the right.

Texas has more than 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths related to the virus. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has resisted calling a stay-at-home order for all of Texas but local officials in Dallas and San Antonio have.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Worldwide, more than 375,000 cases have been reported, and while most people recover in weeks, more than 16,000 have died from the virus.

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
AUSTIN, Texas - Governors across the nation on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trumps new accelerated timeline for reopening the U.S. economy, as they continued to impose more restrictions on travel and public life in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The dismissal of Trumps mid-April timeframe for a national reopening came from Republicans and Democrats, from leaders struggling to manage hot spots of the outbreak and those still bracing for the worst. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the head of the National Governors Association and a Republican, called the messaging confusing since most leaders are still focused on enforcing the restrictions, not easing them. He accused the White House of running on a schedule made of some imaginary clock.

The pushback suggests Trumps talk of an early reboot is unlikely to gain traction. In most cases, its state leaders  not the federal government  who are responsible for both imposing and lifting the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions intended to stop the contagion.

But the governors reaction also revealed the striking disconnect and growing tensions between Trump and the state leaders closer to the front lines of a crisis that threatens to overwhelm U.S. hospitals and claim thousands of lives.

The president is eager to get the U.S. back to work as the crisis takes a political toll and the economy, which had been the cornerstone of his re-election bid, begins to wobble. The economic damage could be worse than the death toll from the virus, he has said. As soon as next week, Trump wants to take another look at recommendations about business closures and self-isolation, and said Tuesday the country could reopen by Easter Sunday  less than a month away. Our people want to return to work, he said.

But governors suggested that view had little connection to the reality theyre facing. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and Trump are clearly operating under a different set of assumptions. California, home to 40 million people and the worlds fifth-largest economy, reported hundreds of new known cases of COVID 19 and now has more than 2,200, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

In New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the infection rate was doubling every three days and pleaded for more federal help as the number of cases in the state surpassed 20,000.

If you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy, then its no contest. No American is going to say accelerate the economy at the cost of human life, Cuomo told reporters Tuesday. Job one has to be save lives. That has to be the priority.

Even some of Trumps usual allies are continuing to move ahead with tighter controls on travel, commerce and mobility, despite the presidents words. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed stay-at-home orders that continued to spread through the biggest cities. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said public health needed to come first, and South Dakota Gov. Krisiti Noem is stressing limiting business activity, not relaxing them.

This situation is not going to be over in a week, said Noem, whose state has more than two dozen cases. We have another eight weeks until we see our peak infection rate.

The U.S. is now more than a week into an unprecedented effort to encourage all Americans to drastically scale back their public activities. The orders closing schools, restaurants and businesses have largely come from a patchwork of local and state governments  with areas hit hardest imposing the most restrictions, while other communities are still weighing tighter rules.

That means the White House is eyeing ways to ease the advisories while some areas are still ramping up their responses  a mixed message that some governors worried would lead Americans to ignore the orders of local officials.

Michigans Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, told WWMT-TV/Sinclair Broadcast Group that Trumps off-the-cuff statements are really going to undermine our ability to protect people. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Trump was not taking into account the true damage that this will do to our country if we see truly millions of people die.

Trump has defended his handling of the outbreak and argued that his administration is doing all it can to help governors.

They shouldnt be hitting us, he said on Fox News. The fact is weve done a lot.

Among the few statehouse leaders to publicly endorse Trumps view was Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, 69, who on Monday suggested that people his age and older can take care of ourselves  as the nation gets back to work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people over 65 are at higher risk for the disease.

Friction between Trump and the governors has been steady throughout the crisis. The president said last week that states should be doing more to obtain their own critically needed supplies while insisting that the federal government was not a shipping clerk. States, meanwhile, have been pressing the government to help procure necessary protective and breathing equipment.

On Tuesday, Trump suggested any shortage of ventilators was on the states.

All they had to do was order them two years ago, but they decided not to do it. They cant blame us for that, he said on Fox News.

Some of the messaging coming out of the administration doesnt match, Hogan, the Maryland governor, told CNN. We dont think that were going to be in any way ready to be out of this in five or six days or so, or whenever this 15 days is up from the time that they started this imaginary clock.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Worldwide, more than 375,000 cases have been reported, and while most people recover in weeks, more than 16,000 have died from the virus.

___

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Nancy Benac in Washington; John OConnor in Springfield, Illinois; and David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheO
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 11:52:31|Editor: zyl

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WASHINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that 313,000 coronavirus tests have been completed in the United States, and more than 41,000 tests were positive.

During a White House press briefing, Pence said all state and hospital labs are now required to report their coronavirus test numbers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will distribute 8 million N95 masks, and that personal protective equipment for medical professionals is being shipped to "hotspots" around the country.

According to Trump, 73 pallets of personal protective equipment will be shipped to New York, and 36 pallets will be sent to the Washington state -- two areas hit hard by COVID-19.

Trump said he had signed an executive order to prohibit hoarding of medical equipment and supplies used for treating and preventing coronavirus.

Pence said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved self-collected samples for COVID-19 testing, adding it would reduce the strain on medical supplies and professionals.

He said the FDA has also been asked to pursue "less invasive methods of testing" after both Pence and Trump endured their own tests, which require deep nasal swabs.

"I'm pleased to report that self-collected swabs can now be collected in clinics and drive-through testing sites," Pence said, adding that asking doctors to perform the swabs creates a "drain on personal protective equipment."

While speaking on NBC Monday morning, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams expressed his concern on the worsening situation this week.

"I want America to understand -- this week, it's going to get bad," Adams said, adding that some people have not been properly practicing social distancing.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 43,667 as of 20:00 Eastern Standard Time Monday (0100 GMT on Tuesday), with 557 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
[March 24, 2020] Equity Residential Announces Steps to Support Residents and Employees Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) today announced that the Company is endorsing the plan suggested by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) to provide support to residents being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting Our Residents by: Halting evictions for the next 90 days for those who can document that they have been adversely financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

for the next 90 days for those who can document that they have been adversely financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently offering resident renewals with no increase and providing flexible lease renewal options during the next 90 days to help residents weather the crisis.

and providing flexible lease renewal options during the next 90 days to help residents weather the crisis. Creating payment plans for residents who are unable to pay their rent because of the pandemic and waiving late fees for those residents.

for residents who are unable to pay their rent because of the pandemic and for those residents. Identifying governmental and community resources to help residents secure food, financial assistance and healthcare and sharing that information with residents. Supporting our Employees by: Providing each employee with extended emergency leave.

Limiting hours on site, but not reducing compensation, and limiting in-person contact while continuing essential maintenance activities such as emergency repairs and life/safety. "At Equity Residential, we are proud to be able to provide a secure place to live for 150,000 residents in these uncertain times and especially proud of our 2,700 employees who are continuing to work at our properties and remotely to keep our business operating. For our residents who have been economically impacted, we have put in place expanded payment flexibility and for our employees we have expanded our benefits to support them. We are working hard to rise to the challenge and are confident that working together we will do s," said Mark J. Parrell, Equity Residential's President and CEO.



Financial Impact Given the uncertain scope and evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to quantify its impact on our financial performance at this time. While our same store portfolio remains very well occupied today at 96.5% and we are seeing signs of increased retention, we are currently experiencing reduced foot traffic and applications due to the various restrictions put in place by governmental authorities. We will provide a further update when we report our first quarter 2020 earnings on May 5, 2020.

About Equity Residential Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of rental apartment properties located in urban and high-density suburban communities where today's renters want to live, work and play. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 306 properties consisting of 79,065 apartment units, located in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California and Denver. For more information on Equity Residential, please visit our website at www.equityapartments.com. Forward-Looking Statements In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions made by management. While Equity Residential's management believes the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such information is inherently subject to uncertainties and may involve certain risks, including, without limitation, changes in general market conditions, including the rate of job growth and cost of labor and construction material, the level of new multifamily construction and development, competition and local government regulation. Other risks and uncertainties are described under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)) and available on our website, www.equityapartments.com. Many of these uncertainties and risks are difficult to predict and beyond management's control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events. Equity Residential assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005746/en/

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New Delhi: As his debut television show `Into the Wild` with British adventurer Bear Grylls made it to the small screens, southern superstar Rajinikanth on Monday thanked Grylls for the experience.

The much-awaited episode was telecasted on Discovery Channel on Monday at 8 pm.

The Thalaiva took to Twitter to urge his fans to watch the show and also thanked his "friend" Bear Grylls for the show.

"One of the most adventurous experiences of my life !! Hope you all enjoy watching this show as much as I did being on it !!!#IntoTheWildWithBearGrylls @BearGrylls thank you so much my friend @DiscoveryIN," tweeted Rajinikanth.

One of the most adventurous experiences of my life !! Hope you all enjoy watching this show as much as I did being on it !!!#IntoTheWildWithBearGrylls @BearGrylls thank you so much my friend @Discovery  Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) March 23, 2020

In January, Rajinikanth suffered minor injuries while shooting for the special episode of `Man vs Wild` Bandipur forest in Karnataka.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajinikanth becomes the second Indian personality to be featured on Grylls` survival show.

The episode with Prime Minister Modi was aired last year in August and became quite an attraction among viewers.


E xhausted front line health workers doing a Herculean job have made a dramatic plea to the Government: give us the personal protective equipment (PPE) we need to keep ourselves safe, or we cant keep our patients safe.

Junior doctors, GPs, nurses, midwives and pharmacists all told the Standard there was insufficient gear, known as PPE, for them to wear when seeing non-Covid-19 patients.

Some of the people we see who do not have symptoms will be infectious, one junior doctor warned. It means we are potentially spreading the virus to other patients. You look at Italy and you have to be extremely worried.

A senior practice nurse described how half the doctors at her practice are off ill with suspected coronavirus, including her.

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Waterloo station looking empty PA Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

As Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a new order of one million masks, the spectre of Spain loomed.

It has one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in Europe, and nearly 12 per cent of its 33,000 or so cases are health workers.

Medics called for health workers to be prioritised for testing, as a diagnosis within 48 hours would let those who test negative return to work quickly.

In the first of a series of articles taking a look inside the NHS, we report on what it is like to be manning the front line in this unprecedented time.

Bosses told me to carry on until I feel symptoms, but I worry I could infect patients

Natasha, junior doctor, Surrey

We have a dozen corona-positive patients in our hospital, all on a specially designated ward, and we are running two A&Es  a clean A&E and a respiratory or dirty A&E where they wear full PPE gear. I am on one of the non-Covid medical wards.

"I am alarmed because we dont have enough PPE gear to keep ourselves safe, yet the patients we see could be coronavirus carriers. One patient, who was on my ward for several days, has since tested positive. I had examined their chest and my colleague had looked in their mouth, so I am afraid we could both be infected.

My bosses have told me to carry on until I feel symptoms, but I worry I could be infecting other patients. At least one third of my junior doctor colleagues are self-isolating. When you look at Italy, its scary. There is this feeling of impending doom, waiting for the hammer to fall.

Were getting on with it, but inside we feel scared.

Dr Karen Benson, GP principal, Haringey, north London

Were all pretty calm people in our six-GP surgery, and not prone to panic, yet you can feel the tension. We are closed to walk-ins so patients have to phone and be invited in. Nevertheless, some people just turn up ill and we see them in a special room with PPE gear.

GP Dr Karen Benson

"The Government has supplied us with masks, visors, gloves and gowns, but we dont have enough PPE gear for seeing non-Covid patients who could be incubating the virus. Our receptionists are terrified because they dont know whether the person who walks in next will be infected. Our two practice nurses are off sick so we have no nursing support.

Were getting on with it, but inside we feel scared. We had one patient admitted to intensive care. My Italian friend tells me their health service can no longer treat patients as people  they are processed as numbers. Weve been told to prepare to be part of community teams that will manage people with Covid-19 at home to reduce pressure on hospitals. There is a sense among us that were all going to get it.

We are cannon fodder.

Graham Phillips, superintendent pharmacist

I have three pharmacies employing 30 people and they are on their knees.

"They have been working heroically all hours, from 6am to 11pm, trying to manage the unprecedented demand. We are the front line.

Graham Phillips

"As soon as GPs shut their doors, all the anxiety that people feel started falling on we pharmacists.

"Community pharmacies take more calls than 111 and we see 1.8 million people per day  more than the entire NHS put together. Its bedlam. Yet we have not been issued with any PPE apart from a few out-of-date face masks, and we have no glass screens in front of the counter to shield us.

We are cannon fodder. My staff are starting to drop, with five going off ill. A lack of testing puts more pressure on the system. Even before Covid-19, pharmacies were under pressure, with Lloyds Pharmacy closing 200 branches, so the stress is now even more intense. My staff want to do the best for patients, but they are tearful, scared and exhausted too.

Ive had one Covid-19 patient that I know of

Carol, midwife, south London hospital

Maternity is an open-door service like A&E so we cant turn people who need help away. We triage them to see if they have coronavirus symptoms, and if so they are seen in an isolation area, but its a high-risk neonatal unit and there is no way we can keep our distance.

"We do not have enough PPE to keep ourselves safe. And if we are not protected, our patients arent either. This includes women giving birth with comorbidities [the occurrence of one or more conditions at the same time].

"Ive have had one confirmed Covid-19 patient, and there have been several other suspected cases. Were all a bit at sea about how to protect ourselves and our patients.

"Its starting to hit us. Some of my colleagues have begun to go off sick. Were feeling nervous about the coming weeks  not so much for ourselves, but for the people we could pass it on to and the effect it will have on the people we live with.

I have never felt so wiped out.

Janet, senior practice nurse, north London

In our GP practice, three of the six doctors are off self-isolating, and I was sent home with the virus a week ago, so our practices capacity to deal with patients has been decapitated.

"My symptoms started with a dry cough, then a few days later I got a temperature in the hundreds. I got this deep pain in the chest. I cant describe how much the body hurts. I feel I cant even make it to the loo when I need it. Ive never felt so wiped out.

None of us have been tested, so those who are unsure have to self-isolate. We need NHS staff to be tested, or there will soon be no one left to man the service.

We have to be kind to each other to get through this.

Liliana Risi, GP, Tower Hamlets; and Provost of the Royal College of General Practitioners, NE London Faculty

There is an eerie intensity to our work, with people working on collective solutions. In our area, GPs have formed a WhatsApp group of around 200 people to share knowledge.

"Our practice has eight doctors, responsible for 14,000 people, and weve seen many with respiratory symptoms, but without testing we dont know if they have the virus.

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I am not a big fan of the Government, but its approach has been sensible. We may be so overwhelmed that we have to make decisions about who we refer to intensive care.
The latest:

White House, Senate reach historic $2 trillion stimulus deal amid growing coronavirus fears

White House and Senate leaders struck a major deal early Wednesday morning over a $2 trillion package to provide a jolt to an economy struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, capping days of marathon negotiations that produced one of the most expensive and far-reaching measures in the history of Congress.

The full details have not been released yet. However, over the last 24 hours, the elements of the proposal have come into sharper focus, with $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families, $350 billion in small business loans, $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies.

The package, if it passes Congress, would be the most significant legislative action taken to address the rapidly intensifying coronavirus crisis, which is overwhelming hospitals and grinding much of the economy to a halt.

Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said the Senate will vote on the legislation later Wednesday.





White House: People who have left New York City recently should self-quarantine for 14 days

Due to a rise in coronavirus infections, the White House advised people who have recently left New York City to self-quarantine for 14 days to avoid spreading the disease further.

New York state, the epicenter of the U.S.'s coronavirus outbreak, houses at least 20,000 of the country's 52,000 infections. New York City holds at least 14,000.



Florida governor plans to expand self-quarantine mandate for travelers from New York tri-state area

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he plans to expand his already far-reaching executive order mandating a 14-day self-quarantine or isolation period for travelers coming to Florida from airports in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

DeSantis said he will sign an additional order to make his original mandate apply retroactively to anyone who has traveled to Florida from those states in the last three weeks.

The move to expand the first large-scale attempt by a state to impose a self-quarantine period for domestic travelers comes as more than 51,000 coronavirus cases were reported in the country by Tuesday afternoon -- more than half of them in New York. At least 659 people in the U.S. have died.

DeSantis said that members of the Florida National Guard were at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Tuesday, providing information to travelers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in compliance with the executive order he issued Monday.

Trump wants nation back in business by Easter



President Donald Trump says he wants the nation "opened up and just raring to go by Easter"  a date just more than two weeks away that few health experts believe will be sufficient in containing the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking during a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, Trump reiterated he was eager to see the nation return to normal soon, even as doctors warn the nation will see a massive spike in cases if Americans return to crowded workplaces or events.

"I give it two weeks," Trump said earlier in the town hall, suggesting he was ready to phase out his 15-day self-isolating guidelines when they expire. "I guess by Monday or Tuesday, it's about two weeks. We will assess at that time and give it more time if we need a little more time. We have to open this country up."

But Trump said Monday that the health experts on his task force do not necessarily agree with his hope for a quick return to their jobs to boost the economy. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, are also sounding the alarm.

"There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do what's necessary to stop the virus," Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, tweeted Tuesday.

Trump's new Easter goal  to have the country back to normal by Sunday, April 12  came hours after the New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state is expecting a height of coronavirus infections to come in two to three weeks.

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Cuomo slams federal response

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday demanded the federal government take dramatic action to send thousands of stockpiled ventilators immediately to his state first, saying the Empire State's immense coronavirus caseload threatened catastrophe in days without it.

"We haven't flattened the curve, and the curve is actually increasing," Cuomo said.

He said New York has more than 25,000 coronavirus cases  at least 10 times as many as any other state  and his state needs 30,000 more ventilators on top of the 7,000 it has.

Cuomo wants all of what he called a current federal stockpile of 20,000 ventilators to brace for the coming "apex" in cases in New York, which he says will arrive as soon as 14 days.

Stricter rules go into effect as people ignore social distancing orders

Americans should stay at least 6 feet away from others and avoid crowds, health officials say. Yet people keep ignoring that guidance.

Sun worshipers have been flocking to beaches. Young people have been gathering at parks as many schools are now closed.

So more states are enacting strict stay-at-home orders. California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey were already practicing them over the weekend.

Connecticut, Louisiana and Ohio joined that list Monday, as did seven counties in Pennsylvania.

And similar orders are expected to go into effect Tuesday in Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico and West Virginia.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott directed businesses and not-for-profit entities  to the maximum extent possible  to put into place telecommuting or work-from-home procedures. He told Vermonters to be ready for an upcoming announcement on further restrictions and a stay-at-home directive.

W2lmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZDJjbXZicTdzeHgzM2ouY2xvdWRmcm9udC5uZXQvZW1haWwvcHJvZF9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1c19pZnJhbWVfYXJ0aWNsZS5odG1sIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQxNCIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOjEwMCU7Ym9yZGVyOm5vbmU7b3ZlcmZsb3c6aGlkZGVuIiBzY3JvbGxpbmc9Im5vIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3dUcmFuc3BhcmVuY3k9InRydWUiXVsvaWZyYW1lXQ==

The orders say residents must stay home, with few exceptions such as grocery shopping, getting medicine and going to work at an essential job.

People can still go outside and be active, as long as they stay at a healthy distance from others.

Violating the orders could result in fines in states such as New York and Connecticut.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered the closure of all non-critical workplaces as of 5 p.m. Monday.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker also ordered all nonessential businesses to shut down their physical workplaces from noon Tuesday until April 7. Those employees can still work from home.

Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia joined a growing number of states ordering people to stay home, with a few exceptions.

Trump has activated the U.S. National Guard in three of the hardest-hit states  California, Washington and New York. Almost half of all U.S. cases are in New York state.

Trump said those National Guard units will remain in the command of the states' governors.

In concert with the state measures, it's all in an effort to control the deadly virus and prevent a catastrophic overload of the U.S. health care system.



'A point where people can't be saved'

Medical workers from coast to coast say they're facing a dire shortage of masks, ventilators and staff as more doctors and nurses also fall sick.

New York City's 11 public hospitals will only be able to get through this week before they start reaching "a point where people can't be saved," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

Many are calling for Trump to fully use the Defense Production Act to ensure the necessary supply of medical equipment.

The 1950 law gives the president the ability to force factories to produce key equipment and allocate resources where they are needed. President Trump invoked the bill last week, but said he does not plan to use it.

Monday, Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii planned to introduce a bill to require the president to fully use the Defense Production Act.

The bill would require the president to ensure the production of at least 500 million N95 respirator masks, 200,000 ventilators, 20 million face shields, 500 million pairs of medical gloves and 20 million surgical gowns.

Authorities also are redoubling efforts to get the public to stay home  especially since coronavirus is easily transmitted between people who don't even know they have it.

More drive-through testing becomes available

While testing has become more available, there are still challenges  and increased strain on the health care system.

About 254,000 Americans have been tested, Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday. That total does not include local hospitals or local health care labs, he said.

Cities are getting creative in helping expedite testing.



Los Angeles is implementing a new web portal that would direct those who might be at highest risk to a testing center.

In Chicago, two Walmart Supercenter parking lots are being designated as drive-thru testing sites.

And a new drive-up testing facility in Miami will give health care workers and first responders priority testing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

CNN contributed to this report.
Katrina Kaif denies being a part of Vikas Bahl`s next with Amitabh Bachchan

Katrina Kaif has denied reports that she has signed Vikas Bahl's slice-of-life comedy, tentatively titled Deadly. The clarification comes after she was criticised for choosing to work with the filmmaker who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

On Monday March 23, Mumbai Mirror reported that Katrina instantly said yes when Vikas offered her Deadly, as she wanted to experiment with different roles. Reportedly, the film would show her journey of self-discovery, with Amitabh Bachchan playing her father.

Soon after this news came out, several Twitter users slammed Katrina for working with Vikas, who was accused of inappropriate behaviour by a former employee of the now-defunct Phantom Films. The woman had alleged that he sexually harassed her during a promotional tour of Bombay Velvet in 2015.

Though Vikas was later cleared by Reliance Entertainment following an internal inquiry, questions have been raised about the process.

HuffPost journalist Ankur Pathak initially condemned Katrina's decision in a tweet but later shared an update saying that when he contacted her, she quashed the news of her being a part of Deadly.
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Linkedin Marvin G. Perez and Isis Almeida (Bloomberg) Miami  Tue, March 24, 2020 23:33 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d4026c 2 World COVID-19,Starbucks,coffee-culture,delivery-service Free

Not even Starbucks Corp. closing most of its US and Canadian locations is enough to damp coffees rally as potential supply disruptions outweigh demand concerns.

With more governments enacting nationwide lockdowns and many people staying home, theres growing fears that labor and logistical interruptions will curb the flow of beans.

Arabica coffee for delivery in May was up 2.8% at 11:57 a.m. in New York, heading for a fifth straight gain to the highest level since early January.

Coffee is defying the global market rout fueled by the coronavirus outbreak partly amid signs that traders are encouraging consumers to secure supplies ahead of possible disruptions. Also helping are comments by the exchange that it cant ensure the sampling and grading process will be completed in time for the expiry of May contracts.

Now possible labor disruptions -- particularly where bean picking is labor intensive such as Central America and Colombia -- are giving further price support. In recent years, Venezuelan migrants have become an important part of the Colombian workforce. Now that border has closed.

So far things are okay, but the harvest is yet to start, said Roberto Velez, chief executive officer at the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers, referring to the mid-crop collected from April. We are yet to coordinate with authorities on permission for pickers to move freely.

Even coffee supplies are under threat amid global transport woes.

Brazil, the worlds top exporter of arabica beans, wont start the 2020-21 harvest until May. Colombia is the second-largest arabica supplier, followed by Honduras.

In Honduras, exporters have special government authorization to continue operating and are doing so said Miguel Pon, executive director of Adecafeh, the countrys main exporter association.

The government has extended the absolute curfew until March 29 and this week will be crucial to learn of new cases of COVID-19 and what new determinations the government will make, he said.

Central American countries have very little coffee, said Ernesto Alvarez, managing director for Coex Coffee International in Miami. I see a problem that is now getting worse. Coffee inventory is flying.

While a Colombian presidential decree states that people involved in agricultural supply chains have free mobility, some mayors are contravening that, said Manuel Rueda, general manager of Integra Trading SAS.

It may take some time to sort out all the details that surround this mandate, he said, adding that the company will try to continue operating as usual and continue to monitor how everything is evolving.

The labor concerns arent restricted to farm workers. In Brazil, for example, stevedores at the giant Santos port are threatening to strike.

As Latin American countries feel the ripple effect of the virus grow into bigger waves, our market is exposed, said Alex Boughton, a broker at Sucden Financial in London. Supply concerns are still prevalent, and thats not going to go away any time soon.
omersukrugoksu/iStock(NEW YORK) --Iran rejected coronavirus aid provided by Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization, which had sent a team of medical staff and a field hospital to Iran.

"Since the national mobilization for confronting corona is ongoing, and the medical capabilities of Iranian Armed Forces are entirely at its service, Iran does not need hospitals established by foreigners and such presence is irrelevant," an adviser to Irans health minister, Alireza Vahhabzadeh, tweeted on Monday.



The Islamic Republic is the hardest hit country in the region with a death toll of at least 1,934 and 24,811 officially confirmed infection cases, the spokesman of the health ministry, Kianoush Jahanpour said on Tuesday, Iranian Students News Agency reported.

On Sunday, the official website of the Doctors without Borders /Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) stated that a "team of nine emergency and intensive care unit (ICU) doctors" along with logisticians to run the unit were sent to Isfahan, the second worst-affected province of the country after the capital city of Tehran.



After the ministers adviser's tweet, MSF confirmed in a statement that "its intervention in response to COVID-19 in Isfahan is currently put on hold," saying the organization is "waiting official confirmation about the next steps."



The decision has caused confusion about the real need of the Islamic Republic for medical aid in its fight against the coronavirus.



Sadegh Zibakalam, Iranian political expert described the move as an example of prioritizing "ideology over peoples health."



"Expelling Doctors Without Borders who had come to Iran to fight corona is a representation of politicization and prioritizing ideological considerations over everything else including peoples lives and health," he tweeted on Tuesday.



However, those who are in favor of the decision believe that the MSF help package was too small to cover needs of the country, saying it was meant to cover up the bigger damages the U.S. sanctions have caused for Irans health system.



Since May 2018, Washington reinstated several economic and trade sanctions on Tehran after President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal. While medication and food are exempted from sanctions, transaction restrictions have affected Irans access to medical supplies, especially in the fight against the coronavirus.



"They think they are dealing with fools that they want to compensate suffocating people by sanctions on their economy, export and import, money transaction and economy merely by ten doctors and 1,000 masks," Pooria Astaraky, a supporter of the system, tweeted.



Some critical of putting MSF aid on hold believe that rejecting this help sends the wrong signal to the international bodies, making them think the country is not in lack of supplies as its officials state.



"When you reject foreign aid with any excuse, be it its small quantity or our lack of need, [that] makes your voice unheard [about sanctions]," wrote Bahman Daroshafai on his Twitter account.



Stopping MSF team is also widely advocated by those who follow a line of conspiracy theory considering foreign medical staff as potential spies.



"According to some monitoring results, these people are on mission for the U.S. to report about the coronavirus in Iran and hand it to the United States," Amin Nikdel, a hardliner advocate of the system, described the MSF mission in his tweet.



Nikdels claim refers to the speech of Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei on Sunday, when he accused the U.S. of creating the novel coronavirus.



"When there's such an allegation, can a wise man trust you," Ayatollah Khamenei said.



"You could be giving medicines that spread the virus or cause it to remain. Experience shows you cant be trusted and you do such things," he added.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Staff photo by Eric Swist

The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement Monday that said one of its employees lied about testing positive for COVID-19.

Last week, the department issued a statement saying that an employee who worked in the Carrollton Driver License Office  an community north of Dallas  tested positive for the virus. However, while DPS was attempting to notify public health authorities, it was discovered that the individual had given "false information and in fact tested negative for COVID-19," the department said.
Factory shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic have spread to India, where major Korean businesses like Samsung, LG and Hyundai have halted production of smartphones, home appliances and cars.

India had reported a suspiciously low 415 cases of coronavirus and seven deaths by Monday, which would make it one of the world's least affected regions, but some Indian state governments have taken tough measures to prevent the spread of the virus and ordered factories to close until March 31.

Samsung shut down its plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh on Monday. It makes the mid-priced Galaxy A and M series of smartphones. The M series is sold exclusively in India.

But the Noida plant has also received some production allocations for Samsung's high-end Galaxy S20 released last month, and a prolonged factory closure could lead to complications in new product rollouts.

Samsung spent US$700 million in 2018 to double output at the plant, which now manufactures 100 million smartphones a year or a whopping 30 percent of the company's annual phone production. Samsung also closed its home appliance factory in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
A Cobh woman has been overwhelmed by extraordinary offers of shower caps, goggles and visors for healthcare staff at a Dublin hospital after she issued appeals for simple protective equipment on social media in recent days.

Dublin-based Miriam Ahern, whose management consulting business has taken a hit because of the pandemic, took to Twitter to source safety equipment for hospital staff.

The appeals were prompted by a conversation with a friend, currently working as a doctor at a Dublin hospital, who spoke of the need for protective wear for those responding to Covid-19.

It started with a suggestion that disposable shower caps could be useful for healthcare workers. So I put out a tweet on Saturday and couldnt believe the response, Miriam explained, adding the appeal resulted in 2,500 shower caps being offered to the hospital.

The need for protective gear then turned to goggles and face shields or visors for healthcare staff, she said. Im not entirely sure but the requirement may have come from the need for a deeper type of goggle and visor for people wearing glasses. My friend sent a photograph of what they would need and I shared that on twitter and the response has been absolutely overwhelming, extraordinary. The generosity of people is absolutely striking, Miriam told the Irish Examiner.

Offers and suggestions came from all walks of life with people suggesting diving goggles, welding goggles, and even horse racing goggles as a possible solution to the demand for protective equipment. Youve a whole army of people out there looking for creative solutions for somebody who doesnt have the time, Miriam said.

For the moment, the appeal for shower caps has closed but the appeal for goggles and visors remains open as the hospital may need more supplies as Covid-19 testing continues.

After making the appeal on Monday afternoon one man had already delivered 15 sets of goggles and six face shields to the hospital by Tuesday morning.

Another businessman offered to stop production in his 3D printing company to make visors, so Im following that up at the moment. Thats an incredibly generous offer and is representative of the sprit thats out there at the moment, that people are prepared to go to such lengths to support each other throughout this, Miriam said.

People have a newfound appreciation for those working at the coalface in the health service as well. These people are taking serious risks with their own health to try and look after us. Its extraordinary, she added.

The Cobh native said people can help in small but meaningful ways and that the appeal is having an impact.

Were bypassing all the order and delivery systems and getting these pieces of equipment or kit directly to the coalface in record time. Its making a difference, which is just fantastic, Miriam said.

I think it does people good to think that they are helping. It certainly gave me a lift to feel that Im doing something that actually impacts people who are responding to the virus. Its a great privilege to be able to do that, she added.

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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 25, 2020 05:57 658 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d4270d 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,outbreak,emergency-hospital,Kemayoran,Athlete-village Free

Dozens of patients put under surveillance for COVID-19 crowded the emergency hospital at the Kemayoran athletes village in Central Jakarta after it opened on Monday.

At least 30 patients immediately rushed to the temporary hospital an hour after it officially opened on Monday afternoon, said Arya Sinulingga, an aide to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.

Kompas TV reported that some patients were still lining up outside the hospital on Monday evening.

Please understand that the test takes time. Theres no way we can simultaneously test 100 people because the equipment is limited, Arya said on Tuesday.

The ministry prepared two health facilities dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients, namely the Kemayoran athletes village as a temporary hospital and Pertamina Jaya Hospital, also in Central Jakarta, which has been assigned to treat patients with acute symptoms that require intensive care.

Read also: COVID-19: Ministry to develop temporary hospitals in several regions

However, not all confirmed COVID-19 positive cases would be treated in the hospitals, Arya added, as the ministry had prepared scenarios regarding the use of healthcare facilities for those patients.

People who test positive but show no symptoms of the disease can self-isolate. Those in a severe condition can be treated at [either] the athletes village or Pertamina Hospital, said Arya.

He went on to say this scenario would make better sense as studies predicted that the number of patients could reach up to 8,000, while medical personnel and facilities were limited.

However, patients without symptoms could also be hospitalized if the persons place of living was inadequate as a location for self-quarantine.

During the 2018 Asian Games, the Kemayoran athletes village was able to house 24,000 people. However, Jokowi said the complex would be able to handle about 3,000 patients as of now.

People tend to see this facility as an alternative location that will provide treatment for COVID-19 patients. This urges them to go there [to be checked], Jokowi said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

However, I hope few people will be taken to this temporary hospital, the President went on to say.

Read also: Readiness of Greater Jakarta hospitals key in mitigating spread of COVID-19

The Health Ministrys disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, asserted that the temporary hospital would not be used for people with minor or no symptoms, which is about 80 percent of all COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Self-isolation by staying at home is enough. Not all people with the disease should depend on hospital services. [People without symptoms should not depend on hospitals] unless there is a comorbidity issue, said Yurianto, who also serves as the government spokesperson for all COVID-19-related matters.

As of Tuesday, the emergency hospital had received a total of 102 visits of COVID-19 patients. Of the total number, 71 were immediately hospitalized in the athletes village complex.

Indonesian health authorities have confirmed 686 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, with 55 fatalities and 30 recoveries. The cases are spread across 24 provinces, with most cases in Jakarta, where 424 cases and 31 deaths have been confirmed.
- A photo has been circulating on social media claiming that Vice President Leni Robredo agreed to send home COVID-19 patients

- The issue stemmed after 3 patients who tested positive for coronavirus disease in Quezon City were reportedly sent home

- However, KAMI has debunked the claim and reported it to be false

- The original post of KAMI stated Robredos call for the government to focus on health concerns instead of public safety and order

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

A post has been circulating on social media claiming that Vice President Leni Robredo was okay with sending home coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients to be with their families.

However, the claim was false and the photo has been edited.

The post claimed to be a post from KAMI. It shows a photo of Robredo with a text that read:

Okay lang naman pauwiin yung tatlong infected. Wala namang problema don, as long as nabalik din agad pagtapos makita at makasamang kumain ang kani-kanilang mga pamilya.

KAMI clarifies that the post did not come from its site nor its official social media accounts.

The issue stemmed from the reports that 3 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in Quezon City were sent home.

According to the ABS-CBN News, head of Quezon City's Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Dr. Rolando Cruz clarified that the decision to send home the patients was based on the protocols set by the Department of Health (DOH).

Persons under investigation (PUIs) and positive COVID-19 patients who exhibit mild symptoms with no co-morbidities and are non-elderly are advised to be sent home for strict self-isolation and close monitoring by local health authorities, it cited in DOH Memorandum No. 2020-0108 issued on March 11, 2020.

The original post made by KAMI was published on March 16. It was Robredo's call for the government to focus on the health concerns amid the COVID-19 crisis in the country, instead of the public order and safety.

Ngayon kasi, parang nangingibabaw ulit yung public order and safety na dapat sana supportive lang siya sa health concern. Sana hindi grabe yung focus sa military, sa kapulisan kasi ito, health concern ito, it read in the original post.

You may check the original post of KAMI here:

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The GMA News Online also shared the same post about the governments efforts in public order and safety are stepping over the focus on health concerns in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Leni Robredo is the 14th and incumbent Vice President of the Philippines. She has been known as the widow of late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

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!

KAMI reviewed the 2020 Oscar Best Picture movie "Parasite" to let you know if it is worth checking out! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
The coronavirus pandemic could spell "apocalypse" in the airline industry without urgent government aid, the global aviation association said Tuesday, warning that carriers could lose more than $250 billion in revenues this year alone.

The International Air Transport Association said its latest analysis showed that annual passenger revenues will fall by $252 billion if severe travel restrictions remain in place for three months.

That would mark a 44-percent drop compared to 2019 revenues, and is more than double the $113 billion drop previously predicted by IATA before countries around the world began introducing sweeping travel restrictions.

"It is the deepest crisis we ever had in our industry," IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in a virtual briefing, calling on governments to quickly step up and provide desperately needed liquidity.

"Airlines are fighting for survival in every corner of the world," he said in a statement, pointing out that "travel restrictions and evaporating demand mean that, aside from cargo, there is almost no passenger business."



"For airlines, it's apocalypse now. And there is a small and shrinking window for governments to provide a lifeline of financial support to prevent a liquidity crisis from shuttering the industry."



IATA has not been shy about sounding the alarm in the crisis, and last week warned that up to $200 billion would be needed to rescue the world's airlines.

On Tuesday it said that while some governments were stepping up, it was still far from enough to cover the needs.

"We need money," Juniac told reporters.

He stressed that IATA fully supported government measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has now infected nearly 400,000 people worldwide and killed close to 17,000, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

"But we need them to understand that without urgent relief, many airlines will not be around to lead the recovery stage," he said.

He pointed out that some 2.7 million airline jobs were at risk, with 24 times that number of jobs on the line down the travel and tourism value chain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Mikhail Gorbachev Dom and Ega Kurnia Yazid Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 07:35 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206cfe83b 2 Opinion COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,death-toll,virus-corona,rumah-sakit-covid-19,hospitals,overwhelmed-hospitals,Kawal-COVID-19,kawalcovid19 Free

As COVID-19 cases in Indonesia have been soaring in number remarkably, Greater Jakarta has played a key role in addressing the pandemic. The availability of hospitals and healthcare facilities in the area will indicate the number of patients that the metropolitan area can hold.

Hence, the most important questions are on whether the region possesses enough facilities and whether it is prepared to handle COVID-19 and, if not, are there possible strategic actions that can be done to bridge the gap?

Since the announcement of the first two COVID-19 cases in Indonesia on March 2, the number of infected people has been increasing exponentially. According to Kawalcovid19 data, the average growth of number of infected patients is around 42 percent daily with a total of 309 cumulative cases, meaning the number doubles every two to three days. The mortality rate of the virus has risen to around 8 percent, with most fatalities belonging to those aged 50 to 59 years old.

Business Insider reported that, by taking into account the R0 or "R-naught and trend modeling, the upcoming trend of infected patients can be conjectured to be a very dramatic number. First, this coronavirus has an R0 of 2 to 2.5, meaning that a new person can spread the disease to about 2.2 people  the number of R0 is not fixed; it can be higher or lower as time goes by. In other words, this number is relatively higher than that of the regular influenza, but the virus is less contagious than SARS.

In an article of his, Tomas Pueyo tried to model the spread. If we put it into the context of Jakarta, under the business as usual scenario, there will be more than 1 million cases in 40 days since the announcement of the first two cases. He also noted that the identification of new patients can take seven to 14 days, during which the virus can spread under the radar.

Given this, there are two approaches to estimating under-the-radar cases. First, by using historical data, Pueyo analyzed that the total number of cases, including under-the-radar cases, may be 27 times higher than the actual reported cases. The second approach is to estimate the number of under-the-radar cases based on the number of deaths.

Taking into account both approaches, the real cases (including those that are under the radar) could reach as many as 6,000 as of March 19 in a business-as-usual scenario. Mathematicians from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) who made estimates using the Richard curve concluded that the number of cases in Indonesia could reach 8,000.

Almost all predictions mention social distancing as an effort that could flatten the curve so that hospitals are not overburdened with more patients than they can handle. Meanwhile, preparing the right amount of healthcare facilities such as hospitals, pharmaceuticals and testing protocols should be prioritized to mitigate worst-case scenarios.

Greater Jakarta plays a key role in addressing COVID-19. It is important to address the issue of commuters within the metropolitan area when discussing COVID-19. A person who lives in Depok but works in Jakarta, for instance, could play a role in spreading the disease.

Data shows that, overall, the hospital capacity in Indonesia is 2.7 critical care beds per 100,000 people, slightly higher than the Philippines (2.2) and slightly lower than Malaysia (3.4). Both neighboring countries have implemented lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19, while Indonesia has opted for social distancing. Jakarta as the epicenter of Indonesias outbreak has tried to control mass transportation, schools and tourist sites.

As the center of the metropolitan area, Jakarta also has to bear the heaviest burden. That is why Jakarta has started to address its capacity problems at hospitals, which will surely be unprepared to handle 500 to 1,000 cases.

According to the experiences in other countries, from 100 percent of reported patients, only 20 percent require hospital treatment, and 5 percent require intensive care, which can mean the need for ventilators and/or extra corporeal oxygenation (ECMO). Based on the estimation that COVID-19 patients will near 8,000, Jakarta will require around 1,600 to 4,800 treatment beds, 400 to 1,200 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 200 to 600 isolation beds with ventilators and/or ECMO.

According to 2018 data, in total, Jakarta only had 181 hospitals (including private, government, and military hospitals). Not every hospital owns an ICU room; all 432 ICU beds in the capital are located within only 72 hospitals. Thats why the government is building temporary hospitals at the Kemayoran Athletes Village and Patra Jasa Hotel.

The second problem is the number of medical staff, which will certainly be exhausted if the number of patients increases exponentially. As a result, some patients will not receive proper treatment and die or the health of medical staff will deteriorate due to exhaustion.

A new release from WHO considers COVID-19 an airborne disease in certain conditions; therefore, it is important to equip medical staff with the appropriate equipment.

Currently, COVID-19 tests can be performed at 12 labs in Indonesia, three of which are located in Jakarta. The rapid testing policy of some provinces is not efficient and will waste the budget due to the relatively high number of false-positive or false-negative results. At the end of the day, rapid testing will reduce the number of open rooms at Jakartas hospitals because of the possible high number of false-positive patients.

Citizen literacy on COVID-19 can indicate how social distancing will affect the number of cases. Even though literacy in Greater Jakarta is relatively high, the effectiveness of the strategy is said to stand at only 45 percent. It means approximately 8 million people within the population face the threat of COVID-19.

In addition, hospitals are not only handling COVID-19, as there are several illnesses they must also deal with, such as dengue.

Increasing the readiness of hospitals in Greater Jakarta can be achieved by having private hospitals improve their capacity. Furthermore, assistance from foreign countries and support from the private sector can also be considered.

Many policies have been put in place to flatten the curve. We have to appreciate the governments decision to close schools and encourage social distancing. The government can also optimize the effort by producing a national protocol for volunteers who want to help, particularly in the process of assisting suspected patients in self-quarantine. Establishing an online medical check-up platform will be also helpful in more accurately estimating the number of cases.

All in all, the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases in Jakarta forces the city to quickly develop adequate healthcare facilities, bearing in mind the gap that might exist in a worst-case scenario.

Mikhail Gorbachev Dom and Ega Kurnia Yazid are respectively research fellow and research intern at Disaster Management Research Unit, CSIS, Jakarta.
RICHMOND, Va., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (Oceanwide) today announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has reapproved the proposed acquisition of control by Oceanwide of Genworth's New York-domiciled insurance company, Genworth Life Insurance Company of New York (GLICNY). NYDFS' original approval expired in March 2019.

In connection with the NYDFS' reapproval, Genworth has agreed, among other things, to contribute $100 million to GLICNY at the closing of the Oceanwide transaction. Genworth and Oceanwide have communicated the terms of the agreement with the NYDFS to Genworth's other domiciliary insurance regulators, and believe that these terms are acceptable to them as well.

As previously disclosed, Oceanwide is working on providing responses to limited regulatory requests for additional information as promptly as possible. Given the ongoing challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, including the remote work policies that have been put into effect for the parties and regulators involved, the submission of additional information and the review processes have taken and may continue to take more time than would ordinarily be expected. Once these items are resolved, Oceanwide will be in a position to request clearance in China for the currency conversion and transfer of funds in order to complete the transaction.

As a result, Genworth and Oceanwide are discussing a short extension of the merger agreement beyond the current deadline of March 31, 2020. The parties will provide an update on targeted timing of the transaction once an appropriate timeline is finalized.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in 2004. For more information, visit genworth.com.

From time to time, Genworth releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's publicly traded subsidiary, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited, separately releases financial and other information about its operations. This information can be found at http://www.genworth.com.au.

About Oceanwide

Oceanwide is a privately held, family owned international financial holding group founded by LU Zhiqiang. Headquartered in Beijing, China, Oceanwide's well-established and diversified businesses include operations in financial services, energy, technology information services, culture and media, and real estate assets globally, including in the United States.

Oceanwide is the controlling shareholder of the Shenzhen-listed Oceanwide Holdings Co., Ltd. and Minsheng Holdings Co. Ltd.; the Hong Kong-listed China Oceanwide Holdings Limited and China Tonghai International Financial Limited (formerly known as Quam Limited); the privately-held International Data Group, Minsheng Securities, Minsheng Trust, and Asia Pacific Property & Casualty Insurance; and it is the single largest shareholder of Australia-listed CuDECO Ltd. China Oceanwide also is a minority investor in Shanghai-listed China Minsheng Bank and Hong Kong-listed Legend Holdings. In the United States, Oceanwide has real estate investments in New York, California, and Hawaii. Businesses controlled by Oceanwide have more than 10,000 employees globally.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This communication includes certain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the closing of the transaction with Oceanwide, the receipt of required approvals relating thereto and any capital contribution resulting therefrom. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: (i) the risk that the transaction with Oceanwide may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect Genworth's business and the price of Genworth's common stock; (ii) the parties' inability to obtain regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions, or the possibility that such regulatory approvals or clearances may further delay the transaction with Oceanwide or will not be received prior to March 31, 2020 (and either or both of the parties may not be willing to further waive their end date termination rights beyond March 31, 2020) or that materially burdensome or adverse regulatory conditions may be imposed or undesirable measures may be required in connection with any such regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions (including those conditions or measures that either or both of the parties may be unwilling to accept or undertake, as applicable) or that with continuing delays, circumstances may arise that make one or both parties unwilling to proceed with the transaction with Oceanwide or unable to comply with the conditions to existing regulatory approvals or one or both of the parties may be unwilling to accept any new condition under a regulatory approval; (iii) the risk that the parties will not be able to obtain other regulatory approvals, approvals, clearances or extensions, including in connection with a potential alternative funding structure or the current geo-political environment, or that one or more regulators may rescind or fail to extend existing approvals, or that the revocation by one regulator of approvals will lead to the revocation of approvals by other regulators; (iv) the parties' inability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions for the post-closing capital plan, and/or the risk that a condition to the closing of the transaction with Oceanwide may not be satisfied or that a condition to closing that is currently satisfied may not remain satisfied due to the delay in closing the transaction with Oceanwide or that the parties are unable to agree upon a closing date following receipt of all regulatory approvals and clearances; (v) potential legal proceedings that may be instituted against Genworth related to the transactions with Oceanwide; (vi) the risk that the proposed transaction disrupts Genworth's current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transaction; (vii) potential adverse reactions or changes to Genworth's business relationships with clients, employees, suppliers or other parties or other business uncertainties resulting from the announcement of the transaction or during the pendency of the transaction, including but not limited to such changes that could affect Genworth's financial performance; (viii) certain restrictions during the pendency of the transaction that may impact Genworth's ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; (ix) continued availability of capital and financing to Genworth before the consummation of the transaction; (x) further rating agency actions and downgrades in Genworth's financial strength ratings; (xi) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (xii) Genworth's ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the transaction; (xiii) the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and other charges related to the transaction; (xiv) the risks related to diverting management's attention from Genworth's ongoing business operations; (xv) the impact of changes in interest rates and political instability; and (xvi) other risks and uncertainties described in the Definitive Proxy Statement, filed with the SEC on January 25, 2017, and Genworth's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 27, 2020. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Genworth's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. Accordingly, we caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements. Further, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Genworth's views as of any subsequent date, and Genworth does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.
(Boston)--Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, FACC, FAHA, Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Diversity in the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) and assistant Provost for Faculty Development at Boston University Medical Campus, will receive the 2020 Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award.

The award is presented to an individual who has effectively improved diversity within a medical school or community teaching hospital or who has worked to ensure patients of all races and ethnicities receive the highest quality of care.

According to David L. Coleman, MD, the John Wade Professor & Chair Department of Medicine at BUSM, Dr. Benjamin has had an extraordinary impact in promoting ethnic, racial and gender diversity within BUSM and BMC, as well as on the national level. "Through her world-class research program in cardiovascular epidemiology, remarkable success in program development, and prodigious mentoring activities, she has very positively influenced the careers of faculty from very diverse backgrounds including individuals working to identify and mitigate health disparities," said Coleman, who also is Physician-in-Chief at BMC.

Benjamin, who also is a professor of medicine in the section of cardiovascular medicine at BUSM, professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health and an investigator at the Framingham Heart Study, is one of the most highly cited researchers in clinical medicine with more than 600 publications and a continuous record of substantial National Institutes of Health grant support. Her expertise in the genetic epidemiology of atrial fibrillation has helped elucidate the risk factors and mechanisms that underlie the development of the abnormal heart rhythm. She is a cardiologist at BMC.

In addition to her research, Benjamin is known for an exemplary devotion to teaching and mentoring. Cultivating the next generation, she has guided numerous young investigators and faculty members on research projects and has been a mentor for more than 50 individuals, most of whom have been highly successful in academic health sciences.

She has been recognized with the American Heart Association's (AHA) 2016 Gold Heart Award and the AHA's 2015 Paul Dudley White Award, the AHA's Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Council Mentoring Award in 2013, the 2012 AHA's Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award and the Boston University Department of Medicine's Excellence in Research Mentoring Award in 2011.

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The Chronicle

A 19-year-old man was arrested in the shooting death of another man in east San Jose Sunday.

Antonio Llabres, who had been taken into custody by a security guard after the 3:53 p.m. shooting in the 2300 block of McKee Road,, was arrested by San Jose police. Police arriving on the scene found an adult male who had been shot. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead soon after.
UCPH Researchers have discovered that primitive bacterial parasites weaponize CRISPR to engage in battle against one another

In recent years, the development of CRISPR technologies and gene-editing scissors in particular have taken the world by storm. Indeed, scientists have learned how to harness these clever natural systems in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, among other areas.

New research from the University of Copenhagen shows that we are not the first to find a way to exploit the benefits of the CRISPR technique. Apparently, primitive bacterial parasites have been doing so for millions of years.

The researchers studied the least described and most enigmatic of the six CRISPR-Cas systems found in nature -- Type IV CRISPR-Cas. Here, they uncovered characteristics that differ entirely from those in other systems.

Redefining CRISPR

"Until recently, CRISPR-Cas was believed to be a defense system used by bacteria to protect themselves against invading parasites such as viruses, much like our very own immune system protects us. However, it appears that CRISPR is a tool that can be used for different purposes by diverse biological entities," according to 28-year-old Rafael Pinilla-Redondo, a PhD at UCPH's Department of Biology who led the research.

One of these biological entities are plasmids - small DNA molecules that often behave like parasites and, like viruses, require a host bacterium to survive.

"Here we found evidence that certain plasmids use type IV CRISPR-Cas systems to fight other plasmids competing over the same bacterial host. This is remarkable because, in doing so, plasmids have managed to turn the system around. Instead of protecting bacteria from their parasites, CRISPR is exploited to perform another task," says Pinilla-Redondo, adding:

"This is similar to how some birds compete for the best nesting site in a tree, or how hermit crabs fight for ownership of a shell."

"A humbling realization"

The discovery challenges the notion that CRISPR-Cas systems have only one purpose in nature, that is, acting as immune systems in bacteria. According to Rafael Pinilla-Redondo, the discovery gives some additional perspective:

"We humans have only recently begun to exploit nature's CRISPR-Cas systems, but as it turns out, we are not the first. These 'primitive parasites' have been using them for millions of years, long before humans. It is quite a humbling realization"

What can we use it for?

The researchers speculate that these systems could be used to combat one of the greatest threats to humanity: multi-drug resistant bacteria. Hundreds of thousands of people die from MDR bacteria every year.

Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics by acquiring genes that make them resistant to antibiotic treatment. Very frequently, this occurs when plasmids transport antibiotic resistant genes from one bacterium to another.

"As this system appears to have evolved to specifically attack plasmids, it is plausible that we could repurpose it to fight plasmids carrying antibiotic resistant genes. This could be achieved because it is possible to program CRISPR to target what one wants" says Pinilla-Redondo.

###

FACTS:

In nature, CRISPR-Cas are adaptive immune systems used by bacteria to cut the DNA of invading genetic parasites.

There are six types of naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas systems. The new research shows that Type IV CRISPR-Cas -- unlike the other known CRISPR-Cas types -- is not found in the genome of bacteria, but in the genetic material of plasmids. Plasmids are parasitic genetic elements that require a host bacterium to survive.

Among other things, the researchers identified several new subtypes and variants of the Type IV CRISPR-Cas system.

Several recent articles from other researchers also suggest that different types of so-called mobile genetic elements (a group of genetic entities to which plasmids belong) use CRISPR-Cas components to perform tasks other than protecting bacteria from viruses.

The research article is published in the scientific journal Nucleic Acids Research.

The study was conducted by: Rafael Pinilla-Redondo, David Mayo-Munoz, Jacob Russel, Roger A. Garrett and Sren J. Srensen from the Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen; Lennart Randau from Philipps-Universitat Marburg, Germany, and Shiraz A. Shah from the Danish Children's Asthma Center at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen. The research is supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark; Novo Nordisk Foundation's Tandem programme; Lundbeck Foundation; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; the Capital Region of Denmark and the Novo Nordisk Foundation's "Basic Bioscience programme".
New Jersey is releasing almost 500 people from jail as the coronavirus spreads statewide, according to data provided Tuesday by the public defenders office. Some of the inmates have already been released and the others will be released in the coming days, the office said.

Citing the profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19, the state Supreme Court issued an emergency order late Sunday directing the release of inmates serving jail time as a result of probation sentences or municipal court convictions.

More than 800 people were flagged for possible release, but county prosecutors objected to more than 300. Those cases must now be heard by a judge.

In Warren County, six inmates were flagged for release out of 12 deemed eligible. In Hunterdon County, five were flagged for release out of nine deemed eligible.

Gov. Phil Murphy called the release groundbreaking Monday.

Some counties in states like California have taken steps to reduce inmate populations to help contain the spread of the virus, but a Murphy spokesperson said the consent order in New Jersey is the first collective statewide action of this kind.

It applies to certain inmates serving jail sentences of a year or less for low-level crimes. The offenders either violated probation or were convicted of municipal court violations like driving while intoxicated or disorderly persons charges.

Middlesex is set to release 64 people, more than any other county, while some areas will see only a handful sent home.

In Monmouth, Sheriff Shaun Golden said inmates given the green light had to answer four questions, including if they had a place to stay. One inmate didnt want to leave because he had nowhere to go, Golden said.

Others left Tuesday morning. Most used jail-issued bus tickets, he said, while some were picked up by family members.

Golden said while he understands the decision to release some inmates, he takes issue with the fact that some inmates have been convicted of resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, child endangerment and domestic violence.

I think its absurd that they made the list and we have to contest these individuals, Golden said. We still dont have a clear picture as to what happens after this crisis is over.

Prosecutors in some counties have objected to more cases than others. Burlington and Cumberland are fighting the majority of inmates flagged for possible release, while Bergen only objected to three of its 38 inmates being released.

Prosecutors were also told to notify crime victims.

Im a career prosecutor and I take no pleasure in temporarily releasing or suspending county jail sentences, even for the lowest level inmates that are contemplated by todays consent order, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday. But this is the most significant public health crisis we face in our states history. And its forcing us to take actions that we wouldnt consider during normal times.

Grewal said the decision to take bold and drastic steps came after reports surfaced of how jails in New York can be incubators for disease. Corrections officers in Bergen and Morris counties have already tested positive for COVID  19.

Before inmates are released, Grewal said the state will need to ensure they have a safe place to go and that services will be provided to those inmates who need them, such as medical treatment or housing.

To be clear, all of these individuals will have to comply with the same stay at home orders that are in effect right now, Grewal said. And theyll have to complete their sentences when our public health emergency concludes."

Judges will decide at the end of the states public health emergency declaration whether to return people to jail or sentence them to time served.

NJ Advance Media reporter Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited has donated fifty (50) knapsack spraying equipment to the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) to aid the Authority in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.



The equipment will enhance the capacity of CODA to complement the efforts of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and MMDAs to disinfect public places such as schools, lorry parks, beaches, public places of convenience and markets within the Coastal Development Zone.



Receiving the donation on behalf of CODA, Deputy CEO Kingsley Karikari Bondzie expressed appreciation to Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited, adding that, "CODA is working hard to augment the efforts of the Ministry and Assemblies in the Coastal Development Zone to stop the spread of COVID-19. So, we will be spraying to disinfect schools, lorry parks, beaches, public places of convenience and markets on a regional basis".



He further called on the private sector to emulate the example of Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited by partnering and supporting the government to ensure that "as a country, we leave no stone unturned in the battle against this pandemic".



Mr. K K Bondzie called on the general public to strictly adhere to precautionary measures laid down by the government to deal with the pandemic.

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.

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By PTI

MUMBAI: A man wanted in connection with three blasts at a mosque in Bangladesh in 2002 has been arrested from Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra police said on Tuesday.

An official said that the crime branch of neighbouring Thane Police arrested the 42-year-old man, who was involved in the crude bomb blasts, one inside and two outside the mosque. One person was killed and many were injured in the triple blast, which took place at Ilispur in the jurisdiction of Colarua Police Station, he said.

The official said that the man has been identified as Mophajjal Hussain alias Mopha Ali Gazi alias Maphizul Mandal, originally from Satkhira in Khulna state of Bangladesh. Hussain was staying at Turbhe in neighbouring Navi Mumbai since the last few months and was doing odd jobs there, he said.
With Tom Brady officially introduced as a Buccaneer Tuesday afternoon, theres an obvious leadership void in the Patriots huddle.

Is Julian Edelman readying to fill it?

Two hours after Bradys conference call wrapped up, Edelman took to Instagram, posting a picture of himself running down the field at Gillette Stadium by himself. The caption simply read Foxborough forever.

Its a serious departure from Edelmans social media use last week.

Five days ago, the wide receiver liked Deion Sanders tweet suggesting he should follow Brady to Tampa Bay.

If @TomBrady goes to the @Buccaneers can @Edelman11 go to? the Hall of Famer wrote. Thats like Jordan without @ScottiePippen, peanut butter without jelly and Ice Tea without Sugar. #Truth

At the end of the day, its all just social media, so read into it as you will.

Related content:
By Arthur I. Cyr





As people in the United States become ever more fixated on public health matters, our continental neighbors to the north are providing instructive lessons on how best to address another kind of disorder.



The government of Canada has been struggling with renewed protests from one indigenous group regarding alleged violations of their rights and encroachment on their lands. As in the U.S., relations with indigenous populations is a challenging concern. Also as in the U.S., the Canadians have tried hard in our time to right past wrongs, compensate today for unfair treatment yesterday.



Indigenous people, in Canada, referred to as First Nations, have been interrupting both freight and passenger railroad travel in various parts of the country. Disruptions include passenger travel between French Canadian Quebec and Ontario, location of the nation's capital city. In western Canada, shipments of a range of commodities were delayed, including agricultural goods, construction material and fuel.



The target of this First Nations' ire is a proposed natural gas pipeline to run just over 400 miles from Northeastern British Columbia to the Pacific Coast. The crisis was sparked by the success of Coastal GasLink, the company principally involved in construction of the pipeline, in securing a court injunction permitting continued construction. Early in March, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear appeals designed to halt construction.



Canadian media cover these developments, but there is little U.S. interest. Police have arrested some protestors, but generally federal and provincial officials have shown restraint and patience. Negotiation is emphasized, and this contains important lessons reaching well beyond Canada.



For the moment, the protests have halted thanks to an agreement between the federal government of Canada, representatives of Canada's provincial governments, and the Wet'suwet'en, a principal opponent of the energy initiative. The pipeline will in part traverse a significant portion of the land claimed by this tribe.



Complicating negotiations is the fact that the Wet'suwet'en are essentially outside the governing structure established and agreed to by Canadian government entities and the other indigenous populations. The First Nations by general agreement are governed by elected councils.



However, the Wet'suwet'en rely on authority through heredity, and have never before entered an agreement with the government of Canada. The 6.6 billion Canadian dollars pipeline project has received the support of 20 elected First Nation councils whose lands will also be impacted by the pipeline.



The lessons present in this story are especially applicable to the U.S., past and present. In 1876, the combined Plains Indian nations decisively defeated the U.S. Army at the battles of the Little Bighorn and the Rosebud. The 7th U.S. Cavalry was decimated, and approximately a third of the regiment, under the direct command of Colonel George A. Custer, was annihilated.



Chief Sitting Bull was important to these victories. Afterwards, he and a large band  an estimated 4,000 Sioux in total  fled to Canada for fear of U.S. military retribution.



The Canada government did not attack. Instead, Major James Walsh of the North West Mounted Police calmly rode into a large Sioux encampment, accompanied by several enlisted men.



The Sioux respected physical courage above all, as Walsh well knew. The small patrol received polite deference. Both sides talked at length. War was averted. Eventually the Sioux returned to the U.S.



Canada exercises global influence through international organizations, humanitarian relief and peacekeeping. Reality argues for re-emphasizing those dimensions in our U.S. foreign policy.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."


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.




Washington DC [USA], Mar 24 (ANI): US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo on Monday made an unannounced visit to Kabul (Afghanistan) and Doha (Qatar) to hold talks with the Afghan government in an effort to prevent the country's peace deal from unwinding, CNN reported.



A report citing State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stated that Pompeo travelled to Doha for talks with Taliban officials, including group's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar, to press the Taliban to continue complying with the deal signed last month, CNN reported.

Prior to meetings in Doha, Pompeo made a stopover in Kabul where he met President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah who both claimed victory in the country's presidential elections, the report said.

Washington is apprehensive about the political tussle between Ghani and Abdullah that could affect the peace deal and the opportunity to end the 18-year-long war.

On February 29, the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan and which will pave the way for Washington to withdraw all its troops from the country within 14 months. (ANI)
BRUSSELS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China Construction Bank (Europe) S.A. (CCB) on Monday donated 1,500 medical overalls to Luxembourg to help the country contain the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

These supplies will be distributed to local hospitals by the Luxembourg Ministry of Health.

At a handover ceremony, CCB Europe Chairman Gang Peng said that his institution aimed to assume its corporate social responsibility by making a contribution to the people of Luxembourg.

"The governments and people of Europe gave valuable support to China during its most difficult time. At this crucial moment, when Europe is facing the same problem, China Construction Bank will surely give its full support back," he said.

Coordinated by the CCB's head office in Beijing, the bank has already donated much-needed medical supplies to other European countries like Italy and France.

In addition to these direct donations, the bank says it has also mobilized its global network to help European hospitals and governments source medical supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
A Lehigh Valley attorney is accused of bilking $2.7 million from his law firm clients and spending it on himself and his family.

Todd H. Lahr, 60, who lives in Lower Nazareth Township and practiced in the Allentown area, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a single count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and four counts of wire fraud, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

A message left for Lahr at his South Whitehall Township office Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.

According to his website, Lahr has practiced law for more than 30 years and his practice includes estate planning, elder law, real estate, business law and personal injury cases.

From 2012 through 2019, prosecutors say Lahr worked with others in a scheme targeting Lahrs clients, involving the fraudulent sale of the securities for THL Holdings LLC and Ferran Global Holdings Inc.

Lahr used the investor funds to pay for things like his mortgage, his childs school tuition, utility bills and other personal debts, according to the indictment. He would then use money from new investors to pay money owed to other investors, prosecutors allege.

Total investor losses are estimated to be more than $2.7 million, according to the indictment.

The FBI investigated the case, and U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvanias office received substantial assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of the investigation, according to the news release.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Chron.com offers these and other critical updates on the coronavirus outbreak for free. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription to HoustonChronicle.com.

Hello, Houston. Here's your latest novel coronavirus news from our corner of Texas, the rest of the country and around the world:

7:06 p.m. Chambers County announced a "stay safe" order that will take effect at 11:59 p.m. tonight, requiring people to stay home except for essential activities, officials said.

Multiple industries and businesses are exempt, as well as citizen travel for essential functions defined in the order. You can read more about the exempt businesses on the county website.

6:49 p.m. The city of Galveston is telling short-term rental guests to leave the island, reports the Chronicle's Nick Powell.

6:41 p.m. Harris County commissioners on Tuesday tackled several items that would bolster the county's response to the coronavirus pandemic, including extending the current disaster declaration to April 19, the Chronicle's Zach Despart reports.

The court also waived tolls on all county roads for the same time period. Further, inmates at the Harris County Jail, which suspended in-person visits on March 14, also will receive three additional free phone calls per week.

The new order prohibiting city residents from leasing or renting short-term rentals was one of four orders passed in the City Council today related to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the interest of slowing the spread of COVID19, we are asking in the strongest way possible for residents to stay at home, Mayor Jim Yarbrough said. Unless you have critical business outside of the house, we ask that you do not leave. We are all accountable to each other to slow the spread of this virus in our community.

The city also extended its stay at home order through April 3, to line up with Galveston Countys timeline for its own shelter-in-place order, which goes into effect at 12 a.m. Wednesday.

Businesses located within Galveston will be prohibited from operating electronic amusement machines. The city is also prohibiting fishing piers and charter fishing operators from operating within the city.

The Houston Health Department announced 31 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday afternoon from a batch of test results sent from commercial laboratories, officials said.

"BREAKING: I've just issued a Stay Home-Work Safe Order for Harris County residents effective midnight tonight," Hidalgo wrote on Twitter. "Folks should stay home except for essential needs. This moment in history will define our future. History will say we prioritized human life."

The directive, which would take effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and apply to unincorporated Harris County as well the city of Houston and other municipalities, would restrict businesses deemed non-essential through April 3.

County officials on Monday evening were working to complete a list of exempt businesses, which will include markets, pharmacies and other stores necessary for daily life to function.

Galveston County will issue a shelter-in-place order.

Coronavirus Live Updates: Follow the latest developments | Full coverage

The 411 on COVID-19

You can call local public health departments for more information on coronavirus in your community.

City of Houston: 832-393-4220 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday)

832-393-4220 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday) Harris County: 832-927-7575 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day)

832-927-7575 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day) Fort Bend County: 281-633-7795 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday)

281-633-7795 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) Montgomery County: 9365235040

9365235040 Brazoria County: 979-864-2167 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday)

979-864-2167 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday) Galveston County: 409-938-7221, option 1

To support vital coverage of this and other topics, consider a digital subscription.

Coronavirus cancellations: All the Houston events, conferences and schools that are off

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Fever, cough and shortness of breath. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, sore throat or diarrhea.

I think I may have COVID-19. What should I do?

If your condition is not urgent, contact your doctor or an urgent care clinic. Call ahead in case they need to redirect you to another medical center or emergency room. If your health care provider uses telemedicine, such as video chatting, you may want to consider that to avoid potentially exposing others. Also, many counties have set up special phone lines for coronavirus inquiries from the public; your county public health department should have this information online.

If you believe your symptoms are urgent and you need to go to the ER, try to call ahead so that health care providers are prepared to isolate you and take other precautions to protect you and other patients when you arrive.

Todd Trumbull

Individuals can request a test for coronavirus, but doctors and public health authorities will decide whether thats appropriate.

Lets step back. What is the coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are part of a large family of viruses. Two other kinds of coronaviruses are known to cause SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). Coronaviruses also can cause very mild illness, and are thought to be responsible for 10% to 30% of all common colds.

The new virus is already more widespread than either SARS or MERS. So far it appears to cause less severe illness than those viruses.

How is COVID-19 different from the flu?

COVID-19 and the flu are both infectious respiratory illnesses, but theyre caused by different viruses. They have similar symptoms and are spread by droplets that are expelled with sneezes and coughs. The flu can be prevented with a vaccine and treated with antiviral drugs, but there are not yet similar tools to fight COVID-19.

Tens of thousands of people have died from the flu this season, far eclipsing deaths from COVID-19. But millions of people get the flu every year, and the influenza death rate  about 0.1%  is likely lower than that of COVID-19. Experts still dont know just how deadly COVID-19 is, but early studies suggest the death rate is about 2%.

How serious is the COVID-19 virus? Who is most at risk?

About 80% of people who have contracted the virus have had mild symptoms and do not need to be hospitalized, according to large studies of cases in China. About 14% become severely ill and 5% critically ill. Those most at risk of becoming seriously ill are over age 50 or have underlying health problems, such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, or have weakened immune systems.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

A Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention study found that most people infected were over the age of 30 and had mild symptoms. The death rate was highest  close to 15%  in those over the age of 80. The first U.S. deaths were all among residents of a long-term care facility in Washington state.

The virus appears to be less deadly than SARS or MERS. SARS had a fatality rate of about 10% before it disappeared in 2004. MERS is fatal nearly a third of the time, but is far less transmissible than SARS or COVID-19. Still, the reported cases and deaths are constantly shifting and its too soon to know exactly the seriousness of the illness.

How can I best protect myself?

People who are not sick should wash their hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and avoid touching their face with unwashed hands. They should avoid close contact with anyone who is coughing, sneezing or otherwise obviously ill.

People who are sick should cough or sneeze into their arm or a tissue, not into their hands. Ideally they should stay home and avoid being around other people. In some cases, doctors may advise people who are sick to wear a simple surgical mask in public to avoid infecting others.

Healthy people do not need to wear a mask. Studies have found they are not very effective at preventing illness. Most people become infected by touching their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands because thats the easiest way for viruses to enter the body.

Should I avoid school, work or places where large groups gather?

Many Houston-area schools have already decided to close. You can see a full list of closures here.

Public health experts have said that if you have recently returned from a country with a high number of cases, or if youve had contact with someone who has COVID-19, youre generally encouraged to stay at home and not go to work or school for 14 days.

If you are sick and have not traveled recently and have not been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should stay home until your symptoms have passed.

In some communities public health experts are advising that people at high risk of serious illness  people over age 50 and those with pre-existing health problems  avoid places where large crowds gather in close contact.

Otherwise, healthy people do not need to take any special precautions.

Should I cancel domestic or international travel plans?

Keep track of advisories from the U.S. State Department and the CDC that discourage travel to certain countries. If you do travel to those areas, pay attention to what you will need to do upon return.

Any U.S. citizen returning from Hubei province in China is subject to mandatory quarantine for 14 days. Anyone coming back from other parts of China or from countries with high numbers of infections will be asked to quarantine at home for 14 days. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or a close family member of one wont be allowed to enter the U.S. for 14 days after you visit China or Iran.

Most airlines have canceled flights to China and are reducing routes to other countries. United has announced some domestic travel reductions, and other carriers may follow suit. Check The Houston Chronicle's live coverage and individual airline websites for the latest information. Meanwhile, many companies are setting guidelines for employee travel, and some have temporarily stopped domestic travel.

Be aware that if you choose to travel, the situation is changing rapidly: Flights could be canceled or rules put in place at any time. Before booking, canceling or taking a flight, it helps to know what your rights and options are. Weve compiled tips for traveling during the coronavirus outbreak here.

How did the coronavirus get started?

Chinese health officials alerted the World Health Organization about a growing number of cases of pneumonia caused by an unidentified virus in the city of Wuhan in late December. The new coronavirus was identified about two weeks after that.

Coronaviruses can cross over from animals to humans. The virus that causes SARS is believed to have passed from bats to civets and then to humans, and the MERS virus was linked to camels. But scientists have not yet determined the source of the new coronavirus.

How long is the COVID-19 outbreak expected to last?

Thats not clear. Other coronaviruses, such as those that cause the common cold, tend to be seasonal. But the coronavirus that causes SARS appears to have disappeared about a year after it was identified in 2004. Its too soon to say what will happen with the new coronavirus.

Jordan Ray, Dana Burke, Alejandro Serrano, Mallory Moench, Erin Allday and Catherine Ho contributed to this report.
Bindi Irwin was just eight years old when her father Steve tragically died.

On Tuesday, the 21-year-old wildlife warrior shared an adorable throwback photo in honour of her late father to her Instagram page.

'Thank you for being my guiding light. You're always with me,' she wrote alongside the photograph.

Moving: Bindi Irwin (pictured) honoured her late father Steve on Tuesday by sharing an adorable throwback to her Instagram along with a touching tribute

In the photo, the father-and-daughter duo are seen lifting their arms in the air as they smiled ear-to-ear, while posing in front of an orange and yellow coloured tent.

Little Bindi is wearing a white long-sleeve jumper that featured a lizard on the front pocket and floral trousers.

Fans made sure to reach out to Bindi, with one commenting in response to her post: 'He inspired many people. He inspired me. We miss you Steve.'

Touching: 'Thank you for being my guiding light. You're always with me,' the 21-year-old wildlife advocate wrote alongside the above photograph

Steve was killed by a stingray, aged 44, in a freak accident 13 years ago, leaving behind his wife Terri and children Bindi and son Robert, 16.

Last month Bindi shared an emotional tribute to her late father on what would have been his 58th birthday.

'Dad, Today is your birthday,' she wrote alongside an adorable throwback picture of the father-daughter duo.

'You're always with me': In February, Bindi shared this adorable throwback tribute post to her late father Steve (right) on what would have been his 58th birthday

'I had an extra strong cup of tea just how you liked it,' Bindi added.

Next, the passionate conservationist shared how she remembered her father's legacy along with the rest of her family.

'I hugged Mum for you and told her how much we love her,' she continued.

Sweet: Bindi's mother Terri recently revealed that Bindi and her fiance Chandler Powell (left) will be honouring Steve at Bindi's upcoming wedding

'Robert and I went on a hike through the mountains you cherished. I watched one of your documentaries with Chandler and shared stories about you. I walked through your office in the zoo and smiled at our old family photographs.

'Today and every day I miss you and love you beyond description. You're always with me,' she concluded the post.

Terri recently revealed that Bindi and her fiance Chandler Powell will be honouring her late husband at Bindi's upcoming wedding.

Bindi is set to wed Chandler later this year in front of family and friends at the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.
Another storm system on Tuesday is threatening areas recently hit by deadly tornadoes, where residents now also are dealing with the impacts of coronavirus.

Central Tennessee, including the Nashville area, once again find themselves at risk for tornadoes later today, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.

Unlike a couple of weeks ago, when tornadoes moved through after midnight while residents were asleep, todays threat looks to be greatest earlier in the evening, likely between 6 and 10 p.m. Central Time.

This tornado potential will likely be highest across portions of Middle Tennessee and northern Alabama, though the threat also extends into Arkansas, Mississippi and northern Georgia, the Storm Prediction Center forecast on Tuesday morning.

The prediction center elevated the risk level to enhancedlevel 3 of 5early Tuesday afternoon for northern Alabama and portions of southern Tennessee.

Coronavirusand efforts to keep people apart to stem its spreadbrings a new challenge to storm safety in the risk areas.

In the case of a weather event necessitating storm shelters Alabama, Public Health recommends that your first priority should be to protect yourself from the storm, tweeted the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Inside storm shelters, officials will try to maintain 6 feet of space between people, officials added.

Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee, are in the slight risk arealevel 2 of 5for severe storms that may produce damaging hail and wind, along with a few tornadoes, the prediction center said.

Severe thunderstorms are also possible into Tuesday night across eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and northwest Georgia.

Atlanta is in the marginal risk arealevel 1 of 5indicating that while its less likely to experience a dangerous severe storm, it cannot be ruled out.

Flash Flooding Likely for the Same Region

In addition to strong thunderstorms, heavy rainfall could lead to flooding across many of the same areas.

Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico feeding into the storms will fuel a large stripe of heavy rains, stretching from the lower Mississippi Valley, across the Tennessee Valley, southern Appalachians and southern Mid-Atlantic, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

The greatest risk of flash flooding with this storm will be across portions of the Upper Tennessee Valley into the Southern Appalachians where soils are saturated from heavy rains over the past few weeks, the prediction center stated.

The risk level is 3 of 4 for flash flooding Tuesday across a zone that includes the cities of Huntsville, Alabama; Chattanooga and the northern Atlanta suburbs. Two to 4 inches of rain could fall in this region, only a day after widespread rainfall of 1 to 3 inches fell there.

By Wednesday, this storm will bring rain across the Mid-Atlantic into southern New England. There are no threats of flash flooding and only the lowest threat1 of 5for severe storms across the eastern Carolinas.

The-CNN-Wire

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A former Hilton Hotel manager who ran an 'extreme' bondage chemsex business in his apartment has been jailed for six years and eight months.

Flavien Cortes, 38, made at least 30,000 from his 'life of hedonism' while working as a masseuse from his flat in Soho between 2018 and January this year.

Police found a huge stash of class A drugs which were advertised to punters for use in the meth-fuelled orgies when they searched the property on 15 January.

Officers also uncovered two stun guns disguised as torches, a wad of cash and two passports belonging to other men.

The French national moved to the UK aged 18 and built a career in hospitality working for members club Balans Soho Society and as a manager at a London branch of the Hilton Hotel.

Flavien Cortes, 38, (pictured) made at least 30,000 from his 'life of hedonism' while working as a masseuse from his flat in Soho between 2018 and January this year

Cortes was working from his flat in Soho's Richmond Mews (pictured) in central London

Cortes charged customers up to 1,500 for extra services while operating a massage parlour out of his Soho flat.

He amassed a pharmacy of class A drugs including cocaine, crystal meth, MDMA and popular chemsex drug GBL which he sold to punters.

Gregor McKinley, prosecuting, said officers were surveilling the premises when a client left with a packet of crystals and admitted he had bought them from Cortes.

Officers entered to find cameras connected to two iPads monitoring activity inside and outside the flat along with a desk strewn with drug paraphernalia.

The French national appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday via video-link from HMP Wandsworth and admitted 19 offences.

Mr McKinley said: 'At about 7.30pm the police who were keeping watch on defendant's address and saw a man leaving in possession of a small bag of white crystals.

'When he was stopped by officers he admitted straightforwardly that he'd been to that address earlier in the day that the crystals were crystal meth and that he'd bought them from Mr Cortes for 50.

'He said he'd been buying drugs from him since 2018.

'Police entered and searched the premises and large quantities of different kinds of drug were found.

'The weight of the crystal meth was just over 156g. The total amount of cocaine was about 60g.

'There was a desk in the middle of the flat and that's where the two tasers were found very close to where he was working and making other supplies of drugs.

'There was also a rudimentary security system in place there were cameras outside the address linked up to two iPads.

'There were also several consignments of vacuum packed money.

'These were notes and a quick estimation by the officers was about 30,000. Also found were the false documents and a number of credit and debit cards in different names.

'Cortes was arrested there and then.

'More controversially, the police found a clipboard which they say looks to them like a rota with names and times and it's the police suspicion that these are people who may be working for or with Mr Cortes.

'They say they were undertaking cleaning and maintenance jobs for Mr Cortes rather than any form of drug dealing.

'Mr Cortes was arrested and interviewed the following day. He gave a no comment interview and indicated not guilty pleas at the magistrates' court.

'Given the sophistication of the operation the crown say the starting point should be at the upper end (of sentencing).'

Cortes, a former Hilton Hotel manager was jailed on Tuesday for more than six years

Nick Corsellis, QC, defending, said the flat had been hooked up with CCTV for Cortes' own protection and the tasers were kept to ward off potential attacks from customers.

'He comes from France and has a conservative background, family, who when he told them aged 18 that he was gay was met with disapproval.

'It led to him starting his life again here in London. He was a committed member of the leisure industry starting off as a waiter, then a barman and indeed achieving the levels of responsibility to becoming a manager of the Hilton Hotel.

'Unfortunately in late 2016 he contracted pneumonia.

'This led to a six-month period of incapacitation, multiple admissions to hospital and intensive care which culminated in the loss of function in his right lung to a very significant degree and it is irrevocable there for his respiratory ability is very much reduced.

'When he was fit enough he was not able to return to his occupation as a waiter because he wasn't able to stand for long periods of time, carry a tray.

'In order to change his work he took up a massage business. You will see a variety of tax returns relating to his business in 2017 and 2018 whereby his success as a masseur was in the region of 1,500 a time.

'What happened were his clientele were predominantly gay men and the massage business then evolved into the offer of sexual services.

'The particular evolution of that meant that as you will have seen from the photographs in this case that it ended up with Mr Cortes offering a service which was particularly extreme in terms of bondage and restraint and so on.

'The photographs rather tell it all with respect to what was in the flat. Part of that service was the provision of drugs to the clientele.

'This was to consenting adults who wished to partake in them together with the sexual services that Mr Cortes was offering.

'It's also a fact that as you will have appreciated that there was CCTV within the premises as well as outside. That's to protect himself.

'The rota was for cleaners. His occupation meant that others needed to assist him and the cleanliness was an important factor to how his sexual services business was running.

'This was a case where there was no delegation to other people or dealing on the street. His business was one to two people a day.

'There was no method of advertising - it was only on recommendation through word of mouth in a fairly extreme section of the gay community.'

Mr Corsellis said at one point Cortes had been earning so much that Metro bank refused to deposit his money as the deposits were deemed suspicious.

'The money that was found near his desk but also in the safe.

'His bank account was terminated because of the levels of cash he was depositing. The Metro bank decided he was not someone it wanted to be their customer. He had nowhere to deposit his cash.

'The cash that was seized gives an indication as to the level of his business, we accept, but also over the previous months or so.

'The second taser was in fact not operational. The tasers have never been used, they were there for his potential protection.

'May I ask that the court shows some leniency towards him given the rather exceptional circumstances of this case.'

Judge Alexander Milne told Cortes: 'You are in a position of perhaps more responsibility than a street dealer. This falls towards the top end of significant involvement.

'The total will be six years and eight months imprisonment.

'You are a man with little criminal activity in the past. Though you were vulnerable, to some degree that is a vulnerability of your own making.

'In relation to the 30,000 I order that to be forfeited and the drugs and tasers to be destroyed.'

Cortes, of Soho, admitted five counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply, five counts of possession of class B drugs with intent to supply, four counts of possession of class C drugs with intent to supply, two counts of possessing an identity document without proper intention, possession of a disguised firearm, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of criminal property.

He was sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment.
HAYWARD (BCN)

A 24-year-old man who suffers from medically documented psychiatric issues was charged with murder and premeditated attempted murder Tuesday for allegedly killing his father and wounding his mother in a knife attack at their home in Hayward last Wednesday night, authorities said.

William East-McCormack is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail on charges stemming from the alleged attack in the 30000 block of Vanderbilt Street in Hayward at about 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday. His arraignment hasn't yet been scheduled.

East-McCormack is charged with murder for the stabbing death of his father, 57-year-old Michael McCormack, and premeditated murder for allegedly stabbing his mother, who currently is in stable condition at a hospital, according to police.

East-McCormack also is charged with felony making criminal threats for allegedly threatening his half-sister.

He allegedly stabbed his father in the abdominal area and his father died at the scene, Hayward police Detective Sukhjeet Sangha wrote in a probable cause statement.

East-McCormack also stabbed his mother once, puncturing her lung, then threatened to kill his half-sister before fleeing the scene, according to Sangha.

East-McCormack later returned to the scene of the crime and was detained by police. His mother and half-sister identified him as the suspect in the stabbings and threats, according to Sangha.

When East-McCormack was interviewed by police, he ultimately admitted to stabbing his parents and threatening his half-sister, Sangha wrote.

The fatal stabbing of Michael McCormack is the fifth homicide in Hayward so far this year.

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.
NASA is enlisting whatever help it can get to make sure its crewed Moon and Mars missions go smoothly, and that might include help from schools. The agency is running a new round of its Moon to Mars Exploration Systems and Habitation Academic Innovation Challenge (M2M X-Hab if you want a much shorter name) that encourages university students to study and develop spacefaring tech. The challenge will reward work on habitation, vehicles, robotic advance missions, "foundational systems" (think autonomous mission tech and remote manufacturing) and human spaceflight architecture focused on the lunar Gateway.

The awards will be relatively modest at $15,000 to $50,000, but NASA stressed that this doesn't necessarily involve tangible products. It can also involve research that fills "knowledge gaps" or reduces risks, for instance. Proposals are due by April 24th.

The competition may not lead to a major breakthrough in NASA's Moon and Mars expeditions. However, competitions like this have developed inflatable airlock modules and other concepts that could play important roles. M2M X-Hab could let NASA focus on the broader problems involved with traveling to and surviving in places beyond Earth.
As the time for her mother-in-laws service neared, Randolphs wife, Natarsha, stood in front of the church doors in a slight rain and apologized to the 100 or so people gathered. Standing with a list of people her husband and his brothers had identified, she called the names of those who could come inside. They were the people the family decided were closest to Donovan, who had died of cancer at age 79.
Concerns about density were also at the forefront as New York officials discussed the spread of the virus in increasingly alarmed tones. New York City is now among the worst hot spots in the world: The city now has more coronavirus cases per capita than Italy, the worlds epicenter of the virus outside of China, where it originated.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said more than 20,000 people throughout New York state had tested positive for the virus so far, and 157 had died. More than 2,600 remained hospitalized.

Hospitals across New York City and surrounding areas reported increasing numbers of cases as administrators announced new restrictions on visitors, and workers warned about shortages in protective equipment. Mr. Cuomo announced plans to send hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves and gowns to health care facilities, and said the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan would be repurposed into four emergency hospitals.

But he said that initial measures to control the spread of the virus were not working, especially in New York City, where people had been gathering in parks over the weekend and not staying far enough away from each other.

He said he was still awaiting a plan from the city to prevent residents  especially young people  from getting too close, perhaps by imposing more controls on public spaces and opening some streets to pedestrians.

I touch this table  the virus could live here for two days. You come tomorrow, Im gone, you touch that spot, Mr. Cuomo said. In New York City, all that density, a lot of people are touching a lot of spots, right? Park bench, grocery counters. Just picture the city in daily life.
- The Bank of Ghana has cautioned banks and special deposit institutions against using liquid funds to purchase treasury bills and other securities

- It gave the instruction after approving a reduction in the primary reserve of the banks from 10% to 8%

- The Central Bank indicated that it has introduced measures to ensure the banks comply with the directive

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Bank of Ghana has sent a word of caution to banks and specialised institutions to refrain from using liquid funds to purchase securities from either itself or the government of Ghana.

This comes after it approved the reduction of the primary reserve of banks from 10% to 8%.

The reduction was intended to release more liquidity to protect the economy against the impact of the coronavirus.

READ ALSO: Bank of Ghana waives charges on Mobile Money transactions GHC100 and below

It was also to provide support for crucial sectors of the economy just like the reduction of the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) for banks from 3% to 1.5%.

Per a report by classfmonline.com, another measure taken to protect the banks was the reduction of provisions for loans in the Other Loans Especially Mentioned (OLEM) category from 10% to 5% for all banks and Special Deposit Institutions (SDIs).

The Central Bank noted that it has implemented measures to ensure that the banks fully comply with the directive, such as weekly monitoring of all banks and SDIs.

The measures include refraining from declaring and paying dividends or other distributions to shareholders until approval is given for those reasons.

In other news, the Bank of Ghanas Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has reduced the policy rate to 14.5%, YEN.com.gh has learned.

The reduction is a 150 basis point reduction in the rate, which was initially 16% and remained unchanged for a long time.

The policy rate is the rate at which the Bank of Ghana lends to commercial banks; it also helps to determine the rate customers would pay on loans from banks.

The MPC explained that the decision was reached due to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus on a wide range of economic activities.

READ ALSO: Commercial banks in Ghana realize GHC3.3 billion profit in 2019

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Playstore now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

One on one with the young Ghanaian genius Angela Tabiri who has a Ph.D. in Mathematics | #Yencomgh

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Wheel-Trans says passengers travelling during the coronavirus outbreak dont have to worry about being in crowded taxis contracted out by the service.

In a statement Monday, Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green revealed that Wheel-Trans is doing away with multi-passenger trips in taxis during the COVID-19 spread. The measures take effect immediately.

Its a temporary measure, something they (Wheel-Trans) are doing in response to the virus, Green said.

The TTC provides Wheel-Trans, a special door-to-door accessible service for disabled people. Passengers are transported in contracted-out, accessible taxis or a fleet of Wheel-Trans accessible minibuses.

The Star learned of the changes after a reader, Catherine Jones, 54, a Toronto artist whose disability requires that she use a walker, contacted the newspaper to complain about a situation involving the Wheel-Trans service she has used for just over three years.

She said she has a medical test she cant postpone at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre downtown booked for Wednesday.

Wary of the rules around social-distancing given COVID-19, Jones wanted to check on what procedures TTC and Wheel-Trans had put in place for the taxis they contract the transport service to. A taxi shared with two or three other clients is the mode of transportation Jones is often sent when she books Wheel-Trans.

They told me no (new) procedures are in place, and they would not be putting any in place, Jones said of her conversation with a Wheel-Trans staff member on the agencys customer service line.

Jones said the customer service representative told her the TTC is not in the business of private lifts, and you know that this (service) is funded by taxpayers, suggesting she use Uber if she felt unsafe in Wheel-Trans taxis.

I am a taxpayer, Jones said she shot back at the representative on the phone.

Jones said she is worried about the many elderly people, vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, who could use the transit service.

You cant maintain the six-foot distance that public health officials recommend people stay apart to avoid contracting the virus, Jones said in an interview. And then they make multiple stops from pickup point to drop off point. You can be in the taxi for up to an hour with other Wheel-Trans customers.

Youre lucky if there is 10 inches between us. You are squished in, she said.

Monday afternoon, Jones said, I dont know what Im going to do.

But after the Star talked to the TTC about Jones situation, Green emailed to say Wheel-Trans wanted to provide Jones with a solo taxi ride and that going forward, there would be only solo taxi rides for all users.

Green said Wheel-Trans had been considering solo rides for all customers during the COVID-19 spread. Those riding in the minibuses will be spaced apart. That should be easy to do as Wheel-Trans ridership is already down 75 per cent because the virus is keeping people at home.

Jones said she reached out to Wheel-Trans and was told she would have solo ride Wednesday, but customers who asked for one would be assessed on a case-by-case basis and would have to ask for the solo ride.

We hope as of tomorrow we will have the manual process implemented whereby we can deliver all trips solo, Green later said.

Green said the changes are happening and front-line (ride) bookers are manually making the changes.

This is a work in progress to rebook. New bookings will be filtered this way, Green added.
As Democrats blocked a $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill for a second day Monday, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said he needed to see more spending accountability and more assurances Montanas needs were being met.

The Democrat from Big Sandy told Lee Montana on Monday that only a few changes boosting accountability and transparency were needed to get to the rescue bill across the 60-vote threshold for passage. Those changes, which would make the bill more targeted, were worth the extra time, he said.

Conversely, Montanas Republican Sen. Steve Daines took the floor with other GOP lawmakers speaking about the urgency of getting a rescue bill passed and spending started.

The big bone of contention for Democrats was $500 billion for business loans and loan guarantees issued at the discretion of the Treasury Department. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been the Trump administrations point man on negotiating both the rescue bill and the $100 billion health response bill brokered with House Democrats and passed through Congress last week. Tester argued that Mnuchin has too much latitude in how the $500 billion in loan aid is dealt.

You could make it more targeted and you could put some more accountability measures in it that simply arent there, Tester said. Look, I listened to many of the speeches on the floor and nobodys lying, neither side, nobodys lying. Theres just a slight, misrepresentation of the truth.

For example, the $500 billion slush fund. People say theres plenty of oversight. Well, that could be correct except it does allow companies to lay off the same taxpayer thats bailing them off if they get a loan. It doesnt promise to stop stock buybacks. And a company that needs to have a loan, especially a low-interest loan, maybe a zero-interest loan from the federal government, shouldnt be using that for pay raises, especially for their corporate executives. They should be using that money to bring back their workforce. And theres very little accountability or transparency on this. And thats my concern.

A true estimate of the bills cost hasnt been available, but Tester said it would most likely be $2 trillion.

There were Montana-specific issues Tester wanted to see in the bill, which werent yet included. In a letter to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last Friday, Tester presented issues submitted to him by Montana state and local officials over the past week.

Among those issues was a multimillion-dollar response to universities and colleges forced by the pandemic to empty dormitories and shift to online-only classes. The Montana University System put those unexpected costs at $18 million, said Tyler Trevor, deputy commissioner for budget and planning for MUS. Students have to be reimbursed for the dormitory stays and dining hall meals, which make up the bulk of the loss for state universities.

We know the refund on the dorms and dining hall are going to be the big-ticket item. We can see that that could go as high as $14 million for the system, Trevor said. I would say Bozeman is probably half of that number and then the rest of the campuses make up the other half.

The other $4 million in university costs come from a mix of things. The largest costs are related to shifting to online classes, and also online student support services. There are also pre-paid off-campus study events for which students have to be reimbursed. And there is a list of events booked at college campuses, for which money has to be returned.

Tester told McConnell that more had to be done to help local and tribal governments faced with a pandemic none had the wherewithal to deal with alone. Non-federal agencies needed access to funding, issued or borrowed. Similarly, he pushed for community block grants and small business loans, as well as an intermediary re-lending program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

We need to work together. We know what needs to be done, Tester said. If were able to do that, I think we will have done our job, but in the end, there has to be transparency and accountability on this. This is a pile of money. I think its equal to our entire discretionary spending for an entire year. So, this is a lot of money and to not expect accountability and transparency is not doing our job here.

Speaking on the Senate floor late Monday afternoon, Daines said the country had no time for debate.

We cant afford to keep squabbling and arguing here in the United States Senate. Time is not on our side. Each day matters. In fact, every hour matters, Daines said, according to the C-SPAN broadcast. As we look at the stats coming, in terms of those who have been affected with COVID-19, literally hour by hour this is a logarithmic kind of scale. This is a doubling-every-day kind of scale thats going on.

I have been talking to Montanans around the clock to get their feedback. Hospital leaders, ag groups, tribal leaders, small business leaders, construction workers. We are in a public health and economic crisis. I have not sensed fear like this from the American people any time in my life.

Daines emphasized that the rescue plan includes $250 billion unemployment insurance for coronavirus-related job losses. There is $4 billion for medical masks, gowns, gloves and ventilators. Another $350 billion in small business assistance was included. There was another $10.5 billion available for developing a vaccine, which Daines said was crucial before the start of the next flu season this coming fall. There is $75 billion for hospitals proposed.

Daines did not address Democrats concerns about accountability on the $500 billion in loans to be managed by the treasury.

There hasnt been a coronavirus bill passed that didnt have the support of the Montanas delegation at passage.

Friday, Rep. Greg Gianforte outlined issues important to Montana that hes supported. Among them expanding telehealth services to improve rural patient interaction with medical professionals, as well as giving long-term authorization to critical public health programs. Earlier, he joined 22 other House lawmakers in asking that more funding be released to the Indian Health Service. A release in funding Monday totaled $80 million, twice the minimum amount required, but less than the $120 million Gianforte and other House lawmakers asked for last week.
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WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is calling for a U.S.-led international investigation into China's handling of the coronavirus, including seeking payment from China for nations harmed by actions it took to cover up the outbreak.

Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, is among many Republicans and at least one Democrat seeking a formal condemnation by Congress of China's response to the virus. Their efforts align with a White House that is pointing the blame for the global pandemic at China, where the first cases of coronavirus originated.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus" and has praised his administration's early efforts to cut off travel from China to the Unites States.

A resolution introduced Tuesday by Stefanik and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., slams China for withholding information about the virus, directs the start of an international investigation and seeks compensation from China for the U.S. and other countries hurt by the virus. Unlike legislation, the resolution would not force the government to act but would send a strong message about the desires and intent of Congress, if passed.

"The communist government of China knowingly withheld critical information needed to combat the spread of the Chinese-born COVID-19 and to this day continues to spread lies and disinformation on the origin of the deadly virus, Stefanik said Tuesday. There is no doubt that Chinas unconscionable decision to orchestrate an elaborate cover-up of the wide-ranging and deadly implications of coronavirus led to the death of thousands of people, including hundreds of Americans and climbing."

A similar resolution from Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., condemns the Chinese handling of the coronavirus, its decision to expel journalists and the detention of Uighur Muslims in China.

On a call with House Democrats Tuesday, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., encouraged Democrats to oppose the resolution, noting recent attacks on Asian Americans as a result of the virus.

In a statement, Moulton said Congress should hold China accountable for its response to the epidemic, just as Congress should hold Trump to account.

"The Chinese Communist Party's leaders responded to the coronavirus outbreak first with disinformation and misdirection," he said. "President Trump took a page from their playbook: he sent his son onto Fox News to push a lie that Democrats wanted millions of people to die so the economy crashed so Trump looked weak heading into November."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The coronavirus pandemic started in the Chinese province of Hubei in late 2019 and subsequently spread to other parts of China and across the globe. Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in every region of the world and have surpassed 300,000 globally, according to the World Health Organization Monday.

China has been widely criticized for attempting to silence doctors, destroy evidence and delay public awareness about the virus in the early days of its outbreak. Later, the country implemented strict lock-down style measures on millions of its citizens to curb the spread, which is believed to have helped reduce further exposures.

The White House sent State Department officials talking points on Friday outlining the role China played in hiding information from its people and the world about the coronavirus, according to a government cable obtained by the Daily Beast.

Congress is now nearing the end of negotiations on a roughly $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package including direct cash assistance for Americans, aid for small businesses and bail-outs for struggling industries including airlines, among other measures. The stimulus package will be Congress' third bill responding to the coronavirus.
The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has refuted the allegation in a report published by Sahara Reporters online news platform,

that he unscrupulously award contracts to self in the House of Assembly,challenging them to proof the claims.

Obasa at Monday plenary session, unequivocally tasks the media outfit, whom he branded Sahara Liars and failure, to make the proofs in their custody open to the public in order to unveil the truth.

According to the Speaker,there is no relationship between De Kingrun and the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Let me also join you to emphasize that what was published by Sahara Liar has nothing to do with me.

I said it two weeks ago when the publication was out about the existence of De kingrun, I have made my position clear on that.

The fact remains that De-kingrun has no relationship with the Lagos state House of Assembly and I am challenging SaharaLiars and Failures to publish if there is any.

At least, they have alleged and they must be able to prove by giving out the name of such contracts, the amount, the location, the date and the contractual agreement.

So, with this, the public would be convinced that truly such allegation exists.

 As we speak, I am saying emphatically that there is no relationship between De kingrun and Lagos State House of Assembly.

So, Sahara Liars and failure you can prove me wrong Obasa reiterated.

The Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni,while bringing the house up to speed on the matter,stated that the house did not in anyway award any contract to the mentioned companies in the report published by the media outfit.

Mr Speaker! Let me seek your indulgence to make announcement of the publication on Sahara Reporters in which some comments were made regarding the House.

As the Clerk of the House and Head of Administration, I want to say categorically to the public that this house has not had any business dealings with the mentioned companies Azeez stated.

It would be recalled that Sahara Reporters on Saturday published a report brandishing various documents that allegedly revealed illegal activities perpetrated by Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.

The report highlighted a list of companies that the Speaker had been using to award contracts to himself and laundering public funds.

Obasa was reported to have primarily used De Kingrun Multipurpose Nigeria Ltd, for securing and executing contracts from the parliament and ministries.

It stated that he also owns several other companies used to bid for contracts from the Lagos Assembly.

The listed companies included;Adesav International Ventures, Quick Solution International Ventures, White Honey Enterprises, Cream on Ice Services, A.B DELCO Nigeria Company, and Fabric Splash Ventures.

Others are Skye-Macosh Company, Swifthill International Ventures, Silver Section Global, Davedab Global Ventures and Jose Macosh Company.

According to the documents cited by SaharaReporters, Obasa is a direct beneficiary at De Kingrun Multipurpose Nigeria Ltd.
An employee of Helena's FBI branch was arrested earlier this month and charged with misdemeanor counts of stalking his ex-girlfriend and obstructing the officers who were investigating the incident.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton confirmed Ricky James Shelbourn was arrested March 16. According to the arrest warrant, Shelbourn was required to appear at the sheriff's office "for the purpose of being fingerprinted, photographed, and booked," before being released on his own recognizance.

The arrest warrant further states that as a condition of Shelbourn's release, he is "not to possess or have access to any firearms."

The local FBI branch has yet to return multiple calls requesting comment on whether Shelbourn has been placed on leave.

Sandra Barker, an FBI public affairs specialist based in the Salt Lake City field office, said in an email Monday that "We are aware of the matter involving the charges against an FBI employee. The FBI takes allegations of misconduct very seriously. As such, the incident has been referred to the FBI's Internal Affairs Section. We cannot comment further on an ongoing personnel matter."

When pressed about whether Shelbourn had been placed on leave, Barker again declined to comment.

The investigation and subsequent arrest were conducted by agent Bruce McDermott with the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.

In his affidavit, McDermott characterized Shelbourn as someone "obsessing about (the woman) and unwilling to let their relationship end."

The woman detailed to Agent McDermott months of "substantial emotional distress" after she ended an "intermittent, intimate relationship (that lasted) for approximately three years" in the later part of 2019, according to the affidavit.

McDermott further reported that Shelbourn "followed, monitored, observed, surveilled, and harassed her or those around her."

Shelbourn is also accused of sending electronic messages to the woman's children regarding his relationship with their mother.

One night in early December, the woman reported, she parked her car near Helena's Cinemark movie theater and learned that Shelbourn was seated in the window of a nearby establishment so he could observe her. At that point, the woman said, she returned to her vehicle to leave and saw Shelbourn sitting in his pickup truck "within line of sight of her vehicle," the affidavit states.

Concerned for her welfare, the woman asked friends to watch as she left the parking lot in case Shelbourn followed her, which he allegedly did.

The woman took a circuitous route through the city before eventually pulling into a fast food drive-thru to prevent Shelbourn from following her. Shelbourn managed to keep up, pulled into the drive-thru and "placed his truck lights on high-beam while he was directly behind her smaller, lower car," McDermott reported.

After realizing she had lost contact with her friends, the woman said, she drove to a well-lit gas station and contacted the police.

When officers arrived, "they found (the woman) was very distraught and frightened," according to McDermott. They also found Shelbourn parked at the gas station.

He admitted to officers that he had been following the woman and told them he was trying to protect her from another man, McDermott's report states.

Shelbourn was not detained at that time.

Later on in the investigation, Shelbourn reportedly admitted to investigators he had been contacting the woman after she asked him not to and "agreed his repeatedly contacting her was a bit obsessive."

Investigators noted that Shelbourn's "version of what occurred prior to speaking to the Helena Police on the second occasion was notably different than what he reported to the police that night."

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A woman wearing a mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus adjusts her husband's mask as they wait to check in at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, Korea, March 19, 2020. Reuters



South Korea issued a "special travel advisory" Monday calling on its citizens to cancel or postpone their trips abroad over the spread of the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said.



The special travel advisory, effective as of Monday, applies to all countries except those that are already under higher alerts that call for withdrawal of citizens or are subject to a travel ban.



It also calls for people who are staying outside of Korea to take extra caution for their safety.



The special advisory is issued due to an urgent danger and is valid for the next four weeks unless it is extended. The advisory suspends the travel alerts already in place, except for the ones under higher warnings.



The advisory comes as many countries and territories have closed their borders and enforced a lockdown amid a rapid spread of the COVID-19 infections in Europe and the U.S. in recent days.



The latest action aims to send a message to citizens that they should not travel abroad under such difficult circumstances, as the border controls have led to suspensions of flight operations, making overseas trips impractical, a ministry official said.



Since the virus was first reported in China in December, there have been more than 341,500 infection cases globally and over 14,700 people died from the disease. On Monday, Korea's caseload reached 8,961, with 111 deaths.



The special advisory is separate from the general travel alert system that comes in a four-level scale. Seoul has issued a blue travel alert, meaning to take caution, for all countries previously not affected by travel warnings, due to the global spread of the novel virus. (Yonhap)


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Tier-1 companies in coal tar manufacturing represent 60-70% share of the total market revenue. With massive coal tar distillation capacities across the globe, these players in coal tar pitch landscape maintain their focus on both, standard grade and special grade coal tar pitch (CTP) production.Tier 2 players have a strong presence over restricted regions, whereas that of Tier 3 competitors is limited to regional sales. Standard grade coal tar pitch is the key focus area for the latter two, according to Future Market Insight's study on the global coal tar pitch landscape.

"Production facility expansion, strategic acquisitions, and CTP product innovation will remain the key developmental strategies trending among leading players," says a senior research analyst at FMI. The analyst adds further, "Massive Aluminum demand from automotive and transportation sectors has been pushing the Aluminum production levels 4-5% (yearly) since the recent past. Growing demand for lightweight vehicles is among the most impactful factors driving the consumption of Aluminum, subsequently contributing to sales of coal tar pitch".

Long-term Contractual Partnerships & Backward Integrated Supply Rule Strategic Minds of Coal Tar Pitch Manufacturers : While manufacturers of coal tar pitch are preferring long-term supply contracts with leading coal tar manufacturers, FMI has also identified these players entering strategic partnerships with steel manufacturers, where coal tar is often the byproduct of coke processing ovens. A few other activities that make this landscape dynamic include long-term contracts between manufacturers of coal tar pitch and those of primary aluminum and graphite electrode, with a sole objective to sustain the coal tar pitch supply to end markets.

Aluminum Grade CTP Holds a Winning Revenue Share in Coal Tar Pitch Market : Application-wise, around 80% revenue share belongs to the aluminum electrode, according to the study. As coal tar pitch is increasingly being consumed by aluminum smelters lowing to higher sustainability and economic feasibility, the mushrooming Aluminum production is constantly driving the growth of coal tar pitch landscape. In 2019, the revenue of Aluminum grade coal tar pitch is pegged for over 5% Y-o-Y growth. Besides, Graphite electrode is also slated for promising performance and the application base of coal tar pitch as a chemical intermediate in carbon black manufacturing is visibly growing.

Development of Specialized 'Zero QI Impregnating' Coal Tar Pitch Expands Applicability : A specialized 'impregnating' pitch obtained by processing coal tar at a high temperature is widely used in the Graphite industry during the electrode manufacturing process. The resultant technological advancements in the life of electrodes pushes CTP applications in roofing, coating, electrode, refractory, and others. China Commands over Global Coal Tar Pitch Landscape, India Leads Asia Pacific's CTP Scenario : China, India, Russia, and Western Europe have a significant aluminum production base, whereas MEA is demonstrating promising growth in coal tar pitch landscape in recent years. North America, however, is observing passive growth over the recent past, post decline in the aluminum production levels.

According to the FMI's report, China is the global leader in coal tar pitch ecosystem owing to significant Aluminum production and thriving production levels of Graphite electrode. China is projected for a 6% year on year revenue growth by this year's end, reflecting ample growth opportunities for coal tar pitch manufacturers. On the other side, APAC's market for coal tar pitch is witnessing growth concentration in India that has been attributed to an impressive rate of Aluminum production in the country.

Source Link: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/coal-tar-pitch-market-is-expected-to-reach-a-value-of-over-us-5145-mn-by-2028-koppers-inc-rain-industries-limited-2019-05-17

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A group of professionals from Ghana have joined hands to successfully launch an initiative called Stop Coronavirus Ghana Campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to support the efforts being undertaken throughout Ghana, to combat the spread of coronavirus or Covid-19.



The way this campaign is trending in Ghana right now, it would be safe to say that it is well ahead of all the other projected top trends of 2020. These are unusual times for people all over the world and it wont be wrong to state that coronavirus is the only thing trending right now, globally.



Talking more about this initiative, its the international and local Ghanaian professionals who have come together and created a private sector-led coalition in the form of this campaign. Their idea is to bring together the resources, finances, skills and expertise of Ghana professionals, in order to support the governments actions towards the containment of Covid-19 in the country.







Professionals already mobilizing resources and expertise

Talking to the members of the press and the Ghana News Agency, recently in Accra, the Campaign Coordinator, Mr. Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw said that the primary objective of the campaign is to educate the Ghanas public about the prevention and management of the deadly pandemic, in order to reduce the panic, fear and eventually the spread of Covid-19.The platforms creation is also intended for the private sector, which can actively use it to get involved with the efforts being put in by the government. The aim is to find sustainable and innovative solutions to successfully fight the disease.Mr Gyasi-Kwaw further informed that they have set up a Stop Coronavirus Ghana Fund to offer support for public and private sector activities in this regard. The fund would feed any project that is dedicated towards fighting the coronavirus. This fund will also come to the aid of needy public and private healthcare establishments, enabling them to procure resources and equipment for better management of the disease, and for prevention of its spread.Talking to the press, Mr Kwaw emphasised that the government alone cant be expected to champion the fight against coronavirus pandemic. He said that its the collective efforts of private sector and the government, which can deliver the kind of push that is needed to combat coronavirus spread in the country.

The Stop Coronavirus Ghana Campaign will conduct various activities in the domains of fundraising, support, advocacy and education, to complement the efforts put in by the government.



As per Mr Kwaw there are over 30 Ghanian professionals that have tremendous experience in project management, healthcare, technology, the medications, business leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing and fund management, who are actively mobilising various resources as well as expertise to help fight the pandemic, both at the international and local level. He urged the Ghanaians living in all parts of the world to join this campaign and work unitedly to fight Covid-19 in Ghana. The campaign is purely an emergency initiative.









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.

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The Church of Pentecost (CoP), in partnership with Tobinco Pharmaceuticals, has donated personal protective logistics worth GHS 45,000.00 to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in support of efforts by the Government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

The items, which included coveralls, nose masks, N95 respirators, face shields, goggles, aprons, examination gloves, heavy-duty gloves, gumboots, and hand sanitizers, among others, were presented to the Deputy Health Minister, Hon. Alexander Kodwo Kom Abban, by the Chairman of the church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, during a strategic meeting with directors of nursing and midwifery institutions in the country held at the national office of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (NM&C) in Accra.

CoP General Secretary, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, who spoke at the presentation, indicated that the church has set aside a fund of GHS 100,000.00 to support Government's efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, out of which, the personal protective equipment (PPE) has been procured to support health officials who are front liners in the battle against the deadly virus disease.

He also revealed that the church has released 10 of her cinema vans to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to be used to undertake public education exercises on the pandemic across the country for the next four weeks. Apostle Kumi-Larbi said, in addition to releasing the vans, the church has offered to foot the bill for car maintenance, fuel, and allowances for the drivers who will be using the cinema vans for the public education exercise during the four-week period.

The vans have Public Address systems fully fitted in them to serve the purpose of educating the general public about the deadly virus disease as well as the precautionary measures, he added.

Receiving the items on behalf of the ministry, Hon. Alexander Kodwo Kom Abban expressed gratitude to the church for the thoughtful gesture, saying, In times like these, we need all to come on board.

He called on religious groups, particularly churches, to heed to the President's call for the suspension of large gatherings in the country and to take part in the National Day of Fasting and Prayer on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, as declared by the President. He also asked other churches to follow the CoP's example by going the extra mile to provide tangible support in dealing with the situation. He assured the church that the items donated would be used for the purpose for which they have been given.

Also present at the meeting was the International Missions Director (IMD) of the church, Apostle Emmanuel Gyesi-Addo.

In a related development, the Chairperson of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana, Rev. Veronica Mina Darko, on behalf of the council, also donated 50-sets of personal protective equipment to the tune of GHS 20,000.00 to the MoH for onward distribution to health officials across the country.
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Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics Co. has fallen to a 13-month low amid offshore investors' selling binge sparked by fears over a coronavirus-induced global economic recession, data showed Tuesday.







Foreign investors owned 55.37 percent of Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 smartphone and memory chipmaker, as of Friday, according to the data from the Korea Exchange.







It was the lowest foreign stake in the top-cap tech giant, the flagship of South Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung Group, since the 51.85 percent recorded on Dec. 11, 2018.







The decline came amid foreign investors' massive selling of South Korean stocks due to escalating worries over the economic impact of the fast-spreading coronavirus.







Offshore investors' net selling of South Korean stocks lasted for the 13th session Monday, with their cumulative selling amounting to some 9.8 trillion won (US$7.7 billion).







Samsung Electronics bore the brunt of the foreign sell-offs, with the amount reaching some 4.4 trillion won over the cited period.







In contrast, South Korean retail investors extended their net buying of Samsung Electronics to 13 sessions on end Monday, with the cumulative amount standing at 4.2 trillion won.







Retail investors' massive purchases of Samsung Electronics came despite local brokerages' downgrades of first-quarter earnings estimates for the tech titan due to the fallout of COVID-19. (Yonhap)


The outlook for global growth for 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic is negativea recession at least as bad as during the 2008 global financial crisis or worse, said the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that a recovery is expected in 2021.



Kristalina Georgieva made the statement yesterday (March 23) following a conference call of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Washington, D.C.



To get to recovery in 2021, it is paramount to prioritize containment and strengthen health systemseverywhere, noted Georgieva in the statement. The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be, she said.



The human costs of the Coronavirus pandemic are already immeasurable and all countries need to work together to protect people and limit the economic damage. This is a moment for solidaritywhich was a major theme of the meeting today of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Georgieva said.



We strongly support the extraordinary fiscal actions many countries have already taken to boost health systems and protect affected workers and firms. We welcome the moves of major central banks to ease monetary policy. These bold efforts are not only in the interest of each country, but of the global economy as a whole. Even more will be needed, especially on the fiscal front.



Second, advanced economies are generally in a better position to respond to the crisis, but many emerging markets and low-income countries face significant challenges. They are badly affected by outward capital flows, and domestic activity will be severely impacted as countries respond to the epidemic. Investors have already removed $83 billion from emerging markets since the beginning of the crisis, the largest capital outflow ever recorded. We are particularly concerned about low-income countries in debt distressan issue on which we are working closely with the World Bank.



Third, what can we, the IMF, do to support our members?



 We are concentrating bilateral and multilateral surveillance on this crisis and policy actions to temper its impact.



 We will massively step up emergency financenearly 80 countries are requesting our helpand we are working closely with the other international financial institutions to provide a strong coordinated response.



 We are replenishing the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help the poorest countries. We welcome the pledges already made and call on others to join.



 We stand ready to deploy all our $1 trillion lending capacity.



 And we are looking at other available options. Several low- and middle-income countries have asked the IMF to make an SDR allocation, as we did during the Global Financial Crisis, and we are exploring this option with our membership.



 Major central banks have initiated bilateral swap lines with emerging market countries. As a global liquidity crunch takes hold, we need members to provide additional swap lines. Again, we will be exploring with our Executive Board and membership a possible proposal that would help facilitate a broader network of swap lines, including through an IMF-swap type facility.



These are extraordinary circumstances. Many countries are already taking unprecedented measures. We at the IMF, working with all our member countries, will do the same. Let us stand together through this emergency to support all people across the world, Georgieva concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
CHESTER  The city Office of Emergency Management announced Monday night that two cases in Chester had been reported in error. The city currently has no identified cases. According to city press secretary Aigner Cleveland, updated data from the Chester County Department of Health revealed that two adult females, ages 63 and 71, were not city residents as was stated in a Sunday night press release.

The updated information has not hindered Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland call for a city-based testing site. I want to ensure that residents here have quick access to testing services, Kirkland said in a release.

A location for the site has not been determined. Kirkland stressed on Monday that the pending site should be used by only those exhibiting symptoms associated with the virus. If I dont have any symptoms, I wouldnt rush nor rush my family to one of these sites, he said.

Kirkland said the majority of city residents have abided by government authorities safety guidelines to eliminate non-essential activity and maintain physical distance from others.

You still have some folks who push the envelope; we hope those folks will take heed, he said.

City government encourages residents to monitor its coronavirus resource page at www.chestercity.com/coronavirus and the citys Facebook page, where daily 3 p.m. updates are available to the public. The resource page lists food distribution sites for students and food pantry locations and links to county, state and federal coronavirus information.
In a Mexican border city, the majority of the voters had rejected the construction of a big, US-owned brewery. The brewery was targeted to be built in a region in the country where there are known widespread water shortages, says an article.

For farmers and activities, this is a collective victory against a rich company with support coming from state and local officials.

The Vote

In the city of Mexicali, 76.1% of the voters showcased their disapproval of the proposed $1.4 billion breweries. The brewery was to be constructed by Constellation Brands to brew beer for export. The products to be made are Pacifico, Modelo, and Corona.

The Resistance Movements

There had been campaigns led by resistance movements for two years. They have been rallying in the streets and visiting courts to hold a plebiscite, says a lawyer named Daniel Solorio who worked with the opposition.

According to Solorio, it was a surprise that the president had asked a plebiscite on such short notice. Solorio said they had been requesting a vote for two years.

Projections from the Brewery

A water expert from the College of the Northern Border named Alfonso Cortez Lara, the brewery was forecasted to use more water compared to other industrial users in Mexicali combined.

Lara said that the proposed peak water usage of the brewery can reach 25% of the water reserves of the city.

According to federal officials, the plant may lose its water permits. Also, the government will be undergoing negotiation with the business.

Participants to the Vote

The critics had complained that only 3.5% of the total population of the city of Mexicali had cast their votes. The vote was called two weeks earlier by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Check these out:

Vote During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The vote was made during the COVID-19 pandemic which came during a difficult time for the country where the economy is falling and the peso is declining.

Some international investors were shocked at the willingness of the Mexican president to call snap voted on under-construction projects. An example of this scenario is the new airport in Mexico City.

A Blow to Investors' Confidence

The consultation on the Constellation Brands in Mexicali is a huge blow to the confidence of investors amid the economic crisis, says Coparmex in a social media post.

The shares of the Constellation Brands had already dropped by at least 10% upon the release of the news of the plebiscite.

According to Cortez, the issue will be taken to court through an investor protection provision in the free trade deal of Mexico with Canada and the United States.

The Biggest Exporter of Beer

Mexico is the biggest exporter of beer in the world. However, the industry had transformed into a center of resentment in the north where different breweries are being seen to use up scarce water resources to quench the thirst of other nations. Climate change had been causing intense drought in the region.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

In Italy, where more than 6,000 people have died from COVID-19, physicians are warning U.S. doctors not to make the same mistakes they did.

They're imploring their American counterparts to take a drastically different approach against an enemy that has defied conventional Western medical practice.

Dr. Mirco Nacoti and his colleagues at Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo described the grim conditions at the hospital in a paper published over the weekend in NEJM Catalyst, a new peer-reviewed journal from the New England Journal of Medicine.

Even though Papa Giovanni XXIII is a new hospital with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, it was no match for the disease. "Our own hospital is highly contaminated, and we are far beyond the tipping point: 300 beds out of 900 are occupied by COVID-19 patients," the doctors wrote. "Fully 70% of ICU beds in our hospital are reserved for critically ill COVID-19 patients with a reasonable chance to survive.

"The situation here is dismal as we operate well below our normal standard of care. Wait times for an intensive care bed are hours long. Older patients are not being resuscitated and die alone without appropriate palliative care, while the family is notified over the phone, often by a well-intentioned, exhausted, and emotionally depleted physician with no prior contact."

As bad as the situation was at Papa Giovanni XXIII, the doctors said the suffering at surrounding hospitals was worse. Most hospitals were near collapse and unable to provide ventilators, oxygen and personal protective equipment. Patients lie on floor mattresses.

Heres what the physicians say they have learned from their harrowing experience:

Western healthcare systems are based on the concept of patient-centered care, but whats needed during a pandemic is community-centered care. Hospitalization should be reserved for severe cases. Dr. Maurizio Cereda, co-director of the surgical ICU at Penn Medicine and a co-author of the paper, told the medical publication Stat that the U.S. medical system is centralized, hospital-focused, and patient-centered, as in most western countries "and the virus exploits this."

Hospitals may be the primary pathway for COVID-19 to spread because they are quickly filled by infected patients. Because its so contagious, the virus jumps to health workers and uninfected patients. Ambulances and first responders become vectors. Health workers who are asymptomatic carriers may transmit the infection unwittingly.

Mildly ill and convalescent COVID-19 patients should be treated at home or at mobile clinics to release pressure on hospitals and reduce the chance of contagion in the facilities and during transport. Oxygen therapy and telemedicine can be administered at these remote locations. Adequate isolation must be maintained.

Hospitals should segregate dedicated COVID-19 treatment "pavilions" from virus-free areas of their facilities. Preventive measures must be taken to ensure the disease does not spread from the pavilions and the vehicles servicing them.

"Lockdown is paramount." The doctors noted that social distancing reduced transmission by about 60% in China. But they warned the disease is liable to spike again when restrictive measures are lifted to boost struggling economies.

A long-term plan is needed for the next pandemic, not only devised by public health experts, epidemiologists and logistics specialists, but also social scientists. All levels of government  national, state and local  must be involved in implementing it.

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
[March 24, 2020] Bluebird Network's Food Bank Donation Supports Buddy Pack Program and Provides Food to Students

Bluebird Network LLC, (Bluebird), Missouri's second largest internet service provider to schools, continues its dedication to supporting educational facilities and their students, especially as the need for distance learning rises, by donating five thousand dollars to The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri's Buddy Pack program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005723/en/ The Buddy Pack program is one of the many initiatives of The Food Bank organization. This program provides nutritious meals to children who rely on free or reduced-price lunches. Approximately 7,500 children across 160 schools in the 32-county service area receive food each week through the Buddy Pack program. "With schools closing, the dependence on the distribution of quality food through this program has increased," said Michael Morey, President and CEO of Bluebird. "As the Buddy Packs continue to serve the students' nutritional needs, Bluebird continues to serve school districts with its internet service. With this donation, we are helping to keep students fed while keeping their schools connected." This isn't the first time Bluebird has partnered with the Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri. In 2016, Bluebird staf volunteered their time to assemble Buddy Packs, and the company made a one-thousand-dollar monetary donation to further support these efforts.



To give educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and businesses extra support during this time of critical internet need, Bluebird is allowing existing customers to temporarily upgrade their internet service to meet any additional network demands (pricing will apply for the additional bandwidth requirements). Bluebird Network and the Bluebird Underground Data Center continue to maintain high standards of broadband infrastructure and data center facilities so customers can focus on keeping their employees safe and healthy throughout this challenging time. About Bluebird Network

Since 1999, Bluebird Network, headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, has provided internet and fiber transport services to Carriers and Enterprises in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and the surrounding states. In 2014, an underground data center was acquired, adding the Bluebird Underground Data Center facility to the Bluebird suite of services. Bluebird now has over 9800 fiber route miles of high-speed broadband and fiber-optic connections with over 151 Points of Presence (POP) sites and roughly 50,000 on-net and near-net buildings spanning the Midwest, including the major cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield (MO and IL), Tulsa, Peoria, Rockford, Bloomington, Normal and the Quad Cities. To learn more, please visit Bluebirdnetwork.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005723/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Arteris IP, the worlds leading supplier of innovative, silicon-proven network-on-chip (NoC) interconnect intellectual property, today announced that NETINT Technologies has once again licensed Arteris IP FlexNoC Interconnect for use in its next-generation of enterprise solid state disk (SSD) storage system controllers with on-chip video encoding processors. NETINTs first purchase of Arteris IP interconnect licenses was announced in January of 2019 (see, Arteris IP FlexNoC Interconnect Licensed by NETINT Technologies for PCIe 4.0 Enterprise SSD Controllers).

Arteris FlexNoC interconnect IP provides advanced data protection features to NETINTs SSD controller systems-on-chip (SoC) while providing the high bandwidth, low power consumption, and fast latency required for real-time H.265 video encoding. The new Codensity G4 SSD Controller SoC is a flexible Enterprise-class SSD controller with up to 16 programmable flash control channels, efficient hardware error correction, and unique on-chip H.264/H.265 video processing accelerators. With PCIe 4.0 x4 and NVMe support, the Codensity G4 SSD controller unleashes the full potential of solid-state storage control and scalability, with high throughput and low latency.

Our Codensity G4 D400 SSDs were the industrys first SSDs supporting a PCIe 4.0 interface, and our next-generation SSD controllers will push technology boundaries even more, said Tao Zhong, CEO of NETINT Technologies. Arteris FlexNoC interconnect IP has been critical to our products success because it enables the high bandwidth, low latency and data protection required for our systems. The flexibility of Arteris FlexNoC has allowed us to implement more sophisticated SoC architectures in less time that would otherwise be possible, thereby allowing us to create higher margin chips with less engineering effort.

NETINTs decision to procure more licenses of FlexNoC interconnect IP is proof of the technological and business benefits of adopting our IP as the communications backbone of SoCs, said K. Charles Janac, President and CEO of Arteris IP. We are excited about the success of NETINTs current Arteris-enabled products and look forward to working together to push the limits of what is possible in the enterprise SSD and video transcoding markets.

About Arteris IP

Arteris IP provides network-on-chip (NoC) interconnect IP to accelerate system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor assembly for a wide range of applications from AI to automobiles, mobile phones, IoT, cameras, SSD controllers, and servers for customers such as Baidu, Mobileye, Samsung, Huawei / HiSilicon, Toshiba and NXP. Arteris IP products include the Ncore cache coherent and FlexNoC non-coherent interconnect IP, the CodaCache standalone last level cache, and optional Resilience Package (ISO 26262 functional safety), FlexNoC AI Package, and PIANO automated timing closure capabilities. Customer results obtained by using Arteris IP products include lower power, higher performance, more efficient design reuse and faster SoC development, leading to lower development and production costs. For more information, visit http://www.arteris.com or find us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/arteris.

About NETINT Technologies

NETINT Technologies is an innovator of computational storage and video processing SoC solutions. Its Codensity portfolio enables cloud data centers, edge computing companies, and content providers to deploy scalable high-performance applications, while minimizing their data storage and video processing costs. NETINT, founded by an experienced team of storage SoC veterans, is a Canadian venture-funded high-tech company with R&D facilities in Vancouver, Toronto and Shanghai. For more information, visit http://www.netint.ca.

Arteris, FlexNoC, Ncore, CodaCache and PIANO are registered trademarks of Arteris, Inc. Arteris IP and the Arteris IP logo are trademarks of Arteris, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
Its something likely everyone has experienced over the past month  a single sneeze, sniffle or cough, eliciting at least a moment of internal panic.

Do I have COVID-19?

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever and cough, and in serious cases difficulty breathing. But some health officials say some mild cases of COVID-19 can include symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or a cough, possibly accompanied by body aches and lethargy. This can make it difficult to distinguish COVID-19 symptoms from those of the common cold or influenza.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease expert at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, says the most important thing for people experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms is to self-isolate.

On the mild end of the spectrum, most people won't even need to seek health care. ... If you have signs and symptoms of COVID-19, just assume you have COVID-19 and stay home, Bogoch said.

Its as simple as that.

Anna Banerji, also an infectious disease expert at the University of Toronto, said while she appreciates people are anxious, limiting the spread is more important than satisfying your curiosity.

Its a tricky kind of thing right now, because everyones really anxious, saying Well, could this be coronavirus? For the milder cases, the curiosity is not worth going in and getting tested and risking being exposed or risking exposing other people, she said.

Some people dont experience any COVID-19 symptoms at all. Even for people who are experiencing mild symptoms, including fever, its still better to stay home and self isolate.

Doctors advise people who are recovering to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.

When it becomes significantly more serious is if a person starts to have trouble breathing. People should call their local health hotline for advice on how to proceed.

Shortness of breath with any viral infection is something that needs to be assessed, Banerji said.

She said while high fever and lethargy can come with influenza, difficulty breathing is indicative of a more serious condition.

If you start having difficulty breathing with influenza, that means the influenza is either in the lungs or you have a secondary infection in the lungs, Banerji said. Thats not normal.

On the extreme spectrum, people with COVID-19 can experience pneumonia or fluid in the lungs. At that point they need to be hospitalized, Banerji said.

People with underlying health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, chronic lung diseases or who are immunocompromised are at greater risk of experiencing serious illness such as pneumonia as a result of contracting COVID-19.

If youre experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, there are numerous self-assessment tools available online to determine if further testing is needed. Even if the self-assessment tool says COVID-19 testing is not recommended, you are still required to self-isolate.

If the self-assessment tool says you need to be tested, call your local health hotline to determine the safest way to do so before attending a hospital or health clinic.

Anyone experiencing serious difficulty breathing or other symptoms that require immediate medical attention should call 911 and advise the operator that you may have COVID-19.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $522,777 in grants to seven health centers in Nebraska to help fund their preparedness and response to the coronavirus.

Included on the list is Bluestem Health Main Clinics in Lincoln, which received $73,607.

Bluestem, formerly known as the People's Health Center, is a federally qualified primary care health center with five locations in Lincoln.

Other grants went to health centers in Omaha, Gering, Columbus, Grand Island and Norfolk.

Health center recipients in Nebraska may use these awards to address screening and testing needs, acquire medical supplies and boost their telehealth capacity in response to the coronavirus pandemic, HHS said.

The grants are funneled through the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is making $100 million in immediate funding available to health centers nationwide.

"HRSA-funded health centers have been and will be critical players in our national response to the COVID-19 pandemic," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in announcing the grants.


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Good Evening. The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone.

All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer

And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.

And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.

Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.

And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.

To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

So it's vital to slow the spread of the disease because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHS's ability to cope - and save more lives.

And that's why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.

And though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all - the time has now come for us all to do more.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home.

Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible.

One form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.

And travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

To ensure compliance with the Government's instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:

Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

We will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with.

And we'll stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.

I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to people's lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.

And that's why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.

And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.

Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.

With the time you buy  by simply staying at home - we are increasing our stocks of equipment.

We are accelerating our search for treatments.

We are pioneering work on a vaccine.

And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.

I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus.

Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline.

But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted. Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together.

To halt the spread of this disease. To protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

And I know that as they have in the past so many times. The people of this country will rise to that challenge.

And we will come through it stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives. Thank you
WHO warns pandemic accelerating as Britain orders lockdown

WORLD: Britain ordered a three-week lockdown yesterday (Mar 23) in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus as world health officials warned that the pandemic was accelerating around the globe.

CoronavirusCOVID-19deathhealthSafety

By AFP

Tuesday 24 March 2020, 09:02AM

Nearly a third of all Americans are under a lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Photo: AFP

As Britain joined other nations in imposing strict stay-at-home orders, the number of virus deaths worldwide surged past 16,500 and the number of confirmed cases surpassed 378,000.

The death toll in New York City neared 100, sparking growing concern over the spread of the virus in the largest US metropolis, home to some 8.4 million people.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an immediate ceasefire in the worlds conflict zones, and France and China called for urgent talks of the G20 major economies to respond to the escalating crisis.

In Washington, congressional efforts to pass a nearly two-trillion-dollar rescue package for the teetering US economy failed for a second straight day after Democrats said the Republican proposal prioritizes big corporations and insufficiently protects workers.

Markets on both sides of the Atlantic were hammered again as the virus continued to wreak havoc on the world economy, spurring fears of a global fallout not seen since the Great Depression.

And with major cultural and sporting events already wiped off the calendar, there were mounting calls to postpone the Tokyo Olympics. Japans prime minister admitted a delay could be inevitable.

Stay at home

In London, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week shutdown of non-essential shops and services and banned gatherings of more than two people.

Stay at home, Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures after the countrys death toll climbed to 335.

The announcement came after crowds of people were seen enjoying weekend spring sunshine in parks and countryside across the country, prompting calls for tougher action to be imposed.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the global pandemic was clearly accelerating.

The number of coronavirus deaths surged past 16,500 yesterday, with over 378,800 infections in over 174 countries and territories.

Tedros said it took 67 days from the beginning of the outbreak in China in December for the virus to infect the first 100,000 people worldwide.

In comparison, it took 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases, he said.

Tedros acknowledged that a number of countries were struggling to take more aggressive measures because of a lack of resources but said "we are not helpless bystanders.

We can change the trajectory of this pandemic, he said.

Over 10,000 deaths in Europe

More than 10,000 people have now died in Europe alone, the new epicenter of the disease.

The countries that have recorded the most deaths over the last 24 hours are Italy, with 601, Spain with 539 and France with 186.

Italy, with 6,077 deaths, now has more fatalities than China but the number of single-day deaths was slightly down yesterday, offering a glimmer of hope it may finally be turning a corner.

The number of new declared infections in Italy fell from 6,557 on Saturday (Mar 21) to 4,789 yesterday.

There have been 573 deaths in the United States  98 of them in New York City alone, which has become the epicenter of Americas coronavirus crisis.

Millions of residents have been ordered to stay at home in the Big Apple and all non-essential businesses have been shut and schools closed.

As only non-essential workers, such as pharmacists, grocery store workers and nurses and doctors, headed to work yesterday, rush hour in the city was just a trickle of traffic.

But President Donald Trump  who faces reelection in November and is keen to avoid extended economic damage in the US  told reporters he would soon be opening up our country to business because our country was meant to be open.

At least 1.7 billion people globally have now been asked to stay home in line with mandatory or recommended measures, according to an AFP count.

New Zealand and South Africa announced new lockdowns, Germany banned even small gatherings, Italy barred domestic travel and Hong Kong shut its borders to non-residents.

Other European nations continued to choke peoples movement, with Britain and Greece the latest to follow Italy, Spain and France in imposing a nationwide lockdown.

Folly of war

France is to tighten its lockdown, strictly limiting physical exercise and closing most open-air markets, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said yesterday.

The Netherlands is extending a ban on all public gatherings from April 6 until June 1 to curb the spread of the virus.

A frustrated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians to stop flouting public health recommendations and to self-isolate. Enough is enough, Trudeau said. Go home and stay home.

South Africa announced a three-week lockdown to avoid a human catastrophe with soldiers patrolling the streets to ensure compliance.

Spain readied to extend its state of emergency, which bars people from leaving home unless absolutely essential, until April 11.

It reported another spike in fatalities, bringing its total to 2,182 dead  the third highest in the world after Italy and China.

With war-ravaged Syria announcing its first coronavirus case, UN chief Guterres appealed for a worldwide ceasefire to protect the vulnerable in conflict zones.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war, he said.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said the fund stands ready to deploy all our $1 trillion lending capacity and warned that the recession could be at least as bad as during the global financial crisis.

As the pandemic overwhelms hospitals, doctors are having to prioritize patients based on their chances of survival.

We go into medicine to heal people. Not to make choices about who can live, said Philippe Devos, an anaesthesiologist in Belgium.
With the death toll soaring past 300,000 this year and a quarter of humanity now infected, the pandemic shows no signs of abating as it spreads invisibly throughout vulnerable communities.

Yet unlike the novel coronavirus, this disease is preventable, curable and centuries-old: tuberculosis.

On the occasion of World TB Day, experts warned Tuesday that the sheer number of people impacted by tuberculosis -- which leaves survivors with permanent lung damage -- means there are additional millions globally vulnerable to COVID-19.

TB is latent in one in four people on Earth and has been around for tens of thousands of years. Every year around 10 million people are infected; more than 1.2 million die.

While TB was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization back in 1993, it remains the world's number one infectious killer.

The vast majority of TB deaths occur among poorer populations, meaning the disease is largely out of the mind of policymakers despite its devastating annual toll.

Experts say that global health systems could learn a number of lessons from the fight against TB, for which a vaccine exists and a diagnostic test takes minutes.

"We know what works to fight COVID-19 from our experience and the tools we have to end TB: infection control, widespread testing, contact tracing," said Jose Luis Castro, executive director of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases.

"Prevention of any disease requires political will -- and prevention remains the biggest tool we have to address COVID-19." As of Tuesday 1100 GMT, there had been more than 386,350 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 16,961 of which have proved fatal.

World governments have taken unprecedented peacetime measures to try to slow the spread.

Several European nations have announced country-wide lock downs as well as massive economic stimuli and financial support for businesses and workers. Grania Brigden, TB director at The tuberculosis union, told AFP that testing capacity was crucial in tackling both diseases.

"With TB we've struggled with research and development investment to get good, accurate diagnostic tools and better treatment but actually we are there now," she said.

"It goes to show that where there is political will things can happen and unfortunately in TB the political will has always been an issue."



Several countries on the frontline of the TB war are seeing their treatment and testing services disrupted by COVID-19, further straining healthcare systems as the pandemic spreads.

COVID-19 is already affecting supply chains of all medicines and most equipment used to treat other infectious diseases such as face masks and antibiotics.

There is in particular growing concern among the global health community that COVID-19 could especially hit regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where healthcare systems are woefully under equipped to deal with a spike in cases.

"People affected by TB, HIV and other infectious diseases as well as prisoners, migrants and people living in poverty will be at greater risk of reduced access to healthcare," The Union said in a statement.

Of the 4,400 people who die every day from TB, at least 200 of those are children.

While COVID-19 does not appear to cause serious symptoms in children, they are thought to be significant spreaders of the disease to older people.

Brigden said that while TB in children was largely ignored by health responders, they went on to learn several lessons on disease control from them.

"We understand that focusing on children is a key area," she said.

"I hope that what comes out of this is the understanding that global health is important and that we need to protect vulnerable and at-risk people outside our own bubbles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STAMFORD  The citys Office of Public Safety, along with the Stamford Department of Health, is closely monitoring the new coronavirus (COVID-19) and is in frequent communication with the Centers for Disease Control and Precention and the state Department of Public Health.

The city has set up an emergency hotline  203-977-8840  about COVID-19 and will have brief recorded information that will be updated as warranted, as had Stamford Hospital  203-276-4111  where health care officials are available to answer questions or concerns regarding the coronavirus 7 days a week from 7 a.m.- 7 p.m.

Here are some of the latest updates and impacts of the new coronavirus on Stamford:

Mayor orders expedited testing for first responders, health care workers

On Monday, Mayor David Martin announced he had signed two executives orders relating to city employees and COVID-19.

Stamford police officers, firefighters, emergency first responders, nurses, dental hygienists, and employees tasked with inspections related to the health of Stamford residents will have expedited COVID-19 testing if they show symptoms of the virus or come in contact with a diagnosed case.

These employees are an important part of serving the public every day and are even more important during these difficult times, the mayors executive order said. Its vial that Stamfords employees who are on the front lines defending residents against this virus have the support they need to protect themselves and their fellow employees.

The second order established a list of work safety procedures for city employees. Its directives include general ones such as sanitize and/or wash your hands frequently maintain 6 feet distance from all other employees, contractors, and members of the public at all times, as well as more specific instructions, like tape off 6 feet on floor around Kronos clock so employees can eb reminded to observe 6 feet distancing when clocking in and out.

cracine@hearstmediact.com

Himes touts organizations with relief efforts

Rep. Jim Himes has released a list of list of organizations that have launched relief efforts in response to the new coronavirus.

So much is changing on a daily basis and we know that we have a long road ahead of us. In times of crisis, its important that we come together to help lift one another up, Rep. Jim Himes said in a statement. Remembering that we are one community during this uncertain time will help us get through this dark period.

Those from Stamford include The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, at 461 Glenbrook Road; Domus, at 83 Lockwood Ave.; Person-to-Person, at 425 Fairfield Ave.; and Americares, at 88 Hamilton Ave.

cracine@hearstmediact.com

Ways to help in Stamford

Mayor David Martins office has issued a couple of ways residents can help out the wider Stamford community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The American Red Cross has requested residents consider donating blood. In Stamford, a drive is set for Friday at Tully Health Center, 32 Strawberry Hill Court, from 7:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and on April 1 at Stamford Church of Christ, 1264 High Ridge Road, from 2 to 7p.m.

 Building One Community has compiled an Amazon wish list for essential items needed for the community, including detergent, soap, and more.

 Donations  of both food itself and money  are requested for The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. The economic impact of this public health emergency will disproportionately affected residents who are most in need, Martins office said.

 Volunteers are needed locally for the Medical Reserve Cops  a national network of medical and public health professionals who assist communities with public health and emergency response.

cracine@hearstmediact.com
Health authorities told a Melbourne primary school it was okay to open on Monday despite the fact the parents of a student at the school had tested positive for COVID-19 and their child was still awaiting results.

Hawthorn West Primary School informed parents in a message on Monday morning that a parent had tested positive, but reassured the school community that the Department of Health and Human Services had given the all clear and there was no risk.

In fact, both parents had tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend and their child, who had been showing cold and flu-like symptoms, was isolating with them at home.

Hawthorn West Primary School opened on Monday in accordance with advice from health authorities. Credit:Simon Schluter

The student was kept home on Monday and Tuesday last week because he was sick. When his symptoms subsided, the parents, who did not know at the time that they were carrying the coronavirus, sent him back to school from Wednesday to Friday and into contact with other children.
President Donald Trump said the deadline for Real ID  known in Alabama as Star ID  is delayed indefinitely due to the threat of coronavirus.

Im announcing that were postponing the deadline for compliance with Real ID requirements, Trump said Monday at a press briefing. At a time when were asking Americans to maintain social distancing, we do not want to require people to go with their local DMV. We will be announcing the new deadline very soon.

Star (Secure, Trusted and Reliable) ID is Alabamas version of the Real ID program. Before the change, Americans wanting to fly in the U.S. or enter a federal building would have been required to have a Real-ID compliant form of identification, such as a STAR ID or passport, by Oct. 1.

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, The law set additional standards for state-issued identifications, such as drivers licenses. The STAR ID meets all the requirements set under the REAL ID Act.

Heres more coronavirus news:

Death toll tops 500

The U.S. has 42,663 cases of coronavirus across all 50 states. More than 540 deaths are blamed on COVID-19, including 157 in New York, 110 in Washington state and 34 in Louisiana.

As of Monday afternoon, Alabama has 196 cases of coronavirus with no deaths.

First Lady tested for coronavirus

First Lady Melania Trump has been tested for coronavirus and the results were negative, the president announced. The president, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence have also been tested. All the results were negative.

Secret Service employee tests positive

A Secret Service employee has tested positive for coronavirus.

The employee is quarantines and being monitored. The agency said the employee has not had contact with other workers or anyone under Secret Service protection for nearly three weeks.

Coronavirus deaths by state

Alabama is one of 18 states reporting no coronavirus-related deaths.

As of Monday, the highest number of deaths  157  was in New York, followed by Washington state at 95. Other double-digit death rates include California (35); New Jersey (27); Louisiana (20); Georgia (25); and Florida (12). No other state had more than nine deaths related to COVID-19.

You can see data for each state here.
South Africa has imposed a 21-day lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases more than triple. Curfews have also begun in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and will soon be rolled out in Sudan, as the continent tries to contain the accelerating coronavirus outbreaks.

South Africa infections

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 21-day lockdown in a televised address to the nation on Monday, insisting that the continent's most advanced economy needed to escalate its response to the coronavirus outbreak "(to) avoid a human catastrophe".

However, the death toll from Covid-19 instead accelerated, climbing from 402 to 554.

While coronavirus cases were slow to arrive in Africa, the virus is spreading quickly, and on Tuesday businesses in South Africa raced to make plans for the nationwide lockdown set to begin on Thursday at midnight until 16 April.

South Africa has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa and public health experts are worried that it could overwhelm the health system if infection rates continue to rise.

String of curfews

Elsewhere in west Africa, Senegal registered 12 new cases on Monday taking its total up to 79, while Cote d'Ivoire recorded 25 more cases.

Both their presidents have declared states of emergency, imposing curfews and travel restrictions on their populations.

Other countries in West Africa such as Mauritania and Burkina Faso, the hardest-hit country in the region with 99 cases and four deaths, have also announced curfews in recent days.

Sudan, which so far has two confirmed cases, said it will impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew from Tuesday at 8 pm (1800 GMT) to curb the spread of the outbreak.

Nigeria top aide infected

In Nigeria, where a 67-year old man became the first patient to die on Monday, reports have emerged that the presidents chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus.

The aide Abba Kyari, in his 70s, and brought the disease into the immediate circle of 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari.

Story continues

There are no reports as to whether Buhari, who has suffered from medical ailments in the past, has been tested.

Kenya in search of aid

Kenya, meanwhile, confirmed nine more cases of Covid-19 Tuesday bringing its total to 25. Health minister Mutahi Kabwe told reporters the cases are spread out in four counties: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale and include 7 Kenyans and 2 foreigners.

The news comes as authorities in Nairobi seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis, as the disease cripples crucial tourism and farm exports.

Tunisia army on patrol

The IMF has already granted Tunisia a loan of about 370 million o stave off the economic fallout from Covid-19.

The north African country has 89 confirmed cases of the virus and on Monday ordered the army to patrol the streets to force people to respect a general lockdown.

DR Congo mining on hold

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, mining companies have begun downsizing their operations and the government has ordered a 48-hour lockdown in part of its copper and cobalt heartland.

The lockdown order was issued late on Sunday after two people tested positive for the virus in the capital Lubumbashi.

However, Congos health minister said late on Monday that the cases were negative.

Uganda, Ethiopia shut borders

Uganda confirmed eight new cases on Monday, bringing its total to nine. All the eight cases are Ugandan nationals who travelled back from Dubai, health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said, urging Ugandans to remain calm.

The country last week shut Entebbe national airport and on Monday banned all incoming flights.

Ethiopia on Monday also shut its land borders to nearly all human traffic in its efforts to curb the virus spread.

Africa's second-most populous country has so far recorded 11 infections and no deaths, but officials have struggled in recent days to enforce prevention measures including bans on large gatherings.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday urged G-20 leaders to assist the continent with $150 billion in emergency funding (139 billion euros).

African finance ministers have also called for a $100 billion stimulus (93 billion euros) package, including a suspension of debt service payments.

Panic in Madagascar

On the ocean island of Madagascar, where 17 cases have been confirmed, panic buying has seen supermarket prices sky-rocket, with a kilo of rice jumping from 70,000 to 120,000 Malagasy Ariary (17 to 30 euros).

More than 1,400 cases of coronavirus have now been reported across Africa, according to a United Nations rally.
Cy-Fair ISD, along with school districts around the nation, have closed through at least April 10 in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease that has been contracted by more than 700 people in Texas and 17 in Harris County. In the near future, the district will continue to pay employees and instruct students through the internet.

Related: Coronavirus live updates: Fort Bend closes hair and nail salons, Texas up to 700+ COVID-19 cases

Cy-Fair ISD updated the community during a special livestreamed meeting on March 23, including details on employee leave and pay.

Marney Collins Sims, general counsel for CFISD, said the district wanted to make sure salary and hourly employees were safe and paid, initially giving everyone emergency leave for the week of March 16, when the entire district was shut down, before officially returning to duty March 20.

Sims said many employees, specifically teachers are now working from home, designated as modified locations. Sims said the need to be held accountable while working from home, as well as general structure of their work routine, is under the discretion of each CFISD school principal.

We are going to work with staff and we are going to find what works best and support those who may need help with this online delivery, Sims said. We have given a structure, but we have vested in the principals the authority and the ability to work with their staff and establish ... that staff are getting in touch with their kids.

Teresa Hull, CFISD chief of staff, said the district had been monitoring the spread of COVID-19 before spring break and began installing hand sanitizer dispensers on campuses and modifying their attendance policy. CFISD closed all campuses the week of March 16 to prevent spread of the disease. CFISD is currently operating as of March 20 although all students and most staff are not on campus.

Hull said on-site workers, like cleaning staff and food services, are having their work schedules staggered in order to optimize social distancing and precaution for the disease. All district employees can be contacted by phone or electronically from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. due to phone calls being forwarded.

Hull said all CFISD employees will receive their full pay, both part-time and full-time employees. CFISD is still operational and eligible for Average Daily Attendance funding, Hull said.

All eligible part-time and full-time employees receive pay regardless of their location or schedule, she said.

Hull said construction around the district, including renovations, will resume as planned.

Linda Macias, chief academic officer for CFISD, said online learning is now available for all students, including instruction for special education, deaf, dyslexic and other students with disabilities. Programs for students in gifted and talented education and students with dual credit courses are also available.

One of our main, main priorities was to make sure that we were including information for our support programs ... as part of our system, she said. There are many different resources so we can keep providing for our dyslexic students.

The online learning portal, which is accessible through the CFISD website, includes suggested schedules, instructions on how to login properly and adjustable scheduling. Macias said students taking college courses will resume class on April 13.

As for economically disadvantaged students, Macias said families are currently being contacted by teachers so they can receive a physical version of the online instruction or CFISD can aid them in gaining access to the internet.

Our teachers have been charged with contacting every one of their students, she said. They are checking to see if they have internet access at home. If they dont, the teachers are keeping a log or record of those that dont.

Macias said teachers are not grading work at the moment, but that CFISD is waiting on further instruction from the Texas Education Agency. She said graduating seniors and other students will be updated on moving to the next grade and choosing classes, but CFISD is waiting to see how COVID-19 could further affect scheduling.

Were waiting for guidance, but we are thinking about that and working through it, Macias said. We will be looking (to) see if they have earned the credits that are required for graduation (with) teacher input.

For more information on CFISD and how the district is adapting to the spread of COVID-19, visit https://www.cfisd.net/en/parents-students/health/coronavirus.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
Gov. Noem lauds state economy, but big legislative fights are coming

Noems speech flowed between business and economic development, lifestyle issues and social issues that were united by their conservative themes.
Apa Sherpa knows firsthand all the risks of climbing Mount Everest. He's been to the summit 21 times.

The potential for a COVID-19 outbreak at base camp had him just as fearful as a blizzard or cracking ice.

The 60-year-old mountaineer from Nepal who now lives in Salt Lake City applauded the decision to shut down the routes to the top of the famed Himalayan mountain over concerns about the new coronavirus.

That meant Sherpa didn't have to worry about the health of anyone on the mountain, including his niece, nephew and cousin as they follow in his Everest-climbing footsteps.

Now, he has another fear: How will those who work in the shadow of Everest make ends meet? The closure has significant financial ramifications for the local Sherpas, cooks, porters and others who make their living during the short climbing window.

"I just feel bad," said Apa Sherpa, who established a foundation to help Nepalese students with their education. For everyone. Phurba Ongel was all set for spring work guiding western climbers to the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) Everest summit when he heard the nearly two weeks ago. He has already scaled Everest nine times and makes about USD 7,000 per season.

That was money he desperately needs for his two sons' school, rent and groceries.

Now," Ongel said, "I don't have much.

Also losing money are clients, who dole out anywhere between $35,000 to $85,000 to be led up the mountain, and expedition operators who have expenses to pay despite the closure.

"It is devastating for the tourism industry in Nepal and abroad," said Lukas Furtenbach, a mountaineering guide and founder of Furtenbach Adventures. Many businesses will not survive this.

China s hut down the northern route through Tibet due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12. A day later, expeditions to the Nepal side were closed, too. Everest straddles the border between Nepal and China and can be climbed from both sides.

By shutting down the passage through the south route of Everest, the Nepal government stands to lose some USD 4 million in permits alone. There are thousands of people who depend on the money spent by climbers in Nepal.

"They have no income right now. Nothing," Apa Sherpa said. But the government made the right decision. The lives are more important. According to Ang Tshering, a mountaineering expert in Nepal, the mountaineering industry brings in about USD 300,000 annually and most of it during the spring climbing season that begins in March and ends in May.

The closure of the mountains has made thousands of people jobless in the mountaineering community," Tshering said.

It's setting up a potentially risky proposition in 2021 overcrowding on the mountain. There will be a backlog of clients eager to make the trek, along with a new batch of climbers.

Last May, a climber snapped a memorable photo from a line with dozens of hikers in colorful winter gear that snaked into the sky. Climbers were crammed along a sharp-edged ridge above South Col, with a 7,000-foot (2,133-meter) drop on either side, all clipped onto a single line of rope, trudging toward the top of the world.

It would be very important that Nepal puts reasonable regulations in place for operators and climbers," said Furtenbach, who resides in Austria and spends time at Lake Tahoe. "Otherwise, I see that risk for a total mess next year.

For the Sherpas, it's about finding a way to hang on after their source of income was halted. They're the backbone of an expedition the first to reach Everest each climbing season and the last to leave.

They set up the camps, carry the equipment and cook the food for climbing parties. They fix the ropes and ladders over the crevasses and ice-falls that enable mountaineers to scale the peak. Generally, a Sherpa can earn USD 10,000 or more should they summit. Porters or cooks at the mountaineers' camps average between USD 3,000 and USD 5,000 during their three months of work. That's a significant amount compared with Nepal's USD 1,035 annual per capita income.

But it's treacherous work.

That's why Apa Sherpa started his foundation -- to give young kids another route.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A factory is being built in 10 days in order to produce one million bottles of hand sanitiser a month as Britons continue to battle through the coronavirus pandemic.

British chemical company Ineos announced it would build the plant in Middlesbrough and that hand sanitiser produced at the factory would be distributed across the UK and Europe.

So far in the UK there have been 335 deaths from the coronavirus and 6,650 confirmed cases.

Official government advice states that people should try and wash their hands more often and for longer periods of time, as well as using products such as hand sanitiser in between.

A worker is seen going into the headquarters of Ineos as it was announced today that the company would be building a factory to produce hand sanitiser

Ineos said the products will be given to hospitals across the UK free of charge.

It comes as hand cleaning products across the country have been emptied from shelves by panic-stricken Britons.

As products have been no where to be seen in supermarkets and on the UK high street, hoards of the items have been listed on Amazon and eBay for a huge mark-up.

The company already manufactures a range of healthcare products, including rubber gloves, PVC saline drips, syringes, ventilators and medical tubing.

The stock image above shows a person using hand sanitiser today as it was announced a new factory will be built in Middlesbrough

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of Ineos, said: 'Ineos is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills.

'If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part.'

Other companies have also pledged to help the cause and Aberdeenshire-based brewery BrewDog last week announced it would be using its distilleries to produce hand sanitiser.

BrewDog said the hand sanitiser would be given to those in need free of charge.

In France, luxury retailer LVMH, a brand that oversees companies such as Dior also said it would be using its perfume distilleries to create hand sanitiser.
Headquartered in Bucharest, With Two Regional Offices in Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca, Activ Property Services is the Newest Member Firm to be Selected to Join International Commercial Real Estate Organization, TCN Worldwide

Dallas, TX, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H. Ross Ford III, President & CEO of TCN Worldwide Real Estate Services, is pleased to announce Activ Property Services, one of the main real-estate consultant firms in Romania, as the newest member firm to be selected to join TCN Worldwide. Operating at the national level since 1993, Activ Property Services provides integrated commercial real estate services to their clients, including advisory and transactional services for international and national landlords, tenants, developers, and investors.

We are very pleased to announce the expansion of TCN Worldwides global coverage into Romania with the addition of Activ Property Services. Gheorghe Razvan and his team of over 30 real estate professionals have been serving the needs of the Romanian commercial real estate market on a national level for over 25 years. We are proud to welcome one of Romanias top independent commercial real estate services firms to our growing member roster, stated Ross Ford.

We are excited to be a member of TCN Worldwide, one of the industrys largest international commercial real estate organizations, stated Gheorghe Razvan, Managing Director of Activ Property Services. Our firm is thrilled to join the many outstanding commercial real estate companies that make up TCN Worldwide; our partnership will help facilitate our ability to serve client needs throughout Romania and around the globe as we expand our array of services, expertise, and global coverage.

About TCN Worldwide

An extensive range of real estate services coupled with a personal commitment to exceed client expectations is what allows TCN Worldwide to be a leader in the commercial real estate industry. With over 1,500 commercial real estate professionals serving more than 200 primary and secondary markets worldwide, TCN Worldwide ranks as one of the largest and most comprehensive service providers in the CRE industry.

Story continues

TCN Worldwide provides complete integrated commercial real estate solutions across North America, Asia, The Middle East, Romania, and Australia.

For more information on TCN Worldwide, contact H. Ross Ford at 972-769-8701 or visit TCNWorldwide.com.

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Claudia Crow

TCN Worldwide

9727698701

ccrow@tcnworldwide.com


While Prince Andrew continues to be in social purdah following his fall from grace, his daughter Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank broke cover last week and were spotted being driven through London by Sarah, Duchess of York.

The couple were not being shepherded to a nightclub. Perish the thought.

I can reveal they were making a secret mercy dash to deliver supplies to frontline NHS staff.

Jack Brooksbank, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and Princess Eugenie of York, all pictured, were recently spotted handing out care packages to frontline NHS staff

Pictured: An undated file photo shows Hammersmith Hospital. The care packages, containing essentials such as food, toiletries and cleaning products, were delivered to Hammersmith Hospital in West London on Wednesday and then again on Saturday

The care packages, containing essentials such as food, toiletries and cleaning products, were delivered to Hammersmith Hospital in West London on Wednesday and then again on Saturday.

Further drop-offs are planned at other hospitals, including the Chelsea and Westminster and Upton Hospital in Slough.

A pal said: 'They wanted to do anything they could to help.'

The couple were asked to help out by a hospital consultant friend.

The care packages included toothpaste, soap, shower gel, hand wash, anti-bacterial wipes, dried pasta, pasta sauces, rice, cereal bars and tinned fruit.

The Duchess is also working with British chocolate brand Love Cocoa, which is donating treats to hospitals for every product bought. 'I am deeply grateful for the speed and kindness of Joel Cadbury, who called his cousin James Cadbury of Love Cocoa,' the Duchess tells me.

Pictured: General view of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in Chelsea, west London, where former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been admitted after breaking her arm. The care packages included toothpaste, soap, shower gel, hand wash, anti-bacterial wipes, dried pasta, pasta sauces, rice, cereal bars and tinned fruit

'Immediately, the Cadbury duo went into overdrive and agreed they would donate chocolate to the NHS staff in hospitals and ICU units.

'For a small company to be so generous and kind is such an example of leading through goodness. They already support cocoa by planting trees in Cameroon.'

Eugenie married her husband, who works in the drinks industry, at Windsor in October 2018. Princess Beatrice's wedding has had to be put on hold due to the coronavirus.
Soon after the government announced that suspension of domestic all domestic commercial airlines till March 31, IndiGo has announced relief measures for those who had booked their tickets already. In its statement on Tuesday, the airlines announced that all booking references/PNRs will stay safe as a credit account in the same PNR with the same ticket value, adding, that the credit account can be used for travel before September 30.

Furthermore, the airlines have also stated that those who have booked to travel till April 30 can cancel their itinerary at zero cancellation fee or book an alternative travel of the same ticket value till September 30. Meanwhile, all those who have booked till September 30 can change the itinerary at zero charges on the airlines' website.

READ | MASSIVE: All Domestic Commercial Airlines To Cease Operations Till 31st March

Centre suspends domestic airlines

In a massive move to cut down people's movement, the Centre on Monday had announced that all domestic scheduled commercial airlines shall cease operations with effect from the midnight that is 23:59 hours IST on Tuesday till March 31. Moreover, Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 2359 hours on March 24. The restrictions shall not apply to solely cargo-carrying flights.

READ | COVID-19: Home Secretary Directs Officials Not To Stop Essential Services In Delhi

Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, 505 positive cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) with Maharashtra reportig the highest at 107. Seven 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 and shut down over 75 districts across the nation.

India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. The government is monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories with Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Delhi, Kerala, Jammu - Kashmir declaring the disease an epidemic shutting down all educational institutions, monuments, parks, gyms, swimming pools, pubs and banning large gatherings.

READ | COVID-19: '20,864 Samples Tested, 482 Found Positive To Date, ICMR's Latest Update

READ | Bihar DGP Appeals To The People Of The State To Stay Home; Warns Imposition Of Penalty
Colorado National Guard medical personnel perform coronavirus test on a motorist at a drive-through testing site outside the Denver Coliseum Saturday, March 14, 2020, in Denver. Officials planned to administer 150 tests but the line of vehicles wrapped around three city blocks. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cleveland police have assigned officers to handle minor police incidents via telephone to reduce their exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Officers in each of the citys five police districts will be assigned to calls reporting minor offenses from 7 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. daily, according to Mayor Frank Jacksons administration. The effort was implemented Tuesday.

To report a minor offense, residents should call 216-621-1234.

Minor offenses include property damage, petty theft, lost property, theft from a vehicle, theft of a credit card, a stolen vehicle (when the suspect is not on the scene and no one was injured or threatened) and telephone harassment.

Residents should still call 9-1-1 for cases involving a violent crime or a current threat, the administration said.

All of the officers assigned to take calls are currently on restricted duty status. The assignment will not reduce the number of officers on patrol, the administration said.

People may still visit a police district building, but they are reminded to adhere to federal guidelines on social distancing.

This isnt the first step Cleveland has taken to protect officers.

The department last Monday assigned one officer per patrol car rather than two in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association President Jeff Follmer said then the department should protect officers from exposure to coronavirus by focusing on high-priority calls and crimes of violence and paying less attention to less serious calls such as traffic stops or non-violent neighbor disputes.

More coronavirus coverage

Ohio hospitals not at capacity, but looking to hotels, dorms, temporary structures as coronavirus boosts demand for beds

Ohio confirms nine new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Cleveland, bringing total to 36

Cleveland City Council OKs steps to address coronavirus hardships, calling for eviction relief, aiding troubled businesses

Cleveland, Childrens Hunger Alliance to provide free meals for children in wake of COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak
Wife of Nigerian bishop, church secretary freed after being kidnapped by gunmen

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The wife an Anglican bishop and a church secretary have regained their freedom just over a week after they were kidnapped by gunmen in the Kano state of Nigeria.

The Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, primate of the Church of Nigeria, announced last Friday the release of Saratu Zubairu, the wife of Bari Diocese Bishop Idris Ado Zubairu, and a diocesan secretary identified as Deborah.

According to ACNNTV, the television outlet of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, Okoh made the announcement during a live broadcast of a consecration service honoring five new bishops and two archbishops at the Cathedral Church of Holy Trinity in Kogi state.

The two women were reportedly abducted by gunmen on March 10 when they attacked and looted the Bari village of Gidan Mato, where the Anglican Cathedral and bishops court are located.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization that advocates for Christians in over 20 countries, the alleged attack was said to have occurred at a time when Bishop Zubairu was traveling to Plateau state.

CSW reports that it is unclear whether a ransom was paid to secure the abducted women. Its also unclear as to who abducted the women.

CSW welcomes the release of Mrs. Saratu Zubairu and her colleague and wish both women a speedy recovery from this shocking ordeal, CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

The abduction and subsequent release of the two women from Bari come as kidnappings for ransom by armed militants have become all too common across Nigeria.

According to CSW, 2018 and 2019 saw a marked increase in the number of church leaders, family members and lay Christians targeted for abduction or murder. However, no religious or ethnic community has been immune to the kidnappings as many Muslims have been victimized as well.

As CSW notes, both Christian and Muslim survivors of abductions claim that those responsible for their abductions were either of Fulani ethnicity or spoke the Fulani language. Radical Fulanis are often accused of carrying out deadly overnight attacks on farming villages across the Middle Belt of Nigeria, which has resulted in the death and displacement of thousands.

Meanwhile, other victims have said they were kidnapped by either French-speaking captors or captors who are unable to understand the Hausa language common in Northern Nigeria.



We remain deeply concerned by the growing trend of abductions for ransom spreading across Nigeria and continue to call on the government to do everything in its power to ensure adequate protection for vulnerable communities, Thomas added.

Fulani radicals are not the only ones accused of carrying out kidnappings in Nigeria. The terrorist group Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, have kidnapped hundreds upon hundreds of people over the last decade.



According to the Council on Foreign Relations, militant groups in Nigeria resort to kidnapping as a means of raising funds through ransom payments.

In January, a pastor kidnapped by Boko Haram in the Adamawa state was executed. A source told the United States-based charity Save the Persecuted Christians that the Rev. Lawan Andimi was murdered because the money for his ransom could not be raised and because he refused to renounce his faith in Christ.

Also in January, a Catholic seminarian was killed after he and three others were abducted at the Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna state.

Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List.

The nongovernmental organization International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law reported recently that at least 350 Christians have been killed across Nigeria in the first two months of 2020 due to attacks carried out by radical Fulani herdsmen, terrorist groups like Boko Haram and highway bandits.

Available statistics have shown that between 11,500 and 12,000 Christian deaths were recorded in the past 57 months or since June 2015 when the present central government of Nigeria came on board, a recent report from the organization reads. Out of this figure, Jihadist Fulani herdsmen accounted for 7,400 Christian deaths, Boko Haram 4,000 and the Highway Bandits 150-200.

In December, the U.S. State Department listed Nigeria as its special watch list of governments that have engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom.
First Marine F-35C Squadron Attains Next Aviation Milestone

US Marine Corps News

23 Mar 2020 | Gunnery Sgt. Jon Holmes 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 celebrated the results of over five months of F-35C Lightning II transition training when they received their Safe-For-Flight Operations Certification at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar March 20, 2020. VMFA-314 and the U.S. Navy's F-35C Fleet Replacement Squadron, Strike Fighter Squadron 125, diligently worked together toward this historic accomplishment even while conducting precautionary measures to stem the spread of novel coronavirus.

SFFOC is an important milestone for VMFA-314's transition to the F-35C Lightning II from the F/A-18 Hornet. It marks the end of the squadron's oversight by VFA 125, which was responsible for ensuring that the "Black Knights" received quality training during their temporary relocation to Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, from Sept. 2019 to Jan. 2020.

The SFFOC process ensures the squadron is manned with qualified personnel to implement maintenance and safety programs in support of fleet operations. All transitioning squadrons are required to complete this certification prior to independently conducting flight operations.

"The 'Black Knights' have met or exceeded every challenge faced during this transition, and I am extremely proud to be a part of this fantastic squadron," said Lt. Col. Cedar Hinton, Commanding Officer of VMFA-314. "Today's achievement marks a significant milestone and the beginning of a new chapter in our storied legacy. The F-35C advances our capability well into the next generation of fighter-attack aircraft and will keep our squadron, and our service, relevant for decades to come."

The certification process encompasses areas such as equipment, personnel and programs. Requirements include the installation and operation of management information systems and their accompanying support networks. There is also a requirement for operational F-35C squadrons to maintain robust maintenance programs and complete various inspections ranging from conventional weapons technical proficiencies to safety. Squadron personnel complete a transition curriculum and maintain specific competencies in accordance with Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures and Standardization guidelines.

"I am honored to serve alongside the Marines who make this squadron's operations run smoothly every day," said Sgt. Maj. Lorenzo Williams Jr., sergeant major of VMFA-314. "The Marines who transitioned to VMFA-314 from various units across the Marine Corps were the right men and women for the job. They are disciplined, intelligent and they completely understand the importance of their mission. We have mature staff non-commissioned officers who have a great deal of experience, which made the transition happen seamlessly. I know they will carry on our proud legacy from being the first F/A-18 squadron in the Department of Defense to fly the Hornet tactically to becoming the first operational F-35C squadron in the Marine Corps."

Aviation history was made when 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing welcomed its first F-35C Lightning II to MCAS Miramar on Jan. 21, 2020. The 5th Generation aircraft - piloted by Hinton - marked the arrival of the U.S. Marine Corps' first F-35C to Fleet Marine Force.

The "C" variant of the F-35 is the first 5th Generation long-range stealth strike fighter designed to operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers. The Lightning II's control surfaces and landing gear are better equipped for carrier operation than the "A" and "B" variants of the aircraft flown by the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps, respectively. The F-35C is also equipped with larger internal fuel storage, which when combined with its ability to refuel in-flight, extends its range and allows for enhanced flight time when compared to other aircraft.

3rd MAW continues to "Fix, Fly, and Fight" as the Marine Corps' largest aircraft wing and remains combat-ready, deployable on short notice, and lethal when called into action.

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Animals carry all kinds of coronaviruses, including bats. Most well never catch, the circumstances have to be just right for a spillover [into humans], says wildlife disease ecologist Dr Alison Peel. For starters, the virus has to be able to infect humans, as only seven known animal coronaviruses can. Then it needs proximity, Peel notes, such as the cramped conditions of an Asian wet market where wildlife are handled and butchered by people. Not bats moving in their natural habitat, thats a completely different scenario, she says.

The virus behind the pandemic might have genetic roots stretching back to bats in China but in Australia bats wont give you COVID-19  its not found in any of our wildlife. Still, the virus has fast become a PR disaster for our flying foxes, already hit by a horror six months of food shortages, heatwaves and devastating bushfires.

As we learn more about the virus, questions from you, our readers, are flooding in. Our explainer team, as well as our health, science and data reporters, will answer as many of them as we can. And when new information comes to light, we'll bring you updates too  with the latest featured up top in this story.

Since it emerged in China in late 2019, the new coronavirus has infected 5 million people and claimed more than 328,000 lives. To stop a pandemic that spreads from person to person in close quarters, the world has largely shut down. Now parts of it are waking back up with some countries gingerly loosening restrictions while others still suffer the ravages of COVID-19.

In Australia, with so much of our wilderness scorched black by wildfire, bats will be more important than ever to connect the fragmented pockets left standing. Without them, other species such as koalas will be left in even worse shape than they are now, Peel warns. In fact, scientists studying bats say unlocking the secrets of their unique immune system could one day help humans fight diseases of their own.

Bats get a bad rap but our forests rely on them, Peel adds. Like insects and birds, theyre pollinators but they can actually travel even further than insects or birds. Experts estimate their service to the global agriculture industry alone is worth billions each year.

In fact, some experts say it will have the opposite effect  driving stressed or injured animals to shed more virus and to seek refuge where they are more likely to encounter humans such as in parks, schools and back yards.

Bat viruses are only a threat, he says, when our activities push into wildlife habitat. Calls for a cull of the winged mammals by one Victorian Liberal MP have already been dismissed as ridiculous by scientists and Grenfell stresses culling is not the solution to preventing future spillover events.

Of course, that doesnt mean you should touch bats. You can still catch lyssavirus from contact with many Australian species. That rabies-like virus is the only disease known to jump directly from our local bats to people, says director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO Dr Rob Grenfell. This is because their original virus genes dont bind as effectively with our cells receptors.

More than 70 per cent of new diseases in humans come from animals  when a virus that has long been circulating in one species jumps into a new host and mutates. These spillovers are happening more and more as people push further into the wild and force animals out of their habitats. Bats, through a lucky quirk of their immune system, carry a host of diseases that do not harm them but their viruses also tend to be fairly stable. That's why, even though this new virus originated in bats, scientists think it likely that it first jumped into another animal (or several), possibly through the wildlife trade , where it morphed into something more potent, able to spread from human to human.

Countries from the UK to Brazil are planning to issue "immunity passports" to recovered COVID-19 patients to help get them back to work and restart local economies, but the World Health Organisation has warned the idea rests on too great an assumption given the evidence void right now. Osterholm agrees: "This is far, far too early in the game to decide that we can do that... [Immunity passports] provide no benefit from a public health standpoint or, for that matter, for the individual ... It's very possible that the information is wrong."

But he notes: "The question is not whether there is immunity, it's how long does it last and how good is it?  I would feel  the weight of the world on all of our shoulders if we found out that this immunity was only very short-lived ... which, at that point, would mean that we're in much more hell of a mess than the US could have imagined in terms of where do we go long-term with vaccine, where do we go with the idea of developing herd immunity. On the other hand, I think we have to be careful not to say that that can't be done. We don't know that yet."

US infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm has said immunity  and how long it might last  is one of the most important questions confronting us now. Understanding it better would give us an insight into how a vaccine might work or whether we could ever develop herd immunity. So far studies on animals have shown immunity developing after infection, Osterholm says, but there have been no conclusive human tests.

Common coronaviruses such as the ones that give you a cold tend to go away for at a few months or a year before we become susceptible again. Studies of MERS-CoV has found antibodies still present in survivors more than 18 months after recovery, and some survivors of SARS retained antibodies for many years thereafter. An Australian government spokeswoman noted patients with MERS were unlikely to be reinfected shortly after recovery but COVID-19 was still a big question mark.

Our immune system has a memory but it's not perfect. Successfully fighting off a virus generally leaves us armed with antibodies ready for round two should it comes back, which usually gives us at least a period of immunity if not always a lifelong shield. But in the case of COVID-19, there are still questions about how many antibodies patients produce  some early studies have found disappointingly low numbers  and how long they might last.

Bats mostly keep anti-social hours already  we are each likely to only encounter one or two of the 80 species living in Australia. But, while people often complain of more fruit bats invading the suburbs, picking trees clean and making a racket, the evidence tells a different story. Peel says bats are turning to backyard trees because their own habitats are being cut down, particularly the flowering trees they rely on for food. Overall their numbers are actually falling. "They'd rather be out in the wild," she says. "Bats are protected for a reason, they're in decline and right now [after the bushfires] they're in trouble."

This also played out on cruise ship turned floating quarantine site the Diamond Princess in early February. A study found that 50 per cent of those infected didn't show symptoms when they tested positive and, of those, 18 per cent never felt sick at all. Because this virus can spread before symptoms appear, it is especially hard to contain.

Yes. One of the big mysteries of the virus is how infectious asymptomatic people really are. Some experts say people shed the most virus when they are unwell, especially while coughing, and the WHO calculates a danger window of infectivity about 48 hours before symptoms first appear  Australia says 24 hours. But other studies have tracked a majority infections in parts of China and Singapore to stealth transmitters with mild or no symptoms. Studies out of Italy, Iceland and elsewhere have since shown about 50 per cent of people who tested positive had no symptoms at the time.

Blood tests, which instead look for the bodys immune response to the infection, can also be used though they bring their own false negative risks  antibodies deployed by the body to fight off the virus can take more than a week to form. They may not show up if the test is performed too early into the illness, or they could be mistaken for those used against another virus. This is also true of the rapid finger-prick tests - despite problems overseas with fault tests and concerns about their overal sensitivity, the fast kits are now being rolled out in Australia too though genetic or PCR tests are continuing.

Yes. Some people will be infected without symptoms or very mild symptoms. To test for COVID-19 right now, clinicians have two options: the most common method is to take a direct sample of the virus, from a throat or nose swab or in lung phlegm, and examine its genetic code. These tests are considered very accurate but in some cases if they miss the virus  say, because it is further down in the lungs and someone doesnt cough up any phlegm (or sputum)  they can return a false negative.

Still many experts say reports of people appearing to catch this new virus twice are probably best explained by false negative tests clearing them of the infection too early (when the virus had actually remained in their system) rather than catching it a second time. Infectious disease physician Sanjaya Senanayake says the virus collected by the later tests may have been dead or inactive as tests cannot distinguish between viral particles which are infectious and those that have already begun to break down.

When asked again on May 6 about recovery, the government said: "The concern is that there is a risk that these patients might continue to be infectious, but the actual risk is unknown. Patients who are discharged from isolation following recovery from COVID-19 are advised to continue to practise social distancing and enhanced hygiene measures."

"Even in these patients there is uncertainty around whether there is a direct correlation of persistent [positive tests] and infectivity, but what we know from other virus infection, it is not a neat correlation," he said. "There have been case reports of patients testing positive for a couple of weeks post-symptom resolution, but are viral culture negative meaning they are unlikely infectious for very long after symptoms resolve."

The Australian government spokesman said "a small proportion of people may have an illness that has completely resolved but their [tests] remain persistently positive". There a decision on release from isolation will be made on a case-by-case basis after consulting their doctor, the testing lab and the public health unit. The 72-hour rule was decided by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, which advises Health Minister Greg Hunt, as "a precautionary period to manage uncertainty around how long a confirmed case remains infectious post-symptom resolution", the spokesman said.

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention advises the same 72-hour window of time after symptoms disappear but some studies overseas have shown the virus can live in the body for weeks after.

In Australia, if you've had COVID-19 you will have been required to self-isolate. Amid a global shortage of testing kits, only healthcare and aged care workers returning to the frontline will be officially "cleared" with testing (two negative tests) under the national guidelines. Local health authorities keep a close eye on all confirmed cases on the virus in their state and say others may still be retested. But most, such as those recovering in home isolation, only have to meet the following conditions: 10 days have passed since falling ill and symptoms have been gone for 72 hours (usually established via phonecalls).

Are there more clusters at meatworks?

In the United States, meat processing plants have become COVID-19 hotspots. In clusters at 115 meat facilities in the US, 5000 workers have fallen ill and 20 people have died, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. One huge pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota accounted, for a time, for almost half the states confirmed cases.

With these plants deemed essential to the nations food supply, President Donald Trump has now issued an executive order declaring meat processing plants critical infrastructure in a bid to have them reopened under federal health and safety guidance, prompting union leaders to warn of forcing workers back without proper protective equipment.

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In Melbourne, meanwhile, more than 60 cases have been linked to an outbreak at a plant in the western suburb of Brooklyn, discovered after a worker went to hospital with an injury and took a COVID-19 test. This is the first case of an Australian meat processing plant reporting COVID-19 cases, says the CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council, Patrick Hutchinson.

The Melbourne plants general manager has said his plant processes all meat in accordance with Australian standards for food safety. And those standards are high. Victorias Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton, says the facility is now closed and does not pose a risk to the community. But is there a connection between meat processing plants and COVID clusters in general?

Meatworks in Australia are extremely tightly regulated, making them an unlikely source of infection, says Michael Grogan, CEO of FGM Consultants, a company that consults for the meatworking industry. The tight regulation is not just because the facilities prepare food for human consumption but because meat workers always face the threat of contracting a disease from an animal they are working with.

They have uniforms that are laundered at approved premises. Youve got personal protective equipment that people wear in these areas. There are protective procedures that people have to follow  headwear, hand washing, he says. If any particular industry was actually more adapted to washing hands, it would be people in abattoirs.

Grogan says the workers may have simply shared the virus while sitting together in the break room rather than on the work line.

Brett Sutton says meatworks are particularly vulnerable to outbreaks. Weve seen from the US extremely large outbreaks in meatworks, in some ways because they are forced to work closer than some other workplaces, he said on May 4.

It might just be the close proximity of workers, says Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University. And if they are working with more exertion it's possible this increases the likelihood of aerosol spread so it would be harder to manage the required distancing.

But the meat industry council's Hutchinson says there's nothing inherently infection-prone about meat processing plants. He says in the US there is now particular pressure on meat plants to stay open, as "critical infrastructure", while in the broader community, public health rules have often not been as strictly adhered to as in Australia  meaning workers may catch the virus elsewhere and bring it to a plant. In Australia, he says, the meat industry has doubled down on industry hygiene during the pandemic with nearly three-quarters of council members reporting they temperature tested workers and were banning non-essential visitors to meatworks. The Melbourne meatworks outbreak is an isolated case, he says.

In the United States, a team led by the US Centers for Disease Control looked into the situation at meat or poultry processing facilities in states that reported at least one case of COVID-19 in a plant. In a report released on May 1, it found common factors at meatworks included that it was difficult for workers to maintain physical distancing on production lines; the pace and physical demands of the work made it hard to stick with face masks; and workers were seen covering just their mouths and frequently readjusting their masks. Some workers were incentivised to turn up for shifts when ill. Many workers also lived in crowded conditions and were car-pooling to get to work, increasing their risk of catching the virus outside of work.

Both Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object, like a packaging container," says the CDC, "that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. See how long the virus lasts on surfaces below.

 with Liam Mannix and Tom Cowie

Is it true that COVID-19 causes blood clots?

Doctors are reporting a strange complication from COVID-19  a small but concerning number of patients are developing blood clots and even having strokes.

In New York City, Australian neurologist Thomas Oxley and his colleagues have just published clinical data on a spike in strokes among younger COVID-19 patients. One woman, 33 and healthy, developed most of the usual COVID-19 symptoms  cough, headache and chills  but after a week, her left arm then her leg went numb. She put off going to hospital for more than a day. On scans, along with the telltale "ground glass" mist of COVID-19 on her lungs, there was a spot deep in her brain  a large-vessel clot blocking an artery. She had had a stroke.

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In the brain of another 44-year-old, a new clot started to form even as Oxley operated to remove the first. Smaller "mini-clots" have also been observed in COVID-19 patients elsewhere overseas, possibly even in their toes, he says.

In Australia, infectious disease physician Sanjaya Senanayake says clotting is one of the main mysteries facing doctors treating COVID-19, although case numbers are low and clots occur mostly in severe cases. Health authorities say the complication hasnt been seen in Australian patients yet.

"There does seem to be an association with COVID-19," Senanayake says. We don't know why yet. It's probably a disruption to the clotting mechanism of the blood vessels caused by inflammation ... when the body's immune response kicks in."

The other two dangerous coronaviruses to emerge in the modern era, SARS and MERS, also led to some clotting and stroke, although there was "not a strong association", Senanayake says.

This virus uses the same ACE2 receptor to hack into human cells as SARS, and it is thought to be even better at it, making it more infectious. ACE2 is also found on the walls of blood vessels, says Oxley, so our working theory is that it attacks the vessels and starts an inflammation cascade."

Clotting could also be behind growing reports of heart failure in some COVID-19 patients. But Senanayake says clots could be caused by the virus infecting the heart or something "non-COVID-specific" altogether, more in line with what you would already expect from an intense infection.

Australias Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Nick Coatsworth, suggested recently that clots could form in the legs and travel to the lungs in those unwell with sepsis [or] lying in intensive care for a long period. The cause of COVID-19 clotting was still unclear, he said, but Australia was watching cases overseas closely to guide treatment.

Senanayake says advice to consider blood thinners in COVID-19 treatment had already been put out to doctors internationally. At Oxley's hospital, Mount Sinai, internal guidelines now tell staff to put all COVID-19 patients entering intensive care on powerful blood thinners."We're also worried people are missing the early signs of stroke because they're afraid to go to hospital, he says.

Meanwhile, Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital will lead a global clinical trial testing a breathable blood thinner to try to prevent clotting in the lungs. The drug Heparin is widely used in hospitals to prevent blood clots and several groups are testing injecting it into patients; uniquely, the St Vincent's trial will test blowing the drug directly into the lungs. The trial was planned for four hospitals in Australia but because we have so few extremely sick patients here, it will be conducted in hospitals in Barcelona, Liverpool and Galway.

 with Liam Mannix

Is the virus mutating into different strains?

Yes and no. Some suggestions that as many as 30 different strains of the virus are already circulating the world, some deadlier than others, have raised concern about the pathogens ability to evolve in potency. But while scientists say mutations are happening, these mutations are so far mostly too small to affect the way the virus behaves.

Viruses spread by hijacking our cellular machinery to make copies of themselves. Sometimes they make mistakes  mutations  and sometimes these glitches can transform how the virus operates. But unlike influenza, which regularly throws out mutant strains (and so requires updated vaccinations each season), coronaviruses are more stable  they come with their own proofreading mechanism built in, says Nobel-prizewinning immunologist Professor Peter Doherty.

So far the new virus's mutations are mostly helping scientists track it across the world, tracing outbreaks through variations in its genome as well as patient records.

At the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Professor Marc Pellegrini agrees it is unlikely the new virus will mutate fast enough to evade the initial roll-out of a vaccine or treatment. But how long a vaccine remains effective will depend on how stable the virus stays and how the vaccine works against it - the measles virus, for example, mutates fast like the flu but our vaccine still works because the protein it targets in the virus is unaffected by changes.

Generally, viruses will only mutate [significantly] for a good reason, to get around a roadblock, Pellegrini says. If we put out vaccines, that will put pressure on the disease, then there could be random mutations where it tries to jump a roadblock again. Lets hope not.

But most researchers, Doherty and Pellegrini among them, think it unlikely the virus will morph into something nastier  by its very nature, a virus wants to spread not kill. Thats a dead-end for a virus, Pellegrini says. It wants us up and about, coughing and sniffling and shedding it. You see viruses like herpes go dormant in a person and then re-emerge so they can keep spreading."

Generally, a virus will beef up its potency to jump across species lines  as this strain likely did when it was first recorded in late 2019. Circulating in a new population over time, it tends to lose more of its bite  as has already happened with swine flu, the 1918 flu and the four most common coronaviruses.

Those four give humans only mild colds and coughs but, as Doherty suggests, "when they first jumped [from animals] into people they probably hit us just as hard as this [virus].

Still, a more deadly mutation is not impossible  viruses are driven by the often random process of natural selection, not logic. Sometimes changes will continue to show up by chance or because they help the virus invade new hosts in the short-term. But Doherty adds: Cancer [which kills regularly] is the stupidest genome in the whole of biology. Apart from in [infectious facial tumours on] Tassie devils, it doesnt transmit, it commits suicide.

There's also the theory that the virus could have been circulating in humans for years and "broke out" by evolving into something deadlier in Wuhan. But Pellegrini says that idea doesn't fit with the usual science. And new analysis of the virus's genetic lineage published in the Journal of Infection, Genetics and Evolution on May 5 has since shot it down, finding the virus jumped from animals into humans some time between October and December 2019.

Will the virus hang around like the flu does?

While coronaviruses might be less changeable than other types of viruses, there is still the prospect that, if or when we have a vaccine, COVID-19 could mutate to evade our immunity over time, evolving and lingering each year much like seasonal flu. Most of the world's modelling for how the pandemic might end, including the dreaded second and third waves of rapid infection, are based on what we know about flu.

Scientists hope that because the virus is more stable than the wildly unpredictable influenza, it keep mutating fairly slowly and so be driven out by tough containment measures and a vaccine, if one arrives. The first deadly coronavirus to emerge in the modern era, SARS, was stamped out through aggressive case detection and isolation just nine months after it first emerged but it was also much less infectious than the new virus and had spread to less than 30 countries. Likewise, the other dangerous coronavirus, MERS, is deadlier but harder to catch and so flares up only from time to time.

Given how widespread the virus is already, Pellegrini says it's unlikely to disappear quickly as SARS did. Much will also depend on how long someone is immune naturally after recovering from COVID-19  scientists are still racing to work that out as early studies yield mixed results.

The possibility of an annual coronavirus season has been suggested by some, including Professor Tony Cunningham who heads up Westmead's Centre for Virus Research and is part of a leading scientific panel now advising the Australian government.

"If this virus had its own way, the pandemic would go on for a very long time," Pellegrini says. "In Australia, we could virtually eliminate it [through containment measures] but we have to open our borders at some stage and the virus will get back in. If we can vaccinate against it, we can change the game."

Achieving "herd immunity" through vaccination (roughly 60 per cent of the population inoculated) will likely still mean small flare-ups of the virus for some time even if it doesn't mutate around our immunity. But it will make a huge difference to the overall shape of the pandemic.

How does weather affect the spread of the virus?

US President Donald Trump offered an optimistic view, back in February, of how the coronavirus pandemic would unfold: In theory, when it gets a little warmer [the virus] miraculously goes away, he said. But while viruses tend to break down faster outside the body in warmer temperatures, experts warn this does not mean the northern hemisphere summer will drive out this particular virus.

COVID-19 is new so scientists are looking at similar viruses such as the flu and the more common coronaviruses that cause colds to help them predict how it might behave. These viruses do follow a rough seasonal pattern, peaking over winter. Experts have a number of theories for why this is so  from people crowding together indoors to the effects of the cold, dry air to the natural sterilising powers of the sunlight seen less in winter  and there may not be one single cause.

Here in the southern hemisphere, where the temperatures are only just starting to fall, the timing of COVID-19s emergence means health authorities in Australia are concerned that caseloads will reach a natural peak alongside our annual winter flu season, causing a crush in hospital wards. Thats why everyone is being urged to have their flu shot and follow tough containment measures that are, so far, flattening the curve of Australias outbreak. US infectious disease expert Professor Ian Lipkin, who is himself recovering from a case of COVID-19, told ABC radio that the risk was likely to increase in Australia as winter arrived so its going to be very, very important that you stay the course.

On April 15, a strike force of Australia's top scientists offered rapid advice to government on the question of weather and COVID-19: while the evidence so far shows the virus could spread even in warmer climates, such as in Singapore, the cold weather will likely speed it up further still. But, even if COVID-19 follows the usual seasonal pattern, it is spreading in warm climates right now too so human interventions will play the greatest role in stopping it, they advised. Professor Peter Doherty says he thinks it more likely the flu season is spawned by more time spent close together indoors during winter, and agrees social distancing measures will play the biggest role in determining the shape of the new COVID-19 pandemic.

SARS was beaten back after nine months  just as summer arrived in the northern hemisphere. But experts say it was fast containment, including exhaustive case detection and isolation, that put an end to it, not the weather.

In another rapid expert consultation sent to the White House on April 7, a prestigious panel at the US National Academies of Science, Medicine and Engineering warned this new virus was unlikely to wane as the sun came out. More research was needed, they said. What early studies had been done were patchy, usually performed under lab conditions. While there are early signs the virus might break down faster in the heat, evidence is also emerging that it can spread further in the air and last on surfaces longer than other comparable viruses, which will factor into how it spreads.

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What's more, the other two deadly coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, have not demonstrated any evidence of seasonality following their emergence and even the rare influenza strains that have morphed into pandemics (such as the 1918 Spanish flu and, more recently, the less severe 2009 swine flu) did not follow the typical pattern. All had a peak second wave about six months after their emergence, regardless of the season.

Given that countries currently in summer climates, such as Australia and Iran, are experiencing rapid [COVID-19] spread, a decrease in cases with increases in humidity and temperature elsewhere should not be assumed, the report said. And if temperature does turn out to be a factor, the authors note it will likely be less pronounced than in the existing viruses in circulation such as the cold and flu where there is at least partial herd immunity in the population already.

How long does the virus last in the air?

The virus behind the pandemic is tiny -110 nanometres wide to be precise - but it behaves differently to the other two deadly coronaviruses to emerge in humans, SARS and MERS. Up until now, most of the evidence came from doctor's charts - the disease it causes, COVID-19, is less deadly than either previous outbreak but it can spread between people a lot easier. In less than five months, it's infected more than 2 million worldwide. New early research out of four major labs in the US has found the virus is also "remarkably" resilient in the air, staying infectious for more than 12 hours.

It is still unclear how much of the virus you would need to inhale to get sick. But researchers from America's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and elsewhere found, unlike SARS and MERS, particles of the new virus could still infect cells in a dish and looked intact under the microscope after 16 hours.

"That's very unusual, we'd expect them to be ripped apart in the air by then," says infectious disease aerobiologist Professor Chad Roy, who co-wrote the paper. "We scientists don't use this kind of bold language lightly so health authorities need to take note."

The work has not yet been put through rigorous peer review, released on April 18 in a preprint as scientists around the world fast-track their normal "protracted" process in the face of a fast-moving and dangerous new virus. But Professor Roy says the team are confident in the findings as they had been replicated across four different labs, including the US army's virology hub Fort Detrick.

"We're all running under a fire drill, there's still so much we don't know about this virus and it's all so urgent," he says. "Of course we need more research, but in science when you see a warning light blinking on like this, you need to pay attention."

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But is it airborne?

While scientists agree the virus is not airborne in the same way as other infectious diseases such as measles, they are split on the question of how big a risk it poses in the air. The World Health Organisation says theres not enough evidence to say the virus can jump from person to person in small or aerosolised particles. Its mostly shed by larger water droplets from the nose and mouth, tiny balls of mucus, salt and virus that can shoot out up to about a metre when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Sometimes they land on and contaminate surfaces, but theyre too heavy to survive long in the air.

But the WHO raised eyebrows back in March when it emphatically "fact-checked" the idea that coronavirus might be airborne as "incorrect" over Twitter.

For doctors (and the general public) the term airborne calls to mind measles, or the film Outbreak, where a pathogen primarily spreads by lingering in the air. Experts agree that's not how COVID-19 is moving through the community. If it were, some experts such as infectious disease physician Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake say the shape of the pandemic would likely look different  moving faster and striking down more people without close contact to known cases.

But while large particles tend to carry more virus than smaller aerosols, Professor Roy says it's been assumed by health authorities such as the WHO that only big droplets will carry any live virus at all. His work in the US now adds to a growing body of evidence COVID-19 virus was also an airborne pathogen, he says.

Still that doesn't mean you'll catch it just from passing someone on the street. Like cigarette smoke, the virus will disperse in open spaces. And, just like smoke, it can build up in enclosed areas without ventilation.

"I don't know all the data the WHO have and this is not the only piece of the puzzle, but it's an important one," Professor Roy says. "I think as COVID-19 continues we will see its infection or [reproduction number] go up. It's certainly spreading easier than SARS."

A growing number of scientists, including infectious disease expert Professor Raina MacIntyre and aerosol scientist and WHO adviser Professor Lidia Morawska, agree the risk from aerosols has been underestimated. Warning signs are piling up, Professor Morawska says - the virus rips through a cruise ship even after passengers are isolated in their cabins, a choir meets in Washington and 45 out of the 60 singers leave the two hour rehearsal infected even though none have symptoms.

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As an Australian Department of Health spokeswoman also noted, viruses do not always fall neatly into either aerosol or droplet (which are classed as anything more than five microns in size). They can leave the body as both.

Its old medical dogma from the 1930s that they only travel a metre, Professor Morawska said. But we know more now. We've already shown other viruses like the flu [that mostly] shed in droplets can also spread from breathing. [In a] pandemic, we need to assume the worst. We dont know how much you would have to inhale to get infected, the smaller particles at least carry less virus, but its possible."

Professor Morawska, who heads up the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Queensland University of Technology, is now working with scientists from around the world to write enhanced guidelines for potential aerosol transmission.

On April 21, the Department of Health said COVID-19 was "not as efficient" at spreading in the air as other diseases considered to be airborne  a greater risk was posed by the "underestimated" spread of COVID-19 through touching contaminated surfaces. Of the new research, the government said such lab experiments were useful but at present physical distancing and hand hygiene had suppressed the spread of COVID-19 in Australia.

On paper, early studies into the new virus show mixed results  some found it in the air of hospitals treating patients, some didnt. All viruses start to break up once they leave the body and different conditions will speed that up - usually the warmer the better. One laboratory study by scientists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected the virus in the air for up to three hours but found the new virus did not last any longer than the original SARS strain. The WHO has since pointed out that such studies do not reflect real-world conditions.

One study tracked a cluster of infections at a restaurant in China back to one asymptomatic patient - those who had caught the virus were found to be sitting in the direct flow of air pushed by the air conditioner, suggesting, according to the researchers, that droplets were the main route of transmission.

Still, Americas National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine wrote to the White House earlier in April saying the current research supports the possibility that COVID-19 can be spread by aerosols from breathing, as was observed to a small degree during SARS. But back then in 2003, Associate Professor Senanayake notes the virus generally aerosolised in hospitals where treatments such as intubation and ventilation increase the risk. The WHO itself has issued warnings to healthcare workers that this may happen again and many wards treating COVID-19 operate as if the infection is airborne, including in Australia. "We're all following that really closely and it seems to be holding up well," Associate Professor Senanyake said.

Face masks: recommended in the US but not in Australia. Credit:The Age

Should we be wearing face masks?

Face masks can protect against the droplets that spread the virus and are now a common sight on the streets of many cities around the world such as Hong Kong. Both the WHO and the Australian government say masks are still only necessary for people with symptoms and those treating them, and must not be wasted by the general public as shortages of the product could put healthcare workers at risk. All the same, calls are growing in many Western countries for a wider take-up of face masks to slow outbreaks.

In the US, the CDC has already reversed its own advice, given research showing even people without symptoms can spread the virus. It now urges people to wear cloth masks whenever they are somewhere poorly ventilated or cant keep their distance from others, such as a supermarket aisle. Its guidance to healthcare workers also states that, while the extent of aerosol transmission is still unclear, the virus can spread when someone "coughs, sneezes or talks". Aerosol scientist Professor Lidia Morawska agrees with the move, saying masks aren't needed outdoors but are a good idea where ventilation is poor. But infectious disease experts Professor Raina MacIntyre and Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake say they are not as necessary in Australia as in places such as New York, where community transmission is now rampant. Experts all agree good protective gear is crucial for healthcare workers - Professor Roy says the new US research underscores the need for high quality masks that protect against aerosols as well as droplets.

Its also unclear how much home-made masks, or bandanas and scarves, will block virus-laden droplets. Some experts warn widespread use of DIY masks could leave people with a false sense of security - and an urge to touch (and so possibly contaminate) their face more often as they adjust them. Australian health authorities have indicated they are reviewing their own advice on masks, as they do all their guidelines, but stress it still stands.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has urged people not to "waste" masks and notes they should be handled carefully and changed regularly (Nobel prizewinner and medical researcher Peter Doherty recommends sterilising used masks rather than throwing them away, given the shortage).

Is air-conditioning and heating safe?

Right now, health authorities say anyone who spends more than two hours in an enclosed room with an infected person has been exposed to the virus. But Professor Morawska warns there needs to be more focus on the need to opt for natural ventilation by throwing windows open wherever possible rather than using air circulation systems.

Associate Professor Senanayake says air-conditioning and heating could still be considered safe in most settings as droplets will not travel that far. And the Department of Health agreed that, while there was not enough data on the question, the risk from ventilation was low outside healthcare settings.

NSW Health said it considered air-conditioners and heating safe to use even when people in the home had COVID-19. "What is important for suspected and confirmed cases is to try and stay in a room separate to the rest of their family and, if possible, use a different bathroom ... to avoid the spread of COVID-19 through droplets ... and surface contamination," a spokeswoman said. "It is only in the very sickest patients, who are in our specialist ICUs, or patients who require hospital treatments like intubation, where we are likely to see the virus be airborne."

Scientists say the virus is genetically linked to bats but new research suggests it might have first jumped into the endangered (and heavily trafficked) pangolin (above) before crossing into humans. Credit:Getty

What does wildlife have to do with the new coronavirus?

Scientists think the virus jumped from wild animals into humans, likely in late 2019 somewhere in a bustling wet market in Wuhan, central China, where many of the first cases of COVID-19 emerged. Such wet markets are notorious breeding grounds for disease as stressed animals from all corners of the world are caged close together, trading unfamiliar diseases, and then handled and butchered by humans. It happened that way with SARS, the first deadly coronavirus outbreak, and then again with the second, MERS, this time along camel trade routes and slaughterhouses in the Middle East. As people push farther into the world's last wild places, more viruses previously unknown to humanity are making the leap across species lines.

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But in April when China lifted lockdowns on Wuhan, it also reopened wet markets, sparking concern it hadn't learned the lesson of either SARS or COVID-19. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed the move as unfathomable given what is known about the market's risks to human health (Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy echoed his concerns, saying "zoonotic [animal] viruses are our biggest risk and clearly that risk is much greater when you have animals close together".) The World Health Organisation has also warned against wet markets but has so far refused to condemn China for the move. WHO special envoy and UN representative Dr David Nabarro noted that the organisation cannot police countries, it can only advise them and its advice is to shut the markets down.

Breaking the wildlife trade's hold on China will not be easy - while young generations are moving away from wild meat, it has a long history in culture and traditional medicine. Add to this the staggering amount of money China has tied up in the trade as the world's biggest producer and consumer of wildlife products. Scientists have long been warning that habitat loss, global travel and a persistent appetite for wild animals has created a perfect storm for the next human pandemic. But the trade continues to boom, worth billions through both legal and illegal channels in South-East Asia, Europe, the US and beyond. Demand is growing alongside middle-class wealth in much of the developing world.

China is now under fire for its refusal to outlaw the sale of many wild species after SARS  from the critically endangered tiger to animals linked to that earlier outbreak such as civets and bats. In February, as COVID-19 cases continued to explode within its borders, China announced seismic laws to outlaw the sale of all wildlife for food and restrict their commerce for medicine, pets or research. But by April, the government was also offering tax breaks to ship wildlife products overseas (a perk not extended to medical supplies) and even advising the public that unproven traditional remedies including bear bile could help patients critically ill with COVID-19. Beijing had initially blamed the wildlife trade for the outbreak, but its Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao has since ignored research showing the natural origins of the virus in favour of unfounded conspiracy theories that it did not emerge in China at all.

Why is there talk of testing sewage for the virus?

One of the main reasons this coronavirus is so dangerous is because it can spread well before symptoms show up. That makes the virus fairly infectious, and it also means government responses are often one to two weeks behind. Currently, the best way of tracking coronavirus is testing people with symptoms  but what if we were able to find out where the virus was before the sore throats and high fevers hit? Australian experts have begun tests on Canberra sewage to see if they can pick up traces of coronavirus in our faeces. It's not glamorous, but it could be lifesaving.

A study out of the Netherlands appears to suggest that the first coronavirus traces emerge in sewage matter roughly a week before symptoms appear in humans. If Australia sees the same results, the government could get a headstart on the virus, better allocating health resources to outbreak areas, or even tightening and loosening social distancing measures based on whether the virus is present in your local sewage.

To do the testing, Australian National University epidemiologists will piggyback off the daily sewage tests already required for wastewater management. Scientists will centrifuge samples (spin them to separate fluids from solids) then test for the virus. It's not yet known whether a rough number of coronavirus cases can be determined from examining the sewage  theyre looking into that, too.  Max Koslowski

What's Zoom and what's it for? Video calling is having a moment, thanks to tight social distancing rules across the globe, and Zoom is now the service of choice for everything from family catch-ups to hosting virtual parties. Zoom offers free video conference calls, up to 40 minutes in duration and capable of connecting as many as a 100 people, with the service almost entirely catering to a business audience prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The app is easy to use, with no logins required, and has a number of other bells and whistles thrown in thats made it a hit. Theres the Touch Up My Appearance beauty filter to make users look their best during calls and the virtual backgrounds feature that lets you choose any image  a tropical island, a lavish palace interior  as your background. But these same features make Zoom a risky service as well. The biggest problem is that of uninvited guests taking advantage of the lax security settings on Zoom to intrude on virtual meetings. With consumers sending links (meeting IDs) of Zoom meetings across various social media platforms, that information is being used by online trolls to sign in and disrupt proceedings. The other big issue has been Zooms usual practice of letting people jump into a meeting without providing the necessary credentials, again letting trolls listen in on a conversation. Zoom, by its own admission, was unprepared for the spike in demand and has moved to plug some of the security holes. But its a work in progress and a number of organisations, from Google and NASA to schools across the US and Singapore, have already banned the use of the service. With social distancing rules to remain in place for some time, Zooms unlikely to see a dip in usage and for those keen to press ahead with their virtual cocktail parties and book clubs on the app, heres our guide to using the services safely.  Supratim Adhikari

Can you catch COVID-19 from pets?

It appears that, as with SARS, it's possible for our pets to catch the virus from us in very rare cases. But despite hysteria about an asymptomatic Pomeranian in Hong Kong returning a "weak positive" test for COVID-19 (and a tiger also catching a mild dose, from a keeper, at the Bronx Zoo in New York), the World Health Organisation stresses there's no evidence the virus can jump the other way, from pets to people, and no one should abandon their animals.

Hong Kong authorities tested 17 dogs and eight cats from households with confirmed COVID-19 cases or people in close contact with confirmed patients and found two dogs that tested positive  the Pomeranian and a German Shepherd  but they did not appear to show symptoms. They concluded that pet dogs and cats couldn't pass the virus to human beings, although they could test positive if exposed by their owners.

If it were possible to catch coronavirus from your pet, two veterinary experts looking into the US tiger case told The New York Times, it would have already become a clear factor in this pandemic, given the huge numbers of cases, and other scientists have since echoed the sentiment: there hasnt been a single case. While the virus is thought to have jumped from wild animals into humans and mutated, that was one spillover event, likely at a wet market where wildlife were caged and killed in close contact with people, and there is no evidence of another species jump.

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One small study that did cause a stir online found that cats and ferrets could be infected and pass on the virus to one another (dogs and farm animals were less susceptible) but its important to note the context for the research  animals in the study were deliberately infected with very high doses of the virus to see if a possible vaccine could be tested on them. And researchers did not find they could then give the virus to humans.

Were not overly concerned about people contracting COVID-19 through contact with dogs and cats, the American Veterinary Medical Association's chief veterinary officer Gail Golab has told The Washington Post, adding the virus survives best on smooth surfaces, such as countertops and doorknobs. Porous materials, such as pet fur, tend to absorb and trap pathogens, making it harder to contract them through touch.

The current spread of coronavirus in humans is the result of human-to-human transmission, said Australian Veterinary Association President Dr Julia Crawford on March 11. To date, there is no evidence that pets can spread the disease, or that they can become sick.

The WHO is now investigating the case of the tiger  which showed mild symptoms but is said to be recovering well  as well as a possible infection in a cat in Belgium and the two dogs in Hong Kong to understand how pets may get the virus. Its important we remain respectful and kind to any animals co-infected with humans, says Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHOs health emergencies program. Theyre victims like the rest of us.

In Australia, the federal government says there have been no cases detected in any domestic animals here (pets or livestock) or wildlife, and the current virus is spreading between people not animals.

Testing for the virus in animals requires different testing kits and, while Australia does have capabilities to do it, it's not a priority given the latest scientific information. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also does not consider there to be evidence of a threat from animals. It instead advises you to protect pets if you yourself are sick, limiting contact, but otherwise you should exercise the usual precautions around animals.

With pets now revelling in their owners being home with them under strict new social distancing measures, follow commonsense hygiene. What owners can do is what we always recommend," says Dr Crawford. "Please practise good hygiene, including washing your hands before and after handling your pets, as well as their food. You can still take your pets to the vet and walk them but don't attempt to disinfect your cat, it could hurt them.

Why do virus death rates vary so much worldwide?

Anyone following the international news on the pandemic will have noticed a marked variation in death rates from COVID-19 among different countries. In hard-hit Italy, for instance, the death rate among confirmed cases is around 12 per cent in the first week of April, compared with 1.75 per cent in Germany and  thus far  less than 1 per cent here. East Asian countries have generally done better, the UK, Spain and the US worse.

A number of factors help account for this variation. The most significant is that the death rate will largely reflect how widely you are testing, and the age groups you test in. If, as in Germany, you test a very large number of people, many of whom are young with mild symptoms, you get a lower rate of death overall. If, as in the UK and US, you only test those who are very ill and in hospital, the converse applies: your death rate looks much higher. Per head of population, Australias testing regime has been ahead of many other countries.

Other factors that contribute to varying death rates include: demographics such as the age profile of a countrys population overall; density of living conditions; patterns of interaction between different generations; cultural factors (such as the absence of social kissing and handshaking in Japan); and, importantly, the capacity of health systems to cope with the very ill. Germany has more than double Italys number of acute care beds per 100,000 people, and more than triple the UKs acute bed capacity.

In Italy, with one of the oldest populations in Europe, researchers believe that deeply ingrained habits of adult children living with, or remaining housed close to, their parents has contributed to the high fatality rate there. Younger adults, commuting into larger employment centres where the virus had been silently spreading, bring the virus back to the smaller communities where their parents live. Smoking rates may be a factor in some places. The jury is out on whether seasonality (whether a country is going into warmer or cooler weather) plays a role.  Deborah Snow

Why do we have social distancing and rules on not doing things?

The virus needs us to move; it jumps person to person after close contact so the idea is to slow its infection rate by temporarily changing our behaviour through physical distancing As the world waits for a vaccine, this will save lives by helping stop a surge of cases overwhelming emergency departments all at once. Along with measures such as lockdowns and tracing and isolating cases, social distancing has worked against outbreaks in the past, including the Spanish Flu of 1918. The recent surge in Australian cases has started to slow a little in recent days as new rules come into force. But if people do not follow them, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warns that Australia could lose its window to contain the outbreak  and cases could rapidly explode. In some countries, including Australia, the virus's reproduction number  or the likely number of people each person will infect  has already fallen from its natural average of two to three. If it keeps falling, to below one, the virus will start to die out on its own. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly says Australia is on the cusp of killing off the virus but the government has flagged pursuing full elimination of the virus (along the lines of the tough lockdowns seen in New Zealand) would be too costly.

When can I leave COVID-19 isolation once I get better?

The federal government has stopped tracking recovery numbers in Australia, drawing criticism from some experts who say it is an important measure of any outbreak. Amid a shortage of testing kits, an Australian government spokesman confirmed only healthcare and aged care workers returning to the frontline must be "cleared" with testing (two negative tests) under the national guidelines. Local health authorities keep a close eye on all confirmed cases on the virus and others may still be retested. But most, such as those recovering in home isolation, only have to meet the following conditions:

10 days have passed since falling ill

AND symptoms have been gone for 72 hours

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention advises the same 72-hour window of time after symptoms disappear but some studies overseas have shown the virus can live in the body for weeks after.

The Australian government spokesman said "a small proportion of people may have an illness that has completely resolved but their [tests] remain persistently positive". There a decision on release from isolation will be made on a case-by-case basis after consulting their doctor, the testing lab and the public health unit.

The 72-hour rule was decided by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, which advises Health Minister Greg Hunt, as "a precautionary period to manage uncertainty around how long a confirmed case remains infectious post-symptom resolution", the spokesman said.

"Even in these patients there is uncertainty around whether there is a direct correlation of persistent [positive tests] and infectivity, but what we know from other virus infection, it is not a neat correlation," he said. "There have been case reports of patients testing positive for a couple of weeks post-symptom resolution, but are viral culture negative meaning they are unlikely infectious for very long after symptoms resolve."

How should I handle takeaway coffee? Wash your hands after holding your cup. "It's all about interrupting the chance of self-inoculation," says Associate Professor Ian Mackay, an expert on coronaviruses, at the University of Queensland. The virus has been found to last for shorter periods on card and paper than some other surfaces but it can persist, according to lab studies. "Whether there is ever likely to be enough virus on that surface to infect another person remains an unanswered question," says Professor Mackay. "The overarching rule here is simple: wash your hands before you touch your face if you have come into contact with something that is likely to have been contaminated with virus."

What's the death rate from COVID-19?

Calculating the mortality rate of a pandemic that is still spreading is an imprecise science  people may be diagnosed or succumb to the illness further down the line. Based on the first 55,000-odd cases recorded in China, the WHO estimates the fatality rate so far as 3.4 per cent. But, given so many milder cases will go under the radar, most experts, including the WHO, agree the true number is likely closer to 1 per cent.

That makes it more than ten times deadlier than the flu but less dangerous than the other two rare coronaviruses to emerge in humans: SARS-CoV, which also caused global panic when it exploded onto the scene in late 2002, and MERS-CoV, which causes a condition more deadly again known as MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). On the raw figures so far, more than five million people have been infected worldwide and at least 328,000 have died. About 1.8 million have already "officially" recovered. The case of the Diamond Princess outbreak has offered one of the most stable data sets yet from which to make calculations- analysis of deaths and infections there put the overall fatality rate at just below 1 per cent.

Am I going to die?

Data out of China found most people (about 80 per cent) recovered from the new virus on their own, even if they developed pneumonia. But about one in five needed more serious medical intervention (such as ventilation to help them breathe) and, of those, 6 per cent were pushed into critical care  as multiple organs began to fail along with the lungs, or septic shock (whole-body infection) set in.

Anyone can catch the virus  but people most at risk of complications are older or have other conditions such as diabetes or heart disease, making their bodies may be less able to cope with the extra strain. Smokers are also more likely to develop a nasty infection, as the virus breeds via cell receptors in the lungs known to increase with cigarette smoke. Experts say the higher the dose of virus you are hit with, the faster you will show symptoms and the more dangerous it can be for your immune system to fight off. For example, catching the virus from a doorknob is likely to give you a smaller dose than caring for an infected person without protective clothing such as a mask. For more on how the new virus affects the body and what it feels like to get it, you can read this explainer here.

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What treatment is given in intensive care?

Difficulty breathing is the main reason that people with COVID-19 present to a hospital, says the head of the Alfred Hospitals intensive care unit, Associate Professor Steve Mcgloughin. The virus, which attacks the lungs, can progress quite quickly, worsening beyond shortness of breath. Once admitted to a ward and receiving oxygen via a mask, a persons condition may improve  but other people will need increasing amounts of support to keep their lungs sending oxygen throughout their body.

"Thats where intensive care would step in, says Dr Mcgloughin. If its bad enough that you need to be put on a breathing machine then you would definitely be in intensive care. If there was a sense that a patient was deteriorating towards needing a ventilator or a life-support machine, wed also put them in intensive care. What intensive care is able to offer is the medical specialists and more monitoring  It's very intense  not surprisingly, given the name.

Without a drug that is definitively proven to halt or even slow COVID-19 at this stage, the aim is to support patients until they recover. We wait for the virus to clear up and then the lungs will often repair themselves if we can wait and just support them while they do that. So you might have a period of, say, a week on a life-support machine where the virus starts to clear itself and the lungs start to improve and then we take the breathing machine away.

But, as experience has shown worldwide, the outcome is not always positive. Keeping people in a sort of induced sleep, the energy demands of their body go right down, says Dr Mcgloughin. Theyre not using as much oxygen as they would normally. The problem with that is it works quite well and its a really effective therapy but, obviously, being in that state puts the body in quite a vulnerable position.

There are two problems that can arise, he says. One is that the infection itself can affect the other organs. And there is just the stress of being so sick. We're supposed to be up and walking around but when youre in intensive care your body is a little bit vulnerable to either getting another infection from bacteria, or the virus itself affecting your other organs. Thats why there is a difference, unfortunately, that people who are a little bit older or those a bit more vulnerable beforehand dont do as well as people that are younger.

Dr Mcgloughin, who chaired the group that wrote the COVID-19 guidelines for The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, says Australian hospitals are benefiting from the advice of colleagues overseas, including in Italy and Singapore, both about treatments and how to protect themselves. Within weeks of what happened in Italy, they had already published very detailed summaries of what happened. Im amazed the guys were able to do that.

So what would he say to younger people, including those aged 20-29 who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in NSW and Victoria more than any other age group?

Stay home. Do what the governments asking us to do. Lets do that for a week or a few months. Youre doing it potentially to protect yourself  its not impossible that young people get sick  but youre really doing it to protect the older people in our community. To me, its a real social responsibility. Its sort of a good test of Australians' ability to look after each other, really. You know, we all like to think we do that  but this is probably the chance to prove it.

How are ventilators used to treat COVID-19? Anyone whos had a general anaesthetic will have relied on a ventilator, whether they know it or not. It happens between the bit where you start to feel drowsy  you stop breathing and then I put in a breathing tube and put you on to a breathing machine, says Dr Suzi Nou, president of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists  and the bit where you wake up in the recovery room. That breathing machine is a ventilator, pushing oxygen into your body. For healthy patients undergoing routine surgery, [when] I stop giving them anaesthetic, they start breathing for themselves, says Dr Nou. Treating patients with COVID-19, whose lungs are compromised by the disease, is another story. Theyre too unwell to do the job of breathing for themselves. Wed induce the state of sleepiness, put a breathing tube in and put them on the ventilator. While a patient having routine surgery will rely on a ventilator for minutes or hours  and its not uncommon for a patient in intensive care to rely on one for four or five days  a patient with COVID-19 might need one for as long as 10 days. This is why ventilators have become such a precious commodity worldwide since the pandemic took hold, prompting a doctor in the hard-hit Italian region of Lombardy to say they had become as precious as gold. There are plans for the number of ventilators (and intensive care beds to go with them) in Australia to be doubled to 4000 while more have been freed up by the suspension of non-urgent elective surgery and still more are now being manufactured in Australia. But behind every ventilator is a team of experts too, such as Dr Nou and highly trained nurses. In Australia, every patient on a ventilator has a dedicated nurse. It's these professionals who need to be supported to keep coming to work in the coming weeks and months, says the head of the Alfred Hospitals intensive care unit, Associate Professor Steve Mcgloughin. "Everyone is very focused on the machines," he says, "but the most valuable resource we have in healthcare is the people."

How long does it take to recover?

Symptoms tend to clear up in just a week or two in mild cases or three to six for more serious, according to WHO data. But early evidence suggests the virus can stick around in the body even longer in some cases. Australian researchers have now mapped the body's immune response, identifying the antibodies it recruits to defeat the new virus, in some people starting the fight within just three days of the initial infection. Experts say its too early to say if this illness will result in permanent damage, such as the lung tissue scarring seen in more severe SARS and MERS patients, but some are worried it might as more evidence of the virus's impact on organs such as the heart and lungs emerges.

I'm over 70. Should I self-isolate?

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The federal government is urging those aged 70 or over (as well as those with a chronic condition over the age of 60 or Indigenous people over 50) to stay home "where practicable", avoiding contact with others as much as they can, including family such as grandchildren. If you fall into these categories, this measure is designed to protect you, not keep you a prisoner at home. You can still go outside or shop if necessary but it is best to opt for delivery or seek help from family, friends or even the local council to get supplies. Visits to aged-care homes have also been restricted to protect vulnerable elderly residents.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says Australians weighing up whether to bring elderly relatives home to care for them now face a difficult "trade-off". On the one hand, Professor Kelly says "the most frail, elderly people requiring, for example, a lot of home care ... may be best to shelter with relatives". But if other family members are going "out into the world ... and interacting with others", they risk bringing the virus into the home. The answer isn't always clear-cut and will come down to personal circumstances.

But Im young and not at high risk. Why can't I socialise?

While the elderly and those with underlying conditions are more likely to die from COVID-19, young people can too. Figures from China, Europe and the US show concerningly high hospitalisation rates among the under 60s and in Australia there are people under 50 already in need of intensive care. There have been more coronavirus cases among 25- to 29 year-old Australians than any other age group. In any case, even if you're young and get a milder case you can still spread the virus to someone who might not be so lucky.

How long does the virus live on surfaces?

Viruses need hosts to survive  they can't make it on their own. So far, the best evidence we have on how long the virus lasts on surfaces comes from a letter to the editor by a team of American scientists published in The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the worlds top medical journals. The data is still early stage and needs to be interpreted with caution. They placed samples of SARS-CoV-2 on plastic, stainless steel, cardboard and copper and tracked what happened to the virus. The virus was the most stable on plastic and stainless steel and could be detected up to 72 hours later. On absorbent surfaces such as cardboard, fabric or paper it degrades much faster. However, the amount of the virus fell quickly over time. On plastic, for example, it halved in about seven hours. That indicates these surfaces do not remain infectious forever.

The overarching rule here is simple: wash your hands before you touch your face if you have come into contact with something that is likely to have been contaminated with virus. Professor Ian Mackay, coronavirus expert

Copper has broad anti-microbial properties and has been installed in some hospitals around the world to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. When a bacterium or virus lands on copper, electrically charged particles known as ions jump from the surface into the bacterium, punching holes in it and killing it. Some scientists have suggested that copper doorplates and doorknobs be installed in healthcare facilities and public places in Australia.

It is possible, although unlikely, exchanging cash could transmit the virus. Using a card is probably lower risk, write Professor Ian Mackay and Dr Katherine Arden on The Conversation, because you keep the card and dont have to touch other people. In fact, using "tap and pay" is a social distancing practice recommended by the federal government. - with Liam Mannix

What about takeaway food?

You can still order in food but authorities say you shouldn't let the courier into your home and, if in an apartment, you should pick up the order outside rather than inviting them through a security door into a communal area.

Professor Peter Doherty says that while food delivery is unlikely to be a major source of infection, it's something to keep in mind when you're "taking hold of the pizza box".

"Before you take the food out, wash your hands and then put the pizza box somewhere out of the way," Doherty suggests in a webinar for the Australian Academy of Science. It can certainly survive longer on plastics and steel ... in the SARS epidemic, of course, we saw people wiping down elevator buttons. [] Just open everything, wash your hands before you take the food out of the plastic and maybe transfer it to another plastic bag before you put it in the fridge."

Should I disinfect my fruit and vegetables?

No. The Centre for Food Safetys guidelines say there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be passed on via food. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. Food should be washed with water before you eat it. Soap or dishwashing liquid should not be used, as they can stay on food and cause sickness. There is no need to wash food you are going to cook, as the heat will kill the virus, says Arden. You also dont need to scrub food that you are going to later peel, such as oranges.

Touching produce and then touching your face is more relevant. Think of your hands as the enemy, write Professor Ian Mackay and virologist Katherine Arden. If the virus comes into contact with your hands, and then you touch your nose, mouth or eyes, it can gain entry to your body. You must wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly before eating. - Liam Mannix

What temperature should I do my laundry? We dont need to be worried about the temperature of a wash because we use strong detergents in our washing powders, even when they are cold wash formulations, says virologist Katherine Ardern and coronavirus expert Associate Professor Ian Mackay, both at the University of Queensland. They cite a recent study, which, although not having yet been through a peer review process so not conclusive, provides an early picture of how the virus reacts in certain conditions. In a laboratory, a 30-minute incubation of the virus at 56C or a five-minute incubation at 70C rendered SARS-CoV-2 inactive. In its recommendations for households where someone is ill, or suspected of being ill with COVID-19, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends laundering items "using the warmest appropriate water setting for the items", and drying the items completely.

Will my dishwasher kill the virus?

A similar answer applies as with washing machines. Coronavirus expert Professor Ian Mackay notes that if you are caring for an ill person, you need to be extra vigilant in cleaning their crockery and cutlery to ensure that you limit the risk of family spread. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this if someone has COVID-19 in your household: "The ill person should eat/be fed in their room if possible. Non-disposable food service items used should be handled with gloves and washed with hot water or in a dishwasher. Clean hands after handling used food service items."

What disinfectant should I use on surfaces?

The NSW Health Department advises using common household disinfectant sprays for surfaces. SARS-CoV-2 is what is known as an enveloped virus, which means it is made of a little ball of fat and protein. That makes it relatively easily to kill with standard disinfectants.

In Australia, disinfectants are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, so if you pick the right one  look for a specific disinfectant, not a cleaner  you can be confident it works. Not all disinfectants are regulated by the same standards. Look for a specific label on the disinfectant that means it kills viruses, such as virucidal or antiviral activity. Importantly, this is different to antibacterial  antibacterial ingredients kill bacteria, not viruses.

Make sure you follow the instructions on the label, which may include cleaning a surface before disinfecting it. Cleaning and disinfecting are different things. As the CDC notes, cleaning does not kill germs in itself but, by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection. The Australian Department of Health advises you to target frequently touched surfaces: door handles, bed rails, table tops and light switches.

As with all things COVID-19, there is still much we dont know. The advice above is based on guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guidance from the Australian Department of Health, from the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Food Safety, and expert commentary from Associate Professor Ian Mackay (an expert on coronaviruses) and Katherine Ardern (a virologist), both at the University of Queensland.  Liam Mannix

How does COVID-19 compare to the flu?

"Let's stop saying it's a bad flu," pleaded doctor Daniele Macchini, from the northern Italian city of Bergamo, where the virus had gained a deadly foothold. Patients inundating intensive care wards had "far from the complications of a flu", the doctor wrote on Facebook in March.

While flu has many of the same symptoms and results in tens of thousands of deaths worldwide every year, COVID-19 is more than 10 times deadlier. In Australia, government figures for the most recent flu season ending October 2019 show 812 people died of influenza out of 298,120 reported cases  a fatality rate of about 0.27 per cent.

Emerging coronaviruses such as this strain and SARS can also do more damage to the body, particularly the lungs. And the new virus is more infectious than the flu, or SARS or MERS, with one COVID-19 patient likely to infect between two and three others.

Can you get COVID-19 and the flu at the same time?

Yes, it's possible. As it breeds in the lungs, the virus can impair your body's ability to filter out germs falling down from the upper airways and so leave some people susceptible to another bug  whether the common cold, influenza or a case of bacterial pneumonia. So this year there is a particular urgency behind calls for people to have their flu shots. On April 1, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly urged Australians, especially those aged over 65, to get their flu vaccines as soon as possible. "As of now there are millions of vaccines out there ready," he said.

How long will the pandemic last?

That's the big question. This virus's closest relative, SARS, while deadly, spread more slowly and to far fewer countries and so early containment efforts worked to wipe it out, largely within a year. For COVID-19, many experts are instead drawing parallels with the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed millions around the world because it spread so far. The good news is medicine has taken a quantum leap forward since then. Still, modelling by the Imperial College London suggests countries will need to use control measures such as social distancing, aggressive case detection, even shutdowns right through until a vaccine becomes available  between 12 and 18 months.

What are other countries doing to 'flatten the curve'?

Some nations, including many in Europe, have turned to the "China model" of forced home quarantines and transport shutdowns to stop the virus. But experts note that China, as well as countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, have also started to "flatten their curve" of infection growth through exhaustive testing, contact tracing of known cases and community take-up of "social distancing" measures such as working from home or taking schools online.

China's success so far means it is already starting to relax many of its lockdowns, even as it braces for a potential second wave. In Italy and now other countries such as Spain, France and the UK, people are only allowed to leave their homes to run essential errands such as grabbing groceries (and they must queue 1.5 metres apart).

What's the difference between JobSeeker and JobKeeper? JobSeeker is a payment of $550 a fortnight (now increased to $1100 a fortnight as part of a coronavirus stimulus boost) for those who have lost their employment. JobSeeker replaced the NewStart allowance in March. However, the new JobKeeper scheme is a $1500 payment (before tax) per staff member provided to employers by the government over the next six months to help businesses hold onto workers so that after the pandemic is over they can more easily start over. Employers can only receive the subsidy if they have turnover of less than $1 billion and this figure has fallen by 30 per cent or more, or they have a turnover higher than $1 billion and this has fallen by 50 per cent or more. Employers receiving the subsidy must report to the Australian Tax Office every month. See here for details.  Jennifer Duke

I have asthma. Am I more at risk?

At least one in 10 Australians have asthma but the condition doesnt mean youre more likely to catch COVID-19. The problem is that because your lungs are already inflamed, it can leave you open to a more severe case or trigger an asthma attack. Its a double-whammy, really, says National Asthma Council Australia chief Siobhan Brophy.

Respiratory physician Peter Wark says theres not enough data yet to know exactly how COVID-19 affects asthmatics but, from previous experience with other respiratory illnesses, theyll likely be at higher risk of complications  as was observed during the SARS outbreak and still occurs with common illnesses such as cold and flu. The WHO and other health authorities are urging extra precautions for asthmatics. Brophy says now is the time to be on your best behaviour: following your asthma plan and doctors advice to the letter and re-filling prescriptions so your lungs are in their best shape possible should an infection come. While people without the condition have been hoarding ventolin, she notes theres little point as the medication is designed to treat an asthma attack and not COVID-19.

There has been some concern about continuing asthma medication such as steroid tablets or injections, which could suppress the body's overall immune system, Brophy says, but steroid inhalers are still fine  they only travel to the lungs and remain vital for asthmatics. Talk to your doctor before you stop taking anything but if youre still using an old nebuliser to take your medication, use a puffer and a spacer instead. A nebuliser will spray out particles [and possibly germs] from your lungs." Tell your doctor about your asthma and your medication if you develop symptoms.

Don't coronaviruses only cause colds?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses causing respiratory illness mostly found in animals. Only seven have been identified in humans, including the four that commonly give us coughs and colds. But when a new strain jumps across from wildlife, such as SARS and now this new strain, it can be dangerous as there is no natural immunity to fight it off.

Why are there so many names for the virus?

Because it's new, at first the virus was known simply as the "novel" coronavirus. Then the WHO named it SARS-CoV-2, given it shares so much of its DNA  about 75 per cent  with the SARS-CoV strain behind the SARS outbreak. The illness caused by this current strain is COVID-19.

Where did the virus come from?

The illness was first identified after people started falling ill at wet market reported to sell wild animals in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Unfounded theories that the virus is man-made quickly began to circulate online but scientists studying its genome already agree it came from animals - as more than 70 per cent of all new diseases emerging in humans do. Wild animals packed together and then butchered in live markets throughout Asia can be incubators for viruses to evolve and jump species barriers  SARS was traced back to a colony of bats but was believed to have passed into humans again in a wet market via the Himalayan palm civet, an ancient species of mammal eaten as a delicacy in China. And MERS also has bat origins but mostly spreads from infected camels, often in slaughterhouses. Bats are essential to many ecosystems we rely on but, through a lucky quirk in their immune system, they also carry a whole host of diseases that do not harm them. Early work suggests this new virus is 96 per cent similar to a SARS-like strain already discovered in bats a few years back, but experts think it likely first jumped into another animal, possibly the highly endangered and heavily trafficked pangolin, where it gained potency before passing into humans.

How does self-isolation work?

The question of who should practice this social distancing (everyone) versus who should seal themselves off completely has sparked some confusion. To stem the spread of COVID-19, millions of people infected or exposed around the world are also being urged to go into voluntary exile at home or in isolation wards. While some people have chosen to start home isolation themselves, thousands of others in Australia been already been issued formal notices to comply as states call in police to help enforce them.

We dive into the rules in this explainer here but in brief: if you have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 or have returned from overseas, then you must self-isolate for a full fortnight (the estimated period of virus incubation before symptoms appear). If you are self-isolating at home, your household can still go out but you should try to keep to yourself, wearing a mask around others, ordering in food rather than going out, disinfecting common areas and keeping a close eye on how you are feeling (symptoms to watch out for are a high fever and shortness of breath). If you are infected yourself or awaiting tests, then everyone should stay home.

You can still wander into your garden or balcony but, while some officials have said you can walk the dog or stretch your legs, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says you must stay home if you've been told to self-isolate: "Sorry."

Despite these rules, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said, on March 27, that Australia was still seeing large numbers of returned travellers with the virus and, in many cases, passing it on to their families. More than two-thirds are returned travellers, and a significant proportion of the other cases have been transmitted from returned travellers, he said. From March 29, all overseas arrivals are being escorted from airports into hotels and other accommodation for the 14-day window, at the government's expense. The army has been called in alongside police to enforce these quarantines after a number of people were caught out of their homes breaking isolation orders.

Can I still travel?

Only if you really have to. Our borders have closed and overseas travel is now banned under biosecurity powers, except in exceptional circumstances. Citizens still travelling abroad are urged to come home as countries impose similar shutdowns of their own.

Starting with Tasmania, most states have closed their domestic borders - police patrols will now ask people crossing over to go into quarantine for the recommended 14-day window.

How does the virus affect pregnant women  and babies?

At this early stage, we are still not absolutely sure how the virus affects women and babies. Different governments have offered different advice.

For now, lets stick to what Australias peak body, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZOG), has to say. Note these guidelines are changing regularly and you should check back on their website for the most up-to-date advice. According to guidelines, at this stage it does not appear that pregnant women are at greater risk from COVID-19 than the rest of the population  as they were during the world's last pandemic Swine Flu in 2009.

However, they tend to be more susceptible to respiratory illnesses in general, such as the flu. There is no evidence of an increased risk of miscarriage or birth abnormalities, nor is there evidence the virus can pass from woman to unborn child or via breastmilk. The safest place to birth your baby is in a hospital, where you have access to highly trained staff and emergency facilities, the guidelines state. If the mother is infected at the time of birth, she should not be separated from her newborn, but should wear a mask and take precautions. The health advice is the same for pregnant women as it is for everyone else: work from home, avoid public places, and nail your hand hygiene.



Are pregnant women allowed to have a support person in the labour ward with them?

The RANZCOG guidelines suggest visitors in hospital are limited only to the immediate partner. But this is just a suggestion  different hospitals will have different rules.

Is public transport stopping?

No. Public transport is still running as it is considered one of the essential activities exempt from the government's ban on gatherings but cleaning has been ramped up. While calls are growing from some experts to shut down public transport already, many people rely on it. Still, as social distancing rules come into force, travellers are deserting normally packed routes in droves. When on public transport, health officials say you should allow room for others as much as possible, rather than crowding in. It's also important to keep an eye on what you've been touching. If you then touch your face, a virus surviving on, say, a metal handrail could jump across  so carry a disinfectant or even wear one (stylish) glove for holding on and touching things.

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How far away is a vaccine?

The most hopeful estimates fall within the range of 12 to 18 months. A report for the British government put it at potentially 18 months or more. Why? Because making a vaccine is really, really hard. To make a vaccine, you first need to design a way of giving a human immunity against a virus. Then you need to make sure the vaccine is not toxic. Then you need to test it in animals. Then you need to test it in humans  and the tests need to be large so we can make sure it works and is safe. And then you need to make the billions of doses needed. And there is every chance a vaccine that looks promising in the lab, or in animal tests, wont work in humans. Experts are hoping to roll out a safe vaccine within 18 months. But even that would be unprecedented. No vaccine has ever been developed that quickly. - Liam Mannix

What treatment is being developed?

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The Peter Doherty Institute in Australia is working on both a vaccine and a potential therapeutic treatment for the virus, and director Sharon Lewin says the latter might offer a faster fix. A drug that could block the virus from replicating in the body (or calm down the body's intense immune response to it) could keep patients with severe infections alive and, in the case of an antiviral, reduce transmission. Several existing drugs are now being trialled against the new virus worldwide, including those used to treat HIV, malaria, and arthritis. The results look promising but it's not time to rush out to the pharmacy just yet. Read more about treatments being explored, including a tablet to prevent the virus in the first place, here.

How does this outbreak compare to others such as SARS?

It took this new coronavirus 48 days to infect the first thousand people. By contrast, SARS took 130 days and the less infectious MERS more than two years to infect a thousand people after it emerged in 2012. When SARS finished its spread after nine months in 2003, only 8098 cases had been confirmed across 26 countries but close to 10 per cent of those were fatal. (Most clusters happened in hospitals or households.) MERS has been circulating for eight years across 27 countries so far, and kills about a third of those who fall ill  out of about 2500 confirmed cases. Ebola is even more deadly, killing more than 40 per cent of those diagnosed over a number of outbreaks since the 1970s but it has been reported in just a handful of countries.

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In the pandemic records, the infamous 1918 Spanish flu killed about 2.5 per cent of its victims over two years  but because it infected so many people (close to 27 per cent of the world's population) at a time of much cruder medical care, about 50 million died. Today, doctors are much better able to stave off secondary bacterial infections, which proved particularly deadly during that outbreak. And, unlike the Spanish flu, young people are not dying at the same high rates.

The last pandemic was swine flu in 2009, the second coming of a H1N1 influenza that infected between 11 and 21 per cent of the world's population. Governments mounted costly responses until it was ruled to be over in October 2010. But the virus killed about 285,000 people (fewer than seasonal flu normally does) with a relatively low fatality rate of .02 per cent, and the WHO copped criticism for labelling it a pandemic at all.

Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletter Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here.

What happens if I lose income?

Billions of dollars are being poured into the Australian economy to offset the damage being done to businesses and employment by the coronavirus pandemic. For details of who gets what from stimulus packages, look here.

Centrelink payments have been lifted and expanded. And, in a bid to stop companies cutting jobs, employees of eligible businesses can claim a new $1500 fortnightly 'Jobkeeper' payment, even some who have already been let go so long as they were with the company on March 1. Businesses and not-for-profits that have experienced more than a 30 per cent downturn in revenue are eligible and payments will be delivered in May but backdated to March.

The federal government estimates about half of the workforce - or six million people - will get this payment over the next six months.

If you've lost your job because of the crisis, this explainer outlines what support is available.

Our team will answer more questions and update information in this story regularly.

If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
Zimbabwes Ministry of Health and Child Care has confirmed the countrys first death from coronavirus.

Radio/television host, Zororo Makamba, who was the son of telecoms tycoon and politician, James Makamba was the second person to test positive for the coronavirus in Zimbabwe.

The countrys ministry of health confirmed that the 30-year-old succumbed to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after he was hospitalized over the weekend.

Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa also confirmed his death in a statement saying:

READ ALSO  Coronavirus: Zimbabwe Records First Case

I have received the news of the passing on of Zororo Makamba with great shock, extreme sadness and deep sense of shock. He is a victim of the worldwide pandemic that is Covid-19. I extend my sincere condolences to the Makamba family as well as to relatives and friends of Zororo Makamba. Zororo will be solely missed

Zororo Makamba, who was also an entrepreneur and communication expert was the host of state of the nation with Zororo Makamba.
Private diagnostic laboratories that have received the approval of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to carry out COVID-19 tests are finding it difficult to source enough personal protection equipment (PPE), the coveralls for their sample collection staff. Labs are hoping that the thrust given by Centre in ramping up the availability of critical life saving equipment, including PPE, may speed up the production and supply of such products.

Leading players that have enlisted with ICMR to carry out the tests said that their facilities are ready, staff trained, but they are yet to get sufficient number of diagnostic test kits from the companies that have been allowed to supply them, and PPEs from the open market. The option of importing diagnostic kits is also difficult due to the lockdown and disruptions in cargo movement.

ALSO READ: $20 trillion lawsuit against China! US group says coronavirus is bioweapon

On latest count, ICMR had approved 26 private laboratories for COVID-19 testing in the country. Eight of them are in Maharashtra, four in Delhi, three each in Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and two in Haryana.

The diagnostic players and hospitals whose laboratories have got approval include Lal Path Labs, Dr Dangs Lab, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Unipath Specialty Laboratory, Supratech Micropath Laboratory & Research Institute, SN GeneLab, Strand Life Sciences, SRL Limited, Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory, Kasturba Hospital, Cancyte Technologies, Sri Shankara Research Centre, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, Suburban Diagnostics (India), Metropolis Healthcare, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Reliance Life Sciences, A G Diagnostics, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, InfeXn Laboratories, CMC Vellore, Vijaya Diagnostic Centre and Vimta Labs.

ALSO READ: Rs 1,000 profit in Rs 4,500 per coronavirus test; Thyrocare debunks demand for higher price

The two companies who have been allowed to supply diagnostic kits to private laboratories so far are Indian firm Mylab and German firm Altona Diagnostics. Mylab informed that they will start supply of kits within a day or two.

As on March 24, of the 22,694 samples from 21,804 individuals that India screened, 536 individuals were tested positive. The Prime Minister in his address to the nation had announced that the government has set aside Rs 15,000 crore to augment healthcare facilities and infrastructure for the management of COVID-19 outbreak.

ALSO READ: Private labs seek govt's help for conducting free coronavirus tests
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > The Quiet Revolution

In the midst of darkness, light existsis a saying attributed to many great minds including Mahatma Gandhi. In the midst of so much hate, violent actions and speeches, feminists voices and actions rise like the lotus from the swamp. Muslim women have been sitting in various neighborhoods across India, peaceful, com-posedthe perfect Satyagrahis. No noise comes from there but once spoken to, they explain why they insist on calling attention, not only to the injustice but the ignorance behind the CAA and NRC.

Visiting them, as I have now done in at least three of the sites, and in two cities, offers a lesson in the how to of resistance. Their faces do not show anger or exhaustion. They sit there with warmth and smiles on their faces, often children around them coping with weather, with the need for food, without any exhibition of how they cope. Visitors are welcomed.

Women from the Muslim community sitting in public, in protests are a new image in India. They have mostly been perceived as burqa clad or veiled women walking in groups by and largely house-boundpeering at the roads below if there is a procession, highly invisible as political actors. This does not miss the fact that there are many remarkable women from the Muslim community in Indiawomen who have held positions in governments, in academia, in theatersstrong and accepted. But that is a minority, the majority that we see on any progressive citys streets is the highly covered woman in the back robe from head to foot walking in groups on the streets. In Delhi they are not covered in the burqa as they are, for example, in Bangalore, but covered their heads with scarves. They have not been a visible community of women in any of the public spaces that we are familiar with.

But now in response to the announcement of the CAA and NRC, with a quietness that is still beyond comprehension, there are these large groups of Muslim women who have occupied spaces in most of the cities. Sitting without making noises, fuss or food arrange-ments around them. No tables and chairs but sitting usually on daris talking to each other, reading and very welcoming of visitors.

What are they sitting there for? They are protesting against implementation of the CAA and NRC. They are convinced that this will provide a form of filtering where they will be filtered out of India. Alongside they have symbols of their deep attachment to Indiathe national flag everywhere, Gandhijis photograph and so on. In some places like Shaheen Bagh, the site has become almost like an exhibition site with book stalls where you can sit and read books, space where children can be played with or taught but that doesnt happen in all the sites. In Bangalores Bilalbagh, which is attached or proximate to a Masjid, there is no showcasing outside the 500 women sitting in.

For those who visit, what is exceptional is the complete calm and sweetness on the faces if these women. We are used to protest meetings of every kindrailway workers, government servants, teachers of the universitiestheir faces usually display their anger, their sorrow, their discontent but the faces of these women are totally devoid of any hostile expression, there is a calm strength.

It is almost unbelievable when one comes to any of these camps, as I did in Nizamuddin, on the day of holi (March 10, 2020), the women smiled at me and one or two got up and asked where I came from. And asked if I would like to speak to them. It was just like going to a home or a community meeting where everybody who comes from the outside is absorbed into the community with the kind of elegant hospitality which is quite rare in my experience of people who are sitting in protest. But across all these sit-ins is the strong determination that they cannot accept the implementation of the CAA and NRC and this protest will continue as long as that proposition or proposal continues. Attempts are being made of course to shift them so as to puncture their determination to even induce them on grounds of various offers to call it off, but there is so much smartness in them that they wait for the official announcement of the change in the mind of the government on such laws. How to interpret this collective couragethis sacrifice? In these gatherings it is difficult to find a leaderthey are all leaders there, anyone will get up and speak, so there is no identifiable spokesperson of the community.

It is time that a broader base of citizens, apart from the government, understands the spirit of this effort and surrenders to it rather than fight it.

What would happen if they withdrew the CAA and NRC? Yes of course they cannot evict Muslims but then what would happen if they do not withdraw the CAA and NRC? Gradually more and more of the non-Muslims, students, citizens from womens movement, workers movement will ask for justice for a community which is willing to do Satyagraha, to teach the government that this particular move is a camouflage for pushing out citizens who have belonged to a part of Indias history for centuries. This ploy will be exposed if they do not withdraw the CAA and NRC.

The time has come for the government to withdraw it peacefully now before it gets much more clear to the world that this is a form of persecution and not merely a legal attempt to document whos who? It is worrying that now, three months down the line, riots have taken pace which have been attributed to both sides, distractions have been created largely to distract from the peaceful protests.

Wake up India! the women in the Shaheen Baghs are speaking to you!!

An internationally respected Gandhian economist, Dr Devaki Jain was a member of the erstwhile South Commission headed by Dr Julius Nyerere (1987-90); along with 26 other hand-picked economists she helped develop an action agenda for South-South economic cooperation.
WASHINGTON  As many people who live along the Lake Huron shoreline are threatened by rising water levels, a Michigan Senator plans on having more federal funds available for threatened communities.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at providing support to local communities facing rising water, coastal erosion, and flooding that has put homes and property at risk and already caused millions in damages.

The bill, called the Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation (STORM) Act of 2020 would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help states establish revolving loan funds that local governments can use to carry out mitigation projects that reduce natural disaster risk, like shoreline erosion and rising water levels.

Reportedly, there would be $300 million appropriated to this fund over the next three years that communities can access.

These loans would reach communities more quickly than FEMAs traditional grants in order to allow them to invest in a more resilient infrastructure.

Currently, FEMA programs are unable to provide assistance to projects related to sustained high-water levels and long-term shoreline erosion.

Peters, a Democrat, introduced it with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a Republican, with Michigans other senator, Democrat Debbie Stabenow, and James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, cosponsoring it.

Rising water levels in the Great Lakes are wreaking havoc on Michigans coastal communities  threatening countless homes and causing tremendous damage to both public and private property, Peters said in a statement. As water levels continue to rise and coastlines continue to erode, its vital that our communities have access to the resources necessary to prepare for and protect against potential disasters.

I have seen firsthand how the coastlines in Michigan have been devastated by the flooding and erosion as a result of record high Great Lakes water levels, Stabenow said in a statement. Our bill provides local governments in Michigan with additional resource to address the issue.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers expects the Great Lakes to hit record-high water levels this year, which along with high winds contributes to shoreline erosion.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the legislation last week and goes before the Senate for consideration.
Another story has broken which deserves to compete with COVID-19, at least for a couple of days. Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, was acquitted on all charges yesterday afternoon.

The ex-leader of the Scottish National Party was defending himself against 13 separate allegations, including sexual assault and attempted rape, levelled by nine women.

Obviously we were not inside the jury room and so can pass no comment on the result itself. But it is an extraordinary outcome to one of the biggest stories in Scottish politics, and the fallout could be substantial.

The road to trial has already opened a deep rift between Nicola Sturgeon and her one-time mentor. Salmond reportedly believes that the First Minister and her allies conspired in the allegations against him in order to get him off the political stage. For their part his own troops, such as Nationalist MP Joanna Cherry, are already calling for an inquiry into how the Party handled the allegations against him.

After decades of phalanx-like discipline, the SNPs internal cohesion was already showing signs of strain  Cherry herself is currently standing against Angus Robertson, the pro-Sturgeon former SNP leader in the Commons, to fight Ruth Davidsons constituency of Edinburgh Central at the next devolved elections. Before today one might have expected the pro-leadership forces to comfortably have the upper hand  but the return of a vengeful and vindicated Salmond could upset the balance of power.

Vindicated in his own mind, at least. Its important to stress that whilst fighting the charges, the trial has projected claims about Salmonds conduct with women which will not go away. Already an increasingly toxic figure amongst pro-UK voters, he will never again be able to rally the entire separatist movement the way he did in 2014.

But it is increasingly unclear that anyone can. The row between Sturgeon and Salmond is not just about personalities  its about strategy too. The ex-First Minister is now an old man in a hurry, and has emerged as a champion of the fundamentalist wing which wants the Nationalists to fight another referendum as soon as possible. His successor, burned by her incautious push for a vote after the Brexit referendum and with potentially more time on the clock, heads up those who want to wait until there is clear evidence that the independence vote is strong enough to win.

It looked as is the COVID-19 crisis had given her the perfect justification for telling her troops to stand down. The British and Scottish governments are working together to meet the public health challenge of the moment, and in any event it is tricky to sell separation when the Treasury is staging Herculean fiscal interventions a newly-independent Scotland (whilst possibly in the throes of self-inflicted austerity) could never hope to match.

By exhibiting the usefulness of the British state and fostering a spirit of solidarity, the epidemic could actually create extremely unfavourable conditions for the separatists for years to come, if not longer. In those circumstances the SNP would be wise to conserve their resources.

But Salmonds likely return  he is already rumoured to be seeking re-election to the Scottish Parliament next year  will push this question back up the agenda whether his successor likes it or not.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-24 17:51:01

2019 annual results





Revenue growth to 816.9 million in line with objectives Revenue of 816.9 million, a 3.5% increase Revenue of 805.6 million at constant exchange rates, up 2%

EBITDA of 111.5 million, increasing year over year on a like-for-like basis

Strong improvement in free cash flow to 28.3 million and net debt reduced to 280.5 million (excluding IFRS 16 impact) thanks to a significant reduction in inventories

2020: Continuation of the value-creation strategy initiated by the Group Significant growth in the Interventional Imaging segment Continuation of the Cost to Win savings plan Finalisation of gadopiclenol phase III Continuation of the inventory reduction plans

2020 outlook: Uncertainty related to the measures taken to combat the COVID-19 epidemic despite a minor impact on Guerbets activity observed to date





Villepinte, 24 March 2020  Guerbet (FR0000032526), a global leader in medical imaging, is announcing its consolidated annual results for 2019.

On 24 March 2020, the Board of Directors approved the financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2019. The audit procedures have been completed, and the statutory auditors report is being prepared.





Both business segment growing

Reported revenue of 816.9 million was up 3.5% from 2018, including a favourable forex impact of 11.3 million. Revenue was up 2.0% at 805.6 million at constant exchange rates(1). Excluding the impact of the decrease in activity related to a subcontract inherited from the CMDS activities, revenue growth at constant exchange rates would have been 3.7% over the 2019 financial year.

Diagnostic Imaging sales increased to 711.0 million at constant exchange rates (+3.0%) and 719.5 million at current exchange rates.

- Sales in the MRI(2) segment totalled 271.4 million at constant exchange rates and like-for-like period and scope (275.0 million at current exchange rates) compared with sales of 272.0 million in 2018. In 2019, activity suffered from the planned withdrawal of Optimark from the market. Excluding Optimark, MRI sales at constant exchange rates were up 1.6%.

- CT/Cath Lab(2) sales grew 5.2% to 439.5 million at constant exchange rates thanks to double-digit sales growth of Optiray over the period (444.6 million at current exchange rates). This strong growth, combined with the stability of Xenetix sales, illustrates Guerbets market penetration in this segment.

Intervention Imaging now represents just over 9% of the Groups revenue. It posted revenue at constant exchange rates of 73.5 million, up 12.5% (75.5 million at current exchange rates).





A financial year marked primarily by expenditures for future growth

IFRS 16 on the recognition of leases for consolidated financial statements entered into force on 1 January 2019. Guerbet decided to apply this standard on a simplified retrospective basis, which does not provide for restatement of the previous financial year. For comparison purposes, the 2019 figures are presented after application of IFRS 16 and then before application of IFRS 16 to make them comparable with the 2018 figures.

In millions of euros



Consolidated financial statements (IFRS) 2018



Published



2019



Published



(With IFRS 16) 2019



(Without IFRS 16) Revenue 789.6 816.9 EBITDA (3) 110.6 111.5 101.8 % of revenue 14.0% 13.7% 12.5% Operating income 69.9 51.7 51.6 % of revenue 8.9% 6.3% 6.3% Net income 46.8 37.3 37.6 % of revenue 5.9% 4.6% 4.6% Net Debt 308.7 296.5 280.5

Reported EBITDA totalled 111.5 million, including 9.7 million for the elimination of rents due to the implementation of IFRS 16.

The change in EBITDA should be interpreted in the light of several specific occurrences in 2018 and 2019:

As a reminder, the 2018 EBITDA included extraordinary gains related to the revaluation of inventories for 12.8 million, the sale of our distribution activities in Argentina for 5 million, and an 8 million expense for the destruction of obsolete inventories.

The 2019 EBITDA includes: Nearly 12 million in additional expenses related to the transition to direct distribution in Japan, the enhancement of resources required for the development of the interventional imaging activity, and the increase in costs associated with gadopiclenol phase III. The Group indicates that the phase III costs incurred in 2019 totalled approximately 7 million. 9 million in extraordinary expenses related to resolutions of supplier disputes, in particular with Mallinckrodt, compensation following the CEOs departure, and the incident at the Dublin site in November. The consequences of this incident are expected to affect inventory levels and therefore sales of Optiray in the first half of the 2020 financial year.

Lastly, EBITDA benefited from strict cost control resulting from the implementation of the Cost to Win plan, saving an estimated 8 million. This plan to reduce expenditures is expected to start delivering its full potential in 2021.

At 31 December 2019, the operating result totalled 51.7 million.

Net income was 37.3 million compared with 46.8 million for the 2018 financial year. This figure incorporates a favourable change in the effective tax rate to 27.1%.





Sound financial structure and dividend distribution of 0.70 per share

Following the application of IFRS 16, the Group booked greater non-current assets by including the rights to use leased real estate assets for a net amount of 16 million, resulting in greater financial debt.

Free cash flow was up significantly in 2019, resulting especially from the Groups inventory reduction initiatives and leading to a decrease in net debt of approximately 28 million for the 2019 financial year (excluding IFRS 16 impact). Net debt totalled 296.5 million including IFRS 16 impact (279.2 million excluding IFRS 16 impact).

As a reminder, Guerbet signed a five-year 500 million credit agreement on 13 February 2019 to refinance its existing debt. As of the end of December 2019, the net debt/EBITDA ratio was 2.75 (excluding IFRS 16 impact). The Group therefore has a solid balance sheet and sufficient bank credit lines to cover its liquidity requirements even in an environment with little visibility.

The Board of Directors will propose a dividend of 0.85 per share to the shareholders at the General Meeting on 29 May 2020.

Considering the quality of the results but also in the context of the sanitary and economical crisis related to the pandemic of Covid-19, the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of 0.85 per share to the shareholders at the General Meeting on 29 May 2020.





2020 outlook

The measures taken to combat the COVID-19 epidemic and their impact on the economy make the 2020 financial year uncertain, although Guerbet has so far seen only a minor impact on its activity. The Groups top priority remains the health of its employees. With this in mind, Guerbet has put in place plans to promote business continuity and maintain all critical activities while ensuring employee safety.

Guerbet is focusing all its efforts on the continuity of supply of its speciality products to the market, some of which are identified as medicinal products of major therapeutic interest, while continuing to prioritise employee safety. While the impact in China is expected to be limited, the effects of COVID-19 on the supply chain in Europe is still very uncertain and highly dependent on the duration of the pandemic response. However, the current inventory levels of critical raw materials are sufficient to ensure production over the coming weeks. To date, all of the Groups production sites around the world are operating normally, and all the distribution centres are continuing to ship orders to all customers wherever they are.

Regardless of the COVID-19 situation, Guerbet anticipates its revenue growth to benefit from the good performance of:

Lipiodol  ;

; consumables for contrast agent injections;

digital solutions and after-sales services; and

the gradual acceleration of sales of Accurate microcatheters.

Conversely, certain sources of uncertainty are likely to weigh on revenue growth:

The introduction of a generic in the United States, which will slow the growth of Dotarem  , even though this will be partially offset by growth opportunities for Dotarem  in Europe and Asia;

, even though this will be partially offset by growth opportunities for Dotarem in Europe and Asia; The coming into force of two measures in France. The first concerns article 66 of the social security finance law for 2019, which provides that insured individuals are now reimbursed exclusively on the basis of the price of the generic. The second concerns the introduction of a reduction in the public price for iodinated agents.

Given the uncertainty associated with the fight against COVID-19 and its effects, Guerbet will communicate more precisely on its 2020 outlook at a later stage when the Group has more visibility on the duration and scale of the implemented response measures, particularly in Europe.

([1]) At constant exchange rates: amounts and rates of growth are calculated by cancelling out the exchange rate effect, which is defined as the difference between the indicators value for period N, converted at the exchange rate for period N-1, and the indicators value for period N-1.

(2) As a reminder, MRI and CT / Cath Lab segments now include the sales of injection systems and consumables.

(3) EBITDA refers to operating income with the net allowance for amortisation, depreciation, and provisions added back in.









Upcoming events:

Publication of first-quarter 2020 revenue

April 23, 2020, after trading











About Guerbet

Guerbet is a leader in medical imaging worldwide, offering a wide range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, digital and AI solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging, to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients. A pioneer since more than 90 years in the field of contrast media with over 2,800 people globally, Guerbet is continuously innovating with 9% of revenue dedicated to Research & Development and four centers in France, Israel and the United States. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on Euronext Paris (segment B  mid caps) and generated 817 million in revenue in 2019. For more information about Guerbet, please visit www.guerbet.com

Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this press release does not reflect historical data but constitutes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, forecasts, and assumptions, including but not limited to assumptions about the current and future strategy of the Group and the economic environment in which the Group operates. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may result in a significant difference between the Groups actual performance and results and those presented explicitly or implicitly by these forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are valid only as of the date of this press release, and the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or commitment to publish an update or revision of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect changes in their underlying assumptions, events, conditions, or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are for illustrative purposes only. Forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Groups control. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analyses (including after a marketing authorisation is granted), decisions by regulatory authorities (such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency) regarding whether and when to approve any application for a drug, process, or biological product filed for any such product candidates, as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other factors that may affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates. A detailed description of the risks and uncertainties related to the Groups businesses can be found in Chapter 4.4 Risk Factors of the Groups Registration Document filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) under number D-18-0387 on 25 April 2018, available on the Groups website ( www.guerbet.com ).

For more information about Guerbet, please visit www.guerbet.com





Contacts

Guerbet Actifin

Jerome Estampes

Chief Financial Officer

+33 (0)1 45 91 50 00















Financial Communications

Benjamin Lehari

+33 (0)1 56 88 11 25

blehari@actifin.fr







Press

Jennifer Jullia

+33 (0)1 56 88 11 19

jjullia@actifin.fr





Attachment
It is a tale of two nations; in Britain the Prime Minister calls for people to stay at home and fight the coronavirus and a sizeable number of people head to the parks, their country retreats and the shopping centres. In Spain the Prime Minister delivers the same message but a week earlier and everyone takes note.

So why is Britain so different than Spain? I must admit that when the lockdown was first announced nine days ago in Spain I was both in shock and rather alarmed. To be honest I was rather amazed that everyone took notice of the government and the streets of Palma were deserted. The police are also out in force with orders to fine anyone who does not have a legitimate reason to be out on the streets.

As we all know the police have also established roadblocks across the island. The lockdown in Spain will last for a further two weeks and there is speculation that things will not start returning to normal until the end of next month.

Britain must follow Spain's lead; staying at home saves lives is the simple message. Yes, it is a nightmare staying at home with no light at the end of the tunnel so far but it is the only way forward.

I suspect that the British government will be forced to take radical action and I believe that there will be incidents. The British need to follow that wartime phrase and take note of what the government is doing and Keep Calm and Carry On. It is the only way out of this terrible situation.
The Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) is donating ten million Ghana cedis (GH10,000,000.00) towards the purchase of critical equipment for managing the COVID-19 pandemic and for the purposes of public education.



In a statement, the Association said the move is to further ensure sustainability of the industry and the economy.



The Association also announced measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the financial services sector, reaffirming commitment of members to provide without interruption, critical services including cash payments, cash withdrawals, digital banking services, and international trade facilitation.



It said Association and the Bank of Ghana, in the best interest of protecting staff, customers, and the public, would adhere to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) under the Ministry of Health (MOH) hygiene protocols and guidelines on COVID-19.



To this end, enhanced hygiene standards are being implemented by member banks to keep their environments safe for customers and staff.



Members of the Association are collaborating and have aligned their various Business Continuity Plans to ensure that critical banking services are readily available to customers, the Association said in the statement.



The statement said the banks had agreed on actions, including shared services and facilities among member banks, Common access when required to each others Branch Networks, ATMS, and GhIPSS platform among others, in cases of distress due to the pandemic.



Besides to enhance liquidity levels, current overnight limits will be increased to provide market liquidity.



The Association said members would also adopt enhanced cash handling protocol by regularly sanitizing to safeguard public health.



In addition to the above actions and to encourage the increase use of digital channels, the Ghana Association of Bankers for the period of the COVID-19 pandemic waive Internet Banking charges, and various GhIPSS charges.



The Ghana Association of Bankers appealed to customers to use the varied digital channels provided by their respective banks and the soon to be introduced QR Code payment service.



These channels have been built to provide all the services rendered in the branch, adding that, safety measures are in place at various branches in line with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service guidelines for their protection.



To facilitate interoperability within the financial sector, member banks will work with Mobile Money service providers during the period of this crisis to put in place measures in the interest of the general public, the statement said.



It said the Association would continue to monitor the likely consequences of the pandemic on the banking sector and actively take steps to mitigate possible impact on customers, employees and the public.



These measures will be reviewed after a period of three months, the statement added.

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
It's been business as usual for the TV veteran as he continues to host Good Morning Britain live from the studios amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But Piers Morgan, 54, revealed his mother Gabrielle, 75, has been in self-isolation for eight days in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday.

Alongside an image of his parent taken by his sister in Sussex, the journalist attempted to bring some light relief amid the global crisis as he captioned the image: 'Day 8 of self-isolation captivity & my mother hasnt fully explained why shes wearing a scarf inside.'

Keeping her distance: Piers Morgan, 54, revealed his mother Gabrielle, 75, has been in self-isolation for eight days in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday

Last week, the British government announced people over 70 will need to 'shield' themselves from social contact and stay at home for three months to help the fight against COVID-19.

Former Britain's Got Talent panelist Piers was forced to spend Mother's Day without his doting parent as she falls within the vulnerable category due to her age.

Alongside a cosy throwback shot of the pair, the TV star revealed he expressed his gratitude towards Gabrielle via FaceTime while she continues to stay in quarantine.

Piers penned: 'Happy Mothers Day to my fabulous mother. This pic was taken in happier times in St Tropez.

'See you on FaceTime': The former Britain's Got Talent panelist was forced to spend Mother's Day without his doting parent as she falls within the vulnerable category due to her age

'Today, we cant even see each other let alone be this tactile. But that is the sacrifice we must all make to beat this bloody virus. Thanks for everything Mum, and see you later on FaceTime. X'

Coronavirus was classed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month, leading countries such as Italy, Spain and the UK to implement nationwide lockdowns.

Social distancing, advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), involves maintaining at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who coughs or sneezes, as the small liquid droplets sprayed could contain the virus.

The show must go on: It's been business as usual for the TV veteran as he continues to host Good Morning Britain live from the studios amid the coronavirus pandemic

he measure also includes staying at home if you have a cough or fever even if you have not travelled and 'cocooning' elderly people suspected of being more vulnerable to the infection.

On Monday night, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.
Owing to the Coronavirus outbreak in the country, several states are in complete lockdown mode, which, albeit necessary, has led to some bumps in most households.

Given that the domestic help have also been advised to stay home, in most cases, its now completely upon the women in the house to maintain a balance between their professional commitments and taking care of household chores.

In this light, TV actor Karanvir Bohra has an important message for men as he believes that they should help women in day-to-day chores as its not going to be easy for one person to do almost everything.

With schools shut, and with no hired help for a lot of people during these times, it would be great if the men help the women out at home, Karanvir wrote on Instagram. Along with this message, he also shared a photo wherein he is seen holding a broom in his hand while his kids look on.

In an interview with Times Of India, he spoke about how men should also doing their bit in helping their wives or mothers at home.

Karanvir told the leading daily, With no house help at the moment due to the ongoing situation, I really feel that all the men who have some time off right now should help their wives and mothers with homely chores. As now is the time for us to be of help and assistance to our family and children and also actively take part in keeping our homes clean.

"As children ourselves, our parents did teach us basic housework like ironing our uniforms and cleaning our cupboards, so the same should be implemented now as well. I too am engaging in simple housework like cooking, cleaning, taking care of the plants, and even instilling the same values in my children too, so they can also learn the fundamentals of doing their own chores which I feel is very necessary for children to learn at a young age itself."

As a woman, I completely agree with what Karanvir has said. I have been cleaning and cooking while taking care of my professional duties as a writer and it's not that easy.

Not just I, people on social media are also appreciating Karanvir for the same.

 Karanvir Bohra Instagram

 Karanvir Bohra Instagram

Staying at home is what the government has been advising as this is the only way we can fight Coronavirus.



When you are restricted to just staying at your homes, why not help each other to keep everything in order?
COLUMBUS, OhioWhen the Ohio House returns this week to vote on emergency coronavirus relief and other measures, voting will be conducted in way resembling the Bureau of Motor Vehicles more than usual parliamentary protocol.

During session days at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, state representatives will be assigned to one of eight groups ranging in size from nine to 15 people. Groups will then be called into the near-empty House chamber at the Statehouse to individually cast a voice vote, according to a memo issued Monday night by House Speaker Larry Householder.

Twenty lawmakers -- leadership members from both parties, as well as legislators speaking on matters to be considered -- will be allowed in the House chamber for longer, the memo stated. Each of them, as well as each group of lawmakers that comes in to vote, will be seated at least two desks (of six feet) apart from any other legislators, the memo stated.

Beforehand, Statehouse workers will clean and disinfect the House Chamber and other spaces in the vicinity to prevent anyone from contracting coronavirus, which as of Monday has killed six in Ohio and infected at least 442.

During the time lawmakers are not on the floor, they will be provided an iPad on request to view the bill documents they would normally be able to access via their floor desk laptop.

Householder strongly suggested that any House members who have COVID-19, have a fever, or just feel ill in general should stay home. He asked lawmakers to take their temperatures before the sessions. Sick lawmakers who insist on attending will be quarantined in the members lounge adjacent to the House floor, then indicate their votes to the House clerk through a glass window, his memo stated.

The only others allowed in the chamber while session is taking place this week will be House GOP Chief of Staff Jonathon L. McGee, a policy staffer from each caucus, staff from the House clerks office staff, IT employees, and House sergeant-at-arms staff.

Members of the press and general public will not be allowed in the House chamber during session, Householder stated, citing guidance from public health care professionals to limit the number of individuals in a given space. The Ohio Channel will livestream the proceedings.

House members are preparing to vote on a variety of measures, which will likely be placed into one massive bill, lawmakers said. Some of the measures are related to coronavirus, such as rescheduling Ohios canceled March 17 primary and adjusting graduation requirements for high-school seniors.

But other proposals being discussed have nothing to do with the virus, such as changing how public corruption cases are handled and lowering the bar for state issue campaigns attempting to make the ballot.

The Ohio Senate is also scheduled to convene this week; a Senate GOP spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking information on how they will conduct business.

Heres the full memo from Householder, as well as the groups House members have been assigned to:

Read more Ohio coronavirus coverage:

When will Ohio end its stay-at-home order and other coronavirus restrictions?

Essential Ohio Lottery sales will continue, lottery commission announces

Ohio coronavirus relief bill may include change in how public corruption cases are handled

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will freeze state government hiring, seek big spending cuts amid coronavirus crisis

Ohio lawmakers favor rescheduling primary election earlier than June 2, House Republican says
A group of some 100 Indian students from medical colleges in Bangladesh will not be allowed to enter the country through a border crossing in West Bengal in view of restrictions in movements from other countries and within India, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday.

The students, mostly from Kashmir, have been stranded on the Bangladeshi side of Benapole border crossing since Monday evening following the sealing of the frontier. The students posted a video on social media on Tuesday asking the external affairs minister and home minister to allow them to enter the country.

We are 70 Kashmiri students. We study in various medical colleges across Bangladesh. We are stuck at the Benapole border since 6 pm on Monday. Our colleges and hostels are closed and we were asked to vacate the hostels and go back home. But the borders are closed and we are not allowed to enter. We are hungry and will wait at the border till we are allowed to enter, one of the students said in the minute-long video.

DIG SS Guleria of the Border Security Force (South Bengal frontier headquarters) said the number of students at the Benapole crossing had increased throughout Tuesday to 100.

But the BSF has nothing to do with it. The Bureau of Immigration will have to take a call, Guleria said.

A person familiar with developments in New Delhi said: The students are advised to go back to their hostels in the interest of their health and safety and also of the community.

The people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the principal of one of the concerned colleges in Bangladesh had denied reports that the students were asked to vacate their hostels and confirmed they would be accommodated in the hostels.

The students reached the border despite advice to the contrary from the Indian high commission in Bangladesh and knowing fully well the restrictions in force in India due to Covid-19, the person cited above said.
Xiaomi has introduced a huge television into the Redmi ranks in the form of the 98-inch Redmi Smart TV Max. This giant smart device supports 4K resolution and comes with 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, and its own 12nm quad-core custom processor. The Redmi MAX has been priced at 19,999 yuan (~US$2,832) and is apparently 13.6% bigger than a single bed.

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

If you ever dreamed of owning a television that was bigger than your bed, well now you can have one as long as your bed is of the single variety. The Redmi Smart TV Max from Xiaomi has just been unveiled, and with a display size of 98 inches it should turn regular night-time movie-watching into a glorious cinema experience.

The Xiaomi Redmi Smart TV Max offers high-quality 4K resolution, a 192-partition dynamic backlight, Motion Estimation/Motion Compensation (MEMC) for improved viewing experience, and it covers 85% NTSC. There are 20 image quality tuning technologies onboard for those who want the perfect picture on their Redmi Max television, and at a price of 19,999 yuan (~US$2,832) that will be everyone who buys one.

The Redmi Smart TV Max will be available for purchase from April 9. With other delights including a host of connectivity options, two 8 W speakers, 98.8% screen ratio thanks to a narrow frame, and its own custom chip (with Cortex A55 + Mali G31 MP2), the Redmi Max television is a tempting buy for those who feel there is too much available space in their bedroom that their single bed doesnt occupy. Or for other rooms, outdoor venues, popular meeting places etc. Expect to wait 30 days for delivery for the 98-inch Redmi Smart TV Max though.
First Midwest Bank is offering assistance to clients  both people and business owners  who might be struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chicago-based bank, which has a large footprint in Northwest Indiana, announced financial relief programs that include loan deferrals, fee assistance, and foreclosure suspensions.

During this time of uncertainty, our mission of helping clients achieve financial success is more important than ever, said Mark Sander, president and chief operating officer of First Midwest Bank. Many of our clients may need support in ways they have not needed in the past. We want them to know we are all in this together, and we are committed to supporting them during a time when they need us the most.

First Midwest is offering payment deferrals on consumer loans, mortgages and auto loans with no credit bureau impact. It's deferring payments for small businesses who are experiencing hardship as a result of workplace closure or sickness in the family, letting them defer payments for up to 90 days, also with no credit bureau impact.
Leadership in contemporary society anywhere in the world under any arrangement is tasking.

Leadership in a constitutional democracy is even more tasking going by the fact that the essence of exercising legitimate political authority over a sovereign entity is a multi-tasking enterprise involving the meticulous implementation of social contract between the electorate who are the real owners of the sovereignty and the elected.

The Nigerian constitution of 1999 (as amended) is very explicit on this when in section 14(2)(a) the grund norm affirms that: sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives all its powers and authority.

Further down in subsection 2(b) of section 14, it says the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

The current president Muhammadu Buhari who reportedly won election in 2015 and defeated a benevolent incumbent president, actually won his office at the back of his sacred pledge to clinically end the grave attacks and blood cuddling violence unleashed on Nigerians by the largely North East of Nigerias based armed Islamic rebels and terrorists known as boko haram which in English means education is sinful.

The preponderant number of Nigerians who in 2015 elected Maj.Gen. Buhari did so because during the electioneering campaigns in which the then retired major General Muhammadu Buhari traversed all states of the federation, the then opposition  All Progressives Congress presidential candidate defeated the incumbent Peoples Democratic Partys president Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan based on his twin promises of defeating terrorists and bringing them to justice for their horrendous crimes against humanity in the mindless mass murders of over 30,000 innocent Nigerian citizens.

Democracy and constitutionalism thrive inevitably on integrity and credibility of holders of public offices and the strict adherence to campaign promises.

However, Buhari has breached his campaign promises in 2015 and 2019.

Erstwhilst British prime minister Mr. Tony Blair who led the opposition Labour party of UK to defeat a ruling conservatives party, made these facts clear in his classical book known as Tony Blair: A Journey

He wrote as follows: As opposition leader, you carry great responsibility; to campaign for the top job in any country is onerous. You are the standard-bearer for your politics, your party and the beliefs both hold dear. Anyone who has ever run a campaign to win an election knows how big a task it is. There are a million decisions of organization, communication, personnel and policy which have to be taken quickly and effectively. If you can do it well, it is good preparation and a real indication of leadership, but it isn't the same in its impact on you as a person.

Tony Blair continued thus: "From the moment the mantle is on your shoulders as prime minister, you understand that the scale, importance and complexity are completely different. They are not at the end of the same spectrum of leadership. You inhabit a new dimension altogether. There is something more: running for the job, you have a team and it feels like a team. Yes, you're the leader, but your collaboration is so close, your intimacy so refined by experience, your interaction so governed by familiarity of an almost telepathic nature that you feel like a family or a cabal of like-minded conspirators."

The Guardian of United Kingdom, had in a report of April 1st 2015 stated as follows:

Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect of Nigeria, has pledged to crush the deadly six-year insurgency by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram".

The former military dictator was speaking in the capital, Abuja, a day after his victory over the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, in a largely peaceful election that has been praised by Barack Obama, David Cameron, Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders.

Hear him: I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace,

We shall spare no effort until we defeat terrorism. In tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do.

Much of Buharis support was in the north, especially the north-east, where Boko Haram, which wants to carve out an Islamic caliphate, has killed at least 10,000 people since 2009. In real life these terrorists have in ten years killed over 30,000 Nigerians.

Jonathans failure to get to grips with the scourge was seen as critical in his defeat, although a military offensive in the last weeks before the election regained lost ground, says Guardian of UK.

The paoer quoted Buhari as proclaiming that: Democracy and the rule of law will be established in the land".

Lets put the past behind us, especially the recent past. We must forget our old battles and past grievances and forge ahead."

You shall be able to go to bed knowing that you are safe and that your constitutional rights remain in safe hands. You shall be able to voice your opinion without fear of reprisal or victimization. You are all my people and I shall treat every one of you as my own.

Entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim, whose foundation awards a prize for achievement in African leadership, said: Today, we Africans are all proud of Nigeria and President Jonathan. Thank you Mr. President. If you are seeking a legacy, you have definitely achieved it.

However, in all of the first term of four years between 2015 to 2019, president Buhari rather than defeat Islamic terrorism, introduced an unlawful policy of pardon, reintegration and resettlement of boko haram terrorists who his government stylishly called repentant terrorists. These terrorists have scaled up their mass murders and the incompetent government goes on with the illegal pardon for terror suspects.

But Nigerians are rejecting this notion which is unconstitutional that goes to attempt to placate mass murderers and terrorists even when the victims of terror are left to suffer deprivations.

Infact, the failure of president Buhari to prosecute boko haram terrorists made him to almost lose the 2019 polls if not for the widespread alleged manipulation of the 2019 polls which even the United States blamed the so-called defeat of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to the evil machination of security agents of the Federal government under the control of the then incumbent president Buhari who ran against a very popular opponent of the PDP and former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (GCON).

These are some of the few human rights related issues bordering on the terror campaigns and then the reason for the pyrrhic victory of the 2019 election awarded to the incumbent president who had then in 2019 transformed into a bad brand and still is very unpopular because he has failed to combat terrorism but has instead decided to dance naked on the graves of the victims of terror through the contrived policy of forgiving the so-called repentant terrorists.

Americas state department 2019 human rights Country report on Nigeria said: thus: The insurgency in the Northeast by the militant terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISIS-WA) continued.

The groups conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of more than two million persons, and external displacement of an estimated 243,875 Nigerian refugees to neighboring countries as of September 30, US said.

Significant human rights issues included unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention, all the above by both government and nonstate actors; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; unlawful infringement on citizens privacy rights; criminal libel; violence against and unjustified arrests of journalists; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association in particular for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons and religious minorities; widespread and pervasive corruption; crimes involving violence targeting LGBTI persons; criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct between adults; and forced and bonded labor.

"Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. No charges were filed in some of the significant allegations of human rights violations by security forces and cases of police or military extortion or other abuse of power.

Abductions by Boko Haram and ISIS-WA continued. Both groups subjected many women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced marriages, sexual slavery, and rape."

American government however ruled the 2019 poll rigged thus: "The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the independent electoral body responsible for overseeing elections by regulating the process and preventing electoral misconduct. During the year (2019) INEC conducted the presidential election, National Assembly elections, State House Assembly elections, and local elections in all 36 states plus the FCT, as well as gubernatorial elections in 30 states. There was evidence military and security services intimidated voters, electoral officials, and election observers. In addition violence in several states contributed to lower voter participation and added to the sentiment the army is a tool of the ruling party in many parts of the country, particularly in the South. For example, widespread violence and military involvement in electoral processes, including during the vote collation process, significantly scarred the governorship election in Rivers State. Additionally several of INECs resident electoral commissioners (RECs) reported DSS operatives intimidated them when the RECs attempted to protect voting materials. Some RECs reported security service personnel visited them multiple times prior to the elections. Press reported certain RECs claimed the DSS was surveilling the RECs and that they had been brought to DSS offices for questioning.

There were reports that corruption including vote buying were historically high during the 2018-19 electoral season. Examples of vote buying were apparent in the re-run of the Osun gubernatorial election in September 2018, and during the Kano gubernatorial election on March 9.

These irregularities marred the election in which President Buhari coyld have been defeated for soectacularly breaking his campaign oromises to tackle boko haram insurgency but has instead placated terrorists.

Around February 2020, the Borno State Government said about 1,400 repentant Boko Haram suspects have been released by the military and rehabilitated into society. This figue is fraudulent because the Unted Nations has a higher number.

The United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that the Nigerian military released over 3,500 suspected Boko Haram terrorists from custody in the last four years.

According to a statement released by UNICEFs Communications Officer, Sam Kaalu, a total of 223 children including 10 girls were among the latest released from Nigerian Army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison after they were cleared of suspected ties with armed groups.

Kaalu said the suspects were released to the safe custody of Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, UNICEF and Borno State authorities in Maiduguri, Northeast region of Nigeria.

He stated that the children will now immediately enter a programme that would help them reintegrate into their communities, re-engage with their families, and take the first steps towards creating a new life and means of livelihood.

Some of the children, he noted, had been missing for up to four to five years, with many presumed dead by their families.

According to Kaalu, since 2016, 3,559 people associated with armed groups have been released from administrative custody, including 1,743 children (1,125 boys, 618 girls). All have gone through the Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Centre in Maiduguri in Borno State and have since been reunited with their families or placed in the most appropriate alternative care, where they are accessing rehabilitation services and reintegration support in their communities.

He said that UNICEF is working closely with Nigerian state authorities to help with reintegration programmes for all children formerly associated with non-state armed groups, and others affected by the ongoing conflict in north-east Nigeria.

Borno state exposed the faulty side of this illegality when it disclosed that some boko haram terrorists released were rejected by their communities in which they killed thousands of citizens.

Borno government stated that if any person was rejected by his community for being a former Boko Haram member, the government would resettle that person.

However, the soldiers said it is wasted effort for them to have fought against Boko Haram, only for the terrorists to be released after they have been captured.

Nigerian soldiers in the front-line in the war against terrorists, have expressed disappointment with the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government for releasing 1,400 or more 'repentant Boko Haram suspects.'

The soldiers said they do not understand why suspected Boko Haram members are being released in large numbers.

A lot of soldiers are not happy about this. We were there at the Maimalari barracks when some of these Boko Haram people were released, one of the soldiers who doesn't want his name mentioned said. The authorities are releasing them, but Boko Haram are killing soldiers that they capture. This does not make sense to us at all. We continue to sweep across the bushes to flush these people out, and then the government will release them. Does that not amount to wasted efforts? (Cited in an online report).

Similarly, another soldier stated that most of the Boko Haram insurgents who were being released on a 'repentant' claim, have found their way back to terrorism, unleashing mayhem in Nigerian communities.

He said, You wonder why Boko Haram members are on the increase? When we arrest them and bring them here, some top people would come and start negotiating their release. But, I will tell you some of these so-called suspects are returning to the bush and they were never repentant.

To add salt to injury, last two weeks, the Senate began deliberations on a bill that seeks to establish an agency that would see to the rehabilitation, deradicalisation and integration of repentant insurgents in the country.

A bill, sponsored by Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe East senatorial district, was read for the first time on the floor of the Senate Thursday.

The military authority see it differently. Military chiefs say rehabilitation of fighters who surrender are parts of the war effort to bring about peace. But what of the International laws on war crimes? How do you pardon war criminals and undermine the extant laws?

Clients, the military euphemism for the repentant insurgents, were said to have been exposed to formal literacy classes, skills acquisition and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) as well as drug and psycho-therapists during their training. So we are told by the Army not to panic. Those of the frontlines think otherwise.

A group of Borno elders, led by ex-governor Kashim Shettima, last year, had frowned at the initiative, saying the militarys operation was not well thought out.

They feared that releasing the purported repentant Boko Haram militants into civilian population could be counterproductive as hardened fighters would return to the terror group to commit more atrocities.

The ongoing de-radicalization and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram insurgents under the operation safe corridor of the defense headquarters is a course for concern for members of the Civilian JTF and some stakeholders in the State, the group wrote in a letter last year.

(We) suspect that Boko Haram members do not repent hence the de-radicalization programme may be breeding spies and agents of recruitment for the Boko Haram, they had said.

They urged the president to approve the suspension of the programme.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, warned against the Rehabilitation, Deradicalisation and Reintegration bill sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe East Senatorial District.

HURIWA, a prominent civil rights advocacy group said the bill which proposes outright pardon of repentant armed terrorists under the guise of deradicalization programme could result in civil war either in the short, medium or long term.

The rights group warned that the bill was unconstitutional and offends all relevant anti-terrorism laws of the federation.

HURIWA alleged that some lawmakers were conniving with armed terrorists to introduce satanic legislation.

The group said: Let us from the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) caution the section of the National legislators who are actively conniving with armed terrorists to introduce a satanic legislation that will overlook the mindboggling crimes of genocides committed by terrorists and the killings of over 30,000 innocent Nigerians in the last ten years with the view to appease terrorists even when the victims of terrorism are scattered in different internally displaced people camps in Nigeria and are external refugees in so many nearby Countries.

If this bill to legalize the freeing of arrested terror suspects under any guise succeeds, then the nation should be prepared for the consequences of their unconstitutional action because the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims of the terrorists attacks in the last decade will definitely not fold their hands whilst those who killed their loved ones are pardoned through roguish means by the passage of this criminally minded bill that is meant to legalize belonging to terror cells and participating in mass murders.

This bill before the senate is not only satanic and unconstitutional, but will paint the picture of a rogue nation because in all civilizations, those who declare war against innocent citizens and participate in genocide are rounded up and prosecuted and made to face the full weight of the law. History is replete with a plethora of trials of persons who have joined terror gangs and carried out mass killings. The plot by the National Assembly to therefore permit the wanton defecation of the constitution of Nigeria by forgiving mass murderers must never be allowed to succeed, HURIWA affirms.

The government must engage in a law based war by enforcing anti-terrorism laws. Section 1A (4) of the TPA (as amended) empowers the law enforcement agencies to enforce all laws and regulations on counterterrorism in Nigeria. Prior to the TPA, Section 46 of the EFCC Act 2004 defines terrorism to mean a violation of the Criminal Code or the Penal Code and with likelihood of endangering life, integrity or freedom, or causing serious injury or death with the intent to force the person(s) or body or government to do or not to do certain things or disrupt and includes financing or aiding terrorism. The punishment for the crime by Section 15 of the EFCC Act is imprisonment for life.

That is the essence of substantial justice.

The refusal of president Buhari to subject terrorists to the fuller rigours of substantial justice is a violation of the constitution and indeed a graphic depiction of Nigeria as a gangsters land.

As Aristotle rightly stated: law is order, and good law is good order. And Augustine of Hippo (314-430 CE) says: If justice be taken away, what are governments but great bands of robbers?

Nigerians must therefore mount pressure on this government not to pardon terrorists but to prosecute and punish them for the crimes against humanity.

Anything contrary is to make Nigeria a paradise for terrorists.

Emmanuel Onwubiko, former Federal commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is head of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). Blogs @ www.huriwanigeria.com ; www.thenigerianinsidernews.com ; [email protected] ; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com
DUBLIN and TAMPA, Florida, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Avectas, a cell engineering technology business and Vycellix, Inc. an immuno-discovery cell & gene therapy company, today announced that the companies have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop proprietary approaches for cell-based immunotherapeutic products.

The companies will collaborate on the delivery of Vycellix's novel RNA immunomodulator VY-M using Avectas' cell engineering platform, Solupore. The collaboration will address current limitations for cell-based therapies, in particular with respect to the need to accelerate the manufacturing process, reduce the cost of manufacture, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

"We are delighted to partner with Vycellix and join forces in the development of novel cell-based products," says Michael Maguire, PhD, CEO of Avectas. "We believe Solupore will play a critical role in the manufacture of cell-based therapies and will support a path towards effective patient outcomes."

According to Vycellix's President, Douglas Calder, "Solupore represents a new paradigm for delivery of transgenes, and our initial studies will evaluate Solupore to deliver our new product candidate, VY-M, to T cells and NK cells. We expect to accelerate the expansion-time of T cells and NK cells by decreasing the non-dividing lag time, resulting in much shorter "vein-to-vein" delivery-time to patients." The studies will be conducted at Avectas' Dublin-based facility and at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Both Avectas and Vycellix are collaborative partners within NextGenNK, a newly established competence center for development of next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies based at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. It is envisioned that Avectas and Vycellix will further expand their collaboration within the NextGenNK constellation.

"We are excited to see the NextGenNK competence center catalysing interactions among its industrial partners to advance NK cell-based immunotherapies," says Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, MD PhD, Director of the NextGenNK competence center. "The present collaboration may pave the way for similar collaborations among NextGenNK partners."

In February 2020, Avectas announced that it had entered an agreement with the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) based in Toronto, Canada to accelerate the translation of Avectas' non-viral cell engineering platform (Solupore) into the clinic.

About Avectas:

Avectas is a cell engineering technology business developing a unique delivery platform to enable the ex-vivo manufacture of our partners' gene-modified cell therapy products, which will retain high in-vivo functionality. Our vision is to be a leading non-viral cell engineering technology provider, integrated into manufacturing processes for multiple autologous and allogeneic therapies, commercialized through development and license agreements. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.avectas.com

About Vycellix:

Vycellix, Inc. is a private, immuno-discovery, life science company at the forefront of innovation in the development of cell & gene-based therapies targeting indications in, but not limited to, hematology/oncology, autoimmunity/chronic inflammatory diseases, and organ/tissue transplantation.

The Company's platforms were all initially discovered by scientists at the world-renowned Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden. KI is globally recognized for its Nobel Assembly, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.vycellix.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-23 04:08:25|Editor: huaxia

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A member of Palestinian Civil Defense sterilizes a street in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, March 23, 2020. Two Palestinians in Gaza have tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first cases recorded in the Hamas-ruled enclave, a health official said early Sunday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

by Sanaa Kamal

GAZA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Residents in the Gaza Strip have been on alert, as Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday the first two cases of COVID-19 in the blockaded coastal enclave.

"We are facing severe challenges to fight the novel coronavirus," Mohammed al-Sharif told Xinhua, while he was buying goods at a supermarket, preparing for a home quarantine.

The 36-year-old father of four, said that he would abide by all government's instructions, to protect his family from the spread of COVID-19.

Heba al-Masry, another resident from the Gaza city, also bought necessary goods that would be enough for the a 14-day home quarantine as a precautionary measure she adopted to protect her family from the infection.

"We do not have enough protective tools, as in the other countries," she said, adding that the "Gazans should protect themselves by implementing all official instructions."

In an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, Palestinian social media activists launched a campaign dubbed "stay at home."

Salam Ashour, a dentist from Gaza City, posted on his Twitter account, "I am sorry, I will not treat any patient I will impose a mandatory quarantine on my family and me for two weeks to avoid the virus."

Meanwhile, in an urgent step, a specialized team of the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in the Gaza Strip, through Erez checkpoint, a Palestinian security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territories, held meetings with health officials in Gaza to look into the health situation there and the preparation to confront the virus, according to the security source.

Earlier in the day, Palestine reported six new coronavirus cases, with four in the West Bank city of Ramallah and two in Gaza Strip, bringing the total number to 59.

On March 13, Israel allowed the shipment of 200 medical examination sets to detect the novel coronavirus in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

For his part, Majdy Dhair, director of Preventive Medicine Department in the Ministry of Health, told Xinhua that the situation in Gaza Strip so far is under control.

He added that his ministry is ready to deal with any new cases, while warning that Gaza has limited medical supplies and equipment.

He called on the international community and Arab countries to end the Israeli blockade and provide medical supplies to combat the epidemic in Gaza.

Hamas established two health quarantine zones in northern and southern Gaza Strip and turned some schools to quarantine places for returning travelers.

Besides, the Ministry of Interior decided to close all wedding halls and popular weekly markets in all cities of the Gaza Strip, and prohibit parties in public streets at least for a week, said Iyad al-Bozom, spokesman of Hamas government.
S ignificant challenges lie ahead for the UKs self-employed, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has acknowledged.

The government is under growing pressure to financially support non-contracted workers and entrepreneurs, who face a potentially devastating loss of income in light of the coronavirus crisis.

Mr Sunak told MPs that intensive work was under way in Whitehall to design such a system but, he acknowledged, it is an incredibly complicated task.

He told the Commons on Tuesday: There are genuine practical and principled reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous scheme to the one that we have for employed workers.

But, rest assured that we absolutely understand the situation that many self-employed people face at the moment as a result of whats happening and are determined to find a way to support them.

We just need to be confident that can be done in a way that is deliverable and is fair to the vast majority of the British workforce.

Rishi Sunak pledges 330bn of support to companies hit by Covid-19 pandemic

The chancellor added that ministers are in dialogue with all the key stakeholder groups.

Unite union boss Len McCluskey said: The millions of self-employed and insecure workers across the country will dread being sent home because it means that they will have no wage.

The Government must work with trade unions to define the tougher isolation rules because we understand the reality of the workplace.

He added: Without swift clarity for millions of insecure and uncertain workers about whether they can be at work or not, and without removing the agonising choice between health and hardship, then the positive measures announced by the Chancellor last week will be overshadowed and public health efforts will be severely compromised.

Confused messages and lack of financial support are at odds with the urgency of this health emergency.

Workers need clear direction and protection from Government now.

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Waterloo station looking empty PA Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell offered to do a shift in the Treasury to "find a solution" to help the self-employed.

He told the Commons: No-ones looking for a row over this, were looking for a solution.

We know how complicated it is, but weve got to find a solution quickly, I would urge the Government to at least set a deadline now, that we can go back to our members and say by the end of this week there will be a proposal brought forward.

John McDonnell urged the government to set a deadline for implementing a system of support / PA

He explained that many of his constituents, including "plumbers, hairdressers and freelance artists" had contacted him "in desperate straits."

There isnt a member of the House, I dont think, who hasnt received representations," he continued.

"Were just looking for something that we can go back with them today to give them some assurance."

If we can go back and say you will get the equivalent, the 80 per cent or whatever to what was offered on Friday to other workers, I think it would lift peoples spirits that something is on the way.

As I say, we dont want a row over this, we want to work with the Government, in fact Anneliese (Dodds) and I will come and do a shift if the Treasury wants, but we just want a solution. Might come up with slightly different solutions, but we need it quickly and we need it effectively as soon as possible.

Responding, chief secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay joked: Whilst his offer to come into the Treasury may contravene some of the social distancing requirements of late, I do appreciate the spirit in which he made that point.

Earlier, Rachel Reeves, Labour chairwoman of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, said she had written to Business Secretary Alok Sharma calling for ministers to extend the income protection scheme to cover the self-employed and to increase the rate of statutory sick pay.

She said: The Chancellors package last week to support businesses and employees was welcome.

But with self-employed and freelancers still not covered by support  even as many of their businesses are now subject to lockdown  there is a worrying gap in the Governments strategy to protect these livelihoods which urgently needs to be put right.

Raising the issue in the Commons, Labour MP Wes Streeting (Ilford North) said: One newspaper is already reporting that the Chancellor is going to implement an income protection scheme for the self-employed and make an announcement within the next 24 hours.

I must say, I got from the Chancellors earlier reply a slightly longer timescale when he was talking about the end of April.

Coming back to this point of reassurance, can he (Mr Sunak) give us some real reassurance now to those anxious self-employed people across the country that an announcement will be made very shortly?

Outlining the capacity of HMRC and the DWP to deliver brand new schemes Mr Sunak responded: What I can tell (Mr Streeting) is we would hope to have something to say very shortly.

In terms of something being implemented, that will take longer.

He added: In terms of saying what we are planning to do, that can be something that hopefully we can do relatively shortly.
The 12937 Garbha Express, which left Gandhidham junction in Gujarat on March 21, was scheduled to be the last train to arrive in West Bengals Howrah station around 9 pm on Monday before the countrys busiest and oldest railway complex closes down until March 31.

Usually 455 local trains and around 130 mail and express trains arrive and depart from the Howrah station every day. But on Monday, only 10 trains arrived and not a single train has departed. All trains have been cancelled because of Covid-19. These 10 trains are long-distance trains like the Garbha Express and had left their destination even before [voluntary] Janta curfew [on Sunday to check the spread of the disease], said Ishaq Khan, divisional railway manager of Howrah.

Even as the ministry of railways has cancelled all passenger trains until March 31, Howrah station, which caters to the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, was deserted before closing down for the next one week.

I have never seen such a desolate Howrah station in my life. Even on days when political parties used to call bandhs and life in Kolkata and Howrah used to come to a virtual standstill, the station used to remain abuzz with stranded passengers. But this time it was eerily desolate, said Prateek Mondol, who had to take a bus to Bandel, around 50km away, as no trains were available.

All the 24 platforms were empty. With no scheduled departures and only 10 trains to arrive, the giant digital screens had little information to display. The number of railway porters had thinned out by the afternoon. Shops at the station had downed their shutters.

Around one million passengers come to Howrah station on any given weekday. But with Janta curfew of Sunday and all trains being cancelled from Monday, passengers were sparse.

In the morning, we got some people  around 50  who came to the station to cancel their tickets and get a refund. It was only when a train arrived that there were some passengers on the platforms. But even they left one by one..., said a station employee who did not wish to be named.

While the entrance of the old complex was blocked and guarded by security personnel, the new complex of the station was open but no one was being allowed to enter it.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:58:39|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that China firmly supports the Polish government and people in combating the COVID-19 epidemic.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.

After the coronavirus disease broke out in China, Xi said, the Polish government and society extended sympathies and support to the Chinese side, which the Chinese people will cherish in their hearts.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, he stressed, adding that besides its support for Poland, China has also held a video conference of health experts with 17 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), including Poland, to share information and relevant measures on epidemic prevention and control in a timely fashion.

China, he said, upholds the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, and is willing to enhance cooperation with all other countries in fighting the epidemic and safeguarding global public health security.

Stressing that the power and confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic come from the Chinese people, Xi said the 1.4 billion Chinese people have put up a tenacious fight with great solidarity and steadfast resolve.

He added he is deeply moved by the noble spirit of the numerous medical workers in China who risked their own lives to save others.

The people are the real heroes, Xi pointed out, adding that as long as relying fully on the people, China will certainly overcome all difficulties and obstacles and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Noting that Poland is a key cooperation partner of China in the European Union (EU) and among CEECs, Xi said China is willing to work with Poland to strengthen high-level exchanges and cement mutual understanding and strategic mutual trust, so as to continuously push forward China-Poland ties and make important contributions to promoting China-CEEC cooperation and China-EU relations.

For his part, Duda said that the timely, decisive and rigorous measures taken by China have effectively contained the spread of COVID-19, and that he admires the Chinese people and those Chinese medical workers who joined the fight against the epidemic.

China's relevant experience is worth learning for Poland, he said, adding that his country is now faced with the severe challenge of the disease and in urgent need of medical and protective supplies.

Poland thanks China for providing timely and valuable support, which embodies the deep friendship between the two countries, said the president.

Noting that China has a solid economic foundation, Duda said he is fully confident that China will overcome the epidemic and achieve better development.

Poland is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields and work together to promote CEEC-China cooperation, he said, adding that he cherishes his friendship with Xi and looks forward to visiting China as soon as possible after the epidemic.
Chloe Sevigny says shes distressed by new restrictions prohibiting partners in hospital delivery rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The actor, whos pregnant with her first child, broached the topic in an Instagram post.

I hope all expecting families are finding some calm, she wrote.

Todays news in NY was very distressing for all.

Two of the main hospital networks in New York City have announced bans on birthing partners as part of efforts to contain the virus.

An advisory on NewYork-Presbyterians website reads: At this time, no visitors including birthing partners and support persons are permitted for obstetric patients.

We understand that this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, but we believe that this is a necessary step to promote the safety of our new mothers and children.

Mount Sinai Health System took similar measures on Monday.

Effective Tuesday, March 24, we are prohibiting all visitors in maternity and postpartum units across the System, including partners or guests of patients in labour, and allowing mothers only in NICU units, to prevent avoidable exposure to mothers and babies. These steps are critical to ensure that we can continue slow the spread of COVID-19, reads the announcement.

We do not take this decision lightly, but these are unprecedented times that require unprecedented steps to protect our patients, their families and their new babies. We know how important it is to connect with loved ones while in our hospitals and we will do everything we can to virtually connect patients with family and friends. We appreciate everyones understanding and compliance during this difficult time.
Asterix is in mourning.

Albert Uderzo, the artist who co-created Frances most celebrated cartoon character, Asterix, with the writer Rene Goscinny, has died at 92.

Albert Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly, after a heart attack that was not linked to the coronavirus. He had been extremely tired for the past several weeks, his son-in-law Bernard de Choisy told Agence France-Presse news agency on Tuesday, according to CNN.

Often called the Disney of France, the artists comic work was translated into over 100 languages and sold over 370 million copies worldwide.

In addition to six decades of sales and a large and successful theme park outside Paris dedicated to the characters, Uderzos works have generated over two dozen full-length adaptions in both animated and live-action forms, including a series of four films starring Gerard Depardieu. A fifth live-action effort Asterix and the Silk Road, starring Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Guillaume Canet, is currently in the works.

Along with writer Rene Goscinny, who died in 1977, Uderzo debuted the combative Gaul warrior Asterix and his larger partner Obelix in 1959 for the first issue of French comic magazine, Pilot. The characters were conceived over a dining room table in Uderzos Bobigny apartment as a Laurel and Hardy-type team battling Roman invaders away from their villagers.

Containing an underlying adult humor, stealthy caricatures and inexplicable puns, the storyline of two warriors often strengthened by a wizards potion, has worked its magic for six decades in 38 different adventures.

Born in 1937 to a family Italian immigrants in the Marne, Uderzo was a self-taught artist who discovered comics, particularly Mickey Mouse, while he apprenticed to the illustrator Edmond Calvo. Goscinny and Uderzo later collaborated on a series of successful childrens strips for French and Belgian papers until approached to create something for Pilots launch .

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In 2011, Uderzo handed over the reins to a younger artist after drawing the beloved comic hero for 52 years, according to BBC News.

The Asterix series continues to this day under new ownership, with the most recent book, Asterix and the Chieftains Daughter, published last October.
P eers have backed emergency powers legislation which will help the NHS buy time to combat coronavirus.

The Bill, which has already cleared the Commons, gives ministers, councils, police, health professionals and coroners wide-ranging powers that are due to last for up to two years.

After a sombre five-hour debate, the Lords gave an unopposed second reading to the 348-page document.

The changes include reducing the number of doctors required to sign off on sectioning those with mental health issues from two to one, while police would be given authority to force those infected with Covid-19 to self-isolate.

The Lords have backed the bill at its second reading / PA

Health minister Lord Bethell said: Fundamentally this Bill is about buying time. Time can help us. With each day that passes, the science is getting better.

Each day brings us closer to faster, more accurate testing capabilities and ultimately a vaccine.

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

He told peers: Each day that we can slow the rate of transmission is a small victory that will lead us to the ultimate defeat of the virus.

We need to buy time for the NHS, flattening the infection curve and raising the capacity line, moving the peak away from the most dangerous winter months.

For the Opposition, Lord Falconer of Thoroton offered Labours full support for the emergency powers.

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In normal times it would be utterly unacceptable, he said. These are not normal times.

As long as the emergency lasts and these powers are necessary, they should be available to the Government.

Lord Falconer said there needed to be immediate compliance by the public with the stay at home message imposed by the Government.

While supporting the Bill, Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords Lord Newby stressed the importance of Parliamentary scrutiny and warned against giving ministers a blank cheque.

Lord Newby said: This is an unprecedented Bill to deal with an unprecedented crisis. Over the coming months, every aspect of the way we do things in Britain is going to come under strain.

As in wartime, we will have to change the way we do things and when its all over things will not revert to business as usual.

I am sure that everyone wishes the Government well as it grapples with coronavirus, but democracies never give the executive a blank cheque.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose 2.66% to Rs 193 after the company divested female intimate hygiene brand, VWash, to Hindustan Unilever.

Meanwhile, shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) surged 5.42% to Rs 1974.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Monday (23 March 2020) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for divestment of its VWash brand and other extensions. Under this agreement, the brand and other trademarks, copyrights, know-how associated with Glenmark's VWash business will be transferred to HUL.

Without disclosing the cost of acquisition, Glenmark said it will receive an upfront payment and royalty on sales for three years. No employees will be transferred as a part of this agreement. The transaction is expected to be completed in the next few months subject to customary approvals.

Glenmark launched VWash, a liquid vaginal wash, as an OTC product in 2013. The company continued to invest in building the brand and established it as amarket leader in the intimate hygiene category. Over the years, Glenmark launched multiple line extensions like VWash Wipes to expand the brand offering across different consumer needs.

Glenmark said it intends to further consolidate its position in the core therapy areas of respiratory, dermatology and oncology globally. Glenmark's OTC business will focus on its other leading brands like Candid Powder, Scalpe and introduce new Rx to OTC switches.

On a consolidated basis, the drug maker reported 64% rise in net profit to Rs 190.74 crore on a 5.1% increase in net sales to Rs 2638.62 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a global research-led pharmaceutical company with presence across generics, specialty and OTC business with operations in over 50 countries. Glenmark's key therapy focus areas globally are respiratory, dermatology and oncology.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"NSW is now applying those conditions and I thank them for accepting the advice of the Border Force Commissioner, who rang to ensure they are fully aware of their responsibilities," Mr Hunt said. His office has declined to say which conditions NSW was not previously applying. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard countered that his state had gone beyond the protocols issued by the federal government, which allow a ship to continue to voyage while samples are being tested. But he conceded, "with the benefit of hindsight", passengers should not have been let off the ship. "Personally, I think the federal guidance is very lacking in appropriate directions," he said yesterday. "But I understand that everyday everybody is just trying to keep up with fast changing circumstances." His Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, said NSW Health acted swiftly as soon as it became known that passengers tested positive, but until that point there was nothing to indicate the ship was anything other than low risk. Cruise ships always had some level of respiratory illness, she said.

"There was no evidence that coronavirus was on the cruise ship or we would certainly have acted in a different way," she said. The Ruby Princess departed Sydney on March 8 bound for New Zealand. At that time concerns about coronavirus were growing but the rush on supermarkets was unthinkable and toilet paper hoarding was still in its nascency. Trevor Spencer, 75, and his wife Julie Spencer, 71, with their luggage after disembarking from the Ruby Princess. Credit:Kate Geraghty Julie Spencer, who was taking the tour with her husband, Trevor, felt they were safer in the isolation of a cruise ship than they would be at home, news of which their captain was constantly updating for them. "Our state of mind was, 'We're going on a holiday, make sure you wash your hands, be very cautious,'" Mrs Spencer said. "We were all laughing about the toilet paper situation. That was an ongoing joke."

Loading The ship docked at Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Akaroa and, by the time it arrived in Wellington on March 14, several passengers were reporting flu-like symptoms. Five had tests that returned negative. According to a statement from Carnival Australia, the medical team isolated passengers who reported flu-like symptoms and reported them to NSW Health, which asked for swabs to be taken. Thirteen passengers were swabbed, though with no testing facilities on board they would have to wait until the ship docked in Sydney for the swabs to be analysed. But when the ship reached Napier on March 15, the captain announced that the rest of the itinerary would be scrapped and the ship would return to Sydney immediately.

Loading New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had announced the 14-day isolation period for international arrivals a day earlier and it was due to take effect that night. Some passengers, including New Zealand nationals, wanted to disembark at Auckland and return home by plane but this was kiboshed by the captain. There was no real protest. "The cruise director said he couldn't believe how well everyone was handling everything," Mrs Spencer said. "He kept saying, 'I don't believe I've ever travelled with such a happy bunch of people.'" They are not happy now. Ms Dixon-Hughes said that, although the passengers had been warned to expect health checks to be conducted, these never took place and nobody took their temperature nor asked about their health when they disembarked. She is now suspicious about the speed with which they were unloaded from the boat.

Loading "Who rushed us out that fast?" she said. "Was it the Health Department or the cruise liner? Their experience after the Diamond Princess [where 700 passengers contracted coronavirus after the ship was refused entry to Japan] was to get people off as fast as possible, ask them to self-isolate and it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Each passenger was told to isolate for 14 days in accordance with the new protocols for international travellers. By the time they learnt four passengers had tested positive for coronavirus, a full day later, many passengers had travelled back to their home towns unknowingly afflicted by the virus. One passenger was a resident at the Uniting Arrunga aged-care home in Sydney's north-western suburbs. The facility was only told the resident was on the ship when NSW Health officials asked that they self-isolate for a fortnight. The Ruby Princess now accounts for one in eight of the 818 coronavirus cases in NSW, and 26 cases interstate. The Herald can reveal a woman who travelled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to join the Ruby Princess has since tested positive to coronavirus.

Marjorie Willardson said she and her husband had raised concerns with two passenger service representatives, expressing that they felt the cruise "should not be continuing", but they were told all was well. In an email to Princess Cruises, Mrs Willardson said its crew had assured her "we are taking all precautions and our passengers [are] completely safe on the ship". Mrs Willardson told a crew member that she believed the cruise was "very unsafe". "Large groups are meeting together in concerts, eating areas and on crowded bus tours. The people coughing and sneezing all around us," she said. "However the cruise just kept cruising as if nothing was going on around us. It was crazy. I couldnt believe it." Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is citing the Ruby Princess as the reason he will not allow a cruise ship full of sick passengers off the coast of Fremantle to disembark. "I will not allow what happened in Sydney to happen here," he said.
Wisconsins insurance commissioner has directed insurers to provide insurance coverage for delivery drivers for restaurants during COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, even if those drivers/restaurants previously did not have coverage for such activities. The extra coverage must be provided at no extra cost to the insured, the commissioners office reported.

Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Mark Afable issued an order on March 23 outlining the directive aimed at helping restaurants in the state, which have been told to shut their doors to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Department of Health Services Emergency Order #5, issued on March 17, directed the closures. Under Order #5, restaurants are allowed to remain open for delivery service, even if they did not previously provide food delivery.

Recognizing that some restaurants may not be properly insured for such delivery service, Afables order states insurers must cover delivery services for restaurants on personal auto insurance policies and must offer coverage for hired drivers and non-owned automobiles as a rider on a restaurants general liability insurance if it is requested  both at no extra cost to the policyholders, according to a statement released by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI).

Afable said the department worked with the insurance industry to come up with a way to help the restaurant industry.

The order bars insurers from denying a claim under a personal auto policy solely because the insured was engaged in delivering food on behalf of a restaurant impacted by the restaurant closure. The personal auto provision applies to all claims that arise from an occurrence beginning on March 17, 2020.

Afables order also states that insurers providing commercial general liability coverage to a restaurant must notify their restaurant insureds that hired and non-owned auto coverage is available if requested. If the insured requests hired and non-owned auto coverage under their CGL policy, the insurer is required to provide it through a rider on the existing policy or through standalone policy.

For the commercial coverage the request date is the effective date. Insurers offering retroactive coverage may request that the insured certify that they have not incurred any potential claims in the period of retroactive coverage.

The order applies to all policies in effect on or after March 17. It will remain in effect until the public health emergency order is lifted, in whole or in part, to permit restaurants to resume normal operations, the order states.

American Family Mutual Insurance, which holds the largest share of the auto insurance market in Wisconsin, by press time had not replied to an email from Insurance Journal asking for commentary about the commissioners order.

Anna Bryant, a public affairs specialist at State Farm, also one of the largest auto insurers in Wisconsin in terms of market share, said the company is complying with the OCIs order.

Topics Carriers Auto Wisconsin
By ANI

WASHINGTON: American lawyer Larry Klayman has filed a USD 20 trillion lawsuit against China for the creation and the release of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 334,000 people globally.

Klayman, his advocacy group Freedom Watch and Buzz Photos, a Texas company, filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging that the novel coronavirus was "designed by China to be a biological weapon of war", and that whether or not the country intended to release it, China violated "US law, international laws, treaties, and norms."

"Because China has agreed by treaty to outlaw such weapons, these actions cannot be official governmental actions of the People's Republic of China and are not subject to any possible claim of legal immunity from suit," the lawsuit said, as cited by Law and Crime.

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It went on to allege that the purpose of maintaining the virus within the laboratory was to use it to "kill US citizens and other persons and entities in nations perceived to be an enemy of China."

The virus, which first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has spread 189 countries or territories, infected more than 334,000 people and killed over 14,500, as per the latest data available on the World Health Organisation website.

"COVID-19 is an extremely dangerous disease because it has an extremely aggressive nature, was designed to mutate from person to person, spreads very quickly and easily, no vaccine exists yet on account of it being a new disease, the means of transmission are not fully known with certainty, and treatments are only just being worked out, and the disease appears to be about ten times as deadly as the flu," the lawsuit read.

It said that the lawsuit was designed by China such as to be an effective and catastrophic biological warfare weapon to kill mass populations.
Los Angeles: 'Stranger Things' star Finn Wolfhard says his upcoming movie "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" will honour the legacy of the popular supernatural comedy franchise.

The 17-year-old actor, who plays Trevor in the Jason Reitman-directed movie, said he grew up watching the original 'Ghostbusters' films thanks to his parents.

'Afterlife' is the direct sequel to 'Ghostbusters' (1984) and 'Ghostbusters II' (1989).

Jason Reitman's father, Ivan Reitman, had directed the original 'Ghostbusters' films which featured Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as parapsychology professors who hunts ghosts.

"When I was really young, my parents were really big fans of the original movies, so I grew up watching them.

"Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis  all of those were big, big people in our house. So getting to be a part of that legacy now is very flattering," Wolfhard told NME.

The actor said the film is "faithful" to the series and at the same time, funny.

"Older 'Ghostbusters' fans will find it's a really, really faithful approach to the series. While young people, if not everyone, will find that, first and foremost, 'Ghostbusters' is about family and the relationships that these people have made.

"It's also really funny, so I'm really excited for people to see it," Wolfhard added.

Murray and Aykroyd, along with Sigourney Weaver, will reprise their roles for the new film. Returning members also include Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson.

Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and McKenna Grace are the new entrants.
Beijing has urged India not to use China to describe the novel coronavirus, saying it could stigmatise the country and would be detrimental to international cooperation.

During a phone conversation on Tuesday, state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi told counterpart S Jaishankar that China hopes that India was opposed to the narrow mindset of using the phrase China virus.

The coronavirus outbreak, or the Covid-19 disease, first emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

The Chinese government has lately argued that it might have been found first in central China but there was no proof it originated there.

Also Watch l Type of curfew: PM Modi declares 21-day lockdown over COVID-19

Chinese diplomats have led a worldwide campaign to convince host governments not to use the phrase China virus.

Wang Yi said its not acceptable and detrimental to international cooperation to label the virus and stigmatise China, hope India oppose such a narrow mindset. Dr. Jaishankar agreed not to label the virus and the international community should send a strong signal of solidarity, the Chinese envoy to India, Sun Weidong said in a tweet on Tuesday evening.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokespersons in Beijing have also been vocal in its opposition against the use of the phrase, and have strongly criticised the US for using it.

China has repeatedly reiterated that some individuals in the US have deliberately linked the new coronavirus to China and constantly stigmatised China. The Chinese people are strongly indignant and resolutely opposed to this. Both WHO and the international community are clearly opposed to linking viruses to specific countries and regions, and against stigma, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang said at the regular ministry briefing on Tuesday.

Tweeting about the phone conversation between Wang and Jaishankar, Ambassador Sun quoted the Chinese minister as saying that China was confident that India can handle and win the battle against Covid-19. China and India should support each other, and jointly safeguard global public health.

Wang expressed sympathy and solidarity with India in the fight against Covid-19. China is ready to share our experience, provide assistance within our capacity and open its channel for procurement to India, Wang was quoted as telling Jaishankar by Sun

Jaishankar thanked China for its sympathy message and assistance of medical materials to India.
An American soldier stationed in South Korea was found dead in her barracks room last week, the U.S. military said Tuesday.







Private First Class Marissa Jo Gloria was found unresponsive in her room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday and pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.







The cause of her death is under investigation, the military said, though officials said they do not believe her death has anything to do with the COVID-19 virus.







The 25-year-old combat engineer joined the U.S. Army from North Dakota in January 2019, and arrived here in April that year.







"We are all deeply saddened by the loss and will keep her family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," said Lt. Col. Robert Dion, commander of the 11th Engineer Battalion. (Yonhap)


Are you a healthy, educated Egyptian over 35 years of age who speaks English and wants to learn Russian? If so, and you are willing to spend the next six years in a training program, the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA) invites you to become one of the first Egyptians in space.

By next year, an unspecified number of Egyptians will be selected to receive space training, after which one man or one woman will be chosen to duty aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Sending an Egyptian into space is part of Egypts 10-year National Space Program that was announced by Mohamed Elkoosy, CEO of the newly founded EGSA, on March 6. The program, which is divided into three stages, targets the development of space missions and upgrading of the Egyptian industry facilities. We also plan to have good international relations and a solid base for standardization, Elkoosy told local media.

In December, the agency announced that both men and women are eligible to apply for the program and that applicants would be taking psychological, physical and mental tests during the first stage. During the three-year second stage, contestants will be trained to go into space, while in the third and final stage, they would be trained to adapt to living in space at the ISS.

Elkoosy told Al-Monitor that the applicants would be taught Russian in addition to English. Sources in space science are either in English or Russian and those who are selected would have to deal with Russian-speaking astronauts, he said, adding that the training also includes two years at a center located either in Russia or the United States to learn space science.

Alaa al-Nahri, vice president of the UN Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education for Western Asia (RCSSTEWA), told Al-Monitor that all citizens can apply for the competition, but people with scientific experience would have an advantage.

He pointed out that the selected Egyptian citizens will spend 10-15 days in space and that the first Egyptian astronaut will be ready in 2025-26.

After years of delays, EGSA was set up in accordance with Law No. 3 of 2018, establishing it as a public body that reports to the president of the republic and enjoys technical, financial and administrative independence. Its mission includes cooperation with other countries to share experiences in the field of space technology.

Elkoosy said that EGSA held several meetings with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency to benefit from its experience, as the agency has already sent one of its citizens, Hazza al-Mansouri, who was part of an eight-day space flight aboard the Soyuz MS-15 in September 2019. He was accompanied by two astronauts  Russian Oleg Skripochka and American Jessica Meir. More than 4,000 Emiratis had applied to the Emirati astronauts' program in 2017 to become the UAE's first astronaut.

Mansouri is the third Arab citizen to go into space. He was preceded by Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Muhammad Faris, a Syrian military aviator, in the 1980s.

Elkoosy stated that the agency is cooperating with the US space agency NASA, as well as Egyptian scientist Farouk El-Baz, who is known as the Egyptian behind the moon landings, to benefit from his expertise.

The International Astronomical Union, an association of global astronomers, named in September 2019 an asteroid after Baz for his role of choosing the landing sites of the Apollo program and his leading the training of the astronauts.

Magda Nasr, a member of the Education and Scientific Research Committee in the House of Representatives, told Al-Monitor that Egypt currently lags behind in the field of space science, especially compared to other Arab countries, but it now aims to keep pace with the developments that it has missed out on over the past decades. The committee is urging Egyptian universities to establish space science departments, she said.

Once the Egyptian program makes progress, the country intends to assist other African countries in their space programs, Elkoosy said. EGSA had signed a cooperation agreement with Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan and Kenya in a bid to launch the African Development Satellite Initiative to monitor climate changes in Egypt and these five countries.

The country will also host the African Space Agency, a new permanent body that will be established in the next two years.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava to ensure security of doctors who are facing harassment at the hands of some people in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

Shah's directive came hours after a representation was sent to him apprising him about the incidents of harassment of doctors by some landlords, claiming that coronavirus could be transmitted through the medicos.

An official of the Home Ministry said that the home minister spoke to the Delhi Police commissioner and asked him to take immediate action to stop any such incident.

In their representation, the doctors said that some of their colleagues were facing harassment at the hands of some people, particularly the landlords, asking them to vacate their rented premises. The doctors are claiming that the harassment was meted out to them by some people alleging that coronavirus could be transmitted through them as they are treating the positive cases.
The rapid spread of the coronavirus since it was first reported in China has dealt an unprecedented shock to the global economy.

Following are business developments Monday related to the outbreak as governments attempt to stabilize their economies, companies struggle to cope and millions of people face job losses and disruptions in supplies of goods and in services.

______

AIRLINES: Airlines can't seem to cut capacity as fast as air travel is fading as businesses and vacationers pull back on plans. Industry analysts are slashing their expectations even faster, with cuts of 40% or more the norm.

Air Canada is laying off more than 5,000 flight attendants as the country's largest airline cuts routes amid plunging demand. The layoffs will take effect by April and affect roughly 60% of flight attendants. Air Canada says it will suspend most of its international and U.S. flights by March 31.

GE aviation will cut about 10% of its U.S. workforce. David Joyce, vice chairman of GE and CEO of GE Aviation, will give up half of his salary starting April 1. The aviation arm of General Electric had already announced a hiring freeze, the cancellation of a salaried merit increase, a dramatic reduction of all non-essential spending, and a significant decrease in its contingent workforce.

Exposure alert: Residents alerted about possible virus exposure at Texas H-E-B

Canadian airline and travel company Transat AT Inc. has temporarily laid off about 70% of its workforce in Canada, or about 3,600 people.

The United Arab Emirates is suspending passenger transits through Dubai, the world's busiest international airport, for two weeks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Suspending transit through Dubai, which connects Europe with Asia and Australia, will affect travelers around the world.

Low-cost airline Eastar Jet has become the first South Korean carrier to shut down all flights as demand plunges. The company says it will temporarily suspend its domestic flights from Tuesday to April 25.

REPURPOSED: General Motors is exploring the production of ventilators at a facility in Kokomo, Indiana. The automaker said Monday that it's working around the clock with Ventec Life Systems of Washington State to build more of the critical medical devices. GM spokesman Dan Flores said he can't comment on how many more ventilators Ventec will make or how soon they will come. The GM statement also didn't say when the Kokomo facility might be in operation. Supply chain experts say it will be difficult to repurpose an auto plant to build a smaller, unrelated product such as ventilators. They say such a change could take months, but GM may be doing it faster. In an email to GM senior management late Sunday, Shilpan Amin, the company's vice president of purchasing, wrote that GM has commitments from Ventec's parts companies to supply 93% of the ventilator's parts to GM. The company is developing plans for the remaining 28 parts, he said in the email.

Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga are the latest luxury fashion labels ramping up the manufacturing of surgical masks to help the fight against COVID-19. The Kering Group, which owns the labels, says French workshops that usually make clothes for Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga will switch over to manufacturing masks. Kering said it will also buy and import 3 million surgical masks from China for donation to the French health service. The worlds largest luxury group  Paris-based LVMH has also said it has reached a deal with a Chinese industrial supplier to deliver 10 million masks to the French population.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Harris County prepares shelter-in-place order as Hidalgo mulls options

CORPORATE FIREWALLS: Airbus is canceling a planned dividend payment and lining up 15 billion euros ($16 billion) in new credit to give the European aircraft giant more cash to weather the crisis. The plane maker had shut several plants last week to adapt them to safer health conditions.

Apparel company VF Corp. says it will draw down $1 billion from its revolving credit facility.

Royal Dutch Shell will reduce its operating costs by between $3 billion to $4 billion for the next 12 months to adapt to the virus outbreak crisis and plunging oil prices. The company is also reducing capital expenditure to a maximum of $20 billion, down from its previous expectation of $25 billion.

HEAVY INDUSTRY: Millions of people are working at home. However, heavy industrial sectors have come to a standstill because the risk of infection, if operations continue, would be unavoidable.

A big auto industry trade group is telling Congress that 95% of U.S. auto assembly plants have been forced to close due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation says in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that 42 of 44 U.S. auto assembly plants were closed as of Friday. The letter says 87% of the assembly plants in North America have been closed, including all seven in Canada and 60 of 69 in Mexico. It says analysts expect March sales to fall by up to 40% from 2019 figures. The association is asking Congress for loans and loan guarantees for affected companies. It also is asking that businesses with more than 500 workers that provide paid leave for employees get a tax deduction or credit. Most U.S. auto assembly workers are being paid through the closure, which in most cases is scheduled to last into late March and early April. The industry also wants Congress to delay 2020 quarterly federal tax payments, start a temporary payroll tax holiday, extend expensing for machinery, and delay the June 1 effective date of the USMCA trade pact, which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Forecasting as much as a 60% decline in reservations for April due to coronavirus travel restrictions, rental car giant Avis is cutting staff, reducing its fleet and pausing capital spending, among other actions. The company says it will also evaluate compensation expenses for senior employees, including executive leadership, as it looks to save $400 million on an annualized basis. The Parsippany, N.J.-based Avis Budget Group said it has accessed $1.1 billion in cash from equity in its vehicle fleet and has an estimated $750 million in revolving credit, giving it the liquidity to operate through the end of 2020 and beyond.

Winnebago Industries halted production to protect workers from coronavirus exposure and to adjust production as demand for the company's products is rapidly changing. Winnebago, which employees about 5,000 people, makes motor homes, travel trailers and boats under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar and Chris-Craft brands. The Forest City, Iowa-based company has production facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Oregon, Minnesota and Florida. The company said Monday that production will cease until at least April 12. Benefits and base pay will continue for the first two weeks.

Ford Motor Co. has suspended vehicle and engine production at its International Markets Group manufacturing sites located in India, Vietnam, South Africa and Thailand. The suspensions started Saturday and will continue for several weeks.

REAL ESTATE: To conserve capital, Zillow Group postponed home buying in the 24 markets where it participates in such activity. Zillow stopped open houses for homes in all markets last week.

U.S. home sales jumped 6.5% in February, their highest level in 13 years. But that was for contracts that were signed in December and January, with closings in February. The first report of a coronavirus infection in the U.S. occurred on Jan. 21 and economist are expecting a vast slowdown in the next report with sellers closing their homes to potential buyers.

The commercial real estate market is at risk of collapse, cautions the founder of Colony Capital, as mortgage loans experience growing pressure. Thomas Barrack said in a blog post that liquidity has dried up as businesses get hit with a temporary cash flow deficit and a rapid decline in revenue. "The market for commercial real estate mortgage loans in the United States stands on the brink of collapse," Barrack wrote.

RENTERS: The federal regulator of giant mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is aiming to provide relief from eviction for renters in multifamily buildings who are affected by the viral crisis. The Federal Housing Finance Agency says Fannie and Freddie will offer owners of multifamily properties forbearance relief on their mortgages, on condition they suspend all evictions of renters who are unable to pay due to the impact of the virus. The two companies together guarantee about half of the U.S. home-loan market. Last week they temporarily suspended foreclosures and evictions of borrowers in single-family homes whose mortgages they guarantee.

SUPERMARKETS: B.J.'s Wholesale Club is the latest to offer a bump in hourly wages to workers restocking shelves while others stay home. Increased hourly pay would extend at least through April 12. Managers and key personnel will get a one-time bonus, ranging from $500 to $1,000. Walmart, Target and Amazon are among the other company's giving pay hikes. Walmart is also giving one-time bonuses to its hourly part-time and full-time workers.

HIRING: The spread of the virus has created a massive disruption in the work place, with may companies sending workers home. However, other companies, largely those considered essential during the outbreak, have gone on a hiring binge.

Dollar General will hire up to 50,000 workers by the end of April as people ordered to stay home clear the bargain chain's shelves and stock up pantries. Dollar General said Monday that most of the jobs will be temporary, but that some may be long term.

Papa Johns is hiring up to 20,000 people with demand for pizza elevated. The need for new workers is so great, the company said Monday that interviews can turn into punching the clock on the same day. Domino's already announced additional hiring.

CVS Health also announced Monday that it is looking to fill 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary roles across the country. Positions include store associates, prescription delivery drivers, distribution center employees and member/customer service professionals. The company is also giving employee bonuses ranging from $150 to $500 to workers required to be at its facilities.

THE STORES: H&M warned Monday that it may need to permanently lay off workers as it wrestles with the financial implications of the virus. The Swedish fast fashion company said that 3,441 out of its 5,062 stores globally are temporarily closed. The closures, aimed to stop the spread of the virus, has had "'significant negative impact on sales so far in March," the company said.

THE WAITING: Amazon is telling shoppers some items could take up to a month to deliver as it deals with a rush of online orders. The company said it is focusing on getting medical supplies, hand sanitizers, baby formula and other essential items to customers first. Some best-selling books, for example, said they would be delivered at the end of April, much longer that two-day or less deliver times Amazon typically promises. The online retailer recently said it plans to hire 100,000 people in the U.S. to keep with an increase in orders as more people stay home and shop online.

ENERGY: The energy sector has lost almost half of its overall value in the month of March. Economic forecasts indicate a vast reduction in the amount of energy that will be needed as national economies are broadsided.

Total announced Monday that it is planning more than $3 billion in organic capital expenditure cuts and suspending its $2 billion buyback program. The company is also now planning $800 million in savings this year, up from its previously announced $300 million in savings.

When the company had announced its buyback program, oil was around $60 per barrel. Since the coronavirus outbreak and oil dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil has fallen as low as $24 a barrel.

GIG ECONOMY DISRUPTED: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is calling on the federal government to help independent workers such as the drivers and delivery workers on its platform, not just full-fledged employees. Khosrowshahi sent a letter to President Donald Trump Monday. Uber has 1.3 million people working on its platform in the United States. Khosrowshahi says they are delivering food to people staying home and providing essential transportation services. The company has offered up to 14 days of financial assistance to drivers and delivery workers who were diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed in quarantine.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 15:45 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d23602 1 Business house-of-representatives,COVID-19,coronavirus,state-budget,budget-deficit,income-tax,Sri-Mulyani,perry-warjiyo,Banggar Free

The House of Representatives has urged the government to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to revise the 2020 state budget, expand the budget deficit cap and provide incentives for individual taxpayers to cope with the economic effects of COVID-19.

The Houses budget committee (Banggar) chairman Said Abdullah said on Monday that the government should raise the budget deficit ceiling from the current 3 percent of gross domestic product to 5 percent. The government debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, he said, had to be kept in check at 60 percent from around 30 percent today.

Almost every macroeconomic indicator has changed significantly due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 state budget, as the governments fiscal instrument, will no doubt change as well, Said wrote in a public statement after a teleconferenced meeting with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Bank Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo.

The government should also issue another Perppu to make changes to the current income tax law to roll out incentives for individual taxpayers, Said added.

The important point is to [reduce] income tax to 20 percent for those with savings of more than Rp 100 billion, he said. As a consequence of lower income tax for the haves, they will then be required to pay Rp 1 billion per person to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) for the COVID-19 response fund.

The prevailing 2008 Income Tax Law, Article 17

Layers of taxable income (annually) Percentage taxed Income up to Rp 50 million 5% Income of Rp 50 million to Rp 250 million 15% Income of Rp 250 million to Rp 500 million 25% Income of more than Rp 500 million 30%

This Perppu is meant to support the publics recovery efforts due to COVID-19, ensure the implementation of a social safety net program and help informal and small and medium businesses survive in the face of a hard economic situation, Said added.

Sri Mulyani was not immediately available for comment in response to the ideas from the Banggar. However, she previously estimated that the state budget deficit could widen to between 2.2 and 2.5 percent of GDP this year, taking into account the large government stimulus packages provided to fuel the virus-stricken economy.

Read also: More cash aid, stimuli needed to soften economic shocks of COVID-19: Economists

The government will reallocate Rp 62.3 trillion (US$3.9 billion) of state spending from the 2020 budget to tackle COVID-19, focusing on healthcare, the disbursement of social funds and economic stimuli for businesses and workers.

The allocated sum will add to the Rp 120 trillion of stimulus packages already stipulated as the government prepares for worst-case scenarios, including the possibility of zero percent economic growth, ministers have said.

Weve identified about Rp 62.3 trillion of planned spending that can be reallocated to priority areas put forward by the President. This includes funding for business trips, blocked funds and non-operational purchases of goods, among other items, Sri Mulyani said.

Several economists have also called for a flexible state budget to help the country cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, University of Indonesia rector Ari Kuncoro told The Jakarta Post. The government should look to implement an intertemporal budget. If we pass the 3 percent limit this year, then we should compensate for the deficit over the next three to five years.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia had 579 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 49 deaths. Thirty people who contracted the virus have recovered. Globally, the pneumonia-like illness has infected over 381,000 people and has claimed at least 16,500 lives.
Following the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic in agricultural production in Spain, Italy and Portugal, European shoppers are rushing to buy Moroccan fruits and vegetables, which have become hot commodities.

Due to lack of farm workers in Spain, main supplier of the European market, demand has spiked in recent days for Moroccan agricultural products mainly for tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, eggplants, oranges and mandarins, says Lahcen Aderdour, chairman of the Association of Producers & Exporters of Fruit & Vegetables.

According to Moroccan professionals, a growing number of purchasing orders have been placed by agribusinesses from France, Germany, Netherlands, UK and also from North America.

The United States and Canada are major consumers of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese fruit and vegetables. Spanish agricultural sector is currently operating at 10 pc of its capacity, while Italy and Portugal are almost at a standstill. This explains the high demand for Moroccan agricultural produce, especially oranges and mandarins.

Moroccos agricultural sector contributes 19 pc to the national GDP and employs over 4 million people including about 100,000 in agro-industry. It plays a key role in macroeconomic balances of the country. It supports the income of 80 pc of the 14 million rural people who work in the agricultural sector, which has suffered from low investment and low productivity.
Update:

A Border Patrol agent with 21 years of service was shot to death by his 47-year-old wife in a San Antonio hotel early Tuesday, authorities said.

Jon Travis Marburger, also 47, was found with multiple gunshot wounds about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in a La Quinta hotel room at 1017 North Loop 1604, San Antonio police said.

Police performed life-saving measures on Marburger before he was transported to University Hospital, where he died.

Sherry Lee Marburger was later arrested and charged with murder, according to records. Jon Marburger was assigned to the Border Patrol's Del Rio Station.

Update:

A 47-year-old man has died after a shooting at a Stone Oak hotel on Tuesday.

The Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Jon Travis Marburger.

Original:

A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after a shooting at a North Side hotel on Tuesday, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Officers responded to a shooting in progress reported at 8:22 a.m. by a person in a La Quinta hotel room in the 1000 block of North Loop 1604. When officers arrived in the room, they found a man in his late 40s with multiple gunshot wounds.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Police performed life-saving measures while EMS was en route. The victim was then transported to University Hospital with critical injuries.

A woman in her late 40s, believed to be the mans partner, was detained and taken in for questioning. The couple were not from San Antonio, according to SAPD spokesperson Alisia Pruneda.

Animal Care Services will take care of a small pet found in the hotel room until a permanent home can be found. Police said the investigation will continue.
Photo credit: Netflix

From Digital Spy

Carole Baskin was one of the central players in the truly bonkers Tiger King documentary that recently arrived on Netflix. The revelation about her missing former husband Jack Donald 'Don' Lewis provided one of the first big jaw-drop moments of the seven-part series.

In among the truly eccentric world of big cat owners and dealers, this particular true-crime series will have you flip-flopping between what you believe and who you suspect. For Carole, who owns Big Cat Rescue (an organisation that advocates for the end of abuse towards big cats in captivity), the series painted her as the main adversary of Joe Exotic who, for a time, owned one of the USA's most famous private zoos.

Photo credit: Netflix

Related: What the Tiger King documentary didn't tell you about Joe Exotic and his husbands

Lions and tigers aside, the docu-series also cast a shadow over Carole, questioning whether or not she had any involvement in the disappearance of her ex-husband. This had been one part of Joe's obsessive and hateful narrative against her, and the focus of many of his disturbing and threatening online videos; one of which saw him shooting at a mannequin sporting a blonde wig.

The self-proclaimed "Tiger King" would continually imply that Carole had killed her former spouse, even filming a music video for a country music song called 'Here Kitty Kitty' in which a Carole lookalike could be seen feeding flesh to the tigers. This peddled a conspiracy theory that Carole had killed her ex-husband, and fed his body to her big cats (something she has vehemently denied, obviously).

Those who have now watched the series in full will be aware that Joe is currently serving time in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot that was said to be targeting Carole.

Photo credit: Netflix

In 1997, Carole's former husband Don Lewis went missing without a trace. He was 60 years old at the time. Carole reported him missing and two days later Don's van was found at an airport (he owned his own planes and had been known to fly them uncharted).

Story continues

Carole hired a private investigator and the police, of course, were conducting their own investigation, but no leads or sinister evidence were uncovered (via an archive article published on People in 1998). Don had mentioned a possible move to Costa Rica, but nothing was found there either.

As revealed in the series, before his disappearance Don Lewis had filed court documents seeking an injunction against Carole, with the accusation that she had threatened violence against him. She denies this ever took place between them.

Photo credit: Netflix

Carole still feels there's no closure. "Can you imagine having people think you killed your husband or wife and not being able to prove otherwise?" she said (via the aforementioned People report). "Without a body, there is nothing I can do to clear my name."

During a recent 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, which happened before the release of the Tiger King documentary (and before she'd had a chance to watch the finished product herself), Carole explained how uncomfortable she felt when it came to revisiting what had happened to her former husband.

"We gave [authorities] all of the information that they needed to go look at the court records and to see that I always dealt fairly and honestly with Don's daughters. He had been my best friend from the time that I was 19. I lost him in 1997, so talking about that turns up a lot of painful memories," she said.

In the interview, it was also revealed that Baskin had shared her own suspicions with Tiger Kings filmmakers about who she believed might know more about Don's disappearance.

Photo credit: Barcroft Media - Getty Images

Since the release of the documentary, Jeff Lowe, Joe's one-time business partner and now owner of his former zoo, has come forward to allege that there was further information about Carole's missing husband that was not featured in the series.

During an interview for Lights Out With David Spade (via EW), he argued that "we know so much more than that documentary showed", also alleging that Netflix whitewashed a lot of it".

It is worth noting that Lowe is currently the subject of lawsuit filed by Joe Exotic from prison, and his own suggested involvement in the very same murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin was brought forward as a talking point in Tiger King, though he was never formally charged, of course. It is also important to underline the fact that Carole Baskin cooperated with the authorities following her husband's disappearance in 1997.

Although Don Lewis was declared dead by a judge five years after he went missing, his body has never been found and the case remains unsolved.

In fact, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office missing person registry, Lewis is still listed as a "missing endangered adult" and this week the Sheriff shared a new plea for leads.

Following its release, Carole has publicly criticised the show's handling of this aspect of the story in a lengthy post on bigcatrescue.org titled: 'Refuting Netflix Tiger King'.

The article claims that the filmmakers did not follow through on their initial pitch to do a Blackfish-style expose of the big cat industry, but instead "had the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers".

Talking specifically about episode three, of which this is the primary focus, Carole's post continued: "As part of that, it has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don 21 years ago. The series presents this without any regard for the truth or in most cases even giving me an opportunity before publication to rebut the absurd claims. They did not care about truth. The unsavoury lies are better for getting viewers."

Photo credit: Netflix

Proceeding to lay out her side of the story, Carole said that "Don's behaviour was gradually showing signs of mental deterioration" in the years before his disappearance, claiming that he had visited a number of doctors and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

In her article, Carole goes on to address what she labelled "supposed 'circumstantial' evidence" such as the meat grinder (which Carole branded "the most ludicrous of all the lies"), the van and the "irrelevant" discussion of whether Don would have been able to fly himself to Costa Rica.

"Don had purchased a number of properties in Costa Rica and after his disappearance one of the caretakers called and told me there were people reporting seeing him there," Carole claimed. "That is the only reason I urged the police to investigate there. But the series seems to imply I was suggesting he flew one of his planes there."

Photo credit: Netflix

Carole also offered an explanation as to why "disappearance" was included in the Power of Attorney  something that was questioned and branded 'unusual' in the documentary.

"Don had told me about people going to Costa Rica and disappearing. Our Costa Rican attorney, Roger Petersen, said the Helicopter Brothers were the local version of the mafia and Don was loaning them money," she wrote. "That is why I included 'disappearance' as an event that would activate the Power of Attorney. I am sure attorney Joe Fritz is correct that this is unusual. It made perfect sense in this situation given what I was told by Don and by Peterson about Costa Rica and Don's dealings there at the time."

Ultimately, Carole underlined that she "never threatened him" and "certainly had nothing to do with his disappearance".

Photo credit: Netflix

Since the documentary aired, county sheriff Chad Chronister has decided to reopen the case and he's now on the look new leads. Speaking to The New York Post, he said:

"I thought we should take advantage of the publics fascination and glimmer any type of evidence we can get."

"The last thing we did was ask Carole to take a polygraph in 2011 She declined. It would not vindicate her and would not stop us from pursuing criminal charges against her at a later date."



Chronister is currently receiving six or so tips a day, and most seem speculative, but that doesn't mean the sheriff will discount them all at once:

"I hate to call any of them crazy, he said. These people led such complicated lives that any lead could be valuable."

Following Caroles lengthy criticism of their series, the makers of Tiger King have now addressed her remarks.

In response to her claim that they sold her a very different documentary, pitching a Blackfish-style expose of the big cat world, Chaiklin told LA Times: "I would just say we were completely forthright with the characters. With any project that goes on for five years, things evolve and change, and we followed it as any good storyteller does. We could have never known when we started this project that it was going to land where it did."

"Carole talked about her personal life, her childhood, abuse... the disappearance of her ex, Don Lewis," Tiger King co-producer Goode added.

"She knew that this was not just about... it's not a Blackfish because of the things she spoke about. She certainly wasn't coerced."

Photo credit: Netflix

Carole and her new husband Howard Baskin, who featured in the series, are still continuing their work at the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary.

We would argue that it was made quite clear in the documentary series that there was no evidence to support any wrongdoing on Carole's part when it came to the mystery surrounding her former husband Don Lewis. But that hasn't stopped armchair detectives and viewers from wanting to find out more about what actually happened to him.

One notable figure who's come out in Carole's defence is documentary film-maker Louis Theroux. Back in 2011, his own BBC documentary America's Most Dangerous Pets featured the story of Joe Exotic, which gave the presenter a unique insight into the case.

According to Louis Theroux, Baskin probably didn't feed her husband to the tigers, per The Independent: "My opinion is, it seems very unlikely."

When asked about Joe, the documentarian told fans that "the most troubling thing he said was probably that if the park went bankrupt he would kill all the animals".



Photo credit: Netflix

In terms of the animals, while Carole was clearly coming up on the opposing side of Joe Exotic and other private zoo owners breeding and making profit from the captivity of wild animals, it has to be said that there's plenty that can be criticised about her perspective too. She, after all, is still running an organisation that keeps these animals in cages.

Tiger King producer Eric Goode summarised that argument too, telling EW in a recent interview: "I think there's a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to Carole, and a lot of greenwashing."

"I think that what people should take away from the show and what one should do to protect tigers, in particular, big cats, is to support more programs in the wild," Goode continued, before adding that he has "mixed feelings about supporting places that so-call rescue big cats" because he isn't convinced "they're providing such a service".

Fellow producer Rebecca Chaiklin holds a slightly more nuanced stance, telling the publication: "I agree with Eric, but I do think at least she is raising awareness around this issue.

"At one point in time, she had the largest private collection of big cats in America and she was breeding like crazy. And she has evolved in her thinking over time, which you have to give her credit for. And she's smart, and she's on top of social media, and she figured out how to raise a lot of money. She's impressively intelligent, and she is helping in terms of the messaging that this is not a good practice and it's cruel to the animals."

Photo credit: Netflix

Whatever you think about Tiger King, it is a wild ride. With so much going on, it's important to take note of the biggest takeaway  there are between 5,000 and 10,000 tigers live in captivity in the US, but fewer than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild.

Hopefully, their story will be pushed back to the forefront in a rumoured extra episode which may soon arrive on Netflix, at least, if Jeff Lowe is to be believed.

So our friend @christie_dish listened to the podcast, @HoldingKourt and after last weeks episode decided to send us this!!!



BREAKING NEWS FOLKS



There will be 1 more episode of #TigerKing on@Netflix pic.twitter.com/YeRSIlDKTJ  Justin Turner (@redturn2) April 4, 2020

Speaking via social media on April 4, Jeff said: "Take care guys, we love you," before adding: "Netflix is adding one more episode, [it] will be on next week. We're filming here tomorrow."

Given that the documentary has now come under fire for a whole host of issues, this could represent a chance to fix the more problematic elements of the series while also answering some of the questions left dangling at the end of episode seven.

Carole had previously shared her overriding hope for the series (via Variety): "I think the most important thing is that everybody who pays to pet a cub or have an interaction with a big cat, is enabling all of this criminal activity that they're seeing in this documentary."

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is available to stream on Netflix.

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Hospitals and medical facilities around the United States are reporting critical shortages of the protective equipment they need to keep their workers and patients safe, so some DIYers are coming up with homemade solutions to help fill the void.

In Billings, Montana, some healthcare professionals are using 3D printers to make reusable plastic face masks. The masks are then fitted with pieces of surgical masks which can be swapped out as needed.

The surgical masks are cut into smaller squares that can be clipped into the plastic mask to serve as a filter, Dusty Richardson, a neurosurgeon at the Billings Clinic told CNN.

"The filter can be used for a day and you can change it out the next day, but I do wash my mask out frequently," Richardson said.

The plastic can be cleaned with soap and water, bleach and other disinfecting products. Richardson estimates healthcare workers can get six to 10 uses out of a single surgical mask.

Richardson came up with a sketch of the mask last week and worked with dentist Spencer Zaugg and Zaugg's son Colton to come up with the design. They're all really into 3D printing and Colton Zaugg has design experience and was able to adapt a pattern he found online.

"We're trying to get masks of all different sizes so that everyone has a mask that fits as comfortably as it can," Richardson said.

The Zauggs have four 3D printers, Richardson said, and have cranked out at least 15 masks so far. Billings Public Schools are closed because of the coronavirus, but some teachers went back into their classrooms on Monday to start printing out masks on their schools' machines.

It takes a few hours to print each mask.

Libraries across the state will also print the masks along with Montana State University Billings and Rocky Mountain College.

Richardson said the files and instructions are posted online so anyone can make the masks on their own 3D printer.

"I got a text from someone who printed one out in Scotland and is working on it overseas even," Richardson said.

They've already had one huge improvement to their design, Richardson said. A company called HiTech Filters heard about the project and said that they can mass-produce inserts from hospital grade HEPA filtration material quickly and without sacrificing precious surgical masks.

"We're just trying to help people here," Richardson said. "We want healthcare providers, especially, and patients to be safe."

Couple makes hundreds of face shields

The owners of an upstate New York company that makes 3D printers say they have stopped taking orders so they can focus on making face shields for medical workers and first responders.

Stephanie Keef and Isaac Budmen of Budmen Industries designed a visor they could print on the 16 3D printers that are running non-stop in the basement of their Liverpool, New York, home.

They bought elastic and clear plastic to make at least 400 completed face shields that they've delivered to the Emergency Managment Department in Onondaga County.

They've also made the files available to other users and created a database to connect printers with hospitals that need supplies.

The design has been downloaded almost 2,000 times and they've gotten 40,000 requests for masks, according to the company.

The Budmen Industries website has crashed several times because of the high demand, so they're asking people to email requests to hello@budmen.com.
Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie, aka Saint Sark, the General Overseer of Open Arms Ministries at North Suntreso in Kumasi, was yesterday granted bail by the Asokwa District Court for defying the directive of President Akufo-Addo to hold church service.

His son, Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie Jnr, 29, an elder of the church, together with his father, were granted a bail of GH10,000 with two sureties each.

They would reappear before the court presided over by Rosemarie Afia Asante on March 26, 2020, by which time charges preferred against them would have been amended as ordered by the court.

The prosecution team, led by Chief Supt. Kofi Blagobzi, had preferred unlawful assembly and breach of peace as charges against the pastor and the elder during yesterday's sitting.

But the judge after perusing the charge sheet asked the prosecution to take a second look at the charges preferred against the accused.

Counsel for the suspects, John Brefo, in asking for bail for his clients, argued that the charges did not fit the offence which his clients were being accused of, so the court should order the prosecution to amend the charge sheet.

The personal assessment of the presiding judge with respect to the charges also saw reason with the argument of the counsel for the accused and in granting the bail, told the prosecution to amend the charge sheet before the next sitting.

Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie was in the news last week after he openly defied the President's order for a ban on church service as a way of stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He and two top members of his church were arrested for organizing a church service last Wednesday but they were granted bail after interrogation at the Central Police Station in Kumasi.

Surprisingly, Saint Sark repeated his action by organizing another church service on Sunday and he was arrested alongside an elder of his church and detained before being arraigned in court.

---Daily Guide
Samsung has another victory over Apple outside of phone shipments: it has topped Apple in 2019 smartphone processor market share.

Samsung tops Apple in 2019 smartphone processor market share

The South Korean Android giant slid past Apple with a 14.1% processor market share and took third place. Apple, in contrast, had a 13.1% processor market share. Rounding out Counterpoint Researchs top five SoC brands are Qualcomm (Snapdragon), MediaTek (Helio), and Huawei (Kirin). Apple (A series) slid 0.5% from 2018 to 13.1% in fourth place.

Of the top 5 SoC brands, only Samsung (Exynos) and Huawei (Kirin) grew in market share in 2019.

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The Korea Herald says that Samsungs processor growth comes from sales increases in India and the United States.

Exynos sales demonstrate Samsung mobile prowess

Samsungs third-place finish in processor share for 2019 adds to Samsungs crown in annual phone shipments. The Korean giant ships around 300 million smartphones annually. It holds this title for the last few years on end without much competition. While Apple can gloat of a few quarters where it outsells Samsung, Samsung still takes the annual crown in smartphone shipments each year.

In years past, Samsung has used its Exynos SoCs in smartphones in Europe and Korea, while relying on Qualcomm for its Snapdragon SoCs in the United States and China. Of course, overheating Snapdragon 810 processor in 2015, Samsung went with its own Exynos SoC in American Galaxy S6,Galaxy S6 edge, and Galaxy Note 5 models that year. Additionally, Qualcomm turned to Samsung to save the Snapdragon brand with the 810s successor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820.

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Exynos brings in profit in declining smartphone market

Samsungs Exynos SoC brand demonstrates the companys prowess in the mobile space, but it also serves to bring Samsung greater profit. Mobile OEMs, like all other companies, look to make more money from their products. If they can manufacture a new component, they can keep more of the profit for themselves. Samsungs decision to craft its Exynos SoCs also benefits the companys bottom line. This is important in an age where phone buyers are keeping their phones longer than before.

In light of the current coronavirus crisis, with unemployment and financial distress, fewer phones are leaving store shelves. If Samsung cannot make money from new Galaxy phone sales, it can sell its SoCs to other companies and charge fees to purchase them. This will still help Samsung make money in an economy where so many mobile companies are declining in profit.

Samsung uses its Exynos SoCs in everything from mid-level to premium smartphones. Along with its processors, Samsung makes its own ISOCELL camera sensors, RAM chips, phone antennas, AMOLED panels, batteries, and phone accessories.
The outbreak of coronavirus has put a halt on normal lives of all people, but it has not stopped actor Anil Kapoor from working out! Anil on Tuesday took to Twitter, where he shared a video of him exercising indoors. Image Source: IANS News

The outbreak of coronavirus has put a halt on normal lives of all people, but it has not stopped actor Anil Kapoor from working out! Anil on Tuesday took to Twitter, where he shared a video of him exercising indoors. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 24 : The outbreak of coronavirus has put a halt on normal lives of all people, but it has not stopped actor Anil Kapoor from working out! Anil on Tuesday took to Twitter, where he shared a video of him exercising indoors.

"Let's keep moving ( indoors )! There's no escaping my workout when my trainer Marc is staying with me! #QuarantineandWorkout #StayHomeStayFit," Anil captioned the video.

In the clip, Anil can be seen sweating it out a cycle.

On the acting front, he was last seen on screen in "Malang", which also stars Aditya Roy Kapoor, Disha Patani and Kunal Kemmu.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text






SEOUL  South Korea said on Monday it would provide logistical and financial support to help its auto industry through the coronavirus crisis, warning of disruptions to supply chains from Europe and the United States.

The government said it would speed up customs clearance, arrange freight transportation and provide liquidity support for the industry, which employs about 12% of South Koreas workforce, according to official figures.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to shutdowns at auto factories and dealerships in the United States and Europe, which are expected to affect South Korean automakers such as Hyundai and Kia.

Its time to prepare for the shock of a global demand contraction and European supply issues, Industry Minister Sung Yoon-mo said in a meeting with parts supplier executives and industry associations, according to a readout from the ministry.

Survival is the most crucial thing in this unprecedented crisis when both demand and supply contract at the same time.

The ministry gave no details on how much liquidity support the government would provide or what form it might take. The assistance is part of 50 trillion won ($39 billion) in emergency financing announced last week to boost the economy.

South Korea has reported 8,961 coronavirus cases and 110 deaths from the disease.

Hyundai Motor closed its Montgomery, Alabama, assembly plant on Wednesday after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19. It also suspended production at its plants in the Czech Republic and India due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Europe and the United States account for about 70% of Korean automakers exports, and 54% of Korean parts exports, government data showed.

A trade ministry official said South Korean exports would deteriorate in April and May, after rising 10% year-on-year in the first 20 days of March. Car exports rose 13.7% in the period, customs agency data showed on Monday.

For the time being, a drop in exports of cars and auto-parts are inevitable as car factories and dealerships are closing, Sung said.

Story continues

South Korean automakers had stocked up on inventories which could last up to two months, Sung said.

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The coronavirus crisis keeps growing in New Jersey, with 3,675 known infections across the state on Tuesday. The new numbers mark a 29.2% jump from those announced Sunday. There have now been 44 deaths from the virus in the state.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced 846 new cases and said that the numbers were no surprise. With the opening of a new testing center at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on Monday, he said he expected confirmed cases to increase.

Theres clearly community spread going on," Murphy said at a news briefing in Trenton on Monday. "Theres also a lot more testing going on. As the testing regime expands, were going to see these numbers go up in a big way. We are getting a clearer and better sense of how far the coronavirus has already spread.

The seven new deaths reported Monday five men and two women ranging in age from 57 to 91. Two of those who died were from Bergen County and there was one death each in Warren, Somerset, Union, Passaic and Essex counties.

The rate at which the infection has spread mirrors other parts of the country and world: a slow buildup followed by swift growth, which appears to be the phase New Jersey is now in.

Bergen County leads the state  as it has from the start of the outbreak  with 609 cases. Just across the Hudson River, New York City has become one of the national epicenters of the outbreak.

The first positive case in Salem County was announced Sunday, meaning all 21 New Jersey counties have reported cases. The number of cases continues to grow in nearly all counties.

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, Murphy over the weekend ordered all non-essential businesses to close and banned all gatherings.

During a coronavirus briefing in Trenton on Monday, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said that this would be the final warning he gives to New Jerseyans who arent taking the stay-at-home order seriously. There will be serious legal consequences, he said.

Grewal warned all non-essential retail businesses that have not closed, bars and restaurants that are still allowing in-person dining, and everyone who were thinking about throwing parties. He said people found violating the orders could be charged from a disorderly person offense or second-, third- or fourth-degree crime.

Theres too many people not paying attention to this. Weve about had it. Were not happy," Murphy said during a conference call Sunday to update the state on the latest cases.

Essential businesses that are still allowed to remain open include grocery stores, food banks, pharmacies, medical marijuana dispensaries, gas stations, auto mechanics and repair services, convenience stores, banks, hardware and home improvement stores, laundromats, dry cleaners, printing and office supply shops, pet stores, stores that sell supplies for young children, and mail and delivering shops.

Many around the state are ramping up measures to fight the spread of the virus. A new testing site opened in Warren County on Wednesday, which had 113 appointments scheduled for its first two days open. A hospital in Jersey City will be screening ER patients for COVID-19 on their way in the door.

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.

Disha Raychaudhuri may be reached at disha@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Disha_RC.

Nick Devlin is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @nickdevlin.
Medical professionals have tested more than 1,750 people for the new coronavirus at various sites in Harris County, according to health reports.

Those numbers dont represent the total picture, as some private health organizations offer COVID-19 testing but have not reported counts to the public. The number of people who have tested positive through the more publicized efforts are even less clear, and some people still await results despite one hospital first promising answers in as little as 24 hours.

Officials at that facility, United Memorial Medical Center, reassured patients on Monday that each of their test kits would be processed.

We are going to continue to ensure that individuals who get in this line  be comforted by the fact that theres some place that they can go, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee said at a news conference.

The number of people being tested is also set to increase in the coming days as two county sites are now testing the general public, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Monday.

Limited resources over the weekend prompted testing at those locations  in Katy and Baytown  for only first responders and those with compromised health, health officials said. Each site is now equipped to test 250 patients per day, and the county expects to be able to test for the next few days while they await more federal aid.

At a news conference Monday, Hidalgo added that people will not be asked about their immigration status, neither online nor by phone or at any of the testing sites.

Residents are now being asked to fill out a screening tool at Readyharris.org before being told to appear for the county-operated testing, said Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health.

We know there are a lot of concerns in our community, with people worrying if symptoms require evaluation or testing, Shah said. The vast majority of people who complete this screening will be reassured that they dont need testing or evaluation at this time.

The site with the highest turnout appeared to be United Memorial Medical Center, a private hospital in Acres Homes. Medical workers have received test results back from 744 people, chief of staff Joseph Varon said Monday. Of those, 40 people tested positive.

And more than 518 people got tested at Butler Stadium, the first city-operated location, from Friday to Sunday, according to the Houston Health Department. It's unknown how many people have received positive results through the city site. Houston Health Department spokesman Scott Packard said the agency hasnt yet collected that specific data, although it is reporting every positive city case to the state.

A Baytown site operated by Harris County only had handfuls of people show up for testing on Saturday. Private group Legacy Community Health, meanwhile, tested 610 people at its four satellite locations last week. Those locations are physically separated from the main clinics but are not drive-thru.

Throughout Texas, private labs have far outweighed public labs in the number of tests completed. State records show that 1,575 people have been tested through publicly operated labs, and at least 8,480 have been tested by private labs, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Wait times for results have varied, and some people complained of long times than expected to obtain them, especially at United Memorial.

A 55-year-old Houston woman, who wished to remain unidentified, said she got tested Thursday morning but hadnt gotten a call as of Monday afternoon.

Until she gets her results, she has to stay put, she said.

Twenty-four hours has turned into four days, she said. I would like to go find out whats wrong with me but I feel like I cant.

Two other people who got tested Thursday told the Chronicle they got results back on Sunday  days after the 24-hour period they were informed they would wait.

Some of the delay comes from calling hundreds of people, Jackson Lee said. Varon added that people who test positive are prioritized to receive their results first.

Other testing sites have offered longer wait periods  two to five days for Harris County Public Health, and five to seven days for Legacy Community Health, according to their spokespeople.

Testing will continue from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. this week at United Memorial.

Medical professionals, first responders, people age 65 and older, and people with chronic illnesses can be screened for testing at Butler Stadium. People meeting the criteria can call the Houston Health Department at 832-393-4220 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to get screened, organization leaders said.

Nicole Hensley contributed.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
New Delhi, March 24 : The Indian Navy has tracked the movement of newly commissioned Pakistan naval ship Yarmook from Romania enroute Red Sea to Karachi, sources said on Tuesday.

The sources added that a big ceremony has been organised in Pakistan where thousands of navy personnel gathered to welcome Yarmook.

The international community, however, criticised the Pakistan government's decision for a mass gathering to welcome the ship. Its move is against the social distancing norms being adopted across the world in the fight against COVID-19.

Indian Navy warships and surveillance aircraft tracked the movement of the ship a week ago in the Indian Ocean region, sources said.

The Pakistan Navy commissioned the 2300-tonne Corvette PNS Yarmook at a ceremony held at Constanta Port, Romania on February 13, 2020.

On Monday, China organized a keel laying ceremony of a second ship of Type 054 A/P at Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in China for the Pakistan Navy.

China, which has been fighting the battle against coronavirus and has adopted social distancing, however, allowed a gathering of its naval forces and Pakistani naval personnel during the keel laying ceremony.

The ceremony was attended by officials from Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard, Pakistan Navy officers and representatives from Chinese naval equipment firms.
The non-government resident clients' deposits grew in February 2020 by 0.8 pct against January 2020, to 367.542 billion lei and by 10.3 pct (7.0 pct in real terms) to February 2019, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs in a release sent on Tuesday to AGERPRES.

The RON-denominated deposits of the population grew by 1.5 pct against January 2020, up to 133.614 billion lei, and against February 2019 they recorded an increase of 9.9 pct (6.6 pct in real terms).

The RON-denominated deposits of other sectors (non-financial corporations and non-monetary financial institutions) dipped by 0.8 pct (until 105.673 bilion lei) against January 2020 and rose by 7.6 pct to February 2019.

The forex-denominated deposits of the residents increased by 1.4 pct against January 2020, up to 128.254 billion lei (when expressed in EUR, these deposits moved up 0.7 pct to EUR 26.649,3 billion). In year-on-year comparison, this indicator grew 13.1 per cent when expressed in RON (or 11.4 per cent when expressed in EUR).

The forex-denominated deposits of households advanced by 1.5 pct against January 2020 (1.2 percent in real terms) when expressed in RON (when expressed in EUR, these deposits moved up 0.7 pct). On an annual basis, this indicator expanded by 14.0 pct when expressed in domestic currency (when expressed in EUR, this indicator rose by 12.3 pct).

The forex-denominated deposits of other sectors (non-financial corporations and non-monetary financial institutions) saw an increase of 1.3 pct (1.0 pct in real terms) against January 2020 when expressed in RON (when expressed in EUR, these deposits climbed by 0.6 pct). Compared to the same month of 2019, the forex-denominated deposits of other sectors went up 10.6 pct when expressed in RON (or 9.0 pct when expressed in EUR).
For Elizabeth Schneider, her bout with the coronavirus began with a scratchy throat, exhaustion and a headache. Then came fever, chills and nausea. But she never had shortness of breath or coughing.

Charlie Campbells 89-year-old dad had a cough and irregular heart rate and was briefly on oxygen before he recovered.

Amy Driscoll first experienced shortness of breath and her chest felt constricted.

For Bill Houser, a Superior Court judge in Kitsap County, Washington, the symptoms came on overnight.

People who contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus sweeping the globe, can experience a broad range of symptoms and have very different experiences.

Stay connected, even when we're all apart. Join our Coronavirus Watch Facebook group.

Some have no symptoms at all. By far the largest group present with fever and other symptoms. Most will get better on their own. About 15% of those infected go on to have severe illness and must be hospitalized. Another 5% become so ill they must be treated in an intensive care unit.

The most common symptoms for those who get them, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, are fever, cough, shortness of breath when they first get sick, and muscle pain or fatigue.

Others have reported less common symptoms, including sore or scratchy throat, headache, a productive cough, and nausea or diarrhea.

Coronavirus: There's a new symptom, doctors say: Sudden loss of smell or taste

Schneider of Seattle had a front-row seat for the range of symptoms when a large group of her friends were exposed to the virus at a party on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Schneider, 37, woke up Tuesday a little tired and groggy. She went to work but by midday began to feel as if she was coming down with a bad cold.

I had a headache and body aches and a little fever, she said.

Elizabeth Schneider, 37, was one of a cluster of people infected with the coronavirus at a party in Seattle on Feb. 22. All recovered.

She got home and took a nap. When she got up her temperature was 101. There was no cough, shortness of breath or tightness in her chest. But she kept getting sicker.

Story continues

That evening my temperature spiked up to 103 and I started shivering uncontrollably. I could barely brush my teeth and take out my contacts and go to bed, she said.

She took over-the-counter cold medicine and went to sleep. By morning, her temperature was down to 101. She spent the next two days in bed, sleeping and drinking lots of water. She slowly got better, with only a low temperature and tiredness toward the end. But it wasn't until 12 days later that she felt truly well, she said.

These states are ordering residents to stay home or shelter in place. What does that mean?

From 'really sick' to not 'really lousy'

In Hudson, Ohio, Driscoll's experience with the illness started out in much the same way. The 48-year-old suddenly started feeling tired and feverish March 11 at work. When she got home that night, her temperature was elevated, so she took Motrin and went to sleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night coughing, and her chest hurt.

It was hard to get a breath in and my chest felt constricted, Driscoll told the Akron Beacon Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. It was like nothing I had ever quite experienced.

Amy Driscoll, 48, looks out her front door Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19.

She went to the hospital the next day and was immediately put in isolation. By Friday, Driscoll's temperature was 102 and she had tested positive for COVID-19. She remained hospitalized for two days, on IV fluids, pain medications and fever reducers, before she was well enough to be sent home.

As late as March 17, nearly a week after her first symptoms, Driscoll was still exhausted and dealing with fatigue and headaches.

I was really sick, she said. I was really scared there for a little while about how sick I was.

Houser woke on March 13 with a temperature over 100 degrees, sore throat and a cough, after feeling fine when he'd gone to sleep the night before.

He told the Kitsap Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network, that it felt similar to the flu but not as bad.

"The last time I had the flu. I felt really lousy. I havent felt really lousy with this," he said.

Houser said his fever went away in short order and he experienced some body aches, but not too much. A week later he said he still had a cough and had never felt short of breath. Mostly he felt more tired than usual, and has been napping.

"It just was different," he said when asked to compare it to a case of the flu.

Tracking the outbreak: See how it's evolved in the US

'I was sleeping 19 hours a day'

For Noelle Ruiz, 27, it began March 10 with a 101-degree fever. She took Tylenol and rested. After about a day the fever subsided. She still had a headache and cough; she felt pressure in her sinuses but had no sniffles. Later in the week, she developed chest pain when she breathed but still didnt think it was COVID-19.

Only six days later did the worst of the symptoms hit.

I was sleeping 19 hours a day. I felt nauseous. When Id get up to go to the kitchen, Id run out of breath. It was like I was doing exercises, but Id only walked the distance of the room, she said from her home in Los Altos, California.

I couldnt really take a deep breath. I didnt feel like I had enough air in my lungs, she said.

Ruiz had another set of symptoms appearing in some of those infected. "I lost taste, food wasnt appetizing, I couldnt smell anything," she said.

While it's unknown how many people infected experience a loss of sense of smell, called anosmia, or a loss of taste known as ageusia, doctors are finding the symptoms reported by some COVID-19 patients.

It was the shortness of breath that finally triggered Ruiz doctor to test her. She learned Sunday she was positive for the coronavirus. .

Ruiz is pretty sure she got it from her mother-in-law, who got sick a week before her and went on to develop pneumonia. She was admitted to the hospital, put on oxygen and recovered after a few days and is now quarantined in her apartment.

For Ruiz things never got that bad, but only now is she beginning to feel normal after almost two weeks of being sick. For her, COVID-19 wasnt as severe as the full-on flu but did really take it out of her.

The biggest symptoms to me were how tired I was and how much sleep I needed," she said. "And the tightness in my chest. It was just weird that it took six days for the more COVID-like symptoms to hit me."

One party, a plethora of symptoms

Back in Seattle, when Schneider finally had the energy go on Facebook, she saw many of her friends whod been at the Saturday night party and come down with the same thing. They began chatting online and wondered if theyd all gotten the coronavirus. It was early in the outbreak and there were few definitive cases.

A dozen of them formed a group on Facebook, and seven were tested. All came back positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Schneider, a bioengineer, was fascinated by the vast range of experiences they all had.

One of her friends who tested positive for the virus had no symptoms at all, but his employers rules required he be tested because hed likely been exposed. Another had only a little congestion in her chest and felt a little tired, Schneider said.

Reader Q&A: We've been flooded with thousands of reader questions on coronavirus. We're answering them.

How to help: Mister Rogers said to 'look for the helpers.' Here's how to help amid coronavirus panic.

No one among the group had respiratory symptoms except in a few cases where people had a dry cough or tickle at the back of their throat toward the end of their illnesses. One had shortness of breath and body aches, headache and exhaustion, but no fever. Another came down with a low-level pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs that can be caused by infection.

Schneider had all the symptoms save shortness of breath  high fever, fatigue, body aches, headache, nausea, diarrhea and lack of energy  and it took her about nine days to start feeling herself again.

All of her friends have recovered and no one was hospitalized, for which they're all thankful. Schneider's takeaway was the virus can manifest in so many ways that its hard to pin down.

For her, it felt like a really bad case of the flu. Others didnt even know they had it.

I think this virus just has the whole kit and caboodle," she said. "It all varies depending on how bad you get it.

Contributing: Andrew Binion, Kitsap Sun, Jennifer Pignolet, Akron Beacon Journal.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus symptoms vary widely: Dry cough, sore throat, fever, smell
Health secretary Matt Hancock has been branded grossly irresponsible after calling for Londons Underground system to return to full operations, after NHS medics complained that they were unable to observe social distancing rules in overcrowded carriages.

Controversy was sparked after health workers put images of busy trains on social media, with one complaining that he was risking my health on his journey to work at a hospital in the centre of the capital.

There have been widespread calls for non-essential employees like construction workers to stay home during the three-week lockdown called by prime minister Boris Johnson.

Londons Tube has been running reduced services, with some stations shut, in response to the coronavirus outbreak. And mayor Sadiq Khan has said only key workers, like NHS staff, should use it during rush hour.

But desperate hospital worker Gav posted a picture of a jam-packed early-morning train on Twitter, with the message: I love my job, but now Im risking my health just on the journey in?!

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

Sadiq Khan put the tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or Boris Johnson start policing whos getting on. Help me!

In a Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock defended the decision to allow people who could not work at home - such as builders - to continue to travel to their jobs, so long as they are able to keep two metres apart from colleagues while they are there.

And he turned on the decision to scale back Tube services.

The best answer is that Transport for London should have the Tube running in full, so that the people travelling on the Tube are spaced out and can be further apart obeying the two metre rule wherever possible, said Mr Hancock.

There is there's no good reason in the information that I've seen that the current levels of Tube provision should be as low as they are. We should have more Tube trains running.

He added: When it comes to construction, there's there's many countries that have made the same judgement that you can carry on with people two metres apart from each other.

A spokeswoman for the mayor said the Government needed to act urgently to get more people staying at home rather than going to work unnecessarily.

She added: That means taking the difficult decisions they are refusing to take to ban non-essential construction work and provide proper financial support to freelancers, the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts to stay at home.

And Mr Khan said he made this point to Mr Johnson forcibly at a meeting of the governments Cobra emergencies committee.

Asked if construction workers in London should be using public transport, Mr Khan told ITVs Good Morning Britain: My view is no, and I made that point quite forcibly at yesterdays Cobra, I made that point quite clearly to the prime minister.

The general secretary of the RMT transport union Mick Cash said: "At a time when we are trying to encourage people to stay away from the Tube so we can concentrate on moving essential workers the government call to reinstate a full service is grossly irresponsible as it suggests it's business as usual.

"The real problem is this government's refusal to give any wage support to casualised workers who will receive no income if they don't travel and go to work.

Mr Hancock dismissed any suggestion that the UK government decision not to shut down building sites was linked to the 1 million-plus donations from developers to the Conservative party during last years election campaign or was driven by the desire to avoid economic damage.

All the decisions that we're taking are taken in the national interest, he said.

Asked what staff should do if their employers told them to turn up when they did not believe they were key workers, Mr Hancock said: We have been incredibly clear about the rules. We strengthened the rules yesterday and essentially flipped the basis of the rules, so it's not Do whatever you like, so long as you don't do the following, it is Stay at home, unless you've got a good reason. And we will also enforce against those rules.

But he stressed that some non-essential workplaces can stay open while still observing the safety rules.

The judgement that we have made is that in work in many many instances the two metre rule can be applied, he said.

Where possible, people should work from home, and employers have a duty to ensure that people are more than two metres apart.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said that the Construction Leadership Council had issued guidance to the industry.

He added: It should continue where it can happen in a way that follows Public Health England and industry guidance.

We urge employers to use their common sense when managing live projects and ensuring that employees can follow the Government guidance and practice safe social distancing on site.

House-builder Taylor Wimpey has closed its construction sites, show homes and sale sites.

But rival Redrow said its sites remain open with strict precautions in place including enhanced levels of cleaning, additional hygiene facilities and social distancing.
[March 23, 2020] Trustwave Named a Leader in Two IDC MarketScapes on Asia Pacific Cybersecurity

Trustwave today announced industry analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC (News - Alert)) has named Trustwave a Leader in both the IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services 2020 Vendor Assessmenti and the IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Professional Security Services - Advisory, Assessment, and Awareness 2020 Vendor Assessmentii. The reports assessed organizations in the Asia Pacific region against a broad set of parameters including breadth of service offerings, portfolio benefits, delivery model, market execution, cost management, innovation, customer satisfaction and talent management. The managed security services report noted that Trustwave Managed Security Services, backed by nine globally-connected security operations centers, is among the most comprehensive within the Asia Pacific region and that Trustwave continues to substantially invest in innovative delivery models and customer experience. The professional services report noted the company has significantly invested in innovative delivery models and customer experience citing its virtual CISO service that provides a retainer-based strategy for implementing and managing technologies to solve client problems as a prime example. "Against a backdrop of increasingly complex business environments and mounting legal and regulatory pressures, the demand for managed security services and consulting and professional services continues to grow," said Toh Lee Chiang, general manager of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Trustwave. "Our position in the IDC MarketScape reports reflects our commitment to helping organizations in the region combat threats by providing a security service portfolio backed by some of the world's best security expertise."



"The portfolio and capabilities of those named to the Leaders Category in the managed security services and the professional security services IDC MarketScapes have proved to be very strong," said Cathy Huang, associate research director, IDC Asia/Pacific Services and Security. "With cybersecurity rapidly rising as the most significant business risk for many, companies like Trustwave continue to push innovation to help ensure customers have the right technologies and high-level expertise needed to effectively protect operations and businesses." For inclusion in the IDC MarketScape study, managed security service providers were selected based on the following criteria: possession of a comprehensive managed security services portfolio, in-country managed security services delivery capability in a minimum of two Asia Pacific subregions and having a total revenue over USD$10 million attained in Asia Pacific in 2018. Professional security services providers were selected based on possession of a comprehensive professional security services portfolio; in-country professional security services delivery capability in a minimum of two Asia Pacific subregions and multipoint assessment.

For a complimentary copy of the IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services 2020 Vendor Assessment, visit: https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/library/documents/idc-marketscape-asia-pacific-managed-security-services-2020-vendor-assessment/. For a complimentary copy of the IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Professional Security Services - Advisory, Assessment, and Awareness 2020 Vendor Assessment, visit: https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/library/documents/idc-marketscape-apac-pss-2020-vendor-assessment/. About IDC MarketScape IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors. About Trustwave Trustwave is a leading cybersecurity and managed security services provider that helps businesses fight cybercrime, protect data and reduce security risk. Offering a comprehensive portfolio of managed security services, consulting and professional services, and data protection technology, Trustwave helps businesses embrace digital transformation securely. Trustwave is a Singtel company and the global security arm of Singtel, Optus (News - Alert) and NCS, with customers in 96 countries. For more information about Trustwave, visit https://www.trustwave.com. i Source (News - Alert): IDC Marketscape, "Asia/Pacific Professional Security Services - Advisory, Assessment, and Awareness 2020 Vendor Assessment" by Cathy Huang, James Sivalingam, February 2020. ii Source: IDC Marketscape, "Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services 2020 Vendor Assessment" by Cathy Huang, James Sivalingam, February 2020. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200323005673/en/

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In the last week, a group of thirty volunteers from tech companies like Apple, Amazon and Alphabet put together a website called "covidnearyou" that aims to track the coronavirus as it spreads.

The idea started when Prem Ramaswami, the head of product at Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs, and his wife, started feeling sick more than a week ago. When he tried to get a test for the coronavirus, his doctor told him that would not be possible. According to Ramaswami, he was denied access to the test because he hadn't been in touch with anyone who had tested positive.

Ramaswami, who previously worked on health projects at Google, wondered how he could help others in the same boat. So he got in touch with John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital, to volunteer his services. Brownstein is well-known to the tech world as he has consulted with companies like Google and Uber on public health projects for years, including the Google Flu Project, which tracked the spread of the flu.

Once they jumped on a call, Brownstein informed him about a website that was already underway to monitor influenza, called "flunearyou." The pair decided to co-opt the underlying technology for better COVID-19 monitoring, given the current gap in testing. That led to the idea of developing "covidnearyou."

But Ramaswami realized he couldn't do it on his own. So he pulled together a group of friends and acquaintances from the tech world to help out. Employees from Apple, Amazon, MongoDB, CloudFlare, Alphabet and other tech companies agreed to build the site, but defer to the public health experts on the content.

"I'm a tech guy, not a doctor," said Ramaswami, who is more focused on civic-tech these days at Sidewalk Labs. "We are here to help the medical experts and take their direction."

After a week of work, the team, which includes designers, engineers and marketers, are now ready to go live with covidnearyou.org. The site is recruiting people from across the U.S. to share whether they're experiencing symptoms or not, as well as some demographic information.

If they can get enough people to use the site -- and the goal is to reach 100,000 users -- they hope to fill in some of the gaps in reporting due to the lack of testing.

"Without widespread testing, we don't have a clear picture of where the illness is, " Brownstein explained. "We are basically flying blind."

Healthy individuals who participate are asked to fill out information about their gender, age and zipcode, and whether they've received a flu vaccine. The site also includes a map of the various states and shows where the outbreaks are.

Those who are feeling sick are prompted to describe their symptoms, such as fever, a cough, or shortness of breath. They are also asked if they've traveled recently, and if they've been in direct contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19.

In future iterations, the team plans to add more symptoms as medical professionals release more information about the coronavirus. For instance, some doctors are now saying such as digestive ailments and lack of smell should be added the list that the public should know about, alongside fever and respiratory issues.

According to Brownstein, the data will be shared with public health groups and not with the various tech companies.

As of this morning, about 10,000 people had provided their health status to covidnearyou, said Brownstein, and the majority of them are healthy. If usage keeps growing, he believes that the data-set will be large enough to be useful to public health officials.

The project's volunteers say they are continuing to work on the site while juggling their day jobs.

"Many of us are working on this from 3pm to 9pm after work, and our spouses are helping take on the load with childcare," said Ramaswami. "But people in tech are hungry to help out right now."
I read with interest the considerations underway to make remote voting available for the members of Congress who have contracted the coronavirus [Rand Paul first senator to test positive for covid-19, news, March 23]. There is simply no justification for adjusting the voting rules for their unique circumstances while not broadening voting accessibility to every American during the current national emergency. Legislation sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) would ensure that every eligible American would receive a ballot in the mail in advance of the election. In several states, this is already the norm. We should expand this nationwide, given the pandemic, so that all voters can exercise their right without jeopardizing their health.
A 35-year-old woman, who was



asked to remain under home quarantine after her return from Sharjah, fled to her parent's house in Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra's Nagpur city, police said on Tuesday.

The woman arrived at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur on March 15, and with no obvious symptoms of coronavirus, she was asked to remain under home quarantine for 14 days, an official from Sonepur police station said.

The incident came to light on Monday, when a team of doctors visited her home and found her missing, following which the police were roped in to investigate, he said.

The woman's family informed the police that she had gone to Johanpur in Uttar Pradesh, he said, adding that the authorities in there have been informed about the woman's quarantine status.

An offence has been registered under sections 188 (disobeying an order issued by a public servant), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and the Epidemic Diseases Act, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:10:11|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Top U.S. congressional lawmakers and the Trump administration on Tuesday are close to reach an agreement on a stimulus package, worth at least 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars, to cushion the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

"I believe we are on the five-yard line," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor, adding lawmakers are "very close" to a bill that takes bold Republican framework and integrates further ideas from both parties.

"I'm not sure how many ways to say it but the clock has run out. The buzzer is sounding. The hour for bargaining as though this were business as usual has expired," McConnell said. "I hope today is the day this body will get it done."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that right now negotiators are on the two-yard-line for an economic package that contains "lots of good things."

"As I also said last night at this point of the few outstanding issues, I don't see any that can't be overcome within the next few hours," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, also told CNBC on Tuesday morning that there is "real optimism" that an agreement would be reached in the next few hours.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has led the negotiations for Republicans, said Tuesday morning that he expected a deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"We're looking forward to closing a bipartisan deal today. The president wants us to get this done today. We're down to a small number of issues, and we look forward to a successful outcome," Mnuchin was quoted as saying.

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump also pressed lawmakers to reach an agreement on the stimulus package to support the economy and workers.

"Congress must approve the deal, without all of the nonsense, today. The longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!" Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.

The stimulus package came as the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak is expected to have a significant negative impact on the U.S. economy, with economists' predictions for losses of up to five million jobs this year.

A recession in the United States is now all but certain, according to a recent survey of 34 economists conducted by The Wall Street Journal, which projects a downturn that would last months at least and would in some ways rival the severity of the recent global financial crisis in 2008.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) has written to President Donald Trump and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a request to grant the oil industry temporary waivers from "non-essential compliance obligations," The Hill reports, citing the letter.

The non-essential obligations regard record-keeping, training, and other activities unrelated to safety.

Reuters reported on the letter three days ago, saying the API had motivated its request with the danger of running low on healthy workforce, necessary to continue supplying fuel to the country.

"The oil and natural gas industry, like other critical infrastructure sectors, is working tirelessly to ensure there is no interruption in our supply chains as a result of this pandemic," the letter said.

Interestingly, the letter, signed by API president Mike Sommers, comes just a couple of weeks after Sommers told CNN that the U.S. oil industry had no intention of asking the government for a bailout.

"We have no interest in engaging in discussions about bailouts," Sommers told CNN. "This is not something we are advocating for."

The comments came in response to information, coming from an unnamed source, that Washington was considering financial aid for the oil industry, which is in a vulnerable position right now, what with the coronavirus outbreak and the oil price war that has sunk West Texas Intermediate to below $30 a barrel.

A bailout will be highly controversial, and the API knows this. It will certainly do no good for the industry's reputation. But help in the form of waivers for non-critical regulatory requirements might help cushion the blow that, according to analysts, will lead to bankruptcies and potentially massive layoffs in a worse repeat of the 2014-2016 crisis.

Trump is in an awkward position, however. On the one hand, cheap gas at the pump is attractive to voters. On the other, the oil stocks crash caused by the price slump has dragged the whole market down, and this is not so good for voters.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Bhubaneswar, March 23 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday appealed the people to donate generously to CMRF to provide humanitarian help to the COVID-19 affected people.

Naveen Patnaik also donated his 3 months salary to Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF).

"Extraordinary circumstance demands extraordinary response. Covid 19 has created a great challenge for the entire world. It requires a lot of funds to carry out humanitarian activities," said Patnaik.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) general secretary Sanjay Das Burma requested party's all MPs and MLAs to donate their three months' salary to CMRF by March 29 to empower the government to fight the COVID-19.

--IANS

cd/kr
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 17:54:19|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait reported two new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 191, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday.

At a press conference, the ministry's spokesman Abdullah Al-Sanad said the two cases are a Philippine national and an Indian resident who were in contact with patients who arrived from Britain.

Out of the 191 cases, 39 have recovered and 152 are still receiving treatment, he added.

There are five cases still in the ICU and 708 individuals have finished the quarantine period, the spokesman noted.

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 shops, malls and barbershops.
Mondays attack was claimed by a shadowy armed group, Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, or followers of the prophetic tradition.

Djapo Mario, a 43-year-old salesman, woke up to the sound of gunfire as armed fighters attacked Mocimboa da Praia, a town in Mozambiques northern Cabo Delgado province and its military headquarters.

We started to hear gunshots. They [attackers] were in confrontations with the police. They raided a police barracks and put their flag on it. We had to stay home and hide, Mario told Al Jazeera.

The assailants destroyed houses, vandalised public spaces, and erected barricades along important roads. It was unclear how many people were killed or wounded as most residents were still in hiding, and the government had yet to assess the situation.

The attackers were in control of the city until late on Monday when Mozambican authorities said the fighters were dislodged.

But residents are still in shock and trying to come to terms with the attack.

It seems that things are calmer today [Tuesday] but the fear remains. Im afraid to go to work, but Im a trader and I depend on it to feed my family. I have two children aged five and six years, said Mario.





We are afraid. It seems that this part is not Mozambique. We are dying and nobody does anything. We were at the government headquarters and there are not many agencies here to help us, he added.

Im still here. I have nowhere to go.

Increasing attacks

The commander of Mozambican police, Bernadino Rafael, called for calm.

The defence and security forces are doing everything to restore order in Mocimboa da Praia. We ask people to remain calm, he told journalists in the capital, Maputo.

This was the most daring attack on Mocimboa da Praia, 90km (56 miles) from a major liquified natural gas project worth about $60bn.

Mondays attack was one of several in Cabo Delgado claimed by a shadowy armed group, Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, or followers of the prophetic tradition.

The group has killed hundreds and displaced thousands since it launched attacks in October 2017, according to medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF).

More recently, the armed group ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility via its media outlets, though there has been no independent confirmation of a link.

Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamas attacks were initially dismissed as isolated acts of banditry, but the frequency of assaults has been increasing.

Ryan Cummings, a political and security risk analyst, said: The increase in the attacks is reflective of the failure of the state to adequately curtail the Islamist insurgency.

The militant group has also employed enhanced weaponry and demonstrated evolved tactical engagement, he told Al Jazeera.

Because of the gas

The northern region of Mozambique is home to one of the worlds biggest recent gas finds, where Exxon Mobil Corp, Total, and other energy firms have set up operations.

It looks like this war is taking place because of the gas. If so, I prefer that we dont have gas to live safely, Mario said.

Recently, Exxon and Total called for more troops to guard their facilities in the north.

Government forces have struggled to contain the attacks despite promises by President Filipe Nyusi to stem the violence after he was sworn in for a second five-year term in January.

Although extremist attacks have not led to any direct acts of violence against interests associated with the liquefied natural gas industry, it is likely to heighten concerns regarding the threat posed by militants to the nascent sector, Cummings said.

The state security services will have to prioritise between the Cabo Delgado insurgency, the armed threat posed by the Renamo military junta, post-cyclone reconstruction, and any measures which will be implemented in the country in light of the detection of COVID-19 within Mozambican borders, he added.

President Filipe Nyusi has promised to stem the wave of attacks in Cabo Delgado province [Armando Franca/AP]

Forced displacement

About 100,000 people have been displaced because of the surge of attacks in Cabo Delgado province over the last two years, according to the United Nationss human rights body. Many have fled to islands with little infrastructure.

Rights group Amnesty International has called on the government to step up efforts to protect civilians from further attacks.

We are not aware of measures put in place to look after those who have been displaced by the attacks, as the government doesnt acknowledge the problem. NGOs are not allowed into the conflict area, David Matsinhe, Amnestys researcher for Southern Africa, said.

There are allegations of human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians accused of aiding abetting the insurgents. The government does not want embarrassing information  such as about this attack  to surface because such information would betray the governments weakness, inability to control the situation, Matsinhe added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 10:19:24|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CANBERRA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Parliament has voted to pass about 84 billion Australian dollars (about 49 billion U.S. dollars) in economic stimulus measures on Monday in response to the outbreak of coronavirus.

"The measures that have been passed by the parliament today represent the most significant support for the Australian economy and community since the war," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

A bare minimum number of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators convened in Canberra for a single day on Monday to vote on the government's stimulus packages before the parliament was suspended until August.

In a late-night session, the Opposition Labor Party joined forces with the governing Coalition to pass the two packages, which are worth 17.6 billion Australian dollars (10.2 billion U.S. dollars) and 66 billion dollars (38.5 billion U.S. dollars) respectively.

They also agreed to set aside an extra 40 billion dollars (23.3 billion U.S. dollars) for urgent unforeseen spending associated with the pandemic.

"There is much to do for this country in the weeks and months ahead, but working together, we can support the Australian community at their moment of need," said Frydenberg.

"We know that the economic situation has deteriorated, as every day passes. And we know that the economic shock from the coronavirus and its impact will be deeper, will be wider and will be longer than first thought.

"But tonight, the Australian Parliament has acted in the best interests of the casuals and the sole traders and the retirees and those on income support and the Australian students."

Under the stimulus measures, eligible small and medium sized businesses, and not-for-profits (including charities) that employ people, will receive payments of up to 100,000 Australian dollars (58,385 U.S. dollars) in an attempt to prevent losses.

Addressing the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison said on Monday morning that "for many, young and old, 2020 will be the toughest year of our lives," invoking the spirit of Australians who fought in World War II.

"So we summon the spirit of the Anzacs, of our Great Depression generation, of those who built the Snowy. Of those who won the great peace of the Second World War and defended Australia," he said.

"That is our legacy that we draw on at this time. We also know the actions that we can take. The care, compassion and respect we must show from one, to one another. While some must self-isolate, and they must, and we all must keep a healthy distance between us.

"In the months ahead, we will face more issues that none of us now, can imagine."

The legislation gives the government flexibility to respond to COVID-19 as new challenges emerge without needing further legislation.

The parliament will not sit again until August 11 in order to prevent the spread of the virus among politicians.

The federal budget for financial year 2020/21, which Frydenberg was due to deliver in May, has been postponed until Oct. 6.
She's been playing the role of home school teacher since going into quarantine with her two young children in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

And on Monday, Holly Madison, 40, took a brief reprieve from her home sequester for a quick walk along some pretty empty streets in Los Angeles.

In keeping with the rallying call of health officials, the former Girls Next Door star kept the social distancing recommendation in mind and never appeared to get close to anyone during her stroll.

Cabin Fever antidote: Holly Madison, 40, took a break from home quarantine and went out for a walk near her home in Los Angeles on Monday

While out and about, the Oregon native opted for casual-comfort in the fashion department in a black and blue plaid shirt over a t-shirt and black leggings.

She also donned a pair of sneakers and wore her dyed blonde tresses long with some added volume and a part on the slight left.

Earlier in the day, Madison admitted to one of the mental side effects of the ongoing health crisis quarantine.

In step: The former Girls Next Door star adhered to the social distancing recommendation during her stroll

Casual-comfort: The Oregon wore a black and blue plaid shirt over a t-shirt and black leggings.

Keeping contact: While out and about, the reality star regularly checked her phone

'Confession: I thought it was Monday yesterday. All day,' she captioned a photo showing herself with a dumbfounded look on her face and her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

With schools closed, the Holly's World star has been organizing some lessons for daughter Rainbow, seven and son Forest, three, whom she shares with ex-husband Pasquale Rotella.

Ah ha: At one point Madison took notice of a photographer in the distance and snapped her own picture and shared it on her Insta-Story

Whoops: Madison confessed she thought it was Monday yesterday, in an Instagram post showing her sticking out her tongue

'Of course my printer decides that the quarantine/home school era is the perfect time to die on me,' she wrote along with a quick video clip of her, again, stick out her tongue.

The former couple had been married for about five years when they announced they had separated in 2018.

Their divorce was finalized in February 2019.
New York is 'pursuing' testing residents' blood for coronavirus antibodies, which indicate that they have had, recovered from and become immune to the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.

Researchers at Mt Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine announced Monday that they had developed the first so-called serologic test for COVID-19 in the US, and plan to roll it out in the next few days in its clinics.

Serologic testing will likely confirm what experts suspect: that thousands more people than have tested positive for coronavirus have actually contracted and cleared the infection.

'This is important for us to know because these are then health care workers who could go back to work and workers who could return back to the private sector,' Cuomo said Tuesday.

It's not yet clear when and where exactly the test will be deployed, but Mt Sinai previously said it would begin using the blood test in its clinics.

It comes as coronavirus cases in New York rise to 25,665 and US cases surpass 49,000.

Mt Sinai scientists have developed a serologic test for coronavirus that can detect when someone has developed antibodies after being infected with the virus,

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that New York is 'pursuing' blood testing that will detect whether people have been infected by and developed antibodies to coronavirus

Although more than 81 percent of people who catch coronavirus are thought to only develop mild symptoms and recover from the disease, the remaining, more severely ill patients are still enough to quickly overwhelm US hospitals.

New York is already on the precipice of that point.

'The apex is higher than we thought and it's sooner than we thought,' said Cuomo, who estimates that that peak may be reached in 14 to 21 days in New York.

He and his administration now believe that New York may need as many as 140,000 hospital beds for coronavirus patients.

'I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need...but we need the staff,' Cuomo said.

As coronavirus patients flood into hospitals, health care workers are bound to contract the virus.

Monday, New York hospitals were already reporting shortages of the personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks, further raising workers' risks of contracting COVID-19.

Cuomo said that a shipment of PPE and masks was being distributed to New York hospitals on Tuesday and said that no workers will be without protection - today.

But it won't last forever. Health care workers will get coronavirus, and have to stay at home to keep from infecting vulnerable patients, leaving hospitals under-staffed.

The new blood test will at least tell those workers when its safe to return to work and may indicate to others that they've already been infected without getting seriously ill and are now immune.

'They may have been infected and resolved and never knew it, but if they had coronavirus and it resolved, now they have an immunity to the coronavirus,' and most doctors believe it could be for a 'significantly' long time, Cuomo said.

Both he and Mt Sinai suggested the tests will first be administered to health professionals, but such testing could also help jump start the economy once it's available more broadly.

Hospitals in New York are already being overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, and the blood test would indicate when health care workers can safely go back to work

Cases of coronavirus are quickly approaching 50,000 in the US, with the fastest acceleration occurring in New York - but more people are sure to be diagnosed across the country

But it won't last forever. Health care workers will get coronavirus, and have to stay at home to keep from infecting vulnerable patients, leaving hospitals under-staffed.

The new blood test will at least tell those workers when its safe to return to work and may indicate to others that they've already been infected without getting seriously ill and are now immune.

'They may have been infected and resolved and never knew it, but if they had coronavirus and it resolved, now they have an immunity to the coronavirus,' and most doctors believe it could be for a 'significantly' long time, Cuomo said.

Both he and Mt Sinai suggested the tests will first be administered to health professionals, but such testing could also help jump start the economy once it's available more broadly.

That would serve Cuomo's assertion and plan that both public health and the economy have to be tended to amid the coronavirus crisis - not just one or the other.

Cuomo called the serologic assay 'a new level of testing.'

Diagnostic testing for coronavirus has stumbled into existence in the US, and is only just becoming widely available across the country where the expansion of tests means thousands of additional cases are being identified a day.

Serologic tests are typically cheaper, faster, more reliable than diagnostics like the CDC's swab test, though they also serve a different purpose.

People whose blood tests positive for coronavirus antibodies are unlikely to be re-infected and may be able to return to work, helping to restart the the US's largely paused economy.

And when enough people's blood tests positive for these antibodies, it will signal to health officials that restrictions on movement, business and social contact can be relaxed without risking a steep uptick in the virus's spread.

One of the greatest challenges to containing and understanding the coronavirus epidemic is the mystery number of people who may be unwittingly infected.

If COVID-19 behaves similarly in the US to the way it has isn China, more than 80 percent of patients will have only mild symptoms easily mistaken for the common cold or flu: fever, coughing and body aches.

One study conducted at Huazhong Unversity of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China - the origin and epicenter of the outbreak - estimated that at least 59 percent of infected individuals had o idea they were sick, didn't get tested and were roaming the city, exposing others to the virus.

About 18 percent of the infected passengers on the infamous Diamond Princess cruise ship never developed even mild symptoms of the virus, according to a study conducted by Dr Gerardo Chowell, a mathematical epidemiologist at Georgia State University.

By now, it's quite clear that people with more symptoms of COVID-19 are also more contagious.

Drive-thru testing sites have cropped up across the US, including in California (pictured), but the serologic test will serve a different function. It will go first to health care workers to find out if they've been infected already and developed an immune defense against the virus

Once someone is suspected of having coronavirus, their blood is regularly drawn, and these samples can be analyzed with the serologic test and it can show if they were infected 'a month ' before , the Mt Sinai team said

But they're also far easier to identify and contain.

It's silent spreaders and the uncertainty of who might be infected that makes coronavirus dangerous and makes sweeping restrictions on activity necessary.

Since the early days of the pandemic - before officials would call it a 'pandemic' the World Health Organization has repeated that a serologic test will be key to painting a clearer pictured of how much of the population is really infected, and how serious coronavirus really is for most.

Already, these tests have been developed by China, Singapore and South Korea and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed and is verifying their test.

Now, the US, which has struggled so much to deploy swab diagnostic tests, finally has a blood test for antibodies against coronavirus, according to a preprint published by the Mt Sinai team last week.

Mt Sinai uploaded step-by-step instructions for its test on Monday, to be used by other hospitals and research labs, Dr Florian Krammer, head of the microbiology labe that created the blood test told Leapsmag.

These antibodies should be detectable after about seven days of infection.

Dr Krammer told Leapsmag that patients suspected of having coronavirus have their blood drawn regularly, and these samples can be analzyed with the serologic test without doing a new blood draw.

Once a significant proportion of the US has developed good immunity against the virus, measured by the blood test, it may be safe to lift restrictions like the lockdowns in at least 12 states across the US

The serologic test can also detect antibodies in someone who is not currently sick, but had been a month previous.

And if these people, or those currently infected, have high enough levels of these antibodies, they may be protected against the virus going forward.

'People probably cannot get reinfected once they mount a good immune response and have antibody levels,' Dr Krammer told Leapsmag.

Once that is the case, these people are more likely safe to resume relatively normal activities, without risk of becoming infected or infecting someone else (if they've tested negative for the virus itself).

It's still too soon to tell, however, how long this immunity will last.

'If a sizable portion of a local community has some protection, authorities can be more confident in relying less on invasive measures,' wrote former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

'Once deployed, serological tests are cheap, straightforward, and easy to scale.'

But the test won't be for everyone - at least not at first.

'It will be essential workers who need to be tested first, like nurses, firefighters, and doctors,' said Dr Krammer.

'It will be great to know that they would not put themselves or others at risk by going back to work because they cannot spread the disease.'

Dr Krammer and his team don't yet know how widely the serologic test will be available, but they have widely distributed the instructions for the testing protocol, but their clinics will begin using it this week.
Italy's coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 6,000, as hospitals continue to struggle with the country's 64,000 confirmed cases.

And radio presenter Kate Langbroek, who lives with her family in Bologna, pleaded with Australians on Tuesday to take social distancing seriously in order to avoid a similar situation back home.

Kate, 54, said on Sunrise that people must 'do their bit' by staying at home during the global pandemic or risk a European-style crisis.

Scroll down for video

'The hospitals are overwhelmed': Kate Langbroek begged Australians to stay at home on Tuesday amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She is living with her family in Italy, where the death toll just hit 6,000

Kate is one of millions of Italian residents staying at home as parts of the country are placed under 'red zone' quarantine restrictions.

So far, her family have been stuck inside their Bologna apartment for 19 days.

'We're still here and we're still doing our bit - which I believe the only way this virus can be killed is by all of us doing basically nothing,' she said.

'Short of a vaccine, we need to minimise contact with each other and stay inside... It does seem that the only way that we can vanquish the coronavirus is by staying inside and minimising our contact with each other, so that is what we have to do.'

Kate said nearby hospitals were 'overwhelmed' by the influx of COVID-19 patients.

Troubling times: Kate said nearby hospitals were 'overwhelmed' by the influx of patients

She said: 'The hospitals are overwhelmed, the medical staff are overwhelmed and the understanding is that other countries in Europe that could have helped, didn't help initially.

'It really has an emotional impact to see the world you're so used to seeing a certain way just totally bereft.'

Kate and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis, relocated to Italy with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a 'gap year'. They have since extended their stay for another 12 months.

'Short of a vaccine, we need to minimise contact with each other and stay inside': Kate said her family were 'doing their bit' while locked down in their Bologna apartment

She has been documenting her experience on Instagram, sharing confronting photos of abandoned streets and empty churches, as well as describing some of the restrictions being enforced in public spaces.

Schools in Italy are also shut down, so Kate has been home schooling her four children for the past month.

'It's been 19 days in and a month of home schooling, but in the scheme of things, compared to the medical staff, this [self isolating] is nothing,' she said.

Expat life: Kate and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis, relocated to Italy with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a 'gap year'. They have since extended their stay for another 12 months

Meanwhile, there were 1,886 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia on Tuesday afternoon, including seven deaths.

The government has also forced 'non-essential' businesses to shut down, including gyms, pubs, clubs and casinos. Restaurants and cafes have been forced to close their dining areas but can still offer takeaway and home delivery.

There is also a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 100 people.
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One of Ireland's biggest geriatric rehabilitation hospitals is now battling to deal with eight confirmed and suspected cases of Covid-19.

The hospital complex - in the south - now threatens health chiefs with what a doctor described as one of the nightmare scenarios we had hoped to avoid.

Public health officials have effectively placed the complex in lockdown.

All visitors have been banned - with exceptions being made only in extreme circumstances.

Its understood that at least four of the patients have tested positive for the coronavirus, while results are awaited on another four.

A number of those confirmed to have Covid-19 are described as extremely vulnerable patients who are quite elderly.

Several of the patients involved have serious underlying health issues.

A further problem for health chiefs is that the 90-bed complex effectively acts as a rehab and step-down facility for a number of acute hospitals in the region.

It also acts as a support facility for a network of nursing homes in the area.

Some of its patients are in palliative care.

The sprawling complex offers a number of different community health-type services, most aimed at supporting the elderly.

Public health officials have worked tirelessly to shield nursing homes and geriatric hospitals from the virus.

This has ranged from visitor bans to isolation protocols and from intensive hand-washing to special hygiene measures.

The complex, at its last inspection in early 2019 by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), was described as having patients accommodated in five units with large institutional-type buildings.

Some parts of the hospital complex date back more than 100 years.

Hiqa found that 69 of the patients at the facility were accommodated in multi-occupancy bedrooms with 46 of these residents accommodated in bedrooms of five or more beds.

As yet the precise source of the Covid-19 infection remains undetermined.

However, investigations and contact tracing remain ongoing.

A number of other healthcare facilities in the region have confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The experience in the United States, Spain and Italy has shown that the spread of Covid-19 to such geriatric-focused facilities filled with vulnerable patients can have tragic consequences.

To date, Ireland has recorded 1,125 cases of the new coronavirus.

Some 40,000 people are now waiting for a Covid-19 test with the average waiting time around four days.

Covid-19 detections are expected to increase significantly once Irelands massive increase in testing operations gets into full gear with GAA stadia, Naval Service vessels, old HSE premises and pop-up centres being utilised.

Some centres will be able to carry out up to 1,000 tests each day.

There are now 35 test centres nationwide with a further 20 under consideration.

To date, community transmission accounts for 42pc of cases while close contact accounts for a further 23pc.

Six people have died in the Republic from the virus with new case detections running between 100 and 219 over the past four days.

The first four deaths have involved people with underlying health conditions.

Meanwhile, it emerged that the Dochas Centre, the womens unit in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, has 12 prisoners in isolation because of the Covid-19 crisis.

The revelation came at a Dublin District Court bail hearing for a woman facing theft charges.

Judge Bryan Smyth was told that the centre, which has a capacity of 105 prisoners, currently has 12 prisoners in isolation.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) ASUR an international airport group with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia, today provided an update on COVID-19 and impact on its operations.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) ASUR an international airport group with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia, today provided an update on COVID-19 and impact on its operations.

Since March 16, 2020, various governments have issued flight restrictions for different regions of the world. With respect to the airports ASUR operates, on March 21, 2020 the Colombian government suspended commercial aviation for all airports in the country as from March 25 through April 13, 2020. As a result, ASUR's commercial operations at the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin, Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Rionegro, the Los Garzones Airport in Monteria, the Antonio Roldan Betancourt Airport in Carepa, the El Carano Airport in Quibdo and the Las Brujas Airport in Corozal will be been suspended.

To date, neither Mexico nor Puerto Rico have issued flight restrictions. In Puerto Rico, the FAA has accepted a request from the Governor of Puerto Rico that all flights bound to Puerto Rico land at LMM Airport, which is operated by ASUR's subsidiary Aerostar, and that all passengers be screened by representatives of the Puerto Rico Health Department. As a result, the LMM airport remains open and operating, albeit with substantially reduced flight and passenger volumes. Mexico and/or the United States may issue flight restrictions similar to those issued in other parts of the world, which would cause a significant further reduction in our operations.

Over the last few days, some of the airlines and other clients and tenants that operate in ASUR's airports, have asked for assistance, either through discounts on payments owed to ASUR or by an extension on those payments. The Company remains in commercial discussions with those clients and tenants regarding their contracts. Notwithstanding these discussions, ASUR believes it has sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations and continue operating in the normal course.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rio Negro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares.

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I thought Id be learning to listen to the heart and lungs or conduct an outpatient interview, but thats not what is needed right now, said Elyse Berlinberg, a second-year medical student at NYU. Part of the role of being a physician is being part of the community and knowing their needs and responding to them. I think the service we are doing now is part of forming our professional identity.
Two friends who came in direct contact with the patient have been moved to quarantine. (AFP)

Tirunelveli: A Dubai returnee from South Tamil Nadu, has been recorded as the first corona positive case from the region. He has reportedly travelled to his native village and visited his friends till he was admitted to the Tirunelveli medical college hospital in the evening of March 21.

Forty-three-year-old Maharajan, residing at Perumalpuram in Palayamkottai here, returned home from abroad on March 17 via Madurai airport, and reached his native village Samoogarengapuram in Tirunelveli district.

From there he had visited a friend, and is also said to have taken another friend of his with him in his car to Valliyoor.

There, he had gone to a private hospital at Kallikulam complaining of fever.

Suspected to have symptoms of Covid-19 infection, the private hospital doctor referred him to Tirunelveli medical college hospital, where the throat swab test and blood test confirmed the infection.

Maharajan is reportedly a cardiac patient as well.

Both the friends who came in direct contact with Maharajan have been isolated and are also kept under observation, a health department official confirmed.

Efforts are on to trace people who had been interacting with him since he reached India, added the official.

The number of beds in the quarantine wards in the government medical college hospitals in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Nagercoil districts are to be increased by 100 each, said sources from the state health department.

As of now, 419 persons in Kanyakumari district have been kept under home quarantine, while neighbouring Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi districts in the south, have 257,155 and 16 cases respectively, under home quarantine.
Certain forms of epilepsy are accompanied by inflammation of important brain regions. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now identified a mechanism that explains this link. Their results may also pave the way to new therapeutic options in the medium term. They have now been published in the renowned scientific journal "Annals of Neurology".

Epilepsy can be hereditary. In other cases, patients only develop the disease later in life: as a result of a brain injury, after a stroke or triggered by a tumor. Inflammation of the meninges or the brain itself can also result in epilepsy.

Particularly dangerous are inflammatory reactions affecting the so-called hippocampus, which is a brain structure that plays an important role in memory processes and the development of emotions. Doctors call this condition limbic encephalitis.

However, in many cases it is still not clear what causes such inflammation." Prof. Dr. Albert Becker, Head of Section for Translational Epilepsy Research at the University Hospital Bonn

Researchers have now identified an autoantibody that is believed to be responsible for encephalitis in some patients. Unlike normal antibodies, it is not directed against molecules that have entered the organism from outside, but against the body's own structures - hence the prefix "auto", which can be translated as "self". The researchers discovered it in the spinal fluid of epilepsy patients suffering from acute inflammation of the hippocampus. The autoantibody is directed against the protein Drebrin. Drebrin ensures that the contact points between nerve cells function correctly. At these so-called synapses, the neurons are interconnected and pass on their information.

When the autoantibody encounters a Drebrin molecule, it knocks it out of action and thereby disrupts the transmission of information between nerve cells. At the same time it alerts the immune system, which is then activated and switches to an inflammatory mode, while simultaneously producing even more autoantibodies. "However, Drebrin is located inside the synapses, whereas the autoantibody is located in the tissue fluid," says Dr. Julika Pitsch, who heads a junior research group in Prof. Becker's department. "These two should therefore normally never come into contact with each other." The autoantibody seems to use a back door to enter the cell. This is actually intended for completely different molecules: the so-called neurotransmitters.

Into the nerve cell by Trojan horse

Information processing in the brain is electrical. The synapses themselves however communicate via chemical messengers, the aforementioned neurotransmitters: In response to an electrical pulse, the transmitter synapse emits transmitters that then dock to certain receptors of the receiver synapse, where they in turn also generate electrical pulses.

The synaptic vesicles - the packaging of the neurotransmitters - are absorbed again and recycled. "The autoantibody seems to use this route to sneak into the cell, as with a Trojan horse," explains Becker's colleague Prof. Dr. Susanne Schoch McGovern.

In cell culture experiments, the researchers were able to show what happens next: Shortly after the addition of the autoantibody, the neurons in the Petri dish begin to fire machine gun-like rapid bursts of electrical impulses. "We know that this form of electrical excitation is contagious, so to speak," emphasizes Prof. Becker. "With nerve cells, which are interconnected to form a network, all the nerve cells involved suddenly start firing wildly." This may then result in an epileptic seizure.

The results also give hope for new therapeutic approaches. For instance, active substances such as cortisone can suppress the immune system and thereby possibly also prevent the massive production of autoantibodies. It may also be possible to intercept and incapacitate them specifically with certain drugs. But there is still a long way to go before treatment becomes available, stresses Prof. Dr. Rainer Surges, Director of the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn. Moreover, it would primarily benefit patients with this particular form of the disease. For them, however, the benefit would probably be huge: In contrast to congenital epilepsies, those based on inflammation may possibly be cured in the future with the appropriate therapy.
Stanley Sporkin, a legal crusader who, as the chief enforcement officer at the Securities and Exchange Commission, held American corporations accountable for making illicit campaign contributions in the United States and for bribing public officials abroad, died on Monday in Rockville, Md. He was 88.

His death, from congestive heart failure in a hospice, was confirmed by his son Daniel.

In the 1970s, at a newly vitalized S.E.C., Mr. Sporkin investigated illegal corporate slush funds, pressured American companies to comply with the commissions cease-and-desist orders, and sued the firms if they failed to do so.

He also successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977.

Mr. Sporkins investigations led to admissions by leading corporations  including Gulf Oil, Exxon, Mobil Oil, Lockheed Aircraft, R.J. Reynolds Industries and Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing  that they had made millions of dollars in secret payoffs to scores of politicians.

The disclosures of bribery by American corporations operating abroad caused political scandals in Honduras, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and other countries.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that Army field hospitals will likely be sent first to New York City and Seattle in the coronavirus fight, while cautioning that the military can't meet all of the states' growing demands for help.

Esper also announced that he is putting the Pentagon and its grounds on "Health Protection Condition C," which will limit access points to the building, allow more personnel to telework, and provide for "some medical screening" of entrants, possibly including temperature checks.

In addition, he said the military is attempting to abide by social distancing and other guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in some cases it is impossible, he added.

"Tell me how I do six feet social distancing in an attack submarine," he said.

Related: Drug Touted As COVID-19 Treatment Has Troubling Side Effects, Experts Say

At a Pentagon news conference, Esper said that a total of five military field hospitals are ready to be shipped; the first two are likely to go to New York City and Seattle, although the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have the final say.

He did not describe what type of field hospital would be sent to the cities, but said the largest has about 278 beds.

Much like the hospital ships USNS Mercy, deploying to Los Angeles, and USNS Comfort, slated for New York harbor, the military field hospitals will not treat coronavirus cases, but will focus on other patients to ease the burden in local hospitals.

In the "whole of government" battle against coronavirus, the military is running into the same supply problems that the nation's governors have stressed, Esper said.

He added that the military's 16 labs are capable of processing up to 6,000 coronavirus tests daily, but their capacity is limited by a lack of test kits.

"We have excess capacity in our labs," Esper said. "The issue is test kits. As more of them come on board, we can test more."

He noted that the severity and duration of the coronavirus epidemic is likely to worsen, along with increasing demands from the states that the military will be unable to meet.

"I've spoken with seven, eight, nine, 10 governors so far. Each one of them has had requests for field hospitals. Those who have been along the coastline have talked about the need for ships, so we clearly can't meet everybody's needs with what we have in our inventory," Esper said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: The Latest on the Military's COVID-19 Response
Farmers in Punjab fear that the coronavirus outbreak may cast a shadow over the upcoming harvesting and procurement of wheat crop next month.

With the state authorities imposing restrictions like curfew to check spread of coronavirus, the growers expressed fear that if the current situation prolongs, it will have an adverse impact on harvesting and procurement of winter crop.

Potato growers are already facing difficulty in getting labour for harvesting the tuber because of restrictions imposed in the state, they said.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Ugrahan) said, "How will farmers harvest their crop and go to mandis to sell it if the restrictions continue to remain in place? This is a big question before every farmer now."



"If this current situation lasts long, farmers are going to face a lot of hardships," Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) President Balbir Singh Rajewal told PTI on Tuesday.

"There is going to be a big problem of procurement in such a situation as labour is not going to come," he said.

Majority of migrant labour had gone to their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They return when wheat harvesting starts in Punjab.

"We are going to face shortage of labour next month. The movement of people have been restricted because of coronavirus," pointed out BKU (Kadian) President Harmeet Singh Kadiyan.

Kadiyan asked the state government to find out some way so farmers do not face any problem in harvesting and procurement of crop.

Punjab, which is considered the food bowl of the country, is expecting about 180 lakh metric tonnes of wheat output this season.

Harvesting normally takes place after the first week of April in Punjab and it gradually picks up pace.

Farmers said the inclement weather conditions had already damaged crop in several parts of the state and if no solution is found, they will face huge losses.

The Punjab government clamped a curfew on Monday after finding that people were ignoring the statewide lockdown ordered by it.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered the imposition of a "full curfew with no relaxations".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi late evening on Tuesday announced a complete lockdown across the country for 21 days from Tuesday midnight, asserting that social distancing is the only way out for the country in its decisive battle against the coronavirus.

Punjab has reported 29 coronavirus cases so far in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We couldnt have achieved this milestone of becoming one of the largest testnets by peer count without the continued support of our dedicated community. The Genesis token program is designed to ensure block producers are operationally prepared for mainnet.

Coda Protocol, the worlds lightest blockchain, is now one of the largest layer 1 testnets by peer count. Phase 3 of the testnet has generated more than 400 users connecting at least once, 300 users signing up to stake, and 143 max concurrent users.

Alongside the release of Phase 3 of the testnet, Coda launched Genesis, a token program that prepares participants to become the networks first block producers and ensures high decentralization upon mainnet launch. Coda token grants are being distributed to Genesis founding members, pulling from the pool of participants engaging in testnet challenges that are designed to contribute to greater network resilience. Within weeks of their launch, the Coda team received 1.3k applicants wanting to join Genesis and have 40 founding members admitted to cohort 1.

Evan Shapiro, CEO and Co-Founder of O(1) Labs, the team behind Coda Protocol, articulated, We couldnt have achieved this milestone of becoming one of the largest testnets by peer count without the continued support of our dedicated community. The Genesis token program is designed to ensure block producers are operationally prepared for mainnet. We couldnt be more pleased to have such an outpouring of interest from people hailing from 80 different countries, and we are using this momentum to continue strengthening the protocol and ensure a robust, highly decentralized network at mainnet.

The first cohort includes validator teams such as Bison Trails, Figment Networks, dsrv labs, and SparkPool.

Viktor Bunin, Protocol Specialist at Bison Trails, conveyed, "Community is blockchain's killer feature and Bison Trails is proud to be a Genesis Founding Member, the highest honor in the Coda community. Bootstrapping a community of passionate and active ecosystem contributors is the #1 challenge young protocols face today. Coda is leading the pack with a token-based incentive and engagement model to create a healthy, dynamic community.

Andrew Cronk, Co-founder & Head of Product at Figment Networks, expressed, Were excited to be part of Coda by providing both infrastructures as a block producer and analytics with Hubble. We see Coda as a bold exploration of blockchain frontiers and we look forward to participating in this groundbreaking new protocol.

Jiyun Kim, CEO at dsrv labs, articulated, "We're exhilarated to take part in the Coda Genesis program because we believe this is a truly innovative use-case of zk-SNARKs to solve the biggest challenges of digital currencies and blockchain: scalability, inclusivity, ease-of-use, and decentralization. We're thankful for all the effort the team has shown to support the South Korean blockchain community and we certainly don't want to miss out on the launch of the world's lightest blockchain, Coda."

Unlike other third-generation protocols offering 1% or less in token distributions to their communities, Coda is setting aside up to 6.6% of tokens for Genesis founding members. Additionally, participants need not wait until some indefinite point in the future to receive their tokens, as Codas mainnet will be released this year. These distinctions alongside Codas unique approach to solving blockchains scalability problem through the deployment of recursive zk-SNARKs are likely contributing factors explaining the rapidly growing interest in Coda. The team plans to release the next phase of Codas testnet in the upcoming few weeks.

Gareth Davies, a full stack developer from British Columbia in Canada and one of the participants admitted to the Genesis token program, was one of the earliest to join Codas testnet in July 2019. He expressed, My favorite thing about Coda is how it utilizes and builds on zk-SNARKs, which is fundamental work that could have a massive impact on the blockchain space and technology in general.

By harnessing recursive zk-SNARKs, Coda block producers can rapidly share proof of the correct blockchain state across the network and easily update the proof as new transactions occur. This breakthrough application of zero-knowledge proofs is what allows Coda to offer scalability to thousands of transactions per second, millions of users, and years of transaction history without sacrificing security.

For more information on Genesis, please visit Codas Genesis FAQ page.

Apply to join Genesis: https://codaprotocol.com/genesis

For media inquiries, please contact Kili Wall at (310) 260-7901 or Kili(at)MelrosePR(dot)com

About Coda Protocol

Coda Protocol, the worlds lightest blockchain, provides a foundation for the decentralized digital economy (Web 3.0), offering scalability to thousands of transactions per second, millions of users, and years of transaction history without sacrificing security. By utilizing recursive zk-SNARKs, the Coda blockchain always stays the same sizeabout 20 kilobytes (the size of a few tweets). Recursive zk-SNARKs allow nodes to rapidly share and update proof of the correct blockchain state across the network. This breakthrough application of zk-SNARKs solves the issues of scalability and high barrier to entry for nodes that have plagued legacy blockchains to-date. By making it easier for nodes to participate, Coda improves decentralization and therefore security of the network. The Coda blockchain can be easily accessed from any device, including phones and browsers, and can be seamlessly integrated into new decentralized applications (dapps).
North East ISD and Northside announced Tuesday afternoon that its school closures are extending to April 24, an additional three weeks and other schools in the area are expected to follow suit.

Classes at NEISD would resume Monday, April 27.

We are holding out hope that we may return this school year, but as we continue to see with COVID-19, things are constantly changing, Superintendent Sean Maika wrote in a message to parents.

More Bexar County school districts are expected to announce extended closures Tuesday in response to the stay-at-home order issued by Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

The K-12 school closures have caused exams, proms and other end-of-year traditions to be canceled or postponed for some.

See the list of closures below:

North East ISD closing through April 24

Northside ISD closing through April 24

Harlandale ISD closing through April 24

Edgewood ISD closing through April 24

South San ISD closing through April 24

Medina Valley Independent School District closing through April 24.

Ashley McBride covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Ashley.McBride@express-news.net | Twitter: @Ashleynmcb
By Sakura Murakami and Karolos Grohmann

TOKYO/ATHENS (Reuters) - The Tokyo Olympics were postponed on Tuesday to 2021, the first such delay in the Games' 124-year modern history, as the coronavirus crisis wrecked the world's last sporting showpiece still standing this year.

Though a huge blow to Japan, which has invested $12 billion in the run-up, the decision was a relief to thousands of athletes fretting over training with the world heading into lockdown to fight a disease that has killed over 16,500 people.

Pressure had been building on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president, Thomas Bach, with some athletes and sporting bodies angry that a seemingly inevitable decision had taken so long.

After a call between Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both said the July 24-Aug. 9 Games would move to the summer of 2021 at the latest in a hoped-for celebration of triumph over the pandemic.

The Olympic flame, already lit at Olympia in Greece and taken to Japan for a now-cancelled torch relay, would stay in the host nation as a symbol of hope.

"Sport is not the most important thing right now, preserving human life is," Bach said. "This Olympic flame will be the light at the end of this tunnel."

Though it was the first Olympics postponement, the Games were cancelled outright three times during the last century's two world wars. Cold War boycotts also disrupted the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics in 1980 and 1984.

TARNISHED OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

The postponement leaves big question marks over the appeal and viability of the Olympic movement and its quadrennial Games.

Once unarguably the shiniest of jewels in the sporting landscape, a series of doping scandals and investigations into vote rigging have sullied the Olympics' lustre.

The IOC leadership sought to root out institutional corruption after the Salt Lake City scandal in 1999, when the IOC expelled six members for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in a vote-buying scandal.

Story continues

Bach took over seven years ago to cauterize reputational wounds and modernise the multi-billion dollar operation further.

But his new, overhauled Games bidding process - designed to make the Olympics cheaper to host, more compact to stage, less wasteful all round - has failed to surface the scores of new potential host cities it was designed to deliver.

The Russian doping scandal that erupted in 2015 continues to erode the reputation of both the IOC and the Olympics.

Now a global virus threatens the very nature of the Olympics  people coming together to celebrate sport and competition  and the IOC is left fighting wars on several fronts.

Having ruled the IOC with an iron fist for seven years, with virtually no internal dissent, Bach - who is up for re-election next year - now faces the biggest crisis for the Games in at least a generation.

ATHLETES SAD BUT RELIEVED

Athletes were disappointed but broadly endorsed the delay, given health risks and disruption to their training as gyms, stadia and swimming pools closed around the world.

"I compete in a little bike race, which is nothing compared to what is going on in the world right now," said American Olympic BMX champion Connor Fields, who had been looking forward to his sport's Games debut.

Many began focusing on next year's competition.

"We'll be more ready than ever in 2021 and wearing the maple leaf with more pride than I thought possible," said Canadian Olympic wrestling champion Erica Wiebe, describing her feelings as: "Utter relief. Excitement. Uncertainty."

The coronavirus outbreak has raged around the world this year, infecting nearly 380,000 people and wiping out the international sporting calendar.

Though 2021 looks crowded, as the sports world makes up for this year's cancellations, World Athletics said it was willing to move its world championships, scheduled for Aug. 6-15, 2021 in Oregon, to make way for the Olympics.

It was not yet clear whether athletes who had already secured spots in Tokyo this summer - more than half of those due to compete - would need to qualify again. The Athletics Association said a poll of more than 4,000 track and field competitors showed 78% had wanted the Games delayed.

"My heart breaks for you," U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a message to athletes.

"This summer was supposed to be a culmination of your hard work and life's dream, but taking a step back from competition to care for our communities and each other is the right thing to do. Your moment will wait until we can gather again safely."

TWICE UNLUCKY FOR JAPAN

Tuesday's decision came 122 days before the planned opening ceremony at Japan's newly built National Stadium, which was to usher in the 16-day event featuring 11,000 athletes from 206 nations and territories.

It is not the first time a Japanese Olympics has run into problems. Both the 1940 Summer and Winter Olympics were to be held in Japan but were cancelled due to World War Two.

Despite their disappointment, not to mention the logistical headaches and financial losses to come, a poll indicated that about 70% of Japanese agreed with a delay.

The postponement was also a heavy blow to Japan's prime minister, who has staked his legacy on the Games' success and hoped it would bring a tourism and consumer boom. Such was his enthusiasm that he appeared as video game character Super Mario at the 2016 Olympics' closing ceremony.

Putting off the Olympics is almost certain to push Japan's economy, the world's third largest, into recession.

IOC boss Bach is also in a tricky situation, after his repeated statements that the Games were on track brought a backlash from athletes and some national Olympic committees.

That, combined with disquiet over his support for Russian athletes to continue competing as neutrals despite their nation's doping scandal, has threatened his grip on the IOC.

A change of culture is needed at the IOC is needed to make decision-making more inclusive, an association representing 85,000 athletes around the world said on Tuesday.

World Players Association executive director Brendan Schwab said that while he was happy with the decision to postpone, the delay in making it in the face of the spreading coronavirus pandemic made the IOC look almost naive.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart warned that the postponement could open the door for convicted drug cheats to compete for medals, and the issue would need to be tackled.

(Additional reporting by Ossian Shine and Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie, Giles Elgood and Mark Heinrich)
CARLSBAD  Ranchers in a southeastern New Mexico community and a potash company are locked in a fight over water rights connected to the Pecos River.

The Denver-based Intrepid Potash recently claimed ownership of about 35,000 acre-feet of water rights along the Pecos, with 19,000 identified for consumption, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports.

Ranchers in a rural area south of Carlsbad said that move could completely drain the Pecos.

In response to the Intrepid Potash claims, the Carlsbad Irrigation District filed litigation intended to block Intrepids ownership of the water and seven preliminary authorizations granted by the Office of the State Engineer to change the point of diversion and manner of use of the water.

The Carlsbad Irrigation Districts attorney Ken Dugan said Intrepid hadnt used that much water in decades, essentially leaving its water rights unused for up to 50 years.

He said if water rights arent used for an extended amount of time, they are forfeited.

Dugan at a Carlsbad Irrigation District board meeting earlier this month alleged Intrepid intended to sell the water to the oil and gas industry, as the Potash mining industry suffered in recent years.

If Intrepid took that much water out of the Pecos, Dugan also worried New Mexico could fail to deliver water to Texas, as required under the Pecos River Compact, a 1948 agreement between the two states that saw New Mexico providing water from the Pecos River, which crosses into Texas, to the Lone Star State.

Last month, 5th Judicial District Judge Ray Romero ruled that Intrepid must stop pumping water under the seven preliminary authorizations as he rules on Intrepids rights to the water.

The authorizations, not official permits, in question were granted unilaterally by former State Engineer Thomas Blaine, read the CIDs lawsuit, to move and place into effect water rights on the river without any public input or hearings.

Intrepids attorney Chuck Dumars declined to comment, saying it was his offices policy that he cannot discuss ongoing litigation.

Intrepid is a potash and fertilizer producer.
Married At First Sight's Cathy Evans has denied reports her best friend Megan Longhurst is a casting director on the show.

The logistics investigator, 26, described the claims as 'absurd' and 'completely untrue' during an interview with Hit 105.5's A.B. & Ben on Monday.

'My best friend Megan is not a casting producer for MAFS,' she said.

Setting the record straight: Married At First Sight's Cathy Evans (pictured) has denied reports her best friend Megan Longhurst is a casting director on the show

'She has no persuasion on the editing or how they choose the cast members. She was a runner for the show,' Cathy added.

A 'runner' is an entry-level position in the TV and film industry that involves delivering messages, running errands, carrying equipment, conducting basic research, driving talent around and general administrative tasks.

It comes after Woman's Day alleged that Cathy had been chosen to appear on the show because of her friendship with 'casting director' Megan.

Clarification: Cathy (left) told Hit 105.5's A.B. & Ben on Monday that Megan (centre) had 'no persuasion on the editing or how they choose the cast members'

An anonymous cast member reportedly said Cathy had boasted to her co-stars about her friendship with Megan.

'We all just felt it was unfair,' the source was quoted as saying. 'We were furious... it's so hard to trust anyone as it is!'

It comes after Cathy was forced to deny rumours she was an actress hired by producers to stir up trouble.

She told the New Zealand Herald: 'I can confirm I'm not an actor. I've changed careers many times [since university].'

Not true: It comes after Cathy was forced to deny rumours she was an actress hired by producers to stir up trouble. She told the New Zealand Herald, 'I can confirm I'm not an actor'

Cathy holds a university degree in performing arts and moved to Sydney to pursue a career in showbusiness after graduating.

She was paired with truck driver Josh Pihlak on Nine's social experiment, but they broke up on the show several weeks ago.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
MARCH 23, 2020  UTSA is responding to the COVID-19 outbreak with a commitment to supporting the safety of the university community while enabling the academic progress of students.



It was a good day of transition for UTSA to being an online learning institution with a telecommuting workforce, and everyones efforts to make this a success for all students, faculty and staff are immensely appreciated. If youve had concerns expressed by students or your peers about how to improve their remote learning and work experience, please do your utmost to find someone to give them assistance. Here is your daily digest of updates and tips.





ONLINE LEARNING & ACCESS

REMOTE TEACHING: The 2020 Remote Teaching Resources webpage for faculty is updated regularly, so continue to refer to it.

RESEARCH GUIDANCE: The Office of Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise is regularly posting notices from federal agencies on conducting research. Additionally, the office has a FAQ to assist with continuity and management of research operations.

GRANT DEADLINES EXTENDED: REDKE has extended the deadlines for the GREAT and Connect seed grant programs:

GREAT forms are now due April 7

Connect forms are now due April 14

TIPS FOR WORKING FROM HOME

Maintain regular hours.

Create a morning routine and a plan for your day.

Set ground rules with the people in your space.

Schedule breaks.

Pick a spot in your home where you will work and make it free of distractions.

Move throughout the day. Take stretch breaks, walk or do an online exercise video.

Stay connected often with your colleagues through Microsoft Teams, email, phone, WebEx and messaging apps.

Eat healthy snacks. Find ideas from the American Heart Association.

At the end of the day, put your work away as a signal that its time to rest and recover from the days work.

Contact the Employee Assistance Program or Deer Oaks for helpful information and 24/7 counseling services for you and your family to manage stress and adapt to change. Alternatively, call 866-327-2400.

Check out the Wellness Resource Guide from the Rowdy New U program at UTSA about working from home and social distancing.

GET TECH ASSISTANCE: Tech Cafe is staffing phone lines, email and online chat to help you out with your tech issues. If you need support weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., call 210-458-5555, email techcafe@utsa.edu or connect with a Tech Cafe team member online.

Additionally, the Tech Cafe has increased training sessions for Webex and Jabber to help students, faculty and staff with tools for remote learning and working.

KNOW HOW TO COLLABORATE: Need help to collaborate with staff or faculty, share documents and more, you can check out UTSAs available Technology Resources for students to find the best choice for you.

GRADUATE PROGRAM ADMISSIONS: To best accommodate graduate program applicants, in consultation with all colleges and with the approval of UT System, the Graduate School will temporarily suspend consideration of the following materials for admission to its graduate programs until further notice:

GRE and GMAT test scores

Official TOEFL test scores: instead, applicants will be asked to use other means of demonstrating English proficiency

Official transcripts: instead, unofficial transcripts must be submitted with application materials followed by official transcripts before the end of the first semester of registration

In the absence of test scores and official transcripts, graduate admission committees will holistically review each application and temporarily modify the weights applied to the remaining admission criteria. The same overarching goal must be maintained to admit students whose application materials demonstrate a likelihood to be successful in the graduate program and, ultimately, in their chosen career.



CAMPUS OPERATIONS

CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY: After collaborating with Faculty Senate Chair Chad Mahood and Staff Senate Chair John Shaffer, the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Human Resources have determined that, due to the impact of the COVID-19 situation, the Campus Climate Survey planned by UTSA leadership will be postponed until a future date to be determined in accordance with best practices for the well-being of the UTSA community. We will have more details in a future edition of the Daily Update.



HEALTH

REACH OUT: Dont forget to take care of yourself. Counseling and mental health services are available through Deer Oaks at 888-365-6271.

Additionally, the UTSA Behavioral Intervention Team is a multidisciplinary team that responds to reports of distressed and concerning behavior for students, faculty and staff. The website includes a form to report behavioral concerns to the team. If behavior indicates an immediate safety concern, please contact UTSA Police at 210-458-4911.

FEELING ILL? Call the Occupational Risk team at 210-458-4038, seek medical support from your health care provider or a virtual doctor via MDLive.
Thailand's prime minister says his government has agreed to declare a state of emergency to implement stricter measures to control the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said his Cabinet agreed Tuesday at its weekly meeting to put a one-month state of emergency into effect on Thursday. It will give the government enforcement powers not normally available to it.

Powers available to the government under the law governing public administration in emergency situations include implementing curfews, censoring the media, dispersing gatherings and allowing deployment of military forces for enforcement.

Prayuth in a brief televised address urged the public to remain calm and warned people against the improper use of social media and hoarding, saying there would now be stricter enforcement against violators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Common sense dictates that sleep in early childhood is important, but it is not widely known that Japanese infants have the shortest sleeping time in the world," says Etsuko Tomisaki at Keio University's Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. "Scientific research has shown that sleep is important for brain formation and that the frontal and parietal association areas of the brain play important roles in the development of social ability. The goal of my research is to clarify the relationship between sleep and the social competence of Japanese infants."

Methodology

Specifically, Tomisaki and her colleagues conducted a cohort study on the effects of sleep on the social competence of children and the relationship between changes in sleeping habits and their social competence through interventional research. The research looked at children at three different stages of development  ages 18 months, 30 months, and 42 months.

In Tomisaki's research, "social competence" refers to an infant's ability to understand and get along with others, and evaluating this is based on what is called the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS). "Sleeping time" refers to the time required to enter non-rapid eye movement (non-REM), whereas "waking time" is a state of being completely awake. Finally, "night sleep time" is anytime the child is asleep minus daytime naps, and subtracting the time the child wakes up during the night.

"We asked caregivers to record their infants' daily sleep log according to the Japan Children's Study Sleep Questionnaire (JCSSQ)," explains Tomisaki. "The log included sleep onset time, waking time in the morning, and sleep length. We recorded videos of interactions between caregivers and their infants as they played in the controlled environment of a 4x4 meter playroom with a small table and chairs. We asked the caregiver to teach their child the challenging task of building a house with small building blocks, which would be difficult to achieve for the child alone. The videos of the interaction between caregivers and their children were reviewed by trained evaluators."

As part of the study, the Index of Child Care Environment (ICCE) questionnaire was used to assess the quality of each child's childcare environment according to 13 categories, including human stimulation, to determine the degree of parental care given by both partners, as well as social stimulation, which takes into account aspects such as outings to the park with the child's caregiver.

Tomisaki stresses that the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) was critical for analyzing the observation sessions and assessing the social competence of the children. "The IRS contains 70 behavioral and 11 impression score-items to assess children according to categories including autonomy and empathy. It also assesses caregivers, who are scored in areas including respect for autonomous development, respect for empathy development, and so on. The maximum score on the IRS scale is 25, where a higher score indicates a higher level of social competence."

Main findings

Tomisaki's research showed that the sleep onset time and duration of sleep are important factors for the development of social competence in children aged between 18 and 42 months.

"In our study only 6.8% of infants in Japan were sleeping more than 11 hours at night," explains Tomisaki. "Also, only 14.5% went to sleep before 9 p.m. The average onset time was 10 p.m., and 36.3% went to sleep later than this time. Our results indicate that Japanese children do not get enough sleep based on reports that nocturnal sleep durations of at least 11 hours in children less than 3.5 years is important for unimpaired cognitive ability when the children are 6 years old. Our research was focused on a limited range of ages and we only looked at sleep patterns of children who were 18 months old, so I think that it is important to expand this study to older children, and we hope that this research will be a 'protective factor' to help prevent various childhood problems."

About the researcher

Etsuko Tomisaki  Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care

Etsuko Tomisaki received her PhD in nursing science in 2014 from the University of Tsukuba. She specializes in child development and child care. Her research is focused on finding the optimal environment for children and their caregivers.

References

1. Etsuko Tomisaki et al., The relationship between the development of social competence and sleep in infants: a longitudinal study. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 12 (1), (2018). | article

2. Etsuko Tomisaki et al., The trajectory of children's social skill from 2 to 4 year-olds and their waking up patterns. Japanese Journal of Human Sciences of Health-Social Services, 18, 77-83, (2011). | article

3. Etsuko Tomisaki et al., A Longitudinal Study on Social Competence Development and Sleeping Habits. Journal of Epidemiology, 20, 472-475, (2010). | article

About Keio University

Keio University is a private, comprehensive university with six major campuses in the Greater Tokyo area along with a number of affiliated academic institutions. Keio prides itself on educational and research excellence in a wide range of fields and its state-of-the-art university hospital.

Keio was founded in 1858, and it is Japan's first modern institution of higher learning. Over the last century and a half, it has evolved into and continues to maintain its status as a leading university in Japan through its ongoing commitment to producing leaders of the future. Founder Yukichi Fukuzawa, a highly respected educator and one of the most important intellectuals of modern Japan, aspired for Keio to be a pioneer of new discoveries and contribute to society through learning.

Links:

https://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/html/100012782_en.html

http://childnet.me/eweb.html

Keio Research Highlights website:

https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/

This article:

https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/2020/03/a.html

Further information:

Keio University

Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects

2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan

E-mail: rca-staff@adst.keio.ac.jp

Websites:

Keio University

https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/

Keio Research Highlights

https://research-highlights.keio.ac.jp/

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137004/Keio_University_Sleeping_Baby.jpg

SOURCE Keio University
On the final day that Judge Sporkin served on the U.S. District Court, about a dozen other judges sat in the gallery to watch. When the final case had been heard, one of those judges, Norma Holloway Johnson, rose and said to Judge Sporkin, You have brought to this bench a resolute sense of independence, dignity, courage, compassion and common sense in the pursuit of justice. . . . To say the least, you have always called things as you see them.
In the wake of a near-lockdown of the entire country, we await a new batch of opinion polls with special interest. Recent ones have been good for the Government. On the Coronavirus, more believe that the Conservatives have handled it well than badly  more than half of those who expressed a view, in some cases. On voting intention, more plumped for the Conservatives than for their rivals  again, over half, in some surveys.

This complements a picture, presented by Henry Hill on this site yesterday, of less panic buying than some reports would suggest. The evidence available suggests a stoicism-to-panic ratio slanting strongly to the former.

Nonetheless, one can be both resolute but anxious, and public concern has doubtless been rising at a similiar rate to those virus graphs  at least if phone-ins, social media content and thread comments are anything to go by. And that was before the announcement yesterday evening of measures unprecedented even in wartime; at once both draconian and strangely vague. The Governments critics fall into two broad camps.

First, there are what are best called the activists. Some want a mass testing and follow-up programme like South Koreas. Others want a total shutdown of the country, complete with curfews, for as long as it takes (for however long that might be). They hate any approach that has achieving herd immunity built into it, whatever the semantics may be of this being a Government aim or not.

Second, there are the passivists. At one end, some want the most vulnerable shielded, and the rest to go about their daily business as usual. At the other, some take a fatalistic view of events, and think that it isnt worth sacrificing the future of the young and healthy for the elderly and sick. A few even appear to see the virus as a just punishment as what they see as the snowflakery, decadence and socialism of modern Britain.

Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth, the author of the Book of Revelation wrote to the Church in Laodicea. Such has been the message of some in both groups to Boris Johnson, as they have watched what has looked like a policy shift from containment to suppression  and now a near-shutdown the length and breadth of Britain. Is it fair?

It is worth remembering at the start, while pondering the question, that the Prime Minister is not Winston Churchill  at least when it comes to poll ratings. There was thumping support for the latter in wartime surveys, including an 82 per cent finding in March 1942, one of the worst months of the Second World War. Whatever one makes of the methodological accuracy of those polls, Johnson begins with nothing like the same level of support.

Though he was a near-landslide winner in December, roughly a third of those who voted backed an openly Marxist party. A slice of those voters, together with some Liberal Democrats and others, hate his double victory first last year, and back in 2016 in the EU referendum. An influential section of them are based in London, the countrys dominant city, and are strikingly well-networked, in the media, politics, law and academia.

They are obsessed by his personal frailties and fixated upon the role of Dominic Cummings. Before the take-off of Coronavirus, they warned that Johnson was seeking to govern as a dictator. Once the virus got going, they were clamouring for him to exercise the very powers against which they had warned, and damning his liberal instincts  which were apparent to most of us long ago, but which they have only now deigned to notice.

None of this is to say for a moment that the Governments response has been perfect  far from it. There are two legitimate lines of criticism. The first is presentational. There has been conflicting information, such as on whether travellers returning from Italy should isolate or not, and confusing about-turns, sometimes a result of briefings to selected journalists: over a London lockdown last week; plans for over-70s; herd immunity, and much else.

The second is practical. The point about herd immunity leads straight to it. Are the accelerating restrictions part of a seamlessly-timed Government plan to minimise pressure on the NHS? Or have Ministers been stampeded, rightly or wrongly, into a change of strategy, in the wake of that famous Imperial College paper? One aspect of the answer is evident: it is clear that SAGE, the presiding expert committee, has been divided.

Any reflective person should feel for Johnson and his team. For as John Redwood wrote on this site recently: knowledge is still imperfect about how long it can be in someone before symptoms show, how it is transmitted, why it is sometimes very dangerous but normally not for a younger healthy person, whether it can be caught twice by the same person, and whether someone does build immunity to it by having it.

The Prime Minister is like man firing at a moving target blindfold with a gun that may not work. We believe he is presenting well, and not panicking, amidst daunting circumstances. Where the Government looks culpable is not in having failed to prepare, for example, last year (politicians and the public would have opposed a switch in resources from then to later) but, say, last month. Why wasnt the push for more ventilators and equipment made then?

Johnson was returned with a near-landslide less than four months ago. But the political landscape is unrecognisable: no more Red Wall chatter, no more Today programme boycott, no more talk of levelling-up  in the face of that ultimate leveller-down: death. Perhaps the Goverments broad plan has been right. Hong Kong and Taiwan are experiencing that second wave which some of its most prominent advisers fear.

But it will be a very long time, given the evasiveness of reliable statistics, until the truth is clear one way or the other. In the meantime, as we have written before, even success  which is to say deaths in low five figures rather than even low six figures  wont feel like success. A & E departments are set on present trends to follow much the same trajectory as Italys.

Some Ministers are surprised by the skittishness of Conservative MPs; by how so many are beating frantically on Downing Streets door demanding more action, resources, money. They shouldnt be. This is a generation of Parliamentarians raised and trained as constituency campaigners. Modern politics is a volatile business: Tory MPs who won marginals today know all too well that they are vulnerable tomorrow.

The combination of this new shutdown, already shot through with ambiguities (how are the police meant to monitor one form of exercise a day?); the imminent arrival of a new Labour leader, whose skill set is strong on lawyerly inquisition; the jitteriness of Conservative MPs and the prospect of the NHS being unable to cope are baleful for Johnson.

In the ideal world that doesnt exist, low politics would not intrude on high drama, with life and death at stake for many thousands and perhaps more.

But in the real one that we live in, the Chairman of the Health Select Committee, and two of the four chairmen of the policy implementation committees, were leadership election rivals last year. There is a gaggle of former Cabinet Ministers who have lost their jobs. There are wartime precedents for national governments and deposed Prime Ministers. A cloud of unknowables haunts the man whose star blazed so brightly last December.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Walgreens -- which has seven Staten Island stores -- announced it will be setting up drive-through testing sites at some of its locations across the nation.

This past weekend the drugstore giant launched its first drive-through testing site in the Chicago area. And Walgreens says on its website that there are more drive-through testing sites to come.

This is a critical time for our country, and COVID-19 response requires collaboration across industries and sectors. Walgreens is proud to be playing an instrumental role in this public-private partnership, and to do everything we can to help ensure the health and well-being of Americans during the pandemic, said Walgreens in a written statement.

At this initial site and going forward, all government-run testing will be administered at a dedicated space at select locations, outside of the stores, such as in parking lots," according to the company.

A Walgreens spokesperson couldnt say if and when these sites might be set up on Staten Island.

The company is continuing to work closely with many stakeholders, including the Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and many others, to identify other potential select Walgreens sites that may help meet this urgent need for convenient access to testing, the company said.

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

CONFIRMED CASES RISING

As of Monday, there were 20,875 confirmed cases statewide with 12,339 confirmed in the city, and 157 deaths in the state. The two Staten Island hospitals told the Advance/SILive.com Monday that they were aware of 12 deaths in the borough caused by the virus.

STATEN ISLAND TESTING FACILITY

The states drive-through coronavirus (COVID-19) testing began on Staten Island on Friday on the South Beach Psychiatric Center site.

While Staten Islands coronavirus testing site is comprised of three large tents, and six drive-through lanes for motorists to pull up and get tested, those who want to be tested must first make an appointment by calling the New York State Department of Health at 888-364-3065.

However, public officials said that coronavirus testing in New York City will be focused primarily on hospitalized patients under new guidelines announced Friday. No tests for asymptomatic people will be conducted, even in the case of first responders and healthcare workers.

The recommendations came Friday after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped 90% on Saturday during a 24-hour period.

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The above picture shows a frigate of the Indonesian Navy.

RIA Novosti recently reported that Russia and Indonesia had agreed to hold a joint naval exercise, code-named Orruda-2020, this year, devoid of several specifics. The news has drawn extensive attention as it will be the first joint military exercise between the two militaries.

Russia and Indonesia are set to expand military cooperation.

Russia and Indonesia have had military cooperation for several decades, but mainly in the arms trade, with the latter buying fighter jets, armored vehicles, and other weapon systems from the former. Analysts said the joint exercise will help deepen bilateral relationship and military cooperation.

Some western media held that the first Russia-Indonesia naval exercise came as no surprise as Russia has been expanding security cooperation with Southeast Asian countries. Moscow has reached military cooperation agreements with countries in the region, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicate that the Southeast Asia market accounts for nearly 20% of Russias weapon exports, making Russia the regions major weapon supplier.

Russian military vessels visited the Philippines in 2017 and 2019, conducting joint drills on such subjects as tactical operations and radio communications with the Philippine Navy.

According to an analysis by Japans magazine The Diplomat, Indonesia has great influence in Southeast Asia. Its Russias another significant attempt to intensify security cooperation with Southeast Asia by tightening its military ties with Indonesia through joint military exercises.

Whats behind the first joint naval exercise?

Some analysts believe that the motivation behind the joint military exercise is not that simple. As a matter of fact, Jakarta is hesitating about whether to continue honoring the contract and buying Su-35 fighters from Moscow. The two countries signed a Su-35contract worth USD1billion, which features the supply of 11 aircraft, at the beginning of 2018, but lately, there is news that Jakarta is planning to cancel the deal.

Bloomberg reported that Indonesias hesitation about continuing to implement the Su-35 contract is a result of US pressure. To force Jakarta to turn from Moscow to Washington for weapon import, the Trump administration threatened to sanction the country if it dared to say no.

Against such a background, Russia is backing Indonesia by holding the joint naval exercise to give it more confidence in buying Russian fighters, which is indeed the best choice for the Southeast Asian country to develop its air force.

In the 1990s, Indonesia bought Su-27, Su-30 and other models of the same series from Russia, the weapon systems on which are compatible with the current Su-35, thus saving a large sum of money in retraining pilots.

However, news reports released by foreign media indicate that Jakarta will have to buy from the US a batch of F-16V fighter jets, which are of lower performance and configurations and 1.5-times-higher price than Su-35 while continuing the arms deal with Russia to avoid Americas sanction.

Apparently, the Russia-Indonesia joint naval exercise is, to some extent, an extension of the gambling between the White House and Kremlin.
UPDATE (3/25): Coronavirus cases in Pa. surpass 1K. More deaths reported, including Lehigh Valleys 3rd

Pennsylvania coronavirus cases rose at their fastest rate yet over the last day: 207 new COVID-19 patients as of midnight Tuesday morning bring the states total to 851, spread over 40 counties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has also reported a second death from the new coronavirus in Allegheny County, the states seventh. The death toll includes two Lehigh Valley residents.

There are now 60 COVID-19 cases in the Lehigh Valley, up 12 from the previous days report. There are 33 reports in Northampton County and 27 in Lehigh County.

Carbon County recorded its first coronavirus case, one of six new counties added to the list on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said in Tuesdays media briefing that the number of new cases in the state are roughly doubling every two to three days. She gave her daily reminder that the best way to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus is to stay home. The outbreaks are most concentrated around the states population centers like Philadelphia and surrounding counties, where a stay-at-home order has been issued.

But health officials have said that its appearance in new, rural counties shows that community spread is occurring, when an exact source of exposure is not easily identified.

Testing rates  and, therefore, results  have quickened with last weeks introduction of commercial and hospital labs to conduct tests, another reason why sources of the virus cannot always be determined.

Pennsylvanias first reported cases were March 6. A week ago, there were only 96 known cases in the state.

Tuesdays county-by-county breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania:

Adams County: No new, 6 total.

Allegheny County: 10 new, 58 total.

Armstrong County: 1 new, its first.

Beaver County: No new, 3 total.

Berks County : 2 new, 16 total.

Bradford County: 1 new, its first.

Bucks County : 22 new, 65 total.

Butler County: 1 new, 6 total.

Cambria County: No new, 1 total.

Carbon County: 1 new, its first.

Centre County: 4 new, 7 total.

Chester County: No new, 40 total.

Clearfield County: 1 new, its first.

Columbia County: No new, 1 total.

Cumberland County: 1 new, 13 total.

Dauphin County: 3 new, 4 total.

Delaware County: 30 new, 84 total.

Erie County: 1 new, 4 total.

Fayette County: 1 new, 2 total.

Franklin County: 2 new, 3 total.

Juniata County: 1 new, its first.

Lackawanna County: 8 new, 15 total.

Lancaster County: 3 new, 8 total.

Lebanon County: No new, 3 total.

Lehigh County: 2 new, 27 total.

Luzerne County: 11 new, 21 total.

Mercer County: 1 new, 2 total.

Monroe County : 2 new, 45 total.

Montgomery County: 15 new, 144 total.

Montour County: 2 new, 3 total.

Northampton County: 10 new, 33 total.

Philadelphia County: 49 new, 177 total.

Pike County: 1 new, 4 total.

Potter County: No new, 1 total.

Schuylkill County: 4 new, 5 total.

Somerset County: 1 new, its first.

Washington County: 2 new, 9 total.

Wayne County: 1 new, 4 total.

Westmoreland County: 5 new, 11 total.

York County: 8 new, 18 total.

If you may have been exposed or exhibit the symptoms of COVID-19  fever, cough and shortness of breath  contact your healthcare provider.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov and the CDC website.

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.

Sign up for text message alerts from lehighvalleylive.com on coronavirus in the Lehigh Valley:





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.
(Newser)  President Trump said Monday that he wants to reopen the country for business in weeks, not months, and he claimed, without evidence, that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic. "We cant have the cure be worse than the problem," Trump told reporters at a press briefing, echoing a midnight Sunday tweet. We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems." Trump acknowledged there were trade-offs, there's no question about that," but claimed that, if closures stretch on for months, there would be "probably more death from that than anything that we're talking about with respect to the virus." The comments were further evidence that Trump has grown impatient with the pandemic, reports the AP, even before it has reached its expected peak.

story continues below

"I'm not looking at months, I can tell you right now," Trump said Monday, adding that America will soon be back open for business. He said, though, that states could continue to enforce stricter measures. In recent days, tensions have been rising between those who argue the country needs to get back up and running to prevent a deep economic depression, and medical experts who warn that, unless more extreme action is taken, the human cost will be catastrophic. "We can't shut in the economy. The economic cost to individuals is just too great," Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, said in an interview Monday on Fox News Channel. "The president is right. The cure can't be worse than the disease, and we're going to have to make some difficult trade-offs." (Read more coronavirus stories.)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for an immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic. The U.N. chief said, It is time to put armed conflict on lock-down and focus together on the true fight of our lives.

Guterres said the world faces a common enemy  COVID-19 which doesnt care about nationality or ethnicity, faction, or faith.

He said women, children, the disabled, marginalized and displaced and people caught in armed conflicts, which are raging around the world, are the most vulnerable and are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.

Its time to silence guns, stop artillery, end airstrikes and create corridors for life-saving aid and open windows for diplomacy, he said.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war, the secretary-general said.

Guterres spoke as the Syrian conflict has entered its 10th year, the conflict in Yemen is in its fifth year and Libyas rival governments have been fighting for nearly a year. Africa also faces unrest from Somalia and South Sudan to Congo. The conflict in eastern Ukraine is nearly six years old and Colombia has still not made peace with the smaller of the armed groups it had been fighting.

Extremist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida and their affiliates are also actively engaging in attacks in southeast Asia, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and many other countries around the world.

Guterres urged warring parties to put aside mistrust and animosity and take inspiration from efforts to get rivals to tackle the coronavirus together, but he stressed that much more was needed.

End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world, the secretary-general said. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.

The secretary-general said over the weekend that the parties in Libya had responded positively to calls for a humanitarian pause to tackle COVID-19, but he told reporters Monday that a recently agreed truce is not holding very well, and this is one of the reasons why I believe we need a global ceasefire.

He said U.N. envoys in conflict areas will be talking to warring parties to try to make sure that this global appeal is not only listened to but leads to concrete action, leads to a pause in fighting, creating the conditions for the response to COVID-19 to be much more effective.

Guterres stressed that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed, health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted, and refugees and the displaced are doubly vulnerable.

If the fighting goes on, we might have an absolutely devastating spreading of the epidemic, he said.

The United Nations plans to launch a $2 billion humanitarian appeal on Wednesday to deal with the pandemic, including refugees and the displaced, he said.

Guterres said he also sent a letter Monday to leaders of the Group of 20 major economic powers, who are expected to hold a virtual meeting this week that he will attend, saying much strong coordination is needed to suppress COVID-19.

He said this coordination must not only make sure that richer developed countries can respond effectively to the pandemic but that there is massive support to prevent the coronavirus from spreading like wildfire in the developing world.

Then, Guterres said, there must be a huge package to respond to the economic and social consequences in developing countries, to keep households, businesses and societies afloat.

The secretary-general said that given the need to keep countries afloat during this crisis, major industrial countries and organizations like the World Bank and IMF will need to provide support in the developing word that would be equal to more than 10% of GDP for those countries.

Also Monday, the head of the IMF said that the IMF was ready to do its part, suggesting that if needed it would deploy all of its $1 trillion in lending resources to countries in need.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement following a conference call with finance officials of the Group of 20 nations that the IMF has received requests for emergency help from nearly 80 countries. She pledged that the IMF planned a strong coordinated response working with the World Bank and other groups.
Joe Exotic once owned Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. He made money by charging people to come into the zoo to pet, feed and take pictures with the big cats. He also illegally bred the cubs, according to the series. Carole Baskin, along with her husband and organization, work vehemently to shut down operations like Joes. A rivalry unlike any before ensued, and ultimately, ended with Joe surrendering his zoo and being locked behind bars, ironically, like he had done to so many animals for years and years before.
The Revolutionary Commando Army is spearheading the fight against the Islamic State in the area around the al-Tanf base, but avoiding clashes with the regime and Iran writes Jesr.

The Revolutionary Commando Army is deployed in the environs of al-Tanf base on the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border, and enjoys support from the International Coalition. Most of the groups fighters are from Deir ez-Zor province, and it is led by General Mohannad al-Talaa.

Various indicators suggest that the United States is trying to rely on the group as a local force in light of what the area has recently witnessed in terms of attempts by the Islamic State (ISIS) to impose itself after the appointment of a new commander, and the escalating tensions with Iranian militias.

In an interview with Jesr, Talaa said that the Revolutionary Commando Army is the International Coalitions only partner in the area against ISIS and that it was continuing in its mission of fighting the extremist organization and eliminating them completely.

According to Talaa, the group is continuing its training with American forces in the 55-km area, which was agreed upon internationally, in order to prevent the return of ISIS and to offer the necessary protection for that.

Talaa said that they were not trying to confront regime forces but he said that they were taking all necessary measures to face every possibility and to take them into account in order to defend themselves, while on missions related to eliminating ISIS.

He said that they were also not trying to fight Iran and its militias and that they were taking the necessary measures to protect themselves against all risks that could affect their work while carrying out their missions.

Talaa said that the American withdrawal from al-Qaim was evidence of the success of the campaign to eliminate ISIS in Iraq, completed by the coalition and its Iraqi partners.

At the end of last month, the Revolutionary Commando Army killed and wounded a number of members of the Iranian militias and inflicted material losses in an attack on a position in the al-Tanf area in the Syria desert.

The attack came on the morning of Feb. 17, 2020, in response to an incursion by the militias into the 55-km area, killing a Revolutionary Commando Army fighter. Twelve members of the militias were killed and one was captured, and a tank was destroyed during the fighting.

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.
Tigerair has suspended all flights and Virgin Australia will cut domestic travel by 90 per cent as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the travel industry.

In a statement to the ASX on Wednesday the company said it would ground 125 planes and 8,000 staff members will be stood down without pay.

International and domestic flights are not expected to resume until at least the middle of June.

Tigerair has suspended all flights and Virgin Australia will cut domestic travel by 90 per cent as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the travel industry

Virgin Australia said it has maintained the remaining 10 per cent of domestic travel to allow for essential services, critical freight and logistics operations to continue.

The changes to domestic travel will come into effect from midnight on Friday while all international flights will be cut off from Monday onward.

The majority of staff will be stood down until at least the end of May but the airline group will help them seek out job options for temporary work to fill the gap.

It comes after Queensland joined Tasmania, WA and SA in shutting their borders to the rest of Australia.

The states that ruled unless visitors represented essential services they were either not allowed entry or would have to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

Virgin said it has maintained the remaining 10 per cent of domestic travel to allow for essential services

Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah said the mass closure was unprecedented.

'There has never been a travel environment in Australia as restricted as the one we see today and the extraordinary steps we've taken have been in response to the federal and state governments' latest travel advice,' he said.

'We are now facing what will be the biggest grounding of aircraft in this country's history.

'We plan to return Tigerair Australia and Virgin Australia to the skies as soon as it's viable to do so, however I am mindful that how we operate today may look different when we get to the other side of this crisis,' he said.

There are 2,363 cases of coronavirus in Australia as of Wednesday morning

Mr Scurrah applauded the actions of staff who had worked tirelessly to help passengers get home before states around Australia shut down their borders.

Those with flights booked with the airline between Wednesday and June 30 are entitled to claim back the cost of their flights as credit to use when service resumes.
(Photo : Screenshot from: Elon R Musk Instagram Account)

Everyone needs all the help they can get to try and fight the coronavirus or COVID-19. Luckily, big tech companies have had a good heart to lend a hand to those who are in need. Especially now that cases and death tolls have gone in up various places all over the world.





Read Also: And So it Begins! New York to Start Clinical Trials for Coronavirus Treatments as Approved by the FDA





California Receives 1,000 ventilators from Elon Musk

According to Governor Gavin Newsom during a press conference on Monday, reported by Business Insider, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk had just delivered 1,000 ventilators to aid California hospitals in treating COVID-19 patients.

In the report, Newsom had stated that "I told you a few days ago that [Musk] was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week, They've arrived in Los Angeles... It was a heroic effort."

Newsom also had spoken about meeting with a 'well-known entrepreneur' last week about these ventilators. Musk also took it to Twitter to give hints on his plans for ventilator production using his Tesla factories.

Musk tweeted, saying that they are working on producing ventilators even though he thought that there will be no signs of shortage by the time he and his team can make enough to matter.

Musk is already known to keep downplaying the acerbity of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been the alarming panic surrounding it "dumb" and irresponsibly and falsely stating that children are "essentially immune" to the coronavirus even though there has been a lot of evidence that says otherwise.

Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins has a February report that says the United States has an estimated 160,000 ventilators ready to use in various hospitals, in addition to this, 8,900 are now held in the national reserve.

Though medical experts have warned the public that if the virus continues to spread widely across the country, about one million Americans will be in need of these life-saving contraptions.

In response to the possibility of a shortage, Ford and General Motors have said that they will be helping and providing ventilators as the US economy tries to reconstruct themselves to meet the surging demand for a lot of medical supplies.

Were working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020

Amazon and Bill Gates to lend a hand to Seattle

Two other tech giants, Amazon and Bill Gates, have opted to partner up and help the residents in Seattle. They will be helping out the city of Seattle by giving out at-home COVID-19 testing kits which are provided by the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network or SCAN.

SCAN currently has the funding from Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, and his Gates Ventures investment arms, assisted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation philanthropic group.

Seattle and its neighboring area are among those who have been hit hard in the metropolitan area in the United States. Having more than 2,000 confirmed cases for COVID-19 and over 100 deaths.

Read Also: Nurse Reusing and Sharing Face Masks Amid COVID-19 Epidemic: Piers Morgan Rants on Gov't During a Debate with Matt Hancock on Good Morning Britain

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio will comply with a Trump Administration request to stop releasing daily unemployment claim statistics amid the coronavirus crisis, despite prior releases of such data, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said Monday.

Unemployment claims skyrocketed last week after Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the closing of bars, restaurant dining areas and other non-essential businesses to limit the spread of COVID-19. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released data that showed the state received 139,468 unemployment benefits applications from March 15 through March 19, a massive increase over the 4,815 received over the same five-day period the previous week.

Husted said during a Mondays daily briefing at the Ohio Statehouse that the state would no longer provide updates on on unemployment claims, citing guidance from the Trump Administration. An ODJFS spokesman later clarified that the state will release its weekly unemployment claims update on Thursday, when nationwide data is released.

Weve been asked by the U.S. Department of Labor not to release our numbers on unemployment, so were following that guidance, Husted said.

The Trump Administration has asked states to delay the release of unemployment claims statistics to prevent further roiling an already shaky stock market, according to The New York Times. The Labor Department sent an email asking states to provide only general comments, such as a very high or substantial increase, until federal data is released next week, according to the report.

State public records law exempts the ODJFS from releasing certain data that would identify someone who has applied for or is receiving unemployment benefits. However, the the ODJFS website includes weekly unemployment claims statistics dating back to 1998, and ODJFS provided day-by-day updates on unemployment claims several times last week.

The state still plans to post weekly unemployment claims data on the ODJFS website Thursday morning, ODJFS spokesman Bret Crow said Monday. He did not say why the state complied with the Trump Administration request to stop providing day-by-day updates, and instead directed questions to the Department of Labor.

A spokesman for Husted did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Unemployment claims have soared in Ohio since DeWine started issuing orders March 15 to close businesses across the state. The series of orders culminated Sunday in a stay-at-home order that requires Ohio residents to remain largely at home and closes all non-essential businesses.

The closings are intended to create social distancing and limit the chance of one person passing the virus to someone else. The goal is to reduce the number of people who have the virus at the same time and lessen the strain on Ohios hospitals.

Husted also said Monday that the spike in unemployment claims crashed the ODJFS website temporarily Monday. He apologized for the disruption and said techs are working to ensure the system can handle the increased demand.

This system was not built for a crisis. It was built to take care of what we could expect on a regular or even robust basis, Husted said. But what were experiencing now is frankly unprecedented.

Applications are also accepted by phone at 1-877-644-6562 or TTY 1-614-387-8408. The ODJFS has extended its phone hours to Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m, and added Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The agency has also added more staff to help process phone applications, officials said.

Cleveland.com reporter Rich Exner contributed to this story.
A loss of smell or taste might be an early sign of infection with the pandemic virus, say medical experts who cite reports from several countries.

It might even serve as a useful screening tool, they say.

The idea of a virus infection reducing sense of smell is not new. Respiratory viral infection is a common cause of loss of smell, because inflammation can interfere with airflow and the ability to detect odours.

The sense of smell usually returns when the infection resolves, but in a small percentage of cases, smell loss can persist after other symptoms disappear. In some cases, it is permanent.

Now, there's "good evidence" from South Korea, China and Italy for loss or impairment of smell in infected people, says a joint statement from the presidents of the British Rhinological Society and of ENT UK, a British group that represents ear, nose and throat doctors.

In South Korea, some 30 per cent of people who tested positive for the virus have cited loss of smell as their major complaint in otherwise mild cases, they wrote.

So that might be useful as a way to spot infected people without other symptoms fever, coughing and shortness of breath of the new coronavirus, they wrote.

A similar proposal was published Sunday by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. It noted "rapidly accumulating" anecdotal evidence from around the world that the pandemic virus can cause not only loss of smell but also a diminished sense of taste.

So the appearance of those symptoms in people without another explanation should alert doctors to the possibility of a COVID-19 infection, the group said.

Maria Van Kerkhove, an outbreak expert at the World Health Organization, told reporters Monday that the UN health agency is looking into the question of whether the loss of smell or taste are a defining feature of the disease.

Dr. Eric Holbrook, an expert on nasal and sinus disease at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital in Boston, said the reports have been a hot topic among researchers and doctors. But "we don't have hard evidence right now" about how often smell loss occurs in people infected with the pandemic virus, he said in an interview on Monday.

Holbrook said the reports he has seen suggest the sense of smell returns within a couple weeks, but how long it lasts has yet to be firmly established.

He also said it's difficult to assess reports of a loss of taste because people with an impaired sense of smell often report a loss of flavour, which is technically different from an impairment in taste.

Holbrook said he is trying to set up a study of smell in people being tested for the coronavirus at Boston-area hospitals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington State police are searching for the last six of 14 inmates that escaped from a jail Monday evening.

Yakima County Sheriff Robert Udell said in a statement on Facebook that the inmates broke out of the Yakima County Jail around 7pm. Eight of the inmates were captured almost immediately and are back at the jail, according to the sheriff. The other six inmates are still at large.

'Despite the governors shelter-in-place, or stay-at-home order, well, they didnt want to do that. So they are out and about and we need your help to get these guys back in custody,' Udell said.

Just before their escape Gov Jay Inslee had issued a statewide shelter in place order for all Washingtonians to stay at home for the next two weeks.

Scroll down for video

Miguel Angel Chavez-Amezcua, 27, from Moses Lake and Hugo Alejandro Amezcua-Hernandez, 28, of Yakima, are among the inmates who have not been detained

Fernando Gustavo Casteneda-Sandoval (left), 31, of Yakima, and Neftali Serrano (right), 27, of Yakima, are still on the loose

Andrew Derrick Wolfley (left), 26, from Union Gap, and 34-year-old Tyrone Adam Mulvaney (right) from Moses Lake are on the run. Mulvaney has a tattoo of a marijuana plant on his face

The inmates on the run have been identified as follows: Tyrone Adam Mulvaney, 34, of Moses Lake, Andrew Derrick Wolfley, 26, of Union Gap, Neftali Serrano, 27, of Yakima, Fernando Gustavo Casteneda-Sandoval, 31, of Yakima, Hugo Alejandro Amezcua-Hernandez, 28, of Yakima, and Miguel Angel Chavez-Amezcua, 27, of Moses Lake.

Sheriff Udell said the inmates were able to escape by breaking open an exterior fire door using a table from inside the annex.

A passerby also recorded video of the men jumping over the fence during their escape.

The inmates were seen running in front of people's cars while they were waiting at a stop light and others were seen cutting across another street.

If anyone has information on where we can find the 6 escapees, please call the US Marshals Tip Hotline at 1-866-865-TIPS.

In other states, 'low-risk' jail inmates are being released to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, New Jersey announced such plans to release inmates in an order that would mean that a 1,000 jailed people could be back on the streets as soon as Thursday.

Yakima County Sheriff Robert Udell (left) said in a statement on Facebook that the inmates broke out of the Yakima County Jail (right) around 7pm

Sheriff Udell said the inmates were able to escape the Yakima County Jail (pictured) by breaking open an exterior fire door using a table from inside the annex

Governor Phil Murphy revealed Monday there were 935 new COVID-19 cases in the state, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 2,844.

Shortly after the update, Murphy revealed in a tweet that 'certain low-level offenders will be released from county jails to prevent the spread of #COVID19 within our corrections system'.

Sharing the decision from attorney general Gurbir Singh Grewal, Murphy said: 'This is a prudent measure, and all efforts have been made to ensure public safety.'

Public Defender Joseph Krakora warned in a Thursday letter to the chief justice: 'It is inevitable that the virus will spread into the county jails and, when that happens, the health and well-being of inmates and jail staff members will be at tremendous risk.

'It is therefore incumbent upon the criminal justice system to reduce our county jail populations to the extent possible without compromising public safety.'

Late Sunday night Stuart Rabner, chief justice of the state's supreme court, signed to suspend or commute sentences being served by inmates as a condition of probation or a municipal court conviction.

In his filing Rabner wrote about the 'profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19'.

He asked for municipal court convicted people to go free by 6am Tuesday and for those inside for violating probation or a low-level conviction, such as disorderly conduct, to be out by Thursday.

In other states, 'low-risk' jail inmates are being released to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, New Jersey announced such plans to release inmates in an order that would mean that a 1,000 jailed people could be out by Thursday. Bergen County Jail is pictured

Governor Phil Murphy revealed in a tweet that 'certain low-level offenders will be released from county jails to prevent the spread of #COVID19 within our corrections system'

Attorney general Gurbir Singh Grewal (left) said the move is being made to protect the health of inmates and limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Announcement followed order signed by Stuart Rabner (right), to suspend or commute sentences being served by inmates

Grewal said the move is being made to protect the health of inmates and limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

'Jails can be incubators for disease so we have to take bold and drastic steps,' Grewal explained.

People released will be subject to the state's stay-at-home order and will serve their sentence once the health crisis is over, Grewal said.

The order is statewide by may be challenged if the inmate is deemed a risk to themselves or the public.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey called it a 'landmark agreement'. Alongside the Public Defenders Office, the ACLU fought for the move of 'compassion' and 'looking out for all peoples well-being'.

'Unprecedented times call for rethinking the normal way of doing things, and in this case it means releasing people who pose little risk to their communities for the sake of public health and the dignity of people who are incarcerated,' ACLU New Jersey Executive Director, Amol Singha, said in a statement.

On Sunday it was confirmed that rapist Harvey Weinstein had contracted the illness. The inmate has been moved into isolation at Wende Correctional Facility in New York where two others have COVID-19

In a bid to prevent the spread, New York will release 40 prisoners depending on their medical history and risk to society. File image shows a sign of Rikers Island

Over the weekend, California revealed that their first inmate tested positive for the virus.

On Sunday in New York it was confirmed rapist Harvey Weinstein had contracted the illness. The inmate has been moved into isolation at Wende Correctional Facility where two others have COVID-19.

New York City's Legal Aid Society previously issued a letter asking the Board of Corrections to lay out a plan of action to lower the risk of prison inmates from contracting coronavirus.

'Unlike people in free society, incarcerated people have no access to water or soap for hand washing, or capacity to seek physical distance, except with the overt assistance of their jailers', they wrote.

In a bid to prevent the spread, New York will release 40 prisoners depending on their medical history and risk to society.

In Cleveland and Tulsa, Oklahoma the release of sick inmates has also been considered.

Ohio, Texas and California, along with a dozen other states have made moves to free up packed jails that hold 2.2 million behind bars across the country.

Two federal prison guards have also tested positive.

In Washington DC, a US Marshall tested positive and it's believed the person who works closely with detainees almost put the health of dozens of others at risk.

Arrests have also been curbed across the country to comply with social distancing.

Police are being careful to respond to only urgent matters and one department in Southern California is using drones as first responders to a scene and to monitor social distancing.
A Spanish police officer denies access to Spain at the border with France on March 17, 2020. (Gaizka Iroz/AFP via Getty Images)

France Reports 186 More Coronavirus Deaths, Raising Total to 860

PARISFrench health authorities reported 186 new deaths from the CCP virus on Monday, taking the total to 860 or an increase of 28 percent, with the toll rising more sharply than the last three days as the country is about to enter its second week of lockdown.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

During a press conference, Health Minister Olivier Veran added the number of cases had risen to 19,856, which is a rise of about 20 percent in 24 hours.

Veran said 2,082 people were in a serious condition needing life support, up 19 percent compared to Sunday, another increase compared to the last three official tallies.

Macron Against Total Lockdown

France President Emmanuel Macron told religious authorities on Monday he was against the idea of imposing a total lockdown into combat the coronavirus outbreak, a source close to one of the participants said.

Macron has ordered the French to stay at home other than to buy groceries, travel to work, exercise or for medical care. However, some medical professionals have called for stricter measures.

There will be no total lockdown, a source close to Frances Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, who took part in the meeting at the Elysee palace, told Reuters. (Macron) said (this) in essence, because that would cause more pain than healing.

Macrons meeting with religious leaders also concluded that celebrations of the Christian holiday of Easter and the Jewish holiday of Passover would probably not be held this year, the source said.

If the lockdown is maintained, which should be the case, places of worship will be inaccessible and family reunions wont be possible, the source added.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
Donald Trump said Tuesday that the phase three coronavirus economic stimulus package is doing 'pretty well,' claiming lawmakers are 'coming together' to try and get the bill passed later in the day.

'Well I think they are actually coming together,' Trump said during a Fox News virtual town hall Tuesday when asked about the fighting amongst lawmakers over the measures in the bill.

'We had a bill that was done the other night and then all of the sudden somebody else injected herself in, and we didn't have anything that was even remotely signable,' he continued, making reference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 'But now I hear, just from a few minutes ago, that they're doing well.'

'And it's for the workers, it's for the people of the country and I hear they're doing pretty well, so we'll see how it comes out,' Trump said.

The town hall was held outside the White House Tuesday afternoon with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Dr. Deborah Birx as they sat down on the South Lawn with Fox News Bill Hemmer.

Originally there was no coronavirus task force briefing on the presidents public schedule, sparking speculation that the town hall was being held in lieu of Trump being in close quarters with reporters.

Tuesday afternoon, The White House announced the coronavirus task force would be holding its daily briefing at 5:30 p.m.

The White House Correspondents Association revealed Monday that a member of the White House press corps may have contracted coronavirus.

Donald Trump said Tuesday that lawmakers are doing 'pretty well' on negotiating a phase three economic stimulus package. 'Well I think they are actually coming together,' he said

Trump participated in a Fox News virtual town hall with Bill Hemmer (right) Tuesday afternoon in lieu of the daily coronavirus task force daily briefing with reporters

Trump was joined by Surgeon General Jerome Adams (left), Dr. Deborah Birx (second fro left) and Vice President Mike Pence  and were interviewed by Fox News' Bill Hemmer (right), as well as by Americans who sent in video asking questions

'We have been informed that one of our colleagues has a suspected case of COVID-19,' ABC News Jon Karl, president of the White House Correspondents Association, wrote in a message to fellow White House reporters Monday.

Word of the possible infection brought an immediate change in the set-up of the White House briefing room on Monday, which had already been implementing 'social distancing' by kicking out more than half the press in hopes of averting any spread among those who cover the president.

Trump said during the town hall that he wouldnt approve the bill because several measures were added in by Pelosi at the last minute that he said made the package unsignable.

'I canceled the deal last night,' Trump said, 'because Nancy Pelosi came in and put a lot of things in the deal that had nothing to do with the workers. That had to do with an agenda that they've been trying to get passed for 10 years. And I came in, I told Mike, I told a lot of people, 'There's no way I'm signing that deal.'

Democrats were able to block the GOP-backed stimulus bill on Sunday and the revised version Monday afternoon.

Pelosi returned to the Capitol Monday, laying out her and the House Democrats' own version of a phase three economic relief package.

Trump claimed during the town hall that he was against the Democratic version of the package because it included measures unrelated to providing relief for American people and companies due to the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

'You know, we almost had a deal the day before, and it was between Schumer and Mitch, and it was really a good, solid deal,' the president said.

He described some of the stipulations Democrats were demanding, including giving tax incentives for companies to use wind power, which he said would cause 'windmills all over the place' that would 'kill the birds.'

'All of the sudden they start throwing all of their little Green New Deal stuff in, right? And the board rooms, what they look like. And, 'We want green energy. We want all this stuff. Let's stop drilling oil.' They had things in there that were terrible. Windmills all over the place and all sorts of credits for windmills to kill the birds and ruin the real estate, right?'

Trump suggested Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer struck a deal on the phase three economic stimulus bill.

'Congress must approve the deal, without all of the nonsense, today,' he demanded in a tweet Tuesday morning. 'The longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Republicans for bipartisan efforts and the administration for 'bending over backwards' to appease Democrats, and said Tuesday that they are on the 'five-yard line' of getting a deal passed.

Mnuchin and Schumer revealed Monday night that they were 'very close' to reaching a deal on the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief package after meeting several times in the last few days.

Following a series of late-night meetings at the Capitol Monday night and a phone call with Trump, the duo told reporters around midnight that they hope to have the final agreement in place and ready for a vote Tuesday morning.

Donald Trump demanded Tuesday that Congress pass the nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus package 'TODAY,' suggesting a 'deal' had been struck between his Treasury secretary and Senate Democrats

Trump claims Democrats are trying to get parts of the Green New Deal passed in the package  and called during his Monday press briefing for bipartisan legislation after Democrats blocked the GOP-backed stimulus package twice

He railed against Democrats Tuesday morning for trying to get measures passed in the phase three coronavirus economic stimulus package that he says are unrelated to the fallout from the outbreak

'This will never be approved by me!' he asserted in another tweet of the Democrats trying to include measures like setting new emissions standards for airlines and giving tax incentives to companies that use wind and solar energy

Nancy Pelosi signaled hope that a deal could get voted on Tuesday. 'I think there is real optimism that we could get something done in the next few hours,' she told CNBC Tuesday morning

The president also bashed Nancy Pelosi for returning to Capitol Hill to propose her own counter package

So far there have been more than 46,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and the death toll is nearing 600

The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. have skyrocketed in the last week, creating more urgency for Congress to act on passing the $2 trillion relief package to help stimulate the economy and provide relief for companies and individuals experiencing fallout from the outbreak

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Democrats to let the latest version of the bill pass on Tuesday. 'Every day, every hour that Congress delays on passing a significant relief package, we risk more American livelihoods and the safety of more healthcare professionals,' he said from the Senate floor

STATEWIDE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS In the most extreme measures to date, 17 states have ordered 100 percent of non-essential workforces to stay home to help curb the spread of COVID-19. CALIFORNIA Locked down: 39.5 million Deaths: 67 CONNECTICUT Locked down: 3.5 million Deaths: 19 DELAWARE Locked down: 967,000 Deaths: 0 HAWAII Locked down: 1.42 million Deaths: 0 ILLINOIS Locked down: 12.74 million Deaths: 19 INDIANA Locked down: 6.7 million Deaths: 14 LOUISIANA Locked down: 4.66 million Deaths: 65 MASSACHUSETTS Locked down: 6.9 million locked down Deaths: 15 MICHIGAN Locked down: 10 million Deaths: 43 NEVADA Locked down: 3.03 million Deaths: 6 NEW JERSEY Locked down: 8.9 million Deaths: 62 NEW YORK Locked down: 19.54 million Deaths: 366 OHIO Locked down: 11.6 million Deaths: 11 OREGON Locked down: 4.19 million Deaths: 10 PENNSYLVANIA Locked down: 12.81 million Deaths: 15 WASHINGTON Locked down: 7.5 million Deaths: 133 WEST VIRGINIA Locked down: 1.8 million Deaths: 0 Advertisement

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed she was hopeful that Congress could get something done Tuesday on a phase three bill.

'I think there is real optimism that we could get something done in the next few hours,' she told CNBC Tuesday morning as Senate Republicans and Democrats moved closer to striking a deal.

McConnell lashed out Tuesday from the Senate floor, claiming Americans were forced to watch the Senate 'spin its wheels' negotiating the package while Democrats 'dragged out' the process.

'The urgency and gravity of this moment cannot be lost on anyone,' he said. 'Every day, every hour that Congress delays on passing a significant relief package, we risk more American livelihoods and the safety of more healthcare professionals.'

While Democrats claim the Republican bill focuses on bailing out businesses rather than giving economic relief to individuals and families, McConnell insists these are not mutually exclusive benefits.

'In the past few days some voices have tried to pit some Americans against other Americans and argue that directly helping workers and strengthening businesses are somehow conflicting priorities. That is utter nonsense. American workers need paychecks, they need jobs,' he said.

The GOP-backed package does propose loans and grants for businesses, it also lays out a plan to directly send checks to American families.

Trump bashed Democrats on Twitter for trying to include measures in the phase three economic stimulus package that he says are unrelated to addressing fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

McConnell said Monday from the Senate floor that Democrats are trying to add in partisan measures to the bill, like implementing new emission standards for airlines and creating tax incentives for companies that use wind and solar power.

'This is not about the ridiculous Green New Deal,' Trump chastised in a tweet Tuesday morning. 'It is about putting our great workers and companies BACK TO WORK!'

'This will never be approved by me, or any other Republican!' he asserted in a late Monday night tweet.

He also railed against Pelosi coming back to Capitol Hill to propose her own counter package after Senate Democrats blocked the GOP-backed stimulus bill for the second time Monday afternoon.

'Republicans had a deal until Nancy Pelosi rode into town from her extended vacation,' Trump tweeted. 'The Democrats want the Virus to win?'

'They are asking for things that have nothing to do with our great workers or companies. They want Open Borders & Green New Deal. Republicans shouldn't agree!' he continued.

McConnell and Schumer resulted to partisan squabbling on the Senate floor Monday when the revised package, which was supposedly bipartisan, was put up for a vote.

Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Monday that they were 'very close' to reaching an agreement on a deal

Despite this claim, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi returned to Capitol Hill Monday to propose her and the House Democrats' own stimulus package

Trump expressed his displeasure with Pelosi's version, specifically retweeting criticism over the measure included that allocated $35 million for the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

This user included a viral gif of Pelosi ripping up Donald Trump's State of the Union address earlier this year to illustrate her point

Schumer and Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met several times over the last few days to make a deal on getting the $2 trillion economic relief package passed  and claimed Monday they were on the verge of reaching a deal that could be voted on as early as Tuesday.

Pelosi and House Democrats, however, are still moving forward with proposing their own plan, which hasn't pleased Republicans or the president.

Trump and his Party claim the new bill has just as many, if not more, irrelevant measures included than what Democrats were trying to sneak through in the Republican-proposed phase three package.

Trump retweeted 'a message for Schumer & Pelosi' from Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel including a quote from his White House press briefing Monday evening.

''This should not be a time for political agendas, but rather one for focusing solely and squarely on the needs of the American people,'' McDaniel tweeted.

He then bashed Pelosi for adding in a stipulation that would allocate $35 million in funding to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts through September 2021 to offset the costs incurred as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a Washington D.C.-based multi-dimensional performance facility.

Trump reposted an outraged response to the measure claiming it was 'evil.'

'People are dying and the dems do this. It's literally the definition of evil,' the post the president retweeted read. 'We've never seen a crisis like this before and they are funneling millions to their friends while withholding funds to people that actually need the resources.'

RN Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted Trump calling Monday for bipartisan participation to get the economic stimulus bill passed. Trump retweeted her

McConnell brought the first version of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package to the Senate floor on Sunday afternoon, but Democrats were able to block it  claiming there were major 'problems' with the proposed legislation.

The bill tied at 47-47, missing the 60-vote threshold needed. There were six votes missing as senators self-isolated over fears of coronavirus, especially after Rand Paul announced Sunday he contracted the respiratory disease.

After hours of negotiations Sunday night into Monday morning, McConnell brought the revised bill to the floor.

Democrats, however, again blocked it, claiming it didn't even meet their minimum requests.

Republicans insisted Democrats were holding up the bill for things like tax credits for companies using solar and wind energy  and other measures that would fund their highly-desired Green New Deal.

On the other hand, Democrats claim GOP packages do too much to help bailout corporations and not enough to directly help American people facing fallout from the pandemic.
No large group of offenders will be released from Sandoval County Detention Center due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Tuesday morning, County Attorney Robin Hammer moved for District Court Judge Christopher Perez to dismiss her petition at the Sandoval County Judicial Complex, according to a press release sent by Sandoval County.

Last week, Hammer requested the release of misdemeanor and non-violent offenders from the jail to comply with social-distancing guidelines and mitigate risk of infection at the jail, according to a petition filed in 13th Judicial District Court.

County and law enforcement agencies joined with local government entities to move 60 inmates to other detention locations. For 18 detainees, local judges reviewed conditions of release or they completed their sentences, according to the press release.

These measures have reduced the jails population from 208 to 130 detainees. With these changes, the jail can place one inmate per cell, according to the press release.

It is the desire of Sandoval County to continue to work with stakeholders to continue to detain dangerous felons, and minimize detention of non-violent and misdemeanor offenders in order to keep the jail population below 120 men and 48 women during the duration of this Health Emergency for the health and safety of detainees, detention center staff and the general public, according to the release.

The jail contains about 100 staff members, according to the petition.

Written in the petition, persons should not be confined in small spaces together and should remain 6 feet apart.

Nurse Joni Ollila from Corr Health said inmates must pass medical clearance to be accepted by the jail. She added no detainee has tested positive for COVID-19.

The detention center has 24/7 medical services through a contract with Corr Health Corporation.

This goes to show how far we have come over the last year or so since we found out that the detention center was in ill repair, said Sandoval County Commission Chairman Dave Heil in the press release. We owe a lot of thanks to our county manager, Dianne Maes, for taking on the responsibility of upgrading the needs of the detention center, and that is why we were able to get this done in a timely manner.
Storyful

A cat owner in Sao Paulo may need to pack for vacations in private from now on, as it appears their kitty is quite fond of curling up in a suitcase.Natalia Cara de Medeiros, who runs an Instagram account dedicated to her pet cat Jazz, shared footage of the feline sitting happily in her half-full suitcase to her YouTube channel.In a caption for the video, de Medeiros said Jazz was abandoned along with four other cats.They all got adopted and she was the only one left. One of the neighbors tried to take her in, but she didnt want to; she had chosen us and slowly made her way into our home, she wrote.And it looks like de Medeiros home isnt the only thing Jazz has made her way into: Like all cats, she is very curious and loves enclosed spaces, so of course, she couldnt resist it when she saw an open suitcase lying around, de Mederios added. Credit: Natys Adventures via Storyful
Geneva [Switzerland], Mar 25 (ANI): The World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Margaret Harris on Tuesday said that with a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, the country could become the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.



"Europe is still the centre of the pandemic, but there had been "a very large acceleration" in cases in the US," WHO spokesperson said at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, as quoted by NHK World.

The WHO said that, as of last Saturday, 75 per cent of new infections around the world were from Europe, and 15 per cent from the United States.

Harris said that about half of the new cases over the past 24 hours were from Europe, while 40 per cent were from the US.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the United States has risen above 600, with more than 50,000 cases of infection confirmed, the John Hopkins University of Medicine said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said that he would like to have the country open up by Easter holidays, amid the coronavirus global pandemic which is continuing to impact the country and has claimed over 16,231 lives globally.

"I would love to have it opened by Easter (April 12). It is such an important day for other reasons, but I will make it an important day for this too. I would love to have the country opened up by Easter," said Trump during a Town Hall organised by Fox News to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak situation in the country. (ANI)


Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Passports has called on all residents in the kingdom who have final exit, exit and return visas to quickly cancel them before their expiry.

This step is needed to avoid the prescribed fines following the suspension of international flights in the kingdom as part of the preventive and precautionary measures to combat the novel Coronavirus, said a Saudi Press Agency report .

The directorate confirmed that the validity of the visa can be verified and cancelled by entering the electronic services platform of the Ministry of Interior "Absher", or through the "Muqeem" electronic portal. It affirmed the need to adhere to the regulations and instructions in order to avoid fines prescribed by law against violators, the report said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Municipal Court on Tuesday announced more restrictions on court hearings as efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus continue.

Starting Tuesday, just two judges will preside over court hearings, and the hearings that go forward will only involve defendants who currently in jail, according to a news release and an order signed by Administrative and Presiding Judge Michelle Earley.

The order also announced that judges had agreed to postpone all other cases for five weeks and all criminal and civil trials scheduled in the months of March, April and May have been suspended. Weddings have been postponed or some cases cancelled, the release said.

The order replaces a March 13 directive that Early issued declaring all court hearings for defendants who arent in jail would be postponed for three weeks.

Judge Pinkey S. Carrs holding of hearings outside the March 13 orders scope is now the subject of complaints filed in the Ohio Supreme Court and the 8th District Court of Appeals by Cuyahoga County Chief Public Defender Mark Stantons office.

The 8th District has ordered Carr to comply with the order until the case is fully argued. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen OConnor has yet to announce whether she will bar Carr from holding traffic and criminal court hearings in her courtroom past Tuesday.

Several courts around the county and the state have dramatically scaled back operations to reduce the number of people coming in and out of the courthouses.

Read more coronavirus stories

Have a court date? See whether Cuyahoga and Summit county courthouses have delayed it amid coronavirus spread

Cleveland Judge Pinkey Carr must follow courts order to limit hearings amid coronavirus, appeals court rules

Ohio, federal authorities say theyre ready to investigate stockpiling of anti-malarial drugs Trump touted as potential coronavirus treatment

Amish beard-cutting leader Sam Mullet to serve rest of sentence at home after he raises concerns about coronavirus

Coronavirus spread creates some limits, but wont stop major criminal investigations like the Cuyahoga County corruption, jail probes
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: People across the country clapped and clanged utensils to applaud the doctors and nurses who are in the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 on Janata Curfew day. But it was at the same time that doctors of MGM Hospital in Warangal were forced out onto the streets by their landlords.

The latter called the doctors dirty and do not want them as tenants fearing the spread of Coronavirus in the locality.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON CORONAVIRUS HERE

A student of MGM Hospital, on condition of anonymity, told Express, They are recognising us with our lab coats and stethoscopes. Many doctors have been asked to vacate their rented homes by their owners as they believe that doctors staying at their houses may make them more susceptible to COVID-19. One owner even said we were dirty. They asked us to vacate without any notice. Most of the doctors are now on streets and have nowhere to go.

The student also said the residents and house-surgeons were the most affected.

Our campus hostels are converted into isolation wards too by the orders of the district collector. We are working without any protective gear, holiday or stipend, he said.

Where is the gratitude they showed us Sunday? Why do we have to risk our lives sif this is how they treat us.
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: So far, the United States is losing the battle against the coronavirus. Donald G. McNeil Jr. on what it would take to turn the corner. Its Tuesday, March 24. Donald, it is now about 4:20 on Monday. Where are we in this pandemic in the United States? How would you characterize it at this moment?

donald g. mcneil jr.

I would say its wildly out of control, but we have not recognized it yet. Certainly wildly out of control in New York State.

archived recording (news anchor) The epicenter in the U.S. is now clearly New York, with more than 12,000 cases, most of them here in New York City.

donald g. mcneil jr.

In Washington.

archived recording (news anchor) The state of Washington has the second highest number, with almost 1,000 cases. And then theres California. We have the third highest number.

donald g. mcneil jr.

In northern California, in South Florida.

archived recording (news anchor) We saw pictures of Disney World jam-packed with people, aerial photos of beaches in Florida jammed with people. There are still so many Americans that dont understand they are spreading the virus.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Weve just begun to do tests, really. Weve got 42,000 positive cases. Weve got 513 deaths.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

You know, some people have said this is like a war. And its as if your army has been marching forward, and the enemy has been shooting at you for two to three weeks now, and nobody has yet looked down to see whether or not theyre bleeding.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

But very soon, we will see how many people have been hit. Because, you know, you get sick within four, five, six, seven days of getting infected. But usually you dont need hospitalization  if youre going to need hospitalization  until about 10 days to two weeks in. Its known as the second week crash. And some people crash even after they thought they were starting to get better. So were facing something like that. A lot of people are sick, huge numbers of people are about to fall seriously ill.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

But it just hasnt happened yet.

michael barbaro

Well, I want to talk about what the U.S. government and states have done so far. How would you describe what has been done to try to mitigate this?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Its a giant patchwork across the country.

archived recording (gavin newsom) This is a moment we need to make tough decisions. This is a moment where we need some straight talk, and we need to tell people the truth.

donald g. mcneil jr.

I mean, you see California ordering people to stay inside their houses.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) So were going to put out an executive order today, New York State on pause.

donald g. mcneil jr.

New York requesting that people stay inside their houses and closing down all nonessential businesses.

archived recording (news anchor) A stay at home order for all of Ohio.

donald g. mcneil jr.

You have Ohio and Louisiana 

archived recording (john bel edwards) Today, Im issuing a stay-at-home at home water for the entire state of Louisiana.

donald g. mcneil jr.

 moving in the same direction.

archived recording (john bel edwards) Which will become effective tomorrow Monday, March 23 at 5 p.m.

donald g. mcneil jr.

The federal government has recommended no gatherings of more than 10 people. Some states are enforcing that even more harshly than that, like California. Other states are setting their own policies.

michael barbaro

Right, and as patchy and inconsistent as this approach may be, there is beginning to be real blowback to this government-mandated social distancing and shutting down our society, given that it is putting people out of work. Its closing businesses. The president has said just in the past few hours 

archived recording (donald trump) We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. Were not gonna let the cure be worse than the problem.

michael barbaro

He doesnt want the cure to be worse than the illness itself. So I want to understand why were pursuing this approach rather than a variety of alternatives. And lets start with the South Korean approach, right? Not closing all businesses, not closing all restaurants, focusing instead on aggressively tracking the sick and testing as many people as possible. And it seems to be working, right? So why cant we do that here? Why isnt that a viable alternative to shutting things down?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Well, we could do that here, if we had a time machine and we could travel back in time to about January 20, because January 15 is where we know one of the first cases arrived in the United States and started spreading. That was the case in Washington. The idea that we could try to start cracking down now, when we have over 40,000 cases and 500 deaths, its just utterly impossible. Its not close to anything that South Korea faced. I mean, South Korea, they were doing this kind of crackdown when they first saw cases arriving, before there was a single death. So were just behind the eight ball on that kind of thinking. And mostly they had small scattered cases, and then they had this gigantic explosion inside one church. I think it was more than 500 cases inside that church. All right, they managed to do contact tracing on 210,000 members of that church. Los Angeles just gave up contact tracing today.

michael barbaro

Wow.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Just knowing that they dont have the tests to do it.

michael barbaro

Meaning, tracing those who were in contact with somebody who has tested positive.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Tracing everybody who was in contact with somebody who was tested positive. Not only everybody theyve been in contact with since they knew they were infected, but everybody even 48 hours before that.

michael barbaro

So not only is it too late to follow the South Korean model, youre saying, as an alternative in the U.S., we just dont have the capacity or the resources to follow it.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Correct.

michael barbaro

OK, so we can dispense with that. Another possible alternative to just shutting everything down is isolating the most vulnerable in American society to the coronavirus. So the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions, underlying medical problems, rather than asking everyone to isolate in some form or another. And in that scenario, most Americans would be treated as we treat most Americans during the regular flu season, right? Take some precautions, be careful but dont fundamentally alter your life. And there are doctors who seem to be advocating for this isolate the most vulnerable scenario. And one of our colleagues, columnist Tom Friedman, gave voice to their views over the weekend. And it seems President Trump is interested in this kind of a concept. What do the experts that you have talked to say about the viability of that?

donald g. mcneil jr.

This was an idea that was floated for a while in the Netherlands, and was floated for a while in the U.K., and dropped because they realized that it was ridiculous. Why is it ridiculous? One, how do you only isolate the elderly?

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Elderly people in this country very often live with their families. Elderly people need services, which people deliver to them in their houses. Or they go to community centers, or to their relatives houses for services they absolutely need, from everything from food to company. How do you isolate the vulnerable? How do you isolate everybody whos obese in this country?

michael barbaro

Why do you mention obese?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Because many have diabetes. And diabetes is one of the conditions that renders you more susceptible to dying of this disease. Everybody whos got high blood pressure, not all high blood pressure but uncontrolled high blood pressure, which a lot of people do in this country, is more susceptible to this disease. Anybody whos taken any sort of immunosuppressive drugs or is fairly recently beyond cancer treatment may be more susceptible to this disease.

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Theres some data suggesting now that people who vape may be more susceptible to developing pneumonia from this disease. Vaping is not something thats common among the elderly in this country.

michael barbaro

So youre saying, there are just too many vulnerable populations for this to be practical?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yes. So the idea that you can just isolate all the most vulnerable people in the U.S. is simply wishful thinking.

michael barbaro

So given that, Donald, I want to talk through another possible alternative, one that President Trump seems to be talking up a lot in the past couple of days.

archived recording (donald trump) Its a common malaria drug. Its been available, so therefore the safety level we understand very well. Its been relatively safe.

michael barbaro

Which is the idea that we are close to a treatment to the coronavirus, something that would reliably combat it, and mean that we dont need to shut down societies.

archived recording (donald trump) Were also studying this and other promising therapies, which is a therapy produced by Gilead. And that would be rems  its called remdesivir, remdesivir  and it shows great promise.

michael barbaro

So tell me about these drugs that President Trump has been referring to and whether he is right to suggest that they might be a solution here.

donald g. mcneil jr.

OK. The drugs that President Trump has mentioned over the past week are chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which are two versions of a longstanding malaria drug. Goes back 70 years. And the other drug is called remdesivir, and its a drug made by Gilead, and it doesnt actually have any use. I think they may have hoped it would work against H.I.V., and it didnt. It definitely did not work against Ebola when they tried it. Now theyre hoping it works against coronavirus. Theres some evidence to suggest it does. I mean, theres evidence in animal testing to suggest that both of these drugs might possibly work.

michael barbaro

OK.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Those drugs have been used in China. But this was by doctors who were desperate, who were basically throwing everything they had at patients.

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

And in some cases, where doctors had a certain number of patients that said, gee, these patients seemed to do better when I gave them that drug. Now, that doesnt mean this was some sort of Lazarus-like rise from your hospital bed and walk away smiling miracle drug. This was a drug that seemed to let these patients have better outcomes. But they werent able to do, for several reasons, real clinical trials, where you have two groups of patients who are basically exactly equal to each other and half of them get the drug and half dont. Thats what you need in order to be sure that a drug really works. Once you license a drug, then doctors start giving it all over the place. Actually, chloroquine is already licensed, so doctors are giving it in the hopes that it will work, and patients are demanding it in the belief that it will work, the belief partially spread by the president. And we dont really know how well it works. And these drugs are not completely safe. They shouldnt be taken, especially by children, without medical supervision. And the fear is that false hopes will be raised. And that also people get so excited about it that some may start taking the drugs to protect themselves out of fear, if theyve managed to get a hold of a bottle, and they may end up poisoning their kids. These are bad outcomes. There is a case where the cure is worse than the disease.

michael barbaro

So beyond the fact that theres not yet enough medical evidence that this is a legitimate set of treatments, theres potentially real medical risk in people starting to take them, because they might actually make people sick.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yes.

michael barbaro

OK, so with all those options basically deemed impractical, that would seem to bring us back to social isolation. But is that working? Because my sense is, so far in the United States, it is not working.

donald g. mcneil jr.

No, its not working. And thats because were not doing it right. And, you know, to write the articles Ive been writing recently, I talked to a dozen top experts, not just at the World Health Organization, but people who run medical schools, people who have fought pandemics, people who fought Ebola, people fought SARS, people who fought MERS. And they say that if were going to get a grip on our epidemic, we have to imitate China, because weve got China-like spread. Were not going to be able to catch it up with a South Korea-like program, and were going to have to do a whole lot better than Italy and Iran did. And were not on that track right now.

michael barbaro

Well be right back. So if the U.S. is failing at social isolation, what would the ideal version of social isolation look like right now? What would it entail?

donald g. mcneil jr.

So in an ideal world, if you could wave a magic wand and make everybody in the United States freeze in place, sitting six feet apart from each other for two weeks 

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

 we could stop the epidemic in two weeks. If we had enough 

michael barbaro

Really?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yeah, because within two weeks, the virus would die out on every surface that it was. People wouldnt be interacting, so they wouldnt transmit it. And everybody who has symptoms, the symptoms turn up in two weeks at the most. So youd know who was sick. And even for the few asymptomatics, youd be able to find them by doing tests. And so thatd be it. Epidemic over. I mean, youd have a lot of people in the hospitals, but that would be the end of it.

michael barbaro

Knowing that we dont have a magic wand but wish we did, what do we do? Whats the playbook for how to keep people away from each other in the United States, given where the virus is?

donald g. mcneil jr.

As much as possible, we have to stop everything in places where we know the virus is. That is what China did. They knew the virus was incredibly hot in Wuhan and the surrounding province, and so they put that entire province on lockdown. Unfortunately, that means not just stopping all air travel, it means basically stopping all travel.

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

I mean, people cant be together on buses. People cant be together on planes. People cant be together in cars, unless its just them and theyre going to socially isolate together when they get to the end of their journey, and stay in place for, unfortunately, an indefinite amount of time. The loosey goosier the freeze is, the longer it lasts. And the longer its going to take us to get our economy started again. Because the looser it is, the more transmission there is. The more transmission there is, the more people end up overcrowding hospitals. The more people overcrowd hospitals, the more people die.

michael barbaro

OK, so thats transportation. And youre suggesting that, in many ways, we have to further restrict that. What about businesses? What about restaurants all over the country? Do they need to be shut down?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yes, all of these things. Transportation, restaurants all over the country, schools all over the country, workplaces all over the country, bars and restaurants all over the country. And different places are turning into hotspots spots even as we speak, because people are now traveling all over the country and still spreading the virus, starting new clusters. The only way to get on top of this disease is to stop the clusters.

michael barbaro

In this scenario that youre describing, what can be open? Whats an acceptable reason for anyone to be out and about?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Doctors, nurses, people who work in the health care field. Police, fire, the people who keep the water mains open and the electrical grid running and Wi-Fi reaching houses. And food delivery and medicine delivery. Thats the ideal. Those are the only people who are allowed out and that keep the country functioning. We need people to freeze in place, and we need to make sure they have enough calories and water and medicine to stay alive.

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

You know, not that they are worried about how their business is running and how their investments are going or whether or not theyre collecting their rents. And we have to do things like tell landlords that they cant collect their rents, tell banks that they cant collect their mortgages. The idea is to keep the country alive until the virus slows down. It may be impossible, but if you want to try to use any sort of social distancing tactic, it has to be much more intense than it is now, because were not slowing the virus. Its still spreading wildly.

michael barbaro

And this slowdown, how would it be enforced in a place like the United States? Lets say that suddenly every state, every mayor locks down a community along the lines of what experts say needs to be done now to freeze this in place. How does it actually get enforced? Who is in charge of punishing those who violate it, roaming the streets and making sure it actually happens?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Well, I mean, legally you can do it. The governor and the health commissioner have the power to use the police to enforce these laws. In Italy, as in China, they went to roadblocks everywhere. You couldnt drive down a street without a permit that had been issued by the government that said, Im an emergency worker. I am allowed to drive down the street. Thats what will have to happen if people dont do it voluntarily, and I fully expect that Americans are not going to do this voluntarily. But then were going to suffer the consequences.

michael barbaro

So what happens if we dont do all the things that experts are saying we must do, the social isolation, the lockdowns? I mean, it doesnt seem were headed there. So what happens if we dont implement any of these measures?

donald g. mcneil jr.

If we dont implement these measures, we will have a Wuhan in New York, and a Wuhan in Seattle, and a Wuhan in South Florida, and a Wuhan in Wheeling West, Virginia, and a Wuhan in Helena, Montana, and so on.

michael barbaro

Hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Because hospitals will get overwhelmed everywhere. And in Wuhan, in the early weeks of the epidemic, the death rate was 4 percent to 6 percent. Its a little unclear, because there were people who couldnt make it to the hospitals and just died at home. But if you go on the South China Morning Post site and you look for the videos that were shot then, youll see hospitals with people crowded in the corridors and literally dead bodies lying in the halls, that nobodys had time to take away. Youll see nurses and doctors screaming, having breakdowns, screaming in frustration, I cant take it anymore, I cant take it anymore. You will see lines of coffins outside the crematories, just sitting there waiting for their turn to go into the furnace, because theres too many coffins for the flames to burn fast enough. I mean, we have seen that in Wuhan and weve seen it in Italy, where they were having to stack coffins on the pews of the churches that had been closed down, because there was no place to put the coffins and they couldnt dig graves fast enough. So thats what were headed for.

michael barbaro

I mean, its horrific.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And weve  Ive been looking at this stuff since late January, early February, and frightened by it. The visions are nightmarish, and I dont see anybody taking it seriously. But thats what were headed for.

michael barbaro

Its kind of hard to process this, because what youre suggesting is that a short term, essentially, shutdown down of much of our life in the U.S. would potentially bring this whole pandemic to an end. And yet there are a lot of practical reasons why that would be very, very hard to imagine. But for those who are very skeptical of it, and who think, as the president said, that the cure may be worse than the illness, it would seem like a short-term version of this would be kind of ideal, right? Because it would happen 

donald g. mcneil jr.

Who said short-term? I said if there were a magic wand, you could do a short-term shutdown. I think for the shutdown to be effective, given how lax Americans are about staying in the shutdown, we have got to have a shutdown that lasts for months and months.

michael barbaro

So theres no short-term version of this, given the way the U.S. operates.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Theres no magic wand. Theres no 15-day cure.

michael barbaro

Thats pretty depressing, because it means that theres almost nothing we can do right now. That the genie is out of the bottle, the horses have left the barn, the pandemic is too deeply in our system.

donald g. mcneil jr.

In New York, I think thats true. We dont know exactly how many people have been infected, but we know that its been incredibly hot with virus out there for awhile now. And yet people are really struggling, because, you know, they havent had their Rock Hudson, heres somebody I know whos got the disease, so now I believe in it, moments. People are still  theyre beginning to hear about colleagues who were sick, colleagues who were infected and stuff, but that only began four or five days ago. People beginning to need to be hospitalized in large numbers is usually 10 days, and the deaths dont usually take place until three to six weeks. So we have a lot more pain in the future.

michael barbaro

But is it possible for other cities in the U.S.  smaller cities, maybe even mid-sized cities, not New York, not Seattle, maybe not Los Angeles  to do these things and spare themselves?

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yes. And it will take those Bruegelesque visions of New York to convince them that this is whats headed their way.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm.

donald g. mcneil jr.

And maybe theyll take the actions they need to. And maybe they wont.

michael barbaro

Im thinking back to the phrase you used to describe the way the United States is handling this right now  as a patchwork. Do you think, Donald, that we are going to be ending up in a kind of awful middle place, where many of us are at home, we are isolating in lots of big parts of the country, but its not enforced significantly enough and uniformly enough to have meaningful impact? And so rather than having the magic wand version of this, we have the worst version of this, which is, theres a lot of burdens, social and economic, and still the virus keeps spreading and spreading.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Yes, I think thats exactly whats going to happen. Theres going to be a great deal of economic impact, but were not going to be able to find the political will or the fear as a people to shut down the spread of the virus. I dont see us flattening the curve, as everybody has talked about. Maybe some other cities will be able to flatten the curve later. Once they see whats going to happen in New York, theyll begin to believe that they have to flatten the curve, and theyll go in. But then youll find out how many people were infected in the meantime. I mean, were going to come out of this as a different nation, a different people. If we essentially dont shut down so that the chain of transmissions dont stop, were going to be looking at hundreds of thousands of dead, I think, unless some drug turns out to be a miracle preventive. And thats the high hope for the chloroquine, but we dont really know that yet. And we know theres not going to be a vaccine for a year. So short of that, we may have to shelter in place for a year until a vaccine rolls out. Look, I hope for better.

[music]

But Im not trying to sugarcoat it. Im trying to explain what the worst case scenario is. I hope we dont reach the worst case scenario, but I fear that we are a long way down the road towards it.

michael barbaro

Well, I would like to say thank you, Donald, but it just doesnt seem like that kind of a conversation. Thank you, anyway. We appreciate it.

donald g. mcneil jr.

Thank you. Sorry. Id love to be proved wrong.

michael barbaro

On Monday, during his daily briefing on the pandemic, President Trump continued to promote medications that have not been widely proven as effective in treating the disease and said that thousands of doses of one of them  chloroquine  would be distributed to New York City despite misgivings from federal health officials.

archived recording (donald trump) America will again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon.

michael barbaro

At the same time, the president said that he was eager to quickly end the economic shutdown now in place to halt the spread of the virus, in defiance of advice from his medical advisers.

archived recording (donald trump) Our country wasnt built to be shut down. This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down.

michael barbaro

Well be right back.

[music]

michael barbaro

Heres what else you need to know today.

archived recording (boris johnson) The time has now come for us all to do more. From this evening, I must give the British people a very simple instruction. You must stay at home.

michael barbaro

On Monday, Britain issued a virtual lockdown, closing all non-essential shops, banning meetings of more than two people and requiring citizens to stay in their homes, except for trips for food or medicine.

archived recording (boris johnson) The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

michael barbaro

In the United States, where there are now about 42,000 infections, federal officials warned that the virus was spreading at an alarming rate in New York, where 28 percent of tests are coming up positive, compared with a national rate of 8 percent.

archived recording (dr. deborah l. birx) So to all of my friends and colleagues in New York, this is the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self-isolate at this time. Clearly, the virus had been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community.

michael barbaro

In Congress, Senate Democrats again blocked a nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill, which they argue favors corporations over workers, infuriating the Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who accused the Democrats of seeking to exploit the crisis.

archived recording (mitch mcconnell) They ought to be embarrassed, Mr. President. In fact, Ive heard from some of them who are embarrassed. Talking like this is some juicy political opportunity. This is not juicy political opportunity. This is a national emergency.

michael barbaro
With theatres across the globe shut down to slow the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic, desperate days lie ahead for artists and audiences.

Its worth remembering that the golden age of English drama saw playhouses regularly closed as a public health measure; that Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived and worked  and remained creative  through repeated visitations of the bubonic plague, including a terrifying outbreak in 1603 which killed a tenth of Londons population and delayed the coronation of James I.

But theatre lovers of all stripes will be suffering withdrawal symptoms in the coming months of lockdown. Fortunately, stage works adapted to film and television can provide some relief.

Some inappropriate social distancing from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

It may be a nicotine patch. The camera can never capture those irreproducible moments, the sense of community, the presence and precariousness of live acting. Still, there are many theatrical classics on screen.
Just as Gov. Phil Murphy said there is a special place in hell for people who price gouge during the coronavirus, New Jerseys top law enforcement official announced the state is taking aggressive steps to crack down on such measures with more than 1,400 price gouging complaints.

We know that this is a concern to many people," state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday at a daily coronavirus briefing.

To date, our Division of Consumer Affairs has received over 1,400 COVID-19 related complaints concerning some 900 distinct business locations across New Jersey," Grewal said. Let me tell you that our investigators have been on top of this. Theyre working with our county partners to complete about 350 inspections to date.

Weve issued about 160 cease-and-desist letters and served nearly 30 subpoenas, he added. The complaints that we received included allegations that details are unfairly raising prices on surgical masks, on hand sanitizers, on disinfecting sprays and wipes, food, bottled water and similar items.

Grewal said many of the investigations have determined that prices at New Jersey stores have increased appropriately after suppliers hiked prices for retailers.

We have to remain vigilant," he said. "I will guarantee you, absolutely guarantee you, that additional fraud cases are going to come.

Grewals statement came the same day Murphy announced Monday that New Jersey now has at least 2,844 known coronavirus cases with 27 deaths as officials announced 935 new positive tests on the same day the second state-run testing site opened in Monmouth County and quickly hit capacity due to overwhelming demand.

There is a special place in hell for people who take advantage of this health crisis, Murphy said. There sure is heck no time for it in the war that were under.

Residents are able to file a complaint about price gouging on the states Division of Consumer Affairs website.

The governor also said people should expect New Jersey schools to be closed for an extended period of time as the state continues to respond to the pandemic.

On Saturday, Murphy announced hes putting New Jersey into near-lockdown mode to combat the spread of the coronavirus, ordering nearly all of the states 9 million residents to stay at home and mandating that non-essential retail businesses be closed until further notice.

There are exceptions. You can still go outdoors for exercise and travel for necessary things, such as obtaining food or medicine, seeking medical attention, visiting family or others you have a close personal relationship with (such as a caretaker or romantic partner), or reporting to work for a business that is allowed to be open, according to the governors order.

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By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate Police on Monday said vehicle passes will be issued for the employees of offices exempted from lockdown by the state overnment.

A senior police officer said there are about 600 branches of various banks in the city and hundreds of their staff, along with Central Government and State Government officials, healthcare staff, mediapersons and employees of other exempted establishments travelled on their own vehicles on Monday and during checking many other citizens involved in non-essential travel managed to give a slip to the enforcement teams.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 LIVE | Shaheen Bagh protest site cleared, India tally hits 475

While Home department is issuing vehicle passes to the staff of the departments supposed to attend work during the lockdown, Commissionerate Police is issuing passes to other essential service providers.

In the blocking, the police personnel and officers are inquiring from every commuter the objective of their travel. This also poses a huge risk to the health of enforcement teams, said Twin City Commissioner of Police Sudhanshu Sarangi.

Once the passes are issued, the exempted establishment officials can display those on their vehicles so that they can pass swiftly through every blocking, he added. The employees of any office exempted during the lockdown can apply for vehicle passes.

They can avail the passes from the police. The Police Commissioner said all the passes will be issued by Tuesday evening and warned that any violation will be dealt with stringently from Wednesday onwards.

Sarangi also requested the exempted establishments to work with limited number of staff and the citizens to not allow their children to play outside.
New Delhi: Several states have begun making special arrangements for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients, earmarking special hospitals, designating schools to be turned into isolation wards and expanding regular and Intensive Care Unit (beds) in existing facilities in order to brace for a possible surge in numbers.

The move came two days after cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba suggested in a meeting with officials from all Indian states to have a hospital earmarked for the disease and to step up surveillance and contact mapping.

Eight states  Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Assam, Punjab, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka  either named government or private facilities to be turned into dedicated isolation beds. Some other states, such as Rajasthan, announced sweeping plans to turn village panchayat buildings and schools into temporary hospitals.

Many states have informed us that they have begun work on keeping a dedicated hospital ready to manage only Covid-19 cases. These facilities will be equipped with all necessary items such as personal protection equipment, including N-95 masks, gloves and glasses, ventilators etc, said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary, Union ministry of health.

As many as 22 private super speciality hospitals have agreed to provide 1,000 beds, including 300 beds in separate rooms. All of them will be equipped with ventilators and monitors.

Apart from these states, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, has also readied its 800-bed National Cancer Institute in Jhajjar to be used as an isolation facility in case Covid-19 positive cases were to go up.

We have to stay prepared, said Aggarwal.
As the guests of the bride and groom logged on, they were greeted by a hand-painted sign decorated with pink and red flowers: Welcome to Christie and Jeffs elopement, it read from their screens, followed by a few careful instructions: 1. Wash hands 2. Mute your audio until we toast 3. Have a drink to toast!

Oakland residents Christie Goshe and Jeffrey Placencia hadnt planned on getting married online  or even hosting a traditional ceremony, for that matter. The couple originally hoped to set off for an elopement in Iceland: saying their vows under the atmospheric lightshow of the Aurora Borealis on the first day of spring, in complete solitude save for a couple of photographers.

But a ban on flights coming from Europe deferred them from their dream destination. The couple thought of getting married at City Hall instead, but orders to shelter in place soon dashed those plans as well.

Its still your day, Goshes sister reminded her. And it was. For Goshe, the spring equinox represented equilibrium, reawakening and a fresh start something she needed now more than ever.

It was kind of a gut wrenching weekend trying to figure out if we could travel, rearranging those plans and then realizing we couldnt go," said Goshe. At that point, it was on individuals to be responsible for flattening the curve  did we want to do what was best for us or whats best for the community?

At this point, she added, they would have been struggling to find a flight home from Europe. Postponing didnt seem like an option when the future was already so uncertain.

We were really excited to marry each other and we needed a win. Everyone at this point needs a win.

Courtesy of Christie Goshe and Jeffrey Placencia

So they sent out a Google Calendar invite and got to work, setting a last-minute ambiance both romantic and resourceful.

Both my partner and I work in video and photography, so were very familiar with putting on a production, Goshe said.

The LED string lights and rainbow papel picado flags usually adorning their office space now decorated their video backdrop, joined by a few plants pulled in from the patio. Goshes bouquet comprised a few trimmings of star jasmine plucked from a bush across the street. For background music, the couple decided the vinyl LP already waiting on their record player was fitting: Vince Guaraldi Bola Sete and Friends," an acoustic collaboration.

Guests dressed up and brought flowers. Rather than filing into pews or an assigned seating arrangement, they picked one of two video conferences to join. The Google Hangouts call was limited to 25 people, which was generous, but wasnt quite enough to get everyone, Goshe said.

So they tried to set up a supplementary Zoom conference call using a free trial. What they didnt realize was that they would get kicked off due to the free versions time constraints (another wedding guest with a Zoom account graciously stepped in to help.)

Then, the couple said their vows  a list of promises that carried a little more weight, given the circumstances.

It felt very relevant to tell someone that youre going to promise youll love them through good times and bad when your whole wedding has gone completely sideways, said Goshe. I think I cried the entire time because it felt very prescient to say that.

There were aspects of a traditional ceremony that the couple missed: They didnt get to hug their guests, or dance together at a reception afterward. They also wished they had been able to invite more of their friends.

With a certain number of people on a conference call we thought it might become untenable, joked Placencia. Then youre doing tech support in the middle of your I dos and that becomes very weird.

Courtesy of Christie Goshe and Jeffrey Placencia

In spite of it all, the couple was happy to share their special moment with loved ones.

We could see them through the computer and hear them cheer when we kissed and popped the champagne, said Goshe.

The living room ceremony came to an end as they danced in front of the cameras, and people began logging off. The couple went for a walk around Lake Merritt and came home to a chocolate raspberry pie from PieTisserie, delivered via a phone order to Caviar by Goshe's parents.

"We didn't even have dessert planned!" said Goshe. "We've been trying to be mindful of food in the house and not blow our stock."

Even now, as they shelter in place, Placencia said the banal aspects of life seem elevated.

Im grateful to have these moments with her, to wake up next to her. Every morning feels more profound.

The couple is looking forward to the first day of summer: the day of their reception. They hope to travel to Iceland later in the fall.

Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett
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[March 23, 2020] Actifio Names Tata Consulting Services its Global Systems Integrator Partner of the Year

WALTHAM, Massachusetts, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Actifio, the pioneer of multi-cloud copy data management software, has named Tata Consulting Services (TCS) its Global Systems Integrator (GSI) Partner of the Year to honor the mutual success and commitment of the companies' global alliance. Ash Ashutosh, co-founder and CEO, Actifio, said, "We are delighted to work with TCS, and our partnership over the last 18 months has assisted in the digital transformation of companies around the globe. Thanks to their outstanding work and assistance in closing major deals with a major media and communications company based in the UK and others, we have awarded TCS with our GSI Partner of the Year Award. We look forward to our continued partnership in managing and scaling cloud-based data across global enterprises and industries." "We are happy to receive the Actifio GSI Partner of the Year Award," says Raman Venkatraman, Vice President & Global Head, HiTech BU and Alliance & Technology Unit, TCS. "Our partnership with Actifio has enabled us to successfully transform our customers into cloud-native organizations helping them increase data efficiency and improve resiliency along the wa."



TCS received the award for creating a strategic practice centered on Actifio's patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology and driving the most customer value in 2019. Ramanan Thevarajan, TCS Global Head of Enterprise Infrastructure Technologies Group, Alliance & Technology Unit, and Gaurav Syal, TCS UK CBO Head, received this award. Ravi Kollipara, Vice President and Country Manager, Actifio Technologies in India, said, "TCS is our top strategic partner in the region and a global powerhouse. With Actifio, TCS customers have the unique ability to deliver a much more efficient and cost effective offering that enables customers to rely on the cloud for their test data management, backup and disaster recovery solutions."

Actifio and TCS share the same commitment to deliver successful business outcomes to global enterprises and accelerate data-driven digital transformation initiatives in Business 4.0. They are global strategic partners who have jointly invested in a Centre of Excellence to enable Actifio competency and offerings. Additionally, TCS also has a large team of Actifio certified consultants to deliver multi-cloud copy data management solutions to its global customers. Thanks to the Actifio partnership, TCS has been able to successfully help its customers accelerate adoption of hybrid cloud, build high-quality applications faster, improve business resiliency and more.

About Actifio:

Actifio is the pioneer of multi-cloud copy data management software. With more than 3,600 customers around the world, Actifio enables organizations to virtualize and deliver their data instantly, anywhere. An enterprise-class software platform powered by patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology, Actifio helps accelerate adoption of hybrid, public and multi-cloud strategies, build higher quality applications faster, and improve business resiliency and availability. For more, visit Actifio.com or follow @Actifio on Twitter. Media Contact:

Carissa Ryan, CTP for Actifio

[email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660281/Actifio_Logo.jpg

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By Express News Service

KOCHI: As part of the fight against Covid-19, City police have sent 986 persons to home quarantine after they were found to be sick during screening. Within 48 hours of launching Swaraksha, the platform launched by City police for providing medical help at the doorstep of those in home quarantine and also to people who suspect that they may have contracted the virus, some 1,050 calls have been received. Besides sending the persons to home quarantine, the police are monitoring their progress on a daily basis, said Vijay Sakhare, City Police Commissioner.

City police have set up 70 help desks  20 each at Ernakulam Junction (South) and Town (North) railway stations and collectorate and five each at the Vyttila Mobility Hub and the KSRTC station  for screening passengers. The police are screening several thousand persons daily. To intensify the efforts, the City police on Saturday launched the Foreigner Outreach Cell for providing assistance to foreign nationals facing difficulties in the wake of COVID-19.

Police Commissioner Vijay Sakhare launched the cell. Foreign nationals can get assistance in getting health clearance certificate, medical assistance, accommodation, transport, ticketing and visa by sending text, audio or video message through the link provided on the webpage or through a WhatsApp message to 8590202060. As soon as the message reaches the Covid- 19 Police Control Room at the Commissioners Office, a police officer gets in touch with the foreign national in distress and addresses his/her difficulty.

The City police are in constant touch with the district health authorities and other doctors for providing assistance to foreigners in getting health clearance certificate or medical assistance. City police have custody of about 1,000 rooms for putting up quarantined people who need accommodation. They also coordinate with airlines and various embassies to assist the foreign tourists. Foreign nationals can avail themselves of this service through City polices Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and website links.

The Foreigners Outreach Cell has been set up jointly with district health authorities, Reliance JIO and IMA. Shashi Palazhi, vice-president, Reliance JIO, Savitha, Deputy District Medical Officer and Abraham Varghese, state president, IMA were present . Shashi Palazhi said the unique initiative will be launched nationwide as well.

Help desks 70 help desks  20 each at Ernakulam Junction(South), Town(North) railway stations and collectorate, five each at Vyttila Mobility Hub and KSRTC station  have been set up for screening
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is taking a number of risk-mitigating measures in response to Covid-19, Provincial legislation and the current market conditions.

Maple Gold's President and CEO, Matthew Hornor, stated: "The potential duration of turbulence in the capital markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic remains unclear. We believe a number of macroeconomic factors point towards a very strong gold environment in the near to mid-term, but in the immediate term defensive action is required. The adjustments we are making will allow us to ensure the health and safety of our employees and contractors, and to preserve further financial flexibility, while continuing to make progress at the project-level."

Maple Gold Executives to Reduce Pay by 50%

Maple Gold is fortunate to have committed executive and exploration teams that are willing to work for reduced pay during this period of uncertainty. Protecting the cash in the treasury without limiting the Company's ability to make key advancements at the Project helps position Maple Gold for success once market conditions stabilize.

The Company's senior management team has agreed to work for 50% pay during Q2 2020. The Company has also consolidated certain roles and is making arrangements to reduce its camp size and related costs at site in the coming weeks to save additional costs, while still being able to accommodate up to 40 people at any given time in the future.

Covid-19 Response & Drilling Update

Maple Gold is responding to COVID-19 within the framework of Company protocols and local government and national health authorities' guidelines and recommendations. The health and safety of the Company's employees and contractors is paramount. The Company has suspended all non-essential business travel and is implementing new measures at site, and will monitor the situation closely to ensure the risk of COVID-19 exposure is reduced significantly.

Maple Gold did not mobilize additional drill rigs in recent weeks given the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. This measure was undertaken in order to conserve capital and also limit the number of people at site at any given time. The Company has completed approximately 4,100 metres to-date and will be suspending drilling shortly and demobilizing drill rigs in accordance with new orders from the Quebec Government pertaining to all non-essential businesses. ALS laboratories in Val d'Or will also be suspending operations, so remaining samples will be shipped once their operations resume. Assays will be released once results are received, verified and interpreted.

Maple Gold's VP, Exploration, Fred Speidel, stated: "We have completed a series of additional drill holes within the NW, Nika and Porphyry Zones, mainly targeting near-surface higher grade gold mineralisation. The Company did not drill at any of the sites that have year-round gravel road access, as these targets can be drilled later in the year. Our IP work continues to define additional discovery targets as well, so this staged approach to our drilling will provide additional time to evaluate ongoing results and the growing pipeline of new drill targets across the Douay property."

Management Updates

The Company's VP, Corporate Secretary, Michelle Borthwick, recently resigned to pursue other opportunities. Gregg Orr (CFO) will now act as the Company's CFO and Corporate Secretary. Joness Lang has been promoted to Executive Vice President (formerly VP, Corporate Development) to better reflect the various corporate initiatives being led by Mr. Lang.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc, P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration, of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this news release through his direct participation in the work. Click the following link to review the Company's QA-QC standards and protocols: http://maplegoldmines.com/index.php/en/projects/qa-qc-qp-statement.

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold is an advanced gold exploration and development company focused on defining a district-scale gold project in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions. The Company's ~355 km Douay Gold Project is located along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone (55 km of strike) within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada. The Project benefits from excellent infrastructure and has an established gold resource that remains open in multiple directions. For more information please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Matthew Hornor"

B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:



Mr. Joness Lang

Executive Vice President

Cell: 778.686.6836

Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.com

NEITHER THE 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 PRESS RELEASE.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about the prospective mineral potential of the Porphyry Zone, the potential for significant mineralisation from other drilling in the referenced drill program and the completion of the drill program. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding timing and completion of the private placement. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions that management believed reasonable at the time they were made or in certain cases, on third party expert opinions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. The Company does not intend, and expressly 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 law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53726
A container ship leaves a trail of white clouds in its wake that can linger in the air for hours. This puffy line is not just exhaust from the engine, but a change in the clouds that's caused by small airborne particles of pollution.

New research led by the University of Washington is the first to measure this phenomenon's effect over years and at a regional scale. Satellite data over a shipping lane in the south Atlantic show that the ships modify clouds to block an additional 2 Watts of solar energy, on average, from reaching each square meter of ocean surface near the shipping lane.

The result implies that globally, cloud changes caused by particles from all forms of industrial pollution block 1 Watt of solar energy per square meter of Earth's surface, masking almost a third of the present-day warming from greenhouse gases. The open-access study was published March 24 in AGU Advances, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

"In climate models, if you simulate the world with sulfur emissions from shipping, and you simulate the world without these emissions, there is a pretty sizable cooling effect from changes in the model clouds due to shipping," said first author Michael Diamond, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences. "But because there's so much natural variability it's been hard to see this effect in observations of the real world."

The new study uses observations from 2003 to 2015 in spring, the cloudiest season, over the shipping route between Europe and South Africa. This path is also part of a popular open-ocean shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Small particles in exhaust from burning fossil fuels creates "seeds" on which water vapor in the air can condense into cloud droplets. More particles of airborne sulfate or other material leads to clouds with more small droplets, compared to the same amount of water condensed into fewer, bigger droplets. This makes the clouds brighter, or more reflective.

Past attempts to measure this effect from ships had focused on places where the wind blows across the shipping lane, in order to compare the "clean" area upwind with the "polluted" area downstream. But in this study researchers focused on an area that had previously been excluded: a place where the wind blows along the shipping lane, keeping pollution concentrated in that small area.

The study analyzed cloud properties detected over 12 years by the MODIS instrument on NASA satellites and the amount of reflected sunlight at the top of the atmosphere from the CERES group of satellite instruments. The authors compared cloud properties inside the shipping route with an estimate of what those cloud properties would have been in the absence of shipping based on statistics from nearby, unpolluted areas.

"The difference inside the shipping lane is small enough that we need about six years of data to confirm that it is real," said co-author Hannah Director, a UW doctoral student in statistics. "However, if this small change occurred worldwide, it would be enough to affect global temperatures."

Once they could measure the ship emissions' effect on solar radiation, the researchers used that number to estimate how much cloud brightening from all industrial pollution has affected the climate overall.

Averaged globally, they found changes in low clouds due to pollution from all sources block 1 Watt per square meter of solar energy -- compared to the roughly 3 Watts per square meter trapped today by the greenhouse gases also emitted by industrial activities. In other words, without the cooling effect of pollution-seeded clouds, Earth might have already warmed by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F), a change that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects would have significant societal impacts. (For comparison, today the Earth is estimated to have warmed by approximately 1 C (1.8 F) since the late 1800s.)

"I think the biggest contribution of this study is our ability to generalize, to calculate a global assessment of the overall impact of sulfate pollution on low clouds," said co-author Rob Wood, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences.

The results also have implications for one possible mechanism of deliberate climate intervention. They suggest that strategies to temporarily slow global warming by spraying salt particles to make low-level marine clouds more reflective, known as marine cloud brightening, might be effective. But they also imply these changes could take years to be easily observed.

"What this study doesn't tell us at all is: Is marine cloud brightening a good idea? Should we do it? There's a lot more research that needs to go into that, including from the social sciences and humanities," Diamond said. "It does tell us that these effects are possible -- and on a more cautionary note, that these effects might be difficult to confidently detect."

###

Other co-authors are Ryan Eastman, a UW research scientist in atmospheric sciences, and Anna Possner at Goethe University in Frankfurt. The research was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Diamond at diamond2@uw.edu, Wood at robwood2@uw.edu or Director at direch@uw.edu.
If youre wondering why Pennsylvanias governor is making you hunker down in your house, some new data show just why public health and government officials want you to stay home.

Americas health care system is projected to be overwhelmed by an influx of patients infected by the novel coronavirus and data from the Harvard Global Health Institute show just how demand will vary dramatically across the nation, according to the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.

And it demonstrates why public health officials are pushing social distancing to slow the spread of the virus over a longer period of time, like 18 months instead of six, so the health care system doesnt become overwhelmed by too many infected patients at once.

Under researchers best-case scenario, the nation quickly heeds the call for social distance, and the adult infection rate stays low at 20%, or 49.4 million people over 18. Thats less than twice the amount of people who get the flu each year.

But in that scenario American hospital beds would still be at about 95% capacity if hospitals dont take steps to free up or add more beds.

ProPublica created a look-up tool based upon the model that projects how many beds would be needed in different infection scenarios over varying periods of time. It clearly lays out the consequences if Lehigh Valley residents take social distancing measures seriously and if they dont.

Under the best-case scenario -- where 20% of people are infected over 18 months -- the region has enough hospital beds to care for all those who need them.

But the greater Lehigh Valley would need 2.1 times the number of available beds if 40% of the referral regions population -- an estimated 80,900 COVID-19 patients -- contracts the disease over a year, according to ProPublica.

Intensive care units would be quite overwhelmed because there are only 140 ICU beds available on average without coronavirus patients. That is 4.1 times less than what is needed to care for all severe cases, according to the data. Researchers consider this a moderate scenario.

The doctor who led the team of researchers -- Ashish Jha -- told ProPublica that in most scenarios vast communities in America are not prepared to take care of the COVID-19 patients showing up. Jha is director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Pennsylvanias number of COVID-19 cases jumped from 33 cases a week ago to at least 644 residents testing positive for the illness and six people dead, including two Northampton County residents, as of Monday. The Valleys total cases include at least 48 people.

Both Lehigh Valley and St. Lukes University health networks declined to provide the details of their contingency plans, available beds and ventilators. But this new research sheds light on the regions ability to care for the sick under several different scenarios.

The networks are already calling for donations of protective equipment for workers, even asking people to sew masks and postponing elective surgeries to free up capacity.

This tool created by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica relies on research by the Harvard Global Health Institute, Hospital Bed Capacity & COVID EstimatesCourtesy ProPublica

Public health experts warn how we mitigate the spread of coronavirus in the coming days will determine whether American hospitals have enough beds, ventilators and employee protective gear to meet the expected surge of virus patients in the coming weeks. Its exponential spread and long incubation period -- thought to be up to 14 days -- means those falling ill this week may have been exposed weeks ago.

Many who contract the coronavirus will have mild or no symptoms and their diagnosis wont be confirmed by test, as providers are saving tests for the most critically ill. But those who require hospitalization often need lengthy and, sometimes, intensive care.

Based upon the average number of hospitalizations in other countries, the Harvard researchers model assumes that slightly more than a fifth of all COVID-19 patients nationwide will be hospitalized.

Thus far in Pennsylvania it has been lower: about 10% of COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized, mirroring national trends, the states Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Sunday.

About 4% of those hospitalized required intensive care and 2% required ventilators, she said.

There are over 1,000 ventilators in the state, both in facilities and also in storage, in case they are needed, and right now there is availability, said Nate Wardle, department spokesman.

Last week, Levine warned that Pennsylvania must prepare for a likely surge of ill patients" that may require converting non-traditional spaces for patient treatment.

State officials across agencies are collaborating with healthcare providers to find the best facilities to cover all types of care from intensive care beds to looking at hotels for convalescent care, Levine said Sunday.

LVHN is identifying locations where it can create intensive care unit beds  like surgery recovery rooms and operating rooms  if a surge exceeds the networks existing capacity of intensive care unit beds, said Bob Begliomini, network senior vice president and president of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.

We have a great team of people thinking on two weeks from now where could we be, Begliomini said in an interview Friday.

Thanks to LVHNs recent purchase of Coordinated Health the network has a good number of ventilators across its locations and anesthesia machines can be converted into respirators if needed, he said.

Collectively, we feel pretty good about the stock of ventilators we have as well should the need arise, Begliomini said.

In 2018, the Allentown hospital referral region had 3,270 total hospital beds, of which about 61% were occupied, potentially leaving 1,270 beds open for new patients, ProPublica reports.

This includes 330 intensive care unit beds, according to data from the American Hospital Association and the American Hospital Directory.

Statewide Pennsylvania has more than 37,000 hospital beds, nearly 3,400 intensive and critical care beds and 71 pediatric intensive care beds as of March 2020, according to the state Department of Health.

We are hopeful that the mitigation efforts taken by the governor will help flatten the curve and allow Pennsylvanias healthcare facilities to be able to manage the number of cases, Wardle said. It is essential that individuals and businesses realize how important these steps are.

Wolf on Monday issued a stay at home order for residents of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Monroe, and Allegheny counties. Philadelphia County is already under a local stay at home order. Hes closed schools and shuttered non-essential businesses.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all of his states residents to stay home and said has said that as many as 56% of the states 40 million residents could become infected with COVID-19 within the next eight weeks.

Levine was unable to provide similar projections for Pennsylvania, noting that the state is working on modeling studies, but emphasized the strain a surge in patients poses. All of the scenarios show how crucial social distancing and Wolfs mitigations efforts are, she said.

If in just six months, 60% of the 1.2 million people in the Allentown hospital referral region were infected with COVID-19, hospitals would need more than 3 times the number of existing beds, the Harvard research team found.

The networks say they are not currently experiencing shortages of masks, gowns and other protective equipment for workers. But each is taking unprecedented steps to prepare for a patient surge, directing the reuse of single-use masks, calling for donations and turning to local distillers to stock hand sanitizer.

Since nursing program students wont be returning this semester, Allentowns Cedar Crest College on Monday donated its lab supply of about 400 N95 masks, 700 regular masks, gloves and isolation gowns to the two health networks.

Wolfs administration is working with The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania to ensure that healthcare providers are prepared for an outbreak, including a patient surge that exceeds hospitals current capabilities, Wardle said.

The priority of both agencies as we prepare for a potential surge is the health and wellbeing of healthcare providers and patients, he said.

Pennsylvania maintains a stockpile of N95 masks, gloves, gowns, goggles, ventilators and other items that hospitals facing shortages can try to tap.

Hospitals or other facilities who want to request personal protective equipment from our storage are asked to submit a formal request for materials, which will be reviewed and determined as to what level it can be supported, Wardle said.

ProPublica notes that models are based on the best available information at the time and can change. The model does not take into account hospitals or states ability to add beds.

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., 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.
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Joseline Hernandez breaks down in an exclusive interview on the Thursday episode of TooFab upon learning that she lost custody of her daughter, Bonnie Bella, to her ex-fiance Stevie J. The judge wanted Joseline to let her daughter live with her father for 30 days.

Devastating News While Taping

While sitting in a bedroom with her current boyfriend, DJ Ballistic Beats, in the Thursday episode of "Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition", she received a phone call where she heard the devastating news.

Josephine was told that she had to let go of her three-year-old daughter in the meantime because her dad was trying to take custody. She confessed that she felt like her life was falling apart, and told Ballistic that because the custody was given to her ex-fiance, she does not know what to do.

Stevie Got Custody

Stevie J filed court documents a year ago due to missing out on one quality time spent with Bonnie after his ex missed a trade-off.

Joseline explained that it was unintentional and was only just a conflict of schedule. However, Stevie J thought that the rapper purposefully tried to keep their daughter away from him.

The judge was convinced by Stevie's reasoning, thereby awarding temporary custody to him.

Counselor Comforts Joseline

Dr. Ish, the show's psychiatrist and marriage counselor, noticed Joseline's distress while watching the couple's interview via a camera in the other room. Right upon opening the doors to Dr. Ish, the 33-year-old rapper could not control her emotions and bursted into tears.

The Puerto Rican Princess and Dr. Ish went into another room where it can be heard that the psychiatrist is trying to comfort Joseline as she was sobbing while saying that Bonnie is her daughter and admitted that she does not know what to do.

The doctor told the Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta alumna that there is not one judge on the planet who would want to take away someone else's daughter from a mom who is fit. Then he assured that Joseline is not an unfit mother.

Dr. Ish said that it is beyond a hard situation and makes Joseline feel like she is not doing her job well as a mom. So he advised Joseline to call her daughter to say goodbye for a little while, thus making her even more emotional.

Joseline was afraid to lose her kid. She said that she has to keep pushing and she needs to focus to get her life together.

There were reports showing Stevie J obtained court documents that he may act as Bonnie Bella's primary custodian for the whole 2020 and Joseline may come to visit their daughter.

The documents also included that Stevie no longer have to support child payments of $1,000 per month, and each parent will be responsible financially when she is in each parent's care.
BANGALORE, India, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Industrial IoT (IIoT) Market size is expected to grow from USD 65,452.15 million in 2018 to USD 118,413.63 million by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.83% during the forecast period 2025.

The growth of the IIoT industry is driven by factors such as technological developments in semiconductors and electronic devices, increased use of cloud computing systems, standardization of IPv6, and funding for IIoT related R&D activities from governments of different countries.

The Industrial IoT Market is highly competitive and features the presence of a large number of foreign and regional players. The market has witnessed growing rivalry between vendors based on the pricing model, differentiation of technology, brand name, service quality, product differentiation, and technical expertise.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/360I-Auto-1O67/industrial-iot-market

The study highlights the demand estimates, industry dynamics, and micro and macro indicators. Moreover, it talks about the factors that drive and inhibit Industrial IoT Market demand.

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE INDUSTRIAL IoT (IIoT) MARKET SIZE :

Networking technologies, and especially wireless technology, are the backbone of IIoT. These technologies are used to link multiple machines and sensor nodes to the internet to facilitate machine-to-machine communication. These technologies also allow large quantities of data to be gathered for better decision-making. Due to these factors, the network technologies are expected to dominate the Industrial IoT (IIoT) market.

The factors expected to drive the growth of the Industrial IoT market are increasing demand for machine-to-machine systems, the need to contextualize the Process Technology (OT) data, and the preference for predictive maintenance.

The plummeting prices of sensors and data analytics tools enable businesses to embrace IIoT. As such, the growing emphasis on investing in digital literacy rather than technology, and subsequent investment growth in the adoption of advanced analytics software, turns out to be another emerging trend among manufacturing entities.

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REGIONAL WISE INDUSTRIAL IoT (IIoT) MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS :

APAC is expected to hold the largest market share in terms of volume. The Asia Pacific is a major industrial manufacturing center and has become a regional focal point for substantial investment and expansion of the industry. The growing population, rising R&D investments, and the focus of foreign and domestic IT companies on the growth of big data analytics and cloud-based services in the area are expected to drive this growth.

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KEY PLAYERS :

ABB

Cisco Systems, Inc.

General Electric Company

Honeywell International Inc.

Intel Corporation

ARM Holding plc

IBM Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Siemens AG

Others

ON THE BASIS OF TECHNOLOGY, THE INDUSTRIAL IOT MARKET IS STUDIED ACROSS

Camera

Condition Monitoring

Distributed Control System

Electronic Shelf Label

Flow and Application Control Device

GPS or GNSS Guidance and Steering

Industrial Robotics

Interface Board

Networking Technology

RFID

Sensor

Smart Beacon

Smart Meter

Yield Monitor.

ON THE BASIS OF SOFTWARE, THE INDUSTRIAL IOT MARKET IS STUDIED ACROSS

Distribution Management System

Farm Management System

Manufacturing Execution System

Outage Management System

Product Lifecycle Management

Remote Patient Monitoring System

Retail Management Software

SCADA Systems

Transit Management System

Visualization Software.

ON THE BASIS OF INDUSTRY, THE INDUSTRIAL IOT MARKET IS STUDIED ACROSS

Agriculture Automotive

Chemicals & Materials

Electrical & Electronics

Energy

Food & Beverages

Healthcare Machinery

Metal & Mining

Oil & Gas

Pharmaceuticals

Retail

Transportation.

REASONS TO BUY:

Evaluate the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the report and analyze the Industrial IoT Market penetration with respect to industries and geographies.

Evaluates the key vendors and deeply analyzes the competitive landscape, revenue pockets, market trends, growth prospects, pain points, drivers, restraints, challenges and opportunities of the Industrial IoT Market.

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SIMILAR REPORTS:

CLOUD COMPUTING IN INDUSTRIAL IOT (IIOT) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

The Global Cloud Computing in Industrial IOT Market size is expected to grow from USD 3,685.06 Million in 2018 to USD 7,373.29 Million by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.41% during the forecast period 2025.

The cloud computing Industrial IOT Market is highly competitive and is marked by the presence of large numbers of foreign and regional players on the market. Some of the major players in the industry are IBM, Intel Corporation, Irootech, LosantIOT, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation.

The study offers in-insights into demand estimates, industry dynamics, and micro and macro indicators. Moreover, this report provides insights into the factors that drive and inhibit cloud computing demand in the Industrial IOT Market. In addition, the report highlights and offers an outlook on current industry trends.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/360I-Auto-7Z22/computing-in-industrial-iot-market

INDUSTRIAL IOT (IIOT) PLATFORM MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

The global market size of the Industrial IoT Platform was USD 289 Million in 2019 and is projected to hit USD 688.1 Million by the end of 2026, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.0 percent during the forecast period 2021 to 2026.

Industrial IoT platform is an IoT division that is used in the field of industrial applications. Industrial IoT platform allows companies to obtain real-time insights into the devices, their safety, and performance. IoT in the manufacturing industries can help achieve maximum resource efficiency without making any extra effort. Because of such advantages, the Industrial IoT platform is expected to grow rapidly in the future.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2U251/industrial-iot-platform-market

INDUSTRIAL IOT (IIOT) WIRELESS MODULE MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

The Industrial IoT Wireless Module Market research report has incorporated analyses of various factors that contribute to market growth. The report provides patterns and constraints that either positively or negatively impact the market.

Furthermore, this Industrial IoT Wireless Module market study showcases the assessment of the growth and other aspects of the Industrial IoT Wireless Module market in important regions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Brazil, etc.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-31E829/global-industrial-iot-wireless-module-market

INDUSTRIAL IOT (IIOT) CHIPSETS MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

IIoT is allowed by the use of an IIoT semiconductor chipset in machines. The chipset allows the computer to connect to the internet through wired or wireless means.

The industrial IoT chipset market report studies the market size (value and volume) by players, countries, product types and end industries, historical data 2014-2018, and forecast data 2019-2025. Furthermore, this study highlights the global competitive environment, market drivers and patterns, opportunities and threats, risks and barriers to entry, distribution channels, distributors, and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-0Z216/industrial-iot-chipsets-market

INDUSTRIAL IOT (IIOT) GATEWAY MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

Internet of Things (IoT) Gateway offers the means to bridge the gap between field devices (factory floor, house, etc.) that is the cloud where data is captured, processed and exploited by business applications, and consumer equipment (smartphones, tablets, etc.).

The Industrial IoT Gateway Market report studies the market size (value and volume) by players, countries, product types, and end industries, historical data 2014-2018, and forecast data 2019-2025. Additionally, this study analyses the global competitive environment, market drivers and patterns, opportunities and threats, risks and barriers to entry, distribution channels, distributors, and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.

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Since the coronavirus outbreak took a serious turn at the onset of the year, the world has been fearing the spread of the disease in Africa, largely due to its humble capacities and deteriorating healthcare and development plans.



Africa has been watching with great concern as the virus hit China, which in the past two decades has constructed many infrastructure projects on the continent. As the virus turned to eat up Europe, Africa grew more worried as it contemplated the extent of its relations with both China and Europe.



According to the World Health Organisations (WHO) representative in Africa south of the Sahara, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the majority of the infected cases in Africa were of people who had arrived from Europe.



Moeti said the virus is spreading at a lower rate in Africa than in China and Europe. Her statement didnt quell African fears, however. Africa south of the Sahara may see more coronavirus infections in the coming two months when the temperatures relatively cool, Moeti warned, urging African countries to adopt long-term measures to prevent an outbreak of the disease.



However, African doctors believe the continent has registered low infection rates simply because of the lack of tools to detect the virus. Until February, Sub-Saharan Africa, save for South Africa and Senegal, didnt have the equipment to detect the coronavirus.



Later on, the WHO helped 43 countries establish and upgrade labs to discover coronavirus cases. At present, Africa centres for disease control and prevention affiliated with the African Union reported the continent has registered 1,200 coronavirus cases, the highest toll of which was recorded in South Africa, with 240 positive cases and no deaths until 22 March.



According to the WHOs report No 62 of the same date, no African country recorded more than 100 cases except Egypt and South Africa. Covid-19 fatalities in Algeria reached 15, in Egypt 19 and three in each of Burkina Faso and Morocco, and one in each of Gabon, Congo, Sudan and Tunisia.



The death of Congolese music legend Aurlus Mabele in Paris after being infected with the disease was a shock that rippled across francophone Africa, raising fears and driving countries to adopt strict measures.



In Nigeria, doctors brought to a halt their work stoppage for humanitarian reasons to resume their jobs and fight coronavirus. The provincial governors of Nigeria  Africas most populous country of 200 million people  closed schools in Lagos, home to 20 million Nigerians, after the detection of eight cases. The country also stopped mass travel between states via the railway.



In Uganda, where one case was detected, authorities suspended flights Sunday and banned gatherings and political and cultural activities.



Neighbouring Rwanda announced the extension of its lockdown for a third week after the number of confirmed cases reached 17.



Before the number of infected people had reached 100, South Africa suspended classes and banned the arrival of tourists from high-risk countries. The country also established a number of medical centres to detect the virus in Johannesburg and large cities.



Despite these measures, Africa faces a serious challenge. According to several reports, it is near impossible to maintain social distancing in some of Africas regions. Moreover, weak infrastructure makes it impossible to provide clean water in many African cities.



The BBCs short documentary Here You Can Be Easily Infected tackles the slum areas around Kenyas capital, Nairobi. In the film, residents complain about the lack of running water and soap to buy, in addition to the tight spaces within which Kenyan families live, which makes it impossible to isolate infected cases.



Although healthcare services improved in tens of African countries after the spread of Ebola in 2014, medical care remains mediocre, especially when it comes to the number of hospital beds, and the availability of masks, disinfectants, soap and garments, according to a report by the Mass Sciences Institute of Pretoria University.



Medical staff, including healthcare workers and nurses, need to be trained on how to protect themselves against infections, especially as the world is witnessing healthcare providers, doctors and nurses dying as they embark on treating coronavirus patients.



More than 30 African countries are classified as least developed in the indices of humanitarian development issued by the UN Development Programme in mid-March. The challenges are enormous Coronavirus completes the triangle of pandemics in Africa after AIDS and Ebola, said Sudanese doctor Ahmed Okasha, a professor of endemic diseases.



The coronavirus epidemic has exposed many points of weaknesses worldwide. The African continent is in urgent need of infrastructure projects. It is not fathomable that tens of millions of people have to live without water, waste management systems, being unable to buy soap, and cram with their families in a single room.



Perhaps the coronavirus outbreak will shine fresh light on the urgent need to fight corruption that is exhausting available resources, in addition to the need to find political solutions to ward off civil wars and coups, and to be able to embark on development plans.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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[March 24, 2020] The global natural language processing (NLP) market was valued at USD 10.93 billion in 2019, and it is expected to be worth USD 34.80 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 21.5% during 2020-2025

NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global natural language processing (NLP) market was valued at USD 10.93 billion in 2019, and it is expected to be worth USD 34.80 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 21.5% during 2020-2025. Over the past few years, deep learning architectures and algorithms have made impressive advances in the fields of text analytics. Most of the marketing agencies are adopting text analytics solutions to enhance their marketing programs. The growing trend for mobile marketing is developing space for the studied segment to expand over the forecast period. Product innovation is still a significant trend in the text analytics market, which is mainly helping the market vendors to expand the customer base. For instance, Rosoka Software launched the analyst's notebook, Rosoka Text Analytics, which can be used to analyze unstructured documents in over 200 languages. This is expected to boost the company's audience reach, thereby fueling the financials. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877815/?utm_source=PRN - The shifting trend from product-centric to customer-centric experience drives the market. The usage of the internet and an ever-expanding means of communication, consumption, and interaction has empowered consumers. Companies have been forced to rethink their branding and business models.

- Customer engagement vendors are incorporating AI capabilities into their platforms, in order to enable end users to create scalable, individualized customer experiences without the need for manual programming or logic building. It is estimated that the increased revenue due to the adoption of AI in customer relationship management activities may cross USD 125 billion, in the United States alone, by 2021.

- Increasing demand for smart devices across Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) drives the market. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) uses networked sensors and intelligent devices directly on the manufacturing floor, for collecting data to drive artificial intelligence and predictive analytics.

- Industries use products, such as networking devices, sensors for temperature, pressure, and flow measurement, and connected devices in huge numbers. The initial cost of implementation and the internal rate of return (IRR) period are the major factors impacting the decisions related to the implementation of such products, services, and software associated with them.

- However, complexity in the shift from traditional to advanced technology challenges the market to grow. The transition from the existing legacy system to SaaS platforms is an expensive process involving technical and non-technical resources and other challenges. Also, the lack of understanding of cloud computing migration leads to many migration failures in achieving organizational goals. Key Market Trends

Speech/Voice is Expected to Register a Significant Growth - Speech analytics solutions are gaining popularity among enterprises across the world since the conventional text-based analytics solutions adopted by enterprises is no longer enough to handle complex business issues. Many organizations are deploying speech analytics through a combination of internally recorded data, social media data, and external syndicated data, mainly to have a better understanding of ther customer requirements.





May 16 , the US President Donald Trump "addressed" a conference in Tianjin from Washington , where he speaks flawless Chinese. This advanced voice assistance feature was developed by iFlytek Co Ltd.

- Further, the e-commerce titan Alibaba joined the likes of Tencent Holdings and Baidu, in the race to develop AI that can enrich social media feeds and target ads and services, by using natural language processing. Moreover, NLP has been endorsed by the government as a part of its national-level plan that calls for the country to become the industry leader by 2030.

- During the Global Shopping Festival 2017, organized by Alibaba, the company handled 95% of customer service inquiries through its self-developed virtual customer service chatbot. Additionally, the company launched a smart speaker system, Tmall Genie, which uses NLP and AliGenie voice assistant to receive customers' requests in Mandarin Chinese. Thus, the advent of such speakers in the market is also anticipated to drive the demand for NLP in the country.

- Additionally, emerging companies, like Homebase has further developed new skills for voice assistants, which now can answer questions, such as what are the pool hours?, how much is my rent?, and what is the status of my maintenance ticket?, etc., which exhibit the advancements in AI-based assistants for NLP.

- Further, North America is one of the major markets for natural language processing, owing to its dominance in AI and machine learning (ML) technologies. According to RichRelevance, online shoppers in the United States are more inclined to use Google Assistant than the other platforms. Additionally, the utilization of smart speakers to obtain results on diverse topics is gaining increasing popularity, which, in turn, is expected to compel the companies to invest in the technology. Asia-Pacific to Witness the Highest Market Growth





- The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most potential markets for the NLP industry. The region is also witnessing an increasing rate of adoption of the AI and ML technologies, especially among SMEs in the region. The voice assistance market is also booming in Asia, and the region is home to many consumer electronics manufacturers, including smart speakers and smartphones.

- In the present scenario, most of the AI development is done by large internet companies across the world. Apart from the United States, most of these companies are based in China. The Chinese government has also been very active in advancing its AI strategy. The growth of NLP in the country is mainly fueled by the governmental blueprint, which was outlined in 2017, in order to make the country the world's uncontested AI power in the next decade.

- Further, the Indian government is creating policies and making investments, with an aim to encourage AI-based startups. The growing digital adoption among the regional SMEs may also expand the growth of the market studied. Deploying an NLP-enabled chatbot can bridge the language gap between the English speaking and non-English speaking population of India, by providing multi-language support.

- Moreover, some of the prominent banks in India already deployed NLP and AI chatbots to enhance the customer-interaction process. For instance, HDFC Bank collaborated with Senseforth and launched 'EVA' (Electronic Virtual Assistant). The chatbot addressed 2.7 million queries in the first six months. These instances contributes to the growth of the market during forecast period. Competitive Landscape

The natural language processing market is highly competitive and consists of several major players who are trying to gain larger shares. These major players with prominent shares in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries and are also providing new innovative solutions along with deals and mergers to increase their market shares and profitability. Key players are Google Inc., Microsoft Corporation, etc. Recent developments in the market are -

- Oct 2019 - Google LLC was planning to augment its search engine with natural-language processing features that were expected to be equipped with the most significant update of the past five years. Google planned to add new NLP models to its search engine that uses a technique called Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, or BERT, to analyze user queries. The method allows artificial intelligence algorithms to interpret text more accurately by analyzing how the words in a sentence relate to one another.

- Jan 2020 - NetBase announced the merger with Quid, which is one of the prominent companies in AI-driven text analytics. As a result of this merger, the combined company will have an enhanced portfolio in the next generation consumer and market intelligence solution. The merged company will deliver contextual insights that reveal business trends across all forms of structured and unstructured data. 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/p05877815/?utm_source=PRN 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.

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Couples living separately should consider moving in together to circumvent the tight restrictions imposed on leaving the house during the coronavirus lockdown, according to British Government advice.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that gatherings of more than two people are to be banned as the country tackles the coronavirus pandemic.

In an address to the nation, the Prime Minister advised that any contact with people not living in the same household should be conducted while keeping at least two metres apart.

Couples should test the strength of their relationship and decide whether they should be permanently be resident in another household

Britain's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said these rules would also apply to non-cohabiting partners, who could pass on the deadly virus if they continued to visit each other at their respective homes.

At a press conference in Downing Street today, Dr Harries said couples could test their relationship and move in together while the clampdown on movement was in place.

New rules brought in allow only four reasons for leaving the house: shopping for basic necessities, taking one form of exercise per day, for medical needs or travelling to work that cannot be done from home.

Dr Harries, answering a question at the first virtual Number 10 conference, said: If you are two individuals, two halves of the couple, living in separate households then ideally they should stay in those households.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Jenny Harries speaking at a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus

She warned those in such a situation that they should make a decision and stick with it, or else they could be putting their families in danger.

What we do not want is people switching in and out of households, Dr Harries added.

It defeats the purpose of the reductions in social interactions and will allow the transmission of disease.

The British Prime Ministers official spokesman had earlier told reporters, during an afternoon conference call, that common sense should be used by a girlfriend and boyfriend living apart.

Asked about the dilemma facing such couples, the PMs spokesman said the rules are clear.

I think you should look at those rules, they are an instruction given by the Government for a specific reason which is to save lives, said the Downing Street spokesman.

People should follow the rules and do so in a common sense way.

He added: When you are out of the house, you should only do so with members of your own household or if it is for work reasons.

The PMs spokesman said exemptions to the rules on being outside the home applied in two scenarios  key workers taking their children to school and children living with two separated parents.

The comments came after Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove was forced to backtrack after initially saying the children of separated parents should not move between households.

But the Number 10 spokesman said: Two particular issues have been raised which are clear in our guidance.

Those are around key workers taking their children to school and also the issue of separated parents and ensuring children can move between those two carers.
Update: Shortly after this story was published, Ross McFarland notified syracuse.com that he learned he tested negative for coronavirus.

SYRACUSE, N.Y  Ross McFarland still doesnt know if he has coronavirus, even though he was one of the first people tested at the Syracuse Community Health Center nine days ago.

McFarland, 47, of Syracuse, said today hes still waiting to get a phone call from the center with his test results.

In the meantime, hes quarantined, cannot leave his home or return to work at JGB Enterprises in Liverpool.

Im just sitting here watching TV, he said.

McFarland was tested March 16 when the health center launched its coronavirus testing program. He decided to get tested after developing a cough, runny nose and a 100-degree temperature. He was told it would take three to four days to get rest results.

The health center sent test specimens to a Quest Diagnostics lab in Virginia. At a briefing Monday, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said a backup at that lab has delayed some of the results for hundreds of tests. The center tested more than 1,000 people last week.

Ross MacFarland, 47, of Syracuse, gets tested for COVID-19, the coronavirus, at the Syracuse Community Health Center on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Katrina Tulloch)Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com

Onondaga County had 53 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Monday, five of whom were hospitalized.

Derrick Murry, the health centers chief operating officer, said today the center is working with the lab to expedite the process.

Were trying to get these results produced and out so we can move forward, he said.

Murry said the backlog affected tests done Monday, Tuesday and Wedneday of last week. He said Quest has taken steps to speed up the turnaround time. I told them, We need to do better for our staff, patients and our community, Murry said.

McFarland said he feels better, even though hes uncertain if he has the highly contagious and occasionally life-threatening virus.

I just need to be patient and wait, he said.

James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com
For years, property-casualty insurers have sought to protect their business from the ripple effects of a pandemic. The spread of the coronavirus is showing it may not be easy.

At issue are business-interruption policies, which tend to pay out only when a property has suffered damage. Some insurers tightened language after the 2003 SARS scare, adding exclusions for outbreaks of infectious disease. Still, growing scrutiny of civil authority clauses and what constitutes property damage means the industry is likely to face more pushback.

There still has to be physical loss or damage, said attorney Alexandra Roje, a partner in Lathrop GPMs insurance-recovery practice. However, what physical loss or damage means is not necessarily clear.

Oceana Grill in New Orleans, which lacked a virus exclusion, last week asked for a declaratory judgment about its all-risk insurance policy from underwriters at Lloyds of London, citing a civil authority order by Louisianas governor and actions by the citys mayor to restrict gatherings at restaurants.

Attorney John Houghtaling, whos representing the restaurant, said hes seeking to make it clear that virus-related mandatory shutdowns should trigger a civil authority clause for business-interruption policies. The purpose of the Oceana action was to bring awareness, Houghtaling said in a phone interview.

A Lloyds of London representative declined to comment on the litigation.

Some law firms have been analyzing whether older cases including a battle between Gregory Packaging Inc. and Travelers Cos. would support an argument. And in New Jersey there is proposed legislation, currently on hold, that would overturn some virus exclusions in certain policies. Investors can expect more losses, according to Meyer Shields, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The initial reaction (which was ours as well) assuming modest business-interruption losses without an actual, covered property loss now appears too optimistic, Shields said Wednesday in a note to clients.

Insurers said theyre working with consumers during this tumultuous period, according to the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. The industry group supports a national solution on managing pandemic risk and says insurers will help propose solutions.

However, if policy makers force insurers to pay for losses that are not covered under existing insurance policies, the stability of the sector could be impacted, David Sampson, president and chief executive officer of the APCIA, said in an emailed statement. Insurance stability is especially important in a time of increased natural catastrophes.

Companies such as Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Travelers often insure small- to medium-sized businesses, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts. Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note Friday that they expect losses for property-casualty insurers to be immaterial because of the property-damage requirement and the difficulty of proving contamination.

The coronavirus has spread to more than 349,200 people, with deaths topping 15,300. Whole industries have ground to a halt and offices of functioning businesses are shut as employees work from home. Bars, restaurants and retailers have been curtailed or ordered closed as millions of people are urged to stay indoors.

Regulators have sought to give some guidance about business-interruption insurance. New Yorks financial watchdog cautioned that coverage is typically triggered by property loss. But industry watchers said lawmakers or regulators will inevitably be forced to intervene.

This will soon be calling out for a national solution, said Eric Dinallo, a former New York state regulator and chair of the insurance regulatory practice at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

Butler Universitys Zachary Finn, a professor of risk management at the Lacy School of Business, has argued for a solution similar to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. That government program, a response to the 9/11 attacks, provided a backstop for losses from terrorism.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group of state regulators, said its aware of several federal proposals in the works, including a TRIA-like mechanism. It declined to take a position on them, according to an emailed statement.

Janice Ochenkowski, a former president of RIMS, a risk-management organization, and a former executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, said that any solution would have to incorporate the unique aspects of pandemic risk, which can affect businesses globally.

There clearly needs to be a very robust discussion about what role insurance and government are going to play in an event such as this, she said. But this is a totally new event were faced with and, in my opinion, its going to call for crafting a new and different solution.

With assistance from Lucca de Paoli.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
TORONTO, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX: XAM, TSX: XAM) (Xanadu or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an earn-in agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) to sole fund up to $USD7.2 million in exploration expenditure at the Companys Red Mountain copper-gold Project located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia (Figures 1 and 2). Exploration objectives of the earn-in deal are to discover Mongolias next world-class copper-porphyry deposit.



HIGHLIGHTS

Xanadu and JOGMEC enter into a new earn-in agreement in Mongolia

JOGMEC to sole fund up to $USD7.2 million over 4 years in exploration expenditure to earn a 51% interest in Red Mountain

Red Mountain comprises a large and underexplored porphyry district in the highly prospective South Gobi porphyry belt

Exploration objectives is discovery of a Tier-1 copper-gold porphyry deposit

Builds upon Xanadus other active exploration program at Kharmagtai in the South Gobi

Xanadus Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andrew Stewart, said Xanadu is honoured that JOGMEC has seen fit to embark on a new collaboration at our Red Mountain copper-gold Project. The Red Mountain Project is a highly prospective, porphyry copper-gold district with enormous potential for a new Tier-1 discovery. This partnership and increased exploration funding allow a focussed and accelerated exploration program at Red Mountain, thereby maximising the chances of success while minimising shareholder dilution. Previous drilling at the project has returned numerous high-grade copper-gold intercepts from a broad range of mineralisation styles. Deploying a suite of new exploration methodologies in 2020 will provide a whole new perspective on the mineral potential at Red Mountain. We look forward to kicking-off this exciting partnership with JOGMEC to refine and test several large-scale copper-gold targets in 2Q 2020. Both parties perceive the Red Mountain area to have high potential for discovery of a globally significant copper-gold deposit and look forward to demonstrating the value of this new relationship.

Xanadu will continue to progress and fund exploration at its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project, located approximately 265km west of Red Mountain. Kharmagtai has emerged as one of the most globally promising porphyry copper-gold projects, where recent drilling has intersected a significant new zone of high-grade copper and gold mineralisation outside the defined resources containing 1.9Mt Cu and 4.3Moz Au.

ABOUT RED MOUNTAIN

Xanadu Mines is copper and gold exploration company with several advanced exploration projects in Mongolias highly mineralised and vastly underexplored south Gobi region. Xanadu controls one of the most promising porphyry copper-gold projects in Asia with Kharmagtai and has an expanding portfolio of exploration projects including Red Mountain and Yellow Mountain (Figure 1).

Xanadus Red Mountain porphyry copper-gold Project is located within the Dornogovi Province of southern Mongolia, approximately 420km southeast of Ulaanbaatar (Figure 2), and 70km west from the provincial centre of Sainshand. The project has a granted 30-year mining licence and comprises an underexplored porphyry district (covering approximately 57km) consisting of multiple co-genetic porphyry copper-gold centres, mineralised tourmaline breccia pipes copper-gold/base metal magnetite skarns and epithermal gold vein.

The porphyry mineralisation at Red Mountain is associated with late-stage monzonite and quartz diorite porphyry dykes and stocks emplaced on the flanks of the Red Mountain Intrusive Complex (RMIC; Figure 2). Alteration and mineralisation at Red Mountain are characterised by multiple co-genetic copper-gold porphyry centres, tourmaline breccia pipes and copper-gold/base metal magnetite skarns.

Previous exploration at Red Mountain has defined several broad zones of strong quartz stockwork veining and associated high-grade gold and copper mineralisation (typically around 0.5g/t to >5 g/t gold and 0.3% to 1.5% copper). The geology, strength of alteration and style of mineralisation also suggest that the mineralisation will extend at depth. The true opportunity at Red Mountain is seen in the large-scale porphyry potential. Highly anomalous geochemistry that corresponds to broad zones of porphyry mineralisation from trenching, zoned porphyry alteration, overlapping with large-scale magnetic and gravity anomalies, paints a compelling picture of a string of very large porphyry targets over 6km in strike (Figure 2). Initial deeper drilling in 2017 encountered 200-300m wide zones of porphyry style mineralisation at Target 10. Detailed geological work, 3D geophysical and geochemical modelling is currently underway to aid targeting for large scale porphyry deposits at Red Mountain.

RED MOUNTAIN EARN-IN AGREEMENT

Xanadu and JOGMEC have entered into a new exploration earn-in agreement over Xanadus Red Mountain project, located in the south Gobi region of Mongolia (Figures 1 and 2). Exploration objectives are discovery of a Tier-1 porphyry copper-gold discovery.

The key terms of the earn-in and joint venture agreement are as follows:

JOGMEC may earn a 51% interest in the project by sole funding $USD7.2 million of expenditure over four years;

during the earn-in, Xanadu will be the Manager of the Project;

upon JOGMEC completing the earn-in, a joint venture will be formed, and the parties must contribute funds based on their percentage interest to maintain their respective interests; and

standard dilution clauses will apply to the parties interests. Should a partys interest dilute to below 10%, it shall automatically convert to a net smelter royalty.

NEXT STEPS

A significant exploration program is intended for the remainder of 2020 and expected to include additional geophysics and further application of geochemistry followed by reverse circulation and/or diamond drilling.

Exploration activity at Red Mountain is scheduled to recommence in April/May 2020 and continue through to November 2020. The scheduling of the exploration activity will be determined in conjunction with JOGMEC in the coming months, with updates provided as specific exploration programs commence.

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b7f48ae3-4460-45ad-841c-68e96ffee3ad

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c9a7702-aa0f-4f98-a56c-45fb77e410b8

COMPETENT-QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Dr Andrew Stewart, who is responsible for the exploration data, comments on exploration target sizes, QA/QC and geological interpretation and information. Dr Stewart, who is an employee of Xanadu and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists, has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify as the Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves and the National Instrument 43-101. Dr Stewart consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

COPPER EQUIVALENT CALCULATIONS

The copper equivalent (CuEq) calculation represents the total metal value for each metal, multiplied by the conversion factor, summed and expressed in equivalent copper percentage. Grades have been adjusted for metallurgical recoveries based off previous metallurgical work performed on the mineralisation in question. The copper/gold equivalent grades are of an exploration nature only and intended for summarising grade. The copper/gold equivalent calculation is intended as an indicative value only. The following copper equivalent conversion factors and long-term price assumptions have been adopted: Copper Equivalent Formula eCu or CuEq = Cu + Au * 0.62097 * 0.8235. Gold Equivalent Formula eAu = Au + Cu / 0.62097 * 0.8235.

Where:

Cu - copper grade (%)

Au - gold grade (g/t)

0.62097- conversion factor (gold to copper)

0.8235 - relative recovery of gold to copper (82.35%)

The copper/gold equivalent formula was based on the following parameters (prices are in USD):

Copper price - 3.1 $/lb (or 6834 $/t)

Gold price - 1320 $/oz

Copper recovery - 85%

Gold recovery - 70%

Relative recovery of gold to copper = 70% / 85% = 82.35%.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Stewart

Chief Executive Officer

T: +61 2 8280 7497

M: +61 409 819 922

E: Andrew.stewart@xanadumines.com

W: www.xanadumines.com

This Announcement was authorised for release by Xanadus Board of Directors.

APPENDIX 1: KHARMAGTAI TABLE 1 (JORC 2012)

Set out below is Section 1 and Section 2 of Table 1 under the JORC Code, 2012 Edition for the Kharmagtai project. Data provided by Xanadu. This Table 1 updates the JORC Table 1 disclosure dated 11 April 2019.

1.1 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 1 - SAMPLING TECHNIQUES AND DATA

Criteria JORC Code (Section 1) Explanation Commentary Sampling

techniques Nature and quality of sampling and assaying.

Measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report. Representative 2 metre samples were taken from  HQ diamond core.

Only assay result results from recognised, independent assay laboratories were used after QAQC was verified. Drilling

techniques Drill type and details. Diamond Drill Hole (DDH) drilling has been the primary drilling method. Some RC (reverse circulation) is conducted. RC holes are denoted by the KHRC prefix. Diamond Drill Holes are denoted by the KHDDH prefix. Drill

sample

recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. DDH core recoveries have been very good, averaging between 95% and 99% for all of the deposits. In localised areas of faulting and/or fracturing the recoveries decrease; however, this is a very small percentage of the overall mineralised zones.

Recovery measurements were collected during all DDH and RC programs. The methodology used for measuring recovery is standard industry practice.

Analysis of recovery results vs. grade indicates no significant trends. Indicating bias of grades due to diminished recovery and / or wetness of samples. Logging Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc.) photography.

The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. Drill and trench samples are logged for lithology, mineralisation and alteration and geotechnical aspects using a standardised logging system, including the recording of visually estimated volume percentages of major minerals.

Drill core was photographed after being logged by a geologist.

The entire interval drilled and trenched has been logged by a geologist. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc. and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximize representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. DDH Core is cut in half with a diamond saw, following the line marked by the geologist. The rock saw is regularly flushed with fresh water.

Sample intervals are generally a constant 2m interval down-hole in length unless subdivided at geological contacts.

Routine sample preparation and analyses of DDH samples were carried out by ALS Mongolia LLC (ALS Mongolia), who operates an independent sample preparation and analytical laboratory in Ulaanbaatar.

All samples were prepared to meet standard quality control procedures as follows: crushed to 90% passing 3.54 mm, split to 1kg, pulverised to 90% - 95% passing 200 mesh (75 microns) and split to 150g.

Certified reference materials (CRMs), blanks and pulp duplicate were randomly inserted to manage the quality of data.

Sample sizes are well in excess of standard industry requirements. Quality of

assay data

and

laboratory

tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc., the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g. standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. All samples were routinely assayed by ALS Mongolia for gold

Au is determined using a 25g fire assay fusion, cupelled to obtain a bead, and digested with Aqua Regia, followed by an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish, with a lower detection limit (LDL) of 0.01 ppm.

All samples were submitted to ALS Mongolia for the package ME-ICP61 using a four acid digest. Where copper is over-range (>1% Cu), it is analysed by a second analytical technique (Cu-OG62), which has a higher upper detection limit (UDL) of 5% copper.

Quality assurance was provided by introduction of known certified standards, blanks and duplicate samples on a routine basis.

Assay results outside the optimal range for methods were re-analysed by appropriate methods.

Ore Research Pty Ltd certified copper and gold standards have been implemented as a part of Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) procedures, as well as coarse and pulp blanks, and certified matrix matched copper-gold standards.

QAQC monitoring is an active and ongoing processes on batch by batch basis by which unacceptable results are re-assayed as soon as practicable. Verification

of sampling

and

assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data. All assay data QA/QC is checked prior to loading into the Geobank data base.

The data is managed by Xanadu geologists.

The database and geological interpretation is collectively managed by Xanadu. Location of

data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. Diamond drill holes have been surveyed with a differential global positioning system (DGPS) to within 10cm accuracy.

All diamond drill holes have been down hole surveyed to collect the azimuth and inclination at specific depths. Two principal types of survey method have been used over the duration of the drilling programs including Eastman Kodak and Flexit.

UTM WGS84 48N grid.

The digital terrain model (DTM) is based on 1m contours with an accuracy of 0.01m. Data

spacing

and

distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied. Holes spacings range from 50m spacings within the core of mineralization to +500m spacings for exploration drilling. Hole spacings can be determined using the sections and drill plans provided

Holes range from vertical to an inclination of -60 degrees depending on the attitude of the target and the drilling method.

The data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish anomalism and targeting for both porphyry, tourmaline breccia and epithermal target types. Orientation

of data in

relation to

geological

structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. Drilling is conducted in a predominantly regular grid to allow unbiased interpretation and targeting.

Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Samples are dispatched from site through via company employees and secure company vehicles to the Laboratories.

Samples are signed for at the Laboratory with confirmation of receipt emailed through.

Samples are then stored at the lab and returned to a locked storage site. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data Internal audits of sampling techniques and data management on a regular basis, to ensure industry best practice is employed at all times.

1.2 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 2 - REPORTING OF EXPLORATION RESULTS

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections).

Criteria JORC Code (Section 2) Explanation Commentary Mineral

tenement

and land

tenure

status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a license to operate in the area. The Project comprises 1 Mining Licence (MV-17129A).

Xanadu now owns 90% of Vantage LLC, the 100% owner of the Oyut Ulaan mining licence.

The Mongolian Minerals Law (2006) and Mongolian Land Law (2002) govern exploration, mining and land use rights for the project. Exploration

done by

other

parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties.

Previous exploration was conducted by Quincunx Ltd, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd including extensive drilling, surface geochemistry, geophysics, mapping. Geology



Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The mineralisation is characterised as porphyry copper-gold type.

Porphyry copper-gold deposits are formed from magmatic hydrothermal fluids typically associated with felsic intrusive stocks that have deposited metals as sulphides both within the intrusive and the intruded host rocks. Quartz stockwork veining is typically associated with sulphides occurring both within the quartz veinlets and disseminated thought out the wall rock. Porphyry deposits are typically large tonnage deposits ranging from low to high grade and are generally mined by large scale open pit or underground bulk mining methods. The deposits at Kharmagtai are atypical in that they are associated with intermediate intrusions of diorite to quartz diorite composition; however the deposits are in terms of contained gold significant, and similar gold-rich porphyry deposits. Drill hole

Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes:

easting and northing of the drill hole collar.

elevation or RL Reduced Level  elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar.

dip and azimuth of the hole

down hole length and interception depth

hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. Diamond drill holes are the principal source of geological and grade data for the Project.

See figures in ASX/TSX Announcement. Data

Aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g. cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. A nominal cut-off of 0.1% eCu is used in copper dominant systems for identification of potentially significant intercepts for reporting purposes. Higher grade cut-offs are 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% eCu.

A nominal cut-off of 0.1g/t eAu is used in gold dominant systems like Altan Burged for identification of potentially significant intercepts for reporting purposes. Higher grade cut-offs are 0.3g/t, 0.6g/t and 1g/t eAu.

Maximum contiguous dilution within each intercept is 9m for 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% eCu.

Most of the reported intercepts are shown in sufficient detail, including maxima and subintervals, to allow the reader to make an assessment of the balance of high and low grades in the intercept.

Informing samples have been composited to two metre lengths honouring the geological domains and adjusted where necessary to ensure that no residual sample lengths have been excluded (best fit). The copper equivalent (eCu) calculation represents the total metal value for each metal, multiplied by the conversion factor, summed and expressed in equivalent copper percentage with a metallurgical recovery factor applied. The copper equivalent calculation used is based off the eCu calculation defined by CSA in the 2018 Mineral Resource Upgrade.



Copper equivalent (CuEq or eCu) grade values were calculated using the following formula:

eCu or CuEq = Cu + Au * 0.62097 * 0.8235,

Gold Equivalent (eAu) grade values were calculated using the following formula:

eAu = Au + Cu / 0.62097 * 0.8235.

Where:

Cu - copper grade (%)

Au - gold grade (g/t)

0.62097- conversion factor (gold to copper)

0.8235 - relative recovery of gold to copper (82.35%)

The copper equivalent formula was based on the following parameters (prices are in USD):

Copper price - 3.1 $/lb (or 6834 $/t)

Gold price - 1320 $/oz

Copper recovery - 85%

Gold recovery - 70%

Relative recovery of gold to copper = 70% / 85% = 82.35%. Relationship between mineralisation

on widths

and intercept

lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (e.g. down hole length, true width not known). Mineralised structures are variable in orientation, and therefore drill orientations have been adjusted from place to place in order to allow intersection angles as close as possible to true widths.

Exploration results have been reported as an interval with 'from' and 'to' stated in tables of significant economic intercepts. Tables clearly indicate that true widths will generally be narrower than those reported. Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. See figures in ASX/TSX Announcement. Balanced

reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. Resources have been reported at a range of cut-off grades, above a minimum suitable for open pit mining, and above a minimum suitable for underground mining. Other

substantive

exploration

data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk samples  size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. Extensive work in this area has been done and is reported separately. Further

work The nature and scale of planned further work (e.g. tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. The mineralisation is open at depth and along strike.

Current estimates are restricted to those expected to be reasonable for open pit mining. Limited drilling below this depth (-300m RLl) shows widths and grades potentially suitable for underground extraction.

Exploration on going.

1.3 JORC TABLE 1  SECTION 3 ESTIMATION AND REPORTING OF MINERAL RESOURCES

(Criteria listed in section 1, and where relevant in section 2, also apply to this section.)
Attorney Anjel Burgess We have a very tight-knit group of experienced professionals in our office who all share a common passion for helping families to move forward during challenging times.

Anjel Burgess was recently honored by two of Georgias most respected attorney award programs. Super Lawyers Magazine recognized Burgess for the second consecutive year as one of the States top 5% in their annual issue. Selection is determined by the voting of other Georgia attorneys as well as independent research conducted by the editorial team at Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters company.

Burgess also earned a spot on Georgia Trend Magazines annual list of the States Legal Elite for the third consecutive year. This honor has particular significance because it is based entirely on the voting of other attorneys practicing in Georgia.

Burgess is the managing attorney at Burgess & Christensen in Marietta, Georgia which represents individuals and families in social security disability, veterans benefits, and guardianship cases. Burgess took announcement of the honors as an opportunity to reflect on what differentiates the team at her firm from others in the industry.

We have a very tight-knit group of experienced professionals in our office who all share a common passion for helping families to move forward during challenging times, said Burgess. We all recognize that it is a privilege to serve our clients in their most important legal matters and Im looking forward to continuing to provide high quality legal service for many years to come.

Burgess has developed a national reputation for her work on behalf of clients since earning her Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law over a decade ago. She is frequently invited to speak on a wide range of cutting-edge topics at national conferences and is rated 9.7/10 by Avvo, one of the industrys most respected attorney rating organizations.

About Burgess & Christensen: The law firm of Burgess & Christensen represents individuals and families in matters involving social security disability, veterans benefits, and guardianship law. The firms commitment to excellence in the practice of law spans over 40 years and includes the successful representation of thousands of clients. The firms office is conveniently located in Marietta, Georgia, providing easy access to high-quality legal representation to residents in all of metro-Atlanta and across the State.
Visakhapatnam, March 24 : Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday reported three more coronavirus positive cases from Visakhapatnam district, taking the number of cases in the state to 8.

Following a review meeting on the situation on Tuesday, state Health Minister Alla Nani said that necessary measures are being taken to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, the state has recorded 8 COVID-19 cases.

Addressing the media, the minister emphasised that the people's participation in corona control is very crucial and requested the public to practice social distancing. He also stressed that people should remain at home and strictly follow government orders in this regard.

While stating that the persons returning from abroad are required to report voluntarily for COVID19 clearances, the minister warned that legal action would be taken if the regulations are not followed.

On Monday, a youth returning from London to Visakhapatnam had tested positive, taking the total to seven COVID-cases in Andhra Pradesh.

The state government has imposed a virtual curfew till March 31 in line with the Indian government's moves to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Alla Nani said that 20 committees have been appointed to control the corona. Taking a pot-shot at former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu,the minister said such people should refrain from resorting to scaremongering leading to fear among the people.
Two men accused of stealing more than 500 rolls of toilet paper after breaking into a string of Woolworths supermarkets in Sydney are on the run from police.

Police said the men targeted four stores in the city's western suburbs between 7pm and 8.30pm on Sunday.

The pair allegedly broke into the supermarkets' restricted storage areas, stealing bulk amounts of toilet paper from stores in Granville and Auburn.

They also broke into stores in nearby Bass Hill and Lidcombe but fled empty-handed.

'It was also reported that one of the men threatened an employee with a knife at the Auburn store,' police said in a statement.

Police would like to speak with two men (pictured as the alleged crime was in progress) they believe may be able to assist with their investigation

Police have released CCTV footage of two men they would like to speak with

Police are investigating and have issued a picture of the alleged crime in progress in the hope someone will recognise them.

The first man is described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, about 185-190cm tall, aged in his 30s, with a solid build.

He has tattoos on his arms and was wearing a grey polo shirt with blue track pants.

The second man is described as being 175-180cm tall with a slim build, aged between 30-35, and was wearing black Adidas pants and a camouflage hooded jumper.

NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott urged anyone with information to come forward and report to police.

'I support any measures taken by police to protect our communities from this sort of disgraceful criminal activity, ' he said on Tuesday.

'The people of NSW will not tolerate criminal behaviour at any time let alone during this crisis.

'People need to grow up and look out for our most vulnerable.'

The alleged theft followed weeks of toilet paper shortages after panic buyers cleared supermarket shelves of loo roll to stockpile for the coronavirus pandemic.

Some shoppers have even become embroiled in ugly confrontations over the limited stock.

Supermarkets have been forced to enforce purchasing restrictions and customers are only allowed one packet per person.

The alleged theft comes after weeks of toilet paper shortages that came as panic buyers cleared supermarket shelves of loo roll

Supplies of toilet paper are plentiful in Australia but supermarkets had been selling six weeks worth of the product in a single day, putting severe strain on the supply chain.

Police were even forced to hand out toilet paper at a Woolworths store in Sydney last week.

Footage of from inside the store showed people eagerly lining up for the much sought-after product.

Rolls of toilet paper are even being sold for extortionate prices on websites such as eBay, Gumtree and Facebook's Marketplace.

One advertisement on Facebook listed a single roll for $100, while another was seemingly charging $200.

Another tongue-in-cheek message offered a roll for $1,000 - or $10 per sheet.
The bloodbath in the stock market caused by the coronavirus spread has dealt a body blow to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), shaving off 27.6 percent in its equity holding value.

According to data compiled by Moneycontrol, the equity holding value of LIC dropped to Rs 4.01 lakh crore at the close of March 20 as against Rs 5.54 lakh crore on February 22.

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

The Sensex saw its biggest single-day intra-day fall of 2,467 points on March 9, closing at the lowest level since February 2019.

A further erosion in value is now a near-certainty as the BSE Sensex registered its worst ever fall by 3,935 points, or 13.15 percent, at 25,981.

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 policyholder funds of LIC are invested in both equity and debt instruments. Being a long-term business, a larger portion of the funds are invested into government securities and other guaranteed instruments.

Data compiled by Ritesh Presswala

Coming ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO), the value diminution of LICs equity portfolio could raise eyeballs. However, since LIC had an investment asset of Rs 32 lakh crore as of December 31, 2019, returns wont be impacted. Not as yet.

"LIC has seen extremes in the stock, be it the 2008 market crash or the rally in May 2019. It has adequate assets to protect itself from market volatility," said an official.

During the 2008 stock market crash, LIC saw more than 45 percent erosion in equity holding value. However, it recovered within a year by churning its portfolio and selling stocks.

The official also added that short-term erosion of equity value of LIC is not a cause of concern, considering that it is the countrys largest institutional investor.

The financial hit that LIC has suffered in the past few months will be recovered through churning of the portfolio, another official added.

LIC did not respond to queries sent by Moneycontrol.

When it comes to its target for equity profits, LIC has achieved 94 percent of its Rs 24,700 crore FY20 target (as of January 31). Profits from sale of equity for LIC stood at Rs 23,273.85 crore as of January 31.

The market value of LIC's investment as at the end of FY19 stood at around Rs 28.7 lakh crore, growing YoY by 8.6 percent. The insurer's total assets had touched an all-time high of Rs 31 lakh crore in FY19, which was a 9.4 percent rise.

While investing in the equity markets, LIC follows a 'contrarian' investment strategy, which is 'sell' when the sentiment is bullish and 'buy' when the mood is bearish. Hence during a falling market scenario, LIC tends to buy to not just boost the sentiment but to also take advantage of the lower prices of stocks.

As of January 31, LIC had invested Rs 46,850.33 crore into stocks of the Rs 86,000 crore equity target - the highest-ever equity investment by the insurance behemoth.
When Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry got engaged in November 2017, the royal couple, as well as the British press and public, seemed optimistic about what the pair would bring to the British royal family. Their union was admired, and people were excited about seeing a mixed-race American woman joining The Firm.

Unfortunately, things didnt pan out as expected. From the moment the Sussexes tied the knot, Meghan was criticized, bullied, and harassed so much so that she and Prince Harry made the decision to step away from their positions as senior working royals.

Now, one royal expert suggests that based on the Duchess of Sussexs body-language when she interacted with Queen Elizabeth, we should have all seen Megxit coming.

Megxit was a difficult choice for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

In October 2019, the Sussexes first hinted at their deep unhappiness in their royal roles and amid the pressure and scrutiny of the press. During their royal tour in South Africa, they filmed an ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey where they talked about their difficulties.

After announcing Megxit, the Duke of Sussex spoke openly about his decision. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, he said during a speech at a dinner for his charity, Sentebale. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

In a leaked phone call, Prince Harry went into more detail about Megxit. Thats probably a conversation for another time, theres lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle, the prince reportedly said. But sometimes the right decision isnt always the easy one. And this decision certainly wasnt the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son.

Queen Elizabeth may have been able to stop Megxit

After witnessing Princess Margaret and Princess Diana struggle in the royal family, the queen has always been sensitive and supportive to the Sussexes plight but one royal expert feels she did not do enough to help.

If the queen had once said, in her way, Hey, guys, this is my grandson and his wife, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown told Vanity Fair. They just got married. Back off and let them build a life for themselves, the hounds would have backed off. But she never did. And she still hasnt. I find that unforgivable, actually, since she has the power. They absolutely worship her in this country.

Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeths body-language may have hinted at Megxit

Things had been tough for Meghan long before Meghan was announced.Now that the Sussexes uncoupling from the royal firm appears almost complete it is possible to look back and track what appeared to be four degrees of separation opening between the couple and the rest of the royals, body language expert Judi James told Express. As the rifts began to show, and as Meghan and Harry were clearly planning their exit behind the scenes, they did seem to drift away physically as well as emotionally. Meghan was fast-tracked into the royal firm. She did the traditional induction trip and appearance with the Queen much sooner than Kate did. This suggested some trust in Meghans confidence as a new royal and some instant bonds between her and the Queen.

However, things began to shift quickly. Meghan was now such a big star in the royal firm that it looked odd to see her at the back of the line-up, in front of Harry and slightly isolated-looking, James explained. There were clearly pecking-orders at play here but the space between Meghan and the front row royals plus the Queen did look large. As the other A-list royals clustered around the Queen here Meghan and Harry looked distant, with Meghan again walking alone, looking in at the group in front from the side and from what looked like a large spatial gap. She was not in the line with the other royal wives and now we have been officially told of the rift between Harry and William its probably easier to imagine the tensions that surrounded group appearances like this.
Egypt is imposing a curfew from 7 pm to 6 am for two weeks as of Wednesday morning as part of stricter measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Tuesday.

During the curfew hours, all mass public and private transport will be suspended, Mabouly said.

Violators will be subject to emergency law penalties, which vary from a EGP 4,000 ($253) fine to jail terms.

The prime minister said the firmer and stronger measures are meant to minimize the risk of quick virus transmission, adding that even stricter measures may be taken in the future.

He urged Egyptians to comply with the new steps, warning that the country could reach the "dangerous" milestone of 1000 infections.

Egypt has so far registered 366 coronavirus cases, including 19 fatalities.

All shops and malls will be completely closed on the weekend and will shut down from 5 pm to 6 am on weekdays, the prime minister said. Only supermarkets, pharmacies and bakeries will be exempt from the closure.

All Coffee shops will be totally shuttered and restaurants can only run delivery services.

An ongoing suspension of schools and universities that was due to end later this month will be extended for a further two weeks. Sporting clubs and gym will also continue to be shut.

All commercial international flights, which have been suspended since 19 March, will remain grounded until mid-April, a separate statement from the cabinet said.

Most government offices and public services, except for health offices, will shut their doors to the public during the curfew period. And a decision to limit the number of government employees going to work will also be prolonged until mid-April.

We are looking at the implications of these decisions for the Egyptian economy while trying as much as possible not to harm different classes of people, especially irregular workers, Madbouly said.

The government has also allocated EGP 1 billion to the health ministry to help it provide preventative supplies, the cabinet said in a statement Tuesday.

"I call on all Egyptians to fully comply with these measures," President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Twitter, warning that authorities will confront "attempts to breach them with utmost firmness and resolution."

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2/2  Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) March 24, 2020

Egypt has already taken a raft of measures to stem the spread of the fast-spreading virus including shuttering mosques and churches, suspending international flights and earlier shutting malls and sporting clubs from 7 pm to 6 am.

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Pakistan has suspended six civil servants after they posed for a selfie with a coronavirus patient in a quarantine centre, an official said Tuesday. The selfie -- widely shared on social media -- pictured a group of men around the apparent patient, several of them smiling broadly and none wearing face masks. The picture was taken at a quarantine facility near Sukkur in virus-hit Sindh province, where 399 of the country's 892 COVID-19 cases have been recorded so far. "Six of the government employees have been suspended and put into quarantine," Rana Adeel, deputy commissioner in Sukkur, told AFP. The commissioner added the six -- employees of the provincial land department -- were visiting a local politician who was in quarantine after contracting the novel coronavirus during a visit to Iran. The suspension comes as Pakistan continued locking down large swathes of the country to battle the contagion. Sindh police reported more than 700 people had been arrested in the bustling Karachi since Monday when the province announced its lockdown. Pakistan has a history of failing to contain infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis. So far, authorities have confirmed six deaths from coronavirus. Pakistan troops patrol wearing facemasks as a government-imposed lockdown against the coronavirus takes hold in Rawalpindi
Time not yet ripe for Taiwan to export masks to allies: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

03/23/2020 05:57 PM

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Taiwan has not yet reached the point that it can export surgical masks to diplomatic allies in need amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declared Monday, dismissing online misinformation that it gave away masks to an ally as a diplomatic favor.

"Taiwan's medical aid to diplomatic allies is provided based upon specific circumstances," Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu () said, and the supplements donated by Taiwan are all purchased locally in the ally countries, in accordance with their needs.

Now "the time is not yet ripe" for Taiwan to export medical supplies like surgical masks to diplomatic allies, unless the country's own domestic demand is satisfied, Wu emphasized.

He was answering questions from reporters about misinformation that MOFA violated the export ban to "toady to" Paraguay with a donation of 100,000 masks, while Taiwan is still suffering a great shortage of masks amid the pandemic.

MOFA issued a statement Saturday in which it rebutted the accusation and said it had informed the relevant authorities of the misinformation circulation.

On Monday, Wu said at the legislative Foreign and National Defense Committee hearing that the masks Taiwan provided to Paraguay were all purchased in other Latin American countries at the price of US$0.4 each, instead of those made in Taiwan.

Restricted by limited output of the providers in that region, Taiwan has so far given away only 100,000 masks to Paraguay in its plan to aid the pandemic-hit ally with 1 million masks, he said.

Wu, however, also told lawmakers that Taiwan is facing a diplomatic challenge from China, who he said made contact with Paraguay before Taiwan's mask donations to make mask offers of its own.

Because of China's suppression and ally poaching, Taiwan currently maintains diplomatic links with just 15 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Taiwan imposed a provisional ban on mask exports in late January after it reported the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

The ban, which was set to be effective until Feb. 23, has been prolonged until April 30, as well as the government's requisition of surgical masks nationwide.

Meanwhile, at the Legislative Yuan on Monday, Wu was also asked by lawmakers about Taiwan's mask offers that were written in a joint statement between Taiwan and the United States for joint efforts to combat COVID-19.

Under the joint statement signed on March 18 by Wu and Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. promised to reserve raw materials for 300,000 medical protective suits for Taiwan, while Taiwan agreed to provide 100,000 medical face masks per week to the U.S. when its production capacity has stabilized.

Wu confirmed that it is a formal "government-to-government" statement, despite the fact that there are no diplomatic links between Taiwan and the U.S.

As for when Taiwan will begin to provide the U.S. with the promised 100,000 masks per week, Wu said the two sides are still discussing details of the matter.

In addition, the U.S. side has not yet settled on when it will begin shipments of its promised raw materials for 300,000 medical protective suits for Taiwan, Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien () said.

According to Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (), Taiwan is in need of 1 million medical protective suits, and currently, only two companies in the world -- one in Japan and the other in the U.S. -- produce the key materials for such products.

Although a Taiwanese company has successfully produced medical-degree cloth for protective suits, its output can satisfy local demand by only 10 percent, Wang said.

(By Chen Yun-yu and Elizabeth Hsu)

Enditem/J

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As state and federal leaders say that protective equipment and funding are on the way, physicians in Southern California have been telling us they fear for what's to come in the days and weeks ahead, as supplies run short and coronavirus case numbers rise.

"The PPE (personal protective equipment) has become a major concern already, and we haven't even seen the onslaught of patients, so that's a pretty frightening aspect," said Dr. Mark Futernick, an emergency room doctor in downtown Los Angeles, and board member of the California American College of Emergency Physicians.

One hospital worker in the South Bay area told us they recently bought an ultraviolet device to be able to sanitize N95 masks as hospitals have begun to ration supplies.

"It's a real threat and a lot of doctors are scared, myself included," said the hospital worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Dr. Somil Viradia, a physician in the Los Angeles area, said that he's been asked to use one N-95 mask to see five patients before throwing it out. Under normal circumstances, he'd throw the masks out after each use.

He said news about doctors in critical care in other states for COVID-19 have sent chills in the medical community:

"In all my years of medicine, I've never seen such unanimous kind of agreement over one issue amongst medical workers as I've seen with this -- and that's just the outright fear of getting sick, possibly critically ill, or possibly dying."





An ER doctor with nearly 30 years of experience at several major L.A.-area hospitals, who asked to remain anonymous, told us, "This is the scariest thing that i have ever been through. We're not prepared. I'm scared and so are my colleagues. A tech I know was just told that an N95 mask is not necessary -- she's not allowed to use a mask."

CDC ADVISES 'BANDANAS'

Guidance from federal officials haven't allayed fears, either. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines saying healthcare workers can use homemade masks, like bandanas and scarves, as a last resort.

"That's obviously extremely concerning," said Dr. Ritu Viswanath, a hospitalist in the Los Angeles area.

The L.A.-area ER doctor with three decades of experience expressed disappointment in the CDC for its changing guidelines. "For 30 years I looked to the CDC for guidance." Now, he said, "I have zero trust in them."

He went on to express concerns in the medical community about the risks of exposure to coronavirus during the intubation process, when patients often spew saliva and mucus into the air. He said the procedure requires not just an N95 mask, but also a device called a PAPR. "It's basically a gas mask that goes over the whole head, like you see in Italy and China. The whole intubation team should have them. But many facilities have none."

Another surgeon in the Los Angeles area, who also didn't want to be identified for fear of retribution from her employer, told us: "No one is trusting them (the CDC) in the doctor community because it's like an insult to people's intelligence -- wear a bandana?"

"I'm not a hero. I'm not going to die because I don't have a mask," the surgeon said.





"We're going to drop like flies. some of my colleagues aren't going to make it. I hope I make it."

TESTING REMAINS LIMITED, EVEN FOR DOCTORS

As testing remains limited, it's hard for even doctors to know whether they've been exposed to the illness. Many ER doctors have been isolating themselves from loved ones, Futernick, the ER physician, told us.

"They just don't want to take any chances at all," he said. "They're renting motels, they're living in the garage. They're too afraid to see their families at all."

Doctors worry that as physicians and other healthcare frontline workers get the illness, they will be spreading it more to their patients without knowing it.

"The larger medical community worries that if we become asymptomatic vectors, are we even exposing our potential patients to the disease?" Visnewath, the LA area hospitalist, said.

'THROWING OUT THE OLD PLAYBOOK'

Dr. Larry Stock, an emergency physician at Antelope Valley Hospital, said they've tried to extend the use of protective equipment as long as possible.

"There's no region of the country that's adequately resourced," he said.

Stock, who volunteered in Liberia during the Ebola crisis in 2015 and during the country's civil war in 2003, said that because of this, doctors are going to have to think of doing things in new ways.

"You've got to kind of throw out the old playbook of how things are done, in terms of PPE, in terms of how we approach how long people stay in the hospital," he said. That may mean that standards of care will drop from "excellent" to "adequate," he said.

Stock, who's been appointed as deputy mayor in Lancaster for the coronavirus crisis, said the city has now created a field hospital at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds with about 500 beds to prepare for the surge.

"We very much want to make sure we can do the most good for the most people," Stock said. "It's a real unprecedented time in emergency medicine, for sure. It's a major challenge."

SOME STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT COVID-19

We're all living through this extraordinary and frightening pandemic. The vast majority of our newsroom has been working from home (here's some advice on that) since March 11 to bring you calm, helpful reporting. We are answering your questions and taking more.

We're here to help. And if you can help support that effort financially, we'd be grateful.
On Monday, San Antonio and Bexar County officials issued a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Effective at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, area residents must stay home except to make essential trips, such as picking up groceries and medicine, getting gas or seeking health care.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news with mySA.com:

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff handed down the "Stay Home, Work Safe Order" after the county had its first death caused by COVID-19.

The aim of the order is to prevent a surge of cases from overwhelming area hospitals, officials said.

"This is not complicated, people: stay home, save lives," Nirenberg said. "Thats all we want."

READ MORE: Express-News readers top questions about coronavirus in San Antonio answered

Here's what you need to know about the stay-at-home order:

How long does it last?

Through April 9, at least for now. The order can be modified if public health officials deem it necessary.

Who is required to stay at home?

Everyone except those providing "essential services" or working in exempted businesses.

While members of a household may gather, all public or private gatherings outside a household or family living unit are prohibited.

What will still be open?

Lots of things. Here's a list:

Health care operations, including home-based care and veterinary care

Pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers' markets, convenience stores, liquor stores, food banks and the like.

Construction and infrastructure

Businesses that provide food, shelter and social services

Gas stations, auto repair shops, taxis and ride-share vehicles

IT services

Banks and financial institutions

Plumbers, electricians and exterminators

Businesses that provide mailing and shipping services, including the post office

Educational institutions, for purposes of facilitating distance learning

Laundromats, dry cleaners and laundry services

Restaurants but only for delivery or take-out

Businesses that ship or deliver groceries and food

Airlines

Residential facilities and shelters

Professional services such as legal and accounting services

Child care facilities

Newspapers, television, radio and other media

Religious services may only be provided by video

Funeral homes, crematoriums, and cemetaries

In additional, key government services will continue as before, like police, fire and garbage pick-ups.

So I can still go to restaurants?

Yes, but only for take-out. There is no dine-in option. Food delivery services are also still allowed to operate.

Will police be enforcing the order?

"San Antonio Police are not going to pull you over if you are outside of your home, and you do not need a permission slip to prove you work for a business that is allowed to remain open," said Jeff Coyle, Director of Government and Public Affairs.



"We expect the public to follow the Stay Home order, and our enforcement efforts will focus on the businesses that should be closed, and that proper social distancing measures are being followed by those that are open," he said.

Those who violate the order could face fines of up to $1,000 and six months of jail time. But Wolff said he hopes authorities dont have to resort to those measures.

"We dont want to have to do any of that," Wolff said.

Is public transit included in the order?

Public transit is exempt from the order.

VIA Metropolitan Transit suspended fares system-wide through April 1. The agency asked customers and employees to practice social distancing, staying at least 6 feet away from others when aboard the bus or in any other public place.

Can I go outside?

Yes, you're allowed to go outside but social distancing measures should be implemented. That means keeping at least 6 feet between you and others and avoiding contact with elderly and vulnerable individuals.

The allows people to engage in activity  such as walking, biking, hiking, or running  in an outdoor open space "provided the individuals comply with social distancing requirements of six feet."

What happens if I'm laid off because of the coronavirus quarantine?

Texans out of work as a result of the pandemic can apply for unemployment benefits online. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Workforce Commission on Wednesday to waive the usual "waiting week" for unemployment benefits.

You can find more information here.

Are smoke shops open?

Smoke shops are closed under the order.

During a Q&A about the order Tuesday, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales went further.

"This would be a good time to reconsider whether you want to engage in anything thats going to compromise your lungs because we know that thats an area this virus attacks. Maybe you put off your interest in vaping until we see ourselves through this," he said.

Gonzales and his colleagues answered a number of specific questions about the order. For example, landscaping and car washes will be allowed to stay open. So will golf courses, provided proper social distancing protocols are followed, but pick-up games of contact sports are discouraged.

You can watch a livestream of the meeting here.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
The United States cut the aid because Afghan leaders were unable to resolve a political impasse that is threatening to derail an American plan to end the long conflict.

But Afghans now fear the decision could push the country, almost entirely dependent on foreign aid, past the tipping point. They believe it could lead to the unraveling of an already challenged government and the disintegration of a weary and overstretched security force.

Afghanistan uses foreign aid not just to pay basic expenses but also for its war against the resurgent Taliban. Mr. Ghani has said his army would not last more than six months if the United States cut funding. At the end of the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, the Moscow-backed government of Afghanistan collapsed when the money dried up.

The fighting continues in 10 to 16 provinces every day. More than 50 percent of our people are below the poverty line and we are mostly reliant on international aid, Shahgul Rezai, a member of the Afghan parliament, said. Afghanistan may not be able to survive the reduction.

Now the country faces not just the shock of an abrupt funding cut but also several more crises  a split government, the raging war with the Taliban and the spread of the coronavirus  that have brought it to a brink.
A comprehensive breakdown of the initial developments pertaining to the novel coronavirus outbreak highlights how the pandemic -- which has presently killed more than 14,500 people across the globe -- could have been contained in the initial phase were it not for the Chinese government's initial coverup on the outbreak.

As early as the second week of December, Wuhan doctors were finding cases that indicated the virus was spreading from one human to another, as per the detailed timeline shared in a report by American magazine National Review.

On December 25, Chinese medical staff in two hospitals in Hubei's capital Wuhan were found to be the suspected cases of virus pneumonia and are subsequently quarantine -- a further evidence of human-to-human transmission of the then mysterious virus. Despite this, six days later, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission declared their investigation had found no obvious human-to-human transmission.

A day prior, Chinese doctor Li Wenliang warned a group of doctors of the possible outbreak of an illness that resembled Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) -- a fatal respiratory illness caused by a different strain of coronavirus. Li was tested positive for coronavirus on February 1 and died six days later.

A month prior to being tested positive, Li had been accused by the Wuhan Public Security Bureau of "spreading rumors". On January 3, the doctor signed a statement at a police station, acknowledging his "misdemeanor" and promising not to commit further "unlawful acts," the National Review writes in its report.

On the day that the doctor signed the statement, China's National Health Commission ordered institutions not to publish any information related to the unknown disease. Furthermore, it ordered labs to transfer any samples they had to designated testing institutions or to destroy them.

On January 3, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission released another statement declaring their investigation had still found no clear evidence of human-to-human transfer. The statement was reiterated two days later, even though the number of cases in the city had spiked.

As per a January 6 report by the New York Times, as many as 59 cases of the "pneumonia-like illness" -- as it was deemed back then -- had been reported in Wuhan already. On the same day, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a level 1 travel watch.

On January 8, the Chinese health authorities claimed to have identified the virus, though reiterated that it still found no clear evidence of human-to-human transfer. By January 10, the Chinese doctors had found cases of transmission among family members -- a fact that contradicted the statements by the health authorities.

The first case of novel coronavirus outside of China was reported in Thailand on January 13, involving a 61-year-old Chinese woman, who had a travel history to Wuhan but had never visited the city seafood market.

Nearly six weeks after the first evidence of human-to-human transmission was found, the Health Organisation said in its January 14 statement, echoed China's assessment, "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."

On January 15, Japan reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, involving a person who had not visited any seafood markets in China. A statement issued by Japan's Health Ministry said that it was possible that "patient had close contact with an unknown patient with lung inflammation while in China."

It was on the same day that the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said in a statement that the possibility of limited human-to-human transmission could not be ruled out. Four days later on January 19, the Health Organisation carried out a statement stating, "Not enough is known to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, the clinical features of the disease, the extent to which it has spread, or its source, which remains unknown."

Till now, the virus has spread to 189 countries or territories, infecting more than 334,000 people and claiming lives of more than 14,500, as per the latest data available on the Health Organisation website.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jerusalem, March 24 (IANS) The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered Parliament to hold a vote for electing a new Speaker, in a move widely seen as a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to hold on to power.

A three-justice panel on Monday criticized Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a Netanyahu ally, for shutting down Parliament for five days and refusing to hold the vote, reports Xinhua nes agency.

The panel, headed by Chief Justice Esther Hayut, unanimously ruled that Edelstein must hold the vote no later than Wednesday.

The unprecedented ruling came after Edelstein told the court he will not hold the vote, saying he was not accepting "ultimatums" from the court.

"The continued refusal to allow the Knesset (Parliament) to vote on the selection of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process," Hayut wrote in the ruling.

Edelstein "harmed" Parliament's status as an independent authority and the due process of government transition, she wrote.

He had suspended Parliament last week, citing procedurals hurdles and fears about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Netanyahu's Likud lawmakers lashed out at the Supreme Court, calling Edelstein to defy the ruling.

The centrist and the main opposition Blue and White party wants to replace Edelstein in the wake of the March 2 elections.

Backed by a two-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset, the party petitioned to the court to force Edelstein to reopen the parliament.

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz accused the Likud of attempting "to violate Israeli democracy" by halting Parliament's work.

Israel is facing a parliamentary crisis as the elections on March 2, the third within a year, once again failed to produce a clear majority by either Netanyahu or Gantz.

At the same time, the nation is struggling to halt the rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The total number of confirmed infections rose to 1,442 on Monday.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is also facing a corruption trial which has been postponed to May.

--IANS

ksk/
The shooting happened around 5:15 p.m. in the 5400 block of South University Avenue, according to Chicago police. Authorities said the occupants of a dark van fired at the victim, striking him in the chest. He was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition, police said.
Welcome to our first-ever virtual match celebration, Dr. Lisa Mellman, associate dean for student affairs at Columbia Medical School, said to her Zoom camera on Friday.

Typically, she kicks off the ceremony in an auditorium filled with proud parents; this year, she faced a computer in a sterile office. What an incredibly talented class this is, she said to the screen. Theyre ready to be doctors, doctors who are needed more than ever in this global health crisis.

This message was heard by medical students nationwide: Their work will be sorely needed. To many, this is both welcome and anxiety-inducing. They have grown used to feeling as if they are underfoot, asking technical questions while trying not to disturb the residents at work. Now, given the surge in hospital intakes as the coronavirus spreads, they see the essential role they will play in the medical work force.

With near-daily reports from medical providers that struggle with shortages of personal protective equipment, now is a particularly challenging time to enter the field.

Our students are very excited about matching and being able to pursue their dreams, Dr. Mellman said in an interview on Friday. But I would not be true to all the different emotions without also acknowledging that theres an anxiety that some students have about beginning work at this particular time.

A grave sense of duty has already taken hold for some students. Kendall Kiser, a fourth-year student at McGovern Medical School in Houston, did a critical care rotation earlier in March at a local hospital and saw a patient admitted who was a possible coronavirus case. There were no known cases in the city at the time, and the attending physician freaked out, Mr. Kiser said.

For 24 hours the staff waited for the county to determine whether they could administer a test, as hospital administrators began to re-evaluate the number of intensive care beds that had been designated for Covid-19.
Doctors test hospital staff with flu-like symptoms for the CCP virus in tents set up to triage possible COVID-19 patients outside before they enter the main emergency department area at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City on March 24, 2020. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Arthritis Drug Being Studied as Possible COVID-19 Treatment, Sent to Doctors

A drug currently approved to treat arthritis and now being studied as a possible treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new CCP virus from China, was sent to doctors in the United States, the company that manufactures the drug said.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Alexander Hardy, chief executive of Roches Genentech business, said this week that the company sent 10,000 vials of the Actemra drug to the Strategic National Stockpile.

The vials are meant for potential use in COVID-19 treatment at the direction of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a company press release.

Hardy said during the Wall Street Journal Health Forum in New York on Tuesday that American doctors can start using the drug, thanks to the shipment.

The prescriptions would be another example of off-label use, where a drug approved for one use is prescribed for another. Hydroxychloroquine, a drug approved to treat malaria, is also among the drugs being prescribed by doctors for COVID-19 patients.

Chinese doctors have reported favorable outcomes from using the drug and its also being studied in France. Roche has also heard of positive anecdotal reports from New York, Hardy said.

This scanning electron microscope image shows the CCP virus, (round yellowish objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The virus shown was isolated from a patient in the United States. Photo published Feb. 19, 2020. (NIAID-RML)

Study

In a separate update on Tuesday, Roche confirmed it initiated a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial of Actemra, the first global study of the drugs potential efficacy in treating COVID-19.

The study is being done in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Researchers are evaluating the safety and efficacy of the drug, also known as tocilizumab, on top of standard of care in adults with severe cases of COVID-19, in comparison to a placebo on top of standard care.

In addition to the Roche trial, Roche is also carefully following independently-led clinical trials, on multiple medicines including Actemra, that are taking place around the world, Roche stated.

At the moment, there are no robust, well-controlled studies showing safety and efficacy of Actemra in clinical treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, and Actemra is not currently approved for this use, it added.

The study was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday.

We thank the FDA for rapidly expediting the approval of this clinical trial to evaluate Actemra in critically ill patients suffering from pneumonia following coronavirus infection and were moving forward to enroll as quickly as possible, Hardy said in a statement.
About 8,000 workers for Woolworths pubs and pokies joint venture have been stood down.

ALH group, jointly owned by Woolworths and the Mathieson family, operates more than 300 licensed venues across Australia but was forced to shut these down after the government ordered all 'non-essential' businesses close due to coronavirus.

Thousands have since been left without a job but the supermarket giant said that within a day nearly 3,000 would be redeployed.

Woolworths have stood down as many as 8,000 staff from their pubs and pokies businesses under ALH Group due to the outbreak of coronavirus

ALH which is part of the Endeavour Group, owns brands like BWS and Dan Murphys and has around 15,000 staff working.

AHL Group also has as many as 550 liquor outlets across Australia which will remain in business.

A spokesperson for Endeavour Group, also owned by Woolworths, said that they were working to redeploy as many ALH workers as they could.

They said 650 staff had already been given new jobs and another 2,000 would be redeployed within the next day.

Paid leave will also be supplied to workers who were let go.

'While we have regretfully had to stand down many employees following the mandatory closures of pubs and hotel yesterday, we will be looking to redeploy as a priority as many ALH team members as possible to work in our retail liquor (BWS and Dan Murphy's) and in the Woolworths supermarkets business,' the spokesperson said.

ALH Group which includes brands like BWS have been forced to shut more than 300 pubs across Australia due to tight social distancing rules

'ALH is paying personal leave or, where no personal leave exists COVID-19 leave for up to 2 weeks. In the case of full-time employees, the payment will be 38 hours each week, part-time employees will receive their guaranteed hours; and for casual team members, the payment will be based on their up-coming two-week roster.

'650 ALH employees have already been offered roles in other parts of the Group and another 2000 will be offered roles in the next 24 hours.'

On Sunday night, Scott Morrison announced all 'non-essential' businesses would shut down to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

This includes restaurants, pubs, cinemas, gyms and cafes.

Liquor stores will remain open as well takeaway and delivery services.
Two Donegal residents who raped a blind drunk student after bringing her back to their flat have been jailed for nine years.

Ghanaian nationals Boakye Osei (30) of Tooban, Burnfoot and Kelvin Opoku (33) of Cill Graine, Letterkenny had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the rape of the woman in a town in the county in February 2015.

The woman had been out with her friend in a nightclub and the two women were walking home when they met Opoku and Osei. She got into the car believing the men had offered to take her to her home.

The woman told the trial that on a scale of one to 10 in terms of drunkenness, she was a 10 and about to pass out. A video clip shown during the trial showed the woman staggering around the apartment and later falling on the bathroom floor, exposing her underwear, before the two men hold her up.

They took her into the bedroom where Opoku and then Osei raped her. The woman testified that she was blind drunk and could not and did not consent to any sexual activity.

In an interview with gardai, Opoku claimed that the woman had not been too drunk to consent and said she had been an enthusiastic participant. Osei denied having any sexual activity with the woman.

Passing sentence today, Mr Justice Alex Owens said he accepted that neither man set out to rape the woman. However they were fully aware of her incapacitation due to her intoxication and were prepared to take advantage of it, he said.

Justice Owens said that Osei continues to insist that he didn't have sex with the woman, despite the forensic evidence. He said Osei claims the woman and her friend must have fitted him up by putting the woman's DNA on his condom and that he is the victim in all of this.

He said that a probation report states that Opoku's empathy and insight is somewhat limited. He said that if Opoku has managed to convince himself of his innocence and lack of culpability, he has not convinced anyone else.

Justice Owens sentenced both men to nine years imprisonment. He recommended that Opoku be deported following the completion of his sentence.

He said that Osei is an Irish citizen and if his status is withdrawn he will be the author of his own misfortune.

He ordered that both men undergo four years post release supervision during which they must follow all directions of the Probation Service. He said that failure to comply with this order was a criminal offence with a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 12 months.

The woman, who is now in her 20s, told the court that it was difficult to narrow down into words the effect this has had on her.

'Like reopening an old wound'

In her victim impact statement, which she read out before the court, the woman said the experience of being stripped of her clothes in the sexual assault treatment unit to be examined internally and externally was challenging and humiliating.

The woman said she was told she had to attend a hospital to be put on anti-HIV medicine because of the ethnicity of the accused. She said she spent the next few months going to hospitals for blood tests and to take medications she had not heard of before she was given the all clear.

She said that she had already decided if she was diagnosed with HIV she would kill herself. She said she still feels panic and fear around black males.

The woman said the recent trial was the third attempt for it to go ahead. She said she had to prepare herself emotionally and take time off work each time.

She said the trial was one of the hardest things she had ever had to experience and that reliving the events was like reopening an old wound. She said that the men had robbed her of five years of her life.

Garda Sean Duffy told Seamus Clarke SC, prosecuting, that on the date in question, the woman had been out with her friend in a nightclub. The woman's friend struck up a conversation with the two accused while walking home and the women went with them to Opoku's then address in the town.

'Felt something heavy on top of her'

A video clip shown during the trial showed the woman in an intoxicated state and being brought into a bedroom.

The court heard that while the woman was halfway asleep, she felt something heavy on top of her and something inside her. She felt there was a pause and then another sequence of movements and she did not consent to any of this.

Gda Duffy said the woman's friend said that after she blocked Osei from having sex with her, he went over to the woman and had sex with her after Opoku had left the room. A condom discarded by Osei found in the kitchen was used to establish a forensic link that Osei had had sex with the woman.

In interview with gardai, Opoku claimed that the woman had not been too drunk to consent and said she had been an enthusiastic participant. Osei denied having any sexual activity with the woman.

Both men have previous convictions for minor road traffic offences.

Colman Fitzgerald SC, defending Opoku, said his client had a badly incorrect view of what rape is and has at all times insisted he did not force the complainant. He said Opoku has not seen his wife and children since being returned to Ireland from the UK on foot of a European arrest warrant.

Barry White SC, defending Osei, said his client did not give evidence during the trial and did not perjure himself before the jury. He said Osei has four children by two different women and appears to be a good family man.

After a five-week trial in late 2019, a jury of seven men and four women took just over two hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts.
Local police stand next to a mortuary car, allegedly carrying the corpse of a person who died of COVID-19 at the entrance of an ice rink which will be used as a morgue, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Madrid, Spain on March 24, 2020. (Juan Medina/Reuters)

Spain Reports Surge in Deaths Caused by COVID-19

Spanish authorities said 514 people died from the new COVID-19 disease overnight, raising the countrys death toll to 2,696.

The new deaths marked a 23.5 percent increase in 24 hours.

The disease is caused by the new coronavirus, which The Epoch Times refers to as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Spain also reported a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 infections.

Officials said they were conducting more testing, leading to a nearly 20 percent increase in confirmed cases. That total now stands at 39,673.

Of those still alive, 2,636 are being cared for in intensive care units while another 3,794 have recovered, Spains Ministry of Health said.

Madrid and nearby areas have over 12,000 of the cases and saw an increase of 1,777 in the last 24 hours, while Catalonia saw the biggest increase, a rise of 1,939 cases.

Spain has the second-highest number of cases in Europe behind Italy. Deaths in Spain are still less than half compared to Italy.

Italian authorities have reported 6,077 deaths as of Tuesday.

China, where the virus started last year, has officially reported over 81,000 cases and thousands of deaths, but internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times show the outbreak there was more serious than reported.

The United States has the third-highest number of cases in the world with over 46,000 but has a low mortality rate of around 1.3 percent compared to Spains rate of 6.8 percent and Italys rate of 9.5 percent.

Member of Military Emergency Unit walk with special equipment to disinfect areas to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, arrive at Abando train station, in Bilbao, northern Spain on March 23, 2020. (Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

Ice-Rink Morgue Opens

Spanish authorities said around 14 percent of all infections in the country are among health workers, which health emergency chief Fernando Simon attributed to the limited availability of protective equipment and several early clusters of the virus occurring in hospitals.

He also warned pressure on intensive-care units would continue after transmission of the virus among the general population had peaked.

Echoing his concerns, nursing union SATSE called for test kits and for drastic measures to help prop up Madrids hospitals, which it said were on the verge of collapse.

Authorities in the Spanish capital on Monday agreed to transform the Palacio de Hielo mall, home to an Olympic-sized ice rink, into a morgue.

The military disinfected 179 nursing homes on Monday and planned to clean another 96 on Tuesday, officials said.

The state prosecutor has opened an investigation after Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the army had found unattended bodies at nursing homes. She did not say what had caused their deaths.

In the southern region of Andalusia, the mayor of a small town pleaded for help after reporting 38 of 42 residents at the local nursing home had tested positive for the virus, along with 60 percent of staff.

The virus doesnt kill people  whats killing people is the system, Rafael Aguilera, mayor of Alcala del Valle told a news conference.

We need oxygen, ambulances and hospitals, he said in a video posted on the towns Facebook page. A person died in our arms because we couldnt get hold of oxygen.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Trump said Monday that the Comfort wouldnt arrive in New York City for another three to four weeks, as it is undergoing maintenance. In the meantime, the Pentagon is dispatching an Army field hospital to New York City, which should have about 248 beds, and the Army Corps of Engineers is assisting FEMA in converting facilities there into makeshift hospitals.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Update from Dunnedin Ventures (TSX: DVI) CEO Claudia Tornquist.

Dear Investor:

COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges for all of us in our personal and professional lives. The safety and wellbeing of our families and colleagues is absolute priority, as we all work together through this difficult situation. I believe open and frequent communication is important in times of uncertainty and I am writing to you with an update on Dunnedin's activities and how the current events impact our company.

The future for Dunnedin remains bright and I am confident we are in a very good position to weather this storm. Our balance sheet is strong and I would like to express my gratitude to our investors whose support enabled us to close a $2.8m private placement recently in incredibly challenging market conditions. We will work hard to spend every single dollar entrusted to us wisely and our most important objective is, and will always be, to create value for our shareholders.

The essence of our exploration strategy remains unchanged. No virus will take away from the quality of our copper porphyry portfolio. We believe as strongly as ever in the discovery potential of our projects and will continue to unlock their value through exploration. Our priority in the near term will be to build on the discovery success of our first drill program at the MPD copper gold project in Southern BC. Working remotely, our team is currently analysing the data and knowledge we gained through the recent drilling, to identify the most exciting targets for a follow-up program in summer. Prior to drilling we are also planning an airborne geophysical survey and will commence as soon as provincial and regional health authorities lift restrictions and it is safe to do the work. At our Mohave project in Arizona we have completed a thorough analysis and re-interpretation of the historic data and are ready to embark on our first drill program later this year. As we move forward, we will judge the Covid-19 situation as well as the market and investor sentiment very carefully at every decision point and adjust our plans flexibly as required.

An important milestone for our company will be the name change to Kodiak Copper Corp. on April, 1. We chose the Kodiak bear for our name to honour our company's founder and chairman Chris Taylor and his fantastic exploration success with our sister company Great Bear Resources. It symbolises that we are applying the strategy that made Great Bear successful in the gold space to the copper space: focusing on historically drilled brownfield assets that have been under-appreciated, in producing belts, with excellent infrastructure and year-round accessibility. We re-evaluate holistically using new methods and technologies and establish new theories and models for exploration. This has already proven highly successful on our first drill program at MPD where our team achieved the best hole in the 50-year history of the property.

In normal times a big part of my work as CEO of the company is liaising with shareholders and capital market participants at road shows, conferences and events around the globe. Unfortunately, the corona virus will make this impossible for the foreseeable future. At the same time this creates an opportunity to connect on a more personal, one-on-one basis and I am looking forward to reaching out to our shareholders and supporters for individual updates. We will also keep you up-to-date with videos and webinars as we progress our work. And of course, please feel free to call me or our team anytime, you can find our contact details below.

A very big thank you to our shareholders and stakeholders, for believing in the opportunity ahead of us, and for reaching out with kind words and messages. I am proud of our team who remains focused on our strategy. On behalf of all of us at Dunnedin/Kodiak I wish you much health and success in what is certainly a trying time for everyone.

Sincerely,

Claudia Tornquist

President & CEO

Mobile: +1 604 657 1225 or

ctornquist@dunnedinventures.com

Investor relations:

Knox Henderson

Mobile: +1 604-551-2360 or

khenderson@dunnedinventures.com

About Dunnedin Ventures Inc.

Dunnedin is focused on its portfolio of 100% owned copper porphyry projects in Canada and the USA. The Company's most advanced asset is the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the prolific Quesnel Trough in south-central British Columbia, Canada, where the Company made a discovery of high-grade mineralization in 2020. Dunnedin also holds the Mohave copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry project in Arizona, USA, near the world-class Bagdad mine. The Company's Trapper copper-gold porphyry project is located in the northern Golden Triangle region of British Columbia. All three of Dunnedin's porphyry projects have been historically drilled and present known mineral discoveries with the potential to hold large-scale deposits.

The Company also holds the advanced-stage Kahuna diamond project in Nunavut, Canada. Kahuna hosts a high-grade, near surface inferred diamond resource and numerous kimberlite pipe targets.

Dunnedin's founder and chairman is Chris Taylor who is well-known for his gold discovery success with Great Bear Resources. Dunnedin is also part of the Discovery Group of Companies led by John Robins, one of the most successful mining entrepreneurs in Canada.

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.

Forward-Looking Statement (Safe Harbor Statement): This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "objective", "may", "will", "project", "should", "predict", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward looking statements concerning the planned completion of the Private Placement, the Consolidation, and the change of the Company's name. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with conditions in the equity financing markets, and assumptions and risks regarding receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this press release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53734
In this new world of contactless takeaways, awkward video calls and hours spent cultivating new mates via your Twitter feed, fashion has found its purpose transformed.

Certainly, the act of getting dressed has altered in a way no one could have seen coming with clothes to live in, not live out in, a new priority for most.

An emotional shift underpins this as we find ourselves looking to clothes as vessels for comfort and mental support in a way weve never done before. While we once wanted our wardrobe to empower and invigorate, now we utilise clothing to soothe and console. And crucially, (with the exception of the occasional Instagram influencer) were not bothered what anyone else thinks of them. Quite literally, we are dressing for ourselves.

The result of this truly autonomous new approach is an affection for the fabrics that make us feel good. Soft, breathable textiles are in demand with most of us more concerned with what feels good against the body instead of how it looks on it. The result is a sort of inverted form of power dressing with boardroom-ready shoulder pads replaced with reassuringly soft sweaters.

& Daughter Innes Classic Cashmere Jumper, 350 Shop it here / Shomos Uddin

From this shift in mindset a host of new wardrobe heroes emerge, with many of us finding joy in the ordinary. For me, its a pair of worn-out jersey pyjamas which have become my comfort blanket during the last 10 days or so, as well as an oversized tie-dye hoodie which is the wearable equivalent of a warm hug  ideal for watching the Prime Ministers daily briefing.

Comfort, of course, is a matter of personal preference and theres no one-suits-all feelgood fabric to see you through this quagmire. But there are a number of certainties worth considering if youre looking to up the ease factor.

Pure cotton is an easy win; if its organic even better. Seek out loose fitting T-shirts in the fabric. Cotton leggings are also perfect bumbling-round-the-house attire. Theres also a case for enveloping yourself in a little bit of luxury with super-soft wools and silks as good a mood-lifter as any endorphin-inducing show on Netflix, or large glass of Malbec.

Raey organic and recycled-yarn cotton-blend maxi dress, 295 Shop it here / Matches Fashion

Sustainable luxury retailer Reve En Vert has dedicated a collection to conscious loungewear that both looks and feels extraordinary, with merino wool leggings and organic oversized undies among the star attractions. Its remit includes pieces by Aussie brand Worn Store and The Wylde among many others. British labels such as Bamford are also pros at this, with oversized cashmere robes  which double up as slouchy cardis  the height of at-home-style decadence. Think of it as grown-up swaddling and the benefit will swiftly become clear.

Of course, staying indoors need not mean staying in PJs, just as comfort need not mean wallowing in your boyfriends track pants (NB its totally fine if it does) or loading up with cashmere. For some, a dress  loose-fitting and breezy  is a fine alternative. Raey has a gorgeous sweater dress in recycled cotton (295, shop it here) thats perfect sofa-surfing attire. If the sun continues to shine Id also recommend digging out your favourite cotton kaftan.
It was a tense and rather peculiar gathering that took place on July 23, 1924, at 10 Lime Street, an elegant four-story brick house in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. In a narrow room on the top floor, five distinguished men had come together to try to communicate with the dead. Their hostessand guide to the spirit realmwas vivacious, 36-year-old Mina Crandon, who had in recent months become well-known to the public under a stage name of sorts: Margery the Medium.

Margery greeted her visitors in a flimsy dressing gown, bedroom slippers, and silk stockings. This attire, which left little to the imagination, was intended to rule out the possibility of concealment or trickery. It may have had other effects on her male visitors. Margerys girlish figure, fashionably bobbed light-brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes combined to make her, in the words of one bedazzled admirer, too attractive for her own good.

During the previous year, Margery had conducted dozens of similar gatherings, or seances, for some hundreds of impressionable friends and acquaintances. Seated around a wooden table in the pitch-black room, Margery and her fellowsitters experienced a wide range of unearthly happenings. Mysterious bumps and raps rang out. Strange flashes of light pierced the darkness. Sometimes a wind-up Victrola would stop and start of its own accord, or disembodied voices would call from the shadows. Once a live pigeon appeared in the room, seemingly conjured from thin air. Even the table itself became an active participant in the proceedings, rearing up on two legs or rising toward the ceiling. At one especially lively sitting, it pursued a visitor from the room and knocked him off his feet.

Each of these remarkable events was thought to offer proof of the validity of spiritualism, the belief that it is possible for the dead to communicate with the living through an earthly conduit known as a medium. I consider the psychic question to be infinitely the most important thing in the world, declared Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and the worlds most visible proponent of spiritualism. All modern inventions and discoveries will sink into insignificance beside those psychic facts which will force themselves within a few years upon the universal human mind.

Conan Doyle was not alone in this view. Spiritualism had been on the wane for decades, but in the wake of World War I, as death touched tens of thousands of households on both sides of the Atlantic, the movement underwent a rebirth. Friends and relatives of fallen soldiers flocked to seances, desperate to receive some word or sign of life beyond the veil. Many of the mediums who set up shop during this period were obvious frauds, callously playing upon the hopes of the bereaved. Others, like Mina Crandon, were not so easily dismissed. Her astonishing versatility and personal charm soon propelled her to international fame, and sparked an enduring controversy.

To a large extent, that controversy began at Margerys July 23 seance. Up to this point, the medium had displayed her talents almost exclusively to sympathetic audiences, who readily saw evidence of their departed loved ones in the strange manifestations at Lime Street. On that particular night, however, the sitters were of a more critical frame of mind, none more so than the man seated to Margerys leftHarry Houdini.

Houdini, who had achieved world fame through his skills as a magician and his abilities as an escape artist, had been creating a new role for himself as thescourge of spirit mediums. I am willing to be convinced, he wrote earlier that year; my mind is open, but the proof must be such as to leave no vestige of doubt that what is claimed to be done is accomplished only through or by supernatural power.

Houdinis public crusade had its roots in a private grief. The death of his beloved mother in 1913 had been a shock from which I do not think recovery is possible. In the intervening years he had attended hundreds of seances, but his longing to contact his mother soon turned to rage at the obvious deceptions he encountered. It galled him to see the public bilked by unscrupulous mediums whose talents, he thought, were no more supernatural than those of honest magicians. He soon vowed to devote the remainder of his life to exposing fraudulent mediums. Even in this, the magician could not entirely restrain his flair for the dramatic. Often he attended seances wearing a false beard and mustache or some other camouflage, the better to observe without being detected. When he had gathered enough evidence to make an exposure, he would leap up, tear off his disguise, and shout, I am Houdini! And you are a fraud!

Houdini needed no disguise when he called upon Margery; the medium relished the chance to convert such a notorious skeptic. Some observers saw this encounter as an acid testnot just of Margerys mediumship, but of spiritualism itself. But if Houdini truly maintained an open mind on the subject, as he often claimed, there was little evidence of it that night as the small seance room came alive with otherworldly activity. A spirit bell rang. A voice called to him in the darkness. A megaphone crashed to the floor at his feet. If these manifestations impressed him, he gave little sign. When the lights came back on, Houdini thanked his hostess and took his leave. On the drive back to his hotel, the magician gave voice to his true feelings. Ive got her, he declared. All fraud.

Mina Crandon seemed an unlikely medium. Where the celebrated Helena Blavatsky, founder of the movement known as Theosophy, had been solid and serious, Mina Crandon resembled nothing so much as a light-hearted flapper. Even Houdini conceded that she was an exceedingly attractive woman, and one psychic researcher cautioned his colleagues to avoid falling in love with the medium. The daughter of a Canadian farmer, Mina had moved to Boston as a teenager to play piano, cornet, and cello in various local dance bands and orchestras. After working as a secretary, an actress, and an ambulance driver, Mina divorced her first husband and married Dr. Le Roi Goddard Crandon, a former instructor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School, in 1918. She was barely 30. Dr. Crandon was at least a dozen years older.

It was Dr. Crandon who introduced his wife to the paranormal. In the spring of 1923 he had become intrigued by an account of table tipping, a rudimentary form of mediumship not unlike a Ouija board. Crandon ordered a table constructed to the exact dimensions specified in the book he had been reading. Toward the end of May, Crandon and his wife invited four of their friends to join them in an attempt to recreate the table-tipping experiment. Following Crandons terse instructions, the sitters took their places at the table, joined hands, and waited for some sign of a spirit presence.

Nothing happened. Mina began to feel silly. They were all so solemn about it that I couldnt help laughing, she recalled. They reproved me severely, and my husband informed me gravely that This is a serious matter.

Then, abruptly, the table began to moveonly slightly at first, but then more violently, tilting up on two legs before crashing loudly to the floor. Crandon demanded to know which of his guests possessed the mediumistic talent necessary to cause this manifestation. One by one, the physician instructed his friends to remove their hands from the seance table. The table stopped its rocking only when the last of the sitters lifted her hands. Dr. Crandon had his answer. The medium was his own wife.

At first, the very idea of being a medium seemed a great lark to Mina. All through the summer of 1923 the Crandons conducted one seance after another. In each case, Mina appeared to exhibit some strange new power. Indeed, it seemed that Dr. Crandon had only to read of some new psychic manifestation before Mina could duplicate it.

Within a month of the first seance, Dr. Crandon announced a plan to place his wife under hypnosis, in the hope of making contact with a psychic control who would serve as her guide to the spirit world. At first Mina resisted this suggestion, claiming that she didnt want to miss any of the fun while under hypnosis. Eventually, however, she gave in to her husbands wishes, and before long an unfamiliar male voice made itself known to the Crandon circle. I said I could put this through, it announced.

The voice, it was thought, belonged to Walter Stinson, Minas older brother, who had been crushed to death in a railroad accident a dozen years earlier. From this point forward, Walters spirit was a regular presence in the seance room at Lime Street.

Walter proved to have a forceful personality. He had a quick and ready wit and was much given to rough language. Many visitors to the Crandons seance room became convinced of the truth of what they heard simply because they could not imagine that such coarse and irreverent language would issue from the lips of the demure doctors wife. Hell is now completely up to date, Walter once quipped to a roomful of clergymen. We burn oil!

Several observers noted that Walters voice did not appear to come from Mina at all. The sound seemed to originate in a different part of the room, and would continue unabated even while Mina snored her way through a hypnotic trance, or held her mouth full of water. The effect proved so remarkable that one skeptic, searching for some plausible explanation, wondered aloud if perhaps the lady could speak through her ears.

Believing his wife to be a remarkable psychic instrument, Dr. Crandon took her abroad to build up a consensus of favorable opinion from European experts. One of these was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who declared her to be a very powerful medium and that the validity of her gifts was beyond all question.

J. Malcolm Bird, an associate editor of Scientific American magazine, shared Conan Doyles opinion and wrote a series of articles extolling Mrs. Crandons gifts. It was Bird who gave her the name Margery, in an effort to protect the Crandons privacy. Under this name, her renown steadily grew.

By bringing Mrs. Crandon to the attention of Scientific American, Conan Doyle had inadvertently placed her at the center of a growing controversy. In December 1922 the magazine had launched an investigation into the paranormal, with a cash prize of $2,500 to the first person who produces a psychic photograph under its test conditions and $2,500 to the first person who produces a visible psychic manifestation of other character . . . to the full satisfaction of these judges. A special investigating committee would examine all mediums who applied for the prize, with Bird acting as its secretary. Conan Doyle regretted that Bird, a Margery supporter, would have no investigative role, as the author harbored reservations about the rest of the committee, which included several skeptics. When Houdini was asked to lend his talents, Conan Doyle expressed outrage at the capital error of placing an enemy of spiritualism on such a body. The Commission is, in my opinion, a farce, he wrote.

The Crandons, for their part, seemed to welcome the opportunity to test Margerys mettle against the notorious Houdini. Though Scientific Americans money meant little to the wealthy couple, the opportunity to win the approval of such a prestigious bodyat Houdinis expenseproved too great a temptation to resist. Dr. Crandon wrote to Conan Doyle of his willingness to crucify any investigators who doubted his wife. Even the discarnate voice of Walter, speaking from the spirit plane, appeared to relish the challenge.

As it happened, Houdini was not notified when the Scientific American committee began its investigations, and he didnt learn until three months later that the proceedings were under way at all. By this time, rumor had it that the committee was on the point of declaring Margery genuine and awarding her the prize. Bird, in particular, seemed eager to give the magazines endorsement and allowed word of the favorable findings to find its way to the press. Boston Medium Baffles Experts, announced one headline. Houdini the Magician Stumped, declared another.

Houdini, who had not even been present at the investigation, much less stumped, was not pleased. He told Scientific American that he would forfeit $1,000 of his own money if he failed to expose Margery as a fraud. Traveling to Boston, he reviewed the findings of his peers. To his way of thinking, the investigation had been mishandled from the start. Most of the committee members had availed themselves of the Crandons generous hospitality during the proceedingsstaying in their home, eating their food, and enjoying their company. This, Houdini believed, had badly compromised their objectivity. Later it was revealed that accepting room and board had been the least of the transgressions. One investigator had actually borrowed money from Dr. Crandon, while another hoped to win his backing for a research foundation. Worse yet, the distinguished panel was not unaware of Mrs. Crandons attractions. At least one committee member drew comfort in his old age from the recollection of amorous encounters with the celebrated medium.

After the July 23 seance, Houdini left the Crandon home much impressed by the famous Margerythough not by any supernatural powers, he hastened to assure his colleagues. At his hotel later that evening, the magician explained how and why his conclusions differed from theirs. One feat that had baffled the other sitters was the ringing of aspirit bell box, a small wooden clapper-box that sounded an electric bell when pressed from the top. Although Margerys hands were held by the sitters on either side of her and her feet were in contact with theirs, the bell box rang repeatedly throughout the seancea phenomenon she attributed to Walter.

Usually the bell box sat on the floor between Margerys legs, but Houdini had insisted that it be placed on the floor at his own feet. Despite this precaution, the bell rang as merrily as ever. Houdini had a ready answer: I had rolled my right trouser leg up above my knee, he later wrote. All that day I had worn a silk rubber bandage around that leg just below the knee. By night the part of the leg below the bandage had become swollen and painfully tender, thus giving me a much keener sense of feeling and making it easier to notice the slightest sliding of Mrs. Crandons ankle or flexing of her muscles.I could distinctly feel her ankle slowly and spasmodically sliding as it pressed against mine while she gained space to raise her foot off the floor and touch the top of the box. In short, Margerys agile foot, not a spirit visitor, had been responsible for the ringing bell.

Another of the evenings mysteries had involved a megaphone thataccording to the disembodied voice of Walterhad been levitated in the darkness above the sitters heads. Have Houdini tell me where to throw it, the voice had commanded.

Toward me, answered Houdini, whereupon the megaphone instantly crashed to the ground in front of him. Here, too, Houdini had an explanation. Earlier in the proceedings, he said, when one of Margerys hands momentarily came free, she had snatched up the megaphone and placed it on her head, like a dunce cap. In the total darkness of the seance room, no one would have seen her do this. Later, with both of her hands again under control, the medium had made the megaphone sail through the air simply by snapping her head forward. This, Houdini acknowledged, is the slickest ruse I have ever seen.

To assure proper control at future seances, Houdini designed a special fraud-preventer cabinet, a slant-topped crate with openings for the mediums head and arms. Once inside, Margerys movementsand the opportunities for deceptionwould be severely limited. Reluctantly, Margery agreed to conduct a seance from within the cabinet, but not before Dr. Crandon and Houdini exchanged such harsh words that Walter himself felt compelled to call for a truce.

The first seance with the cabinet was not a success. Acting on a tip from Walter, Dr. Crandon discovered a small pencil eraser wedged into the bell box to prevent it from ringing. Outraged, the physician accused Houdini of attempting to sabotage the proceedingsa charge the magician repeatedly denied.

Another attempt proved even more dismal. A collapsible carpenters rulerwhich might have been used to manipulate the bell box and other apparatus from within the cabinetwas discovered at Margerys feet. Margerys defenders saw this as a craven attempt by Houdini to discredit her. Houdini, you God damned bastard, get the hell out of here and never come back! exclaimed the voice of Walter at the seance. In Houdinis view, the folding ruler had been planted to impugn his testimony, and he resented that anyone would take Walters word over his.

By the time Scientific American finally declined to grant the prize to Margery, in large part due to Houdinis exposures, the combustible magician had quarreled, sometimes violently, with every member of the committee. Bird, whom Houdini suspected of active collusion with the Crandons, had resigned as secretary. In his final verdict of the Margery phenomenon, Houdini wrote, My decision is, that everything which took place at the seances which I attended was a deliberate and conscious fraud.

From the great beyond, Walter weighed in with a prediction: Houdini, he said, would be dead within a year. Houdini managed to thwart the prophecy, but only just. He died on October 31, 1926, of complications following a blow to the stomach. In an interview with the press, Margery offered a few words of conciliation, praising Houdinis virile personality and great determination.

Despite Houdinis exposures, Margery emerged from the debacle essentially unscathed. In the seance room, she went on to better things. By the end of 1924 she had begun to produce teleplasmic manifestations similar to those of Eusapia Palladino, a famed Italian medium. Sitters were now treated to the sight of ectoplasmsaid to be the substance of spirit emanationsissuing from Margerys nose, mouth, ears, and other body openings. The emanations, once extruded from the mediums body, sometimes formed themselves into the shape of crude hands. These ectoplasmic limbs, the medium claimed, were responsible for the ringing of the bell box and other phenomena.

Eric J. Dingwall, an officer of Britains Society for Psychical Research, was one of the first to investigate Margerys latest wonder. Having evidently won the confidence of Walter, Dingwall was permitted to view the teleplasmic emanations by the light of a red lamp, which Dr. Crandon flashed on and off to reveal brief glimpses of the phenomenon. Too much light, Crandon explained, would have an inhibiting effect on the ectoplasm. The materialized hands are connected by an umbilical cord to the medium, Dingwall wrote to a friend, they seize upon objects and displace them. Later, when Dingwall was permitted to clasp one of the teleplasmic hands, he described it as feeling like a piece of cold raw beef or possibly a piece of soft wet rubber.

Mid-way through his investigations, however, Dingwall began to entertain doubts. Dr. Crandons lamp never allowed him to see the ectoplasm actually extrude from Margerys body; he had only seen it after the fact. Odder still, photographs revealed that many of the emanations appeared to be hanging from slender, almost invisible threads. Others who examined the photographs noted that the ectoplasm looked suspiciously like animal lung tissue, a substance Dr. Crandon might have obtained through his work at Boston hospitals. Dingwalls final report on the matter was inconclusive.

Margery remained characteristically unconcerned. In an earlier age, she noted, she would have been executed as a witch. Now she found herself the subject of learned investigations. That represents some progress, doesnt it? she asked.

Sitters continued to file into the seance room at Lime Street. One investigation after another raised the possibility of fraud, but none seemed able to make the allegations stick. Even J.B. Rhine, later to become one of the driving forces of paranormal research, was intrigued by Margery, but he came away unimpressed by what he had seen. As ever, Conan Doyle defended the medium. When Rhine published an unflattering account of his experience with Margery, Conan Doyle bought space in several Boston newspapers to run a reply. The black-bordered message read simply: J. B. Rhine is an ass.

By 1928, Margery had added yet another effect to her repertoire, one that promised to excite even more speculation. In recent seances, Walter had hinted that it might be possible for him to leave behind a fingerprint. On a visit to her dentist, Dr. Frederick Caldwell, Margery asked if the hot wax used to take dental impressions might also be used to obtain Walters fingerprint. Caldwell demonstrated how well the wax preserved his thumbprint and gave Margery his sample print and all the necessary materials to make new ones.

That very night, Walter left a thumbprint in the wax. When a so-called fingerprint expert used by the Crandons said the print matched one taken from an old razor that once belonged to Walter Stinson, Margery appeared to have confounded the skeptics. Yet when psychic researcher E.E. Dudley set out to compare Walters wax print with those of people in the Crandon circle, he made a surprising discovery: Walters thumbprint was identical in every way to that of Margerys dentist, Dr. Caldwell. Someone had apparently used the sample thumbprint Dr. Caldwell had made for Margery to create a metal die-stamp suitable for making impressions in wax. The ax had finally fallen. Even many devoted adherents backed away from their earlier endorsements. Malcolm Bird, once her staunchest defender, admitted that at times he had been guilty of elaborations and half-truths. The scientific community let it be known that Margerys seances no longer held any interest.

The mediums decline was rapid and tragic. With the death of Dr. Crandon in 1939, Mina grew melancholy and depressed and turned to alcohol for consolation. She began to look older than her years; one visitor described her as an overdressed, dumpy little woman. She seemed to have difficulty controlling her emotions. During one seance the medium grew so distraught that she climbed to the roof of the Lime Street house and threatened to throw herself off.

Mina Crandon died at the age of 54 in 1941. In the end she had been worn down not so much by the assaults of adversaries like Houdini, but by the entreaties of her supporters, who continually demanded new and better miracles from her. As Eileen Garrett, a fellow medium, observed, Margerys best friends were her worst enemies.

This article was written by Daniel Stashower and originally appeared in the August 1999 issue of American History magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to American History magazine today!
California oil major Chevron is cutting more than $8 billion from its 2020 budget as the oil industry continues to feel intense pressure of a price war, a global supply glut and lower demand from the coronavrius pandemic.

Chevron said it is cutting $4 billion in capital spending, suspending stock buybacks valued at $3.25 billion and reducing operating costs by $1 billion.

The company also is selling assets. Chevron made $500 million in the sale of its stake in the Malampaya field in the Philippines this quarter. The company expects to close the sale of its stake in a project in Azerbaijan and related pipeline in April.

With an industry leading balance sheet and a flexible capital program, we believe Chevron is resilient and positioned to withstand this challenging environment, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said. Given the decline in commodity prices, we are taking actions expected to preserve cash, support our balance sheet strength, lower short-term production, and preserve long-term value.

Oil War: Shell, Total cut billions from their budgets

Chevron made the announcement as Shell, Total and numerous other companies in the energy industry are cutting billions of dollars from their budgets in response to rapidly falling oil prices.

A price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has exacerbated a global supply glut while the coronavirus outbreak has lowered global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is trading around $23 per barrel, a price not seen since February 2002.

Chevron has thousands of workers in Houston, and with 222 drilling permits for projects in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the company is the seventh most-active driller in the state.

Chevron still plans to spend $16 billion on projects this year. Its cuts include $2 billion in shale projects, primarily in the Permian Basin, as well as a $800 million in downstream and chemicals operations, $700 million in upstream projects and exploration and $500 million in its upstream base business around the world.

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The number of reported coronavirus cases in the D.C. region had reached 1,051 on Wednesday evening. A Washington Post analysis showed that 424 cases had been reported in Maryland and 392 cases had been reported in Virginia. The District announced 48 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the citys total in the Post analysis to 235. In all, 20 deaths have been reported in Maryland, Virginia and the District as of Wednesday evening.
Glasgow, United Kingdom  With its crisp air and arresting scenery, the Scottish Highlands and Islands have inspired writers, poets and filmmakers  but today many are urging city dwellers to cease travelling to the region in a bid to avoid the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Kate Forbes, finance secretary of the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh, warned virus-weary visitors looking to swap their urban abodes for the more tranquil surrounds of rural Scotland to think again.

If you live elsewhere, please dont use the Highlands as your means of self-isolation, tweeted Forbes, a member of the Scottish Parliament for the sprawling Highland constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

People live here who are trying to follow government guidance and the continuing flow of camper vans and other traffic who appear to be escaping the cities is not helping.





On Monday, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged people to remain at home and self-isolate in order to avoid this potentially fatal illness that has claimed lives worldwide, mostly among the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.

But, as many remote parts of Scotland, especially on the mainland, continue to witness an influx of visitors from England and Scotlands central belt, appeals from rural residents and political leaders have somewhat fallen on deaf ears.

One long-time resident of Islay, a small windswept island in the Inner Hebrides off Scotlands west coast, described the recent weeks influx as ridiculous.

Were starting to get really stressed and worried about this, said the woman, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. We have lots and lots of second home owners and theyre coming up from down south to stay. Most are over 70 and think its all right to come and self-isolate. But that doesnt actually mean they are staying at home.

The remoteness of the Scottish Highlands may seem like an ideal place to get away from the spread of coronavirus, but limited services are already stretched, say residents [Russell Cheyne/Reuters]

With only basic healthcare provision and a limited number of supermarkets, Islay can only currently support the people who call the island home all year round, said another permanent resident.

It really breaks my heart to say to visitors dont come, because I rely on visitors for 80 percent of my trade, Mark Unsworth, who runs a photography business and gallery on Islay, told Al Jazeera. But, at the moment, people just have to stay where they live.





But not everyone agrees. Serial English polemicist Rod Liddle, writing in right-wing, London-based The Spectator magazine, described Scottish National Party politician Forbes as a ghastly woman after she appealed for visitors to stay away from the Scottish Highlands.

He wrote: So when this is over, boycott the Highlands, leave it all to Kate, so she can enjoy solitude in those vast acres of emptiness characterised by economic stagnation, lice-filled fish farms and, er, English expats.

Retired academic and think-tank director John MacDonald, who today lives in Forbes Highland constituency of Lochaber, warned that Liddles pugnacious views were unwarranted, especially in this time of crisis.

This can only fuel resentment, probably against people coming from the south northwards, MacDonald told Al Jazeera. Its a kind of drip, drip effect, and the end result is that [Highlanders] might be more antagonistic towards people coming from [England] and even central Scotland.

On March 22, Sturgeon announced that Scottish ferry companies should no longer take non-essential island travellers. And, as the National Health Service across all four constituent countries of the UK does its utmost to cope with a potentially near-limitless health crisis, Unsworth, who was recently forced to close his Islay business due to coronavirus, issued a stark warning to anyone still thinking of decamping to Scotlands world-renowned rural spots.

This isnt a safe haven  nowhere is a safe haven, he argued. With the general average age of Islay being on the elderly side rather than the younger side, if [coronavirus] came here then it would go through here like a dose of salts.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Philippine Airlines has announced that it is temporarily suspending remaining flights from March 26 to April 14.

"After careful consideration, we concluded that PAL could no longer sustain even a limited number of international flights, said PAL in a statement on Tuesday.

The carrier cited strict travel restrictions from different countries, collapse in demand as well as staffing issues due to the Luzon quarantine.

"Our firm goal is to resume operations starting 15 April 2020, if warranted by Philippine and international authorities, global public health conditions and the travel environment," it added.

However, it said some scheduled flights to the country on March 26 and March 27 will proceed. These will come from Los Angeles, Tokyo-Narita, Jakarta, New York City-JFK and San Francisco.

The last trip from Manila is flight PR 104. It will leave San Francisco on March 25 at 10:10 p.m..

PAL suspended domestic flight since March 17 when the government limited movement in all of Luzon to contain the coronavirus disease.

The virus has infected 552 people in the country and killed 35 others. On the other hand, 20 people have recovered.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  The Palestinian Authority (PA) faces major challenges, especially at the financial level, to confront the spread of coronavirus in the Palestinian territories. The PA asked Israel to transfer its withheld clearance funds, according to government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem at a press conference March 22.

According to Hebrew Channel 13, the Israeli government will release 120 million shekels ($33.5 million) from the tax revenues that it collects on the PAs behalf. The decision was made based upon the recommendation of Israeli security leaders. They fear the coronavirus could spread uncontrollably if the PA is unable to contain it, which could lead to the PA's collapse.

At the local level, dozens of Palestinian individuals and institutions launched initiatives to help the government and infected persons in the Palestinian governorates. Most notably, Nablus governorate institutions launched a fundraising campaign March 17 for the National Solidarity Fund to confront the coronavirus. Donations will be allocated to ensure the treatment of those infected and help poor families.

Confirmed cases in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached 59 as of March 23. Seventeen of those cases were declared to be recovering in Bethlehem. On the evening of March 22, the West Bank instituted a 14-day lockdown, banning the movement of citizens between Palestinian governorates and preventing citizens from leaving their homes unless necessary.

Youssef Abu Zneid, 23, from Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, canceled his wedding ceremony scheduled for March 14, after months of preparation, in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the West Bank.

Abu Zneid donated the meat, rice, water and soft drinks intended for his wedding celebration to the Bethlehem Zakat Committee for distribution to residents quarantined in the city.

Bethlehem, in the southern West Bank, is the area's coronavirus epicenter. As of March 16, 39 people have been diagnosed with the virus across the West Bank, including a young man from Tulkarm, in the north of the West Bank, who arrived from Poland.

Abu Zneids act of kindness is one of dozens across the West Bank since President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree March 5 declaring a state of emergency to face coronavirus.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also issued a series of orders, including the closure of schools and educational institutes, from kindergartens to universities.

The various initiatives in the Palestinian territories expressed social solidarity against the outbreak of the virus. One initiative covered the educational sector, which has been completely disrupted.

An e-learning platform, Iteacher, offered its services free of charge to students during the first days of the state of emergency. This is after getting the Ministry of Educations approval.

Iteacher's founder, Abdullah Qadah, said the platform has been operating for three years. All of the Palestinian curriculum lessons for the secondary cycle were entered on the platform by 17 teachers from the West Bank.

The lessons on the platform are arranged according to the school textbook, he told Al-Monitor. We offer solutions to the curriculum problems, self tests and a window for interactive learning between the teacher and students.

Before the state of emergency, the platform was available to students for a nominal subscription of 100 shekels ($28) per student. It includes all student materials throughout the school semester. But after declaring the state of emergency, the officials in charge of the platform addressed the prime minister and placed the platform under the governments disposal," he said. "After the Ministry of Education examined and approved its contents, the platform became available free of charge to all students throughout the emergency period.

Qadah explained that the 8,300 videos on the platform are easily accessed via the platform's website or its mobile application. This initiative aims to provide education for all, especially since the educational process and students need similar initiatives to not lose their semester, he said.

Dozens of teachers launched individual initiatives to offer lessons via social media to students. Internet service provider Mada launched a community initiative March 8 to offer free internet service for three months to schools, university students and teachers. Mada also provided them with routers.

On March 14, the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel announced it would soon launch an initiative to increase internet speed for subscribers free of charge to support e-learning.

Birzeit University launched an e-learning initiative March 9 through a group of academics and the university's information technology department.

Aziz Shawabkeh, assistant to the president of Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, Online teaching targets 14,000 students, with the contribution of 450 university professors. The initiative seeks to save education in Palestine and meet the students learning needs. It relies on a set of free software that the university has been using for a long time, such as Moodle. Most lectures are given online.

Initiatives were not limited to the educational level. Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry sent a convoy of food and medical aid to Bethlehem on March 7. Another convoy was dispatched from the Aghwar Shamaliyah, loaded with vegetables and legumes March 9.

On March 12, the governorate of Jericho and al-Aghwar also dispatched a food and medical aid convoy, which included water, food items, preventive medical supplies and sterilization pumps. On March 15, the Nablus governorate sent 15 tons of fruits and vegetables.

This was not limited to the governorates. The dairy company Hamoda Group also sent food items and sterile materials to Bethlehem on March 12. Meanwhile, businessmen in Hebron launched a campaign in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hebron to collect 200,000 face masks to be sent to Bethlehem.

Director of the Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tareq al-Tamimi, told Al-Monitor, When the crisis in Bethlehem broke, we asked city officials about their needs, such as N95 respirators, sterilizers and mineral water. We managed to quickly meet these needs.

Tamimi pointed out that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hebron supported a plant in the governorates to manufacture a disinfectant gel to be sold at a low price. The chamber also supported another factory in Hebron producing face masks under the supervision of the Palestinian Standards and Metrology Organization. Hebron has opened a line of production of protective clothing worn by physicians and security personnel when dealing with the infected persons, he added.

Since the government announced a total lockdown March 6, Bethlehem has been in a state of paralysis. This placed the government, which was already battling a financial crisis, in an unenviable position. Yet individual and community initiatives could help the government deal with the repercussions of the lockdown.

Kamel Hamid, the governor of Hebron, told Al-Monitor, We are facing a serious crisis, but this has shown the spirit of initiative and popular solidarity at the national level. These initiatives raise citizens morale. The city is in dire need of medical equipment and tools. The coronavirus took us by surprise; this required doubling quantities of all medical supplies.

He continued, We have thousands of people under house quarantine, and 8,000 workers have lost their jobs, whether in Israel, hotels or the tourism sector. In the absence of an official intervention to save the situation, things will keep going downhill.
A box of coronavirus testing kits. Some private doctors and "concierge" physicians are offering testing services to patients who can pay for them. (Raul Roa / Daily Pilot)

The Medical Board of California is looking into physicians selling COVID-19 tests while sick people around the country can't get tested because of a nationwide shortage, a board spokesman said Monday morning.

The inquiry comes after The Times reported that "concierge" doctors who cater to rich people and celebrities have been selling testing to patients and their families, in some cases even if they have no symptoms or any other reason to be tested.

Dr. Jay Gordon, a Santa Monica pediatrician, told clients who purchased the tests for $250 each  to be taken at home with a cheek-swab and then sent to a lab to process results  to save the tests until they're feeling sick.

Gordon said in an earlier interview with The Times that he's looking out for the best interests of his patients, but acknowledged that his offer represents profound inequality in the American healthcare system.

Gordon said he didn't believe the medical board would find anything wrong.

They wont find anything. Theres nothing to be found," Gordon said. "[Patients] were asking for tests. They were available nowhere else. They remain very much in short supply.

Another physician, Dr. David Nazarian in Beverly Hills, said last week he was planning to open a drive-through for rapid blood tests, shipped from China. He said he would charge patients who use the service about $500 or $600, which would also include a consultation and follow-up as well as help pay for the cost of labor and protective equipment to administer the test.

Nazarian has so far been conducting nasal-swab tests only for patients of his concierge practice, including influential people, A-list celebrities, and CEOs, if they meet the criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We have had a lot of new patients contact us who money wasnt a factor for; they were willing to pay whatever was needed, he told The Times last week. But were not looking at this time in regards to How can we make more money doing testing? or Who we can charge more to do a test.' Its actually really trying to take care of the patients we already have and then figuring out how we can increase testing and do things for the good of the community.

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Nazarian told The Times on Monday that he plans to offer the rapid tests only if they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

It's unclear how many doctors are offering such testing or what specifically the medical board is scrutinizing. The spokesman declined to go into detail or say whether the board was looking into any particular doctor, saying only that the agency was aware of The Times' story and had decided to "look into the matter."

But state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) denounced selling the tests at high prices to whomever can afford them, saying it was unprofessional conduct that the medical board should investigate.

The medical board is charged with investigating complaints against physicians, and can sanction doctors or revoke their licenses for negligent or unethical behavior.

Some have also questioned whether the tests being sold are legitimate or effective. The FDA on Friday publicly warned that it has not authorized any at-home tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Federal legislation passed this month would expand access to free COVID-19 testing to the public.

Sion Roy, president of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., said health professionals should use only federally approved tests and testing should be equally accessible to all Angelenos. He said his organization would support any measures taken by the state medical board against doctors who sell unapproved tests for exorbitant prices.

If you preferentially test one group of people over another, the testing strategy wont work. Inequitable access to care is not something our association stands for, Roy said.

Gordon, who said he charges a concierge fee that averages more than $300 a month, said his business will not be turning a profit on selling the tests and instead will donate all excess funds to the Save the Children charity.

After The Times story published, he texted a reporter a donation receipt for $10,220.
Researchers have identified significant racial disparities in speech recognition systems from five of the world's biggest tech companies. According to a study from Stanford University, systems from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft make far more errors with users who are black than those who are white.

Averages across the five companies show that the systems misidentified white people's words about 19 percent of the time. For black people, this figure jumped to 35 percent. Around two percent of audio from white people was considered unreadable, while this rose to 20 percent for black people.

The study suggests that these speech recognition systems could be flawed because their technology is not being trained on appropriately diverse data. The New York Times approached these tech companies for comment and only one -- Google -- responded, stating that "We've been working on the challenge of accurately recognizing variations of speech for several years, and will continue to do so."

The study is the latest to highlight the issue of bias in artificial intelligence. Analysts have found that facial recognition demonstrates both racial and gender bias, while separate tests have consistently shown how chatbots can quickly fall foul of sexist and racist behavior. Indeed, researchers last year warned that artificial intelligence is on the brink of a "diversity disaster."

As The New York Times notes, companies rolling out these systems are facing a "chicken-and-egg problem." If their services are used mainly by white people, they will face challenges in gathering data to serve black people, which will render their services unusable by anyone other than white people. Speaking to the publication, Noah Smith, a professor at the University of Washington, said that "Those feedback loops are kind of scary when you start thinking about them. That is a major concern."
5 1 of 5 Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Courtesy Image / Courtesy Image Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Courtesy City of Shenandoah / Courtesy City of Shenandoah Show More Show Less 5 of 5









The Shenandoah City Council approved Monday the extension of a local disaster declaration, extending the order for the city of more than 3,000 residents until at least April 22.

Mayor Ritch Wheeler said on Tuesday that, effective at the close of business (March 24), city hall will close to the public. Staff will still be on site working.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the North American Construction Group (TSE:NOA) share price has dived 49% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 55% in that time.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for North American Construction Group

Does North American Construction Group Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

North American Construction Group's P/E of 4.87 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see North American Construction Group has a lower P/E than the average (9.7) in the energy services industry classification.

TSX:NOA Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 24th 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that North American Construction Group shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

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North American Construction Group's 137% EPS improvement over the last year was like bamboo growth after rain; rapid and impressive.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

So What Does North American Construction Group's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt totals a substantial 155% of North American Construction Group's market cap. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.

The Bottom Line On North American Construction Group's P/E Ratio

North American Construction Group has a P/E of 4.9. That's below the average in the CA market, which is 9.2. The company has a meaningful amount of debt on the balance sheet, but that should not eclipse the solid earnings growth. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Given North American Construction Group's P/E ratio has declined from 9.6 to 4.9 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than North American Construction Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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.
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 13:10 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d14b34 1 World COVID-19,Indonesia,Japan,bilateral-cooperation,multilateral-relations,coronavirus,pandemic,WHO,unicef Free

Indonesia and Japan have committed to closer cooperation to address the spread of COVID-19 while calling for strong collaboration within the international community to fight the pandemic.

The commitment was made on Monday during a phone call between Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Retno reportedly used the occasion to also convey Indonesia's appreciation for Japan's recent help in evacuating the Indonesian crewmen of the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan.

Indonesia and Japan are committed to intensify bilateral, regional as well as international cooperation through the G-20 mechanism in fighting COVID-19, Retno tweeted on Monday.

Meanwhile, Motegi said on Monday in a statement issued through the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta that it was high time that the international community came together to curb the further spread of the lethal virus around the world.

He said that Japan had decided to contribute 1.5 billion yen (US$13.6 million) in emergency aid for distributing to affected countries through the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

The phone call between the foreign ministers took place in lieu of a bilateral meeting that had been scheduled prior to the outbreak.

This year's Indonesia-Japan meeting of foreign and defense ministers would have been be the second "2+2" meeting since 2015, when Retno and then-defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu met with their Japanese counterparts, then-foreign minister Fumio Kishida and then-defense minister Gen Nakatani, for the inaugural meeting in Tokyo.

On Tuesday morning, Indonesia had reported 579 confirmed cases of COVID-19, while Japan had reported 1,128 confirmed cases.
People and coffee are like two peas in a pod. And for an entire generation, say millennials. coffee drinking has oftentimes even been considered to be a personality trait. One coffee lover though, went out of their way to change the stigma surrounding coffee beans grown in Vietnam. Enter: Nguyen Coffee Supply, the millennial-founded coffee bean brand from Sahra Nguyen, a first generation Vietnamese-American. Bringing together Americas love for coffee and Nguyens background, Nguyen Coffee Supply partners with a family farm in Vietnams Central Highlands. In the loyalty bag of beans, the brand blends robusta beans, which has more caffein but 60% less sugar, and Arabia beans separately. After the beans are blended apart, two coffee bean flavors are then blended together to get the ideal mix. You can shop any roast of your choice at NguyenCoffeeSupply.com
Oil has experienced one of the most vicious selloffs in history, with WTI crude plunging over 60% since the beginning of the year to its lowest levels in over 2 decades. Now analysts are worried that the price of oil could go negative, and energy companies would be forced to pay customers to take the commodity off their hands.

Oil began to slide when the novel coronavirus took hold of China at the beginning of the year, which spurred the start of the oil price crash with demand concerns being the key catalyst. The viruss global spread and evolution to a pandemic further escalated energy demand anxiety.

Now Saudi Arabia and Russia are engaging in a price war. Both nations are ramping up production in a battle that is hammering oil companies around the world. The market is flooded with supply and demand is drying up, the perfect storm for an oil price crash.

Is Oils Dividend At Risk?

Companies like Chevron CVX, ExxonMobil XOM, and British Petroleum BP has been providing investors with a consistent dividend for close to a century. These companies are now experiencing a massive cash flow issue that could put these long-standing dividends at risk.

These three stocks have plummeted more than 45% since the beginning of the year as investors worry about the survival of the energy sector. With WTI crude teetering around the low $20s and Brent trading around $30 per barrel, these firms will be losing money until oil demand resumes.

Maintaining dividends is the oil industrys biggest priority right now, and I believe they will be able to sustain it for at least 2020. The energy sectors financial positioning was healthy coming into this downturn, and liquidity remains robust.

To maintain current dividend levels, firms are going to be forced to substantially cut costs, including cap-ex and operational expenses, which will put a pause on growth. We can expect that balance sheets will slowly deteriorate until demand can be reestablished.

Story continues

Financial Positioning

As the price of these stocks plummet, their yields skyrocket. These healthy yields are the only thing attractive about these stocks right now, and the companies do not want to risk losing it. Here is a look at their liquidity.

BP (BP)  13.5% yield

BP is currently holding $26.8 billion in cash & equivalents combined with a $10 billion line of credit, which gives the firm roughly $37 billion in liquidity. BP is the most liquid of its competitors, with its liquidity more than covering its debts through 2022.

BPs cash flow sensitivity to oil price is $340m for $1/bbl, according to Jefferies Equity Research. BP is the most hedged of its competitors, with crude price changes impacting its cash-flows the least.

Chevron (CVX)  9.5% yield

Chevron has a $5.75 billion in cash & equivalents combined with a $9.75 billion line of credit, giving the company $15.5 billion in liquidity. CVXs liquidity covers 80% of its debts through 2022.

Chevrons cash flow sensitivity to oil price is $500m for $1/bbl, according to Jefferies Equity Research.

ExxonMobil (XOM)  11% yield

Exxon has $3.1 billion in cash & equivalents but issued $8.5 billion in bonds last week, bringing its cash levels up to $11.6 billion. XOMs liquidity covers roughly 75% of its debts through 2022.

Exxons cash flow sensitivity to oil price is $600m for $1/bbl, according to Jefferies Equity Research.

Take Away

I would not be rushing to get into oil stocks at this time as a further downslide to oil prices may be on the horizon. The concept of negative oil prices is sending fear down the spine of energy executives around the world.

This oil supply glut will not last forever and suspect that once demand resumes (hopefully later this year), the fear of dividend cuts will be alleviated, and energy stocks will rebound.

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Gov. Gavin Newsoms shelter-in-place mandate asks Californians to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, but thats hard to do if youre living or working at the Napa County jail.

Smaller than state prisons, Napa County jail can accommodate 276 people. Its currently near capacity, housing 233 at last count, according to Deputy County Executive Officer Molly Rattigan.

Most of them dont live in isolated cells. Rather, the majority sleep in either two- or three-bunk rooms or dormitory-style units with multiple beds in a large room. Each set-up includes access to a shared dayroom as well as a shared bathroom with water, toilet and a shower, said Dina Jose, director of the Napa County Department of Corrections.

So how do you ensure the safety of this population from a virus spread through human contact? Though there are currently no reported coronavirus cases of staff or incarcerated persons at Napa County Jail, dramatic precautionary measures are being taken to try to safeguard against an outbreak.

Vulnerable population

Incarcerated individuals, even those younger than 65, are more susceptible to severe symptoms of the coronavirus, should it be contracted. Theyre more likely to have underlying health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to the power of a respiratory disease like COVID-19. A report from Prison Policy Initiative showed 20% of those currently in jail suffer from asthma, for example.

Close quarters add another challenge to limiting an outbreak among the incarcerated population. Social distancing, keeping at least six feet of distance between non-household individuals, is all but impossible in already-cramped congregate quarters.

Most of an individuals time in this facility is spent close to other people, unless theyve been isolated in a cell in the old linear jail that contains segregated areas divided by bars, which is usually only warranted by bad behavior, Jose said.

In a jail setting, spaces are shared unless the inmate is isolated, she said, adding that although numbers are fluid there might be 20 or so in individual cells primarily because of their conduct.

According to Rattigan, housing areas are being recreated to allow for social distancing in shared spaces. She did not elaborate.

Outside of the cells, state regulations require the jail to provide at least three hours daily of recreational time, Jose said, though it doesnt all happen at once because some yards are shared between housing units.

Such free time happens in either the yard or the dayroom, both group areas, and meals are usually served in the dayrooms, too.

Sweeping and unprecedented changes have been made to policies at the Napa County Jail to combat this intrinsic vulnerability. Much of the preparation mirrors moves made by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees the states network of prisons.

Intake

Those changes start from the outset of a persons arrival. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, not all incoming individuals were assessed by a nurse, and those who were underwent their evaluation within the building. Now, according to Rattigan, an extensive screening process takes place for every person entering in whats called the sally port, a secured, fortified area leading into the facility.

Anyone symptomatic will be masked and isolated within the designated quarantine area of the jail. Those presenting critically ill will be transported to Queen, she wrote in an email, adding that anyone put into quarantine is closely monitored by medical staff and that another medical assessment takes place 14 days after intake for all new entrants.

Testing protocol remains governed by the local public health department, which would be contacted should someone be suspected of having contracted the virus, Rattigan said.

Cleanliness of facility

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend people regularly wash their hands and keep surfaces around them clean. Such suggestions have led many living under ordinary circumstances to stock up on soap, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

But, for those in Napa County jail, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes are considered contraband, so individuals may not possess them.

Rattigan assures this isnt a problem, saying all incarcerated persons are fully equipped with what they need to keep themselves and their spaces clean.

All living spaces, cells, dayrooms and dorm areas, have access to washing and toilets at all times. Some are shared with a cellmate or in a dorm area, but access is not restricted, she said.

The incarcerated also have a steady supply of soap, which is not considered contraband, she added, and theres a weekly cleaning of cells and additional supplies in the housing areas if they want to clean the quarters themselves.

In addition to cell cleaning, the custodian cleans the other areas of the jail daily, and has been authorized to come in on the weekend for additional cleaning as necessary, she said of added measures being taken to keep the facility up to par with CDC guidelines.

Jail staff maintains ready access to supplies helpful in protecting against potential exposure. Deemed essential workers under the verbiage of the governors shelter-in- place order, correctional officers and staff assigned to the jail are able to continue their work uninterrupted, Rattigan said.

This is provided to staff, we have a supply on hand, we continue to place orders, and we have made a request through the Emergency Operations Center for additional supplies, she said when asked about sanitizers, masks and gloves.

Visits are limited

To limit potential exposure to the virus from the outside, the county has placed significant restrictions on who can enter jail facilities, all but cutting off the outside world.

All social in-person visits are suspended indefinitely  attorneys are being accommodated by appointment only, Rattigan said.

Each person will receive two free video visits, the minimum of visits required by Title 15, the statute that governs standards for detention facilities.

Similarly, all volunteer-run programs have been suspended. These include things like education and literacy courses, substance abuse counseling and Bible studies, Jose said.

Most are weekly, it depends on the provider ... if we approve them for entry we work to decide the best day for them to come she said of the ordinarily scheduled programming. However, Jose also said the department doesnt keep track of whether volunteer personnel show up consistently.

With fewer people coming in and out of prison, some activists have raised concern over oversight and how to guarantee the safety of the currently incarcerated. Reporting from The Marshall Project described it as collateral damage in the global pandemic, speaking of the end to official oversight visits as well as the unofficial accountability that comes with visitors from the outside who can speak to the incarcerated about conditions on the inside.

According to Rattigan, adequate supervision and surveillance isnt a concern as staffing levels remain the same. She said the minimum required workforce is 17 during the day shift and 14 on the night shift.

Fewer people

Steps are being taken to reduce the number of people in the county jail, a response called for by many criminal justice reform activists who have identified this as one of the few ways to allow those under government custody to practice social distancing.

Jose said the corrections department is exploring the use of other custody options such as parole and home detention on a case by case basis. She said a three-person panel made up of a representative from the jail, probation team and public would meet with the incarcerated individual to evaluate if theyre eligible for one of these programs based on current charges, criminal history, length of sentence, and potential to electronically monitor.

Most individuals in Napas facility are serving sentences of less than a year, are there ahead of a trial or are awaiting a transfer to a state or federal prison to serve the duration of a longer term.

Other activists have called for the release of those older than 60, an age group the governor deemed especially at-risk. Currently, the Napa County Jail only has one person who meets this criterion in its custody. The person is being held on a pre-trial hearing for serious felony charges and is being housed alone, according to Jose.

State-level changes

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) enacted a slate of hefty policy changes last week to try and limit the exposure of facility populations and employees to the virus.

It announced the suspension of all parole hearings until the end of March and barred visits to incarcerated persons. All educational classes, rehabilitation programs and group events were halted, and any volunteers who administer them prohibited from entering the prison grounds.

As of Monday, CDCR officials reported two institution employees had tested positive for COVID-19 at the Sacramento prison, two at the California Institution for Men, and one at Folsom State Prison. A single incarcerated person at the Los Angeles County center tested positive.

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 Carly Graf at cgraf@napanews.com; 713-817-4692; or via Twitter @carlykgraf.

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.
With much of the country under a lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis, the central government is considering a fortnight's delay in starting its annual wheat procurement programme, to prevent farmers and others crowding at any place. It is also considering delaying procurement of paddy from some parts of Maharashtra, a hint of which was given by Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan in reply to a tweet on Tuesday.

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Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf blasted President Donald Trump in a televised interview on KTVU on Tuesday morning, calling the president a "disaster" and "his own state of emergency."

"The President has exhibited such poor leadership throughout this crisis, going from Obama-blaming to denial to now downplaying the seriousness of this crisis," Schaaf told KTVU. "It is so reprehensible that he is not giving American people the truth."

Schaaf's comments were in response to a tweet sent by Trump on Sunday. In the tweet, the president implied that he was open to loosening social distancing recommendations after a 15-day period, concluding on March 30.

"WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF," he wrote. "AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"

The president reinforced this stance in comments made during his Monday press briefing, saying that America will "soon be open for business."

The desire for a quick return to normalcy goes against the advice of public health experts, who warn against the negative repercussions of an alacritous restoration of the status quo.

"You cant call off the best weapon we have, which is social isolation, even out of economic desperation, unless youre willing to be responsible for a mountain of deaths, NYU bioethics professor Arthur Caplan told the New York Times. "Thirty days makes more sense than 15 days. Cant we try to put peoples lives first for at least a month?"

Schaaf, for her part, went even further in her Tuesday interview.

"I have been incredibly disappointed in this president," Schaaf said. "He is a disaster. He is his own state of emergency."

Michael Rosen is an SFGATE digital editor. Email: michael.rosen@sfgate.com.
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As concerns for limited supplies, such as sanitizer and face masks, grows across Michigan, different organizations are finding opportunities to step in and help in any way they can.

For Debi Bartley-Ullom and Kevin Ullom, founders of Aarons Gifts From Home, that meant taking the dozens of personal hand sanitizer bottles stowed away in their packing office at the mall, and send them over to the Law Enforcement Center for first responders, who are on the front-line of the coronavirus pandemic.

Why have them sitting over at the office, you know, doing nothing when it can be helping our first responders right here, now? Debi said.

Aarons Gifts From Home is a Midland-based nonprofit the Ulloms founded in honor of their late son, Aaron Ullom, who died in action while serving in the U.S. Navy. They have made it their mission to send care and gift packages to soldiers overseas to brighten their days and make sure they feel cared for.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and various executive orders from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, they postponed all upcoming packing days. Conveniently, one of the items often sent in the gift packages was hand sanitizer.

So, with help from Board Member Shawn Weiss, they gathered up every bottle they had at their location at the Midland Mall, including ones that were already in boxed packages.

Im just thankful that we can help, Debi said, who expressed she only wish she had more to give.

Weiss then dropped a tub full of sanitizer bottles off to the Midland Law Enforcement Center to be used by various local first responders  police officers, deputies, firefighters and more. Debi posted about it to their Facebook page, urging other organizations in the community to do the same, if possible.

In Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's update on Monday morning, she expressed that through donations and Michigan businesses, such as a few distilleries, the state has been able to receive thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer. However, she said, it's still not enough.

"We must do more to curtail our community spread so our hospitals have a fighting chance, she said before putting in place a stay-at-home executive order.
The month of March is quickly coming to an end, which means that Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs exit from the royal family will be official. It is difficult to see them go, as we have loved watching the couple make appearances and attend engagements for quite a few years now, and they have become two of our favorite royals.

However, given the negativity that Meghan and Harry have had to deal with in the British tabloids ever since they began dating, they feel that the time has come for them to step down. We can only imagine that while it is a big change for Meghan, and it may be having even more of an impact on Prince Harry, as royal life is all he has ever known.

Since the day he was born, Prince Harry was been in the spotlight, connecting with members of the public and making a positive difference wherever he could. This is why a royal source says that Prince Harrys last royal event was really emotional for him.

Stepping down from royal duties

It is certainly not every day that we get the news of senior royals resigning from their positions, which is why the world went into a state of shock when Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced their plans to do just that. According to The Sun, the news came on January 8, and the world has been asking questions ever since.

Fans know that Meghan and Prince Harry plan to be financially independent, and have been spending the majority of their time in Canada over the past few months. They plan to still take part in their charity and humanitarian word, all while living a quieter, more private life, and focusing on themselves and their young son, Archie Harrison.

What was Prince Harrys final royal event?

Just recently, Prince Harry and Meghan returned to the United Kingdom to carry out their final duties as senior royals. On March 7, they attended the Mountbatten Music Festival at Royal Albert Hall, which is a charity event that benefits the Royal Marines.

Prince Harry himself served in the British Military for 10 years, so the night had a special significance for him. He donned his military uniform while Meghan looked absolutely stunning in a red gown, with her dark hair loose and flowing.

Now that Megxit is almost final, Prince Harry will be giving up his Royal Marines title of Captain General of Royal Marines, as he and Meghan prepare for their exit from the British Monarchy. The event is one that Harry has attended in the past, so it is only natural that he make a final appearance before officially stepping down from royal duties.

Fans were ecstatic to see the couple at Royal Albert Hall, and they walked to their seats as the crowd applauded warmly.

Prince Harrys last royal event was emotional for him

Prince Harry | Samir Hussein/WireImage

While Meghan and Prince Harry are no doubt excited to start the newest chapter of their lives, it was still difficult for them to carry out their final royal duties. So, why does a source say that the last event was so emotional for Harry?

According to People, he is giving up his honorary military positions as part of Megxit, and it isnt easy. That was very emotional for him, a source tells PEOPLE in this weeks cover story.

After all, Prince Harry served in the military for a decade.

Thats 10 years of his life that he gave to serve his country, and he basically has to give it away now because hes choosing to protect his family, the source adds.

Luckily, Meghan was by his side to offer all of the support she needed, which is exactly what fans would expect. The military was such an important part of Harrys life for so long, and while he will still continue to show his support to service members, it is evident that letting it go is something that was very emotional.
(Natural News) Communist China has been on a lying spree ever since the Chinese Virus (COVID-19) went global, and its been using Twitter as a mouthpiece to spread its propaganda.

Even as independent truth-tellers like the Health Ranger are still banned from the Twitter platform, Jack Dorsey and company see nothing wrong with the Chinese regime spreading lies about the Chinese Virus (COVID-19), prompting some members of Congress to take a vocal stand against it.

Senator Benn Sasse (R-Neb.) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) recently sent a joint letter to Dorsey urging him to remove all Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda from the platform immediately, as well as to block all access to Twitter for all other foreign officials and governments that dont even allow the use of Twitter in their own countries.

While the coronavirus pandemic is afflicting families, governments, and markets around the world, the Chinese Communist Party is waging a massive propaganda campaign to rewrite the history of COVID-19 and whitewash the Partys lies to the Chinese people and the world, the letter reads.

Currently, the people of China, Iran, and North Korea are barred from using Twitter because it offers a way to spread news and information without government involvement or permission. But the governments of these same countries, and especially Chinas, see nothing wrong with using Twitter as a weapon against countries like the United States.

By banning Twitter in China, the Chinese Communist Party is keeping its citizens in the dark, the letter goes on to explain. By putting propaganda on Twitter, the Chinese Communist Party is lying to the rest of the world.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about shocking new developments on the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) front, including widespread food supply shortages:

How about calls for Twitter to reinstate the Health Ranger and other independent news sources that have been banned?

Sen. Sasse and Rep. Gallagher are also asking Dorsey to explain how he and his company decide which foreign officials to allow on the platform, and how they go about reviewing their tweets to make sure theyre not filled with propaganda.

One angle that the CCP has been taking lately is to claim that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) didnt actually originate in Wuhan, but rather that it was planted by the U.S. military to attack Chinas reputation. The mainstream media has picked up on some of this, and even accused President Trump of being racist for calling it the Chinese Virus.

It is clear that Chinese Communist Party officials are using Twitter to disseminate propaganda in the midst of a dangerous global crisis, the letter goes on to state.

Even worse, this propaganda obscures and confuses users over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially undermines efforts to contain and control the outbreak. We believe this behavior more than warrants their removal from the platform.

One wonders if there will be similar calls in the future for Twitter to unban Americans like the Health Ranger who was de-platformed for reasons that remain unknown, seeing as how the reasons given by Twitter itself dont even violate its own vague terms of service.

Somehow, its no big deal to have communist dictators spreading lies and disinformation on Twitter about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19)  and who knows what else. But to tell the truth about the deep state as the Health Ranger and others have been doing remains a ban-worthy offense.

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:

TheHill.com

NaturalNews.com
The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) has announced it will reduce airline service fees for six months from March to August to support airlines suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City, the countrys largest and busiest airport. (Photo courtesy of ACV)

ACV decided to reduce fees for a range of airline services at airports, including service fees for aircraft navigation (cut by 50 percent); and pipe ladder services, carousel rentals, automatic baggage handling, check-in counters and ground services (by 10 percent).

In addition, ACV, which operates more than 20 airports across the country, will waive office rental fees for airlines that have stopped flying, and reduce fees by 30 percent fees for airlines that are still operating flights.

ACV will also waive fees for some specialised aviation services.

Last week, the Ministry of Transport asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to report to the Prime Minister about the proposed reduction of 50 percent for fees for takeoff, and landing and aircraft operating services for domestic flights.

The Ministry of Transport has also asked the Government to assign the Ministry of Finance to oversee an exemption of import tax and environmental protection tax on aircraft fuel for three months.

Domestic airlines have suspended many routes to China, the Republic of Korea, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has suspended all its international routes until April 30.

Vietnam Airlines had earlier suspended flights between Vietnam and China, Hong Kong, Macao, the Republic of Korea, France, Russia, Malaysia and Taiwan.

According to ACV, this year the passenger volume through Vietnamese airports is expected to fall by 40 percent compared to last year. International visitors will decrease by 70 percent.

ACV expects profit this year will decrease by 10 trillion VND (426.5 million USD) due to the effect of the pandemic./.VNA.
Claremont native Natasha Ott, 39, was found dead at home in New Orleans after suffering symptoms of COVID-19. (Carol Coalson )

Social worker Natasha Ott was feeling ill but declined a COVID-19 test earlier this month because her clinic, Crescent Care  which serves the HIV-positive community  only had five, and she wanted to save them for patients.

"They don't think I need to get tested unless I develop a fever," the 39-year-old texted her boyfriend, Josh Anderson. "All looks well."

Ott, a Claremont native who moved to New Orleans five years ago, was finally tested a week later, on March 16. She was told she would have to wait for the results. Anderson offered to bring her pho, but she said she didn't have an appetite. She was tired, and asked him to walk her dog, Zola.

Two days later, she texted: "I just don't understand why I don't feel much better yet." Two days after that, Anderson found her collapsed in her kitchen, dead.

She died on the day she was supposed to get the results, said family friend Carol Coalson, of San Diego, Ott's foster mother, who had just visited her last month to celebrate Mardi Gras.

Two weeks after the first COVID-19 case was reported in Louisiana, the coronavirus is spreading fast, infecting more people per capita than in California, so far killing at least 46. The virus has spread to two-thirds of the states parishes.

We have the fastest growth rate of confirmed cases in the world, Gov. John Bel Edwards said this week. Theres no reason to believe we wont be the next Italy."

Edwards ordered residents to stay home as of Monday night and said projections showed the state could run out of healthcare capacity within a week. He canceled elective surgical procedures and said the state was trying to add 200 intensive care beds as soon as possible.

Nobody knows how long this is going to last," Edwards said, "but we do know right now Louisianas trajectory threatens our ability to deliver care.

New Orleans is the epicenter of the states outbreak. Lambeth House, a local nursing home, reported 24 cases and seven deaths. The National Guard has set up medical tents outside Charity Hospital, shuttered since Hurricane Katrina. Doctors and nurses who reopened the citys other hospitals after Katrina are facing a new challenge: medical shortages. Theyre reusing surgical masks and isolating groups of potentially contagious patients in special wards as they wait days for test results. Tests are scarce, and those who are tested wait days for test results.

Story continues

Ott, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz, moved to New Orleans five years ago after earning her masters in social work at San Francisco State and serving in the Peace Corps in Togo.

She didnt have any underlying conditions, had told Anderson that she was feeling better, and was working from home when she last texted Coalson on Friday afternoon.

She didnt say anything about her symptoms getting worse, Coalson said.

Ott also texted Anderson, who asked how she felt. She replied, "A little better and hopeful."

That was her last message.

When she failed to respond to his texts and calls, Anderson came to her house and found her unresponsive.

"Seeing a woman I knew to be so full of life lying on the floor lifeless was devastating," he later wrote on Facebook. "I was afraid to touch her. I held her anyway."

Ott's first COVID-19 test came back negative, said her foster sister, Emily Coalson Stamets, but her doctor had the lab retest "because he is highly skeptical of the results," and the family could have results in two days. The New Orleans coroners office is also conducting its own test, which could take up to 90 days, a spokesman said.

Anderson, who cared for Ott when she was sick, has not qualified for testing yet because he does not have symptoms, a requirement at local testing centers, so he has self-quarantined, Coalson said.

Coalson was troubled by the limited coronavirus testing in New Orleans.

If were not testing people who have been exposed, how do we know how many people have the disease?" she said.

Stamets said she wished Ott could have received her test results sooner.

If she knew she had positive results," she said, "she might have sought treatment.

Last week, Michael Bell, 60, felt feverish and tried to get tested at a hospital on the city's east side but was told the only testing site was across town at West Jefferson Medical Center.

Bell, a disabled construction worker with emphysema, didnt feel up to the drive.

If my lungs start to get messed up, Ill go out there, he said as he sat outside the hospital wearing a surgical mask.

The same day, Michael Warner pulled up in his truck to the drive-through testing tent outside West Jefferson.

Warner, 36, who works for the state transportation department, said a co-worker had become ill the week before, then Warner developed a fever.

They said he didnt have it  it was walking pneumonia, " not COVID-19, Warner said of his co-worker. But a week later, "they tested him again and he tested positive."

Warners wife, who works at Ochsner Baptist medical center in New Orleans, didnt have symptoms of the virus but had been checking her temperature, he said. As of Sunday, he hadnt received his test results.

Some New Orleans doctors said they were concerned about delays in COVID-19 testing.

We havent been able to get results for five days, and in some cases the state loses the tests, said New Orleans Dr. William Lacourt. Theyre running through all the personal protective equipment when they dont need to. The doctors making necessary decisions have got to have rapid testing. If we can get this done in 45 minutes, we can make decisions. Right now, its like were swimming in a pond blind.

Lacourt said he knew a nurse practitioner at Ochsner who went to work with a fever Saturday and was sent home, only to be told when she returned the next day that she had to be tested for COVID-19. She still hasnt been tested, he said.

The better approach would be: Before we send you home, were testing you, Lacourt said. The people on the front lines need to be able to make decisions and adapt. Thats what we did in Katrina.

He said the 80-year-old parents of one of his sons friends tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting a resident at Lambeth House.

I talked to the father and he was recovering," he said, "but the mother couldnt get hold of her doctor and was short of breath.

Lacourt told her to go to the emergency room. She declined. He happened to have some hydroxychloroquine  anti-malarial pills, considered a possible treatment for COVID-19  so that's what he offered them.

I put them in a cup 10 feet in front of their door; he came and picked it up. I presume he gave it to his wife, Lacourt said.

He has worried in recent days about whether New Orleans doctors will be forced to ration protective gear as well as medical care, prioritizing some sick patients for treatment over others, as some healthcare workers were accused of doing after Katrina.

It was at Memorial Medical Center (now Ochsner) that Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses were arrested, accused of murdering four patients during the 2005 storm. The patients had received lethal doses of morphine, although charges against the nurses were dropped and a grand jury refused to indict the doctor.

One of the people who died was Lacourts patient.

I was out for blood until I realized ... a disorganized corporate system was to blame for the deaths, he said. I ended up writing an affidavit for her attorney saying it wasnt her fault. She was put in that position by the state.

Pou and the nurses were among a group of medical personnel who stayed at the hospital through the storm. The facility lost power and was inundated with 10 feet of water after the hurricane.

Lacourt worries doctors will soon be put in the same position Pou was by the state, forced to ration care according to the old Memorial playbook.

An employee at a New Orleans hospital who asked not to be identified because he wasnt authorized to speak on the matter said the staff was treating scores of COVID-19 patients, at least a dozen of them in critical condition and on ventilators, and faced shortages of protective masks, face shields and gowns.

Were reusing masks for different patients, for different days. People are essentially being issued one mask and face shield for the day, he said.

He said hospital staff sent those who had been tested for the virus to special wards or floors, where they might spend a week awaiting results.

In recent years, the city and state slashed public health budgets and closed clinics that could have helped test and treat those with COVID-19, said Dr. Brobson Lutz, former director of the New Orleans Health Department.

Theyre operating at a budget of about 10% of what we had 15 years ago, he said. This week, we will see what happens as serious cases come to the forefront challenging our hospital system.

Although Louisiana has more hospital beds per capita than other states, Lutz says many of those beds have been devoted to profit-generating care such as elective procedures. The result: Hospitals actually have less ability to expand emergency beds than they did before Katrina, he said.

Lutz said its probably too late to slow the virus spread in Louisiana. He likened the governors stay-at-home order this week to New Orleans leaders firing cannons and lighting tar pots to fight yellow fever in the 1800s.

Is it really going to make a difference, especially in an area such as New Orleans where it is quite likely more than 50% of our population has already been infected? he said.

Older New Orleans residents worry about access to care during the pandemic, especially those in areas like the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East that were hard hit by Katrina, said the Rev. Fred Luter, who rebuilt and moved his Franklin Avenue Baptist Church there after the storm. Last week, he hosted a doctor at the church who answered questions from church members via livestream video.

In the absence of widespread COVID-19 testing and rapid test results, Anderson urged people to seek care for loved ones immediately, as he wished he had for Ott.

She told me on Thursday evening that she felt like something was in her lungs, Anderson wrote on Facebook on Sunday. If you or a loved one feel like there's fluid or congestion in their lungs or is experiencing shallow breathing, seek medical attention immediately. Don't wait on a test status, don't wait to see if things will feel better tomorrow."

Updates:

3:01 PM, Mar. 27, 2020: A New Orleans social worker who died before she received her COVID-19 test results has tested negative for the virus, authorities said Friday.



Natasha Ott, 39, died suddenly March 20 after feeling sick but initially forgoing testing because of the limited supply of test kits.



After she died, relatives said they received results of the COVID-19 test Ott had taken while she was still alive, which was negative. Her doctor requested a second test posthumously, which was also negative, said Jason Melancon, a spokesman for the New Orleans coroners office.



Otts cause of death was still under investigation Friday, Melancon said.




The women-led protests in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) has come to an end on Tuesday after the police moved in and cleared the venue.

The police action came under Section 144 of CrPC which came into effect in the national capital as the country battles the Coronavirus outbreak. After the restrictions were announced, most of the protesters had left the venue by Monday evening, but some had stayed back.

AFP

These people too were informed that not more than four people would be allowed to gather at the protest site due to the prohibitory orders. The cops had brought in cranes to remove the temporary structures erected along the road. The massive tent under which the protests were held were also dismantled. Police said they have taken all the tents and billboards agitators had put up in Shaheen Bagh.

AFP

Shaheen Bagh has been cleared. We requested them to vacate the road. They continued to ignore the request, RP Meena, deputy commissioner of police South East Delhi, said.



AFP

Earlier, even after the coronavirus outbreak the protesters had refused to give up and had instead said that the only two women will sit under each tent and maintain a distance of more than a metre. They had also said that no protester will now be allowed to sit at the site for more than four hours as preventative measures against the spread of the virus and had decided that no children or elderly person will be allowed to participate in the sit-in.



AFP

In the past few days, similar protests across the country against CAA and NRC had ended their protests in the fear of the epidemic outbreak.

With this, one of the most unique and resilient protests in India in recent times has come to an end.

AFP

It began in December 2019 and was led by mostly women from the Muslim community. Some elderly women who were also part of the protests became the faces of the movement.

It had its fair share of controversies also including allegations leveled by the BJP as the protesters were being paid cash and the death of an infant who used to accompany his mother to the protests every day. It also was one of the most talked-about issues during the Delhi Assembly elections last month. There was also an incident where a gunman had opened fire near the protest venue.
VIZSLA outlines COVID-19 response

Posted by Publisher Internet

Vizsla Resources Corp. (TSX-V: VZLA) (?Vizsla? or the ?Company?  https://www.commodity-tv.com/play/vizsla-resources-options-panuco-silver-gold-mines-in-mexico/ ) reports that, in light of increasing global responses to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, the Company has executed an internal plan to ensure employee and stakeholder health and safety as well as minimized disruption to exploration operations.

At the Panuco project (the ?Project?), the Company is proceeding with exploration with a heightened level of awareness for virus-related issues as well as a response plan for quarantine and hygiene. The drill program is continuing to methodically work through the twenty identified targets. Drilling is currently underway on the Honduras Vein. The Company intends to continue drilling at the Project for only as long as it remains safe to do so. As such, the situation is being monitored closely by management and may change for the safety of the team.

Vizsla has initiated a community program to assist the local communities surrounding the Project with awareness and response to the COVID-19 virus.

Corporately, Vizsla?s team has implemented a work from home policy and travel freeze initiative to minimize exposure to the virus. Vizsla is using VRIFY Technology to safely market the Company and the Panuco district to shareholders and potential investors. Link to VRIFY: www.vrify.com

The Company remains fully funded for its initial work program.

About the Panuco project

Vizsla has an option to acquire 100% of the newly-consolidated 9,386.5 Ha Panuco district in southern Sinaloa, Mexico, near the city of Mazatlan. The option allows for the acquisition of over 75 km of total vein extent, a 500 tpd mill, 35 kms of underground mines, tailings facilities, roads, power and permits.

The district contains intermediate to low sulfidation epithermal silver and gold deposits related to siliceous volcanism and crustal extension in the Oligocene and Miocene. Host rocks are mainly continental volcanic rocks correlated to the Tarahumara Formation.

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.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains \forward-looking information\, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to anticipated business plans or strategies. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as \plans\, \expects\, \is expected\, \budget\, \scheduled\, \estimates\, \forecasts\, \intends\, \anticipates\, or \believes\ or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will\ be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Vizsla to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption \Risk Factors\ in the Company\-\-s Annual Information Form dated as of February 26, 2020 which is available for view on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management\-\-s estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

?
The total number of passengers travelling through airports in Oman (Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm) until the end of January reached 1.59 million, new data revealed.

Meanwhile, the number of flights landing and departing from Muscat, Salalah and Sohar International Airports by the end of January reached 9,906 flights, according to the latest data released by the (NCSI).

The total number of passengers at Muscat International Airport rose by 0.9 per cent to 1.43 million passengers at the end of January 2020, over the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the total number of flights at Muscat International Airport also rose by 0.9 per cent to 10,104 flights at the end of January 2020, from 10,013 flights for the same period of 2019.

The number of international flights at Muscat International Airport was 9,284 flights during the first month of 2020, which is a rise of 1.6 per cent over the same period of 2019. The total number of international passengers at the Muscat International Airport rose by 1.5 per cent at the end of January, reaching 1.34 million passengers. This included 657,748 passenger arrivals, 680,982 passenger departures, and 2,430 transit passengers.

Domestic flights at Muscat International Airport fell by 6.2 per cent to 820 flights at the end of January, against 874 flights for the same period of 2019. The arrival and departure of domestic flights also dropped by 6.4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. The total number of domestic passengers at Muscat International Airport fell by 7.1 per cent to 93,157 passengers in January, against 100,290 passengers for the same period of the previous year. This included 48,471 passenger arrivals and 44,686 passenger departures, the NCSI report showed.

According to the report, the total number of passengers at the Salalah International Airport fell by 4.2 per cent to 118,771 passengers at the end of January compared to 123,973 passengers for the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Salalah International Airport fell by 6.9 per cent to 918 flights compared to 986 flights in January 2019.

The total number of international flights at the Salalah International airport fell by 7.8 per cent to 380 flights until the end of January, while the number of domestic fights fell by 6.3 per cent to 538 flights. The total number of international passengers fell by 1 per cent to reach 48,301 passengers, while the number of domestic passengers also fell by 6.3 per cent to 70,470 passengers.

However, there was a drop in the total number of passengers at Sohar International Airport to 32,575 passengers for the period under study compared to 8,337 passengers for the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Sohar International Airport also fell by 27.4 per cent to 242 flights in January compared to 190 flights in January 2019.

Duqm Airport saw a fall in the total number of passengers by 5.1 per cent to 4,985 passengers at the end of January compared to 5,254 passengers for the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Duqm Airport until the end of January reached 52, which is the drop by 3.7 per cent compared to 54 flights in 2019, the report showed. - TradeArabia News Service
Sixty-five Democratic Texas House members penned a letter Tuesday urging Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a statewide stay-at-home order in the face of the intensifying coronavirus crisis.

We recognize a statewide order of this magnitude will have an unprecedented impact on Texans and their livelihoods; we did not come to this decision lightly, the letter reads. Each and every one of us are fully prepared to provide employees, employers, and families the necessary relief and support such an order will require. However, despite the hardship, the best science we have is clear that this is the best way forward for our state and our country.

Abbott, who is scheduled to give an update on the state's response at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, has resisted calls to do so, saying the decision needs to be up to local leaders and pointing to parts of the state that have not yet been hit hard with infections.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Local officials have the authority to implement more strict standards than I as governor have implemented in the state of Texas, "Abbott said Sunday. "If they choose to do so I would applaud them for doing so, but at this time it is not the appropriate approach to mandate that same strict standard across every area of the state, especially at a time when we are yet to see the results coming out of my most recent executive order."

Pressure has been mounting, however, as more and more of the states largest cities and counties make the move. In the last few days, cities and counties in the Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth and San Antonio areas have issued orders requiring residents to stay home.

For subscribers: Hidalgo orders stay-at-home for Harris County, closing most businesses through April 3

The Texas House members join a growing chorus of state and local leaders calling for more assertive action on the part of the governor. The Dallas and Forth Worth mayors and other officials and health care executives sent a letter to Abbott on Saturday asking for the same.

The lawmakers wrote that they agreed with them and other hospital officials who say the state is ill-prepared to handle an influx of COVID-19 patients in addition to the regular flow of emergency patients. They said the state needs more time to acquire more COVID-19 tests, personal protective equipment, ventilators and hospitals beds and to do more research and ultimately to protect Texans and health professionals lives.

In order to flatten the curve and give us time to win this war, we need to take immediate action, they wrote. We know that this can work if we act appropriately.
The Merivale empire has suspended most of its hospitality staff and handed the majority of them a $550 payment amid an industry-wide shutdown of bars and restaurants due to the coronavirus outbreak in NSW.

On Tuesday Sydney restaurateur Justin Hemmes announced the previous day's closure of Merivale's 70-plus venues, including The Ivy, Coogee Pavilion, Bar Totti's and Establishment, "for the forseeable future" after the federal government ordered the cessation of non-essential services, including pubs and clubs, on Sunday.

"I am completely heartbroken that this is happening but remain focused on the light at the end of the tunnel," Mr Hemmes said.

"It is a particularly devastating time for the hospitality industry, but nothing is more important than health. We wholeheartedly support government efforts to protect our country and will happily play our part to help stop the spread."
For the second time within one week, the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania, as well as the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health is making a plea for donors to give.

Dr. Rachel Levine, the state health secretary, reiterated Tuesday that donating blood is one way to help during the coronavirus outbreak. Blood donations are down across the country, which is causing a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations, according to the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania.

"Donating blood is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give or receive blood, the organization wrote on its website. Right now, eligible and healthy donors are strongly urged to make an appointment to give soon. But please postpone your donation for 28 days following travel to China, its special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Iran, Italy and South Korea, or if youve been diagnosed with or have had contact with anyone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
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A judge on Tuesday asked for more medical evidence before determining whether federal fraud convict Jack Holden, 79, should be considered for compassionate release during the coronavirus pandemic.

Oregons Federal Public Defender Lisa Hay urged in the meantime that the judge release Holden immediately to his daughters home pending her final decision.

Were going to watch this unfold and be horrified, because once it is spread in prison, we will not be able to stop it,'' Hay said during a hearing by phone before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown. "We should consider this urgent.''

But Assistant U.S Attorney Donna Maddux said the urgency cant preclude the time needed to collect all of Holdens medical records and review them as well as giving his victims a chance to weigh in.

Hay had argued in a motion Friday afternoon that Holden, who suffers from a heart condition and diabetes, is particularly susceptible to the new coronavirus while confined in the federal prison in Sheridan where social distancing is impossible and hand sanitizer is contraband because of its alcohol content.

Theres really not any way to keep the virus out of Sheridan, Hay told Brown. If we dont act now, it will probably be too late to get him out of the prison.

If Holden were to become infected with COVID-19, hed likely require hospitalization, she said. He will be one more strain on the health system that really cant handle that strain, she said.

Holden lives in a dorm with about 30 other inmates. He sits elbow-to-elbow with other inmates who now can talk only by phone with family or their attorneys, and the phones arent sanitized after each conversation, Hay told the judge.

Maddux countered that the victims in Holdens case are opposed to his release and should have be heard.

The government doesnt dispute the coronavirus pandemic is creating major problems, but Maddux noted that no federal inmate in Oregon has tested positive.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, there are three inmates and three staff in its prison system from across the country who have contracted the virus. Maddux said during the hearing that the bureau had confirmed Tuesday by phone that the number of federal inmates with COVID-19 had risen to six.

Maddux said theres no immediate risk as it pertains to Sheridan or Mr. Holden at this time and asked why Holden would be safer being released to live on home detention at his daughters house in Washington state, one of the epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

We dont believe weighing all these factors, theres an emergency created by COVID-19 in Sheridan that requires the court to make a decision today or go around the procedures that are in place, she said.

The judge set another hearing for April 1 and asked for medical records or other proof that Holdens physical or mental health has been deteriorating.

Holden has 21 months left on his sentence of seven years and three months for his 2016 conviction on mail and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges for his role in a fraudulent biodiesel scheme that spanned three continents.

He and co-defendant Lloyd Benton Sharp cheated 12 people who invested in a deal to produce the fuel in the West African nation of Ghana. When the plan failed, the two duped the investors into providing more money to support nonexistent projects to transport biodiesel from Argentina to Chile and to build biodiesel refineries in Chile, according to prosecutors.

Holdens hearing came as the largest federal union called on the Bureau of Prisons to cease transfers of untested inmates during the pandemic.

The American Federal of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, which represents federal prison employees, said the bureau is transferring some untested inmates from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. , where inmates are currently being quarantined after one tested positive for the virus, to three federal prisons in central Pennsylvania.

The transferring of inmates from a high-risk area, who have not yet been tested for the coronavirus, to a lower risk area has created a state of panic amongst staff and could potentially result in a medical crisis within the facilities, the health care system, and the central PA community, said Andrew Kline, president of AFGE Local 148 in Lewisburg, in a prepared statement.

Also Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to commute the federal prison sentences of those who are elderly or have chronic health conditions that make them exceptionally vulnerable to coronavirus. Among the other groups that signed the letter were Justice Action Network, The Sentencing Project and Justice Roundtable.

There are currently 175,000 people in about 100 federal prisons across the country. The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for another 75,000 people who are in custody awaiting trial in either local jails or private contract detention centers. Roughly 12 percent of prisoners are 55 or older, according to the prisons bureau.

In other action, a Columbia County inmate filed a federal civil suit against Columbia County, alleging his and other inmates rights are being violated for inadequate care and safeguards to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Attorneys Juan Chavez and David Sugarman filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland on behalf of inmate Michael Thompson and other inmates.

Thompson, 44, a diabetic, was booked into the Columbia County Jail on March 9 and remains in dormitory housing at the jail, living in a cell with three other inmates where he "has never, or almost never been more than six feet away'' from other inmates, Chavez said. The suit also alleges that the inmates lack adequate soap, laundry services and cleaning materials.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian https://twitter.com/maxoregonian

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Josh Anderson says his loved one, Natasha Ott, messaged him saying she felt like she was getting a cold, something like a tiny fever.

The next day Ott tried to go to a New Orleans hospital but was told itd be a week before she could see her doctor.

She settled for taking a flu test at her job, a healthcare clinic that serves the citys HIV population. She passed on taking one of the clinics five available coronavirus tests so someone else could, Anderson said.

That was Wednesday, March 11.

Ott was later tested for coronavirus on Monday, March 16, but found dead in her kitchen by Anderson on Friday. The results from her coronavirus test have not come back, Anderson wrote.

For those of you not fortunate enough to have known her - know this: its an immeasurable loss. And seeing a woman I knew to be so full of life lying on the floor lifeless was devastating, said Anderson. I was afraid to touch her. I held her anyway.

Anderson wrote that hed spoken with her just hours earlier.

"She wrote: Good morning! I love you. To my lasting shame, I replied: Morning, sunshine. How you feeling? wrote Anderson. "I very much wish Id said I love you back.

Anderson says though there is no evidence of her death being caused by COVID-19, he still hopes it serves as a wake-up call to the community and the government of the potential human cost of the virus.

He shared concerns that a healthcare facility aimed at HIV patients who are considered high-risk would only have 5 kits. He also shared concerns that Ott passed up the test partially because she is considered low risk.

Even if she was considered high risk for the virus, backups in the healthcare system like the one that delayed Ott from seeing her doctor could be widespread.

Health officials advise that those in similar situations should contact 211.

The time for joking about COVID-19 is over. Now is the time to keep yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else safe, wrote Anderson.

Copyright 2020 WAFB. All rights reserved.
While county leaders around the state are issuing stay-at-home orders as COVID-19 cases climb, County Judge Mark Keough said Tuesday he will not implement similar orders for Montgomery County.

As Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo hosted a press conference to announce a stay at home order, Keough released a statement that he would not follow her lead.

I believe they mean well and I believe they are trying to do the right thing for their people, but the fact of the matter is they have so many exemptions in (their order) that we have already allowed for, Keough said, referencing an order he signed March 18. To add additional orders on top of that to restrict us in more of our freedom (is) not what we are doing in Montgomery County.

In the March 18 order, all restaurants must cease all onsite dining operations but may continue to-go, takeout, delivery and catering operations. Additionally, all bars, clubs, gyms, movie theaters and amusement type businesses must cease all operations.

The order cancels any event sponsored or permitted by Montgomery County and events greater than 10 people at public facilities. Keough urged events greater than 10 people at private facilities to cease operations as well.

Retail stores, private businesses, clubs or civic organizations and religious organizations to include churches, synagogues, mosques or other places of worship are urged to comply with the CDC guidelines related to 10 persons gathering in any one place or at one time.

Retail stores who sell groceries or medical supplies are exempt from the order.

The order is in effect through April 3.

As of Monday, the county has logged 19 cases of COVID-19. Nine of those, Keough noted, are in south Montgomery County. The reason, he added, is a higher concentration of people. None of the 19 cases were in the city of Conroe.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
ROME (Reuters) - The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has grown by 602 to 6,077, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday, the smallest rise in numerical terms since Thursday, suggesting a clear downward trend.

The Civil Protection Agency initially said 601 people died on Monday, but the agency head told reporters the real number was 602. However, the agency said in a subsequent statement that a death had been wrongly added to Sunday's total, meaning the total tally on Monday was 6,077 not 6,078.

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 63,927 on Monday from a previous 59,138, an increase of 8%, the Civil Protection Agency said -- the lowest rise in percentage terms since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Of those originally infected nationwide, 7,432 had fully recovered on Monday compared to 7,024 the day before. There were 3,204 people in intensive care against a previous 3,009.

The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remained in a critical situation, with a total of 3,776 deaths and 28,761 cases. That compared with 3,456 deaths and 27,206 cases reported up to Sunday.

(This story makes clear total tally is 6,077 not 6,078)

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, editing by Gavin Jones)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during his New Year press conference at the presidential Blue House in Seoul

By Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Monday for a full investigation into a network of chat rooms at the heart of an operation to blackmail women and underage girls into sharing sexual images of themselves.

The National Police Agency told reporters that 124 suspects had been arrested and 18 operators of chat rooms on Telegram and other social media had been detained as a result of investigations into such sexual crimes since last September.

The perpetrators would attract victims through fake job ads and solicit compromising photographs. They would then threaten to release the photographs if the victims did not send images of increasingly degrading and violent acts, the police said.

At least 74 women, including 16 underage girls, were "virtually enslaved" for several months, police said. In some cases, the victims were blackmailed into committing violent acts on themselves.

Public outrage hit critical mass on Monday as a petition gathered over 2.3 million signatures - passing a threshold that requires the presidents office to respond.

The author of the petition urged the authorities to disclose the identity and the face of the man, who allegedly lured victims into taking nude images of themselves and shared them on a chat room on Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging app.

The petition also criticized other participants who paid as much as 1.5 million won ($1,187.32) to view the images.

Police said as a matter of policy they would not reveal the name of the man believed to be at the centre of the network, who went by the username "GodGod."

The presidential Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok told reporters that Moon considered the alleged crimes to be "a cruel act that destroyed human life" and that he had asked police to treat the case as a serious crime.

Moon also urged police to expand their investigation into the members of the chat rooms to change the perception of perpetrators who "hide behind anonymity".

Story continues

As digital sex crimes rise worldwide, South Korea has also become the global epicentre of spycam pornography - the use of tiny, hidden cameras to film victims naked, urinating or mid-sex.

Late last year South Korean, British and U.S. authorities said they had arrested 337 people worldwide, including 223 South Koreans, after knocking out a child pornography web site operated from South Korea.

($1 = 1,263.3500 won)

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha. Editing by Josh Smith and Simon Cameron-Moore)
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have requested international assistance in their response to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The relevant statement was published on NATO's website.

On 23 March, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) received a request for international assistance from the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their response to the global pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, the statement reads.

In order to prevent the spread of the virus in the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the EADRCC asks international partners to provide assistance to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine in supplying humanitarian assistance.

As of the morning of March 24, Ukraine confirmed 84 coronavirus cases, including three lethal ones. One patient recovered and was discharged from a hospital.

As known, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) is NATO's principal civil emergency response mechanism in the Euro-Atlantic area.

ish
ROELAND PARK, KS (AP) - Even before Rep. Sharice Davids quarantined herself in her Roeland Park home for possible COVID-19 exposure, she had largely switched her congressional office from physical to digital. And, like many of her constituents in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District, she's trying in her own way to settle in as COVID-19 rages across the planet, reports The Kansas City Star.
A judge has recommended that a Ghanaian national who raped a "blind drunk" student in Co Donegal be deported after his nine-year sentence.

And Mr Justice Alex Owens said a second man, also originally from Ghana who was also convicted of the same offence, "will be the author of his own misfortune" if his status as an Irish citizen is withdrawn.

Ghanaian nationals Boakye Osei (30), of Tooban, Burnfoot, Co Donegal, and Kelvin Opoku (33), of Cill Graine, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, had denied raping the woman in February 2015.

She had been out with her friend in a nightclub and the two women were walking home when they met Opoku and Osei. She got into their car believing the men had offered to take her to her home.

The woman told the trial that on a scale of one to 10 in terms of drunkenness, she was a 10 and about to pass out. A video shown to jurors showed the woman staggering around the apartment and later falling on the bathroom floor before the two men hold her up.

They took her into the bedroom where Opoku and then Osei raped her. The woman testified that she was "blind drunk" and could not and did not consent to sex.

Opoku claimed the woman had not been too drunk to consent and was an enthusiastic participant. Osei denied any sexual activity with her, despite forensic evidence.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Owens said he accepted that neither man set out to rape the woman. However they were fully aware of her incapacitation and prepared to take advantage of it.

He said that if Opoku had convinced himself of his innocence, he has not convinced anyone else. He sentenced both men to nine years and recommended that Opoku be deported following the his sentence.

The woman told the court she had to attend a hospital to be put on anti-HIV medicine and had decided that if she was diagnosed with HIV that she would kill herself.
Entire Haryana went under lockdown on Tuesday, a day after the state government issued the order to help check the spread of coronavirus, even as police arrested 90 people from across the state for flouting lockdown orders.

The state government had earlier ordered lockdown in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panchkula districts till March 31 but later decided to extend the measure to entire Haryana.

However, all essential and emergency services are exempted, officials said.

"As per reports collected from the field units, more than 60 FIRs have been registered and over 90 people who were not following orders were arrested on Tuesday. Hundreds of challans have been issued and vehicles of violators impounded," a Haryana police spokesperson said in a statement here.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk said that adequate numbers of police personnel were deployed at every interstate checkpoint.

DSP-rank officers have been deputed at 10 important entry points on national highways in the state from 8 am to 10 pm everyday till further orders. They will sort out various issues, if they so arise, regarding the lockdown.

Virk said that on the request of Ministry of External Affairs, instructions were issued to all districts to facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals. Several nationals of Brazil, Israel, Germany and Bhutan were assisted by Haryana Police in being evacuated, he said.

Virk said that DGP Haryana Manoj Yadava kept a close eye on the entire situation across the state and he is in constant touch with the all commissioners of police and district SPs,giving them directives to ensure strict compliance of government orders.

Several people who were facing difficulties in reaching hospital for treatment were transported by the police to various hospitals in the state as well as AIIMS, New Delhi. Simultaneously, on the request of telecom operators, instructions were issued to all districts to facilitate the movement of their engineers and other staff working to maintain services in the state, he said.

At some places, police had a tough time persuading people who were out for non-essential work and sending them back home.

In Bhiwani, at a check barrier, police on Tuesday had to deal with number of two-wheeler riders, many of them who were out for non-essential work.

"We are persuading them and sending them back to their homes," said a police personnel on duty at one such check barrier in Bhiwani.

In Jind, Rewari, Sirsa and Rohtak too, policemen were seen persuading and even warning people who were out non-essential work.

There were couple of instances where police made a group of youngsters to do sit-ups for defying the lockdown order and they warned them not to repeat it.

Police personnel and administration officials could be seen appealing to people to stay indoors at many places across the state.

ADGP Virk posted a series of tweets to explain to people what a lockdown means.

"It is a situation where because of a public health emergency all public and private offices/shops/ establishments are closed by law (except those exempted) and restrictions are imposed on movement of people," Virk said in one such tweet.

On public queries if they can come out to purchase essential items, Virk in another tweet, said, "If urgent you may go to buy essentials to a shop in your locality, either alone or at most be accompanied by one family member after following the social distancing norms."



During the lockdown, all commercial establishments, shops and factories will remain closed, except those dealing in essential commodities like food, groceries, medicines, officials said.

Other essential services such as water supply, sanitation and electricity supply are also exempted from the lockdown, the officials said. "We will ensure that the lockdown is strictly enforced, though essential and emergency services will be maintained," state Home Minister Anil Vij said earlier in the day.

Those violating the lockdown will invite punishment under the law, Vij warned while appealing to people to cooperate with the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
J ames Corden appeared emotional while reflecting on five years of The Late Late Show, which is currently off air amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Gavin & Stacey star, 41, made his US TV debut in 2015 when he took over as host and has since become a household name in the States.

In a video shared on social media, Corden explained that he and The Late Late Show producers had so many big plans for the anniversary episode, which would have aired on Monday had production not been suspended on March 13.

Looking back on the first show, Corden said: Im filled with nerves and excitement and a feeling of when that curtain opened and I walked out for the first time, I didnt know if I was going to fall flat on my face or if this was all going to be OK.

And I never thought that day that I would be here today talking to you five years on.

Corden, took over hosting duties on The Late Late Show from Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson, with Hollywood star Tom Hanks a guest on the opening night. The episode will air on Monday.

He also paid tribute to Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, who were among the first public figures to test positive for Covid-19.

He said: Our thoughts go out to him and Rita in Australia right now and our thoughts go out to all of you, wherever you are.

This is the strangest, strangest time and all weve ever wanted to do on our show is bring you some light in the dark, in the corner of your room every night and were going to do our best at some point to continue trying to do that.

Corden, then became emotional adding: Thank you for this last five years, for letting me talk to you every night. I never expected it to be quite the journey that its been.

The star also tweeted: "Five years ago today we filmed our first ever Late Late Show.

"Thanks to everyone whos watched and been part of it. Its been quite the unexpected ride, and well try to bring you a new show soon. J x."

Cordens Late Late Show stint has been hugely successful and his Carpool Karaoke segment attracts the biggest names in music including Justin Bieber and Adele.
French English

PRESS RELEASE

GROUPE RENAULT SHUTDOWNS PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES AT ITS INDUSTRIAL SITES IN LATIN AMERICA

Boulogne Billancourt, March 24, 2020  Groupe Renault announces the shutdown of production activities at industrial sites in Latin America until further notice, depending on the evolution of the health situation.

In order to protect its employees in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and in compliance with the measures taken by the various governments, Groupe Renault suspended production activities in the plants of Santa Isabel in Cordoba in Argentina, Curitiba in Brazil (4 sites), Envigado in Colombia and is ready to do the same in Cormecanica in Los Andes, Chile starting March 26.

These suspensions of industrial activities therefore concern nearly 9,000 employees spread over seven sites in four countries.

The group plans to restart production activity as soon as conditions permit and will implement appropriate measures to respond effectively to commercial demand.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Rie Yamane

rie.yamane@renault.com

Press Officer

+33 6 03 16 35 20

Attachment
Riyadh, March 24 : The B20 Saudi Arabia, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) in an open letter urged the G20 community to work in close coordination with the private sector to address the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed over 16,000 lives across the world so far.

The letter, signed by Yousef Al-Benyan, Chair of the B20 Saudi Arabia, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, and John W.H. Denton AO, ICC Secretary General, stated that to address the COVID-19 crisis, a coordinated global response is paramount to address the resulting health and economic issues as the pandemic continues.

From ensuring robust testing and ramping up equipment production to navigating trade issues and supporting small businesses and workers, the letter said that the private sector will be a crucial partner to the governments of the G20 member states and beyond as the world continues to navigate the crisis.

The letter, addressed to G20 leaders on Monday, stated: "A common framework for co-ordinated global action is necessary to support the national priorities that most G20 governments have announced in the recent days." Some of the key points highlighted in the letter are:



Substantially improve experience sharing and monitoringA pandemic of transborder impact calls for the G20 to substantially improve information and experience sharing, and coordinated monitoring, not just among Ministers and health officials, but also city mayors and administrators.

Ensure infection control and medical products reach the hands of those who need them the most Export bans or limits on the free flow of all necessary medical supplies, medicines, disinfectant, soap and persona! protective equipment are significantly hindering the global response effort. We note with severe concern the reported increase of export restrictions for essential health products. Given the globally integrated nature of medical supply chains, short-sighted trade restrictions will only exacerbate the potential long-term toll of a virus that crosses borders with ease.

Use the private sector to support testing.

Testing and contact tracing are essential to suppress and contain the pandemic. To meet this need for testing, the private sector should be allowed and encouraged to support government services for bath diagnostics and surveillance with mechanisms to assure quality and ensure reporting to national authorities.

Ramp-up production of medical equipment & disinfectants.

The G20 must substantially ramp-up domestic production of medical equipment and disinfectants to address severe shortages of protection essentials such as masks, soaps and sanitizers. Excess capacities in unrelated manufacturing sectors could be deployed for the urgent ramp-up. Governments must accelerate ail regulatory approvals, such as licenses and certifications, to urgently meet this need.

Ensure equitable access to essential medical supplies and health services.

G20 leaders must do all they can to ensure the accessibility and affordability of necessary medical supplies, focusing on the major cost drivers as well as, where applicable and where significant to pricing, import taxes, quotas, anti-hoarding mechanisms, and other government-imposed costs as well as ensuring appropriate logistics & supply chains , such as air cargo facilities, remain operational.

Increase international assistanceA crisis at home is no excuse to leave neediest behind and developing countries outside the G20 remain most vulnerable. We call on G20 leaders to significantly scale financial assistance to help the world's poorest countries deal with the likely effects of COVID-19 - bath by increasing aid funding for public health programmes and broader social and economic interventions.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As more Texas cities and counties enact stay-at-home orders, frustration is growing among conservatives who say the government is crossing a dangerous line.

After Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins became the first to announce a mandatory stay-at-home rule, conservative groups including Empower Texans began ringing alarms in opposition to Jenkins and to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who they say paved the way for the move.

Abbott had said he would applaud local leaders who felt they should issue stay-at-home orders for their communities.

Im extremely concerned about what Dallas Co just did, and Abbotts apparent sanctioning of it, Empower Texans president Ross Kecseg wrote on Twitter.

So far, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is the highest-ranking state official to echo those concerns.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

What Im living in fear of is what is happening to this country, Patrick said in a Fox News interview. I dont want the whole country to be sacrificed.

Patrick, who turns 70 next week, went on to say hed be willing to risk his own life and well-being to help preserve the way of life for other Americans  a statement that drew harsh rebukes on social media and inspired hashtags such as #DieForTheDow.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asked on Tuesday about comments such as Patricks, fired back: "My mother is not expendable, and your mother is not.

Human life is not disposable. We are not going to put a dollar figure on human life."

Critics of the stay-at-home orders are contradicting the advice of public health authorities at every level of government, from the World Health Organization to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to local health officials. Epidemiologists have stressed that keeping people apart is the best way to fight back against a new virus for which there is no vaccine, and that aggressive early steps are the only way to get ahead of COVID-19.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The discord in Texas mirrors what's going on at the national level with Republican governors showing more reluctance than Democratic ones, like Cuomo, to shutting down their states, said Timothy Callaghan, assistant professor of health policy and politics at the Texas A&M School of Public Health.

"On the one hand, they certainly want to protect the public health, but they are also afraid about hindering the freedoms of their citizens and they're also concerned about the economic impact of having society in many ways shut down," Callaghan said. "It's a tricky balancing act for many politicians on the conservative side."

Not only does that send Texans a mixed message but Callaghan said it could also reduce the effectiveness of the orders.

"If you want to see a true impact of flattening the curve throughout the state of Texas, it's important for it to be a statewide policy," Callaghan said. "Certainly in those areas that choose to enact some sort of shelter in place policy, you're going to see some effect, but we don't know if it's going to be a smaller effect than if the entire state had chosen to do something."

Freedoms taken away

Some Republicans at the city and county level have been more willing to embrace stay-at-home orders, such as Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and Fort Worth Mayor Betsey Price, who enacted their orders Tuesday.

Republican Collin County Judge Chris Hill sought a middle ground by issuing a stay-at-home but allowing most business to operate as long as social distancing practices are followed.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough is among those resisting taking actions that they believe would infringe on the rights of their constituents. The Tea Party-backed judge said Tuesday that the more that residents self-regulate, the less the government will have to intervene.

It is incumbent upon us as a county, as people, to self-regulate to keep from having our freedoms taken away, Keough said.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, was issuing warnings Tuesday as Harris County enacted its stay-at-home order. He called for Harris County and other governments to try other measures before enacting something as economically calamitous as a county-wide shutdown.

These are real economic losses and job losses for our local residents, said Bettencourt, who called for a "targeted, measured, data driven approach to achieve better social separation results."

Bettencourt said the lack of traffic in Houston suggests to him that social separation and previous orders were working, and that he did not see the need to take such an extreme step at this time.

For subscribers: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing for seniors to make sacrifices for the economy

Meanwhile, nearly every Democrat serving in the Texas House signed on to a letter to Abbott, joining a growing chorus of state and local leaders calling for more assertive action from him.

The mayor of Dallas and health care executives sent a similar letter to Abbott on Saturday requesting a statewide stay-at-home order. The Texas Hospital Association sent one on Monday.

The Democratic lawmakers wrote that a broad, statewide approach would slow the rate of new infections faster and protect all Texans, regardless of where they live.

The ranchers in West Texas deserve the same protections as doctors in Houston, they wrote. The farmers in Laredo are every bit as deserving of protection from COVID-19 as the bartenders in Austin.

Facing pressure both from the left and the right, Abbott is keeping his options open for a statewide order, though he said he was surprised by the number of cars on the road that he saw on his way to an afternoon news conference in Austin.

It's clear to me that we may not be achieving the level of compliance that is needed, Abbott said. That's why I said before, I remain flexible in my statewide standard.

Emily Foxhall contributed reporting from Houston.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com; taylor.goldenstein@chron.com
India Inc on Tuesday said the government's move to extend the deadline for filing income tax and GST returns and raise threshold of default that could trigger insolvency of a company would help businesses, especially MSMEs, tide over the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government has waived charges on cash withdrawals from ATMs of other banks as a precursor to a broader stimulus package for the economy distressed by the coronavirus outbreak.

"Waiver of penalty, late fee and interest on GST will also help industry cope up with the huge cash crunch, and thus, tide through these tough times," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said the extension of GST return filing timelines together with the deferment of e-invoicing and new returns announced earlier would allow businesses to focus on resumption of business processes once normalcy resumes in future.

Abhishek Jain, tax partner, EY, said, "Extended time for payment under the Sabka Vishwas Scheme as well is a welcome measure as companies were struggling for making the payment in the lockdown scenario."



Assocham President Niranjan Hiranandani said the industry looks forward for the broader economic packages like One time Roll Over for debt restructuring across the industries to be announced soon for resurrecting its economic health.

"These proactive steps are the need of the hour to mitigate some of the hardships that the businesses are going through," said Sohinder Gill, director general, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.

Suntuity Renewable Energy India Director (Operations) Imaan Javan said, "We express relief towards the finance minister's move of extending the date of filing IT and GST returns from March 31, 2020, to June 30, 2020. The decision taken by the finance minister is a timely move considering that the economy is on its knees as of now" said.

The last date for filing income tax returns for 2018-19 as well as that for linking PAN with Aadhaar has been extended by three months to June 30. The last date for filing GST annual returns for 2018-19, which is due on March 31, has also been extended till the last week of June.

As the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns across cities create large-scale economic disruption, Sitharaman announced that the threshold of loan default that could trigger insolvency proceedings has been raised to Rs 1 crore from the existing Rs 1 lakh now.

With lockdowns restricting movements, the government waived a minimum balance fee on the savings bank account as well as allow charge-free withdrawals from any bank ATM for three months. Also, bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers have been reduced.

For companies, it relaxed mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the board of directors by 60 days and waived the fee for late filings during the moratorium period.

Stating that the announcements done on Tuesday were to ease the burden of compliance on citizens during the lockdown period, Sitharaman said an economic relief package was in the works and it will be announced "sooner rather than later".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- With the coronavirus spreading throughout Oregon, health care workers have expressed the urgent need for protective gear for first responders in various industries.

Many in Lane County have been searching for ways to do their part during this time.

One Springfield man said he understands how critical protective gear is and started a project over the weekend to create a face shield using a 3D printer.

RELATED: FIREFIGHTERS TAKING STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS

Supplies these days are very low, Robert Asumendi said. The 3D printing community came together over the last few days and figured out that we can produce these all over the world with the printers we have. We can assemble these face shields and at least provide some relief.

The shields will be sent to medical professionals and other first responders who are in desperate need of supplies. The shield help prevent workers from touching their faces and also serve as protection from any infectious materials.

MORE: USED FACEMASKS AND BANDANAS: HOW THE CDC IS WARNING HOSPITALS TO PREPARE FOR CORONAVIRUS SHORTAGES

Asumendi works in connection with Repkord in California for the printing.

I think it's really important that we start thinking about what our local manufacturing capacity is and to be able to meet these kinds of needs as quickly as possible, Asumendi said.

Asumendi started a GoFundMe page Monday to raise money to purchase more material for the local production of the shields.
Xiaomi's sub-brand unveiled the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro Max a couple of weeks ago, and the Pro model has already undergone a very successful first online sale in India. The next one is coming on March 24.

On the other hand, the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max was initially supposed to be up for grabs on March 25. However, its first sale has now been delayed indefinitely. The sad news comes straight from Redmi's official Indian Twitter account.

 ANNOUNCEMENT:



Due to recent state lockdowns across the Nation, we're postponing the 1st sale of #RedmiNote9ProMax to a later date.



We'd like to confirm that the sale of #RedmiNote9Pro WILL HAPPEN as scheduled, tomorrow (24th) at 12 noon. 



Thank you! #NoMiWithoutYou  pic.twitter.com/h69wBRnoNw  Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) March 23, 2020

The company blames "recent state lockdowns across the Nation" for the worrying news. It says the release has been postponed to a later date, without providing any more details. Of course, it will announce the new date of the first sale before it commences, so stay tuned and we'll update you on any developments. For now, it looks like the Note 9 Pro Max is out of reach still.
President Lyndon B. Johnson hands a pen to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after signing the historic Civil Rights Act in the East Room of the White House on July 2, 1964. (AFP/Getty Images)

Retropolis The Past, Rediscovered
A senior Iranian official Tuesday ruled out "foreign" help on the ground to deal with the coronavirus epidemic after an offer from a France-based medical charity, as the country's death toll from the illness neared 2,000.

"Due to Iran's national mobilisation against the virus and the full use of the medical capacity of the armed forces, it is not necessary for now for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and their presence is ruled out," Alireza Vahabzadeh, advisor to Iran's health minister, said on Twitter.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had said Sunday that it planned to send a nine-member team and equipment to set up a 50-bed hospital, stirring opposition from ultra-conservative circles in the Islamic republic who charged that MSF staff would serve as "spies".

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour earlier said a record 1,762 new cases have been confirmed in Iran over the past 24 hours and 24,811 people are now known to have been infected with the new coronavirus.

He announced 122 new deaths from the virus, raising the official toll to 1,934 in one of the world's worst hit countries.

Iran has the fourth highest official death toll from the coronavirus after Italy, China and Spain but, unlike those countries, it has yet to impose any lockdown on its citizens.

On the contrary, the country is in the midst of the two-week Persian New Year holiday when the country's roads fill with people visiting family.

Despite the authorities' appeals for people to stay home and the closure of shopping and leisure centres, many people have taken to the roads as usual this year.

Jahanpour, however, announced that when government offices reopen on Tuesday, many civil servants will be working from home.

"Only around a third of government staff are authorised to work in the office and only for administrative tasks vital to the public," he said, adding that all offices would practise "social distancing".

The country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to follow state instructions "so that Almighty God will put an end to this calamity for the Iranian people, for all Muslim nations and for all mankind".

On Tuesday, the UN rights chief called for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran facing the new coronavirus pandemic to be "urgently re-evaluated" to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse.

Iran has been under crippling US sanctions in connection with its nuclear programme.

"At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended," Michelle Bachelet said.

Even before the pandemic, she pointed out that human rights reports had repeatedly emphasised the impact of sectorial sanctions on access to essential medicines and medical equipment in Iran, including respirators and protective gear for healthcare workers.

Bachelet's office stressed that more than 50 Iranian medics had died since the first COVID-19 case was detected in the country five weeks ago.

Adding to Iran's woes, floods caused by heavy rainfall since Sunday, mainly in western provinces, have killed at least 12 people and left two others missing, a spokesman for Iran's rescue services told AFP.

Mojtaba Khaledi said that warnings have been issued of more heavy rains for later this week in western Iran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An American travel writer is flying around the world in an attempt to be reunited with her three-year-old son, according to Huffpost.

Imani Bashir has not seen her husband and child for a month after borders closed, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Bashir moved with her husband and son to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus is said to have originated in 2019 for work.

Ms Bashir told Huffpost that it has been surreal to have been involved with the pandemic from the start.

We lived in the centre of this while it was developing and before it had a name, she said. For it to follow us, its so depressing and its so stressful. 

The family were originally stranded in Malaysia after travelling there for Chinese New Year just before coronavirus cases started rising in Wuhan.

They couldnt go back home and were left with only the luggage they had brought for their holiday.

When other countries started to close their borders in early March, Ms Bashir was in the US doing speaking engagements, while her husband was in the Czech Republic with their son.

Ms Bashir decided she needed to leave the US then if she was going to be with her family and got on a plane to the Czech Republic.

Once she arrived at her layover in Amsterdam she was told she couldnt fly to her destination as they had closed their border, so the writer flew to London to stay with relatives, and has been there ever since.

Recommended Wuhan eases coronavirus lockdown for first time in weeks

She understands that for many the effects of the outbreak are new, but for her and her family it has been a long process.

Thats one thing that a lot of people really dont understand because theyve just been in one place dealing with (the outbreak), she said. But for us, this has been since December 2019.

The writer hasnt seen her husband and their son for over a month, but is dogged in her determination to be reunited with her family, telling Huffpost that she will do anything to be reunited with them.

As far as getting to my husband and my son, I will risk my life for that, said Bashir. Getting them to me is the most important thing right now.
March 22, 2020 will go down in history as one of the darkest days for the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) after five of its employees, including senior officials died after an horror crash in Tanga region.

The Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) confirmed five of their employees died, four on the spot, when a rescue train collided with a trolley car number HDT - 3 between Mwakinyumbi and Gendagenda station along Ruvu and Mruanzi Junction railway line.

TRC named the deceased as Transport Manager- Tanga Zone Ramadhani Gumbo, Engineer Fabiola Moshi (Passenger wagon maintenance manager- Dar es Salaam Zone) and the Assistant Transport Manager- Dar es Salaam Zone Joseph Komba.

Others are the Rail Infrastructure Security Specialist Philibert Kajuna and a trolley car driver George Urio.

The quintets demise is certainly a huge loss to the rejuvenated railway transportation sector and the tragic incident comes a few months after the revival of the northern route train, which resumed operations from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro last December.

According to the statement issued yesterday by TRC Spokesperson, Ms Jamila Mbarouk, the accident involved six TRC officials, with four dying on the spot, while two were rushed to Magunga District Hospital in Korogwe, Tanga region.

Ms Mbarouk pointed out that one of the victims passed away at around 23:00 on Sunday, making a total of five deaths.

The injured victim by the name of Elizabeth Bona, a Railway Flag woman is still recuperating in hospital, said Ms Mbarouk.

The cause of the accident is yet to be established as investigation into the matter was to involve several authorities, said the TRC spokesperson.

The government has revived the train transport between Dar es Salaam and Northern regions. Whereas the passenger route began early December, the Tanga-Moshi cargo train services had started since July, last year following extensive repair work on the rail line after it was out of use for 12 years.

Some 800 tonnes of cement from Tanga Cement were transported to Moshi on the re-launch of the cargo train services expected to provide reliable freight transport between the port of Tanga and the northern regions of Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara.




NHS workers and doctors all over the country are revealing how they have been forced to say goodbye to their families for months as they battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

With many of the medics working long, hard hours caring for the sick and the elderly, they have decided to isolate themselves from loved ones to protect them from the killer virus.

Taking to social media, they have shared their plight to try and appeal to Brits to stay home and stop the spread of the illness.

In a video shared online, tearful Chanice Cushion, who works at Southend Hospital in Essex, urged Brits to do all they can to minimise the spread of the virus as she shared her heartbreak at having to move away from her daughter, two.

She posted the clip on Facebook yesterday and said that she had made the decision with her partner to protect their daughter and her vulnerable mother-in-law, who has chronic asthma.

Describing how her daughter was 'going about her day as normal' as she packed to leave, Chanice welled up and explained how she told her 'mummy's going away for a little while'.

She said: 'She's a two-year-old, she doesn't understand. I left home earlier, and I said ''mummy's going away for a little while. Mummy's got work.''

'And she said, ''Mummy, I come''. I said ''no baby, you can't. I said I'm going to Nanny's house and Nanny's going to stay here with you.''

'So today's my first day of 12 weeks away from my kid, and it's very hard. So I said my goodbyes to her and, as a normal parent would do, started to cry.

'She just looked at me and went ''Mummy, why are you sad''. I didn't know how to answer it, so I just replied with ''Mummy is sad''.

'She grabbed her sleeve and she was wiping my tears away with her sleeve and said ''don't cry Mummy''.'

In a video shared online, tearful Chanice Cushion, who works at Southend Hospital in Essex, urged Brits to do all they can to minimise the spread of the virus

She said hospital staff are 'basically suspecting anyone' who comes through the doors with either a cough or temperature of having coronavirus

The video has been shared more than 80,000 times online, and she has received thousands of comments of support.

Breaking down into tears, Chanice added: 'I've had to leave my daughter for three months because I don't want to put her in that vulnerable situation.

'She has no idea what's going on. No idea at all.'

And Chanice says she is petrified of going in to work.

She said hospital staff are 'basically suspecting anyone' who comes through the doors with either a cough or temperature of having coronavirus.

The medical emergency assistant said: 'Guys, you need to stay indoors.

'I'm petrified of going to work - I'm petrified - but I have to go to work.

'You have to stay indoors. There is nothing so special out there for you to be going out.

Nick Dennison, who works at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, made the 'difficult choice' to treat the country's sickest patients, exposing himself to being infected

'Yeah, the sun's shining - you might be dead in a few weeks because you wanted to go out and get some fresh air and mingle with people and not keep a two-metre distance.

'You need to really get your priorities straight. Go home, stay home, protect your children, protect the vulnerable people that you could potentially be infecting.

'Shelves are being stripped of fruit, veg, meat. I even struggled to get eggs.

'It just seems so surreal. How are the NHS workers supposed to stay healthy and fit when we've got nothing to feed us, we've got nothing to build our energy.

'Just stay indoors and if you need to come out, one person come out from a family and go do what they've got to do, then go straight home.

'Get straight in the shower, wash your hands for 20 seconds. You need to be so vigilant guys.'

Jenny Hawkins (pictured) , from Surrey, whose husband has cystic fibrosis pleaded with the public on Facebook to stay at home, revealing she has had to move out of her home so she can 'give her all' to the health service

Nick Dennison, who works at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, made the 'difficult choice' to treat the country's sickest patients, exposing himself to being infected - and has explained the personal sacrifices he and other NHS heroes have to make to battle the deadly Covid-19.

Mr Dennison says that 'the public health message is not getting through', adding that 'a lot of people are going to die.' He is now urging Britons to follow their Government's advice and socially isolate.

In a moving Facebook post, Mr Dennison wrote: 'My son turned three years old last week and is six weeks into a three year chemotherapy program for lymphoma. This virus is a big threat to his life and as I am going to be exposed this week doing my job, I can no longer live at home.'

Anaesthetist Jenny Hawkins, from Surrey, wrote on Facebook that she is moving out of the home she shares with her husband, who has cystic fibrosis, in order to protect him and to continue working on the frontline at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust.

She asked people to listen to government advice so that she could return home to her husband soon, saying 'I dont think Im asking you to sacrifice anywhere near what Im having to.'

The moving post has gained 199,000 likes and 182,000 shares and Jenny was praised by friends for her 'amazing' sacrifice and told they were 'so proud' of the effort she was putting in.

One wrote: 'Jenny your amazing . Everyone stay at home.'
[March 24, 2020] Foresite Offers Free Emergency COVID-19 Cybersecurity Services for Small to Medium Enterprises

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Many businesses have adopted O365 as an important remote collaboration solution. Cybersecurity monitoring O365 can be a challenge for many businesses. Foresite will monitor the security for your O365 deployment ensuring you are off to a safe start. Free Vulnerability Patch Management Assessment: We can provide deep insight into critical missing patches, asset inventory, and software installed on your endpoints. This is of concern right now as many businesses deployed thousands of new mobile devices, many not configured to control security objectives appropriately or meet compliance standards.

We can provide deep insight into critical missing patches, asset inventory, and software installed on your endpoints. This is of concern right now as many businesses deployed thousands of new mobile devices, many not configured to control security objectives appropriately or meet compliance standards. Free Cybersecurity Advice: If you have questions about cybersecurity or compliance best practices, we want to help. Simply reach out to us at [email protected] . "In these challenging and uncertain times, we are here for our customers and partners to help them make good decisions regarding their cybersecurity execution," said Brungardt. "We will work together to make sure businesses are operating as securely as possible doing our part to see them through this crisis. We are all in this together." About Foresite Foresite is a global provider of managed security, cyber consulting, and compliance services focused on delivering comprehensive solutions to protect our clients from increasingly persistent cyberthreats. Foresite's solutions empower organizations with vigilance and expertise to proactively identify, respond, and remediate cyberattacks and breaches. For more information, visit us at https://foresite.com or contact us at [email protected].







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Nesmi Orslom relished his Cuba vacation to the very end: "In every city that we went, to every bar to have a drink, we always ordered a pina colada or a mojito!" But now he is in a hurry to leave, anxious to get out of a country that on Tuesday is set to start isolating tourists due to the new coronavirus. The 34-year-old arrived in Cuba on March 10 for the honeymoon he has spent the better part of a year planning. Did he picture the trip ending up like this? "Absolutely not," he said. "When we left the situation was very different than how it is now" -- both in the Netherlands, which at that point had not instituted any lockdown measures, and in Cuba, where the first confirmed case was reported March 11. Now Orslom is waiting in line at the Air France counter at the airport in Havana, hoping to find a flight out. From Tuesday, Cuba -- which has so far counted 40 cases of the new coronavirus, which the government says have all been "imported" -- will close its borders to tourists for a month and isolate in hotels those who remain. "If we can go home today, it will be a relief," Orslom said. Air France is set to suspend its daily flight from Havana starting Wednesday, leaving the embassy to take care of special arrangements. France's Air Caraibes and Panama's Copa Airlines will also stop their flights the week after. Spain's Iberia and Air Europa have cut back on their services. - Open borders - As Latin American countries slowly began to close themselves off from the outside world against the threat of the virus over the last few weeks, Cuba continued to try to woo tourists -- who brought in $3.3 billion in 2018 -- with wide-open borders and touting itself as a safe destination. Now those tourists wander nervously around Havana airport, looking for flights home, under ads touting the picturesque Varadero beaches, trips in vintage cars and charming Cuban music. "Better to be confined at home than elsewhere," said 57-year-old Regine Paumer, who arrived from Nantes, France on March 16 with her husband -- but without their friends, who canceled at the last minute. "We don't speak Spanish, a little English," she said. "It's a bit of a hassle." When President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Friday the move to close the country's borders in just three days, there were 60,000 tourists still on the island, including 5,000 French and 10,000 Canadian travelers. By Monday, the government said only 32,500 remained: 3,000 French, 1,500 Spanish and several thousand Canadians, according to diplomatic sources. - 'We are stuck' - Sitting on the floor near her suitcase, 26-year-old Alice Careil tried to keep her spirits up. "I'm a little tan, so we did take little advantage of (the trip)," she said. "After that, it's true that we were a little tense over the last few days." She and her partner arrived March 14 and had planned to stay until Wednesday. "We were told to come back to France quickly," she said. But their Air Caraibes flight was already canceled. Since then, she has been frustrated. "We have to register on a list to get a place on Air France," she said. "There are not very many (seats), and there are already 400 names." She waited at the airport from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Sunday and came back at 9:30 am Monday. Tourists are still allowed to stay after Tuesday. But "things change very quickly," said Careil. "There are some countries, really not far, in South America, that have completely closed their borders. So if things change in two days, we are stuck. We are not going to spend a month here, even if it is really pretty!" And they would still need to find somewhere to stay. Many homestay casas have closed their doors to tourists, meaning they have to find lodging at state-run hotels, which can be three or four times more expensive. Slovenian Mara Marinich, 62, was due to go home Tuesday. "I had a return ticket through Alitalia from Havana to Rome to Trieste, but all of my flights were canceled," she said. At the casa she was staying, she was told everyone had to leave. "I don't have the money to buy another ticket," she said. And "I don't have the money to pay for a hotel." Stranded passengers line up looking for a flight to return to their countries, at Havana's Jose Marti airport Cuba will close its borders to tourists for a month from March 24 and isolate in hotels those who remain Cuba had been touting itself as a safe destination even as its neighbors were beginning to close themselves off French tourist Regime Paumier said she would rather be confined at home Airlines have cut services and there are waiting lists for flights out
Fearing a surge in coronavirus cases after the arrival of a large number of NRIs from abroad, the Punjab government on Tuesday sought an assistance of Rs 150 crore from the Centre to combat the outbreak of the infection.

As the virus is being mainly transmitted by people returning from abroad, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu pointed out in his letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan that the state has the maximum number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) and 90,000 of them have already arrived.

"Many of them have symptoms of COVID-19 and are further spreading the disease through their contact/transmission," Sidhu wrote, stressing that the number of patients is "going to increase alarmingly".

Punjab has so far seen 23 coronavirus cases.

"To contain this dreadful disease, Punjab has made stringent plans up to the grassroots level. We are setting up ICUs, isolation wards etc. We require extra manpower, specialists, intensivists, anesthetists, pulmonologists, doctors and nurses. We also require medicines, logistics, ventilators and many other items," the minister wrote.

"To meet these urgent demands and rise to the occasion to defeat this disease, Punjab state requires additional funds of minimum Rs 150 crore from the Government of India. This is of utmost importance and as promised by the GOI, this amount be released at the earliest to strengthen the state medical services, Sidhu said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

MUMBAI: A day after the historic rout, equity benchmark Sensex bounced back to close 693 points higher on Tuesday as investors noted governments across the world taking prompt economic measures to offset the financial damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian equities followed an improved investor sentiment in Asia after the Federal Reserve announced limitless bond-buying programme to support the US economy.

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Meanwhile, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help through the coronavirus lockdown was in works even as fresh cases of virus spread reported from various parts of the country.

After gyrating 1,823.97 points, the BSE barometer gave up some gains to end 692.79 points or 2.67 per cent higher at 26,674.03. It hit an intra-day high of 27,462.87 and a low of 25,638.90.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 190.80 points, or 2.51 per cent, down at 7,801.05. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, HUL, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries, while M&M, IndusInd Bank, ITC, PowerGrid and L&T were among the losers.

According to experts, a major package from the government of India and the Reserve Bank is expected shortly, and the market is likely to remain hugely volatile with rising possibility of V shaped recovery occasionally.

The US Fed is now leading from the front with its historic package which includes open-ended purchase of securities, direct loans to companies, purchase of corporate bonds, lending against student loans and credit card loans, they said.

The Federal Reserve on Monday announced it will buy unlimited amounts of US Treasury debt -- essentially printing money for the economy -- as well as new steps to lend directly to small- and medium-sized companies that have been among the hardest-hit as economic activity dries up.

Other central banks are also expected to follow suit with bold measures to ease the severely strained credit and financial markets, experts noted.

Traders said extreme lockdown measures taken by the government of India and authorities across the world still weigh on global investor sentiment.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rallied up to 8 per cent. Exchanges in Europe too rallied up to 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated marginally against the US dollar to 76.17 (intra-day). Global crude benchmark, Brent crude futures rose 5.22 per cent to USD 28.44 per barrel.

Coronavirus cases in India crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

The number of global Covid-19 infections has shot past 3,80,000. Worldwide fatalities topped 16,500.
A sporty 28-year-old coronavirus patient has described how the 'cruel' disease almost killed him within days of him first feeling sick.

Micheal Prendergast, from Kerry in Ireland, described having an acute shortness of breath, a sky-high temperature and convulsions which wracked his body as it tried to fight off the disease.

After being placed in quarantine in hospital he said he started contemplating his own mortality, and is sure he would have died without care.

Micheal Prendergast, 28, from Kerry in Ireland, said he caught coronavirus two weeks ago while working in London before flying home to Ireland because he had no symptoms

Speaking to the News Talk show in Ireland, he said: 'I thought [it would be mild] before I got it.

'But once I was experiencing the sickness with it, it brings every sort of existential question with it

"Am I going to live? Have I lived a good life? Did I waste time?" It's a very emotional time.'

Mr Prendergast explained to Sky News that he likely caught the disease while working in London and a journalist, but had no symptoms for the first few days.

Trying to avoid a lockdown in the UK capital, he caught a flight back to Ireland where he arrived on March 16 and went to visit his mother.

But the following day he woke up with a 'horrific shortness of breath and a sky-high temperature', two tell-tale signs of the illness.

The following day his temperature spiked even higher and he began convulsing in bed as his body tried to fight the infection.

Within 48 hours of falling ill Mr Prendergast was rushed to hospital with acute shortness of breath, convulsions and a soaring fever - and at one point was so ill he thought he would die

On March 19 he called an ambulance and was taken to Kerry General Hospital and placed on their coronavirus ward in isolation, where he has spent the last five days.

Mr Prendergast said the only underlying condition he has is mild asthma, which he has under control and has not suffered a bout in years.

He has previously been in hospital for a broken spine, a collapsed lung and pneumonia - one of the side-effects of the virus - but said this disease is worse.

'It comes in waves,' he added, 'so I could feel... I wouldn't feel great, I would still feel poorly, but I would get a wave that would last four or five hours.

'That would be the most intense, overwhelming feeling, a temperature spike... it makes you just feel like you're not far from death.'

While he now feels like he's through the worst of the disease, he said he is confident that he wouldn't be alive without access to a hospital bed.

In a stark warning to young people, who are thought to be less vulnerable to the virus, he said: 'This is just a warning to anyone out there. I see recently people at beaches, at parks, at gyms.

Global coroanvirus cases are set to top 350,000 with more than 15,000 deaths as world health authorities warn that cases are still spiking in Europe and the US

'If you don't get affected as bad as I have, I guarantee that your parents or your aunts and uncles or your grandparents are going to be, and this virus is a killer.'

Ireland has so-far confirmed 1,125 cases of coronavirus with six deaths from the disease, including two men who died in the east of the country in recent days.

Authorities in Dublin are expected to announce new measures to curb the spread of the illness on Tuesday, including potential bans on non-essential travel, bans on public gatherings, and telling non-essential workers to stay at home.

It comes after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an unprecedented lockdown of the UK on Monday night, telling everyone to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to leave - with pans on gatherings of two people or more.

The moves are aimed at 'flattening the curve' of infection to stop health services being overwhelmed, causing death-rates to spike.

Globally, coronavirus has infected upwards of 350,000 people with world health authorities warning that cases are still spiking, with Europe and the US the new hotspots of infection.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 18:19:58|Editor: huaxia

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Members of Palestinian Civil Defense sterilize a street at Gaza port in Gaza City, March 24, 2020. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

GAZA/RAMALLAH, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The spread of COVID-19 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has pushed the Palestinians to present various initiatives of social solidarity that aim at easing the impact of the crisis.

The initiatives, launched by individuals, groups or civil society organizations, coincided with the tightened precautionary measures taken by the Palestinian Authority to contain the spread of the virus.

Bakker Qaoud, a pediatric neurologist who treats critical cases at one of Gaza City's hospitals, announced on Monday his willingness to provide free medical services and advice to patients unable to go to hospital for treatment.

"I'm even ready to visit patients at home at any time they need," Qaoud told Xinhua, adding his initiative came in the light of the hard living conditions of the population in the Gaza Strip.

This initiative aims "to protect patients, mainly children and the elderly as well as ordinary people from being infected with COVID-19, especially after two cases were recorded in Gaza on Saturday," he noted.

"Patients with various diseases and illnesses can contact me by phone for medical consultation or any help they need round the clock," said Qaoud.

Eassam Abu Taha, a businessman from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, decided to finance meals for those who are under quarantine in various schools and medical centers across the Gaza Strip.

Over the past two weeks, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has placed hundreds of passengers who returned through Rafah border crossing with Egypt under quarantine at schools, hotels and medical centers for 14 days.

"Delivering meals to people is to ease their conditions at quarantine centers and strengthen social solidarity in the Gaza Strip. It is so important in such difficult circumstances that we are passing through," said Abu Taha.

"Around 1,300 people are held at 17 different mandatory quarantine centers all over the Gaza Strip for 14 days to ensure they are free of coronavirus," Majdi Dheir, director of preventive medication in the Gaza Health Ministry, told Xinhua.

Two arrivals in Gaza through Rafah border crossing from a visit to Pakistan were infected with the virus and put under quarantine at the crossing point, Dheir said.

Tamer Mansour, who owns a factory that produces sanitation materials and cosmetics, delivered packs of sterilizers, antiseptics and alcohol to the two patients infected with the coronavirus.

"The delivery of these materials is part of the social solidarity and responsibility to back the people in times of crisis, especially in the hard humanitarian situation we are passing through in Gaza," Mansour told Xinhua.

Various groceries, vegetable and fruit stores delivered food to hundreds of people under quarantine, while women and mothers inside the quarantine centers received flowers and roses.

Ibrahim Melhem, spokesman of the Palestinian government, told reporters in Ramallah on Monday that Israel had transferred 25 million U.S. dollars to the Palestinian Treasury as part of the 300-million-dollar tax revenues Israel has been withholding for several months, in order to help the Palestinian government combat the spread of the COVID-19 in the West Bank.

Earlier this week, Qatar donated 125 million dollars for humanitarian projects in the Gaza Strip to help combat the coronavirus, according to a statement issued by the office of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

In the West Bank, several popular initiatives of social solidarity were also launched as people delivered meals to those staying in different quarantine places.

Others began to sterilize roads and streets as well as government establishments and restaurants. Besides, they launched social media campaigns to educate people about the virus and how to curb it.

Raed Debei, a social media activist from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said the campaigns on social media have grown since the first COVID-19 case was recorded.

Palestine so far has recorded 60 cases of the novel coronavirus, including two in the Gaza Strip.
New Jersey is releasing almost 500 people from jail as the coronavirus spreads statewide, according to data provided Tuesday by the public defenders office. Some of the inmates have already been released and the others will be set free in the coming days, officials said.

Citing the profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19, the state Supreme Court issued an emergency order late Sunday directing the release of inmates serving jail time as a result of probation sentences or municipal court convictions.

More than 800 people were flagged for possible release, but county prosecutors objected to more than 300. Those cases must now be heard by a judge.

Gov. Phil Murphy called the release groundbreaking Monday.

Some counties in states like California have taken steps to reduce inmate populations to help contain the spread of the virus, but a Murphy spokesperson said the consent order in New Jersey is the first collective statewide action of this kind.

It applies to certain inmates serving jail sentences of a year or less for low-level crimes. The offenders either violated probation or were convicted of municipal court violations like driving while intoxicated or disorderly persons charges.

Middlesex is set to release at least 64 people, more than any other county, while some areas will see only a handful sent home.

In Monmouth, Sheriff Shaun Golden said inmates given the green light had to answer four questions, including if they had a place to stay. One inmate didnt want to leave because he had nowhere to go, Golden said. (The order allows inmates to refuse release, at least initially.)

Others left Tuesday morning. Most used jail-issued bus tickets, he said, while some were picked up by family members.

Golden said while he understands the decision to release some inmates, he takes issue with the fact that some have been convicted of resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, child endangerment and domestic violence.

I think its absurd that they made the list and we have to contest these individuals, Golden said. We still dont have a clear picture as to what happens after this crisis is over.

Prosecutors in some counties objected to more cases than others. Burlington and Cumberland are fighting the majority of inmates flagged for possible release, according to the data, while Bergen only objected to three of its 38 eligible inmates.

We do not want to ... release someone in order to protect their health today, and find that they die of an overdose tomorrow, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement. Many objections were based on concerns that an inmate might hurt themselves, Coffina said, while others stemmed from records that suggested compulsive criminal conduct.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said 21 of the people her office opposed releasing were also inmates awaiting trial for other charges. Since the court order does not apply to that group, Webb-McRae said the numbers distorted how many releases they were actually fighting.

In Bergen, the three people blocked from release were chosen because of flight risk, criminal history and possible danger to a victim, according to Elizabeth Rebein, spokesperson for the Bergen County Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors were also told to notify crime victims.

Im a career prosecutor and I take no pleasure in temporarily releasing or suspending county jail sentences, even for the lowest level inmates, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday. But this is the most significant public health crisis we face in our states history. And its forcing us to take actions that we wouldnt consider during normal times.

Grewal said the decision to take bold and drastic steps came after reports surfaced of how jails in New York can be incubators for disease. Corrections officers in Bergen and Morris counties have already tested positive for COVID19, as did a superior officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

Before inmates are released, Grewal said the state will need to ensure they have a safe place to go and that services will be provided to those inmates who need them, such as medical treatment or housing.

To be clear, all of these individuals will have to comply with the same stay at home orders that are in effect right now, Grewal said. And theyll have to complete their sentences when our public health emergency concludes."

Judges will decide at the end of the emergency declaration whether to return people to jail or sentence them to time served.

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NJ Advance Media reporter Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.

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The government in Thailand closed at least 19 checkpoints, including the major border crossing at Poipet town, causing thousands of Cambodian migrant workers to rush back to the country over the weekend.

The Thai government closed 19 checkpoints on Monday, only allowing the transport of goods, including smaller pushcarts used by transportation workers ferrying products across the border, reported the Bangkok Post.

Reports have come in over the weekend of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers returning to the country before the border crossings were closed.

Meng Huy, a 43-year-old market seller in Rong Kleu Market just across the border in Thailand, said he crossed back with his wife immediately after finding out about the announcement.

I only worry about those who come from Bangkok or from China and enter Cambodia, he said. I am not worried about my family because we only stayed in the market and had our temperatures checked by both Thai and Cambodian authorities.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng, speaking at a public event in Phnom Penh, said that around 15,000 Cambodians had come back from Thailand and entered Cambodia through Poipet checkpoint over the weekend.

Actually, we do not have enough capacity to monitor all of them; neither do we have ability to quarantine all them for 14 days, he said.

Instead, he asked provincial authorities to instruct people returning from Thailand to enter into self-quarantine for 14 days.

Please explain to them not to touch each other, he said. If there is any one in the village who is positive, quarantine the whole family or the whole village.

The ministers suggestion to quarantine an entire village is the first instance of a government official suggesting a some form of a lockdown, beyond the restrictions already in place.

However, it was unclear how the government would monitor this large influx of people, given that it has yet to enforce any large-scale restrictions on peoples movements, except for shutting down schools and banning public gatherings at movie theaters, concerts etc.

Sum Chankea, Banteay Meanchey provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, says the authorities were not adequately prepared to enforce health and safety measures for a large group of people.

It is authorities responsibility. They have not prepared anything. They only talk. So where can we keep all of the [people]? he said.

VOA Khmer could not reach Or Vandine, Ministry of Health spokesperson, and Um Reatrey, Banteay Meanchey provincial governor. The Thai Embassy in Cambodia did not respond to requests for comment.

In another voice message sent to officials and accessed by VOA Khmer, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered provincial governors to convert provincial schools into make-shift hospital.

We turn the school into a hospital at this stage because we are not opening any schools soon. We will extend school break if we need to, he said, on the voice memo.
Khyati Dharamsi

Indian skies are out of bounds for travellers now. The likes of IndiGo reduced their network and other carriers such as Go Air and Vistara suspended all their international operations, the Indian government has banned all incoming international flights from March 22. Already, countries like US and Europe have banned flights from landing on their soil. But if you were in a rush to cancel your flight and hotel bookings for the months of April and May 2020, you might still have to pay a small penalty.

Mumbai-based Alpesh Dand, 40, was to fly to Dubai on March 6, but decided to cancel the trip after hearing about the rise in Coronavirus cases there. He had booked the ticket through a web portal. Since there was no option to cancel the ticket online, I had to connect with the portals call centre, which was possible only after multiple attempts and a wait of 35-odd minutes. I received just Rs 10,500 back instead of my entire ticket cost worth Rs 31,000.

On the other hand, Vandana K, (name changed) had scheduled her return to USA on March 11, 2020. She didnt initiate any cancellation procedure, yet received the entire ticket amount as refund and was informed by the airlines about the flight cancellation.

Booking via a travel agent or going direct

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

Travel insiders and several anecdotes from travellers suggest that it is relatively easier to get refunds if you have booked tickets and hotels through travel agents or hotels directly. When someone books through our hotel directly, we have been offering refunds based on the room rent and the property. We even have a pay at the hotel policy. But if guests have booked through online portals, they havent received refunds, Says Vishal Kamat, CEO Of Kamat Group Of Hotels.

Further, if your airline or hotel or tour operator initiates the cancellation, chances are that you would get your full refund. Else, things might get a bit tricky.

If your travel date is fast approaching and you havent heard anything from your airline, you have no choice but to approach them yourself and try and make the best out of the situation.

People who have booked directly through online portals are facing problems on refunds or even getting someone to answer the call centre numbers. So far we have received refunds for all the clients who had planned travel up to April 15, a tour operator based in Italy said as she awaited a refund from railway service provider Trenitalia, with which she negotiated a voucher with one year validity, to reuse the amount.

Different tours, different standards

Broadly speaking, most of the airlines, hotels and tour operators are offering the following options these days:

- Refunds after deducting 25 per cent cancellation charge.

- Waiver of cancellation charges and full refund

- Rebook for another date (difference payable in most cases)

- Voucher to rebook within 12 months.

- Voucher of 125 per cent the booking amount in case of cruise

Even as Indian Railways announced that no fee would be applicable for cancellations of tickets booked for the 245 trains that have been cancelled across India, many domestic airlines are deducting 25 per cent of the booking amount as charges for flights scheduled before March 22, 2020.

We are offering customers the flexibility on bookings made on or before 31 March 2020 for travel commencing on or before 30 April 2020 for one-time free-of-charge rescheduling to an alternate travel date until 31 December 2020. While Vistara will not charge any re-issuance fee, fare difference applies, says a Vistara spokesperson

Refundable tickets booked on Spicejet Airlines for April-end, too, are being subjected to hefty cancellation charges of up to 80 per cent of the ticket costs.

Many hotels have been waiving cancellation charges for March 2020 travel. Taj Hotels have waived individual cancellation fees for hotel stays through 30 April 2020 across all their properties. Taj has also put a pause on the points expiry on its loyalty program, for points that were to expire between 16 March 2020 and 30 April 2020.

In the wake of the issue, we have advised all hotels to offer a full refund to individuals and deferment of up to one year for corporates. In a normal scenario, a cancellation fee of up to 100 per cent is applicable, based on when you cancel the bookings. We have asked hotels to co-operate and check with the guests upfront as there had been no show instances as guests couldnt reach the location, says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, hotel and restaurant association of western India (HRAWI) & vice president, federation of hotel and restaurant associations of India (FHRAI).

As of today, itll be easier to get the maximum refunds for tours or travels up until April 15, 2020 due to various clampdowns across the world. However, cancellations for holidays planned in May 2020 or later might well be subjected to a hefty cancellation charge, if you try to cancel your plans rightaway.

A Moneycontrol reader wrote in saying that her familys upcoming tour to South Africa that is to begin on 15 May 2020 is available for cancellation only after incurring a steep cancellation charge of Rs 54,000 per person against a total tour cost of Rs 4 lakh; the family has four booked on this tour.

No cruise ride

As cruise bookings need to be made well in advance, and the threat of being quarantined on a cruise ship has been experienced in international waters, a full refund or a better credit is being offered. Varun Chadha, CEO, The Indian Representative of Royal Caribbean Cruises, says, We are refunding the full value to our guests or giving up to 125 per cent future cruise credit when we cancel a sailing. Further, we have launched a cruise with confidence program, where guests can cancel sailings up to 48 hours before the sailing and receive a future cruise credit for the full amount, valid through Dec 2021.

Refund of insurance premium

With regards to the insurance cover that has been purchased along with the travel tickets, the cover cancellation charges would be waived off, say insurers. Since early March 2020, we have refunded the entire premium to customers for the travel insurance cover. The Rs 300 flat fee that was deducted in a normal scenario is being waived off, says Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting, Claims and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard.

However, if you are looking for some respite in the hotel booking and flight cancellation fee charges to be covered under the travel insurance plan, then you are mistaken. The risk commences when you initiate your journey. Since the risk has not started, no compensation would be given for flight and hotel cancellations. Typically, a travel insurance cover is issued for up to an hour before your flight is scheduled and as the flights have been cancelled ahead of time, the insurance cover does not kicked in.

Forex losses

In addition to the loss on ticket and hotel bookings, those who had purchased foreign exchange in advance for their March 2020 travel have been facing another situation of their money being stuck in foreign exchange due to currency fluctuations. Clients who purchased the USD at Rs 71 per dollar are now being forced to liquidate the same at Rs 67-68, said a Mumbai-based forex dealer who did not want to be named.

However, the losses are limited for those who have opted for travel forex cards. The rates are wildly fluctuating as the supply has been affected. We are buying back physical currency, at around Rs 69 per dollar, but for forex available on travel card we would offer Rs 73 per dollar as our buying price based on the small margin involved, says Ananth Reddy, founder of buyforexonline.com.

The difference of 2 per cent between the buying and selling price in a regular circumstance has expanded to 5-8 per cent in the current scenario.

Since you would travel later, you can hold on to foreign exchange instead of losing value by distress sale.

What should you do?

Broadly speaking, there are two check points before you decide to cancel your holidays. If your holiday is to start before April 30, its relatively easier to get the maximum money back. The second check point is the fineprint. Here, you have little choice but to reach out to your tour operator, travel agent, hotel or airline and reason it out with them. For instance, if the country you were set to go to isnt issuing Visas, your case for demanding a 100 percent refund becomes a bit easier.

Its always safer to cancel your airline tickets and get whatever money you can. Apart from the uncertainty of how long the pandemic would last, the viability of airlines themselves are in question. You never know which airline may last, and which may go bankrupt. For holidays and hotels though, you can take a credit or reschedule for a later date. Pick a date, though, as late as possible; preferably a year later to be safest.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 05:37:50|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Supreme Court on Monday ordered the parliament to hold a vote for electing a new speaker, in a move widely seen as a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to hold on to power.

A three-justice panel criticized Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a Netanyahu ally, for shutting down parliament for five days and refusing to hold a vote to elect a new speaker.

The panel, headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut, unanimously ruled that Edelstein must hold the vote no later than Wednesday.

The unprecedented ruling came after Edelstein told the court he will not hold the vote, saying he was not accepting "ultimatums" from the court.

"The continued refusal to allow the Knesset (parliament) to vote on the selection of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process," Hayut wrote in the ruling.

Edelstein "harmed" the parliament's status as an independent authority and the due process of government transition, she wrote.

Edelstein suspended the parliament on Wednesday, citing procedurals hurdles and fears about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Likud lawmakers lashed out at the Supreme Court, calling Edelstein to defy the ruling.

The centrist Blue and White party, Netanyahu's main opposition party, wants to replace Edelstein in the wake of the March 2 elections. Backed by a two-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset, the party petitioned to the court to force Edelstein to reopen the parliament.

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz accused the Likud of attempting "to violate Israeli democracy" by halting the parliament's work.

Israel is facing a parliamentary crisis as the elections on March 2, the third within a year, once again failed to produce a clear majority by either Netanyahu or Gantz.

At the same time, the nation is struggling to halt the rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. The total number on confirmed infections rose to 1,442 on Monday.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is facing a corruption trial which has been postponed to May.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The export of ready-made clothing from Turkey to China from January through February 2020 increased by 195 percent compared to the same period in 2019, amounting to $38.6 million, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Trade Ministry on March 19.

In February 2020, the export of ready-made clothing from Turkey to China grew by 4.9 times compared to February 2019, amounting to $30.4 million, the ministry noted.

From January through February 2020, Turkey has exported ready-made clothing worth $3 billion to world markets, which is 6.7 percent more compared to the same period in 2019.

Turkeys export of ready-made clothing made up 10.3 percent of the countrys total export in January-February 2020.

In February 2020, Turkey exported ready-made clothing worth $1.5 billion to world markets, which is 7.8 percent more compared to the same month in 2019.

Turkish export of ready-made clothing in February 2020 made up 10.4 percent of the countrys total export.

In the last twelve months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported ready-made clothing worth $17.8 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
The Edward-Elmhurst Health system has received many offers from people and organizations to donate masks, a spokesman said. He said they have adequate supplies of protective equipment for front-line staff caring for coronavirus patients, but they are accepting commercial and homemade protective gear as emergency backup supplies. The most-needed items include N95 masks, surgical masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, nitrile gloves, isolation gowns, goggles and thermometers. People can drop off donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the hospital loading docks and email donations@eehealth.org with any questions.
Americans across the country are beginning to sew face masks at home in a desperate battle to meet the drastic need for protective equipment for healthcare workers fighting on the front lines against the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors have issued a stark warning about the dire need for more personal protective equipment such as face masks and hospital gowns and healthcare workers began to protest on Monday as the number of U.S. cases jumps over 50,000 and the death toll rises to more than 620.

Individual volunteers have jumped into the fold to make what they can as companies such as crafts chain Joann Stores have made all of their locations available for volunteers who want to aid the effort.

The help is coming after governors in New York and Illinois pleaded for help in ending the face mask drought, revealing that the cost of a protective N95 respirator masks has risen more than 800% from 85 cents to $7 as state battles state and country battles country for the limited supply.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control quietly updated their advice for healthcare workers amid the shortage, even advising that scarfs or bandannas be used if the need gets too great.

Scroll down for video

Bill Purdue, left, cuts pieces of fabric while Mike Rice sews them into face masks in Rice's autobody and upholstery shop in Washington, Indiana. The two men are volunteering their time to make the face masks for healthcare workers amid a national shortage

Briana Danyele sews cloth face masks that say 'We Got This!' to send to a local nursing home and hospital which desperately need a greater supply to cope with the coronavirus pandemic

On Monday night, healthcare workers gathered outside the Kaiser Oakland hospital in Northern California to protest the lack of personal protective equipment which has forced them to limit the number of masks that they can wear.

Singing 'We need PPE', the workers carried signs reading 'Protect nurses, patients, public health' while wearing bandannas around their mouths.

The risks that healthcare workers are facing was highlighted in a segment on the Today Show on Tuesday morning when various doctors from around the country spoke of the danger they were putting themselves in and the fears that staff are going to be infected.

'Were seeing healthcare workers getting sick at a much higher rate than the general population,' warned Margalix Snider.

'In fact, were getting the opposite of support,' added Robert Morin.

'We have to fight with a shortage of equipment, we have to fight with hospital administrators who are threatening to discipline us if we protect ourselves.'

Another doctor Adam Friedlander revealed that he is spending ten times the market value on two masks after scouring Ebay and hoping that they are not already out of date.

Doctors have started the social media movement #GetMePPE to highlight the urgent need for more supplies and to thank the volunteers who are giving up their own time and resources to help.

An emergency doctor tagged Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the coronavirus task force, in his post saying, 'Im lucky'.

'I got the last pair of googles in the ER for today. Its 9AM.'

'I found two boxes on my doorstep this morning,' wrote one doctor sharing a picture of construction masks.

'Thank you whoever you are. This independent doctor is forever grateful.'

Plastic surgeon Robert Morin claimed that doctors 'are getting the opposite of support'

Another warned of the impact it will have if staff who are being forced to reuse masks fall ill, as hospitals already grapple with a national shortage of nurses.

'When you get sick and have to come to the hospital, I assume you want a doctor and nurse to take care of you,' he wrote.

'If we are forced to keep reusing masks or run out of them, there may not be enough of us left. #GetMePPE for #COVID19.'

The low supply was highlighted in a tweet from an ICU nurse, which showed a line of brown bags, each named, as staff are forced to keep their masks for their entire shift.

'This is what it looks like in the ICU. Rows of brown bags each labeled with the name of a nurse or doctor,' she wrote.

'We are told to keep and reuse these masks , which under normal conditions would be thrown out each time we leave the isolation room.'

One healthcare worker shared a message from her aunt who had begun to make masks for her community and then emailed her local hospital to see if they needed more.

'They said they would love to have them,' she wrote.

'This is just so awful that hospitals do not have stuff for their people'.

The hashtag is also being used to share news of efforts by volunteers to make more masks to meet the demand.

In Los Angeles, Project PPE describe themselves as 'a group of innovative, design fields coming together to help those on the frontline' creating a GoFundMe that will go to buying supplies to make the masks and paying the wages of those making them, creating jobs for people recently laid off because of the shutdown.

Businesses also are stepping up.

On Monday Alice and Olivia's Stacy Bendet became the latest designer to join the aid effort, as did Lady Gaga collaborator Brandon Maxwell. Bendet will be making hospital gowns for New York hospitals and health-care workers.

Los Angeles Apparel, the company of former American Apparel head Dov Charney, is also moving to make hospital gowns and masks.

Crafts chain Joann Stores is making all of its 800-plus stores available for up to 10 people at each location to sew masks and hospital gowns, offering sewing machines and supplies, spokeswoman Amanda Hayes said.

Hayes said the number of people allowed in the stores adheres to CDC guidelines, the sewing stations will be six feet apart and staff will continuously sanitize the work areas and materials.

The company also has special kits for customers who want to make masks at home.

A guide from Joann fabric and craft stores on how to make a face mask

Joann Stores is making all of its 800-plus stores available for up to 10 people at each location to sew masks and hospital gowns and has offered this guide for customers

Stacey Bendet Eisner, designer with Alice & Olivia will start making face mask in New York

Alice and Olivia made a call out on their Instagram page for more face masks

'Were enabling people to feel like they are contributing at a time when we don't have control,' Hayes said.

In Baltimore, almost 160 volunteers with 414 3D printers between them are making plastic face shields for Johns Hopkins and other area hospitals and dropping them off at a maker space called Open Works.

Executive Director Will Holman, who organized the effort, said he laid off 21 part-time employees last week because of the virus but has rehired some to assemble, sterilize and package the shields.

Automobile company Ford is also to start work on 'positive air pressure masks' which will repurpose the cooling system used in some of the company's car seats to help protect medical workers from getting the virus.

'Those products, in addition to the ventilators, there's actually two or three different versions of breathing apparatus that we're working on. Hundreds of thousands of the most simplest ones will be started to be produced in the next week or so,' CEO Jim Hackett said.

Ford are working with 3M to produce the new kind of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for healthcare workers, exploring the possibility that they could be produced in their Michigan factory.

And they will use 3D printers at its Advanced Manufacturing Center to create disposable air-filtering respirator masks, potentially creating 1,000 a month in the fist stages before ramping up production.

Yet many of the efforts are coming from individuals just looking for a way to help.

Bill Purdue waterproofs basements for a living, but he has spent the past few days in his buddy's Washington, Indiana, auto trim and upholstery shop cutting rectangles of cotton fabric that his friend sews into face masks.

Fashion designer Briana Danyele left Italy last month to return to her mother's Greer, South Carolina, home, where she has turned the living room into a mini sewing factory, making masks that she embroiders with the words, 'We Got This!'

They're among scores of people answering pleas from hospitals, doctors and nurses so desperate for personal protective equipment amid the viral pandemic that they've turned to the public, saying do-it-yourself face masks are better than nothing.

And for those sitting at home worrying as the virus strains hospitals and the economy teeters, sewing masks makes them feel less helpless.

Bill Purdue, left, cuts pieces of fabric while Mike Rice sews them into face masks in Rice's autobody and upholstery shop in Washington, Indiana. They will deliver the masks this week to Deaconess Health System in Evansville, Indiana, which asked community members to sew cloth masks for health care workers who may face a shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bill Purdue, left, cuts pieces of fabric while Mike Rice sews them into face masks in Rice's autobody and upholstery shop in Washington, Indiana. They're among legions of everyday Americans making face masks for desperate hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters

Briana Danyele sews cloth face masks that say 'We Got This!' in her mother's living room in Greer, South Carolina, which will be sent to health care workers amid the expanding coronavirus pandemic and the increasing shortage in face masks and hospital gowns

Briana Danyele sews cloth face masks that say 'We Got This!' after returning from Italy amid the coronavirus pandemic. She will deliver them to a local nursing home and hospitals

'Whatever it takes to get the job done, that's what I want to do,' said Purdue, 57, whose daughter works at the women's hospital in Evansville, Indiana.

He and his friend Mike Rice responded to a Facebook post last week from Deaconess Health System in Evansville asking the public for help.

The efforts mirror those in other countries, including Spain, where mask-making volunteers include a group of nuns and members of the Spanish Air Force. Around 500 masks a day are coming off sewing machines at the Paratroop School in Murcia, in the countrys southeast, according to the Air Force's Twitter account.

In Belgium, what began as a one-woman operation about a week ago grew to a small army of home-sewing mask-makers within days.

For most people, the new virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority recover.

But the virus is spreading rapidly and starting to max out the health care system in several cities.

Deaconess spokeswoman Pam Hight said the hospital system realized it could face a shortage if local infections skyrocket like they have elsewhere. So officials produced and posted a how-to video that has being shared across the country.

Deaconess Health created a 'how-to' guide to make a face mask

'We had people who wanted to ship them to us from all over the United States and we started saying, "Please, please use them in your communities",' she said. 'It makes your heart warm; people are so good.'

She said Deaconess expects to collect thousands of masks this week at an off-hospital site and sanitize them before distributing them to nurses and doctors or sending them to local nursing homes and homeless shelters.

In a similar effort, Providence St. Joseph's Health in the hard-hit Seattle area is putting together kits using special material and distributing them to people willing to sew them together as part of a 100-million mask challenge.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire's largest hospital, is preparing kits with fabric and elastic and encouraging volunteers to sew face masks for patients, visitors and staff so medical-grade protective equipment can be conserved for front-line health care workers.

Federal officials had previously advised hospital workers to use surgical masks when treating patients who might be infected with coronavirus amid reports of dwindling supplies of fitted and more protective N95 respirator masks.

'If nurses quit or become too fatigued or even become ill themselves, then we don't have a front line anymore,' said Wendy Byard of Lapeer, Michigan.

She began organizing friends to make masks after learning her daughter, a nurse at a suburban Detroit hospital, was told to wear the same mask all day.

Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly updated its guidance, saying hospitals that run low on surgical masks should consider ways to reuse them or to use them through an entire shift.

And if hospitals run out out, the CDC said, scarfs or bandanas could be used 'as a last resort', though some health officials warned cloth masks might not work.

Mary Dale Peterson, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and chief operating officer at a Corpus Christ, Texas, children's hospital, said she declined volunteers' offers to make masks.

She said construction and manufacturing industries instead should donate or sell the high-grade masks they have to hospitals.

'It would be only an extremely, extremely last resort that I would have my staff' wear homemade masks, she said. 'I really hope it doesn't get to that point in the U.S.'

At the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton, Missouri, board members asked local hospitals if masks were needed and 'they emphatically said yes', said director Dakota Redford.

Soon other health care providers, including ambulance crews and nursing homes, were requesting masks.

'This has been a true grassroots effort that has exploded across the country in the quilting world,' she said.

Danyele, the South Carolina fashion designer, said she made about 200 masks bound for a local nursing home and hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Illinois.

'If I'm one person creating 200 masks, imagine what we all could do,' said Danyele, 24. 'It's super sad that we're at this point, but this is encouraging.'

In some of the country's hardest hit states, official have been calling out for help as they desperately search for more supplies for their hospitals.

California is scrambling to obtain protective gear for healthcare workers and first responders, reaching out worldwide and working with locals to ratchet up production as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep through the nation's most populous state.

The state is looking at ways of acquiring some one billion sets of gloves, along with hundreds of millions of gowns, surgical masks and face shields, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

'It's going to take an heroic effort' to procure the personal protection equipment, or PPE, needed to prepare for an expected surge in COVID-19 cases, Newsom said.

Among other things, he said the state would be chartering flights from China with gear and had heard from companies wanting to use 3-D printers to make surgical masks.

But he also discussed working together with other governors to strategically leverage buying power for supplies while making sure California doesn't exploit its size at the expense of smaller states that may have difficulty obtaining equipment.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti said an Anheuser-Busch beer plant in Van Nuys will be producing bottles of hand sanitizer. Another plant in Baldwinsville, New York, will be doing the same.

In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hot spots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people.

More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and 125 have died. A state-wide lockdown took effect Monday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor announced plans to convert a New York City convention center into a hospital.

'This is going to get much worse before it gets better,' New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

The risks remain for doctors, nurses and others on the front lines: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the coronavirus die. Spain says 12 percent of its cases - more than 3,900 health care workers - have become infected.

State and city leaders have revealed that they are having to bid against each other for crucial medical supplies like ventilators and surgical masks because Trump won't put into action the Defense Production Act which would steady prices.

On Monday, New York Gov. Cuomo led a chorus of leaders asking Trump to start nationalizing the system to allow the federal government to buy the supplies then distribute them fairly to where they needed to be.

In order to do that, Trump must tell the manufacturers behind the supplies to make what the country needs, then buy them from them and divvy them up.

He has not yet done that, saying he does not - as the president - want to interfere with businesses and their freedoms to produce what they see fit for the market.

President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House

On Sunday night, he said: 'We're a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela.

'How did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.'

According to The New York Times, he has been advised against it by the Chamber of Commerce which believes businesses need to be able to remain nimble and able to adapt - without being subject to government restrictions - during such uncertain times.

But governors and mayors are crying out for it, saying they are being priced out of getting what they need.

Cuomo revealed that N-95 masks - which cost 85 cents to buy before the pandemic - are now being sold for $7, an increase of 823 percent.

Not only are the states having to bid against each other, but they are also having to bid against FEMA, representing the federal government, and all the foreign governments still trying to cope with their own coronavirus crises.

'We have been scrambling. We're buying from China, we're buying from all across the world.

'Can I say that we'll have enough equipment for next week? The week after? I can't say that, and that's out of our control. That's where we're going to need the federal government.

'To have states competing with other states, to find these equipment, bidding against other states, driving the price up, masks that we paid 85 cents for we are now paying $7. Why? Because California is bidding, Texas is bidding, Illinois is bidding, it makes no sense.

'The federal government much nationalize the equipment production and supply issue,' Cuomo said.

New York City has now become the center of a major outbreak with over 20,000 cases

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the 'opportunism' at play was 'disgusting.'

'I've been hearing stories last few days from my Emergency Management team where they expected millions of masks to come in and they had to tell me that somehow we got outbid somewhere else in the world and they're going someplace else.

'The price gouging that's happening here and, bluntly, the opportunism by some, is disgusting.

'So, there's not now a national mechanism for ensuring and there has to be. And I talked to the president, vice president about this.

'There has to be a national intervention by the federal government to say, okay, here is the place first that needs the ventilators and the masks, here's second, here's third.

'And that's where they're going to go. Not an open market based on who can spend the most money and make the quickest deal.'

New York is at least are at the top of the list to receive supplies because it has the highest number of cases in the US.
India has everything needed to be hub for medical tourism: PM Modi

Adopt humanitarian approach towards workforce, PM advises India Inc

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked captains of India Inc to ensure that production of essential items is not impacted in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and there is no hoarding and black marketing.

During his interaction with leaders of India Inc, the prime minister also asked them to allow employees to work from home, said an official release.

"The impact on the economy will be felt for some time to come," said Modi as he exhorted India Inc to adopt a humanitarian approach and not to cut down on workforce in spite of the COVID-19 negative impact on their businesses.

Operations of domestic airlines to cease with effect from midnight of March 24

"Prime Minister said that while the government was working on giving fillip to the pace of growth in the country, an unforeseen hurdle in the form of COVID-19 came in front of the economy.

"He said that the challenge posed by the pandemic is graver than even that posed by the World Wars and we need to be on constant vigil to prevent its spread," the release said.

Industry representatives from Assocham, FICCI, CII and several local chambers from 18 cities across the country participated in the interaction with the prime minister through video-conferencing.

Modi asked the industry "to allow employees to work from home" wherever doing so is feasible through using technology, the release said.

He exhorted them to adopt a humanitarian approach and not to cut down on workforce in spite of the negative impact on their businesses.

The prime minister stressed that while the government was working on giving fillip to the pace of growth in the country, an unforeseen hurdle in the form of COVID-19 came in front of the economy.

Coronavirus: Difference between curfew and lockdown, explained

The prime minister further said the fulcrum of the economy is trust.

"Trust has a unique yardstick -- it is earned or lost in difficult and challenging times. The parameters of trust are at a critical juncture in various sectors of the economy," the release said.

Modi said several sectors such as tourism, construction, hospitality and daily life engagements including the informal sector have been hit due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The impact on the economy will be felt for some time to come.

Meanwhile, Ficci said that the government should not worry about fiscal deficit target as it made a case for increasing it by 200 basis points, which in turn can bring almost Rs 4 lakh crore of liquidity into the system. The government aims to restrict the fiscal deficit to 3.8 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Coronavirus death toll in India rises to 9; confirmed cases jump to 471

CII said its member companies will dedicate their plant facilities to help scale up manufacture and availability of essential goods and equipment needed to deal with the medical emergency like ventilators sanitisers, essential drugs, medical services, on a no-profit basis, and build a cadre of volunteers for public service.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 8:58 [IST]
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the planetwith the global toll on Tuesday surpassing 400,000 cases and 18,000 deathsthe Church of Scientology is officially scoffing at the pandemic and encouraging followers to continue normal religious activities while treating traditional science and governmental authority with skepticism.

In a March 13 eyes-only memo to his estimated 25,000 to 55,000 members in the United States, Scientology leader David Miscavige called the international public-health crisis the current hysteria, whether you believe in it or not (and the only thing you can be certain of is that it is hysteria)

Miscavigewho has led the church since Jan. 24, 1986, when founder L. Ron Hubbard dropped his body to continue his research on another planet, as Scientologists describe his deathcontinued: Have no doubt, there is no slowing down for usSo once this current situation passesand it will passyou are going to need a seatbelt for when the rocket boosters fire for liftoff.

Noted Scientology critic Tony Ortega, who posted Miscaviges memo on his Underground Bunker website Tuesday morning, told The Daily Beast: For the last 11 days, all Scientologists have been getting calls to come down and read it in person. They didnt want to email it because they didnt want anybody else to see it. Its supposed to be secret, but I managed to get a copy.

Ortega said Miscaviges memotitled Inspector General Network Bulletin No. 88is especially significant because it was issued on L. Ron Hubbards birthday, a day that would have featured a massive celebration, Scientologys most important observance.

Noting that Scientology protocol mandates against a mass gathering in times of illness and disease, Miscavige lamented in his memo that our event hall in Clearwater has cancelled all public events until at least April, including our annual Weekend of all Weekends.

They shut it down and he was very angry about it, so he put out that briefing that day, Ortega said. Theyre trying to get people to come in. Theyre saying you gotta stay with the courses and auditing, and theyre worrying about the money drying up. Scientology was not set up to be done over the internet. It really requires person-to-person contact.

Story continues

Ex-Scientologists: David Miscavige Is a Terrorist

Church of Scientology spokespersons in Los Angeles didnt respond to a voicemail message requesting comment.

Miscavige claimed in his memo that Scientology workers are preventing and/or killing whatever this virus is, if indeed its real, by sanitizing the churchs various properties with massive infusions of airborne ozone, as well as nebulized peroxide and Decon7.

He added parenthetically: (If you havent seen these applications, thats because the operation occurs in unoccupied spaces before you arrive.)

Ortega commented that such measures will likely do nothing to protect some 3,000 employees and members of Scientologys Sea Org army who live cheek by jowl in densely crowded church installations in Los Angeles, California, Clearwater, Florida, and other locales.

You dont catch it from the building. You catch it from another person, Ortega said. Miscavige is endangering the people who work for him.

On his website, Ortega posted recent photographstaken in the past two days, he saidof parked cars beside a Scientology building in Columbus, Ohio, indicating people doing work and other group activities inside.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered Ohioans to stay home unless its absolutely necessary to go to work, his press secretary Daniel Tierney told The Daily Beast, adding that the order requires employers to provide hand sanitizer and other safety measures, and employees to practice social distancing if they are providing essential services.

There is an exception for religious gatherings, Tierney added, although he noted that the Ohio Conference of Catholic Bishops, for one, has suspended the obligation to attend mass as Easter approaches.

As for any possible enforcement actions against the Columbus Scientology center, its going to be complaint-based, Tierney said. If someone doesnt feel safe as an employee, or they dont feel safe as a customer entering the establishment, theyre going to call their local health department or local law enforcement.

In his memo, Miscavige put the word pandemic in dubious scare quotes and derided the health-care professionals and scientists fighting the spread as practitioners of almost medicine and science that you cant yet prevent whatever this latest outbreak happens to be. BUT there is nothing almost about Dianetics and Scientology.

Miscavige reassured his followers that this latest planetary bullbait is but a blip in an epic Whole Track drama.

Ortega explained: Bullbait is one of the most basic activities when you first start in Scientology. One person sits across from you in a chair and shouts insults and abuse at you, and youre not supposed to flinch. Youre supposed to have a thousand-yard stare. If you flinch, you have to start all over again.

The Whole Track drama, meanwhile, refers to Scientologists belief that human beings are actually a physical manifestation of thetans who have lived countless lives over billions and billions of years. Your current life is only a short blip, Ortega said.

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A farmer gave away her crop of potatoes to families self-isolating at home after hearing how selfish shoppers had emptied supermarkets.

Susan Herdman offered the hand-picked vegetables from her 27-acre plot free of charge to the residents of Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, in a post on Facebook.

Ms Herdman and her family then spent all weekend delivering the potatoes to those in need, including a home for disabled children and a single mother who went into quarantine.

The 51-year-old also placed a large bag in the town for people to help themselves and offered time slots for families to come to the farm and pick their own.

She said she had been inundated with messages of support such as: In a world so dark and selfish, you have made us smile.

To me, its not a big thing, were just giving away potatoes, she said. I dont understand selfish people, Ive been a giver all my life.

And hopefully it proves that farmers arent that tight. Its lovely that I can make people smile by doing this.

Ms Herdman moved to live on the farm after winning 1.2m on the National Lottery in 2010 and giving up her former career running a hair salon in Hertfordshire.

She said that the potato crop would otherwise have been ploughed back into the land because heavy rain earlier this year had delayed the harvest.

Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK The usually busy Royal Mile in Edinburgh is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 13 March Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Ho bart's Amusement Arcade in Westward Ho!, Devon is offering toilet roll and soap as prizes in grabber machines Rob Braddick/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK An empty platform at Farringdon Station in London the morning after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 "is the worst public health crisis for a generation" PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Shopkeepers Asiyah Javed and husband Jawad from Day Today Express, in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk are giving away facemasks, antibacterial hand wash and cleaning wipes to the elderly in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A usually busy street in Cambridge is empty as people stay away from public areas amid the coronavirus outbreak on 2 March James Linsell-Clark/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitiser dispenser is seen inside the stadium during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on 8 March Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Maaya Indian Kitchen in Milton Keynes is offerig customers a free roll of toilet paper with every takeaway order SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Oliver Cooper[L], was sent home from school for selling spurts of handsanitiser to fellow pupils at 50p a time. He poses with mum Jenny Tompkins by their home in Leeds Ashley Pemberton/SWNS Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK Empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in London on 12 March EPA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A member of the public is swabbed at a drive through Coronavirus testing site set up in a car park in Wolverhampton Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A passenger wears a protective face mask as she travels on a bus in the City of London AFP/Getty Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A Southampton fan wears a face mask before the match against Newcastle United on 7 March Reuters Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A loudspeaker placed in grounds of St Mary's Catholic Church in Broughattin, Dundalk, County Louth ahead of funeral mass later this morning. The loudspeaker has been placed in the grounds after the Catholic Archdiocese said that funerals and weddings should not exceed 100 attendees within the church building PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK A hand sanitising station set up outside Cheltenham Racecourse during day four of the Cheltenham Festival on 13 March PA Coronavirus fears lead to empty streets and shelves across UK People wearing protective face masks walk across London Bridge on 11 March AFP/Getty

We had 27 acres of potatoes in the land but, because we had all that rain, it was too wet to get on the field to lift them, she explained.

Its very, very late for potatoes to still be in the field so we went in by hand.

I thought: we cant plough them back in the land, with all the people stockpiling and the shortage of food in supermarkets, lets share them free of charge and give them away.

I just put a post on the local Boroughbridge Facebook page and it spiralled out of control.

I delivered all day Saturday and all day Sunday, from 8am to 8pm. I have back ache, leg ache, had to pick them all by hand.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Russia-backed forces have withdrawn from a number of fronts in Idleb and redeployed to different areas, raising fears of an upcoming assault reports Baladi News.

A rebel military source told Baladi News on Monday that the Russian-backed 25th Division militia, accompanied by a number of militias loyal to it, had withdrawn over the past two days from the fronts on the city of Saraqeb and Khan al-Sabil, and headed towards a new front between Maarat al-Numan and Kafr Nubl.

The source added that the regimes Republican Guard forces, accompanied by military reinforcements from special forces and the 8th Division were stationed at the front from which the 25th Division withdrew.

According to the source, the latest deployment indicates that this militia, which serves as the spearhead of the regime and Russias offensive operations, intends to launch a military operation on the villages of Jabal Zawiya, south of the international M4 highway.

The source, who declined to be named, said that there were a few things that raise suspicion, most notably the absence of a Turkish position south of the M4, after they evacuated their positions near Kansafra, al-Barah and Abilene south of Idleb after being subjected to airstrikes, which killed dozens of Turkish soldiers last month. The source said that the recent heavy Turkish deployment at the northern end of the M4 highway suggests that the Turkish army is demarcating the anticipated Russian military operation.

The source said that the last gamble may be on the extent of Turkish support to confront the expected military operation, adding: If the Turkish military support is similar to what the Turkish army provided to the opposition factions recently, it will be possible to thwart the military operation. But if the Turkish army refuses to provide supportwhich is the most likely scenariothen the matter will be related to the rebel groups ability to hold out in a rugged mountainous region, which will help them withstand, fight, and barricade.

Over the past few days, Turkish forces have strengthened their military presence in the villages adjacent to the M4 road on the northern side. Many new military points have been established, and hundreds of soldiers and military vehicles have been deployed.

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.
The Kano State government has directed its civil servants to stay away from office for 14 days as from Wednesday in a bid to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

A statement signed by the commissioner for information, Muhammad Garba, on Tuesday, however, said essential service providers are exempted from the stay at home order.

The commissioner explained that the council approved the measures to ensure the prevention and spread of the virus through contacts at government offices across the state.

Buses banned

Mr Garba said while the state is yet to record a single case of the deadly disease, as part of measures to curtail the spread of the virus, the council also banned the inflow of large capacity buses into the state.

He said this was in consideration of the risk involved in the mode of operations of the buses that involves stuffing of passengers and the unorderly sitting arrangement in the buses.

The state government is working tirelessly to ensure the virus does not find its way to the state and if it does, the government is prepared to control and manage it, the official said.

The commissioner urged residents to ensure adherence to health instructions released by the federal and the states ministry of health on how to prevent the disease as well as ensure personal hygiene.

Other resolutions

Other resolutions of the council include the release of N21 million and N17 million for the conduct of 2020 Interim Joint Matriculation Examination at the College of Education and Preliminary Studies and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso College of Arts and Remedial Studies respectively.

He said the council also approved the sum of N15.5 million and N11 million for 2020 NECO and 2020 NABTED Examinations in respect of qualified candidates all from College of Science and Technical Schools Board.

Mr Garba also announced that the council has approved the release of N10 million for the payment of compensation in respect of demolished service station at Kano Line Terminus belonging to Messrs Equatorial Petroleum Coastal and Process Limited affected by the construction of State Road/Kofar Nassarawa Flyover.
Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday urged people to abide by government orders issued to contain the spread of coronavirus as the disease is now spreading to family members of foreign returnees.

People should take the deadly disease seriously and take more precautions because even developed nations like the US are not able to stop the spread of the disease despite having the best of resources and technology, he told media.

As many as 15.24 lakh people have been screened at various airports. Around 69,436 people have been advised home quarantine who are being treated by medical and paramedical officers, he added.

"So far, foreign returnees were infected with the virus. Now, it is spreading to their family members. So, we need to take precautions. People should not take the disease lightly and violate the curbs imposed to ensure social distancing," Reddy said.

He urged people to follow government orders imposed to stop the spread of the disease.

So far, 32 states and union territories have imposed complete lockdown covering 560 districts, as per official data.

Observing that even developed nations have not been successful in containing the disease, the minister said the number of coronavirus cases in Italy rose from 1000 on February 23 to 63,928 cases in a month.

In the US too, the number have cases risen from 4,000-odd to over 41,000 cases in a month.

"Developed nations with lesser population, good health facilities and best of the resources and technology have not been able to stop the spread of the disease," he said.

"India being the second largest populated nation in the world with people still living in slums cannot afford to neglect. Therefore, we need to take more precaution," he added.

He also mentioned that the world war was fought between nations but right now the emergency war each one has to wage is within and we must ensure that our bodies are not infected by the virus.

"This is a bigger war than World War," he said.

According to the health ministry data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 492. The figure includes at least 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the Coronavirus outbreak gets worse, tech companies are doing everything they can to help. Facebook is now offering free developer tools for Messenger to government health agencies. The tools could help agencies deliver correct information to people

As the Coronavirus outbreak only gets worse, the best we can do is keep ourselves safe and to stay home. As more and more districts and states go under lockdown, tech companies around the world are doing their best to try and stop the proliferation of fake news among the unsuspecting public, preventing massive chaos and uproar. Google, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and Twitter have provided users with tools to determine authentic information about the virus and its effects. In fact, the Indian government has already asked companies like Facebook and Tiktok to stop the spread of fake news and has launched chatbots on WhatsApp to create awareness about the virus. After all that, Facebook is now opening up its Messenger app to government and medical agencies.

Facebook released an announcement on their blog and said that free developer tools were going to be provided to WHO health organizations and government agencies to allow them to use the Messenger app to effectively share timely and accurate information about the virus. The tools would also help agencies speed up their responses to concerned citizens. The post reads, Our developer partners have offered to provide their services free of charge to these organizations during this crisis.

The release also went on to say, Today, Argentinas Ministry of Health is launching a Messenger experience, with support from Botmaker.com, to answer questions from the public about the coronavirus, and to provide fast, reliable and official advice 24 hours a day.

Facebook has also launched a virtual hackathon to see if developers can find more compact and easier messaging solutions to promote social distancing and deliver correct and verified information. The company said, Developers will help with things like automating responses to commonly asked questions, which can take some of the burden off of overwhelmed staff. Theyll also show these organizations how to share updates with their audience most effectively and how to seamlessly transition from automated conversations to chatting with a live person when necessary.

As the virus makes its way through the entire world, its important to stay safe and stay home at this moment.
20.03.2020 LISTEN

With nine months left to meet the HIV-related 2020 targets, we are not on track to end AIDS by 2030. In Asia Pacific region, despite unprecedented progress initially in scaling up HIV programmes for prevention, treatment, care and support (in different countries and key populations), we are still lagging way behind. The UNAIDS (Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS) report succinctly observes "Asia and the Pacific boasts some of the earliest successes in responding to the HIV epidemic. The region's response, however, is highly uneven, and several national HIV programmes are not keeping pace with their growing HIV epidemics. Creeping complacency in other countries risks squandering gains made thus far."

"Annual new HIV infections are rising rapidly in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines. Improved access to HIV treatment has reduced the annual number of AIDS-related deaths by 24% since 2010, but the epidemic is claiming a growing number of lives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines."

Dr Ishwar Gilada, Governing Council member of International AIDS Society (IAS) from Asia and the Pacific, and President of AIDS Society of India (ASI) was the keynote speaker for APCRSHR10 Dialogues co-hosted by 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR10) and CNS. He was among the first medical doctors to begin HIV care when first case got diagnosed in the country. Despite the challenges posed by Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), APCRSHR10 Dialogues testifies the commitment to continue virtual/ online learning, information exchange and knowledge sharing on range of issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

According to UNAIDS, at least three quarters of new HIV infections in the region are among key populations and their sexual partners. This highlights the need for legal reforms and other initiatives to reduce the discrimination and marginalization faced by these populations, and for increased support for community-led activities. Gay men and other men who have sex with men are experiencing rapidly growing HIV epidemics in several countries, with young men especially at risk. Amid an increase in the availability of heroin - and little improvement in the availability of harm reduction services - a resurgent epidemic is underway in some locations among people who inject drugs. Despite legislative reforms and other progress, shrinking civic space and stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and key populations stand in the way of more rapid progress against the epidemic.

The 2020 targets are to ensure 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of these are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 90% of these have undetectable levels of the virus.

Globally, 37.9 million people are living with HIV, 79% know they are HIV positive, 60% of these are on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and only 53% of the people living with HIV have undetectable levels of the virus.

In Asia and the Pacific region, 5.9 million people are estimated to be living with HIV. Out of these, 69% knew their status, 78% of these were on lifesaving ART, and 49% of people living with HIV were virally suppressed. And it is no surprise that these targets are far less met for key populations (such as, sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, transgender people and prisoners). Currently, there are 310,000 new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific region. New infection rate has declined but is quite far off from the 2020 target. The region is also not on track to meet the 2020 target to reduce AIDS related deaths.

Not ensuring that every person living with HIV is virally suppressed, is a missed opportunity to prevent onward transmission of HIV and to reduce AIDS-related deaths, said Dr Ishwar Gilada. Scientific evidence has shown that if every person living with HIV who is on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and has undetectable viral load, then his/her risk of transmitting HIV becomes negligible, and the person can lead a normal healthy life commensurate to the principle Undetectable = Untransmittable (U equals U). "Some partial success must not set in any complacency. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines 2016 recommend routine viral load monitoring should be carried out at 6 months, at 12 months and then every 12 months thereafter if the patient is stable on ART. It is very important to scale up viral load testing in India and every other nation, to monitor the viral load suppression" said Dr Gilada.

Every new case of HIV transmission is an opportunity to do a reality check on how it could have been averted. Every case of, late or missed HIV diagnosis; delay in putting people living with HIV on treatment; stigma and discrimination blocking access to care; or people living with HIV not being virally supressed; are among reality checks we cannot fail to miss, if we are to end AIDS. These reality checks will inform us of corrective actions that are needed to be on track to end AIDS. Most importantly, game changing insights of finding solutions that will work in local contexts of communities and regions, come from people who are most affected. We must ensure that all people living with HIV know their status, all of them receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) and remain virally supressed, and no further transmission of HIV takes place, thereby making Undetectable = Untransmissible (U=U) a reality, said Dr Ishwar Gilada.

UNAIDS targets of achieving 90-90-90 are not only critical but central to meet these goals. But no less emphasis should be given to ensure that while we progress towards (and beyond) 90-90-90, we must also optimally utilize every scientific, evidence-based prevention option, so that new HIV infection rates decline steeply to hit zero as soon as possible. Whole concept of epidemic control lies not only in reaching the treatment targets of diagnosis, treatment and viral suppression, but also it has to include essential needs of primary prevention, stigma reduction (ideally elimination) and human rights-based approaches remarked Dr Ishwar Gilada.

Dr Gilada shared that AIDS Society of India had advocated for a strong policy to combat HIV stigma. The HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act 2017 in India is an important milestone, as the law has several provisions to strengthen HIV care for people living with HIV and prevent their discrimination and human rights violations. But a lot more progress needs to happen on law enforcement to advance HIV care with dignity.

With only 129 months left to end AIDS by 2030, we need to reflect urgency in improving the HIV response, in every country, as well as for every key population - we need to walk-the-talk on 'no one is left behind' principle. "We need to deliver with what we have today, which means comprehensive prevention (such as condoms, oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and other evidence-based tools to prevent HIV transmission), human-rights based approaches, along with scaling up treatment, support and care."
Solidarity actions against Coronavirus

Regulatory News:

Loyal to its values and signature Terroir, People and Time the Remy Cointreau Group (Paris:RCO) has been mobilizing, for several weeks now, to support health organizations in their fight against the global Coronavirus pandemic. Around the world, our teams are spontaneously committing to implement solidarity actions, focusing mainly on the delivery of alcohol and masks, but also by supporting their communities and populations, made fragile by the current situation, in particular our bartender colleagues.

In China, the group donated 1 million yuan to the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling foundation for the purchase of protective medical equipment in February. This amount was supplemented, in a second step, by collecting 200,000 yuan, bringing together the donations of our Chinese collaborators and the matching amount paid by the Group.

There are many solidarity initiatives, across Europe

In France, the production sites of Cognac (Remy Martin), Angers (Cointreau) and Trieve (Distillery of the Domaine des Hautes Glaces) have commenced their donations of neutral alcohol to local health organizations, in order for them to make hand sanitizer for pharmacies, doctors and hospitals within their region. For it to be done, some company employees are voluntarily reconditioning the alcohol directly into useable containers before delivering them. They will continue these initiatives for as long as is necessary.

In addition, Remy Martin made a total donation of 8,000 surgical and FFP2 masks to the hospitals of Cognac and Saintes.

On the island of Islay in Scotland, our Bruichladdich distillery cooperated with the local soap manufacturer to make hand sanitizer and distribute it directly, as needed, to the hospital and doctors on the island.

In the United States, Remy Cointreau made a donation of 100,000 dollars to the "US Bartenders Guilds National Charity Foundation", which financially supports bartends whose establishments are currently closed due to the epidemic and are thus deprived of income. The Cointreau brand, especially close to the bartender community, participated for half of this donation.

In Seattle, our Westland distillery has been producing, since the 23rd of March, hand sanitizer for several social and medical establishments of the Washington state, one of the most affected by the virus in the United States.

Finally, in Barbados, our Mount Gay Rum Distillery started delivering alcohol to pharmacies fabricating hand sanitizer for hospitals on the island, last week.

Eric Vallat, Chief Executive Officer of the Remy Cointreau Group, added: "Since the beginning of this crisis, more than ever, it seemed essential for us to embody our values, to show solidarity and mutual aid. It is as close as possible to our markets and our production sites that our teams personally commit to help, to the extent of their human resources and financial capabilities, and for as long as the pandemic requires it."

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005615/en/

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NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global 5G chipset market was evaluated from 2019, as the technology has not yet been commercialized in 2018. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 87.8% over the forecast period (2020 - 2025).



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877820/?utm_source=PRN



- With 5G networks soon to be rolled out, smartphone OEMs telecom players are rapidly gearing towards the shift. Telecom service providers across the globe are upgrading to 5G networks, which rely on denser arrays of small antennas to offer ultra-high data speeds.

- There has been a surge in high-quality video and audio content as well. Among the digital devices, mobile devices have taken over as the preferred medium of consuming online media, including live video streaming, file sharing, audio streaming, and running business applications, among others. However, current LTE technologies do not entirely support all these applications. This has been a significant factor driving the adoption of 5G, for high internet speeds and coverage, as well as reduced latency.

- 5G is expected to add several layers of complexity to the spectrum, due to the all-inclusive nature of services that it supports, from extreme broadband services to massive machine-type communications (mMTC) and ultra-reliable MTC. Every application demands its own position in the spectrum depending on its requirements.

- Over the forecast period, as more countries acquire the required infrastructure to support 5G, and with an increasing demand for faster data transfers and reliance on cloud technology, the demand for 5G chipsets is expected to surge, creating an immense market potential for 5G chipset market.

Key Market Trends

Industrial Automation to Account for Significant Share



- The manufacturing companies across the world are under immense pressure due to shorter product and business lifecycles and intense volatility in the business. The profit margins are getting squeezed as the workforce is aging, and components increasingly become more varied and complicated to manufacture.

- Internet of Things (IoT), coupled with the 5G network, is expected to enhance the aforementioned business issues associated with industrial automation. The enhanced network provides manufacturers to build smart factories and leverage emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, augmented reality, and automation.

- In the future, the smart factories are expected to comprise several sensors to monitor various aspects of the working environment. The 5G network is likely to offer low-latency, wireless flexibility, and high capacity performance to the smart factories enabling them to overcome challenges in the production environment. As a result, it creates immense opportunities for chipset manufacturers to invest mainly in devices used in industrial automation.

- In industrial automation, 5G acts as an enabler to new operating models. Notably, the wireless industry needs to engage with future customers and potential users.



North America to Account for Largest Share



- North America is expected to account for the significant market share of the 5G chipset market, and dominance is mainly due to the high rate of adoption of advanced technologies in the market studied.

- The region is also home to Qualcomm, a dominant player in smartphone communications chips, making half of all core baseband radio chips in smartphones. It is one of the big U.S. technology companies, with a major role in the global 5G chipset market.

- In December 2019, Qualcomm announced the newest iteration of its Snapdragon mobile processors for 5G. The flagship Snapdragon 865 is a natural successor to 855 chipset that is released in 2018, and is expected to be the chipset powering the phones in 2020, like the Samsung Galaxy S11, Note 11, LG G9, OnePlus 8, Google Pixel 5.

- According to Ericsson, North America is anticipated to lead the 5G mobile technology, with all the major operators stating their intentions to deploy the 5G early.

Competitive Landscape

The 5G Chipset Market is moderately fragmented as all the companies involved in the production of 5G chipsets in the current market scenario are highly competitive and mostly market incumbents. All of them have equally high R&D capabilities, and all of them have equally effective competitive strategies. Such competition, even before commercialization of the product, indicates a high probability of an increase in the competitive rivalry over the forecast period. Due to this, the market is highly fragmented.



- Some of the key players in the 5G chipset market are Qualcomm, Intel, Samsung. Some of the recent developments in 5G chipset market are as follows:Qualcomm announced that its upcoming flagship mobile platform will feature a system-on-chip (SoC) built on the 7nm process node. The 7nm SoC can be paired with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem, which is anticipated to be the first 5G-capable mobile platform for smartphones and other mobile devices.

- In September 2019, Samsung Electronics announced the Exynos 980 mobile processor equipped with an integrated 5G modem that delivers a downlink speed of up to 2.55Gbps. Additionally, the integration of modem and mobile processor into a single chip leads to less space utilization and power efficiency.

- In January 2020, MediaTek introduced its Dimensity 800 Series 5G chipset family that may bring flagship features, power, and performance to new premium mid-range 5G smartphones. MediaTek's Dimensity 5G chipset family offers powerful system-on-chips (SoCs) with integrated 5G modems. The single chip solutions offer an unrivaled combination of connectivity, multimedia, AI, and imaging innovations packed into an ultra-efficient 7 nanometer chip. The first devices, featuring Dimensity 800 Series SoCs, are expected to launch in the first half of 2020.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 16:30:41|Editor: huaxia

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Anthony Fauci (front), director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), attends a press conference on the COVID-19 at the White House in Washington D.C. March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Anthony Fauci told Science magazine that he has never called and would never call COVID-19 a "China virus."

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- White House coronavirus task force member and the leading infectious diseases expert in the United States, Anthony Fauci, told Science magazine Sunday that he has never called and would never call COVID-19 a "China virus."

During a recent press conference, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested China should have revealed the discovery of the novel coronavirus much earlier.

"I told the appropriate people it doesn't comport, because two or three months earlier would have been September," said Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

When asked whether the United States should implement "creative ideas" adopted by other countries in response to the coronavirus, such as the Chinese practice of using thermometers at supermarkets before letting people in, Fauci said those measures are worth considering.

"I think the logistics of that have to be worked out ... I will bring it up at the next task force meeting and see whether there's some sort of a logistical, bureaucratic reason why it can't be done," Fauci. "The rationale for doing it is at least worth serious consideration."

Fauci said he has been suggesting that the White House hold virtual press briefings, but the proposal has so far not been adopted.

"When you're dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens. So, I'm going to keep pushing," he said. 
Australia's Parliament has passed two economic stimulus packages worth 83.6 billion Australian dollars (USD 49.56 billion) to counter the effects of the deadly coronavirus that has infected over 2,000 people in the country.

The two packages worth 17.6 billion and 66 billion dollars each will cover jobseekers' and youth allowance, parenting and special benefit payments and welfare receipt remittances, Nine reported.

In a boost to the business sector, the packages have 15 billion dollars funds for small lenders and targetted aid for the tourism and aviation sectors.

Further, in a separate legislation, the government has provisioned 40 billion dollars for urgent virus-related expenditure.

"For many, young and old, 2020 will be the toughest year of our lives. This is a time for national leadership, consistent messages, clear directions," Prime Minister Scott Morrison was quoted as saying by Nine in the Parliament session on Monday night.

The coronavirus death toll reached eight in Australia with the death of a 70-year-old woman on Tuesday. With fears of a slowdown, it is estimated that over 2 million Australians could lose their jobs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Niles Acting Police Cmdr. Anthony Scipione said he could not confirm if Kuprowski had, in fact, been tested for coronavirus and if he had the virus. Scipione added that there was no indication Kuprowski actually had coronavirus and the officer involved in his arrest was not tested for the virus in connection with the incident.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The dispatch, signed by Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan, said the Government Office on March 21 issued Announcement No.118/TB-VPCP, in which the Prime Minister ordered continuing to restrict international flights to Vietnam, including those by foreign carriers, at the maximum, amid the COVID-19 epidemic as it can easily lead to overload in quarantine areas.

The ministry also asked the aviation sector to create favourable conditions for flights carrying foreigners to leave Vietnam.

Earlier, the ministry directed the CAAV to inform all airlines that they must seek permission from Vietnamese diplomatic agencies abroad regarding the transportation of Vietnamese citizens to the homeland, starting from 0:00am on March 23.

The CAAV was also asked to coordinate with Vietnamese representative offices abroad to check the number of Vietnamese citizens in need of returning home and report to the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
[March 24, 2020] NEARMAP NAMES JEFF ADAMS CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER TO LEAD FUTURE GROWTH

SALT LAKE CITY, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading aerial imagery company Nearmap announced today that it has named Jeff Adams as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In his role as CRO, Adams is responsible for all revenue generation at Nearmap, specifically creating integration and alignment between all functions, including sales, marketing, customer support, pricing, and revenue management.

Adams is a master motivator and has a proven track record of empowering team members as individuals to help them excel personally and professionally. His experience in leadership, operations, marketing, international market expansion, sales, and team building will be invaluable as he transitions to his new role and inspires his teams toward even greater success. Jeff has a proven track record of moving organizations forward from a revenue standpoint and providing leadership that inspires employees and helps them achieve and exceed expectations, said Dr. Rob Newman, Nearmap CEO. As Nearmap continues to grow and expand in the U.S. and internationally, Jeff will play a critical role in leading and inspiring our global teams while building a sustainable organization that will provide the data-driven insights that enable informed decisions, streamline operations, and robust bottom lines. Prior to joining Nearmap, Adams was the CRO at BmbooHR, where he helped align the various disciplines within the organization; leading to a dramatic increase in revenue. Over the course of his career, hes led sales and business development aspects for some of the biggest and most recognizable global brands, including Pluralsight, Datamark, Sun Microsystems, and Franklin Covey. Adams received his Bachelor of Arts from Weber State University and is currently a Board Member at Utah Valley University T&C Deans Advisory Board.



Im committed to Nearmaps future growth and am excited to help provide the data-driven insights that enable our customers to make informed decisions, said Adams. Im obsessed with how great teams and organizations are built and driven by the people that I share the journey with. I look forward to working with the talented team at Nearmap to bring out the best in each other while striving to become the best versions of ourselves. For more information about Nearmap or to schedule a product demo, visit https://www.nearmap.com/us/en .

About Nearmap Nearmap brings the real world to you . Nearmap delivers high-resolution aerial imagery as a service to businesses across the world, powered by industry-leading geospatial mapping technology. Using its own patented camera systems and processing software, Nearmap captures wide-scale urban areas in North America and Australia multiple times each year, making fresh content instantly available in the cloud via web app or API integration.



Every day, Nearmap helps thousands of users conduct virtual site visits for deep, data-driven insightsenabling informed decisions, streamlined operations, and robust bottom lines.



Founded in Australia in 2007, Nearmap is one of the ten largest aerial survey companies in the world by annual data collection volume and is publicly listed in the ASX 200. For more information, visit https://www.nearmap.com/us/en . PR Contact

Taylor Cenicola, 801-624-6869

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
A firefighter screens a man that is waiting in line to get a COVID-19 test at a free public testing station in Hayward, California, on March 24, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

US Did More COVID-19 Testing in 8 Days Than South Korea in 8 Weeks: White House

The United States conducted more tests for the new CCP virus in the past eight days than South Korea, widely praised for its extensive testing network, carried out in eight weeks, White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said on Tuesday.

An issue with the first test developed in the United States, by the federal government, caused a weeks-long delay in carrying out wider testing but the Trump administration has quickly ramped up testing capacity in recent weeks with the help of the private sector.

Birx said during a virtual town hall on Fox News that South Korea, which has a population of 51.4 million, tested about 290,000 people. The United States, she said, which has about 372 million residents, has done over 300,000 tests.

In the last eight days, weve done more testing than South Korea, Birx said.

The United States is carrying out 50,000 to 70,000 tests a day, according to Birx.

President Donald Trump, who also attended the town hall, said it was the first he learned of the statistics.

According to the American Enterprise Institute, which started a tracker of Americas testing capacity, the country could carry out 36,810 tests a day as of March 16. That total was expected to rise until it hit 100,000 or more per day as of March 27.

Doctors test hospital staff with flu-like symptoms for the CCP virus in tents set up to triage possible COVID-19 patients outside before they enter the main emergency department area at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City on March 24, 2020. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

According to a worldwide tracker of cases from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has 50,206 confirmed cases of the new virus.

Officials are still concerned about not having enough test kits and urged people, as theyve done before, without symptoms not to get tested.

We dont want people who are just worried to go get tested. If you dont have a persistent fever, if you dont have a cough, if youre not in the risk group, if youre not a nurse or doctor; we really want the testing  to be very much still focused on the people who need it, she said. Because theres only so much.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which emerged in China last year, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

The new virus causes the COVID-19 disease, which is currently killing about 1.3 percent of patients who have been confirmed as having the illness in the United States. The elderly and people with underlying health conditions are most at risk of getting serious cases of COVID-19.

Ways to avoid contracting the illness include frequently washing hands, especially after visiting public places or coughing or sneezing, avoiding sick people, and regularly cleaning objects and surfaces at home, work, and school.
"Why are we still listening to the president? I mean, the fact is we here in our city, throughout states in the United States of America, we have demonstrated, sadly, that we had to jump into action and make this work without federal government support," Mayor Breed said.
Passengers wearing face masks are checked by airport security staff upon their arrival at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China on March 18, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

In Bid to Contain Virus, Beijing Bans International Flights, Causing Airport Chaos

To prevent the spread of the CCP virus, the Chinese regime has enacted a rule to prohibit international flights from landing in Beijing beginning on March 23.

But local media reported that passengers experienced travel chaos even before the rule went into effect.

The Chinese regimes narrative on the epidemic has recently shifted its focus to severe outbreaks outside China, while maintaining the outbreak inside China has been contained.

Many overseas Chinese have bought into the propaganda and traveled back to China recently, thinking the country was safe from 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.

Workers cheer themselves after loading travellers onto buses outside the New China International Exhibition Centre, near Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China on March 17, 2020. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

New Rule

Five Chinese government agencies co-announced a new regulation on March 22: the Civil Aviation Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Health Commission, Chinas General Administration of Customs, and Chinas National Immigration Administration.

All international passenger flights to Beijing cannot fly to the city directly. They will land in one of the following cities first: Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Hohhot, Shanghai (Pudong airport), Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Zhengzhou, and Xian.

After passengers pass customs inspection and receive a medical inspection for the virus, they can go on the rest of their journey to Beijing. Only e passengers meeting certain criteria can take a transfer flight to Beijing. The government announcement did not give further details.

Chinese state-run newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily quoted staff at Hohhot airport on March 18 saying the criteria include testing negative for the CCP virus.

Chaos

Chinese state run Yicai reported on March 21 about one Chinese passengers experience. Sun is originally from the city of Harbin in northeastern Heilongjiang province. She took an Air China flight from Tokyo Narita Airport to Beijing Capital Airport on the afternoon of March 20.

According to the Air China website, the flight was an Airbus 330 and 311 seats. The flight that Sun boarded only had 105 passengers seated.

Sun explained that the flight crew separated the back part of the cabin into a separate space, and arranged two passengers who had high body temperatures and one passenger had a pollen allergy to sit there, according to the report.

At 7 p.m., the flight landed in Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia, about 300 miles northwest of Beijing. Suns flight was the first one to follow the new regulation, though it was to take effect on March 23.

After landing, all passengers were asked to wait at their seats. Half an hour later, staff dressed in protective suits boarded the plane and screened each passengers body temperature. Several passengers were separated and disembarked first.

After 11 p.m., the other passengers were allowed to leave the plane. They then went through an one-on-one inquiry about their travel history, travel plans, and health condition; received a nucleic acid test for the virus, a blood test, and body temperature screening; and got their blood pressure measured.

At 2:30 a.m. on March 21, Sun and other passengers were finally allowed to pass the customs inspection. But they had to wait again for their luggage.

At 5 a.m., Sun and other 85 passengers were asked to take buses. At 7 a.m., they arrived at the Xingtai Air China hotel in Xincheng district of Hohhot city, a local quarantine center.

At the hotel, Sun and other passengers were asked to self-isolate for 14 days and pay the cost of the hotel stay, which is 200 yuan ($28.19) for accommodation and 150 yuan ($21.14) for food per day.

Sun later found out that there were 19 passengers who took the same flight with Sun who were allowed to board on a transfer flight to Beijing, where they would also need to quarantine themselves at a hotel for 14 days as well.

Sun said airport staff did not explain to her why she couldnt fly to Beijing while others could, and did not know that she would be quarantined in Hohhot.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and said that it is time to put the armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the coronavirus pandemic.

In a video message, Guterres said the Covid-19 virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction of faith. It attacks all relentlessly, he said.

Watch | COVID-19: UN Chief calls for global ceasefire, says focus on fight of our lives

Guterres said the vulnerable lot of the world - which includes women, children, those who have been displaced or marginalised - are at the highest risk of suffering the devastating losses from Covid-19.

In war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed, Guterres said.

Its time to end the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world  the #coronavirus pandemic.



It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now.



That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.https://t.co/K08WmglU2X  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 23, 2020

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war... to warring parties I say: pull back from hostilities. Put aside mistrust and animosity. Silence the guns; stop the artillery and end the airstrikes. This is crucial, to create the corridors for life-saving aid, the UN chief urged.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India has crossed over 400, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Nine people have succumbed to the virus till now.

In an unprecedented move, 30 states and union territories announced complete lockdown in their entire areas covering as many as 548 districts, the government said on Monday.

Apart from the 30 states or UTs facing complete lockdown, three states or UTs have imposed partial lockdown in certain areas. Total 58 districts will be affected due to this. They are Uttar Pradesh -- Indias most populous state, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Moreover, another union territory -- Lakshwadweep has imposed closure of some activities in its area.
The Seattle law firm that in 2011 was first to file suit against Apple and five major publishers for fixing e-book prices has a new target: Amazon.

On March 19, lawyers from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro filed a massive class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, accusing Amazon of using a form of most favored nation clause (which Amazon calls its fair pricing provision) to effect a horizontal price fixing scheme involving the platform's two million third-party sellers.

Amazon has obtained monopoly power in the U.S. retail e-commerce market, as demonstrated by its power to set the prevailing prices of the vast majority of consumer goods offered for sale on the internet and that it exercises extraordinary control over millions of its online retail competitors, reads the complaint, which alleges that the company willfully acquired" its monopoly power in the U.S. retail e-commerce market through anticompetitive conduct.

Specifically, the suit alleges that Amazons fair pricing provision, which requires that products sold on Amazon be priced equal to or lower than the price of the same item being sold by the seller on other sites, fulfills essentially the same function as a most favored nation pricing policy the company reportedly told federal regulators in 2019 it would abandon, under threat of investigation. According to the suit, Amazons fair pricing policy states that if Amazon finds a seller offering lower prices on competing platforms the company can take a range of actions, from removing the buy box to terminating selling privileges altogether.

In announcing the suit, attorneys for Hagens Berman detailed how Amazon operates as a two-sided platform, providing services to both third-party sellers and their customers. For a fee, Amazon permits third parties to register with Amazon Marketplace, giving sellers access to millions of buyers and buyers access to millions of sellers. But through its fair pricing provisions, lawyers claim, Amazon essentially creates a price floor which, given Amazons dominance and size, leads to supracompetitive prices for consumers.

"For example, a customer, who purchased a $150 toy on Viahart (the same price concurrently offered at Amazon) paid $37 more for the toy than if the seller was able to sell the product for $37 less on its own website, while making the same profit," the complaint states.

The suit also cites the collective control Amazon enjoys with Google over online product searches.

 Amazon has obtained monopoly power in the U.S. retail e-commerce market, as demonstrated by its power to set the prevailing prices of the vast majority of consumer goods offered for sale on the internet... 

Amazon controls not only the prices that its two million third-party sellers set for their products on websites, apps, or platforms that compete with the Amazon.com platform, it also exercises a significant level of control over the flow of available information to consumers on the internet, including consumers access to price information, the complaint states, noting that competing online retailers, including Walmart and Target, recently expressed concerns to the FTC that they struggle to break through the information bottleneck caused in large part because Amazon and Google collectively control the majority of internet searches for products.

Lawyers for Hagens Berman claim that roughly 80% of Amazons third-party sellers also sell their products on other online retail websites, including their own sites. But, almost half of Amazons third-party sellers, lawyers add, generate 81% to 100% of their revenues from their Amazon sales.

The class action suit, initially filed on behalf of two named consumer plaintiffs, alleges three violations of the Sherman Actprice-fixing, monopolization, and attempted monopolization as well violations of various consumer protection statutes, and unjust enrichment. It asks for injunctive relief, as well as damages, fines, and other monetary restitution which, if the charges are proven, could be huge. "Plaintiffs estimate that Amazon caused $55-172 billion in actual damages before trebling as required by federal antitrust laws," the complaint states.

In August of 2011, Hagens Berman was the first law firm to file a price-fixing suit against five of the then Big Six publishers for conspiring with Apple to raise raise e-book prices. The case was eventually joined by the DoJ and 33 states, with Hagens Berman as lead plaintiff for a consumer class. Defendants Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster settled the charges immediately, while Macmillan and Penguin settled later.

After a three-week trial, Judge Denise Cote found Apple liable in July of 2013, eventually triggering some $400 million in consumer refunds and another $50 million in fees. In all, some $566 million was ordered to be repaid to e-book purchasers.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Professor Chris Sagers, whose recent book United States v. Apple: Competition in America (Harvard University Press) explores antitrust law through the lens of the Apple e-books case, told PW the case against Amazon is compelling, but significantly more complex than the 2011 case against Apple.

"The plaintiffs probably don't have a slam dunk, but they do have a pretty big retailer imposing pretty anticompetitive terms on a lot of commerce. The outcome will depend a lot on what evidence the plaintiffs can come up with, and also, alas, on what judge they draw at the trial level," Sagers explains. "In principle, the allegation of conspiracy is straightforward, because there is explicit agreement about prices between Amazon and other sellers with which it competes head to head, vying with them to sell substitute products to the same consumers. If anything, that's a sign of how weakened antitrust law has become, that firms believe they can do things like this out in the open. Not that long ago, this kind of agreement would have been hammered out in secret, because it would be illegal."
The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus COVID-19 in Michigan increased 34% in one day, reaching 1,791 on Tuesday, March 24, up from 1,328 the day before.

Twenty-four people have died, according to the states daily update on coronavirus numbers. Thats up from 15 on Monday.

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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 463 new cases on its daily update, the states biggest daily increase to date.

The numbers have spiked since last week, when the state began to significantly increase the number of people tested for the coronavirus.

With the increase in testing, every day youre going to see the cases in Michigan skyrocket, said Emily Martin, an epidemiologist at University of Michigan. "Its because were filling in the gaps of the data.

So it looks like its skyrocketing, and that results in a lot of panic and worry and hysteria because people feel like the virus is moving faster and faster and faster, when really its that were just seeing more of the picture than before, Martin said.

Forty-one of Michigans 83 counties are home to a resident who contracted coronavirus.

About 85% of the COVID-19 cases -- 1,561 of 1,791 -- are in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

There are 563 patients who are Detroit residents; 310 who live elsewhere in Wayne County; 428 who live in Oakland County and 225 in Macomb County.

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Of the 24 patients who died, eight were residents of Detroit, five in Wayne County outside of Detroit, four in Oakland County, three each in Macomb and Washtenaw counties, and one in Kent County.

Whitmer declared a state of emergency on March 10 after the first cases were identified. She has since closed schools, bars, restaurants and other establishments to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further.

On Monday, March 23, she issued a stay-at-home order, requiring Michigan residents to stay at home except for essential business.

There have been nearly 33,404 cases of the coronavirus and 400 deaths in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

Every state in the country has reported a COVID-19 case. States with the highest number of cases include Washington, New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois.

Coronavirus symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Many infected people exhibit mild symptoms and dont necessarily need to be tested or treated in-person, as theres currently no known vaccine or cure for the disease.

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

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.
As the coronavirus continues to spread and countries introduce various travel restrictions, Google has seen an uptick in searches for travel advisories and cancellation policies. In response, it's making some changes to help users find that information even faster.

When you search for flights, hotels or things to do, you'll soon see travel advisories or restrictions for your destination. This info will appear on the search results page, at the top of google.com/travel and in Google Maps when you search for hotels. When possible, Google will also link to relevant information from your country's travel authority.

When you search on Google for flights with a specific airline or visit Google Flights, Google will direct you to a Help Center article with info on fare flexibility. At the moment, that shows links to most major airlines' policies, which may outline adjusted change fees or cancellation policies. Google warns that this info may change frequently.

Ideally, you won't need to travel any time soon, but if you are trying to cancel or reschedule plans you made before the coronavirus pandemic, this could be especially useful. If you booked a stay with Airbnb, the company is allowing no-penalty cancellations for stays and Experiences made on or before March 14th, with check-in dates between March 14th and April 14th -- though that doesn't cover mainland China, where normal business could resume as soon as April 1st.
Mumbai, March 24 : The total number of coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra climbed to 101 as four new cases were reported since Monday night, officials said here on Tuesday.

The new cases include three from Pune and one from Satara. They include people with travel history to Peru, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

So far, three COVID-19 patients have died in Maharashtra, including a 68-year-old Fillipino and two other men, both aged 63.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Global crude steel production expanded in February as output from China  the world's biggest steel producer  shot up notwithstanding stringent measures including lockdowns and quarantines imposed by Beijing to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.



Per the latest World Steel Association (WSA) report, crude steel production for 64 reporting nations rose 2.8% year over year to 143.3 million tons (Mt) in February.



China Ramps Up Production Despite Virus Crisis



Chinas steel production expanded in February even as the country struggled to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Production from China, which accounts for more than half of the global steel output, jumped 5% year over year to 74.8 Mt in February.



Steel producers in China continued to crank up output last month even though coronavirus-induced disruptions crimped their profit margins and put a lid on domestic steel demand.





Chinas overcapacity remains an overhang for the steel sector, putting downward pressure on steel prices in the country and globally. Notwithstanding Sino-U.S. trade tensions, Chinas steel mills ramped up production last year to take advantage of healthy profit margins. Higher domestic steel demand was another driving factor.



According to the WSA, Chinas production jumped 8.3% year over year to reach 996.3 Mt in 2019. The countrys share of world crude steel production rose to 53.3% in 2019 from 50.9% in 2018.



How Other Major Producers Fared in February?



Among other major Asian producers, India  the second-largest steel producer  saw a 1.5% increase in production to 9.6 Mt in February. Lower infrastructure spending and slowdown across major sectors like automobiles and construction are plaguing India's steel industry. Disruptions due to the coronavirus crisis are also putting pressure on domestic steel prices. Moving ahead, nationwide coronavirus lockdown is expected to force steel manufacturers in the country to cut production amid shortage of labor and raw materials.



Production in Japan went up 2.2% to 7.9 Mt in the reported month. Japan's steel makers have been hit by softening demand in automotive and construction amid the coronavirus crisis. Production in South Korea rose 2.1% to 5.4 Mt. Consolidated output expanded 4.5% to 101.7 Mt in Asia.



In North America, crude steel production spiked 3% to 7.2 Mt in the United States in February.



The Trump administrations imposition of hefty punitive tariffs on steel imports has helped U.S. steel industry capacity break above 80% (the minimum rate required for sustained profitability of the industry) after remaining below that level for years. The trade actions drove up production capacity of U.S. steel producers including United States Steel Corp. X, Nucor Corp. NUE, Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD amid lower imports and also provided a boost to domestic steel production.



However, higher production driven by the added capacity contributed to the sharp decline in U.S. steel prices last year. Prices gained some upward momentum toward the end of 2019 on the heels of price hike actions by major U.S. steel mills and supply-side actions. However, U.S. steel prices have again come under pressure over the past couple of months amid the virus crisis.



U.S. Steel and Steel Dynamics currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while Nucor has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Meanwhile, output in Canada slipped 2.5% to around 1 Mt while in Mexico it fell 19.3% to 1.3 Mt in February. Overall production in North America were down 1.3% to roughly 9.6 Mt.



In the Europe Union, production from Germany, the biggest producer in the region, tumbled 12% to around 2.9 Mt. Output was flat in Italy at roughly 2 Mt. France saw a 1.3% decline to roughly 1.2 Mt while output skid 38.1% in Spain to around 0.7 Mt. All these countries are reeling under the effects of coronavirus, as reflected by the daily surge in new cases. Total output was down 9% in the European Union to around 12.3 Mt.



Subdued demand in automotive and slowing construction is hurting steel consumption in Europe. The coronavirus outbreak in the continent, which has worsened of late, is likely to dent steel demand over the short haul.



Output in the Middle East shot up 22.9% to 3.6 Mt with Iran, the top producer in the region, seeing a 34.3% surge to 2.7 Mt. Africa recorded a 4.1% decline to around 1.2 Mt in February.



Among other notable producers, output from Turkey went up 8.2% to 2.9 Mt. Production from Brazil, the largest producer in South America, fell 1.3% to roughly 2.7 Mt.



Soaring China Steel Inventories Raise Concerns



Although production rose in China during the first two months of 2020, disruptions in transportation and logistics due to coronavirus led to an increase in finished steel inventories in the country amid weak domestic demand.



Per China Iron and Steel Association, inventories of finished steel products were up around 45% year over year in late February in China. Rising steel inventories also put downward pressure on Chinas domestic steel prices.



Continued build-up of inventories of steel products including hot-rolled coil and rebar due to rising production coupled with softer domestic steel demand will likely further hurt prices in China and globally. Increasing steel stockpiles has also ignited industry-wide concerns that it will lead to China again flooding global markets with cheap steel exports.



According to S&P Global Platts, finished and semi-finished steel inventories held by steelmakers, rolling and processing plants and traders are expected to reach 100 million Mt by the end of this month and pose a significant challenge to the China market in the second quarter. Although certain steel mills in China have started reducing output this month due to elevated steel inventories and tight cash flow, others that reduced or suspended output in the first two months of 2020 have restarted or increased production due to improved logistics and modestly improved demand, per Platts.



Demand to Remain Muted



Steel demand has weakened in China, the worlds top consumer, as major end-user industries were put in partial shutdown due to the virus outbreak. The demand environment for steel in China is not expected to get better anytime soon as economic activities in the country are expected to remain subdued.



The outbreak has slowed down activities in the construction space (a major steel end-use market) in China. The automotive industry, which consumes a big chunk of steel, is also among the industries that have taken a heavy hit. The pandemic put brakes on automobile production in China due to plant shutdowns. Automakers in the country are operating significantly below their production capacity as shortage of manpower and parts are delaying a recovery.



Moreover, manufacturing activities in the country have been disrupted due to the shutdown imposed by China authorities. While factories have started to gradually reopen, they are struggling to resume full operations as raw materials are in short supply due to transport controls and many workers still remain quarantined. Activities are expected to pick up in April.



The WSA had earlier stated that it sees a slowdown in demand in China this year amid a weakening domestic economy. Demand growth in China is projected to slow to 1% this year from an estimated 7.8% growth in 2019, per the trade body. A weak manufacturing sector is expected to be a deterrent.



ArcelorMittal MT, the worlds biggest steelmaker, also envisions coronavirus to have a short-term negative impact on demand in China. The steel giant expects overall demand in the country to be flat to 1% higher in 2020.



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FM Nirmala Sitharaman Speech Today, Coronavirus outbreak in India, FY19 ITR filing, GST, Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline extended till 30 June 2020: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently extended the deadline of Income Tax Returns for the financial year 2018-19 to June 30, 2020. She added saying that all those companies whose turnover is less than Rs 5 crore are not liable to pay any interest, penalty and late fee and for the big organizations, there will be no late fee but a penalty would be charged with the reduced rate of 9 percent.

Not just this, she also revealed that the date of linking PAN with Aadhaar which was March 31 has also been extended to June 30. A major announcement on Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is the default threshold limit which was Rs 1 lakh is now entended to Rs 1 crore, further, there are also reports that if the situations dont come in control, the companies will be exempted from section 7, 9 and 10 for six months.

Moreover, due to coronavirus pandemic, the government has also ensured that people can use all debit cards for withdrawing their money from all bank ATMs without any extra charge for three months. Further, the digital trade transaction charges are also reduced and the minimum amount balance for maintaining an account is also not mandatory. Not just this, Nirmala Sitharaman also assured that the government will soon come up to announce the economic packages.

Also Read: Coronavirus plan: PM Narendra Modi to address the nation at 8 pm

The regulators, Reserve Bank, and Finance Ministry are all working together to keep monitoring the developments & volatility in the stock market. SEBI has come up with some set of guidelines and also stated its position: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pic.twitter.com/oNWQrV1vYY  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

Not just this, the deadlines for various Acts and schemes that also include Sabke Vishwas Scheme has also been extended to June 30, 2020. She further revealed that the government along with Reserve Bank and regulators are all working together in monitoring the developments and the stock market.

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UT Health San Antonio is accepting donations of essential supplies from the public as hospitals in the system prepare for a "surge" of COVID-19 patients in the weeks to come.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news with mySA.com:

The health institution is collecting protective gear for its healthcare professionals Tuesday and Wednesday. Community members are encouraged to donate the following supplies:

 N-95 respirator masks and other face masks, including surgical masks, and masks used by painters, carpenters and hobbyists.

 Medical or disposable gloves.

 Eye protection goggles, but no swim goggles.

 Face shields.

 Thermometers.

Original/unopened items are preferred, but not required; however, UT Health San Antonio is asking not to donate used gloves or masks.

RELATED: San Antonio couple sewing homemade masks during COVID-19 crisis says even beginners can make them

The supplies can be dropped off from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at UT Health San Antonio, located at 7703 Floyd Curl Drive. The public is asked to go to the entry station near the intersection of Floyd Curl and Medical Drive, where they will then be directed to the drop-off location.

Professor of medicine and Director of the Center of Medical Humanities and Ethics Ruth Berggren, said the institution is preparing for a high tide of COVID-19 patients.

"We expect these supplies will be critically needed by front-line health cares workers treating a surge of COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks," she said.

Other institutions, like University Health System, says they have masks. University told the San Antonio Express-News a few weeks ago that staff started preparing for the stress on protective gear when the number of cases spiked in China. The system is working on contingency plans, but the community is welcome to donate new masks in their original boxes by calling 210-358-9860, according a post on the official Facebook page.

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
[March 24, 2020] Zambia still awaiting entry of fourth mobile market operator

Sydney, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Zambia outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets. Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Zambia-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Zambia has focussed on developing ICTs to spur growth in the digital economy. As part of the Smart Zambia initiative, investment has been made in data centres, a computer assembly plant, ICT training centres and a Smart Education program. These efforts have been combined with the extension of broadband access and improved connectivity to international submarine cables. In turn, this has resulted in a considerable reduction in fixed-line and mobile access pricing for end-users. The governments Universal Access Fund has made measurable progress in delivering telecom services to underserved areas, particularly in its funding the GRZ Communication Tower project which will see 1,010 towers installed by the end of 2020. Separately, mobile network operators continue to invest in 3G and LTE-based services, while the government also contracted Huawei to upgrade the state-owned mobile infrastructure for 5G services. Fixed-line broadband services remain underdeveloped, though MTN Zambia has initiated an FttP program, initially in Lusaka. Key developments Vodacom Group has its local operating license revoked;

Biometric SIM card registration scheme approaches deadline;

Zamtels rural tower project nears completion;

Huawei contracted to upgrade state-owned mobile tower network for 5G;

MTN Zambia announces FttP rollout plans via its Connected Home initiative, launches micro lending service Kongola;

Government adopts new converged licensing regime;

National Data Centre opens as part of the governments Smart Zambia project;

Report update includes the regulators market updates to December 2019, operator data to Q4 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments. Companies mentioned in this report Zambia Telecommunications (Zamtel, LAP Green); MTN Zambia; Bharti Airtel; Cell Z (Zamtel); ZamNet; Coppernet Solutions; UUNet Zambia; Microlink Technologies; AfriConnect; Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO); Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC); Comium. Table of Contents Key Statistics

Regional Market Comparison TMI vs GDP Mobile and mobile broadband Fixed and mobile broadband

Country overview

Telecommunications market Market analysis

Regulatory environment Regulatory authority Fixed-line developments Telecommunications Act 1994 ICT Policy 2007 ICT Act 2009 Regulatory Framework 2017 Telecom sector liberalisation International gateways Licensing New unified licensing regime 2009 Universal Access Fund Infrastructure sharing Privatisation Quality of Service (QoS) Converged licensing Mobile network developments SIM card registration Spectrum auction Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs)

Mobile market Market analysis Mobile statistics Mobile data SMS Mobile broadband Mobile infrastructure 5G 4G (LTE) 3G Other infrastructure developments Major mobile operators Airtel Zambia (formerly Zain/Celtel, Zamcell) MTN Zambia (formerly Telecel) Zamtel Mobile (formerly Cell Z) Vodafone Zambia UZI Zambia Mobile content and applications M-commerce M-payment and m-banking

Fixed-line broadband market Introduction and statistical overview Broadband statistics Public internet access locations Community telecentres Fixed-line broadband technologies Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks Leased lines Other fixed broadband services

Fixed network operators Zamtel CDMA2000 wireless local loop (WLL) Domestic satellite network

Telecommunications infrastructure ZESCO Liquid Telecom Zambia National backbone networks Data centres International infrastructure Submarine cables Satellite

Digital economy E-health E-learning E-government E-banking

ICTs and the digital divide

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Zambia  2020 (e)

Table 2  Voice interconnection rates for operators  2013  2019

Table 3  SMS interconnection rates for operators  2013  2019

Table 4  Change in annualised mobile ARPU  2011  2019

Table 5  Growth in the number of registered SIM cards  2012  2019

Table 6  Growth n the number of active mobile subscribers and penetration  2010  2025

Table 7  Development of mobile market revenue and capex  2011  2019

Table 8  Development of SMS and MMS traffic  2011  2019

Table 9  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2013  2025

Table 10  Change in the number of mobile towers by platform  2016  2019

Table 11  Development of mobile geographic coverage by operator  2011  2019

Table 12  Growth in the number of Airtel Zambias mobile subscribers  2014  2019

Table 13  Development of MTN Zambias financial data 2012  2019

Table 14  Change in MTN Zambias mobile service revenue  2018  2019

Table 15  Growth in the number of MTN Zambias mobile subscribers  2012  2019

Table 16  Decline in MTN Zambias mobile ARPU  2013  2019

Table 17  Growth in the number of Zamtels mobile subscribers  2014  2019

Table 18  Growth in the number of MTN Zambias m-money subscribers  2018  2019

Table 19  Growth in the number of fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration  2010  2025

Table 20  Change in the number of DSL subscribers  2010  2020

Table 21  Growth in the number of FttB subscribers  2011 - 2020

Table 22  Decline in Zamtels fixed-line revenue  2014  2019

Table 23  Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2010  2025

Table 24  Change in annualised fixed-line ARPU  2011  2019

Table 25  Development of fixed-line voice traffic  2011  2019

Table 26  Growth in international internet bandwidth  2010  2018

Table 27  Change in urban and rural household mobile penetration  2015; 2018

Table 28  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  1995  2009

Table 29  Historic - Registered mobile SIM cards  2012  2015

Table 30  Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity  1995  2009

Table 31  Historic - Zamtel mobile revenue  2012  2013

Table 32  Historic - Internet users  2000  2015

Table 33  Historic - Internet connections by data rate  2011  2015

Table 34  Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers  2003  2008

Table 35  Growth in the number of fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration  2006  2010

Table 36  Historic - International bandwidth  2000  2010 List of Charts Chart 1  Overall Africa view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 2  East Africa - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 3  Africa  Middle-tier Telecoms Maturity Index (Market Challengers)

Chart 4  East Africa Telecoms Maturity Index by country

Chart 5  East Africa mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration

Chart 6  East Africa fixed and mobile penetration rates

Chart 7  Change in annualised mobile ARPU  2011  2019

Chart 8  Growth in the number of registered SIM cards  2012  2019

Chart 9  Growth in the number of active mobile subscribers and penetration  2010  2025

Chart 10  Development of mobile market revenue and capex  2011  2019

Chart 11  Development of SMS and MMS traffic  2011  2019

Chart 12  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2013  2025

Chart 13  Change in the number of mobile towers by platform  2016  2019

Chart 14  Growth in the number of Airtel Zambias mobile subscribers  2014  2019

Chart 15  Development of MTN Zambias financial data  2012  2019

Chart 16  Growth in the number of MTN Zambias mobile subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 17  Decline in MTN Zambias mobile ARPU  2013  2019

Chart 18  Growth in the number of Zamtels mobile subscribers  2014  2019

Chart 19  Growth in the number of fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration  2010  2025

Chart 20  Change in the number of DSL subscribers  2010  2020

Chart 21  Growth in the number of FttB subscribers  2011 - 2020

Chart 22  Decline in Zamtels fixed-line revenue  2014  2019

Chart 23  Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2010  2025

Chart 24  Growth in international internet bandwidth  2010  2018 List of Exhibits Exhibit 1  Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment

Exhibit 2  East Africa - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Exhibit 3  Map of Zambia

Exhibit 4  Vodacom  in and out and back in Zambia



Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Zambia-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses Nicolas Bombourg [email protected] Within Australia (02) 8076 7665 Outside Australia +44 207 097 1241

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Making the best out of their self-isolation period amid coronavirus outbreak, star couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone worked out together on Monday.

Actor Ranveer Singh took to Instagram to share a selfie of himself and his lady love right after their workout session.

While Deepika was seen sporting her million-dollar smile in the picture, Ranveer could be seen trying really hard to ace the tough look with his expressions.

Dressed in their gym wears, the couple looked as adorable as always.

Double the Endorphin-rush when Shes around! #homegymbuddies my #mondaymotivation @deepikapadukone, the Padmaavat actor captioned the post. Many other Bollywood celebrities are currently self-isolating themselves to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus which has affected a total of 433 people in India and has claimed seven lives.

Following her Productivity in the time of COVID-19! series, Deepika Padukone on Monday spent her day in self-isolation by working out and feasting on a dessert.

The 34-year-old actor took to Instagram to share two pictures and one video to share the details of her day. The Padmaavat actor shared a short video that captured the footage of her a treadmill as she ran on it.

Season 1: Episode 4, Two Two...ChaChaCha, Productivity in the time of COVID-19!#exercise, she captioned the post.

In one of the two pictures, Padukone could be seen sitting in her gym wear and the other one featured a chocolaty dessert.

Season 1:Episode 4, Three Two...ChaChaCha!!! (Un)Productivity in the time of COVID-19!#desert #desertlife, she captioned the dessert post.

Also making sure to stick to his workouts is the ageless actor Anil Kapoor. The outbreak of coronavirus has put a halt on normal lives of all people, but it has not stopped actor Anil Kapoor from working out!

Anil on Tuesday took to Twitter, where he shared a video of him exercising indoors.

Lets keep moving ( indoors )! Theres no escaping my workout when my trainer Marc is staying with me! #QuarantineandWorkout #StayHomeStayFit, Anil captioned the video.

Lets keep moving ( indoors )!



Theres no escaping my workout when my trainer Marc is staying with me! #QuarantineandWorkout #StayHomeStayFit pic.twitter.com/WWlkc7YY8u  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) March 24, 2020

In the clip, Anil can be seen sweating it out a cycle.

Many other Bollywood celebrities are currently self-isolating themselves to avoid the spread of novel coronavirus which has affected a total of 467 people in India and has claimed 8 lives so far.

(With inputs from ANI and IANS.)

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Gov. Mark Gordon joined in signing a letter to congressional leadership seeking additional funding for states in Congress nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill thats intended to help address the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.

The letter  signed by 20 other Republican governors  seeks additional funding for states within a phase three spending bill currently under debate by Congress. Negotiations on that bill were still ongoing as of Monday afternoon.

We are working to lessen the impact of COVID-19 in our states, but we need direct assistance from Congress, the letter read. Injecting states with resources would give governors the ability to respond to the unique needs of each state with the speed and flexibility that is required to respond to this monumental challenge.

The spending bill  considered to be the largest economic stimulus package in the nations history  offers $20 billion to state governments to deal with the crisis. However, that amount has been criticized by most observers as well as the states themselves, who argue the bill offers too little money for states to deal with the ancillary costs of combating the pandemic.

The additional fiscal relief in the Senate GOP bill released yesterday falls far short, Nick Johnson, the senior vice president for state fiscal policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, tweeted Monday morning. The bill includes $20 billion states can use to help its schools & colleges prepare for & respond to the #COVID19 virus & little else to help states bottom lines.

$20b is far too small an amount to help much with the extraordinary fiscal challenges states face, he added.

Governors seek more

State leaders seem to agree. In a March 20 letter from the National Governors Association, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo requested at least $150 billion in total aid  nearly eight times as much as under the Republican plan. While Republican governors didnt request a specific amount of aid in their letter, they stressed that additional aid beyond the initial $20 billion is just as critical for their states.

COVID-19 has put an unprecedented burden on state governments, the Republicans letter read. States are spending heavily on the response to the virus at a time when many are at the end of their budget year and revenues are down because of the limited economic activity. A block grant to each state would provide the certainty we need to continue providing critical services at a high level when they are needed more than ever.

Debates in Washington, however, have been slowed after Democratic members of Congress voted to delay the deal. Concerns for Democrats centered largely on the language governing tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans to corporations, which they said lacked sufficient details to ensure fair payments to workers and to prevent corporate behavior similar to that exhibited in the corporate bailouts after the 2008 real estate crash.

Republicans, however, have argued that their bill does include a number of those provisions, including a $425,000 limit on executive total compensation, an explicit prohibition of stock buybacks during the duration of the loan, and a requirement for any company receiving a loan to maintain their existing payroll as of March 13.

They have also argued that Democrats have laden down the deal with a number of provisions they say make the bill unworkable, including tax credits for renewable energy, expansion of paid leave, contingency plans for elections during a state of emergency, guaranteed unemployment benefits and  in addition to the current appropriations in the bill  a massive stabilization fund worth hundreds of billions of dollars intended to help buoy state and local governments after the crisis.

Wyoming reacts

The delay in negotiations has caused ample amounts of anger from Republicans such as Sen. John Barrasso, who ripped the delays in fiery speech Monday on the Senate floor.

Ive been on the phone with doctors from around the country, back home with my colleagues at the Wyoming Medical Center, and they are working double time, through the weekend, day and night, the nurses, the doctors, the health care providers.  They need help, he said. Theyre looking to us for help. They need tests, they need masks, they need respirators, they need hope. Hope there will be a vaccine, hope that there will be a treatment. Those things are in this bill that the Democrats voted to block last night, and the vote Democrats voted to block again today.

Bernie Sanders may have lost to Joe Biden, but the Green New Deal of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and that whole crew is alive and well in the Democratic cloakroom and is controlling the actions today on the floor of the United States Senate, he later added.

Specifics on what impact the pandemic is currently having on state and local governments in Wyoming are currently elusive. While Gordon said in a news conference Monday he anticipated some belt-tightening as a result of the outbreak, he did not elaborate on the extent of the states current funding levels in the short term, only that right now, the state has adequate funding to meet its needs.

In an email to the Star-Tribune, a spokesman in Gordons office said state agencies are currently operating within their existing budgets but, at this point, it is still too early to tell whether the Legislature will need to convene in a special session to fill any shortfalls in agency budgets. Right now, however, convening a special session is not an active part of Gordons plans.

But its impossible to speculate what is to come at this point, the spokesman wrote.

But is the $20 billion currently on the table in a Senate bill enough?

Its a start, Gordon told reporters Monday. I dont believe that this will be repaired easily. I think the consequences are very long term, and I do believe that we will be back with needs for more direct infusions to states.

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Roderick Crawford: To beat this virus, the NHS needs to learn from the British Army

Roderick Crawford edited Parliamentary Brief 1992-2012 and currently works in conflict resolution.

The NHS is about to go into the worst crisis in recent history  perhaps in its history. It will be stretched beyond capacity for bed and staff and equipment.

Solving its capacity deficit in short time is going to be the key to ensuring it can play the fullest part in saving lives during the course of this pandemic. Just as importantly will be making sure that how we respond now adds to our ability to address future phases of this pandemic and future pandemics.

I wrote last week about how the NHS might find a source of tens of thousands of beds by taking over hotels as either stand alone medical units or as extensions of hospital wings. But what about the additional staff that will be needed? How can they be found at short notice and integrated into the system?

The UK has another service that is stretched by emergencies and has had to upscale quickly: the Army. Our standing Army has always been small in peacetime and relies on utilising Reservists and Territorials to meet its war needs.

During the Cold War, its ability to defend West Germany was based on rapid mobilisation and deployment of those additional reserve forces (albeit cut back by the controversial policy put in place by the 1966 Reserve Forces Act).

Without these reserve forces the Army could not possibly have met the demands placed on it had an East-West conflict broken out in Europe, nor would it have had the credibility of meeting those potential demands. This has been true of all the major operations since the end of the Cold War too.

Reliance on reserves has long roots, going back to militias in centuries past. When Robert Peel faced a renewed French threat in 1844-45, it was to the militia that he turned as a practical solution to a threat that had suddenly emerged and which might as quickly recede.

In the economic circumstances of the time it was the right response; the militia complemented the policy of strengthening key points of vulnerability on the coast and bought time for the naval rearmament programme to bear fruit. The policy had the full backing of his chief colleague, Wellington.

It was Richard Haldane, Secretary of State for War 1906-12, who gave new institutional framework to the militia and yeomanry.

The new Reserve and Territorial forces were specifically designed to provide for an enlarged expeditionary force capable of fighting the kind of European war that the Army was now facing for the first time in a century.

It was what enabled the British Army to play its part in supporting the defeat of the German offensive in 1914 and preventing, therefore, its victory.

The structure the Army established around the reserves was the basis for building up new battalions and thus up-scaling the Army to its full war-time size. Haldanes reforms made a vital contribution to the final defeat of Imperial Germany. He was, in the words of Field Marshall Douglas Haig, the greatest Secretary of State of War in history.

These policies present examples that the Government could follow to give the NHS the additional capacity it needs now and in the future  a capacity that it cannot build into its normal full-time staffing levels as it cannot predict what level of staffing would be needed for addressing the additional demands on the health system arising from unknown pandemics in the future.

The Army has two types of reservists  those from other walks of life who volunteer as part-time soldiers, and those who, on retirement from their service in the Army join the reserve.

Both undergo 19-27 training days a year and are paid on the same basis as their full-time equivalents in the service, as well as receiving a tax-free bonus on completing the required training days. Something not dissimilar could form a model for the NHS.

Much of the basic care needed by people who become very ill from Covid-19 could be managed by volunteers trained up as auxiliary nursing staff to support regular nursing staff in day-to-day care for these patients, freeing full-time staff to work alongside them addressing complications, additional care for underlying conditions and of course enabling full-time staff to man expanded ICU beds.

As in the Army, reserve staff could work alongside full-time staff as part of care teams, or in teams of reserve staff that combine ex-nurses and doctors with trained volunteers. Depending on the level and speed of increased demand, both models might be needed.

Nursing has seen a significant outflow of staff, pre-retirement, over many years. The number of doctors leaving the NHS has been so high it is now labelled Drexit (Doctor-Exit); though most are moving abroad to work, many have left the profession or are working part time only.

Between them, we have a large pool of already trained and qualified staff to draw on. What has been a problem can now be turned to advantage to meet this present challenge faced by the NHS workforce.

What is essential, is that this potential workforce reserve is invited back into the workforce in a way that is structured to provide not only a legal basis for their employment now but also structured into new workforce models that can meet the demand for staffing in this and in future national crises.

The need to build medium-term capacity  not just for this coming winter and 2021, but for the foreseeable future  calls for the instituting of an official reserve staff structure of ex-professionals as well as suitable volunteers.

It will need to be put in place by the Department of Health, with the support of Health Education England and the local education and training boards to ensure that the right training is provided, as well as by their Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish equivalents.

This is not about an NHS on the cheap. It is about how to create the resources needed to confront a sudden increase in demand for healthcare not seen in our lifetime, and one that may reappear just as suddenly  not only as a repeat occurrence of this particular virus but of others both less and more virulent.

Establishing a fixed level of appropriate nurse numbers is not possible in the face of such potential shifts over and above usual changes in seasonal demand and demographic change.

The Governments plans for more new nurses and higher retention, when delivered, will not provide the capacity needed to address this kind of spike in demand, helpful as it will be in building stability in our everyday workforce and in meeting rising demand of around four per cent per year.

Ensuring that the NHS has in place the resources to meet these now expected sudden increases in demand is essential. That these resources must be provided for in an economically and socially sustainable manner is also evident.

With the economic hit the UK is taking and the state of the global economy that we will be re-entering post crisis, as well as the difficulties of recruitment and retention of NHS staff (including the problems of overseas recruitment both practically and morally in this new environment), reserve workforces are the only realisable and sustainable policy response.

Sir Robert Peels example is one that should guide Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock would do well to learn from the work of Richard Haldane. They got it right.
Wuhan, March 24 : The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic originated last December, will lift outbound travel curbs from April 8, Xinhua news agency quoted authorities as saying on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in China increased to 81,545, while the death toll stood at 3,281, according to the latest updates by the Washington-based John Hopkinsa University.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, who are the most admired people in America?

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 23:40:39|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Tuesday said the mainland has been sharing the coronavirus outbreak information with Taiwan all along, dismissing the "covering-up" slander drummed up by certain Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials.

The mainland has sent Taiwan 101 notifications as of Tuesday including the information about its sharing of virus genome sequences with the World Health Organization, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, adding that the mainland has acted in a highly responsible manner for the sake of the health and well-being of the people in Taiwan, but the DPP had not told the truth.

Zhu asked the DPP officials to immediately stop spreading "political virus," saying that the use of the epidemic to stir up cross-Strait confrontations at a time when the outbreak in Taiwan is picking up is shameless and disgusting.

Zhu slammed the so-called "Taiwan-U.S. joint statement" on a partnership to fight COVID-19, saying it has once again exposed the DPP's attempt to seek independence.

Zhu said China supports efforts of the international community to strengthen cooperation in fighting COVID-19, but firmly opposes any tricks of seeking "Taiwan independence" or "playing the Taiwan card."

"We firmly oppose any form of official exchanges between Taiwan and the United States," Zhu said.
FMCG companies such as ITC, Nestle and Dabur on Tuesday said they are producing only the essential items at their manufacturing units amid the lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus.

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, which is producing beverages and foods as well as essential personal hygiene products such as hand wash, soaps and sanitisers that are needed to fight COVID-19, is in talks with local authorities to resume operations at some their units.

Like others, FMCG makers have adopted 'Work from Home' for all employees at their head and regional offices to contain the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

According to ITC, it is "extremely critical" to ensure adoption of precautionary measures during this period, but it is also important, that during such challenging times, "essential products are made available to consumers in a safe and sustainable manner across the length and breadth of the country through continuity of supply".

"As various state governments issue notifications, we are in discussions with them to ensure that manufacture and distribution of essential products are streamlined," said an ITC spokesperson.

ITC, which manufactures personal hygiene products like hand wash, soaps and sanitisers under Savlon brand and food items under brands such as Aashirvad, is "operational with bare minimum people" as these are essential products, said the Kolkata-headquartered company.

A total of 32 states and Union territories had already declared complete lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. From midnight, the lockdown will be imposed across the nation.

Following this, several companies have halted their manufacturing operations till March 31.

Nestle India, maker of Maggi noodles, Nescafe coffee, Cereal for infants and KitKat chocolate, which operates eight factories in the country, have either suspended operations or scaled down the operations at its manufacturing units.

"In view of the lockdown in many of the states and union territories across the country, the operations in some of the locations (manufacturing, distribution centres/ warehouses, offices, suppliers) are scaled down or suspended," said Nestle in a regulatory filing.

However, the company said as it is "in the manufacture and sale of food and beverage products, the company is in discussion with the authorities to continue operations in the factories/ distribution centres where the operations has been suspended."



Beverages major Coca-Cola India has also suspended its manufacturing operations and is only producing "essential beverages", such as water, juices, tea and coffee, at its manufacturing facilities in small number complying to the local government's regulations.

"In compliance with the government directive, we at the Coca-Cola system in India have temporarily suspended production at our manufacturing facilities," said Coca-Cola India.

With respect to the essential beverages, the company is "operating our manufacturing facilities in very small number", it said.

Varun Beverages,PepsiCo India's bottling partner, has also suspended manufacturing operation.

Home-grown FMCG major Dabur India has also suspended its manufacturing operations, excluding essential items such as Ayurvedic medicines, Chyawanprash, hand sanitisers and hand wash.

"We have temporarily suspended production at our manufacturing units till March 31, 2020, except for essential products such as Ayurvedic medicines, Chyawanprash, hand sanitisers and hand wash in the larger public interest," said Dabur India in a statement.

Over the financial impact, Dabur said, "The situation is still dynamic and uncertain and it is difficult to evaluate or quantify the impact at this point of time. A lot will depend on the stabilisation of the overall scenario arising from the COVID-19 pandemic."



Similarly, Nestle India said, "Impact on the operations of the company cannot be assessed at this point."According to data from the health ministry, over 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Today, hour-long, high-pitched 'debates' at prime time, replete with inflammatory visuals and captions, using half-truths, insinuations and lies, pour venom against Muslims and seek to divide Hindus and Muslims, notes Jyoti Punwani.

Kindly note image only published for representational purposes.

In 2011, when the newly appointed chairman of the Press Council of India Justice Markandeya Katju, spoke of the need for a 'danda' to discipline 'incorrigible' media offenders, the entire media erupted at this attempt to curb 'freedom of expression.'

The retired Supreme Court judge classified three kinds of 'anti-people'; acts the media indulged in. One of these was the way it deliberately divided people on religious lines.

When Justice Katju gave this controversial interview in November 2011, the country had lived through the worst terror attacks. Be it Mumbai or Malegaon, Ajmer or Pune, Bengaluru or Ahmedabad, Muslims had immediately been blamed by the police, and the media had parroted the police version.

The retired judge described this media practice as an attempt to demonise the entire community as terrorists.

The interview was not just an angry outburst. Justice Katju refused to withdraw his remarks even at the first meeting of the newly-constituted PCI, leading to an angry walkout by four publishers.

Two years later, he repeated that the media was fanning communalism.

Justice Katju's term ended in 2014. In the five years since, sections of the electronic media have gone to unimaginable lengths to demonise Muslims.

A particularly graphic example of this was a programme telecast recently by a leading Hindi news channel.

The topic of the programme was a multi-crore land scam unearthed by the CAG that involved regularizing encroachments on government land in Jammu.

Such regularizations of unauthorised structures have happened many times before, the most glaring example being in the suburb of Ulhasnagar, (extneral link) near Mumbai.

But the Jammu scam was projected as a 'land jihad', waged by the three mainstream Kashmiri parties that had ruled the state.

Both Hindu and Muslim VIPs figured in the scam, but because 90% of the encroachers were Muslim, the scam was portrayed as a conspiracy to change the demography of Hindu-majority Jammu at the behest of Pakistan, so that its jihadis could cross over the border easily.

The programme flagrantly violated two 'Fundamental Principles' of the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards drawn up by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority, a self-monitoring body set up by the National Broadcasters Association.

These are:

1.'News will not be designed to promote any particular opinion' and

2. 'ensuring that controversial subjects are fairly presented, with time being allotted fairly to each point of view.'

The programme allotted time only to those who saw the scam as a planned 'Islamisation of Jammu'. Among them was advocate Ankur Sharma who had gone to court after the CAG report had exposed the scam.

Head of a Hindutva organisation, Sharma had defended some of those convicted for the 2018 Kathua gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal Muslim girl.

Others interviewed included Kashmiri Hindu writers who saw the Kashmir militancy as a 'continuation of the struggle in India for an independent Muslim homeland'.

The programme also violated the first guideline, because it was designed to promote only one opinion: viz, this 'zameen ka dharm parivartan' was part of the various kinds of jihad being waged -- by terrorists, the tukde tukde gang, Opposition parties, and 'designer patrakars'.

From the 8th century invasion of Sind by Mohammed Bin Qasim to Shaheen Bagh and the Delhi riots -- all were portrayed as part of the same jihad.

If at all such a view could be taken seriously, what could have been the reaction of such a programme on Hindu viewers?

And what would Muslims have felt, watching it?

For years now, Muslims have been angry at the negative portrayal of them as a community in the non-Urdu media. Sympathetic journalists would advise them to convey their objections through letters to the editor and even to take delegations to meet editors.

But what should they do when the editor-in-chief of a television channel himself anchors a programme that portrays them as threats to the country's security?

How do they handle the way incidents are deliberately communalized by not one, but many leading television channels?

Be it the 2017 Hadiya case, where the Supreme Court agreed to indulge a father angered by the conversion of his adult daughter and her subsequent marriage to a Muslim; or the murders of Delhi residents Ankit Saxena (2018) and Dhruv Tyagi (2019) by their Muslim neighbours, leading channels, both Hindi and English, used these incidents to project Hindus and Muslims as enemies.

They didn't stop there.

They went on to project Muslims as ISIS-inspired fanatics, and castigate Opposition parties, specially the CPI-M and Arvind Kejriwal, for playing 'vote bank politics' and ignoring Hindus.

In fact, the Delhi CM's office wrote to one of the channels, asking for an apology for its 'deliberate and malicious attempt to communalise and distort facts'.

So poisonous were these programmes that even BJP spokespersons participating in them urged the anchors to stop distorting facts to achieve TRPs.

Compared to them, the old methods: Loaded newspaper headlines, reports parroting the police version, seem passe.

Today, hour-long, high-pitched 'debates' at prime time, replete with inflammatory visuals and captions, using half-truths, insinuations and lies, pour venom against Muslims and seek to divide Hindus and Muslims.

Isn't this exactly what leading lights of the ruling party at the Centre do at every opportunity? Indeed, on two issues: 'Appeasement' of Muslims, and conversion to Islam, these programmes have echoed Hindutva beliefs.

As PCI chairman, Justice Katju had wondered whether the freedom of the press included the freedom to spread communalism. Alas! In India it does.

But though the danda he wanted was never made part of the powers of either the Press Council or the News Broadcasting Standards Authority, viewers need not remain helpless.

These programmes constitute offences under Section 153 A Indian Penal Code -- promoting communal enmity. But prosecuting anyone under Section 153 A requires government sanction, and given the way these programmes toe the government view, such sanction won't be given.

But complaints to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority against violations of their Code of Ethics can yield apologies.

Even more effective are defamation suits, (external link) like this one, filed by the woman who helped Hadiya.

There is one more way, shown ironically, by the government itself.

The I and B ministry recently used a rule of the Cable TV Network Act to ban two Malayalam news channels for 48 hours for their 'biased' coverage of the Delhi riots (the ban was hastily revoked). The rule forbids programmes from promoting communal attitudes.

A conscientious citizen has now issued notice (external link) to the I & B ministry regarding the 'land jihad' programme, using this very rule.

What can be better than the fact that this citizen is a Hindu?
Downing Street on Monday announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is well, but if he were to fall ill in the coronavirus pandemic, foreign secretary Dominic Raab will take charge of the UK government.

The announcement came in the context of growing numbers of deaths and cases, with London accounting for 2,200 (117 in Westminster) of the nearly 5,700 cases across the country. There have been 281 deaths so far.

In the Johnson cabinet, Raab is the foreign secretary as well as the first secretary of state, which makes him next in line in a situation in which the prime minister is unable to carry out his duties.

More on Covid-19:

 Your guide to staying safe

 Editorial: Time to prepare for Stage 3

 How difficult it is to maintain 1-metre distance

 How coronavirus is different from seasonal flu and common cold

Johnson, meanwhile, put Britain in a lockdown as he announced sweeping curbs on everyday activity including the banning of any gatherings of more than two people who do not live together.

As well as instructing the public to stay at home for all but a few exceptions, Johnson said he was ordering shops that dont sell essential goods, such as food and medicines, to close immediately.

In as somber an address to the nation as any prime minister has arguably delivered since World War II, Johnson said it was critical to prevent the virus from spreading between households and that police would be authorized to break up gatherings of more than two people from different households in public in order to deal with the biggest threat this country has faced for decades.

Under the measures which Johnson did not term as a lockdown, people will only be allowed to leave home for a few very limited purposes to relieve the pressure on the National Health Service, Johnson said.

These include shopping for basic necessities as infrequently as possible, one form of exercise a day done alone or with household members, medical reasons or travelling to work that cannot be done from home or that is absolutely necessary.
A Canadian, who landed a home



stay option in Kalina here through an online portal, was left stranded after members of that residential society refused him entry in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak and its infamy as one being spread by those coming from abroad.

The 55-year-old Canadian, Brian Melson, came to India on February 4 on a tourist visa and has since been asked to vacate a hotel in Marol in suburban Andheri as well as accommodation in the Khar area in view of the coronavirus scare, his friend Vijendra Joshi said on Tuesday.

Melson then contacted an online portal providing home stay options to tourists and he was allotted accommodation in a housing society in suburban Kalina, he said.

However, the housing society refused entry to Melson, he said.

Joshi said Melson spent the last 24 hours in the lobby of the Kalina housing society and he was making arrangements to shift him to Pune.

"It is distressing. A cab driver said he would charge Rs 14,000 to ferry us to my native Pune. Melson is facing problems due to the coronavirus scare since the last 10-15 days.

"I am trying to shift him to Seven Hills or some other hospital for check-up. I have also approached police for help," Joshi said.

When contacted, Senior Inspector Kailash Awhad of the Vakola police station said medical assistance can be given to the Canadian national, but "if society members are not allowing him to enter, there is nothing that we can do".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than a dozen cases of avian influenza have now been confirmed across the UK, with Northern Ireland most heavily infected.

A total of 16 cases are believed to have been confirmed by authorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

They are, however, all non-notifiable, low pathogenic strains of the virus. The far more dangerous highly pathogenic strain has been ruled out.

Defra said that the risk of high path AI in both poultry and in wild birds remains low in the UK.

In NI, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that 23 suspected cases of notifiable avian disease had been reported since 2 January this year. Avian influenza has been ruled out in 11 cases.

A spokesman said the presence of a non-notifiable strain of low pathogenic avian influenza, subtype H6N1, had been confirmed at 12 premises.

One of those affected was Ready Egg Products, which culled all 375,000 enriched cage birds on the site involved.

The low pathogenic virus is not notifiable and, as such, there is no requirement by the authorities to cull birds. However, Ready Egg took the decision unilaterally to remove the birds.

A similar strain was confirmed in Scotland - at a site run by Glenrath Farms. A Scottish government spokesperson said there had been other cases.

"There have been two businesses within Scotland, where we have identified non-notifiable strains of avian influenza," he said.

"These are mild strains and do not require government intervention. Precautionary restrictions were put in place as part of our routine investigations. These have now been lifted."

He added: "We would continue to encourage bird keepers to maintain high levels of bio-security and follow advice.

"Anyone who suspects a notifiable avian disease must report it immediately to their local animal and plant health agency."

The Scottish government said that avian influenza was primarily a disease of birds. It could infect people, but did not do this easily.

"The risk of humans catching avian influenza is extremely low. Any bird keepers who may have concerns should immediately seek veterinary advice," he said.

Defra has confirmed just one cases of low path AI in England.

"The UK retains its country free status for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), with no confirmed cases since June 2017," said a spokesman.

"APHA regularly respond to suspect cases of notifiable avian disease. Notifiable avian disease has been ruled out in all of these since December 2019, but there has been one case of non-notifiable avian influenza identified in England."

The spokesman said that bird keepers should remain alert for any signs of disease, report suspected disease immediately and ensure they are maintaining good bio-security on their premises.

In its last update on AI - on March 16 - the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said there had been recent cases of high path AI in Germany, Bulgaria and Poland, but it said that the risk in the UK was low.

"Taking into account the data reported both here and in our previous update, the limited findings in wild birds across Europe, and the possibility of migration to the UK if the weather were to become colder in Eastern Europe; the risk of HPAI in wild birds in the UK is currently low (i.e. no change at present). We are monitoring this very closely," said APHA.

"The overall risk for poultry in the UK remains low, but the risk of introduction to individual premises depends upon the level of bio-security implemented on farm to prevent direct or indirect contact with wild birds.

"It should be noted that the virus could potentially survive on pasture in wild bird faeces for several weeks at current ambient temperatures, emphasising importance of these measures.

"We recommend bio-security should be increased. We are keeping this under review."

APHA said that all poultry keepers should remain vigilant and make themselves aware of the latest information, particularly about recommendations for bio-security and how to register their flocks.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 24 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on March 24.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
We recently issued an updated report on Kansas City Southern KSU. Factors like reduced rail freight traffic and change in Mexico fuel excise tax credit hurt the companys financials. However, adoption of the precision scheduled railroading model and its shareholder-friendly approach are aiding growth.

Kansas City Southern's adoption of the precision scheduled railroading model is aimed at improving operational efficiencies and reducing network congestion. Improvement in adjusted operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) is an added positive. This can be attributed to the company's efforts to cut costs. Lower the value of this key metric, the better. Kansas City Southern expects 2020 operating ratio in the 60-61% range.

Trump's decision to indefinitely suspend 5% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico bodes well for Kansas City Southern, since the company generates a significant amount of revenues from the country.

The company's efforts to reward its shareholders through dividend payments and buybacks are impressive. It raised quarterly dividend payout on its common stock by 11.1% to 40 cents a share ($1.60 annually).

Kansas City Southern Price

Kansas City Southern Price

Kansas City Southern price | Kansas City Southern Quote

However, Kansas City Southern is being hurt by reduced rail freight traffic. Overall volume declined 1% in 2019. Softness pertaining to intermodal volume (down 5% in 2019), automotive volume (down 4%) and weaknesses in the crude oil (down 20% in 2019) are resulting in low rail traffic volume.

Also, change in Mexico fuel excise tax credit has resulted in increased cost of fuel for the company in Mexico. Notably, the loss of the Mexican Fuel Excise Tax Credit hurt fourth-quarter adjusted operating ratio to the tune of roughly 90 basis points.

Owing to the coronavirus outbreak, shipments might get hurt, which is likely to be reflected in its first-quarter 2020 results.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to consider

Story continues

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An ASEAN-EU Ministerial Conference on the coronavirus took place online on March 20

As of last Saturdays afternoon, the ongoing pandemic has hit all nations in Southeast Asia. Globally, it has left more than 275,000 people infected and costing more than 11,400 people their lives.

Many regional economies have taken drastic support solutions to spur on the performance of their enterprises and peoples livelihoods, valued at billions of US dollars.

On March 18, Singapores National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) announced that a one-time payment of up to $300 will be given to about 108,000 workers whose income has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Accordingly, existing union members with dependents living in the same household will receive $300 while $100 are reserved for those without dependents in the same household. New union members after March 1 will receive a smaller sum of $200 for those with dependents in the same household and $50 for those without.

The NTUC said that over the years, normally those with dependents in Singapore must have initially earned $3,400 or less monthly, while those without dependents must have earned $1,500 or less. The health crisis has made these peoples earnings fall by at least 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, one month earlier, Singapores government also announced a $4 billion package that would be used for keeping workers in jobs and supporting enterprises and sectors directly affected by the disease. In addition, $800 million would be set aside to support front-line agencies fighting the outbreak.

Furthermore, businesses will have their income tax for 2020 reduced and might profit from other measures to increase their cash flow.

Businesses in the tourism industry will receive short-term bridging loans until they can consolidate their long-term financial capacity or pay off their current debts. Besides this, they will also be given a 30 per cent reduction of real estate tax for 2020.

In aviation, businesses will be able to pay reduced parking and landing fees, as well as receiving assisted ground handling and reduced rental fees of shops at Changi Airport.

The countrys economy is expected to shrink by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter due to the pandemic while its full year growth could shrink by 0.6 per cent. Along with Singapore, other ASEAN member states are also racing to support their business communities.

Malaysia

With over 1,000 positive cases by March 21, Malaysia is the regions biggest outbreak sufferer.

On March 17, Malaysia imposed a ban on all public activities nationwide, as well as blocked many public places, and ordered the immediate closure of the border from March 18-31, right after the nation had seen its first two deaths and the number of confirmed patients skyrocketing by 120 to 673.

One day earlier, Muhyiddin Yassin, who has been the Malaysian Prime Minister for only a few weeks, rolled out the stimulus package of cash handouts for workers forced to take unpaid leave combined with discounts on electricity tariffs for tourism and other industries.

The premier has also sought to largely maintain his predecessors policies, including keeping a $4.7 billion stimulus package to minimise the impact of the disease, promote centralised economic growth, and enhance quality investment.

Besides that, in order to support the most impacted businesses, Malaysia allowed those in tourism to pay their monthly income tax by installments for six months from April to September this year.

During the same period, businesses affected by the crisis can revise their estimated profits for 2020 with respect to monthly income tax payments without penalty.

Hotels, travel agents, airlines, and shopping and conference centres will receive a 15 per cent discount on their monthly electricity bills.

Hotels will further be exempted from the 6 per cent service tax until August. Malaysias central bank will provide a special relief programme worth $480 million, which is meant as a working capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a lending rate of 3.75 per cent.

Malaysias government requires all banks to provide financial relief, including restructuring and extending loans to businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Registered taxi drivers, bus drivers, and tour guides as well as cyclo drivers will also receive a stimulus package of $145 from the government.

Indonesia

On March 13, Indonesia announced a 120 trillion rupiah ($8.1 billion) stimulus package to support Southeast Asias biggest economy over the next few months.

The stimulus, representing 0.8 per cent of the nations GDP, includes measures such as exempting some workers in manufacturing from income tax and giving manufacturers a discount on corporate tax payments.

The government is also exempting companies in 19 manufacturing sectors from paying import taxes, while giving them a 30 per cent corporate tax discount. Refunds for VAT would be made easier for companies, especially for exporters, to help manage cash flows.

Indonesia also announced that it will provide at least $744 million to support workers, airlines, hotels, tourists, and local authorities at key tourism destinations to deal with corona-related damages.

Indonesias economic growth is forecasted to slow down by 4.7 per cent this year if the virus outbreak continues to slow Chinas and the global growth. Last year, the countrys economy grew by 5.02 per cent on-year.

Vietnam

As the closest country to China, the previous epicentre of the disease, Vietnams economy soon saw huge impacts of the virus to its economy. Very quickly, the countrys government had implemented different solutions to support its business community.

First, the government issued a VND30 trillion ($1.3 billion) fiscal support package to help businesses cope with the coronavirus pandemic through measures such as tax breaks, delayed tax payments, and an acceleration of state spending on infrastructure projects. The package is part of the governments VND250 trillion ($10.87 billion) preferential credit package for enterprises and establishments affected by the pandemic outbreak.

Meanwhile, the credit support package will cover lending rate reduction and debt payment rescheduling for struggling firms conducted by commercial banks.

For the transport sector, the government assigned the Ministry of Transport to direct and guide business units to cut administrative procedures immediately, as well as reduce costs in logistics, aviation, road, and rail services.

Cambodia

With more than 50 positive cases by March 21, Cambodia remains relatively calm while still implementing policies to stimulate its tourism. Moreover, since late February, the kingdom issued regulations to support businesses hit by the coronavirus outbreak as well as the partial withdrawal of Everything but Arms status by the EU.

The regulations provide tax breaks and holidays for the countrys manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, and property industries, which are key industries to Cambodias economy, especially the garment and footwear sectors, which accounted for 80 per cent of the countrys exports.

Meanwhile, hotels and guesthouses located in the Siem Reap province will be exempted from paying tax from February to May.

The government will also suspend the 4 per cent stamp duty tax on the transfer of residential properties from February to next January. To support the agricultural sector, the government is allocating $50 million in the form of low-interest loans to help SMEs.

Thailand

As one of the five biggest economies in the ASEAN, Thailand is also witnessing severe impacts from the global health crisis. So far, Thailands government has implemented financial and fiscal relief measures to help its companies, especially SMEs in the travel and tourism sector.

Tourism accounts for 12 per cent of the countrys GDP, one of the worst affected sectors due to a 44 per cent decline in visitors in February.

On March 10, the Thai cabinet also approved a package of 11 relief measures. Accordingly, the government will low interest loans for up to 150 billion Baht ($4.6 billion) and reduce withholding tax from 3 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Besides this, SMEs can participate in low-interest credit measures and businesses can disseminate VAT refunds to domestic entrepreneurs within 15 days after filing the form.

According to estimates by the Kasikorn Research Centre in Thailand, the COVID-19 disease is expected to cause a huge damage valued at least $2.4-3.4 billion to all ASEAN economies.
Thirty-two states and Union Territories (UTs) have announced complete lockdown to check the spread of the coronavirus in the country, informed the Central government on Tuesday.

There is a complete lockdown in as many as 560 districts of the country affecting several hundred million people.

Earlier, the complete lockdown was imposed in 30 districts, as of now, almost the entire country is in lockdown to restrict public movement in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus.

Three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha -- have announced lockdown in select districts with the governments continuously monitoring the situation and ready to extend the restrictions to other districts as well.

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has announced restrictions on certain activities.

The Indian Railways has suspended all passenger train operations till March 31 in view of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man was shot dead during a confrontation with the police in the Dominican Republic on Monday night after he defied a curfew imposed for the outbreak of coronavirus.

Edwin Cespedes was outside his home when he was approached by a National Police unit that was enforcing a nationwide evening lockdown order.

A witness told local press that the 30-year-old tussled with at least four officers who attempted to placed him under arrest.

Edwin Cespedes was allegedly shot dead by a cop aboard a motorcycle during the 30-year-old man's confrontation with members of the National Police in the municipality of Azua. Witnesses said Cespedes tussled with the cops when they attempted to place him in a pickup truck Monday after he was found roaming outside his home past the 8pm curfew

The National Police has registered more than 5,000 arrests since last Friday, when the government of the Dominican Republic imposed a curfew to stem the coronavirus outbreak

The witness added that a motorcycle police unit then showed up and that one of cops fired the shot that struck Cespedes in the head before fleeing the scene.

Cespedes was transported to Taiwan Regional Hospital, where he was declared dead.

No arrests had been made as of Tuesday evening despite mounting pressure from friends and family members, who said the police knew the identity of the cop who fired the fatal shot.

President Danilo Medina imposed a curfew last Friday as a measure to prevent and control the deadly coronavirus disease, which has produced six deaths and 312 confirmed cases

The Dominican government put the curfew in place last Friday and bans all non-essential workers from leaving their homes after from 8pm to 6am.

The decree is scheduled to be lifted April 3. The police has registered more than 5,000 arrests during the first three nights.

Officials believe having the curfew in place will stem the rise of the coronavirus which has caused six deaths in the island nation of 10.8 million.

The government's health ministry has reported 312 positive cases. At least three people have recovered.

The pandemic is responsible for the deaths of more than 18,500 across the globe. More than 415,000 cases have been confirmed in 169 countries.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) The first case of coronavirus infection has been registered in Belize, the press service of the national government said on Monday.

The victim is a 38-year old female citizen, who has recently visited the US states of California and Texas.

The patient lives in the town of San Pedro in northern Belize.

The government added that two teams of doctors were sent to the town to start the treatment and establish people with who she was in contact.
A grandmother has been caught riding on a mobility scooter while high on cannabis and carrying a hidden stun gun with a knife in her handbag.

Yvonne Harvey, 47, told shocked police she was carrying the stun gun 'for protection' as she rode her mobility scooter around the streets after dark.

And police then found a knife hidden in her handbag and two bags of speed tucked into her shorts as she weaved down a suburban estate.

Yvonne Harvey, 47, (pictured with partner Ellis Sherwood) told shocked police she was carrying the stun gun 'for protection' as she rode her mobility scooter around the streets after dark

Richard Ace, prosecuting, said: 'At 2.20am officers saw her riding on a mobility scooter. She smelled strongly of cannabis and appeared to be intoxicated.'

When questioned, stoned Harvey told the officers she had nothing illegal on her.

Police searched the scooter to find a stun gun along with two small bags of cannabis and bags of amphetamine. They also found two bags of amphetamine in her shorts.

Harvey was taken to Cardiff Bay police station - and a further search discovered a lock knife in her handbag and two phones were seized with two additional sim cards.

Police then found a knife hidden in her handbag and two bags of speed tucked into her shorts as she weaved down a suburban estate

She told the officers she was carrying the weapon 'for protection' because she and her partner Ellis Sherwood - formerly convicted of murdering a newsagent - had their home broken into.

Mr Sherwood was 19 when he was jailed - and spent 11 years in prison following a wrongful conviction for the murder of newsagent Phillip Saunders in Cardiff.

He was freed in 1999 when his conviction was overturned after flaws in the case were made public.

Mr Sherwood was awarded up to 1.4million compensation and met Harvey soon after being released from prison.

She told the officers she was carrying the weapon 'for protection' because she and her partner Ellis Sherwood - formerly convicted of murdering a newsagent - had their home broken into

After Harvey was stopped, police went to her home to find Mr Sherwood there.

Police found a tin containing bags of cannabis, weighing scales and a tick list.

When she was interviewed she said the drugs were nothing to do with her. She said she had the stun gun and knife 'for protection' because her house had been broken into.

Mr Sherwood was 19 when he was jailed - and spent 11 years in prison following a wrongful conviction for the murder of newsagent Phillip Saunders in Cardiff

Her phone was had messages relating to cannabis deals. Cardiff Crown Court heard there was one saying: 'Can I pinch some bud?'

Mr Ace said Mr Sherwood, 51, was arrested but charges were not proceeded with against him.

Harvey, of Llanishen, Cardiff, admitted possessing cannabis and amphetamine, possessing a prohibited weapon, and being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug.

Marian Lewis, defending, said: 'There have been difficulties in the area as far as this defendant is concerned.'

The court heard she lived with Mr Sherwood, who had a lot of money, and their home was burgled.

Ms Lewis added: 'Mr Sherwood did receive substantial compensation for a false conviction many years ago. He does have significant means.

'There was an attack on her home by others and, rightly or wrongly, she had this item in her possession. It was never used.'

She said Harvey's drug dealing was limited to supplying to three people 'on half a dozen occasions - no more. The odd bud here or there'.

Recorder Timothy Brennan QC said she was 'engaged in drug culture'.

He said a custodial sentence was inevitable but had 'concern for the national state of health and the pressures that will put on public services'.

Recorder Brennan imposed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 15 months.
In March, Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown that means people across the UK are now required to stay at home and are only permitted to leave for a few key reasons.

These reasons are food shopping (but should be limited to infrequent trips) collecting medication, going to work (only if you are a keyworker) and going for a once daily walk or run.

The government has also closed all non-essential shops, public spaces and services: but how will these measures impact the postal service?

Will Royal Mail work as normal?

On Tuesday 24 March the Royal Mail issued updated guidance on their services saying that it will remain open for business during the ongoing lockdown.

The statement said: The postal service is a key part of the UKs infrastructure. The delivery of parcels and letters is a way of keeping the country together, businesses operating, and helping many people who may not have the option to leave their homes.

We continue to work hard to collect, process and deliver as much mail and parcels as possible in difficult circumstances, it adds.

Shane ORiordain, managing director of marketing, regulation and corporate affairs at Royal Mail told The Independent:  The mail is still scheduled to be collected and delivered as normal. This is a fast moving situation and local service levels may at times be impacted by local absences."

The Royal Mail also says it has contingency plans in place if the situation changes further: We have strong contingency plans in place to ensure mail is kept moving.

The scale, vast network and business continuity expertise of our organisation means we have extensive experience in being able to quickly deploy plans so we continue to provide customers with access to our collection and delivery services, and their mail.

What about international postage?

Given 20 per cent of the world is now under lockdown measures, similar to or stricter than those in the UK, and international travel has been halted for Brits, it is understandable that you might be concerned about international post.

But the Royal Mail says it is working with airline and postal/courier partners across the globe to maintain services at the current time and it will continue to accept and process global mail.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

This includes services to the USA which it says remain operational.

For country by country updates, you can visit the Royal Mail International Incidents Bulletin.

Are they implementing extra hygiene measures?

Public Health England continues to suggest that the best way to stop the spread of coronavirus (apart from following social isolation guidelines) is to wash your hands regularly and ensure that you dont touch your face with unclean hands.

But should we be handling post that has been through the postal service and come into contact with lots of different people when we cant be sure of individual hygiene standards?

The Royal Mail reassures customers that they have adopted revised health and safety measures in line with PHE advise.

ORiordain says: From today we have introduced a range of new social distancing measures aimed at offering further protection for our colleagues. Standard ways of working are being revised to ensure that, wherever possible, colleagues stay two metres apart.

Recommended How to feel less anxious about the coronavirus

We are implementing a new rule that means there will only be one person in a Royal Mail delivery vehicle at any one time. Processes have been further reviewed to minimise the passing of work between colleagues. And we are calling for the washing of hands when colleagues enter and leave Royal Mail buildings, as well as at regular times during the day.
Back in July 2019, while in Michigan for one of the early Democratic Party presidential debates, I was invited to a small dinner with Bernie Sanders. Towards the end of the meal, those who remained at the table included actor/activist Danny Glover, Dr Cornel West, former Mayor Gus Newport, Jane Sanders and a few key campaign staffers. What ensued was a free-flowing discussion of the agents of social and political change, sprinkled with personal recollections of and lessons learned from historical figures, many of whom had been known by my dinner companions.

I came away from that evening seeing Bernie Sanders in a different light. He was, and still is, a candidate for the presidency of the United States. At the same time, he must also be seen as a transformative figure in modern American political history.

From his 2016 campaign to the present, he has been able to galvanise a progressive political movement and give it organisation and direction. He has elevated issues like healthcare, education and a decent living wage as fundamental human rights. And he has created the momentum that helped elect hundreds of like-minded individuals to posts in Congress, state and local government, and party leadership. As a result, he has arrested the rightward drift of the Democratic Party which had, over the past four decades, become shy of asserting the role of government as an agent of economic change. Owing to the momentum created by Sanders, other Democrats have felt compelled to embrace his progressive agenda.

And so that night, as I looked at the candidates standing behind the 10 podiums on the debate stage, it occurred to me that a decade from now if I were to ask Americans to name the Democrats who ran in this years contest, most wouldnt be able to name more than two. Of those who could, Bernie most certainly would be high on their list. (I had the same feeling about Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988. And, sure enough, when I asked people a decade later, most respondents couldnt name two of the candidates. Jackson, however, was remembered.)

I tell this story because it is important to understand Sanders, who he is and the role he plays, in order to make sense out of this years contest. In all, there were over two dozen individuals who entered the 2020 race. Among them were a half dozen senators, a few governors, members of Congress, mayors and billionaires. Along the way, some had their moments, when they generated media attention, rose in the polls, and raised some money. Then, just as quickly as their balloons inflated, they lost air and fell to the ground.

In the end, we are left with former vice president Joe Biden and Sanders. Bidens trajectory to the top was a function of two factors. In the first place, he is a known and liked commodity with key Democratic constituencies  in particular, African Americans and unions. More importantly, to the party establishment and its donor base, hes not Bernie.

From the beginning of this election, nothing frightened the establishment more than the prospect of a Sanders victory. Early on, there had been a spate of editorials and television commentaries warning about Sanders. Soon after he won the plurality of votes in the first three contests (Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada), the hysteria grew into an unprecedented avalanche of attacks. In the four decades in which Ive been active in party politics, Ive never seen anything quite like it.

In addition to paid attack ads sponsored by dark money Super PACs, Democratic elected officials and party leaders and a host of TV commentators and editorial writers joined in what, at times, appeared to be an organised chorus of opposition. Some of the themes were: if Bernie wins, Trump will win; if Bernie wins, Democrats will lose the House of Representatives and never regain control of the Senate; if Bernie wins, hell destroy the Democratic Party. Others were: Bernies a socialist; Bernie is a left-wing version of Trump; Bernie will bankrupt the government; and, for good measure, hes too old and hes sick. One of the liberal networks was such a consistent and vigorous participant in this all-out negative onslaught that it appeared to be more an anti-Bernie Super PAC than a television news channel.

Biden, whose campaign after Nevada was limping along, short of funds and poorly situated to win nationally, was the beneficiary of this solid week of paid and free negative media campaigning. After decisively winning South Carolina, which he was expected to do, other moderate Democratic candidates started to withdraw from the race, throwing their support his way.

The establishment now had their standard bearer to confront the threat posed by Sanders. And in the contests that followed a week later, Biden won most quite handily, with polls showing that while a majority of voters supported Sanders agenda, they were clearly influenced by the attacks on his candidacy. What voters told pollsters was that they wanted to win in November and were afraid that the socialist couldnt win, despite polls showing that Sanders margin for victory over Trump was the same as that of Biden.

Now with the havoc created by the coronavirus, the rest of this campaign season is in limbo. There will be no more rallies and no more door-to-door campaigning. And after miserable voter turnouts in last weeks contests, some states are now seeking to postpone their voting altogether.

We are now entering uncharted waters, with no one knowing how the rest of this election will unfold. Calls are growing, from the same establishment political figures, urging Bernie Sanders to end his campaign in order to provide Joe Biden with a clear path to victory.

Whether or not Sanders withdraws, whats clear is the lesson I learned at that dinner in Detroit. This isnt just another candidate and just another campaign. It is a political movement for change that must be reckoned with. The challenge that progressives pose to the moderate wing of the party is real and will not end. They will continue to assert that government has a positive and decisive role to play in challenging income inequality, guaranteeing the right to healthcare and education, and insuring racial, social, political and environmental justice for all.

The moderates may win this skirmish, but to build the majoritarian movement that will ensure victory in November they will need to accommodate partys progressives. There is no other way forward.

The writer is president of the Arab American Institute.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Urvashi Rautela posted a throwback picture and the caption expresses everyone's mood right now. With Section 144 imposed and everyone in self-quarantined, people are bored out of their wits. Urvashi Rautela also wants to go back to the days when she could enjoy a day at the beach. She posted a video of her enjoying the quaint ocean and comments poured in with several fans having mutual feels.

Urvashi Rautela wishes to go back to the Maldives after quarantine

In the video, Urvashi Rautela is enjoying the ocean. She is dressed in a plunging neckline print pattern bikini, styled with glares and sunglasses. Immersed in pristine blue water, Urvashi Rautela is seen splashing in the water and having a gala time. The model and actress was in the Maldives for a vacation.

Check out Urvashi Rautela's videos

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela's Yoga Video At Time Of Self-quarantine Is Just The Right Inspiration; See

Urvashi Rautela shared the video on her Instagram. She wrote the caption, Me taking bath  in quarantine like! #love #UrvashiRautela #Maldives #tbt. She was referring to the time she enjoyed and if she could go back to the day. Urvashi also tagged the video as, In My Bed Dreaming. The picture invited several fans feeling the same. Some appreciated the location, while some were quick to appreciate Urvashi, as she looks scintillating in the short video.

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela & Other 'Masti' Actors Slaying In Red Outfits; See Here

Urvashi Rautela has been in self-quarantine since the rise of coronavirus cases in Inda. The actress earlier shared a video where she is continuing keeping fit at home. The actress and model explained her secrets to staying fit to her 24 million followers and more. Urvashi Rautela also wrote down some yoga asanas to do at home. Furthermore, Urvashi Rautela expressed that she wishes the year to end soon, with all that it brought.

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela Looks Regal In This White Shimmery Saree That Has Left Fans Drooling

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela Shows How To Maintain Social Distancing During Coronavirus Outbreak

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Shobana Radhakrishnan By

Express News Service

MADURAI: Tamil Nadu recorded its first death of a COVID-19 patient. Patient 12, the 54-year-old male, resident of Anna Nagar in Madurai, succumbed in the wee hours of Wednesday.



Health Minister C Vijayabaskar announced the mans death on Twitter, stating that despite the medical teams best efforts the man, who was being treated at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, had died.

He added that the man had a medical history of prolonged illness with steroid-dependent COPD, uncontrolled diabetes with hypertension.



Just hours earlier, the minister had tweeted that the victims condition was deteriorating and he was not responding to treatment.



Madurai Collector TG Vinay told Express that the patient had been on ventilator support since Monday evening.

"The patient, an employee of a construction company, was not a regular visitor to the construction site. However, he did go to the office. The places of his regular visits including the mosque, private hotel and the office have been disinfected by the corporation workers," Vinay said.



The patient was rushed to a private hospital on Saturday with symptoms of acute respiratory illness. Doctors suspected viral pneumonia and he was tested for H1N1 (swine flu) before being shifted to GRH. On Sunday, when the test for H1N1 came negative, he was then tested for COVID-19. Unfortunately, the result this time was positive.



Initially, the victims case caused concerns as he had no history of travel abroad or to other states. The man had attended a wedding reception on March 9 at a city hotel, which also accommodated tourists from Thailand and Indonesia. On March 13, the patient organised a religious meeting with preachers from Thailand at an Anna Nagar mosque, to which he was regular visitor.

However, on Tuesday, Vijayabaskar told reporters that the man had been in contact with a group of Thai nationals -- two members of that group tested positive for COVID-19 and are being treated at IRT Hospital in Perundurai, Erode.

His family members were isolated and screened for symptoms of COVID-19 at the GRH. The health status of 60 others including the ones who attended the wedding reception are being traced and monitored under home quarantine.

Sources at the Madurai health department told Express that the group had been visiting the city as part of a tour of religious places. Officials said the patient came in contact with the group when they visited a private lodge in the city on March 12 and 13. Officials said the group arrived at Madurai airport on March 12 and visited several mosques in the city. As a result, at least 60 persons had been placed under home quarantine.
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China on March 24 said that it will lift the travel curbs in Hubei province, where the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) first emerged last year, on March 24 and will end the three-month lockdown of its capital Wuhan on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine over the city with a population of over 11 million as the COVID-19 began to abate.

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus cases were first detected in December last year, reported one new confirmed case of the COVID-19 on March 23 after reporting zero cases for five consecutive days.

Hubei province and Wuhan which together have over 56 million population were kept under strict lockdown since January 23 with a ban on all movement of people and transportation.

Residents currently living in other parts of Hubei province will be able to travel with a green health code starting tomorrow, according to a government notice, state-run People's Daily reported.

China to lift travel curbs of coronavirus-hit Hubei province on March 25 and to end lockdown of Wuhan on April 8, official media here reported.

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 Hubei Health Commission announced on March 24 that residents of Wuhan would be allowed to travel outside the city starting April 8 in a bid to resume the outbound movement of people, state-run CGTN TV reported.

Local officials announced plans to gradually ease the severe measures as the virus cases dropped dramatically in recent days.

Hubei, however saw seven new deaths, all of which were in Wuhan, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 3,160.

The province still has 4,200 patients being treated in hospitals of which 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, according to China's National Health Commission.

Hubei has so far reported a total of 67,801 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 50,006 in Wuhan.

On March 24, the NHC reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities. The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of March 23.

This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the NHC said on March 24. Also yesterday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 16,559 with 381,598 cases reported in 168 countries and territories.
New Delhi, March 24 : While there have been some concerns over India not going for aggressive testing of Covid-19, a larger concern in the area appears to be that of the situation in the eight-nation SAARC block, where the health infrastructure in most members, especially those bordering India, is not as advanced.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a discussion, over video conference, with his SAARC counterparts over joint efforts and to buiild a common fund, many are wary of the abilities of countries like Nepal to deal with the outbreak. And then Nepal also has a porous border with India.

India has since created a Covid-19 Emergency Fund with an initial offer of $10 million to meet the costs. Sri Lanka has pledged $5 million, Bangladesh $1.5 million, Nepal, Afghanistan $1 million each, Maldives $200,000 and Bhutan $100,000), taking the total to $18.3 million. But the total population of SAARC nations is roughly 1.7 billion, and this amount is way too meagre in front of the challenges.

For instance in Pakistan, doctors themselves have raised an alert over personal protection equipment shortage. While more new cases tumble out of the country, the Prime Minister has advocated against a complete lockdown. "Twenty-five percent of Pakistanis are below the poverty line ... today if I impose a complete lockdown then a my country's rickshaw drivers, pushcart vendors, taxi drivers, small shopkeepers, daily wage earners, all of them will be shut in their homes," Imran Khan said in a televised address to the nation.

Six Pakistani officials were now suspended for taking a selfie with Covid-19 patients in Pakistan. And even now, religious gatherings continue to take place. In Pakistan, four people in Sindh who attended one such gathering were infected with the virus. Pakistan has so far 908 cases of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Nepal, which shares an 1,800-km open border with India, has total 37 motorable land entry points with it. Though the border are sealed but goods carriages will continue to flow in, which raise a larger concern for India itself.

The Nepal government is yet to develop the Armed Police Force (APF) hospital in Kathmandu as a dedicated medical centre for Covid-19 patients. Nepal, meanwhile has reported two cases of coronavirus, and the low number suggests less testing has been done.

Meanwhile, Bhutan too has reported two cases of coronavirus.

With Afghanistan recording 42 cases, Sri Lanka 100 and Maldives just 13, many believe it is due to a shortage of testing kits available with these nations.

SAARC health professionals have decided to meet on March 26 via video conference to discuss the way forward and exchange ideas. But with nations like Pakistan which refuses to go for a complete lockdown or Nepal which has a very poor health infrastructure to deal with such an outbreak, India has much to worry about.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A Pune-based company has said that it has received commercial approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for its Covid-19 test kit.

With emphasis on Make in India and support from local and central government, the Covid- 19 kit has been made as per WHO/CDC guidelines. It was developed and evaluated in a record time, Hasmukh Rawal, MD of molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions, said on Monday.

The company said the kit will cost nearly one-fourth of the current procurement cost.

More on Covid-19:

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 How difficult it is to maintain 1-metre distance

 How coronavirus is different from seasonal flu and common cold

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has, meanwhile, given a green signal to 16 private laboratories across the country to conduct Covid-19 testing in India.

The apex medical research body has also issued guidelines for private laboratories by capping the test rates.

The maximum cost for testing samples is capped at Rs 4,500 (Rs 1,500 for screening test for likely cases and additional Rs 3,000 for confirmation test).

All these laboratories have over 15,000 laboratory chains across the country. Our work is in progress to include more laboratories soon, Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of ICMR, said on Monday.

These include Lal Path Labs from Delhi, Unipath Specialty Laboratory from Gujarat, Strand Life Sciences and SRL Limited from Haryana, CMC and Apollo Hospitals in Tamil Nadu. While Maharashtra has five laboratories which include Thyrocare Technologies Limited, Suburban Diagnostics (India) Pvt. Ltd, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Molecular Medicine, Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd and SRL Limited.

As far as testing kits manufacturers are concerned, we have fast-tracked approval for Indian Covid-19 testing kits for commercial use. About two manufacturers have already got the approval, Dr Bhargava said.

Only test kits with 100 per cent concordance among true positive and true negative samples have been recommended for commercial use in India. In addition, US FDA approved kits can be used directly after due approval from DGCI and intimation to ICMR, Dr Bhargava further said.

There are 471 Covid-19 patients across India and the respiratory illness has killed nine people so far, the Centre has said.
Just weeks after giving birth to her third child, Eva Amurri is opening up about postpartum depression in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 31-year-old actress and blogger gave birth to her third child Mateo Antoni with ex-husband Kyle Martino on March 13.

She opened her message by revealing, 'It's a blur,' referring to the past few weeks, after giving birth to Mateo.

Opening up: Just weeks after giving birth to her third child, Eva Amurri is opening up about postpartum depression in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic

'Desperate times call for desperate measures. My kids have watched a lot of screens this week/end and have eaten way less vegetables,' she began.

'Processed foods and shortcuts abound. My house is a mess. Laundry is piling up. Trying to bless and release the feelings of inadequacy that all this gives me,' she added.

The blogger added that she was 'grateful' to have her ex-husband and father of her children, Kyle Martino with her, 'helping out,' following their split in November.

Desperate: 'Desperate times call for desperate measures. My kids have watched a lot of screens this week/end and have eaten way less vegetables,' she began

Amurri and Martino married in 2011, with their first child Marlowe born in 2014 and their second child Major born in 2016.

Their divorce was finalized in February, but Amurri revealed that Martino had moved into her guest house during their self-quarantine for the coronavirus.

She also thanked her, 'friends who keep checking in on me,' adding, 'Its a weird time to be Postpartum for sure.

Eva's kids: Amurri and Martino married in 2011, with their first child Marlowe born in 2014 and their second child Major born in 2016

'Yesterday I "overdid" it and got really faint and started bleeding again pretty badly,' she continued.

'It was a reminder to slow down and take it easy- that many things can wait and that I have to be tending to myself right now,' she added.

'If there are any other postpartum mamas following me and reading this, consider this YOUR reminder,' she concluded with the hashtags #HappilyEvaAfter #HonestMotherhood #PostpartumLife.

Overdone: 'Yesterday I "overdid" it and got really faint and started bleeding again pretty badly,' she continued

On Saturday, she shared another photo of Mateo from her Westport, Connecticut home, revealing Mateo was now one week old.

'Mateo is eating like a champ, sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches, crying, pooping, hiccuping, and stealing our hearts with his big blue eyes,' she began.

'I knew we would love him deeply, but I didnt know how quickly life would be unimaginable without him,' she added.

'Soaking in the impermanence of all things Newborn, sniffing a lot of baby aroma, and thanking my lucky stars for this gift of a boy,' she concluded, with the hashtags #HappilyEvaAfter #MateoAntoni #OneWeekOld
The union representing health care workers and a company that operates more than two dozen long-term care facilities in the state reached an agreement that provides additional protections for workers in light of the public health crisis posed by coronavirus.

SEIU and Avamere Family of Companies announced the deal Tuesday morning covering 18 nursing homes, nine assisted living centers and more than 1,700 workers in Oregon.

The agreement is the first one reached in the state in the long-term care and nursing home industry, said Ben Morris, a spokesman for SEIU. He said similar agreements have been struck in recent weeks for some state workers and unionized workers at Kaiser Permanente.

Under the agreement, Avamere said it will communicate with workers about potential risk or exposure to COVID-19 and the company will pay workers who cannot report to work because of a confirmed case of the disease. The company also agreed to create a pool of paid time off for employees to use before tapping their own leave.

Employees who are unable to report to work due to child care issues stemming from the virus can draw on the pooled time-off bank. The company also agreed to follow state and federal public health guidelines for providing personal protective equipment to its employees provided the materials are available.

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are on the front lines of this crisis, Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503, said in a statement. She called the deal "a model that the rest of the industry urgently needs to follow.

Rick Miller, founder of Avamere, said in a statement that employers have a responsibility to quickly make policies that protect the health and financial stability of both employees and residents. I hope every other home in Oregon follows our lead.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The polls, to be held on March 26, require 36 first-preference votes for each of the four seats.

The Congress, with 68 MLAs, can't win two seats for which it needs 72 votes.

Similarly, the BJP needs 111 votes to comfortably win all the three seats it is contesting.

Vinay Umarji reports.

Despite the resignations of five of its members of the legislative assembly (MLAs), the Gujarat unit of the Congress is confident of repeating past successes in the coming Rajya Sabha elections.

The state will see polls to the Upper House for four seats, for which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is fielding three candidates and the Congress two.

The BJP has nominated Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramilaben Bara, and Narhari Amin while the Congress's candidates are heavyweights Bharatsinh Solanki and Shaktisinh Gohil.

However, the Congress's dreams of a smooth ride were shattered when five of its MLAs -- Mangal Gavit, Pradhymansinh Jadeja, Soma Patel, J V Kakadia, and Pravin Maru -- resigned.

On the one hand, the move by the five MLAs led to exchanges between the BJP and the Congress, each blaming the other for the resignations.

On the other hand, because of this, the Congress packed off its remaining MLAs to Jaipur to prevent more switchovers.

For instance, in the 182-member Assembly, the Congress had 73 seats but its strength has come down to 68.

There are now 175 MLAs in the assembly. They include the BJPs 103, the Bharatiya Tribal Partys two, the Nationalist Congress Partys one, and one Independent.

Two seats are vacant from before.

The polls, to be held on March 26, require 36 first-preference votes for each of the four seats.

The Congress, with 68 MLAs, can't win two seats because it needs 72 votes.

Similarly, the BJP needs 111 votes to comfortably win all the three seats it is contesting.

In fact, the reason the Congress has gone ahead with two nominations is because even the BJP does not have the numbers of its own to get its three candidates elected.

As of now, both the BJP and the Congress are dependent on others and expect cross-voting in their favour.

Recently, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Amit Chavda said the party was in talks with the NCP and the Bharatiya Tribal Party, apart from independent MLA Jignesh Mevani.

"Looking at the numbers, we are confident of winning the polls," said Manish Doshi, Gujarat Congress spokesperson.

However, NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja has said he will vote for the BJP candidates.

The Congress is training its MLAs on how first- and second-preference voting works in the Rajya Sabha polls.

The party is confident of winning the assembly seats that have become vacant because of the MLAs' resignations.

"In the past, too, when resignations happened, we won because the voters recognised the betrayal. Congress functionaries work with more passion in seats where they have been betrayed," Doshi added.

In May 2019, the BJP had trounced the Congress in bypolls held for four assembly seats of Unjha, Dhangadhra, Manavadar, and Jamnagar Rural.

Of these, Unjha, Dhangadhra and Manavadar were won by three Congress turncoats -- Asha Patel, Parsottam Sabaria, and Jawahar Chavda -- on a BJP ticket.

The bypolls, held alongside the Lok Sabha elections, brought down the Congresss tally in the Gujarat Assembly from 77, won in 2017, to 73.

However, political analysts too say the Congress could will win back those seats in bypolls.

"Most of these seats are in regions where farmers and jobless youngsters are unhappy with the government. Hence, it may be difficult for the BJP to win those five seats," said Achyut Yagnik, a political analyst.

Similarly, according to Gaurang Jani, another political analyst, the Congress history has shown it could win.

"The Congress has been able to reclaim seats where resignations took place."

However, Jani said the partys hold in Gujarat was loosening and questions had risen over its state leadership's capabilities.

In 2017, more than 12 legislators, including former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, left the Congress right before the elections to three Rajya Sabha seats.

However, that did not come in the way of Congress veteran Ahmed Patels victory.

Later in 2019, when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar contested as the BJPs Rajya Sabha candidate from Gujarat, Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor switched to the BJP with his supporters.
A senior police officer and First Minister Arlene Foster have condemned dissident republicans following a security alert in Fermanagh.

A vigilant member of the public discovered the suspicious device in the rural Clough Road area last night.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the item and it declared a hoax.

The village has been the scene of previous dissident republican attacks.

DUP leader and Fermanagh MLA Arlene Foster said it was "utterly deploreable".

"Given what everyone is dealing with at the moment it it utterly despicable to be placing a hoax devices in communities," she told the BBC.

Ulster Unionist MLA Rosemary Barton has called on the entire community to support the security services.

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Mrs Barton said: Once again Rosslea is in the news for the wrong reason.

If this object turns out to be an explosive device it is the height of madness to be carrying out such action at any time, but it would be astounding that anyone would do so in the middle of a health pandemic.

I urge the public to give their full support to the Police as they seek to protect the community.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Commander Superintendent Clive Beatty said: We believe at this stage that this was the work of dissident republicans. Given the unprecedented challenges the public and police is facing in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic, it is hard to fathom there are individuals in our community who are intent on causing such disruption by exploiting this global emergency for their own ends.

Dissident republicans are a small minority and we need to stand as a united community, to say loudly that they are a disgrace and a distraction.

It beggars belief that dissident republicans would want to exploit this situation for their own ends. Their selfish behaviour ended up diverting valuable police resources away from other community priorities for a significant number of hours.

"This says so much about dissident republicans - that in the face of a national emergency their first thought is to use the opportunity to target emergency services and first responders - the very people who are doing all they can to help communities and take care of the vulnerable.

I would like to thank the Rosslea community, who were disrupted today, for their patience and co-operation during the security alert.

The dissident republicans responsible for this senseless act went to great lengths to make this device appear viable and to plant it on Clough Road. They didnt care about the consequences of their actions and how it would affect others.

I am appealing toanyone who has any information which can lead us to those responsible, to please call us on 101, or Crimestoppers 0800 55 111.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) (L) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.). (Screenshot via The Epoch Times and Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Bipartisan Resolution Aims to Condemn Beijing for Mishandling Outbreak

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced a bipartisan resolution in Congress that seeks to condemn the Chinese regime for intentionally downplaying the CCP virus outbreak through censorship and disinformation, thus allowing it to morph into a global crisis.

The resolution was filed on March 24, according to Bankss office.

As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pushes propaganda and lies to try and blame the United States for coronavirus, we need to make the case to the world that China is ultimately responsible for this outbreak, Banks told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

They tried to cover up news of the virus, jailed doctors warning of a possible pandemic, and prevented the CDC from coming to study the disease, he continued.

In all, they cost the globe two months in time to prepare for this virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the CCPs coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Banks said he hoped the resolution begins a conversation about how China can be held accountable for their negligent coronavirus response.

Co-led by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), the resolution has more than 35 co-sponsors, including Reps. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), and Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

Beijing made multiple, serious mistakes in the early stages of the outbreak that heightened the severity and spread of the pandemic, the resolution states.

The Chinese Communist Partys leaders responded to the coronavirus outbreak first with disinformation and misdirection, Moulton told The Epoch Times in an email. Chinas leaders silenced doctors, some of whom died sounding the alarm to the world.

The resolution says that government documents revealed that the first patient appeared in Chinas Hubei Province on Nov. 17, 2019. Later in December, several doctors who sounded the alarm about the outbreak were silenced by authorities and reprimanded for spreading rumors, the resolution adds.

After Dr. Li Wenliang, a whistleblower, alerted his medical peers about a SARS-like virus on social media site WeChat, police summoned him for rumor-mongering and made him sign a statement promising not to repeat the transgression. Li eventually died of the virus that he had warned about.

On Jan. 1, an official from Hubei provincial health commission ordered at least one genomics company to cease virus samples testing and destroy all existing samples, the resolution stated.

It added that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first requested to send experts into China to study the virus on Jan. 6, but were barred from entering the country until about a month later.

A March study by University of Southampton researchers, currently in preprint, suggested that officials in China could have cut the number of total infections down by 95 percent had they enacted measures to contain the viruss spread three weeks earlier than they did, in late January.

Banks, in a recent interview with The Epoch Times, said Beijing should be forced to pay reparations for the damage caused by its coverup of the outbreak.

China should pay a severe price for that negligence, for their role in the matter of allowing this to happen, Banks said.

The resolution also called out the regimes comprehensive disinformation campaign, as an attempt to shift blame for the outbreak.

While the clock was ticking, Chinas leaders were focused on spreading propaganda that said the American military caused the virus, downplaying its severity, Moulton said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on multiple occasions pushed the unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus first originated in the United States and was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. Army.

The resolution noted that other Chinese officials, including scientists working in Beijings outbreak response team, Chinas ambassador to South Africa, and Chinas ambassador to Australia, also have claimed that the outbreak didnt begin in China.
Teachers want nothing more than to be in the classroom, working with their students.

Thats not going to happen for a while.

On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered schools to remain closed until at least April 6 to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Now, educators and administrators are working to figure out how to best deliver instruction to all students, regardless of income level or internet access.

Theyre also developing plans if schools are closed for an even longer period, which Wolf and state officials have said is possible.

The most frustrating thing is people just dont know whats going to happen," said Dr. Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.

Itd be nice if we knew we were coming to school on April 6, he said, adding that he understands why such certainty is impossible. "Its just the unknown. School leaders can make plans when they know what the future holds.

DiRocco, the former superintendent of the Lewisburg school district, said hes not surprised that the governor extended the shutdown of the states schools. He said he was bracing for a longer shutdown or even the news that schools wouldnt re-open for the academic year. Earlier Monday, Virginia closed its K-12 schools for the remainder of the academic year. Kansas took a similar step last week.

If we dont get school in at all and we cant come in for the rest of the school year, thats another set of issues thats going to take a long time to unpack, DiRocco said.

The governor issued his announcement on schools as state officials said Monday they have confirmed an additional 165 coronavirus cases, raising the statewide total to 644. Wolf also issued a stay-at-home order for seven counties, including the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. Six people in Pennsylvania have died due to the virus, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Monday.

Wolf had already closed public schools all last week and had ordered schools to be closed this week. Under Wolfs order, districts could re-open schools for staff to get reorganized starting April 7 and students could return April 9.

The following day is Good Friday, when schools are typically closed.

We thought that was rather odd timing ourselves," DiRocco said. My guess is most districts will take that Friday off. Still, if schools can re-open, he said there would be value in having kids resume their routine and teachers could give students some homework.

Gov. Tom Wolf has said schools will remain closed until April 6. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com

They want to be teaching

Beginning Tuesday, schools can get technical assistance from the states intermediate units to develop educational plans for students, Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera said. He said the intermediate units can help districts devise plans for students with disabilities and English language learners.

School districts have been working to deliver remote instruction to students but they face the enormous challenge of doing so in a way that is fair to all of their students.

Some students from low-income families may not have a computer or internet access at home. Some students with special needs receive extra attention and additional therapies they normally receive in a school setting, educators say.

In the Lower Dauphin School District, teachers and principals have been working to deliver some kind of enrichment to students, said Jim Hazen, a spokesman. Some teachers have been reading stories and posting them on YouTube for younger students, he said.

The district is also working with parents to assess if they have a technology gap and is working to loan computers to families who need them, Hazen said. Students in Lower Dauphins middle school and high school get laptops but computers arent given to elementary students. Hazen said the district is connecting families to Comcast, which is offering two months of free internet service to low-income families.

The district is also working on more formal lessons to deliver instruction at home.

Our staff is at their best when theyre with their kids," Hazen said. They want to be teaching. We understand why they cant but they want to be back in the classroom with their students.

Some families may have solid wi-fi connections and a good computer but that doesnt resolve every issue, DiRocco said.

Some families "may have one computer and four kids in the house, DiRocco said. How do you ration that out?

10 Central Dauphin School District distributes meals to students

Unprecedented in our history

Dr. Richard Fry, the superintendent of the Big Spring School District, said the states decision to keep schools closed until April 6 gives districts more time to prepare if the shutdown lasts for several weeks.

If it becomes an extended period, this extra week will go a long way in helping us figure out what that looks like, Fry said.

Fry said the district is working to develop methods of instructing students remotely. Its a particular challenge for the districts students with special needs.

We want to make sure were getting all of our kids enrichment activities," Fry said. "To move to true instructional days we need to make sure were doing that in a way that benefits all of our students.

We have non-verbal students that online learning is just not an option, Fry said.

The district will be working with families to develop lessons that can be delivered in the home.

Schools are being tested in a manner they have never encountered before, DiRocco said. Districts are being asked to ramp up quickly if schools can re-open, while simultaneously preparing for an extended period of teaching remotely.

This is severely unprecedented in our history and were asking districts to pivot on a dime here, DiRocco said.

Theyre asking school leaders to do a lot in a short time, with limited staff.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the union representing public school teachers, welcomed the extended closure of the schools for the safety of the students and staff. The union said the state has taken smart steps to help schools navigate a difficult time.

Rivera canceled standardized testing for students in career and technical education (CTE) programs for the 2019-20 school year. Last week, the state Department of Education canceled all PSSA testing and Keystone exams for the 2019-20 school year, as well as the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment.

Schools wont be penalized if they dont meet the states requirement of providing 180 days of instruction, the Wolf administration said last week. Still, the PSEA is pushing lawmakers to approve legislation waiving the 180-day requirement, said Chris Lilienthal, a spokesman.

One of the things weve been doing at PSEA is convening with lawmakers that we have flexibility around the 180-day requirement, Lilienthal said. "If we are in a situation that were closed for a long period of time, we need guidance on what that means.

Schools this year have had the option of flexible instruction days, initially designed so schools could deliver instruction during snowy weather. Most schools havent been approved for the flexible days and state law only provides five flexible days. Plus, districts face the challenges of making sure their instruction is accessible to everyone.

For now, educators are trying to solve a host of problems. In many ways, they are rising to meet the challenges, DiRocco said. He marveled at how quickly some schools set up their grab-and-go meals, which some districts have been providing for a week.

Other educators are impressed by the resolve of their teachers and principals. When asked what he hears most from teachers and staff, Fry said the common refrain is, What more can I do?

They want to be working with kids, Fry said. "They want to be helping families. Its trying to define our new normal.

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Canadia Industrial Park on Veng Sreng Boulevard is eerily quiet. The garment manufacturing hub of Phnom Penh is normally bustling and crowded with thousands of garments workers. Every day, garment workers make a beeline to their factories, but not before stopping at the plethora of vendors selling food, drinks, and household items. The vendors serve the needs of these workers, creating a microcosm of economic dependence around industrial parks and factories. Recently, dozens of factories temporarily suspended their operations  likely due to the coronavirus pandemic and potential reduction of orders to the EU  forcing thousands of factory employees out of work. At the market in Canadia Industrial Park, workers used to venture about to buy groceries and household products, or maybe even get a haircut. These days, however, most shop owners and vendors are waiting for customers in vain.

Embracing her two-year-old daughter as she rocks back-and-forth in a hammock, Leng Sinoun explained how her income had dramatically plummeted in the last few months. The 37-year-old clothes seller had moved to Phnom Penh in 2006. She was able to earn around $100 a month with around 50 to 60 customers She said this was barely enough to break even, let alone take care of living costs. But now, with only about a dozen customers a day, she manages to earn between $30 and $40 a month. "It's just that there's not much work for the workers. And some are getting a meager salary," she said. "Some garment workers said that their salary is not enough and it's hard for them to support their livelihood. That's why they don't buy much."

With a decreasing income, Sinoun had to cut down her daily food expenditure from 10,000 riels (about $2.5) to 5,000 riels, affecting the wellbeing of herself and her family. The factory closures are in part linked to the COVID-19 pandemic that had forced countless factories to close in China, disrupting raw material supply for Cambodian factories. At the same time, the European Union announced the partial suspension of the Everything But Arms (EBA) preferential trade scheme in mid-February, which is likely also resulting in a reduction of orders. Ministry of Labor spokesman Heng Sour said that as of mid-March, 53 factories had suspended their operations because of supply chain issues, affecting at least 34,000 garment workers. This would also affect the vendors in industrial parks who relied on garment workers as their customers, Heng Sour added. But while vendors feel the impact, reasons for suspensions are more complex than just the lack of supplies due to the coronavirus.

Va Chenda, a human resources manager at Gladpeer Garments Factory, said the company had suspended operations from March 10 until at least May 5, affecting around 3,000 workers. But this was not because of supply chain issues, she said, but more to do with a lack of order. "Of course, [the workers] are not happy. But this hasn't caused much trouble because they also understand the reason," she said, not providing additional details about falling orders. Ivan, a manager at Akeentex Pte Lt. in Canadia Industrial Park, who only gave his first name, said his factory had not suspended work  but was facing a raw material shortage of around 20 to 30 percent. As Chinese production returns to normalcy and with materials slowly trickling in, Ivan said the situation was improving, but that the shortages had affected many factories. "I don't believe any factories are saying that they're not affectedso, the only path going forward is how the country can help the factories to survive," he said.

Back at the industrial park, Seak Chamroeun, who sells cosmetics and childrens clothing, is playing with her two-year-old daughter. There are no customers outside her store. She used to be able to raise between 20,000 and 30,000 riels (between $5 and $7.5) a day. This had dropped to 10,000 riels ($2.5). The reduction in income is especially hurting her because she needs $100 to treat her kidney stones and around $50 for monthly rent. Additionally, as the primary breadwinner, her family is affected too.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), left, meets with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Friday to discuss an economic stimulus bill. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

The Senate and the people who watch it obsessively have gotten into a lather over how long it's taking to pass another, considerably larger, bill to boost the U.S. economy during the coronavirus outbreak. But as former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt observed in The Times Tuesday, the process isn't important  the substance is.

Which is why I'm struck by how Democrats and Republicans have flipped roles so completely. In 2009, Democrats (who were in the majority at the time) were in a pants-on-fire hurry to pass an $800-billion stimulus package, and Republican argued that the money was excessive and poorly targeted. Now, Republicans (who control the Senate) are seemingly racing against time to pass a stimulus measure at least twice as big, and Senate Democrats are the ones saying we have to be more careful how it's spent.

At least House Democrats are still acting like themselves, proposing a stimulus package filled with extraneous liberal-agenda items such as forgiving student loan debt and increasing tax credits for poor families. Never let a crisis go to waste, people!

(The House proposal seems to be more of a shot across the bow than an actual legislative document. It may just be Speaker Nancy Pelosi's way of reminding Senate Republicans of what the House could bring to a conference committee if the Senate didn't pass a truly bipartisan stimulus bill.)

Anyway, Congress' track record on stimulus measures provides ample reason for caution. The measures passed in 2008 and 2009 may have prevented the last recession from turning into a depression, but they certainly didn't spark a vigorous rebound. Even though the 2009 bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is credited with helping to create millions of jobs, its effort to advance Democratic policy goals (such as prodding doctors and hospitals to make the shift to electronic health records and promoting zero-emission cars) diluted its stimulative power.

Story continues

The framework laid out by Senate Republicans appears to be tailored to the unusual circumstances we face, rather than a run-of-the-mill business-cycle downturn. The U.S. economy was chugging along at a steady if unspectacular pace when the coronavirus hit, disrupting global supply chains and then triggering a cascade of state and local restrictions on commerce. It is, in other words, a recession largely caused by government, and as long as the restrictions are in place, no amount of pump-priming is going to make a difference. What many businesses and consumers need is a financial bridge to keep them going until commerce gets back to normal.

The Senate proposal attempts to provide that bridge through several different mechanisms, including loans to help businesses keep workers employed, larger benefits for people who lose their jobs, and extra cash to help individuals who may still be working but have lost hours or income. One of the holdups, though, was whether there were enough safeguards in the bill to make sure the money would flow to the people most affected by the virus-induced problems, as opposed to helping the most politically connected supplicants or rescuing companies from problems that predated COVID-19 (such as Boeing's 737 Max sales slump).

Considering how much money Congress is preparing to throw at the problem  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said more than $2 trillion, a jaw-dropping sum that's nearly 10% of U.S. GDP  spending a few extra days to make sure it winds up in the right hands seems like a small price to pay. Yes, the need is urgent and immediate. But wasting money isn't going to help the economy or the people who need a lifeline.

That's why Senate Democrats were right to hold out for at least one of the things they sought: more oversight over a massive new loan and loan guarantee program for businesses and industries harmed by the outbreak.

Illustrating the problem, President Trump suggested Monday night there was no need for any extra scrutiny over the new $500-billion lending program Senate Republicans were proposing. "Look, I'll be the oversight. I'll be the oversight. We're going to make good deals. We make good deals," he said at the daily coronavirus task force briefing.

That wouldn't be reassuring regardless of who was in the Oval Office. Happily, the White House has agreed to have an inspector general and an independent board review the loans, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Granted, that may not stop the government from making some bad choices with its loan dollars, but at least there will be accountability and the chance to crack down on fraud and abuse after the fact.

The Senate may pass its bill as soon as Tuesday. And as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) observed that morning, we'll soon forget the acrimonious debate over this bill and focus instead on what it does.
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) today announced the call for papers for IoT Solutions World Congress (IOTSWC), the global reference for industry IoT and the annual meeting for end users to discuss new IoT projects. In its sixth year, IOTSWC runs from October 27-29, 2020, in Barcelona and is co-located with the AI & Cognitive Systems Forum, the Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress and the Wireless Global Congress.

IOTSWC continues to be the place to go to hear from industry IoT users, said Deloitte Global IoT Lead Helena Lisachuk. Industry leaders can learn a lot from one another and this year we have shifted our track titles from industries to major solutions and use cases around IoT. This maintains our focus on end-user stories, but will enable IoT leaders across industries to more easily identify where they can best learn from their peers.

Last year, a record-breaking 16,000 visitors from 120 countries attended the Congress. The three-day event featured 300 top-level speakers discussing digitalization for businesses across industries. This year, potential speakers are asked to share the essential ingredients necessary to harness the transformative potential of IoT, highlighting use cases or business cases that demonstrate how IoT is:



Reshaping the way enterprises execute business processes

Achieving tangible business outcome metrics such as improved efficiency, reliability, asset management, remote monitoring, increased productivity, decreased downtime, increased profits, etc.

Creating new revenue streams

Making new business models possible

Enabling synergy with other advanced technologies like AI, blockchain, digital twin, robotics and more.

IOTSWC is an industry-leading technology conference bringing together best-in-class solution providers with real-world users, said Leila Dillon, VP Marketing & Communications at Ameresco. This conference highlights the solutions that are in the global market today, showcases how they are making a measurable difference and gives end-users a blueprint for success in their own implementations. Driven by a relentless focus on customer use cases, IOTSWC is not to be missed.

"IoTSWC gives me an opportunity to catch up on the global landscape of industry IoT every year. The speakers share their wealth of practical knowledge and are open to professional networking and open dialog about their challenges and successes, said Shyam V. Nath, Oracle, Director IoT and Cloud. It always surprises me to see how end-user companies work hand-in-hand with IoT solution providers to tweak solutions for industry-specific problems such as quality control of industrial manufacturing and ensuring adequate food production via smart farming."

The Five IOT Solutions World Congress Tracks Include:



Security - Enterprises are in need of security solutions to prevent data breaches into their systems. As more information is available through IoT devices, enterprises need to protect their data network properly. Topics include use cases on solutions such as: Digital Trust through Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Digital Certification, Cloud Data Protection Gateways and Data Encryption.

Connectivity - With the global roll-out of 5G, enterprises are in the need of finding connectivity so providers can offer flexible plans for implementing IoT devices. Topics include use cases on solutions such as: 5G, Edge Computing, Autonomous Vehicles, Traffic Management, LPWAN, eSIM vs uSIM and Vehicle Telematics.

Business Optimization - IoT enables companies to identify gaps and potential risks thanks to available data in the value chain. Topics include use cases on solutions such as: Digital Twins, Virtual Reality, IoT Cloud Platform, Big Data Analytics, Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing  3D, Remote Operating Center, Smart Metering, Workplace Management, Tracking Assets, Predictive Maintenance, Fleet Management, Inventory Management, Digital Thread and Fog Computing.

Intelligence - The combination of IoT and technologies, such as machine learning, provide humans with the tools needed to interpret relevant, but sometimes non-structured data. Topics include use cases on solutions such as: Artificial Intelligence, Collaborative Robots and Deep Learning Platforms.

Customer - IoT provides valuable customer data so companies can deliver quality improvement solutions to clients while improving the customer experience. Topic areas include use case presentations that focus on solutions such as: Remote Health Monitoring, MHealth, Tracked Ingestible Sensors and Smart Parking.

All submissions must be use-case/business-case-focused, with business outcome metrics clearly highlighted. Priority selection is given to use-case oriented submissions that include an end-user speaker. The deadline to submit to the IOTSWC 2020 CFP is April 30, 2020. Click here to apply.

The conference sessions for IOTSWC are built by a program committee responsible for developing the strategy for the congress, the overall content and bringing together industry leaders. Sessions illustrate how companies are realizing positive business outcomes from implementing IoT and how they collaborated with their solutions teams to make it happen. The committee is comprised of a cross-section of industry and technology leaders who build the program covering multiple industries, technologies, standards and applications.

About the Industrial Internet Consortium

The Industrial Internet Consortium is the worlds leading membership program transforming business and society by accelerating the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The IIC delivers a trustworthy IIoT in which the worlds systems and devices are securely connected and controlled to deliver transformational outcomes. The Industrial Internet Consortium is a program of the Object Management Group (OMG). For more information, visit http://www.iiconsortium.org.

Note to editors: Industrial Internet Consortium is a registered trademark of OMG. For a listing of all OMG trademarks, visit http://www.omg.org/legal/tm_list. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
By Trend

Flagrantly violating the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijans Goranboy district, Armenian armed forces attempted to commit a provocation, Trend reports on March 24 referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

One Armenian serviceman was killed thanks to the vigilance of the Azerbaijani armed forces.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export of grain and legumes from Turkey to Turkmenistan increased by 57 percent in January-February 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, making up $4.4 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

Turkeys export of grains and legumes to Turkmenistan amounted to $2.2 million in February 2020, which is 30.4 percent more compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

January-February 2020, Turkey's export of grain and legumes to world markets exceeded $1.1 billion, which is 4.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkey's export of these products made up 4 percent of the countrys total export for January-February 2020.

In February 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $594.3 million to world markets, which is 5.2 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of grain and legumes in February 2020 made up 4.1 percent of the countrys total export.

Over the last 12 months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported grains and legumes worth $6.8 billion.

Export from Turkey exceeded $14.7 billion in January 2020, which is increase by 6.4 percent compared to January 2019.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in January 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $19.2 billion.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in 2019 exceeded $374.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Ford Motor Co. is throwing its design and production prowess behind two other manufacturers efforts to build more ventilators and respirators for health-care workers and first responders.

The automaker will work with 3M Co. to accelerate production of the respirators and have United Auto Workers members assemble more than 100,000 plastic face shields a week, according to a statement Tuesday. Ford also will help General Electric Co.s health-care unit boost output of ventilators hospitals desperately need for coronavirus patients.

Were just going as fast as we can, Bill Ford, the automakers executive chairman and great-grandson of Henry Ford, said on NBCs Today Show. Nobodys talked about the financial implications of this because this is a national emergency and well sort all that out later.

The collaboration, which Ford dubbed Project Apollo after the Apollo 13 spacecraft rescue mission, will help GE and 3M scale their existing efforts to provide critical products to hospitals being taxed by the coronavirus outbreak. With shortages of ventilators, respirators and other essential equipment hampering efforts to fight the deadly pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump has challenged automakers to get involved.

Bill Ford said the company started the collaborations with 3M and GE before the White House asked American companies to help produce medical supplies.

Were doing it on our own, he said, when asked if this was at the directive of the Trump administration. Obviously, the White House put a call out for companies to help. But frankly, we were doing this, getting all this in motion, before that.

Ford is joining relief efforts along with General Motors Co., which said Monday its exploring the feasibility of building ventilators for Ventec Life Systems Inc. at one of its auto-parts plants in Indiana, and Tesla Inc., which purchased more than 1,200 of the medical devices from China and is now distributing them. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV also is aiming to produce 1 million masks a month at one of its plants in China to donate to first responders and health-care providers in the U.S.

Ford said it is co-ordinating with GM to avoid duplicating efforts as each company reaches out to suppliers to help boost medical device production. Were going into our parts bin to see what can be done, Bill Ford said. Weve got great engineers and great manufacturing people and were putting them to work.

In the meantime, Ford extended the shutdown of its North American factories beyond March 30, when it previously planned to resume production. The automaker said its assessing various options and working with its unions on the optimal timing for resuming vehicle production, keeping the well-being of our workforce top of mind.

GE effort

Ford will help produce a simplified version of GE Healthcares existing ventilator, which is used to help patients suffering respiratory failure or having difficulty breathing. The respiratory disease known as COVID-19 has spurred soaring demand for the equipment.

The first ventilator should be completed by early June, Ford CEO Jim Hackett told CBS This Morning. Between now and June, its about ramping up, he said.

GE already has doubled its output of ventilators in the months since the coronavirus outbreak began, and the company said it expects to double production again by the end of the second quarter, independent of the Ford partnership. GE also offered new information online on how to use its anesthesia devices for ventilation purposes, based on guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With a global installed base of over 100,000 devices, this update provides immediate assistance in the global demand of ventilators, the company said.

Scrappy engineers

Ford and 3M also will use parts from both companies to quickly produce air-purifying respirators. The companies said theyve sought off-the-shelf parts where possible, including fans from the Ford F-150 pickups cooled seats and 3M air filters.

Working with 3M and GE, we have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this vital equipment, Fords Hackett said in the automakers statement. Ford is exploring ways to produce the respirators and ventilators in its factories, Bill Ford said.
Three days after appealing for help to get out of Honduras, a Lehigh Valley woman was back home and assessing the whirlwind of events that got her there.

Asked how she was doing on Tuesday, Shelby Soliwoda said, Better now that Im back here. ... It feels like its been a lifetime, but its only been a couple of days."

Soliwoda, who grew up in Wilson Borough, was among the thousands of U.S. citizens trying to get home after the Honduran government closed its borders due to the coronavirus.

By Saturday, with flights canceled and no new ones scheduled for weeks, Soliwoda and others with Students Helping Honduras were reaching out to anyone who could help get them back to the states.

Hours after getting off the phone with a lehighvalleylive.com reporter on Saturday, Soliwoda and her group learned a U.S. Immigrant and Customers Enforcement (ICE) flight would be available Sunday morning, after dropping off deportees.

The group was given explicit instructions on what they could bring. At about 4 a.m. Sunday, the group got on a school bus with a military escort and headed to their assigned hotel.

The roads were empty and there was a nervous energy on the bus, Soliwoda said. Because of the state of emergency and a nationwide curfew, the group had to go through two military checkpoints on the way.

At the hotel, more Americans started to arrive, Soliwoda said. The group of about 150 people were processed, given a black X in marker on their right hand and then taken by charter bus to San Pedro Sula International Airport.

We were the only people in the airport, she said, which she said is about one-third the size of Lehigh Valley International Airport.

The flight was supposed to leave at about 11 a.m., but that time came and went with the group still waiting in the airport.

They saw planes land, but were not getting ready to board. Some feared they werent going to be able to leave, and Soliwoda said that not until we were on the plane, taking off and in the air, would we believe we were actually going back to the United States.

The group was joined ICE agents on the white, unmarked plane flying to Alexandria, Louisiana, Soliwoda said.

When they landed in the U.S., the passengers were told they would be billed for the price of a commercial flight -- but Soliwoda has no idea the amount.

The group didnt go through customs, were not fever checked and were not told to self-quarantine, she said.

Instead, once in Louisiana, the passengers then began working on getting to their hometowns. Some rented cars to drive to nearby states; others booked flights to other airports.

Soliwoda headed to a hotel and took a flight out on Monday to Dallas, then from Dallas to Newark.

The Dallas airport was a ghost town, she said, and some of the few people there were wearing masks.

The small plane on the flight to Dallas had open seats, and the flight from Dallas to Newark was so empty there were empty rows between passengers, Soliwoda said.

Soliwoda, who is self-quarantining, slept about 12 hours when she got back.

Since coming home Monday night, shes gotten a few emails from the U.S. Embassy, including one saying United is set to resume flights starting Thursday.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 20:30:41|Editor: huaxia

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The White House Visitor Center in Washington D.C., the United States, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Calling the pathogen a "Chinese virus" serves as nothing more than evidence that Washington has ulterior motives since it is known to all that the virus' origin remains undetermined.

by Xinhua writer He Fei

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Repeat a lie ad nauseam and it might come true. At least that's what some U.S. politicians believe.

As the COVID-19 caseload continues to spiral upwards in the United States, some Washington politicians, instead of focusing on containing the epidemic, have been on a systemic offensive to cover up their incompetence by trying to shift the blame to China.

But calling the pathogen a "Chinese virus" serves as nothing more than evidence that Washington has ulterior motives since it is known to all that the virus' origin remains undetermined and such a spurious argument only serves to stir up xenophobia, division and hate.

U.S. media have already reported rising incidences of hate in which Asian Americans have been spit on, yelled at and even attacked in the country. This is counterproductive at a moment when solidarity and trust are desperately needed for the people in the United States to brace themselves to confront the challenge.

Few pedestrians are seen in the China Town of San Francisco, the United States, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Liu Yilin/Xinhua)

Furthermore, the use of the term "Chinese virus" runs counter to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines intended to avoid stigmatizing a country or a particular group of people when naming infectious diseases. That's why the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009 is not called "the North American flu" despite originating from there.

Washington's stock-in-trade wastes the great sacrifices made by China to curb the virus' further spread and buy the world time, efforts that have been praised by the WHO and world leaders.

The current campaign to smear China also illustrates Washington's defiance against scientific common sense.

Although COVID-19 was first reported in China, scientists have yet to determine the virus' origin. Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Italy, recently told U.S. National Public Radio that strange pneumonia cases appeared in Italy as early as November, which could mean the virus was circulating in parts of Italy before the outbreak in China.

Also, Robert Redfield, director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted earlier when testifying to the U.S. Congress that some Americans who seemingly died of influenza tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a posthumous diagnosis.

A woman wearing a facial mask poses for a photo on Times Square in New York City, the United States, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

As the number of confirmed cases surpasses 40,000 and continues to surge in the United States, self-serving attempts to blame China will only make Washington hooked by its own lies. Criticism of the U.S. government's epic failure in handling this public health emergency is continuing to mount.

The global pandemic is spreading to more countries and infecting more people. To beat this deadly disease, all nations must come together.

The United States, the world's sole superpower, can and should play a major role in this fight for the ages. Those in the White House and on Capital Hill should quit lying their way out of the crisis. Time - now more than ever - is of the essence. 
Iran doubts US' claims over COVID19

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 23, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry in a twitter message reacted to the remarks of the US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortegas and said the US administration could answer the questions posed by "Global Research" if they think accusations against US are fabricated theories by Iran.

While China's Wuhan city is regarded as the source of the coronavirus outbreak, some claims made by US government officials have raised doubts and the Chinese government has urged the US to elaborate on the issue, the message said.

The Global Research website has raised 10 questions and urged US officials to answer:

Question 1

Since the director of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control, Robert Redfield admitted that some Americans seemingly dying from flu were tested positive for the novel coronavirus, can I conclude that those people actually died from the novel coronavirus? Among the 34 million influenza patients, with a death toll of 20,000, how many were misdiagnosed?

Question 2

When there were some misdiagnoses admitted by U.S. CDC, I'm scratching my head  isn't the U.S. that owns the best medical technologies in the world? Why did that happen?

As the ground glass opacity (white patches) can be easily seen in CT scans of the lungs of patients with the novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia, it should have been an easy thing to separate the cases of COVID-19 and H1N1 flu. But why were there so many misdiagnoses?

Well, that reminds me of the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's request of controlling all messaging regard to the coronavirus. Why does the White House call for messaging control? Does the U.S. need to hide something? Are they plotting some conspiracy?

Question 3

Why did the U.S. withdraw from the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in 2001? Why did it try to prevent a monitoring mechanism for the execution of the Convention? Is it standing in the way of developing biological weapon for the U.S.?

If not, why are there new biological laboratories in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan? Are those labs for biochemical warfare? It's impossible that they are keeping viruses as pets. If the U.S. is aiming at provoking a biochemical war, who would be the first target then?

Question 4

The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, located on Fort Detrick, Maryland, was shut down in July 2019. Was it because there was a virus leakage incident?

Question 5

At the 7th Military World Games (October 18-27, 2019) held in Wuhan, why did the U.S. team (369 members) win ZERO gold medal? Did that even look like a reasonable record for the world's leading military power? Did your government do it on purpose?

Was anyone among the 369 participants ever (mis)diagnosed with influenza? Was it possible they were carriers of the novel coronavirus?

The best thing for the U.S. now is to stop burying its head in the sand and give the 369 people PCT tests to see if they are infected.

Question 6

Why did the U.S. hold Event 201, a global pandemic exercise in October 2019? Why was the CIA deputy director participating it? Is it because the U.S. has foreseen a highly-infectious virus is about to cause a pandemic? One month later, cases of pneumonia of unknown cause were detected in China and there was a pandemic three months later. Probably, it's not just a coincidence.

Question 7

Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran all reported that many of their first COVID-19 confirmed cases had no exposure history with China but showed connection with the United States. How come?

Genetic research shows that the type of novel coronavirus found in China belongs to Group C, but Group A and Group B viruses  Group C's parental and grand parental viruses  are both found in the United States. Why? A Japanese patient was diagnosed with influenza in Hawaii but was tested positive for COVID-19 when he returned to Japan. How to explain that?

Some COVID-19 cases in the U.S. had no connection with China whatsoever. So where does it come from?

Question 8

You've got no reason to deny that the 1918 Pandemic originated within your territory. But you let Spain bear the blame for as long as a century. Don't you feel shame on that?

History seems to repeat itself. So, is the U.S. playing the trick again and attempting to label the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus"?

Question 9

The 1918 Pandemic, causing 1 billion infections, with a death toll "estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million one of the deadliest epidemics in human history," according to wikipedia, was proven originating in the U.S., but the U.S. has never apologized to the world.

So far, the origin of the novel coronavirus is still unknown, but the United States is requiring China for an apology, how ridiculous is that! Just to remind the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic killing 300,000 people also originated in the U.S., and also the same for HIV AIDS. So why not confess to the world?

Question 10

In movies, the U.S. is fond of playing the role of the world savior. The image of Captain America is one of its most popular symbols. However, in reality, in the face of a disaster like COVID-19, where is Captain America?

Earlier, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei referred to the false offers of medical assistance to Iran by some US officials, and termed them as "one of those strange remarks".

Addressing the US officials, he said: "First of all, you are facing shortages yourselves. If you have enough (equipment), use them for yourselves. You are under accusations that your created this virus. We do have enemies but the most evil of them is the US."

9376**1424

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Dramatic images have emerged of firefighters tackling a tractor and trailer fire on the A5 in Shropshire.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service tackled the blaze at 09:03 on Monday (23 March), near Shrewsbury.

Three fire appliances were mobilised from the market town, and an operations officer was in attendance, the service said.

The fire involved a tractor and trailer. Four breathing apparatus and four hose reel jets were used to extinguish the blaze.

Assisting @ShrewsburyCops and @OPUShropshire A5 from Hanwood roundabout towards Meole Brace is currently closed due to a lorry fire. Please use an alternative route for the time being. #police #shrewsbury pic.twitter.com/aTwLAQ0ZV6  LPPT North - West Mercia Police (@LpptNWestMercia) March 23, 2020

A5 east bound Edgebold to Dobbies, lane 1 closed due to tractor fire, please be patient with traffic build up for recovery & road inspection after. 3438 pic.twitter.com/edAvX5AOuO  OPU Shropshire (@OPUShropshire) March 23, 2020

The UK has seen its fair share of road incidents involving tractors. Last year, a Somerset farmer was left 'shaken' after firefighters helped rescue him from his overturned tractor.

And a Shropshire tractor driver was described as 'very lucky' after he escaped major injury following a collision into another vehicle in 2018.
Ukrainian PM sees no immediate need to declare state of emergency in country over coronavirus

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said he sees no need for now to declare a state of emergency in the country as part of coronavirus containment measures.

"At present, there is no need to enact a state of emergency in Ukraine. A state of emergency is declared when some emergencies occur. The pace at which coronavirus is spreading in Ukraine today is quite moderate in comparison with [what is happening in] many countries of Europe," Shmyhal told the ICTV television channel.

The measures currently being taken by the authorities are sufficient for now, said the prime minister.

"This week, the situation doesn't look like as though there is a need to declare a state of emergency in Ukraine," he said.

Nevertheless, the situation could change within the next few weeks, he said.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to stay at home in order to minimize the number of new COVID-19 cases and make it easier for doctors to tackle them.
Special envoy to Syria also urges large-scale prisoner release as country devastated by nine-year war braces for virus.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria has called for an immediate nationwide ceasefire across the war-torn country to enable an all-out-effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Geir Pedersen, in a statement, also appealed on humanitarian grounds for large-scale releases of detainees and abductees in Syria and access for medical workers to detention facilities to help ensure that adequate medical care is provided to inmates.

Syrians are acutely vulnerable to COVID-19. Healthcare facilities have been destroyed or are degraded, said Pedersen, referring to the disease caused by the virus. There is a shortage of key medical equipment and health professionals.

To confront this danger, the long-suffering Syrian people desperately need a sustained period of calm throughout the country respected by all parties, he said.

The spread of coronavirus in Syria brings the prospect of a deadly outbreak to a population devastated by nine years of war, with ravaged hospitals and tightly-packed camps likely to accelerate infection, according to doctors and aid workers.





On Sunday, the government of President Bashar al-Assad announced its first case of the virus after unconfirmed reports suggested it had been detected but covered up, a charge officials denied. A ban on transport between several provinces and cities began to take effect on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced earlier this week it was sending testing kits to the northwestern Idlib region, the last rebel stronghold in the country that has been the site of Russian-backed Syrian government offensive for three months.

About three million Syrians live in the province, one million of whom are internally displaced.

The International Rescue Committee has warned an outbreak of coronavirus in northern Syria could be one of the worst the world has seen.

Call for global ceasefire

On March 5, Turkey and Russia, who support opposing sides in the conflict, agreed on a ceasefire in Idlib meant to pause the Syrian government offensive. Last week, two Turkish troops were killed in a rocket attack, which Turkeys ministry of defence blamed on radical groups.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global a global ceasefire in all corners of the world.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war, he said. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.
Finding a table at Mexico Citys exclusive Pujol restaurant has never been easier.

Chef Enrique Olveras famous restaurant is still open for business amid the coronavirus pandemic, mainly because the Mexican government hasnt said it should close. Usually booked for months on end, online reservations website Open Table offers several time slots for every day this week.

Pujol ranked 12th in the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list, and was the top dining spot in North America in 2019. Olvera, who was profiled in Netflixs Chefs Table, also co-owns New York Citys Cosme restaurant.

In a bid to support the already struggling Mexican economy, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has shied away from enforcing strict social distancing measures. The wishes of the president known as AMLO, who just this weekend encouraged Mexicans to go out and enjoy meals with their families, are clashing with instructions by some Mexican cities and states, which were left to act on their own, coming up with measures that are at times baffling. Mexico City, for example, shut bars and cinemas but not restaurants.

What we are seeing here is a schism, said Gladys McCormick, an associate history professor who specializes in Mexico-U.S. relations at Syracuse University in New York. As communities take matters into their own hands, implementing their own safety protocols and taking the helm of how they each prepare for the coming pandemic, we see a further erosion of the federal governments authority.

Pujol is putting in place all recommendations from health authorities to prevent contagion in its environment, head of communications Patricia Guerrero said in an email. The restaurant will immediately comply with an eventual decision by authorities ordering restaurants to close, she said.

Mexico has 367 confirmed coronavirus cases with four deaths linked to the illness so far.

Tourism plays a big role in the Mexican economy and is already suffering effects from the virus. Airlines have had to cut capacity as demand wanes and governments around the world impose strict travel restrictions. Hotel occupancies across the country are expected to plummet during the spring break and Easter vacation period.

Mexicos Already Weak Economy Vulnerable to Virus Shock

With some economists warning activity this year may contract as much as during the Tequila crisis in the mid-90s, Mexicos central bank cut rates in an unannounced meeting on Friday. The peso has lost 23% of its value in the past month, hit by a combination of slumping oil prices and the likelihood of a recession in the U.S., Mexicos main trading partner.

Empty Streets

While Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said the decision to leave restaurants open could change in the coming days, locals and visitors arent waiting for government orders and have drastically reduced activity in the upscale neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma Norte.

Alsea SAB, an operator of several restaurant brands throughout Latin America and Europe has already cut corporate jobs and has set up a program for employees to take unpaid leaves of absence for 30 days, among other measures.

As demand wanes, restaurants across the country have set up Gastronomic Certificates, where clients give 500 to 1,000 pesos ($20 to $40) to their favorite restaurants to help them weather the crisis and pay staff a little while longer. Other restaurants, including Pujol, are helping their suppliers connect directly with clients through social media, giving them an extra source of income.

For those still walking through the door, at least the revered tasting menu at Pujol will cost just $92.50 before drinks, down from $120.60 when the virus-fueled devaluation began.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
A new look at the forthcoming "Peninsula" is out!

On Monday, March 23, the anticipated and so-called sequel to "Train to Busan" released its first stills of Jung Suk, portrayed by the new lead actor Kang Dong Won.

The Korean zombie movie "Peninsula" is an action hit blockbuster helmed by director Yeon Sang Ho. The story takes place in Korea four years after the story in "Train to Busan" as the battle goes on between those who survived in the land that is now in ruins due to an unprecedented disaster.

"Peninsula" is scheduled to premiere in August of 2020. Director Yeon Sang Ho also explained that it is considered a sequel movie to "Train to Busan" because it is not a continuation of the first story, although it happens in the same universe.

In the stills that was released Jung Suk and the zombies that survived the mayhem will be having a face off in a vicious battle. Jung Suk looks very firm and is full of determination as he looks ahead having a loaded rifle in his hands and the zombies attack anyone they see, providing the viewers a preview of what level of action is expected in "Peninsula" that will surpass what fans enjoyed in "Train to Busan."

Kang Dong-won was born January 18, 1981 in Busan, and was raised in Changwon of Gyeongsangnam-do. He is estimated to be186 cm tall. His father, Gang Cheol-woo, was an engineer who later on became SPP Heavy Industries' vice president. Kang Song Won's family struggled with economic difficulties at times and the actor was required to work part-time jobs when he was in college to pay for his tuition.

Kang Dong-won was very good with his academics in school also he is a gifted child with an IQ of 137. He finished his schooling and graduated from Hanyang University having a degree in Mechanical engineering.

When Kang was still a first year university student, which was in 2000, he was spotted by a modeling agent. Through this agent, Kang started his modeling career and he was seen on the catwalk for pret-a-porter collections in Paris, which features popular brands like DKNY, Gucci and Hugo Boss, as well as for the Seoul Fashion Artists Association (SFAA).

Being casted in the music video for Jo Sung-mo's "I Swear," Kang Dong won had a great experience and he then decided to have some acting classes. Then, it made him realize that acting was what he had been looking for his entire life. This revelation made him shift into another career. He quit the modeling industry and began his acting career in his debut on the small screen in the year 2003.
In Pennsylvania, the number of identified COVID-19 cases grew significantly this week, to 644. Six people have died. Neighbors New York and New Jersey are seeing many more cases to date, with N.Y. topping 20,000 and N.J. above 2,800.

The governor closed schools in Pa. for another two weeks and ordered residents in seven counties to stay home.

Heres the latest:

Grocery stores in central Pa. continue to operate with adjusted hours, limits on some products

List of central Pa. restaurants offering takeout, delivery during coronavirus pandemic: Updated

Looking for work? Here are businesses that are hiring right now, even during the coronavirus shutdowns

'Alcoholics Anonymous is open: Substance abuse support groups work around coronavirus challenges

$61 million in low-interest loans to be made available to Pa. small business owners: How much can each business get?

Pa. adjusts work schedule for state government employees to address coronavirus concerns, amid other changes

Man says he has coronavirus as he coughs at, mocks elderly shopper wearing mask and gloves: police

Survivalists feel vindicated after preparing for disaster scenarios like the coronavirus shutdown

Man dies, wife critical after swallowing non-medical chloroquine trying to ward off coronavirus
Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister

Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation'

Over 2,000 migrant workers return to Odisha, placed under home quarantine

India

oi-PTI

Berhampur, Mar 24: More than 2,000 migrant workers, who returned to Odishas Ganjam district from other COVID19-hit states by train, were screened at the railway station here and asked to remain under home quarantine by the administration, officials said.

Most of the people who returned to the state on Monday night came from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala, which have witnessed a high number of coronavirus cases so far, they said.

Coronavirus: 42 booked in Odisha's Berhampur for defying lockdown

We sealed all the platforms and made sure that the people who returned from other states were screened before they leave for their respective villages, Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said.

Personal and travel details of the migrant workers were registered with the government, he said, adding, all of them were asked to remain under home quarantine for 14 days.

They were asked to maintain social distancing during the isolation period, Kulange said.

Around 40 buses, arranged by the district administration, carried them to their destinations as all government and private buses were suspended owing to the lockdown in the district.

Doctors and paramedical staff were engaged for the screening of the migrant workers at the railway station, the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Ganjam district, R Jagadeesh Patnaik, said.

The district administration has already placed around 350 persons, who returned from abroad and other states, under home quarantine.

As of now, they have not shown any symptoms of coronavirus. But we are keeping a close watch on them, an official said.

If anyone shows symptoms of coronavirus infection, he/she will be immediately admitted to the isolation ward, the Superintendent of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Santosh Kumar Mishra, said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 14:59 [IST]
Two more people with recent



history of foreign travel tested positive for the coronavirus in West Bengal on Tuesday, taking the number of such cases in the state to eight, a state health official said.

Of the two, one had returned from the UK and another man from Egypt.

They have been kept in the isolation ward of the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases hospital, he said.

The first medical examination conducted on them showed they were infected with the virus. Their samples have been sent for a second test and the results are awaited.

Besides these eight cases, a 57-year-old man from Dumdum had died from coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Will come back to haunt you: Jaishankar in veiled reference to Pakistan

India-Central Asia dialogue: Need to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to Afghan, says Jaishankar

Jaishankar discusses cooperation on COVID-19 with EU, China

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 24: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles on the coronavirus pandemic.

In a telephonic conversation, Jaishankar assured Fontelles of India's "fullest support" in the return of EU citizens from India. The Chinese foreign minister said China is confident that India can handle and win the battle against COVID-19.

"During a phone call with EAM Dr. Jaishankar today, State Councilor and FM Wang Yi expressed sympathy and solidarity with India in the fight against COVID-19. China is ready to share our experience, provide assistance within our capacity and open its channel for procurement to India."

Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong tweeted after Jaishankar and Wang Yi's telephonic conversation. Wang Yi also told Jaishankar that China and India should support each other and jointly safeguard global public health, according to the Chinese Ambassador to India.

"Jaishankar thanked China for its sympathy message and assistance of medical materials to India," he noted. Wang Yi said it is detrimental to international cooperation to label the virus and stigmatise China. He hoped that India would oppose such "narrow mindset".

US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly calling the novel coronavirus as a "Chinese virus".

According to the Chinese ambassador, Jaishankar agreed not to label the virus and called for a "strong signal of solidarity" from the international community. After the meeting, Jaishankar said on Twitter, "Discussed with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China our working together in combating COVID-19.

Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation."

In another post, he added, "Reviewed the COVID-19 situation with EU HRVP Josep Borrell Fontelles today. Exchanged views on our respective challenges. Assured him of our fullest support in the return of EU citizens from India." Coronavirus cases in the country crossed the 500-mark and one more death was reported from the infection on Tuesday, taking the toll to 10.
HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Central New Yorks first coronavirus death is a Madison County man in his early 80s who was feeling fine one day and the next day had a high temperature, said a close family friend.

The man from the village of Hamilton died four days after he went to a Syracuse hospital, according to RuthAnne Loveless, mayor of the small village and a friend of the man and his wife. She did not want to identify the man.

The man had been tested for coronavirus, but the virus wasnt confirmed until test results came back after he died, she said.

It makes no sense,'' Loveless said. He was a wonderful, wonderful man involved in many community organization who she said she will miss greatly.

Coronavirus has killed more than 160 people in New York state and more than 500 in in the United States, with the death toll rising daily.

Madison County announced Sunday that a person had died recently, but did not release any details about the individual such as where the person lived. They described the person as elderly.

The announcement kicked off some worried social media posts in Madison County, wanting to know where the person lived. On Monday, Madison county officials, saying they understood people were concerned, said the person lived in Hamilton.

Loveless took time Monday to talk to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard about the man she knew well. She is in quarantine because she was in contact with the man at a volunteer reception about a week before he fell ill.

Loveless said her friend was in fine health until he spiked a fever about a week ago. Madison County health department officials said the person who died had underlying health conditions, but Loveless said she didnt know of any health conditions. She said he had not traveled outside the country.

"It just came out of the blue,'' she said.

When his fever continued to rise, his wife took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

"It happened so very quick,'' Loveless said. "He was in the hospital four days. We only found out he was positive for coronavirus after his death. "

Loveless said her friends wife was concerned it might be the virus, but then became convinced it was pneumonia.

"Its really very scary,'' she said. And its been very tough on his wife.

Loveless said the tight-knit community of Hamilton, where everyone knows everyone, is reeling.

She wrote a message to the community expressing her sadness and deep feeling of personal loss.

I write this with a heavy heart for the loss we have suffered, and one which I feel very deeply on a personal level, Loveless said.

She went on to say, based on advice from the county health department, that she was quarantining. Village board members and village department heads would be working remotely.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:

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The state education department is also trying to be a conduit for districts to help each other. It has asked districts to fill out a survey that indicates whether they have resources to share such as food, shelter or generators, as well as personnel like nurses, bus drivers and maintenance or cafeteria workers.
As most of the world practices social distancing, the Dutch are trying a different strategy to protect the vulnerable from the coronavirus: Theyre aiming for so-called herd immunity, or what happens when enough people have survived the illness to effectively slow its spread.

As we wait for a vaccine or medicine, we can slow down the virus spreading and at the same time build up herd immunity in a controlled manner, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said last week during an update on COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness caused by the coronvirus.

Like a lot of other world leaders, Rutte is now in the business of calming his citizens down. But hes also a pragmatist.

The reality is also that in the coming period a large part of the population will be infected with the virus," he added.

So unlike the Italians or the French, the Dutch are not on lockdown. Schools and restaurants have been told to close, but strict social distancing hasnt been imposed. People are still hanging out in parks. Even the coffee shops that sell weed are open, though now only for to-go orders.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 04:45:30|Editor: yan

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ROME, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 6,820 lives in locked-down Italy by Tuesday with the cumulative number of cases reaching 69,176, according to new data released by the Civil Protection Department.

Speaking at a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli said Italy reported 5,249 new cases of coronavirus and 743 new deaths on Tuesday and that 54,030 people are currently positive for the coronavirus, one month after the pandemic broke out in northern Italy on Feb. 21.

Of those infected, 28,697 are in isolation at home, 21,937 are hospitalized with symptoms, and 3,396 are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, a total of 8,326 patients have recovered, said Borrelli who is also the national commissioner in charge of the coronavirus emergency.

The numbers are up from an official tally on Monday evening of 50,418 active infections, 6,077 deaths, and 7,432 recoveries.

Borrelli also confirmed that former Civil Protection Department chief Guido Bertolaso has tested positive for the virus.

In a televised press conference earlier on Tuesday, Extraordinary Commissioner for the Coronavirus Emergency, Domenico Arcuri, announced that Italian fashion companies have agreed to produce "50 million face masks per month".

"These will cover half of our requirement of over 90 million (masks) per month," said Arcuri, who is also the CEO of Invitalia, a national business incentives agency owned by the Ministry of Economy.

Arcuri added that Invitalia is providing a 50-million-euro package of incentives "for businesses wishing to convert their facilities to the production of masks."

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte named Arcuri an additional national commissioner on coronavirus emergency, effective March 18.

Arcuri is in charge of ramping up production and distribution of medical supplies, bolstering the national health care system, and managing economic support for families, workers, and businesses affected by the coronavirus emergency.

The commissioner went on to explain that since the start of the emergency, intensive care hospital beds across Italy have increased by 64 percent -- from 5,343 to 8,370 -- while beds in pneumology and infectious diseases hospital wards have quadrupled, from 6,625 to 26,169.

Arcuri went on to call on Italians to stay home. "We are all aware that the government's (lockdown) measures are difficult (and) unusual," he said.

"The vast majority of Italians is respecting them. We implore all Italians to respect them. We must stop this emergency from spreading to regions where its reach has so far been contained," Arcuri said.

Conte said on Tuesday that his government has approved a new decree introducing fines of 400 to 3,000 euros (430-3,228 U.S. dollars) for people caught violating the government's anti-coronavirus lockdown rules.

Under the lockdown rules, people are not allowed to leave their homes except for buying food, going to the pharmacy, walking their dogs, or going to work if they are employed in key sectors such as health care or food production.

People are also not allowed to travel between municipalities.

Conte added that the new decree gives regional governors the power to impose stiffer lockdown rules if needed.

The prime minister also denied media rumours that the national lockdown would be prolonged to July 31, and not to April 3 as per the current decree.

Italy on Jan. 31 declared a six-month national state of emergency due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Conte clarified that the state of emergency therefore ends on July 31, while the lockdown measure expires on April 3.

Also on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook that a flight that departed from China has landed at Malpensa (Milan airport) with medical supplies.

"We won't stop until all the necessary equipment reaches Italy," the minister wrote.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella also called on Italians to come together to fight the virus as they once did to rebuild Italy after World War II.
[March 24, 2020] Phosphorus Wins AFWERX SBIR Phase 1 20.1 Award From The United States Air Force for IoT Vulnerability Remediation

ATLANTA, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phosphorus , a provider of automated vulnerability management solutions for embedded IoT devices, has been awarded a United States Air Force AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 20.1 Phase 1 contract. The award will enable the Air Force IT team to evaluate the Phosphorus solution for automated IoT device discovery, enrollment, vulnerability patching and password management to enhance its IT security posture.

The Phosphorus solution is purpose-built to secure embedded IoT devices. It is the only solution on the market with automated IoT device patching and password management versus just visibility and detection. Phosphorus also offers agentless device discovery and enrollment and tracks devices throughout their lifecycle to maintain enterprise security compliance and best practices. Phosphorus agentless technology and low-friction deployment allow security professionals to protect their IoT footprint without disrupting operations. Phosphorous has also built integration with all the leading enterprise Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Vulnerability Management vendors to provide comprehensive visibility and remediation across the enterprise. The Air Force SBIR 20.1 is a joint program with the Navy and Army, providing competitive awards to enable innovative small businesses to demonstrate their technology potential within the Department of Defense. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX , an Air Force innovation community, have partnered to streamline the SBIR to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants, and decrease bureaucratic overhead.



Its very exciting for our team to have won this SBIR Phase 1 award and we are looking forward to showing the capabilities of our IoT security platform, said Chris Rouland, Phosphorus CEO. The growing number of IoT devices present a huge vulnerability to businesses and institutions of every size. Hackers exploit weaknesses in IoT security as a means for all kinds of malicious behavior. Weve made it our mission to enable security teams to find and fix those weak points to protect their systems, their data and their brand reputations. About AFWERX

AFWERX is a community of Air Force innovators who strive to connect Airmen to solutions across the force: whether that be funding, collaborating with industry, or simply receiving guidance on a project. The organization was established in 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force, reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and is comprised of active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Air Force Civilian Service, and contractor personnel. The group serves as a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors to create transformative opportunities and foster an Air Force culture of innovation. AFWERX goal is to solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the Air Force by enabling thoughtful, deliberate, ground-up innovation across the Air Force. For more information, visit https://www.afwerx.af.mil/ .

About Phosphorus

Today, most enterprises have far more embedded computing devices than people and that presents a massive - and largely unprotected  cyber attack surface. With a seven year half-life for vulnerability patching, and infrequent credential rotation, IoT is the softest target on the enterprise network today. Phosphorus is securing the IoT by fully automating the remediation of the two biggest vulnerabilitiesout-of-date firmware and default credentials. The US-based team has a proven track record of cybersecurity software innovation and over 100 yrs. of combined experience. The company was recently recognized by the Technology Association of Georgia for its continued innovation in IoT security automation. For more information on Phosphorus, visit https://www.phosphorus.io/ . Contact: Tim Walsh for Phosphorus [email protected] 617.512.1641

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The central part of the Milky Way. (Getty)

Astronomers have found the edge of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, using the movement of nearby galaxies to work out how large it is.

The Milky Way is mind-bogglingly big: 1.9 million light years in diameter, it turns out, more than 15 times wider than the shining spiral disc part it is named after.

Stretching far beyond that disc is a halo of invisible dark matter that is extremely difficult to measure because it emits no light.

The findings were published in a pre-print paper on arXiv.

Read more: Star hurled across Milky Way by new, unseen kind of black hole

Scientists from Durham University measured the movements of objects around the Milky Way to work out where the Milky Way came to an end.

They used simulations of how large galaxies form, and worked out that at the edge, the velocity of other orbiting galaxies dropped sharply.

Durham Universitys Ali Deason and her team found a similar drop at 950,000 light years out from the centre of the Milky Way.

That means the diameter of our galaxy is around 1.9 million light years.

Read more: Huge, bizarre objects spotted right next to the Milky Ways central black hole

The scientists say its not simply dark matter in the galaxys outer region  there are still stars, although not as many as in the Milky Ways central disc, Science News reported.

Deason said: Both have a well-defined edge. The edge of the stars is very sharp, almost like the stars just stop at a particular radius.

The researchers wrote: In many analyses of the Milky Way halo its outer boundary is a fundamental constraint. Often the choice is subjective, but as we have argued, it is preferable to define a physically and/or observationally motivated outer edge.

Here we have linked the boundary of the underlying dark matter distribution to the observable stellar halo and the dwarf galaxy population.

"There is great hope that future data will provide a more robust and accurate measurement of the edge of the Milky Way and nearby Milky Way-mass galaxies than the one we have presented here."
"Make no mistake, if there is widespread community transmission, we may have to introduce some harder measures," he said. The nation's top medical experts continue to recommend that it was safe for children to go to school, as Mr Morrison announced he would meet with teachers union representatives on Wednesday. He said the new measures reflected the size of the issue the government faced to limit its health impacts across the country and to ensure that it could protect the lives of Australians. He acknowledged the new strict rules placed on weddings and funerals "will be very difficult". Under the new rules, only five people can attend wedding ceremonies - the couple, the celebrant and witnesses.

Loading Funerals will only be able to be held in the presence of up to 10 people, who must observe the rules around the four-square metre rule and the social distancing practices. The same 10-person limit will apply to any gatherings inside people's homes. "This is not an easy decision," Mr Morrison said. "Some of the events that have been some of the major transmitting events, it has been exactly these types of events, particularly weddings. "And that is why, regretfully, we have to be able to put these arrangements in place." Hairdressers and barber shops will be able to stay open but have been ordered to strictly manage social distancing, limit the number of people in their premises and restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premises to no more than 30 minutes.

Mr Morrison said every worker in Australia would be listed as "essential". "Everyone who has a job in this economy is an essential worker. Every single job that is being done in our economy with these severe restrictions that are taking place is essential," he said. Victoria Police checking on residents who have recently been forced to self-isolate. Credit: "It can be essential in a service whether it's a nurse or a doctor or a schoolteacher, or a public servant who is working tonight to ensure that we can get even greater capacity in our Centrelink offices, working until 8 o'clock under the new arrangement in the call centres, these are all essential jobs. "People stacking shelves, that is essential. People earning money in their family when another member of their family may have lost their job and can no longer earn, that's an essential job. Jobs are essential."

He also flagged state and territory governments were working to provide relief to people who will not be able to pay their rent and discussions were taking place with energy companies to ensure power supplies were not cut to homes who could not pay their bills on time. Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletter Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here. Australian citizens and residents profiteering by sending essential supplies, such as masks and baby formula, to overseas markets will also face prosecution in a new crackdown to shore up domestic goods and services. Mr Morrison said 2020 would be the "toughest year" of many people's lives. Australians had already lost work or been forced to close their businesses in one of the most "heart-breaking events" in the nation's history, he said. He said the national cabinet, which includes state and territory leaders, was working hard to address the many issues Australians were facing.
BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has imposed curfew in Bhopal and Jabalpur cities, where coronavirus cases have been found, said reports on Tuesday (March 24, 2020).

Soon after assuming charge, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting around Monday midnight and issued the directives.

During the meeting, Chouhan reviewed the coronavirus situation in the state and directed for imposition of curfew in the capital city Bhopal and Jabalpur.

So far, five cases of coronavirus have been found in Jabalpur and one in Bhopal.

Lockdown has so far been ordered in 39 out of the total 51 districts of the state in view of the coronavirus pandemic, a public relations department official said.

The CM Shivraj has asked the authorities concerned to ensure supply of essential goods to people, he said.

Just 15 months after losing power, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday night for a record fourth term.

The 61-year-old MLA from Budhni took oath of office at a simple function in Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched a voluntary programme to provide public services relating to combating coronavirus.

The state came into complete lockdown from Tuesday.

To defeat COVID-19, the programme named `Covid - Sangharsh Senani` was launched on Monday so that people could voluntarily give their services in hospitals -- both paramedics and doctors -- and in district administration, said the official.

Those who are interested to give their services can register themselves on haryana.mygov.in and covidharyana.in.

To break the chain of transmission, the government has directed its employees to work from home to ensure social distancing till March 31.

An official spokesperson said the administrative secretaries told to ensure 50 per cent of Group B, C and D employees are required in their departments, including municipal bodies, corporations and societies, to attend the office every day.

The remaining 50 per cent staff would work from home.
There are fears that milk processing could be brought to a halt

Contingency plans being put in place by the dairy industry could see teams of critical staff from one milk processor helping to run crucial facilities for another dairy business in the event of a serious Covid-19 outbreak.

The radical strategy is part of a raft of measures that the dairy sector has drawn up to counter the impact of the global pandemic.

There are growing fears in the dairy sector that milk processing could be brought to a standstill if crucial staff is lost to the virus during peak milk supplies next month.

Close to 75pc of the spring-calving dairy herd are calved at this stage, with ICBF data showing that almost one million dairy calves were registered by last Friday.

With peak milk supplies just six weeks away, the dairy sector is cognisant that it cannot afford any reduction in the country's processing capacity through April and May.

"The processing system is as tight as a drum. The sector can't afford one of the key plants to go offline - we don't have spare capacity at peak," one senior industry source told the Farming Independent.

The contingency plans being compiled by dairy processors are a reflection of a century of co-operation in the sector, said Conor Mulvihill of Dairy Industry Ireland (DII).

Mr Mulvihill pointed out that while there is enough stainless steel to process peak milk supplies, the immediate concern for dairies is that vital staff will succumb to Covid 19.

Dairy businesses have already been active in putting preventative measures in place to tackle the possible spread of Covid 19.

Most dairies have moved all non-operational staff off key processing sites, and set up independent teams to operate these facilities.

Mr Mulvihill said the industry as a whole was now putting in place strategies to cope with a potential "doomsday scenario" where a number of essential staff fall victim to the virus.

"Companies sharing teams of key operational staff is among the measures we've agreed to counter such an eventuality," he explained.

Mr Mulvihill welcomed the relaxation of the driver hour rules for trucks, and said they were looking for the same for the working time directive which will now critical staff to do extended shifts should the need arise.

He said the possible reopening of private storage aid (PSA) by the Commission was also critical for the industry.

Mr Mulvihill explained that it would give processors the option of holding dairy commodities such as powders, rather than offloading further product onto a weakening market.

Although the request has been made to the Commission, a final decision on this matter is not imminent.
HANGZHOU, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have announced plans to donate medical supplies to 24 Latin American countries to help their battle against the spread of COVID-19.

A total of two million masks, 400,000 test kits and 104 ventilators will be donated to 24 Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Peru.

"We will ship long-distance, and we will hurry! WE ARE ONE!" said Jack Ma, who announced the pledges through his Twitter account.
Speaking at a White House briefing, officials said that anyone who recently left New York should self-quarantine at home for 14 days to prevent the virus from infecting those in other regions.

Were starting to see new cases across Long Island that suggest people have left the city, the White House coronavirus coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said at the briefing.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that New Yorkers who were understandably trying to leave for places like Florida needed to make sure they were not seeding the rest of the United States.

When they go to another place, for their own safety, they have to be careful, Dr. Fauci said.

Vice President Mike Pence repeated the advice, calling New York City a high-risk area and asking New Yorkers to avoid nonessential travel.




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Cepheid's rapid Covid-19 test is designed to work on any of the company's 23,000+ automated GeneXpert Systems worldwide.

The American Food and Drug Administration has approved the first rapid diagnostic test for the novel coronavirus, which could encourage quicker and more testing for the infection, amidst the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. With a detection time of about 45 minutes, the test couldn't have come at a better time  as the United States, China, India and many nations barring the EU, struggle to meet the rapidly growing demand for coronavirus testing.

The test was developed by California-based molecular diagnostics company Cepheid. In a media briefing on 21 March, the company said it received an "emergency-use authorization" from the FDA for its rapid Covid-19 test, which will primarily be released to hospitals and emergency rooms starting as soon as possible. The US FDA confirmed the rapid test's approval in a statement, clarifying that the company intends to roll out its testing kits to medical facilities by 30 March.

The emergency clearance comes only a week after a similar clearance was given to Roche, which was given fast-track approval for a test that could diagnose the novel coronavirus in three hours. However, the current testing regime anywhere in the world requires samples to be sent to a centralized lab, and the results could take days.

The United States is not even close to meeting the demand for coronavirus testing, while medical experts have predicted that testing delays and chaos will likely cost lives, including those of doctors and nurses.

Cepheid's diagnostic test for Covid-19 is designed to work on any of the company's 23,000+ automated GeneXpert Systems globally, the company said.

Over 1,200 such Cepheid GeneXpert Systems were installed across various Indian medical institutions in 2017 and 2018 as part of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in India, after approval by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010. The Systems don't require any special training to carry out the testing, and can run around the clock if needed, Cepheid's President Warren Kocmond said in a statement.

"An accurate test delivered close to the patient can be transformative  and help alleviate the pressure that the emergence of the 2019-nCoV outbreak has put on healthcare facilities that need to properly allocate their respiratory isolation resources," David Persing, chief medical and technology officer at Cepheid, said in the statement.

Cepheid didn't disclose any information on how much the test will cost on the market.

Also read: Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: WHO warns against using 'untested drugs' to fight COVID-19; Gujarat, Puducherry announce lockdown

Also read: What can we learn from the global response to the coronavirus pandemic?
In yet another manifestation of its criminal response, the Trump administration is continuing to spend billions of dollars on border wall construction even as the coronavirus pandemic is overwhelming the United States health care system.

Last week, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced plans to build 150 miles of the 30-ft. wall across the US-Mexico border in Arizona, New Mexico and California. This is in addition to the border wall construction that is being carried out at 15 work sites in these three states as well as Texas.

At a time when the US faces an unparalleled public health crisis, not to mention an economy in free fall that has left millions of Americans unemployed, this decision underscores the hostility of the Trump administration toward the entire working class, native born and immigrant.

Two boys peer through the border wall separating Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from El Paso, Texas, 2017 (WSWS Photo)

COVID-19 has spread rapidly across the country, with the official estimates of confirmed cases crossing 42,000 by Monday. As of this posting, more than a quarter of the American population is living under shelter-in-place orders in an attempt to mitigate the pandemic. However, this seems to have had no effect on the administrations fixation with the border wall. In the words of a CBP spokesman, Wall construction has not been affected.

What this means is that despite all medical advice insisting on the importance of isolation and social distancing, construction crewscomprised of welders, engineers, contractors etc., from states as far-flung as Montana, Maine, North Dakota and Kentucky to name but a feware working, eating and living in shared, close quarters before returning home to their families. These interactions during the rapidly escalating pandemic makes these workers even more vulnerable to infection and to potentially transmit COVID-19 to others.

As Myles Traphagen, an ecologist with Wildlands Network, who has urged the congressional appropriations committee to suspend the border wall construction during the pandemic, told The Guardian: There is no sign of construction slowing down, hundreds of construction workers from all over the country and Mexico continue working on the wall, commuting back and forth on weekends, staying in hotels and eating at restaurants in our communities, before returning home and potentially transferring COVID-19. This is a public health hazard and it needs to be stopped.

However, there seems to be no sign of any such stoppage. As of last weekend construction was going full steam ahead in the San Bernardino Valley in Southeast Arizona, the location of a national wildlife refuge, and the habitat for several endangered species whose existence is further threatened by these activities.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in fact, published a notice in the Federal Register last Monday waiving 37 environmental and cultural laws to expedite construction of the 91.5 miles in Arizona, plus 86 miles along other parts of the US-Mexico border. The reason given by acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf for the expedited construction was the supposed high levels of illegal entry of people and drugs through Cochise, Santa Cruz, Pima and Yuma counties. Existing measures, the federal government argued, were insufficient because of a complete absence of barrier or ineffective primary or secondary fencing.

The grotesque absurdity of these claims cannot be overstated. Under the Trump administration, the militarization of the US-Mexico border has proceeded on pace with a series of inhumane measures targeting working class migrants, particularly from Central America. These have included not just the deployment of US soldierswho, under Trumps fraudulent emergency have taken on policing rolesand the refusal of asylum, but also bilateral agreements with Mexico and Central American countries forcing refugees to remain in one of those countries.

Using the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration has not only closed the US-Mexico border, but also instituted a more systematic push-back of immigrants crossing the border outside official ports of entry, claiming that they would pose a potential health threat to other detainees if held in the US.

Over the weekend, a tweet from the Yuma Border Patrol Chief Carl Landrum boasted of the apprehension of 3 adult Mexican males who crossed the border illegally and the fact that the men were expeditiously returned to Mexico to #StopTheSpread of #COVID19. One of the photos posted on his social media account showed him triumphantly standing over a man handcuffed on the ground with his face in the dirt.

If the Trump administration in fact prioritized stopping the spread of COVID-19 it would be much more focused on attending to the horrific cracks in the US public health system that have been exposed by the current crisis. Health care professionals around the country are putting their lives at risk without access to basic supplies like masks and gloves. Hospitals that face the very real prospect of being completely overrun and overwhelmed in the coming weeks are already running short of ventilators. As for simple testing, which should be the highest priority, it remains inaccessible to the working class in most parts of the country. To fixate on the border wall at this momenta vanity project with an $18.5 billion price tagreveals not just the blinkered vision of the current administration, but also the ways in which the pandemic is being harnessed to further Trumps racist war on immigrants.
 Leona Woods, a La Grange native who graduated from Lyons Township High School in 1934 and earned a bachelors degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago. While working on her doctorate at the age of 23, she was the youngest and only female member of the team led by Enrico Fermi that experimented and built the worlds first nuclear reactor.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping talks to Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow, at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 20, 2019. (Andrea Verdelli/Pool/Getty Images)

Harvard University President and His Wife Test Positive for CCP Virus

Lawrence Bacow, the president of Harvard University, told students and faculty that he tested positive for the CCP virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Bacow said in a letter to the school community that his wife, Adele, also tested positive for the new illness.

We started experiencing symptoms on Sundayfirst coughs then fevers, chills, and muscle achesand contacted our doctors on Monday. We were tested yesterday and just received the results a few minutes ago. We wanted to share this news with all of you as soon as possible, he wrote.

Neither Bacow nor his wife know how they contracted the virus; both patients limited contact with others starting March 14. Anyone who had contact in the past two weeks with the Bacows should contact health authorities or their doctor.

Both Bacow and his wife are self-isolating at home and focusing on getting healthy.

Lawrence Seldon Bacow speaks as he is introduced as Harvard Universitys 29th president during a news conference in Cambridge, Mass., on Feb. 11, 2018. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

This virus can lay anyone low. We all need to be vigilant and keep following guidelines to limit our contact with others. Your swift actions over the past few weeksto respond to the needs of our community, to fulfill our teaching mission, and to pursue research that will save liveshave moved me deeply and made me extraordinarily grateful and proud, he wrote.

I hope to see as few of you in our situation as possible, and I urge you to continue following the guidance of public health experts and the advice and orders of our government officials.

Bacow, 69, is the 29th president of Harvard, joining the school after serving as president of Tufts University. He and his wife met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on March 20, 2019. The new virus started in China in late 2019 and is still infecting people in the country.

As of March 24, Massachusetts, where Harvard is located, had 1,159 confirmed cases, including 99 from a Biogen conference and people who came into contact with attendees. Eleven persons in the state have died from COVID-19.

Cases across the United States topped 51,000 on March 24, with a mortality rate of around 1.3 percent. The bulk of the cases are in New York state, which saw a surge of more than 4,500 overnight.

The virus is believed to primarily pass from person to person through respiratory droplets released when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Touching contaminated surfaces and then touching ones face can also lead to the illness.

Experts recommend that people avoid crowds, frequently wash hands, and regularly clean objects and surfaces.
The case took on a new dimension by the fall of 2015, when the girl informed Cottrell she could not communicate with him because she was driving at the time. At that point, Cottrell said he knew she was not old enough to drive and told her that he knew her real name, her residence, the school she attended, the names of people in her family and her parents jobs, according to the plea agreement.
Posters plus designated wait points marked on grocery store floors will help everyone stay the CDC's recommended six feet apart

BOISE, Idaho, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Albertsons Companies today announced that the company has begun implementing Social Distancing protocols across all 2,200+ stores. The goal with the protocol throughout the store is to follow guidance from the CDC to prevent customers from being within 6 feet of any other person for more than 10 minutes. Customers should see changes continue over the next week.

Social distancing can make a significant difference in our communities as we face this pandemic, said Vivek Sankaran, President & CEO. Our stores are following the guidance from the CDC with regard to regular hand washing and enhanced cleaning and sanitization protocols. We believe that the next step toward helping slow and contain the COVID-19 virus is by reinforcing proper social distancing whenever possible.

The company is installing designated waiting points through floor markers positioned throughout the store, especially at check stands and stations where people most often congregate, like the service deli, bakeries, and pharmacy areas. Customers will also be asked to wait until the customer in front of them has finished collecting their groceries before unloading their groceries at the check stand.

"We have seen our customers begin to implement social distancing on their own with our 'two carts apart' reminders as they shop our stores, so we think our floor markers will increase awareness," said Sankaran. "We know that with our customers' help, along with other safety measures have implemented in our stores, we can create safer environments and help our communities contain the spread of this contagious disease."

About Albertsons Companies

Locally great and nationally strong, Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. We operate stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaws, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2019 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave $225 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans outreach. The company is currently conducting a major fundraiser to help feed families, school children and seniors in need during the COVID-19 crisis and has donated $3 million towards the cause.

Christine Wilcox

Albertsons Companies

208-395-4163

Christine.Wilcox@albertsons.com


Photo: James Willamor/Flickr

Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Raleigh.

Man dies from injuries after stabbing in Raleigh

A 58-year-old man has died after he was stabbed multiple times in Raleigh near Capital Boulevard on Saturday night.

Read the full story on ABC11 WTVD.

Couples tie the knot at magistrates office

Weddings are still taking place, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Scott Mason spoke with two couples who exchanged their vows the magistrate's office in Raleigh.

Read the full story on WRAL Tar Heel Traveler.

WakeMed and UNC Health accepting medical supply donations

Two area hospital groups Sunday asked the public to donate much-needed medical supplies as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strip resources.

Read the full story on WNCN.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
A Zimbabwean student at Andrews University in USA has died of coronavirus COVID-19, according to a family spokesperson, Takudzwa Mandaza.

Mandaza said his 19 year-old young sister, Mellisa Jackquiline, died yesterday.

He said the family is devastated by the death of Mellisa, whose mother lives in Michigan, USA.

Mandaza could not say when Mellisa will be laid to rest.

Her dad passed on a while back and she was in Michigan with her mum and other siblings studying at St. Andrews University She was asthmatic and she tested positive for the coronavirus and passed away yesterday in hospital, said Mandaza.

He added that he will remember her cousin for her brilliance in her studies and her love for books as she was a bookworm like himself.

She is believed to be the second Zimbabwean to die of coronavirus COVID-19 following the death in Harare on Monday of Zororo Makamba, the son of former radio broadcaster and Telecel shareholder, James Makamba.

The Ministry of Health indicated that Zororo recently visited New York, which is recording high numbers of coronavirus COVID-19.

Before Zororos death, there were two people in Zimbabwe that tested positive for coronavirus.

The disease has killed thousands of people in China, Italy and other nations.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced a raft of measures that include sealing off the countrys borders in an effort to control the spread of the infectious disease.
Business organizations were calling on the Ontario government Tuesday to allow some non-essential businesses a bit more time before theyre forced to shut down.

The government announced Monday that all non-essential businesses in Ontario would be required to close by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Organizations were also hoping to get clarity from the government as quickly as possible about what exactly qualifies as an essential business. The government released a lengthy list Monday evening of businesses permitted to stay open during the shutdown, which would include grocery stores, pharmacies and the LCBO.

However, theres a grey area around some of the examples on the list, said Julie Kwiecinski, director of provincial affairs (Ontario) for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. As just one example, she pointed out that businesses that provide watercraft repairs are on the essential business list, but not watercraft dealers.

What if you sell boats? Thats not on the list. But repairing boats is on the list. What do you do? she said, noting its common for one dealership to do both kinds of business. If you have one essential component, are you allowed to stay open?

In addition to the need for more clarity, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce was also urging the government to give some non-essential businesses a bit more time to fully cease operations. Without specifically identifying companies, the chambers president and CEO spoke of plants with machinery that needs to be properly emptied and cleaned before a full shutdown. Some businesses also need more time to deal with issues like payroll, Rocco Rossi said.

There are a number of practical issues. Its not foot-dragging, everyone understands the message, said Rossi.

Were talking days, not weeks, he added, regarding how much more time some businesses need to close.

Some businesses were quick to reassure customers Tuesday that they have essential status, to avoid any confusion with the list put out by the government. Major chain Dollarama released a statement Tuesday maintaining that it is an essential service and its stores will continue to remain open.

The government has also said that the LCBO will remain open, though on reduced hours. That decision has faced questions from members of the public, but politicians and public-health experts have pointed out that its essential that the LCBO remain open for those with a dependence on alcohol.

Construction work can also continue as an essential service, though the Ontario Construction Consortium urged the government to put a halt to construction work across the province for 14 days.

It makes no senses that you cant have your neighbour over for a cup of coffee yet construction sites are expected to continue operations and they can have hundreds of employees working in close proximity to each other, said the consortiums executive director Phil Gillies in a statement Tuesday.

Business organizations also continued to call Tuesday for a substantial wage subsidy from governments, similar to what is being done in some European countries, where governments are covering up to 80 per cent of a persons wage if theyve been laid off due to COVID-19. (So far the Canadian government has proposed a 10 per cent wage subsidy for small businesses.)

Im reiterating the call that what whats out there at the federal level is not enough, Kwiecinski said, adding that shes hoping to see a made-in-Ontario relief plan for businesses in provincial Finance Minister Rod Phillips economic update being released Wednesday.

A better wage subsidy must come now, Rossi said. The longer there isnt one, the less effective it will be. What you want to avoid is what is already happening: hundreds of thousands of Canadians being laid off and applying for EI.

He said a wage subsidy is the quickest, most effective way to get money in peoples pockets, and lets a business to quickly ramp up operations once it is safe to do so again.

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The product is registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a surface disinfectant. The EPA approves disinfectants that can be used to reduce the spread of illnesses through the Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance, and only products the agency approves can be marketed and sold for use against a virus outbreak.
When he was in school, Pablo Delcan had difficulty passing his exams because he would answer questions with just one sentence. I was good at reading a story and summarizing it in just three words, but that hurt me. Now its what sets me apart as an illustrator. I read something complex and I know how to communicate it in a simple form, in a form that invites people to be curious about it, he says.

It took years before his impediment became his gift, and now he is one of the leading graphic designers for the op-ed section of The New York Times, where he makes some of the most striking covers for the magazine. It recent months he has illustrated an opinion piece by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei entitled Capitalism and Culturicide and used simple strokes to depict the famous confession of a government official exposing the delirium of the Trump administration.

And hes done so in record time. They call me around noon or 1pm, the sketches have to be ready at around 3pm or 4pm, and everything must be done by 6pm. At 9pm the online version is up, and the next morning the paper is out, he explains. Delcan remembers how, when he was employed at Penguin Random House Mondadori, he used to complain about the slow-moving place of the publishing world.

Pablo Delcan drawing E. T.

Delcan now works from his studio in New Yorks Lower East Side, where he runs his own company Delcan & Co. It is basically a wide corridor crowded with a beautiful array of his own artistic references, from Spanish painter Francisco Goya to Mark Rothko. Also on display is The Abbey of Crime, a cassette video game created by his own father, the animator and filmmaker Juan Delcan. There are also some of his own creations: sculptures of hands and eyes, various clocks (none of them set to the right time) and products for clients (concert posters for Lorde, Sigur Ros and Green Day, and book covers for Alejo Carpentier and Vladimir Nabokov).

Its a modest place, but it is bathed in a soft light that could be called inspiring if it werent for the fact that Declan doesnt believe in that word. When you dont have the option to not be inspired, you dont have a choice except to do the work, he says concisely, with the same ease that he defines his work as a translation: he analyzes original texts and converts them into images. And although this characterization seems to take away merit from his work, it actually conceals a necessity for documentary rigor that forces him to open his eyes to reality and adhere to the original material without letting his own opinion leak through; it also reveals a particular philosophy about his discipline that almost sounds self-damaging. Design, in some ways, acts as an elitist format. When something is designed it has reached a community that tends to push people away instead of inviting them in. Im interested in the opposite, he says.

Delcan favors an uncontrived, unbiased design, one that avoids wily embellishment. In the end, thats what appeals the most to him about living in a city as aesthetically anarchic as New York. You can define it as a city that is ugly by default, but thats what I like the most about it. The most interesting moments of how a culture represents itself occur when the designer is not present.

Delcan's studio is practically a wide hallway, but is bathed in a beautiful light Erik Tanner

Delcan, like many millennial Spanish immigrants, has never worked in Spain. Ive been looking for work in Spain now, but Im not having any luck, he says, despite the awards he has been receiving and the fact that hes already appeared on the Forbes list of 30 top artists under 30. When he talks about his work he finds it difficult to do so in Spanish. Its true that his case is peculiar. Born in Madrid in 1989, his parents moved to California when he was five years old. Two years later they divorced and he relocated to the Spanish island of Menorca with his mother, the artist Nuria Roman. With this adolescence in a bubble, and always surrounded by creativity (his grandmother had a ceramics studio and his little sister is the actress Olivia Delcan), he found his idea lab inside a barnyard where he rehearsed in a band with his friends. He played the drums and was in charge of marketing: posters, logos, album covers

Covers designed by Delcan for the New York Times magazine Erik Tanner

It was rock that beckoned him to New York City at just 18 years old, where he played with his band, Belladonna. But he also enrolled in graphic design studies at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where his father was a teacher.

Today he has become a professor of animation at the same school, and for a little more than a year, he has also been a father. It has changed everything, but for the better, he says, noting that it has made him prioritize his attention and not waste time with irrelevant projects. And although he hasnt avoided the temptation to design a few toys for his son, he prefers not to fall into the habit of a designer fatherhood. Luckily my cousin, who lives in Madrid and has two kids, brings a full bag of used clothes for my son every time she visits. It includes clothes that used to be mine. Were keeping tradition alive, he jokes.

English version by Nell Snow.
Los Angeles public school campuses will be closed until at least May 1 in response to the widening COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced Monday, energizing a costly scramble to move instruction online for an extended period, provide computers and free internet to the needy and ramp up meal distribution.

By staying closed until May, the nation's second-largest school system is aligned closely with a recommendation from Debra Duardo, head of the L.A. County Education Office, which provides oversight for local school systems. There appears to be broad compliance with Duardo's timetable among the county's 80 districts. About 1.5 million students are enrolled in Los Angeles Unified and county public school districts.

"I wish I could start by telling you it will all be back to normal sometime soon," said L.A. Unified schools Supt. Austin Beutner in a video statement Monday morning. "But that is not the case."

The centerpiece of the massive L.A. Unified effort is $100 million in new spending that Beutner has authorized, using emergency powers, to provide a district computer to every child in need and technology training for teachers and students  expenses that could threaten the district's solvency.

Part of the money also will go toward providing high-speed wireless internet through Verizon to all students who need it. The service will be free to families, paid for by L.A. Unified at a discounted rate. About 80% of the district's half-a-million students are members of low-income families.

"In ordinary times, our focus is on three things  to help students learn, provide support to students and families most in need and take care of all teachers and staff in schools who make possible the learning and support," Beutner said. "Even in these extraordinary times, these are still our goals."

This spending and other costs have thrown the district's three-year budget  which the state requires to be balanced  into an apparent deficit, compelling Beutner to appeal to state lawmakers for emergency state funding.

Story continues

"Said simply, our budgets will not balance for the current fiscal year because of the extraordinary costs associated with responding to the global pandemic," wrote Beutner in a joint letter Monday with San Diego Unified Supt. Cindy Marten. "We request an additional emergency appropriation to address these unforeseen costs."

The two district leaders are seeking "$500 per student ... irrespective of family circumstances." The money, they said, should especially be targeted to students who qualify for free- and reduced-priced meals at schools, students with disabilities, foster youth, homeless students and students who are learning English.

The extended-closure announcement came as L.A. schools were beginning the second week of what was originally scheduled as a two-week shutdown.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he thinks it's likely that campuses would remain closed for the remainder of the traditional school year.

Schools and school districts have turned to online learning to keep academic activities going, with mixed results. Beutner acknowledged Monday that distance learning needs to improve.

"We know we can do better," said Beutner, who estimated that about half of students continue to learn at the pace they had been at school. "Standing in the way is a great big digital divide."

District officials estimated they were short about 150,000 devices. In an interview with The Times Monday, Beutner said that computer purchases were likely to include tablets and Chromebook-style laptops.

The deal with Verizon for wireless service is crucial, Beutner said, even though cable providers have offered free internet for new customers during this crisis. The problem, he said, is that many families are not in homes that could be quickly and easily hardwired  especially given the directives about social distancing.

Details about the Verizon plan were not available Monday afternoon; nor was the cost. The contract is being prepared, Beutner said.

Another component of the district plan will be training teachers and students about how to work and interact online. Before the shutdown began, teachers were told to prepare two weeks of work for students  which takes students to the end of this week. It may be necessary to open up schools long enough for students to turn in or pick up assignments  and even to pick up computers, Beutner said.

Also on Monday, L.A. Unified began bringing meals to eight temporary homeless shelters newly opened by the city of Los Angeles. City officials said the district would supply three free meals per person daily Monday through Friday, with other providers stepping in over the weekend.

L.A. Unified already is providing food at 60 "grab-and-go" distribution centers, which are open on weekdays between 7 and 11 a.m. People can walk up or drive through to receive cold, shelf-stable meals. On Monday, the district handed out about 260,000 meals, the largest number since the effort began last Wednesday. On a typical school day, L.A. Unified serves about a million meals.

The cost of meals for students from low-income families is likely to be reimbursed by the federal government, but L.A. Unified has provided food to all who ask  a generous and widely applauded measure but a potential financial risk.

L.A. Unified also is paying staff volunteers a stipend of $100 per day to help at these distribution centers, another new cost associated with the emergency.

"We're spending resources to try to be a lifeline to the community because we think it's the right thing to do," Beutner said. "We're assuming we'll sort out the money later."

In their letter to state leaders, the two superintendents also called on additional funding to support services to disabled students and to English learners.

Times staff writer Sonali Kohli contributed to this report.
Mysuru: An Australia-returned person created panic in the VV Puram area of Mysuru by jumping quarantine and roaming around freely.

Police have decided to book a case against him under sections 188, 269 and 271 of IPC.

The person had returned from Australia on the 22nd of this month through the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. He had a quarantine seal put on his hand by the airport authorities. The Health and Family Welfare Department had ordered 14 days home isolation till April 6.

However, the person reportedly violated the order and went out of home and moved about in public places despite being aware of the government order and the fact that he had returned from a Covid-19 hit country.

Newspaper distributors in Mysuru did not distribute newspapers in the VV Puram area since Thursday. They have decided not to distribute newspapers in Mysuru till March 31.

Also, the Mysuru District Journalists Association has decided not to allow press meets on its premises and have closed their office. And regional office of all newspapers in Mysuru have decided to work from home.

Mysuru DCP Prakash Gowda said the police can book criminal cases against people who are negligent about the coronavirus protocol and violate government orders under IPC sections 188, 270 and 271, which entail imprisonment of two years and IPC 269 which may amount to imprisonment of six months.

Meanwhile, three Germans who were quarantined in a resort in Kodagu are being discharged after they completed their 14-day quarantine period. Currently one of them had come from Abu Dhabi and one from USA are still quarantined in resorts in Kodagu.

Another case in Kodagu is a 35 year old man who had come from Dubai and came into contact with a total of 498 people. Samples have been taken from 20 of them, and sent for testing.

Also, another five people who had flouted home quarantine rules are being shifted to a 500 bed mass quarantine facility. About 270 international passengers are home quarantined in Kodagu.
France is to tighten its lockdown imposed to battle the coronavirus, strictly limiting physical exercise and closing most open-air markets, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Monday.

Philippe told TF1 TV in a live interview that he would later sign a decree banning from Tuesday physical exercise such as jogging more than one kilometre (0.6 miles) from a person's place of residence and also halting open-air markets, although local authorities could request exemptions in exceptional cases.

"Many of our fellow citizens would like things to be like they were before, in normal times. But it is not going to happen tomorrow," he said, warning that the lockdown could still last "several more weeks".

France has been in lockdown for almost a week, with only essential trips outside allowed, in a bid to halt the acceleration of the virus' spread.

But government officials have been concerned by images of busy markets especially in Paris packed with shoppers and joggers pounding down some streets in certain areas, as if life was carrying on as normal.

President Emmanuel Macron is said to favour toughening up the existing rules rather than creating new harsher ones, such as a curfew or even a ban on stepping outside.

"Going out to take the children for a walk or for physical exercise must be within a distance of one kilometre maximum of your home, for one hour, and obviously alone, once a day," said Philippe.

He said while he was ordering open air markets to shut, exemptions would be allowed such as in places where the market was the main source of food.

The coronavirus has killed another 186 people in France, the health minister said on Monday, bringing the death toll in the country to 860.

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A major encounter between security forces and Maoists in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district has claimed the lives of at least 17 personnel of the District Reserve Guards (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF). Fifteen others were injured, two of them critically. Details about the attacks are still sketchy. Police officials said they had received intelligence that the Maoists were planning a large meeting in the Elmagunda area. Acting on this, personnel of the DRG, STF and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were dispatched to launch an operation. But things didnt go as per plan. The Maoists were lying in ambush and opened fire on the security forces. An encounter that lasted for five hours followed in which the security forces suffered heavy losses.

This is the biggest Maoist attack in three years; an ambush-encounter in April 2017 led to the death of 24 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. The attack is a major blow to the security forces not just in terms of lives but morale as well. It raises troubling questions. Maoists may be attacking less frequently than in the past and in a more restricted geographic area but their capacity to inflict damage has not diminished. It was not as though the security forces were outgunned; there were 600 police personnel in the area, compared to 250 Maoists. However, the Maoists scored by outmanoeuvring them. They lured the security forces into a trap and ambushed them at Minpa. This disaster was clearly an outcome of intelligence failure, of intelligence officials and decision-makers not seeing through the false input they were fed. It is evident, too, that poor communications among security personnel continue to weaken their operations. The whereabouts of the 17 personnel were unknown for several hours and it was only much later that their bodies were discovered.

Intelligence gathering in Maoist hotbeds in Bastar remains an area of concern. Despite the governments development initiatives in the region, substantial local support remains with the rebels. This is partly because people are terrified of the Maoists and are reluctant to turn informers of the State. But also, security forces and local officials have not acted to endear themselves to the locals. Staged encounters and arbitrary arrests continue. Benefits of development go to outsiders  non-tribals and contractors. Consequently, locals are unwilling to share information regarding Maoist movements and plans. But importantly, police officials need to understand and interpret data intelligently. They must ensure that every patrol is preceded by a road opening party and that all personnel follow standard operating procedures. They must ensure that there are no chinks in the armour for Maoists to exploit.
Under apparent pressure from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and ultraconservative allies of the country's Supreme Leader, Tehran has rejected the offer of medical help by a team sent by the renowned international non-governmental group, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders.

Earlier on March 22, MSF had sent a consignment of medical aid to Iran, including one field inflatable hospital, medicines, respiratory masks, and protective clothing.

Meanwhile, MSF said in a tweet, "Iran is by far the hardest-hit country in the region and Ispahan (Isfahan) is the second most affected province in the country, and we hope that our aid will relieve, at least in part, the pressure on the local health system."

The tweet was followed by another one, expanding on the aid, "MSF sent a 50-bed inflatable hospital and a 9-person emergency team to the second most affected province in Iran."

However, a day later, an advisor to the Islamic Republic Minister of Health, Alireza Vahhabzadeh, announced on his Twitter account that, since the national mobilization for confronting the novel coronavirus is underway, and the Iranian Armed Forces' medical capabilities are entirely at its service, Iran did not need hospitals established by foreigners. [Therefore], the MSF presence in Iran is irrelevant.

A day earlier, MSF had reported, "The inflatable hospital has been shipped by air from MSF's logistics hub in Bordeaux, France, and is to be set up in the compound of Amin hospital in Isfahan. The unit is equipped to treat critically ill patients requiring constant medical supervision and care."

Nine doctors and specialists were assigned to run the inflatable hospital.

Later on Tuesday, MSF expressed deep surprise in a statement sent to Radio Farda that Iranian Health Ministry officials put a stop to its plans to launch its vital mission to help critically ill patients.

In the meantime, the ultraconservative allies of the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, including daily Kayhan, bombarded Iran's Ministry of health in recent days with harsh criticism for allowing MSF presence in the country.

Speaking to the IRGC-linked Fars news agency on Monday, Kayhan's Managing-Editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, implicitly accused the Paris-based MSF of being an American puppet.

Referring to Khamenei's comments on Sunday, Shariatmadari said, "America knows that it has no place in Iran, and it cannot have a presence here. Nevertheless, [one should ask] is it not true that France has always cooperated with the U.S. conspiracies against Iran? Is it not true that [French President Emmanuel] Macron has explicitly declared that he supports all American plots against our country?"

Directly appointed by Khamenei, IRGC member Shariatmadari argued that MSF is a Paris-based organization, and it could not be trusted since all anti-Islamic Republic groups have a base in France.

However, while based in Paris, MSF is a non-governmental organization active across the world. From 2000 to 2010, MSF was present in Iran's southeast province of Baluchestan, serving local people and Afghan emigrants.

In a statement in 2010, MSF announced that the Islamic Republic authorities had ordered it to close the organization's office in the capital city of Iranian Baluchestan, Zahedan.

Fighting to contain the deadly novel coronavirus in Iran has been mired with "conspiracy theories" and the presence of alleged enemies targeting the whole country and its people.

In recent days, Khamenei has played a pivotal role in relating the outbreak to an imaginary "conspiracy" created by Washington. He even mentioned supernatural, mythological beings helping Irans enemies.

Joining the chorus initiated by media linked with the Chinese Communist Party, Khamenei accused Washington on Sunday of creating the new virus and its related deadly disease, COVID-19.

He went even further by accusing the U.S. of prescribing or exporting medicine to Iran that could spread the virus further or cause it to remain permanently.

Retaliating to Khamenei's remarks, the U.S. Secretay of State, Mike Pompeo, tweeted on Monday, "The Iranian regime ignored repeated warnings from its own health officials, and denied its first death from the WuhanVirus for at least nine days. The regime continues to lie to the Iranian people and the world about the number of cases and deaths."

Moreover, Pompeo affirmed on Monday, "It is important to note that since 2012, Iran has spent over $16 billion on terror abroad and used sanctions relief from the [Iran nuclear deal] to fill up its proxies' coffers," Pompeo said on Monday. "Regime officials stole over a billion euros intended for medical supplies, and continue to hoard desperately needed masks, gloves, and other medical equipment for sale on the black market."
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India has crossed over 400, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Nine people have succumbed to the virus till now in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the lockdown were enforced. Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed, he tweeted.

World Health Organisation executive director Dr Michael J Ryan on Monday said that India has tremendous capacities and called on for New Delhi to be aggressive in its fight against Covid-19.

The pandemic is accelerating, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in a virtual news briefing.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and said that it is time to put the armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the coronavirus pandemic.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war... to warring parties I say: pull back from hostilities. Put aside mistrust and animosity. Silence the guns; stop the artillery and end the airstrikes. This is crucial, to create the corridors for life-saving aid, the UN chief urged.

Here are the key developments.

1. In an unprecedented move, 30 states and union territories have announced complete lockdown in their entire areas covering as many as 548 districts, the government said on Monday.

2. Apart from the 30 states or UTs facing complete lockdown, three states or UTs have imposed partial lockdown in certain areas. They are Uttar Pradesh -- Indias most populous state, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Moreover, another union territory -- Lakshwadweep has imposed closure of some activities in its area. Mizoram and Sikkim have not imposed any lockdown measures yet.

3. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has allowed malaria drug to be used for caregivers and healthcare workers in treating Covid-19 patients. 16 private labs in India can now conduct Covid-19 tests.

4. Maharashtra and Punjab declared statewide curfews as the number of cases of Covid-19, which has killed at least 16,000 around the world, rose to 471 in India. The case count has doubled in just three days.

5. Delhi Police has announced that people entering Delhi from any of its borders will require special curfew passes from today. The passes are only for inter-border movement, and will not be required for those living and commuting within Delhi.

6. For essential service providers, the movement shall be permitted on the basis of identity card and authorization issued by the concerned organisation.

7. Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences has shut down its OPD and all specialty services.

8. Passenger trains, interstate buses, metro train services have been suspended till March 31. Domestic flights have also been banned from Wednesday. Only cargo flights will be allowed.

9. In one of his first decisions after taking charge of his fourth term as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan late-night announced that curfew would be clamped on Bhopal and Jabalpur where coronavirus affected patients have been found.

10. Monday brought some good news. The number of recoveries around the world yesterday crossed the 100,000-mark. Thats a recovery rate of around 30 per cent.

A complete lockdown refers to all districts in a state being under a lockdown, whereas a partial lockdown means that only a certain number of districts have been put under restrictions. Essential services, however, are allowed to run in all areas.
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RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust will lose as much as one-quarter of its revenue in the next two months as retail tenants close their doors due to the coronavirus spread, its top executive said.

The Toronto-based company, one of Canadas largest owners of retail space, is landlord to restaurant chains and movie theatres such as Cineplex Inc. that have been forced to shut down in the pandemic.

Were planning for our revenue to be down as much as 25 per cent over the next 60 days, and I suspect it might be a little longer than that. And we can handle it, chief executive officer Ed Sonshine said.

About 15 per cent of RioCans business comes from local stores such as nail salons and independent restaurants, and they wont be able to survive without some help from us, he said.

RioCan will defer rental payments for 60 days for some tenants, Sonshine said by phone from his Toronto home, where he is in self-isolation after returning from a trip to Florida.

The company will defer capital spending and construction starts to preserve cash. About 60 per cent of revenue comes from very essential tenants that are staying open and doing well  supermarkets and drugstores, the Costcos and Walmarts of this world, Sonshine said.

RioCan was fortunate to have closed a $350 million bond offering on March 5 before credit conditions tightened dramatically, he added.

I shake my head on how fast the world changed in two and a half weeks.

RioCan shares were down 12.7 per cent on Monday to $13.40 as of 11:49 a.m. Toronto time. The shares are down about 50 per cent so far this year.

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[March 24, 2020] Star2Star Extends Remote Work Solution To Help Customers Cope With COVID-19

SARASOTA, Fla., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Star2Star, provider of the worlds only complete enterprise cloud communications platform for integration and collaboration, has enhanced and expanded its Remote Work solution set as well as provided cost reductions and incentives for all customers and partners. Since its beginnings, Star2Star has led the industry with the best business continuity and remote workforce solutions, and this enhanced solution set takes this leadership further.

Star2Stars robust work at home solution lets customers protect their employees and businesses as well as prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Star2Stars new and enhanced cloud communication capability allows businesses to leverage multiple communications channels such as desktop softphones, mobile apps for Android and iOS, and business SMS and chat messaging for a dramatically reduced cost. Star2Star is aware that this pandemic may financially challenge many businesses. To help, Star2Star has released a new remote working offer that will give new customers a choice of up to ten-thousand dollars towards their new system to cover early termination fees with other providers and up to five months of free service, free business phones, and more. For current customers in te hardest-hit industries, they are also offering payment deferment programs in some cases. Star2Star encourages customers to call their Customer Success team to discuss options for how they can assist in these trying times.



Star2Stars employees are also assisting current partners and customers in setting up remote workspaces by offering free concierge services to program built-in Find Me/Follow Me call forwarding, voicemail preferences, and additional features. We are dedicated to helping our partners, customers, and businesses in need of remote working solutions as they deal with the threat of COVID-19, said Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer of Star2Star. We understand that this is an uncertain and stressful time for many companies, which is why we have made it a top priority to create offers of assistance that help companies of all types, not just those in Healthcare, Education, and Government. We will be here every step of the way to ensure the continued health and safety of our partners, customers, and communities.

Any business that would like to take advantage of Star2Stars remote work solutions is encouraged to call 833-630-1234. About Star2Star Communications Star2Star offers unparalleled value, reliability, quality, and scalability. Star2Star unifies business communications including voice, video, fax, mobile, chat, and presence management. Star2Star's award-winning, patented network overcomes the reliability and quality limitations of other communications technologies and enables companies to choose the deployment methodology that aligns best with their needs. For businesses that require high-quality voice, redundant networks for continuity, and ultra-reliable communications, Star2Star's StarCloud+ architecture offers the highest guaranteed SLAs in the industry at an affordable price. Businesses with less complexity, who seek the best communications capabilities for their employees and customers, can consider the StarCloud solution the optimal choice. With a customer retention rate of 99.85%, Star2Star has been recognized by a multitude of leading analysts. Star2Star was named to the Forbes Most Promising Companies list, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 five times, and the Inc. 500|5000 seven times. The company was also named by IHS as a Top 10 Hosted Business VoIP/UC Provider, ranked in the Frost Radar in the North American Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Industry report, and has been in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS, Worldwide for the last six years. Casey O'Loughlin

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Breed: The boy was attacked by two Rottweilers Photo: library image

The eight-year-old boy who was mauled by two Rottweilers at his Dublin home on Sunday has died.

The child has been named locally as Glen Murphy.

He had suffered devastating injuries to his head and body in the vicious mauling on Sunday afternoon and died in Crumlin Childrens Hospital yesterday.

It is believed that the horrific attack, which lasted up to 10 minutes, was caught on CCTV.

The security footage is being examined by gardai, and is believed to have recorded the horrific incident.

The boy was set upon by the two Rottweilers at around 4pm at the familys home on the Blessington Road, west of Tallaght.

He was found by a relative and rushed by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital, before he was transferred to Crumlin Childrens Hospital.

The dog warden confiscated the dogs, believed to be pets and guard dogs, and they were put down.

Gardai at Tallaght garda station are treating the case as a tragedy.

A source said: This is a very tragic incident. Its understood that one dog turned and the other followed. The dogs would have been very familiar to the child and their surroundings, and have never caused any issues before.

Gardai and the emergency services rushed to the scene when the alarm was raised.

At approximately 4pm, a male child (8) was seriously injured following a reported attack by a number of dogs at a house in the Tallaght area, a Garda spokesperson said after the incident.

The house where the attack took place is a detached property off the Blessington Road. A self-storage container business is also run from the same address, with the storage units situated beside and behind the house.

Gardai confirmed at lunchtime yesterday that the young boy had tragically died. A source yesterday told the Irish Independent that the boys family were utterly distraught following the tragedy.

Local councillor Charlie OConnor said the community reacted with deep shock on hearing of the news of the dog attack on Sunday.

Everybodys reaction has been the same, and thats a reaction of shock and sadness, said Cllr OConnor.

Its an extraordinary incident and nobody can get to grips with it, and for it to happen while there is already so much bad news in the community surrounding coronavirus just makes it worse, he added.

You can only feel for the family at this awful time, and they will have the support of the whole community.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Tue, March 24, 2020 16:50 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d2beb7 1 Business Indonesia,Batam,factories,closure,COVID-19,outbreak,SriMulyaniIndrawati,fiscal-stimulus Free

Riau Islands acting governor Isdianto has urged manufacturing companies operating in the Batam bonded zone in the province to temporarily shut down their factories to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Riau Islands administration declared a state of emergency on March 18 in the province to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. It is now urging industries to join the effort by closing their factories to contain the spread of the virus.

The emergency declaration prompted the closure of schools and sent public servants home.

We urge industries to temporarily halt their activities or, in other words, to send their workers home. We will issue a notice of the appeal, Isdianto said on the sidelines of his visit to Galang Islands infectious disease isolation and observation facility in Batam on Saturday.

He said that an economic downturn was a risk that everyone had to take in order to stop the spread of the virus. He said he hoped for understanding from the companies who would bear the brunt of the potential shutdown.

Do we want economic activities to continue or for COVID-19 to immediately recede? If the [industrial] activity continues, the [COVID-19] problem will linger, and we afraid that there will be an even bigger loss in the future, he said.

Read also: In Singapores neighbor Batam, malls empty, ferry trips reduced as virus fears lurk

As of Tuesday, the Riau Islands had confirmed four COVID-19 cases  with two of the cases from Batam city  and had placed hundreds of people under observation (PDP) because they had been in contact with COVID-19 patients or had recently traveled to virus-stricken regions.

Besides urging industries to temporarily shut down their factories, Isdianto also assured residents that staple stocks for consumption in the province remained sufficient for the next four months after visiting the Riau Islands State Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouse on Saturday.

Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi said his administration could not impose a lockdown on the city, as President Joko Jokowi Widodo had strictly forbidden local authorities to lock down their respective regions.

I dont have any plan to impose a lockdown in Batam, as its the presidents jurisdiction. Well be waiting for the presidents instruction if there's a lockdown, he said.

Batams Industrial Zones Association (HKI) vice-chairman Tjaw Hoeing previously said that companies inside the zone had just begun to resume operations after long suspensions. The COVID-19 outbreak in China severely disrupted the industries supply chains, leading to shortages of raw materials.

Even without factories closing, Tjaw projected that industrial exports from Batam would drop significantly over the next few weeks as the COVID-19 pandemic had affected wide areas in Europe and the United States.

Read also: COVID-19: Batam to ban residents traveling to Singapore amid new border policy

At the national level, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati projected on Wednesday that the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) growth would drop to between 4.5 and 4.9 percent in the first quarter, with the possibility of plunging further in the second quarter as economic activity weakened.

The central government tried to dampen the economic effects of COVID-19 by deploying a second stimulus package worth Rp 22.9 trillion (US$1.3 billion) on March 13 that included individual and corporate tax breaks as well as the relaxation of loan disbursements and restructuring requirements.

It also unveiled a non-fiscal stimulus package that included a reduction in the number of goods prohibited for import and the acceleration of import and export processing and licensing, especially for reputable traders. (mpr)
A man wearing a face mask stands by the coffin of his mother during a funeral service in the closed cemetery of Seriate, near Bergamo, Lombardy, on March 20, 2020 during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 (new coronavirus) pandemic.

The number of coronavirus cases in Italy is probably 10 times higher than the official tally, the head of the agency collating the data said on Tuesday as the government readied new measures to force people to stay at home.

Italy has seen more fatalities than any other country, with latest figures showing that 6,077 people have died from the infection in barely a month, while the number of confirmed cases has hit 64,000.

However, testing for the disease has often been limited to people seeking hospital care, meaning that thousands of infections have certainly gone undetected.

"A ratio of one certified case out of every 10 is credible," Angelo Borrelli, the head of the Civil Protection Agency, told La Repubblica newspaper, indicating he believed as many as 640,000 people could have been infected.

After four weeks of steep increases in deaths and cases, the growth rate has eased since Sunday, raising hopes that the most aggressive phase of the contagion might be over.

"The official numbers of the last two days indicate a slowdown in the epidemic," said Giorgio Gori, the mayor of Bergamo, a small city in the northern region of Lombardy that has suffered the heaviest death toll in the country.

"I am being cautious because I do not want to delude myself, but at the same time I have a lot of hope that two whole weeks of lockdown plus increasingly restrictive measures are producing results," he told a group of foreign reporters.

The government has shut down all non-essential business until April 3 and the cabinet was due to meet later on Tuesday to tighten the screws still further, including hiking fines for people violating the shutdown to up to 4,000 euros ($4,300) from a maximum 206 euros at present.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak in New York is spreading faster than expected.

With confirmed cases nearly doubling every three days, Cuomo said new projections suggest the outbreaks apex will also come sooner, and require more hospital beds than originally projected.

That is a dramatic increase in the rate of infection, the governor said. Were not slowing it, and it is accelerating on its own.

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

Previously, Cuomo has said that the expected the highpoint of the outbreak could require as many as 110,000 hospital beds across the state. On Tuesday, he upped that number to 140,000.

Cuomo has reiterated the states hospital bed capacity is approximately 53,000, and he has been working with the federal government to supplement that number.

Theyre nowhere near the number of beds that were going to need," he said. "I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need.

He put the projected peak of the states cases between two and three weeks away. Previously, the apex was expected as late as May.

The states work with the federal government to increase bed capacity includes the identification of four sites for field hospitals with the Army Corps of Engineers and the deployment of the USNS Comfort -- a 1,000 bed naval hospital ship.

The four locations chosen so far for the temporary hospitals are the Jacob Javits Center, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Old Westbury and the Westchester Convention Center. Each location adds approximately 1,000 beds to the states capacity, and the governor said further locations are possible.

All state hospitals, including Staten Islands two systems, are working to increase their bed capacity by 50%, as mandated by the governor. He said Monday that, ideally, hospitals would increase bed capacity by as much as 100%.

53 The coronavirus life in New York City: The new normal

Further expansions to New Yorks bed capacity could include school dormitories and even some hotels, Cuomo said Tuesday at his daily press briefing from the Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan.

Testing rates in New York, which partially contribute to the high number of confirmed cases, are the highest, per capita, on the planet, Cuomo said.

More testing is coming to the state as medical professionals begin to find ways to combat the virus. Cuomo said peoples blood will be tested to see if they have developed antibodies to COVID-19.

Like many, Cuomo is hopeful that people who have contracted the disease develop some sort of immunity. State health officials have been studying whether plasma from such individuals can be transferred to others struggling with the virus.

Cuomo said Tuesday that the federal Food and Drug Administration authorized the experimental procedure.

Experimental treatment using hydroxychloroquin, which President Donald Trump has called a possible game changer, will begin in hospitals starting Tuesday after its approval was expedited by the FDA as a possible way to combat COVID-19, Cuomo said.

Its only a trial, its a trial for people who are in serious condition, but the New York State Department of Health has been working on this with some of New Yorks best health care agencies and we think it shows promise and were going to be starting that this week, Cuomo said.

The inescapable conclusion is that the rate of infection is going up, Cuomo said. It is clear that we must dramatically increase the hospital capacity to reach that highest apex.

In addition to the increased bed capacity, Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have called for more hospital staffing, and repeatedly announced the need for more supplies, particularly ventilators.

***

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'In the last two months, we have only done 16,000 tests and that is nothing.'

'If coronavirus cases in the community picks up and infection spreads, then we will be in big trouble.'

IMAGE: A policemen stands at a deserted street in south Mumbai with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters in the background, March 22, 2020. Photograph: Mitesh Bhuvad/PTI Photo

Nearly all of India -- 560 districts in 32 states and Union territories -- are under a complete lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

No one at this moment knows how serious the situation is. As of now, India has reported nearly 500 cases with nine deaths. While some say India will rebound and not see too many cases, some others warn an Italy-like tragedy is also a possibility.

Critics say that very few cases are being detected because India is not conducting enough tests. What is the truth?

Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to K Sujatha Rao, the former Union health secretary, to find out.

How prepared is India at this moment to take on the coronavirus threat?

We are dealing with it and coping with it, but it all depends on how the situation emerges after a week. We are in a state of lockdown and now it all depends if there are more cases or not.

We will have to wait and watch to see whether this one-week lockdown will result in reducing the number of coronavirus patients or not.

If the number of patients is limited, then we will be able to tackle the situation, but if the cases go beyond our reach, then it will create havoc.

And if India reaches an Italy-like situation, then there will be chaos, especially in north India.

Do you believe India is in stage 3 of the virus transmission now?

There is no evidence to say which stage we are in right now.

Only yesterday (March 23) we have expanded testing protocols and added more cohorts.

In the last two months, we have only done 16,000 tests and that is nothing. In America, they are doing 25,000 tests a week.

Unless and until we do more coronavirus tests we will not be able to know whether we have been able to contain it or whether it has begun spreading through community transmission. It is anybody's guess.

I don't know on what basis we are saying we are in stage 2 and not stage 3. What is the evidence? That is the reason many epidemiologists are questioning the Government of India's numbers.

Do we have the testing capacity? Are there that many testing centres in our country to find out whether a patient is infected by coronavirus or not?

Yesterday, Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research, said we can test 70,000 samples a day. And at present we are not even testing maybe 1,500 samples a day.

We have a huge capacity, that is not a problem, but we are testing only those with a travel history. Today they are saying anybody coming with symptoms of flu will be tested.

Even in a city like Mumbai we do not have many testing centres that can confirm if a patient has contracted the coronavirus or not.

If you have a testing centre inside your home, who will come and test? You have to expand.

Yesterday, the DG, ICMR, said they have 111 testing sites. Initially, we had only 52 testing sites and now they have doubled it.

They should have more testing sites. They are at present taking time to accredit private labs. They must get to at least 200 of them.

I am sure they will do it in 2, 3 days and allow testing to be done by private labs. Only then we will come to know how bad the situation is.

Do you think we should have stopped international flights to India earlier? That could have prevented the inflow of travellers with possible exposure to the virus.

I don't know whether we were late or not as we don't know how many cases are there.

As of now, if you say 415 coronavirus cases are there, then it is nothing, it is peanuts. But if coronavirus cases in the community picks up and infection spreads, then we will be in big trouble.

Lockdown is all right, but more important are TESTS, TESTS and TESTS.

We have to act it on now. We should begin to do 5,000 tests in a day and only then we will come to know whether the coronavirus has spread in the community or not.

IMAGE: A policemen uses a megaphone to urge people to vacate roads after the lockdown in Kolkata. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

How prepared are we in terms of ventilators, etc?

It depends as preparedness is equal to number of cases you are getting.

At present, 400 cases are reported so we are prepared, but if we have 50,000 people then we are not prepared and we cannot manage.

The United States of America, France and Italy have such an excellent health system for their citizens, but they too cannot manage now.

Every county has a capacity for a normal situation, but if the situation becomes abnormal no country in the world can manage. That is the reason people in Italy have died.

It was not due to bad health conditions, but they did not have enough of ventilators. These patients died because there were not enough beds with ventilators available.

And if we have a situation where many people come together and require say 50,000 beds with ventilators, then we will be in trouble.

As it is our health system is weak and on top of that if this coronavirus crisis adds, we are heading for big trouble.

Hospitals come under the states's purview so is it the state governments's responsibility or the Centre's to ensure that the facilities are up to speed?

It is not a state subject. Hospital is a state subject, but infectious disease is a concurrent subject.

The central government is as responsible as the states. It comes under the concurrent subject of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. That is why tuberculosis, HIV, polio -- all these policies came from Delhi.

What is your advice to people who are at home?

You have to keep a distance of one metre from people as you never know who is carrying coronavirus.

If you have the slightest symptoms, go to the hospital immediately and get tested and treated.

Viruses hang around surfaces so keep washing your hands. It is very important.

Don't go on touching every knob or door handle and after that do not touch your mouth or eyes.

After all, the coronavirus is a lung infection and as long as you don't allow the virus to enter your mouth you are safe. That is how you keep yourself protected.

How can one increase immunity against coronavirus?

Good nutrition keeps you strong and, of course, yoga and pranayama improves your immunity against coronavirus.

Try it, there is no harm. Pranayama is a breathing exercise and even astronauts do it to improve their lung capacity.

Improve your lung strength by breathing exercises and going for walks. These are the standard practices.

But poor people don't get good nutritious food so their immunity is low as they are malnourished.
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 23 March 2020 - With beginnings in 2005, Thom Signature is an interior design consultancy that specializes in various design services across different types of properties including condos, HDBs, landed houses and commercial areas. Over the years, they have earned accreditations such as BCA-registered contractor, RCMA and bizSAFE, which speaks on the quality of work delivered. The company has also garnered a privileged client list, having served more than 30 Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Thom Signature was involved in an impressive number of acclaimed projects across Singapore, thus making a name for themselves as one of the leading interior design companies in the country.





For more than a decade, Thom Signature has taken part in residential projects, offering condo and landed property interior design in Singapore with innovative design solutions. From living room to bedroom and kitchen renovation, they provide a diverse portfolio of design styles for clients to choose from and cater to various client requirements -- whether it's a contemporary theme or a glamourous and luxury style. Between space planning and idea conceptualization, their team of interior designers and planners are also involved in carpentry works to tailor-make an interior space that is functional and visually appealing.





While the firm has enjoyed success in operating 15 years in business, they wanted to extend their reach to a wider target audience. As Thom Signature began sourcing for a marketing firm, they select Impossible Marketing to be their preferred marketing partner -- a leading Digital Marketing Agency in Singapore. Established in 2012, Impossible Marketing provides companies with digital marketing services to achieve targeted traffic, boost quality leads and improve sales online. The agency has achieved consistent ranking at the 1st page of Google search results for competitive keyword like "Digital Marketing Singapore". Besides that, Impossible Marketing also offers a number of digital marketing courses that cover hot topics like SEO Marketing, Google Ads and Facebook Marketing for working professionals.

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Lucknow, March 24 : In a heart-warming gesture, politicians cutting across party lines are coming forwards to help in combating COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh.

Former BSP minister Vinod Singh who owns the prestigious Kamla Nehru Institute for Technology (KNIT) in Sultanpur has written to the district administration, offering the 130-room hostels on the campus to serve as isolation wards.

The KNIT is spread across 120 acres of land and the hostels were vacated after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Singh said in his letter that he would be happy is the hostel rooms could be sued as isolation wards.

Another former BSP minister Ramvir Upadhyay has written a letter to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, offering to transform his residence in Hathras to an 'isolation ward', if required, to deal with Covid-19 cases.

In the letter, Upadhyay stated that his residence, 'Ramvati Kunj' in Sikandrarao in Hathras can be used free of cost for this purpose.

"I don't have any objections. Team of health officials can visit my residence, which spreads across two acres of land, for inspection," he said.

BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar, Ritesh Pandey, has also given Rs 50 lakhs from his MPLAD fund to the district administration to be used for treatment of coronavirus patients.

Apna Dal MP from Mirzapur Anupriya Patel has allotted Rs 25 lakhs for providing medical facilities to the patients.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya has decided to allocate Rs 1 crore from his MLA fund from the patients.

BJP MP from Basti, Harish Dwiwedi has announced that he would give Rs 20 lakhs from the MPLAD for medical facilities for the patients.
Jasper Schoenberger went to school on March 13 looking forward to the weekend. The Oakland Tech High School senior texted his mom midday that he needed money for prom tickets.

It was just another school day, with homework and hanging out with friends at lunch and senioritis really starting to kick in.

It was, the 18-year-old said, maybe his last day of high school.

That same afternoon, Oakland district officials announced a three-week coronavirus closure, a decision made by virtually every district across the state, and one that could possibly end the school year for the states 6.2 million students, including the 1.7 million in high school, Gov. Newsom admitted days later.

The unprecedented closure of Californias 10,000 schools has upended families lives, but high school students have been hit particularly hard by the disruption.

Even with a best-case scenario three-week closure, high school students are missing critical coursework, college entrance exams, clubs, community service and internships needed for higher education applications.

And beyond academics, they are losing those rite-of-passage memories, such as the prom and graduation.

They miss their friends and fear for their future.

Its confusing, Schoenberger said. The second half of senior year is what everyone looks forward to. Schoolwork was about to lighten up and we were going to start practicing graduation.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced high schoolers like Schoenberger, and the entire education establishment, to adapt to never-seen-before situations and ongoing uncertainty about the future.

Kate Munsch / Special to The Chronicle

On Friday, the College Board announced that all AP exams will be administered online rather than the proctored tests given each spring at high schools. A passing score on the exams can translate into college credits for students.

The tests questions will be limited to content typically covered by early March.

Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they have worked this year to earn, the College Board said in the announcement. For decades, colleges have accepted a shortened AP Exam for college credit when groups of students have experienced emergencies.

Yet so much remains a big unknown for the states high school seniors. They dont know if theyll get to walk the stage in a cap and gown to get their diploma. They dont know if they are required to continue coursework or what their transcripts will look like this semester. Will they get letter grades that are critical to their GPA or just a pass or fail?

Just a week into the extensive shutdown, theres still little information about what the closures will mean for high school students preparing to go or apply to college and other options after graduation.

Principals and teachers say they are waiting for state guidance on how to proceed with grading and coursework, so that theres consistency across the state about what appears on transcripts, especially if schools dont reopen this academic year.

Those are things as a district we need to systematize so theres a standard, said Todd Whitmire, Pittsburg High School principal. We want to make sure kids are not penalized.

So far, Whitmire and other school officials are continuing as if school will reopen, postponing senior activities like prom, rather than canceling them, at least at this point. The East Bay district is currently scheduled to reopen on Apr. 20.

The College Board, however, has canceled the May 2 administration of the SAT, which many high school juniors take as they prepare to apply to college. More than 2.2 million students take the SAT each year. The June test is still scheduled, at least for now, officials said.

So far, this first week in, learning has mostly been put on hold in districts across the region, although many teachers are offering students activities and other distance learning options.

But in San Francisco, Oakland and many other districts, all work has been optional and ungraded and will remain so for the immediate future. Administrators and teachers are still trying to assess which students dont have online access and how to get them computers or Wi-Fi if necessary to continue with scheduled coursework if the closures last longer than a few weeks.

Pacifica art teacher Emily Faxon worries that her high school students could lose more than two months of instruction if districts continue to make assignments optional for high school students.

The stakes are much higher, said the Westmore High teacher. You cant just say nothing counts anymore. Kids dont want that.

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.

Students need that structure, that contact, the idea that the work they do counts.

The point is, Faxon said, school matters, and students staying engaged in learning matters in a way that is even bigger than acquiring knowledge and skills.

Students say they are also concerned about their grades if they arent required to do any more work this semester. Seniors accepted to colleges as well as future applicants still will be required to submit transcripts for this semester.

College officials said this week that they understand those concerns, but stressed applicants or accepted students should not worry about the impact of the closures on their admission.

We would not penalize students who faced challenges due to the impacts of COVID-19, said E.J. Miranda, Stanford University spokesman. This is an unprecedented situation and we will do our absolute best to work with students and consider their particular circumstances in our review and enrollment process.

UC Berkeley officials also sought to reassure students this week.

In situations where a student has experienced school closures, had to complete their diplomas through online platforms, and had to find alternative forms of education, we'll take that into consideration, said Olufemi Ogundele, assistant vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admissions. We will work with counselors, schools and districts to receive any required documentation but recognize this is a very fluid and evolving situation for everyone.

Russell Yip/The Chronicle

San Francisco high school freshman Andre Partin is just trying to deal with the situation one day at a time  albeit one very slow day at a time. The Lincoln High student is taking an online geometry class to eliminate that course requirement next year and playing online games with friends.

In the beginning everyone thought it was going to be like a really long weekend, he said. Now, not even a full week in, hes bored. Frustrated. A little sad.

Its just, the days go by so slowly, he said. I would much prefer to be with my friends and make those memories that last your entire life.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
NEW HAVEN  A Silver Alert was issued Monday night for a 24-year-old man reported missing from New Haven.

Philip Aaron, 24, is a white man with brown hair and blue eyes, authorities said in the alert. He stands about 5 foot 10 and weighs roughly 180 pounds.

Aaron was last seen wearing a navy blue Polo-brand jacket, authorities said. No photo was immediately available.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6316.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
(Newser)  Colorado has become the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty, which it hasn't used since 1997. Forty-four years after capital punishment was reinstated in the Centennial State, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Monday banning its use"consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the State of Colorado"while at the same time commuting the sentences of three men on death row. Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens, and Nathan Dunlap, all "despicable and guilty," according to Polis, will now spend life in prison without the possibility of parole. "While I understand that some victims agree with my decision and others disagree, I hope this decision provides clarity and certainty for them moving forward," Polis said, per NBC News.

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Apparently not for State Sen. Rhonda Fields. Ray was convicted of orchestrating the murders of Fields' 22-year-old son and his fiancee, who were witnesses to another murder. "In a stroke of a pen Gov. Polis hijacks justice and undermines our criminal justice system," said Fields. George Brauchler, who heads the largest district attorney's office in the state, said Polis had opted to "bury this horrendous decision" amid a pandemic, reports the Colorado Sun. Yet a Gallup poll from October showed 56% of respondents favored the death penalty while 42% were opposed. NBC notes it was the "highest level of opposition since the death penalty was re-established" in 1976. "Here's hoping for more compassion in the weeks & months to come," tweeted ACLU deputy national political director Udi Ofer. (Read more Colorado stories.)
ALBANY  Enforcement of New Yorks ban on single use plastic shopping bags has been pushed back to mid-May from its initial March 1 date.

And while retailers including most supermarkets already have switched to paper or reusable cloth bags, the coronavirus outbreak has rekindled claims by the plastic bag industry that their products are more sanitary than cloth bags which can be used over and over again.

At least one major grocer, Walmart has once again started offering plastic bags, albeit in a thicker version that they say is reusable.

The bags are being utilized in advance of the May enforcement period so we can serve customers during this unique time. Well adjust accordingly in May and beyond based on the applicable laws, Walmart spokesman Phillip Keene said in an email.

The extension on enforcement came as businesses including the PolyPak Industries bag maker filed an action in State Supreme Court in Albany County against the new ban. Among their arguments was the cleanliness of throwaway plastic vs reusable cloth bags.

The plastic bag industry has pointed to research by Loma Linda University Professor Ryan Sinclair regarding the sanitation of reusable cloth bags. He found that only 3 percent of cloth bag users regularly wash them and 8 percent of the bags he examined had traces of E. coli which is an indicator of fecal contamination.

Reusable bags can contribute to the spread of bacteria and viruses, Matt Seaholm, executive director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance said when the enforcement date was extended.

Environmentalists, though, say the cloth bags can indeed be washed like any other piece of laundry.

And the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which must enforce the ban, said the enforcement delay wasnt due to coronavirus but the court papers that both sides were requesting in the lawsuit.

With many court cases on pause due to coronavirus, it remains to be seen how long the enforcement ban may last. DEC has also stressed that their focus going forward will be on education and public outreach about the ban rather than enforcement.

Still, that a major retailer like Walmart had gone back to plastic bags was disturbing to Judith Enck, a former regional EPA administrator and founder of Beyond Plastics, a group trying to remove plastics from the waste stream.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The bags are not really reusable 125 times, as the regulation requires, contended Enck.

The law is on the books, she said, even though its not currently being enforced.

Environmental Advocates of NY deputy director Kate Kurera added that We look forward to the full enforcement of the plastic bag ban and expect that stores will do the right thing and transition to reusable bags."

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU
The global novel coronavirus pandemic has resulted in shortage of key medical supplies, with hospitals clamoring for more ventilators and other equipment to fight the deadly virus. Most ICUs currently have ventilators to meet the demand of a regular flu season. Although medical device giants like Medtronic and others are committed to ramp up production of ventilators, it is still unlikely that the growing demand will be met amid the coronavirus pandemic. With the number of critical-stage coronavirus patients soaring lately amid the rapidly-spreading pandemic, experts are worried that the demand for the same may quickly overwhelm hospitals supplies.

As ventilator makers scramble to meet demand, auto biggies are lending a hand in the fight against COVID-19. On Sunday, President Trump hailed the auto bigwigs to start producing ventilators and other equipment to help combat their shortage amid the coronavirus fallout. His tweet read: "Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST!" "Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?"

While Trump gave the auto giants a go ahead through the encouraging tweet, he has not yet enforced the Defense Production Act ordering any company to marshal its resources to tackle the dwindling supplies of medical gear.

Carmakers Gear Up to Tackle Ventilator Crisis

Various auto bigwigs that have temporarily shut down auto plants are taking necessary steps to assist in the production of key medical equipment amid the virus mayhem. U.S. top carmaker General Motors GM is collaborating with Ventec Life Systems to boost the production of respiratory care products to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The car giant will lend its logistics, purchasing and manufacturing expertise to ramp up the manufacture of critically important ventilators. Ford F has also confirmed that it is in preliminary discussions with the U.S. and British governments to assist in the ventilator supply challenge. The firm will be teaming up with GE Healthcare to expand the production of a simplified version of the latters existing ventilator design. These ventilators are to be built at one of the manufacturing sites of Ford, in addition to a GE location. EV maker Tesla TSLA has also joined forces with medical device maker Medtronic to make ventilators in a bid to battle the health hazard. Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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The German government has also asked domestic automakers to produce medical equipment to come to grips with supply bottleneck. The government authorities want to tap engineering and production resources of the auto industry to help alleviate the stark shortage of medical supplies. Many German auto giants have signaled their commitment to the emergency efforts to fight the virus. Volkswagen VWAGY is in talks with authorities and has established an international task force to explore options. The firm, which has 125 industrial 3D printers, is assessing supply chains to see how it can use 3D printing to build ventilators and other medical equipment. Other German giants including Daimler AG DDAIF and BMW AG BAMXF are also exploring options to use 3D printers to produce ventilators.

With the number of COVID-19 cases mounting in Italy, the government is seeking multiple options to gear up the production of ventilators. Italy-based automakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler FCAU are in talks with the countrys biggest ventilator manufacturer, Siare Engineering, to help to boost the production of ventilators and other equipment for treating the fast-spreading virus. Car parts maker Magneti Marelli is also in discussions with Siare to assist in ventilator production. U,K. government officials have requested Honda to utilize its Swindon plant to churn out ventilators. Rolls Royce has also committed to building health equipment, including ventilators.

Is it Plausible for Automakers to Make Ventilators?

Indeed, the auto industry boasts a solid engineering expertise and an extensive field of parts suppliers. It has the technical expertise to make components. From a technical standpoint, auto biggies have the capability to assemble complicated machines like ventilators. However, ventilator manufacturing is a complex process. After all, it isnt just a box with an air hose on it.

Carmakers may have to face many hurdles on the way as the process of building a car is very much different from that of making ventilators. Building ventilators relies on a skilled and specialized workforce, along with a rigorous regulatory regime. There are issues of intellectual property and FDA certification. The equipment needs to be made in sterile rooms with high level of cleanliness. Designing new tooling to make parts, and creating clean rooms for production and sourcing of non-allergenic materials are likely to make the switch-over to manufacturing ventilators a daunting task.

According to experts, the fastest way of boosting production of ventilators is to have existing manufacturers add new facilities rather than getting new manufacturers. While collaborating with traditional ventilator makers or injecting money for the ramp up of production seems to be a prudent solution, it is unclear how auto manufacturers will retool their factories to make the equipment themselves.

Final Thoughts

Well, automakers are heeding the call of government authorities and are coming forward to do their best in the face of the global health crisis. While the majority of auto companies have already shuttered operations, they are instead trying to help the countries fight the coronavirus battle by resorting to ventilator production. Although the efforts are laudable, the complications of ventilator production could make it difficult for automakers to build the machines quickly. Nonetheless, if the auto giants manage to ramp up the production of medical equipment, it would remind us of how automakers quit the production of vehicles during the Second World War and re-tooled their plants to build war munitions.

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(Newser)  Michael Bloomberg, from candidate to defendant? Maybe. Bloomberg had reportedly planned to pay presidential campaign staffers through the November election regardless of whether he made it to the finish line. The now-former candidate changed course on Friday, with the New York Times reporting that in lieu of that plan and the formation of a new Super PAC he would instead bestow $18 million on the Democratic National Committee. Now, one of those staffers who is out of a job on Monday filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in federal court in New York City. "The Bloomberg campaign had represented to folks they were going to keep people on through November ... which is one of the reasons we think he attracted such talent," an attorney with a firm involved in the case tells NBC News.

story continues below

The attorney says she believes more than 1,000 people will be out of a job, "at a time when we believe unemployment is likely going to be 20 or 30%, and theyre going to lose their health care." Staffers will receive their last paycheck in early April, and their benefits will cease at the end of the month. The New York Times describes the legal crux of the suit, which was filed by former Miami field organizer Donna Wood, who quit a job to work for Bloomberg: that the campaign "breached its contract with the at-will employees, recruiting them to work on Mr. Bloomberg's bid under false pretenses and failing to pay them necessary overtime." The Times reports the interview talking points it obtained include "employment through November 2020 with Team Bloomberg," though the contracts note employment is at-will. (Read more Michael Bloomberg stories.)
Doctors are hoarding medications touted as possible coronavirus treatments by writing prescriptions for themselves and family members, according to pharmacy boards in states across the country.

The stockpiling has become so worrisome in Idaho, Kentucky, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Texas that the boards in those states have issued emergency restrictions or guidelines on how the drugs can be dispensed at pharmacies. More states are expected to follow suit.

This is a real issue, and it is not some product of a few isolated bad apples, said Jay Campbell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

The medications being prescribed differ slightly from state to state but include those touted by President Donald Trump at televised briefings as potential breakthrough treatments for the virus, which has killed more than 500 people in the United States and sickened at least 43,000.

None of the drugs has been found to be effective in treating coronavirus or been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for such uses. Some of them  including chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and remdesivir  are commonly used to treat malaria, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV and other conditions.

Pharmacists have been swapping stories on social media about the spike in prescriptions written by doctors for themselves or their families.

I have multiple prescribers calling in prescriptions for Plaquenil for themselves and their family members as a precaution. Is this ethical? one person wrote Sunday in a Facebook group for pharmacists, referring to a brand name of hydroxychloroquine. Others weighed in  some noting similar experiences  and expressed their hesitancy to dispense such prescriptions.

I got called a communist for telling a prescriber, who was trying to call it in for themselves, no, someone posted Friday in another Facebook group for pharmacists.

Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, said state boards were trying to stop the hoarding and inappropriate prescribing, but balancing what patients need.

Campbell, of the North Carolina board, said medical boards and associations had to get involved as well to curb the behavior of prescribers.

The first restrictions were imposed last week in Idaho. The board there imposed a temporary rule that bars pharmacies from dispensing two drugs  chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine  unless the prescription includes a written diagnosis of a condition that the drugs have been proven to treat. The rule also limits prescriptions to a 14-day supply unless a patient had been previously taking the medication.

We wanted to try to get out in front of that as early as we could, said Nicki Chopski, executive director of the board in Idaho, where pharmacists began reporting a significant uptick in prescriptions for the medications last week.

The prescriptions, she said, were being written by doctors for themselves and their family members, often in large quantities with refills.

Texas adopted a similar rule Friday, including another malaria drug  mefloquine  as well as azithromycin, commonly known by its brand name, Zithromax Z-Pak. The drug, which is used to treat bacterial infections, has been mentioned by Trump as another potential treatment for coronavirus when taken in conjunction with the anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine. The effectiveness of the treatment remains unproven.

Allison Benz, executive director of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, said pharmacists were reporting an unusual increase in prescriptions for these drugs written by doctors for themselves, their family members and their office staff. As in Idaho, patients who legitimately need medications for conditions that the drugs have been proven to treat will not be restricted from getting them as a result of the new rule, Benz said.

On Sunday morning in an emergency meeting reported on by the Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy barred pharmacists from dispensing the drugs to treat coronavirus unless a person had tested positive for the virus, or the request had been approved directly by the pharmacy boards executive director.

In a statement, CVS said that pharmacists are to use their professional judgment to determine whether a prescription is valid and appropriate to dispense, noting that pharmacists would comply with any applicable state board regulations.

A spokeswoman from Walgreens concurred that its pharmacists will follow whatever requirements are set in the state where they practice, also noting that the company had issued guidelines for dispensing two of the drugs in highest demand  chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. Walgreens will only allow a 14-day supply for new prescriptions in order to help ensure that the medications remain available for those who need them, the spokeswoman said.

Instead of instituting rules, some states are offering general guidelines for pharmacists facing the dilemma.

The Kentucky Board of Pharmacy encouraged pharmacists to use professional judgment in addressing whether a pharmacist should fulfill requests from physicians who are writing prescriptions for themselves and their family members in large quantities, according to a memo detailing Frequently Asked Questions on the boards website.

The guidance goes on to say that the pharmacists can determine if a valid patient-prescriber relationship exists, while also urging the pharmacists to consider if there is enough of the drugs in stock to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis who need it on a regular basis.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Her students are used to seeing her in the classrooms of Adrien Block Intermediate School 25 in New York City's Flushing neighborhood, but on Monday morning 'Miss Brooke' appeared instead on their laptop and phone screens, sitting in her suburban kitchen. 'These are interesting times,' Brooke Wacha, smiling calmly, told her students, among the 1.1 million children in the largest public school system in the United States, which began a grand, unwieldy experiment in remote learning as the coronavirus outbreak largely confines Americans to their homes.

By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Her students are used to seeing her in the classrooms of Adrien Block Intermediate School 25 in New York City's Flushing neighborhood, but on Monday morning "Miss Brooke" appeared instead on their laptop and phone screens, sitting in her suburban kitchen.

"These are interesting times," Brooke Wacha, smiling calmly, told her students, among the 1.1 million children in the largest public school system in the United States, which began a grand, unwieldy experiment in remote learning as the coronavirus outbreak largely confines Americans to their homes.

"I'm hoping to make this process as easy as possible and I don't want to put any extra stress on the families," she said in the video she had uploaded to a private YouTube channel. "So, just with this week, hang in there, work on figuring out the technology."

The city's school chancellor, Richard Carranza, predicted "hiccups" as the system is atomized, dispersed across countless apartments in the city's richest and poorest corners and linked only by the internet and occasional phonecalls.

The challenges are enormous. Some city schools have no prior experience with remote learning. Not every student's parent or guardian is tech-savvy or even available in the day to supervise schoolwork. The school system serves many children with special needs, including those in the care of Wacha, who specializes in teaching children with autism and cognitive impairment.

Parents spoke of trying to find a quiet corner in cramped apartments for their children to crack on with assignments.

"My husband's going to be working from the kitchen counter and he's going to be on the phone," said Rosie Creamer, whose son, Charlie, is a 9-year-old fourth-grader at Manhattan's Public School 40.

Charlie would have to sit at his desk in his room, and Creamer had resigned herself to having to sit with him, "because if he can get out of doing it, he will."

New York is an epicenter of the pandemic with nearly 17,000 cases and more than 115 deaths. https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T

GOOGLE CLASSROOM

Classrooms closed a week ago in New York as COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, accelerated through the crowded city, although families can still pick up meals from outside school buildings.

Since then, teachers have been busy revising their lesson plans and sharing tips with stressed parents on how they make children focus on their work.

Many schools are using the Google Classroom service, posting assignments to be completed by students as and when they can during the week while confined at home with their families. City officials have had to lend out tens of thousands of school laptops so no child is left digitally marooned.

Mina Leisure, an English-language teacher at the Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, said at least one of her students only had access to a smartphone, less than ideal for the writing assignments she was setting.

"I told him if you write on a piece of paper and take a picture on your phone, that's fine," she said.

Leisure's school has decided to set assignments on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and to spend Tuesdays and Thursdays checking in with students and parents. Her students, like much of their generation, seem allergic to speaking on the phone, so she anticipates a lot of conversing by text messages.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; editing by Bill Tarrant and Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
We are kind of having to go outside the box. Unfortunately, there isnt enough PPE available, Postma said. NISSA has been using its partnerships to reach out to various unions and trades that may use the necessary N95 rated masks, gloves and other gear and ask for assistance.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 09:00:27|Editor: huaxia

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Shoppers line up outside an Asda store in South London, Britain, on March 20, 2020. (Photo by Joe Newman/Xinhua)

Xi called on all nations to push forward cooperation within the frameworks of the United Nations and the Group of 20 (G20), enhance the sharing of information and experience, boost collaboration in scientific research, support the WHO in playing its due role, and improve global health governance.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke over phone on Monday night and voiced support for the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere sympathies to the British government and people over their fight against the coronavirus disease. Upon request, he introduced China's epidemic prevention and control measures.

Xi stressed that China hopes Britain will enhance coordination with China to minimize the risk of the epidemic's spread while ensuring necessary flow of people and trade.

China is ready to provide support and help for Britain, said Xi, adding that he is confident that Britain will surely prevail over the epidemic under Johnson's leadership.

Photo taken on March 20, 2020 shows the Waterloo Station, one of London's busiest train stations, in London, Britain. (Photo by Joe Newman/Xinhua)

Reiterating that the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting the health and safety of Chinese citizens overseas, Xi expressed his hope that Britain will take concrete and effective measures in safeguarding the health, safety and legitimate rights of Chinese nationals on its soil, particularly those studying in Britain.

Viruses know no national boundaries or races, and only by working together can mankind win the battle against them, Xi pointed out.



He called on all nations to push forward cooperation within the frameworks of the United Nations and the Group of 20 (G20), enhance the sharing of information and experience, boost collaboration in scientific research, support the WHO in playing its due role, and improve global health governance.

They should also increase macro-economic policy coordination, so as to stabilize the market, maintain economic growth, safeguard people's well-being, and keep the global supply chains open, stable and safe, added the Chinese president.

Xi said he believes that after beating the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Britain will have deeper mutual understanding and more extensive consensus, as well as broader prospects for bilateral cooperation.

A notice of temporary closure is seen on the door of the Odeon Cinema in central London, Britain, on March 21, 2020. As of 9a.m. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

For his part, Johnson said he congratulates the Chinese government and people on the remarkable achievements they have made in epidemic prevention and control with strenuous efforts and enormous sacrifices.

At present, the COVID-19 situation in Britain is grave, he said, adding that Britain has been studying and learning from China's useful experience and taking scientific and effective prevention and control measures.

He said the British side thanks China for its valuable support and help, and will do its best to take care of the health and safety of Chinese nationals in Britain, especially the students.

The prime minister said he fully agrees with Xi that no country can wall itself off from the epidemic and all countries should strengthen cooperation. Britain, he added, supports the WHO in playing an important role, and hopes that all parties will deepen relevant cooperation within G20 and other multilateral frameworks.

Noting that China and Britain will hold the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 26th UN Climate Change Conference respectively this year, Johnson said the two sides should take them as opportunities to promote international cooperation in health and epidemic prevention.

He added that he looks forward to maintaining close contact with Xi and visiting China at an early date after the epidemic, so as to jointly promote the development of Britain-China relations. 
Riyadh/Dubai

Saudi Arabia has impose a nationwide curfew starting yesterday after reporting a jump of almost a quarter in coronavirus cases, while the United Arab Emirates said will suspend all passenger and transit flights to and from the country. Saudi King Salman ordered a curfew - from 7 pm to 6 am for 21 days - to slow the spread of the coronavirus, state news agency SPA reported yesterday.

The curfew took effect yesterday evening. The UAE said it will suspend all passenger and transit flights to and from the country for two weeks over coronavirus fears, state news agency WAM said yesterday. Cargo operations will continue.

The UAEs ministry of health has decided to close shopping and commercial centres, leaving open pharmacies and supermarkets, along with fish, vegetables and meat markets dealing with wholesalers, WAM reported. It will limit restaurants to delivery services. WAM said the closures will take effect in 48 hours and will last for two weeks, subject to review and evaluation.

The UAE has urged the public to stay at home except in cases of necessity, including getting supplies, such as food and medicine, or performing essential jobs, WAM said. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia recorded 119 new cases of the virus for a total of 511, highest in the Gulf Arab region, the Health Ministry said.

The tally of cases in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council now stands at more than 1,700. Bahrain reported a second death on Sunday, a citizen evacuated from Iran, taking the GCCs total deaths to four. The region has expanded measures to combat the spread of the disease.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have taken some of the most drastic steps including halting international flights, suspending work at most institutions and closing public venues. Gulf governments have also announced stimulus packages to shield their energy-producing economies, which have been hit by a collapse in oil prices.

The UAE, the regions tourism and business hub, approved an additional 16 billion dirhams ($4.4 billion) on Sunday for a total stimulus package of 126 billion dirhams, according to a tweet from its vice president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

The tourism and hospitality sector in Dubai, the regions most diversified economy, has been hit hard by the disruption to global travel. Emirates, based out of Dubai and one of the worlds biggest airlines, said on Sunday it would suspend passenger operations - with the exception of repatriation flights to 13 countries - by Wednesday.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have reportedly waived rent payments for April for their tenants amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The A-list couple, who own at least two residential properties, have decided to forgo rent payments for the month as some of their tenants have lost their jobs under the state's new stay at home order.

According to TMZ, a manager for the actors' company Pringus Property LLC, emailed all residents over the weekend to give them the news.

Decision: Kristen Bell, 39, and Dax Shepard, 45, have reportedly waived rent payments for April for their tenants amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (pictured in January 2019)

A source told the publication the message expressed sympathy to the tenants and the manager, who is thought to be Dax's sister, promised to work with residents going forward as the world continues to try and combat the virus.

Many landlords have made the decision to either cancel payments or reduce them significantly for the next month due to COVID-19's effect on the global economy.

Kristen and Dax first began dating in late 2007 and married in Beverly Hills in October 2013.

Dax had been travelling in recent weeks as the coronavirus epidemic worsened so he and Kristen opted for caution and had him steer clear of her and their two kids by self-quarantining at a friend's empty apartment when he returned.

Rent: The A-list couple, who own at least two residential properties, have decided to forgo rent payments for the month (pictured in January 2017)

Some five days into his isolation, Kristen decided to lift the family's spirits with a dance-off outside his window that was captured on video and posted on Instagram.

In the clip, Bell and their daughters Delta, five, and Lincoln, six, busted out the moves near the entrance staircase as Shepard looked on from afar, no doubt, with a proud smile on his face.

'To be cautious, I asked him to stay at a friend's empty apartment for a bit to make sure he had no symptoms,' she said.

Today we were missing him so much, we did the only logical thing we knew how to do. Danced outside his window to a @bensplatt and @dearevanhansen serenade.'

Adorable: Some five days into his isolation, Kristen decided to lift the family's spirits with a dance-off outside his window that was captured on video and posted on Instagram

In a sign of the current times, she also added the hashtags: #staysane #stayhome #wereinthistogether #wavingthroughawindow.

During the heightened response to COVID-19, the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star, 39, has been sharing helpful health tips on how to stay safe during these stressful times.

In another post, she wrote: 'Many people have many [different] reasons for being more susceptible to this virus that we others may be. Some may be obvious, others may not.

It's incredibly important that we socially distance, to protect the vulnerable ones among us. Let's show up for one another, by staying home for one another.'

The Bad Moms actress has also taken the time to thank healthcare workers, teachers and organizations that help feed kids in need.
Elderly people have been found abandoned and dead in their beds by soldiers in Spain who were drafted in to help the country fight its coronavirus outbreak, the country's defence ministry has said.

The military had been called up to help disinfect care homes in Spain, which has one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Europe and has reported more than 2,600 deaths from the disease.

Margarita Robles, the Spanish defence minister, said the government would not tolerate mistreatment of older people in retirement homes during the crisis and Spanish prosecutors said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

The army, during certain visits, found some older people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds, Ms Robles told the TV channel Telecinco.

Were going to be very blunt and implacable over this and we have a very clear message: the full weight of the law will fall on those who dont meet their obligations.

The defence ministry said staff at some care homes had left after coronavirus cases were found.

In Madrid, the epicentre of Spains outbreak, an ice rink at the Palacio de Hielo shopping centre has been turned into a temporary morgue to deal with the surge in deaths, Madrid city hall said.

The country recorded its highest daily death toll on Tuesday, with 514 fatalities, as its total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to nearly 40,000.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 39,673 confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain, with 2,696 deaths.

Salvador Illa, Spains health minister, said retirement homes were an absolute priority for the government during the pandemic crisis.

We will exercise the most intensive monitoring of these centres, she added.

Madrids municipal funeral home has said it will stop collecting Covid-19 victims due to a lack of protective equipment and the Palacio de Hielo rink will be used to store bodies until they can be collected safely.

Spanish authorities have also set up a field hospital for coronavirus patients in the capitals Ifema congress centre as the countrys health service has struggled to deal with the number of cases.

The only country in Europe with a worse Covid-19 outbreak than Spain is Italy, which has seen the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the world.

Italian authorities recorded 602 additional deaths on Monday, as its total fatalities rose to 6,077. There are over 63,000 cases of the disease in the country.

However, the increase was the smallest daily rise since Thursday, suggesting strict lockdown measures introduced by the government earlier this month were starting to have an effect.
FEMAs struggles with the coronavirus were on display Tuesday morning. During an interview with CNN, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor unexpectedly announced that the Trump administration had invoked its authority for the first time under the Defense Production Act, compelling private companies to make 60,000 coronavirus test kits. Gaynors disclosure came shortly after Trump said the administration did not yet need to wield those powers, and the FEMA leader did not answer questions about who would manufacture the tests or whether more government-ordered production would follow.
FAIRFIELD  The State Elections Enforcement Commission has found two former town officials guilty of voting fraud after it confirmed they held public office and voted in Fairfield when they lived in Bridgeport.

Jennifer Hochberg-Toller and John Tyson Toller, a married couple and registered Democrats, were each fined $250  waived because the two were unable to pay the fee  for violating voting law, according to a ruling from the SEEC.

A complaint was filed against the two in October 2017 by former Republican Town Committee Chairman James Millington. He alleged the two were not bona fide residents at the Church Hill Road address where they were registered to vote, but instead lived in Bridgeport while continuing to vote and hold office in Fairfield.

Andrew Bowman, the lawyer representing Hochberg-Toller and Toller, when asked for a comment, cited the portion of the SEEC document that said the couple was cooperating with the commission.

The document also said the two had been renting an Anton Street residence in Bridgeport since Sept. 1, 2014, after they were asked to move out of Hochberg-Tollers parents home.

The two told the commission they planned to move back to Fairfield as soon as it was possible to do so.

In the interim, it was their understanding that, since they still had access to the property at Church Hill Road, they could maintain certain legal ties to Fairfield, including remaining as registered voters and participants in Fairfield elections, the commission said.

The commission said casting ballots from an address where a person does not maintain a residence is a serious matter but that there did not appear to be any bad faith at play.

However, Mrs. Hochberg-Tollers experience as a party official and as an elected representative creates a greater level of expectation that she and her husband should have known that casting ballots and holding office in a municipality in which they did not reside was not permitted, the SEEC document said.

Millington said he was pleased that the SEEC found his complaint valid but that the commission should have referred the matter to the state attorneys office for prosecution.

However, I am shocked that the SEEC decided to send the message that if you commit voter fraud in the state of Connecticut, a crime, the consequence is a verbal warning, Millington said.

According to the commission, Jennifer Hochberg-Toller served as a Representative Town Meeting member from District 4 from 2011-17. She was in the process of running for reelection when the compliant against her was filed and, as a result, withdrew her candidacy.

John Tyson Toller was a Justice of the Peace appointed by the DTC from 2013 until 2017, when the complaint was filed.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 27 March 2020 to consider and approve raising of funds by issuance of commercial paper.

Reliance Industries (RIL) said it has responded to its call-of-duty to be at the service of the nation 24x7 in collective fight against Covid-19. RIL has already initiated a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy that is comprehensive, sustainable, and resilient. This approach can be ramped up further to scale as required by the nation. RIL has deployed the combined strengths of Reliance Foundation, Reliance Retail, Jio, Reliance Life Sciences, Reliance Industries, and all the 6,00,000 members of the Reliance Family on this action plan against COVID-19.

Yes Bank said that the meeting of the board of directors of YES Bank will be held on 26 March 2020, to consider raising funds.

Bajaj Electricals (BEL) rights issue of equity shares opened on 18 February 2020 and closed on 3 March 2020. The Issue saw participation from most of its existing large institutional investors, as well as retail investors. The Rs 349.94 crore rights issue offered an opportunity to all its existing shareholders to participate in the capital raise, with the promoters committing to take up their rights entitlement. Pursuant to the rights issue, the company has allotted 11287956 equity shares on rights basis at a price of Rs 310 per share on 13 March 2020.

Century Enka informed that the company, considering the gravity of COVID-19 and the directions issued by local authorities and also in compliance with the directives and advisory of state and central government, the company has decided to temporarily shut down its plant operation at Pune Site. The company would continue to run its critical operations at Pune site for safety of process, people and equipment as permitted under the Government directives. Operations at Bharuch Site are also being scaled down and shall be brought down to 50% capacity.

Amber Enterprises India informed that in view of the directions passed by district administrations to prevent & contain the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of employees and all stakeholders, the Company has decided to temporarily close its manufacturing operations at its various manufacturing facilities across India with immediate effect till 31 March 2020.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Rajasthan Police has arrested 39 people across the state for spreading rumours about the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak over the past five days, said Bhagwan Lal Soni, additional director general of police, crime.

Soni said that out of the 39, 26 were booked under section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) and the rest under section 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Section 151 of the CrPC pertains to arrest to prevent commission of a cognisable offence, and Section 505 of the IPC refers to punishment for incitement of any class or community to commit any offence against any other class or community. The punishment for violation of Section 505 of the IPC can be imprisonment for three years, or fine, or both. It is a non-bailable offence.

The people who created the fake messages were booked under Section 505 of IPC and those who circulated the messages were booked under section 151 of CrPC, said Soni.

The 13 arrested for creating fake messages include eight from Udaipur, three from Jaipur, and one each from Dausa and Hanumangarh. Those booked for circulating fake messages include four each from Alwar and Jhunjhunu, three from Srigangangar, two each from Sirohi, Pali, Bikaner and Ajmer and one each from Bharatpur, Bhiwadi, Dungarpur and Jaislamer, Soni added.

Seven people were arrested for not following state government March 22 order of lockdown, including a ban on public transport. Of the seven booked under Section 188 of IPC, which deals with disobedience of government orders, four are from Jaipur, and one each from Ajmer, Sriganganagar and Bikaner. The state government banned private vehicles from the midnight on March 23 and closed all toll plazas on state highways.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot urged people to stay indoors during the lockdown and warned that if the order is not followed, the government would be forced to impose curfew.

On Monday, Jaipur traffic police seized 111 commercial vehicles for violation of Section 207 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The infringement refers to vehicles that were plying without certificate of registration permit.

Rajasthan has reported 32 Covid-19 positive cases till Monday (March 23).
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 23.03.2020 - The FDFA has launched an unprecedented repatriation action. Yesterday the first flight left Switzerland for Costa Rica. An Airbus A-340 of the airline "Edelweiss" is currently on its way to Colombia. In the coming weeks the FDFA is planning dozens of additional flights to Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The FDFA estimates that some tens of thousands of Swiss travellers  tourists and business travellers  are currently abroad. Last week they were requested by the Federal Council to return to Switzerland. Around 17,000 Swiss citizens have now registered their trip on the Travel Admin App. Many of them are no longer able to leave because of local restrictions to contain the coronavirus.

The FDFA has therefore launched an unprecedented repatriation action together with Swiss/Edelweiss. A first flight departed yesterday from Zurich to San Jose (Costa Rica). A chartered aircraft is on its way to Bogota (Colombia) since noon today. And another flight to Lima (Peru) is planned for tomorrow. These flights will bring a total of around 750 Swiss tourists back to Switzerland.

Difficult situation on site

This recall operation poses major challenges for the FDFA - in terms of organization and implementation. Many blocked tourists in these countries are not in the capital, but in remote places. In Peru, for example, 120 Swiss travellers are currently staying in the city of Cusco, 570 kilometres from Lima. As the roads are closed, the embassy in Peru is in the process of organising a charter flight to bring the people to Lima.

Further flights planned

In view of the large number of Swiss travellers abroad, planning for further repatriations is running parallel to the current actions. These will be organised in close cooperation with the crisis centres of other countries, in particular Switzerland's neighbouring states, in order to achieve the greatest efficiency. The FDFA expects dozens of flights to be carried out in the coming weeks.

The focus is currently on destinations in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The countries will be announced once the technical flight clarifications have been completed and the Swiss representations have been informed.

Travellers should register on App

The FDFA continues to ask all tourists to register their journey and whereabouts quickly on the Travel Admin App. All tourists who have already returned to Switzerland or who have not started their trip are requested to delete their trip from the app immediately. This allows the FDFA to concentrate its support on those persons who are currently abroad and wish to return to Switzerland.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




Shehnaz Blasted Aanchal

It has to be recalled that in the show, Sana lashed out at Aanchal as the latter pointed fingers at Ankita Srivastava's character. Aanchal had told Paras that Ankita is very outgoing as she is comfortable sitting on a man's lap and getting close. This didn't go well with Sana, who blasted Aanchal.

Aanchal Wanted Paras To Know About Ankita

Talking about the episode, Aanchal told Spotboye that she just wanted to tell Paras that Ankita is outgoing and frank, which is her choice.

Aanchal Says

"I just said, 'I don't think you would like all that as I know you are a possessive person. I have seen how protective you were for your friend, Mahira in Bigg Boss and corrected her when she was talking to Asim Riaz or Vishal Aditya Singh.' To which Paras said, 'You are right. I might not be able to spend my life with such girl.'"

Sana Used To Ask Girls About Their Vir**nity Status!

Aanchal revealed that Shehnaz took this to another level and started bashing her for raising a finger on a girl's character! The actress told the leading daily, "But I really want to ask her, what about the times when she used to ask all the girls, 'Tum mein se kaun kaun virgin hai ye batao?' Ye ladkiyo ke character par sawal uthana nahi hua? And that to not once but thrice on the show, but I think it was telecast only once during an elimination round. She used to say, 'Tum mein se kaun satisavitri baithi hai vo batao?' Ye sab character assassination nahi hai to kya hai? Being frank with boys is Ankita's choice, it's not a bad thing."
JOHANNESBURG, March 23 (Reuters) - African finance ministers have called for a $100 billion stimulus package, including a suspension of debt service payments, to help the continent combat coronavirus.

Some $44 billion would come from not servicing debt and they would also tap existing facilities in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank (AfDB) and other regional institutions.

The ministers held a virtual conference on Thursday to discuss how to deal with the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on African nations, a statement by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said on Monday.

It did not specify which countries participated in the meeting.

Africa is facing the combined shock of coronavirus, which threatens to strain under-funded health systems, as well as a sharp drop in revenues due to plunging oil and commodities prices.

"Africa needs an immediate emergency economic stimulus to the tune of $100 billion," the statement said.

The proposed interest payment waiver would include not only interest payments on public debt but also on sovereign bonds. It would save governments an estimated $44 billion this year, and would possibly need to be extended to the medium term, it added.

"(A waiver) would provide immediate fiscal space and liquidity to the governments in their efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement said.

For fragile states, the ministers agreed that waiving repayment of both principal and interest should be considered.

Though African nations currently count only a fraction of global coronavirus cases, experts worry that their cash-strapped and under-equipped healthcare systems make them ill prepared to tackled large-scale outbreaks.

Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa's debt has ballooned to nearly 60% of GDP over the past decade, meaning many government must devote significant resources to debt service.

Still, seven countries - Eritrea, Gambia, Mozambique, Congo Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan and Zimbabwe - were already in debt distress before the pandemic, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Nine others including Ethiopia, Ghana and Cameroon are at high risk of debt distress. (Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Vehicles idle at a traffic light in Bangkok, two days before a state of emergency to combat COVID-19 takes effect, March 24, 2020.

Thailand and the Philippines on Tuesday granted their leaders emergency powers in bids to limit the damage from the COVID-19 pandemic amid soaring infections in those countries.

At least one human rights watchdog group warned that such action, while necessary in a public health emergency, could erode freedoms over the long term.

In Bangkok, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced a state of emergency, to take effect on March 26. It would allow authorities to impose curfews, bar public gatherings, censor news deemed to be fake or seen as inducing general fear and panic.

Prayuths emergency decree would also empower authorities to stop public transportation, shut down premises and evacuate people.

The government has been pondering an announcement of an emergency state and decided to make it effective this Thursday. We have also discussed other necessary measures, Prayuth said in a nationally televised address on Tuesday, the first anniversary of a general election that saw the ex-junta chief return to power as prime minister.

I will lead the committee, centralizing the power at the prime minister, in order to handle the matter, said Prayuth, who led a military coup in 2014. Media and social media who distort information shall be investigated by officials and be subject to prosecution along with those who are stockpiling foods and necessities.

To enforce the rules, Prayuth said he could mobilize civil servants, police and military personnel.

Those accused of violations could be held without charges being filed for up to a month through extensions, as opposed to two days under the regular penal code, he said.

In Manila, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the countrys armed forces and national police in charge of the countrys fight against COVID-19, as he thanked members of Congress for passing a law granting him emergency powers in dealing with the viral outbreak.

The departments of national defense, interior and local government along with the military and the national police are now ramping up the implementation of the national plan as we speak to reinforce the efforts of the DOH [the Department of Health] in containing the threat of COVID-19, Duterte said in a late night address to the nation.

He did not divulge other details, but gave his speech hours after both houses of Congress passed legislation granting Duterte emergency powers to deal with the crisis.

I assure the public that the government will be on top of this situation at all times, Duterte said. We will not leave anyone behind.

I also call on relevant agencies to ensure the speedy delivery of basic medical supplies and equipment to health facilities. From the approval, importation and to the delivery, everything must go smoothly to make sure that we do not waste time, he said.

In Thailand and the Philippines, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have trebled and nearly doubled, respectively, since Friday.

On Tuesday, Thailand reported 106 new cases and three deaths, pushing the overall death toll to four. The Philippines reported 90 new cases and two additional deaths, increasing its totals to 552 confirmed cases and 35 fatalities.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, armed forces chief Gen. Affendi Buang announced that surveillance drones were deployed to 12 hotspots nationwide to monitor public response to the Movement Control Order, a government-imposed lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Sunday, Malaysia deployed soldiers to enforce a two-week travel ban within the country so as to curb the viruss domestic spread.

Without disclosing the numbers, Affendi said some of the drones belonged to the government while the others were lent by businesses.

We cannot deploy the drones to cover the whole country. They will be assigned to various locations, especially the 12 locations that have been deemed COVID-19 hotspots, he said.

Some of the hotspots include Petaling Jaya, Titiwangsa, and Lembah Pantai, all in the Klang Valley that surrounds Kuala Lumpur.

The drones can operate from 30 to 45 minutes and cover a three- to five-kilometer radius. They are able to make a live recording to enable us to identify those seen in the footage, he told reporters during a demonstration at the Brickfields police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

On Tuesday, Malaysia recorded 106 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death from the disease, bringing its totals to 1,624 and 15.

Concerns over power

Rights groups, including Freedom House, a Washington-based independent watchdog, have raised concerns about autocratic leaders using the COVID-19 crisis to bolster their power.

Certain limitations on fundamental freedoms are unavoidable during public health crises. But such restrictions must be transparent, and necessary and proportionate to limiting the outbreak, Freedom House staffers Allie Funk and Isabel Linzer wrote in an Op-ed published in The Washington Post last week.

If governments are allowed to impose indefinite and disproportionate restrictions on access to information, free expression, free assembly and privacy in the name of stopping COVID-19, the negative effects will extend far beyond this outbreak. People will suffer a lasting deterioration in basic freedoms, and they will lose confidence in the institutions tasked with protecting them, Funk and Linzer wrote.

Prayuth came to power in May 2014 after leading a coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

In the Philippines, rights activists have raised concerns about Duterte, who has expressed admiration for former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, attempting to usurp similar power.

Nontarat Phaicharoen and Wilawan Watcharasakwet in Bangkok, Luis Liwanag and Dennis Jay Santos in Manila and Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.




Recall Naija News had earlier reported that a new virus has again hit China, even as the world is still battling with coronavirus.

The new virus  Hantavirus is said to be spread by rodents and can cause quite a number of diseases in people.

Read Peoples comment about the new development

Media: *No new cases of corona Virus in China* Media again: New #Hantavirus found in China pic.twitter.com/gy1b1IcqzK  Moeed (@Moeed_says_) March 24, 2020

China is releasing viruses like Huawei and iPhone release their smartphone #Hantavirus pic.twitter.com/ScyMxodsxv  No feelings (@ptcl_nhi_lgana) March 24, 2020

#DiseaseFree_With_TrueWorship

According to the prophecy of Nostradamus about a Hindu Saint

Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj is a complete God, whoever goes to his shelter gets cured of all diseases.

Kabir is God#Hantavirus

pic.twitter.com/BjY6XVOxDl  Seema Nagender (@antil_seema) March 24, 2020

#DiseaseFree_With_TrueWorship

We do not know how precious human life is, and this life is going slowly in the mouth of a dying dragon. WORLD SAVIOR SAINT RAMPAL JI

For more details must watch Sadhna channel at 7:30 pm #Hantaviruspic.twitter.com/XR3iatHo1d  Real_Heena (@Real_Heena) March 24, 2020

Media: One guy dead due to #Hantavirus in china China: pic.twitter.com/H1RgQP6HJL  Rohith Dsouza (@rohithdsouza8) March 24, 2020

No need to panic over #Hantavirus, human to human transmission is not possible! Humans may become infected when they inhale the virus or come into direct contact with infected rodents or their urine, feces, or nests. (horizontal transmission) pic.twitter.com/3IiZ6xjEog  Randy Issa (@RH4N6) March 24, 2020

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Petoskey High School closed for in-person classes until at least Jan. 17

There was no school for high school students on Wednesday, while virtual classes will take place on Thursday, Jan. 13, and Friday, Jan. 14.
The European Union will send 20 million in humanitarian aid to Iran which is subject to US sanctions and struggling with the Coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came from the blocs foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a video news conference on Monday.

Weve not been able to provide a lot of humanitarian help but there is some 20 million in the pipeline  that we expect to be delivered over the next weeks, Borrell said.

The EU top diplomat said the union will also back Irans request for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Teheran this month turned to the Washington-based global financial institution for an emergency fund to curb Coronavirus which has severely affected the Gulf country.

Over 1,930 people have died from the infection while the number of contamination has hit at least 24,800 people.

The national efforts to stem the spread has been crippled by US sanctions imposed on the country making importation of medical equipment difficult.

Authorities have rejected Washingtons help offer. President Hassan Rouhani said offering to help will mean to lift the sanctions.
Washington County Public Schools asking public for input on funding

Washington County Public Schools is asking the public for input on how they should spend the American Rescue Plan money from the federal government.
As the new coronavirus devastates the airline industry, workers at Bay Area airports exposed to health risks are enduring mass layoffs as a potential U.S. travel shutdown looms. At San Francisco International Airport, between 800 and 900 workers soon will be laid off, SEIU United Services Workers West reported. Around 250 airline catering workers were already let go, Unite Here Local 2 Union said.

Some workers are facing homelessness and could lose health care at a critical time, and unions are preparing to fight for compensation as airlines seek bailouts.

After 17 years as a wheelchair assistant at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, Jerome Perry said he is losing his job this week because of the coronavirus.

A lot of us here are living from paycheck to paycheck, Perry said on a press call with his union, SEIU, on Monday. Many of his fellow workers expect to be cut next month and, if the outbreak continues, they will become homeless, said Perry, who once lived on the streets. A diabetic who already lost two toes to the disease, Perry would lose his health care as he loses his job.

Weve been on the front line since this virus came out, Perry said. His employer, G2 Secure Staff, did not respond to request for comment.

Airline employees and contracted airport workers are pushing to make sure that compensation and paid sick leave are prioritized in a multibillion-dollar stimulus bill for airlines being debated this week in Congress. Trade group Airlines for America, which represents national carriers and their 750,000 workers, said in a letter to Congress that unless worker payroll protection grants are passed immediately, many of us will be forced to take draconian measures such as furloughs. The letter said airlines already took $30 billion worth of self-help measures like voluntary unpaid time off.

Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland, said that airline workers are making enormous sacrifices.

You put your lives on the line every day this crisis continues, Lee said on the Monday call. By cleaning planes and assisting elderly and disabled passengers, youre putting yourself at risk of COVID-19, all to ensure that the public has access to the resources that we need, and thats why its critical that any passage Congress advances is centered around workers, not just the executives.

For those still working, health and safety are paramount. Although travel is down, airports are still running as essential businesses under the Bay Areas shelter-in-place orders as long as they practice 6 feet of social distancing and sanitation. But workers said its hard to stay far apart and clean on the job.

We have to face a lot of persons outside from everywhere and every country, its very dangerous for us, said Pearl Li, a flight coordinator for airline catering company GateGourmet at SFO for 15 years. Her job is to organize and transport food and beverages on board aircraft and consult with crew members.

More Information Anonymous sources: The Chronicle strives to attribute all information we report to credible, reliable, identifiable sources. Presenting information from an anonymous source occurs extremely rarely, and only when that information is considered crucial and all other on-the-record options have been exhausted. In such cases, The Chronicle has complete knowledge of the unnamed person's identity and of how that person is in position to know the information. The Chronicle's detailed policy governing the use of such sources, including the use of pseudonyms, is available on sfchronicle.com. See More Collapse

Li said GateGourmet provides gloves but not masks. Shes been buying her own  at the cost of $1.50 each  from a friend in China. She wants the company to provide face masks and gloves, although there is a shortage of both supplies for health care workers in the Bay Area, and to connect employees with medical professionals for testing and cover the cost of treatment. She said she cant afford the companys health care so she has Covered California, but still worries about out-of-pocket costs.

Li said she is the sole breadwinner in her extended family, which includes her elderly parents and diabetic husband.

I still have to go to work. Even if I dont want to go to work, I cant say no, she said.

GateGourmet spokeswoman Nancy Jewell said in an email that safety is our number one priority.

In addition to the stringent health and safety practices currently in place, we have implemented additional measures to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, passengers and general public, she said. These measures often are above and beyond applicable regulatory requirements.

Airline catering union spokesman Ted Waechter said the labor group is actively negotiating with employers to ensure protections for workers still on the job and those who lose income. Even if passenger traffic is halted, he said workers will still be needed for charter and cargo flights.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Federal employees for the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are also at risk while interfacing with the public. A CBP spokesperson said it had provided extensive guidance to all of its employees regarding the potential use of gloves, N95 respirators, eye protection, and disposable outer garments. It also issued instructions for cleaning fingerprint scanners with Centers for Disease Control-approved products.

Other airport work not directly related to travel is also continuing, to the concern of some employees. Under the shelter-in-place orders, airport construction is allowed to still operate. That includes SFOs huge Harvey Milk Terminal 1 project. Although the opening of the first phase was delayed for at least a month because of the coronavirus, construction is still active.

A contractor on the project, who requested anonymity because he is now employed there, said he was concerned about health and safety for workers numbering between 200 and 800 on the job site at a time. They work in teams. There arent enough masks. Security keypads used hundreds of times a day arent sanitized enough. Every third person is coughing or sneezing, he said.

The contractor said after the shelter-in-place orders, 1 in 5 workers didnt return  some he knew because they were frustrated and anxious  and are not getting paid.

Thats what everyones dealing with, on one hand you want to be safe, you look around, everyone at work has family at home thats sheltering in place, and were at work bringing back whatever it is to our families that we dont know, he said. On one hand is income insecurity.

The engineers employer did not respond to request for comment.

A letter sent to SFO contractors clarifying the citys public health order reinforced the importance of social distancing, hand hygiene guidance, covering coughs and sneezes, and regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces. In terms of job security or paid sick leave for contracted workers, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said in an email that each contractor would have to determine this based on applicable labor laws and their own policies.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is defending getting a coronavirus test despite not showing any symptoms, saying that if he hadn't been tested, he never would have known he contracted the virus and could have spread it to his colleagues.

Paul announced on Sunday afternoon that he tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. His office said Paul is feeling fine, and thought he should receive a test because he travels often and in recent weeks attended several events. Republican senators told CNN that on Sunday morning, Paul was at the Senate gym, a move deemed "irresponsible" by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). He also sat very close to other senators during lunches last week, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has decided to self-quarantine.

In addition to receiving blowback for gallivanting around prior to finding out his test results, Paul is also under fire for getting a test despite not showing any symptoms, which goes against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. This, he said, is unfair.

"For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol," Paul said in a statement Monday. "The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined. It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested."

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China reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities were confirmed from the COVID-19, health officials said on Tuesday.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of Monday. This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday.

The NHC said, 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad taking the number of overseas cases to 427.

Also on Monday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

The total COVID-19 cases in Beijing climbed to 522 with eight deaths prompting local governments of Beijing as well as Shanghai to announce that all overseas arrivals will be subjected to nucleic acid tests to ensure proper detection.

Of the 74 newly imported cases, 31 were reported in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, nine in Shanghai, five in Fujian, four in Tianjin, three in Jiangsu, two in Zhejiang and Sichuan respectively, and one in Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong and Chongqing respectively, the NHC said.

Beijing is already diverting all international flights to different cities where the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days before arriving in the city.

The NHC said 132 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Coronavirus epicentre Wuhan has reported one confirmed case after a gap of five days prompting officials to begin to ease restrictions.

Wuhan also reported seven new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the city and Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital to 3,160.

The province also saw 444 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Monday. Among the 4,200 patients being treated in hospital, 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, the local health commission said.

By the end of Monday, 356 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, which has restricted the entry of foreigners into the city. Also a total of 25 confirmed cases were reported in Macao and 195 in Taiwan including two deaths, state-run Xinhua agency reporrted.

After days of decline in coronavirus cases, China on Monday said that COVID-19 has effectively been "stemmed" in the country and it started easing severe restrictions imposed on Wuhan's 11 million people who were under lockdown since January 23.

The authorities began relaxing restrictions in Wuhan as it reported no new case for the fifth consecutive day on Monday.

Significantly, the Central Leading Group (CLP), headed by Premier Li Keqiang which is coordinating efforts to contain the virus since January 23, said the virus has been curtailed in the country as well as in Wuhan.

"The meeting noted that the spread of the virus nationwide, particularly in the epicentre of Wuhan, has been effectively stemmed," an official statement said on Monday.

The meeting, however, warned that the risks for sporadic infections and localised outbreaks have not gone away. With the pandemic rampaging across the world, the situation remains complex and challenging.

"Wuhan city and Hubei province should stay focused on medical treatment and community-level containment as the two key priorities. They should continue to treat the severe cases, promptly admit new cases, and advance epidemiological investigations," the meeting said.

In Wuhan, officials said people are allowed to go back to work while restrictions on the public transport are gradually being eased.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan with over 56 million people were under lockdown since January 23. The vicious virus broke out in city, reportedly at a live animal market in December last year and became virulent inflicting thousands of people in the city and province catching the government off guard.

As the country saw a surge in imported infections, the Chinese government announced that all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities from Monday.

International passengers flying to Beijing will instead land at airports in 12 cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenyang as their first points of entry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.

On Monday, China said international travellers should "think twice" about choosing Beijing for flight transfer in view of the restrictions.

Starting from Monday, all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities, Liu Haitao, an official with China's National Immigration Administration said.

Passengers would go through entry procedures and quarantine measures at the designated cities' airports before they continue their flights to Beijing, Liu said, urging travellers to reserve enough time for their next flights to make sure that they do not miss their outbound flights.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




The lawmaker representing Osun Central District in the National Assembly, Ajibola Basiru, is self-isolating after his trip to the United Kingdom.

Basiru stated this while reacting to the letter of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, calling on all lawmakers who travelled to the abroad to follow the right measures.

The Chief of Staff in the letter also accused the lawmakers of violating screening procedures at the airports.

Bashir, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora, Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations, said that he had not attended any public event since his return.

He tweeted, Contrary to the reports that all the Senators that travelled to the United Kingdom for the Petroleum Oil and Gas seminar have not complied with the protocol on precautionary steps on COVID-19, I have been in self-isolation since I returned from the UK.

So, I have not been to the National Assembly or attended any business or function. Also, the National Center for Disease Control contacted my next of kin earlier today to know how I am faring. I am in good health and enjoying enough rest at home.

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New York, March 24 : Joining the growing list of studies that are trying to pinpoint reasons why novel coronavirus is killing more senior adults globally, researchers from Louisiana State University in the US have proposed a novel explanation which is related to the daily medications for cardiovascular diseases taken by most of the elderly.

According to the study, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, SARS-CoV virus which caused the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003 and the new SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 pandemic, bind to "angiotensin-converting enzyme 2" (ACE2) receptors in the lower respiratory tracts of infected patients to gain entry into the lungs.

Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors are drugs used primarily for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure. They work by causing relaxation of blood vessels as well as a decrease in blood volume, which leads to lower blood pressure and decreased oxygen demand from the heart.

"Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are highly recommended medications for patients with cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic kidney disease to name a few," said study researcher James Diaz from Louisiana State University.

According to the researchers, viral pneumonia and potentially fatal respiratory failure may result in susceptible persons after 10-14 days.

"Many of those who develop these diseases are older adults. They are prescribed these medications and take them every day," Diaz added.

According to the researchers, the study in experimental models has shown an increase in the number of ACE2 receptors in the cardiopulmonary circulation after intravenous infusions of ACE inhibitors.

"Since patients treated with ACEIs and ARBS will have increased numbers of ACE2 receptors in their lungs for coronavirus S proteins to bind to, they may be at increased risk of severe disease outcomes due to SARS-CoV-2 infections," explained Diaz.

According to the researchers, this hypothesis is supported by a recent descriptive analysis of 1,099 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections treated in China during the reporting period, December 11, 2019, to January 29.

This study reported more severe disease outcomes in patients with hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes and chronic renal disease.

All patients with the diagnosis noted met the recommended indications for treatment with ACEIs or ARBs.

Diaz said that two mechanisms may protect children from COVID-19 infections -- cross-protective antibodies from multiple upper respiratory tract infections caused by the common cold-causing alpha coronaviruses, and fewer ACE2 receptors in their lower respiratory tracts to attract the binding S proteins of the beta coronaviruses.

The researchers recommended future case-control studies in patients with COVID-19 infections to further confirm chronic therapy with ACEIs or ARBs may raise the risk for severe outcomes.

"Patients treated with ACEIs and ARBs for cardiovascular diseases should not stop taking their medicine, but should avoid crowds, mass events, ocean cruises, prolonged air travel, and all persons with respiratory illnesses during the current COVID-19 outbreak in order to reduce their risks of infection," Diaz suggested.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
It's already been reported that Trump is getting antsy about all the social-distancing quarantines intended to flatten the curve of coronavirus deaths, and that he's eager to return things to business-as-normal. Who cares about a million deaths as long as the economy is moving, amirite?

I'm sure his decision has nothing to do with the fact that his own hotels are hurting from the shutdown. Again, what's a few million lives compared to the President's personal profits?

Unfortunately, Trump is not alone in his mass-murdering sentiment. Republicans have been parroting a new refrain this week, that, "The cure cannot be worse than the disease." But this implies that a few billionaires losing some money is objectively worse than a million dead. And that's just absurd.

Jonathan Ashbach took to The Federalist to complain about the ways that coronavirus impedes on that uniquely American value of "freedom."

It seems harsh to ask whether the nation might be better off letting a few hundred thousand people die. Probably for that reason, few have been willing to do so publicly thus far. Yet honestly facing reality is not callous, and refusing even to consider whether the present response constitutes an even greater evil than the one it intends to mitigate would be cowardly. First, consider the massive sacrifice of life Americans are making in their social distancing campaign. True, nearly all are not literally dying, but they are giving up a good deal of what makes life worth living  work, classes, travel, hugs, time with friends, conferences, quiet nights out, and so forth. [] The abandonment of normalcy, therefore, is in many ways equivalent to shortening the lives of the entire nation. [] More is at stake than lives and money: namely freedom. Even for those of us who are by no means libertarian, the increasingly draconian measures put in place across the nation, especially in California, to isolate people and prevent them from moving at will are raising serious questions about whether Americans are in a dress rehearsal for tyranny. [] The American people must ultimately decide what they really want. Perhaps the overwhelming majority would happily endure indefinite isolation and sacrifices of freedom to prevent a fairly bad pandemic from getting somewhat worse. But I doubt it.

While he's not necessarily wrong about the ironic gap between what many Conservatives claim to believe, and the authoritarian instincts that overwhelm them at every opportunity, I'm not sure his ultimate conclusions track. He also ignores the cooperative efforts involved in flattening curve, scoffing at individuals who would choose to isolate themselves for the promise of a prolonged life, in favor of the "freedom" for others to ignore those valiant efforts and render them utterly moot by transmitting the virus anyway.

I'm not Constitutional scholar, but I don't recall the Founding Fathers ever saying "The right to transmit deadly diseases to other people against their will shall not be infringed."

Over in the National Review, Robert VerBruggen ran a "cost-benefit analysis" on the coronavirus quarantine. This involves trying to quantify the financial value of a human life:

Value of a statistical life. This is a number estimated by looking at how much people need to be paid to put their lives at risk. It's a controversial and unsettled concept, both mathematically and ethically  Regulatory Review hosted a debate on it earlier this year  but the center of gravity of various U.S.-government estimates is around $9 million or so.

But are all lives equal?

Quality-adjusted life years. The above number assumes that all lives are equally valuable, a thought that some might intuitively endorse but that also doesn't seem quite right. Obviously it's a lot sadder when a toddler dies in a car accident than when an elderly person with terminal cancer does. So we might want to measure the benefits of stopping COVID in terms of "quality-adjusted life years," especially because the disease seems to fall heavily on the elderly and hardly at all on children. A decent estimate here is probably $125,000-ish.

VerBruggen takes these calculations and applies them to nation's greater economy loss as a result of the coronavirus shutdown:

One is to assume we save a million lives and value everyone's life equally. In this case we've preserved $9 trillion in value, more than 40 percent of a year's GDP  before we try tallying all the health-care costs of an uncontrolled pandemic and the suffering we avert among nonfatal cases. Starting with these numbers I suspect it would be very, very difficult to make the costs add up to more than the benefits. The other is to assume we save a million lives, but on average each person only had, say, a decade to live  which is roughly the additional life expectancy of an American male who makes it to 78. The average COVID fatality is significantly younger than that, so we're probably lowballing here, though many also have other health issues. In this case we're preserving only $1.25 trillion.

I understand the, um, urge, I guess, to take this Very Rational Logic approach to the crisis. But there's also the inherent (read: sociopathic) fallacy of assuming that economic gains are somehow a "rational" priority. It's like someone reading Watchmen and accepting Ozymandias's Alien Squid Genocide as an obviously and unquestioningly righteous action.

America may need to face some difficult decisions about how to manage itself economically in the wake of this health crisis. But the possibility of sacrificing human lives for the sake of some short-term gains should never even factor into that conversation.

A COVID Cost-Benefit Analysis [Robert VerBruggen / National Review]

The Federalist Asks: Is America 'Better Off' Letting People Die From Coronavirus? [Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch]

Image: Public Domain via Pexels
The government hasnt given an exact date, but have announced the lockdown is most likely to last several more weeks.

Strict Rules for Runners

Today the government announced that from now on anyone going outside to exercise, such as running, can only do so once per day, for a maximum time of one hour, and within 1km of your residence. To enforce this, you need to now write the TIME on your attestation each time you go out (as a reminder, you need a new attestation for each time you leave the house).

No More Open-Air Markets in Paris

Despite all of the measures taken to try and limit exposure in the open air food markets and to keep everyone one meter apart, the government announced all open markets are closed. Local authorities can allow a market to stay open if its the only place in a neighborhood for residents to purchase fresh produce (Im not sure this is the case anywhere within Parisian city limits, but is certainly the case in a lot of small villages).

Were Not All Bad

The Prime Minister Edouard Philippe made a point of thanking all of the French people who ARE respecting the rules, saying in his speech at the National Assembly today that with each passing day, despite the news highlighting all of the people fined for breaking the rules, that the majority are serious in following their civic duty and understand that following these rules is best for everyone. For the moment, he has not declared a curfew for all of France, allowing each mayor to decode, so Parisians can still go out as needed at any time of the day or night (with your attestation, bien sur!)

A Message from French Farmers: Stop Buying Rice and Pasta already!

With the open-air markets closed and many farmers short on labor because of the Coronavirus, its more important than ever to BUY AND EAT as many fresh fruit and vegetables you find in supermarkets and convenience stores, because unlike rice and pasta, they will have to be thrown out if theyre not consumed. Buy as much as you can and use it to make pies, smoothies, jam, soups, or other recipes that can be stored or frozenjust like our grandparents used to do! If you need some advice on how to keep all of your fresh produce from going bad, heres a great primer from EatingWell: The Best Way to Store Fruits and Veggies

Need Seasonal Work?

Ironically, not only are French farmers worried about having to throw out tons of what they grow, theyre even more worried they wont even be able to get it into the stores in the first place. The agriculture industry employs approximately 200,000 seasonal workers to pick fruit and vegetables, but most of them come from Portugal, Poland, and North Africathis year theres likely to be very few at all who can  or want  to work in France when the spring harvest begins to ripen. Radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, asparagus, strawberries are ready to pick now in Brittany, and further south the first summer fruits will arrive in a month and a half. When I was a university student, many of us worked on farms in the summer. With the tourism industry at a virtual standstill, it might not be a bad option for many French residents who are looking for some extra cash to hold them over until the tourists can return. If youre interested, visit the site of ANEFA (Association Nationale pour lEmploi et la Formation en Agriculture). You can also work on organic farms in exchange for room and board through French branch of the international organization, WWOOF.

Reduced Public Transport

Bus, metros and trams are still running, if at a reduced rate, to make sure everyone who has to work away from home can get to their jobs. For the busses, you can no longer buy a ticket from the driver (or even approach thementer through the back doors only). You can purchase a ticket with your cell phone (this has actually already been used in beta form for almost a year under SMS Ticket): once you get on the bus you simply send the text message to 93800 with the word bus and the number of the line (ie Bus+38) and it will charge you 2 (plus anything your phone service charges you for sending texts). Its valid for one hour without changes. There are signs on the bus explaining how it works if youre not sure.

Abandoned Pets because of Misinformation

Not to end on a sad note, but the number of pets being abandoned in France has risen sharply since the Coronavirus outbreak because of false rumors that our pet dogs or cats can transmit the virus. Its simply not true, and refuges in France  which were already suffering overcrowding and a lack of staff  are now sounding the alarm. Please spread the word far and wide: YOUR PETS ARE SAFE! KEEP THEM HOME WITH YOU! Here is the French Society for the Protection of Animals Q&A (for info in English, read the notice from American Veterinary Medical Association).

Stay healthy, stay sane!  Heather
The wife of a man from Arizona who died after drinking fish tank cleaner, thinking it was a coronavirus treatment, has blamed President Trump for his death.

The man and his wife, who is still under critical care, ingested chloroquine after mistaking it for hydroxychloroquine, a treatment Mr Trump has claimed could help with coronavirus.

The mans wife, who hasnt revealed her name for privacy reasons, spoke to NBC about why they decided to ingest the cleaner, saying that "we were afraid we were getting sick. We were getting really worried.

She said that the couple, who were both over 60 years old, had heard the president talk about the chemical in briefings and thought they had discovered it in their home when they saw the word chloroquine.

I saw it sitting on the back shelf and thought, hey, isnt that the stuff theyre talking about on TV, she said.

She told NBC that "Trump kept saying it was pretty much a cure, and they kept saying that it was approved for other things.

The woman says that after she and her husband fell ill and he started having respiratory problems, she called for emergency responders.

She says they were asking a lot of questions but that she was having a hard time talking, falling down.

Recommended Trump doubles down on early end to quarantine despite dire WHO warning

Her husband died shortly after arriving at hospital and the woman told NBC: Dont take anything. Dont believe anything that the president says and his people, be so careful. Call your doctor, she said. This is a heartache Ill never get over.

Mr Trump has repeatedly asserted that chloroquine is a game changer against coronavirus while members of his own administration have denied such claims.

Dr Stephen Hahn, the FDA Commissioner said chloroquine phosphate will be used in clinical trials to test its effectiveness but saying otherwise would give people false hope.

Mr Hahn said: We will collect that data and make the absolute right decisions based upon those data about the safety and efficacy of the treatments. ... We may have the right drug, but it might not be in the appropriate dosage form right now, and it might do more harm than good.

In a statement, Dr Daniel Brooks, the medical director of Banner Poison and Drug Information Center, said that people should not take medication into their own hands.

Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so, he said.
Winner Sarah Holland (Writer/Director) - Orlando Video Production Company - Vibrant Media Productions (Student Filmfest Winner) The grant from Vibrant Media Productions is going to be a huge help as we embark on production our feature film.

For the second consecutive year, Orlando video production company Vibrant Media Productions (VMP) has offered students a path to earn early career recognition and substantial cash prizes.

This year, the VMP Film Festival provided aspiring filmmakers with a chance to submit their original short films for a chance to win:



Substantial grant money to assist with tuition costs

An in-studio interview with Vibrant Media Productions

A customized, resume-boosting award graphic

A host of branded merchandise for their entire team

Building on the festivals 2019 success, Vibrant Media Productions increased the number of eligible universities from just a handful to 10. The colleges included in this years film festival were: Full Sail University, Valencia College, University of Central Florida, Seminole State College, Daytona State College, University of South Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida State University, and University of Tampa.

Students films were judged by four Vibrant Media Productions crew members, all of whom have years of videography and production experience. Each submission was rated on a scale of 1 to 5 in four separate categories: directing; editing; story; and sound design. To dismiss the possibility of alumni bias, the university from which each submission originated was hidden until the judgment process was complete.

The three winning entries were:

Third Place (UCF) - PLUGGED, written and directed by Abiesel Baez & Kahlil Collazo and starring Humberto Gallino. In a future not too far from our present, a dating app leads one hesitant man through a mind-altering experience.

Second Place (Full Sail University) - A Girl in Kansas, a horror short directed by Sidartha Biswa and starring Jennifer Utsey and Dennis Frebie. The film centers around a young woman aimlessly walking a lonely road on a stormy night and a good Samaritan with questionable motives.

First Place (UCF) - Egghead & Twinkie, directed by Sarah Holland, and starring Sabrina Jie-A-Fa & Louis Tomeo. This quirky comedy explores the experiences of two young adults after one casually reveals her homosexuality.

Vibrant Media Productions would like to thank the students for making this years Film Fest an incredible success.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday called former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's release after detention as an 'unhealthy sign of democracy'. Almost eight months later, the detention of National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah was revoked on Tuesday by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities citing 'preventive measures' in the valley. The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister was detained last year following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.

Taking to Twitter, Gehlot stated that it was good to see the release of the former CM, however, added that that detainment of the leaders for standing up for their democratic rights was unfortunate. He further hoped for the release of other leaders and the return of normalcy in the valley.

Good to see former CM Omar Abdullah ji is being released; it is very unfortunate that for no reason he along with other political leaders was detained for standing up for their democratic rights. This is not a sign of healthy democracy.  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 24, 2020

I hope Mehbooba Mufti ji and all leaders will be released soon and normalcy is restored at the earliest.#JammuAndKashmir  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 24, 2020

On February 6, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had slapped the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against Mehbooba Mufti and former CM Omar Abdullah, reportedly a day before their detention was supposed to end. On March 16, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) demanded the release of party chief Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

READ: Massive: Government revokes detention of Omar Abdullah; statement here

READ: WATCH: Omar Abdullah's first statement after being released from detention after 8 months

Omar Abdullah meets father Farooq

First visuals of Omar Abdullah, his father Farooq Abdullah and family surfaced on Saturday afternoon, as the two former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir met each other after almost eight months, since the abrogation of Article 370. In visuals, the Abdullah family was seen outside Omar Abdullah's sub-jail, wherein he has been detained since the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

In visuals, the 82-year-old Srinagar MP was seen alongside his wife, daughter Safia Abdullah Khan and Omar Abdullah. Donning his shoddy, grey beard, Omar Abdullah appeared sickly in the fourth ever picture released of him since his detention. Omar Abdullah, who was the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, is undergoing detention at a government guest-house at Hari Nivas Palace in Srinagar.

READ: JKNC issues first reaction on release of its leader Omar Abdullah from detention

READ: Mehbooba Mufti issues first response after government revokes Omar Abdullah's detention
THE Minister for Works, Transport and Communications Isack Kamwelwe has already formed an inquiry team to probe 12 engineers of the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS), who recently suspended following a delayed maintenance of the Kiegeya Bridge along the Morogoro- Dodoma highway.

President John Magufuli directed the minister recently to form a probe team to investigate why the restoration of the bridge, which was washed away by floods in March 2, this year, had been delayed.

Dr Magufuli issued the directive early last week when he toured the site whose construction was not near completion after almost two weeks since the bridge succumbed to floods.

He suspended the engineers pending the probe, whilst issuing strong warning to the minister and TANROADS boss, Eng Patrick Mfugale.

Flagging off vehicles after the completion of the construction of the Kiegeya bridge bypass, Eng Kamwelwe said the committee has been given seven days to accomplish their investigation.

He said, they will investigate if there was any economic loss that the country incurred due to the communication breakdown, since the bridge connects the commercial and port city of Dar es Salaam and Central and Lake Zone regions as well as neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

We have implemented the directives of Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and those issued by President Magufuli, first of all, the 12 engineers have already been suspended and replaced, again the team has been formed to probe into the matter.

The construction of the Kiegeya bridge bypass has also been completed within seven days to allow vehicles to pass all the time.

Drivers of cargo trucks from Dar es Salaam to neighbouring countries and vice versa shouldnt be worried again, stated Eng Kamwelwe.

Apart from replacing the 12 engineers, they have also appointed the new Tanroads Regional Manager for Morogoro, who has been transferred from Kilimanjaro.

Engineer Ntije Nkilante is the new Tanroads manager for Morogoro region, while his replacement is a female engineer Motta Kyando who was the head of planning at Tanroads in Iringa region.

For his part, the Permanent Secretary Elius Mwakalinga said the probe team has involved experts from different professions such engineers, economists and other experts from the Works ministry.

Others are from Contractors Registration Board (CRB), Engineers Registration Board (ERB) and Architects and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board (AQRB), noted Mr Mwakalinga.

The committee will be stationed at Kiegeya bridge and it will be using the Morogoro Works Training College as its temporary offices, he revealed.

For his part, the Morogoro Tanroads regional manager Engineer Nkolante thanked the ministry and the entire management for trusting him, saying he is aware of the infrastructural challenges in the region.

He promised to team up with other staff in his office to address the challenges. We are all trained to deal with these issues, he stated.
The sharing is optional at this point. But numerous lawmakers suggested it could become mandatory in the future, and perhaps starting in Gary, where DUAB has supplanted the locally elected school board and charter schools have sapped tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the city's public schools.

State Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, agreed with Melton that the Gary school district, and its families, stand to benefit from the portion of the legislation funding repairs to the city's school buildings.

"I think if we can get the schools built back up, we'll have more students return and that will help their finances," Brown said.

Originally, Melton proposed in Senate Bill 416 that $43.5 million be made available for Gary school repairs and demolition over 10 years, with Democratic Gary Mayor Jerome Prince having a say in DUAB's building repair and demolition decisions.

That Senate-approved measure, which did not advance in the House, also authorized the district to enter into a public-private partnership to finance and construct new middle and high school buildings at a central campus site.
The "Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market to 2027 Regional Analysis and Forecasts by Type; Source; Application Mode; Application" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Europe Agricultural Biologicals market is accounted to US$ 2,372.5 Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% during the forecast period 2019 2027, to account to US$ 6,418.8 Mn by 2027.

Agricultural biologicals constitutes a broad range of plant extracts, insects, microbials, and other agricultural biologicals materials, which are used by the farmers to enhance the crop health and yield and for the pests control. It also helps in enhancing the availability of nutrients, nutrient uptake capacity of plant, assists in product's strong resistance to insects, and residue managements, as well as improving total productivity of the plant crops. The Europe agricultural biologicals market is segmented on the basis of product type as bio pesticides, bio stimulants, and bio fertilizers. The bio stimulants segment in the Europe agricultural biologicals market is estimated to garner the fastest-growing segment in the market. Bio stimulants are biologicals fertilizer additives which are used in crop production to enhance plant growth, health and productivity. It helps plant to improve nutrient-use efficiency, tolerate stresses like heat, cold, and drought and improve quality characteristics like nutritional content, shelf life, and others. It differs from other crop protection products as they act only on plant's vigor and does not provide any controlled actions against any pests or disease, thus it enhances plant growth and development throughout the life cycle of crop from seed germination to plant maturity stage. Increasing focus on enhancing plant productivity, linked with speedy soil degradation will propel the market in future. It acts as an effective substitute to synthetic agro products and used at a high rate due to its eco-friendly nature and performance effectiveness. The driving factors include the need for crop augmentation while pursuing rising sustainable practices, looking for biologicals practices to boost production with decreased pressure on environment.

The Europe agricultural biologicals market is segmented based on source as microbials, bio chemicals, and others. The microbials segment accounts for the largest share in the Europe agricultural biologicals market, while the biochemicals segment also contributes a significant share in the market. Bio chemicals is another major source of agricultural biologicals which are used as a pesticide product. It exploits natural substances rather than chemicals for the pest control. It consists of natural substances like diatomaceous earth, canola oil, tea tree oil, neem oil, cayenne paper, baking soda, and other substances. Customers are highly using biochemical products for soil amendments and seed treatments. It generally releases biochemical molecules to target areas of plant such as leaf stem surface, root rhizosphere, etc. Rising usage of natural products for the pest control are mainly driving this market.

The Europe agricultural biologicals market is segmented based on application mode as foliar sprays, soil treatment, and seed treatment. The seed treatment segment accounts for the largest share in the Europe agricultural biologicals market, while the soil treatment segment is estimated to be garner the fastest segment in the market. Soil treatments are the agricultural practices or operations for the soil protection and improve its performances like soil fertility, and soil mechanics. It is used to treat the polluted soil and transform into functional agricultural soil. Microbes like bacteria and fungi are used to remove soil pollutants or contaminants by nitrogen fixation process, limiting plant pathogen's growth, decomposing heavy metals, mitigating hydrocarbons, halogenated organic solvents, halogenated organic compounds, radionuclides, and pesticides in the soil. Rapid surge in industrial development, increasing population, increasing demands of qualitative, and nutritive food products are mainly driving the market. It assists in the development of plant by improving moisture retention and soil's nutrient content, microbial restoration activities, improving physical and biologicals soil's content, etc. which is expected to propel the market growth in coming years

The Europe agricultural biologicals market is segmented based on application as cereals grains, oilseeds and pulses, fruits vegetables, and others. The cereals grains segment holds the largest share in the Europe agricultural biologicals market, while the fruits vegetables segment also contributes a significant share in the market. Fruits and vegetables are the key source of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals and highly demanded by the European consumers. Natural pesticides consisting of minerals and plant based ingredients and various microorganisms are used for biologicals control of fruits and vegetables. These natural pesticides are used to protect fruits and vegetables from weeds, insects, and other infections caused by pests. Bio stimulants are also used to improve the fruits and vegetable seedlings. Agricultural biologicals are widely used for early plant development, healthy or qualitative yield, improved shelf life, low occurrence of fruit and vegetable crop diseases. Rising requirements of organic vegetables and fruits with low chemical usage, along with high level consistency, improved color, and increased size of fruit and vegetable products are driving the usage of agricultural biologicals.

Europe agricultural biologicals market is segmented based on country as Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, and Rest of Europe. Italy holds the largest share in the Europe agricultural biologicals market, which is followed by France. From the very beginning, Italy has been highly involved in organic farming using bio pesticides, bio fertilizers and bio stimulants to maintain the quality and quantity of yield and is considered to be an important contributor in environmental and food sustainable development. The organic agriculture sector of Italy has shown a remarkable growth opportunities in terms of supply corresponding to its demand. The growing domestic demand is met partially by production and partially by increased imports.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

1.1 Scope of the Study

1.2 Report Guidance

1.3 Market Segmentation

2. Key Takeaways

3. Research Methodology

3.1 Coverage

3.2 Secondary Research

3.3 Primary Research

4. Agricultural Biologicals Market Landscape

4.1 Market Overview

4.1.1 Europe PEST analysis

5. Agricultural Biologicals Market Key Industry Dynamics

5.1 Key Market Drivers

5.2 Key Market Restraints

5.3 Key Market Opportunities

5.4 Future Trends

5.5 Impact Analysis Of Drivers And Restraints

6. Agricultural Biologicals Europe Market Analysis

6.1 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Overview

6.2 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Forecast and Analysis

7. Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Analysis By Type

7.1 Overview

7.2 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Breakdown, By Type, 2018 2027

7.3 Bio pesticides

7.4 Bio stimulants

7.5 Bio fertilizers

8. Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Analysis By Source

8.1 Overview

8.2 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Breakdown, By Source, 2018 2027

8.3 Microbials

8.4 Bio chemicals

8.5 Others

9. Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Analysis By Application Mode

9.1 Overview

9.2 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Breakdown, By Application MODE, 2018 2027

9.3 Foliar Sprays

9.4 Soil Treatment

9.5 Seed Treatment

10. Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Analysis By Application

10.1 Overview

10.2 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Breakdown, By Application, 2018 2027

10.3 Cereals Grains

10.4 Oilseeds And Pulses

10.5 Fruits And Vegetables

10.6 Others

11. Agricultural Biologicals Market Country Analysis

11.1 Overview

11.1.1 Europe Agricultural Biologicals Market Breakdown, by Key Countries

11.1.2 Germany Agricultural Biologicals Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2027 (US$ Mn)

12. Industry Landscape

12.1 Merger and Acquisitions

12.2 Product News

13. Company Profiles

13.1 BASF SE

13.2 Biolchim S.p.A.

13.3 DowDuPont Inc.

13.4 Isagro S.p.A.

13.5 Koppert Biologicals Systems

13.6 SYNGENTA

13.7 UPL

13.8 Valent BioSciences LLC

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/48erzm

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005545/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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A video clip of a sick passenger on an Air Peace flight from Lagos that landed at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Tuesday caused fear of a COVID-19 spread in the city.

The one-minute-four-second clip suspected to have been recorded by an airport staff, has background voices saying the pilot had refused to allow the passengers disembark because he suspected coronavirus.

The voices commended the pilot for his supposed action, as the case may spread the virus to Kano where many people see COVID-19 as conspiracy or media hype. The best thing is the flight should return to Lagos. Since there are confirmed cases in Lagos, or Gwagwalada.

However, the special adviser to governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Media, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, said the passengers sickness was not a case of COVID-19.

According to him, the pilot refused to open the doors when the plane landed after a passenger was reported to be vomiting, pending the arrival of CDC experts who examined the person and found his was a case of flight phobia, being a first-time air traveller.

The CDC team also took precautionary measures by spraying the entire plane and passengers with disinfectants, Mr Tanko-Yakasai added. They equally took details of the passengers in case of any issue that might arise afterward.

READ ALSO:

Also commenting on the development, the co-chair, Kano State Task Force on COVID-19, Abdulrazak Habib, told journalists that a preliminary test-run on the patient returned negative and he did not have symptoms of COVID-19.

The case is a young man of 17-years old and a first-timer boarding aircraft. The boy boarded the aircraft for the first time and developed phobia, said Mr Habib.

Mr Habib said the boy was discharged after his data was taken.
MIAMI, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International Money Express, Inc. (IMXI), a leading money remittance services company focused primarily on the Latin America and Caribbean corridor, announced today that President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Lisy and Chief Financial Officer Tony Lauro will participate in a virtual fireside chat hosted by BTIG. Mr. Lisy and Mr. Lauro will discuss the current money remittance environment amid the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The event will take place at 1:00pm E.T. on Thursday, March 26 and be webcasted via our investor relations website https://investors.intermexonline.com/investor-relations . Interested parties should register at least 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the event.



Mr. Lisy and Mr. Lauro will also answer select questions from investors that are submitted via email. If you would like to submit a question, please email investors@intermexonline.com .

About International Money Express, Inc.

At International Money Express, Inc. (IMXI), the customer is at the center of everything we do. We use proprietary technology that enables consumers to send money primarily from the United States to 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico and Guatemala, and four countries in Africa. We offer the electronic movement of money and data to our customers through our network of sending and paying agents located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, and throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and other territories. Our services are also available digitally through intermexonline.com. We were founded in 1994 and are headquartered in Miami, Florida with offices in Puebla, Mexico, and Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Canadian shares bounced back on Tuesday, moving in line with a big rally in global equity markets.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose as much as 7 per cent at the open in Toronto after falling to a 2011 low on Monday and was up 6.7 per cent as of 10:55 a.m. Toronto time. All but six of the 230 stocks in the index were in the green.

South of the border, U.S. stocks jumped more than 5 per cent as Congress appeared close to a deal on an unprecedented spending bill to prop up the slumping economy.

The stimulus provided by governments is helping investor sentiment toward gold and its closest cousin, silver. Gold was up about 3 per cent and silver more than 4 per cent on Tuesday morning, giving a boost to mining stocks. The spending package by the U.S. government caused Goldman Sachs to predict an inflection point for gold and the bank is recommending its clients buy now.

The rally comes in the midst of moves by governments to shut down much of Canadas economic heartland in an effort to slow down the coronavirus outbreak. Ontario and Quebec, which together account for about 57 per cent of the countrys economy, have ordered non-essential businesses to close by the end of the day today.

Within the energy patch, Canadas largest oil and gas company, Suncor Energy Inc., said it would cut its capital program this year by 26 per cent as it tries to outlast the plunge in crude prices. Suncors cuts follow $4.4 billion in reductions already announced by other Canadian energy companies. Crude oil was up slightly.

Bombardier Inc. said it will suspend all non-essential work at most Canadian-based operations tonight until April 26 to comply with government mandates to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

StocksFirst Quantum Minerals Ltd. climbed 27 per cent on the base metal rally and the companys report that it will maintain its production guidance for the year.

Chorus Aviation Inc. surged 21 per cent. Pembina Pipeline Corp. rose about 20 per cent.

Cameco fell slightly after halting its Cigar Lake mine.

The Real estate sector rose 8.4 per ent after falling 15 per cent yesterday.

Notable movers include Summit Industrial Income REIT and Brookfield Property Partners LP. CommoditiesWestern Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate.

Spot gold rose 2.8 per centto $1,596.67 an ounce.

Canadian dollar rose 0.2 per cent to $1.4466 per U.S. dollar. The 10-year government bond yield rose 8.1 basis points to 0.857 per cent.

Read more about:
The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission has threatened to invoke the law against violators of fair competition and consumer protection regulations in the country.

The agency said this in a statement on Tuesday amid growing reports of arbitrary, unreasonable, unconscionable, excessive and irrational pricing (price gouging) in the country.

The Commission said its periodic monitoring activities revealed some suppliers and retailers have continued to take undue and opportunistic advantage of citizens.

The worst culprits, the agency said, are those selling critical hygiene products associated with containing and preventing the spread of the dreaded coronavirus and associated developments.

On February 28, the Commission published an advisory against these illegal practices and warned against their dire consequences.

It said although many exercised circumspection and continued to ensure supply and pricing within fair and acceptable ranges, many others have continued to perpetrate these misconduct.

Apart from selling the products at inexplicably high and excessive prices, the Commission said others have continued to make unsupported claims about the efficacy of certain medications and or hygiene products.

READ ALSO:

The Commission is determined to ensure that suppliers and retailers do not manipulate supply to distort the market or promote high prices or engage in excessive pricing of relevant products, the Commission said.

Apart from enforcing the law with respect to fair competition and consumer protection, the Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, said the Commission would also deploy all available statutory tools to prevent profiteering and exploitation in this inauspicious season.

The Commission urges suppliers, retailers, online shopping platforms, as well as individuals who buy to resell not to charge unreasonable or inflated prices.

Violators will be criminally prosecuted where the evidence sufficiently supports the same, Mr Irukera said.

On consumer behavior, Mr Irukera admonished consumers to moderate the impulse to making unnecessary or excessive purchases in panic as this promotes gouging, and anxiety.

In particular, he said recent purchases of Chloroquine raise questions of fairness both by suppliers/retailers, and consumers who are insistent on purchasing all available inventory, even when personal needs are inconsistent with available inventory.

The Commission advised consumers to avoid large gatherings, including markets/stores to make needless or non-essential purchases.
Sinead Cleary and Shawna Byrne people enjoy some food at Dublin Airport McDonalds before the outlet closed

Two more people have died from the coronavirus and 219 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, bringing the total number of infections to 1,012, of which 471 are in Dublin.

The latest Covid-19 victims are both male and from the east of the country

So far, six people have died here from the virus and there are now 37 clusters of cases.

This is a pivotal week as the daily toll of new cases is expected to escalate, putting hospitals under growing pressure.

Already one of the country's biggest geriatric rehabilitation hospitals is battling to deal with eight confirmed and suspected cases of coronavirus.

Nightmare

Expand Close Practicing social distancing in the Phoenix Park yesterday / Facebook

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Whatsapp Practicing social distancing in the Phoenix Park yesterday

The hospital complex, located in the south, now threatens health chiefs with what a doctor described as "one of the nightmare scenarios we had hoped to avoid".

Public health officials have effectively placed the complex in lockdown. All visitors have been banned - with exceptions only in extreme circumstances.

It's understood that at least four of the patients have tested positive for the coronavirus, while results are awaited on another four.

A number of those confirmed to have the virus are described as extremely vulnerable.

A further problem for health chiefs is that the 90-bed complex effectively acts as a rehab and step-down facility for a number of acute hospitals in the region. As yet, the precise source of the Covid-19 infection is undetermined. Experience in the US, Spain and Italy has shown that the spread of Covid-19 to such geriatric-focused facilities can have tragic consequences.

Separately, more than 30 gardai - including senior management from a garda division - are self-isolating after their colleague tested positive for the.

The mid-ranking officer is suspected of contracting the virus while abroad before returning to work. He later attended a Covid-19 meeting with senior colleagues before he was diagnosed.

That meeting was attended by officers from across a number of stations including the highest ranking garda in the division.

Sources said that, as a result, at least five inspectors and a chief superintendent as well as 26 gardai and sergeants are self-isolating as a precautionary measure.

It's understood there has been no direct impact on day-to-day policing in the area which is located in the Eastern Region.

The news comes as thousands of workers are set to receive a major increase in the 203-a-week emergency coronavirus payment as part of a new income support package during the pandemic.

Sources said the Government was about to announce a "substantial" hike in the Covid-19 social protection payment and is considering a subsidy for employers to keep staff on their payroll. They said details of the package were still under discussion yesterday.

One of the options being examined was subsidising wages by up to 80pc.

Employees who face being laid off or have already been lost their job will benefit from the support expected to be signed off by the Cabinet today. The Government is also set to speed up the payment of rent supplement to people whose incomes have been hit.

However, it is ruling out an amnesty for those who could end up in arrears when the crisis is over.

Ministers believe the means-tested payment for certain people living in private rented accommodation who cannot afford the full cost of their rent can be expedited for the thousands of workers who have been made unemployed in recent days, along with "beefing up" other welfare support.

A senior Government source said rent waivers were not on the table, but that everything was being kept under review as the crisis unfolded.

"Rent supplement should do the job," they said.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will bring emergency legislation before the Dail this week to introduce a moratorium on rent increases and evictions during the crisis.

Meanwhile, fast-food chains and restaurants are closing due to the pandemic.

Concerns over how to ensure people are social distancing - a key measure to reduce the death rate of the virus - have been central to the decisions taken in recent days. Multinational fast-food chain McDonald's closed its doors yesterday at 7pm across Ireland and Britain. It has 95 outlets here.

Safety

McDonald's UK and Ireland chief executive Paul Pomroy said it had become clear "maintaining social distance whilst operating busy takeaway and drive-through restaurants is increasingly difficult".

Subway followed suit, announcing it would close all its outlets at 5pm yesterday.

Supermac's is to close its restaurants by Thursday at 7pm.

Krispy Kreme said it was closing its outlet in Blanchardstown, saying the safety of staff was its number one priority. Starbucks and Costa Coffee are also closing their Irish outlets.
ILION, N.Y.  Remington Arms is offering 1 million square feet of production space to the government for use in the fight against coronavirus.

Following the state mandate to send non-essential workers home last week, Remington Arms shut down production at its Ilion facility.

Remington Arms CEO Ken DArcy said in a video posted to Facebook Monday, Remington is offering President Trump and New York Gov. Cuomo full support to utilize our facility during this crisis.

Cuomo said the state may need to hospitalize upwards of 140,000 patients in less than a month, and is need of 30,000 additional ventilators.

It would be an honor for our company to donate space for the manufacture of mission critical products, such as ventilators, hospital beds or anything else deemed necessary, said DArcy.

View DArcys full statement below:
The isolation ward of coronavirus at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. (Photo- PTI)

Hyderabad: Officially Telangana has just 33 cases of the coronavirus even though Gandhi Hospital and Chest Hospital have asked designated private hospitals to not forward Covid-19 positive cases to them.

Treat cases in your hospital as our hands are full, is the message from health officials at government hospitals. This indicates that there are many more cases though they are not declared positive till the second test says so.

The Gandhi Hospital isolation ward, with 50 beds, is full. Those with severe cough and flu symptoms are kept in isolation and monitored.

The Chest Hospital has over 20 patients. Doctors here worry as there are only 10 ventilators and so more admissions of patients with respiratory illness is risky.

The Fever Hospital's isolation ward has 25 beds; the spillover from Gandhi is to be shifted here.

On Monday morning, those who came in contact with travellers from Covid-19 countries were at Gandhi Hospital for testing.

Isolation wards in designated hospitals like Apollo, Care and Continental are ready and unlike previously, existing patients are not sent onwards to government hospital.

Three hundred auxiliary nurses are to check 628 home-quarantine patients. In case of symptoms, the patients are to report to the nearest hospital, Gandhi or private.

The swab procedure for testing Covid-19 releases aerosols making healthcare workers and the hospital set-up vulnerable.

The outpatient department, diagnostic endoscopy procedures and elective surgeries have been closed in private hospitals.
Loopholes may lead to China's 2nd wave of viral outbreaks

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/23 23:43:40

Loopholes in screening processes at customs and inadequate quarantine measures upon entry into Chinese cities as well as a high proportion of asymptomatic cases are making a second wave of novel coronavirus outbreak highly likely, even inevitable, as the global pandemic continues to worsen. After a new local transmitted case in southern China was reported - the first of its kind exposing loopholes in prevention work in some Chinese cities, the central government's leading work department came up with a new strategy on Monday for preventing imported cases as well as a possible rebound, in spite of domestic transmission being tamed.

Although a drop in new cases is reported on a daily basis, all new cases now are imported infections, sparking serious concerns over a looming second outbreak in China.

Renowned Chinese epidemiologist Li Lanjuan told reporters on Monday that China still faces a severe situation currently due to the surge in imported cases from other countries and regions.

Central China's Hubei Province, where the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in the country, has been reporting no new cases since Wednesday, marking significant progress in combating the disease in the country.

All the new coronavirus cases have been imported infections since Wednesday, and China has so far reported 353 imported infections from countries like the UK, Spain and Iran.

Growing risks

"China is already facing the risk of a second outbreak as the number of imported cases already reached a small peak," Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told the Global Times on Monday.

Luckily for now, China only reported one case of domestic secondary transmission from imported cases, so the situation is still under control, Zeng noted.

Health authorities in South China's Guangdong Province on Sunday reported one patient who contracted the virus from an imported case. Some Chinese medical experts warned that a domestic case infected by an imported case reflects loopholes in local prevention measures and a failure to cut off these transmission channels.

According to contact tracing, this patient in Guangdong had been in close contact with a woman who had returned from Turkey on March 9. On arrival, she had passed temperature checks at the airport and was allowed to return home via a car.

Relevant government departments should spare no efforts to round up those imported cases, and to test all international travelers, in order to prevent secondary transmission of these cases, warned Zeng.

As many imported infections are asymptomatic, with the onset of symptoms mimicking the common cold, this suggested other countries are not paying deserved attention to the pandemic, China's top COVID-19 expert Zhong Nanshan said in a conference earlier this month.

Some overseas experts also warned that covert coronavirus infections could lead to new outbreaks, while scientists are now rushing to estimate the proportion of people with mild or no symptoms who could be spreading the pathogen, according to an article published by Nature on Friday. Also some estimated those covert cases could represent some 60 percent of all infections.

A second wave outbreak in China is probably inevitable until we have a vaccine or effective treatments or prophylaxis, Larry William Chang, an infectious diseases expert at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told the Global Times over the weekend.

"But with intensive testing, contact tracing, and isolation, I think the extent of the wave can be managed," he said.

The Chinese central government's leading work department for steering COVID-19 prevention, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, urged to deploy prevention policies which are now targeting prevention both relapses of domestic cases and increases of imported cases, according to its meeting on Monday.

Ramping up efforts

However, various Chinese medical experts, including Zeng from China's CDC, believed that a second outbreak is unlikely, considering the country's stringent measures and experiences during the past two months in combating the disease.

Wu Zunyou, an expert on epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told China Central Television on Saturday that China has set up three "stages" to crack down on imported infections.

The first stage includes temperature and symptom checks at border entrances, along with examination of travel history in the past 14 days. "This could filter out about one-third of the infections," said Wu. A 14-day quarantine after arrival marks the second stage; and the third stage is inspections from medical organizations on quarantined patients.

Amid mounting pressure in containing imported cases, China's General Administration of Customs said on Monday foreign nationals who conceal information and furnish false information to border officials when entering China will be denied entry as punishment. Meanwhile, customs is closely monitoring vehicles coming from key pandemic countries and regions, and travelers must undergo health examinations at designated places.

Some patients returning from abroad have gone to supermarkets or had dinner with others, raising risks of close human-to-human transmission, Pang Xinghuo, vice director of the Beijing CDC, said during a press conference on Monday.

Observers warned that the most ideal situation was that the country would completely shut its doors to the outside world in preventing imported infections, but China cannnot afford to realize this. "It's inevitable to have imported cases," Liu Yuanju, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, told the Global Times on Monday, "If we enter an absolute lockdown, how do we deal with our export and economic ties?".

Cities in China are now taking aggressive measures tracking case by case, which mainly focuses on isolating confirmed and suspected patients while treating them in a timely manner and tracking down close contacts by all possible means.

Yang Zhanqiu, a virologist from Wuhan University, told the Global Times that if imported infections are not handled properly, or if certain cities adopted lax regulations on international travelers' entry, these factors combined may give rise to localized infections in some cities.

Centralized quarantine is the most effective way to treat all arrivals from overseas, which could eliminate any possible risks, while self-quarantine at home may pose some problems, as some arrivals may have negative results in nucleic acid tests but then transmit the pathogen to others upon returning home, he said.

"So far, Beijing has adopted the most strict centralized quarantine measures and travelers pay for expenses themselves, which could be copied by other cities," Yang noted.

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More than half of Cork businesses are reporting staff reductions, layoffs and reduced working hours due to Covid-19 pandemic.

A survey conducted by Cork Chamber of its members found that 70% of businesses were expecting reductions in their revenue or cashflow.

In terms of supports, there is strong approval for the swift action from Government in their immediate response, with 78% of respondents adding support to maintain these measures, with feedback from business highlighting the need for the robustness to match the situation as it evolves.

There is also strong support at 75% for the deferral of VAT and payroll tax, followed by strong support for the moratorium on commercial rates.

Employment must be protected and Government movement on this is welcome," Cork Chamber Chief Executive Conor Healy said.

Mr Healy said that short-term supports were welcome but in the medium term, the economy needs to be stimulated via capital investment.

We must keep the National Development Plan projects moving forward to ensure the construction sector remains ready for the challenges of housing and infrastructural delivery when the economy recovers," he said.

"We cannot afford to let this sector falter in equivalent to the last downturn or we will compound societal and economic issues all the more.

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Canadas smallest province might just be on the leading edge of technology that could keep more doctors working and fewer patients crowding hospitals in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

In fact, Prince Edward Islands experiments with telehealth  using technology to allow doctors to treat patients from remote locations  stem from a chronic shortage of doctors, especially in its rural areas.

But the lessons learned in those pilot projects could easily be the foundation of programs that would both relieve the pressure on physicians in hospitals, and provide patients and doctors with a necessary distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In early 2018, Paul Young, the administrator for Western Hospital in Alberton, P.E.I., was facing a doctor crisis. Between retirements and pending retirements there werent going to be enough doctors to meet demand. Unless a solution could be found, the facility would have to close.

Searching for virtual health-care solutions, Young had just heard back from the largest telehealth provider in the U.S. They had told him they could not meet Canadas stringent privacy regulations and licensing requirements. They would not be able to operate in Canada.

That had been Youngs last card to play.

That was, to date, the only time that (the situation) has drawn tears to my eyes, said Young. That inevitably was sealing our fate. We had no plan, there was no way forward. That was our lifeline.

The next day, driving to work on no sleep, Young heard on the radio that a company had launched a private virtual primary care business in P.E.I.

The light bulb went on, said Young. (I thought) that if these guys have the ability to have the private industry on P.E.I., they must meet all our provisional federal privacy regulations and security obligations.

Young contacted Dr. Brett Belchetz, a Toronto ER physician and the CEO of Maple, a telehealth company based in Toronto, and floated the idea of adapting Maples private platform to work in a hospital setting. With provincial backing, and a 90-day deadline before they ran out of doctors, a solution was created from scratch.

Young calls the solution they came up with tele-rounding. He believes its the first of its kind in the country.

A cart, wheeled by a nurse makes the rounds of patients. On the cart are a high-definition video monitor, camera and microphone. Physicians log in from remote locations, some from other places in P.E.I., some from locations outside the province. They are connected electronically to the patients medical records, which they can read and update as necessary.

A nurse wheels the cart from patient to patient, and the remote doctor deals with patients as they would in person; hearing complaints, ordering diagnostic tests, making treatment decisions and updating the patients medical records in a provincial database as they go.

A few tools help with that process; notably, a Bluetooth-enabled stethoscope, that, with some help from the attending nurse, allows the doctor to listen to the patients heart remotely.

Doctors and patients alike deemed the project a success and Health P.E.I., the provincial agency responsible for health services on the island, began to look for other applications.

That started to really inspire us to say, Well, we have such a number of different problems in our region. What else and how else could we use this? said Young What else can we fix?

The next problem was a small family practice in Tignish, a rural town near the extreme northwestern tip of P.E.I. Dr. Declan Fox, who came to P.E.I. from Northern Ireland in 2000, and opened the Tignish practice in 2012, was retiring and returning home. Recruitment for such a remote community was going to take some time.

To keep things running until a new physician could be recruited, Fox agreed to continue a trimmed-down version of his practice once a week from semi-retirement in the small town of Newtownstewart, about an hour south of Derry, Northern Ireland.

Whereas he once saw 200 patients a week, his practice was scaled down to one day a week where about 20 patients could come into his Tignish clinic to be treated using essentially the same equipment setup as P.E.I. had used in their tele-rounding. The clinics nurse provided hands-on help, and patient files could be accessed and updated via the internet from Northern Ireland.

We had two big advantages, said Fox. One big advantage was that (patients) knew me, and they knew Tanya, my nurse here, and they knew the secretary. So they were coming to see people they were very familiar with. And they were very happy that we were trying to keep some kind of a service going.

And then as well as that, most of them had heard about the service in the local hospital. So this wasnt kind of totally weird, futuristic stuff. They came in without too much anxiety.

The international telehealth clinic was a hit with Foxs patients. So much so that Health P.E.I. once again began looking for other applications.

With another physician shortage threatening the emergency room at Western Hospital at the beginning of 2020, Young and Maple again adapted the telehealth platform to address the problem.

With Western Hospitals emergency room staffing at one physician per shift  sometimes seeing 30 patients over a single 12-hour shift  wait times in ER, at times, would balloon up to 8-10 hours.

In just shy of four weeks, Young and Belchetz came up with what they called the virtual care emergency department to ease the load in the emergency room and to bridge the gap between shifts.

When a physician is on shift in the ER, a registered nurse on-site performs triage on patients. The triage scale runs from one to five, with one being the most acute cases. Patients with less severe issues  a four or five on the scale  are matched against a set of criteria that determines if their issue is one that can be attended to by a virtual doctor. Those patients are given the option of either waiting for the ER doctor as usual, with a wait time of 4-10 hours, or seeing a virtual doctor within minutes.

If a patient chooses the latter  most do  they are taken to a room with a set-up much like the tele-rounding cart, and an online ER physician deals with their issue, supported by a registered nurse in the emergency department.

Using this approach, Westerns ER wait times were drastically reduced. Patients that might have had to wait hours for treatment were sometimes treated and released in an hour. And according to Young, the load on the attending ER physician was significantly reduced during peak periods.

There are limitations to the uses of virtual health care. It cannot, for example, replace anything a doctor needs to do hands-on that requires specialized training. So, whereas listening to a patients heart or lungs during a regular checkup could be accomplished virtually by a Bluetooth-enabled stethoscope with the help of a nurse, something like listening for a heart murmur might require the patient to be sent to a live, local doctor.

But the new value in these virtual health-care applications is that they can be rolled out quickly and widely to aid in health care during a coronavirus crisis.

Virtual health-care technology can be used not only to limit the number of patients coming in to hospitals  which in turn limits infection spread, and decreases the burden on those hospitals  but also to keep critical health-care workers on the job. In many cases, it can also keep physicians in the mix who are forced to self-isolate.

Dr. Ed Brown is the CEO of Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), a not-for-profit, government-funded virtual health-care network. In 2019, OTN logged 1.2 million video consultations, mostly with specialists seeing patients.

The big picture is that during an epidemic like this, you really dont want people having to go to a hospital or a doctors office unless its necessary. Virtual care cant handle everything, obviously. But theres a lot of health care that it can deliver. And so its become a really important part of this whole response to the outbreak.

OTN already had 14,000 physicians on its roster as doctors who were able to provide virtual health care in some form. Since March 1, with the encouragement of the Ontario Medical Association, and boosted by new, temporary billing codes in Ontario for virtual health care, 4,430 new physicians have signed up to provide virtual care.

Its kind of a perfect storm, in a way, said Brown. We kind of know where it works and where it doesnt work. We have the technology in place, and were able to scale (up) very quickly.

I think the timing is very good for people to really adopt virtual care in a serious way and make it part of the health system, he said. My feeling  is that at some point, there will probably be more care delivered virtually than in person and unfortunately, this pandemic is probably going to make that come true.

Correction  March 26, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name of the virtual emergency department created earlier this year at the Western Hospital. As well, a registered nurse performs triage on patients who come to the ER. There is no advanced-care paramedic on site as stated in the earlier version.
A security guard has taken over social media at the National Cowboy Museum and has won an army of fans with his charming puns and crooked selfies.

With several employees of the museum in Oklahoma working from home due to illness or self-isolation from coronavirus, social media duties fell to their head of security.

The employee, who identified himself as Tim, admitted in his first tweet that he is new to Twitter but excited to post, and often enlisted the help of his grandchildren.

In Tim's tweets he used puns about the exhibits as well as some of the celebrities he has met during his time at the museum, which closed to the public on March 12 following advice about cancelling mass gatherings.

He had trouble getting to grips with the museum's selfie station, eventually posting a picture of himself kneeling down.

Security guard Tim shared a picture of himself with actor Kevin Costner at the Western Heritage Awards

Tim praised the 'quality mustache' of actor Sam Elliot in a tweet from the official account of the National Cowboy Museum on Monday

Some are of his posts are educational and gave social media users a glimpse of the museum's displays.

Other messages documented Tim's wholesome attempts to get to grips with the finer points of social media.

In two tweets posted on Monday, Tim shared pictures of himself with actors Kevin Costner and Sam Elliott, who he praised for having a 'quality mustache'.

He also gave all his tweets their own hashtag, #HashtagTheCowboy, in which he wrote out the word in full and signed off each post with 'Thanks, Tim'. He also finished some tweets by writing 'send'.

Alongside a picture of Tim with Elliot at last year's Western Heritage Awards, he wrote: 'Sam Elliott. He got swarmed just trying to walk down the hall. Asked if he needed any help and he said that's what he signed up for. Quality mustache. #HashtagTheCowboy Thanks, Tim.'

Tim tweeted a series of puns about exhibits at the cowboy museum in Oklahoma City

From the same event, Tim wrote about his meeting with Costner, and joked there was no dancing or wolves at the awards ceremony.

He wrote: 'Got to meet Kevin Costner at last year's Western Heritage Awards. He was very funny. Unfortunately there's no dancing at the awards or wolves. #HashtagTheCowboy Thanks, Tim.'

Another tweet saw Tim compare a picture in the museum with Ryan Gosling.

He said: 'Walking through the Dorothea Lange Exhibition and this photo caught my eye. It's called Man with Cap from 1934. Doesn't he kind of look like that kid from that movie The Notebook? Tina, my wife, made me watch it. #HashtagTheCowboy Thanks, Tim.'

One of his most popular tweets, which have also been shared on the museum's official Instagram and Facebook pages, was a pun about a chaps exhibit.

Tim said: 'Want to borrow some lip balm? You're looking kind of chapped! Lucas, my grandson, didn't think it was that funny, but I think you guys will LOL. #HashtagTheCowboy Thanks, Tim.'

Tim's tweet from the National Cowboy Museum account about 'that kid from The Notebook' in which he believes he has found a lookalike for Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling during 'Half Nelson' in Beverly Hills, California. Tim said he believes he found a lookalike for Gosling in a picture at the National Cowboy Museum

Many of Tim's tweets reference 'Seth in marketing' who presumably gave him a crash course in social media essentials, but left out basic Internet practices.

With a picture of a sculpture at the museum, Tim wrote: 'Here's a sculpture by Frederic Remington called The Bronco Buster cast in 1918. What do you guys think of it? Seth in marketing told me that asking questions on the social media is good for ''engagement.'' Let's get engaged! LOL! Thanks, Tim I'm very happily married to Tina though.'

Other tweets from the official museum account were directed solely at his grandchildren and his requests for help with social media.

Last Friday Tim tweeted: 'Good night, Lucas and Keira. Have cowboy dreams!'

Not long after taking the reigns of the account, Tim tweeted, 'Twitter tips, please', before realizing his mistake and adding in a separate post, 'Sorry, thought I was Googling that. Thanks, Tim'.

His tweets have drawn hundreds of fans to the account, many from outside the state and even the US.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) chairs the meeting in Hanoi on March 23 (Photo: VNA)

Chairing the meeting between the Governments permanent members and the national steering committee for the COVID-19 fight, he said in this third phase, there are more people in quarantine.

Citing the Health Ministry as predicting that the outbreak will reach its peak in Vietnam in about late April, he voiced concern about the fact that large gatherings still occur. Besides, there are also infection risks among those at quarantine centres.

Requesting stronger actions, PM Phuc ordered close control of exit and entry by road, railway and air be continued, concentrated quarantine pushed ahead regardless of how much it costs the State, self-quarantine ensured in line with regulations, and safety for medical workers and other staff engaging in the combat guaranteed.

He stressed that the next 20  25 days are a big challenge to the fight in the country, so concerted and stronger measures must be taken.

The leader appreciated moves by all-level authorities, sectors and the whole political system in the recent past, considering the unanimity, joint efforts, seriousness and robustness, particularly the coordination from the public, as critically important to the fight.

PM Phuc further requested unnecessary services, especially restaurant and karaoke ones, to be shut down so as to minimise crowded gatherings, and called on places of worship not to organise events with a large number of people.

Regarding air transportation, he assigned the Ministry of Transport to take effective measures, even banning flights to Vietnam if necessary, while closely controlling domestic flights as well as rail and road transport to prevent virus spread.

He also told the Ministry of Health to promptly purchase quick test kits and carry out rapid testing at quarantine centres and in the community to screen infected people and minimise infection risks.

As of March 23 evening, the number of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam had reached 122, 17 of whom have recovered.
As Wisconsin residents and businesses prepare for a statewide shelter-in-place order to combat the spread of COVID-19, some of Kenosha Countys largest employers are keeping essential employees on the job.

Although details of what Gov. Tony Evers called a safer at home order were not yet available Monday, Evers is expected to order that non-essential businesses shut down and most Wisconsin residents stay at home on Tuesday.

In other states that have issued similar orders, transportation and warehousing businesses have joined businesses like health care and grocery stores as essential businesses

In Kenosha County, the two largest private employers are Amazon and Uline, and both are expected to continue operating.

Amazon announced it was hiring 700 additional workers at its Kenosha warehouse to keep up with demand.

In a formal statement, a spokesman for Uline said the company has been working with the federal government to distribute supplies related to the COVID-19 response, including masks, specimen bags and protective clothing.

In repeated incidents in the 10 days, at the direct request of the administration, we made substantial overnight shipments to end users including many drug stores, health providers and hospitals, the company stated.

According to the company, warehouse workers and customer service workers remain on the job at Uline, but the balance of the employees at the corporate headquarters in Pleasant Prairie were told Friday that they would be working from home.

Uline was the focus of criticism after The New York Times reported over the weekend that employees had been complaining that they were working in tight quarters despite the virus.

According to the New York Times, employees received an email from the Uihlein family, which owns the company, thanking them and saying the White House called upon us twice with huge orders.

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The Navy announced Tuesday that three sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Pacific had tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed cases of the disease on a Navy ship underway.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told reporters in a Pentagon briefing that the three sailors were in quarantine on the carrier and being airlifted from the ship on Tuesday and flown to a Defense Department hospital. But the announcement raises the specter of one of the Navys most iconic vessels, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with more than 5,000 sailors aboard, suffering the same fate as the numerous cruise liners on which the disease spread out of control in recent months.

The Roosevelts most recent port call was in Danang, Vietnam, 15 days previously, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday. He said Adm. Phil Davidson, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, allowed that visit to occur because in late February, early March, when he made the decision, Vietnam had only 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases and they were clustered around the capital, Hanoi, about 375 miles north of Danang. This was a very risk-informed decision, Gilday said.

Gilday cautioned against assuming that the three sailors contracted the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 during the port visit, noting that aircraft have flown back and forth to the carrier from land since the visit. We took great precautions when the crew came back from that shore period to do enhanced medical screening of the crew, Gilday said. All port visits for Navy ships are now canceled, other than when required for maintenance and resupply, in which cases sailors are really limited to the pier, period, he said.

U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. (Bullit Marquez/AP)

The infected sailors are suffering from body aches and fever but we wouldnt necessarily characterize them as requiring hospitalization, he said, but we are rapidly removing them from the ship and flying them to a location he would only describe as a Defense Department hospital in the Pacific region. Meanwhile, staff on the ship are tracing their contacts to isolate them and contain the outbreak. Gilday said he did not know how many sailors are in isolation on the carrier.

Story continues

The Roosevelts crew are also doing the best they can to maintain social distancing, according to Gilday, who said that the Navy is weighing next steps in a deliberate, day-to-day fashion. We are not in a position right now to say that we have to pull that ship in or to take that ship off the front line, he said.

Navy Surgeon General Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham said the Roosevelt does not have the facilities aboard to run tests for COVID-19, only to take nose or throat swabs that are then flown to a Defense Department testing facility. It was not clear when the three sailors had actually been swabbed or how long it had taken for the ship to get the results.

The three sailors on the Roosevelt are the Navys first confirmed COVID-19 cases aboard an active ship, but they are unlikely to be the last. About a third of the Navy is at sea right now, Gilday said.

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In the frigid waters 1,500 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of human-sized Humboldt squid feed on a patch of finger-length lantern fish. Zipping past each other, the predators move with exceptional precision, never colliding or competing for prey.

How do they establish such order in the near-darkness of the ocean's twilight zone?

The answer, according to researchers from Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) may be visual communication. Like the illuminated words on an e-book reader, these researchers suggest that the squid's ability to subtly glow - using light-producing organs in their muscles - can create a backlight for shifting pigmentation patterns on their skin. The creatures may be using these changing patterns to signal one another.

The research is published March 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Many squid live in fairly shallow water and don't have these light-producing organs, so it's possible this is a key evolutionary innovation for being able to inhabit the open ocean," said Benjamin Burford, a graduate student in biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford and lead author of the paper. "Maybe they need this ability to glow and display these pigmentation patterns to facilitate group behaviors in order to survive out there."

Seeing the deep sea

Humboldt squid behavior is nearly impossible to study in captivity, so researchers must meet them where they live. For this research, Bruce Robison of MBARI, who is senior author of the paper, captured footage of Humboldt squid off the coast of California using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), or unmanned, robotic submarines.

While the ROVs could record the squid's skin patterning, the lights the cameras required were too bright to record their subtle glow, so the researchers couldn't test their backlighting hypothesis directly. Instead, they found supporting evidence for it in their anatomical studies of captured squid.

Using the ROV footage, the researchers analyzed how individual squid behaved when they were feeding versus when they were not. They also paid attention to how these behaviors changed depending on the number of other squid in the immediate area - after all, people communicate differently if they are speaking with friends versus a large audience.

The footage confirmed that squid's pigmentation patterns do seem to relate to specific contexts. Some patterns were detailed enough to imply that the squid may be communicating precise messages - such as "that fish over there is mine." There was also evidence that their behaviors could be broken down into distinct units that the squid recombine to form different messages, like letters in the alphabet. Still, the researchers emphasize that it is too early to conclude whether the squid communications constitute a human-like language.

"Right now, as we speak, there are probably squid signaling each other in the deep ocean," said Burford, who is affiliated with the Denny lab at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station. "And who knows what kind of information they're saying and what kind of decisions they're making based on that information?"

Although these squid can see well in dim light, their vision is probably not especially sharp, so the researchers speculated that the light-producing organs help facilitate the squid's visual communications by boosting the contrast for their skin patterning. They investigated this hypothesis by mapping where these light organs are located in Humboldt squid and comparing that to where the most detailed skin patterns appear on the creatures.

They found that the areas where the illuminating organs were most densely packed - such as a small area between the squid's eyes and the thin edge of their fins - corresponded to those where the most intricate patterns occurred.

Familiar aliens

In the time since the squid were filmed, ROV technology has advanced enough that the team could directly view their backlighting hypothesis in action the next time the squid are observed in California. Burford would also like to create some sort of virtual squid that the team could project in front of real squid to see how they respond to the cyber-squid's patterns and movements.

The researchers are thrilled with what they have found so far but eager to do further research in the deep sea. Although studying the inhabitants of the deep sea where they live can be a frustratingly difficult endeavor, this research has the potential to inform a new understanmetimes think of squid as crazy lifeforms living in this alien world but we have a lot in common - they live in groups, they're social, they talkding of how life functions.

"We so to one another," Burford said. "Researching their behavior and that of other residents of the deep sea is important for learning how life may exist in alien environments, but it also tells us more generally about the strategies used in extreme environments on our own planet."

###

This work was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Department of Biology at Stanford.
Parents of children eligible for free school meals have been targeted by fraudsters amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Families across the country have received an email asking them to send over their bank details so that their child can still receive meals during school closures.

The Department for Education (DfE) has issued a warning to councils and schools which urges parents to delete the scam email immediately.

Headteachers, who have been making arrangements to ensure that children eligible for free school meals still receive food while they are at home, have been left horrified by the scam.

Schools are currently working out how to best support around 1.3m children who are entitled to free school meals during the coronavirus outbreak.

Guidance from the DfE says: We have been informed that some parents have received an email stating the following: As schools will be closing, if youre entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and well make sure youre supported.

We can confirm that this is a scam email and is not official. We urge parents that if you receive any emails like this, please do not respond, and delete it immediately.

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: We are horrified to hear about this scam email and would urge anybody who receives this communication to delete it immediately and certainly not to supply bank details.

Last week, the government announced that schools would be able to provide meals or vouchers for supermarkets and shops to ensure children entitled to free school dinners still received food during closures.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said no child who would usually be eligible for the free meals should go without while their school is closed or they are self-isolating.

Schools would be able to order vouchers directly from supermarkets and shops to be emailed, or printed and posted to families, with costs covered by the DfE, the government said.

Ms McCulloch added: Schools have put in place arrangements for providing free school meals to eligible children whether they are at home or in school.

"They are waiting on details of a national scheme which we would like to see implemented as soon as possible as this would mean one less pressure on schools.

A spokesperson for school leaders' union NAHT said: "This is reprehensible behaviour. The coronavirus crisis has shown some of the best of humanity, and unfortunately, some of the worst. This is definitely in the latter category.

"Anyone seeking to scam, steal or extort at a time of national crisis should feel the full force of the law. Nobody needs to hand over their bank details in order to get free school meals support from the government.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Guyanese who have found themselves stranded in St. Maarten following the worldwide outbreak of the novel corona virus COVID-19, which led to the grounding of flights, are being asked to make urgent contact with the Guyana Consulate on the island.

The contact number for the Consulate is (721)527-0704 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Honorary Consul Mrs. Kim Lucas-Felix has been in contact with officials of the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who are advising that the number of persons stranded is needed. Please note that all that is being done at this time is documenting stranded Guyanese. Persons stranded should establish contact with the Consulate to allow for the recording of their details in our database.

To date, fewer than 10 persons have contacted the Consulate indicating that they are stranded. Some persons reported that they were turned back from the Princess Juliana International Airport on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 because Caribbean Airlines has cancelled all flights. This coincided with the closure of the airports in Trinidad and Tobago, through which passengers heading to Guyana must in-transit, and Guyana in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Persons contacting the Consulate must note that this message is only for ticketed passengers needing to return home. In order to process the information, please WhatsApp or email a copy of the travelers passport biodata page and a picture of the itinerary. Once the number of persons has been ascertained, all will be notified of the decision of the Government of Guyana.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the Afghan capital yesterday on a previously unannounced visit to try to salvage a historic deal between Washington and the Taliban, struck in February but marred by a political feud.

Mr Pompeo visited Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at his palace, before meeting his political rival Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom say they are Afghanistan's rightful leader following a disputed election in September.

Their stand-off has stalled the selection of a negotiating team to represent the Afghan government in planned talks with the Taliban. A senior State Department official said that the purpose of Mr Pompeo's visit was to try to mediate a solution between the two men.

Mr Pompeo was scheduled to hold meetings with both together.
DJ Khaled is self-isolating with his family at his waterfront Miami estate during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 44-year-old mogul was spotted stepping outside to take a phone call on Sunday and flashing a bit of his belly in the process.

On social media, the former Weight Watchers spokesman revealed that after taking a break from the gym, he's 'back it' and getting in multiple work outs a day.

Staying home: DJ Khaled is self-isolating with his family at his waterfront Miami estate during the coronavirus pandemic and said on social media that he is hitting the gym twice a day to 'lift his spirits.'

'I ain't been to the gym in a while,' the star said into the camera as he worked hard on the elliptical.

'I'm back at it though,' he continued while working up a sweat. 'I am back at it.'

DJ Khaled is quite literally doubling down on his efforts too, he explained that he's getting in work outs twice a day in the morning and, again, before bed.

During his Instagram Story video, Khaled was about 35 minutes into his sweat session and told that camera that while he is staying home the exercise is helping him stay positive.

Getting some fresh air: The 44-year-old mogul was spotted stepping outside to take a phone call on Sunday and flashing a bit of his belly in the process

Healthy living! On social media, the former Weight Watchers spokesman revealed that after taking a break from the gym, he's 'back it' and getting in multiple work outs a day

On brand: Back in 2018, Weight Watchers (WW) revealed that they had hired DJ Khaled to be a social media spokesperson for their healthy lifestyle brand

'I need this, it's lifted up my spirits,' he quipped.

Back in 2018, Weight Watchers (WW) revealed that they had hired DJ Khaled to be a social media spokesperson for their healthy lifestyle brand.

He had lost some 40 plus lbs by 2019 but, as he admitted in his recent Instagram, he's definitely gotten lax when it came to working out.

Along with his wife Nicole and their two sons, the record producer is sheltering in place at his 25 million dollar home in Miami.

'I ain't been to the gym in a while,' the star said into the camera as he worked hard on the elliptical. 'I'm back at it though. I am back at it.'

Doubling down: The record exec told fans during a video posted to his Instagram Story that he is working out in the mornings and again before bed

'I need this, it's lifted up my spirits,' he quipped.

He shared with fans what the gang is up to while isolating, which included Zoom video conferencing to stay in touch and catching up on Netflix.

It also appears that the family is still eating quite well, as the mogul shared snaps of expertly prepared plates.

The precautions that Khaled is taking to social distance is necessary to mitigate the spread of novel coronavirus which is spreading across the globe.

His home state of Florida had not issued a shelter in place mandate, however, as of Tuesday, Miami Beach has directed residents with a 'stay at home' order.
Only weeks ago, thousands of borrowers were rushing to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates. Refinance applications soared over 400% annually, and homebuyers were out early and in force.

Now some of those loans are stuck in limbo as the in-person closing process can no longer be held because of the coronavirus pandemic.

State, county and local governments have shut down or are limiting the number of people who may enter their offices, including property recording centers.

That puts the whole system at risk, as title insurers are less able to conduct the research that goes into issuing a policy. The ability to record documents is also getting tougher as county recording offices close.

"We are working with many of our industry partners to track information about county recording office closures, their e-recording capabilities and whether counties have online services that allow the completion of title work and electronic recording," said Diane Tomb, CEO of the American Land Title Association.

Currently, nearly 2,100 counties provide some electronic access to their property records, but that means about a third of the jurisdictions still don't have the ability to accept digital documents, according to Tomb.

"While they may allow for electronic recording, many jurisdictions do not provide access to records online. The biggest holdup to bringing county governments to the digital age has been time and money," she added.

One large lender explained that it's a bit of a moving target now and varies by state. Where title companies are still open, the closings are proceeding as is. In some areas, they are partnering with third parties to arrange video closings.

In an effort to get the whole system moving, Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act of 2020. It permits immediate nationwide use of Remote Online Notarizations, a type of electronic notarization where the notary and signer are in different physical locations.

"At a time like this, when we have perhaps, for many people, really a once-in-a-lifetime refinancing opportunity, they could miss out on that because of social distancing  miss out on that because you can't get a group of people in a room, that would be a great tragedy," said Cramer. "Marketwide you have financial institutions participating, you have a major consumer piece, and the consumer drives the market in this country, plus you're going to move a lot of product a lot better."

Right now, 23 states allow remote electronic notarization, but there is pushback from some that are concerned about states' rights. They consider this a federal mandate. California, which has one of the most active and valuable real estate markets in the country, is one of those states.

"We've had some resistance from senators from those states that feel like even with the interstate commerce clause this would force something on them they're not ready to accept."

Already other parts of the mortgage process have shifted to accommodate social distancing. The FHFA this week directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to change some underwriting guidelines, including allowing appraisal alternatives that would reduce the need for appraisers to enter the home for inspection. These are commonly called drive-by appraisals, where the appraisal uses data about the house available online.

The FHFA said: "In the event lenders cannot obtain verbal verification of the borrower's employment before loan closing, the Enterprises will allow lenders to obtain verification via an e-mail from the employer, a recent year-to-date pay stub from the borrower, or a bank statement showing a recent payroll deposit."

It did emphasize that lenders should continue to utilize sound underwriting judgment, "to ensure these alternatives are appropriate to the borrower's circumstances."
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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:09 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d2ed80 1 National Iwan-Dwiprahasto,UGM,Gadjah-Mada-University,Panut-Mulyono,COVID-19,pharmacy Free

Iwan Dwiprahasto, a pharmacology professor at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) medical school, Yogyakarta, passed away at around 12 a.m. on Tuesday after battling with COVID-19 at the Dr. Sardjito General Hospital.

Several medical officers wearing protective suits later placed Iwan in his final resting place at the UGM burial ground in Sawit Sari, Yogyakarta, at around 9 a.m. The officers sprayed disinfectant on the soil surrounding his grave when the funeral was over.

The university also held a funeral service in honor of the 58-year-old professors dedication to medical science development in Indonesia, which was attended by dozens of people wearing masks and also broadcast live via the universitys official Instagram account.

The larger family of UGM are mourning over Iwans passing today since he was one of the best pharmacology experts in Indonesia, said UGM rector Panut Mulyono during the funeral on Tuesday.

Panut said that Iwan had always encouraged fellow medical experts to refer to scientific evidence to improve the quality of public health in the country. His concern, Panut added, stemmed from the fact that many people consumed drugs and medication outside of doctors recommendations.

This happens because medical professionals in developing countries fail to keep up with the latest pharmacology information. As a result, many pharmaceutical corporations have exploited the situation by giving doctors false information regarding their drugs or medicines, Panut said, noting that this message had also been conveyed by Iwan during his professorial inauguration on Jan. 7, 2008.

However, God has called him before he could see medical professionals not being deceived by pharmaceutical companies anymore, he added.

Iwan was rushed to the hospital on March 15 and later confirmed as the second COVID-19 case in the province.

According to administration data, there are currently five COVID-19 patients in the province while 86 others have been tested. (glh)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that no new coronavirus case has been reported in the national capital in last 24 hours. The biggest challenge, he said on Twitter, is not to let the situation go out of control.

No new case has been reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours. Five people have been discharged from hospitals after getting treatment. But we should not be happy. The biggest challenge now is to not let situation go out of control, we need your support, Kejriwal said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Also Watch | Coronavirus: Delhi CM announces complete lockdown till March 31

Delhi has joined 30 states and union territories in clamping down on public transport, gatherings and other non-essential activity by appealing to people that social distancing is the sole weapon against Covid-19 entering a full-blown community transmission stage. In this phase of a public health crisis, an individuals infection cant be traced to its source.

More on Covid-19:

 Your guide to staying safe

 What you need to know today

 How difficult it is to maintain 1-metre distance

 How coronavirus is different from seasonal flu and common cold

Public transport services, shops, markets, religious places, privates offices, commercial establishments and factories are not being allowed to function in Delhi till March 31. The Delhi Police have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), banning gatherings.

The drastic measures followed sweeping lockdown announcements by the Centre on Sunday. The central government has suspended trains, inter-state buses and Metro rail services across the country till March 31 and locked down about 80 districts. On Monday, the central government directed the states to strictly enforce the lockdown and take legal actions against violators.

The railway stations mostly wore a deserted look, with the alighting passengers heading out the only ones to be seen apart from the railway employees. Many of them walked to the nearest bus terminals, which were also shut. Delhi is served by three inter-state bus terminals  Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar  and thousands of buses depart from these terminals every day.

A large number of the people stranded at some of these terminals belonged to Nepal and were returning from states such as Karnataka and Kerala.

While streets in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad were largely deserted, there was a build-up at the borders which posed a security and public health challenge to the authorities. The police could be seen telling people that they would issue challans to book violators and using loudspeakers to warn those getting into debates.
Baker Discusses Genesis of 'Essential' Business List

BOSTON  As the state order to close "non-essential" businesses went into effect on Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker addressed criticism that the commonwealth's definition of "essential" is overly broad.

"The essential operation portfolio we put out builds off a national standard that every other state that heads down this road has used as a baseline," Baker said in response to a question at a noon news conference. "I don't know what the crossover would be between states, but I would put it north of 90 percent."

Baker said the list of essential operations published by his administration is "well defined and user-friendly," and he specifically addressed the inclusion of the construction trade on the list of businesses that can continue operation after Monday's order.

He said that in some cases, temporary shutdowns of construction projects could mean permanently suspending the project. And when it comes to housing in particular, the commonwealth needs housing too much to put such projects in jeopardy.

"No one disputes the fact that we have a housing problem in Massachusetts," Baker said in response to a question from the sparsely populated press room. "There's a lot of housing construction going on. To potentially lose all of that new housing for the housing stock would be a tremendous loss.

"There is public construction going on that needs to be completed  a lot of it has to do with expanding infrastructure that needs to be continued and finished."

Baker was asked specifically about concerns that social-distancing protocols are not being employed on construction sites and answered that the administration is working on specific guidance for the industry.

"There absolutely needs to be guidance and standards in place with regard to safety," he said.

Baker said on Tuesday that there have been 9,000 COVID-19 tests conducted in private and state labs as of noon, up from 6,000 on Sunday. He also reported that 10 additional labs have testing processes up and running.

"As the number of tests goes up, we will expect the number of positive tests to go up as well," Baker said. "If you have questions about tests for yourself or your family, if you're showing symptoms, stay home and begin by contacting your provider."

Baker reiterated that the first point of contact should be by telephone and that the commonwealth has approved telehealth services as a defined benefit in Massachusetts.

Another development to come out of Tuesday's update was the creation of a text alert service for Massachusetts residents.

Anyone looking for the latest information or updates from the state's COVID-19 Response Command Center can text "covidma" to 888-777.

"We're not looking to bombard folks and add to the information overload everyone already feels," Baker said. "Most days we may only push one or two messages.

"But it may provide relief from staying glued to your television all day."

Baker also Tuesday addressed the delay in Washington, D.C., in passing an economic relief package.

He noted that states  unlike the federal government  are constrained by the need to have balanced budgets. Congress has the ability to deficit spend in the event of emergencies and needs to take the lead in responding to the crisis, particularly the economic impact of the public health measures taken to slow the spread of the virus.

Baker called the partisan bickering in Washington "appalling" but not surprising.

"I've seen governors shift their focus to the task at hand without the slightest economic bent," Baker said. "I think it's possible for D.C., to do so also if they put their minds to it. This kind of partisan behavior is simply not an option.

"It may take a little longer than it should  in fact, it already has  for Washington to come around, but I'm confident it will."
Will God Protect Us from Pestilence?

Psalm 91 was used by Satan to tempt Jesus in the desert (see Matthew 4:5-7). The Devil said that surely Jesus could place Himself in the way of harm in order to demonstrate the rescuing power of God. But Satan misused Gods Word, removing it from the context of the whole and unity of Scripture. Jesus, honoring Scripture, responded that God is not to be put to the test. Careless behavior is not condoned by Godand neither is misuse of Scripture.

Learning from Jesus, then, we also must handle Scripture well in our times. That God is our refuge, comfort, and shade amidst pandemic does not mean that if we believe in Jesus Christ we have physical immunity to COVID-19all credible commentators agree.

However, verses in this Psalm do appear to promise present, bodily deliverance from pestilence. The word pestilence means any sudden fatal epidemic or pandemic, and in its Biblical use it generally indicates that these are divine visitations. The word is most frequently used in the prophetic books. Consider, for example, verses 3 and 6: For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence and You will not fear . . . the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. How do we faithfully interpret those statements?

Israelite Context

First, we can remember Gods covenants with Israel, in which God promises abundance as the nation is faithful. As listeners of this psalm commit themselves to God, He would give success in their purpose of inhabiting the promised land and being Gods beacon to the nations. As they trusted, no pestilence would keep the Israelite army from defeating its enemies and from becoming the nation God promised.

Consider Exodus 19:4-6a, which contains similar imagery to Psalm 91 of Gods protective wing:

"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

The psalm does not promise, then, that no Israelite would ever become ill. God promised that no pandemic would keep them from being the nation He foretold they would become. And the ones who would become ill and pass from this life are not excluded from the promises of God for Israel that will be fulfilled at the end of this age.

Other Interpretive Considerations

Three other interpretive notes can be considered concerning Gods deliverance from pestilence.

Perhaps this deliverance refers to a wide range of persistent attacks, including spiritualand not necessarily always referring to illnesses. In this case, pestilence would be a figure for various evils literally meaning plagues of mischiefs, as stated in the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.

The deliverance promised can involve spiritual deliverance and protection for those who trust the Lord in the midst of these outward difficulties. As J. A. Motyer states, the promise is not security from but security in (emphasis in original).

The deliverance could also refer to future glory. Tremper Longmann writes, Christians can pray Psalm 91, knowing that God is with them in the spiritual battle of this life and that, in Christ, God will give them eternal life.

What Is Gods Deliverance?

To apply this to deliverance amidst COVID-19, we can glean the following principles:

1. We know from the wider testimony of Scripture that Gods promised deliverance is spiritual in the present, while being spiritual and bodily in the age to come.

2. We know that in Gods common grace in this world and in His Fatherly love for believers, all bodily healing that does happen in this life is from His generous hand.

3. We know that Gods plans for this world are secureHis plans for Israel, as well as His plans for the Church and all believers.

Photo credit: Getty Images Plus/ismagilov
The United States conducted military exercises with Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today and Monday despite the global coronavirus pandemic.

The Associated Press reported that American and Emirati forces went ahead with the biennial Native Fury exercise on Monday, which involved thousands of troops storming an imaginary city at al-Hamra military base in the UAE.

And today, the United States and Israeli air forces went ahead with a joint exercise involving F-35 fighter jets. Israel permitted the drill despite the country-wide quarantine because it involved no physical ground contact.

Why it matters: The UAE exercise, which takes place every two years, was carried out less than 200 miles from Iran, where tensions have boiled over in recent months following the US strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this year. The area where al-Hamra base lies is also home to vast oil reserves and a nuclear power plant.

For its part, the Israel Defense Forces said they characterized the aerial drill with the United States as part of its general training schedule, rather than a response to any particular threat.

Whats next: While the UAE exercise concluded Monday, the aerial drill with Israel is scheduled to last through Thursday.

Know more: While the coronavirus outbreak did not deter the United States from conducting its previously scheduled military drills, the pandemic has forced temporary adjustments in the mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Notably, the United States has pulled out troops from Iraq who had previously been training Iraqi security forces, as Bryant Harris reported on Monday.
It was an office memorandum with an innocuous title: Preventive measures to contain the spread of Covid-19. In reality, though, it was a critical notice -- of curtailed but effective government functioning that applied not just to ministries but all public-sector undertakings and autonomous institutions.

And it detailed the governments Plan B to keep the business of governance going.

In these uncharted times, when whole communities have been shut down and the Union government itself is hunkering down, the countrys leaders and bureaucrats are not flying blind in the fog of a globally unprecedented pandemic.

In running a nation of its size and to remain effectively in charge, while enforcing social distancing within the government, the Centre is working off the plan.

The plan, which enforces social distancing, was vetted at multiple levels and signed off on by the two top bureaucratic establishments, the Cabinet secretariat and the ministry of personnel, according to details provided by at least five government officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

HT reviewed some routine tasks, such as agenda-setting and approvals, performed during normal times by departments, but more onerously now, to gauge how a heavy-set central government is still running its business.

The highest priority in day-to-day administration is to assist states, keep some of the largest federally funded national programmes running and run all divisions involved in financial decision-making, one official said. Steering schemes, such as PM-KISAN in agriculture (a cash transfer scheme aimed at farmers) and metro rail under urban development ministry, has been classified as essential.

As the lockdown became certain, the National Informatics Centre worked urgently to configure software and fix remote access to dedicated management information softwares (MIS), the massive IT platforms that run the largest national schemes, such as PM KISAN, direct benefit transfers, subsidies and national pensions. Lockdown or no lockdown, people dependant on such payments have to get them.

The remote access is through internet connections from state-owned telecom firms, but private-owned leased lines have been kept as back-up, a second official said.

In Indias federal structure, subjects are divided by the countrys Constitution to be divided between states and the Centre. Its the official work on the long list of central subjects, from aviation to national security, that various ministries and their line departments must keep going.

Yet, in important fields with a dual Centre-state jurisdiction, such as agriculture and health, the Centres role is no less critical.

Information during this critical time may be imperfect. Working hours may be longer. Staff may be less. But the government is not flying blind, a third official, at the level of additional secretary-level , said.

The first step in devising the plan mentioned above, which was given shape starting March 14-15, was to prune the unessential or non-critical, a fourth official said. One example is tasks that dont involve financial approval.

Second, each ministry communicated its own plans to the Cabinet Secretariat; these were vetted several times before the final roadmap was sent to the highest levels for approval, the second official said.

On March 20, the ministry of personnel (order no. F.No. 11013/9/2014-Estt A-III), following up on two trial orders issued by it on March 17 and 19, asked a set of intermediate-level employees known as group B and C to be rostered to work in alternating batches.

This was the start of a trial in social distancing within the government. In that notice, all consultants, who provide critical inputs for decision-making and many of whom are retired bureaucrats, above the age of 60 (and therefore considered vulnerable to the disease), were asked to work from home.

Finally, came the definitive notice to all ministries, the Prime Ministers Office and the National Informatics Centre, the governments IT arm, was sent out from North Block on March 22. Sujata Chaturvedi, who is additional secretary to the government of India, signed off on it.

This was the Plan B.

It asked heads of departments to draw up a roster of staff (all officers and employees, including consultants/contract and outsourced employees) who are required to render essential services within each department. They alone may be asked to attend office from 23rd March to 31st March, 2020. What is considered essential was the discretion of each secretary of departments functioning under each Union minister, who was also required to approve it. The order did not apply to any employee on the Centres rolls tasked with any activity directly or indirectly related to fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

What the rest of India didnt know at the time was that this notice would be followed by a similar advisory to all states through chief secretaries from the Centre. It is this advisory that became the basis of many states going into nearly simultaneous lockdowns till March 31, the federally determined cut-off date for the first phase of the shutdown, the third official said.

So, how has government day-to-day functioning changed and how are decisions being taken now in a rapidly alarming public-health scenario?

A mandatory daily task in all ministries, critical because it involves agenda-setting, decision-making and review, is a conference known as senior officers meeting. The jargon for it in ministries is SOM. Usually, its one of the first businesses in a ministry although it can be held any time of the day. Decisions taken there are passed down to line units and departments.

These meetings are usually called by the secretary or sometimes delegated to additional or special secretaries. One ministry usually has several departments under it. For example, the agriculture ministry also has the department of agri-research. The finance ministry has the departments of economic affairs and revenue, among others.

These meetings are taking place as usual but with some participants on video call, depending on who has been allotted work from home. In every room, entry gates and conference halls, sanitisers have been placed and it is mandatory to use them before any meeting.

A fifth official, at the joint secretary level, said he was dictating decisions and minutes of meetings to be put up on file over the phone for note-making and drafting. In normal times, he would summon the note-taker into his room.

The government already runs fully on e-governance platforms, but a crucial rule requires that all decisions are physically signed. This practice hasnt changed because government memorandums (as decisions are formally known) mandatorily require the hand and seal of the competent authority according to central office rules.

Functioning will not be affected at all because of the rostering. About 90% of decisions are usually in the nature of approvals, financial or otherwise. These can still be taken via emails and the sign can be put on a later date. Thats no issue, said SK Pattanayak, former agriculture secretary who is currently the director of the Hyderabad-based Administrative Staff College.

Video-conferencing is the key know. When the final matter is ready, it is printed, signed physically and then faxed and mailed to relevant officials, the fifth official added.

Some practices are so ritualistic and a legacy of the colonial British era that e-governance doesnt mean everything. Each decision has to be manually filed in paper and a true physical copy still needs to be sent out to each recipient, whether downwards to a junior official or to a higher authority in the same building or in other establishments within the capital.

This means that essential vehicles, drivers and courier personnel are functioning as they otherwise do, but only in a limited number. The current staff strength is down to about 15%, the second official said, but most secretaries heading departments are attending their offices.

Understand that government people are working, whether in office or from home, just like you, Pattaniak said.

The lockdown may be on, but the state is working.

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Thousands of doctors have made a desperate plea for a nationwide lockdown, warning there could be an alarming escalation in COVID-19 cases and preventable deaths without drastic and immediate action.

The doctors, led by intensive care specialist Greg Kelly, released a petition at 1am on Tuesday. By 5pm, he said 5000 doctors had added their name to it.

Doctors fears scenes such as this will become common in Australian intensive care units. Credit:AP

It is the second urgent plea doctors have submitted to state and federal governments in days  with the first predicting with near-perfect accuracy the speed at which the virus would be transmitted through the community by the end of last week.

While infectious disease experts agreed a national shutdown was inevitable, they warned against starting it too early.
Turkey arrests 5 Kurdish mayors as crackdown continues

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 4:20 PM

Turkey has arrested five mayors of the Kurdish-majority areas as part of its ongoing crackdown against the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP).

The HDP deputy chairman, Mithat Sancar, said on Monday that security forces had surrounded municipality buildings in the southeastern province of Batman, as well as those in the Egil, Silvan, Lice and Ergani districts of the Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

Sancar condemned the move, saying the party had not received official notification from the central government.

"We reject with hatred this vile attempt that does not shy away from showing enmity against Kurds even in these difficult days when the whole world is battling an epidemic," he said.

The interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly claimed the HDP has ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group.

Thousands of HDP members have been prosecuted over the same accusation, including its leaders. The party denies any affiliation with the outlawed Kurdish militant group.

At least 21 elected mayors belonging to the pro-Kurdish party have previously been detained for alleged ties to the PKK militant group, which has been seeking autonomy in Turkey's largely-Kurdish southeast since 1984 and is deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey.

The interior ministry has said the mayors' roles would be taken over by their provincial governors, who are appointed by the central government.

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SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Bybit is pleased to announce it is adding Tether (USDT) perpetual contracts to its range of crypto-backed derivative products. USDT contracts will use USDT as both the quote and settlement currency. It will enable two-way trades allowing traders to hold both long and short positions concurrently and with different leverages. All profits, losses, and account balances will be denominated in USDT, making it easier for traders to make investment decisions using a stable currency.USDT perpetual contracts aim to replicate the underlying spot markets but with increased leverage. Similar to Bybit's existing perpetual contracts, USDT contracts will have no expiry date. The price will be tethered to the underlying index, ensuring full price accuracy.USDT contracts will bring multiple new features and create additional flexibility for traders in managing their portfolios.The ability to hold both long and short positions concurrently means that traders are better able to hedge their positions. For example, a trader could open a long-term long position with low leverage and a short-term short position with high leverage. In a cross-margin mode, this will mean traders can avoid having their positions enter auto-liquidation in the event of market volatility. They can also add an extra margin to a position, or opt for Auto Margin Replenishment, where funds will be taken from their account and added to their margin balance automatically.Previously, Bybit denominated profits and losses in the currency underlying the contract, meaning that traders had account balances in multiple currencies. If they received a margin call, it would mean topping up their margin using the relevant asset underlying the contract.In contrast, USDT contracts provide full flexibility across different contract types. Cross-margin enables unrealized profit and loss sitting on the account to be deployed as a top-up margin for other positions and even across other contracts. In practice, this means that floating profits can be used to execute trades in different contracts.For example, if a trader has a floating profit on a BTC-USDT contract, they could use those unrealized gains to execute a second trade in an ETH-USDT contract. The inverse is also true, so traders can use their floating profits to prevent positions with any supported underlying asset from liquidation.Along with these significant enhancements, Bybit will be rolling out several other new features. The Take-Profit/Stop-Loss (TP/SL) setting can now be found within the order placement window. This would enable traders to directly set TP/SL limits when they place an order.To speed up the ordering process, traders can now quickly open and close positions and inverse positions at the K-line area. This reduces the chance of missing out on a swift trade during periods of market volatility. Traders can also flip their positions directly on the chart.Bybit is also introducing changes to its margin requirements, making them substantially lower than competitor exchanges with a more sizable step up for each level.Finally, traders launching multiple contracts will have the opportunity to participate in a shared insurance fund, helping to offset the risk of liquidation even further.The introduction of USDT contracts, along with all the features listed above, will be visible for Bybit users with immediate effect.About BybitBybit is a global cryptocurrency derivatives exchange established in March 2018 and registered in the BVI. It is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Bybit has a global user base comprising everyone from individual retail clients to professional derivatives traders.Bybit's technology team includes experts from numerous leading companies such as Morgan Stanley, Tencent, Ping' an Bank, and Nuoya Fortune. The exchange offers traders a matching engine capable of 100,000 transactions per second with no downtime. Bybit is committed to creating a fair, transparent, and efficient trading environment for all.For more information please visit: www.bybit.com Contact:Dan Edelsteinpr@ marketacross.com +972-545-464-238SOURCE: Bybit
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal does not see the need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine to counteract the spread of coronavirus.

"There is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine now. A state of emergency is introduced when there really are emergencies. Today, the spread of coronavirus [in Ukraine] is quite moderate unlike many countries in Europe," the Head of Government said on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

According to him, the state of emergency situation is introduced in those regions of Ukraine where coronavirus infection is detected, after the confirmation of the first case.

"And so far, these measures are enough to effectively manage the regions where the disease has emerged and the situation in the country as a whole. As for the introduction of the state of emergency... this week it does not appear that there is a need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine," Shmyhal stressed.

The emergency situation regime has been already introduced in Kyiv city and Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Ternopil and Cherkasy regions.

In addition, at an extraordinary meeting of the regional commissions on technogenic and environmental safety and on emergency situations chaired by Head of the Lviv Regional State Administration Maksym Kozytsky on the evening of March 23, it was decided to introduce the emergency situation regime in Lviv region from 00:01 on March 24.

As reported, the national lockdown was introduced in Ukraine until April 3 to counteract the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus infection. In particular, educational establishments and all shops except groceries, pharmacies, gas stations and banks were closed. The operation of subways in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro was suspended. The work of city transport is restricted. The intercity and interregional road, rail and air passenger transportation was stopped. In addition, the foreigners are banned from entering Ukraine and the international passenger services are suspended. The mass events in the country are banned.

As of morning March 23, Ukraine confirmed 73 coronavirus cases, including three lethal ones. One patient recovered and was discharged from hospital.

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Diane Burdick is strong in her faith and rarely misses Mass at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church.

But last week's emergency closures of gathering places  including houses of worship  to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus has left many of the faithful cut off from a source of comfort in difficult times.

Technology is now allowing parishioners to participate  although at a remove. Burdick and her family were able to watch the Mass at St. Elizabeth's via Facebook on Sunday morning.

"My family loved it! We attend Mass regularly and are pretty involved in our Catholic community so having our faith 'cut off' was hard to explain to our 4-year-old son," Burdick said in an email exchange. "So for him to see Deacon Bruce [Ziter] and Father Dariusz [Wudarski] say Mass in our parish from our living room was 'super cool' to him."

Although they could not receive the Eucharist or celebrate with fellow parishioners, everything else was spot on, she said, including exceptional video quality.

"The liturgy is always the same order/rituals every week so that was comforting having that sense of familiarity," Burdick said. "In addition, having our own clergy whom we see week after week celebrate the Mass made it all the more comforting."

She said there was an effort to get the word out that Mass would be live-streamed so although the congregation was separated Burdick knew everyone was watching together.

Bishop Mitchell Rozanski of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield had ordered all activities canceled on March 13 and urged the Catholic community to tune into televised or live-streamed Masses on Facebook.

Burdick said she was amazed by the "collective effort and talent" of the church who made the new practice look easy and effortless.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary has more opportunities planned that will allow its congregation to participate in their practice safely. This includes virtual Stations of the Cross, daily Mass, and continued weekly Mass. She said there are also plans for Palm Sunday and organizing a drive-up Adoration, plus a new website in the works.

The Rev. Steven Montesanti at the Parish of St John Paul II in Adams said he's been guiding people to the website of St. Agnes' Church in Dalton.

"We are encouraging everyone to plug into [the Rev. Christopher] Malatesta's wonderful system for broadcasting Mass ," Montesanti wrote in a message. "He celebrates a beautiful liturgy."

Burdick said she will continue to participate in virtual Mass and other services and added that now more than ever it is important to hold onto faith.

"When times are in despair and turmoil such as now, that's when it's especially important to practice one's faith. Our current situation is so new and scary for a lot of people because of the unknown that's constantly changing rapidly," Brudick said. "Being faith-filled nourishes the spirit and worshiping together (even if from afar) is also good for our hearts."

It's not just Catholic churches turning to the internet to connect with congregants.

Lora Peck, office manager of First Baptist Church, said the Monument Square church is streaming Sunday worship on Facebook Live at 10:30 a.m.

"In the midst of uncertainty and anxiety, God is the same now and always," she said. "We want to be sure that the church remains a beacon of light amidst all the fear."

The Rev. David Anderson has also added two-midweek streams, titled "Evenings of Encouragement" on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. DVDs are being offered to those who don't have the online technology.

Peck said the response to new "normal" has been positive.

"We may be feeling physically alone, but in reality we are all in this together. We like to remind our congregation that the church is not the building, but the people," she said. "That being said, with worship and all other events being held remotely, the church has truly 'left the building'  we are now out in the community in a way we have never been before."

Congregation Beth Israel is also using streaming services and social media to connect the congregation at a time when many are isolated.

"Human beings need each other," said Rabbi Rachel Barenblat in an email exchange. "This profound truth is evident in the beginning of the creation story in Genesis: God concludes that it is not good for the first human being to be alone."

That's even more a reason, she said, not to isolate emotionally and spiritually.

Congregation Beth Israel has set up a "Zoom room" for using the teleconferencing app and has created a list of scheduled offerings. Shabbat services are streamed on Saturdays mornings and the temple also hosts online classes, weekly meditation, and even a drop-in hour during which people can join Barenblat for a cup of tea.

She said they have decided to use Zoom instead of Facebook Live because of its interactivity and want to narrowcast rather than broadcast. This way everyone in the "room" can see each other on screen.

"This is important because I think members of our community need to see each other as much as they need to see me," Barenblat said, adding that the board is also reaching out by phone to check on members. "We need to feel our connections with each other during this time of isolation and fear."

It's a good time to strengthen spiritual practices or start them in whatever form, she said.

"That might mean 'keeping Shabbat,' it might mean prayer, it might mean meditation or yoga or art or any number of other things," she said. "These are difficult times, and we need all the tools at our disposal in order to remain open-hearted and compassionate and humane. Spiritual practice is designed for precisely those purposes."

She said in Judaism the Sabbath is often understood as a day apart from workday consciousness. She urged everyone for at least one day to "ignore the trauma of reading the newspaper."

"Maybe we focus on our loved ones, on a cherished book, on something that restores the soul. Maybe we pray, alone or in [online] community," Barenblat said. "Maybe we take a walk in nature, or take a nap. All of these can be restorative in different ways, and right now I think we need that restoration more than ever.

"Because when the Sabbath ends and we enter the new week, the new week will ask a lot of us, and we will need to be as grounded and whole as we can manage."

Officials are targeting the second week in April has as a probable date for lifting all or part of the gathering ban. But no one can guarantee that will happen and some churches are making plans for remote celebrations around Easter week.

"We are all adjusting to the locked doors at places of worship," writes Malatesta in a Facebook note to his parish. "Perhaps believers are being given an opportunity to transcend our external locations and enter by spirit and prayer the domain of God directly in our homes and hearts in new ways."
President Donald Trump speaks with Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon during an American Technology Council roundtable in the State Dinning Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, June 19, 2017.

In November, Amazon filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims indicating a plan to protest the Pentagon's decision, claiming that the JEDI evaluation process contained "clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias." Amazon said in court documents made public last December that Trump launched "behind-the-scenes attacks" against the compan that affected the contract. Some of those alleged attacks were detailed in Mattis' recent memoir, in which the former Defense secretary claimed Trump told him to "screw Amazon" out of the contract.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud computing contract could be worth up to $10 billion for services rendered over as many as 10 years. The Pentagon selected Amazon's main cloud rival, Microsoft , for the contract on Oct. 25 . Amazon was initially seen as the favorite to win the contract, then Trump said in July he was looking into the contract after IBM and other companies protested the bidding process.

In court documents unsealed Tuesday, Amazon 's cloud computing arm argued that the Pentagon's proposed corrective action approach over a messy $10 billion cloud contract "is not designed to provide a complete, fair, and effective re-evaluation."

Amazon's latest brief comes after lawyers for the federal government asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to grant the Pentagon 120 days to reconsider certain aspects of the decision. The DoD would use the time to amend its solicitation of proposals and allow "limited" revisions addressing the provider's technical approach to a specific price scenario.

Amazon is objecting to how that proposed review would be conducted.

It said in Tuesday's filing that the review would enable Microsoft to "resurrect its eligibility while depriving AWS of a reasonable opportunity to revise its proposal" in line with the changed requirements. Amazon has argued that Microsoft should have been disqualified from the award because it offered a "noncompliant storage solution."

The company added that the DoD's review will fail to consider the other "evaluation errors" that were outlined by Amazon in its initial protest of the decision. The filing makes no mention of President Donald Trump, although AWS alleged Trump's repeated criticisms of Amazon and CEO Jeff Bezos influenced the decision process.

"Instead of addressing the breadth of problems in its proposed corrective action, the DoD's proposal focuses only on providing Microsoft a 'do-over' on its fatally flawed bid while preventing AWS from adjusting its own pricing in response to the DoD's new storage criteria," an AWS spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to CNBC.

"This attempt to gerrymander the corrective action without fixing all of the serious flaws pointed out in our complaint raises significant questions," the spokesperson added.

In a statement Tuesday, Department of Defense spokesperson Lt. Col. Robert Carver said the Pentagon "disagrees" with Amazon's arguments.

"The Department maintains that the JEDI Cloud contract was awarded based upon a fair and unbiased source selection process, and any re-evaluation on remand will also be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner," he wrote in an emailed statement. "Our goal remains to get this much-needed capability to the warfighter as quickly as possible in compliance with the law and the court."

In February, unsealed court documents showed that Amazon was looking to depose seven "individuals who were instrumental" in the JEDI source selection and "played pivotal roles" in the ultimate awarding of the contract, including Trump. AWS said it's looking to depose Trump about his involvement in the bidding process, including any private conversations that took place or any instructions that were given regarding the award, as well as any "efforts to harm Amazon or AWS."

Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department's chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

-- CNBC's Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.

Read more: Trump says he's looking into a Pentagon cloud contract
Air pollution in UK cities is falling as the country enters an unprecedented lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, experts have said.

Satellite images have already shown dramatic reductions in concentrations of the pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in China and northern Italy, following strict public health measures which have caused a sharp reduction in travel.

In the UK, which announced a nationwide lockdown on Monday, air quality has already started to improve after the British public were told to avoid nonessential travel and to work from home where possible last week.

Air pollution is largely caused by traffic in cities and causes an estimated 40,000 early deaths in the UK each year.

It is linked to health problems such as strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory disease, as well as stunting the growth of childrens lungs.

Data from the London Air Quality Network, run by Kings College London, has shown drops in both NO2 and fine particles known as PM2.5 compared to average levels, with notable decreases at roadsides.

Restrictions on social life in the UK which were announced by Boris Johnson, the prime minister, on Monday are expected to be in place for at least three weeks, but will be kept under constant review.

The government has said people should only leave their home for essential activities, such as shopping for basic necessities or dealing with medical needs.

Air quality has started to improve in many UK cities, mirroring what has been seen in other countries that have restricted travel and levels of outdoor activity, Professor Alastair Lewis, from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of York, said.

This is primarily a consequence of lower traffic volumes, and some of the most clear reductions have been in nitrogen dioxide, which comes primarily from vehicle exhaust.

Mr Lewis also noted that any improvement in air quality could deliver health benefits, although it was unclear if this would affect the impact of Covid-19, which is a respiratory disease.

Professor William Collins, professor of meteorology at the University of Reading, said it was too early to say whether these improvements would offset the increased death rate from the coronavirus.

Sadly we may not see reductions in air pollution translated into direct drops in mortality, Professor Anna Hansell, professor of environmental epidemiology at the University of Leicester, said.

Ms Hansell added that this was because there would be an increase in deaths due to Covid-19, as well as financial hardship and stress potentially increasing death rates and the risk of chronic diseases.

Earlier this month, researchers suggested up to 100,000 premature deaths in Wuhan, China, could be avoided if the countrys economic slowdown continued over the next year.

Wuhan, which is the city where Covid-19 was first identified, came to a halt in January, with local businesses shut, factories closed and social movement restricted.

The Centre for International Climate Research in Oslo, Norway, said the drop in air pollution caused by the measures could lead to a reduction in premature deaths between 54,000 and 109,000 people if continued.

Ms Hansell also said research was needed to see if pollution levels had contributed to the impact of coronavirus in Wuhan and northern Italy, either directly affecting infection rates or affecting severity by causing more heart and lung disease, which put people at greater risk of severe Covid-19 disease.

Additional reporting by PA
T he Government is launching a new scheme to recruit 250,000 volunteers who can help the NHS support vulnerable people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Announcing the push for volunteers at the daily Covid-19 press conference on Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the new scheme would help support the NHS and local services.

He said: "Were seeking a quarter of a million volunteers to help the NHS for shopping, the delivery of medicines and supporting those who are shielded to protect their own health

"The NHS volunteer responders is a new scheme set up so that people can come and help and to make sure that the NHS and local services that are needed get all the support that they can."

Mr Hancock also announced that more than 35,000 extra NHS staff would be joining the fight against the virus.

A member of the public is swabbed at a drive-through coronavirus testing site in Wolverhampton / Getty Images

These extra staff members include retired doctors and nurses returning to the service and final year students joining the frontline.

Mr Hancock said 11,788 recently retired NHS staff had responded to the call to return to the service - 2,660 doctors, more than 2,500 pharmacists and other staff and 6,147 nurses.

I pay tribute to each and every one of those who is returning to the NHS at its hour of need, Mr Hancock said.

Some 5,500 final-year medics and 18,700 final-year student nurses would move to the frontline next week.

Mr Hancock confirmed that a temporary hospital  the NHS Nightingale hospital  would be opening at Londons Excel centre, as revealed by the Evening Standard.

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He said in Downing Street: We will, next week, open a new hospital  a temporary hospital  the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the Excel centre in London. The NHS Nightingale Hospital will comprise two wards, each of 2,000 people.

With the help of the military and with NHS clinicians we will make sure that we have the capacity that we need so that everyone can get the support that they need.

Mr Hancock also that 7,5 million pieces of protective equipment had been shipped out in the last 24 hours, including face masks.

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

Amid concerns over the availability of protective equipment for frontline staff, he said that the armed forces have been involved in getting these kits out to people.

He said: "If people are working on the front line to look after us, its vital that we look after them.

He told the first remote press conference that a new testing facility in Milton Keynes has now opened and that the UK has now bought 3.5 million antibody tests to show if people have had Covid-19.

In other key developments:

The UK death toll from coronavirus rose by 87 in a day to 422.

The number of people to test positive for Covid-19 hit 8,077.

The UK entered its first day of lockdown after Boris Johnson announced drastic new measures to fight coronavirus.

Teenage activist Greta Thunberg said it was 'extremely likely' she has the virus.

Cabinet insisted building sites will remain open.

NHS Englands national medical director Stephen Powis said the NHS "is pulling out all the stops at present, amazing staff doing amazing things.

The Nightingale hospital was an extraordinary feat, he said.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global cardiac care medical equipment market is expected to witness an upsurge in the years to come. This is attributed to technological advancements being witnessed at a rapid pace across the globe. It has been reported that cardiovascular diseases are amongst the prominent causes of demises in the Western world and this would be the principal factor bolstering the market in the near future.

Moreover, increase in the geriatric population is likely to have severe implications as far as public health is concerned. This will give further impetus to POC testing, especially for cardiac diagnostics. The increasing usage of minimally invasive devices is the latest trend catching up. This is bound to boost the market further.

Market Segmentation

The cardiac care medical equipment market is segmented by type, end-user, product, sales channel, and geography. By type, the market of cardiac care medical equipment spans cardiac rhythm management devices, cardiac prosthetic devices, cardiac monitoring and diagnostic devices, electrophysiology, peripheral vascular devices, and interventional cardiac medical devices. By product, it consists of ECG (electrocardiogram), event monitors, Doppler fetal monitors, cardiac CT, implantable loop recorders, PET scans, stents, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), pacemakers, echocardiogram, and holter monitors. By sales channel, it's distribution channel and direct channel.

By end-user, the cardiac care medical equipment market says clinic, hospital, diagnostic center, and others. By geography, the same market of cardiac care medical equipment goes like Asia Pacific, Europe, LATAM, North America, and MEA. North America dominates the market; thanks to extensive spending on healthcare; followed by Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest rate due to increase in sedentary lifestyle (which, in turn, results in an influx of cardiovascular diseases).

Download PDF to know more details about "Cardiac Care Medical Equipment Market" report 2028.

Players:

The players contributing to the cardiac care medical equipment market include Becton Dickson Company, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Liva Nova, Biotronik, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation, Medtronic, CR Bard, John & Johnson, Cook Medical, Abbott, and St. Jude Medical. Avante Health Solutions' EKG machines are already doing the rounds.

This report provides detailed historical analysis of global market for Cardiac Care Medical Equipment from 2013-2018, and provides extensive market forecasts from 2019-2028 by region/country and subsectors. It covers the sales volume, price, revenue, gross margin, historical growth and future perspectives in the Cardiac Care Medical Equipment market.

Access 123 page research report with TOC on "Cardiac Care Medical Equipment Market" available with Radiant Insights, Inc. @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/2013-2028-report-on-global-cardiac-care-medical-equipment-market

Leading players of Cardiac Care Medical Equipment including:

Medtronic

St. Jude Medical (Abbott)

Boston Scientific

GE Healthcare

Philips Healthcare

Biotronik, Inc.

Thoratec Corporation

LivaNova (Sorin)

Cardiac Science

Teleflex

Getinge (Maquet)

Berlin Heart

Market Segmentation:

Market split by Type, can be divided into:

Intra-aortic Balloon Pump



Cardiopulmonary Bypass Pumps



Cardiac Ultrasound Devices



CRM Device



External Defibrillators



Other

Market split by Application, can be divided into:

Hospital



Clinic

Market split by Sales Channel, can be divided into:

Direct Channel



Distribution Channel

Market segment by Region/Country including:

North America ( United States , Canada and Mexico )

( , and )

Europe ( Germany , UK, France , Italy , Russia and Spain etc.)

( , UK, , , and etc.)

Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , Korea, India , Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

( , , Korea, , and etc.)

South America Brazil , Argentina , Colombia and Chile etc.)

, , and etc.)

Middle East & Africa ( South Africa , Egypt , Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)

Browse reports of similar category available with Radiant Insights, Inc.:

Medical Spa Market

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Covid-19 and crematorium: Slum dwellers in Delhi grapple with smoke, stench and fear of disease

In Delhi, police step up to cremate elderly and those who lived alone

10-hour delay in cremation of Bengals 1st Covid-19 fatality; kins refuse body

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Kolkata, Mar 24: The first death of a COVID-19 patient in West Bengal on Monday afternoon raised serious questions about the handling of the dead body after none from the his family came at the hospital to complete the hospital formaalities for releasing death certificate and discharge of body.

Reporetedly, the locals at the cremation ground also refused the entry of the body in the area and it was finally cremated in an electric crematorium after a 10-hour delay on Monday night.

The state government had already instructed the hospital authority to supervise the cremation of body following the WHO guidelines without handing it over to the family.

However, signature of one family member was required to fulfill the official formalities.

The relatives of the 57-year-old deceased also refused to come to AMRI Hospital in the fear of getting infected with the virus.

Coronavirus recession could be worse than 2009, warns IMF

Deceased's wife could not be present there as she is currently admitted in the isolation ward of MR Bangur Hospital in Kolkata.

The man succumbed to an infection at AMRI Hospital in Salt Lake.

The deceased had no recent international travel history and yet tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the fourth confirmed case in the state on March 20, 2020.

The hospital followed protocols and handed over the body to the state administration, which took it to the Nimtala Cremation Ghat in North Kolkata.

However panicked locals and staff at the cremation ground refused the body to enter the area, fearing the virus would spread in the locality.

People also targeted media vehicles and journalists were heckled by a mob.

Rupak Barua, Chief Executive Officer, AMRI Hospitals said, "We informed the deceased's distant relative but he refused to come. Then we informed the health department about the problems we faced while releasing the body. Later, his wife's signature was taken from MR Bangur Hospital where she is admitted."

The body was finally sent inside the cremation ground around 9 pm, nearly six hours after the death.

To test coronavirus, ICMR recommends 2 RT-PCR kits

There was more ordeal left for the family of the COVID19 deceased, the local residents at Dumdum threatened that they would not allow the family members, who are in isolation wards of the deceased man to live in the locality even after their release from the hospital.

Reportedly, the 57-year old deceased was a resident of Dumdum in North 24 Parganas district and was admitted to a private hospital with fever and dry cough. His symptoms intensified on March 19 and after two days his report came positive.

To reconfirm the infection, the hospital once again had sent his swab for testing but the second report also came positive. He was admitted in the ICU of the hospital and died at around 3.35 pm due to multiple organ failure.

All his family members, who came in contact with him in the last one week, were also been kept in isolation.

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Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 10:28 [IST]
No matter how you look at the numbers, one country stands out from the rest: South Korea.

In late February and early March, the number of new coronavirus infections in the country exploded from a few dozen, to a few hundred, to several thousand.

At the peak, medical workers identified 909 new cases in a single day, Feb. 29, and the country of 50 million people appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. But less than a week later, the number of new cases halved. Within four days, it halved again  and again the next day.

On Sunday, South Korea reported only 64 new cases, the fewest in nearly a month, even as infections in other countries continue to soar by the thousands daily, devastating health care systems and economies. Italy records several hundred deaths daily; South Korea has not had more than eight in a day.

South Korea is one of only two countries with large outbreaks, alongside China, to flatten the curve of new infections. And it has done so without Chinas draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the U.S.

As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.

Yet other hard-hit nations did not follow South Koreas lead. Some have began to show interest in emulating its methods  but only after the epidemic had accelerated to the point that they may not be able to control it any time soon.

President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden have both called South Koreas president, Moon Jae-in, to request details on the countrys measures, according to Moons office.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has hailed South Korea as demonstrating that containing the virus, while difficult, can be done. He urged countries to apply the lessons learned in Korea and elsewhere.

South Korean officials caution that their successes are tentative. A risk of resurgence remains, particularly as epidemics continue raging beyond the countrys borders.

Still, Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has repeatedly raised South Korea as a model, writing on Twitter, South Korea is showing COVID-19 can be beat with smart, aggressive public health.

Lesson 1: Intervene Fast, Before Its a Crisis

Just one week after the countrys first case was diagnosed in late January, government officials met with representatives from several medical companies. They urged the companies to begin immediately developing coronavirus test kits for mass production, promising emergency approval.

Within two weeks, though South Koreas confirmed cases remained in the double digits, thousands of test kits were shipping daily. The country now produces 100,000 kits per day, and officials say they are in talks with 17 foreign governments about exporting them.

Officials also swiftly imposed emergency measures in Daegu, a city of 2.5 million where contagion spread fast through a local church.

South Korea could deal with this without limiting the movement of people because we knew the main source of infection, the church congregation, pretty early on, said Ki Mo-ran, an epidemiologist advising the governments coronavirus response. If we learned about it later than we did, things could have been far worse.

South Koreans, unlike Europeans and Americans, were also primed to treat the coronavirus as a national emergency, after a 2015 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome in the country killed 38.

The coronavirus is thought to have a five-day incubation period, often followed by a period of mild symptoms that could be mistaken for a cold, when the virus is highly communicable. This pattern creates a lag of a week or two before an outbreak becomes apparent. What looks like a handful of cases can be hundreds; what looks like hundreds can be thousands.

Such characteristics of the virus render the traditional response, which emphasizes lockdown and isolation, ineffective, said Kim Gang-lip, South Koreas vice health minister. Once it arrives, the old way is not effective in stopping the disease from spreading.

Lesson 2: Test Early, Often and Safely

South Korea has tested far more people for the coronavirus than any other country, enabling it to isolate and treat many people soon after they are infected.

The country has conducted over 300,000 tests, for a per capita rate more than 40 times that of the U.S.

Testing is central because that leads to early detection, it minimizes further spread and it quickly treats those found with the virus, Kang Kyung-wha, South Koreas foreign minister, told the BBC, calling the tests the key behind our very low fatality rate as well.

Though South Korea is sometimes portrayed as having averted an epidemic, thousands of people were infected and the government was initially accused of complacency. Its approach to testing was designed to turn back an outbreak already underway.

To spare hospitals and clinics from being overwhelmed, officials opened 600 testing centers designed to screen as many people as possible, as quickly as possible  and keep health workers safe by minimizing contact.

At 50 drive-thru stations, patients are tested without leaving their cars. They are given a questionnaire, a remote temperature scan and a throat swab. The process takes about 10 minutes. Test results are usually back within hours.

At some walk-in centers, patients enter a chamber resembling a transparent phone booth. Health workers administer throat swabs using thick rubber gloves built into the chambers walls.

Relentless public messaging urges South Koreans to seek testing if they or someone they know develop symptoms. Visitors from abroad are required to download a smartphone app that guides them through self-checks for symptoms.

Offices, hotels and other large buildings often use thermal image cameras to identify people with fevers. Many restaurants check customers temperatures before accepting them.

Lesson 3: Contact Tracing, Isolation and Surveillance

When someone tests positive, health workers retrace the patients recent movements to find, test  and, if necessary, isolate  anyone the person may have had contact with, a process known as contact tracing.

This allows health workers to identify networks of possible transmission early, carving the virus out of society like a surgeon removing a cancer.

South Korea developed tools and practices for aggressive contact tracing during the MERS outbreak. Health officials would retrace patients movements using security camera footage, credit card records, even GPS data from their cars and cellphones.

We did our epidemiological investigations like police detectives, Ki said. Later, we had laws revised to prioritize social security over individual privacy at times of infectious disease crises.

As the coronavirus outbreak grew too big to track patients so intensively, officials relied more on mass messaging.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

South Koreans cellphones vibrate with emergency alerts whenever new cases are discovered in their districts. Websites and smartphone apps detail hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-by-minute, timelines of infected peoples travel  which buses they took, when and where they got on and off, even whether they were wearing masks.

People who believe they may have crossed paths with a patient are urged to report to testing centers.

South Koreans have broadly accepted the loss of privacy as a necessary trade-off.

People ordered into self-quarantine must download another app, which alerts officials if a patient ventures out of isolation. Fines for violations can reach $2,500.

By identifying and treating infections early, and segregating mild cases to special centers, South Korea has kept hospitals clear for the most serious patients. Its case fatality rate is just over 1%, among the lowest in the world.

Lesson 4: Enlist The Publics Help

There arent enough health workers or body-temperature scanners to track everybody, so everyday people must pitch in.

Leaders concluded that subduing the outbreak required keeping citizens fully informed and asking for their cooperation, said Kim, the vice health minister.

Television broadcasts, subway station announcements and smartphone alerts provide endless reminders to wear face masks, pointers on social distancing and the days transmission data.

The messaging instills a near-wartime sense of common purpose. Polls show majority approval for the governments efforts, with confidence high, panic low and scant hoarding.

This public trust has resulted in a very high level of civic awareness and voluntary cooperation that strengthens our collective effort, Lee Tae-ho, the vice minister of foreign affairs, told reporters earlier this month.

Officials also credit the countrys nationalized health care system, which guarantees most care, and special rules covering coronavirus-related costs, as giving even people with no symptoms greater incentive to get tested.

Is The Korean Model Transferable?

For all the attention to South Koreas successes, its methods and containment tools are not prohibitively complex or expensive.

Some of the technology the country has used is as simple as specialized rubber gloves and cotton swabs. Of the seven countries with worse outbreaks than South Koreas, five are richer.

Experts cite three major hurdles to following South Koreas lead, none related to cost or technology.

One is political will. Many governments have hesitated to impose onerous measures in the absence of a crisis-level outbreak.

Another is public will. Social trust is higher in South Korea than in many other countries, particularly Western democracies beset by polarization and populist backlash.

But time poses the greatest challenge. It may be too late, Ki said, for countries deep into epidemics to control outbreaks as quickly or efficiently as South Korea has.

China turned back the catastrophic first outbreak in Hubei, a province larger than most European countries, though at the cost of shutting down its economy.

South Koreas methods could help the U.S., though we probably lost the chance to have an outcome like South Korea, Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, wrote on Twitter. We must do everything to avert the tragic suffering being borne by Italy.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:06:48|Editor: yan

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KABUL, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 32 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 74 in the country.

Thirty-two more patients tested COVID-19 positive in western Herat province within the past 24 hours, Public Health Ministry's spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said in a statement.

The official noted that precise epidemic prevention and control measures have been implemented across the country.

In addition, four service members of the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition were infected by the infectious disease, the coalition forces confirmed earlier on Tuesday.

Herat province bordering Iran, 640 km west of Kabul, has emerged as the COVID-19 outbreak epicenter in Afghanistan, as thousands of Afghan refugees return home every day from the neighboring country to escape the disease.

On Sunday, the ministry confirmed the first death of COVID-19 after a 40-year-old male patient succumbed to the disease in northern Balkh province.
Four more people quarantined



at hospitals here have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the number of coronavirus cases in the city to five, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said on Tuesday.

Of the four, three patients, who were found symptomatic during screening at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on March 19 and 20, have been admitted to the government Wenlock hospital here.

The other patient is at the isolation ward at KMC hospital, the official said.

All the four are natives of Kerala, the deputy commissioner said in a release.

One of the new positive patients was a co-passenger of a youth who came here from Dubai by flight on March 19.

The youth tested positive for the virus on March 22.

Two other patients had arrived at MIA on March 20, while the fourth patient, a 70-year-old woman, reached Kozhikode from Saudi Arabia and was admitted to the KMC hospital here on March 20.

The DC urged passengers who travelled in these flights to be under home quarantine for 14 days.

If symptoms of coronavirus infection are found in family members of quarantined people, they have been requested to inform taluk tahsildars and health officers or contact toll free number 1077, the sources said.

Ambulances will be sent by the authorities to move them to a hospital.

People have also been asked not to directly approach any doctor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 24, 2020] Equipment Finance Leader, NFS Leasing, Inc. Provides Critically Needed Funding to Gravity Diagnostics for COVID-19 Testing

NFS Leasing Inc. a Beverly, Massachusetts leader in equipment finance has partnered with Gravity Diagnostics, a state-of-the-art CLIA laboratory providing innovative laboratory services including testing of COVID-19. NFS Leasing has financed a total of $2.2MM to date for Gravity Diagnostics. As the outbreak of COVID-19 has rapidly spread across the world and into the U.S., so has the discussion on COVID-19 testing availability, including materials and equipment to support that testing. "Different people and businesses have different roles to play in a crisis such as COVID-19. For Gravity that role is to assist in ensuring that Americans have rapid testing and results, as ordered by a licensed clinician," says Tony Remington, CEO of Gravity Diagnostics. "In the past we have partnered with NFS Leasing to help fuel our growth. This time we specifically needed NFS to quickly help finance Thermo Fisher systems that enable testing for COVID-19. Once again, NFS helped us find a finance solution fast." "These are obviously unprecedented times for many businesses and when we heard Gravity's story and its urgent need for equipment finance to meet testing demands, we took immeiate action to get it done quickly," states David DePamphilis, Executive Vice President Sales at NFS Leasing. "As a story lender, we listen to customers that are in unique situations and in need of critical equipment finance, every day. Supporting Gravity in this particular situation is something the NFS Team is extremely proud of. We hope that this equipment will help facilitate the additional and much needed testing of potential COVID-19 patients."



To contact NFS Leasing, Inc. for a custom finance solution, visit their website here: https://nfsleasing.com/contact/ ABOUT NFS LEASING, INC.

NFS Leasing is a privately held North American leader in Equipment Finance with more than 18 years' experience. NFS provides solutions supporting businesses and organizations with challenged credit including early stage, start-up & pre-revenue, financially distressed companies and turn-arounds. NFS uses its own balance sheet capital and provides fast flexible credit decisions. Since 2001, NFS Leasing is proud to have created thousands of jobs and infused almost $1,000,000,000 of capital into credit challenged firms, a segment of the economy that struggles to secure critically needed financing. Contact us today and tell us your story. www.nfsleasing.com BOSTON HEADQUARTERS 900 Cummings Center Suite 226-U Beverly, MA 01915 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005534/en/

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Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Gaza's first two confirmed coronavirus patients attended a conference with 250,000 Muslims in Pakistan last month that went ahead contrary to government advice, an official and family members said Monday.

Pakistani authorities had urged the cancellation of the five-day Tablighi Ijtema congregation, or Tablighi Jamaat in Arabic, hosted annually near Lahore.

But organisers from the conservative Sunni Muslim evangelical movement ignored government advice to postpone.

It was unclear where the two Palestinians -- who returned to Gaza from Pakistan via Egypt earlier this month -- contracted COVID-19.

But a statement from the Palestinian embassy in Islamabad said the two attended the event which took place "despite the warning of the Pakistani authorities against conferences".

Omar al-Tabatibi said his 79-year-old grandfather Mohammed and friend Amer Doghmosh had attended the Lahore event.

Previous statements from health officials had misidentified the men as being between 30 and 40.

"My grandfather learnt about the conference by chance from a friend while he was in Pakistan so he wanted to attend," Tabatibi said.

After returning from Pakistan his grandfather stayed several days in Egypt before taking the long journey overland to Gaza, Tabatibi said.

"Maybe my grandfather caught corona in Egypt and not Pakistan, no one knows," he added.

He said the family had already been subjected to abuse on social media and in person since the news broke.

"My little brother went to a games shop today and the owner told him to go home as his grandfather has corona."

Gaza's health ministry said the two men were placed in quarantine immediately after crossing into Gaza and did not mix with the population.

It described them as being in stable condition.

Omar said his grandfather has pre-existing conditions of high blood pressure and diabetes.

"I spoke to him last night on the phone and he told me he was ok and is recovering," he said.

The United Nations has warned that a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza could be disastrous, given the high poverty rates and weak health system in the coastal strip under Israeli blockade since 2007.
Paul Ibe spokesperson of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, shared the travel itinerary of Atikus son before he tested positive for coronavirus.

Paul Ibe disclosed that Atikus son who returned to the country on March 17 from Switzerland after some business engagements in France and Switzerland, wore face mask as a precautionary measure against the virus when he arrived the country.

Read his full post below;

For the purpose of putting the records straight and dispelling false narratives about the itinerary of a son of H.E @atiku currently undergoing treatment for Corona Virus (COVID-19) infection, I wish to make the following clarifications:

1. The clinical case returned to the country on 17th March via Switzerland from some business engagements in France and Switzerland.

2. He attended a private meeting of six (6) persons same day in Lagos, stayed in his private house for the night and took an Aero 5.20pm flight to Abuja on the 18th.

3. The case did not travel with his family or any other but travelled alone by Emirates Airline.

4. The case wore face mask as a precautionary measure since his arrival in Nigeria.

5. The case did not show symptoms of infection and voluntarily placed a call to NCDC on arrival in Abuja late on the 18th to inform them he had returned from COVID-19 prone country and desired to be tested.

6. On the 19th, NCDC took his blood sample which result came positive on the 20th. He subsequently went into self isolation to protect his family within his own house.

7. Meantime his son has since tested negative while his wifes result is being awaited. The two persons are currently in self isolation.

8. We urge members of the public to disregard the perfidious information that the case accessed open location. He was not at Play Lounge nor any other club in Abuja as being mischievously bandied about.

9. The case neither attended the Friday Jumua prayers nor any social gathering until his evacuation to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital on the 20th where he is being treated and managed.

10. We thank Nigerians for their prayers and support through this difficult time. Once again, it needs to be restated that the risk and danger of #COVID19 is real. Ensure you follow the @WHO & @NCDCgov guidelines on how to stay safe.

Signed:

Paul Ibe

Media Adviser to H.E @atiku
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New York, March 24, 2020  Authorities in Niger should immediately release journalist Kaka Touda Mamane Goni and halt legal proceedings against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 5, police arrested Kaka Touda, an independent journalist who publishes news reports on his Facebook and Twitter pages, at his home in Niamey, Nigers capital, according to the journalists lawyer, Boudal Effred Mouloul, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and news reports.

His arrest stemmed from a complaint filed by the local General Reference Hospital, which alleged that Kaka Toudas posts on social media on March 4 about a suspected COVID-19 case at the hospital posed a threat to public order, according to Boudal and Chaibou Samna, the public prosecutor in charge of the case, who spoke to CPJ over the phone.

On March 9, Kaka Touda was presented before a public prosecutor, who said that the state would pursue a case against the journalist for dissemination of data likely to disturb public order under Nigers 2019 cybercrime law, Boudal told CPJ. He said Kaka Toudas next court date has been postponed twice, most recently on March 23 due to court delays related to the virus, and is now scheduled for March 26.

If found guilty, Kaka Touda could face up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of five million West African francs ($8,169), according to the cybercrime law.

Kaka Touda is being held at Niameys Civil Prison, Boudal said. The journalist is suffering from an upset stomach, dizziness, and a worsening injury to his left foot, according to an individual recently in contact with him who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Kaka Touda Mamane Goni and all other journalists in Niger should be free to cover the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak without fearing that they will be thrown in jail. Niger authorities should release Kaka Touda immediately, ensure he is given proper medical care, and drop their case against him, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Authorities should not confuse censorship and the detention of a journalist with prudent public safety measures as part of their coronavirus response.

Kaka Touda has over 3,800 followers on Facebook and over 6,300 followers on Twitter, where he frequently covers national defense and alleged corruption.

After Kaka Touda published his post about the suspected COVID-19 case on March 4, the General Reference Hospital issued a statement, which the journalist posted on Twitter, denying that it had any such case.

Nigerien authorities publically confirmed the countrys first coronavirus case on March 19, according to news reports.

Samna told CPJ that Kaka Touda was arrested because, after he posted his report that there was a suspected COVID-19 case at the hospital, all the people ran away, and they refused to go to the hospital.

Samna said that he was simply applying the law in the case, and added that he was traveling and had not yet reviewed the formal complaint.

CPJ called the General Reference Hospital at its publicly listed number, but the call did not go through.
As universities and colleges close their campuses and ask students to leave residences in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, international students in Canada are finding themselves increasingly isolated, lonely and worried about their future.

They are thousands of miles away from their families, watching from Canada as international borders shut down, airlines cancel flights, and cities and countries announce drastic isolation measures. They are worried about their families as the virus spreads through their countries.

And they're worried about how they're going to get through this themselves, isolated in a country where they lack the support networks they would normally have at home.

"I kind of feel very lonely," said Veenita Bhatt, a design student at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont. She is from Tanzania and is not able to travel home because of airline cancellations.

"It's something nobody has experienced or expected to happen."

'I miss them a lot'

She hasn't seen her parents in nearly two years. Her mother was going to visit this month, but that trip has been postponed.

Bhatt talks to them using video conferencing, making sure they are staying healthy and taking precautions against the virus. Tanzania only has a handful of COVID-19 cases right now, but the country has brought in travel restrictions and social distancing measures and is preparing for an outbreak.

"It's a struggle, and I miss them a lot," she said.

Bhatt lives off-campus in a basement apartment. In an effort to help her out financially, her landlord did not charge her rent this month.

"From all the bad things and the negative things happening around me, at least there's something positive. I have someone to actually care and give a thought about my well-being," she said.

WATCH | 'I kind of feel very lonely,' student Veenita Bhatt of Tanzania says.

Universities and colleges across Canada have moved classes and services online, emptied their campuses and asked students to go home. But for many international students, going home may no longer be possible. Many institutions are making exceptions for students living in residence who can't move out.

Story continues

The University of Toronto says it is providing emergency grants for both domestic and international students who need financial relief because of unexpected circumstances.

"We know how important our residences are to those students who call them home. U of T wants those students who need to stay here to be with us during this challenging time," the university said in an emailed statement.

Other institutions are taking similar measures to continue housing international students, or looking for other solutions. Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont., for example, is moving nearly 200 students into local hotels, and providing funding for food and other necessities, according to a spokesperson for the college.

There are about 435,000 international post-secondary students in Canada, making up about 20 per cent of the overall student body. The two largest source countries are India and China. Many of these students have been scrambling to return home or have to stay put because of border and airline restrictions in their countries.

Supplied by Xin Chen

Xin Chen, 27, is studying journalism at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont. She is from Shanghai and has seen all her classes move online.

Chen has been affected by COVID-19 since the outbreak began in China back in December, because she works part time remotely for a Chinese company. Because of that experience, she understands the pressures workers in Canada are now facing as businesses shut down here.

But while her coursework is continuing, internships and field placements that would have provided valuable work experience and industry connections have been suspended.

"We lose opportunities to make connections in news organizations here," she said.

"It's not [the college's] fault  just bad luck."

With new social distancing measures being introduced quickly and with little warning as countries scramble to contain the outbreak, some students have seen their situation change abruptly.

Syed Ahmed, 24, arrived in Vancouver from Dubai earlier this month and his classes are set to start in April at RED Academy, a tech design school. He found himself staying in an Airbnb in a deserted city practising social distancing.

Supplied by Syed Ahmed

Ahmed has no friends or family in Canada, and with college events cancelled, classes moved online and everyone trying to avoid close contact, he says making connections and finding permanent housing has been difficult.

In addition to an interview, CBC News asked Ahmed and other students to make a video diary to tell us how they were feeling in their own words.

"Moving to a new country, and trying to settle in and adjust, and meet people during a pandemic was definitely not something that was on my bucket list," Ahmed said in his video.

WATCH | It's not easing making friends in a new country during a pandemic.

Ahmed's classes will be starting online shortly, something he says he could have done from home in Dubai. Last week, he found a place to stay longer term and has moved in.

Financial worries are also starting to mount for students who already pay heavy tuition fees to study in Canada and did not budget for a longer stay or living here during a pandemic.

WATCH | Diego Palacios of Ecuador tries to take his mind off things in Toronto. It's not easy.

Diego Palacios, 25, is originally from Ecuador and is studying interactive media management at Centennial College in Toronto. He has a scholarship that will keep him afloat until May, but he says he's unsure of what he's going to do after that. He had planned to work after school ended, but now he may have to ask his family for financial help.

For now, he is hunkering down in his apartment and trying to stay optimistic. He talks to his family on video chat to make sure they're staying healthy.

"That gives me a little bit of calm, that my people are fine during this outbreak," he said in his video. "I hope that everything will be good in the near future, trying to keep a little positive on this situation."
Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA)  The Mauritanian and Malian governments have agreed to close their 2,000-kilometers common border, within the framework of the prevention and fight against the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), said the Mauritanian Interior ministry
Six more people tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday in Punjab, taking the number of confirmed cases to 29 in the state, said officials.

All six patients had come in contact with with the 70-year-old Nawanshahr resident who had tested positive for the infection and died of cardiac arrest last week.

Among the fresh cases, three are family members of the septuagenarian in Nawanshahr while the others are residents of Phillaur in Jalandhar, officials said here.

All of them have been admitted to a government hospital, they said.

Twenty-one people have contracted the disease after coming in contact with



the Germany-returned septuagenarian.

Theseptuagenarian, a resident of Pathlawa village in Nawanshahr, had even gone to the Hola Mohalla celebrations in Rupnagar's Anandpur Sahib from March 7 to 9.

The authorities had appealed to people to get themselves tested if they met him.

In Punjab, there are 18 positive cases in Nawanshahr, five in Mohali, three in Jalandhar, two in Amritsar and one in Hoshiarpur.

As of now, a total of 282 samples have been tested, of which 220 were declared negative while the result of 33 is awaited.

Close contacts of all positive cases have been put under quarantine and surveillance, as per a medical bulletin.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Shruti Haasan has revealed that her entire family has different travel histories and everyone is self-isolating - in different apartments and houses. While Sarika and Shruti are in Mumbai in different apartments, Kamal and Akshara are in separate houses in Chennai.

Shruti returned from London 10 days earlier and has been under self-quarantine ever since. Shruti told Mumbai Mirror in an interview, I am used to being by myself. The difficult part is not having the option to go out and the looming fear of what all of this means for us. People have started taking it seriously in the last few days. Thankfully, by the time I returned, the shoots were also getting cancelled. My entire family has self-isolated. Mum (actress Sarika) is in Mumbai as well but in another apartment, Dad (Kamal Haasan) and Akshara (sister) are in Chennai but in separate houses. All of us had different travelling schedules and it didnt make sense for us to isolate together. Thats the decision I feel people should make.

Also read: Meiyang Chang called coronavirus by two men on bike

On Monday, Shruti posted pictures of herself on Instagram and wrote, I hope everyones ok ? Im learning a lot about myself and im super glad Im someone who enjoys my own company so much its good to use this time to introspect and ease into ourselves in silence. stay home , stay positive take care and sending everyone lots of love and light #stayhome #selfcare #selfiesnonstop #stayfit.

I read this quote, If you cant spend time with yourself, it means you are not good company. Someone I spoke to today mentioned that they had to meet a friend once in a while. Another person, on the social media, was talking about socialdistancing but with five other people around. It doesnt work like that. These are educated people who are expected to be more responsible. I have no one at home with me, not even my domestic help. Its just me and Clara, my cat, she further told the tabloid.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
CEDAR FALLS  Self-quarantined at home after the salon she works at closed last week, Emily Hess could have wallowed in self-pity.

Instead, she immediately started trying to find a way to be helpful, instead of helpless, during the global coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, she found one: Hospitals were asking for fabric covers that fit snug over their N95 masks, which are in such short supply organizations were looking for ways to extend their longevity.

A friend let me know about the need for masks to preserve the limited PPE (personal protective equipment) for medical staff, Hess said. I found the different patterns requested and got started working through my sewing stash.

People began reaching out, asking what Hess needed. That included Melissa Sander of Fairbank, who didnt know Hess until she saw a friend post Hess appeal for help.

I thought, I have two girls at home and a little boy, and this is the most important thing  were gonna put everything aside and help this gal, Sander said.

Sander and her assembly-line workers  her 12-year-old and 10-year-old daughters  got to work cutting out cotton fabric from a pattern Hess sent their way. Sander then ironed them, and her 4-year-old son helped with clean-up duty.

Then, Sander packed up her work -- about 100 pieces -- drove from Fairbank to Cedar Falls and left it on Hess doorstep, both communicating from a safe distance.

I met her by waving at her from her house, Sander said of her new sewing buddy. Thats whats really cool  we saw the need.

Hess then sewed each mask, using the now-hard-to-find 1/8th-inch braided elastic to make the covers. She then had several mask covers dropped off at UnityPoint-Allen Hospital in Waterloo, which had posted a pattern to its website and asked for donations.

Both stressed that the covers were not meant to serve as filtration for coronavirus, just to cover an N95 mask so it may be able to be reused more than once.

UnityPoint said it was still accepting mask covers, even though they briefly stopped taking them.

"We paused for a little bit to develop a better way to collect all of the donations and put them to use, which we were able to accomplish," said UnityPoint spokesperson Carson Tigges. He said the organization would be sharing more details on that new collection method Tuesday.

Hess and Sander were still making them, because Hess had orders from Peoples Clinic, a state prison, ambulance crews and even personal use.

The orders keep pouring in, Hess said. Im glad there are a lot of people out there doing what we are doing, because there is a huge need for them. I read that the U.S. will be getting a ton of PPE delivered in the coming days and weeks, and I really hope thats true. But this is what we can do right now.

The masks arent the only thing in short supply. Sander can no longer find the 1/8-inch braided elastic from Walmart. In lieu of that, Sander says theyve been repurposing elastic hair ties.

You do what you gotta do if you dont have elastic, Sander said. Who would have thought we would ever come to this point?

Its the question on everyones mind as COVID-19 continues to be the scourge of the world. But Hess and Sander continue to do their part to help, and those looking to donate supplies or volunteer were asked to email teamhessander@gmail.com.

We are two people who never met, but who are trying our best to make a bad situation better for people, Sander said.

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The news more than triples the amount of debt that NMC reported in June last year (/PA)

Under-fire London-listed hospital giant NMC Health has found another surprise multibillion-dollar debt pile on its books, a fortnight after revealing its first.

The additional 1.6 billion dollars (1.4 billion) of debt comes just two weeks after NMC revealed a 2.7 billion dollar (2.1 billion) debt pile it never knew it had.

The board has previously suggested there could have been foul play involved.

The news more than triples the amount of debt that NMC reported in June last year.

So... NMC Health just got worse again: debt position actually $6.6bn, not $5bn. Also, like Finablr, has found "cheques (written by Group companies), which may have been used as security for financing arrangements for the benefit of third parties."https://t.co/qOZyTpdzjc  PIRC (@PIRC_news) March 24, 2020

It marks another nightmare announcement for the FTSE 100-listed company, which parted with its finance director on Tuesday.

Prashanth Shenoy had been on extended sick leave and steps down with immediate effect, the business announced.

It also appointed a new chief restructuring officer to sort out the mess of recent months.

Matthew Wilde, from auditor PwC, is a veteran restructuring expert who helped Carillion in the Middle East.

It marks a major new blow to NMC founder BR Shetty.

He was forced to step down as co-chairman earlier this year after a scandal over how much of the business he and two other major shareholders owned.

NMC was thrust into the headlines in December when short-seller Muddy Waters issued a damning report questioning the company.

Since then the problems have compounded, affecting Finablr, which Dr Shetty also founded.

Finablr has warned it is close to a potential insolvency.

Earlier this month, Finablr revealed it has discovered cheques worth 100 million dollars (85 million) that were kept secret from its board.

On Tuesday, NMC announced it had found 50 million dollars (43 million) in undisclosed cheques.

Investor advisory group PIRC said on Twitter: So NMC Health just got worse again: debt position actually 6.6bn, not $5bn. Also, like Finablr, has found cheques (written by Group companies), which may have been used as security for financing arrangements for the benefit of third parties.'
The country should have acted sooner to stop the coronavirus spreading, but restrictions since March 10 may finally be working, says Ferdinando Giugliano.

Italy is doubling down on its lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The country is halting all non-essential economic activities for two weeks.

There are early signs that these draconian steps are paying off, but the human and economic costs will be steep.

The government made mistakes, which the rest of the Western world should have learned from, but didnt.

Italy has surpassed China as the country with the most deaths, 5,500, from Covid-19, even though Italys population is barely 4% that of Chinas. (3,300 Chinese died.)

Almost 60,000 Italians have tested positive for the virus, more than double the number in Spain and Germany.

Italy was the first European country to discover a serious domestic outbreak, which partly explains why it is now so widespread.

Other Western countries  including France, the UK, and even the US  appear to be merely tracking Italy, with just a few weeks of delay.

And because it faced the beginning of the epidemic before others, Italy was caught off-guard.

There are several plausible reasons for the severity of Italys outbreak.

The country has a very old population, with a median age of 45 years. Covid-19 hits the elderly particularly hard, and tends to spare younger people.

The median age of those who have died from the virus in Italy is just short of 80.

Cultural factors may have also played a role: In Italy, different generations often live together, which may have facilitated contagion to the elderly.

Japan also has an ageing population, but people engage routinely in social distancing, a possible reason for that countrys successful containment of the epidemic.

In Italy, the northern region of Lombardy has been hit hardest.

Nearly half of all registered cases and two-thirds of official deaths have come from this area, which has a sixth of Italys population.

The region is the countrys economic powerhouse and has strong commercial links with other countries, including China.

This may explain why Italys outbreak originated here, spreading uncontained for some time.

A few smaller hospitals may have mishandled some of the first cases, contributing to hospital outbreaks. (Hospital outbreaks spread quickly across the most vulnerable part of the population.)

The government and political leaders were initially complacent.

At the end of January, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on TV that the country was prepared for the epidemic and taking the most severe containment measures in Europe.

As the first cases emerged in southern Lombardy, several politicians said that people should get on with their lives.

Milan, the main city in Lombardy and the countrys financial capital, was at the centre of a motivational video, spread by the political class, with the slogan Milan does not stop.

Some tough actions followed quickly, however.

The government first forced a full lockdown for 50,000 people, in 11 towns in southern Lombardy and in one in Veneto.

Then, schools were shut, and public gatherings were banned.

On March 10, a national lockdown was put in place.

Bars, restaurants, and shops were closed, and people were told not to leave their homes, except to go to work or buy food.

The government has now shut down all non-essential economic activities, such as many factories, until April 3.

Italy deserves credit for being the first Western country to enforce such tough measures.

These measures appear to be working: On Sunday, the daily growth rate of the number of people tested positive for the virus slowed to just above 10%, and the number of new deaths fell.

These figures bring hope.

However, the government has often acted erratically.

At first, it failed to enforce a full lockdown in another area of Lombardy, the province of Bergamo, which now has the most cases in Italy.

A decision to close several areas of northern Italy was leaked to the press before its approval, sparking a rush to escape to the south, which may have helped spread the virus.

And it is struggling to define which factories it would consider essential.

Some 4,000 healthcare workers have tested positive for the virus  indicating that doctors and nurses are overly exposed and may act as transmission channels.

While Italy has performed 230,000 tests, it has not put together a comprehensive strategy of testing, tracking, and self-isolation, a system that has saved lives in South Korea and Singapore.

France and Spain also waited far too long before enforcing a lockdown.

The UK has made a dramatic U-turn on an initial plan to pursue a soft containment strategy, but is still struggling to take measures to enforce social distancing.

The US has only recently ramped up testing, and is struggling to catch up with growing demand for it.

Italy has limited the freedom of its citizens, which seemed impossible for a Western country.

These steps have been used as a model elsewhere.

However, they offer no guidance over how to handle the epidemic in the long run, since it is impossible to shut the economy for months.

Many countries in Asia have done a better job at combining these different priorities.

Thats where the West should look for long-term answers  and do it soon.

Ferdinando Giugliano writes about European economics for Bloomberg View and for La Repubblica.

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The next public meeting of the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board, in April, has been cancelled as staff wait for direction from Government and Auckland Councils governing body on how these can be run remotely.

Meanwhile, the board will be relying on its urgent decision making powers, which allows delegated members to make a decision without the full board voting.

Members at the March meeting sat as far away from each other as possible and staff who were scheduled to make presentations were available via Skype if members had questions for them.

No members of the public attended the meeting, and there were no presentations made by the public.

A local board spokesperson told Hibiscus Matters that as the March meeting was a public one, the public could attend and anyone who did would be asked for their details for the record.

However, one person who had planned to present a petition to the local board, Claire Tierney, says she was asked to stay away.

In sorting out how the meetings can be run remotely in the upcoming months, member Julia Parfitt stressed the importance of finding a way to include the public.

These are public meetings and we need to have them live streamed, Mrs Parfitt said. She also said that any decisions made under the powers of urgency need to be publicly announced later.

The Community Forums are also cancelled until further notice.
MH17 Trial Resumes Briefly Amid Coronavirus Restrictions

By RFE/RL March 23, 2020

The trial in absentia of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with multiple counts of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 resumed briefly at The Hague on March 23 amid coronavirus restrictions.

The Dutch judges in the trial read out several preliminary decisions before ruling to adjourn the case until June 8 in order to give the defense lawyers of one of the accused more time to prepare their case.

The courtroom was almost empty during the 45-minute session, which was livestreamed on the Internet due to restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Flight MH17 was shot down July 17, 2014, by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

The civilian passenger plane was on a flight from Amsterdam to Malaysia when it was shot down.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed.

The victims included 193 Dutch citizens as well as 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.

The four accused -- Russian citizens Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko -- remain at large despite the issuance of international warrants for their arrests.

Only Pulatov has appointed defense lawyers to represent him at the trial in the Netherlands.

When the trial opened on March 9, it was attended by lawyers, judges, family members of victims, and journalists.

But the number of prosecutors, lawyers, and other staff on March 23 was reduced over the coronavirus pandemic. Family and media were not allowed to attend the trial in person, and judges sat separated from one another by empty seats.

Prosecutors say the four men helped to arrange the supply of the Russian missile system used to shoot down MH17.

Girkin, a former colonel in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), was the top military commander of a separatist group in eastern Ukraine while Ukrainian Kharchenko was in charge of a combat unit in the region, according to the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

Dubinsky and Pulatov were connected with Russia's Military Intelligence Service (GRU), the investigators concluded.

Despite evidence that Russia's military was directly involved in shooting down of Flight MH17, the Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement.

The Kremlin also denies providing any military or financial support to Ukraine's pro-Russia separatists, despite evidence assembled by the JIT and the Bellingcat open-source investigative group.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/mh17-trial- resumes-briefly-amid-coronavirus- restrictions/30504581.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.

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Airlines around the world may collapse and fail if governments do not intervene soon, an industry group is warning.

Alexandre de Juniac, the chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) told reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning that many airlines do not have strong enough balance sheets to survive the crisis prompted by the coronavirus outbreak. Airlines everywhere are grappling with a severe decline in traffic as passengers stay home and governments impose strict travel restrictions.

We need governments to act fast with financial relief to avoid a liquidity crisis, where (airlines) run out cash and almost half of the companies die in the coming weeks, IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said from Geneva.

We are now working hard to survive. We need government help.

The warning from IATA, an industry group that represents 290 airlines from around the world, comes as WestJet Airlines becomeese the latest Canadian carrier to slash its workforce.

WestJet announced Tuesday that 6,900 workers  almost half of its employees  will leave the company. The Calgary-based airline said that 90 per cent of the employees are leaving voluntarily, through early retirements, buyouts and voluntary leaves.

This is devastating news for all WestJetters, the companys chief executive Ed Sims said in a statement.

The fact that we avoided a potentially worse outcome is a testament to the spirit and selfless attitude demonstrated by our people, who have enabled WestJet to continue operating with a collective remaining workforce of 7,100.

WestJet has cut its domestic capacity in half and cancelled all international routes, including to the U.S., for 30 days. Air Canada has also slashed its capacity, suspending a majority of its international and transborder flights by the end of the month. So far, at least 15,600 people have been laid off from WestJet, Air Canada and Transat.

Airlines have cut capacity, grounded planes and laid off employees in order to reduce costs amid the drastic decline in revenue. Over the last several weeks, IATA has urged governments to step in and provide financial support to airlines.

Story continues

IATAs chief economist Brian Pearce said Tuesday that the groups previous worst-case scenario estimate  that airlines would collectively lose $113 billion in revenue as a result of COVID-19  was a gross underestimate.

What this suggests now is well see a revenue loss compared to 2019 of over $250 billion, which is something like 44 per cent down from 2019 levels, Pearce said. Clearly, this is a tremendous revenue shock.

Pearce said that, outside of the worlds top 30 airlines, many companies are in a position where they cant survive a prolonged stall in traffic. According to Pearce, the median airline has about two-months worth of cash or cash-equivalents on hand.

There are lots of debt-servicing and fixed obligations for airlines to have to pay, he said. The challenge is that, before any recovery takes place, airlines may well run out of cash.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has held discussions with the chief executives of Air Canada and WestJet, and has signalled that financial relief for the airline industry is coming. So far, the government has not announced any supports for the industry, despite repeated calls from airlines.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief.
The warnings from Cuomo and Pelosi came as the governor revealed that the number of coronavirus cases in New York is peaking sooner than expected. Trump and his top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, both suggested Tuesday that the government would relax strict guidelines designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Also Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., during an interview with MSNBC said, "The cost to the economy of many more people getting affected and sick is an even bigger cost than we're seeing now."

"But if you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy then it's no contest. No American is going to say 'accelerate the economy at the cost of human life,'" Cuomo argued.

"I understand what the president is saying that this is unsustainable that we close down the economy and we continue to spend money. There is no doubt about that," Cuomo said at a news conference in New York City.

Cuomo warned, as many health experts have, that many more people could die than otherwise would if there is a pullback in widespread efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday pushed back hard against the idea raised by President Donald Trump of easing restrictions from coronavirus mitigation efforts in an effort to revive the U.S. economy.

Trump said Tuesday, "I would love to have the country opened up, and just raring to go, by Easter," which is on April 12 this year.

Health experts have said that slowing the rate of transmission is essential to avoid overwhelming the capacity of hospitals to treat critically ill patients with the coronavirus.

Tweet

The now widely used phrased "flatten the curve" refers to keeping the peak level of current coronavirus cases below the level of available beds in intensive care units. Experts say steps like closing nonessential businesses, schools and limiting contacts between people are crucial to accomplish that goal.

An analysis by researchers at Imperial College in London projected that 2.2 million Americans could die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, without suppression efforts like the ones adopted by states and encouraged by the federal government.

With restrictions, the death toll could drop to 1.1 million, or less, depending on the strength and prevalence of restrictions.

But in recent days, Trump has chafed at the dramatic economic fallout of those restrictions, which have rocked stock market indexes, and threatened to leave the U.S. in recession when he stands for reelection in November. On Tuesday, he repeated a warning that "the cure cannot be worse ... than the problem."

Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Our people want to return to work."

"They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together," Trump tweeted. "THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!"

Trump Tweet

Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said later Tuesday morning that some states with low numbers of confirmed cases might be able to ease off their restrictions quickly.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served in the Trump administration as director of the Food and Drug Administration, warned Monday night on Twitter that, "There's a strong and understandable desire to return to better times and a functioning economy."

"But it should not be lost on anyone that there's no such thing as a functioning economy and society so long as covid-19 continues to spread uncontrolled in our biggest cities," wrote Gottlieb, who is a CNBC contributor.

Tweet

Tweet

Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday: "This is going to be a long fight" to slow the spread of the virus.

"I think we need to keep this going a couple of more weeks," he said.

"It's going to be another three, four weeks until we see the peak of the pandemic curve," Gottlieb said.

Tweet

Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a British medical journal, blasted Trump's idea of easing guidance on the coronavirus.

"President Trump: you once called COVID-19 'the new hoax' and now you say 'we're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem,'" Horton wrote.

"You are facing a virus that will kill thousands of Americans unless you suppress transmission and shield the most vulnerable. Step up."

Tweet

Neil Ferguson, lead author of the Imperial College analysis, has said on Twitter in recent days that "the first priority is to get case numbers down."

"There will then be a (limited) breathing space to assess less disruptive longer term solutions," Ferguson wrote.

An Atlantic article published Monday noted that coronavirus mitigation "actions take a massive economic toll: millions of lost jobs, billions if not trillions of dollars of wealth wiped away."

"It is tempting, at this point, to say that the cure is worse than the disease," wrote the authors, Dr. Aaron Carroll, professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, and Dr. Ashish Jha, professor of Global Health at Harvard University.

"It isn't. While the cure has large side effects, the disease is worse. The real problem is that we're taking our medicine haphazardlyand as a result, experiencing all of the side effects and few of the benefits. That needs to change."

The authors called for "a true national pause  a cessation of all nonessential activities" for at least two weeks, with total participation by U.S. residents.

"If we all distanced ourselves from one another for that long, the outbreak would slow down significantly," they wrote.

The article also said it was essential to have "massive, coordinated testing of the population."

"Even today, we don't know how many people are infected in the community and how many people without symptoms are spreading the infection to others."
Press Release

24 March 2020

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance, the voice of the European travel and tourism sector, has issued the following statement on the implementation of urgent measures to limit the COVID-19 outbreak's impact on the sector.

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The effects of the outbreak are already being felt throughout the global economy. Economic activity has dropped, and all evidence points towards a significant downturn in areas affected by the virus. The tourism and travel sector is particularly hit. Millions of jobs are currently at stake, while many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) risk closing their business. Support for tourism must be a priority in the crisis response, recovery plans and actions of affected economies.

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance welcomes the immediate response presented by the European Commission on 13th March to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. We call for immediate implementation of these measures, which should be reinforced by additional instruments focused on the tourism sector. Action is required now to strengthen the resilience of the sector in the long run and prepare the ground for a swift recovery from this unprecedented crisis.

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance calls upon the European Commission and national governments to swiftly implement the following urgent measures:

Temporary state aid for the tourism and travel sector from national governments

Fast and easy access to short- and medium-term loans to overcome liquidity shortages, including funds made available by the EU through the Corona Response Investment Initiative

Fiscal relief (both at source market and destination level), starting with SMEs and extending to economic operators of all size

Protection of workers from unemployment and loss of income (short-time work schemes, upskilling and reskilling programmes) and support for self-employed tourism stakeholders

Fast launch of the European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme

Deferment of fiscal and social contributions

Immediate passing of temporary airport slots waiver

Support action for the wider field of culture (arts and heritage)

Better coordination between national authorities in terms of alignment of travel advice to affected regions and requirements on travellers returning from those areas.

In order to guarantee a full-speed recovery in the aftermath of the crisis, we call for the implementation of the additional following measures:

Simplification of visa rules for long-haul markets

Reducing or waiving travellers' taxes (passenger duties, city taxes, etc.)

Supporting destinations, by increasing their budgets for promotion, marketing and product development purposes as soon as they are ready to welcome visitors again.

The European Tourism Manifesto alliance gathers more than 50 European public and private organisations, covering the whole tourism value chain and beyond. The alliance calls on the European Union for action on key policy priorities for the tourism sector. For more information, please visit tourismmanifesto.eu.

List of European Tourism Manifesto Supporting Organisations

A4E (Airlines for Europe)
1. Amid Self-Quarantine And Isolation, Kangana Ranaut Organises A Pooja On Her Birthday

Some people are just not understanding the gravity of the situation. For instance, yesterday was Kangana Ranaut's birthday who organized a pooja at her Manali home, breaking every single rule of social distancing.

2. As House-Helps Go On Much-Needed Self-Quarantine, Bollywood Stars Take Over Homely Chores!

While the situation outside looks dark and gloomy, people inside their homes are doing all it takes to make the most out of it. Celebrities who are trying all measures to make their quarantine and self-isolation worth it are doing all it takes.



3. Setting The Right Example! Prakash Raj To Pay His Staff and Film Crew Salaries Till May

A huge shout-out to actor turned politician for paying his film crew and personal staff their salaries until May as we battle Coronavirus. This is a brilliant move by Raj to stand and support his people who are daily wage earners and who will be badly hit financially as we all stay at home.



4. After Getting Severely Trolled, Big B Deletes Tweet On Astrological Timing Behind Janta Curfew

The latest victim of trolls is superstar Amitabh Bachchan who had tweeted his opinion on the astrological relevance behind the Janta Curfew initiated by our Prime Minister that took place on 22nd March 2020 at 5:00 PM until 5:05 PM.



5. Deepika-Ranveer Pen Appreciation Posts For Prakash Padukone For Changing The Fate Of Badminton

Deepika Padukone was full of nostalgia last evening for a very special reason. She was all praises for Daddy Prakash Padukone. In her latest post on social media.
Very soon after the coronavirus hit America, reports emerged that chloroquine, an older malaria drug, and its analogue, hydroxychloroquine, were helpful against the virus, especially when used in conjunction with azithromycin, an antibiotic. Trump expressed a strong hope that these drugs would effectively treat those with serious coronavirus cases.

The media reflexively struck back. They first accused Trump of lying about the drugs' potential value. Now that it's become clear that Trump was accurate, the media have a new tactic, which is to present chloroquine as a deadly drug that will kill more than it cures. For the media, it's never about the actual issue; it's always about "getting" Trump.

On Sunday, American Thinker ran Andrew Longman's excellent summary of chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and azithromycin. Before reading this post, you might want to refresh your knowledge by reading that article. The takeaway is that these drugs have been around for a long time, so doctors are familiar with them; that there's an increasing body of evidence that they work; and that the Trump administration got the FDA to allow doctors to prescribe them "off-label" or for "compassionate use" (that is, for a purpose other than treating malaria). (Just two recent examples of successful chloroquine use are here and here.)

On Saturday, Trump tweeted out his hope that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, when taken together, could save lives. Please note that he didn't say they "would" save lives, just that they had a "real chance" to change the outcome:

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents).....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020

Within what seemed like minutes, the media had their new narrative: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine kill!!!

Axios tweeted that a man died after "ingesting chloroquine phosphate  one of the anti-malaria drugs that Trump has mentioned in recent days":

A man has died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate  one of the anti-malaria drugs that Trump has mentioned in recent days.https://t.co/aUruaB6jZe  Axios (@axios) March 23, 2020

Despite the "self-medicating" bit, which is clear in the tweet, the story gained traction as an anti-Trump diatribe when a blue-checked doctor tweeted out the same Axios story:

BREAKING: A man DIED & his wife is in ICU after they ingested #chloroquine, one of the anti-malarials that @realDonaldTrump touted.



Chloroquine/#hydroxychloroquine have NOT been proven effective against #coronavirus & can cause FATAL heart arrhythmias.https://t.co/kagJQpkzNz  Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) March 23, 2020

What Axios neglected to report is that the man and his wife didn't merely "self-medicate." According to the hospital website, the couple went the extra mile when they "ingested chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks." Nobody can allege with a straight face that Trump told them to do that.

Naturally, Vice had to get in on the act. It ran a story with the headline, "People in Nigeria Are Poisoning Themselves With Chloroquine after Trump Said It Was a Cure for Coronavirus: The president won't stop hyping the untested 'cure,' even after Dr. Anthony Fauci and the commissioner of the FDA warned it's unproven." Except Trump never said it was a cure. He said he hoped it would be and that he had a good feeling that it could be the answer. That fools self-medicate is not Trump's fault.

Nevertheless, all the usual people afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome piled on. The following tweet is representative, since it's a twofer, with both Laurence Tribe, a chronic embarrassment to the once great history of Harvard Law School, and George Conway, Kellyanne Conway's shrill husband, chiming in:

Taking Trumps advice can kill. It already has. The man is lethal. https://t.co/wPO7TRII30  Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 24, 2020

When it comes to Trump, the media, the Democrat establishment (but I repeat myself), and the NeverTrumps all seem to have adopted as their motto Groucho Marx's famous song, "I'm against It." Here's the video because, when Groucho says it, it's funny, and we can all use a laugh right now:
The coronavirus pandemic is causing global lockdowns of bustling metropolitans, with scientific laboratories working overtime to come up with enough testing kits, potential cures and a future vaccine. While such actions are underway, cyber attackers across the world are having a field day by cashing in on the global panic that the virus has caused. The result is a wide range of phishing messages and malware-ridden emails that pretend to be healthcare directives from the World Health Organisation (WHO) or other global or national healthcare organisations, all with one purpose  steal your money and data.

Alongside malware, the key intent is to sell fake cures and peddle mass hysteria through fake news.

Escalating numbers

Speaking to News18 on the matter, Himanshu Dubey, director of Quick Heal Security Labs, stated that the approach of the attackers have been threefold. He says, Attackers always look out for trends, and are fluent at that. Based on the data that weve seen, several thousands of new websites are coming up every day. The key intent is to deliver malware, or sell fake cures and vaccines to scam people of money, and thirdly, targeting fake news to peddle mass hysteria.

A sample of a real phishing email being distributed by exploiting the coronavirus crisis. (Image: Subex)

The attacks also seem to be steadily on the move. As Dubey reveals, A couple of weeks ago, the number of new (malicious) domains spotted everyday was close to 1,000, whereas recent observations from a couple of days ago saw that the number of new URLs is close to 10,000.

Kiran Zachariah, vice president of the IoT business division at Subex, shared some data with News18 that clearly reflected on the escalating nature of these attacks. In the week ending February 8, we saw just three instances of such (phishing and malware) emails, which rose to 42 in the week ending March 14. The variation in attribution has also changed along with messaging clusters  last week, we saw 22 emails attributed to the WHO, 12 to the United States CDC, and three each to the MoHFW India, the Government of India and NHS UK. The rest were attributed to a supposed emergency team from the United Nations, added Zachariah.

The malware they put in your system now can later infect your entire office network when normalcy returns.

How they attack

The process of the attacks, as industry experts state, have remained consistent with previous behaviours of cyber criminals, but have simply evolved in precision and sophistication. As Dubey says, Most of the malware that users are receiving (through emails, websites or software) are information stealers. These tools primarily try to steal browser databases of users, where many store email passwords, social media details and even financial credentials. In certain cases, we have also noticed remote access tools (RATs) being deployed, which can give the hackers access to individual devices, remotely. In still more, ransomware are directly employed.

A sample of a real phishing email being distributed by exploiting the coronavirus crisis. (Image: Quick Heal Security Labs)

Dubey further affirms that these attackers, when going about spreading malware related to coronavirus, are showing greater levels of sophistication than before. Attackers are using updated, accurate data on their sites and tools from actual health organisations. Previously, such sites were largely or identifiably fake. With COVID-19, we have noticed that even the scam sites update info as soon as a nation releases official data, he says.

Dubey confirms that such an approach is particularly useful in a country like India, which with its massive population and diverse demographics give the attackers a sizeable target. With over 1.3 billion individuals in the country, and large volumes of individuals coming online every month, India has a large number of people who access the internet without proper education, which in turn exposes them to websites such as those mentioned above, hence amplifying the risk. Many in India are far from being tech savvy, which makes it difficult for them to understand the fine differences between a fake URL, and a real one.

A sample of a real phishing email being distributed by exploiting the coronavirus crisis. (Image: Quick Heal Security Labs)

Subexs Zachariah interestingly projects that through these attacks, cyber criminals are actually creating a scope to amplify hacks in future. As he says, Some of these infected devices can be used to attack secure infrastructures that they connect to later. For instance, if you click on a link and infect your laptop while working from home, the infection could spread and create a larger problem when you take your laptop back to the office, and connect to the Wi-Fi network there.

Along with the issues of the attacks being more authentic in appearances and running dormant in the background, Zachariah states that quite often, it is very difficult to even know that a machine has been infected. Sometimes, such infections do not hamper the normal operations because most of the (devices) come with good compute power. This was not so about seven years ago, when malware infections would slow down devices so much that the OS had to be reinstalled.

The on-ground situation is often masked due to people not reporting cyber crimes frequently enough in India.

Fewer official reports

As of now, cyber attacks using coronavirus as bait have been running relatively unchecked in India, due to the lack of people reporting about them as of now. As Prof. Triveni Singh, superintendent of police at Azamgarh, and head of Uttar Pradesh Polices cyber crime special task force, states that the lack of official complaints (for obvious reasons) may be the key reason why such attacks are steadily increasing in India.

A sample of a real phishing email being distributed by exploiting the coronavirus crisis. (Image: Kaspersky)

As Singh states, Official reports on these attacks are only filed once individuals face some concrete or financial losses. As a result of this, cyber criminals do many illegal online activities in India, but because of the lack of official complaints due to no financial losses, we often dont get to know the on-ground scale of these attacks. For instance, many people do not report cyber crimes such as login thefts, and contacts or email thefts. No one really goes to the police as long as their money is not stolen.

Singh further affirms that India has a long way to go in terms of reportage of cyber crimes, and urges individuals to come forward and seek help with the police in cases of online frauds and attacks, even in situations where no money is lost. He told News18 that while some of the most reported cases are UPI frauds and ransomware crimes, they are only a part of the total volume of cyber attacks in India.
There's been no official indications from the Australian state governments whether renters will be given any financial reprieve in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Homeowners have been backed by the big banks, who have offered to pause mortgage repayments for up to six months for those affected financially by COVID-19.

However there are some three million renters who haven't been formally told whether they're expecting any financial aid or abatement in keeping a roof over their heads.

There are about eight million occupying the residential rental premises.

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said landlords will be among those who "are going to be making sacrifices in the months ahead", adding that everyone has that role to play.

Last week the PM held a press conference in Canberra suggesting help for tenants is coming, but there's been no update forthcoming from the state governments who regulate the rental market.

"Further work will be done on identifying how relief can be provided for tenants in both commercial and residential tenancies to ensure that in hardship conditions, there will be relief available," Morrison said.

"All Australians are going to be making sacrifices obviously in the months ahead, and everyone does have that role to play, and that will include landlords at the end of the day."

(States are) working to identify how relief can be provided for tenants in both commercial tenancies and residential tenancies, to ensure that in hardship conditions, there will be relief that will be available, and ensuring that tenancy legislation is protecting those tenants over the next six months at least, Morrison added.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also called for landlords to act.

"This is a team Australia moment. Whether you are an energy company, whether you're a landlord, whether you're a bank, you need to fully understand the predicament in which your customers are finding themselves through no fault of their own", Frydenberg said last week.

Press conferences by Morrison and Frydenberg have suggested it will be a state by state financial relief package.

The REIA President Adrian Kelly has said the real estate industry across Australia is "extremely concerned" for the welfare of tenants

"We know that many of our tenants are employed in sectors that are likely to experience significant job losses during these uncertain times.



"On behalf of the real estate industry I would like to communicate to our tenants that we absolutely understand the stress and anxiety that you may be feeling at this time."

He noted agents have a responsibility and a duty of care to look after the interests of both tenants and also property owners.

"Under normal circumstances if a tenant can no longer afford to pay their rent, we undertake the process of eviction.



"However in these times of the Coronavirus pandemic, we are in unchartered waters.

"If a tenant is unable to pay their rent, due to a loss of income, the situation is further exacerbated by the fact they may need to self-isolate for a period of time."

Kelly indicated there was already an issue for property owners, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, whose tenants are overseas student currently locked out of the country.

Kelly said he was in the process of writing to the larger banks and financial institutions to make them aware of these imminent situations.



"The postponement of mortgage repayments by the banks and financial institutions, for impacted property owners, is a possible solution."

Kelly has also spoken to the federal housing minister Michael Sukkar to discuss the situation with him.

The US has seen eviction notices are still being pinned on doors of millions of tenants.

However the lockdown in the US have banned estate agents from functioning under the stay at home laws, so they are not able to show new tenants any new rental listings.

Donald Trump declared the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would be providing immediate relief to renters and homeowners by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April", cover 30 million homeowners from eviction, although it didn't cover the 40 million renters across the country.

New York, who has the largest public housing authority in the nation, has temporarily blocked evictions for renters, although that's only renters in federally subsidized apartments.

The Texas Supreme Court has ordered a halt to all tenant evictions until the end of April.

The UK however has protected their renters.

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced the new laws last week that would ban landlords in England and Wales from evicting tenants.

They will not be evicted from their homes for at least three months.
For the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, Please Explain is coming to you five days a week.

In today's episode of Please Explain, Tory Maguire and Jordan Baker discuss the contention surrounding the shutdown of Australian schools.

They also talk about the confusion parents and teachers are experiencing after hearing different messages from the state premiers and the Prime Minister as well as what all this means for childcare services.

Become a subscriber
24 Mar Cecilia Choi recently revealed that she had to withdraw from a good project in Taiwan after failing to fulfil all the requirements needed for her travel.

As reported on Mingpao, the actress who spoke to the media to promote the Hong Kong Film Awards recently, shared that she was originally scheduled to fly to Taiwan at the end of February to start work on a new drama.

"Because of the pandemic, even if I am going to Taiwan, I have to undergo a 14-day quarantine first. But the production said that they were willing to wait, so I decided to do it," she said.

Unfortunately, Cecilia said that she had to withdraw from the project after failing to get a visa because of the pandemic.

"It was really sad, because it was a really good script and a great character," she added.

Cecilia also revealed that she felt a bit disappointed that the Hong Kong Film Awards will not be holding a live event this year due to the situation, especially since this is her first time being nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in "Beyond the Dream".

"It is a rare thing for me to get shortlisted. But I understand the decision, since it is related to the issue of social security as a whole," she added.

(Photo Source: Cecilia Choi Instagram)
The AHDB has published two new Country Focus reports outlining information on the Vietnamese and Canadian pork marketplaces.

The latest Country Focus report on Vietnam shows that the EU is a major supplier of pork to Vietnam, with imports coming from Poland and Germany, with Russia and the US also key suppliers.It also looks at buying behaviours, projected growth in the economy and population, as well as consumer trends and concerns.

Vietnam is a potentially valuable market for UK exports, with the country importing around 1.7bn of red meat last year, including almost a million tonnes of beef, lamb and pork.

AHDBs head of Asia Pacific Jonathan Eckley said: Vietnam is potentially a key market for our red meat exports, with consumption needs far outstripping domestic production.

Pork is by far the most favoured meat in the country but beef is growing in popularity, presenting further opportunities in the future for our red meat exports.

The second Country Focus Report explores opportunities in Canada, where the UK has had market access for pork, beef and lamb for around five years.

The UK currently only exports small quantities of meat to Canada, but the latest trade data shows a significant increase last year, with exports of some cuts increasing tenfold.

According to the report, price is a top concern for Canadian consumers and has been for several years, as well as keeping healthy food affordable. Convenience is also important in terms of both meal options and shopping experience, as many Canadian consumers are time-poor.

AHDB senior consumer insight manager Steve Evans said that understanding consumer trends in international markets is critical to long-term export success ,and added: AHDBs Consumer Insight team have been working closely with the export team to provide a topline look at consumer eating habits and buying behavior in these key target markets.

British exports have a great story to tell and understanding the needs of consumers in target markets can help exporters identify the key consumer opportunities. For example, messages around food safety and production would resonate stronger in South East Asia than in the EU or north American markets.

The Country Focus report on Vietnam can be found here

The Country Focus report on Canada can be found here.

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Retailers are struggling to meet the demand for hand sanitizer in Southeast Texas with the spread of coronavirus, but amid the scarcity at least two Beaumont pharmacies are mixing and selling their own compounded versions.

Jasper Lovoi Jr., owner of Lovoi & Sons Pharmacy in Beaumont, decided that, once their wholesale supplier ran out of over-the-counter hand sanitizer, it would be a good idea to start compounding their own.

We had so many people coming in and we thought, Heck we could probably make this, Lovoi said. We found a formula and started making it. We got all the ingredients, the bottles and started making it on Monday.

The pharmacy reached out to its compounding supply chain for the ingredients and began to conjure up its own formula.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a statement March 14 allowing pharmacists with in-state-licensed pharmacies, federal facilities and registered outsourcing facilities to engage in temporary compounding of certain alcohol-based hand sanitizer products for the duration of the public health emergency.

Another Beaumont compounding pharmacy, Daleo Compounding Pharmacy and Wellness Center, is also making hand sanitizer.

At Lovoi & Sons, technicians came up with a four-ingredient hand sanitizer that the pharmacy began selling on Tuesday after it received a shipment of 4-ounce spray bottles. Their compounded hand sanitizer consists of alcohol, glycerin, eucalyptus and peppermint.

Its a simple formula, but its a very nice hand sanitizer, said Kevin Goode, a Lovoi & Sons tech trainee and consultant. Its expensive compared to what you get over the counter  and I am not the hand sanitizer guru  but what I will say is it is a top-quality hand sanitizer. They just dont usually make it to that spec  at least I havent seen it.

Lovoi & Sons is selling the 4-ounce spray bottle of 85% alcohol sanitizer for $15.95. Each customer is limited to four bottles per visit. Its hand sanitizer is spray-type rather than the typical gel sold over the counter.

Goode said there is no effective difference between spray sanitizer and gel sanitizers. He compared gel and spray versions to how sunblock comes in different delivering agents.

It takes about half an hour for the pharmacy to make a batch of 30 of the 4-ounce bottles.

Most of the pharmacies the Enterprise checked with were out of hand sanitizer and uncertain when the next shipment with the CDC-recommended minimum of 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol will become available. Other than Lovoi & Sons and Daleo pharmacy, Walmart was the only retailer that said it had hand sanitizer readily available.

The Daleo pharmacy is limiting customers to two 4-ounce containers of gel sanitizer.

Its a public service, said owner Charles Daleo, a compounding pharamacist. Weve been in the community for many years and we are just trying to provide for the community. I am not trying to make a profit on this.

Daleo added that he is providing his compounded hand sanitizer predominantly to first responders and doctors offices. A problem that Daleo compounding is encountering is the lack of alcohol to make its hand sanitizer.

Were going to keep making until we cant any longer, Daleo said.

Lovoi & Sons said the biggest problem it faces is the supply of spray bottles.

Were just going to have to look for other sources for spray bottles, Goode said. We will just have to see. We might have to switch wholesalers. We have about four or five wholesalers we can possibly go to. This may be just a temporary problem.

jorge.ramos@beaumontenterprise.com
Queensland renters hit hard by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic are asking questions about their rights and obligations as thousands of workers lose their jobs.

Peak bodies for the real estate industry and renters are urging tenants and landlords to work together to prevent evictions and other problems.

Brisbane renters facing economic hardship may have more answers on their options in the coming days. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

On March 19, Holland Park tenant Samantha Tully, a single mother of two daughters, was told the owner of her home was selling.

An open house was held on Saturday, and with another initially scheduled for Saturday, March 28, she was deeply concerned for her health-compromised family.
WeWork is offering some of its employees $100 a day if they feel comfortable coming into work amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this week, WeWork's COO Shyam Gidumal offered members of the company's community teams a bonus worth $100 a day or up to $500 week through the month of April as an extra reward for them working out of WeWork offices, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC. The bonus applies to community teams in the U.S. and Canada. The existence of the memo was previously reported by the New York Times.

WeWork's community teams include associates who are responsible for supporting members' needs, including handling any mail or packages, on-site programming and member communications, among other services.

WeWork said the purpose of the bonuses was not to entice employees to come into work, but rather to reward employees who felt comfortable coming in. The bonuses, which will be paid out in a lump sum each month, are being given "in recognition of our community employee's willingness to support our members by keeping our buildings open and operating during these extraordinary times," Gidumal wrote in the memo.

Last week, WeWork executive chairman Marcelo Claure and CEO Sandeep Mathrani directed all of the company's employees, including community teams, to work from home through at least the end of March, according to a separate memo obtained by CNBC. Anyone working from home will receive regular pay for the time spent working remotely and aren't required to use paid time off, paid sick time or other leave entitlements, WeWork said.

Although WeWork's employees were told to work remote, many of WeWork's shared office spaces remain open to serve members who are "essential businesses," such as companies in the health care, financial services, manufacturing and food distribution industries, the company said.

"WeWork is a service provider and we have an obligation to keep our buildings open," Claure and Mathrani wrote in the memo. "We too have members counting on us to remain open so they can run their companies to generate revenue, pay their people, and continue serving their customers."

WeWork has increased building cleanings, reduced staffing models and made other changes to "prioritize the health and safety of you, our members and our communities," Claure and Mathrani wrote in the memo.

As the coronavirus outbreak has worsened, many states around the country have ordered nonessential businesses to close, in order to stop the spread of the virus. Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told non-essential businesses to keep 100% of their workforce at home. Businesses that provide essential services, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and food delivery, are allowed to stay open, but must make sure that employees and customers maintainat least 6 feet of space between each other. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had pushed for the order amid an "explosion of cases" in New York City.

Here's the full memo:

U.S. and Canada Community Teams,

I appreciate your resilience as we navigate the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. I want to thank all of you for your tireless efforts both from your homes and on-site in our buildings to help our members during this difficult time.

Over the past few weeks, multiple states and local governments have instituted essential business orders and we expect that there may be more in the near future. Not only has WeWork been designated an essential business under orders we have reviewed, in addition, we have confirmed (by reaching out to our members in those locations) what all of us already knew, that WeWork is full of members whose companies are also essential businesses to us as a society as well as those designated essential under these orders (healthcare, insurance, food, cleaning supplies, mail and on and on). We will continue to support these essential member companies whose operations are critical to our society during this pandemic by staying open and accessible.

In recognition of our Community employee's willingness to support our members by keeping our buildings open and operating during these extraordinary times, we are pleased to share that those employees who staff our buildings are eligible for a bonus award that will be paid out in a lump sum on a monthly basis. The bonus will be based on each employee's contribution and presence in the office to address specific member needs. The bonus award will range from $100 per day and up to $500 per week. We will reach out early this week with additional details regarding the administration of this plan. It will remain in effect through April for Community team members in the United States and Canada. We are not changing the work from home policy for our Community teams.

For your awareness, U.S. and Canada members will receive a note tonight asking them to submit a support request or inform you via email if their business is essential, and in locations where applicable, exempt from state and local government orders. Portfolio Directors: please work with your CMs to document these members and respond to their specific needs. GMs and PDs will share updated guidance with you about operational specifics.

To best support our members remotely, please utilize our new Virtual Community Management Connect page. These processes and resources will increase visibility and ensure projects remain on track while you and your teams are not on-site, including:

Virtual Programming

Daily Team Schedule & Weekly Agendas

Offsite Responsibilities & Tasks by Role

Member Communications

For any questions, please reach out to your Community leadership. Thank you for your continued support.

Warm Regards,

Shyam

Chief Operating Officer
A court in Krakow has found three Polish men with right-wing, pro-Russian leanings guilty of committing terrorist acts for their roles in firebombing a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine last year.



They were convicted on March 23 of torching a Hungarian-funded cultural center in Ukraines westernmost Zakarpattya region where more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside.



The mastermind, 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz, was sentenced to three years in prison.



His accomplice, Tomasz Rafal Szymkowiak, 23, was given two years.



A third suspect, 26-year-old Adrian Marglewski, who cooperated with investigators, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to do community service.

The center was attacked on February 4, 2019 when a Molotov cocktail was thrown through its window. Later that month, another was thrown, causing a fire that destroyed most of the ground floor.



Polands domestic security agency, ABW, detained the three suspects the same month.



Ukrainian authorities had given Polish authorities evidence and closed-caption video footage of the men staying at a hostel in the regional capital of Uzhhorod, where they had registered in their real names. They were also shown purchasing gasoline at a local gas station.



"This attack was in line with the course of Russia's actions against Ukraine: the purpose was to weaken Ukraine internally and destabilize the situation in this country, Mariusz Sadlo, a national prosecutor in Warsaws department of Organized Crime and Corruption, said in the courtroom.



The incident prompted Hungary to summon the Ukrainian ambassador to warn against rising "extremism" in the country.



It further strained relations between the neighboring countries over a Ukrainian education law that was enacted in 2017, elevating the status of the Ukrainian language and which Budapest said restricted the right of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to be educated in their native language.



Prokopowicz is a member of the ultraright, pro-Russian Zmiana party, whose founder -- Mateusz Piskorski -- was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of spying for Russia and China.



Szymkowiak and Marglewski are members of the neofascist Falanga group whose members have been known to have participated in the war in Ukraines east on the side of Russian-backed separatists.



Prokopowicz and Szymkowiak had pleaded not guilty.



During the trial on January 14, Prokopowicz told the court that he received instructions and money for the arson attack from a German journalist who has worked as a consultant for a German member of parliament with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.



Prokopowicz named Manuel Oschsenreiter, who has denied the allegation as "false."



Oschsenreiter is known to have ties to Zmiana and is editor of the right-wing German magazine Zuerst! (First!).



He has been a frequent commentator in Russian state media over the past six years, voicing support for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and denouncing what he calls the Western medias anti-Moscow bias.

With additional reporting by The Ukrainian Week magazine
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans this past weekend stepped up their already considerable efforts to engage in social distancing in response to the novel coronavirus. Seventy-two percent of U.S. adults now say they are avoiding public places like stores and restaurants, well ahead of the 54% reporting this last week. Nearly as many (68%) are forgoing small gatherings of friends and family, up from 46%.

These shifts are notable because they suggest that the unprecedented efforts by federal, state, local and private-sector leaders to get the public's attention -- a combination of formal closures of transportation, schools, and workplaces, as well as public appeals for voluntary efforts -- are working.

Even larger percentages of Americans are avoiding events with large crowds (92%) and are staying away from air travel or mass transit (87%). Most Americans were already avoiding these activities last week as businesses en masse began shuttering their doors, and widespread government and corporate travel bans took hold.

Trend in U.S. Adults' Reports They Are Taking Each Action Because of Coronavirus Mar 13-15 Mar 16-19 Mar 20-22 % % % Avoided going to events with large crowds, such as concerts, festivals or sporting events 59 79 92 Avoided traveling by airplane, bus, subway or train 55 75 87 Canceled or postponed travel plans 39 57 73 Avoided going to public places, such as stores or restaurants 30 54 72 Avoided small gatherings of people, such as with family or friends 23 46 68 Stocked up on food, medical supplies or cleaning supplies 39 52 59 Gallup Panel, 2020

These findings are based on polling conducted by web using the Gallup Panel, a probability-based panel of U.S. adults, aged 18 and older. Gallup has been tracking Americans' social distancing practices nightly on the Gallup Panel since March 13, and is reporting the findings in multiday averages.

Specifically, the question asks whether respondents are engaging in each of five social distancing practices as well as stocking up, and whether they are considering doing each. The vast majority of Americans are at least considering doing each practice.

The biggest shift between the latest results, from March 20-22, and the prior report, based on March 16-19 interviewing, has been in the percentage of Americans avoiding small gatherings of people. This has risen 22 percentage points since last Monday-Thursday.

Percentage of Americans Avoiding Small Gatherings, Such as With Friends and Family Mar 13-15 Mar 16-19 Mar 20-22 % % % U.S. adults 23 46 68 Gender Men 20 41 64 Women 26 51 73 Age 18 to 29 24 45 72 30 to 59 24 47 69 60+ 22 46 67 Region East 20 56 75 Midwest 22 45 67 South 23 42 64 West 26 47 71 Party ID Republicans 12 37 56 Independents 23 48 68 Democrats 32 52 78 Population Density Top quintile (Most dense) 30 60 77 Second quintile 27 49 69 Third quintile 19 47 73 Fourth quintile 20 46 62 Bottom quintile (Least dense) 18 33 59 Gallup Panel, 2020

Americans' aversion to visiting public places like stores and restaurants is up strongly among all major societal subgroups.

Percentage of Americans Reporting They Are Avoiding Public Places, Such as Stores and Restaurants Mar 13-15 Mar 16-19 Mar 20-22 % % % U.S. adults 30 54 72 Gender Men 25 50 69 Women 35 59 74 Age 18 to 29 35 57 74 30 to 59 28 54 70 60+ 33 54 73 Region East 36 65 75 Midwest 30 52 72 South 27 48 69 West 32 57 74 Party ID Republicans 21 43 61 Independents 27 54 71 Democrats 41 65 80 Population Density Top quintile (Most dense) 41 66 75 Second quintile 34 62 72 Third quintile 20 56 77 Fourth quintile 25 49 68 Bottom quintile (Least dense) 29 42 65 Gallup Panel, 2020

There has been less movement on a different measure -- Americans' willingness to remain in their homes for 30 days, should they be asked to do so in the event of a serious outbreak of COVID-19 in their community. Fifty-eight percent now say they are "very likely" to comply, up from 51% last week.

Americans' Likelihood of Complying With Shelter-in-Place Recommendations If public health officials recommended that everyone stay at home for a month because of a serious outbreak of coronavirus in your community, how likely are you to stay home for a month? Mar 13-15 Mar 16-19 Mar 20-22 % % % Very likely 41 51 58 Somewhat likely 29 27 24 Somewhat unlikely 14 11 9 Very unlikely 16 12 9 Total likely 70 78 82 Total unlikely 30 23 18 Gallup Panel, 2020

Two-Thirds Report Completely or Mostly Isolating Themselves

Asked to characterize their social distancing overall on a five-point scale, 20% now say they are "completely" isolating themselves from nonhousehold members, up slightly from 17% last Monday-Thursday. A combined 64%, up from 53%, report completely or "mostly" isolating themselves. Meanwhile, the percentage making no effort or isolating themselves "a little" is down by about half, from 27% to 14%.

Social Distancing Spectrum Thinking about everything you've done in the past 24 hours, which of the following comes closest to describing your in-person contact with people outside your household? Mar 16-19 Mar 20-22 % % Completely isolated yourself, having no contact with people outside your household 17 20 Mostly isolated yourself, having very little contact with people outside your household 36 44 Partially isolated yourself, having some contact with people outside your household 21 22 Isolated yourself a little, still having a fair amount of contact with people outside your household 16 10 Did not make any attempt to isolate yourself from people outside your household 11 4 Gallup Panel, 2020

Gallup will continue to monitor and report these measures frequently on news.Gallup.com in the coming days.

Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.
Like many others from the United States, Miss Saigon will not be crossing the Canadian border.

The North American tour of the musical was scheduled to play Torontos Princess of Wales Theatre in May, but the tour has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Mirvish Productions announced Tuesday.

The last performance was March 15 in Fort Myers, Fla.

Mirvish noted that Miss Saigon has a special history with this city.

The Princess of Wales on King St. W. was built especially to accommodate the 1993 Canadian premiere of Miss Saigon and its helicopter landing, so this would have been a homecoming for the musical about a doomed Vietnam War romance.

In a 2013 interview with former Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian, Miss Saigon producer Cameron Mackintosh recalled digging the foundations of the Princess of Wales with Ed Mirvish. At the time, his updated version of the musical was to open the following spring in London, England, but he was already talking about bringing it back to Toronto.

The musical by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, their followup to Les Miserables, had a record-breaking two-year run here.

Sadly, (the homecoming) wont happen this time; but the musical is so beloved that a future engagement may very well happen, Mirvish said in the release.

Patrons can visit mirvish.com or call TicketKing at 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333 for refunds or credits.
Hrithik Roshan, who is spending time with his kids amid coronavirus lockdown, has posted a throwback picture from one of their many adventurous holidays on Instagram.

Looking back at the trip, Hrithik posted a picture from the time when they slept under the night sky with no soul in sight. The monochrome picture shows just a foldable cot placed amid the vastness of empty terrain. Hrithik and his boys: Hrehaan and Hridaan can be seen standing besides it while posing for the camera.

Talking about the picture, Hrithik wrote, Throwback to different kind of self isolation when we slept under the stars with nobody around for miles except foxes, wildebeest, snakes and lizards. He further talked about the place, The Makgadikgadi Pan is a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana. Its one of the largest salt flats in the world. An area larger than Switzerland. .Adventures of 2015. #neverstopexploring #neverstopcreating #adventurers #BFF #staycurious #funtakeswork.

The actor went on to drop a message for their guide in Botswana, named Super. Asking about his well-being in the times of coronavirus outbreak, he wrote, The name of our guide was Super. My dear Super if you happen to see this , I hope you are safe and well. Ray, Ridz and myself remember you fondly.

Also read: Hrithik Roshan watches sons play amid coronavirus lockdown, says Couldnt ask for a better view. See pic

A day before, Hrithik shared a picture of his sons playing with their pet dog while he remained busy in reading a book. On Sunday, actor joined his neighbour Akshay Kumar and producer Sajid Nadiadwala and the trio was seen standing on the walls and banging plates with a ladle to salute the spirit of the relentless workers who care for patients suffering from the coronavirus.

Post his consecutive back to back hits Super 30 and War, Hrithik hasnt announced a new project but is said to be planning the fourth instalment in the Krrish franchise. He has, however, signed with agency to venture into Hollywood.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 13:54:40|Editor: huaxia

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TAIYUAN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- In a traditional Chinese pavilion-like building, the stage was set, but no performance was held. However, visitors took photos of the architecture under a thick tree in the square in front of the building.

The century-old structure in Mujiao village in northern China's Shanxi Province was used as a stage for traditional Chinese operas. At its peak, villagers packed the square for shows that lasted hours.

Today, the audience was scarce, and the stage has become a symbol representing local culture and customs. In Shanxi, around 3,000 ancient stages dating from 1271 to 1911 still stand.

"Though its basic functions have been lost, the stage is of great value for studying ancient architecture and opera culture as well as local history and culture," said Niu Bailin, a local researcher.

The stages were often built in front of temples in Chinese villages as they had the symbolic meaning of the celebration of both men and gods.

Today, many of the temples have been torn down, but the stages remain. However, as the size of traditional opera troupes has grown larger, the stages seem to grow smaller.

"It has been three years since we had a large traditional opera performance," said Yan Runhe, a 67-year-old local villager.

The shows are also losing popularity among the younger generation. However, for elders like Yan, the shows are an important part of their cultural memory.

"We watched operas from childhood to adulthood," Yan said. "People were poor in the past, and watching the operas made us feel civilized."

The shows were regularly held on the birthday of "Guangong," an ancient general worshipped as a symbol of loyalty, righteousness and bravery, in April of the Chinese Lunar calendar.

"Actors sang on the stage, and we watched attentively; it was a golden time," said Yan.

The performances often attract residents from nearby villages. A show can last around three to four hours, and residents often carry stools with them to sit at the square after dinner to enjoy the performances.

"When electric lights were not available, villagers would carry kerosene lamps to light the area," Run recalled.

Today, the stages provide a new perspective for researchers like Niu to understand ancient society.

Opera performers often left inscriptions on these buildings, Niu said, adding that some are simple scribblings of their complaints, and some are introductions about the shows and actors.

"These are things you rarely see on official documents," Niu said.

In recent years, the local government has strengthened the protection of these sites by calling for villages to preserve and renovate these places and including many into the official list of cultural preservation.

Artists and writers also came to visit the ancient stages for inspiration, creating paintings and books about the stages, according to Niu.

"The attention the ancient stages have received, to some degree, reflects that the traditional culture is reviving," Niu said.
A virus is now testing the ability of all countries to manage the health of their population and save their economies from a collapse. This includes the most powerful nations who sell fighter planes and latest generations of weapons to countries who can hardly afford it. However, even they have witnessed a run on their supermarkets for grocery and food items.

India has done rather well in managing its food supplies in the middle of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. So far, there are hardly any reports of shortage of foodstuff. The challenge is to manage the supply of food and essential items even if the lockdown is extended beyond March 31.

So, what should we expect in the next few weeks?

India has a wide network of 533,897 fair price shops spread across the country. The central government allocates 35 kg wheat and rice (at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg) to 23.8 million Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. About 710 million persons, (classified as priority households) are provided 5 kg wheat and/or rice. This meets about half of the monthly requirement.

The central government is having excessive stock of wheat and rice and there is shortage of storage space for Rabi procurement, which will peak in three weeks. The Centre can easily increase the allocation of AAY families from 35 kg to 70 kg per month as these are the poorest of the poor and most deserving of all the households.

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

Previous evaluation studies have found least leakage and diversion in this category. Food subsidy to the AAY households was Rs 4,271.76 crore in 2016-17. If their entitlement is raised to 70 kg, it may mean extra expenditure of about Rs 5,000 crore in a year which can be easily absorbed by the Centre.

There is enough availability of pulses and edible oils in India. If their supply chain is not disturbed by random orders of the state governments (or district collectors), there is no reason why there should be any shortage of food items in kirana shops.

Supply of milk in urban areas is maintained by Amul or state dairy federations or private dairies. There is no possibility for any shortage as the supply chain is well maintained from the dairy farmer to the end consumer.

Pulses and edible oils are also available in plenty and Rabi crops of chana and mustard are already arriving in the market. So, there should be no occasion for any shortage of these two staple commodities as well.

Supply of fruits and vegetables in urban areas would be easily maintained by farmers through a much-maligned mandi system.

If the spread of Covid-19 is contained by restrictions in the large cities and the badly affected 75 districts, Indias food security faces no challenge from Covid -19.

However, the most serious threat to availability of foodstuff could come not from any shortage, but from an overzealous bureaucracy. On March 20, the Centre asked the states to exempt warehousing, logistics and services operations of e-commerce from any prohibitory orders. In the meantime, several states and UTs have issued orders restricting commercial operations and movement under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 or Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

Though they have exempted food items and groceries, the food industry is already reported to be facing restrictions on running their factories and businesses as local officers at district level in several states are imposing restrictions on warehousing and movement of labour and trucks.

For example, West Bengal has issued orders on March 22 that no non-essential item will be permitted to enter the state. However, it has not been specified as to what is non-essential. Such vague orders will surely be interpreted by local officials to impose restrictions on movement of food items also.

There is an urgent need for the Centre to issue clear directions to the states that they should not impose any border restrictions on movement. Similarly, mandi operations, warehousing, storage, movement and processing of food products should not be brought under any restrictions.

There are large number of people in the un-organised sector who would not be earning enough to buy food, even though it is available in the market. It is for the state governments to reach out and arrange community kitchens in cities. For this, help of NGOs may be necessary. Delhi, Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have taken some initiatives to assist vulnerable families by direct assistance. Other states also need to urgently identify and take care of the workers in informal sector who would be the suffering the worst impact of shut downs.

It is expected from all food business operators that they are ensuring that the persons handling food at any stage are not showing any symptoms of Covid-19, and if any such cases are detected, strict measures to isolate them have been taken.
Dr. Agus has boasted to senior administration officials that he has talked about the benefits of the drugs with Mr. Trump, who has publicly counseled that medical efforts not be wedded to traditional drug trials. That has alarmed senior health officials, who see the Oracle project as a way around the rigor and consensus of the governments drug safety oversight.

On Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Fauci met with Drs. Deborah L. Birx, the White Houses coronavirus coordinator, Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Stephen M. Hahn, the F.D.A. commissioner, to go over their concerns with the Oracle project and review new Chinese data that indicated the drugs have no meaningful effect.

One person familiar with the Oracle discussions said the project would be driven by science and data, not political calculations. Another person familiar with the conversations said there had been other talks between the Trump administration and television medical experts, such as Dr. Mehmet Oz, a widely watched and often criticized television personality who joined a Fox News-hosted virtual town hall with the president and Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday to ask a question about hydroxychloroquine.

In response to the question, Mr. Pence said that patients should defer to their doctors on whether to take the drug.

On some of the presidents favorite Fox News programs in recent weeks, including Laura Ingrahams, guests have pitched chloroquine as a coronavirus treatment. On March 14, Dr. Marc K. Siegel, a Fox News medical correspondent, said on Justice with Judge Jeanine that no one is talking about" antiviral treatments, but that we can try some of these treatments.

Mr. Trumps own chloroquine boosterism began as early as last Wednesday in a private Oval Office meeting, where he told a group of top officials, including Dr. Hahn, that promoting the drug would be a shot of inspiration for the public. The F.D.A., Mr. Trump said in the meeting, should promote chloroquine treatment, two senior administration officials said.

Early that morning, and to the surprise of top officials at the F.D.A., Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that he would be holding a news conference to discuss very important news from the F.D.A. concerning the Chinese Virus! Pleading with the White House, officials at the F.D.A. were able to hold it off, according to a senior administration official, forcing Mr. Trump to take his message to the next days coronavirus task force news briefing, where he told reporters that chloroquine would be distributed to large groups of people even before the government had concluded studying its safety and effectiveness.
New York City hospitals will only be able to get through this week before they start getting "to a point where people can't be saved" because of equipment shortages, Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN on Monday.

"In our public hospitals, our 11 public hospitals right now, this week, I can only guarantee you right now, John, that we can get through this week with the equipment and supplies we have. That's the blunt reality," he told CNN's John Berman.

"If we don't get some relief quickly, and I can count, John, I literally want to see hundreds of ventilators, I want to see first hundreds of thousands and millions of masks, if that doesn't come in starting this week, we will get to a point where people can't be saved who could have been saved."

"It's shocking to have to say this. Even just a few days ago, I thought we could get safely into April. It's moving so fast right now, that I can't even say that anymore," de Blasio said.

New York, the largest and most densely populated city in the United States, has rapidly become the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus spread. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were more than 12,000 people with confirmed cases of coronavirus in the city, and about 13% of positive cases require hospitalization. New York City's total is by far the largest cluster among more than 42,000 cases in the country.

De Blasio said Monday evening that both the federal and state governments are sending additional supplies, including 400 ventilators from the federal stockpile, 430,000 surgical masks, 170,000 N95 masks, 175,000 pairs of gloves, 98,000 face shields and 72,000 surgical gowns.

The city Monday sent some supplies it had amassed to hospitals, de Blasio said, including 200,000 N95 masks, 2 million surgical masks and 70,000 face shields.

Health officials have warned that hospitals are experiencing major shortages of equipment, including masks to protect front-line workers and ventilators to treat patients unable to breathe on their own.

"There are shortages of a wide variety of personal protective equipment, particularly N95 masks and gloves and gowns," said Nancy Foster, a vice president with the American Hospital Association, which represents more than 5,000 hospitals and health systems.

Unlike regular surgical facemasks, N95 respirators have a tighter fit and are better at filtering out airborne particles that could spread the virus.

She said the shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, is happening across the country, not just in hot spots such as New York or Washington state.

"Every hospital and every community, even if they are not experiencing community outbreak, expects to, so this is an issue," she said.

Cuomo said Monday the state has obtained more respirator masks for health care workers.

"Today, we can get masks to anyone who needs them," he said. But he said he can't promise that will remain the case next week or the week after.

Stark warnings for New York

With the number of cases rising so rapidly, New York City is most acutely feeling that shortage, particularly with ventilators.

"If we don't get ventilators this week, we are going to start losing lives we could have saved. I can't be blunter than that," de Blasio said.

Last week, the mayor's office said New York City needs 45 million surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves, and facemasks by early April to ensure its health care system can deal with coronavirus-related issues.

The federal government has so far resisted nationalizing the effort to acquire medical supplies, instead leaving it up to individual state leaders. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that has created a frantic competition among states to purchase needed supplies.

"Currently, when states are doing it, we are competing against other states," he said. "In some ways we're savaging other states. I'm trying to buy masks. I'm competing with California and Illinois and Florida."

On Monday, Cuomo issued an emergency order to hospitals to increase their bed capacity by 50%. He also confirmed the state will build four emergency hospitals with the help of the federal government to deal with the need for increased hospital capacity.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams gave a "somber" message to the nation while speaking on NBC on Monday morning.

"I want America to understand -- this week, it's going to get bad," Adams told NBC.

De Blasio said he agreed with the surgeon general's grim prediction.

"The surgeon general is right. It's going to be bad this week. it's going to be worse the following week," he said.

"It's the beginning of something that will get worse throughout April and into May, and we've got to brace ourselves and we've got to change our lives."
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Minister says ex-PM Khaleda Zia to be released for six months on condition that she does not leave the country.

Bangladesh will suspend the jail sentence of its ailing former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia and release her for a period of six months, the nations law minister has said.

We have decided to release her on humanitarian grounds as per the instructions of the prime minister, Law Minister Anisul Huq said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

She can receive treatment staying at her home, but she cannot go abroad.

He said the Ministry of Home Affairs will issue a notification for her release. It was not immediately clear exactly when she would be freed.

Khaleda, 74, who has twice been prime minister, has been in jail since she was convicted in a corruption case in February 2018. She was accused of misusing her power by embezzling some $250,000 in donations meant for an orphanage trust.

Khaledas party says she is seriously ill with ailments including respiratory problems and arthritis. In April last year, she was moved to a prison cell at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital, Dhaka.

The government decided to release Khaleda in response to appeals from her family, Huq said.

Khaledas brother, Shamim Iskander, thanked the government for its decision of releasing her, saying: Were very happy with the decision.

Khaleda, who shares a long-standing rivalry with incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was later convicted in a separate corruption case following her initial conviction in early 2018.

Her Bangladesh Nationalist Party says the cases were fabricated and aimed at keeping her away from politics, allegations denied by Hasinas government.

She has been unable to secure bail despite repeated appeals. In February, the High Court again rejected her bail plea.

Khaleda and Hasina are both part of political dynasties. While Khaleda is the widow of Ziaur Rahman, a general-turned-president who was assassinated in 1981, Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the countrys first president and independence leader, who was assassinated in 1975.

Bangladesh gained independence after it broke from Pakistan following a nine-month war in 1971.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:50:56|Editor: yan

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JUBA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Tuesday received medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation included 100,000 face masks, 20,000 test kits and 1,000 protective suits.

Deng Dau Deng, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said the medical donation arrived at the right moment when the country is strengthening efforts to prevent the virus from reaching South Sudan.

"Today we have received very important support from Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma to respond to the COVID-19," Deng told reporters at Juba International Airport.

"This (donation) will be able to help and to protect those who will be helping in diagnosing and solving problems of this COVID-19," he added.

South Sudan has no case of the novel coronavirus, but all its neighbors have confirmed cases.

The country's Ministry of Health on Monday imposed a number of preventive measures among them, a ban on social gatherings, cancelation of international flights and cross-border closure of all borders.
Playwright Terrence McNally has died of complications due to coronavirus. He was 81.

The four-time Tony Award winner and Pulitzer Prize nominee was the author of The Full Monty, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and Love! Valour! Compassion!.

McNally, a lung cancer survivor with chronic pulmonary disease, died on Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida, according to Deadline. He is survived by his husband, Broadway producer Tom Kirdahy, a brother and extended family.

His passing was mourned by colleagues on social media.

Heartbroken over the loss of Terrence McNally, tweeted Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly. Grateful for his staggering body of work and his unfailing kindness.

Miss Saigon star Lea Salonga posted, Rest in Peace,Terrence McNally.

Saddened to hear of the passing of Terrence McNally, tweeted late night host and Tony winner James Corden. He was an absolute gentleman and his commitment to the theatre was unwavering. He will be missed by so many of us.

Actress Lea Michele tweeted, Heartbroken to hear this news. I had the honor of working with Terrence in Ragtime. Sending thoughts and prayers to his family.

Heartbroken over the loss of Terrence McNally, a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly. Grateful for his staggering body of work and his unfailing kindness.  Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) March 24, 2020

Rest In Peace, Terrence McNally.  Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) March 24, 2020

Heartbroken to hear this news. I had the honor of working with Terrence in Ragtime. Sending thoughts and prayers to his family https://t.co/MiNLiE5TI9  Lea Michele (@LeaMichele) March 24, 2020

Saddened to hear of the passing of Terrence McNally. He was an absolute gentleman and his commitment to the theatre was unwavering. He will be missed by so many of us x  James Corden (@JKCorden) March 24, 2020

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An Oklahoma man who tried to blow up a bank has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Jerry Varnell was accused of attempting to copy the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, one of the deadliest attacks in modern US history, according to CBS News.

Federal prosecutors said Varnell wanted to use an explosive device similar to the one that was detonated outside a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, Reuters reported.

They accused Varnell of trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound ammonium nitrate bomb in an alley beside BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City in 2017.

He was convicted in February 2019 of trying to use a weapon of mass destruction and other crimes and on Monday was sentenced.

Varnells arrest took place after an eight months long domestic terrorism investigation led by the FBI, Reuters said.

In the investigation, an undercover agent was said to have posed as a co-conspirator and agreed to help Varnell build what he believed was a 1,000-pound (454 kg) explosive.

CNS News said Varnell described the bombings as retaliation for freedoms that have been taken away from Americans, according to court documents.
The disastrous decision to allow coronavirus-infected passengers to disembark from a cruise ship into the community had sparked recriminations about who was responsible, with one report saying New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian had put the blame on Australian Border Force officials.

Last Thursday, 2,647 passengers from the Ruby Princess were allowed to disembark in Sydney despite many reports of flu-like symptoms among those on board.

Since then, 133 of the passengers have been diagnosed with coronavirus and a 78-year-old female passenger has died.

A report in The Australian, citing 'several state government MPs', said Ms. Berejiklian had told a party-room meeting of Liberals that the Australian Border Force ultimately made the decision to allow the passengers ashore.

On March 19, around all passengers were allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess in Sydney without being tested for COVID-19

The Master of the Ruby Princess allegedly told the ABF there wasn't any sick people on board, despite there being an ambulance on standby to take a passenger - who later died - to hospital after docking

The passengers were classified as 'low risk' by health officials on arrival despite the ship's doctor having taken 13 swabs to test for influenza on ill passengers, and there being cases of respiratory illness.

New South Wales Health officials took the 13 flu swabs for COVID-19 testing but no results had been returned by the time passengers disembarked.

The Master of the Ruby Princess allegedly told the ABF there were not any sick people on board, despite there being an ambulance on standby at the dock to take the passenger who later died to hospital.

The report in The Australian said Ms Berejiklian had claimed ABF officials ordered NSW Health to release the passengers.

'She said it wasn't our failing - it was the feds,' an MP at the meeting was quoted to say by The Australian, which also reported that a a second MP had described Ms Berejiklian's response as an 'a**e-covering exercise'.

Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram told reporters on Wednesday that the ABF and NSW Health have to work together closely to make sure things don't fall through cracks.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a confidential partyroom meeting the agency should take the blame for further spreading coronavirus around the country

Ms Berejiklian claims ABF officials ordered NSW Health to release the passengers because no one was showing flu symptoms, despite 13 guests undergoing flu tests onboard

Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram told reporters on Wednesday that the ABF and NSW Health have to work together closely to make sure things don't fall through cracks

'The decision to allow [passengers] off in relation to the health and bio security issue was one of the New South Wales Health. Did they fail? I'm not here to apportion blame, we are all here together in Australia,' he said.

'People can make their own minds up about what went wrong and no doubt further down the track there will be lots of inquiries about what happened.'

Coronavirus cases linked to the ship have since emerged in Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison had put the onus of responsibility on the New South Wales government.

'The chief health officer of NSW said this was a low risk,' Mr Morrison said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said this was effectively blaming the NSW Government.

'There's a pattern there of him blaming NSW and (Premier) Gladys Berejiklian's government,' Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

'The truth is that the federal government are responsible for the entry into Australia.'

Meanwhile, a passenger who walked off the Ruby Princess vessel without any health checks or warnings by authorities is now in intensive care unit after testing positive to the virus.

Ruby Princess cruise ship passenger Greg Butler (left) is currently in ICU in Tamworth Hospital with coronavirus. He and partner Robin Russ (right) caught a six-hour train to Tamworth after disembarking the ship at Sydney Harbour last Thursday

Greg Butler, 56, and his fiancee Robin Russ travelled for six hours on public transport to their hometown of Tamworth, in northeast NSW, and spent the next four days at home before Mr Butler felt unwell with 'pins and needles', a headache and cough.

He took himself to the doctor on Monday and was diagnosed with coronavirus.

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

Ms Russ said both she and Mr Butler could not believe how easily they were allowed off the ship.

She said if there was even the slightest belief someone on the ship had coronavirus, they should have been locked onboard.

'We were told we could get off and go home, take public transport or whatever we wanted, it was just ridiculous,' Ms Russ said.

'We got into Sydney Harbour at 2am and then took the light rail to central and a train from there.

'By the next morning the government has got onto us to tell us to self-isolate, so they clearly knew someone had it.

'We just can't understand how they let us do that, and now we're getting the blame for it.'
The Nigerian presidents chief of staff has tested positive for CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a source with direct knowledge said.

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.

Abba Kyari, who is in his 70s, is an important figure in President Muhammadu Buharis government and his illness could have ramifications for the running of the country.

Kyari has a history of medical complications, including diabetes, and is the gatekeeper to the president. Many who wish to deal with Buhari must go through Kyari, including Nigerias top politicians and businessmen.

Matthew Page, an associate fellow with the Africa Program at Chatham House, described Kyari as the lynchpin of the Buhari government.

This has the potential to further slow down decision making within top tiers of Nigerian government, he said.

Kyari traveled to Germany in early March with a delegation of other Nigerian officials for meetings with Siemens AG. It is unclear if he self-isolated upon his return to Nigeria.

A presidency spokesman did not comment on whether Buhari, has been tested. The president, who is aged 77, has undisclosed medical ailments and spent five months in London for treatments in 2017.

As of March 23, Nigeria had 40 confirmed cases, two of whom had recovered, and one deatha 67-year-old former oil official. It was unclear if Kyaris diagnosis was included in that total.

By Paul Carsten and Alexis Akwagyiram

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
We are going to handover the donation to the Minister of Health and Child Care, which will distribute to people and we would push that to happen soon. This is a global challenge and we have realised the need for cooperation and collaboration, he said.
Afghani resident is first COVID-19 fatality in kingdom, where a nationwide curfew is in effect, as GCC cases hit 2,100.

Saudi Arabia has reported its first death from the novel coronavirus, a 51-year-old Afghani resident, while the United Arab Emirates main airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi said they would temporarily suspend all passenger flights from Thursday.

Saudi Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali told a televised news conference on Tuesday that the fatality occurred on Monday night in Medina, where the mans health had deteriorated quickly after reporting to the emergency room.

The kingdom took drastic measures early on to contain the disease, including halting international flights, suspending the Umrah year-round pilgrimage, closing mosques, schools, malls and restaurants, and imposing a night-time curfew.

It recorded 205 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the total in the six-member Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) to more than 2,100, mostly in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Six people have died: three in Bahrain, two in the UAE and the latest in Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait, which has also imposed a curfew, arrested and will deport nine expatriates for violating the curfew, state news agency KUNA said.

The UAE, the regions tourism and business hub and a major air transit centre, has followed other Gulf Arab steps in trying to curb the spread of the virus, urging people to stay at home, but not announcing an official curfew or suspending work.

Global problem

The UAE, with 198 infections, had said on Monday that it would suspend all passenger flights after 48 hours and close malls, commercial centres, restaurants, cafes and open retail food markets for two weeks starting Wednesday.

But the latest announcements from Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports said the halt in passenger flights, including transit flights, would start as of 11:59pm local time (19:59 GMT) on Thursday. Evacuation flights and cargo services continue.

Major carriers such as Emirates and Etihad Airways have said they would halt passenger flights as of Wednesday and temporarily cut staff wages.

The suspensions are likely to add more economic pressure on Dubai, which does not have the oil and gas wealth of the capital Abu Dhabi.

Some stores at malls in Dubai, a major regional shopping destination, were shut ahead of the Wednesday closure deadline.

This is a global problem. I dont know why they havent closed [earlier], an employee told Reuters News Agency.

Oman, with 84 coronavirus cases, announced it was suspending all domestic and international flights as of March 29, except cargo operations and flights to Musandam, an Omani enclave inside the UAE, according to state TV.
KAMPALA  E-Commerce platform Jumia has offered the support of its integrated ecosystem which includes a marketplace, logistics and online payments to governments in Africa, as part of the global action against the COVID-19.

Jumia cares about you. Wash hands often, avoid crowds and touching your face. We are a strong Uganda, we will beat this virus! said Ron Kawamara, Jumia Uganda CEO.

Jumias actions to support governments in their fight against COVID-19 include:

Facilitation of social distancing by enabling consumers to buy online. By offering contactless delivery options, we eliminate physical contact and potentially reduce a person to person transmission.

Providing access to affordable basic foods and sanitary essentials on the marketplace platform. By partnering with thousands of vendors, like Reckitt Benckiser, and others, we are able to maintain fair prices and fight against price gouging. Jumia has waived the commission on specific sanitary products to help consumers get them at the lowest price and implemented measures to control prices.

Offering Jumias logistics networks to help distribute test kits, health pamphlets & key products to where they are needed. Additionally, Jumia provides safe deliveries to consumers everywhere, including remote and rural areas, with Jumias integrated logistics network. This is important especially for elderly and sick people at home.

Sourcing and distribution of face masks. Leveraging our access to supply, in particular through our network of vendors outside Africa, we have donated certified face masks to Health Ministries in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda and others, and offered to coordinate the distribution across healthcare facilities and workers, leveraging the companys last-mile distribution.

We are also urging our consumers to pay online through MTN Mobile Money, in support of the governments bid to reduce the risk of transmission through physical cash.

Enhancing the visibility of key health instructions. Jumia attracts millions of customer visits and searches on its platform. As such, we are collaborating with the Ministries of Health in Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and South Africa by using our online platform to share important health messages from the Ministries. We are also engaging with the Health Ministries in other countries where Jumia operates to offer the same. We anticipate that as the pandemic evolves, Health authorities may need to address different areas of concerns and a platform like Jumia can amplify the reach of much-needed information.

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Mayor Linda Tyer addressed the city via Pittsfield Community Television on Monday.

Tyer Asks Residents to Abide by 'Stay at Home' Advisory

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Mayor Linda Tyer gave a COVID-19 update on Pittsfield Community Television on Monday afternoon asking residents to adhere to the new restrictions imposed by the state.

After Gov. Charlie Baker announced an emergency order on Monday morning for only essential services to continue operating, Tyer took to PCTV to explain what this means for the city.

"Now more than ever our obligations to one another are vital in overcoming this public health crisis," she said.

Tyer said she has also been in contact with the governor and the Berkshire delegation and has asked for three critical things:

Expedited access to personal protective equipment from the national stockpile for first-responders.

Faster access to testing supplies and labs.

Inclusion of economic response and recovery in Community Development Block Grant applications.

The mayor said that upon entering the second week of the pandemic, things have changed. Last week only two residents in Berkshire County tested positive for novel coronavirus; now, this number has jumped to 26. This number will likely increase as testing continues.

She also offered her condolences to the friends and family of the first individual in Berkshire County to die from COVID-19, which was reported over the weekend. It was not revealed what town the man, who was in his 70s, hailed from.

She thanked those who are abiding by social distancing and asked the skeptics who refuse to stay home to follow the new restrictions, which includes an advisory from the state Department of Public Health to stay home as much as possible.

"I can imagine that our families are starting to feel the pressure of our stay-at-home restrictions. Our neighbors may begin to feel lonely and isolated," she said. "The loss of income is also detrimental ... but you must not waiver: please stay at home and keep your distance even if you are feeling well."

The governor's order calls for all nonessential business to be closed effective noon Tuesday until April 7. Grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and manufacturers of medical supplies  along with a list of "essential" manufacturing and services  will stay open.

Tyer asked that those who have to leave their homes for essential products maintain the 6 feet of distance from others and wash their hands before leaving their homes and upon arrival. Those who can, should rely on online delivery services.

She also asked that residents continue to support local restaurants the best they can and order delivery or takeout a few times a week. She said the city will set up special "grab and go" parking starting Wednesday.

The mayor also said that:

 City parks will remain open but only for passive recreation. All city playgrounds are closed.

 Also because of the run on toilet paper, she asked residents to not flush anything other than toilet paper because wipes and other cleaning material can cause sewer backups.

 The city has brought on two additional public health nurses and that its Coronavirus Preparedness Team is constantly evaluating the situation.

 Pittsfield is forming a Central Berkshire Emergency Operation Center to join the EOC established last week in North County and one to be created South County for a coordinated effort to access resources, equipment, and supplies.

 Long list of services that can be found on the city's website and the community impact dashboard there will be continually be updated.

 Those who have symptoms of COVID-19  dry cough, sore throat, fever and shortness of breath  should continue to follow protocol and call their doctor or the Those who have symptoms of COVID-19  dry cough, sore throat, fever and shortness of breath  should continue to follow protocol and call their doctor or the BMC Link Line before going to the hospital. She also asked that residents cooperate with public health workers.

The mayor concluded her address by asking residents to make the best of staying home with their families and create new memories and family pastimes.

"If we all do our part right now and for as long as we have to are city will remain strong and recover faster," she said. "Please take good care of yourselves and right now that means staying at home."
Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has donated $1million to go towards a clinical trial in the hopes of finding a cure for the deadly coronavirus.

Researchers at the University of Queensland will now be able to further test their theory that drugs used to treat HIV and malaria could be used to tackle the coronavirus.

They launched a fundraising campaign to raise $750,000 to go toward understanding and better treating COVID-19.

With the funding from Mr Palmer, the larger-scale clinical trial can now begin immediately.

Scientists and doctors around the world have been scrambling find a cure or treatment for the deadly virus which has infected almost 200,000 people worldwide, and caused almost 8,000 deaths.

The number of cases has spiked to 561 in Australia and six people have now died.

Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has donated $1million towards a clinical trial in the hopes of finding a cure for the deadly coronavirus

Researchers at the University of Queensland will now be able to further test their theory that drugs used to treat HIV and malaria could be used to tackle the coronavirus

'At this time of national crisis in our country all Australians must do whatever they can to help their fellow Australians,' Mr Palmer said.

'There are many other Australians beside me that can provide financial support necessary to allow our medical resources to be deployed in the shortest possible time to save lives.

'I want all Australians who have done well in this country to remember their fellow Australians and the sacrifices that have been made by previous generations and dig deep to support all efforts necessary to defeat this threat to our lives.'

His generous donation comes after he sank $83.7 million to his failed United Australia Party in the run up to the federal election last year.

The massive figure, spent largely on TV adverts, was not enough to win him a single seat in either house of parliament.

YFG Shopping Centres, which is based in Sunnybank in Brisbane, also donated $150,000 to the corovirus clinical trial.

Queensland researcher, Professor David Paterson, said he hopes to enroll people in larger scale pharmaceutical trials by the end of the month.

Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, and HIV-suppressing combination lopinavir/ritonavir have both reportedly shown promising results in human tests and made the virus 'disappear' in infected patients.

The HIV drug Kaletra has shown promising results in the small number of coronavirus patients who have been treated with it, scientists say  they now want to start proper clinical trials

Coronavirus is a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, the virus causes respiratory infections

Professor Paterson said it wouldn't be wrong to consider the drugs a possible 'treatment or cure' for the deadly respiratory infection.

He explained that when the HIV medication lopinavir/ritonavir was given to people infected with the coronavirus in Australia it led to the 'disappearance of the virus'.

He told Australian news site news.com.au: 'It's a potentially effective treatment.

'Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of the therapy.'

Although the treatment had been effective in a smattering of cases, there hasn't been any controlled testing like what would be needed to test a new drug, Professor Paterson said.

'That first wave of Chinese patients we had (in Australia), they all did very, very well when they were treated with the HIV drug,' Professor Paterson said.

'What we want to do at the moment is a large clinical trial across Australia, looking at 50 hospitals, and what we're going to compare is one drug, versus another drug, versus the combination of the two drugs,' Professor Paterson said.

The number of cases has spiked to 556 in Australia and six people have now died

Scientists and doctors around the world have been scrambling find a cure or treatment for the deadly virus which has infected almost 200,000 people worldwide, and caused almost 8,000 deaths

Lopinavir/ritonavir, the anti-HIV drug being tested, is most commonly sold under the name Kaletra.

It is an antiviral medication which can be taken twice a day by people infected with HIV in order to reduce levels of the virus circulating in the body.

Regular use of the medication is intended to stop HIV progressing to AIDS, which is fatal, and may also reduce the risk of people transmitting the infection to others.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose

a cough

sore throat

fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients  at least 97 per cent, based on available data  will recover from these without any issues or medical help. 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. Advertisement

It is a type of drug called a protease inhibitor, which works by stopping viruses from using an enzyme called protease, which is vital for them to be able to spread.

Without protease viruses cannot make the fully-matured clones that they need to be able to infect other healthy cells, so the infection can't spread.

This ability to stop a virus from reproducing and infecting new cells is believed to be what apparently makes Kaletra an effective coronavirus treatment.

Kaletra is approved for use in the US, Europe and Australia, and its manufacturer  AbbVie  has already donated supplies of the drug to authorities China, the US and to the World Health Organisation. It is a different combination to the PREP drug which was recently approved for HIV prevention in the UK.

Chloroquine  an antimalarial drug  works in a different way and is given to people to prevent malaria infections if they are bitten by a mosquito carrying the parasite.

It does not cure malaria but stops it from developing when taken before, during and after someone visits an at-risk area.

The drug works by salts inside them poisoning parasites and preventing them from growing inside human red blood cells.

It has also been found to be able to destroy viruses, and scientists found in lab tests that it could be effective against the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Chloroquine is already widely used as an antimalarial for travellers and is also approved in the UK for use on people with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

Symptoms of the virus include a fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

Scientists are keen to use an already-approved medication to try and treat the coronavirus because it would cut out the lengthy processes of safety trials  they are already proven to be safe  and getting government approval and manufacturing.

It comes as a senior US official revealed that humans will begin trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine today.

Forty-five participants in Seattle  which is currently being ravaged by an outbreak  will receive the jab to test it is safe.

None of the volunteers, who are aged between 18 and 55, will be infected at this point. Further trials are planned if the vaccine is safe.

Dozens of pharmaceutical firms and universities across the world are in a race against time to create a COVID-19 vaccine.

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

Leading officials have already warned a jab to protect millions could be a year away, with deaths mounting in the meantime.

The World Health Organization says 35 experimental vaccines are in development, including one co-developed by the US government.

The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial of the jab, which was created alongside Massachusetts-based Moderna.

The first participant in the phase one trial  the earliest stage of human drug research  will receive the vaccine today, an official revealed. None of the patients will be infected with the coronavirus at this stage.

All of the patients will receive the experimental jab at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

The source who disclosed plans for the first participant spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been publicly announced.

Public health officials say it will still take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine  despite human trials beginning.
KIGALI  Rwandas Ministry of Health has confirmed 17 new more cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) bringing the number of people diagnosed with the virus in the East African country to 36.

In a statement released Monday, March 23, 2020, the patients, who comprise five travelers from Dubai, three from Kenya, two from the US, and two from Qatar and India each have been isolated, as persons who came into contact with them are being traced.

The authorities said one contact of a previously confirmed case was identified through tracing.

According to a statement issued by the ministry on Sunday, all patients remain in stable condition, isolated from other patients while people who came in contact have been traced for further management.

In a bid to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) which has ravaged the world, the government of Rwanda on Saturday, March 21st declared a countrywide lockdown.

Following the declaration, only essential services are allowed to operate and the countrys borders have been closed to passenger traffic.

Only freight transporters are being allowed into and out of the country while returning nationals or legal citizens will also be allowed in but the latter category must be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Other measures include a temporary ban on non-essential travel between different cities and districts across the country, while all employees both in the public and private sectors will work from home.

According to the government, all these are measures taken to contain the virus from spreading.

No one has died of the virus in Rwanda.

All markets and shops selling foodstuffs and other essential groceries remain open.

Other services that are open include hospitals, banks, pharmacies, petrol stations, among others while public transport will also be allowed to remain in operation to service the providers of these essential services.

The government immediately tasked local government institutions and security organs to ensure compliance with the new instructions.

The lockdown follows several other preventive measures whereby schools, church services, and masses, conferences and other events, have been postponed, temporarily closed or cancelled, while employers have been directed to let their employees work from home.

Globally, close to 340,000, coronavirus cases had been recorded by Sunday, while the death toll stands at 14,700, according to the World Health Organisation.

Related
Six terrorists were arrested and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

Top sources said after receiving credible inputs regarding smuggling and delivery of arms and ammunition at district hospital Sopore, the police swung into action. Four different teams were constituted each headed by police officers of Rafiabad and Sopore.

All the teams reached the hospital covertly and arrested the four Sopore smugglers -- Ahtisham Farooq Malik of Mumkak Mohala Batpora, Shafqat Ali Tagoo of Jalalabad, Musaib Hassan Bhat of Mohalla Mumkak Batpora and Nisar Ahmad Ganai of Pujipora Krankshivan.

During interrogation, they revealed that they were working under a Pakistan-based person known by the name 'Andrew Jones' on Telegram messenger, whose WhatsApp ID is 'Khan Bilal'. The militants revealed that Jones is operating a newly formed terrorist organisation, The Resistance Front (TRF) or JK Fighters).

'Jones' had deputed the four militants as the main handlers for recruiting local youth for the terror group and instigating them to participate in terror activities in Kashmir valley, particularly in north.

The investigators also found that the militants received a consignment of illegal arms from Kabeer Ahmad Lone of Keran Bala, Kupwara. The arms were transported by Shafqat and Nisar from Kupwara and handed them to Ahtisham at Kupwara Crossing Sopore.

After receiving two pistols, 18 hand grenades and four pistol magazines, Ahtisham further handed over the consignment to Musaib for safe custody at his home.

After two days Ahtisham took six hand grenades and one pistol with ammunition from Musaib. Along with Shafqat, Ahtisham delivered four hand grenades and one pistol to some unknown person at Markaz Sopore, who actively joined TRF in Andergam Pattan, and two hand grenades to another unknown person near Guru Petrol Pump Sopore, who utilized them in Srinagar.

All these directions for distribution of arms and ammunition had come from the Pakistan-based 'Jones'.

The group told police that they were also going to receive a consignment of six AK-47 Rifles with ammunition from Sharafat Ahmad Khan of Keran Payeen Kupwara. Their main purpose, the militants told interrogators, was to accumulate arms and ammunition and go for target killings of politicians and police personnel.

During the course of investigation, Kabeer Ahmad Lone was identified and arrested. During his sustained interrogation, he revealed that the weapons which he delivered to Shafqat at Kupwara were provided by Sharafat Khan of Keran Bala Kupwara, a class IV employee at government hospital Keran.

The information led to the arrest of four people from Kupwara. Sharafat revealed that he along with Naseer Mir and Tanveer Bhat, both residents of Keran Kupwara, received a consignment of arms and ammunition from across and dumped it near Cobra Post, Keran, Kupwara.

Sources said further investigation is on.

--IANS

aat/prs


Mumbai: Maharashtra PWD minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said six hotel management students from Nanded, who went to Mauritius for internship, are unable to return home due to cancellation of international flights following the coronavirus pandemic.

Chavan has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, asking him to speak to the Centre and get the stranded students' visa extended to save them from facing further trouble.

In the letter to Thackeray, Chavan, who hails from Nanded district, said these students were due to return to India on Tuesday following completion of four-month-long internship which was part of their hotel management course.

"Their Mauritian visa expires tomorrow (Wednesday)," the minister said.

Cavan said the students tried to get in touch with the Indian embassy in the island nation for assistance, but did not get any response.

The Congress minister urged Thackeray to speak to the Centre to get their visa extended.

"If that is not done, the students can be in legal trouble since their stay will become illegal. The Indian embassy in Mauritius should help them with accommodation as well," he said.

"Similarly, the students should be given air tickets to facilitate their return to India by the first available flight after normalcy is restored," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has spread to more than 150 countries, has caused large-scale disruption in global flight operations.
The age of criminal responsibility could be increased in Ireland, amid renewed international concern it is too low.

A report published today by the Council of Europe criticised the situation where, generally speaking, children as young as 12 can be charged with an offence.

For the most serious offences on the statute book, murder, manslaughter, rape and aggravated sexual assault, children as young as 10 can be prosecuted.

But the report, by the council's committee on social rights, said the Department of Justice is currently engaged in a review of the Children Act 2001, including consideration of provisions relating to the age of criminal responsibility.

England and Wales also allow children as young as 10 to face criminal charges.

But Brexit will leave Ireland as the only country in the EU which holds children criminally responsible at such a young age.

In comparison the age of criminal responsibility is 14 in Germany, 15 in Sweden, 16 in Portugal and 18 in Luxembourg. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended the minimum age should be 14.

No child as young as 10 has ever been charged with one of the most serious offences.

The two 15-year-old boys who murdered 14-year-old schoolgirl Ana Kriegel became the country's youngest murderers when they were convicted last year. They were 13 at the time she was killed.

The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation, with 47 member states.

Its latest report examines compliance with the European Social Charter, a treaty covering a broad range of rights in the areas of employment, housing, health, education, social protection and welfare.

The report was critical of pay and conditions for young workers in Ireland, identifying a number of issues which did not conform with the charter.

Under the charter wages paid to young workers between 16 and 18 can be reduced by as much as 20pc compared to a fair adults' starting or minimum wage.

The report criticised legislation proposed by the Government which would allow employers pay 16- to 18-year-olds 30pc less than the minimum wage, saying the gap was "too great".

There was also criticism that young people working for close relatives are not covered by the Minimum Wage Act.

It pointed out young workers employed by a relative, and whose place of employment is a private dwelling house or farm where they and the relative live, have no right to four weeks' paid annual leave.

Elsewhere, the report criticised the levels of maternity benefit for employees in the private sector, saying it was "manifestly too low".

It said that under the charter, maternity benefit should be equal or close to the woman's normal salary.
Then on March 12, a white Pontiac Grand Am, driving northbound in the 2300 block of West Street in River Grove, crossed the center line, almost hitting a police officers car that was driving in the opposite direction. The car, with white rims and no gas cap door, was pulled over at Fullerton and Rhodes Avenues around 7:59 p.m., according to a River Grove police report. The River Grove officer called for backup and a Franklin Park police officer, who arrived on the scene, advised River Grove that the car may have been involved in an armed robbery in Northlake.
[March 24, 2020] SunView Software Recognized By Gartner as a Notable ITSM Vendor for Midmarket Enterprises

SunView Software named among the nine Notable Vendors in Gartner's 2020 Midmarket Context: 'Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools' TAMPA, Fla., March 24, 2020 /CNW/ -- SunView Software, a leading provider of IT Service Management solutions, was named in Gartner's 2020 report Midmarket Context: 'Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools.' According to the global research and advisory firm's analysis, SunView Software was one of nine Notable Vendors recognized for Midsized Enterprises (MSEs). The report details the process Gartner used for selecting vendors. Gartner states, "Vendors included in this Magic Quadrant Perspective have customers that are successfully using their products and services. Selections are based on analyst opinion and references that validate IT provider claims; however, this is not an exhaustive list or analysis of vendors in this marketMidsize clients, via survey, inquiry and other activities, have most frequently referenced the vendors listed as Notable Vendors as having ITSM solutions specifically for MSEs." "With the rise of Digital Transformation, growing organizations in the Midsized Enterprise segment must implement sarter IT Service Management solutions and modern user experiences to be successful," Said Seng Sun, CEO of SunView Software. "Our focus is to provide a simple, yet powerful and feature-rich platform that helps companies to improve self-service, increase operational efficiency, manage compliance, and reduce costs. We're thrilled to be included in this year's Gartner Midmarket Context."



Visit the SunView Software website to read the report. Source: Gartner, Midmarket Context: 'Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools', William Maurer, Rich Doheny, et al., 12 February 2020.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About SunView Software: SunView Software is a Service Management software company that provides the foundation for digital automation processes in the enterprise. By providing an amazing user experience combined with innovative AI/Machine Learning technologies, SunView is helping organizations to drive employee engagement, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. SunView Software is a privately held company based in Tampa, Florida. Learn more at https://www.sunviewsoftware.com CONTACT: Jaime Spector, (813) 840-4055, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sunview-software-recognized-by-gartner-as-a-notable-itsm-vendor-for-midmarket-enterprises-301028433.html SOURCE Sunview Software, Inc.

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Married At First Sight's Michael Goonan was accused of being a 'deadbeat dad' by his TV bride on the show, Stacey Hampton.

And on Sunday, the 28-year-old managing director was spotted with his ex-wife and their young son Connor at his Adelaide home.

Michael's ex-wife collected Connor and took him back to her house after the little boy stayed with the reality star over the weekend.

Married At First Sight's Michael Goonan is pictured with his ex-wife and son for the first time as he objects to Stacey's 'deadbeat dad' claims

Michael's ex-wife arrived at the door his home and waited briefly before Michael came to the door.

The company manager emerged from his property barefoot wearing grey pyjama bottoms and a blue Ralph Lauren zip-up hoodie.

Meanwhile, his former spouse wore grey camo Calvin Klein leggings, thongs and a black top.

Michael's ex-wife collected Connor and took him back to her house after the little boy stayed with the reality star over the weekend

Father-son bond: After putting his son's bag in the car, Michael gave him a hug as he held him before placing him in his child's seat

Meeting: Michael's ex-wife arrived at the door his home and waited briefly before Michael came to the door

Michael carried Connor's backpack to the car while his ex-wife held the young boy in her arms.

After putting his son's bag in the car, he gave him a hug as he held him before placing him in his child's seat.

Michael's ex-wife then drove off away with their son as the company manager looked on before going back inside.

Teamwork: Michael carried Connor's backpack to the car while his ex-wife held the young boy in her arms

Keeping things private: Not much is known about Michael's ex-wife or his son Connor, except that the child is roughly a toddler in age

Bye! Michael's ex-wife then drove off away with their son as the company manager looked on before going back inside

Not much is known about Michael's ex-wife or his son Connor, except that the child is roughly a toddler in age.

Michael's 'wife' on Married At First Sight is Stacey Hampton, who recently labelled him as 'a deadbeat dad'.

On Monday, Michael said her allegations were 'disgraceful' and 'complete lies' in an interview with New Idea.

Married At First Sight continues on Channel Nine at 7:30pm on Tuesday.
Photo: iStock

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Stockton. 1-year-old boy suffers serious injuries in Stockton hit-and-run, police say Read the full story on KCRA 3. Shooting victim crashes on I-5 after avoiding gunfire

Read the full story on ABC10. Stockton loses its biggest fan: Former mayor Jimmie Rishwain dies days before 90th birthday Read the full story on Recordnet.com. Brandin Cooks donates $50K to fund for SJ children affected by virus Read the full story on Recordnet.com. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

Police in Stockton said they are looking for the driver involved in a hit-and-run that left a 1-year-old boy with serious injuries.

Lanes on I-5 have since reopened after a shooting near Stockton.



Rishwain was just days from his 90th birthday when he passed away March 11, leaving a colorful legacy as a businessman and politician who loved Stockton.
A tech company has replaced its door knobs with foot handles in its battle to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Charles Caruana, from Craigieburn, north of Melbourne, shared video of the clever alternative to door handles, which were installed on Monday.

'Help stop the spread, attach a simple bracket to the bottom of your internal doors to totally stop the use of door handles,' Mr Caruana wrote.

An employee at a Craigieburn business, north of Melbourne, shared an ingenious idea they came up with to replace door handles and combat the spread of COVID-10

The company used a simple bracket screwed into the door as a foot handle alternative to using the door handle, an idea which gained praise on social media

Mr Caruana demonstrates how the handle works in the video.

Instead of grabbing the handle when he arrives at the door he places his foot on top of the bracket at the bottom and pulls the door open.

By doing so he is able to get through the door without delay and without having to touch the handles with his hands.

Twitter users were quick to praise the simplicity of the idea.

'Great idea!,' one user replied.

'Clever,' another added.

'Smart and constructive,' a third user wrote.

There are now 411 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Victoria.

Premier Daniel Andrews said there had been 56 new positive cases identified since Monday morning.

The increased tally comes as the first full day of Victoria's shutdown sees all schools closed, empty courts and most of the hospitality industry crumbling.

Across Australia 1886 people have been diagnosed after NSW reported 149 new cases overnight and Victoria reported 56 more since Monday morning.

This is up from the last national tally taken at 3pm on Monday when 1709 confirmed cases were recorded. Another update is expected later on Tuesday.

The number of deaths remains at seven, with six in NSW.
Medical take a patient's coronavirus test during a trial run for a new FEMA drive-thru coronavirus testing clinic at CVS at 720 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury, MA on March 19, 2020.

The Trump administration plans to use the Defense Production Act for the first time during this coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday to procure thousands of COVID-19 test kits as the disease continues its spread across the country.

Peter Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN that the administration had decided to use the Defense Production Act to acquire some 60,000 kits. The FEMA chief added that the White House will add "DPA language" into its mass contract for 500 million masks.

"We're actually going to use the DPA for the first time today. There are some test kits we need to get our hands on," he told CNN. "And the second thing we're going to do is we're going to insert some language into these mass contracts that we have."

"So we're going to use it. We're going to use it when we need it. And we're going to use it today," Gaynor said.

Neither the White House nor Trump senior advisor Peter Navarro responded to CNBC's request for comment.

The DPA, passed into law in 1950 at the start of the Korean War, empowers the White House to require and provide incentives to businesses to produce goods to support U.S. national defense. The statute also allows the president control over the distribution of said goods, though it does not permit the government to take ownership of companies or industries.

Gaynor's comments came as the number of global COVID-19 cases surged to over 387,000 and instances in the U.S. totaled at least 46,000. The global pandemic has forced scores of federal, state and local governments to impose lockdowns, bar social gatherings and restrict travel in an effort to slow the spread of the illness.

More than 16,000 people have died as a result of the virus, with nearly 600 deaths in the U.S.

In an effort to slow the disease's spread, the U.S. federal government is working closely with some of the nation's largest manufacturers, including 3M and others, to accelerate the production of health-care equipment like masks and ventilators.

3M said on Sunday that it is sending to New York and Seattle a half-million N95 respirator masks in response to the ongoing shortage of health-care equipment. Honeywell and Kimberly-Clark are also producing N95 masks for health-care workers and others exposed to the virus.

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Putin: A Russian Spy Story

Rating:

Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings

Rating:

Young Vladimir Putin faces the TV cameras for an interview in 1992, as chief political fixer to the St Petersburg mayor.

Hes a slight figure, even boyish, though boyish like Damien (the devil-child) from the Omen movies, not Kevin from Home Alone.

The reporter asks if rumours are true that gangsters try to bribe state officials. Putin doesnt deny it. His blue eyes glitter, as if a match has been applied to a touchpaper.

Its an amazing story, made even more incredible by the wealth of photographs and videos shot during his rise

Offers are made, he shrugs. With a nervous laugh, the interviewer says he wont pursue that line of question. Why not? Ask away, Putin retorts, with a mirthless laugh.

Youd like me to say that I take them? Its a perfect vignette, a 20-second instruction manual on intimidating journalists. Please excuse me, the reporter pleads.

I wasnt right to ask. This amazing exchange was aired as part of the opening episode of Putin: A Russian Spy Story (C4).

It was filmed eight years before he became president. In those eight years, he rose from being a local politicians strongarm man, to advising President Boris Yeltsin, to running the FSB (successors to the KGB), to prime minister, to leader of a superpower in economic chaos.

Putin became a KGB agent from school but, as the voiceover pointed out, he made little attempt to avoid the camera

Its an amazing story, made even more incredible by the wealth of photographs and videos shot during his rise.

Putin became a KGB agent from school but, as the voiceover pointed out, he made little attempt to avoid the camera.

He was not an attention-seeker like the current occupant of the White House.

He simply had a knack for appearing in the corner of a picture, lurking behind someones shoulder or shooting a poisonous glance sideways.

Often, until he is pointed out, you dont see him at all. Today in Russia, journalists who ask awkward questions about corruption run the risk of being poisoned.

An opposition politician opened this ruthless biography of the worlds most powerful dictator by noting the strangely high mortality rate among his colleagues. But while we are all familiar with the image of Putin as Russias new man of steel, his background is less widely known.

We heard his voice, describing his childhood in a communal apartment of a bombedout building in Leningrad.

His prowess at judo brought him to the attention of the security services and saved him from a life of street crime  but to be accepted into the KGB he had to be married.

He chose a local girl called Lyudmila...and then had his friends try to tempt her onto dates, to test her loyalty. This was a documentary that felt like a thriller.

Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings (BBC2) lacked such drama, though one lawyer claimed the leaked papers that exposed how an entire town was polluted read like something out of a John Grisham novel.

This Horizon programme was a briskly efficient account of a shameful cover-up.

After the Corby steelworks were demolished in the Eighties, the council disposed of the waste as cheaply as possible.

The testimonies of grieving parents and bullied, disabled children was sad and painful to watch

Locals talked about sludge lagoons and a layer of brown dust, like radioactive sand, that covered their cars every morning. Children were born with deformed limbs.

In the most appalling cases, post-mortems on babies revealed malformed inner organs. The testimonies of grieving parents and bullied, disabled children was sad and painful to watch.

But the camerawork was a distraction, constantly zooming in on details such as missing fingers or a lawyers colourful braces.

All the facts were present but too often with a sense of professional detachment, as if the passion was lacking.

Dodgy defence of the night:

PC Chris Jones told a drunk, in the police documentary Inside The Force: 24/7 (C5), that he was under arrest for assault.

Where is your proof? crowed the man.

You just headbutted me, you plonker, sighed the copper
Coronavirus in Africa - What to Do During the Lockdown

The COVID-19 Virus is also present in Africa and the WHO urges this issue to be taken seriously. All around the world governments have put a lot of restrictions to minimize the spreading of the virus. Some of the measures include social distancing, self-isolations, and limits on social gatherings.








An 11-year-old boy allegedly killed by his stepmother was stabbed, shot, stuffed in a suitcase before his body was thrown over the side of a Florida freeway.

Gannon Stauch went missing from his home in Colorado Springs on January 27 and was discovered last week 1,400 miles away by construction workers under the overpass.

Stauch's stepmother, Letecia Stauch, 36, earlier this month was booked into the El Paso County jail on counts of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with evidence.

A preliminary examination of Gannon's body has revealed the boy was hit by a blunt object, stabbed and then shot by his killer, who police have identified as Leticia Staunch, The Sun reported. A full autopsy is now underway.

Boy's remains found in Florida have been identified as belonging to 11-year-old Colorado boy Gannon Stauch. His stepmother, Letecia Stauch (left), has been charged with his murder

Gannon Stauch went missing from his home in Colorado Springs on January 27 and was discovered last week 1,400 miles away by construction workers under a Florida overpass

Letecia Stauch makes her first appearance in El Paso County District Court in Colorado Springs, Colo., Wednesday, March 11

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said they were contacted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office in Florida on Wednesday about the remains of a boy recovered in Pace, north of Pensacola.

TIMELINE OF GANNON STAUCH CASE: Jan. 27: Gannon Stauch is reported as a runaway; last seen by stepmother Letecia Stauch between 3.15 pm-4 pm Jan. 30: Case is upgraded to a missing and endangered childs case due to his age, need for medication, winter weather and the length of time hes been missing Jan. 31: Letecia Stauch gives interview to KKTV saying deputies had threatened to shoot her and put her 17-year-old daughter in handcuffs Feb. 4: Neighbor Roderrick Drayton shares surveillance video showing what appears to be Letecia returning home at 2.19pm without Gannon in her pickup truck; claims boy's father broke down in tears when he saw the video Feb. 5: District Attorney Dan May visits Stauchs home; Stauch family make YouTube statement to bring Gannon home Feb. 7: Searchers use submersible remotely operated vehicle with sonar to scour a pond near Stauch family's home Feb. 8: Candlelight prayer vigil is held at Lorson Ranch Feb. 11: Letecia Stauch releases statement to Fox 31 claiming Gannon was in her truck on Jan. 27 and that later left with a 'friend' Feb. 21: Ground search for Gannon is halted by investigation continues Feb 28: Planned search for Gannon is called off without explanation Mar 2 Letecia Stauch is arrested in connection to the case. Stauch was charged with murder of a child under 12 years of age by a person in a position of trust, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with a dead body. Authorities announce that they don't believe Gannon is alive, but they haven't found his body. The investigation is ongoing March 5: Letecia is extradited from South Carolina to El Paso County, Colorado March 18: Remains on a boy are found in Pace, Florida March 20: Autopsy performed on child's remains tentatively identify the deceased as Gannon Stauch Advertisement

The District One Medical Examiner performed a preliminary autopsy, which led to last week's announcement.

'We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Gannon,' a press release from the sheriff's office stated.

Letecia Stauch was arrested in South Carolina on March 2 and was later extradited back to Colorado to face charges of murder of a child under 12 years of age by a person in a position of trust, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with a dead body.

She originally told authorities that she last saw her stepson between 3.15pm and 4pm on January 27. She said at the time that he was heading to a friend's house in Colorado Springs.

Gannon was originally categorized as a runaway, before his case was upgraded to that of a missing/endangered person.

But on the day of Letecia's arrest in South Carolina, police announced they no longer think he is alive.

Police have not yet laid out their theory on what happened to him or where they believe he is.

Gannon's father Albert released a statement at the time to say he was shocked by the news.

'My little boy is not coming home. We will never play Nintendo again. No more taco Tuesdays. No more smooth-looking hair cuts. And no more G-man for the world.

'The person who committed this heinous, horrible crime is one that I gave more to anyone else on this planet, and that is a burden that I will carry with me for a very long time,' it read.

Surveillance video from a neighbor's home captured Stauch leaving the home with Gannon in her pickup truck at around 10.13am on January 27.

However, when she returned at 2.19pm, Gannon is nowhere to be seen.

Footage from 2.19pm to the time Gannon was reportedly last seen is not available, but the sheriff's office said earlier that officers had no surveillance video showing the boy leaving the property.

After he watched the video, a friend said the boy's father 'just broke down and started saying 'she lied, she lied about the time.'

In an interview before her arrest, Letecia insisted she had nothing to do with the boy's disappearance or death.

'After news of the video broke, Stauch gave an interview to KKTV, insisting that she played no part in her stepson's disappearance.

'I took care of Gannon for the last two years in our home because his mother didn't want to do it,' she said.

Surveillance footage shared by a neighbor allegedly shows Gannon entering a car with his stepmother that morning but not returning with her that afternoon (pictured). However, when she returned at 2.19pm, Gannon is nowhere to be seen

Gannon's devastated mother Landen Hoitt at a press conference on the day of Letecia's arrest on March 2

'I would never ever, ever hurt this child... these people have these conspiracy theories... I'm like: "Why are you saying Gannon is dead?" He is not dead. We are going to find Gannon.'

During Letecia's initial court appearance in El Paso County on March 11, prosecutors said they have not ruled out the possibility of pursuing the death penalty against her.

The stepmother is due back in court for a status conference on April 14.
Company Experiencing Surge in Coronavirus-Related Order Inquiries

SAN DIEGO, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genasys Inc. (GNSS), a global provider of critical communications solutions, today announced that homeland security and public safety agencies in several countries, including Spain, Poland, Morocco, South Africa, Thailand and Malaysia are using Genasys systems in the agencies COVID-19 responses. The Companys mobile voice broadcast systems enable agency operators to safely communicate critical information to individuals and groups from extended standoff distances.



Clear, concise communications are vital during COVID-19 operations and duties, said Richard Danforth, Chief Executive Officer, Genasys Inc. Our portable mass notification systems have the industrys best vocal clarity and largest area coverage, ensuring critical communications are delivered from safe distances.

In a Madrid, Spain suburb, local police are using a vehicle mounted Genasys LRAD system to deliver alerts and notifications to residents during the country-wide lockdown. According to Citizen Security, Communication and local government spokesman, Oscar Oliveira, Because the acoustic device can be heard inside of houses, we can inform older residents with mobility issues that all municipal resources are available through the Citizen Attention Service by calling 010.

Click HERE to access the TeleMadrid article and videos.

Police in Poland are using vehicle mounted LRADs to urge residents to stay at home.

Click HERE to view the TVN24 article and video.

Other Genasys LRAD COVID-19 response uses include:

 Communicating to people inside vehicles

 Facilitating Coronavirus drive-through testing

 Communication for outdoor triage areas

 Quarantine and curfew notifications

LRAD systems are also designed for ease of operation and control by personnel wearing gloves and protective gear, continued Mr. Danforth. By delivering critical communications from extended standoff distances, LRAD systems help protect operators and the public.

Story continues

For more information on Genasys COVID-19 response, go to: genasys.com/corona/

About Genasys Inc.

Genasys is a global provider of critical communications solutions to help keep people safe. During public safety threats and critical business events, the Companys unified platform of LRAD systems, Critical Communications as a Service (CCaaS) software and integrated solutions provides a multi-channel approach to deliver geo-targeted alerts, notifications, instructions and information before, during and after crisis situations.

Genasys systems are in service in 72 countries around the world in diverse applications, including public safety, national emergency warning systems, mass notification, defense, law enforcement, critical infrastructure protection and many more. For more information, visit www.genasys.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. We base these statements on particular assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience, the stage of product and market development as well as our perception of historical trends, current market conditions, current economic data, expected future developments and other factors that we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are based on information and managements expectations as of the date hereof. Future results may differ materially from our current expectations. For more information regarding other potential risks and uncertainties, see the Risk Factors section of the Companys Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. Genasys Inc. disclaims any intent or obligation to update those forward-looking statements, except as otherwise specifically stated.





Investor Relations Contacts

Jim Fanucchi and Satya Chillara

Darrow Associates, Inc.

ir@genasys.com



Media Contact

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Viewstream

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Islamic Republic alleges French medical charity MSF staff would serve as spies if deployed on the ground in Iran.

Iran ruled out foreign help on the ground to deal with the coronavirus pandemic after an offer from a France-based medical charity, as the countrys death toll from the contagion neared 2,000.

Due to Irans national mobilisation against the virus and the full use of the medical capacity of the armed forces, it is not necessary for now for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and their presence is ruled out, Alireza Vahabzadeh, adviser to Irans health minister, said on Tuesday.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday it planned to send a nine-member team and equipment to set up a 50-bed hospital, stirring opposition from ultra-conservative circles in the Islamic Republic who alleged MSF staff would serve as spies.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour earlier said a record 1,762 new cases were confirmed in Iran over the past 24 hours with 24,811 people infected.

He announced 122 new deaths from the virus, raising the official toll to 1,934 in one of the worlds worst-hit countries.

MSF said on Tuesday it did not understand a decision by Iranian authorities to cancel a mission it had prearranged to set up a facility to fight coronavirus in Isfahan.

We are surprised to learn that the deployment of our treatment unity is cancelled, Michel-Olivier Lacharite, who is in charge of Medecins Sans Frontieres crisis response team, said in a statement.

He said the group had been given prior approval and were ready to set up the 50-bed unit at the end of the week. He said they were still ready to deploy on Iran or elsewhere on the region.

Stay home





Iran has the fifth-highest official death toll from the coronavirus after Italy, China, the US and Spain but, unlike those countries, it has yet to impose any lockdown on its citizens.

On the contrary, the country is celebrating its two-week Persian New Year holiday when the countrys roads fill with people visiting family.

Despite the authorities appeals for people to stay home and the closure of shopping and leisure centres, many people have taken to the roads as usual this year.

Jahanpour, however, announced when government offices reopened on Tuesday, many civil servants will be working from home.

Only around a third of government staff are authorised to work in the office and only for administrative tasks vital to the public, he said, adding all offices would practise social distancing.

The countrys Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to follow state instructions so that Almighty God will put an end to this calamity for the Iranian people, for all Muslim nations and for all mankind.

Sanctions should be eased

On Tuesday, the UN rights chief called for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran facing the new coronavirus pandemic to be urgently re-evaluated to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse.

Iran has been under crippling US sanctions in connection with its nuclear programme.

At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said.

Even before the pandemic, she pointed out that human rights reports had repeatedly emphasised the impact of sectorial sanctions on access to essential medicines and medical equipment in Iran, including respirators and protective gear for healthcare workers.

Bachelets office stressed more than 50 Iranian medics had died since the first COVID-19 case was detected in the country five weeks ago.
S treets have fallen silent worldwide as Britain joins the host of countries on lockdown amid the escalating coronavirus crisis.

Eerie pictures show landmarks in London and across the globe deserted as the Covid-19 pandemic tightens its grip on every continent.

This morning signalled the start of a three-week shutdown that sees leaving the house outlawed except for food necessities, urgent health reasons, essential work or one form of exercise per day.

Announcing the drastic measures - the most stringent ever seen in peacetime - in a televised address last night, Boris Johnson told the nation: You must stay at home.

It comes after thousands were seen last weekend flouting social distancing rules designed to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Anyone who leaves their house for any other reason risks an unspecified police fine, the government said.

Photos show Westminster Bridge empty apart from a convoy of army vehicles on Tuesday morning, while across the nation town centres and beaches are bare.

Rome's usually bustling Colosseum is desolate / AFP via Getty Images

The draconian limits on daily life have already been imposed on much of Europe, including in France, Spain and Italy which have become hotspots for surging cases and deaths.

In New York, where half of the US total cases have been recorded, Times Square, 42nd street and subway cars are hauntingly quiet as the citys lockdown became active on Monday.

Times Square is nearly empty / AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile cities worldwide usually bustling with commuters are resembling wartime desolateness, including Sydney, New Delhi, Kathmandu in Nepal and Buenos Aires.

Tourist hotspots such as Romes Colleseum, Florida Keys, Surfers Paradise in Australia are also deserted.

Globally the Covid-19 pandemic has already claimed some 15,500 lives, with 360,000 confirmed cases, and the World Health Organisation says it is still accelerating.
Over the past week, a window and a laptop have connected Jennifer Harold and her 92-year mother, who lives in a Branchville assisted-living facility.

The facility, like so many senior homes trying to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease to a vulnerable population, locked down the building to visitors.

Going this stretch without holding her moms hand has been difficult, said Harold, she regularly visits Bentley Assisted Living several times per week to see her mother, Sheila Harold, who has dementia.

The scene in Sussex County is similar to those that have played out at nursing homes around the country as families have stood outside windows just to get a chance to see their loved ones and share a few words.

Jennifer Harold said she tried to explain to her mother, a former library director, what was happening around her.

In that respect, Im glad she cant really grasp it, she said.

Jennifer Harold first visited with her mother over Skype last week and then again Sunday through a window the facility made available for visiting relatives.

It was so not a disaster, she said of her first-ever Skype call. It meant so much to me to be able to comfort her like that.

Jennifer Harold, of Stillwater, said she even got a gift, of sorts, in the form of a story shed never heard before.

When I was a little girl, we were quarantined in my house because we had scarlet fever, you know, a big threat then. And my dad used to come and talk to us at the window," Sheila Harold said on the call.

Jennifer Harold said she was floored by the memory.

I hope we never have to experience this again, but you do what you can with what you have and sometimes its a beautiful thing, she said.

Desarae Tramontozzi, Bentleys executive director, said about 15 residents have had virtual visitors and there have been 10 visits to the window so far.

The facility was eager to find a way to adapt. To abruptly have to lock your doors and say your mom cant have visitors would have been extremely difficult for them, especially our memory care, where its important for residents to not just hear their familys voices but to see their faces.

No one at the facility has tested positive for the coronavirus, Tramontozzi said Monday.

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From spraying disinfectant around the Leaning Tower of Pisa to photographing the cherry blossom trees in Japan while donning protective gear: The world looks very different in the time of the novel coronavirus.

Elsewhere, church services are met with cameras and empty pews (except for one church which filled its seats with photographs of congregants). People are having their noses probed in a drive-thru line.

PHOTOS: Houston's popular places are now stark, empty scenes

In the Philippines, some government employees are being swathed in disinfectant sprays before entering government buildings. The Philippine government has sealed off Luzon, the country's largest and most populous island, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Getty photographer Ezra Acayan reports. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. As of Monday, the Philippines' Department of Health has so far confirmed 396 cases, including 33 deaths, but thousands more patients are suspected to have the virus.

HoustonChronicle.com: Live coronavirus updates

Spain is bracing for the impact by setting up a field hospital for coronavirus patients inside IFEMA, a convention center that will also serve as a makeshift clinic and morgue. According to a handout from the Community of Madrid and the UME (Spanish Emergency Army Unit), these units will be equipped with 5,500 beds and an UCI (Intensive Care Unit). As of March 21, Spain recorded a total of roughly 24,900 cases and 1,328 deaths, according to the countrys Health Ministry.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? Explaining stay-at-home vs. shelter-in-place

Its mid-March and even this new virus wont stop tourists from flocking to Tokyo city parks to view the blooming cherry blossoms. Traditional 'Hanami' parties has officially been banned this year, but people wore face masks to attend and photograph the annual bloom. Unfortunately, not enough people are taking proper precautions by maintaining distance between themselves, some crowds and picnics gathered at some of the tree-lined spaces.

These images are likely to change in the coming weeks. Well keep bringing you new views of the world as it evolves during this unprecedented time.
At the Miss Florence pageant, Miller sang "Gimme Gimme," a song from the second act of the 2002 Broadway Musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

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Miller said she had used the song for a college vocal audition and kept it in her pocket for the Miss Florence pageant.

The 2020 pageant was Miller's first time competing as a "Miss" contestant.

Contestants compete in the Miss Teen category until they reach the age of 17.

As such, Miller previously competed in the Miss Teen competitions having been crowned 2017 Miss Darlington Teen and 2019 Miss Hartsville Teen.

Miller is a senior at Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School  she also is a dual enrollment student at Coker University  with plans to attend Pace University in New York City next fall. She said she plans to major in vocal performance and public communications.

Also crowned at the pageant were Alexandra Hamilton as Miss Florence Teen and Miss Magic City Savannah Strickland.

Miller will represent Florence at the 2020 Miss South Carolina Pageant to be held June 23-27 at the Township Auditorium in Columbia.
A pandemic expert is cautioning against President Donald Trumps suggestion the U.S. could reopen for business soon.

The Baltimore Sun reports Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says millions could die if non-essential businesses are ordered to resume nationwide amid the coronavirus pandemic. More than 46,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the U.S., with more than 100 deaths in the past 24 hours.

COVID has been spreading w/ exponential growth in US for some time, and were just beginning to get an understanding of how extensively, Inglesby wrote on Twitter Monday. Some hospitals have said publicly that within a week they will not have ventilators to treat everyone with COVID anymore.

Anyone advising the end of social distancing now, needs to fully understand what the country will look like if we do that. COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the (year) ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country.

Trump said last week that, for 15 days, Americans should not gather in groups of more than 10 people, schooling should be at home, older and vulnerable people should stay home, and discretionary travel and social visits should be avoided. Trump said Sunday that the U.S. would make a decision on its next action at the end of the 15-day period next week.

On Monday, Trump said he was leaning towards loosening guidelines within weeks, not months, even as some states, including New York, have issued stay-at-home orders and required non-essential businesses to have 100 percent of its workforce from home.

We cant have the cure be worse than the problem, he told reporters Monday. We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems."

Trump also claimed, without evidence, that continued closures and the economic impact could result in more deaths than the spread of the virus itself.

Inglesby, who specializes in pandemics and infectious diseases, said the U.S. needs more testing and faster diagnostics, plus medical supplies like masks and ventilators, before ending social distancing.

In Asia theyve slowed the disease by slowing social interaction. Left to its own, this disease spreads from 1 person to about 2.5 people, and then they do the same, and so on. For this disease to stop, we need to make it so that the avg person spreads it to <1 other person," Inglesby tweeted. "These big social distancing measures take time to work. The impact of big interventions in Wuhan China took about 3 wks to start to reverse things. And then everyday after the situation got better. In the US, were about 7 to 10 days into this, depending on the state.

To drop all these measures now would be to accept that COVID pts will get sick in extraordinary numbers all over the country, far beyond what the US health care system could bear."

Worldwide, there are more than 381,000 positive cases of COVID-19 and 16,500 deaths, including 610 whove died of coronavirus in the U.S. Inglesby said the number of infected in the U.S. is likely higher, as not every person is symptomatic due to a shortage of tests.

Chinese authorities said Tuesday they will end a two-month lockdown of most of the Hubei province, where almost no new infections have been found in more than a week. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until April 8.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that nearly 85 percent of new coronavirus cases are being reported in Europe and the United States. The Associated Press reports Spain has resorted to storing bodies in an ice rink converted into a makeshift morgue, as deaths rise in the country.

In last 24 hrs there've been prominent US voices calling for a stop to social distancing, citing rationale that they're worse than impact of COVID itself. Its worth looking very closely at that claim, where we are in US COVID epidemic and what happens if we stop. 1/x  Tom Inglesby (@T_Inglesby) March 23, 2020
Angry locals in towns and villages all over the UK have put up signs demanding that second home owners leave and return to their city properties amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Londoners and people living in big cities all over the UK are flocking to the seaside and their second homes to escape the virus, drawing the ire of locals.

Now, furious locals in St Ives, Cornwall have scrawled messages on the beach demanding second home owners leave.

An even more furious sign has appeared in Bala, north Wales, which says 'Go home rats'.

It come as the government urged people not to head to the countryside or to holiday homes, with fears that they could be spreading the virus throughout the nation.

However, despite their pleas, government commands and Boris Johnson imposing a UK-wide lockdown, second homers are remaining defiant and continuing to flock to the countryside in their droves.

Angry locals in St Ives in Cornwall scrawl messages on the beach as second home owners continue to flee London and other big cities

This sign, put up by local residents, has appeared in Bala, north Wales, and it reads 'Go home rats'

Though second homers are remaining defiant, local anger towards the mass exodus is clear

Residents of St Ives in Cornwall scrawled a series of messages into the sand on the beach demanding that tourists go home.

Two messages read 'Locals only', while another said 'Tourists please go home'.

In Bala, second home owners were compared to rats in one sign while another message, scrawled on the side of a car, read 'Go home idiots'.

Signs also appeared on a roundabout in Porthcawl, south Wales asking people to turn around.

Meanwhile, a roadside sign in Pembrokeshire also urged non-locals to go home, while a sign in north Wales said: 'Snowdonia is closed. F*** off home!'

However, second home owners are remaining defiant in the face of intense criticism.

One of those is Alice Townsend, 52, a physiotherapist who moved to her second home in Northumberland from south London with her husband and three children.

She told the Times: 'We are in the middle of nowhere here. We thought with three children and two dogs it made sense. We can be outside and not infect anyone else.

'I get that some people might see that as selfish but we thought it was practical.'

A second homeowner, from west London, decided to move to her Suffolk cottage with her husband as soon as rumours of a lockdown first started.

The government have urged people not to head to the countryside, with fears that they could be spreading the virus throughout the nation

A car with a warning scrawled across its side has been dragged across the entrance to a car park at Bala, Wales

This angry sign in north Wales reads: 'Snowdonia is closed. F*** off home!', as locals hit out at tourists

Countryside dwellers are blasting city residents who are fleeing places like London for idyllic retreats (pictured, one person erected a sign on a roadside near Pembrokeshire)

She insisted that her and her husband haven't heard any backclash, despite the fury on social media.

The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, added: 'We weekenders are quietly having our own backlash. Like the rest of the country, we are tired of being fed ambiguous advice that changes day by day, and most of all we resent being told we should not go to our own homes, where we pay our council tax, like every other resident.'

Henry Sherwood, a property buying agent from southwest London who has moved to his second home in Wantage, Oxfordshire, also insists that he has not faced any hostility over his move.

However, people all over the country remain furious at Londoners and people from big cities fleeing to the countryside.

Socialites are escaping London and heading to the country to enjoy isolation in idyllic rural areas (pictured, Lottie Moss, who was pictured leaving the capital on Wednesday and is now relaxing in a countryside retreat)

One social media user commented: 'If Londoners and Middle Englanders could kindly keep away from their second homes in Suffolk and Norfolk, that would be appreciated.

'Stop spreading the virus. You don't need to be here.'

Another angry person wrote: 'Why is it always London? Plenty of rich Londoners now in their second homes, or holidaying in Wales Cornwall. Places with very little resources. Selfish lot.'

Another added: 'Our village in the Cotswolds was full of Londoners escaping the city.

'In 10 years we have never seen it so busy. People coming to their second homes, bringing their friend.

Boris Johnson plunged the UK into coronavirus lockdown last night - ordering the closure of all shops selling non-essential goods as well as playgrounds and churches

'Irresponsible idiots, who should be locked up to save the rest of us from them.'

Among those who have left their London homes to self isolate elsewhere included Kate Moss' little sister Lottie.

The socialite and model was snapped leaving her home in London on Wednesday last week, and has since been sharing pictures on her Instagram page as she picked flowers in a countryside location.

She revealed she was currently 'with family' in the location earlier today.

Meanwhile influencer and fashion blogger Lizzy Hadfield also revealed she had left London for her native Yorkshire over the weekend.

She posted pictures online as she enjoyed a countryside walk on Ilkley Moor amid the coronavirus outbreak across the country.

It comes as Britain's 66million people are today beginning a new life in coronavirus lockdown after Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives in the UK.
Amid the lockdown to curb the outbreak of Covid-19, citizens are doing their

bit to ensure help to those in need.

Lalbaughcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has been organising a blood donation camp for the last two days and intend to continue for the next 10 days. On Monday, they collected 115 bottles of blood and on Tuesday, around 204.

There is a shortage of blood in the state. Which is why we decided to organise this, said Balasaheb Kamble, president of the mandal.

A social organisation called Swaymasiddh Swaymrojagar Apang has been sending social media messages to people across the city requesting them to help with groceries or funding, which could further be donated to the needy.

Jamaat-e-islami Hind, along with students group Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), distributed 1000 food packets to daily wage earners at Vikhroli, Kurla, Madanpura, Oshiwara and Andheri on Sunday and Monday. It is our responsibility to help the most vulnerable, said Haseeb Bhatkar, Mumbai president of Jamaat-e-Islami.

City-based Project Mumbai is helping provide groceries and medicines to those in home quarantine with no delivery charges. Shishir Joshi, chief executive officer, Project Mumbai said, We are trying to find a solution with authorities where we can issue special passes to the volunteers for the next few days.

Yuva, an NGO working with marginalised communities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, have reached out to 668 families with basic provisions in the last few days.

Arun Kumar, CEO, Apnalaya said, There is a desperate need for the state and city authorities to enable civil society organisations to participate in this crises.

Not just NGOs, citizens too are helping out individually. Nitin Pawar, 34, who runs a factory in Wagle Estate, is making meals for the needy.

Like Pawar, another social organization Rahmah foundation started by Masjid e Rahmah in Mumbra are also providing free meals to over 500 to 800 people on a daily basis.
As of now, there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal said this on the air of one of the Ukrainian TV channels, UNN reports.

"At the moment there is no need to impose a state of emergency in Ukraine ... the spread of this coronavirus in Ukraine is moderate, unlike other countries," he said.

Shmygal added that the introduction of an emergency situation in certain regions of Ukraine where cases of coronavirus had been recorded was sufficient to effectively manage the situation where it was necessary.

"This week it does not look like there is such a need to impose the state of emergency," the Prime Minister summed up.

As we reported earlier, on March 23, more than 60 thousand citizens managed to come back to Ukraine. However, over 27,000 remain to be abroad.

This information was provided by Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Yehor Bozhok.

According to him, Ukraines Foreign Ministry is seeking sponsors to help all of the Ukrainian citizens come back to their homeland.
The government's flagship Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY scheme will include package for treatment of coronavirus. All Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries will be included in the scheme, according to an official statement.

The symptoms for which free treatment is available include pneumonia, fever, respiratory failure etc.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that can present itself through varied symptoms such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, diarrhoea etc.

Treatment for COVID-19 is available in designated government hospitals free of charge.

Treatment for confirmed cases of COVID-19 is available free-of-cost for eligible beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) under various packages such as Acute Febrile Illness, Pneumonia, Severe Pneumonia, Pyrexia of unknown origin, Respiratory failure due to any cause (pneumonia, asthma, COPD, ARDS, foreign body, poisoning, head injury etc.), among others.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: Death toll increases to 11; US applauds janta curfew

As per the current testing protocol, people need to be tested for COVID-19 only if they have cough, fever or difficulty in breathing and have at least one of the following conditions:

If you have undertaken international travel.

If you have come in contact with a laboratory confirmed positive case.

If you are a healthcare worker managing respiratory distress / Severe Acute Respiratory Illness.

Here's how you can avail free treatment for coronavirus under Ayushman Bharat Yojana
Scientists at University of Limerick's (Ireland) Bernal Institute have helped discover a molecule that could have a major impact on how data is stored and processed

Scientists at University of Limerick's Bernal Institute have helped discover a molecule that could have a major impact on how data is stored and processed.

The UL researchers found that a simple metal-organic molecule can go beyond simple binary (0 - OFF, 1 - ON) computing logic and can in fact switch between three distinct, long-lived states.

This first demonstration of a ternary 'molecular traffic light' device could provide a low-energy means of storing and processing unstructured 'big data' required for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Damien Thompson, Associate Professor in Physics at UL who leads a research team in predictive materials design at the Bernal Institute, proved, using state of the art computer simulations performed on the Irish Centre for High-End Computing supercomputer, that the surprisingly stable third state is made possible by an unequal sharing of electrons between different sides of the molecule.

The research solves a 50-year-old puzzle in physics.

The work, published today in the world-leading journal Nature Nanotechnology, is a result of an international collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), and Texas A&M University (TAMU).

The device was conceptualized and developed at NUS by Professor T. Venkatesan and his post-doctoral researcher Dr. Sreetosh Goswami, based on a molecular complex discovered by Prof Sreebrata Goswami of IACS in Kolkata. Prof Stanley Williams, founding director of the Quantum Science Research Laboratory at Hewlett-Packard and now at TAMU, developed the new device paradigm based on the newly discovered electrical properties.

Science Foundation Ireland-supported scientist and theory lead on the project Professor Thompson explained that 'big data' is the Achilles heel of next-generation of computing, demanding ever-increasing higher computing density which means, with current binary devices, huge power requirements, impractically complex component manufacture and/or convoluted circuit designs.

"Here, we managed to push way beyond industry roadmaps by finding a ternary resistive memory device with three states that are well-separated from each other in terms of conductance and, just as importantly, stay working away perfectly for weeks on end," explained Professor Thompson.

"The trick to this first commercially viable multi-level computing device is a slightly arcane physical phenomenon called 'charge disproportionation' or symmetry breaking, which we proved using computer simulations," he added.

Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Institute, said the research was "high impact and reinforces the ambition of the Bernal Institute to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context.

"This is a continuation of Bernal scientists' world-leading contribution to the field of predictive materials modelling," he added.

Professor Sean Arkins, Dean of Science and Engineering at UL, said: "Researchers at UL's Department of Physics continue to pioneer the exploitation of organic materials for electrical applications, and this work places them at the forefront of molecular nanotechnology."

Professor Thompson outlined that scientists have long noticed that certain materials can "breathe" in an electric or magnetic field, and sometimes the electron cloud around the molecules can lose its symmetry.

"This has remained an academic curiosity until now lacking technological relevance because it has always been associated with a big change in temperature or pressure," he said.

"Whereas here the third asymmetric state is created simply by allowing current to flow through the device and it persists over a broad temperature range (-100 to +100 C) so it is suitable for most conventional computing as well as future applications emerging from the symbiosis between physics, computing and biology.

"In this new material, ions pulse back and forth between different binding sites on the molecules, which opens up the third state, making it energetically accessible and technologically exploitable," he added.

###

The paper, Charge disproportionate molecular redox for discrete memristive and memcapacitive switching, by Sreetosh Goswami, Santi P. Rath, Damien Thompson*, Svante Hedstrom, Meenakshi Annamalai, Rajib Pramanick, B. Robert Ilic, Soumya Sarkar, Sonu Hooda, Christian A. Nijhuis, Jens Martin*, R. Stanley Williams, Sreebrata Goswami* and T. Venkatesan* (* denotes senior author) is published in Nature Nanotechnology and is available online here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-020-0653-1

This research has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under awards number 15/CDA/3491 and 12/RC/2275_P2.

Professor Damien Thompson is available for interview

For further information, please contact:

Alan Owens

Communications Officer

University of Limerick

+353 87 908 6633

+353 61 213000

alan.owens@ul.ie

About University of Limerick:

The University of Limerick is an independent, internationally focused university with 16,500 students and 1,700 staff. It is a young, energetic and enterprising university with a proud record of innovation in education and excellence in research and scholarship.

More information is available at http://www.ul.ie.

Tweet @UL

Facebook.com/universityoflimerick

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About Damien Thompson:

Damien Thompson is Associate Professor in Physics and leads a research team in predictive materials design at the Bernal Institute, UL. His team work at the interface between computing, chemistry, physics and biology. They use computer simulations to guide experiments ranging from protein re-engineering for design of more effective drugs to screening molecular crystals for energy harvesting devices. He is from Janesboro in Limerick city.

About the Bernal Institute:

The Bernal Institute hosts a multidisciplinary team of world-leading materials scientists and engineers at UL. Bernal represents a 100m+ investment in world-class characterisation, modelling and manufacturing facilities concentrated in 20,000 m of high quality research space. Bernal's vision is to become the leading international research institute for the scientific design and manufacture of structured materials to meet global challenges, particularly in the areas of health, energy and the environment. More information is available at http://www.bernalinstitute.com.
A Nazareth man accused of stealing millions of dollars from his law firms clients faces federal fraud charges in what authorities say was a multi-person pyramid scheme.

Investigators said from 2012 to 2019, Todd H. Lahr, 60, worked with others to scam clients of his Allentown law firm out of more than $2.7 million they thought was being used for investments, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lahr used money his clients invested in two companies  THL Holdings LLC and Ferran Global Holdings Inc.  to finance aspects of his personal life, including his homes mortgage, childs tuition, utility bills and more, authorities said.

They said Lahr kept the operation going by using money from new investors to pay others involved in the scheme.

Lahr was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on seven charges related to securities and wire fraud.

The FBI investigated the case.
Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has announced the ban on social gatherings including religious services, weddings, parties, and burial ceremonies over the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Governor announced this on Monday night in a statewide broadcast on the state owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).

Also Read: COVID-19: Nigeria Could Be Heading To Something Dangerous Like In China, Italy  FG Warns

The Governor pointed out that any social gatherings should be limited to 30 persons or less.

He also directed nightclubs to remain closed. He said the new measures will be reviewed in two weeks.
Former Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has joined Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC, a litigation firm with a focus on representing policyholders affected by natural disasters.

He will serve as counsel in the firms Jackson, Miss., office.

Hood, a Democrat, previously served for 16 years as attorney general in Mississippi. Serving as assistant attorney general when Mississippi filed the first state case against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, he has worked aggressively to use civil litigation to curb corporate excesses, according to a statement. He led states in litigation against creditrating agencies following the Great Recession and more recently initiated state action against, among others, the pharmaceutical industry and Google.

In his 16 years as attorney general of Mississippi, Hood recovered more than $3 billion from corporate defendants, including insurers denying payments to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Hood will lead WMCs State Attorneys General practice by representing states in their efforts to hold companies liable for harm to consumers and economic damage to states. He will also build on his work pursuing insurers following Hurricane Katrina by representing public entities, businesses, homeowners and other policyholders in their efforts to recover insurance monies after hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other disasters. Hood will not be working at WMC on specific matters that he oversaw as attorney general.

For the past several years, WMC has represented the State of Mississippi in a number of Hurricane Katrina-related lawsuits against insurance companies.

In addition to representing Mississippi in Katrina-related litigation, WMC represented two whistleblowers against State Farm in a matter that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. WMCs team prevailed over the insurer in a unanimous decision, the firm said.

Hood left his post as attorney general in an unsuccessful run for governor of Mississippi in 2019.

Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC was founded in 2011 and now has approximately 50 lawyers and 100 employees. In addition to representing individual plaintiffs, it represents Fortune 500 companies and major financial institutions, including hedge funds, real estate developers, food companies, technology companies, private equity firms and construction firms. It operates in five locations: Washington; Ft. Lauderdale; Philadelphia; San Juan; and Jackson.

Topics Hurricane Mississippi
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse, N.Y.  While New York state and hospitals are racing to buy enough expensive ventilators to keep alive critically ill coronavirus patients, another question looms: Will there be enough qualified people to run the machines?

Ventilators require trained respiratory therapists, a profession in such chronically short supply that even small hospitals routinely offer $5,000 to $10,000 signing bonuses.

Will there be enough? Thats a good question, said Lisa Johnson, who runs the respiratory therapist school at SUNY Stony Brook. They were already in demand before all of this happened.

Respiratory therapists are the unsung -- and, some say, underpaid -- professionals who could be the key to reducing the death toll of the coronavirus pandemic. When desperately ill patients cant breathe, its a respiratory therapist who slides a tube into the airway, then flips on and monitors the machine that keeps the oxygen flowing until the patients lungs can do it themselves.

We have two minutes to make a critical decision or youre brain dead," said Lisa Shultis, a Syracuse native who runs the respiratory care training program at Brooklyns Long Island University. If you cant breathe, its over."

Central New York hospitals agree theres a chronic shortage of qualified respiratory therapists and are racing to find enough of them to stay ahead of a potential wave of patients suffering from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Hospital leaders say theyre confident  for now, anyway  that they can drum up enough respiratory therapists through a combination of hiring new graduates, bringing back recent retirees and pulling in therapists from other part of the health care system, including those who would have been treating patients of now-canceled elective surgeries.

We feel pretty confident well have enough to cover, aid Erik Boergesson, director of respiratory therapy and medical imaging at St. Josephs Health, in Syracuse.

Cuomo has ordered hospitals to increase their overall bed capacity by at least 50% and urged them to double capacity if they can. He also said hospitals might need to increase the number of intensive care beds by six to 10 times over what they have now, and buy an additional 30,000 ventilators.

The ICU beds are very important because those are the ventilators, Cuomo said.

Ventilators can keep critically ill COVID-19 patients alive while their immune systems fight off the virus and their lungs heal. While thats happening, the machines breathe for patients, pushing in oxygen-rich air and extracting carbon dioxide. Theyre used for patients suffering from a variety of lung ailments, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; recovering from trauma or burns; or fighting other respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and the flu.

Respiratory therapists hook up patients to the machines, and, in the case of respiratory problems like COVID-19, suction out mucus that builds up and causes shortness of breath, one of the diseases hallmark symptoms.

Therapists set up the ventilator and adjust the ventilators, said Claire Aloan, the director of Upstate Medical Universitys respiratory therapist program, which graduates 10 to 20 students each year. Its pretty technical, and nobody else really has the expertise. Once a patient is on the ventilator in intensive care, a therapist needs to be there pretty much all the time.

Therapists also draw blood from a patients arteries to check oxygen levels, and adjust the machine accordingly.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says hospitals in New York state have about 6,000 ventilators but might need 25,000 more to handle the expected spike of the sickest coronavirus patients. The machines cost $16,000 to $40,000 each, he said.

County Executive Ryan McMahon said Monday the county had obtained an additional 60 ventilators, but would not say from where.

In the event there is a significant need for increased ventilators in Onondaga County, then we would all need an increased number of respiratory therapists, said Dr. Seth Kronenberg, Crouse Hospitals chief medical officer and chief operating officer. We believe we have an adequate number.

A patient on a ventilator requires 24-hour monitoring by a respiratory therapist. Typically, a therapist is responsible for six ventilator patients at any one time, Aloan said.

I would suspect when (COVID-19) hits, they will be taking on way more than six patients per ventilators, Aloan said. She said therapists could also end up working much longer hours, as they sometimes do in a particularly bad flu season.

COVID-19 patients in the New York City area are needing to stay on ventilators for weeks, Shultis said, compared to a few days for patients recovering from open-heart surgeries. Thats worrisome, she said, because the airway tubes shouldnt stay in longer than two or three weeks.

St. Josephs should have enough respiratory therapists within its own network to run its 60 ventilators and any more the hospital acquires, Boergesson said.

In our system we have acute care respiratory therapists working in the hospital, and we also have respiratory therapists throughout our system in outpatient clinics and in home care, he said. Bringing those outlying therapists into the hospital, combined with the temporary cancellation of elective surgeries, would provide 25 to 35% more respiratory therapists to deal with COVID-19, Boergesson said.

No one really knows what to expect, said Boergesson, who is also a licensed respiratory therapist.

What we think we need today might change in five days, he said. Its a moving target.

Hospitals are also recruiting therapists who have recently left the front lines, such as Michele Pedicone, who left a therapist job in Seattle last year to teach at Upstate. With students now gone from campus and all classes being taught online, Pedicone is shifting to the hospital to work directly with patients again.

Im feeling called to go back in, she said.

About 250 respiratory therapists work in the five-county region of Central New York, according to the state labor department. In that area, nearly 400 people hold respiratory therapist licenses, according to state records, so theres a number of licensed therapists available who might be working in other fields now and could be brought back. Fifteen students will graduate from Upstates program in May, but it will be several months after that before theyre licensed, Aloan said.

The median wage for respiratory therapists in Central New York is $55,000, according to the labor department, and a recent Upstate job ad offered $52,000. Thats about $10,000 less than registered nurses. Shultis said many respiratory therapists have bachelors degrees and deserve to be paid similarly to nurses.

Were dealing with people breathing, Shultis said. Were not dealing with crutches and a walker.

Thirteen colleges in New York offer respiratory therapy degrees. Onondaga Community College disbanded its program in 2013, citing a lack of employer demand for graduates.

Theres plenty of demand today. Cortland Hospital has openings for four respiratory therapists listed on its employment web page  all posted last summer or fall  offering sign-on bonuses of up to $7,500. On Friday, Rochester General Hospital posted an ad promising a bonus up to $10,000.

If you want a job as a respiratory therapist, Aloan said, youll get four offers in a half an hour in this area.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 09:50:45|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. first lady Melania Trump has tested for the coronavirus and the result is negative, President Donald Trump told reporters late Monday at the White House.
New Delhi: Union Home Ministry on Tuesday (March 24) issued strict guidelines for the enforcement of 21-day complete nationwide lockdown from Wednesday in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry has also invoked the National Disaster Management Act which may result in imprisonment of up to two years for any violation. The announcement was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation.

According to the guidelines, any person violating these containment measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC.

According to lawrato.com, under section 188 of Indian penal code, "Whoever, knowing that, by an order promulgated by a public servant lawfully empowered to promulgate such order, he is directed to abstain from a certain act, or to take certain order with certain property in his possession or under his management disobeys such direction, shall, if such disobedience causes or tends to cause obstruction, annoyance or injury, or risk of obstruction, annoyance or injury, to any persons lawfully employed, be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both; and if such disobedience causes or tends to cause danger to human life, health or safety, or causes or tends to cause a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both."

The ministry also made key instructions for enforcement of the guidelines.

1. All persons who have arrived into India after 15.02.2020, and all such persons who have been deeded by health care personnel to remain under strict home/ institutional quarantine for a period as decided by local Health Authorities, failing which they will be liable to legal action under Sec 188 of the IPC.

2. Wherever exceptions to above containment measures have been allowed, the organisations/employers rnust ensure necessary precautions against COVID-19 virus, as well as social distance measures. as advised by the Health Department from time to time.

3. In order to implement these containment measures, the District Magistrate will deploy Executive Magistrates as Incident Commanders in the respective local jurisdictions. The Incident Commander will be responsible for the overall implementation of these measures in their respective jurisdictions.

All other line department officials in the specified area will work under the directions of such incident commander. The Incident Commander will issue passes for enabling essential movernents as explained.

Notably, all enforcing authorities have cleadly directed to note that these strict restrictions fundamentally relate to movement of people, but not to that of essential goods.
Two prestigious Cuban scholars will visit the University of Miami in March to launch the Distinguished Lecture Series on Cuban Studies, which focuses on Cuba and marks the 500th anniversary of Havana. Celebrations kicked off in November.

It is a great honor for us to host these scholars at our University, said Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president of academic affairs and provost. The 500th anniversary of Havana gives us a great vantage point to examine the tremendous impact that Cuba and its history has had on our hemisphere and our Miami community.

Guillermo J. Willy Prado, dean of the Graduate School who will assume additional duties as vice provost for faculty affairs on June 1, said that besides celebrating the anniversary of Havana, it is important for the University to focus on Cuba.

Cuba is such an important topic to us here at UM and for the community at large, said Prado. To bring in distinguished scholars to speak about their research in these areas is very important to raise visibility here on campus and beyond.

Lisandro Perez, professor and chair of the Latin American and Latino/a Studies at John Jay College, The City University of New York, will do a presentation on Tuesday, March 17. Michael Bustamante, assistant professor of Latin American History at Florida International University, and co-editor of The Revolution from Within: Cuba, 1959-1980, will speak on Friday, March 27.

A former Goizueta fellow of the University of Miami Libraries Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC), Bustamante will deliver the lecture Corresponding Across the Sugar Curtain: Island-Exile Communications during Cuba's Not-So-Cold War. He conducted some of his research at the CHC, one of the largest repositories of Cuban materials.

Bustamante is finishing a book that explores how Cubans, both on and off the island, have argued about their past since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. In this lecture, he will discuss an unexpected side product of the research for that project: evidence of correspondence between Cubans in the United States and in Cuba during the 1960s.

We think of that period as a time when there was a wall in the Florida Straits, said Bustamante. "And there was in many ways, he added. But there is evidence of people making an effort to stay in touch even though it was difficult, and contacts were politically fraught.

In his research, Bustamante was surprised and touched by the ways that individuals circumvented the break in U.S.Cuba relations to send letters to their relatives on the island or in Miami. Some of the correspondence was full of frank political commentary.

These rich, deeply personal sources provide insight, Bustamante noted, "into an important and underappreciated storythe texture of daily life for Cuban families split across the divides of the Cold War."

Bustamante emphasized that it was exciting to celebrate the Cuban Studies at UM, a place that so many scholars have used for research, given the importance of the CHC.

Perez, an alumnus who has devoted his professional career to studying Cubans in the U.S., will address Two Hundred Years of Cuban American History: Continuities and Discontinuities. He will discuss howeven though the 1959 Cuban revolution spurred the largest ever migration of Cubans to the U.S.the presence of Cubans in this country originated more than 200 years ago.

At the time, sugar trade between Cuba and the U.S. was at an all-time high, creating intense traffic between Havana harbor and the piers of Manhattan. New York City became the preferred destination for many of those sugar barons who left Cuba after the end of the slave trade and the start of the Ten Years War against Spain.

I saw that we had a huge gap in what we know about the history of Cubans in the United States, said Perez. We know about (Cuban patriot) Jose Martis exile in New York but there was much more than that. I sought to give New York its due as an important Cuban American community.

Combing through census records, vital statistics, court records, and newspapers stories from the 1800s, Perez acquired a longer range vision of the Cuban presence in the U.S.

Perez focused on community, political activism, and the settlement in New York of elite Cubans and others who followed them, such as cigar makers. And, he began to see parallels between the Cuban immigration of 1868 and 1959.

The Cuban lecture series will be held at the CHC in the second floor reading room, 1300 Memorial Drive, on the Coral Gables campus. The event is free and open to the University community. The Distinguished Lecture Series will continue in the fall semester with more scholars visiting the University.
Most Iraqis agree that Iran is a toxic neighbor that, in its current state (an increasingly unpopular religious dictatorship) is a toxic force obsessed with controlling Iraq and the Iraqi government. Iran has sent hundreds of IRGC officers, most of them from the Quds Force (similar to the U.S. Special Forces, but specializing in supporting Islamic terrorists, not fighting them) and even more lower-ranking IRGC personnel to Iraq. Dozens of senior IRGC officers have been killed in Syria and Iraq since 2012. This IRGC personnel are now seen by most Iraqis as hostile foreign agents. What the Quds Force does get credit for is its leading role in organizing the PMF (Popular Mobilization Force) militias in 2014. This came in response to the corrupt armed forces created by the elected Iraqi government falling apart in the face of the 2014 ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) advance. The ISIL force was much smaller and less well armed than the Iraqi security forces they encountered. For the Shia majority in Iraq, this ISIL advance was their worst nightmare. Quds stepped in where corrupt Iraqi Shia army and police commanders had failed and turned the poorly armed and trained Shia Iraqi militias into a force that could halt the ISIL advance. But these militia could not drive ISIL out of Iraq. That required newly trained (by American and foreign military specialists) Iraqi special operations units supported by American and Iraqi artillery and air power.

Another humiliation was the effectiveness of the Iraqi Kurds, who were not Arab, largely Sunni, very anti-ISIL and opposed to any terrorism. When the Sunni minority was in charge before 2003, the Kurds were persecuted more savagely than Shia Arabs in part because the Kurds were ethnic cousins of Iranians and Europeans. The Iraqi Shia see the Kurds as a threat to Shia domination of Iraq (via democracy) by the Iraqi Shia Arabs. The Kurds are not nearly as much of a threat as the Sunni Arab minority and only want to be left alone via autonomy. The Iraqi Sunni Arab minority had run Iraq for centuries and considered that domination as their right. Iranians have always seen Arabs as inferior and the Kurds as ungovernable. These are ancient attitudes are not easily changed. Iraqis or Iranians who have migrated to a place like the United States find that it takes several generations to completely dilute enough of the religious and ethnic animosities that make the Middle East so toxic and hard to govern. After centuries of Moslem cultural isolation, it came as a shock in the mid-20 century when Western films and TV became widely available in the Middle East. Suddenly there was exposure to a different way of doing things that did not depend on religion, but did demand much less corruption and a lot more tolerance to other ethnic and religious groups. Watching these two systems for several generations has made it clear who has a better life. Even the popular Middle Eastern custom of blaming local problems on foreign influence is losing support. As the Western saying goes, we have met the enemy and they are us. Cultural attitudes are slow to change because conservatives see such change as a disaster, not an opportunity. That is what has kept Islamic terrorism in support of Islamic fundamentalism alive for over a thousand years. Dealing with that beast is dangerous and frustrating as this is a stubborn belief that has a lot of support within the core teachings of Islam. Most Moslems now agree that some change is needed but that is not enough to solve the problem. It takes time and during that process, the violent religious conservatives will be doing what they have always done; kill and terrorize Moslems who disagree with them.

The Quds Factor

These ancient and persistent animosities are the main reason why the Quds Force continues to attract local supporters in Iraq, even though everything the Quds Force does is destructive to the well-being of Iraqis. The Iraqi Shia need allies to deal with the Iranian threat and the best source of support has been the West, which is much less influenced by ethnic and religious animosities. That makes these foreigners primary targets for the local troublemakers. That is at the root of a key problem in Iraq; the reluctance of the Iraqi government to admit the extent of its Iran problems and take action. There is no doubt that the Shia government can do this as they suppressed the pro-Iran militias once before, starting in 2008 after the Sunni Arab uprising (via Sunni Islamic terrorism) had been crushed. Instead of concentrating on keeping the Islamic terrorism down and the Iranians out, the Shia government embraced destructive corruption which weakened the security forces and angered most Iraqis. The destructive impact of that became obvious in 2014 and is still a problem. There is cause for optimism. In Iraq and throughout the region, reducing corruption is seen as an important goal as is suppressing Islamic extremism. Still more corruption and Islamic extremism at play in Iran are why Iran is a major threat to Iraq. The collapse of the Iranian religious dictatorship is seen as a major goal in Iraq and the rest of the world. Dictatorships are difficult to remove from power because such governments threaten major destruction and loss of life for the entire nation if there is an uprising. The alternative is to wait, often for decades, for the corruption and mismanagement to anger even government loyalists. Thats how the Iranian monarchy lost power in the 1970s and the communist states of Europe in the 1980s. Waiting for the internal collapse can be painful to watch and even more painful to live within. Thats how these things work out and there is no known way to predict when the major changes will occur. In the meantime, the best you can do is deal with the expensive symptoms and side effects. Which is what most Iraqis and their Western allies are enduring.

Recently the U.S. is more frequently holding the Iraqi government responsible for its failure to observe the terms of agreements that brought the Western forces to Iraq. Iran is now openly at war with these Westerners, correctly seeing them as a major factor in supporting counter-corruption activities and upgrading the Iraqi security forces. Iraqi leaders protest that confronting Iranian forces inside Iraq is dangerous and Westerners point out that this comes with the job. You cannot just sit in the presidential palace of parliament and get rich via corrupt deals. You either take care of the foreign threat or you become part of the foreign threat.

Iraq has slipped into an unofficial civil war between pro and anti-Iran factions. Iran has used force against Iraqi anti-Iran protesters, and is responsible for most of the 800 Iraqi protesters killed since the protests began in October 2019. These deaths have exceeded the casualties caused by Islamic terrorists. Half the deaths have been in Baghdad and Iraqis know Iran is a big fan of shooting protesters. In the same time period over a thousand protesters in Iran were killed. The Iraqi government is in chaos because the parliament contains a mix of pro and anti-Iran members plus a lot of members who are pro-Iran only because they are being bribed or intimidated by Iran. The parliament has called for the departure of all American troops but only the prime minister can approve that and make it law, while at the moment there is only an interim prime minister because parliament is deadlocked in selecting a new prime minister. The stalemate is fostered by Iranian pressure but the major disputes are about corruption and who gets to control the most lucrative (for thieves) ministries.

Iran Stumbles

Iranian efforts to expand their control in Iraq and Syria are not producing the desired results. This is causing more anti-government activity inside Iran. Iran is hard hit by covid19, in part because the government dismissed the virus as a threat. Now the Iranians are claiming, along with China and Russia, that virus is actually a biological attack by the Americans. Such government sponsored conspiracy theories no longer gain a lot of popular support. This is particularly true with the way the virus was handled in Iran, where leaders ignored what neighboring countries were doing to limit the damage while Iranian leaders urged their followers to operate as usual. That backfired because many of the early Iranians with the virus, or killed by it, have been members of the government and their most loyal supporters. This had an impact on Iraq, where Iran-backed groups urged the followers to emulate Iran. As the virus hit Iran hard more Iraqis ignored the Iranian propaganda and became more actively anti-Iran.

Despite the much reduced budget for operations in Syria, the Iranian Quds Force officers in charge convinced their bosses back in Iran that more cash was needed in Syria to prevent the Iranian effort there from collapsing. The cash has apparently come though because the Iranians have increased the pay and benefits for many of the mercenaries, including the local Syrian Sunni militias it has been recruiting. The Syrian economy is still a mess and good jobs are hard to come by. While being an Iranian merc can be dangerous, the Iranians tell the new Syrian recruits that they want them to keep doing what they have always been doing; protecting their own town or neighborhood.

The Multi-Plague

While covid19/coronavirus is not a major problem (compared to Iran) inside Iraq, the virus is just getting started. So far there have been several hundred confirmed cases but less than three percent are fatal and those victims tend to be elderly or someone already very weak from illness. The covid19 threat has not eliminated the anti-corruption protests but the crowds are smaller and dressed to resist spreading or catching the virus.

The economic impact of the global pandemic is already being felt. There is a global slowdown in economic activity that means lower oil prices. This has been made worse by Russia and Saudi Arabia no longer cooperating in efforts to reduce production and increase the world's oil price. The result of this is low (headed for $20 a barrel) oil prices not seen in decades. Currently, oil sells for $26 a barrel and that is half the price used to draw up this years government budget. This means less money for the government to spend (or steal) and more Iraqis suffering lower standards of living.

Oil revenue makes up 90 percent of the budget and the other major source is tourism. One of the hardest hit domestic industries is tourism. The Shia shrines in the south are popular with Shia worldwide and their visits, and spending, had grown to account for eight percent of GDP and most of that money stays with the Iraqis who earned it. The low oil prices have cut shrine visits by more than half. Iranian visitors are down by about 80 percent. The government is pressuring senior Shia clergy to order the pilgrims to stay away but not all these clerics are willing to do that. The biggest threat is the low oil price because Iraq only has enough cash reserves to deal with one year of really cheap oil. It is unclear how long the Saudis and Russians will maintain the high production that creates the low prices. Their goal is to eliminate the North American fracking industry, but the Saudis and Russians dont seem to understand that bankrupting current fracking firms wont eliminate them. If all else fails, so will economic myths.

Lower oil prices and covid19 have both hit Iran much harder. Iran has smaller cash reserves and the virus has infected at least 25,000 and killed about 1,500. Many in Iran believe the actual number of those infected is over 50,000 because the current deaths indicate a much higher death rate than in neighboring nations with similar conditions. One thing is unquestioned, the high number of deaths is the highest in the region.

March 23, 2020: In the north (Diyala Province), the Iraqi air force carried out several strikes against ISIL targets. In Diyala province ISIL violence has led to the formation of several ethnic militias, as well as a growing number of criminal gangs. Another reason for the growing violence are the pro-Iran PMF militias, which are now seen as a threat to the government equal to what ISIL poses. What is happening in Diyala is simply the worst example of what is happening in many parts of the country. For example, a year ago ISIL set fire to wheat and barley crops, eventually destroying more than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres). This sort of thing has become common in Diyala, as are other forms of ISIL violence. ISIL counts on kidnapping and extortion activities (which sometimes involved non-lethal violence). ISIL justified all the crop fires because so many farmers refused to pay their taxes to ISIL. A later investigation found that many, if not most, of the crop fires were accidents (spark from machinery, a carelessly discarded cigarette or outright fraud). These operations are important because they raise money and keep the locals in line. This increase in activity shows how effectively ISIL has established base areas to operate from. Most of the bases are in the Hemrin Mountains, which extend from Diyala through northern Salahuddin province and into southern Kirkuk province. ISIL terrorism is often very selective with little or none of it falling on known friends of ISIL (those who pay or provide recruits). ISIL still attacks Kurds in Kirkuk but prefers to go after police and PMF militias. .The Iran-backed PMF units are the most hated by ISIL as they are also fanatics, anti-ISIL fanatics and resistant to bribes and intimidation. So are the Kurds and autonomous northern Iraq the Kurds are in charge and ISIL does not waste efforts trying to change that.

March 20, 2020: As part of the effort to deal with the covid-19 pandemic all U.S. troops' movements to and from Iraq have been halted for 14 days. After that new troops coming in will be quarantined for 14 days after arrival. Other nations have imposed similar restrictions. Foreign troops in Iraq have halted training as well. So far less than one percent of American troops in Iraq have tested positive for the virus.

March 19, 2020: In the west (Salahuddin province), ISIL fired six mortar shells into a town it had attacked three days ago. The latest attack wounded three people.

March 17, 2020: In Baghdad, three rockets were fired into the Green Zone and landed near the American embassy complex. There was no damage or casualties in the embassy.

March 16, 2020: Outside Baghdad, someone fired rockets at the Basmaya military base, apparently in an effort to kill Spanish troops based there to train Iraqi forces. Iran-backed Iraqi groups want all foreign troops, except the Iranians, out of Iraq.

In the west (Salahuddin province) in a town market ISIL set off a bomb concealed in a motorcycle. Six people were wounded. This was the first ISIL attack in this town since 2017.

March 14, 2020: Outside Baghdad over at least 33 107mm rockets hit Camp Taji, a joint Iraqi-American military base. The rockets caused no injuries and it was believed the Iran backed PMF militiamen were responsible. This is the 23rd such attack on American bases in Iraq since last October.

March 13, 2020: In the north, near the Turkish border, a Turkish attack on PKK forces killed at least eleven of the Turkish Kurdish separatist rebels. Airstrikes and some Turkish troops on the ground were involved. Turkey continues to conduct air and ground operations in northern Iraq to find and destroy PKK facilities in the area. There are several of these operations a month. The Iraqi government protests and the local Iraqi Kurds stand aside.

March 12, 2020: In Baghdad, six roadside bombs went off mostly in Shia neighborhoods. Seven civilians were wounded. ISIL was believed responsible.

The U.S. Army has successfully tested the Israeli Iron Dome systems it purchased recently for evaluation. Shortly after that the army decided not to buy any more Iron Dome batteries because Israel refused to supply the Iron Dome source code. The U.S. said the source code was essential for integrating Iron Dome into American air defense networks. The Israelis pointed out that the U.S. has been much less successful at keeping secrets than Israel. One solution to this problem is to have the Israelis do the necessary source code modifications. For the moment that proposal has not been accepted. The U.S. Army wanted to use Iron Dome in places like Iraq where American bases are being hit with rockets fired by Iran-backed Iraqi militias.

March 11, 2020: Outside Baghdad (Camp Taj), Iran-backed militia fired twenty rockets at NATO forces there. Two Americans and one British soldier were killed. The Katab Hezbollah, an Iran-backed groups based on the Lebanese Hezbollah, took credit for this attack. The next day the U.S. carried out airstrikes on five Katab Hezbollah facilities. One the airstrikes was across the border in Syria killed 26 PMF men, who are increasingly showing up in Syria, despite Iraqi laws that prohibit that.

In the southeast (Maysan province), an angry mob burned down the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia. The anger was over the militia killing two local critics of the militia. All involved here are Shia as are most people in the province, which borders Iran.

March 10, 2020: The government ordered nationwide shutdowns of businesses and public gatherings as well as international air travel. This will last until the end of the month or slow the spread of covid19. This included canceling meetings (for prayer or whatever) at mosques and schools. So far fewer than 200 Iraqis have tested positive for the virus and there have only been about a dozen virus-related deaths. In Iran, there have been a hundred times more people who tested positive for the virus and at least a hundred times more virus-related deaths.

February 16, 2020: In Baghdad, three rockets were fired into the heavily guarded Green Zone and landed near an American military headquarters, which is not far from the U.S. embassy compound. These rockets, apparently fired by Iran-backed militiamen, caused no casualties. This was the 19th such attack since last October.

In eastern Syria (Hasaka province), a convoy of 55 American military vehicles (trucks and combat) were seen entering from Iraq and heading west towards an unidentified destination. This could be just a supply run for the few American troops left in Syria as well as Syrian Kurd allies.
A day after the Mexican president held a large rally, hugging and kissing his supporters and defying warnings over the spread of the novel coronavirus, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pulled out two religious amulets from his wallet.

They are protective shields, he said when asked how he intends to protect himself against the disease.

Lopez Obrador has been accused of downplaying the threat of the contagious respiratory illness, and health experts have warned the Mexican governments approach has been insufficient in responding to a virus that has infected more than 400,000 people and killed over 17,000 worldwide.

While the virus outbreak was declared an international pandemic and major cities have gone into lockdown, cancelling flights and shutting down borders, Lopez Obrador has continued to argue that such measures would only hurt the Mexican economy.

There are many millions of Mexicans who live from day to day,  Lopez Obrador said during his morning news conference on Monday, referring to the millions of people who work in the informal sector and live off of their daily wages.

So we have to take care of their health and at the same time the economy,  he said.

As of Tuesday, Mexico has 367 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and four deaths, well below European or US proportions. But the numbers have been rising steadily and epidemiologists say the true number is likely much higher.

Experts say Lopez Obrador is worried the countrys already slumping economy would take an even bigger hit. Mexican gross domestic product shrank by 0.1 percent last year, during his first year in office  for the first time since 2009. And as the Mexican peso has plunged to record lows this week, analysts expect the economy to contract by as much as four percent this year, according to Reuters news agency, citing a Credit Suisse note issued last week.

Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador holding up two amulets, which he says serve as protective shields against the coronavirus disease, during his daily news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico [Mexicos Presidency/Handout via Reuters]

But despite Lopez Obradors slow response, cities and towns across Mexico have grown quieter over recent days, and observers say it has been largely due to action taken by local and state governments, not the federal one.

Uneven response

Lopez Obrador has one priority and one priority only, that is to protect Mexicos economic performance, said Tony Payan Director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute.

Payan says this has resulted in local leaders having to take uncoordinated initiatives that are not backed by federal guidance or scientific data, working with little access to national resources.

Because there is no leadership at the federal level, there is anti-leadership, and state governors and mayors are left to take their own measures, Payan told Al Jazeera. The response has been uneven, with some states taking it very seriously, taking drastic measures and other states simply not doing enough, he said.

The government has so far announced a series of measures including the suspension of all public and private gatherings for a month, extending the Easter break for schoolchildren and urging people to work from home.

The health ministry called Monday a national healthy distancing day, as part of a four-week initiative aimed at encouraging people to maintain distance from one another in order to reduce the risk of infections.

This is not a total economic pause, but rather reduction in activity, trying not to affect the sectors that live by the day, health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez wrote in a tweet.

Crowded streets in downtown Mexico City amid the coronavirus outbreak [Gustavo Graf/Reuters]

On Sunday the mayor of the densely populated capital, Mexico City, ordered the closure of the citys museums, nightclubs and gyms starting on Monday, and banned events with more than 50 people. There are currently 60 confirmed coronavirus cases in the city.

But elsewhere in Mexico, the measures have varied greatly. On Friday, the state of Jalisco, which has recorded 46 cases, announced a five-day suspension of economic, religious and social activities and urged people to stay at home. Restaurants, while largely empty of customers, remained open. The governor of Nuevo Leon state said public parks, schools, bars, restaurants, movie theatres and casinos would temporarily have to shut, and dispatched police to the street to ensure that businesses comply.

The state of Queretaro suspended public funerals and mandated the cremation of coronavirus victims. The state of Sinaloa, a drug cartel stronghold, ordered on Monday the temporary closure of cinemas, bars, casinos and gyms.

Jaime Lopez-Aranda, a Mexico City-based security analyst, said many people and private businesses, gripped with fear over contracting the disease, were already taking personal initiative, staying home and cancelling events. And many international companies have ordered their employees to work from home.

Governors are catching up to something that was already being done, Lopez-Aranda tells Al Jazeera.

We are probably in a full-blown epidemic now, but we just dont know it, he said.

International border bridge Paso del Norte, a United States-Mexico land bridge, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]

Driving blind

In most patients, the coronavirus only leads to mild or moderate symptoms, but it can lead to severe illness in some, especially the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Lopez Obrador has so far refused to ban tourist flights in an effort to protect the tourism industry, which accounts for over eight percent of the Mexican economy. He has also refused to restrict local travel or order a large-scale lockdown on economic activity. On Friday, officials announced that the US-Mexico land border would close to all non-essential traffic.

Lopez Obrador has a perception that Mexico is not going to be as hard-hit as China, Italy and the United States, and he is happy to let governors take primary responsibility, said Eric L Olson, a global fellow at the Wilson Center.

But Mexico is very integrated in the global economy, and it is highly unlikely that they could just skip or miraculously avoid any problems, Olson told Al Jazeera.

Experts add that for all his efforts, it is unlikely that Lopez Obrador will succeed in shielding the Mexican economy from shrinking given his countrys reliance on manufacturing, trade and tourism from the US  and the overall global trend towards a recession.

And Mexico may end up creating a public health crisis as well as an economic one that is far worse, which the country will have a tougher time climbing out of.

Epidemiologists, meanwhile, say amid limited testing and the outlawing of testing for the virus in private labs, it is difficult to assess how far the virus has spread, or measure the effects of the restrictions currently in place.

The country is in quarantine light, said Alejandro Macias, the former national commissioner for influenza in Mexico during the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak.

We dont know what is really happening and I think the messages from the authorities have been at times contradictory, Macias said. We are currently driving blind.
The office of Mayor Andy Berke has answered questions regarding the far-reaching executive order issued on Monday closing certain businesses and limiting groups.

It says:

Were seeing a sharp rise of confirmed novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases across our state and its vital that we all play a part in helping slow the spread and eventually flatten the curve. This wont happen overnight, but with more people practicing social distancing and self-isolating, we can get to the otherside of this sooner.

The most important thing you can do is stay home. This means no dinner parties or movie nights. It means no playdates for kids and their friends. It means no in-person interactions of any size, for any reason. If you need groceries or medical attention, or if your job absolutely requires you to be at work, please take care of that. Otherwise, stay home. Youre safer there.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 2020-04

Yesterday, March 23, 2020, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke signed Executive Order 2020-04, which closes additional businesses that cannot implement social distancing practices and prohibits mass gatherings of ten or more people.

However, if we find that people are not practicing safe social distancing requirements and numbers within our community rise we can expand this order at any time.

We understand that this has generated a lot of questions so weve attempted to address as many as possible for you.

What does Executive Order 2020-04 do? This order does several things including closes some additional types of businesses, prohibits mass gatherings of ten or more people in accordance with Governor Lees Executive Order No. 17.



How is this different from last weeks Executive Order? Last weeks order (2020-02) suspended dine-in service at restaurants and bars within City limits and closed gyms. However, it allows for delivery and takeout options, which are in accordance with Governor Lees Executive Order No. 17. Executive Order 2020-04 adds additional non-essential businesses or businesses that cannot adhere to the CDCs social distancing guidelines such as spas, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, movie theaters, nightclubs, concert venues, etc.



When does it go into effect? Executive Order 2020-04 goes into effect on Wednesday, March 25, 2020.



When does it end? As of right now, the CDCs recommendation for social distancing goes through May 11. However, as this crisis grows we know it may be necessary to keep these mandates in place even longer, so we have no end date at this time. Mayor Berke and his staff are monitoring this crisis daily and staying in contact with local, regional, and national medical experts and other municipal leaders. We are using this information to deem when it would be safe for these orders to be lifted.



Governor Lees Executive Order on restaurants and bars ends on April 6. Does this mean the Citys mandate will be lifted as well?

The Mayor's order follows the Governor's Order No. 17. The Mayor will look at what the community conditions are on April 6 and determine whether his Executive Order should be extended at that time based on our local conditions.



Does this cover more than city limits?

All executive orders issued by Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke only pertain to businesses and entities within city limits.



What are Essential Businesses or Activities?

These are businesses or activities that are essential to the health and safety of Chattanoogans, activities to obtain necessary services or supplies for themselves, and activities to engage in outdoor activity while maintaining safe social distancing practices. The businesses that were requiring to close now include: Indoor areas of shopping malls and all retail stores Salons, beauty shops, and barbershops Massage parlors, spas, tanning salons, and tattoo parlors However, if we find that people are not practicing safe social distancing requirements and numbers within our community rise we can expand this list at any time.



Are you really suspending funerals and weddings at this time?

We are urging that you hold off on any large funeral or wedding until this virus is under control. We understand this may seem extreme or insensitive. However, the only way to slow and stop the spread is by practicing the CDCs social distancing requirements.



I own a small business with an online store. Can I still take online orders and allow for pickup or non-contact pickup?

Yes! We encourage those who are able to still perform work online and remotely to do so.



Why cant I go over to my neighbors house for dinner? None of us are showing symptoms.

We want you to stay home. The best to slow and eventually stop the spread of COVID-19 is by practicing social distancing. Additionally, some who have tested positive for this virus have been asymptomatic, meaning they showed no symptoms, so while as frustrating as this may seem it is in the best interest of your -- and your neighbors -- health and safety to stay home and only go out for essential trips.



What if my employer wont allow me to work from home?

While we strongly urge that any jobs that can be performed remotely be done so, if a business is going to continue daily operation we are requesting and urging for employers to comply with CDC guidelines on employee temperature recording. This means employers would take the temperatures of employees when they enter the building and when they leave, and send any employees home who maintain a temperature range outside CDC recommended guidelines (100.4) until such time as such employees have returned to a normal temperature range for fourteen (14) days. Additionally, to the greatest extent feasible, all Essential Activities shall comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Order, including by maintaining six-foot social distancing for both employees and members of the public, including, but not limited to, when any customers are standing in line.



What measures are in place to help those who have lost their jobs or closed their businesses due to these mandates?

We know that many local business owners and service industry employees are being directly impacted by this and while we hope we are on the other side of this pandemic soon, we've compiled resources that can help connect you to a variety of services at this time. You can find those resources at https://connect.chattanooga.gov/covid/covidresources/ .



Can you stop evictions?

Hamilton County judges announced that they have put a temporary halt on evictions. https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2020/mar/21/judges-seek-avoid-evictions/518794/?fbclid=IwAR1Uac3w0b_x20xt6lPOnGqrqBgixVauseOmRbQ9LiK78j61dJKtrNNjr8A



I know that grocery stores and pharmacies are open, what about pet stores?

Its vital that families are still able to stay healthy, this includes pets. Pet stores are exempt from this closure but please keep visits to stores and veterinarian clinics to essential services only -- buying food and medicine. Non-essential visits during this time would be grooming.



How are City Services affected by this?

While the City is implementing social distancing practices, we are still providing many of our usual services for Chattanoogans. For a full list of closures and how to access services online visit https://connect.chattanooga.gov/covid/covid-19-city-closures/



Is CARTA still operating? Yes. We know that many Chattanoogans rely on public transit and CARTA still in operations. They have enhanced their cleaning to protect their employees and patrons. Care-A-Van has reduced trips to essential services, which include medical appointments and work trips. Additionally, Care-A-Van is helping vulnerable populations by picking up groceries and prescriptions.



How are you enforcing this? What will happen if a business is found out of compliance?

The Chattanooga Police Department is authorized to enforce this Order and the Police Department or Fire Marshal can revoke a businesses occupancy permit if they are found in violation of this executive order. Obviously, public safety officials will be using their discretion to educate business owners and customers about the need for social distancing.



CITY SERVICES

The City of Chattanooga is working to reduce density within its own departments and divisions. While we are implementing safe social distancing practices, wed like to ask residents to do the same and reduce trips to City Hall and other public buildings.

Many City services can be accessed or requested online or via the phone. Weve created a page that breaks down those offerings by department.

This is a frustrating and strange time for all of us. Chattanooga prides itself on its sociability and love of community. This is really tough, but knowing how quickly this vicious disease can spread -- even by individuals who show no symptoms -- we have to ask for your patience and sacrifice at this time. Other cities who have failed to do this have seen their emergency rooms and intensive care units completely overwhelmed for weeks on end, and we desperately want to avoid that here.

Stay informed using reliable information sources, such as the CDC and the Tennessee Department of Health. The Hamilton County Health Department has a hotline to answer any questions about COVID-19. The number is (423) 209-8383.

The safety and health of the Chattanooga community and its employees are the Citys top priority and we appreciate everyones patience during this time.
As the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to spread around the world, there is the expected fear among the people about whether they have the Coronavirus infection too. Hospitals are already inundated around the world, and testing kits are just not available for everyone in one go. To help in these times, Reliance Jio has added a bunch of new Coronavirus related features to the MyJio app. These include the new Coronavirus testing tool available to all users across India, guides on how to work from home, learn from home, how to get medical consultation at home via digital tools, the list of test centers across all states in India, the updated statistics of the Coronavirus spread around the world and in India as well as access to answers for common questions about the COVID-19 spread and the helpline details for all regions. The best part is, the MyJio Coronavirus Symptoms tool and features are available to everyone. In fact, you can also access it here.

The symptom checker tool is perhaps the timeliest tool that everyone needs right now. You start off with my telling who this test is forit could be for yourself, for your parents, spouse, child or even a friend. The first set of questions include the gender, age group, and the list of existing health conditions that includes asthma, chronic lung disease, diabeties, heart diseases or if the person taking this test is pregnant. Then there are specific questions on your travel for the past 14 days to certain countries including China, Italy, Spain, Iran, or even larger regions in Europe, Middle East of Southeast Asia. The Coronavirus symptom checker then asks you if the test taker or anyone in the test takers family has come in contact with anyone who has had cold, cough, fever or shortness of breath in the past 14 days.

At this point, the Coronavirus symptom checker asks if the test taker has fever, headache, cough, cold, sore throat, shortness of breath and coarseness in the voice. Post this, the MyJio Coronavirus Symptom Checker tool provides a risk analysis of how likely you may be to be catching the Coronavirus infection, or if the symptoms already indicate something amiss.

The Coronavirus Symptom Checker tool is available for everyone, even if you are not a Jio mobile or Jio Fiber user, for instance

The MyJio App also has the list of test centers, as shared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and this is available for all states and regions in India. The test center list keeps getting updated and any new changes will be reflected in the list for each state or region.

If you want to stay updated with the Coronavirus spread and recovery numbers from India and around the world, there is the statistics tool. For India specifically, there is the larger number of total confirmed cases in the country and then a state-wise division of the spread.

For Low risk citizens, this tool will put to rest any possible mis-apprehensions, as well as reinforce social isolation messages. For medium risk citizens, we can reassure them about their prognosis (most people recover with mild symptoms) and arm them with information about what to watch out for and where to seek help if they need medical assistance. For high-risk citizens, we can channelize them to appropriate medical interventions so that they are isolated and treated promptly, says Reliance Jio.

The Coronavirus Symptom Checker tool is available for everyone, even if you are not a Jio mobile or Jio Fiber user, for instance. Simply download the MyJio app and access these tools irrespective of your mobile service provider.

The FAQs section busts the myths about the Coronavirus, with details on the symptoms, how it spreads, how to prevent the spread and protect yourself, specific guidance if you have children or pets at home, the measures the elderly must take and even how anyone who is pregnant must ensure they stay safe.

Last but not least are the helpline details, which includes the National Helpline Number (1075), the Central Helpline number (+91-11-23978043), the MyGov WhatsApp number (+91-9013151515) and the Central Helpline Email (ncov2019@gmail.com) as well as the helpline numbers for each state.

The MyJio app will get this feature on your Android phone or the Apple iPhone via a server side updateyou dont need to do anything if you are running the latest version of the app anyway. In case this is not showing up on your phone, you might want to head to the Google Play Store (Android phones) or the Apple App Store (for the Apple iPhone) to check for a newer version.
Newport Beach, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a California based pharmaceutical company, and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana today announce a new relationship in the fight against COVID-19.

Anticipating a substantial increase in United States cases of COVID-19, the two are working together to gain FDA emergency approval for the Vivera Pharmaceuticals powered by Pharmact AG CoV-2 Rapid Test, a novel rapid testing kit manufactured by Pharmact AG, a leading German manufacturer of rapid diagnostic testing kits.

As States around the country issue mandatory stay-at-home orders, and with no definitive end in sight to this global crisis, there will be a significant increase in the need for reliable testing to adequately serve those who need the most support. The CoV-2 Rapid Test provides results at 20 minutes, making it ideal for point of care testing and triage of large patient populations. This proprietary assay does not require additional equipment or use of already overburdened third-party laboratories.

Both groups firmly believe that addressing this pandemic requires decisive action on a national scale. Every part of the county has been deeply affected, with millions of Americans, and the communities they support, in need of immediate solutions.

"Vivera's focus on patient health is why we look forward to working closely with the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. Vivera is here to support Tribal leaders and their efforts in ensuring healthcare for not only their people, but those across the country that are affected. As more cases of community infections develop, healthcare providers need to stay ahead of the diagnostic curve," stated Paul Edalat, CEO of Vivera Pharmaceuticals.

"As the First People of this land we carry the genetic memory of the devastation pandemics cause, but in this present moment of crisis we are one tribe," said David Sickey, Tribal Chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. "COVID-19 does not discriminate. The virus doesn't care what ethnicity we are or what our political ideology is. We are facing an invisible enemy that we must unite to defeat. The CoV-2 Rapid Test brings visibility to this faceless foe so that our heroes on the frontlines, the doctors, nurses and first responders, know where to take the fight and how to treat our fellow citizens who have contracted the virus. Fear is stoked by the unknown. With these tests we can reduce the fear factor for people across the United States."

Vivera and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana expect to begin offering the Rapid Test as early as this week under the temporary approval mechanisms set forth by the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization guidelines.

For more information regarding the Vivera Pharmaceuticals powered by Pharmact AG CoV-2 Rapid Test, and ordering information for healthcare providers, please visit viverapharma.com.

About the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana



Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana



Cannot view this image? Visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6166/53712_Coushattalogo.jpg

After many years and hardships, including being illegally "terminated" without legislation during the Eisenhower administration, the Coushatta Tribe was officially re-recognized by the United States Government in 1973 and marked a major turning point in tribal history in 1985 with the election by popular vote of the first Coushatta tribal government.



From their earliest days as a proud, hard-working people struggling to maintain long-standing traditions in the face of possible relocation, the Coushatta Indians have endured and overcome every hardship they have faced and have remained on tribal lands in and around Elton, Louisiana, since the 1800s. Despite serious setbacks and some population dispersal, the tribe's character and ideals have not only held fast, but have been strengthened. The Coushatta language, Koasati, is still spoken as a first language in the Coushatta community today.



The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana owns and operates Coushatta Casino Resort, which employs more than 2,400 area residents. For more information about the Tribe, visit www.koasatiheritage.org. For more information about the Coushatta Casino Resort, visit www.coushattacasinoresort.com

About Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.



Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an innovative, science-driven pharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for a variety of indications.

In addition to its pharmaceutical and medical device products, the company has global exclusivity to license the patented and patent-pending TABMELT sublingual drug-delivery system for the pharmaceutical use of therapeutic compounds. The company is vertically integrated with patented technology, manufacturing capabilities, and distribution for its products.

For more information, visit https://viverapharmaceuticals.com.

Investor Relations Inquiries:

thinkHERO

Patrick Piette, CFA for Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

416-526-9911

viverapharma.com

investorrelations@viverapharma.com



Press Inquiries:

thinkHERO

Karin Elz, for Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

416-992-9848

viverapharma.com

press@viverapharma.com





To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53712
Srinagar, March : Two CRPF troopers were killed on Tuesday in a fratricidal firing incident in Srinagar city.

Police said the incident took place in the water wing of CRPF in Dalgate area of the city.

Both slain troopers belonged to 114 battalion of CRPF.

Spokesman of the CRPF, Neeraj Rathore said both were killed in a fratricidal firing incident after some heated argument between the two.

After hearing gunshots colleagues of the two troopers rushed to the spot and carried them to the hospital where doctors said they were dead on arrival, the spokesman added.

The slain troopers have been identified as constable Jala Vijay and constable Siju.

Police has registered an FIR into the firing incident.
Kannada film producer and entrepreneur VK Mohan, popularly known as Kapali Mohan, has committed suicide by hanging himself in Bengaluru on Monday. The 59-year-old producer ended his life in a room in his hotel located near Peenya. The police have registered a case of unnatural death.

Kapali Mohan took this drastic step just days after he made a video pleading for financial help from the government.

In the video, Kapali Mohan claimed that he had acquired a tender for a bus stop in Peenya for which he was the highest bidder. But the bus stop had not been made operational so far. Hence, the film producer-businessman said that he had been going through a massive financial crisis and had already lost his properties.

Kapali also mentioned that he had been unable to repay his bank loans. He even requested Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and deputy chief minister, Laxman Savad to intervene in the matter and give him justice.

Kapali Mohan used to visit the hotel twice a week and had recently roped in a man, Shivakumar as his business partner to run the property. Two years ago, the CCB had seized Rs 9.33 lakh cash from Kapali's gambling den and the office of Balaji Finance. The police had booked him under the Karnataka Money Lenders Act and the Karnataka Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act following complaints that he lent money at exorbitant rates of interest.

Kapali Mohan was a noted film financier and was a resident of Sadashivanagar. He was said to be very close to Dr Rajkumar's family and had even made special appearances in a few films.
Bigg Boss 13 contestant Arti Singh was all set to celebrate her birthday on April 5 in Maldives, but had to cancel all her plans due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the country. Apparently, Arti had planned a pre-birthday holiday trip to Maldives. She wanted to gift this travel to her mother as the latter always wanted to visit the island nation. Unfortunately, due to the current world situation, Arti has decided to postpone her trip. The actress feels that it is best to stay indoors and spend time with family.

Arti was quoted by TOI as saying, "I always wanted to take my mom to Maldives and hence had planned this trip. However, at this time as a global citizen it's our duty to stay put, stay indoors and not travel. Hence, I am postponing this trip as I want to ensure the safety of my mother, my family and those around us."

(Image Source: Instagram)

The actress also revealed as to how it has been, being locked in the house. She said she has been cooking, working out and watching series, but added that it's difficult to stay indoors and not meeting friends or going to gym.

She further added, "While we are cribbing about boredom, my true worry is for people who earn wages for the day. There are lakhs in India who are working in the morning to earn the money to put dinner on the table for their family. What about them and how will they survive? I hope that each one of us can help those working for us so that we create a chain of humanity worldwide."

Also Read: Kanika Kapoor Coronavirus Controversy: MSK's Indeep Bakshi Says The Singer Went To Hospital Herself
A 24-year-old Asbury Park man was shot and killed Monday night, authorities said.

Christian Lahens was shot in his home on the 100 block of Dewett Avenue just before midnight, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said Tuesday.

Lahens was brought to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Stephen Cavendish of the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office at 732-431-7160 ext. 7051, or Det. Terrance McGhee of the Asbury Park police at 732-774-1300.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Even as the world continues to grapple with the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus, there is some good news. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that while the number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 3,50,000 worldwide since the outbreak began in December, more than 1,00,000 people have recovered.

Across the world, more than 15,000 have died of the infection so far, mostly in Italy, China, Spain and Iran. In China, more than 81,000 cases have been confirmed with more than 72,000 recoveries and more than 3,200 deaths.

AFP

Nearly 60,000 recoveries have been tallied in the Hubei Province of China, the region where the outbreak is believed to have originated. While Italy has reported more than 5,400 deaths, the largest number of any country in the world, with more than 59,000 cases it has also seen more than 7,000 people recover from infection. In the U.S., more than 35,000 cases have been confirmed with more than 470 deaths and nearly 200 recoveries.



As far as India is concerned, according to the ICMR, there have been 482 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country, out of which 36 have recovered, while nine have lost their lives. The 36 include a group of eleven Italian tourists, among who were admitted to Medanta hospital last month.

According to the hospital, all 11 of them had been discharged and handed over to the Italian embassy on Monday. This is also the highest number of Covid-19 recoveries in any state in India.

AFP

The first Indians to recover from the illness were also the first three cases of Covid-19 in India. The trio, all of them who were medical students who had returned from Wuhan to Kerala had made full recovery and were discharged from hospitals last month. The state had also announced that one more person who had tested positive for Covid-19 has made a full recovery and has been discharged, making it the fourth case in Kerala.



REUTERS

The national capital, Delhi which has seen 30 cases of Covid-19 has seen six recoveries so far. Uttar Pradesh which has recorded 32 cases of Covid-19 has said that 9 of them have since recovered from the illness. In Rajasthan where a total of 31 Covid-19 positive cases have been recorded has seen three of them recover.

While the disease can cause varying degrees of illness and even death, WHO say adults aged 65 and older, and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions such as heart and lung disease or diabetes, might be at higher risk for severe illness from Covi-19. But for the majority of people who become infected, the coronavirus brings only mild symptoms, such as cough and fever.

WHO says those that experience mild symptoms typically recover from the illness in about two weeks, while those who experience more severe illness could take up to six weeks to recover.
Bay Area political events that are happening online during the coronavirus pandemic:

THURSDAY

Rep. Eric Swalwell: East Bay Democrat will hold a Facebook Live town hall with Dr. Stephen Lockhart, chief medical officer of Sutter Health, to discuss the next steps for combatting the COVID-19 outbreak. 1:30 p.m. Join here.

Political roundtable: A discussion with Debra Saunders, White House correspondent for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and former Chronicle columnist. Hosted by Commonwealth Clubs John Zipperero. 2 p.m. Livestreamed here and here.

Oakland town hall: Mayor Libby Schaaf hosts a town hall meeting on the coronavirus pandemic. 6 p.m. Submit questions in advance here. Tune in here.

SATURDAY

David Plouffe: Campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign on political leadership in a time of crisis. Hosted by Mannys. 5 p.m. Join here.

SUNDAY

Electing more women: Andrea Dew Steele, founder of Emerge America, on why more women need to be elected to office and ways to make that happen. Hosted by Mannys. 5 p.m. Join here.

MONDAY

Supporting women running for office: A conversation with Stacy Mason, co-founder of WomenCount, on how to support women running for office while sheltering in place. Hosted by Mannys. 3 p.m. Join here.

MARCH 31

Heather Knight: Chronicle columnist talks about covering San Francisco politics during a pandemic. Hosted by Mannys. 1 p.m. Register here for a Zoom link.

To list an event, please email Chronicle politics editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com
New Delhi, March 24 : The practice of washing your hands for 20 seconds is one of the best preventive measures you can take to avoid the spread of any virus including coronavirus as recommended by the WHO.

The modern day concept of handwashing was introduced by Hungaraian doctor Inaz Semmelweis, in 19-th century Vienna. Semmelweis proposed the practice of washing hands with chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in the city's general hospital.

Decades later, in the modern times too the practise has not lost it's relevance. To connect with savvy consumers the message is being sent through social media? But social media can also be a dark place where misinformation is rampant; consumers can end up being misguided and compromised on sensitive issues like health and hygiene.

Dettol, recently kickstarted its #HandWashChallenge on TikTok aiming to raise awareness on four simple steps of handwashing. Strategically aimed at creating awareness among audience, a unique song has been created pairing it extremely well with the hashtag #HandWashChallenge. The hashtag filter has a branded Dettol strip across the top with the hashtag and names the steps involved in washing hands. The user can dance out the steps to the challenge and share it with their friends to further amplify the message on hygiene and safety.

Commenting on the same, Pankaj Duhan, Chief Marketing Officer, RB Health South Asia said, "We are elated with the response to the #HandWashChallenge, it has definitely become one of the most successfully led initiatives by any of our brands at RB. Understanding the consumer's mindset is of the utmost importance to us, therefore our campaign communication is built in a way that creates meaningful conversations to drive awareness amongst consumers. The participation by TikTok users across India has helped deliver the right message in a more engaging and interactive manner.

"I personally would like to encourage more and more people to join this global health & hygiene educational exercise. Together, let us all build a healthier nation, four steps at a time." He further said, "Over the past couple of weeks we have witnessed a lot of misinformation floating around hygiene practices, especially over the internet. Realizing the gravity of the issue and being the responsible brand, we felt it was our prerogative to initiate this awareness campaign."

The campaign witnessed several quirky activities on each day leading to increased consumer interest. Joining the force were some of Bollywood's popular celebrities like Kartik Aaryan and Urvashi Rautela among several other TikTok influencers who have millions of followers on the platform. As part of Phase II, Dettol plans to take the challenge global by encouraging more users to participate while the audience worldwide.

The challenge has witnessed over 18 Billion views and generated over 123K user participation videos in one week of starting the campaign.

(This article is a website exclusive and cannot be reproduced without permission of IANSlife)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
The Michigan City Police Department is strongly encouraging all Michigan City residents to follow Gov.Eric Holcomb's stay-at-home order and "all other COVID-19 safety protocols."

"The time we spend fighting COVID-19 is dependent on our actions and ability to follow the general rules now," the Michigan City Police Department said in a news release. "If we all continue to follow the guidelines and work through the inconveniences now, we can greatly reduce the COVID-19 spread and all get back to our normal lives as quickly as possible."

The police department clarified that the governor's stay-at-home order limits travel outside the home to commuting to work, visiting a doctor, going to a grocery store or taking care of a loved one  steps most people already have taken during the global coronavirus epidemic to not endanger themselves, their families or others.

"This order, although now official, is what most Michigan City residents have been doing since the middle of last week," the Michigan City Police Department said in the press release. "This is a crucial step in assuring that Hoosiers everywhere limit their contact with other people and drastically slow down and stop the spread of COVID-19."
Indian Parliaments budget session, which started embroiled in political hostility over citizenship laws, abruptly ended on Monday on a note of unity over the Covid-19 outbreak.

While there are several instances of a session being curtailed due to disruptions or political reasons, this is possibly the first time in the history of Parliament that a session was cut short by a grave public health crisis, according to three senior officials. All members stood up and clapped in both Houses to honour the medical fraternity and public servants who are at the forefront of Indias fight against the deadly Covid-19, a day after the country overwhelmingly responded to the Prime Ministers call to express gratitude in the same manner.

Our country is a spirited partner in the collective global efforts to contain the spread of this deadly virus. I fondly hope that collectively this battle would be won, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu said before the House was adjourned sine die.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

The government was able to fast track the approval of the Finance Bill 2020, a constitutional obligation, without any debate. The Opposition, however, did not agree to the governments proposal to clear The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, that amends laws related to cooperative banks.

At 1.30 pm, both Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met floor leaders of their respective Houses to decide on an early adjournment.

Also read: Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown over coronavirus

According to an Opposition leader, Birla explained the situation and how it has become imperative to close the budget session. Opposition leaders immediately agreed and pointed out that they had been demanding an early closure for the past two weeks. It was also decided that the finance bill would be passed without any lengthy debate to allow enough time to the Rajya Sabha to send the legislation back on the same day.

In the House, Birla reminded the lawmakers how people of India had transcended political, religious and regional boundaries to put up a united show against the outbreak on Sunday. Yesterday was a unique day. There were no political divides, no division of faith or religion. There were no rich or poor. Yesterday, India was united.

Click here for complete coverage of coronavirus

Altogether, 11 new bills were introduced during the session and four non-financial bills were cleared by both Houses of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said that 19 bills were introduced and 12 were cleared by both Houses. The key bills cleared include The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill and the flagship Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill.

Joshi said: ... The productivity for the complete Budget Session, 2020, of Lok Sabha was approx. 90% and that of Rajya Sabha was 74%.

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Omar Abdullah's release order was issued after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), slapped on him in February, were revoked

National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah , who was released on Tuesday after being in detention for nearly eight months, urged the Centre to release all political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, including PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, especially in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

"The politics and situation of this state, what happened on 5 August (last year), I will talk about it in detail, but first, let us get rid of the coronavirus, save ourselves and our families and friends. And then all those detained, be it within the state or outside it, I want the Centre to have mercy on them, bring them home and release them," Omar told reporters outside his residence.

"Be it Mehbooba Mufti or my NC colleagues, or leaders from PDP or from any other party. Some do not belong to any party, but are in detention since August (last year). In these difficult times, they should be brought back to their families," PTI quoted him as saying.

The National Conference leader was initially put under preventive custody after the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 on 5 August last year. The Public Security Act (PSA) was invoked to mandate his continued detention on 5 February.

His release order was issued after charges under the PSA were recently revoked.

Omar said people faced many hardships after the decisions of the Centre on 5 August, 2019, but the time was not ripe to talk about them as the people were fighting "the war of life and death".

"The hardships that the people faced. Our children couldnt go to schools for many months, shopkeepers didn't have an earning for months. People associated with hotels, taxis, houseboat, shikara and factories had to face difficulties. I was detained at one place, but the difficulties the people here faced, they were kept at their homes, I had thought that I will talk a lot about it, but today I realise that we are fighting a huge war  the war of life and death.

"Be it Article 370 or 35A or UT or bifurcation of the state, I will talk to you in detail once the current situation passes," he added.

He also called on the government to restore high-speed mobile connectivity in the Union Territory and appealed to people to follow the government's directives to fight the coronavirus.

"Unfortunately, we have gathered here against the governments directions. We were told that social distancing should be followed, that we should take precautions to contain the spread of this disease. However, what lesson will we give to the people when we ourselves are not ready to follow it," he said.

"I humbly appeal the Centre to lift the restrictions on the communication...At least 3G/4G should be restored. We are told to take lessons on awareness about coronavirus from the internet, but what to do when nothing opens (because of low speed)," he said.

Soon after his release, Omar took to Twitter and posted a picture of himself sporting long pepper beard.

232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. Its a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019. pic.twitter.com/Y44MNwDlNz  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

He also shared a picture of himself with his parents.

Had lunch with my mum & dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I cant remember a better meal even though Ive been in a bit of a daze & dont remember what I ate  pic.twitter.com/W4duuhCVjI  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

The former chief minister said that he will take all efforts to help authorities contain the spread of the disease.

We face the fight of our lives over the next few weeks & months as we come to terms & work to defeat #COVID19. I will do everything in my individual capacity to help the authorities overcome this challenge & I appeal to all of you to do the same.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

He indicated that he may start a blog with tips for dealing with being under quarantine.

On a lighter note if anyone wants tips on surviving quarantine or a lock down I have months of experience at my disposal, perhaps a blog is in order.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

The former chief minister also thanked his lawyers and his sister Sara for fighting for his release.
The evacuated Ukrainians signed the obligation on the voluntary quarantine for 14 days during the entrance to the country. However, some of them try to violate the lockdown immediately. The law enforcers may start to control the self-isolation of the Ukrainians due to the coronavirus outbreak as Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko reported.

Police started to receive automatically the data from the border guards about the Ukrainians who signed the personal obligations on 14-days quarantine by self-isolation. I do not exclude that following the example of South Korea, Israel and Poland, the state will be forced to appeal to the mobile operators and control the conditions of the quarantine by monitoring the mobile networks, Herashchenko said.

He cited the example when his acquaintance appealed to him and said that a woman arrived to Boryspil airport from Spain who stated that she was not obliged to spend 14 days in voluntary quarantine.

The border guards assured that a woman signed the obligation and provided a copy of the document.

It turned out that a woman lied to her mother to leave Kyiv and see her son in Lviv.

Of course, this woman will not go anywhere. If she did, she would violate the terms of the obligation. If police establish that she violated the obligation, she would be detained and fined for 17,000 ($612) or 34,000 hryvnia ($1,224), Herashchenko said.

As we reported, there are 84 laboratory-confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Thus, over the past 24 hours, 11 new cases have been recorded.

As we reported earlier, according to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, there is no urgent need to introduce the state of emergency in Ukraine.
China reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities were confirmed from the COVID-19, health officials said on Tuesday.

IMAGE: A Chinese man and his daughter wear protective masks as they walk at Ritan Park in Beijing, China. Officials believe the worst appears to be over in China, though there are concerns of another wave of infections as the government attempts to reboot the world's second largest economy. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of Monday. This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

The NHC said, 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad taking the number of overseas cases to 427.

Also on Monday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

The total COVID-19 cases in Beijing climbed to 522 with eight deaths prompting local governments of Beijing as well as Shanghai to announce that all overseas arrivals will be subjected to nucleic acid tests to ensure proper detection.

Of the 74 newly imported cases, 31 were reported in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, nine in Shanghai, five in Fujian, four in Tianjin, three in Jiangsu, two in Zhejiang and Sichuan respectively, and one in Shanxi,

Liaoning, Shandong and Chongqing respectively, the NHC said.

Beijing is already diverting all international flights to different cities where the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days before arriving in the city.

The NHC said 132 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Coronavirus epicentre Wuhan has reported one confirmed case after a gap of five days prompting officials to begin to ease restrictions.

Wuhan also reported seven new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the city and Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital to 3,160.

The province also saw 444 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Monday. Among the 4,200 patients being treated in hospital, 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, the local health commission said.

By the end of Monday, 356 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, which has restricted the entry of foreigners into the city. Also a total of 25 confirmed cases were reported in Macao and 195 in Taiwan including two deaths, state-run Xinhua news agency reporrted.

After days of decline in coronavirus cases, China on Monday said that COVID-19 has effectively been "stemmed" in the country and it started easing severe restrictions imposed on Wuhan's 11 million people who were under lockdown since January 23.

The authorities began relaxing restrictions in Wuhan as it reported no new case for the fifth consecutive day on Monday.

Significantly, the Central Leading Group, headed by Premier Li Keqiang which is coordinating efforts to contain the virus since January 23, said the virus has been curtailed in the country as well as in Wuhan.



"The meeting noted that the spread of the virus nationwide, particularly in the epicentre of Wuhan, has been effectively stemmed," an official statement said on Monday.



The meeting, however, warned that the risks for sporadic infections and localised outbreaks have not gone away. With the pandemic rampaging across the world, the situation remains complex and challenging.



"Wuhan city and Hubei province should stay focused on medical treatment and community-level containment as the two key priorities. They should continue to treat the severe cases, promptly admit new cases, and advance epidemiological investigations," the meeting said.



In Wuhan, officials said people are allowed to go back to work while restrictions on the public transport are gradually being eased.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan with over 56 million people were under lockdown since January 23. The vicious virus broke out in city, reportedly at a live animal market in December last year and became virulent inflicting thousands of people in the city and province catching the government off guard.



As the country saw a surge in imported infections, the Chinese government announced that all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities from Monday.



International passengers flying to Beijing will instead land at airports in 12 cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenyang as their first points of entry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement.



On Monday, China said international travellers should "think twice" about choosing Beijing for flight transfer in view of the restrictions.



Starting from Monday, all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities, Liu Haitao, an official with China's National Immigration Administration said.



Passengers would go through entry procedures and quarantine measures at the designated cities' airports before they continue their flights to Beijing, Liu said, urging travellers to reserve enough time for their next flights to make sure that they do not miss their outbound flights.
President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday asked the Minister of Health to facilitate for doctors the possibility of giving patients who do not necessarily need to go to the doctor remote consultations, by telephone or other means of communication.

"As a preventive measure, I am here addressing you, Minister Costache, for facilities first and foremost for family doctors, but also for doctors from other specialties, so that they can consult remotely, by telephone or other means of communication, under safe conditions, those patients who do not necessarily need to go to the doctor. It is very important especially for people over 65 years old, an issue that we discussed a few hours ago, and in the meeting we had together," said the head of state at the beginning of the videoconference with the hospital managers, with the Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Marcel Vela, the Minister of Health, Victor Costache, the Minister of National Defence, Nicolae Ciuca, and with the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Lucian Bode.Also, the head of state asked the Minister of Health to speed up the procedures that allow the urgent regulation of the remote consultation, the possibility of transmitting the prescriptions by electronic means, and, if necessary, the suspension of the health card.
- The Department of Health (DOH) announced that there are 39 additional cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines

- DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a radio interview that there are now a total of 501 COVID-19 cases in the country

- Meanwhile, the recoveries increased to 19, and the fatalities remained at 33

- However, the number may still increase after the DOH holds its regular briefing later today

- There are now about 378,000 coronavirus disease cases in the whole world

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The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday morning that there are additional cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

KAMI learned that the total of COVID-19 cases reached 501.

In a Facebook post by the Philippine Star, DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed the 39 additional COVID0-19 cases through a radio interview.

According to a tweet by CNN Philippines, the total recoveries are now 19, while the fatalities remain at 33, as of March 24, 10 a.m.

As reported by the ABS-CBN News, the number of the COVID-19 cases may still increase within the day after the DOH holds its regular briefing.

Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine after the DOH confirmed the local transmission of coronavirus disease in the Philippines.

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As previously reported by KAMI, the DOH denied that there has been VIP testing happening in the country after several big personalities and public figured underwent the COVID-19 test.

The coronavirus disease or COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China. As of posting time, CNN reported that there are 378,000 COVID-19 cases around the world.

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!

KAMI reviewed the 2020 Oscar Best Picture movie "Parasite" to let you know if it is worth checking out! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:33:09|Editor: huaxia

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MACAO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government on Tuesday reported two newly confirmed imported COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of all confirmed cases to 26.

A 41-year-old non-resident worker from Indonesia, accompanied by his wife and son, arrived in Hong Kong by air from Jakarta of Indonesia. They then arrived in Macao through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge last Tuesday. The wife was found to have fever by Macao's medical personnel up on entering Macao and tested positive with the COVID-19 last Wednesday.

The son was tested positive with the COVID-19 last Thursday and the father was tested positive with the COVID-19 on Tuesday. All of them were quarantined and treated in Macao's hospital of Centro Hospitalar Conde de Sao Januario.

The other patient, a 17-year-old female Macao resident, arrived in Dubai by air from London of Britain. She then flew to Bangkok of Thailand from Dubai and arrived in Macao from Bangkok on Sunday.

She reported to Macao's medical personnel upon entering Macao that she has headache and a runny nose in the past 24 days and was soon sent to Macao's hospital of Centro Hospitalar Conde de Sao Januario. She was later tested positive with the COVID-19.

Macao authorities had banned the entry of foreigners since March 19, including foreign work permit holders. It further tightened the entry policy on Tuesday to curb imported COVID-19 cases, saying that the residents of the mainland, the Hong Kong SAR and the Taiwan region who have been overseas in the past 14 days, will also be barred from entering Macao from Wednesday.
Business Ombudsman submits bill on economic crime jury trials to Russian Supreme Court

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

17:50 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  Russias Business Rights Commissioner Boris Titov has forwarded a bill empowering jurors to examine economic crimes cases to the Supreme Courts Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev, according to the ombudsmans press service.

Amendments are proposed to the Criminal Procedure Code. The document envisages that people charged with medium, grave and especially serious crimes would gain a right to petition for a jury trial. These accused include individual entrepreneurs, company shareholders and founders, chief accountants, governing board members.

In February, Titov said at a press-conference about development of the bill by his office. He expressed hope that putting in place the respective legislative procedure was to take little time, as there were no significant legal barriers. He believed jurors, although not necessarily well versed in complex economic matters, were able to find out the motives behind defendants actions proceeding from their personal experience and knowledge of relations between people, the Business Ombudsman said addressing the audience.

Nevertheless, Titov suggested that jurors should not be authorized to try all economic crimes cases. According to him, it would be feasible if the initiative was first implemented in cases over fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of authority.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Chair Vyacheslav Lebedev proposed to empower jurors to examine economic crimes cases in a statement at a judicial conference.

Taking into account the fact that Russian courts have sufficient experience in examining cases tried by jury, Lebedev noted, it was possible to extend this procedure to the criminal cases over all especially serious crimes and economic crimes on condition the materials thereof contain no state secrets.
Russian man ordered to forced mental treatment after murder in kindergarten

 flickr.com/ Thomas Kohler

15:19 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  A court in the Nenets Autonomous Area released a resident of the city of Naryan-Mar Denis Pozdeyev, who had been found guilty of killing a 6-year boy in a local kindergarten, and ordered him to undergo compulsory mental treatment, the courts press service reported Tuesday.

During the trial the court held that the man had committed the murder of a minor. However, a mental examination found him insane. According to the results of a psychiatric examination, the man suffers from a mental illness and was of unsound mind when committing the crime, the statement reads.

The court found that on October 31, the resident of Naryan-Mar in a drunken state entered the local kindergarten and stabbed a child of 6 years with a knife. The boy died on the scene.

Initially, the man refused to give testimony, but later he pleaded guilty to the murder and told an investigator that he heard voices in his head. The defendant was put in detention.

Moreover, law enforcement officers arrested a guard of the kindergarten, who allowed the alleged murderer to enter the pre-school institution without obstruction. The guard was charged with providing substandard services that negligently led to the death of a minor, according to investigators.
To the Editor:

Re Trump, Defying Experts, Talks of Easing Restrictions by Easter (nytimes.com, March 24):

We could rejoice at President Trumps suggestion that perhaps the lockdown of much of America has been overdone. But why would we? When someone who exhibits absolutely zero empathy suggests that an economic shock would be worse than the deaths from Covid-19, it is clearly replete with self-interest.

The state of the economy was one of the few things Mr. Trump had going for him in his bid for re-election. Now he wants us to risk our lives and those of our loved ones to save his political life? I dont think so.

Patricia Weller

Emmitsburg, Md.

To the Editor:

The president of the United States is unqualified to decide a critical issue  whether the nation should relax public health restrictions addressing the spread of Covid-19. By stating that physicians would shut the country for years if they could, the president again demonstrated his disdain for the truth when it doesnt align with his belief system.

Practicing medicine without a license is a crime for good reason. In this critical moment it should be obvious to all that the collective advice of our nations public health experts trumps the opinion of one self-proclaimed dealmaker.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil



Deshmukh on Tuesday informed that as many as 25 lakh N-95 masks worth over Rs 15 crore were seized in a police operation to check on black marketeering during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the media in the presence of Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, Deshmukh said the police had received information about masks being supplied for sale in the black market.

Posing as buyers, officials of the crime branch's Bandra unit intercepted three trucks carrying at least 25 lakh N-95 masks in Sahar area on Monday, he said, adding that the police also raided three godowns in this connection.

The seized goods are worth over Rs 15 crore, the minister said.

While the four arrested accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act, the hunt is on for two more, Deshmukh added.

The authorities have initiated the process of supplying the seized masks to government and civic-run hospitals in Mumbai in case of shortage, another official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 12:03:32|Editor: huaxia

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A team of Chinese medical experts arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Monday to help the country fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The expert team, from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, came over with tons of medical supplies including ventilators, medical masks, protective suits, test kits, and infrared temperature sensors.
A merica has recorded more than 100 deaths from the coronavirus in a single day for the first time since the crisis erupted.

The grim milestone  which yesterday saw 128 fatalities, pushing the US death toll to over 550  came as President Donald Trump faced growing backlash over his claims that he is considering loosening the national lockdown and getting Americans back to work very soon.

He hinted that he wants to open up most of the country for business while focusing on hotspots where the disease has taken hold, in states like New York, California and Washington.

Although the number of cases across the US has grown to nearly 45,000 and continues to rise, Mr Trump suggested he would relax the current restrictions when he reviews the nations social distancing policies next Monday.

President Donald Trump / REUTERS

At a White House briefing last night, Mr Trump revealed his frustrations over the devastating effect the crisis is having on the economy.

He complained that if he left the decision to the health professionals they would say: Lets shut down the entire world.

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

America will again and soon be open for business  a lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting, he said.

US health officials warned that a softening of the White House stand could prove disastrous.

It is way too early to even consider rolling back any guidelines, Howard Koh, a Harvard professor and former public health official told Politico. With cases and deaths rising by the day, the country must double down, not lighten up, on social distancing and related measures.

Tom Inglesby, director of The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tweeted: Anyone advising the end of social distancing now needs to understand what the country will look like if we do that.

Covid would spread widely, rapidly, could kill potentially millions in the year ahead with huge social and economic impact.

With cases and deaths rising by the day, the country must double down, not lighten up, on measures

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said the President should get tougher. Go full hammer on the virus with a full shutdown, use the stimulus to bridge the economic crisis.

After initially playing down the viruss impact, Mr Trump ordered a string of tough measures on March 16 including closing restaurants and restricting gatherings to less than 10 people and said he would review them after a 15-day period, which is up next week.

US surgeon general Jerome Adams warned that the worst was still to come.

I want America to understand, this week, its going to get bad. Right now there are not enough people out there taking this seriously, he said.

In Washington, lawmakers were nearing agreement on the nations biggest ever economic stimulus package after two earlier attempts to push it through Congress failed.
Joint customers outside mainland China can have bandwidth fees waived

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced that it has expanded the Bandwidth Alliance by partnering with Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group.

The Bandwidth Alliance, launched in September 2018, is a group of forward-thinking cloud and networking companies that are committed to discounting or waiving data transfer fees (also known as bandwidth fees) for shared customers. The Bandwidth Alliance now includes 20 partners, all committed to providing the most performant and cost-efficient experience for mutual customers.

"We launched the Bandwidth Alliance to give our customers a faster, more secure, and more reliable Internet, without the awful fees that have historically bogged them down," said Arjunan Rajeswaran, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Cloudflare. "Alibaba Cloud has built an impressive business that considers its customers first, and together, we will give our joint customers the best Internet experience possible."

By joining the Bandwidth Alliance, customers using both Alibaba Cloud Object Storage, and Cloudflare products, will have their data egress fees waived outside mainland China if OSS products are purchased from alibabacloud.com.

"In addition to waiving the egress fee, Alibaba Cloud will also waive up to 100 million API requests, and 10TB image processing fees for all customers in regions outside of China after joining the Bandwidth Alliance," said Alex Chen, Alibaba Cloud Senior Director of Product Management. "Alibaba Cloud's initiative of the elimination of 'request fees' is an industry game changer. The combined solution will pass on massive savings to our customers, and at the same time, eliminate complexity in managing storage cost."

Alibaba Cloud continues to champion millions of businesses in more than 21 regions and countries through world-class infrastructure, advanced analytics tools, and a thriving ecosystem. Its hybrid cloud model services enterprises, developers, and government organizations around the world, and makes them a valuable partner within the Bandwidth Alliance.

Cloudflare has long had an international presence, with co-location facilities in 200 cities across more than 90 countries, including China.

Cloudflare also recently partnered with Cherry Servers, a provider of bare metal cloud services in Europe, as part of the Bandwidth Alliance.

To learn more about Cloudflare and the Bandwidth Alliance, please check out the resources below.

Bandwidth Alliance

Bandwidth Alliance Expansion Blog

Cloudflare Network Map

Forward-Looking Statements

This press 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 statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "explore," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our plans and objectives for the Bandwidth Alliance, the expected functionality and performance of our products, our technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by our CEO and others. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on March 3, 2020, as well as other filings that we may make from time to time with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (www.cloudflare.com @cloudflare) is on a mission to help build a better Internet. Cloudflare's platform protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare have all web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine's Top Company Cultures 2018 list and ranked among the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2019. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cloudflare has offices in Austin, TX, Champaign, IL, New York, NY, San Jose, CA, Seattle, WA, Washington, D.C., Lisbon, London, Munich, Beijing, Singapore, and Sydney.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005140/en/

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A Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist who calculated that China would get over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak sooner than other experts predicted has now said he believes the same will be true for the rest of the world.

Michael Levitt, started calculating how the world would be affected by COVID-19 in January, and has accurately predicted that China's cases would be dramatically reduced by now.

The Nobel laureate has now said his analysis is suggesting a similar outcome for the rest of the world including the US and Europe.

A cured COVID-19 patient embraces medical workers as she is discharged from Hainan General Hospital on March 24, in Haikou, Hainan Province of China

Speaking on the global impact of COVID-19 Dr Levitt said: 'What we need is to control the panic, we're going to be fine', reports Yahoo.

Who is Professor Michael Levitt? Dr Michael Levitt, 72 Dr Michael Levitt, 72, is an American, British, South African and Israeli professor of structural biology at Stanford University. There he runs a laboratory in a position he has held since 1987. In 2013 Dr Levitt received the Nobel Prize for chemistry along with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel for their work into 'the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems'. Explaining their discovery Dr Warshel said: 'In short what we developed is a way which requires computers to look, to take the structure of the protein and then to eventually understand how exactly it does what it does.' COVID-19 has spike proteins on its surface which some scientists believe could be the reason it's so infectious. Advertisement

Other experts including epidemiologists have predicted the spread of the virus will continue for much longer, with some predicting that the pandemic could go on for weeks or even years.

Dr Levitt believes that the current data does not support this severe outcome, especially when social distancing measures are enforced.

In China Dr Levitt believes the trajectory of the viral infection has already begun to slow.

On the current rate of infection in the country he said: 'This suggests that the rate of increase in the number of deaths will slow down even more over the next week.'

Looking at the data for January 31 compared to January 30 Dr Levitt concluded that although China had seen an increase in deaths, at 46 new deaths compared to 42 the previous day.

A slow in the rate of increase was a sign that the 'trajectory of the outbreak had shifted', reports Yahoo.

Speaking to China Daily News in late February, Dr Levitt said he believed the rate of the growth had already reached its peak and made the prediction that China would see 3,250 deaths from coronavirus, with 80,000 set to be infected.

Now, a month on his prediction is proving accurate. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, had counted 80,298 cases as of March 16 and had 3,245 deaths.

Around 25 patients with coronavirus are currently being reported everyday, with none thought to have been infected in the community.

However one of China's top coronavirus experts has warned that the nation is facing a second outbreak due to the increasing number of infections detected among new arrivals from abroad.

Staff members line up at attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 24

Professor Li Lanjuan, a member of Beijing's expert team on the virus, said she was 'very worried that imported cases could trigger another large-scale epidemic in our country'.

Her comment came after health officials reported the country's first case of someone who is believed to have contracted the disease, known as COVID-19, from another person returning from abroad.

It also came as life in former epicentre Wuhan is slowly returning to normal following a two-month draconian lockdown.

An inbound passenger arrives at New China International Exhibition Center, arranged as a transit center for international inbound passengers, on March 23, 2020 in Beijing, China
Many Pennsylvanians have found themselves suddenly stuck at home due to the spreading coronavirus, in an attempt to stave off rapid infection rates. This has meant shutdowns and reduced hours for many industries even before Governor Wolf began ordering the closing of non-essential businesses.

And even with some businesses, such as restaurants, still technically open, the moratoriums on public gatherings means that those who work as servers or bartenders are likely feeling a financial impact.

Even state workforces are being affected, with Governor Wolf imposing a hiring and purchasing freeze on non-essential positions and purchases by Pennsylvanias governmental agencies.

But despite the closing of all non-essential businesses in Pennsylvania, some employers are actually looking to hire more employees, even if only temporarily. The majority are in fields of the food industry or parcel delivery and distribution - vital services that have, if anything, seen an increase in recent weeks.

Heres a look at some of the employers eager to fill positions:

CVS

Prescriptions, cough drops, cleaning products, snacks - its easy to see why pharmacies and convenience stores are pivotal right now. CVS has announced that the company is planning to fill 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary positions across the nation, including in Pennsylvania. Its current employees are also going to be collecting bonuses of $150-$500 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Get more info here: CVS will pay bonuses to employees required to work during coronavirus outbreak

You can also search for jobs by area through the CVS Health website.

Amazon

Amazon announced plans to hire an additional 100,000 people across the country, and that their employees would be earning an additional $2 an hour until the end of April, bumping them up to at least $17 an hour for work in warehouses, delivery centers and Whole Foods grocery stores..

Walmart

The massive retail chain Walmart is issuing COVID-19 bonuses to employees, giving out $300 to full-time employees and $150 to part-time staff. And its also looking to hire 150,000 nationally, with over 5,300 of those jobs coming to Pennsylvania.

You can read more about the increase in hires here: Walmart plans to hire more than 5,000 employees in Pa. because of pandemic shopping and give out bonuses

Applications at Walmart, which usually take up to two weeks, are being accelerated to a 24-hour process in order to expedite the hiring process and meet demand for new staff. You can get more info at careers.walmart.com.

Giant

The grocery store chain has announced the addition of temporary and part-time work to meet the growing demand during the state-wide shutdown, with the potential for continued or expanded employment opportunities.

Read more about Giants hiring expansion here: Giant hiring temp, part-time workers to meet demand from coronavirus shopping surge

An online application can be found here.

Wegmans, Weis and other grocery chains

With the rush for food, cleaning supplies and other essentials, many grocery stores are looking to expand their workforce, at least temporarily. Most chains have altered their hours in order to allow for re-stocking emptied shelves and sanitizing the store - and they need more hands to do it.

The Pennsylvania Food Merchant Association has a list of grocery stores that have announced a need for more staff, including Wegmans, Aldi, ShopRite, Giant Eagle and Weis. Click here to see the full list and find links to the companies hiring pages.

Keystone Human Services

Keystone Humans Services operates beyond Pennsylvania, but the offices in this state are currently hiring for work in assisting those with intellectual disabilities, autism, mental health and children and family services.

There are several dozen positions currently open in direct care/community support services, in addition to several other positions, located in several offices throughout the state. To do a search by area, visit the Keystone Human Services website.

Chewy

Florida-based pet food company is looking to hire 360 people to work at their Silver Spring Township warehouse, primarily in positions such as fulfillment and forklift operations. The jobs are full-time and come with benefits, and the company offers virtual interview options.

Details can be found at chewy.com/jobs.

Friendship Community

Friendship Community in Lititz is a Christian nonprofit group that provides support services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The group oversees 26 residential group homes and two day programs in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

The company is looking to hire between 10 and 15 full-time team members and as many as 25 part-time employees. Details on job requirements and a link to submit applications can be found on the Friendship Communitys employment page on their website.

Instacart

Going to the grocery store is still vital, but anywhere that people gather can potentially be a vector for infection. Which is why Instacart, the grocery delivery service, is looking to add 300,000 full-service shoppers in North America, including Pennsylvania.

Like Uber or Lyft drivers, the majority of Instacart shoppers are treated as independent contractors. However, the company does employ some part-time employees, and claims it will offer sick leave to any employees who contract the coronavirus.

Read more about Instacarts hiring plans here, or click here to visit their hiring page (the website requires registration and login info).

Ollies Bargain Outlets

As they sell groceries, cleaning products and other essentials, Ollies stores are still open for business and looking to add positions at stores in Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg and York, as well as their York distribution center.

Information can be found at the Ollies Bargain Outlets careers page.

Pizza Hut

Like many restaurants, Pizza Hut is still open for takeout and delivery - and as pizza restaurants frequently specialize in takeout and delivery service, they are also looking to fill some positions in Pennsylvania, among the 30,000 they are hoping to fill nationwide.

You can click here to do a search for Pizza Hut positions in our state.

Do you know of other employers who are looking to hire during this crisis? Share them with us! We will add to this story and update as we find more opportunities. Send your job listings to sadams@pennlive.com with the subject line Now Hiring.
LAWRENCE, Mass.  Its got to be hard to fall farther than Lawrence.

This old textile-mill town, 30 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River, was once a standard-bearer for Americas industrial power. That was a long time ago. Over the last decade, the state took over its schools after math and English scores plummeted to the bottom 1 percent of Massachusetts rankings and the dropout rate soared to three times the state average.

A textile hub in the early 20th century, Lawrence became one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts in the early years of the 21st. It was overcome by heroin and crime. City Hall was tarnished by corruption scandals. In 2012, Boston Magazine bestowed an unwelcome title: City of the Damned.

Now the coronavirus pandemic has cast an additional pall over Lawrence, as it has on the rest of the economy. But for the many small cities that have long been left behind, struggling to find a place in the new economy, Lawrence offers a glimmer of hope that they may have a shot at recovery.

While there are empty storefronts and boarded windows downtown, the estimated value of the typical Lawrence home increased $100,000 over the last five years, to nearly $280,000, according to Zillow. The high school dropout rate, nearly 30 percent a decade ago, is now under 12 percent. And the income of the typical Lawrence family, which five years ago had tumbled to just over 55 percent of the median family income in the United States, inched back to 61 percent.
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Linkedin Ben Simon (Agence France-Presse) Jerusalem  Tue, March 24, 2020 07:07 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206cfe4b0 2 World religion,religious-beliefs,coronavirus,Middle-East,COVID-19,SARS-CoV-2,pandemic,Wuhan-coronavirus,social-distancing Free

In the Middle East, where the three main monotheistic faiths shape daily life, the coronavirus pandemic has seen religious leaders support constraints unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

Top Islamic clerics in the region and in Muslim-majority North Africa have endorsed the closure of mosques to avoid large gatherings where the risk of contamination could be high.

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, custodian of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- believed by Christians to house Christ's tomb -- has told congregations to receive communion in their hand, instead of on their tongue.

And Israel's chief Sephardic rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, issued a decree ordering followers to keep their mobile phones on through the Shabbat day of rest so they can receive urgent information about the COVID-19 disease.

Praying at home

Leading Muslim clerics have widely backed scientifically based measures to contain the virus, notably by supporting crowd size restrictions through calling for home prayers.

Authorities in the Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain have halted prayers in mosques.

In Egypt, the most populous Arab country, religious authorities have ordered a two-week closure of mosques and churches and banned mass communal prayers.

The government in Tunisia -- where some worshippers have been praying in front of shuttered mosque doors -- said messages from imams will be broadcast to reinforce essential health protections.

In Algeria, the azan, or call for prayer in mosques that the muezzin issues for the obligatory five daily Muslim prayers, has been modified. Muezzins are now encouraging worshippers to pray at home.

In Iran, authorities have closed four key Shiite religious sites. The Islamic republic is one of the countries hardest hit by the virus with an official death toll of more than 1,600 and over 21,000 confirmed cases.

The pandemic re-ignited a long-standing dispute between the roles of science and religion in Iran, but supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei intervened in support of medical professionals, effectively closing the debate.

In Lebanon, the head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah urged people to abide by government measures.

"The virus can be defeated if everyone takes responsibility and plays their part," he said, calling on people to come forward if they develop COVID-19 symptoms.

Some churches in Lebanon, a country home to 18 recognized religious sects including a large Christian community, have begun broadcasting the Sunday mass live on social media.

Israel has banned gatherings of more than 10 people, making it impossible for Jews to form the quorum of ten needed for prayer known as a minyan.

But chief rabbinical authorities have decreed that following health ministry guidelines is a religious duty and authorized prayer at home.

Resistance

Even while top clerics have largely backed containment strategies, resistance has continued among the region's deeply religious and conservative population.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has urged citizens not to gather in large numbers for prayers, where the risk of contamination could be high.

But on Saturday tens of thousands turned out to commemorate a revered imam, Musa al-Kadhim, who died in 799 in the custody of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid.

That followed a call from influential cleric Moqtada Sadr for his followers to take part in the pilgrimage, defying government advice.

The anniversary of the death normally attracts millions to the golden-domed mausoleum of Imam al-Kadhim in Baghdad.

Extremism, superstition

Extremist voices in the region have dismissed guidance from health officials and leading religious authorities.

After Morocco closed mosques and announced a ban on all non-essential movements, outspoken Salafist preacher Abu Naim decried those moves as "apostasy". He was arrested on terrorism charges.

Groups of worshippers went out into the streets to pray in several Moroccan cities on Saturday night in defiance of the ban, local media reported. "God is the greatest, and only he can help us," they chanted.

There has also been a proliferation of faith-based responses to the pandemic with no supporting medical evidence.

After the first case emerged last month in Lebanon, many Christians visited the tomb of St. Charbel, the country's patron saint, and collected soil from the holy site, believing it would heal those infected.

And last week, a Christian priest flew over Beirut in a helicopter to "bless" the country.

Despite the decrees of top rabbis to follow medical guidelines, some Jewish leaders in Israel have offered alternative solutions to the pandemic.

Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Simcha Halevi Ashlag has encouraged people to drink the Mexican beer Corona, to fortify their prayers.

"When we pray and drink an alcoholic drink, the prayers have more force," he said in a video posted on social media earlier this month.
The Enugu State House of Assembly has confirmed three commissioner nominees sent to the Assembly by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on March 17.

Their confirmation followed the smooth screening at the floor of the Assembly in Enugu on Tuesday.

The commissioners screened included Emeka Mamah, Manfred Nzekwe and Uchechukwu Ogbonna, who replaced Uche Ogbodo, whose nomination was withdrawn by Mr Ugwuanyi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commissioners were asked to take a bow and leave due to the fear of COVID-19.

In his remark after the confirmation, the Speaker of the House, Edward Ubosi, asked the commissioners to justify the appointment by being dedicated to portfolios that would be assigned to them.

Mr Ubosi then urged them to complement the efforts of the governor in the area of the development of the state.

In another development, the House has adjourned to April 21 to enable members prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state.

The speaker also directed civil servants in the Assembly below Level 12 to stay away from work.

Mr Ubosi said the state government was doing everything possible to curb the spread of the virus.

He advised the public not to create panic in the state by spreading fake information about the virus but should rather adhere to measures that would prevent them from contracting the COVID-19.

The member representing Oji River Constituency, Jeff Mba, said the adjournment would enable the lawmakers to sensitise their constituents on how to prevent spread of the virus.

While noting that the virus is not in the state, Mr Mba urged all to join hands with the state government to ensure that COVID-19 did not enter the state.

(NAN)




Information about the coronavirus seems to spread as fast as the virus itself. Sometimes it is just too much informationan overload. Some people even spread misinformation on purpose.

How can you separate what is true, and what is not?

Along with facts about the new coronavirus, untrue rumors are spreading through phone texts, social media and other places. For example, in the United States a rumor has been spreading that officials plan to order a nationwide lockdown. Not true. Another rumor claims that people can get tested for the virus by donating their blood. And the U.S. government has sent warning letters to several companies selling products that they claim will cure COVID-19 or protect against the virus.

Such false stories can endanger public health and create fear.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus. Thousands across the world have been affected by it. In most infected people, COVID-19 produces minor or moderate effects, like an increased temperature and dry cough. Some people might also experience tiredness and pain.

Most people recover from the sickness within two weeks. But, for older adults and people with other health problems, the disease can be severe, sometimes even deadly.



How can you separate fact from fiction? How can you know what is true and what is false?

Here are some ways:

Check the source

Human nature makes us more likely to believe things our friends tell us. It is why rumors spread and why misinformation travels on social media. Everyone says they heard it from a friend of a friend, who knows someone who knows about an issue.

Be suspicious of important-sounding information if it does not come from a respected source connected to the issue. Usually dependable sources include government agencies and health departments. Other organizations to trust include national and international public health institutes such as the World Health Organization.

Some of the most trusted sources of information include research hospitals and public health centers in the United States and other countries, along with the World Health Organization. They provide the latest numbers, advisories and guides on everything from how to clean your home to remove the virus and how to deal with stress the pandemic is causing.



Dr. Jessica Justman is an infectious disease expert at Columbia University. She said just the large amount of information online can be complexing.

Its not just misinformation, its also a lack of good information, Justman said.

Go straight to the source. The CDC has been putting out great information.

Act like a journalist

John Silva is director of education at the News Literacy Project, a non-profit group in Washington D.C.

He says anyone searching for true information needs to act a little like a reporter by investigating suspect claims. Be careful of information from unknown or little-known groups or news organizations.

Also, remember there is a difference between news stories and opinion pieces but both should be supported by evidence or expertise to be dependable.

Do not immediately repost what you see

A 2018 Twitter study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers found that false news travels faster than real news  often much faster. That is because these stories often use language designed to create strong emotional reaction. The stories seek to connect with public fears or anger.

The researchers also found that misinformation spreads quickly because people retweet stories based on headlines. So read the whole story, investigate the source and consider carefully before reposting to prevent the spread of false information.



Even images can lie

Pictures are said to be worth a thousand words. But, even photographs and videos can be edited and changed. Even untouched images can be false. For example, old images can be presented as new. Again, it helps to look for the source. Googles reverse image search can help find where a photo came from. For videos, investigate the post source - was it a traditional news organization? The WHO? A university?

Dr. Ruth Parker is a physician at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. She said Americans must be responsible in spreading information.

Its a scary time, Parker said. We dont want to add fuel to the fire. Good information wont cure us, but it will help to calm us.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Barbara Ortutay and David Klepper reported this story for the Associated Press. Anne Ball adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

How are you finding good information on the coronavirus? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

rumor  n. information or a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven true

text  n. written words or message

cough  n. a physical condition or illness that causes someone to coughwhich is when you force air through your throat with a short loud noise

fiction  n. a story that is not true

pandemic  n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

photograph  n. a picture made by a camera
A Dubai-returned woman and student who recently arrived from the United Kingdom have been booked for violating quarantine orders.

The first case came to light when Navi Mumbai police and health officials were conducting routine checks of home-quarantined persons, especially those who had recently returned from countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Monday, the team visited a Sanpada apartment of a couple who had returned from Dubai last week were quarantined. While the man was present at home, his wife was not present. According to her husband, the woman had allegedly gone to visit her son in Santacruz.

She has been booked under sections 188, 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violating the order and for the negligent and malignant act likely to spread the infection, said an officer from Sanpada police station.

In the second case, a 24-year-old man staying at a complex in Seawoods under the jurisdiction of the NRI police was not found at his house on Saturday. The man had been studying in the UK and had returned home the previous week.

Police officers and health officials paid a surprise visit to his house and learnt that he has gone to stay with his relatives in Kalyan. He too has been booked under the same sections.

While the police have not officially arrested the persons violating quarantine orders, they are being booked and given a notice stating that action will be initiated against them later.

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If President Donald Trump's budget request becomes reality, NASA may need to shuffle some Red Planet missions, including developing a new Mars Ice Mapper.

Trump and his administration sent Congress a budget request for the 2021 fiscal year in February. In its fine print, the Trump administration's 2021 budget request included a few major potential changes to NASA's Mars robotic exploration program. It suggests reducing funding for the 2001 Mars Odyssey and Curiosity programs so drastically that these missions would essentially end, and it introduces a new Mars Ice Mapper orbital mission for the agency to consider.

NASA leadership discussed the budget request, which kicks off the annual budget process and lays out the administration's priorities, during a digital town hall held on March 20. But the request is just that, and Congress is responsible for determining final funding allocations.

"Remember the president's request is just a proposal; it's not an actual budget," Craig Tupper, NASA Resources Management Division Director, said during the town hall. "We do not act on that proposal."

Related: Is the end near for Mars Odyssey? Trump's proposed 2021 budget could doom long-lived mission

Nevertheless, he said, the request does include some "funding holes" that NASA's science community would quickly recognize. Several of those were highlighted in the request summary, like canceling two Earth science missions and the WFIRST astrophysics telescope . But if all of the request's suggestions are retained in the final 2021 budget, Mars science will see big changes in the coming years.

On the loss side, two healthy missions, 2001 Mars Odyssey and the Curiosity rover, could see their ends come earlier than may be expected. "I know this was a tough one," Lori Glaze, head of planetary science at NASA, said during the town hall. "They're doing great science. We'd love to see them continue."

And Glaze emphasized that no one is prepared to write the two missions off just yet. "We are of course still looking to find ways to keep those going," she said.

But if NASA does end up retiring these spacecraft, the agency would likely need to launch something new. That's because Odyssey plays a key role as a communications relay satellite , sending messages between Earth and NASA's surface missions on the Red Planet. And the Mars mission introduced in the budget request represents a potential solution to that problem as well as a scientific project, Glaze said in the first agency comments about the idea.

The spacecraft, called Mars Ice Mapper, would, as its name implies, map ice on Mars, using a radar instrument that Canada has expressed interest in building and flying, Glaze said. But it could also act as a communications relay for landed missions, just like Odyssey does now, she added.

But the agency is still early in its evaluation of such a project, which Science Mission Directorate head Thomas Zurbuchen called "not a strategic-scale mission" during the event.

"There is funding there to begin a study to look at a potential concept to develop an ice mapper mission to Mars," Glaze said. "There's not really a lot more to say at this point."

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
The United States and Saudi Arabia have been discussing the idea of setting up an oil accord, Bloomberg reports, citing Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. Such an agreement would effectively amount to a cartel, which, by definition, is a group of independent market participants agreeing to act together to influence the market in a way favorable to them.

For now, however, this is just an idea that some officials in the Trump administration support. The chance of it becoming anything more is unclear, according to Brouillette.

There are many, many ideas that are floated around the policy space, that is one of them, the U.S. Energy Secretary told Bloomberg in an interview.

I dont know that it is going to be presented in any formal way.

The U.S. oil industry has suffered a heavy blow from the combination of the coronavirus outbreak and the price war that Saudi Arabia started after Russia refused to cooperate on deeper production cuts. Producers are slashing spending plans, suspending share buybacks, and some have already asked oilfield service providers for substantial discounts to their services.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, has shed about 60 percent of its value since the start of the year.

According to Reuters John Kemp, it has further to fall unless the economic outlook for the countryand the worldimproves sharply and quickly. This outlook is not good news for either the shale industry or the supermajors in the U.S., which makes the administrations moves concerning Saudi Arabia only logical. But nothing is certain yet.

As part of the public policy process, if you will, our interagency partners often get together and talk about a number of different items, but weve made no decision on this, Brouillette told Bloomberg.

At some point we will engage in a diplomatic effort down the road. But no decisions have made on anything of that nature.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Major petrol chains including Coles Express and 7-Eleven have been slammed by Australia's watchdog boss for charging exorbitant prices during a pandemic.

While many chains have dropped their prices to match low oil prices Rod Sims from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission singled out the duo for continuing to price-gouge customers.

Mr Sims told the Daily Telegraph that prices set by major chains had led to an unprecedented 80 cent difference between the cheapest and most expensive fuel.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims slammed petrol companies including Coles Express and 7-Eleven for charging high prices

He said petrol companies were 'playing with fire' by charging high prices during a time of crisis.

Mr Sims warned the government would introduce 'price controls' if companies did not change their ways.

'They should consider how the government might respond in the extreme,' Mr Sims said.

'You can't keep behaving as badly as this and not expect consequences.'

Mr Sims said the prices set by Coles and 7-Eleven had led to an unprecedented 80 cent difference between the cheapest and most expensive fuel

A spokesperson from Coles said its prices were under the control of Viva Energy.

Last week Peter Khoury from the NRMA slammed petrol companies for charging high prices while many Australians were struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

'It just keeps going up, a third of the service stations in Sydney alone are above $1.60 which is ridiculous pricing,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'They need to drop the prices immediately, don't lean on this nonsense about the price cycle because we are facing challenges in this country that we haven't seen in generations.'

The average cost price of petrol showed that some companies are recording up to a 60 cent profit for every litre of fuel

The high prices at a time had led to companies ranking in as much as 60 cents of profit per litre of petrol in a move that is largely unprecedented.

'If you want to continue trading in Australia I'm not sure you want to be setting record profits at a time when the country is clearly suffering.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Viva Energy and 7-Eleven for comment.
Police cleared the Shaheen Bagh protest site on Tuesday as a lockdown was imposed in Delhi amid the coronavirus outbreak

Police cleared the Shaheen Bagh protest site on Tuesday as a lockdown was imposed in Delhi amid the coronavirus outbreak.

People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, the action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Some protestors have been detained, RP Meena, deputy commissioner of police Southeast Delhi, told ANI.

A few women had continued the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Delhis Shaheen Bagh on Monday despite a lockdown.

A report in Hindustan Times said that all but five protestors returned home from the site on Monday, leaving behind slippers as a symbolic gesture of their agitation and to show support for the fight against COVID-19.

Only five women protesters will remain inside the tent at the protest at all times. Were not allowing elderly women or those with cold to be among them. The women will protest in shifts, Abid Sheikh, one of the organisers, said.

Additionally, the Delhi Police had also told the Shaheen Bagh agitators that more than four people would be allowed to sit in for the protest till 31 March and that those protestors should sit three metres apart from each other, Times of India reported. They have also been asked not to use microphones since Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh has been continuing for more than 100 days. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Supreme Court shut down partially, deferring the hearing of a plea seeking the immediate removal of protestors from Road 13A, where the Shaheen Bagh agitation is based.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates

Meanwhile, on Sunday, unidentified people threw bottles filled with inflammable substances at two places near the site - one at a police barricade and another in a lane. No one was hurt.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Two major employees' association of the Income Tax Department have cautioned the CBDT that non-extension of the March 31 fiscal deadline will lead to a "Himalayan blunder" of jeopardising the health of its staffers in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, even as an IRS officers body said the Board is "proactively pursuing" the issue with the government.

The taxman has to finish a number of tax assessments, time barring cases and payments under the recently-launched 'Vivad Se Vishwas scheme' of tax disputes settlement with the ending of the 2019-20 financial year on March 31 but the three associations of the department have expressed their inability in completing these tasks owing to "complete lockdown" in many states and the government directive to practise social distancing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The department has a total of three associations: I-T Employees Federation (ITEF), the I-T Gazetted Officers Association (ITGOA) and the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).

The first two bodies represent about 97 per cent of the departments' workforce, while officers drawn from the IRS make up the rest in top supervisory positions.

A joint council of action of the ITEF and ITGOA has shot off a letter to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Sunday and the communication reviewed by PTI seeks "closure of I-T offices across the country" till March 31 or a later date as they reasoned that the department was not providing any essential medical emergency service in the wake of the spread of the deadly virus that has claimed thousands of lives globally and affected lakhs of people.

lt has urged the CBDT, which frames policy for the department, that the Union government can be requested to declare the end of FY 2019-20 on June 30 instead of the stipulated March-end deadline.

"It can be suggested that the FY 2020-21 will commence from July 1, 2020. For this an ordinance can be brought which will be welcomed by one and all in the country.

"Tax measures taken by countries across the world to tackle COVID-19 crisis needs to be emulated by the CBDT," the joint council said.

It said as Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that there is an urgent need for observing social distancing for at least two weeks can alone prevent the country from avoiding a "catastrophe" like the one perpetrated by a coronavirus in many countries.

"It is an open secret that medical facilities in India is far less than these countries vis-a-vis the population and lack of responsiveness would be a Himalayan blunder for which we will not be forgiven," it said.

The IRS association also issued a statement saying it has urged all tax officials to work from home in view of the social distancing guidelines issued by the government.

"Field officials have raised legitimate concerns about going to office. The I-T Department is proactively pursuing an extension of statutory limitation/time barring dates with the government.

"Till then, DoR (department of revenue under Union finance ministry) instructions based on DoPT's 22/03 order allows us to do whatever work possible from home, even if ITBA tasks cannot be carried out," the association of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers said.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had recently directed ministries and departments that junior-rank officials' manpower of the central government should be rationalised and they should either be allowed to work from home and or in shifts.

The association said local situations must be paramount in determining how and whether tax offices run, even if they are officially not shut.

"Feasibility of commuting of officers/staff, prohibitory orders under section 144, border restrictions between states in areas like NCR, the ability of drivers to come for duty. So, while we wait for orders, let us not panic. Let us take necessary precautions and ensure minimum travel and maintain social distancing," it said in a statement.

"We must follow Hon'ble PM's advice and maintain utmost vigil," it added.

The more vigilant the officials are, the association said, the greater the chances of conquering the extraordinary COVID-19 challenge.

"So work from home as much as you can. Stay safe. Keep others safe and let us overcome this challenge together," it said.

The joint council said once the timeline is extended, works like filing of certain returns, their processing, completion of set-aside assessments and penalty proceedings, complying with court orders, rectification and appeal effect and payment of taxes under the 'Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme' and those under the Benami law can be taken up later.

ITGOA's general secretary Ravi Shankar said the body will decide their next action in case they do not hear from the CBDT by Monday.

The CBDT and the finance ministry, sources said, are soon expected to announce a decision in this context.

The Mumbai region of the department has also asked the CBDT, which frames policy for the department, to extend the deadline for the 'Vivad se Vishwas Scheme' and proceedings to be finalised by March-end under the anti-black money law.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have completed their royal duties in the U.K. ahead of Megxit and returned to Canada but their chilly reunion with Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge still has people talking.

The world watched the moment William and Kate came face to face with Meghan and Harry for Commonwealth Day on March 9. Before sitting down, William acknowledged his brother and Meghan and gave a brief hello. The pair then smiled and offered pleasantries to him as well. Kate, however, did not even make eye contact with the Sussexes. Now, a new report claims Williams wife tried to talk to her brother-in-law and sister-in-law before their meeting at Westminster Abbey but things didnt go well.

Prince William, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle | Phil Harris  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Kate used to be very close

Royal fans know that Prince Harry and Kate used to have a very good relationship. They have known each other since 2003 and when William and Kate got engaged seven years later, Harry called her the big sister he never had.

Before the prince married Meghan, he and the Cambridges attended a number of royal duties together and have always seemed to enjoy each others company. Then, when the Sussexes tied the knot, the couples became known as the Fab Four.

But at some point, things between the royal brothers and their wives broke down. Eventually, Meghan and Harry decided the best thing for them was to spend the majority of their time outside of the U.K. and away from the future king and queen.

Kate Middleton and Prince Harry | Jeremy Selwyn-WPA Pool/Getty Images

The duchess said she feels like she lost a brother

There have been reports since the princes started feuding that Kate tried to step in and repair their relationship. Upon the Sussexes return to the U.K., a royal insider told Womans Day New Zealand that she spoke to both Meghan and Harry and told the prince that she feels like she lost a brother.

Kate knew it could be the final opportunity to air her feelings and she was incredibly emotional, the source said. Apparently, she fought back tears as she told them how their lack of communication and contact both before and after they moved to Canada had been devastating for them and how they felt completely shut out of their lives. Kate told Harry how she felt like shed lost a brother too.

Kate hasnt been taking Megxit very well

Prince William, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle | Phil Harris  WPA Pool/Getty Images

While it hasnt been confirmed if what this source claimed is accurate, it did appear to everyone who saw the couples frosty interaction that their once-tight relationship is fractured.

According to Vanity Fair royal correspondent, Katie Nicholls sources, Williams bride has had a very hard time accepting everything that has happened.

To be honest, I think Kate has taken it all badly, Nicholls source told her. She, Harry, and William were once such a happy trio. She thinks what has happened is all very sad.

Read more: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Make Major Announcement in the Coming Weeks
The number of coronavirus cases in the Danbury area has doubled since Monday with more than 100 cases reported Tuesday.

Roxbury is the only town in The News-Times coverage area that does not have a case yet. Bridgewater, Kent, Sherman and Washington all reported their first case on Tuesday.

The number of cases increased in all of the other towns, except for New Milford, which is still at two.

About 200 new cases were reported across Connecticut on Tuesday, bringing the total statewide cases up to 618 and 12 deaths.

Bethel

Six residents have tested positive, which is one more case than the state had reported on Monday afternoon.

The patients are adults, who are being cared for by their personal physicians and following the treatment and home isolation guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said.

He urged residents to take precautions against the virus.

This is real, Knickerbocker said. This virus is here, in our town, and we must take aggressive actions to limit exposure to our friends, family members and ourselves.

He encouraged residents to wash their hands and to practice personal hygiene and social distancing.

Brookfield

Another five cases were confirmed in Brookfield, with 13 total residents testing positive.

Bridgewater

The towns first and only case was confirmed on Tuesday.

The town has encouraged residents

This last week Bridgewater has seen a whirlwind of changes and unprecedented actions on many levels in response to the coronavirus wave coming our way, First Selectman Curtis Read said in a Facebook post a couple days before the case was confirmed. I know that its hard to stay current, but most people are now aware of the precautions we should all be following. However, its hard not to be afraid to some degree of a new normal with no clear end in sight.

Danbury

Danbury has had 14 more people test positive for the virus, bringing the total to 29.

Danbury Hospital has been offering drive-through testing since last week. The city wasConnecticuts first connection to the virus on March 6, when a New York resident who worked at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals tested positive.

Kent

The town had its first case confirmed on Tuesday. This is the only case.

The town urged residents to stay home in an message to the community.

I know this is difficult - it is human nature to gather in times of stress and community crisis, the message said. We do this really well in Kent - we rally around each other in difficult times. We have all experienced this, both on the giving and receiving end. We must resist this temptation; it's hazardous to your family, friends and loved ones.

New Fairfield

Seven residents have tested positive for the virus. The state had reported four cases in the town on Monday, while the first selectwoman had said there were five.

New Milford

The town is the only one in the Danbury area not have seen another case on Tuesday. The total remains at two.

Newtown

The number of cases grew from one to five on Tuesday.

Redding

Another resident tested positive, bringing the total to two.

Ridgefield

Cases in Ridgefield more than doubled between Monday and Tuesday. There are 34 residents who have tested positive, up from the 15 the town had reported.

Two Ridgefield residents from Benchmark Senior Living have died of the virus, with about half of the towns cases coming from the facility.

Sherman

The towns first and only case was confirmed on Tuesday.

Southbury

Cases have doubled from two to four between Monday and Tuesday.

Washington

The town saw its first and only positive test on Tuesday.

This comes as no surprise and should not cause further alarm, First Selectman Jim Brinton said in a letter to residents. I have spoken to our Director of Health and all protocols have been followed and are in place. It should however serve as a reminder of the seriousness of the outbreak.

He urged residents to stay home and practice social distancing if they visit local parks. Brinton also encouraged residents to take advantage of a town program to have food and prescription medications delivered to their homes.
Hong Kong bans tourist arrivals due to outbreak

The city government announced 39 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, 30 of which had a recent travel history, bringing its total to 357.

Hong Kong said on Monday it was stopping all tourist arrivals and transit passengers at its airport and was considering suspending the sale of alcohol in some venues, joining cities around the world in the battle to halt the coronavirus.

Announcing tough new travel restrictions, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the government was planning to curb the sale of alcohol at more than 8,000 bars and restaurants, an extraordinary move in a city that never sleeps.

FOUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED OF THE DISEASE

An emotional Lam said many people took off their masks in bars and even have intimate acts when they are tipsy, increasing the risk of cross-infection.

So, we are going to suggest, as it requires legislative work, around 8,600 restaurants, bars and clubs with liquor licenses to temporarily suspend the sale of alcohol by amending the law, Lam, who was wearing a face mask, told a news conference.

We are investigating any further measures we can do rather than a complete closure of restaurants as we know many Hong Kong residents do not cook at home and often dine out. Alcohol will be available in supermarkets and convenience stores across the city.

The measures come two days after the government warned a spike in the number of people returning to the region infected with coronavirus could lead to a large community outbreak.

The ban on tourist arrivals would last for 14 days from Wednesday, with visitors from mainland China, Macau and Taiwan who had travelled elsewhere recently, also subject to the restriction.
After receiving the order of lockdown in India to combat COVID-19, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the detailed guidelines regarding 21-day lockdown, which comes into force from 12 o'clock tonight.

In its guidelines, the MHA said the offices of the Government of India, its autonomous/subordinate offices and public corporations shall remain closed, but there will be an exception for "defence, central armed police forces, treasury, public utilities (including petroleum, CNG, LPG, PNG), disaster management, power generation and transmission units, post offices, Informatics Centre, Early Warning Agencies."

The Home Ministry said the offices of the State/Union Territory governments, their autonomous bodies, corporations, etc., shall remain closed with exception to police, home guards, civil defence, fire and emergency services, disaster management, and prisons, district administration and treasury, electricity, water, sanitation, municipal bodies (only staff required for essential services like sanitation, personnel related to water supply, etc., will be allowed to work).

All offices should work with a minimum number of employees and all other offices may continue to work-from-home only, the MHA said in its guidelines.

"Hospitals and all related medical establishments, including their manufacturing and distribution units, both in public and private sector, such as dispensaries, chemist and medical equipment shops, laboratories, clinics, nursing homes, ambulance, etc., will continue to remain functional. The transportation for all medical personnel, nurses, para-medical staff, other hospital support services shall be permitted," the MHA has said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider.
Chennai, March 24 : Tamil Nadu reported three more coronavirus positive cases taking the total number of infected persons to 12.

While two of the new patients were London returnees, one patient in Madurai has no travel history and is suspected to be infected by community transmission.

According to Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, three new Coronavirus or COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Tamil Nadu.

He said two of them -- a 25-year-old male and 48-year-old male have returned from London and tested positive. One of them has been admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here, the other person has been admitted to ESI Hospital in Tiruppur.

On the other hand, a 54 year old male in Madurai without any overseas travel history has been tested COVID-19 positive and has been admitted to Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.
Parliaments activities will be suspended until at least 12 April. A statement issued by parliaments Secretary-General Mahmoud Fawzi on 23 March said the Houses coming plenary meetings will be held on 12 April instead of Sunday 29 March.

The postponement comes in line with state efforts to ban gatherings that might lead to an outbreak of the coronavirus, the statement said, noting that as MPs come from different governorates, it has become a necessity that they should not gather in one place.

Fawzi indicated that the decision is also in line with Article 277 of the Houses internal by-laws which grants the speaker a mandate to change the date of plenary meetings whenever necessary.

As a result, Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal decided that the Houses plenary meetings which were scheduled for 29 March be postponed to 12 April.

A statement issued by the House on 20 March said people should leave home only when necessary. It is the behaviour of citizens and their adherence to the governments precautionary measures, including curfew hours beginning on Wednesday, that will put an end to the coronavirus in Egypt, the statement said. Citizens should stay at home and go out only in case of urgent necessity so that they do not give the virus room to spread and help the state fight it, the statement said.

The House praised the measures taken by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to help the public mitigate the impact of the virus on their daily life. It is also good that most basic foodstuffs are available and so there is no need for citizens to hoard goods or help spread malicious rumours that might affect the morale of the nation, the statement said.

Parliaments decision to put off its plenary meetings until 12 April was expected by many. MPs predict that the recess might extend beyond that. Parliament will convene only if state authorities manage to declare the country free of the coronavirus, MP and journalist Osama Sharshar said.

Meanwhile, MPs said a partial curfew should be implemented to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from reaching a crisis point. I think the Houses decision on Monday to postpone its plenary meetings came because its leading officials knew beforehand that a curfew would be imposed for two weeks, Sharshar said.

Inas Abdel-Halim, an MP and physician from Mansoura city, said in a statement on Sunday that a two-week curfew from 7pm to 6am would go a long way to help authorities fight the virus.

A partial curfew would be a temporary measure that would help state authorities carry out the sterilisation and isolation efforts necessary to stem any possible [outbreak] of the virus, Abdel-Halim said, adding that, a partial curfew would also help prevent the virus from entering a terrible and deadly phase as we see in Italy, Iran and France.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Suleiman Wahdan said the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli has been pro-active in combating the spread of the coronavirus.

The governments approach was also very necessary in order to not let the country face the disastrous consequences we saw in Italy and Iran, Wahdan said. But in the battle against the coronavirus, I think other emergency measures such as imposing a partial curfew from 7pm to 6am will help prevent an outbreak on a mass scale.

Other measures should include the Ministry of Industry allocating the production of hospital beds, sterilisation materials, drugs and ventilators, Wahdan said, adding that youth centres and sporting clubs should be also used as field hospitals in emergency cases.

Magdi Malak, an MP from Minya governorate, said the partial curfew will help prevent Egypt from reaching a crisis point, which would be 1,000 citizens infected with the coronavirus.

We are still in control of the virus, but a partial curfew is a necessity to eliminate it completely.

MP Sharshar said prevention is much better than treatment and this means that a curfew is a good preventive measure that will be highly effective in eliminating the virus.

MP and journalist Mustafa Bakri said the curfew was a necessity. Countries like China which took this measure very early were able to stem the tide of the virus. Here in Egypt the two or three-week curfew is a necessity, particularly ahead of the holy month of Ramadan which will begin on 23 April, Bakri said.

Two MPs, however, said they are not in favour of imposing a curfew.

Galal Awara, an MP from Tanta, said a curfew is a step that is difficult for millions of citizens to deal with.

The curfew will push citizens to hoard goods and this is not good for the economy. I think that the recent measures, such as suspending flights and tourist traffic and shutting down malls, restaurants and cafes from 7pm to 6am, are quite enough to contain the virus to zero in the next few days, Awara said.

Ahmed Al-Sigini, head of parliaments Local Administration Committee, said a curfew would have grave economic and social consequences.

It is not an easy decision. There could be a limited number of curfew hours which would help deter gatherings at night and prevent any spread of the virus, Al-Sigini said.

Parliament has taken a number of measures in recent days to protect MPs from contracting the coronavirus.

MPs, media correspondents, and visitors will be allowed to enter parliament only after they test negative, and those who test positive will be sent to hospital, parliaments Secretary-General Fawzi said on Saturday.

Parliaments decision to meet on 12 April means that its activities will be in limbo for at least three weeks. The postponement means that meetings of parliaments 25 committees will also be suspended until further notice, Fawzi said.

Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee was scheduled to hold a meeting on 17 March to discuss the latest developments on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The meeting, however, was cancelled in line with the precautionary measures taken by the government to contain the coronavirus.

Hussein Eissa, head of parliaments Budget and Planning Committee, said discussions on a number of economic and budgetary affairs will be in limbo for at least three weeks. Parliament is scheduled to have a summer recess at the end of June or 1 July, but because of the emergency situation the schedule will dramatically change. If we are able to meet in the second half of April, we would be required to hold an intensive number of meetings, Eissa said.

MP Tarek Metwalli said all meetings on government-drafted laws such as the public enterprise law, and the labour law and the governments auto industry, will be suspended.

MP Bakri also said that amendments to political laws regulating the election of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the electoral districts and the exercise of political rights will be suspended.

By Monday, Egypt had registered 366 coronavirus cases, and 19 fatalities.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Imagine being immunocompromised, having a fever, and yet also having a physical disability that left you unable to explain this clearly to a healthcare worker on the COVID-19 hotline.

This was the situation faced by a Perth woman whose risk status has left her afraid to leave the house.

Some members of our society face a higher risk of severe illness if they contract COVID-19, but are also less able to observe new social distancing protocols. Credit:Wolter Peeters

The woman, who is not named to protect her privacy, has an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, and is at risk of a disastrous outcome if she contracts COVID-19.

A stroke in her younger days also left her with difficulty walking, speaking and using one arm and hand.
<! Asiwaju Bola Tinubu >

The National Leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu on Tuesday said he was in support of total shutdown if necessary to halt the spread of Coronavirus.

Nigeria has so far recorded 42 infection of Coronavirus, with Lagos the worst hit with 29 cases.

Tinubu, who spoke after a closed door meeting with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the State House, Marina, urged all residents of Lagos and Nigerians in general to obey governments directives and measures put in place to curtail the spread of Coronavirus.

Addressing newsmen, Tinubu who said he was in support of any decision taken by the government, including a total shutdown if necessary, to halt the spread of the virus, encouraged Nigerians to do the same.

So far, Lagos has the highest number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the country.

The State Government had earlier implemented some measures, including social distancing and directing a category of its workers to work from home.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  The Philippine National Bank on Tuesday disclosed that an employee in its Financial Center at Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City has been diagnosed with the coronavirus disease.

The bank in an advisory said the employee's COVID-19 test results came out positive on Monday. It said the employee has been under "voluntary quarantine" since March 11, and currently does not exhibit any symptoms.

"The Bank is providing support to the employee and the family," the PNB said in its advisory.

The PNB stressed that it has conducted a "top-to-bottom disinfection" of its head office, and "we are constantly disinfecting our branches and offices nationwide."

Those who came in contact with the COVID-19 patient were also asked to undergo self-quarantine, PNB said.

"They are being closely monitored, provided guidance and assistance. There have been no further reports of any COVID-19 infections from this exposure," it added.

"Our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is ready for events such as this," the bank assured.

Banks continue to operate under the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon. The quarantine was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Several banks have shortened their operating hours and committed to practicing social distancing inside all their branches.

LIST: Bank operations during Luzon-wide quarantine perioda

The Philippines now has 501 COVID-19 cases. Of this number, 33 have died while 19 have recovered.
Fourteen people found alive among the bodies of 64 other Ethiopian men who had died from suspected asphyxiation.

More than 60 people believed to be migrants from Ethiopia have been found dead in a cargo container in Mozambiques northwest Tete province, according to officials.

Police and immigration authorities stopped the truck en route from Malawi in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the province of Tete, bordered by Malawi on one side and Zimbabwe on the other.

Amelia Direito, spokeswoman for Tete migration services, said the officials checked the container after hearing banging coming from inside. They found 14 people alive among the bodies of 64 who had died from suspected asphyxiation.

The truck driver and his assistant (both Mozambicans) have been arrested by the police, Direito said.

She added the driver told police he had been promised 30,000 meticais (about $500) to transport the men.

Police have launched a manhunt for the intermediary who facilitated the illegal entry of the Ethiopians into the country, she said.

The foreign ministry in Addis Ababa said it had confirmed through the Ethiopian embassy in South Africa that many Ethiopians travelling inside a vehicle from Malawi to Mozambique have died.

It said it was working to establish the numbers of the dead and their identities.

The ministry expresses deep sadness at the tragedy and extends a message of strength to the family and friends of the deceased, it said.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the survivors were being treated for severe dehydration and exhaustion.

Mozambique is generally seen as a smuggling corridor for migrants seeking to make their way to South Africa.

South Africa, the continents most industrialised country, is a magnet for poor migrants not only from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho and Zimbabwe but also from nations further afield, such as Ethiopia.
Ryanair has kicked off an influx of 'I didn't know it was a party' memes mocking Boris Johnson after he was forced to apologise for hosting a 'party' in the Downing Street garden in May 2020. The popular low-cost carrier posted an image of the Prime Minister's face edited onto a popular meme showing dancing party-goers with the caption 'Boris Johnson for 25 minutes on 20 May 2020' and 'I don't know I'm at a party' next to Mr Johnson's face. Mr Johnson today finally admitted he went to a 'party' in the Downing Street garden at the height of lockdown - but argued he thought it was a 'work event' and 'technically' within the rules. At a stormy PMQs, Mr Johnson said he wanted to 'thank' staff at the event in May 2020 but recognised that in 'hindsight' it should not have happened. He said he understood public 'fury' and 'took responsibility', but said he had believed it was a work event. 'I bitterly regret it. I wish we could have done things differently,' he said. Social media erupted into a hive of memes mocking Mr Johnson, with one showing Ant and Dec in a fit of giggles - alluding to the television presenter's previous jibes at the Government.
The President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr., is facing intense backlash after choosing to allow students back to their campus dorms amid the spiraling coronavirus pandemic.

The University has decided to move most classes to a digital format and to allow students the choice to return to campus after Spring Break or stay home and complete their classes remotely, reads a statement posted to the institution's website.

Falwells decision  which comes after Virginia governor Ralph Northam placed a blanket ban on gatherings of more than 100 to try and stem the rate of infection  has invited criticism from members of Libertys own faculty.

This decision runs contrary to the three other residential schools in our area that have closed their dorms, allowing only those with nowhere else to go to remain, wrote Liberty English professor Marybeth Davis Baggett at Religion New Service, noting that university staff are expected to hold office hours and welcome students for face-to-face interaction.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. is about to make a terrible mistake, she added. Its time for the Liberty University board to stop him and shut the campus down before it's too late.

Baggett went on to lambast Falwells foolhardy decision to reject the official advice on social distancing, saying it smacks of defiance.

His public comments on the pandemic have manifested bravado, self-congratulation and callousness in the extreme, she wrote.

In recent weeks, Falwell Jr has peddled some controversial theories about the COVID-19 virus, which has infected over 250 people across the state of Virginia and killed seven. As Christian Headlines previously reported, speaking to Fox & Friends earlier this month, the devoted Trump supporter floated the idea that the viral outbreak may have been mastermind by China and North Korea as an act of biological warfare against the United States.

The owner of a restaurant asked me last night, he said, Do you remember the North Korean leader promised a Christmas present for America, back in December? Falwell said. Could it be they got together with China, and this is that present? I dont know. But it really is something strange going on.

These comments led to the start of a petition calling for Falwell's termination. The petition has amassed more than 11,000 signatures at the time of this writing.

Falwell has also suggested that the media is overhyping the severity of the coronavirus situation.

They are willing to destroy the economy just to hurt Trump, he told conservative radio host Todd Starnes.

Baggett insisted that Falwell continues to bring Liberty into disrepute by spewing far-fetched, unsubstantiated and misleading information about the coronavirus outbreak.

For one charged with leading a Christian institution of higher learning, these are troubling qualities, fundamentally at odds with both Christian faith convictions and an academic mindset, she added. For a leader dealing with a situation of such magnitude, they are outright terrifying.

The decision to re-open the campus, the professor said, should have been taken out of Falwells hands by Libertys senior administrators.

It is unconscionable that the leadership of the university is fully implementing Falwells politically motivated and rash policy that unnecessarily risks an unmanageable outbreak here in Lynchburg, she wrote.

The leaderships willingness to enable Falwells self-professed politically motivated decision bespeaks a spirit of fear, or worse, that shames the mission they ostensibly pursue. I beg the deans, senior leadership and board members to think more long-term.

On Monday, LU officials posted a statement on their website noting that university administrators have been working together to formulate a plan that would comply with all state restrictions.

Executive leadership of Liberty University has worked closely with President Jerry Falwell and the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV) to comply with all state restrictions while providing safe and reliable accommodations for students choosing to return to campus and for all students to continue their residential studies in an online format, the statement reads.

Falwell added that by extending the school's Spring Break  which took place last week  he felt students would have a longer time to become exposed to the virus and bringing it back to Lynchburg. As such, Our thinking was, Let's get them back as soon as we can  the ones who want to come back, Falwell noted.

After Gov. Northam imposed the 100-person gathering limit, the university decided that as of Monday, March 23, the school would move all instruction online, except for some particular programs and labs. Students are, however, still permitted to live on campus during this time.

The university president emphasized that he has been in communication with state officials over the universitys decision.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Staff

Will Maule is a British journalist who has spent the past several years working as a digital news editor. Since earning a degree in international relations and politics, Will has developed a particular interest in covering ethical issues, human rights and global religious persecution. Will's work has been featured in various outlets including The Spectator, Faithwire, CBN News, Spiked, The Federalist and Christian Headlines. Follow him on Twitter at @WillAMaule.
T esting, testing

1,2,3?

No, this is the key message to take away and play on repeat from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation, the most important job in global health.

The WHO?

The body responsible for international public health and, most significantly, the organisation co-ordinating the international response to the covid-19 pandemic across the globe. So, while were all on lockdown, theyre the ones handing out instructions in how to clean up the mess.

It wants countries to test everyone with symptoms and trace and isolate all their contacts rather than simply socially isolating - or risk the epidemic surging again once bans on social mixing are lifted.If we test and identify the viruss path and spread with the same ferociousness as the virus, they say, we can get ahead of it and start to shut it down.

Thanks, wont get fooled again. Where does Mr Ghebreyesus fit in?

Hes the man youve seen on your TV screen delivering bad news with the steely advice in daily press briefings: power suit, dark glasses, a shock of wiry grey hair. To suppress and control epidemics, countries must isolate, test, treat and trace, he said last week, pointing out that social distancing doesnt go far enough.

"You cannot fight a fire blindfolded, and we cannot stop this pandemic if we don't know who is infected," he said, insisting that, without testing, cases cannot be isolated and the chain of infection will not be broken.

He doesnt mince his words. What are his credentials?

As an operator, theyre glowing. An expert in the politics of public health, Adhanom definitely has a reputation for seeing the big picture when it comes to antimicrobial resistance, transforming Ethiopias health care system for millions as Minister for Health from 2005 to 2012.

I can see why that might be useful.

Hes essentially dedicated his life to fighting disease. Born in Eritrea, he once told The Lancet he was fully cognisant of the needless suffering and deaths caused by malaria as a young man - and wrote a paper connecting the presence of hydroelectric dams in the country to mosquito spawning pools. Here, partly.

He studied for a Masters in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and received a PhD in community health from the University of Nottingham. Having been appointed as head of a regional health bureau in Ethiopia, he was so successful at bringing down rates of Malaria, AIDS and measles outbreaks that the country appointed him State Minister for Health.

So, a straightforward path to the top job?

Hardly. He was elected as WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO Member States in 2017 in a particularly tense three way race at an already troubled time for the WHO, shrugging off accusations that hed tried to hide a cholera epidemic that occurred in Ethiopia under his watch. He also beat out British candidate Dr David Nabarro, the former UN troubleshooter tasked with galvanising the worlds response to the Ebola epidemic and led the fight against cholera in Haiti, just as he did earlier against global pandemic flu.

Sorry, row back - why was it a troubled time for the WHO?

In the aftermath of Ebola, The WHO was a mess. Many wondered if it would survive after its failure to spot and close down Ebola early enough in west Africa, which led to a global crisis. All the reports written in the aftermath said that if it were to survive, the organisation needed stronger and more focused leadership in emergencies.

Significantly, Adhanom Ghebreyesus was the first director-general not a trained medical doctor by profession, and was the resounding choice for the post from African countries, vowing to expand the WHOs donor base and focus. He warned "when you put all your eggs in one basket, that's when the problem happens"

Hows he doing now?
Before bidding goodbye to the staff at Medanta Hospital, 70-year-old Emilia Giuseppina Antonietti expressed her gratitude to the doctors who treated her for giving her hope and surety in life.

The last 20 days were challenging for Emilia and 13 other Italian tourists, who were undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at Gurugrams Medanta Hospital. Dr Yatin Mehta, who is an intensive care expert and Dr Sushila Kataria, a physician, were leading the treatment. On Monday, 10 tourists, including Emilia, were discharged after testing negative in the two confirmatory tests.

They all were to be treated without letting their health deteriorate further, said Mehta, who coordinated with doctors at the ITBP quarantine centre in Delhi on March 4, the day when the 14 tourists were to be shifted to the hospital.

Logistically, it was difficult to organise everything for the treatment. At that time, they were not too sick, though they had tested positive for Covid-19, except for one woman, who had difficulty in responding to a certain treatment, he said.

She is still undergoing treatment. Her oxygen is still borderline but her condition has stabilised, said Mehta.

Besides ensuring that the right treatment was given to the patients, for Mehta, it was equally important to ensure the safety of the medical staff, including the four nurses who were taking care of patients in the isolation ward. The number of people was to be limited, as we did not want to subject them to any situation, he said.

Forty-two-year-old Kataria, a physician, worked closely with the patients and used to spend six to eight hours in a protective bodysuit, glasses, masks and gloves inside the isolation ward. She said, In the initial days, it was 12 hours for the nurses. Wearing a bodysuit means that one cannot come out of the isolation wards for six to eight hours. There was an adjoining room to rest for a short while.

The team exchanged every diagnostic and radiology report on WhatsApp. Managing sick patients on the floor is not easy. We fixed the cameras in the isolation ward to keep an eye on every minute detail, said Mehta.

For both the doctors, it was an emotionally challenging task. Like every family who is concerned about the members, mine were too. I told my wife to start sleeping in another room but she refused. My daughter-in-law is pregnant and is in Gujarat. It was not fair to subject her to any complication if I were carrying any contamination. I almost lost my voice after giving a lecture in Rewari and had fever, two days after the tourists were shifted. I had to get myself checked. Thankfully, the results were negative, said Mehta.

Likewise, Katarias husband shifted to a farmhouse in the city as he suffers from inflammatory arthritis. Katarias children are staying with her in the same house, but in different rooms.

I think it was more challenging for the patients, said Kataria. Even today (Monday), one patient who is still undergoing treatment (not on ventilator support) asked me if he is going to survive. He is very apprehensive, she said.

Mehta agreed. Being in a country where you cant be with your family or even be visited by them is disappointing, he said. Still, the team tried to motivate them despite the language barrier.

Communication was 90% non-verbal. After every round of check, we used to do thumbs -up, said Kataria. Also, a WhatsApp group was created where officials from the Italian Embassy were included, for daily updates. Patients who were in better health used phones and watched television. The Italian Embassy had sent books for them, said Mehta.
Juarezs family was not allowed to visit him but they spoke to him on the phone every day until March 15, when they called and a nurse answered and told them Juarez was in critical condition. Up until then, we didnt know that they considered that he had the virus. We didnt know he had been tested, Juarezs son said.
The agencys data shows that more than 31,000 enterprises have so far used online services provided on the MoITs official portal. Last year, the ministry has processed approximately 1.54 million online applications, accounting for 99% of the total applications lodged.

Dang Hoang Hai, the departments head, said in 2016, the MoIT launched its public administrative service portal which has been connected with the national portal of the same kind as part of the effort to foster the development of e-Government.

The ministry has developed level-4 online services for applications and inquiries regarding temporary imports for re-export made by foreign contractors, issuance of licences for use of industrial explosives, certification of free circulation of imported and exported goods managed by the MoIT, electricity generation certification, certification of goods origin, and energy labelling.

The ministry has also added 30 new online services in various areas, including industrial safety, food safety, science and technology, competition management, international trade and heavy industry, while further promoting the National Single Window and ASEAN Single Window.
For years, Hollywood has made movies and TV series about mysterious viruses that infect, sicken and kill people in droves.

Such star-studded disaster tales used to feel more escapist than worrisome, closer to science fiction than reality.

Welcome to today, folks, when the virus that causes COVID-19 has transformed our lives into scenes like the ones that once used to make us shiver at the movies.

People are instructed not to leave their homes, and if they do, touching is taboo. Hospital staffs are strained to the limit. Panicky shoppers empty grocery store shelves.

Restaurants, bars, movie theaters, concerts and more have been shut down, leading to money worries atop health concerns. All the while, theres the awful dread that the situation will get a lot worse.

Youd think those Hollywood takes on deadly pandemics that were entertaining in the past would be the last thing people would want to watch while holed up at home during an actual public health crisis.

Strangely enough, that doesnt seem to be the case. Two virus-centric blockbusters  with amped-up danger and death  have gained new popularity.

On ExpressNews.com: Jakle: 10 new midseason TV series to watch

Contagion, the 2011 movie from Steven Soderbergh about an outbreak that kills millions around the world, jumped from near obscurity in December to being one of the most requested films across various streaming networks, including iTunes and Amazon Prime.

Outbreak, a 1995 box-office hit from director Wolfgang Petersen about a similarly destructive virus in the United States, has gained quite a bit of traction, too. It recently entered Netflixs Top 10 and shows no signs of leaving.

Why are these movies suddenly topping folks viewing lists? The brains behind another thriller, Pandemic, offered some insight.

Writers Bryce and Jackie Zabel won a Writers Guild of America award for the 2007 Hallmark event movie, which is seeing new life as a two-parter on Amazon Prime.

We have had a lot of reach-outs and shout-outs lately from people who do see (Pandemic) as a prescient take on the worst case scenario, the Zabels said in an email interview. Maybe some do want to face whats ahead and try to get a leg up on it, even if it is a fictionalized version.

Action-packed scenes and over-the-top villains create some distance from reality. And the movies also can be comforting. Many end in a moment of relief, with heroes and heroines getting a handle on the infectious outbreak and ultimately saving the day.

On ExpressNews.com: Review: Marcel Marceau was a fighter first

Movies have a beginning, middle and end, the Zabels said, and as such can inspire hope: Viewers will see that there will be an end to the pandemic when a vaccine is found if not before.

These films can be informative, too. Characters remind us of how not to behave and stress the importance of following warnings and advice from medical pros.

To illustrate how the virus spreads through touching, Pandemics director, for instance, used a series of quick cuts to show the actual chain of transmission.

Perhaps that visualization will help people understand the importance of social distance to stay healthy, the Zabels said. It really drives home that we are all in this together.

If youre intrigued, here are more details on Pandemic and other streaming choices that, in many ways, mirror our new reality.

Outbreak: A stellar cast  Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey and Cuba Gooding Jr.  helps raise the caliber of this fairly by-the-numbers contagion movie. The story follows four scientists who feverishly strive to contain an increasingly deadly virus that has infected a small California town.

The trouble is, the virus host, a monkey brought in from an infected village in Africa, was stolen by a clueless lab worker (a mullet-wearing Patrick Dempsey), who lets the animal go. While the docs, led by Hoffmans virologist character, work desperately to locate it and find a cure, a ruthless Army general (Sutherland at his most vicious) spearheads a murderous plan to keep the virus from spreading.

A satisfying end and an edge-of-your-seat helicopter chase make this one a crowd-pleaser. Free for Netflix subscribers.

12 Monkeys: Syfys 2015-2018 adaptation of the 1995 Terry Gilliam movie starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt starts with a similar premise: In the year 2043, scavenger James Cole (Aaron Stanford) has been recruited to travel back to the year 2015 to stop the monstrous release of a virus that leads to the deaths of billions of people. Helping him investigate is an esteemed virologist, Dr. Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull).

The leads are likable, the action full of suspense and intrigue and episode cliffhangers leave you wanting more. All four seasons free for Hulu subscribers.

Pandemic: Two American surfers in Australia fall victim to an extremely contagious offshoot of the bird flu thats soon labeled the riptide virus. One doesnt experience alarming symptoms  severe coughing, fever, bloody spittle  until after boarding a flight home to Los Angeles. He dies horrifically, infecting others along the way. From there, havoc erupts.

While the surviving passengers are ushered into quarantine by a dedicated doctor with the CDC (Tiffani Thiessen), one man slips away, eventually spreading the virus throughout L.A. Meanwhile, a dangerous criminal, also from the plane, escapes from FBI custody amid a violent shootout. While the guy hatches a plan to profit off peoples misery, and the mayor (Eric Roberts) and governor (Faye Dunaway) do their best to quarantine the infected areas, scientists race to secure an antidote. Free for Amazon Prime subscribers.

Contagion: Of the movies listed here, this one, written by Scott Z. Burns and directed by Soderbergh, is the scariest and most upsetting to watch. Thats because its depiction of a highly contagious virus sweeping the world is closest to what were dealing with now  the coughing, the importance of quarantining, the dangers of public panic and the sacrifices made by first responders and medical professionals, some of whom tragically die from exposure.

Theres even an Internet blogger, played by Jude Law, who scams followers into believing hes found a cure, profiting heftily from a so-called miracle antidote. Sound familiar?

One major difference between COVID-19 and the films MEV-1 is the latters extremely high mortality rate. Those infected die quickly; six characters, including the movies suspected patient zero, a wife and mom played by Gwyneth Paltrow who just returned from Hong Kong, succumb horribly in the first 12 minutes. At the end, more than 26 million lives are lost.

The acting is top-notch, thanks to a Grade-A cast that includes Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston. Thankfully, the ending is fairly upbeat, even sweet, although it takes a painfully long time to get there. Available to rent for $3.99 on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

Containment: Since this 2016 drama series, based on the Belgian Cordon, originally was carried by The CW, it naturally plays up the youth angle  good-looking teens and twentysomethings who party, hook up and fall in love even in the midst of a viral epidemic. They live in Atlanta, which is put in severe peril after a Syrian immigrant, sick with what seems like the flu, stumbles into a hospital. The doctor who treats him soon succumbs to the same ailment and dies. By the time the patient is found, he already has infected his family and others.

Soon, a section of Atlanta is put under strict quarantine, complete with electric fencing, by a government doctor (Claudia Black, Farscape). Within the cordoned area, relationships suffer. One policeman is separated from the woman he loves; a pregnant teen not only is kept from her love by the quarantine, but becomes horrified when she learns a carousing gal-pal, who had kissed her during a visit hours earlier, has been diagnosed with the mysterious virus.

Although some characters, such as a helpful police officer who fancies a young schoolteacher, are lovely, much of this series is unusually gruesome, not to mention disturbing. All 13 episodes on Netflix.

Twilight Zone: In The Shelter from season three of the classic TV series, a dinner party honoring a doctor in the neighborhood is interrupted by a radio bulletin warning a nuclear attack is imminent. The same friends end up turning against the doctor, who has built the only bomb shelter nearby. After he locks himself, his wife and son in the space, which contains air and provisions for just three people, the neighbors come knocking, begging to be let in.

Though the doctor invites them to use his basement, they arent satisfied. Pent-up hostility quickly boils to the surface, including prejudice and hate toward an immigrant neighbor. Violence ensues, changing the dynamic among the neighbors for good. This episode, written by Zone creator Rod Serling, isnt specifically a virus-themed tale, but the panic and ugliness exhibited by people in a similarly desperate situation serve as a lesson to us all. Look for this episode and more of the original Twilight Zone on Netflix and CBS All Access.

The Stand: Youll have to wait a bit for the new version of The Stand, CBS All Access announced adaptation of what many consider the quintessential pandemic tale  Stephen Kings apocalyptic best-seller about a world decimated by a deadly plague. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Whoopi Goldberg and Amber Heard, the horror series is slated to bow later this year.

TVs first adaptation of Kings virus-centric tale starred Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan and Ruby Dee. The four-part mini drew massive ratings for ABC in 1994. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Jeanne Jakle is a freelance writer in San Antonio.
FLEMINGTON, N.J., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EmphyCorp Inc. www.EmphyCorp.com, a Private Corporation, specializes in Rx Non-Steroidal Nasal Spray Technology with no known side effects for all lung diseases. In numerous USA human clinical trials, N115 decreased lung inflammation and increased the synthesis of nasal Nitric Oxide that kills invading Bacteria, Fungi, and Viruses to prevent infection. In U.S. Phase III Clinical Trials using Rx N115 in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients, N115 produced statistically and clinically significant increases in lung functions, FEV-1, SaO2, FVC, FEV-1/FVC ratios (52% to 86%), increased oxygen levels to treat hypoxemia, demonstrated clinically significant reduction of congestion, coughing, and nasal and lung inflammation, all of which are the symptoms in a coronavirus infection.

As Reported in the Lancet, a Peer Reviewed Medical Journal

2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China February 15, 2020

By Jan 2, 2020, Common symptoms at onset of illness were fever, cough and myalgia or fatigue, Dyspnea (hypoxemia) and a decrease in all lung functions. All patients had pneumonia and had higher plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines. Because steroids delayed viral clearance, corticosteroids should not be routinely given systemically, according to WHO interim guidance. "In patients with influenza pneumonia, corticosteroid use is associated with higher mortality".

Dr. Alain Martin (CEO) believes "EmphyCorp Rx N115 Non-Steroidal Nasal Spray could be used as a treatment to help alleviate the symptoms associated with the Coronavirus infections. N115's potential ability to decrease the symptoms of a coronavirus infection in Patients is currently not a cure or treatment for viral infections, but rather a potential way to improve their symptoms and quality of life.

Furthermore, Allergy season is right around the corner and Rx N115 Non-Steroidal Nasal Spray with no known side effects could be a useful preventive measure in helping reduce the rate and spread of infection by healthy individuals with no underlying health conditions and no COVID-19 infection.

Nasal steroids and other OTC nasal treatments shut down the synthesis of nasal nitric oxide, which then leads to decreased lung functions and a 12%-34% increase in infections, depending upon age or underlying disease."

EmphyCorp's Patented Non-Steroidal Nasal Spray demonstrated efficacy with no known side effects has been used by over 2 Million Patients Globally in over 200 Hospitals over the past 5 years including:

Allergic Rhinitis and Chronic Rhinosinusitis

COPD Patients having both underlying diseases and infections

"Unmet Needs" Patients - Children, Pregnant Women, Diabetics, Hypertensive that should not take steroids

EmphyCorp's goal is to get N115 to market as quickly as possible to help provide immediate improvement in "Quality of Life" for millions of Patients suffering from chronic breathing diseases. Of special interest is providing 30 to 60 million "Unmet Needs" Pregnant Women, Children, Diabetic and Hypertensive Patients that should not take Steroids, as stated by the FDA, with a totally safe alternative to daily use of Steroid Nasal Sprays and Steroid COPD Sprays.

EmphyCorp has global Drug Patents plus 2 New U.S. Composition Drug Patents Pending for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Cystic Fibrosis and All Lung Diseases with clinical safety and efficacy data on human testing completed to also support the use of our N115 Nasal Spray for delivery of antivirals, antimicrobials, insulin, and a host of other drugs to treat a host of other diseases around the world.

EmphyCorp would like to enter into sublicense agreements and/or joint ventures or outright sale with respiratory drug manufacturers or companies seeking to enter the respiratory drug market, both in the U.S. and foreign countries, especially to market our nitric oxide enhancing technology as fast as possible.

Please contact Robert Millar for more information at 973-586-4421 or [email protected].

Dr. Alain Martin (70+ Global Drug Patents) is the creator of our Worldwide Patented N115 Rx Non-Steroidal Nasal Spray Technology and is also the creator of Advanced Neosporin, Lubriderm, Rx Rezulin (Type II Diabetes), Cool Mint Listerine, Early Pregnancy Test (EPT), and our sister company's (20) new Patented Drug Free Skincare Products ready to launch, Drug Free Post Laser Aftercare Products for Dermatologists/Plastic Surgeons ready to launch, and Rx Drugs for Topical Melanoma, Eczema, and Injectable for Inoperable Tumors.

SOURCE EmphyCorp Inc.

Related Links

www.emphycorp.com


JBL recently sent Android Headlines one of its Link Music smart home speakers for review and, from that, its safe to say the company has a real competitor in this space. JBL Link Music may not be Google-branded, but it goes a long way towards accomplishing what the search giant set out to do. Namely, thats to represent a solid audio offering at the upper-budget-end of the spectrum.

Thats not to say the JBL Link Music is without caveat. The company appears to have taken a few shortcuts to bring the cost down to just $119.99. The design language, while solid, has at least one noticeable flaw. Audio quality takes a dive too, compared to more expensive offerings from competitors.

That aside, this smart home gadget does perform slightly better and at a louder volume than Googles own home-branded speaker.

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Simultaneously, JBL has put quality materials front and center. Its gone out of its way to include all of the features that users might expect from a smart home speaker too  sans a 3.5mm audio jack. Intuitive, easy-to-use controls and an array of usability-focused design features are part of that. As is an attention to detail when it comes to longevity and durability.

All of that holds true, while this device also fits in with just about any decor in either black or grey.

In short, JBL Link Music is one speaker that more than warrants a closer look for anybody looking to expand or build their smart home ecosystem.

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JBL Link Music is designed to impress, and mostly did

JBL Link Music features what is a fairly standard design in the home smart speaker world, in terms of shape. It takes the shape of a short cylinder, wrapped in cloth, with what feels like super soft-touch plastics adorning the top and bottom. JBL covered the somewhat convex bottom segment of that in the latter material.

Thats printed with the usual branding, cautionary words and symbols, and certifications, but primarily serves to add a bit of grip so that it doesnt slip and slide or vibrate off whatever surface its been placed on.

Its not a perfect cylinder though. JBL instead designed it with more of a squared-off shape. JBL ships that in either black or grey. My JBL Link Music review unit was the grey variety.

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JBL has embedded its branding in the front of the device, accenting the premium looking fabric. Thats comprised of a smooth metal badge set flush with the fabric. The rear features a small swatch of that same soft-touch plastic material, with two buttons for Bluetooth and mic muting. Thats also where the power cable goes.

The top of the gadget is concave, utilizing more of that same material mentioned above, wrapped in a ring of darker, hard plastic. The center houses a harder plastic multi-function button, marked with the Google Assistant icon. A plus and minus button is present to either side fo that button. Two of the top corners pack mics arranged to make AI-driven listening work better at a distance.

The chief drawback to this JBL Link Music speaker became immediately noticeable when plugging it in to start this review. And that comes down to the power cable used here. JBL designed its Link Music to be well-suited just about any household aesthetic. Its sleek, premium, and overall just a great-looking smart home device.

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The cable breaks from that in its a two-socket ac-type cable. It plugs straight into the back of the speaker a few inches above the base, without any design elements  such as angled segments  to keep it from protruding outward. The cable itself is flattened but thick. So its going to be more difficult than others to tuck away out of sight.

Making that slightly worse, it doesnt end in an adapter but rather a standard US-style plug. JBL could probably have used a plug more similar to the Google Home speaker. That cable plugs into the bottom of the device with an angled DC plug. The cable is flat and easy to hide away as a result. The opposing end comes to an angled adapter to keep things flush with the wall.

By comparison, JBLs speaker feels like it misses the mark. The power cord is the one aspect of the JBL Link Music that gives off a cheap vibe that also could easily get in the way when deciding where to place the speaker.

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Hardware quality matches the expectations set by design

Setting aside the appearance of the JBL Link Music speaker, using the gadget over the course of my review revealed that it is at least very well made. The power port at the back fits snugly, with no sign of wiggle or looseness, just for starters.

But the materials used here are also fairly easy to clean off, as needed.

With a weight of around 730g at just over 4.4-inches by 5.28-inches, aided by soft-touch, almost rubbery plastics, the JBL Link Music stays put where its placed. And it feels sturdy.

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When it comes to button-presses, JBL has ensured that none of those is too squishy. Thats most prominent in the exposed, separate Google Assistant button. That key presses in with a satisfying click-through, as do all of the other buttons.

The primary difference is that the plus and minus volume keys are embedded below the soft-touch surface. So they do have a bit more squish to them. The same holds for the mic mute/unmute button and Bluetooth pairing button found near the power jack.

Rounding out the package, JBL incorporated four LED lights at the front, just below the interactive top-surface. Those show through in a brilliant white but JBL also ensured they can shine in blue. The LEDs become lit up in a blue hue when a Bluetooth connection is active or pairing is initiated.

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Audio quality is as good as JBL has ever been, considering the size of Link Music

The JBL Link Music is only about the same size as Googles original Home-branded speaker but, as shown throughout my review, it is a step up from that gadget. That carries over on the audio front too but with a somewhat annoying caveat. This isnt a speaker designed to compete directly with Bose or Sonos when it comes to balance and quality.

With the Google Home-branded speaker, the bass is just a bit underrepresented in music. JBLs Link Music isnt necessarily going to thump and rattle. In fact, it feels just slightly overrepresented depending on the genre of music in question. Thats despite the advertised frequency range of 60Hz to 20KHz. In dubstep, rap, or other bass-heavy jams, the lower tones are as powerful as might be hoped at this speakers size.

Conversely, in other genres, the bass comes through a bit strongly, even overpowering highs and mids. Thats especially true at lower volumes. Increasing volume to over 40-percent improves matters and that continues to improve as volume increases.

The sole problem with that is that this speaker is very loud. At 50-percent volume, I was able to fill nearly the entire first level of a small home. That home had an open floor plan, so that may not hold true for every space. But turning it up to get rid of the overpowering bass, mostly, is going to require the speaker to be turned up quite loud.

That means JBLs Link Music isnt going to be the best speaker for audiophiles  despite its branding. At the highest volumes, above 70-percent, this speaker really shines. Audio is predominantly balanced with only the slightest amount of extra bass, above what might be expected. The quality of the audio is also stable with no distortion or anomalies present at any volume.

Of course, listening to a podcast or other media through this speaker doesnt present a problem.

Overall, the JBL Link Music is definitely a better alternative to Googles smaller Nest- or Home-branded speakers. Setting aside its audio balancing caveats, the pricing for the speaker feels on-point.

Special features extend well beyond Google Assistant but thats here too

JBL Link Music is, first and foremost, a Wi-Fi-enabled smart speaker. Thats how JBL Link Music was mostly used during my review too, via the casting feature found in Google or Nest Home devices. The gadget can access Wi-Fi via 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac protocols on either 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks. It supports playback of HE-AAC, LC-AAC, MP3, VORBIS, WAV (LPCM), FLAC, and OPUS formats.

Of course, as hinted above, Bluetooth is also available as a connective option. So users dont necessarily need to utilize Wi-Fi, smart home-ready, or cast-ready apps to send music over all the time. There is one drawback to that, but well discuss that momentarily.

Now, this speaker utilizes Bluetooth 4.2, which is an older standard. JBL could likely have solved some of the audio quality issues experienced during my review of the Link Music if Bluetooth 5.0 or newer had been utilized. Or at least that may have been the case any time Wi-Fi wasnt being used. But I only used Bluetooth for a small portion of my listening.

Thats because the JBL Link Music is fully integrated with Google Assistant. It functions almost identically to Googles own smart speakers. That means that users can effectively replace those devices or start off with this speaker when building out a smart home. The speaker can, in effect, act as a central hub for controlling the smart home.

All of that is setting aside its use as a groupable speaker in an existing smart home and everything that entails.

The Google Assistant button at the top of the device serves multiple purposes. Holding that for more than 2-seconds  or saying Hey Google or Okay Google  will launch Googles AI helper. Pressing it once can also stop various audio, including timers, alarms, and Assistant responses.

As a matter of course, that doesnt come without drawbacks, as noted above. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, JBL Link Music cannot be used as a Bluetooth speaker until its been set up as part of a smart home in Googles Home app. That means users cant just buy this and use it for Bluetooth without going through that process.

With that said, users can set this up with Apple Home instead, since its AirPlay 2 compatible. So there is at least a second option for setting things up available. Although thats hardly ideal for a Bluetooth-enabled speaker of any sort.

JBLs Link Music is so close to being a 5-star device

If well-balanced audio that holds its composure across every volume level is of utmost importance, this probably isnt going to be the right speaker for you. For those that love heavier bass tones in a small form-factor, JBL Link Music is more than suitable. The same can be said for those who like to play their audio loud since the overwhelming bass diminishes with volume.

JBLs use of Bluetooth 4.2, unless this speakers primary use will be via Wi-Fi, means that it isnt going to be great for audiophiles either.

Conversely, its not going to be perfect for those who want to mount their smart home speakers cleanly. Particularly in most cases where minimal wires are intended to show. The design of the power cable here just isnt well suited for that in most situations.

Despite the few caveats covered in this review, the JBL Link Music still stands as not just an affordable smart home speaker. Its also one of the few gadgets in its price bracket, at just a penny short of $120, that competes with Googles self-branded offering. Whether or not thats going to make it a viable option for users will depend on the above-mentioned factors.

However, not only does it pack in all of the same AI Assistant features found in Googles Home speaker. It does that while looking great and delivering on overall quality for its price. That helps this speaker stand apart in its bracket and live up to its branding.

JBL Link Music should, caveats aside, make a great starting point or addition to just about any existing smart home.
Bengaluru, March 24 : Infosys on Tuesday said that the United States Securities & Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into the whistleblower complaints and the company does not anticipate further action by the commission in this regard.

In a regulatory filing, the software major said that it cooperated in the investigation and has received a notification from the SEC on the conclusion of the probe.

"The company received notification from the SEC that the SEC has concluded its investigation and the company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter," it said.

Infosys said that it has also responded to all the inquiries received from the Indian regulatory authorities and would continue to cooperate with the authorities if there is any additional request for information.

Last year, a few anonymous employees of the global software vendor accused its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices for many quarters.

"Parekh and Roy have been resorting to unethical practices for many quarters, as evident from their e-mails and voice recordings of their conversations," said the complainants, who called themselves 'ethical employees' in a 2-page letter to the city-based IT behemoth's board of directors.

When there was no response from the board to their letter, an unnamed whistleblower on behalf of the ethical employees on October 3 wrote to the US-based office of the Whistleblower Protection Programme, alleging willful mis-statement material accounting irregularities for (the) last two quarters (April-September).

Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani later said that the complaints flagging unethical business practices have been placed before an Audit Committee.

Shares of the company rose on Tuesday following the announcement of the completion of the SEC probe. At 1.24 p.m., it was trading at Rs 575 per share, higher Rs 48.30 or 9.17 per cent from the previous close.
US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo on Monday made an unannounced visit to Kabul (Afghanistan) and Doha (Qatar) to hold talks with the Afghan government in an effort to prevent the country's peace deal from unwinding, CNN reported.

A report citing State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stated that Pompeo travelled to Doha for talks with Taliban officials, including group's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar, to press the Taliban to continue complying with the deal signed last month, CNN reported.

Prior to meetings in Doha, Pompeo made a stopover in Kabul where he met President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah who both claimed victory in the country's presidential elections, the report said.

Washington is apprehensive about the political tussle between Ghani and Abdullah that could affect the peace deal and the opportunity to end the 18-year-long war.

On February 29, the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan and which will pave the way for Washington to withdraw all its troops from the country within 14 months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged a Venezuelan oilfield contractor with money laundering for bribing officials at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela to win overpriced contracts, and then seeking to hide the proceeds in the United States.

The charges are the latest in a U.S. investigation of corruption at PDVSA, a once prolific company whose crude output has plunged in recent years due to mismanagement and pilfering of funds, contributing to Venezuela's humanitarian crisis.

In a complaint filed on Friday, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida said Leonardo Santilli received nearly $150 million from PDVSA-controlled joint ventures with foreign companies in the Orinoco belt between 2014 and 2017 for contracts to supply equipment.

Reuters could not immediately reach Santilli for comment, and no defense attorney was listed for him in court records. PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint said that in at least three instances, the joint ventures paid Santilli four to five times the market prices for the goods he provided, citing bank records.

Prosecutors also detailed millions of dollars in bribes Santilli allegedly paid to officials at the joint ventures to win the contracts, citing emails, bank records, and interviews with confidential witnesses, including some PDVSA officials who acknowledged receiving bribes.

Santilli sought to launder the proceeds through Florida bank accounts, and authorities in 2018 seized some $44.7 million of his funds, prosecutors said.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen; editing by Grant McCool)
The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to allocate EUR 40 million to Ukraine for the fight against coronavirus.

The loan funds will be used to purchase the necessary medical equipment, according to the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.

"Last week, Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov held an online meeting with representatives of the European Investment Bank. The parties discussed issues of raising a loan worth EUR 40 million for a rapid response and the necessary measures to fight the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine," the statement says.

The loan will be provided within the framework of the current Ukraine Municipal Infrastructure Programme (UMIP), launched in 2014.

On March 23, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development received an action plan from the EIB regarding the provision of the agreed loan. The parties are agreeing on the details and terms of cooperation, the ministry added.

As of March 24, Ukraine had 97 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection.

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As organizations and institutions close in response to Coronavirus (COVID-19), personal injury clients are left to wonder if they should expect delays in their personal injury claim. While every personal injury case is unique, Thomas J. Henry Law may be able to provide some insight on what to expect as the nation confronts this pandemic.

What Does COVID-19 Mean for My Personal Injury Case?

Depending on where you live, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have little to no impact on your personal injury claim and its resolution. Thomas J. Henry Law, for example, remains open and does not expect any disruption of day-to-day business. Our attorneys remain available 24/7, and our offices are functioning at full capacity.

However, this does not mean that we are taking the coronavirus lightly. On the contrary, Thomas J. Henry Law, like law firms across Texas, are taking extra precautions to protect our employees and clients and limit the potential spread of COVID-19. Such measures include increased cleaning and sanitization of all workplace surfaces, increase access to hand sanitizer, and deep cleanings across every office location each night. All of our procedures are in accordance to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and are overseen by firm leadership.

If for any reason, you have concerns about visiting one of our offices, our attorneys and staff remain available via phone and e-mail. If necessary, we can send an attorney directly to you. Additionally, our on-call attorneys remain available to travel to you any time, day or night, to assist you as needed.

Are Texas Courts Open to Hear My Case?

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals have entered an emergency order modifying and suspending certain provisions related to court proceedings. It is important to note that this emergency order does allow for all hearings, depositions, and other proceedings of any kind to be conducted remotely, such as by teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and other means.

So, while a court house may be closed, your attorney can still pursue your claim without interruption, provided they have the resources to do so.

Thomas J. Henry Law conducts business in a state-of-the-art technological environment with access to the latest in interactive solutions and case management software. Each Thomas J. Henry Law office location is equipped for videoconferencing, multimedia presentation, and remote access to help maintain client/attorney interactions and streamline mediations, arbitrations, and trials.

Our attorneys and staff remain committed to advancing our clients claims towards a favorable resolution and are able to conduct any and all scheduled court hearings and proceedings without delay.

Can I File an Accident Claim During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Yes. Accidents are still going to occur during the COVID-19 pandemic, and people will still need access to experienced personal injury attorneys. You are still able to speak with an attorney and you are still able to file a personal injury claim if you have been injured.

As mentioned before, Thomas J. Henry Law remains open with attorneys ready to respond to the scene of your accident 24/7, nights and weekends.

If you have been injured in an accident and have questions concerning your options, or if you have any doubt that your current attorney will be able to properly represent you during the COVID-19 pandemic, call Thomas J. Henry immediately for a FREE case review.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
Patience is one of Susan Meles foremost virtues.

Her answer for troubling times in the age of the novel coronavirus pandemic?

Some days it could be Psalm 91. Other days it might be First Corinthians, Chapter 13.

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Mele recently suffered the March 5 loss of her mother, Louise McBee, but funeral services are still pending at First Baptist Church of Deer Park.

My church had to postpone it because of the 10-person limitation, Mele said. My mother was 88 years old and a member of the church. A lot of the people that are in her Sunday school class are the target age of those who could be affected, and I think they are the ones that people are most concerned about.

Here are my thoughts: Everybody wants closure. When someone passes away, you do the funeral planning, have the funeral and mourn the death with your friends. Its part of life.

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When its taken away, yes, it does postpone that closure. At the same time, safety is most important. Your loved ones can be celebrated at any time.

Funeral director: Families understand situation

Local funeral homes are dealing with similar challenges on an everyday basis.

Gov. Greg Abbott has recommended keeping funeral services under 10 people, maintaining social distance between attendees or hosting services virtually online.

Ron Crowder, lead funeral director of Crowder Funeral Home in Webster, knows that serenity and compassion are vital every day in his profession.

Even after notifying relatives that only 10 persons may attend a service, Crowder says hes received a positive response.

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So far all of our families which we have dealt with have been very receptive and understand the circumstances, Crowder said. We try to expedite things as much as possible to make sure we accommodate the familys needs.

Crowder, which operates funeral homes in La Marque, Dickinson, Pearland, Webster and League City, has been able to function in almost normal fashion in an unconventional atmosphere.

Were like everybody else  were still waiting to see what these numbers are going to do and how serious its going to be, Ron Crowder said. Well see how its going to be in the long term. As of right now, we havent seen any adverse effects.

Live streaming and precautions

Being able to provide video for those unable to attend a service has proven valuable.

Definitely, I think thats the real answer  the live streaming of the ceremony, Crowder said. All the ministers weve been dealing with are taking all the necessary precautions, and all the ceremonies have been brief.

Of course, we always console the family and take care of their emotional needs.

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However, there are many willing to wait for the traditional service.

Meles family falls into that category.

We understand and we celebrate (her mother) every day in our hearts, Mele said. Thats my perspective, and other people are going to have a different perspective.

My mother is with God and in his presence. Im a very strong Christian, and thats how I live with it. We will be able to do it when the time is right.

While Mele, her family and friends are willing to bide their time, others may not have that option.

However, those desiring an immediate funeral will encounter several barriers.

In addition to restricting the head count at funeral services, Crowder said attendance guidelines for visitations and graveside services also have strict limitations.

Were following all the national recommendations as well as the precautions set by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines), Crowder said.

Most of the cemeteries that notified us want to operate under the same precautions while limiting the time of the services.

Crowder said the Houston National Cemetery for military veterans is an exception.

They have asked that no family members attend any kind of service, he said. They just ask the funeral director to show up and take care of the burial or the placing of ashes.

That national cemetery has the most stringent limitations right now. Its a very big operation, and they have a number of families they service every day.

While the coronavirus remains very contagious, dealing with such a situation is not foreign to Crowder and others in the industry.

As far as the embalming and preparation process, we always take the necessary precautions, he said. Thats something we do as a matter of our daily practices.

Theres not really anything extra that we need to do. We make sure everything is sanitized and sterilized properly so that were not going to have any complications. We do that under our normal protocol.

All funeral homes and mortuary services are trained in those kinds of procedures. We deal with other types of contagious diseases; so we take those precautions all the time.

It is what it is

In Meles case, she selected Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Crosby as part of her mothers funeral planning.

Now, Mele is exercising patience until a time when its safe for everyone, not just 10 people, to attend her mothers funeral.

Following the rules that are set forth to us are important, she said. This epidemic is growing, and its not going away. We all have to deal with it.

Whenever they say we can do the funeral, well do it. Deer Park Funeral Directors has been amazing, and they have been assisting me with this. Theyve been helping people like me that didnt even use them for their service.

They reached out and helped me through all this and didnt charge me.

Mele encountered one other bump in the road, but its not affecting her plans.

We placed an ad in the (Houston Chronicle) and other papers announcing the service, she said. We spent $1,500 and there was no service.

Well have to do that all over again. It is what it is. Theres nothing that can be done about that.

tdunnam@hcnonline.com
Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm (AS&H) in co-operation with Clifford Chance advised Jadwa Investment and Riyad Capital, the underwriters, on the $700 million initial public offering of Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Group.

Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group is one of the biggest providers of health care in Saudi Arabia, operating hospitals, outpatient clinics, pharmacies and medical labs throughout the kingdom as well as in Dubai and Bahrain. The group employs more than 2,000 physicians.

The IPO is the first in Saudi Arabia on the main market in 2020 and the first in the health care sector in Saudi Arabia since 2016.

The IPO received exceptional demand from investors and was 83 times oversubscribed with funds exceeding SR217 billion.

Commenting on the deal, partner at AS&H and Head of the Capital Markets practice, Mansoor AlHagbani said: "We are delighted to have supported the underwriters on such a key transaction in the Saudi capital markets space. It is a testament to the banks and the brand of the company that the transaction has been such a success in Saudi Arabia".

Omar Rashid, M&A and ECM partner, seconded from Clifford Chance to AS&H in Riyadh, also commented: "It was exciting to be part of the team guiding the underwriters on this high-profile transaction. We are pleased to have taken another leading role on a Saudi IPO, further cementing our position as the go-to firm for this type of work."

The AS&H and Clifford Chance teams continue to advise on some of Saudi Arabia's most prominent deals, including Arabian Centres Company's 144A IPO and Saudi Telecom Company's debut international sukuk issuance in 2019.

The team consisted of Mansoor AlHagbani (AS&H Partner and Head of the Capital Markets & Financial Regulatory), Omar Rashid (Clifford Chance Partner, seconded to AS&H) and Rakan Kawar, (AS&H Associate). -- Tradearabia News Service
US plans to build new base in western Iraq for Patriot missile system deployment: Source

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 4:31 PM

An Iraqi security source says the US military intends to construct a new military base in the country's western province of al-Anbar for the deployment of Patriot missile systems.

"US forces intend to establish a new base in Umm Samij area north of al-Baghdadi district in the city of Hit in order to deploy a Patriot anti-missile system, and protect Ain al-Assad air base as well as other locations in western regions against possible attacks," the unnamed source told Iraq's Arabic-language al-Ahad news agency on Monday.

He noted, "Identification of a location for the deployment of the Patriot missile system is the first of its kind in Iraq. Such measures are indicative of US forces' intention to stay in their bases in the western regions of Iraq for a long period of time."

Back on January 23, an Iraqi legislator condemned US plans to install Patriot missile systems in the Arab country, saying such deployment violates Iraq's sovereignty.

"The Iraqi parliament represents all political groups and currents. The (parliamentary) decision demanding the withdrawal of US military forces is supported by the public opinion. Therefore, the [American] troops' attempt to deploy Patriot missile systems in their bases in order to beef up their combat capabilities is rejected and considered a violation of our sovereignty," Karim Alawi, a member of the parliament's security and defense committee, told Arabic-language Baghdad Today news agency at the time.

He added, "The presence of US forces in Iraq is illegal. The recent parliamentary decision is clear. The ball is now in the government's court to get those forces out. If it is not implemented, there will a reaction from all fronts, including filing a complaint with the United Nations and other Islamic organizations with the aim of removing American troops."

The US is considering deploying the anti-missile system to purportedly protect American troops in Iraq.

The decision came after Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired a number of ballistic missiles at Ain al-Assad air base on January 8, in retaliation for a US airstrike authorized by President Donald Trump that assassinated Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, along with the deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and their companions near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Trump initially said "no Americans were harmed" in the attack, but subsequent reports revealed that troops were injured, largely with concussions from the missile blasts.

On February 21, the Pentagon raised to 110 the number of US service members, who suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) following Iran's retaliatory strike. It alleged that all of the wounded in the base attack were diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury and that 77 of them had already returned to duty.

The Pentagon further claimed that 35 others had been transported to Germany for further evaluation, 25 of whom had been sent on to the United States.

Two days after the US attack, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill demanding withdrawal of American forces from their country.

Later on January 9, former Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi called on the United States to dispatch a delegation to Baghdad tasked with formulating a mechanism for the move.

According to a statement released by his office at the time, Abdul-Mahdi "requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement the parliament's decision for the secure withdrawal of (foreign) forces from Iraq" in a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The 78-year-old politician said that Iraq rejects breach of its sovereignty, particularly the US military's violation of Iraqi airspace in the airstrike that assassinated General Soleimani, Muhandis and their companions.

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She works hard to maintain her incredible figure.

So Devon Windsor ensured she didn't slow down her workout regime amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking part in the viral 'quarantine challenge', which sees social media users take on different tasks whilst isolating at home, the model opted for a couples workout with husband Johnny Dex Barbara.

Hard at work: She works hard to maintain her incredible figure. So Devon Windsor ensured she didn't slow down her workout regime amid the coronavirus pandemic

Clad in a tiny bikini, the Victoria's Secret Angel showcased her tanned and toned figure as she performed a pike exercise on top of Johnny while he moved into a sit up.

Devon captioned the clip: 'Challenge accepted! This was a fun little way to pass the time and workout', before nominating a host of pals to take on their own task.

Later on, Devon shared another bikini-clad snap, this time modeling a green two-piece from her own Devon Windsor swim brand, while brandishing a fish as she encouraged her followers to try and hunt their own food.

Thrifty: Later on, Devon shared another bikini-clad snap, this time brandishing a fish as she encouraged her followers to try and hunt their own food

Two's company: Taking part in the viral 'quarantine challenge', the model opted for a couples workout with husband Johnny Dex Barbara

She penned: 'When the supermarkets all have very little meat..when in doubt, catch it yourself! See my #chefdev highlight to see my all time favorite way to cook fish!'

While Devon has been practising social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, she revealed that she was struggling to stay motivated with her workouts.

She explained in an Instagram post: 'Been trying to stay as active as possible during this time.

'Obviously its extremely un-motivating and difficult but I find going on long walks is the best thing for me.

'Luckily I live in a house in which I can walk around the neighborhood (at least until they place a full lockdown on us. And dont worry, I dont stop and talk to anyone).

'My heart is with everyone and anyone who lives in an apartment building and cant even get outside. Stay strong'.
Finally, some leadership. Weve been short on that lately.

It was reassuring to hear Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announce a stay-at-home order this morning in a bold, but necessary, attempt to save lives and stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Every county in the region should follow suit  including Montgomery where County Judge Mark Keough refuses in the name of freedom.

Its a painful decision for any elected official, issuing an order that will temporarily cripple the economy, cost jobs and inconvenience millions. This isnt a lock down, though. Its not martial law. People will be able to get groceries, visit the doctor, walk the dog and go for a run.

What they wont be able to do is blatantly disregard the social distancing guidance public health officials have been giving for weeks. They wont be able to cluster in public places for the fun of it, potentially exposing themselves to a highly contagious virus that they can pass along to others before even realizing theyre infected.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

Will it help flatten the curve of the virus before our health care system is overwhelmed by a surge of patients needing respirators and intensive-care beds?

No guarantees. But we know what wont help. We know what wont save lives.

Inaction. Political calculations. And denial.

Weve seen all three from politicians who refuse to heed the warnings of health experts who point out that only severe limits on social interaction have contained the virus in other countries.

An exponential increase in cases is a mathematical reality, Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledged.

But he refuses to face another reality: proactive measures, such as a statewide stay-at-home order, are our only hope of reducing cases and reducing deaths. Yes, there are some 200 counties in Texas that have not reported a case of the virus. Abbott can increase their chances of staying that way with a statewide order.

Instead, the governor is prioritizing short-term economic interests over lives. He isnt the only one.

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On Monday, President Trump signaled what could be a dangerous departure from the advice of health experts in his own administration. He said he favored easing federal guidance on social distancing much sooner than experts recommend and getting the country back to work: Im not looking at months, I can tell you right now.

In Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick went on Fox News late Monday and suggested hed rather die from COVID-19 than sacrifice the U.S. economy. Apparently, he doesnt mind taking his septuagenarian cohort with him: Those of us who are 70-plus, well take care of ourselves.

With leaders like these, who needs a potentially life-threatening virus? The answer is not to let people die. The economy will recover. People  both old and young  who succumb to this disease will not.

Leaders should consider the climbing death toll and our woefully under-staffed, under-equipped, under-prepared hospitals. If this virus isnt slowed, its going to upend and in many cases threaten the lives of everyone, not just senior citizens.

Leaders should consider their oaths of office and if it spurs their own self interests, their legacies. In the words of one brave Harris County judge:

This moment in history will define our future. History will say we prioritized human life."
The sight is simply staggering.

It is nearing deadline time. Late afternoon.

And the legendary Toronto Star newsroom, among the largest in Canada, home to countless investigations, war stories and melodramas, and Hollywoods choice for the signature Watergate film All the Presidents Men, lies silent.

Virtually empty. Eerily quiet. Lifeless.

What usually throbs and catapults to life at the slightest disaster, let alone a world pandemic, sits ceremoniously vacant.

Sure, there are times in the wee hours of morning when it looks like this. But at deadline?

As a grizzled four-decade veteran, I can attest to that special buzz, that indescribable sense of urgency, that messianic urge to tell the story, however grisly, that envelops the newsroom at a time of crisis. Theres nothing quite like it. Putting out the paper  the making of the daily miracle  becomes paramount.

Be it the Iraq wars, 9/11, the van attack on Yonge St., the Humboldt bus crash, or the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, it is THE place to be. Reporters and copy editors dont need to be called. They show up. Everyone wants to pitch in.

Newshounds couldnt imagine being anywhere else.

Orders are barked out. Reporters are dispatched. At emergency news meetings, editors haggle over story lists, headlines, photo orders and graphics, forever mindful of the impending deadline. The mission is simple but critical: we must tell the story. We must let people know exactly what is happening. We are on the front line of truth.

All of which makes what is happening now all the more remarkable, if not unimaginable.

There was precious little time to plan. How do you create a virtual newsroom? And in the midst of a pandemic where reporters and photogs cant work healthily in their usual fashion. And those important news conferences and hagglings cant take place face to face.

You use every program available, Zoom and Slack leading the list, and you work from your bedroom, your dining room table, your basement or from a cubbyhole. And you text and email back and forth and back and forth. In essence, you make it up as you go along.

Sports columnists like Bruce Arthur turn to write about the city. Rosie DiManno tries to go to Italy but has to stay in quarantine. The features and beats team strut their stuff in quality dispatches.

And you get better every night!

Editor Irene Gentle captured the magic of the moment:

It is the most astounding thing I have seen in my three decades on staff. It is very weird to be on deadline all by yourself, only talking intensely to other people via email and message.

But it is also amazing to me that the website was continuously updated all day with more breaking news than I have ever seen, and that the print edition will, god willing, land on doorsteps.

I can assure you everyone in that virtual newsroom understands to their core the import of what we are doing. We are on the front line. Readers are counting on us to get it right, to prioritize what is important and to ferret out those stories in our region that others dont even bother to look for. That is what The Star is known for. Now, more than ever.

And you the reader are showing your appreciation by coming to our website in record numbers. The number of unique visits is at a near-record high, as are our subscriptions. You are proving all the research that says that in times of crisis, readers usually turn to legacy media. Translation: papers and sources you can trust.

Heres one email that came over the transom. Karen Boyer in Muskoka wrote: Dear Toronto Star staff  all of you. Thank you so much for providing this excellent, fact-based, timely essential service to us. I am very grateful for your generosity in providing it freely.

And indeed, we were the first in Canada to ensure critical COVID-19 stories are outside our paywall  that is, free to all.

Canadas political leaders also understand only too well the critical role we play. Both Premier Doug Ford and Mayor John Tory have made that point personally to me in the past week. Ill let the premier, not always our favourite friend, say it himself. I want to thank the media. Youre playing a massive role in helping us out  There are a lot of great articles in the Toronto Star. Those certainly arent words I thought Id ever hear.

And for a moment let me gush on behalf of our virtual newsroom. I think the papers we are putting out are simply first rate.

Indeed, exceptional under the circumstances. I am very proud of the role we are playing and the editorial leadership we are showing.

It is my sincere hope all of you will remember this, as our financial future is far from assured. Subscriptions are our lifeline.

And if I may, one final note.

On behalf of all of you, I want to express heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the entire editorial team for the job they are doing.

They deserve it.
Heavy shelling by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftars forces has killed at least five civilians in Libyas capital, Tripoli, according to the countrys United Nations-recognised government.

The violence on Monday came despite increased international pressure to halt the fighting over mounting concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus in the war-ravaged country amid the continuing pandemic.

Mortar shells launched by the eastern-based forces led by Haftar struck houses in Tripolis southern suburbs, killing a 42-year-old woman and her nephew, said Amin al-Hashemi, a spokesman for the health ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA).

In another mortar barrage near the capitals Mitiga airport, two migrant workers were killed and one Libyan civilian was wounded, the health ministry added. A 20-year-old woman was also killed when errant shells crashed into her house in Tripolis Tajoura neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Haftar, whose forces control much of the country and have been laying siege to the capital for almost a year, accused the Tripoli-based adversaries of firing grad rockets on Monday on the town of Tarhuna.

Humanitarian pause broken

The attacks came just days after the warring parties expressed commitment to a humanitarian pause in fighting so authorities could focus on preventing the spread of the new coronavirus.

200323133216079

Libya has not confirmed any cases of the virus, but public health officials fear the pandemic could devastate the war-torn country. The conflict has ravaged key infrastructure and created dire shortages of medical supplies.

Yacoub El Hillo, the UNs humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said on Sunday that the timing could not be worse for the coronavirus to loom over Libya. Echoing calls by a number of world powers, he urged a complete cessation of hostilities so health authorities could ensure unhindered access to aid and boost protective measures.

Libya has been mired in conflict since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, with rival administrations in the east and the west vying for power.

The North African country ranks 168th of 195 nations worldwide in preparedness for a health crisis, according to the Global Health Security Index, a project of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Virgin Australia has accused its rival Qantas of spreading rumours that it would collapse as coronavirus threatened the viability of airlines.

Both carriers have suspended international flights until mid-year and there are fears one of them may not survive without a government bailout.

The Australian government has also closed the border for at least six months to prevent travellers with COVID-19 from arriving in the country.

Virgin Australia has complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (pictured in 2019) told Sky News it would be unfair for the government to nationalise Virgin to stop it from being placed into administration

Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah (pictured) seized on those comments and accused his Qantas counterpart of spreading rumours Virgin Australia was on the verge of having administrators appointed

Virgin Australia has complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told Sky News it would be unfair for the government to effectively nationalise Virgin to stop it from being placed into administration.

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 government can't pick winners and losers,' Mr Joyce said on Friday last week.

'Whatever aid is given to one company has to be given to every company in that sector.'

ACCC chairman Rod Sims confirmed Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah had launched a complaint against Qantas, following Mr Joyce's comments.

'The complaint that we've had from Paul Scurrah is that Qantas is engaging in anti-competitive conduct, designed to damage Virgin as a competitor,' he told the ABC.

'We have to look at whether the behaviour has the purpose or the effect of substantially limiting competition.'

Mr Scurrah has accused his Qantas counterpart of spreading rumours Virgin Australia was on the verge of having administrators appointed, Nine newspapers reported.

'Virgin Australia has seen widespread reporting of public comments from Qantas and its executive team questioning directly or indirectly Virgin Australia's financial viability and encouraging [the] government to refrain from extending any government support for the aviation industry to Virgin Australia,' he wrote to the competition regulator.

'We have received reports of Qantas briefing journalists on the false pretence that Virgin Australia cash reserves are running out within days and that Virgin Australia has appointed administrators.

'We are aware of social media reports that Qantas has sought to promote a campaign that the government exclude Virgin Australia from any COVID-19 financial support package and have urged their staff to write to their local Member of Parliament to support this exclusion.

'We are gathering together a range of examples of this conduct to send to you.'

A senior Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that Virgin Australia had threatened court action against it.

'It's a tough time for everyone in aviation, which is why we said that any assistance should be to be industry-wide and proportional,' he said.

Virgin Australia Holdings annual losses 2009: $160million 2011: $67.8million 2013: $98.1million 2014: $353.8million 2015: $93.8million 2016: $224.7million 2017: $185.8million 2018: $653.3million 2019: $315.4million Source: Virgin Australia Holdings annual reports showing the statutory net loss after tax for the full year Advertisement

'We don't think that's controversial or anti-competitive, and it's exactly what the government has done with its aviation support package.

'In the past fortnight, Virgin has made legal threats to us directly and has now gone to the ACCC to claim we're the source of various rumours circulating widely in the market. We're not.'

Virgin Australia declined to comment on the record to Daily Mail Australia.

The federal government has offered a $715million relief package to the airline industry.

But Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declined to provide a loan or buy equity in the national airlines.

His Kiwi counterpart Jacinda Ardern's minority Labour government has effectively bailed out Air New Zealand with a $NZ900million ($A880million) loan.

Qantas this month temporarily retrenched 20,000 employees or two-thirds of its 30,000 staff.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's earlier this month downgraded its outlook for Virgin Australia from stable to negative, with the airline's losses during the past decade exceeding $2.1billion.

Tom Youl, an aviation analyst with IBISWorld, told Daily Mail Australia three weeks ago that Virgin Australia's high debt levels threatened the viability of the airline, which employed 9,800 people.

'If it continues to stretch on, the amount of debt they have, there is going to be a concern there,' he said.

'In terms of actual viability of the company, it is of concern.'

A Virgin Australia spokeswoman however said at the time the airline 'strongly rejected' suggestions its future was at risk, citing the listed company's $1billion cash balance and the retention of the B+ S&P credit rating.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the inauguration of the Hovsan residential complex, the second project of the State Housing Development Agency.

Chairman of the Board of the State Housing Development Agency Sadig Sadigov informed the head of state and first lady of the residential complex built in Hovsan settlement of Surakhani district, as well as the second phase of the Yasamal residential complex and the projects implemented in the cities of Ganja and Sumgayit.

The complex occupies a total area of 20 hectares. Eleven residential buildings were constructed here. The residential complex has 2962 apartments.

A 1920-seat school was also built in the complex. The classrooms were supplied with necessary equipment. The complex has two 90-seat kindergartens.

After viewing the Hovsan residential complex, President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to Azerbaijan Television.

Interview of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

- We are glad to see you, Mr. President.

- Thank you, hello.

- Mr. President, despite the sharp drop in the oil price, all large-scale social projects are being successfully implemented in Azerbaijan under your leadership and on your initiative. Clear evidence of that is the implementation of this magnificent Hovsan project. Could you please talk about the work carried out in the country in this direction.

- Indeed, Azerbaijan successfully continues its social policy. I have already said this but I want to say it again: despite the drop in the oil price, all our social obligations this year and in subsequent years will be fulfilled. All social infrastructure projects will be implemented and there is no reason to worry. This is once again evidenced by this large industrial complex built through the State Housing Agency.

The foundation of this complex was laid three years ago. Work was carried out over this period successfully and this complex is being commissioned now. There are about 3,000 apartments, a large school for 2,000 pupils, two kindergartens and a clinic here. In other words, all conditions are available to live here. A whole settlement has been built. About 12,000-15,000 people will live here. This once again indicates that social infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan are being implemented at a high level and with high quality.

As for our social policy as a whole, I have repeatedly said that our strong economy allows us the opportunity to implement all the projects and programs we have announced in the social sphere. I believe that last year was quite memorable in this regard. As you know, as a result of the increase in the minimum wage and minimum pensions, the financial situation of 4.2 million people, including those receiving state benefits, improved significantly last year. The minimum wage was doubled and the minimum pension was increased by 70 percent. Today, Azerbaijan ranks first in the CIS for the purchasing power of the minimum pension. Of course, we are still not pleased with the current level. I am sure that as a result of the measures taken, even more funds will be allocated in the future.

In parallel, social infrastructure projects are being implemented this year. This large settlement is one of them. At the same time, there are plans to provide internally displaced persons with a record number of apartments this year  7,000 apartments will be provided. Last year, 5,000 apartments were built. Martyr families will be provided with 1,500 apartments. I believe that martyr families that are in line today will receive apartments in the next few years and this program will end.

Other social projects are being implemented in our country, including those intended to improve social security and achieve transparency in this area. As you know, DOST centers are opening. Two centers are already in operation and their popular approval rating is quite high. The creation of more than 30 such centers as a whole will lead to great institutional progress in this area. In other words, since the social sector is a vast area, practical steps are being taken in every direction. The declared programs are being implemented and not a single promise remains unfulfilled. All promises are kept, and I am sure that even more ambitious work will be done in this direction both this year and in subsequent years.

- Our next question is related to the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the whole world. Azerbaijan is taking measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic. These measures are under your constant control and the public is updated on a regular basis and in detail. A message was also circulated yesterday. Mr. President, please tell us about the work done to date.

- You know, I have openly expressed my opinion about this. I want to say again that thanks to the adoption of preventive measures, we are keeping the situation under control now. However, we are all aware of the processes unfolding in the world. The pandemic has led to extremely tragic consequences even in large cities of developed countries. In some countries, hundreds of people die every day  500, 600 people. In other words, this shows that even the most developed countries cannot consider themselves fully insured against this situation. Therefore, I believe that the very specific decisions we have adopted and the roadmap allow us the opportunity to keep the situation under control. We started paying very serious attention to this issue from the very beginning. Even when the disease started spreading far from us, we already began preparatory work. As you know, the Task Force was immediately set up under the Cabinet of Ministers. This headquarters operates around the clock and on my instruction people are regularly updated about the measures being taken. At the same time, we are in direct contact with the World Health Organization. Representatives of this organization visited Azerbaijan at our invitation and got acquainted with the situation. They praised the work done by the government of Azerbaijan. Of course, their recommendations are important to us. Most of the decisions we make are based on their recommendations, experience and the negative experience of countries where the pandemic is widespread today. In other words, we should not and do not repeat these mistakes. All our land borders were immediately closed and specific steps were taken to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens from foreign countries. To date, 10,000 Azerbaijani citizens have returned to their homeland. The number of flights has fallen sharply. It is possible to say that very few flights are still operated today. All this is a part of preventive measures.

We have acquired new laboratories. Everyone probably knows that purchasing medical supplies and equipment has also become a problem because all countries want to buy them and there are not many manufacturers. Therefore, having obtained these laboratories in a timely manner and delivered tests to the country, we acquired great opportunities. More than 10 hospitals have been allocated for both quarantine and treatment of those infected with this disease. These hospitals are located both in Baku and in various regions of our country. Schools, kindergartens and universities have long been closed. Working hours of catering facilities have been limited. It would take a very long time to list all these measures. Reports about this are provided on a regular basis anyway.

To improve the financial situation of doctors serving patients and give a worthy assessment to their work, the issue of increasing their wages has been resolved. Their wages have been increased three to five times. Instructions have already been given and funds allocated. Taking this opportunity, I want to once again express my gratitude to Azerbaijani doctors. They are showing true heroism, putting their own lives and health on the line and serving their duty with dignity. I urge all citizens to support doctors. Also, addressing those infected with this disease  of course, we understand that both physical and psychological condition of these people is affected by the disease  I recommend that they be attentive to doctors.

In other words, all measures have been taken. I believe that the additional restrictive measures announced on 14 March and yesterday are a timely step because we are taking steps in accordance with the current situation. By taking measures to prevent the development of the situation in a negative direction, we also protect ourselves. We must protect the state, our people, citizens, especially the elderly. Their actions have also been limited to some extent. I believe that this can be understood because it is the elderly who are in the risk group.

To ensure that the lone and elderly people are provided for, social workers will be mobilized on my instructions and they will carry out this work. At the same time, taking this opportunity, I want to turn to the army of thousands of volunteers. I believe that our volunteers should also be involved in this work, keep in touch with the Task Force, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population. In any case, the ministry has also been instructed to provide older people with services at their place of residence  whether it is the provision of medicines or products  in order to protect lone and elderly people.

I believe that the customs and traditions, the national values of our people will help us in the fight against this virus because the elderly are always treated with a great deal of respect. They rarely live alone. There are not too many such people in Azerbaijan, approximately several thousand people. However, their provision will be organized as well.

In a nutshell, I think that all the work done so far represents the right steps taken in a timely manner. The state is doing and will continue to do everything possible. But a lot also depends on citizens in the fight against this tragic disease. I urge our citizens to be responsible, they must comply with the new rules, the special quarantine regime, and take this issue very seriously. They need to know that their health and the health of their loved ones is in their own hands. The state is doing everything possible but thanks to the responsibility and discipline of citizens, our struggle in this area will become even more focused and successful.

- Mr. President, a Fund to Support the Fight Against Coronavirus has been set up on your Decree. You and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva donated your annual salaries into this fund. This is a great example. Individuals and other entities are also transferring money into the fund. What is your assessment of this?

- You know, Azerbaijan is a pioneer country in this area. I was informed this morning that similar funds are also being set up in some other countries. We can only be glad because this is not the first time the initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan have been subsequently taken as a basis by other countries and led to the adoption of similar measures.

The main goal of the fund is to further strengthen national solidarity. It is no secret that Azerbaijan is a strong state today and we have fairly large financial opportunities. A vivid example of that is this beautiful urban development project. A lot of work requiring major funds is being done. The main goal behind establishing the fund is to ensure that everyone, within the limits of their capabilities, can show a civic position, solidarity and mercy, which are the main pillars of our society, so that we can show ourselves and the whole world that we are a great nation.

I am glad that despite the short period of time, donations into this fund already amount to large figures. When the fund was established, 20 million manats were allocated to it from the Presidents Contingency Fund. The fund has been receiving donations for several days now. However, I was informed last night that the fund has already accumulated 60 million manats. This is further evidence of high qualities of our people.

On my instructions, the names of all citizens, the names of companies and the amount of their donations are listed in alphabetical order on the koronavirusinfo.az web site. We are all equal, and regardless of the funds contributed, the names of all people and the names of all companies are published in alphabetical order.

Taking this opportunity, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all people and companies that have made donations into the fund. This shows our unity, our strength, demonstrates that together we will overcome this disease.

- Mr. President, one billion manats were allocated to the Cabinet of Ministers by your executive order. How will these funds contribute to stimulating the economy?

- Of course, we are thinking about that as well. Among the measures taken, employment issues are in the foreground because it is no secret that countries are now self-isolating, economic ties are being disrupted. Although a normal situation is still observed in cargo transportation, the weakening of economic ties and economic activity may certainly have an adverse impact primarily on employment. Therefore, the main goal of allocating one billion manats has been to provide support to entrepreneurs, to provide financial support to entrepreneurs affected by the disease and its consequences.

At the same time, we have already made very serious calls. Taking this opportunity, I want to once again appeal to all entrepreneurs not to lay off workers because in the current conditions this may run counter to our initiative of solidarity. Of course, if an entrepreneurs activity is restricted and he suffers losses, then the state should provide assistance. The state will do that. Due to the disease, special financial support will be provided to the most vulnerable groups of entrepreneurs, tax benefits and other privileges will be introduced. But our main requirement and recommendation is that entrepreneurs should not lay off workers. Therefore, people will be regularly updated on the spending of one billion manats. After all, employment issues are in the foreground here. It is necessary to ensure macroeconomic stability.

We started this year with good results, good indicators. Inflation is only at 2.8 percent, while household incomes have increased by 9 percent. The economy has increased by 2.8 percent, growth in the non-oil sector constitutes 6.7 percent. Industrial production in the non-oil sector has increased by 21.7 percent. In other words, we have started the year with excellent performance. Tax and customs authorities have collected over 250 million manats in excess of the forecast. However, we understand perfectly well that this trend is somewhat limited because we cannot grow at such a pace today. Therefore, these funds will be used to maintain a stable macroeconomic situation. At the same time, as I said, these funds will be used to develop entrepreneurship, provide support to entrepreneurs and maintain the stability of our overall financial situation. By taking this important step, Azerbaijan has become the first country in the region in this area too.

I want to reiterate that all the work being done by the state pursues one goal  we should overcome this difficult and complicated situation with minor losses. At the same time, all citizens should know  the experience of leading European countries also testifies to this  if there is no unity between the government and citizens, then we will have to experience the bitter consequences of this disease. Until now, we have always achieved development thanks to the unity between the people and the government. Today, it is this unity that is the main driving force for Azerbaijan. Our policy has always been supported by the people and we feel this support today. We require our citizens only to be responsible. We ask you to be responsible, to support your loved ones, to support representatives of the older generation, to take care of them, to take care of yourself and your children. A special quarantine regime was introduced yesterday, so you should observe it. I am sure that national solidarity, responsibility and our national unity will allow us to defeat this disease. Together we are strong.

- Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you for your comprehensive answers to our questions.

- Thank you!

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Elite hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier this month, in what a senior agency official said was a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks.

WHO chief information security officer Flavio Aggio said the identity of the hackers was unclear, but the effort was unsuccessful.

He warned that hacking attempts against the agency and its partners have soared as they battle to contain coronavirus, which has killed more than 15,000 worldwide.

The attempted break-in at the WHO was first flagged to Reuters by Alexander Urbelis, a cybersecurity expert and attorney with the New York-based Blackstone Law Group, which tracks suspicious internet domain registration activity.

There has been a significant increase in targeted cyberattacks on major global organisations amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Urbelis said he picked up on the activity around March 13, when a group of hackers he'd been following activated a malicious site mimicking the WHO's internal email system.

'I realised quite quickly that this was a live attack on the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic,' he said.

Urbelis said he didn't know who was responsible, but two other sources briefed on the matter said they suspected an advanced group of hackers known as DarkHotel, which has been conducting cyber-espionage operations since at least 2007.

Messages sent to email addresses maintained by the hackers went unreturned.

The WHO issued a warning that hackers are posing as the agency to steal money and data

When asked by Reuters about the incident, the WHO's Aggio confirmed that the site spotted by Urbelis had been used in an attempt to steal passwords from multiple agency staffers.

'There has been a big increase in targeting of the WHO and other cybersecurity incidents,' Aggio said in a telephone interview.

'There are no hard numbers, but such compromise attempts against us and the use of WHO impersonations to target others have more than doubled.'

The WHO published an alert last month - available here: https://www.who.int/about/communications/cyber-security

It warns that hackers are posing as the agency to steal money and sensitive information from the public.

The motives in the case identified by Reuters aren't clear.

Other global governments who have been targeted included China, North Korea, Japan, and the US

United Nations agencies, the WHO among them, are regularly targeted by digital espionage campaigns and Aggio declined to say who precisely at the organization the hackers had in their sights.

Cybersecurity firms including Romania's Bitdefender and Moscow-based Kaspersky said they have traced many of DarkHotel's operations to East Asia - an area that has been particularly affected by the coronavirus.

Specific targets have included government employees and business executives in places such as China, North Korea, Japan, and the United States.

Costin Raiu, head of global research and analysis at Kaspersky, could not confirm that DarkHotel was responsible for the WHO attack, but said the same malicious web infrastructure had also been used to target other healthcare and humanitarian organisations in recent weeks.

'At times like this, any information about cures or tests or vaccines relating to coronavirus would be priceless and the priority of any intelligence organisation of an affected country,' he said.

Officials and cybersecurity experts have warned that hackers of all stripes are seeking to capitalise on international concern over the spread of the coronavirus.

Urbelis said he has tracked thousands of coronavirus-themed web sites being set up daily, many of them obviously malicious.

'It's still around 2,000 a day,' he said. 'I have never seen anything like this.'
SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Council held its first electronic meeting Monday after it suspended in-person public attendance due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The council members, with the exception of Councilman Alex Watters, who participated by phone, sat at the desk in the council chambers spaced apart. City Manager Bob Padmore and City Attorney Nicole DuBois, who usually also sit at the desk, sat in chairs facing it. Members of the public were able to express concerns by calling a telephone conference number and watch the meeting live on Sparklight Cable Community Channel 56 and YouTube.

"This is very inconvenient, but because of the times we're in, we're forced to do the council meetings this way," Mayor Bob Scott said. "Hopefully we'll be back soon to regular meetings. We apologize to the public. This is not something, obviously, that we wanted to do, but is just because of the times. We're going to continue to do it this way until the governor gives us permission not to."

The move to electronic meetings came on the heels of a health emergency declaration issued Friday by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that provides additional regulatory relief to Iowans who have been impacted by the pandemic, including allowing government at all levels to hold public meetings via electronic means. The declaration follows an order Reynolds issued March 17, prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people through March 31.

"And for those of you that think the City Council or the city manager or the police department have the power to actually tell people to stay home, we don't under the Iowa ordinance, only the governor can declare those type of emergencies," said Scott, who said he received four or five emails from citizens asking him to intervene.

Councilwoman Julie Schoenherr said she appreciates how the community is pulling together in such a difficult situation.

"I'd like everyone to stay strong and try to be as positive as possible," she said. "I just want to thank everyone for presenting the strong city that we are."

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Until recently, historians doubted that a debt jubilee would have been possible in practice, or that such proclamations could have been enforced. But Assyriologists have found that from the beginning of recorded history in the Near East, it was normal for new rulers to proclaim a debt amnesty upon taking the throne. Instead of blowing a trumpet, the ruler "raised the sacred torch" to signal the amnesty.

It is now understood that these rulers were not being utopian or idealistic in forgiving debts. The alternative would have been for debtors to fall into bondage. Kingdoms would have lost their labor force, since so many would be working off debts to their creditors. Many debtors would have run away (much as Greeks emigrated en masse after their recent debt crisis), and communities would have been prone to attack from without.

The parallels to the current moment are notable. The U.S. economy has polarized sharply since the 2008 crash. For far too many, their debts leave little income available for consumer spending or spending in the national interest. In a crashing economy, any demand that newly massive debts be paid to a financial class that has already absorbed most of the wealth gained since 2008 will only split our society further.
An employee at Auburn University at Montgomery has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the university said Monday.

Auburn University at Montgomery said the employee, who has been self-isolating at home since they reported potential exposure, was not believed to have had contact with students. The school notified the employees colleagues who may have been exposed and asked them to self-quarantine for 14 days.

The employee, who was not identified, was last on the Montgomery campus last week, the university said.

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Pompeo arrives in Afghanistan in bid to help salvage US-Taliban deal

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 8:08 AM

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Afghanistan on a trip that aims to save the so-called peace deal signed between the Taliban and the United States.

Pompeo, who landed in Kabul on Monday on a previously unannounced visit, will meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah.

Under the deal signed in the Qatari capital, Doha, late last month, the Taliban agreed to sever ties with al-Qaeda and other terror groups and sit down for peace talks with the Afghan government. In return, Washington will start a phased withdrawal of troops.

The February 29 deal was primarily aimed at reducing violence in the war-torn country, but violence has escalated with the militants carrying out dozens of deadly attacks across the country.

In the latest incident, at least two dozen Afghan security forces and policemen were killed and several others went missing after "Taliban infiltrators" attacked them in an army base in southern Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Pomepo's visit aims to resolve the impasse created in the so-called peace process as the country's leaders have not yet reached an agreement over who was elected president in the September 2019 disputed election.

Ghani and Abdullah have recently held rival swearing-in ceremonies. The two rivals had earlier postponed their plans to hold parallel inauguration ceremonies to allow for more time to resolve their differences over the 2019 vote.

During his visit, Pompeo will seek to help end the stalemate, which has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks in which the Taliban would be included.

Those talks are viewed as a crucial next step in the so-called peace deal, negotiated to allow the United States to withdraw its troops and give Afghans the best chance at peace.

The United States said it would reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 from the current 13,000 within 135 days of signing the deal, and work with its allies to reduce the number of their forces over that period.

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Safer at Home. Its a slogan of choice for the mandatory confinement measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. But its not true for everyone.

As the worlds families hunker down, theres another danger, less obvious but just as insidious, that worries advocates and officials: a potential spike in domestic violence as victims spend day and night trapped at home with their abusers, with tensions rising, nowhere to escape, limited or no access to friends or relatives  and no idea when it will end.

An abuser will use anything in their toolbox to exert their power and control, and COVID-19 is one of those tools, said Crystal Justice, who oversees development at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a 24/7 national hotline in the United States.

In cities and towns everywhere, concern is high, and meaningful numbers are hard to come by. In some cases, officials worry about a spike in calls, and in others, about a drop in calls, which might indicate that victims cannot find a safe way to reach out for help.

On a normal day, 1,800 to 2,000 people will call that national hotline. That number hasnt changed, but that doesnt surprise organizers. After natural disasters like earthquakes, Justice says, its only when schools and workplaces reopen that people are finally able to reach out.

More significant, she says, is that more than 700 people who called the hotline between last Wednesday and Sunday cited the coronavirus as a condition of their experience. Some of the out-of-the-ordinary anecdotes staffers are hearing include abusers preventing their partners from going to their jobs in health care, or blocking them from needed health care services or from accessing safety tools like gloves or sanitizer.

In Los Angeles, officials have been bracing for a spike in abuse. When cabin fever sets in, give it a week or two, people get tired of seeing each other and then you might have domestic violence, said Alex Villanueva, the sheriff of Los Angeles County.

We started getting on this as soon as soon as we started seeing the handwriting on the wall, said Patti Giggans, executive director of the nonprofit Peace Over Violence in Los Angeles.

Before the statewide lockdown, the nonprofit began preparing online counseling sessions, and reaching out to clients to suggest ways to keep in contact  perhaps phone calls to counselors from a bathroom or during a walk, if an abuser is in the home.

In one recent case, Giggans said a woman showed up at the emergency room after a domestic violence incident, and Peace Over Violence staff had to talk to her over the phone to get her to safety in another county.

Because of virus measures, advocates cant show up at the police station now. We cant show up at the hospital, Giggans said. She said her staff has been told that shelters are taking peoples temperatures when they show up. The shelters are also working on plans to limit the proximity of people, in order to maintain social distancing, she said.

Such conditions are also an issue in Illinois, where shelters, already at capacity, were moving beds further apart to follow CDC guidelines.

One of the key challenges of this health pandemic is that home isnt a safe place for everyone, said Amanda Pyron, executive director of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, based in Chicago. Victims and the abusers have to stay at the scene of the crime. The group helps run a statewide 24-hour hotline, which has seen a spike in the average number of daily calls, from about 60 to 90, since confinement orders went into effect last weekend.

Similar concerns have arisen in hard-hit continental Europe. In France, its an explosive cocktail, says Nathalie Tomasini, a leading lawyer for domestic violence victims there. Being trapped in an apartment with an abusive partner, she said, is akin to a prison with no open window.

Today were confronted with  a form of war, Tomasini said. In wars of the past, men were on the front. Now theyre at home. Its not the same war.

At the National Federation of Womens Solidarity, which runs Frances hotline, director Francoise Brie said that calls had dropped sharply from the usual 350 or 400 during the first week of confinement  though it remains too early to measure confinements precise effects.

We expect more serious acts, more repeated acts, more numerous, Brie said.

And at the group Women Safe, theres been an uptick in calls. One change, said Frederique Martz, who runs the group: Domestic violence victims are no longer being referred to hospitals which are all saturated with coronavirus cases.

In Spain, another country reeling from the virus, the Justice Ministry has stressed that no court will close during the crisis and that gender violence is among the key areas receiving special attention. There has been an uptick in domestic violence calls to the countrys national 016 hotline, said Carmen Benito, president of Women Against Mistreatment.

Women are much more vulnerable now, Benito said. Some women have called us from the bathroom, asking what will happen if they leave, where can they go and if the government services are still working.

In addition to intimate partner violence, concerns have also been raised about child abuse. In jurisdictions everywhere, the chief worry is not only that coronavirus tensions could trigger more abuse, but that with kids out of school, more cases could go unreported or unnoticed.

Calls to Missouris child abuse and neglect hotline dropped by half as the virus first struck the state, from about 680 calls the week of March 12 to about 320 the following week.

If kids are not at school, those reports arent getting made, said Jessica Seitz, public policy director for the advocacy group Missouri Kids First. Thats really a crack in the system.

Jennifer Tidball, Missouris acting social services director, said that while its normal for calls to decrease when school is out, this is much more than we would have expected.

Minnesota has seen a 30% drop in reports, according to the states Department of Human Services, which said it was deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on children and families across Minnesota. And calls reporting child abuse have sharply dropped in Georgia, too, according to data from the states Division of Family and Children Services, which usually handles about 300 reports a day. Last Thursday, it handled 120.

Without educators in place, We really need neighbors to check on next-door children and children in the neighborhood, said Tom Rawlings, the divisions director.

Back at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which is based in Austin, Texas but has staff working remotely now, advocates are urging people in potentially risky situations to use the more discreet chat and text options available on their website, and to formulate a personal safety plan. This could include setting up a standing call with relatives or establishing a code phrase to signal an emergency.

Advocates like Justice say its far too early to link the saga of coronavirus isolation to any long-term trends. But theyre hardly filled with optimism.

We know this is affecting survivors, she says. It doesnt necessarily mean NEW abuse is happening, but we know that abusers will use any tool at their disposal.

And isolation is one of the strongest tools.

___

AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck writes frequently about gender issues. Follow her on Twitter at @JocelynNoveckAP. Contributing to this report were Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida; Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Elaine Ganley in Paris; Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Spain; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
For many families that we represent in this broad coalition, our families have been living through crisis for generations, Johnson said. And thats why its apparent and its very much necessary that we have a progressive response to not just the crisis thats at hand, but making sure we are putting forth policy to transform the lives of families who have been at the margins for generations beyond this pandemic.
Editor, Advertiser:

This area of Connecticut (District 26) has absolutely benefited by the energetic and obvious intelligence of state Sen. Will Haskell. I attended a Senior Mens Club of New Canaan meeting where Sen. Haskell addressed a wide range of subjects and answered specific questions on local, regional and state matters. His deep understanding of issues, the ability to cite detailed financial figures and metrics, and processes in the states governance, is something rarely seen and certainly was not illustrated at any time by his predecessor. His positive actions and communications are absolutely necessary steps toward correcting the states many problems, instead of the false premises and complaints of his predecessor. Many of those falsehoods, by that now unelected individual, have been and are periodically still printed in this newspaper, unchallenged.

We have recently been inundated by misinformation and fabrications from President Trump and his subservient courtiers since the early stages of the COVID-19/coronavirus. To address Connecticut citizens real concerns, desiring factual information, Sen. Haskell hosted a very beneficial information and call-in session. It was excellent to witness a politician growing into a commanding leadership role so rapidly and with such skill. The nationally respected Congressman Jim Himes also organized an effort to bring truthful and vital information to the remaining citizens of Connecticut. Additionally, New Canaans own Emergency Preparedness Director, Mike Handler, is doing an excellent job in keeping the towns citizens fully informed of the many actions he and other individuals are undertaking to usher us through this difficult time.

Please, remember what we benefit by having Sen. Will Haskell in Hartford, as the Republican Party puts forth another ill-equipped person to try and replace him. The last one we had, for far too many years, touted her executive experience in a group that helped devolve GE into a minor shadow of its former strength. I would invite you to view the history of the Republicans current offering for our senators position. Lets not step back to a time where the citizens of our district have little say in the states legislative process as they only held up disproved solutions for our numerous issues.

Sen. Haskell, thank you for positive and professional work on our behalf. Times like these show us the real leaders who can move us forward.

Joel Reynolds
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for a nationwide lockdown starting midnight to contain the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 10 lives in India and has infected 515. The duration of the lockdown will be 21 days for 1.2 billion citizens, PM Modi said.

Providing a rationale behind this major step, Modi said that it was necessitated due to the severity of the situation. "It took 67 days for the number of infected cases to rise to 100,000. But, it took only 11 days for the next 100,000 cases to emerge. And, it took just four days for the 300,000 cases to ...
Cruise Ship With 42 Passengers Reporting Flu-Like Symptoms Headed to Florida

A cruise ship with dozens of people showing flu-like symptoms is heading to Florida, its operator said.

A total of 42 passengers and crew members on Holland Americas Zaandam reported influenza-like symptoms, the cruise ship company said in a statement. All guests have been asked to stay in their cabins until more information is discovered about the cases.

Since it is flu season, and COVID-19 testing is not available on board, it is difficult to determine the cause of these elevated cases at this time, Holland America said.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the new virus from China, which The Epoch Times refers to as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Everyone who reported feeling sick has been isolated and their close contacts have been quarantined. Other passengers were told to report to the ships medical center if they develop symptoms. Crew members who arent required for the safe operation of the ship are being quarantined.

Zaandam, which is carrying 1,243 passengers and has 586 crew members, departed Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7. The ship was originally supposed to end the trip in Chile on March 21. Company officials were told that passengers could get off in Punta Arenas, Chile, to board flights to their home countries, but passengers werent allowed to disembark when the ship arrived.

Zaandam sailed to Valparaiso, another city in Chile, and remained out of port while taking on provisions and fuel on March 20 and March 21 before departing and sailing north.

Our intention is to proceed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for arrival on March 30, however we are still working on securing a reservation to transit the Panama Canal. Alternative options are also being developed, Holland America said.

An answering machine at Holland America said its office was closed.

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale is currently open and operational, according to its website. A unified command had been put into place and cruise ships entering the port require concurrent approvals from a number of agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Port Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the command would make the final decision on whether the Zaandam enters the port.

The ship is still pretty far away, so it is too early to determine, she said.

Most cruise lines have halted ships slated to depart from or arrive in the United States but some two dozen that were already out at sea at that time still havent docked.

The Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is in lock down while health authorities test a man for COVID-19 in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 14, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Ship Docks in Hawaii

Another ship that was out at sea, Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Jewel, arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday. The ship was one of two initially blocked by authorities in the state.

Passengers disembarked Monday and boarded chartered flights home. The approximately 1,000 crew members will remain on board.

There were no confirmed or even suspected cases of COVID-19 on board, the cruise line said.

Harry Sommer, CEO of Norwegian, thanked Hawaiian officials for letting the passengers disembark.

The spirit of Aloha is alive and well. We have been sailing the Hawaiian Islands for over 15 years, drawing well over 100,000 travelers to the state each year. We look forward to returning and to continuing to celebrate the culture, history and people of Hawaii, he said.

The Norwegian Jewel was the last vessel in the companys fleet with guests aboard at sea.

All ships will soon be berthed in ports around the world until the temporary sailing suspension is lifted, the company said.
Photo: Matthew LeJune/Unsplash

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in San Antonio.

San Antonio residents ordered to stay at home except for crucial errands, businesses

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff have directed non-essential businesses to close and directed residents to remain in their homes in hopes of slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston.

SAPD: Pickaxe-wielding man shot dead after confronting officer

The officer was responding to a family disturbance call on the west side.

Read the full story on KENS5.

4 people shot at while sitting in car; 1 hospitalized, police say

One man was hospitalized after he and three other people were shot at early Monday morning on the far North Side.

Read the full story on Graham Media: KSAT 12 .

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
In response to the overwhelming number of requests and the continued evolving coronavirus state of emergency, SHARE Village Las Vegas (formerly known as Veterans Village Las Vegas) announced today that its pantry services will expand to 7 days a week and will continue without interruption until further notice.

Located at 50 N. 21st, Las Vegas NV, 89101, individuals in need of food assistance can visit the SHARE Village Las Vegas Pantry seven days a week from 10 a.m. to noon.

The extensive number of layoffs and furloughs of our gaming and hospitality industry workers has presented a much greater need than anticipated in Las Vegas, said SHARE Village Las Vegas Founder Arnold Stalk. We have seen a 500% increase in food and nutrition requests in the past week. We are here to serve the Las Vegas community in any way we can. That includes services for Veteran and seniors as needed.

SHARE Villages food rescue program will continue without interruption as well. Its innovative food rescue program allows SHARE Village Las Vegas to collect food rescue items utilizing its fleet of emergency food service trucks each night, including nightly pick-ups from participating Starbucks locations, hotel/casino partners and grocers in Las Vegas.

SHARE Village Las Vegas is the only non-profit charitable organization in Las Vegas to offer 24/7/365 emergency and crisis intervention services. For additional information regarding SHARE Village Las Vegas and its services, please visit www.sharelasvegas.org.
CALIFORNIA - PG&E said it is donating supplies to hospitals and money to nonprofits in a way to help during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company will be donating thousands of N-95 and surgical masks to hospitals around California, including some from employees' personal emergency kits.

As a company and as individuals, we recognize the need to support the medical community and all theyre doing to help safeguard the health and safety of our fellow Californians, said Andy Vesey, PG&E CEO and President. "This crisis is unprecedented, but we know that our path forward requires us working together and helping medical professionals and first responders on the front lines of the pandemic. Helping our state and local communities is part of who we are at PG&E. Its the right thing to do."

Beyond the supplies, PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation will donate a combined $1 million to nonprofits for people experiencing food insecurity, small businesses, coronavirus relief funds, food banks, senior meal programs among others.

The $1 million comes from shareholder funds, not customers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 13:17:23|Editor: Xiaoxia

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WASHINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. first lady Melania Trump has tested for the coronavirus and the result is negative, President Donald Trump told reporters Monday at the White House.

"She's fine," Trump said when asked at a news briefing about the first lady's condition, "negative, yes."

This is the first time Trump has confirmed that his wife is uninfected with the disease. He himself tested negative as well.

"The first lady was tested on the same night as President Trump was tested, out of an abundance of caution. The test was negative," CNN quoted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham as saying.

Trump underwent the test on March 13. First daughter Ivanka Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence have also tested for the virus and the results are all negative.

Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his entourage at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this month. The president dined with Bolsonaro and his press secretary, who later tested positive for COVID-19.

Ivanka Trump took the test after learning that an Australian official she met in early March tested positive for COVID-19.

The first lady, also as a senior adviser to the president, worked from home for a week out of caution and returned to her job at the White House on Friday.

A staff member of Pence's office recently tested positive for the virus, but Pence said Saturday that White House doctor had "no reason to believe" he was exposed to the sickened individual. The vice president is now leading the White House coronavirus task force.

The disease has also spread to Capitol Hill, hitting lawmakers in both chambers of Congress.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Republican from the state of Kentucky, confirmed Sunday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the first member of the upper chamber of Congress to contract the virus.

Currently under self-quarantine, Paul is asymptomatic and expects to return to work after the isolation, according to a statement on his official Twitter account.

The senator's contraction came as two members of the House, Republican Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Democrat Ben McAdams of Utah, tested positive last Wednesday.

Confirmed cases and fatalities both have been surging nationwide, reaching 46,332 and 610, respectively, according to the latest data released by Johns Hopkins University updated Monday at 10:49 p.m. ET.
Authorities in Hubei province, China, have announced that they will ease travel restrictions in most parts of the region, bringing a two-month lockdown to an end.

The coronavirus outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, in December last year.

The Hubei Health Commission has said that outgoing travellers with health clearance will be able to leave from midnight on Tuesday.

However, Wuhan, which has been in total lockdown since 23 January, will maintain its travel restrictions until 8 April.

The announcement by officials in Hubei province came as other parts of China are set to heighten their restrictions, following an increase in the number of imported infections.

Of the 78 new cases confirmed by the Chinese National Health Commission on Monday, 74 of them were imported infections.

This marks a increase on the 39 imported infections reported on Sunday and brings the total number of infections brought from overseas to 427.

Beijing has been particularly hard-hit by the new cases announced on Monday.

The government said on Tuesday that everyone arriving from abroad will have to undergo quarantine and health checks.



Shenzhen, a city in the south, also said it will test all arrivals, while the territory of Macau will stop visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan from entering.

There are fears that China may experience a second wave of coronavirus cases, as restrictions are lifted and people return to work to help the economy.

The state-run China Daily said in an editorial on Tuesday that keeping strict restrictions on peoples movements in place would "now do more harm than good".

Coronavirus has killed more than 3,200 people in China and caused over 81,000 cases.

Agencies contributed to this report
Expressing concern over the plight of construction workers after the country-wide lockdown over coronavirus, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce emergency measures, including wage support to those in distress.

In a letter to the prime minister, Gandhi said over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a "precarious" future as many of them are stranded in cities and are deprived of livelihood due to the lockdown.

In a separate letter to the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, the Congress chief urged them to ensure urgent wage support to construction workers who are now deprived of work due to the restrictions.

She said the country is in the midst of the worst global pandemic and this has necessitated stringent measures for containment and management of the COVID-19 transmission.

"These measures have led to widespread economic disruptions that had a debilitating impact on the informal sector," she said in her letter to Modi.

Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31, to check the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The Congress president said that over the last year, lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have left for their home towns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn.

"As the second largest employer in India, over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a precarious future. Many are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihoods due to the stringent lock down measures," Gandhi told the PM.

The Congress chief said several countries around the world, most notably Canada, have announced wage subsidy measures as part of COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

"Considering the extraordinary circumstance, I request you to consider advising the State Building and other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency measures, particularly wage support to the construction workers who are in distress," Gandhi urged the prime minister.

She said the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 provides for various welfare measures for workers.

The Act also provides for constitution of state welfare boards and the constitution of welfare fund, she said, noting that it is reported that the welfare boards collected cess amounting to Rs 49,688 crore till March 31, 2019.

She said only an amount of Rs 19,379 crore had been spent.

In her letter to Congress chief ministers, she commended their tireless efforts towards responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This public health emergency has triggered a severe economic downturn that threatens the livelihoods of millions, she noted.

"The construction sector is still reeling under the twin blow of demonetisation and GST, and slowdown triggered by COVID-19 is likely to further deepen the crisis. While lakhs of migrant workers fled large cities over the last week due to panic and stoppage of work, many are left stranded due to stringent lockdown measures and closure of public transport. Given their dependence of daily wages, it is important to provide urgent wage support to construction workers who have been deprived of work," she wrote to the CMs.

"At this juncture, it is critical to ensure that workers are given the benefits they are entitled to under various statutory provisions," she said.

State Welfare Boards set up under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 have a large pool of unutilised funds collected through the levy of Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess, she told the Congress chief ministers.

Given that a significant amount of cess lies unutilised, the State Welfare Boards may consider providing wage support to their registered beneficiaries, Gandhi told the chief ministers.

Several countries around the world, most notably Canada has announced wage subsidy measures as part of its COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, she said.

"In light of the extraordinary circumstance, I urge you to advise the State Welfare Boards to take necessary action at the earliest. Kindly keep me informed of progress in this matter," she told the CMs.

Gandhi wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its been a tough few weeks for all kinds of restaurants and the people who patronize them. Whether a fast food chain or a Michelin-starred fine dining establishment, Coronavirus-inspired shutdowns have spared no corner of the restaurant biz. A lot of places have had to get creative, with even those who once looked down on the idea of takeout trying whatever they can to get their food to customers.

In the case of Chick-fil-A that means enlisting the help of a truck. And were not talking about a regular-issue food truck, but an 18-wheeler drive-thru truck that will serve up menu favorites like spicy chicken sandwiches and waffle fries among other delights. A mobile Chick-fil-A location, in essence.

According to the Detroit Free Press, this big rig full of chicken will be making its way to Troy, Michigan, parking at the Somerset Collection mall from 10 AM to 7PM on Monday through Saturday for the time being. Even in the midst of a COVID-19 crisis, Chick-fil-A is sticking to its guns and remaining closed on Sundays.

While Chick-fil-A does seem to operate smaller food trucks, this big rig is by far the largest in its fleet. That makes the fact that its headed to Detroit from the companys Atlanta base of operations kind of a big deal.

The Chick-Fil-A truck could have gone anywhere in the US, and we are deeply honored they decided to bring it to Somerset Collection for our community, Nathan Forbes, Managing Partner of The Forbes Company, which owns and manages Somerset Collection, told the Free Press. They have been a model partner as weve worked together to support the community and we are thrilled to complement their newest gesture with The Detroit Shoppe.

Its unclear how long such a big truck full of Chick-fil-A will be taking orders in Troy, but its good to know that chicken sandwiches can be brought to the people in a time like this. Heres to hoping Chick-fil-A finds a way to spread that goodness around the country until the Coronavirus is in the rearview mirror.
Taiwan COVID-19 cases rise to 195 with 26 new infections (update)

ROC Central News Agency

03/23/2020 04:36 PM

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Taiwan confirmed 26 new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus Monday, bringing its total number to 195, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.

Among the new patients, only one is believed to have been infected locally, while the others are deemed to have contracted the virus overseas, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (), who heads the CECC.

The local infection occurred in a woman in her 30s, who is believed to have caught the virus from her boyfriend, Chen said, adding that the couple lives together.

She is the fifth confirmed case in a cluster of infections at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institute, according to the CECC.

In that cluster of five, a professor in his 50s who was in the United States on a business trip March 1-10, was identified as the source, the CECC said.

The three other people in the cluster are students who were in a recent meeting with the professor, the CECC said.

Meanwhile, the 25 imported cases confirmed Monday are all Taiwanese citizens -- 13 females and 12 males -- with the youngest being a four-year-old boy and oldest a woman in her 70s, the CECC said.

Their travel history includes recent trips to the U.S., Spain, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the CECC said.

As of Monday, 158 of the 195 confirmed cases in Taiwan had been classified as imported, Chen said, adding that many Taiwanese working and traveling overseas have been returning home due to a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in other countries.

With this influx of returning Taiwanese expected to continue over the next two weeks, initial health screenings on arrival at airports and home quarantine are the "first line of defense," he said.

Failure to comply with Taiwan's current regulations, which require arrivals to provide accurate information about their travel history and health condition, may result in a maximum fine of NT$150,000 (US$4,897), Chen warned.

Inbound travelers are advised not take antipyretics before arrival to hide a fever, he added.

Currently, 29 of the 195 coronavirus patients in Taiwan have been released from quarantine, while two have died. The others are still in negative pressure rooms in hospitals but are all in a relatively stable condition, according to the CECC.

Globally, over 329,597 COVID-19 cases and at least 14,484 deaths had been reported in 167 countries/territories worldwide, as of Monday, according to the CECC.

(By Chen Wei-ting and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/pc



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Two of the worlds biggest oilfield service companies are warning of a bigger shale crash than the one that hit the U.S. and Canada just five years ago.

While the decline in North American drilling rigs could approach the lows seen in 2016, the drop could be much faster this time around, Schlumberger Ltd. told analysts and investors Tuesday on a webcast hosted by Scotia Howard Weil. And as the most financially troubled oilfield service providers seek to stay afloat, theres not much help this time around, Halliburton Co. said on the same webcast.

Investors cheered plans by both companies to significantly slash spending. Halliburton soared as much as 33% for a history-beating advance, while Schlumberger climbed 11%.

Wall Street is shut to the industry, Lance Loeffler, chief financial officer at Houston-based Halliburton, said during the webcast. There is no more lifeline. Financial markets arent lending their support.

Halliburton, which generates most of its business in the U.S. and Canada and leads the world in fracking, is planning for the possibility that nearly two thirds of rigs in the region could be shut down by the final three months of the year. Schlumberger, the worlds biggest overall oilfield services provider, said its slashing its own spending by as much as 30% in 2020.

North America, which has been roiled by contractions in the past, may see a sharper, more abrupt cut in drilling before the end of the second quarter, Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch said on the call.

Were acting sharply and decisively in this context, he said. It will reach in a matter of weeks the trough, where it took a year or six months to reach a trough last time.

While changes to rig activity generally lag the movement of oil prices by several months, shale explorers have wasted no time cutting where they can. Oil drilling in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, home to the worlds biggest shale patch, plunged to its lowest level since the nadir of the last crude-market slump in early 2016.

At its worst, the U.S. rig count could see a 70% drop over a six-month period, eclipsing the greater than 60% cut in 1986, according to Raymond James.

We believe OFS companies and investors need to prepare themselves for activity to fall at an unprecedented rate, Praveen Narra, an analyst at Raymond James, wrote Monday in a note to investors. We believe that E&Ps attention to free cash flow, as well as several with credit issues, will force spending reductions that are far more drastic than in previous downcycles.
By IANS

NEW DELHI/DHAKA: The government on Tuesday advised Kashmiri students stranded on India-Bangladesh border to return to Dhaka in view of their own safety and the risks to other people due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A group of 70 Kashmiri students studying in Dhaka are stranded at Benaport, the border area between India and Bangladesh, after their colleges were shut due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has left over 16500 people dead worldwide.

India went for a countrywide lockdown on Monday with curfew at many places to ensure social distancing and homestay. The government has also suspended international flights, sealed all the borders, ports and entry points, in a bid to contain the epidemic. So far, over 510 people have tested positive and 10 people died in India due to COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan city of Hubei province in China over three months ago.

Around 7000 to 10,000 Kashmiri youth study in Bangladesh, out of which most have returned to Kashmir in the last couple of months, sources said.

Official sources in the ministry of external affairs acknowledged that there were videos circulating in social media of a group of Indian students in Bangladesh wanting to cross the India-Bangladesh border at Benapole.

"In view of the advisory on restrictions in movements from other countries into India and within India itself, border crossings are suspended. Students are therefore advised to go back to their hostels in the interest of their health and safety and also of the community," an official said.

"The Principal of the college has denied reports that students have been asked to vacate the hostel and has confirmed that they would be accommodated in the hostels. The students reached the border despite advice to the contrary by the High Commission of India in Bangladesh and knowing fully well the restrictions in force in India due to Covid-19," sources said.

Such large number of Kashmiris study in Bangladesh primarily because of several reasons. After the Pakistan sponsored Islamist militancy hit Kashmir's education system badly, parents began sending their children for education across India and to neighboring countries. "Since Kashmiris prefer white collar jobs, especially medicine, there weren't any easy and cheap options in India. Getting into medical colleges is highly competent and also expensive here. So many parents sent their children to Central Asian countries and Russia to study MBBS. However, Russian degrees in medicine were not recognized by Medical Council of India. So the next best option was medical colleges in the neighborhood. Though Pakistan offered special scholarships for Kashmiri students, security clearance remains a problem. That is why Bangladesh has been easier and far more accessible," Javed, a Kashmiri parent said.

In 2009, around 10 to 15 Kashmiri students went to Bangladesh. By 2016, the number rose to 500 and in the last few years, around 900 students go every year on an average.

Bangladesh is a popular destination for Kashmiri students, also because many rely on scholarships offered to India under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). "Moreover, Bangladesh, unlike Central Asia, is culturally similar to many places in India. Indian languages like Hindi and Urdu are easily understood, food is similar, colleges are English medium and travel is affordable. Above all, Bangladesh is also Muslim-dominated and therefore more comfortable and relatable," Touseef, a young career consultant in Srinagar said.
Tudor Gold Responds to COVID-19

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Tudor Gold Corp. (TSXV: TUD) (FSE: TUC) (the "Company" or "Tudor Gold") is pleased to announce that the company has sufficient funds to execute a significantly larger drilling and exploration program, than the 2019 program, on the Goldstorm Zone at Treaty Creek project this year. With the capital raised in December 2019, as well as the recent warrants exercises, the Company has a good cash position to execute a fully funded and very ambitious drill program at Treaty Creek this year. The company is currently in the final stages of finalizing all preparations needed for the upcoming 2020 drill program at Treaty Creek.

Tudor Gold's Vice President of Project Development, Ken Konkin, P.Geo., states: "The Goldstorm system is currently open at depth and along the northeast axis of the mineralized body. The drill program is designed to extend and to explore the limits of Goldstrom system to the southeast as well as to the northeast and to depth. We anticipate drilling approximately 18,000 to 20,000 metres of HQ and NQ diameter core from 7-10 drill platforms with four diamond drill rigs. Compared to the drill program last year (14 diamond drill holes over 9,781.8 meters), the planned 2020 drill program will be much larger."

The current known length of the northeast axis of the Goldstorm System is over 850 meters long and the southeast axis is at least 600m across. The system remains open in all directions and to depth. The best mineralization encountered to date is from the two consecutive 150m step-out holes to the Northeast: GS-19-42 yielded 0.849 g/t Au Eq over 780 m with 1.275 g/t Au Eq over 370.5m and GS-19-47 yielded 0.697 g/t Au Eq over 1,081.5m with 0.867 g/t Au Eq over 301.5m.

The best southeast extension came from GS-19-52 which yielded 0.783 g/t Au Eq over 601.5m intercept with 1.062 g/t Au Eq over 336.0m intercept. (results from the company's NR dated March 3rd, 2020).

Tudor Gold response to COVID-19:

The Company has introduced additional precautionary steps to manage and respond to the risks associated with COVID-19 virus. This includes, for example the cancellation of all non-essential global travel and the reducing in person meetings and transitioning to teleconferencing where possible. Vancouver office staff are now working from home until government advisories change.

Tudor Gold is regularly monitoring the situation and following local and national health authority requirements and recommendations.

Walter Storm, President and CEO of Tudor Gold stated: "We are taking all appropriate measures to protect the safety, health and well-being of our people and all those who interact with our business. Tudor Gold is following guidance and directives as updated by federal, regional and provincial health authorities in respect of general and drill-site specific protocols. We are very fortunate to have a strong balance sheet amidst the volatile market created by COVID-19."

Qualified Person

The Qualified Person for this news release for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 is the Company's Vice President of Project Development, Ken Konkin, P.Geo. He has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this news release.

About Tudor Gold

Tudor Gold is a precious and base metals explorer with properties in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, an area that hosts producing and past-producing mines and several large deposits that are approaching potential development. The 17,913 hectare Treaty Creek project (in which Tudor Gold has a 60% interest) borders Seabridge Gold Inc.'s KSM property to the southwest and borders Pretium Resources Inc.'s Brucejack property to the southeast. The Company also has a 60% interest in the Electrum Project, earn in options and 100% interests in other prospective projects located in the Golden Triangle area.

"Walter Storm"

Walter Storm

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.tudor-gold.com or contact:

Catalin Kilofliski

Director Corporate Development and Communications

Tel. 604-559-8092

Email: catalin@tudor-gold.com

Carsten Ringler

Manager Investor Relations

Phone: +49 1726918274

E-Mail: carsten.ringler@tudor-gold.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.

Cautionary Statements regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the completion and anticipated results of planned exploration activities, and plans to derive mineral resource estimates. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company's planned exploration activities will be completed in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities; fluctuating gold prices; possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays; exploration cost overruns; risks associated with the interpretation of data regarding the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the uncertainty of the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits and the risk of unexpected variations in any mineral resources, grade and/or recovery rates; availability of capital and financing; general economic, market or business conditions; regulatory changes; timeliness of government or regulatory approvals; and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

The Company expressly 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 otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53742
South Arts, the nonprofit regional arts service organization advancing Southern vitality through the arts, announces the recipients of two fellowship programs. Meredith Goins of Dunlap has received a fellowship for violin luthiery.

Nine visual artists (one per state from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) will each receive a $5,000 State Fellowship. Additionally, they are now in competition for the $25,000 Southern Prize with a residency at The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences as well as the $10,000 Southern Prize Finalist awards.

Another nine traditional artists and culture-bearers from Central Appalachian counties in Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee will each receive $9,000 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowships to continue their lifelong learning and practice.

The 2020 State Fellowship recipients are:



Carlton Nell. Drawing. Opelika, Al.

Alba Triana. Experimental. Miami, Fl.

Fahamu Pecou. Painting. Decatur, Ga.

Letitia Quesenberry. Multidisciplinary. Louisville, Ky.

Karen Ocker. Painting. New Orleans, La.

Ashleigh Coleman. Photography. Jackson, Ms.

Sherrill Roland. Multidisciplinary. Morrisville, N.C.

Kristi Ryba. Painting. Charleston, S.C.

Bill Steber. Photography. Murfreesboro, Tn.

The 2020 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship recipients are:



Roger Cooper. Old-time music. Garrison, Ky.

Charlene Long. Willow & honeysuckle basket making. Upton, Ky.

Octavia Sexton. Storytelling. Orlando, Ky.

Janet Calhoun. Pottery. Lenoir, N.Ca.

Susan Leveille. Handweaving. Webster, N.C.

Bobby McMillon. Ballad singing. Burnsville, N.C.

Meredith Goins. Violin luthiery. Dunlap, Tn.

Jordan Hughett. Ballad singing. Winfield, Tn.

Mark Newberry. Chair-making. Red Boiling Springs, Tn.

South Arts is immensely proud to support every one of these artists, craftspeople, and tradition-bearers, said Susie Surkamer, executive director of South Arts. Especially as our country enters the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, artists are among those most vulnerable to losing income. Yet their creativity, work, and stories are what carry us forward and will be integral to rebuilding our communities.

Applications were open for both fellowship programs in the fall of 2019. The State Fellowships application pool was reviewed by a panel of experts including Ndubuisi C. Ezeluomba of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Edward Hayes, Jr. of The McNay Art Museum, independent art historian and consultant David Houston, and Marilyn Zapf of the Center for Craft. The panel made their recommendations based on the artistic excellence of their work and inclusiveness of the diversity of the Southern region. The Folk & Traditional Art Master Artist Fellowship applications were reviewed by a panel including Native American potter and storyteller Beckee Garris, Zoe van Buren of the North Carolina Arts Council, Mark Brown of the Kentucky Arts Council, and Evangeline Mee of the Tennessee Arts Commission. The panel made their recommendations based on the artists history and mastery of their respective tradition as well as the proposed lifelong learning opportunity.

The nine State Fellowship recipients will be featured in an exhibition that is scheduled to open at the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga. in May; due to the current closures of facilities, this date may be postponed. The announcement of which State Fellowship recipients will also be named as the Southern Prize winner and finalist will be announced at a ceremony surrounding the opening of this exhibition.

I would like to thank each and every one of our donors and sponsors, said Ms. Surkamer. Their support and investment in the arts, culture, and tradition of our region is vital even in the best of times, and their ongoing generosity is more important than ever before.

Meredith Goins from Sequatchie County is an accomplished fiddler turned violin luthier. She has apprenticed with master violin luthier Jim Humble from Ooltewah to learn violin building and repair for several years. In addition to building violins, she has become skilled at re-graduating violin tops, varnishing unfinished student model violins, and repairing violins for clients. Music is an essential component of the regions cultural identity, but there are few violin luthiers left to support up-and-coming musicians.

Through this fellowship, Ms. Goins will be able to continue working with Mr. Humble who is nearly 80 years old. Ms. Goins hopes to share her work with musicians in her community with the skills she learns. In this way, she hopes to honor her father who passed away a few years ago.

She says of his influence on her, My dad was really supportive and introduced me to those who were knowledgeable in the violin luthier community. This is very important for me to continue because its something my dad was proud and supportive of. He was a very loving generous person who always tried to help anyone he could, and Id like to do that in the future.


Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Cambridge.

Cambridge situation reveals how coronavirus exposes digital divide

Coronavirus is pushing us from our workplaces, classrooms and public spaces into our homes. High-speed internet is more essential than ever to maintain social ties. But millions are denied this fundamental right.

Read the full story on DigBoston.

Cambridge activates disaster relief fund for residents experiencing financial hardship

The City of Cambridge announced Thursday that it would activate the Mayor's Disaster Relief Fund in order to help residents struggling economically during the coronavirus outbreak.

Read the full story on The Harvard Crimson.

Cambridge restaurants step up to feed homeless, shelters

Cambridge-area restaurants will give meals to the homeless community during the coronavirus crisis, in contracts with the city that will also provide some support to employees hit hard by restrictions on restaurants.

Read the full story on Boston Herald.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-24 11:55:56

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Mar 23, 2020 - Starting from a meteoric rise to fame in San Francisco as an iconic fashion and street photographer, Christopher C. Lee has riveted the attention of photography lovers nationwide with the grand opening of his boutique photography studio, Christopher C. Lee Photography & Film. He is also renowned as a portrait photographer who is able to "bring out the soul" of his subjects, capturing them in timeless frames. Chris is the founder of Photomochi ( https://www.photomochi.com) , an acclaimed Bay Area production studio, the lead designer of streetwear label Troo Wear ( https://www.troowear.com) , and the top-selling author of "The Japan Book", a cult classic travel photography book depicting the most beautiful locations of the island country.On the corporate side, Christopher has provided quintessential photography and videography for projects involving Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, YouTube, and more, earning him the nickname as the "Crown Jewel Photographer of Silicon Valley". His roots and reach span far greater than just being the media expert of the technology sector, however. He has photographed promotions for crystal jewelry brand Swarovski, as well as Australian luxury lingerie label, Honey Birdette. Christopher C. Lee is the leading San Francisco photographer for photography agency Snappr, bringing in hordes of clientele for the start-up. He is also well-known among the ranks of food photographers for Doordash and Forkable, photographing several tasty dishes for their menu. Experienced in car photography, he has previously photographed for Bring A Trailer as well as Porsche. His creative momentum and visual repertoire is endless and can be traced back to his drive for creative freedom.Christopher believes in achieving the apex of photography not only through visual design, but through the power of empathy. He is renowned for his unique approach to the business strategy of a creative company for art professionals. Firmly focusing on a grassroots, freelancer perspective, his criteria for his team of elite production experts span many levels, usually on themes regarding their independence, positivity, and humanity. Upon joining the team, his professionals are welcomed with immediate social and financial support to see their vision through. Each professional is catered to with an individualized support network and personal space to create. This parameters are recognized and set during the interview process. He firmly establishes a professional connection based on mutual trust and empathy, allowing his staff to have full personal stake in their work. Though the bar is set high, his team at Christopher C. Lee Photography & Film, as well as Photomochi, has always delivered.Notable projects include the viral music video for "Popout" ( https://youtu.be/OmvL48okIFw) , a hit single by Empire Distribution and Afficials artists $tupid Young and MB Nel, from their collaboration album "The Yellow Tape". He has worked on the video promo Axent Wear, a designer headphone brand, gathering over 3 million dollars in funding as well as half a million views on it. He has provided photography services for top ranking blockchain organizations such as ETH San Francisco, photographing Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, and Balaji Srinivasan, CTO of Coinbase. Christopher's reach spans an audience of millions through his meticulous work, and he is tirelessly committed to perfecting his craft.All areas of pre-production - client consultations for project ideation, project treatments, location scouting and preparation, shot planning, set construction, talent acquisition, equipment rentals, are all done in-house and seamlessly so. Production comes in at full-force with a handpicked team of photographers, cinematographers, production assistants, set designers, wardrobe stylists, make-up artists, directors, assistant directors, producers, grips, and more, all up to the client's specifications. Post-production covers everything from editing to visual effects to color grading to digital mastering of deliverables. They even offer marketing and promotional services as well.Behind his hulking reputation as a photographer, Christopher C. Lee is known for being a genuine and kind professional amongst his creative peers. He is a solid team player and gives all of his employees the best shot at personal success. With his ability to lead a talented staff across all of his projects, nothing is impossible.Contacts:PhotomochiSan Francisco Bay AreaOffice: 1-415-275-1448E-mail: showtime@ photomochi.com Website: https://www.photomochi.com Christopher C. LeeSan Francisco Bay AreaOffice: 1-415-289-9644E-mail: contact@ chrisclee.com Website: https://www.chrisclee.com
CHICAGO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A Cook County Circuit Court Judge has postponed the Annual Tax Sale of delinquent properties scheduled to begin May 8, 2020, because of the spread of the new coronavirus, Treasurer Maria Pappas said today.

In an emergency motion, Pappas asked for the delay to protect the health and safety of Cook County residents in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The judge granted the motion, postponing the Tax Sale until the court orders the sale to proceed.

"Holding the Tax Sale under these circumstances would be unfair to tens of thousands of homeowners who are living paycheck-to-paycheck and face this pandemic," Pappas said.

There are more than 52,000 properties whose delinquent taxes would be sold to investors if the Tax Sale were held, Pappas said. Of those properties:

More than 30,000 are homes

More than 23,000 owe less than $1,000

About 2,000 are owned by senior citizens

Postponing the Tax Sale would delay payment of an estimated $48 million in property taxes that would have been collected during the sale. That's a fraction of the $14 billion the Cook County Treasurer's Office collects each year.

The Treasurer's Office is required to put delinquent taxes up for auction, the first step in a legal process that can end with the loss of property if the taxes are not repaid. When it takes place, the Tax Sale will be for homes, businesses and land with unpaid bills for Tax Year 2018 (originally due in 2019).

SOURCE Cook County Treasurer's Office

Related Links

http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com


Coronavirus_outbreak

featured

Can my landlord ask if I am sick with coronavirus?

Evan Stone

As the coronavirus pandemic sows discord in nearly every facet of daily life, Denton property management companies have been scrambling to implement measures to protect employees and tenants alike.

Some have sent notices implying they may not fulfill the non-emergency maintenance requests of a COVID-19-positive occupant. Many emails also have asked tenants flat-out if they have contracted the illness.

Although landlords can technically ask such a question, renters should know they are not obligated to answer, said Evan Stone, an intellectual property attorney who also specializes in landlord-tenant law.

I think the issue is just that a bunch of tenants are going to perceive this as a mandate rather than a request, he said.

Tenant privacy

Denton has a high percentage of renters, in part thanks to its burgeoning college student population. As such, Stone said its important that inexperienced renters understand they are not required to divulge personal health information.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibits covered entities from sharing a persons health information. But residential landlords are not bound by HIPAA, said Lewis Lefko, a Dallas-based health care law attorney.

Landlords can technically ask a tenant about their health status, Lefko said. However, he agrees with Stone that tenants do not have to disclose whether theyre ill, or what theyre ill with.

I can understand a landlord wanting to protect his employees or contractors, Lefko said. But if somebody doesnt want to tell that individual whether they have the disease or not, thats their right.

Meanwhile, some Texas tenants unions are concerned that fallout from the coronavirus pandemic might infringe on renters rights.

Such laws as the Fair Housing Act safeguard renters against discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin or disability. The executive director of the North Texas Fair Housing Center, Frances Espinoza, said the courts may someday decide that the coronavirus falls under the latter category.

[Landlords] arent supposed to ask about any disability, she said. I would put the coronavirus in the same category, because this is something thats going to make people sick.

Sandy Rollins, the executive director of the Texas Tenants Union, said its highly unusual for a landlord to ask about a tenants health status. Still, she added that infected renters should consider disclosing that information as a courtesy to the community.

Tenants who live in apartment buildings need to be particularly careful when passing through heavily trafficked common areas, she said.

Everyone should be taking all this seriously, Rollins said. And a tenant who doesnt have an emergency, who has any kind of illness, should understand postponing maintenance.

Maintenance requests

Some landlords may refuse to honor non-emergency maintenance requests during the coronavirus pandemic. Even still, Stone said renters should understand that a landlord is bound to satisfy all maintenance requests as per the terms of their lease.

The Texas Property Code allows landlords to fulfill such requests within a reasonable period of time, Stone added. That usually means seven days, but it can vary based on the availability of materials and labor, as well as the severity of the case. Some requests should be tended to immediately, while others could sensibly be delayed.

If a court says, Hey look, a reasonable period of time to fix your stupid microwave is until the disaster declaration has been lifted, then thats what it is, Stone said.

Real estate attorney Scott Alagood said residential landlords must address their tenants emergency requests regardless of health status. Flooding and major leaks, for instance, should be fixed immediately since they could further jeopardize a COVID-positive persons health and safety. Otherwise, that tenant could reasonably terminate their lease and move on.

From overcrowded airports to underprepared hospitals, the coronavirus has wreaked confusion and chaos since it touched down in Texas. But Alagood said one thing is exceedingly clear: The Texas Property Code in its current form is ill-equipped to address pandemics.

Most judges are going to look at this thing knowing that its extraordinary, Alagood said. This [pandemic] is not something anybody anticipated.
OAKLAND (BCN)

Oakland public school teachers and community members will hold a virtual protest on Tuesday seeking to halt permanent school closures and charter school co-locations that they say would further destabilize students during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Protest organizers said that from 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, teachers and community members will post videos of themselves on social media and make phone calls to local and state representatives demanding that the Oakland Unified School District stop plans for permanent school closures and instead focus on the well-being of students. They describe the protest as a "Virtual Hour of Power."

In a budget-cutting move based in part on declining attendance, the Oakland school board has closed some schools and plans to close additional schools and merge them with others.

The school board also has approved letting charter schools "co-locate" at existing schools. The school district's deadline for allowing additional co-locations is April 1.

Oakland Education Association Secretary and communications chair Bethany Meyer said on Monday that the problem with co-locations is that they limit the space available at existing schools for important services, such as speech pathologists, counseling and special education programs.

Meyer said that problem occurred at the Howard Elementary School at 8755 Fontaine St. near the Oakland Zoo in East Oakland, where she said giving space to the Francophone Charter School meant that Howard's reading program was forced to conduct classes in a closet.

Meyer said the school board is now planning to allow a charter school at the Brookfield Elementary School at 401 Jones. Ave. south of the Oakland Coliseum in East Oakland.

Felicia West, the grandparent of a student at Brookfield, said in a statement, "If the school board wishes to do something for our community school they should fund it more properly. We here in the community wish to enrich our school, to enhance our students."

West said, "Don't impose a charter school on us that doesn't fit the needs of our community."

Corrin Haskell, a fifth grade teacher at Brookfield, said "If the school district is truly dedicated to community schools, Brookfield is one of your diamonds in the rough. For you to be doing this in the middle of a global pandemic is pretty much ruthless."

Keith Brown, the president of the Oakland Education Association, the union that represents teachers and other school employees, said "The school district should be putting all of its resources into helping many students and families who are in need during this crisis."

Brown said, "It is outrageous for the school board to instead use this crisis as an opportunity to push forward with its agenda to permanently close public schools and expand charter co-locations while the public's ability to resist is so restricted."

School district spokesman John Sasaki wasn't immediately available for comment.

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.
Mumbai, March 24 : A 65-year-old man who arrived here from UAE via Ahmedabad passed away due to COVID-19 here late Monday night, taking the death toll due to the disease in Maharashtra to four, an official said here on Tuesday.

The death toll across India is now 10.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra increased to 101 after four new cases were detected since Monday night.

A statement by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) said the patient was admitted to the Kasturba Hospital in a critical condition on Monday with fever, cough and breathlessness.

He had arrived from UAE at Ahmedabad on March 15 and then at Mumbai on March 20.

The victim had complaints of high blood pressure coupled with uncontrolled diabetes.

The new afflicted patients include three from Pune and one from Satara. The patinets include those with a history of recent travel history to Peru, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Three others who died in Maharashtra included a 68-year-old Fillipino and two other men, both aged 63.
States have reported some doctors are hoarding drugs that Donald Trump claims could treat Covid-19 patients, and it's impacting people who actually need the medication.

Chloroquine and its variant hydroxychloroquine experienced rapid shortages in the country starting on 9 March after early reports indicated the drugs could be used to treat Covid-19, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Demand for the drugs happened after the president said they could be a "game-changer" when treating patients with the novel virus.

This information comes from a limited study done in France that combined the anti-malaria drug with an antibiotic. Results showed some patients experienced a lower number of the virus in their nose when using the drug combination.

New York state decided to roll out drug trials starting on Tuesday with its most severe patients to see if the drug combination really could help treat Covid-19. "We hope for optimistic results," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The state got approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

But widely broadcasting the two drugs has caused shortages, and doctors in states like Illinois, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas are reportedly now hoarding the medication for themselves.

North Carolina's Board of Pharmacy released an emergency declaration saying pharmacists are noticing a sharp increase in chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine prescriptions.

"Reports include these prescriptions being issued by prescribers for themselves and family members, and for persons who have not been exposed to or infected by the Covid-19 virus," the Board said.

North Carolina, among other states, has released restrictions for how these medications can be prescribed and reminded pharmacists they had the power to "refuse to fill prescriptions that, in the pharmacist's professional judgment, are not clinically appropriate."

Garth Reynolds, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, told ProPublica the Association was receiving calls and emails from pharmacists about doctors abusing the prescriptions.

"We even had a couple of examples of prescribers trying to say that the individual they were calling in for had rheumatoid arthritis," he said, adding that pharmacists suspected that wasn't true. "I mean, that's fraud."

The Association posted a bulletin on Sunday about the rise in prescriptions, saying it was "disturbed by the current actions of prescribers". The bulletin included instructions for pharmacists to file complaints.

There is no exact timeline about when the drugs will be deemed "safe and effective" for the American public to use, despite early optimism from Mr Trump that they could be used "almost immediately" last week. But currently neither drug is approved by the FDA to treat Covid-19.

One problem with the rise in interest for the two drugs is that lupus sufferers are unable to access their full prescriptions.

The Independent previously spoke with Dr Saira Sheikh - director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Rheumatology Lupus Clinic and member of the Lupus Foundation of America's Medical-Scientific Advisory Council - about the shortage.

"Our patients are calling us non-stop because several pharmacies are limiting the number of tablets that they can fill," she said. "Some patients who were previously able to pick up a 90-day supply of medication are being restricted to a month's supply."

Lupus patients use hydroxychloroquine to treat joint inflammation.

Doctors hoarding the drugs for themselves and family members prior to anyone receiving a Covid-19 diagnosis is controversial because there is only some evidence it helps with people who already have the virus, not those who want to prevent infection, which was a point Dr Sheikh also argued.

"There is no evidence yet to suggest that hydroxychloroquine or anti-malarials are protective or prevent against Covid-19 infections, so people who are not already taking this medication do not need to start on it now," she said.

Companies like CVS are even addressing the shortage of medication and giving its pharmacists permission to use "professional judgment to determine whether a prescription is valid and appropriate to dispense," it said in a statement.

More information about if the drugs actually work against Covid-19 might be available in the coming weeks as New York starts its own clinical drug trials.
Given the rapidly evolving situation, our short-term data shows indications of changes, or sometimes potential delayed impacts, in behaviour, pricing dynamics, and associated opportunities. Traders are quick to react to profitable situations. Even if some of the major oil trading companies are scaling back, other independent traders are only a mobile phone call away from securing a lucrative arbitrage cargo or a storage play that locks in some revenue for the next few months.

Crude Storage Opportunities

One of the first opportunities was the opening of storage economics, both onshore and offshore in most locations. As European derivative benchmarks switched into contango over the last few weeks, reports suggest crude storage continues to be the primary focus. Perhaps this is because crude prices fell faster and sooner than in the product markets.

Longer-term storage has more favorable economics, with Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) rates over a six-month period returning a profit compared to the futures price curve over the same period.

ICE Brent spent most of late February in backwardation and only moved into contango in early March. Initially, our vessel tracking noticed three aframax-sized cargoes delaying movement from the North Sea during the week ending March 13. Our data showed crude oil inventories in ARA declined over 4mn bbls, or, eight percent of the total measured volumes, in the week ending March 13. Unused, operations shell capacity we monitor is an additional 40mn bbls.

Figure 1: Storage in the ARA region. Source: Genscape

Likewise, crude inventories at Dalmeny, where Forties oil is stored in Scotland prior to vessel loading, were also low, although it has started to build between March 15 and March 18. There remains over 1.5mn bbls of ullage at this location. Forties crude is also supplying INEOS 210,000 bpd Grangemouth refinery, which took an additional 300,000 bbls between March 16 and March 18, as well as loading onto ships at Hound Point where cargoes were loaded for long-haul destinations in South Korea and China, according to our Supply Chain monitoring.



Related: Saudi Arabias Oil Price War Is Backfiring

Izki Loaded March 11 to March 15 with ~1,977,000 bbls to Rizhao, China

Elandra Everest Loaded March 3 to March 7 with ~ 1,857,000 bbls to Yeosu, South Korea

Additionally, one vessel, the Front Jaguar, was stopped, potentially indicating floating storage. The Front Jaguar loaded approximately 565,000 bbls of Forties crude on February 28 with Rotterdam as the declared destination, but the vessel had not departed the Port area, as of March 19, according to our data.

Stateside, our Cushing storage data showed inventory levels at the lower end of last years range, measuring just under 50 percent capacity utilization, for the week ending March 13.

Long haul freight rates are spiking higher, having been relatively low over recent weeks. The demand from Asia is recovering to an extent, and the western hemisphere is now starting to see extreme demand erosion. Long-haul economics make more sense in contango markets, and there are reports of trading houses chartering large vessels for storage. Glencore is said to have chartered an Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC) to store 3mn bbls of crude oil and Shell to have chartered at least two VLCCs. There may be enough available ullage in shore tanks, but it will soon dissipate with very low crude demand and increasing output from Saudi Arabia and Russia continues unabated. The use of floating storage is mostly expected to be in Asia.

Refined Product Economics

ICE Gasoil futures were backwardated for the last month and flipped to contango on Thursday, March 12, too soon for the economics to be reflected in our storage data for the week ending March 13. Genscape-monitored Gasoil/ULSD inventories in ARA fell 330,000 MT, or seven percentage points, dipping to a relatively low 52.6 percent capacity utilization. Our waterborne analysis expects gasoil/ULSD volumes arriving from the Baltic region to fall again next week, further driving inventory declines in the ARA region. Our shipping analysis predicted stock draws at Rotterdam and Antwerp, as regional exports outpaced imports in the week ending March 13, which gave a timely insight that measured storage volumes would fall in these locations.

However, volume net flow into Amsterdam rose in the week of March 4, resulting in a small stock build in this location. Barge volumes from ARA to inland Germany were higher recently, perhaps a sign of households looking to restock as outright prices fall. A total of 343,000 MT of gasoil/ULSD from ARA entered the Rhine by barge on March 13. There appear to be no significant delays caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) at this time, according to our Rhine Barge Report.

ARA jet storage was below 2019 levels year-over-year, and stocks drew a further 48,000 MT to 761,000 MT for the week ending March 13, leaving 47 percent of operational capacity unused. Reports suggest continued inflows to Northwest Europe are expected for the time being, despite huge cuts to aviation travel in recent days. Although some of these volumes may be blended into other distillate grades like gasoil and ULSD, long-term storage economics are challenging. Jet degrades faster than other oil products, and the assumption is that after about three months the product cannot be used for aviation. We will continue to closely monitor stocks in ARA as they are likely to build faster and sooner than offshore storage.

Figure 2: Jet loadings to Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean by loading month. Source: Genscape

Gasoline time spreads only slipped into contango on March 12. We reported ARA gasoline stocks rose 29,000 MT, or 1.6 percent, for the week ending March 13. Capacity utilization was around 58 percent, while stocks increased over recent weeks as summer grade product is stored in preparation for a seasonally higher demand period. Our waterborne analysis continued to observe reasonable flows of gasoline heading trans-Atlantic, with 600,000 MT moving that way in the week to March 13, only marginally lower than the previous week.

Gasoline volumes to West Africa fell from their elevated levels of the past few weeks. Our latest data shows less than 400,000 MT loaded for this region in the week of March 13. Storage volumes offshore West Africa rose slightly to just over 1.1mn bbls, according to our European Waterborne Products report. The excess volumes from the middle of February were cleared as crack spreads began to fall, and the crude-for-product swap contracts looked enticing to African importers of gasoline.

Refinery Behaviour

Refinery maintenance has gathered pace in Europe since the start of March. However, there is still little evidence in this region that turnaround projects will be altered due to coronavirus or finance-related issues. In the United States, there are several delays from this year to next for these reasons. Another possibility we are looking out for in our data is evidence of reduced refinery runs if workers are unable to be on site. This was evident in China as the outbreak of coronavirus began, but for now, we have yet to hear of such in Europe.



Related: Oil Majors Are Preparing For $10 Oil

Our data reported unit outages at 15 of the monitored sites as of March 18 All but three of these outages were in line with expected maintenance programs reported by the companies or media sources. Two large maintenance programs slated for early May remain on schedule as of now, at Nestes 206,000 bpd Porvoo refinery in Finland, and Shells 404,000 bpd Pernis refinery in the Netherlands.

Total announced they were suspending maintenance work at their 117,000 bpd refinery in Feyzin, France due to COVID-19. If others follow suit or postpone upcoming maintenance, then refinery runs could increase in the coming weeks. However, with refinery margins around breakeven, this would be short-lived as less profitable refineries cut runs and close units.

Whilst there is no reliable short-term refined products demand data available in Europe, our Supply Side data reports daily and hourly rack activity (transacted liftings from secondary terminals to retail stations) across the United States. Some effects on demand from coronavirus were observed in the U.S. West Coast (PADD 5) throughout the first half of March, where containment efforts started earliest. Interestingly, no significant downturn was observed in the other large markets of the U.S. at that time. As precautions to avoid large crowds are increasingly taken, early data indicates a time lag before such containment changes daily driving behavior, and the degree of response varies among cities.

Applying similar logic to Europe implies that mainland European demand would have started falling last week, and that product demand in the United Kingdom would not be impacted to any great extent until this week.

Figure 3: U.S. average weekly month demand. Source: Genscape, Wood Mackenzie

By Genscape

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The superannuation industry is bracing for an escalation in the already mounting demand for services and the potential for identity fraud, as the body representing the non-profit sector calls on premiers to exclude the sector from city lockdowns.

Extreme market volatility has led to a spike in spooked account holders picking up the phone to demand answers from funds. AustralianSuper has seen call volumes blow out to 6500 per day, a third more than normal. This, combined with the federal government's emergency scheme to allow early access to super for those whose jobs have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, is putting an unprecedented strain on the administration capacity of funds.

A spike in spooked account holders demanding answers from funds and an emergency scheme to allow early access to super is putting pressure on the administration capacity of super funds. Credit:

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees has called on state premiers to recognise superannuation as an essential service to enable employees to continue working from call centres and other office locations. The letter, signed on behalf of 40 of the largest funds, said government changes to super "mean the volume of payments to members is likely to increase substantially in coming months".

"While some core services can be provided remotely by some super funds and their administrators and insurers, not all super funds have the functionality to process transactions or manage call centres remotely," the letter said.
CED Solutions provides technical and application training to thousands of students annually. "The ability of VA students to use their Post 9/11 GI Bill will vastly increase the number of students taking IT Certification courses" said Rich Rodgers, President & CEO. "We applaud CompTIA offering at-home testing as well making the entire learning and Certification process available from home."

CED Solutions IT training schedule is running full with the announcement that students using the VA Post 9/11 for IT Certification training may take the courses from home during this Coronavirus period, the ability to attend courses has become much easier. Students may attend 1-week IT Certification courses from Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, EC Council, and more from home. These are the same courses that over 40,000 students have attended over the past 21 years.

Courses will typically run from 10AM to 6PM Eastern and 7AM to 3PM Pacific time Monday to Friday.

Live Virtual courses include everything to become Certified with Official courseware, Official labs, practice and Certification exams that can be taken at home (see below) or at any local Pearson VUE testing center.

Courses that qualify are A+/Network+/Security+, CySA+, CASP+, Cloud+, Linux+, MCSA/MCSE: Windows 2016 Server, MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Admin, MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Developer, CCNA, CCNP, ENCOR, ENARSI, CEH, CHFI, ECSA, CND, MCA: Azure Admin, MCE: Enterprise Admin, and many more.

To go along with Live Virtual training from home, CompTIA has just announced the ability to take tests from home starting next month also. CompTIA and Microsoft students will now be able to learn and Certify from home in many cases.

CED Solutions 1-week live online Certification courses are available nearly every week during the year and self-study online courses to be done at the student's own pace during the evening and weekends are available at all times.
Billionaire Mark Cuban has warned that there will be social unrest if a deal is not made soon to help struggling Americans.

Mr Cuban spoke to Fox News host Ed Henry on Tuesday morning and said that both sides need to work together to help those who are struggling.

Well, I think both sides are getting it wrong, he said. Theres no such thing as a perfect deal. And perfection is the enemy of progress.

Mr Cuban explained that the most important thing right now is that Americans are given the money they need to survive, saying that politicians can deal with the rest later.

He went on to say that the deal should not have taken this long and that clarity was needed for those worrying about paying rent.

What really matters are the people who cant pay their rent, cant pay their bills, are terrified about what comes next because maybe they have enough to get through this month, but if this goes on for two months or whatever they have no idea whats going to happen in their lives, Mr Cuban said.

Thats wrong and this should have been done three days ago if not sooner.

Mr Cuban added: When people are not able to feel confident that they can pay their bills or that they can live their lives without, you know, going bankrupt, then you get the issues of social unrest, he said. And so, thats why money comes first.

In one, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks criticised both the democratic senator Chuck Schumer and the Republican senator John Cornyn for their social media activity.

BOTH OF YOU NEED TO DO YOUR F*****g JOB! @SenSchumer, stop kissing progressive a**. We cant solve every problem in this deal @JohnCornyn, stop kissing big corporate a**. They dont need buybacks or exec bonuses. They have no choice but to take any deal they can get, Mr Cuban tweeted.

In the second tweet of the thread, Mr Cuban posted: The economy is crashing and people are getting sick and dying because you 2 hard d***s think your agendas are bigger than the health and future of the American people. They are not. There is no perfect deal. TIME IS OUR ENEMY. Get this done today!

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 50,206 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 606.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as part of the battle to contain the spread of the contagion.
Think about the people in your circle who are watching TV nonstop this week. In light of the global health crisis keeping most folks indoors right now, do they have plans to stick to their routine?

Binge-watching on Netflix is up due to the coronavirus quarantine, but watching Ozark offers a unique opportunity to earn money. Season 3 of the Jason Bateman-led drama arrives on the platform on March 27, but its a not a bad idea to get reacquainted or introduced to the series before that date.

Theres a short-term gig available for the fan who has time to invest hours into watching Ozark. If you love the show or want to get into it, this could be for you.

Jason Bateman in Ozark | Jessica Miglio/Netflix

What are the specifics of the Ozark job?

Timed to coincide with the release of Ozarks new season, the campaign comes courtesy of InternetAdvisor.com. Per a press release, the company is seeking someone to watch 20 hours of seasons 1 and 2 of the Netflix series and will pay the individual $1,000 to complete the task.

According to the jobs description, you will really need to pay attention to the finer details about the characters and story. This is so you can fill out the questionnaire. Heres a snapshot of what they want:

We dont care what you do in life or even if youre into money laundering  thats not our problem. Are you fleeing from a scheme, did you see your business partner get killed, or what lengths will you go to make some money? If thats you, we want you to apply.

How does it all happen? The lucky fan who lands this gig will be given 17 days to watch 20 hours of Ozark Season 1 and 2 (combined 20 episodes). Then youll have to complete a checklist to include several familiar tropes that are present in each episode.

How many times does Wendy blackmail politicians and acquaintances by attending cartel parties, galleries, and funerals to get the voters approval for the casino? How much trouble is Marty in after Darlene Snell kills the cartels guy? Is this the end of Byrde family?

In addition to earning cash, the selected candidate will receive Ozark-themed swag, a Netflix gift card, and the ability to work from home.

Are there special rules for this gig?

The job listing and its conditions are pretty straightforward, but there are rules in place. You must be at least 18 years old, reside in the US, and fill out the form online. There is no fee to enter.

Per Internet Advisor, There no restrictions whatsoever, no background checks for money laundering, and expect zero drug testing. The only thing you must abide by is to apply for yourself and not for someone else.

The deadline is approaching

Interested parties should apply for the Ozark competition by March 27, 5 p.m. MST. The sole winner will be notified via email within seven days of the contests closing date.

If youre a huge Ozark fan and wouldnt mind scoring a few extra bucks, check out the website and contact Internet Advisor with any questions. Remember to catch the Byrdes in season 3.
Health workers throughout New Zealand are warning that a major outbreak of COVID-19 would rapidly overwhelm the public health system, which has been starved of funding and resources for decades.

There are 152 confirmed cases, with five currently in hospital. Following a petition to the government signed by thousands of doctors demanding a lockdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced that by Thursday all workers will have to stay at home, except those in essential services and industries. Schools will be shut to prevent further spread of the virus.

Four positive cases have no link to overseas travel, meaning that community transmission has occurred and the number of cases could be far higher than the official figures. There is a shortage of test kits and just over 6000 tests had been carried out by the end of last week.

Empty bread shelves at a supermarket in Wellington after panic buying, March 22, 2020 (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Health workers have been horrified by reports of overflowing hospitals in Italy and other countries, where thousands have died. I have never felt as scared as I do now. Please stay home, wrote intensive care doctor Paul Young on Twitter last night. Hospitals being completely overwhelmed means that people die of heart attacks, strokes, accidents, etc.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke with a worker in South Aucklands Middlemore Hospital, who expressed alarm about the crisis in Tiaho Mai, the mental health unit.

A patient who had been tested for COVID-19 and is suffering a mental health crisis was transferred to the unit on Monday morning, after spending six days in the emergency department in isolation. Mental health staff had argued against transferring the patient into the unit, but they were overruled by management. The worker told the WSWS that staff remain uncertain as to whether the patient has been fully cleared of the virus, and are taking precautions. The worker said they were concerned about two other patients who are being tested and could be transferred to the unit.

The unit, with 32 beds, is almost full, and coronavirus patients cannot be properly isolated. A lot of nurses I know are saying: you cant do this because we havent got the pressurised rooms, we havent got the equipment. Staff and other patients were at risk of contagion, she said.

While nurses have gowns and face masks that they must wear when seeing the infected patient, they will not have time to put on this protective equipment if they urgently need to restrain the patient, something that requires three staff members. Staff often have to deal with patients who spit and bite them or who try to self-harm.

Mates of mine are in a panic because theyve got little kids and theyve got older parents that they look after or stay with. Ive heard that some of the staff, because they dont want to infect their families, are going home and sleeping in their cars, the worker explained. Staff are very, very scared of whats happening.

The New Zealand Herald reported yesterday that doctors in South Auckland are concerned the virus could rip through the working class area, which has high rates of poverty and overcrowding.

The Middlemore worker said nurses were treated like rubbish in the hospital. Were understaffed, and staff are going to be tired and overworked. Whats their immune system going to be like? Management are still going home at good hours and they look well-rested, while staff who are running the hospital are getting run down.

The mental health unit is so poorly staffed, with several people off sick and injured, that management is calling staff back in who are on annual leave.

There is now an urgent nationwide campaign to try to recruit more health workers, including retired doctors, nurses and those who have left the workforce.

The worker strongly criticised the lack of preparation by the Labour Party-led government, saying: Why didnt they do something sooner? They knew that there was an epidemic over in China. We had at least a couple of months before it got over here, but they didnt put anything in place, they didnt look for anyone. They didnt take it seriously.

The government should have established proper quarantine facilities for infected patients. They havent, and now theyre running around trying to figure out where to put these people, the worker said. People with COVID-19, apart from those in hospital, are told to self-isolate at home, which raises the risk of contamination.

The worker also denounced the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) for selling out a nationwide nurses strike in 2018. The union ignored workers demands for safe levels of staffing in hospitals, including for a mandatory ratio of one nurse to four patients.

A nurse based in Christchurch, with three decades of experience, told the WSWS that a major concern is the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) in New Zealand hospitals. Nurses at her workplace had access to a flimsy gown and a standard mask, not intended for this sort of thing. She said they should be equipped with proper filtering masks, but instead have mostly surgical masks that are only good for basically half an hour.

I think were all prepared to work and put ourselves at risk, but within reason. All the health workers are just going to get infected themselves, and then theres going to be nobody to look after anybody, she said. Doctor Lance OSullivan recently told the media that half of nurses in New Zealand are aged over 50, which puts them at greater risk from the virus.

We should be doing far more testing, the nurse said. I think its probably rife in the community. She had become sick from her daughter, who had returned home from overseas in January, but was told she did not meet the criteria for a COVID-19 test. I dont know whether I had it or not, the nurse said, but she was concerned that as a health worker she had not been prioritised.

If they dont keep it under control, its going to be a disaster like everywhere else. They just dont have the ICU [intensive care] beds. There are fewer than 200 ICU beds in the country.

The District Health Boards (DHBs) are so understaffed its just ridiculous, the Christchurch nurse said. Well just work ourselves into the ground doing 12-hour shifts seven days a week until we all come down with [COVID-19]. Thats what seems to be happening overseas and I cant see that it will be any different here. I dont know whats going to become of Italy.

She described the NZNO as absolutely useless, and said nurses got nothing from the 2018 dispute. They seem to be working more for the District Health Boards than for the nurses, and theyve done that for years.

Like the Middlemore worker, the Christchurch nurse said that the worst mistake by the government was not properly quarantining people at the start. This self-isolation is just a joke. They should have done what China did, have everyone in quarantine under watch. I think theyre being very naive to think that [everyone] will do whats suggested.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 16:12:52|Editor: xuxin

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VIENTIANE, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Laos has detected the first two confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, the Lao Health Ministry officials told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the officials led by Deputy Health Minister Phouthone Moungpak, the two confirmed cases, both Lao nationals, are likely to be imported.

The infected female tourist guide went to Vangvieng, Luang Prabang in northern Laos and Cambodia before showing COVID-19 flu-like symptoms.

The other infected male hotel staff is supposed to be infected in Thailand while receiving a training course there.

Both the infected and their close contacts have been quarantined, according to the Lao officials.
Vendors are withdrawing commercial properties from sale as the unfolding coronavirus pandemic undermines market activity in Victoria.

The Carlton shop was snapped up for $1.75 million.

An Australian living in Sweden halted the auction of a large Collins Street gym shortly before proceedings kicked off last Thursday.

Hes pulled the sale because of concerns about the market, Axis Property's Daniel Liberman said. We were getting negative sentiment about conducting the auction.

In an effort to comply with government directives about social distancing, agents are hastily switching to expression-of-interest campaigns or telephone bidding.
My friend Michael Walsh recently penned a scathing article in The Epoch Times condemning the failure of American military leadership since Korea. Michael and I agree on most issues, but I strongly dissent from his argument there. He argues that since Korea, and certainly since Vietnam, the United States hasnt wanted to finish the job. He continues: Our soldiers have died because there was not a single general  not David Petraeus, not Stanley McChrystal, not James Mattis  who demanded of the president, on pain of instant resignation, that we win. None of them was a general worthy of the name; instead they were small-minded, tactical obsessives concerned with hitting their metrics rather than winning.

But his criticism of U.S. generals for not ending our recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan misses some important points. First of all, the goal of any war is established by the civilian leadership. The uniformed military fight within the bounds established by overall policy. Military strategy is the application of means in order to achieve the ends of policy. In the U.S. system, the military provides advice, which civilian policy makers may accept or reject. The uniformed military does not have the right to insist that its advice be followed. If that advice is not accepted, the military is obligated to salute and obey. Resignation is always a possible response, but wholesale resignation is not part of the U.S. military tradition.

Walsh rightly praises such American generals as U. S. Grant and George Patton, but to compare their generalship to that of such contemporary military leaders as Mattis, Petraeus, or McChrystal glosses over the fact that the policy objectives and environment of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq differed from those of the Civil War and World War II. Whether we like it or not, our wars since World War II have been limited wars, in terms both of ends and of means. Both the Civil War and World War II were unlimited, not because of the military but because of civilian policy.

Story continues

The Civil War did not begin as an unlimited war. Policy evolved over time. At the outset, the goal was to end the rebellion as quickly as possible. But the emergence of Robert E. Lee changed the dynamic of the war. In the spring of 1862, the military defeat of the Confederacy appeared to be within sight as Union forces struck deep into the heart of the South, especially in the west. But during the next year, Lee inflicted a number of defeats on Union forces, driving them back from the outskirts of Richmond until finally turned back at Gettysburg.

Until that point, Lincoln would have been willing to return to the status quo ante bellum: the end of the rebellion with the seceded states reintegrated into the Union with slavery intact. But the emergence of Lee convinced Lincoln that Frederick Douglass was right: Slavery was the stomach of the rebellion. As Lincoln changed policy to attack slavery, many of his generals resisted, since most were War Democrats who supported ending the rebellion without challenging the institution of slavery.

Foremost among them was Major General George McClellan, the commander of the major Union army in the east. Walsh calls him a popinjay, but the real problem was that he didnt want to fight the war that Lincoln wanted him to fight. Like most Democrats, McClellan adhered to the formula The Union as it was. The Constitution as it is. But McClellan was not alone. Even the generals we praise as fighters, Ulysses Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, accepted that formula as well. It was only later in the war that they came to see the wisdom of the attack on slavery as a part of Union strategy.

As Samuel Huntington observes in his classic study of U.S. civilmilitary relations, The Soldier and the State, a similar situation occurred during World War II. Before the war, most generals and admirals supported policies they believed to be less provocative than those favored by President Roosevelt. For instance, Admiral James O. Richardson, commander in chief, United States Fleet (CinCUSFlt), protested against the redeployment of what would become the U.S. Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, arguing that it would invite a Japanese attack. Roosevelt relieved him in February of 1941.

Once the war began, the uniformed military supported policies short of unconditional surrender by the Axis power, preferring a traditional policy of national security to victory. Victory was the policy of the civilian leadership, not the military, which argued that insisting on total victory would prolong the war. But ordered to pursue unconditional surrender, the military executed a strategy in support of that policy.

But as Huntington observed, after World War II, the respective positions of civilian policymakers and the uniformed military changed, coming to a head with Trumans relief of Douglas MacArthur when the latter publicly criticized the administrations policy of limited war in Korea. Trumans concern was motivated by the possibility of a nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as by the belief that an unlimited war in the Far East would weaken the U.S. position vis-a-vis the Soviets in Europe.

Subsequent U.S. wars were also limited. We can question the prudence of fighting such wars, but the fact remains that the application of military force in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan was constrained by national policy. For instance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff presented President Lyndon Johnson with viable military options that could have enabled South Vietnam to survive while avoiding the massive commitment of U.S. ground troops that began in 1965. But such options had to be considered in the context of nuclear deterrence. When Johnson was weighing his options in Vietnam, the United States was only three years removed from the Cuban missile crisis.

Indeed, we cannot understand U.S. strategic decisions in Vietnam without reference to nuclear deterrence. Many policymakers had come to believe that strategy in the traditional sense was no longer possible in the nuclear age. Rather than focusing on the choice of the proper means to achieve national goals, as strategy demands, policymakers saw Vietnam and similar cases as crises in need of control. The goal was to prevent a crisis from spinning out of control and leading to uncontrolled escalation, possibly to nuclear war.

Military options in Iraq and Afghanistan were also limited by political decisions. Whether these limits were prudent is a matter for debate, but the U.S. militarys problem was how to fight these wars within the limitations set by policy. During the first Gulf War, the military developed an operational plan to march on Baghdad, but the George H. W. Bush administration chose to settle for the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Walsh claims that no U.S. generals have been relieved as a result of combat failures in recent years. But both General George Casey as commander of the multi-national force in Iraq and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, his predecessor, were pushed out, even though, like William Westmoreland, Casey was kicked upstairs as Army chief of staff. McChrystal, Petraeus, and Mattis were all successful as operational commanders within the limits set by U.S. policy. All would have been successful in any previous U.S. war.

It is interesting to note that Mattis, a tough-minded realist, was fired by President Obama as commander of U.S. Central Command not because he was failing but because he kept asking uncomfortable questions of a White House that sought to centralize decision-making. He was especially vehement regarding Iran, stressing the need to examine what Iran was capable of doing to stir up mischief in a volatile region of the world.

Let me stipulate that U.S. policy regarding Afghanistan in particular has been characterized by hubris, the belief that we can change a primitive tribal culture into a liberal democracy. As an antidote, one should read Bing Wests One Million Steps and Winston Churchills first book (1897), The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War.

But while nation-building should not be the goal of American foreign policy, if the United States is going to use force, it must think things through to the end. As Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian philosopher of war, observed, no one starts a war  or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so  without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by the war and how he intends to conduct it. Thinking about the desired end state is inseparable from the use of force; war divorced from political goals is merely an act of wanton destruction.

Of course, one response to the American failure to achieve our goals in Iraq and Afghanistan has been the comfortable idea that the United States can simply avoid the use of military power. But this is a chimera. Whether we like it or not, the likelihood of war remains beyond the control of leaders who would prefer to avoid the use of force. Political leaders will always face the decision to employ force in defense of American interests, and part of that decision is how to achieve a favorable political end. And again, whether we like it or not, the U.S. military will have a role in converting military success to political success.

More from National Review
WASHINGTON  So how has the coronavirus crisis affected you?

Three in 10 Americans say the shutdowns caused by the crisis has reduced their workload or income, according to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday.

Another 17% mentioned that they could no longer go out socially to places like restaurants or concerts, while 13% mentioned their need to self-quarantine or shortages of food and other items.

Some of the responses:

I am now teaching from home and dont have any real contact with students.

I had to close my restaurant businesses, my source of income.

Living in a world I do not recognize and did not think was possible.

In addition, almost 6 in 10 Americans, 59%, said the coronavirus was the biggest concern facing them and their families right now. The other major concerns were related to the virus: Job security, 7%; paying every day bills, 6%; health care costs, 5%; and health, 3%.

Seven in 10 Americans were concerned that a family member would become seriously ill from the coronavirus, while the other 30% were either not too concerned or not concerned at all.

The coronavirus outbreak has probably heightened the economic and health care anxieties we usually see at the top of this list," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. But the huge number of people who name COVID-19 as their top concern on this standard polling question illustrates just how all-consuming this pandemic has become in Americans daily lives.

Governors like Phil Murphy received higher marks than President Donald Trump for how they are handling the crisis and both are positive territory. Americans approved of their state governors actions, 72% to 18%. Trump received 50% approval and 45% disapproval ratings for how he was dealing with the crisis.

The president gets more positive than negative marks for his handling of the COVID outbreak but his numbers are still driven by the nations typical partisan divide," Murray said. "Governors, on the other hand, seem to be emerging as the most trusted official voice in this crisis across the board.

The poll of 851 adults was conducted March 18-22 with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

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.
The Philippines now has 501 positive cases of the COVID-19, health officials announced earlier today. In an article published by the New York Times and a local news site, Rappler, the death toll climbed up to 33. To put that in perspective, the country's mortality rate stood at 6.59 percent. Recoveries, on the other hand, stand at 3.79 percent with 19 patients beating the disease. These figures prompted government and health officials to brave for the next few days, as numbers are expected to rise with testing facilities being more available to the public.

First case

This new strain of coronavirus [VIDEO]first originated from Wuhan, China. The Philippines' first case came from the latter when a tourist traveled to the Philippines. It was confirmed on January 30, 2020. She recovered but her husband, which is the country's second case, has died. She has since been discharged. The government has received criticism for not issuing a travel ban immediately while the country was still COVID-free.

On March 6, 2020, the country announced its first confirmed local case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a 62-year old man who has not traveled abroad. The man frequented a shopping mall in San Juan City, just beside Manila, with a church inside where he usually prays.

Following the announcement, strict measures were finally observed.

Metro Manila lockdown

With cases growing rapidly, President Duterte ordered a Metro Manila lockdown which started at midnight March 15, 2020. This means people from the metro can't go in and out of the capital region. People residing outside but working in the capital can, however, be allowed entry provided they have proof of their employment which they need to present at various checkpoints.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Enhanced quarantine was announced days later which saw the cancellation of work by government and various private sectors. Classes at all levels were suspended as well. Tourists were advised to leave the country and catch the earliest flights possible to avoid being stuck in the country for an indefinite time. Panic buying and hoarding was seen with face masks and alcohol running out of stock fast and as of this writing, is nowhere to be found.

Luzon-wide community quarantine

The whole island of Luzon, which Manila is part of, and with residents of at least 57 million, was placed under quarantine. This means movement was limited and classes and works were suspended too. People who fled the Manila lockdown and went to their provinces were also advised to self-quarantine themselves in the comfort of their homes for 14 days before they will be allowed to go out. They are termed as People Under Monitoring (PUM). The situation is projected to worsen in the next few days and people were advised to just stay at home.
Church of England says only 5 people can attend weddings, including bride and groom

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The Church of England has issued new guidance for baptisms and weddings amid the global coronavirus outbreak, limiting attendees to five, including the bride and groom.

Ceremonies can proceed, the church said in official guidance released Thursday, and it should be limited to two witnesses the priest marrying the couple and the bride and groom.

Amid the uncertainty over such drastic measures, Buckingham Palace announced that Princess Beatrice, who is engaged to be married, is "reviewing" her wedding plans. Her wedding was set to occur in the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in London in late May.

The couple will carefully consider government advice before deciding whether a private marriage may take place among a small group of family and friends, a spokesperson for the palace said.

The Church of England guidance goes on to recommend that where relatives and friends are unable to attend in light of the new limits, churches will be glad to facilitate digital means of joining the ceremony through tools like Skype or by recording the service to send at a later date.

Where no audio link can be achieved, an order of service could be sent either by email or post. Apart from the bride and groom, the physical distance should be observed as far as possible," the guidance reads.

No additional church personnel will attend the service, for example organists, vergers or sound system operator etc.

Couples who cancel their church wedding are going to be refunded any fees or deposit in full.

Regarding baptisms, the guidance suggests that it be limited to the candidate, their parents, guardians or carers, in addition to the godparents and minister. The priest ought not to hold the child and the water not be administered with the hands but an appropriate instrument, it instructs.

"Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead," the archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Cantuar and John Sentamu, said in a letter. "Our life is going to be less characterized by attendance at church on Sunday, and more characterized by the prayer and service we offer each day. We may not be able to pray with people in the ways that we are used to, but we can certainly pray for people. And we can certainly offer practical care and support. "

Church buildings are still being urged to stay open "for private prayer wherever possible."

The Church of England guidance is but one of many "social distancing" measures that have been put forward around the world in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which first began in China several months ago and has rapidly circled the globe. The elderly, those 65 and over, have been most affected by the disease and account for most of its fatalities.

Earlier last week, the Church of England advised that funeral attendees be limited to immediate family only, and that services be livestreamed to for others who wish to pay their respects.

Weekly religious gatherings and services of all kinds have been suspended in many parts of the world and have been held online through social media platforms.
While COVID-19 is on the verge of entering into a community spread mode, Centre has started all out measures to ensure adequate protective equipment and masks are available for healthcare professionals and associated workforce present on the front lines.

"So far we have already distributed over one lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and seven lakh plus CVN95 masks with respiratory valves. War-footing efforts are on to ensure whatever produced in the day at any of the designated manufacturing units in the country are supplied to the nearest region", top level sources at HLL Lifecare Ltd told Business Today. The company is designated single-window procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

ALSO READ:$20 trillion lawsuit against China! US group says coronavirus is bioweapon

HLL Lifecare sources said as of now plans are to procure 40-50 lakh N95 masks, 20 lakh nitrile gloves (sizes 6.5 and 7), 10-15 lakh personal protective garments with tape from head to ankle with separate boot legging with tape, 10-15 lakh protective goggles, 2 crore 3-ply surgical masks, 20 lakh hand sanitisers (500ml each), and 10 lakh Viral Transport Medium (VTM Kit). Of this, each PPE costs around Rs 666, and each VTM kit is about Rs 7,434, including GST.

A source said the government, which could not find international manufacturers for PPEs and other emergency kits, has today again floated a new global tender. Efforts are also on to co-ordinate with various embassies abroad to identify and rope in manufacturers and suppliers. There are potential manufacturers in countries safe from coronavirus, like Bangladesh. The global tender will be finalised on April 15.

Another reliable source said about ten manufacturers have been roped in so far to make PPEs and negotiations are on with leading global manufacturers like Dupont, Venus and 3M. Earlier, the stipulation was that the manufacturers have to get technical clearance from the South India Textile Research Association(SITRA). Though there was no response from global companies, 6-8 local manufacturers had sent fabric prototypes, which were tested at SITRA between February 2 and February 25. Results of the tests were then referred to technical experts for decision on technical requirements for COVID-19.

ALSO READ:First Made-in-India COVID-19 test kit by Mylab gets commercial approval

"This clause of clearance from SITRA has been relaxed and the government is ready to welcome anyone with capabilities from any part of the world", the source said, requesting anonymity.

The HLL sources said about 70 senior officers of the company are working round the clock for the past two weeks in different parts of the country to ensure supplies. "The lockdown in various states is an issue, but we are working overtime to solve the logistics and manufacturing issues," he said. HLL has opened a 24-hour 'Emergency Procurement and Response Team' at Thiruvanathapuram (0471-2358992, 2354712) to answer queries and co-ordinate emergency supplies. Another similar cell is working from 8AM to 8PM at Nirman Bhavan in New Delhi, which can be contacted on 011-23061309.

Reacting to reports that procurement of materials was slow, government clarified that over the last 45 days, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Textiles are attempting to locate adequate number of sources who can produce and supply the requirement of body coveralls. During the last week of January 2020, the technical standard for the coveralls was prescribed as per WHO class-3 exposure pressure in accordance with ISO 16003 or its equivalent. Such materials are manufactured by a few international companies, who expressed their inability to supply on account of a complete glut in stocks and ban of exports by the source countries.

ALSO READ:Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: PM Modi announces 21-day nationwide lockdown
Virgin Australia chief Paul Scurrah has accused rival Qantas of spreading misinformation about Virgin's financial viability and starting a rumour that it was about to appoint administrators.

The accusation is contained in a letter sent by the airline's chief executive, Paul Scurrah, to the competition regulator on Sunday and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Paul Scurrah, CEO of Virgin Australia, has complained to the ACCC over Qantas' behaviour. Credit:Peter Braig

Mr Scurrah told Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims that Qantas' conduct "could cause immediate and irreparable damage to a competitive Australian air passenger transport industry".

"Virgin Australia has seen widespread reporting of public comments from Qantas and its executive team questioning directly or indirectly Virgin Australia's financial viability and encouraging [the] government to refrain from extending any government support for the aviation industry to Virgin Australia," Mr Scurrah wrote.
[March 24, 2020] GoFundMe Launches Relief Initiative to Help Small Business Impacted By COVID-19 in Partnership with Yelp

Today, GoFundMe, the world's largest social fundraising platform, launched the Small Business Relief Initiative to support those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the announcement, GoFundMe is partnering with Yelp (News - Alert), the company that connects people with great local businesses. The Small Business Relief Initiative will supply financial assistance and support to businesses across the country by providing fundraising tools and grants to help during the crisis. GoFundMe is teaming up with Yelp to make it easy for people to donate to businesses directly from their Yelp page. "With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting all of us, many small businesses are being forced to shut their doors," said Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe CEO. "Our goal with the Small Business Relief Initiative is to help small businesses and empower their communities to rally behind them. Local businesses provide jobs, a place to go, and are often the heart and soul of a community. By partnering with Yelp, we are able to reach businesses and provide a quick and easy way to get funds to these independent businesses in need." There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. and every day more are facing challenges related to this pandemic. The Small Business Relief Initiative combines Yelp's extensive network of small businesses with GoFundMe's social fundraising power to provide small business owners with financial support during these difficult times. The companies have united to help small business owners everywhere so that they can focus on what matters-keeping their businesses alive. "This pandemic has been particularly hard on small local businesses that are struggling to pay staff and keep the lights on, causing instability for millions and devastating ripple effects throughout our economy," said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and chief executive officer. "Through our partnership with GoFundMe, businesses can now raise much-needed funds quickly, and people are able to make an immediate impact by helping businesses in their community weather this crisis." The Small Business Relief Initiative will roll out starting today and includes: Donate to a Business Directly from Yelp: GoFundMe fundraisers will automatically appear on Yelp pages for restaurants, nightlife, beauty, and fitness & active life, rolling out nationwide starting today. By incorporating fundraisers onto existing Yelp pages for small businesses, community members can easily support the businesses they know and love through donations, and business owners will have quick access to the funds they desperately need. Users will see a "donate" icon on the business' Yelp profile, inspiring them to take action. This gives the community a simple way to show their support for their favorite local businesses. GoFundMe.org Small Business Relief Fund: GoFundMe.org, the company's nnprofit and charitable arm, has launched the Small Business Relief Fund where people can donate to support the overall initiative. Until the fund is depleted, donations to the relief fund will be paid out as one-time $500 matching grants to qualifying small businesses that created a fundraiser through the Small Business Relief Initiative or already had an existing GoFundMe. For fundraisers started prior to this announcement or outside of this partnership, the organizer can update their fundraiser description with the hashtag #SmallBusinessRelief to receive an email explaining how they can apply for a grant from the Small Business Relief Fund.



GoFundMe Centralized Fundraiser Hub for Small Businesses: For people looking to support and donate to a local business, GoFundMe has created a new small business centralized hub that identifies verified fundraisers that people can search by business name or location. Fundraisers started through the Small Business Relief Initiative and those created prior to this announcement will be included in the hub. GoFundMe and Yelp Foundation have committed to collectively donating the first $1 million into the Small Business Relief Fund, which will be used to issue $500 matching grants to businesses that raise at least $500 on their GoFundMe. These funds will be distributed with hopes of helping small businesses in need because of the pandemic across the country.

GoFundMe will continue to expand the Small Business Relief Initiative with additional partners, product features, and corporate donors in the coming weeks. To help small businesses across the country and donate, visit the Small Business Relief Fund. To read more about the Small Business Relief Initiative and the Yelp partnership visit the Yelp blog. About GoFundMe Started in 2010, GoFundMe is the world's largest free social fundraising platform. The GoFundMe community has raised over $9 billion from more than 120 million donations for people, causes, and organizations. GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. About Yelp Yelp Inc. (www.yelp.com) connects people with great local businesses. With unmatched local business information, photos and review content, Yelp provides a one-stop local platform for consumers to discover, connect and transact with local businesses of all sizes by making it easy to request a quote, join a waitlist, and make a reservation, appointment or purchase. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp has taken root in major metros in more than 30 countries. About GoFundMe.org GoFundMe.org is the advocacy and charitable arm of GoFundMe and is an independent, 501(c)(3) public charity registered in the United States (EIN 81-2279757). GoFundMe.org provides the opportunity for the community to take action on the broad causes and needs that are ever-present on GoFundMe.com. All donations to a GoFundMe.org-supported fundraiser are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. About Yelp Foundation The Yelp Foundation's mission is to support charitable organizations and activities addressing the needs of local communities, including access to information, education, local economic development, and freedom of expression, and to promote a culture of philanthropy among employees of Yelp Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005364/en/

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The German government and the European Central Bank are pumping hundreds of billions of euros into the accounts of corporations and banks to protect them from the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. But when it comes to protecting the health of the population, government action is marked by criminal irresponsibility.

In Germany, for example, it is still virtually impossible to be tested for the life-threatening virus unless you can prove that you have been in a crisis area or have had contact with someone who is already infected. Even people with symptoms of the disease are refused tests.

The irresponsibility of the government is also shown by the lack of enough protective masks and other urgently needed equipment. Although doctors representatives and suppliers of protective clothing had warned of this weeks ago, the federal government reacted with ignorance and inaction. Now, the masks are becoming scarce in clinics, doctors offices and medical serviceswith fatal consequences for the fight against COVID-19.

As Walter Plassmann, head of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, explained last Tuesday, the federal government had promised to help with the procurement of protective equipment. In fact, nothing had happened. We did not get a single mask, news magazine Der Spiegel quotes Plassmann, who warned, If we run out of protective equipment, we are finished.

Achim Theiler, the managing director of a company that produces and sells hygienic clothing, mouthguards and respirators for hospitals and doctors, told Der Spiegel that the federal Ministry of Health had been ignoring the warnings of manufacturers and suppliers for weeks.

We have issued warnings, and nobody has heard us, said Theiler. This is gross negligence and unnecessarily aggravates the crisis. On February 5, he had contacted federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) by email and vigorously urged him to reserve the corresponding quantities, as Germany was threatened with a dramatic shortage. I appeal to you not to underestimate the problem of this virus, Theiler wrote.

On February 10, Theiler contacted the health ministry again and referred to an official announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that there was a threat of a shortage of protective equipment worldwide, especially respiratory masks. At the time, Der Spiegel had also reported on supply problems in Germany. Theiler requested that this information be passed on immediately to the appropriate authorities. Nobody reacted, he was forced to conclude.

Several doctors, such as the head of a Munich clinic, Axel Fischer, also complained that the federal and state governments had not acted despite the anticipated problems. It is known that around 97 percent of the world market production of face masks is located in China, whose government imposed an export ban on products of this type in January.

Although the number of infected and sick people is still rising rapidly, supply bottlenecks are already occurring, as clinics in particular generally hold only a small number of stocks for cost reasons.

Without adequate protective equipment, doctors and nursing staff are exposed to a high risk of infection. In the event of an infection, the doctor or employee in question is then absent, which further exacerbates an already strained situation. Moreover, there is a risk of the virus being transmitted to patients, i.e., sick and vulnerable people. This means that patient care is not possible without protective clothing. Then we will have to close the hospital, Elmar Wagenbach, head of Eschweiler hospital, told Der Spiegel.

The limited supplies are already largely used up. Should requested deliveries not arrive, they would run out in Hamburg at the weekend, KV boss Plassmann explained.

The hospital association in North Rhine-Westphalia sounded the alarm that in the state with the most COVID-19 cases, most hospitals only had protective material for about 14 days. In clinics, staff are often instructed to use only one mask per day, or the maskwhich is designed as a disposable productis used several times.

The situation in doctors surgeries is similarly dramatic. Here, too, there is an acute shortage. Even weeks ago, masks, protective clothing and disinfectants were no longer available. In some cases, family doctors bought breathing masks from the DIY store at their own expense, which are normally used by painters. According to a survey by the doctors news service, more than 80 percent of doctors in private practice are already complaining about a lack of protective equipment and are considering closing their practice.

If material can be ordered and delivered, then it is only at horrendous prices. While face masks normally cost between 50 and 80 cents per piece, up to 20 euros are now being charged. After large quantities of disinfectants and protective material have been stolen from clinics for fear of the virus, they now have to be kept under lock and key or guarded by security personnel.

The lack of urgently needed material is not limited to face masks and disinfectants. There are also increasing shortages of respirators, oxygen and medication.

Important drugs needed for intensive care are also becoming scarce and their price is rising. The anaesthetic propofol is no longer available in sufficient quantities and the price per ampoule has increased twenty-fold in the last few days. The WHO warned over a week ago of a shortage of medical equipment to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement by Health Minister Spahn that Germany is well prepared for an outbreak of COVID-19 turns out to be a brazen lie. Serious deficiencies are already evident in every area of the health system. COVID-19 tests, which in any case are not being carried out nationwide, cannot be carried out systematically due to the strain on doctors and health authorities. In the last 20 years, about one third of physician posts in the public health authorities have been cut, while pay is significantly lower than can be earned in a private clinic.

The staffing situation in German clinics and nursing homes was already catastrophic before the outbreak of the pandemic; 17,000 vacancies currently exist in nursing care. Poor pay and even worse working conditions are the main reasons for this. In addition, there has been a massive reduction in hospital beds in recent years. If the situation in Germany follows that in Italy, there would be nowhere near enough intensive care beds in the country.

This catastrophic position makes clear where privatisation, profit gouging, austerity measures and a market-focussed orientation have led in the health care system. In order to combat the pandemic, substantial funds must be made available immediately to provide the material and staffing required in all clinics and medical facilities. The profit orientation in the health care system must be ended immediately and be replaced by a planned orientation toward the needs of society.
O ne of Britains biggest property developers has been allowed to flout rules on affordable housing in central London, claiming it cant afford to build homes for locals and first-time buyers.

Despite Westminster councils policy that all new housing schemes should contain at least 35 per cent affordable homes, it has given Berkeley Homes permission to build 200 new flats at Paddington Green in W2 with only 32 designated affordable  just 16 per cent of the total.

The developer initially offered none at all, saying the scheme, an extension of its huge West End Gate development, would not be financially viable with cheaper homes.

The planning committee gave the go-ahead only weeks after council leader Nickie Aiken issued a stern warning to the property industry that she would not tolerate Londons golden postcodes becoming ghettos for the rich.

She told the London Real Estate Forum in June: I do not want to preside over a borough where the housing market is polarised between multimillion properties for oligarchs and council-run estates, with not much in between.

Too many times we have buckled on viability or surrendered to the idea that brutal market economics simply denies housing opportunities for most people and that is just a harsh fact of life.

Westminster council leader Nickie Aiken issued a stern warning to the property industry before the plans were waved through / JEREMY SELWYN

Two-bedroom flats in the sold-out first phase of West End Gate started at 850,000 and Berkeley Homes claimed the new homes would not be financially viable if any affordable properties were included in the scheme. This was queried by Westminster and the offer was upped to 16 per cent affordable, which the councils planners accepted.

HORRIFIED LOCALS

The decision has horrified local residents. The Marylebone Association lodged an official objection to the project. On such a large development on-site affordable housing should be provided, particularly given the number of nearby public services employers  St Marys Hospital, the police station, City of Westminster College, said spokesman William Hulbert.

However John Walker, Westminsters director of planning, insisted the proposal offered other public benefits to the area, including developing a long-stalled building site which blighted the area, and would help increase the number of homes in the borough at a time when councils are under huge pressure to boost housebuilding.

Berkeley Homes declined to comment.

The scale of the development means London Mayor Sadiq Khan  who pronounced himself outraged when the Battersea Power Station Development Company recently managed to reduce the number of affordable homes on the landmark site after pleading poverty  has to give final approval to the plans. Some may view his decision as a marker of his will to take on developers over affordable housing across London.
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Beaumont Health, a chain of hospitals in Metro Detroit, is almost at capacity as the state deals with the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on WDETs Detroit Today program Tuesday morning.

Lets be very clear. Beaumont Health is almost at capacity right now, Whitmer said.

And we havent seen the worst of it yet. The numbers are going to continue to climb."

A spokesperson for Beaumont Health did not immediately respond to an inquiry about where capacity currently stands, and a spokesperson for Whitmer did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

According to the latest state numbers, there are 1,791 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Michigan and 24 confirmed deaths.

Related: Michigan coronavirus cases now at 1,791 with 24 deaths -- biggest daily increase to date

Hospitals around the state have been caring for and preparing for coronavirus patients, including for potential overflow situations.

Whitmer ordered non-essential businesses closed starting Tuesday, a move that is designed to slow the spread of the virus. She ordered Michigan residents to stay at home with some exceptions, like for getting food or medicine.

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.

Complete coverage of coronavirus in Michigan.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the crowd gathered at the Miki Yili Stadium, ahead of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of Freedom Day, in Makhanda, Eastern Cape Province on April 27, 2019.

South Africa has announced a nationwide lockdown of its 56 million inhabitants for 21 days, enforced by police and the army, in a bid to curtail the spread of coronavirus.

Confirmed cases in the country currently sit at 552, the highest in Africa but much lower than other major economies across Europe and the Americas, with zero deaths recorded so far.

In an address to the nation Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered South Africans to stay in their homes, apart from to seek medicine or medical care, buy food and supplies or collect a social grant.

The restrictions run from midnight on Thursday, March 26 until midnight on Thursday, April 16. A host of new international travel restrictions and quarantine measures will also be implemented.

Ramaphosa noted that the number of confirmed cases had increased six fold in South Africa in just eight days, and warned that "this number will continue to rise," before another 150 cases were confirmed on Tuesday morning.

"It is clear from the development of the disease in other countries and from our own modeling that immediate, swift and extraordinary action is required if we are to prevent a human catastrophe of enormous proportions in our country," he said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-24 22:11:02

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euro Manganese Inc. (TSX-V / ASX: EMN) (the "Company" or "EMN") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of 8,738,312 common shares ("Shares") and 401,888 CHESS Depositary Interests ("CDIs", with each CDI representing one Share), at a price of C$0.11 per Share or A$0.13 per CDI, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $1,005,300 (the "Offering"). Net proceeds of the Offering will be used by the Company to further advance its Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic, including advancing the feasibility study and preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment submission, and for other general corporate purposes.



The Offering is intended to close in two or more tranches with the first tranche, comprising of 4,477,170 Shares and 227,273 CDIs for aggregate gross proceeds of C$517,4891, expected to close on or about April 3, 2020. The second tranche of the Offering (the "Related Parties Tranche"), consisting of subscriptions by related parties of the Company (consisting of directors of the Company and companies controlled by directors of the Company) of 4,261,142 Shares at a price of C$0.11 per Share and 174,615 CDIs at a price of A$0.13 per CDI for aggregate gross proceeds of C$487,7801, is expected to close on or about May 5, 2020, subject to and following approval by the Companys shareholders as required by Listing Rule 10.11.5 of the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX"). The Company expects to call and hold a special meeting of shareholders of the Company in early May 2020 (the "Meeting") to approve the issuance of Shares and CDIs under the Related Parties Tranche. The Company expects to file a management information circular in connection with the Meeting in due course. The Offering is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV").

Fees payable by the Company in connection with the Offering will consist of a management fee, payable in cash, of 1% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the Offering. Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month and one day statutory hold period.

The issuance of Shares and CDIs to insiders of the Company pursuant to the Offering is considered to be a related party transaction under Canadas Multilateral Instrument 61-101. The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 on the basis that participation in the Offering by insiders does not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Company's market capitalization.

The Shares and CDIs to be issued under the Offering have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. Persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States, nor will there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Euro Manganese:

Euro Manganese Inc. is a Canadian mineral resource company focused on the development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic. The Project will recycle historic mine tailings that host Europes largest manganese deposit and result in an environmental remediation of this site. The European Union is emerging as a major electric vehicle manufacturing hub. EMN's goal is to become the preferred supplier of sustainably-produced ultra-high-purity manganese products for the lithium-ion battery industry and for producers of specialty steel, high-technology chemicals and aluminum alloys.

Authorized for release by the CEO of Euro Manganese Inc.

Contact:

Euro Manganese Inc.

Marco A. Romero Fausto Taddei

President & CEO Vice President, Corporate Development

(604)-681-1010 ext. 101 & Corporate Secretary

(604)-681-1010 ext. 105

E-mail: info@mn25.ca

Website: www.mn25.ca

Company Address:

1500  1040 West Georgia Street,

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6E 4H8

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as may, would, could, will, intend, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, estimate, scheduled, forecast, predict and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking information or statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the Offering, the anticipated closing dates of the tranches of the Offering, including the Related Party Tranche, receipt of TSXV and ASX approval for the Offering, the holding of the Meeting and the use of proceeds of the Offering.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed under Risks Notice and elsewhere in the Companys MD&A, as well as the inability to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner; the potential for unknown or unexpected events to cause contractual conditions to not be satisfied; unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the Company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release. The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors set forth in the Risks Notice section and elsewhere in the Companys MD&A for the year ended September 30, 2019 and its Annual Information Form.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), or the ASX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

1 Based on the Bank of Canada Canadian dollar to Australian dollar exchange rate of 0.8394 on March 23, 2020.




Maharashtra reported 18 new coronavirus cases since Monday night, taking the number of cases in the state to 107, the highest in the country so far, officials said.

While 10 cases were detected on Tuesday, eight were confirmed late on Monday night.

On the other hand, in some good news, a dozen coronavirus patients undergoing treatment in Mumbai have been "cured", officials said.

Of the 18 new patients, six were from Mumbai, four from Islampur in Sangli district, three from Pune, two from Satara and one each from Ahmednagar, Kalyan-Dombivli and Thane, a health department official said.

At least eight of these patients had travel history to West Asian countries and eight others had returned from the United States, UK and South America, he said.

Two patients are suspected to have contracted the infection from previously diagnosed COVID-19 carriers, the official said.

At present, 41 patients are being treated in Mumbai, while three have succumbed to the infection in the state.

As many as 18 persons are undergoing treatment in Pune and 12 in Pimpri Chinchwad.

Navi Mumbai and Kalyan Dombivli areas have five patients each, while Nagpur, Yavatmal and Sangli have four each.

Thane and Ahmednagar have three patients each, while Satara has two.

Panvel, Ulhasnagar, Aurangabad, Vasai-Virar, Ratnagiri and Pune Rural have one patient each.

In the last four days, daily detection figure of positive cases in the state is in double digits, officials noted.

A 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai on Monday evening, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 in the metropolis to three, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The deceased man had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing and was admitted to Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, the BMC said in a statement on Tuesday.

He had pre-existing ailments including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, it added.

Speaking to reporters, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that two of the COVID-19 patients in the state were in critical condition.

The minister also said that around 15 coronavirus patients in the state have responded well to treatment and they could be discharged soon, but the final decision will be taken by the doctors.

Earlier in the morning, BMC officials said that 12 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital in Mumbai have been cured of the deadly viral infection.

On Monday, a couple from Pune, who were the first positive coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, tested negative for the disease after the incubation period of 14 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The big picture: The tech industry has always prided itselfand for good reasonon describing and building products, services, and business models that look to the future. The technologies behind many of todays advances are arguably helping define our future. Because of that, its become quite normal to think and talk about these developments as having to unfold over the course of several years before their true impact can be accurately measured. But the COVID-19 crisis is focusing a dramatically different lens on many of these efforts and forcing companies to think (and act) on completely different timelines.

Today's situation is also getting people to think differently about what technology products can and cant do for them, which is leading to some important reassessments of what really matters as well as whats truly useful and what isnt. Frankly, in many instances, its a rethinking thats been overdue.

Reassessing and/or revising expectations has some potentially profound implications for tech companies, which can then smartly recognize ways they can shift both their messaging and even their product strategies. It also opens up some interesting opportunities to make meaningful improvements in existing products. Last, but certainly not least, it also provides an incredible opportunity for at least some portion of the tech industry to turn the increasingly negative narrative about big tech around and to reposition the tech industry as a beneficent force that can help improve our society and our world.

Thankfully, the manifestations of these new approaches are already starting to happen in both big ways and small. T-Mobile, for example, quickly got the FCC to give its approval for whats called Temporary Spectrum Access to increase the available bandwidth they had at 600 MHzwhich the company uses for both 4G and 5G serviceby essentially borrowing unused spectrum from Dish and Comcast.

(...) provides an incredible opportunity for at least some portion of the tech industry to turn the increasingly negative narrative about big tech around and to reposition the tech industry as a beneficent force that can help improve our society and our world.

Because T-Mobile had already built-up a good part of its network infrastructure for its 5G deployment, it was able to move much more quickly than it would have otherwise been able to. In addition, the company followed up this week by also launching a new low-cost ($15/month) plan sooner than originally planned. For their part, both AT&T and Verizon also joined in the FCCs Keep Americans Connected Pledge and made similar efforts of their own to increase available bandwidth, remove data caps for broadband services, pledge not to turn off connectivity plans due to financial hardship caused by the crisis, and more.

Collectively, these quick efforts showed the telecom industry as a whole to be very responsive and sensitive to the issues at hand, all of which should certainly go a long way in improving consumers perception of them. Throw in the fact that, as of now, the critical telecom and data delivery infrastructure has held up remarkably well given the huge increase in traffic its had to deal with from the many people working and living exclusively at home, and its arguably been an impressive week or two for the telecom industry.

Yet another interesting example and set of data comes from Cisco, whose equipment powers large segments of these infrastructure networks. On a call with Cisco executives and CEO Chuck Robbins, the company talked about having to approach these network loads in entirely different ways than they had in the past. Rather than taking a more systematic approach to problem solving, they freely discussed having to make adjustments in real timea clearly different approach to what theyd done in the past, and yet, based on what weve been experiencing, a successful one.

Not surprisingly, the Cisco execs also discussed the incredibly robust demand theyve seen for their networking productsevery company is looking to their bandwidthas well as the enormous traffic increase (up to 24x) that theyve seen for their Webex videoconferencing and remote collaboration services. Clearly, these are things that companies need immediately, so Ciscos ability to adjust its own networks on the fly to meet these huge demands speaks volumes about the pragmatic approach the company is taking to address these issues. One interesting side note from the Cisco call was that the vast majority of Webex client software downloads was for PCs over smartphones, once again highlighting the real-world value that PCs (laptops in particular) continue to play.

Many other tech companies also announced their own efforts to address some of the concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic has created. In fact, as a long-time industry observer, it was very encouraging and even heartwarming to see how much concern that the tech industry was displaying.

In a different and yet thematically related development, IBM, along with a number of government labs and technology partners like HPE, made the decision to open up access to many of the worlds fast and most powerful supercomputers to scientists who are working to battle the virus. It was a smart, fast, pragmatic decision that serves an incredibly important cause and highlights, in a very public way, the efforts that IBM is making to assist in whatever way it can.

Of course, many other tech companies also announced their own efforts to address some of the concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic has created. In fact, as a long-time industry observer, it was very encouraging and even heartwarming to see how much concern that the tech industry was displaying. While it may prove to be short-lived, there also seems to be much more willingness for companies to consider partnering with each other to help create new solutions that, in otherwise normal times, might not happen.

Even with these efforts to provide quick benefits, however, the new normal has made it clear that much work still needs to be done, particularly in making some tech products and services easier to use. Case in point: given the huge increase in video calls that I and most other people are now experiencing, its easy to find instances in applications like videoconferencing that need to be improvedand quickly. If youve ever suffered through trying to troubleshoot your audio and video connections for these calls, for example (and lets be honest, who hasnt), then you understand the need. Something as obvious as having a button on the main page of an online service or in the launch screen of a videoconferencing app to let you test your connection (or even better, to use some kind of AI or other software intelligence to fix it automatically), without having to log-in to an account or find the buried preference settings, seems like a very easy thing to do, yet, its just not there. These are the kind of small pragmatic differences that companies should also be thinking about.

"Necessity is the mother of invention", and there are likely few times in recorded history when the necessity of thinking and acting differently has been more urgent.

To be clear, the more pragmatic approach to creating, marketing, and even selling tech products that the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing upon us doesnt have to come completely at the expense of forward-looking technology advances. The R&D-focused efforts within the tech industry that are enabling things like quantum computing, or the latest neuromorphic chips that Intel recently unveiled, remain an absolutely essential and defining part of the business.

The difference now, and likely into the foreseeable future, is really more one of focus and emphasis. Companies need to look much harder at the types of changes they can make here and now both to existing products and upcoming products. Id argue that the tech industry had gone a little too far down the path of promising long-term revolutions without thinking enough about short-term implications. If nothing else, I expect that one of the more important outcomes that will linger on after we pass this crisis will be more attention to what kind of ideas, products, and services make a difference in the near-termnot just in some far off vision for where things might go.

Of course, its also important to remember that necessity is the mother of invention, and there are likely few times in recorded history when the necessity of thinking and acting differently has been more urgent. As a result, an even more important silver lining from our current crisis is that we will soon start to see and enjoy the inventive benefits of many of the most brilliant minds in the world who are spending their time thinking, from a present-focused pragmatic perspective, about how to solve many types of tech-related problems both big and small. Its not clear when, how, or in what exact form those innovations will appear, but I have absolutely no doubt that they will arrive and that we will all benefit from them.

Bob ODonnell is the founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a technology consulting and market research firm. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech. This article was originally published on Tech.pinions.

Image credit: Vitezslav Vylicil, Fusion Medical Animation
: With Kerala recording 28 positive cases of coronavirus on March 23, the highest on a single day in the state, the government on Tuesday said the lockdown imposed since midnight would be enforced strictly and separate passes issued to those working in essential services.

"Passes will be provided for those who are under the exempted category like people working in medical shops or provisional stores. Others must not roam around," Kerala police chief Loknath Behrara told reporters here.

He said there was no complete ban on taxis and they could move around for emergencies like carrying medicines.

"But those using their own vehicles should have a valid reason if they are venturing out," he said.

Behara stressed the need for "self-imposed discipline" among people to ensure that they do not unnecessarily come out in public spaces.

"It's not that we are going to enforcefor the sake of enforcement. It's for society and for all of us. People need to understand that. If they coume out in large numbers in their private vehciles, we will stop them," he said.

Kerala went in for a total lock down from midnight on Monday with 28 new positive cases, the highest on a single day, being reported, taking the total number of people under treatment in the state to 91 and over 64,000 under surveillance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export of grain and legumes from Turkey to Iran decreased by 8.9 percent in January-February 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, making up $17.8 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

Turkeys export of grains and legumes to Iran amounted to $9.3 million in February 2020, which is 21.6 percent less compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

In January-February 2020, Turkey's export of grain and legumes to world markets exceeded $1.1 billion, which is 4.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkey's export of these products made up 4 percent of the countrys total export for January-February 2020.

In February 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $594.3 million to world markets, which is 5.2 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of grain and legumes in February 2020 made up 4.1 percent of the countrys total export.

Over the last 12 months, i.e. from February 2019 through February 2020, Turkey has exported grains and legumes worth $6.8 billion.

Export from Turkey exceeded $14.7 billion in January 2020, which is increase by 6.4 percent compared to January 2019.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in January 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $19.2 billion.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in 2019 exceeded $374.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
McGrady, Johnson appointed to COVID-19 committees

Jake Johnson

State Reps. Chuck McGrady and Jake Johnson have been appointed to special committees to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

House Speaker Tim Moore appointed McGrady to the bipartisan North Carolina House Select Committee on COVID-19, which will be made up of policy working groups that will meet remotely to prepare immediate and long-term legislative responses to the developing crisis.

The committee meetings will be held by telephonic and remote participation. Members of both parties will chair the policy working groups that will minimize gatherings of staff and members in accordance with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The committee aims to address documented and anticipated economic impacts associated with the spread of COVID-19 virus on North Carolinas economy, including workforce dislocation, health system resource management, declined consumer activity, and temporary industry contraction.

My primary focus is on how travel & tourism, restaurants and motels/ hotels are being impacted, McGrady said.

Speaker Moore said state lawmakers stand with senior citizens and vulnerable populations who are most at risk from COVID-19s spread, as well as people across North Carolina facing an uncertain economic future. He said the extensive list of reforms the committee could consider necessitate the working groups begin meeting as soon as next week.

I have encouraged Gov. Cooper to take any lawful administrative action that he has available to support the economy at this time like delaying sales and unemployment tax remittance deadlines for businesses, extending state and local government permit expirations, and facilitating occupational licensure flexibility for working people in North Carolina dealing with this crisis, Moore said.

The General Assembly has prepared for times of crisis with smart savings and disaster readiness policy that enable the administration to respond effectively. But for actions the administration cannot take on its own, the House Select Committee on COVID-19 and its crisis policy working groups will identify immediate and long-term reforms to assist North Carolinians through this emergency.

Moore has reassured North Carolinians that the state is in strong fiscal position with a $3.9 billion Unemployment Trust Fund balance, $1.1 billion in savings, a $74 million disaster relief fund, $184 million in Medicaid contingency reserves, and a $2.2 billion balance of unappropriated cash-on-hand.

Audio for the public to listen to the state House Select Committee on COVID-19 will be streamed through the North Carolina General Assemblys audio system. Members of the public can sign up for committee notices and will be able to access documents during the remote meetings on the committees website that will be hosted at www.ncleg.net. Through remote meetings, members will identify measures necessary to maintain essential functions of North Carolina government during a pandemic, including education and election systems.



Moore appointed Johnson to the Task Force on Economic Recovery following the outbreak of COVID-19 or Coronavirus. Representative Johnson represents Polk, southern Henderson, and Transylvania counties in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Those meetings, too, will be primarily held by telephonic and remote participation.

The committees charge includes addressing documented and anticipated economic impacts associated with the spread of COVID-19 virus on North Carolinas economy, including workforce dislocation, health system resource management, declined consumer activity, and temporary industry contraction.

I want to first off thank all of the North Carolinians who are going above and beyond to help their fellow citizens in this time of crisis," Johnson said. "On the Economic Recovery Task Force, my objectives will be working alongside businesses that are struggling because of COVID-19, making sure they have the resources and systems in place to make it through this difficult time. As well as making sure employees who have been impacted can carry on with everyday lives and provide for their families.

Johnson encouraged business owners to contact his office at 919-715-4466 or Jake.Johnson@ncleg.net. Employees who have been laid off may create an account and apply for emergency unemployment benefits with the Employment Security Division at https://des.nc.gov/apply-unemployment.
by Mathias Hariyadi

On Flores Island, Semana Santa events have been cancelled. Health takes priority over traditions. The Indonesian government is struggling to cope with the crisis. In Jakarta Catholics hand out soup and other food to the needy.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Many Indonesian Catholics are involved in humanitarian initiatives related to the coronavirus outbreak. So far, there have been 686 cases of infection with 55 deaths across the country.

The Indonesian government has not imposed any strict travel restrictions, but has offered economic aid to those in difficulty, especially low-income workers.

In Kemayoran, central Jakarta, the authorities opened an emergency hospital to treat patients infected with the coronavirus. However, despite aid from abroad, there is a shortage of protective suits for doctors and health personnel.

Many Indonesians lack the means to survive in the current crisis. In this regard, Pemikat, a Catholic association in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, launched a fundraiser to help the neediest.

Over the past two days, the charity has been providing soups and other food to scores of people in the capital.

To raise as much money as possible from Catholics, Pemikats appeal urges them To stay home as we are working for those who suffer, but we need your financial contribution.

Another national Catholic organisation, Jaringan Katolik Melawan Covid-19, runs a volunteer programme and is raising awareness about the risks associated with the spread of the virus.

To prevent contagions, the Indonesian Catholic Church has suspended all public functions until 30 April, including Easter Masses.

The Diocese of Larantuka, on Flores Island (eastern Sunda Islands) cancelled the traditional Semana Santa (Holy Week), a festival of Portuguese origin, during which the statue of Mary is carried by a group of faithful through the streets of the city.

For local Catholics, the cancellation of this Easter tradition is a serious blow, also from an economic point of view since the event attracts many tourists.

According to Bishop Fransiskus Kopong Kung of Larantuka, the Catholic community must work to keep its traditions alive, but at such a critical time, peoples health is more important.

I am really sad about this decision, said Sister Immaculata, a Larantuka native who now lives in West Kalimantan province, speaking to AsiaNews. Until last week it seemed the festival would go ahead, but people's health comes first.
Health BellaSeno and Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin Collaborate Under BMBF-Funded SyMBoD Consortium



24.03.2020 10:11:49 - - Development of absorbable implants for the personalized treatment of bone defects in patients with diabetes

- BellaSeno responsible for high resolution, medical-grade scaffold manufacturing under ISO 13485



(live-PR.com) - Leipzig, Germany, March 24, 2020 - BellaSeno GmbH, a company developing absorbable scaffolds using additive manufacturing technologies, today announced a collaboration with Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin under the recently established SyMBoD consortium. Under the agreement, BellaSeno will design and manufacture personalized, 3D-printed, absorbable implants suitable for the treatment of diabetes patients with bone defects. The goal is to restore blood - Leipzig, Germany, March 24, 2020 - BellaSeno GmbH, a company developing absorbable scaffolds using additive manufacturing technologies, today announced a collaboration with Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin under the recently established SyMBoD consortium. Under the agreement, BellaSeno will design and manufacture personalized, 3D-printed, absorbable implants suitable for the treatment of diabetes patients with bone defects. The goal is to restore blood supply and facilitate the regeneration of persistent bone defects that do not heal otherwise. The consortium is an interdisciplinary project covering innovative digital technology based on systems medicine and precise, reproducible additive manufacturing. Within the consortium, BellaSeno is fully responsible for ISO 13485-compliant, medical-grade scaffold manufacturing.



Current research suggests that 3D-printed scaffolds, which have been optimized mechanically and biologically, can improve bone regeneration, said Dr. Navid Khani, Head of R&D of BellaSeno. Our custom-made, high-speed additive manufacturing platform is very precise, generates highly reproducible structures and has been certified according to ISO 13485 standard. We are therefore very well positioned to produce state-of-the-art, medical-grade scaffolds for a variety of applications. This is the first project underlining our manufacturing capabilities for external industry and academic partners.



We have selected BellaSeno because of the teams unique expertise in additive manufacturing of porous structures with extremely small features as required for our intended application, said Dr. Su Ping Patrina Poh of Charites Julius Wolff Institute (JWI). This strategic inclusion of BellaSeno is also driven by the fact that, to our knowledge, they are the only company within Germany with the capability to perform the entire additive design and manufacturing process chain with ISO13485 certified processes, which is highly aligned with our intention of clinical translation in the future.



BellaSeno is producing 3D-printed absorbable implants in very high-resolution lattice-based structures using melt-extrusion technology. While numerous companies can manufacture porous structures using 3D-printing technologies, it is extremely challenging to reproducibly generate structures if the required unit-cell size is less than 3 mm. Using its custom-built Yasham additive manufacturing platform, BellaSeno can reproducibly and routinely manufacture scaffolds with unit cell sizes down to about 1 mm.



The SyMBoD consortium consists of 4 universities and 1 industry partner and is dedicated to developing novel, personalized treatments for endogenous bone regeneration in patients with diabetes. Funded by Germanys Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and led by Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, the project includes partner institutions such as University of Freiburg, Fraunhofer IZI, Technical University of Munich, and Genvention GmbH. SyMBoD is part of BMBFs e:Med initiative, which is supporting various system medicine consortia with a total budget of EUR 200 million over the course of eight years.



###



About BellaSeno



BellaSeno GmbH was founded in 2015 and is located on the BioCity campus in Leipzig, Germany. The Company is developing novel absorbable implants made by additive manufacturing (3D-printing) as well as providing contract manufacturing services under ISO 13485. The Company has received substantial financial support from private investors as well as from the Saxony Development Bank (SAB) and the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE). The Company is thereby co-funded from tax resources based on the budget adopted by the members of Saxon State Parliament.



About Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin

Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, boasting approximately 100 departments and institutes spread across 4 separate campuses. The hospital offers a total of 3,001 beds and, in 2018, treated 152,693 in- and day case patients, in addition to 692,920 outpatients. At Charite, the areas of research, teaching and medical care are closely interlinked. With approximately 18,000 members of staff employed across its group of companies, Charite is one of the largest employers in Berlin. More than 4,500 of its employees work in the field of nursing, and around 4,300 in research and medical care. In 2018, Charite recorded a turnover of more than 1.8 billion, and set a new record by securing more than 170.9 million in external funding. Charites Medical Faculty is one of the largest in Germany, educating and training more than 7,500 medical and dentistry students. Charite also offers 619 training positions across 9 different health care professions.



About e:Med

e:Med, the new Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) nationwide research program, promotes system-oriented research into diseases, in order to facilitate improved prevention, more comprehensive diagnostics and individually adjusted therapy schemes in individualized medicine. e:Med stands for the electronic processing and integration of medically relevant data from diverse levels of knowledge in systems medicine. Establishing systems medicine in Germany is the objective of researchers who have joined forces in e:Med. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding e:Med with up to 200 million euro, initially for eight years.





Contact BellaSeno

BellaSeno GmbH

Dr. Mohit P. Chhaya

mohit.chhaya@bellaseno.com

Tel.: +49 176 2283 9583



Media Inquiries

akampion

Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth

Managing Partners

info(at)akampion.com

Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64

Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

supply and facilitate the regeneration of persistent bone defects that do not heal otherwise. The consortium is an interdisciplinary project covering innovative digital technology based on systems medicine and precise, reproducible additive manufacturing. Within the consortium, BellaSeno is fully responsible for ISO 13485-compliant, medical-grade scaffold manufacturing.Current research suggests that 3D-printed scaffolds, which have been optimized mechanically and biologically, can improve bone regeneration, said Dr. Navid Khani, Head of R&D of BellaSeno. Our custom-made, high-speed additive manufacturing platform is very precise, generates highly reproducible structures and has been certified according to ISO 13485 standard. We are therefore very well positioned to produce state-of-the-art, medical-grade scaffolds for a variety of applications. This is the first project underlining our manufacturing capabilities for external industry and academic partners.We have selected BellaSeno because of the teams unique expertise in additive manufacturing of porous structures with extremely small features as required for our intended application, said Dr. Su Ping Patrina Poh of Charites Julius Wolff Institute (JWI). This strategic inclusion of BellaSeno is also driven by the fact that, to our knowledge, they are the only company within Germany with the capability to perform the entire additive design and manufacturing process chain with ISO13485 certified processes, which is highly aligned with our intention of clinical translation in the future.BellaSeno is producing 3D-printed absorbable implants in very high-resolution lattice-based structures using melt-extrusion technology. While numerous companies can manufacture porous structures using 3D-printing technologies, it is extremely challenging to reproducibly generate structures if the required unit-cell size is less than 3 mm. Using its custom-built Yasham additive manufacturing platform, BellaSeno can reproducibly and routinely manufacture scaffolds with unit cell sizes down to about 1 mm.The SyMBoD consortium consists of 4 universities and 1 industry partner and is dedicated to developing novel, personalized treatments for endogenous bone regeneration in patients with diabetes. Funded by Germanys Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and led by Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, the project includes partner institutions such as University of Freiburg, Fraunhofer IZI, Technical University of Munich, and Genvention GmbH. SyMBoD is part of BMBFs e:Med initiative, which is supporting various system medicine consortia with a total budget of EUR 200 million over the course of eight years.###About BellaSenoBellaSeno GmbH was founded in 2015 and is located on the BioCity campus in Leipzig, Germany. The Company is developing novel absorbable implants made by additive manufacturing (3D-printing) as well as providing contract manufacturing services under ISO 13485. The Company has received substantial financial support from private investors as well as from the Saxony Development Bank (SAB) and the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE). The Company is thereby co-funded from tax resources based on the budget adopted by the members of Saxon State Parliament.About Charite  Universitatsmedizin BerlinCharite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, boasting approximately 100 departments and institutes spread across 4 separate campuses. The hospital offers a total of 3,001 beds and, in 2018, treated 152,693 in- and day case patients, in addition to 692,920 outpatients. At Charite, the areas of research, teaching and medical care are closely interlinked. With approximately 18,000 members of staff employed across its group of companies, Charite is one of the largest employers in Berlin. More than 4,500 of its employees work in the field of nursing, and around 4,300 in research and medical care. In 2018, Charite recorded a turnover of more than 1.8 billion, and set a new record by securing more than 170.9 million in external funding. Charites Medical Faculty is one of the largest in Germany, educating and training more than 7,500 medical and dentistry students. Charite also offers 619 training positions across 9 different health care professions. www.charite.de About e:Mede:Med, the new Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) nationwide research program, promotes system-oriented research into diseases, in order to facilitate improved prevention, more comprehensive diagnostics and individually adjusted therapy schemes in individualized medicine. e:Med stands for the electronic processing and integration of medically relevant data from diverse levels of knowledge in systems medicine. Establishing systems medicine in Germany is the objective of researchers who have joined forces in e:Med. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding e:Med with up to 200 million euro, initially for eight years.Contact BellaSenoBellaSeno GmbHDr. Mohit P. ChhayaTel.: +49 176 2283 9583Media InquiriesakampionDr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina ButhManaging Partnersinfo(at)akampion.comTel. +49 40 88 16 59 64Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68 Contact information:

BellaSeno GmbH







Contact Person:





eMail: eMail



Author:

Ines-Regina Buth

e-mail

Web: http://www.akampioneer.com

Phone: 030-23632768 24.03.2020 10:11:49 -

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.
WHILE launching the anti-corruption war, the Fifth Phase government under President John Pombe Magufuli (JPM) has witnessed ongoing high profile court cases, establishing the anti-graft special court and dismissing public officials suspected to be corrupt, all in the name of assuring the citizens that taxpayers money must be spent where it deserves and accurately and to their satisfaction.

To put this in perspective, by 2015 the country had lost to the tune of at least Sh400 billion from the national budget to corruption and mismanagement, which could have addressed mostly the three enemies of the nation namely-poverty, ignorance, and diseases.

From this angle, tax irrespective of its name, is another life source for the governments sustenance and no government can sustain itself without tax.

Remember this is a government of the people and by the people, installed in power democratically, hence must be also guarded and funded by the same people.

In the course, the citizens tax money goes a long way in funding the same governments programmes, which are solely meant to address challenges in the communities, where the same people live.

There is no government in the world today that does not collect tax in one way or another, and the reason is to sustain itself, and this should be repeatedly pointed out to the citizens that it is their obligation and not any outsider to do this on their behalf.

This implies that we should be patriotic to this life source in order to keep the nation functioning, and stop depending on donors, who would be willing to assist with strings attached ranging from cultural compromises to our own ways of life.

That said, tax is essential to help the government give us protection, build better roads and bridges, institutions and provide social infrastructures. The money you pay in taxes goes to many places.

In addition to paying the salaries of government workers, your tax also helps to support common resources, such as police and firefighters and above all purchasing drugs for public hospitals.

Tax money helps to ensure the roads you travel on are safe and well-maintained. Taxes fund public libraries and parks.

Taxes are also used to fund many types of government programmes that help the poor and less fortunate, as well as many schools!

The list may be long and as a citizen, pay taxes and when it comes to managing it, the President has shown by examples that whoever would try to tamper with taxpayers money (read sweat) would be taking chances with the law. Let us support the Fifth Phase government in this drive.
By Online Desk

As India went into a complete lockdown for 21 days due to coronavirus outbreak from Tuesday midnight, the MHA issued a statement postponing the proposed National Population Register (NPR) exercise until further notice.

On Wednesday, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Gujarat reported fresh cases, taking the total number of confirmed cases past 600.

Minutes after PM's nationwide address, citizens across countries made a beeline to buy groceries and provisions.

In some parts, police had to resort to lathi-charge to stop people from violating the lockdown protocol.

COVID-19: CHECK THE STATUS OF YOUR STATE HERE
The Countess of Wessex has highlighted some useful resources to help support and offer advice to those who are looking after their children at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a short video shared on the Royal Family Instagram account, Sophie, 55, can be heard saying: For parents and carers, it can be a daunting time to help our children and young people through this period of uncertainty but please dont feel alone.

Make use of the resources out there and the fantastic digital communities that are sharing and supporting them. Stay safe and thinking of you all.

The video, recorded by her daughter Lady Louise, 16, has so far racked up over 407, 000 views.

The Royal Family Instagram account has shared a short clip of Sophie Wessex highlighting useful resources to that those who are looking after their children at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured, at the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 at Westminster Abbey on March 09, 2020 in London

The Countess of Wessex (pictured), who was recorded by her daughter Lady Louise, can be heard highlighting some welcome advice and support as this new period begins

Alongside the clip, the caption encourages members of the public to head to their story for further information.

There, a further video shows Sophie explaining: 'For a lot of us, today is the start of living with change to our normal routines and regular patterns of our daily lives brought about my the necessary response to the threat of coronavirus.'

'Many of you as parents and carers will be adjusting to what might become a lengthy period of looking after your children from home.

'Some of you will also be giving up your time to ensure those children not at school are kept stimulated at these unprecedented times. But there are resources out there that can help - and some of the charities I support, are doing brilliant work.'

Sophie (pictured) encourages the public there are resources out there that can help during this 'daunting time'

The royal commented: 'Make use of the resources out there and the fantastic digital communities that are sharing and supporting them. Stay safe and thinking of you all.

Firstly, Sophie goes on to highlight the work of the NSPCC, who are offering advice on how best to speak to children about coronavirus and the affects it's having on their daily lives and routines.

She goes on to say: 'Many people and their families coping with autism may be feeling very anxious about coronavirus. I recommend following @autism on Twitter for useful information on coping with this issue.'

In the final clip, the royal then goes on to encourage people to take part in the @Nspcc_childline #childlinechallenge, where every day they encourage you and your children to take part in an activity to help beat boredom.

It comes as Britain's 66million people are today beginning a new life in coronavirus lockdown after Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell closed out the Senate session Monday night without bringing his proposed $2 trillion bonanza for corporate America to a vote. There is, however, little doubt that the legislation will be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives within a day or two.

The highly publicized wrangling between Democrats and Republicans over the exact terms of the absurdly named CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) is only political theater, engaged in by both parties in order to disguise the highway robbery being carried out by corporate America, using the coronavirus crisis as a pretext.

This massive boondoggle has nothing to do with helping people endangered either medically or financially by the epidemic and the economic dislocation it has caused. The financial aristocracy has seized on the public health crisis as an opportunity to raid the federal treasury, plundering the American people and grabbing whatever it can.

Following the motto of Democrat Rahm EmanuelNever let a good crisis go to wasteboth parties are using the COVID-19 epidemic as a chance to obtain favors for their corporate masters beyond their wildest dreams and far beyond anything they carried out in the 2008-2009 bailout of Wall Street and the auto industry.

As it stands now, the bill drafted by the Republican leadership and endorsed by Trumphe urged Monday that it be passed exactly as presented by McConnellwould provide more than $1.8 trillion in financial aid and other appropriations, the bulk of it directed to the big corporations and the wealthy.

The provisions include:

* $500 billion for large corporations

* $350 billion for small business

* $300 billion in direct payments to households

* $250 billion for state unemployment benefit funds

* $136 billion in additional funds for federal agencies, including the military and the Department of Homeland Security

* $106 billion in payments to hospitals, the Veterans Administration and other public health agencies.

The biggest single slice, $500 billion in loans and loan guarantees for big corporations, has been widely termed a slush fund under the control of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. While the money is earmarked to some extent$50 billion to passenger airlines, $8 billion to cargo airlines, and $17 billion to firms supplying the Pentagon or intelligence agencies with critical equipment and capabilitiesthe bulk of is to be distributed by the Treasury as Mnuchin decides.

Companies receiving aid are required to maintain the same employment levels as prevailed on March 13, 2020, but only to the extent practicable, a loophole that renders the requirement completely meaningless.

Other rules prohibit companies that receive federal bailouts from engaging in stock buybacks, bonuses and other measures to enrich their executives, but Mnuchin has the authority to waive all such requirements at his discretion. In addition, the identity of the companies receiving the cash is to be concealed, so that there will be no oversight except by the Trump administration.

There is no restriction, even of a formal character, on the gargantuan salaries of the CEOs and other top executives of major companies like Boeing. The former and current top officials of Boeing should be criminally prosecuted for such crimes as manufacturing what they knew to be the defective 737 Max jet, two of which crashed on takeoff, killing a total of 346 people. Instead, they are being rewarded by having their eight-figure incomes underwritten by the taxpayers.

When the Obama administration bailed out the auto industry in 2009, by contrast, the Democrats and Republicans demanded steep cuts in the wages and benefits of autoworkers, including a 50 percent cut in the starting pay for new hires. No such demands were made then of the auto executives, and there will be no cuts for the corporate CEOs this time around either.

As for the $350 billion for small businesses, the description of what constitutes such an entityeffectively any company with fewer than 500 employeesis so elastic that most hedge funds will be queuing up to shove their snouts in that particular trough. The Trump Organization, the presidents personal holding company, has about 500 direct employees, as do several of its subsidiaries. Asked whether his own company would benefit from the massive bailout bill, Trump would reply only, Well have to see.

There is no question that the lions share of the small business funding will be gobbled up by those able to hire the necessary lobbyists and lawyers, not by family-owned restaurants, dry cleaners or gas stations. These funds are particularly enticing because even the loan portion of the program can be forgiven at the discretion of the Treasury.

The main issues in dispute between the Democrats and Republicans are how much of the bill should be devoted to window dressing as opposed to the central purpose of the bill, aiding the corporations and the wealthy, which both parties enthusiastically support.

The Democrats advocate a bit more camouflage, in the form of funds for state and local governments and hospitals and direct payments to workers. The wrangling in the Senate has allowed even hardened right-wingers like Joe Manchin of West Virginia to posture as advocates of working people.

Among the provisions in the Senate bill that have drawn little attention is the exclusion from the $1,200 per adult cash payment of anyone who did not file an income tax return for 2018 or 2019. This includes millions of Americans, most of them poor, who relied entirely on nontaxable Social Security or retirement income, or who had no taxable income at all and were dependent on various forms of federal and state aid.

Another provision would bar any funds going to nonprofits receiving Medicaid expenditures, language that would exclude Planned Parenthood, a frequent target of attack by anti-abortion zealots among the Christian fundamentalists who exercise vast influence in the Republican Party. It could also exclude payments to agencies providing disability assistance, nursing home care and other social services.

In the maneuvers around the passage of the corporate bailout, Majority Leader McConnell telegraphed the real purpose of the bill by attempting to schedule a vote for 9:45 a.m. on Monday morning. He calculated that this would create the maximum pressure for passage, since the New York Stock Exchange opens trading at 9:30 a.m. and an immediate plunge would trigger a 15-minute circuit breaker halting trading.

This maneuver failed only because Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer delayed the vote until noon, but the message was clear: Wall Street wants this bill, and its ultimate passage is accordingly assured. (Schumer has received more campaign cash from New York financial interests than any other senator).

The backroom negotiations between McConnell, Schumer, Mnuchin, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy continue under conditions of an all-out mobilization of corporate lobbyists across Washington, whose dimensions were summed up by the New York Times in the headline, Coronavirus Stimulus Package Spurs a Lobbying Gold Rush.

The prospect of a bailout of a scale without precedent has set off a rush to the fiscal trough, with businesses enduring undeniable dislocation jostling with more opportunistic interests to ensure they get a share, the Times wrote. Among the many claimants were the sportswear company Adidas, seeking support for a long-sought provision allowing people to use pretax money to pay for gym memberships and fitness equipment, and drone manufacturers, claiming that they can deliver medical supplies or food without risking human contact that could spread the virus.
Egypts Education Minister Tarek Shawky said on Monday that the suspension of schools in the country over the coronavirus outbreak will likely be extended.

President [Abdel-Fattah] El-Sisi said we have two more weeks I believe the two-week [suspension] period we specified earlier will be extended, Shawky said in a phone call with MBC Masr TV channel.

Egypt announced a two-week suspension of schools and universities starting 15 March in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Shawky asserted that the ministry is still studying the case of Thanaweya Amma (high school diploma) and other diplomas, as any alteration to their set timeline will have a big impact on students future.

He said that more decisions and regulations regarding the resumption of study and examination dates, as well as education methods, will be announced by the end of this week.

The education minister added that some parents whose children are registered for the UKs International Secondary Education (IGCSE) exam and the American SAT have reached out to the ministry for help, but he said that those exams have been cancelled worldwide.

We have our limits, those examinations were cancelled overseas Were looking into everything and contacting the foreign entities to reach a solution for our children

We should accept that some things will cause us harm. Shawki said regarding the decisions being taken to face the coronavirus crisis.

The ministry employees themselves are afraid to leave their homes, we are working with a quarter of our capacity.

On Monday, Egypts Ministry of Health announced five new coronavirus fatalities and 39 new infections, raising the countrys death toll to 19 and the total number of cases to 366.

Besides suspending schools, Egypt has also taken several measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

On Saturday, Egypt suspended mass prayers at mosques and shut down churches.

On 19 March, the country shut down malls, restaurants, coffee shops and nightclubs overnight from 19 to 31 March.

On 16 March, the country announced it was suspending international flights from 19 till 31 March at all airports nationwide and limiting the presence of public sector employees.

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Nigerian auto manufacturer Innoson said on Monday that it was ready to convert its assembly lines to start producing critical medical equipment that may be in short supply as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.

A shortage of ventilators and other critical equipment has become a growing concern amidst rising cases of COVID-19 across the world.

Innoson Motors is ready to assist the government in any way we can, including the likability of converting out lines to produce ventilators and other equipment, Cornel Osigwe, the companys spokesperson, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, citing his discussion with Innocent Chukwuma, the groups chairman, on the matter.

But we need the government or other health institutions to place orders the quantity that may be required before we could take any step, Mr Osigwe added.

With its disclosure to PREMIUM TIMES, Innoson has joined a growing list of automobile companies who expressed intention to repurpose their manufacturing plants to produce medical equipment across the world.

General Motors and Rolls Royce, major vehicle manufacturers in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively, have publicly disclosed that they could produce ventilators and other equipment.

But while many agreed that it was possible to retool a vehicle assembly line for production of ventilators, some medical equipment experts have warned that it might be several months before any results become useful.

These are extremely sensitive machines with not only a lot of hardware, but also a lot of software. If one of the components does not work correctly, the whole machine shuts down and cannot be used any more, Jens Hallek, a medical equipment production expert at Hamilton Medical, said Tuesday morning, Wired Magazine reported.

The Washington Post also reported that the U.S. Department of Defence had warned that it might take more than a year for carmakers or aerospace factories to start making ventilators.

Nigeria recorded its first casualty from coronavirus on Monday morning with the passing of a 67-year-old retired senior official of the state-run NNPC. The sexagenarian was amongst the 36 infections so far recorded in Nigeria since the first case was discovered on February 27, about three months after the virus broke out in China.

Nigeria is widely believed to be under-testing the number of COVID-19 carriers within its population. Less than 200 people are believed to have been tested, a grossly inadequate figure against the countrys nearly 200 million people.

Officials have admitted shortages of testing equipment, with many placing significant hope on the arrival of a consignment of testing kits and personal protective equipment from Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma.

But there are also concerns that some elderly and other immunosuppressed patients who may lose the ability to breathe on their own would not get a ventilator, a computerised unit that pumps air in and out of the lungs.

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It was unclear how many ventilators are currently available at hospitals across the country, but in 2018 a medical expert decried as alarming the number of deaths being recorded in Nigeria due to acute shortage of oxygen machines.

Medical doctors at four different teaching hospitals told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that they could not estimate more than 300 oxygen machines throughout the country.

I cannot estimate more than 300 ventilators in Nigeria, Segun Adeoye, a consultant neurosurgeon, told PREMIUM TIMES. And you have to remember that all the ventilators are probably already occupied by patients suffering other forms of ailments before coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Adeoye said Nigeria would be better off preventing large scale infection amongst the citizens because the requisite medical equipment to support hundreds of patients at once are just not there.

Enefaa Bob-Manual Officials at the federal ministry of health declined to comment on Nigerias ventilator capacity or whether the government had commenced efforts to acquire the equipment to support potential demand from the pandemic.
[March 24, 2020] Doosan Mobility Innovation Demonstrated Power of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Drone During African Drone Forum

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI (News - Alert)) participated in the African Drone Forum (ADF), February 5-7, in Kigali, Rwanda to demonstrate key benefits of drone utilization in Africa and how it can improve the lives of its citizens. The ADF, organized by the World Bank and hosted by the Rwandan government, was designed to explore methods in which drone technology can help establish infrastructure in Africa. Ministers from 20 different African countries and drone business professionals from over 40 countries attended the event. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005683/en/ Doosan Mobility Innovation CEO speaking during the ADF symposium. (Photo: Business Wire) The ADF shined a light on innovative drone solutions where it is needed most - mobility. With conventional transport infrastructure (notable road and rail) prohibitively expensive in Africa (only 34% of Africa's population is within 2 km/1.2 miles of an all-weather road) drones are providing a new avenue to the region's mobility. DMI demonstrated the power of their hydrogen fuel cell drone technology with the use of the DS30 (long endurance hydrogen fuel cell drone) and the DP30 powerpack. They successfully completed 30 minutes of flight time with enough hydrogen left for over two hours of extended flight. The benefits to Africa of extended flight time are monumental, including applications for the supply of medicines and blood, business purposes, disaster analysis and relief, communication capabilities, and more. DMI's CEO, Doo Soon Lee, was also a key speaker during the symposium and spoke regarding the benefits of long endurance flight for emegency delivery as well as other applications. According to Mr. Lee, "A hydrogen fuel cell drone used in blood delivery can travel more than 70km in a flight. We can help save as many as 5,000 lives a year with one hydrogen drone." With the ability to fly hours, not minutes, a hydrogen fuel cell drone can deliver items to a remote location where traditional battery powered drones cannot reach. This allows a hydrogen fuel cell drone to act as a 'drone ambulance'.



Currently, most drone blood delivery in Africa is supplied by fixed-wing drones that generally have a payload max of about 2 kg. DMI's hydrogen fuel cell drone has a maximum payload of 5 kg - making it possible to deliver twice as much blood per flight. DMI's solution also transports and delivers blood in a delivery box specially designed for temperature-sensitive medical supplies. Dr. George Mulamula, a representative for World Bank stated, "Doosan Mobility Innovation's product is the only drone fueled with hydrogen fuel cell. This is green technology and it stays in the air for longer time, enabling to reach longer distance and get more economical values."

DMI was honored to be a part of the ADF and more importantly, to be a part of the technology that is paving the way for new and innovative methods of establishing infrastructure for Africa and its citizens. DMI is providing the power for tomorrow and the power for the future of Africa. About Doosan Mobility Innovation Doosan's fuel cell business is an exciting future growth engine and focuses on the mobile applications of fuel cell technology. Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) is a 100% invested company by Doosan Corporation, a global company with 16.5 billion dollars in revenue. With build-safe systems and reliability customers can trust, DMI is heavily investing in UAV applications (both hardware and software) that are quickly accelerating the growth of long-endurance flight and the growth of the UAV industry. About DP30 and DS30 DP30 (Fuel-cell Powerpack) with DS30 (Drone body) is the world's first commercialized hydrogen fuel-cell drone which enables long endurance flight for various industrial applications. With a hydrogen fuel-cell drone, 2 hours flight time is possible since the energy density of fuel-cell system is 3 to 4 times higher than that of batteries. DP30 is a complete fuel-cell system for drone which enables long endurance and high reliability. DS30 is designed to take advantage of all the efficiencies of DP30, with the maximum flight time of 2 hours and the maximum payload of 5 kg. Average flight distance range of DP30 with DS30 is more than 40 miles. Stay Connected with DMI: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005683/en/

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Russian Prime Minister presses for tougher liability for quarantine breaches

 kremlin.ru

11:35 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  Russias Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has ordered the Cabinet to draft legislative proposals aime to toughen liability of individuals and companies for violating the quarantine measures.

The bill is to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

On March 23, Mishustin held a meeting of the Presidium of the Governments Coordination Anti-Coronavirus Council. During the meeting, the Governments Chairman gave the said orders to Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry and Ministry of Economic Development. The proposals are to be made until March 25, according to a statement released on the Cabinets website.

Moreover, Russias consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor was ordered along with regional executive bodies to prepare a scheme of hasty deployment of additional laboratory powers to test people for coronavirus, the statement reads.
New Delhi, March 24 : While Indians, like people around the globe, are busy battling the outbreak of coronavirus, social media platforms are filled with rumours regarding the spread of the disease.

One such rumour, which is doing rounds on various communication platforms, is the transfer of coronavirus through animals and pets. Believing this, many people have reportedly abandoned their pets.

However, this "information" is just a rumour as the World Health Organisation has rejected the claim that the disease spreads through animals.

Speaking to IANS regarding the current scenario, Ambika Rattanmani, owner of a female Cocker Spaniel, said: "I would say, please do not abandon them, they really need us in such tough times.They blindly trust us and commit their whole life to us, please be responsible and take care of yourself and them too. Get aware, about pets and coronavirus especially what WHO has said, believe it." "Just maintain cleanliness and hygiene, don't take them out on a walk or let them out, clean them, especially their paws, with a disinfectant frequently. If you're really unsure, don't let them come on to your bed... give them a separate bed and clean the sheets regularly," she said.

"Please feed stray animals as their real source of food like shops and restaurants are closed due to the lockdown. Keep two bowls - one with water, another with food outside your home to feed these homeless creatures," she appealed.

Aparna Anande, on taking care of her Golden Retriever, said: "We are not taking him out for walks, we let him play inside, we sanitise his eating bowls, keep his cloth clean and do everything to keep his personal hygiene intact. We also keep his toys sanitised and the regular health check ups and vaccination is going on." To reports of people abandoning their pets, she said: "I don't know if my advice would change anyone's mind but I would certainly like to ask a question first, 'If your child or any family member gets sick due to any disease, not just this particular virus, would you abandon them?' I think not, so if you really consider pets as your family, please keep your rationality intact and do not abandon them." Shefali Ranawat, who owns a male German Shephard, told IANS over phone: "Abandoning them is not going to help any of you. Instead in such situations (curfew), people should at least feed them and make them feel like we are here for them." "Its definitely a scary situation for everybody all over the world. Mentally, I am meditating and keeping the stress and anxiety away. And physically, yes i am following required measures," she added.
The doctors voice was filled with distress.

Dr. Suraj Saggar didnt have much time to talk. At times, he even sounded almost out of breath. Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck is under siege from the coronavirus, and he needed to get back to his patients.

But first, he had a desperate message he needed to send.

They need help.

It looks likes a war zone, said Saggar, Holy Names chief of infectious disease.

The hospital is in such dire need, it took the unprecedented step of pleading to the public for donations to buy critical supplies.

Holy Name is filling with COVID-19 patients. Supplies are running low. Doctors and nurses  already at risk of exposure  could be put in further danger if they run out of protective equipment, while some already have gotten sick, medical workers said.

The Bergen County hospital  located at the epicenter of New Jerseys coronavirus outbreak  is on the brink, nearing its capacity and supply stock. And its not alone in this deepening crisis as hospitals throughout the state face diminishing supplies and equipment.

Holy Name is running out of ventilators. The facility is down to only a four-day supply of respirators. Its stock of protective gloves and eye shields are dwindling. And disposable gowns are already gone.

"Everything is running low, Saggar said, speaking rapidly as a clamor of background noise carried over the phone line  the cacophony of doctors and nurses rushing around him, tending to patients.

Dr. Suraj Saggar inside the ICU of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.Photo by Jeff Rhode

The shortage of supplies puts health care workers at risk. The protective equipment is the only line of defense for them. Each infection means one less medical professional is available to care for the soaring number of COVID-19 patients, threatening the states already overburdened health care system.

New Jersey recorded 935 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, giving it 2,844 confirmed infections. There were also seven more deaths, raising the total to 27.

The escalating number of cases only taxes medical facilities, their supplies and their staff.

The biggest fear among many might be over the shortage of respirators, the life-saving breathing machines that have become vital with the coronavirus attacking patients lungs.

Holy Name has only three ventilators remaining with 85 patients in the hospital, Dr. Stavros Christoudias told NJ Advance Media on Monday.

Christoudias, who chairs the New Jersey Doctor-Patient Alliance, said Holy Name is in the worst shape of the hospitals hes seen, but The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood is very close behind them.

We are almost at capacity like that scene from Italy where people are making choices whether people live or die, Christoudias said of available ventilators. We are almost there. Were not even out of the first inning on this thing, and we are almost there.

Considering the dire circumstances, he commended the critical efforts that health care workers are making to combat the crisis, calling Holy Name a role model for other hospitals.

The Valley Hospital issued its own public appeal over the weekend for donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to be dropped off at its front door. The plea on Facebook and Twitter asked for unused N95 respirators, surgical masks, face shields, goggles, isolation gowns and latex-free gloves.

The Valley Hospital did not return a request for comment.

The anguish at Holy Name only intensifies with each passing day as more patients arrive.

Patients who are coming in are high acuity  very sick, Saggar said. And they are progressing to respiratory failure.

Names are written on protective masks so they may be used again if safely possible, due to a nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment, in Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Horrendous situation

The toll is starting to wear on hospital staff.

Doctors in Bergen County are stressed, and nurses are suffering under the strain as supplies shrink and patients struggle, Christoudias said.

Its pretty horrendous, he said. What really pains me the most is to see the nurses anguish. They feel like they have nowhere to turn.

Hospitals are using thousands of masks and other supplies each day. They protect medical workers from respiratory droplets that spray out from coughs or sneezes and spread the contagious coronavirus.

Competition for equipment has ramped up as every state is vying to purchase them.

So hospitals have been forced to get creative, making do with what little they have remaining.

Health care workers are reusing gear and coming up with ad hoc ways to stretch supplies as far as they can.

Right now were using the same mask throughout the day, Saggar said. Everyone is using one mask and pair of goggles.

Saggar said workers are using safety pins to secure a plastic bag on the inside of their scrubs, where they store N-95 respirators before reusing them again. They apply bleach to clean them. If entering a room with a patient, theyll place a surgical mask over the respirator to provide some extra protection.

Some hospitals have resorted to disinfecting masks with ultraviolet light for reuse, according to news reports.

Christoudias said he is supplying masks he had previously purchased to health care workers.

I bought three cases of 3M N95 masks from an industrial warehouse in January," he said of the masks that filter out 95% of particles. The first reports of the coronavirus emergence in China were published in January in the United States. They got here last week. And its all gone. Im giving away the last two boxes now.

He has been handing them out at North Jersey hospitals. But some on the front lines have already been infected.

They literally cry" Christoudias said of giving away the masks. "This one doctor who is at Valley Hospital just texted me today. I gave her three boxes on Friday. She said, One box is gone. So is four of our doctors.

"Im like, What do you mean? She said, Four of our doctors are sick. Theyre dealing with COVID symptoms.

A medical worker at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck during the first few days of the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Its unclear how many health care workers in the state may have contracted COVID-19. The New Jersey Department of Health was unable to provide figures.

If we dont keep our health care workers protected, we have nobody, said Debbie White, president of Health Professionals & Allied Employees.

Holy Name has received so many patients, Saggar has lost count.

I have to be honest, there are so many at this point, he said, his voice dropping.

From the beginning, health care officials greatest fear has been a surge of patients flooding emergency rooms at once, overrunning facilities and leaving a shortage of critical care beds, equipment and supplies. These fears, raised more than a month ago by some experts, seem to be coming true.

And officials expect the outbreak in New Jersey to get much worse in the coming days and weeks.

We have to make sure we are protecting our first-line responders  the ones who are taking care of these very sick patients," Saggar said.

Human cost

The resources they need are rapidly dwindling.

The issue is so pressing, Gov. Phil Murphy spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday about the states need for protective equipment, he said during his daily coronavirus media briefing.

Equipment remains more vital than hospital space, Dr. Daniel Varga, chief physician at Hackensack Meridian Health, said Monday.

Were trying to get them the stuff that they need to really manage what theyre seeing every day, he said. But the big issue is going to be materiel  Well find space. Its really more the supply chain and the human cost.

Holy Name is in a precarious position with only three ventilators remaining but several COVID-19 patients, Christoudias said.

Any one of them could crash and need one of them immediately, he said. So if today, if three of them crash, anyone else who crashes could end up dying short of breath in the hallway.

The state has nearly 2,000 critical care beds in hospitals, but only 1,700 ventilators, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday during the governors briefing.

Not all of them are in use at this time, she said. We do believe for every critical care bed there should be a one to one ratio  ventilator to critical care bed. So, looking at our inventory and full number of beds, we have a deficit of about 300."

The state has requested 400 more, she said.

But ventilators are only as good as the caregivers who use them. If they dont have protective gear to keep them healthy, a medical staffing shortage could be next.

"We can have all the ventilators in the world and then no caregiver, White said.

Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck during the first few days of the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Cracking ice

Hospitals have been transformed as if its wartime.

Tents have been set up in parking lots. Unused rooms and wings are being utilized. Retired nurses, school nurses and even nursing school students have been called on to help.

Saggar said Holy Name is holding the line  barely. Its as if everyone is beginning to hear the cracking of the ice beneath their feet.

He said the hospital is in crisis mode."

A month ago, no one thought hospitals would be issuing pleas to the public, begging for donations and supplies.

We hope that they will see whats happening here, Saggar said. We know its going to keep spreading.

What happens if doctors and nurses run out of respirators? Other gear?

It would be devastating ... They are going to be at risk, he said.

And amid the supply crisis, workers are pressing on like soldiers in battle. They are under unimaginable stress, Saggar said.

Everyone is exhausted, he said. Theres anxiety in everyone. Theres sorrow.

And the worst may be yet to come.

Its unclear whether Holy Name and other facilities that are already overwhelmed can handle a surge of patients.

We cant let it get to that point," Saggar said, angst in his voice. Were not at that point  were ahead  but its literally a race. We have to stay ahead.

But medical workers are paying a steep price to fight this battle.

Their emotions fluctuate daily, according to Saggar.

Everyone feels like they have a calling. But it would be false to say there isnt a level of anxiety and concern for everyones well being, he said. If we had enough PPE, we can take care (of patients). But when you combine (that)  it adds a level of anxiety and dread and depression, and it makes an already difficult situation that much worse.

Saggar added: And its not just PPE. Its critical care staff, ICU beds, hospital beds, ventilators  We literally built extra ICUs in the hospitals. Its unprecedented.

Anyone seeking to donate to Holy Name should visit HelpHolyName.org.

For more information on how to donate to The Valley Hospital, visit ValleyHospitalFoundation.org.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ.

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Amazon, which made two-day shipping an industry standard, said some customer orders are taking longer to ship as demand for home delivery has skyrocketed during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant on Monday said it had changed its entire logistics, supply chain and transportation processes to prioritize stocking and delivering household essentials and medical supplies. Amazon Prime members are reporting delays in shipments of other orders, sometimes by up to a month.
Many stores in the Old Quarter of Hanoi have closed in efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 (Photo: VNA)

The Asian Development Bank stands ready to provide financial assistance and policy advice to help the Government of Vietnam contain the spread of COVID-19, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said.

He added that the bank will consider all options, including quick-disbursing budget support, policy-based lending, and expedited disbursement of existing loans, to ensure any support package can be approved quickly and disbursed in a timely manner.

The ADB President also commended the Vietnamese Government on its timely and effective actions to combat the pandemic. He welcomed its focus on maintaining economic stability and growth in the medium and long-term, including through expanding public investment expenditure and strengthening social safety nets for poor and vulnerable households.

The lender has announced an initial support package of 6.5 billion USD to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries, including Vietnam, as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank said it will provide additional support as needed.
Sales tax revenues will slump because businesses are closed and families are cutting back on spending. 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  Just last month, Pennsylvanias finances were finally on an upswing again. Tax revenues were coming in higher than forecasted, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf proposed a $36 billion budget with some ambitious new spending plans.

By one estimate, the chance of a recession was only around 20%.

Then the coronavirus began to spread.

The outbreak now poses an unprecedented fiscal challenge for the state for which there is no road map. Never before has such a large percentage of Pennsylvanias economy been shut down for a prolonged period, and no one knows how quickly it will rebound.

The challenge will be particularly acute because, as revenues decline, demand for public assistance programs like unemployment compensation will increase. At the same time, experts say Pennsylvanias rainy day fund is woefully short of the level it should be at.

Were in new territory and its unlikely that any state is fully prepared for what they are about to face, but Pennsylvania finds itself particularly ill-prepared, said Jared Walczak, director of state tax policy at the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

Already, with casinos closed since March 17, revenues from slot machines and table games  which brought in $1.36 billion for the state in 2019  are plummeting toward zero. The state liquor stores, which generated more than $700 million in the last fiscal year, are closed and not selling online.

Sales tax revenues will slump because businesses are closed and families are cutting back on spending. Since Pennsylvania doesnt tax essential items, panic-buying groceries and hoarding toilet paper dont generate much revenue, either.

In addition, income tax revenues will fall as workers lose their jobs, lottery proceeds will likely dip as fewer people play and shops that sell tickets close, and revenues from real estate transfer taxes will wane if home buying and selling slows.

It is clear that state revenues are softening pretty dramatically at the moment, Revenue Secretary C. Daniel Hassell said in an interview Monday.

The scale of the shortfall will become clearer in about a week, Hassell said, when final revenue numbers for March are released, coming in many millions under estimate.

Its a huge challenge for all of us as we try to figure out where we go from here, he said.

On Monday, Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for the seven counties most affected by the coronavirus. Last week, he ordered all businesses except those deemed life-sustaining to close their physical operations, and this week, police began enforcement.

The state Department of Revenue doesnt have specific estimates yet on just how badly the emergency measures put in place to slow the outbreak will hit Pennsylvanias bottom line. Thats in part because of how fluid the situation remains, both here and in Washington.

Weve been watching the economic forecasts that have been coming out and honestly they vary so widely that its difficult to know what to make of it, Hassell said.

In the nations capital, lawmakers continue to hash out the details of a massive federal stimulus package. Its not yet clear how much of a boost that could provide to states

As revenues plummet, demand for some state programs is set to soar. In the coming weeks, more people will have to rely on public assistance programs. The state has already seen record numbers of people filing unemployment claims.

Wolf addressed the fiscal challenge ahead Monday, saying at a news conference that the state is like any other business. Until the fate of a federal stimulus package becomes clear, he said, were doing the best we can to live within our means.

Last week, Wolf put a hiring freeze and general purchasing ban in place across state government, urging agencies to curb spending on goods and services not absolutely critical to operations.

Like many states, Pennsylvania was midway through the budget process when the outbreak hit.

In the past, the state has been criticized for using one-time revenues to balance the budget. Experts say core government functions should be paid for with recurring revenues.

But this year, the administration was upbeat about the financial outlook. The governors proposed budget was based on a projection of 4.5% growth in revenues, an estimate that is no longer viable, Hassell said. That means many of Wolfs new spending proposals, already met with a cool response in the Republican-controlled legislature, may have to be put aside to get the state back up and running.

Those proposals included a $1 billion expansion of a debt-funded grant program for lead and asbestos remediation in schools.

Pennsylvania also faces the challenge of going into an economic downturn with meager reserves, after lawmakers drained the rainy day fund during the Great Recession.

Even after the largest transfer in decades into the rainy day fund last July, the state still has only $340 million in reserves  enough to fund government operations for around 3 days, the state treasurers office estimated at the time.

A 2019 study by Moodys Analytics found that, in order to get through a moderate recession without tax increases or spending cuts, a typical state would need to have just over 11% of its general fund revenues in a reserve fund.

Pennsylvania has around 2%.

This is a wake-up call for states and local governments to do things differently in post-COVID-19 life, said Lucy Dadayan, a senior research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. You have to have reserves.

Asked whether lawmakers were considering spending cuts to balance the budget, Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh), chair of the Appropriations Committee, said nothing had been decided yet. He acknowledged, The decisions going forward are going to be challenging.

Unlike the 2008 recession, which Browne said took the state almost 10 years to recover from, the COVID-19 outbreak is a short window of challenge.

All things being equal, this should not result in extended consequences like the last one did, he said.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has reported that the Ukrainian and Chinese governments agreed to share experience in successful combating of coronavirus (COVID-19) by the Wuhan doctors.

"I also want to inform you that the government has agreed on cooperation between the Ukrainian and Chinese doctors. Our doctors will get successful experience in combating coronavirus from the colleagues in Wuhan," he said in his speech to the Ukrainians on Monday.
Update: Police report an arrest has been made in the shooting but will not release the name of the suspect or any other details until Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating a shooting on Clifton Avenue in the Six Corners neighborhood that left one man seriously injured, police said.

Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said the victim was rushed to Baystate Medical Center with gunshot injuries. The injuries are considered serious, he said.

Police were dispatched to the area of 100 Clifton Avenue, off Central Street, at around 10:40 a.m. for reports of gunfire.

The first officers on scene found the victim and began first aid until an ambulance arrived.

The police detective bureau is investigating.
So far Cook County officials have identified more than 100 adult inmates at the jail for potential early release, with a focus on those who do not pose a threat to public safety but have health issues, those who are older or those being held on bonds that they cant afford. Hearings for those detainees were continuing this week.
While COVID-19 has taken a toll on the economy as restrictions have forced employers to scale back on hours and pay, there are some industries that are experiencing increase demand for workers.

The new reality we find ourselves in has created opportunities in a number of sectors, but especially in grocery, retail and food delivery. Even Birmingham-based Proctor U, which monitors students taking online exams, is going through a hiring spree in the wake of the coronavirus.

Whether youve been laid off or are in need of a second job because of the pandemic, here are 11 employers looking to fill positions while helping you get back on your feet:

Dollar General

Budget variety chain store Dollar General is experiencing a spike in demand due to COVID-19 and is aiming to hire 50,000 workers by the end of next month. Hundreds of jobs will be available in Alabama alone, ranging from retail associate to district manager.

Qualifications: Qualifications range depending on the opening youre interested in. For example, Dollar General has dozens of openings for store managers in Alabama and the company wants workers with at least a high school diploma and a year of retail experience for external candidates and four months retail experience for internal candidates.

How to apply: Search for openings here, click on the position youre interested in and then click apply online.

Dollar Tree/Family Dollar

With Dollar Tree and Family Dollar suspending online orders because of COVID-19, the two budget variety chains are in need of employees to work their retail locations. Hundreds of jobs are available in Alabama.

Qualifications: Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are looking for candidates with at least a high school diploma or equivalent and varying degrees of retail experience depending on job listing.

How to apply: Dollar Tree and Family Dollar jobs in Alabama can be found here.

Dominos Pizza/Pizza Hut/Papa Johns

Pizzerias are booming with restaurants shut down while food delivery is allowed. Pizza chains such as Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut and Papa Johns need to hire workers both as food preparers and delivery drivers to keep up with the demand.

Dominos has dozens of openings in Alabama (unfortunately there are no positions available north of Cullman) while Pizza Hut and Papa Johns have about 50 jobs available apiece in the state.

How to apply: Dominos jobs can be found here. To apply at Pizza Hut, click here. And openings at Papa Johns can be accessed here.

Postmates

In the age of COVID-19 quarantines and restrictions on restaurants, delivery service Postmates is in need of so-called fleet members to join the company delivering not only takeout orders but grocery and drug store delivery as well.

Qualifications: Prospective employees need to be at least 18 years old, have a vehicle  either a car or bike  along with insurance and have to undergo a background check.

How to apply: Download the Postmates Fleet app on you smartphone or complete the application process here.

Publix

Just look at the run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer and its clear that supermarkets like Publix are in need of help due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company announced that it is hiring thousands of associates at it supermarkets and distribution centers (McCalla is home to one of those.)

You can be as young as 14 years old to work some positions at Publix, and the company is encouraging applications from people in industries who have recently found themselves unexpectedly without work because of the pandemic. Some jobs at Publix dont require a work history.

How to apply: Job applications for Publix can be found here.

Shipt

The Birmingham-based grocery delivery service is hiring thousands of shoppers to keep up with demand. Shipt is particularly useful for those at high risk of complications from COVID-19, including the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions.

Qualifications: Prospective employees must be at least 18 years of age with a valid U.S. license and car insurance. Being a delivery service, Shipt requires workers to have a reliable vehicle; you must have a vehicle from 1997 or newer. You will also need to be able to lift 40 pounds and have a smartphone running iOS 10 or newer or Android 5.1 or newer. Your smartphone will enable you to access the Shipt Shopper app, where you can pick up orders and get instructions to deliver to a Shipt customer.

How to apply: Shipt applications can be accessed here.

Target

Chain retailer Target continues to make hires throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 100 hourly job openings in Alabama ranging from baristas at in-house Starbuckses to warehouse jobs and beauty sales associates.

Qualifications: Varied depending on job, but for all openings Target is looking for candidates who are energetic and strive to provide great customer service.

How to apply: Target job openings in Alabama can be found here.

Walmart

The mega retailer announced earlier this month its looking to hire 500 drivers.

Qualifications: A Class A commercial drivers license with hazmat endorsement; at least 30 months of full-time experience driving a Class A tractor-trailer in the last three years; no more than two moving violations while operating a personal or commercial vehicle in the last three years; no convictions for DUI, DWI, OUI or reckless driving involving alcohol or drugs in the last 10 years; and no preventable accidents while operating a commercial vehicle in the last three years.

How to apply: While there are no openings right now in Alabama or surrounding states, you can continue to check for Walmarts driving jobs here.
Chinese Communist Party Should Pay Reparations for Pandemic Coverup, Rep. Banks Says

The Beijing regime should pay a severe price for covering up the deadly CCP virus pandemic and inflicting a huge financial and health toll on the United States and Americans, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) told The Epoch Times.

The reparations could take on a variety of forms, including forcing China to forgive some or all of the U.S. national debt that China has bought up, institute tariffs on Chinese goods as a punishment, and pull state pension funds out of Chinese investments, according to Banks.

We have got to hold China accountable and make them pay, he said on The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders program.

The Epoch Times refers to the pathogen commonly known as the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed it to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Beijings Coverup

During the early stage of the CCP virus outbreak in January, the Chinese regime blocked U.S. experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from visiting China to study how the United States should prepare for an outbreak.

It was only on Feb. 10 that a team of international health specialists led by the World Health Organization, including two from the United States, arrived in China.

It took us too long to get the medical experts into the country. We wish that could have happened more quickly, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a Feb. 18 press conference, adding that he hoped to see more transparency from the Chinese side during its initial response to the outbreak.

U.S. national security adviser Robert OBrien, during a March think tank event, also criticized the Chinese regime for silencing whistleblowers and preventing information about the virus from getting out. The initial coverup of the virus, OBrien said, probably cost the world community two months to respond.

Such censorship had dangerous consequences, Banks said during the interview.

That means two months weve lost in trying to prepare for this, and all the while, my local economy constituents in my district are seeing the havoc that is the result of Chinas negligence.

A March study by University of Southampton researchers, currently in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, suggested that officials in China could have cut the number of total infections down by 95 percent had they enacted measures to contain the viruss spread three weeks earlier than it did. China placed parts of the country on lockdown beginning on Jan. 23.

China should pay a severe price for that negligence, for their role in the matter of allowing this to happen, Banks said.

Blaming the US

Recently, the regime has ramped up disinformation campaigns targeting the United States, with some top Chinese officials amplifying conspiracy theories on social media, in an effort to shift international attention away from its botched handling of Chinas epidemic.

On Twitter, Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, suggested that the U.S. Army was responsible for introducing the virus into the outbreak epicenter of Wuhan.

A week ago, the United States became the first country to start a human trial of a vaccine against the virus. In a remark that also insinuated that the virus had U.S. origins, Chen Xuyan, director of the ICU department at the government-affiliated Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital, told state-broadcaster CCTV that such a step was way too fast.

Chen added that she suspects the United States had been working on it really early and had the virus strain in possession even earlier.

Banks said the Chinese regime is pushing this narrative because they know that they are culpable and they know that this coronavirus will always be associated with the current regime and the CCP leadership in China today, Banks said.

He said the vaccine propaganda shows the depth of disinformation that were probably going to see a whole lot more of, in the days, weeks, and months to come.

On March 17, China also announced plans to revoke media credentials of U.S. journalists working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post in China, a move that Banks called an act of informing the rest of the world that they have no intent upon being transparent.

We should readily dismiss anything that we read coming out of China, he said.

The Chinese propaganda machine is going to tell us what they want the rest of the world to hear, not necessarily what is fact.

Rather than business as usual with China, Banks called for a rebuilding process to disentangle from the Chinese economy.

This is a moment in time in American history where were learning a really important lesson that I hope we never repeat.
About 9 million people in Mumbai live in areas where homes are hardly two metres apart.

Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com reports on the lurking dangers in the city's slums in the times of the coronavirus.

*IMAGE: A metro train moves past a cluster of houses at the Asalpha slum in Mumbai. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

When Rediff.com spoke to several general practitioners, who have clinics near Mumbai's slum localities, or whose patients come from the lower economic classes, they didn't have answers on how social distancing could be effected in the slums.

Says Dr Vivek Korde, a GP from Sewri, south central Mumbai, with a laugh: "How it can work? We cannot just think of it!"

General practitioner Dr Prakash Tathed has a clinic in the Grant road area of south Mumbai and sees patients from all backgrounds.

"Social distancing in Mumbai is very difficult, because you may stop the vehicles, you may stop the local trains, But what about those places where people live in a jhoppadpattis (shanties)?" asks Dr Tathed.

"They are so close together, you can't have a ten-inch distance also," adds Dr Tathed. "That's very difficult. Thankfully, still, it has not gone in that area. But when it will go, we cannot know. It will be seen after 15 days or so."

*IMAGE: Migrant workers rest inside their one room dwelling in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

A doctor working at suburban government hospital, who did not wish to be named, says: "Social distancing I don't think at a lower middle-class level will have much effect. For example, my domestic worker, her two sons are not going to work. She lives in a single room ten by ten. They have no choice but to be close to each other."

"Social distancing can't be done. It is mainly meant for the middle or upper middle class."

IMAGE: Multi-storey slums in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Dr Sanjay (named changed), a former BMC doctor, says that in many municipal wards the lanes are very narrow and allow the passage of one person at a time.

"They throw everything into the galli and someone has to go and remove the garbage. And there's old drainage. Now you will find multi-storey slums. One, second, third floor. It's really difficult in multi-storey slums."

As per recent estimations, Mumbai now has a population of 22 million* and about 41 per cent of that live in slums.

Hence, approximately 9 million people in Mumbai live in areas where homes are hardly two metres apart.

And water may be scarce.

And isolation close to impossible.

IMAGE: People gather to fill drinking water from a common municipal tap at a slum area in Mumbai. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

But Dr Deven Naik, who has a practice in the Parel area, south central Mumbai, did have a thought on how social distancing might be achieved.

"The thing is that the people are living in such proximity that it is hard to isolate then at their place. What we are talking about is quarantining them at their home. That won't be possible in slums, or small chawls, where nine to 10 people live in one 10 by 10 room," explains Dr Nairk.

"So the government should think of taking the suspected cases (from the slums) and isolate them elsewhere. I don't have any idea how it can be done. But they can take the schools or grounds," Dr Naik adds.

"They have to make some makeshift arrangements for people living in such proximity like chawls and slums and all that. They can't be relied upon to isolate themselves in their homes, where basic facilities like toilets are not in their homes," says Dr Naik.

"They have to go somewhere outside for that. The concept of quarantine will not work there in those areas."

IMAGE: A child takes a bath in a slum in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

While speaking about this problem, which is not just specific to Mumbai, Dr Roopa Mankaikar, who also practices in Parel, tentatively offers the hope that people living in close, crowded, quarters may have stronger immunity in any case.

Says Dr Mankaikar: "They may be already having immunity against bad viruses because already they are living in such a poor hygienic condition. That may help us or not. I don't know. Might be possible."

She is also concerned about the doctor dispensaries inside these packed areas.

"Clinics are also very small in slums. Hardly four feet area around. Very difficult... For them to go to the hospital and check for this swab, it is not possible for everybody."

Dr Korde adds, with a touch of grim humour: "We can only pray to god and god is not there. We are helpless people. We cannot take any measure which China could take. Italy can take. We cannot take in our metro city. This is a mega city, something more than mega city."

In addition to social distancing, the other government directives are about containment and isolation of those with travel history and tips on washing hands.

For those living in slums is the use of a sanitiser or multiple washing of hands feasible?

The verdict on this is mixed.

The government hospital doctor says her domestic help, and the people who she sees from poorer areas, had sanitiser before she did.

"All my three bais are using sanitiser and they are using masks. They are doing it because all the time it is coming on the television. Television is a strong influencer."

These doctors say too that most slums have enough water available.

Dr Sanjay, the former BMC doctor, confirms: "Mumbai has a good supply of water."

Dr Tathed is of the opinion that it's more about explaining how to wash hands.

"Practically everybody is having phones. Everybody has mobile phones. Even those working as housemaids they also have WhatsApp and all this info is being disseminated to them. About washing hands and wearing masks."

IMAGE: High-rise residential buildings are seen behind a slum in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

But Dr Korde, who now works as an activist, says he won't say it's not possible, but has more to add: "We are very irresponsible people. (Thursday) I went to a stationery store to buy a pen refill. That fellow was literally wiping his nose with his hand and with those hands he gave me the refills. I scolded him."

But people are hygienically not literate.

"You ask them to wash their hands. They will wash their hands for five seconds. They should understand that this is necessary for their life! The overall view is that nothing will happen to us."

IMAGE: Residents fill water in a Mumbai slum. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Dr Naik has another take.

According to him, since water is stored in drums in slum homes, water can easily get contaminated and washing of hands not a workable or fool-proof solution.

"Water is a very big problem. They don't have water. They just fill up some water in drums and all that. You can't expect them to wash hands frequently."

"Washing your hands at a tap (is different from) washing your hands from a drum; it can contaminate the whole source of water... And water scarcity also an issue in these areas."

Dr Sanjay had a concern about washing of masks as opposed to hands.

"People don't know how to decontaminate the mask or the cloth masks. They don't understand what is the protocol for decontaminating this mask or the cloths they are using for protection... Most people are using the mask and throwing it."

And the accumulation of discarded masks, all over the place, could be an additional health hazard in Mumbai, he points out.

A certain degree of segregation of the people of the slums from wealthier classes, for their own safety, is considered another more radical but safer option.

Covid-19 is a disease that is travelling from higher economic stratas to lower ones, where folks are less equipped to deal with it.

Creating a distance for the poor from this "imported" disease is suggested.

Or as Dr Tathed puts it: "We should restrict people to their locality only."

IMAGE: Residents in Dharavi, north central Mumbai, one of Asia's largest slums. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Dr Roopa has noticed that city residents are giving their domestic help a break: "Near my clinic there are many high rises. People (in those buildings) have told their maids don't come."

Says Dr Korde: "We always blame poor people that they bring TB (tuberculosis) and this and that. And that because of them we are suffering. Now the rich people are giving suffering to the poor."

"The best thing the government can do for the poor and people living in slum areas, they should provide them adequate rations, all required things, the government should take care of all those families for a month and lock them to their home only," says Dr Korde.

"At the same time all other people should be locked in their houses for at least for three weeks. That's the only way!"

IMAGE: A municipal worker fumigates a slum area to prevent the spread of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases in Mumbai. Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters

Dr Naik concurs: "You have to supply them with their essentials. They are daily wagers. So if they are not going to work, they are not going to earn."

"They should be) provided with one month rations. Supplies kept near their homes so they won't have to come out."

After quarantining these areas, Dr Naik suggests daily checks.

Municipal workers, he says, are anyway going to homes in slums checking if there are cases to be isolated.

"Workers are going to homes and asking whether you have cold or cough. They are doing it on a daily basis now."

IMAGE: A girl jumps rope in Dharavi. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

The former BMC doctor says surveillance is something the municipal corporation is very good at and "locking people into their domain" is a step that should be considered.

"We can track any patient at any moment. We have a massive infrastructure and massive outreach. We have a very good slum-based networking," he adds.

Dr Naik -- who is thinking of giving separate timings in his clinic for those with cough, cold and fever -- believes that that his patients from poorer backgrounds have quite clearly understood how serious the disease.

But that is not necessarily an ideal situation.

Often confusion follows.

"There is confusion in everybody's mind, like including me, about what the government is doing and how it is going to stop it and what is the future of these people," says Dr Naik.

"The amount of information being bombarding on the people is leading to panic. And we don't have anything to do for this panic. That that can lead (for those living in the slums) to a lethargy of: What will happen, will happen, if you don't have a measure of control for a thing."

"Bhagwan dekh lega kya karna. Jo sabka hoga humara hoga. Kya karein? (God will look after us, what happens to everyone will happen to me too, so why worry?)"

The fatalism arises, says Dr Naik, because of their situation, especially among daily-wage earners.

More prosperous people have all kinds of facilities available to them and the ability to stockpile groceries and lockdown.

"They don't have the facilities to lock themselves in their houses," says Dr Naik.

"They are totally dependent on the government. And (their) god."

Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mumbai-population/

*Kindly note all images only posted for representational purposes.
City College of San Francisco has placed Chancellor Mark Rocha on paid administrative leave effective immediately, the college boards president announced Monday morning.

I know this news may come as a surprise, trustees President Shanell Williams said in a statement. I want to assure you on behalf of our board that the college is in good hands. There is a plan to move the college forward.

Rocha earns $361,352 a year and will continue to be paid while on leave from the college of 65,000 full- and part-time students. The college did not say how long the leave would last and is seeking an acting chancellor.

Williams declined to explain why the trustees removed Rocha, telling The Chronicle it was a confidential personnel matter. Rocha did not respond to a call and text requesting comment.

The college has been in a deficit at least since Rocha arrived in 2017  the year City College emerged from a five-year accreditation crisis, according to an internal audit. However, the college never regained its financial footing, and Rocha has had a series of public missteps.

An internal auditor told the trustees in January that City College spent nearly $14 million more than it took in as of June 30, causing a 58% drop in the unrestricted general fund. The plunge was so steep that the schools financial condition was declared a material weakness, indicating serious problems. The college has little money in reserve.

Trustees have quietly expressed dissatisfaction with how the chancellor communicated efforts to get spending in line with revenue. Rocha cut more than 600 classes, often springing news of the cuts on students and faculty at the last minute, which outraged teachers and students.

Perhaps the biggest issue occurred last fall, when Rocha tried to double administrators salaries and give others hefty raises by slipping the plan deep into the colleges budget a day before the trustees voted to approve it. The colleges lawyer, Steve Bruckman, had cautioned that such a move would appear to skirt open-government laws, which require at least two days for the public to examine documents up for a vote.

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.

Ultimately, Rocha and the trustees canceled the large raises and voted to raise most administrators pay by 10% amid the budget crisis.

Rocha was hired to head the community college in 2017, despite objections from faculty who said he had clashed with teachers at other colleges where he had worked.

Meanwhile, City College is closed this week for spring break, but it is expected to resume classes remotely on March 30 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The trustees public meetings are also being conducted online.

Michael Cabanatuan and Nanette Asimov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan @NanetteAsimov
The Madhya Pradesh government has



imposed curfew in Bhopal and Jabalpur cities, where coronavirus cases have been found.

Soon after assuming charge, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting around Monday midnight and issued the directives.

During the meeting, Chouhan reviewed the coronavirus situation in the state and directed for imposition of curfew in the capital city Bhopal and Jabalpur.

So far, five cases of coronavirus have been found in Jabalpur and one in Bhopal.

Lockdown has so far been ordered in 39 out of the total 51 districts of the state in view of the coronavirus pandemic, a public relations department official said.

The chief minister has asked the authorities concerned to ensure supply of essential goods to people, he said.

Just 15 months after losing power, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday night for a record fourth term.

The 61-year-old MLA from Budhni took oath of office at a simple function in Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MALTA - GlobalFoundries' charitable foundation for the Town of Malta is donating up to $50,000 for the town to purchase $100 grocery store gift cards to help Malta residents impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

The town initially purchased 250 gift cards that it has been giving out to Malta families and individuals in need at Malta Town Hall on Route 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during weekdays. The town will purchase another 250 gift cards when needed. The gift cards are for food and personal items. Both Hannaford and Price Chopper cards are being bought.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has banned political, social and religious gatherings in the state.

According to the state Commissioner for Information, Donald Ojogo the decision was reached during state Executive Council meeting held on Monday.

Also Read: Aisha Has Shown More Leadership On Covid-19 Than Buhari  Omokri

Akeredolu emphasized that the move became necessary in order to ensure that residents of the state were well protected.

In the same vein, gatherings in beer parlours and clubs across the state have also been banned, while civil servants on grade level 1-12 were also directed to stay at home.

Information Nigeria recalls that the country has confirmed 40 cases of coronavirus; with one death recorded so far.
An Arizona man died and his wife was hospitalized after officials said they treated themselves on Sunday with a deadly home remedy for the new coronavirus  a popular fish tank additive that has the same active ingredient as an anti-malaria drug.

The drug, known as chloroquine phosphate or chloroquine, has been bandied about by President Trump during White House briefings on the coronavirus pandemic as a potential game changer in the treatment of Covid-19.

The couple, who officials at Banner Health, a hospital system based in Phoenix, said were in their 60s and were from Maricopa County, quickly experienced side effects that included nausea and vomiting. They were not tested for the coronavirus.

The man died from cardiac arrest and his wife was initially listed in critical condition, according to hospital officials, who said on Monday that the woman had been upgraded to stable condition and was expected to make a full recovery. Their names were not released.
Regulatory News:

SpineGuard (Paris:ALSGD)(FR0011464452 ALSGD), an innovative company that deploys its DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) sensing technology to secure and streamline the placement of bone implants, provides today an update following the initiation of "safeguard" proceedings in France (article L 620-1 of the French "code of commerce") and concomitant commencement of a voluntary Chapter 11 case for its US subsidiary both announced on February 14, 2020.

Pierre Jerome, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of SpineGuard, said: "We are already working on the elaboration of a safeguard plan and are confident that it will enable the amendment of our debt. In parallel, we are pursuing the deployment of our DSG technology and the set-up of strategic partnerships on a sound basis while taking the necessary measures to cope with the propagation of the COVID-19 virus and its consequences on our activities."

Information on the safeguard proceedings

SpineGuard's Board of directors and management deem that the safeguard proceedings will allow for negotiation of the repayment of its debt and thus decrease its burden on the company.

This protection, effective both in France and in the United States, grants the company the possibility to focus more effectively on its activities, its customers and to conduct successfully its strategy centered on its DSG technology deployment through industry partnerships.

The safeguard proceeding in France is now in the so-called "observation" phase awarded by the French Court of commerce. The observation phase lasts 6 months and can be extended by the Court. Its main purpose is to prepare a safeguard plan enabling the amendment of the company's debt. At the end of this observation phase, the French Court of commerce will review the safeguard plan, hopefully validate it and enforce its execution according to a defined schedule.

In the Unites States, the chapter 11 case filed by SpineGuard, Inc., the Boulder, Colorado based subsidiary, is also in its initial phase. The company will present a preliminary Chapter 11 plan on May 1st 2020 to the US Court of commerce.

The same plan will be proposed by SpineGuard in France and in the USA. Both the parent and the subsidiary company wish to negotiate a consensual and coordinated amendment of the debt in these parallel proceedings.

Now assisted by Maitre Thevenot, the trustee designated by the French Court of commerce, SpineGuard is in discussions with its main creditors to amend the venture debt and FEI Innovation loan and more generally propose a safeguard plan. By January 31 2020, the outstanding capital amount was 3.8M vs. 4.5M at the venture debt initiation and 0.9M vs. 1.5M for the FEI Innovation loan. Of note, the safeguard process freezes all capabilities to exercise existing warranties and pledges.

The ongoing safeguard proceedings do not exclude an agreement that could shorten the process.

Pending the execution of the safeguard plan, the payment of invoices received prior to the initiation of the safeguard proceedings is frozen.

The non-audited financial liabilities as of January 31, 2020 are as follows:

Long term financial liabilities: 5.2M Of which Norgine Harbert: 3.8M Of which BPI: 0.9M Other operating liabilities (vendors, tax, benefits, ): 1.1M Of which frozen by the safeguard process1 0.2M Cash and cash at end: 1.4M Net financial liabilities: 4.9M

The company will communicate later on the resumption of its stock trading (Ticker: ALSGD and ISIN: FR0011464452).

2020 perspectives

The collaboration with our industry partner Adin Dental/ ConfiDent on the dental application will intensify in 2020 with the co-development of a next generation DSG embedded product, fruit of the feedback on the first generation tested in 2019.

The search for strategic alliances with industry players notably for the robotic application continues with the venture bank Healthios Capital Markets.

Lastly, the DSG Connect platform should soon be CE Marked cleared and the FDA filing is progressing. This strategic high-value innovation is already used experimentally by the company to guide surgical robots. It will be deployed to the full PediGuard range and Smart Screw products. The company believes that it will bring a renewed sales momentum in particular in Europe and the USA, but also in other high potential geographies such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Of course, the pace will highly depend on the containment of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resuming of a normal activity in the hospitals. For now, in a growing number of countries, most of the electives surgeries are being postponed to prepare for and focus on COVID-19 patients.

About SpineGuard

Founded in 2009 in France and the USA by Pierre Jerome and Stephane Bette, SpineGuard is an innovative company deploying its proprietary radiation-free real time sensing technology DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) to secure and streamline the placement of implants in the skeleton. SpineGuard designs, develops and markets medical devices that have been used in over 75,000 surgical procedures worldwide. Fifteen studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated the multiple benefits DSG offers to patients, surgeons, surgical staff and hospitals. Building on these solid fundamentals and several strategic partnerships, SpineGuard has expanded its technology platform in a disruptive innovation: the smart pedicle screw launched late 2017 and is broadening the scope of applications in dental implantology and surgical robotics. DSG was co-invented by Maurice Bourlion, Ph.D., Ciaran Bolger, M.D., Ph.D., and Alain Vanquaethem, Biomedical Engineer.

For further information, visit www.spineguard.com.

Disclaimer

The SpineGuard securities may not be offered or sold in the United States as they have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any United States state securities laws, and SpineGuard does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States. This is an announcement and not a prospectus, and the information contained herein does and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or exemption from registration.

_________________________

1 Under evaluation by the judicial representative

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005066/en/

Contacts:

SpineGuard

Pierre Jerome

CEO Chairman

Tel.: +33 1 45 18 45 19

p.jerome@spineguard.com

SpineGuard

Manuel Lanfossi

CFO

Tel.: +33 1 45 18 45 19

m.lanfossi@spineguard.com

NewCap

Investor Relations Financial Communication

Mathilde Bohin Pierre Laurent

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

spineguard@newcap.eu
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THE Universal Communications Access Fund (UCSAF) yesterday signed a 1bn/-support package with the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) to increase radio coverage with the audio quality and audacity in five regions in the country.

The signing ceremony for increased radio coverage quality and audacity was signed by TBC Director General, Dr Ayub Rioba, and UCSAF Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Justina Mashiba.

Ms Mashiba said the Ibn/-had been issued to the national broadcaster to increase radio coverage in border areas of Kyela, Ngara, Ludewa, Mlimba and Ruangwa.

She said what they had done was to ensure every Tanzania had access to communication for better undertakings of their economic activities and improved welfare.

Tanzania is a big country whose areas are diversified, thus making communication access a challenge. UCSAF has been offering support in collaboration with the private sector to make communication available to everyone, said Ms Mashiba.

She expressed UCSAF commitment to reaching all wards so that they had access to communication.

Ms Mashiba called for taking care of telecommunications infrastructure and assured the responsible communities of continuing access to communication.

For his part, Dr Rioba thanked UCSAF for support, saying it had helped to increase coverage in areas which most of them were connected with frequencies and signals from neighbouring countries.

When I joined TBC the audience coverage was 54 per cent. After a number of engagements and support we are now at 74 per cent, said Dr Rioba.

He promised increased national broadcaster coverage by setting up studio and infrastructure for radio access to people in the selected areas.

Coverage in regions bordering neighbouring countries was a big challenge, while others have to access radio programmes from nearby or countries close to them or no coverage at all, said the TBC director general.

Dr Rioba said UCSAF had been a key partner in communication access since it had supported projects for Arusha and Dodoma studios.
It will be up to Canadian farmers and provincial governments to determine how and where thousands of migrant farmworkers will be isolated when they are allowed through federal COVID-19 travel restrictions, says Liberal MP Vance Badawey.

At least for now.

Until the Emergencies Act is enacted by the federal government, those are decisions that have to be made by the farmers, the Niagara Centre MP said in a Monday night interview. Right now, the authority to (enforce isolation) falls to the regional health authorities in conjunction with the provinces.

Canadian farmers breathed a sigh of relief last week when Ottawa said the migrant farmworkers  who comprise an annual workforce of nearly 60,000 people  would be allowed into the country despite the borders being closed to international visitors as a measure to limit the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.

However, the federal government is requiring that those with a valid work visa, including those coming into Canada through the temporary workers program, isolate themselves for 14 days upon arrival. Leaders in the agricultural industry have been scrambling to establish protocols for workers before the window to get this years crop planted closes.

These are details we are still working on and, hopefully, we will have the proper protocols in place shortly, said Matthias Oppenlaender, chair of Grape Growers of Ontario.

The most important thing is to stop the spread of this virus and take all the necessary steps. That is the only way we are going to get out of this.

When the federal government announced last week the border was closed to international visitors, farmers began to panic. For decades they have relied upon farmhands from Mexico and Central America to plant, tend and harvest crops.

Without those workers, crops would not get planted. Agricultural associations and federal officials said that would be a threat to Canadas food security.

A sharp decline in crop yields would also have a domino economic impact.

For example, in Ontario more than 450 grape growers farm nearly 7,360 hectares of land, producing an average 72,000 tonnes of fruit annually, according to Grape Growers of Ontario and Winery & Grower of Alliance of Ontario.

Those grapes are used to make some 100 million bottles of wine, the sale of which supports more than 18,000 jobs in the winery and wine-tourism sector and generates millions of dollars in tax revenue.

The federal governments announcement resolved the immediate panic, but so far no one knows exactly how workers will be isolated.

Many farmhands live in communal quarters with a limited capacity to isolate people in the manner that public health experts are calling for to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Badawey said the onus will be on the farmers to ensure their international employees  most of whom hail from Mexico and Central America  have the proper accommodation to self-isolate.

He said he believes the farmers know what is at stake for their industry and for the country.

These are established farms. These are farmers we have dealt with for many, many years and built up a relationship of trust with, said Badawey. They know what they need to do this right.

He said the farms know that if they fail in their responsibilities the provincial government  or the federal government under the Emergencies Act  will act more forcefully to ensure it is done properly.

Badawey said the federal government respects the powers of the provinces and that Canada is not quite yet in a position where it will enact the Emgercies Act  legislation that effectively gives the powers of the province to Ottawa.

He said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in active discussions with the provinces regarding the act.

Oppenlaender said Monday there are a number of options under discussion, including putting workers in hotels when they arrive, but nothing has been decided yet.

Even when the industry establishes a protocol for isolation it is likely to feel the effects of the delay in getting migrant workers into the country.

March is when crops are being planted and vines are pruned and farms across the country are short-handed. Even if workers landed in Canada immediately, they could not start work for at least two weeks.

There will be some impacts for sure because of the delay, said Glen Lucas, general manager of BC Fruit Growers Association. Hopefully, we can get those protocols in place and we can manage that impact.

Bill George, president of Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, said each farm is responsible for its own worker accommodations and will be responsible for managing COVID-19 related isolation issues. However, he said the industry and the federal government are presently working out a protocol that will allow for proper isolation when workers arrive.

At least one foreign government is trying to help. The Consulate General of Mexico has sent Spanish translations of the B.C. governments instructions on COVID-19 self-isolation protocols to farmers in that province so they provide them to workers and asked the instructions be posted common areas in workers living quarters.

Lucas said the migrant workforce is not the only COVID-19 related issue when it comes to farm labour.

He said B.C. fruit farms lean heavily on foreign backpackers who arrive in the summer and work during the harvest. They are not part of the temporary workers program, and given the current situation will either arrive in very limited numbers or not come at all.

He said an annual training program, started a decade ago to accommodate workers arriving from Quebec, can help train a domestic workforce to be in place for the June harvest.

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Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank that operates one of the largest retail banking networks in the kingdom, has announced revised branch and office timings, as well as additional precautions to help contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus.

Ithmaar Bank, which is committed to following Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and Ministry of Health (MOH) directives and to doing its part to helping contain the virus, said that, from Tuesday March 24, all branches will operate from 8 to 1pm and the Head Office from 8:30 to 2:30pm only. The Bank also said that, from Saturday March 28, the Galali and Salmabad branches will be closed until further notice. Earlier last week, Ithmaar Bank closed its Budaiya and Manama Souq branches. All 42 ATMS will continue to operate as normal.

As part of its own public awareness campaign, the Bank had earlier urged customers to bank online to help contain the global outbreak, and stressed that almost all Ithmaar Bank transactions can be completed online, without ever having to visit a branch.

The Bank, which was already following all MOH recommended sanitation protocols, has also started limiting the number of customers present in a branch at any given time and providing appropriate waiting arrangements to ensure customers are seated at least a metre from one another.

These are challenging times for all of us, said Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Abdul Rahim. However, if we all do our part, we can collectively overcome even the greatest of challenges, he said.

As a pioneering Islamic retail bank, Ithmaar Bank recognises the important role we must play in the community, said Abdul Rahim. This is a responsibility we have always taken very seriously and we remain as committed as ever to playing a real and meaningful role in the community, he said.

Ithmaar Bank has, from the beginning of the outbreak, followed closely all relevant directives, from both the MOH and the CBB. The Bank continues to monitor the situation closely and follow all applicable recommendations.

Ithmaar Bank also initiated its own public awareness campaign, including sending out SMS messages to its customers and reposting MOH public awareness messages on the Banks own social media platforms. The Bank continues to encourage customers to bank online, rather than visiting the branches, to help contain the COVID-19 virus.

Over the years, Ithmaar Bank invested tremendous time, money and effort on developing the Banks digital infrastructure and on implementing far-reaching, bank-wide digital initiatives. As a result, almost all Ithmaar Bank transactions can now be completed online, without ever having to visit a branch.

In 2019, Ithmaar Bank launched a customer-centric chat service on the WhatsApp Business social media platform to help further improve its customers banking experience. As a result, customers can message the Ithmaar Bank Call Centre number 13303030 to request information through WhatsApp about Ithmaar Bank products and services, as well as make general inquiries like Thimaar draw dates and winners list, as well as ongoing promotions and campaigns. -- Tradearabia News Service
Srinagar, March 24 : The first positive case of coronavirus in Srinagar has been successfully treated, an official said on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Shahid Choudhary, quoting the Director of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, tweeted: "Srinagar's first COVID-19 positive case successfully treated: Director SKIMS. Let's #BreakTheChain".

The first positive case of Covid-19 in the Kashmir Valley was reported on March 17. A woman from Khanyar in downtown Srinagar, with travel history of Saudi Arabia, had tested positive and had been undergoing treatment at the SKIMS.

Meanwhile two more persons, with travel history to outside J&K, were found positive on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in Kashmir to three.
It is now widely known that the brain is much more malleable than once thought. Even after stroke or brain injury the brain often succeeds finding a new balance between the failed regions and the functions they serve. Commonly, neighboring regions are activated as well as homologs on the other side of the brain side. During language processing, the homologs of the left-dominant language areas are usually less active and are kept in check by the dominant half - until the emergency case occurs.

Until now, it was unclear whether these mechanisms also apply in the event of a second attack. Does the brain retain its capacity to adapt? This is important as up to 15 percent of those affected will have a second stroke. In addition, there was disagreement about whether an activated right brain is generally good for healing. Some studies suggest that involvement of the right hemisphere helps recovery, at least in the short term. Others had shown, however, that a loss of language areas in the left half can literally inhibit the right half. In that case the contribution of the right hemisphere has nothing to do with language and can cause confusion. The brain gets out of step. Further, studies had also found that the patients are better off if the overactive half is restrained by inhibitory magnetic stimulation. The activity is more and more shifting back to the left hemisphere. It wins the upper hand again.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig, Germany, have now found that the brain areas on the right side also become more active when there is a second injury in the left language areas.

In the recovered brain, the right side's contribution was still little after the first impairment. After the second event, in which large parts of the left hemisphere are not working anymore, its role becomes much more important. The second lesion increased the contribution of the right brain." Gesa Hartwigsen, research group leader at the MPI CBS and first author of the article published in elife

The scientists examined these relationships using 12 patients in whom the regions for processing properties of sound in the left hemisphere were injured. The incident had happened to them at least six months prior. Their brain had the opportunity to regenerate and adapt to the new situation. The researchers simulated the second disruption using so-called transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can be used to briefly halt certain areas of the brain through electrical stimuli. It can be used to simulate how the brain would react if certain areas actually fail due to a stroke or other events - and how this affects the ability to recognize sounds, for example. To do this, Hartwigsen and her team used a simple decision task. The participants heard the word "cat" and had to decide whether it consisted of one or two syllables. The individual impairment predicted the activation on the right side.The researchers also found that the stronger the fibre connection between the sister areas on the right side, the less the patient was affected by the interruption on the left.

"These results show that after large-scale disturbances, in which large parts of the left hemisphere no longer function as they should, the right hemisphere probably plays a beneficial role. Often, there is a lot of tissue in the left half of the brain that only works to a limited extent and needs support from the right side. "Other studies show that recovery is helped when the activated right side later down regulates itself and thus contributes to normalization on the left side", said Hartwigsen. On the other hand, if the right half remains permanently up-regulated, healing is delayed.

Findings on how the damaged brain adapts to repeated injury could help to improve the therapy of stroke patients in the long term. "This may make it possible, at some point, to assess whether it would be more helpful to regulate specific areas up or down," says Hartwigsen, confidently.
Asian jet fuel refining margins have turned negative for the first time in over a decade as airlines continue to ground flights on international and domestic routes amid stringent travel restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The already-battered profit margins are expected to come under further pressure as there is no concrete recovery timeframe in sight, trade sources said. "Global air traffic is down by about 40-45% at present, according to flight tracking sources, with further deterioration expected over the coming weeks as more flight restrictions and airline ...
Lami Arackal from Ernakulam, who landed from Chennai at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Monday night, was arrested based on a complaint from health officials, they said.

Kochi A 54-year-old domestic passenger was arrested at the airport in Kochi for allegedly refusing to follow instructions given by doctors for the prevention of the spread of novel coronavirus, police said here on Tuesday.

Lami Arackal from Ernakulam, who landed from Chennai at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Monday night, was arrested based on a complaint from health officials, they said.

He was, however, later released on bail.

Arackal allegedly refused to wear a mask and follow other instructions to be observed by the passengers coming from other states as part of the measures to check COVID-19 spread.'

He also allegedly misbehaved with the medical officers, police said.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates
Vietnam is striving to successfully build up its automobile industry.

Vu Tan Cong, deputy general director of Vietnam Automobile Industry and Trade Consulting Co., Ltd., writes about how to develop materials, which are the key for the industry to take off.

In the Strategy on Vietnamese Industrial Development to 2025, with a vision to 2035, approved by the prime minister in 2014, the production of materials for the automobile industry is a priority for development.

The materials industry is the foundation for all of goods manufacturing. It creates many new jobs, adds value to goods, and reduces reliance on imports. It also creates many advantages in the implementation of free trade agreements, attracting foreign investment, and making it possible for Vietnams enterprises to participate in global supply chains.

Furthermore, it ensures the nations sovereignty and security, and enhances the nations brand worldwide.

Therefore, it is important for Vietnam to develop its materials industry, which is currently weak and does not meet the requirements of the nations industrialisation and development.

At present, Vietnam exploits many metals like copper, zinc, aluminium, iron ore, and silver. Due to lack of development of the materials industry, most of these exploited raw materials are exported at very low prices.

Thereby, it is advisable for Vietnam to develop the following materials on the basis of available natural resources.

Supporting industries are so vital that localisation rates can be improved and production costs can be lowered, Photo Le Toan

Aluminium

Vietnam is the second-largest country in aluminium bauxite resources, with reserves of as much as 11 billion metric tonnes (MT). This resource is more than enough for both the domestic and export market. Currently, aluminium bauxite is mainly exploited by Vinacomin. Aluminium dioxide Al2O3 (98.5 per cent aluminium), exports at free on board prices of as much as $700 per MT.

In the automobile industry, aluminium alloys are widely used in many different parts and components like gasoline engine pistons, cylinder blocks and heads, generator housings, water pump housings, and wheels. However, most of these aluminium alloys are imported.

Steel and iron

Vietnam has iron ore reserves of up to 1.3 billion MT. Its steel production items are mainly construction steels, and not manufacturing steels. In addition, Vietnam exports a large quantity of iron ore to China and other countries at very low prices.

In the automobile industry, steel and iron alloys are used for manufacturing of many different parts and components like crankshafts, camshafts, valves, chassis frames, passenger car bodies, iron alloy cylinder liners, and diesel engine cylinder blocks and heads.

Plastics

In the revolution of automobile light weightings, plastic materials are widely used for many automobile parts and components like bumpers and dashboards. Plastic materials can be produced by using side products from oil refinery plants like Nghi Son and Dung Quats oil refinery bases.

At present, plastic materials for Vietnam automobile and motorbike part production are imported from China, Taiwan, South Korea, and India.

Rubber

Vietnam is abundant in natural rubbers that are raw materials for the production of many automobile parts and components. Currently, Vietnam is producing automobile tyres for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

However, the domestic rubber production industry needs further development to produce high-class tyres for passenger cars and high-class rubbers for other parts of automobiles such as windshield wipers, and engine and gearbox oil seals.

Glass

Vietnam has been producing glass for automobiles and commercial vehicles like trucks and buses. However, the country needs more investment for production of windshields for both commercial vehicles and passenger cars. There are 45 official members of the Vietnam Glass Association, which is capable of further development to become a member of the worlds supply chains

Other materials

Vietnam can further develop on the productions of other materials such as tungsten, copper, zinc, lead, titanium, nickel, chrome, and rare-earth metals. These materials are also important in production of many kinds of alloys.

Materials development

Even today, Vietnams automobile industry is still undeveloped and characterised by low localisation ratios, high production costs, and low levels of technology. Localisation ratios are 10-12 per cent and 45-50 per cent for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, respectively.

On average, production costs of passenger cars in Vietnam are about 10-12 per cent higher than those produced in ASEAN countries. In addition, Vietnamese automobile manufacturing technology is very limited, at the assembling level only.

This causes low added value for Vietnams locally-produced vehicles, causing lower competitiveness as compared with the same vehicles produced in ASEAN member states like Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

There are many reasons for this, but lack of a strong materials industry is among the top reasons.

Consequently, the industry is faced with very high pressure created by ASEAN-made imported passenger cars, which enjoy zero import tax rates.

Three local automobile big giants  THACO, TC Motors, and VinFast  are trying their best to implement their localisation program. However, the lack of locally-produced materials is still a big obstacle for them to overcome. If the Vietnamese government does not soon promulgate support and incentive policies to protect the local automobile production and policies on material industry development, the industry will be on the edge of collapse.

Many experts and authorities forecast that electric vehicles (EVs) will get increasingly popular around the world and in line with this tendency, the Vietnam automobile industry is advised to concentrate on EV manufacturing. In order to meet the market demands, the industry here will have to increase EV mileage per charge, while at the same time drop their prices.

These targets can be achieved when the vehicles become lighter, EV batteries are of higher accumulation, and they are designed in such ways that ensure minimum vehicle air and road resistance.

In order to achieve the above targets, again it is important to develop a materials industry for EV manufacturing.

Scientifically, lighter vehicles will consume less energy. A lighter model can be achieved by using lighter vehicle body and component materials like aluminium alloys, ultra-high-strength steels, and plastics and other light-high-strength materials, as well as optimisations in vehicle component design and layout.

Development solutions

Material production enterprises are ranked as third-level suppliers in the supporting industry sector. There have been so far many supporting and incentive policies to develop supporting industries.

These include the Law on Investment, Decree No.111/2015/ND-CP on the development of the supporting industries, Circular No.01/2016/TT-NHNN by the State Bank of Vietnam guiding loan development policies for supporting industries, Decision No.68/QD-TTG on approval of a supporting industry development programme for 2016-2025, and more besides.

However, these policies are not yet attractive enough to develop the materials industry. In order to develop, both businesses and the government are advised to try their best to work together.

As for business enterprises operating in the sector, we need to see more investment, higher enterprise management skills, more international relations and integration, deeper human resource enhancement, and stronger business-to-business connections.

For the government, a strategy on materials industry development should be considered and promulgated. This and related circulars and decisions must be clear, easy to implement, feasible, and attractive enough in order to boost the materials industry. VIR

Vu Tan Cong

When will the Vietnamese automobile dream come true? Vietnam still has to import car parts for domestic assembling. As a result, the production cost is high and domestically made products remain less competitive than imports.
Gurdaspur MP and actor Sunny Deol has appealed to the people to isolate themselves and avoid crowd in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

He said coronavirus was spreading fast in the world and has now entered India.

"The only way to fight it (coronavirus) is that everyone along with family should isolate," Deol said in a two-minute video posted on his Twitter handle.

Deol asked people to isolate themselves the way they did during the 'Janta Curfew' following a call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22.

"We should not assemble and we should stay away from crowd," said Deol in his message.

"Why we are not thinking about ourselves? If we are healthy, then our family members will also be healthy, (they will) be safe from this infection, especially children and elders. It (Covid-19) is very dangerous for elders," said the BJP MP.

The actor-turned-politician also cautioned people against holding any celebration by inviting friends and relatives at homes, saying one does not know who is affected with this infection.

Punjab on Monday clamped curfew with no relaxations. The state has 23 coronavirus patients at present.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
M ulberry is set to fall into the red, the luxury handbag maker said on Tuesday as it warned coronavirus has severely hit trading.

The AIM-listed accessories firm had expected to be profitable in the second half to March 28, but it is now forecasting a small loss.

Mulberry, which closed its UK shops on March 21, cautioned: Given the rapidly evolving nature of the situation, it is not possible to provide meaningful guidance on the company's future performance.

In the run up to March 21, a number of retailers and restaurants saw plunging footfall in London as travel restrictions came in. Mulberry said recent trading in its stores, particularly in the UK, has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. It has a number of London branches including on New Bond Street and Regent Street.

The high-end retailer has suspended dividend payments.
G20 says developing action plan to deal with global pandemic U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin walks to the meeting for a coronavirus relief package in Washington

By Andrea Shalal and Stephen Kalin

WASHINGTON/RIYADH (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central bankers from the world's 20 largest economies agreed on Monday to develop an "action plan" to respond to a coronavirus pandemic that the IMF now expects to trigger a global recession, but they offered no specifics.

The G20 secretariat issued the statement after the finance officials met by video conference for nearly two hours, amid growing criticism that the world's "fire station" has been slow to respond to the worsening crisis.

G20 leaders are due to gather for an extraordinary virtual summit in coming days as the world races to contain the virus, which has infected 370,000 globally and killed over 16,000.

The summit, called by this year's chair, Saudi Arabia, will be complicated by an oil price war between two members, Saudi Arabia and Russia, and rising tensions between two others, the United States and China, over the origin of the virus.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News his counterparts agreed to act to support their own economies, and coordinate internationally as needed. But he gave no specifics.

Mnuchin will chair a conference of G7 finance ministers and central bankers early Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans.

He said the United States was working closely with G20 countries, the Group of Seven (G7), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in responding to the crisis.

"This is a team effort to kill this virus and provide economic relief," said Mnuchin, who is simultaneously struggling to win congressional approval for a nearly $2 trillion U.S. rescue package.

G20 leaders need move beyond recent squabbles and "stop weaponizing the new coronavirus in the fight for global influence," to help stabilize public confidence and markets, said Hung Tran, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Potential concrete actions could include sharing test results of new treatments and vaccines; rolling back tariffs that were dragging down global growth even before the crisis; and synchronized fiscal action, he said.

Story continues

"Simply repeating the mantra that 'we'll do whatever it takes' is not adequate anymore," he added.

The IMF and the World Bank on Monday both forecast the pandemic would trigger a global recession in 2020.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed fiscal and monetary steps already taken by countries, but said more would be needed, especially in the fiscal arena.

The average size of fiscal measures announced by over 20 countries amounts to around 1.8% domestic gross domestic product (GDP), below the 2% packages offered by G20 countries in 2009 during the financial crisis, Tran said.

G7 finance ministers and central bankers will hold a conference call of their own early Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Japan, a member of the G7, expressed concern about the impact of the coronavirus, and urged G20 members to act "without hesitation in a timely manner."

Argentina, whose debt has been deemed unsustainable by the IMF, warned fellow G20 member they must act decisively to "avoid a social meltdown" as the pandemic spreads.

Argentina's Finance Minister Martin Guzman told fellow ministers on the G20 call that countries should use the "entire toolkit" of economic policies, including the extension of bilateral swaps to aid those nations most in need.

Monday's G20 meeting was far from smooth, although no open disputes broke out, said one senior official from a G7 country, adding that Tuesday's G7 statement would focus heavily on cooperation but also offered little in the way of new ideas.

"There aren't very exciting things in there," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "But I have the impression that we're on the same page now."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder in Washington; Michael Nienaber in Berlin and Stephen Kalin in Riyadh; Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)
Toronto: He has been stuck inside his house in Ottawa since March 12 with his three young children. He has been juggling work meetings on his phone with parenting and household duties normally executed by his staff or his wife, who is sick.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Ontario. Credit:Bloomberg

Like millions of people around the world, Justin Trudeau has been improvising a new housebound routine in the time of the new coronavirus. The difference is, he's running a G7 country.

Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, was the first leader of a major industrialised country to go into self-isolation, when his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, came down with flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for the virus.

On Sunday, Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, became the second, after learning that her doctor, who had given her a pneumonia shot a few days earlier, had tested positive for the virus.
No Nigerian senator has tested positive to the fast- spreading Coronavirus, an official has said.

Ibrahim Oloriegbe, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), made this known to journalists during a press briefing on Tuesday.

This was in reaction to reports that some senators and members of House of Representatives have allegedly tested positive to the virus.

PREMIUM TIMES also reported how the presidents chief of staff, Abba Kyari, wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Mr Kyari in his letter complained that some lawmakers had been arrogant towards health officials and refused to subject themselves to airport screening.

In his response, Mr Oloriegbe described the letter as fake and that no lawmaker has tested positive to the virus.

As at last week self-isolation was advised because they have engaged and had contact with people.

So far, there is no senator that has tested positive as far as my knowledge is concerned, as of this moment.

He added that senators are not exclusive and the criteria for testing by our centre for disease control is when you have symptoms.

He also said the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, did not receive such letter.

Nobody, irrespective of your status, is exempt from screening. When I had interaction with the task force last week on Friday, they did not complain that any National Assembly member refused  the complaint they had was a military officer that broke their security.

The letter you said, we saw it, the letter is fake. If you look at the drafting of that letter to the speaker and at the end of the day talking about distinguished senator shows that it is a fake letter.

There is no letter written to the senate president and if there is any, it would have been discussed today, he said.

On his part, the Senate spokesperson, Godiya Akwashiki, denied visiting the United Kingdom alongside other lawmakers two weeks ago.

Mr Akwashiki was alleged to have traveled to UK and refused to isolate himself.

The lawmaker, who admitted that he was away, said he travelled to Niger and not the UK.

For the past two, three months now, I have not been to London. I travelled to Niger Republic for ECOWAS parliament inauguration. Dont work with what you are reading on Facebook or social media, he said.

Already, the Senate has suspended its plenary for two weeks to curb the spread of the disease.

The Senate earlier suspended all public hearings and excursions to the National Assembly indefinitely.

Mr Lawan also announced that the gallery of the chamber will remain closed to visitors until further notice.

Nigeria recorded its first death from the Covid-19 outbreak on Monday.

So far, Nigeria has a total of 42 confirmed cases including one death.
Allu Arjun is considered as one of the most popular stars in India. The actor, who has predominantly worked in Telugu film industry, recently delivered a blockbuster film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo which was released on the occasion of Sankranti 2020.

Not only in Tollywood but Allu Arjun also got love from all across the country for his film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. However, the love he received from Kerala fans is something one can't miss. Well, Kerala has the second highest number of Coronavirus positive cases, after Maharashtra. Shattered by the rapid spread of COVID-19, the state has been under lockdown to curb the virus.

Amidst the lockdown, people are moving towards the OTT platform to watch their favourite films and series. As we all know, Allu Arjun's Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is streaming on Netflix and it's getting a solid response online too. Thoroughly entertained with the Stylish Star's performance, Kerala fans call Allu Arjun, a 'Mallu Arjun'. How sweet is that?!

Reacting to the overwhelming love by Kerala fans, Allu Arjun told Malayalam Manorama, "It indeed is fortunate that an actor from another state who speaks a different language receives such an overwhelming welcome. I have been enjoying the love and respect from Keralites for more than a decade now. The Malayali youth have given great popularity for my movies. I have also received many honours from Kerala. Being invited as the chief guest for the Nehru trophy boat race has been one of the greatest honours in my life."

Also Read : Allu Arjun's Ayaan Son Gives Cutest Nickname To Baaghi 3 Actor Tiger Shroff

Speaking about Malayalam films, Allu Arjun said, "I have in fact watched quite a lot of Malayalam movies. There are lots of talented young actors in Malayalam. I watch movies of Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly and Dulquer Salmaan. I really enjoyed Kumbalangi Nights. I assume that a lot of young directors too have carved a niche of their own in the Malayalam film industry."

Allu Arjun's Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo also stars Pooja Hegde, Tabu, Sushanth, Nivetha Pethuraj, Sachin Khedekar and others in key roles. Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, the film was released on January 12, 2020. Allu Arjun is currently busy shooting for AA20 which also stars Rashmika Mandanna in the female lead.
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 6,771 active cases of COVID-19 in Canada (with more than 150,900 diagnoses so far) and 9,250 deaths. Nearly 90 per cent of the countrys reported COVID-19 cases have recovered.

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.

September 25

Winnipeg moves into orange level restrictions

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief medical officer of health, has announced that the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region will move to the orange level restrictions.

The indicators, especially in the Winnipeg health region, are certainly trending in the wrong direction, Dr. Roussin said. Were seeing more people developing symptoms...were seeing a growing test positivity rate and seeing higher rates of community-based transmission.

Effective Monday, Sept. 28, mask use is required in all indoor public places, except when seated at a table to eat and drink. Indoor and outdoor gatherings will be restricted to a maximum of 10 people.

Dr. Roussin specified that anyone dealing with the public will have to wear a mask or be behind a non-permeable barrier.

In most settings, if youre seated and distanced, then you wont need to wear that mask, he explained.

Ontario closes strip clubs, restricts operations at restaurants, bars, nightclubs

Beginning Saturday, all Ontario strip clubs will be closed and restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments have to comply with new restrictions.

Story continues

The Ontario government announced Friday that the sale of alcohol will be prohibited after 11:00 p.m. and alcohol cannot be consumed between 12:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. on the premises. These establishments, which include nightclubs, must close by 12:00 a.m. and cannot reopen until 5:00 a.m., except for takeout and delivery.

At a press conference, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said several regional mayors, including in the GTA, have been pushing for additional restrictions in these settings, adding that he doesnt see this as a huge ask.

Ford reiterated that most of the recent cases have been in people under the age of 40 and its this age group that mostly frequent nightclubs and food/drink establishments in their latest hours.

I dont see seniors going into nightclubs too often, its usually that age group that [is] going in there, the premier said. We just cant have these places open until 3:00 a.m.

Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott said Ontario is seeing a worrisome increase in cases.

Ford also said that beginning next week, 18 more pharmacies will offer COVID-19 testing, including places like Niagara Falls, London, Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford.

Prime minister disappointed with RCMP mask policy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented on the RCMP being accused of discrimination over its masking policy for officers, which has individuals with beards, including Sikh and Muslim RCMP officers, reassigned to desk duties.

Health and safety regulation are extremely important and they need to be applied in workplaces across the country, but I was very disappointed to hear of this issue with the RCMP, Trudeau said. I do know that many other police forces and other organizations have figured out ways of upholding health and safety standards without needing to create discrimination against certain individuals because of their religion.

The presence of diverse Canadians in our police forces...is something extremely important for all Canadians and it is something that I certainly hope the RCMP rectifies quickly, and it shouldnt have happened in the first place.

Canada announces new deal for AstraZeneca vaccine candidate

Trudeau and Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced Friday that Canada has signed an deal with AstraZeneca for 20 million doses of its vaccine candidate, which is being developed in conjunction with Oxford University.

The federal government is also investing more than $400 million in the Gavi COVAX facility to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses around the world, with $220 million allocated for up to 15 million vaccine doses for Canadians.

This pandemic cant be solved by any one country alone because to eliminate the virus anywhere, we need to eliminate it everywhere, Trudeau said.

The prime minister also spoke about bringing rapid testing to Canada, stressing that the federal government accelerated the process used by Health Canada to evaluate technological advances and measures, and said there are a number of rapid tests being evaluated.

We have to make sure that every step of the way we are not compromising science or the safety of Canadians, Trudeau said. We are not weighing in politically, obviously, on the process that the scientists are going through in terms of evaluating those but we are making sure that in parallel, if and when rapid tests are approved, were able to get them distributed rapidly across the country.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, said there was little data submitted to the regulator and are still waiting responses from the companies.

I know that other regulators of other countries have set their bar very low, lets just say, but what Ive seen is that theyre waiting for some response from the companies, Dr. Tam said.

September 24

This fall and winter is going to bring added challenges

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said there is no reason at all why Thanksgiving cant be celebrated this year but it still cannot be a large gathering.

It is a challenge and we would not be recommending [that] you have a large family gathering where, particularly elders and seniors, come from other places and get together with people who have had other types of contacts, Dr. Henry said. This is not the year for that, this is the year to participate remotely with your family.

This fall and winter is going to bring added challenges, which will make finding our balance that much more difficult. That is why now is the time to get back to our basics with COVID-19 safety precautions.

B.C.'s provincial health officer also commented on her recent statements about receiving death threats following her public guidance on COVID-19 measures.

It has been a challenge and this has started early on, in January,...and it doesnt surprise me in many ways when people are anxious and afraid, some peoples reaction is to lash out in anger, in frustration, she said. I am doing fine and I have a strong sense of community, my neighbours, my friends, my family to support me and I really appreciate the support that I get from people in our community here in B.C.

Albertas top doctor shares Thanksgiving guidelines

At a press conference on Thursday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced new guidelines related to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Its best to keep gatherings within your established cohort of up to 15 people outside your household, Dr. Hinshaw said. Smaller is safer, this is not the time for large gatherings.

She went on to say that people should maintain physical distancing when shopping for food, sanitize hands often and follow local mask rules. The public should also be mindful about how food is shared during a Thanksgiving meal.

Please have one person plate everyones meal so people are not sharing serving utensils, or even better, consider having pre-portioned servings, ordering takeout or perhaps having guests bring their own food, Dr. Hinshaw said. If you are visiting loved ones in care, do so by appointment only and follow all facility protocols.

A few common sense precautions will help keep everyone safe.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health also spoke about minimizing the impact of COVID-19 and each persons overall health. She highlighted that between April and June there were 301 deaths related to unintentional opioid poisoning.

It will take many years for us to understand the full impact that this pandemic has had and is still having on our mental, physical and emotional health, Dr. Hinshaw said.

Following Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, revealing that she has received death threats from the public, Alberta's chief medical officer of health said she hasnt received anything she would describe as hate mail or threats but she has gotten some very sharp personal and professional criticism.

Its not surprising that when people are experiencing the impacts of the pandemic that, unfortunately, sometimes they take it out on the spokesperson about why we need to manage collectively through this in ways that can sometimes cause suffering, Dr. Hinshaw said.

Freeland emphasizes the importance of regulatory authorities to make medical judgments without political interference or pressure

The federal government announced the introduction of Bill C-2, which would see the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) increase to the same amount as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), with eligible workers receiving $500 per week for up to 26 weeks.

The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) are also part of the legislation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland commented on the federal governments work to procure and implement rapid COVID-19 testing in Canada.

I am pretty sure that I can say that there is no one in Canada who is more enthusiastic about the prospect of getting rapid tests in our country and no one who feels more urgently the need for them, Freeland said. I think its also very, very important for us to appreciate how valuable it is to live in a country where we respect the independence of our regulatory authorities and the independence of regulators to make their own careful medical judgments.

We are living through a global pandemic and frankly, as a mother, I want to be assured that any medicines, any tests that are used here in Canada have been approved by our regulators without any political interference or pressure.

Freeland went on to say that Canada must also be ready to pounce when there are any new procedures, vaccines or therapeutics as soon as they get that good housekeeping seal of approval from Canadian regulators.

No value in asymptomatic testing of the general public, Ontario health officials say

Ontario health officials are discouraging asymptomatic people, who arent in vulnerable settings, from getting tested for COVID-19. Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, said there is no value in testing these individuals at this time.

Right now, we need to focus on people who are symptomatic, people who are contacts, people in outbreaks or very specific populations where weve designated that testing needs to occur, Dr. Yaffe said at a press conference on Thursday. Generally speaking, your average person out there who is not exposed to a case, is not part of an outbreak, has no symptoms, should not be going for testing.

What we found is when theres very little COVID in that group, what we end up with is false positives, which just complicates things even more and causes a lot of concern and effort thats unnecessary.

Matthew Anderson, the president and CEO of Ontario Health, explained that vulnerable settings where asymptomatic testing will occur is long-term care and retirement homes, including staff.

We need to be nimble, we need to be responsive and we need to make appropriate changes to ensure that we test those who need the tests, Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontarios chief coroner and executive lead of COVID-19 Testing Approach said.

The Ontario government has announced an investment of more then $1 billion to expand COVID-19 testing, and case and contact management. There will also be a $30 million investment manage outbreaks in long-term care settings, retirement homes and schools.

By ramping up our daily testing capacity to 50,000 tests and closely monitoring our long-term care homes and schools, we can quickly respond to any outbreaks and surges and stop the spread of this deadly virus in its tracks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.

We cannot just close down everything

Dr. Yaffe said the measures currently in place are meant to help control the infection and hopefully not close all businesses and services, which have other health and safety repercussions.

We cannot just close down everything and assume everything will be fine, she said.

Dr. Huyer confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the number of deaths from drug toxicity in Ontario.

We are, unfortunately, seeing an incredibly increased number of deaths from drug toxicity and the number is upwards of 35 to 40 per cent higher...since the pandemic started, compared to last years numbe., he said This is not something that has been improving, unfortunately.

September 23

COVID-19 testing in Ontario pharmacies begins Friday

The Ontario government announced that beginning Friday, 60 pharmacies in the province will offer free COVID-19 testing.

Pharmacy tests will be conducted by appointment only and the individual must not have any COVID-19 symptoms to be tested in these settings.

We rely on our pharmacists for our flu shots, prescriptions, and important health advice for ourselves and our families. It makes sense to engage them as key partners in delivering more COVID-19 testing, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. I have to thank Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall, and the independent pharmacies who have stepped up in a big way to help expand testing to more people in the province.

Additionally, Women's College, Mount Sinai and University Health NetworkToronto Western Hospital assessment centres will be offering saliva testing this week.

Ford said he has been waiting for months for Health Canada to approve saliva testing, adding that it has contributed to the long lineups at assessment centres.

This is whats affecting the whole system, he said. Im hearing crickets.

Nothing is more important than these tests right now.

September 22

Never before has the flu shot been so critical

The Ontario government is investing almost $70 million to purchase flu vaccines as part of this years provincial flu immunization campaign.

We've been working through the summer to put in place a robust and comprehensive plan to tackle a potential, more challenging second wave of COVID-19," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. It's important that we prepare for any scenario in order to protect all of our citizens, especially our seniors and most vulnerable.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Ford stressed that everyone should get the flu shot this year, as the province tries to battle the influenza season with COVID-19 spreading.

We know that a second wave is coming, we know that it will be more complicated than the first wave, we know it will be more challenging on the system, the premier said. Never before has the flu shot been so critical.

The province has ordered 5.1 million flu vaccine doses, in partnership with the federal government and other provinces and territories. This includes 1.3 million high-dose vaccine doses for Ontario seniors, with priority distribution for people in long-term care homes, hospitals and retirement homes.

This flu immunization campaign is the first pillar of Ontarios fall preparedness plan, with more details set to be released throughout the week.

The goal of the upcoming plan is to:

Maintain strong public health measures, including continued expansion of testing and case and contact management

Quickly identify, manage and prevent COVID-19 outbreaks

Accelerate efforts to reduce health service backlogs

Prepare for surges in COVID-19 cases

Recruit, retain, train and support health care workers, while also continuing to engage families and caregivers

Implement the largest flu immunization campaign in Ontario's history

This acceleration in epidemic growth is concerning

Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, warned the public that COVID-19 cases are increasing at an accelerated rate.

This acceleration in epidemic growth is concerning and the situation will continue to escalate further unless public health and individual protective measures are strengthened, Dr. Tam said.

According to the most recent modelling data, released Tuesday, if Canada maintains its current rate of contacts, the epidemic is forecasted to resurge.

Public Health Agency of Canada

The short-term forecasting models predict that there will be between 150,780 and 155,795 cases in Canada by Oct. 2, and between 9,220 and 9,300 deaths.

The only way to achieve strong control of COVID-19 and prevent the virus from surging into an uncontrollable growth trajectory is for public health authorities and the public to work together, Dr. Tam said.

Public Health Agency of Canada

The effective reproductive number (Rt) in Canada, referring to how many people are infected by each case, is around 1.4.

In order for the epidemic to die out, Rt needs to remain consistently below one, Dr. Tam said.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Canadas top doctor stressed that COVID-19 spread differs across the country. While it is not an even distribution, all provinces west of the Atlantic region are showing increasing incidents of COVID-19.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Most of the more recent COVID-19 cases are in people between the ages of 20 to 39 year old, opposed to earlier in the pandemic when older Canadians were more impacted.

Dr. Tam made a specific call to younger people in Canada to help prevent the spread of the virus.

We need your ingenuity and your drive because we wont get COVID-19 back on the slow burn track without your help, she said. This is your generation, this is your time. Youve got this, lets work together and own this pandemic.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Canada has also seen a more diverse distribution of outbreak settings across the country, with some cases linked back to a single gathering or private event, while the impact in long-term care facilities has decreased.

Dr. Tam said the number of cases per outbreak in long-term care settings has declined from over 30 cases per outbreak in April to less than five cases per outbreak in August. She maintained that this is still an area of concern and Canadians must continue to strengthen measures to prevent the introduction of the virus into these facilities.

Dr. Tam added that school outbreaks have been limited to a single reported case or a few cases, but school and local health authorities need to investigate if schools are the setting of transmission.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Deaths have remained relatively low in Canada but Dr. Tam said this is considered a late indicator of disease severity. She added that the younger age of cases in Canada may also be factor to the low death counts across the country but stressed that the virus can easily move between age groups.

People dont exist in age group cohorts, Dr. Tam said.

Canada secures doses of additional COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced Tuesday that Canada has signed agreements with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to secure up to 72 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The full list of Canadian agreements for vaccines is as follows:

72 million of doses of Sanofi and GSKs adjuvanted recombinant protein-based vaccine candidate

38 million doses of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2.S

76 million doses of Novavaxs vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373

A minimum of 20 million of Pfizers mRNA-based vaccine candidate BNT162

56 million doses of Modernas vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273

These contracts reflect our ongoing strategy to secure a diverse range of potential vaccines, Anand said at a press conference.

The Canadian government has also has signed an agreement with Gilead Sciences and McKesson Canada to secure a supply of up to 150,000 vials of remdesivir, the only known anti-viral drug that has been shown to be effective in treating COVID-19 patients.

Deliveries will begin this month and will continue into 2021.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, confirmed the research on remdesivir shows it shortens the duration of COVID-19, specifically for people who with severe illness, like those who are hospitalized.

September 21

B.C. makes changes to list of symptoms that would require children to stay home from school

B.C. has removed 10 items from the list of symptoms that would require a child to stay home from school. The removed symptoms include headache, fatigue and a runny nose.

This was a recommendation from public health to remove some of the symptoms, given the very low probability of these symptoms by themselves indicating COVID, the provincial ministry of health said in an e-mailed statement to CBC News.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, confirmed that those symptoms on their own are not a reason for children to stay home.

There are so many things that cause children to have one symptom that have nothing to do with an infection, Dr. Henry said.

When asked if the province is in a second wave, B.C.'s provincial health officer did not say that is the case. Dr. Henry stressed that 80 per cent of cases are linked to a known case or outbreak and there hasnt been an exponential rise in cases, but rather a linear rise.

Albertas top doctor provides clarity on cohort rules in the province

At a press conference on Monday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, reinforced the definition of a cohort in the province, specifying that it relates to as small group whose members can regularly interact without staying two metres apart.

Your core cohort is your family or household group and up to 15 other people with whom you have chosen to spend time, where rules about distancing can be relaxed, she said. This should be the same 15 people at all times who are all committed to this cohort.

Coworkers or attendees of the same church are not considered cohorts, and should maintain distance and public health precautions in their interactions.

Dr. Hinshaw also confirmed that if a student is asked to get a COVID-19 test due to a possible exposure and it comes back negative, that student must still stay home for 14 days. She stressed that it could take up to 14 days for that child to get sick.

Work colleagues are not in your social circle, Dr. Yaffe warns

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, reminded the public that physical distancing and masking rules must be followed by people in a workplace.

Were finding that in some cases work colleagues assume they are in each others social circle because they work together, Dr. Yaffe said. This is absolutely not true.

Unless your colleagues are in your social circle of up to 10 people you must keep your physical distance or wear a mask if youre not able to do so.

At a press conference on Monday, she was also asked about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Dr. Yaffe said people need to plan ahead and as most celebrations will have to be inside, everyone needs to really think carefully about who those guests can be with the social circle and gathering rules in place.

Quebec begins second wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Quebecs public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, said the province is probably at the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19.

When asked about the Montreal and Quebec City regions possibly moving into the red level, the most severe alert level in Quebec, Dr. Arruda said it probably wont happen this week but things can go very fast.

Dr. Arruda urges that the province hasnt lost control yet, but the situation is serious.

Public security minister Genevieve Guilbault provided an update on operation OSCAR, which resulted in police making more than 2,200 visits to restaurants and bars, with more than 90 tickets issued.

The operation has exceeded our goal, Guilbault said.

Id send you to the MRI to get your brain scanned

Ontario Premier Doug Ford got particularly angry at a press conference on Monday after commenting on the large crowd at a mega meet car show that took place in Ancaster, Ont., on Saturday night.

If we werent so backlogged on MRIs Id send you to the MRI to get your brain scanned because I dont think theres anything in there, Ford said. We get the protocols out there and they just blatantly ignore the people.

During the press conference, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott confirmed the province will begin announcing its fall preparedness plan on Tuesday. She specified that enhanced testing will be part of this plan.

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontarios associate chief medical officer of health, explained that there are certain groups that are high priorities for testing, including close contacts of cases and people in outbreak settings.

Testing is important but its not the be all end all, the most important thing for people to remember is we want to prevent infections, Dr. Yaffe said. Dont go out if youre sick...wash your hands frequently, wear a mask if youre not going to be able to stay more than two metres away from other people.

I think people have been letting their guard down, there has been some complacency.

September 18

Health minister gets an update on COVID-19 in Peel, Ont.

Canadas health minister Patty Hajdu was in Peel, Ont., on Friday to talk about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the region.

Far too many people are actually contracting COVID-19 in social settings, Hajdu said.

She went on to urge people to say no if they are invited to private gathering, revealing that she has to decline two invitations recently.

When asked about the status of Canadians being able to access a COVID-19 vaccine, Hajdu said only science knows when that time will be but confirmed it will be administered in a staged rollout when available.

Police blitz to hit bars, restaurants in Quebec

Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault announced Friday that police will be patrolling 1,000 bars, restaurants and other similar businesses selling alcohol, named the OSCAR operation.

Any business not following the rules in place will be fine between $400 and $1,000 but she outlined that laws state fines can be as high at $6,000 for repeat offenders.

...We could lose the ability to keep COVID-19 cases at a manageable level: Tam

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, urged everyone across the country to continue to following the public health measures that have proven to control the spread of COVID-19, including physical distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing a mask.

The ongoing increase in the national daily case counts is an indicator of accelerated epidemic growth, Dr. Tam said. This situation increases the likelihood that we could lose the ability to keep COVID-19 cases at a manageable level.

When asked if Canada is in a second wave of the pandemic, deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said thats a difficult determination to make on a national level.

The situation does differ from one area of the country to another, he said. Certainly in the four biggest provinces...the case numbers have been going steadily up, increasing for quite a number of weeks and certainly thats concerning.

Dr. Tam also spoke about the stigma associated with COVID-19, stressing that someone who tests positive for the virus should be commended for going to get tested.

Yes, there has been stigmatization of racialized populations and different ethnic groups, she said. What I will urge everyone to remember is that we do know that theres differential impact and health equity impacts in certain racialized, ethnic and socially economically disadvantaged populations.

Its because many of these groups are our essential service workers, our personal support workers, people who must continue to work and they may have higher risk of exposure, they may be living in congregate living settings.and theres access to care issues as well.

Premiers call for $28 billion in federal healthcare funding

Premiers of Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec held a joint press conference on Friday to call for $28 billion in federal healthcare funding, ahead of the governments throne speech next week.

Number one concern is healthcare right now, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.

He said collectively, provinces and territories are spending $188 billion a year on healthcare and about 20 per cent comes from the federal government.

As the demand is increasing, the support from the federal government has been going down, Ford said, identifying this has been happening for decades.

Without healthcare, we have nothing, he said. Support all Canadians, be a true partner when it comes to healthcare. Were in desperate need of your support.

The premier went on to stress that healthcare is a provincial issue but more money is required to deliver the service in the best way for each local jurisdiction.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney sent a message specifically to Albertans who may feel isolated from the rest of the country.

I know many of us feel isolated, sometimes like the rest of the country doesnt hear us, doesnt care about the real human plight of what is happening in our province, he said. But I want you to know that the other provinces and territories from coast to coast have our back, understand the role that we have played at national builders, and are calling on the national government to do the same.

Canada extends border restrictions

We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until October 21st, 2020. We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe.  Bill Blair (@BillBlair) September 18, 2020

Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced Canada will be extending its travel restrictions with the U.S.

The existing regulations, which prohibit non-essential travel, will be in place until Oct. 21.

We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe, Blair said in a tweet on Friday morning.

September 17

New COVID-19 test collection method for B.C. students

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, announced a new, less invasive COVID-19 test collection option is available for K-12 students in the province, conducted by gargling a solution.

This is a new saline gargle where you put a little bit of normal saline, sterile water in your mouth, Dr. Henry explained. You swish it around a little bit and you spit it into a little tube.

This made in B.C. testing collection method doesnt have to be done by a healthcare provider. The sample is then tested at a laboratory.

Dr. Henry went on to stress that people in B.C. should limit their group of close contacts to only six people. She also reinforced the importance of following physical distancing rules.

Whether its inside or outside, maintaining safe distances is important, Dr. Henry said. Just because you can fit 50 people into your small back garden does not make it safe and thats where were seeing transmission.

More target testing in Alberta

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced a more targeted approach to testing in the province as influenza season approaches.

Asymptomatic testing will be reserved for those who are most likely to identify as a positive case. This includes individuals who are most at risk of spreading COVID-19 to vulnerable or at risk populations, including residents and staff in congregate settings, healthcare workers, school staff and Albertans experiencing homelessness. Asymptomatic testing is no longer available for those who dont have any possible COVID-19 symptoms or no known exposure.

This is the best way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of Albertans during the winter and flu season, Dr. Hinshaw said.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health also commented on Ontarios changes to the provinces gathering rules. She said the province is looking closely at trends in cases to spot particular transmission issues but stressed that private social gatherings are challenging to restrict.

We dont need formal restrictions to limit community spread, Dr. Hinshaw said. We all have the power to make sure that everything that we do contributes to lower COVID transmission.

Ontario lowers gathering limits for Toronto, Ottawa and Peel

The Ontario government has announced changes to gathering limits in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa that come with significant fines for both hosts and attendees.

Beginning on Sept. 18, unmonitored, indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people, down from the previous 50, and outdoor events are capped at 25 people, opposed to the previous 100 person limit.

Hosts of these events will face a minimum fine of $10,000 and attendees will see fines of $750.

This does not extend to organized events at staffed businesses like banquet halls, gyms, restaurants, movie theatres or convention centres.

This is frustrating for all Ontarians when you have these people who just recklessly ignore the regulations and guidelines that the chief medicals officers put out there, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a press conference on Thursday. They must be a few fries short of a Happy Meal these people because I dont get it...they just blatantly ignore it.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said although these new rules only apply to three regions, hes not ruling out the possibility of extending these limits to other areas of the province.

When asked about the difference between these gatherings and schools, where exceedingly more people will be in the same space, Ford said its an apples and oranges comparison because in schools there are measures in place to eliminate transmission, including cohorts, nurses on hand and teachers supervising.

He said this is no comparison to a wild party in someones backyard where people are drinking, hugging, kissing, spitting, every other thing they could possibly think of, not paying attention to the rules.

The province also announced introduced legislation to freeze rent in 2021 for most rent-controlled and non-rent-controlled residential units. The Helping Tenants and Small Businesses Act also proposes to change the Commercial Tenancies Act to extend the ban on evictions for commercial tenants.

The crisis is far from over and the threat of a second wave is real, as are the challenges it will bring, Ford said in a statement. That's why we need to take the necessary steps now to help families keep a roof over their heads and small businesses keep their doors open.

September 16

Severe fines coming for Ontarians breaking social gathering rules

Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontarios coordinator of the provincial outbreak response, said it is very disappointing and distressing that the number of COVID-19 cases in the province is increasing.

He said Ontario needs to tackle outbreaks in the province and provided guidance for people planning or attending gatherings.

When youre having other people over, youre sharing their social group as well, Dr. Huyer said at a press conference on Wednesday.

He went on to say that masks should be worn when coming within a safe physical distance of others and proper hand hygiene is also important, particularly when touching any shared surfaces. If someone becomes symptomatic, they need to make sure they are not going out and interacting with others.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said severe fines are coming for anyone in the province who breaks social gathering rules, under provincial jurisdiction, the highest in the country, Ford promised.

The Ontario government also launched a voluntary interactive screening tool to help parents, students and school staff monitor and assess possible COVID-19 symptoms.

We are doing everything we can to keep students and staff safe, and that includes this new screening tool which will help people protect themselves and others from COVID-19, Ford said in a statement.

It's everyone's responsibility to screen themselves or their child for symptoms before going to school. If you're sick or someone in your household is sick, even with mild symptoms, please stay home.

Canadians must stay strong and vigilant

At the conclusion of three days of federal cabinet meetings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged people in country to continue to follow the public health rules in place.

Canadians must stay strong and vigilant, Trudeau said.

We need to rebuild the economy while keeping Canadians safe. These two goal are not mutually exclusive, they go together.

The prime minister went on to tease next weeks anticipated throne speech, saying it will close the gaps in our social safety net and support vulnerable Canadians.

It is going to be an important moment, setting a course for our country that is going to focus on keeping ourselves safe but also getting through this challenge even better than before, the prime minister said.

September 15

The acceleration in cases in several regions is a cause for concern

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, expressed her concern about the increase in cases in several areas of the country, particularly related to private gatherings and community events held indoors.

The acceleration in cases in several regions is a cause for concern, Dr. Tam said. We must all act now to pump the breaks, so to speak, on this acceleration.

Canadas chief public health officer said anyone planning a gathering should stick to their established bubble of close contacts. For anyone who wants to move forward with a gathering that will include people from outside their bubble, they should evaluate if anyone attending or in their household is at a high risk of critical illness due to COVID-19. If so, the event may not be appropriate.

Dr. Tam went on to say the next best thing a gathering host can do is hold the event outdoors, physically distanced, and ask guests to wear a mask. They should also ensure there is access to soap and water, or hand sanitizer, and frequently clean common surfaces.

Our traditional gatherings may look different this fall but I know that hosts will feel better knowing that they did everything they could to reduce the risk of their event becoming another outbreak, she said.

Canadas chief public health officer went on to confirm that anyone anyone who has been in contact with a known COVID-19 case should quarantine for a period of 14 days. She added that people who are tested as part of an outbreak setting, like a long-term care home, a negative test doesnt mean that you will get out of the quarantine period because that test is just a result at that particular moment in time.

Call of solidarity in Quebec

Quebec Premier Francois Legault had a message for all people in Quebec as a call for solidarity on Tuesday, while COVID-19 cases continue to be identified in the province.

The problem we have is mainly community transmission between friends and families, Legault said. If the virus continues to spread people will be hospitalized, some people will die.

Im worried also for people who need to be treated, Im worried for our children, we cannot close our schools. Im also worried for our businesses for our workers. The situation is worrying and we must act now.

The premier also spoke about Montreal in particular, saying that on a per 100,000 residents basis, the city is doing better than many other regions. Legault indicated the explanation may be that people in the city were more impacted in the spring and are more careful because they dont want to see that situation again.

The best case scenario for a COVID-19 vaccine is certainly in 2021

Dr. Heather Morrison, the chief public health officer of P.E.I., stressed people in the province need to continue to follow the public health rules in place because COVID-19 will be with us for a long time.

We now know that COVID-19 is here for the long-term and really until such time as there is an effective and accessible vaccine or treatment, Dr. Morrison said. The best case scenario for a COVID-19 vaccine is certainly in 2021.

The chief public health officer added that she believes COVID fatigue has contributed to people not following the isolation rules in place.

Many people no longer see the value or need to self-isolate and instead want to skip self-isolation or do it for less time, she said. But people who choose not to self-isolate are putting themselves, their families and our community at risk.

When asked about the likelihood that trick-or-treating will be allowed for Halloween, Dr. Morrison said the discussions are still ongoing but Halloween may look a little different.

Ontario officials tease announcement related to COVID-19 hot spots

The Ontario government announced it is investing $2.5 million through the Ontario Together Fund in Linamar Corp., located in Guelph, Ont. The company is retooling its assembly line to manufacture ventilator components to produce 10,000 Ontario-made e700 ventilators, in partnership with O-Two Medical Technologies.

Ontario is the workshop of Canada, and it's the creativity and ingenuity of enterprising companies like Linamar and O-Two that will make Ontario-made medical equipment known for quality and excellence across the country and around the world," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. "By building homegrown capacity to make ventilators, we will never again have to rely on any other country for this critical piece of lifesaving medical equipment."

When asked about the previously announced move by the provincial government to pursue COVID-19 testing at pharmacies, as a way to prevent long lines at assessment centres, the premier said this is still something in the works.

He went on to tease that there will be announcement related to the three hot spots for COVID-19 spread, Toronto, Ottawa and Peel, coming soon.

I just ask the small percentage, the one or two percent who are having these parties in the backyard, guys we just cant do it, Ford said.

Canadas health minister says massive shutdown for Canada is very difficult

Following first day of the federal cabinets two-day meeting, Minister of Health Patty Hajdu commented on Canadas preparedness for a second wave of COVID-19.

We are living with COVID and were in that stage now where were learning as society to live with COVID, Hajdu said.

The health minister revealed multiple second wave scenarios have been discussed, a slow burn where there are small peaks and valleys or a very severe fall surge.

There is always a possibility that the numbers could grow exponentially, she said. This is a sneaky virus, it can easily infiltrate communities, households and we have to take it seriously, we cannot let up.

Hajdu went on to use Ontario as an example, highlighting that the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the province isnt widespread and it may not be the most effective method to have broad closures when there are regions that havent been impacted at all, or not to the same extent as more populous areas like Toronto, Ottawa and Peel.

I think we are in a stage where we have to work very closely with the provinces and territories to have a much more surgical approach, she said. I think a massive shutdown for a province or for the country, its very difficult.

Its difficult on Canadians, its difficult on their mental health, its difficult on their economic health, its difficult on the economy of Canada.

September 14

Wildfire smoke or COVID-19?

As wildfire smoke pushes through B.C. Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, admitted at a press conference on Monday it may be difficult for people in the region to differentiate between COVID-19 and the impacts of the air quality.

She said dry cough, runny eyes and irritation can be associated with both smoke and COVID-19. Fever, chills and aches are likely not from smoke.

Dr. Henry also spoke about transmission of COVID-19 in outdoor spaces. She said droplets can disperse quickly outside so its unlikely for someone to inhale enough of the virus in a walk-by transmission event.

Dr. Henry said known spread in the province from outdoor events was when people were close for an extended period of time.

She went on to stress that an anti-racist and supportive approach should be taken to COVID-19 with concerns about the stigma associated with people who may become infected.

Albertas top doctor warns of possible rise in cases this fall

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, tried to provide some guidance to people in the province concerned about a second wave of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Dr. Hinshaw said at a press conference on Monday that the province may see a rise in cases in the fall but what this looks like is up to us.

She said the increase could be a sharp spike in cases or it could be ripples, where cases rise, level off and fall.

Our dedication cannot waver, she said, stressing that as winter approaches people will spend more time indoors, so keeping community transmission low is particularly important.

Albertas chief medical officer of health said its important to balance COVID-19 risks with peoples ability to work, socialize and exercise for support ones overall health.

Lack of understanding of social gathering rules in Ontario

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontarios associate chief medical officer of health, said there has been some lack of understanding when it comes to the social gathering rules in the province.

We have said that you can have a gathering of up to [50 people inside], that doesnt mean you can walk around and get close to them and not wear a mask, Dr. Yaffe said. That means you can be in a room with that many people but if theyre not in your social circle, you have to wear a mask if youre going to get close to them.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, echoed that sentiment saying that people are assuming social gatherings and social circles are the same but they are very different. He added that the size of the location of an indoor gathering, and the clearing resources and procedures in place, also need to be considered.

With regards to the possibility of adding lockdown measures, Dr. Yaffe said she thinks a regional approach makes sense at this point with almost 80 per cent of cases being from three public health units.

The second wave is going to be more complicated

Ontarios Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is coming and stressed how important it is for everyone in the province to follow all the public health rules and hygiene practices.

I think its fair to say that the second wave is going to be more complicated and more difficult to deal with than the first wave because we also have flu season approaching, in addition to COVID-19, Elliott said.

We also have a reduced capacity in our hospital because we have a number of people who were in long-term care homes but because theyve had to half their capacity for infection prevention and control, theyre back in hospital, and were also working on the thousands of surgeries and other medical procedures that were postponed due to the first wave.

The deputy premier and health minister said people should not go to large gatherings or be in large groups where people are not following hygiene measures because thats whats causing COVID-19 to spread. She added that Ontarios fall preparedness plan will be coming in short ordering.

Elliott and Ontario Premier Doug Ford would not specify the exact mark the province will have to hit for restriction to be put in place, with over 300 cases reported in the province on Monday, but they said there would be a number of considerations, including the overall trend in case counts and community transmission.

We will take every step necessary, including further shutdowns, Ford said. In the second wave of COVID-19, its a scenario that we have been preparing for all summer long.

Ford said any lockdown measures put in place would have to be executed on a regional basis, with most of the recent COVID-19 cases in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa, linked to social gatherings.

Im begging you, please, just cut out the social gatherings, its just not worth it, the premier said. Its coming back to bite us.

September 11

Now is the time to not be complacent

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, defended the decision by the Canadian government to advise against non-essential travel in March, saying that the Level 3 alert was significant, including countries that hadnt announced any cases yet, even though initial discussions of the virus began earlier in the year.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to increase across much of Canada, Dr. Tam said increasing restrictions will be dependant on the local epidemiology.

The idea is to not let things get to a point where the activity is not manageable, she said. I do think we need to monitor not just the numbers everyday but the speed of acceleration, the reproduction number et cetera.

Dr. Tam added that critical factors will be each regions ability to detect and track cases, and whether the local public health capacity has been exceeded.

I am concerned and so are other medical officers of health, she said. Now is the time to not be complacent...We do not want this to escalate further.

Deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, also spoke about Quebecs recent karaoke ban in the province, confirming that singing and shouting are known higher-risk activities.

I dont think at this point you could consider that a safe activity, Dr. Njoo said.

Trudeau confirms initial COVID-19 meeting in January

At a joint press conference with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that as of Jan. 2, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, convened a meeting with her counterparts across the country about the concerns around the virus.

He added that throughout the month meetings occurred and discussions about preparation were being had.

This comes after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump played down early warning signs of COVID-19 back in February.

Alberta changes guidance on singing, concerts

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced changes to the guidance around singing and music performances in the province.

Limited band practice, singing and wind instrument concerts can occur provided distancing, cleaning and other precautions are taken. Choirs can also resume in limited numbers with masking.

Dr. Hinshaw stressed that audience singing and group singing in faith settings are still discouraged, and dance floors are still not permitted because it is difficult to safely mitigate exposures in these settings.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health also stressed that COVID-19 can impact people differently. For example, some may get a fever as the body tries to fight off the virus while in others, the virus causes inflammation, which can lead to them feeling tired and achy. It can also lead to symptoms like pneumonia or trouble breathing.

Once the virus is inside your body it can latch on to a cell inside your lungs, Dr. Hinshaw said. If enough virus latches on to cells and gets inside them, they take over those cells and make copies of themselves.

In most people, it will take about five to eight days before enough virus copies are made for symptoms to show.

Dr. Hinshaw advised the public to stay home if they are at all sick and get tested for COVID-19, but even if the test comes back negative they should stay home until they are feeling better, because the result could have been a false negative.

Were not in a second wave but the trend is not good

Quebec Premier Francois Legault warned people in the province that a second wave could be on the horizon if public health rules are not followed, as the daily case count soared past 200 on Friday.

Were not in a second wave but the trend is not good, Legault said at a press conference. And if the trend continues we may come to a second wave.

The premier also spoke about COVID-19 spreading at private parties, which he admits is difficult to track but something he has also spoken to premier Doug Ford about, with Ontario seeing a similar trend.

The best way is to try to convince the population to respect the directives, he said. Maybe we can eventually do something in houses but at this point, were not looking for that.

Im asking the population, please look at the number of cases...its serious.

September 9

Alberta to launch new map of COVID-19 cases in schools

At a press conference on Wednesday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said the province will be creating an online map so parents and guardians can see if there may be COVID-19 risks in schools in their community.

Schools will only be added to this map if there are two or more cases in a school setting within a 14-day period, acquired or transmitted in the school. Dr. Hinshaw said all 16 COVID-19 cases linked to 16 schools have not met that threshold at this point.

An example of a situation that would not be included in the map is if there is a family with two children at the same school. One child became him but was kept at home, not able to transmit the virus in the school, but the other became infected with COVID-19 while at home with their sibling.

Dr. Hinshaw also provided clarity on face coverings, stressing that medical face masks protect both the person wearing it and the person around them, which is different from non-medical face masks, like cloth masks.

When you use non-medical face masks...it doesnt have the same degree of protection [to] the person wearing it, she said. Although there is some emerging evidence that would indicate that wearing those kinds of face masks...may reduce the amount of infectious particles and potentially reduce the chances of having a severe illness.

B.C. invest $1.6 billion in fall, winter COVID-19 planning

The B.C. government announced it is investing $1.6 billion in a fall/winter preparedness plan to strengthen the healthcare system to manage COVID-19 in the province.

The actions we are taking today are a big step to help protect everyone in our province as we head into the fall, and in doing that, will also help lessen the impact the pandemic has had on our economy, B.C. Premier John Horgan said in a statement. We know people have stepped up to stop the spread, and right now we need good people to step forward to help deliver these life-saving initiatives.

The plan includes hiring an estimated 7,000 healthcare workers in long-term care homes and assisted living facilities. Individuals will start in a healthcare support worker position and will receive training to become a healthcare assistant. The starting salary will be $20 per hour and particular consideration will be given to people who lost their job as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The B.C. government will also have 45,000 Fluzone-High Dose immunizations available to residents of long-term care and assisted living facilities, with two million total flu vaccines available this year.

The province also plans to increase its testing capacity from approximately 10,000 to 20,000.

The province is also dedicating $42.3 million to develop a Hospital at Home program, where patients can get 24/7 care at home instead of being admitted to hospital. It will launch through the Victoria General Hospital initially.

At a press conference on Wednesday, health minister Adrian Mix presented four scenarios the provincial government is preparing for. The low COVID-19 scenario has few number of new daily COVID-19 cases and beds required in hospitals, approximately 25 in ICU and 57 in acute occupancy. The moderate scenario increases to 55 in ICU and 98 in acute care, the high scenario would see 108 in ICU and 201 in acute care. The top level, High++ would see 214 in ICU and 400 in acute occupancy.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, urged everyone in the population to get the influenza vaccine this year.

She added that although cases seem to be rising, she believes Halloween can be celebrated this fall but it will look different. Some recommendations include being in small groups outside, celebrating with a small neighbourhood at the end of a driveway, or sharing prepackaged candies so children do not need to sort through a shared pile.

WE Charity ceases operations in Canada

The WE Charity announced Wednesday that the organization is closing its Canadian operations due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the Canada Student Service Grant sandal.

At this point, the U.K. and U.S. operations have not been impacted, neither is the ME to WE affiliate.

Ontario, Quebec premiers call on the federal government for more recurrent financing for health care

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault are calling on the federal government to provide more long-term health care funding by increasing the Canada Health Transfer (CHT).

This comes after both provinces caution the public about a possible second wave of COVID-19. Ford said the two provinces have been on the frontlines of the pandemic and the systems need to be strengthened for the fall and beyond.

Legault added that the federal government needs to do its part with recurrent financing, without conditions. He added that discussions need to occur with other provincial and territorial leaders, but a more specific figure they are looking for will be tabled very shortly.

The premiers also spoke about B.C.s recent move to close nightclubs and stand-alone banquet halls, while also restricting liquor sales at bars, pubs and restaurants.

Ford said if any local public health units have concerns about these venues, or even the overall gathering limits in the province, they have the ability to add additional restrictions.

Legault indicated most of the recent cases in the province are not coming from bars but are stemming from private gatherings.

Trudeau asks Canadians to be vigilant as the fall season approaches

At a press conference on Wednesday to announce the new $221 million program for Black entrepreneurs in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Canadians to continue to follow the public health measures in place across the country.

We are not out of the woods, Trudeau said. Canadians need to continue to be vigilant. Canadians need to continue to be careful.

The last thing that anyone wants is to have to once again shut down our economies and suspend our lives to try and counter a massive second wave.

He called on the public to make the right choices to keep the country safe, including trying to not overwhelm Canadas healthcare system.

September 8

B.C. imposes new restrictions in bars, nightclubs, banquet halls, restaurants and pubs

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, announced a new order to strengthen restrictions at bars, nightclubs, banquet halls, restaurants and pubs.

Effective Tuesday, all nightclubs and stand-alone banquet halls must close until further notice.

Liquor sales at all bars, pubs and restaurants must stop at 10 p.m. and all venues must close at 11 p.m. If these establishments have full meal service, that can continue beyond 11 p.m., but alcohol cannot be served.

Music or other background sounds in bars, lounges, pubs and restaurants, can be no louder than normal conversations, so patrons dont have to talk loudly.

Dr. Henry said the province needs to find the balance to get through the next few months to a year.

I use orders as a last resort, she said. We do it for things where we know that it will make a difference, where weve seen transmission events.

Dr. Henry also recommended people consider pulling back on the size of their social bubbles, similar to the six people allowed earlier in the year or in restaurants.

When asked if she has concerns about the number of private parities increasing as a result of the new restrictions at bars and nightclubs, Dr. Henry recognized this as an ongoing concern.

We do know that there has been a move towards private parties, the provincial health officer said. It is trying to appeal to peoples better nature but then taking away some of the temptations that have been repeated offenders, in terms of venues where people continue to go.

Dr. Henry went on to say that she does feel restaurants are really safe, for the most part, and are doing a super job overall.

The reality is, we have to learn to live with COVID

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said at a press conference on Tuesday that if school districts are able to provide a detailed plan on how physical distancing will be maintained in schools, existing masking rules can be relaxed.

Yesterday, Dr. Hinshaw approved a plan from the Fort Vermilion school division for six schools, which includes only one cohort being in a hallway at a time and staggering class transitions.

With 11 COVID-19 cases identified in 11 different schools in Alberta, the provinces chief medical officer of health stressed its important to differentiate between a student who was in a school when they were infectious and an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 but couldnt have transmitted the virus in the school setting.

Dr. Hinshaw said when cases come up in schools, all students in a classroom are considered close contacts if they were in the shared space.

The reality is, we have to learn to live with COVID, she said, adding that students and parents also need to ensure that public health measures are followed outside of school settings.

It is just so important to remain vigilant

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, provided additional details on the provinces pause in loosening any restrictions for four weeks.

She revealed some of the measures that were under consideration were increasing the number of people who could play in a sports league, loosening rules around spectators at motor sports, opening steam rooms and saunas, and requests around casinos.

Dr. Yaffe also stressed that the gathering limit of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors includes the physical distancing requirement, unless youre coming into contact with someone in your 10 person social circle.

It is just so important to remain vigilant, she said. The virus is out there and we are seeing the numbers creeping up.

Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health also highlighted that a number of recent cases have been linked to known outbreaks, including churches and weddings. She stressed that although some cases have been linked to schools, its important to identify that the virus was not acquired in the school setting in these cases.

Ontario premier concerned about hot areas for COVID-19 spread

Deputy Premier of Ontario and Minister of Health, Christine Elliott, said the province will be taking a pause from loosening any additional restrictions for four weeks.

The latest trends in numbers have raised some concern, especially as we begin to reopen schools and post-secondary institutions, Elliott said. We did not take this decision lightly.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford identified three hot areas for COVID-19 spread: Brampton, Ottawa and Toronto.

Ford went on to say more severe punishments are required for people who are not following the COVID-19 rules in place, encouraging people to call the police if they see their neighbours hosting big parties and gatherings.

He added that more work needs to be done to ensure people are adhering to the 14-day quarantine requirement for travellers.

We have to come down hard on people who are quarantining coming into our country, Ford said. Its a privilege to come into Canada, its a privilege to be here in Ontario.

If you arent sitting on your couch, were coming after you.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, stressed that this is definitely not the time for people to be casual with the public health measures in place, particularly as students go back to school and respiratory virus season approaches.

Dr. Williams also urged people in Ontario to not host or attend large gatherings.

If you do not know the people and their exposure, you cant assume that its not a problem, it is probably a problem, he said.

Critical two-week period ahead for Canadas COVID-19 situation

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, indicated at a press conference on Tuesday that the next couple of weeks will be critical to see the impact back-to-school plans and the long weekend will have on transmission of COVID-19.

She stressed that the increase in the average daily case counts in concerning but it is a reflection of what is happening in the community. Over the past seven days, the average new cases per day is 545.

The most difficult part...is the fact that there are private functions and family gatherings where we need to make sure that we support every person in this country to know what to do to minimize the risk, Dr. Tam said.

When asked about the classification of COVID-19 as a respiratory disease, Canadas chief public health officer said it is a respiratory virus because human-to-human transmission is most likely through respiratory droplets, but its impact is more widespread.

Science is evolving in terms of how the virus, once it gets inside your body, can impact your health, Dr. Tam said. This virus seems to be able to have an impact on multiple systems in your body, including your cardiovascular system, including your inflammatory response, how your blood vessels may be inflamed, et cetera.

On Tuesday, The Globe and Mail reported that Canadas Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, has ordered an independent review of the pandemic early warning system, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). This comes after the outlet reported back in July that that the GPHIN system went silent in May 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world.

Dr. Tam said Tuesday the system was never closed and continued to function, based on her personal knowledge.

I dont think there was ever a shut down of the system, she said. The review will look at what actually happened to those specific alerts as opposed to the regular daily reports and whether they would have reached...a broader audience.

Dr. Tam said there was a question about if it is sufficient to sent out the daily report or if there should be an alert, which goes beyond the Canadians context.

Quebec implements a coloured tier system for COVID-19 in the province

The Quebec government has announced a four-tier regional alert and intervention system as the number of daily COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the province.

The green level is the vigilance tier, followed by the early warning yellow level. Orange is the moderate alert level and red is the maximum alert level.

Any movement between these levels will be based on three factors: the epidemiology in the region, the level of transmission and the capacity of the healthcare system.

Quebecs health minister Christian Dube said the level in each region will be reviewed each week by public health authorities and discussed on the municipal level as well.

Dube stressed that COVID-19 is still a significant threat that is spreading within the community, but it is possible for the public to prevent a second wave of the virus by following the public health measures in place.

September 4

One metre does offer protection over no distancing: Albertas Dr. Hinshaw weighs in on an adjusted precaution

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, revealed the province is looking at the evidence around different levels of distancing, primarily differentiating between a one-metre and two-metre distance for preventing COVID-19 transmission.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.s provincial health officer, suggested on Thursday that a one-metre is sufficient in a classroom setting or with people you interact with on an ongoing basis.

One metre does offer protection over no distancing, she said at a press conference on Friday. Increasing the distance adds layers of protection. ... We have to pick the number that we think serves the best purpose for the most people.

We also know that depending on the circumstances, depending on the length of time someone is in the same space, depending on airflow, depending on how sick a person is ... even two metres in some instances may not be sufficient.

In shelters in Alberta in particular, two metres needs to be maintained among individuals who are moving around but a one-metre distance is fine between sleeping matts when individuals are sleeping.

In advance of the long weekend, Dr. Hinshaw urged people in the province to have fun but prioritize safety.

Close contacts are the largest source of exposure, she said.

For anyone planning on having a barbecue or small gathering, Dr. Hinshaw recommends that everyone bring their own food and use their own utensils.

Ontario premier defends the provinces top doctor after calls for his resignation

Earlier this week, Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), called for Ontarios chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams to resign. She cited that the province needs preventative measures to be implemented faster and criticized his communication skills.

At a press conference on Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to these calls for resignation, saying its so easy to play armchair quarterback and criticize people.

I have all the confidence in the world in Dr. Williams, Ford said. Theyve been calling for Dr. Williams head since the beginning and I take personal offence [to] that.

Dr. Williams has worked around the clock, this man doesnt sleep, hes out there protecting the people.

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the province, the Ontario premier said hes really concerned about virus spread in the Peel region, primarily in Brampton.

I gave the mayor three calls today...I need to talk to you, find out whats happening out there, Ford said. Something is broken when you have three per cent of the population with 40 per cent of the cases.

Just days away from the resumption of in-person learning in schools, it was reported that about one-third of Toronto elementary students will participate in remote education for the school year.

Ford maintains the provincial government has thrown everything and the kitchen sink at opening schools and apologized to students for the fear mongering on TV about going back to the classroom.

I can assure you as premier, I will do everything in my absolute power to protect our kids and our children and our students in this province, he said.

The questions Canadians should answer before going to an event or gathering

At a press conference on Friday Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, urged the public to ask themselves a series of questions about their risk factors before going to an event or gathering, particularly if they are indoors.

The recommended questions are as follows:

Are you at high risk of developing serious complications if you become infected or if you would have to self-isolate, would this seriously disrupt your upcoming plans, priorities and responsibilities?

Are there people at high risk of developing serious complications of COVID-19 in your household or in your contact bubble that you could unintentionally infect?

Has the host of an event made changes to the location to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19? This includes making it easy to maintain physical distance and requiring face masks.

Are you able to adjust your plans at the event or activity? For example, stepping away if it gets crowded, washing your hands or wearing a mask.

You cannot hold big parties...its those kind of settings that have contributed to outbreaks, some of them pretty large, Dr. Tam said, adding that vacation behaviours in advance of the Labour Day long weekend could result in many opportunities to escalate virus spread.

Canada's chief public health officer urged everyone to keep their social network consistent and as the weather gets cooler, prepare indoor spaces to make it safer for close contacts. If someone is even very mildly symptomatic, they should stay away from others completely and consider getting tested for COVID-19.

To date, about 2.2 million Ontarians have downloaded the COVID Alert app, which Dr. Tam says is not too bad in terms of uptake but we can definitely do better.

She particularly recommends that younger people download the app because they have been more present in group settings. Dr. Tam highlighted that there has been a case in Ottawa identified as a result of the individuals getting an alert on the app.
President Donald Trump once again touted a new drug regimen against the coronavirus he said may prove 'very affective' against the disease  at a briefing where top national expert Dr. Anthony Fauci wasn't present.

Trump said clinical trials would begin on the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, which has been seen to have positive effects in some cases. Trump has touted it previously, only to be contradicted by health officials who say it still must undergo rigorous testing.

At the White House Monday, Trump touted a drug combination involving Azithromycin, known as a Z-Pak, and said supplies were already going out.

'I'm pleased to report that clinical trials in New York will be begin testing for existing drugs that may prove effective against the virus,' Trump said, in a White House where reporters are now sitting three seats apart

President Donald Trump once again touted the anti-malarial drug chloroquine as a possible treatment for the coronavirus Monday, at a briefing where Dr. Anthony Fauci was not present. He was flanked by Attorney General William Barr and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator

'At my direction the federal government is working to help obtain large quantities of chloroquine and you can look from any standpoint tomorrow in New York, we think tomorrow pretty early the hydroxychloroquine and the Z-Pak I think is a combination  looking very, very good  and it's going to be distributed. We have 10,000 units going and it will be distributed tomorrow,' Trump said.

National infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was not at the White House for the briefing Monday, said more work was needed before it could be heralded as a solution.

'It will be available and is now, they already have it. They're going to distribute it tomorrow morning to a lot of people in New York City and New York. We're studying it very closely, watching it very closely,' Trump continued.

Then he cited an anecdotal case he said showed the promise of the therapy. 'You probably saw a couple articles today came out where a gentleman they thought he was not going to make it. He said good-bye to his family. They had given him the drug just a little while before, but he thought it was over. His family thought he was going to die. And a number of hours later he woke up, felt good, then he woke up again and he felt really good and he's in good shape and he's very happy for this particular drug that we got approved in record-setting time,' said Trump.

Trump made the comments at a press conference where he said he was determined to end social distancing guidelines even as infections spread. 'Im not looking at months I can tell you right now,' he said

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a press briefing on Friday. He said telling Trump 'things he doesn't want to hear' was a 'risky business'

'There's never been anything even close to it,' he said.

People across the US have come forward to call the anti-malaria drug a 'miracle' treatment. However an Arizona man died and his wife was in critical condition after the couple took chloroquine phosphate.

Both took it as a ''preventative measure' against the coronavirus, according to health provider Banner Health.

Trump also touted the drug on Saturday, saying it may be a 'gift from God'  although Fauci immediately tempered his remarks.

Fauci said of Trump: 'The president is talking about hope for people and it's not an unreasonable thing to hope for people.'

'There are those who lean to the point of giving hope and say give that person the option of having access to that drug and then you have the other group, which is my job as a scientist, to say my job is to ultimately prove without a doubt that a drug is not only safe, but that it actually works,' he said.

People pack bottles of chloroquine phosphate

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Briefing Room, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Washington. Listens from left are Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General William Barr, Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, and Navy Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, supply chain task force lead at FEMA

Trump touted a drug therapy that also includes the antibiotic Azithromycin

NOTABLE TIMES FAUCI HAS REBUKED TRUMP March 19 - Trump claimed anti-malaria drug hydrochloroquine could be a 'game-changer' in the fight against coronavirus. Dr Fauci later responds: 'There is no magic drug.' March 13: Trump says he does not need a test for COVID-19 despite coming into contact with a Brazilian official who was infected with the virus. Dr Fauci stated that it would be advisable for Trump to take a test March 4: Trump tells pharmaceutical executives he hopes for a coronavirus vaccine in 'three to four months'. Dr Fauci responds: 'A vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine that's deployable' Advertisement

Fauci has acknowledged the tightrope he tries to walk when he typically stands alongside Trump at briefings.

Fauci said that he tried not to 'embarrass Trump' and said that he attempts to deal with the president by 'continually' talking about scientific facts.

'But I 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,' Fauci told Science magazine.

Trump on Saturday talked up the drug's potential in near religious terms. Scientists must engage in clinical trials and testing to make sure the drug is safe and does not cause harm, although doctors sometimes prescribe medications as a last-ditch effort in 'compassionate use' cases.

'This would be a gift from heaven, this would be a gift from god if it works. We are going to pray to god that it does work,' the president said Saturday.

Fauci at that press conference acknowledged the two points of view - hope versus science - could come into conflict and noted he experienced just that during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

'Those two things are really not incompatible when you think about it, particularly when you're in an arena where you don't have anything that's proven,' he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:18:11|Editor: xuxin

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JAKARTA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia, on Tuesday, asked banks in the country to trim their lending rates to help pare down risks of the coronavirus spread on the economy.

Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo encouraged banks to adjust their lending rates to the reduction of the central bank's seven-day reverse repurchase rate.

"We ask banks to immediately edge down the interest of their credits," he said.

The Indonesian central bank has cut its key rate by 50 basis points to 4.5 percent this year to help shore up the economic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The loan growth nudged lower to 6.08 percent last year from 12.88 percent in the presiding year, according to data from the Financial Services Authority.

The central bank lowered its economic growth forecast this year to between 4.2 and 4.6 percent from the initial estimate of between 5.0 and 5.4 percent, according to Warjiyo.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dragged down Indonesia's exports and imports of capital goods and raw materials as well as affected the tourism sector.
The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the first epicentre of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is set to end its lockdown on April 8, more than 75 days after it was sealed off from the outside world as well as internally to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Hubei province, the worst-hit in China, will lift travel curbs from Wednesday, the authorities announced on Tuesday.

The lockdown of Wuhan and then the rest of Hubei had effectively restricted the movements of nearly 60 million people, an unprecedented step, which experts said helped in controlling the spread of the infection.

People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei province, according to a statement on the provincial governments website Tuesday.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million and a transport and education hub, was put under a lockdown on January 23 in order to stem the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new virus.

The disease until Monday might had infected more than 81100 people and killed nearly 3,300 in mainland China, the national health commission (NHC).

The disease to lift the lockdown comes in the backdrop of dwindling new infections in China for more than two weeks now.

On March 10, President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time since the disease emerged, signalling a turning point in Chinas fight against the outbreak.

Experts in China, however, have warned about a second wave of infections.

As Hubeis and Wuhans numbers dwindled to single digits, China has begun to fight a new battle front in terms imported or overseas, which have continued to increase for several days now.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which runs the London and Whipsnade zoos, has launched a fundraising campaign to help cover the costs of a shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

The charity closed its doors to the public over the weekend for the first time since WWII.

It has offered up its car parking spaces to NHS key workers and sent packages of food from its Terrance Restaurant to nearby hospitals.

Some of ZSLs zookeepers will remain on-site to look after its 18,000 animals, with some taking up residence in the Lion Lodge guest accommodation.

Pictures released by the organisation show the team observing social distancing while cleaning Penguin Beach, preparing food for giraffes, and caring for meerkats.

Launching the appeal, ZSL chief operating officer, Kathryn England, said: Last week, along with the rest of the country, we watched as this unprecedented situation unfolded around us and began making detailed plans in anticipation of having to do the previously unthinkable  close ZSL London Zoo to the public.

A core team of zookeepers, vets, security and grounds staff have stayed on-site and are making each day as normal as possible for our much-loved residents, many of which are endangered species and part of important global breeding programmes.

Nestled in the heart of Regents Park, the zoo opened to scientists in 1828 and to the public in 1847.

(ZSL (ZSL)

(ZSL (ZSL)

Pre-dating the invention of the telephone, its had six reigning monarchs as its Royal Patron, and survived two world wars  closing only briefly during WWII.

It re-opened after the war upon instruction from the government to boost the morale and wellbeing of Londoners.

If you wish to find out more or would like to donate you can do so by visiting the following link: zsl.org/support-our-zoos
Washington : A federal appeals court has declined to review its earlier decision that President Donald Trump does not have the right to block critics on his Twitter account.

A majority of judges on the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision on Monday, reports CNN.

The appellate court underlined that blocking people on Twitter violates the First Amendment because it excludes people from interacting with the President in a public forum.

"These tweets are published by a public official clothed with the authority of the state using social media as a tool of governance and as an official channel of communication on an interactive public platform," said Judge Barrington Parker.

"Excluding people from an otherwise public forum such as this by blocking those who express views critical of a public official is, we concluded, unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination," the judge added.

In July last year, the appeals court, which is based in New York City, upheld a lower court ruling in the case of Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump that the President's Twitter account constituted a "public forum." The Knight First Amendment Institute at New York's Columbia University filed a lawsuit in July 2017 against the President on behalf of seven

Twitter users, alleging that he did not have the right to block individuals who posted critical comments in response to his tweets.

Circuit Judge Parker said that Trump uses his account as an official mode of communication.

"Twitter is not just an official channel of communication for the President; it is his most important channel of communication," wrote Parker.

The US President's attorneys had argued that the Twitter account was personal and not an official government account.

The Department of Justice can still appeal to the Supreme Court.
(Newser)  It's not just in human populations that females tend to live longer than males. The same trend has been seen in mammals such as elephants, lions, and orcas, according to a new study. Indeed, demographic data for 134 populations of 101 mammalian species shows females outlive males in 60% of cases. And not by a small margin: In human populations, where 90% of people who live to be 110 years old are female, females live 7.8% longer than males on average, reports the BBC. In those mammalian populations, however, females were found to live 18.6% longer. In species where males did live longerhorses and some bats and rabbits among them, per CNNthe difference in life span was significantly smaller, explains Jean-Francois Lemaitre of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, lead author of the study published Monday in PNAS.

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A key theory for the discrepancy in life span relates to environment and "sex-specific genetics, the fact that males devote more resources towards specific functions compared with females," Lemaitre tells the BBC. While male and female bighorn sheep, for example, had little difference in life span where natural resources were plentiful, males lived much shorter lives in one particularly harsh environment. "Male bighorn sheep use lots of resources towards sexual competition, towards the growth of a large body mass, and they might be more sensitive to environmental conditions," says Lemaitre. But the study also lines up with recent research indicating an extra X chromosome might protect against destructive mutations. In bird species, the males have two X chromosomes and typically live longer than females, who have only one, as CNN points out. (Read more mammals stories.)
President Trump announced plans to postpone an Oct. 1 deadline for Real ID cards. (Andrew Harrer / Sipa USA)

With the COVID-19 pandemic further stifling the efforts of California and other states to issue Real ID licenses, federal officials said Thursday they will grant a one-year extension, til Oct. 1, 2021, on the deadline for people to obtain the identification cards in order to board domestic flights in the United States.

President Trump originally announced a delay Monday during a news briefing on the nation's response to the virus. The number of confirmed cases across the U.S. now stands at nearly 70,000. The resulting public health anxiety has left many Californians reluctant or unwilling to visit local branches of the Department of Motor Vehicles for fear of being infected.

"I'm also announcing that we're postponing the deadline with Real ID requirements," Trump said during the White House event. "We will be announcing the new deadline very soon."

The president seemed to acknowledge the challenge with asking people to visit their local DMV "at a time that we're asking Americans to maintain social distancing."

On Thursday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said the postponement would be for one year.

"The federal, state and local response to the spread of coronavirus here in the United States necessitates a delay in the deadline," Wolf said in a statement, adding, "We want to remove any impediment to response and recovery efforts."

Steven Gordon, director of the California DMV, said the announcement is welcome news because the agency has had to restrict visits to field offices for many people seeking driver's licenses and vehicle registrations.

"The California DMV is encouraged by the Presidents remarks indicating that the federal government will extend the enforcement date for REAL ID," Gordon said in a written statement. "This would relieve the urgency for people to visit local DMV offices and bolster the states efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We look forward to learning more about the Presidents direction and sharing that information with the public."

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Trump has been under pressure to postpone the Oct. 1 deadline from state officials across the country. The National Governors Assn., which includes Gov. Gavin Newsom, recently asked the Department of Homeland Security to extend the deadline by at least one year.

We believe an extension will allow all of us to focus our efforts on combating the spread and severity of COVID-19, the governors said in a March 17 letter to Wolf. More time will also give Congress the ability to pass legislation that will update the 2005 REAL ID Act and bring it up to speed with todays technology.

A representative for Newsom declined to comment on the extension request.

California lawmakers had already called for a delay in the Real ID deadline based on bureaucratic problems identified before COVID-19 was labeled a global pandemic.

Assemblymen Jim Frazier (D-Fairfield) and Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield), the chair and vice-chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, respectively, introduced a resolution asking for a delay.

Over 7 million Californians have a Real ID and the Department of Motor Vehicles estimates that 16 million Californians will need one by October 1st of this year, Frazier said. That means more than twice as many people need to come into a DMV field office between now and October, than in the entire previous two years combined.
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) shares are down a considerable 69% in the last month. Given the 67% drop over the last year, some shareholders might be worried that they have become bagholders. What is a bagholder? It is a shareholder who has suffered a bad loss, but continues to hold indefinitely, without questioning their reasons for holding, even as the losses grow greater.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

Check out our latest analysis for Canadian Natural Resources

How Does Canadian Natural Resources's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 2.68 that sentiment around Canadian Natural Resources isn't particularly high. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (5.7) for companies in the oil and gas industry is higher than Canadian Natural Resources's P/E.

TSX:CNQ Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 24th 2020

Canadian Natural Resources's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

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In the last year, Canadian Natural Resources grew EPS like Taylor Swift grew her fan base back in 2010; the 114% gain was both fast and well deserved.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

How Does Canadian Natural Resources's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Canadian Natural Resources has net debt worth a very significant 142% of its market capitalization. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.

The Bottom Line On Canadian Natural Resources's P/E Ratio

Canadian Natural Resources's P/E is 2.7 which is below average (9.2) in the CA market. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. Given Canadian Natural Resources's P/E ratio has declined from 8.8 to 2.7 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Canadian Natural Resources. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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.
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said it is Washington that first started the coronavirus blame game, as the war of words between the two giant economies continued.

It is "very harmful" for diplomats and journalists to speculate the origin of COVID-19, it is a job for the scientists, Cui said in an interview with AXIOS and HBO on March 17, calling on Washington's politicians to stop spreading conspiracy theories.

The interview script was made public on March 23 on the website of the Chinese Embassy.

U.S. President Donald Trump called the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a "Chinese virus" for the first time on his Twitter account on March 16 and has repeated the rhetoric since then.

Speaking to reporters at a White House daily press briefing on March 18, Trump said there was nothing wrong with calling the coronavirus a "Chinese virus," stressing that it had originated in China.

Trump's comments came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian's tweet that suggested the U.S. army might have brought the virus to Wuhan in October 2019.

When was asked about spokesman Zhao's words, Cui said he is not in the position to interpret Zhao's words.

He said his position was "all along" that it is dangerous to spread rumors, referring to one interview he did in February 9 with CBS's program "Face the Nation."

In that interview, he responded to an assertion from Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas who said the coronavirus could have come from China's biological warfare program. Cui said the accusation was "absolutely crazy."

"Of course, there are all kinds of speculation and rumors," he said. "There are people who are saying that these viruses are coming from some military lab, not of China, maybe in the United States. How can we believe all these crazy things?"

In the March 17 interview, Cui said the conspiracy "was first initiated [in the U.S.]," and insisted that certain politicians stop speculating as scientists would eventually discover the origin of the virus.

'No cover-up'

Cui firmly rejected accusations that the Chinese government tried to cover up the outbreak and stop people from getting information about people-to-people transmission in the early stages of the epidemic.

"It's not a process of covering up It is a process of discovering this new kind of virus, to do a good job in identifying the virus, know more about it, learn more about the routes of transmission and how to respond," Cui said.

As soon as China deciphered important data, such as the genetic sequencing of the novel coronavirus, it shared "everything" with the World Health Organization, and alerted other countries, Cui said.

China imposed strict travel restrictions and quarantine measures across the country to contain the outbreak, he said, adding that with the "resolute and determined efforts, the number of cases in China is coming down significantly" in the past 55 days.

As of March 22, China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported no new cases for the past five days. Meanwhile, 39 new cases were registered, all of which originating from abroad, official data showed.

When was asked about the deceased Dr. Li Wenliang, who tried to warn his colleagues about COVID-19 in late December and was later asked to sign a letter of admonition, Cui said information was distorted, as Dr. Li was consulting his colleagues about an unclear virus, not trying to alert the public.

"Somehow this piece of information got outside of his circle of fellow doctors and it certainly caused concern," Cui said, adding that his case was still under investigation.

Two days after the interview with AXIOS, China's National Supervisory Commission concluded Li's investigation on March 19, saying local police had "issued improper instructions" and followed "irregular" law enforcement procedures regarding Dr. Li.

The Wuhan Public Security Bureau later admitted the "inappropriate handling" and made an official apology to his family.

The police also revoked the admonition letter, in which he was accused of "spreading rumors."

What happens next?

Cui said China will make sure the infected cases are reduced to zero in the coming days and focus on developing drugs and vaccines.

China will continue to work with the WHO and help other countries hit by COVID-19, he added.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, the country has offered assistance to 82 countries as well as the WHO and the African Union. These medical supplies included test kits, masks and protective clothing.

It has also sent medical experts to Iran, Iraq, Italy and Serbia to help local doctors to contain the outbreak.

Cui also praised the help China received from American companies. "We are also very grateful at the initial stage so many countries came to our help, including the American people, American businesses, American institutions, American specialists. Some of them came to China at a very early stage, some of them joined the WHO expert team."

The ambassador said that China and the U.S. stood at a "critical juncture" and that efforts from both sides are needed to build a healthy bilateral relationship.

Both countries have no alternative than cooperation with each other, he said.

The two countries should "reject any attempt to stir up confrontation or even start a new Cold War," and both sides should develop a relationship based on coordination, cooperation and stability, he stressed.
The country has administered nearly 186,000 coronavirus tests, its consumer health watchdog said Tuesday. Separately, 94,000 people are under medical observation, but its unclear whether theyve all been tested for the coronavirus. A 79-year-old woman is the only person in Russia whose death was attributed to covid-19, although Moscow authorities say she died from a blood clot so it shouldnt be counted as a coronavirus fatality.
A LANTA bus driver is one of the latest Bethlehem residents to test positive for COVID-19, city officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

The two new cases of the coronavirus -- including the bus driver -- announced by Bethlehem bringing the citys total number of cases to six.

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority driver last worked on March 20 and drove several trips between Easton and Bethlehem over their shift, according to the announcement.

The Bethlehem Health Bureau says it is working with LANTA to notify employees who may have come into close contact with the driver. All close contacts will be quarantined for at least 14 days.

If you believe you may have had close contact with this person, the bureau asks you self-monitor for symptoms. If you begin to display symptoms of the virus -- like fever, shortness of breath or a dry cough -- contact your health care provider to determine if you should be tested.

The city did not offer further details about the second new case.

The city sent out an email alert Monday afternoon notifying residents of the four prior positive tests, which include two previously disclosed patients who live in the Lehigh County portion of the city.

Pennsylvania coronavirus cases rose at their fastest rate yet over the last day; 207 new COVID-19 patients as of midnight Tuesday morning bring the states total to 851, spread over 40 counties.

There are now 60 COVID-19 cases in the Lehigh Valley, up 12 from the previous days report. There are 33 reports in Northampton County and 27 in Lehigh County.

The death toll includes two Lehigh Valley residents.

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.
Arkose Labs, a startup focused on online fraud and abuse prevention, has raised $22 million in a Series B financing led by Microsofts venture fund, M12.

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Existing backers PayPal and USVP also put money in the round, which brings its total raised to $36.5 million, according to Crunchbase data.

Kevin Gosschalk and Matthew Ford co-founded the company in Brisbane, Australia, in 2015. They launched commercially in 2017 when they moved Arkose Labs headquarters to San Francisco.

Their self-described mission is to bankrupt the business model of fraud. Its telemetry-based decision engine aims to identify potential bad actors and challenge them in a way that frustrates their efforts and diminishes their ROI, without accidentally creating friction for legitimate users.

Essentially, Arkose Labs claims it has designed the fastest-learning fraud defense platform on the market. It works to protect from activities such as account takeover, fake account abuse, scraping, spam and gift card abuse.

Our platform takes a zero-tolerance approach to cyber attacks and our team is committed to putting a stop to the global fraud epidemic, Gosschalk, who serves as the startups CEO, said.

Growing customers, revenue

Arkose Labs detected and stopped over 500 million attacks in 2019, and says it reduced fraud by 50 to 90 percent. While it is not currently profitable, it did see a 400 percent increase in revenue while doubling its customer base in 2019. Meanwhile, headcount climbed 40 percent to 70 employees today compared to 50 in 2018.

Customers include Microsoft (naturally), GitHub, Electronic Arts, Match.com, Singapore Airlines, Roblox and Twilio. The company also counts a number of Fortune 50 companies in the financial services, ecommerce, media, gaming and emerging technology sectors as its customers.

Arkose plans to use its new capital for platform development, new hires and global expansion. In particular, its planning to expand into the EMEA (Europe and Middle East) region, as well as building partner-led go-to-market strategies for the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.

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As for why they relocated from Australia (where they still have offices) to begin with, the co-founders said: We moved due to that being where the market is. Australians visit the same top websites as Americans, which really are primarily US businesses. So strangely enough, to protect Australians from fraud online, we needed to be in the US to sell to the brands they use.

M12 has been busy in 2020 so far, making nine new known investments since the beginning of the year, according to Crunchbase data. Most recently, it led a $300 million Series B in Atlanta-based digital assets startup Bakkt.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias
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Hanoi will enter the peak phase of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in the next two weeks and people are strongly advised to stay home as much as possible, the capital chairmans Nguyen Duc Chung said on Monday.

Chairman Chung made the statement when he was chairing a meeting of the municipal steering committee on COVID-19 prevention in the capital.

The Vietnamese capital is treating 39 COVID-19 patients, 30 of whom arrived in Vietnam by plane from epidemic-hit regions, chairman Chung said.

The other nine are cross infections.

Our city has well controlled the COVID-19 epidemic to date, Chung said.

There have been only nine local transmission cases, equal to 1.5 cross infections per one million people in the capital.

Capital authorities have kept community transmission at bay thanks to their timely tracing and isolation of people returning from outbreak-battered regions, the chairman remarked, adding that they have taken preventive measures for a month such as closing schools and restricting mass gatherings.

Hanoi will enter the peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic from now until April 5, during which pathogen carriers are expected to show symptoms.

We have to focus our resources on early detection to mimimize cross infection in this phase, Chung said.

This is the decisive stage where we will know if we win or lose this COVID-19 battle.

Early detection, isolation, limited cross infection, and successful treatment will lead to a victory.

If we fail to early detect cases and let them spread in the community, the number of infected patients will quickly multiply.

People in Hanoi are strongly advised to stay home as much as possible, except for essential trips outside, from now until April 5, Chung underlined, noting they have to wear face masks and walk two meters from one another when outdoors.

People are recommended to walk in one direction when they go shopping at the supermarket, he said.

The chairman insisted on all hands on deck to timely identify suspected cases, quickly test them, and swiftly confirm infections.

Hanoi has already prepared to receive 20,000 Vietnamese returnees in the coming time.

Vietnam presently requires all arrivals to be isolated in collective quarantine camps for 14 days -- the advised incubation period of the virus.

The country has barred entry to all foreigners and demands all entrants declare their health status.

Passengers are required to fill out health declaration forms when traveling on long-haul buses, trains, tourist boats, and domestic flights.

Vietnam has confirmed 123 cases of COVID-19, of whom 17 had already exited hospitals by Friday last week.

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TDT | Manama

Supermarkets have been urged to follow hygiene and safety standards of the highest levels, including providing hand sanitisers and e-shopping services to help in the fight against coronavirus. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism have issued guidelines to supermarkets and shoppers for fighting coronavirus.

While queuing, shoppers are advised to keep a one-meter distance between each other. Customers are also encouraged to make use of e-shopping services. Supermarkets are recommended to take body temperatures of employees at the start and end of each shift.

They have also been required to organise the store in an easily accessible manner for essential goods. For stores limited in space, customers must wait outside. Store workers should clean every shopping cart or basket after each use, and supermarkets must have hand sanitisers at entrances and exits as well as several other locations.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health also issued several guidelines for barbershops and beauty salons to help prevent infection amongst their staff and customers. Barbershop and salon staff members are required to wash, clean and disinfect their hands before and after providing a service to a customer.

They must also maintain good personal hygiene and wear a protective mask and gloves during work. Staff members have also been instructed to not serve customers with flu symptoms, and infected staff must stay home as per their doctors instructions.

Furthermore, the cleaning and sterilisation of tools and surfaces must be done after each use, clean towels and aprons are to be provided for customers, and the barbershop or salon must keep a good level of general hygiene and ventilation.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With the coronavirus (COVID-19) placing a strain on communities all across the globe, Uber, one of the worlds leading e-hail companies, is taking a number of steps to protect its employees and riders.

The coronavirus crisis is being felt around the world by all the communities we serve. Our teams are working 24/7 to assist public health authorities in their response to the pandemic, and to take actions that support drivers and delivery people, customers, and our business partners, both large and small, according to a company statement.

The company has rolled out new in-app messaging that reminds riders to only travel when absolutely necessary and to take precautionary steps to protect themselves.

Uber Pool, which provides shared rides at lower costs, has been temporarily suspended in all markets to support social distancing.

Healthcare workers in some European and Latin American countries are receiving free rides to their respective homes and hospitals, with the company working to expand the initiative to more countries.

Discounted rides are being offered in Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to help connect low-income, vulnerable communities with food sources.

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

Additionally, any driver or delivery person who is diagnosed with COVID-19, or is asked to self-quarantine to prevent spread of the virus, is eligible for up to 14 days of financial assistance through the company.

Uber is also working with its business partners to provide necessary cleaning supplies to its frontline employees.

We are working with manufacturers and distributors to provide drivers and delivery people with disinfectants, as soon as they become commercially available. Thousands of sanitation kits will also be sent to small carriers that use the Uber Freight platform, according to the company.

Uber Eats

Uber Eats is waiving the delivery fee for over 100,000 independent restaurants across the United States and Canada, with daily, targeted marketing campaigns -- in-app and via email -- to promote deliveries from local restaurants.

The company has also introduced a new feature that will allow restaurants to opt-in to daily payments on all Uber Eats orders, as opposed to the standard weekly billing cycle, granting restaurants immediate access to their delivery revenue.

To ensure safety and limit the spread of germs during the outbreak, customers are being encouraged to request their delivery orders be left on their doorsteps, with restaurants receiving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure all food is sealed in tamper-evident packaging.

Uber Eats, in cooperation with local and state governments, has also committed 300,000 free meals to first responders and healthcare workers in the U.S. and Canada in the coming weeks.

Our team is working around the clock to do everything we can to support the communities we serve. Were committed to keeping you informed on our ongoing response and well share more updates here in the days to come, according to Uber.

***

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The US Department of Justice said it was delaying court hearings for asylum seekers ordered to stay in Mexico while their cases are being decided, due to the coronavirus.

The "Remain in Mexico" policy unveiled in December 2018 by the Trump administration calls for non-Mexican asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are under consideration.

Cases listed up to April 22 will be rescheduled, the DoJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement on Monday.

Neither the "Remain in Mexico" program nor any hearings would be canceled, they stressed.

"DHS and EOIR are deeply committed to ensuring that individuals 'have their day in court' while also ensuring the health and safety of aliens, our frontline officers, immigration court professionals, and our citizens."



The move applies to around 25,000 asylum seekers, most of them fleeing poverty or persecution in Central American nations, who have been forced to stay in Mexico while their cases are under consideration.

The Supreme Court earlier this month allowed the policy to remain in place pending a legal challenge.

Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection in November, has made cracking down on illegal immigration one of the cornerstones of his presidency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Verizon is giving away 15GB of free data to its customers in light of the coronavirus crisis.

Verizon gives free data gift to customers in coronavirus crisis

From March 25 through April 30, wireless consumer and small business customers will see an additional 15GB of data added to their plan for no additional charge. New consumer and business customers can also take advantage of this additional data, the company says in a press release.

The 15GB of free 4G LTE is in addition to Verizon customers current plans and comes at no additional charge. Unlimited Plan customers will now have 37GB of 4G LTE versus 22GB under the standard unlimited plan. Unlimited data plans give 22GB of high speed data (standard), with the remaining unlimited data at 2G EDGE speeds.

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Prepaid customers will see the extra 15GB. Jetpack plans (standalone metered and unlimited) will as well. Wireless plans such as More Everything, Verizon Plan 1.0 and 2.0, Verizon Unlimited Plan, and the Mix & Match Unlimited Plans will net the free 15GB gift for customers. According to Verizons statement, the data is also eligible for hotspot, device connection, and smartphone activity.

Keep in mind that the free data will only last until April 30th. This gives users about a month to consume the free data before Verizon takes it back.

As to whether or not Verizon extends the free data gift throughout the remainder of the coronavirus crisis (however long it may be), no one knows but Verizon alone.

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15GB LTE gift surprising, in light of emergency spectrum

Verizons willingness to give users an additional 15GB of LTE is surprising, in light of the companys recent emergency spectrum application to the FCC.

The Big Red said that it needed more spectrum in light of the massive internet traffic congestion on its network. Now, it appears Big Red has spectrum to give away, even if its only temporary.

Apparently, the two carriers who are providing spectrum to Big Red have more than enough to go around. If Big Reds network is already busier than usual, giving an additional 15GB may just exacerbate the congestion problem.

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On the other hand, perhaps these two carriers donating temporary spectrum are being extremely generous with just how much theyre donating. Perhaps theres more than enough for Verizon to give a generous (though temporary) gift to customers.

The Big Red has also signed the Keep Americans Connected pledge, promising not to disconnect customers who are unable to pay their bills due to the coronavirus outbreak. Perhaps this is one of the ways Verizon is fulfilling its promise.

There are some wireless providers in the UK who seem to be doing fine. The EU, however, wants to prevent network congestion. To this end, Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime are all lowering video playback resolution. Facebook and Instagram are lowering video bitrate to ease internet traffic troubles.
Ventilators of Hamilton Medical AG at a plant in Domat/Ems, Switzerland, on March 18, 2020. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo)

Ford Joins Effort to Make Ventilators, Respirators Amid Pandemic

Ford Motor Co. announced March 24 that it would be joining other major U.S. manufacturers to produce thousands of ventilators and other equipment needed for critically ill patients, in response to President Donald Trumps call for companies to repurpose some of their production capacity to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weve been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs, Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett said, adding that the carmakers aim was to increase the supply of necessary medical equipment.

The rapid outbreak, which has killed thousands of people globally, has strained health care systems around the world and led to a shortage of ventilators needed to treat patients suffering from the flu-like illness, which can lead to breathing difficulties and pneumonia in severe cases.

An employee of Hamilton Medical AG tests a ventilator at a plant in Domat/Ems, Switzerland, on March 18, 2020. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo)

Earlier, Trump said that General Motors (GM), Tesla, and Ford were approved to produce ventilators to combat the surge of the CCP virus in the United States.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

In its drive to fill the gap in medical gear, Ford has joined forces with General Electrics (GE) health care division and 3M.

Ford and GE Healthcare will expand the production of GEs ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing caused by the pathogen, Ford said.

Separately, Ford will work with 3M to boost manufacturing capacity of its air-purifying respirators to meet a surge in demand for first responders and health care workers.

The company said it was exploring how it could produce these new respirators in one of its Michigan manufacturing plants and help boost 3Ms production tenfold. It would use fans from its Ford F-150 cooled seats to make parts of the respirators, the company said.

Were proud to work with @3M, @GEHealthcare and @UAW to lend our engineering and manufacturing expertise to quickly expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders and patients fighting #COVID19, Ford said on Twitter.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer thanked Ford in a statement for teaming up to build the equipment that we need to keep our health care workers safe and help save lives.

GM has partnered with medical equipment maker Ventecis and is building ventilators at its plant in Indiana.

Earlier, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote that his company would produce ventilators if there is a shortage, saying in a separate statement that plans for production were already underway at Tesla factories.

Were working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter.

Musk later said on Twitter on March 23 that he bought 1,255 FDA-approved medical ventilators from China and had the devices flown to Los Angeles.

Ventilators are a key item in the treatment of COVID-19.

A February report (pdf) from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security found that the United States has about 170,000 ventilators, with some 8,900 in a national reserve, and the remainder available for use in hospitals.

According to Johns Hopkins University on March 24, there were 51,542 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States, and 674 deaths.

Reuters contributed to this report.
(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @cnnbrk)

There are over 69 drugs that are effective to counter the effects of COVID-19, a team of researchers has confirmed this just last Sunday night.

Read More: Researchers Study Smart Ring Early COVID-19 Detection Capability After User Was Alerted To Possible Infection

There are already medications that are being used to treat other diseases that have been repurposed to treat COVID-19, which is the illness caused by the coronavirus, which now plagues our little green planet. Some experts say it may be faster than trying to invent a cure from scratch.

What Examples of Drugs Are Effective Against COVID-19?

Haloperidol is an antipsychotic drug that is used to treat people with schizophrenia and some cases of Tourette's syndrome. Chloroquine is one such drug; an antimalarial medicine has also been confirmed to have some positive effects on countering the spread of COVID-19 inside your body. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns that there was only "anecdotal evidence" that it might work.

The World Health Organization announced as well that they would begin trial on the Chloroquine, among other drugs to fight the virus.

Other drugs that help counter the virus would be some that you wouldn't even think about, like the Food and Drug Administration, approved drugs against cancer, Parkinson's disease, and hypertension.

Read More: Nurse Reusing and Sharing Face Masks Amid COVID-19 Epidemic: Piers Morgan Rants on Gov't During a Debate with Matt Hancock on Good Morning Britain

Why Are There Meds That Seem Unrelated Work Against COVID-19?

The researchers investigated around 26 of the coronavirus's 29 genes. They then found about 332 human proteins that the virus will target and continued from there. Some viral proteins seem to target just one human protein, while others are capable of targeting multiple proteins at once.

So the researchers looked for drugs that also latch to human proteins that the coronavirus targets as well where there they spread. This led to the team discovering about 24 drugs that are already approved by the FDA.

Some Patients Who Are High Risk Already Are In Clinical Trials

There are more drugs that may be considered in the list, and some patients are already undergoing their clinical trials, mainly drugs that kill bacteria by gumming up the cellular machinery that they use to build proteins. Some drugs also attach to human proteins, which a current study might lead to a possibility of treatment for antivirals.

If ever the research succeeds, it will most definitely be a scientific achievement. Imagine, an antiviral created after only a few months a virus that no one knew existed until late December.

No Proven Drugs To Kill the Virus...Yet

As of date, the drugs that are listed are effective but not to the point that it eliminates the virus completely. The best thing you can do when you get sick and get the virus is to go to the hospital and get medical treatment. Proper supportive care that entails you getting enough oxygen, managing fever, and sometimes using a ventilator to push air into the lungs when you can't do it yourself anymore or have difficulty in doing so. This gives your immune system a chance to fight the virus within.

Nevan Krogaan, a biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who is not leading a new study warned people that there are many side effects to each drug, especially Chloroquine.

"You need to be careful," he said. "We need more data at every level."

Read More: Experiencing a Sniffle, Jet Lag and Heavy Legs? You Might Have Coronavirus Without You Knowing It!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
No matter how you look at the numbers, one country stands out from the rest: South Korea.

In late February and early March, the number of new coronavirus infections in the country exploded from a few dozen, to a few hundred, to several thousand.

At the peak, medical workers identified 909 new cases in a single day, Feb. 29, and the country of 50 million people appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. But less than a week later, the number of new cases halved. Within four days, it halved again  and again the next day.

On Sunday, South Korea reported only 64 new cases, the fewest in nearly a month, even as infections in other countries continue to soar by the thousands daily, devastating health care systems and economies. Italy records several hundred deaths daily; South Korea has not had more than eight in a day.

South Korea is one of only two countries with large outbreaks, alongside China, to flatten the curve of new infections. And it has done so without Chinas draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the U.S.

As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.

Yet other hard-hit nations did not follow South Koreas lead. Some have began to show interest in emulating its methods  but only after the epidemic had accelerated to the point that they may not be able to control it any time soon.

President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden have both called South Koreas president, Moon Jae-in, to request details on the countrys measures, according to Moons office.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has hailed South Korea as demonstrating that containing the virus, while difficult, can be done. He urged countries to apply the lessons learned in Korea and elsewhere.

South Korean officials caution that their successes are tentative. A risk of resurgence remains, particularly as epidemics continue raging beyond the countrys borders.

Still, Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has repeatedly raised South Korea as a model, writing on Twitter, South Korea is showing COVID-19 can be beat with smart, aggressive public health.

Lesson 1: Intervene Fast, Before Its a Crisis

Just one week after the countrys first case was diagnosed in late January, government officials met with representatives from several medical companies. They urged the companies to begin immediately developing coronavirus test kits for mass production, promising emergency approval.

Within two weeks, though South Koreas confirmed cases remained in the double digits, thousands of test kits were shipping daily. The country now produces 100,000 kits per day, and officials say they are in talks with 17 foreign governments about exporting them.

Officials also swiftly imposed emergency measures in Daegu, a city of 2.5 million where contagion spread fast through a local church.

South Korea could deal with this without limiting the movement of people because we knew the main source of infection, the church congregation, pretty early on, said Ki Mo-ran, an epidemiologist advising the governments coronavirus response. If we learned about it later than we did, things could have been far worse.

South Koreans, unlike Europeans and Americans, were also primed to treat the coronavirus as a national emergency, after a 2015 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome in the country killed 38.

The coronavirus is thought to have a five-day incubation period, often followed by a period of mild symptoms that could be mistaken for a cold, when the virus is highly communicable. This pattern creates a lag of a week or two before an outbreak becomes apparent. What looks like a handful of cases can be hundreds; what looks like hundreds can be thousands.

Such characteristics of the virus render the traditional response, which emphasizes lockdown and isolation, ineffective, said Kim Gang-lip, South Koreas vice health minister. Once it arrives, the old way is not effective in stopping the disease from spreading.

Lesson 2: Test Early, Often and Safely

South Korea has tested far more people for the coronavirus than any other country, enabling it to isolate and treat many people soon after they are infected.

The country has conducted over 300,000 tests, for a per capita rate more than 40 times that of the U.S.

Testing is central because that leads to early detection, it minimizes further spread and it quickly treats those found with the virus, Kang Kyung-wha, South Koreas foreign minister, told the BBC, calling the tests the key behind our very low fatality rate as well.

Though South Korea is sometimes portrayed as having averted an epidemic, thousands of people were infected and the government was initially accused of complacency. Its approach to testing was designed to turn back an outbreak already underway.

To spare hospitals and clinics from being overwhelmed, officials opened 600 testing centers designed to screen as many people as possible, as quickly as possible  and keep health workers safe by minimizing contact.

At 50 drive-thru stations, patients are tested without leaving their cars. They are given a questionnaire, a remote temperature scan and a throat swab. The process takes about 10 minutes. Test results are usually back within hours.

At some walk-in centers, patients enter a chamber resembling a transparent phone booth. Health workers administer throat swabs using thick rubber gloves built into the chambers walls.

Relentless public messaging urges South Koreans to seek testing if they or someone they know develop symptoms. Visitors from abroad are required to download a smartphone app that guides them through self-checks for symptoms.

Offices, hotels and other large buildings often use thermal image cameras to identify people with fevers. Many restaurants check customers temperatures before accepting them.

Lesson 3: Contact Tracing, Isolation and Surveillance

When someone tests positive, health workers retrace the patients recent movements to find, test  and, if necessary, isolate  anyone the person may have had contact with, a process known as contact tracing.

This allows health workers to identify networks of possible transmission early, carving the virus out of society like a surgeon removing a cancer.

South Korea developed tools and practices for aggressive contact tracing during the MERS outbreak. Health officials would retrace patients movements using security camera footage, credit card records, even GPS data from their cars and cellphones.

We did our epidemiological investigations like police detectives, Ki said. Later, we had laws revised to prioritize social security over individual privacy at times of infectious disease crises.

As the coronavirus outbreak grew too big to track patients so intensively, officials relied more on mass messaging.

South Koreans cellphones vibrate with emergency alerts whenever new cases are discovered in their districts. Websites and smartphone apps detail hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-by-minute, timelines of infected peoples travel  which buses they took, when and where they got on and off, even whether they were wearing masks.

People who believe they may have crossed paths with a patient are urged to report to testing centers.

South Koreans have broadly accepted the loss of privacy as a necessary trade-off.

People ordered into self-quarantine must download another app, which alerts officials if a patient ventures out of isolation. Fines for violations can reach $2,500.

By identifying and treating infections early, and segregating mild cases to special centers, South Korea has kept hospitals clear for the most serious patients. Its case fatality rate is just over 1%, among the lowest in the world.

Lesson 4: Enlist The Publics Help

There arent enough health workers or body-temperature scanners to track everybody, so everyday people must pitch in.

Leaders concluded that subduing the outbreak required keeping citizens fully informed and asking for their cooperation, said Kim, the vice health minister.

Television broadcasts, subway station announcements and smartphone alerts provide endless reminders to wear face masks, pointers on social distancing and the days transmission data.

The messaging instills a near-wartime sense of common purpose. Polls show majority approval for the governments efforts, with confidence high, panic low and scant hoarding.

This public trust has resulted in a very high level of civic awareness and voluntary cooperation that strengthens our collective effort, Lee Tae-ho, the vice minister of foreign affairs, told reporters earlier this month.

Officials also credit the countrys nationalized health care system, which guarantees most care, and special rules covering coronavirus-related costs, as giving even people with no symptoms greater incentive to get tested.

Is The Korean Model Transferable?

For all the attention to South Koreas successes, its methods and containment tools are not prohibitively complex or expensive.

Some of the technology the country has used is as simple as specialized rubber gloves and cotton swabs. Of the seven countries with worse outbreaks than South Koreas, five are richer.

Experts cite three major hurdles to following South Koreas lead, none related to cost or technology.

One is political will. Many governments have hesitated to impose onerous measures in the absence of a crisis-level outbreak.

Another is public will. Social trust is higher in South Korea than in many other countries, particularly Western democracies beset by polarization and populist backlash.

But time poses the greatest challenge. It may be too late, Ki said, for countries deep into epidemics to control outbreaks as quickly or efficiently as South Korea has.

China turned back the catastrophic first outbreak in Hubei, a province larger than most European countries, though at the cost of shutting down its economy.

South Koreas methods could help the U.S., though we probably lost the chance to have an outcome like South Korea, Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, wrote on Twitter. We must do everything to avert the tragic suffering being borne by Italy.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Video conference of senior health professionals from SAARC countries was postponed in the wake of coronavirus, a news agency reported. The conference was scheduled for earlier will now take place on March 26 wherein the experts will exchange their experiences in combating COVID-19 too far.

'Practical joint action'

Along with current developments on tracking the virus, which includes screening at entry points, contact tracing and quarantine facilities, the experts were also supposed to discuss a practical joint action on "online training capsules for emergency response teams", setting up of an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal, creation of a Common Research Platform and coordination of research on controlling epidemics within the South Asian region, a news agency reported citing MEA.

Following an initiative by PM Narendra Modi, a video conference of SAARC leaders was held on March 15. In the conference, the leaders of all member countries shared their experiences of dealing with the virus along with problems they were facing and called for solidarity in the region.

SAARC Nations make generous contributions

India's pledge to battle corona was a contribution made voluntarily and was not an obligation. However, other member countries have followed India's footsteps and loosened their purse strings. Latest to have announced funding is Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has announced USD 1.5 million to get a note of appreciation from PM Modi. "Our cooperation will go a long way in fighting this disease effectively'' tweeted the Indian Prime Minister. He also thanked the Afghan government for their contribution.

Read: SAARC Disaster Management Centre Launches Website To Share Info On Coronavirus

Read: Will Soon Announce Our Contribution To SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund: Lanka

Countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives have already announced their contributions to the SAARC Corona Fund. However, Pakistan has not pledged any fund for the same. In fact, during the SAARC leaders' video conference meet, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was missing. He was represented by his special adviser Zafar Mirza.

Image Credits: PTI

Read: SAARC Nations Join Hands To Combat COVID-19 Threat; Pledge Generous Contributions

Read: PM Modi Thanks SAARC Leaders For Their Contribution Towards COVID-19 Emergency Fund
Roughly two weeks ago, just when the whole world is feeling the health crisis brought by the deadly novel coronavirus, the news broke that one of Hollywood's legendary actors has tested positive from the disease officially called COVID-19.

On March 11, Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks confirmed that he and his wife -- both 63-years-old -- got infected with coronavirus while in Australia. The couple is in the Land Down Under for the pre-preduction of Hanks' upcoming Elvis Presley biopic movie, while Rita Wilson performed at the Sydney Opera House to promote her album "Halfway To Home."

In an Instagram post, the "Cast Away" actor revealed that he and his wife Rita acquired the virus after showing symptoms of fever, colds, fatigue, and body pains. Since then, the couple has been utilizing their social media accounts to give updates about their health status and, of course, spread positivity despite their condition.

Tom And Rita Latest Health Update

On March 23, Tom once again took to Twitter to give a major update on the status of their health after being on self-quarantine for almost two weeks.

The actor confirmed the good news that he and Rita are showing signs of improvement.

"Hey, folks. Two weeks after our first symptoms, and we feel better," Tom wrote.

"Sheltering in place works like this: You don't give it to anyone - you don't get it from anyone. Common sense, no?" he added.

But instead of giving a detailed update on their health status, the award-winning actor grabs the opportunity to tell encourage people to stay home and take quarantine and isolation seriously.

"Going to take a while, but if we take care of each other, help where we can, and give up some comforts...this, too, shall pass. We can figure this out," Tom concluded before signing out with his surname, "Hanx."

Tom Hanks' Health Scare

Tom's good news came a few days after his Italy-based sister, Sandra Hanks-Benoiton, told the Daily Mail that his brother is doing great but still not in full robust condition.

According to reports, Tom's condition might get worse due to his Type 2 diabetes. As per Health.com, patients with diabetes have a higher risk of getting complications after being infected with the novel coronavirus. It is because the virus multiplies on higher blood glucose levels

On Tuesday, Tom told his 8.5 million Instagram followers that although his fever already went away, he is still feeling the same symptoms a week after testing positive.

"Folding the laundry and doing the dishes leads to a nap on the couch," the actor wrote alongside a photo of a Smith-Corona manual typewriter.

"But I have learned not to spread my Vegemite so thick. I traveled here with a typewriter, one I used to love," he added.

Despite his condition, the actor managed to stay positive and told his followers, "We're all in this together," and encouraged them to follow protocols to "flatten the curve."
BJP legislator from Saundatti



Anand Mamani was elected unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

As the House met, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri announced that the process of election of deputy speaker be initiated following which Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa proposed the name of Anandalias VishwanathChandrashekhar Mamani.

Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol seconded the proposal.

After following due process, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri announced that Mamani has been elected unanimously.

Congress members were not present in the House as the party had boycotted the session accusing government of not heeding to the opposition's views and was tabling and passing the bills, despite its reservation.

Mamani who is third time MLA from Saundatti is the 24th Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

His father late Chandrashekar Mallikarjun Mamani had also served as the Deputy Speaker from 1996-99.

After assuming charge as Deputy Speaker, Mamani said he will work under the guidance of the speaker, and thanked Yediyurappa and members of the House.

"I'm only three times MLA, I need cooperation from everyone," he said.

On March 17, JD(S) legislator M Krishna Reddy quit the post of Deputy Speaker as the ruling BJP prepared to move a no-confidence motion against him.

Reddy was elected as Deputy Speaker on July 6, 2018 during the tenure of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.

The coalition government collapsed in July last year due to internal differences and paved the way for the BJP to come to power under the leadership of Yediyurappa.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
P olice are trying to track down four men following a suspected racially-aggravated assault in a west London pub.

Metropolitan Police investigating the assault released four images of men they want the public's help to identify.

A barman was attacked at a pub in Portobello Road in Notting Hill on Saturday, February 15.

The victim, aged in his 20s, reported being racially abused and then assaulted. His attackers also stole an item of jewellery from him at around 11.30pm that evening.

Police are appealing for the public's help in identifying four men. / PA

The first man police want to speak to is described as white, aged in his mid to late 30s with shoulder length, dark hair, while the second man is white, in his mid to late 30s with short hair.

Police said the third man is white, aged in his early 30s, of muscular build with short hair and was described as having a tattoo on his right arm above the elbow.

The fourth man is described as white, aged in his early 30s, and had dark hair.

The men are believed to be in their early 30s. / PA

A police spokesman said no arrests have been made at this time.
We have to be mindful. The situation is like catching a falling knife as the current measures are extremely damaging to the global economy. Forecasting at this moment is difficult due to the huge amount of uncertainty.

It feels like shooting at a moving target with a blindfold on. Nevertheless, we have some figures to hold on to as a number of weeks ago we started a scenario analysis. In this scenario analysis, we tried to replicate how the virus is affecting different parts of the global economy. We have made assumptions on, e.g., exchange rate movements, lockdowns in countries (via ...
Myanmar has officially designated an armed ethnic rebel group known as the Arakan Army a terrorist organization.

The declaration, published in official notices in Tuesday's newspapers, came after more than a year of bitter fighting between government forces and the guerrilla group, which represents the Buddhist Rakhine inhabitants of Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

It is one of more than a dozen ethnic minorities in Myanmar seeking autonomy.

The notice says the Arakan Army and an affiliated organization, the United League of Arakan, "have caused serious losses of public security, lives and property, important infrastructures of the public and private sector, state-owned buildings, vehicles, equipment and materials."



The Arakan Army says it is seeking self-determination. It has engaged in increasingly fierce combat with government forces since late 2018. It has formed alliances with several other armed ethnic rebel groups which have helped it keep the government off balance by staging joint attacks in other areas of the country.

In a statement, the group said the government declaration "indicates that the Myanmar colonial rulers do not have a policy to solve political problems with other non-Burmans by equitable and peaceful means. But it indicates (the intention) for a solution by force." Burmans are the majority ethnic group in Myanmar and dominate the government and military.

Since getting independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar has been wracked by fighting with minority groups in border areas seeking greater autonomy from the central government.

In the past three decades, the government has reached various cease-fire arrangements with many groups, but it is striving for a comprehensive, more permanent political situation. Most of the groups have so far rejected the government's attempts at a settlement, and combat is ongoing in northern and western areas of the country.

Rakhine state is best known for a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military against the Muslim Rohingya minority which caused more than 700,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The much less organized and poorly armed Rohingya insurgents have been largely inactive since 2017.

An official designation as a terrorist group allows it to be termed illegal. A separate government notice on Tuesday declared the Arakan Army and its affiliate to be unlawful organizations, which criminalizes contact with them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who hid from the Nazis in a basement in Hungary as a boy and later served as an Israeli diplomat is the first person in Israel to die from the coronavirus.

Arie Even died on March 20 in Jerusalem after the assisted living home where he was living saw several cases of the coronavirus, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Holocaust survivor Arie Even, 88, became Israel's first person to die from the coronavirus. (Courtesy of Family via Haaretz)

The father of four and grandfather of 18 was born in Budapest, where his family fled Nazi persecution by escaping in a horse-drawn carriage and hiding in a basement during the Holocaust, his children told the Los Angeles Times.

He moved from Hungary to Israel by himself at 17 in 1949 and later worked overseas in multiple countries with his wife of 50 years, Yona, for Israel's Foreign Ministry, according to multiple reports. Yona died in 2012.

"He believed profoundly in equality, in civil rights," his daugher Yael, 57, told the Los Angeles Times. He believed that this land belonged to all of its citizens.

A funeral was held for Even on Saturday night in which only one of his children, Omri, was able to attend because of quarantine measures taken by the Israeli government that prevented the rest of the family from gathering.

"My siblings and I will memorialize our father in a way that is meaningful to us, but the thing is, there is a pandemic," his son, Yaakov, 62, told the Los Angeles Times. "Thats the problem. We dont want to get it. It is bad enough that he got it."

As of Monday morning, there are more than 350,000 cases of the coronavirus worldwide, including more than 1,200 in Israel, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Edwards said that because the school is closed due to the COVID-19 virus, the district will be sending out an appointment sign-up for students who are in need of emotional support in the wake of Williamss death. Members of the crisis team will then reach out directly to students via phone.
Three people tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday with all having history of foreign travel, as the COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 15, the government said.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar said two of them were women while the third person was a 74 year-old man.

"All 3 travelled abroad.74 Y M return from USA at #Stanley (hospital),52 Y F return from USA at #Stanley,25 Y F return from Swiss (Switzerland)at #KMC," he said in a tweet.

All three patients were in isolation and stable, he said, adding, they were residents of different localities in the city.

With these three new cases, the total number of positive cases of the virus in Tamil Nadu has reached 15, including a 45 year-old man who was earlier discharged following treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The reality of Boris Johnson's coronavirus lockdown started to become clear today as boyfriends and girlfriends who do not live together were told not to visit each other's homes.

The Prime Minister last night urged the nation to stay at home and said people should only leave for food, medicine, exercise or work if 'absolutely necessary'.

He also announced a ban on all social gatherings of more than two people in a desperate attempt to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

The practical ramifications of the measures are now starting to sink in with Number 10 today telling people who are dating that they should not visit their partner's house.

Deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries suggested couples needed to either decide to live together or to remain apart during the crisis as she said that 'what we do not want is people switching in and out of households'.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was more blunt as he told couples: 'Make a choice and stick with it.'

Meanwhile, the government has confirmed police will be able to impose fines of 30 on anyone who does not comply with the ban on groups.

And minsters are warning they will increase those fines 'significantly' if people ignore what they have been told.

The government also today said that only small numbers of people can attend funerals, clarifying official advice issued last night which said 'immediate family' could attend.

Boris Johnson last night put the UK into a state of lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus

You can't see your boyfriend or girlfriend, but do still have to go to work, says Number 10 The government today advised boyfriends and girlfriends who do not live together not to visit each other but advised workers to carry on working. Downing Street said lockdown guidance was clear that people should only leave their homes for food, medicine, exercise or to go to work if 'absolutely necessary'. No10 said that made it clear that couples who do not live together should not be going to each other's house. However, the government remains adamant that people should continue to go to work if they cannot work from home. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that 'where people absolutely cannot work from home, they can still go to work, indeed it's important that they do to keep the country running'. Advertisement

The lockdown imposed on the UK by the PM represents the most sweeping restriction of social freedoms ever in peacetime.

But what the new rules actually mean for people in terms of how they live their lives is still becoming apparent.

The guidance issued by the government said people should only leave their homes to shop for basic necessities, for one form of exercise a day, for any medical need or for work if 'absolutely necessary'.

It did not mention any exemption for people who are in a relationship but who do not live together.

Downing Street today said the guidance was 'clear' and the 'rules should be applied to all scenarios' in a clear statement that people should not be visiting partners.

Asked to clarify the situation, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'I think the rules are clear. You should look at those, they are an instruction from the government given for a very specific reason which is to save lives.

'People should follow the rules and do so in a common sense way.'

The spokesman said the guidance stated that when people leave their homes they should either do so alone or 'with members of your own household or if it is for work reasons'.

Dr Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, said people in a relationship effectively needed to decide whether to live together or not and then stick to it.

Speaking at the government's daily coronavirus press conference in 10 Downing Street, she said: 'If you are two individuals, two halves of the couple, currently in separate households, ideally they should stay in those households.

The alternative might be that for quite a significant period going forward they should just test the strength of their relationship and decide whether one wishes to be permanently resident in another household in which case all of the decisions about exercising, if you are in you should be on your own or within your household, unit would apply.

Weddings left in limbo after government bans them during lockdown Engaged couples across the UK were today having to decide whether to cancel their weddings or to try to go ahead with them amid coronavirus uncertainty. The government last night announced weddings are banned during the lockdown period which is due to be reviewed after three weeks. The lack of a firm end date for the lockdown means many couples do not know if their ceremonies planned for later in the year will be able to proceed. That means many are having to make potentially costly decisions to cancel now while others are choosing to gamble. Advertisement

What we do not want is people switching in and out of households. It defeats the purpose of the reduction in social interactions and will allow transmission of disease.

So perhaps test really carefully your strength of feeling, stay with the household either together or apart but keep it that way while we go forward because otherwise we will not all be working towards achieving our outcome.'

The government has vowed to stop all gatherings of more than two people in public. Anyone in a group of more than two people will now face a fine of 30 if they are spotted by the police.

The new fining powers will be in place by Thursday at the latest with Downing Street today insistent the 30 figure will be increased if people do not comply.

Meanwhile, anyone who refuses to pay the fine could be forced to appear in court.

Government under growing pressure over construction decision The government has defended allowing construction work to continue despite the coronavirus lockdown. Builders and construction workers have said they feel 'angry and unprotected' going to work following the introduction of the stricter anti-Covid-19 measures. But Downing Street said construction work should continue if it can be done following Public Health England and industry guidance. Workers have been told to stay at least two metres from each other. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'It should continue where it can happen in a way that follows Public Health England and industry guidance. ' Advertisement

The PM's official spokesman said: 'It will be a fixed penalty notice, it will initially start at 30 but we will keep this under review and can increase it significantly if it is necessary to ensure public compliance.'

He added: 'Failure to pay the notice could be subject to criminal proceedings and a summary conviction.'

On the issue of funerals, the government's guidance said only 'immediate family' should attend.

Asked to clarify exactly what that meant, the PM's spokesman said: 'I think we would expect families to exercise their own discretion in relation to the issue of funerals.

'They will be best placed to judge what constitutes the people who were closest to the deceased and who they would view as immediate family.'

However, the spokesman insisted funerals must only be attended by small numbers of people.

Mr Johnson said last week that the UK's lockdown measures will be reviewed after three weeks.
'We want to stock up': South Africans prepare for 21 days at home

Cans, milk cartons and soap bars were piled high under red "hyper saving" signs at a South African supermarket chain in Johannesburg as shoppers filled trolleys.

The country is preparing for a 21-day lockdown to combat the deadly coronavirus, which has infected more than 500 people across country since it was first detected earlier this month.

When the clock strikes midnight on Thursday, South Africans will join more than 2.5 billion other people in confinement as the world struggles to restrain the pandemic.

Read more...

Stocking up: South Africans have rushed to buy long-life food and milk, snacks and toilet paper ahead of a three-week lockdown. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP)

Morocco to roll out antimalarials against coronavirus

Morocco has authorised hospitals to use antimalarial drugs in treating the new coronavirus, according to a document seen by AFP, as scientists urge caution over encouraging results from small trials.

The Moroccan health ministry on Monday gave hospitals and regional health directors the green light to start using hydroxychloroquine and related compound chloroquine "in the care of confirmed COVID-19 cases".

In a message seen by AFP, it said that "efforts have been made to ensure the availability of these medicines", urging caution in how the stocks are managed.

Read more...

Health ministry workers (pictured March 22, 2020) disinfect the streets of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, where the government has approved the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus. By FADEL SENNA (AFP/File)

Greta Thunberg believes she had coronavirus

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has said it was extremely likely that she fell ill with coronavirus but has now recovered.

The 17-year-old said she felt tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed after returning from a trip in Europe, so self-isolated for two weeks.

Everyone feeling ill are told to stay at home and isolate themselves. I have therefore not been tested for Covid-19, but its extremely likely that Ive had it, given the combined symptoms and circumstances," she wrote on Instagram.

She warned people to stay at home because our actions can be the difference between life and death for others.

France death toll passes 1,000

By BBC News

The death toll in France from the coronavirus has jumped by 240 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,100. That's its biggest daily rise yet.

There were 2,444 new confirmed cases in the same period, bringing the total number in the country to at least 22,300, Frances health ministry said.

The death toll is likely to be higher, as those confirmed so far have only been people who died in hospital, French media reports say.

Like most other European countries, France has implemented Draconian restrictions on life to prevent the virus from spreading.

The country was put into lockdown on 17 March, requiring people to stay indoors stay except for essential trips for an initial 15-day period.

But on Tuesday, Frances scientific council advised the government to extend the lockdown, saying it should last at least six weeks to suppress the virus more effectively.

Health minister Olivier Veran said the lockdown will last as long as it needs to.

France has been in lockdown since 17 March - Getty Images

US man dies after taking a form of chloroquine

A US man has died and his wife is in critical condition after taking a form of a drug that has been touted by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus.

The couple took chloroquine phosphate - a form of chloroquine used to clean fish tanks - in an apparent effort to guard against Covid-19.

Chloroquine itself is one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs, but the US Food and Drugs Administration has made it clear it has not been approved for treating those infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The couple - both in their 60s - fell ill within 30 minutes of taking the substance, said Arizona-based hospital system Banner Health.

Read our full story on this case here.

Nigeria also reported cases of chloroquine poisoning that had officials there issuing their own warning:

Food For All Covid-19 Community Emergency Intervention Program Launched

Food for All Africa on Sunday 22nd March launched its Community Emergency Preparedness and Response initiative in Ghana.

Food4All COVID-19 Community Emergency Intervention program is an intervention initiative by Food for All Africa in partnership with Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, Ghana Food Movement and with support from the Global Food Banking Network to ensure continuous food mobilization and support to vulnerable beneficiaries who are adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across Ghana.

A communique signed by the Executive Director, Mr. Elijah Addo explained, the initiative is to complement and ensure sustainability for the regular food recovery and redistribution process of Food for All Africa, as the biggest and the only food banking organization in Ghana. The initiative would be implemented in two parts and would run from 22nd March till 15th June.

Read more...

Coronavirus Response: DPS International Introduces Online Classes

Tema-based Delhi Public School (DPS) International has introduced online classes for its students.

The move is in response to President Nana Akufo-Addos directive that all schools should remain closed due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Ghana.

All public gatherings including church services, schools, among others, were banned by the President in his second update to the nation on the enhanced measures his administration was undertaking to contain the spread of coronavirus in Ghana.

Read more...

Coronavirus Pandemic: School Closures Include Private Schools As Well--Education Minister Warns

The Minister of Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, says closure of schools remains total for both private and public schools in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic.

According to him, no head of any should dare to open school for any reason.

Any head who opens school does so at his own risk, he said.

Read more...

Africa: Ethiopian Prime Minister distributes Jack Ma and Alibaba Group contributions towards coronavirus testing and response

By Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)





ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 24, 2020/ -- PM Abiy Ahmed Ali in collaboration with the AfricaCDC start distributing JackMa and AlibabaGroup contributions 2 enhance countries' capacities for testing and responce in all African MS. Uganda, Sudan South, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya and Djibouti have received their supplies today

Cameroon : First death from COVID-19 in Cameroon

By Ministere de la Sante Publique du Cameroun





YAOUNDE, Cameroon, March 24, 2020/ -- Unfortunately, we have just recorded our first death from COVID-19 in Cameroon. This is patient 3 who came to us from Italy already very affected by the disease. Sincere condolences to his family and courage to our health professionals.

Coronavirus in Africa: 43 Countries with positive cases 2,046 (24 March 2020  10:00 am EAT)

Countries (13) with deaths (58): Algeria (17), Burkina Faso (4), DRC (2), Egypt (19), Gabon (1), Gambia (1), Ghana (2), Mauritius (2), Morocco (4), Nigeria (1), Sudan (1), Tunisia (3), Zimbabwe (1)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 24, 2020/ -- Countries (43) and with positive cases (2,046): Algeria (230), Angola (2), Benin (5), Burkina Faso (114), Cameroon (56), Cape Verde (3), Central African Republic (4), Chad (3), Congo (4), Cote d'Ivoire (25), Djibouti (3), DRC (45), Egypt (366), Equatorial Guinea (9), Eritrea (1), Eswatini (5), Ethiopia (12), Gabon (6), Gambia (2), Ghana (27), Guinea (4), Kenya (25), Liberia (3), Madagascar (17), Mauritius (36), Mauritania (2), Morocco (143), Mozambique (1), Namibia (4), Niger (2), Nigeria (42), Rwanda (36), Senegal (86), Seychelles (7), Somalia (1), South Africa (554), Sudan (3), Tanzania (12), Togo (18), Tunisia (114), Uganda (9), Zambia (3), Zimbabwe (2).

Countries (13) with deaths (58): Algeria (17), Burkina Faso (4), DRC (2), Egypt (19), Gabon (1), Gambia (1), Ghana (2), Mauritius (2), Morocco (4), Nigeria (1), Sudan (1), Tunisia (3), Zimbabwe (1)

Countries (14) with recoveries (189): Algeria (77), Burkina Faso (5), Cameroon (2), Cote dIvoire (2), DRC (1), Egypt (68), Ethiopia (4), Ghana (1), Morocco (5), Nigeria (2), Senegal (8), South Africa (12), Togo (1), Tunisia (1)

China: Former coronavirus epicentre around Wuhan returning to business-as-usual

The authorities in China have announced an end to travel curbs in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the provincial capital, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. This, as governments around the world continue to tighten lockdowns affecting 1.7 billion people in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

Hubei province, in central China, where the Covid-19 coronavirus emerged late last year, will allow healthy residents to leave the province from midnight, officials said, two months after they were ordered to stay indoors.

"We are celebrating today," a local doctor told the French news agency, AFP.

Read more...

AFP

WHO behind race to find effective treatments for Covid-19

A large international trial to speed up research on coronavirus treatments, launched by the World Health Organisation, is underway. SOLIDARITY trial is an unprecedented, coordinated effort to collect solid scientific data rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SOLIDARITY trial aims to generate data that can be used to determine which treatments are most effective against coronavirus.

Scientists need to know if the drug used reduces mortality and time spent in the hospital, and if any patients receiving the drug required ventilation or admission to an intensive care unit.

Read more...

Getty

Spain death toll raises more than 500 with infections close to 40.000

Another 514 people have died in Spain over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 2,696 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic while the number of infections surged towards 40,000.

Health authorities increased the number of tests, and as a result the number of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 rose by nearly 20 percent to 39,673, the health ministry said.

At the same time, the death toll showed an increase of 23.5 percent over the figures from Monday.

Read more...

AFP

African Finance Ministers Call For $100bn Stimulus, Debt Holiday

African finance ministers have called for a $100 billion stimulus package, including a suspension of debt service payments, to help the continent combat deadly coronavirus.

Some $44 billion would come from not servicing debt and they would also tap existing facilities in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank (AfDB) and other regional institutions.

Read more...

Ken Ofori-Atta  Ghana's Finance Minister

US could become next global epicentre, WHO warns

By BBC News

The World Health Organization has warned the US has the potential to become the global epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking in Geneva, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said there had been a "very large acceleration" in cases in the country.

"We cannot say that is the case yet but it does have that potential" to become the next Covid-19 hotspot, she told reporters, according to Reuters.

So far, there have been more than 46,000 cases in the US and 593 deaths, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University.

Europe is currently at the centre of the crisis, with Italy reporting more deaths than any other country.

A map shows coronavirus cases in Europe - Copyright: BBC

First death reported in Saudi Arabia

By BBC News

Saudi Arabia has confirmed its first death from Covid-19. The victim was a 51-year-old man from Afghanistan, the health ministry says.

The kingdom has the highest rate of infections in the Gulf, second to Iran, with 205 new cases reported on Tuesday, bringing the total to 767.

It has imposed tough restrictions, including an overnight curfew for the next three weeks, to try to slow the spread of the disease.

Other measures include shutting public venues, including places of worship - apart from the grand mosques of Mecca and Medina, where restrictions are in place. All public transport has also been suspended.

Saudi Arabia has banned foreign pilgrims from visiting the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in Mecca

Trump seeks help from South Korea

By Laura Bicker BBC News

US President Donald Trump has asked South Korea for medical supplies to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to the presidential office in Seoul.

Mr Trump made the requested in a phone call to the South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

South Korea has been widely praised for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak which has involved aggressive use of technology, widespread testing and contact tracing.

Its not yet clear what kind of medical devices are being requested by Mr Trump. President Moon said his government would provide maximum support if enough supplies were available.

The presidential office in Seoul said the equipment may require approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which Mr Trump claimed would be given by the end of today.

India lockdown for 21 days

India, the world's second most populous country, will introduce a lockdown from midnight for 21 days.

"There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address.

There have been 482 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nine deaths in India so far.

Use Locally-Made Hand Sanitizers  Ghanaians Told

Ghanaians have been encouraged to patronise locally-made hand sanitizers and other detergents to protect themselves from the spread of Coronavirus.

Mr Issiah Adams Mensah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hour of Rush Enterprise, manufactures of hand sanitizers, who made the call, said hand sanitizers made with local ingredients were of high quality and cost effective.

Read more...
[March 24, 2020] KareXpert Announces Free Telemedicine Digital Platform for Doctors to Fight Against Coronavirus

GURUGRAM, India, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KareXpert, a Reliance Jio funded company, has announced to provide free access to its Cloud-based and Mobile based ready-to-use Telemedicine digital platform. Hospitals, Clinics, and individual Doctors can start their Telemedicine practice after completing a signup form and KareXpert executives will help you to start your services instantly. India is still on stage 2 of the coronavirus spread. The World Health Organisation has said to prevent an exponential increase in coronavirus cases, countries must take immediate steps. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on 19 March 2020 also emphasized avoiding unnecessary visits to hospitals/clinics and leverage technology to connect with doctors. Telemedicine solutions have seen an exponential surge in usage during this time, where both doctors and patients can see extreme benefits during this Coronavirus pandemic. With remote consultations, patients do not require traveling through potentially Covid-19 contagious environments such as public transport, public places or being in close proximity to other infected patients, on their way to clinics ad hospitals. Doctors are already using KareXpert Telemedicine technology to do the consultation, follow-up as well as home care.



The advanced KareXpert technology will enable patient EMR/EHR records to be shared with doctors. Doctors can send e-prescription to patients and perform audio/video consultation. The whole set-up of Telemedicine services can be enabled instantly without any assistance from the IT staff. Further Wireless Medical IoT devices such as ECG, Spo2, Pulse oximeter, Temperature, Blood pressure, and Glucometer are also available as optional advanced services. The hospitals/clinics/doctors define their own free or paid teleconsultation charges and consultation hours. Further, they can provide details about their medical specialty, medical qualifications, and experiences so that patients can discover them quickly. Before starting the teleconsultation, patients will make online payments via Paytm, credit card, debit card or net banking. All payments collected from the patient will be credited directly to the provider account. KareXpert will not charge any telemedicine platform usage fee to the providers as a social giveback during this period.

"Healthcare professionals will get free access to KareXpert Technology until the threat of coronavirus subsides," said Nidhi Jain, Founder, and CEO, KareXpert. To sign-up, visit the KareXpert website About KareXpert Telemedicine: KareXpert Telemedicine, a cloud-first and mobile-first digital solution help in expanding value-based healthcare to remote patients. A disruptive and cost-effective platform that comes with an integrated Patient EMR/EHR, cloud-connected Medical IoT devices (ECG, Spo2, BP, Temperature, Pulse oximeter, Blood Sugar) for the machine to machine real-time information sharing with the remote doctor, and enabled with E-Prescription for the doctor to send the prescription in the same session. KareXpert Telemedicine gives healthcare organizations the flexibility to deliver high-quality care to their patients anytime, anywhere.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1094951/KareXpert_Logo.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137003/Free_Telemedicine_Platform.jpg

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Pinkbox Delivery to First Responders

Since Pinkbox Doughnuts announced last week that the company would be sending daily doughnut deliveries to local health care providers, fire departments and police area commands, the company has delivered more than 300 dozen free doughnuts. Plus, in response to numerous requests for Pinkbox to expand deliveries, the local doughnut shop is now sending doughnuts to corrections officers and paramedics, as well.

We are hearing stories first-hand from the men and women in the field going above and beyond the call of duty to help keep our community safe from the spread of COVID-19 and we want to do all we can to support each and every one of them, said Judith Siegel, owner of Pinkbox. We have received an overwhelming response with requests for doughnuts and we are working to add deliveries for each and every one, while also taking extra safety precautions for our drivers and other employees.

Pinkbox is sending free doughnuts to Valley Health System hospitals, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department area commands, Clark County Fire Department stations, all Henderson and North Las Vegas police and fire stations, major hospitals throughout the Las Vegas Valley and Share Village, formerly Veterans Village.

Pinkbox will be open 24 hours a day, every day of the week for the Las Vegas community throughout the states 30-day shutdown. Doughnuts are available for pre-order and pick-up by emailing contact@pinkboxdoughnuts.com and can be conveniently delivered from all locations through Pinkbox or via Postmates.

Pinkbox offers an array of colorful and unique doughnut creations, from classic selections such as apple fritters and old fashioned doughnuts to signature creations such as Unicorn, Pooh, Shaka, Baby Got Razz, a raspberry cheesecake doughnut; and more. There are three Pinkbox locations in Las Vegas and Henderson: 10251 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson, 702.410.9799; 7531 W. Lake Mead Blvd. in the northwest area, 702.478.7465; and 9435 W. Tropicana Ave., 702.222.3370. In addition to its already high standards of cleanliness, Pinkbox has enacted safety measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Siegel Cares provides community support through various philanthropic initiatives supported by The Siegel Group, the parent company behind Pinkbox Doughnuts.

About Pinkbox Doughnuts:

More information about Pinkbox is on the website at www.pinkboxdoughnuts.com, as well as on social media on Instagram at @pinkboxdoughnuts, on Facebook at PinkboxDoughnuts and Twitter at @Pinkboxdoughnuts.
Hot spots dotted the landscape across most of Cuba on March 22, 2020, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene.

Each red "hot spot" is an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detect temperatures that are higher than the background area. When combined with smoke, which is most probably obscured by clouds in this image, such hotspots are indicative of an actively burning fire.

Fire is used extensively as an agricultural tool in Cuba and is known as "slash and burn" agriculture. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality.The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter or soot. Of course, natural forest fires occur as well. The fires in this image might well be a combination of the two types, given the time of year and the location of the fires, but it's not possible to determine the cause of a fire from satellite imagery alone. Fire season runs from January to May in Cuba, during the dry season, and ends when the rainy season begins in May.

NASA's satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. 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 has a fleet of Earth-observing instruments, many of which contribute to our understanding of fire in the Earth system. Satellites in orbit around the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times per day, whereas satellites in a geostationary orbit provide coarse-resolution imagery of fires, smoke and clouds every five to 15 minutes. For more information visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/missions/index.html

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now." Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner

Larger image https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/fires-in-cuba-most-likely-due-to-agriculture

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The real warriors in the fight against coronavirus are proving to be doctors, nurses and medical staff. Around the world medics are working round-the-clock to treat COVID-19 patients. In the process, many doctors have died and if this does not make them martyrs then nothing else will.

One such story is that of a 29-year-old Chinese doctor who died of a stroke after fighting the coronavirus for 35 days straight. Dr Dong Tian, an anaesthetist, was declared dead at a hospital in Hubei three days ago, a week before his 30th birthday.

Pear Video

The medic was at the frontlines for over a month. He collapsed and was rushed to the hospital on March 3.

According to reports, he was treated at the Intensive Care Unit for 19 days before passing away. He is survived by his wife and sick father. A funeral for the medic was organised in his hometown, Dangyang of Hubei Province. People held a banner that read 'welcome home to the anti-coronavirus hero, Dong Tian.'

Dr Dong, looked after his sick father back home. But he volunteered to return to work in late January as the outbreak rapidly grew in Hubei Province, the former epicentre of the coronavirus.

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On February 29, the doctor was asked to take a break after working for 35 days in a row. He was put under isolation due to quarantine requirements.

During his quarantine, the anaesthetist was taken to the hospital when when he had a sudden headache and started losing the ability to speak.

He passed away on March 21. The Zhijiang People's Hospital, said for him in a statement, 'Comrade Dong Tian was efficient and proactive in his work. He respected the leaders and was kind to his colleagues.'

In another statement his colleague wrote, 'Dong Tian is an outstanding representative of the 'millennial doctors. He used his life to express his benevolence and love as a doctor. He sacrificed his youth and passion for his medical career.'

This tragic news comes as 3,675 medical workers from all over China have reportedly returned to their hometowns as the country reported zero domestic cases for a second time in a row on Friday.

Not only in China, but doctors around the world have been putting in their best. Recently 4000 nurses and 500 doctors came out of their retirement to help fight coronavirus in UK.

NEWS: Delighted that 4,000 nurses and 500 doctors have signed up to return to the NHS in the first 48 hours of our call. Brilliant support in our national effort tackling #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/8IPJE1Pj6g  Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) March 21, 2020

After this is all over, people of the medical community should be rewarded and receive their due in saving peoples lives while risking their own.




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A ten-day Spring mini-heatwave is on its way as sunshine is expected to dominate the rest of the week - despite Brits being confined inside their homes due to coronavirus.

Forecasters have predicted temperatures will climb to a barmy 19C (66F) towards the middle of the week as a 500-mile plume of warm air is swept up from Portugal.

And Spring is officially here for four sets of twin lambs born at Chapel Field Farm in Litton village in the Peak District.

The little bundles of fluff were captured nuzzling into their mother by photographer Rachel Rennie who watched them take their first tentative steps into the world.

She wrote on Facebook: 'I thought you'd like to see our latest arrivals, we have four sets of twins so far.

'Our first lambs of the year. Born on the first day of Spring. Lovely to have something to be excited about at the moment.'

Spring is officially here for four sets of twin lambs born at Chapel Field Farm in Litton village in the Peak District as temperatures are set to soar as high as 19 C (66 F) by the middle of the week

A three-day forecast shows the difference between the weather systems hitting the north and south of the country this week

Animal lovers were quick to chime into the comments as Christine Robison said: 'I just love seeing lambs. Still a thrill for an old townie like me.'

Louise Mike Smart added: 'Made my day, thank you Rachel.'

The mini-heatwaves temperatures are expected to reach hotter than Malta and Corfu, Greece, both due to be 14C by midweek.

A MET Office forecaster told MailOnline the UK should look forward to 'dry and sunny' conditions but colder nights.

'We're in for a dry and sunny spell,' she said. 'There's some rain in the north-west of Scotland that we have a yellow warning for, and low pressure over Iceland that is influencing the area.

Flowers blooming in Holland Park west London as a mother takes her toddler for a walk in the beautiful weather as temperatures soar during a Springtime mini-heatwave

Beautiful pink blossom appeared on this tree in St James Park in Westminster as Spring weather and sunshine hit the capital

A runner took to the fields in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, early on Tuesday morning in an effort to avoid meeting any others

Joggers and walkers took to St James Park in Westminster earlier today but were careful to try to spread out amidst the spread of coronavirus

The lambs in Derbyshire frolicked in the fields just hours after their birth welcomed the beginning of the new season

A lone man could be seen standing by the waves at the seaside resort of West Bay in Dorset a day after Boris Johnson told people to stay in their homes

A group of people relaxed on an otherwise empty beach in front of Brighton Pier earlier today, despite Mr Johnson banning gathering of two or more

Two men are seen making the most of the warmer weather as they've set up cones to mark their exercise area in Holland Park

The mother of the lambs licked one clean as the other enjoyed a lie down in the sun just hours after the twins were born

Runners and cyclists get up early to exercise despite the chill in the air in an effort to avoid people in Dunsden, Oxfordshire

'But high pressure will bring a settled dry period to most of the UK that should last until the start of April with sunny spells but also colder nights because you've got clearer skies. The wind will also be a bit chilly.'

She added that the warm temperatures are due to wind sweeping up from the Mediterranean area.

Many people's favourite blossom-filled season comes as the UK public is urged to stay indoors and only head out for 'essential' items and travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesman, told MailOnline the weather 'is being kind to us at the moment' as temperatures hit the mid-teens in the south of the UK, but it's a different story for the north of the country and the weather could be set to turn foul as sleet and hail is forecast next week.

These little bundles of fluff were captured nuzzling into their mother by photographer Rachel Rennie who watched them take their first tentative steps into the world

Sunrise at St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the North East coast earlier this morning ahead of a ten-day mini-heatwave

Sunrise at St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the North East coast early this morning on one of the first days of spring

In the early morning sunshine these twin lambs nuzzled close to their mother in a field in the village of Litton in Derbyshire

This cyclist woke up early to exercise in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, this morning. They enjoyed empty roads and a bright, cloudless sky

Thousands of daffodils were pictured in bloom at Warley Place, in Brentwood, Essex, yesterday, as Britain enjoyed one of the first days of Spring

A lone cyclist made the most of empty roads and sunny weather as they headed out in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, on Tuesday

A meadow filled with daffodils underneath a blue cloud-free sky marked the beginning of Spring at Warley Place in Brentwood, Essex, yesterday

Flowers were in bloom in the walled gardens at Holland Park in west London on Tuesday, as walkers headed out to enjoy the sunny weather

He added: 'Weather up until the weekend is bright, but it's a story of two halves. We recognise that in the south and east we have good conditions set to last into the weekend, but it is not the same picture for the north and north west.

'They're under the influence of a different regime. There's a strong rain and weather warning out for the western islands. For the majority of the UK fine conditions are set to last.'

Mr Madge described Tuesday as a 'pretty good day' as parts of the UK warmed up as far as 19 C (66.2 F) in Hereford, London saw highs of 16 C (60.8 F) and other parts of the south of the country enjoyed a sunshine-filled 17 C (62.6 F).

But the rest of the week will see temperatures gradually fall until easterly coasts are pounded by sleet, hail and even potentially snow from a weather system coming in from the North Sea from Sunday.

Training didn't stop for these men who set up blue cones on the field in Holland Park earlier today. They performed a variety of exercises before heading back home to isolate

This runner donned a neon pink top to ensure others could see her and keep their distance as she headed across a field in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, on Tuesday

A mother enjoyed a water feature in west London's Holland Park as she donned a coat to keep out the morning chill

A cyclist wore a white mask over his nose and mouth to keep himself safe while travelling through the City of London today

A group of beachgoers lay on the pebble'd shoreline in front of Brighton Pier earlier today as they defied the Government's request they stay inside to avoid the spread of coronavirus

A blue sky shone down on central London as workers stayed away in favour of working from the safety of their homes

There wasn't a cloud in the sky over central London on Tuesday as Brits enjoyed highs of 16 C (66 F) in the capital city

A mother brought her child out in a pram to enjoy a walk in the park in Holland Park, west London, earlier on Tuesday

He added: 'Temperatures are coming down particularly on Sunday. They're struggling to get into double figures.

'Sunday is looking uncertain. For London we're looking at 10 C (50 F) as a daytime maximum but could be a couple of degrees either side.

'There will be a cooler influence that has the potential to bring wintry showers off the north sea onto eastern facing coasts. Places in that colder air will be anywhere from London and southeast to northern Scotland. The weather there is most likely to be sleet and some places could see hail, even possibly a little bit of transient snow.'

The Weather Outlook's forecaster Brian Gaze said temperatures will climb above 15C and 16C on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that Britons should expect lots of pleasant sunshine.

White border flowers bloom in Holland Park as Spring brings with it the opening of flowers' buds across the country

Runners head out for some early morning exercise in St James Park, Westminster, as a nationwide lockdown calls for people to head outside for only one form of exercise a day

A man sits cross legged in the grass and looks at his phone as he enjoys some outside alone time at St James Park, London

Two men take a stroll in St James Park behind hundreds of bloomed daffodils as the Spring sun beats down on them

A couple donned facemasks and coats as they headed out for a brisk morning stroll at St James Park in Westminster Tuesday

Those who did risk a walk outside in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic were sure to sit in benches away from each other

This man rested his head on a backpack as he enjoyed a snooze on the grass in St James Park on Tuesday afternoon

The wildlife was making the most of the warmer weather as these birds congregated in the middle of the lake in Westminster

These joggers headed out on a run as they got their exercise in before heading back inside where they are self-isolating

Enjoying a quick high intensity workout, this couple completed a few star jumps while in St James Park, Westminster

The sun shone down outside the Tower of London as these women headed outside despite warnings in place that fines could soon be issued by police for those disobeying Government orders

'Nights are still going to be chilly though,' he warned, 'but the afternoon will be pleasantly warm'.

He said the weather would turn, however, by the second half of the week as a high pressure system above the west of the UK pulls in frozen air from the Arctic.

'As we reach the weekend, it looks like that air will push outwards across the entire country,' he said.

'Nighttime temperatures will drop to -4C (24.8F) in the southern half of the UK, and it also looks like if colder or sweeps down there will be a lot of sunshine but also showers.

'These will form into sleet or snow over Scotland. Later on this weekend we could even see some showers in southern England.'

A cyclist had a break from the pedals to bring out a sketchpad and jot down some of the springtime scenes as she enjoyed a seat on the grass in the shade of a tree in St James Park

A solitary man took a seat on a wooden bench as he enjoyed the sun in St James Park. He wore a baseball cap to shield his eyes and left his backpack down next to him

This mother brought out a football to play in the park with her son in central London's St James Park earlier today

Buckingham Palace was an imposing sight against the blue backdrop today. Very few people were seen around to enjoy the weather amid the lockdown

The Spring sun shone down on St James Park despite the fact there were very few people around to enjoy it on Tuesday

Two women walk along beside the Tower of London. One clutches a bouquet of flowers and they both don white facemasks

Weathertrending and former MET office presenter John Hammond said Britain's had plenty of 'fine and sunny' weather to look forward to.

'It'll be spring by day and winter by night,' he said as he gave the forecast for this week.

'On Monday the vast majority of us, after a very cold start, will see plenty more spring sunshine and with the wind having less of an edge to it than it had at the weekend, it will feel quite comfortable.

'Temperatures in many places will be getting up into double figures.'

The Met Office was predicting mostly dry conditions for the next 10 days as a 500 mile-wide warm air blows from Portugal to the UK with highs climbing to 4C (39.2F) above average by Wednesday.

A lighthouse against the backdrop of the rising sun in Whitley Bay on the north East coast in the early house of this morning

This runner in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, took his chance at some isolated exercise as he headed out early this morning

A bird flies above St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay at the North East coast during the early morning sunrise

A man enjoys a sit down in St James Park after taking a lonely stroll through the centre of the deserted city on Tuesday

This couple got their day's exercise in early as they pounded the paths of St James Park in central London today

This man stopped for a snack and a browse of his phone during his morning's exercise in St James Park, Westminster

The barmy weather comes days after people in the UK were told to stay inside their homes unless they needed to get to work, shop for necessities, or care for someone in need. People could also leave for one workout a day.

It comes after thousands headed to Britain's parks, beaches and holiday spots over the weekend to enjoy the mother's day sunshine, despite calls from the government to stay at least two metres away from each other.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the inappropriate gatherings in his daily coronavirus news conference. He warned: 'I don't think you need to use your imagination very much to see where we might have to go, and we will think about this very very actively in the next 24 hours.'

Although there was no ban on going outdoors for fresh air, Mr Johnson told Brits to stay at home as much as possible.

'It is a really simple rule and incredibly important, because to protect life and the NHS we need to stop the spread of this virus.'
Empty squares, deserted tube platforms and restricted public life. This is what the world looked like on March 23, 2020 as it attempts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Doel, Belgium

Virginia Mayo/AP

An empty bus stop on a deserted road in Doel, Belgium, Monday, March 23, 2020. Belgiums stores, schools, restaurants and bars have closed and citizens have been asked to stay at home or to maintain a social distance from others. In Belgium, a country with 11 million people, number of cases of COVID-19 infections is more than 1,700 and there have been 21 deaths from the disease, according to Euronews  the the numbers may be much higher due to a low number of tests.

2. London, England

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Deserted platforms are seen on the underground train network just after 9 a.m. on March 23, during what would usually be the busy morning rush hour period. In a speech to the nation Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a total lockdown of the U.K., banning citizens from leaving their homes except for certain reasons including accessing medical care to shop for essentials. Non-essential shops will close, reported The Telegraph.

3. Duesseldorf, Germany

Martin Meissner/AP

A view of the empty square by the town hall on March 23. In order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, the German government has considerably restricted public life and asked citizens to enforce social distancing. Germany has the worlds fifth-highest number of COVID-19 cases but has experienced fewer deaths than in other countries, possibly because the outbreak started among younger people, The Wall Street Journal reported.

4. Athens, Greece

Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

A traffic officer checks drivers for valid documents following a lockdown order by the government to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in Athens, on March 23. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced a lockdown starting Monday whereby all citizens and residents must stay at home or risk a fine. Right now the number of cases in the country are low  there have been just 17 deaths and 624 case  but Business Insider reported Monday that the Greek government appears concerned it wont be able to handle a spike in cases.

5. Tel Aviv, Israel

Oded Balilty/AP

A dont panic sign hangs on the entrance of a closed food market that was shut down in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, March 23, 2020. In Israel daily life has largely shut down with coronavirus cases multiplying over the past week. Local media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered citizens not to leave their homes except for work, food and medicine.

6. Rome, Italy

TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images

A postman on a scooter is pictured on March 23 in Rome, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy has been hard hit by the outbreak of the novel corona virus, and the death toll has now overtaken Chinas, surpassing 5,000 people. The country reported 793 more deaths on Saturday, the biggest single-day toll of any during the pandemic, the New York Times reported.

7. Queensland, Nova Scotia

Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Queensland Beach Provincial Park, in Queensland N.S. is seen on March 23, 2020. Nova Scotia has declared a provincial state of emergency to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Residents have been asked to not leave the province and only leave home for essential items and services. Provincial parks are closed and anyone who goes to one will be treated as a trespasser and have their vehicle towed.

8. Philadelphia, U.S.A.

Matt Rourke/AP

A person crosses the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, on March 23, 2020. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is issuing a stay-at-home order to the nations sixth most-populated city to keep its 1.6 million people from leaving home, except to get food, seek medical attention, exercise outdoors, go to a job classified as essential or other errands that involve personal and public safety.

9. Barcelona, Spain

David Ramos/Getty Images

A man crosses an empty Las Ramblas on March 23.The Spanish government has declared a 15-day state of emergency and shut down all commercial activities except for pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations, tobacco stores and news kiosks. The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Spain has increased to at least 29,909, with at least 1,700 deaths.

10. New York, U.S.A.

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

A nearly empty Times Square on March 23, 2020. New York accounts for six per cent of global cases, according to the New York Times. The newspaper reported Monday that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered hospitals to increase their capacity by 50 per cent. There are 12,339 confirmed cases in New York City alone, and 2,635 people are currently hospitalized, with nearly a quarter of those in intensive care, according to the newspaper.
The mayor also opened the door to the familys Logan Square residence  or at least painted a picture of it  for listeners: If you came to my house and you walked in the door, aside from my dog who rushes to the door to greet us, what youd see is a dispenser of hand sanitizer. So anyone who comes in anymore  me, one my family members  we dont get a lot of visitors these days  everyone is cautioned and urged to take some sanitizer, she said, explaining that they, too, are washing their hands regularly.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > PM on Corona Crisis, Gogoi in Rajya Sabha

EDITORIAL

Shorn of any partisan approach the PMs address to the nation yesterday on the corona crisis across the country highlighting the need to comprehend in full measure the enormity of the danger before us was indeed welcome as he spoke, for once, as the PM of the entire nation, a task he has seldom performed with the desired effect. On March 19 he spoke like a national leader underscoring the words sankalp (resolve) and sayyam (restraint), most necessary in the prevailing scenario. Indeed he delivered the cautionary notes while striking the right chord when the prospect of escalation of the coronavirus in the days ahead stares us in the face. His exhortation to the citizens to observe the janata curfew on March 22 and audible demonstration of respect for those maintaining the nations basic services were praiseworthy although this had been earlier played out in Spain and Italy and was a borowed idea; even then one found nothing wrong with it in the backdrop of the unfolding grave global situation in this regard.

The increase in the number of coronavirus cases has caused quite an alarm. The possibility of an actual spurt in such cases has of late grown phenomenally as a consequence. Thus there is a view that a total lockdown for a few days was essential. However, the PM refused to pay heed to that suggestion. The outcome of this could be disastrous in a brief span of time, observers feel.

Meanwhile, retired Chief Justice Ranjan Gogois nomination to the Rajya Sabha has resulted in a storm with the Congress opposing the move and seeking to shame the erstwhile CJI in Parliament before walking out of the Rajya Sabha in protest while Gogoi was taking his oath as a member of the Upper House. Significantly, Gogois stand on the issue has been sharply criticised in the media with some publications opining that with this the Law has been largely compromised and its effect would be felt in a big way in the near future. Sections of the media have also quoted Gogoi himself as the latter had in the past pointed out that post-retirement appointments of judges were a scar on the independence of the judiciary. The most valid question now is: how did that observation suddenly undergo a sea-change with Gogois acceptance of his new appointment?

March 20 S.C.
Fear has a new name, it is now known as Covid-19 or coronavirus. Equity markets seem to fall at the same speed with which Coronavirus is growing across the world dismantling the economic systems as more and more cities face a shutdown.

The S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50, which hit a lower circuit on March 23, witnessed their worst day in history as the coronavirus spread disrupted businesses and sent several states into lockdown.

India has reported 415 cases of the coronavirus but health experts have warned that a big jump could be imminent, which would overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure, said a Reuters report.

Reacting to the lockdown in India as well as weak global cues, the Indian market failed to hold onto crucial support despite measures taken by the market regulator, Sebi last week to reduce volatility.

SEBI halved position limits for certain stock futures, restricted short-selling of index derivatives and raised margin rates for some shares to curb abnormally high volatility, said a Reuters report.

The S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 were down by about 13 percent in just a single trading session. Fearing the worst, most experts the fall is likely to continue as cases of Coronavirus continue to grow including in India.

As most experts await for a stimulus from the Indian government, most portfolio investors are sitting on a notional loss of more than 40-50 percent of their portfolio which could be either in mutual funds or stocks.

Picking stocks is not easy as most of them have corrected by more than 20 percent. But, amid the gloom and doom scenario which is being painted, the survival of the business comes in question.

For Nifty, the next big support is placed at 7,300 levels, but looking at wild gyrations seen in the market, no support is sacrosanct.

This is clearly one of the worst phases the whole world is undergoing at present. Not only in terms of financials or economies but also in terms of a health crisis. This uncertainty due to coronavirus pandemic is weighing down heavily on markets across the globe and it was yet another day of carnage for Indian markets, Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking told Moneycontrol.

We reiterate in such type of environment, no analysis works and rather than focusing on conventional theories of the stock market. As far as levels are concerned, 8000 now becomes a crucial hurdle, and since we are trading at multi-year lows and no support is being respected, we refrain from mentioning levels as the number is decided on the next course of action, he said.

Time to become greedy?

Well, the valuations do look ripe from a bottom-up basis, but experts feel that investors should remain selective while picking stocks. Even after falling 30 percent from the highs, the Nifty50 has not made a bottom which is concerning.

Most investors either are scared and the ones who have some cash are scared of a further selloff in the markets. Well, Indian markets will continue to fall till the time we see some stabilization in Covid-19 cases across the globe or announcement of a vaccine.

The increase in domestic shutdowns to contain the virus also weighed on the sentiment. India has shut over 75 districts along with bus and railway services to restrain the pandemic, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Private Ltd told Moneycontrol.

The steep correction due to the coronavirus impact has made many good stocks cheaper and attractive. The best strategy for long term investors would be to accumulate good fundamental and quality stocks gradually over the next few weeks and months, he said.

Khemka further added that while it is very difficult to predict the bottom of the market, it always rewards investors in the long term who take the benefit of such a sharp fall. Markets may continue to fall in the near term, and thats the time to start becoming greedy. We suggest accumulating 10-15% of overall allocation on a gradual basis, he said.

Technical picture:

Technically, the Nifty50 witnessed a bloodbath on the D-Street yet again after a short-covering session on Friday. There was no follow up buying after the short covering; on the contrary Nifty witnessed fresh round of selling that was so fierce that it pushed the market into a lower circuit.

Experts feel that considering the fact the Nifty50 is trading near crucial support levels a technical bounce back could be seen while some support is placed at 7200 followed by 6800 levels. It is a sell on rallies market, and investors should not go long on a bounce back.

The sentiments are significantly gloomy on the street. On the way down, the index breached the swing low of 7832 & is approaching 61.8% retracement of the rally post-2011 low, which is near 7550, Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Senior Technical Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas told Moneycontrol.

On the other hand, any bounce towards 7850-8000 can be taken as a fresh shorting opportunity, he said.

On the options front, maximum Call OI is placed at 12,000, followed by 10,000 strikes while the maximum Put OI is placed at 8,000 followed by 7,500 strikes.

Despite the measures to curb volatility and short selling taken by the market regulator last week, the Nifty5o index ended the decline with a huge loss of around 13 percent, which is the highest ever daily loss in history.

It formed a bearish candle on the daily chart and made a new 4 years-low. At the current juncture, the market is in strong bear grip and thus not respecting any support levels, Chandan Taparia, Vice President, Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited told Moneycontrol.

As of now, there is no sign of reversal and thus traders should refrain bottom fishing in this market. Going forward, resistance is shifting lower to 8200 - 8500 zone, while the next support is now placed at 7200 and then 6800 zone, he said.

: 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 shipment by the German army of six million face masks required for protection against the deadly coronavirus has vanished in Nairobi airport, Kenya. The defence ministry in Berlin confirmed the loss of the huge shipment on March 24 and said that they are trying to find out what happened to the protective equipment meeting the FFP2 standard for protection against particles and aerosols.

According to international reports, the masks had gone missing at a Kenyan airport at the end of last week. However, it was not immediately clear why the shipment transitted through the east African country. The German armys procurement office which is usually plagued with equipment shortages and breakdowns in normal times is currently providing the health ministry with logistical support during the pandemic.

The shipment was due to arrive in Europes largest economy on March 20, the now missing shipment was also one of the first major deliveries that were required by the German health system to combat the fatal COVID-19 which has already claimed at least 130 lives and has reported more than 30,000 confirmed infections. Citing official sources, German media wrote that since the shipment was supposed to be one of the biggest assets for Germanys fight against coronavirus, its loss is more than irritating German health care workers.

Read - Maharashtra: Masks Worth Rs 15 Crore Kept For Black Marketing Seized, 4 Held

Read - Military Delivers Face Masks To London Hospitals

Airborne spread not reported

While losing masks became a significant concern for German authorities, the World Health Organisation's Southeast Asia division, on March 23, said that COVID-19 did not spread airborne. However, it said that there has been a reported possibility of such transmissions in enclosed spaces and with prolonged exposures in hospitals. This comes as the deadly virus has infected 3,92,336 people and killed 17,147 people across the globe.

Explaining the transmission further, Dr Poonam Khetarpal Singh, regional director, WHO Southeast Asia said that cases of airborne spread have not been reported yet, however, based on the information that they have received and with their experience with other coronaviruses, COVID-19 appeared to spread mostly through respiratory droplets and close contact. Speaking further she said, that it was why WHO recommends hand and respiratory hygiene.

Read - JOANN Stores, Volunteers Make Face Masks For Hospitals

Read - Americans Sew Face Masks For Health Workers
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) talks to reporters on Capitol Hill on March 10, 2020, in Washington. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Senators Urge Trump to Create Task Force to Counter Beijings CCP Virus Propaganda

Three Republican senators are calling for the creation of a new task force to counter Beijings escalating disinformation campaign against the United States surrounding the CCP virus.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), in a March 23 letter to President Donald Trump, propose the establishment of an interagency task force, under the command of the White House National Security Council (NSC), to counter propaganda spread by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) amid the worldwide pandemic.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the CCPs coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Now that COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the globe, the CCP and its officials have the audacity to spread disingenuous claims that the United States is responsible for this pandemic. This is not simply dishonest, it is dangerous, the senators wrote.

They added: The Chinese Communist Party is manipulating facts surrounding a global pandemic that originated due to their own incompetence. While the rest of the world scrambles to clean up the CCPs mess, they continue to seek geopolitical advantage and undermine the U.S. at every turn.

The senators said that the taskforce should produce a white paper on the origins of the outbreak and subsequent CCP efforts to conceal its severity.

It should also provide guidance to U.S. government employees and U.S. embassies on how to counter false CCP narratives.

The escalating global outbreak started in Wuhan, the capital of central Chinas Hubei Province, in December 2019.

Since early March, the Chinese regime has been aggressively pushing a global propaganda campaign to deflect attention from its initial mishandling of the outbreak.

Chinese officials have suggested that the virus did not originate from China, and have even accused the United States of being responsible for the outbreak that has now spread to over 180 countries and regions and killed more than 10,000 people outside of China.

On March 13, the U.S. State Department summoned Chinas ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, after Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of Chinas foreign ministry, accused the U.S. Army of bringing the CCP virus into Wuhan.

Chinas state-run media CCTV and Xinhua have added their voices to the disinformation campaign. For instance, a commentator on state-run media CCTV recently claimed that the United States was quick to start working on a vaccine for the virus because it possessed the CCP virus long before the outbreak began.

State media has also recently targeted Trump, promoting hashtags such as #Trump Pandemic on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

The three senators wrote that Chinas propaganda threatens to undermine the worldwide coordination necessary to combat this coronavirus, in addition to being a despicable exploitation of a global emergency.

The taskforce would include representatives from multiple U.S. departments, including the State Department, the Pentagon, and the Treasury Department, as well as agencies within the intelligence community.

It is critical that our country fight back against this propaganda and an interagency taskforce under the aegis of the NSC is a distinctive tool to formulate a coordinated, USG-wide response, the senators wrote.

The senators suggested that Trump could allocate funding for the taskforce under the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA).

ARIA, which became law in December 2018, calls for increased U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific while countering Chinas strategic influence in the region.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that initial supplies had begun to arrive at the Jacob Javits Center field hospital established to help deal with hospital overflow as the coronavirus continues to spread.

The temporary site will be one of four across the state that will cumulatively supplement New Yorks hospital system to the tune of approximately 4,000 beds as it prepares to deal with the worst of the virus. The field hospital at the Javits Center is expected to open next week, according to the governor.

We know that the most effective way to reduce the rate of spread of the virus is to reduce density and increase testing, and we have a plan in place to do just that, Cuomo said.

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

In addition to the Javits Center, locations at SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Old Westbury and the Westchester Convention Center will be used as field hospitals after a selection process conducted by the state in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers.

On Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered supplies like protective gear to the Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan.

The field hospitals -- the latest in a partnership between Cuomo and President Trumps administration -- follow the planned deployment of the USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed naval hospital ship.

All the temporary sites are planned to be used for overflow from hospitals, which will be focused on dealing with the coronavirus.

Cuomo also called for all state hospitals to increase their bed capacity by 50% as the state prepares to deal with the worst of the virus. Both Staten Island hospitals said Monday that they are working to increase capacity.

As of Monday morning, there were 20,875 cases statewide with 12,305 in city, and 157 deaths in the state. The two Staten Island hospitals told the Advance/SILive.com Monday that they were aware of 12 deaths on the borough caused by the virus.

Weve taken every action that government can take to reduce density and we are testing more than any other state in country, and now we must focus on increasing our hospital capacity and our supply stockpile as quickly as we can to ensure our healthcare system is prepared to handle the apex of the wave, Cuomo said.

We also still have issues with density control, especially in New York City, and we are continuing to encourage all New Yorkers to think of others and stay inside as much as possible to protect our most vulnerable populations.

***

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RELATED COVERAGE:

Coughs, sneezes, surfaces: Heres how coronavirus is and isnt spread

How the coronavirus hit Staten Island: A timeline of the pandemic in our borough

Governor seeks to limit coronavirus impact on hospitals

NYPD Commissioner: Cooperation, not closures, expected for ban on dining at restaurants and bars
K'Far is one of CookNSolo's 16 businesses. The restaurant group laid off all 400 of its hourly workers Monday and are not paying their workers for their accrued sick time. Read more

>> UPDATE: Philly restaurant group behind Zahav, Federal Donuts to pay out sick leave to 400 laid-off workers

On the same day that Mayor Jim Kenney ordered nonessential businesses to close in order to stem the spread of COVID-19, the City of Philadelphia announced an early effort to support the citys massive low-wage workforce, many of whom were losing their jobs.

Philadelphia had expanded its five-year-old paid sick leave law to include workers affected by the health crisis. One noteworthy addition: Employers had to allow their workers to use their accrued paid sick time before laying them off. In other words, the city was ordering employers to pay their workers for the sick time they had earned.

But hundreds of workers  including at least 400 hourly workers formerly employed by CookNSolo, the restaurant group behind brands like Federal Donuts, Zahav, and Goldie  arent getting the payout.

The experience of the CookNSolo workers reveals a shortcoming of the citys labor protections: It could take weeks or months for the city to investigate and issue a determination before workers get paid, and right now most workers dont have the luxury of waiting.

Some workers from STARR Restaurant Group, another one of the citys nationally known restaurant companies, said the company is also not letting them use their paid sick time during the pandemic, WHYY reported last week. And its possible that many more low-wage workers are in the same position as these industry staffers, as the chaos of the early days of the pandemic has exacerbated the confusion that already surrounds the citys labor laws.

STARR, which employs 6,000 across five states, did not respond to a request for comment.

There are roughly 320,000 low-wage service workers in Philadelphia, though the paid sick leave law does not cover all of them, including unionized workers and independent contractors.

The way the city enforces its paid sick leave extension could be an early test of the citys ability to protect workers during the pandemic, as advocates call for stronger protections for the low-wage workers who are getting hit the hardest as the virus spreads across the region. Its similarly a high-stakes test of the citys newly expanded Office of Labor, which has historically struggled to enforce and educate workers about the citys growing slate of progressive labor laws.

The situation at CookNSolo

On Friday, a manager at CookNSolo wrote to workers saying that they would not be paid out for their paid sick time as previously planned.

Unfortunately, to do so would have far more significant impact than we were expecting, and is just not possible, the manager wrote.

 READ MORE: Paid sick days in the time of coronavirus: Heres what Philadelphia workers need to know

It was a blow to workers, who were relying on the payout to get by.

Collin Zastempowski, who worked back of house at Goldie & Dizengoff on the University of Pennsylvanias campus, had accrued 12 hours of sick time, or $144. Zastempowski, 29, was planning on using that payout, plus the last paycheck of $500, to pay the monthly rent of $620. Some of Zastempowskis colleagues had accrued more time: One of them had 30 hours, another had 40.

The CookNSolo workers organized a petition calling for the restaurant group to pay out the sick time, as per the city law.

CookNSolo co-owner Steve Cook said it was a difficult but necessary decision not to pay out accrued sick time.

We made the best decision we could, he said. We were trying to preserve the viability of the business and look out for our employees as best as we could.

The company assembled a $150,000 relief fund for its workers by selling gift cards. Cook and co-owner chef Michael Solomonov contributed $40,000 of their own. They plan to distribute the funds to their workers based on need and are accepting applications.

Cook said he believes the company is in compliance with the citys new emergency regulations.

We dont believe [the law] covers terminated employees, he said.

The CookNSolo workers were laid off March 16.

Candace Chewning, spokesperson for the Mayors Office of Labor, said employers must pay out paid sick time to employees who were laid off on that date or anytime after, since the new regulations went into effect then.

 READ MORE: Starr and Schulson to pay months health insurance for idled restaurant employees, and other examples of coronavirus aid

Workers who believe their employer has violated this law should file a complaint with the city, she said. After an investigation, which could take from a few weeks to several months, depending on the responsiveness of both the employer and the complainant, if the city finds an employer to have broken the law, itll order the employer to pay workers the wages theyre due.

If an employer does not comply, the city will issue additional fines and penalties.

If a business is dealing with coronavirus-related financial problems, the employer can get on a payment plan, Chewning said.

However," she added, the sick leave law was effective in 2015 and businesses are expected to budget for providing sick leave for covered employees.

Asked whether the city would take more aggressive measures to enforce the paid sick leave law, Chewning said in a statement: The city is taking following the emergency COVID-19 paid sick leave regulation very seriously.

Though the city has recently expanded its Office of Labor and made moves to make it permanent, staffing could become an issue if it sees a large uptick of complaints: There are six employees at the Office of Labor, including three investigators. One is focused on paid sick leave, though Chewning said the office would direct resources to paid sick leave investigations as necessary.

So far, the office has seen an uptick of questions about the new emergency regulations but not of complaints, she said.



The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of 21 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the citys push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.
This mornings Irish Times states that the Irish government may introduce bans on non-essential travel, commercial and social activity. This would represent an additional response to the measures already in place.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will make recommendations to cabinet today and these will inform the decisions of cabinet. It is also expected that the cabinet will sign off on an income continuance plan for workers impacted by the economic impact of the coronavirus. Like what Goodbody Stockbrokers noted yesterday, the scheme would replace 70%-80% of the income lost by workers in firms that have seen more than 25% fall in revenue due to the crisis.

While the scheme may be announced today, it will take several weeks to be set up and will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners.

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "Given the moves across Europe, but particularly in the UK last night, we would not be surprised by an imminent announcement on further curbs to prevent social gatherings taking place. This will place a further burden on economic activity in the context of it already being devasted over the past two weeks. This provides even more reason, if it is required, to prop up consumers and maintain the link between employees and employers through the rapid deployment of an income continuance scheme."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Four more doctors have died after contracting the coronavirus in France, officials said on Monday, a day after the country reported the first death of a doctor treating COVID-19 patients.

One of the doctors, a 66-year-old gynaecologist in Mulhouse near the border with Switzerland and Germany, was infected by a patient during a consultation, according to his clinic.

Another was a 60-year-old general practitioner at a hospital in Saint-Avold near Metz, further north along the German frontier, according to the town's mayor.

Both died on Sunday when officials announced the death of a 67-year-old doctor who was among the first to treat coronavirus cases in the northern Oise department, which has been badly hit by the outbreak.

A general doctor aged 70 died in the hospital in the eastern city of Colmar, also in eastern France, with another doctor aged 68 died in Trevenans just to the south, medical sources and local officials said.

A total of five doctors have now died in France after contracting the coronavirus, as concern grows over the welfare of medical practitioners on the frontline.

Health experts warn that many French hospitals are already overflowing with coronavirus cases even as the government races to set up military field hospitals to help cope with a shortage of beds.

Mulhouse has imposed its own nighttime curfew in addition to nationwide home-confinement rules seeking to curtail the virus, which has spread rapidly in France's eastern regions.

France is also experiencing a shortfall of ventilators to care for seriously ill patients and face masks and other protective equipment for health workers.

France's national health service reported Sunday that 674 people had died in the country so far -- an increase of 112 in 24 hours.

(Image credit: AP)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:41:03|Editor: huaxia

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by Yosley Carrero

HAVANA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Yasmany Quintero, 16, is a typical adolescent eagerly planning his upcoming birthday party in the Vibora Park district of Cuba's capital Havana, where he lives with his mother and grandmother.

But he is about to have a very atypical celebration amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has led authorities to urge people to stay at home and avoid socializing in a bid to contain the spread of the disease.

"Me and my friends will meet at a certain time on social media to enjoy an online karaoke session," instead of going out as originally planned, Quintero told Xinhua by phone.

"This party will be nothing like the ones before," he added.

As public events are canceled or postponed, Cubans with internet access -- which account for more than 50 percent of the country's 11 million inhabitants -- are turning to online platforms to keep in touch or be entertained, according to Cuba's Ministry of Communications.

"We have sold a huge number of prepaid internet cards so far in March," said Yalile Rivero, a sales clerk for Cuba's state telecommunications company in Havana.

"Many people living in densely populated areas are avoiding physical contact," she added.

Cubans can even supply their online parties with live music, as local musicians have joined a global initiative to live stream performances for the benefit of people around the world sheltering in place.

Cuban salsa musician Alexander Abreu is among them.

"I wanted to make a positive contribution to the current state of affairs caused by the coronavirus outbreak," Abreu told local media.

Yamile Perez, 26, runs a salsa academy in Havana's historical downtown area. She believes people need to be creative about the way they use their time while in self-isolation.

"I hold an online party twice a week by giving interactive classes to foreign students who, thanks to music, feel they are not alone. It serves as a de-stressing therapy. The time for proximity and face-to-face contact will come back," she said by phone.

Like countries throughout Latin America, Cuba is urging people to practice social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.

"Cuba's control and prevention plan against COVID-19 includes stepping up measures to avoid mass gatherings," said Jose Raul de Armas, a senior official at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.

For gregarious Cubans enamored of concerts, dances, celebrations, parties and family reunions, putting the breaks on socializing isn't easy to do. Fortunately, online parties like young Yasmany's are helping to fill the void.
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.

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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.

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WUHAN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan Monday urged medical institutions to restore medical services for non-COVID-19 patients while continuing efforts against the coronavirus.

Leading a central government group to oversee the epidemic control work in central China's Hubei Province, Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visited two hospitals and a community health service center in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei.

After inspecting medical facilities and visiting front-line medical staff at the hospitals, Sun called for coordinated distribution of medical resources and personnel, as well as triage-based treatment to ensure the safety of non-COVID-19 patients.

Sun stressed fine management and enhanced measures in the orderly restoration of daily medical service of relevant departments, with priority given to special groups of people including pregnant and lying-in women, newborns and the elderly.

Internet-powered healthcare should be encouraged, Sun said, adding that community healthcare service should be gradually restored to divert patients with definitive diagnosis and treatment schemes to primary-level medical institutions near their homes.

Sun also underscored the implementation of community-based family doctor programs, psychological counseling for residents and the integration of public hygiene and national fitness campaigns.
Thirsty Australians will be able to order 'cocktails to go' from their local bars and pubs despite forced closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Bars and pubs will be allowed to offer takeaway and home delivery of food and alcohol - including cocktails - after a local government proposal.

The proposal was designed to keep venues in business and employees on the payroll.

Non-essential businesses such as bars and gyms were closed at midday on Monday to stop the spread of coronavirus, prompting many to lose their jobs. Off-licence alcohol shops are allowed to stay open.

Bars and pubs will be able to provide takeaway and home delivery cocktails under new licencing laws. Pictured: People drinking at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel on Sunday following announcement venues would be closed midday Monday

'Despite several government stimulus packages, many bars and pubs are caught in a gap that could prevent them from accessing any income during the government's lockdown measures,' NSW MP Alex Greenwich - who proposed the delivery of cocktails - said in a statement on Tuesday.

'I'm grateful to the government for accepting this proposal.

'It will be especially important for small bars who have a very loyal customer base that wants to support them and their specialty offerings during these difficult times.

'The "quarantini" is now a real thing in Sydney.'

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, who signed the proposal, said the industry needed to be 'agile' in times like this.

'We've got to think of the health of the people, but we've also got to think of the health of the economy and we are transitioning to a takeaway and delivery economy as we fight coronavirus,' Mr Dominello said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Brandon Martignago, owner of boutique bar Dulcie's in Kings Cross, said the delivery service would help his business survive.

Non-essential businesses such as bars and gyms were closed at midday on Monday to stop the spread of coronavirus, prompting many to lose their jobs. Off-licence alcohol shops are allowed to stay open

'This door-to-door delivery service for us would be the difference between weathering the storm or not,' Mr Martignago said.

'All of these cocktails would come with proper garnishes, proper descriptions, they would even come with coasters from the bar.'

Meanwhile, NSW publican Marty Short transformed his own pubs into local convenience stores to help ease COVID-19 panic buying.

In the past week, Mr Short has been busy gathering local produce and essential supplies ahead of the federal government's decision on Monday to close all non-essential services, which closed pubs across the nation.

He hopes the new venture will help keep his staff employed while giving local businesses and pub suppliers the opportunity to make an income.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, who signed the proposal, said the industry needed to be 'agile' in times like this

'We're working with butchers and bakers and other small business owners and we've even got some toilet paper,' Mr Short told AAP on Monday.

'This is a chance for the community to support and buy local, and avoid the crowds and panic at the supermarkets.'

Mr Short's The Tudor Hotel in Redfern, The Royal Leichhardt, Seabreeze Beach Hotel at South West Rocks and the Toormina Hotel in Coffs Harbour have all been transformed into stores, complete with hand sanitiser stations and social distancing markers on the floor.
California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Monday took the extraordinary step of suspending all jury trials in the state for two months in an effort to prevent coronavirus spread in tightly packed courtrooms.

The order marked the high courts most drastic measure since Bay Area officials began issuing shelter-in-place directives last week. Cantil-Sakauyes trial suspension follows a series of recommendations she issued to the states 58 superior courts, which prompted major delays in court operations and also proved to be open to interpretation.

While most courthouses emptied out and judges filed emergency orders to postpone cases, at least one Bay Area judge insisted on pressing forward with a trial as recently as Friday  even after a statewide shelter in place took effect and two jurors said they were too nervous to come to court.

In her order Monday, Cantil-Sakauye said social distancing restrictions made it nearly impossible to assemble juries, and many court employees, witnesses and jurors now must stay home with their children.

Courts cannot comply with these health restrictions and continue to operate as they have in the past, the chief justice said. Many court facilities in California are ill-equipped to effectively allow the social distancing and other public health requirements required to protect people involved in court proceedings and prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has proved increasingly problematic for Californias criminal justice system, where a defendants constitutional rights must now be balanced against public safety restrictions that change by the day.

Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said he is concerned the chief justices order will have a trickle-down effect for pretrial hearings, and it could amount to longer stints of incarceration.

I think its a slippery slope  I worry that we will begin to destroy all of our clients rights that exist, Woods said, adding that criminal defendants are disproportionately poor, black and Latino. They are the ones who are going to be left behind.

Like many superior courts, Alameda Countys have reduced to bare-bones operations. Judges are still conducting arraignments as well as preliminary hearings on cases with no time waivers, which could result in defendants being freed from custody.

My fear is a complete shutdown for 30 to 60 days, Woods said.

More orders may still come in the future, but the statewide directive on jury trials left little room for interpretation.

As recently as Friday, Solano County Superior Court Judge Robert S. Bowers insisted on continuing a rape trial against defendant Kenneth Weathersby, even as the defendants attorneys begged for a delay.

Judge Bowers was unmoved and instead ordered minimal safety precautions. A deputy stationed at the entrance pumped out hand sanitizer for the public as they entered court, and jurors fanned out over half the gallery in an attempt at social distancing.

Defense attorney Nick Filloy argued last week that no jury could make a rational decision under such circumstances, and he said the case was possibly the only active trial in the state continuing under Californias shelter-in-place orders.

However, Deputy District Attorney Shelly Moore insisted that the trial move forward and Bowers suggested the case could face a mistrial if it paused.

Meanwhile, a prosecution witness came down with a fever and was unable to be recalled to the stand by the defense. Bowers also was forced to dismiss two jurors who said they felt uncomfortable returning to the courtroom. A 70-year-old juror said shed remain on the panel.

What we are doing here is wrong, judge, Filloy said Thursday morning, just after Solano County issued a shelter-in-place order. I have asked this court and made every record I can think to make about why we should recess this trial, and why it is unfair to Mr. Weathersby to force these jurors to deliberate in a national panic ... having to stand 6 feet apart and yell at each other across the room.

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.

By Monday afternoon, Vallejo police  the investigating agency on Weathersbys case  announced an officer had tested positive for COVID-19. The officer apparently did not have any contact with other members of the department, several of whom served as witnesses in the trial.

The trial was set to resume Tuesday with closing arguments, but Solano County Superior Court Presiding Judge Donna Stashyn intervened in her colleagues case and suspended the trial less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to restart.

This order is effective immediately and is consistent with the recommendations of Solano County Public Health officials as well as the emergency order issued by the Chief Justice, Stashyn wrote in a memo.

Stashyn continued the trial to April 24, but the chief justices order Monday delayed that date by another 30 days.

California superior courts still have a wide degree of latitude to manage their operations as they see fit during Gov. Gavin Newsoms shelter-in-place order. The courts were designated an essential workforce that can provide services to the public.

Cantil-Sakauyes safety guidelines include suspending court operations, lowering bail amounts, releasing detainees with less than 60 days left in custody and allowing liberal use of telephone or video appearances.

The majority of courts, including the Superior Court of Solano County, have sought emergency orders to extend time frames, said Cathal Conneely, a spokesperson for the Judicial Council of California. All courts have exercised their authority as independent constitutional entities to manage their operations consistent with the guidance from federal, state, and local health departments and agencies.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy




Hwang Sei-woon, research fellow at Korea Capital Market Institute
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 04:37:14|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune Tuesday decided to postpone consultations with political parties on the new constitutional amendments amid the spread of COVID-19.

Tebboune received in his office, Ahmed Laraba, head of Expert Panel for Drafting Amendment Proposals for the Constitution, who handed over a copy of preliminary draft on amendments to the president, Algerian Presidency said in a statement.

"Given the current situation, notably amid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of these constitutional draft proposals has been postponed until the improvement of the situation," said the statement.

In January, Tebboune tasked Laraba, who is member of the UN International Law Commission, with heading the expert panel to draw up proposals for amending the constitution.

The president has outlined seven main axes around which the panel would draw up its proposals.

Tebboune pledged that the new constitution will be the basis of the new Algeria, where the parliament and judiciary would have greater role.
A well-known market intelligence company, Infiniti Research, has announced the completion of its latest article The flourishing future of e-commerce in Canada. This blog covers:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005394/en/

Future of e-commerce in Canada. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The current e-commerce landscape in Canada

Why Canada's e-commerce market will flourish in the near future

"Approximately eight in ten Canadians shop online, and they are gradually buying more often, more items, and across product categories. For companies who want to venture into e-commerce business in Canada, now's the time!" says a manufacturing industry expert at Infiniti Research.

Canadians are spending more time online in 2019 than ever before and this trend is expected to continue and boost the future of e-commerce in Canada. Request a free proposalto know to make a place for your business in the Canadian e-commerce space.

The e-commerce sector in Canada continues to gain momentum, giving the future of e-commerce in the region a positive signal for growth. While several Canadians prefer to shop from Canadian online retailers, the availability of varieties on cross-border websites are attracting many shoppers towards US and European e-commerce players as well. Though the future of e-commerce in Canada looks bright, the fact remains that not all Canadian provinces are experiencing the same e-commerce growth. Regions such as Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec recorded the highest e-commerce growth compared to other provinces in Canada. The future of e-commerce in Canada will largely rely on enhanced buying experiences that are rooted in personalization, convenience, and a consistent, timely buying experience across all channels.

Some of the key factors driving the growth of the e-commerce sector in Canada include:

Falling shipping time and prices

The increased spending on online shopping by Canadian customers is largely fueled by the decreasing shipping costs in the country. As several major online retailers are now offering free or affordable shipping on a large variety of products, Canadian shoppers are now able to purchase online more frequently and without having to shell out excess money. However, the charges for coast to coast shipping may still remain high.

Developing omnichannel capabilities

Majority of the Canadian population is located in urban areas and the prices of coast to coast shipping are rising. As a result, we can expect to see more omni-channel initiatives in the future of retail in Canada. New e-commerce trends such as ship to store and store pickup have worked well with Canadian shoppers and have helped to change their mindset to become more accustomed to shopping online without immediately losing the brick and mortar store experience.

Weak Canada dollar and cross border purchases

E-commerce companies in Canada are adding products outside their traditional product scope into their offerings. One of the prime reasons behind this is the weakening Canadian dollar against other currencies. This has resulted in fewer cross-border orders because it will cost more with the current unfavorable currency exchange rates for Canadian customers. Moreover, the shipping costs of importing from another country would also prove to be higher.

Request a FREE brochure to know more about how our services can help you can stay prepared for the trends and challenges in the Canadian e-commerce market.

About Infiniti Research

Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005394/en/

Contacts:

Infiniti Research

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 844 778 0600

UK: +44 203 893 3400

https://www.infinitiresearch.com/contact-us
Q: I am getting married for the first time. What pieces of my estate planning do I need to change and how quick is the timeline for making those updates?

A: You and your spouse should both change your wills, durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney and HIPAA releases so that you can name each other as your beneficiary, executor, trustee and agent. You can also provide in your wills that your property will be left to any children when you both pass away.

You should not make these changes before the date of your marriage. It will be a waste of time and money if your plans change. But after you are married, you should attend to this project as soon as you are able.

Q: You had written about a year ago that Texas would have a free template for a will, but it was delayed. Did that ever get released or is it still pending?

A: Unfortunately, its still pending. I have been told the project is underway, but there is no estimate regarding when the new forms will be released.

Meantime, if you need to sign a new will, the only options are to prepare one yourself or hire an attorney to prepare one for you.

Q: Do we need new wills when we move to Texas from Colorado? We are elderly and have simple wills. We own a home in each state, and we intend to rent out the one in Colorado. My husband wants to wait a few months to change his state of residence, as he will be living there more than here for his job. Should he get a new will when I do?

A. It is a good idea to sign all new Texas forms once you have moved here.

Texas documents contain different terms and provisions than every other state.

And it's not just your wills that need to be updated. You will want to sign new powers of attorney, living wills and medical powers of attorney as well.

You and your husband should sign new forms at the same time, as this will cost less with most attorneys. Fewer meetings are needed and thus fewer hours of attorney billable time will be required.

As to the timing, you and your husband should begin the project with an attorney about a month or two before he makes the move. That's approximately how long it takes for most estate planning projects from start to completion.

The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com
Superstar Rajinikanth made his television debut with Into The Wild With Bear Grylls. Riding in an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in the jungle, donning a black cap with white stubble and dark sunglasses in the promo videos, the actor-politician seemed all geared up for an adventurous ride with Grylls. The episode was aired on the Discovery Channel on Monday and is being loved by Rajinikanth fans.

Now, in his latest tweet, Rajinikanth thanked his 'friend' Grylls for one of the most adventurous experiences of his life. "One of the most adventurous experiences of my life !! Hope you all enjoy watching this show as much as I did being on it !!!#IntoTheWildWithBearGrylls @BearGrylls thank you so much my friend (sic)."

One of the most adventurous experiences of my life !! Hope you all enjoy watching this show as much as I did being on it !!!#IntoTheWildWithBearGrylls @BearGrylls thank you so much my friend @DiscoveryIN  Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) March 23, 2020

Grylls too tweeted to share his excitement on the premiere of Into The Wild episode. "The excitement in India around my adventure @rajinikanth on Into The Wild with @BearGrylls  has been amazing to see. And for the hundreds of MILLIONS of his fans, the wait is over and the action is about to begin (sic)," he wrote.

The excitement in India around my adventure @rajinikanth on Into The Wild with @BearGrylls has been amazing to see. And for the hundreds of MILLIONS of his fans, the wait is over and the action is about to begin. The show premieres tonight at 8:00 pm @ https://t.co/EWGtNP466d pic.twitter.com/jcTB6mbkWQ Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) March 23, 2020

On their adventurous ride in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka, Rajinikanth and Grylls also come across some wild animals like an elephant as they also spot a deer and a tiger.

Other adventurous acts included Rajinikanth and Grylls walking together through a pond drowned till chest and balancing on the edge of metal bridge in the middle of the forest.

In January, Ranjinikanth visited the Bandipur Tiger Reserve to shoot for the Discovery channel's new programme. The channel took permission from the Karnataka forest department to shoot in the Bandipur tiger reserve.

The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals to be thriving in the forest, including royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipistrelle and barking deer, among others.

In August 2019, Grylls had hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the show, which was shot at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in February last year.

The new adventure programme on Discovery marks Rajinikanth small screen debut after 43 years in cinema which he also used to send a message for water conservation.

(With inputs from IANS)

Follow @News18Movies for more
On Saturday evening I drove to a local pizza joint to pick up a pizza. This was the only way to get pizza. In Kansas City, all bars and restaurants have been closed for a week.

During the last few weeks, I had made a point of not watching or following the news. I trusted none of it. A TV at the pizza place, however, was tuned to CNN. It showed the Coronavirus death toll: 12,000-plus worldwide and 285 in the United States.

The numbers stunned me. Not following the news closely, I presumed, based on the hysteria in the air, that the numbers had to be at least ten times that high both nationally and internationally.

285? According to the Centers for Disease Control 185 Americans died of drug overdoses every day in 2018. According to the CDC, 315 people died of the flu every day during the six-month 2018-2019 flu season. And if protecting life is the goal, we could save about 400 young lives every work hour by shutting down Americas abortion clinics.

That is not about to happen. Most political jurisdictions seem to be exempting abortion clinics from shutdown orders. During this public health crisis, pregnancy care, including abortion care, remains an essential health service, insists the National Abortion Federation. The NAF calls on leaders to ensure that outpatient abortion clinics can remain open and urges hospitals to continue to provide abortion care.

No sooner did I get home with my pizza than the news broke that the bi-state metro Kansas City would be subject to a stay-at-home order effective Tuesday morning. After 30 days, the TV News station reported matter-of-factly, the jurisdictions will consider whether to extend the order. That is how easy it is in 2020 America to suspend the U.S. Constitution and wreck the economy.

I would feel better about the order and my fellow citizens if some horrible plague were ravaging the metro. That is not exactly the case. As of Saturday night, there had been a total of four Covid-19 deaths in all of Kansas and Missouri, only one of which was in the KC metro area, a man in his 70s with underlying health conditions.

In sharing my skepticism on Facebook, I have been met with a hail of naysayers, some of them fellow conservatives, who insist the science justifies the state of alarm. I do not know enough about this particular phenomenon to enter that debate, but I know enough about American history to know that science often needlessly justifies a state of alarm.

In my 2009 book, Hoodwinked: How Intellectual Hucksters Have Hijacked American Culture, I documented a centurys worth of scientific misinformation, disinformation, half-truths, and lies disseminated almost inevitably to advance a progressive agenda.

One subject covered was the eugenics movement of the early twentieth century. Those promoting the science and paying for it were not the grand wizards of the Ku Klux Klan but Americas academics and progressives, notable among them Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Progressives have always worked in crisis mode. The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective, wrote Sanger in 1922. Possibly drastic and Spartan methods may be forced upon American society if it continues complacently to encourage the chance and chaotic breeding that has resulted from our stupid, cruel sentimentalism. As we are seeing today, progressives rarely shy from Spartan methods.

In the years since we have been treated to one science-driven crisis after another. In 1962 Rachel Carson published her hugely popular breakthrough book on the environment, Silent Spring. The chapters have macabre titles like The Elixir of Death, Rivers of Death, and Beyond the Dreams of the Borgias, but the one poison that truly provoked Carsons literary rage was dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane or, as it is more commonly known and reviled, DDT.

Worried about the effect of DDT on robins and other birds, Carson seemed indifferent to the fact that DDT was saving literally millions of lives in the malaria-infected regions of the world. The late Michael Crichton, a Harvard-trained M.D., described the Carson-driven banning of DDT as arguably the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century and provided the mortality statistics to back up his claim.

In 1968 Dr. Paul Ehrlich began his massively popular book, The Population Bomb, with the startling claim, The battle to feed all of humanity is already lost. In the book Ehrlich laid out three possible scenarios that could define the earth in the next decade or so. In the most cheerful of these scenarios, Americans assume an unexpected maturity of outlook, a new Pope gives his blessing to abortion, and only half a billion people die of famine.

The spectacular failure of his predictions did not dim Ehrlichs star. He capped a lifetime of prestigious environmental awards with a $345,000 MacArthur Foundation genius grant and the Crafoord Prize from the Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel equivalent for environmentalists.

No disinformation campaign, however, proved quite as immediately lethal as that surrounding the AIDS outbreak.

Most who participated did so out of ignorance or fashion. But a few among them -- educators, public health officials, science writers -- knew what they were doing.

To de-gay the disease, they adopted powerful new slogans such as AIDS: the equal opportunity destroyer. More insidiously, they finessed the numbers to democratize the diseases reach. Unfortunately, many gays came to believe the propaganda that the activists, gay and straight, were spreading.

If AIDS was not a gay disease, wrote AIDS Activist Gabriel Rotello, why should gay men examine the ecological reasons their community was so devastated? Clearly it was just an accident of history, a fluke, a momentary incursion of an otherwise universal pandemic.

Heterosexuals came to believe the de-gaying propaganda as well. It was spreading much faster than the disease and infecting people who should have known better. In early 1987, the widely believed Oprah Winfrey began her show as follows:

Hello everybody. AIDS has both sexes running scared. Research studies now project that one in five -- listen to me, hard to believe -- one in five heterosexuals could be dead from AIDS at the end of the next three years. Thats by 1990. One in five. It is no longer just a gay disease. Believe me.

Oprahs audience had no reason to disbelieve. In 1987, the scare was everywhere. Virtually all media sources were repeating the same rough message. Now No One Is Safe from Aids, proclaimed the cover of Life. The disease of them is suddenly the disease of us, added U.S. News & World Report.

The popular magazine covers affirmed just who that us was -- white, middle class, heterosexual mid-Americans. Even the more sober and credible media fed the flames. AIDS has infiltrated the heterosexual population, the Washington Post cautioned its readers in November 1987, and a meteoric rise in reported cases of HIV infection is expected because of false assumptions that AIDS is a homosexual disease.

The science establishment was just warming up. In the decades ahead, they would serve up global cooling, nuclear winter, the alar scare, second-hand smoke, global warming, climate change, and a host of other contrived doomsday scenarios. When the predicted doom failed to materialize, the prophets of doom shifted the date of doom forward and bought more beachfront property.

Never before, though, has a mania wreaked so much havoc so quickly as the Covid-19 scare. Many of the predictions are as incredible as those for heterosexual aids, and even if accurate, they do not justify the assault on our economy and our very freedoms.

Someone please warn the president about the scientists in his midst.
UAE's leading telecom services operator Etisalat Group has announced that its shareholders have approved the board's recommendation to pay cash dividends of 80 fils per share to the investors for full-year 2019.



The decision was taken at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at the companys headquarters in Abu Dhabi.



The UAE telco giant's consolidated revenues surged to Dh52.2 billion ($14.2 billion) while consolidated net profit after Federal Royalty reached Dh8.7 billion ($2.36 billion), up 1% compared to the same period last year.



Announcing the cash dividends approval, Chairman Obaid Humaid Al Tayer said: "As we begin our journey into the next decade, 2019 was a testimony to Etisalat Group leadership locally and internationally. The company continued reinforcing its core business, exploring new growth opportunities, while transitioning to the digital era and being well geared for the future."



"Etisalat Group has led the digital transformation by proactively responding to technological advancements and bringing the latest global innovations to nurture creativity. Digital transformation is becoming present in more areas of life, and we have striven to be at the forefront leading it. Our current success is a result of understanding the need our customers have to rely on Etisalat to deliver," stated Al Tayer.



Etisalat Group continued to achieve strong financial performance and maintained its high credit rating (AA-/Aa3) reflecting a proven long-term performance and efforts to provide value to shareholders, which was the drive behind proposing a final dividend of Dh0.8 representing a dividend yield of 5% and dividends payout ratio of 80%, said the top official.



"For more than four decades, Etisalat has been able to meet the needs and expectations of millions of customers across our footprint. Enhancing customer experience remains at the core of our strategy enabling us to launch innovative services and solutions making a positive impact on their daily lives," he added.



GCEO Engineer Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli said: "I am proud to announce another great year for Etisalat Group. Our results are driven by an ambitious vision, a focused strategy, and sheer determination."

"This also affirmed our technological leadership in a rapidly evolving ecosystem, and ensured value creation for our customers and shareholders," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
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).
The coronavirus pandemic has put major stress on the global economy. Many businesses around the world have been forced to shut down as the government tries to stem the spread of the disease, leaving thousands of people out of work and without any means of income.

Thats why people are so upset at Kylie Jenner, who recently flaunted an expensive pair of chopsticks on social media. They say that shes insensitive and tone-deaf and have held no punches in calling her out online.

Kylie Jenner on the red carpet at an event in February 2020 | Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

See Kylie Jenners post about her chopsticks

On March 22, Jenner took to her Instagram Story and shared a video of her opening up a fancy pair of Louis Vuitton chopsticks. They were packaged in a dainty plexiglass case adorned with the brands signature brown print. According to Us Weekly, the utensils carry a hefty price tag of $450.

Gotta start traveling with these, Jenner captioned the post. The video has since expired from her Instagram Story but a clip can be seen below.

Kylie Jenner just had a brand new LV chopsticks. If I own it, I would never use it to eat sushi the fuck pic.twitter.com/GYXDLBVFkL  Ekidjun (@ekidjun) March 23, 2020

Fans are giving Kylie Jenner an earful over her pricey chopsticks

Usually, fans let celebrities live their luxury lives without saying too much about their spending habits. But considering everything going on in the world, many people are not having it this time.

They quickly rushed to social media platforms such as Twitter and called Jenner out for splurging on expensive chopsticks instead of helping out people who are in need amid the coronavirus crisis.

One person tweeted: Its funny how influencers like Kylie Jenner post about needing to remember to travel with her louis vuitton chopsticks while there are people being laid off and wondering how they will earn their next paycheck during this pandemic.

Another said it makes them sick to see Jenner spending money on luxury items like that.

We in the middle of a pandemic with lack of funding for basically everything and then theres Kylie Jenner showing off her LV chopsticks, read a third tweet.

Idk whats worse: the coronavirus or Kylie Jenner copping Louis Vuitton chopsticks, said another person.

I cant believe I still have to try to convince my friends that billionaires shouldnt exist after Kylie Jenner posted a picture of her LOUIS VUITTON CHOPSTICKS after donating a grand $0 to help fight a global pandemic??? said someone else.

As of writing, the makeup star has yet to respond to the backlash. But she has acknowledged the pandemic. She recently called on her fans to practice social distancing in a bid to stop the spread of the disease and shared that she had been quarantining at her massive Hidden Hills, California home.

Its not the first time Kylie Jenner has faced criticism for her expensive habits

Jenner faced criticism back in December 2019 for getting her then-1-year-old daughter, Stormi Webster, a lavish diamond ring. Fans were outraged and appalled that Jenner would get a child something so pricey, as kids tend to lose or misplace their possessions, and called her out on social media.

What exactly is she going to do with that!? one person wondered.

All that money for her to flush it down the toilet, another comment read.

Other people were more concerned about Stormis wellbeing, with one person writing, Thats a choking hazard!!!!

But Jenner brushed the criticism off and went on to share several posts on her Instagram of Stormi wearing the sparkler.

Perhaps shell do the same with those chopsticks.

Read more: Kim Kardashian West Lowkey Wore One of Aaliyahs Most Famous Dresses In Recent Days
March 24 : In October 2004, Pierce Brosnanwho'd played James Bond four timeswas told his 007 services were no longer needed. A different leading man was anointed: Daniel Craig. Problem is, Craig didn't want the gig.

So there he was, being chased down a faked-up Cuban alleyway in England on a dank autumnal night. He was being paid a reported $25 million. It was what it was. Every Bond shoot is its own version of chaos, and the making of No Time To Die, Craigs fifth and final film in the role, was no different. The first director, Danny Boyle, quit. Craig got injured. A set exploded. It feels like how the fuck are we going to do this? Craig said. And somehow you do. And that was before a novel virus swept the globe, delaying the movies April release by seven months, to November.

About 300 people were working on the final stretch of filming at Pinewood, and everyone was pretty fried. The director, Cary Fukunaga, had shot the movies endingthe true farewell to Craigs Bonda few weeks earlier. The last days were about collecting scenes that had gotten lost or were flubbed in the previous, exhausting seven months. It was just an accident of the schedule that in his very final frames as Bonda cinematic archetype that Craig transformed for the first time since the 60she was in a tuxedo, disappearing into the night. The cameras rolled and Craig ran. That bulky, desperate run. There was smoke, he said. And it was like, Bye. See you. Im checking out. 
Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RAFARMA PHARMACEUTICALS INC. OTC:(RAFA) - Rafarma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed negotiations with Albopark Ocio SL (a New Heled Spain Holding company), which is the owner of the Hotel Albons in Girona, Spain. Under the agreed terms, Rafarma will open its first specialized spa in Europe. The spa will be located within the property of the Hotel Albons. The Spa will specialize in cannabis-based beauty and health products currently manufactured by Rafarma in Slovenia. The Company plans to duplicate its treatment protocols currently under development in Thailand in this first European spa, as well as other specialized spas to open throughout Europe. Opened in February of 2020, the Hotel Albons is a five-star property operated by CMC Hospitality. The Hotel Albons is in process to become part of a first-rate international brand. The company will commence preparation for the opening of the spa immediately, following the lifting of COVID-19 measures. To be ready for immediate opening following the lifting of measures, all spa materials will be supplied from the company headquarters in Ljubljana, Slovenia.



Even though the world economy is going through incredible trials and tribulations caused by government-imposed restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, the current situation presents companies like Rafarma with incredible opportunities based on its economies of scale--we are able to continue to expand operations with the knowledge that the demand for cannabis continues to rise. We can also continue to pursue European acquisition targets during this time, including active negotiations with a Croatian company and a Macedonian company. We believe our entrance into the Spanish market and the acquisition of one or both of these companies in the Balkans, will be additional milestones in our plan to be a global provider of cannabis-based products, spas and other related cannabis ventures, with large operations on multiple continents, comments company CEO Vladimir Dolgolenko.

Story continues

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as may, will, to, plan, expect, believe, anticipate, intend, could, would, estimate, or continue, or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risk, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our managements beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with OTC Markets. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

For more information contact:

RAFARMA

(307) 429-2029
A 54-year-old domestic passenger was arrested at the airport here for allegedly refusing to follow instructions given by doctorsfor prevention of the spread of novel coronavirus, police said here on Tuesday.

Lami Arackal from Ernakulam, who landed from Chennai at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Monday night, was arrested based on a complaint from health officials, they said.

He was, however, later released on bail.

Arackal allegedly refused to wear mask and follow other instructions to be observed by the passengers coming from other states as part of the measures to check COVID-19 spread.

He also allegedly misbehaved with the medical officers, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S businesses and consumers alike will benefit with no additional fees, all sales going directly to business owners and helping to keep a safe social distance

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Foodetective, the largest on-demand restaurant network that helps bring favorites right to your door, is launching a commission-free delivery and take away platform to support restaurants in the U.S. during the coronavirus world health crisis. With many restaurants forced to temporarily stop service or rethink offerings, Foodetective is working to help ease some of the stress by making it easy for business owners to add their menus online to make takeout services possible, and enabling customers to support local restaurants.

"Life as we know it has drastically changed. No one really knows when this will end and when life will return to normal," said Andrea Tassistro, Founder and CEO of Foodetective. "Many restaurants have closed their dining rooms and don't have a system for online menus and ordering. We want to make it as easy as possible for them to use our platform -- no ongoing commitments or obligations required. We want to help them continue to operate, remain profitable and stay afloat during this challenging time."

The Foodetective platform is so easy that in just 10 minutes, a restaurant can have its menu and information online and ready for customers to order. Customers then can easily find their nearby restaurants, order and pay via Foodetective (to keep safe social distance).

Unlike other delivery platforms, Foodetective is completely transparent and there are no additional fees for customers or restaurants. The company will not collect commissions on any orders, which means customers will pay the exact price found on the restaurant menu and the businesses receive 100 percent of sales. Restaurants are charged a modest monthly subscription fee to participate.

"From fresh food to DIY pizza kits you can pick up curbside to a morning cup of joe from your neighborhood coffee shop delivered to your doorstep, restaurants and shops are having to quickly reinvent themselves and their offerings to adapt to these unprecedented circumstances," continued Tassistro. "We will get through this difficult time, but must work together and support each other. At Foodetective, our goal is to make life a little easier for the food businesses right now."

Story continues

Interested businesses can learn more and register by visiting business.foodetective.co.

Use the secret code "Pizza" to register.

###

About Foodetective

Foodetective is a SAAS marketplace and multi-channel commerce platform designed for large and medium-sized restaurants and all food and beverage services. Based in Geneva and in Paris, Foodetective is engineered for reliability and scalability, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Managers can use the back office tools (Foodetective for Business) to help them design, set up and manage their business across multiple sales channels (including web, mobile, and social media), as well as privatization, accounting, HR/payroll and supply management--all from one single tool/view. For more information, visit www.business.foodetective.co.

Media Contact

Erica Zeidenberg

erica@hottomato.net

Hot Tomato Marketing

925-631-0553 office

925-518-8159 mobile

SOURCE: Foodetective





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https://www.accesswire.com/582233/Foodetective-Launches-Commission-Free-Delivery-and-Take-Away-Platform-for-Restaurants-During-Coronavirus-Pandemic




As several stores temporarily close because of the coronavirus pandemic, many customers are unable to refund their purchases.

Luckily, many retailers have chosen to expand their timeline for returns and will resume in-store exchanges once the stores reopen.

Here are all the retailers that have implemented a change in return policies so far:

Apple

Apple will accept returns for most products for up to 14 days after they reopen stores, according to the companys website.

Trade-in devices will not be accepted, but a gift card will be offered with the same value as the device.

Acme

The grocery stores parent company, Albertsons Companies, announced in a statement that stores are not accepting returns at this time.

Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy

Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy have extended their return windows to July 1 for all purchases made between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to a statement.

This policy is also in effect for its other brands, Athleta and Hill City.

Costco

Costco has banned the return of high-demand items, according to a report by Yahoo, but its unclear if its nationally or on a store-by-store basis.

Photos posted to Instagram accounts @costcobuys and @costcoinsider lists toilet paper, paper towels, sanitizing wipes, water, rice and Lysol are among those items.

HomeGoods, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx

The discount retailer will allow customers to make in-store returns within 30 days of its stores reopening. Online returns can be made within 40 days of its website reopening, according to a statement.

The same goes for Home Sense and Sierra, which are owned by Marshalls parent company, The TJX Companies.

J. Crew

J. Crew is extending its return period to 60 days for all orders made since March 1, according to its website.

This includes online, by phone or in-store orders.

Macys

Macys is extending its return policy by 30 days, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Its typical return policy is within 90 days of purchase  by both mail and in stores  although select items are excluded.

Sephora

The popular beauty retailer will accept in-store returns, with a receipt, within 30 days of stores reopening, Sephora said in a statement. To qualify, purchases must have been made between Feb. 16 and March 16.

As for online orders, the 30-day return policy has increased to 60 days, the statement says.

Victorias Secret

After the lingerie company decided to temporarily cease online operations and close stores, Victorias Secret has extended its return policy for 30 more days, according to its website.

Merchandise returns within 120 days of purchase with the original receipt will be refunded to the original form of payment, the company said. After 120 days, merchandise may be refunded in the form of a merchandise card.

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Bishop David Oyedepo, President Living Faith Worldwide, has apologised to the Ogun State Government for flouting its order on large gatherings in view of the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of worshippers thronged the Living Faith Church in Ogun State on Sunday in defiance of governments directive banning gatherings in excess of 50 in the state.

A remorseful Oyedepo, after social media bashing, has apologised for his action.

The apology letter issued by Pastor Steve Ogah, Special Assistant to Bishop David Oyedepo, read:

Coronavirus: Compliance with Government Order  Matters Arising*

It has become necessary to issue this statement to clarify issues surrounding why Faith Tabernacle, the International Headquarters of Living Faith Church, Ota, in Ogun State, held its regular church service today, although with less than half of her regular worshippers.

There has been diverse responses varying from well-meaning concerns to uncharitable insinuations, misinterpretations, and unfounded allegations that the service was held in deliberate defiance of Ogun State Government ban on high-density gatherings, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing can be further from the truth.

For avoidance of doubt, as stakeholders and as a responsible organisation, Living Faith Church fully supports and encourages compliance with all initiatives of government to combat the spread of this dreaded virus. However, information has to be strategically disseminated to the grassroot, noting that the Church is a family and not an industry, it is for this reason that enlightenment and sensitization from the Church platform is a most effective way to get people involved in playing their part in terms of prayers and intercessions and not just staying away from Church without knowing what to do.

Invariably, a press release from the office of the CAN President, through his Special Assistant on media on Saturday March 21, 2020, expressed the same position that members who may gather in church premises, many of whom may not be aware of this regulations should be allowed to worship for the purpose of enlightenment on the subject matter.

As we all know, the Church is made up of both literate and illiterate congregants; many are not in touch with any of the modern platforms of communication and this is what we did yesterday. Indeed, the service was devoted entirely to sensitizing and mobilizing members of the Church regarding the danger of this deadly virus and the need to comply with government directives.

The Bishop has since engaged Ogun State Government at the highest level to clarify this issue and any misgivings and reiterated the full support of the church for the State Governments efforts to ensure public safety, towards curtailing the spread of this deadly virus. He appreciates the opportunity of direct engagement and the understanding of the government. Cooperation to safeguard public safety is not just a moral obligation or civic responsibility; the church also considers it a spiritual duty.

For instance, to show how law abiding our organisation is and in compliance with government directives, all our primary and secondary schools across the nation have been directed to close down. Also, our students at Landmark University, Omuaran, Kwara state were sent back home, while Covenant University Students, who are currently on vacation were instructed to stay back at home while awaiting further directives from government.

As a responsible and law abiding organisation we wish to state that we will ensure compliance with the government directives in all our churches across the state .

The Church shall continue to engage all necessary logistics to ensure compliance with government directives and continue to pray for speedy divine intervention to stem this deadly virus.

The post Oyedepo begs Ogun Govt for flouting ban on large gathering` appeared first on .

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Is there anyone out there? Because I wouldn't really know. I have been in self-isolation on my own for almost two weeks now after first showing common symptoms of coronavirus a fortnight ago, before officially being diagnosed a week later.

Aside from a nurse who tested me for COVID-19, I haven't had any human contact.

I feel like I have forgotten what it's like having a face-to-face conversation with my family, friends and work colleagues or what human touch feels like. Things I realise I have taken for granted are now considered a luxury in this overindulgent world we live in.

Daily Mail Australia Showbiz Editor Jade Watkins (pictured far left) was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 15th after attending the wedding of her best friend on March 6th

Ms Watkins says she has been lucky enough to get through this with the support of her family and friends who she has been FaceTiming everyday

If someone told me a couple of months ago that this would happen to me, I would have probably laughed in their face. Because like many Australians, when the news of the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China was first being reported, I never expected it would reach our shores and spread to the devastating extent it has.

But it has, this is real and it is NO joke. As I write this, more than 1,800 have contracted the virus in Australia and seven have died.

And there will be more, with the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions especially at risk. I am 38, fit and healthy. This happened to me and it could happen to you.

I was officially diagnosed with coronavirus on 15th March after being a bridesmaid at the wedding of my best friend Emma Metcalf and her partner Scotty Maggs, who champions his own incredible skin cancer charity Beard Season, and is one of the best advocates I know for all things health-related.

When Ms Watkins' best friend's wedding took place at the stunning Tumbling Waters retreat in Stanwell Tops NSW on 6th March, Australia was a very different place than it is today. There were no travel bans or restrictions on gatherings. Neither the couple nor staff at the venue would have ever put people at risk if we had known what we know now

When their wedding took place at the stunning Tumbling Waters retreat in Stanwell Tops, NSW on March 6, Australia was a very different place than it is today. There were no travel bans or restrictions on gatherings. Neither the couple nor staff at the venue would have ever put people at risk if they'd known what we all know now.

No one would have expected this to happen or thought twice about it on the night.

What was about to unfold after the wedding was unthinkable and unfathomable

Rather, everyone was happy, healthy and thrilled to witness the union between two of the most caring and compassionate people I know. I don't think you could have fit any more love in a room that night.

The series of events that were about to unfold were unthinkable and unfathomable.

There are now 39 confirmed coronavirus cases in my dear friends' wedding guest list, including myself.

Some are elderly family members of the couple and friends who travelled from interstate and overseas.

We are all truly baffled by the disparity of people who contracted it. I tested positive, but my best friend who drove me the one and half hours home after the wedding didn't.

The bride and groom kissed and hugged everyone in the room and tested negative, but several others in different friendship groups tested positive. It's bizarre and shows there is no explanation as to how this deadly virus chooses its victims.

Bride and groom Emma Metcalf and Scott Maggs have been left devastated after 39 guests at their March 6 wedding contracted the virus

This is what's so terrifying about it.

Thankfully, my best friend and her new husband acted swiftly and sensibly when they found out guests had developed symptoms of COVID-19 during their honeymoon. In the face of a very serious situation, their focus has been to ensure the health and safety of their guests and the wider community.

I took myself to the doctor on the Monday after I started to feel symptoms of a head cold days after the Friday nuptials.

Initially thinking I had just overindulged (I had been on a health detox for six weeks before) I thought I had just come down with a nasty flu, which I didn't think twice about after an already stressful two months prior, during which my beloved father had unexpectedly passed away.

I was completely run-down  physically and mentally.

My local GP agreed.

I told her of my symptoms  a sore throat, runny nose, headache, tiredness and general malaise. She took my temperature and asked if I had been overseas.

Neither the couple nor staff at the venue would have ever put people at risk if we had known what we know now

That question alone prompted me to say: 'Do you think I have coronavirus?', to which she answered 'no'.

She said I merely had a nasty cold and I did not qualify for the test. I had not travelled overseas for almost a year and had no temperature.

But because I am paranoid about my health, I begged for a test just so I could rule it out.

After much pleading she handed over a referral to a pathologist, but assured me I would be OK. She said it was up to me if I wanted to get tested if I still felt sick in a couple of days.

Taking her advice, I went home and went to bed, shivering under my doona.

Looking back now I am relieved I didn't go to work. I'm a workaholic, and would have normally dragged my sniffly self into the office and pushed through.

This time my body told me otherwise, and thankfully I saved 120 people and many others from exposure.

Ms Watkins praises her best friend and her new husband for acting swiftly and sensibly. In the face of a very serious situation, the couple's focus has been to ensure the health and safety of their guests and the wider community

The next day, I was feeling terrible  body aches and pains, sweats and a headache so bad that even if a pin dropped I thought my brain would explode.

I had nausea, my sense of taste and smell was gone, my eyelids were burning. I knew something wasn't right. The feeling was strange, not one I had never had before. Definitely not a common cold, but no worse than flus I have had in the past. Nothing I thought I should panic about and something I could just sleep off.

My sense of taste and smell was gone, my eyelids were burning. I knew something wasn't right

It wasn't long before I got the news that fellow guests from the wedding were suffering from the same symptoms and had been tested.

I quickly made an appointment to get the test, but was told I had to wait due to a huge backlog.

And so, self-isolation began.

The prospect of being indoors for a long period of time is daunting enough, but doing it alone is something entirely different.

A timeline of my symptoms DAY ONE: Sore throat, runny nose, headache, tiredness and general malaise DAYS TWO TO FIVE: As above. Along with nausea, body aches and shivers and sweats. Heavy eyelids. DAY SIX: Headache, tiredness and nausea. Heavy eyelids and sore eyes. Increased appetite and bizarre cravings for junk food DAYS SIX TO TEN: As above DAY 11: Stomach cramps and constant trips to the bathroom. Was informed by the nurse that this means the virus was exiting the body Advertisement

After being tested I waited for my results and did what anyone would do while at home sick with a cold or flu - I slept, watched Netflix, scrolled through news stories and social media and FaceTimed my family.

But boredom and anxiety quickly set in. I started to talk to myself and my indoor plants. At one point I swear I saw a cardboard box move across the room and I started regularly chatting to a huge huntsman on my balcony who I affectionately called Connie-V.

I gradually became better, but as others from the wedding started receiving positive COVID-19 results, I resigned myself to the fact I had it. In my heart of hearts, I knew.

So when the dreaded phone call rolled around on the Sunday, I was hardly shell-shocked when a nurse at the NSW Department of Health told me: 'I have bad news, you have tested positive for the coronavirus.'

'If you start having trouble breathing or have a high temperature, take yourself to hospital,' she added. No, not scary at all.

After hanging up, I made calls to my family and other guests in my friendship group to let them know my results. While I knew I wasn't going to die (I was starting to feel better), I was worried about how I would get through this alone.

My focus was not only how I would get rid of this damn thing, but how to while the days away in self-isolation.

So I became proactive. I decided to set up different stations in my apartment. A place to write in my living room, a cooking station in my kitchen, a dining room to share meals with myself at my breakfast bar and an exercise area where I could do a light session of Pilates (if I felt up to it).

Unable to go to the doctor for check-ups, Ms Watkins has been monitoring her own temperature and was instructed if it went over 38 degrees she should take herself straight to hospital

Ms Watkins' mother has been sending her care packages every single day

A mad moment came when I sat down for lunch for one. Before I started to sip on my juice I asked myself 'how are you?' before looking around to check no one had heard me.

You will be happy to know, I was OK.

Over the course of a few days my symptoms continued to change and became rather odd. While I usually have a diminished appetite when I get sick, I wanted to eat everything in sight. I COULD NOT STOP. Usually a healthy eater, I was craving junk  sugar, chips and fried food, all while having no sense of taste or smell. Was it cardboard or chicken? I couldn't tell.

We are very lucky to be facing this frightening pandemic in the digital age. While suffering from this virus, I have been able to work from home, continue to FaceTime my family and friends and set up a group chat with my fellow COVID-19 positive friends.

We are very lucky to be facing this frightening pandemic in the digital age

With the NSW Department of Health so overwhelmed, calls with my assigned nurse have become few and far between, so speaking to people who are going through the same thing has been the one thing that has really got me through.

A place to go to have a laugh, a cry, a breakdown or to sympathise about our symptoms. There have been dark days, confronting pictures, funny memes and emotional moments shared.

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

Over the weekend we even had a group video call to sing 'Happy Birthday' to a fellow COVID-19 positive. It was uplifting to see so many friendly faces.

There have also been incredible acts of human kindness during this challenging time.

Friends and family who have made sure I didn't feel alone. Angels who have dropped food, care packages, and other supplies on my doorstep. Familiar faces who have come to my video intercom just to say hi or below my balcony to blow me kisses to cheer me up on bad days.

My family - my mother, stepfather, stepmother and sister - have also been amazing. The separation from them has been incredibly hard as we still grieve for the recent loss of my father. I am devastated I may not be able to see them for quite some time as the borders between states begin to close.

My daily calls to them have been uplifting, and my mum and stepdad have been sending me a care package every single day just so I could have something to look forward to. Unlike many people out there suffering, I am incredibly lucky.

On the flip side, I have been shocked and appalled by the level of trolling, finger pointing and stigma surrounding myself, my friends and the bride and groom after the story about the wedding came out.

Our right to privacy was taken away when certain individuals started spreading gossip and innuendo in the wider community and have treated us like some kind of outcasts.

This has been the most mentally challenging part of the whole process for most involved.

Some of the vile vitriol and rubbish which has been spat at us from cowardly keyboard warriors and certain uninformed individuals has been incredibly disheartening, especially considering Aussies are meant to be all about 'mate ship'.

I fear there are others out there who are breaking the rules ... and this is a truly frightening prospect

And the looks I received when I left the pathology centre in a mask after my initial test were really something else.

Yes, I have the virus, but I am not a freak. I'm still a human being. I am doing the right thing for my community and staying in isolation. I fear there are others out there who are breaking the rules, and this is a truly frightening prospect.

And, when I finally do come out of this, the likelihood of me catching the virus again is very slim. I hope I can help those who need it when this situation continues to inevitably escalate.

In the next few days I will finally be allowed to leave the house. I should officially be 'CV free' on Wednesday after already having symptoms for over 10 days and being free from them for three.

All in all, I have been lucky enough to have only suffered mild symptoms, just like many of the other people from the wedding who caught this.

More than 1,800 have contracted the virus in Australia thus far and seven people have died

Most are fairly young and healthy and will get through to the other side.

But the devastation this virus is having on the older community is truly heart-breaking and terrifying. The elderly and individuals with pre-exisiting conditions who are truly suffering and are at high risk. We have to acknowledge the incredible dedication of the doctors, the nurses and the entire medical industry and their tireless work around the clock.

We must ensure we respect and take care of one another during this difficult and scary time.

As someone who has just gone through a positive coronavirus diagnosis, I implore you to do the same.

Be intelligent. Wash your hands and don't touch your face. If you are wearing contact lenses, wear glasses for a while.

And for goodness sake, stop panic buying. It is totally ridiculous and draining supplies for the elderly, those who actually have COVID-19 and are at home in quarantine, and people in imposed self-isolation.

Do the right thing. Practise self-distancing. There is a reason they recently introduced it. Myself, my friends and even my American work colleagues were shocked and appalled to see pictures of 20,000 people topping up their tans on Bondi Beach last Friday after new public health regulations were set in place and the rest of the world was self-isolating.

It's embarrassing.

Listen to the rules. The more you do, the better our chances of stopping this virus from spreading and taking more lives.

On Sunday, a fed-up Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced tough new 'stage one' restrictions, ordering pubs and licensed premises to close for six months.

The restrictions cover places of worship, casinos, restaurants and cafes without takeaway services, nightclubs and registered clubs.

'Together, and with the rest of the world, we face this unprecedented challenge. A once in a hundred year event,' Mr Morrison told federal parliament on Monday.

'A global health pandemic that has fast become an economic crisis, the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression.'

We need to do the right thing so we can save people's lives, jobs and businesses, and eventually repair our economy.

My message is to try and keep calm and carry on, but be smart, sensible and empathetic and respectful toward others.

This IS the new normal for a while, but hopefully and eventually, this too shall pass.

Jade Watkins is Daily Mail Australia's Showbiz Editor.
Various social organisations and



NGOs have come forward to provide food to daily wagers, homeless and other people affected by the curfew imposed in Maharashtra in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some Sikh community members have been organising 'langar' (free kitchen) at a gurudwara in suburban Mumbai since last two days.

Besides, some NGOs distributed food packets to homeless people at Kalyan and Dombivali in neighbouring Thanre district on Monday.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Students' Islamic Organisation of India and some other organisations also distributed around 1,000 food packets to people in the last two days in Madanpura, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Oshiwara, Kurla and Vikhroli areas of Mumbai and Mumbra and Kalyan in Thane.

Volunteers reached out to people affected by the lockdown, especially daily wagers, and provided them food.

On Monday afternoon, food packets were provided in Anna Nagar to truck drivers who were working in the city and did not have lunch.

Some volunteers of Jamaat-e-Islami, Alliance Against CAA-NRC-NPR and Memon community members provided lunch in the last two days to daily wagers who were stranded at the Kurla terminus while waiting for trains to return to their home towns.

A similar help was extended by the Jamaat-e-Islami to the needy in various parts of Vikhroli as well as slum localities near Hiranandani, Powai.

In Kalyan, nearly 10 social organisations have joined these Mumbai-based NGOs, who plan to provide around 600 ration kits to the needy families.

The volunteers have been taking necessary hygiene precautions by wearing gloves and face masks and using hand sanitisers during food distribution.

"We feel that as human beings, it's our responsibility to help the most vulnerable amongst us in their time of need. We appeal to all citizens of Mumbai and Thane to join in our efforts. We also request the state government to put in place a safety net for those who have lost work during the lockdown," Jamaat-e-Islami's Mumbai president Haseeb Bhatkar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chennai, March 24 : Even as All India Chess Federation (AICF) office-bearers of All India Chess Federation (AICF) seem busy in internal bickering and a game of oneupmanship, its employees are yet to get their February salaries and other outstanding payments remain to be cleared.

AICF Treasurer Kishor M Bandekar admitted that staff salaries for February were due, apart from other payments.

When contacted, Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan maintained the clearance of cheques to pay staff salary and other cheques issued by AICF depended on its banker, Indian Bank.

"Indian Bank officials have told me that clearance of the AICF cheques will be done after getting the opinion from its legal department," Chauhan told IANS.

"The bank officials had seen news reports on AICF elections and its subsequent cancellation. Hence, they want to get their legal department's opinion on clearing the AICF cheques," Chauhan added.

He too admitted that salaries of AICF officials and other payments were pending owing to this situation.

Bandekar told IANS: "The AICF was not informed about the banker's decision. Chauhan should have informed the Federation about this." "The staff salaries for February are due. And even March is coming to an end and salaries will be due soon. There are other dues like pending hotel bills for meetings held, travel bills, payments to be made to players. I will speak to the bankers and get clarity on the issue," he added.

The AICF Secretary and Treasurer are two authorised signatories for signing cheques on behalf of AICF. However, Chauhan does not recognise Bandekar as AICF Treasurer.

The Madras High Court had appointed retired Supreme Court Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla last month as Returning Officer for AICF elections and declared Ajay H. Patel elected as President, Chauhan as Secretary, Naresh Sharma as Treasurer, M. Arun Singh as Joint Secretary, and Vipnesh Bharadwaj as Vice President.

Even though the new office-bearers assumed office the High Court set aside their election and asked Kalifulla to convene a Special General Body Meeting to conduct fresh elections after an appeal preferred by AICF President P.R.Venketrama Raja.

The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Chauhan against the High Court's order.

While Raja contends that the old management is back in AICF and a three-member committee appointed by him earlier will run its day-to-day affairs, Chauhan does not agree with that view.

Chauhan contends that during the pendency of the election process, it is only the General Body that can take decisions on all AICF expenditures and Raja is not allegedly allowing AICF to call a GB meeting.

He contended that the High Court while setting aside the election of new office- bearers has not said that the earlier ones -- Raja as President, Bandekar as Treasurer (authorised to sign cheques) and others -- could reassume office.
That Prabhas will be teaming with filmmaker Nag Ashwin for his next outing is known to all. The duo announced the news last month and since then everyone is excited about this collaboration. Ashwin, who last directed Mahanati, later took to social media and revealed that his film would go on floors by the end of this year.

The talented writer-director also told fans that his untitled movie starring Prabhas will probably arrive in theatres by the end of 2021. Now we don't know if there's a change in the release date or not but Prabhas 21 is definitely not going on floors this year. As per a report in cinemaexpress.com, Nag Ashwin's project was to roll in November, however, makers will now start the pre-production work on their alleged sci-fil movie early next year.

Due to the novel Coronavirus outbreak, the entire country is currently in lockdown. And this has hugely affected the film industry as well. Prabhas was in Georgia recently for the shoot of his upcoming film which is being directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. While the actor completed the schedule successfully and returned to India, the film is far from finished. The abroad schedule was supposed to be a long one but the cast and crew had to cut it short because of the Coronavirus scare.

Since travelling is banned in most European countries, Radha Krishna Kumar and his team will now have to wait a little longer before they resume shooting for their intense love story abroad. Because of this very reason, the release of Prabhas 20 will also get affected and Nag Ashwin too won't be able to start shooting for his film along with the Baahubali hero. Therefore, the shooting of Prabhas 21 has been pushed to next year.

Wait, WHAT! Is Prabhas Getting Paid More Than Rs 100 Crore For Nag Ashwin's Film?
In the fire department, meanwhile, Krienitz said no firefighters or paramedics have been tested for the virus, and none of his staff were ill or showing symptoms of COVID-19. At various times some have self-isolated because of concerns they might have come in contact with a patient with the virus, but in those cases none of the patients tested positive, he said.
tech2 News Staff

As the coronavirus outbreak widens in different parts of the world, affecting millions, popular social media platforms and other tech companies are doing their bits to educate users.

Social media platforms are giving information to make people aware of the virus outbreak, symptoms, number of active cases in particular areas, treatment, safety measures, and helpline numbers.

Here is how they are combating the issue of misinformation and educating users about COVID-19.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging platforms for people in India and sadly, it can be used as a catalyst to spread fake news as well. So, to feed users with authentic information and avoid panic, the government has officially rolled out an official WhatsApp contact number.

As tweeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, users can get all the accurate information about COVID-19 by simply sending a "Hi" on 9013151515 number and save it as "MyGov Corona Helpdesk". You can get all the answers about your nearest test centres, helpline numbers, symptoms, professional help and more. Text replies, YouTube videos and infographics will be sent to you as per your query.

Sharing correct information, avoiding incorrect panic. Here is an effort by WhatsApp and @mygovindia to ensure you receive accurate and verified information on Coronavirus. Please click on this link https://t.co/REabfIp5QT or send Hi on +919013151515. #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/0maqUE3PvG  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 21, 2020



World Health Organisation WhatsApp Business account has also been created that gives the stats, travel advice, mythbusters, and other info on COVID-19 from all over the world.

WhatsApp has also announced that it will donate $1 million on fact-checking related to coronavirus pandemic.

Apple

Apple has also taken steps to provide its users with authentic information in the time of crisis. You just have to ask Siri, "do I have coronavirus". It will ask you a few questions about the symptoms that you are experiencing. In life-threatening cases, it tells you to call 911 and get help, in other cases, you are told to self-isolate yourself.

In India, when you ask Siri the same question, it leads you to the Ministry of Health website.

YouTube

YouTube desktop and smartphone app show a COVID-19 related notification from Ministry of Health, as soon as you open the home page. This notification leads to the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. You can find all the reliable information like helpline numbers, number of passengers screened, number of people discharged, helpline email address, list of cases statewise and so on.

Microsoft

Microsoft launched a COVID-19 tracking website that shows active cases, recovered case and number of deaths country-wise. You will also see relevant news about the outbreak on the website. Currently, it shows 384 active cases, 24 recovered cases and 7 deaths in India.

Google

Google has also launched its own tracking website that helps users get the required information about COVID-19 including safety tips, number of cases, FAQs and more.

Google has also launched SOS Alert on its search engine where one just needs to type "coronavirus" and on the right side, you will see prevention, symptoms, treatments and overview. You can also tap on the Ministry of Health and WHO website as well.

Twitter

Twitter recently announced that it will now be giving blue ticks (verified) to the users providing authentic COVID-19 health-related information on Twitter. The tweet read: "We are working with global public health authorities to identify experts and have already Verified hundreds of accounts, but theres more to do and we could use your help."

A separate tweet explained how users can update their email addresses associated with any authoritative organisation or institute.

To #COVID19 experts: we are prioritizing Verification for Twitter accounts that have an email address associated with an authoritative organization or institution. Heres how to update the email address associated with your account:https://t.co/H4LkQYeGB8  Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) March 21, 2020

Facebook

Facebook has also rolled out a COVID-19 Information Center that pops up on the top of the news feed and latest news and information as well as resources and tips to stay healthy. The feature was initially launched in the US and was later rolled out in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the UK. Facebook says that it will rollout the same in more countries in the coming days.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg has donated its emergency reserve of 720,000 masks to provide health workers with more protective gear.

Facebook has now announced that it will partner with developers to provide free services to government health organisations so that they can use Messenger "to scale their response to the COVID-19 crisis". The developers will create messaging solutions to educate users about challenges related to COVID-19 like social distancing and will keep them updated about the current happenings related to coronavirus.

Instagram

The Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform, Instagram, has rolled out a few stickers that include #thankhealthheroes, stay home and so on, encouraging people to stay at home and thank all the medical professionals giving their best in the time of crisis.

Today were launching a new Stay Home sticker that you can find in Stories. If you use the sticker, your photo or video will be added to a shared Instagram story where people can see how you're staying home and staying safe  pic.twitter.com/MtU3d4bKKq  Instagram (@instagram) March 21, 2020

Instagram will also show stories of all those who are using this "Stay home" stickers in their stories.

As per Instagram, when one searches #coronavirus, they can find the source of a particular post as well. The company is also working on removing misinformation from the platform.

Were removing known harmful misinformation related to COVID-19, and when someone taps on a hashtag related to COVID-19, we show resources from @WHO, @CDC and local health authorities. pic.twitter.com/Dw2Y8ZwfaI  Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) March 6, 2020

Telegram

A new official Telegram group called "MyGov Corona News Desk" has been created to keep the misinformation away from users amid the coronavirus pandemic. This group will not let the users ask their queries but will inform them about the Dos and Donts, state of public transportation and other important details.
Singapore has reportedly confirmed 54 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23, which is the highest daily increase till date taking the total number of confirmed cases to 509 and its death toll stands at 2. According to the reports, of the new cases, 48 are imported infections. The imported cases had travel history to Europe, North America and ASEAN countries, as per reports. The Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update reportedly said that all except one were returning residents and Long Term Pass holders.

READ: Singapore Pools Toto Results Today March 23, 2020: Winning Numbers

Of the 355 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. 15 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Read more: https://t.co/CatRoyh552  Ministry of Health (@sporeMOH) March 23, 2020

34 imported cases

As per reports, a total of 34 of the imported cases had travelled to the United Kingdom. Three cases had previously been in the United States while five patients had been in Indonesia. Six cases are currently unlinked and contact tracing is ongoing. MOH reportedly said that eight more patients have also been discharged.

A total of 152 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital till date, as per reports. Of the 355 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. As per international media reports, fifteen are in critical condition in the intensive care unit while two patients have died.

READ: COVID-19: Singapore Airlines Cuts 96% Of Its Capacity Due To To Low Demand

The 48 imported cases had travel history to Europe, North America and ASEAN. All except 1 were returning residents and Long Term Pass holders. 6 local cases are currently unlinked, and contact tracing is ongoing. Read more: https://t.co/CatRoyh552  Ministry of Health (@sporeMOH) March 23, 2020

As of 23 Mar 2020, 12pm, we have confirmed and verified an additional 48 imported and 6 local cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. Read more: https://t.co/CatRoyh552  Ministry of Health (@sporeMOH) March 23, 2020

Singapore Airlines cut 96% flights

Singapore Airlines Ltd is reportedly cutting 96 per cent of its capacity until the end of April, among many air-carriers around the globe that slashed flights owing to the dip in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the airlines official statement, the company and its two subsidiaries will ground over 185 aircraft out of a total 196, including the Airbus SE A380s and Boeing Co. 787s. Singapore Airlines would also hold meetings to defer deliveries of aircraft. The management is planning to reduce salaries to cover the losses incurred. It said that the carrier is taking the actions amid the greatest challenge that the SIA Group has faced in its existence. It is, however, still unclear when the SIA Group would be able to resume services, given the uncertainty when the travel can resume and border restrictions might be lifted.

READ: Singapore Health Ministry Confirms First Two Deaths From Coronavirus

READ: Singapore To Shut Its Borders To Short Term Visitors Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
A decision to fast track coronavirus testing for all of Indonesia's 575 politicians and their families has prompted a furious response, as the country struggles to role out testing for the general population.

While MPs and their families are due to be tested next week, the country of nearly 270 million people has only reported 2756 tests. So far, it has reported 686 positive cases and 55 dead including eight doctors. In comparison, Australia has conducted more than 140,000 tests and South Korea has more than 300,000.

Men are spaced one metre apart during Friday prayers Al-Akbar mosque in Surabaya, East Java. Credit:AP

But experts believe the number of undetected cases could be much higher, given the mortality rate is 8.5 per cent in Indonesia at present, much higher than the global average of about 1 per cent.

Unverified viral videos are circulating widely on social media of people dying on the streets of Jakarta and in other cities such as Bali, where Frenchman Gerard Philippe Follet died nine days ago while waiting for emergency services to reach him.
Canadian researchers launched a study Monday into the use of a powerful anti-inflammatory drug to reduce the risks of pulmonary complications and death related to the new coronavirus.

Several COVID-19 patients have had severe complications from a surge of activated immune cells in the lungs -- known as a "cytokine storm."

In a cytokine storm, the immune system overreacts and damages lung tissue, leading to acute respiratory distress and multi-organ failure.

A team led by Jean-Claude Tardif, director of the Montreal Heart Institute research center and professor of medicine at the University of Montreal, are hoping the drug colchicine will work to moderate the overproduction of immune cells and their activating compounds -- called cytokines -- in COVID-19 patients.

If it proves to be successful, the drug -- which is already used to treat gout and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart membrane), and is readily available and inexpensive -- could become a key tool in the pandemic fight.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

At a news conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Can$192 million (US$132 million) in funding for vaccine development and production in Canada, as well as several partnerships with firms to accelerate clinical trials and the eventual production of a vaccine and treatments.

"Once there are promising options, Canada needs the capacity to mass produce treatments as quickly as possible," he said.

Those named by the prime minister included Vancouver's AbCellera, Medicago in Quebec City, and Toronto-based startup BlueDot, which used artificial intelligence to flag the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan nine days before the World Health Organization, as well as the University of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council.

Tardif told public broadcaster Radio-Canada that he hopes to know if colchicine is effective in coronavirus patients within three months.

He said he became interested in its possible application as a COVID-19 fighter when it became clear that most children were resistant to the illness.

Children typically have reduced inflammatory responses to colds and flus, compared to adults.

In laboratory tests, animals whose inflammatory responses were blocked also lived longer after being exposed to influenza.

The hypothesis was worked on by 125 people and Health Canada approved the Quebec government-funded study within 24 hours.

According to a heart institute statement, the researchers are looking to recruit 6,000 Canadians with the coronavirus, for a clinical trial.

But there were only 1,430 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Canada as of 2200 GMT Sunday, including 20 deaths. More than 100,000 Canadians have been tested, so far.

Trudeau also said the government was accelerating lab tests for the virus, and has asked research schools across the country for any spare masks and ventilators, while also looking at the possibility of 3D printing medical supplies.
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday (March 24, 2020) directed all state governments to deploy funds to establish additional medical facilities to boost the medical infrastructure of the country in order to contain the spread of Coronavirus pandemic. According to a press release from the Centre, additional facilities including hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards should be set up by these funds.

Apart from this the Centre also directed the states to upgrade and expand existing facilities and ensure all facilities are sufficiently equipped with ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks and drugs to treat the patients.

Earlier in the day, the Centre provided relief to the country's informal sector amid the coronavirus lockdown. Santosh Kumar Gangwar, MoS, Ministry of Labour and Employment, issued an advisory to all states & UTs to transfer funds in the account of construction workers through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) mode from the cess fund collected by the Labour Welfare Boards.

Prior to the Centre's announcement, several states have already announced monetary relief to daily wage workers.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

As 32 states and union territories announced complete lockdown till March 31 to deal with the pandemic, authorities are taking a serious view of people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely crucial to contain the spread of the viral infection.

With the coronavirus lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Sitharaman told reporters an announcement on the package would be made sooner than later. Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas. States like Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday decided to expand the lockdown to cover the entire state.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis. The western state has accounted for 101 of the total 492 cases followed by Kerala (91). The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further. The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals. Cases of a few more persons having tested positive for the infection were reported during the day.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh. Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic in unprecedented steps till March 31. In Delhi, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the status of containment and management of COVID-19 in the country and emphasised on the quality and sturdiness of the community surveillance and contact tracing.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A man who robbed civil-rights icon Rosa Parks in a 1994 break-in at her Detroit home is accused of a similar crime in Grand Rapids.

Joseph Nathaniel Skipper, 54, is accused of robbing a 74-year-old Grand Rapids woman in her home on New Years Day.

He was sentenced in 1995 to eight to 15 years in prison for breaking into Parks home, hitting her in the face and robbing her of $53.

Parks died in 2005.

Skipper is held in the Kent County Jail in multiple cases, with bond totaling $65,000. He is charged with first-, second- and third-degree home invasion and two counts of breaking and entering a building.

The 74-year-old Grand Rapids woman, who lives on the citys Northwest Side, called 911 at 12:10 a.m. Jan. 1 to report that a man had just broken in and robbed her.

She told police she was in bed when she heard someone forcing their way into her home. She confronted the man, who assaulted her and demanded money, Grand Rapids police said.

She told investigators she gave the man just under $50 before he left, Sgt. John Wittkowski said.

The victim told police that the robber injured himself breaking a window to get into her home. Police found blood on the window.

Police canvassed the neighborhood and used a police tracking dog but could not find the robber. Crime-scene technicians collected evidence, including the blood.

At the time of the break-in and robbery, detectives were investigating several other break-ins and began to tie those cases to the womans robbery. Police said that Skipper was questioned and admitted to some of the crimes but he would not confess to the crime involving the 74-year-old.

Earlier this month, results of DNA testing allegedly linked Skipper to the break-in at the womans home, police said.

On the night of the break-in, the victim thanked officers for their kindness and professionalism, police said in a Facebook.

From the officers at the scene, to the detectives who worked collaboratively to piece these cases together, and to the crime technicians who processed the scene, the GRPD would like to recognize the excellent work of all those that were involved in the solving these crimes, the post said.

Defense attorney Valerie Foster declined to comment on the allegations but said she would zealously represent her client.

Skipper blamed a drug problem for robbing the then-82-year-old Parks in 1994.

In a prison interview with The Detroit News, he said he wished he had apologized to Parks before she died.

I will go down in history as the man who robbed Rosa Parks, he told the Detroit News, according to The New York Times.

I'm sorry that she died. I was hoping to get out in time to tell her I was sorry.

He had just gotten out of prison when he tried to steal jewelry from a Livonia churchs rectory in August 2009. He climbed through a bedroom window after he asked church staff for money earlier in the day, police said.

A priest saw him with the jewelry and called 911.

Skipper was sentenced in late 2009 to five to 10 years in prison for breaking and entering. He was discharged in August 2019, Michigan Department of Corrections records show.

He awaits trial in Kent County Circuit Court after waiving rights to preliminary examinations in Grand Rapids District Court.

Also on MLive:

Coronavirus last straw, Portage Branns Steakhouse closes for good

West Michigan coronavirus victim really felt I was dying

Victims body still missing but cold-case detectives find suspect
As the coronavirus forces airlines to suspend flights and cities to impose restrictions on gatherings, some of the most trafficked tourist destinations in the world are now bereft of their usual thousands of visitors.

In Paris, Rome, and New York alike, big-ticket spots have been left to the pigeons, with people urged to stay indoors and protect themselves and their families. Photographers have chronicled these suddenly empty spots: shuttered cafes, empty stores, ordinarily chaotic roads suddenly wide-open. Its in sharp contrast to the ordinary shots of overtourism, with holiday-makers stood cheek-by-jowl to snap selfies and Instagram-ready pictures.

No one really knows how long these social distancing efforts will need to remain in place, or how long an empty Times Square will be the new normal. For now, the lights are still onyet everyone is home.

Times Square

With tourists and New Yorkers ordered to stay home, Times Square is suddenly a ghost town.

Downtown Las Vegas

In Las Vegas, locals are urged to Stay Home for Nevada, with casinos told to shut their doors.

Buckingham Palace

In London, the usual throng in front of Buckingham Palace has been reduced to a handful of passersby.

La Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain

Just a few mask-wearing stragglers drag their suitcases along a desolate La Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain.

Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC

Even in the height of Washington, DCs cherry blossom season, the Lincoln Memorial was all but deserted.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

An unexpectedly private viewing at the Pyramid of the Moon, in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

Rome

A view of empty Piazza Navona, in Coronavirus-hit Rome.

Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Despite sunny days and warm temperatures, only a few swimmers brave the waves at Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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- Major private initiative supports government efforts to save local businesses

- Streetify startup transforms 5 million stores and every website into branded virtual stores

- Free app and website also biggest source of cashbacks, voucher codes and coupons in the world

- All store and restaurant advertising is FREE for 2020

LONDON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Streetify ( https://www.streetify.com ), a new global shopping platform, is supporting government efforts around the globe to save local businesses during coronavirus-related lockdown orders. In this time of social distancing, brick-and-mortar shop owners are relying on takeaway and curbside delivery purchases, as well as online sales, to survive. On Streetify's virtual shopping boulevards, business owners can easily put messages in their storefront windows announcing deals, new hours, delivery options, what goods they have in stock, and more -- all for free for the year.

Streetify provides virtual stores for every business' website, replicating the shopping experience but without the risk. Shoppers find out which shops are open, pre-order items for pick-up, or arrange for delivery, all from the safety of their homes. It is available free throughout the U.S., Canada, U.K., India and Australia as a website and free app for both iOS and Android, and will be rolling out elsewhere this year.

"Since launching Streetify last week, we have now transformed over five million local stores and national websites into virtual stores so firms and consumers can respond to the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in," said founder Martin Banbury. "We hope many businesses and jobs can be saved with this new technology."

Streetify has the most voucher codes, cashbacks and coupons of any online platform, searching over 50 top sites, like Groupon, Rakuten and Honey, for deals. It puts checked deal site links in store windows, after any store owner's messages.

With Google and a couple of taps, consumers effortlessly create and organize multiple personalized avenues comprising their favorite stores. Choices can be shared via social media, and shoppers can even follow famous celebrities, buying from their favorite stores and sponsors. To enhance the feeling of realism, Streetify is geo-referenced so at night, the lights come on, and if it's raining in the real world, it will rain in the Streetify one, and so on.

For more information, including for investors, visit Streetify.com ( https://www.streetify.com ).

MEDIA CONTACTS

Debbie Koke, debbie.koke@orcapr.com

Martin Stein, martin.stein@orcapr.com

Orca Communications
SAMORA Machel is dead. This death must serve to enlighten and strengthen us as revolutionarieswe have discovered that the enemy knows how to strike down combatants even when they are in the air, said former Burkinabe, President Thomas Sankara, following the death of Mozambican President Samora Moises Machel in a plane crash in South Africa on 19 October 1986.

The plane crash came barely two months after the eighth Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held early September 1986 in Harare, Zimbabwe, where President Machel had once again launched a verbal salvo on apartheid South Africa, denouncing its policy of racial segregation that denied the black majority opportunities for socio-economic development and political freedom.

Apartheid, like colonialism, cannot be reformed, Machel had said, adding that apartheid, like colonialism, must be eradicated.

During that NAM meeting in Harare, President Machel had called for international support for the African National Congress (ANC), then an outlawed movement in South Africa, and all South African democratic forces in the implementation of their anti-racist policy and broadening the great internal and external front against apartheid.

That plane crash on 19 October in the Lebombo Mountains, Mbuzini, near South Africas border with Eswatini and Mozambique, robbed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) of a charismatic leader who was committed to political and economic liberation of countries in the region.

Just six years earlier, Machel, together with eight other Heads of State and government from the region, had formed the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC)  precursor to SADC  to push for the economic liberation of the majority-ruled countries in the region by reducing their economic dependence on apartheid South Africa.

One of those co-founders of SADCC was President Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the founding president of the United Republic of Tanzania, who in August 1986 famously said that apartheid South Africa was an enemy of African Liberation and, therefore, of SADCC.

By reducing dependence on apartheid South Africa, SADCC was in a way imposing its own economic sanctions on South Africa, aimed at weakening and arm-twisting the administration in Pretoria into submission, for that dependence is a weapon for the defence of apartheid, Nyerere said.

Confronting the apartheid regime came at a huge cost, but SADCC countries were willing to pay the cost for the liberation of their kith and kin in South Africa.

Our participation in the struggle for the reality of freedom, and therefore, for the ending of apartheid, will not be sacrificed for any consideration at all, Nyerere said, while receiving the Seretse Khama Medal on 26 August 1986.

While Machel was not the only leader voicing disgust at the Pretoria regime, he seemed fully aware of the threat that the apartheid administration posed to Mozambique.

By virtue of our anti-racism, economic potential, regional role, strategic position and historical dependence on South Africa, Mozambique is a prime target in the framework of Pretorias regional strategy, Machel had told the NAM Summit.

Days after his death, Sankara  himself assassinated in 1987 and four days to the first anniversary of Machels death  revealed that President Samora knew that he was a marked man because of his constant resistance to apartheid. Samora Machel knew he was targeted by imperialism, Sankara said.

The tension between Mozambique and South Africa came despite the two signing an Agreement on Non-Aggression and Good Neighbourliness on 16 March 1984, famously known as the Nkomati Accord. The accord urged South Africa to stop its destabilisation of Mozambique and to renounce aggression against our country, said Machel.

Observers say Machel paid the ultimate price for confronting the powerful and cruel apartheid regime in the neighbouring country, accusing South Africa of using a decoy navigation beacon to deceive the pilots into thinking that they were landing in Maputo.

Sankara, for example, did not mince his words in his attack on the apartheid government, when he said, to discover who killed Samora Machel, let us ask ourselves who is rejoicing, and who has an interest in having Machel killed first the racist whites of South Africa, whom we have never stopped denouncing.

Together with the apartheid regime, Sankara also accused the supporters of imperialism, in particular the rebel movements in Angola and Mozambique who were receiving support from South Africa to destabilise first their own countries and the entire southern African region.

However, the Pretoria administration consistently denied any involvement in the crash of the Tupolev Tu-134 jetliner that killed Machel and 33 other passengers, in which only nine passengers and one crew member survived.

Despite his confrontation with the apartheid government in South Africa, President Machel did not live to see South Africa attaining majority rule following the general elections held on 27 April 1994, won by the ANC under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

It is such sacrifices that SADC remembered on 23 March when the region commemorated the Southern Africa Liberation Day.

Without the commitment and selflessness of the men and women who sacrificed their lives, we would never have achieved the political liberation of our region. We owe a great deal to our Founders, we might have lost the majority of them, unfortunately, but their legacy lives on, may their souls rest in eternal peace, SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax said in a statement to commemorate the day.

The author, Mukundi Mutasa writes in his personal capacity for the Southern African News Features.
SANDUSKY, MI  Sanilac County has confirmed its first case of a resident testing positive for COVID-19.

The Sanilac County Health Department on Monday, March 23, stated in a press release a resident has tested positive for the contagion and is currently hospitalized at an area healthcare facility.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported that as of 2 p.m. Monday there have been 1,328 cases of coronavirus in the state. Of those, there have been 15 deaths.

The Sanilac County case was not among the 1,328 reported by MDHHS Monday afternoon.

Also on Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an emergency executive order requiring most residents to stay in their homes to slow the spread of the virus.

The executive order went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, and is to last three weeks, ending April 13. Violation of the order is punishable by a misdemeanor.

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, counter tops) and when you go into places like stores.

Related:

Michigan coronavirus cases now at 1,328, with 15 deaths

All Michigan residents, most businesses ordered to stay home to slow spread of coronavirus

Act as if you have the coronavirus, urges doctor who tested positive

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus
After another tie vote Tuesday night, the Boyertown Area School Board abandoned its plan to narrow its seven applicants for a board vacancy down to two finalists, and instead picked from the entire list, thereby choosing Marianne Scott as the newest member.
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Israels Knesset witnessed unprecedented political and legal drama the evening of March 23 as Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein refused to heed the directive set by the High Court to hold by March 25 a vote for his replacement.

Edelstein rebuffed the court, arguing that any intervention by the judicial authorities in the operation of the Knesset would be tainted as politically motivated. I think that any intervention by the court with the judgment of the Knesset speaker on fixing the agenda of the plenum and setting up for vote for his replacement constitutes an unprecedented interference in the parliaments agenda, said Edelstein, declining to commit to a date for convening the Knesset plenum and holding the vote.

Faced with Edelsteins refusal, the High Court must decide whether or not to take an extra step of ordering the speaker to proceed with the vote. To this point, the court has directed Edelstein to allow the Knesset to discuss electing a new speaker by March 25 in order to avoid a ruling on the issue. The Likud and the right-wing bloc argue that this constitutes a legal coup, and some Likud senior officials even called on Edelstein to reject any instructions by the court. Edelstein, a Likud member, has been speaker since 2013.

The Knesset is supposed to elect a speaker following each election; Israel held inconclusive elections March 2. Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz has been tasked with trying to form a government.

Israels High Court debated the issue of the vote for the job of the Knesset speaker following a petition submitted by Blue and White, which claimed that Edelstein has paralyzed the Knesset. This rare directive issued by the court was perceived by some as interference with the work of the legislative branch, thus generating a political storm in the country.

These developments deepen the political crisis Israel has been mired in since the elections, and most probably reduce the possibility of a unity government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had called for such a government up until March 22, warned that if Blue and White replaces Edelstein, the option of a national unity government would become unfeasible. Blue and White rejected Netanyahus ultimatum, calling on Edelstein to respect the directions of the court.

In the meantime, Likud legislators boycotted meetings at the Knesset scheduled for establishing the different House committees. Blue and White and its partners did not take advantage of their absence, delaying for the moment these proceedings. Blue and White and associated parties do intend to exploit in the coming days their majority weight within the Knesset of 61 seats in order to man the committees and Knesset power centers with representatives of the opposition. The Knesset will most likely soon appoint a Blue and White member to the position of its new speaker.

But in the current setup, the chances for Gantz to establish a minority government are slim. Netanyahu is expected to continue heading the interim government, though his Cabinet is expected to encounter growing difficulties in terms of its functioning. On the other hand, faced with the coronavirus crisis, the chances of a fourth round of elections in Israel also seem low.
The new Harris County stay-at-home order exempts the areas homeless individuals, asking only that they practice social distancing within encampments and urging them to seek shelter.

It doesnt specify how, or indicate that more resources will be coming to already-teeming shelters.

Well keep working on that, but our regular shelters are pretty full, said Mike Nichols, president of the Coalition for the Homeless.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a stay-at-home order on Tuesday morning to combat the novel coronavirus, effective at 11:59 p.m., closing all non-essential businesses and directing residents to only leave for essential errands. But the countys last point-in-time count showed 1,515 residents living unsheltered in a single night.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Its too late for them: Houstons homeless on the streets left vulnerable to coronavirus

The City of Houston has so far not announced a plan for dealing with the homeless population.

Immediate concerns being addressed include acquisition and coordination of needed resources, testing sites accessible to the homeless, and a potential quarantine facility for individuals unable to self-quarantine or isolate if needed, Marc Eichenbaum, the mayors special assistant for homeless initiatives, wrote in a March 17 email.

He has not yet responded to questions about what plans the city may have.

I would like them to be put somewhere, said Jonathan Chartian, 40, whose uncle lives unsheltered in the downtown area by the Greyhound station. You have a lot of rooms, warehouses, apartment complexes.

On HoustonChronicle.com: What it's like living paycheck-to-paycheck in Houston during a coronavirus pandemic

Nichols blamed part of the problem on a lack of funds from the state and federal government  especially for health care. The Coalition, he said, is working with the city and county to work on an effective quarantine system for anyone experiencing homelessness who tests positive for coronavirus.

Next, he said, the city and county will try to find money and space house people rather than leave them on the streets.

Other cities are scrambling to acquire beds for the unsheltered. California is trying to acquire motels and recreation centers. Seattle is fast-tracking tiny house villages and buying motels.

On HoustonChronicle.com: More than 1,750 tested for coronavirus in Harris County

Homeless services have had to adjust since the outbreak of the virus. Some have cut back to virtual meetings as much as possible. Others limited in-person services, like showers and access to laundry machines. Most staff at the Coalitions partner agencies, Nichols said, are only using whatever safety equipment they already had. The City of Houston is treating the Coalition like first responders and has ordered personal protective equipment, which he hopes will be in soon.

Shari Wilson, 58, who lived under the bridge by Minute Maid Park for years before getting housing in December, knows it can be hard to house a population that rejects living in shelters. But she wants to hear more from the city.

They need to be at least told the dangers and steps to stay safe, said Wilson Theyre gonna realize they really are expendable.

sarah.smith@chron.com
Chron.com offers these and other critical updates on the coronavirus outbreak for free. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription to HoustonChronicle.com.

Hello, Houston. Here's your latest novel coronavirus news from our corner of Texas, the rest of the country and around the world:

7:06 p.m. Chambers County announced a "stay safe" order that will take effect at 11:59 p.m. tonight, requiring people to stay home except for essential activities, officials said.

Multiple industries and businesses are exempt, as well as citizen travel for essential functions defined in the order. You can read more about the exempt businesses on the county website.

6:49 p.m. The city of Galveston is telling short-term rental guests to leave the island, reports the Chronicle's Nick Powell.

6:41 p.m. Harris County commissioners on Tuesday tackled several items that would bolster the county's response to the coronavirus pandemic, including extending the current disaster declaration to April 19, the Chronicle's Zach Despart reports.

The court also waived tolls on all county roads for the same time period. Further, inmates at the Harris County Jail, which suspended in-person visits on March 14, also will receive three additional free phone calls per week.

The new order prohibiting city residents from leasing or renting short-term rentals was one of four orders passed in the City Council today related to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the interest of slowing the spread of COVID19, we are asking in the strongest way possible for residents to stay at home, Mayor Jim Yarbrough said. Unless you have critical business outside of the house, we ask that you do not leave. We are all accountable to each other to slow the spread of this virus in our community.

The city also extended its stay at home order through April 3, to line up with Galveston Countys timeline for its own shelter-in-place order, which goes into effect at 12 a.m. Wednesday.

Businesses located within Galveston will be prohibited from operating electronic amusement machines. The city is also prohibiting fishing piers and charter fishing operators from operating within the city.

The Houston Health Department announced 31 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday afternoon from a batch of test results sent from commercial laboratories, officials said.

"BREAKING: I've just issued a Stay Home-Work Safe Order for Harris County residents effective midnight tonight," Hidalgo wrote on Twitter. "Folks should stay home except for essential needs. This moment in history will define our future. History will say we prioritized human life."

The directive, which would take effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and apply to unincorporated Harris County as well the city of Houston and other municipalities, would restrict businesses deemed non-essential through April 3.

County officials on Monday evening were working to complete a list of exempt businesses, which will include markets, pharmacies and other stores necessary for daily life to function.

Galveston County will issue a shelter-in-place order.

Coronavirus Live Updates: Follow the latest developments | Full coverage

The 411 on COVID-19

You can call local public health departments for more information on coronavirus in your community.

City of Houston: 832-393-4220 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday)

832-393-4220 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday) Harris County: 832-927-7575 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day)

832-927-7575 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day) Fort Bend County: 281-633-7795 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday)

281-633-7795 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) Montgomery County: 9365235040

9365235040 Brazoria County: 979-864-2167 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday)

979-864-2167 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday) Galveston County: 409-938-7221, option 1

To support vital coverage of this and other topics, consider a digital subscription.

Coronavirus cancellations: All the Houston events, conferences and schools that are off

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Fever, cough and shortness of breath. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, sore throat or diarrhea.

I think I may have COVID-19. What should I do?

If your condition is not urgent, contact your doctor or an urgent care clinic. Call ahead in case they need to redirect you to another medical center or emergency room. If your health care provider uses telemedicine, such as video chatting, you may want to consider that to avoid potentially exposing others. Also, many counties have set up special phone lines for coronavirus inquiries from the public; your county public health department should have this information online.

If you believe your symptoms are urgent and you need to go to the ER, try to call ahead so that health care providers are prepared to isolate you and take other precautions to protect you and other patients when you arrive.

Todd Trumbull

Individuals can request a test for coronavirus, but doctors and public health authorities will decide whether thats appropriate.

Lets step back. What is the coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are part of a large family of viruses. Two other kinds of coronaviruses are known to cause SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). Coronaviruses also can cause very mild illness, and are thought to be responsible for 10% to 30% of all common colds.

The new virus is already more widespread than either SARS or MERS. So far it appears to cause less severe illness than those viruses.

How is COVID-19 different from the flu?

COVID-19 and the flu are both infectious respiratory illnesses, but theyre caused by different viruses. They have similar symptoms and are spread by droplets that are expelled with sneezes and coughs. The flu can be prevented with a vaccine and treated with antiviral drugs, but there are not yet similar tools to fight COVID-19.

Tens of thousands of people have died from the flu this season, far eclipsing deaths from COVID-19. But millions of people get the flu every year, and the influenza death rate  about 0.1%  is likely lower than that of COVID-19. Experts still dont know just how deadly COVID-19 is, but early studies suggest the death rate is about 2%.

How serious is the COVID-19 virus? Who is most at risk?

About 80% of people who have contracted the virus have had mild symptoms and do not need to be hospitalized, according to large studies of cases in China. About 14% become severely ill and 5% critically ill. Those most at risk of becoming seriously ill are over age 50 or have underlying health problems, such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, or have weakened immune systems.

A Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention study found that most people infected were over the age of 30 and had mild symptoms. The death rate was highest  close to 15%  in those over the age of 80. The first U.S. deaths were all among residents of a long-term care facility in Washington state.

The virus appears to be less deadly than SARS or MERS. SARS had a fatality rate of about 10% before it disappeared in 2004. MERS is fatal nearly a third of the time, but is far less transmissible than SARS or COVID-19. Still, the reported cases and deaths are constantly shifting and its too soon to know exactly the seriousness of the illness.

How can I best protect myself?

People who are not sick should wash their hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and avoid touching their face with unwashed hands. They should avoid close contact with anyone who is coughing, sneezing or otherwise obviously ill.

People who are sick should cough or sneeze into their arm or a tissue, not into their hands. Ideally they should stay home and avoid being around other people. In some cases, doctors may advise people who are sick to wear a simple surgical mask in public to avoid infecting others.

Healthy people do not need to wear a mask. Studies have found they are not very effective at preventing illness. Most people become infected by touching their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands because thats the easiest way for viruses to enter the body.

Should I avoid school, work or places where large groups gather?

Many Houston-area schools have already decided to close. You can see a full list of closures here.

Public health experts have said that if you have recently returned from a country with a high number of cases, or if youve had contact with someone who has COVID-19, youre generally encouraged to stay at home and not go to work or school for 14 days.

If you are sick and have not traveled recently and have not been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should stay home until your symptoms have passed.

In some communities public health experts are advising that people at high risk of serious illness  people over age 50 and those with pre-existing health problems  avoid places where large crowds gather in close contact.

Otherwise, healthy people do not need to take any special precautions.

Should I cancel domestic or international travel plans?

Keep track of advisories from the U.S. State Department and the CDC that discourage travel to certain countries. If you do travel to those areas, pay attention to what you will need to do upon return.

Any U.S. citizen returning from Hubei province in China is subject to mandatory quarantine for 14 days. Anyone coming back from other parts of China or from countries with high numbers of infections will be asked to quarantine at home for 14 days. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or a close family member of one wont be allowed to enter the U.S. for 14 days after you visit China or Iran.

Most airlines have canceled flights to China and are reducing routes to other countries. United has announced some domestic travel reductions, and other carriers may follow suit. Check The Houston Chronicle's live coverage and individual airline websites for the latest information. Meanwhile, many companies are setting guidelines for employee travel, and some have temporarily stopped domestic travel.

Be aware that if you choose to travel, the situation is changing rapidly: Flights could be canceled or rules put in place at any time. Before booking, canceling or taking a flight, it helps to know what your rights and options are. Weve compiled tips for traveling during the coronavirus outbreak here.

How did the coronavirus get started?

Chinese health officials alerted the World Health Organization about a growing number of cases of pneumonia caused by an unidentified virus in the city of Wuhan in late December. The new coronavirus was identified about two weeks after that.

Coronaviruses can cross over from animals to humans. The virus that causes SARS is believed to have passed from bats to civets and then to humans, and the MERS virus was linked to camels. But scientists have not yet determined the source of the new coronavirus.

How long is the COVID-19 outbreak expected to last?

Thats not clear. Other coronaviruses, such as those that cause the common cold, tend to be seasonal. But the coronavirus that causes SARS appears to have disappeared about a year after it was identified in 2004. Its too soon to say what will happen with the new coronavirus.

Jordan Ray, Dana Burke, Alejandro Serrano, Mallory Moench, Erin Allday and Catherine Ho contributed to this report.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across Nigeria has risen to 44, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed Tuesday.

The confirmation came hours after Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed, and President Muhammadu Buharis chief of staff, Abba Kyari, reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

The new confirmed cases appeared to be that of both officials as they were diagnosed in their bases  Abuja and Bauchi.

Mr Mohammeds office announced that he tested positive while that of Mr Kyari is yet to make it official.

NCDC, the agency in the frontline of the governments intervention against the disease said it could not confirm Mr Kyaris case as it has a policy of not naming COVID-19 patients.

Please, NCDC has not provided personal information on any case, and will not provide information on a case by case basis, an NCDC spokesperson wrote in a text message in response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, quoting the agencys head, Chikwe Ihekweazu.

With the newest update, Lagos has so far reported 29 cases of the virus, FCT  8, Ogun  3, while Bauchi, Oyo, Ekiti, and Edo states have one case each.

Of the 44 cases, 31 had travel history to high-risk countries in the last two weeks.

The update followed the shutting of markets selling non-essential life-saving products in Lagos, Nigerias commercial capital and worst-hit by coronavirus.
The US has praised as "inspiring" India's 'Janata curfew', which was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check the coronavirus spread in the country and laud the efforts of essential service providers during this period.

"Inspiring to see people across India coming together despite being physically apart to applaud workers on the frontlines combatting COVID-19," Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said in a tweet on Monday.

Wells said this while retweeting a video posted by India's Press Information Bureau, wherein a group of Indians clapped and cheered the work being done by India's first responders to the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Modi on Thursday last urged the citizens to express their gratitude towards those who have been at the forefront of combating coronavirus, and extending essential services.

The prime minister had asked the people to clap hands, beat plates or ring bells to express their gratitude.

"A small token of appreciation to the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, government officials, members of the armed forces and police, disaster management officials and every kind of person who cares for others," the PIB India tweet said.

Meanwhile, India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Monday held a video conference call with representatives of Indian companies in the United States over the coronavirus outbreak.

"Interacted with representatives of Indian companies over videoconference and discussed issues of concern to them," Sandhu said in a tweet.

"Indian companies are doing a commendable job in supporting local communities in various parts of the United States in these difficult times," he said.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, has claimed over 15,000 lives and infected 340,000 people across the world.

Over 1.5 billion people have been asked to stay at home as governments across the world tackle the World Health Organisation recognised 'pandemic'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 20:53:58|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Seven years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a major global concept in his speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, calling for joint efforts to build a world community forged by a common destiny, where each person has a stake in the other.

Seven years later, a worldwide outbreak caused by the coronavirus has once again reminded people of the necessity and urgency to build a community with a shared destiny for mankind.

With the virus spreading fast globally, tens of thousand of lives are under threat, prompting many countries to declare a state of emergency or even a state of war.

Under such circumstance, the concept carries more significance at this crucial moment. It has injected great confidence and vitality into the global fight against the disease and will help the world at last win the war.

Besides the global health crisis, the world is made more complicated by challenges ranging from regional conflicts, terrorism and social disruptions to economic downturns, climate change and unbalanced development.

Facing profound changes unseen in a century, it is all the more urgent to improve the global governance system and promote a transformation of the world order.

Where will the world go? Where is the path to development? The international community is looking at China and waiting for it to give al much-needed answer.

For years, the vision for a harmonious world built on shared rights and responsibilities has grown mature, gaining global resonance and becoming a strong voice in a changing world.

President Xi expounded on the vision at the United Nations Office at Geneva in early 2017, which according to Klaus Schwab, founder and chief executive of the World Economic Forum, highlighted the spirit of inclusiveness and coordination and was of historical significance.

"All countries should jointly shape the future of the world, write international rules, manage global affairs and ensure that development outcomes are shared by all," he told the audience.

Based on the concept's general guidelines, China has raised a number of proposals to improve international relations, boost development and strengthen communication between cultures.

Meanwhile, the vision was enriched following China's proposals to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace, a community with a shared future on nuclear security, and a community of common health for mankind, providing more concrete guidance for cooperation and development across a number of sectors.

China has taken a multi-pronged approach to translate the grand vision into practice. A signature project demonstrating such endeavors is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The BRI, proposed by China, connects Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating growth.

In more than six years, the initiative has witnessed the birth of railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure in many participating countries to boost connectivity. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, for example, has greatly improved local transportation infrastructure and power supplies, and created over 75,000 direct jobs, official data showed in January.

On the diplomatic front, China has pushed for creating "customized," mutually beneficial cooperation schemes at the bilateral and regional levels that meet different needs. Through top-level diplomacy, China has proposed building communities with a shared future with neighboring countries, as well as with Europe, Africa, Latin America, among others, to create more opportunities for common growth.

More broadly, China has initiated new platforms for multilateral cooperation to create a bigger cake for the global community to share.

The China International Import Expo (CIIE), the first dedicated import exhibition in the world, has entered into its third year. The second edition held in 2019 attracted over 1,300 exhibitors and 3,200 buyers, inking a total of 71.13 billion U.S. dollars worth of tentative deals.

Against unilateral and protectionist headwinds that threaten to cripple global cooperation, China's pioneering spirit to champion solidarity has resonated with world leaders.

Such a spirit is needed more than ever as the world fumbles its way out of the rampant COVID-19 pandemic.

The virus, a common enemy of mankind, is gradually evolving into a global crisis that puts people's lives and health at risk while exacting a political, economic and social toll across the world.

Accompanying the virus, racism, xenophobia and stigmatization are plaguing humanity and threatening solidarity. At this moment, a world community based on a shared future is the light at the end of the tunnel.

When China was fighting a hard battle against the epidemic at home, more than 170 countries and over 40 international and regional organizations showed their sympathy and support. Japan, South Korea and Pakistan donated emergency supplies, while some country leaders paid a special visit to China in a show of friendship and solidarity.

Now that China has achieved remarkable progress against the virus while others endure a raging pandemic, China has wasted no time coordinating with other countries.

The country has provided assistance to over 80 countries as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Union, shared its experience combatting the virus with the global community, and sent medical teams to countries in need.

These concrete moves have won international praise, including from the WHO and UN chiefs, and demonstrated that China shoulders the responsibility of a major country.

The world is in survival mode. Only through solidarity and coordination can it win an outright victory over the pandemic. In the long run, as mankind faces a variety of common challenges, the world must work diligently to transform China's vision into reality.
Angry MPs are demanding to know why changes to make it easier for women to have an abortion safely during the coronavirus crisis were mysteriously withdrawn.

The department of health announced temporary approval for pills to be prescribed remotely  rather than physically signed off by two separate medical professionals  to cut the risk of transmission.

But a U-turn then saw officials withdraw the advice, claiming it had been published in error, and no changes are now planned.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, came under fire in the Commons, when MPs pointed out the relaxation had been agreed with a swathe of medical groups.

Some are now warning that  during the so-called lockdown ordered by Boris Johnson  women will be forced to tell police officers they have left their homes in order to get abortion help.

Over the next 13 weeks, the expected infection peak, it is expected that 44,000 women across England and Wales will need access to an early medical abortion.

Stella Creasy, a Labour MP, said: Its absurd to expect women to be able to travel during lockdown for a vital healthcare procedure that could be done at home.

That risks thousands of women being forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy because they cannot access medical services.

In the Commons, fellow Labour MP Wes Streeting urged Mr Hancock to explain why the guidance was removed from the government website later in the day.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

Why is the government not listening to the royal colleges and why is the government making it more difficult for women to get access to an essential procedure during this time of crisis? he asked.

But the health secretary told MPs: We have no proposals to change any abortion rules as part of the Covid-19 response.

Ms Creasy said Mr Hancock had to explain why Mr Hancock was claiming he never intended any changes, adding: Thats clearly not true.

The department of health has done a U-turn and that advice has mysteriously disappeared, she added.

Opposition to abortion remains strong on the Conservative benches. Around 70 voted against lifting the ban in Northern Ireland, last July, and dozens more abstained.

Some 13 different organisations  including the Royal College of Obstetricians, the Royal College of Midwives and the British Advisory Pregnancy Service  had negotiated with Mr Hancock on the liberalisation of the law.

Their letter had warned: In the current circumstances with Covid-19 meaning doctors are self-isolating or off sick and the NHS under immense pressure, it wastes valuable time, puts everyone at greater risk of spreading or contracting coronavirus and risks our ability to provide abortion care at all.

The need for two signatures to obtain an abortion means women can be asked to come to a clinic more than once, or to get a signature from their GP first.

Alternatively, doctors may have to physically find another doctor to provide the second authorisation.

The department of health and social care has been asked if the U-turn followed any political pressure.
PANA  Kimberly Wolf has three kids who love art and, like other children, are at home instead of at school for now.

"I've seen on Facebook the different pictures of families visiting nursing home loved ones through the windows, because their families can't come visit them," Wolf said. "I thought it would be a great idea to have the kids draw cards."

Her children attend Sacred Heart Catholic School in Pana and her husband, Jared, is a math teacher at Pana High School. She works as an ultrasound technician at Decatur Memorial Hospital two days a week. Sacred Heart is having work packets pickup at the school on Wednesdays, and Wolf said kids could drop off their cards when they drop off completed work from last week's packets. She also hopes students of all ages, including toddlers like her own daughter, Emily, 2, will make cards.

Sacred Heart serves students from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Pana and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oconee. Wolf hopes the public school students in Pana will want to help out, too.

Students at Sacred Heart don't use Chromebooks until fifth grade, so the younger students are using the take-home packets, while older ones are using a combination of their Chromebooks and take-home packets.

Daniel, 11, is in sixth grade and created a card with a military theme in case some of the residents are veterans.

"I'm drawing an Army helmet with a flag on it," Daniel said. "I'm just hoping it will appeal to one of them."

Daniel said he wishes he were at school, instead of studying at home. Wolf said her husband joked, after trying to help Daniel with his English lessons, that he'd rather teach calculus.

When making the cards, she said, messages aren't necessary, and for little children like Emily, she suggests just putting the child's first name and age on the card.

Prairie Rose Health Care, Heritage Manor, Hickory Estates and Life's Journey are the four facilities in Pana that will receive cards.

The facilities are doing their best to keep residents occupied while they can have no visitors, said Amanda Strohl, activities director at Prairie Rose.

"We're still doing hallway bingo and we're going to be doing toy cars and have a car race down the hallway," she said. "We're having rock painting in their rooms and puzzle pages and music. We just can't have group music because the public can't come in."

Heritage Manor staff is doing their best to make the shelter-in-place time as pleasant as possible, said Michele Anderson, activities director.

"We have many FaceTime visits, Skype, and have family members come to the windows," she said. "And we have extra people working to make sure they have one-to-one visits, anything we can do to get a smile on their faces. We're dancing down the hall. The staff is just being downright crazy.

"We're all about making these people laugh and show them a little extra love," Anderson added. "We always love them, but whatever we can do to give them a little extra love, we're all about that."

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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SOUTHBURY  More than 1,000 masks were distributed Tuesday to first responders and skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in the Southbury, Woodbury and Oxford area.

The Pomperaug District Department of Health, which serves the three towns, gave out 1,550 surgical masks and 120 n95 masks to community partners who have been fighting the spread of the coronavirus.
Karl Stefanovic has spoken of his heartache that his mother, Jenny, won't get to meet his baby daughter when she's born in 11 weeks' time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Today show host, 45, became emotional as he discussed how interstate travel restrictions and hospital protocols mean Jenny will have to stay in Queensland.

'My mum lives in Cairns. She's just turned 70. She feels so isolated,' Karl told his co-host, Allison Langdon.

Tough times: Karl Stefanovic has spoken of his heartache that his mother, Jenny, won't get to meet his baby daughter when she's born in 11 weeks' time due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured on the Today show with Allison Langdon

'So she can't travel interstate and there's lots going on with the family and everything,' he added.

Karl then alluded to his wife Jasmine Yarbrough's pregnancy, saying: '[Jenny] has lots of new grandbabies. The reality is she's not going to be able to meet them.'

He also noted that hospitals won't be allowing anyone besides doctors, nurses and parents into the birthing suites as a safety precaution.

'That's hard for a grandparent': The Today host, 45, became emotional as he discussed how interstate travel restrictions and hospital protocols mean Jenny will have to stay in Queensland

Private: Karl and Jasmine (left) haven't shared many details about their child, but it's believed the shoe designer is now 29 weeks pregnant. Pictured with Tamara Ingham and Ava Stefanovic

'So that's hard. That's hard for a grandparent,' he said.

Karl and Jasmine haven't shared many details about their child, but it's believed the shoe designer is now 29 weeks pregnant.

She told the Sun-Herald earlier this month that the birth will be an intimate affair.

Personal impact: 'She can't travel interstate and there's lots going on with the family and everything,' Karl said. 'The reality is she's not going to be able to meet her grandchildren'

'I just want it to be the two of us,' she said, referring to herself and Karl.

Karl has three older children from his previous marriage to Cassandra Thorburn: Jackson, 20, River, 12, and Ava, 14.

As of Wednesday morning, there are 2,317 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including eight deaths.

Pandemic: As of Wednesday morning, there are 2,317 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including eight deaths

On Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all pubs, clubs, gyms and restaurants must close to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Supermarkets, petrol stations, pharmacies and home delivery services will stay open during the shutdown.

Morrison also imposed further travel restrictions, placing a ban on all non-essential travel.

Australians can still travel for work-related activities, but they must scrap planned interstate trips that aren't essential.
An official of Civil Together, a satellite party of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, enters the party office on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday, the day it announced the list of proportional representation candidates for the April 15 general election. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



Three weeks ahead of the April 15 general election, "satellite parties" of the ruling party and the main opposition party have confirmed their candidate lists for proportional representation.



Both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) decided earlier to create "separate paper parties" for the proportional representation seats in a bid to gain more seats under a new electoral system.



The DPK's satellite party Civil Together, created by pro-Moon Jae-in civic groups and several minor liberal parties, finalized its list of 35 candidates for proportional representation, Tuesday.









Shin Hyun-young, a professor of family medicine in Myongji Hospital, gained the top spot in the list. She is known for her contribution in the nationwide COVID-19 containment efforts as a member of a taskforce at the Korean Academy of Family Medicine and the head of Myongji Hospital's COVID-19 epidemiology team.



Including Shin, the first 10 candidates are civic organizations, giving them a better chance of being awarded a seat, while 20 "former" DPK members who "left" the ruling party and joined Civil Together received spots 11h to 20. The remaining five are reserve candidates from civic groups who would succeed to candidate spots if necessary.



Among the former DPK members are Choi Hye-young, a ballerina-turned-physical rehabilitation professor, and Kim Hong-gul, the youngest son of the late former President Kim Dae-jung. The former DPK members on Civil Together ticket are expected to return to the ruling party after the election.



Meanwhile, the UFP's satellite Future Korea Party (FKP) also confirmed its candidate list for proportional representation Monday. The final list has come after the order of several candidates was reversed following conflict between former FKP chief Han Sun-kyo and UFP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn over who should come first. After the conflict, Han resigned his position, resulting in people picked by Hwang being put in the top spots of the candidate list.





Rep. Won Yoo-chul, front right, leader of the Future Korea Party, a satellite party of the main opposition United Future Party, speaks to reporters after paying respects at the Seoul National Cemetery, Tuesday, together with its proportional representation candidates. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho
She shot to fame during a summer on Love Island.

And Olivia Attwood did her best to find the sunshine during another day in self isolation on Monday, sharing a sizzling Instagram snap.

The Love Island 2017 favourite slipped into some racy pink lace lingerie for her latest social media treat, after hitting out at others for 'isolation shaming'.

Glowing: Olivia Attwood did her best to find the sunshine during another day in self isolation on Monday, sharing a sizzling Instagram snap

Olivia showed off her tanned and toned figure in the stunning snap which saw her soaking up some beams of sunlight streaming through her bedroom window.

With a full face of makeup and her long blonde locks tumbling around her shoulders, the reality star looked as glam as ever.

Earlier in the day the outspoken star addressed what she has dubbed 'isolation shaming,' insisting that the restrictions on life during the coronavirus crisis shouldn't out pressure on everyone to become 'better people.'

After getting shamed for her attempt at the push-up challenge, Olivia shared her views on how people should be spending their time.

'I work out every day anyway before the isolation thing but honestly I feel like we're getting isolation shamed,' she said in a series of videos.

Speaking out: The star also addressed what she has dubbed 'isolation shaming,' insisting that the restrictions on life during the coronavirus crisis shouldn't out pressure on people

'"Oh my god it's isolation time, you can get so fit and healthy and find yourself again. Organise your drawers, organise your f**king drawers!"'

'I'm just out here to say that if you liked living like a pig before with messy drawers and you hate spending quality time with your family, that's your prerogative'.

'Don't feel pressure to become a better person just because you're in isolation, you can still be a scruffy a**ehole if you want to be.'

Earlier this month the reality star launched into a foul-mouthed rant on her Instagram Stories after a fan accusing her of using too much lip filler.

Shamed: After getting shamed for her attempt at the push-up challenge, Olivia shared her views on how people should be spending their time

Olivia was waiting for a laser hair removal appointment when she recorded a series of impassioned videos.

She shared a direct message sent from one of her fans who urged her stop enhancing her lips.

In footage filmed in her car, Olivia said: 'I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I am someone that suffers with trolling because I actually feel like compared to a lot of people I'm very lucky in that sense.

'But this s**t grinds my gears so f**king bad. I must see these kind of messages more than anything. And they're so good because there's always a backhanded compliment in there.

Critics: Earlier this month the reality star launched into a foul-mouthed rant on her Instagram Stories after a fan accusing her of using too much lip filler

'And it's always unfortunately a middle-aged woman. I hate to stereotype but it always, always, always, is. And maybe the reason I don't get that much trolling is because I always will message people back.

'You don't know what I need and also it's none of your f**king business! If I want my mouth to look like a swollen b***hole, that is my choice. Don't tell me, "You're pretty, you don't need [it]"

'F**k off! F**k off, get on with your day, get out of my DMs, that's it. So anyone else that's got any "you dont need those hair extensions" B***h, you don't know what I need. F**k off!'

Message: As the Love Island star waited for a laser hair removed appointment, she shared a direct message sent to her from one of her fans, who urged her stop enhancing her lips

Reiterating her message that fans should mind their own business, she continued: 'We live in this climate where everyone's so bothered by what everyone else is doing.

'I have never looked at someone, even someone that's screwed themselves up massively with surgery, if that's what they want, get on with it. It doesnt affect my day. If that makes them happy, who cares?

'Why is everyone so bothered about what other people look like? And just because you've put a compliment at the end, it doesn't mean that what you said in the beginning isn't rude and hurtful. Just keep it moving, saddos.'

Direct message: Before launching into her video rant the reality star shared a screenshot of the criticism she had been sent

She also insisted that her status as a public figure doesn't give others the right to comment on her appearance, as she added: 'And don't say, "You've got a following, you've been on TV, so we all get an opinion on the way you look"

'No you don't! You can get an opinion on some stuff  what I do or what I say, bring it on. I love it. But what I do to my face and body, just p**s off!'

The message in question was left under a picture of Olivia fiance Bradley Dack which she shared after they returned to the same place in Dubai where he'd proposed to her.

The social media user wrote: 'Please stop with the lip fillers. Ur not a duck. Ur so pretty already and U dont need them.' [sic]

Clearly irked, the reality star wrote back: 'Mind your own f**king business!! And keep your opinions to your self!'
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Top congressional and White House officials emerged from grueling negotiations at the Capitol over the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package saying they expected to reach a deal Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said they had spoken by phone with President Donald Trump during the long night of negotiations.

While the two sides have resolved many issues in the sweeping package, some remain. At midnight Monday, they emerged separately to say talks would continue into the night.

We look forward to having a deal tomorrow, Mnuchin told reporters after exiting Schumer's office.

The president is giving us direction," Mnuhcin said. "The president would like to have a deal, and he's hopeful we can conclude this.

Moments later, Schumer agreed that a deal was almost within reach. That's the expectation  that we finish it tomorrow and hopefully vote on it tomorrow evening," he said.

The long evening of shuttle negotiations came after a long day trying to close the deal.

The massive package is a far-reaching effort to prop up the U.S. economy, help American households and bolster the health care system amid the growing crisis.

Mnuchin said talks were expected to resume at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Tensions flared Monday as Washington strained to respond to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, with Congress arguing over a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package and an impatient Trump musing openly about letting the 15-day shutdown expire next Monday, March 30.

As the U.S. braces for an onslaught of sick Americans, and millions are forced indoors to avert a spike that risks overwhelming hospitals, the most ambitious federal intervention in modern times is testing whether Washington can act swiftly to deal with the pandemic on the home front.

It's time to get with the program, time to pass historic relief, said an angry Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier in the day as he opened the chamber after a nonstop weekend session that failed to produce a deal.

This is a national emergency.

Fuming, McConnell warned Democrats  pointedly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  to quit stalling on political games, as he described Democratic efforts to steer more of the aid toward public health and workers, and push other priorities.

Trump, who has largely been hands-off from the negotiations, weighed in late Monday from the White House briefing room, declaring that Congress should vote for the Senate bill as written," dismissing any Democratic proposal.

It must go quickly," Trump said.

This is not the time for political agendas."

The Republican president also sounded a note of frustration about the unprecedented modern-day effort to halt the virus' march by essentially shutting down public activities in ways that now threaten the U.S. economy.

Even though Trump's administration recommended Americans curtail activities starting a week ago, the president said: We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. At the end of the 15-day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go.

Let's go to work," he said.

This country was not built to be shut down. This is not a county that was built for this.

Trump said that he may soon allow parts of the nation's economy, in regions less badly hit by the virus, to begin reopening, contradicting the advice of medical and public health experts across the country, if not the globe, to hunker down even more firmly.

Pelosi assailed Trump's idea and fluctuating response to the crisis.

"He's a notion-monger, just tossing out things that have no relationship to a well-coordinated, science-based, government-wide response to this," Pelosi said on a health care conference call.

"Thank God for the governors who are taking the lead in their state. Thank God for some of the people in the administration who speak truth to power.

The White House team led by Mnuchin worked on Capitol Hill for a fourth straight day of talks as negotiators narrowed on a bipartisan accord.

In the nearly empty building, the virus continued to strike close. Republican Sen.Rand Paul of Kentucky, who announced he tested positive for coronavirus, is now among five senators under self-quarantine.

Several other lawmakers have cycled in and out of isolation.

And the husband of Sen.Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, is in a hospital with pneumonia after testing positive, she said Monday.

First lady Melania Trump, meanwhile, has tested negative for the coronavirus, Trump said.

With a wary population watching and waiting, Washington labored under the size and scope of a rescue package  larger than the 2008 bank bailout and 2009 recovery act combined.

Democrats are holding out as they argue the package is tilted toward corporations and should do more to help suddenly jobless workers and health care providers with dire needs.

In particular, Schumer, D-N.Y., wants constraints on the largely Republican-led effort to provide $500 billion for corporations, which Democrats have called a slush fund.

Schumer wants the bill to limit stock buy-backs, CEO pay and layoffs.

Yet, he said, We're very close to reaching a deal."

Even so, another attempt to move the package forward snagged, blocked as Democrats refused to quit negotiating.
Medical workers stretch a patient from an Italian Red Cross ambulance into an intensive care unit set up in a sports center outside the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, on March 23, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Italy Epidemic Follows China Ties, Although Origin Remains Mystery

News Analysis

About every two minutes, someone in Italy dies because of the CCP virus, a pandemic of a SARS-like disease that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allowed to spread around the world by covering up the existence of the initial outbreak in China.

Italy has been the hardest-hit country after China, with more than 80,000 confirmed infections and more than 8,000 dead as of March 26. Its still not exactly clear how the Italian outbreak started. The province at its epicenter, though, has especially intense business ties to China and the country as a whole has been criticized for getting too close to the Red Dragon.

Seed of the Epidemic

The first two cases of the virus in Italy were a couple from the central Chinese city of Wuhanthe epicenter of the infection. They arrived in Milan on Jan. 24 and for the next week traveled south to Rome, where they developed symptoms. Another case was an Italian man who tested positive after returning from China in late January.

None of these are believed to have caused an outbreak. For nearly two weeks, the number of confirmed cases stayed at three.

Then, on Feb. 18, a 38-year-old man showed up at a hospital in Codogno, a small town about 30 miles southeast of Milan. Two days prior, he was prescribed influenza medicine at the hospital, but his symptoms failed to improve, Italian paper La Repubblica reported. The man didnt disclose any connection to China and no quarantine protocols were engaged.

One day later, he started to have breathing problems, and his wife recalled that he met a friend who returned from China several weeks before. A test was administered and came back positive. The difficult work of reconstructing the mans activities over the prior few weeks began.

He met more people in those days, between work and sport, than I did in six months, Giorgio Scanzi, the hospitals chief physician, said.

The mans pregnant wife and personal doctor became sick, and some of the hospital staff became ill.

The number of cases in the area started to climb. First by dozens, then by hundreds, then by thousands. As of March 25, nearly half of all the confirmed cases in Italy are concentrated in the Lombardy region around Milan. The province of Lodi, which covers Codogno and the surrounding towns, has more than eight infected per 1,000 residentsabout eight times the national average.

But something wasnt adding up. The sick man worked as a research and development manager for Unilever, a multinational food and hygiene corporation. The company has an extensive presence in China, including a research and development facility in Shanghai, but it isnt clear whether the man could have come in contact with the virus even indirectly through Unilever operations. The company didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

His friend who had returned from China later tested negative. So where did the man contract the virus? Theres no clear answer. Italian authorities are now focused on the epidemic itself, rather than chasing the countrys patient zero.

China Ties

One thing is clear: If any place in Italy has close ties to China, its Lodi. The city with a population of about 230,000 did more than $2.6 billion worth of business with China in 2018, according to a local Chamber of Commerce (pdf). Thats more than $11,000 a heada rate nearly four times that of neighboring Milan.

Other hard-hit areas in Lombardy also have significant ties to China. Of all Italian provinces, Milan does the most business with China in absolute numbersabout $9.4 billion in 2018. The province has more than 6,000 virus cases.

Bergamo, the province with most confirmed cases (more than 7,000), has long had a twin relationship with Yanbian Prefecture, a Chinese autonomous region at the North Korean border. The prefecture even opened an office in the Italian province. Bergamos China trade reached nearly $1.6 billion in 2018.

Brescia, home of the firearms manufacturer Beretta, is doing more than $1 billion worth of business with China a year. It now has nearly 6,600 cases of the CCP virus.

Nationwide, the regions that do the most business with China are also the ones hit the most by the virus: Lombardy, which does more than $20 billion worth of business with China and has more than 32,000 cases; Emilia Romagna, with more than $6.2 billion and more than 10,000 cases; Veneto, with more than $6.4 billion and more than 6,400 cases; and Piemonte, with more than $4.6 billion and more than 6,000 cases.

But the correlation isnt absolute. Campania, the most densely populated region in the country, has fewer than 1,200 cases. It also does quite a bit of business with China, some $2 billion a year.

The virus is expected to function better in colder weather. That may be a part of why the southern regions, including Campania, have seen fewer cases.

At the same time, the mere presence of Chinese immigrants doesnt necessarily align with outbreak hot spots.

The central province of Prato has been known for its large Chinese community. Thousands of Chinese textile factories, often staffed by illegal immigrants, have sprouted in the recent decade or two, outcompeting long-established local businesses by importing cheap Chinese fabrics, breaking Italys tight labor laws, and sometimes dodging taxes.

But the province has had only 178 virus cases.

The Italian government has in recent years boosted its ties to China, even as the European Union urged Italy in vain last year against joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or One Belt, One Road). Thats Beijings infrastructure project to connect itself to Europe, South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Latin America, and Africa through a web of ports, roads, and railways.

The project has been criticized for steering developing countries into debt traps and for expanding the CCPs military and political sphere of influence.

Italy saw in China a source of investment for its struggling economy, as well as a market for its products. But those prospects have been slow to materialize. In 2018, less than a quarter of a percent of all foreign direct investment in Italy came from China.

While the CCP has enjoyed the public relations effect of having one of the G-7 countries join the BRI, Italy hasnt realized many benefits. The RWR Belt and Road Monitor, which tracks Chinese investments under the initiative, has spotted just one deal so far: Jetion Solar (China) Co. and Eni SpA are to invest about $2.2 billion into new solar projects.

Meanwhile, Italy continues to run massive trade deficits with China, including more than $200 billion in 2018 alone.

The virus now adds another perspective to the risk equation of China entanglements, according to Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, a member of the foreign affairs committee of Italys conservative Fratelli dItalia (Brothers of Italy) party.

Of course, the coronavirus opens a disturbing scenario, he told The Epoch Times in a previous interview. It tells us that interdependence from China can be a problem not only from an economic or industrial etc. point of view, but also from a national security, national health prophylaxis.

Update: The report has been updated with March 26 figures on the spread of the CCP virus in Italy.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the per capita value of business the province of Lodi does annually with China. Its more than $11,000 per capita.
P layStation has announced it will be reducing download speeds to deal with the strain of its servers in Europe, as more people turn to gaming during the self-isolation period.

The news was shared in a blog post by Sony president and CEO Jim Ryan, who explained: "Players may experience somewhat slower or delayed game downloads but will still enjoy robust gameplay". Online games should not be affected, he added.

Ryan went on to explain explained that Sony was working with internet service providers in Europe to manage download traffic to help preserve access for the entire internet community"

We believe it is important to do our part to address internet stability concerns as an unprecedented number of people are practising social distancing and are becoming more reliant on internet access", the post read.

Ghost of Tsushima already looks phenomenal / Sucker Punch

Sony isn't the first, and most likely won't be the last to make this decision. Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Disney also announced that they would lower the streaming quality of their streaming services across Europe.

As internet usage will no-doubt continue to rise as more businesses, offices and schools close, users might begin to notice strained downloads as the decision comes into effect.

Gaming is proving to be an excellent pastime for people who are now forced to stay inside, with platforms like Steam encountering record concurrent users of 20 million and more.

Online gaming isn't thought to be affected by this change, as the activity isn't as intensive as multiple people downloading games from the PlayStation Store, for example.

Ryan added: "We appreciate the support and understanding from our community, and they're doing their part as we take these measures in an effort to preserve access for everyone.

Here's the full blog post from PlayStation.

"Playing videogames enables players all over the world to connect with friends and family and enjoy much-needed entertainment during these uncertain times. Sony Interactive Entertainment is working with internet service providers in Europe to manage download traffic to help preserve access for the entire Internet community.

We believe it is important to do our part to address Internet stability concerns as an unprecedented number of people are practising social distancing and are becoming more reliant on Internet access.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire  InsuraGuest Technologies, Inc. (TSX.V: ISGI) (the Company), under its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary InsuraGuest Insurance Agency, LLC (the Agency), has successfully launched its Agency/Broker Program, which will focus on agencies and brokers that write general liability polices specifically for hotels and vacation rental properties.



Agency/Broker can sign up directly with InsuraGuest on the front page of the Companys website, www.InsuraGuest.com.



InsuraGuest insurance coverage, which is purchased by a property, automatically delivers Hospitality Liability coverages through the propertys management system via the Companys proprietary insurtech (insurance + technology) platform. These coverages address claims from guests and their room occupants during their stay at a hotel or vacation rental property; coverages insert a layer of protection on a primary basis should a guest experience an accident or theft.



InsuraGuest Hospitality Liability coverages become the propertys first line of defense, which may lower the propertys claim ratio and risk profile. By lowering the propertys claim ratio or risk profile, InsuraGuest may stabilize or lower the propertys current general liability premiums.



We have already signed up a major broker in Salt Lake City, Utah, and, due to demand, we are expanding our marketing efforts to include agents/brokers who currently write hospitality business policies. We will work with those agents/brokers to insert our hospitality liability coverages into their clients properties, which will add a layer of protection for the hotels, states Charles J. Cayias, InsuraGuests president. In addition to the added coverages, our goal is to help reduce the hotels current premiums and loss ratios by becoming their first line of defense.



InsuraGuests insurtech platform is currently capable of integrating with approximately 71 different hotel and vacation rental property management systems, giving it access to millions of rooms worldwide.

InsuraGuest Insurance Agency will administer the InsuraGuest product for hotels and vacation rentals under the license UT 763676.

InsuraGuests Hospitality Liability coverages are underwritten through an insurance company that is rated A (Superior) by A.M. Best Insurance Company.

About InsuraGuest Technologies Inc.



InsuraGuest Technologies, Inc. (TSX.V: ISGI) is a world-leading SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company that utilizes its proprietary insurtech (insurance + technology) flagship software, InsuraGuest, to deliver custom Hospitality Liability coverages through its wholly owned subsidiary, InsuraGuest Risk Purchasing Group, LLC. Through the combination of InsuraGuests integrated software and custom coverages, guests benefit from the property having InsuraGuest if there are losses during their stay.

InsuraGuest coverages are purchased by the hotels and vacation rental properties, which can address claims from guests and their room occupants during their stay.

The InsuraGuest Hospitality Liability coverages insert a layer of protection on a primary basis should a guest or their room occupants experience an accident and/or theft during their stay at a hotel or vacation rental property.

For more information, visit the companys website at https://www.InsuraGuest.com/ .

Forward-Looking Statements



Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect managements current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are no guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Companys control. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.



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.



Company Contact:

Investor Relations

+1-212-466-6200 ext. 1

Investor@InsuraGuest.com
Women in fisheries: Contributing to the promotion of livelihoods through fisheries agreements between EU and African countries

by Beatrice Gorez

March 24,2020 | Source: CFFA

Women play a key role in fisheries, and particularly in small scale fisheries, in all the countries with which the European Union (EU) has signed a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA), either in Africa, Indian Ocean, or the Pacific. By making fish products  a source of proteins, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals  available at affordable cost to the population, including the poorest and those living far from the coasts, women working in artisanal fisheries sector contribute significantly to food security.



However, the traditional perception that women in fisheries are mainly active in the processing and selling of fish, whilst men focus on the at sea operations has influenced negotiations on the impacts of EU fishing agreements on African fishing communities. Since access to resources was the subject matter, the discussion focused on avoiding interactions at sea between EU industrial vessels and local artisanal fishermen. Even when the artisanal fishing sector attended fishing agreements negotiations, the representatives were fishermen and women organisations were nowhere to be seen at the bargaining table.



The fact that women issues have been, and are still, largely overlooked when negotiating a fishing agreement also reflects the general lack of awareness and data on their actual contribution to the sector. In the ex-post and ex-ante evaluations of SFPAs, which provide a basis for negotiation, data on womens work in the fish value chain are seldom mentioned. Consequently, during the discussions, very little attention has been given to how women activities can be protected and supported.



However, in the last years, African women in fisheries voices have been increasingly heard in discussions on fisheries management. At the occasion of the annual International Women Day celebrations organized by the African Confederation of professional artisanal fisheries organisations (CAOPA), they underlined that: Women in the sector are directly affected by poor fisheries resource management []. We are actors of sustainable resource management, just like fishermen[...]. We ask our States to commit resolutely to the sustainable and transparent management of our fisheries resources, to give priority access to those who contribute to the food security of our populations and to involve both men and women from the artisanal fisheries sector in this management.



Mismanagement, leading to over-exploitation of resources, has an immediate impact on women in fisheries livelihoods: the lack of access to fish to process and sell. In countries like Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea Bissau, women fish processors have difficulties accessing raw material as, in the last decade, maritime artisanal fisheries landings have constantly decreased. Indeed, artisanal fishers face many challenges such as trawlers fishing illegally in the coastal zone and destroying their nets and unsustainable fishing methods by industrial boats, such as pair trawling, and by some artisanal pirogues.



In Senegal and The Gambia, women have denounced the competition they face from foreign owned fishmeal plants which process vast quantities of sardinella into fishmeal and fishoil for exports. In Liberia, it was women fish processors that sounded the alarm bell after a government initiative to reduce the artisanal fishing zone from 6 Nautical Miles (NM) to 3 NM. Women also consistently highlight their deplorable working conditions: in the smoke with obsolete equipment with no access to running water, electricity or sanitation.



Women organisations from Cote dIvoire, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia, Liberia have pointed these issues to their governments, as well as to the EU, as the partner in these Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement. In their view, supporting women in the African artisanal fishing sector through SFPAs will strengthen coastal communities, and therefore contribute to the establishment of sustainable fisheries.

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
By PTI

BERLIN: A German army shipment of six million face masks needed to protect against the novel coronavirus has vanished in Kenya, the defence ministry in Berlin confirmed Tuesday.

"We are trying to find out what happened" to the massive order of protective equipment meeting the FFP2 standard for protection against particles and aerosols, a spokeswoman said.

News weekly Der Spiegel had earlier reported that the masks went missing at a Kenyan airport at the end of last week.

It was not immediately clear why the shipment was transiting via the east African country, the spokeswoman said.

The German army's procurement office -- plagued in normal times by equipment shortages and breakdowns -- is providing the health ministry with logistical support during the coronavirus crisis.

ALSO READ: Doctors plead for supplies across globe, while nations seek to slow coronavirus

Due to arrive in Europe's largest economy on March 20, the missing mask shipment was one of the first major deliveries needed to gird Germany's health system for its battle against the coronavirus, Spiegel reported.

That makes the loss "more than irritating" for the German health and government workers on the front line of the crisis, Spiegel wrote citing official sources.

ALSO READ: Germany to abandon debt limits with 156 billion euros of new borrowing

According to the Robert Koch Institute disease control authority, the country had 27,436 confirmed virus infections Tuesday -- an increase of almost 5,000 over the tally on Monday.

The defence ministry spokeswoman said the German government would not suffer a financial loss on the lost shipment as payment for the masks had been due on delivery.
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Britain entered its first day of coronavirus lockdown today as people were ordered to stay at home and only leave the house for basic food shopping, exercise once a day and essential travel to and from work.

Eerie photographs showed city centres in the likes of London, Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Birmingham were almost completely empty with much of the UK workforce now setting up their office at home.

But queues again formed early this morning outside supermarkets across the country as shoppers observed the social distancing rules of standing two metres - or more than six feet - apart while waiting to get into stores.

Virtually all shops are now closing in a dramatic escalation of the lockdown, with only supermarkets, pharmacies, specialist food shops, petrol stations, corner shop newsagents, hardware stores and pet shops staying open.

Britain's 66million people today began a new life in coronavirus lockdown after the population were threatened with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

However in some areas people were clearly flouting the ban on social gatherings of more than two people, with a number of men talking on Southend seafront, and a group together in a park in Bournemouth.

In the Surrey town of Chertsey, police dispersed a large group of footballers having a kickabout, with social media users asking: 'Why are people not listening?'

It comes as military vehicles crossed a near-empty Westminster Bridge this morning after delivering a much-needed batch of protective face masks to frontline NHS nurses and doctors battling the pandemic.

The Houses of Parliament at the end of an empty Westminster Bridge with one pedestrian on the pavement this morning

The =concourse surrounding Bristol Temple Meads train station is empty of rush-hour commuters and travelers at 8am today

A small amount of traffic travels on the Blackwall Tunnell Southern Approach on the A102 road south east of London today

The eerie empty streets of Birmingham city centre this morning as only a handful of workers venture out this morning

Empty streets in Liverpool city centre this morning after the country wakes up to tight new restrictions on movement

Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after soldiers delivered medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London today

An empty Princes Street in Edinburgh - one of the city's main shopping routes - this morning as the UK goes into lockdown

An empty children's play area on Llandaff Fields in Cardiff, South Wales, this morning as the country goes into lockdown

A group of people relax together on the otherwise empty beach in front of Brighton Pier in East Sussex this morning

An empty classroom at Manor Park School and Nursery in Knutsford, Cheshire, this morning amid the UK lockdown

The M1 motorway near Hendon in North London is almost completely empty today as the spread of coronavirus continues

A view of a quiet M20 motorway near Ashford in Kent today, the day after Prime Minister put the UK in lockdown

People enjoy the warm spring weather today at St James's Park in London as they go out for some exercise

Soldiers from the Army's 101 Logistic Brigade dropped off the medical masks at St Thomas' Hospital in London, following warnings that many doctors feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' because of the lack of proper protection.

Nursing leaders had called upon Mr Johnson to intervene over the lack of protective clothing for NHS staff, telling him that many of those doctors and nurses putting their lives on the line are coming out of retirement.

The Army is now helping deliver protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and suits round the clock to hospitals  but many staff have raised concerns that there will not be enough to go around all their colleagues.

The Royal College of Nursing said that not only are frontline staff deeply concerned about contracting the virus themselves, they are anxious about passing it on to the very vulnerable patients in other wards.

A lone person walks through Queens Square in Bristol today which is empty of rush-hour pedestrians at 8.20am today

A sign on the M8 motorway advises motorists to avoid travel where possible in Glasgow, with only one car pictured today

The eerie empty streets of Birmingham city centre this morning, as a few workers venture out amid the lockdown

An empty street near London Victoria train station this morning after Boris Johnson imposed a lockdown across Britain

Bristol Temple Meads train station is empty of rush-hour commuters and other passengers at 8am this morning

An empty Liverpool Pier Head this morning after Boris Johnson put the whole of the UK into a coronavirus lockdown

A lone cyclist in the Roald Dahl Plass public plaza in Cardiff this morning after the lockdown measures were brought in

Empty stairs and escalators at London's Oxford Street Underground station this morning as the UK goes into lockdown

An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park in London this morning after the Prime Minister ordered a lockdown

A man stands on an empty escalator during the morning 'rush hour' at Kings Cross Underground station in London today

Police disperse large group of footballers having a kickabout Police today dispersed a large group of footballers having a kickabout on the first day of the UK lockdown over coronavirus. Officers were called to Abbey Fields in Chertsey, Surrey, after the Government banned social gatherings of more than two people. A Surrey Police spokesman posted on Facebook: 'The large group of people playing football on Abbey Fields at Chertsey have been dispersed. You keep your distance and we'll keep ours!' People reacted with fury, with Paul Batcheler replying: 'Why are people not listening?' And Nigel Turner said: 'These morons will never learn.' And Paul Dysart wrote: 'What is it that people don't get with the whole quarantine thing?' Advertisement

Military sources have revealed that 460 personnel are being mobilised over the next few days to help deliver the personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals.

There are currently 50 members of the military tasked with getting vital kit to the NHS but there are plans to increase this by nine fold over the course of this week.

The Army have sent dozens of military planners to distribution centres across the UK to help coordinate the operation and their main hub will be in Liverpool.

A Defence source said: 'There is a massive hole in the capability to do this. The NHS haven't got ability to coordinate it so we are sending more army personnel to support that planning.

'We are talking about huge amounts of kit. They just don't have the numbers, it is about getting skilled planners to help logistics.'

Over the weekend the Doctors' Association, a grassroots organisation, warned that doctors were being made to feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' and 'cannon fodder'.

Sir Andrew Gregory, chief executive of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, said: 'As we see our troops called upon in Britain's time of need, this is the time to give thanks for the bravery of our Armed Forces.

Customers queue to shop at Costco in Thurrock, Essex, today - on the day after the Prime Minister put the UK in lockdown

A couple wearing protective face masks wait with their trolley as people queue outside Costco supermarket in Watford today

Customers queue to shop at Costco in Thurrock, Essex, today as the UK faces lockdown measures to help protect the NHS

People observe social distancing while queuing at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Colton, on the outskirts of Leeds, early today

Crowds of people walk into a Tesco supermarket in the Gloucestershire market town of Cirencester this morning

People queue today at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Colton, on the outskirts of Leeds, after the UK was put into lockdown

People observe social distancing while queuing at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Colton, on the outskirts of Leeds, today

People queue outside a Sainsbury's store in South West London this morning as the spread of the coronavirus continues

People stand two metres apart as they wait for a Sainsbury's supermarket to open in South West London this morning

People queue with gaps of at least two metres between them outside a Sainsbury's supermarket in South West London today

People stand outside a Sainsbury's supermarket in South West London today as the spread of coronavirus continues

'Although often out of sight, these invaluable men and women work every day of the year to defend the values that this nation holds sacred. They are now, once again, stepping up to join the frontline of the fight against COVID-19, allowing people to carry on fighting this virus in safety and relative calm.

'I urge every one of you reading this to take a moment to appreciate our Armed Forces  every time our nation needs help, they are there.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said yesterday: 'I am determined to ensure that the right kit gets to the right hospital, the right ambulance service, the right doctors' surgery, right across the country.

'There have been challenges and I can see that. We're on it and trying to solve all the problems.'

What major world cities have the lowest proportion of people moving around compared to normal? TWO WEEKS AGO (W/ending Mar 15) Milan 9% Rome 16% Seoul 42% Madrid 46% Seattle 47% Tokyo 48% Monaco 51% Copenhagen 54% Paris 57% San Francisco 57% Rhine-Ruhr 60% Barcelona 61% Hamburg 64% Boston 64% Hong Kong 65% Washington DC 66% New York City 67% Amsterdam 68% Vienna 69% Berlin 69% Philadelphia 70% Brussels 71% Los Angeles 71% Stockholm 73% Chicago 78% Singapore 82% Vancouver 83% L ondon 83% Toronto 84% Lyon 86% Lisbon 87% Manchester 89% Montreal 91% Birmingham 91% Sydney 93% Istanbul 93% Mexico City 95% Melbourne 97% Moscow 98% St. Petersburg 101% Sao Paulo 104% PAST WEEK (W/ending Mar 21) Milan 4% Madrid 5% Barcelona 6% Rome 6% Vienna 7% Paris 9% Copenhagen 11% Lyon 11% Amsterdam 12% San Francisco 12% Monaco 13% Brussels 14% New York City 15% Boston 16% Washington DC 16% Chicago 17% Hamburg 20% Lisbon 20% Seattle 20% Berlin 21% Istanbul 21% Rhine-Ruhr 22% Los Angeles 22% Philadelphia 23% Montreal 30% Sao Paulo 33% Toronto 34% Tokyo 35% Stockholm 36% London 36% Vancouver 37% Seoul 40% Manchester 41% Birmingham 44% Mexico City 45% Melbourne 55% Sydney 56% Hong Kong 56% Moscow 68% Singapore 72% St. Petersburg 79% YESTERDAY (Mar 23) Milan 4%

Barcelona 5%

Madrid 5%

Lyon 5%

Paris 5%

Monaco 5%

Vienna 6%

Rome 6%

Amsterdam 7%

Brussels 8%

New York City 8%

San Francisco 8%

Chicago 9%

Washington DC 9%

Copenhagen 10%

Boston 10%

Istanbul 11%

Sao Paulo 13%

Berlin 13%

Lisbon 14%

Seattle 14%

Hamburg 15%

Los Angeles 16%

Rhine-Ruhr 17%

Philadelphia 17%

Montreal 18%

Tokyo 18%

Toronto 23%

Vancouver 24%

London 25%

Manchester 28%

Sydney 28%

Mexico City 30%

Birmingham 31%

Melbourne 33%

Stockholm 35%

Seoul 36%

Moscow 56%

Singapore 61%

St. Petersburg 73%

Hong Kong n/a Data from Citymapper Mobility Index Advertisement

A group of men greet each other on Southend seafront in Essex today despite the government banning gatherings

People enjoy the warm and sunny spring weather today at St James's Park in London as they go out for exercise

Two people exercise in the warm and sunny weather today at St James's Park in London today

Police speak to a member of the public sitting on a bench at St James's Park in London this morning

People go out for a walk on a beautiful day in Southend-on-Sea in Essex this morning amid the new Government advice

A man goes for a walk through a park in Telford, Shropshire, today after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

A group of people are seen a park in Bournemouth today despite the Prime Minister announcing strict lockdown measures

A view of Lakeside Retail Park in Thurrock, Essex, today the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

Mr Johnson has placed the UK on lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, threatening police fines for anyone who ignores new measures including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.

The Prime Minister detailed a short list of reasons why individuals can leave their homes as he ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials items yesterday evening.

He ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities 'as infrequently as possible' and to perform one form of exercise a day.

Or they could seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if 'absolutely necessary', he said in a televised address from within Downing Street.

A playground and skate park closed off today at Gadebridge Park in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

A woman pushes a pram past a sign displaying social distancing guidelines at Green Park in London today

People exercise in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, today - the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

Castle Marina retail park in Nottingham today, on the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

Flowers blooming at Holland Park in West London as people go out exercising in the beautiful weather

'That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home,' he said. 'You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

'If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.'

To ensure people follow the rules, Mr Johnson ordered the immediate closure of non-essential stores including those selling electronics and clothing.

All public gatherings of more than two people - other than those they live with - will be barred, the PM said. Other premises being shuttered are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship.

Soldiers from the British Army's 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital today

Soldier arrive in a military lorry to deliver the consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London this morning

The delivery by the 101 Logistic Brigade today came after Boris Johnson announced strict lockdown measures for Britain

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London today

The Army is helping deliver protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and suits round the clock to hospitals today

Many staff at NHS hospitals today have raised concerns that there will not be enough to go around all their colleagues

And, while parks will remain open for exercise, all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped. Funerals, however, can continue.

Hotels and campsites will now join pubs, cafes and restaurants in being closed to slow the disease's spread. Government officials said fines will start at 30, but warned they would escalate.

Mr Johnson said the measures will be 'under constant review' and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks' time if the evidence allows.

He said that 'no prime minister wants to enact measures like this' as he reminded the public of the support programme to aid ailing businesses and struggling individuals.

But he said the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the 'very limited purposes' were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

The Army have sent dozens of military planners to distribution centres across the UK to help coordinate the operation

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London this morning

A military lorry is seen as members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver the masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London today

There are currently 50 members of the military tasked with getting vital kit to the NHS, including those at St Thomas' today

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade arrive in a military lorry to deliver the batch of medical masks to St Thomas' today

Soldiers of the British Army's 101 Logistic Brigade deliver the masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London this morning

Boris Johnson plunged the UK into coronavirus lockdown last night - ordering the closure of all shops selling non-essential goods as well as playgrounds and churches

A grim-faced Mr Johnson made his dramatic announcement from behind a desk in Downing Street last night

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well,' he added.

Mr Johnson had been facing widespread calls to impose tough restrictions on the nation amid concerns people are ignoring social distancing advice.

His call came after the UK death toll hit 335 and British citizens travelling abroad were told to return home 'while you still can'.

Online supermarkets immediately appeared to buckle under the strain after the announcement with crashes occurring on the Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda websites.

Forty-six more people died in England alongside four in Scotland and four in Wales, taking the number who have died in British hospitals after testing positive to 335. Those who have died in England range in age from 18 to 105.

In an earlier escalation of advice, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told citizens travelling overseas to return to the UK using commercial routes that are still running.

Meanwhile, MPs were debating emergency legislation that could see airports shut and police having the powers to force people with virus symptoms to isolate.

Over the weekend, crowds of people were witnessed visiting open spaces across many parts of the UK, at times flouting official social distancing advice.

There were growing fears that Britain is on a similar trajectory to Italy - scene of the world's worst outbreak - where the death toll passed 5,000 over the weekend.

The Italian government was one of a number of European countries to announce new or extended restrictions - with Germany banning public gatherings of more than two people not from the same household.

Coronavirus lockdown: Who can still go out and why?

By Joe Middleton and Jack Maidment

Boris Johnson last night imposed an unprecedented virus lockdown and told everyone in the UK they 'must stay at home' to slow the spread of coronavirus as he set out just four instances when people can go outside.

Describing the crisis as a national emergency, he ordered families to stay in their homes except in special circumstances.

All 'non-essential' shops will be closed and public gatherings of more than two people banned.

Mr Johnson said the measures will be 'under constant review' and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks' time if the evidence allows.

He said that 'no prime minister wants to enact measures like this' but the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the 'very limited purposes' were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well,' he added.

What are the four reasons that Britons can leave their homes?

shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible;

one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person;

travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are six feet (two metres) apart from anyone outside of your household.

What stores will close? And what are the exceptions that will stay open?

Restaurants - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway that can remain open

Cafes, including workplace canteens - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway can remain operational. Cafes or canteens at hospitals, care homes or schools; prison and military canteens; services providing food or drink to the homeless.

Public houses

Bars and nightclubs, including bars in hotels or members' clubs

Hair, beauty and nail salons, including piercing and tattoo parlours

Massage parlours

All retail with notable exceptions - Supermarkets and other food shops, health shops, pharmacies including nondispensing pharmacies, petrol stations, bicycle shops, home and hardware shops, laundrettes and dry cleaners, bicycle shops, garages, car rentals, pet shops, corner shops, newsagents, post offices, and banks.

Outdoor and indoor markets - exceptions are market stalls which offer essential retail, such as grocery and food.

Auction houses

Car showrooms

Hotels, hostels, BnBs, campsites and boarding houses - exceptions are where people live in these as interim abodes whilst their primary residence is unavailable they may continue to do so. Key workers can continue to stay in hotels or similar where required.

Caravan parks/sites for commercial uses - exceptions are where people live permanently in caravan parks or are staying in caravan parks as interim abodes where their primary residence is not available, they may continue to do so.

Libraries

Community centres, youth centres and similar - Facilities may remain open for the purpose of hosting essential voluntary or public services, such as food banks or homeless services. We will do everything to support vulnerable people who are without a network of friends and families.

Places of worship for services - exceptions are for funerals following the social distancing guidance; places of worship should remain open for solitary prayer. Live streaming of a service without audience would be permissible.

Cinemas, theatres and concert halls - Live streaming of a performance by a small group could be permissible with social distancing observed.

Museums and galleries

Bingo halls, casinos and betting shops

Spas

Skating rinks

Fitness studios, gyms, swimming pools or other indoor leisure centres

Arcades, bowling alleys, soft play centres and similar

Enclosed spaces in parks, including playgrounds, sports courts and pitches, and outdoor gyms or similar

Boris Johnson has put the UK into a state of lockdown as the government stepped up its fight against coronavirus

Who are the key workers?

Health and social care -

Doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers; producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare -

Nursery and teaching staff , social workers and specialist education professionals who must remain active to keep schools running.

Key public services -

Those running of the j ustice system, religious staff, charity workers, undertakers, journalists and public service broadcasters.

Local/national government -

'Only those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits'.

Food and other vital goods -

Those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of key goods like hygienic and veterinary medicines.

National security -

Police and support staff, MoD workers, the armed forces, fire and rescue services, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles.

Transport -

Workers on air, water, road, and rail passenger modes, as well as air, water, road, and rail freight transport modes.

Utilities, communication and financial services -

Staff needed for financial services like banks and stock markets; workers in the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors, the postal service, sewerage and telecoms.

How long will the new restrictions last?

The government's Cobra emergency committee met at 5pm yesterday and signed off the extraordinary new restrictions - similar to those which have already been imposed across the rest of Europe.

They will last for three weeks initially - but the government's own experts have suggested the situation could take up to a year to resolve.

What enforcement action will there be?

In his address to the nation Mr Johnson said if people do not follow the new rules officers 'will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings'.

Police will be able to fine people 30 if they ignore the rules and these on-the-spot fines will be 'ramped up' if there is widespread flouting, the government has said.

Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor businesses compliance with the regulations, with police support if necessary.

Businesses and premises that breach them will be subject to prohibition notices, and potentially unlimited fines.

What social events can go ahead?

All social events are also being stopped including weddings, baptisms and other religious ceremonies but funerals will still be allowed to go ahead, attended by immediate family only.

The government is banning public gatherings of more than two people, what are the exceptions?

where the gathering is of a group of people who live together - this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home.

where the gathering is essential for work purposes - but workers should be trying to minimise all meetings and other gatherings in the workplace.

Are you still allowed to get a takeaway?

Government guidance says people can still access their local takeaway, this includes delivery drivers. But people are not allowed to consume any food or drinks on the premises.

Venues offering takeaway or delivery services must not include alcoholic beverages in this list if their license does not already permit.
Thanks to Ms. Rona, we're all trapped at home with nothing to do. Even Netflix is getting boring! But never fear. While they're technically out of work, our favorite entertainers are still out here bravely making virtual content in a scary new world. Going to the club or the theater is out of the question right now (self isolate! Ariana Grande says so) but here's PAPER's ongoing guide to the latest livestreams  featuring comedians, actors, musicians and more.

Who? Sydney Sweeney is hosting a virtual book club to keep us entertained and well-read in quarantine. For the first session of "Sydney Sweet Reads"s first session, the actress and thousands of her closest friends will be reading the first three chapters of Amy Spalding's We Used to be Friends. Sweeney has racked up a number of notable credits over the last year, including roles in Sharp Objects and The Handmaid's Tale. However, she'll be best recognized as Cassie Howard from hit teen drama Euphoria. Who wouldn't want to share a chardonnay and thoughts on the state of the novel with a troubled queen bee?

When? Tune in every Thursday, March 26, at 4 PM EST on Sweeney's Instagram.

Why watch? Instead of hitting play on another mid-tier Netflix show, join a group of avid readers and Sweeney herself discuss We Used to be Friends. The YA novel follows best friends, James and Kat, as their friendship is tested by the transition from their senior year to college. The novel explores sexuality, divorce, and the all too relatable experience of growing apart from your best friend. You can join the discussion using the hashtag #SydneySweetReadsxBustleBookClub on Twitter and Instagram.
MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) - Russian state-controlled VTB bank, which has been expanding its grain business, has bought a half of the Taman grain terminal in the Russian part of the Black Sea from Ukraine's Kernel, it said on Monday.

Global trade giant Glencore, which owns the other half of the terminal, remains VTB's partner in it, VTB added. Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, which has only a limited number of grain terminals in deep-water ports. Taman is one of the key terminals.

Kernel sold the stake for 61 million euros ($65 million) paid in cash, it said in its statement. It has not been involved in grain marketing in Russia since 2017, assigning its transshipment quota in the terminal to Glencore.

VTB, Russia's second-largest lender, which aims to become a national grains champion, became the largest operator of Russia's grain export infrastructure and a grain trader after a series of acquisitions in 2019.

"As part of VTB's grain market strategy, the deal will allow us to achieve significant synergies with VTB Group's existing assets in infrastructure, logistics and grain export," Yuri Soloviev, VTB's first deputy chief executive, said in the statement.

In November, VTB and Russian vegetable oil producer EFKO agreed to build another grain terminal in Taman, close to the one in which it purchased the stake on Monday.

VTB has been also looking at other options to expand grain export capacity in the Russian part of the Black and Azov Seas.

($1 = 0.9325 euros) (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Tatiana Voronova; writing by Polina Devitt; editing by Louise Heavens)
Northeastern Fine Jewelry donating to restaurants

Northeastern Fine Jewelry will support independently owned restaurants near its stores with a new Neighbor Helping Neighbor gift card program.

With every purchase of a $50 Northeastern Fine Jewelry gift card, the local, family-owned jeweler will donate $20 to independent restaurants. In honor of its three store locations, Northeastern Fine Jewelry selected three restaurants from each community where the jeweler operates to benefit from the program, including:

Northeastern Fine Jewelry gift cards are available for purchase online at nefj.com. Gift cards will be delivered at no charge (fees apply for expedited shipping).

Northeastern Fine Jewelrys three store locations  1575 Western Ave., Guilderland; 1607 Union St., Schenectady; and 167 Glen St., Glens Falls  are currently closed in accordance with the New York state mandate for nonessential businesses designed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes.

Albany Cooking School offering free videos, more

Albany Cooking School, which during the COVID-19 pandemic has paused plans to open its own facility, is now offering free instructional cooking videos on its Facebook page. There are six videos as of this week, lasting 20 to 30 minutes, on subjects from Irish coffee to pie dough to breaking down a chicken. More will be posted at a pace of roughly four per week. Each originates as a Facebook Live video with ACS owner Deanna Fox, who is a frequent contributor of food stories to the Times Union.

Fox also plans to launch, later this week, more formal videos that incorporate editing, graphics and guest chefs. They will be available for a nominal fee via the schools website, which is temporarily offline while Fox upgrades it.

The Albany Cooking School is seeking submissions from chefs who may want to contribute videos as well as suggestions from the public of chefs and dishes theyd like to see featured. Business are also also invited to apply to sponsor a free ACS video featuring a local chef making their signature dish. Interested parties may contact Fox via the schools Facebook page.

Albany Cooking School originated at the retail store Different Drummers Kitchen in Stuyvesant Plaza, Guilderland, a number of years ago. Fox bought the school as an independent business in mid-2o18, leasing classroom space from the store. It left the store at the end of last year. Fox is scouting real estate and plans to open a standalone school later this year.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Karma Bistro in Niskayuna reopens

Karma Bistro, the next venture from Piyamas DeMasi, who opened Thai Thai Bistro in Schenectady in 2013 and moved it to Niskayuna three years later, reopened earlier this week for takeout business. It opened briefly in August, without a liquor license, but has been hibernating for months.

The new chef is Brady Duhame, who was head chef at 15 Church in Saratoga Springs for three years, was director of culinary operations for Saratoga Hospitality Group (Max Londons, Saratoga Stadium) in 2017 and later ran his own contemporary-Asian concept called Buddha Noodle as a pop-up.

DeMasi said hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 9 p.m. weekends, closed Wednesday. Takeout only at first, from a limited menu, but delivery may follow; alcohol also available for pickup with food orders. Each order gets a free Karma Bistro T-shirt or tumbler, while supplies last.

Call 518-630-6958 or 518-630-6962 to order. Karma is located at 2321 Nott St. E., in St. James James Plaza, the same large shopping complex that is home to Thai Thai Bistro.

Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be submitted for publication should be emailed to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Visit his blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping.
Concerned About The US Real Estate Market? Us Too!

The current global Covid-19 virus event has upended everyones forward expectations related to the US and global economy. Recently, President Trump has announced a 12-month reprieve for homeowners who find themselves without income, or a job, because of the US National Emergency related to the Covid-19 pandemic (source: https://www.npr.org).

All of the recent repositionings of the global markets and forward expectations got us thinking about what happens after 8 to 12+ months? How will the US and global markets attempt a recovery process  if at all?. Today, we are going to try to start digging into the data that we believe is relevant to the future in terms of hard asset prices (home and other property) and more liquid asset prices (global financial markets).

First, we want to preface this article by stating that humans are somewhat predictable in terms of how they will react in emergency or panic situations like this current Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, they will react to protect what is vital to them (family, assets, safety). This same thing happened in the 2008-09 credit market crisis market collapse. Then, after a bit more time, people change their thinking and start to adapt to the situation as it unfolds. We believe that 30 to 60 days from now, as more information becomes available and consumers globally are more capable of addressing the true longer-term risks of this virus event, a social process will begin to take place where valuations and expectations will adjust to the new perceived outcome (whatever that may be).

The global stock market has collapsed nearly -35% based on our Custom Indexes. The SPY has collapsed -32.25% since February 23, 2020. During the 2008-09 Credit Crisis, the SPY collapsed -57.50% before finding a bottom near $67.10. We believe this initial price decline in the global markets is just the first downside price collapse of what may become many. Ultimately, we believe the 2015/2016 lows will become the ultimate support for this downside move in the US markets.

Be sure to opt-in to our free market trend signals before closing this page, so you dont miss our next special report!

SPY Weekly Chart

Custom Real Estate Index Weekly Chart

Custom European Index Weekly Chart

The data that is currently being reported and posted is data from January and February 2020. Current expectations for March data look grim (at best). Jobless claims, hours worked, and other economic data for the US and global markets may shock investors and the general public for many months to come. In 2008-09, these types of large economic contraction numbers were not uncommon. We want to prepare all of our friends and followers that we believe the next 6 to 12+ months could somewhat mirror what we saw in 2008-09  be prepared.

If our assumptions are correct, the reprieve in Foreclosures and Mortgage repayments for US consumers may not do much to resolve the ultimate problem. The problem will quickly revolve around the issue of how quickly the US economy can resume somewhat normal functions after the virus event subsides. We believe the reprieve offered to US consumers will assist in making the data a bit more tolerable for a short period of time, but ultimately any extended disruption in the US and global economy will result in extended risks in hard assets like homes, commercial property, and future valuation expectations.

(Source: realtytrac.com/statsandtrends/foreclosuretrends/)

This multi-part research article will dig deeper into the data and expected data to help you prepare for what may be likely in the markets (hard and soft). Now is the time to prepare for what could become one of the biggest disruptions in the global markets and global society weve ever seen.

As a technical analysis and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for short-term swing traders.

Visit my ETF Wealth Building Newsletter and if you like what I offer, and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own during the next financial crisis.

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




This piece originally appeared in the Conversation

The spread of the coronavirus has created unprecedented problems for Congress as it confronts how to conduct legislative business after the infection of several members.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, told Politico, We probably cannot keep operating all in one location.

For all of U.S. history so far, the House and Senate have had to take votes in person, in their respective chambers. Now, public health measures may prevent that.

As a former counsel for the House of Representatives from 1976 to 1983, I believe the Constitution permits Congress to use a method of voting other than gathering on the floor of their legislative chambers.

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[Update, April 22, 2020: Democratic leadership in the House evidently agrees: They will soon bring a proposal to the House to allow proxy voting during the pandemic. That means a member who is present in the House could cast a vote on behalf of a member who has been forced to stay at home.]

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The Framers who designed the constitutional structure for how things would work in Congress based it on parliamentary and colonial practices.

Members of Congress had and still have to vote in person on the floor of the House or Senate. But when the first Congress officially convened on March 4, 1789, due to bad weather and difficult travel, a quorum was not present. Without a quoruma simple majoritythere werent enough members there to actually conduct business. The ballots for president and vice president could not be counted and no legislation could be passed or revenue raised. A quorum finally assembled on April 1 in the House and April 5 in the Senate.

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The Framers might not have anticipated the extraordinary steps that Congress would have to take in a crisis such as today, when public health measures could dictate that hundreds of members be prevented from meeting on the floor of the House or Senate.

Yet the language the Founders used 233 years ago may nevertheless permit technological innovations now to facilitate voting from places other than the actual physical House and Senate chambers.

The U.S. Constitution directs that Congress shall assemble at least once a year.

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While the dictionary definition of assemble includes to meet or to gather, there is no indication that virtual assembly would be prohibited under the Constitution.

What guidance the Constitution provides suggests wide leeway in deciding how to fulfill its requirements.

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For example, the Constitution says that a majority of each [house] shall constitute a quorum to do business but does not specify how each house should determine what constitutes a quorum.

For years, until 1890, the view in the House was that satisfying the requirement for a quorum meant an absolute majority of members living and seated had to vote on any proposition. This resulted in members refusing to cast votes and thereby preventing a quorum and obstructing the Houses business.

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In 1890, Speaker Thomas Reed ruled that members present in the chamber but not voting would be counted in determining a quorum.

The Supreme Court upheld Reeds rule, saying that the Houses ability to transact business is created by a mere presence of a majority. Since there was no method specified in the Constitution for determining the presence of a majority, it thus lay in the Houses hands to prescribe any method which shall be reasonably certain to ascertain the fact.

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The Senate has a slightly different rule but has the same discretion to make a similar determination.

How Congress works is not dictated only by what is constitutional. There are rules within the House and Senate that also govern what each body can do.

Currently, House rules say that [e]very Member shall be present within the Hall during its sittings  and shall vote on each question put.

The Constitution allows each house of Congress to determine the Rules of its Proceedings. The constitutionality of those rules has been challenged over the years, but the Supreme Court has said that Congress power to formulate and impose such rules is absolute and beyond the challenge of any other body or tribunal.

That means both the House and Senate have the power to amend their rules to allow a method of voting that does not require them to assemble on the floor of their chambers.

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This change could be constitutionally allowed and technically feasible. But it raises many other questions, from peoples faith in Congress trustworthiness to the vulnerability of such a system to outside attacks.

If Congress adopts remote voting, its major challenge is to create a system that can be protected against fraud, hacking, or proxy voting.

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While the Senate still requires voice or hand votes, the House implemented electronic voting systems in the early 1970s. By the 1980s, suspicions had arisen that House members, either for their convenience or to avoid an absence, lent their electronic voting cards to one another to enter their votes. Since no House rule specifically allowed such proxy voting on the floor, there was a question of whether such a practice was permissible under House Ethics rules.

Following a House Ethics Committee investigation into these anomalies, they adopted a rule preventing proxy voting on the House floor. Obviously, the House would have to come up with a system for preventing such abuses from recurring.

Of course, such a system could be devised for limited use during emergencies, with a return to traditional voting in the chamber once the emergency has passed.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
MERIDEN  The American Red Cross, along with Connecticut State Police hosted an emergency blood drive Tuesday for first responders to donate blood in the wake of the shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to WTHN.

Fire departments, police departments, and the National Guard from around the state attended the drive hosted at the Connecticut Police Academy in Meriden.

We are working with local officials, trying to get in some of the schools that are closed, and were really trying to stay on top of that and get the information out to the public because we do not want to reach an extreme blood shortage, American Red Cross District Manager Kimberly Moreland told WTNH.

For the safety of attendees, participants had to have their temperature taken before giving blood, beds were also spaced six feet apart.

There have been around 7,000 American Red Cross Blood drives that have been canceled across the United States as of March 23, translating to 200,000 fewer blood donations according to Director of Communications at American Red Cross of Westchester Abigail Adams.

The reason a lot of these are getting canceled is a lot of our blood drives are held in schools and colleges, which have their campuses closed, Abigail Adams said.

Abigail Adams says everyone should keep in mind Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams statement on giving blood during this time.

Social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement. So, give blood, today. You'll feel good about it and you'll be helping your country and your community during this crisis, and you might even save a life, Jerome Adams said.

Those looking to donate blood can make an appointment on their website.
Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory are the only remaining states to record no cases of coronavirus transmitted via the local community.

The ACT has recorded 39 cases, Tasmania, 28 and the NT has recorded five. All of their cases were travellers who had returned from overseas.

It means that those infected with COVID-19 did not pass the deadly virus to anyone else after landing in Australia.

Community transmission occurs when a person is infected by the virus without having travelled overseas or coming into contact with another contaminated individual.

All positive cases of coronavirus in Tasmania, the ACT and the NT were brought in by travellers. Pictured: Travellers arrive at Hobart airport last Thursday

Tasmania was the first Australian jurisdiction to close its borders but experts warned that cases could be transmitted if Tasmanians did not practice distancing. Pictured: Hobart

Kirsty Short, a virologist at the University of Queensland, said that imported virus cases were easy to control with proper checks and protocols but that community transmission signals a loss of control.

Tasmania was the first jurisdiction in Australia to close its borders in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Dr Short said: 'We won't see the effects of border closures until 14 days after the border has closed because individuals may have come in and been incubating the virus without showing any symptoms.'

Sukhwinder Sohal, head of the respiratory research group at the University of Tasmania, said there could be cases of community transmission in Tasmania that they authorities were not aware of.

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

Dr Sohal said: 'Since we're hitting the flu season now in Australia a lot of people might get confused thinking "OK, I've got a sore throat, is it the flu or is it really coronavirus."'

He said the similarities between symptoms and the confusion over self-diagnosis could lead to more Australians becoming infected.

Dr Sohal said that the government should make more testing available and also examine people who are not presenting symptoms.

This would allow more accurate research into the true number of infected cases in Australia.

He also noted that the spread of coronavirus depended on people's commitment to isolating and practicing good hygiene.

Dr Sohal said that it was important for every individual to commit to making lifestyle changes in order to fight the virus.




Broadcaster SBS has revealed the face of Cho Joo-bin, 25, the notorious child porn suspect. Courtesy of SBS

More than 2 million people have signed an online petition as of Monday demanding the government unveil the identity of a man who allegedly ran a group chat room where photos and videos of violent sex acts, involving underaged victims, were distributed.



At least 74 victims are known to have been exploited in the so-called Nth room case, in which a man surnamed Cho allegedly lured victims into taking naked photos and later threatened and exploited them into more gruesome sex acts.



Cho, who used the nickname "baksa," which means "doctor" or "guru" in Korean, is accused of distributing the videos in a group chat room on the messaging service Telegram, where some of up to 10,000 users are suspected of paying Cho to watch the videos.



Cho reportedly charged the viewers in cryptocurrency, which makes it more difficult for authorities to track down perpetrators compared with other financial payment methods, such as credit cards and mobile phone payments.



Police have so far tracked down 124 people in relation to the case, including Cho and 17 others who have been formally detained. The user who is suspected of first creating the chat room, however, still remains at large.



The case, which became notorious for its extreme brutality, has triggered public fury here as people signed presidential petitions and shared social media hashtags demanding powerful punishment against the perpetrators.






Schlumberger, the largest oilfield service company in the world, plans to cut up to 30 percent from its budget as crumbling oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic weigh on the industry.

The company also expects to layoff workers and reduce compensation as part of restructuring efforts in North America, CEO Olivier Le Peuch said at the Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans.

The magnitude of the budget cuts depends on changes to customers' plans, Le Peuch said. A full 30 percent cut would leave the company with a $1.2 billion capital budget for the year. The company spent $1.7 billion on capital projects in 2019.

Le Peuch said almost all of the company's remaining capital spending would be in international operations, which accounted for for about 80 percent of its free cash flow.

Service Sector: Halliburton furloughs 3,500 employees in Houston

Schlumberger joins Chevron, Shell, Total and numerous other companies in the energy industry who are cutting billions of dollars in response to rapidly falling oil prices.

A price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has exacerbated a global supply glut while the coronavirus outbreak has lowered global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is trading around $23 per barrel, a price not seen since February 2002.

Le Peuch said Schlumberger's international operations have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak but noted that manufacturing operations in China are returning to pre-crisis levels.

In the U.S., the company expects conditions to worsen, perhaps reducing the number of rigs to levels seen during the most recent oil bust. At the low point in May 2016, there were just 404, according the Baker Hughes Rig Count. There are 772 drilling rigs in operation now.

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

Headquartered in Paris with its principal offices in Houston, Schlumberger has more than 105,000 employees in 120 countries.
Grandma Wise taught Nurse Vivian how to handle influenza. Whenever Bernice, Vivian, Charles, Jimmy, Georgie or Janey took sick, shed put that child in the middle of the family bed. In this way, they all had the measles or the mumps together. Needless to say, Brother X, Brother Double X and I had the same treatment. A personal crisis was a family crisis.

But nowadays its all about social distance. We peace officers have been bumping elbows for years, but its impossible to give a hug from a distance. Been told by the boys that the newest thing is tapping shoes, and I wonder if this is the new world order. Have we seen the end of the handshake?

Im Irish, so Ive got a smaller social distance as it is.

Last week, I commented that deputies dont get to call in sick for Armageddon. Deputies, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians  for all of us the world has been set on screech, setting up emergency protocols and trying to look calm as we do.

Cops love a good crisis. Its what we train for. When the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come galloping down Market Street, were gonna pull them over and give them a citation. Mr. Famine, did you know youre missing a taillight?

Its not the pandemic we like but the camaraderie. Gallows humor. Were working long days, but one of the guys stopped by Roberts for the meat, so that on St. Patricks Day we had our corned beef and cabbage.

COVID-19 isnt one of those crises with dramatic saves and people running into burning towers. Wont be any medals. Instead, men and women demonstrate their bravery by walking into hospitals and taking care of the sick.

So if you see a person with a badge or a stethoscope, thank them for showing up.

While my world has sped up, my husband Brians has slowed down. Hes been laid off from all seven of his dance/teaching gigs. Worse, hes sheltering in place with two teenagers.

Brians been fighting the Battle of Safeway, standing in line for an hour so that we dont run out of boxed wine. Call any shortage during the plague, and people buy it up: tissue, hand sanitizer, Rice-a-Roni. I went down to Cordova Market and there was a run on The Chronicle, sold out every last copy. I asked Sohel whether people were desperate to read the column, and he shrugged, Maybe theyve run out of toilet paper.

The schools sent my sons Zane and Aidan home for the duration. Thats right. Zanes home, one of the nicer things about this disaster.

The more abnormal the situation gets, the more normal our family seems. Ive been coming to the Bedlam Blue Bungalow after 14-hour days, and Brians had dinner ready, just like Donna Reed (but without the pearls). Yes, you know its Armageddon because Brians cooking, but hes been grilling cheese sandwiches with tomato soup or roasting vegetables and every meal has been splendid.

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.

But without all the school and rehab and dancing, theres been the space in the outer, outer, outer, outer Excelsior for the four of us to sit down to the dining room table, hold hands, say grace and toast the best boys in the world.

If youre asking about the grilled cheese, its because I skipped the Lent column. I have kept my New Years resolution thus far, which is not to make any New Years resolutions, but when it came to Ash Wednesday, with everything going on I went with my default of no meat. You know the drill: smaller carbon footprint, balancing out the chi, hanging with the enlightened 6%. Did you know that on average vegetarians outlive their carnivore counterparts by about six years?

Back to Brian. When he was shopping for Ragnarok, he picked up every pound of ground turkey he could find, but no tofu. This being a spiritual crisis, and with all the churches closed, we turned to Sister Lil, who advised, If the priests cant say Mass, they cant hand out penances either. So heres a plenary indulgence for white meat. Catholicus Interruptus.

Just like breaking Lent, we are also breaking the social distance taboo. When I walk in the door of the Bedlam Blue Bungalow and announce, Daddys home, both boys pop up from their iPads and give me a super hug because Nurse Vivian was right: A world crisis is a family crisis. None of us wants to live in a world without hugs.

Kevin Fisher-Paulsons column appears Wednesdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com
URUMQI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reopened all primary and high schools on Monday, the first provincial-level region in the country to do so amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The reopening came after the region had reported no new cases of coronavirus infection for 34 days as of Sunday and downgraded its emergency response to the lowest level.

On Monday, over 4 million students went to classrooms in 5,004 primary, high and vocational schools across the region in an orderly manner, as authorities implemented anti-virus measures to ensure safety of the students.

A week ago, school reopened for graduating students in junior and senior high schools in Xinjiang.

A WELCOME MOVE

Many students have longed for the resumption of offline classes after weeks of attending virtual classes on online platforms.

"Being back at school has eased my anxiety and lifted my motivation for study," said Ylibinur Nabi, a senior high school student at Lop County, south Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture. She will sit gaokao, the annual college entrance exam, later this year.

It's also the expectation of many parents, whose returning to work was dragged partly due to the postponement of school reopening.

"Many of my friends are happy to see their kids resume classes. We can be more devoted to work thanks to the move," said Wang Lingfeng, one of the parents taking children to school on Monday morning.

China has urged local governments to speed up the establishment of an economic and social order compatible with epidemic prevention and control and underscored efforts to restore people's normal work and life in full in low-risk provinces.

SAFETY FIRST

Since the start of the outbreak, Xinjiang's regional government responded swiftly with a string of stringent emergency management steps and leveraged local communities' grassroots service network to prevent and contain the epidemic.

Despite the epidemic's waning across the region, health risks management is still high on schools' agenda. No "one-size-fits-all" management is required, and flexible measures are encouraged based on each school's specific conditions as long as the contagion risks can be minimized.

It's required that the first class for these students' renewed school life should be mainly about tips on epidemic prevention, healthy lifestyles, as well as easing stress and anxiety.

Classes and activities with contagion risks are suspended or adjusted. At the Urumqi No.1 Senior High School, outdoor activities like long-distance ball-passing and aerobics have replaced traditional activities that require gathering and close contact.

ALL-AROUND MANAGEMENT

On Sunday, Shiyan Primary School in Urumqi rehearsed the reopening, covering from the students' entering the campus to taking classes. "We must avoid any loophole in the school's management," said Long Li, the school's deputy principal.

Most schools in Xinjiang have split previous classes into smaller ones. Temperatures are taken at the campus entrance and three times a day. All the classrooms, canteens, dormitories and public facilities are disinfected regularly, while closed-off campus management has been adopted to reduce imported infection risks. Students are encouraged to attend and leave school on staggered schedules.

Free masks are provided, and some schools offer students set meals or arrange staggered dining hours at canteens. In some boarding schools, the number of students in one dormitory room is cut to reduce risks.

Emergency plans are made beforehand, while quarantine rooms are prepared in case any student reports fever or other symptoms.

Targeted teaching plans are also developed. Survey tests are made to take the pulse of students' knowledge level, and specific lessons are offered to beef up weak areas. Hotlines are set up to gather advice from parents, students and teachers.

After taking offline classes for one week, Lu Zijun, a graduating student in Urumqi No.1 Senior High School, said he feels safe, and nearly everything about his studies has returned to normal.

"It's just a little stuffy wearing a mask all day," he said. "I hope soon we can have classes without them."
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered to impose a three-week quarantine in the United Kingdom to contain the novel coronavirus infection in the country.

"The time has now come for us all to do more. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home. Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households," he said in a BBC broadcast.

Starting from tonight, residents of the country will be allowed to leave their homes for only "very limited purposes," Johnson stressed.

Residents will be allowed shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible; and one form of an outdoor exercise a day. They will be also be allowed to leave homes for "any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person" and for "travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home."

The government ordered immediate closure of all shops selling non-essential goods.

All social events, such as weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, will be prohibited, excluding funerals. Playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship will be closed. Parks will remain open for exercise, but gatherings will be dispersed.

Police will control the implementation of those instructions, including by imposing fines and dispersing gatherings. In the coming days, the country will adopt a bill on fines for violators of the quarantine.

All those measures are aimed at slowing down the pace of the infection and prevent the overload of the healthcare system that might lead to an increase in the morality rate.

"And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to," Johnson said. "But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost."

At the same time, Johnson added that the national healthcare system will be boosted by 7,500 previously retired doctors and nurses. The country will accelerate its search for treatment and vaccines and will buy "millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer."

"Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together to halt the spread of this disease, to protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives. And I know that as they have in the past so many times, the people of this country will rise to that challenge. And we will come through it stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together," the premier said.

As of Monday, the United Kingdom had 6,650 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus, with 335 deaths.
Photo credit: TOLGA AKMEN - Getty Images

From Delish

Nandos has announced the temporary closure of all 400 of its restaurants in the UK amid Coronavirus fears, including takeaway and delivery.

In a statement on social media, the home of PERi-PERi Chicken said: "The health and safety of our customers and team is our highest priority."

"We have decided that the best course of action right now is to temporarily close our restaurants until further notice."

This comes after McDonalds took the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland this evening too, including drive-thru, takeaway and delivery.

"I have been clear throughout this that we would only continue to operate whilst it was safe for our people and together with our franchisees, we feel now is the time to make this decision," McDonald's UK boss, Paul Pomroy, said.

On Friday, the government ordered cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close after Friday night, with the exception of takeaway food.

The information in this story is accurate as of the publication date. While we are attempting to keep our content as up-to-date as possible, the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop rapidly, so it's possible that some information and recommendations may have changed since publishing. For any concerns and latest advice, visit the World Health Organisation. If you're in the UK, the National Health Service can also provide useful information and support, while US users can contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Monday, the Supreme Court dealt a death blow to the insanity defense. Justice Elena Kagan joined the five Republican-appointed justices in Kahler v. Kansas to uphold a murder conviction and death sentence for James Kahler, who killed his estranged wife and her family. He wanted to argue at trial that he was not guilty of the murder charges because severe mental illness kept him from thinking or acting rationally at the time. But in 1995, Kansas had changed its criminal law in a way that prevented Kahler from raising the insanity defense.

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There is no universal test for the insanity defense, but in many states, a defendant who suffers from a mental illness must be acquitted if, at the time she committed her crime, she either did not know what she was doing or she did not know that what she was doing was wrong. A handful of states have abolished the defense. In those states, mentally ill people who commit crimes may be convicted even if they had no control or understanding of their actions at the time.

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In his petition to the Supreme Court, Kahler asked whether the due process clause allows states to abolish the insanity defense. This is a tricky argument to make. Most due process arguments are about process, but Kahlers argument was about substanceit sought limits on a states ability to define crimes. The Supreme Court has previously said that a state law about crimes and defenses can violate due process only if it offends some principle of justice so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental. In other words, the test is whether the state rule conflicts with another rule that is so old and so important that it is incompatible with the basic idea of due process of law.

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Most criminal law rules probably arent old enough or important enough to be called fundamental. But the insanity defense is that old and important. In fact, the majority opinion in Kahler seems to admit as much, saying Kahler is right that for hundreds of years jurists and judges have recognized insanity (however defined) as relieving responsibility for a crime. Indeed, the majority opinion said that the court did not find a single case that did not recognize the insanity defense.

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So how did the court uphold Kahlers conviction? Kagans majority opinion said that Kansas did not abolish the insanity defense; it merely changed the defense. That is not true.

The majority relied on two aspects of Kansas law to support its claim that Kansas has not abolished the insanity defense: laws that identify mental illness as a mitigating sentencing factor and a law that says it is a defense to a prosecution that the defendant, as a result of mental disease or defect, lacked the culpable mental state required for a crime. Both laws address the issue of mental illness. But neither is an insanity defense.

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First, lets talk about sentencing. Kansas, like most other states, identifies aggravating and mitigating sentencing factors. Those factors tell judges and juries what sort of facts and circumstances they should consider in deciding whether to impose a higher sentence or a lower sentence. One of the mitigating factors that Kansas identifies is mental illness. But that hardly means insanity is a defense. Defenses are about blocking convictions; sentencing factors just set punishment after a conviction.

In adopting this emaciated role for mental illness, Kansas has abolished anything that might accurately be called an insanity defense.

If a jury believes the defendant has proven a defense, then it must acquit that defendant. In contrast, a mitigating sentencing factor doesnt result in an acquittal; the defendant is still convicted of the crime. A mitigating sentencing factor doesnt even guarantee a shorter sentence. It is just one of many facts and circumstances that the judge or jury can consider in deciding what sentence the defendant will receive. A mitigating sentencing factor is completely different from a defense to a crime. They are so different that I cannot understand why the majority even included this idea in the opinion.

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I do, however, understand why the majority discussed the other Kansas lawafter all, the law itself says that mental illness is a defense to a prosecution. But if we dig deeper, this law doesnt actually give any rights to defendants. It just restates the burden that prosecutors always have: to prove that the defendant acted with whatever mental state is included as an element of the crime.

Heres an example to illustrate the difference. Imagine two defendants who are charged with murderthe intentional killing of another person. The first defendant says he killed his victim, but he did so in self-defense. The second defendant says that she accidentally shot the victim while cleaning a firearm and that she didnt intend to kill her. The first defendant has raised what we call an affirmative defense, but the second victim has not. Instead, the second defendant is challenging the prosecutors case: She is saying that she didnt commit the crime because she killed the victim accidentally, not intentionally.

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The second defendant does not need a state law that allows her to raise a defense of accidental shooting. Defendants always have the ability to challenge a prosecutors case, and prosecutors always bear the burden of proving each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The second defendant shows that Kansas insanity defense is not actually a defense at all. Even if that law didnt exist, defendants would still be able to avoid conviction for any crime if they dont have the mental state required for that crime. Thats basic criminal law, not the insanity defense.

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In adopting this emaciated role for mental illness, Kansas has abolished anything that might accurately be called an insanity defense. All it retains is the idea that prosecutors must bear the burden of proving each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. But we shouldnt give Kansas credit for retaining that burden. The Supreme Court decided decades ago that the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a principle so fundamental that it is guaranteed by the due process clause. Kansas doesnt give mentally ill defendants anything that they werent already guaranteed under the Constitution.

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Why does it matter that the Kahler majority refused to characterize what Kansas did as abolishing the insanity defense? For one thing, this sleight of hand is what made Kahler lose this case. By saying that Kansas had changed its insanity defense (rather than abolishing it), the majority was also able to say Kahler was really just arguing in favor of a particular type of insanity defense rule. Then the majority (over objections raised in the dissent) concluded that there was not enough historical evidence in favor of that particular insanity defense rule to give it special status under the due process clause.

While explaining that there is no single formulation of the insanity defense rule that garnered a settled consensus, the court declared: No insanity rule in this countrys heritage or history was ever so settled as to tie a States hands centuries later. Perhaps the court meant only to state that states are free to experiment with their own insanity defense rules. But given what the majority upheld in Kansas, we now know that those experiments can include a defense that, in reality, provides no protection at all.
The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa has refused ex-Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyos appeal of an earlier decision  a decision which overturned his temporary reinstatement and dismissed the case against his axing last June.

Old Mutual welcomes this ruling as it enhances certainty and is another important step forward in ending the litigation instituted by Mr. Moyo against Old Mutual, Old Mutual said in a statement following the companys reveal of the decision.
Since the start of Spring 2020 is fast approaching, the Sussexes have slowly transitioned into their non-royal lives while living in a much peaceful environment in Vancouver Island, Canada.

Following this, Smart Works charity -- a foundation in which Meghan Markle is patron -- has already dropped her royal title and referred to her only as the "The Duchess of Sussex'" from her previous title "Our Royal Patron HRH The Duchess of Sussex."

This also includes the Association of Commonwealth Universities where they began referring to the 38-year-old former actress as "our Patron, The Duchess of Sussex" instead of "HRH The Duchess of Sussex."

"Meghan Gets S*** Done"

Despite the changes in Meghan's title, a royal commentator has exposed another moniker of the duchess during her pre-royal life.

In Vice's new documentary titled "Vice Versa: Meghan Markle Escaping The Crown," royal commentator Omid Scobie revealed that the former "Suits" star was allegedly called as "Meghan gets s*** done."

Scobie explained that the cast came up with the nickname because of her involvement in charity works. Apparently, the actress turned royal started donating leftover food from the set to the homeless.

This was also confirmed by the "Suits" executive director Brian Harris who said that in one Thanksgiving, "she would bring in all the food...all the turkeys and the fixings for over 100 people."

"Lo and behold, the food was suddenly being loaded into vans and taken into homeless shelters, and that was where the nickname came from the set," the royal commentator added.

"The Lovely Meghan"

In December 2019, the Duchess together with Prince Harry, chose the Toronto-based community shelter St. Felix Centre as one of the 12 charities they wanted the royal watchers to support.

Even before being associated with the British royals, Meghan was an active supporter of the said community center.

The staff from St. Felix Centre claims that the Duchess of Sussex regularly volunteered at the shelter during her time in Canada while filming her TV series.

The community center has also given Meghan a sweet nickname.

"Many people here have fond memories of Duchess Meghan volunteering with us - though we remember her just as 'the lovely Meghan," @StFelixCentre wrote on their Instagram.

St. Felix Centre is supporting the most marginalized and vulnerable members of Toronto's community who are dealing with homelessness and mental health.

Nicknames Of The Royal Family

Aside from Meghan, other members of the royal family have also quite unique nicknames.

For instance, Archie Harrison was fondly called by his parents as "Bubba," while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge call their only daughter, Princess Charlotte as "Lottie."

As for the senior members of the royal family, the Duke of Edinburgh's nickname for his wife, Queen Elizabeth II was "Cabbage."
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition of Asian-American Independent Practice Association (CAIPA), which represents more than 1,000 physician and applied healthcare professionals in the five boroughs, today called for federal, state and local law enforcement organizations to crack down on the rising tide of hate crimes against Asian-American New Yorkers and bias incidents.

CAIPA also called on President Trump to stop using the term "Chinese virus," which the group said only encourages actions of hate and discrimination.

"We call on government on all levels to act swiftly to protect Asian-American citizens and residents, whose well-being and civil rights are being violated during this crisis," said George C. K. Liu, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of CAIPA. "We call on President Trump to stop using racist invectives that mischaracterize the pandemic and threaten our community. We ask the president to order the Justice Department to immediately investigate these incidents as violations of federal civil rights laws.

"There is no evidence of higher incidents of COVID-19 infections among the hundreds of thousands of Asian-Americans in New York City," Dr. Liu said. "We are patriotic Americans who love this country and enrich it economically and culturally. Any political or nationalistic name-calling will further endanger New York citizens and residents and disproportionately harm the Asian-American business community. What we need at this time of crisis is not for political leaders to fan hatred, but to work together against the common enemy: the COVID-19 pandemic."

The New York City Mayor's Office called on Asian-American New Yorkers to report any hate crimes or acts of bias aimed at them.

Call 911 if you are the victim of a hate crime or witness what you believe to be a hate crime. NYPD officers will not ask about the immigration status of anyone seeking help and language assistance is available. Call 311 and say "human rights" to report harassment or discrimination in housing, at work, or in public places based on your race, national origin, age, immigration status, disability, or other protected classes under the NYC Human Rights Law.

About CAIPA

CAIPA (Coalition of Asian-American IPA) is one of the most successful independent practice associations in Greater New York with over 1,000 physicians and allied health professionals, covering over 70 specialties. Our provider network currently provides medical services and care to about a half million patient population in the Asian community. At CAIPA, our mission has always been to unite the top health professionals to deliver culturally sensitive and quality care, utilizing the most cost-effective approaches.

SOURCE CAIPA
Bethenny Frankel, star from 'Real Housewives of New York,' has donated over 500,000 masks and other medical supplies across the country as part of her B Strong initiative.

The B Strong, a foundation established by Frankel in association with the Global Empowerment Mission, is assembling relief bags in Miami which includes gloves, hand sanitizer, immune boosters, and gift cards which can be used for parents who otherwise cannot afford food for their children. Additionally, B Strong is currently producing 50,000 FDA approved, medical grade n95 masks that will be delivered to hospitals in New York and Boston.
Laurel Brook Rehabilitation and Healthcare is pictured in Mount Laurel. Three residents and two employees of the nursing home have tested positive for the coronavirus. Read more

A Philadelphia nursing home said Tuesday that 11 of its residents and a contract employee have tested positive for the new coronavirus since March 19. Three residents and two staff members of a nursing home in Mount Laurel have also tested positive for the new coronavirus over the last week, the facilitys medical director said.

None of the patients has died but one from Philadelphia and three from New Jersey are hospitalized. James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said the department is investigating potential cases in two other city nursing homes, but declined to provide more information.

Nursing home residents are especially vulnerable to the new virus, a fact that became starkly evident during an outbreak of coronavirus at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, near Seattle, early in Americas experience with the new disease. As of last week, 35 residents who contracted the virus had died. The disease has found its way into at least 10 other senior facilities in the Seattle area. On Monday, the state announced 30 cases  24 residents and six staff  at a nursing home in northern Washington state.

Brian Dries, a spokesperson for Renaissance Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia, said one of the 123-bed facilitys residents began exhibiting symptoms of the disease caused by the new virus, COVID-19, on March 19. That patient, who is now hospitalized, was immediately placed in isolation and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health identified other residents who may have been in contact with the infected patient. Results from the other patients came back on Monday. Those who tested positive are being cared for in a separate section of the facility.

Dries said Renaissance does not know how the initial resident became infected. Visits to patients were stopped before the patient was identified, and the facility was following health department guidance about infection prevention, he said. He said the staff member who tested positive provided therapy to residents and had not been to Renaissance since March 11. The employee is recuperating at home.

The facility is doing everything it can to ensure it stops the spread of this virus within the facility, Dries said.

He said family members are being kept abreast by phone and email. Everyones very supportive, understands this current time that were all in, he said. He said Renaissance has adequate protective equipment for staff. It is actively screening staff before each shift and has implemented aggressive cleaning procedures.

In a news release, Andrew Blank, medical director of the New Jersey facility, Laurel Brook Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, said the residents of Laurel Brook were being treated at a regional hospital and the employees were at home with mild symptoms.

The 220-bed nursing home also said it is working closely with New Jersey and U.S. public health officials to contain spread of the respiratory virus. It is monitoring all residents and employees for symptoms and has told employees to stay home if they have any respiratory symptoms.

Before the outbreak, the facility also had suspended visitation for residents. That policy will continue, Blank said. Laurel Brook is encouraging family members to connect with loved ones through telephone and video calls, email, and other forms of messaging.

The Burlington County Health Department said it will be tracing contacts of people who have interacted with the five sick people but cannot provide further details at this time." The state Department of Health did not respond to questions.

Nationally, many senior facilities have greatly restricted visitors in an attempt to keep the new coronavirus out. Many fear they will run out of protective equipment for their staffs, a key tool in infection control.

Nursing home residents are often elderly and frail, a population at particularly high risk for death and serious complications from the new virus. Many also share rooms and need help with activities like getting dressed or brushing teeth. Social distancing between them and staff members is not an option.

Many nursing homes, including Laurel Brook, also have sections that specialize in shorter-term stays for rehabilitation after a time in a hospital. Those patients also must work closely with therapists and other staff members.

David A. Nace, a University of Pittsburgh physician, said that nursing homes have been doing their best to keep the virus out, but that it is inevitable that the new coronavirus will get into more facilities. Its unfortunate that, once it comes in, it will spread, said Nace, president-elect of the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, which represents medical professionals who work in nursing homes.

Nace said that even well-run nursing homes are at risk for significant outbreaks. You have a very vulnerable population in close contact, he said. I think we will see more [situations like Kirkland] despite best attempts and best efforts. Our hope is that well get lucky with this.

On the governments Nursing Home Compare website, Laurel Brook received an overall rating of four out of five stars, with five stars for quality and three (average) for health inspections and staffing. In its most recent Nursing Home Compare rating, for Renaissance a federal website, it received an overall score of two out of five starts, or below average. It received four starts for quality, but two for health inspections and three for staffing.

Nursing homes, Nace said, serve multiple populations  long-term residents as well as people who have come for end-of-life care, such as palliative care and hospice. Long-term residents live an average of about two years after admission. People who come for rehabilitation after surgery or a heart attack tend to be younger and healthier. He said some nursing homes are currently balking at taking new admissions from hospitals because theyre worried those patients could bring the disease with them. He thinks staff members are the bigger risk, but said hospitals need to identify patients who have recovered from the disease, still have it, or have been exposed.

He outlined measures nursing homes should be thinking about once they have a known coronavirus case on campus:

Tests should be reserved for people with symptoms, he said. While it might be nice to test everyone for the virus after a case is identified, Nace said that could lead to false negatives. Plus, we still have profoundly limited testing ability in the United States. We dont have enough tests to test everyone in the building.

Not all people with the disease will need to go to the hospital, and some nursing home residents have said they dont ever want to go to a hospital again. Thats something that we have to honor, he said.

If an infected resident stays at the nursing home, staff should make sure the door to his or her room is closed. If theres a roommate, pull the curtain out between their beds. The roommate has already been exposed, so moving him or her to another room risks spreading the disease. If theres a single room available, move the roommate there.

Insist that all staff members wear masks and take droplet precautions at all times.

Enhance daily cleaning, especially of high-touch areas like elevator buttons and computer keyboards.

Take resident temperatures twice a day, every day. The threshold for concern is lower for the elderly than for younger people. We decided to go with a temperature of 99 because older adults tend to mount lower temperatures, said Nace, who is chief of medical affairs for UPMC Senior Communities. The health system has 36 facilities in 10 counties.

Not everyone who gets COVID-19 gets a fever. Nursing homes also should monitor for respiratory changes as well as symptoms like diarrhea, muscle aches, and fatigue.





Facilities, Nace said, should notify family members immediately when theres a COVID-19 case. Everybody should be aware of it, he said.

The first thing," Nace said, "is dont panic.

Staff writer Allison Steele contributed to this article.

If you work in a nursing home or have a family member in a facility where someone has tested positive for the new coronavirus and would like to talk to a reporter, please email Stacey Burling at sburling@inquirer.com.
Countries across the globe are running short of essential supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and some unexpected companies have entered the game in an attempt to spread the wealth.

Hand sanitizer has been a rare find for anyone entering retail stores this month, with many people resorting to making their own. Earlier this month, Tito's Vodka took to Twitter to inform customers that its vodka is not suitable for making hand sanitizer, as the alcohol content is too low, as per The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation.

FILE - In this March 3, 2020 file photo, shelves that held hand sanitizer and hand soap are mostly empty at a Target in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

"Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito's Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC," the company said.

On March 18, however, The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) announced they will waive the provisions put in place that prevents companies like Tito's from creating and distributing hand sanitizers, now allowing distilled spirits permittees to produce the product without requiring any additional licensing.

Since then, Tito's has announced they are working on the beginning steps of producing hand sanitizer that fits CDC and industry guidelines. The company plans to produce 24 tons of the sanitizer once production begins.

As of Sunday, March 22, Tito's has been in the testing phase of the production process.

Tito's is not the first company to put its supplies to use during the pandemic, either. Across the United States, local distilleries have begun using their facilities to make hand sanitizer, including New York Distilling Co., located in Brooklyn, New York, according to Bloomberg.

Workers bottle hand sanitizer produced by J. Rieger and Co., a Kansas City, Mo. distillery, Friday, March 20, 2020. People waited as long as two hours to buy the sanitizer, made from overproof gin, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

3 Daughters Brewing in St. Petersburg, Florida, has also jumped into the sanitizing business, distributing a homemade product to nonprofits and governmental agencies.

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"Chemistry is chemistry?" Desiree Chubb, who is in charge of quality assurance for the brewery, told AccuWeather's Jonathan Petramala. "We have most of the ingredients. We have distilled water, isopropyl alcohol, which we have to clean our tanks and sanitize our ports for testing. Three ingredients, seventy percent alcohol, easy as that."

Desiree Chubb makes hand sanitizer with ingredients already on hand at 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Petersburg, Florida. (AccuWeather / Jonathan Petramala)

The owner of the brewery told Petramala the focus was on function, not frills, when creating the sanitizer.

"We made it pretty potent. You don't need to use a lot of it; it was designed not to smell pretty but to kill anything," 3 Daughters Brewing owner Mike Harting said.

3 Daughters Brewing owner Mike Harting has added hand sanitizer to his product list to help fulfill a growing need. (AccuWeather / Jonathan Petramala)

People can still pick up beers, ciders and seltzers, but the brewery plans to continue production and distribution of hand sanitizer to lend a helping hand during the crisis.

"There are some of us in our society that are unable to social distance. This to me is you should do what you're capable of doing,'" Harting said.

New York Distilling Co. co-owner Allen Katz started off his hand sanitizer production by following home remedies he found online that follow CDC recommendations, and gave them out to his bar and restaurant clients in an effort to help protect their employees while they work. Katz is now switching over to make hand sanitizers that follow the guidelines presented by the World Health Organization (WHO), which he will be able to start producing when his shipment of hydrogen peroxide and glycerin arrives.

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On Friday, March 20, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order for all non-essential businesses to close, a move that took a "substantial" toll on Katz's business, as the majority of his clients were forced to close.

"Our business is based in large part on bars and restaurants, and those have effectively been shut down," Katz told AccuWeather. "It has shut down one mainstream revenue for our business. And I feel for those businesses because they, in many cases, have had to lay off entire staffs."

New York Distilling Co. has been able to remain functioning during the order, but Katz said his staff has been reduced to a "skeletal" amount to avoid contributing to the spread of the virus.

"We're not really congregating, whether it's for production or bottling in large capacities," he said. "That's for the most part by our choosing."

At the moment, Katz said the company's approach is to focus on only making hand sanitizers. "We have essentially shut down our regular alcohol production," he said.

When the product is ready to be bottled and distributed, which Katz said he is hoping will be in the coming weeks, his idea is to sell the hand sanitizer at cost to specific people and organizations, and hopes to work with FEMA in Brooklyn or another similar organization to distribute the product to healthcare facilties. Katz said with the large demand for the product, there is no way he would be able to fulfill it, even locally.

"Provided these test batches work well, we'll do our very best to create a production methodology to supply the need as best we can in some small but meaningful way," Katz said.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Petramala.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
HELSINKI, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The architectural office cepezed from the Netherlands wanted to build a four-storey office building that could be moved to another location, if needed. The end-result, Building D(emountable), is a hybrid structure that combines a steel structure with wooden elements and a glass facade. Using Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) elements made the project more sustainable, and the lightweight elements were extremely fast to install.

The wooden floor elements were manufactured at De Groot Vroomshoop's factory. Lightweight wood elements were easy to handle in the narrow streets of Delft's city centre. The assembly of the load-bearing structure was really quick.

"I was impressed by the speed in assembly," says cepezed founder and architect Jan Pesman. "The whole stability structure was put together in only three weeks. Kerto LVL elements were practical and really suitable for prefabricated, industrial construction methods."

The connections were designed to remain reversible, meaning that the building can be easily dismantled. Using wooden elements also means that the whole process can be reversed:

"You can also dismantle the building and rebuild it somewhere else. If needed or wanted, you can just move this building wherever you want," says structural engineer Elise van Westenbrugge-Bilardie from IMd consultative engineers.

Fast, light and green with Kerto LVL

The Building D(emountable) is an elegant combination of steel, wood and glass. Using prefabricated elements was a good prototype project for cepezed for future hybrid building projects.

"One of the goals was to make the building as light as possible," explains van Westenbrugge-Bilardie. "cepezed gave us the idea to use wooden elements with the design. We also wanted to use small elements, so the parts can be easily be transported to site and combined there."

"We are definitely looking forward using Kerto LVL elements again," says Pesman.

Learn more about the hybrid structure of the Building D(emountable).

The Hybrid City Challenge: 10,000 to the most innovative hybrid design

Metsa Wood's Hybrid City Challenge is calling on building engineers, designers and construction companies to join in an initiative to discover the world's best solutions for more efficient, sustainable, modular and practical building. The task is to design a solution fit for hybrid construction, using Kerto LVL as the main material. The closing date for entries is 31 May 2020, and the most innovative solution will be awarded 10,000. Second and third places will be awarded 5,000 each.

To learn more about the Hybrid City Challenge and to participate, go to planb.metsawood.com.

Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/5b9MJqRRTQfb

For more information, please contact:

Viivi Kylama

Marketing Manager

Metsa Wood

tel. +358-40-820-9850

viivi.kylama@metsagroup.com

Kirk Nichols

VP Sales

Americas

Metsa Wood USA

mobile: +(404)-861-1098

kirk.nichols@metsagroup.com

For press information in UK, please contact:

Matt Trace

Director

Defero Communications

tel. +07828663988

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Instacart is looking to hire hundreds of thousands of workers to meet surging demand for grocery deliveries as millions of people are urged to stay home to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The on-demand grocery startup said Monday that it seeks to hire 300,000 "full-service shoppers," who are treated as independent contractors, in North America over the next three months due to increased demand spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. That would more than double its current workforce of full-service shoppers.

"The last few weeks have been the busiest in Instacart's history and our teams are working around the clock to reliably and safely serve all members of our community," said Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta in a statement.

Instacart is one of several companies delivering essentials to households that are now expanding fast at a time when much of the American economy is at risk of contracting. Amazon and Walmart each recently announced they plan to hire at least 100,000 workers due to increased customer demand. Yet, there are concerns about whether companies are doing enough for workers, who are the backbone of the services they offer, during this unprecedented public health crisis.

While Instacart has touted its surge in customer orders in recent weeks and introduced an option for customers to have orders left at their doorsteps, workers have criticized the company for not doing enough for them.

Like other gig economy companies, Instacart said it will provide paid sick leave to workers diagnosed with coronavirus or placed under quarantine by public health authorities. But coronavirus tests remain hard to come by in the United States and many workers can't afford to stop working without paid time off. As with Amazon warehouse workers, some Instacart workers fear contracting the virus on the job.

Additionally, some Instacart workers have said they received low ratings from customers for things outside their control -- like being unable to get items that were out of stock -- which impacted the future orders they received. They've also lost tips as a result.

After CNN Business noted the issue in a story last week, the company announced that ratings would not impact access to future orders for workers during the pandemic. (An Instacart spokesperson previously told CNN Business that tips are always left up to the customer's discretion.)

In a letter last week, Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts called on the government to protect gig workers in its next relief package, asking it to ensure paid leave protections for gig workers whose jobs cannot be done from home. For example, California, the first state to declare a shelter-in-place order last week, indicated that on-demand food and meal delivery companies, as well as rideshare companies, are essential businesses and will continue to operate.

In early March, Seattle-based workers' rights organization Working Washington called on food and meal delivery companies, as well as the government, to better protect workers. One of the demands: requiring customers to flag whether they're isolated because of a coronavirus diagnosis so workers can avoid those jobs or take additional protective measures.

In addition to its contract workforce, Instacart also has about 12,000 in-store shoppers who are considered part-time employees.

Instacart, which operates in 5,500 cities in North America, said the need for more workers is where it is seeing the most customer demand, including California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, and Ohio.

The coronavirus demand for Instacart's services is a remarkable turnaround for a startup once thought to have an uncertain future after Amazon acquired Whole Foods, a grocery chain Instacart partnered with. Instacart was valued at nearly $8 billion in late 2018 after a round of financing. CEO Mehta has previously said that an IPO is "on the horizon."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 12:26:13|Editor: xuxin

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A taxi driver wearing a mask is seen on a street in Havana, Cuba, March 23, 2020. Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel on Monday urged state institutions, private sectors and people to increase control and discipline in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua)

HAVANA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel on Monday urged state institutions, private sectors and people to increase control and discipline in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

"If we implement all preventive measures against COVID-19 correctly, Cuba will be able to show a situation different from that of other countries affected by the epidemic," he said.

The Cuban Communist Party and government jointly ordered to activate provincial and municipal Defense Councils nationwide to better combat the novel coronavirus.

"Effective immediately, all tourists still visiting the country must remain inside hotels or Airbnbs," Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on TV.

Marrero said national public transportation by bus, train and airplane will be canceled.

"Reinforcement of police forces at public institutions and streets will be seen from Tuesday on, so as to assure fulfilment of the new preventive measures to protect people from the virus," he said.

Cuban Minister of Public Health Jose Angel Portal said Cuban residents entering the country must be isolated for 14 days at facilities set up by the government.

"Non-indispensable surgeries will be postponed and visits of friends and relatives to patients hospitalised in health facilities will not be allowed amid COVID-19 dissemination on the island," he added.

Cuban authorities said schools and universities will be suspended for 4 weeks, from March 24 to April 20.

"Cuban TV will broadcast a special program for students from elementary and secondary schools, while day care centers will remain open to benefit working parents," Cuban Minister of Education Ena Elsa Velazques said.

Meanwhile, Cuban Minister of Higher Education Jose Ramon Saborido said international students who stay at university residences will have to abide by the same regulations as Cuban nationals.

The Cuban government has also urged religious leaders to regulate public gatherings at their institutions.
With school concerts cancelled and ensemble practices put on hold due to the coronavirus, the UTC Department of Performing Arts Music Division is offering an opportunity for students to participate in a new kind of band from their own homes: a virtual one.

Kenyon Wilson, professor of music and associate head of performing arts, says that with current social distancing practices in place, band students have lost a community vital to them.

Band students have lost their ensembles, and practicing alone pales in comparison to the sense of community that being in an ensemble brings, he says. My hope is this will help with a sense of community in these unique times.

Music students from anywhere in the world are invited to attend, including university students, community members and particularly high schoolers.

The music chosen for the online ensemble has local significance. Five was written by Mr. Wilson in response to the July 16, 2015 terrorist attack in Chattanooga that claimed five servicemens lives. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the event that devastated the entire region.

I had always planned on working with area band directors on a tribute this year, Mr. Wilson explains, Many of the local bands were members of the original commission. Each premiered the work in 2016, so by now all of the original students have graduated.

The chance to perform Five is one of the largest driving forces in the project, says Jordan Hicks, first year coordinator for performing arts.

It is such a moving tribute to the servicemen that were killed in 2015, and its written by someone who not only loves and cares for his community, but is able to channel those feelings into such a stirring musical memorial.

I think it speaks volumes to the caliber of faculty we employ at UTC, and to the strength and resolve of the community that surrounds our university. While the tragedy in 2015 was devastating, we have not forgotten those heroes, and we continue to honor them.
T he government is running chartered flights for Britons trapped abroad as borders slam shut due to the escalating coronavirus crisis.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, announced on Tuesday afternoon that Singapore has agreed to be a hub for citizens stranded in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Peru to pass through.

Those unable to afford the special flights will be able to get an emergency loan, he told the Commons.

Britons are stranded in countries around the world, including Peru, which closed its borders for at least 15 days from March 16.

Dominic Raab said the government is trying to get stranded Brits home / REUTERS

Addressing growing calls for action on opposition benches, Mr Raab said a chartered flight with 200 capacity will rescue Brits stuck in Peru as early as Tuesday.

Last week Mr Raab said as many as almost one million British nationals could be travelling abroad.

Many are at risk of being stranded due to airlines grounding planes because of a drop in demand and an increase in travel restrictions, although airlines are operating some rescue flights.

Earlier the consumer group Which? claimed passengers wanting to leave Spain before it closes hotels in a coronavirus shutdown on Thursday night have been unable to book seats with Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2.

Mr Raab said the Foreign Office was "very aware of the challenges" with getting Brits home and is "working day and night to try and overcome them".

He reassured Brits trapped in Spain that the government is working on regulatory measures to ensure they are not "kicked out of their hotels".

He told MPs: "If people are in need of urgent assistance they should call our embassies and high commissioners.
Paula Stewart, right, with Lucille Ball at a charity event in New York prior to Ball's death in 1989. (Jerry Kean)

At age 90, Paula Stewart has lived a long and colorful life. She appeared on Broadway with Lucille Ball. She was married to composer Burt Bacharach and comedian Jack Carter.

Now, she just wants her drugstore to deliver her meds so she doesn't have to put her life on the line filling prescriptions.

"I called CVS, and they said they could deliver, but they would charge extra," Stewart told me. "I said not to bother. So I went to the store myself, which of course was very dangerous."

As it happens, the same day she made that unwanted trip to her CVS in West Los Angeles, the company announced it was temporarily waiving its delivery fee.

Walgreens has done the same, a spokeswoman told me, and Walmart says there's no delivery charge for orders from the company's online pharmacy. No one at Rite Aid or Target responded to my requests for comment.

Props to drugstores that have stepped up.

That it took some leading chains this long to act, however, may have needlessly endangered millions of older Americans who have been told to stay home, avoid crowds and not engage in behavior that could put them at risk of coronavirus infection.

"It's taken way too long," said Kevin Prindiville, executive director of the advocacy group Justice in Aging. "Our failure to create systems early on to help older people social distance has cost lives."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of known cases of coronavirus infection in the United States as of March 16 involved people aged 65 or older. (Total cases now top 43,000.)

Seniors accounted for about 45% of hospitalizations and more than half of all admissions to intensive care units at medical centers as of March 16, the CDC said.

By mid-month, 80% of known coronavirus-related deaths in this country involved senior citizens, it said. (As of Monday, total deaths had surpassed 500.)

"Similar to reports from other countries, this finding suggests that the risk for serious disease and death from COVID-19 is higher in older age groups," the CDC concluded.

Story continues

Advocates for seniors say the public and private sectors should have seen this coming.

"Older adults are more vulnerable," said Michele Mathes, development director for the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. "That's clear."

Prindiville at Justice in Aging called the CDC's stats "shameful."

"We need corporations and governments to do everything they can to help at-risk people," he said.

For Stewart, the high proportion of seniors among coronavirus patients reflects a tardy response to a public-health crisis by people who should have known better.

In particular, she said, pharmaceutical companies and drugstores have been far too slow in demonstrating an awareness that many of their core customers  seniors  are in danger.

Instead, until recently, it's been business as usual.

"Aren't they making enough money already off my overpriced prescriptions?" Stewart asked. "They can't give any back?"

A recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that large drug companies had a median profit margin of almost 14% from 2000 to 2018, compared with a median profit margin of less than 8% for other businesses.

CVS Health enjoyed a 32% increase in revenue last year to about $257 billion, with operating income of $12 billion.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global emergency on Jan. 30. The first U.S. patient died of the virus on Feb. 29, as the number of cases worldwide rose to nearly 87,000.

CVS announced its delivery-fee waiver on March 9. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing.

This might seem like a relatively narrow time frame. But if you're an at-risk person trying to maintain a steady supply of prescription drugs, every day counts.

Stewart said she recalled watching President Trump on TV praising moves taken by his administration and business leaders.

Among pharmaceutical executives attending the March 13 White House event was CVS Executive Vice President Thomas Moriarty.

"We have been focused, since the start, on making sure our patients and the customers we serve have the information they need and the safety they need as well," he said.

America's public and private sectors have not been focused "since the start" on safeguarding people. At best, our political and corporate leaders can be described as late to the party.

Stewart, even at her advanced age, remains feisty. I asked how many pills she takes daily.

"Hold on, let me go to my medicine chest," she replied. She proceeded to pull out vials and list the conditions the meds are intended to treat.

"Blood pressure ... thyroid ... arteries ..."

Stewart figures she takes as many as 20 pills daily, including prescription drugs, vitamins and supplements. Most seniors can undoubtedly relate.

That's why Stewart was so incensed when CVS tried to profit from her fragile health as recently as a couple of weeks ago, prior to the fee waiver. "I wasn't going to pay them more money," she said.

Hopefully we've turned a corner on such behavior. Some of the country's biggest retailers have finally recognized they have a key role to play in protecting the elderly.

Free deliveries of drugs is an important step. So is the practice begun by some grocery stores, including Costco and Target, of setting aside a little time each week solely for seniors to do their shopping.

CVS said Monday that it's looking to fill 50,000 jobs nationwide to keep up with demand from customers. It called this move "the most ambitious hiring drive in the companys history."

Advocates for the elderly are keeping their fingers crossed.

"Business practices at odds with public health guidance are bad for customers, the community and businesses alike," said Bill Walsh, a spokesman for AARP.

"We urge companies to pay attention to public health warnings and offer products and services without cutting corners that risk widespread infections, hospitalizations and fatalities, he said.

It's striking that such admonitions even need to be made.

Maybe when the next pandemic rolls around, businesses won't need such reminders.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, has ordered the immediate shut down of markets, apart from those where food and medical ite...

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, has ordered the immediate shut down of markets, apart from those where food and medical items are sold.





The governor gave the directive at a press conference on the COVID-19 situation in the state.





He said Lagos could not afford a total lock down because of the economic implication but measures needed to be put in place to check the spread of the virus.





I am here again this afternoon to update you on the COVID-19 situation in Lagos state, as well as the latest steps we are taking to tackle this disease that has thrown much of the world into disarray, he said.

Since my last address to you on Sunday, March 22, 2020, we have seen an increase in the total number of confirmed cases nationwide with Lagos leading the pack with the most number of newly confirmed cases.





Here in Lagos, we have seen a significant jump in our numbers from 19 as at the last time I addressed you on Sunday, to 28 as at todays briefing. This shows that our numbers are increasing as predicted, but we are also proactively and promptly tracking, isolating and managing the suspected cases; as well as the confirmed ones at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba.





All public parks, including those in private and residential estates, swimming pools, gyms, beauty salons, and all such public places are expected to shut down at this time, until further notice.





All open markets and stores are directed to close, except for sellers of food and medicines, medical equipment and other essential life-saving products. For those that fall into the aforementioned categories, it is imperative that they observe necessary precautionary measures of social distancing.





The governor also advised residents of Lagos to avoid travelling to and from the state during this period.





Sanwo-Olu said his administration would set up temporary food markets in schools.





He further said that law enforcement agencies and other relevant Lagos State protection agencies have been imbued with the power to deal with recalcitrant offenders.




Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stressed on the importance of tackling the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour mongering while fighting the coronavirus pandemic and specifically asked the print media, which he said has tremendous credibility to act as a link between government and people and provide continuous feedback, at both national and regional levels to help in the fight against COVID-19.

At an interaction with stakeholders from print media from across the country through video conferencing, the Prime Minister urged media houses to not only ensure their credibility is maintained by reporting facts, but also give a platform to efforts being made to control the spread of the global pandemic that has led to nine deaths in India.

Union minister for information and broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, was also present on the occasion.

According to a statement issued by the government, the PM said that while the media has played a praise-worthy role in disseminating information about the pandemic to every nook and cranny of this nation, it needs to take the message to micro levels. He reminded the media of its social responsibility towards the less privileged and said it is critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard our national security, said the statement issued by the government. According to a person aware of what transpired at the meeting, the Prime Minister asked print media to provide readers with news they could use.

While the PM, in his address to the nation on Thursday, urged people to follow the protocol of social distancing, on Tuesday he underlined the need to inform the public about the steps being taken to ensure health checks and the protocols to be followed to stem the virus from spreading. Citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19, he said.

The PM said it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up; and pointed out that newspapers carry tremendous credibility. The local pages are widely read, he added. It is therefore imperative that awareness about coronavirus is spread through articles published on this page, the statement said.

The statement further said, the PM also asked newspapers and their websites to carry essential information about where the testing centres are, who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested, and how to follow home isolation protocols.

He also suggested that information about the location of availability of essential items during the ongoing lockdown should be shared on the regional pages. To step up measures to create awareness about the virus, he said media should highlight the impact of spread of the virus, through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers.

The PM also took suggestions from the participants who joined the video conference from across the country. There were over 20 participants from 14 locations and represented both national and regional media, representing 11 different languages, said a second person familiar with what happened at the meeting.

The second person said that media representatives apprised the PM of various concerns including the difficulties being faced by newspaper vendors and deliver people in collecting and distributing newspapers and in combating rumours that papers can be carriers of the virus. It was suggested that the government make it easier for the newspaper vendors and delivery people to move around during a lockdown.

They also suggested that in this time of crisis, the government should organise regular briefings and have systems in place for information dissemination, the person quoted above said.

Some of the media representatives also apprised the PM about the steps being taken by them to convey information to the masses such as focused coverage on the local pages; highlighting the protocols for social distancing to be followed and highlighting success stories and efforts being undertaken by healthcare workers.

The stakeholders from print media appreciated the role played by the Prime Minister in communicating effectively and leading the country from the front. They said that they will work on the suggestions of the Prime Minister to publish inspiring and positive stories. They also thanked him for reinforcing the credibility of print media and noted that the entire nation has followed his message of coming together to face this grave challenge, the statement said.

The PM, who is scheduled to address the nation at 8pm on Tuesday, also met stakeholders from electronic media channels through video conference on Monday and spoke about the emerging challenges in the wake of COVID-19 spread.
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Airlines in India face logistical challenges as they race against time to wind up operations, ensure crews are back home and park aircraft before the deadline expires to suspend flights at midnight of March 24.

"The airlines need to do this keeping in mind passenger bookings, and they have to do it despite operating a truncated schedule. It's a network planner and crew scheduler's nightmare," says Shakti Lumba, an aviation veteran and former Executive Director, Airline Operations (Alliance Air), and Vice President, Ops (IndiGo).

The government, on March 23, suspended domestic flights - except solely cargo-carrying flights - in efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus.

"Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 2359 hours on 24/3/2020. The restrictions shall not apply to solely cargo-carrying flights," the communication from the Ministry of Civil Aviation added.



To get the crew back home

Park the aircraft

Process requests from customers



Industry experts told Moneycontrol that airlines have three important tasks at hand:

The first two tasks are unprecedented as never have the country's entire fleet been grounded at the same time. All airlines put together have about 660 aircraft.

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

Also, crews are spread across cities. Getting them back to their home bases is particularly difficult because of the reduced operations.

For the third, which is to process requests from customers to cancel or reschedule tickets, the airlines thankfully have a little more time.

Getting crew back

Within a couple of hours of the government's announcement on March 23, IndiGo sent out a communication to its crew detailing the process that the airline will follow.

"Pilots shall be assigned flights such that they come back to their allocated bases," said the communication from the airline's Flight Operations Senior Vice President.

"Pilots on layovers shall be either assigned flights to operate back to their base or they shall be planned as deadheading," the mail added.

Deadheading in aviation parlance is when an airline carries its own staff - who are off duty - on a scheduled flight.

The communication has asked pilots - who are deadheading - to be in uniform so that they are available to operate a flight in case there is a need.

IndiGo's peers have taken similar steps.

But, getting each crew member back to his or her home base is easier said than done.

A senior pilot from an airline told Moneycontrol that "we cannot get everyone back tomorrow because of operational reasons such as parking the aircraft in different airports."

The pilot explained. "So if someone from Delhi is sent on a commercial flight to, say Bengaluru, and the aircraft has to be parked there at night. Then the crew wont come back. Many such situations are arising now. All crew members wont be able to come back."

So, what happens to pilots and cabin crew that are stuck?

There is a solution.

In its order suspending domestic flights, government has made an exception to let airlines fly cargo-only flights.

"If airlines fly cargo-only flights then the crew can be moved. They will be listed as crew on the flight, and they can be moved back to their home bases," said the pilot quoted above.

Parking woes

Last time an airport in the country had parking woes was back in 2010 when the volcano eruption in Iceland forced airlines to ground their fleet. Many of the international airlines' aircraft were stuck in Delhi's IGI Airport, and its runway 27 became a parking lot.

It is a similar situation now. The only difference is that, this time, nearly every runway in all the major airports across the country will become parking spaces for aircraft. But, there could be parking issues.

Delhi, which probably has the biggest parking space, can only accommodate 200 aircraft.

And, that is not all.

"If aircraft have to be parked, the engineering department has to ensure that the planes are secured properly and before they fly, all checks have to be carried out. Timely checks have to be carried out if the lockdown is longer," said Amit Singh, an industry veteran and Fellow of London's Royal Aeronautical Society.

This is an additional challenge for airports too.

"The challenge is how they will restart the operations later and how they will carry out maintenance on taxiways," said one of the executives quoted above.

The airlines, as of now, are planning their Human Resources and managing their fleet to be ready to resume operations with the suspension lifts after March 31.

"We shall position all our aircraft and crew members to their allocated base in order to resume operations after 2359 hours on 31/03/2020. Therefore, please be available to accept duties at the end of the suspension period," said the IndiGo communication.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are using artificial intelligence to develop an early warning system that will identify manipulated images, deepfake videos and disinformation online. The project is an effort to combat the rise of coordinated social media campaigns to incite violence, sew discord and threaten the integrity of democratic elections.

The scalable, automated system uses content-based image retrieval and applies computer vision-based techniques to root out political memes from multiple social networks.

"Memes are easy to create and even easier to share," said Tim Weninger, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Notre Dame. "When it comes to political memes, these can be used to help get out the vote, but they can also be used to spread inaccurate information and cause harm."

Weninger, along with Walter Scheirer, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Notre Dame, and members of the research team collected more than two million images and content from various sources on Twitter and Instagram related to the 2019 general election in Indonesia. The results of that election, in which the left-leaning, centrist incumbent garnered a majority vote over the conservative, populist candidate, sparked a wave of violent protests that left eight people dead and hundreds injured. Their study found both spontaneous and coordinated campaigns with the intent to influence the election and incite violence.

Those campaigns consisted of manipulated images exhibiting false claims and misrepresentation of incidents, logos belonging to legitimate news sources being used on fabricated news stories and memes created with the intent to provoke citizens and supporters of both parties.

While the ramifications of such campaigns were evident in the case of the Indonesian general election, the threat to democratic elections in the West already exists. The research team at Notre Dame, comprised of digital forensics experts and specialists in peace studies, said they are developing the system to flag manipulated content to prevent violence, and to warn journalists or election monitors of potential threats in real time.

The system, which is in the research and development phase, would be scalable to provide users with tailored options for monitoring content. While many challenges remain, such as determining an optimal means of scaling up data ingestion and processing for quick turnaround, Scheirer said the system is currently being evaluated for transition to operational use.

Development is not too far behind when it comes to the possibility of monitoring the 2020 general election in the United States, he said, and their team is already collecting relevant data.

"The disinformation age is here," said Scheirer. "A deepfake replacing actors in a popular film might seem fun and lighthearted but imagine a video or a meme created for the sole purpose of pitting one world leader against another -- saying words they didn't actually say. Imagine how quickly that content could be shared and spread across platforms. Consider the consequences of those actions."

###

Weninger, Scheirer and Michael Yankoski, a doctoral candidate in theology and peace studies at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, recently described the system in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Scheirer is also an incoming faculty fellow at Notre Dame's Institute for Advanced Study focusing on visual media and trust. Co-authors of the study include Pamela Bilo Thomas, Joel Brogan, Daniel Moreira, Pascal Phoa and William Theisen, all at Notre Dame. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the United States Agency for International Development funded the study.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Axel Springer SE has withdrawn its previous forecast for the 2020 financial year, due to the likely effects of the Coronavirus crisis. The company said it is unable to provide a sufficiently reliable concrete new forecast for the financial year 2020. In addition, the company has decided to cancel the Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting convened for 22 April 2020. The decision is based on the Corona crisis and the restrictions imposed on meetings by the SARS-CoV-2 Containment Ordinance of the State of Berlin. The Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting is now expected to take place in the second half of June 2020. The company intends to maintain the proposed dividend of 1.16 euros per qualifying share. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
When does a player become too good that people start to underrate their performances?

In Virgil van Dijks case, it was almost immediately after he moved to Liverpool. Though he went on to claim the PFA Player of the Year in his first full season at Anfield, many put that down to the hype surrounding him. The fact he was the worlds most expensive defender for a period of time meant all eyes were on him and, to the annoyance of those doubting the centre-back, the former Southampton man was near flawless.

But when Player of the Year talk started back up again for this season, the Liverpool No.4 wasnt really part of the conversation. Jordan Henderson climbed to the top of the list, pushing Sadio Mane down the pecking order and it was believed that Kevin de Bruyne was the only player who couldve prevented a Liverpool player from claiming a third consecutive POTY award.

Even fans of the Merseysiders have kind of overlooked their defensive colossus this season. When youre consistently putting in reliable performances, its easy for people to take it for granted. This is what happened with Van Dijk. While Liverpool didnt start to shut up shop and keep clean sheets until Alisson and Joe Gomez returned to the starting XI, the Reds dropped just two points in the 16 matches prior to the defensive triumvirate was reunited.

Van Dijk was the one constant. Though he didnt single-handedly keep Liverpool in the title race, his assured performances in multiple matches ensured the Reds held firm in some difficult matches. And he was taken for granted.

Statistically, the 28-year-old has been even better this year. Just without the same sort of praise that went his way last season.

For example, hes winning more duels and losing fewer, both on the ground and in the air. Hes playing more passes on a per 90 basis and completing a higher percentage, at least in the Premier League.

But away from the individual stats, Liverpool won all of the matches with Van Dijk playing alongside one of Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip and ahead of Adrian. He shouldered that burden. As fans, weve seen how difficult it is for Lovren to maintain concentration for 90-minute matches. Weve witnessed how erratic Adrian can be between the sticks. But, remarkably, they kept brain farts to a minimum with Van Dijk leading them.

Granted, the Dutchman wasnt at his best against Watford. But, ultimately, hes being criticised for not being perfect. People claim hes on his heels and slow to react but, in reality, very few other defenders would be scrutinised in such detail. Rival fans have since micro-analysed his performance against Atletico Madrid.

The clip doing the rounds on social media was when Atleti scored their equaliser. Alvaro Morata carried the ball forward and at first glance Van Dijk is standoffish. The former Chelsea man managed to play the ball inside to Marcos Llorente, the ex-Real Madrid midfielder then worked it back onto his right foot and he bends an effort past Adrian.

For some reason, people expect Van Dijk to dive into a tackle with Morata and quell the danger. But the Liverpool No.4 isnt the sort to commit unless it is completely necessary. In this instance, theres no need. The Reds have bodies back. The mistake, if you can call it that, is Gomez allowing Llorente back onto his right foot. Adrian should do better too but this goal is one scored once every 100 times. In the 99 other realities, this goal doesnt happen and Van Dijk, doing what he does all the time, isnt wrongly blamed for it.

But the fact people have jumped on this as a mistake shows how peerless Van Dijk has actually been. It highlights how consistently brilliant he has been and why he shouldve been favourite to land a second Player of the Year award.
While the prime minister wants us to bang thaalis and thank everyone who is helping us turning the testing times, there are actors who are raising even more relevant points.

After Ronit Roy emphasized on the importance of feeding your domestic help, now actor Karanvir Bohra has raised another valid point during the time of Quarantine.

Amid coronavirus lockdown, actor Karanvir Bohra requested men to help their wives in cleaning up the house and doing other household works.

"With schools shut, and with no hired help for a lot of people during these times, it would be great if the men help the women out at home," Karanvir wrote on Instagram on Monday. Not only this, but he also shared a photograph in which he is seen holding a broom in his hand.

"Leading by example, cleaning and feeding babies. When Teejay (Karanvir''s wife) does other chores, I share the workload during these times of quarantine," he added.

Karanvir, who is best known for his role in "Shararat", got married to Teejay in 2006. The couple shares two twin daughters, Bella and Vienna.


ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) announced today that it has been awarded a fourth consecutive Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) Cooperative Agreement (CA) from the US Department of Defense (DOD). This competitive award extends NCMS' 22-year record of success as the CTMA program's managing partner. The contract is valued at up to $900 million for a period of 5 years.

"It is an honor to build upon our CTMA successes and I'm gratified by DOD's confidence in NCMS. It reflects our outstanding record of performance since the program's inception and validates the innovative technical and management solutions we plan for the coming 5 years," said Lisa Strama, NCMS President and CEO. "We welcome the opportunity to continue our leadership on the program, and we commit our best people to the effort, starting with Debbie Lilu, Vice President, Maintenance and Sustainment Business Development, who has performed ably in her CTMA role. Working as a team, we propose nothing less than to help DOD transform the future of the DOD MxS community by integrating technology innovation at the velocity of change."

CTMA is the only DOD-wide program focused solely on maintenance improvements. It provides a flexible contract vehicle and collaborative working model for manufacturers, research universities, DOD and other federal agencies to develop relationships and opportunities, drive cutting-edge R&D, and meet warfighter needs through demonstration of new technologies prior to full deployment. NCMS increases CTMA effectiveness by harnessing the capabilities and resources of its 5,000 US technology partners. NCMS' collaborative framework and disciplined development, demonstration, validation, and transition help DOD solve complex Maintenance and Sustainment (MxS) challenges to ensure American troops are supported by the most up-to-date and best-maintained platforms and tools in the world.

"The readiness of America's fighting forces hinges on the effectiveness of DOD's maintenance and sustainment enterprise. CTMA has become the "go-to" program for bringing the best and brightest ideas from industry and DOD to rapidly innovate the way that affordable materiel readiness is provided to our warfighters. For the past 22 years, CTMA has diligently and steadily changed maintenance paradigms across the entire sustainment portfolio," said Mr. Gregory Kilchenstein, Director, Enterprise Maintenance Technology, ODASD  Materiel Readiness. "I am excited about the possibilities afforded by the next 5 years of working shoulder to shoulder with NCMS to transform maintenance and sustainment and ensure the continued superiority of America's military."

About NCMS

NCMS is a cross-industry technology development consortium dedicated to improving the competitiveness and strength of the US industrial base for over 33 years. NCMS leverages a network of industry, government, and university partners to develop, demonstrate, and transition innovative technologies efficiently, with less risk and lower cost. NCMS enables world-class companies to work effectively with other members on new opportunitiesmatching highly capable companies with the providers and end users who need their innovations and technology solutions. The NCMS network benefits from an accelerated progression of idea creation through execution.

SOURCE National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
Local News, Arts & Culture

By Ls Cohen Published: March 24 2020

We dug into the archives to find some great old time pics from Camp Upton on Long Island.

A U.S. Army's Camp Upton, located in Yaphank, Long Island, was active during both World Wars, from 1917 until 1920, and from 1940 until 1946. The army base was named after Civil War figure Major General Emery Upton.

It was used to mobilize and train troops and also played a dark role in American history, serving as a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

Below we present some old pictures of Camp Upton while it was used as an Army base and before it became the site of Brookhaven National Lab in 1947.

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-25800 (digital file from original negative)]

Photograph shows soldiers sorting and organizing personnel records at Camp Upton, Yaphank, Long Island, New York State. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2016).

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-25283 (digital file from original negative)]

Photograph shows African American soldiers looking at packages at Camp Upton, a U.S. Army installation located on Long Island, in Yaphank, New York, during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2015)

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-26882 (digital file from original negative)]

1917 or 1918: Photograph shows the interior of the "Buffalo Auditorium" at Camp Upton, Yaphank, New York State with American, British and French flags. The auditorium was built and paid for by the African American 367th Infantry (sometimes known as the Buffalo Soldiers) stationed at Camp Upton. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2016)

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-25280 (digital file from original negative)]

1917 September 15 (date created or published later by Bain): Photograph shows soldiers at Camp Upton, a U.S. Army installation located on Long Island, in Yaphank, New York during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2015)

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-26880 (digital file from original negative)]

1918 May 27 (date created or published later by Bain): Photograph shows an African American jazz band during World War I probably in the "Buffalo Auditorium" at Camp Upton, Yaphank, Long Island, New York State. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2016 and related print in PR 06 CN 133)

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ds-09946 (digital file from original)]

1917: The arrival of the New Rochelle contingent at Camp Upton, Yaphank / Photograph by F.M. Stefano, Herald photographer. Photograph shows procession of men arriving for military service at Camp Upton, one carrying a sign stating: "From New Rochelle, '45 minutes from Broadway,' bound for Yaphank. Ready to do our bit."

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-anrc-06837 (digital file from original)]

Aug. 1918: Camp Upton. Detail, leaving Red Cross house with load of knitted goods.

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-anrc-06842 (digital file from original)]

Aug. 30, 1918: Camp Upton. Sergeant consults Field Directors concerning home troubles of one of his men.

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ppmsca-54713 (digital file from original)]

Between 1917 and 1918: Soldiers of 308th Infantry Regiment in uniform with lambs at Camp Upton, New York. Photograph shows group portrait of unidentified soldiers except for Private Elias Shaker at bottom right.

Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517 [LC-DIG-ggbain-25285 (digital file from original negative)]

Photograph shows cars at Camp Upton, a U.S. Army installation located on Long Island, in Yaphank, New York, during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2015)

Photo: Brookhaven National Lab.

Photo: Brookhaven National Lab.

Photo: Brookhaven National Lab.
Earl Kemp, the graphic-artist-turned-publisher-of-critical-science-fiction-essays-turned-porn-publisher, died on February 6 from head injuries suffered in a fall in his home. He was 90 years old.

Born in 1929, Kemp moved from his native Arkansas to Chicago in the 1940s, and was invited to join the University of Chicago Science Fiction Club in 1950. Thus began a life-long interest in the genre, leading him to become an award-winning fanzine editor; the chair of the 1962 Worldcon, an annual get-together for science fiction fans; and one of the founders of Advent Publishers, a label devoted to releasing books of criticism about the science fiction genre.

But it was in the early 1960s that Kemp embarked on a new adventure: He went to work as an editor for fellow Chicago science-fiction fan William Hamling, owner of erotic book publisher Greenleaf Classics, which over the course of its existence (1959-1974) released more than 1,000 sexy (and often sexually explicit) novels under more than 30 imprints, including such familiar ones as Bedside Books, Leisure Books and of course Greenleaf Classics. Titles included The Lust Merchants, Swap Smorgasbord, Secret Sex Desires, and a number of gay lines with titles such as Pretty Man, Muscle on Broadway and Women of the Swastika. But Kemp and Hamling hadn't forgotten their old pals, and such famous SF writers as Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Robert Bloch and Kurt Vonnegut had erotic novels published under pseudonyms by Greenleaf.

Almost needless to say, all that published sex got Kemp and Hamling in trouble, first in 1966, when a federal obscenity indictment was returned in Houston, Texas, on seven Greenleaf novels. That trial ended in a hung jury, and the government decided to move the prosecution to San Diego, where Greenleaf Classics was then based, and where charges were eventually dismissed based on Supreme Court rulings that found similar writings not to be legally actionable.

But then, in 1971, what may be the strangest obscenity prosecution in the history of obscenity law took place, also in San Diego. In late September, 1970, the United States Printing Office released a report of the findings of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. The Commission, formed at the behest of President Lyndon Johnson, had concluded that porn posed no threat to the American way of lifeor as the report put it, there was "no evidence to date that exposure to explicit sexual materials plays a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal behavior among youths or adults"a conclusion that didn't sit well with President Richard Nixon, who had taken office in January of 1969 before the Commission's report was released, and promptly condemned the effort.

The Johnson Commission hired experts to examine a wide variety of sexual materialnone of which was included in the final published report. Hamling and Kemp saw this as a failure on the government's part, and in mid-December 1970, Greenleaf released its own version of the report, The Illustrated Presidential Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornographyjust 352 pages long, but with 546 photos and drawings that illustrated various passages contained in the official report.

Just three months later, the officers of three publishing companiesGreenleaf Classics, Inc., Library Services, Inc., and Reed Enterpriseswere indicted on 21 counts of violating postal laws by mailing obscene books and advertisements, and one count of conspiracy to violate the federal postal laws.

The indictments were announced in Washington, D.C., but the trial took place in San Diego, and according to a report in The New York Times of December 25, 1971Christmas day!the jury was unable to come to a decision as to whether Greenleaf and its officers and staff had published an obscene work, leading Judge Gordon Thompson Jr. to declare a mistrial on those charges.

However, the jury did find that Hamling, Kemp and two Greenleaf company officers were guilty of having mailed obscene brochures advertising the Illustrated Report through the mailsan echo of a similar conviction in 1966 of publisher Ralph Ginsburg for having mailed advertisements for his magazine Eros.

The Greenleaf defendants, all represented by prominent First Amendment attorney Stanley Fleishman, received prison sentences ranging from four years (Hamling, who was also fined $87,000) to three years (Kemp) to five years on probation (the other two defendants). The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1974, in what First Amendment attorney J. Michael Murray said resulted in a "very important federal obscenity ruling," but the convictions were sustained.

The convictions spelled the end for Greenleaf Classics, and it's unknown what Kemp did for a living after his release from prison. However, in 2002, he did return to editing fanzines, creating one titled e*I*, which was mainly a memoir of Kemp's experiences in the science-fiction field.

A YouTube video of Earl Kemp speaking in 2011 about some aspects of his life can be found here.
S ome 85 per cent of coronavirus cases reported over the past 24 hours were in Europe and the US, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed.

The Covid-19 pandemic originated in China at the end of 2019, but cases have since skyrocketed in other parts of the world.

Italy has now overtaken the Asian nation in its number of recorded deaths, with 6,077 as of midnight on Tuesday, compared to 3,277 in China.

The virus outbreak has infected more than 382,000 people worldwide, with at least 16,500 deaths so far.

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

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Monday that there were now cases in almost every country and that the global spread is "accelerating".

"It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 and just four days for the third 100,000," he said.

Dr Ghebreyesus added that he would be asking leaders around the world to take on the virus more aggressively and boost production of protective equipment for healthcare workers.

His comments came shortly before Boris Johnson declared a "moment of national emergency" in the UK as he imposed a near complete national lockdown.

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Spain is the worst affected European country after Italy, with 2,696 confirmed coronavirus patient deaths as of Tuesday morning  marking a jump in fatalities by 514 overnight.

The total number of people in the country to test positive for the disease has also risen by 6,584 in the past 24 hours to 39,673.

Madrids ice-skating rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue, given the rapid increase in deaths in the Spanish capital.

It is one of the hardest hit of Spains 17 regions, with some 1,300 deaths declared to date  approximately half the national total.

Donald Trump looks to reopen country in 'weeks'

However, in the US  the third worst hit country in the world  Donald Trump has announced plans to reopen for business in the coming weeks, not months.

The president told reporters on Monday that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus itself, adding: "We can't 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."

Mr Trump claimed, without apparent evidence, that if closures stretched on for months there would be "probably more death from that than anything that we're talking about with respect to the virus.

The US reported more than 100 deaths on Monday.

There have been a total of 557 deaths and nearly 44,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, according to the latest figures.

Wuhan, China: Convention Centre turned into a hospital for Coronavirus 1 /16 Wuhan, China: Convention Centre turned into a hospital for Coronavirus The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center on February 4th.2020 in Wuhan.Hubei Province,China. Wuhan epidemic prevention headquarters started converting three existing venues, including a gymnasium and an exhibition center, into hospitals to receive patients infected with the novel Coronavirus Getty Images Reuters AP REUTERS AP Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AP AP AP AP

Elsewhere, the Chinese government has lifted the tight lockdown of Hubei province  the original Covid-19 epicentre  that was imposed to halt the spread of the virus.

Residents who receive the necessary clearance from authorities will now be able to leave the province.

The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will continue to follow strict quarantine measures until April 8.
Some journalists covering the National Assembly, on Tuesday shunned the press briefing undertaken by the Senate Spokesman, Senator God...





Some journalists covering the National Assembly, on Tuesday shunned the press briefing undertaken by the Senate Spokesman, Senator Godiya Akwashiki.





This was not unconnected to the rumour that about 10 Senators had tested positive to the dreaded Coronavirus, known as COVID-19.





The red chamber had shut down plenary for 2 weeks, following its resolution after a closed door session which lasted for an hour on Tuesday.





Drama, however, started when the Senate Spokesman arrived at the Senate Press centre for a routine media chat and journalists started rushing out of the premises, for fear of possible spread of the virus.

Already, about 25 members of the 9th Assembly (10 Senators and 15 Reps Members), are feared infected by the virus.





About 15 Senators, including the Senate Spokesman, Akwashiki, just returned from UK, US and Canada without heeding to the convention of 14-day self-isolation.





A letter signed by the Chief of Staff to President Muhammad Buhari, Abba Kyari and addressed to the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, indicted the lawmakers who returned from foreign trips as evading quarantine exercise at the airports, upon their return.





When confronted with question last Thursday on the development, Senator Akwashiki told newsmen that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, frowned at those returnees without been quarantined.





The Senate President has asked those Senators to go on self-isolation, Akwashiki told Journalists Thursday.





Meanwhile, the Senate is to remain shut down till 7th April, 2020, when the affected lawmakers would have been done with the self isolation order.
Abortions were suspended in Texas on Tuesday, as it became the latest US state to abandon the procedure citing the spread of coronavirus.

In an attempt to preserve hospital capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic, officials in Texas and Ohio have announced that all surgical procedures deemed not medically necessary would be delayed.

The decision - which state health officials hope will conserve supplies of medical resources and protective equipment for hospital staff - has been criticised by campaigners as exploiting the outbreak to push through anti-abortion policies.

On Monday, the office of the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, confirmed that "No one is exempt from the governor's executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers,"

He added: "Those who violate the governor's order will be met with the full force of the law."

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Sunday that he had signed an executive order to expand hospital bed capacity as the state responds to the coronavirus. It was not immediately clear what was covered under the term of medical necessity.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the president of a healthcare company offering abortions at three locations in Texas, told CBS on Monday that the procedure was essential healthcare.

Ms Miller added: "Patients cannot wait until this pandemic is over to receive safe abortion care."

In Ohio, the Attorney General Dave Yost announced all non-essential medical procedures would pause on Friday.

In a letter shared with CBS News, the attorney generals office had written to two healthcare providers ordering them to stop providing services, such as abortion, that required the use of personal protective equipment.

In a statement, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio - one of the providers contacted by Mr Yost - said that they were complying with the Ohio Department of Healths order and continuing to operate.

They said that other steps to reduce the use of equipment in short supply" would be taken.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has not publicly commented on the order in place in the state.
The United States has reported a gun-buying boom in the last month caused by coronavirus fears. Apparently consumers are not just hoarding toilet paper, they have been stocking up on ammo and guns to create a sense of security during these difficult and uncertain times.

America And Their Guns

The USA has long since had an affinity for guns and their Second Amendment right to bear arms, which is a contentious issue when considering the staggering number of mass shootings that occur each year, there were 418 in 2019. America has the most civilian-owned guns in the world.

Different guns are preferred in different states and according to a CNN Business Report, AR-15s have been favored in New Jersey, while in New York state, people are buying shotguns.

Guns Sales Rise As Coronavirus Fears Spike

Stockpiling ammo and guns in the event that the situation deteriorates, supplies dwindle, and millions of people find themselves under heavy financial stress; many fear that looting could start and they may have to protect their homes and families. Many new gun sales have been to first time buyers, however, some people are adding to an already existing collection to create their own apocalypse arsenal.

Gun shops across the US are reporting that many first time buyers are Asian-Americans who are fearful due to an alarming increase of attacks against their communities. Racist, hateful, verbal, and physical assault reports against Asian-Americans are at an all-time high spurred on by misplaced blame for COVID-19.

Gun sales vary across state lines, and its no surprise that Republican states like Texas would lead the way with the most registered firearms. In 2019 Rhode Island had the least amount of registered guns in their state. These 10 states recorded the most registered guns in 2019.

10. Alabama - 168,265

This southern state has about 4.9 million people with 168,265 registered guns which is about 0.3 guns per person. Even though they come out at number 10, Alabama has one of the highest death by gun rates in America.

9. Ohio - 175,819

Ohio has a substantially high gun crime rate, as well as major issues with gun-related suicides. With over 11 million people in the state and 175,819 firearms, Ohio ranks highly as a state where guns seem to play a big role in society.

8. North Carolina - 181,209

North Carolina has very permissive gun laws and between 2008-2017 they had about 4.46 gun homicides per 100,000 people. They also experience a large number of mass shootings year to year.

7. Arizona - 204,817

In 2017 there were over 1,000 gun deaths in Arizona, and their laws are rather lax. Private gun sales are permitted and it is not unlawful to sell a gun without a permit.

6. Georgia - 225,993

Georgia has the highest rate of aggravated assaults with a firearm in the country and gun deaths are the leading cause of death for young people. Recently a man in Georgia afraid of the coronavirus, threatened 2 women who were wearing face masks and gloves to protect themselves from COVID-19

5. Pennsylvania - 271,427

Pennsylvanians are more likely to be killed by a gun than in a car accident in a given year. From 2007 to 2016, over 200 women were killed by guns making domestic violence in Pennsylvania major risk. The prevalence of guns in the state may contribute to the high risk of domestic violence.

4. Virginia - 356,963

Virginia has a considerably lower population than the states ahead on the list but a disproportionately large number of gun-related crimes. The main cause of death for young people in the state is actually from shootings.

3. California - 376,666

The most populous state, California may be reputed for being more forward-thinking and left-wing so one might think they would rank lower on the list of gun ownership. However, between 2008 and 2017, a homicide by gun occurred every 6 hours. That is a very high rate of violence.

2. Florida - 432,581

Ocala, Florida topped the list of most gun crimes in 2019, followed by Detroit, and St Louis. Deaths caused by firearms are one of the leading causes of deaths in the state. In 2017 there were more than 2,700 deaths from shootings in Florida.

1. Texas - 725,368

According to the Center for American Progress, there were 29,040 deaths caused by guns in Texas between 2008-2017, compared to Hawaii where only 417 people were killed during the same period. Texas has always had a reputation for proud gun owners and has some of the loosest gun laws in the country, with no background checks required and open carry policy, Texas really is the wild west when it comes to firearms.
The US was wholly unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic.

Senator Bernie Sanders warned us about the inadequacy of our healthcare system for years; he warned us what would happen if disaster struck and it has. But we didnt listen and now the Democratic candidate that appears almost guaranteed to take the Partys presidential nomination this summer is former VP Joe Biden, someone who still thinks radical reform isnt what the American people need.

So, what kind of president would Biden be if he went on to beat Trump at the polls in November? Just compare what both men have been doing since the coronavirus panic began in the US, in March.

#WheresJoe and #WheresJoeBiden have been trending on Twitter, uniting both Trump supporters and supporters of Bernie Sanders. Those using the hashtags have been asking why Biden disappeared for an entire week in the middle of the pandemic. Like many Americans, the former VP decided to hunker down during the crisis to avoid exposure and even built a recording studio in his basement so he could broadcast his speeches without risking his health. But he also also urged voters to show up at the polls in last Tuesday's primaries in Arizona, Ohio, Florida and Illinois in order to make sure he clenched the Partys nomination. While Bidens campaign did warn people not to vote if they have symptoms, it is now common knowledge that people with the virus can be asymptomatic for up to 12 days  or even for the entire time they have the virus  while at the same time spreading it to everyone around them.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has been front and center, fundraising $2m for working class Americans hit hardest by the crisis, while also fighting for a relief bill in the Senate that would help people and businesses weather the crisis. At 78, Sanders is a year older than Biden, and he has risked exposure to the virus in order to continue to serve his constituents and the American people. Sanders has also called for at least $2,000-a-month payments to families until the economy begins to improve. His actions inspired the hashtag #WeDeserveBernie, which has also been trending on Twitter the past week.

In the face of an economic downturn the likes the world has never seen before, I wonder how radical Sanderss ideas seem now? A $15 an hour minimum wage, Medicare for All, expanding social security, housing for everyone who needs it  that sounds just like what we need. It sounds like relief packages being brought in by other countries governments across the world.

Unfortunately, its probably too late to take it all back. All the primaries that Biden so easily won and all the warnings about socialism made by his Democratic and Republican rivals seem so unfortunate today when we are looking at so many small businesses closing, thousands of Americans unable to pay their rent or electricity bills, and record numbers of infections overwhelming a private healthcare system which isnt fit for purpose.

 Bernie Sanders on winning and losing

Bernies ideas will become mainstream after we emerge from this nightmare and the man who fought so long and so hard for economic security and access to quality healthcare for all Americans will be left in the dust. Like the saying goes, first person out the door gets shot. We dont deserve Bernie Sanders after the way weve ignored his calls for economic and health reform  a heavy price that working-class Americans will have to shoulder while the rich emerge unscathed from their beach houses and bunkers with recording studios.

Biden will go on to win the Democratic nomination this summer and he will likely beat Trump because over half of America is utterly disgusted with their president. But Biden is no Franklin D Roosevelt; there will be no New Deal. He is an overly touchy gaffe machine who represents an uninspiring, antiquated version of politics many young Americans can no longer stomach. Yes, the Biden presidency will be bumbling but otherwise unremarkable during a remarkable time in world history  a time that demands solid, visionary leadership that he simply hasnt shown.

If we cant have Bernie, then can we please just bring back Obama?
The nations largest beer company, Anheuser-Busch, has said it would make hand sanitizer at its breweries in Baldwinsville, New York, and Van Nuys, California, to be distributed by the American Red Cross and other organizations. Also, Joe Gregor, a chemical engineer by trade and the founder of Church Street Brewing in Itasca, made a batch of hand sanitizer that the brewery has donated to west suburban first responders and given to customers as incentive to buy its beer.
Egypt will impose a two-week, nightly curfew in the Arab world's most-populous country in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, its prime minister announced Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund warned a lack of supplies could affect the Mideast's poorest nations.

There are over 31,000 confirmed cases of the virus across the Mideast, the vast majority in the hard-hit nation of Iran.

While most recover from the virus and the COVID-19 illness that it causes, bottoming crude oil prices have put additional strain on even the wealthiest countries of the region. That in turn could affect their ability to spend on needed supplies as the virus challenges medical systems worldwide.

Already, countries have reacted by either urging or ordering hundreds of millions of people to stay home. Egypt, home to over 100 million alone, became the latest on Tuesday.

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly told a conference that the 11-hour curfew, from 7 pm until 6 am would go into effect Wednesday across the country. He said many kinds of transportation will be halted during the curfew. Egypt has 366 confirmed cases and 21 fatalities, including two senior military officers.

The IMF, which traditionally has urged governments to implement greater austerity measures, now urges Mideast governments to offer temporary tax relief and cash transfers.

It warned a lack of medical supplies could hurt Iraq, Sudan and Yemen if it leads to a surge in prices. Given the large numbers of people employed in the service sector, there will be wide reverberations if unemployment rises and wages and remittances fall, the IMF's director for the Middle East, Jihad Azour, said in statement.

In Egypt, tourist cancellations have reached 80%, while retail and hospitality sectors have also been hard-hit in countries like the United Arab Emirates where tourism is a pillar of the economy, according to the IMF.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Ohio Health Director Amy Acton spoke Tuesday of efforts to expand the capacity of hospitals to accommodate large numbers of COVID-19 coronavirus that are expected to need care in the not-so-distant future.

Acton said the states hospitals are at 60 percent capacity, down from 75 percent what with elective surgeries having been canceled. But she said hospitals still will need to expand the capacity of intensive care units by 50 percent.

While hospital leaders are reluctant to talk publicly about their expansion efforts, medical experts told cleveland.com that the search for temporary places to treat people is already under way in Cleveland and elsewhere.

So, could big and often unused spaces such as the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland become makeshift hospitals? How about Public Auditorium or the I-X Center?

What are realistic sites?

In New York City, with a population of more than 8.5 million and a spiraling coronavirus caseload, the giant Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, with 1.8 million square feet of convention space, is being converted into a field hospital.

But Clevelands convention center is an unlikely fit, our experts say. Ditto for Public Audtorium and the IX-Center, all of which would be difficult to transform into hospitals, in part because of where they are located and their lack of beds.

As Acton suggested on Tuesday, our hospitals are more likely to be looking at nearby hotels and college dormitories. She said Ohio hospitals already have contacted universities about using space in dormitories, if necessary.

Why hotels and dormitories?

They are mostly empty, for starters. Many Ohio universities have closed their campuses to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. And with a slowdown in business and tourism, presumably hotels have available rooms.

Hotels and dormitories also have beds, which are hard to come by in large numbers and on short notice.

And while beds in hotels and dorms would not suffice for intensive-care patients, they might serve other patients and free up regulation hospital beds for those who need them.

What other factors figure into the search?

Proximity is key.

Hospitals want any temporary facility to be nearby, so staff and equipment can be easily shared between the two places.

You have to remember if you do [set up an offsite location], you have to have the equipment there to treat those people, said Dr. Robert Bonomo, the chief of medicine for Clevelands Louis Stokes VA Medical Center and a professor at Case Western Reserve Universitys School of Medicine.

Use of hotels might be attractive for the Cleveland Clinic, which has the InterContinental Cleveland, the InterContinental Suites Hotel Cleveland and a Holiday Inn on its campus.

Might hospitals build temporary facilities?

Yes.

That might involve triage centers in tent-like shelters erected outside the buildings on hospital grounds. Those structures already have been going up at some hospitals around the state, Ohio Hospital Association Executive Director Mike Abrams said recently.

Who would move and who would stay?

The alternate sites will be important if hospitals need to free up more beds for intensive-care units.

Non-infectious patients could be moved to dormitories or hotel rooms or into a nursing home to receive care, providing more beds in the hospitals for critical patients, Abrams said.

How full are the hospitals now?

On average, the hospitals are running at about 60% capacity, Acton said.

Thats down from last week, when Abrams said the hospitals were at about 75% capacity. We can safely surge another 25% without doing anything at all, Abrams said then.

Ohio had 67 confirmed cases at that point. As of Tuesday, the state had 564 confirmed cases, though not all cases have required hospitalization.

Acton said Tuesday that steps taken by hospitals to stretch their resources, such as postponing procedures that can safely be delayed, have made a difference. The state also encouraged use of telemedicine.

How many more beds will be needed?

That depends a great deal on how well Ohioans practice preventive measures such as sheltering in their homes and maintaining social distancing, Acton said. Those efforts can slow the spread of the disease and give hospitals more time to prepare.

I think everyone should understand and not be surprised that this is the trend, Acton said Tuesday. We will need to build more capacity.

Is this kind of planning new to hospitals?

No.

Everybody has an emergency plan and those are thought out on multiple levels, from the logistical to the clinical, Bonomo said.

And those plans are put to the test through drills and scenarios.

Weve all put together teams, Bonomo said. Everybody has their special jobs. My responsibility is A, B, C. Somebody elses job is X, Y, Z.

More coronavirus coverage

Confirmed Ohio coronavirus cases rise to 564 and 8 deaths: Gov. Mike DeWines Tuesday, March 24 briefing

Ohio confirms nine new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Cleveland, bringing total to 36

Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton: Ohio is 7-14 days behind NYC in coronavirus pandemic curve

Mapping Ohios 564 coronavirus cases, and daily trend
FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold climbed 1.7% to $1,578.83 per ounce by 0116 GMT. The metal rose 3.7% on Monday, its highest percentage gain since June 2016.

* U.S. gold futures rose 1.6% to $1,592.20 per ounce.

* For the first time, the Fed will back purchases of corporate bonds, backstop direct loans to companies and will "soon" roll out a program to get credit to small and medium-sized business.

* Asian shares were set to rally as the U.S. central bank pledged to help the economy from a fallout. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5% in early trade.

* President Donald Trump said on Monday he is considering how to reopen the U.S. economy when a 15-day shutdown ends next week, even as the coronavirus spreads rapidly.

* A far-reaching virus economic stimulus package remained stalled in the U.S. Senate on Monday as Democrats said it contained too little money for states and hospitals and not enough restrictions on a fund to help big businesses.

* Global central banks also took various measures to mitigate the damage of the outbreak, with Australia's;s central bank proposing to buy $2.35 billion in government bonds, while Germany agreed for a package worth up to $808 billion.

* Three of the world's;s largest gold refineries said on Monday they had suspended production in Switzerland for at least a week after local authorities ordered the closure of non-essential industry to curtail the spread of the virus.

* Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , rose 1.8% to 923.99 tonnes on Monday.

* Palladium surged 7.3% to $1,844.50 per ounce, while platinum rose 4.5% to $671.11 and silver jumped 5.4% to $13.97 per ounce.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0815 France Markit Serv, Comp, Mfg Flash PMIs March 0830 Germany Markit Serv, Comp, Mfg Flash PMIs March 0900 EU Markit Serv, Comp, Mfg Flash PMIs March 0930 UK Flash Serv, Comp, Mfg PMIs March 1345 US Flash Markit Serv, Comp, Mfg PMIs March 1400 US New Home Sales-Units Feb (Reporting by Asha Sistla in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
Dr. Mehmet Oz said last week that he encouraged couples to have regular sex while self-quarantining amid the coronavirus.

However, the doctor's prescription was the opposite when dealing with patient Wendy Williams.

The 55-year-old revealed that she had been advised to 'hold out' for the duration of the crisis, on Tuesday.

Doctor's orders: Dr. Oz has told single Wendy Williams to 'hold out' from sex until the coronavirus dies down

'When I went to Dr. Oz, one of the things I talked to him about, I was like, "Dr. Oz, what do single people, including me, do about sex?"' she told people.com.

'He ended up saying, "You know what? Hold out. It'll be over soon".'

Wendy went on to say that while she is quite the 'wanted woman,' sex is not currently on her mind.

'Hold out': 'When I went to Dr. Oz, one of the things I talked to him about, I was like, "Dr. Oz, what do single people, including me, do about sex?" He ended up saying, "You know what? Hold out. It'll be over soon".'

'As much as a wanted woman as I am, I'm not thinking about that [sex]. I don't want anybody over here.'

The open talk-show host went on to share that she thought the use of protection was 'random.'

'I think condoms are something random. You know, what about the sweat and the shower?'

Wendy's appearance on the Dr. Oz show was cut short last week due to a CONVID-19 press conference that was shown instead.

Single and ready to mingle! Wendy has enjoyed herself as a single lady over the past year ever since her split from husband of 18-years, Kevin Hunter

And besides sex, Wendy had other questions for the doctor regarding the deadly global virus.

'I asked him about, "Do clothes carry the virus?" I get in the elevator, I press with my elbow, I bill my sleeve down and press with the material,' she added.

The doctor advised her that, 'Yes! The germs last for two hours.'

Wendy continued: 'Two hours! Darling, do you realize when you get out of the subway or your Uber or whatever you're doing outside. You come inside, you sit on your cloth couch with your clothing on - you're transferring the stuff!'

Dr. Oz's comments come after he told the rest of the world's couples to get intimate during these uncertain times.

'The best solution, if you're holed up with your significant other quarantined, is have sex,' the doctor ordered while speaking with TMZ last week.

'You'll live longer, get rid of the tension. It certainly gets some stories. Maybe you'll make some babies. It's certainly better than staring at each other and getting on each other's nerves.'

Dr. Oz added that what they have learned from the coronavirus outbreak in China is that 'people get really depressed when they're quarantined.'

He also gave is prediction that the worst part of the virus will be over within 6-8 weeks.

'Here's the good news. I talked to the surgeon general, Jerome Adams, today, and he believes we're six to eight weeks from being past the worst of this and having beaten this pandemic,' he said last Tuesday.

'That's how long we have to hold our breath for. That's our finishing line.'

There are now 50,075 cases of coronavirus and 628 deaths in just the United States as of Tuesday afternoon.
The president has heard, as we all have heard, what are what I call anecdotal reports that certain drugs work. So what he was trying to do and express was the hope that if they might work, lets try and push their usage, Fauci said. I, on the other side, have said Im not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work. So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint, and the president was trying to bring hope to the people.
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Russian Demand For Consumer Credit, Mortgages Jumps As Ruble Weakens, COVID-19 Spreads

By RFE/RL March 23, 2020

Russians have been applying for consumer credit and mortgages in greater numbers due to fears that prices and rates will soon increase, the business daily RBC reported.

Russians have historically rushed to purchase foreign consumer goods, such as electronics and cars, as well as apartments during periods of economic volatility and ruble depreciation.

The Russian ruble has fallen nearly 20 percent over the past month after oil prices collapsed March 9 following a disagreement between Moscow and Riyadh on production cuts. A weaker ruble will make popular imported products like iPhones more expensive.

The recent ruble fall has encouraged citizens "not to delay the purchase of goods they need" and buy them up now before prices rise, Irina Nosova, director of Moscow-based rating agency ACRA, told RBC.

Russians scooped up household appliances and cars at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 when oil prices last nosedived, causing a sharp currency devaluation, and citizens probably "fear missing the moment" now, she said.

Fear over the impact the coronavirus could have on the economy and supply chain has also played a role in credit demand as Russians -- just like their European and American counterparts -- stock up on food and other goods.

Otkritie Bank told RBC that demand for cash credit rose 15 percent last week compared with the year-earlier period while Sberbank, the nation's largest bank, said it has witnessed an increase in the cash size of the requests by about 10 percent over the past month.

VTB, the nation's second-largest bank, told RBC that the number of applications for cash credit rose by one-third in March after it had cut its rates to 7.5 percent. VTB said mortgage applications rose 15 percent last week while auto credit rose at a similar pace.

Based on reporting by RBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-demand-for- consumer-credit-mortgages-jumps-as-ruble- weakens-covid-19-spreads/30503728.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.

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Prison visits have been cancelled across England and Wales as jails are placed on lockdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced prisons would be closed to visitors on Tuesday in order to ensure the safe and secure functioning of our prisons, while enforcing social distancing.

No social visits, education or workshops will take place across the prison estate in order to keep staff, inmates and their families must as safe as possible, according to the Prison Officers Association (POA).

Inmates will be locked up most of the time, allowed out only to access to showers, phones  where they do not have one in their cells  and exercise, but with application of social distancing principles, the union said.

Only prisoners who are essential workers  such as those working in the kitchen, laundry, or as cleaners  will be let out of their cells for longer periods to attend work.

In Italy, protests erupted in jails when the government took similar measures there two weeks ago, leading to the deaths of 12 inmates.

Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the POA, said he believed prisoners would respect the decision. He told The Independent he received confirmation of the new measures on Monday night after being in talks with the government over recent days about bringing in such measures.

More and more staff are self-isolating, more and more prisoners are showing symptoms of Covid-19, and in order to protect staff, prisoners and the general public, it is now necessary to self-isolate our prisoners to stop the spread, he said.

Asked whether he was concerned the move could prompt a negative reaction from prisoners, such as that seen in Italy, Mr Fairhurst said: Im always worried about an overreaction, but I think weve done things sensibly.

Weve continued to work normally for as long as we possibly can and I think families of prisoners will be relieved that theyre not at risks and prisoners will be relieved that their loved ones will be safe at home instead of travelling all over the country into packed visit halls and putting themselves at risk.

In my local prison, HMP Liverpool, prisoners have been asking why they havent been locked down yet, so were hoping there will be a sensible reaction from prisoners. They must realise that this is for their safety and their loved ones.

I think the timing is just about right. As the virus was spreading rapidly, they did the right thing at the right time.

Thirteen prisoners and 12 prison staff in England and Wales have so far tested positive for coronavirus, and around 3,500 of a total of just over 27,000 prison staff are currently self-isolating.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the POA, said the Prime Ministers address to the nation on Monday night was a game changer which meant prison regimes could no longer be kept as normal.

The POA will continue to work with government and employer to keep our members and prisoners as safe as possible. These restrictions will bring their own challenges operationally but the director general Phil Copple has made the correct decision, he said.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: This is an extremely difficult and worrying time for everyone and, while a lockdown in prisons may have been inevitable with wider community restrictions now in place, it is critically important that prisoners and their families are able to keep in touch.

Some prisons are giving prisoners more phone credit if they cannot meet people face to face. And we could do more, such as allowing the use of technology like Skype to enable 'virtual visits'."

She said it was also "vital" that prisoners were treated with compassion and engaged in purposeful activity while in their cells, adding: Meanwhile, to protect the public, the government must start taking steps to reduce the number of people behind bars to ensure that prisons do not become breeding grounds for COVID-19.

The MoJ said secure phone handsets would be given to prisoners at 55 jails, enabling the approved use of 900 locked SIM card handsets so that risk-assessed prisoners can speak to a small number of pre-authorised contacts.

It said strict measures would ensure the phones are not misused, with calls being time-limited and monitored closely, as well as measures to prevent non-secure SIM cards being used and no internet access.

Prisons and probation minister Lucy Frazer QC MP said: These are uniquely challenging times and the decision to end prison visits has not been taken lightly. We know these are important to many prisoners and that they will be concerned for the wellbeing of their family members.

It is therefore right and proportionate that we provide other, controlled ways for them to stay in touch so that they can maintain the close bonds that will ultimately reduce their chances of reoffending when they are released.

I also want to pay tribute to the thousands of staff working tirelessly to keep our prisons safe.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Peekaboo Beans Inc, (CSE: BEAN) (OTC Pink: PBBSF) ("PK Beans" or the "Company") is excited to announce the launch of their adventure subscription box. The company has created a monthly subscription that will help extend the PK Bean's apparel brand into the childhood adventure play space. The objective is to enhance the Company's brand and transform its marketing initiatives into a profitable recurring revenue opportunity.

One of the most prevalent challenges parents face is managing digital time in a balanced and effective way. The goal of the Company is to support their playful mission and help define healthy habits while keeping media and technology use in check, and PK Beans has created a solution for this.

PKB Explorers' Club is purposefully designed for kids to travel from digital to active play, reinforcing the Company's messaging that playtime is vital and needs to be balanced and healthy to benefit children's development. PK Explorers' Club allows children to become immersed into a magical storybook world conceived by Emmy-winning child psychologists. Each month, children receive a new exciting storybook, with Augmented Reality (AR) components for balanced digital engagement. In conjunction with AR, it includes active play components, such as a dress-up felt board and adventure map. This subscription is an imagination and ingenuity booster; storytelling ties everything together engaging kids and their imaginations for healthy, purposeful play and learning. It is also a significant opportunity to increase licensing opportunities and broaden their omni-channel platform, with between 40-50% of total retail sales in the USA and Canada attributable to licensed merchandise.

"This is bringing back the love of storytelling, books and active play, while engaging children in a new and relevant way through splashes of augmented reality", says CEO, Traci Costa. "The launch of PKB Explorers' Club is happening during a time when parents need help more than ever, as they search for fun, educational and engaging activities to keep children occupied, not to mention help their children get lost in their imagination, when they are feeling anxious and overwhelmed. We hope to bring more play to their lives during a scary time".

About Peekaboo Beans Inc.

PK Beans is a children's apparel brand with a focus on environmentally responsible clothes that are intentionally designed to inspire play. Through an omni-channel approach, Peekaboo Beans engages sellers through social platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, as well as online retailers, to maximize revenue and build brand loyalty. The Company works to promote a playful lifestyle for children by designing comfortable clothes that are built to last.

To learn more about Peekaboo Beans, visit: www.pkbeans.com,

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Peekaboo Beans Inc.

Ms. Traci Costa, President and CEO

(604) 279-2326

For more information, please contact the Company at:

IR@pkbeans.com

1-604-279-2326

Reader Advisory

This news release may include forward-looking information that is subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53699
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says he will extend the citys state of emergency declaration on Wednesday for at least another two weeks.

During a news conference Tuesday with police, fire and other bureau leaders, Wheeler said he anticipates Portland being under the declaration through April, when he said state medical officials suspect the outbreak could peak. In the meantime, he and other city leaders urged residents to continue following Gov. Kate Browns order to stay at home as much as possible.

The citys state of emergency, first announced March 12, is scheduled to end Thursday morning. Wheeler said the city plans to release more information that same day about how the city is addressing housing and economic aid.

To be clear, right now the order is stay at home, do not travel, Wheeler said. We collectively control how deep and how long this crisis lasts through our own behavior.

Wheeler said the city has repurposed $1 million to support emergency aid for coronavirus-impacted households, the citys development service bureau has prioritized accepting permits for affordable housing developments and that commercial tenants in city-owned properties, including food cart rental spaces, will have rent deferred for three months.

Police Chief Jami Resch and Fire Chief Sara Boone said their first responders will continue to take all calls for service, but they encouraged people to fill reports online or via phone if possible and not to call 911 for non-emergencies. Resch said police officers would issue citations for violating the stay-home order as a last resort if people repeatedly fail to heed the warnings. Police bureau officials also said officers also can report businesses that fail to comply with the states emergency order to state licensing agencies.

Resch said suicide-related calls in Portland have increased by 41% from last year and are up 23% from around the last week and a half. She urged people to check in on loved ones and neighbors.

If they are struggling, make sure they know how to access help, she said.

Oregon has confirmed 209 cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday afternoon, and eight people have died.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

Gov. Kate Brown issued the statewide order Monday that requires people to stay home as much as possible except to work at essential jobs or complete necessary tasks, such as buying groceries or medications. She also ordered the closure of certain retail businesses where close contact is difficult or impossible to avoid, like movie theaters, barber shops, nail, hair and tanning salons, tattoo parlors, shopping malls and gyms.

The closures took effect Tuesday. All playgrounds and campgrounds have also been ordered closed.

Portland Chief Administrative Officer Tom Rinehart said Tuesday that the city has temporarily stopped pursuing collections on past-due taxes and offered rent relief on city-owned properties. He also mentioned that though city parks indoor facilities have been closed, park bathrooms will remain open throughout the city for the homeless population.

Wheeler mentioned the city and county using the Oregon Convention Center and Charles Jordan Community Center in North Portland as temporary homeless shelters. The East Portland Community Center would also be used as shelter space by Thursday, he said.

Wheeler also said the city has largely stopped clearing homeless camps for the time being and that people will only be moved if the inhabitants are in apparent danger.

The city has canceled public meetings at City Hall and is only allowing staff to work in city buildings if their physical presence is essential to day-to-day operations. The rest are working remotely, city officials said.

Two downtown city buildings were closed late last week and several floors sanitized after four city employees showed apparent symptoms of coronavirus. Officials said last week that none of them have been tested.

The city through its economic development agency Prosper Portland provided the majority of $190,000 being made available in grants to aid businesses affected by COVID-19 in Southeast Portlands Jade District and Northwest Portlands Old Town Chinatown. Both areas are home to many Asian business owners who have seen their revenue drop by as much as 60% in recent months due to xenophobia, according to city officials.

Wheeler said Tuesday that the city plans to expand aid to other businesses throughout Portland.

The city is also offering three-month deferrals of loan payments to existing borrowers upon request and businesses whose revenue has declined by at least 10%. Small businesses with annual revenue under $1 million are being prioritized. The city said its also offering rent relief to commercial tenants in Prosper Portland-owned properties whove also seen revenue lower by at least 10%. Businesses could receive three month rent payment deferrals for April, May and June.

Small businesses throughout the state are also eligible for low-interest economic injury disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Help available in Portland:

Portland police non-emergency line: 503-823-3333

Portland Police Sunshine Division (for information for help with food & clothing): 503-823-2102

Multnomah County Mental Health Call Center: 503-988-4888 / 800-716-9769

Portland Street Maintenance Hotline: 503-823-1700

-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A prosecutor in Iran's northern city of Anzali on Monday said an arrest warrant has been issued for an "Islamic doctor" who put the lives of several coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) patients and the public in danger. The self-proclaimed doctor administered a "miracle cure" which he called the "Perfume of the Prophet" to the patients one of who, a young man, died three days later.

Morteza Kohansal, a low-level cleric, posted a video of himself on social media showing him asking for patients' permission to administer the cure to them. The video shows him removing their protective masks and rubbing the perfume under their noses with unprotected, unsanitized fingers. He claimed that the "Perfume of the Prophet" would make them sneeze and heal from the virus.

According to the Prosecutor of Anzali, a port city in the coronavirus-stricken Gilan Province, the arrest warrant was issued "in coordination with the Prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court". Clerics in Iran can only be tried by the Special Clerical Court which is independent of the country's Judiciary and generally holds its trials behind closed doors.

The self-professed "Islamic doctor" offering his treatment with "Perfume of the Prophet" to coronavirus patients.

The Prosecutor of Anzali claimed that Kohansal had sneaked into the patients' rooms without authorization.

The self-confessed advocates and practitioners of "Islamic medicine" many of who are clerics use ancient formulas, supposedly used by the Prophet and his successors, as well special prayers to heal their patients.

Iran's Supreme Leader is an advocate of a traditional school of medicine which is now often referred to as "Islamic-Iranian medicine". Those who advocate and practice this school enjoy state-funded propaganda and the protection of the hardliner-dominated Judiciary despite many protests by the country's medical community.

One of the leading figures of the "Islamic Medicine" practitioners who has come to be known as "The Father of the Islamic Medicine in Iran" last week claimed that dropping bitter gourd oil in ears in the morning will prevent infection with coronavirus while another notorious "Islamic doctor" who had caused quite a social uproar by burning a standard medical textbook in January prescribed blocking the anus with a cotton ball dipped in violet oil to ward off the virus when the epidemic spread in the country.
By Donican Lam, KYODO NEWS - Mar 24, 2020 - 15:23 | All, Japan, Coronavirus, World

While the coronavirus pandemic has created friction between some countries, it appears to have brought out mutual expressions of goodwill between China and Japan, two historical rivals with a sometimes rocky relationship.

After the deadly infectious disease first broke out in China late last year, Japanese cities and private organizations were among the first to respond by sending thousands of masks and emergency supplies to the country.

Just days after Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pneumonia-causing virus, was put on lockdown on Jan. 23, Oita, its sister city in southwestern Japan, donated 30,000 surgical masks.

"Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Japanese government and people have expressed sympathy, understanding and support to us," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said during an online press briefing on Feb 4.

(People wear face masks in Chinatown in Yokohama, near Tokyo.)

She praised Japan's donations of masks and protective gear, messages of encouragement put up at drugstores, and the lighting up of Tokyo Skytree, the Japanese capital's tallest building, in red to express solidarity with China.

"What the virus has done is cruel and will not last. What the people have done is touching and will be remembered forever," Hua said.

Meanwhile, in stark contrast, the already tense relationship between China and the United States has grown even more testy as each side blames the other for the emergence of the pathogen.

As of Feb. 7, governments, organizations and individuals in Japan had donated over 6.3 million masks, 1 million pairs of gloves, 179,000 sets of protective gear, 78,000 pairs of goggles, 16,000 thermometers and 1.15 tons of disinfectant, among other emergency supplies, according to the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

But it is Chinese social media that has been most abuzz about Japan's support.

A photo, showing an ancient proverb printed on boxes of supplies donated to Wuhan by the Japan office of a Chinese-language proficiency test organization, quickly went viral after capturing the attention of netizens.

The verse, originally part of a poem symbolizing the long-standing friendship between Japan and China, read, "Though we have different mountains and rivers, we share one moon under the same sky."

First posted on Jan. 31 on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, the photo has been shared by over 66,000 people and had 335,000 likes as of March 21. It has also been making the rounds on the social messaging app WeChat and been reported on by many local news sites.

"We need to cherish this type of friendship that provides help when we most need it," a Weibo user posted in the comments. "I feel moved," another said.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency also praised the actions, saying in a story released earlier this month that it "conveyed the heartfelt support of the Japanese people."

Another post, made by the Embassy of Japan in China on Feb. 17 on its official Weibo account, announced that a fifth government-chartered flight sent to evacuate Japanese citizens in Wuhan and their families would also carry aid supplies.

Related coverage:

China to lift Wuhan's months-long lockdown on April 8

Japan to ban entry from 18 European countries, Iran

Chinatown restaurant perseveres in face of virus-linked hate mail

Donated by the Japanese government and the cities of Tokyo and Oita, as well as three Japanese firms including Ryohin Keikaku Co., the operator of Muji-brand goods, the boxes included messages of encouragement such as "Hang in there Wuhan!" and an eight-character stanza from an ancient poem meaning "Together we stand, my armor's thine."

The post had received around 47,000 likes and over 4,000 comments as of March 21, which included "Leave some for yourself, don't send any more" with a crying emoji, and "I'm starting to worry about you guys instead since you still have to host the Olympics."

But since March, when the number of deaths from the virus in the rest of the world surpassed those in China, the tables have turned. And as Japan now confronts its own outbreak, Chinese cities and individuals have stepped up to return the favor.

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, a co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., donated 1 million protective face masks to Japan earlier this month in gratitude for the generous help China received during the worst of its crisis.

"The situation is currently changing, and friends who had given their all to help us are now encountering the same difficulties. The epidemic in Japan is now also very serious. Since we have just experienced this, we know what to do best!" he said in a Weibo post dated March 2.

Chinese diplomatic missions have also been regularly posting reports of donations from local Chinese governments and firms to Japan on their official Twitter accounts.

On March 12, the Chinese Embassy in Japan posted a video showing the arrival of 20,000 masks donated by Heilongjiang Province in far north China to Hokkaido, the prefecture with the most infection cases in Japan. It also earlier retweeted reports that Sapporo had received 25,000 masks and sets of protective gear from sister-city Shenyang in China's northeast Liaoning Province.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Consulate General in Nagoya said on March 17 that it had donated 30,000 surgical masks to Nagoya City East Medical Center in Aichi Prefecture. The central Japanese prefecture currently has the most domestic COVID-19 cases after Hokkaido.

In Tokyo, individuals and local Chinese community groups have taken steps to express their gratitude by pitching in to help people take precautions against the virus.



(Members of Mask Panda Action hold up a banner with volunteer signatures at Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo on Feb. 29, 2020.)

[Photo courtesy of Mask Panda Action]

Volunteers from one group, calling itself the Mask Panda Action team, assembled around Ikebukuro Station on Feb. 29 to hand out free masks to passers-by.

"We saw a lot of Japanese people couldn't buy masks, and some weren't taking it seriously enough," said Shungen Shimamura, 48, one of the organizers of the group.

"Previously, I would just hand out masks to people walking on the street if I saw they didn't have one. But I couldn't help many people that way, so a few friends and I got together and thought about how we could do something good for the community," he said.

Shimamura, who is half-Chinese and was born and raised in Shanghai, established Mask Panda Action around mid-February with Huang Bin, 35, another Shanghai-born resident of Japan. The pair mobilizes volunteers through WeChat, with many of the masks donated by the individuals themselves.

Huang, who has lived in Japan for around 15 years and currently runs an eatery, said that he hoped giving away masks would help change people's image of Chinese people after media reports in the initial stages of the virus' spread in Japan that Chinese residents were buying up masks, sometimes to resell at a profit.

Indeed, Japan has not been completely immune from discrimination against Chinese nationals due to the virus, including a #ChineseDontComeToJapan hashtag that trended on Twitter in the early stages of the outbreak. But the goodwill appears to be paying off.

[Photo courtesy of Mask Panda Action]

"The response from passers-by was very good. We distributed over 4,000 masks in under an hour," Huang said.

Takuya Komatsu, an actor who is also active in China and Taiwan who was the only Japanese volunteer that day, said he decided to participate because he felt moved by the sentiments of Chinese residents in Japan, and wanted to help.

"At that time, there was a big response towards Japan's support even on social media in China, and you could see friendly comments about Japan and Japanese people from Chinese users like never before," he said.

From a Japanese standpoint, an improvement in bilateral relations would also greatly benefit the economy after the virus is contained, he added.

The group said it plans to hold its next mask-distributing session around Shibuya Station next week, and will likely hold subsequent activities at other major stations in Tokyo if necessary.

"We will continue our activities as long as the COVID-19 situation doesn't improve," said Shimamura.
G reta Thunberg has said it is "extremely likely" she has become infected with coronavirus.

The Swedish climate activist revealed that she has self-isolated for the last fortnight as a precaution since returning from her tour of Europe.

She said she has since developed symptoms of Covid-19 along with her father, Savante Thunberg, but has not been tested due to restrictions in Sweden.

The 17-year-old wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon: "Around ten days ago I started feeling some symptoms, exactly the same time as my father - who traveled [sic] with me from Brussels.

"I was feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed. My dad experienced the same symptoms, but much more intense and with a fever.

AFP via Getty Images

"In Sweden you can not test yourself for COVID-19 unless youre in need of emergent medical treatment. Everyone feeling ill are told to stay at home and isolate themselves. I have therefore not been tested for COVID-19, but its extremely likely that Ive had it, given the combined symptoms and circumstances."

Europe has become the epicentre of the pandemic, with cases outpacing China last week, where the outbreak began.

She added that she "almost didn't feel ill" and wants it to be a lesson to others that they should practice social distancing so as not to infect others.

It comes as the UK enters its first day of nationwide lockdown after thousands flouted advice to keep 6ft away from others and avoid large gatherings over the weekend.

Critics have accused the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of playing "Russian roulette" with 10m citizens through his 'herd immunity' strategy of allowing broad infections to increase, while protecting vulnerable groups.

Ms Thunberg added: "We who dont belong to a risk group have an enormous responsibility, our actions can be the difference between life and death for many others.
PUNE: After large number of residents in panic exited from the city earlier this week over Covid-19 (coronavirus) spread fears following orders of lockdown by the state government, the Pune district administration grapples the issue of possibility that some of them, who commuted through mass transport, may have been infected by the Sars-Cov-2 virus.

To tackle the issue, the administration has ordered home quarantine for all those returnees to towns and villages during the past one week. Those who travelled to their native villages within Maharashtra will be stamped regularly by rural health officers from respective districts.

The district administration has taken a serious view of home quarantined patients found violating isolation norms and social directives. A few days ago, a family that returned to Pune from Dubai and were advised home quarantine tried to move out of the house. The neighbours who spotted the family leaving their house alerted the administration.

Divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said that patients detected positive were directed to be home quarantined in their native places. The health officials will stamp them and regional rural officials will keep a regular check on them and submit report to the state government, said Mhaisekar.

The administration had to seek the help of police to locate three quarantined patients who escaped from the government hospital in Ahmednagar. Orders have been issued to register cases against those found breaking home quarantine rules.

Meanwhile, complaints continue to pour in from those who returned to their villages from Mumbai and Pune and face boycott. Rajesh Tope, state health minister, on Tuesday said, I have received complaints where villagers have banned entry to those returning from Mumbai and Pune fearing Sars-Cov-2 virus infection. Such acts amount to social boycott and the government will act against the offenders.

Topes remarks came after villagers boycott five youths in Hingoli district.

At Adgaon village in Hingoli, five youths faced boycott as they returned from Mumbai. Police patil came to my home and asked me if I have been testedI said my screening was done. Later, I went to primary health centre, but the sarpanch called police and asked villagers to boycott us. Our families have been boycotted, said one of the five youth.
The WSWS spoke to three physicians as the coronavirus pandemic continues to escalate in the United States. They shared their current experiences and provide insight into their work and life as medical professionals. Their names have been changed to protect their identities.

Karen is an obstetrician in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her state has seen the number of cases jump from 109 on Thursday to 190 on Saturday. She said that the city has essentially shut down all normal business. Governor Steve Sisolak issued a new directive on Friday closing all nonessential businesses, allowing local government to issue criminal penalties for any business that defies the order.

Nevadas health system wont be able to handle excessive number of patients all at once without quickly straining all their resources, she said. If we dont slow this virus, we arent going to have enough hospital beds. She has one young patient with COVID-19 who is 28 weeks pregnant. Shes only on a nasal canula for now [supplemental oxygen]. Her surgical colleagues have been canceling elective cases in anticipation of a rush of patients to the hospital. Its the quiet before the storm.

The transformation in the city has been eerie. Theres hardly anyone on the streets. The casinos are closed. We are all waiting to see whats going to happen.

Karen still sees her obstetric patients and is on call at the labor suite. She said, Its so strange ... so many of my friends are out of work. We are reusing masks, only allowing one surgeon per case unless the case becomes difficult. We are also starting to use handmade masksits just so sad.

She paused a moment, then added, I feel that if Trump would have been serious from the beginning, we would not be facing a huge medical disaster and economic disaster. He is terrible. But everyone is hanging together. She had to leave the interview to start a cesarean delivery.

Mark is an emergency room physician working in Chicago. He explained that the hospitals response to COVID-19 has been an evolving process, so cautioned that the response may change soon. They now have a tent in the ambulance bay, he said. Everyone that is not urgent or serious, is directed to the tent where they undergo screening. If they are there for respiratory symptoms, they are assessed for risk. If they are low risk, they are sent home without testing but given precautions.

For patients with moderate to high risk, we do a viral panel with three separate swabsone for the Flu/RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), a viral panel and one for COVID-19. However, I think that the first two are unnecessary because what we really want to know is if they have COVID-19. We all get the flu shot and invariably the viral panels will be positive but offer no value.

The Flu/RSV tests take approximately 45 minutes and the viral panel 24 hours. Patients are sent home to wait for results. However, the COVID-19 tests have been a source of frustration. There are three different tests we use, Mark said. State labs can take several days to result, so, we have to constantly keep an eye open for them. ALVERNO labs can turn them around in less than a day. Couriers pick up the specimens and transport them down to Indiana.

North Shore can turn the tests around in about six hours but have only a limited supply, running about 200 tests per day systemwide. This means that they will only accept very high-risk patients who are admitted to the hospital. The administration is saying that we should be able to run in-house testing but Im not sure when that will happen.

Their protocol is to directly admit patients with severe symptoms to the emergency department, bypassing the tent. The patient is given a facemask and the health workers are in personal protective equipment, which include gowns, gloves, eye protection and an N95 mask. They are also recommending hair nets because the virus droplets can fall on their heads. Corporate continues to assure the hospitals they will have everything they need, but on the ground, the hospital is asking everyone to conserve their PPEs. They are even using UV light to clean their facemasks and equipment.

With regard to the question of the surge, Mark said, If we follow the Italian curve, then we can expect that it will happen in the next week or two, if not sooner. Our patient volumes are down for now, but the number of respiratory cases is going up. People are scared to come to the emergency room out of fear theyll get infected. I had a guy with a sprained ankle who wanted to get out as soon as possible.

We have also seen an uptick due to psychiatric illnesses. Theres a lot of suicidal ideation and anxiety we are seeing. One person came feeling suicidal because he thought he had infected all the people around him. He tested negative.

Nurses, physicians and health care workers are turning to social media platforms to share their concerns, send queries for homemade PPEs and figure out how to access equipment in construction industries to makeshift into personal equipment. Mark said, My mother is a seamstress and she offered to make everyone masks. Im trying to find a full-face respirator from the industry. My friend in Texas posted that her hospital has emailed everyone that they would be out of PPEs soon and should look to find their own. There is a movement beginning among ED [emergency department] docs, No PPEs, no work.

When patients need to be intubated, they are using a minimum of three providershimself, a respiratory therapist and a nursein a negative pressure room. He uses PPEs, but they are only of benefit for droplet precautions and not airborne precautions, which requires he have a positive air pressure respirator. He uses a video scope to intubate to avoid bringing his face close to the patients.

Asked about the ethical issues behind such a movement among ED doctors, he said, I go back and forth on this every day. It is the systems responsibility to supply us the equipment to do our job. Its not safe for me and my patients to spread the infection to other people, least of all our patients if they arent infected. The health care system has dropped the ball here. If we dont protect the health care workers, then it doesnt help the mass of people.

We are as prepared as we can be for now. We work well together in the ED and there is a good attitude among the team. They are shifting extra people who arent busy, such as surgery residents whose elective cases have been canceled, to help.

But it will be important to understand why they dropped the ball. I mean, I heard that senators were selling their stocks before the markets crashed. What did they know? Why didnt they make the public aware of what was going on? I hope they are put through the ringer. We will need scrutiny on various governmental departments that dropped the ball. If they knew this was serious, why didnt they ramp up production of PPEs? Obviously, they were more interested in their finances than in people.

Nellie trained as a physician in Iran and practiced there for 20 years before migrating to the United States. She is a mid-level provider in a gastroenterology clinic in Turlock, California. She said, Our facility has started the drive-through testing out in our parking lot for all suspected patients who come here. They are screened before they enter the facility. Anyone having symptoms of cough, fever, headache and muscle aches is sent in their vehicle to the parking lot. One of the physicians from the urgent care will take a brief history and review of systems and determine if they should be tested. There is a scarcity of available tests, so they reserve the tests for those at high risk and with severe symptoms. These tests take about five days  for now.

Asked about patients who call their hot line, she described the procedure. They are referred to a triage nurse and if they are exhibiting symptoms deemed serious, they are asked to call their provider. If the physician thinks they should be tested, they will order the test and send the patient to our drive-through. I think, on average, we have done maybe 1-2 tests a day because of shortages. So far, there are four patients that I know of that have tested positive in Stanislaus County, but none in Turlock.

She admitted she is concerned that the epidemic would sweep through this region where there are many elderlies. When asked about care of health care providers, she anecdotally offered her own experience at work: My medical assistant was coughing in the office. She had some wheezing, some shortness of breath. She has mild asthma and had to use her inhaler. Our nurse encouraged her to call her doctor, but they told her to stay home for five days and if she developed a fever or had worsening symptoms, to call back so they could order the COVID-19 test.

Our discussion moved to developments in Iran. She speaks to her brother daily and he told her that people are out on the streets. There is no real quarantine, even though the authorities have recommended they stay home. They arent using their military force to prevent people from gathering and going out and about. The government is following the idea of letting the population develop herd immunity.

She also remains in contact with her medical colleagues. She said, Iran has the same problems as Italy, and much worse than that. There arent enough hospital beds, ventilators or testing capability. My colleagues there are very worried. Every day another doctor or nurse is dying from respiratory failure because they are infected. They dont have enough PPEs. I heard that at least 53 medical professionals have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in Iran.

The present protocol they are using to treat COVID-19 is when patients exhibit severe symptoms, they will start the anti-malarial drug, chloroquine, Remdesivir and the antiviral HIV medication, Kaletra. The head of infectious diseases, Dr. Mino Mohrez, told us she is infected but hasnt developed any symptoms, yet.

Nellie also shared an open letter from artists in Iran that was sent by a friend. The letter reads; We need our message to be passed on as hastily as possible. We are all equally vulnerable to this microscopic adversary. The salvation of one depends on the salvation of all. The coronavirus is not just a virus, it is a simple and historic question that is waiting for complex answers from the people and governments of the world  the crisis will pass, with small or catastrophic losses, but the collection of tales will also remain. The stories of exhausted nurses dancing in contaminated hospital hallways to raise the moral of patients, as they hide their worries about the lack of medicines and basic hospital necessities. Stories of physicians who havent been home in weeks and are forced to work without masks or gloves or gowns as they search for victims in the hallways of hospitals.
In this time of global crisis caused by the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), Bollywood celebrities are using their time in self isolation to reflect on the nature of life. Anupam Kher recently shared a video in which he talks about how human beings have been shown their place in the world.

Talking about the balcony interaction he had with his friend and neighbour Anil Kapoor, the video of which was shared on social media, Anupam told Hindustan Times, "The luxury of being friends for so long is that you have a sense of humour. But this is also our way of telling the world that it's important that even though you're friends for 40 years, you need to fulfill social obligations. This social distancing today will bring the whole world together tomorrow."

Reflecting on the crisis situation caused by COVID-19, he said, "Basically, Bhagwaan ne laath maari hai and bola hai ki, 'Behave like humans, don't become God'. It is God's way of saying 'Don't get into my area', because human beings have started thinking of themselves as Gods. But one small virus called corona has put everyone in their places... on a mass level worldwide, itni badi learning nahin ho sakti thi."

He added, "Even in the worst situation, there's a possibility that some goodness will come out of it. This is an overhauling of the world, and I think we'll cherish nature more."

Recently, Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana took to contemplative poetry writing on the nature of things right now. In a poem titled 'Thham Jaa, Theher Jaa', the poem is about how we can make use of this time to think about our relationship with nature.

ALSO READ: Anupam Kher Returns From The US Post Shoot And Opts For Self-Isolation

ALSO READ: Anil Kapoor Welcomes His Neighbour Anupam Kher By Serenading Him From His House Gate


The new coronavirus continued its spread across some of the most-vulnerable nations of the Mideast on Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund warned that a lack of medical supplies in Iraq, Sudan and Yemen could lead to a surge in prices.

There are some 30,000 confirmed cases of the virus across the Mideast, the vast majority in the hard-hit nation of Iran. While most recover from the virus and the COVID-19 illness that it causes, bottoming crude oil prices have put additional strain on even the wealthiest countries of the region.

The IMF, which traditionally has urged governments to implement greater austerity measures, now urges Mideast governments to offer temporary tax relief and cash transfers.

``Given the large numbers of people employed in the service sector, there will be wide reverberations if unemployment rises and wages and remittances fall,'' the IMF's director for the Middle East, Jihad Azour, said in statement.

In Egypt, tourist cancellations have reached 80%, while retail and hospitality sectors have also been hard-hit in countries like the United Arab Emirates where tourism is a pillar of the economy, according to the IMF.

The arrival of the global pandemic in Syria with one positive case, as well as in the Gaza Strip, has raised concerns the virus could run rampant in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Middle East. War-torn Libya and Yemen, which have yet to report any cases, are also a source of concern.

The worst outbreak in the Mideast is unfolding in Iran, where authorities reported another 127 deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to more than 1,800 amid more than 23,000 confirmed cases. The dead included the mother-in-law of the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

Lines have formed outside grocery stores, banks and gas stations across the Syrian capital, Damascus, as people braced for wider closures. The government has already closed restaurants, cafes and other businesses, and has halted public transportation.

In Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria, dozens of people early Tuesday prayed to God for help against the virus. Online video showed people praying from their windows and balconies. Others showed some three dozen people marching in a side street and chanting: ``There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger,'' drawing criticism from people who said the demonstrators should have stayed at home.

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In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, my words seem inadequate to express the emotions I feel for our beloved city. An extraordinary unraveling is occurring that will impact all of us. The incredible loss will run far and wide.

Events are canceled, places are closed, employees are laid off, and loved ones have been lost. The uncertainty of not knowing when this struggle will come to an end is emotionally draining.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Our team at the San Antonio Food Bank monitored the spread of the COVID-19 virus from early February, working through our disaster plan of readiness, response and recovery. All our strategies are built on faith, believing the community will support us in our efforts. By the beginning of March, our team launched our prevention and preparedness packages, distributed to families across our 16-county service area.

We targeted more than 10,000 seniors who rely on our monthly food box program. Knowing that connecting with them in the future may become difficult, we started giving more food than usual in efforts to stock them up, including cleaning supplies and pet food from Daisy Cares. All the increased distributions started to empty our shelves. Our strategies built on faith are being tested.

In efforts to control the spread of the virus, companies initiated policies on gathering size and corporate travel. Our volunteerism started to feel the impact. Food shortages at grocery stores have resulted in less food being picked up by our trucks. Support is not coming from other communities as it did during Hurricane Harvey as they are suffering through the same crisis.

We need to remember that circumstances dont make a person, they reveal a person.

Emma Jameson

As schools closed and layoffs began, we moved into our response phase, making sure kids missing their school meals get nourished.

We have been providing both prepared meals and groceries through drive-thru food distributions throughout our region, coordinating with all our partner nonprofits, SAPD and the Bexar County Sheriffs Office, volunteers from Pre-K 4 SA, and the city of San Antonios Parks and Recreation Department.

In just the first few days of our response plan, we have seen a 40 percent increase in demand  and we fully expect it to be a 100 percent increase by the end of the week.

The increased demand has been met with support from USAA and the USAA Foundation, H-E-B, the Tim Duncan Foundation and Harvey Najim. The United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, the San Antonio Area Foundation and Community Bible Church have each added to the solution with funds and volunteers.

Volunteers continue to lend support, and their courage in the face of this crisis inspires us.

We have significantly changed our volunteer process to ensure, as much as possible, safe engagement for all those who help us meet our mission. Our website details all the safety processes we have implemented and is also the best place to sign up to volunteer.

If you know an individual needing assistance or someone able to lend support to our cause, our website is the best place to connect: safoodbank.org

Eric S. Cooper is president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank.
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has welcomed PM Narendra Modis initiative to create a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund and his pledge of USD 10 million. The government of Maldives also joined the initiative and pledged USD 2,00,000 to address issues emanating from COVID-19.

After the Government of India decided to assist the Maldives to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic as a humanitarian gesture, a team of Indian Army medical personnel including six doctors and eight paramedics was deployed in the Maldives from March 13. Indian Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said on Monday stated that the team will also set up a viral testing lab.

READ: Indian Army's Medical Tem In Maldives To Set Up Coronavirus Testing Labs

We welcome PM @narendramodis initiative to create an COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund and its pledge of USD 10million. Government of Maldives joins the initiative and pledge USD 200,000 to address issues emanating from COVID-19.  Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) March 20, 2020

Taking on #CoronavirusPandemic together  



As a humanitarian gesture, India will:



a. send a large composite #Covid_19 medical relief team tomorrow to assist Maldives health authorities



b. gift essential medicines to the GoM despite temporary export ban @MoFAmv @MoDmv pic.twitter.com/XJZ49G2gQQ  India in Maldives (@HCIMaldives) March 12, 2020

READ: Hansika Motwani's Vacation Pictures From Maldives Will Make You Yearn For A Holiday

True friend in need

The Maldives had earlier requested the Indian government to supply protective gear and masks. The Maldives also participated in the SAARC video conference on ways to combat COVID-19 spread. Earlier on March 13, the Government of India in a humanitarian gesture had decided to assist the Maldives to deal with the virus situation which has been declared by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic.

The information was also shared by the official Twitter handle of India in the Maldives where they informed about India sending 'a large composite of a medical relief team. The Maldives has reported 13 positive Coronavirus cases to date.

The Maldives called India a true friend in need after New Delhi announced to assist the island nation with essential medicines and medical relief team in the wake of coronavirus. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid took to Twitter to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for continued assistance.

READ: Maldivian President At SAARC: No Country On Its Own Can Succeed In Combating COVID-19

READ: India To Send Medical Relief Team To Maldives Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

(Pic Credit: @abdulla_shahid/Twitter)
Bonsa joined forces with Akos to serve the community better For your safety and convenience, bringing the provider to you with free same-day prescription delivery.

Bonsa Health, a leading online-based pharmaceutical provider, proudly announces that it will be working with Akos, maker of an inventive telehealth app for accessing healthcare services via smartphone or tablet, to provide patients with an exciting new way to fill their prescriptions.

As described on the companys website, the Akos platform is built on a virtual telemedicine framework, which allows users to engage in face-to-face consultations with board-certified physicians and nurse practitioners free from the typical hasslesand now, of course, the risks of coronavirus transmissionassociated with a physical visit.

That advantage, while substantial, only pertained to the first part of the transaction, explained Akos Founder and Board Chairman, Kishlay Anand MD, MS., who spoke of the increasing need to avoid potential COVID-19 exposure whenever and wherever possible.

Formerly, Akos telehealth patients had to pick-up their medications at neighboring pharmacies in-person after they had been ordered, Anand said. Now, by virtue of our partnership with Bonsa, they can enjoy the safety and convenience of having their medications delivered direct-to-home at no additional cost.

He also acknowledged the partnership may also have correlating benefits in terms of drug adherence rates and in subsequent improvements in patient outcomes.

Reinforcing that message, Bonsa Health Chief Operations Officer John Asfour, said the decision to join forces with Akos was easy one, particularly given that both organizations share the same goals in common.

At Bonsa, we strive to make the lives of our customers better at every touchpoint, so it stands to reason that eliminating the need to physically travel to the doctors office or pharmacy has merit in any circumstance, much less in the remarkable scenario were all living through, Asfour said. In partnership with Akos, were fulfilling a unique responsibility in bringing the provider to you and the prescription to your front door with free same-day delivery.

Akos provides virtual medicine via a home care app, called Akos, available to download on Google Play and iTunes. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the app allows patients to connect with a board-certified healthcare provider via a mobile device, while staying in the safety and comfort of their home.

For those without access to a mobile device or those needing more thorough medical diagnostics, Akos also has 14 Med Clinics located inside Safeway stores throughout Arizona and Idaho. With no appointment necessary, these clinics provide a virtual connection to a healthcare provider via artificial intelligence. The visits are comprehensive including vitals and labs, but brief and allow patients to be in a room with just a medical assistant and a kiosk, limiting exposure to others.

Only non-emergent conditions may be treated through Akos, but those conditions include a vast scope of medical concerns, ranging from simple colds and coughs, rashes, and sprains to more complex conditions, requiring prescription medications.

Akos accepts most commercial healthcare plans and also has affordable pricing for those without insurance. Akos offers an introductory rate of $49 for new self-pay patients and $75 for any subsequent consultation.

No commutes, hidden costs, surprise charges, or waiting rooms involvedall remedies in real timethe point where modern medicine and modern convenience meet.

Thats a breath of fresh air, especially when it means breathing a little easier in the comfort of home, while we are all being encouraged to keep our social distance, Anand said. A medical app that takes care of you so you can take care of everything else.

Even better that the Akos app is always on call, concluded Asfour.

For further details or to download the Akos app, visit akosmd.com. Arizona customers, to find the closest Akos Med Clinic or Akos Urgent Care Center near you, log on to https://akosmd.com/locations/.

To learn more about Bonsa Health@ bonsahealth.com.

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About Akos. Developed by a team of leading physicians in Phoenix, Arizona, Akos launched its revolutionary telehealth platform in 2016. Akos powers a new type of virtual practice, offering a fully integrated HIPAA-compliant healthcare solution for patients, physicians, employers and medical centers across the United States. By combining smart technology, seamless design, a patient-centric approach, grassroots strategy, and the collective power of a preferred provider network, Akos is reinventing the healthcare delivery model one virtual call at a time. Available 24/7/365 days a year, patients can get unparalleled access to board-certified physicians in their area via a smartphone or tablet. For more information or to download our app, visit http://www.AkosMD.com.

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a 14-day stay-at-home order on Monday in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The executive order directs residents to stay in their homes for two weeks. It does not apply to essential businesses, parks or takeout restaurants.

Bottoms order was issued due to the existence of an extreme likelihood of destruction of life or property in Atlanta due to unusual condition of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Atlantas homeless are exempt from the order, although the mayor urged them to find shelter through the government or nonprofits.
The ruling party got 112 votes including those of two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one Samajwadi Party legislator and two Independents

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whose return to power in the state was facilitated by resignation of his predecessor Kamal Nath from the office last week, on Tuesday proved his majority in the house by winning the trust vote.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) however boycotted the assembly, reconvened on Tuesday for the purpose, leading the new BJP government in the state to win the vote of confidence unanimously.

BJP needed 104 votes to prove majority in the house, strength of which has reduced to 206 following resignation of 22 Congress legislators and death of two lawmakers.

The ruling party got 112 votes including those of two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs and one Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator and two Independents, senior party leader Narottam Mishra said.

Earlier, the state assembly secretary retained the membership of BJP MLA Sharad Kol in the house, taking the BJPs strength in the assembly to 107.

The outgoing speaker of MP Assembly N P Prajapati who resigned from his post late on Monday, had accepted Kols resignation last week, triggering furore in the BJP.

Kol later contested the speakers decision saying that he had already written to the speaker not to accept his resignation.

The BJP on Monday night moved the governor Lalji Tandon seeking to set aside the outgoing speakers decision to accept Mr Kols resignation.

Senior BJP MLA Jagdish Dewat chaired the session.The house was adjourned to March 27.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for people to express their gratitude to health workers, saying that the doctors need protection and not claps.

"At 5 pm on March 22, the entire country clapped for the doctors, nurses and health professionals. But they do not want clapping mentions. They want protection. They do not have masks, body overalls or hazmat suits," Surjewala told ANI here.

Modi had asked people to observe a 'Janta Curfew' on March 22 to prevent the spread of coronavirus and express their gratitude for the healthcare professionals by clapping and banging utensils on their terraces and balconies.

Surjewala asked why the government did not impose a timely ban on the export of ventilators, masks and other medical equipment.

"According to doctors, there are no face masks, body overalls, gloves or goggles. Why are they not available? Personnel protection equipment manufacture association had been demanding Home and Textile Ministry for their specification since February 1," he said.

"But the ministries concerned did not listen. Export of ventilator and face masks was continued till March 19. According to the March 18 meeting of the Health Ministry, there is a need of 7.25 lakh overalls, 60 lakh N95 masks and 1.3 crore ply masks in the country," he further added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: Brian Kimble Kelowna couple were travelling through Spain before catching a flight home from the UK.

A Kelowna couple who recently travelled from the United Kingdom to Canada have voiced their concern over the lack of COVID-19 airport checks upon arrival.

Brian Kimble and wife Vicki Hansford flew from London Gatwick to Toronto, Toronto to Calgary, and Calgary to Kelowna, arriving on the evening of March 18.

Kimble says after travelling through Spain and transiting through the U.K. on their way to Canada, he was surprised by the level of checks in Toronto.

"When we got to Toronto from London, we were met by a group of so-called inspectors, if you want to call it that, and they simply said to us 'do you have a cough?' and we said 'no.' They said, 'OK youre good to go then.'"

"There was no temperature monitoring, there was just a single question  do you have a cough? I think its absolutely ridiculous that were letting people back from Europe possibly with the virus, and theyre not getting tested the minute that they hit the airport."

Kimble says the flight from London included travellers from Iran and Italy.

"If thats the response at the other end, it's totally ridiculous in exposing Canadians potentially to the virus."

The couple have placed themselves in self-isolation for 14 days.
The COVID-19 crisis has created a common global concern and a fight against an invisible enemy. But as it develops, the crisis points to a global reset. Power distribution around the world had become more diffuse before COVID-19 hit -- that is news to nobody. But with the COVID-19 crisis, the deepening differences among classes and between rural and urban society are not only becoming more visible. They are restructuring human resources at an accelerated pace, and thus reshaping national strategies.

In the last chapter of my upcoming book, which will be released in Romanian later this year with a title that translates to Redrawing the World Map: Contemporary Geopolitics and Geoeconomics, I write about the social changes brought on by digitization. While they differ from place to place, they will eventually produce structural effects in all nation-states and throughout the global system. Social changes also reshape how we see the world, geopolitically. My argument refers to the way that resources change in meaning over time, depending on the ecosystem they are part of, and on that systems geography and social patterns. This includes human resources.

I argue that globalization and access to digitization have made it possible for persons living in very different locations to consider themselves peers. In the process, people working from laptops in their office, or independently from a private home or some coffee shop, have been uniting the urban zones of the world. I also argue that while the urban begins to share common characteristics all over the world, rural areas will not only remain distinct from one country to the next, but will grow increasingly different from the urban centers in each nation. The social geography of the rural, considering the specific structure of each nation-state, will do much more to drive nation-states strategy than it has in the recent past. The urban setting is where states come to talk -- it is a setting for mutual understanding. But the characteristics of a states rural reality -- and its interconnections, similarities and tensions with rural counterparts elsewhere -- will determine to what extent they cooperate with or oppose other nations.

What this means is that the human resource, and the settings in which it acts, will become more important to the states strategic imperatives -- not less, no matter the promises of technology. Demographics matter because they are the core of society and because they are ever-changing, at distinct paces, within each society. I wrote the introduction of my book too early to consider the effects of the novel coronavirus on demographics and society overall -- even if I acknowledged its potential for driving significant changes.

It is now that I am beginning to see what may come. As of this writing, the coronavirus has already brought Europe to a close. Extraordinary things are happening. Italy is in complete lockdown. Paris is quiet for the first time in history. Borders have resurrected: Checkpoints are back in use. Goods are allowed to move through them, while only citizens returning to their home countries may pass. Nation-states ban exports of essential medical equipment to fight the virus. In this crisis, EU member states have reasserted themselves as nation-states. They seek solutions in the nationalization of businesses, and the national military is called in to help.

Supranational impacts

There are several dimensions to discuss when talking about EU resilience to the COVID-19 crisis. For now, its power to coordinate is what makes the European Union relevant -- the states administer borders and essential trade traffic, and health is a prerogative of the nation-state. Each country then determines how it will respond to the needs of the other. For now, the European Union has suspended its stability pact, removing limits on national budget deficits so that capitals can spend what they deem appropriate for fighting the virus. After the crisis, the effectiveness of EU institutional moves to coordinate national actions will determine the future direction of the Union. The public perceives the European Union through what Brussels does to help. So, we will be able to judge the evolution of the European Union based on how it acts in front of its public.

Ultimately, the COVID-19 crisis will do much to shape the future of the European Union, and of societies around the world. We are all subject to so-called social distancing policies, which countries have imposed to fight contagion. Much has been said and written about how social distance will affect the economy, and especially the supply chain. The financial costs are known to be high as individuals choose to the best of their abilities whether to work or not. The question is whether the need to make a living will drive social unrest. Much has also been said about the way labor will change -- there may be new standards for working from home for those who can. Opportunities may also be plentiful. Changes are as inevitable as they are unknown, including the potential for an economic crisis.

However, social distancing in practice affects more than ones finances or working habits. It taps into a well of personal feelings, of which the most important is fear. You fear the virus, therefore you keep your distance. You dont do that because someone told you to do so -- you do it because you feel you should do it, for your own sake or that of those you love. It is personal, even if it is imposed. How much you fear getting sick with something that wont necessarily kill you depends on the trust you have in the health system. The fear of getting sick along with many others depends on the trust in your countrys ability to cope with a situation where a lot of people get sick and are economically inactive. The two are very distinct matters -- they are indeed distinct fears.

Geographies of fear

Anthropologists teach us that humanity has evolved in lockstep with its fears. It is those fears that create social changes. The geography people live in sets them up to fear different things and to respond differently to similar challenges. To use one example, geopolitics takes into consideration the difference of nations with a mountainous geography compared to those without one. They fear different things. Similarly in the COVID-19 crisis, the urban population, while more connected through digitization, lives in a much more enclosed environment and will respond differently to those living in villages and in rural areas.

People living in an urban setting have better access to medical services than those living in villages. A health system under pressure has a deep impact on an urban area -- health systems tend to be much less developed in rural areas. True, differences exist between countries -- the rural setting in Germany is different from that of France, with people having more access to medical facilities in Germany. But overall, medical care is much more accessible for the urban population than for the rural population. Similarly, the role of the state and its economic power are perceived differently in the two settings.

During the COVID-19 crisis, when considering the possibility that the medical system could be overloaded, while also dealing with the closeness imposed by urban settings, the fear when living in an apartment can be intense. Acknowledging that you dont have access to services you used to have access to means acknowledging some of your needs will not be met. And when social distancing includes quarantine, having to stay in -- and filling in forms to be presented to local police authorities for a mundane activity such as walking your dog -- will certainly affect your lifestyle and psychological state if it goes on for more than a few days. You can head to the balcony and sing, but the song itself is part of the fight against these negative effects.

In the process of social distancing, we are testing the links that bind social groups. The well-off person will behave differently than the poor, the young will react in a different way than the old. In a town, all groups have access to the very same services, but in an unequal manner. Observing the rush for food before or during quarantine will show anyone how divergent in both lifestyle and income urban people are. Their tolerance and their acceptance for the other doesnt relate to their willingness to help. Psychological distance is the mirror of physical proximity. Living in an apartment doesnt mean you talk to your neighbors outside of saying hello. Not talking disengages -- you are too busy, but also, you need not know. This way, you have no responsibility to help what you dont know needs help. The urban social network is that of class, and once in a class, in a group, relations to the other groups are minimal.

For the rural, things are different. There are groups in the villages, as there are influencers. But the network rules are different. It is the family ties that matter before the economic concepts. The links among persons are well established and tend to cross generations. When you are living in the countryside, you are generally more aware of geography and closeness than in the city. You know a lot of information about your neighbors because you need to deal with them on a more or less daily basis. The plots of land around the villagers houses dont impose human distance, as neighbors are more obligated to help each other.. The state is largely not present. but belief in God is. Religion and family are key concepts for what forms the basis for trust in rural areas.

During the COVID-19 crisis, fears in rural areas are dependent on their connection to and their dependence on the cities. In this sense, the more distant they are, the less affected they get. However, considering how contagion spreads, once someone gets infected, the rural setting facilitates further spread. Imposing social distance in such communities is difficult -- considering their poorer access to public health services, rural people consider themselves doomed from the very beginning. Outside of religious circles, no one else has really helped before. They need not learn that medical services are available, because it is only in distant hospitals that they can in theory access such services. Digitization, when available, is only for communication with and learning about the rest of the world. Their reliance is on religious services and their own.

The COVID-19 crisis triggers different fears for different geographies. While digitization gives all people access to information, fear of the unknown -- which includes not only the virus, but the methods chosen to address it --, accelerates the deepening in societal differences. While it is unknown how the European Union will come out of this new crisis, and while it is urgent that nation-states act and show they can fight the pandemic, it is clear that it will also affect the distance between the urban and the rural and that between social classes. In effect, the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating a process that was already happening, as fears create social changes affecting the structure of human resources everywhere on the globe. The urban reactions are similar across the globe, as are the problems they face. But the rural ones will be more distinct.

The views expressed are the author's own.
New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) In the wake of coronavirus scare in the country, the Indian Navy has issued guidelines for personnel to work from home while meeting requirements of essential operations, the force said on Tuesday.

In an advisory for its men, the Navy said that "personnel not on duty to be available on telephone and required to close up at short notice".

Only personnel required to render essential services would be deployed in their respective units during the lockdown period.

The guidelines are issued based on the prevalent government directives, said a senior Indian Navy officer.

The force stated that all essential offices and positions such as the war room, communication centres and others will continue to be function in fully capacity.

It also said that coastal security and harbour patrols will continue with full manpower.

However, for sailing ships, guidelines have been issued for "necessary screening of personnel prior to departure as well as continuous monitoring at sea".

It pointed out that all mission-based deployments like in the Gulf of Oman, to re-assure Indian flagged vessels operating/transiting through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman following maritime security incidents in the region will function will full capacity.

Starting March, the Navy had announced the postponement of its biggest multilateral naval exercise - Milan2020 -- in the Indian Ocean due to coronavirus outbreak outside China and increase in numbers of cases in India.

The multi-nation naval exercise was to be staged off the Vizag coast from March 19, with participation of 41 countries, bringing together maritime forces from all over the region and beyond.

--IANS

sk/tsb
Virginia prison inmates are manufacturing masks for offenders and staff to guard against sneezing and coughing.

The nonmedical-grade masks are intended to help keep COVID-19 out of the more than 40 state correctional facilities and are being made at four prisons by Virginia Correctional Enterprise apparel plants, the department said in a news release Monday.

On Sunday, 5,200 masks were delivered to Coffeewood Correctional Center and 4,900 to Dillwyn Correctional Center. Eighty masks were being delivered to probation and parole officers on Monday.

Deerfield Correctional Center, which houses many elderly and ill inmates, will receive the next round of masks.

The Virginia Department of Corrections is now manufacturing sneeze/cough guard masks for use by Virginia DOC staff and offenders, said Harold W. Clarke, director of the DOC, in a statement. These are not medical grade masks, but they will aid in the effort to keep COVID-19 out of the states correctional facilities.

The amount inmates are paid to work for VCE was not available from the DOC on Monday. According to a 2017 survey of states by the Prison Policy Initiative, Virginia inmates working for VCE were paid 55 to 80 cents per hour.
Coastal Regulation Zone nod for disabled-friendly walkways on Marina beach in Tamil Nadu

March 24,2020 | Source: The New Indian Express

Greater Chennai Corporation has been granted Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance by Union Environment Ministry to build two temporary walkways at Marina beach for the benefit of the differently-abled at a cost of Rs 90 lakh.



The walkways will be built using eco-friendly material till the High Tide Line and volunteers will help guide wheel chairs till the water. There will be a 380-metre long and three-metre wide walkway behind Labour Statue and the other behind Gandhi Statue, which will be 125-metre long. Since works are to be carried out in CRZ 1(A), an ecologically-sensitive area, the ministry, by a letter to the civic body, imposed certain conditions, which include prohibiting concrete structures.



A six month monitoring report should be submitted by the civic body to the ministrys regional office regarding implementation of clearance conditions. Jayanthi Murali, member-secretary, TN Coastal Zone Management Authority, which recommended the project to the environment ministry, said it is a people- friendly project. On the occasion of International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3, the civic body held Marina for all event creating temporary pathways on Marina sands, which was well appreciated. A corporation official for parks and town planning said, No concrete structures will be built. Only slip resistance and waterproof marine plywood will be used. Wooden hand rails will be provided on the sides for safety and support.
Lexi Deighton is pregnant with her first child. Her due date is this week, but her delivery could be very different from the experience she imagined.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lexi Deighton is pregnant with her first child. Her due date is this week, but her delivery could be very different from the experience she imagined.

"It couldnt be worse timing," says the Winnipeg mother-to-be. "I didnt make an exact birth plan because I know things often go off the rails  this is more off the rails than I had expected."

Deighton is about to go into labour in the midst of a global pandemic and a provincial state of emergency that has seen hospitals roll out new policies and screening measures to protect frontline health workers and patients from exposure to COVID-19.

She understands why extra precautions are necessary, but shes concerned a key member of her birth team, her doula, will be missing from the delivery ward because of the provincial mandate to only allow one support person per patient during medical appointments and hospital visits.

JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Lexi Deighton (left) and her doula, Tarana Wheelwright. Deighton is due soon, but Wheelwright wont be allowed into the delivery room.

A doula is someone who provides non-medical physical and emotional support to pregnant women and families before, during and after birth.

"Shes been an amazing resource to me throughout this and especially the last couple weeks as things have been escalating," Deighton said of her doula, Tarana Wheelwright. "Having Tarana there was completely part of the plan and I never would have anticipated that was something that was going to be taken away from me."

Wheelwright was turned away from the Health Sciences Centre last Thursday when she tried to accompany a client and her husband to the womens hospital.

Perinatal precautions The following statement from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority  which oversees perinatal care at Health Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital and the Womens Health Centre-operated Birth Centre  outlines the precautions doctors and staff are taking to minimize the spread of COVID-19: Midwives and physicians are doing phone call appointments when possible. For in-person appointments, visitors are being pre-screened upon arrival, and in some cases over the phone in advance as well. Only pregnant people and one support person are being allowed to attend appointments. Birth Centre clients may be redirected to the hospital for labour and birth if the screening questions apply to them. Staff, physicians and midwives are engaging in frequent handwashing, hand sanitizing and practising social distancing  for example, asking that clients give sufficient space between themselves and the front desk staff. Client care areas and waiting areas are being frequently disinfected. click to read more The following statement from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority  which oversees perinatal care at Health Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital and the Womens Health Centre-operated Birth Centre  outlines the precautions doctors and staff are taking to minimize the spread of COVID-19: Midwives and physicians are doing phone call appointments when possible. For in-person appointments, visitors are being pre-screened upon arrival, and in some cases over the phone in advance as well. Only pregnant people and one support person are being allowed to attend appointments. Birth Centre clients may be redirected to the hospital for labour and birth if the screening questions apply to them. Staff, physicians and midwives are engaging in frequent handwashing, hand sanitizing and practising social distancing  for example, asking that clients give sufficient space between themselves and the front desk staff. Client care areas and waiting areas are being frequently disinfected. When there is a risk of air/droplet transmission, midwives are seeing clients in their homes and use personal protective equipment during the visit. In accordance with provincial recommendations, physicians, midwives and other staff are following the guidelines for screening of Manitoba health care workers if they have returned from international travel within the past 14 days, have flu like symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, sore throat), have been in contact with an individual with a confirmed or probable positive COVID-19 test and/or are awaiting test results for COVID-19.  Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokesperson Close

"The dad looked at me and said, Rock, paper, scissors? " says Wheelwright, who waited in the parking garage until it was determined her client wasnt in active labour.

The Winnipeg doula doesnt want to put extra pressure on the health care system right now, but she does want clarification on how the one-support-person policy is being applied to those in her profession. Over the last week, Wheelwright has heard reports of some doulas being turned away and others being allowed to join their labouring clients in hospital.

"The lack of consistency is a real problem," she says.

An official for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority confirmed Monday that the policy does apply to doulas.

"While we certainly value and appreciate the work of doulas in our community, they are not directly employed by a health authority and therefore are not considered staff," the WRHA official told the Free Press via email. "Thus they are not exempt from the current restrictions on support people during these extraordinary times."

Wheelwright has several clients approaching their due date and shes worried about the mental-health implications her absence will have for those families.

"Absolutely women can have a baby without a doula there, we know this... the ones that have it as part of their coping mechanism now feel like theyve lost one of their tools," she says. "Were fortunate that we have excellent labour and delivery nurses that I know are going to be working extra hard to provide that support, but theyre maxed-out too."

Winnipeg hospitals and health clinics, including the Birth Centre, which is operated by the Womens Health Clinic, have rolled out screening measures at entrances. All pregnant patients and their support people are being assessed for flu-like symptoms and asked about travel history and contact with those who are awaiting results or have tested positive for COVID-19.

Paige Robertson is 10 weeks pregnant with her second child. She, her husband and their 13-month-old daughter are currently living in self-imposed quarantine after returning from a trip to Australia on March 12.

"Had we known everything that was going to go on we would not have gone," Roberston told the Free Press over the phone from her home in St. Genevieve.

"...The idea of (giving birth) in like any environment besides a hospital just really sounds awful, but also right now going to a hospital sounds awful."  Paige Robertson

The news of the pandemic has filled her with anxiety about what the health-care system will look like when she is due this fall and uncertainty about the risks COVID-19 poses to herself and her unborn child.

"A lot of things went wrong with my daughter, so the idea of (giving birth) in like any environment besides a hospital just really sounds awful, but also right now going to a hospital sounds awful," she says. "I wouldnt even know what my other options would be."

According to the World Health Organization, there isnt enough data yet to determine the impact COVID-19 infections have on pregnant women. The WHO is undertaking research on the subject, but at present there is no evidence they are at higher risk of severe illness than the general population.

During a media conference last Thursday, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief provincial public health officer, advised extra caution in light of the unknown risks.

"We know that pregnant women are more susceptible to complications related to the flu," Roussin said. "I would say that they should take the precautions to heart that we are describing here, ensuring social distancing and those that are nearing term should follow the advice from their practitioners on appointments."

Midwives and physicians in Manitoba have been directed to limit the amount of in-person contact they have with pregnant clients by offering phone and virtual visits.

Sarah Davis is the president of the Midwives Association of Manitoba. In response to COVID-19, she and her colleagues will be reducing the number of in-person prenatal visits with clients from roughly 15 to between six and eight, as recommended by the WHO. Despite the reduced schedule, Davis says essential screenings  like those related to genetics and time-sensitive ultrasounds; as well as blood and gestational diabetes tests  will not be missed.

"Midwives are going to continue to provide all the essential visits but also, anytime anyone has a clinical concern in their pregnancy we will surely see them," she says.

According to a memo posted to the Shared Health website, labouring women arriving at a health centre with COVID-19 symptoms will be given a private room. Care team staff will be required to wear personal protective gear and follow enhanced contact precautions.

Mothers with symptoms will still be encouraged to have physical contact with their newborns, including breastfeeding, provided they wear a mask, and wash their hands and any area where skin-to-skin contact may occur.

The pandemic is also causing anxiety for those who have already given birth.

Tanya Palson is two months postpartum and was looking forward to getting out of her house and socializing with other moms and babies.

"I made the joke the other day that Ive been isolating for two months now," she says. "It was the light at the end of the tunnel, getting past this newborn stage and getting out and meeting with other moms and having that sort of taken away was a little bit disheartening and kind of sad."

Supplied Tanya Palson, with her nine-week old son, Samuel Fleisher, was getting ready to rejoin society when the social-distancing guidelines were imposed.

She had signed up for mommy and me classes and was planning on attending drop-in playgroups at her gym and neighbourhood community centre. Over the last week, all of those programs have been cancelled to meet social distancing recommendations.

"It started to sink in how serious it (is) and how it will really impact my postpartum experience," Palson says. "Ive definitely been dealing with some anxiety over the last few days because of that."

Adding to the anxiety is the fact that most of her family members, including her mother, live outside of Winnipeg and are postponing visits with her and her newborn son, Samuel, out of an abundance of caution.

Palson says she plans to seek out a community online, but is worried what limited exposure to the outside world and other human beings will mean for Samuels development.

"This is my first child and you think youre going to know how youre going to raise him and what his world is going to be like," she says. "Hes not going to be around as many people as wed like, including important family members, but just in general getting him used to other people and socializing him and meeting other babies is all sort of taken away.

"I dont know what to expect now; theres no books or tips on how to raise a baby in social isolation"

Supplied Hillery Taylor, a registered nurse and owner-operator of the Nest Family Centre, conducts a class online at home after she decided to close her Stafford Street family resource centre last week.

Hillery Taylor is a registered nurse and the owner-operator of the Nest Family Centre. She decided to close the Stafford Street centre shortly after news broke that COVID-19 had arrived in Manitoba.

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"Ive worked in the hospital system. I know how fragile it can be and because of that I believe its my duty to not encourage spiking numbers," she says.

On an average week, Taylor teaches between two and six pre- and postnatal classes a day, six days a week. Shes moved the bulk of her programming online, but has seen some clients drop out because digital classes arent what they signed up for.

When asked how she thinks social isolation will impact child development, Taylor says she isnt concerned.

"Babies are very adaptable babies continue to (develop) as long as we protect them physically," she says. "Im not as worried about them as I am the moms."

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney
Guerrillas with the New Peoples Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, present arms during a celebration of the NPAs 51st anniversary on Negros Island, March 15, 2020.

Philippine communist guerrillas waging a decades-long insurgency agreed on Tuesday to a cease-fire, allowing the government to focus on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic amid soaring nationwide infections.

Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, who is in exile in the Netherlands, said he had asked the CPP to declare a cease-fire by its armed wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA), days after the government announced a cease-fire to cope with the viral outbreak.

The rebels need to refrain from launching tactical offensives to gain more time and opportunity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to look after the health and overall welfare of people in both urban and rural areas, Sison said in a statement posted online.

On Tuesday, the Philippine health department said the death toll from COVID-19 had increased by two to reach 35, with 552 infected. It said the number of cases was expected to increase in the coming days. Confirmed nationwide cases have nearly doubled since Friday.

More than 18,200 people have died and at least 407,000 others have been infected worldwide, according to the latest data compiled by infectious-disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

The Philippine government, which on March 18 declared a one-month cease-fire in operations against NPA guerrillas, said the move was meant to allow state forces to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Manila advised the communist party to heed the call of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for warring parties to muzzle their weapons as the world struggles to contain the pandemic.

Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world and to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war, Guterres said.

When the government announced the cease-fire last week, Sison said at the time there was no clear basis for the gesture and refused to reciprocate.

After the rebels rejected the cease-fire, Duterte peace adviser Carlito Galvez accused the NPA of killing a tribal chieftain and a former rebel on southern Mindanao Island and of firing at a militia outpost in central Negros Island. The NPA has denied the accusations.

A positive development

On Tuesday, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo described Sisons directive as a positive development that would allow the unimpeded movement of health workers.

As Mr. Sison proposes an agreement be realized during this global health crisis, it is our hope that their groups armed component on the ground would show genuine sincerity in laying down their arms and not use the occasion to mobilize their forces, Panelo said.

The palace looks forward to them making good and staying true to their words, he said.

The Philippine communists have been waging one of Asias longest running insurgencies, which began in 1969. Thousands of civilians and fighters from both sides have died in the fighting.

Luis Liwanag in Manila and Froilan Gallardo in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, contributed to this report.
A total of 32 states and Union territories have declared complete lockdown so far covering 560 districts, in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Tuesday.

IMAGE: A family wears protective masks as they cross a deserted road during the lockdown amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in Vijayawada. Photograph: ANI Photo

Three other states and UTs have imposed lockdown in certain areas in their territories, covering 58 districts, and one union territory has imposed closure of some activities in its jurisdiction.



"Following the central government's communication to state governments and UTs, a total of 32 states and UTs have imposed complete lockdown covering 560 districts," a government official said.

There are 28 states and eight UTs in the country.



The Centre has also asked states to enforce additional restrictions, if necessary like the imposition of curfew in Punjab and Maharashtra.



As many people continued to venture out despite the lockdown order, Puducherry, besides Punjab and Maharashtra, had ordered curfew so that no one goes out of home.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to nine on Monday after West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to nearly 500.

IMAGE: A deserted view of the road amid lockdown, at Bandra in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

According to the data updated Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases.



The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, the health ministry said. Seven deaths were earlier reported from Maharashtra (two), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab.

Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.



The number of active cases at 446 saw an increase of 22 from Monday night's figure, it said.



As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31.

IMAGE: A view shows almost empty roads during the lockdown by West Bengal state government to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease, in Kolkata. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

The states which have imposed lockdown in all districts include Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland.



The other states include: Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Daman Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka and Assam.



Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, meanwhile, has written a letter to State Chief Secretaries urging them to monitor the situation round the clock.



Gauba said additional restrictions if necessary may be imposed and all current restrictions must be enforced strongly.

IMAGE: Policemen stand outside a closed court after the lockdown by Gujarat state government to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

All violations should be met with legal action, the Cabinet secretary told the states and UTs.



Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also held a video conference with Director Generals of Police of all states and asked them to strictly implement the lockdown and take action against those who violate it



Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced strictly as he noted that many people were not following the measures seriously.



"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The comprehensive spending review setting out government expenditure plans for the next three years will be delayed from July because of the coronavirus outbreak, chancellor Rishi Sunak has told cabinet.

Mr Sunak and other cabinet colleagues joined the regular Tuesday meeting of cabinet by video conference call, for the first time.

Only prime minister Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill and chief medical officer Chris Whitty attended the meeting in 10 Downing Street in person.

Following Mr Sunak's first Budget setting out ambitious long-term plans for more than 100bn of investment in infrastructure earlier this month, the comprehensive spending review (CSR) was due to provide detailed plans for how billions of government expenditure will be shared out between Whitehall departments over the coming years.

The keenly-anticipated statement will set out day-to-day "resource" spending for the three years from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and capital budgets for the four years up to 2024/25.

Today's postponement reflects the uncertainty into which government finances have been thrown by the shutdown of much of the economy and the chancellor's multi-billion pound bailout forced by the coronavirus outbreak.

No new date was given for the CSR, with ministers told only that it will come "in due course".

Spending reviews were introduced by Tony Blair's Labour government in 1998 and have normally set out expenditure plans for the following three years. Mr Sunak's predecessor as chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced a review for a single year only in 2019, because of uncertainty about how Brexit would play out.

In January, before the threat of coronavirus to the UK's finances became apparent, Mr Javid ordered cabinet colleagues to draw up a list of projects which could be scrapped to save the equivalent of 5 per cent of their department's spending.

This month's Budget stated that the CSR would "prioritise improving public services, levelling up economic opportunity across all nations and regions, strengthening the UKs place in the world and supporting the governments ambitions to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050". It is unclear how much of this programme will have to be torn up in the wake of the damage done to the national finances by Covid-19.

Cabinet received an update from Prof Whitty on the coronavirus outbreak and discussed the actions which the Government is taking to tackle the spread of the virus.

Mr Johnson said it was vital that the public followed the instructions issued by the Government on the need to stay at home and avoid social contacts.
Angry at the delay in being served tea a Covid-19 patient, allegedly attacked a nurse in the isolation ward on Tuesday while another health worker was slapped by a man for reporting authorities about his violation of quarantine norms.

In Kozhhikkode former MP AK Premajam of the CPI (M) allegedly misbehaved with workers who came to inquire about her son who had returned from abroad and was quarantined at home. Premajam refuted the allegations saying she only questioned them when they behaved with her son as if he was a convict.

Police said in all three cases accused were booked and said strict action will be taken against those who attack or insult health workers who are working overtime in the fight against coronavirus.

Kerala which reported Indias first three cases of coronavirus in January, is now struggling with a constantly rising number of infected people this month.

Police said a man who had returned from Muscat and was quarantined in Kollam (south Kerala) after local people complained about his free run, got furious when his tea was delayed. Since he insisted on home-cooked food his family was sending him food packets. Though the nurse informed his kin about his demand for tea, he was angry when it was delayed and attacked her.

Also read: PM Modi announces all-India lockdown over Covid-19, will be in place for 21 days

The nurse who had been working at the isolation ward without any break for two weeks, was injured and was admitted to the same hospital, police said.

In another case a 27-year-old man, also returned from the West Asia, barged into the house of an Asha (social worker accredited with health ministry) worker in Malappuram and attacked her saying she had informed health officials about him flouting quarantine norms. The woman who was seriously injured was hospitalised. The man was later arrested and quarantined at the medical college hospital.

Follow coronavirus live updates here

Swimming against the tide the state government has given instructions to police to deal with such persons sternly. In worst-hit Kasaragod (north Kerala) police have seized the passports of two persons who slipped out home quarantine and transmitted the virus to many others.
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Italy's dramatic rise in coronavirus cases has sparked fear for what lies ahead for the United States as the World Health Organization warned the US could soon become the global epicenter of the pandemic.

The death toll in the United States increased to 628 on Tuesday, including the first person under the age of 18, while the number of infections rose to 50,075.

Italy has so far suffered the world's deadliest outbreak of the pandemic with 6,820 deaths and 69,176 cases after abruptly overtaking China - where the outbreak began in late December. In China, 3,281 people have died and there are 81,591 confirmed cases.

The US, which is third in terms of fatal cases globally, is almost two weeks behind both Italy and China in terms of the outbreak.

Italy and the US are 12 days apart in terms of reporting its first coronavirus deaths - with Italy's first death confirmed on February 20 and the US on March 3.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths and cases in Italy is now showing signs of a potential decrease as the World Health Organization warns the US could soon become the global epicenter of the pandemic following a 'very large acceleration'

Italy and the US are 12 days apart in terms of reporting its first coronavirus deaths - with Italy's first death confirmed on February 20 and the US on March 3. It is likely the US will soon overtake hard-hit Italy in the number of infections

Monday marked two weeks since Italy imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 9 in a desperate bid to stop the spread. The country had also ordered its schools to close days earlier on March 4.

There is no national lockdown in place currently in the US but 17 states have issued stay at home orders that are affecting about 187 million Americans.

It is likely the US will soon overtake hard-hit Italy in the number of infections.

Health officials say the US is also on track to eventually overtake China's infections. The US last week was already reporting more new daily cases of coronavirus than China did at the apparent peak of the outbreak there.

Authorities have warned that how soon that happens depends on how seriously Americans take the restrictions being imposed on them.

In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hotspots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people.

More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and 125 have died. A state-wide lockdown took effect on Sunday night.

Los Angeles County reported the death of a child on Tuesday, marking the first time a person under the age of 18 has succumbed to coronavirus in the US.

The number of coronavirus cases in California skyrocketed to more than 2,200 as cities on the West Coast scrambled to enforce lockdowns, manufacture medical supplies, procure hospital beds and slow the spread of COVID-19.

This chart shows the number of daily new cases in China (red) and the US (blue), starting from the dates on which each country crossed the threshold of 30 new cases. Last Thursday, the US number of daily new cases surpassed China's peak

In Italy, the death toll rose by 743 on Tuesday. A day earlier, the number of deaths was 602, which was the smallest increase for four days and raised hopes that the most aggressive phase of the pandemic may be passing.

Those figures in Italy suggest a possible four week peak projection - and not six weeks - for hot spots within the United States.

'Today is perhaps the first positive day we have had in this hard, very tough month,' said Giulio Gallera, Italy's top health official in the northern region of Lombardy, said on Monday.

'It is not the time to sing victory, but we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.'

Despite this, there was also a significant fall in the number of tests carried out in Italy.

The head of Italy's national health institute, Silvio Brusaferro, said it was too soon to say if the recent decline in daily deaths and new cases would continue.

It comes as the World Health Organization revealed a grim outlook for the US, saying on Tuesday that the United State could quickly become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said there had been a 'very large acceleration' in infections in the United States.

Over the previous 24 hours, 85 percent of new cases were in Europe and the United States, and of those, 40 percent were in the United States.

Asked whether the US could become the new epicenter, Harris said: 'We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the U.S. So it does have that potential.'

Some US state and local officials have decried a lack of coordinated federal action, saying that having localities act on their own has put them in competition for supplies.

Health officials and leaders have warned the world was entering a critical period that would determine just how deeply the coronavirus pandemic slices through their nations.

The warnings come just hours after President Donald Trump said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days and promised America will be open for business 'very soon'.

Top congressional and White House officials are yet to agree on a $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package but say say they expect to reach a deal some time on Tuesday.

Trump announced a new set of policies on Monday meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which included closing restaurants and banning social gatherings with more than 10 people.

But he indicated that he supports a quick return to normal life, citing the economic impact coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic.

'America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,' the president said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing.

'A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.

ITALY: Patients are pictured in intensive care in Cremona, Italy on Tuesday

UNITED STATES: A registered nurse works to get swabs from a drive thru COVID-19 testing station in Washington state on March 17

It comes as China's Hubei province, where the coronavirus pandemic originated, will lift travel restrictions on people leaving the region as the epidemic there eases but other regions will tighten controls as new cases double due to imported infections.

The Hubei Health Commission has announced it would lift curbs on outgoing travellers starting March 25, provided they had a health clearance code.

The provincial capital Wuhan, where the virus first appeared and which has been in total lockdown since since January 23, will see its travel restrictions lifted on April 8.

However, the risk from overseas infections appears to be on the rise, prompting tougher screening and quarantine measures in major cities such as the capital Beijing.

China had 78 new cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, a two-fold increase from Sunday. Of the new cases, 74 were imported infections, up from 39 imported cases a day earlier.

The Chinese capital Beijing was the hardest-hit, with a record 31 new imported cases, followed by southern Guangdong province with 14 and the financial hub of Shanghai with nine. The total number of imported cases stood at 427 as of Monday.

Only four new cases were local transmissions. One was in Wuhan which had not reported a new infection in five days.

Wuhan residents will soon be allowed to leave with a health tracking code, a QR code, which will have an individual's health status linked to it.
Four pop-up field hospitals will soon open in New Jersey to help handle the ever-growing surge in patients from the coronavirus pandemic  with at least one each to be located in the northern, central, and southern parts of the state, officials said Tuesday.

The locations will be: the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, the New Jersey Convention Center and Exposition Center in Edison, the Atlantic City Convention Center, and a state Urban Search and Rescue Facility thats yet to be determined.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that President Donald Trump agreed to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put up the four hospitals New Jersey  which has the second-highest number of cases of the coronavirus in the nation, after New York.

New Jersey now has at least 3,675 known cases of COVID-19  the illness caused by the virus  including 44 deaths, state officials announced Tuesday.

Col. Patrick Callahan, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said Tuesday the field hospitals are now en route" from the federal government. Officials did not give a timetable for when they would be set up.

Officials said each facility will have 250 beds and, in an effort to free up space at hospitals, they will house critical care patients who dont have symptoms of COVID-19.

Murphy called it a big story of displacement from what are currently occupied critical care beds into these field hospitals.

He thanked Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the quick response.

The speed at which this is happening is apparently unprecedented, the governor said at Rutgers-Newark during his daily coronavirus press briefing.

The state has invited level 1 trauma centers to coordinate the field hospitals, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.

That does not mean they will be personally running those hospitals, Persichilli said. Staffing is difficult right now.

She said the state is trying to get approval from universities to call up student nurses in their last semesters to help, giving them credit toward graduation.

We hope by the beginning of next week will have a complete plan be able to share," Persichilli said.

Officials also said Monday they are considering using hotel rooms in the state to house certain patients to clear hospital space.

Meanwhile, Murphy said New Jersey will soon receive a second shipment of personal protective equipment from the federal government to help medical and health-care workers combatting the virus in the state.

That includes more than 200,000 masks and about 90,000 respirators, the governor said.

We are still in need of more equipment for our hospitals and first responders, Murphy said.

He also said the state has been receiving equipment donated by private companies.

Its a list that grows by the day, Murphy said. It is deeply felt and deeply appreciated by all of us.

In an effort to curtail the virus spread and make sure hospitals have enough resources to treat patients, Murphy has closed all schools in the state, ordered people to stay at home except for necessary travel, banned social gatherings, and ordered non-essential businesses to close until further notice.

Coronavirus testing sites in New Jersey have increased in recent days. There are now government-run drive-thru centers in Paramus and Holmdel, in addition to numerous sites run by hospitals and private companies.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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Hamilton, ON, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While Canadians watch unprecedented events unfold surrounding the COVID-19 crisis, including the closure of retail shops around the country, the CVA strongly agrees with the need for social distancing. We recognize that it is best for the protection of our citizens and fully support the recommendations of our medical professionals. However, as has been emphasized by many clinicians, former smokers and researchers, vaping is a critical tool for many in managing their nicotine addiction. Flavoured nicotine e-liquids are the key for many reformed smokers, 90% of which use low nicotine options that are only available in adult-only access product vape shops.

We are asking all Canadian governments to follow the steps taken by Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on the advice of Dr. Riccardo Polosa, a world-renowned scientist and researcher on vaping and harm reduction, to ensure vapers have access to the products they require to stay off of combustible tobacco, said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director of The Canadian Vaping Association. While the world is facing extreme public health risks associated with public gatherings, Italy, one of the regions hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, is treating vape shops as an essential service by allowing them to continue to operate while other retailers are being shut down.

France, Spain and Switzerland have followed suit and are also ensuring vape shops stay open so that vapers in those countries have access to the products they require. Vaping has been shown to be the most successful harm reduction tool in the fight against combustible tobacco. The decision made in these countries to keep vape shops open will ensure that those that have switched to vaping are not forced to return to smoking combustible tobacco.

Dr. Polosa indicated that vapers switching back to smoking would cause a rise in acute exacerbation of lung illnesses amongst many individuals who had seen extremely beneficial health impacts from quitting smoking through the use of vape products. The closure of adult-only access specialty vape shops would be very detrimental, both to the reformed smokers that frequent these establishments and to our already stretched health care system, at a time when our citizens and public health system need our support the most. This in addition to the gateway effect for those who will return to smoking, exposing others to second-hand smoke along with a host of other unintended consequences, highlight the importance of keeping lifesaving nicotine vape products in the hands of Canadians, said Tempest. Tempest went on to say, Health officials in Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland have taken a massive step towards supporting the health of vapers in their regions, particularly those with pre-existing lung illness, by ensuring access to the vape products they require to keep them off of combustible tobacco.

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Research suggests that only 3-10% of smokers can successfully quit smoking cold turkey. Continued and secured access to vaping products is imperative to vapers to keep them from returning to combustible tobacco products, particularly in light of the increased anxiety and mental stress many former smokers and current vapers will experience in the context of the pandemic. The added anxiety that would come from limiting vapers access to nicotine vape products during an already difficult time, will inevitably push vapers back to easily accessible combustible tobacco products.

The CVA is asking for all governments to consider adult-only access vape shops as an essential service. There are an estimated 1.1 million vapers across Canada that rely on vape shops to ensure that they dont return to smoking or turn to black market homemade e-liquids to satisfy their nicotine cravings. The availability of these products through retail locations is of extreme importance to reformed smokers. We need governments across Canada to work with The CVA and the 1,200 vape shops across our nation to ensure that those addicted to nicotine are not forced to returning to the use of combustible tobacco products, our nations leading cause of death, nor to the extremely high-nicotine content products sold by Big Tobacco vape brands through the convenience store channel. Adult-only access vape shops must be allowed to continue to operate under the social distancing guidelines as prescribed by public health.

By working with industry, our governments and public health officials we can ensure we dont send hundreds of thousands of vapers in Canada back to smoking or expose them to high nicotine levels, feeding increased addiction. Specialty vape shop owners will continue to implement and comply with all prescribed precautions as recommended by health authorities for the protection of all Canadians.

About the Canadian Vaping Association

The Canadian Vaping Association (thecva.org) is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 300 retail and online vaping businesses in Canada, not including tobacco companies or affiliates. The association is the primary liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education supplied bilingually to health officers, media, and elected officials.

For more information, please contact:

Darryl Tempest

The Canadian Vaping Association

6472741867

dtempest@thecva.org


Flowr provides a global operational update, which includes a headcount restructuring program to better align strategic objectives in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic



The Company is taking steps to ensure continuity of production at its flagship Kelowna facility

The Canadian premium dried flower market to be the primary strategic focus for the Company over the next six months

Investments in Rec 2.0 products will be delayed until the Company becomes cash flow positive

In Portugal the Company awaits final GMP certification in Sintra, and an outdoor crop at Aljustrel is planned for harvest in Q4

In Australia, GMP compliant packaging remains and the Company recently released for sale its first shipment of dried flower from Canada

Flowr reiterates its plan to get to cash flow positive in H2 2020 by focusing on premium indoor grown dried flower

TORONTO, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR; OTC: FLWPF) (Flowr or the Company) announced that it has restructured approximately 25% of its workforce globally, which is expected to result in an annual reduction of headcount expenses in excess of approximately $6 million. In an effort to tighten the timeline towards becoming cash flow positive in H2 2020, the Company has decided to focus its resources near term on the Premium Canadian dried flower market, specifically to continue building on the positive sales momentum it has been seeing with its Flowr branded BC Pink Kush and other high THC strains expected to be launched in the marketplace in 2020.

"The changes we announced today were part of an ongoing comprehensive review of our operations to reduce costs, focus on the highest value priorities and accelerate cash flow generation, in addition to some of the anticipated macro-economic headwinds stemming from COVID-19. This was an extremely difficult decision that we did not take lightly and would like to thank former and current employees for their tremendous contributions. The resulting company will be a leaner, more efficient organization. Our fundamental thesis that consumers demand quality dried flower has been proven correct as evidenced by heavy demand for our flagship strain, BC Pink Kush. We also look forward to the release of our newest high THC strains BC Louis XIII and BC Tahoe OG in the coming months. Given that our Kelowna 1 facility (Kelowna 1) is now fully operational, we expect to see a step function change in production and sales beginning in the second quarter. While we continue to be very optimistic about our derivative form factor product plans, in light of the current macro environment we feel its prudent to delay further material investments in these areas and focus on our core competency  producing premium indoor-grown dried flower and building the Flowr brand in the Canadian recreational market," commented Vinay Tolia, CEO of Flowr.

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OPERATIONAL UPDATES: CANADA

The Company has advanced its Kelowna Campus to be a single hub for all aspects of cultivation, processing and packaging to service the Canadian cannabis market. The Company has only invested in either highly controlled indoor growing environments for premium high THC dried cannabis (Kelowna 1) or low cost outdoor and shade-house production for extraction (Flowr Forest). Notably, the Company has not invested in traditional greenhouses, which are more expensive to build and operate, because it believes that they cannot produce premium smokable products. Flowr has proven that low cost outdoor and shade-house grows provide quality inputs, especially for use in extraction. Recently, the Company launched new corporate and Canadian recreational websites, consistent with its brand marketing strategies.

Kelowna 1 Indoor Facility

On February 24, 2020, the Company announced it had received approval from Health Canada to open an additional 10 grow rooms, bringing the total to 20 at the Facility. The ultimate production capacity is expected to be approximately 10,000 kg of premium cannabis when fully optimized.

Since that announcement, the Company has propagated 7 of the newly licensed grow rooms with the remaining 3 to be planted within the next 30 days.

The Company has taken preventative measures to remain a reliable supply chain partner during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outdoor and Shade-House Facility (Flowr Forest)

The Company has decided to delay the launch of its live resin product until its Canadian dried flower operations are generating positive cash flow.

As a result, the Company has decided to selectively plant outdoors to enable optionality for a full outdoor grow to support its revised live resin launch plans.

Flowr/Hawthorne R&D Facility (R&D Facility)

Flowr and Hawthorne have entered a strategic R&D alliance to build a state of the art, 45,000 square foot R&D Facility, the 1st of its kind in Canada.

Construction of the R&D Facility is substantially complete. The Company submitted the evidence package to Health Canada to license the first floor on February 24, 2020 and expects to receive licensing approval in Q2 2020.

Once operational, the R&D Facility will allow Flowr to stay on the leading edge of cultivation technology and maximize plant health and yields.

GLOBAL OPERATIONS

Portugal

Sintra, Portugal Indoor Facility

Sintra is a highly controlled indoor cultivation, extract processing and finished product packaging facility. Construction of the facility is substantially complete with 3 of the 6 total grow rooms currently operational. Obtaining GMP certification is both a critical step to the production and sales of a high value medicinal product which can be distributed to any country within in the EU and is Flowrs top priority within its Holigen business.

The Company had its final GMP inspection in September 2019 and still anticipates receipt of EU-GMP certification.

Construction of the Sintra Facility is substantially complete.

Aljustrel, Portugal

Aljustrel is a 7 million square foot outdoor cultivation facility which has been deemed a Project of National Interest by the Portuguese Government, the only cannabis related project to receive this designation. The Company expects a phased ramp up of production at Aljustrel to match capacity with the revenue potential of an expanding European medicinal cannabis market.

The Company plans to plant over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation area in 2020 with a harvest expected in Q4 2020.

Australia

The Company maintains its GMP compliant packaging facility in Australia. Flowr expects its assets in Australia to be a hub for distribution and sales of medicinal cannabis into the Australasian region.

During the first quarter, Holigen Australia received a modest shipment of premium dried flower from our Kelowna 1 Facility to be sold and distributed into the Australian market.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Further to the Companys announcement on November 19, 2019 relating to the entering into of a credit agreement with ATB Financial (ATB) for access to debt financing of up to $25 million, on February 28, 2020, the Company completed its second draw-down of $3.2 million from its term facility, and $500,000 from its revolving operating credit facility under the credit agreement. Furthermore, the Company is assessing various financing alternatives to address near term working capital needs.

About The Flowr Corporation



The Flowr Corporation is a Toronto-headquartered cannabis company with operations in Canada, Europe, and Australia. Its Canadian operating campus, located in Kelowna, BC, includes a purpose-built, GMP-designed indoor cultivation facility; an outdoor and greenhouse cultivation site; and a state-of-the-art R&D facility that is currently under construction. From this campus, Flowr produces recreational and medicinal products. Internationally, Flowr intends to service the global medical cannabis market through its subsidiary Holigen, which has a license for cannabis cultivation in Portugal and will operate GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia.

Flowr aims to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and, as an established expert in cannabis cultivation, strives to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking the highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency across a portfolio of differentiated cannabis products.

For more information, please visit flowrcorp.com or follow Flowr on Twitter: @FlowrCanada and LinkedIn: The Flowr Corporation.

On behalf of The Flowr Corporation:

Vinay Tolia

CEO and Director

Contact Info:

INVESTORS & MEDIA:

Thierry Elmaleh

Head of Capital Markets

(877) 356-9726 ext. 1528

thierry@flowr.ca

Future-Oriented Financial Information

To the extent any forward-looking statements in this press release constitutes future-oriented financial information or financial outlooks within the meaning of securities laws, such information is being provided to demonstrate the potential financial performance of Flowr and readers are cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and that they should not place undue reliance on such future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks. Future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to the risks set out below under Forward-Looking Information and Statements.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian Securities laws, which may include but is not limited to: the Company taking steps to ensure continuity of production at its flagship Kelowna facility; the Companys primary strategic focus over the next six months being the Canadian premium dried flower market; the Company delaying investments in Rec 2.0 products until it becomes cash flow positive; the expected timing for receipt of GMP certification in Portugal; the expected timing for planting and harvesting an outdoor crop in Portugal; Flowrs plan to get to cash flow positive in H2 2020 by focusing on premium indoor grown dried flower; the Companys expected annual reduction in headcount expenses resulting from restructuring its workforce globally; the Companys expected timeline towards becoming cash flow positive in H2 2020; the Company focusing its resources near term on the Premium Canadian dried flower market; the Company continuing to build on the positive sales momentum it has been seeing with its Flowr branded BC Pink Kush and other high THC strains expected to be launched in the marketplace in 2020; Flowr reducing costs, focusing on the highest value priorities and accelerating cash flow generation; Flowr becoming a leaner, more efficient organization; Flowr releasing new high THC strains BC Louis XIII and BC Tahoe OG in the coming months; the Companys expectation that it will see a step function change in production and sales beginning in the second quarter; the Company continuing to be very optimistic about its derivative form factor product plans but delaying further material investments in these areas; the Company focusing on its core competency, including with respect to producing premium indoor-grown dried flower and building the Flowr brand in the Canadian recreational market; the Companys belief that traditional greenhouses cannot produce premium smokable products; Flowrs expectation for the ultimate production capacity of Kelowna 1 when fully optimized; Flowrs expected timeline for planting the remaining newly licensed grow rooms at Kelowna 1; the Company remaining a reliable supply chain partner during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Company delaying the launch of its live resin product until its Canadian dried flower operations are generating positive cash flow; the Company selectively planting outdoors at Flowr Forest to enable optionality for a full outdoor grow to support its revised live resin launch plans; the Companys expectations for the receipt of licensing approval for the R&D Facility; the R&D Facility allowing Flowr to stay on the leading edge of cultivation technology and maximize plant health and yields; obtaining GMP certification being Flowrs top priority within its Holigen business; the Companys expectations for a phased ramp up of production at Aljustrel to match capacity with the revenue potential of an expanding European medicinal cannabis market; the Companys plan to plant over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation area in 2020 with a harvest expected in Q4 2020 at its Aljustrel facility; Flowrs expectation that its assets in Australia will be a hub for distribution and sales of medicinal cannabis into the Australasian region; the Company assessing various financing alternatives to address near term working capital needs; Flowr servicing the global medical cannabis market and operating GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr supporting improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency; and Flowrs business, production and products. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, is expected, expects, scheduled, intends, contemplates, anticipates, believes, proposes or variations (including negative and grammatical variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such information and statements are based on the current expectations of Flowrs management and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although Flowrs management believes that the assumptions underlying such information and statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Flowr, including risks relating to: the Company being unable to ensure continuity of production at its flagship Kelowna facility; the Company not becoming cash flow positive on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the Company not receiving GMP certification in Portugal on the anticipated timeline, or at all; Flowr being unable to plant and harvest an outdoor crop in Portugal on the anticipated timeline, or at all; Flowr being unable to get to cash flow positive in H2 2020 by focusing on premium indoor grown dried flower, or at all; the Companys not realizing the expected annual reduction in headcount expenses resulting from restructuring its workforce globally; the Company being unable to focus its resources near term on the Premium Canadian dried flower market; the Company being unable to continue building on the positive sales momentum it has been seeing with its Flowr branded BC Pink Kush and other high THC strains expected to be launched in the marketplace in 2020; Flowr being unable to launch other high THC strains on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the Company being unable to reduce costs, focus on the highest value priorities and accelerate cash flow generation; Flowr being unable to become a leaner, more efficient organization; the Company not realizing a step function change in production and sales on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the Company being unable to focus on its core competency; the ultimate production capacity of Kelowna 1 not reaching expectations, even when fully optimized; the Company being unable to plant the remaining newly licensed grow rooms at Kelowna 1 on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the Company being unable to remain a reliable supply chain partner during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Company being unable to selectively plant outdoors to enable optionality for a full outdoor grow to support its revised live resin launch plans; the Company not receiving licensing approval for the R&D Facility on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the R&D Facility not allowing Flowr to stay on the leading edge of cultivation technology or to maximize plant health and yields; the Companys being unable to ramp up production at Aljustrel to match capacity with the revenue potential of an expanding European medicinal cannabis market on the anticipated timeline, or at all; the Company being unable to plant over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation area in 2020 with a harvest expected in Q4 2020 at its Aljustrel facility on the anticipated timeline, or at all; Flowrs assets in Australia not being a hub for distribution and sales of medicinal cannabis into the Australasian region; the Company being unable to access any financing alternatives to address near term working capital needs; the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the business and financial conditions of the Company; Flowr being unable to service the global medical cannabis market and/or operate GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr being unable to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and/or striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency; the construction and development of the Companys cultivation and production facilities; general economic and stock market conditions; adverse industry events; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments in Canada and elsewhere; the cannabis industry in Canada generally; the ability of Flowr to implement its business strategies; Flowrs inability to produce or sell premium quality cannabis, risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Flowrs filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators; and many other factors beyond the control of Flowr.

Although Flowr has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information or statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking information or statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking information and statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Flowr undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. When considering such forward-looking information and statements, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Flowrs Annual Information Form dated April 3, 2019 (the AIF) and filed with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada. The risk factors and other factors noted in the AIF could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information or statements.

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.
Italian steel mills will have to shut down most operations under a government decree issued Sunday tightening restrictions to fight the spread coronavirus.

The government has ordered the suspension of industrial and commercial activities that are not essential by March 25.

Market sources said that although most mills would not be allowed to continue production, some are trying to secure the requisite permission from local prefects to carry on. Unions have promised to fight such moves and say they are ready to call a huge strike to prevent plants staying open.

Under the government decree, continuous production cycle plants activities are permitted from which interruption results in serious damage to the plant itself, but again this is subject to a greenlight from the local prefect.

ArcelorMittal Italia's plant in Taranto, the largest Italian flat steel producer, has some continuous cycle production at its plant that should be allowed to keep running.

On Saturday it shut down blast furnace No.2 at Taranto, as well as the facility's No.1 melting shop. Crude steel production will be around 8,500 mt/day, with only two blast furnaces -- No.1 and 4 -- continuing to work, unions sources told Platts.

AM Italia has shut down some of the hot end; we do understand that BF1 and BF4 have to continue to be operative, but we ask to shut down all the other cold end part activities that are still working in Taranto as well as in the sites of the company based in North Italy such as the Genoa re-rolling plants and Novi Liguri, a union source said.

We urge the government and the prefects to listen to us and stop all the activities -- there is no need for the cold end parts to work for the time being, also considering that most of the Italian steel producers' buyers -- domestic and not domestic -- have halted productions, in particular the automotive sectors, he added.

Unions were due to meet with company representatives Monday afternoon.

The company declined to comment.

Arvedi's Servola plant in the Trieste area would also potentially be exempt, but was due to close permanently at the end of March anyway. -- Tradearabia News Service
It is the greatest challenge the National Health Service has ever faced. With the spectre of coronavirus looming ever larger over the UK, across the country NHS teams are working around the clock to meet the Covid-19 virus head on.

Aware they are just weeks, maybe days, from seeing a surge of critically unwell patients coming through their doors, bureaucracy has been swept to one side. The whole health service now has one singular focus  to get ready.

Walls and new wards have been refurbished and built in just days. Whole departments have been shifted to make room for coronavirus patients in hours and in every hospital the emphasis now is on everyone doing what must be done.

After a decade of austerity, bed cuts, wage freezes and staff shortages, the health service is having to dig deep to marshal the resources it needs but reports from across the UK suggest that is exactly what is happening.

There have been challenges, too, in ensuring hospitals have enough protective equipment, including face masks, with NHS England using pandemic supplies already, while at least one hospital has declared a critical incident because it had run out of intensive care beds.

The Independent has spoken to managers, doctors and nurses from across the NHS to hear how they are preparing their hospital and teams for the coming struggle.

Portakabin wards for Covid-19 patients

In many hospitals the most pressing issue is the lack of intensive care beds and respiratory support wards for patients with coronavirus who develop severe pneumonia and can struggle to breathe. In some, wards have been completely repurposed and transformed into rough-and-ready critical care units.

At the Countess of Chester Hospital, chief executive Susan Gilby said millions of pounds had been spent preparing for the virus already.

The NHS trust has created a new, second A&E department, for suspected Covid-19 patients after redeveloping an outpatient clinic and walk-in area. New walls have been built and windows removed to create a doorway into two new portable wards delivered by Portakabin in the past week.

The trust has also repurposed a portable unit into a respiratory ward in just weeks, providing 20 extra beds, as well as requisitioned offices and transformed those into a ward for patients with a total of 22 beds within days.

Ms Gilby praised her staff saying: We have moved heaven and earth. We are not just standing back waiting for it to happen. People have worked around the clock and our estates team have been working 18 hour days, seven days a week. We are as ready as we can be.

She said the trust now had 100 more beds available than normal and had increased its intensive care capacity fourfold since the start of the month.

A human chain

At the North Middlesex University Hospital, staff in the trusts paediatric A&E department formed a human chain on Thursday night to move their entire department to a new location in just five hours to make space for Covid-19 patients.

The paediatric A&E team at North Middlesex University Hospital celebrate their efforts to move the unit in just five hours last week (North Middlesex University Hospital)

Chief operating officer Andy Heeps told The Independent: Our childrens A&E is the busiest in London, and with the population we serve, there would never be a quiet time to undertake a move such as this. But the whole of team North Mid pulled together to make it happen, and from start to finish the move was complete in just five hours.

From the paediatric emergency medicine consultants, to nurses, to estates colleagues, IT, porters, engineers, everyone worked together to lift and shift the paediatric A&E out of its existing space into an area that we had moved an outpatients clinic from just hours before. The energy and commitment of the team was phenomenal.

Trust chief executive Maria Kane added: What were seeing at the moment is something that is genuinely a privilege to witness, with our staff truly showing the best of public service, clinical expertise, and human kindness rolled into one.

At Prince Charles Hospital, part of Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in Wales, two operating theatres and a recovery room were turned into intensive care wards, increasing the capacity by 200 per cent.

Consultant Dave Jones posted pictures of building work on Twitter and said: So much activity going on, so quickly. It shows what can be achieved when everyone pulls together properly.

Building work taking place at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in Wales (Dave Jones ) (Dave Jones)

At the County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust on Friday nurses and staff worked to pack up their chemotherapy unit and move it to a community hospital all while treating patients.

Welfare packages for NHS workers

While staff across the health service work hard to prepare for the coronavirus onslaught, hospitals are also ensuring the workforce is supported. At Great Western Hospitals Trust in Swindon, bosses have created welfare packages for staff to ensure they have food, much of it donated by local pubs and hotels.

Chief executive Kevin McNamara said the trust, which also provides community care, was offering 24-hour mental health support for staff and had cancelled car parking charges.

He described the hospital now as being unimaginable compared to what it was just a week ago after efforts to move services and transform wards.

The trust has taken over its private patient unit to create a Covid-19 assessment unit while admin staff had volunteered to help support clinical teams.

It would normally take a long time to make some of these decisions but the singular focus that everyone has at the moment cuts through all of that and means you can make a decision much more quickly. There has been a huge amount of effort.

NHS staff have that sense of calling but we know that is going to be tested like it never has been tested before.

Mr McNamara said staff had worked tirelessly but with a sense of calmness adding: They have responded remarkably.

He added the trusts community teams and social care partners had played their part in helping free up hospital beds: We have far fewer patients in hospital who didnt to need to be there than we did 10 days ago. Everyone is pulling together; it is a real team effort.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Trust has also recognised the value of looking after its staff with a staff helpline setup within 48 hours and manned from 6am to 7pm. In its first three hours the helpline took 400 calls.

Sam Allen, chief executive of the Sussex Partnership mental health trust, said she had been inundated with offers from nursing students and other clinical trainees to help care for patients. The trust has also redeployed academics and researchers back onto the frontline.

An army of volunteers

Alongside the NHSs dedicated 1.4 million staff, the public and former health workers are stepping forward to help too. Since a public appeal went out more than 11,700 retired doctors, nurses and health professionals have signed up to be registered under emergency powers.

In addition, volunteers are being used by hospitals to help man phones, feed patients, drive vehicles and help keep the health service running by freeing up NHS workers to concentrate on key tasks.

The health secretary has described the fight against coronavirus as a national effort and this is no more evident then in the health service and the public response to the call to help.

Drafting in the military

While NHS trusts battle to prepare for the influx of coronavirus patients, the military has been brought in to deliver millions of face masks and protective equipment to help prevent staff getting infected.

Amid complaints the NHS was running out of equipment, NHS England said all hospitals had received a fresh delivery of equipment over the weekend. From this week, the army will help to manage and offload supplies in busy NHS settings, helping to distribute and deliver urgent supplies to the frontline with 24-hour deliveries.

The military is also planning to use east Londons Excel centre  used as a venue for the 2012 Olympics  as a potential makeshift hospital with NHS bosses discussing using the centre as a site for 500 initial patients, and potentially increasing to thousands.

London may be particularly badly hit in the coming days and The Royal London hospital, a major trauma centre and one of the busiest hospitals in the capital, is planning on spending millions of pounds refurbishing two vacant floors to create additional intensive care spaces as part of wider plans to created hundreds of new intensive care beds at the Whitechapel hospital. It normally has 22 ITU beds.

Cutting through bureaucracy

To aid the national effort the government also issued new directives on Monday giving NHS England sweeping new powers over how the NHS is structured and funded locally.

For decades the health service has been split into commissioners, who pay for services, and providers, namely hospitals, who deliver the care to patients. There are almost 200 local commissioning groups across the country.

The directions come into effect immediately and will last until the end of the year and will be used to help NHS England directly purchase 8,000 hospital beds from the private sector, at cost price, meaning 1,200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and 8,000 other clinical staff will be joining the coronavirus effort.

The biggest challenge

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS hospitals, told The Independent: Staff across all parts of the NHS are going to extraordinary lengths and working around the clock to ensure they can safely care for their patients and also look after their own health and wellbeing.

We have heard from our members across NHS trusts in England about the innovative ways they are creating safe areas in A&E and inpatient wards and dramatically increasing the potential capacity for patients requiring critical care, increasing the use of technology and rolling out new systems of working and shift patterns in a matter of days.

This is by far the biggest challenge the NHS has ever faced in its history and it is striking how everyone is pulling together to prepare for the explosion in demand that is going to come.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters

President Donald Trump insisted Monday night that hes looking to open up our country in weeks and not months as the United States continues to face the coronavirus pandemic.

Im not looking at months, I can tell you right now, Trump said at a briefing with the White House coronavirus task force. Were going to be opening up our country, and were going to be watching certain areas.

The presidents comments came as there remains no clear end in sight to the health crisis that has greatly impacted much of American life. Schools districts across the country have been closed for weeks, and on Monday Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered that schools in his state would be closed through the end of the current academic year.

Throughout his Monday press briefing, the president frequently touted a quick bounce back from the virus even though there is no clear evidence the United States has turned a corner in beating the virus or the disease it causes, COVID-19.

Emphasizing tremendous responsibility, Trump ticked off a list of concerns about the length of the healthcare crisis: jobs, people with tremendous anxiety and depression, as well as suicides.

You have death, probably and I mean definitely would be in far greater numbers than the numbers that were talking about with regard to the virus, Trump said. So we have a double obligation.

After touting his administrations response during press briefings last week, Trump began to signal on Twitter late Sunday night that the White House could soon make a major policy shift as many Americans practice social distancing and do their best to avoid the virus.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, Trump tweeted. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

The president repeated that line on Monday evening, insisting America will again and soon be open for business and hes not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.

Story continues

Fox News Stars Begin Pushing Trump to End Coronavirus Restrictions

This two week period has been good, Trump said. Im not saying it ends at that time. We have another seven days or so. Im not saying it ends at that time. But I am saying, its been like this incredible learning process. Thats going to go into the future.

Trump continued to emphasize that he would open up the country, but hotspots could be monitored.

Were going to be watching New York, and were going to be watching California, were going to be watching the state of Washington and other places, Illinois is becoming a hot spot, he said. And we can do both. Now, we may quarantine, I mean we will be quarantining many people in these areas.

Trump also announced Monday that he has signed an executive order to ban the hoarding of crucial medical supplies and equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. That would include face masks, hand sanitizers and personal protective equipment. He added that his administration wants to prevent price gouging.

Attorney General William Barr said the administration has begun to see evidence of potential hoarding and price gouging. No items have been designated at this point, he said.

He said this is not targeted at consumers or businesses stockpiling for their own operations. Its aimed at people hoarding on an industrial scale for the purpose of manipulating the market.

If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house, this is not something you have to worry about, Barr said. But if you are sitting on a warehouse with masks, surgical masks, you will be hearing a knock on your door.

Trump also announced that his administration was postponing the deadline for compliance with real I.D. requirements. Those changes to Americans drivers licenses would have impacted the necessary document they would have needed to board flights in the United States.

Time and time again during the briefing, the president made it sound like the country could handle both recovering from the virus and returning to life as it was before it on a more optimistic scale than seems possible as medical supply shortages and health care fears continue to dominate the news.

We can do two things at one time, Trump said.

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Danielle Armstrong revealed that her fiance Tom Edney didn't self-isolate, despite government advice, in the days leading up to the mandated lockdown.

As the coronavirus crisis tightened its grip on the UK, former TOWIE star Danielle, 31, 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, who is pregnant with her first child, said: 'So lots of you have been asking me: "Is Tom self-isolating?" So he's not.

Concerns: Danielle Armstrong revealed that her fiance Tom Edney didn't self-isolate, despite government advice, in the days leading up to the mandated lockdown

'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 her partner 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...

Work: Amid the coronavirus crisis, Danielle, 31, took to social media ahead of the shutdown to urge the government to push for stronger measures as Tom Edney continued to work

'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, 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.

People must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is 'absolutely' unavoidable. Going out for exercise will be allowed once a day, but parks will be patrolled to make sure there is no abuse of the rules.

Love: Danielle, who is expecting her first child with Tom, said of her husband-to-be, 'I can't explain how important it is to have someone who makes you feel so nice. To have reassurance'

Meanwhile, Danielle was seen embracing her burgeoning baby bump on Tuesday, as she shared a hilarious Tik Tok video.

The blonde beauty looked in good spirits as she mimicked some dance moves shared by a troupe of pregnant social media stars.

Clad in a fitted black top and grey jogging bottoms, the blonde beauty caressed her bump as she danced around in her living room.

She captioned the funny clip: 'My First TikTok Attempt. Ok so Im still trying to work this b****y thing out but whilst Im on day 9 of self isolation I thought I would give this thing a go.

Mother-to-be: Meanwhile, Danielle embraced her burgeoning baby bump as she shared a hilarious Tik Tok video on Tuesday

Throwing shapes: The former TOWIE star, 31, looked in good spirits as she mimicked some dance moves shared by a troupe of pregnant social media stars

'Im not even sure who this lady is but I liked her baby mumma dance and attempted to copy Hope this gives you a little giggle and yes I look so serious I practised all day #tiktok #firstattempt #babymumma [sic]'.

The funny clip comes after Danielle became emotional as she discussed the way her body has changed during pregnancy and thanked her fiance Tom for his support.

She uploaded a video to her YouTube channel from her recent trip to Dubai with Tom and admitted her self-esteem took a hit during the trip because her body of how quickly her body had changed.

Danielle said: 'I can't explain how important it is to have someone who makes you feel so nice. To have reassurance.

Looking good: Clad in a fitted black top and grey jogging bottoms, the blonde beauty caressed her bump as she danced around in her living room

'I feel so lucky. You don't feel yourself - you feel bigger, and there are girls in your hotel who look so good. I'm waddling because I have cream between my legs!

'I can't tell you how important it is to have someone to love you for who you are. He has made it easier.

'Even when people say "you look good pregnant" you do not feel sexy. You need someone. It's very hard. No more tears. I have cried the last two nights.'

The reality star admitted that while she enjoyed her pregnancy throughout the second trimester, she has struggled with the third and felt it was important she was honest with her followers.

Teary-eyed: The funny clip comes after Danielle became emotional as she discussed the way her body has changed during pregnancy and thanked her fiance Tom for his support

She said: 'I don't feel nice, it's such a strange feeling. Some of you will be watching this thinking, "Danielle, you're blessed to be having a baby" but it's bloody hard.

'I want to keep it real. It's not all easy. It really isn't. The second trimester I loved, the third trimester, it is so hard.'

Danielle became emotional when speaking about her other half Tom, who has been her best friend for the last 22 years.

She said: 'He says to me everyday how beautiful I am and how much he loves me. It's constant reassurance and I've never had that before and I think it's so important.

Honest: Danielle admitted her self-esteem took a hit during the trip because her body of how quickly her body had changed

'To have someone love you for the way you are and you haven't got to change. Because when you are pregnant, you don't feel sexy, you just don't feel it. I am so lucky to have him in my life. He's made this a lot easier.'

Tom popped the question during the couple's romantic trip with Danielle sharing a look at the ring when they touched down in London's Stansted airport.

Last week, Danielle shared the happy news on Instagram during the couple's romantic trip.

Showcasing her sparkling ring in a series of loved-up snaps, the mother-to-be wrote: 'Feel Like The Luckiest Girl In The World Right Now... I SAID YES  #imengaged.' [sic]

The media personality posed alongside Tom on a yacht in the celebrity hot spot.

'You excited to marry me?', she asked her partner, before declaring: 'Mrs. Edney to be!'
A bug in Windows is allowing hackers to attack computer users, Microsoft has said.

The company is aware of the bug but is yet to patch it. It said that attackers are exploiting the bug, but did not say who they were or how prevalent it is.

Microsoft said that it is working on a fix for the problem, but suggested that it may not be out until next month at the earliest.

But it did say that the threat is low in Windows 10 because Microsoft had added protections in that version of the operating system. It was not aware of any attacks on people running that latest version of the software, it said, and recommended that users upgrade if they can.

The bug has been classified as "critical"  the highest-possible level of alert  by Microsoft, which also sent out advice to computers users to try and keep them safe.

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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

It seizes on a problem with the Adobe Type Manager Library, which collects fonts together. Because of a specific problem with a particular font, the operating system could be taken over by hackers, Microsoft warned.

It could be used in a variety of different ways, including tricking a user into opening a specially made document or looking at it in the Windows Preview screen.

While Microsoft said that it was working on a fix, it noted that security updates are usually issued on "Update Tuesday", which falls on the second Tuesday of each month. It appeared to suggest the fix would not arrive until that day, which would leave the problem unfixed until 14 April.

"This predictable schedule allows for partner quality assurance and IT planning, which helps maintain the Windows ecosystem as a reliable, secure choice for our customers," said in its update.
Birbiglia with Maria Bamford, Gary Gulman, and John Mulaney on Instagram. Photo-Illustration: Vulture and Mike Birbiglia/Instagram

Like most comedians, Mike Birbiglia suddenly found himself without any upcoming gigs once the COVID-19 pandemic really hit the U.S. Since last week, hes been performing a show on Instagram every day called Tip Your Waitstaff, which raises money for comedy-club workers whove lost their incomes.

The show, which was co-created by fellow comic Roy Wood Jr., has a unique premise that offers fans a glimpse into the stand-up writing process. Each day, a comedian friend joins Birbiglia, and they tell three jokes that they would have been working on during their gigs, had the coronavirus not shut everything down. So far, the guests have included Wood, Gary Gulman, John Mulaney, Jacqueline Novak, Nikki Glaser, and Maria Bamford, with Sarah Silverman and SNLs Melissa Villasenor coming up.

To learn more about Tip Your Waitstaff, Vulture called Birbiglia at his home in Brooklyn, where hes self-isolating with his family, attempting to homeschool his daughter, and broadcasting live daily at 2 p.m. ET. (The conversations are available to view on his Instagram Stories for 24 hours afterward so nobody misses out.) So far, Birbiglia and his comedian guests have raised over $60,000 for a number of clubs, and Birbiglia is hoping for much more to come. As he says, Its really this grassroots thing to band comedians together to support people who have supported us for all these years.

Hows it been going, balancing this with homeschooling your daughter?

Well, my office is attached to my apartment, so I can close the door and do these livestreams and then I can come back. I made a joke about it with Nikki Glaser  its a little bit like Life Is Beautiful where youre like, Were going to do some drawing and were going to sing songs, and then were going to dance and everythings okay! And its certainly not okay, but what are you going to do? Explain a global pandemic to your daughter whos 5? Thats hard to do.

So how did this idea start?

Last week, I was heading to the Buffalo Helium Comedy Club and I was driving there. I wasnt going to fly cause the virus is out there, but they werent canceling shows. Halfway there, I get to Ithaca, I have pizza at this place, and I sit at the communal table. There was this couple and they were like, We thought this whole thing was overblown by the media until we listened to the Joe Rogan podcast today, and he had on this scientist. Then we realized, Oh, this is very real. There were two things I learned from that. One is that the Joe Rogan podcast is very powerful for affecting culture. Two, the two schools of thought which were going on at that point  This is media hysteria and Were going to have a very serious problem on our hands  those collided on that day. So, I literally just drove home. I drove four hours to Ithaca, drove four hours home, and Ive been home ever since.

Then on the 12th or the 13th, I woke up to text messages from Mulaney and Roy basically saying, What do we do to help out these clubs? I was already going to try to write a check to the Buffalo Helium staff and the Bloomington, Indiana, Comedy Attic staff  thats where I was supposed to be the next week  but then I thought, Well, why dont we broaden this out? Then I just had this idea [for this format], because you cant really do stand-up in a vacuum in your living room for no audience, because its an audience-interactive art form.

Raising money for comedy club staffs with @mulaney! Link in bio to contribute! Weve raised over $20k and counting! Join us today at 2pm EST on my Instagram live with comic extraordinaire @jacquelinenovak! pic.twitter.com/AIDGlf5sPd  Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) March 22, 2020

But, you dont need an audience of more than one. All you really need is one person laughing, not laughing, smiling, not smiling, and you get whats working and whats not. So, under any other circumstances, I really wouldnt let people into this part of the process. But because were all sort of quarantined and its for a good cause, I think a bunch of these comics and myself are all game to change the rules a little.

Its like youre sharing your training videos.

But its even stranger! Its more like a novelist showing you their first draft of their novel, which is mortifying. Its mortifying to show people your first draft of anything.

I mean, were really just figuring it out as we go. We dont know where its heading. Its like a fire drill. Were making it up as we go. We may end up going with a media sponsor. We may locate the streams somewhere else  maybe on broadcast TV, maybe on someones streaming service, maybe as a podcast. Really, in the short term, its just to shine a light on the people who are really mostly check to check and dont have checks right now. And also, Im going to run out of jokes. I mean, the premise is, they have three jokes and I have three jokes. At a certain point, Im going to run out.

Watch @NikkiGlaser and I do impressions of our comedy heroes Sarah Silverman & Mitch Hedberg. Fun clip. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/UCo2Zkz7JB  Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) March 23, 2020

Do you have a plan for that?

No, I have no plan. I mean, other than Ive gotta try to write some jokes.

How has this isolation been for you, creatively?

Its okay. I mean, I have a 5-year-old. Because I came out with a special where my daughter is born and then at the end of it shes 13 months old, people think that shes still 13 months old. But thats not how aging works. So, shes 5 and she will continue to age, as far as we know. So were currently, like everybody else with children, homeschooling. Jen, my wife, is a poet, and obviously Im a comedian, so we try to figure out how to buy time for each other to write. Right now, were still working out the kinks.

Whats it been like performing for that online audience? Ive seen some people say, Thats not a joke. Thats an observation, not fully grasping the concept that youre workshopping stuff.

Its pretty funny. Jacqueline Novak has strangely anointed herself the king of the audience commenters, which is absurd. She just showed up the first day in the comments and has wrangled the audience, encouraging them to use different emoji like bottles of lotion and various vegetables to express when people like jokes. Some people are snarky, but snarky people gonna snark. Theres nothing you can do about that.

Whats special about our show so far is that youre getting to see things that are half-baked. Gary Gulman had one the other day where the premise itself made me laugh out loud. He just goes, When I used to work at Starbucks, if the line was too long, Id just say, We dont have Frappuccino mix. I laughed so hard because sometimes, as a comedian, a premise is so strong that you can write the punch lines yourself. You know that youre in store for something great. This show, at its best, is that.

The great @GaryGulman tells a story about when he worked at Starbucks. Contribute to comedy club staffs at our new site https://t.co/gQHOAR2IGh! Tune in today at 2pm EST for me & @mulaney.  pic.twitter.com/cOFLt25mGl  Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) March 21, 2020

Mulaney had a few lines like that. He was riffing off one of my jokes about heartburn medication and he goes, No one is happier than the people in antidepressant commercials at outdoor concerts. Its literally just the setup, and to me, it kills. He could do five minutes on that. Sometimes, just the setup alone is fun to be there for, especially for the incarnation of it. Youre seeing John, one of the worlds greatest comedians, coming up with something in real time. You can literally witness the glimmer in his eye of realization that hes onto something.

Youve said youre looking for sponsors, and youve also called Dominos Pizza garbage. Would you take money from Dominos?

Oh my God. Dont  dont make me  dont make me evoke the movie Sophies Choice. Look, I mean, well do what we have to do if we get desperate. Dominos and desperation run hand in hand, and it may come to that.
The steamboat: For many Americans in the 19th century, it was a symbol of power and progress, a triumph of technology that ferried goods and people upriver with impressive speed.

But for certain passengers, it represented something less glorious and more terrifying. In Unworthy Republic, the historian Claudio Saunt describes how the boats functioned as instruments of American expansion and  for the slaves and Indigenous people forced to travel on them  as floating prisons. The policy known as Indian Removal was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830. Transporting so many people up western rivers entailed squeezing them into cramped quarters, where diseases proliferated and a burst boiler could scald hundreds to death in an instant.

Saunts book traces the expulsion of 80,000 Native Americans over the course of the 1830s, from their homes in the eastern United States to territories west of the Mississippi River. This was one episode in a long history of colonial conquest that included waging war and spreading disease, but Saunt argues that Indian Removal was truly unprecedented; it was a formal, state-administered process designed to eliminate every native person to the east of the Mississippi  a systematic expulsion that would later serve as an ignominious model for other regimes around the world. The French in Algeria looked to it as an example, as did the Nazis in Eastern Europe. The Volga, Hitler announced in 1941, must be our Mississippi.

Unworthy Republic is a powerful and lucid account, weaving together events with the people who experienced them up close. President Jackson is an inevitable presence, but hes relegated mostly to the background, expounding his policy in high-flown terms (It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy) while gloating in his private letters (I have in the chickisaw treaty destroyed the serpent). Previously, as a general in the Tennessee militia and later the United States Army, Jackson had led brutal campaigns against the Creeks and the Seminoles. His election to the highest office, in 1828, meant that state governments in the South would get what they had long clamored for  federal resources to move Indigenous residents from the land, so that slaveholders could expand their cotton empire.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  President Rodrigo Duterte will again address the nation on Tuesday night after Congress approved a bill granting him additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis.

Duterte is expected to deliver a message at around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.

The message will also come after his meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

There is still no word whether Duterte has approved the bill which grants him additional powers, including the authority to reshuffle funds in the 2020 budget for antivirus efforts, including assistance to poor families.

The centerpiece of the special powers measure is a monthly 5,000 to 8,000 emergency subsidy for 18 million low-income households for up to two months.

It also provides for a 100,000 compensation for all health workers who may contract a severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty. Families of those who die fighting the pandemic will get 1 million.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will also shoulder the medical expenses of health workers in case of COVID-19 exposure or any work-related injury.

Under the measure, Duterte may also direct the operation of privately-owned hospitals, medical facilities, passenger vessels and other establishments to house health workers, serve as quarantine areas, become quarantine centers, medical and aid centers or temporary health facilities, and serve as transportation for health workers.

The management of these businesses and establishments will be retained, and they will be compensated for any damage as a result of government takeover of their operations.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea had said the President "has no intent" to abuse his special powers to address the crisis.

Over 500 people in the Philippines have contracted COVID-19, with 35 fatalities to date. A total of 20 people have already recovered from the disease.
Boris Johnson is facing fury today over his apparent failure to support self-employed workers during the coronavirus crisis amid claims he will soon offer them 80 per cent of their incomes to stop them falling into poverty.

The Prime Minister held a Cabinet meeting in Number 10 this morning, just hours after he put the UK into a state of lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

Ministers were widely expected to discuss an emergency economic help package for the self-employed which has been put together by Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

The Chancellor told the House of Commons during Treasury questions at lunchtime that he is 'determined to find a way to support' the self-employed and that plans would be announced 'very shortly'.

But he suggested workers will have to wait a while for any scheme to be rolled out due to the complicated nature of providing targeted support to those who need it.

He said 'implementation will take a longer timeframe' as he stressed any system must be 'deliverable' and 'fair to the vast majority of the British workforce'.

Unions representing freelancers and self-employed people have blasted the government's response and said the five million people in the UK who work for themselves need financial help immediately.

There are increasing fears Mr Johnson's lockdown will hit the self-employed particularly hard but it is thought some form of income guarantee to keep them afloat could be announced within days.

Boris Johnson last night put the UK into a state of lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, told the House of Commons the government is 'determined' to help the self-employed but suggested work is still ongoing on how the system will work

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, was one of the only Cabinet ministers pictured arriving in Downing Street for Cabinet today as most of his colleagues dialled into the meeting remotely

Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's top adviser, was also pictured arriving at Number 10 this morning

The government has already announced a 330 billion package of loans and 20 billion in other aid, as well as a business rates holiday, to prop up the UK economy.

But the Prime Minister and Chancellor are now being urged to focus their efforts on helping the self-employed amid claims the government has been slow to give them certainty.

The Sun reported that the plans being worked up by ministers and officials would see people handed 80 per cent of their incomes.

It is thought the payments could come in the form of a grant worth 80 per cent of someone's average income over the previous three years.

However, it is unclear how the payments will be processed and actually handed out.

The extra help for larger businesses represented a relatively straight forward problem for the government to solve because those companies already have payroll systems set up for their employees. But the self-employed will need to be contacted directly.

Mr Sunak was pushed by MPs this morning to bring forward help for the self-employed as soon as possible.

The Chancellor said: 'I will be making further announcements about progress on these measures. It is something that we have been looking at in intense detail over the past week in the Treasury.

'What I can say is we are in dialogue with all the key stakeholder groups including calls I am having today with several of those bodies.

'There are genuine practical and principled reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous system to the one we have for employed workers.

'But you can rest assured that we absolutely understand the situation that many self-employed people face at the moment as a result of what is happening and are determined to find a way to support them.

'We need to be confident that can be done in a way that is deliverable and is fair to the vast majority of the British workforce.'

Mr Sunak said the government was trying to devise a way of targeting support to those who need it rather than issuing 'blanket cash subsidies' and that is why it is 'requiring time and thought.

He said he believes the government will be able to announce its plans 'very shortly' but suggested workers could be in for a wait for them to actually be implemented.

We would hope to be able to have something to say very shortly,' he said.

'In terms of something being implemented that will take longer but in terms of saying what we are planning to do, that can be something that hopefully we can do relatively shortly.

Implementation will take a longer timeframe for the very clear delivery challenges that this scheme would pose.

One of those challenges will be deciding which department has the capacity to run the scheme: HMRC or the Department for Work and Pensions.

Many MPs are furious at the lack of help offered to the self-employed so far with one telling The Sun: 'Many self-employed workers currently face a choice of feeding their families but risking lives, or staying at home but being crippled with debt.'

Union bosses said many self-employed people had already lost all of their income and unless help is made available today many will be unable to pay their bills.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said: 'It's now a week since Rishi Sunak announced that the government would do "whatever it takes" to get us through this crisis.

'For freelancers and the self-employed however it's still more a case of "whatever we can get away with".

'We still have no form of income protection for freelancers and warm words on rent protection have morphed into "you can wait an extra month or so until you get evicted".

'Millions of freelancers are crying out for help. They need it today so they can pay their bills at the end of the week. If they can't the whole economy suffers.'

Demands for help for the self-employed have accelerated after Mr Johnson put the UK into a state of lockdown.

The Prime Minister last night announced that everyone must stay at home for at least the next three weeks.

There are only four reasons for people to leave their homes: for food, for medicine, for exercise or to go to work if 'absolutely necessary'.

The last reason has caused confusion because the government is seemingly leaving it up to workers to decide if they really need to leave their house.

To ensure people do not flaunt the rules, the police will be given powers to issue fines for non-compliance and to disperse gatherings.

The government has also banned gatherings of more than two people and closed all non-essential shops - including clothing and electronics.

All social events have also been cancelled including baptisms and weddings but funerals will be allowed to go ahead.
Abkhaz Opposition Leader Wins Repeat Presidential Vote In Breakaway Georgian Region

By RFE/RL March 23, 2020

Separatist officials in the globally unrecognized Abkhaz republic have declared opposition leader Aslan Bzhania as the winner of an election for the de facto presidency in the breakaway region of Georgia.

Tamaz Gogia, chairman of the self-declared republic's Central Election Commission, said on March 23 that Bzhania took 56.5 percent of the 95,109 ballots cast in the vote.

Turnout was 71.6 percent, easily surpassing the 50 percent threshold.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry criticized the election, saying they "fully contradict the fundamental norms and principles of international law" and violate Georgia's sovereignty.

After Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008, Moscow recognized Abkhazia as an independent nation. But only a handful of other countries have followed the Kremlin's lead.

Economy Minister Adgur Ardzinba garnered 35.4 percent of the votes, former Interior Minister Leonid Dzapshba won 2.2 percent, while 1.75 of voters were against all of the candidates.

Gogia said that Bzhania will be inaugurated in the Moscow-backed breakaway region within 30 days.

The March 22 rerun vote is the latest effort to sort out the Black Sea region's government, which has been in flux since a January Supreme Court ruling annulled the election victory of Raul Khajimba three months earlier.

The ruling came amid violent protests. Ultimately, Khajimba stepped down.

The run-up to the vote was marked by intrigue when Bzhania suffered two mysterious illnesses, which some of his supporters alleged were caused by poisoning.

It had been uncertain if the actual vote would take place at all due to fears of coronavirus infection. As of March 20, the region had not publicly reported any infections from COVID-19.

Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1992, a move which led to all-out war with Tbilisi.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/abkhazia-pushes- forward-with-presidential-vote-amid -coronavirus-anxiety/30502139.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.

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A police officer in Hazlet has tested positive for the coronavirus, the department announced on Monday night.

The officer, who was not identified, is recovering at home, Hazlet police said in a statement posted to the departments Facebook page.

He notified the department March 19 that he had a fever and sore throat and was immediately placed on home quarantine.

The department said his symptoms have diminished and he is recovering on home care.

Two others who had close contact with him also were sent home and remain symptom-free, the department said.

As of Monday afternoon, New Jersey had 2,844 known coronavirus cases with 27 deaths.

The Monmouth County Health Department is being consulted and no date was announced for the officers returning to duty.

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.
It took 67 days for COVID-19 to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for the next 100,000, and four days for the third.

COVID-19 cases continued to mount across the globe. There are now close to 382,000 cases and just under 16,600 deaths. While new cases in China remain low, with most of them being imported, the US saw over 100 deaths in a day for the first time and Spains death toll increased by 27% as well.

Italy, which is now the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 602 deaths yesterday, taking its total to 6,078 deaths overall. While Monday's death toll is a large number, it is a modest decrease from the days preceding it.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said the pandemic was gaining speed. It took 67 days for COVID-19 to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for the next 100,000, and four days for the third. He added that while containment efforts would slow down the spread of infection, they are not sufficient to eradicate the disease. For that, there has to be extensive testing and quarantining of those confirmed positive, along with their contacts.

Lockdown in India

India now has close to 500 cases, with 9 deaths so far. Of these, just over 30 have recovered fully. In an encouraging development, all 11 Italian nationals who were getting treated in Medanta hospital were discharged and sent to the Italian embassy.

The Northeast reported its first case of the novel coronavirus today - a 23-year-old from Manipur tested positive.

Across India, 32 states/ UTs have declared a complete lockdown with 606 out of 728 districts involved. Domestic flights will also be grounded from midnight today (24th March) until the 31st of March. State governments are cracking down hard on those violating lockdown orders; according to the Kolkata police, 255 people were arrested yesterday in defiance of the law.

A malaria drug is given the nod

In another significant development, the National Task Force COVID-19, created by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for high-risk cases. High-risk cases involve asymptomatic healthcare workers and family members taking care of a COVID-19 positive family member. The drug is to be taken prophylactically (preventively). Hydroxychloroquine has been in the news after small studies and anecdotal evidence suggested it was responsive to the novel coronavirus. Following this, US President Donald Trump hailed its potential benefits and said that it could be used for treatment despite health officials urging caution and underlining that the evidence for the claim is flimsy at best.

Further, the Indian government had earlier approved testing by private companies to ramp up diagnostic capacity. Today, the first private PCR kit was approved by the government - the manufacturer is Mylab Discovery Solutions. More details are awaited about the role of private testing.

Global developments

It is looking increasingly likely that the Olympics will be postponed. The US Olympic committee joined the chorus of nations - including countries like Canada, Australia, and Switzerland - saying that it will be a challenge to send their athletes to Tokyo in these difficult times. An International Olympic Committee (IOC) member commented that a postponement looks inevitable; an official statement is awaited.

The UK, which had initially played down the threat of COVID-19, announced lockdown measures throughout the country - people are only allowed out of their houses for limited reasons and will be fined for flouting rules. The US also moved to lock down a vast chunk of its citizens as the world hunkers down to combat the contagion.

For more tips, read our article on Coronavirus.

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.
By Associated Press

TEHRAN: Iran is reporting another 127 coronavirus deaths, bringing its death toll to 1,812 amid 23,049 confirmed cases.

Iran is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East, and has faced widespread criticism for not imposing stricter quarantine measures early on.

It is also suffering under severe American sanctions imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

State TV reported the latest figures on Monday.
[March 24, 2020] iQuanti ALPS Named in 2020 Now Tech: SEO Technologies Report

JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iQuanti's enterprise-level SEO platform ALPS has been included in Forrester's recently released Now Tech: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Technologies, Q1 2020 report. The latest Now Tech report provides an overview of the value to expect from premier SEO Technologies vendors in the market in 2020 and offers guidance to enterprises and B2C marketers on how select a vendor based on size, functionality and vertical market focus. iQuanti's ALPS leverages data science to make SEO results predictable and provides data-driven insights into how search can lift a brand's overall acquisition efforts. ALPS is a suite of tools built to layer intelligence on top of the foundational organic search metrics. It gives marketers the power to build enterprise-level SEO roadmaps that deliver predictable and stronger ROI. "We're incredibly proud to be included in this group by Forrester," sad Viswanatha Rachakonda, CEO, iQuanti. "We have a very exciting roadmap ahead and look forward to delivering tremendous value to our clients by making SEO a lot more powerful and predictable. SEO presents a great opportunity for organizations who have traditionally underinvested in this channel. ALPS' growth and recognition is further validation of our enterprise SEO platform's ability to help companies get significant incremental value from their marketing dollars."



Forrester, a leading global research and advisory firm, defines SEO Technologies as "tools used by marketers to automate critical tasks for search engine optimization (SEO), such as project management, keyword research, website auditing, competitive intelligence, and content recommendations." ALPS was included in the report by Forrester based on its market presence and functionality. About iQuanti:

iQuanti ignites powerful & predictable digital marketing performance for global brands with an approach rooted in data science and deep vertical knowledge. iQuanti offers a unique blend of channel management services, strategic consulting expertise and proprietary product offerings to empower brands to exceed their customer acquisition, engagement, and conversion goals. Founded in 2008, iQuanti now has 200+ employees across New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Bangalore, London, Mexico City and Toronto. iQuanti joined the elite Inc 5000. Hall of Fame in 2019, its fifth time being featured in the list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. ALPS was 'Highly Commended' at the Drum Search Awards in 2018. For more information, visit iQuanti.com. Media contact:

Reshma Muralidhar

iQuanti, Inc.

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iquanti-alps-named-in-2020-now-tech-seo-technologies-report-301028999.html SOURCE iQuanti

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The first four confirmed cases of coronavirus among coalition troops in Afghanistan were reported Tuesday as the commander of U.S. and coalition forces issued an urgent plea to the Afghan people to stop fighting each other and turn to combating the spread of the disease.

"All sides need to reduce violence so we can stay focused on preventing the spread of this virus," Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller said in Twitter posts and in a teleconference with Afghan security officials.

Containment of coronavirus by a rudimentary and underfunded Afghan health care system already lacking in the basics "would be difficult even under normal circumstances but almost impossible if we have violence," he said.

Related: The Latest on the Military's COVID-19 Response

Miller's command, NATO Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, announced Tuesday that four of the 1,500 U.S. and coalition troops recently arrived in Afghanistan had tested positive for coronavirus. The nationalities of the four troops were not immediately released.

They are the first coronavirus cases among the estimated 12,000 U.S. and 16,000 troops from coalition nations in Afghanistan, Resolute Support officials said. Another 38 personnel who have flu-like symptoms have also been placed in isolation and are receiving medical care, according to the announcement.

In a precautionary move, all 1,500 have been held in what Resolute Support described as "screening facilities" for at least 14 days to make sure they do not carry the virus.

The four who tested positive were moved into isolation and "we have taken the necessary precautions to identify and quarantine any personnel these four service members may have been in contact with," the statement said.

The coalition lacks labs in Afghanistan to analyze tests. As a result, tests must be flown to Landstuhl, Germany, for analysis, Resolute Support said last week.

In his teleconference with Afghan National Defense and Security Forces officials, Miller sought to assure them of continuing U.S. "commitment and support" despite the political turmoil in Kabul, the spread of coronavirus, and the drawdown of U.S. and NATO forces.

Miller spoke a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried and failed to broker an agreement between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah, who both claim to have been the winner of presidential elections last September.

On his one-day visit, Pompeo then announced that the U.S. would be withholding $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan this year, and possibly another $1 billion next year, in an effort to press the Kabul government to reach a peace deal with the Taliban.

Pompeo later flew to Doha, Qatar, where he met with Taliban representatives and said they were adhering to calls for a reduction of violence. But Miller gave a different estimate.

"If the Taliban escalate violence -- and they have -- they know they'll get a response," Miller said. "For our part, the Taliban explicitly know and agree that we have the right to defend not only ourselves, but our Afghan security force partners. And so if they attack, there will be a response."

He again stressed the urgency in turning to combat the virus. Afghanistan is among the world's least prepared nations for the fight, according to the World Health Organization.

In 2017, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that the U.S. Agency for International Development had spent $1.5 billion since 2002 on improving Afghanistan's health care system, with little to show for it.

The Afghan government "lacks funds to operate and sustain its health care facilities; hospitals are unable to provide adequate care; health care facilities lack qualified staff; and corruption throughout the system remains a concern," the SIGAR report said.

On Tuesday, Afghanistan's Health Ministry said that 32 new confirmed cases of coronavirus had been detected, bringing the known total to 74 in the country, Afghanistan's Tolo News agency reported.

However, Afghanistan's Minister of Public Health Ferozuddin Feroz said at a news conference that the spread of the disease is widely underreported.

"According to WHO (World Health Organization) predictions, there is the possibility of 16 million people becoming infected with the virus," or about half the country's population, Feroz said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: Women Should Have to Register for the Draft, Congressional Commission Says
Indian Muslims argue with a group of Indian police men after they were removed from the protest site

Police in India's capital broke up the longest-running protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's citizenship law on Tuesday, citing a ban on public gatherings because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dozens of people, many of them women, have been staging a sit-in protest since early December on a street in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, which has become a focal point for opposition to the law seen as discriminating against Muslims.

Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the protesters early on Tuesday and told them to leave, said Delhi's joint police commissioner D. C. Srivastava.

"It is a dangerous environment, with this coronavirus, we urged them to leave," he told reporters.

Some demonstrators resisted the police and at least nine people had been detained, six of them women, Srivastava said, adding there was no violence.

Television showed police taking down tents and billboards at the protest site with bulldozers.

Delhi is under a lockdown until the end of the month to halt the spread of the virus and public gatherings of more than five people have been banned.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, which eases the path for non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries to gain citizenship, triggered weeks of sometimes violent protests against Modis government after it was passed in December.

At least 78 people have been killed in demonstrations triggered by the law across the country, a large number of them in another part of Delhi in clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and it has deepened concern that Modis administration is undermining Indias secular traditions.

Modis ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party denies any bias against India's 180 million Muslims.

Even before the coronavirus epidemic, the protest at Shaheen Bagh had become a thorn in the government's side, and there had been calls by hardline Hindu groups linked to Modi's alliance and residents in the area to clear it out.

India has reported 471 cases of the coronavirus but health experts have warned that a big jump is imminent, which would likely overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure.
The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on statehouses across the United States, derailing policy agendas, forcing legislators to set aside plans for spending on education, road construction and opioid addiction, and draining state coffers with startling speed.

Already, the fiscal damage from the virus is acute, legislative leaders in a dozen states say. Vast numbers of businesses have been forced to close their doors and millions of Americans face unemployment, creating a sudden need to spend on virus-related assistance, the certainty of sharp drops in tax collections and a turning of once optimistic budget projections upside down.

The outbreak has forced at least 22 state legislatures to close or postpone sessions at the busiest time of the year, when lawmakers typically pass legislation and negotiate budgets. But the toll on state policies and spending appears likely to extend far beyond a single legislative season.
[March 24, 2020] Supporting Small Businesses - Intuit QuickBooks Joins GoFundMe as Co-founder of the Small Business Relief Initiative for COVID-19 Support

Today, GoFundMe, the world's largest social fundraising platform, and Intuit (News - Alert) QuickBooks, the world's largest small business network, co-founded an initiative to help small businesses raise money to overcome the challenges caused by COVID-19. The Small Business Relief Initiative is designed to get money in the hands of small businesses struggling to pay employees and business expenses due to COVID-19. As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the globe, shelter-in-place mandates have proliferated, and small businesses have had to close their doors. They are running out of cash to pay their employees and cover business expenses. The Small Business Relief Initiative brings together GoFundMe's social fundraising platform with Intuit QuickBooks' expertise, to provide local businesses with the resources and tools they need. As part of the initiative, GoFundMe has also launched a Small Business Relief Fund. GoFundMe and Intuit QuickBooks will be providing a direct donation to the relief fund. Intuit QuickBooks' EVP and GM, Alex Chriss, said, "Small businesses need relief today to manage their cash flow. By joining forces with GoFundMe, we can connect millions of small businesses and their local communities. We're helping to give the community a platform to quickly put cash in the hands of small businesses who need it the most." The Small Business Relief Initiative runs on GoFundMe's social fundraising platform. With a few clicks, small businesses can create a GoFundMe and start raising money immediately to help them during these uncertain times. QuickBooks is also driving distribution and awareness of the initiative across its small business network and associated brand channels. "With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting all of us, many small businesses are being forced to shut their doors," said Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe CEO. "Our goal with the Small Business Relief Initiative is to help small businesses. By partnering with QuickBooks, we can get these tools directly in the hands of the largest small business network in the world and empower their communities to rally behind them. Local businesses provide jobs and are often the heart and soul of a community." How to help: Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Help site: QuickBooks is providing theirnetwork of seven million small businesses with a tools and resources site that directs users to either start their own fundraiser or support an existing one. By embedding the initiative in QuickBooks, small businesses are connected directly to a method of fundraising should they need it. From there, small businesses can share their story and request help covering employee-related and business expenses. Then everyone - friends, family, neighbors, companies - can all search the Relief Initiative site to find small businesses in need and donate directly to them.



GoFundMe.org Small Business Relief Fund: GoFundMe.org, the nonprofit and charitable arm of GoFundMe, has launched the Small Business Relief Fund where people can donate to support the overall initiative. Until the fund is depleted, donations to the relief fund will be paid out as one-time $500 matching grants to qualifying small businesses that created a fundraiser through the Small Business Relief Initiative or already had an existing GoFundMe. For fundraisers started prior to this announcement or outside of this partnership, the organizer can update their fundraiser description with the hashtag #SmallBusinessRelief to receive an email explaining how they can apply for a grant from the Small Business Relief Fund. GoFundMe Centralized Fundraiser Hub for Small Businesses: For people looking to support and donate to a local business, GoFundMe has created a new small business centralized hub that identifies verified fundraisers that people can search by business name or location. Fundraisers started through the Small Business Relief Initiative and those created prior to this announcement will be included in the hub.

The Small Business Relief Initiative will continue to expand with additional partners, product features, and corporate donors in the coming weeks. About GoFundMe Started in 2010, GoFundMe is the world's largest free social fundraising platform. The GoFundMe community has raised over $9 billion from more than 120 million donations for people, causes, and organizations. GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. About Intuit Intuit's mission is to Power Prosperity Around the World. We are a global financial platform company with products including TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Turbo, designed to empower consumers, self-employed and small businesses to improve their financial lives. Our platform and products help customers get more money with the least amount of work, while giving them complete confidence in their actions and decisions. Our innovative ecosystem of financial management solutions serves approximately 50 million customers worldwide. Please visit us for the latest news and in-depth information about Intuit and its brands and find us on social. About GoFundMe.org GoFundMe.org is the advocacy and charitable arm of GoFundMe and is an independent, 501(c)(3) public charity registered in the United States (EIN 81-2279757). GoFundMe.org provides the opportunity for the community to take action on the broad causes and needs that are ever-present on GoFundMe.com. All donations to a GoFundMe.org-supported fundraiser are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005677/en/

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The number of COVID-19 positive cases in Kashmir went up to four on Tuesday after three suspects returned positive results, officials said.

This has taken the total number of positive cases in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to seven -- four in the Kashmir Valley, three in Srinagar City.

Two men -- one with travel history to Saudi Arabia and another the Andamans -- tested positive for coronavirus disease in Srinagar, while another from Baramulla district also tested positive, the officials said.

"Two more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Full details regarding the second being ascertained," government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.

One of them, a 57-year-old man, had recent travel history to Saudi Arabia. He had returned to Kashmir on March 16, the same day a woman from Khanyar became the first Coronavirus positive patient in Kashmir.

The other person -- a 65-year-old man -- had travelled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and returned to Kashmir via Delhi, they said.

With this, the number of Coronavirus positive cases in Srinagar City has gone up to three.

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation immediately rushed teams to the residences of the patients and sanitised their houses and the neighbourhood within 300-metre radius.

SKIMS Director A G Ahangar said a sample which had come from government medical college Baramulla for testing tested positive on Tuesday.

He said there were now four positive coronavirus cases in the Kashmir Valley.

To prevent further spread of the virus, the administration in Jammu and Kashmir has enforced a lockdown across the union territory till March 31.

Curfew-like restrictions have been put in place in Kashmir to ensure that the unnecessary movement of the people is curbed.

More than 4,000 people are under self-isolation or in various quarantine facilities in Jammu and Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mayor Bill de Blasio says he will release 300 criminals from Rikers Island to stop them from contracting coronavirus.

The criminals will be those who have committed misdemeanors or non-violent felonies and who have less than a year on their sentence.

De Blasio made the announcement on Tuesday as he gave an update on the coronavirus outbreak in New York City.

In the city, 131 people have died and there are nearly 15,000 cases of it.

De Blasio's decision to release the criminals is likely to draw criticism from his political enemies and the NYPD, many of whom say he is too lenient on criminals.

Three hundred inmates from Rikers Island will be released to stop them from contracting coronavirus

He said he had looked at various cases decided not to allow certain criminals with records of sexual assault of physical violence out of of jail, but that the others will be freed immediately.

'The reality is of the over 5,000 people in the corrections system, different inmates are in different statuses.

'The group that I have direct ability to act on are those who are serving a city sentence - they've gone to trial been found guilty and the sentence is under one year that they would serve on Rikers.

'Convicted of offenses such as misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. When we looked at that category - there's over 500 in that category.

'There's a substantial group because of very specific legal issues, I'm not able to immediately release.

'There are some who have domestic violence charges or sexual violence charges who I have determined we are not prepared to release at this point.

'The remainder have less than a year left on their sentence, some have many months, some have only a few months, some have only weeks - I'm going to treat this across the board - approximately 300 inmates will be released,' he said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio , pictured at a warehouse with one of the new ventilators the government has sent to help the state of NY battle coronavirus, said he had weighed up the humanitarian need to get as many inmates out as possible with the public safety concerns that come with freeing them

De Blasio said he was trying to strike a 'humanitarian balance between trying to get everyone we need that we can physically out of her jail system out and be mindful that there are real public safety concerns here.'

'We're pained by both sides of the equation. That is a situation where I know broadly what I'd like to see happen... I also know there's a lot of extenuating circumstances,' he said.

Other cities and states are taking similar steps.

New Jersey's Gov. Phil Murphy said he too was going to release 'low risk' inmates by Thursday.

Murphy tweeted on Monday that 'certain low-level offenders will be released from county jails to prevent the spread of #COVID19 within our corrections system'.

Sharing the decision from attorney general Gurbir Singh Grewal, Murphy said: 'This is a prudent measure, and all efforts have been made to ensure public safety.' n Los Angeles county, at least 1,700 inmates have already been released.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said none of the released inmates were considered a threat to the public. He added that about 30 per cent of the 15,000 inmates in the county were considered homeless.

At least one inmate and five corrections employees have tested positive for coronavirus across California's jails.

Late Sunday night Stuart Rabner, chief justice of the state's supreme court, signed to suspend or commute sentences being served by inmates as a condition of probation or a municipal court conviction.

In his filing Rabner wrote about the 'profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising from the spread of COVID-19'.
SALT LAKE CITY, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EKA Solutions, Inc., provider of a cloud-based integrated freight management ecosystem platform, announced today its special Omni-TMS platform offer to Brokers who wish to operate their business partly or entirely remotely.

EKA provides a transformational digital freight management, dFEMX, ecosystem platform to manage all the customer's freight businesses including freight exchange and third-party services. EKA serves as the system of record across multiple applications and seamlessly ties into other freight solutions (TMS, driver apps, etc.) and third-party services.

"Together, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The global coronavirus pandemic is affecting all our families, our businesses, our communities, and our way of life. During this time, EKA wants to help the transportation and logistics industry continue to run its business without interruption," said JJ Singh, Founder, Investor and CEO of EKA Solutions, Inc. "EKA's cloud-based, end-to-end Omni-TMS platform is currently enabling customers to operate at a high performance level entirely remotely (https://eka-beacon.com/2020/03/23/smart-covid-19-business-continuity-response-tech-up-not-shut-down/). EKA is integrated with the core industry data services; all you require to run your entire broker business is either a PC, laptop or tablet and a high-speed internet connection."

"In support of our industry, we will on-board customers with EKA's standard Broker TMS configuration for Brokers of all different sizes without charging onboarding fees or committing to a Term Contract," said Mark Walker, Investor, President and Chief Digital Officer for EKA solutions, Inc. "We can on-board new customers in as little a time as a few days and at affordable monthly fees."

About EKA

EKA Solutions, Inc., provides a transformational cloud-based SaaS digital freight management, dFEMX, ecosystem platform to manage all the customer's freight businesses including freight exchange and third-party services. As part of dFEMX Offering, EKA provides the Smart, Unified Platform EKA Omni-TMS for - Virtually  Everyone. EKA Omni-TMS  is designed to transform the transportation and logistics industry. It empowers small, medium and large size broker, carrier and shipper businesses to operate from quote-to-cash with affordable and best-in-class digital tools, enabling the higher performance demanded in tomorrow's supply chain. With real-time information, EKA Omni-TMS enables brokers, carriers and shippers to provide visibility and transparency as they fluidly trade across an expanding and verified network with key, trusted partners. For more information about EKA, visit: https://www.go-eka.com.

For all other inquiries:

Arune Singh

[email protected]

SOURCE EKA Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

www.go-eka.com


Call it U.S. swine flu?

Sen. John Cornyn, in a recent interview, said China is to blame for the coronavirus because People eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that. These viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people, and thats why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses.

He further stated that other viruses such as swine flu, SARS and MERS came from China.

A reporter asked the senator if he was discriminating against Asian Americans, and Cornyn said, Were not talking about Asians. Were talking about China, where these viruses emanate from and created this pandemic.

Cornyn, its time to go back to geography class to further your education. The 2009 swine flu outbreak did not originate in China  it began here in the U.S.

Richard E. Gohn

Nope, still selfish

We all remember Hurricane Harvey. Gas was hoarded and selfish folks were filling up huge containers in addition to their vehicles.

Now, we have the coronavirus pandemic and people are doing the same thing.

Once again, we are proving how selfish we are. I thought maybe this pandemic would bring us together for the common good. I missed that one by a mile.

Steven Ochoa

On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus live updates: A timeline of COVID-19 in San Antonio

Vote on aquifer

When our city leaders tell us cutting the aquifer sales tax to fund bus service is a done deal and there are no other options, residents have a right to ask, Why should we trust you? and demand a public vote to continue the successful, effective, forward-looking and commonsense aquifer protection program.

The aquifer program should not be thrown under the bus.

Ellen Patterson
Rome, March 25 : The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 6,820 lives in locked down Italy as of Tuesday with the cumulative total number reaching 69,176, according to new data released by the Civil Protection Department.

Speaking at a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli said Italy reported 5,249 new cases of coronavirus and 743 new deaths on Tuesday and that 54,030 people are currently positive for the coronavirus, one month after the pandemic broke out in northern Italy on February 21, Xinhua reported.

As well, a total of 8,326 patients have recovered, said Borrelli who is also the national commissioner in charge of the coronavirus emergency.

The numbers are up from an official tally on Monday evening of 50,418 active infections, 6,077 deaths, and 7,432 recoveries.

Borrelli also confirmed that former Civil Protection Department chief Guido Bertolaso has tested positive for the virus.

Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council, denied media rumours that the nationwide lockdown, which under the current government decree expires on April 3, might be extended to the end of July. "Absolutely not," Locatelli said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Lo que se ha hecho como Gobierno es para evitar llegar a una situacion como en la que estan Espana o Italia, sostuvo la ministra @FabiolaMunozD, al tiempo de senalar que no les temblara la mano si se tienen que endurecer las medidas. #covid-19 #YoMeQuedoEncasa ?? pic.twitter.com/ysZAskpVEo
Rapid testing kits that will detect the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus have now arrived in Spain, after the Spanish government spent days promising that they were on their way. A total of 640,000 testing kits, which will be distributed fairly between Spanish regions, have been acquired from China and South Korea.

The tests will first be sent to health workers in Spain, who are risking contagion on a daily basis as they work to treat patients with the Covid-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. They will then be destined for seniors who are living in residences and care homes.

A health worker at the Intensive Care Unit at La Paz Hospital in Madrid. Pablo Blazquez (Getty Images)

The tests will help the government to get a better picture of the effect of the ongoing pandemic in Spain, where the latest figures put the number of deaths at 1,813 and infections at nearly 30,000.

Some Spanish regions, such as Andalusia, Galicia and La Rioja, have not waited for the tests to arrive, and have begun to accelerate their diagnoses of patients with mild symptoms, who are being tested without having to get out of their cars. These patients are later analyzed with PCR tests, which have been used up to now by hospitals. The central government has ordered six million more of these to open out the tests to more areas of the population.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has insisted that countries carry out as much testing as possible, in order to stop the spread of the pandemic. But the lack of resources to do so in Spain has meant that the criteria for testing had to become more and more restrictive. In Madrid, 85% of people tested are coming back positive  thats to say, only people who are very likely to be infected and are already showing serious symptoms, and in general are already hospitalized. For weeks now, mild cases have not been tested, meaning it is impossible to know the real rate of infection among the population.

The new antigenic tests will give back results in just a few minutes

According to Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, there are more than 3,400 confirmed infections among Spanish health workers, 12% of the total. This is why tests will be sent first to these staff, who are a key group in the fight against the coronavirus. Then, Simon explained on Sunday, they will be rolled out to high-risk groups. For example, in senior homes, to ensure that there are no new residents with infections and to be able to separate those who are sick in time. From then, the process, which will last two, three or four days, will continue until it reaches the entire population.

Despite a claim on Saturday from the Spanish health authorities that 350,000 tests had been carried out in total, at a rate of 15,000 a day  the same rate that the countries testing the most  the lack of diagnoses in Spain is manifestly clear. Epidemiologists have no snapshot of the real infection rate in the country, and it is difficult to take drastic measures to isolate mild cases, given that people with symptoms are being advised to take measures as if they had tested positive, but do not have the certainty that they are infected.

The new fast tests will solve this problem, among others. Until now, the PCR tests being used took several hours of processing in a laboratory. The new antigenic tests will give back results in just a few minutes. They work, essentially, like a pregnancy test. The diagnosis can be positive, negative, or doubtful. Like pregnancy tests, colored bands appear depending on the quantity of antigens detected. If the result is unclear, the test can be repeated 24 hours later or a PCR test can be carried out for confirmation.

English version by Simon Hunter.
The SNP has today been plunged into civil war as Alex Salmond's supporters accuse Nicola Sturgeon and her husband of persecution after he was acquitted of a string of sexual offences, including attempted rape.

Mr Salmond yesterday vowed evidence of a plot to discredit him will 'see the light of day' after he was cleared of 13 charges by a jury following an 11-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

But today it was reported the former first minister of Scotland, 65, is now facing fresh allegations over his time in London as an MP.

The Times say it has learnt of at least four woman who made complaints to detectives in Scotland about Mr Salmond's alleged behaviour in London.

It claims the information had been passed on to the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Salmond's trial has caused infighting within the SNP as a series of prominent SNP politicians and activists demanded further action, as well as resignations from senior officials following his acquittal.

Nicola Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, is also facing questions about the partys role in the internal probe.

The former first minister of Scotland, 65, vowed evidence of a plot to discredit him will 'see the light of day' after he was cleared of 13 charges by a jury following an 11-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh (pictured outside court yesterday)

trial has caused infighting within the SNP as a series of prominent SNP politicians and activists demanded further action, as well as resignations from senior officials following Mr Salmond's acquittal. The First Ministers husband, Peter Murrell (pictured with Nicola Sturgeon), is also facing questions about the partys role in the internal probe

The trial reignited a civil war within the party, which has seen deep splits between those who support Mr Salmond and those who back Miss Sturgeon.

The Scottish Conservatives said this remains a national political scandal with profound questions of integrity for the First Minister and her SNP government.

A Holyrood inquiry into the way complaints were handled about Mr Salmond is likely to be delayed until much later in the year, due to the current focus on the coronavirus crisis.

Just minutes after the verdict was delivered, SNP MP for East Lothian Kenny MacAskill said: Delighted for Alex Salmond. Some resignations now required.

Joanna Cherry, SNP MP for Edinburgh South West, said that serious questions now arise about the background to these cases, especially given the considerable sums of public money which have been expended.

In a statement, she said: Some of the evidence that has come to light both in the judicial review and at this trial raise very serious questions over the process that was employed within the Scottish Government to investigate the alleged complaints against Mr Salmond and I am sorry to say some of the evidence also raises serious question marks over how these complaints were handled by the SNP.

She added: There should also be an independent inquiry into how the SNP dealt with these allegations and an inquiry into our internal complaints procedure with which many members have expressed significant dissatisfaction.

Im sure the complaints manager and chief executive (Peter Murrell) would welcome the opportunity of an independent review to assist them in developing a proper system for the management of complaints and the support of party volunteers, staff and elected members.

At least four woman are alleged to have made complaints to detectives in Scotland about Mr Salmond's behaviour in London (he is pictured bumping elbow with Gordon Jackson QC in Edinburgh yesterday after he was cleared of sexual offences)

Nicola Sturgeon is followed by her husband Paul Murrell after casting her ballot paper and voting in the December 2019 general election

It is understood that Mr Salmonds allies believe Miss Sturgeon and Mr Murrell must answer questions about how the party dealt with allegations from a woman who claimed he had attempted to rape her.

The woman told the jury she had contacted SNP compliance officer Ian McCann in 2017. In a text message responding to the woman, the compliance officer said: I appreciate how difficult that must have been. I will sit on that and hopefully never have to deploy it.

One source said: There is a lot of chatter in the SNP groups about how abhorrent it is that someone says they have got information, potentially false allegations, which the party is going to sit on and use for political damage is they need it.

We know his supervisor is the chief executive - what did he know? The question people will be asking is what sort of ship is Peter Murrell running if he knew of allegations and was happy to sit on them, or if he didnt know this from a senior official then why not?

Another party source said: There was a lot of pressure put on people before this case, people in the party were being called and targeted by others asking if they had any information on Alex, or if they would come forward. It was people who were in the party, or used to be, or who had worked with Alex in the past.

Alex was facing the rest of his life, or a large part of it, in prison if he had been found guilty - he is not going to take this sitting down.

He was right, this isnt the right time for it, people are getting very ill and we need to be putting all our efforts on stopping the virus. But the First Minister has serious questions to answer.

SNP MP for the Western Isles Angus MacNeil suggested Mr Salmond should return to frontline politics. He said: Glad that Alex Salmond found not guilty. A man with much more to contribute to Scotlands cause.

Chris McEleny, SNP group leader on Inverclyde Council, said: From an internal party position, the business convener of the SNP, Kirsten Oswald MP, must now take immediate action in suspending staff members that the trial heard held information about false sexual assault allegations - rejected by the jury - that were to be used if needed for political damage.

Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said there are very serious questions facing the SNP, the Scottish Government and Miss Sturgeon. He added: This remains a national political scandal with profound questions of integrity for the First Minister and her SNP government.

However, that opportunity must be deferred for the time being while all our efforts and resources concentrate on Covid-19.

It comes as Mr Salmond is reportedly facing fresh allegations over his time spent in London.

He would have visited London during his time as MP for Banff and Buchan from 1987 until 2010. He stood down for three years to lead the Scottish government before returning as MP for Gordon between 2015 and 2017.

Mr Salmond's legal team said it was unaware of the allegations. The Metropolitan Police are yet to comment.

Yesterday, the former first minister of Scotland thanked his supporters as he left court and said the ordeal of his arrest and trial was nothing compared to the 'nightmare every single one of us in this country is living through' due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A charge that had originally been on the indictment was dropped earlier in the proceedings.

Mr Salmond had denied all the charges and giving evidence claimed some were 'deliberate fabrications for a political purpose'.

The jury, which took less than six hours to reach its decision, returned not guilty verdicts on 12 charges and returned a not proven verdict on a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape.

Speaking outside court, Mr Salmond said: 'Just over a year ago when we finished civil action, judicial review, I said I had great faith in the courts system of Scotland - that faith has been much reinforced today.'

He added: 'There is certain evidence that I would have liked to have seen led in this trial but for a variety of reasons we were not able to do so.

'Those facts will see the light but it won't be this day.'

Alex Salmond arrives at the High Court in Edinburgh where he was yesterday acquitted of a string of sexual offences, including attempted rape

The arrest of former Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond (pictured outsider court today), saw him face 13 charges including one of attempted rape, one of intent to rape, nine charges of sexual assault and two of indecent assault

During a procedural hearing of the case, reporting of which was banned until the end of the trial, Mr Salmond's defence team claimed the Scottish Government and those working there turned to the criminal process to try to 'discredit' him after he won a civil case into how the administration handled sexual harassment complaints against him.

Judge Lady Dorrian rejected an application for this evidence to be led at the trial, saying the judicial review was 'wholly irrelevant'.

Mr Salmond thanked those who have sent him messages, his 'brilliant' legal team and the court service, who he said have been 'courteous beyond limit'.

The 65-year-old was first arrested and charged by Police Scotland in relation to the allegations in January 2019.

Before finishing his statement, he told those gathered outside the court to go home to stay safe from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: 'Whatever nightmare I have been in over these last two years, it's as of nothing compared to the nightmare that every single one of us in this country is living through. People are dying - many more are going to die.'

Reacting to the verdict, Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP and the Scottish Government face 'serious questions' over the 'national political scandal' that led to the Salmond trial.

Mr Salmond was seen at an earlier hearing with his wife Moira Salmond who was by his side

Mr Carlaw said: 'As we all know, Scotland is dealing with a much more severe challenge today than this high-profile court case.

'That said, there are now some very serious questions facing the SNP, the Scottish Government and Nicola Sturgeon.

'The court case may be over but for them this is just the beginning.'

He added: 'Clearly, there is still a lack of information which needs to be fully interrogated and the Scottish Parliament inquiry will provide that opportunity.

'This remains a national political scandal with profound questions of integrity for the First Minister and her SNP government.

'However, that opportunity must be deferred for the time being while all our efforts and resources concentrate on Covid-19.'

Scottish Labour's equalities spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said the trial had been an 'extremely traumatic time for all involved'.

She said: 'The verdict of this trial does not take away from the serious concerns about the Scottish Government's handling of this.

'We would expect questions about this to be fully explored during parliamentary scrutiny of this.'

Ms Sturgeon said: 'The court has reached a verdict and that must be respected. I am a strong believer in a vigorous, robust, independent judicial process where complaints of this nature, if they come forward, are properly and thoroughly investigated, due process takes its course and a court reaches a decision, and that's what has happened today.

'I have no doubt that there will be further discussion around this issue in due course, in the fullness of time - and I will welcome that. But that time is not now.

'This country faces a crisis right now bigger than anything we have faced before and as First Minister my duty to the public is to do everything I can to focus 100% on steering us through that crisis, and that is what I intend to do.'
JALANDHAR: Six people, including three of a family from Phillaur, who had come in contact with Punjabs first coronavirus death victim, Baldev Singh, 70, tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. With this, the total count of positive cases in the state touched 29.

Jalandhar nodal officer Dr TPS Sandhu said that the samples of a 50-year-old man, his 45-year-old wife and their 25-year-old son, all related to Baldev Singh, had tested positive.

Baldev Singh of Pathlawa village in Banga sub division of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar had returned from Germany via Italy on March 7. He died after a cardiac arrest at Banga civil hospital on March 18. His post-mortem was done the same day and so was the cremation. But his report of being Covid-19 positive was received on March 19.

Phillaur senior medical officer Dr Harjinder Singh said the three members of the family belonged to Virk village in the sub division and were from Baldevs extended family.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Prasad Bhatia said that three more family members of Baldev Singh, including two from Pathlawa and one from Sujjon village, tested positive on Tuesday.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF CASES IN SBS NAGAR

With the six new cases, the total count of positive patients has touched 29.

These include 18 cases in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, including the one death, five in Mohali, three in Jalandhar, two in Hoshiarpur and one in Amritsar, health officials said.

HOW ONE PATIENT INFECTED 21 PEOPLE

So far, a total of 21 people, including 14 immediate family members, including three relatives in the extended family, two persons who returned from Germany along with him, a 68-year-old contact from Hoshiarpur and the sarpanch of Pathlawa village, have tested positive for coronavirus after coming in contact with Baldev Singh.

The Jalandhar district administration has started sealing Virk village of Phillaur sub division and is introducing a containment plan there.
Actor Kartik Aaryan, who recently voiced awareness on the coronavirus spread in his unique styled monologue, on Monday extended his thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hailing his efforts and re-tweeting the post. Actor Kartik Aaryan, who recently voiced awareness on the coronavirus spread in his unique styled monologue, on Monday extended his thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hailing his efforts and re-tweeting the post.

Actor Kartik Aaryan, who recently voiced awareness on the coronavirus spread in his unique styled monologue, on Monday extended his thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hailing his efforts and re-tweeting the post.

The 29-year-old actor took to Instagram to express his thankfulness and has promised to "keep reminding everyone" about the importance of self-isolation during the coronavirus outbreak.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

The Pati, Patni, Aur Woh posted a screenshot of PM Modi's tweet

Check out his post here

Thank you @narendramodi Sir 

Will keep reminding everyone

GARMIYON KI CHHUTTIYAN NAHIN CHALU HO GAYI HAIN #CoronaStopKaroNa  pic.twitter.com/9XlxwQGYhO  Kartik Aaryan (@TheAaryanKartik) March 23, 2020



The monologue video in which the actor has used his fast style of delivering points was earlier re-tweeted by PM Modi.

Here's his tweet

In the Twitter clip shared on Thursday, the Pyaar ka Punchnama star suggested the public in his own unique manner to act responsibly and refrain from socialising and venturing out unnecessarily.

He had also tagged Prime Minister Modi in his post, expressing solidarity with the government's efforts to overcome the crisis.
World economic output should recover in 2021, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

The coronavirus pandemic will cause a global recession in 2020 that could be worse than the one triggered by the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, but world economic output should recover in 2021, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed extraordinary fiscal actions already taken by many countries to boost health systems and protect affected companies and workers, and steps taken by central banks to ease monetary policy. Even more will be needed, especially on the fiscal front, she said.

Georgieva issued the new outlook after a conference call of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 of the worlds largest economies, who she said agreed on the need for solidarity across the globe.

The human costs of the coronavirus pandemic are already immeasurable, and all countries need to work together to protect people and limit the economic damage, Georgieva said.

More countries are imposing lockdown measures to contain the rapidly spreading virus, which has infected 337,500 people across the world and killed over 14,600.

Georgieva said the outlook for global growth was negative, and the IMF now expected a recession at least as bad as during the global financial crisis or worse.

Earlier this month, Georgieva had warned that 2020 world growth would be below the 2.9 percent rate seen in 2019 but stopped short of predicting a recession. Trade wars pushed global growth last year to the lowest rate since a 0.7 percent contraction in 2009.

On Monday, Georgieva said a recovery was expected in 2021, but to reach it countries would need to prioritize containment and strengthen health systems.

The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be, she said.

Georgieva said the IMF would massively step up emergency finance, noting that 80 countries have already requested help and that the IMF stood ready to deploy all of its one trillion dollars in lending capacity.

Advanced economies were generally in better shape to deal with the crisis, but many emerging markets and low-income countries face significant challenges, including outward capital flows.

Investors have already removed $83bn from emerging markets since the start of the crisis, the largest capital outflow ever recorded, Georgieva said.

The IMF is particularly concerned about low-income countries in debt distress and was working closely with them to address those concerns, she added.

The IMF called again on members to contribute funds to replenish its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help the poorest countries.

Georgieva said the IMF was exploring other options with its members. Several low and middle-income countries have asked for an allocation for the Special Drawing Right, an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries official reserves, as was done during the global financial crisis, she said.

IMF members also needed to provide additional swap lines with emerging market countries to address a global liquidity crunch, she said.

The IMF was also exploring a proposal that would help facilitate a broader network of swap lines, including through an IMF-swap-type facility.

This will require a double-digit of GDP support in the developed world and creating the conditions through the IMF, through the swaps among central banks, through the creation of new facilities, he said.

So far, more than 351,00 people have been infected, and more than 15,330 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

The spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus has drawn comparisons with devastating periods such as World War II, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 1918 Spanish flu.

We need a much stronger coordination, said Guterres, adding that he had written to the worlds 20 largest economies (G20) and would join their virtual meeting later this week.

Coordination in making sure that not only the developed countries can respond effectively to the disease, but that there is massive support to the developing world not to let the disease spread like wildfire, he said.

Guterres said he would launch a two-billion-dollar humanitarian appeal on Wednesday.

He also called for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus.
Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill, each dressed in gray, had a snack while chasing Confederates under Sterling Price

In early October 1864, two budding Wild West luminaries happened to meet in the middle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Prices invasion of Missouri, what became known as Prices Lost Campaign. William F. Buffalo Bill Cody was a trooper with the 7th Kansas Cavalry that fall; James Butler Wild Bill Hickok was a scout working for either Union Brig. Gen. John McNeil or Brig. Gen. John Sandborn (depending on the account you read). Cody related the incident in his autobiography The Life and Adventures of Buffalo Bill:

After skirmishing around the country with the rest of the army for some little time, our regiment returned to Memphis, but was immediately ordered to Cape Girardeau, in Missouri, as a confederate force under General Price was then raiding that state. The command of which my regiment was a part hurried to the front to intercept Price, and our first fight with him occurred at Pilot Knob. From that time for nearly six weeks we fought or skirmished every day.

I was still acting as a scout, when one day I rode ahead of the command, some considerable distance, to pick up all possible information concerning Prices movements. I was dressed in gray clothes, or Missouri jeans, and on riding up to a farm-house and entering, I saw a man, also dressed in gray costume, sitting at a table eating bread and milk. He looked up as I entered, and startled me by saying:

You little rascal, what are you doing in those secesh clothes? Judge of my surprise when I recognized in the stranger my old friend and partner, Wild Bill, disguised as a Confederate officer.

I ask you the same question, sir, said I without the least hesitation.

Hush! sit down and have some bread and milk, and well talk it all over afterwards, said he.

I accepted the invitation and partook of the refreshments. Wild Bill paid the woman of the house, and we went out to the gate where my horse was standing.

Billy, my boy, said he, I am mighty glad to see you. I havent seen or heard of you since we got busted on that St. Louis horse-race.

What are you doing out here? I asked.

I am a scout under General McNeil. For the last few days I have been with General Marmadukes division of Prices army, in disguise as a southern officer from Texas, as you see me now.

Thats exactly the kind of business that I am out on today, said I; and I want to get some information concerning Prices movements.

Ill give you all that I have, and he then went on and told me allhe knew regarding Prices intentions, and the number and condition of his men. He then asked about my mother, and when he learned that she was dead he was greatly surprised and grieved; he thought a great deal of her, for she had treated him almost as one of her own children. He finally took out a package, which he had concealed about his person, and handing it to me said:

Here are some letters which I want you to give to General McNeil.

All right, said I as I took them, but where will I meet you again?

Never mind that, he replied, I am getting so much valuable information that I propose to stay a little while longer in this disguise. Thereupon we shook hands and parted.

The sort of stuff that gets worked into a movie, dont you think?

Historian Mark Lause argues in Prices Lost Campaign that this exchange likely took place on October 4 or 5, 1864, east of the Gasconade River. Regardless of the exact time and place (or even if it happened at all), its a telling example of the legend and lore that forever binds the Civil War and postwar expansion of the West.

This post, adapted for print, originally appeared on Craig Swains blog To the Sound of the Guns. It appeared in the May 2020 issue of Americas Civil War.
Disney+ is a streaming platform that was available in three countries since its rollout in November, but now it is expanding to seven more markets. Starting today, the streaming service will be available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria.



Disney+ for mobile

The subscription for Disney+ costs 5.99/5.99 per month or 59.99/59.99 per year. Its library is full of hit titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, all the Star Wars franchise, and National Geographic. There is also The Mandalorian, which is exclusive on Disney+, its popularity boosted by the numerous Baby Yoda memes. Sadly, it will air just like in the United States - two episodes available now, the rest coming on a weekly basis.

Disney+ was also supposed to arrive in France, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, Disney decided to postpone the launch. The other countries will get reduced streaming quality for the next month to help ease the strain on the EU servers. There will also be slight differences in the libraries between the United States, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe.

Via
Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Niece Speaks

NEWS PROVIDED BYMarch 24, 2020SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2020 / Standard Newswire / -- The whole world got to see Bishop Fulton Sheen on their televisions and hear him on their radios, but what was he like when he wasn't in the public eye? His closest living relative and niece, Joan Sheen Cunningham, writes in her book, MY UNCLE FULTON SHEEN, a compelling story of how he became her second father and reveals both amusing and serious attributes about Sheen that only more deeply show his path to sainthood is well-deserved.Sheen was to be beautified in Peoria, Illinois, on Dec. 21, 2019, but the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops postponed it on Dec. 2, per the request of Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester, due to concerns that Sheen could be cited in the New York attorney general's ongoing investigation into whether any of the state's eight Roman Catholic dioceses had covered up acts or allegations of clerical sexual abuse.The Bishops Conference issued the following statement when the postponement was announced: "In our current climate, it is important for the faithful to know that there has never been, nor is there now, any allegation against Sheen involving the abuse of a minor. ... At no time has his life of virtue ever been called into question."Cunningham is the daughter of one of Fulton Sheen's brothers and began her incredible journey with her uncle when he suggested she leave Illinois and enroll in a private school in New York City, where he was living. She did and thus started her weekly outings with her uncle, which included not only Mass and confession but also dinners with Hollywood stars and influential politicians.In MY UNCLE FULTON SHEEN, Cunningham relays the fact that Sheen treated everyone the same, no matter their station in life or how wealthy or poor they were, that he gave away so many of the material possessions bestowed upon him, and that he suffered quietly in pursuit of holiness and obedience. She also reveals how he helped her in her courtship with her husband and found places for her family to live  she returned the favor when he moved back to New York City near the end of his life."This book should be essential reading for anyone interested in the life and heroic Christian witness of Fulton Sheen," said Most Reverend Daniel Jenky, Bishop of Peoria, Illinois. "Reading Joan's fascinating account of her beloved uncle's story gives a richly human context to the inspiring life of this good, gifted and holy man."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Joan Sheen Cunningham or her co-author, Janel Rodriguez, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.SOURCE Carmel CommunicationsCONTACT: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com
BarcelonaThe Catalan authorities will not order a unilateral full lockdown in Catalonia in order to thwart the spread of SARS-CoV-2 unless they receive Madrids legal assurance first. Meritxell Budo, the Catalan governments spokesperson, explained that they would require authorisation from the Spanish government. The Minister of the Interior, Miquel Buch, added that they would be jeopardising the livelihood of employees and companies otherwise. Catalonia is not the only Spanish region to insist on tougher measures against the virus and Budo cited Madrid city, Andalusia and Murcia as other examples. She remarked that she was hoping the Spanish authorities wouldnt wait as long as Italys before implementing more stringent measures and she went on to say that Italy has only done so after one month of partial lockdown. The Catalan governments spokesperson said she was hopeful that the Spanish prime minister would sanction a total lockdown sooner or later.

Budo also insisted on the need to ensure that the entire population of Catalonia stays at home and no means of transport are allowed to operate at all. Key services and transport of basic consumer goods to production and distribution facilities would be exempt from the ban. For weeks now the Spanish government has come under fire over its reluctance to adopt radical measures against the ongoing public health crisis. Budo stated that if there is one thing this government wont hesitate about is choosing lives over the economy, if push comes to shove and she announced that the Catalan government has asked Madrid to provide a tax holiday and a more substantial loans fund for struggling businesses, and she emphasised that these measures aim to uphold workers rights.

Health Minister Alba Verges argued that in order to ease the strain on our health service, people must be able to stay at home without having to worry about wages and paying their bills and she admitted she was particularly concerned about patients in intensive care units (ICUs). She explained that we have patients aged 20-50 in ICUs but didnt offer details about how the disease is affecting older age groups. She claimed that this is why the best option to avoid the breakdown of the health care system is to tighten the confinement measures.

740k respondents have taken the test

While she didnt say how many places were available in ICUs, Verges did state that their capacity had doubled after bringing in private facilities and adapting other hospital services so they may admit serious cases of COVID-19. She also said that she had been in touch with her Spanish counterpart, Salvador Illa, and they had discussed the shipment of fast testing kits for COVID-19 from Madrid, among other issues. The Catalan minister stated that she didnt expect the kits to arrive in Catalonia before Thursday and she remarked that the Catalan ministry will determine where they are to be used, once they become available. They will be used mainly by carers working in homes for the elderly and health care professionals.

On the subject of StopCovid19Cat, the mobile app developed by the Catalan government that should allow the authorities to monitor individuals presenting with symptoms of COVID-19, Verges announced that up to 740,000 users have completed the quiz so far. Major symptoms were reported in 4,200 cases, which are being supervised by the 061 [hotline service] while a further 107,000 exhibit mild symptoms and are being monitored by their local health centre. The remaining 628,800 respondents did not report any symptoms whatsoever.

Budo mentioned that last Sunday public transport services saw a drop of 85-95 per cent in the number of travellers. For instance, trams were only used by 2,100 people, whereas on a normal Sunday that figure would rise to over 33,000 Likewise, traffic in and out of the Barcelona metropolitan dropped by 60 per cent.

Despite the decrease in traffic in the streets and on roads, Interior Minister Miquel Buch explained that the desired drop in mobility has not been achieved yet. A total of 8,700 people and 4,500 vehicles were caught ignoring the rules set by Spains state of emergency decree. Buch added that the Spanish government has put Catalonia in a straight jacket and he was emphatic that there is no need to stockpile food or other basic supplies because, despite the recommended lockdown on all the population, the supply chain is guaranteed.
Adam Rodriguez is a father once again.

The Criminal Minds star and his wife Grace Gail just welcomed their third child.

She gave birth to their first son Bridgemont Bernard Rodriguez on Monday, weighing in at seven pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 21 inches.

Proud parents: Adam Rodriguez and his wife Grace Gail welcomed their third child on Monday

Rodriguez, 44, told People: 'Bridge and Grace are feeling great and his big sisters are in love  and so am I, of course!'

Gail showed off her baby bump back in January as she accompanied her husband to Showtime's Golden Globes celebration.

She and Rodriguez are also parents to daughters Frankie Elle, five, and Georgia Daye, three.

The Roswell actor announced both births on Instagram, but has yet to share a snap of their latest bundle of joy.

Baby boy: She gave birth to their first son Bridgemont Bernard Rodriguez, weighing in at seven pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 21 inches

Growing family: Gail and Rodriguez are also parents to daughters Frankie Elle, five, and Georgia Daye, three

Big announcement: The Roswell actor announced both births on Instagram, but has yet to share a snap of their latest bundle of joy

He and Gail tied the knot in May of 2016 during a Tuscan ceremony, officiated by Magic Mike writer Reid Carolin.

Their new addition comes as Rodriguez promotes his upcoming series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

He recently bid farewell to his Criminal Minds co-stars when the show aired its series finale last month after 15 years.

Rodriguez starred in the procedural crime drama as FBI agent Luke Alvez since season 12 in 2016.

He wrote to his 457k Instagram followers: 'Thank you all for being there to watch us. We Loved being there for you!'
Workers in a Bangladeshi garment factory continue producing clothing for foreign brands despite the threat of coronavirus infections, March 24, 2020.

Malaysia will grant a six-month delay on most loan payments to ease economic suffering caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Central Bank said Tuesday, as officials in neighboring countries took aggressive measures to mitigate the pandemics expected financial impact.

In Indonesia, Southeast Asias biggest economy, President Joko Jokowi Widodo said the government was preparing assistance packages to help cushion the negative effect of COVID-19.

The automatic moratorium is applicable to loans and financing which are not in arrears exceeding 90 days, Malaysias central bank, Bank Negara, said in a letter to bank CEOs and heads of the countrys financial institutions.

The delay in repayment does not apply to credit card balances, the bank said. The new measures, to take effect from April 1, would assist borrowers experiencing financial constraints, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it said.

Banking institutions should provide individuals and SME borrowers with adequate information on how the suspended loan  will be treated during the moratorium period, Bank Negara said.

More than 18,200 people have died and at least 407,000 others have been infected worldwide, according to the latest data compiled by disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

With 106 new cases and one more death reported Tuesday, for a total of 1,624 infections and 15 deaths, Malaysia remained the country with the third-highest caseload in Asia, behind China and South Korea.

Health ministry officials said almost 1,000 of Malaysias total cases were connected to a gathering at a mosque near Kuala Lumpur last month. About 16,000 people from more than two dozen countries joined the four-day event organized by the India-headquartered Tablighi Jamaat missionary movement.

At least eight of Malaysias coronavirus fatalities were linked to the religious gathering, health ministry officials said.

Neighbors impose economic measures

To limit the pandemics swift turn from a health crisis to a financial calamity, Malaysias neighbors, including Indonesia and Thailand, have also implemented a raft of economic measures.

Indonesian President Widodo said his government would provide a 10 trillion rupiah (U.S. $607 million) infusion of cash aid to help those who have lost their jobs or daily income as a result of the outbreak. The aid will be delivered through the so-called Pre-Employment Card, he said.

Every holder of the Pre-Employment Card will be given an incentive of 1 million rupiah ($62) per month for three to four months, Jokowi told reporters.

The president urged provincial governments to start collecting data on those eligible for the assistance, as he also announced subsidies on basic staples for low-income families, and a temporary waiver on income tax for workers in the manufacturing sector.

The government will also help small and medium-sized businesses by relaxing lending restrictions, Jokowi said.

He said interest on monthly installments would be suspended for a year for app-based taxi drivers who bought their vehicles on credit, and lenders would not be allowed to repossess the vehicles if the debtors were behind on their payments.

Indonesia reported 107 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the number of confirmed infections to 686, with 55 deaths.

Thai stimulus package

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, announced a stimulus package of about 117 billion baht ($3.5 billion) to help blunt the nations economic losses from the pandemic.

About 3 million people without social security funds would each receive 15,000 baht ($458) in handouts over three months and be offered a 10,000-baht ($305) in soft loans, while workers with social security funds would be paid half of their salaries for up to six months, he said.

Small firms will also have access to soft financing, which have lenient terms, such as extended grace periods, officials said.

Earlier this month, the Thai government approved a package of measures, including soft loans for small and medium-sized businesses. Authorities said the move was expected to inject at least 373 billion baht into the economy after the pandemic devastated the nations tourism sector.

Bangladeshs garments sector faces extreme uncertainty

The pandemics impact has hit Bangladeshs all-important garment industry especially hard.

As many as 843 factories reported that 697 million pieces of orders, valued at $2.2 billion, had been cancelled, authorities said.

Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the scrapped orders would impact about 1.4 million workers in the sector, which is the countrys top foreign currency earner.

We are going through extreme uncertainty, Huq said in a video message to the associations members.

Bangladesh, the worlds biggest garment exporter after China, has only reported 39 coronavirus infections with four deaths as of Tuesday, but the ready-made garment industry accounts for about 13 percent of the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Huq said she had asked the German government to urge its buyers to continue using Bangladesh as their source for ready-made garments.

She said she made the request in a letter sent to Gerd Muller, Germanys federal minister for economic cooperation, as global buyers kept cancelling or suspending shipments of garments.

Let the production go on, Huq also wrote in a letter to retailers. I urge you all to kindly steer through this crisis together.

But on Tuesday, Bangladeshi labor leaders urged factory owners to allow garment workers to take paid holidays to avoid getting infected with the coronavirus.

Dhaka had earlier announced that it would observe a general holiday starting March 26 until April 4, but labor leaders said they expected factories to remain open.

People around the world are in a panic situation, no doubt about that, Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, coordinator for the labor group Garment Sramik Odhikar Andolan, told BenarNews.

The decision of the BGMEA to keep factories open will ultimately push workers towards death, spreading pandemic, he said.

Hadi Azmi, Nisha David, and Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur, Ronna Nirmala in Jakarta, Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok and Jesmin Papri in Dhaka contributed to this report.
Colin and Wendy Parry, parents of Tim Parry, one of two children to die in the blast

A reace foundation set up in memory of two young boys killed by an IRA bomb in Warrington nearly 30 years ago fears it could close amid uncertainty over funding.

The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation promotes peace and non-violent conflict resolution, but is now battling to keep its doors open.

It was founded by Colin and Wendy Parry in 2000 after the deaths of their 12-year-old son Tim and three-year-old Johnathan Ball on March 20, 1993.

Two bombs had been planted inside litter bins outside shops and businesses by the Provisional IRA on Bridge Street in the English town.

Johnathan died at the scene and Tim passed away five days later. Fifty-four other people were injured in the blasts.

Funding for the peace charity, which supports 1,500 people affected by acts of terrorism, is in place until March 31 and Mr Parry admitted that he cant rule out its closure.

He explained that in mid-2019 the foundations two major Government funders - the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice - indicated they would not continue.

In effect they were localising funding, so monies we previously had from central Government, we would have to seek from local authorities which, as you can imagine with the number of local authorities in England and Wales, left us with a major problem, he said.

Mr and Mrs Parry asked Warrington South MP Andy Carter to raise the issue with Boris Johnson during Prime Ministers Questions earlier this month.

The Prime Minister responded by saying that the Government will do everything we can.

The couple have since written directly to Mr Johnson to ask him to secure the work of the foundation. They have yet to receive a response.

We realise the Government is massively focused on Covid-19, continued Mr Parry. We keep our fingers crossed that there might still be a God up there thats looking after us.

Friday marked the 27th anniversary of the Warrington bombing, but the annual commemoration was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

We went to the cemetery and our children went separately and we laid flowers, said Mr Parry. We saw our family over the weekend - two metres apart - but apart from that it was low key for the reasons we all know.
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Russian airlines on Wednesday will bring back to Moscow hundreds of Russians stranded in India's New Delhi and Goa by the coronavirus outbreak, the air transport authority said.

"An Aeroflot plane is scheduled to leave Sheremetyevo airport for New Delhi late on March 24. It is expected to bring back over 350 people tomorrow. Additionally, Russia will fly a plane to Goa on March 25," Rosaviatsiya said in a statement.

The Russian Embassy in India tweeted that Rossiya's Flight FV5672 will leave Goa at 11:45 a.m. local time (6:15 GMT).

Diplomatic sources told Sputnik that Aeroflot's Flight SU 5071 will take off from New Delhi at 6:30 a.m.

Sources said there were thousands of Russians stranded all across India, including in the northern cities of Vrindavan and Rishikesh.

Rosaviatsiya asked Russian nationals trapped abroad by coronavirus lockdowns to contact Russian diplomatic missions before March 26. It is working on an operation to repatriate citizens from Egypt and Latin America.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On March 23, superstar Rajinikanth finally made his television debut with Discovery Channel's much-loved show, Into The Wild with Bear Grylls. The Darbar actor shot for the show in January this year, in the Bandipur National Park. Since then, fans across the globe were eagerly waiting for his episode to air. So did Rajinikanth live-up to all the hype and expectations? Read on to know the details!

Bear Grylls, who is a renowned survival instructor and also the host of the show Into The Wild, opens the episode by introducing Rajinikanth as the true superstar of India. The two gentlemen then embark on an adventurous journey through the Bandipur National Park, and talk about some important issues like water conservation and wildlife conservation.

But the episode highlights much more than just that. The megastar reveals a lot about his personal life which is quite interesting. He tells Bear Grylls about him working as a bus conductor at the age of 18 and then finally deciding to enter the world of acting by the age of 22. Rajinikanth also reveals that his real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad and how he was discovered by K Balachander, post which his life changed completely.

Talking about water conversation, Rajinikanth points out that whoever manages to save water, will rule the world. Hence, water conservation is the need of the hour in India. Bear Grylls agrees with him and says the water conservation problem is not just prevalent in India but across the world. In between all the serious discussions, Rajinikanth and Grylls also indulge in some friendly banter and that's fun to witness. The latter even says that the former has a good sense of humour.

Since the show is about adventure and surviving, of course, the two men get into action. First, they cross a dangerous bridge quite easily and then they get down and dirty while crossing a muddy riverine. While Bear tries to scare the superstar a few times, Rajinikanth doesn't budge and continues with the adventures. Throughout the journey, Rajinikanth gets several messages from his colleagues including Kamal Haasan and Akshay Kumar which is heartening to see.

Yes, we would have loved to see these two men do more adventurous stuff on the show. But then again, as Bear said in the episode that if anything would have happened to Rajinikanth, he would have become the most infamous person in India. And that's something nobody wants, right?

Overall, Rajinikanth's much-awaited TV debut was not just grand and adventurous, but also entertaining as the actor got emotional while talking about his initial days. He even showcased his fun side while chatting with Bear Grylls. His humility, his passion for his work and his conviction about water conservation came across quite effortlessly and that was the best part about Thalaiva's television debut.

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HONG KONG (Reuters) - The world's biggest gambling hub of Macau will ban entry from Wednesday for visitors from mainland China, neighbouring Hong Kong and Taiwan who have travelled overseas in the previous 14 days, as it battles a coronavirus pandemic.

Macau has 25 infections and visitors from the Greater China region make up more than 90% of its tourists. Last week it had banned foreign visitors and foreign non-resident workers, while exempting those from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

People who have not travelled abroad in the past two weeks also face 14 days of quarantine, Ho Iat Seng, the leader of the former Portuguese colony, said on Tuesday.

"The government assures all Macau citizens it will do a good job in epidemic prevention at any cost," Ho added.

Although Macau's casinos have reopened after a two-week suspension in February, revenues have plummeted by almost 90 percent, hit by visit curbs and health regulations.

Visitors to Macau dropped 96 percent in February on the year, while its government slashed a forecast for annual gross gaming revenue by 56%, to 130 billion patacas ($16.3 billion), from 260 billion estimated last year.

More than 80 percent of Macau's revenue comes from casinos. Operators Wynn Macau, Sands China, MGM China, Melco Resorts, SJM Holdings and Galaxy Entertainment are all bleeding between $1.5 million and $4 million a day to keep their properties running.

Analysts expect March gambling revenue to fall up to 80 percent.

($1=7.9920 patacas)

(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Farah Master; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
The UAE has called on all Emirati students studying abroad to return to the country immediately, a Wam news agency report said.

Students whether on scholarship or studying at their own expense are to return to the country within 48 hours, said a circular issued by the Ministry of Education and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA).

Students are advised to coordinate with relevant authorities, consulates and embassies in this regard.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was on Tuesday freed after nearly eight months in detention with the administration revoking the Public Safety Act against him, and said the first task was to fight COVID-19 and any discussion on political developments could come later.

The world is different today from the one that existed on August 5, 2019, Abdullah said in his first tweet after being released, underscoring the threat of the pandemic.

The National Conference leader was among the host of political leaders taken into detention on August 5, when the Centre announced the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and its bifurcation into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Abdullah called for the release of all others detained, including PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

He also asked the Centre to remove communication restrictions and ensure high speed internet so people are able to educate themselves on ways and means of protecting themselves from the coronavirus pandemic.

The order revoking the PSA against him was issued by Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra. Abdullah was booked under the stringent act on February 5, hours before his six-month custody under preventive detention was to end.

The government has revoked his detention with immediate effect, the order stated.

Abdullah's mother Molly was the first to arrive at the makeshift detention centre after came in that her son was about to be released. He was kept at the state guesthouse Hari Niwas, just a few hundred metres from his official residence.

His father, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, was also charged under the PSA and released on March 13 after 221 days in detention.

Abdullah senior, who is also NC president, expressed happiness over the revocation of his son's PSA detention, but said total redemption would not be possible until all political detainees were released.

Dressed in T-shirt and jeans and sporting a long, grey beard, Omar Abdullah, who turned 50 on March 10, got behind the wheels of his car and drove to his parents' home from Hari Niwas. His mother and sister Safia were with him.

In his first tweet since August 5 last year, he said, "232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. It's a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019."



"Had lunch with my mum and dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I can't remember a better meal even though I've been in a bit of a daze and don't remember what I ate," added the third generation politician.

Outside his residence, a swarm of reporters and supporters, many in masks, waited to speak to him.

"During my period of detention, I thought a lot about what I would say the moment I come out....but today, let's not be complacent towards the challenges being faced the world over. This is a fight between life and death. All of you have come here and it is definitely in violation of the government order.

"We should ensure social distancing and take adequate precautions. We should ensure that the coronavirus does not spread. I will talk about political developments and other aspects post August 5 but let us first fight this coronavirus," he said.

The education of children, the tourism industry, businesses and every other sector in the state had suffered, he said.

In another tweet later in the day, he said, "If anyone wants tips on surviving quarantine or a lock down I have months of experience at my disposal, perhaps a blog is in order."



On February 5, Omar Abdullah, who was junior foreign minister and commerce minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, was served with a three-page dossier that was challenged in the Supreme Court by his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot.

The Supreme Court last week asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to inform by this week if it was releasing him.

He also thanked his legal team and added, Thank you to my baby sister Sara for filing the petition to have me freed."



Political parties, including NC rival PDP, welcomed the revocation of the PSA against Abdullah.

Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija, who uses her mother's Twitter handle, said she was glad at his release.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechurry said on Twitter that he welcomed the release of Abdullah after eight months of a "totally unjustifiable detention.

Immediately, Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faesal and thousands of others detained in and outside JK must be freed. Given the nation-wide clampdown over COVID19, this is an imperative."



He also supported Abdullah's call for removing communication blockade saying, "Internet, the lifeline for support and information at a time like this, cannot be limited in Kashmir..."



"Welcome the release of Omar, which we have been calling for ever since his unjustified arrest. Maybe the COVID19 lockdown makes all detentions unnecessary now? Please release Mehbooba Mufti and all other political detainees without delay!" added Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference also welcomed Omar's release, and also demanded the release of its chairman Sajad Lone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime minister Narendra Modis March 19 address on Covid-19 was predictably a politicians rallying call. Yet, many TV anchors and columnists gushed over the banalities as if they were profundities. By ignoring vital questions like the size of the challenge India faces, details of what the authorities are doing to meet it, and the ultimate cost to the nation, they failed badly in their profession as impartial interlocutors.

This is an opportunity for the government to reveal priorities that demonstrate concern for the public in its frightening suffering, with no prospect of a vaccine for at least a year. Just as Donald Trumps $2 trillion relief package acknowledges that the leaders responsibility goes beyond doling out pious platitudes, Modi must accept that a caring government must respond to the pandemic and its fall-out with more than immediate monetary compensation.

Looking beyond Covid-19, the totality of long-term welfare demands attention. Money may be scarce but supplementing the 52 testing centres for 1.3 crore Indians is far more important than the prime ministers 48 foreign tours in 2014-2018 that cost a reported Rs 2,021 crore. India desperately needs laboratories, hygienic hospitals, critical care beds, trained para-medical staff and quarantine facilities. A density of 455 per square kilometre, against Chinas 148, aggravates the filth and squalor in which so many Indians live and makes 'social distancing' impossible. The poor are the most vulnerable, especially when they have additional medical complaints.

The cost of improvements can only be guessed at. The UNs trade and development agency, UNCTAD, laments that apart from the tragic human consequences, the economic consequences of Covid-19 may saddle the global economy  which is expected to slow down this year to under two per cent  with a $1 trillion bill. Necessary though it may have been, the so-called 'Janata Curfew' that brought India to a standstill on Sunday cannot have come cheap. Closures never are. Some estimated the cost of the Bharat bandh the Congress and 21 other parties called in 2018 to protest against fuel prices at more than Rs 4,000 crore. Assochams calculation was between Rs 16,000 and Rs 18,000 crore. The CII more modestly estimated the loss to the economy would be greater than Rs 3,000 crore.

Europe faces recession. Indian conditions may deteriorate further with the withdrawal of more than Rs 100,000 crore in foreign portfolio investment this month. As an exporter of raw materials, India faces a particular threat since weaker export returns are linked to a stronger US dollar. Nor can any computation of the cost of the pandemic be complete without allowing for the massive corruption that is integral to all aspects of life here.

No one knows, for instance, how much of the Rs 1,000 per head that the Uttar Pradesh chief minister has promised 15 lakh daily-wage labourers and 20.37 lakh construction workers may be siphoned off by those who sanction and distribute the money or have to be shared with ubiquitous middlemen. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act beneficiaries in some states speak of two distortions, although they dont see them as such. First, instead of providing a job, the NREGA actually provides an income with no labour in return. Second, the income has to be shared with the official who hands it over.

Hoarding of commodities

It has become fashionable now for Western liberals to applaud Indians who blame all Third World ills on white colonialism  the 1943 Bengal famine being presented as Winston Churchills particular revenge on India. Yet, any moderately well-informed middle-aged resident of Calcutta knows the names of the Indian businessmen who became notorious during World War II, because their cynical hoarding contributed to the food shortage that killed millions.

In an independent India such black marketeers will be hung from the lamp post, Jawaharlal Nehru declared as soon as he was released from prison in June 1945. Alas, the promise was forgotten when those very same businessmen financed the movers and shakers of independent India. That linkage between politics and big money remains as strong as ever. As for contriving profit-making shortages, the price of potatoes shot up from Rs 10 a kilogram to Rs 30 as soon as the pandemic was acknowledged. Established chemists demanded Rs 250 for a face mask that would not ordinarily have cost more than Rs 100.

Official policy can contribute to shortages. The World Health Organisation has ruled that gloves, masks, eye protection, decontamination suits  called personal protection equipment  are mandatory for all health workers testing or treating Covid-19 patients.The day after India detected its first coronavirus case on January 31, New Delhi very commendably banned the export of all personal protection equipment. But to what end? A month and a half later, the heads of two associations of PPE manufacturers told the media that the government had not placed any substantial orders with their member companies. People had no option but to pay exorbitant prices for masks which are in universal demand.

No item of expenditure, not the Rs 186,000 crore purchase of Rafale fighter jets nor the Rs 404,365 crore defence budget can claim precedence over the peoples health.The medical tourism provided by a few elite hospitals in Delhi that throw in the bonus of a sightseeing tour in an air-conditioned limousine doesnt make a welfare state. Nor does an obsequious journalistic chorus ever ready to applaud those in power indicate the discerning media that a nation needs. It would be even more mistaken to imagine that five minutes  stretched out to ten in my building  of the national predilection for noisy celebration,which also copied a Spanish precedent, on Sunday evening absolved the government of its responsibility to create a kindly welfare state that provides full medical care for all citizens.
THE Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) is working around the clock to deal with unscrupulous manufacturers and importers fond of fabricating electronic tax stamps (ETS).

Finance and Planning Minister Philip Mpango announced recently that despite achievements registered since the first phase of ETS was introduced in January last year, there have been cases of cheating by some manufacturers.

Some of these dishonest producers have been fabricating the digital tax stamps purporting to show that they have been issued by TRA, Dr Mpango remarked.

The first phase of ETS was rolled out in January last year through which a Swiss company SICPA was awarded the tender by TRA to provide software and hardware for the project.

Presenting the governments development plan and budget framework estimates for fiscal year 2020/2021, Dr Philip Mpango said the country has witnessed a considerable rise in revenues during the first seven months of the 2019/2020.

The former World Bank economist noted however that there was a need to sustain the achievements recorded in revenue collections through ETS and electronic fiscal devices (EFDs).

TRA will continue deploying technology through the use of electronic tax stamps and electronic fiscal devices in Dar es Salaam to boost revenue collections, he elaborated.

So far, a number of cases have been filed at the Kisutu Residents Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam where nine people have been arraigned for allegedly fabricating the electronic tax stamps.

The suspects are facing 28 charges of tax evasion and occasioning a loss of 31.57bn/- to the government by forging the digital tax stamps.

During the first seven months of the current financial year, TRA collected revenues amounting to 10.62trl/- which was equivalent to 96.9 per cent of a target of collecting Sh10.96 trillion during the period.

Just recently, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Budget Committee, Mr Mashimba Ndaki, hailed ETS for sealing loopholes of tax evasion for products which are subjected to excise duty.

The digital stamps have played an important role in boosting revenue collection. They should thus be installed at all factories which produce excisable products, he said during a visit at TRA offices and some industries which are using the system.

Mr Ndaki went further to urge the TRA management to keep a close eye of some its employees who could be colluding with manufacturers to abuse the system.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the state will need an additional 50,000 hospital beds to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

"As a consequence of updating our models, we are looking to significantly increase our procurement of assets, specifically beds, throughout our healthcare delivery system," Newsom said.

The state will expand provided for the needed beds through a variety of means, Newsom said. The hospital system alone will provide for an additional 30,000 beds through its surge plan. The state has also acquired three hospitals that will provide an additional 3,000 beds.

California will seek to acquire the remaining 17,000 beds through a variety of means, including the use of hotels, motels, fairgrounds, convention centers and other facilities, Newsom said.

"We need to start stacking in terms of resources throughout the state of California," he said.

The state is expanding its efforts to procure 1 billion gloves, 500 million N-95 masks and 200 million shields, Newsom said.

Newsom on Monday also announced the closure of state park parking lots in an effort to encourage the practice of social distancing. The projection that California will require 50,000 additional beds is only accurate if people practice social distancing, Newsom said.

"We have numbers that are substantially higher if we don't," he said. "We can't bend the curve if everyone is out."

Around the world, there are more than 375,000 cases of the coronavirus with at least 16,100 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., there are at least 43,000 cases, with at least 500 deaths.
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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 12:20 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d10c87 1 Business mudik,COVID-19,travelers,exodus,Idul-Fitri,Lebaran,ramadan Free

Concerned about spreading COVID-19 from the capital to villages across the country, the Transportation Ministry will not provide any travel assistance this year for people seeking to visit their hometowns for Idul Fitri.

Every year, millions of Indonesians from big cities make the annual trip known as mudik (exodus) to get together with their extended families and friends across the country to celebrate the holidays. This year, Idul Fitri is expected to fall on May 24 and 25.

The ministrys Land Transportation Director General Budi Setyadi said free mudik travel offered either by government institutions or the private sector would not be allowed this year.

Considering the current situation of the massive spread of COVID-19, I think this is the right decision, although it is hard. Thus, I hope people understand and obey what the government has decided, said Budi Setyadi.

Budi has also called on people not to travel home for Idul Fitri this year to minimize the spread of COVID-19 across the country.

I urge all people not to return to their hometowns until conditions [improve]. Mudik involves massive mobility and gives the virus a chance to spread even more widely. People traveling to their hometown will potentially expand the contagion area, said Budi.

We will push this campaign intensively, he said.

Read also: Jakarta declares emergency, doubts persist over distancing rule

Before the free transport program was canceled, the Transportation Ministry alone had planned to provide 1,317 buses to carry 59,265 passengers from Greater Jakarta to 37 destinations across Indonesia in the free mudik program.

The ministry had also planned to prepare 111 trucks to transport 4,995 motorcycles for free in a bid to reduce the risk of people making long journeys on motorcycles.

Now, we will shift our focus to working hand-in-hand between with regional governments to contain COVID-19, he said.

Previously, the ministrys expert staffer Adita Irawaty said the Transportation Ministry was considering limiting or even banning mudik travel this year.

We are avoiding mass public gatherings. Unfortunately, the mudik tradition will cause such gatherings to happen in several places across the country, so we are now reviewing whether the mudik will be conducted as usual or not, we may even ban or limit it, said Adita during a video conference with journalists on Friday. (evi)
Loved-up couples determined to get married during the coronavirus crisis drastically altered their plans this week in order to tie the knot just hours before Boris Johnson's wedding ban came into effect.

Teachers Kayley Howell, 27, and Ryan Plant, 29, from Essex, cut their guestlist and ditched their reception in order to celebrate their love before the ban came into place.

Meanwhile Len Carter, 64, and Carol Clegg, 57, from Anglesey, arranged their wedding in just 24 hours after their venue revealed on Saturday night that they had a cancellation slot the following day.

Last night, Boris Johnson said any family reunions, weddings, baptisms and other social events must be cancelled as the country battles to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Loved-up couples drastically altered their wedding plans in order to marry this week, tying the knot hours before Boris Johnson announced a total ban on the ceremony (pictured, Teachers Kayley Howell, 27, and Ryan Plant, 29, from Essex, who married yesterday hours before the ban)

Kayley and Ryan had originally planned to get hitched on April 19, but when the bride's family couldn't attend from Canada, along with elderly guests, the pair decided to bring the official ceremony forward.

The couple had to make radical changes to their planned service, including cutting the guest list and dispensing with the wedding breakfast and reception in favour of just having their witnesses along with the registrar.

The happy couple tied the knot at the Princes Theatre, Clacton yesterday just hours before the Prime Minister announced the hard-hitting measures on movement of people, including banning weddings.

Kayley spoke of her relief at beating the deadline, saying: 'We were determined to go ahead with our wedding.

'With all the uncertainty that is surrounding the world at the moment, we wanted to make a declaration of our love.'

She added: 'When everything has settled down, we'll look to hold a big celebration with family and friends.'

Meanwhile Ryan explained it was the doubt about how long the coronavirus crisis would last that helped them decide to go through with their rush job nuptials.

The 29-year-old said: 'With the uncertainty surrounding the current situation, we also didn't know how long we would have to wait, and I just wanted to marry the love of my life.

Meanwhile Len Carter, 64, and Carol Clegg, 57, from Anglesey, arranged their wedding day in just 24 hours after their venue announced they had a cancellation on Sunday

'Ultimately life goes on, even if we do have social distancing and even if the way we live our lives changes, love continues.

'We would love to thank everyone who has helped to make our day a reality.'

And they weren't the only couple to beat the wedding ban by changing their original plans.

Len and Carol sorted their superfast big day because they feared the wedding ban would halt their May wedding.

Their honeymoon to Mallorca was already cancelled - and they could see the marriage ceremony would be next.

But after speaking to the wedding venue, the bride and groom were amazed when they were offered a slot the following day.

Len and Carol decided to go ahead with their vows because they 'wanted to get married as soon as possible' despite not being joined by friends and family

Carol said: 'We could have delayed the wedding until next year but we wanted to get married as soon as possible.

'It would have been much nicer if celebrated with friends and family and usually to not have your nearest and dearest with you would feel like disaster, but these aren't normal times.

'We had watched Boris Johnson's presentation and he ordered the closure of pubs, clubs and restaurants and we thought it was not going happen.'

Meanwhile their venue, The Valley Hotel in Anglesey, North Wales, went all out to decorate the ceremony room with the couple's planned colour scheme.

General manager Jon Craven played the role of father and best man as he walked Carol down the aisle, while two other members of staff acted as witnesses at Sunday's wedding.

Carol moved with Len from Hertfordshire to Anglesey to retire in 2018 and said while the wedding was 'a completely unusual situation', it couldn't have gone any better.

Kayley and Ryan said they were determined to 'make a declaration of love' to one another during the outbreak

She said: 'The staff were brilliant and went above and beyond to make it special.

'Our only expectation was a room with two witnesses and registrar, but they dressed the room in colours right and even organised a bouquet for me and a buttonhole for Len and threw confetti when we left.

'We felt particularly grateful as it has been such a bad time for these people but they focused on making it our special day.'

The couple will have another ceremony at the venue next year when family and friends can come, and plan to rebook their honeymoon around the same time.

Britain's 66 million people are today beginning a new life in coronavirus lockdown after Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and the two leaders agreed on the need for the developed countries to write off debts of cash-strapped countries like Pakistan to deal with the crisis arising out of the croronavirus pandemic.

Qureshi also called for a "cordinated approach" by the international community to contain the deadly disease that has claimed over 16,000 lives globally.

He also expressed concern over the fragile economic situation in the developing countries due to the coronavirus crisis.

Underlining Prime Minister Imran Khan's call to the developed countries to consider writing off debts of cash-strapped countries like Pakistan, Qureshi sought France's support and understanding, as an important member of the EU, the G-7, and the UN Security Council, on the issue, Pakistan's foreign office said.

COVID-19 had spread to almost all countries of the world, and the situation demanded a coordinated approach by the international community to combat its spread, he said.

He also underscored the need for immediate lifting of sanctions on Iran and extending humanitarian assistance to enable the country to control the spread of the disease.

The French foreign minister agreed with Qureshi's assessment of the situation in Iran and the need to provide debt relief to developing countries, the foreign office said.

Qureshi briefed Le Drian about the measures taken by Pakistan to contain the spread of COVID-19, it said.

The deadly virus, which originated in China's Wuhan, has infected over 890 people and claimed 6 lives in Pakistan.

Globally, the fast spreading disease has claimed over 16,000 lives and over 380,000 people have contracted the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker.

Qureshi also lauded the steps being taken by the French authorities to contain the virus and thanked Le Drian for taking care of 13 Pakistani nationals infected in France.

He also suggested that in view of the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides may held the next round of Bilateral Political Consultations, scheduled for March 26, via video conference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
: TravisBickle (Travis), : USANews

 : Dr

: BBS  (Mon Mar 23 12:43:34 2020, )



Brix fauci

9



Trump Weighs Easing Stay-at-Home Advice to Curb Economic Rout



President Donald Trump began talking privately late last week about

reopening the nation, despite the swiftly rising number of coronavirus cases

and against the advice of health professionals, because hes worried about

the economic damage from an extended shutdown, according to people familiar

with his thinking.



The shortage of testing kits has made it difficult to assess the full spread

of the virus, but Trump and a contingent of his aides, including Treasury

Secretary Steven Mnuchin, want to ensure that the economic damage from a

nationwide social distancing campaign doesnt outweigh the potential

toll from the virus itself, the people said.



WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE

15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

Trump tweeted late Sunday.



The president started talking about how to get people back to work around

Thursday, two of the people said, only three days after he helped roll out a

15-day plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stem the

rise of cases by encouraging most people to stay at home. That campaign

would end about March 31.



The discussions centered on what to do after the 15-day period ends, and how

to test and isolate everyone whos sick so healthy people can return to

work. Its likely the CDC guidelines would be relaxed rather than scrapped

altogether, one person said.



Birx, Fauci Advice

The governments top health authorities have warned that in the absence of

any viable medical treatment, sustained and economically painful

restrictions on daily life are the only way to beat the virus. This group is

led by Deborah Birx, the State Department physician tapped to advise Vice

President Mike Pence on the governments response to the outbreak, and

Anthony Fauci, the influential director of the National Institute of Allergy

and Infectious Diseases.



The advice of the medical professionals has so far formed the foundation of

the White Houses coronavirus strategy, frustrating some of Trumps

economic and political advisers who think the president shouldnt lean so

heavily on them, according to two people familiar with the matter.



But a close Trump ally in Congress, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of

South Carolina, tweeted his support for the doctors on Monday.



The economy is reeling as cases rise and the death toll mounts. Federal

Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard predicted the U.S.

unemployment rate may hit 30% in the second quarter, along with a 50% drop

in gross domestic product. Morgan Stanley said Sunday it expects the U.S.

economy to plummet 30% in the second quarter.



There had been more than 35,000 cases of the disease in the U.S. by Monday

and more than 400 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.



Zero-Sum Framing

Social distancing didnt begin with Trumps guidelines and wont

necessarily end if he lifts them, as governors and municipal leaders have

the power to issue shelter in place and other orders limiting daily life

in virus-ravaged parts of the country. And many companies have ordered

employees to work from home where possible, regardless of government

directives.



Several states are still moving to tighten restrictions, not loosen them.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Monday shes issuing a Stay Home,

Stay Safe executive order that will go into effect at midnight. And

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is ordering the closure of all non-essential

businesses as of 5 p.m.



But the president has considerable power to influence Americans behavior

by the tone he sets at what has become daily, televised White House news

conferences.



Well get a pretty good idea what were doing at the end of his 15

Days to Slow the Spread campaign on March 31, Trump said Sunday. You

know there will be a point at which we say: Were back in business, let

s go.



Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology of microbial diseases

at Yale School of Public Health, criticized what he called zero-sum

framing of the debate by people who advocate abandoning social distancing.



Nobody wants economic devastation nor the loss of hundreds of thousands or

millions of lives in the United States. Both are terrible outcomes. We have

to stop this either-or thinking, he said in an interview.



Epidemiologists are aware of the tradeoffs because they are thinking about

them in their own lives, he added. But to do a knee-jerk response by

removing these measures is short-sighted, short-term term thinking thats

going to get us into deeper trouble.



Drop the Hammer

Some of the debate over how rapidly Americans should return to work is

beginning to play out in public.



Fauci acknowledged that aggressive public health measures can cause too much

harm to the economy and unintended consequences in an interview with

Science magazine published Sunday.



There is a discussion and a delicate balance about whats the overall

impact of shutting everything down completely for an indefinite period of

time, he said. If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt

infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences,

for people who need to be able to get to places and cant. You do the best

you can.



Read more: Halt Movement to Fight Coronavirus? The Pros and Cons: QuickTake



Former Goldman Sachs Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said in a

tweet Sunday night that within a very few weeks people at lower risk

to the disease should return to work.



Is it time to start discussing the need for a date when the economy can

turn back on? Trumps former economic adviser, Gary Cohn, tweeted on

Sunday. Businesses need clarity. Otherwise they will assume the worst and

make decisions to survive.



But another former senior aide to Trump, Steve Bannon, said the president

should take even stronger measures to limit Americans social interactions

over the next two weeks in order to snuff out the virus -- or risk

irreversible economic damage.



Were going to have to take the pain up-front. Were going to have to

shut it all down, Bannon said on Fox News on Sunday. Drop the hammer

today on the virus.



Trump said Sunday hed seen both comments. They are not mutually

exclusive, they sort of inter-mesh, he said of Cohn and Bannon. Bannon

wants just a brutal shutdown, and then open up a little bit faster. So you

know, theres that fine line.



Late Sunday and into Monday morning Trump began retweeting supporters

expressing exasperation with social distancing efforts.

--

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 108.]


Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says his party will not give the Trudeau government "a blank cheque" to help Canadians weather the COVID-19 crisis.

While Conservatives are prepared to quickly approve $82 billion in emergency financial aid and economic stimulus as promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week, they are balking at a proposal to give the government sweeping new powers for up to 21 months to unilaterally spend, borrow and tax Canadians without seeking Parliament's approval.

The unprecedented proposal is in a draft of the emergency legislation to be tabled in a scaled-down Parliament on Tuesday.

The government has been negotiating with opposition parties to whip the bill quickly through the House of Commons within a few hours, followed by swift approval by the Senate on Wednesday and royal assent immediately after that.

However, the unilateral spending, taxation and borrowing powers included in the draft of the bill shared with opposition parties on Monday may make it more difficult to stick to that schedule.

Government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the bill before it's tabled, say the 21-month timeframe for the extraordinary powers is negotiable.

They expressed confidence that an agreement can be worked out with opposition parties to give the government the flexibility to act quickly to provide relief during the crisis without having to wait for a week to organize a recall of Parliament.

Except for the emergency sitting, the Commons is officially adjourned until April 20, and probably longer.

In a statement late Monday, Scheer said his party is willing to enact the measures Trudeau announced last week, which include expanding the Canada Child Benefit and GST credits, relaxed Employment Insurance rules and $55 billion worth of deferred taxes.

"In a crisis, broad all-party agreement is essential, especially when the government has a minority in the House of Commons. And we are prepared to have Parliament sit as needed to transact the business of Parliament," he said.

"But we will not give the government unlimited power to raise taxes without a parliamentary vote. We will authorize whatever spending measures are justified to respond to the situation but we will not sign a blank cheque."
Loon, a subsidiary of Alphabet that offers a novel approach to internet connectivity, has announced that its internet balloons have been approved to fly in Kenya.

The Loon USP is to take the essential components of a cell tower and made them light enough and durable enough to operate at 20kms above Earth. By moving with the wind, Loon balloons can be arranged into small clusters to provide periods of prolonged connectivity in a defined area. The balloons act as floating cell towers, transmitting a providers service directly to a subscribers LTE handset below. Loons balloons are designed to last for hundreds of days.

All of which sounds ideal, except that permissions to operate above a country are critical to Loons ability to extend internet access to rural and remote populations that lack adequate mobile internet service.

The Kenyan government has now given formal approval for Loons balloons to operate in the stratosphere above the country. Balloons being dispatched to Kenya are expected to arrive in a few weeks for final network testing

This means dispatching existing airborne balloons, as well as preparing new ones to launch from Loon launch sites in the United States, and navigating them to Kenya on the stratospheric winds 20km above Earth.

Once the balloons are in place, Loon will conduct the final stages of network integration testing with local partner Telkom Kenya. Following that, it will be able to begin providing service to Kenyans. Initial coverage areas will include the larger central area of the country, with a focus on mountainous and remote areas. Loon and Telkom have also worked with Nokia and Liquid Telecom to install ground stations in Nairobi, Nakuru and Nyeri.

Loon says its deployment in Kenya has been in the works since it signed a contract with Telkom Kenya in July 2018. Since then, it has been collaborating with both Telkom and the government to prepare for these operations.
Startups have successfully called for millions of dollars worth of investments since the beginning of the year.

In early March 2020, JupViec was added to the investment portfolio of Simple Tech Investment (STI), the company which once poured capital into many startups, including 24h.com.vn, AnyCar and 30Shine.





SITs investment director Tran Tuan Tai said on Tech In Asia that the investment capital is worth millions of dollars and the deal has made STI the biggest shareholder of JupViec.



Starting in 2012, JupViec is the technology platform which connects domestic help and clients. The startup is expected to change the traditional maid industry by applying technology in recruitment, training, and management of workers.



The money will be reserved for worker training and improving service quality. The startup intends to enhance the experience on the app, diversify the work list such as cooking, ironing, virus disinfection, sanitation, electronics maintenance and butler services.



In late February, Waves became a better known name in the Vietnamese startup community thanks to the investment of $1.2 million from venture funds, including Insignia Ventures Partners, HustleFund, Skystar Capital and other investors from Asia and Silicon Valley.

In late February, Waves became a better known name in the Vietnamese startup community thanks to the investment of $1.2 million from venture funds, including Insignia Ventures Partners, HustleFund, Skystar Capital and other investors from Asia and Silicon Valley.

The money will be spent to develop audios and podcasts on Google Play and App Store in Vietnam before the business is expanded to other regional countries. The startup plans to become the regions leading audio platform with high-quality audio and podcast.



Currently, Waves now produces more than 30 programs, has 50 programs made in cooperation with partners and more than 500 diverse programs in the world.



Waves app was launched on February 28 as an important step to connect content creators, increase the number of users, and quickly reach the regional market. Besides Vietnam, Waves is also developing in the Indonesian market.



Prior to that, in 2019, many startups with original business ideals also received millions of dollar from investors.



Utop received $3 million from FPT and SBI Holdings from Japan. Utop is an application for garnering and redeeming loyalty points, built on the basis of the Blockchain platform  Akachain.



Meanwhile, Elsa Speak got $7 million in Series A round from some investors, led by Gradient Ventures, a Googles fund for AI. To date, the startup has called $12 million worth of capital.



More investment deals are expected to be completed this year. Grab runs Grab Ventures Ignite program which aims to help startups in the first phase of operation with capital mounting to $1 million.



Grab Ventures Ignite encourages participation of IT startups in the fields of mobile, food, e-payment, financial services, logistics, e-commerce and AI.



A study found that the quality of Vietnams startups is getting better with higher success rate of 36-40 percent.

Le Ha

AI is trend at Vietnams startups Voice recognition technology, artificial intelligence (A.I), blockchain and big data are the major trends at startups in Vietnam in 2020.
Photo credit: Courtesy Kim Tranell

From Women's Health

The call came at 11:45 a.m.just an hour and 15 minutes before we were scheduled to leave our Brooklyn apartment and drive to a hospital on New York Citys Upper East Side. I have bad news, my reproductive endocrinologist said in his kind but candid manner. I put him on hold and ran to the kitchen to get my husband. Shit, shit, shit, I thought. This is it. This is really IT.

After two and a half years of trying to have a baby, including one and a half years of grueling fertility treatments, we were in the middle of our fourth and final IVF cycle last week when our fresh embryo transfer was cancelled.

It wasnt a total shock, as I had undergone my egg retrieval procedure on March 16just one day before the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) released guidelines strongly suggesting the suspension of most fertility treatments due to COVID-19.

Still, we had held out hope while the evidence mounted against us. (I guess situational delusion is a handy trick you learn when youve been plugging away at a highly unpredictable process for so damn long?)

A little backstory: Our previous three attempts at IVF had followed best practices.

We biopsied, genetically screened, and froze our embryos. But we now know I have inexplicably poor egg equality for a 37-year-olda diagnosis fertility specialists can only confidently make, unfortunately, after several cycles and tens of thousands of dollars of trial and error.



Photo credit: Courtesy Kim Tranell

Our doctor had suggested we give it one last shot without the biopsying and freezing steps, which can further damage delicate embryos. Sadly, we never got a chance to follow through on this hail-mary attempt, but were far enough along that we had already sunk about $12,000 into the cycle. (Imagine swallowing that just days after your husbanda freelance music industry professional who makes his living in live eventsfound out his income would now be zero for at least the next six months.)

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The ASRM says it is revisiting its recommendations every two weeks, but it is impossible to see into the future and tell when fertility treatments will actually resume. So many people are now forced to confront that reality (33 percent of American adults have used fertility treatments or know someone who has, according to a Pew Research Center survey), along with the economic challenges of continuing prohibitively expensive interventions in such uncertain times.



I feel incredibly privileged that my insurance covered most of our first three cycles of IVF, but even with a lifetime max higher than most, we've still paid approximately $45,000 out of pocket so far. Now we face the difficult decision of what to do with the moneydwindling personal savings, family loans, and creditwe have left. Do we put it toward donor eggs? Adoption?

But in the meantime, we grieve.

Photo credit: Courtesy Kim Tranell

The first day, that lookedas it always doeslike a lot of guttural crying into our dogs fluffy fur and copious amounts of pacing around our 1,000-square-foot apartment. Once the sharp pain gave way to the dull ache of our new reality, however, we quickly realized we were left without so many of the coping mechanisms we had come to rely on. This time there would be no hugs from our nieces and nephews. There would be no consolation-prize vacation (always entirely and proudly booked on credit card points incurred via IVF, of course).

Was being alone with our disappointment emotionally excruciating? Yes. But in certain ways, those of us struggling with infertility have been training for this quarantined-in-a-crippling-financial-recession moment for years.

Fertility treatments are socially isolating, mentally draining, incredibly expensive, and extremely time-sensitive.

Many of us complain about the feeling that our life has been put on hold for years as we pinch pennies to pay medical bills, or while at the whim of unmissable early-morning monitoring appointments tied to the arrival of our period. We are pros at uncertainty, self-sacrifice, and relinquishing control.



Photo credit: Courtesy Kim Tranell

Still, as I mourn our own hopes for a genetic child, I cant help but think of the couple in my online support group who exhausted most of its emergency fund earlier this year to give it one last go, or that single woman who went into credit card debt to try even once.

And my heart aches for every female patient over the age of 40, whose chance at having a biological child through IVF declines more sharply with each passing year, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. For mefor themthe challenges of this moment are magnified.

Yet at the same time, Im feeling surprisingly zen as my husband and I are forced to sit alone with our sadness. Our journey so far has been all about picking ourselves up and trying again, to a dizzying degree. But for once, we cant move forward just yet.

Lives everywhere are on hold. And for the first time in ages, I feel so much less alone.



Kim Tranell is a freelance writer who has contributed to Glamour, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Psychology Today, and more. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Josh; their terrier mix, Miso; and a massive collection of records and books.

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Pennsylvania has confirmed 207 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the statewide total to 851 cases, the state Department of Health said Tuesday.

Seven people have died due to the coronavirus, the department said.

Cases have now been reported in 40 of Pennsylvanias 67 counties. The number of new cases marks the largest one-day increase to date in Pennsylvania.

The state Department of Health released new numbers Tuesday. The department typically updates the number of statewide cases once a day.

The bulk of the cases are in eastern Pennsylvania but the coronavirus continues to spread across the state. Most counties in the Harrisburg area have at least one confirmed case. More cases are being reported in the Pittsburgh area.

In central Pennsylvania, Cumberland County has 13 cases, according to new state figures. York County now has 18 cases, including 8 additional cases today. Lancaster County has 10 cases, up from 5 yesterday. Dauphin County has 3 new cases, bringing the county total to 4. Juniata County has its first case.

There are 8,643 patients who have tested negative, the health department said. The state no longer provides updates on the number of pending test results. Most testing is now being done in private laboratories or hospitals, the health department said.

Two deaths have been reported in Allegheny County and two deaths have been reported in Northampton County. The other deaths were reported in Lackawanna, Monroe and Montgomery counties.

For perspective, Pennsylvanias first coronavirus case was reported less than three weeks ago.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has said she is concerned that the rapid spread of the coronavirus could threaten the capacity of the health care system. She has urged Pennsylvanians to stay home so hospitals arent overwhelmed.

Gov. Tom Wolf has imposed aggressive measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Hes issued stay-at-home orders for seven counties, including the Philadelphia region and the Pittsburgh area.

The Philadelphia area continues to see more cases being reported. There are 177 cases in Philadelphia, including 48 new cases reported today. Neighboring Montgomery County has 144 cases, including 15 new cases.

In western Pennsylvania, Allegheny County now has 58 cases, including 10 new cases reported today.

The governor has also ordered K-12 schools to be closed until April 6. And he has ordered the closure of all businesses in Pennsylvania that are not life-sustaining, an order that has confused some companies and led thousands of businesses to petition to remain open.

State police said 27 warnings were issued to non-life-sustaining businesses across the state which remained open.

Colleges and universities across Pennsylvania has switched to remote learning for the rest of the semester.

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Family-owned Beaver Express Services of Woodward, Oklahoma, notified drivers and employees on Monday that the less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier is ceasing operations after 77 years.

Mike Stone, president of Beaver Express, told FreightWaves that the coronavirus outbreak, soaring insurance costs and oil prices plunging to around $32 per barrel in March was the "perfect storm" that forced the company to wind down operations.

He admits the company has been struggling for about two years. Stone said he explored every avenue to stay afloat or find another LTL carrier willing to buy the company, but failed to find one in time.

"My grandfather helped start this business in 1943 and I am part of the third generation involved in operating the company, so this isn't a decision I came to lightly," Stone told FreightWaves late Sunday.

Stone sent a letter to customers on Saturday alerting them of the company's plan to wind down operations. After it makes its last deliveries this Thursday, Stone told customers the company had worked out an arrangement with Old Dominion Freight Lines "in an effort to minimize the impact" of the company's decision to close.

"We have negotiated an arrangement with Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. to handle your outbound shipments effective Wednesday, March 25," Stone said in the letter. "Old Dominion Freight Line is not acquiring any assets or assuming any liabilities of Beaver Express.

As the company winds down operations, a skeleton crew will work to collect the company's outstanding receivables, Stone said.

Beaver Express had around 160 drivers and 218 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website. Stone said the company has approximately 10 owner-operators and around 100 part-time and full-time independent contractors who mainly delivered in rural areas in the five-state region where the company operated.

Story continues

The company hauled oilfield equipment for Halliburton, but after oil prices dropped rapidly in March, business dropped dramatically.

"When oil dropped to $32 per barrel as Saudi Arabia and Russia were fighting over market share, it brought the oil and gas industry to its knees, including us," Stone said.

The company operated in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, and operated 25 terminals in those states, which Stone said will be put up for sale or lease soon.

While business was picking up slightly because Beaver Express hauled medical supplies to hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers, all critical amid the coronavirus outbreak, Stone said the slight revenue bump occurred too late.

Stone said he was used to the cost of insurance rising 1-2% every year, but it spiked 8% in 2019.

Over the past 24 months, Beaver Express trucks had been inspected 144 times and 29 were placed out of service, according to the FMCSA data. Its drivers were inspected 176 times and four were placed out of service. Its trucks were involved in five crashes over the same two-year period.

Even though the company hauls LTL freight and its drivers return home every night, Stone said he was forced to comply with the federal electronic logging device (ELD) mandate to track hours truckers can legally drive.

"We didn't have an hours-of-service issue because of the way we structured our runs, but we had to buy and install the ELDs at a cost of around $5,000 per month, a cost that will never go away," he said.

"I've gone through the gamut of emotions from sad, to mad to frustrated, but we tried everything and in the end, things just didn't work out for us as we hoped," Stone told FreightWaves.

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Apa Sherpa knows firsthand all the risks of climbing Mount Everest. He's been to the summit 21 times.

The potential for a COVID-19 outbreak at base camp had him just as fearful as a blizzard or cracking ice. The 60-year-old mountaineer from Nepal who now lives in Salt Lake City applauded the decision to shut down the routes to the top of the famed Himalayan mountain over concerns about the new coronavirus. That meant Sherpa didn't have to worry about the health of anyone on the mountain, including his niece, nephew and cousin as they follow in his Everest-climbing ...
By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Keeping in view the rising number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh and its debilitating effect on the unorganized sector, CM Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday launched the Shramik Bharan-Poshan Yojana and transferred the first instalment of Rs 1,000 in the accounts of more than 20 lakh daily wage labourers through Direct Beneficiary Transaction (DBT).

The CM said that the state government had made arrangements for providing relief to the daily wage labourers and small vendors. In all, 35 lakh such beneficiaries would get the monetary aid through DBT. Those who will be benefited are street vendors, rickshaw pullers, e-Rickshaw drivers and porters.

The department of urban development was authorised to distribute the money is being withdrawn from labour cess.

On the occasion, the CM distributed symbolic cheques of Rs 1,000 each to four workers. The necessity of the scheme arose as the poor people have been facing the issue of sustaining their livelihood due to social distancing and home quarantine following the outbreak of the virus, said the CM.

ALSO READ | Yogi govt to celebrate Ram Navmi in Ayodhya despite COVID-19 pandemic

He added that government was also providing free ration to Antyodaya ration card holders, destitutes, old age pension holders, PwD pensioners, construction workers and daily wage workers. Under this, 20 kg of wheat and 15 kg of rice was being provided to them.

The CM further said that those who are not covered under any scheme would also be provided Rs 1000, adding, sufficient funds have been sent to all the district headquarters.

Moreover, a number of lawmakers and ministers have come forward to extend financial help in these testing times. Taking a lead, Amethi MP Smriti Irani has donated Rs 1 crore from her MPLAD fund to Amethi DM to handle the difficult situation. Similarly, Deputy CM Keshav Maurya also donated a months salary and Rs 1 crore from his development fund. A number of other MLAs have also donated money to handle the situation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 15:16:44|Editor: xuxin

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CANBERRA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Premier of the South Australia (SA) state Steven Marshall said Tuesday that the police will be deployed to enforce the state's mandatory quarantine measures for new arrivals.

Marshall said the police will carry out "random checks" on anyone who enters SA from Tuesday afternoon onwards.

Marshall on Sunday announced that SA would effectively close its borders indefinitely from 4:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Anyone who arrives in the state after the deadline will be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

The premier said the police will be stationed at airports and border crossings taking the address of new entrants so they can carry out the random checks.

Travelers caught violating self-quarantine rules will be fined.

"We're taking this extraordinarily seriously," he told Sky News Australia.

"The next step for us is to implement all of these border closures. We know they are very damaging for businesses in our state but they are necessary.

"We're imploring people to take these restrictions very seriously."

As of 3:00 p.m. local time Tuesday, there have been 2,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, 427 more from 24 hours ago, according to the Health Department of the Australian government. In South Australia, the number of confirmed cases reached 170.

The Northern Territory (NT), which shares a 900-km border with SA, has also announced a border lockdown from 4:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

NT Police on Tuesday morning announced that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would assist in monitoring border crossings.

ADF personnel will establish checkpoints at border crossings while also undertaking medical testing on people entering the NT.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians to cancel any non-essential travel within the country.
Not in our lifetimes has there been a challenge as significant as the one we face with Covid-19.

Where it has taken hold overseas, it has spread rapidly in a matter of days.

Auckland Council has cancelled major events and worked closely with health authorities to stop or slow the spread of the virus. The event cancellations are disappointing for organisers, performers and everyone looking forward to the events, but our paramount consideration has to be safety.

We will go further as necessary, in a rapidly changing environment  our priority is to keep people safe by slowing the transmission of Covid-19.

Coronavirus has had a dramatic impact on the world economy. It will likely throw the world into recession, and with it New Zealand.

We welcome the governments recovery package to ease the impact on people and businesses until the pandemic is over. We all hope it will be short rather than long-term, with encouraging news from China where new cases have slowed dramatically.

At Auckland Council, the impact on our revenue and costs will be significant and will put constraints on our spending programme.

The council is planning for a range of scenarios and I am receiving regular updates from health authorities, the government and council officers. Already we have taken steps such as lifting the level of cleaning using hospital-standard chemicals, improving facilities for hand-washing, issuing advice to staff on how to keep safe, developing strategies for social distancing and working from home.

We will, working together, get through the crisis.

If you have health concerns, please visit the governments new Covid-19 website covid19.govt.nz for up-to-date information and advice. Their top advice for uniting against Covid-19 is: wash and dry your hands regularly, stay home if youre sick, and look after others. Its good advice and I encourage everyone to follow it.

The site also has information on how to get financial assistance if you need it, what to do if you need to self-isolate, and all the latest updates.

If you are feeling ill and think you may have been infected with coronavirus, call Healthline for free on 0800 358 5453.

Look after yourselves, and each other.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:18:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that China stands ready to provide assistance within its capacity for Brazil's battle against COVID-19 and help contain the global spread of the coronavirus disease.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.
The State is to spend over 1.3m on new clothing and footwear for the countrys prison population over the next four years.

A contract notice has been issued by the Office of Government Procurement for tenders to supply a range of 28 different types of clothing and footwear for inmates in the 14 detention facilities operated by the Irish Prison Service including Mountjoy and Portlaoise and the two female prisons in the Dochas Centre and Limerick.

It is estimated that approximately 1.32m will be spent on kitting out prisoners over the term of the contract which is for a three-year period with a maximum extension of 12 months.

The annual expenditure on the cost of new clothing and footwear is calculated at 330,000.

There are around 4,000 prisoners detained at any one time in the countrys jails.

Under current prison regulation, prisoners are not required to wear a uniform but are supplied with a range of clothing which can be changed twice weekly, although in certain circumstances they may be allowed to wear their own clothing.

Tender documents indicate suppliers will be required to provide 20,000 polo shirts in either dark green or red and some 20,000 light grey tracksuits for men and almost 2,000 similar tracksuits for women.

For outside use, over 2,000 red anoraks have been ordered.

In relation to footwear, the contract provides for almost 4,800 pairs of black runner shoes and the same number in white as well as 104,000 pairs of socks.

For nightwear, the order includes over 550 pairs of pyjamas and 200 dressing gowns for male prisoners and almost 1,600 nightgowns for female prisoners.

There is also a large order for boxer shorts, Y-fronts, T-shirts, vests, bras and briefs.

Bids will be assessed on a range of criteria with cost accounting for 50% of marks in a scoring scheme.

The successful bidder will be required to operate a warehouse of clothing and deliver items to individual jails as well as facilitate returns.

They will be required to meet an individual list of specifications for each type of garment in relation to design, colour, material and scope which can stipulate that clothes must be of various sizes and washable at certain temperatures.

A previous contract to supply prison clothing awarded in 2016 to Call Us, a supplier of leisurewear from Killybegs, Co Donegal was valued at just under 550,000.
The educational curriculum of Liberia needs an overhaul to reflect the dynamics of the changing global labor market - with more emphasis placed on science, technology, engineering, and math, as well as on innovation and critical thinking. If this materializes, young graduates of institutions of higher learning and completers of vocational programs in the country will be competitive in the enormous global labor market, and this changed opportunity would also offer Liberia copious benefits economically, socially, and in terms of human security and development.

Graduates of educational institutions and completers of vocational training programs in Liberia are not competitive at all- they lack the rigors of today's labor market demands. While this is a serious concern for me as a professional Liberian with a niche in global public policy, labor market analysis, and workforce development, this is not what scares me the most about Liberia's future.

When it comes to Liberia, I mostly worried about one thing: The absence or lack of patriotism and nationalism in the Liberian society and amongst Liberians for their country. This predicament has and continues to ruin Liberia in the short term with dangerous consequences. It could also fracture the collective integrity and image of all Liberians in the long term.

Liberian leaders  past and present, as well as the country's educational system, society, and culture, failed to inculcate a sense of national pride  the kind of positive nationalism and constructive patriotism in its citizenry, especially in its young people. As a result, the reasoning of most Liberians rejects logic. Their thinking lacks depth; their utterances are short on substance; their perceptions are blurring; their decisions are flawed and faulty, and their actions are not only backward, but they are also dangerous to the country and its future.

The way things are done in Liberia, by most Liberians, and amongst Liberians makes no sense at all. Liberia has become a country where the citizens don't value one another, their country, and the country's future, their people and their people's livelihood.

Liberia is one of the only nations where its citizens' priorities are not only misguided and misplaced; it is a country where citizens behold, cherish, and value strangers more than themselves and their fellow Liberians. And prefer to enrich a stranger or a non-native born Liberian at their own expense and the expense of their fellow Liberians. This weird mentality, unfortunately, is primarily ingrained in the so-called Liberian elite and quasi educated sect who mostly happen to be the so-called political class. This attitude of Liberians makes their neighbors in West Africa cringe and leaves their international partners in disbelief.

Liberians may be able to reposition their country from its present trajectory of self-destruction, structural isolation, and perpetual global pity to a nation of sensible people if they act now and act fast. It means the country's educational system must include positive patriotism and constructive nationalism in its educational curriculum and ensure that both aspirations also become a part of a national awareness campaign.

Without question, positive patriotism and constructive nationalism are critical and necessary consciousness for any group of people to have if they are serious and if they want to prosper collectively. Considering how vital the spirit of positive patriotism and constructive nationalism is, Liberian schools need to include lessons in patriotism and nationalism as a part of their academic and cultural orientation for young people and individuals in public service.

When the youth of a country and those in public service are patriotic and nationalistic, they act as responsible citizens. It is said that; 'Youth is the future of any nation, and for the bright future of the country to shine, the youth needs to be taught about how to protect and preserve their nation and act in its best interest to make it outshine.' Equally, when citizens in public service are patriotic and nationalistic, they do everything to maintain the integrity of the country by making prudent and wise decisions, engaging in and undertaking honorable engagements, and pursuing visionary ventures void of dishonesty, bribery, and self-aggrandizement.

A positive patriot and constructive nationalist loves his or her country and is loyal to his or her country. On the contrary, the majority of Liberians, especially most of those who have entered public service  past and present, are not loyal to Liberia. The absence or lack of this loyalty translates into the lack of loyalty, respect, and love for their fellow Liberians. Unfortunately, Liberia is the loser and a mockery to the rest of our neighbors in West Africa and others around the world.

Some Liberians, mainly privileged and shady Liberians, run to Ghana, Senegal, and other countries and then marvel at the progress those countries are making. Despite the common African problems that we all share, the majority of Senegalese, Ghanaians, and others largely do not betray the national and collective interest of their respective nations and people for personal and short term gains. Neither do they elevate strangers above their fellow citizens nor foreign businesses above businesses owned and operated by their fellow citizens?

Patriotism and nationalism are not a bad idea if such actions are intended to protect the collective security and welfare of a people from abuse, and if such actions are also peaceful and beneficial. For example, Ghana recently issued bill banning foreign nationals or non-Ghanaians from engaging in retail trading, according to the Afrika Heroes . Several other news groups including the BBC and The Africa Report have reported on the story. This is visionary leadership, competence and good governance. It is important because unlike Liberia, Ghanaians do not want to spectators in their own economy and paupers in their own country.

There are several benefits to being patriotic and nationalistic as a citizen. When citizens are nationalistic and patriotic, they become self-motivated, endeavor to be good leaders and work to promote better governance, strive to be productive, and frequently render selfless service to others and their country.

Real patriotism and constructive nationalism enhance social cohesion, nurture peace, and national security in any country. Furthermore, being patriotic towards one's nation and people is beneficial in many respects including the fact that it motivates an individual, especially those in public service and leadership, towards undertaking their day to day activities in the interest and for the welfare and future of their country and people in mind.

Unless Liberians can collectively choose to foster a sense of patriotism and constructive nationalism, the country's path to an irreversible obliteration is absolute, sad, and dangerous for its future. That is precisely why all Liberians must ensure that positive patriotism and constructive nationalism become a part of the educational system curriculum and also as a public awareness mandate for communities.

About the Author:

J.N. Williams is a Catholic educated public philosopher and a U. S. trained public policy and institutional governance professional with strong expertise in job creation policy, workforce development analysis, and socio-economic growth and development. He can be reached at [email protected]
BRIDGEWATER, N.J., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Menlo Therapeutics Inc. (MNLO) (Menlo or the Company), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing proprietary therapies to address unmet needs in dermatology, appointed Andrew Saik as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective March 23, 2020. Mr. Saik will report to David Domzalski, Chief Executive Officer, and will be responsible for leading the Companys global finance operations, including, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, accounting, tax, treasury, supply chain and information technology. He will be based at the Companys headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey.



Andrew is an accomplished CFO and brings a wealth of experience to the senior management team at Menlo, said David Domzalski, Chief Executive Officer of Menlo Therapeutics. His experience includes shaping financial strategy, leading successful M&A transactions, integrating global company and product acquisitions, cash management, and investor relations. In addition, his broad global business expertise, which encompasses commercial pharmaceutical operations, manufacturing and supply chain management, will bring depth and breadth to Menlos executive leadership team at this time of growth for our company.

Mr. Saik said Menlo is positioned to be a market leader in therapeutic dermatology, and I am thrilled to be joining at this exciting time. We have a differentiated commercial-stage product in acne and a compelling portfolio of late stage dermatology assets. Having had previous experience with dermatology products I recognize that companies such as Menlo, with differentiated offerings and the ability to commercialize multiple products in the near-term, can help lead successful consolidation in the sector. The Company has shown a commitment to serving the needs of dermatology patients and I look forward to applying my experience through the next phase of growth.

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Mr. Saik has over 20 years of accounting, finance, and general management experience at domestic and international companies. He was most recently CFO at PDS Biotechnology, Inc. (formerly Edge Therapeutics). Prior to PDS he was CFO at Vertice Pharma, LLC, a Warburg Pincus-backed company. Previously, he was CFO at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he helped lead the execution of Auxilium's growth strategy culminating in the sale of the company for $2.6 billion at an 85% share price premium. Prior to Auxilium, he was Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer at Endo Health Solutions, Inc., where he was responsible for internal and external reporting, global consolidations of M&A transactions, cash management, debt financing and risk management. During his tenure at Endo, he helped complete the acquisition of Paladin Labs and restructured $3B of debt into a new corporate structure. Prior to Endo, Mr. Saik served in senior financial management roles with increasing responsibility at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, including Senior Vice President, Finance and CFO of the Specialty Pharmaceutical Business which included its dermatology franchise. Mr. Saik holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ilan Hadar, Menlos current Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, will remain through a transition period in establishing U.S. financial operations. Ilan has played an instrumental role in helping to build Foamix, now Menlo, into a fully-integrated, commercial-stage pharmaceutical company. On behalf of the Board of Directors and all of Menlos employees, I would like to thank Ilan for the significant contributions he has made at Foamix, and now with Menlo Therapeutics. We wish him well in his future endeavors, stated Mr. Domzalski.

About Menlo Therapeutics

Menlo Therapeutics Inc. recently combined with Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Foamix) to form a different type of biopharmaceutical company working to solve some of todays most difficult therapeutic challenges in dermatology and beyond. Foamix is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Menlo.

With expertise in topical medicine innovation as a springboard, the Company is working to develop and commercialize a variety of solutions using its proprietary Molecule Stabilizing Technology (MST), and has received FDA approval for the worlds first topical minocycline, AMZEEQ (minocycline) topical foam, 4%. In addition, the Company is focused on the development of serlopitant, a once-daily oral NK-1 receptor antagonist, as a novel potential treatment option for pruritus associated with prurigo nodularis.

For more information about Menlo or its investigational products, visit www.menlotherapeutics.com . Menlo may use its website to comply with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Therefore, investors should monitor Menlos website in addition to following its press releases, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, public conference calls, and webcasts.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding expectations with respect to the anticipated announcement of results of Menlos clinical trials for pruritus associated with prurigo nodularis, statements regarding the development and commercialization of Menlos products and product candidates and other statements regarding the future expectations, plans and prospects of Menlo. All statements in this press release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on Menlos current knowledge and its present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, any adverse effects related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Menlos ability to successfully integrate the two companies; the achievement of certain expected cost synergies; the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the merger; the outcome and cost of clinical trials for current and future product candidates, including those for serlopitant; determination by the FDA that results from Menlos clinical trials are not sufficient to support registration or marketing approval of product candidates; adverse events associated with the commercialization of AMZEEQ; the outcome of pricing, coverage and reimbursement negotiations with third party payors for AMZEEQ or any other products or product candidates that Menlo may commercialize in the future; whether, and to what extent, third party payors impose additional requirements before approving AMZEEQ prescription reimbursement; the eligible patient base and commercial potential of AMZEEQ or any of Menlos other product or product candidates; risks that Menlos intellectual property rights, such as patents, may fail to provide adequate protection, may be challenged and one or more claims may be revoked or interpreted narrowly or will not be infringed; risks that any of Menlos patents may be held to be narrowed, invalid or unenforceable or one or more of Menlos patent applications may not be granted and potential competitors may also seek to design around Menlos granted patents or patent applications; additional competition in the acne and dermatology markets; inability to raise additional capital on favorable terms or at all; Menlos ability to recruit and retain key employees; and Menlos ability to stay in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Menlos actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the sections titled Risk Factors in (i) Menlos most recent annual report on Form 10-K, (ii) Foamixs most recent annual report on Form 10-K and (iii) Menlos definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Rule 424(b)(3) on January 7, 2020, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Menlos subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Menlo believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they speak only as of the date of this announcement and Menlo undertakes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as otherwise required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.

Media Relations:

Vusi Moyo

Zeno Group

312-396-9703

vusi.moyo@zenogroup.com
Move pushes back hearings for those sent to Mexico under Trump administrations controversial Remain in Mexico policy.

The United States government late on Monday said all court hearings for many seeking asylum in the US who are currently in Mexico would be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, prompting outrage by immigrant advocates who have called for the programme to be ended altogether.

Due to circumstances resulting from COVID-19, all Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) master calendar and merit hearings presently scheduled through April 22 will be rescheduled, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

More:

In a bid to slash asylum claims, the administration of President Donald Trump launched MPP, informally known as the Remain in Mexico policy, in January 2019, which forced more than 57,000 non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for their US immigration court hearings.

Neither the MPP program nor any hearings will be canceled, the DOJ statement said.

The statement directed those with cancelled hearing dates to report to their port of entry on the US-Mexico border to receive a new hearing date.

Delays make dangerous limbo even worse

Critics of MPP have called on the DOJ to end MPP and postpone immigration courts in order to contain health risks caused by the hearings. Many called Mondays decision dangerous and confusing.

Taylor Levy, a private lawyer based in San Antonio, said on Twitter before Mondays announcement that it was imperative that we shut down the immigration courts and end MPP, allowing asylum seekers to shelter in place with their loved ones in the US.

It is absolutely imperative that we shut down the immigration courts (except for telephonic bond hearings) and #EndMPP. Everyone in #MPP & detention has a safe home to return to in the US to shelter in place, #SafeAndTogether. Stop risking lives @DOJ_EOIR and do the right thing! https://t.co/iMy0927aJX  Taylor Levy (@taylorklevy) March 22, 2020

Coronavirus delays will make this dangerous limbo even worse, tweeted Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy council at the American Immigration Council.

Last night, @CBP and @DOJ_EOIR announced that MPP hearings are suspended through April 22. I ran the numbers. Through January, more than 5,000 people had already been waiting in Mexico for more than six months. Coronavirus delays will make this dangerous limbo even worse. pic.twitter.com/VVKfosAiwR  Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) March 24, 2020

Mondays decision forces incredibly vulnerable families into overcrowded encampments that are physically and financially unable to properly combat a pandemic outbreak. [ICE] has the power to #ParoleThemAll to their families and keep them #SafeandTogether.

This forces incredibly vulnerable families into overcrowded encampments that are physically and financially unable to properly combat a pandemic outbreak. @ICEgov has the power to #ParoleThemAll to their families and keep them #SafeandTogether. https://t.co/CagTTsnpkA  ImmDef (@ImmDef) March 24, 2020

MPP looks set to continue for the time being, however.

The Supreme Court decided on March 11 to lift a ban on the MPP policy pending their decision on an appeal from a lower court.

The justices stayed a Ninth Circuit Court ruling from two weeks prior that declared the policy illegal. Had the Supreme Court allowed the decision to remain, asylum seekers who crossed the border in Arizona and California would not have been subject to MPP.

MPP has been widely criticised by rights groups who say immigrants and asylum seekers sent back to Mexico are vulnerable to kidnapping, rape, robbery and other crimes while living in sometimes unsanitary conditions.

According to Antonio Arrellano, interim director of immigrant rights advocate group Jolt, MPP is a threat both to both the immigrants and the international reputation of the US.

The policy hurts Americas standing on the world stage, puts vulnerable people in jeopardy and perpetuates the codified racism of the Trump administration, Arrellano said in a statement following the Supreme Court decision.
McDonald's Australia have decided to shout all healthcare workers a free drink by way of thanks for fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the frontline.

The show of community spirit was announced on March 23 and will run right up until May 17, allowing all health professionals to redeem a free small McCafe hot drink or medium soft drink.

In a statement on social media the fast food restaurant wrote: 'Some of the most important people at this time are the people who look after us and our loved ones.

'To say thanks we're shouting any healthcare workers a free drink.'

McDonald's Australia have decided to shout all healthcare workers a free drink by way of thanks for fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the frontline

All you have to do to get your tasty beverage is drive through the takeaway section of the cafe in your uniform or show your healthcare ID.

The McDonald's team over in Britain have offered a similar reward for those living in the UK and Ireland, who are in stricter lockdown conditions.

However healthcare workers won't be able to sit in the building to enjoy the drink, and will need to take it off the premises as soon as they receive it.

McDonald's have closed dine-in sections

McDonald's restaurants across Australia have closed all of the dine-in sections in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

'At Macca's, looking after you, our team and the wider community is our priority, so in line with Government guidance, we're making a few changes,' the fast food juggernaut wrote online.

'For the time being, you won't be able to dine-in, but we'll be here for you to walk in and takeaway, and via Drive-Thru and McDelivery.'
New Delhi/Kolkata: A group of some 100 Indian students from medical colleges in Bangladesh will not be allowed to enter the country through a border crossing in West Bengal in view of restrictions in movements from other countries and within India, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday.

The students, mostly from Kashmir, have been stranded on the Bangladeshi side of Benapole border crossing since Monday evening following the sealing of the frontier. The students posted a video on social media on Tuesday asking the external affairs minister and home minister to allow them to enter the country.

We are 70 Kashmiri students. We study in various medical colleges across Bangladesh. We are stuck at the Benapole border since 6 pm on Monday. Our colleges and hostels are closed and we were asked to vacate the hostels and go back home. But the borders are closed and we are not allowed to enter. We are hungry and will wait at the border till we are allowed to enter, one of the students said in the minute-long video.

DIG SS Guleria of the Border Security Force (South Bengal frontier headquarters), or BSF, said the number of students at the Benapole crossing had increased throughout Tuesday to 100.

But the BSF has nothing to do with it. The Bureau of Immigration will have to take a call, Guleria said.

A person familiar with developments in New Delhi said: The students are advised to go back to their hostels in the interest of their health and safety and also of the community.

The people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the principals of the concerned colleges in Bangladesh had denied reports that the students were asked to vacate their hostels and confirmed they would be accommodated in the hostels.

The students reached the border despite advice to the contrary from the Indian high commission in Bangladesh and knowing full well the restrictions in force in India due to Covid-19, the person cited above said.
With two more people testing positive for COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases in Haryana rose to 16 on Tuesday, Health Department officials said.

The number of positive cases reported from Gurgaon now stand at 10, they said.

Besides, a case each has been reported from Panchkula, Faridabad, Palwal and Sonipat. Two people have tested positive for coronavirus in Panipat, the officials said.

Test reports of 65 samples were awaited, they said.

Entire Haryana went under lockdown on Tuesday, a day after the state government issued the order to help check the spread of coronavirus.

The Haryana government had earlier ordered lockdown in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panchkula districts till March 31, but later decided to extend the measure to the entire state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People wear masks as they cross a street during evening rush hour, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Beijing, China, March 3, 2020. Thomas Peter | Reuters

BEIJING  An early look at Chinese business conditions in March shows little indication the economy has recovered much from the shock of the coronavirus in the first two months of the year, according to the China Beige Book. The firm conducts an independent survey of more than 3,300 Chinese businesses every quarter. Its primary indicators for the first quarter have fallen to their lowest level in nearly 10 years of tracking China's economy, according to an early look brief released Tuesday Beijing time. "Crucially the results continued to deteriorate into mid-March when most firms were re-opening and supposedly 'back to work,'" the report said. "Nationally, our revenue index plunged to -26 this quarter while profits dove in tandem, to -22."

COVID-19, which first emerged in late December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed more than 3,200 people in mainland China. While the spread of the virus within the country has stalled, it has since infected hundreds of thousands around the world and killed more than 11,000 people globally. Major parts of the world have restricted travel and locked down cities in an effort to contain the virus, prompting fears of a global recession that has rocked financial markets around the world. In China, official figures in the last two weeks or so say the largest companies and key businesses have resumed work at a rate close to 80% or 90%, if not higher. However, that of small- and medium-sized companies  which contribute to the majority of growth and jobs in the country  has been lower, at above 60%. "Output contracted (in March) even more than it had in February, employee workweeks shrank further, and hiring continued to decline despite labor supply shortages worsening," Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book, said in an email on Friday. The larger takeaway is clearly that return to work has not meant return to growth for China (at least not as yet)."

First quarter weakness may persist

The China Beige Book said it's "not unreasonable" that gross domestic product will contract 10% to 11% in the first quarter, even with a slight upturn in the last few weeks of this month. Last week, China's National Bureau of Statistics released data for January and February that showed sharp drops in key indicators such as fixed asset investment and retail sales. The official unemployment rate for cities, which many analysts doubt, also jumped in February to 6.2%  outside a range it has held for the last two decades.

The China recovery story is no longer just about domestic resilience, but also factors beyond Beijing's control. China Beige Book
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Mubashir Hasan

Mainstream, VOL LVIII No 14 New Delhi March 21, 2020

TRIBUTE

Woh dekha jaye kab ye zulm dekha jaaye hai mujh se

(How shall I bear to see this, this injustice)

Ghalib*

Who was he?

Statesman poet writer ornithologist visionary?

His tall frame

Strode across South Asia

Rose to pinnacle of power

Rose and rose

Then easily gently

Let the power go into the void.

Soldier for peace

I saw him in halls and streets

Of Lahore Delhi Karachi Kolkata Bangalore

Amidst women and men who

With banners and songs

Asserted the longing of masses

For a world free of concertina wires and bloodied borders.

People whose voices usually are drowned in war

Until someone blasts that lethal noise

I saw him on Kolkata Esplande on Karachi stage

In Lahore Islamabad Madras Hyderabad Dhaka Kathmandu Columbo

He gathered South Asia in his embrace

In his long arms, his hands, his eyes,

His words were carefully chosen

Before Prime Ministers, Presidents, Students, Peasants

His voice was gentle, firm

His message unequivocal

Demanding the raising

Of the banner of humanity

Above all national flags.

Soft speech, kind touch, cluttered room uncluttered life

He guided our vessel

And left this earth with markings everywhere

I see him

Somewhere in the dark depths of unknown

Raising a salute to comrades left behind

On the parched terrain of South Asia

Knowing they will not let go

The plough and the furrow

Until the earth relents and dead land is torn by new sprouts.

*Mubashir Hasan lived and breathed the poetry of Mirza Ghalib

A former member of the Planning Commission of India, Dr Syeda Hameed is the Co-Chairperson of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) from the Indian side; she also happened to be the niece of Dr Mubashir Hasan.
BEAVER DAM -Carlan F. Matuszeski, age 91, of Beaver Dam, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on March 22, 2020.

Carl was born and raised at his homestead in the Town of Westford on April 14, 1928, the son of John F. and Josephine E. (Mann) Matuszeski.

He attended school in the Town of Westford until 8th grade and then worked on the family farm. He served in the Army and was stationed in Germany during the Korean War. Upon his return he met his wife Nancy at a dance in Fall River. They were united in marriage on April 29, 1961 at St. Michaels Catholic Church.

Carl was employed at Rissman and Gamble as a mechanic for 15 years. He then worked at Brad Ragan Tire in Madison as a mechanic and retired after 35 years of service. After retirement, he was a dedicated volunteer at St. Vincent de Pauls, fixing and tinkering with items that were donated for 15 plus years and made many friends there.
It might be the future of diagnostic testing for common infections, and could prove to be a crucial tool for understanding and fighting novel viruses. Next generation genetic sequencing  or next generation sequencing (NGS)  is becoming more common in research, although it still isn't widely available. At the UNC School of Medicine, it is part of a research collaboration to better understand viral lung infections, including COVID-19  the novel coronavirus sweeping the world.

We can use NGS, which detects all viruses in a given sample from a patient, to make certain our current tests are working correctly to identify the COVID-19 virus." Dirk Dittmer, PhD, director of the UNC Viral Genomics Core and member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

NGS not only identifies all viruses present in a sample, but sequences, or decodes, the DNA of the viruses. Having the ability to sift through the genomic code of a virus gives insight into how old it is, where it came from, and if it is mutating.

"It's like taking a fingerprint of the virus," Dittmer said. "It allows us to explore a sample and take a deeper look at what we find. It could help us learn many things, including why some people get sick from the virus and others do not."

Standard diagnostic testing used to quickly detect influenza or respiratory infections looks only for a limited number of pre-determined viruses, and doesn't provide information beyond a positive or negative result. The same goes for testing developed to diagnose COVID-19. The test developed by UNC researchers looks for one portion of the virus' gene sequence that causes the novel coronavirus.

"Because we are only looking at one gene sequence for the virus, we must continually monitor for changes in this gene sequence so that we can be assured that our test is still reliable," said Melissa Miller, PhD, director of UNC Medical Center Microbiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratories. "NGS will help us do that."

Miller and Dittmer are collaborating to keep the COVID-19 tests as accurate as possible. After UNC has gone through the FDA's process of confirmation for their testing  getting the first five positive and first five negative results confirmed by North Carolina's laboratory of public health  the first positive 100 specimens will go to Dittmer's lab for further sequencing studies.

"It certainly helps the overall knowledge that we have of COVID-19 disease and coinfections of other viruses that might be there," Miller said.

Dittmer and William A. Fischer, MD, professor in the division of pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine, are corresponding authors on a study published this month in the journal of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. The lead author of the study is Subhashini A. Sellers, MD, assistant professor in the division of pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine. The study's goal was to identify the burden of respiratory illness on people living with HIV. To make sure all viruses and bacteria were accounted for in the samples, Dittmer and his colleagues compared the sensitivity of NGS to standard diagnostic testing for corona viruses, influenza viruses and other infections in people living with HIV, who had respiratory symptoms.

"We used NGS because there is concern that people with HIV are susceptible to viruses not usually on the pathogen panel used in standard of care testing," said Sellers. "In our standard testing we found a strain of rhinovirus, but when it was genetically sequenced we saw it was more unique than the usual strains we see. NGS can help us track this kind of information, which is important in quickly detecting and tracing novel infections and community outbreaks."

"When it comes to novel viruses, you can determine the genetic sequence of a virus and compare it to a database of all known viruses," Dittmer said. "By using genetic sequencing, researchers previously found that the closest 'relative' of COVID-19 was a coronavirus found in bats."

Dittmer is working on a clinical trial using NGS to ensure COVID-19 testing is accurate on a larger scale. In the meantime, his lab will continue to collaborate with Dr. Miller.

Dittmer said, "This is an example of how having a great research environment at UNC SOM is allowing our community to come together and contribute to the greater public health effort."
The Mail has long championed the tireless efforts of the doctors, nurses, assistants and volunteers who come together every day to help make our healthcare system the envy of the world.

And in these particularly difficult times, as they stand together against coronavirus, we laud them now more than ever. Amazingly, not only are many health professionals being redeployed to areas of the NHS unfamiliar to them, but retired and student colleagues are, at a moments notice, stepping up to help in this time of national need.

Here, we talk to just a few of these amazing NHS heroes.

Doctors, nurses, assistants and volunteers all stand together against coronavirus and we laud them now more than ever. Pictured: A banner in Manchester shows support for NHS staff

The nurse

Hannah Lappin, 32, is a PA who lives with husband Carl, 36

Hannah Lappin, 32, is a PA who lives with husband Carl, 36, a commercial manager and their four children in Hampshire. She says:

Although I still have my job, Ive applied to go back to work as a paediatric nurse because its the right thing to do in the current climate. I qualified in 2009 but two years ago gave it up to look after my family. But when all this happened, I just felt I have to go back and support my colleagues and friends who are on the front-line. Friends who are working on the wards are saying its very busy, although thankfully the paediatric unit is not as busy as other wards at the moment. But that might mean Im redeployed to intensive care or A&E.

I expected to get called up at some point anyway, so I thought Id get in there first. Ive done a little bit of private care work in those two years so my skills are still there and you can always do the basics such as taking a pulse or temperature. Of course I worry a little that I may get the virus myself and bring it home to my family. But Ill take all the necessary precautions. Ill change into my uniform at work and out of it again before getting home and Ill boil wash it.

Because my husband is still in work, our plan is that he will work mornings and early afternoons in his job and then I will work at whatever hospital Im deployed to from mid-afternoon until the early hours of the morning. It will mean I hardly see him, but his job pays the mortgage and he has to keep it.

Hes been completely supportive and we know it wont be for ever. Its not like some nurses who are having to completely isolate themselves. I saw one story on Facebook recently of a nurse who was completely isolating herself from her husband because he has cystic fibrosis.

Shes about to move out of her home so she can work for the NHS but not give him the virus. I feel insignificant compared to what shes doing.

Ive applied to two Trusts and Im told that the applications are being processed as quickly as 24 hours, so I may already be working later this week. Im a little nervous but Im a hit the ground running kind of person. There will be new policies and procedures in place that I will have to learn, but in my experience, nurses are amazing and always rally round if I need help.

This feels like the very least I can do in the circumstances.

The specialist who's been redeployed

Dr Max Pemberton is an nhs psychiatrist and Daily Mail columnist.

The past ten days have been the scariest and most challenging of my medical career.

By the time I came into work the morning after Boris Johnson announced we had moved from the delay to contain phase, managers who had been up all night had already started to implement profound changes to the way our hospital was run.

Dr Max Pemberton is an nhs psychiatrist and Daily Mail columnist

Mental health patients are at particular risk because they are likely to have underlying physical health problems, so it is essential the wards are prepared for infected patients and there are beds for them.

We have discharged whole wards in preparation, and have had to make uncomfortable decisions about redeploying staff and clearing space in preparation for the tidal wave of sick patients that is anticipated.

I am one of those that was redeployed for a short time, to cover an inpatient psychiatric ward, because the junior doctor had to self-isolate. As well as all the usual junior doctor jobs such as writing up drug charts, my main job was to identify patients who could be discharged. All the patients were very unwell and none would have usually been sent home, yet we had no choice.

Then we had a case of suspected Covid-19, so the patient had to be nursed in isolation. The time and resources this took was considerable  it required wearing an apron, eye mask, face mask, shoe covering and gloves.

To add to it all, my partner has an inherited liver condition which means he is high risk so I am having to frantically arrange a hotel to move into to protect him.

As more staff members go off sick or have to isolate it is inevitable that I will be asked to cover other wards. At the moment I have stayed working within my area of expertise  mental health  but we must be prepared to be redeployed. This is daunting, but medical and nursing training in this country is thorough so I know we will cope.

I have never been prouder of our NHS and to play my part in it. At times of national crisis like this we see the value of having a healthcare system like ours. There is no way that other countries could have achieved the kind of extraordinary, gargantuan reorganisation in literally a matter of days. We all knew that there would be changes to the services we offer, but the scale and speed of these changes has taken us all by surprise.

This crisis has shown the NHS at its absolute best. You quickly learn to appreciate how important every persons job is. Its been a tough week and its hardly even begun. But I want you to know this: we are working tirelessly and will do our very best for you. See you on the other side.

The retired GP

Dr Martin Scurr, GP and Daily Mail columnist

Last Friday I was contacted by the General Medical Council to rejoin the NHS workforce as part of the government response to the Covid-19 virus.

I was expecting a letter. National news broadcasts made the announcement on Thursday and when an email and detailed questionnaire arrived the following morning I was impressed: someone is on the ball.

Dr Martin Scurr, GP and Daily Mail columnist, was contacted by the General Medical Council to rejoin the NHS workforce as part of the government response to the Covid-19 virus

There was a clear explanation of the need for recently retired doctors to return to work, along with an enquiry about my professional experience and questions about how much I would be prepared to do.

I had retired from clinical practice in April 2017 in the wake of a long illness which left me breathless and feeble. Three years on, I did not hesitate to agree to come back to the frontline.

I am now fit as a flea, so why wouldnt I respond to the call for help? The problem is not just a shortage of ventilators and equipment, it is a shortage of experienced personnel skilled in the care of the seriously ill.

In May 1940 my father, at the age of 20, was anaesthetising casualties as they came off the boats following the retreat from Dunkirk. Now, as I write, my own son is an anaesthetist at a London hospital, and I welcome an opportunity to put my shoulder back to the wheel. I am awaiting a further briefing about how I can be of value. Although I have expressed reservations about face-to-face care of sick patients, I am most concerned about the elderly, who are isolated and who are not deemed suitable for active treatment.

I am in that age group and hope to offer my support.

The medical student

Harriet Loney, 24, from Middlewich, Cheshire, completed her medical finals at the University of Oxford on Friday, March 13  and minutes later, volunteered to help admit Covid-19 patients at John Radcliffe Hospital.

After six years of studying to be a doctor, I was due to be packing my swimsuit and stethoscope this week and flying to Australia for the final placement of my study, the chance to work abroad.

Instead, Im reporting for volunteer shifts at the A&E department at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

It feels slightly unreal, as I stand at the doorway and assess patients as they arrive, that I only sat my final exam ten days ago. New patients are coming in every few minutes, many in respiratory distress and everyone is scared  particularly the families who arrive with them.

As a volunteer, I have the time to sit with relatives, explain what is happening and talk to them about symptoms.

Yesterday, one woman burst into tears. Shed come into hospital with her elderly father, who was ill with a blood infection.

She told me her mother  who remained at home  was displaying symptoms of Covid-19. She was terrified her mothers condition could suddenly worsen, but I reassured her that she was doing a good job of nursing her at home.

Harriet Loney, 24, from Middlewich, Cheshire, completed her medical finals at the University of Oxford on Friday, March 13  and minutes later, volunteered to help admit Covid-19 patients at John Radcliffe Hospital

So far I have completed four shifts and Ive learned not only about medicine but so much about the interaction with patients and their families. I am convinced this experience will make me a better doctor.

It took me just a few minutes to decide to volunteer. Straight after our final prescribing paper, we were called in to a lecture hall for a meeting.

The university medical team asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to help in A&E as the NHS had released a call-out for help from medical students to be healthcare workers. Im interested in emergency medicine, so I didnt hesitate, and 24 of us signed up to help.

Our training was on our first shift, six days later. I was nervous, because nobody knows what to expect, and I still wake up each day and dont know whats going to happen.

When I told my parents what I was going to do, they were proud. They werent afraid of me being exposed to the virus because I reassured them that any patient with symptoms is given a mask. And because of all the precautions, Im not much more worried about catching the virus in hospital than when I go to the shops.

Since my first day volunteering, Ive been at the door of the A&E department, greeting patients as they come in, and assessing them. I have a list of questions to ask them, to identify possible Covid-19 patients.

If they display the symptoms, theyre given a mask to wear and sent into the respiratory section, to keep them from infecting other patients. Ive not yet tended patients on the respiratory side of A&E, where staff wear masks and gloves.

General A&E is quieter than normal, but were still seeing accident victims, very sick children and patients raced in with other ailments. I think everyone is treating the NHS with new respect, and I hope thats something that stays with us when this crisis is over.

Im working four to eight-hour shifts with healthcare assistants to take blood and put up drips. I think my most useful role is comforting and informing relatives. Volunteers are often the only ones who have time to console them.

I am scared because nobody knows if theyll catch Covid-19, or how ill they may become. But were trained to cope under pressure.

Every day, theres so many more cases, but retired staff are coming back and with research moving so fast, our guidelines change every day.

At the start of each shift, I check to see what new symptoms to look out for. I became a doctor to save lives  thats what I hope Im doing now, just sooner than I expected.

MP returning to duty

Dr James Davies, 40, MP for Vale of Clwyd, lives in Prestatyn with wife Nina, 38, a nurse, and their sons Wilfred, six, and Ralph, three.

He is returning to work as a GP in his community when Parliament takes its Easter break.

Its my duty to help my NHS colleagues as they battle each day to treat corona-hit patients, and I hope to restart work as a GP when the House of Commons soon finishes for Easter.

Dr James Davies, 40, MP for Vale of Clwyd, lives in Prestatyn with wife Nina, 38, a nurse, and their sons Wilfred, six, and Ralph, three

If I need to work beyond that, I will do. Thankfully, Im up to date with my annual medical appraisals, I am still on the GPs Medical Register  an online list of all doctors  and have my insurance, so it should be straightforward for me to get back to work. I kept these up for my own future  politics is a precarious business  plus it keeps me in touch with reality.

I qualified 16 years ago and worked as a GP in North Wales and Cheshire until I became an MP in 2017. I decided to return to being a GP last week as the crisis worsened and I saw that all hands are needed on the deck. It was the right thing to do.

I will still work as an MP and I am hearing from many constituents who are worried about coronavirus and this is another way I can support and serve my community.

My wife Nina is a community nurse and works part-time, but is supportive of me going back to front-line NHS work and is making herself available as and when she can for extra work. I am aware that all front-line NHS staff face risks every day they are treating corona patients, but so do all the key workers who are going over and above duty to do their bit.

Ive worked in many surgeries over the years and I have said I am willing to do out-of-hours surgeries, weekend and night shifts and home visits in my area  I will support my medical colleagues in whatever way I can.

I am fearful of what is ahead. It is going to get worse before it gets better, but if everyone follows NHS safety guidelines, we will get through this.
A priest wearing a face mask checks a book of funeral rites as he gives the last blessing to a deceased person, by a coffin during a funeral ceremony outside the cemetery of Bolgare, Lombardy. (Piero CRUCIATTI/AFP)

The Mediterranean country has now seen its daily fatalities come down from a world record 793 on Saturday to 651 on Sunday and 601 on Monday.

The number of new declared infections fell from 6,557 on Saturday to 4,789 on Monday.

The top medical officer for Milan's devastated Lombardy region appeared on television smiling for the first time in many weeks.

"We cannot declare victory just yet," Giulio Gallera said. "But there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) chief Silvio Brusaferro was more guarded.

"These are positive number but I do not have the courage to firmly state that there is a downward trend," the medical expert told reporters.

Italians will desperately hope that weeks of living under a lockdown in which even a jog in the park was eventually banned was the price worth paying for beating back the new disease.

Saturday's record toll was followed by a late-night address to the nation in which Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the additional closure of "non-essential" factories.

His government also banned travel to help a country that turned into the new epicentre of the pandemic last week get through a critical stretch in which restrictions are supposed to finally show results.

"Now more than ever, everyone's commitment is needed," Health Minister Roberto Speranza said after Monday's figures came out.

Italy's toll now stands at 6,077 - more than that of China and third-placed Spain combined.

NERVES STARTING TO FRAY

Italy has sacrificed its economy and liberties by closing and banning almost everything to halt the spread of a virus the government views as an existential threat.

The nation has rallied around its exhausted doctors and tried to deal with life under a state of emergency with humour and grace.

Entire city blocks have organised balcony parties with nightly DJs. There have been singalongs and synchronised rounds of applause.

But Italians' nerves were clearly starting to fray and the pushback on social media against the ever-changing rules and tightening regulations was getting strong.

Twitter posts went viral ridiculing mayors and regional chiefs who threatened to jail joggers and fine people for walking their dogs too far from their homes.

The government's new partial ban of seemingly random industries added to an air of confusion in the face of a disease Conte has called Italy's biggest disaster since World War II.

Auto part makers were allowed to stay open but steel mills were shut. News stands could still operate but book stores could not.

DECISION TIME

The reality is that Conte's team is running out of things to close or ban.

Other nations are also watching the Italian numbers to see if Conte's ban-everything tactics work.

Italy is on the frontline of a war against a disease being fought by means that currently restrict freedoms and devastate economies.

Some are starting to openly ask if this price is too high - even as the global death toll soars.

Officials pleaded with the nation of 60 million - people accustomed to celebrating life outdoors deep into the night - to sacrifice individual liberties for the common good for two weeks.

The initial restrictions placed on the northern epicentre of the pandemic around Milan expired on Sunday and the national measures are set to end on Wednesday.

Conte indicated last week that he might need to extend the restrictions indefinitely.

His decision is expected within days.

"If everyone - and I stress everyone - respects our bans, we will emerge from this very difficult test first," Conte said on Monday.
Berlin, March 24 (IANS) Germany has approved a massive and unprecedented financial aid package of 156 billion euro ($166.5 bn), the largest in the country since the Second World War, to offset the socio-economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The stimulus package is designed to ease the burden on hospitals and clinics and supply financial aid to save jobs and companies that have been affected by the pandemic, reports Efe news.

"The corona pandemic is changing our whole lives," said Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor, said on Monday while explaining why the government was taking "the necessary and correct" step of unveiling such an enormous economic aid package.

"We will do everything we can to prevent this crisis from endangering the health care of our citizens or the economic processes in this country."

German authorities fear a severe recession due to the crisis, with the decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expected to be "at least as high" as in 2008/2009, Minister of Economy Peter Altmeier warned while announcing a bailout fund of up to 600 billion euros for larger companies.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, meanwhile, said that hospitals and clinics requiring additional staff, beds and equipment would receive financial support.

"If you need more beds, if you need more staff and equipment to treat coronavirus patients, you will be compensated financially," Spahn said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the cabinet meeting from her home office, where she has been in quarantine since Sunday after coming into contact with a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus.

"She is simply in home office, as are many other people who have had to place themselves in self-isolation at home," Scholz told reporters.

"She is active: we had the cabinet meeting together this morning."

The Minister added that he would speak in Merkel's stead in the Bundestag lower house of parliament session on Wednesday.

Despite Merkel being forced into preventative isolation, Germany is "seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off slightly", said Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, on Monday, although he cautioned that a fuller picture would only be available from Wednesday.

Wieler said he was optimistic that social distancing measures taken last week and over the weekend, including the closure of schools and bans on all public gatherings, had helped to limit the virus's spread.

Germany has recorded 115 deaths out of more than 26,220 cases of the coronavirus, making it the fifth-worst affected country by number of infections, behind Spain (over 35,156), the US (46,371), China (81,545), where the virus originated, and Italy, which is now the epicentre of the pandemic with 63,927 cases and 6,077 deaths on Monday, according to John Hopkins University.

The COVID-19 disease has killed 16,557 people worldwide out of 381,499 confirmed cases. A total of 101,794 people have recovered.

--IANS

ksk/
AT&T Inc. T has secured the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) Special Temporary Authority to use the additional spectrum to help meet Americans wireless broadband needs during the coronavirus pandemic. On Mar 19, the Dallas, TX-based wireless carrier was granted authority for 60 days to operate in Advanced Wireless Services (AWS)-4 Band spectrum licensed to DISH.



The following day, both AT&T and Verizon Communications VZ were granted a similar authority to use the AWS-3 spectrum, which is currently held in the FCCs inventory. With this, the Commission has now granted Special Temporary Authority to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US TMUS and U.S. Cellular USM to strengthen wireless capacity nationwide.



The FCC has been helping Americans to work from home, learn at home and connect remotely to health care professionals during this hour of crisis. So far, more than 550 companies and associations have signed the chairmans pledge to Keep Americans Connected. Broadband and phone service providers have agreed to take specific steps to help people stay connected for the next 60 days. They have committed to not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay bills, waive late fees due to economic circumstances, and open Wi-Fi hotspots to anyone who needs them.



AT&T has created a $10 million Distance Learning and Family Connections Fund to support parents, teachers and students during the COVID-19 school closures. For the safety of employees, the company has decided to double the hours for paid, excused time off to up to a total of 160 hours for those who are unable to resume their professional obligations due to protective measures. While offering work from home options to employees who dont require on-site presence, AT&T has established six new command centers to cater to higher broadband demand for homes, new circuits, and unified communication services.



The company withdrew its plans to purchase $4 billion in stock buybacks to remain flexible during the coronavirus outbreak. AT&T previously announced that it had entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley to repurchase $4 billion of stock during the second quarter. However, the contagious disease and its grave impact on the economy have forced the company to reconsider the buyback plan.



AT&T added that it is unable to estimate the impact on its financial or operational results. Among the factors that could impact its results are the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation measures, global economic conditions, consumer spending, work from home trends and supply chain sustainability. These factors could result in increased or decreased demand for the companys products and services and impact its ability to serve customers. That said, it continues to care for employees and enhance network, including nationwide 5G. The investments will help ensure that the company is well positioned when the pandemic passes and economies begin to recover.



On Mar 16, AT&T announced that it has introduced a 5G network to 20 more markets. With this, the company is now offering access to 5G on its unlimited wireless plans for consumers and businesses in a total of 100 markets across the United States. 5G+ is currently available in parts of 35 cities for customers with compatible plans and devices. The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2020 results on Apr 22, before the opening bell.



AT&Ts shares have lost 28.4% compared with 19.6% decline recorded by the industry in the past six months.





Story continues





AT&T currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



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Inmates file out of the prison bakery at the Rikers Island jail after working the morning shift, in New York. Nearly a third of Rikers Island inmates who said their visible injuries came at the hands of a correction officer last year had suffered a blow to the head.

Bebeto Matthews/AP

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on March 24 that he plans to release select inmates from city jails, including Rikers Island, to prevent infections during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor de Blasio said an estimated 300 inmates who are over 70 years old and have at least five pre-existing conditions that put them at greater risk for becoming infected with a severe case would be released immediately.

The policy won't included any inmates who have domestic violence or sexual offense charges, de Blasio said, because the city doesn't feel comfortable releasing them at this time.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In an attempt to get ahead of a potential coronavirus outbreak in New York City correctional facilities, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on March 24 that he plans to release select inmates from jail who are over 70 years old and have one of five pre-existing conditions that put them at greater risk of a severe COVID-19 infection.

"I strongly believe they all should be released," de Blasio said during a press briefing. "75 have been released already. We want to identify anyone in those categories and get them released immediately."

He said an estimated 300 Rikers Island inmates will be released immediately if they have less than one year left to serve, but he didn't comment on other city jails.

The policy won't included any inmates who have domestic violence or sexual offense charges, de Blasio said, because the city doesn't feel comfortable releasing them at this time. But those who have been convicted of misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies and have less than a year left in their sentence will be released.

The news comes after a Rikers Island inmate tested positive for COVID-19. On March 22, the city's Department of Correction said 17 employees and 29 inmates are infected with COVID-19.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Premier Doug Ford is cutting daytime electricity prices by about $20 monthly for the average household with so many Ontarians at home from 9 to 5 during the COVID-19 crisis.

The province is switching to the evening, overnight and weekend price of 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 45 days at a cost of $162 million in foregone revenue.

The savings will simply show up on your next bill, Ford told a news conference Tuesday, telling Ontarians its now cheaper to do the laundry or run the dishwasher during the day.

Energy Minister Greg Rickford estimated the measure that started Tuesday will save the average small business $150 a month with farms getting relief of about $300.

Rickford praised Ontarians for doing the right thing by staying home.

The Association of Power Producers of Ontario applauded the price break.

Ontarians should not be financially disadvantaged because they are following the direction of public health officials and staying home, the organization said in a statement.

A group representing small- and medium-sized companies asked the Progressive Conservative government to consider extending the rate relief beyond the envisioned six-week time frame.

That would avoid businesses that are starting back up after COVID-19 facing peak summer rates when the economy is just getting going again, said Ryan Mallough of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Ford had hinted at the rate reduction move in the last week after closing schools, declaring a provincial state of emergency and urging people to stay home or work from home to slow the spread of the virus that has killed seven in Ontario and more than 17,000 around the world.

In addition, thousands of workers in the restaurant, retail and other sectors have been laid off as the province moves to an essential services model.

With so many offices, manufacturers and schools dark, TVs and computers are on all day in houses, apartments and condos when time-of-use rates are usually 40 per cent to 100 per cent higher depending on the time of day.

The peak price from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the dinner rush rate from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. is 20.8 cents per kilowatt hour on weekdays. The mid-peak rate between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. is 14.4 cents.

The $162 million price tag is on top of the $5.6 billion a year the Progressive Conservative government is spending on subsidies to keep the price of electricity down. In addition, Ford promised during his 2018 election campaign to slash rates another 12 per cent.

The premier urged landlords to consider sharing the rate relief with tenants whose hydro is included in the rent.

If you have a savings why wouldnt you pass it on?

A ban on winter disconnections of electricity service for unpaid hydro bills was extended last week to the end of July as thousands struggle with household finances because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ontario Energy Board, which sets rates, has asked local electric utilities across the province to be more flexible on arrears payment arrangements.

Read more about:
- Six doctors from the Philippine Heart Center tested positive for COVID-19

- The number included the other two doctors, Bactol and Jara, who succumbed to the virus

- Four other doctors are relatively well despite being infected with the virus

- The hospital's safety officers where Jara stayed are still trying to track how the doctor caught the virus

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

The executive director of the Philippine Heart Center, Dr. Joel Abanilla, revealed that there were six doctors who tested positive for COVID-19.

A report from GMA revealed that the number already included the two doctors who died of the virus - Dr. Raul Diaz Jara and Dr. Israel Bactol.

The four other doctors are "relatively well," although the safety officers of the hospital are still tracking the individuals who have come in contact with Dr. Jara.

ABS-CBN reported that DOH urged patients to provide all necessary information as frontline doctors are at risk whenever a patient would hide his or her travel history or any association or contact with an infected patient.

In Rappler's account, it did not reveal who the doctor was, but that he was young and had a fulfilling life.

In light of the developments, the DOH appeals to everyone to disclose their symptoms, travel history and if ever they came in contact with a COVID-19 case.

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In a previous report by KAMI, doctors have died after being infected by COVID-19. They are among the frontliners who attend to the patients rushing to hospitals amid the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine.

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!

Are you an avid fan of a celeb? You might want to challenge yourself and see if you can guess the voice of celebs through recordings. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
French health authorities reported 186 new deaths from coronavirus on Monday, taking the total to 860 or an increase of 28%, with the toll rising more sharply than the last three days as the country is about to enter its second week of lockdown.

During a press conference, Health Minister Olivier Veran added the number of cases had risen to 19,856, which is a rise of about 20% in 24 hours.

Veran said 2,082 people were in a serious condition needing life support, up 19% compared to Sunday, another increase compared to the last three official tallies.

SOURCE: REUTERS
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

The scope of work on conducting coronavirus tests has greatly increased in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Gasimov said.

Gasimov made the remark in Baku at the briefing in connection with coronavirus, Trend reports.

To date, 72 individuals tests are positive, deputy minister said. They have been infected with coronavirus. Ten of them recovered, one person died. About 1,000 people are on quarantine. There are two foreigners among infected people. These are mainly people aged 29-50 years old.

"The facts of infection are more often observed in the southern region, Gasimov said. The people infected were among those who arrived in Azerbaijan before the closure of the border with Iran.

Touching upon the issue of medical masks supplies, the deputy minister stressed that they have been purchased and are sold by pharmacies.

Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers Ibrahim Mammadov emphasized that currently, there are currently enough volumes masks and personal protective equipment in Azerbaijan. Moreover, other medical supplies are also being imported into the country.

Azerbaijan remains one of the countries, least affected by the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The country's official structures are applying necessary measures to prevent any possible exposure of coronavirus. Azerbaijan has also imported necessary medical equipment to carry out coronavirus tests.



Azerbaijan's official structures have also set up quarantine centers in the country's districts, which would allow to react faster to the possible outbreak due to joint borders. Azerbaijan shares border with Iran, where coronavirus is currently spreading rapidly.
Third crude oil transit shipment set to head to Belarus via Ukraine

19:20, 24.03.20 2811

The first tanker was unloaded on March 14, while the second one  on March 17.
ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb. 29, 2020 -- Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the World's Leading Theme Park, welcomed guests today to experience its all-new Family Zone for the first time. Complete with four state-of-the-art attractions designed exclusively for younger guests, the new area is a must-visit for families and friends of all ages. The new zone promises to deliver unrivalled thrills that mirror the adult guest experience at the iconic red-roofed theme park. The launch of the Family Zone is one of the many special surprises lined up throughout 2020, as Ferrari World Abu Dhabi gears up to celebrate its 10th anniversary this November.

Commenting on the launch of the new Family Zone, Bianca Sammut, General Manager of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, said, "It fills us with great pride and joy to officially open the Family Zone at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi  with four game-changing miniature attractions inspired by our fan-favorite rides. We can finally show our younger guests what it's like to be a 'big kid' at our legendary theme park! The addition of these attractions is a key milestone in our 10-year journey and a testament of our dedication to continuously elevate the guest experience at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi."

The Family Zone encompasses four all-new attractions; the Formula Rossa Junior, Speedway Race, Flying Wings and the Turbo Tower, all designed for younger guests seeking action-packed adventures.

A spectacular adventure awaits guests aboard Formula Rossa Junior, where guests will experience the intensity, thrill and speed of the Formula Rossa in its miniature version. Younger guests are in for a ride of a lifetime as they hop on board the adrenaline-packed ride and feel the Ferrari spirit at a speed of 45 km/h on this miniature version of the world's fastest roller coaster.

Meanwhile, Speedway Race, a colorful two-seater race car, will take guests on a journey unlike any other. With this smaller-scaled version of the Junior GP, guests of all ages can feel the need for speed. Speedway Race is truly a one-of-a-kind visual experience for the entire family to discover.

For the young guests who love to dream big, Flying Wings is a must. On this spectacular ride, aspiring pilots are invited to navigate their flights as they soar through the theme park for the ultimate airborne experience. Younger guests will be able to take on their sail, control the movement of the glider all on their own and brace themselves for a thrilling new adventure on this mini version of the iconic Flying Aces.

For those who want to look beyond the horizons, Turbo Tower promises a spectacular aerial view of the theme park for families and friends to discover. A junior version of the Turbo Track, this thrilling attraction launches aspiring Ferrari drivers up into the air and back down for the ultimate zero-gravity fall.

After working up an appetite at the Family Zone, little ones are in for a treat with Mamma Rossella's brand-new kids' menu. Full of bite-sized treats bursting with flavor, the park's signature Italian eatery's new menu is sure to satisfy even the pickiest eaters, with mouthwatering morsels including miniature wood-fired pizzas, mac and cheese croquettes, fish and chips and a traditional spaghetti Bolognese.
(Photo : Screenshot from Twiitter of @DrBicenenario)

Oura smart rings are joining the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by using their smart rings to possibly detect early signs of COVID-19 symptoms before it's too late. This could mean that no matter how healthy you might think you are, if you are showing signs that your body is changing from within, in theory, Oura rings would tell you to get yourself checked as soon as possible!

Read More: Hackers Are Working From Home, Too! Pirates Exploit Zero-Day Flaws in Its Windows Operating Device

Oura Partners with UCSF

Regardless if Oura is a relatively new company, it still tries to help against the fight to help curve the virus. The study is to see if the companies smart ring can detect early physiological signs that might indicate the early onset of COVID-19.

The study will try to accomplish two parts: about 2,000 rings will be given to health professionals in the frontline to monitor their vital statistics from time to time. This will include body temp, sleep patterns, heart rate, and activity levels-all to detect a trend for an early warning system for COVID-19. The second part of the study is to determine if given the statistics of the smart rings and the data that they will provide will establish an early warning device to be used in the future.

Why Is it A Good Idea?

Researchers believe it is a good idea to test out this study in the first place; it would be because an Oura user who lives in Finland claims that the ring had alerted him that he would be getting sick and low and behold, he did. He was positive as well for COVID-19 but has a more substantial chance of pulling through since he went earlier to get tested.

Read More: FAKE! Emails From WHO Are Laced with Malware!

What Could It Do For The Fight Against COVID-19?

The fact that it can detect the presence of the virus in an individual early on is critical to contain the pandemic and stop it in its tracks as soon as the data shows any irregularities in your body. This would be important for people in the frontlines and everyday civilians who still wander around despite the pandemic because of the jobs that require them to do so.

Extensions For The Study

Oura has about over 150,000 users in the globe right now, and they plan on testing it out in a more general census. Oura might urge their users to opt-in on the program and make sure that sufficient information from a broader range of people helps contribute to the fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic. For existing Oura users, this is an excellent way of helping out and doing your part to fight the virus in a relatively safe environment, which would be your house.

As more and more companies do their part to use their inventions or supplies to use, it is good news to see since the world needs more cooperation, especially in these challenging times, and Oura is one of the companies that are doing their part.

Read More: Intel Engineering Has Done it Again! Neuromorphic Chips Now Has 100 Million Neuron "Spikes"

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bangui, Central African Republic  For the past eight years, the Central African Republic (CAR) has been the theatre of a brutal civil war that has left its economy in tatters, its institutions in ruins and its people traumatised.

Laurent Gomina-Pampali, a professor at the University of Bangui who has previously been the countrys minister of foreign affairs, minister of human rights and minister of justice, believes it is this disintegration of the countrys social fabric that is responsible for a growing phenomenon: witch-hunts.

Elderly people  normally women  are increasingly being accused of practicing witchcraft  and being killed for it.

Often, the accusations come from within the families of the accused.

The accusation of witchcraft is a sentence without appeal, explains Nadia Carine Fornel Poutou, the president of the Association des Femmes Juristes de Centrafrique, an association of female lawyers and advocates in CAR. The Central African penal code is unable to establish what witchcraft is. Being a mystical matter, the authorities do not intervene.

As a result, the accused have only two ways to survive such an accusation. The first is to lock themselves in their homes and hope to be forgotten about. The second is to try to be taken to prison.

In Bimbo, a womens prison in the capital, Bangui, many of the detainees are there voluntarily; some because they are fleeing accusations of witchcraft.

But, Fornel Poutou explains, if being imprisoned helps to save them from being killed, it also exposes them to other dangers. Someone accused of witchcraft may be a victim of violence by the prison guards and by other detainees, she says.

Nathalie Koutou is the head of the psychiatry department at the General Hospital in Bangui and says the tens of thousands of people suffering from trauma as a result of the conflict are particularly susceptible to accusations of witchcraft. But there is little the hospital can do to help. Weve got just one psychiatrist for the whole country [of 4.5 million people] and the cases are increasing, she explains.

For people like Kamer Gabriel, an elderly man accused by one of his children, there is little help available. We are alone. They leave us alone. I have fear. I cannot even go outside of the house, he says. If Im still alive its just because my nephews chose to live with me.
Number of cases of Coronavirus Infection Rises to 67 - GeorgianJournal
ROME  For more than two weeks, the Italian government has trumpeted a central message for containing the spread of the coronavirus: Stay home.

But for the thousands who are homeless or living in extreme poverty in Rome, keeping off the streets is nearly impossible.

The message given to stay home is a message that they cant respond to because they dont have anywhere to go, Francesca Zuccari, coordinator of services for people in extreme poverty for the Community of St. Egidio charity, said of the 8,000 people who typically live on Romes now empty streets.

The problem is that these are the most fragile members of the population, and those who are most exposed, she said.
[March 24, 2020]

Menufy Integrates Food Ordering with Google

LEAWOOD, Kan., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Menufy, a restaurant e-commerce provider, announced customers can now place online and mobile food orders with Google Search, Maps, and Google Assistant.

Restaurant menus will be integrated on Google platforms, enabling customers to discover local restaurants and to place pickup or delivery orders at participating locations. Customers pay through Google Pay, which accepts all major debit and credit cards in the US.

With voice-assisted ordering through Google Assistant, Android and iOS mobile users can search for local restaurants or re-order their go-to meal.

Restaurant operators can receive Google food order notifications on the Menufy console, on a personal device, by phone, or through a partner Point of Sale (POS). The Google-ready Menufy app run on Android tablets and the following POS systems: Lightspeed, Harbortouch, Restaurant Manager, POSitouch, and Future POS.







All client restaurants have a direct relationship with Menufy and online ordering is only activated with their permission. "We respect the restaurateur's choice in deciding whether Menufy's solution is the best fit for their off-premise business," said Andy Lowder, Director of Business Development at Menufy.

Lowder added that on the customer side, "Google's food ordering platform is a helpful, easy-to-use way for people to place food orders. The unified discovery and purchase phase is a win for eaters and eateries alike."

About Menufy

Menufy offers online and mobile meal-ordering capabilities to restaurants in thousands of cities across the United States. As a full-service solution, Menufy enables nationwide delivery service and empowers restaurant operators with full-data ownership, loyalty program capability, complimentary analytics, and a suite of digital and print marketing services that are designed to maximize off-premise performance.

Media Contact:

Jeremy Kuo, Head of Corporate Communications

Menufy

(913) 738-9399

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12815712

Press release distributed by PRLog

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/menufy-integrates-food-ordering-with-google-301028617.html

SOURCE Menufy
Linda Lusardi has been placed on oxygen and 'needs all the help she can get,' after being diagnosed with coronavirus last week.

The former glamour model, 61, was rushed to hospital with the virus last Friday, and recently admitted she was left in tears while being 'at death's door' with COVID-19.

On Tuesday Linda's husband Sam, 51, offered an update on his wife's health, and told fans that she was still 'very poorly' and had been placed on oxygen and a drip.

Health battle: Linda Lusardi has been placed on oxygen as she continues to battle the coronavirus, with husband Sam Kane revealing she needs 'all the help she can get'

In a post Sam said: 'No real change in Linda today, Im afraid. Shes been the same since last night.

'Still on oxygen and still on a drip, very poorly. Shes eating and drinking regularly. Just needs her oxygen levels to start taking care of themselves before the next big push can happen.

'Shes still far from well and nowhere near out of the woods. Send your thoughts, Your love, your prayers and your positivity to her. She needs all the help she can get right now.

'Shes fighting and she is winning. Thank you for all of your amazing and kind messages. So much love. Sam.'

Latest: Sam took to Facebook on Tuesday to share another update on his wife's health, saying that she's still 'far from well'

Grateful: It comes just hours after Linda praised the 'amazing' NHS for taking such good care of her as she revealed she and Sam still have 'a long way to go' (pictured June 2018)

It comes just hours after Linda praised the 'amazing' NHS for their care of her as she revealed she and Sam still have 'a long way to go.'

Both Linda and her husband Sam, 51, were hospitalised on Friday after developing COVID-19 symptoms earlier in the week.

After Sam revealed she had 'turned a corner' with the virus on Monday evening, Linda took to Twitter to thank the NHS and her followers.

She said: 'Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. My @samkane1968 went home from hospital today to carry on recovering.

We both tested positive with the virus. I still have a way to go yet The NHS staff have been amazing Their kindness keeps making me cry. Love to you all.'

Together: Both Linda and her husband Sam were hospitalised on Friday after developing COVID-19 symptoms earlier in the week (pictured in 2012)

She said: 'Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. My @samkane1968 went home from hospital today to carry on recovering'

Stronger: As Linda recuperates in hospital, Sam gave fans an update on her condition on Tuesday

As Linda recuperates in hospital, Sam gave fans an update on her condition on Tuesday.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: 'Shes getting stronger by the day. Still aways to go but all in the right direction. Thanks angel. Stay safe.'

To another fan, Sam added: 'Poor girl has been to hell and back. Shes making small steps but shes recovering. Shes still away from being right but Im sure out of the woods now." and said to someone else: All on the right path thank God. Xx'

Tough: Sam added that Linda has 'been to hell and back' but is now recovering

On Monday, Sam confirmed Linda had been 'taken to death's door after developing coronavirus symptoms.

Sam, 51, posted on Facebook, begging the public to take the self isolation and self distancing rules seriously as he said: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug. Ive watched this take my girl to deaths door.'

Sam wrote on Monday: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug. Ive watched this take my girl to deaths door.'

Hospitalised: After Sam revealed she had 'turned a corner' with the virus on Monday evening, Linda took to Twitter to thank the NHS and her followers

'Ive felt it take me there. Its a cruel, vile, remorseless, relentless, dark sickness. It was like three hands. One thats strangling you. One pushing your face down as it does. The other one ripping your heart out of your chest and it just doesnt stop... for days'.

'Youre totally helpless and in its grasp. Its nothing like flu,' he continued before pleading with those not adhering to government rules to stop going out.

'Please stop going out. Passing this around will mean it just takes longer till were back to normal. Please stay safe people. Two weeks away from anyone else outside your family should see this gone. Its that simple. Please stay in.'

Update: Sam posted on Facebook, begging the public to take the self isolation and self distancing rules seriously as he said: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug

The day before Sam confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19, telling his Facebook followers that he had no idea where the couple had contracted the virus.

'Well. Its official. I am positive for CoronaVirus. I dont know if Im happy or gutted. Probably a bit of both. I hope its a one time thing coz I dont want this again,' the former actor wrote.

He added that Linda hadn't received her results yet, but he was 'certain' she had the virus.

'I dont know Lindas result yet but regardless of the test, Im certain that she has it too. Were told a lot of tests taken come back negative as the testing process is so sensitive. They tell me that tests, in a lot of cases, are false negatives. Kinda and I both had text book symptoms. God knows where we got it. But we did.

'Cruel': Its a cruel, vile, remorseless, relentless, dark sickness,' Linda's husband wrote of the illness which has seen them both hospitalised

'The NHS staff have been beyond incredible. The work and care they are giving at the front line with so little resources is astounding. Theyre fearless. The debt of gratitude I owe them for getting my girl back to a sense of normality will be owed for the rest of my life.'

'Please take care of yourselves. Isolating is the only way now. This has to be stopped and only we can do it. Take care of yourselves. Stay safe. Xxx'

Earlier in the day Sam wrote that he had good news for Mother's Day, telling his friends: Linda, I believe has turned a corner today. Thank God. Shes not out of the woods just yet but she appears, to my untrained eyes to have gotten over the worst.'

Positive: The day before Sam confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19, telling his Facebook followers that he had no idea where the couple had contracted the virus

Feeling better: Earlier in the day Sam wrote that he had good news for Mother's Day, telling his friends: Linda, I believe has turned a corner today'

'She is feeling a little better. She is eating and drinking. Functioning slowly but well. Her vitals were all normal last night. She had an uncomfortable night but its been better than most nights lately. Thank God.'

'Thank you so much for your love and support. I honestly dont know where wed be without it. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you. This is the best Mothers Day Gift we could have hoped for. God bless you all. Please stay safe. Xxx'

On Friday Sam posted to confirm that he and his wife had been hospitalised after showing symptoms and were about to be tested.

'Very ill': Sam Kane posted on Facebook on Friday afternoon that the couple had been hospitalised and would be tested for the virus 'very soon'

'To all who know us. Linda and I have been taken to hospital and will be tested for Covid 19 at some point very soon,' Sam wrote on Facebook.

'We are both stable but very ill. Thank you for all of your messages of support. Could I please ask that you hold off from any messaging at this time.'

'Your concern means the world to us. Prayers and positivity in abundance please if you have time. Thank you all. Stay safe. Xxx'

Update: Linda took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to reveal that the couple had symptoms writing: 'Sam and I have had COVID-19 symptoms and are in isolation'

Linda took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to reveal that the couple had symptoms writing: 'I want to thank you all for your good wishes. Sam and I have had COVID-19 symptoms and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else.

'We are taking it one-day-at-a-time, thats all we can do. But let me tell you weve never felt this ill, EVER!

'I wouldnt wish this on anyone. So stay safe everyone and follow the advice of the experts - please take care of yourselves, loved ones and each other xx'

Unwell: The former Page 3 girl suggested she was positive on Wednesday evening while responding to a fan request for a celebrity video message, ironically to a relative under quarantine in Spain

On Wednesday, the former Page 3 girl, 61, revealed she was struggling with coronavirus symptoms as recorded cases of the highly contagious virus continue to rise across the United Kingdom.

She revealed she had symptoms while responding to a fan request for a celebrity video message, ironically to a relative under quarantine in Spain. Replying to the fan, Linda wrote: 'Sorry Kerry. I am extremely ill with Corona at the moment.'

Wishing her well, one follower commented: 'Sending you all our love and hope you feel better soon love you very much.'

While another wrote: 'Get well soon Linda take care and rest up.'

Happy family: Linda married former Brookside and Emmerdale actor Samuel Kane in 1998; the couple are parents to two children - daughter Lucy, 24, and son Jack, 21

Reaching out to the star, a third added: 'Wishing you a very speedy recovery.'

Linda married former Brookside and Emmerdale actor Samuel Kane in 1998; the couple are parents to two children - daughter Lucy, 24, and son Jack, 21.

She shared images of herself enjoying a night out with her oldest child and her actor boyfriend Jack Rowan, best known for his roles in Peaky Blinders and controversial new drama Noughts and Crosses, as recently as March 6.

Reaching out: Linda's post led to a wave of good will messages from followers on Wednesday

Contact: She shared images of herself enjoying a night out with her oldest child Lucy and her daughter's actor boyfriend Jack Rowan, best known for his role in Peaky Blinders, as recently as March 6

Linda joins a whole host of stars who have confirmed they have been tested positive for COVID-19.

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first Hollywood couple to reveal they had been tested positive for the novel coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia.

The Forrest Gump actor and his wife, both 63, announced the positive test results last week on Instagram urging the public to 'take care'.

Taken ill: The news comes a week after Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the novel coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia

Brave: Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into self isolation

Hanks revealed they had experienced symptoms including the common cold, body aches and chills before they decided to get tested.

Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into self isolation.

The Luther star, 47, had attended the WE Day UK Charity event and concert in London last Tuesday March 3 with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She announced she tested positive for the virus last week and gone into self quarantine.

Bond girl Olga Kurylenko revealed on Wednesday she's 'feeling better' three days after announcing she had tested positive for coronavirus.

The Quantum Of Solace star took to Instagram on Wednesday to give her 615K followers an update on her health, sharing that her 'fever has gone' just one day after she was refused a hospital bed with a temperature of 102F (38.9C).
Supplier News

24 March 2020

Is your hotel "Covid Clean?" It can be, thanks to a new app that gives housekeepers step-by-step cleaning instructions that follow Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines to stop the spread of the virus. Beekeeper, a mobile-first communication platform for frontline workers, is now offering the "Cleaning Task Lists" by Whispr app FREE to its customers. The smart checklist will work on any Android or iOS device and can be activated by Whispr immediately if the hotel is an existing Beekeeper user.

"We are extremely proud of our innovation partner, Whispr, for designing an app that will enable hotels to be truly responsive to the virus and lessen its impact on the property, staff and guests," said Andrada Paraschiv, Beekeeper Head of Hospitality. "Because our core products are integrated, any hotel using the Beekeeper operational communication platform can upload the 'Cleaning Task Lists' by Whispr app in minutes. The app includes a real-time dashboard showing each room's availability as it is made Covid Clean."

Photo: Beekeeper

Beekeeper users can download the app today by clicking here.

"We are encouraging our customers to display the Covid Clean badge throughout the hotel and on their websites and social media profiles to let travelers know their doors are open and the assets are virus free," Paraschiv added. "This is a critical first step towards economic and social recovery for hotels."

Hugh O'Flanagan, Whispr CEO, said the Covid Clean initiative was developed to help hotels during this difficult time. The product is currently being used by Marriott and Hilton properties in certain parts of the U.S., and will extend it to further properties in Ireland, Germany, UK and China next week.

"There are lots of small steps hoteliers can take to help combat this virus, but it means mobilizing your team and that's often the hardest part," O'Flanagan said. "Now, hospitality businesses can roll out 'Covid Clean' to their teams and ensure they are following CDC guidelines. At the heart of this initiative is worker augmentation  giving housekeepers the right information they need at the right moment and in the right way."

"Both Beekeeper and Whispr believe in using technology to connect workers and bring them together when you need it the most," he added. "This is that time, and we think this is a good example of how to use modern tools and actually make a difference. We're offering this totally for FREE to any hotel in the world. This is our way of trying to help."

Photo: Beekeeper

Beekeeper customers and other hotels can register here. Workers will be guided to download an app and they can get going on completing checklists and turning their properties Covid Clean.

Beekeeper connects operational systems and communication channels using one secure, intuitive platform. It links colleagues across locations and departments in real time via mobile or desktop devices and provides an intelligent dashboard to help managers improve internal communication and streamline business processes. As innovation partners, Beekeeper and Whispr are introducing AR and voice technology to ensure that housekeepers are always up to speed.

About Beekeeper

Beekeeper's mission is to transform the way 2 billion frontline employees work with a mobile-first communication platform that reaches every shift, location, and language through real-time one-on-one and group messaging. Dedicated streams deliver important operational communications to your entire workforce or specific subgroups. Managers keep staff productive and turnover low by automating workflows and messaging to their teams, while leveraging an analytics dashboard to measure engagement. Quick to implement and even easier to use, Beekeeper integrates with the existing operational systems you rely on and makes them accessible to everyone in one central access point. Learn more at beekeeper.io. The company is based in Zurich and San Francisco and supports users in more than 130 countries. Clients include Heathrow Airport, Seaboard Foods, and Marriott.

About Whispr

Whispr is an operational platform using the latest advancements in AI and Natural Language Processing to make work life better in frontline industries. By giving managers a platform to handle the chaos of every day and an app for workers to always know what to do and how to do it, Whispr ensures no time is lost and no more pen and paper floats around businesses. It's real-time information to workers and real-time data for managers for consistently better output. Learn more at whispr.ai. The company is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female crew member of an airline has taken to social media to share the harassment meted out to her and her mother by neighbours and shopkeepers in the citys Thakurpukur area, prompting the police to order strict action against those found guilty in the matter.

In the video, which went viral on the Internet shortly after it was posted, the woman said people in her locality have labelled her as a Covid-19-infected person.

The woman also said that neighbours turn up at her home when she is not there to harass her mother and local shopkeepers refuse to sell goods to them, fearing that they might contract the disease.

Many have also accused her of spreading the viral disease in the locality, she alleged.

Taking cognisance of the matter, Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma said action will be initiated against those found discriminating against "such heroes".

"We will take legal action against persons discriminating against such heroes who fight for us! I have asked for a report in the matter & action will be taken if any police personnel is found wanting, Sharma tweeted.

Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Muralidhar Sharma also said that local police have been asked to lend her all assistance in the matter.

A tweet by the Kolkata Police official page said such matters would be strictly dealt with.

"Please be rest assured, anyone discriminating against heroes, discharging their duties risking their own safety will be dealt with strictly, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PA film critic Damon Smith chooses an A-Z of some of his favourite films to enjoy from the comfort of home this week on streaming platforms and free-to-air services.

Kaitlyn Dever as Amy and Beanie Feldstein as Molly (Annapurna Pictures, LLC/Francois Duhamel)

BOOKSMART (15, 102 mins) Comedy/Drama/Romance. Kaitlyn Dever. Beanie Feldstein, Mason Gooding, Jason Sudeikis. Director: Olivia Wilde.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Olivia Wildes raucous rites-of-passage comedy takes a leaf out of the school books of Clueless and Mean Girls to deliver life lessons about sisterly solidarity punctuated by a dizzying array of pithy one-liners.

Heartfelt hilarity is delivered with genuine warmth and grin-inducing sincerity by the dream team double-act of Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein.

They possess fizzing on-screen chemistry as best friends Amy and Molly, who have studiously forsaken fornication and partying in order to achieve their academic dreams.

Potentially thorny issues of fat-shaming, sexual experimentation and peer pressure are cheerfully navigated by a sorority of four female scriptwriters.

Belly laughs are abundant between some deeply touching moments of self-reflection and realisation, trading in pop culture references and near-the-knuckle humour that never threatens to become crude or mean-spirited.

These girls are sugar and spice and all things naughty but nice.

Ryan Reynolds stars as the spandex-clad superhero (PA).

DEADPOOL (15, 108 mins) Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Comedy/Romance. Ryan Reynolds, TJ Miller, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano. Director: Tim Miller.

Screening on Film4 on March 27 at 9pm

A final opportunity to marvel at Ryan Reynolds in figure-hugging red spandex as the eponymous masked avenger, who pushes a car cigarette lighter into the mouth of one unfortunate henchman and quips Dont swallow!

Relentlessly lurid and unapologetically foul-mouthed, Deadpool is a sinful treat.

Tim Millers hyperkinetic origin story is like a newborn puppy that has yet to be house-trained: boundlessly energetic and blissfully oblivious to the rules of acceptable conduct.

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernicks script is crammed to bursting with zinging one-liners and a miasma of filth and toilet humour.

Some gags narrowly miss their target, but the duds are invariably followed up in quick succession by sly digs at comic book conventions.

The relentless barrage of pop culture references and post-modern in-jokes hinges on Reynolds ability to charm us and he barrels through every frame with a cocksure swagger that is impossible to resist.

THE INVISIBLE MAN (15, 124 mins) Horror/Thriller/Romance. Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Director: Leigh Whannell.

Streaming and available to download now on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store and other platforms

Writer-director Leigh Whannells ingeniously executed horror thriller, inspired by the HG Wells novel of the same title, was another victim of recent cinema closures.

Fittingly, this two-hour masterclass in sustained nerve-jangling tension materialised without warning last weekend on streaming platforms and is even more deliciously unsettling when watched at home.

An emotionally wrought central performance from Elisabeth Moss firmly tethers an outlandish dramatic conceit to gut-wrenching reality.

She expertly captures the painful fragility and vulnerability of an architect, who becomes convinced that her abusive ex-boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen)  a world leader in the field of optics  has developed the technology to become an invisible stalker.

Whannells lean script retains a cold, calculating logic during the most fantastical flourishes.

He holds us in a vice-like grip from the bravura opening sequence and refuses to let go, delivering moments of stomach-churning brutality in a breathless second act.

I, TONYA (15, 119 mins) Comedy/Drama/Romance. Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson. Director: Craig Gillespie.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video until March 30, streaming and available to download on Netflix from March 30.

Winners find an edge. Icons go over it. #ITonya coming to theaters December. pic.twitter.com/jZgX6jiAzo  ITonyaMovie (@ITonyaMovie) November 1, 2017

Supposedly based on irony-free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews with US figure skating champion Tonya Harding and ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, I, Tonya is a barbed satire, which illuminates the 1994 attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan with aplomb.

Margot Robbie inhabits the title role with fearlessness and ferocity, tossing out expletives as if her life depended upon it.

Allison Janney deservedly won an Oscar as Tonyas monstrous chain-smoking mother, who preaches cruelty as kindness to jaw-dropping excess.

Sebastian Stan oozes slippery charm as the man who walks Tonya down the aisle and exerts his marital right to lay his hands on her in anger.

Scenes of domestic abuse are extremely upsetting and director Craig Gillespie pulls no punches in his depiction of the couples volatile, self-destructive relationship.

Sequences on the ice are breathlessly staged, employing slick digital effects to blend Robbies face with the bodies of skating doubles so we truly believe the Australian actress is recreating the intricate routines.

I WISH (PG, 128 mins) Drama. Koki Maeda, Ohshiro Maeda, Nene Ohtsuka, Jo Odagiri. Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Streaming free on All 4 On Demand until April 16

Celebrated Japanese film-maker Hirokazu Kore-eda explores familiar themes of childhood innocence and abandonment in this poetic slice of life featuring real-life siblings.

Twelve-year-old Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother (Nene Ohtsuka) in the southern town of Kagoshima, which nestles in the shadow of an active volcano.

Far to the north in Fukuoka, Koichis younger brother Ryunosuke (Ohshiro Maeda) lives with their musician father (Jo Odagiri).

The cherubs secretly embark on a cross-country odyssey to test out Koichis theory about the electrical field generated by passing trains.

Every frame of I Wish is beautifully observed, galvanised by the irresistible natural chemistry of the pint-sized protagonists.

Kore-edas gentle touch with his young, inexperienced leads is richly rewarded with naturalistic performances that pluck our heartstrings without resorting to unabashed emotional manipulation.

At an unsettling time when we are all reflecting on the importance of family, I Wish is a perfect tonic.

Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling star in Late Night (PA)

LATE NIGHT (15, 102 mins) Comedy/Drama/Romance. Dame Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Denis OHare, John Lithgow. Director: Nisha Ganatra.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Dame Emma Thompson relishes a plum role as a veteran talk show host, who has grown complacent and lost touch with her viewers, in director Nisha Ganatras spiky comedy of modern manners.

Its time to give comedy a rewrite

Starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling

LATE NIGHT  In Cinemas June 7https://t.co/KFVeytngW3  Late Night (@LateNightFilmUK) May 9, 2019

Its a lip-smacking delight to see the two-time Oscar winner in full comic flow.

Scripted with a deft touch by co-star Mindy Kaling, Late Night takes aim at gender equality and diversity in the workplace and occasionally draws blood from well-placed barbs at the expense of the mainstream medias obsession with youth and beauty.

Some aspects of the writing are a tad undernourished  one romantic subplot blossoms with almost no on-screen propagation and the emotional fallout of marital betrayal is too neatly contained.

However, chemistry between the lead actors fizzes.

Laughter and heartwarming sentiment are keenly balanced, tipping slightly in favour of the latter as the film talks its way to a crowd-pleasing resolution.

Alls fair in love and the war for TV ratings.

MUSTANG (15, 97 mins) Drama/Romance. Ilayda Akdogan, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan, Doga Doguslu, Gunes Sensoy, Nihal Koldas. Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven.

Streaming and available to download on MUBI until April 7

Directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven and based on some of her personal experiences, Mustang is a tender and deeply moving coming-of-age story that was deservedly nominated as Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Academy Awards.

Its a beautifully observed family portrait, which attests to the unshakeable bonds between kin that hold firm through periods of great stress and upheaval.

The gently paced story centres on five spirited Turkish sisters  Sonay (Ilayda Akdogan), Selma (Tugba Sunguroglu), Ece (Elit Iscan), Nur (Doga Doguslu) and Lale (Gunes Sensoy).

When the girls behaviour threatens to bring shame on the household, their grandmother (Nihal Koldas) responds by consigning her young wards to the house and marrying them off to eligible local men.

Youngest sister Lale looks for an escape route and she forges a touching friendship with a driver called Yasin (Burak Yigit), who might be able to smuggle the brood to Istanbul in the back of his truck.

THE POST (12, 116 mins) Drama. Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Matthew Rhys, Tracy Letts. Director: Steven Spielberg.

Streaming and available to download on Netflix

Director Steven Spielbergs handsome dramatisation of the hard-fought battle for press freedom under the Nixon administration arrived on Netflix last week and feels uncomfortably relevant in a modern era of fake news and presidential Twitter outbursts.

The Post is a timely depiction of gender inequality in the workplace and lionises the achievements of Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, who risked losing the business her father bought in 1933 because she refused to be bullied into submission by a patriarchal establishment and sacrifice ideals enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Tubs are repeatedly thumped in Spielbergs picture, most powerfully in Meryl Streeps tour-de-force portrayal of Graham, which captures every facet of a working mothers resolve, inner turmoil and defiance.

Tom Hanks provides robust support as Ben Bradlee, crusading executive editor of The Washington Post, who doesnt appreciate meddling from the boardroom.

A QUIET PLACE (15, 90 mins) Thriller/Sci-Fi/Horror/Romance. Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe. Director: John Krasinski.

Streaming and available to download on Netflix

Last weeks cinema release of A Quiet Place Part II was delayed until later in the year when all cinemas are open.

Netflix has cleverly added the first chapter to its vast catalogue, giving us another chance to cower on the sofa at John Krasinskis nerve-shredding horror thriller about a family battling against sightless otherworldly creatures, which hunt by sound.

Krasinskis real-life wife Emily Blunt delivers a powerhouse performance as a mother hen, who is dedicated to preparing her children for a bleak future.

She gels magnificently with expressive young co-stars Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, who milk every tear and shudder of anguish from their characters nightmarish predicament.

Tense sequences in a grain silo and a water-logged nursery draw favourable comparisons with the Jurassic Park and Alien franchises.

Krasinski confidently tightens the screws with slickly engineered set pieces, which punctuate the heart-rending human drama.

Silence is golden  and imperative for survival.

SPIRITED AWAY (PG, 125 mins) Animation/Fantasy/Adventure. Featuring the voices of Daveigh Chase, Michael Chiklis, Lauren Holly, James Marsden, David Ogden Stiers. Director: Hayao Miyazaki.

Streaming and available to download on Netflix

Hayao Miyazakis extraordinary magical adventure deservedly won the 2003 Academy Award as Best Animated Feature and was added to Netflix at the beginning of the month.

Spirited Away is a breathtaking variation on a theme of Alice In Wonderland, following young Chihiro as she encounters a menagerie of weird and wonderful characters, who both hinder and aid her quest.

The story constantly surprises with daring plot twists and unexpected flights of surreal imagination, interspersed with gentle humour like a comical sequence in which Chihiro holds her breath as she deals with a Stink Spirit.

Lively vocal performances full of emotion carry the story along at a brisk pace.

Rarely has two hours passed so quickly or as enjoyably.

Another seven Studio Ghibli titles will be added to Netflix on April 1.

Highlights include Howls Moving Castle and the Little Mermaid-esque fantasy Ponyo.
A Nigerian senator, Rose Oko, is dead.

She died on Monday night at a UK medical facility where she went for treatment, an associate said.

The associate confirmed her death on Tuesday. He however, did not want his name mentioned because he is not authorised to make the announcement.

He noted that the late lawmaker, who has been away for over four weeks, was battling with high blood pressure.

This is even as he described as death as shocking because she was said to be getting better.

Vanguard newspaper also quoted a close relative of the senator, Patrick Okoroji, as confirming the death.

READ ALSO:

Another senator, Ibrahim Mabai from Yobe, also confirmed the death to PREMIUM TIMES.

When contacted, the Senate spokesperson, Godiya Akwashiki, said he could not comment on it until there is a directive by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

The late lawmaker was a second-term member of the Senate and the serving chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment.

Born September 27, 1956, Mrs Oko represented Yala/Ogoja Federal Constituency in seventh Assembly.

She was elected into office as the first female representative from her constituency in June 2011 and sat as Deputy Chairman House Committee on Education.

Until her death, Mrs Oko, 63, represented Cross River North Senatorial District under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Her death comes about six weeks after Plateau senator, Ignatius Longjan, passed on and three months after Imo senator, Ben Uwajumogwu, died.
Annotated map showing the path of five Chinese maritime militia ships passing through the Union Banks in the Spratly islands during the first three weeks of March, 2020.

Even as the coronavirus crisis sweeps through Asia, China continues to assert its presence in the South China Sea by deploying maritime militia around disputed islands and reefs in the Spratly island chain, according to vessel tracking data and satellite imagery reviewed by Radio Free Asia.

A fleet of Chinese ships has been moving this month through the Union Banks, a collection of small land features disputed between China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. Among the most significant features in this area are the Chinese-controlled Hughes Reef and Johnson Reef, and Vietnams Sin Cowe Island and Collins Reef. These ships were identified as part of Chinas infamous maritime militia by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative in January 2019.

The five ships whose movements could be tracked by RFA are now at Johnson Reef, in the southwest corner of Union Banks. It may not be a coincidence that that their presence at that location comes within days of the 32nd anniversary of the Battle of Johnson Reef, a March 14, 1988, naval skirmish between Vietnam and China in which dozens of Vietnamese troops died and China seized control of the reef.

Satellite image taken just north of the Chinese-occupied base at South Johnson Reef, in which multiple, unidentified vessels can be seen in the top right hand corner, March 22, 2020. Credit: Planet Labs Inc. As usual, China has not publicized any build-up of its ships around Union Bank. The Peoples Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM) often consists of what are ostensibly fishing vessels - although they do not engage in fishing. Their presence is meant to 'fly the flag' for Beijing in disputed waters without an overt display of military force that would draw international condemnation.

Zack Cooper, a research fellow specializing on Asian security issues at the American Enterprise Institute, said China was continuing with its assertive behavior in regional disputes despite the COVID-19 pandemic now commanding the world's attention.

Beijing has stepped up military activity around Taiwan and now appears to be doing some of the same around Union Banks. Whether this is simply a continuation of previous activity or an intentional effort to use this distraction to put pressure on other claimants is unclear, Cooper said.

Ship-tracking software indicates that five PAFMM vessels  with the call signs Yuetaiyu (Fishing vessel) 18777, 18333, 18888, 18222, and 18555 -- passed in early March between China's reclaimed island at Subi Reef -- often a waystation for Chinese ships deployed to the region -- and Thitu Island, a Philippine-occupied feature where Chinese vessels have engaged in a sustained pressure campaign, as documented by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. The ships first stopped at Whitson Reef, in Union Banks northeast, from March 3 to March 8.

Then, the vessels moved southwest to Chinese-controlled Hughes Reef, passing by Vietnamese-controlled Sin Cowe East Island (referred to by Vietnam as Sinh Ton Dong), and further west near Sin Cowe Island (Sinh Ton). The ships lingered near Sin Cowe between March 13 and March 18.

The exact number of Chinese ships deployed to the area very likely exceeds the five detected by RFA using ship-tracking software. Satellite imagery reveals many more vessels gathered in Union Banks although the identity of the vessels is unclear. About 12 ships moved to Hughes Reef between March 8 and March 13.

Additionally, dozens of other ships have been lingering in the northeastern point of Union Banks, inside Whitson Reef, since at least March 6 and were still in the area as of March 19. Whitson is a shallow coral reef, which hosts no artificial islands or facilities. Satellite imagery reveals large clusters of vessels banded together.

Closer up view of the satellite image taken just north of the Chinese-occupied base at South Johnson Reef, showing multiple, unidentified ships, March 22, 2020. Credit: Planet Labs Inc. The Yuetaiyu-series vessels that had been at Chinese-held Hughes Reef and then the Vietnamese controlled Sin Cowe islands, moved to Chinas Johnson Reef on March 18. Again, satellite imagery shows far more ships in the area than the five broadcasting an AIS, or Automatic Identification System, signal. All ships are required to have an AIS transponder to assist in tracking for search-and-rescue contingencies as well as for law enforcement purposes. Frequently, though, Chinese maritime militia ships simply turn their AIS transponders off to mask their activity. This has clearly been the case this time, as satellite imagery shows at least 30 vessels just at Johnson Reef.

Johnson Reef is a rock, according to the 2016 ruling by the United Nations tribunal on Chinas claims in the South China Sea. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a rock is stated plainly as a feature which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own, and as such has no rights to an exclusive economic zone or a continental shelf on the seabed. Regardless, it has been built up by China into another artificial island it can use as a base.

As of March 23, the PAFMM ships have moved once again to the same spot near Sin Cowe Island they were at on March 13.
Mas Tah inspects Tulum Community Hospital to open if necessary

Tulum, Q.R.  In compliance with state guidelines to ensure the health of residents, Tulums mayor paid a visit to the new hospital

Municipal president Victor Mas Tah made a visit to the Tulum Community Hospital to verify its condition and if necessary, open it for operation. He said if necessary, the hospital can be used to attend to residents and visitors during the health contingency due to the presence of COVID-19.

Mas Tah noted that the hospital facilities are in good condition, requiring only minor repairs as well as general cleaning, a task that is already being carried out by staff.

This work is carried out in coordination with personnel from the State Health Secretariat since health is a priority for the municipal administration, therefore, the rehabilitation of the Tulum Community Hospital is important, he stated.

Victor Mas Tah, indicated that for the moment, the main objective is to enable the hospital in case it is necessary in the face of the health contingency. The arrival of equipment is expected to be carried out over the next few months, so that the Tulum Community Hospital can be put into operation in the near future, he added.
Apple today released iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 for all compatible iPhones and iPads. The latest point release of iOS 13 is probably the last major release of the OS as Apple will now start focus on iOS 14 full-fledged ahead of its announcement in June at WWDC 2020.

iOS 13.4 finally brings iCloud Folder Sharing, a feature that Apple had first unveiled when it announced iOS 13 at WWDC 2019 last year. It also fixes an annoyance with the toolbar in the Mail app by changing the location of the delete icon. Other notable changes in iOS 13.4 include trackpad support, native mouse support, new Memoji stickers, and more.

Apart from the new features and enhancements though, iOS 13.4 also fixes a number of bugs that should please a lot of users who have been frustrated with the poor stability of the OS since its release. iPad users will like the new keyboard shortcuts that iPadOS 13.4 includes for the Photos app. The shortcuts will let you switch between tabs, search through your photo library, and more.

You can go to Settings -> General -> Software Update to update your iPhone or iPad to iOS 13.4 or iPadOS 13.4. Check out our post if you need help on how to download and install iOS 13.4 on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

The full release notes of iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 can be found below:

Memoji Nine new Memoji stickers, including Smiling Face with Hearts, Hands Pressed Together and Party Face Files iCloud Drive folder sharing from the Files app

Controls to limit access only to people you explicitly invite or grant access to anyone with the folder link

Permissions to choose who can make changes and upload files and who can only view and download files Mail Always-visible controls to delete, move, reply to or compose a message in conversation view

Responses to encrypted emails are automatically encrypted when you have configured S/MIME App Store with Apple Arcade Universal Purchase support enables the use of a singular purchase of a participating app across iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac and Apple TV

Recently played Arcade games appear in the Arcade tab so you can continue playing on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac and Apple TV

List view for See All Games CarPlay Third-party navigation app support for the CarPlay Dashboard

In-call information appears on the CarPlay Dashboard Augmented Reality AR Quick Look supports audio playback in USDZ files Keyboard Predictive typing support for Arabic This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements. This update:

Adds status bar indicator to display when VPN has disconnected on iPhone models with all-screen displays

Fixes an issue in Camera where the viewfinder may appear as a black screen after launch

Addresses an issue where Photos may appear to use excess storage

Resolves an issue in Photos that may prevent sharing an image to Messages if iMessage is disabled

Fixes an issue in Mail where messages may appear out of order

Addresses an issue in Mail where the conversation list may display empty rows

Resolves an issue where Mail may crash when tapping the Share button in Quick Look

Fixes an issue in Settings where mobile data may incorrectly display as off

Addresses an issue in Safari where web pages may not be inverted when both Dark Mode and Smart Invert are active

Resolves an issue where text copied from web content may appear invisible when pasted when Dark Mode is active

Fixes an issue in Safari where a CAPTCHA tile may display incorrectly

Addresses an issue where Reminders may not issue new notifications for an overdue recurring reminder until it is marked as completed

Resolves an issue where Reminders may send notifications for completed reminders

Fixes an issue where iCloud Drive appears to be available in Pages, Numbers and Keynote even when not signed in

Addresses an issue in Apple Music where music videos may not stream in high quality

Resolves an issue where CarPlay may lose its connection in certain vehicles

Fixes an issue in CarPlay where the view in Maps may move away briefly from the current area

Addresses an issue in the Home app where tapping an activity notification from a security camera may open a different recording

Resolves an issue where Shortcuts may not appear when tapping the Share menu from a screenshot

Improves the Burmese keyboard so punctuation symbols are now accessible from numbers and symbols

Check out our post on whats new in iOS 13.4 for more details.
Member for Parliament Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has asked the government to regulate the transport sector to ensure that passengers who board public transports do not get infected with the coronavirus.



He said the sector, if not regulated is likely to further spread the coronavirus.



Mr Agyapong said this when he donated thousands of health materials to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Tuesday, 24 March 2020 as part of his efforts to fight against the spread of the infection.



The items he donated included Face mask:100,000 pieces, Sanitizer: 100, Glovers; 100, 000 pieces, Protective Clothing: 2,200 pieces, to be distributed in all the regional hospitals.



To the Korle Bu hospital, he presented 25, 000 gloves and 25,000 masks. The Police hospital received 2000 gloves, 2000 masks and also donated 200 beds to the Ministry of Health.



He told Accra 100.5FMs parliamentary correspondent Richard Appiah Sarpong after the donation that: I will appeal to my colleague businessmen to support the government in this development. The government alone cannot do it and so we must all come together.



I also want the government to institute new directives to regulate the current state of public transport.













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.

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BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- As China has basically contained the spread of the novel coronavirus after bold and arduous efforts, more Chinese physicians and enterprises are ready to use their experiences and technology to help other parts of the world in diagnosing, treating and containing the epidemic.

At a video conference late Sunday, 13 senior doctors from the Xiangya School of Medicine of Central South University in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, communicated with the experts from the Yale School of Medicine, the United States.

The COVID-19 diagnosis, the arrangement of fever clinic department and its infection control, staff training, clinical tests, basic research and other aspects were elaborated, with questions raised by Yale experts on epidemic control, therapeutic drugs and patient rehabilitation answered in the conference that lasted nearly three hours.

"The current epidemic is not only a challenge to China and the United States but also the world," said Chen Xiang, vice president of Central South University, adding that Xiangya will further deepen international cooperation and contribute to the global fight.

The National Health Commission said Monday no new domestically transmitted cases of the COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland on Sunday. Among the overall confirmed cases of 81,093 by Sunday, 72,703 had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

On Saturday, doctors from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, held a video meeting with experts of the Ministry of Health of Argentina, the fourth such conference the hospital held within 10 days, following those with Britain, the United States and Italy.

"One thing that we keep emphasizing is early diagnosis and early quarantine. Those in the incubation period can also pass on the virus to others who do not wear masks," said Liang Tingbo, Party chief and a senior director of the hospital.

The hospital has taken in over 100 COVID-19 patients between the ages of 13 and 96, most of whom were in serious or critical conditions. So far, the hospital has seen zero deaths and zero infections among the medics.

At the conference, doctors of the hospital answered questions about the treatment programs, prescription differences between patients with mild symptoms and those in serious conditions, as well as the criteria for curing and discharging a case.

The hospital and many other Chinese hospitals have joined an "Internet hospital," through which foreign hospitals are able to reach them, consulting any cases they have encountered.

"No country or individual can handle such a global pandemic all by themselves. We are willing to communicate with our foreign counterparts at any time in any way," said Liang.

In Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, hi-tech company Neusoft Medical Systems Sunday connected medical experts from Beijing and Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, with those from two Kenyan hospitals via its "cloud imaging" platform.

Song Lan, a radiologist with Peking Union Medical College Hospital, analyzed in English the CT scan image of the lungs of a COVID-19 patient in Kenya, which was transmitted in real-time on the screen by doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

With the help of AI screening and diagnostic system "Huoyan," which was developed specifically for COVID-19 diagnosis, Song was able to pinpoint several suspicious lesions in the patient's lungs captured in the image.

"The system can automatically recognize suspicious lesion areas in the image and conduct quantitative processing, significantly improving the efficiency of screening and diagnosis," she said.

Wu Shaojie, president of the company, said through the diagnostic platform, doctors in Kenya could transmit CT scan images at any time to consult the opinions of their Chinese counterparts.

Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health of Kenya who also joined the conference, said the valuable experience of Chinese doctors and the advanced medical technology would save a lot of trouble for them in dealing with the epidemic.

"The exchange of ideas between Chinese and Kenyan medical experts will help us minimize the negative effects of the virus," he said.
Legendary Houston rapper Slim Thug says he tested positive for coronavirus in a video he posted on Instagram on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Slim Thug said he had been cautious and mostly stayed home recently, but that didn't stop him from catching the virus.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust on HoustonChronicle.com

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"As careful as Ive been self-quarantining, staying home, I might have went and got something to eat or something, simple stuff like that, nothing crazy," Slim Thug said in the video. "Stayed in my truck, had masks, gloves, everything on and my test came back positive."

On Tuesday morning, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a stay-at-home order, closing most business and directing residents to stay put. The order takes effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and will expire April 3.

ALSO AT CHRON.COM; 25 Houston rap songs you can use to help wash your hands properly

"Yall gotta take this stuff serious," Slim Thug said. "Sit home, self-quarantine, do not come outside for however long theyre saying. If you have symptoms, you need to go get checked out or whatever."

The rapper said he got tested because he had a fever and a cough, but those symptoms have subsided.

"I feel better now," Slim Thug said. "I dont have a fever or nothing like that, so I feel like Im good, but yall better take this serious. Its real out here."

The rapper has been preaching social distancing on Instagram, but earlier in the month, he posted photos from his trip to Cancun from March 2-4.

On Wednesday, he posted a video from when he was given the coronavirus test.
Ryanair on Tuesday said it does not expect to operate flights in April or May and has offered its aircraft to European governments for rescue or the essential movement of medicines and personal protective equipment.

"The experience in China suggests a 3-month period for the spread of the virus to be contained and reduced. We do not expect to operate flights during the months of April and May at this time, but this will clearly depend on government advice," the budget airline said in a statement posted on Twitter.

On March 18, Ryanair said it expected to ground most if not all of its flights from March 24 except a very small number mostly between Britain and Ireland. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
A woman has been charged with murder and attempted murder after a man was run over and died.

Police were called at around 1pm to Acton, west London after a 54-year-old man died when he was struck by a car.

The driver left the car and attacked another man, who was not seriously injured.

Police said Rhian Beresford, 28, was charged early this morning with murder and attempted murder.

She is being held in custody and will appear at Ealing Magistrates Court later today.

Shocking video footage shows the aftermath of the alleged attack in west London on Sunday

Shocking video footage shows police at the scene of the broad-daylight attack in London

Video footage shows the aftermath of the shocking incident. The stab victim lies on the floor surrounded by police officers.

A horrified onlooker says 'poor guy, wow this is bad man' as he walks away from the scene.

Other images show police tape at the scene as investigations are carried out following the shocking incident.

A police cordon was put up at the scene in Acton, west London, after a man was mowed down

Police were called to the scene in Acton, London, shortly before 1pm on Sunday after the pedestrian was critically injured

Rhian Beresford, 28, was charged early this morning with murder and attempted murder following the shocking daylight incident
Jammu, March 24 : Amid the coronavirus epidemic, the 'Madadgar' (good Samaritans) team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is working with the J&K administration to contain Covid-19's spread.

It's 24x7 helpline number 144411 is also helping people get medicines and other essential items in the hour of need. It's also trying to make people aware of the lockdown norms as well as not to indulge in panic buying and to venture out of their homes to avoid getting infected.

Covid-19 has, so far, claimed 10 lives and infected over 500 across the country.

In J&K, there has been three coronavirus suspects. Of this, one has tested positive and is being treated.

"Help India fight corona by staying at home," the Madadgar tweeted. "CRPF personnel risk their lives away from families so that you can be safe with yours." In another message, the Madadgar team appealed: "Do not resort to panic buying or overcrowding. For any assistance with regard to medicines or essential items call @CRPFmadadgaar on 14411." The helpline was the brainchild of CRPF Inspector General (Operations) Zulfiquar Hasan as long spells of curfew had become routine in Kashmir in 2016 due to the widespread violence following the killing of Burhan Wani, a terrorist.

The initiative, started in January 2017, has many success stories and has attracted huge appreciations. The Madadgar team also helped Kashmiries by providing medicines, arranging blood for patients, and resolving disputes.

Gul Junaid Khan, in-charge of the 'Madadgar' unit, told IANS over phone the team had been receiving various help calls regarding Covid-19 and was providing all possible assistance.

"The CRPF Madadgar has been receiving calls, such as people seeking assistance in supply of food and other essential items like medicines. We have also received calls for blood donations. The CRPF has provided all possible assistance in each case," Khan said.

"On March 17, Rubeena, a mother of three kid suffering from chronic kidney disease, needed four units of blood. Her family contacted CRPF Madadgaar. Rising to the occassion, Shub Barta Pandey, Karamveer, K. Basuraj and Rakesh Kumar Yadav (all constables ) of the 115 Battalion donated the blood," he said.

The CRPF units are also helping in sanitation drives across the Valley.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 24 : In a major breakthrough in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is fortunate to have its first 'Made in India' test kit.

Deepak Sharma New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) In a major breakthrough in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is fortunate to have its first 'Made in India' test kit.

A Pune-based biotechnology company would roll out the test kit from its plant by Wednesday morning. A core team of top biotechnologists led by Dr Hansmukh Rawal developed this kit within one-and-a-half months and got approvals from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday.

The test kit, costing Rs 4,500, requires only 2.5 hours to process the results. Usually it takes 6-8 hours to give results of COCID-19 tests.

"We have used molecular diagnostic technology and the results are highly accurate. We adhere to the latest parameters of WHO (World Health Organization), " Rawal told IANS.

On the idea of developing the COVID-19 testing kit in India, Rawal said that as soon the pandemic broke out in China, the scientists at his lab in Pune got involved in the process.

"It was in January (two months ago) that we had a meeting with our core team which includes bio technologists Dr Gautam Wankhede, Dr Shefali and several other key scientists. Our team had the experience of developing diagnostics kits for pathogen detection and viral load monitoring. So we had the expertise and the R&D began swiftly.

"Within days things started to shape up. After a couple of weeks, we knew that our bio technologists have succeeded in developing the kit," Rawal said, adding, "And we were happy to discover that yesterday morning we got the letter of ICMR approval from the National Institute of Virology." The biotechnologists said that any company could claim that it has developed a test kit but several criteria have to be met and finally it is the government which approves the product capable of delivering a very accurate result.

"We submitted the developed test kit to the National Institute of Virology, the apex centre of ICMR for COVID-19 in India. After comprehensive tests, we got the ICMR letter on March 23. In other words we got approval to manufacture (subject to technical clearance) and supply the test kits. We have also procured the technical clearance and are ready for production," Rawal informed.

In a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the WHO has been requesting government authorities to go for mass testing in virus affected regions. However, the exercise can be carried out provided tests kits are available in abundance.

On the issue of production, Rawal said that by this week, 1 lakh tests kits would be dispatched. Gradually the production volume would reach 4.5 lakh test kits per week.

"By tomorrow morning, the tests kits would by supplied from our manufacturing plant and would be available across India in a couple of days," Rawal said.
[March 23, 2020] Hyland leverages Amazon Web Services to offer cloud solutions in Japan to support growth

Strategic location to support demand for secure, dependable cloud solutions and business continuity in-region CLEVELAND, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyland , a leading content services provider with more than 16 years of experience in delivering secure cloud solutions, is expanding the footprint of its Hyland Cloud . Hyland will leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host Hyland Cloud solutions in the AWS Asia Pacific (Tokyo) Region. By working with AWS, Hyland offers an in-region option to support its growing cloud business and strategic operations in Japan  meeting organizations' data sovereignty and localization preferences. The demand for such cloud services is growing across the myriad geographies served by Hyland. "AWS provides greater agility, enabling us to dliver solutions to customers quicker than ever in new regions and emerging markets. AWS also improves our ability to scale in Japan as we continue to see an increase in customers and prospective customers seeking a Hyland Cloud solution," said Patrick Mulcahy, vice president of Global Cloud Services at Hyland.



Hyland has already successfully migrated a customer in Japan, leveraging the Hyland Cloud on AWS to drive innovative solutions and increase operational efficiency. The Hyland Cloud is purpose-built to support content services solutions and ensures data stored within is protected by the highest levels of digital and physical security protocols. Content stored in the Hyland Cloud is secure and available, with disaster recovery and business continuity enforced in tandem. "Organizations are progressively prioritizing cloud solutions because of the value they deliver for increased security and efficiency. We've seen an incredible 300 percent increase in customers deploying cloud solutions, and expect that number to continue to grow," said Marc Cianciolo, director, Global Cloud Services at Hyland. "By working with AWS in Japan, we can deliver a safe, secure, and reliable option for organizations from two trusted cloud providers."

The Hyland Cloud supports more than 1175 global organizations in 29 countries. The privately managed cloud is configured and maintained to provide maximum security, demonstrated by ongoing audits and adherence to strict ISO-based policies. To learn more about the Hyland Cloud, visit Hyland.com/Cloud . About Hyland

Hyland is a leading content services provider that enables thousands of organizations to deliver better experiences to the people they serve. Find us at Hyland.com . Media contact:

Megan Larsen

+1 440-788-4988

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Ford said on Tuesday that it will not reopen its plants in North America on March 30 as originally planned because of various stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus.

"We are assessing various options and working with union leaders  including the United Auto Workers and Unifor  on the optimal timing for resuming vehicle production, keeping the well-being of our workforce top of mind," Kumar Galhotra, Ford's president of North America, said in a statement.

The company said it would provide additional updates once more details are confirmed.

Ford originally closed its plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on March 18 after bowing to pressure from the UAW, which called for protection from the pandemic. The company had said it would work closely with the UAW in the coming weeks to restart plants and explore additional protocols and procedures to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Health officials in Park and Gallatin counties have called on Yellowstone National Parks superintendent to lock the gates.

A Yellowstone spokesperson said park Superintendent Cam Sholly did not have a response to the requests. She instead said the agency is standing by recommendations it sent out on Friday regarding visitation during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The announcement said park managers will continue to evaluate and adapt to changing COVID-19 guidance and adjust operations as needed. As of now, the park intends to maintain the regular opening schedule.

Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow was unable to comment on the possibility of further closures there. Flathead County hasnt yet requested any.

We are watching closely the visitation numbers that are occurring there and hearing from the park. Were really following their lead at this point, said County Health Officer Hillary Hanson.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which operates lodging facilities in Yellowstone, has closed all its facilities through at least May 21, according to a Montana Free Press story. Delaware North, which operates Yellowstone General Stores, has closed all its stores other than the Mammoth General Store through May 21.

Most roads and facilities are scheduled to open April 17 through early June. In March and April, a quiet season for Yellowstone as it transitions from winter to summer recreation and roads are plowed, visitation is fairly low. The average number of visitors in March is about 22,000 while April is double that at 44,000.

Yellowstone did close its Albright Visitor Center and the Boiling River to public use. The park news release also encouraged park fans to enjoy Yellowstone online via webcams, virtual tours, photo galleries, apps, videos, and other digital content.

Those measures didnt seem to alleviate the concerns in Gallatin and Park counties. In letters the health officials voiced concerns that encouraging tourism during the COVID-19 outbreak is dangerous since it could increase the likelihood of transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Our shared ability to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak will be greatly complicated and imperiled by the arrival of thousands of tourists to our community, wrote Matt Kelley, health officer for Gallatin County, in a letter dated March 22.

It is imperative that you understand that Yellowstone is not simply an expanse of wide open land, Kelleys letter continued. It is a massive tourist attraction that attracts millions of people to our communities from all over the world. Most of those tourists congregate in visitors centers, rest rooms, gift shops, restaurants, and park attractions.

Marysue Costello, president and CEO of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, said closing Yellowstone isn't business friendly or probably what some stir-crazy stay-at-home workers want to hear, but she's trying to be optimistic and hope disease concerns can be tamped down soon enough to not affect the gateway community's economy too badly.

The county health officials' request came days after the Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, announced that parks would not be charging admission fees, nor would any access fees be levied at Bureau of Land Management properties.

The agency has allowed the closure of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado at the request of the governor following a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident. Yosemite and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks have also been shuttered.

Not closing national parks allows the Trump administration to "create a facade of normalcy," according to Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Encouraging mass park visitation amid a pandemic is irresponsible and endangers visitors and local communities.

Doug Morris, a National Park Service retiree who now serves on the Executive Council of the Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks, is especially concerned for park employees. Those people are all forced into close contact with visitors, especially in parks where large crowds assemble in one place, he said. Its not clear how much the fee waiver contributed to a busy weekend in Glacier, but Morris called the decision irresponsible.

Glacier saw heavy traffic in the Apgar and Lake McDonald areas, according to the park's Facebook page, and because snow is still covering many popular trails and parking areas have been full, the available attractions don't allow for adequate social distancing or limited group sizes. The situation has placed national park employees at risk, including those "cleaning restrooms, emptying trash, answering visitor questions, and ensuring visitor safety and resource protection."

I think the situation warrants the first priority (be) given to the safety of people," Morris said, "And those decisions should be delegated to park superintendents consistent with what the CDC guidelines are saying.

The concerns about public recreation spots attracting people during a challenging time hasnt been limited to national parks. Illinois has closed its state park system. Oregon and Washington have closed all state campgrounds. In contrast, Georgia is using a portion of one campground as an isolation post for residents who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In perhaps one of the stranger closings, the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming has closed all of its bathrooms to the public because it doesn't have proper protective equipment for its employees who clean the facilities.

"All of this is extremely difficult to near impossible to find right now without a multi-week wait," according to Kristie Salzmann, Shoshone public affairs officer.

Asked if the forest wasn't concerned about the hazards of people defecating and urinating near the outhouses because they had to go, Salzmann said, "Part of why we wanted to get the word out via this release prior to closing toilets was to allow the public to plan accordingly. We know that people will still need to go to the bathroom, but for the time being, we are mitigating the risk of exposure to our employees."

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[March 24, 2020] LOGIX Fiber Networks Offers Up to Three Months Free Service in Response to COVID-19 to Help Businesses Go Remote; Signs FCC Pledge

To help businesses adjust to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, LOGIX Fiber Networks is launching a new program to provide its Business Voice Cloud service with special pricing, including up to three months free, when a company signs up for a new Business Voice Cloud with hosted PBX solution. This program is available immediately to new and existing business customers through the end of April. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005087/en/ LOGIX offers up to three months free service in response to COVID-19. (Photo: Business Wire) The company has also signed the Federal Communications Commission's "Keep Americans Connected Pledge," promising for the next 60 days to not terminate service to small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and waiving any late fees that customers incur because of their economic circumstances.



In an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, many firms have instructed employees to work from home. However, this can present issues for business continuity, especially for those that rely on in-office technology, such as their desk phone. LOGIX Business Voice Cloud solutions enable employees to be fully accessible from anywhere due to the platform's features. It is an industry-leading, full-featured PBX (News - Alert) hosted in the LOGIX cloud delivering unlimited domestic long-distance calling, a soft client for voice and video calling, messaging, conferencing, and employee collaboration tools. "Our team understands that this unprecedented situation poses significant challenges to many businesses of all sizes," said Matt Murphy, CEO of LOGIX Fiber Networks. "That's why LOGIX is dedicated to assisting any way we can. This three months free offer, reduced pricing, and signing of the FCC (News - Alert) Pledge are our ways of helping firms stay connected during the abrupt transition to a remote workforce, as well as to ease financial concerns during this crisis."

The LOGIX business fiber network currently connects over 10,000 businesses across Texas and has ample levels of capacity available to handle new customers. Unlike some other fiber providers and cable companies, LOGIX does not slow down or throttle customer communications during peak demand windows. This available capacity enables LOGIX customers to maintain employee productivity and ensure connectivity, even while working remotely. Business Voice Cloud with hosted PBX can also be deployed quickly and can scale easily to meet the needs of various sized businesses. The LOGIX team is available to answer questions regarding how Business Voice Cloud makes tele-commuting and a mobile work force more efficient during this time. For more information about LOGIX and this limited-time, special offer call 281-688-6231 or visit www.logix.com. Connect with LOGIX on LinkedIn and Facebook. About LOGIX Fiber Networks LOGIX Fiber Networks is an established fiber-based network infrastructure operator in Texas. LOGIX provides highly secure fiber-based data and voice services as well as data center access to over 10,000 enterprise and carrier customers. Known for its outstanding Texas-based customer service, flexible connectivity options and best-in-class reliability, LOGIX's built-for-business fiber network delivers the dependability customers need so that they can focus on their business. LOGIX's affordable solutions leverage expertise accumulated over its 35-year history. As a nimble, regional player, LOGIX efficiently develops and deploys large-, medium- or small-scale footprints to support its customers' current and future business requirements. LOGIX offers a broad range of business voice and data options for simple and complex configurations including Business Voice, Business Internet, Business Ethernet, Business Wavelength, Business Voice Cloud, Business Voice Trunks, Data Centers and Cloud Connect. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005087/en/

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has discussed with Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine Melinda Simmons the situation related to the coronavirus pandemic.

I held a productive meeting with Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine Melinda Simmons. We discussed the situation related to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic policy, the Prime Minister posted on his Telegram channel after the meeting in Kyiv.

Shmyhal assured British partners that the Government of Ukraine would continue reforms.

The Prime Minister thanked the UK for political, financial and expert support.

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In a flagrant violation of international law, Canadas Liberal government has struck a deal with the Trump administration to deny irregular migrants who have crossed into Canada via the US the right to file for refugee status in Canada.

Henceforth, asylum seekers fleeing Trumps ruthless anti-immigrant crackdown will be automatically sent back to the US where they will be handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) thugs and in all likelihood detained.

The agreement was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a press conference last Friday morning and took effect at 11:59 p.m. that daythe same time that Canada and the US closed the worlds longest international border to all but essential travel and their returning citizens and permanent residents in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic.

This move, which is the latest in a long series of attacks on refugee rights from the Liberal government, is all the more criminal in a context in which the number of coronavirus cases is increasing rapidly on both sides of the border. Due to a virtual absence of medical assistance and the indifference of the authorities, US refugee detention centres are hotbeds for infection.

Earlier last week, after the agreement with Washington to limit movement across the border to essential business travel was first unveiled, Trudeau said irregular entrants would still be allowed to claim refugee status, but would be quarantined for 14 days in case they were infected. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair justified this decision, which dovetails with the governments order that most entrants to Canada self-isolate for two weeks, by noting that there is no evidence to suggest asylum seekers are more likely to have COVID-19 than anyone else.

However, in a further exposure of the fraudulence of its pro-refugee posturing, Trudeau and his Liberals made a sudden volte-face Friday, and acceded to the longstanding demand of the right and far right that they bar all so-called irregular migrants from entering Canada.

The working class must take Trudeaus decision as a serious warning. The Canadian ruling class will seek to exploit the health, social, and economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic to ram through reactionary and anti-democratic measures it has previously been unable to implement. At the same time, it is whipping up nationalism and xenophobia to channel mass anger in a reactionary direction and divide the working class.

Trudeau demagogically claimed that his agreement with Trump is a temporary measure to protect Canadians, implying, in the manner of a far-right xenophobe, that migrants represent a special and inordinate COVID-19 threat. In truth, there is no medical justification for banning refugee claimants, especially under conditions in which the authorities were stating just days earlier that they could easily be quarantined.

The Canadian ruling elite has more than enough resources to provide the refugees with the care and support they need, even in the midst of the pandemic. The Trudeau government has just handed hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks and corporate elite to protect their wealth amid the economic collapse triggered by the pandemic.

Workers who have fallen ill, must self-quarantine, look after a family member, or have lost their job, on the other hand, are being offered a pittance in state support. No less derisory are the sums the Liberals are making available to Canadas overstretched health care system, which has been devastated by decades of austerity measures implemented by federal and provincial governments of all political stripes.

Refugee rights organizations have voiced their concern and opposition to Trudeaus decision. Janet Dench, the executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, noted, There is a major concern that people turned back to the US will be put in detention if they dont have status. She added, Immigration detention in the US was already a serious rights violation [and] the situation is even worse now with the pandemic putting detained people at risk.

The whipping up of xenophobia by Canadas political establishment and by leaders around the worldincluding Trump, who delights in provocatively labeling the coronavirus the Chinese virusserves to divert attention away from the ruling elites criminal negligence prior to and during the coronavirus pandemic. In recent years, scientific experts have warned repeatedly about the high risk of a global pandemic and pointed to the unpreparedness of governments around the world to face such a potential catastrophe. Yet no investments were made, because the ruling elites saw such preventive measures as an unacceptable drain on their frenzied accumulation of vast wealth.

The attempt to scapegoat immigrants for the social ills created by the capitalist crisis and decades of social spending cuts has a long history in Canada. As part of this campaign, the Conservatives in English Canada and the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) and other right-wing Quebec nationalists such as the Bloc Quebecois have been pressing the Trudeau government to take a harder line towards refugees fleeing Trumps anti-immigrant witch-hunt. They have called on Trudeau to declare the entire Canada-US border an official entry point, which would give Ottawa the authority under the Canada-US Safe-Third Country Agreement (STCA) to summarily reject all asylum seekers and return them immediately to the US.

The STCA stipulates that any refugee entering Canada at an official entry point from a so-called safe countrythat is one where basic democratic rights and the rights of refugees are supposedly protectedcan immediately be returned there without having the right to file an asylum claim in Canada.

The language in this reactionary agreement has encouraged those fleeing oppression and war to avoid official entry points and cross the border irregularly in order to file asylum claims in Canada. The number of refugees making use of this loophole increased dramatically after Trump threatened to deport immigrants to their war-torn, economically-ravaged countries, including hundreds of thousands of Haitians and other Latin Americans who had benefited from temporary US residency.

As recently as last week, Trudeau and his top ministers were still insisting that refusing to hear refugee claims by irregular entrants would be illegal under international and Canadian law. They also argued that denying refugees the right to file an asylum claim was not necessary, because under Canadas reactionary immigration laws the vast majority of asylum-seekers were being deemed ineligible and ordered expelled.

However, all the while Ottawa was engaged in extensive behind-the-scenes discussions with the Trump administration to seal the border to refugees. At his press conference last Friday, Trudeau revealed, Weve been in discussions with the Americans for several years to try to find a measure like this.

Conservative and Bloc Quebecois spokespersons have voiced their satisfaction with the Trudeau-Trump agreement. Significantly, as the coronavirus crisis exploded over the past two weeks, threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands, the main contenders for the federal Conservative Party leadership, Peter MacKay and Erin OToole, focused their campaigns on the reactionary demand to bar refugees from Canada.

Trudeaus latest joint action with Trump will lend political legitimacy to Trumps reactionary policies against immigrants, above all his drive to militarize the entire US-Mexico border so as to prevent Central and South American refugees from reaching American soil.

The closing of the US-Canada border to refugees is part of the Trudeau governments efforts to maintain and deepen Ottawas military-strategic partnership with Washington and its fascistic president. One of the Liberals major concerns in the midst of the pandemic was the final passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which aims to consolidate North America as a US-dominated economic bloc that can confront the international rivals of US and Canadian imperialism, above all China.

The Trudeau governments barring of refugees from entering Canada underscores that insofar as the working class does not intervene as an independent political force, the ruling elite will exploit the coronavirus crisis to attack democratic rights. While travel restrictions and quarantines are necessary to suppress the highly-contagious and potentially lethal coronavirus, they must be implemented in a way that respects democratic rights and human dignity. As a recent statement by the Socialist Equality Party in the United States notes: In the struggle against the pandemic, the working people of the world must view all manifestations of national chauvinism as no less a threat to humanity than the coronavirus itself (see:Reject capitalist xenophobia! For international socialist solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic!)
Photo: iStock

You can leave your umbrella at home through Thursday, but light snowfall is in the forecast for Denver later in the week, according to the seven-day forecast from drone-powered weather service Saildrone. The greatest chance of snow is forecast on Friday at 50 percent, with the potential for light flurries.

The coming days will also bring mild temperatures, lasting through Thursday as well. The weather will bring a high temperature of 66 degrees on Wednesday, then turn cooler on Friday.

Winds are expected to rise as high as 20 mph on Friday, while today will be calmer with a top speed of just 7 mph. Skies will be partly cloudy today and cloudy Wednesday through Thursday.

This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
On 23rd March, The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting wrote to the chief secretaries of all States/Union Territories requesting them to ensure operational continuity of print and electronic media in view of threat of COVID-19 outbreak.

The statement reads, The Government of India and State/UT Governments are taking necessary steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. At this juncture, robust and essential information dissemination networks viz. TV Channels, News Agencies, Teleport Operators, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG), Direct-to-Home (DTH) and Highend-in-the-Sky (HITS), Multi System Operators (MSOs), Cable Operators, Frequency Modulation (FM) Radio and Community Radio Stations (CRSs) are of utmost importance to ensure timely and authentic information dissemination.

The letter stresses the need to keep this information network operational as their outreach is of vital importance. It requested State/UTs to facilitate operational convenience of the mentioned services.

The concerned service providers were asked to coordinate with the local authorities in case any problem is faced by them in providing uninterrupted services.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty

As the world reels from the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russia is doing its best to turn global turmoil into propaganda fodder. To date, a country of 146 million people straddling Europe and Asia and that has a great deal of commerce with those two great epicenters of the disease reports only 438 confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths. One previously disclosed fatality has been dismissed by authorities as attributable to other causes.

But according to official statistics from Russian state media, more than 52,000 people remain under medical supervision in connection with suspected coronavirus infection.

Perhaps the real number of Russias coronavirus patients lies somewhere in between.

Garry Kasparov, a world-renowned former world chess champion and the chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, told The Daily Beast why the Kremlins dubious claims shouldnt be taken at face value:

Of course Russia is lying about their coronavirus stats and I can say that confidently because they lie about everything, said Kasparov. Dictatorships lie when they have toand when they dont; its about control. Control of information, shaping reality, and, most importantly, appearing all-powerful and all-knowing. If the regime can be surprised or overwhelmed by a virus, maybe its not so powerful after all, a dangerous line of thought for a repressed population to have. Until there is truly independent testingand the stories were hearing out of Russia are not encouragingwe just dont know whats going on.

Even so, Western media outlets have disregarded the Kremlins less-than-sterling reputation for honesty and transparency, and lauded Russias self-proclaimed success in controlling the deadly virus.

In January, Fox News reported Russias decision to close its border with China and in early February uncritically repeated the claim that Russia has only two confirmed cases of the virus, but authorities have taken measures to prevent its spread by hospitalizing people returning from China as a precaution.

Story continues

In late February, Fox News stated that Russia only has three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus, without questioning the probability of such fantastic statistics in light of a pandemic raging in neighboring China.

Last Sunday, showcasing Russias coronavirus aid to Italy, Fox News posted photographs released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, with the doors of Russian military trucks adorned with heart-shaped flags that read: From Russia with love.

Apparently accepting Russias claims as ironclad facts, Fox News fawned: Russia has so far reported very few confirmed coronavirus cases, noting just 306 infections and one death. As the U.S. and Europe struggle to contain the virus, nations once viewed as rivals are stepping up in the global coronavirus response.

CNN wrote on Saturday that, According to information released by Russian officials, [Russian President Vladimir] Putins strategy seems to have worked. The number of confirmed Russian coronavirus cases is surprisingly low, despite Russia sharing a lengthy border with China and recording its first case back in January.

Kasparov, a persistent critic of Putin, wonders why anyone would believe this stuff, much less report it. Repeating Russias numbers is ridiculous. Trust must be earned, and Putin lies about everything from his invasion of Ukraine to the more directly comparable epidemic of HIV in Russia that officially doesnt exist. Why should Western governments and media treat Putins dictatorship in good faith when its not returned, and in fact is exploited?

Putin Worries Coronavirus Could Screw Up His Constitutional Coronation

Russias alleged triumph over the coronavirus coincides with Putins maneuvers to become the countrys president for life, a role all but assured through pending constitutional changes. Amendments in question have already been approved by both houses of parliament and are now pending a nationwide vote on April 22, which will take place come rain or shinecoronavirus notwithstanding. The possibility of conducting the vote by mail is under consideration.

In the meantime, the Kremlin-controlled Russian state media are reminding citizens that the countrys very survival depends on Putins leadership. Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of Russia's most popular Sunday news program, Vesti Nedeli, is leading the way. Lets be honest, he insisted this month: Russia without Putin is non-viable.

But there is ample evidence the regimes information war is being disregarded by Russians in the trenches trying to deal with the reality of the disease. On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin gave the authorities five days to develop a system that would track and notify people who have come in contact with any known carriers of coronavirus. The system would simultaneously notify special regional headquarters set up to fight the pandemic.

Authorities have begun building a 500-person hospital to house coronavirus patients near Moscow and Russian doctors reportedly are alarmed that some cases are being ascribed to pneumonia and seasonal flu without testing. The same state-media TV shows that would have you believe everything is under control are being filmed without audiences.

Everyday Russians are stocking up on astronomical quantities of toilet paper and buckwheat, disregarding the governments assurances that coronavirus is being contained.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state media outlets RT and Sputnik, launched a Twitter initiative designed to prove that Russian grocery stores show no signs of panic buying. Simonyans idea backfired, as multiple citizens responded with photographs of emptied store shelves.

Lingering memories of Soviet-era coverups are exacerbated by more recent denials, such as Russias covert warfare in Ukraine, its role in the downing of the Malaysian aircraft MH17, clumsy denials of the Skripal poisonings, and obfuscation of crucial details about a radioactive explosion involving a nuclear-powered missile in northern Russia last year.

But the Kremlins persistent aim to keep the coronavirus numbers down is paying off thus far, since Russias international flights are unimpeded by worldwide bans. While U.S. President Donald Trump barred travelers from China, its largest neighbor continues to receive the benefit of the doubt.

Just as Chinas information crackdown led directly to the massive outbreak now threatening the world, says Kasparov, Putins will also have an impact across the Russian border. The radioactive cloud from Chernobyl poisoned much of Europe. The flights still coming out of Russianot on the banned list because of the low official numberscould spread disease all over the globe.

Painting a rosy picture of Russias future, the Kremlin-controlled state media predicted doom and gloom for everybody but the motherland, especially the hated United States.

Last week, experts on The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev were crowing about economic troubles for the West. Russian economist Mikhail Khazin opined that Russia is the only region that can grow and prosper economically during the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic. Other experts on the show suggested that America is withering as a superpower, while a new age is dawning for Russia and China. They concurred that Soviet-like regimes are winning and the new world will be more authoritarian.

Host Vladimir Soloviev concluded: Enough talk about individual freedoms. With angry animus, Soloviev argued that history would disprove the premise of Francis Fukuyamas book The End of History and the Last Man and would lead to the uprooting of liberal democracies.

As he has in the past, Soloviev referred to President Trump as Donald Ivanovych and marveled at the statements and actions of the American leader, who is himself in the risk group for contracting coronavirus.

The Russian Models Instagramming From Chinas Coronavirus Capital

Still, Russian state TV pundits kept their usually sharp ridicule to the minimum. Their exchanges revealed the hope that Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea and other Putin abuses of international law would soon be lifted, with the coronavirus pandemic overshadowing all prior concerns.

Dmitry Kiselyov argued during this Sundays episode of Vesti Nedeli that multiple Western governments will be undergoing deep changes and the sanctions against Russia will soon become obsolete.

As for the short-term propaganda goals, the Kremlin still anticipates the arrival later this spring of U.S. National Security Adviser Robert OBrien for Moscows big 75th anniversary celebration of victory over the Nazis. President Trump reportedly wanted to go but faced pressure from advisers not to embark on such a journey. The parade is scheduled for May 9the very month the coronavirus epidemic is expected to have reached a peak in Russia.

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This has become ridiculous. For over a week, Ive been trying to find three of the Big 4 for my very senior mother: disinfectant, wipes, hand sanitizer and bathroom tissue. Stores are packed daily, impossible to keep a safe distance from anyone, and none of these items is to be found. Senior shopping time is a joke. Many who are clearly not seniors are in stores and, for items with limits, people are going in and out multiple times or family members are splitting orders.
With the coronavirus outbreak



triggering lockdown across the country, an organisation of Imams of West Bengal on Tuesday asked authorities of mosques to restrict entry of people to prevent large gatherings and conducting prayers with very few devotees.

While regular namaz and other religious practices should continue with 4-5 people, entry of others into mosques will have to be restricted, Chairman of Bengal Imams Association Mohammed Yahia said in a statement.

"Others will conduct their namaz prayers at their houses," he said adding that it is only an emergency measure in view of the present situation.

As of now, arrangements will be in force to hold the Shab e barat festival on April 9 and the decision will be reviewed afterwards, Yahia said.

The Imam of Nakhoda Masjid here, one of the prominent mosques in the state, Shafique Qasmi said, "We have already restricted entry of people inside the mosque even during prayers to prevent large gatherings and while the Imam will conduct the namaz prayers within the premises on a microphone, others will do the same at their houses."



He said this practice will continue till the situation improves as "our country is faced with a grave danger.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Some prominent personalities made direct requests at the country's main novel coronavirus testing center so they could be tested if they are positive for the coronavirus disease, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed on Tuesday.

He told CNN Philippines that some of the personalities he referred to as "VIPs" or "very important persons" met the initial criteria of the Department of Health (DOH) for testing at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

"There were direct requests made to the RITM by the 'VIP.' I have no details of each one of them that had requested for testing. Sufficient to say, indeed some of them had really fit in the initial criteria for testing," he told CNN Philippines.

Before the DOH revised its testing guidelines on March 16, those showing mild flu-like symptoms, those with travel to areas with local transmission, and contact with a patient were allowed to be tested. Duque said that most of the senators who were tested came in contact with a couple who served as resource persons in the Senate. The said couple later tested positive for COVID-19.

DOH on Monday said there are no VIPs when it comes to COVID-19 testing, but admits it gives "courtesy" to officials involved in national security and public health. The statement came in the wake of public criticism for the testing given to President Rodrigo Duterte, members of the presidential family, Cabinet members, and a number of senators even if they did not exhibit virus symptoms.

Despite his admission that several VIPs were tested for the viral disease, the Health Chief said this does not mean that patients with severe symptoms were not taken care of.

"The point is these people were managed in the hospitals. It's not as if the lack of test result led to the non-care of the patient. They were cared for in the ICU," Duque said.

There were several cases in the country where the patient died before receiving their COVID-19 test results. Duque explained the delay in the release of test results.

"The RITM for a while had to stop testing because of surge of cases. They were afraid their biosafety laboratory standards were already breached and didn't want an epidemic in the laboratory so they stopped. So nagtagal ang paglabas ng mga test results," he said.

The new testing parameters were changed to those who show severe symptoms. Senior citizens; patients with cancer, diabetes, and hypertension; and pregnant women with mild symptoms will also be tested for COVID-19. However, Duque said DOH is eyeing to change its rules again on who should be tested for coronavirus disease. He said those with mild symptoms may be tested once the rules are revised.

Dr. Rabi Abeyasinghe, the WHO Representative in the Philippines, said those with pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) should be prioritized for testing considering the limited number of kits.
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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:23 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d31613 1 World COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,RI-China,COVID-19-medical-supplies Free

The Chinese government has flown out much-needed medical equipment from the city of Shanghai to Indonesia to support the countrys prevention and control measures against COVID-19.

The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia announced the distribution shortly after the medical supply packages, consisting of test kits, N95 masks, surgical masks, protective gear and portable ventilators, were shipped on Tuesday.

At the moment, Indonesia is suffering from the COVID-19 outbreak, the government and the people of China have the same solicitude as the people of Indonesia, the embassy wrote on its website.

Read also: China sends experts, aid to Italy to help virus fight

According to the embassy, the assistance was a way of returning the favor to the international community, including Indonesia, which had helped China in its hardest time during the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the government and various sections of the Indonesian community have supported China through various means to combat the disease. The Chinese government and people are very grateful for this, it added.

On Monday, Indonesia received thousands of medical supplies transported on a military aircraft which landed at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta after picking up medical equipment from Shanghai.

During a press conference on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the Chinese government would without any hesitation reciprocate the kindness of countries that had assisted China in its fight against COVID-19.

We will offer assistance as our capability allows to friendly countries that are in a severe situation and lack prevention and control materials, especially those developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as regional organizations such as the African Union, Geng said as released by the embassy.

Read also: COVID-19: Jokowi issues decree on relief budget reallocation, medical supply distribution

Besides medical equipment support, the Chinese government has been working extensively to offer information guidance to the international community fighting against the epidemic, based on its experience of COVID-19 prevention and control as well as clinical treatment.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, together with the National Health Commission and the General Administration of Customs, held an online video conference to brief 19 Eurasian and South Asian countries regarding such matters.

Going forward, China will continue to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and the spirit of mutual assistance and solidarity, share information with the international community [...] in an open, transparent and responsible manner, Geng added.
The virus causes only minor flu-like symptoms in most people, who recover in a matter of weeks. But it is highly contagious and young people who show no symptoms can infect others. It can cause severe illness or death, particularly among the elderly and people with underlying health problems, and severe cases are already stressing the health care system's capacity to respond.
WARSAW, Poland - A court in southern Poland has convicted three Polish men of terrorism charges related to the torching of a Hungarian centre in Ukraine in early 2018.

The court in Krakow sentenced two of the men to prison terms and one to supervised release and community service.

Ukrainian officials have suggested Russian links to the two attacks in February 2018. Ukraines then-foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, said at the time that the attacks on the Hungarian centre in Ukraines western Transcarpathia region, where over 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside, were attempts to destabilize the country.

An armed conflict in Ukraines eastern industrial heartland flared up in April 2014, weeks after Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. More than 14,000 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists.

The Hungarian centre in the city of Uzhhorod was attacked with Molotov cocktails and partially destroyed by fire.

The groups leader, Michal Prokopowicz, 29, was given a three-year prison term. Tomasz Szymkowiak, 23, was sentenced to two years in prison. Both had pleaded not guilty.

The third man, Adrian Marglewski, 26, co-operated with investigators and was given two years of supervised release and 40 hours of community service.

Prokopowicz is a member of Polands far-right, pro-Russia party, Zmiana. The two other men are members of a similarly radical group, Falanga.

The verdict announced Monday is subject to appeal.
A 3.7bn wage and welfare package will see the State pay workers impacted by Covid-19 up to 410 per week while the unemployed will see payments increased.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the emergency wage measures are designed to keep people in jobs to avoid even worse economic difficulties in the future.

The wage subsidies and increased jobless payments will cost the State 3.7bn over a 12-week period.

Cabinet agreed the measures after other countries, including the UK and Denmark, also introduced such protections.

As part of the package, the Government will pay a temporary wage subsidy of 70% of take-home pay up to a maximum weekly tax-free amount of 410 to help companies to keep paying staff.

Employers must self-declare to Revenue that they have experienced significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19, with a minimum of 25% decline in turnover. This scheme is open to impacted employers in all sectors.

The subsidy is equivalent to the after-tax income of a worker on around 38,000.

Workers earning between 38,000 and 76,000 will be entitled to assistance capped at 350, while workers earning above 76,000 will be excluded from the scheme.

Employers will be free to top-up the Governments element of the salary.

Meanwhile, workers who have lost their jobs due to the crisis will receive a higher emergency Covid-19 unemployment payment of 350 per week, an increase from 203.

Self-employed workers will also be eligible for the 350 payment directly from the Department of Social Protection.

Announcing the welfare measures, Mr Donohoe said: We must act now to avoid even greater economic difficulties in the future.

He said that the driving need was to provide income support and give confidence to employers to retain workers.

The care and protection of our citizens is our abiding concern, the finance minster added.

Ministers confirmed the increased welfare payment would begin on Friday, while the wage subsidies will come into effect once emergency legislation is passed later this week and Revenue is in a position to coordinate the payments.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty said her original estimate of 400,000 job losses was now potentially conservative.

Business Minister Heather Humphreys insisted that the hope from the wage subsidy scheme was that businesses could bounce back when the pandemic ends.

Employers group Ibec said the supports would play a crucial role in enabling the economy to revive.

Its chief executive, Danny McCoy, said: These income supports are a crucial and important further step towards keeping vulnerable firms alive, keeping their employees engaged with them, and protecting the income of individuals.

Opposition TDs said they were glad the Government had accepted the original 203 unemployment payment had been ridiculously low.
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Dissident republicans have been accused of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic after they were blamed for a disruptive bomb hoax in Co Fermanagh.

A senior officer branded the extremists a disgrace after the fake device was left in the Rosslea area.

PSNI Superintendent Clive Beatty said the perpetrators went to great lengths to make the object look like a bomb.

It was found by a member of the public on Monday night, prompting a day-long security alert involving police and British Army bomb disposal experts.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Commander Superintendent Clive Beatty condemns hoax device left by dissident republicans at time of national emergency.https://t.co/2HCbXt7wNu  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) March 24, 2020

Given the unprecedented challenges the PSNI is facing in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, it is hard to fathom there are individuals in our community who are intent on causing such disruption by exploiting this global emergency for their own ends, said Mr Beatty.

Superintendent Clive Beatty said the mindset of the dissidents was hard to fathom (Liam McBurney/PA)

Superintendent Beatty added: It beggars belief that dissident republicans would want to exploit this situation for their own ends.

Their selfish behaviour ended up diverting valuable police resources away from other community priorities for a significant number of hours.

This says so much about dissident republicans  that in the face of a national emergency their first thought is to use the opportunity to target emergency services and first responders  the very people who are doing all they can to help communities and take care of the vulnerable.

I would like to thank the Rosslea community, who were disrupted today, for their patience and co-operation during the security alert.

The dissident republicans responsible for this senseless act went to great lengths to make this device appear viable and to plant it on Clough Road.

They didnt care about the consequences of their actions and how it would affect others.
After haggling for days over the final details, Senate Democrats and the White House agreed Wednesday to a nearly $2-trillion stimulus package to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, including direct payments to most Americans and a half-trillion-dollar fund to shore up struggling companies.

The stimulus bill  by far the largest ever proposed  comes with a price tag equivalent to 9% of the nation's gross domestic product and is meant to provide direct financial aid to help individuals, hospitals and businesses. It includes more than $377 billion for small businesses, $150 billion for local and state governments and $130 billion for hospitals, according to those involved in the negotiations.

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) negotiated through Monday night and all day Tuesday to resolve outstanding issues.

A Senate vote on the deal could occur by midday Wednesday, with the House potentially following soon after.

At last we have a deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said shortly after 1 a.m. in Washington. "It will rush new resources onto the front lines of our nation's healthcare fight. And it will inject trillions of dollars in cash into the economy as fast as possible to help American workers, families, small businesses and industries make it through this disruption and emerge on the other side ready to soar."

House members have not returned from their scheduled recess, and remote voting is not allowed under House rules. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) indicated Tuesday that the fastest way for the House to approve the Senate bill would be by unanimous consent, a tactic generally reserved for small, noncontroversial legislation. It requires the consent of all current 430 House members, meaning a single representative could object, as long as he or she is on the floor to do so.

If that happens, Pelosi said she would probably need to call back the entire chamber for an in-person vote, a more time-consuming process that would also raise health risks and logistical challenges for members. It could also lead to potential changes to the legislation that would have to be reconciled with the Senate.

Story continues

Despite unusually bitter partisan bickering Monday on the Senate floor, Pelosi said earlier in the day that the final bill would represent a solid compromise between Senate Republicans and Democrats, who delayed passage to ensure it included more of their priorities. "We think the bill has moved sufficiently to the side of workers," she said.

But she stopped short of committing to it in a letter to House members Wednesday.

House Democrats will now review the final provisions and legislative text of the agreement to determine a course of action, she said.

The measure is the third stimulus bill proposed by Congress to address the economic and social disruptions of the pandemic. It follows an initial $8.3-billion measure largely aimed at developing a vaccine and a second package, passed last week, that mandated greater access to paid sick leave for workers as well as free COVID-19 testing.

The $2-trillion stimulus bill is expected to include direct payments of $1,200 or less to most adults, loans to businesses and an expansion of unemployment insurance and other aspects of the social safety net. It comes at a time when millions of Americans have been asked to stay away from school and work, and remain inside their homes to reduce the spread of the disease.

The amounts of the onetime payments, which officials hope could go out to Americans as soon as early April, will be based on income reported in 2018 taxes, declining gradually beginning with individuals who made $75,000 or married couples filed jointly who made $150,000. Individuals making $99,000 or above or married couples making $198,000 or more would receive no check. People would also receive an additional $500 per child.

Schumer said negotiators agreed to put unemployment insurance on steroids by expanding those covered to include people who were furloughed, gig workers and freelancers, and by increasing the payments by $600 per week for four months on top of what states provide as a base unemployment compensation.

It will put money into the hands of those who need it so much because they have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, Schumer said.

Other changes to the final bill included increased oversight of the $500-billion fund managed by the Treasury to shore up struggling businesses through loans and loan guarantees. Recipients are expected to include airlines and other hard-hit travel sectors.

In a major sticking point for Democrats, the initial proposal gave the Treasury latitude to disburse the funds, including the discretion not to disclose for up to six months which companies got taxpayer dollars.

The final deal includes an inspector general to oversee the $500-billion fund, as well as a five-person congressional panel.

We cannot have a situation where, when a company is getting money from the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, that we dont know about it, Schumer said.

Schumer also said the bill would prohibit businesses controlled by the president, vice president, members of Congress, and heads of executive branch departments from receiving loans or investments from the Treasury programs. Their children, spouses and in-laws also cannot benefit.

Others involved in negotiations said the deal also included around $130 billion for hospitals dealing with a shortage in medical masks, ventilators and hospital beds ahead of an expected wave of cases  a $25-billion increase from what was initially proposed. And it provides $150 billion directly to state and local governments dealing with the outbreak.

Stocks rose sharply in America and around the world Tuesday in anticipation of the infusion of aid into the U.S. economy.

If we get this package, well be setting the stage for a good rebound in the second half of the year, said Larry Kudlow, the top White House economic advisor. Thats our thinking. This package will undergird workers and families, Main Street, small businesses.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Minnesota (all times local):

4 p.m.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Tuesday his office has started cracking down on price-gouging during the coronavirus outbreak.

Ellison says his office began its enforcement efforts immediately after Gov. Tim Walzs executive order banning price-gouging on essential goods during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency went into effect Saturday.

Ellison says so far, his office has received more than 300 price-gouging complaints on goods and services. Those include toilet paper, rice, cleaning products, face masks, eggs, butter and water. Ellisons office has made more than 70 visits to Minnesota retailers during the past four day to check prices and investigate complaints of price-gouging.

I will do everything in my power to help ensure Minnesotans can afford their lives and are protected from pandemic profiteering by people who are trying to line their pockets during this crisis at Minnesotans expense, Ellison said in a statement. The Democratic attorney general said anyone who sees price-gouging on essential goods should report it to his office immediately

___

11:20 a.m.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota rose to 262 on Tuesday, an increase of 27 from the 235 reported the day before.

The Minnesota Department of Health said 15 patients were hospitalized as of Tuesday out of a total of 21 since the pandemic reached the state. There have been no additional deaths since one reported last weekend. Eighty-eight people who had been isolated no longer need to be.

The department is expected to provide further details at its daily briefing Tuesday afternoon, which will be joined by Gov. Tim Walz, who is self-quarantining at the official Governors Residence after a member of his security detail tested positive.

Health department officials have stressed in recent days that its count includes only laboratory-confirmed cases, and that the real total of Minnesotans with the disease is likely much higher because most people dont qualify for testing. The department has tested over 5,800 people.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover within weeks.
In recent weeks we've been treated to Press conferences and briefings, to a range of advice from public health officials and comments that we are in a "war" situation. Comparisons have been made with the UK's civilian situation during the Second World War. Some media even produced images of wartime posters, such as 'Is your journey really necessary?' Is there any valid comparison with the Home Front in the Second World War?

A critical factor in maintaining wartime public morale was leadership. Winston Churchill will long be remembered for providing leadership, even though it was challenged at times in Parliament and outside.

Part of what Churchill achieved came from force of personality, part from a genuine gift for leadership, and part through a rare facility for language. Indeed, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week paraphrased Churchill when he said that, in the weeks to come: Never will so many ask so much of so few.

Boris Johnson has been keen to ape Churchill. Virtually guaranteed his place in history - but what a place! - Johnson is no Churchill no matter how much he may think he is. Nor is Donald Trump a shadow of Franklin Roosevelt.

True leadership has been demonstrated by other politicians, with New Zealands Jacinda Ardern, Italys Giuseppe Conte and Germanys Angela Merkel shouldering the burden of responsibility in a situation unprecedented in living memory.

Reporting on the effort to get information to the public has occasionally made reference to wartime practices. The Keep Calm And Carry On poster, so often seen as a Second World War icon, has been cited - even though it was never published (nor was that famous 1914 poster of Kitchener, which was a magazine cover rather than a poster).

Information was critical, but there were times when it was not released lest it damage morale. Just over a month after becoming PM Churchill used a D Notice to suppress news of the sinking of the RMS Lancastria in which between 3,000 and 5,500 British personnel lost their lives.

The Blitz spirit has also been invoked. That wartime photo of a milkman making his deliveries amid the destruction wrought by overnight bombing has had a few outings. However, weve long since known that the photo is staged. The milkman was the photographers assistant dressed in a white coat and carrying a small crate.

But it helped morale at the time, especially as civilian morale was not always as robust as folk memory suggests. Thus, although in one sense there is a comparison with wartime Northern Ireland, it isnt one that stands up to rigorous examination.

The spirit that did exist during the Blitz had one critical factor. Those being bombed could huddle together for support. Sharing danger lessens the inherent terror.

There were sing-songs in air raid shelters and the Tube stations (which were taken over by civilians, rather than being designated as official shelters), reflected in the communal singing today in Italy and Spain.

Close contact rather than social distancing was the order of the day and contributed significantly to morale.

As well as the need to maintain social distancing, there is another great difference for the civilian population today compared to that of 80 years ago.

Between 1939 and 1945 the enemy was tangible. The sounds of air raid sirens, of bombers overhead, anti-aircraft guns firing, explosions and buildings collapsing, followed eventually by sirens sounding the all-clear brought that home to everyone.

Outside London, Belfast had the UKs highest single nights fatalities during the Blitz. The war also came close to Northern Irelands civilian population through the presence of service personnel and bases, as well as news from family members serving in various theatres of war. However, with Covid-19 the enemy is intangible. It cant be identified readily, except in a list of numbers of dead, and we have had our first two deaths.

In northern Italy the threat is much more real, with the highest death toll of any country so far afflicted.

That Italian army convoy transporting coffins from Bergamo for cremation or burial elsewhere was a harrowing sight and evidence of just how serious is the situation. Do we really want to come to that here?

The invisible enemy allows people to diminish or even dismiss the threat. Comments such as more people are dying from cancer, or TB, than from this thing arent going to provide any protection at all.

Robin Swanns worst-case nightmare scenario will remain a scenario only if we heed advice, as our predecessors so often did during the Second World War. However, that advice was backed by strict legislation, as with the black-out and rationing; and almost certainly the Governments legislative package will be needed to enforce stricter rules. There will still be those who know better.

Weve been here before with a major pandemic. No one now alive remembers it and it was all but erased from folk memory. That was the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918 to 1920, which almost certainly began in the US Armys Fort Riley in Kansas as a result of chickens and pigs being kept and slaughtered for food.

The first recorded case was a cook at Fort Riley. Eventually the pandemic killed 50 million (some researchers suggest up to 100 million).

Strangely, the Spanish Flu seemed to be forgotten for a long time, except for those affected by it. My family was always aware of it since a neighbour of my maternal grandparents died. From family tradition, I always thought the victim was a child until discovering only recently a new headstone, next to a cousins grave, that tells me she was 18 when she died on July 18, 1918.

There was another influenza pandemic in 1957. The Asian Flu, as it was known, killed between a million and two million worldwide. I was almost one of those dead, a fact that I was unaware of until many years later, although I do remember being very ill and kept at home from school for two weeks.

There is, however, one very real parallel with war. Conflict throws up heroes and villains. The villains include the hoarders and those who wont listen to common sense.

The heroes are, as in Italy and elsewhere, the medical, nursing and ancillary staff of the NHS, itself born of the Second World War.

They are the front line heroes. Behind them are many others: research scientists seeking a treatment; those in the police forces and other public services who are also at increased risk.

We learned much from the Second World War, but forgot many of the lessons. Let us hope that we will learn from this experience and that the world may become a wiser place. I certainly hope so.

Richard Doherty is a military historian and writer
The government has sent a mass text message to as many phones as possible, urging citizens to stay at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

The message sends recipient to the governments devoted advice website about the outbreak, as well as encouraging them to stay indoors.

It comes just hours after Boris Johnson announced the UK would be largely shut down in the coming weeks, with citizens discouraged from going outside for all but essential journeys.

GOV.UK CORONAVIRUS ALERT, the text reads. New rules in force now: you must stay at home.

It goes onto restate the governments new slogan for its coronavirus response: Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

It is not clear who received the text message. It does not appear to have been sent to all UK phones, but was dispatched to users on a variety of different phone networks.

The NHS has already been sending text messages to as many of the 1.5 million people in the UK considered to be at severe risk, telling them to stay inside for 12 weeks.

But the new messages identified themselves as coming from the UK government, and were sent more broadly.

Other countries have used mass text messages to send out new guidance to citizens and provide information about their handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The UK government does not have any similar facility in place. Instead, it asked mobile operators to send out the text, meaning that they could arrive on a staggered basis as different operators send out the messages.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it will be replying to queries regarding the lockdown in the national capital through social media.

"Hi! Delhi. If you have any question on the #Lockdown, tweet your query with the hashtag #LockdownQuery between 5-6 PM today and we will answer it for you. #StayAtHomeSaveLives," the Delhi Police tweeted using it's official handle.

On Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a complete lockdown in the national capital till March 31 in order to control the spread of coronavirus.

The same day, the Delhi Police imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC till March 31, banning protests and other gatherings.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code bans assembly of four or more people at a place.

Delhi has reported 30 cases of COVID-19 so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Continuous Manufacturing market worldwide is projected to grow by US$529.5 Million, driven by a compounded growth of 13.1%. API Manufacturing, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 12.4%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$337.3 Million by the year 2025, API Manufacturing will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798255/?utm_source=PRN

- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 11.6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$20.8 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$17.5 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, API Manufacturing will reach a market size of US$15.1 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 16.6% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$126.3 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Baker Perkins Ltd.

Bosch Packaging Technology

Coperion GmbH

GEA Group AG

Gebruder Lodige Maschinenbau GmbH

Glatt GmbH

Hosokawa Micron Corporation

L.B. Bohle Maschinen + Verfahren GmbH

Munson Machinery Company, Inc.

Scott Equipment Company

Sturtevant, Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.









Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798255/?utm_source=PRN



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Global Competitor Market Shares

Continuous Manufacturing Competitor Market Share Scenario

Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2025





2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Continuous Manufacturing: Automated Manufacturing Technology to

Meet Modern Pharmaceutical Production Requirements

Global Spending on Medicines (In US$ Billion) for the Years

2018, 2021 & 2024

Performance Benefits over Traditional Batch Processing Spurs

Demand for Continuous Manufacturing Technologies

Global Regulatory Acceptance Promotes Widespread Adoption

As a Strong Proponent of Continuous Manufacturing, FDA?s New

Draft Guideline to Expand Growth Opportunities in

Pharmaceutical Industry

FDA?s Support of Continuous Manufacturing towards Tackling the

Rise of Drug Shortages to Benefit Market Growth: US Drug

Shortage for the Years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018

Strong Demand for Oral Solid Dosage Forms Bodes Well for OSD

Continuous Manufacturing

Global Oral Solid Dosage Pharmaceutical Formulation Market (In

US$ Billion) for the Years 2018, 2020 & 2023

Convergence of Single-Use Systems and Continuous Manufacturing

Offers Distinct Advantages in Biopharmaceutical Production

Rapid Adoption of Single-Use Technologies in Biopharmaceutical

Production Driven by Increasing Demand for Biosimilars to

Create Lucrative Growth Prospects for Continuous

Manufacturing: Global Single-Use Bioprocessing Market (In

US$ Billion) for the Years 2018, 2021 & 2024

Total Number of Biosimilars in the Pipeline Worldwide by

Country (2018)

Advances in Continuous Manufacturing Spurs Development of

Innovative Technologies Focused on Production Scale-Up

CMOs Embracing Continuous Manufacturing to Meet Capacity and

Lower Cost Requirements





4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Table 1: Continuous Manufacturing Global Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Continuous Manufacturing Global Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: API Manufacturing (Application) Global Opportunity

Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 5: API Manufacturing (Application) Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 6: API Manufacturing (Application) Percentage Share

Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 7: End Product Manufacturing (Application) Worldwide

Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 8: End Product Manufacturing (Application) Historic

Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 9: End Product Manufacturing (Application) Market Share

Shift across Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: R&D Departments (End-Use) Global Market Estimates &

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 11: R&D Departments (End-Use) Retrospective Demand

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 12: R&D Departments (End-Use) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Full-Scale Manufacturing Companies (End-Use) Demand

Potential Worldwide in US$ Thousand by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 14: Full-Scale Manufacturing Companies (End-Use) Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 15: Full-Scale Manufacturing Companies (End-Use) Share

Breakdown Review by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Continuous Manufacturing Market Share (in %) by Company:

2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 16: United States Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 17: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

the United States by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 18: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

the United States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: United States Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 20: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

the United States by End-Use in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 21: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

the United States by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 22: Canadian Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Canada:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 24: Canadian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 25: Canadian Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Canada:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 27: Canadian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 28: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018

to 2025

Table 29: Japanese Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 30: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Japan

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 31: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 32: Japanese Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 33: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Japan

by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 34: Chinese Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in US$

Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in China in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 36: Chinese Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 37: Chinese Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in US$

Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 38: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in China in

US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 39: Chinese Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Continuous Manufacturing Market: Competitor Market

Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 40: European Continuous Manufacturing Market Demand

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 41: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Europe: A Historic

Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 42: European Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift

by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 43: European Continuous Manufacturing Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 44: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 45: European Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 46: European Continuous Manufacturing Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 47: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 48: European Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 49: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand Analysis

in France in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 50: French Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 51: French Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 52: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand Analysis

in France in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 53: French Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 54: French Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

GERMANY

Table 55: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Germany: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 56: German Continuous Manufacturing Market in Retrospect

in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 57: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution in

Germany by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 58: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Germany: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 59: German Continuous Manufacturing Market in Retrospect

in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 60: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution in

Germany by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 61: Italian Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in US$

Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 62: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Italy in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 63: Italian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 64: Italian Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in US$

Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 65: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Italy in

US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 66: Italian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 67: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018

to 2025

Table 68: United Kingdom Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 69: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in the

United Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 70: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 71: United Kingdom Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 72: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in the

United Kingdom by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 73: Spanish Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 74: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Spain:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 75: Spanish Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 76: Spanish Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 77: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Spain:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 78: Spanish Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 79: Russian Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 80: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Russia by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 81: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Russia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 82: Russian Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 83: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Russia by End-Use in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 84: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Russia by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 85: Rest of Europe Continuous Manufacturing Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 86: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 87: Rest of Europe Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 88: Rest of Europe Continuous Manufacturing Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 89: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 90: Rest of Europe Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 91: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 92: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Asia-Pacific:

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 93: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 94: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand Analysis

in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 95: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 96: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 97: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand Analysis

in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 98: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 99: Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 100: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Australia: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 101: Australian Continuous Manufacturing Market in

Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 102: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 103: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Australia: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 104: Australian Continuous Manufacturing Market in

Retrospect in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 105: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Australia by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 106: Indian Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 107: Continuous Manufacturing Market in India:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 108: Indian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 109: Indian Continuous Manufacturing Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 110: Continuous Manufacturing Market in India:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 111: Indian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 112: Continuous Manufacturing Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 113: South Korean Continuous Manufacturing Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 114: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in South Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 115: Continuous Manufacturing Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 116: South Korean Continuous Manufacturing Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 117: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in South Korea by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 118: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by Application:

2018 to 2025

Table 119: Rest of Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market

in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 120: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Rest

of Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 121: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018

to 2025

Table 122: Rest of Asia-Pacific Continuous Manufacturing Market

in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 123: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Rest

of Asia-Pacific by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 124: Latin American Continuous Manufacturing Market

Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025

Table 125: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Latin America in

US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 126: Latin American Continuous Manufacturing Market

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 127: Latin American Demand for Continuous Manufacturing

in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 128: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Latin

America in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 129: Latin American Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 130: Latin American Demand for Continuous Manufacturing

in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 131: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Latin

America in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 132: Latin American Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 133: Argentinean Continuous Manufacturing Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 134: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Argentina:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 135: Argentinean Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 136: Argentinean Continuous Manufacturing Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 137: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Argentina:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 138: Argentinean Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 139: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand

Analysis in Brazil in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 140: Brazilian Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 141: Brazilian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 142: Continuous Manufacturing Quantitative Demand

Analysis in Brazil in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 143: Brazilian Continuous Manufacturing Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 144: Brazilian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

MEXICO

Table 145: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Mexico: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 146: Mexican Continuous Manufacturing Market in

Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 147: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Mexico by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Mexico: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Mexican Continuous Manufacturing Market in

Retrospect in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 150: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Mexico by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 151: Rest of Latin America Continuous Manufacturing

Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to

2025

Table 152: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Rest of Latin America by Application in US$ Thousand for

2009-2017

Table 153: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Rest of Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 154: Rest of Latin America Continuous Manufacturing

Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 155: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Rest of Latin America by End-Use in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 156: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Rest of Latin America by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 157: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 158: Continuous Manufacturing Market in the Middle East

by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 159: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 160: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application:

2018 to 2025

Table 161: Continuous Manufacturing Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 162: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 163: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018

to 2025

Table 164: Continuous Manufacturing Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 165: The Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

Share Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 166: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018

to 2025

Table 167: Iranian Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 168: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Iran

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 169: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Continuous Manufacturing in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 170: Iranian Continuous Manufacturing Market in US$

Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 171: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Shift in Iran

by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 172: Israeli Continuous Manufacturing Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025

Table 173: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Israel:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 174: Israeli Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 175: Israeli Continuous Manufacturing Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 176: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Israel:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 177: Israeli Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 178: Saudi Arabian Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in

US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 179: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 180: Saudi Arabian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 181: Saudi Arabian Demand for Continuous Manufacturing in

US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 182: Continuous Manufacturing Market Review in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 183: Saudi Arabian Continuous Manufacturing Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 184: Continuous Manufacturing Market in the United Arab

Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 185: United Arab Emirates Continuous Manufacturing

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application:

2009-2017

Table 186: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in United Arab Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 187: Continuous Manufacturing Market in the United Arab

Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Thousand by End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 188: United Arab Emirates Continuous Manufacturing

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 189: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in United Arab Emirates by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 190: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Rest of Middle

East: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 191: Rest of Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017

Table 192: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Rest of Middle East by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 193: Continuous Manufacturing Market in Rest of Middle

East: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by

End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 194: Rest of Middle East Continuous Manufacturing Market

in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 195: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Distribution

in Rest of Middle East by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AFRICA

Table 196: African Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 197: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Africa by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 198: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Africa by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 199: African Continuous Manufacturing Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 200: Continuous Manufacturing Historic Demand Patterns in

Africa by End-Use in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 201: Continuous Manufacturing Market Share Breakdown in

Africa by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





IV. COMPETITION



BAKER PERKINS

BOSCH PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY GMBH

COPERION GMBH

GEA GROUP AG

GEBRUDER LODIGE MASCHINENBAU GMBH

GLATT GMBH

HOSOKAWA MICRON CORPORATION

L.B. BOHLE MASCHINEN + VERFAHREN GMBH

MUNSON MACHINERY COMPANY

SCOTT EQUIPMENT COMPANY

STURTEVANT, INC.

THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC

V. CURATED RESEARCH

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:37:49|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that China firmly supports the Polish government and people in combating the COVID-19 epidemic.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.

After the coronavirus disease broke out in China, Xi said, the Polish government and society extended sympathies and support to the Chinese side, which the Chinese people will cherish in their hearts.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, he stressed, adding that besides its support for Poland, China has also held a video conference of health experts with 17 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), including Poland, to share information and relevant measures on epidemic prevention and control in a timely fashion.

China, he said, upholds the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, and is willing to enhance cooperation with all other countries in fighting the epidemic and safeguarding global public health security.

Stressing that the power and confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic come from the Chinese people, Xi said the 1.4 billion Chinese people have put up a tenacious fight with great solidarity and steadfast resolve.

He added he is deeply moved by the noble spirit of the numerous medical workers in China who risked their own lives to save others.

The people are the real heroes, Xi pointed out, adding that as long as relying fully on the people, China will certainly overcome all difficulties and obstacles and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Noting that Poland is a key cooperation partner of China in the European Union (EU) and among CEECs, Xi said China is willing to work with Poland to strengthen high-level exchanges and cement mutual understanding and strategic mutual trust, so as to continuously push forward China-Poland ties and make important contributions to promoting China-CEEC cooperation and China-EU relations.
Community support is everything, says company founder and CEO Lisa Radcliffe. As the mother of two children with adaptive needs, I know how disruptive and overwhelming this is. We want use our platform to connect with our community, offer support and share information."

PunkinFutz, the award winning company that makes sensory play products for children with physical, sensory, developmental and emotional needs, is providing resources for parents to help navigate the unique challenges they now face with work and children at home and in light of the international COVID-19 pandemic. It will launch a weekly Wednesdays at Noon FACEBOOK discussion on timely topics, recommendations and best practices.

Community support is everything, says company founder and CEO Lisa Radcliffe. As the mother of two children with adaptive needs, I know how disruptive and overwhelming this is. We want use our platform to connect with our community, offer support and share information. By combining our resources, we can all benefit.

The virtual discussions will include a broad range of timely topics, featuring parent advocates, occupational therapists, business leaders, health professionals and PunkinFutz staff, among others. Each conversation will last 45 minutes, a shared lunchtime, starting with a structured discussion based upon the announced topic, then providing opportunity for audience participation and questions. In addition, sign language interpretation will be made available within 24 hours of each live session.

Please log onto: https://www.facebook.com/punkinfutz/ at noon eastern time for each 45-minute session. The first four speakers, topics and dates are as follows:

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Staying Productive at Home: Expert Tips from Work-at-Home Professionals

Alex Herold, founder and CEO of Patti + Ricky, the adaptive fashion marketplace for women, men, and children with disabilities.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Managing the Chaos: A Moms Point of View

Lauren Helms, Connecticut resident, military wife, and mother of 4-year-old twins RoJo and Evie, gave birth at just 26 weeks in 2016. Complications of extreme prematurity left Evie with lifelong health challenges, as well as physical disabilities. Lauren has dedicated her life to advocating for both her children and created a Facebook page known as The Crazy Haired Momma.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The Value of Early Intervention: Changing the Future

Meagan Kobielski, OTR/L, and Alix Dantec, MS, OTR/L will discuss their new book, Milestones Checklist: Birth to Two Years Old. Meagan and Alix are both practicing occupational therapists, who will talk about the value of Early Intervention.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

On-Line Occupational Therapy: Expert Advice for Making it Work

Occupational therapist Camille Crayton, OTR/L will give at-home tips for supporting your childrens occupational therapy needs while at home.

With many children in our community, the loss of interventive therapies can be a major set-back. We want to provide as many resources as possible, says Radcliffe. In addition to our Wednesdays at Noon, we are compiling a list of free resources that we will make available on our website. All of our activities/curriculum will be available for free download. Finally, once we are able to ship again from Brooklyn, we will offer new PunkinFutz product bundles at wholesale prices to support the needs of families whose lives have been affected. We want to do everything we can to support our community.

About PunkinFutz:

Launched in 2016, PunkinFutz uses universal design to create therapeutic play products for children with a broad range of physical, sensory, developmental and emotional needs. PunkinFutz products promote individual expression, creativity and imagination. All PunkinFutz original products are manufactured in the USA in supportive and adaptive workplaces using the highest quality materials and responsible sourcing. PunkinFutz has won eleven awards for its innovative products and is a member of the Toy Industry Association (TIA). Founder Lisa Radcliffe is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and Council for Exceptional Children. All PunkinFutz products meet ASTM F963 standards.
San Francisco, March 24 : Twitter on Tuesday admitted that it will not be able to remove every Tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about new coronavirus (COVID-19).

There has been a massive surge in fake content related to new coronavirus pandemic on various social media platforms including Twitter.

"We want to make it clear that we will not be able to take enforcement action on every Tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about COVID-19," the company tweeted.

"COVID-19 is affecting our content moderation capacities in unique ways, and we're adjusting to meet the challenge. Right now, we're focused on content that has the highest potential of directly causing physical harm," the micro-blogging platform added.

Official government accounts engaging in conversation about the origins of the virus and global public conversation about potential emergent treatments will be permitted, unless the content contains clear incitement to take a harmful physical action.

"We're keeping our enforcement guidance under close review and are consulting with medical professionals on any update we may need to make as things continue to evolve," said Twitter.

Twitter has already listed some of the specific content it considers to be "violative and particularly harmful" and would require removal.

"We want to be clear: while we work to ensure our systems are consistent, they can sometimes lack the context that our teams bring, and this may result in us making mistakes," Twitter said.

"As a result, we will not permanently suspend any accounts based solely on our automated enforcement systems. Instead, we will continue to look for opportunities to build in human review checks where they will be most impactful".

Twitter, along with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, and YouTube last week vowed to curb misinformation on their platforms regarding COVID-19.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
President Donald Trump has praised Dr. Anthony S. Fauci as a major television star. He has tried to demonstrate that the administration is giving him free rein to speak. And he has deferred to Faucis opinion several times at the coronavirus task forces televised briefings.

But Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, has grown bolder in correcting the presidents falsehoods and overly rosy statements about the spread of the coronavirus in the past two weeks  and become a hero to the presidents critics because of it. And now Trumps patience has started to wear thin.

So has the patience of some White House advisers, who see Fauci as taking shots at the president in some of his interviews with print reporters while offering extensive praise for Trump in television interviews with conservative hosts.

Trump knows that Fauci, who has advised every president since Ronald Reagan, is seen as credible with a large section of the public and with journalists, and so he has given the doctor more leeway to contradict him than he has other officials, according to multiple advisers to the president.

When Trump knows that he has more to gain than to lose by keeping an adviser, he has resisted impulses to fight back against apparent criticism, sometimes for monthslong interludes. One example was when he wanted to fire the White House counsel, Donald McGahn, in 2017 and early 2018. Another was Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general. Trump eventually fired both when he felt the danger in doing so had passed.

So far, the president appears to be making the same calculation with Fauci, who was not at the briefing room podium Monday evening. When asked why, Trump said he had just been with Fauci for a long time at a task force meeting. Officials, asked about the doctors absence, repeated that they were rotating officials who appear at the briefings.

Hes a good man, Trump said. Fauci was scheduled to be on Fox News with Sean Hannity a short time later.

Still, the president has resisted portraying the virus as the kind of threat described by Fauci and other public health experts. In his effort to create a positive vision of a future where the virus is less of a danger, critics have accused Trump of giving false hope.

Fauci and Trump have publicly disagreed on how long it will take for a coronavirus vaccine to become available and whether an anti-malaria drug, chloroquine, could help those with an acute form of the virus. Fauci has made clear that he does not think the drug necessarily holds the potential that Trump says it does.

In an interview with Science Magazine, Fauci responded to a question about how he had managed to not get fired by saying that, to Trumps credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.

But Fauci also said there was a limit to what he could do when Trump made false statements, as he often does during the briefings.

I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down, Fauci said. OK, he said it. Lets try and get it corrected for the next time.

In an interview with CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, Fauci played down the idea that there was a divide between him and the president. There isnt fundamentally a difference there, he said.

The president has heard, as we all have heard, what are what I call anecdotal reports that certain drugs work. So what he was trying to do and express was the hope that if they might work, lets try and push their usage, Fauci said. I, on the other side, have said Im not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work. So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint, and the president was trying to bring hope to the people.

A White House spokesman and Fauci did not respond to requests for comment.

Fauci came to his current role as the AIDS epidemic was exploding and President Ronald Reagan was paying it little attention. He and C. Everett Koop, the surgeon general, were widely credited with spurring the Reagan administration to action against AIDS, a fact that underscores Faucis ability to negotiate difficult politics.

He has recognized Trumps need for praise; in the presidents presence and with audiences that are friendly to him, Fauci has been complimentary. He told the radio host Mark Levin on Fox News of the administrations response to the virus: I cant imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more.

And Fauci is savvy not just about the inner workings of the government but about the news media that covers it.

When Vice President Mike Pence took over as the lead of the coronavirus task force, his advisers wanted to put a 24-hour pause on interviews that administration officials were giving as they assessed where the administration was after a chaotic few weeks. They were initially fine with Faucis appearances, meeting with him before interviews to get a sense of what he planned to say.

But in the past two weeks, as Faucis interviews have increased in frequency, White House officials have become more concerned that he is criticizing the president.

Officials asked him about the viral moment in the White House briefing room, when he put his hand to his face and appeared to suppress a chuckle after Trump referred to the State Department as the Deep State Department. Fauci had a benign explanation: He had a scratchy throat and a lozenge he had in his mouth had gotten stuck in his throat, which he tried to mask from reporters.

Some officials have not questioned that Fauci is giving interviews, but they have wondered how he has so much time for so many requests from the news media.

Fauci, for his part, has been dismissive of some questions about whether he was at odds with the president, treating it as a news media obsession.

I think theres this issue of trying to separate the two of us, he said on CBS.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Within an hour after Hayward Fire Station 7 began offering free coronavirus testing at 9 a.m. Monday morning  one of the first free testing sites in California with no doctors order required  firefighters had screened nearly 300 people for symptoms, collected nasal cavity samples from about 20 of them and prepared to drive the samples across the bay to a lab.

By 11 a.m., technicians and clinical laboratory specialists at Avellino Lab, the Menlo Park biotech company that is providing and processing the tests, was running samples through its diagnostic machines. Results were expected within nine hours  far faster than the several days many physicians offices are waiting for results for their patients.

The Hayward testing facility is believed to be one of the first of its kind in California, in which a local fire department is working with a local biotech company to provide and expedite free coronavirus testing with same-day or next-day results. If successful and scaled up, it could help relieve pent-up demand to get testing and results quickly, which would help infectious disease experts understand how widespread the coronavirus is becoming.

The Hayward Fire Department and municipal team at the city did an amazing job to say, Were not going to wait. Were just going to go forward with this and do our best, said Eric Bernabei, a spokesman for Avellino, which is suspending its regular work in rare diseases and eye conditions to focus on coronavirus testing. Avellino plans to provide enough tests for the city of Hayward to conduct 350 tests a day, seven days a week.

Also on Monday, Verily, the life sciences arm of Google, announced it will expand Project Baseline, an initiative it launched March 15 to screen potential patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, online and direct them to testing sites in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The project will be launched as well in Sacramento County and Lake Elsinore (Riverside County). The tests are free, but it takes several days to receive results. Verily said in a blog post Monday that the initiative has tested about 1,200 people.

The testing partnerships speak to the urgent need to get more Americans tested, and fast. For weeks, doctors have expressed frustration that they simply do not have enough tests for all their patients who they feel should be tested. Even though diagnostics companies are coming out with their own tests piecemeal, they have yet to make a significant dent in the worldwide shortage of tests and test components like swabs and vials.

I dont know where those tests are going, said Dr. Charles K. Morris, a primary care physician in San Francisco who estimates hes seen about 20 patients recently that he wanted to order a test for, but couldnt because he didnt have enough tests. Theyre not getting them to us, or at least not here.

And for the patients Morris was able to test, he has had to wait three or four days  and in one case, 10 days  to get results back from the lab company that is processing them.

It is nearly impossible to obtain swabs and viral testing vials, he said. We are still so far behind the rest of the world in this, it is shameful. We cannot get ahead of a virus that is doubling in spread and deaths every four to five days when we only have enough kits to test the already sick but not their contacts, and the turnaround is three to five days.

A number of Bay Area providers have started testing in drive-through and clinical settings, but demand is so high that they are not able to test everyone quickly, even those who are showing symptoms and who meet many of the criteria. As a result, many residents desperate to get themselves or their high-risk family members tested are getting the runaround.

Sophia Nguyen of San Jose, who began experiencing a fever and dry cough around March 13, spent several frantic days trying to obtain a test for herself and her diabetic mother, whom she lives with and who also began showing symptoms a couple of days later. Her mothers primary care doctor told her they didnt meet the requirements to get tested and to call the local hospital. The hospital, after putting her on hold for three hours, referred her to the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she said.

It was just a circle of confusion and people telling me to go to different places, with no solid answers, said Nguyen, who was particularly concerned that her mothers blood sugar began skyrocketing. It felt like life or death.

So Nguyen tried Stanford, but the process of going through the initial screening and then lining up a telemedicine visit with a doctor took four days, she said. In the meantime, she tried Verily, and was told she qualified for testing but that it would take a few days for someone to get back to her.

Finally, with the help of friends scouring the internet for information about testing, she and her mom reached out to Carbon Health, a San Francisco health care startup that offers primary and urgent care. They did the online diagnostic test and got tested the next day at a clinic in Cupertino. They submitted samples on March 17, and were told their results would come back by Wednesday, eight days later. Nguyen said both she and her mother are feeling a bit better, but her mother is still having some shortness of breath.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Faster test results, which the Hayward testing site is aiming for, could help cut down on confusion and wait time for people like Nguyen and her mother. If scaled up quickly, it could also help public health authorities get a better handle on the virus. South Korea, the country that has thus far appeared most successful in flattening the curve to slow the spread of the disease, did so with the help of aggressive and widespread testing early on.

The Hayward site, as is the case with most testing facilities, is prioritizing first responders, health care workers who come into frequent contact with people who may have the virus, and the sickest and highest-risk patients  those who are older, have underlying medical conditions like diabetes and hypertension, or who may have had direct contact with a known COVID-19 patient. Potential patients do not need to get a referral from a doctor, but do have to go through a screening process with seven different criteria before theyre asked to park their cars and take a swab test. Those criteria include having symptoms such as shortness of breath, a fever or a cough, and a recent history of traveling abroad.

Sixteen firefighters are assigned to the Hayward site for the next seven days. After seven days, they will be tested and swabbed, and given two days off to see if they develop symptoms, and then will return to duty. When they finish their seven-day shifts, another rotation of 16 firefighters will staff the testing site, Hayward Fire Chief Garrett Contreras said at an Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday.

All of the testing will take place in a tent, whether its raining or not, Contreras said. We are managing this like a significant wildland fire, and that is the reason for the seven-day commitments.

A separate line and isolation location exists for homeless people. If someone is tested, they will be presumed positive, Contreras said.

The testing facility, which is expected to be operational for at least three weeks, cost $500,000, and Contreras said he plans to transfer an additional $500,000 for the effort. Contreras said he plans to meet with county officials this week to analyze the launch and see if it can be rolled out to other locations in the county.

Catherine Ho and Sarah Ravani are are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho @SarRavani
Scammers have been targeting job seekers who have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic with a series of fake ads.

Fraudsters have been posting job ads on popular job seeking websites, the Queensland Police Financial and Cyber Crime Group warned on Tuesday.

The fake ads ask 'successful' applicants to submit personal information through bogus websites as part of the application process.

Requested information can include home address, bank details, tax file number, and photocopies of passports and drivers licences.

Fraudsters have been posting job ads on popular job seeking websites (stock image)

'This information can be used by cybercriminals to carry out identity theft, including opening bank accounts or lines of credit in your name,' Queensland police said in a statement.

Some victims have been asked to transfer money as part of the application process.

To avoid scams, police urged job seekers to check the legitimacy of any job ad, email or employer that seems suspicious.

'Large well-known companies, and now most medium sized business, usually do not include Hotmail or other free email addresses in their ads,' the statement read.

'If you have any concerns, call the company directly to verify. Check their website and other online presence, like social media profiles, through an independent online search.'

They also encouraged people to report suspect ads to ScamWatch.

It comes thousands of Australians have been tipped to lose their jobs during the global pandemic as business are force to shut down.
People wearing masks walk toward the taxi stand at Changi Airport in Singapore. Singapore is imposing a ban on short-term visitors. (Roslan Rahman / AFP/Getty Images)

One of the most effective ways authorities can limit the spread of a pandemic is to immediately locate, test and isolate anyone who's had contact with a carrier of the disease.

But pinpointing those contacts is painstaking. An infected person cant reliably remember the dozens or more people theyve crossed paths with in the preceding days or weeks.

With that in mind, the Singaporean government introduced an app that will alert users if theyve been in close proximity with a confirmed case of the coronavirus, helping authorities slow the spread of a disease thats surged in the city state over the last week.

Government staff demonstrate Singapore's new contact-tracing smartphone app called TraceTogether. (Catherine Lai / AFP/Getty Images)

The app, called TraceTogether, works by exchanging short distance Bluetooth signals with other users of the app, giving officials a database to track potential COVID-19 carriers.

The app is being offered voluntarily but it comes at a time when governments across the globe are increasingly seizing on location data to combat the pandemic. The targeting of an individual's movements is stoking tensions and raising civil rights questions over public health and personal privacy.

Countries including China, South Korea and Israel are tracking users cellphones to varying degrees to warn their citizens about potential infections and to chart the spread of the disease  a technological tool that didn't exist during past outbreaks.

Such advances are leading to wider surveillance and a deeper reach by governments into the lives of their citizens. They require a growing acceptance of diminished privacy  a sacrifice many are willing to make against a global health crisis  in an age when more than a few governments and companies have squandered public trust in their ability to safeguard personal information, experts say.

A couple walks along a park in Singapore. (Roslan Rahman / AFP/Getty Images)

The attitude around digital technology has certainly changed since the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. Back then, it was very difficult to deploy digital technology for surveillance due to doubt in its utility, said Anne Liu, a health technology expert at Columbia University. Six years later we're seeing more confidence in the tech, but less so in the people who deploy it and their intentions with the data.

Story continues

South Koreas aggressive testing and radical transparency have contributed to a dramatic decline in the rate of coronavirus infections.

But its come at a price for some of the 9,000 people who have contracted COVID-19. South Koreans are provided such immense detail about new cases and their recent whereabouts that it's given citizens fodder to speculate on alleged romantic affairs and the means to dox suspected cases.

The deluge of information prompted the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to warn that people sickened by the virus now face a second trauma of harassment and ridicule, leading some South Koreans to fear social stigma more than the disease itself.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of using the pandemic as a pretext to enhance his powers after the government issued emergency measures allowing internal state security to track citizens cellphone data to curb the disease.

The move drew an immediate rebuke from critics and civil rights groups who feared it would set a precedent for the embattled prime minister to exploit.

This month, millions of Iranians were reportedly pinged by the government on their smartphones, urging citizens to download an app that claimed it could determine if users and their loved ones were infected by the coronavirus. Millions signed up despite the softwares dubious claims, ostensibly giving the autocratic regime access to personal location data for swaths of the country.

Taiwan, lauded for its early success combating the coronavirus, recently introduced a digital fence using cellphone data to enforce quarantines of people required to stay at home. Those under watch must leave their devices switched on and are called unannounced by authorities to ensure they havent left their homes.

No country, though, has matched the technological lengths to which China has gone to restrain the virus. Partnering with internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, the government is assigning citizens color codes that denote their health status, which in turn grants them access past checkpoints or even entrance to a restaurant or a subway station. Users have reported being color-coded erroneously and being unable to contact the app providers to change their status.

The software strengthens the ability of Chinese authorities to track people in a country that already uses widespread facial recognition to suppress opposition. Human rights advocates say the technology will probably remain in place after the pandemic is over.

In many cases, the fear and panic have allowed governments to impose quite drastic measures which can be very difficult to roll back, said Maya Wang, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch. Once you have a system implemented, they become normalized.

Governments have a responsibility to ensure public safety and health; however, in emergencies like this they still have to respect human rights, which includes rights to privacy, Wang added. Any interference in privacy has to meet standards of legality, proportionality and necessity.

Expectations of privacy and a patchwork of laws  along with revelations that after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government increased phone surveillance  make it difficult for contact tracing based on cellphone information to take hold in the United States.

The Trump administration, however, is in talks with Facebook and Google to use aggregated, anonymized location data to track the disease, the Washington Post reported last week. Theres growing sentiment in the U.S. that technology can play a vital role in stemming the pandemic.

A group of technologists, epidemiologists and medical professionals recently signed an open letter outlining ways Silicon Valley, whose companies, including Facebook, have been blamed for an eroding personal privacy, can assist. Among them was a call for Apple, Google and other mobile operating system vendors to provide their users an opt-in contact tracing feature that would also protect people's identities.

If such a feature could be built before SARS-CoV-2 is ubiquitous, it could prevent many people from being exposed. In the longer term, such infrastructure could allow future disease epidemics to be more reliably contained, read the letter, whose signatories included Peter Eckersley, a distinguished technology fellow at the digital-rights-focused Electronic Frontier Foundation.

A computer scientist at MIT led a team that developed a prototype app called Private Kit: Safe Paths that shares encrypted location data for contact tracing between phones rather than sending it to a central database. The aim is to ensure a user will know theyve come in close contact with someone carrying the coronavirus while preserving the carriers anonymity.

One of the keys to any such app will be reaching critical mass to reverse the growth of the outbreak.

New COVID-19 cases have surged in Singapore over the last week as returnees from overseas raise the risk of more community transmissions. To promote Singapores TraceTogether, which was launched Friday, schools and private companies have advocated the apps use, calling it a social responsibility, like hand washing.

Unlike many parts of the U.S., the island nation of 5.7 million has resisted lockdowns. But in a sign of the deteriorating situation, the government announced Tuesday that starting Thursday night, bars, nightclubs and movie theaters would close and gatherings of more than 10 people would be prohibited for at least the next month.

Until recently, Singapore appeared to be a rare bright spot in the battle against the coronavirus. The rise in confirmed cases will probably now aid the government's bid to have TraceTogether widely adopted.

Privacy matters don't elicit concern in the de facto one-party state like they do in the U.S. or Europe. Government surveys show more than three-quarters of Singaporeans trust the way authorities handle personal data.

That sentiment has allowed Singapore to embark on its Smart Nation initiative, which aims to digitize vast corners of everyday life with cashless payments and facial recognition cameras on lampposts, with little resistance.

Still, the country isnt immune to data breaches. In 2018, its largest health network was hacked, resulting in the theft of 1.5 million patients records. Last year, a former American expatriate leaked the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive individuals in Singapore after gaining access to the data through his partner, a Singaporean doctor.

Developers of TraceTogether say that users identities will be anonymized and that the app doesnt track location, but proximity between users by using Bluetooth, not GPS or cell signals. The information collected is stored on phones and erased after 21 days. The only information stored on government servers is provided by users confirmed to have COVID-19 who agree to share their logs.

The app can identify users within a 6-foot radius with a duration of contact of at least 30 minutes. Information gleaned from the app will only be used for contact tracing, the government says.

The government says it will make the apps underlying technology available to other countries.

Times staff writers Victoria Kim in Seoul and Alice Su in Beijing contributed to this report.
Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee on Monday issued an executive order directing all citizens to shelter at home and closing all businesses "immediately" due to the threat of the coronavirus.

Tullahoma is in Coffee and Franklin counties. Coffee County has no confirmed coronavirus cases, while Franklin County has one.

It is necessary to restrict the activities of businesses and individuals in Tullahoma in order to protect the public health of the citizens of Tullahoma and Coffee County, said Mayor Curlee.

We want to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, to bend the curve, and to disrupt the spread of the virus, with the goal of saving lives and reducing strain on regional healthcare resources as much as possible.

Officials said: 1) this proclamation orders citizens to shelter at home and enacts a 9 p.m.  6:00 a.m. curfew beginning today ; 2) closes all businesses effective 6 pm tomorrow, except for businesses deemed essential services, and; 3) provides the list of exceptions for services deemed essential.

List of Essential Businesses:

Federal and state offices and services, and private companies or individuals performing under federal, state, or local government contracts;

Essential government functions including, but not limited to, law enforcement, public transportation, and businesses that provide government programs and services;

Companies providing media, communication and telecommunication services;

Grocery and beverage stores, farmers markets, food banks, caterers, convenience stores selling food, agriculture, food manufacturing and processing, feed mills, and other businesses that directly support the food supply, including but not limited to farming, livestock, and food cultivation;

Health care, mental and behavioral health, biomedical research, laboratory services, and other businesses that directly support the healthcare industry including, but not limited to, health information technology, staffing and supplies;

Sanitation and waste removal;

Energy, water, and sewage businesses and services;

Pharmacies, medical supply, and other businesses that directly support the drug and medical supply pipeline;

Vehicle fuel, support, and service stations, vehicle parts and repair businesses, and vehicle sales, leasing and rental businesses;

Banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, accounting businesses, and other business that directly support the insurance and financial services sectors;

Real property marketing, leasing, purchase, and sale services;

Legal and judicial services;

Laundromats, laundry, and cleaning services;

Home and business structure and equipment repair, hardware, building supply, and appliance sale and repairs;

Warehousing and storage facilities;

Construction, architectural, engineering, or surveying services;

Product logistics, transport, and distribution businesses;

Parcel transportation and delivery businesses;

Veterinary and pet supply business and services;

Home and business cleaning and maintenance services;

Educational institutions, public and private K-12 schools, private colleges and universities, trade schools, post-secondary, and technical colleges, but only as needed to facilitate online or distance learning and essential functions;

Landscaping and nurseries;

Production, distribution, and sale of household consumer goods such as cleaning and personal care products;

Essential building maintenance and security;

Individuals whose job functions require them to be at their work location and who are essential to preserving the information systems, accounting, and human resource infrastructures of any business which is otherwise in substantial compliance with this order;

Daycare and childcare businesses shall remain open and should prioritize children of parents working for essential infrastructure sectors, businesses, or service providers to the extent practicable;

Nonprofit entities providing support and assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and

Other businesses and services that may be determined are essential for the continued safety and security of the City of Tullahoma and Coffee County.

The full proclamation can be read at Tullahomatn.gov.
Jaipur, March 24 : The March 26 elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan have been deferred in the wake of coronavirus epidemic, according to the Election Commission officials on Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have fielded two candidates each for the three seats.

While the Congress has fielded AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal and PCC General Secretary Neeraj Dang, the BJP has fielded Rajendra Gehlot and Omkar Singh Lakhawat.

Due to Covid-19 epidemic, there has been no political activities in the recent days and the offices of the BJP and the Congress, here, are shut.

On the EC decision, state Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said deferring of elections were required in the present circumstance.

State BJP chief Satish Poonia said the Election Commission had taken the right decision. The presence of over 200 MLAs alongwith hundreds of staff members at one place would have posed a threat, he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Nargiz Sadikhova  Trend:

Kazakhstan has introduced restrictions on export of agricultural goods for the period of emergency state regime in the country, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Healthcare.

The list of products which were prohibited to export includes buckwheat, sugar, potatoes, carrots, onions and white cabbage.

The corresponding decree of Kazakhstans Agriculture Ministry said that the prohibition on the export of these goods from Kazakhstan to third countries is valid from March 20 till April 15, 2020

By a decision of State Commission on Provision of Emergency State under the president of Kazakhstan, quarantine regime has been introduced in Kazakhstans Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities at 00:00 (GMT +6) on March 19, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.

First two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 68 people.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.

As of today, over 381,500 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 16,500. Meanwhile, over 101,800 people have reportedly recovered.

Several countries are working on a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
In a bid to support the poorest and most vulnerable countries, the World Bank President David Malpass on March 23 urged the G-20 countries to let the poorest countries suspend all repayments of official bilateral credit amid coronavirus pandemic. As the deadly virus has affected more than 190 countries and territories, Malpass reportedly said that the virus is likely to hit hardest against the roughly 25 poorest countries drawing on International Development Association (IDA). He said that the first goal of the World Bank is to provide prompt support, based on a countrys needs.

In a telephonic address to G-20 Finance Minister on coronavirus, Malpass said, These are difficult times for all, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. The first goal of the World Bank Group is to provide prompt support during the crisis, based on a country's needs. It's also vital to shorten the time to recovery and create confidence that the recovery can be strong.

He further added, Many were already in a difficult debt situation, leaving no space for appropriate health and economic response. We are ready to frontload IDA19 with up to USD 35 billion and identify additional resources. However, we cannot have IDA resources go to pay creditors.

READ: World Bank Gives Loan Of $300 Million To Indonesian Govt For Financial Reforms

Countries need to move fast

Furthermore, Malpass urged all official bilateral creditors of the poorest countries to act with immediate effect to help IDA countries through debt relief. He said that this would allow the countries to concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic. He added that the countries need to move fast to boost health spending, strengthen socials safety nets, support the private sector and counter financial market disruption.

READ: World Headed To Recession At Least As Bad As During Global Economic Crisis, Says IMF

Malpass said, Countries will need to implement structural reforms to help shorten the time to recovery and create confidence that the recovery can be strong. For those countries that have excessive regulations, subsidies, licensing regimes, trade protection or litigiousness as obstacles, we will work with them to foster markets, choice and faster growth prospects during the recovery.

As per reports, earlier this month, World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Boards approved a $14 billion package to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, the bank is restructuring existing projects in 23 countries and also preparing projects in 49 others in a new fast-track facility. In a bid to provide budget support, the World Bank also approved a $300 million loan for Indonesia to assist the nation in financial sector reforms.

(With PTI inputs)

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Egypt Confirms Death Of Two Senior Military Officers

READ: South Korea Reports Downward Trend With Fewer Than 100 New Coronavirus Cases
All states in the region put under lockdown

Passengers wear face masks as a precaution against the Covid-19 virus travel in an autorickshaw in Imphal, the capital of Manipur on March 20, 2020. (AP)

Guwahati: Manipur on Tuesday detected its first case of coronavirus with a 23-year-old student who had returned from the United Kingdom testing positive. This makes it the first case in the northeast.

All the northeastern states have been put under lockdown. The international border with Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh has been sealed.

The Manipur patient has been put under isolation at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. Her family members have been quarantined, and are to be tested for the Covid-19 virus. The authorities are tracing other people who may have come in contact with the woman.

The director of health services of Manipur, K Rajo Singh requests such contacts to get in touch with health officials and start self-isolation. The department has released mobile numbers on which they can ask for assistance.

Assam health and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Tuesday that in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the states annual budget may have to be changed.

Sarma said in the Assembly, We dont know how the COVID-19 crisis will unfold. (we) have to be prepared to change the budgetary allocations if needed.

With the state going into an eight-day complete lockdown from Tuesday, the minister said a curfew might be called if the lockdown doesnt work.

The state estimates that around 20,000 separate beds may be needed in the state if there be a coronavirus breakout. Though no coronavirus positive case has been reported in Assam yet, the health minister said the administration is geared up to handle the situation.
A Kyiv laboratory has confirmed 28 coronavirus (COVID-19) infected people in the capital, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

"A number of ill grew by four persons and now there are 28 laboratory confirmed cases," Klitschko said in a video address on Tuesday noon.

Previously, the Health Ministry reported that 29 COVID-19 have been registered in Kyiv as of 1000 on March 24.

On March 23, Klitschko, when asked why the data on the number of cases differs from those published by the Health Ministry, said: "We are receiving information from the State Institution Kyiv City Laboratory Center of the Health Ministry of Ukraine. We make public all the figures and as for today (March 23) we have 24 confirmed cases. Perhaps the Health Ministry, where they give figures for all regions, was not calculated correctly something. We understand that today it's really difficult for everyone...maybe there was a mistake," Klitschko said.
Social distancing and the closing of typical meeting places are designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus). Public health officials believe these steps can be effective tools in slowing down the impact of the virus.

And while necessary, these changes are often psychologically difficult for people. .

Even if you identify as mostly introverted, a public health directive to distance yourself from others for safety causes our fight or flight impulses to kick in and try to take over.

This is due, in part, because of the forced choice nature of the directive and because you are facing the unknown. So many of us will notice that we are more restless, anxious, worried, and/or unable to take advantage of the downtime during this phase of managing COVID-19.

Here are 10 suggestions to help manage our feelings and our mental health:

1. Be mindful of what you are going through. Even if you arent ill or in a difficult situation, you are experiencing stress. Its important to acknowledge how you feel. Write them down and talk them out. Every morning write out what is weighing on your mind. Set a timer for 5 minutes and let it rip. Dont stop writing until the timer goes off. Close the journal and leave it all right there. Dont spend time re- reading what you wrote down.

2. Establish a pattern or routine for your day and evening, and stick to it. Writing down a schedule or a plan for your day has been shown to make you feel grounded and safer. Even if you dont do all the things on the schedule - writing them down is the calming factor). And keep your sleep schedule healthy.

3. Make movement a part of your day. Find a way to move or exercise, even if its climbing your stairs a few times. Do some stretching, march in place, do some yoga. Investigate guided exercise or movement online. Lots of gyms and places that feature yoga are streaming free classes every day. Dont give into any internal cues that say, why bother or I will do that tomorrow.

4. Open your windows or go outside. The CDC is recommending getting fresh air while complying with social distancing. Take a walk around your block, yard or patio. Breathe in and practice mindfully noticing your surroundings.

5. Minimize or avoid the use of alcohol and/sedatives as a coping mechanism to relax or de-stress. Instead, take a bath, drink tea or a similar non-alcoholic drink. Remember that the restlessness that accompanies worry only lasts for 90 seconds.

6. Incorporate sound in your environment. That can include music and talking to a friend, partner, or family member by phone or video chat. Change up your hand washing song.

7. Moderate your exposure to the news and people who are focused on increasing your worry. Once you have your daily information of the general situation and for what your role in the world is, turn it off. For those friends and family members who make you feel more anxious, limit your interactions to a polite check in and then move on to more constructive conversations.

8. Manage your feelings of guilt, fear, blame, anger, and shame by noticing how you feel, and reminding yourself about what you can and cant control. Focus on what you can control and being good at taking care of those things.

9. Ask for help if you think you might need it. You can dial 211 to get more support for mental health support, financial support, or instrumental needs such as food or heat.

10. Allow yourself to adjust to this new mode of being. Acknowledge how you are feeling and reacting to it, and then create a structure that supports healthy function. We are learning as we go, and you are not alone.

Be well.

Julie Liefeld is director of the Southern Connecticut State University Family Therapy Clinic.
Four patients in HCMC and five in Hanoi are among the latest 11 Covid-19 infections recorded in Vietnam Tuesday, raising the country's total to 134.

All four HCMC cases are related to the Buddha Bar & Grill in District 2's Thao Dien Ward where four foreign customers had been confirmed infected earlier. Thao Dien is home to many expats in the city.

"Patient 124" is a Brazilian man, 52, who lives in HCMCs District 2. He is an employee of Gia Dinh Shoes Co. Ltd., which has offices in District 2 and in Vinh Cuu District in Dong Nai Province, which neighbors HCMC.

For the last several days, he had traveled back and forth between the two offices, and also visited several restaurants and coffee shops in Dong Nais Bien Hoa Town, as well as the Vincom shopping mall in District 2 without wearing a face mask.

On March 14, he visited the Buddha Bar and was quarantined in District 2 on March 22 before testing Covid-19 positive. He is being treated at the citys field hospital in Cu Chi District.

"Patient 125" is a 22-year-old South African woman residing in HCMCs District 7. She patronized the Buddha bar from 9:30 p.m. on March 14 and stayed until 3 a.m. the next day. After learning about the bars customers being infected, she reported herself on March 22. From March 15 to the time she tested positive, she had quarantined herself at home.

"Patient 126" is another South African resident of District 7. The 28-year-old male teacher is a friend of "Patient 125" and was in the bar with her. Later, he visited her twice at home. They two are being treated at a quarantine zone in Can Gio District.

"Patient 127" is a 23-year-old man resident of HCMCs Tan Phu District who was serving at the Buddha bar, working the night shift from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. He had a fever on March 16 and went to a local clinic in Tan Phu for a health check. Between March 17 and 20, he did not go to work, but visited several restaurants in town. On March 21, he reported himself after learning about Covid-19 positive cases related to Buddha bar. He was quarantined at home first before being sent to a centralized facility in the district, where he tested Covid-19 positive. He is undergoing treatment at the Cu Chi facility.

Earlier, four patients  three British men and a Canadian man  had been confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus after they visited the bar together on March 14, the day before the city closed all bars to limit the spread of the virus.

Buddha Bar & Grill in Thao Dien Ward, District 2, HCMC. Photo courtesy of Buddha Bar.

"Patient 128" and "Patient 129" are both 20, male and studying in Britain. "Patient 128" is from Hai Phong City in northern Vietnam, while "Patient 129" is a Hanoi resident. They landed March 20 at Hanois Noi Bai Airport on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54. One was confirmed infected on March 22 and the other on March 23. They are both quarantined and undergoing treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the capitals Dong Anh District.

The other three patients are Vietnamese people who returned from Spain. They landed March 22 in Hanoi on Aeroflot flight SU290 after transiting in Russia. After entering Vietnam they were sent to a quarantine zone pending test results and are now being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. "Patient 130" is a 30-year-old man and "Patient 131" a 23-year-old man who both live in HCMCs Binh Chanh District. "Patient 132" is a 25-year-old Hanoi resident.

"Patient 133" is a 66-year-old woman from Lai Chau Province in northern Vietnam. On March 22, she ran a fever on her way back home after staying for three weeks for some heart condition treatment at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi. She tested positive the next day and is being treated at the provinces General Hospital. Two nurses of Bach Mai were confirmed infected with the virus last Friday.

"Patient 134" is a 10-year-old boy from Hanois Thach That District. He arrived March 18 in the capital city on board Aeroflot flight SU290 from Moscow and was sent to a quarantine camp in Thanh Hoa Province in the north-central region. He was confirmed Covid-19 positive on March 23.

With the latest additions, Vietnam has recorded a total of 134 infections, including 17 who have been discharged after treatment. Of the current active cases, 14 have tested negative once, twice or three times.

Many of the currently active cases are Vietnamese nationals retuning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners visiting from the same regions. Starting March 22, Vietnam has suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed over 17,250 people globally, having spread to 196 countries and territories thus far.
Coronavirus: ICMR in its latest study said social distancing can reduce cases by up to 62%. Government has also requested people to stay indoors and curfew has imposed in Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab.

Coronavirus: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in its latest study said corovirus aka COVID-19 cases in India can be reduced upto 62% if measures and social distancing is implemented and followed properly. The deadly virus has infected more than 446 people and claimed 9 lives, said the Ministry of Health and Welfare Affairs.

Doctors said the only key to prevent and stay safe from this infectionbis self isolation and avoid coming in contact with others.

Also read: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on coronavirus outbreak: Deadline for Income Tax returns filing for 2018-19 gets extended, removes minimum balance requirements for bank accounts

The ICMR had conducted the study weeks before coronavirus turned into a global pandemic. As a result, it was estimated that directions and measures shared by the Centre and the State governments can make a big difference curbing the spread of the disease in India.

Most of the states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bangal are under lockdown, while Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab have imposed curfews.

Also read: Coronavirus plan: PM Narendra Modi to address the nation at 8 pm

Earlier, the government was requesting people to stay indoors and now stringent actions are being taken against the jaywalkers and people violating the curfew.

Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has reported that PM Narendra Modi, who is leading the battle against coronavirus from the front along with doctors, nurses, police and others, will address the nation tonight at 8pm again.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also announced a few measures to boost and help people under lockdown economical and financially. FM extended the deadline of filling Income Tax Returns for the financial year 2018-19 to June 30, 2020.

The companies whose business is less than Rs 5 crore do not have to pay any interest, penalty and late fees, added finance minister.

A penalty of 9% will be charged with no late fees on rest, she said.

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The next witness is retired ChemCentre principle chemist, Bernard Lynch.

Mr Lynch examined the Karrakatta rape victim's shorts in June 1996, 16 months after the offence took place and shortly after Jane's disappearance.

His directive from police at the time was to inspect the clothing item for traces of paint or fibres, to try and determine the vehicle the 17-year-old vehicle was bundled into following her abduction from a footpath in Claremont.

"What occurs is a work surface is prepared, that is we go into a search room, clear the bench and take to it a large sheet or sheets of clean, new, unused paper," he said.

"We'd then do a gentle shake of the item to see if anything drops out ... and then we subject the item to a tape lifting process."

Mr Lynch said he would have worn a white lab coat and usually gloves while carrying out the examination.

"I was looking for coarse, synthetic fibres which are typical of carpets," he said.

"I did not locate any carpet fibres on them, and I didn't locate any automotive paint fibres."

An examination of the short's paper bag revealed one blue/white paint fragment.

The state alleges on one of the tape lifts taken by Mr Lynch contained a single blue polyester fibre it alleges is common to fibres from the Telstra-issued navy trousers Mr Edwards wore for work at the time.

Mr Lynch said the tape lifts remained in an envelope, within the case file at the ChemCentre after they were taken.
An information sign in Pointe-Claire, Montreal, on March 14, 2020, advising people of cancelled events due to the CCP virus pandemic. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

How Canadas COVID-19 Economic Aid Package Falls Short Compared to USs

Commentary

Look north and south of the 49th parallel and you will see two different responses to the pandemic caused by the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

The American travel ban started with China at the end of January, then more countries were added. Until recently, Canada did not restrict travel from anywhere, but now it restricts travel from everywhere. And the Canadian relief response, though announced at roughly the same time as the American response, is less generous, more convoluted, and less prompt.

Once passed by Congress, the CARES Act will pump out $1 trillion. People who had employment or pension income between $2,500 and $99,999 during the entire year of 2018 will get a one-time cheque of $600$1,200 in the mail. Uncle Sam will also send $500 for each child.

The U.S. government will provide up to $200 paid leave per day for employees at small businesses who are quarantined, have CCP virus symptoms, or are caring for a family member who does. Small businesses can get bridge loans of up to $10 million each, costing Washington roughly $300 billion. Large corporations will get temporary tax cuts. Important industries especially hard hit can get $208 billion in loans, including $58 billion for airlines. Strings are attached, including necessary repayment and no raises for executives for two years.

The Trump administration waived interest from federally provided student loans for two months, whereas Canada announced a six-month moratorium. In nearly every other respect, however, Canadas program is inferior.

Canadas COVID-19 Economic Response Plan earmarks $52 billion in direct support payments and $55 billion in tax deferrals. The $107 billion total equals $2,835 per person. The American package is $3,035 per person, or $4,310 in Canadian dollars. And Ottawa is creating more programs in the process.

In Canada, a special Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) will provide $2,000 a month for up to four months to unemployed workers who dont qualify for employment insurance. They also qualify if they are quarantined or have to take care of a family member. The CERB will be made available in April through a secure web portal and a toll-free number.

Extra help will come to some families, but not until May. At the cost of $5.5 billion, 12 million low- and modest-income households will get an extra GST credit of nearly $400 for single individuals and $600 for couples. Over 3.5 million families with children who may require additional support will get an extra $300 per child through the Canada Child Benefit. Recipients will receive these benefits automatically at a $2 billion cost to taxpayers.

Small employers, non-profits, and charities will also get a temporary wage subsidy for three months. It would be equal to 10 percent of renumeration paid during that period, up to $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer. Businesses get the money by not remitting payroll deductions.

Personal income taxes dont have to be paid until June 1. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CHMC) will ease the burden for lenders with a variety of means. Banks will offer payment deferrals of up to six months for mortgages and a chance for relief on other credit products. Businesses of all sizes can defer until Aug. 31 payment of any taxes they might owe between now and then, and the Canada Revenue Agency will take four weeks off from ongoing audits.

A new Business Credit Availability Program will offer more than $10 billion to small- and medium-sized businesses through the Business Development Bank and Export Development Canada. Bank regulations will be loosened to let them lend $300 billion more.

Other measures include:

An Indigenous Community Support Fund of $305 million

Reducing minimum withdrawals for Registered Retirement Income Funds by 25 percent (since its a bad time to cash out)

$157.5 million to the Reaching Home initiative to address homelessness

$50 million to womens shelters and sexual assault centres

A new Insured Mortgage Program so CHMC can buy $50 billion of insured mortgage pools

The complicated Canadian plan will needlessly sacrifice benefits through higher compliance costs and new government programs. Yes, Americans usually pay more for out-of-pocket health expenses. However, there are provisions for that in the CARES Act and the $8.3 billion previously earmarked for the outbreak on March 4.

Ottawas revised economic response plan announced on March 25 is $20 billion more generous than its initial one. However, it gives the federal government the authority to raise taxes over the next six months without parliamentary approval. Canadians who already pay higher taxes than Americans will wait longer for economic relief, get less of it, and have more reason to worry.

The Epoch Times 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.
The 2019 financial results are postponed to April 29, 2020.

At this stage, the other dates remain unchanged.

Regulatory News:

DEINOVE (Paris:ALDEI) (Euronext Growth Paris: ALDEI), a French biotech company that uses a disruptive approach to develop innovative antibiotics and bio-based active ingredients for cosmetics, today announces a change in its financial calendar for 2020*. This change is a consequence of the current context related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the organisational adjustments made by the Company and its surroundings during the containment period.

Publication of 2019 financial results is postponed to April 29, 2020

The Annual General Meeting is still scheduled for June 16, 2020.

The publication of the 2020 half-year results is still scheduled for October 1, 2020.

* This financial calendar is for indicative purposes only and the Company could change its publication dates, should it deem necessary.

ABOUT DEINOVE

DEINOVE is a French biotechnology company, a leader in disruptive innovation, which aims to help meet the challenges of antibiotic resistance and the transition to a sustainable production model for the cosmetics and nutrition industries.

DEINOVE has developed a unique and comprehensive expertise in the field of rare bacteria that it can decipher, culture, and optimize to disclose unsuspected possibilities and induce them to produce biobased molecules with activities of interest on an industrial scale. To do so, DEINOVE has been building and documenting since its creation an unparalleled biodiversity bank that it exploits thanks to a unique technological platform in Europe.

DEINOVE is organized around two areas of expertise:

ANTIBIOTICS, New-generation anti-infective drugs : A first antibiotic candidate, DNV3837, is now in Phase II. The Company is also pursuing the systematic exploration of biodiversity to supply its portfolio with new leads, drawing notably on partnerships with bioMerieux and Naicons (AGIR program supported by Bpifrance).

: A first antibiotic candidate, DNV3837, is now in Phase II. The Company is also pursuing the systematic exploration of biodiversity to supply its portfolio with new leads, drawing notably on partnerships with bioMerieux and Naicons (AGIR program supported by Bpifrance). BIOACTIVES, Active ingredients of natural origin with cosmetics as the first market: DEINOVE is already marketing a first cosmetic active ingredient, a second in partnership with Greentech and plans to launch new assets in 2020. Several other cosmetic actives are in development, including with Oleos (Hallstar Group) and Dow. It also runs a program in animal nutrition with Groupe Avril.

Within the Euromedecine science park located in Montpellier, DEINOVE employs 60 employees, mainly researchers, engineers, and technicians, and has filed about 350 patent applications internationally. The Company has been listed on EURONEXT GROWTH since April 2010.

Visit www.deinove.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005626/en/

Contacts:

Investors

Coralie Martin

Communication, Marketing and Investor Relations

Ph.: +33 (0)4 48 19 01 60

coralie.martin@deinove.com

Media

ALIZE RP

Caroline Carmagnol

Ph.: +33 (0)6 64 18 99 59

deinove@alizerp.com
Health care workers and scientists have been sending in hundreds of suggestions, through for how hospitals and clinicians can conserve their supplies of masks and other protective gear via the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Why it matters: Hospitals are either out of these supplies already or will be soon enough, so crowdsourcing ideas of how to stem the shortages could save lives.

A few ideas stuck out to Axios' Bob Herman:

A scientist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center explained how and why his system is using UV light to disinfect N95 masks.

Snorkel masks or other SCUBA gear could be reused and provide some protection from contaminated droplets in the air.

Dentists and vets could donate their masks and equipment, since their patient visits have either been canceled or curtailed heavily.

Go deeper: Coronavirus traces found on Diamond Princess 17 days after passengers left
TDT | Manama

His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa received yesterday a cable of congratulations from Royal Court Affairs Minister HH Shaikh Ali bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, marking his safe return to the Kingdom of Bahrain after the successful medical check-ups abroad.

The minister wished HRH Premier abundant good health, and the Kingdom ever-lasting security and prosperity, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. HRH the Premier also received a cable of congratulations from His Majestys Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, marking his safe return.

Shaikh Khalid wished HRH the Premier abundant good health and wellbeing, so as to continue exerting all efforts towards achieving further progress and prosperity. HRH the Prime Minister also received a cable of congratulations from Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa marking his safe return to Bahrain.

The minister wished HRH the Premier abundant good health and long life so as to continue enhancing the progress of the Kingdom, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad. HRH the Prime Minister further received a cable of congratulations from Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, marking his safe return to Bahrain.
A four-month undercover police investigation prompted by neighborhood complaints may have declared last call on a Normal Heights bar that authorities say became a regular haven for drug dealing.

San Diego police and DEA agents announced yesterday the arrest of nine San Diegans on suspicion of possessing and selling marijuana, Ecstasy, methamphetamine, cocaine and PCP.

The arrests began Wednesday afternoon and continued almost until midnight.

San Diego police Capt. R.J. Bob Kanaski said the Kindred Spirits Tavern on Madison Avenue had become such a nuisance that police had received 153 calls on that block in a 12-month span.

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Lydia Savage, senior bartender at the pub, said the bar was being unfairly tarnished.

Im tired of us being perceived as a center for prostitution, for drugs, for gang activity. If anything goes bad in the neighborhood, they point the finger at us, said Savage, 54.

Eventually, the neighborhood fingers that were pointed at Kindred Spirits began dialing the police.

The complaints (from residents) started coming six or seven months ago, Kanaski said. There were a lot of disturbances outside the bar at closing time. There were witnesses to a number of shootings. There was fear of retaliation.

But what really sent the authorities into action was when residents videotaped a shooting outside the bar about five months ago, he said. Thats when the decision was made to send undercover cops inside the Kindred Spirits Tavern to document the supposed drug-dealing going on in and around the establishment.

It wasnt that hard, Kanaski said; among the buys the undercover officers were able to make were 400 Ecstasy tablets.

They had quite a few clients that were out of control, he said. The majority of these (drug) sales occurred inside that bar, in full view of employees that were there, including one employee who participated in a buy.

Savage said she understood the concern over the shooting, which occurred last August, but insisted that the bar was being unfairly targeted by authorities and a handful of neighbors.

Ive worked here for the last four years; there hasnt been one arrest in here for drugs or for prostitution, she said. If anybody acts even a little out of line, theyre 86ed. Theyre out of here.

Ive had three tires slashed for having people 86ed from this place. A lot of those calls the police talk about, they came from us.

Of the arrests made Wednesday, only one was actually inside the bar, and that was for a person named on outstanding arrest warrants, she said. Even so, (the police) came in and cuffed all the customers while they ran their IDs, said Savage. They didnt have enough handcuffs.

Savage described the bar as a neighborhood institution that had been in business for 45 years.

My son works here with me on Friday nights, she said. Im looking right now at two of my regular customers, talking to each other. One is 83, the other is 78. This is their social time.

But District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the Kindred Spirits bust was meant to send a message to neighborhood dope dealers.

You need to grasp one simple truth: We will get you, she said. The undercover agents are out there. Sooner or later, youre going to sell drugs to one of them (and) you will go to prison. This is not rhetoric. Its a promise.

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control board has been brought into the case, with an eye toward suspending or possibly revoking the bars liquor license.

The building owner (where the bar leases space) has been more than cooperative and is trying to help, Kanaski said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said that it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.

The Prime Minister, who had also addressed the nation last week, said the lockdown has drawn a "Lakshman Rekha" in every home and people should stay indoors for their own protection and for that of their families.

Noting that the Centre has on Tuesday allocated Rs 15,000 crore for the treatment of coronavirus patients and to strengthen health infrastructure, he said testing facilities, personal protective equipment, isolation beds, ICU beds, ventilators and other necessary materials will be ramped up.

The Prime Minister said the country will have to bear the economic cost of lockdown but saving the life of every citizen is his priority and the priority of the Central and state governments as also of local administrations.

Noting that the virus spreads like fire, he said that if care is not taken for 21 days, the country, a family can go behind by 21 years.

Modi said the people are seeing how the global pandemic has made even the most resourceful countries helpless.

"The result that has come after studying the cases for two months, which experts are also saying, is that social distancing is the only effective option. There is no other way. If the spread of coronavirus is to be stopped, its cycle of spread is to be broken," he said.

He said some people have a mistaken belief that social distancing is only for the sick. "This thinking is not right. It is for every citizen, every family, every member of the family, and even for the PM," Modi said.

"Carelessness of a few people, their wrong thinking, can put you, your children, your parents, your friends and the country in a great difficulty," he said.

He said that for the past two days, the lockdown has been declared in several parts of the country and states should take it seriously.

"From 12 tonight, there will be lockdown in the entire country. To save the country, to save every citizen, a ban, a complete ban is being imposed against come out of homes. Every state, Union Territory, district, village, locality, is being locked down," he said.

Modi said it is the curfew in a way.

"It will be stricter than the Janata Curfew. My request is that stay where you are in the country. Seeing the situation of the country, the lockdown will be applicable for 21 days. The next 21 days are very important. If we go by health experts, at least 21 days are vital to breaking the cycle of coronavirus spread," he added.

Modi repeatedly urged the people to stay at home. "Do one thing - Stay at home, saying that people should remember that sometimes a person with coronavirus appears absolutely healthy. "Hence exercise precaution, stay at home," he said.

He said that it took 67 days for one lakh persons to be affected, 11 days for the figure to reach two lakhs and only four days for the figure to reach three lakhs. "The disease spreads very fast," he said.

He said this is the reason that when it started spreading in China, USA, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Iran, the situation became uncontrollable.

"What is the solution? The ray of hope is the experience from those countries who could control it to some extent. We should also think that we have only one way and that is not to come out of houses whatever happens," he said.

"India is today at a stage that our actions will determine how we are able to reduce the impact of the global pandemic. It is time to strengthen our resolve. This is the moment of patience and discipline. When the country is under lockdown, we have to implement our resolve, our word. 21-day lockdown is a long period but it is important for your protection and of your family," he said.

He urged the people to think of foot soldiers including doctors, nurses, pathologists, sanitation staff, who are providing services.

He said the Central and the state governments were working with speed to see that people are not inconvenienced in their daily lives. Modi said that he had urged states to give priority to health care services only.

He urged the people to stay away from rumours and not take medicine without the prescription from the doctor.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that every Indian will follow the instructions of district administration. He noted that people had fulfilled their responsibility for the success of Janata Curfew on March 22.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ggplot2 data visualization R package is extremely powerful and flexible. However, its not always easy to remember how to do every task  especially if youre not a frequent user. How do you change the size of a graph title? How do you remove legend titles? My usual solution is to save RStudio code snippets for things I have trouble remembering. But theres also a package that can help: ggeasy.

As the name says, the goal of ggeasy is to, well, make ggplot2 easy  or at least easier. It has what some people may find to be more intuitive functions for typical tasks, mostly around text and axis formatting. (This package doesnt affect the way lines, points, and bars look and behave). All ggeasy functions start with easy_ so its, yes, easy to find them using RStudio autocomplete. You can see how that works in the video above.

If youd like to follow along with my example below, ggeasy is on CRAN, so you can install it with install.packages("ggeasy") . I will also be using the ggplot2 (naturally), dplyr, rio, and lubridate packages. Later, I will add the patchwork package for super simple placement of multiple graphs; thats also on CRAN.

For this example, Im going to use data about whats on most peoples minds these days: coronavirus. You can download a CSV file with data by U.S. state from the Coronavirus Tracking Project with

download.file("http://covidtracking.com/api/states/daily.csv",

destfile = "covid19.csv")

(You can name the destfile destination file anything youd like.) I used rio::import() to import the data, but you can also use readr::read_csv() , read.csv() , data.table::fread() , or any other function to import the CSV.

With rio, the dates came in as integers, so Ill use lubridates ymd() function to turn that column into Date objects:

data$date <- lubridate::ymd(data$date)

To create a graph that is not too difficult to understand, Ill filter this data for just a couple of states so there arent 50 separate time-series lines. I chose Louisiana to see the rise in cases there  the Louisiana governor said the state has among the worlds fastest growth in cases. (There is speculation that Mardi Gras in February might have caused a cluster in New Orleans.) I will also add Massachusetts, a state with about 50 percent more people than Louisiana, since Im based there.

After filtering the data, Ill create a basic line graph of the data:

states2 <- filter(data, state %in% c("LA", "MA"))

ggplot(states2, aes(x = date, y = positive, color = state)) +

geom_line() +

geom_point() +

theme_minimal() +

ggtitle("Lousiana & Massachusetts Daily Covid-19 Cases")

Sharon Machlis, IDG Basic graph of Louisiana and Massachusetts daily total COVID-19 cases made with ggplot1.

Thats a pretty steep increase. Some of that may be due to an increase in testing  maybe we just know about more cases because testing ramped up. Ill look at that in a minute.

First, though, how about a few tweaks to this graph?

Lets start by making the graph title larger. To use ggeasy, Id start typing easy_ in the RStudio top left source pane and scroll until I find what I want.

Sharon Machlis, IDG Typing easy_ in RStudio helps find ggeasy functions.

easy_plot_title_size() looks like the function I need. I can change the graph title to 16-point type with this code:

ggplot(states2, aes(x = date, y = positive, color = state)) +

geom_line() +

geom_point() +

theme_minimal() +

ggtitle("Lousiana & Massachusetts Daily Covid-19 Cases") +

easy_plot_title_size(16)

I can rotate x-axis text with easy_rotate_x_labels(90) for a 90-degree rotation, and remove the legend title (its pretty obvious these are states) with easy_remove_legend_title() . The full graph code is below, including storing the graph in a variable called positives .

positives <- ggplot(states2, aes(x = date, y = positive, color = state)) +

geom_line() +

geom_point() +

theme_minimal() +

ggtitle("Lousiana & Massachusetts Daily Covid-19 Cases") +

easy_plot_title_size(16) +

easy_rotate_x_labels(90) +

easy_remove_legend_title()

Sharon Machlis, IDG Graph with several ggeasy function tweaks including rotating x-axis text and increasing title size.

Next, Id like to look at the negative coronavirus test results, to see if theyre rising at similar rates to positives. Ill use the same code but just switch the y column to negatives.

negatives <- ggplot(states2, aes(x = date, y = negative, color = state)) +

geom_line() +

geom_point() +

theme_minimal() +

ggtitle("Lousiana & Massachusetts Negatives") +

easy_plot_title_size(16) +

easy_rotate_x_labels(90) +

easy_remove_x_axis("title") +

easy_remove_y_axis("title") +

easy_remove_legend_title()

Sharon Machlis, IDG Graph of negative COVID-19 test results.

There seems to be a larger rise in positives than negatives in Louisiana. Although we dont know if thats because testing criteria changed or something else.

It would be helpful to see these two graphs side by side. Thats where the patchwork package comes in.

With just these two lines of code, the first loading the patchwork package:

library("patchwork")

positives + negatives

I get this:

Sharon Machlis, IDG Side-by-side ggplot2 graphs with the patchwork package.

Its incredibly easy to place multiple graphs with patchwork. For more on how to customize layouts, head to the patchwork website.

I can now go back and use ggeasy to remove one of the legends so there arent two, and then re-run patchwork:

negatives <- negatives +

easy_remove_legend()

positives + negatives

Clearly, ggeasy is quite useful for some quick  and easy  data exploration!

For more R tips, head to the Do More With R page on InfoWorld or check out the Do More With R YouTube playlist.
The UN has called for the release of all prisoners and detainees in Yemen to help address the threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus, and UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths stressed last Friday that this need had become all the more pressing due to the pandemic.



The parties must take all measures to expedite these releases and allow people to return home safely, he tweeted.



The TV channel RT Arabic reported that Griffiths had issued a statement on 19 March expressing alarm over the continued fighting between the Houthi rebel Ansarullah group and the forces of the internationally-recognised Yemeni government in the provinces of Jawf and Marib.



He pointed to the the tragic toll this is taking on the lives of civilians and the prospects of peace, adding that at a time when the world is struggling to fight a pandemic, the focus of the parties must shift away from fighting one another to ensuring that the population will not face even graver risks.



Abdel-Nasser Abu Bakr, head of the World Health Organisations (WHO) prevention of infectious diseases team, told the US channel CNN on 19 March that the WHO was very concerned about the situation in Syria and Yemen.



He said the reason neither country had reported any coronavirus cases so far was not necessarily because there were none, but rather due to weak healthcare and monitoring. Sooner or later, we expect an explosion in the number of cases, he predicted, adding that the majority of those stricken by Covid-19 in the Middle East were linked to travel to Iran.



In the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is under Houthi control, RT Arabic reported that the groups Ministry of Health had said on 21 March that there were no cases of Covid-19 reported in Yemen.



The Houthi channel Al-Maseera reported that Minister of Health Taha Al-Mutawakkel had told a news conference that we have allocated 18 hospitals across the country for training medical staff to prepare for any coronavirus outbreak.



He urged the WHO to clarify or deny its claim that there will be an outbreak in Yemen and accused coalition countries of sending thousands to the Yemen border which they know is closed, [so] they are fully responsible for conditions there and for any coronavirus outbreak.



Many people are complaining about the sanitary conditions in Sanaa, including broken sewage pipes and mounds of rubbish, but the site yemenvibe.com reported that the capitals municipality had cleaned up the city on 23 March and closed more than 5,000 restaurants, cafes, bakeries and hotels, as well as utilities in the Al-Sabeen district.



Mohamed Al-Asbahhi, director of environmental health, said 300 staff from his office were engaging in street campaigns to force the owners of shops, restaurants, cafes and facilities to comply with health, safety and preventative measures.



In Taiz, a province that is sharply divided and has suffered tremendously and is rarely mentioned in the media, the local leadership met to discuss precautionary and preventative measures against Covid-19.



The provinces first deputy governor said that Governor Nabil Shamsan had given orders to prepare all measures to protect the population against Covid-19 and had asked for international assistance in this effort.



Taiz already suffers from severe shortages of medical supplies and humanitarian resources. The meeting recommended preventative measures, including cleaning up the city, cooperation with groups to support emergencies and allocating the Al-Haramein Hotel in the Al-Dabab district as a field emergency centre in the province.



As other countries take precautions against the Covid-19 pandemic, Yemen is largely continuing with business as usual. Fighting, skyrocketing prices, and almost non-existent salaries are common. In Sanaa, civil servants are paid half their salaries every two months, and in areas under government control salaries are paid every 45 days to an average of less than $70, according to sources.



The exchange rate of one US dollar is around 660 riyals in both government-controlled and Houthi-controlled areas, while the official rate is 440 riyals at the Central Bank in Aden, though this is only given to merchants and importers, while at the Sanaa Bank it is 250 riyals.



According to sources, the reason for this disparity in value is due to the countrys old and new currency. The legitimate government uses a new currency in the areas under its control, while the Houthis still use the old currency.



When money is sent from government areas to Houthi areas, the commission is 1,000 riyals per 10,000 riyals, while the commission for money going from and to government areas is 300 riyals per 10,000 riyals, the source explained. This is another burden on citizens who are crushed by the conflict.



Living conditions in the country are appalling, especially for women who have lost their breadwinners, whether husbands or sons, to the war and who now live in extreme poverty. Many have resorted to begging on the street, and those who receive a pension find the standard 3,000 riyals barely covers their needs in the absence of assistance from NGOs.



The price of a wayet (a barrel of water) ranges between 18,000 and 20,000 riyals per 5,000 litres in Taiz, which is suffering from water shortages. The price of a butane gas cylinder is 6,800 riyals, and due to shortages people now use firewood. Overall, there is severe food insecurity due to price hikes and sudden shortages of basic goods.



Security is also lacking in Yemen, and this has opened the floodgates to criminals who are victimising the weak and engaging in black market activities. This is due to the absence of any central authority: each city is divided into areas between Houthi and government jurisdiction, especially in Taiz, which is unlike any other city in Yemen.



Food supplies reach Taiz with great difficulty because the Houthis control the entrances to the city. The prices of food are exorbitant, and this created a humanitarian crisis well before the arrival of Covid-19 that can only get worse once the virus arrives.



The people of Yemen are facing a bleak future, neglected by officials and divided among themselves and too busy fighting despite the Covid-19 crisis. Each camp blames the other for the miserable conditions. While some attention is now being paid to the threat of the new coronavirus as some provinces start preparing for the worst, they have very few means to do so.



As one human rights activist put it this week, if it wasnt for Gods will in Yemen, all the people would already be dead.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Bengaluru, March 24 : Five more people, including a woman from Bengaluru tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday morning, raising the total cases to 38 in Karnataka, an official said.

"Between 2 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday, five more new cases have been confirmed in the state," a health official told IANS.

Among the five new cases, three are men and two women.

A 32-year-old man from Kasargod, Kerala with travel history to Dubai arrived in Mangaluru on March 20 and tested positive for coronavirus as the 34th case in the state.

"The case is directly quarantined and isolated from the airport to the designated hospital in Mangaluru," said an official statement.

A 40-year-old Uttara Kannada district resident with travel history to Dubai returned to India on March 21 to emerge as the 35th case. He is currently being treated at a designated hospital in the district.

Similarly, a 65-year-old man from the same district travelled to Dubai and returned to India via Mumbai on March 18. He took a train to Uttara Kannada and tested positive as the 36th case.

He is undergoing treatment at a designated hospital in the district.

Karnataka's 37th case is a 56-year-old woman from Chikkaballapura. She was a family member and a fellow passenger of the 19th case and 22nd cases with travel history to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

She returned to Chikkaballapur via Hyderabad and is isolated in designated hospital in Chikkaballapura.

The final case from Tuesday morning and 38th case in the state is a 56-year-old Bengaluru resident, a contact of the 13th case who is currently isolated in a city hospital.

"Out of 38 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka so far three cases are transit passengers of Kerala who have landed in airports in Karnataka. The details of their itinerary after arriving in Karnataka will be provided," said the statement.
T he Government is beginning to lift sweeping restrictions on public life as part of the nationwide lockdown aimed at countering the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since March 23, Britons have been required to stay at home except for essential trips outdoors to buy necessities, exercise, provide assistance to the elderly and vulnerable, or travel to work and schools, where absolutely necessary. When outside, people have been told to keep at least two metres apart from anyone living outside of their household to ensure adequate social distancing is maintained.

As part of the extraordinary measures, all shops selling non-essential goods as well as leisure facilities, libraries, community centres, places of worship, hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts and campsites among other businesses and venues have all been ordered closed, barring some exceptional circumstances. Restaurants, cafes and pubs have been permitted to offer customers delivery and hot food takeaway services.

Hairdressers, barbers, beauty and nail salons, piercing and tattoo parlours have all been closed.

Bars, cinemas and theatres were also ordered to shut.

However, the Government is beginning to relax the lockdown, and some businesses are slowly being allowed to re-open, as long as they can maintain social distancing measures.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out the Government's lockdown exit plan in a speech on 10 May, saying some shops will open from early June "at the earliest", provided the infection and reproduction rates of coronavirus remain low.

He stressed that the re-opening of some shops is "a conditional plan" - adding: "We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem, but we must fix it".

Amid the widespread closures, here is a list of the shops and venues that have been allowed to remain open, and which may reopen soon:

The lockdown restrictions will remain in place for at least three weeks / Getty Images

Which shops are staying open?

Off-licences

Off-licences are allowed to open amid reports some supermarkets were running out of beer and wine.

Supermarkets

Supermarkets throughout the UK are permitted to remain open for customers. Many have imposed rationing on products amid the Covid-19 outbreak, however, after a wave of panic buying and stockpiling early in the pandemic saw several stores' shelves stripped of basic goods.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies will be allowed to keep their doors open in order to ensure people can obtain medicine as well as other health essentials during the lockdown.

Petrol stations

Petrol stations have not been ordered closed, partly due to the need to ensure key workers are able to access fuel if needed for travel to and from work and to take their children to school, as they are permitted to do.

Public toilets

Public toilets are allowed to remain open during the lockdown.

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

Banks

Banks will be allowed to continue serving customers in person, but many are encouraging people to use online and telephone banking services wherever possible, instead of visiting branches.

Car parks

Car parks are permitted to stay open as key workers are still making essential journeys to work.

Storage and distribution facilities

Storage and distribution facilities, including delivery drop off points, are allowed to stay open and keep services running as normal.

Post offices

Most post office branches remain open, with services running as normal.

Home and hardware stores

Home and hardware shops will be allowed to remain open as they stock essential materials and equipment that help keep homes warm, safe and with power.

Garages

Garages are allowed to remain open under the new restrictions despite MOTs for lorries, buses and trailers having been suspended for up to three months.

The government says these vehicles must be kept roadworthy during this period, while MOTs for cars, motorcycles and light vans are currently under review.

Vehicle rental services

Vehicle rental services will stay open, meaning people can still rent cars, vans or trucks for essential travel.

Vets and pet shops

Vets and pet shops will not be forced closed, meaning owners will be able to access healthcare, food and other essential items for their pets as needed.

Laundrettes and dry cleaners

Laundrettes and dry cleaners will be allowed to continue serving customers during the lockdown, provided requisite social distancing measures are observed.

Undertakers

Undertakers are permitted to remain open as funerals are allowed to take place, albeit likely with stringent restrictions. Weddings and baptisms are temporarily banned, however.

Market stalls

Market stalls which provide essential items such as food are allowed to stay open.

Newsagents

Newsagents and corner shops are allowed to remain open in order to ensure people have access to essential everyday items.

Bicycle shops

With some commuting allowed and one act of exercise in public permitted every day, including cycling, bicycle shops will be allowed to remain open to ensure cyclists can keep their equipment in good order and roadworthy.

Shopping centres

Shopping centres are allowed to stay open if they have retail units which offer essential services, such as food or medicine, or shops on this list.

Garden centres

Some garden centres in the UK and Wales have been allowed to reopen since May 10, as many products are seasonal and have to be purchased within a certain time frame.

Which businesses may re-open soon?

Clothing shops

While clothes shops have not been considered essential businesses, they may begin opening from 1 June, as long as they can maintain social distancing measures. Fashion giants such as Next and Marks and Spencer have announced plans to partially re-open in June.

Pubs, bars and restaurants

Pubs, bars and restaurants may be allowed to re-open outdoor areas in June if they can maintain social distancing measures. Inside areas may take much longer to re-open fully.

Gyms
March 24, 2020





The Empire State is setting the gold standard when it comes to protecting employees. With the state leading the way for harassment reform, in 2018 New York has passes a number of initiatives to eliminate inappropriate behavior in the workplace, holding businesses accountable for the actions of their workers. Thus, effective from October, 9, 2018, its necessary for all employers in New York State to adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy that equals or exceeds the minimum standards set by the New York State Department of Labor. The employers are also required to provide anti-harassment training to all employees. A year later, another legislation that reinforced employees protections against sexual misconduct was signed. Such measures represent an important step towards fighting such an ugly phenomenon as sexual harassment. Still, each individual employee also should contribute to the elimination of the problem in question. If you currently work in the Empire State, dont stand aside. Remember that its your duty to stand up against harassment at a time where men and women across the country are taking a stand, saying Enough is enough to workplace harassment.







Below are some simple recommendations that will help you prevent and deal with workplace sexual misconduct.

# 1 Consult a Workplace Attorney

There are times where an employee finds themselves unable to figure out if their particular case qualifies as sexual harassment. Some mistakenly assume that its only their boss or someone holding a higher position who can commit harassment, while others are convinced that only women may fall into the category of victims of workplace harassment. In fact, the perpetrator can be any coworker who makes unwelcome sexual advances to another employee in the workplace and thus interferes with their ability to do their job. So, if youre not sure whether yours or your colleagues situation counts, dont hesitate to consult a reliable employment attorney NYC. By doing so, youll be able to defend your rights, punish the perpetrator without fear of any possible retaliation, and restore your psychological comfort in the workplace.

# 2 Confront a Harasser

If you happen to suffer from sexual harassment, try to confront the perpetrator. Do this is a respectful and tactful manner. Explain firmly but politely that his or her innuendoes or advances are not welcome. Ask the person to stop.

# 3 Report the Cases of Sexual Harassment

You should know that you can always immediately report instances to your supervisor without confronting the harasser. If you believe youre a victim of harassment or witness it and have supervisory responsibility, be sure to take a look at your employers policy and follow it. Typically, your first step to getting help is to alert an appropriate official. If you dont have any idea where to start, or youre just not sure, or have some questions, talk to someone in your HR or EEO office. Once alerted, its then your employers responsibility to take step to investigate and stop the misconduct. Businesses are strongly encouraged to provide accessible points of contacts for employees to bring complaints. Moreover, those who report the harassment case need to be sure they wont suffer retaliation as a result of any complaint made in good faith.

# 4 Stay Informed

There should be a zero tolerance policy towards any form of workplace harassment, including not only sexual harassment, but also harassment due to race, religion, ethnic background, age, or disability. To understand what types of actions and behaviors constitute harassment and what dont, be sure to commit to attending and participating in all training sessions provided by your employer regarding workplace harassment. Its your moral duty and responsibility to stay informed and act in accordance with anti-harassment laws and regulations of New York State.

Final Word

Despite decades of attention in the media and courts, harassment remains a significant problem in todays business environment. We all know that workplace harassment is against the law and social morality. In addition to being illegal and morally reprimanded, harassment negatively affect the workplace by undermining the integrity of the employment relationship, harming employee morale, and interfering with productivity. In our todays article, weve discussed the most effective and reliable ways to fight workplace harassment. Hopefully, youll take them into account and do your best not to let harassment cases happen in your workplace. Remember, in addition to a formal policy, training, and reporting process, its also in your best interest to discourage some of the behaviors that might lead to harassment, such as scabrous joking, using crude language, and posting sexually suggestive photographs in the workplace. While its impossible to monitor the behavior of every employee, setting reasonable limits and raising sensitivity can make it less likely that the line will be crossed.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper is calling on rank-and-file troops to speak up if their units are doing something potentially unsafe during the novel coronavirus outbreak as the force braces for its day-to-day activities to be upended for months.

Sitting beside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Chairman Ramon Colon-Lopez at a Pentagon town hall Tuesday, Esper urged, "If you're a young NCO or young officer and you see something that doesn't make sense, raise it privately with your chain of command and say, 'Hey, maybe we should do this differently next time.'"

As the military continues to work under Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, as well as its own, to achieve social distancing while accomplishing missions, he said it's imperative that troops communicate with commanders and vice versa.

"Help remind your leaders, help protect one another, help each other," Esper said of adhering to precautionary health guidelines. "Get through this by reminding each other about social distancing, about different ways to perform the mission."

Related: Military Hospitals Will Stop Offering 'Elective Surgeries,' Esper Says

While social distancing may be impossible inside a tank or on a submarine, "if you can avoid putting  a large number of people in small rooms, you should do it," he said. "Hold your meeting outside, and maybe meet in smaller groups."

Earlier this month, ProPublica reported that the amphibious assault ship Boxer held a meeting with scores of leaders packed into its wardroom. A sailor onboard had already tested positive for the virus; another tested positive four days later.

In an effort to limit the spread, leaders across the services are instructing commanders to avoid mass gatherings and implement social distancing whenever possible. They have also encouraged teleworking, or working from home.

Esper this week raised the Pentagon's health restriction level to HPCON-C, the second-highest level, reducing access to contractors, civilians and non-essential military personnel.

"We're going to telework as long as necessary to ensure that we're beyond the coronavirus crisis," he said Tuesday. "It's going to be weeks for sure, maybe months, and we're asking every office head, every director, every person, that chain of command, to exercise due diligence and great caution and telework as much as possible, so we can protect our people while performing our mission."

The secretary's message of increased vigilance comes as President Donald Trump has begun suggesting that U.S. citizens can return to work soon despite medical professionals' guidance to quarantine at home.

"Our people want to return to work," Trump said Tuesday via Twitter. "They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together."

Milley said the U.S. military anticipates the coronavirus' repercussions to last roughly "eight to 10 weeks, roughly three months" based on what has transpired in countries such as China and South Korea.

The inevitable result will be an impact to operational readiness, he said.

"We will have moderate to low levels of readiness impacts," Milley said. "We'll have to assess it. We are assessing if there will be an impact of readiness. But I think it'll be on the lower end."

The Defense Department has been watching how other countries have responded to the pandemic, such as Italy, where the death toll surpassed 17,000 Tuesday.

Countries being heavily impacted "could lead in some cases to social breakdowns," Milley said.

"It's very, very important that we do what the professionals are telling us to do, which is flatten that curve. Take all the appropriate measures for us in the military, but also in the nation, to do our part in order to reduce the probability and to mitigate the impact of this coronavirus globally and nationally."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: The Latest on the Military's COVID-19 Response
Many multinational companies from Europe, USA and other developed countries have set up large number of factories , research centres and trade offices in different parts of China , apart from Shanghai and Beijing.





by N.S.Venkataraman





U S President Trump has been repeatedly accusing China for not informing the world adequately and in right time about the seriousness of the Coronavirus issue in China , which have caught several countries unaware. According to Trump, due to lack of information from China, the world has not prepared itself to face this dreaded virus. While the pledged critics of Trump accuse him of being uncharitable in his views and holding China responsible for rapid worldwide spread of this virus , the fact is that there appears to be considerable truth in what Trump has said. Instead of replying to Trumps charge with facts and figures, China is simply accusing Trump of making false allegations.













The fact and ground reality is that Coronavirus originated in Wuhan region in China and spread rapidly to several parts of China.





It should be agreed that China fought against the Coronavirus on its own without seeking support from elsewhere. In the process, several thousands of Chinese living in China suffered and more than three thousand Chinese citizens lost their lives.





Many multinational companies from Europe, USA and other developed countries have set up large number of factories , research centres and trade offices in different parts of China , apart from Shanghai and Beijing. Several developing countries and under developed countries too have trade outfits in China. Therefore, many families from other countries live in China and they have been criss crossing in China due to business activities. International travellers and business men have been frequently flying into China and flying out of China. Further, travel of Chinese business men and tourists to other parts of the world have been in large number and frequent. Obviously, virus from China to other parts of the world have been carried by these travellers.





Realising this situation, Chinese government should have warned the other countries and World Health Organisation about the situation in China and must have asked them to take preventive measures and exercise precaution. Chinese government has not done this.





All said and done, it is well known that mainland China is a closed country for all practical purposes ,with information about happenings in China hard to get. Media in China is severely suppressed and Chinese citizens and outside world receive only official communication from Chinese government , with little accessibility to verify and counter check them.





While the dreaded virus has spread to other parts of the world causing deaths and sufferings, Chinese government now claims that it has conquered the virus and brought the situation in China under control. If so, Chinese government has not cared to share with the world any information as to how it controlled the situation and drove out the virus. Little is known about the strategies it has adopted . While some people doubt as to whether China has really brought the situation under control and if so to what extent , many think that China must have adopted draconian measures and forced the people to remain indoors.





Now, some vague claims have been made by Chinese government that it has developed drug/vaccine to treat the coronavirus but there is no conclusive proof that it has done so and no clinical trial results have been announced.





If China has warned the world about the impending coronavirus disaster when it happened in Wuhan in the month of November / December,2019 , worldwide efforts could have started at the right time to develop suitable drug / vaccine.





Since massive outbreak of viral disease happened only in China, any new drug developed could be tested only in China to ascertain its efficacy and usefulness. By not sharing its experience with other countries and World Health Organisation in dealing with this coronavirus and opening its territory to international researchers to study the issues in depth and develop remedial measures, China certainly stands accused of letting down the world citizens.





Now, huge research efforts are being made across the world to find the drug / vaccine to treat coronavirus, which has already spread to a very serious level across the world.





Several press releases and briefings of World Health Organisation, which is supposed to monitor the heath issues across the world, indicates that this world organization also lacks credible information on the matter. Though World Health Organisation has not accused China of keeping it in darkness, it is very obvious.





As the Chinese government has done the damage to the world cause, atleast now , better late than never, it should call for a world conference of medical researchers to share its experience and information at its command to find a way out to save the world community from further disaster.





President Trump has the courage to say openly that Chinese government has failed in its duty to forewarn the world about the dreaded coronavirus. Chinese government should view the Trumps charge in proper perspective and act responsibly to fulfill its obligations to the world citizens.
JERUSALEM, Oct. 4, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the swearing-in ceremony of the Knesset in Jerusalem on Oct. 3, 2019. Israeli lawmakers were sworn into the new parliament, or Knesset, on Thursday afternoon, w Image Source: IANS News

Jerusalem, March 24 : The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered Parliament to hold a vote for electing a new Speaker, in a move widely seen as a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to hold on to power.

A three-justice panel on Monday criticized Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a Netanyahu ally, for shutting down Parliament for five days and refusing to hold the vote, reports Xinhua nes agency.

The panel, headed by Chief Justice Esther Hayut, unanimously ruled that Edelstein must hold the vote no later than Wednesday.

The unprecedented ruling came after Edelstein told the court he will not hold the vote, saying he was not accepting "ultimatums" from the court.

"The continued refusal to allow the Knesset (Parliament) to vote on the selection of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process," Hayut wrote in the ruling.

Edelstein "harmed" Parliament's status as an independent authority and the due process of government transition, she wrote.

He had suspended Parliament last week, citing procedurals hurdles and fears about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Netanyahu's Likud lawmakers lashed out at the Supreme Court, calling Edelstein to defy the ruling.

The centrist and the main opposition Blue and White party wants to replace Edelstein in the wake of the March 2 elections.

Backed by a two-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset, the party petitioned to the court to force Edelstein to reopen the parliament.

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz accused the Likud of attempting "to violate Israeli democracy" by halting Parliament's work.

Israel is facing a parliamentary crisis as the elections on March 2, the third within a year, once again failed to produce a clear majority by either Netanyahu or Gantz.

At the same time, the nation is struggling to halt the rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The total number of confirmed infections rose to 1,442 on Monday.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is also facing a corruption trial which has been postponed to May.
According to the Deputy Minister of Health, the dynamics of coronavirus spread in Ukraine is increasing

Open source

As of 13:30, on March 24, there are 97 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine. This was announced by Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine and Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Lyashko during a briefing that was broadcasted by 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

"Speaking on the situation in Ukraine; the dynamics are increasing. Today we have 84 cases of coronavirus disease. If we operate on the data of the previous days, plus 13, it will already be 97 cases at the time of the briefing," Lyashko said.

He also noted that Ukrainian scientists had created tests that were being tested at that moment. According to Ukraines Chief Sanitary Doctor, the accuracy of these tests does not concede to the Chinese analogs.

As we reported earlier, European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to provide Ukraine with 40 million euros.

According to Ukraine's Minister of Communities and Territories Development, these funds will be used in order to take the necessary measures in overcoming the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine.
You need to have a gown on and gloves when youre going from one patient to the next," she said. "This is a droplet disease. If anyone coughs on you, you can transfer those germs from patient to patient.
Dr. Craig Spencer has worked as an epidemiologist in Africa and Southeast Asia and famously survived getting Ebola in 2014 after caring for patients in Guinea.

The coronavirus scares him.

Spencer is now the director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, which has become the epicenter of the US outbreak.

He described a harrowing day in the emergency room in a lengthy Twitter thread posted early Tuesday morning.

Spencer wrote that he starts his day like many other workers by brewing a big pot of coffee because the coffee shops near the hospital are closed.

It ends with him taking his clothes off in the hallway of his apartment, avoiding his toddler until he can run to get a shower to "rinse it all away" before getting some family time for the first time in days.

The hours in between are filled with case after case of coronavirus, beginning when he walked into the ER at 8 a.m.

"Immediately struck by how the calm of the early morning city streets is immediately transformed," he wrote. The bright fluorescent lights of the ER reflect off everyone's protective goggles. There is a cacophony of coughing. You stop. Mask up. Walk in."

He writes that he is told about a patient who is receiving the maximum amount of oxygen but is still breathing fast.

He describes having "a long and honest discussion" with the patient and her family -- who are on the phone -- that she needs to go on life support before things get worse.

"You're notified of another really sick patient coming in. You rush over. They're also extremely sick, vomiting. They need to be put on life support as well. You bring them back. Two patients, in rooms right next to each other, both getting a breathing tube," he wrote. "It's not even 10 a.m. yet."

Afraid to take off his mask

He gets paged almost hourly with urgent messages:

"Stat notification: Very sick patient, short of breath, fever. Oxygen 88%.

Stat notification: Low blood pressure, short of breath, low oxygen.

Stat notification: Low oxygen, can't breath. Fever."

At some point, he realizes that it's the afternoon and he hasn't drank any water.

"You're afraid to take off the mask. It's the only thing that protects you. Surely you can last a little longer - in West Africa during Ebola, you spent hours in a hot suit without water. One more patient..." he wrote.

Spencer eventually gets something to eat in the hospital cafeteria which is thankfully still open. He washed his hands twice, cautiously took off his mask and eats as fast as he can before rushing back to work.

"Nearly everyone you see today is the same. We assume everyone is #COVID-19. We wear gowns, goggles, and masks at every encounter. All day. It's the only way to be safe," he wrote. "Where did all the heart attacks and appendicitis patients go? Its all COVID."

When his shift finally ends, Spencer cleans everything he has before he leaves the hospital to walk home.

"Before you leave, you wipe EVERYTHING down. Your phone. Your badge. Your wallet. Your coffee mug. All of it. Drown it in bleach. Everything in a bag. Take no chances," he wrote. "Sure you got it all??? Wipe is down again. Can't be too careful."

Spencer says he feels" naked and exposed" as he walks down the deserted streets without a mask.

"The streets are empty. This feels nothing like what is happening inside. Maybe people don't know???" he wrote.

Social distancing is 'the only thing that will save us'

As bad as the day was, Spencer expects it to get worse.

"Everyone we see today was infected a week ago, or more. The numbers will undoubtedly skyrocket overnight, as they have every night the past few days. More will come to the ER. More will be stat notifications. More will be put on a ventilator," he wrote.

Spencer wrote that it's too late to stop the virus, but its spread can be slowed because "the virus can't infect those it never meets."

"Social distancing is the only thing that will save us now," he wrote. "I don't care as much about the economic impact as I do about our ability to save lives."

He ended the thread with a plea for people to take the pandemic seriously.

"You might hear people saying it isn't real. It is.

You might hear people saying it isn't bad. It is.

You might hear people saying it can't take you down. It can.

I survived Ebola. I fear #COVID19.

Do your part. Stay home. Stay safe.

And every day I'll come to work for you," he wrote.
N ew couple Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas showed plenty of PDA as they headed out for a walk through their Los Angeles neighbourhood.

The former Batman star, 47, and the Knives Out actress, 31, were pictured sharing a kiss as they ventured out for some fresh air while laying low at Afflecks home.

Other snaps showed the pair walking arm in arm and sharing a playful embrace during a break from quarantine.

The stars have recently returned to Los Angeles after holidaying in Costa Rica and de Armas native Cuba.

De Armas and Affleck did not hold back on the PDA / ROL/X17online.com

The pair are thought to have met while filming the psychological thriller Deep Water, which is based on the novel by The Talented Mr Ripley author Patricia Highsmith.

They play a wealthy married couple, with Afflecks character giving his wife (de Armas) the freedom to have affairs with other people - who then start to mysteriously disappear, making him a prime suspect.

Deep Water is directed by Adrian Lyne, who previously helmed films including Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, Flashdance and 9  Weeks, and marks his first movie since 2002s Unfaithful.

The pair shared an embrace / ROL/X17online.com

It also stars Tracy Letts, Finn Wittrock and Euphorias Jacob Elordi.

The pair are yet to speak publicly about their romance, but De Armas, who is set to star in the upcoming Bond film No Time To Die as recent CIA recruit Paloma, recently discussed working with Affleck in an interview with Vogue Spain.

The first time we read the scenes together, it became pretty clear he was going to do something exceptional with a very complex role, she told the magazine.

Not only does he know how to do it with ease, he also manages to surprise you in every shot. His talent is infinite.
When Betty Ryan died at her home in rural Ireland of complications from cancer last week, her family was understandably distraught.

And compounding their grief was a question that is now arising for families around the country: What would they do about her wake and funeral?

Like so many rites in Irish life, death is a social event as much as it is a time of mourning. But a ban on large gatherings because of the coronavirus outbreak has meant that funeral rituals have to be rethought.

Betty was the first person in the village of Ballyferriter, in County Kerry, to die since measures intended to stop the viruss spread were introduced, and the family feared that their matriarch would not receive a proper send-off.
Lucknow, March 24 : About 350 FIRs have been lodged in the past 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh for violation of the lockdown in the state.

Additional chief secretary home, Avanish Awasthi, told reporters here on Tuesday that 250 FIRs had been registered on Monday and 100 on Tuesday.

He said that the state government had started preparing to tackle the Corona virus from February and the results were apparent now.

He said that all departments of the state government were working in close coordination to deal with the prevailing situation.

"More than one lakh people have come to the state form other places during the past ten days. We have gone in for a lockdown to ensure social distancing and also prevent spread of the virus," he said.

He lauded the fact that almost all anti-CAA protests had been called off in view of the Corona scare.

"We are now going to enforce the lockdown firmly and district magistrates have been authorized to impose curfew if people do not follow the lockdown rules," Awasthi added.

He further said, "The Chief Minister has said that morning walkers should stay away from public parks till April 15. All medicine traders and pharmacists have been asked to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines." The government has also decided that all government vehicles in emergency services will be fitted with loudspeakers to ensure direct communication with the people.

The Chief Minister has also set up four committees to monitor the Corona situation, to ensure that agriculture is not adversely affected and people celebrate Navratri in their homes. Another committee will monitor the availability of food and money for unorganized sector and labourers while the fourth will crackdown on hoarders and fake news.
The Rajasthan government has banned all private vehicles in the state from Tuesday and announced a clutch of measures to help poor during the lockdown until March 31 as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state went up to 32 on Monday.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced the decision to ban private vehicles on Twitter.

To save lives from #coronavirus infection, we have taken the decision to ban all private vehicles on roads from tomorrow. Only vehicles related to essential services and those in exempted services would be allowed. State highway tolls will also be closed from 12 oclock midnight, Gehlot tweeted on Monday evening.

Also read: Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown

Later, his office sent a release to announce the ban.

Vehicles engaged in essential services or in the exempted categories have been kept out of this ban, the release added.

Public transport was banned on March 22 as the state went into a complete lockdown.

Earlier, Ashok Gehlot warned people he will clamp curfew if they didnt stay in their homes during the lockdown.

I am cautioning you in order to protect your lives, please consider this lockdown seriously as a self-imposed curfew.Behave as you do in a curfew & stay in your homes strictly. Either ppl understand the seriousness, remain in their homes or else we will hv to impose curfew in state (sic), he said on Twitter.

Also read: Rajasthan to prepare 1,00,000 isolation beds in fight against Covid-19

The chief minister also took a host of decisions to provide relief to the poor during a meeting at his residence on Monday evening. The release from the chief ministers office said 7.8 million people, who get social security benefits, will get a pension for two months in advance.

During the lockdown, no one will sleep hungry in Rajasthan, the CM said.

Apart from this, 3.65 million Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, state BPL and Antodaya beneficiaries and 2.5 million construction workers and registered street vendors, who are not covered under the pension scheme, will get Rs 1000 as one-time relief.

Gehlot said these measures will provide relief to at least 14.1 million families in Rajasthan. The government will take the help of revenue officials in these efforts, he added.

The state government had earlier announced free ration for two months for families covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), who get wheat for Re 1 and Rs 2 a kilo.

The government will provide ration packets to people not covered under the NFSA. These packets will be distributed through government buildings in rural and urban areas and will contain wheat flour, pulses, rice, cooking oil and other essential commodities.

Four new cases were reported from the statetwo each from Pratapgarh and Jodhpur.

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Dentists have been prescribing themselves and their families an anti-arthritis drug that is being touted as a potential coronavirus treatment.

The federal government is trying to rush through emergency regulation banning dentists from hoarding Hydroxychloroquine, also known as Plaquenil.

Stockpiling of the drug, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, has led to shortages of the drug for people who really need it.

Dentists are prescribing themselves and their family an anti-arthritis drug because it is rumoured to protect against coronavirus (stock)

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is urging dentists to only prescribe the drug for arthritis and malaria.

Any dentist found to mis-prescribing the medication would have to answer to the Australian Dental Board.

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

Professor Eric Morand, head of rheumatology at Monash Health said there has been a massive blow to the drug due to shortages.

'We already have patients who need this drug for other diseases who are having trouble getting this drug because someone has persuaded doctors to give it to them  that's in Australia and around the world,' he told The Age.

'I urge people not to go and find this drug, because they will be taking it out of the hands of other people who need it. This is just like panic-buying. It is a selfish act, don't do it.'

There's no confirmation that the drug actually protects against the killer virus as President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week that the drug could help with the coronavirus cases around the world.

'Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine,' he tweeted on Sunday.

'The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH be put in use immediately.

'People are dying, move fast and God bless everyone!'

The Australian government rushed to pass regulations on Monday to ban dentists from prescribing the drug (stock)

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia national president Associate Professor Chris Freeman confirmed that pharmacies were seeing an increase in demand for the drug.

'[We are] receiving reports from Australian pharmacists that they are receiving prescriptions from: doctors prescribing for other doctors and their families; as well as dentists prescribing to the community and their families; non-medical prescribers prescribing bulk amounts of the drug,' an open letter to doctors reads.

'Our strong advice to pharmacists at this point in time, until further advice is available, is to refuse the dispensing of hydroxychloroquine if there is not a genuine need, and that need is for those indications for what it is approved for  inflammatory conditions or the suppression and treatment of malaria.'

Australia's number of positive coronavirus cases has soared to 1,972 with eight dead.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry announces that as a result of ongoing Advisory and Regulations of Closure of non-essential services, the Chamber has decided to close its office until further notice.

In previous communications, the Chamber expressed the protocol of the changed service. In addition to this, the Chamber announces the full closure of its office.

The Chamber is available via email for urgent matters only. One can email their request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Chamber apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and request its clients to follow COCI on Facebook.com/St Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry for any further developments.
A 22-year-old woman caught injecting heroin in a Belfast shopping complex has avoided prison.

Jessie McFarland was given a three-month suspended sentence for having a syringe full of the class A drug at CastleCourt in the city centre.

McFarland, of Craiglands Manor in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, did not attend yesterdays sentencing hearing at Belfast Magistrates Court due to coronavirus.

But prosecutors set out details of a series of drug-related offences. Police found her injecting a substance in a changing room area at the shopping centre on July 31 last year.

A syringe full of a brown liquid was seized at the scene.

When McFarland was searched a quantity of pills were found on her.

She was also dealt with for two separate incidents.

Imposing three months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, District Judge Fiona Bagnall instructed the defence solicitor: You will let her know the outcome.
Orascom Construction, a leading global engineering and construction contractor in the Middle East region, has appointed Reham ElBeltagy as the group's new chief financial officer (CFO) effective April 1.



She succeeds Mark Littel, who is stepping down after taking over as Group CFO in September 2014.

ElBeltagy joined the company in 2006 and has since then held a number of senior roles in corporate treasury and is currently the group treasurer. Prior to this, she was part of the debt capital markets team at Commercial International Bank in Egypt.



ElBeltagy holds a BA in Accounting and Finance from the American University in Cairo.



On the appointment, CEO Osama Bishai said: "ElBeltagy has been with the company for 13 years and has demonstrated multiple achievements across a range of functions such as corporate treasury, project finance and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and finance in several sectors including building materials, cement, fertilizers and infrastructure concessions."



She has also been working in transition with Littel and the Group CFO team over the past few months," he stated.



He also commended Littel for his leading role in driving major transformation at Orascom Construction and "his invaluable contribution throughout his time at the company."

Littel will remain an advisor to the company until the year-end, he added.



In her new role, ElBeltagy will be supported by the groups regional finance teams led by Omar Bebars and Jeremy Marron.



Bebars is the CFO of the Middle East and Africa region and joined the company in 2009, while Marron is the CFO of the US region who joined The Weitz Company (which was later acquired by the Group in 2012) in 2005.-TradeArabia News Service
Two dozen tourists from the Grand Duchy spent 60 hours in isolation before returning home on Monday. Just in time, as the country is quarantining all remaining tourists for a month as of today.

Two Luxembourgish embassies in Brazil and Cuba aided the tourists in their return home. They were first placed in isolation for two and a half days before being flown back to Brussels on Monday. There were then transferred to Luxembourg by bus.

Cuba closed its borders on Monday to curb the spread of the virus. Tourists scrambled to get their last flights, but those who found themselves stuck will remain on the island for at least a month.
Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister

Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation'

Explained: Amid coronavirus outbreak, Hantavirus creates havoc on social media

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Mar 24: As the whole world is worried about curbing the outbreak of coronavirus, the hashtag #Hantavirus is trending on Twitter. This hashtag surfaced on social media after several reports claimed that a man in China, died from the same.

Now, the new hashtag also contains the word "virus" and the case is registered from China, several people believe that a new coronavirus-like outbreak has come into existence and will soon attack people across the world just the way novel COVID-19 is doing.

In this situation, where people across the world about surviving the COVID-19 has become an important factor, it is also improtant that people should not be ill-informed on the same.

To test coronavirus, ICMR recommends 2 RT-PCR kits

There are miscreants on social media claiming that Hantavirus is a new coronavirus-like outbreak. But, it is not. Hantavirus is not a new virus and has been around for several years.

Hantavirus is not airborne just the way novel coronavirus is. It is not a communicable virus and get transmitted from human to human.

Usually, this virus only infects rodents, and human beings can get infected only if they come in contact with the urine, feces or saliva of rodents.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's website, rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. The website further said that even a healthy individual is at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus.

Fake: No, India is not declaring a national emergency and you dont need to stock up

The symptoms of Hantavirus include fever, headache, abdominal pain, chills, muscle ache, nausea and vomiting.

The people can get infected if they touch their eyes, face, mouth and nose after coming in contact with the droppings of rodent or rats around the house.

With videos of people in China eating rats and bats can be one of the possible reasons why the news of a man dying of Hantavirus has created havoc on social media.

It is time for people to make a good use of the internet as it could provide with enough information. However, there are fake news doing rounds on social media too. But, being aware of a situation, can help an individual enlight others.
Texas and Ohio have included abortions among the nonessential surgeries and medical procedures that they are requiring to be delayed, setting off a new front in the fight over abortion rights in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Both states said they were trying to preserve extremely precious protective equipment for health care workers and to make space for a potential flood of coronavirus patients.

But abortion rights activists said that abortions should be counted as essential and that people could not wait for the procedure until the pandemic was over.

On Monday, Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, clarified that the postponement of surgeries and medical procedures announced by Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend included any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
People wait in long lines to buy face masks in order to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside a pharmacy in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 17, 2020. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

Taiwan Says WHO Ignored Its CCP Virus Questions at Start of Outbreak

TAIPEI, TaiwanTaiwan accused the World Health Organization of ignoring its questions at the start of the CCP virus outbreak, part of what it has long described as a pattern that puts it at risk because of pressure from Beijing to exclude it from international organizations.

Taiwan is barred from membership in the WHO under pressure from China, which views it as part of its territorydespite the fact that the self-ruled island has its own democratically-elected government, currency, and military.

Taiwan responded early to the coronavirus outbreak in China, and has had notable success in limiting contagion so far, with just two deaths and 215 cases.

Taiwans government has said that keeping it out of the WHO during the outbreak amounts to playing politics with Taiwanese lives, and it has been denied access to first-hand information. Both the WHO and China say Taiwan has been provided with the help it needs.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, the islands Centers for Disease Control chief Chou Jih-haw said that it had written to the WHO and China as early as Dec. 31, asking for information about the newly uncovered virus outbreak in Chinas Wuhan city, including whether there was human-to-human transmission.

We asked them whether theres a possibility of human-to-human transmission. We indeed asked them and reminded them of the matter, Chou said. He said the WHO confirmed it had received the letter but did not respond to it.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, sitting next to Chou, said Taiwan had fortunately decided that same day to begin screening passengers flying in from Wuhan, and activated its emergency operations center on Jan. 2a move experts say allowed Taiwan to effectively control the early spread of the virus.

While Taiwan did send experts to China in January, they were not allowed to see any patients or to go to the market where the virus is believed to have originated, Chen said. That trip made Taiwanese officials realize they had to act quickly.

China confirmed human-to-human transmission on Jan. 20. The WHO said on Jan. 12 there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.

The WHO, in a statement to Reuters, did not directly address the issue of Taiwan being ignored, but said its office in China was informed of the pneumonia of unknown cause on Dec. 31.

Since that time until now WHO has regarded the event as very serious and applied the full range of attention to it from across the organization, it said.

The Chinese regime has pressured international organizations to accept Chinas sovereignty claims, including the WHO. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that the WHO dealt with Taiwan under the one China policy.

Thus, Taiwan is not a WHO member state. From 2009 to 2016, Taiwans health ministers took part in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the WHO, as observers. But since 2017, Taiwan has been barred by China from taking part in the assembly and its meetings.

Taiwan has also complained about the WHO listing its cases under Chinas, saying this has confused countries into believing its situation is as serious as in mainland China.

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard. Epoch Times reporter Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art

Last Thursday, Shabd Simon-Alexander saw a message on an art-world LISTSERV she subscribes to. An artist named Camille Henrot wrote in saying that she had many of the supplies, like respirator masks and gloves, that doctors and nurses seemed to be running out of. She wanted to donate them, but there didnt seem to be a way to do that.

Simon-Alexander had been watching stories about dwindling medical supplies and the ad hoc attempts to address them, too. As mask shortages became more dire, medical workers tweeted photos of desperate DIY stopgaps, and fashion designers, among them Christian Siriano and Elizabeth Suzann, offered to step in and sew masks to fill the gap. But cloth masks arent a substitute for medical-grade masks  theyre a last-ditch solution. Simon-Alexander realized that there must be tons of artists, set builders, and museum staff who used medical-grade respirator masks to keep from inhaling fumes or dust while working. Getting those supplies to frontline workers was a problem that Simon-Alexander, an artist and clothing designer turned voting-rights activist, was confident she could solve.

Members of the LISTSERV descended into brainstorming mode, with emails flying back and forth by the dozens. One guy said, Before we get too far, we should figure out whether this is actually something thats needed and useful, Simon-Alexander says. Earlier in the week, she had used a Buy Nothing group on Facebook to give her MetroCard to a woman who worked in a hospital, and now Simon-Alexander got back in touch. The woman posted the question to another LISTSERV, this one populated by medical staff: What do you need, and what would be the parameters for receiving donations?

The feedback started rolling in. Some hospitals were sticking to strict rules about what donated gear they could accept. But others were more desperate. I am not trying to find hospital-approved gear, one frontline worker wrote. We are beyond that. Im trying to find survival gear that keeps us working and not sick.

Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art

Within a few hours, Simon-Alexander had designed a Google form where donors can list detailed inventories and contact information. Frontline workers can then review that list and contact donors. From there, the donor and recipient figure out how to transfer supplies, either by mail or by arranging a (socially distanced) drop-off. Someones husband tossed out a name for the effort: the Mask Crusaders.

The Google form went live the next morning. In the first 24 hours, more than 600 masks, most of them N95s, were transferred to health-care workers in New York. Independent artists and staffers at larger museums started listing N95s, surgical masks, gloves, Tyvek protective suits, and shoe covers by the dozens. Someone who works at the Whitney saw the idea develop on the artists LISTSERV and packed up a box of supplies from the museum. The Museum of Arts and Design sent Simon-Alexander an inventory list of its supplies, and she connected them to a recipient at a hospital in the city. As word of the Mask Crusaders spread on social media, Simon-Alexander was contacted by dentists and tattoo artists who were sharing the request with their networks. Shes helped organizers in Chicago, Philadelphia, D.C, and L.A. build the system in their cities, and is looking to expand even further.

Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art

The entire operation is fly-by-night, especially on the recipients side. The health-care workers who are picking up supplies from the list are doing so independently, to try to plug gaps that their hospitals are struggling to fill. I can only imagine the hospital would not be okay with this, one worker on a labor-and-delivery floor in the city told me. Regulations and liability would come into play. Still, one of her co-workers had requested supplies from the Mask Crusaders, and was waiting on a drop-off. At her hospital, personal protective equipment has been under lock and key for a week, and workers are scared. Its not that we mistrust the hospital, she told me, but we know theres a massive national deficit, and were trying to keep pregnant women and ourselves from getting sick.

Im so proud to see people taking care of each other, and its very beautiful and hopeful, Simon-Alexander told me. I dont want to downplay that. But at the same time I find it really frustrating that the work of fixing this crisis is left to the people most affected by it. She points out that the Mask Crusaders supplies will run out at some point, too. We cant mutual-aid our way out of this entirely. At some point, the government is going to have to step up.

*This article appears in the March 30, 2020, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!
WASHINGTON  A week ago President Donald Trump asked all Americans to stay home for 15 days to slow the spread of the coronavirus. States followed suit, with many governors and public health officials issuing orders to shutter restaurants and bars, restrict how many people could gather and shut down schools.

Now the president appears ready to get businesses back open as the economy freezes up from many people heeding the orders to isolate themselves.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!, the president tweeted just before midnight Sunday.

But the president has limited authority over what states are doing to put the brakes on the coronavirus and to flatten the curve of infections. He cant easily roll back emergency orders from states that closed businesses and in some areas ordered people to shelter in place.

Governors and state public health officials get the authority to declare an emergency from their state constitutions.

These rules, these orders have mostly been issued by governors, said James Nash, spokesman for the National Governors Association. They and they alone would have the authority to relax those orders.

In an interview with McClatchy News, Nash said actions that restrict gatherings and other binding orders have mostly been at the state level. That really underscores the leadership by governors of both parties around the country, he said.

Many public health officials think keeping up the isolation period is vital to slowing the spread of the outbreak, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert and part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a briefing on coronavirus in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, March 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)AP

The kinds of mitigation issues that are going on right now, the things that were seeing in this country, this physical separation at the same time as were preventing an influx of cases coming in, I think thats going to go a long way to preventing us from becoming an Italy, Fauci said Sunday on Face the Nation.

Italy has had more than 60,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 6,000 deaths as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Italys response has been criticized for being too slow even though the country shut schools and locked down first the northeast of the nation, then the rest of the country. Italy has been devastated by the virus because the action it took was just a little too moderate, a little too restrained, and a little too slow, according to Vox.

The lesson from Italy isnt just that you have to act before your hospitals are overwhelmed. Its that you have to take steps that appear in the moment to be an exceptional overreaction  because by the time it looks like the steps youre taking are appropriate, it will have been too late, Vox reports.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf

Every state and territory in the United States has declared an emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, according to the National Governors Association. Thirty-seven states have issued mandatory limits on gatherings and at least 36 states have closed or limited the operations of nonessential businesses like bars, restaurants, music venues and casinos, the NGA said.

The Los Angeles Times wrote recently, The governmental power at issue here is the power to safeguard the public. In the United States, that power is held primarily by the officials closest to the people  the ones in local and state governments. Its mayors like L.A.s Eric Garcetti and governors like (Californias Gavin) Newsom who are imposing the restrictions that are sending the economy into a free fall. And Trump cant stop them.

Some of Trumps most loyal supporters in the Senate say the isolation should continue. We are fighting a two-front war  trying to destroy the virus while keeping the economy afloat. As Fauci has consistently said, we should always err on the side of doing more  not less  when it comes to containment, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Twitter Monday.

President Trumps best decision was stopping travel from China early on, Graham tweeted. I hope we will not undercut that decision by suggesting we back off aggressive containment policies within the United States.

By Charles Duncan, McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS)
Does a margarita sold in a sealed plastic storage container taste as sweet?

That's what I'm thinking about as the cashiers at Nopalito, a high-end Mexican restaurant in NoPa, pack two 16-oz capped containers filled with the tequila cocktails into a brown bag for me at the restaurant's to-go window.

This wouldn't have been allowed by the law a week ago. But following the coronavirus outbreak across California and the subsequent shelter-in-place order issued early last week, when restaurants and bars were ordered to close to patrons, business owners found themselves floundering to come up with the cash to continue operations.

So some legal concessions were made. California's Alcoholic Beverage Control loosened some laws on who may sell alcohol and to whom, in an effort to provide a new stream of revenue for the state's food and drink businesses. Per the regulatory relief, issued late Thursday night, restaurants may now temporarily sell pre-mixed cocktails to-go, in a sealed container, to anyone over 21 (along with a meal). It's a weird time to be alive.

RELATED: California now allows cocktail and spirit home delivery from your favorite restaurant or distillery

Only a few restaurants promptly prepared for the change, however. Maven in the Lower Haight jumped on the new allowance and Bernal Heights' Old Devil Moon began bottling cocktails by the end of the weekend.

In the Western Addition, Nopalito got its plans in order swiftly, writing on Instagram on Friday they'd be selling "take-home margaritas, sweet heats, sangria, and bloody marias," in addition to michelada kits and full bottles of mezcal and tequila.

At my arrival to place an order, there were already half a dozen customers in a spaced out queue. Each approached the window, still keeping a distance, to order or collect their food and drinks, after paying via Venmo or in cash.

Like the food menu items, the margarita offerings came in servings of two. At $16, they were a discount of a few dollars from the in-house menu, but at home they didn't deliver quite the same zing. I guess there's something to be said for the atmosphere of public dining.

Like Nopalito, Old Devil Moon quickly pivoted to to-go cocktail sales to accompany a limited food menu. Owner Chris Cohen bought a crowler machine  which seals 32-oz cans  and hundreds of 12-oz. bottles to package up his cocktails. Sure, like at Nopalito, customers won't be able to enjoy ODM's drinks in the ambiance of the bar, but Cohen welcomed the opportunity to seize on "a lifeline," he told SFGATE Monday.

RELATED: How you can help your favorite local bar or brewery right now

"We had to make this huge pivot, basically overnight, and put in a huge amount of effort and hustle, just to make a couple mortgage payments," he says. "We're not making a bunch of money, we're just trying to survive."

Cohen has been spending the last few days pulling from his Advanced Cicerone training, filling and sealing bottles with mixed craft cocktails. For the beer, he's now bought more "quality" tools  including more cleaning supplies  for growler and crowler fills. Now, he's worried about being able to hold onto staff.

"It seems like this should be simple but it really takes two people," he says. "There's all these different considerations: We're going to burn out or someone is going to get sick. We have to figure out how this will work and how to make it work efficiently."

So far, things are going just fine. Old Devil Moon did "quite a lot of business" over the weekend, though not on par with that it would typically earn. Social media has proved useful, and Cohen says they're getting traction. There's certainly more that government should do to help, he says, noting that the restaurant industry should be considered too big to fail.

But for now, there's a possibility that there may be a way through this, after all.

"It felt like last week we figured we were totally screwed," he says. "By the end of this weekend, we thought, it's going to be hard but well survive."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira


Actor Kangana Ranaut, who celebrated her 33rd birthday on Monday, held a pooja for her family and friends at her Manali home. Pictures from the gathering have been shared by her teams official Instagram account.

Even as most of the country has been advised to social distance themselves from each other, Kanganas pictures show the actor in close proximity with not just old people, but also children. This wasnt lost on her fans, who brought it up in the comments section. Plz corona ke time pe plz maintain gap, one person wrote. No social distancing? asked another.

The post has four pictures. The first shows Kangana with her parents, the second shows her seated for a pooja, the third and fourth show her interacting with the guests, including kids. The post has been liked close to 100000 times.

Also read: Kangana Ranauts birthday message has her singing in honour of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru on Shahid Diwas. Watch

On Monday, the actor shared a video of herself reciting Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo, in honour of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were executed on March 23. Kya samaa raha hoga jab hamare shaheed mera rang de basanti chola gaate hue faansi par chadh gaye honge (what a moment it must have been when our martyrs went to the gallows while singing), she said in the video.

Kangana has been stationed in Manali, amid the coronavirus lockdown across the country. India has reported over 400 cases of the virus.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Srinagar, March 24 : The Jammu and Kashmir government has revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) of former chief minister Omar Abdullah and ended his detention on Tuesday more than seven months after he and two other former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained ahead of the revocation of Article 370 on August 5 2019.

"Government issues orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah," Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.

The order comes just a day before the hearing in the apex court.

Speaking to IANS Safiya Abdullah, sister of Omar Abdullah said, the family is very relieved that he is released. She said the case for his release was pending in the apex court and the grounds for his continued detention were very weak. "The news came all of a sudden, we are really happy that he is being released," she added.

Omar was among 50 odd politicians who were kept under 'preventive detention' after the revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (UTs) on August 5, 2019.

He and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with PSA on February 7 after being detained under preventive detention since August 5, 2019.

PSA was slapped on former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on September 16, 2019, after 42 days of preventive detention.

A few days before the Article 370 move by the BJP, Farooq Abdullah had presided over a meeting of all parties in Kashmir in which Omar also participated and adopted a declaration - Gupkar declaration - that they will not accept any tinkering with Article 370.

Meanwhile, Apni Party leader Atlaf Bukari has welcomed the release of Omar Abdullah and demanded the release of Mehbooba Mufti and all other political detainees.
(CNN)  Ford announced Tuesday that it's working with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment and protective gear for healthcare workers to help address shortages in the fight against the coronavirus.

Healthcare workers around the country have expressed concern about difficulties in attaining enough critical supplies, such as masks, gloves and ventilators, to deal with the influx of patients suffering from the highly contagious virus.

Ford said it will work with 3M to produce a new kind of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for healthcare workers, while also helping to increase production of 3M's current respirator device. A PAPR has a clear mask that fits over the face. Air is drawn in through a tube connected to a pump that filters the air. The PAPR will be made using parts from both Ford and 3M, the automaker said, including fans used in the Ford F-150's optional ventilated seats.

Ford said it is exploring the possibility of producing the device at one of its Michigan factories. 3M will also make the respirators at its own factory, Ford said.

Ford also announced that it's working with GE Healthcare to increase production of ventilators, sophisticated air pumps needed by some critically ill coronavirus patients. It is not clear exactly how Ford will help GE to make more ventilators.

"Working with 3M and GE, we have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this vital equipment," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in the company's announcement. "We've been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs."

The automaker also said it will work with the United Auto Workers Union to assemble clear plastic face shields that protect people from possibly infectious bodily fluids. The Ford-designed masks are being tested at Detroit-area hospitals. They could be used by healthcare workers, but also others, such as store clerks, who must regularly deal with the public.

Ford is also using 3D printers at its Advanced Manufacturing Center to create disposable air-filtering respirator masks. Once approved, Ford said, the company could initially 1,000 masks per month but hopes to increase production as quickly as possible.

Other major US automakers have also made similar announcements.

General Motors said last Friday that it was going to work with Ventec Life Systems to help increase its production of ventilators for hospital patients. On Monday, the two companies announced that Ventec "is now planning exponentially higher ventilator production as fast as possible" as a result of the partnership.

GM said it is also looking into producing the devices at its Kokomo, Indiana, electronics assembly plant.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also said on Twitter that his company could make ventilators if needed.

Last Saturday he tweeted that he had had "a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators."

Medtronic confirmed that it has had discussions with Musk.

Musk has not given any specific timetable for producing ventilators, though, and did not say what his companies and Medtronic might do together. Tesla spokespeople did not respond to requests for more information.

"Medtronic will work with Tesla and others to try and solve this ventilator supply challenge," a Medtronic spokeperson told CNN Business in an email. The company also did not provide any information about how Musk's companies could help in the production of more ventilators.

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters that Musk had donated 1,000 ventilators. Musk Tweeted later that those ventilators had been purchased from China.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also announced Monday it would produce as many as 1 million protective face masks a week that it would donate to hospitals, police and emergency personnel dealing with coronavirus patients.

All four automakers announced last week that they would temporarily shut down production of cars and SUVs at their US factories in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

Additional reporting by Jackie Wattles

This story was first published on CNN.com
Strict new measures have been introduced in UK and Northern Ireland and throughout the UK to tackle the spread of coronavirus Covid-19 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

From this evening people must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, daily exercise, any medical need and travelling to and from essential work.

Shops selling non-essential goods will also be shut and gatherings in public of more than two people who do not live together prohibited.

The UK death toll has reached 335.

It was announced this evening that a third person has died from the disease in Northern Ireland.

If people do not follow the rules police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings, Boris Johnson said in a televised statement from Downing Street.

The Department of Health said the third patient to die in Northern Ireland was in their late sixties and had underlying health conditions.

Health Minister Robin Swann said: My heart goes out to the loved ones of this patient.

This is the third tragic announcement of this kind I have had to make in recent days.

The lethal threat from this virus is very real and we all have to do everything we can to combat it.

Below is Boris Johnston's full address this evening:

Good Evening,

The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone.

All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.

And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.

And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.

Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.

And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.



To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it  meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

So its vital to slow the spread of the disease.

Because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHSs ability to cope  and save more lives.

And thats why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.

And though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all  the time has now come for us all to do more.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction  you must stay at home.

Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

 shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

 one form of exercise a day  for example a run, walk, or cycle  alone or with members of your household;

 any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and

 travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

If you dont follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

To ensure compliance with the Governments instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:

 close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;

 we will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with;

 and well stop all social events , including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.

I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to peoples lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.

And thats why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.

And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.

Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7,500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.

With the time you buy  by simply staying at home  we are increasing our stocks of equipment.

We are accelerating our search for treatments.

We are pioneering work on a vaccine.

And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.

I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus.

Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline.

But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.

Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together, to halt the spread of this disease, to protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

And I know that as they have in the past so many times, the people of this country will rise to that challenge.

And we will come through it stronger than ever.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.

Thank you.


SHELTON  A preschool parent said she is outraged that she was not told immediately that a bus aide was arrested two weeks ago while her son and other 3- and 4-year-old special needs students were being driven home from school.

The aide, Linda Frances Cummings, 49, of Seymour, was arrested at 4:50 p.m. March 12 after officers stopped the bus at the intersection of Cloverdale Avenue and Ripton Road, according to a police report.

Mohegan School Principal Kristen Santilli called law enforcement at 4 p.m. and reported she was told there was an odor of marijuana on the preschool bus, which had just departed, according to police.

Police said Shelton Student Transportation Services was notified, and the bus was stopped. The reporting police officers report stated that he stepped inside the bus and smelled marijuana.

After speaking to the driver and Cummings, police said Cummings pulled a metal container with six marijuana cigarettes from her backpack.

The aide was formally arrested after the children were placed on another bus and transported away, according to police.

Cummings was charged with possessing less than half an ounce of cannabis and six counts of risk of injury to a child. She posted a $2,500 bond and was due in court in Derby March 13.

These kids are the most vulnerable in the school, which only escalates my outrage, said the mother, who is not being named to protect the identity of her child. She said she learned of the arrest through a letter from the States Attorney office received March 20. The letter asked for pertinent information about the case, she said.

But the day of the actual arrest, Cummings said she and her husband only received an email saying the bus would be late because of technical issues. She said her son arrived home about a half hour late, with a teacher getting off the bus to say she was on the bus with the child, and he was safe at all times during the trip home.

The parent said she thought nothing of the statement since the email specifically said technical issues, which she thought to mean bus maintenance.

The city of Sheltons bus company, Shelton Student Transportation Services, runs the all-school busing. Bus aides are employees of the bus company, not the Board of Education.

Shelton Student Transportation Services head Ken Nappi said Cummings was immediately terminated after the company learned the of the arrest.

Nappi said the bus company followed protocol and alerted the Board of Education. Since the students safety was never in jeopardy, Nappi said the specifics of the incident were not announced, simply that a technical issue slowed student drop off.

We do not take this situation lightly, Nappi said. The protection and safety of our students is what we strive for every day. Shelton Student Transportation Services philosophy is that we are transporting our most important commodity in the world  our children.

Interim Superintendent Beth Smith did not address the mothers complaint directly, but said the district typically notifies parents if there is a delay in pick up or drop off.

Parents were notified that day that there was an incident, the bus would arrive home late and that all children were safe, said Smith.

She said that when there are incidents with Board of Education employees, the situation is handled as a personnel matter, and details are not released.

Shelton Police Lt. Robert Kozlowsky said, when practical, the department does not make arrests in front of young children, but the circumstances of each case determines officers' actions.

As a parent, you hear rumblings about what is happening at the bus company  are drivers being drug tested? the mother said. This is just the latest incident that casts a shadow of doubt in the confidence of the people in charge of doing the right thing here.
Toronto-Dominion Bank priced the largest covered bond on record from a Canadian lender, days after the countrys central bank widened the range of securities it takes as guarantee for repurchase transactions.

The countrys second-largest bank by assets issued $10 billion of floating-rate covered bonds on Friday maturing in 1.5 and three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A five billion portion of 18-month floating rate covered bonds were priced to yield 200 basis points over one-month CDOR and a three-year floater issue was priced at spread of 170 basis points.

The Bank of Canada said March 18 it is starting to accept participants in its term repo operations  mostly banks  to pledge their own covered bonds at collateral for such transactions. The change is part of wider range of measures announced in the last weeks to shore up the countrys financial markets as risk spread jumped to levels last seen in 2009.

TD notes the Bank of Canada recently expanded its eligible collateral to include own-name covered bonds, among other assets, said TD spokeswoman Julie Bellissimo said in an emailed statement.

TDs covered bonds priced Friday are the largest bonds of their kind from a Canadian bank, according to Bloomberg records which go back to 2007.

Read more about:
(Photo : REUTERS/Yana Paskova) Denise Yearwood, 54, from Umatilla, plays a sweepstake game at Flip Flops II internet cafe, which is experiencing a decrease of patrons amid coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in The Villages, Florida, U.S. March 16, 2020. (Photo : Pixabay)

Being stuck at home is horrific enough for some people. Now consider being held at home without the internet.

That is the hassle for thousands of Americans who don't have high-speed internet at home. Slow internet would significantly limit their potential to work, take training, or seek advice from a health practitioner as the nation hunkers down for the coronavirus pandemic.

CNET reported European officers asked streaming carrier Netflix to dial back its resolution to help conserve bandwidth. Broadband businesses in the U.S. claim their networks can take care of whatever site visitors is thrown their way. But some broadband policy specialists are skeptical.

Jon Sallet, a former general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, told CNET that FCC should be asking the broadband carriers over what is happening and tell the Americans the answer.

ALSO READ: Once Internet is Down Forever, What Will Happen?

Traffic is spiking

There's no question that broadband carriers in the U.S. noticed big spikes in utility last week as many Americans began telecommuting and schools closed across the country.

Verizon, in a weekly comparison, said voice calls between March 12 and March 19 on its network increased by 25 percent. Verizon's total web traffic also increased by 22 percent.

On Wednesday, the organization stated weekly usage patterns showed call for streaming video services, like Netflix and Amazon, increased by 12 percent. These are the most bandwidth-extensive packages on the internet.

Meanwhile, web site visitors climbed 20 percent, the virtual private community jumped 30 percent. And online gaming skyrocketed 75 percent. Social media usage didn't change as compared with the prior week.

ALSO READ: Working From Home Due to Pandemic? Experts Say Your Prersonal Privacy is At HUGE Risk!

Anticipating the need for Americans to get online, U.S. carriers and broadband providers have already suspended data caps on the carrier.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told CNBC on Thursday that the organisation is well-positioned to handle the onslaught.

Verizon isn't always the only carrier that's confident. AT&T and Comcast have also stated they've seen visitors skyrocket, but they're assured their networks can take care of the surge in utilization.

"We've been watching the network very closely," said Joel Shadle, a spokesperson for Comcast, told CNET. Noting the shift, Shadle said Verizon is seeing sustained usage and peaks throughout the day as people are staying home and go online.

AT&T reported it hit record highs of statistics site visitors between its network and its peers, driven by heavy video streaming. The company also stated it noticed all-time highs in facts site visitors from Netflix on Friday and Saturday with a moderate dip on Sunday.

And the company said that its voice calling traffic has been way too up. AT&T said wireless voice calls increased by 44 percent. They also noted an 88 percent increase in Wi-Fi calls. Landline domestic phone calls were up 74 percent.

AT&T also stated it has deployed FirstNet portable cellular web sites to boost insurance for first responders in various parts of the country.

U.S. Coronavirus response to allocate funds in boosting net access

Lawmakers are discussing how to cope with that hassle in massive spending payments transferring on Capitol Hill, according to Congressional aides, Federal Communications Commission officials, and enterprise executives.

The Wall Street Journal said that Senate leaders decided to go against including a large amount of money for broadband infrastructure in a trillion-dollar stimulus bill.

The Senate's stimulus bill might consist of a smaller quantity of funding to pay to deploy cellular hot spots around the country.

If a larger broadband plan is ultimately adopted, the proposals should offer an influx of cash to telecom companies such as AT&T Inc., and Verizon Communications Inc.

New federal investment for the pieces of equipment will help Americans talk with teachers, doctors and colleagues from home. That would consist of Wi-Fi hot-spot devices, laptops, and cellular phones, according to WSJ.

Lawmakers are also discussing ways to increase the availability of a federal subsidy for people to get cheaper mobile phone plans, a House Democratic aide said.

The FCC has suggested two crisis-response plans to Congress, a person familiar with the matter told WSJ. One might allow the organization to pay for devices for hospitals to check in with patients remotely. Another could make a new appropriation so that the company ought to fund remote learning devices.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the country, businesses, schools and groups are heading online to stay productive.

Rural communities with poor to little broadband Internet access, however, are stuck in digital deserts with no way to ride out the situation, according to digital accessibility activists.

Tim Marema, the editor of The Daily Yonder, a blog that covers several issues in rural America, including internet access, said the years of lagging behind broadband infrastructure construction in places like Appalachia make it tougher to come up with solutions to those barriers during the outbreak.

"You cant close the digital gap in a few months," Marema told ABC News.

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

While the Federal Communications Commission and internet providers have put in temporary fixes, such as removing data caps, increasing cellphone tower range and free access to low-income users, Marema and other activists say those solutions wont go far enough in the next few weeks.

The Pew Research Center reported that in 2019, about 73% of American adults had a home broadband connection. However, about 63% of rural Americans have broadband internet access, which is 12 percentage points below urban Americans and 16 percentage points below suburban Americans, according to a survey released last year by Pew.

PHOTO: Horses gaze in a field as a utility worker helps install equipment for high speed internet cable in the rural Pocahontas area in Northern Coffee County, Tenn., on Aug. 22, 2018. (The Tennessean via USA Today Network, FILE)

Those 12- and 16- percentage-point differences translate into miles and miles of rural communities not covered. Marema, who lives in rural Tennessee, said the biggest factor is the lack of high-speed network cables and cellphone access in those communities. He said its been so bad in his neighborhood that students, particularly those in college, have to go through more hoops to get their assignments completed.

"During Thanksgiving break, students would have to drive into town and go to the McDonalds parking lot to file homework," he said.

Story continues

Marema said that access to tele- and video-education services is the biggest concern among rural communities since residents who work are for the most part in jobs that don't lend themselves to telecommuting, such as retail, manufacturing and farming.

Irma Munoz, the chief operating officer of IDEA Public Schools, a charter school that has 96 campuses throughout Texas and Louisiana, said 35% of the 53,000 student body have no reliable internet or computer access at home. The school will be providing over 15,000 laptops and tablets to their families, free of charge, and give them mobile hotspot, of MiFi, devices, but Munoz said she is still worried about their classes.

"There are a lot of [students] that live on [the] U.S. Mexico border that have internet, but its limited," she told ABC News. "And MiFi isnt always guaranteed to work."

MORE: The global impact of coronavirus on education

Chris Lewis, the president and CEO of Public Knowledge, a non-profit tech advocacy group, said the internet deserts in rural America will make it harder for people in those communities to get good healthcare service. Some of those rural areas have a shortage of hospitals and medical centers, and a lack of access to telemedicine. Without access to accurate information and updates on the virus from their local health department, rural residents could rely on misinformation, adds Lewis.

"These are all concerns that we have been raising for over the years, but it is now heightened in a pandemic," he told ABC News.

The federal government and internet service providers, ISPs, have acknowledged the digital divide during the crisis and made plans to remedy the issue. Earlier this month, ISPs and cellphone service providers, including Verizon and AT&T, signed a pledge issued by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that they would waive late fees and provide more access to their WiFi hotspots over the next 60 days.

Some of the ISPs, like Cox, Comcast and AT&T, are removing their data cap limits. Internet providers Spectrum and TDS, which cover areas in Kansas and Wisconsin, are offering free broadband access to pre-K, grammar, high school and college students during the pandemic.

PHOTO: An internet utility worker digs a line to lay in fiber optic cable, for high speed internet, on Dec. 19, 2019, in Wiggins, Colo. (Denver Post via Getty Images, FILE)

Matt Mandel, vice president for government and public affairs for the Wireless Infrastructure Association, which represents ISPs and digital infrastructure providers, said the companies are prepared to make sure everyone is connected.

"No one knows what is going to happen, but the carriers are doing what they can," he told ABC News.

Lewis said the pledges are no guarantee that the providers will keep a consistent connection for remote-area residents, and more importantly, do nothing to expand the infrastructure to connect people in the next few weeks.

"None of this helps those who dont have access to broadband in the first place," he said. "We really need a sense of urgency from policymakers to close the digital divide."

MORE: Therapists face challenges as coronavirus limits in-person help

In the short term, Lewis said the companies could consider rolling out their mobile internet units that are usually deployed to disaster areas, such as Puerto Rico after the hurricanes.

"If those are available in rural areas, fantastic, put those in," he said.

In the long term, the advocates said they hope elected officials and other policymakers study the issues facing the digital divide and push for an immediate bolstering of rural networks.

Marema noted that Jackson County, Kentucky, built out a fiber-optic broadband network with money from the 2009 stimulus, and the county has boosted its economy and academics with teleschool and telecommuting options.

"They are an example of what is possible in a community that plans, knows what it wants and gets the appropriate amount of targeted capital investment from the government and companies," he said.

Rural communities' digital deserts cripple tele-education during coronavirus outbreak originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday decided to extend the statewide lockdown till March 31 to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, After closely monitoring the ground realties, we have decided to extend to the statewide lockdown till March 31, 2020. Earlier, the state government had announced selective lockdown from March 23 to 27.

Hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led central government, Banerjee said the state has not received any help so far. With limited resources and funds, we are trying our best to contain the virus from spreading in our state, she said.

She said has written to the Prime Minister seeking immediate fiscal measures to deal with the crisis.

Banerjee requested him to allow the state government to borrow more by raising the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits to at least 5 per cent of the GDP during the 2020-21 fiscal.

I write to you urgently in the backdrop of this unprecedented pandemic which is crippling the economy that was already suffering from a recession. The capacity of states to mobilise resources will be severely crippled under such circumstances. There is no doubt that GST collection will plummet where it consists of 70 per cent of the states tax collection.

"With further fall in Central tax collection, the amount of funds to be distributed to states will also plummet. In such a situation, I urge you to allow the states to borrow more raising the FRBM limits to at least 5 percent of their GDP during the 2020-21 fiscal. The states can then amend their FRBM commitments in their own legislatures as they find appropriate, the letter read.

Meanwhile, the CM said she would pay surprise visits to different places along with the Kolkata police commissioner to assess the ground preparedness to combat the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Regarding distribution of newspapers that has created panic in some areas with rumours floating about them being carriers of the virus, Banerjee said, I have issued instructions that newspapers will not be sold on streets. Vendors have to collect the same from press trucks and directly supply to households.

The CM also announced a new scheme Prochesta (effort) under which Rs 1,000 will be given to those who belonging to the unorganised sector, like daily wage labourers, to make ends meet during the crisis.

The state health department has decided to convert entire campus of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital into a COVID-19 speciality unit in the next one week.

Later in the day, Banerjee paid a visit to NRS Medical College and Hospital, SSKM College and Hospital, RK Kar Medical College and Hospital, Beliaghata ID Hospital and the COVID-19 quarantine facility in Rajarhat and distributed masks and sanitisers to the staff. She also interacted with the unit heads at the hospitals.
Jeremy Renner cited the work stoppage in Hollywood amid the global coronavirus pandemic in asking a Los Angeles judge to reduce his child support payments to ex-wife Sonni Pacheco for their seven-year-old daughter, Ava.

The Academy Award-nominated actor, 49, said in court docs that he was expecting to work less since his part with The Avengers is complete, and that the work he had on tap is now in question, TMZ reported Monday.

'It is likely that most productions will not resume again prior to the end of the year,' The Bourne Legacy star told the judge. 'As such, the projects that I had previously lined up to film this year are likely cancelled or postponed.'

The latest: Jeremy Renner, 49, cited the work stoppage in Hollywood amid the global coronavirus pandemic in asking a Los Angeles judge to reduce his child support payments to ex-wife Sonni Pacheco or their seven-year-old daughter, Ava

The Captain America: Civil War star told the court that he's not confident that Pacheco, a Canadian model/actress, is not allocating their $30,000 monthly payments toward Eva's expenses, but rather her own 'slush fund' for a high-end lifestyle and expensive court battle against him.

'Sonny's voracious appetite for Jeremy's money has no end in sight,' lawyers for the Hollywood star told the court, the outlet reported.

Renner has requested the court rule that his business managers provide over allocations of the funds toward Eva.

He told the court that nearly $11,000 monthly would meet the 'reasonable needs' of the child.

Request: Renner has asked the court rule that his business managers provide over allocations of the funds toward Eva

Uncharted waters: The massive impact of coronavirus has touched a number of celebrities, including actor Idris Elba, who Renner worked with in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later

Focused: Elba (seen in the film) told Oprah Winfrey that he's OK and feels fine after testing positive for coronavirus earlier this month

Renner met Pacheco in Vancouver on the set of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. They welcomed Ava in March of 2013 and tied the knot 10 months later, in January of 2014. Pacheco wound up filing for divorce in December of 2014.

The massive impact of coronavirus has touched a number of celebrities, including actor Idris Elba, who Renner worked with in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later.

Elba on Monday spoke with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah Talks COVID-19, saying that he's OK and feels fine after testing positive for coronavirus earlier this month.

'If Im really honest, its been incredible to just sit still, I never sit still and so from a mental point of view, I feel pretty focused,' he said.

As of Monday evening, the death total for COVID-19 - declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization - had soared to 471 people in the U.S., The COVID Tracking Project reported, with 42,164 total positive diagnoses.
" " In this photo, you can see Augustine Volcano steaming. The Alaska volcano located in Cook Inlet is part of the notorious ring of fire, as is Mount Tambora, the eruption of which caused the Year Without a Summer in 1816. Chlaus Lotsche/Getty Images

When a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, chaos theory goes, it causes a tornado in Texas. And when the biggest volcanic explosion in human history takes place in Indonesia, Mary Shelley writes "Frankenstein" in Switzerland.

Well, amongst other things. 2016 was the 200th anniversary of the Year Without a Summer, caused by the near-catastrophic environmental changes that occurred when Mount Tambora erupted in April 1815 in Indonesia. The blast killed 10,000 people on the island instantly. A dozen cubic miles of debris were thrown into the atmosphere, in a blast 100 times more powerful than Mount St. Helens.

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But it isn't just debris that's flung into the air when a volcano erupts. Gases, including sulfur dioxide, reach the stratosphere. The sulfur dioxide is converted to sulfuric acid, where it can stay in the atmosphere for a couple years. Those acid aerosols act as reflectors that allow less energy from the sun to reach Earth's surface and cooling occurs.

And for the Northern Hemisphere, cool it was. In June, there was 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow in New England, and the white stuff provided for festive sleigh rides in Virginia. From May to September, it rained 142 out of 153 days in Ireland. A cholera epidemic swept Asia. Crops failed in North America, Europe and China. The American West started enticing failing New England farmers, creating the jumping-off point for a great migration westward.

The dark, miserable weather of 1816 also inspired Lord Byron to suggest to his summer guests in a Swiss villa to try their hand at ghost stories. A young Mary Shelley took to her room with candlelight to pen the beginnings of "Frankenstein."

But let's be clear that the summer-that-wasn't-summer also was part of a larger cooling trend in the early 19th century, and the Southern Hemisphere seemed to be largely unaffected. Still, the no-summer-summer caused significant global ripples.

Now that's Interesting While we've focused on the global impact, it's important to stress how catastrophic the effects of Mount Tambora's eruption were for Indonesia. An estimated 90,000 people died on nearby islands  many of starvation, after crops and forests were killed and freshwater was contaminated.
New Delhi/Dhaka, March 24 : The government on Tuesday advised Kashmiri students stranded on India-Bangladesh border to return to Dhaka in view of their own safety and the risks to other people due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A group of 70 Kashmiri students studying in Dhaka are stranded at Benaport, the border area between India and Bangladesh, after their colleges were shut due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has left over 16500 people dead worldwide.

India went for a countrywide lockdown on Monday with curfew at many places to ensure social distancing and home stay. The government has also suspended international flights, sealed all the borders, ports and entry points, in a bid to contain the epidemic. So far, over 510 people have tested positive and 10 people died in India due to COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan city of Hubei province in China over three months ago.

Around 7000 to 10,000 Kashmiri youth study in Bangladesh, out of which most have returned to Kashmir in the last couple of months, sources said.

Official sources in the ministry of external affairs acknowledged that there were videos circulating in social media of a group of Indian students in Bangladesh wanting to cross the India-Bangladesh border at Benapole.

"In view of the advisory on restrictions in movements from other countries into India and within India itself, border crossings are suspended. Students are therefore advised to go back to their hostels in the interest of their health and safety and also of the community," an official said.

"The Principal of the college has denied reports that students have been asked to vacate the hostel and has confirmed that they would be accommodated in the hostels. The students reached the border despite advice to the contrary by the High Commission of India in Bangladesh and knowing fully well the restrictions in force in India due to Covid-19," sources said.

Such large number of Kashmiris study in Bangladesh primarily because of several reasons. After the Pakistan sponsored Islamist militancy hit Kashmir's education system badly, parents began sending their children for education across India and to neighboring countries. "Since Kashmiris prefer white collar jobs, especially medicine, there weren't any easy and cheap options in India. Getting into medical colleges is highly competent and also expensive here. So many parents sent their children to Central Asian countries and Russia to study MBBS. However, Russian degrees in medicine were not recognized by Medical Council of India. So the next best option was medical colleges in the neighborhood. Though Pakistan offered special scholarships for Kashmiri students, security clearance remains a problem. That is why Bangladesh has been easier and far more accessible," Javed, a Kashmiri parent said.

In 2009, around 10 to 15 Kashmiri students went to Bangladesh. By 2016, the number rose to 500 and in the last few years, around 900 students go every year on an average.

Bangladesh is a popular destination for Kashmiri students, also because many rely on scholarships offered to India under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). "Moreover, Bangladesh, unlike Central Asia, is culturally similar to many places in India. Indian languages like Hindi and Urdu are easily understood, food is similar, colleges are English medium and travel is affordable. Above all, Bangladesh is also Muslim-dominated and therefore more comfortable and relatable," Touseef, a young career consultant in Srinagar said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:12:03|Editor: zyl

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Photo taken on March 24, 2020 shows a general view of the Westminster Abbey after the British government placed further restrictions on movement in London, Britain. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 8,077 as of Tuesday morning, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

LONDON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 8,077 as of Tuesday morning, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.

A total of 90,436 people have been tested across Britain, of which 8,077 were confirmed positive, while 422 patients who contracted the novel coronavirus have died, said the department.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday in a press briefing that a temporary hospital will be set up in the ExCeL centre, an exhibition centre in east London, with a capacity to hold up to 4,000 patients.

Meanwhile, Britain is also looking for 250,000 volunteers to help National Health Service (NHS) employees with "shopping, delivery of medicines and to support those who are shielded," Hancock said.

Asked about Britain's call for retired medics to return, Hancock said more than 11,500 have stepped up, including 2,660 doctors and 6,147 nurses, adding that more than 18,000 medical students will also join the NHS workforce.

The latest figures came on the first day of "lockdown" in Britain as more stringent measures were taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared a "moment of national emergency" on Monday evening, bringing Britain largely into line with most big European nations.

Johnson announced that starting from Monday night, people in Britain will only be allowed to leave their homes for "very limited purposes," including shopping for basic necessities, for any medical need, for one form of exercise a day, and to travel to and from work when necessary.

Meanwhile, all shops selling non-essential goods, such as clothing and electronic stores, are ordered to close, and places like libraries, playgrounds, and outdoor gyms will also be closed.

All social events and even gatherings of more than two people in public, excluding people one lives with, are banned.

According to British authorities, the measures will last at least three weeks and could be renewed, or even toughened, depending on the spread of the disease.

Asked how social distancing rules would be enforced by police, Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, explained on Monday that police will warn rule-breakers before taking action.

He said it is "not turning into a position that everyone on the streets is immediately dealt with in an enforcement way."

Instead, officers will seek to "talk to people, explain the rules and, if people do not listen to that, then clearly we have to take action", he said.

Meanwhile, jails in England and Wales have been put on immediate lockdown with all visits cancelled, according to the union which represents prison officers.

British government expects another 5,000 ventilators to be made available in the coming weeks to help those suffering with severe coronavirus symptoms.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "We have over 8,000 ventilators on the front line currently with 5,000 more expected to come online in the next few weeks...We have been working with private hospitals to secure extra capacity and we have also been working to deliver extra capacity from international manufacturers."
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held discussion with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fonte, over coronavirus situation.

"Reviewed the #COVID situation with EU HRVP @JosepBorrellF today. Exchanged views on our respective challenges. Assured him of our fullest support in the return of EU citizens from India," Jaishankar tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar spoke to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and agreed to build further on bilateral efforts in combating the spread of coronavirus.

"Discussed with State Councilor and FM Wang Yi of China our working together in combating COVID19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming #G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation," Jaishankar tweeted.

According to the Health Ministry, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country has reached 509.

Coronavirus which originated from China's Wuhan city in December last year has so far affected people in about 190 countries globally, with over 14,000 fatalities, among other things. It has led to nationwide lockdown in several countries, a shortage of supply of essential goods and has caused huge financial loss at the stock market.

The virus epicentre has now shifted to Europe, according to the WHO.

As the COVID-19 is unfolding, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that the coronavirus will cause a global recession in 2020 that will be as bad as the 2008 financial crisis, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Calvey, his financial partner Delpal to stay under house arrest till mid-May

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:37 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  The First Appeals Court of General Jurisdiction on Tuesday upheld extension of house arrest of Baring Vostok investment company's founder Michael Calvey and Baring Vostok partner for the financial industry sector Philippe Delpal involved in the 2.5-billion-ruble (about $40 million) embezzlement case, RAPSI learnt in the court.

They will remain under house arrest until May 13.

In early December, the Moscow City Court denied release of over 7.5 million rubles ($117,000) belonging to Calvey from attachment but overturned the seizure of his flat.

In mid-February 2019, Moscows Basmanny District Court ordered detention of Calvey and five other defendants including Delpal, the companys partners Vagan Abgaryan, Baring Vostok Investment Director Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and ex- chairman of Vostochny bank board Alexey Kordichev.

On April 11, Moscows Basmanny District Court released Calvey from detention and put him under house arrest. Delpals measure of restrained was changed in October.

According to investigation, Calvey knowing about a 2.5-billion-ruble debt of the First Collector Bureau, a firm under his control, has organized the sale of its shares to Vostochny bank that has led to embezzlement.

The Investigative Committee claims that he committed a crime that could not be classified as business crime because he used a chain of sham companies settling the deal. Moreover, investigators say they have a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the done deal estimating the sold shares at 600,000 rubles, which indicates an instance of fraud.

Calvey denies allegations insisting that the deal was fair as both companies agreed its terms and stood for it, including a person reporting an alleged crime to law enforcement bodies. He noted that a report has been filed with police by a member of Vostochny bank board of directors Sherzod Yusupov. According to Calvey, the real reason of his prosecution is a wide corporate dispute related to the control of the bank by two groups of shareholders: Baring Vostok and stockholders coming from Uniastrum bank, which was reorganized and joined to Vostochny in early 2017.

Baring Vostok company founded by Calvey in 1994 focuses on private equity investments in the CIS and Russia. The company has invested in shares of Yandex, Vkusvill, Tinkoff Bank and other major projects.




Brits have been allowed to head out on one daily exercise session while in lockdown.

So Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews made their workout session a family affair as they headed to their local park with son Theodore on Tuesday.

The married couple made the most of the sunshine and fresh air as they went on a three kilometre run in London before heading home to continue self isolating.

Three's company: Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews made their workout session a family affair as they headed to their local park with son Theodore on Tuesday

Vogue, 34, showed off her toned arms in a Nike vest teamed with leggings and trainers.

The reality star, who is expecting her second child with Spencer, swept her blonde locks up into a topknot and accessorised with sunglasses.

By her side, husband Spencer, 31, donned a black hoodie teamed with grey joggers and colourful trainers.

Out and about: The married couple made the most of the sunshine and fresh air as they went on a three kilometre run in London before heading home to continue self isolating

Chilling: Taking to Instagram later, Vogue shared, 'Its fully summer in London today. 'We just went for a little exercise in the park, it was really empty to maybe people were listening '

Taking to Instagram later, Vogue shared: 'Its fully summer in London today.

'We just went for a little exercise in the park, it was really empty to maybe people were listening

'We did a three kilometre run and now were home and were going to hang on the balcony for the day.'

Loving life: Vogue seemed in high spirits as she flashed a thumbs up sign on the outing

On the move: Vogue, 34, showed off her toned arms in a Nike vest teamed with leggings and trainers

That's a wrap: She later layered up with a black zebra print jumper that sheathed her figure

She captioned the clip: 'Also I'm DELIGHTED I managed a 3k run because I thought I'd have to stop running but I feel absolutely fine doing it!'

Under Britain's new lockdown rules, it is permissible to leave the house for one form of exercise once a day.

On Monday night Boris Johnson placed the UK on lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, threatening police fines for anyone who ignores new measures including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.

Blonde beauty: The reality star, who is expecting her second child with Spencer, swept her blonde locks up into a topknot and accessorised with sunglasses

On the move: By her side, husband Spencer, 31, donned a black hoodie teamed with grey joggers and colourful trainers

The Prime Minister detailed a short list of reasons why individuals can leave their homes as he ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials items yesterday evening.

He ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities 'as infrequently as possible' and to perform one form of exercise a day.

Or they could seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if 'absolutely necessary', he said in a televised address from within Downing Street.

Fun in the sun: The duo made the most of their time out as they chatted away

Making moves: Despite being five months pregnant, Vogue showed no sign of slowing down

'That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home,' he said. 'You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

'If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.'

All public gatherings of more than two people - other than those they live with - will be barred, the PM said. Other premises being shuttered are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship.

Family fun: The trio ensured they all got their exercise fix together on the outing

Bumping along: Vogue's blossoming baby bump was visible in her fitted black vest

Chirpy: The pair seemed in high spirits as they strolled together with Theodore

Adorable: Theodore also seemed in good spirits as he sat upright and smiled

Heading home: The group passed several closed buildings following the lockdown rules

While parks will remain open for exercise, all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped. Funerals, however, can continue.

Vogue and Spencer have been getting plenty of fresh air and exercise in recent days.

On Monday, Vogue kept things casual for the outing as she slipped into an all black ensemble for a stroll around the park.

The reality star sheathed her baby bump beneath a Nike jacket that she teamed with leggings and trainers.

The day before: Vogue and Spencer have been getting plenty of fresh air and exercise in recent days

Stepping out: The married couple made the most of the sunshine and fresh air as they went on a three kilometre run in London before heading home to continue self isolating

Once a day: Brits have been allowed to head out on one daily exercise session while in lockdown

Low-key look: Vogue kept things casual for the outing as she slipped into an all black ensemble

Later in the day, Vogue looked calm and carefree as she shared a fun fake tan tutorial with her Instagram followers.

The presenter looked radiant in the clip as she showcased her blossoming baby bump by stripping down to her underwear.

Clad in a black two set and brandishing a tanning mitt, Vogue got to work applying her fake tan, before roping in a friend Joanne McNally to help her out.

Casual: The reality star, who is expecting her second child with Spencer, sheathed her baby bump beneath a Nike jacket that she teamed with leggings and trainers

Grey day: By her side, husband Spencer, 31, opted for a grey tracksuit as he pushed their son through the park

As well as providing a step by step guide on how to fake tan, Vogue revealed she would be giving away products from her Bare By Vogue range to NHS staff amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Irish beauty explained she would be giving away 10 sets to 'those who deserve it most right now', as she asked her followers to nominate their NHS worker pals.

Earlier this month, Vogue revealed she is expecting her second child with husband Spencer Matthews.

Pleased: Vogue remarked that the park had been empty apart from them as she praised people for staying in their homes whilst under lockdown

Working up a sweat: Parks will remain open for exercise under lockdown but all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped

The couple are already parents to son Theodore, 18 months.

During a live video appearance on Friday's Lorraine show, Vogue revealed that the couple found out they were expecting when she was 10 weeks gone and they have since learned they are having a baby girl.

Vogue suggested the reason she isn't 'obsessing' over her pregnancy is because she's looking after Theodore.

Puppy love: The family also ensured the dog got their daily walk on the outing

Keeping fit: Vogue is determined to keep exercising throughout her pregnancy

Current government advice suggests that pregnant women stay indoors and follow social distancing measures amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Vogue revealed: 'I guess it's because I have Theodore running around.

'Someone the other day said, "Send me a picture of your bump" and I thought, "I don't even have one" whereas last time I had an update almost every day.

Bumping along: Vogue looked calm and carefree as she shared a fun fake tan tutorial for her Instagram followers on Monday

'This time, it's kind of nicer because I'm not obsessing over being pregnant.

'It's nice to spend time with Theodore and he's constantly needing attention, so it doesn't give me that much time to think about being pregnant.'

Vogue admitted she enjoys the distraction because she sometimes struggles with pregnancy, adding: 'I wouldn't say it's my favourite thing in the world. I find it quite hard.'
WASHINGTON  Medicine for the most severe respiratory symptoms caused by the coronavirus could clear clinical trials as soon as this summer, its manufacturer said on Monday, after receiving approval to test the drug from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA hopes that Actemra, which is already approved for use in the United States against rheumatoid arthritis, may also be able to relieve similar inflammations experienced by severely ill coronavirus patients who have pneumonia.

China listed Actemra in its treatment guidelines for patients severely ill from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in early March.

But the FDA-approved trial will be the first rigorous test of the drug for coronavirus patients, Levi Garraway, Roches chief medical officer, told McClatchy.

In some types of viral pneumonia, the reason the pneumonia happens is not just because the virus is present, but because the inflammatory response can be exuberant, Garraway said in a phone interview. In China, some reasoned this could work against the (COVID-19) pneumonia, and they saw some results that were encouraging to them.

Italian doctors have also experimented with the drug, with some promising results, Garraway said, motivating Roche to approach the FDA for fast-track approval.

Our goal is to start the study as early as possible in April. Were working day and night to get it started, said Garraway.

The Phase III trial  the last stage before a drug is approved for market use by the FDA  could then be completed by summer, Garraway said. Summer is a timeframe that seems reasonable.

The FDA would then make a decision whether to issue an emergency approval of the drug for widespread availability.

The Department of Health and Human Services has also directed Genentech, a member of the Roche pharmaceutical group and the producer of Actemra, to provide 10,000 vials of the drug to the Strategic National Stockpile.

President Donald Trump has publicly directed the FDA to speed up its approval of existing drugs or drug cocktails that have shown anecdotal promise in treating COVID-19.

Doctors on the White House coronavirus task force have urged caution against providing the public with false hope, as scientists first begin the monthslong process of testing the effectiveness and safety of certain drugs and their dosages on coronavirus patients.

The FDA has recently authorized trials for remdesivir, which is also undergoing trials in China, and approved a combination of hydroxychloroquine and zithromax for compassionate use  a term used by doctors to request off-label use of drugs for critically ill patients.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said those trials would take months to complete, and that the agency would go through the regular process before authorizing the public use of any drug for treatment of COVID-19.

Earlier this month, as the coronavirus outbreak expanded across the United States, the Trump administration turned to Roche, a Swiss company, for the mass production of coronavirus test kits that could be rapidly processed.

Roche is one of many companies with diagnostic expertise devoting intense resources to the development of tests, treatments and vaccines for the virus, Garraway said.

The big picture is, there are a number of medicines out there, all of which were approved for other indications, where there are interesting hypotheses that they may be used against the coronavirus, said Garraway. The availability will depend on, No. 1, is it effective and safe. Until we see data, we cant speculate.
Pompeo in Kabul to Resolve Crisis, Salvage Deal

By Ayesha Tanzeem March 23, 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul Monday to try to resolve a political dispute between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah.

The dispute threatens to derail a deal that the United States and the Taliban signed last month. Both Ghani and Abdullah declared themselves president of the country after a contentious election.

"The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved and resolved soon, that could affect the peace process, which was an opportunity for this country that has stood in this 40 years' long war. And our agreement with the Talibs (Taliban) could be put at risk," said a senior State Department official.

The trip comes as world leaders are limiting travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the Trump administration's Afghanistan czar, Zalmay Khalilzad, remains in Kabul trying to help sort out the political mess. Analysts say Pompeo's trip speaks to the gravity of the dispute.

One of the biggest concerns, say analysts, is that given the tribal culture and history of tensions among various ethnic groups, the highly polarized environment could end up causing a split in Afghan security institutions or a wider rift in the society. After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan in 1989, a civil war among various Afghan factions caused widespread havoc and thousands of deaths, eventually giving rise to the Taliban.

The State Department official said the U.S. is pushing for an inclusive government that is acceptable to both Ghani and Abdullah.

The dispute has led to a delay in the start of negotiations involving the Taliban and other Afghans.

"We were supposed to have inter-Afghan negotiations, starting a few days ago. That has not happened because of this dispute, because they couldn't yet agree on a delegation that will go sit with the Talib (Taliban)," the official said.

According to the deal between the U.S. and the Taliban, a delegation of Afghans who represented all political factions as well as women, minorities and human rights activists in the country, would negotiate with the insurgent group on the future of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"It has taken quite a while and they haven't still finalized the list that is acceptableto both sides," the U.S. official said.

Prisoner release

Meanwhile, after weeks of squabbling, the Afghan government and Taliban made their first direct official contact Sunday using Skype video conferencing facilities to discuss the issue of prisoner releases.

"The over two-hour technical discussion today was important, serious, and detailed. My thanks to all sides. Everyone clearly understands the coronavirus threat makes prisoner releases that much more urgent," tweeted Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation.

The issue of the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners in return for up to 1,000 Afghan security personnel has been the other stumbling block in the start of the inter-Afghan negotiations that were supposed to have begun on March 10.

A Qatari Foreign Ministry statement called the talks "fruitful and constructive," saying the two parties discussed important issues related to the lists of prisoners and how to verify them and the locations of their release and transfer them to the agreed locations.

The United States and Qatar, the two parties that facilitated the contact, made sure to identify them as "technical talks" focused on prisoner release as a way to avoid making them sound like the start of official negotiations.

The Taliban have strongly refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, calling it a puppet of the Americans.

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OAKLAND (BCN)

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said late Monday that she's made a conditional offer to former San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer to become Oakland's interim police chief.

Schaaf said Manheimer is undergoing a required state background check and tentatively is expected to begin her job in Oakland on April 6.

Until Schaaf hires a new permanent chief, Manheimer would replace former Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who Schaaf fired without cause on Feb. 20 after Kirkpatrick clashed with the city's Police Commission.

Kirkpatrick, who was chief for three years, has said that she plans to file a wrongful termination suit against the city.

Oakland's leadership ranks have been thinning because Fire Chief Darin White recently announced he is leaving his post to become the new chief in San Rafael and former City Administrator Sabrina Landreth left her post on March 11.

Assistant Police Chief Darren Allison has been acting chief of police since Kirkpatrick was fired.

Manheimer served as San Mateo police chief for nearly 20 years and was the first woman elected as head of the California Police Chiefs Association and the San Mateo County Chiefs and Sheriff Association.

"During an unprecedented response to COVID-19 and when Oakland residents rely on our dedicated public servants more than ever, I deeply appreciate Chief Manheimer for adding to our leadership bandwidth in this moment," Schaaf said in a statement.

Schaaf said, "In Chief Manheimer, Oakland gets a proven leader who will build upon our historic reduction in crime, further reduce racial bias and improve community engagement."

Manheimer said, "I'm honored and excited to step in at this time to assist the Oakland Police Department in meeting the unique challenges they face right now."

Civil rights attorney John Burris, who helped commence a lawsuit in 2000, against the city for alleged civil rights abuses by Oakland police, said Manheimer has some experience with the kind of challenging issues Oakland faces and she appreciates that she'll need to consider competing interests.

Those interests include police officers, city officials, the police commission and the community.

The president of the Oakland Police Officers' Association was not immediately available for comment on Manheimer's hiring.

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: Not all is lost in global fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the desperate measures taken by the governments world over and general public after its outbreak in China is now yielding positive results. It has now emerged that at least 37 Coronavirus COVID-19 infected patients in India have been fully cured and discharged.

While the number of Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 cases in India is nearing the dreaded 500 mark, 37 persons have been cured and discharged, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday (March 24, 2020). The figure includes at least 41 foreign nationals, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

According to latest figures from ICMR, 492 persons have been infected by the new virus as of March 24 of which there are 446 active cases, 37 recovered cases and 9 deaths so far.

The Centre and state governments have ordered complete lockdown in more than 80 districts across the country where coronavirus cases have been reported. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala etc have already announced lockdown in many districts as a precationery measure.

Inter-state passenger bus and trains services have been suspended till March 31 as well. The Centre has also suspended visas till April 15. As per official figures, over 15 lakh people have been screened at various airports in India so far.

The Health Ministry has urged people to contact their emergency helpline number - +91-11-23978046 - for all queries and assistance on coronavirus which has now been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation . India's first case was reported on January 30 from Kerala.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus has claimed more than 16,000 live worldwide so far, but the total number of COVID-19 recovery cases has crossed 1 lakh mark on Tuesday. As many as 102,069 people have been recovered globally from the coronavirus disease.

In China, the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic, has the highest number of recovery cases with 73,159. While the hotspot, Italy is severely suffered due to the coronavirus disease as only 7,432 recovery cases reported in the country with 6,077 fatalities so far. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Italy is 63,927 till now.

However, in many recovery cases, the virus has also reappeared for the second time with a more impact that also caused the death of the recovered patient.

Therefore, the COVID-19 cured patients are being discharged only after 14 days of the recovery. Doctors also advise the discharged patient to take utmost care as the coronavirus disease takes a toll on the immune system.

After Italy, now the United States is witnessing a rapid upsurge in coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, Spain, Germany, and Iran are the other countries that are highly affected by the COVID-19 virus.
CasPhotography/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- With temperatures running hot on Capitol Hill, congressional leaders and White House officials said Tuesday they are on the verge of a bipartisan agreement on a massive package to respond to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic.



After a couple of false starts where the Senate failed on votes to advance to debate on the stimulus bill, which is expected to top $2.5 trillion, Senate leaders said negotiators are closing in on the end zone.



"This majority has gone out of its way to make this process as bipartisan and as open as possible, the administration has bent over backwards to work with Democrats and address their concern," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell McConnell, R-Ky., said. "Now at last I believe we are on the five-yard line."



Last night, I thought were on the five-yard line. Right now were on the two, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed. At this point, of the few outstanding issues I dont see any that cant be overcome within the next few hours.



Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, incoming White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland returned to the Capitol Tuesday morning -- shuttling between the Senate offices of McConnell and Schumer.



Mnuchin said the group had already spoken to President Donald Trump twice Tuesday morning, adding they planned to hold conference calls with a bunch of Republicans to update them on where we are.



Were looking forward to closing a bipartisan bill today. The president wants us to get this done today, Mnuchin said. Were down to a small number of issues and we look forward to a successful vote.



Though there are strong indications the Senate will close in on a deal Tuesday, President Donald Trump nudged negotiators to get it done, warning the lack of a deal continues to hurt the country.



While it appears the Senate is preparing for vote Tuesday night, nothing has been officially announced so far, as leaders work to educate their rank and file while the legislative text is drafted at a furious pace.



We need to explain where we are to Senate Republicans, walk through language and make sure theyre comfortable -- anytime where there are a few outstanding issues where we are not quite done, Ueland said.



One major concession Republicans have accepted is a $500 billion credit facility theyre standing up just for the crisis - facilitated by the Treasury Secretary - to help troubled businesses. Leaders are working to implement what one senior administration official called a three-legged stool of transparency measures modeled after oversight measures implemented during the Great Recession a decade ago.



This is an awesome undertaking, said Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the upper chamber, explaining that the bill will be bigger than the one years federal budget for domestic discretionary spending.



Were doing it in a matter of days. When it comes to the federal budget, we spend a year, sometimes longer putting it together, Durbin, D-Ill., said on the Senate floor. In this case, we are writing a bill of that magnitude in a matter of days because it is a compelling challenge and it should happen.



McConnell expressed hope that the Senate would successfully vote to move forward on the phase three stimulus bill Tuesday, but again slammed Democrats - warning that time is up.



"The clock has run out. The buzzer is sounded. The hour for bargaining as though this were business as usual has expired," McConnell declared, maintaining his criticism of Democratic proposals which he said included new emissions standards and solar panels.



McConnell urged the Senate to move forward with the bill to ensure American's had secure access to paychecks, and blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for interrupting the Senate's bipartisan talks.



Pelosi sounded optimistic Tuesday morning about the prospects for the Senate bill, proclaiming there is real optimism that we could get something done the next few hours.



We have unanimous consent, and this can move quickly. If we don't have unanimous consent, my two options with my members is to call them back to vote to amend this bill, or to pass our own bill and go to conference with that, Pelosi, D-Calif., explained on CNBCs Squawk Box Tuesday morning.



After a week of delay since the Senate began crafting the third phase of its relief efforts, Pelosi seemed ready to compromise, acknowledging there are ongoing concerns but none are deal breakers.



The easiest way to do it is for us to put aside some of our concerns for another day and get this done, she said, expressing hope that the lower chamber could approve the Senate deal by unanimous consent and avoid calling hundreds of members back to the Capitol from districts spread out across the country. I think we are on a good track. I think the Senate Democrats have moved the bill to a place that I say the leverage is more fairly distributed between employers and workers, and that my goal always has been to bring this bill to the floor under unanimous consent, where we're all in agreement.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
The local impact of COVID-19 is growing rapidly, and our reporters at syracuse.com | The Post-Standard are working around the clock to make sure Central New Yorkers have the news they need to stay informed on this public health crisis. Because this information is so vital to our readers as they go about their daily lives, we have decided to make all coronavirus-related stories available to all readers, not just subscribers.

Sign up for our free text alerts about coronavirus in Central New York and get direct access to the latest developments, brought to you by syracuse.coms unparalleled team of reporters, visual journalists, editors and more, delivered right to your phone.

-----

A roundup of Mondays coronavirus-related news:

No commencement at SU in May: Syracuse University announced Monday that the school will not hold an on-campus, in-person commencement this year due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. I deeply regret this outcome, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud said, adding that graduates would be surveyed for their input on alternative celebrations. Also, SU said it will prorate room and board for students who left campus early, and will give residential undergraduate students the option to pass/fail all their classes for the semester.

Onondaga County up to 53 confirmed cases: Onondaga County confirmed eight more coronavirus cases Monday, bringing infections to 53. The infections are spread over every adult age group and nearly every geographic area of the county, County Executive Ryan McMahon said.

Where did county buy ventilators? None of your business: Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county acquired 60 ventilators to be on hand when desperately ill patients with COVID-19 need help breathing. Where did they come from? Hes not saying. The equipment is in short supply, and McMahon does not want to invite more competition for fear it could drive up prices.

Rescue Mission lays off 285: The Rescue Mission, which operates Central New Yorks largest homeless shelter, laid off 285 of its 385 employees Monday and is struggling to survive after being forced to close its thrift stores because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CNY company gives workers $2,000: As layoffs loom because of the coronavirus outbreak, Syracuse's Tessy Plastics is giving each of its 1,000 employees $2,000 to help cushion the financial blow. "The people who go from paycheck to paycheck, theyre terrified, and I just want them to have this just to calm them so they know they can get through this," Tessy President Roland Beck said.

County coronavirus fund raises $900K: A fund set up last week to help local non-profits get through the coronavirus pandemic has raised $600,000 in just five days. That brings the total in the new COVID-19 Community Support Fund to $900,000, said Peter Dunn, the president and CEO of the Central New York Community Foundation.

READ MORE:
A round one in five Met police officers and staff are unavailable because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was claimed today.

According to the Met Police Federation, Scotland Yard has seen 19 per cent of police, civilian and community support officers reporting not available for duty, having either contracted Covid-19 or because they are self-isolating.

The federation claimed that, as of yesterday, 2,100 of the Mets 31,000 officers were off, including a high-ranking policeman. There was no breakdown available for civilians or PCSOs.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the federation, cast doubt on officers ability to deal with the lockdown  and claimed the Army may need to help enforce the measures.

Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge / Getty Images

In his address to the nation, Boris Johnson said that if people do not follow the new rules officers will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

Police will be able to fine people 30 if they ignore the rules, and these on-the-spot fines will be ramped up if there is widespread flouting, the Government has said.

Boris Johnson: British public must stay at home

Mr Marsh said he believed the military could be drafted should police numbers fall due to illness.

He said: The Army are already in place on the outskirts of London and across the country. And I dont doubt for one minute that they will be called if needed. It could be tailored in quite quickly and everything is on the table.
Today we are going to look at Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX:YAL) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. To be precise, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that will inform our view of the quality of the business.

First of all, we'll work out how to calculate ROCE. Then we'll compare its ROCE to similar companies. Then we'll determine how its current liabilities are affecting its ROCE.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.

How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?

The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

Or for Yancoal Australia:

0.11 = AU$966m  (AU$11b - AU$2.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019.)

Therefore, Yancoal Australia has an ROCE of 11%.

See our latest analysis for Yancoal Australia

Does Yancoal Australia Have A Good ROCE?

When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. In our analysis, Yancoal Australia's ROCE is meaningfully higher than the 6.6% average in the Oil and Gas industry. We consider this a positive sign, because it suggests it uses capital more efficiently than similar companies. Separate from Yancoal Australia's performance relative to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms looks satisfactory, and it may be worth researching in more depth.

Yancoal Australia delivered an ROCE of 11%, which is better than 3 years ago, as was making losses back then. That implies the business has been improving. The image below shows how Yancoal Australia's ROCE compares to its industry, and you can click it to see more detail on its past growth.

Story continues

ASX:YAL Past Revenue and Net Income, March 24th 2020

It is important to remember that ROCE shows past performance, and is not necessarily predictive. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. We note Yancoal Australia could be considered a cyclical business. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Yancoal Australia.

Do Yancoal Australia's Current Liabilities Skew Its ROCE?

Liabilities, such as supplier bills and bank overdrafts, are referred to as current liabilities if they need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way ROCE is calculated, a high level of current liabilities makes a company look as though it has less capital employed, and thus can (sometimes unfairly) boost the ROCE. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.

Yancoal Australia has total assets of AU$11b and current liabilities of AU$2.1b. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 19% of its total assets. Current liabilities are minimal, limiting the impact on ROCE.

Our Take On Yancoal Australia's ROCE

This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, Yancoal Australia could be worth a closer look. There might be better investments than Yancoal Australia out there, but you will have to work hard to find them . These promising businesses with rapidly growing earnings might be right up your alley.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies 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.
BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- As COVID-19 cases soared worldwide, China, despite its own severe situation, has been actively offering medical aid and sharing prevention and treatment experience to help curb the novel coronavirus spread.

Experts say that China's efforts to contain the spread of the virus worldwide show how the country works together with the international society to build a community of a shared future for humanity in the face of this global public health challenge.

DONATING SUPPLIES, DISPATCHING EXPERTS

On Monday, a team of Chinese medical experts arrived in Cambodia to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

China has been joining hands with the world to fight COVID-19 by donating medical supplies and sending professional medical teams to epidemic-stricken countries.

Ten days after Iran reported its first confirmed case on Feb. 19, a medical team sent by the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Tehran. At that time, China was in the thick of battle against the disease.

Upon their arrival, the experts immediately engaged in exchanging experience on combating COVID-19 with their Iranian counterparts and promoting bilateral cooperation on medicine and health.

The Chinese medical team in Iran has set "an excellent example of 'peer-to-peer' experience sharing," said Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program.

On March 7, a Chinese team of seven health experts arrived in Baghdad to provide guidance and medical assistance to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq.

"I do believe the experience of China in terms of clinical management is a wealth for this country to benefit from," said Adham Abdel-Moneim, WHO representative in Iraq.

In addition, a charter flight carrying a 9-member Chinese aid team arrived at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on March 12, as part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the outbreak.

The Chinese medical team also brought tonnes of medical supplies, including ventilators, monitors, defibrillators and 30 sets of ICU equipment.

Also, approximately eight tonnes of medical supplies provided by the Chinese government to Greece after Athens' urgent request arrived Saturday morning at Athens international airport on an Air China flight.

"We are deeply honored and grateful, and we hope that you will continue to show these sentiments of help and support to the Greek people," Greek Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias said.

On Saturday evening, a team of Chinese medical staff with experience in fighting COVID-19 arrived in the Serbian capital to help with the Balkan state's battle against the virus.

The Chinese medical team came over with ventilators, medical masks, test kits, and other medical supplies in the first batch of 16 tonnes of donations.

"We give them our immense gratitude, especially for sending their experts. They have proven as friends in the most difficult times when we fight for lives of Serbian people," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Tiding over difficulties together during testing times has become a true portrayal of China and Serbia in building a community with a shared future, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a press briefing.

"China would like to work with the international community, including Serbia, to overcome this epidemic and protect regional and global public health security," Geng said.

The Chinese government has announced assistance to 82 countries, the World Health Organization and the African Union, including test kits, masks and protective suits. Many batches of supplies have reached the recipients, China's foreign ministry said Friday.

SHARING DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT EXPERIENCE

Chinese authorities and medical experts have been sharing the country's anti-epidemic experience with peers in affected countries via various methods such as publishing prevention and treatment guidelines and holding video conferences.

China has published seven guidelines on COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment and six guidelines on prevention and control, all of which have been translated into multiple foreign languages.

According to the National Health Commission, China has so far shared such guidelines with more than 100 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations.

Meanwhile, Chinese experts and officials have shared their experience in fighting the disease with the international community through video conferences, including the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and 24 African countries.

Ethiopian Minister of Health Lia Tadesse spoke highly of the video conference organized by the Chinese government, saying China has shared "amazing experience in curbing this outbreak" with African countries.

On Thursday, an experience-sharing meeting on China's COVID-19 control and prevention was broadcast live to the world. Leading frontline experts such as Zhong Nanshan and Li Lanjuan talked about the control measures and treatment methods China has taken and answered questions from foreign experts and netizens.

On Friday night, Chinese experts in traditional Chinese and western medicines also shared their experience via video call in treating COVID-19 patients with peers from Italy, the United States, Belgium, Japan, and the WHO.

"The best experience of China is to admit all patients to hospitals..." "Doing so can also prevent patients with mild symptoms from progressing into severe cases, which therefore decreases the fatality rate..." Chinese experts gave an extensive amount of practical information based on their experiences in fighting the virus.

"We are very thankful for the great work that's been done in China and other Asian countries because it's demonstrating it is possible to stop this outbreak," Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson said in the video conference.

China is also gearing up to offer online help for overseas individuals.

Two internet platforms Baidu Health and JD Health launched medical and psychological consultation services for people, including overseas Chinese in epidemic-stricken regions.

"With openness, transparency and a high sense of responsibility for global public health security and people's well-being, we will continue information-sharing with the international community," foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said earlier at a news briefing.
Up to 80 homeless people have already been tested for Covid-19 but those behind the initiative have warned that quicker results would allow them to stay ahead of the curve regarding those in emergency accommodation.

Safetynet Primary Care are trained medics who deal with the health needs of rough sleepers and others and its CEO Fiona O'Reilly said its members had prepared weeks in advance by training to carry out the test for the coronavirus.

It has meant those in the homeless population have been able to "jump the queue" when it comes to being tested," Ms O'Reilly said, but the wait for a result was the same as for those in the general population.

Arrangements between the Health Service Executive and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive mean that special accommodation has been set aside for any homeless person who needs to self0isolate but who normally could not do so. But Ms O'Reilly said if the results from tests conducted by SafetyNet medics were prioritised, it would free up the available space more quickly for cases who needed it as those with negative results would know at an earlier stage.

"We have trained up testing teams and nurses are going out to the hostels and they are testing people," Ms O'Reilly said.

"They have tested about 70 or 80 [people].

"We jump the queue for getting the tests done but in the queue for getting the results back."

A helpline has also been set up for those in emergency accommodation to report any symptoms with doctors able to call back and conduct a triage, before then organising a test if required. Thoe awaiting a test and showing symptoms are also facilitated in self-isolation. It's understood around 200 extra beds have been made available for that purpose.

Ms O'Reilly said "at the moment, it is manageable" and that the system was working.

"The question is [what happens] when the spread of Covid surpasses the working of the system."

It's understood similar testing will get underway in other areas such as Cork and Limerick, if it has not been launched already, and Ms O'Reilly said another issue was the compliance with a self-isolation regime by some in the homeless population.

She also warned of the "unintended consequences" for health of the current coronavirus pandemic, including some people with other illnesses being afraid to present to their GP or the hospitals for treatment.

As work continues to ensure adequate medical care is provided to those who are homeless, the Deepend group of GPs, who work in disadvantaged areas of the country, tweeted its concern about access to testing for people with no transport and often living in overcrowded households with a higher prevalence of chronic conditions.

Separately, the FoodCloud organisation, which diverts unsold and surplus food from retailers to charities, has said it is hiring four warehouse operatives to ensure continuing supply.

Co-founder Iseult Ward tweeted that the initiative supports more than 500 charities and that "we know they need us now more than ever".

FoodCloud works with retailers such as Aldi, Lidl, Musgrave Group and Tesco to ensure that the surplus that arises in stores is donated to local charities and also has arrangments with other firms including Kepak, East Coast Bakehouse, Glenisk, Lakeland Dairies and many more.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Northeast Ohio has been widely deemed a medical mecca for decades with the large number of experts and innovators working in local hospital systems to keep people well. How do you thank the regions huge population of medical professionals for all they are doing and sacrificing during the coronavirus pandemic?

Thats the question we posed Monday to our cleveland.com social media followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. While there were some calls for financial assistance, like hazard pay and student loan forgiveness, a majority of the answers fell into three categories. They were all encapsulated into one Instagram comment from @m.l.d.1986: Im an RN, and my requests are: Stay home. Donate masks and other needed supplies. Also, a simple thank you goes a long way.

STAY HOME

The most common reply was simply that: stay home. Many commenters  including some who identified themselves as medical professionals  said the best way to thank the hospital staff on the front lines of the outbreak is to practice social distancing and stay safely at home.

The best way to thank them? STAY HOME AND STOP THE SPREAD!, wrote Amanda Homady on Facebook. Instagram user @cledowntown wrote: As a doctor myself, please (kindly) stay home.

Gov. Mike DeWines Stay-at-Home order officially went into effect late Monday, meaning all non-essential businesses in Ohio are now closed. The governor has been pleading for Ohioans to stay home since the coronavirus began to spread across the state.

PROVIDE NEEDED SUPPLIES

A good number of the social media comments asked for help to keep hospitals and doctors offices safe. The requests were for PPEs  personal protective equipment  like masks and gloves.

Thank them by providing PPE as soon as possible. They are risking their lives to save ours. We are in this together, Facebook commenter Mirela Mulla Kellici wrote.

There have been efforts across Northeast Ohio to donate  or even make  protective equipment for medical staff. Hospitals say that for now, they feel they have enough equipment like ventilators on-hand.

BE KIND

Another simple, and important, request from our social media followers asks for kindness.

If you do arrive [at a hospital], be nice, Twitter user @FactualNurse said, in part. Instagram user @divvyupthegirl wrote: Just be nice when youre in the hospital. Please and thank you really go a long way.

How are thanking the medical personnel in your life during this global pandemic? Leave a comment on our Facebook post.

More coronavirus news:

Why are liquor stores still open? Readers share questions theyd ask at March 24 Gov. Mike DeWine news conference

Ohio LGBTQ publication Prizm News shuts down after coronavirus-related revenue crunch

The if I get corona, I get corona spring breaker apologizes
DUBLIN, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Medical Nonwoven Disposables - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Medical Nonwoven Disposables market worldwide is projected to grow by US$5 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 7.1%.



Surgical, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 6.9%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$7.9 Billion by the year 2025, Surgical will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.



Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$176.3 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$152.5 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets.



In Japan, Surgical will reach a market size of US$413.1 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 10.4% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$1.4 Billion in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders.



Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.



All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



Competitors identified in this market include, among others:

Ahlstrom-Munksj Oyj

Asahi Kasei Corporation

Berry Plastics Corporation

Domtar Corporation

First Quality Enterprises Inc.

Freudenberg Performance Materials

Georgia-Pacific LLC

Halyard Health Inc.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Medline Industries Inc.

Medtronic plc

PAUL HARTMANN AG

Precision Fabrics Group Inc.

Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

UniCharm Corporation

Total Companies Profiled: 98

Key Topics Covered



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Nonwovens - Indispensable to Medical Sector

Recent Market Activity

Increasing Emphasis on Cost Control to Drive Demand for Nonwovens

Improving Healthcare Expenditure to Drive Demand

Developing Countries: Future Growth Opportunities

Risk of Pandemics: Sustained Demand for Medical Textiles

Focus on Prevention of HAIs: A Major Growth Factor

Fiber Technology to Control HAIs

Versatility of Manufacture of Nonwovens Creates New Possibilities

Technology Advances Bring in End-use Product Innovations

Developments in Nonwoven Fabrics

Experimenting with Nanotechnology

Plasma Gains Interest in Nonwovens Research

Nonwovens in Place of Foams in Wound Dressings - A Potential Market

Adult Incontinence Products Market: An Overview

Low Penetration of Incontinence Products: Future Growth Potential

Product Innovation: A Key Trend in Incontinence Market

Product Trends in Incontinence Market

Manufacturers Look to Expand Consumer Base

Institutional Sales Dominate Incontinence Products Market

Growing Prominence of Online Channel for Incontinence Products

Threat from Substitutes & Sanitary Products Manufacturers

Rising Share of Private Labels

Competitive Landscape

SCA's Market Position in Incontinence Products Market by Geographic Regions/Countries

Investments in New Lines Galore as Demand Surges

Surgical Gowns & Drapes: Vital for Safe Healthcare

High Penetration Characterizes Developed Markets

Increasing Focus on Reducing Nosocomial Infections Helps Growth

Surgical Masks: First Line of Defense against Infections

Global Competitor Market Shares

Medical Nonwoven Disposables Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2020 & 2029

Graying Population Spurs Growth of Medical Nonwovens

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Nonwovens: Disposability and Flexibility Provide an Edge over Woven Products

Women - The Major Target Segment

Innovative Products Drive Adult Incontinence Marketplace

Product Diversification Underway

Developments in Airlaid to Help Incontinence Producers

Pre-Assembling Technique of Production for Greater Cost Efficiency

Challenges Posed by Use of Acrylic Acid in Diapers

Disposable Synthetic Gloves Making a Mark

Custom Procedure Trays Pose Challenge to Surgical Gowns & Drapes

Reusables Gaining Weight Due to Environmental Concerns

Dissolvable Drapes to Save Environment

Disposable Vs Reusable Drapes: Suiting the Needs

Technology Enhancement - Need of the Hour

A Penchant for Thinness

Cost - A Key Issue

Cost Issues Put Spunbonded Nonwoven Ahead in Surgical Gowns

Competition in the Spunlaced Nonwoven Market

Increasing Nonwoven Waste: A Cause of Concern

Minimally Invasive Procedures - A Possible Threat

Reusables Emerge as a Potential Competitor

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



IV. COMPETITION



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i3ipq4

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



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Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that his government would give Rs 5000 to construction workers whose livelihood has been affected by the lockdown to fight coronavirus.

We dont want the poor to suffer. We all should offer help to those in distress, he told reporters.

Delhis lockdown has rendered daily wage earners like construction workers jobless overnight.

Kejriwal said that although no new case of coronavirus has been reported in Delhi, a long battle lies ahead against coronavirus.

He said a five-member doctors panel has been set up to suggest a plan to deal with the situation if Delhi enters stage 3 of the coronavirus pandemic despite an all-out effort to stem it.

The panel has been asked to submit its report within 24 hours, he said.

He appealed to the people to help each other in these difficult times.

Kejriwal also took note of reports of harassment of doctors who claimed that they were facing discrimination for treating Covid-19 patients.

On the request of the Prime Minister we clapped for our doctors, nurses, pilots, air hostesses and others who are in forefront of the fight against coronavirus. But now I hear that landlords are evicting tenants like nurses claiming that they work among coronavirus patients. I have also heard that pilots and air hostesses are not being allowed to enter their housing societies. This is completely wrong, he said.
The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has the potential to exceed that in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday as the number of reported US cases surges.

The pandemic began in China in December but the epicentre has since shifted from Asia to Europe. WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters during a virtual press conference that 85 percent of the new cases reported to the global body overnight had come from Europe and the United States, now the two "main drivers of the outbreak".

The latest WHO coronavirus daily situation report -- published late Monday, before the overnight figures -- showed that Europe reported 20,131 new cases in the preceding 24 hours, while the United States reported 16,354, more than doubling its total caseload.

Asked whether the United States could overtake Europe as the epicentre of COVID-19, Harris said: "We are now seeing a very large acceleration in the number of cases from the US, so it does have that potential.

"We cannot say that that is the case yet but it does have that potential.

"They have a very large outbreak and an outbreak increasing in intensity." The WHO's Monday daily update showed European countries with 171,424 total infections and 8,743 deaths (up 1,318), while the United States reported a total of 31,573 infections and 402 fatalities (up 201).

Harris said that due to the incubation period, the rise in case numbers reflected a surge in transmissions taking place up to five days prior.

"Each individual infecting two to three other people takes about three to five days, so we're seeing what happened three or four days ago, or five days ago in many countries," Harris explained.

The numbers show that in the United States, "a week ago there was a lot of transmission". Despite the surging case numbers, Harris said there were also some "very big positives" emerging from America. "Testing is being ramped up; there are more efforts to isolate, care for every confirmed case and trace and quarantine people," she said.

"And also a very, very strong community mobilisation. There are some extremely heartwarming and fantastic stories coming out of the US about what people are doing for each other." According to an AFP tally compiled at 1100 GMT Tuesday from official sources, COVID-19 has now infected more than 386,000 people worldwide, and killed nearly 17,000 of them since the outbreak began.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVEROne day in 1955, after staring at a postcard of a Mountie dressed in his red uniform with snow-capped mountains in the background, Bill Hampson convinced his wife to pack up their young family to immigrate to Canada from South Africa.

But the adventures didnt stop there, and the family moved around the country. Hampson worked as a miner and as a plane mechanic, with evenings spent in jazz clubs, before finally settling in Vancouver and opening up a locksmith shop on Main Street.

Hampson died this Sunday from complications due to coronavirus at the age of 93. He was the 11th confirmed fatality in British Columbia and the 21st death in Canada linked to the pandemic.

At his retirement home, Haro Park Centre in downtown Vancouver, there are now 10 other residents and 12 staff members infected with COVID-19, according to health officials.

His devoted son, Bruce, was not able to see his father before he died, because he and his wife are currently under quarantine at home.

I knew he was scared and I wanted to comfort him  They were absolutely incredible at St. Pauls Hospital. Doctors turned on their phones and I was able to talk to him (on video) for 10 to 15 minutes to hold his hands virtually and walk with him in his last steps on planet Earth before going to the next world.

He didnt speak, but he raised his head and smiled. I know he heard what I said.

Now, as the family grieves, his son is also angry.

Angry at fellow Vancouverites for having parties and playing frisbee on the beach while his father was taking his last breaths.

Were letting people go out in parks. We just dont get it, says Bruce. The city council is thinking of giving people fines.

Fines, he says, are for parking or speeding.

I would like to see the reserve out there with rifles.

He urges people to think beyond just themselves and their families.

Youre endangering society, my family.

Hes also incredulous about the shortage in testing kits across the country that has left him and his wife in the dark as to whether they also have COVID-19.

Bruce last saw his dad in person two days before he developed a high fever and was rushed to the hospital on March 14, where doctors administered a test and confirmed his coronavirus diagnosis.

A doctor advised Bruce and his wife to stay home and wait for a call from Public Health within 24 hours. After waiting for the call to come for two days, the couple dialed the non-emergency 811 hotline, but couldnt get through after many tries.

Since they both developed symptoms, and Bruce is 66 years old with a pre-existing lung disease, they fully expected to get tested.

But last week, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced a shortage in swabs needed for COVID-19 testing, and said tests were only available to people sick enough to require hospitalization, those in long-term care homes, health-care workers and people living on a First Nation reserve.

Bruce said the testing limitations are unacceptable, and calls on the government to expand capacity in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines.

The WHO recommends testing all contacts of confirmed cases if they show symptoms of COVID-19.

The volume and criteria for testing has been a matter of contention across the country since the beginning of the outbreak, with members of the public questioning why certain close contacts of positive COVID-19 patients, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose wife tested positive, werent undergoing tests of their own.

Experts agree about the importance of testing when it comes to the ability of public health officials to trace the spread of the disease, thereby containing it.

The best case scenario for sure would be if we could test everybody who has symptoms. That would be ideal for information, said Dr. Eleanor Fish, a Toronto immunology expert who researched SARS and Ebola.

But while B.C. was an early leader in Canada on testing, having tested 1,012 individuals by the end of February when Ontario had tested 629, the spread and concern over the virus in that province has made it hard for labs to keep up.

Weve done over 18,000 tests and the backlog of testing that had accumulated over the past week and a half has mostly resolved, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday. Weve also ramped up the capacity so that were able to test as widely as we need to.

B.C. has also changed its testing criteria, so health-care workers, people associated with long-term care facilities, and community clusters of the virus unconnected to travel would be prioritized.

For the majority of the people who have travelled back to Canada, self-isolation is what they need to do, even if they have mild symptoms, and they do not need to have a test in those cases, Henry said.

Fish said thats because a positive COVID-19 test doesnt change a clinical response, except in severe cases.

If you have mild symptoms then youre not going to be treated in hospital. Its prudent to stay at home and treat your aches and pains, Fish said. In terms of clinical management this is why were saying it makes no difference to have a test.

Why is the Prime Minister not being tested? Hes not showing symptoms, Fish said. The only advantage would be to get a negative.

Meanwhile, Bruce and his wife continue to experience symptoms, including dry cough, sneezing, runny nose and chest tightness.

The fear is the worst thing  Once I knew my dad had coronavirus, its terrible but you know and theres peace in it. When you dont know, thats the horrible thing, Bruce told the Star.

Since testing is limited, Bruce wants health officials to stop misleading the public with numbers of confirmed cases that dont reflect presumptive COVID-19 cases.

The numbers make it seem like the virus is under control  People dont know the virus is a killer. They could have it, and could pass it on to their father or grandfather.

Bruce knows his father was in his nineties and wouldve died sooner or later, but he wouldnt want anyone to have to experience receiving a loved ones coronavirus diagnosis.

Your whole world stops.

Joanna Chiu is a Vancouver-based reporter covering both Canada-China relations and current affairs on the West Coast for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu

Read more about:
Hong Kong reports 44 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, 317 in total

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:33, March 23, 2020

HONG KONG, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported on Sunday afternoon 44 additional COVID-19 cases confirmed during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong to 317.

Out of the 44 newly diagnosed patients aged between 20 months old and 72 years old, 29 have travel history during the incubation period, including seven students who were studying overseas and an athlete who traveled overseas for training, Head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said at a daily press briefing.

Among the 15 patients who have no travel history during the incubation period, several have been to Lan Kwai Fong, a famous nightclub zone in Hong Kong's Central district. One had attended a private party and one works at a same secondary school with several previously diagnosed patients.

Some of the new cases are probably related to clustered outbreaks, including a tour group to Canada in which seven members have been infected, and a wedding ceremony of which eight attendees have been diagnosed.

Linda Yu, a chief manager of Hong Kong's Hospital Authority (HA), said at the briefing that as of Sunday noon, four COVID-19 patients have passed away, 100 confirmed cases have been cured and discharged from the hospital, and the rest are being treated in isolation at over 10 hospitals across Hong Kong.

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam announced on Saturday a string of strengthened epidemic-prevention measures to curb the spread of the disease, as many people are expected to return to Hong Kong from overseas amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Noting that Hong Kong is likely to see more community transmissions of the virus in the coming weeks than in any period in the past two months, Lam urged Hong Kong residents to keep social distancing.

At Sunday's briefing, Yu also repeated the HA's appeal on behalf of medical staff to members of the public: "We stay at work for you, you stay at home for us."

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The Nigerian Senate has suspended plenary until April 7 over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Upper Chamber also urged the Federal Government to devote special funds to fight the dreaded disease.

Also Read: COVID-19: Nigeria Could Be Heading To Something Dangerous Like In China, Italy  FG Warns

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, disclosed these resolutions of the Senate after a closed-door session of the upper chamber.

According to Lawan, this step is a preventive measure to curb the spread of the virus.

Lawan enjoined Senators to watch out for any emergency, while he asked the Senate Committee on Health and Communicable Disease to move into action to ensure proper coordination of activities.
- Negros Occidental governor Eugenio "Bong" Lacson shed tears when he addressed the employees of the provincial Capitol

- He was reassuring everyone that the government was doing everything and also calling everyone to acknowledge God's hand in everything

- A flood of prayers and hugs were sent by many netizens on FB

- This was done before Capitol employes went inside to start their work

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Governor Eugenio "Bong" Lacson delivered a message during the community prayer at the Provincial Capitol building.

He addressed the employees, tackling the problems that confront the island due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Lacson acknowledged the enormity of the invisible enemy, which is the virus and reminded everyone that no battle can be won without God.

He broke down when he came to the part of his message where he admitted human frailty and the possibility that people may have forgotten God in today's times.

"We are not alone in this battle... We have a God whom we might have disregarded and overlooked due to the haste of our modern life and love of self. "

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, the government faced problems when they imposed the initial community quarantine, which was elevated into the now ongoing enhanced community quarantine. It also suspended transportation causing massive problems with commuters.

The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine.

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!

Are you an avid fan of a celeb? You might want to challenge yourself and see if you can guess the voice of celebs through recordings. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Several Sahrawi families from the Tindouf camps found themselves, on Friday March 21, besieged by units of the Algerian army on the outskirts of the town of Tindouf.

Local sources, cited by Hibapress news website, said that a group of Sahrawis tried to go to the Algerian city of Tindouf to get some food and fuel, as prices soared sharply in the camps, but they were stopped, cornered and beaten by the Algerian soldiers.

During the excessive intimidation by the Algerian soldiers, a car carrying a Saharan family overturned and its occupants were beaten and mistreated, triggering the anger of a number of Saharwis who clashed with the Algerian army.

According to the same sources, more than a hundred other Sahrawis are trapped on the borders between Algeria and Mauritania. They have been prevented from returning to the Tindouf camps and are stranded in this desert area without water or food, which heralds an imminent humanitarian disaster.

Furthermore, European sources in Brussels have expressed lately EUs serious concern over the danger of a coronavirus outbreak in the Tindouf camps, a no-right zone where Algeria has passed on the control of these camps to the Polisario leadership.
MILWAUKEE - The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Wisconsin (all times local):

10:56 a.m.

Gov. Tony Evers issued an order Tuesday closing businesses deemed to be nonessential, ordered no gatherings of any size and placed restrictions on travel across Wisconsin for a month in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Evers order has numerous exceptions, including for hospitals and other health care facilities, grocery stores, bars and restaurants offering delivery and carry out food, airports and other businesses offering essential services.

The order takes effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday and is to run through April 24, but could be altered, ended or extended.

Evers said he didnt want to have to issue such an order, but folks need to start taking this seriously. The goal of the order, which many other states have also issued, is to slow the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak so doctors and nurses are not overwhelmed with patients.

Under the order, Wisconsin residents will be able to go to the doctor and obtain medicine, leave home to care for family members and obtain necessary food and supplies, including pet food.

Other businesses allowed to remain open include pharmacies, gas stations, banks, laundries and dry cleaners, hardware stores, churches, funeral homes and media outlets.

___

6:05 a.m.

Organizers of the music festival that draws hundreds of thousands of people to Milwaukees lakefront each summer has postponed the event for the first time in its 52-year history.

Summerfest was scheduled to run from June 24 to 29 and June 30 to July 5. But because of the uncertainty over the coronavirus, Milwaukee World Festival has cut the event to nine days across the first three weeks in September.

The new dates are Sept. 3 to 5, Sept. 10 to 12 and Sept. 17 to 19.

Organizers have not yet said whether the main acts already scheduled will be available in September, including Justin Bieber, Chris Stapleton and the Dave Matthews Band.
Conventions Are Moving Online

Coronavirus May Affect Whats on the Ballot

Wayne Goodwin knew this year would seem endless. He chairs the Democratic Party in North Carolina, a state that will see 2020s most expensive race for governor, one of the most contentious Senate contests and potentially national attention as a battleground state in the presidential election. He hopes to erase or erode GOP majorities in the legislature in time for redistricting while also seeking statewide office himself, trying to win back his old job as insurance commissioner.Now he has to figure out how to do all that at a time when the normal routines and rituals of politics have been utterly disrupted.It is certainly a new landscape, when one typically thinks of meeting voters on their turf at fish fries, parades, town halls, even the local gym and the school, and  poof  that is all gone, Goodwin says.Politics in normal times is a contact sport. Candidates attend endless events, hoping to convince voters of their good nature and great ideas by looking them in the eye, shaking their hands and kissing their babies. Theyre natural extroverts, secretly or openly looking to emulate Theodore Roosevelts ambition to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening.Now even family members arent attending weddings. With the coronavirus leading to bans on large gatherings of all sorts, campaigns have canceled their own rallies. Theyre having a hard time getting their messages out when the virus seems to be all anyone can talk about. They also have to be careful to strike the right tone when people are seeking not just information, but reassurance.Basically, incumbents need to focus 100 percent on helping their constituents stay up to date and informed, says GOP consultant Dave Carney. No political sniping or cheap shots  there will be plenty of time down the road for that kind of crap.Its no easy task trying to raise money when people are feeling the pinch due to stock market losses and fear for their own jobs. There are a lot of causes that seem more immediately in need.No one wants to raise money right now, says Gaby Goldstein, director of political strategy for Sister District Project, which supports Democratic legislative candidates. Candidates are struggling to find the right balance between needing to raise money and being sensitive to the scale of this crisis.Much of the work of politics was already being done digitally. All of that  the texting and the videos and the tele-town halls  will accelerate this year. Parties and politicians will find ways of contacting voters. But campaigning is not going to be like anyone expected when the year began.Political scientists will be writing books about this going forward, Goodwin says, because we havent seen any campaign season like this.Nine states have postponed primaries, most recently Pennsylvania and Rhode Island on Monday. Other states have canceled in-person caucuses and primary voting, shifting to all-mail voting. States are also loosening rules when it comes to absentee voting. Many election experts argue that Congress needs to promote or mandate mail-in voting in time for the general election in November.The national party conventions havent been called off yet, but state and local parties are scrambling to move their own conventions online. The rules vary widely by state, but in many places, the actual selection of delegates to the national party conventions happen at state, county and congressional district conventions. In some cases, those conventions also pick party nominees for down-ballot offices such as legislative seats.In North Carolina, Democrats last week pushed back the dates of all county and congressional district conventions and decided to hold them all online. As a state party, we are frenetically scouring through and interviewing vendors for the herculean task of holding 100 simultaneous conventions online, Goodwin says.In Colorado, participants in Republican county assemblies are receiving ballots in the mail. Theyll gather around their computer screens while virtual conventions are being held and then send in their votes by mail after hearing all the speeches.Denise Mund, who chairs the Jefferson County Republican Party, notes that the average age of people who attended recent local party caucuses was 62. Not all of them are used to doing things online.We did an electronic sign-in system for caucus and there were still about 60 people that did not give us an email address, Mund says. Theres no way for us to get them into the assembly online without an email address, so were having to contact them all.Where primaries havent already taken place, party leaders will have a difficult time convincing prospective candidates that this is the year in which to run. In states where candidates have to qualify for the ballot by gathering valid voter signatures, lawmakers are already hearing pleas to move back deadlines or lower the threshold in terms of numbers of signatures needed.Minor parties in at least six or seven states have made formal requests to state election officials to modify the number of signatures or the deadline, says Richard Winger, editor of. Generally, the state election officials haven't responded yet. If states say no, lawsuits will be filed.Signature gathering in support of ballot initiatives has also ground to a halt. Many states dont have deadlines to qualify for the November ballot until the summer, but ballot measure campaigns have already taken a hit.Were working with our partners and allies on how do we move forward, not only collecting signatures in order to put some of these measures on the ballot, but also what does organizing looking like during a pandemic, says Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Many have already made adjustments for the short term, pulling people off the doors or putting off signature campaigns.While many forms of traditional campaigning have gone into deep freeze, political work hasnt stopped altogether. I know for a fact, even right now in the middle of this crisis, there are political groups still conducting canvassing operations, going door to door and trying to identify voters, says Dick Wadhams, former chair of the Colorado Republican Party. People are at home. They might not answer the door and certainly are not touching, but theyre answering questions that are posed to them.Voters may not be out and about, in other words, but theyre more of a captive audience. They might be busy rearranging their own lives and caring for their kids, but theyre also hungry for information. For some, politics provides a bit of a break  something to think about thats still important but isnt directly related to public health.If theyre stuck at home, they might even look at mail pieces. Its been easier, in this first wave, to get people on the phone, says Jessica Post, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Many, many people are in their homes, and theres a lot of interest in talking to people.Organizers are dusting off old strategies, Figueredo says. Reaching people by phone or personal email or letter is organizing 101, she says.While everything old is new again, candidates and campaigns know they face a challenge at a time when county fairs are likely to be canceled and handshaking is a health risk. Everyone needs to take another look at their field plan and start to put together a plan for what voter contact looks like without the actual physical contact, Goldstein says.This campaign season had already seen a notable spike in text messaging by campaigns. That will continue. Candidates will star in a lot of TikTok and Instagram videos in hopes of winning voter attention. Recent cycles have seen an uptick in virtual phone banks, with activists calling up potential voters in other states. That may accelerate, although some campaigns will be sure to feature local voices  local doctors and teachers and laid-off workers  in their videos.As candidates struggle with getting their messages in front of voters, they also have to think carefully about their tone. This is a time when people are paying close attention to government leadership. No doubt by the fall there will be recriminations and finger-pointing.For now, however, many candidates want to echo the sense that were all in this together.Youve got to draw out the differences, but I think there is a danger in being too partisan, says Wadhams, the former Colorado GOP chair. Its a fine line that candidates will have to walk in this election, for sure.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, India Yamaha Motor (IYM) Pvt. Ltd. has taken the preventive counter-measure of suspending its manufacturing operations at its Plants in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad (Haryana) till 31 March.

The operations at the Surajpur plant in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad Plant in Haryana has been suspended from 23-31 March whereas the operations at the Chennai plant in Tamil Nadu will be suspended from 24-31 March.

The employees working at the Head Office and Area Offices have been provided with the option to Work from Home till March 31, a press statement said.

"Yamaha is fully committed to the health protocols in the wake of the COVID-19 threat and as a responsible corporate, it has been taking all the precautionary measures such as increased frequency of sanitisation at factory premises and work stations, restrictions in travel and creating awareness among the employees in the current scenario," a press statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 19:34:07|Editor: huaxia

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NANCHANG, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The spring is in the air, so is the battered tourism industry as the COVID-19 epidemic recedes in China. Many scenic spots in regions with low risks have reopened to tourists, bringing dawn and hope to the hard-hit industry.

Cao Aizhen, 49, was finally relieved to see tourists to his home county in eastern China's Jiangxi Province.

Cao lives in Wuyuan, dubbed "China's most beautiful village." Every year, millions of tourists visit the village in spring for the stunning "sea of cole flowers." The splendid natural beauty brings Cao and 100 other villagers over 6 million yuan (about 848,100 U.S. dollars) each year.

"Last year, it was a challenge to book a room," said Wu Xiangyang, chairman of a local scenic area. "This year, all of us were hit unprepared by the novel coronavirus."

As the epidemic is leveling off, and tourist sites start to reopen in China, the tourism industry has shown signs of recovery.

"In the past few days, we have seen online bookings rebound with over 20 rooms booked a day at most," said Wu.

CONFIDENCE REBOUND

The domestic traveling industry takes up a big share in China's economic growth, contributing 10.94 trillion yuan to the country's GDP and creating 28.25 million jobs last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The ministry also revealed that more than 10 percent of China's employed population or 79.9 million people worked in tourism-related areas last year.

However, the epidemic put a brake on China's booming industry during the peak travel period of the Chinese Spring Festival holiday, and the shake rippled across almost all business sectors.

A report published by the China Tourism Academy (CTA) predicted that the industry might see a 56-percent slump in the number of domestic tourists in the first quarter, with the total revenue of the domestic tourism market expected to slash by 20 percent, or 1.18 trillion yuan in 2020.

But now, things are turning around with multiple indices showing a revival of confidence and willingness to travel.

The latest report conducted by China's largest online travel agency Trip.com Group showed that as of mid-March, more than 1,000 tourist sites had reopened to visitors across the country, of which over 100 were 5A attractions, the country's highest rating for scenic spots.

Jiangxi, a province with abundant tourism resources, has seen all 12 attractions with 5A ratings and 94 4A-rating scenic spots open, according to the local culture and tourism bureau.

Mount Sanqingshan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reopened on Feb. 22 and received almost 20,000 tourists in 20 days, said Yu Honghu with the local scenic spot.

"The market fundamentals supporting the operation of the tourism industry have not changed, and there is a great possibility that domestic tourism consumption will bottom out and rebound," said Dai Bin, president of the CTA, adding that the academy is optimistic of China's tourism market in 2020.

STRINGENT PREVENTION

While the industry geared up for post-epidemic opportunities, there are no signs of relaxation in prevention.

Measures such as registration of personal information, regular disinfection, body temperature monitoring and cap on daily visitors are strictly implemented at all tourist attractions to lower the risks of infection.

Some places are taking things a step further by encouraging a shift in catering etiquette.

Zhang Ning, executive deputy general manager of Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, said they have been providing tourists with packed food instead of a tableful of dishes for the guests to share.

"Those measures made our trip much safer," said Zhou Zhipeng, who traveled from Shangrao City in western Jiangxi.
A crucial struggle in the fight against Coronavirus is to test as many potential cases as timely as possible. Countries are already spending huge portions of their medical workforce for the same, even exposing the workforce to the risk in the process. Spain now plans to change that by deploying a fleet of robots for this testing.

As per a new report, the country will be deploying a fleet of robots for the COVID-19 testing. The idea is to accelerate the testing process, while reducing the risk of exposure to the already strained medical workforce in the country as cases of doctors and nurses contracting the virus from patients increase day by day.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

The idea was discussed at a health ministry press conference on Saturday. Put forward by Raquel Yotti, head of Madrid-based Health Institute Carlos III, Spain, the plan to automate testing through robots has already been designed and constitutes four robots that will be able to carry out 80,000 tests in a day.

No details about the working of these robots has been shared till now. Though this is not the first attempt at executing a plan like this. Several other countries are already using robotics at various stages of the virus cure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other instances of robot use



China, for instance, used a fleet of robots in a hospital in Wuhan that were able to take temperatures, deliver meals as well as disinfect the facility. A robotic testing system is also being deployed in Northern Ireland, while a robot with a stethoscope is being used to take vital signs from a diagnosed patient in Washington, US. Back in India, Kerala has deployed a robot to spread COVID-19 awareness and distribute sanitisers.

AFP

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the conditions of the pandemic standing where they are at present, medical aid emerges as one of the most potent fields for robotic use.



As and when such robots are perfected for a specific task, such disease outbreaks will be better managed through the use of robots and help keep our medical workforce out of trouble.
The Puducherry governmentis thinking of deploying the CRPF and India Reserve Battalion personnel here to help police ensure strict enforcement of the curfew clamped last night to contain the COVID-19 spread, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said on Tuesday.

Despite the government clamping the curfew coupled with enforcement of the Epidemic Diseases Act (EDA) and also Disaster Management Act (DMA), people were moving about and entering Puducherry from neighbouring pockets, he said.

"I am really sorry to see that people in most parts of Puducherry have not understood the seriousness of the coronavirus," he told reporters here after holding a meeting with legislators to discuss steps to intensify preventive measures against COVID-19.

Narayanasamy requested people to remain indoors and avoid coming outside.

"Isolation is the only solution to protect oneself from the onslaught of the scourge," he said.

There were instances of people violating the curfew and entering into altercation with local police at various points, the chief minister said.

"We are planning to bring in members of the CRPF and use the locally stationed IRBN to strengthen the police force to curb curfew violations," he said, adding that those violating it can be imprisoned for one year under the EDA and DMA.

Narayanasamy said all shops except medical shops and pharmacies would remain closed for four days from Wednesday.

"I appeal to the people to stock their homes with provisions, vegetables, milk and other essential commodities as no shop would be open for next four days."



He said the 700-beds in the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital here would be used for accommodating patients showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Although curfew was clamped in Puducherry since last night till March 31 to prevent people's movement to contain the spread of the virus, one could see movement of two-wheeler riders outside the boulevard limits here on Tuesday.

There were also people from adjoining suburban areas trying to enter Puducherry despite the police urging them to return and remain indoors.

Police virtually were at their wits' end in controlling the people coming into Puducherry at the inter-state borders at Gorimedu and a few other points.

Narayanasamy said earlier that Health Minister Maladi Krishna Rao who visited the state border at Gorimedu was aghast on seeing people out on the streets.

Police have put up barricades across the roads to prevent the people from entering the Union Territory, leading to some quarrelling with police personnel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
N early 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to offer more support to self-employed workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A plea to Boris Johnson to give the self-employed statutory sick pay has amassed more than 687,000 signatures in a matter of days.

The government has said workers forced to self-isolate due to the Covid-19 pandemic can get statutory sick pay (SSP), but Britain's 4.8m self-employed are excluded, prompting mounting anger.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, today admitted that designing a scheme to incorporate this sect of the workforce is "incredibly complicated".

The petition, on the Parliament website, says: The self-employed make up 15% of UK's workforce. Majority are not entitled to any sick pay.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancelor, answered questions on the self-employed and Covid-19 in the Commons / Parliament TV

I want the Government to include us in the recent changes to statutory sick pay because of the Corona-19 virus.

Excluding us means the Government [is] running the risk of said people continuing going to work as just like everyone else we have bills to pay and [are potentially] thus spreading the virus.

It has now far surpassed the 100,000 signatures needed for a debate in the Commons.

The SSP allowance, paid by employers for up to 28 weeks, currently stands at 94.25 per week and the government has said those affected by Covid-19 can get it from day one.

Builders and contractors can often be self-employed workers / Getty Images

Last week the government announced that the self-employed can now access in full universal credit at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay for employees," providing they meet the usual UC criteria.

The minimum income floor for payments and business rates have also been relaxed, the government said, meaning the self-employed will be treated the same as employees when the DWP calculates their payment.

But Andy Chamberlain, director of policy at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE), told Sky News this lunchtime: "Thats not going to cover your rent or your bills or the food that you need, so people will be tempted to go to work.

The government must urgently announce some sort of income protection measure for self employed people so that they can say, ok Ill stay at home and not go to work because I know Im going to get some income elsewhere.'

Responding to a question in the Commons this lunchtime, Mr Sunak said: There are genuine practical and principled reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous scheme to the one that we have for employed workers.

But, rest assured that we absolutely understand the situation that many self-employed people face at the moment as a result of whats happening and are determined to find a way to support them.

We just need to be confident that can be done in a way that is deliverable and is fair to the vast majority of the British workforce.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 11:17:18|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)'s top diplomat said on Monday that it is not the time for countries to blame one another with terms like "Chinese virus," and Chinese help to Italy and Europe is welcome.

"We will continue to be a reliable partner also choosing cooperation over competition. This is not the time to blame each other. This is not the time to use one disease or one virus or Chinese virus or to try to blame each other," EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said after a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in Europe and the United States, some U.S. officials' public use of terms like "Chinese virus" in recent days has come under fierce criticism from within and outside the United States.

"We have to strengthen the need for cooperation. This is the time to strengthen multilateralism in order to join efforts and to face together a threat to the whole mankind," Borrel said.

Borrel said that at the beginning, China was the most affected country, and Europeans "were sending a lot of help to China, because at that time we had the resources and China had the need and we were helping China."

"Now China is in that situation that can bring back the help that we gave to China several weeks ago. And every help is welcome," he said.

Borrel also said that the EU has now coordinated better its response to the pandemic.

"For sure we have to strengthen European solidarity. Some events that happened at the beginning that some countries were not allowing the medical capacities to be sent to some neighbors," he said, "this problem has been overcome."
The Middlesex County nursing home with multiple reported cases of coronavirus will close and residents will be moved to a facility more than 30 miles away in Morris County, a source told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday.

New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli confirmed the move at a press conference on Tuesday.

Woodbridge Township as of Monday had 27 cases of coronavirus with 11 cases coming from St. Josephs Senior Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility in the Strawberry Hill section.

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac announced on Sunday that one of the people at St. Josephs who tested positive for coronavirus had died.

CareOne at Hanover, which sent nurses to St. Josephs nursing home, will help move patients to their facility in Whippany, Hanover Township, until further notice, the source said.

That is the best news possible, McCormac said on Tuesday when he learned of the news. CareOne is the entity that provided nurses the last few days.

Administrators at CareOne were in a meeting Tuesday afternoon and did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Workers at St. Josephs nursing home did not immediately respond to a call and email seeking comment.

At least eight of the 11 coronavirus cases at St. Josephs were elderly residents; the first was confirmed on March 16. On Tuesday afternoon, McCormac announced that the number of COVID-19 cases at St. Josephs had risen to 11. At least three of the affected St. Josephs residents had been hospitalized, according to Persichilli.

St. Josephs stopped allowing visitors to the facility since the end of last week.

St. Josephs is a non-profit facility operated by the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, according to the facilitys website. There are 60 beds for the assisted living part of the operation, and 51 beds in the nursing center. St. Josephs has a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Speaking alongside Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday, Persichilli said that a dozen of the facilitys employees had been forced to stay at home with flu-like symptoms.

Because those employees were stuck at home on 14-day quarantine, Persichilli said that just three nuns were left to care for nearly 90 residents at St. Josephs. Persichilli described the plight of St. Josephs over the weekend as an extremely stressful situation.

CareOne was able to get more nurses and aides into St. Josephs to help the nuns over the weekend, an effort that earned Murphys praise at Tuesdays press conference. But it eventually became clear that keeping the residents at St. Josephs was untenable.

It was the sisters who called us and said We dont think we can continue this, Persichilli said.

As of Monday, Middlesex County had 210 cases of coronavirus with one death. Morris County had 177 cases with one death. New Jersey ranked second in the nation with more than 2,800 cases and 27 deaths.

This story was updated at 3:14 p.m. with more information from Murphy and Persichilli.

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.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank said it will release its six-monthly monetary policy statement next Monday, March 30, earlier than originally scheduled.

The semi-annual statement is usually released in April and October. (Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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Akshay Kumar can't figure out why some people will not take the concept of lockdown seriously in the time of COVID-19 pandemic, as is apparent in a new video the Bollywood superstar has posted. Image Source: PK

Mumbai, March 24 : Akshay Kumar can't figure out why some people will not take the concept of lockdown seriously in the time of COVID-19 pandemic, as is apparent in a new video the Bollywood superstar has posted.

"Have some people lost it? Who all are not understanding the meaning of lockdown? Lockdown means you are supposed to stay at home, with your family and not roaming around in the streets. Are you trying to show how brave you are by stepping out? It is not going to help. You will end up landing in the hospital and affect your family as well. Nobody will be safe if you behave in a careless manner. I'm requesting you with folded hands please use your brain," Akshay says in the video.

The actor continues: "I perform stunts in films, blow cars and hang from helicopters but this disease is not a joke, the world is going through an extremely difficult situation. You can be your family's hero but be a real Khiladi of life by staying at home. Stay at home till the government advises you to. This will help you and your family stay safe. We have waged a war against corona, we have to defeat it and we don't have a choice. Wash your hands regularly and please stay put at your homes." Sharing the video on Instagram, Akshay Kumar wrote: "At the risk of sounding repetitive, sharing my thoughts...there is a lockdown for a reason. Please don't be selfish and venture out, you're putting others lives at risk. ?#StayAtHomeSaveLives." In an earlier video, the actor expressed concern for passengers who, despite getting stamped for home quarantine at the airport, are roaming around freely in public all over the country, which increases the risk of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic.
The budget deficit could blow out to $160 billion next financial year, Westpac believes, as stimulus measures and a collapse in tax revenues due to the coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc on the Morrison government's fiscal strategy.

The bank also predicted the unemployment rate would jump to 11.1 per cent over the next three months, pushing up to 814,000 people onto the jobless queue, and the economy was headed for its biggest short-term contraction on record.

Consumer confidence on Tuesday slumped to its lowest level since Australia's last recession in 1990-91 and more firms announced store closures as the economic damage from efforts to control the virus continued to grow.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans, who last week said unemployment was likely to peak at 7 per cent, said it now appeared the situation was markedly worse.
AMSAT office closed until further notice

Due to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's order closing all non-essential businesses in the State of Maryland in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice, effective today at 5:00pm EDT.

While the office is closed, AMSAT will continue to accept new and renewal memberships. However, membership packets will not be mailed until the office reopens. T-shirts, hats, and other items stocked in the office will also not be available until the office reopens. Digital downloadable content, including SatPC32 and MacDoppler will remain available from the AMSAT store. Antenna, name badge, and awards orders will be forwarded for processing.

The March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal will be produced on time.

However, it may only be possible to publish it in digital format. Stay tuned for further updates.

Any questions about memberships, orders, or office operations can be sent to info at amsat.org. Please note that no mail or phone service will be available until the office reopens. Vendors billing AMSAT for goods or services may email the above address to arrange payment.

AMSAT office
- A fire broke out in a building in Quezon City at around the afternoon on Tuesday

- The fire was blazing and smoke was billowing out from the topmost floor of the building

- Netizens were quick to appeal for firefighters to put out the fire

- Some expressed their concern over the series of problems that hit the city

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A fire broke out on March 24, 2020, in one of the buildings in Quezon City. A video of the fire was uploaded on Facebook.

As the building was being engulfed in flames, many netizens expressed their concerns in the comments.

The video was uploaded on GMA Network's FB page by Jun Veneracion.

In the video, one could hear the sirens in the background.

It could also be seen that firefighters have reached the area and were trying to put out the flames.

Many netizens offered prayers for those in the area. There were also those who expressed a sense of despair considering that there are already so many things that the nation is dealing with in relation to COVID-19.

Here are some of the comments:

"Keep safe firefighters. Keep safe sa inyo lahat jan."

"Lord help us protect our house from fire thank you po."

"Everybody pointing at Barangay for not contributing financially, or help

Here it is, some angry folks sets your building on fire!!! "

"I2 ung natanaw q 40mins ago nung nmalengke aq.. Keep safe po kau."

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In a previous report by KAMI, a fire also hit a barangay in Bacoor, Cavite where it razed 500 homes and left 3,000 homeless individuals amid the ongoing quarantine because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine.

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Are you an avid fan of a celeb? You might want to challenge yourself and see if you can guess the voice of celebs through recordings. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
U.S. Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvanias 10th District will host a telephone town hall to discuss the fight against COVID-19, the congressman announced Monday.

The town hall, scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m., will feature a UPMC medical expert that specializes in infectious diseases and a nurse practitioner currently fighting coronavirus in the community, according to the town hall announcement.

We look forward to providing you an update on how the Federal Government and our local health care institutions are partnering to defeat COVID-19, Perry said in the announcement.

This will be the second telephone town hall Perry has held about coronavirus, the first which had more than 3,000 people call in. The first town hall was focused on seniors, and how to protect them during the pandemic.

Anyone who wants to call in to the town hall needs to sign up here. If you cant call in, a recording of the call will be posted online.

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Gov. Kate Brown issued a stay at home order Monday that gave no guidance for people who have no home to stay in.

Neighboring states with similar orders and large homeless populations carved out specific exemptions for people who are living in tents or in vehicles, but Brown has said almost nothing about homeless people since the pandemic started, continuing that streak with one of her most anticipated mandates.

Her aim is to sharply reduce the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected at least 161 Oregonians and killed five. She said Monday that she wants Oregonians to stop getting together in groups and only leave their homes if absolutely necessary and if they can effectively maintain six feet of distance from other people. As in the other states, Oregons order includes many exceptions for businesses and other services that Brown deems essential.

Were trying to limit social circles right and were trying to incorporate socially distancing in our lives, Brown said Monday in a call with media. And its really really challenging.

All those directions were geared toward people with homes and workplaces. It left many unanswered questions for people who are living outside -- and for local agencies who are trying to serve them.

Most concerning to people living on the street is the punishment for violating the order.

The stay at home order gives police authority to penalize people who are gathering in too large of groups or too close together. It is also vague about what activities outside are deemed essential.

Those who defy the order can be charged with endangering public health, a class C misdemeanor. People found to have violated the order could be jailed for up to 30 days or fined $1,250.

The wording is supposed to be vague enough to allow reasonable errands and for workplaces that can accommodate social distancing to stay open, according to Brown.

However, that leaves people living in camps and in doorways uneasy.

A lot of people who live out here in these camps, six feet from another person -- you might as well ask us to go to the moon, said Raven Drake, who lives in North Portland along Interstate 205. I am worried its going to lead to a lot more problems than it was trying to fix.

She also heads up Street Roots coronavirus action team, which means that she is distributing hand sanitizer and other supplies to people who would normally sell the street newspaper early in the morning. They mark off six-foot spaces on the sidewalk for distribution, but sometimes people bunch up as they move forward.

Lots of people who sleep in the downtown core are often shuffled around by police and business owners anyway, and some say they are concerned that this new authority will be another way for police to arrest or fine them when they are grouping together to keep warm.

Browns spokesman said she doesnt intend for those types of arrests. However, it doesnt prohibit them, as orders have in other states.

The purpose of the governors Stay Home, Save Lives executive order is to enact strict social distancing measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep Oregonians safe, whether they are living sheltered or unsheltered, said Browns spokesman Charles Boyle. This order is not meant to criminalize homelessness and we strongly discourage anyone, including law enforcement, from interpreting it that way.

The order also doesnt explicitly allow the work of social service providers, who necessarily bring together large groups of people.

Organizations that provide free meals now have lines down the block to hand out to-go meals, rather than bringing large numbers of people into a dining room. Multnomah County is also working with groups like Street Roots outreach team to distribute supplies and information to camps.

Theres nowhere to stay at home because your home is a piece of canvas on the side of the road somewhere, said Tina Drake, who was homeless until three days ago and spent the last two months trying to avoid other people because she has HIV, making her highly at-risk of dying from COVID-19. You have to be able to get to the feeds, you have to be able to get to the restrooms.

Browns order doesnt disallow this activity, but it also doesnt protect it, as it does the work of grocery store employees or health care workers.

Officials from the Joint Office of Homeless Services said that they will continue providing those needed services, even without clear guidance from the state.

Protecting people who are highly vulnerable to this disease remains our highest priority, and nothing in the governors order alters our approach, said spokesman Denis Theriault. The providers offering shelter and services for neighbors who can't lock their front door are doing essential work that we all must share, and it must continue.

Mayor Ted Wheelers office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Wheeler spent the end of last week and through the weekend prodding the governor into taking this action. His office drafted a citywide order while waiting to see if the governor would act  and his included a clear exemption for homeless people.

As mayor, Wheeler also serves as the police commissioner, which leaves his office able to determine how the Portland Police Bureau will treat Browns mandate in regards to homeless people.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

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ON THE EROTIC PICTURES OF PREVIN THAT MIA FARROW DISCOVERED, LEADING TO THEIR PUBLIC BREAKUP: At the very early stages of our new relationship, when lust reigns supreme and we couldnt keep our hands off each other, the idea arose that we do some erotic photographs if I could figure out how to work the goddamned camera. Turned out she could work it, and erotic photos they were, shots well calculated to boost ones blood up to two twelve Fahrenheit. Anyhow, you probably read the rest in the tabloids.
Both the victims have been admitted in the isolation wards in the local government hospitals

Bhopal: Two more people in Madhya Pradesh have tested positive for Coronavirus, taking the total number of Covid positive cases in the state to nine.

Of the two men who tested positive for Coronavirus on Monday night, one hailed from Shivpuri, while the other was a resident of Gwalior.

Two people tested positive for Coronavirus. While one of them had visited tourist site of Khajuraho recently, the other Covid victim had returned from Dubai, the Coronavirus- affected country, recently, Gwalior district collector Koselendra Singh said on Tuesday.

Both the victims have been admitted in the isolation wards in the local government hospitals.

Earlier, six people from Jabalpur and one from Bhopal have tested positive for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the state government on Tuesday clamped curfew in three cities of Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior in view of Coronavirus outbreak.

All the nine Covid positive cases have been reported from these three regions.

The state government has declared lock down in 43 out of total 52 districts in MP as preventive measures to check the Coronavirus outbreak.

Total 1269 people in the state have so far been put under surveillance following their travel records.

Of them, 758 people have been kept in home isolation.

Samples of 100 suspected Coronavirus victims have been sent to laboratory for test. The reports were still awaited.
(Photo : Pexels) Scientists are racing against time to find a coronavirus cure and vaccine.

The world is now racing against time to find and develop a coronavirus vaccine that can stop COVID-19 in its tracks. Now experts from the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh are testing out a new experimental vaccine that was developed from an existing measles vaccine.

A New Vaccine in the Making?

According to KDKA, the scientists modified the measles vaccine by attaching the genetic material of the novel coronavirus to the modified vaccine, which had been in use for years.

The director of the CVR at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Paul Duprex, Ph.D., explained why their work is vital in today's world amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Duprex, we do not have enough drugs that can fight viruses compared to medicines that we have against bacteria, but bacteria and viruses are very different, and unfortunately, many people believe that antibiotics will work on viruses, but they don't.

Modifying a Measles Vaccine

The scientists, headed by Duprex, received a small sample of the novel coronavirus from the CDC last month, which they were able to multiply.

These virus particles are what scientists used to study COVID-19 and research for cures and treatments that can help stop the coronavirus pandemic.

After modifying the measles vaccine, the researchers will proceed to test it on animals, and if that proves to be successful, they will move forward with clinical trials on humans. But whether it is successful or not, it may still take around 18 months before the vaccine can be developed and distributed to the world, as reported by BGR.

Nevertheless, the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are encouraging social distancing and lying low while they are working their best to bring a cure to the world.

Read Also: Nobel Laureate Correctly Predicts Coronavirus Slowdown in China, Foresees Similar Outcomes Around the World

Singaporean Scientists Have Found a Way to Fast-Track Vaccine Trials

Meanwhile, scientists in Singapore are also doing their share to speed up the coronavirus vaccine.

According to a report by Reuters, the Singaporean scientists have found a way to track genetic changes that could speed testing for the COVID-19 vaccines that are now in various phases of clinical trials.

The researchers at the city-state's Duke-NUS Medical School say their technique allows them to evaluate potential vaccines within days. The vaccines are provided by Arcturus Therapeutics, an American company that has partnered with them for the trials.

Their technique fast-tracks the process compared to the months it usually takes for testing based on human responses.

"You can know from the way the genes change - what genes are turned on, what is turned off," said the deputy director of the institute's emerging infectious disease program, Ooi Eng Eong.

No Known Cures

There are currently no cures or vaccines against the coronavirus, a highly infectious virus that brings COVID-19.

However, several medicines are being touted as probable coronavirus cure, including a former Ebola, HIV, and malaria treatment, but they are still under clinical trials and can only be given for compassion use in the US.

As of writing, there are already over 395,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, with over 17,000 deaths, based on the data from Worldometer.

The virus is believed to have originated from Wuhan, China.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Expert Answers What Happens to the Lungs of a COVID-19 Patient

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pictures of Australians queuing up outside Centrelink offices and at shops indicate many either do not know about new social distancing directives or are paying no heed to them.

Photographs from Brunswick, in Melbourne's inner north, early on Tuesday morning showed people lining up shoulder to shoulder outside of businesses.

A day earlier, more than 300 people were seen in close proximity as they queued down a street in Sydney's Darlinghurst as they waited for a Centrelink office to open.

A crowd of more than 300 people queue outside a Centrelink office in Darlinghurst, Sydney

The crowd were packed shoulder to shoulder in the Sydney suburb on Monday

The Department of Health has issued advice that Australians should remain at least 1.5 metres away from others in public places.

The distancing guideline, along with the forced closure of businesses from pubs to cinemas to gyms, are aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

The pictures of local queues contrasted with images from other countries, such as the hard-hit European nations Italy and Spain, showing people well spaced out as they waited to get into stores and offices.

A crowd in Italy shows the correct way to queue up with at least 1.5 metres of space between each person

People in Brunwick, Melbourne on Tuesday queue up well within the 1.5 metres advised for social distancing

Italy has more than 60,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and the death toll has tragically surpassed 6,000.

In Spain, there are 33,000 cases reported and more than 2,200 deaths recorded as of March 23.

Globally there have 362,000 reported cases of COVID-19.

Other advice from the Department of Health to limit the spread of the virus included washing your hands regularly, regularly disinfecting surfaces such as benches and door handles, and coughing or sneezing into the crook of your arm.

A line of people waiting to access a supermarket in Spain are adhering to social distancing

This queue of people in Spain waiting to shop at a supermarket is following the social distancing advice
A Nairobi-based pastor has postponed his wedding that was slated for Saturday, March 28, in obedience to the government directive banning public gatherings in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The pastor, Mr. Bernard Muchuri Muthamia, was set to wed his bride, Ms Rachel Wambui, in a huge gathering in which they had invited about 500 people.

Speaking to K24 Digital on Monday, Mr. Muthamia, who preaches at the Kawangware Full Gospel Church of Kenya (Faith Family Chapel), said their wedding guests were to come from as far as Naivasha, Gilgil and Meru.



He announced the wedding postponement on his Facebook account after consultations with religious leaders.

We want to thank you for your love, support and every deed to see that our wedding day was successful this Saturday 28th March, but due to the directives given by the government of Kenya yesterday that no public gathering of more than 20 people, bearing in mind that all of you would wish that we celebrate the big day together and as per now its impossible, with the help of our religious leaders we have decided to postpone the wedding day until a day that we shall let you know, Mr. Muthamia said on Monday.

His cancellation will be one of many in the country as the national government banned public gatherings, including weddings, funerals, church services, disco matangas and other social events.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the government would strictly enforce the directive because previous such measures to avoid gatherings, including weddings and funerals, were largely ignored.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
San Francisco, March 24 : Multi-billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk on Tuesday offered 1,255 ventilators for free to help fight COVID-19 pandemic.

"China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips and Medtronic ventilators... and airshipped them to LA. If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!" Musk tweeted, offering praise to Tesla's China team.

The need for additional ventilators has taken center stage in the ongoing fight against the spread of coronavirus and the ventilator has become a critical first line of defense for patients infected by the virus.

Additionally, Musk has donated 50,000 N95 surgical masks and various protective items to a hospital in the US.

Tesla CEO Musk has made a promise that he would donate 250,000 masks with the N95 protection level, which belong to his companies, to hospitals.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health Hospital received a truckload of various protective items, including masks and gowns from Tesla.

50,000 masks designed to protect the health of medical personnel in the hospital were delivered to Dr Kristina Adams Waldorf.

As of Tuesday, a total of 381,499 coronavirus cases have been detected globally, with 16,557 deaths, according to John Hopkins University. At least 101,794 people have recovered.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The 23-member crew of a ship, who are lodged in a hotel in Barcelona, put out a video appeal to the Indian government, desperately seeking its help to come back home. In fact, they contacted everyone they know in India, literally pleading for help.

The crew comprises of natives of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra among others. The two-minute-plus video shows all of them wearing masks. The commentary rendered by one of the crew members states that the video was shot inside the hotel.

Stating that they travelled for 12 hours from Malaga to Barcelona on the ship and all tested negative for the coronavirus, he says they have been left to fend for themselves after the ship docked in Barcelona. He adds that they are worried as Spain is one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus.

I request... the government and the media to please save us like what you did to students in Italy. An evacuation flight could be sent by Air India to take us back to the country, he appeals.

The video cautioned that although all of them are healthy, their condition could deteriorate in the future. Glenn Ebnett, a social worker based in Mumbai who was trying to help them, says, They urgently require help. They have been stuck in the hotel for the past four days. They have also been desperately trying to get support from the Indian embassy. They have been trying desperately to reach me and others for help.

TNIE tried to reach out to the crew, but network issues prevented it. One Indian who is on board the ship owned by Pullmantur Cruises denies that the company is not taking care of them.

They are in a 4-star hotel, he says.

A representative of the company did not respond to repeated calls from TNIE.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio  Theres no need to worry about your pets passing on coronavirus or vice versa, according to animal experts.

The coronavirus that is causing Ohio and an increasing number of other states to issue stay-at-home orders means more people are spending a lot more time cooped up in their homes with their pets. Experts contacted by cleveland.com said no one should worry about pets transferring COVID-19 to humans.

We will not give this virus to our pets, and we are not going to get coronavirus from them, said Dr. John Williams, the chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Centers Childrens Hospital.

The World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness both issued guidelines that say there is no evidence that pets can spread COVID-19.

University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine assistant professor Will Sander said that while there is little research on the impact of coronavirus on pets, there are no signs or scientific evidence that pets are at risk.

There have been a couple of dogs that tested positive in China after their humans contacted coronavirus, but there is no evidence that they showed any symptoms, Sander said.

Can coronavirus live on pet hair?

Williams said there is no evidence to suggest the virus can live on pet hair.

We will not give this virus to our pets, and we are not going to get coronavirus from them, Williams said in an email. Theres no scientific evidence for that.

Sander said even if someone were to sneeze on your pet, and you snuggled them after, the risk of spreading the disease is still minimal.

Because of a dog or cats topography, so to speak, the risk would be minimal, Sander said. But still wash your hands and take all the precautions that are being recommended.

Should I let someone else pet my dog?

No, but for social-distancing sake. Dr. Bill Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the threat of contracting coronavirus in that situation is more from a person-to-person than from person to pet-to-person.

If theres someone that comes up to pet your dog and maybe youre not quite far enough away from that person, give them a smile, reign in your leash and say 6-foot rule, Schaffner said. If you do it with a smile, youll more than likely get one back. You can always tell them they can come back in a few weeks and pet Fido.

What should I do with my pet if I get coronavirus?

Sander suggested finding someone to take care of your pet while you recover, but that its not necessary. You wont get your pets sick, he said. But, out of an abundance of caution, wash your hands often and wear a face mask, if possible.

Should I take my pet to the vet?

Veterinarian clinics remain open in Ohio under Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home orders. Theyre considered essential businesses. But Sander said to hold off taking your pet to the vet unless its an emergency to help minimize the human-to-human spread of coronavirus.

He also said vets in some states or implementing drive-through visits, followed up by phone calls to pet owners.

What should I do with my pet under Ohios stay-at-home order?

Continue taking them on regular walks  which is allowed and encouraged under the governors orders  and enjoy your extra time with them, the experts said.

The human-animal bond is really strong, Sander said. If you havent positive, snuggled and cuddle your pets. Its probably going to help us get through this. Theres lots of good mental health benefits from that.

We should enjoy the comfort of our pets, especially during this time of social distancing, Williams said.

Said Schaffner: Hug your pets. Not just hug them, but snuggle them. Were very glad we have our cat Sugar with us.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Can you get coronavirus from your dogs hair? Heres an inane newsroom conversation about answering that question

Michigan has 3 times more coronavirus cases than Ohio: 1,328 v. 442. Why?

Weve been here before: How Cleveland survived the 1918 Spanish flu, compared to coronavirus

Some people think coronavirus prevention measures have gone too far. Are you one of them?
New Delhi, March 24 : With the Finance Bill 2020 expanding the scope of the equalisation levy on sales by foreign e-commerce companies, one can expect legal challenges on extra-territoriality, global consultancy major EY said on Tuesday.

This is because the provision seeks to cover non-resident to non-resident transactions that use Indian data while the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is still developing consensus on the taxable nexus and allocation of taxing rights, according to EY.

The Finance Bill 2020 was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Scope of equalisation levy, which earlier was applicable only to advertising and related services, has now been expanded to cover digital e-commerce transactions into India as well as those transactions which use Indian data.

The new equalisation levy of 2 per cent will cover e-commerce companies that do not have permanent establishments in India.

The change came as a surprise to many as the provision was not proposed in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.

This could potentially cover all digital business earnings of more than Rs 2 crore of revenues from India or using Indian data, EY said.

Due to the changes, e-commerce operators will not have recourse to favourable tax treaty provisions, EY said.

Unlike the earlier levy (on advertising), now the foreign e-commerce operator will be required to meet compliances in India which could also raise potential challenges, it added.

The equalisation levy on foreign e-commerce companies will come into effect from April 1.

Unlike equalisation levy in case of advertisement and related services, compliance obligation in this case is on the e-commerce operator (non-resident), who is required to deposit the equalisation levy so collected on a quarterly basis and also file an annual return, EY said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
CEL-SCI Corporation announced today it has signed a collaboration agreement with the University of Georgias Center for Vaccines and Immunology to develop LEAPS COVID-19 immunotherapy. CEL-SCIs immunotherapy candidate aims to treat patients at highest risk of dying from COVID-19. The collaboration will commence with pre-clinical studies based on the experiments previously conducted with LEAPS immunotherapy in collaboration with the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) against another respiratory virus, H1N1, involved in the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Those successful studies demonstrated that LEAPS peptides, given after virus infection has occurred, reduced morbidity and mortality in mice infected with H1N1.

It is suggested, based on studies with H1N1, that a LEAPS coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 immunotherapy may reduce or arrest the progression of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and prevent tissue damage from inflammation resulting from lung infection by the virus. By stimulating the correct immune responses to the COVID-19-causing virus without producing unwanted inflammatory responses associated with lung tissue damage, LEAPS immunotherapy may be particularly beneficial in those patients who are at highest risk of dying from COVID-19.

We are eager to commence these studies, which if successful, may lead to clinical trials in humans to address the immediate and critical need to treat COVID-19 in the most vulnerable patients. We are very pleased and honored to partner with Dr. Ted M. Ross and his team and the University of Georgia Center for Vaccines and Immunology. Their world-renowned expertise and world-class facilities will accelerate the development of LEAPS COVID-19 immunotherapy. Geert Kersten, CEL-SCI CEO

The University of Georgia (UGA) Center for Vaccines and Immunology (CVI) brings together a diverse, world-renowned team of experts in the areas of infectious disease, veterinary medicine, ecology and public health. The universitys world-class biocontainment research resources are coupled with the expertise of CVI investigators who focus on translational studies to test and assess the efficacy of vaccines and immunotherapies in development by industry, governmental and academic institutions. CEL-SCIs COVID-19 studies at UGA will be led by Principal Investigator Ted M. Ross, PhD, Director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia. Dr. Ross is a world-renowned key opinion leader in new vaccine technologies intended to protect against all strains for influenza and life-threatening viruses. Dr. Ross has published more than 160 papers and book chapters on infectious disease and vaccine development. He has been an invited speaker at more than 130 national and international conferences, and he participates in several vaccine working groups, including at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

LEAPS has the potential to be a powerful tool against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, based on its dual anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. Combining the prior pre-clinical data of LEAPS against H1N1 with our advancing knowledge of COVID-19, we aim to rapidly evaluate this technologys potential to meet the urgent need to treat patients at greatest risk of dying from this global pandemic. The University of Georgias biocontainment labs at the Center for Vaccines and Immunology are ideally suited for these studies, and will serve as critical assets in this collaboration with CEL-SCI. Ted M. Ross, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia

CEL-SCIs studies will utilize the LEAPS peptide approach that is unique in its proven ability in animals to elicit both a cell mediated antiviral response and an anti-inflammatory immunomodulating response by activating CD8 T lymphocytes. Previous studies showed that LEAPS immunogens can prevent lethal infection by herpes simplex virus (HSV) and influenza A (H1N1) and stop the inflammatory disease progression of rheumatoid arthritis in animal models. LEAPS peptides against HSV demonstrated that the T cell response was sufficient to prevent viral disease, and if there was residual virus production, anti-viral antibody was generated to further control the spread of the virus.

The proposed LEAPS peptides for the COVID-19 study are directed towards antigens within the NP protein of SARS-Cov-2 virus that elicit cytolytic T cell responses. Unlike the viral glycoprotein spike antigens which are important for antibody-based vaccines, these NP-antigens are less variable between viral strains and less likely to change in response to antibodies elicited by prior infection or other vaccines. Cytolytic T cell responses attack the virus infected cellular factories within the infected host in order to eliminate the source of virus and help subdue the infection.
Passengers look out from the cruise ship Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on Feb. 19, 2020. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Traces of Virus Found on Cruise Ship 17 Days After Passengers Disembarked

Traces of the CCP virus were found on a cruise ship in Japan over two weeks after passengers disembarked, according to Japanese researchers.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined in Yokohama for two weeks starting in early February before all passengers and crew eventually got off.

Traces of the new virus were found on a variety of surfaces in cabins of infected passengers up to 17 days after the cabins were vacated, Takuya Yamagishi of Japans National Institute of Infectious Diseases told U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers.

The traces were found in cabins of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers before the cabins were disinfected.

Although these data cannot be used to determine whether transmission occurred from contaminated surfaces, further study of fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 aboard cruise ships is warranted, the CDC stated.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits docked at Daikoku Pier in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan on Feb. 7, 2020. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Researchers said in a study published last week that the new virus can survive up to three days on some surfaces.

At the time of the quarantine, the cluster of cases on the Diamond Princess was the largest in the world outside of China. Seven hundred and twelve people on board ultimately became infected, with seven of them dying, according to the World Health Organization. Some passengers were repatriated to countries including the United States and became sick after leaving Japan.

According to the CDC, approximately 46.5 percent of the people on board who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Available statistical models of the Diamond Princess outbreak suggest that 17.9% of infected persons never developed symptoms, researchers stated.

Researchers recommended that all persons around the world defer travel on cruise ships during the pandemic.

Dr. Tara Smith, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Kent State University College of Public Health, noted that researchers didnt report on how many of the people who didnt show symptoms eventually developed symptoms.

It does seem like those who werent showing symptoms can spread live virus, but thats now expected given several other papers out over the few weeks. Again, how much this drives transmission is uncertain, but shows again why distancing and hygiene are key, she wrote on Twitter.

Smith also argued that the study does not show that the new virus can live on surfaces for 17 days, making the distinction between viral RNA and live virus.
Even though everything else in this paper is related to COVID-19, I wanted to talk about something else. The Coronavirus is important, but this is important to me personally and maybe to anyone who has lost a loved one.

Joni and I played dominoes last weekend  in part because we were told to stay home; in part, because it was cloudy and chilly, and other than a walk with Zoe, our 11-year-old Whippet/Border Collie mix dog, we didnt really go outside.

Weve been married for nearly 37 years and weve been playing dominoes most of that time. Not often, mind you, but our records indicate our first game was Dec. 12, 1983. Flipping through our scorebook, I notice the power was out on March 9, 1995 and again on Jan. 4, 2008, so we played a few games, but we hadnt played since 2008.

Both Joni and I grew up with our families playing dominoes, and the ivory set we use today came from Jonis grandparents.

When I was 13 or 14, I remember spending long afternoons playing dominoes with my grandfather, Everett Anson Brown. At that time, he was in his mid-60s  he passed away in 1968 at age 67  and he was slowing down mentally. My mother, his daughter, said it was good for me to play dominoes with him as it kept his mind sharp.

Grampas generation is gone now; his wife, Grace, died on Christmas Day 1981. And, Everett and Graces children have died as well: My mother, Nancy, in 2012 and her younger brother, Thomas, more recently on Feb. 27, just a month ago.

Tom was born in 1931, grew up on the familys dairy farm near Naperville, graduated from high school and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and learned to fly airplanes and jets in the United States Air Force. Throughout his life, he loved to fly and had owned several small airplanes, including a Boeing Stearman PT-17, a biplane that was used to train pilots before World War II. He kept it in a hangar in Shellville and used it frequently, with his partner Fred Padula.

I am terrified flying in small planes and I easily turn green, especially if the pilot does anything but fly nice and level. But the proudest moment of my life was sitting in the front seat of that Stearman biplane while Tom put the plane in a loop. He told me where to look and, surprisingly, I didnt get sick.

Not Joni. She loved riding in that plane and told Tom to do as many acrobatic moves as he could  she could handle it and, in fact, loved it. Barrel rolls, twists and turns, up and down  bring it on.

Tom was a world-class architect, who ran his own business in San Francisco for many years, only retiring when he moved to Sonoma in 2000. He loved his work, was good at it and for many years worked for the Taubman company, designing shopping centers around the United States.

Tom loved old cars and kept a scrapbook of every car he ever owned, which I didnt know about until I saw it at a small memorial service that was held March 1.

You may remember stories about Toms 1915 Ford Model T, which Ive written about before. He bought it for $60 in 1950 and sold it a few years ago to my brother, Peter. It continues to live at Toms house in Sonoma.

In 1950, Tom drove the Model T from the University of Illinois to his parents dairy farm near Naperville. He rebuilt the engine and other mechanical systems and in 1954, he painted it red  adding beautiful pinstripes on the car, including on the wooden wheels and on the front of the black fenders.

The Ford was stored under large plastic sheets upstairs in a dusty, dirty barn on his parents farm. Tom moved from Illinois to California in 1960 and every summer when he returned to the family farm, he would get out the Model T.

That entailed several steps, done in order, taking the better part of an afternoon. I was always willing to help and since I was 9 or 10 years old, it has been my job to start the car by turning a handle inserted into the engine. Even today, I make sure my thumb is not all the way around the handle, but on top of the handle, next to my index finger, to make sure I dont break it in case the engine misfires.

Tom would sit in the front seat, with the choke pulled out, the car in neutral, the two levers that controlled the gas and timing at their proper positions, and once the car started, turn the key from battery to magneto.

The final step of getting the Model T out of the barn was to give it a good washing, both inside and out, with good, soapy water.

In 1984, Tom had a mechanic rebuild the cars engine, suspension and electrical systems in preparation for a trip across the country to his home in Marin County. I couldnt be a part of that trip  much to my regret  because I was busy working. Tom drove it with his son, Everett, and his wife, Anne. I believe they had six flats in the 2,000-mile-plus trip.

Tom always loved that Ford, knew more about it than anyone else, and loved to climb into the front seat and drive it. My favorite times were with Tom when we would spend a Saturday together, work on the Model T, drive it around the neighborhood and then park it  years ago in his garage in Belvedere and more recently at his home in Sonoma.

My last memory of Tom was a week before his death. We had managed to start the car and his son, Everett drove it, with Tom in the front seat. Joni and I piled into the back seat. We drove to Sonoma and around the town square and then back home. After Everett parked the car, Tom slid over into the drivers seat and wanted to drive it. We wouldnt let him  he was too weak  but he smiled, holding onto the wood steering wheel. We took his picture, the one that accompanies this article. Rest in peace, my beloved uncle, fly airplanes and drive cars to your hearts content in heaven. Someday, well be together again.

You may reach David Stoneberg at 967-6800 or editor@sthelenastar.com

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SAN JOSE (BCN)

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California announced Monday evening that the federal courthouse in San Jose will be completely closed to staff and the public until April 7 because a recent visitor is being treated for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Chief U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said in an order that the court was notified Monday that a person who visited the San Jose courthouse on March 11, 13 and 17 is being treated for the illness.

Last week, Hamilton ordered the court's three facilities in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose mostly closed to the public, but allowed people with official court business to enter.

The revised order closes the courthouse at 280 S. First St. in San Jose entirely, with no exceptions. Hamilton said the closure could be extended beyond April 7 in a further order. Under the order issued last week, no federal civil or criminal jury trials will be scheduled until May 1.

In criminal cases, pretrial appearances such as arraignments will continue before federal magistrates but will all be heard in San Francisco and will be conducted by telephone or videoconference when possible.

In civil cases, pretrial motions will either be decided by a judge on the basis of the papers, or, if the judge thinks a hearing is necessary, a hearing will be conducted by telephone or videoconference.

The Northern California court district includes the greater Bay Area and Northern California coast from Monterey County in the south to Del Norte County in the north.

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.
Over 200 vehicles were impounded and action was taken against 950 people on Tuesday for the non-compliance of the restrictions imposed amid the lockdown due to coronavirus, the Noida police said.

As many as 298 FIRs were registered under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), police said even as public activities remained suspended and people largely stayed indoors for the second day.

"A total of 9,122 vehicles were screened, challans were issued in 1,556 cases while 209 vehicles were seized," Police Commissioner Alok Singh said, appealing to the residents of the district to cooperate with the administration in preventing the spread of the virus.

"Today, Rs 37,400 were collected for violating Section 144 of the CrPC. Besides, 298 cases were registered for violating Section 188 of the IPC, in which action was taken against 950 people. However, 830 essential services vehicles were not stopped anywhere during this period, Singh said.

He added that the situation is constantly being monitored through a round- the-clock control room in Gautam Buddh Nagar district adjoining Delhi.

The district police chief assured that there is no shortage of daily-use items and the availability of milk, fruits, vegetables, medicines, masks and other essential commodities is being ensured.

The administration is constantly monitoring the prices of essential commodities including medicines and strict action will be taken against those involved in hoarding, black marketing and profiteering. Hence, there is no need to unnecessarily stock items, Singh said.

He also appealed to people not to wear masks if there was no need to do so as it would instil fear among people and those who may need it may not get the masks.

The police commissioner said food is being supplied to people living in night shelters, attendants of patients in hospitals.

There is no need to panic or unnecessarily stock items of daily needs as police will deliver medicines and items of daily needs to people, Singh added.

Till Tuesday evening, 11 people in Gautam Buddh Nagar have tested positive for coronavirus, while 33 such cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh and 519 across India, including 10 deaths, according to official statistics.

People can contact on 807662361, 6396776904 (Health Department) and 0120-2569901 (Noida administration) round the clock to get their queries related to COVID-19 answered, according to officials.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The virus was spotted in the cabins and surfaces of the vessel

Covid-19 coronavirus was identified in the cabins and surfaces of Diamond Princess cruise liner after 17 days since the passengers left it as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after cabins were vacated on the Diamond Princess but before disinfection procedures had been conducted, the message said.

The document noted that this data cannot be used for the determination of whether the transmission of the virus took place from the infected surfaces or not.

Moreover, the centers stated that the cruise vessels were one of the sources of the infection.

At the initial stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Diamond Princess vessel was hit by the largest one was spotted outside mainland China.

The members of the crew of Diamond Princess, 46 Ukrainians, returned to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, as of 10:00 am, on March 24, there are 84 laboratory-confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine. Such statistics were provided by Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry.
Most of Ryanairs flights will be grounded from today.

Ryanair has offered all its more than 450 aircraft to EU governments for use for rescue flights and to transport vital medicines, personal protective equipment and emergency food supplies.

Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary said in a message to customers this morning that the airline does not expect to be operating any commercial flights during April or May.

At this time, no one knows how long this Covid shutdown will last, he said. The experience in China suggests a three-month period for the spread of the virus to be contained and reduced.

He added: We do not expect to operate flights during the months of April and May at this time, but this will clearly depend upon government advice, and we will in all cases comply with these instructions.

Most of Ryanairs flights will be grounded from today.

We have offered our aircraft to all EU governments, both for rescue flights and to operate essential flights for the movement of vital medicines, personal protective equipment, and if necessary, emergency food supplies, Mr OLeary said.

As Europes borders become congested or closed, its vital Ryanair plays its part to keep vital medicines and food supplies moving, he added. We are continuing to work with EU governments on rescue flights to return stranded passengers to their home country.

While the immediate future is uncertain, it is important to remember that, like all pandemics, this crisis will pass, the airline boss said.

Our governments and health agencies are taking unprecedented action, but they require our support, so by working together we can help to eliminate Covid-19 and allow our lives to return to normality, urged Mr OLeary.

We will do everything we can to keep our aircraft, our crews and our engineering teams operational so that when Europe defeats this Covid-19 pandemic, we are ready to return to flying, he said.
[March 24, 2020] Fidelman & Co. Announces New Research-On-Demand Services Partnered with Consulting via Teleconferencing for American Businesses Recently Forced to Transition to Remote Options

NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelman & Co. ( https://www.fidelmanco.com/ ) announced the launch of a new service providing on-demand research reports, in addition to highlighting its existing services as a remote consulting firm, all in the wake of the latest widespread global health concerns. With over 20 consultants, Fidelman & Co. offers strategic management consulting, presentation advisory, financial modeling, research and analytical project maintenance, and a host of other useful resources to help businesses grow and thrive in this challenging new environment of unprecedented uncertainty. "Our foundation and infrastructure was built for remote-first management consulting, so I immediately called all of our associates and consultants back from the field as soon as local governments began advocating working from home," said Fidelman & Co. Founder, Jeffrey Fidelman. "Our clients and consultants' safety are our highest priority. This outbreak has everyone concerned about how they can keep their businesses up and running smoothly  so we're highlighting our position as remote management consultants that provide actionable solutions. And we can continue to perform all our services digitally for as long as necessary. We've already got you covered." Customized On-Demand Research Reports We live in a data driven world, where businesses must rely on analytics to achieve a competitive advantage and make strategic decisions particularly during this period of growing uncertainty and market volatility. The research team at Fidelman & Co. can prepare a customized research brief to address a wide rage of client needs from in- depth market analysis, trend reports, customer and audience needs, strategies and concepts, or knowledge related to industry. For clients, the process is simple:



Companies communicate their research needs. Fidelman & Co. formulates research questions to get at the root of what is required.

Questions are broken into smaller pieces, tackled by multiple analysts simultaneously.

Advanced research techniques are applied, effectively leveraging publicly indexed sources to assemble a brief in a timely manner.

The research goes through a series of comprehensive quality checks before final assembly.

The final product is delivered via email. Clients provide feedback, share and collaborate  all without having to leave the comfort of their digital inbox. Fidelman & Co. has already helped a wide spectrum of entrepreneurs, investors, and family offices, grow and nurture their business through research and strategy, building individualized capital structures, engineering financial models, and creating investment solutions that ensure growth and business continuity in the future. Learn how Fidelman & Co. can help businesses generate the detailed analyses they need HERE .

About Fidelman & Co. Headquartered in Connecticut with offices in New York and Florida, Fidelman & Co. is a management consulting firm that works alongside business owners and investors. Fidelman & Co. specializes in management consulting, presentation advisory, and financial modeling  while supporting client companies with in-house design, research and analysis. The team at Fidelman & Co. helps clients grow their businesses, supporting them every step of the way. Learn more at: www.FidelmanCo.com . Media Contact:

Alexa Fidelman, Content Manager

+1 (212) 763-6649

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fidelman--co-announces-new-research-on-demand-services-partnered-with-consulting-via-teleconferencing-for-american-businesses-recently-forced-to-transition-to-remote-options-301028351.html SOURCE Fidelman & Co.

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(Photo : REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo) FILE PHOTO: The Microsoft logo is pictured ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 24, 2019. (Photo : REUTERS/Barbara Goldberg/File Photo) FILE PHOTO: Mark Berkley and Susan Halper Berkley work from home due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Maplewood, New Jersey, U.S. March 18, 2020.

Microsoft is warning of critical zero-day flaws in its Windows operating device that might permit remote code execution. The unpatched flaws are being exploited by attackers in "restrained, targeted" assaults, the tech giant said.

According to Microsoft, far-flung code execution vulnerabilities exist in the way that Windows' Adobe Type Manager Library handles specific fonts. Adobe Type Manager is a font management tool constructed into both Mac OS and Windows operating systems and produced by Adobe. While no patches are available for the flaws, workaround mitigations can shield users.

Micosoft 'Aware' of Attacks in Adobe Type Manager Library

In a statement on Monday, Mar. 23, Microsoft said the tech giant is aware of limited, targeted attacks that could cause unpatched vulnerabilities in the Adobe Type Manager Library. The tech giant added it would be providing the following guidance to help reduce customer risk until the security update is released.

Specifically, the flaw exists as the Windows version of Adobe Type Manager Library improperly handles a mainly-crafted multi-master font known as the Adobe Type 1 PostScript format.

Microsoft is aware of limited targeted attacks that could leverage unpatched vulnerabilities in the Adobe Type Manager Library, and is providing guidance to help reduce customer risk until the security update is released. See the link for more details. https://t.co/tUNjkHNZ0N  Security Response (@msftsecresponse) March 23, 2020

There are multiple approaches an attacker should exploit the vulnerabilities, Microsoft stated. For example, an attacker ought to persuade a consumer to open an individually crafted document or view it in the Windows Preview pane. Windows Preview pane is utilized by the Windows Explorer report manager utility to preview pictures, videos, and other content.

All presently-supported versions of Windows are affected, such as Windows 10, and below. Windows 7 is likewise affected, though it has reached quit of support, stated Microsoft.

ALSO READ: Microsoft Responds to Allegations Of Weak Security Measures on Skype, Cortana Audio Grading

Workarounds

While no patches are to be had yet, Microsoft endorsed a slew of mitigations and workarounds. That consists of disabling the preview pane and information pane in Windows. Blocking this will mean that Windows Explorer (or File Explorer in Windows 10) will now not automatically display OpenType fonts.

Microsoft said disabling the Preview and Details panes in Windows Explorer prevents the automatic show of OTF fonts in Windows Explorer.

Other workarounds include disabling the WebClient provider. Microsoft said that disabling this service blocks the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) client service, which is a "likely far-flung assault vector." WebDAV is an HTTP extension that permits clients to carry out far-flung Web content authoring operations.

After applying this workaround, Microsoft said remote attackers who efficiently make the most this vulnerability through a person's computer or the Local Area Network (LAN) is still possible.

However, the tech giant said users may be caused for confirmation earlier than commencing arbitrary packages from the Internet.

Another workaround is renaming ATMFD.DLL (the file name of Adobe Type Manager Font Driver), said Microsoft. The organization also mentioned that for systems supporting Windows 10, a hit assault could only bring code execution inside an AppContainer sandbox context with limited privileges and capabilities.

Microsoft said it's far currently running on an update and that a patch would possibly come throughout its regularly scheduled Patch Tuesday updates.

"Updates that address security vulnerabilities in Microsoft software program are usually launched on Update Tuesday, the second one Tuesday of every month," Microsoft said. "This anticipated schedule allows for partner quality warranty and IT planning, which helps preserve the Windows surroundings as a reliable, secure preference for our customers."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for more testing and tracing to 'break the chain' of transmission

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for more testing and tracing to 'break the chain' of transmission.

He told MPs that this could be more important than social distancing and called for scientists and civil servants to be mobilised.

Mr Hunt also warned that it 'may be too late' to avoid Britain becoming like Italy, which has suffered one of the worst outbreaks.

He told Parliament: 'Now is the time for a massive national mobilisation behind testing and contact tracing.'

Whilst welcoming Boris Johnson's 'ambition' of 250,000 tests a day, he said that just 5,500 people had been tested on Saturday  no significant increase on a week ago.

'Ambition is not the same as a national plan and we have not seen a national plan on testing,' he said.

'How can we possibly suppress the virus if we don't know where it is?'

He said that based on a recent death rate, nearly 300,000 Britons had the virus  and if it is doubling every five days, we will have more than one million cases by the end of next week.

'Unless we radically change direction, we won't know where they are,' he added.

Former NHS chief executive Lord Crisp said the lack of testing for health workers was an 'obvious bottleneck' the Government needed to clear.

'We are seeing these situations where you have three junior doctors living as flatmates  one has a cough and three of them are off work for two weeks. That is ridiculous,' he told the Telegraph.

Scientists, local authorities and civil servants should help trace those who have been in touch with sufferers  along with weekly tests for NHS and social care staff 'to reduce risk of passing it on to their patients'.

Mr Hunt welcomed Boris Johnson's 'ambition' of 250,000 tests a day. Pictured: Mr Johnson today

Mr Hunt also wants mobile phone data to be used to track those who had been infected and get in touch with those who had been in contact with them. 'That has civil liberty implications  but in this national emergency, being able to do that would save lives,' he said.

He told Parliament yesterday: 'A week ago the Government said we were four weeks behind Italy.

'That then changed to three weeks behind Italy and today our mortality rates are two weeks behind Italy. Our hospitals, especially in London, are filling up. We've had a critical incident at one, others say they're running out of ICU [Intensive Care Unit] beds.

Hunt said that based on a recent death rate, nearly 300,000 Britons had the virus. Pictured: A commuter wearing a face mask in London

'According to the papers we have one nurse fighting for her life in an ICU unit, one London hospital has seven doctors in just that one hospital with the virus.

'And yet still, people are going to shops, parks, beaches, holiday homes as if nothing has changed.

'It may be too late to avoid Italy, but to have any chance at all of doing so we must move to lockdown rules now that ban non-essential travel.'

He added: 'It is time not just to ask people to do social distancing but to enforce these social distancing rules. Not next week, not this week, but right away. It's very important we do this as soon as we can.'
Barriers set up to block off a street in Wuhan, China, on March 15, 2020. The normally bustling city in central China is the epicentre of COVID-19 and a symbol of the Chinese economys shutdown in the first quarter of 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Economy May Plunge 10% on CCP Virus Impact in Q1, Says China Beige Book

Wave of deglobalization, reduced dependence on China could pick up

As the world grapples with the societal impacts of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, the economic toll in its country of origin has led to the worst results in China Beige Book (CBB) history.

Data for the first quarter of 2020 gathered by CBB, a research service that uses data from over 3,300 firms to track the performance of Chinas economy across key sectors, industries, and regions, is in uncharted territory.

For Q1 as a whole, a 1011percent GDP contraction is not unreasonable, according to CBBs Early Look Brief for Q1 2020, released March 23.

As the global demand falls, the economy swoonsbut the dependence on China looks to be decreasing. A wave of deglobalization could be picking up as supply chains diversify away from China.

If you are in corporate strategy, you should absolutely start to think about how you decrease your reliance on Chinese factories, as far as various parts of your supply chain are concerned. And to what extent do you shift it out? CBB Internationals managing director Shehzad Qazi told The Epoch Times.

In the short term, Qazi is not expecting a massive move of supply chains out of China, but he says it is absolutely happening incrementally.

The United States is encouraging the shift out of China to happen in key industries like pharmaceuticals. Other industries, however, like auto parts, certain textile manufacturing, and technological components may not be able to move anytime in the near future, Qazi says.

From a corporate strategy standpoint, operation standpoint, I think we are going to have firms increasingly looking at how to lessen your reliance on China, Qazi said.

Falling Off a Cliff

Its the first time in nearly a decade of tracking the Chinese economy that CBBs headline metrics like revenue and profits have sunk into contraction territory.

Every individual sector has also seen deteriorating results since February, said CBB.

Data looks gloomiest for the services sector, which is showing the highest percentage (49 percent) of firms with a greater than 10 percent decline in quarter-over-quarter sales volume.

But for the situation to improve, Chinas recovery depends on factors beyond its control.

A potential dynamic, Qazi says, is that Chinese factories may be back producing in April and May with domestic demand picking up, but Junes data (for the second-quarter report) will show that export orders have plummeted because of the rest of the world still being shut down.

Thats always a likelihood that now you get the demand shock side of the story getting hit in Chinese factories, Qazi said.

The current problem of undersupply due to Chinese factories being shut down will switch to oversupply from China, says CBB.

It warns that investors better not overestimate the extent to which China can cushion a global downturn. For the authorities to admit a terrible first quarter is a sensitive subject because China may have to admit poor second-quarter numbers due to Europe and the United States effectively being shut down.

And how much ongoing demand will return is an open question, as companies are being advised to rely less on China. Therefore, the Chinese economy could have less influence on global GDP going forward.

An additional factor that accelerates the decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies is the growing awareness of the CCPs mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak, wrote Macdonald-Laurier Institute Munk senior fellow Sean Speer in a March 20 National Post op-ed.

Theres a good chance that we will eventually look back on the past couple of weeks as the end of globalization as weve come to know it, Speer wrote.

The Epoch Times 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.
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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Twitter Inc. (TWTR) said it now expects operating loss in the first-quarter, and quarterly revenue to be down slightly on a year-over-year basis, citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Twitter had a strong start to the year before the effects of COVID-19 began spreading more broadly...... it has impacted Twitter's advertising revenue globally more significantly in the last few weeks,' said Ned Segal, Twitter's Chief Financial Officer. While announcing the fourth-quarter results, Twitter had expected operating income to be between break even and $30 million and total revenue of $825 million - $885 million for the first-quarter. The social media giant today said it withdrew its prior operating income and revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2020, due to the growing impact of the COVID-19 on the global operating and economic environment and their effect on advertiser demand. The company also withdrew its full year outlook for expenses, stock-based compensation, headcount, and capital expenditures. Twitter noted that in the first quarter, global conversation about COVID-19 as well as ongoing product improvements were driving strength in total monetizable daily active users (mDAU). The quarter-to-date average total mDAU reached about 164 million, up 23% from 134 million in the first-quarter of 2019 and up 8% from 152 million in the fourth-quarter of 2019. Twitter expects to release financial results for the first quarter on April 30, 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
Swedbank pulls ex-CEO's golden parachute over money-laundering crisis FILE PHOTO: A view of the Swedbank in Tallinn

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedbank <SWEDa.ST> has cancelled the severance pay of former CEO Birgitte Bonnesen on Monday after a report by its law firm said she failed to address deficiencies in the bank's anti-money laundering controls during her years at the helm.

Shares in Sweden's oldest retail bank lost a third of their value last year after the emergence of money-laundering breaches that prompted the dismissal of Bonnesen and much of the board.

After Sweden's financial watchdog last week fined the bank a record 4 billion crowns ($385 million) over the breaches, Swedbank said on Monday that it will not dispute the fine.

"Given the information in the investigations conducted by the Swedish and Estonian financial supervisory authorities and ... law firm Clifford Chance, the board of Swedbank has decided to unilaterally cancel the agreement of severance pay to the bank's previous CEO Birgitte Bonnesen," it said.

Bonnesen's lawyer declined to offer immediate comment in response to Swedbank's statement.

Swedbank Chairman Goran Persson said the fine would not affect the bank's ability to pay its proposed shareholder payout for 2019, amounting to 8.80 Swedish crowns per share.

"The sanction that the FSA has delivered, and which the bank's board has accepted, is not going to affect our ability to pay a dividend," Persson told a news conference, adding that the bank's annual general meeting will be postponed because of the coronavirus crisis.

Swedbank last week said that it was monitoring the situation would evaluate the effects of the virus before taking a final decision on the dividend.

Persson also said the bank remained committed to the Baltic countries despite the breaches reported from the bank's operations there.

Swedbank's subsidiaries in Estonia and Latvia actively pursued high-risk customers, some of whom had been rejected by another bank, the Clifford Chance report also said.

Story continues

"Clifford Chance's report confirms the bank's failure. In its anti-money laundering work, the bank has not measured up to the requirements that customers, owners and society are entitled to set," Persson said.

In January 2019 Bonnesen denied that the bank was involved in the money-laundering scandal emerging in the Baltic region and which also engulfed Danish rival Danske Bank <DANSKE.CO>. However, was ousted in March, only an hour before Swedbank's annual meeting, as investors lost faith in her handling of the crisis.

Swedish media have reported Bonnesen's severance pay to be about 20 million crowns ($1.9 million). Swedbank did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the sums involved.

Bonnesen, who served as CEO for almost three years, headed-up the bank's Baltic business between 2011 and 2014.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander and Colm Fulton; Editing by Niklas Pollard and David Goodman)
(TNS)  When the person next to you in line might infect you, suddenly universal health care seems more reasonable.When you and all your neighbors are out of work, checks from the government look more attractive.When companies wont pay sick leave amid widespread illness, a law to force them to do so will gain support.As the coronavirus pandemic spreads and digs in, historians, sociologists and other scholars say it could drive a cascade of social, economic and political changes that will pull policies from the edge into the mainstream. Witness the transformation of stalwart Republican Mitt Romney, who was once caught on video at a campaign fund-raiser saying that 47 percent of the population are takers because they paid no federal income tax or relied on government support. Romney now calls for a onetime $1,000 payment to every adult American.Jennifer Burns, a professor at Stanford University and expert on 20th-century U.S. history, said that the pandemic could build empathy and reduce shame about the need for a greater role for government. When those stricken are selected by pure chance, she said, the stigma and blame associated with accepting a helping hand drops away.In addition, she said, the coronavirus will make increasingly clear how much the health and lives of the more affluent are entwined with less educated and less well-paid workers.It is moments like this, Burns said, that strip away the surface crust of how society works, the relationships that we depend on that we are sometimes not aware of.Burns cited the new, bipartisan support for direct government cash payments, saying it could spur even more dramatic moves to guarantee income. It may advance the policy must faster and further than anyone thought, she said.In another example, she said the virus could generate more backing for requiring companies to provide paid sick leave.Otherwise, she said, If you dont provide people with sick leave, they will work when they are sick" and could infect others.Still, other scholars worry about the direction of any change. Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University and coeditor of the leftist Dissent magazine, wondered whether the fight against coronavirus will unite people behind government and common action, or stoke, in Kazins words, an increasingly nativist, anti-immigrant, anti-outsider impulse.Heather MacDonald, a social critic and author affiliated with the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute in New York City, saw a different risk.The left is going to use this to promote its pet causes, she said, including deindustrialization to stem climate change. She noted how some have pointed out that virus-spurred social distancing has been accompanied by a drop in pollution.Anne Berg, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania, also saw fresh support among Americans for social-democratic measures. She noted that both Republicans and Democrats in Washington were now backing heavy government spending to bail out citizens and corporations alike.Berg, an expert on the rise of Nazism, noted that, in contrast, right-wing parties in 1930s Germany responded to the crisis of the depression by cutting back on government and dismantling social services  austerity measures that greatly fueled Nazism.At the same time, Berg said, todays pandemic also had the potential to sow profound trouble. I can see this as a petri dish for fascism of various sorts.Notably, Berg said, the virus was spreading following years of falling public confidence in government, business and media, a phenomenon also seen in Germany in the 1930s.The most important parallel now is the erosion of trust in public institutions, she said. I think that is the gravest danger, because once trust is thoroughly eroded, thats when people say, OK, Ill have to take care of myself. Thats when you see the run to the gun stores.Theda Skocpol, a professor of sociology and government at Harvard University, said big societal changes are coming. Its clear this is going to be a major watershed, she said.But, Skocpol, coeditor of a new book on the trends in U.S. grassroots politics, also sounded a cautionary note: The pandemic may well exacerbate inequities, pitting a professional class of two-parent families reasonably able to cope with housebound children against a low-wage class of single parents who may be further isolated by poor or a lack of internet access.Mike Konczal, director of the Roosevelt Institute, a left-leaning think tank in New York City, said the virus had exposed systemic problems in American society, including insecure work," poor access to health care, and what Konczal called inept and corrupt leadership from President Trump.The coronavirus will likely spur extremely heavy government intervention in the days ahead, more so than after the 2008 economic collapse and with less blaming of the poor, Konczal said. Still, he was unsure how much people would in fact rally together behind progressive measures.High unemployment makes people really hunker down, he said. They become much more I need to get mine.In past transformations, World War II and its surge in factory work had helped drive millions of women into the workplace and spurred the mass migration from the South of African Americans, dramatically upending the status quo on two fronts.Similarly, the economic misery of the Great Depression sparked calls for guaranteed income, particularly for the elderly. Grassroots support led to a more moderate plan pushed by President Franklin Roosevelt and enacted in 1935: Social Security.Sylvester Schieber, an expert on the history and finances of Social Security, said he saw a similar trend today.He cited President Trumps endorsement last week of a temporary payment to citizens, a more modest variant of former Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yangs signature issue. Citing how automation was rendering workers superfluous, Yang had campaigned on giving all American adults a universal basic income of $1,000 a month.I think there is serious potential for health policy reform, income maintenance support. There could be a whole bunch of stuff bubble out of this," Schieber said. "The idea that a Republican president is talking about the kind of income transfer program that Yang has been promoting is pretty amazing.As for health care, Schieber said, the pandemic carried a blunt lesson that could wash away resistance to viewing medical care as a basic right: Its not just my own personal health that is important to me. It is also the guy sitting next to me on the bus."
New Delhi

The Delhi Polices directive asking providers of essential services to get curfew passes to enter the city sparked chaos and confusion at district police offices on Tuesday, a day after the order was issued to tighten curbs on movement imposed in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) .

Several people came with applications that were not typed in their companys letterheads, triggering fresh problems. Then there were applicants who could not produce identity proofs, as sought by the police.

All border posts would be sealed for everyone except people heading in for essential goods and services, according to the order, which gave businesses engaged in such services less than a days window to apply for the passes.

After several rounds of heated exchange, officials at office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP), East, in IP Extension started accepting applications on plain paper around 2pm. Along with it, they asked for documents to prove that applicants were part of essential service providers.

The curfew passes for essential service providers based in Noida and Ghaziabad are being issued at the DCP East office. Since morning, 50-60 people had gathered there; many of them were not aware of the formalities they had to follow to get the passes.

Two nodal officers stationed at the main gate were seen addressing the queries of the people assembled there. While they were able to respond to the basic queries, they couldnt satisfactorily answer whether private doctors not associated with any hospitals and pharmacists not having their profession-related ID proofs would get the passes.

I own a warehouse of grocery and sanitary items in Noida, and supply such items to various stores in Delhi-NCR. I came to the DCP office to get the curfew passes for my staffers and myself. But the policemen asked me to give an application on a letterhead. I dont have any letter pad of my warehouse. They are not accepting application on plain paper. The police should have clarified the requirement of letterheads in the order itself, said Ankur Aggarwal.

Sanjeev Rastogi, who deals in the food supply, said: Many of my employees sent their IDs and photos on WhatsApp. But the policemen need photocopies of the ID and photos for the passes. No photocopy shops or photo studios are open. Where should we go to get the work done.

About the initial confusion, DCP (East) Jasmeet Singh said, We have been regularly briefing our staff about the issues which the people are bringing to our notice. All the issues are being addressed properly and resolved. There are still issues which are personal and cannot be resolved.

Another police officer, who did not want to be named, said the initial confusion prevailed because there was no clarity on the issuing of passes, requisite documents and who all should be covered under it.

In the morning, we were asked to only accept application on the companys letterhead. Many people such as pharmacists, food delivery riders, shopkeepers, and persons dealing in essential services did not have letterheads. They were asked to go back. As we brought this matter to our seniors notice, they instructed us to accept applications on plain papers but with documents proving their services. By afternoon, a majority of the issues were resolved, the officer said.

We have begun issuing curfew passes. Around 50 passes have been issued till 4pm, said DCP Singh.

At south-east DCP office in Sarita Vihar  from where essential service providers of this district and those with offices in Faridabad  were supposed to collect their passes, the process of collecting applications began only around 2.30pm because senior police officers were busy handling the Shaheen Bagh protest site, where agitators were evicted.

Dozens of applicants began to assemble since morning, though, and had to wait for three-four hours.

When the police finally put up posters about the requirements for issuing the passes, many applicants found out that they wouldnt make the cut. Many of applicants didnt bring photocopies of their identity proofs and their photographs, and they didnt know who to approach.

Even if we manage to get photocopies from any shop that is currently open, from where do we procure photographs? asked an applicant, Mohammad Arif, who works for a bank.

The police permitted the applicants to submit additional documents by 6pm and informed them that the passes will be issued on Wednesday. The policeman at the desk was kind enough to share with me his phone number if I had any queries, said Bhanu Singh, another applicant.

The police took down the phone numbers of all applicants to communicate to them about the status of their passes.

At the office of the DCP South -- which was providing passes for Gurugram -- the collection of the applications was swifter even as applicants were informed that they would receive their passes either by late Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.

My office colleagues advised me to get a curfew pass or a written permission from the police so that I face no obstruction on my way to the airport, said Shravan Kumar, who planned to catch a flight to his hometown in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening.
CONCERN is growing in Rathkeale as large numbers of the Traveller community are returning to the town from abroad.

The concern is heightened by the fact that adults and children are congregating in groups and not complying with the physical distancing guidelines.

The town is swelling like it does at Christmas, one resident has said who raised what he felt were the safety implications.

From the safety perspective the risk is serious, both from the point of view of the countries they have returned from and the close proximity to each other in which they are living, he said.

Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins is also concerned about the situation and has warned that a lock-down in Rathkeale is inevitable unless the situation improves.

The community in Rathkeale is very concerned and fearful about the behaviour of some of the community, where adults and children are congregating and breaching the public health advice about practising social distancing. It is completely reckless behaviour and it is putting peoples lives at risk.

The people who are disregarding the public health advice will force the lockdown of the entire community unless the situation improves, he warned.

If this persists, the government should use the new powers which were enacted last week to lock down parts of the town, he continued.

The gardai and public health need to be better resourced and supported, Deputy Collins added. Normally, at Christmas time, he said when there was an influx of people into the town, a public health and policing plan were put in place.

Social distancing is a must in these difficult and challenging times, Supt Aileen Magner said.

Gardai will continue to respond to reports of large numbers of members of the public congregating contrary to these guidelines.

There was, she added, an increased emphasis on high visibility policing throughout the Newcastle West Garda District.

A spokesman for the Rathkeale Community Council said in a statement that many of the Rathkeale Traveller community have returned to the town.

"With national concerns about health the Rathkeale Community Council applauds the Rathkeale Health Centre, the Rathkeale Medical Practice, Giltenane's Pharmacy and O'Sullivan's pharmacy for their extraordinary efforts to maintain services. All are serving customers and simply advise people to call before visiting."

He listed the following: The Rathkeale Health Centre is at (069) 64308. The Rathkeale Medical Practice is at (069) 64304. Giltenane's Pharmacy is at(069) 63437 and O'Sullivan's Pharmacy is at (069) 64145.

"The community council has also published a list of priority telephone numbers for the housebound and vulnerable at rathkeale.com/covid-19 and a printed list is being distributed by EuroSpar," he said.
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New York state has reported more than 20,000 cases of coronavirus and at least 157 deaths  including a school official, according to reports.

The New York Post says a 36-year-old Brooklyn principal has died from complications of COVID, the first known death of a city public school staffer in the pandemic.

Dezann Romain led the Brooklyn Democracy Academy, a school that serves students who have dropped out or fallen behind in traditional high schools, the Post said.

Principal Romain was 36.



It is with profound sadness &overwhelming grief that we announce the passing of our sister, CSA member Dezann Romain, Principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy,due to complications from Coronavirus,the union said in a statement. https://t.co/oZoJqKZhOE  Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) March 24, 2020

It is with profound sadness and overwhelming grief that we announce the passing of our sister, CSA member Dezann Romain, Principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy, due to complications from Coronavirus, the union said in a statement.

CBS New York said schools Chancellor Richard Carranza offered his condolences, saying in part, Well be there for the students and staff through whatever means necessary.
Before The Gambler, way before Islands in the Stream and before the First Edition, Kenny Rogers was a Jeff Davis graduate attending classes at the University of Houston.

But by March 17, 1958, the Chronicle recognized that Rogers was going places. At that point, he had scored a hit with That Crazy Feeling on the Carlton label. In that days editions (PDF), reporter Howard Stentz reported that the 19-year-old was scheduled to perform on Dick Clarks American Bandstand.
British Embassy starts issuing support letter for visa extensions

PHUKET: The British Embassy in Bangkok has announced that it will issue support letters for any visa type so that British nationals stuck in Thailand can extend their stay in the country instead of having to risk infection by travelling either back home or to another country.

COVID-19Coronavirustourismimmigration

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 24 March 2020, 12:47PM

The British Embassy in Bangkok is now issuing the COVID-19 visa extension support letters. Image: Gov.uk

UPDATE: In a message sent to The Phuket News today, it was confirmed that the letters being issued support extensions to stay for any type of visa.

The British Embassy can issue a letter to support applications to extend existing visas. Those holding a tourist visa should first apply for a 30-day extension at an Immigration Office, said the notice issued on the Gov.uk website for the British Embassy in Thailand. (See here.)

The notice adds that to apply, email Bangkok.DocumentaryServices@fco.gov.uk with evidence of:

 Copy of biodata page of passport

 Entry stamp

 Visa stamp/sticker with expiry date

The move follows hundreds of foreigners presenting themselves at the main Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town yesterday (Mar 23) to extend their stays in Thailand. (See story here.)

The rush followed Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Lt Col Udom Thongchin confirming on Friday that such letters were needed in order for immigration officials to issue visa extensions. (See story here.)

If the foreigner cannot obtain such a letter, Phuket Immigration were unable to help them, Lt Col Udom re-confirmed yesterday. (See story here.)

Lt Col Udom Thongchin told The Phuket News that his office has no authority in the matter. Everything is up to the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok, he said.

Lt Col Udom also confirmed that B500 a day fines are being levied on any people who remain in the country after their permits to stay have expired.
SOLVAY, N.Y.  A staff member at the Solvay Union Free School District tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the districts superintendent told parents and others in a letter.

The staff members name or place of work in the district was not provided in the letter from superintendent Jay Tinklepaugh, dated Monday.

We were advised today (Monday) that one of our District employees has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Tinklepaugh wrote. We have been coordinating with the Onondaga County Department of Health and they are in contact with any staff and or students that may have been exposed.

The letter does not say how many people are being asked to quarantine due to contact with the person with the virus, and it does not say how many are students.

Anyone who came into contact with the staff member has been notified by the health department, the superintendent wrote.

We continue to work to support our students, families, and employees during this difficult time and appreciate your cooperation, Tinklepaugh wrote.

Read Tinklepaughs full letter below:

March 23, 2020

"Dear Solvay UFSD Families and Staff,

We were advised today that one of our District employees has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. We have been coordinating with the Onondaga County Department of Health and they are in contact with any staff and or students that may have been exposed. If you havent been notified directly by the health department your child was not exposed. We continue to work to support our students, families, and employees during this difficult time and appreciate your cooperation. News like this can be received with mixed emotions from our community. Rest assured the safety and health of our students and staff are our top priority. If you have questions regarding the COVID-19 virus, please visit http://www.ongov.net/health/coronavirus.html or call the 24-hour a day Upstate University Hospital triage line at 315-464-3979. If you or a family member is exhibiting symptoms of the COVID-19 virus (fever, cough, and shortness of breath), please do not go to the emergency room without contacting your healthcare provider first. They will provide you with further guidance. Please remember that social distancing and good hygiene are our best defenses against this virus. Stay home and do not go out into public unless you have to. We know this time may be stressful on families and our students, if you would like to talk to someone, please let us know if our school counselors and staff can be of assistance.

Thank you.

Sincerely, Jay Tinklepaugh

Superintendent of Schools."

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

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Democratic U.S. presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a news conference to introduce the "Medicare for All Act of 2019" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2019.

Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

Nearly half of Americans backed Medicare for All in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has fueled calls for universal healthcare in the US from some Democratic politicians.

Around 48% of respondents said in a Business Insider poll they backed transitioning to a single-payer system.

The poll suggest support for Medicare for All has remained steady as Americans confront the prospect of expensive hospital bills for coronavirus treatment.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

About half of Americans support Medicare for All amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new Insider poll conducted on SurveyMonkey Audience.

Around 48% of respondents favor the transition towards a single-payer system where every American receives health insurance from the government, the poll found. By contrast, 29% said they disagreed with the policy and 17% expressed no inclination to either support or oppose Medicare for All. Around 7% responded: "I don't know."

The results suggest the coronavirus pandemic  which has fueled calls to reform the nation's costly healthcare system  hasn't weakened support for Medicare for All. Under the plan Sen. Bernie Sanders has championed, the private insurance sector would be eliminated and replaced by a government-run healthcare system.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said earlier this month that ensuring free coronavirus testing and medical treatment is "absolutely" an "argument for Medicare for All."

"What this crisis has taught us is that, our health care system and our public health are only as strong as the sickest person in this country," she told the Huffington Post.

Still, former Vice President Joe Biden has emerged as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, and he's seeking to shore up the Affordable Care Act instead of pushing for universal healthcare.

Story continues

The poll asked 1,081 respondents the following question: "Some have proposed a transition from a U.S. health care system where private insurers manage health care coverage to a new single-payer, national health insurance program. The federal government would manage and providing medical coverage to all Americans, similar to how the Medicare program works for seniors. Do you agree or disagree with this policy?"

Then the survey invited respondents to choose the option that most closely aligned with their views. Here's how the results broke down:

17% responded they strongly agreed

15% said they agreed

16% said they somewhat agreed.

17% responded they neither agreed nor disagreed

7% of respondents said they somewhat disagreed

6% said they disagreed

16% said they strongly disagreed

7% said they didn't know.

In recent weeks, concern has grown that the cost of the US health care system could form a barrier that discourages people from seeking medical care for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus. Some Americans have faced sky-high hospital bills, Time reported.

Sanders has sought to highlight weaknesses in the existing system, attacking it as "profit-driven" and "a danger to our people."

"During this crisis, Medicare should cover all health care treatment for free, including coronavirus testing, treatment, and the eventual vaccine," he said in a March 20 tweet.

A majority of Democratic voters support Medicare for All, Vox reported. Back in August, an Insider poll found most Americans with employer-based health insurance transitioning to Medicare for All as long as it guaranteed similar coverage.

SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weigh its sample based on race or income. A total of 1,081 respondents were collected March 13-14 2020, a margin of error plus or minus 3.08 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Irish farmers should be paid to start growing more food crops to prevent shortages in times of crisis like the Covid-19 says an Offaly Green Party Senator.

Green Party Spokesperson on Agriculture Senator Pippa Hackett runs her own farm near Geashill in Co Offaly, and recently ran for election for the Laois Offaly constituency.

We are in a crisis situation, and who knows what lies ahead. Most of the food many of us put on our plates is imported, and these long supply chains have many links that can be broken. It is really is the time to start investing in, and supporting local food production. The government must ensure significant supports are put in place to support farmers, growers and communities to provide more of the food we all rely on every day," she said today Tuesday March 24.

She suggests a fund to grow crops like wheat, potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes which are mostly imported to Ireland.

As part of its contingency plans, we are calling on the Government and farm organisations to support the development of a local food stimulus fund to kick start this process, and to support the production of many of those imported foods we rely so heavily on. This fund should support farmers and growers, big and small, to play their part in feeding our fellow citizens."

"So instead of importing wheat for bread, lets support our farmers to grow it here. We import most of our potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes  this is the sort of nonsense that needs to change. It is still early enough in the year to plant crops, and this is exactly what we should be doing. Lets start feeding ourselves properly, with domestically produced food from our own farmers and growers. Not only will we secure a food supply, we will create new jobs, and that is one thing for certain that people will need in a post-Covid world.

A crisis like this stresses every aspect of our society, and highlights very quickly where weaknesses lie, be that health, education, business or finance. Farmers are no strangers to dealing with crises, and have shown great resilience in dealing with major difficulties, whether it is bad weather, absence of fodder for their animals, or economic downturn. However, this crisis is different, as there is no end in sight, and the aftermath is still unknown.

She noted the loss of income to beef farmers with the temporary closure of chains like McDonald's.

The closure of restaurants, particularly fast food outlets, will have an immediate effect on the demand for Irish beef. We already have the expected cuts to the CAP budget in light of Brexit, and with the costs of dealing with the coronavirus crisis increasing all the time, the overall availability of funds within EU budget is likely to suffer further. This is not about scaremongering, it is about making the strong and informed decisions now, to secure the future of the farming sector.

As part of a number of actions, we are calling on Minister Creed to issue BPS payments and any Rural Development Fund supports as early as possible this year, so farmers can use this money to plan and support themselves in the short and medium term. This is particularly applicable to part-farmers who have lost an off-farm income," she said.

Pippa Hackett PhD BSc is Green Party Spokesperson on Agriculture, Food, Forestry, Heritage & Animal Welfare
Terrence McNally, the four-time Tony-winning playwright and screenwriter best known for such works as Kiss of the Spider Woman and Love! Valour! Compassion!, died on Tuesday from complications due to coronavirus at the age of 81, according to his publicist, Matt Polk.

Polk said that McNally died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida.

McNally, who also received a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2019 and was a 2004 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his play A Perfect Ganesh," is arguably the highest-profile figure to succumb to coronavirus thus far.

The Texas-born McNally first found success on Broadway with the 1964 play And Things That Go Bump in the Night. Among his numerous plays were: The Ritz (1975), The Lisbon Traviata (1989), and Deuce (2007). He also wrote the books for such musicals as The Visit (1991) and The Full Monty (2000).

He earned two Best Play Tony Awards, for Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994) and Master Class (1995), as well as the Best Book of a Musical Tonys for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) and Ragtime (1996).

He also generated significant controversy in the late 1990s, when his play Corpus Christi  which imagined Jesus as a gay man living in McNallys hometown, Corpus Christi, Tx.  was greeted with protest and denounced by the Catholic League. The Manhattan Theatre Club, where the play was set to premiere, dropped the production, resulting in widespread backlash from the arts community. It has subsequently gone on to play at theaters around the world.

McNallys most recent work seen on Broadway was a 2019 revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon.

He is survived by his husband Tom Kirdahy.

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They've been married since 2018, but only now are Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton allowed to share photos from their married life.

The Love Is Blind couple fell for each other on the hit Netflix show, and since their wedding aired last month, Lauren has been busy sharing throwback snaps from the past two years.

As the couple, along with millions of others across the world, self isolate amid the coronavirus crisis, Lauren shared a flashback photo from the couple's first anniversary trip last year.

Throwback: Love Is Blind star Lauren Speed shared a throwback photo from her first anniversary trip to Cancun with husband Cameron Hamilton on Tuesday

Lauren, 32, wowed in a tiny striped bikini for the snap, as she snuggled up to her shirtless husband.

Cameron sported bright floral pattern swim shorts and shades with both stars holding glasses of chilled champagne as they posed on the stunning beach in Cancun.

'Since we are stuck inside... flashing back to beach days pre- #LoveIsBlind launch,' Lauren captioned the holiday snap.

'Tans, champagne and salt water. I miss yeeeewwww.  Lol Cam and I took a trip to Cancun for our 1st anniversary/birthday trip last year. We literally went to the beach just about everyday. It was beautiful.'

TV couple: The Love Is Blind couple fell for each other on the hit Netflix show, and since their wedding aired last month, have been busy sharing throwback snaps from the past two years

Lauren also made sure to thank her fans for their support online, noticing she was almost at two million followers.

'Sidenote I cant believe we are almost at 2M family! Omg i know i tell yall all the time but i love you ALL so much. Your love and support means the world to me Im so grateful for it. I gotta do something special for 2M hmmm,' she ended the post.

Lauren and Cameron managed to keep their wedded bliss a secret since taping Love is Blind back in 2018 and they recently opened up to People Magazine about how difficult that was, especially around the holidays.

'For Christmas, I visited [Cameron's family in] Maine, and it's like I can't even really post pictures of my family because we still have to keep it a secret,' Lauren told the outlet during a Q&A.

'Same with the family dinners that we have with my dad. So many great moments that we've just shared in the past year and a half that we haven't been able to share with the world.'

Married: Lauren and Cameron managed to keep their wedded bliss a secret since taping Love is Blind back in 2018 and they recently opened up about how difficult that was

The reality star said she had a plan to roll out photos from her last year with Cameron shortly.

'Our relationship has evolved over time, of course, so it will be nice to show that evolution. That's a lot to catch people up on,' Cameron said.

The couple first met on the Nick and Vanessa Lachey hosted Netflix series that aimed to answer the question: 'Is love blind?'

A set of single men and a set of single women were put on dozens of 'dates' over the course of several days which all took place in individual pods where the two people could converse but not see eachother.

Only if you fell in love, proposed and accepted the proposal, could you meet and then be whisked away on a short vacation before moving in together and walking down the aisle mere weeks later.
Old human cells return to a more youthful and vigorous state after being induced to briefly express a panel of proteins involved in embryonic development, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The researchers also found that elderly mice regained youthful strength after their existing muscle stem cells were subjected to the rejuvenating protein treatment and transplanted back into their bodies.

The proteins, known as Yamanaka factors, are commonly used to transform an adult cell into what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells can become nearly any type of cell in the body, regardless of the cell from which they originated. They've become important in regenerative medicine and drug discovery.

The study found that inducing old human cells in a lab dish to briefly express these proteins rewinds many of the molecular hallmarks of aging and renders the treated cells nearly indistinguishable from their younger counterparts.

"When iPS cells are made from adult cells, they become both youthful and pluripotent," said Vittorio Sebastiano, PhD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and the Woods Family Faculty Scholar in Pediatric Translational Medicine. "We've wondered for some time if it might be possible to simply rewind the aging clock without inducing pluripotency. Now we've found that, by tightly controlling the duration of the exposure to these protein factors, we can promote rejuvenation in multiple human cell types."

Sebastiano is the senior author of the study, which will be published online March 24 in Nature Communications. Former graduate student Tapash Sarkar, PhD, is the lead author of the article.

"We are very excited about these findings," said study co-author Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences and the director of Stanford's Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging. "My colleagues and I have been pursuing the rejuvenation of tissues since our studies in the early 2000s revealed that systemic factors can make old tissues younger. In 2012, Howard Chang and I proposed the concept of using reprogramming factors to rejuvenate cells and tissues, and it is gratifying to see evidence of success with this approach." Chang, MD, PhD, is a professor of dermatology and of genetics at Stanford.

Exposure to proteins

Researchers in Sebastiano's laboratory make iPS cells from adult cells, such as those that compose skin, by repeatedly exposing them over a period of about two weeks to a panel of proteins important to early embryonic development. They do so by introducing daily, short-lived RNA messages into the adult cells. The RNA messages encode the instructions for making the Yamanaka proteins. Over time, these proteins rewind the cells' fate -- pushing them backward along the developmental timeline until they resemble the young, embryonic-like pluripotent cells from which they originated.

During this process the cells not only shed any memories of their previous identities, but they revert to a younger state. They accomplish this transformation by wiping their DNA clean of the molecular tags that not only differentiate, say, a skin cell from a heart muscle cell, but of other tags that accumulate as a cell ages.

Recently researchers have begun to wonder whether exposing the adult cells to Yamanaka proteins for days rather than weeks could trigger this youthful reversion without inducing full-on pluripotency. In fact, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found in 2016 that briefly expressing the four Yamanaka factors in mice with a form of premature aging extended the animals' life span by about 20%. But it wasn't clear whether this approach would work in humans.

Sarkar and Sebastiano wondered whether old human cells would respond in a similar fashion, and whether the response would be limited to just a few cell types or generalizable for many tissues. They devised a way to use genetic material called messenger RNA to temporarily express six reprogramming factors -- the four Yamanaka factors plus two additional proteins -- in human skin and blood vessel cells. Messenger RNA rapidly degrades in cells, allowing the researchers to tightly control the duration of the signal.

The researchers then compared the gene-expression patterns of treated cells and control cells, both obtained from elderly adults, with those of untreated cells from younger people. They found that cells from elderly people exhibited signs of aging reversal after just four days of exposure to the reprogramming factors. Whereas untreated elderly cells expressed higher levels of genes associated with known aging pathways, treated elderly cells more closely resembled younger cells in their patterns of gene expression.

When the researchers studied the patterns of aging-associated chemical tags called methyl groups, which serve as an indicator of a cell's chronological age, they found that the treated cells appeared to be about 1 to 3 years younger on average than untreated cells from elderly people, with peaks of 3 years (in skin cells) and 7 years (in cells that line blood vessels).

Comparing hallmarks of aging

Next they compared several hallmarks of aging -- including how cells sense nutrients, metabolize compounds to create energy and dispose of cellular trash -- among cells from young people, treated cells from old people and untreated cells from old people.

"We saw a dramatic rejuvenation across all hallmarks but one in all the cell types tested," Sebastiano said. "But our last and most important experiment was done on muscle stem cells. Although they are naturally endowed with the ability to self-renew, this capacity wanes with age. We wondered, Can we also rejuvenate stem cells and have a long-term effect?"

When the researchers transplanted old mouse muscle stem cells that had been treated back into elderly mice, the animals regained the muscle strength of younger mice, they found.

Finally, the researchers isolated cells from the cartilage of people with and without osteoarthritis. They found that the temporary exposure of the osteoarthritic cells to the reprogramming factors reduced the secretion of inflammatory molecules and improved the cells' ability to divide and function.

The researchers are now optimizing the panel of reprogramming proteins needed to rejuvenate human cells and are exploring the possibility of treating cells or tissues without removing them from the body.

"Although much more work needs to be done, we are hopeful that we may one day have the opportunity to reboot entire tissues," Sebastiano said. "But first we want to make sure that this is rigorously tested in the lab and found to be safe."

###

Other Stanford co-authors are former postdoctoral scholar Marco Quarta, PhD; postdoctoral scholar Shravani Mukherjee, PhD; graduate student Alex Colville; research assistants Patrick Paine, Linda Doan and Christopher Tran; Constance Chu, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery; Stanley Qi, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering and of chemical and systems biology; and Nidhi Bhutani, PhD, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery.

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, the University of California-Los Angeles and the Molecular Medicine Research Institute in Sunnyvale, California, also contributed to the study.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01 AR070865, R01 AR070864, P01 AG036695, R01 AG23806, R01 AG057433 and R01 AG047820), the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the American Federation for Aging Research and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sarkar, Quarta and Sebastiano are co-founders of the startup Turn Biotechnologies, a company that is applying the technology described in the paper to treat aging-associated conditions. Rando is a member of the scientific advisory board.

The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu.

Print media contact: Krista Conger at (650) 725-5371 (kristac@stanford.edu)

Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897 (mjgallardo@stanford.edu)
President Donald Trump on Monday defended Asians Americans from being blamed for the coronavirus, calling them 'amazing people' and arguing 'the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form.'

'It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER!,' he tweeted.

His tweet follows a report in The New York Times that Asian Americans are facing verbal and physical attacks as people blame them for the virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China. People described being afraid to go outside because of the harassment, including being spit on and yelled at.

And it also comes as the president has been one of the most criticized for blaming Asians for the pandemic after Trump used the term 'China virus' multiple times to describe the coronavirus, defying those who call the term racist.

But on Monday, he called the coronavirus the 'virus problem' - leaving out the term China.

President Donald Trump defended Asians Americans from being blamed for the coronavirus

There have been reports that Asian Americans have been verbally and physically harassed

And he reiterated his tweet calling for Asian Americans to be protected.

'It's very important that we totally protect our Asian-American community in the United States and all around the world. They're amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form. They're working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. It's very important,' he said at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House.

Last week, President Trump repeatedly argued that China is to blame for the original spread of the virus. The country has been criticized for not sharing enough information about the disease early on in the crisis.

'Certainly the world is paying a big price for what they did, and the world is playing a very big price for not letting them come out. Everybody knows that, we all know that,' the president said last week.

President Donald Trump last week repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the 'China virus'

He argued the virus originated in China; above medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China

He didn't rule out repercussions for Beijing.

'I dont want to comment on that right now,' he said when asked.

President Trump has defended his use of the term 'China virus,' saying Wednesday 'it's not racist at all.'

The president, repeatedly this week, has talked about the 'China virus,' a moniker that has been called racist. China expelled journalists from three major American news outlet in the wake of Trump's words.

Trump, who started his Wednesday briefing by saying he had 'important developments in our war against the Chinese virus,' told reporters at the White House he used the description because the virus originated in Wuhan province of China.

'It's not racist at all. It comes from China, that's why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate,' he said during a press briefing.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his use of the term 'China virus' to describe the coronavirus, saying 'it's not racist at all'

Weijia Jiang, a correspondent for CBS News, claims that a White House official referred to coronavirus as the 'Kung Flu' right to her face on Tuesday morning

And he argued he wasn't being racist to any Asian Americans with the term.

'I have a great love for all the people from our country, but as you know, China tried to say at one point that - maybe they've stopped now - that it was caused by American soldiers. That can't happen. It's not going to happen. Not as long as I'm president. It comes from China,' he said.

Some Chinese officials have pushed a conspiracy theory that the American military brought the coronavirus to their shores. Medical experts believe it originated in a meat market in Wuhan where exotic animals were butchered.

And while President Trump argued the coronavirus came from China, he said he doesn't believe Beijing inflicted it on America but added Chinese officials could have issued an earlier warning.

'No, I dont believe they are inflicting I think they could have given us a lot earlier notice,' he said.

He also did not condemn a White House official who called the disease the 'Kung flu' and said he wasn't worried about Asian Americans being put at risk in the wake of such rhetoric.

'Not all,' Trump said and then returned to his argument the virus came from China. 'I think they probably grew that 100 per cent. It comes from China.'

Weijia Jiang, a reporter for CBS News, claimed on Tuesday a White House official referred to coronavirus as the 'Kung Flu' right to her face. Jiang was born in China and raised in West Virginia.

Such comments have been condemned as racist.

Earlier Wednesday, President Trump tripled down on using the term in a series of tweets.

'I will be having a news conference today to discuss very important news from the FDA concerning the Chinese Virus!,' the president wrote.

'I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the borders from China - against the wishes of almost all. Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false!,' he added.

President Trump tripled down on calling the coronavirus the 'Chinese virus' in a series of Wednesday morning tweets

The president appeared to be pushing back at reports his response to the pandemic has taken on a more serious tone in recent days.

Trump has been criticized for minimizing the disease in its early days but told reporters on Tuesday he's 'always' taken it seriously.

'I've always known this is a real - this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic,' he said during a press briefing on the virus.

President Trump's use of the phrase 'China virus' comes as tensions have escalated between Washington and Beijing in the wake of the trade war started by the president and the battle surrounding the origins of the coronavirus.

And China has taken retaliatory measures against the United States. Officials there announced on Tuesday Beijing would expel American journalists working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

'I'm not happy to see it. I have my own disputes with all three of those media groups. I think you know that very well. I don't like seeing it at all, I'm not happy about that at all,' Trump said Wednesday of the expelled journalists.

The United State also has expelled Chinese journalists. Last month, the Trump administration posed limits on the number of Chinese citizens who can work in the U.S. for five state-run Chinese news outlets that are seen as propaganda machines.

The limits by the White House - capping the number of Chinese journalists at 100 - will force about 60 Chinese reporters from the United States.

But Trump's use of the 'China virus' moniker has increased tensions.

After President Trump tweeted on Monday about the 'China virus,' Beijing, the next day, demanded 'the U.S. side correct the mistake immediately and halt its groundless accusations'.

Trump defended his use of the term, saying Tuesday that he doesn't think it's inappropriate to call the coronavirus the 'Chinese virus' because that's where the disease originated.

The president said he only started referring to the virus, which was first detected in Wuhan, China, in that way after Beijing blamed the U.S. military for bringing the disease to its shores.

'Well China was putting out information, which was false, that our military gave this to them. That was false,' Trump said during a briefing in the White House press room. 'And rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China.'

'So I think it's a very accurate term,' he continued. 'But, no, I didn't appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them. Our military did not give it to anybody.'

When a reporter said the term 'Chinese Virus' has a stigma around it that is seen as racist, Trump pushed back.

'No, I don't think so. No,' he said, flipping the switch: 'I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma.'

Medical workers in protective suits attend to novel coronavirus patients at the intensive care unit (ICU) of a designated hospital in Wuhan, China

Donald Trump said Tuesday that he thinks calling coronavirus the 'Chinese virus' is appropriate because the disease originated in Wuhan, China

Trump said that 'rather than having an argument,' about where it originated, he would 'have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So I think it's a very accurate term'

Chinese officials are floating the conspiracy that those in the U.S. Army brought coronavirus to China during the Military World Games in Wuhan in October 2019

Chinese officials have floated a conspiracy that the U.S. Army brought coronavirus there when they participated in the Military World Games in Wuhan, China in October 2019.

Trump did not say whether he would continue using the phrase when asked, but just minutes later in a meeting with tourism executives, the president again called it the 'Chinese virus.'

He said he was talking to the industry leaders about 'what has happened since the Chinese Virus came about.'

The tweet-for-tat came the day after Trump's Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, called China to accuse it of spreading conspiracy theories that the virus was the creation of the U.S. military.

Contrasting conspiracy theories, that it was created by China as a tool for biological warfare, have been aired in pro-Trump circles in the U.S.

And Pompeo himself has called it the Wuhan virus in a series of media appearances, as have fervently pro-Trump Republicans including Tom Cotton, the Arkansas senator, and Paul Gosar, an Arizona congressman who then had to go into self-quarantine over fears he was infected with it.

'The United States should mind its own business first, and then make constructive contributions to the international counter-epidemic collaboration and the maintenance of the global public health safety,' said Geng Shuang (pictured), a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry

Geng Shuang, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused 'certain American politicians' of promoting stigmatization by connecting the novel coronavirus with China.

He did not name President Trump specifically, but was referring to one of President Trump's tweet, reported Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

'We express strong indignation and resolute opposition to this,' Geng said at a daily news briefing.

The spokesperson stressed that the coronavirus outbreak had occurred in multiple places around the world and the urgent task was for the international community to join forces to curb the pandemic.

'The United States should mind its own business first, and then make constructive contributions to the international counter-epidemic collaboration and the maintenance of the global public health safety,' Geng continued.






Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the California-based automaker bought hospital ventilators in China and shipped them to the United States. The purchase comes as governments across the globe, including here in the U.S., appeal to automakers and aerospace companies help procure or make ventilators and other medical equipment.

Yup, China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night & airshipped them to LA. If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2020

"China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night & airshipped them to LA," Musk said on Twitter.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said the state would receive 1,000 ventilators from Tesla as the United States braces to deal with an influx of patients infected by the coronavirus.

Authorities are hoping large-scale manufacturers can use their low-cost supply chains and digital design expertise, including 3D printing, and repurpose some factories in order to make up the expected shortfall in vital medical hardware. On March 21, Musk tweeted that he "had a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators," adding that they have a "Very impressive team!"

Just had a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators. Very impressive team!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2020

Carmakers have cautioned that assembling delicate medical equipment to standards adequate for use in hospital intensive care units remains a challenge. That said, GM and ventilator maker Ventec Life systems announced on Monday they were forming a partnership to produce 200,000 Ventec ventilator machines at a GM facility in Kokomo, Indiana, with GM sourcing 95 percent of the machines' parts.

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Reuters contributed to this report.

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Mazurkiewicz said she had her own box of N95 masks at home but did not see any available in her unit at the hospital. Hospitals should have been better prepared, she said. They should have been able to protect the front line.
Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta, the country's body responsible for issuing religious edicts, said on Tuesday that any calls for gathering in the streets are religiously prohibited.

The statement came one day after dozens of people took to the streets in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Monday night, chanting religious slogans including God is Greatest and asking Allah to "lift the affliction of the coronavirus pandemic.

The march, which covered several streets in the coastal city, has sparked ridicule and memes on social media mocking the behavior which could potentially contribute to the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Earlier this month, the government banned mass gatherings as part of measures to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Any call for people to gather in the streets anywhere and under any slogan or pretext is a malicious call that is religiously prohibited, Dar Al-Ifta said in a brief statement on Tuesday.

Dar Al-Ifta said it is a duty under the Islamic Sharia Law to comply with official decisions to protect people from epidemics and diseases.

Egypt declared on Tuesday a set of stricter measures to help slow the spread of the virus, including a two-week overnight curfew starting Wednesday. It has also extended a suspension of schools and universities and prolonged a halt of air traffic.

To limit gatherings, all coffee shops will be completely shut down and restaurants will only be allowed to run delivery services.

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Silvia McIntosh, who grew up in Melbourne with adopted parents, flew to Guatemala to see her birth parents on March 13. She is now stranded in Central America and away from her two small children. Silvia's extended family greeted her at La Aurora airport in Guatemala City on March 13, 2020. (Photo: Silvia McIntosh)

It all happened so fast.

The rumours of a national lockdown started circulating over the weekend, and by that Monday afternoon Guatemala had announced it was closing its borders and suspending all public and commercial transport to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The sudden move on March 16, which came as the neighbouring countries of Belize, Honduras and El Salvador also closed their borders to foreigners, has caused anxiety for one Australian mum who is now separated from her children for the foreseeable future.

Silvia McIntosh, a legal secretary from Melbourne, is currently stranded in Guatemala City after arriving with her husband on March 13 to visit her birth parents for the first time in 20 years. McIntoshs two small children are back home in Australia.

Silvia and Adam McIntosh pose with their two children  Mateo, 5 and Amelia, 3  in their 2019 Christmas family photo. Now the children are back home in Melbourne while their mum and dad are stuck in Central America. (Photo: Silvia McIntosh)

I was born in Guatemala, but when I was 2 or 3 years old, I was adopted by a family in Australia, McIntosh said. Since I can remember, all Ive wanted was to see my birth family again ... and I finally got that chance. 

But McIntoshs plans fell into turmoil when the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, announced the lockdown three days after her arrival. As of this Monday, police in Guatemala are reportedly arresting people at gunpoint for not complying with lockdown rules.

When they announced the lockdown, we panicked. We received so many messages from our friends and family in Australia telling us to get back ASAP, but we had to keep telling them we had no way out, she said.

Im a very anxious person at the best of times, but right now my anxiety levels are off the charts. Im sure Ill have many more grey hairs by the time I get home.

A trip back to McIntosh's homeland, the first visit in 20 years, was meant to be a happy catch-up with her birth parents. (Photo: Silvia McIntosh )

McIntosh and her husband Adam, both 33, are trying to ease the stress the separation is causing their young children by sending pictures and video-calling when possible.

Before [we came] to Guatemala, our two kids hadnt spent more than one or two nights away from us. Theyre with their grandparents and dont understand why their mum and dad cant come home, she said.

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We really wanted to bring them with us to Guatemala, but were so glad we decided to keep them in Australia. I cant wait to get back to them. I miss them like crazy, but I know theyre in good hands.

McIntosh said the Australian consulate in Guatemala City has provided little assistance to help her and her husband return home. The Australian consulate didnt really know what we should do. [We were advised to] try to go to Mexico, but there are no guarantees we can enter.

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HuffPost Australia has obtained an email sent from the Australian consulate in Guatemala stating that no plans were being made to repatriate Australian citizens stranded in that country. The email encouraged those who wanted to return home to seek to do so by commercial means.

If you cannot get out of the country due to border closures, we suggest you continue to enquire with local authorities about available departure options, however you may have to wait it out in that country until the border closures are lifted, the email said.

However, the main international airport remains closed and all public and commercial transportation is prohibited, making efforts to leave riddled with uncertainty.

We want so badly to leave but there are risks. The situation is changing so quickly, so while it might be possible to get a private car to Mexico, what if they close the border on the way there? And if we do get in, will we be subject to 14 days in quarantine? McIntosh said.

Its like we are doomed if we do, and were doomed if we dont.

Silvia McIntosh before Guatemala enforced a lockdown. (Photo: HuffPost Australia)

Georgia Lindsey, 29, also from Melbourne, said once she realised the severity of the situation in Guatemala, it was too late.

Its horrible to have options to leave taken away from you and to not know what might happen in this country, she said.

I dont feel like its safe to cross the border to Mexico. Theres been talk that Mexico will shut down the airport soon, too, and then I could be stranded there instead.

The English teacher said that Guatemala City has turned into a ghost town and that rumours were circulating that its only a matter of time before more break-ins start as more people lose their jobs. She added, Im really anxious and upset and just want to get home.

Georgia Lindsay, pictured here in Antigua, has been living in Guatemala City teaching English. (Photo: Georgia Lindsey)

Meanwhile, 25-year-old Mason Kasumovic, from Sydney, is currently in lockdown at the Doozy Lakehouse hostel at Lake Atitlan.

He said while the morale there has remained high until now, reports of hostels closing, false rumours about repatriation flights, misinformation spread on social media and a lack of transparency from the Australian consulate were fuelling anxiety amongst those left behind.

Im not sure how the embassy is tracking Australians, but it seems mass hysteria and confusion is running rampant and the government is refusing to give us a solid response, he said.

If you are an Australian requiring urgent consulate assistance, contact +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).

For non-urgent enquiries, email smartraveller@dfat.gov.au.

Stephanie Capper is a British-Australian freelance journalist currently in Guatemala. The parameters of that countrys lockdown are constantly evolving and may change at any moment. This information is correct and accurate at the time of publication.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
The Donald Trump administration is slashing assistance to Afghanistan and threatening further reductions in all forms of cooperation after the country's rival leaders failed to agree on forming a new government.

The announcement came from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday after he made an unannounced visit to Kabul to meet with Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. Each has declared himself president of the country after disputed elections last year.

In an unusually harsh statement, Pompeo slammed the two men for being unable to work together and threatening a potential peace deal that could end America's longest-running conflict.

"The United States deeply regrets that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah have informed Secretary Pompeo that they have been unable to agree on an inclusive government that can meet the challenges of governance, peace, and security, and provide for the health and welfare of Afghan citizens," he said.

Pompeo said the US was "disappointed" in both men and their conduct, which he said had "harmed US-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonours those Afghan, American, and coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure in the struggle to build a new future for this country."



Pompeo was in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a US peace deal signed last month with the Taliban. He'd travelled thousands of miles despite a near-global travel shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Police cleared the hotbed of anti-CAA protests - Shaheen Bagh on Tuesday morning after 101 days amid a nationwide lockdown due to deadly coronavirus.

Cops reached the site at around 7 am. The protestors refused to budge despite repeated persuasion and force had to be used to clear up the site, according to an official. The official further stated that large gatherings are banned due to Section 144 being imposed in the capital. Police has detained nine people- three men and six women.

After clearing Shaheen Bagh off protestors, Delhi Police tightened security at the protest site under Section 144 imposed in the capital due to coronavirus pandemic.

Jaffrabad in Northeast Delhi and Turkman Gate in old Delhi were also cleared off protestors on Tuesday morning. Clearing of anti-CAA protest sites comes two days after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced a complete lockdown till March 31 in the Union Territory in order to control the spread of coronavirus.

Kejriwal took to Twitter to announce the lockdown from March 22 to March 31 and wrote, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Delhi will be under lockdown from tomorrow 6 AM until 31st March. Certain exceptions have been made to ensure essential items are available for purchase and basic services continue to operate. https://t.co/SlghXpFHBM Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 22, 2020

Delhi has reported 30 coronavirus positive cases, including 1 death. Delhi government has shut down public transport and closed shops, barring essential services. 492 cases of novel coronavirus have been reported across India, including 9 deaths, according to Health Ministry.

In a recent development, the Delhi Police have sealed all border pickets to mitigate COVID-19 spread. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava told ANI that movement or gathering is not allowed and prohibitory orders have also been issued about the same.

Also read: Coronavirus: Delhi Police to seal border pickets, issue curfew passes to essential service providers
SBS World News will broadcast tonight from its Canberra newsroom after an employee in Sydney tested positive for COVID-19.

The Feed will likely broadcast from private homes at 10pm.

In a statement SBS said the staff member has had minimal contact with other employees due to social distancing measures.

The health and safety of our employees remains our top priority, said SBS.

The employee was last in the office on Friday 20 March. Immediate close contacts have already been identified and are self-isolating, and we are continuing a more comprehensive tracing exercise.

There is no impact for SBS employees outside of Sydneys newsroom. SBS is strictly complying with health and safety advice and protocols in response to this matter.

While the newsroom has been thoroughly cleaned a number of times since Friday, SBS has closed the area immediately for additional sanitisation, and all staff working in that area have gone home. The newsroom is expected to reopen tomorrow, Wednesday 25 March.

As an essential service, particularly during this time, SBS will continue its news operations. We have comprehensive business continuity plans, our technology and resources are in place to ensure employees can work flexibly, where feasible. This evenings SBS World News bulletin will be broadcast but in a different format.

Source: The Guardian
Myanmar has locked down a village in Chin state where the countrys first confirmed coronavirus patient had stayed, while a second person who has tested positive was moved to an infectious disease hospital in Yangon, health authorities and a local lawmaker said Tuesday.

The first confirmed case was a man traveling back from United States, who reported feeling ill six days after his arrival in Myanmar, the government said.

The second confirmed case was a traveler from England who suspected that he had contracted the virus from someone at an official meeting he attended. He is being treated treated at Waibargi Hospital in Yangon's North Okkalapa township.

A regional government minister who had contact with him has been ordered to remain in quarantine for 14 days, authorities said.

Health authorities have reported both patients appear to be in good condition but are still being monitored.

A day after the government declared the countrys first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections, Chin state parliament chairman Zo Bwe announced that communications have been cut with a village in Tedim township where one of the infected persons hosted a party.

Those who have been in contact with the man are considered potential virus carriers and are being monitored, he said. Authorities are also monitoring motor vehicle drivers in the area.

With movement in and out of the area grounded to a halt, prices of basic necessities have already shot up.

In Tedim township, which the coronavirus patient visited, the price of rice has increased drastically and people are facing hardships with shops closing suddenly, said C. S. Mong, who works with a local civil society organization.

But Pau Lun Min Thang, Chin states minister for social affairs, reassured the public about the availability of goods.

The government has plans to continue to have most essential items available to avoid scarcity, he said.

Also on Tuesday, Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued further precautions to limit the spread of the virus by requiring all Myanmar nationals and foreigners traveling to the country to spend 14 days in a quarantine facility upon arrival, beginning Wednesday.

Foreign nationals, including diplomats and United Nations personnel working in Myanmar, must also present laboratory evidence of the absence of COVID-19 infections issued no more than three days prior to their travel date before heading to the country, the ministrys statement said. Diplomats and U.N. employees are subject to two weeks of home quarantine.

Restrictions in Mandalay

Meanwhile, authorities in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay on Tuesday placed restrictions on visitors, and ordered shops to close and restaurants to only accept carry-out orders, following the two confirmed COVID-19 cases.

They also locked down the compound of Mandalay Palace, called Mya Nan San Kyaw Palace in Burmese, and have forbidden members of the military and their families from leaving the area except for emergencies.

Soldiers are checking the body temperatures of those who need to enter the compound and are requiring them to wash their hands.

People around the country visit Mya Nan San Kyaw Palace all the time, said Colonel Soe Kyi Khin, spokesman for the Central Region military headquarters. We have restricted visitors because two people in the country have tested positive.

It is not a total lockdown, he added. We will reopen when the number of virus cases begins to decrease.

Mandalay district administrator Aung Mon Latt said the governments order applies to all shops.

The Mandalay regional government issued an order for the jewelry market to close by March 26, but we are closing it before then because of the two people who tested positive [for the coronavirus], said Kyaw Kyaw Oo, a merchant in Mandalay citys Gems and Jewelry Trading Center where many Chinese visitors shop.

We are trying not have groups of people in the market, he said.

Medical personnel at Mandalay General Hospital meanwhile have released 35 patients who were being monitored for possible coronavirus infections, said Dr. Su Su Dwe, head of the hospital.

Another seven people are still being monitored, she added.

According to Myanmars Ministry of Health and Sports, 212 people in all are under observation for suspected coronavirus infections.

As of Tuesday, there were nearly 417,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide with almost 18,600 deaths.

Reported by Waiyan Moe Myint and Khaymani Win for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Khin Ei and Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Today we'll take a closer look at Wharf Real Estate Investment Company Limited (HKG:1997) from a dividend investor's perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. Unfortunately, it's common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.

In this case, Wharf Real Estate Investment pays a decent-sized 6.8% dividend yield, and has been distributing cash to shareholders for the past two years. It's certainly an attractive yield, but readers are likely curious about its staying power. Remember though, given the recent drop in its share price, Wharf Real Estate Investment's yield will look higher, even though the market may now be expecting a decline in its long-term prospects. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Wharf Real Estate Investment for its dividend - read on to learn more.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Wharf Real Estate Investment!

SEHK:1997 Historical Dividend Yield, March 23rd 2020

Payout ratios

Companies (usually) pay dividends out of their earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, the dividend might have to be cut. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. In the last year, Wharf Real Estate Investment paid out 157% of its profit as dividends. A payout ratio above 100% is definitely an item of concern, unless there are some other circumstances that would justify it.

Is Wharf Real Estate Investment's Balance Sheet Risky?

As Wharf Real Estate Investment's dividend was not well covered by earnings, we need to check its balance sheet for signs of financial distress. A quick check of its financial situation can be done with two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA is a measure of a company's total debt. Net interest cover measures the ability to meet interest payments. Essentially we check that a) the company does not have too much debt, and b) that it can afford to pay the interest. Wharf Real Estate Investment has net debt of 3.24 times its EBITDA, which is getting towards the limit of most investors' comfort zones. Judicious use of debt can enhance shareholder returns, but also adds to the risk if something goes awry.

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We calculated its interest cover by measuring its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and dividing this by the company's net interest expense. With EBIT of 13.57 times its interest expense, Wharf Real Estate Investment's interest cover is quite strong - more than enough to cover the interest expense.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Wharf Real Estate Investment's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. The company has been paying a stable dividend for a few years now, but we'd like to see more evidence of consistency over a longer period. During the past two-year period, the first annual payment was HK$0.95 in 2018, compared to HK$2.03 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 46% a year over that time.

Wharf Real Estate Investment has been growing its dividend quite rapidly, which is exciting. However, the short payment history makes us question whether this performance will persist across a full market cycle.

Dividend Growth Potential

Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. Wharf Real Estate Investment's earnings per share have shrunk at 27% a year over the past three years. With this kind of significant decline, we always wonder what has changed in the business. Dividends are about stability, and Wharf Real Estate Investment's earnings per share, which support the dividend, have been anything but stable.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. First, it's not great to see how much of its earnings are being paid as dividends. Earnings per share are down, and to our mind Wharf Real Estate Investment has not been paying a dividend long enough to demonstrate its resilience across economic cycles. With this information in mind, we think Wharf Real Estate Investment may not be an ideal dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 4 warning signs for Wharf Real Estate Investment that investors need to be conscious of moving forward.

Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%.

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.
Seoul, March 24 : A female American soldier stationed in South Korea was found dead in her barracks room last week, while the cause of her death was under probe, the US military said Tuesday.

Private First Class Marissa Jo Gloria was found unresponsive in her room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul, on March 21 and pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel, the Yonhap News Agency quoted the 2nd Infantry Division as saying.

The cause of her death is under investigation, the military said, though officials said they do not believe her death has anything to do with the COVID-19 virus.

The 25-year-old combat engineer joined the US Army from North Dakota in January 2019, and arrived here in April that year.
Pinterest has historically done a very good job at battling misinformation on its platform, doing its best to hide anti-vaccine content and more recently providing custom search results related to the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, as more and more people are sheltering in place in their homes, Pinterest has seen its users increasingly search for inspiration around things like recipes, kids activities and self-care.

To get people to the topics they're looking for faster, today Pinterest is launching a new "Today" tab that you'll see in the top navigation bar on its iOS and Android apps. The company wants it to be a one-stop source to see trending pins as well as curated topics based on the activity Pinterest is seeing with its users.

Unsurprisingly, coronavirus-related searches continue to be huge on Pinterest, so the company plans to include "expert" information from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control front and center in the Today tab. Tapping into the "Coronavirus advice from experts" collection shows pins that include videos on how to prevent spreading COVID-19, how to keep your food safe, proper hand-washing techniques, and when you should use a face mask.

Scrolling through the rest of the Today feed shows topics like art projects for toddlers, self-help topics like "spread some kindness," tutorials on picking up new skills like yoga and knitting and more. It looks like the Today feed will, naturally, be refreshed daily, and it's not an endless scroll. There were about 10 topics when I checked it out this morning, and at the bottom there's a message to "come back tomorrow for more inspiration." In a lot of ways, it's similar to the Today stream in Apple's App Store, which similarly offers curated daily editorial topics without overwhelming people with content.

Pinterest also noticed searches for "calming quotes" had doubled in the last few weeks, while "stress quotes" tripled, so the company is also the "compassionate search" feature it released on mobile last summer to the web. If you haven't seen it, it's a group of guided activities that were created in consultation with emotional health experts. It includes things like short guided meditation or breathing exercises as well as prompts to help people feel gratitude to others or compassion to themselves. At a rather stressful time, it makes sense to surface these sorts of things for as many people as possible.

In addition to all this, Pinterest has a banner at the top of its homepage directing people to a collection of its resources on coronavirus as well as some boards for inspiration and de-stressing. The company is also aggressively removing any misinformation it finds on COVID-19 as well as making it easy for users to report anything they find.
A teacher has shared the easy Mexican bean soup recipe she swears by for busy days in the classroom - and revealed how you can put it together in under an hour if you've got a busy day in the office or at home.

Katie Lolas, 33, from Sydney, said her sweet potato Mexican soup is something she could 'eat every day and never tire of'.

Even better, it's 'hearty, flavourful and is made from wholesome ingredients,' Katie wrote on Instagram.

A teacher has shared the easy Mexican bean soup recipe she swears by for busy days in the classroom - and revealed how you can put it together in under an hour (pictured: her soup)

Katie Lolas (pictured), 33, from Sydney, said her sweet potato Mexican soup is something she could 'eat every day and never tire of' - and even better, it's good for you and hearty

Taking just 50 minutes, Katie said her soup will give you between six and eight portions, meaning you can feed a large family or take it to work with you every day of the week.

All you need to make the soup is a tablespoon of extra Virgin olive oil, one cup of shallots, three cloves of crushed garlic, a packet of Mexican seasoning, two sweet potatoes that have been peeled and diced and one cup of corn.

Add two diced fresh tomatoes, five cups of vegetable stock, a 400 gram can of black beans and a 400 gram can of crushed tomatoes, along with some lime and coriander for a garnish and you're ready to go.

Taking just 50 minutes, Katie (pictured) said her soup will give you between six and eight portions, meaning you can feed a large family or take it to work with you every day of the week

How to make Katie Lolas's easy Mexican bean soup INGREDIENTS She shared the simple recipe (pictured), which takes just 50 minutes to put together 1 tbsp extra Virgin olive oil 1 cup shallots, sliced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 packet Mexican seasoning 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & diced 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen 2 fresh tomatoes, diced 5 cups vegetable stock 1 x 400g can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 x 400g can crushed tomatoes Lime & coriander for garnish (optional) METHOD 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until softened, roughly for five minutes. 2. Add the Mexican seasoning, sweet potato, fresh tomatoes, corn and saute for two to three minutes. 3. Add the vegetable stock, black beans, canned tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft. 4. Remove from the heat and garnish with lime juice and coriander if you wish, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 5. Serve with warm tortilla chips or toasted bread. Advertisement

Katie (pictured) previously told FEMAIL she purchases the majority of her staple items like brown rice, quinoa and black beans from the supermarket home brands

What are Katie's top 10 meal prep staples? 1. Mixed Nuts 2. Chia Seeds 3. Frozen Fruit 4. Whole-Wheat Pasta 5. Rolled Oats 6. Rice Malt Syrup 7. Quinoa 8. Canned Beans 9. Extra Virgin Oil 10. Canned Tuna Advertisement

Katie's simple method involves just five steps and she recommends you garnish the finished product with lime and coriander and serve it with warm tortilla chips or toasted bread.

'Don't be afraid to store some in the freezer for those nights when you can't be bothered cooking,' she wrote.

In the past, the teacher has shared her meal prepping tips with FEMAIL, having built up a following of thousands online thanks to her time-efficient, tasty and good-looking creations and earned the title the 'meal prepping queen'.

'I purchase the majority of my staples like brown rice, quinoa, black beans and chickpeas from Aldi or opt for a Homebrand Woolies or Coles version,' Katie told Daily Mail Australia.

'The quality, taste and nutritional value is always on par with the more expensive brands, so why not grab the less expensive option?

'Keeping your pantry stocked at all times is great too because you can create quick and easy meals using ingredients that you already have.'

Katie says things like hummus, casseroles and soups are easy to make out of long-life ingredients - and it also saves you a lot of money (her meal prep pictured)

Katie says things like hummus, casseroles and soups are easy to make out of long-life ingredients - and they also save you a lot of money.

She also recommends planning meal prepping around sales and promotions found in supermarket catalogues before your weekly shop and picking recipes with fruits and vegetables that are in season as it's cheaper.

'Vegetables that are in season include Asian greens like boy choy and Chinese broccoli, eggplant, kale, leeks, mushrooms and potatoes,' Katie said.

'Seasonal fruit includes grapes, apples, plums, avocados, pears, oranges, guava. These are plentiful and available at most local groceries for a competitive price.'

It's equally as important to choose recipes that can be frozen or that will make enough food for the entire week and to make healthy snacks to save money.
Julian Assanges lawyers will apply for his release on bail because of the risk of contracting coronavirus while in prison, Wikileaks said on Monday.

The Wikileaks founder is being held at a prison in London on an extradition warrant for publishing classified information about the Iraq and Afghan wars.

On Wednesday, 25th of March, Julian Assanges lawyers will make a bail application at Westminster Magistrates Court, Wikileaks said in a statement.

SOURCE: REUTERS
#8 RE: Gathering Egreat A5/A10Pro/A8Pro/A11/A13 models Feedback / 08-03-2020 11:35



 -   ,  -  ,    .

      DiGiPulse.ru |  - VK.

            .

       

: Dear Egreat fans ,

Due to the spreading Corona-Virus around the world .

Here is some advise we would like to share it with you guys to fight with new Corona-Virus , hope it can be helpful to ALL of you :-)

1. Please spend more time to stay at home ;

2. Avoid any kind of contact to strangers ;

3. Always keep distance with people , at least more than 1 Meters ;

4. Wash your hand more times ;

5. Always keep your masks on when you are out ;

6. Get more disinfectant at your home ;

7. Get more indoor exercise when you stay at home ;

This should be help to prevent new virus .

Thanks to our government , China is getting better every days , wish you the same with us .

If you guys need any help , Egreat always here with you :-)

Best regards .

Richard & Egreat Teams ,   . -   ,  -  ,    .      DiGiPulse.ru |  - VK.            .        ( 08-03-2020  11:44   .)
Gold: I think its very much unknown at this time. If you look at other parts of the world, think Italy or certainly in China, and any other parts, we have seen outbreaks in those communities that in both the rural and the urban communities. You know we see a concentration of that in the large urban communities in America now and certainly other parts of the world and thats because of the density of the population and the way the virus spreads by droplet transmission. But as people travel across the country from urban to rural communities back and forth, you know, think about people that are part of our supply chain, people who work for our railroads, people who work for trucking industries, farmers and ranchers who have to bring things back and forth to different markets. Thats when the interaction between individuals who have either been exposed actually even be ill and not know it themselves can occur and then unknowingly they would bring that back to their rural community.
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.
A group of 65 young Irish doctors in Australia has quit their jobs and are pleading with the Government to arrange a flight to allow them return home to Ireland to help out in the coronavirus crisis.

The doctors, who have several years' experience in a range of medical specialities, are based in various hospitals in Perth.

Zoe Lynch (27), from Cabinteely in Dublin, who is one of the group, said they were desperate to return home to provide medical back-up as hospitals face growing pressure.

"We have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs if it could arrange a flight for us, with a charter flight as an option. We appreciate officials have been extremely kind and helpful but so far have not been successful," she said.

They said Irish embassy officials told them that as long as commercial flights are running that is not possible.

However, the decision of airline Emirates to suspend flights until June has left many of the doctors who had booked to return this week with cancellations.

"Flights are advertised for sale but there is no transit allowed through Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. None of us can find a commercial flight until next week, which could get cancelled. There are business flights but they are extremely expensive," said Dr Lynch.

"We are all ready and have quit our jobs.

"Some doctors were in senior positions. The hospitals in Perth have been totally supportive of our decision.

"I came here a year and a half ago and am currently in paediatrics. There are doctors who planned to stay another year but have now decided to go home."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We are in direct contact with a number of Irish citizens currently in Australia, through the Irish embassy in Canberra and the consulate general in Sydney.

"This is a rapidly evolving situation and consular officials are following up with Irish citizens providing all possible advice and support in relation to those seeking to repatriate to Ireland."
Illustrative image (Photo: http://www.cpcs.vn/)

This is the 8th edition of the report, ranking the countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves. It analyses the countries on GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption, reported VNA.





The special focus of the World Happiness Report 2020 was on the environment for happiness, which emphasizes more specifically on social, urban and natural environments for happiness.

Finland tops the ranking, closely followed by Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland.

Meanwhile, the least happy countries are Afghanistan, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Tanzania, Botswana and Yemen.

Three new COVID-19 cases in Vietnam

On March 23rd, the Ministry of Health has confirmed three new COVID-19 cases in Ho Chi Minh city, raising the total Vietnam to 121 so far.

Samples were taken from each of the patients and were later confirmed as positive tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute.

The 119th patient is a 29-year-old male from the United States who resides in Binh Thanh district of Ho Chi Minh city. The man regularly travelled between Vietnam and other neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Thailand from March 1st to 15th.

He eventually returned to Vietnam on March 15th and began to display signs of a fever, a cough, and a sore throat on March 19th before later being admitted to FV Hospital for quarantine and treatment.



Health workers take samples of a person suspected of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 (Photo: VNA)

The 120th patient, 27-year-old male Canadian national, residing in district 2. He works locally as a foreign language teacher and had recently come into close contact with the 91st patient.

He was transferred to Cu Chi field hospital to be quarantined and receive treatment after initially displaying symptoms of fever and dry cough on March 21st.

The 121st patient is a 58-year-old male Vietnamese national who lives in Tan Binh district. The patient and his wife had been travelling to the country from New York in the US, beginning their journey on March 18th by taking ANA airlines flight NH831 which transited at Narita airport in Japan before landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on March 19th.

Upon arrival in the southern city, the patient and his wife were transferred to an isolation zone in Can Gio district. The following day on March 20th, the patient began to show clinical symptoms of the COVID-19, including a fever without coughing and shortness of breath. He was immediately placed in isolation under strict surveillance at the Can Gio District Health Center.

On the same day, the first free hand-washing station among the total 100 nationwide was placed at the Ly Thai To statue park in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, as part of the anti-COVID-19 program For a healthy Vietnam.

People were encouraged to join the hand-washing dance Ghen Co Vy (Jealous Coronavirus) - which has been praised on the US magazine Billboard and the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, an American late-night talk and news satire television programme.

The programme aims to build 100 free hand-washing stations in public places such as bus stations and tourist sites nationwide.

On this occasion, hundreds of students from the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the central province of Thua Thien Hue have volunteered to join the nations efforts in the fight against COVID-19./.
SPRINGFIELD  Baystate Health announced Monday that it has received federal approval to use its Holyoke laboratory for testing of the coronavirus, putting the health system a step closer to being able to produce same-day results for the disease.

Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, announced the approval. He also said the turnaround time for test results at private laboratories has improved. Testing is currently being done at the Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp in Massachusetts.

The start date for the Holyoke lab test program is not yet known pending additional steps, a spokeswoman said.

Keroack also said Baystate Medical Center has set aside approximately 180 beds for coronavirus patients at its MassMutual wing at the Springfield hospital. The medical center has the ability to expand the number of beds as needed, he said.

We continue to plan for a surge in cases, Keroack said during a weekly update by local officials at City Hall. "We expect this to happen over the next couple of weeks.

Baystate has been using commercial laboratories to process tests confirming whether patients have COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The health system also intends to use its central laboratory on Whitney Avenue in Holyoke, Keroack said. The equipment and platform for testing was granted U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval on Friday.

Officials previously said that using Baystates own lab for testing could drop the turnaround time from several days to as little as four hours.

State and federal officials including U.S. Rep. Richard Neal are assisting the hospital to expand its access to needed supplies from manufacturers. Once that is accomplished, Baystate can plan drive-through centers across the service area for its patients, Keroack said.

Meanwhile, the entire MassMutual wing at Baystate Medical Center  30 intensive care unit beds and about 150 standard beds  is now devoted to coronavirus patients, Keroack said.

We are expecting that we could collect up to 110 to 120 ICU beds and over 300 beds, so really over half the hospital being dedicated to COVID-19, possibly more, Keroack said.

Baystate Healths community hospitals may provide another 200 beds including some ICU beds, Keroack said.

As of Monday, there were 50 confirmed cases of coronavirus at Baystate. The number was listed as 39 cases on Sunday: with 22 of those cases listed as in-patients and the rest at home.

The plans were announced as Baystate Health revealed that the number of people it has confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus has reached 50.

The results of hundreds of more tests are pending, Keroack said.

There could also be field hospitals established in the state, but Keroack said he believes fixed hospital locations are more efficient given that we have hundreds and hundreds of beds that we can bring online in a hospital.

Keroack said Baystate Health is also very grateful for donations that are coming in of cash, protective equipment and many kinds of materials. Information on donations is available at https://www.baystatehealth.org/

Baystate Health has also been working with some local manufacturers to increase supplies of critical materials such as masks and viral sampling swabs.

Related Content:
Tahia Halim (1919-2003) is an Egyptian artist known for her expressionistic paintings of Sudan and Egypt. Her folkloric images of Egypt depict boats on the Nile, Sudanese women, and domestic life. Deeply influenced by ancient Egyptian aesthetics, Halims work merges expressionistic paint handling with her unique cultural identity. She was born on 9 September 1919 in Donkola, Sudan, where her father was posted through his professional engagement with the Palace. Her primary education in music, French and painting took place inside the Royal Palace in Cairo, where she was raised, as her father was the military laureate of King Fouad I of Egypt.

Between 1939-1941, Halim took drawing lessons at the atelier of the Syrian painter Youssef Trabulsi. In 1941-1943, she moved to the atelier of Elico Jerome, a Greek artist residing in Cairo, before joining the studio of Hamed Abdallah. Eventually, Halim and Abdallah were married in 1945. They were divorced in 1946 but remarried in 1949, moving to Paris, where Halim pursued formal studies at the Academie Julian between 1949 and 1951.

In 1960, she was one of the artists to be awarded a government stipend to dedicate themselves to art production. That year she won the gold medal at the Salon du Caire.

In 1962, she joined a collective trip to Nubia, initiated by then Minister of Culture Tharwat Okasha, to document life as it would never be again. The trip was a turning point in the life of the artist, as from then on, her devotion to Nubia would take over the majority of her paintings.

Her career spans four decades during which she came to be known as the pioneer of folk impressionism. A stylistically and ideologically independent artist, Halim makes up one third of the Golden Triangle of Egyptian woman artists with Inji Efflatoun and Gazbia Sirry. Until 1945, she produced works of an academic nature. From 1945 to 1949, she concentrated on the crowds of Egypt, and was highly influenced by her elder peer, the Egyptian painter Marguerite Nakhla. After her return from Paris, Halim began to tackle her Egyptian daily life, a phase that climaxed in the Nubian phase. Her signature style can be seen in the painting Hanan (Tenderness), exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1958, when she became the first female to win the Guggenheim Prize for it. The Guggenheim Museum later purchased the painting.

Following the Tripartite Aggression of 1956, Halim vowed to abandon any stylistic connotation deriving from the West. Instead, she created her own independent movement of legends and myths based on popular daily rituals as she simplified lines, suppressed the third dimension, stressed expressionism over realism, and used bold colours. Influenced by ancient Egyptian temple wall drawings and Coptic art, and characterized by a simple and poetic style, she established herself as one of the pioneers of the Modern Expressive Movement.

Halim received five state awards: the Golden Award from the Cairo Salon in 1960; the Ali Labib Gabr Prize in 1960; the State Encouragement Prize in 1968; the Medal of Arts and Sciences of the First Degree in 1968 and the Arts Award from the Higher Institute of Culture in 1995. She also took part in the Egyptian Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 1956, 1960 and 1970.

Halim passed away in 2003 in Cairo.

Her paintings are on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art in Cairo and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Military push a cart of food offering to people who stay in quarantine at the Military School of Hanoi Capital Command Son Tay District of Hanoi, March 19, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Vietnam will have more accommodation facilities used for quarantining, with priority given to foreigners under a decision approved by the prime minister.

At a government meeting Monday, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave the nod to expanding private quarantining services, allowing accommodation providers to offer space for quarantining and collect payment for the service. He also said that foreigners subject to Covid-19 quarantine will be given priority to stay in hotels and resorts if they want to.

So far, Vietnam has quarantined all people coming from areas hit by the novel coronavirus, which causes the Covid-19 disease, as also anyone whod come into close contact with them, at state-run facilities, including military schools and college dormitories.

During the two-week quarantine, all accommodation and dining services are offered free of charge. As this system gets overloaded, a proposal was made that those who want to stay in more private spaces and enjoy greater comfort should be put into hotels and asked to pay for the service.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said last week that 117 hotels, resorts and other lodging establishments had signed up to become either free or paid isolation zones for suspected Covid-19 patients, and some have agreed to provide discounts both on rooms and services.

No religious gatherings

The PM also ordered at the meeting that religious facilities across the country stop public gatherings as the Covid-19 pandemic rages worldwide.

"The next 10-15 days will decide whether Vietnam can win the fight against Covid-19 or not," the PM said. Apart from religious gatherings, he also ordered that all non-essential services are shut down. All local authorities should strictly abide by the order, he said.

Phuc also assigned the Ministry of Public Security and local authorities to "knock on every door" to identify everyone who had returned from abroad in the past two weeks for testing, classifying and quarantining.

Also Monday, the national steering committee for fighting Covid-19 had requested that all cities and provinces have to complete a list of all people that have entered Vietnam from abroad since March 8 as also those that had come into close contact with infected people, and submit it to the committee before Wednesdays noon.

Before the PMs order, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs last Friday requested religious institutes to suspend upcoming major events, which usually gather big crowds at churches, pagodas and temples every year, including the Easter festival in April and the Vesak festival in May.

The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam last Thursday had asked Buddhist followers not to gather in big crowds for traditional rituals during the Vesak.

Vietnam now has 645 Covid-19 suspects with symptoms like cough, fever and shortness of breath who have come from outbreak areas or have had direct contact with returnees from stricken areas. They are quarantined in hospitals and receiving treatment.

Besides quarantining, Vietnam has also placed many others under medical monitoring - those coming from virus-hit areas and those who'd come into contact with infected people but are asymptomatic. More than 52,700 people are subject to such monitoring.

The nation has recorded 123 infections, so far, with 10 fresh cases confirmed Monday.

Since March 6, 107 new cases have been added, of which 106 are under treatment. One patient recovered last week.

Many of the currently shops active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners visiting from the same regions.

Starting Sunday, Vietnam suspends entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed over 16,500 people, spreading to 195 countries and territories thus far.
A blast of cooler temperatures over much of Australia's east coast have made working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak more bearable.

Temperatures plummeted to below 10C in Melbourne and Hobart on Tuesday morning before the weather clears up for a final blast of warm temperatures this weekend.

Recent rain in outback South Australia is on the move with Sydney forecast to get a soaking over the next few days, along with the Northern Territory.

More rain is on the way for Sydney following a drenching earlier this month

Hobart woke up to a chilly 6.1C on Tuesday while a low of 8.5C in Melbourne was almost five degrees lower than the average overnight temperature for March.

Melbourne will reach a maximum of 18C later on Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day.

'We've had a few days of 18C or below, which is unusual,' Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Keris Arnt told Daily Mail Australia.

'The extended period of cooler weather will end later this week when a hot air mass comes through, bringing warmer conditions.'

Extreme weather meteorologist Dean Sgarbossa added: 'We're currently seeing temperatures in the southern parts of Australia up to 6C below average, which will warm up to above average temperatures'

Part of Australia's southern states are experiencing temperatures 2-6C below average, according to Bureau of Meteorology forecasters. Pictured is Melbourne

Melbourne will reach a high of 28C on Saturday while Hobart will enjoy a warm 27C- the same maximum for Brisbane.

It will even warmer in Adelaide, where the mercury is forecast to soar above 30C.

The recent ray of warm sunshine and 30C plus temperatures has come to an end for Sydney with rain forecast every day until Sunday.

Temperatures will remain in the mid 20s before a high of 26C forecast for Sunday.

'There will be a few showers on Tuesday before more widespread rain on Wednesday and Thursday as a trough moves through the state,' forecaster Helen Reid told Daily Mail Australia.

'We haven't had any rain for a week so it will be more concentrated on Wednesday.'

The weather will warm up in Melbourne this weekend where beaches such as St Kilda (pictured) are still open, unlike Sydney

Parts of NSW north-east will see heavier falls over the next few days, including possible storm and hail activity.

'Elevated rain from South Australia will make its way to NSW, where large part of the north-west could see thunderstorms,' Mr Sgarbossa told Daily Mail Australia.

'There will be increased showers and storms in the Northern Territory until Thursday, where there could be some localised flooding.'

Elsewhere around Australia, temperatures will remain in the low to mid 20s in Canberra while over in the west, Perth will soar to 37C before a 12C plummet by the weekend.

Sydneysiders should stay inside on Wednesday with its wettest day in over a week
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 18:43:33|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese expert Tuesday urged schools in low-risk areas to take necessary measures for epidemic prevention after they reopen, mainly monitoring body temperatures and symptoms of students and teachers.

Detections of abnormal body temperatures and symptoms of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) should be reported to health authorities immediately, said Wu Zunyou, a researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference.

However, the risk of students and teachers in these areas getting infected with the virus is very low given that there is no virus in the environment, and they have been quarantined at home for a long time, Wu added.
NEW YORK, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExlService Holdings, Inc. (EXLS), a leading operations management and analytics company, today announced that it is withdrawing the Companys 2020 annual guidance. Several of the Companys operation centers have been and may continue to be affected by local restrictions on facilities access. EXL has implemented business continuity measures, such as remote working, where applicable to continue operations and is partnering closely with clients to provide required support to their businesses.



Until there is clarity on the duration and severity of the COVID-19 situation, EXL is withdrawing its 2020 annual guidance. At this time, the impact of COVID-19 on future revenues, profitability and our overall business cannot be accurately assessed. EXL intends to reassess its annual guidance in April and hopes to have better clarity for 2020 when the Company releases its first quarter results.

The Company continues to maintain a strong cash and liquidity position. As of the end of December 31, 2019, the Company had a net positive cash position of $71.5 million with cash and short term investments of $321.4 million and total borrowings of $249.9 million. Since December 31, 2019, there have been no significant changes to the Companys net cash position.

About ExlService Holdings, Inc.

EXL (EXLS) is a leading operations management and analytics company that helps our clients build and grow sustainable businesses. By orchestrating our domain expertise, data, analytics and digital technology, we look deeper to design and manage agile, customer-centric operating models to improve global operations, drive profitability, enhance customer satisfaction, increase data-driven insights, and manage risk and compliance. Headquartered in New York, EXL has more than 31,700 professionals in locations throughout the United States, the UK, Europe, India, the Philippines, Colombia, Australia and South Africa. EXL serves multiple industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, utilities, travel, transportation and logistics, media and retail, among others. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.

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Continuing Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to EXL's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond EXLs control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning EXLs possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of its business strategy. These statements may include words such as may, will, should, believe, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, estimate or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of management's experience in the industry as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. You should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although EXL believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect EXLs actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors, which include our ability to successfully close and integrate strategic acquisitions, ability to respond to and manage emerging public health crises, including the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), are discussed in more detail in EXLs filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including EXLs Annual Report on Form 10-K. These risks could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by forward-looking statements in this release. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect EXL. EXL has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.
The arrests were made after 5 pm when the lockdown came into effect, they said, adding that those held will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant

Kolkata: Police arrested 255 people in Kolkata on Monday evening for violating the restrictions imposed in the metropolis in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

The arrests were made after 5 pm when the lockdown came into effect, they said, adding that those held will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant.

Naka checkings are underway at every important junction of the city, officials said.

The lockdown, which will continue till 27 March, was clamped to prevent further spread of the virus.

Kolkata's police commissioner Anuj Sharma urged the people to stay at home and cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order.

"I appeal to all citizens to Stay Home and cooperate with the administration. Kolkata Police will continue the drive against violators", he tweeted.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also appealed to the people to follow the guidelines set by the government and not to come out of their homes unless there is an emergency.

She also asked them to cooperate with the government to fight the menace. In West Bengal, a person has died and eight COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment.
Bengaluru, March 24 : Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision on 21-day lockdown across the country from Wednesday as need of the hour to fight coronavirus, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Tuesday said the state government would ensure its enforcement.

"Modi's clarion call to the people to stay at home for 21 days from March 24 to April 14 is to protect their life from the Coronavirus pandemic," said Yediyurappa in a statement after the Prime Minister's nationwide address in Hindi on the reasons for the unprecedented three-week lockdown.

Noting that Modi had no alternative to protect the people from the COVID-19 spread, Yediyurappa said the failure of many advanced nations in tackling the dreadful communicable diseases forced him to resort to such a long clampdown for minimizing its collateral damage.

"As Chief Minister, I assure the 6.5-crore Kannadigas, especially the poor to maintain the supply of all essential commodities for living and healthcare to contain the infection," asserted Yediyurappa.

Admitting that it would be a challenge for the people to remain indoors for such a long period, as the state has been under partial and complete lockdown since March 14 till March 31, the Chief Minister urged the people abide by Modi's diktat and not risk their life.

"I assure the people that, our government will take care of them during this hour of crisis," added Yediyurappa.

The Chief Minister also warned hoarders and black-marketers of stringent action if they exploited the situation and the people's desperation to create shortage of daily needs and fuel their prices.
Texas Gov Greg Abbott (pictured on Wednesday) has barred 'any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of a mother' amid the coronavirus outbreak

Texas Gov Greg Abbott has announced a move to ban most abortions in the state during the coronavirus outbreak, declaring they don't qualify as essential surgeries.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that the order issued over the weekend by Abbott barred 'any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.'

Failure to comply with the order can result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time, Paxton said.

'No one is exempt from the governors executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers,' Paxton said.

'Those who violate the governor's order will be met with the full force of the law.'

The issue also has also flared in Ohio, where abortion clinics received letters Friday from Republican Attorney General Dave Yost ordering them to cease all 'non-essential' surgical abortions.

Yost wrote that the procedures violate a March 17 order issued by the state health director.

However, representatives of Ohio clinics said that they were in compliance with the health director's order and planned to continue providing abortions.

Amid the moves by Ohio and Texas, a coalition of anti-abortion groups urged its allies across the nation to ask governors to ban most abortions on the grounds they were not essential.

Failure to comply with the order can result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time, officials said. It's unclear if clinics like Planned Parenthood (file image, in Houston) will remain in operation amid the outbreak

'If abortion is a "choice" then abortion is an elective procedure,' said Mark Harrington, president of the anti-abortion group Created Equal.

Abortion-rights leaders nationwide decried the tactic, saying it was an affront to women grappling with difficult decisions amid the disruptions of the pandemic.

'Abortion is time-sensitive, essential health care,' said Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the National Abortion Federation.

'Women deserve better than a craven exploitation of a health care crisis in furtherance of an anti-abortion agenda.'

In Ohio, abortion clinics planned to remain in operation.

Jennifer Branch, an attorney for the Womens Med Center of Dayton, said the clinic had already taken steps to minimize the use of personal protective equipment - one of the issues raised in the state's order.

The CEOs of two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Ohio are said their clinics also were in compliance, having cut back on the use of equipment that is in short supply.

Cleveland-based Preterm, the busiest abortion clinic in Ohio, is not open on Mondays but said it was continuing to take appointments for later in the week.

Officials in Ohio are taking steps aimed at banning most abortions during this phase of the coronavirus outbreak. Cleveland-based Preterm (above), the busiest abortion clinic in Ohio, is not open on Mondays but said it was continuing to take appointments for later in the week

Executive Director Chrisse France talks about Preterm in the procedure room in Cleveland

Bethany McCorkle, a spokesman for Yost, said the orders sent to three abortion clinic operators weren't politically motivated, but rather, were due to complaints from the public. She said they were similar to orders sent to a urology practice.

In Texas, Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order from Abbott, but it was hailed by anti-abortion activists.

'The abortion industry has been consuming and hoarding medical supplies that are in desperate need around the state including masks, gloves, and other protective gear for medical professionals,' said Texas Right to Life.

Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, called on abortion clinics nationwide to temporarily halt abortion services.

'Abortion clinics conducting business as usual in the presence of a life-threatening disease shows just how callous pro-abortion groups and abortionists are to protecting life at any stage,' said Tobias.

Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, director of state media campaigns for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Planned Parenthood clinics were intend on remaining in operation.

'While public health providers work together in our communities to care for patients whose health care cant wait, some anti-abortion activists are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to push their ideological agenda,' she said. 'This is not a time to play politics.'

There were no immediate reports of other states planning to target abortion clinics with restrictions related to COVID-19, even in Republican-governed states that have been active in passing anti-abortion legislation in recent years.

In Idaho, the governor's office said the state 'has not mandated providers stop procedures of any type. Health systems are determining what procedures are considered elective internally'.

The executive director of Georgia Right to Life, Zemmie Fleck, said she has not heard of any plans by Georgia Gov Brian Kemp to curtail abortions because of the coronavirus. But she suggested such a step would be warranted.

It's unclear if Mississippi's governor will issue a similar order. Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic escorts look for abortion opponents that protest daily at Mississippi's only state licensed abortion facility on Monday

'Already we see people, even people that I know personally, whose elective surgeries have been postponed due to this pandemic,' she said in a phone interview. 'I would say the same should apply to the abortion industry as well.'

Diane Derzis, owner of the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, told The Associated Press that the clinic had not been told by the state to stop providing the procedure.

'It is our contention that we are an essential service,' Derzis said by phone from Alabama, where she lives.

A spokeswoman for Mississippi Gov Tate Reeves did not immediately respond to a question from the AP on Monday about whether he will order a halt to abortions.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan says Democratic Gov Gretchen Whitmer's order, issued Friday, to prohibit elective procedures does not extend to abortions. Whitmer supports abortion rights.

Similarly, in North Carolina, health department spokeswoman Sarah Peel said abortion clinics would not be covered by a directive asking hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to suspend all elective and non-urgent procedures and surgeries.

These medical procedures are defined as those that would not cause harm to the patient if put off for at least four weeks, a letter to hospitals says.

So surgical abortions are 'not something that would need to be postponed,' said Peel.

Her department is in the administration of Democratic Gov Roy Cooper, who supports abortion rights.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days in an unprecedented drastic measure to try halt the spread of the pandemic shortly after which the Centre said all road, rail and air services will remain suspended during this period.

COVID-19 has claimed 11 lives in the country with authorities reporting one death each in Delhi--the second in the national capital--and Maharashtra on Tuesday and over 500 persons being afflicted by the viral infection. Fears are also mounting that more could be hit as the global coronavirus toll inches towards 17,000.

In his second address to the nation in less than a week on the growing concerns over COVID-19, Modi said the lockdown will be in force from Tuesday midnight, as he announced a Central allocation of Rs 15,000 crore to strengthen the health infrastructure to tackle the disease.

Fears over the spread of the disease have already led the governments in the states and union territories to clamp a lockdown till March 31the date till which road, rail and air services have been suspended. However, freight movement will continue to carry essential commodities across the country, officials said.

According to 6-page guidelines released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, fair price shops and those dealing with food, groceries, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish and animal fodder will remain open. The guidelines also stipulated that making false claim to get any relief during lockdown may result in imprisonment up to two years.

"To save India, to save every Indian, there will be a complete ban on people from stepping outside their houses from 12 midnight today," he said, and showed a poster saying corona means 'Koi Road Par Na Nikle' (No one should come out on roads).

"Lockdown is being imposed on every state, union territory, district, village, mohalla and street.

The lockdown will be like curfew' and more stringent than the 'janta curfew', which was observed on Sunday where millions across the country stayed indoors.

Modi folded his hands a few times to emphasise his request to citizens to adhere to his call, saying it is applicable to everyone from the prime minister to a citizen in a village.

"If we don't handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family will go backwards by 21 years," he said, asserting that the tough measure is necessary for a decisive battle against the coronavirus outbreak. One step outside can make way for coronavirus into your house.

Acknowledging that the decision will have an economic cost, Modi said saving people's lives is of the paramount interest to his government.

He also made a vigorous push for enforcing social distancing as the only way to tackle the coronavirus amid incidents of people violating the lockdown conditions in several parts of the country.

Experts and the experience of countries fighting the deadly virus make it clear that the social distancing is the only way to combat the disease, he asserted.

Social distancing not only for infected but for every citizen including the prime minister.

I have full faith that we will emerge victorious from this challenge, he said, as he asked people to take care of themselves and their family.

Addressing fears that there could be a shortage of essential commodities and medicines, the prime minister said there is absolutely no need to panic. Centre and states will work together to ensure availability of essential commodities, medicines...

Modi also urged people not to indulge in panic buying, saying that by converging around shops, they are risking the spread of COVID-19. The remarks come against the backdrop of people rushing to provision shops to make mass purchases.

In an interaction with senior journalists from the print media via video links earlier in the day, Modi said citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

He also said it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up to stop the pandemic in its march.

As 32 states and union territories imposed complete lockdown till March 31, the Centre asked them to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders.

Cases were booked against hundreds of people in different parts of the country including in Delhi for violating prohibitory orders. In Hyderabad, police said it had to resort to mild caning against the violators.

With the lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis, according to state officials. The western state, with 107 cases, has accounted for the highest number of this viral infections followed by Kerala(91).

The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further.

The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated by the Union Health ministry on Tuesday evening, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 519, including 470 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals.

The latest death in Mumbai has not been taken into account by the health ministry. However, the ministry reported a second death in Delhi.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

Forty people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

Authorities have also taken a serious view of several people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely critical to contain the spread of the disease.

A top functionary of the central government called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been told that public gatherings could lead to escalation of the prevailing situation.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TDT | Manama

The total number of active cases of people infected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bahrain reached 211 late last night. According to the Ministry of Health website, from the active cases, 208 were stable while three were critical.

The number of discharged patients also reached 164, with two deaths caused by the pandemic. The Ministry of Health said on its official account on Twitter that some of the cases that emerged yesterday were from people arriving in Bahrain from abroad, while others were from individuals who had had previous contact with people already infected with the virus.
Members of 115th Regional Support Group of the California National Guard load boxes with food at the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, March 21, 2020. Food banks have been hit hard by a shortage of volunteers due to the mandatory stay-at-home order caused by the coronavirus.
Ive become a therapist, said Terence Hanley, whose hospitality accounting firm in Brooklyn serves more than 50 restaurants. Weekends mean nothing now.

Most chefs and restaurateurs ask him about the same few issues. The number one concern is, can I take care of my people? Mr. Hanley said. And unfortunately, the answer is, no, you cant. That was the first few horrible days. A couple of people are trying to give it a go with takeout and delivery with limited success, or no success at all.

Jasmine Moy, an attorney in Manhattan who specializes in hospitality law, said in an email that she, too, had received a barrage of inquiries about layoffs. Her clients also had questions about paid sick leave and visas for workers from other countries.

Fielding these calls filled some of the time that used to be taken up in negotiating new restaurant deals. Last week and the week before, she said, about half of those deals basically died on the spot.

Ms. Moy said that once the urgent employee issues had been handled, she expected to spend the next few months in one of two ways. For restaurants that are reopening, she said, she will try to get rent abatements or deferrals. For the restaurants that go out of business for good, her job will be the assignment of lease and sale of assets, she said.

I dont have any idea at this point how many will fall into that bucket, Ms. Moy added. But hopefully they will be few and far between.
The idea of going to college or university used to mean the guarantee of a high-paying job or a thriving business career. It was the road to success, but getting admitted to college brings about worries of debt and uncertain employment today. However, there are financial benefits, as well.

Here are a few:



You Will Increase the Opportunities for Founding a Successful Business



The best business education can be obtained in America. USA is the center of origin and development of the MBA system. The Master of Business Administration degree, so prestigious today, was first awarded to graduates of Dartmouth College in 1901. The United States is at the forefront of advanced business management. It is not surprising that the American MBA is highly regarded by employers around the world and gives the graduate the full right to rely on an international career.



In the United States, there are more than 1,200 educational institutions offering business training services. These are universities, colleges and private schools.

Your Tax Returns Will Be Higher!

Many countries offer huge tax incentives for students and the parents of students putting their kids through school. There is the ability to deduct a lot of things. Examples include deducting textbooks, tuition, fees, and other expenses. In many cases, students might be paying out a lot for tuition, but they also get the benefit of great tax returns for writing an essay or two, especially if theyre working.

You Increase Your Chances of Higher Pay

Yes, its true that college student graduates dont make as much money as they once did and its also true that even university students have felt the despair of difficult job searches, but this is a very one-sided aspect of a college education.

What many people choose to ignore in these news samples, however, is that study after study shows that those with a college degree tend to have a much higher chance of getting employment. For proof, look to any persuasive essay on Is college worth it? online for examples. Not only that, but their chances of that job having a higher wage also increases considerably with post-secondary education.

You Are More Likely to Get a House

There are so many people out there who dream of having a house and a car when they grow up. This lofty goal is usually out of sight now for many who now find that the market for houses in many cities is so expensive that they would never be able to afford one.

Such is the world that we live in, but people with a university or college degree are the most likely to be able to afford a house. Indeed, its that increased salary that places it within their grasp.

You Are More Likely to Have a Pension and Benefits

The aggressive anti-union sentiment in recent years has resulted in the erosion of many pension plans across North America. The main casualty of many of these lost pensions is the average, blue-collar worker, meaning that lower pay now means no pension support.

Yes, people in this situation can save for their own retirement, but jobs with pensions are considered precious by many. Having a college education affords access to higher-paying jobs that have better benefits, including programs that allow people to pay into a pension.

These same jobs also offer access to enhanced benefits like medical, dental, and prescription coverage.

As a result, the advantages of going to college are clear: people have a chance at a better job, a better retirement, better living accommodations, and a better life.
The Hudson County jail and county lockups across the state will begin releasing low-risk inmates Tuesday to halt the spread of coronavirus, the state Supreme Court said in a consent order Sunday night.

Two inmates at the Kearny facility tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, forcing the jail into a modified lockdown that requires those in custody to remain in their cells nearly all day, county spokesman Jim Kennelly said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees being held at the jail also want to be released because of the coronavirus crisis and they began a hunger strike to pressure authorities.

Attorneys from The Legal Aid Society have not had contact with them since Friday and could not confirm Monday if the detainees are still going without food, said Allison Wilkinson, an attorney with the organizations immigration law unit.

The Hudson County jail currently has about 650 inmates and 280 ICE detainees, Kennelly said.

Inmates and jail employees in multiple states have contracted coronavirus, including at least 38 in the New York City jails. New Jersey is the first state to begin releasing inmates en masse because of the pandemic.

We are in uncharted waters, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.

The state Office of the Public Defender had been pushing for the release of inmates and considers the Supreme Courts consent order a success for those facing county jail sentences, said spokesperson Jennifer Sellitti.

The difference between inmates in the county jail and people who are on the outside is their ability to create conditions in which they wont contract the virus, she said. People in prisons and in jails are at the mercy of the institution.

The state Attorney Generals Office did not respond to requests for the number of Hudson County inmates eligible for release, but Sellitti said there should be close to 1,000 released from 21 county jails statewide.

Two categories of county jail inmates will be released by Tuesday at 6 a.m.: those who were convicted in municipal court and those serving as a condition of probation.

Other inmates deemed low-risk, such as an individual sentenced for a fourth-degree crime, will be released by Thursday at noon.

Attorneys are also petitioning for the release of vulnerable individuals awaiting trial, particularly those facing charges on third- and fourth-degree offenses, Sellitti said. Some lawyers have already found success in getting such detainees released, she said.

What were trying to do is get as many people as possible who dont need to be in jail out of jail as quickly as possible, Sellitti said.

The inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 started complaining of coughing and fevers on March 18. Authorities having been taking the temperature of everyone in the jail daily.

Because of the positive cases, the jail is now undergoing a 14-day modified lockdown, in which inmates only leave their cells for essential reasons such as showers, Kennelly said. The jail plans to provide them with digital tablets so that they can communicate with family, friends and attorneys.

If the state determines that some should be released, the jail will be able to provide information it has collected while monitoring their health.

There will be decisions made by the state government as to who should be released and well work with the state to do whats appropriate, Kennelly said.

The two individuals confirmed to have coronavirus are in isolated units and are being supervised by medical staff, he said. If their symptoms worsen, they will be treated outside of the jail, he said.

Two ICE detainees were also tested last week for the coronavirus, but their tests came back negative, Kennelly said. On March 4 and March 6 the detainees had contact with legal aid attorneys, who later developed coronavirus symptoms.

Attorneys are filing for the release of individual ICE clients, said Wilkinson of the Legal Aid Society.

Were very concerned about clients because we have multiple people who are also medically vulnerable, she said.

A mass release of ICE detainees similar to what is happening among New Jersey inmates would have to be initiated federally. Wilkson said she is not optimistic that such an action will happen.

That decisions predicated on logic, and were not seeing logic out of this administrations decisions at this point, she said.
BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has sent a team of medical experts to Cambodia to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang announced Monday.

The seven-member team, organized by the National Health Commission, consists of experts selected by the Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, arrived in Phnom Penh Monday morning.

The Chinese side has also donated a batch of anti-epidemic materials to Cambodia, including test kits, N95 protective masks, surgical masks, isolation gowns and medical protective suits, Geng said at a press briefing.

The Cambodian side has expressed firm confidence and support for China to win the battle against the epidemic and the country's people from all walks of life also offered donations and epidemic prevention materials to China since the outbreak, Geng said.

Currently, the Cambodian side is fighting hard against the epidemic, Geng said. "The Chinese side is sure to make its utmost effort to provide comprehensive assistance to Cambodia."

"This is not only a reflection of the special China-Cambodia friendship, but also what we should do as a community with a shared future and iron-clad friends," Geng said.

He said China will continue to work with Cambodia to contain the epidemic and jointly make contribution to the regional public health security.
ALBANY  New York is relying on local law enforcement to ensure compliance with the latest restrictions on workforce capacity and gatherings enacted by the state to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week ordered all non-essential businesses to close or have all of their employees work from home, forcing some employers to shutter and others to get creative with how they continue their operations. But ensuring that these restrictions are followed is largely left in the hands of local law enforcement and private citizens bringing any issues of non-compliance forward.

The New York Department of State said multiple state agencies, including the Health Department and State Police, are assisting local authorities on enforcing the governors executive orders.

We are coordinating with multiple agencies that are receiving, reviewing, and referring complaints against entities that fail to comply with these orders, a Department of State spokesperson said in an email. Under Cuomo's recent executive order, "non-compliant businesses and other entities are subject to a violation of Public Health Law, pursuant to the penalties provided in Section 12-B.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

GE executive, philanthropist Walter Robb dies of COVID-19

Albany County Executive 'begging' feds for more tests, supplies to combat COVID-19

NYS parks fill up as last of non-essential businesses close

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.

That section allows for additional fines and charges to be imposed to non-compliant businesses. Businesses could also lose their occupational licenses; those permitted to sell alcohol could face fines up to $10,000 and/or the loss of their license with the State Liquor Authority if they dont comply.

Restrictions on workforce capacity and New Yorkers overall mobility have changed rapidly, and businesses can contest their designation as non-essential.

Whether any entities have been penalized so far, however, is unclear. The department did not say whether any businesses have violated the orders, and local authorities say most are in compliance  but admitted enforcement is not a top priority.

Fortunately in Fulton County, most people have been abiding by the governors recommendations, said county Sheriff Richard Giardino. We are not going to be going door to door to see if people are in houses. We have a lot more important things to deal with.

Richard Azzopardi, Cuomos senior advisor, said hes seen a very high level of compliance thus far.

People understand what this is, he said. People understand the seriousness, by and large.

The Department of State has been providing guidance and assistance to local governments on how to handle the Executive Orders, the most restrictive of which took effect Sunday at 8 p.m. The agency's spokeswoman said it is "too early to provide exact figures of enforcement activities."

In Schenectady, the city police department does checks on local businesses daily, and sometimes multiple times a day, said Officer Matt Dearing, a police spokesman.

He was unsure Monday if any had been found to be non-compliant, or if owners were issued fines.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

In Albany, police spokesman Officer Steve Smith said the force is working with the county Department of Health to make sure everyone is in compliance.

There havent been any issues, he said. We just continue to encourage everyone to comply, stay at home if able  and in the event they need the police, fire, or emergency medical services, to please make sure they let us know if theyre experiencing any flu-like symptoms.

Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said their focus during the pandemic  which has stricken 122 county residents so far  is on the cases themselves and stressing to the community the importance of following the restrictions.

Our local health department is working 24/7 in response to contact tracing and investigations, she said. Any questions on how the enforcement should be occurring should be directed to the state.

Rensselaer County, too, is focusing on educating the public about the pandemic.

"Right now, our focus in Rensselaer County is protecting the health and safety while fighting the coronavirus outbreak," county spokesman Rich Crist said. "We would first work to educate any businesses or organizations involved."

Crist said if there are issues of compliance, the county could respond, but "to date, we have seen solid cooperation and compliance."

Cuomo visited Brooklyns Prospect Park over the weekend hoping to clamp down on large gatherings at parks. The governor has ordered New York City to come up with a plan to keep defiant city residents from congregating amid the health crisis.

State Attorney General Letitia James encouraged employees to file complaints if they believe their employer is violating labor laws or directives issued by Cuomo in response to the pandemic.

If you believe an employer is violating any laws or recently issued directives, contact the attorney generals office at 212-416-8700, or email Labor.Bureau@ag.ny.gov.
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Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison on March 17, 2020, after nearly three years in jail, and flown to Berlin, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. He served half of his six-year sentence on charges that Azerbaijani authorities brought in retaliation for his investigative reporting, as CPJ research shows.

Speaking to CPJ over the phone from Berlin, Mukhtarli talked about his release, conditions in Azerbaijans prisonsincluding amid the coronavirus outbreakand his plans for the future. His replies have been edited for length and clarity.

Afgan, we were very happy to learn that you had been set free and allowed to leave Azerbaijan. When did you first learn about your upcoming release?

I didnt know about the court hearing on March 17 until I was brought to the courtroom. My lawyers did not know about it. The hearing lasted for about 15 minutes which means everything was prepared in advance. They only read the verdict. My release on that day [March 17] came as a surprise although I had known they would release me because I was summoned to a chat with prison administration several times in the past five months. They told me I could be released only if I did not stay in Azerbaijan.

Do you know the reason behind their decision to let you go?

There has been a lot of international pressure on the authorities in Azerbaijan about my case. I know you [at CPJ] and other press freedom organizations were defending me and calling for my release. I am very grateful. I also know that members of the European Parliament and [Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights] Dunja Mijatovic called for my release. [Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of CoE Sunna] Aevarsdottir came to Azerbaijan [in September 2019]. German government was involved. So I think it was the help from many different parties that got me free. And I want to thank everybody.

We know that there are several other journalists still imprisoned for their work in Azerbaijan. What was it like to be a political prisoner in Azerbaijani jail? How did the prison guards and administration treat you?

I cannot say that the treatment I got from the prison guards was very bad, they didnt treat me differently from other inmates. But it is the prison conditions in general that I am worried about. There are no books allowed, no visitations except for close family. Items of personal hygiene can be brought only by family.

It means that if any inmate is infected with coronavirus, others can hardly be spared. Is that correct? [Editors note: Azerbaijan reported the first death from coronavirus on March 12, and a quarantine was introduced on March 24.]

Absolutely. Imagine 170 people in close proximity with each other in the same room. The prison used to be an old barrack that was turned into jail. Inmates sleep on bunk beds that are placed close to each other. The room is packed. There is no hot water. We showered in lukewarm water once a week. No soaps. The prison food is so bad we had to rely on our families to deliver food. Now, the prisons are under quarantine. It means family visits and package deliveries have been suspended indefinitely. That, in turn, means neither soaps nor medicine or food can be brought in. If anybody catches a coronavirus, every prisoner will have it. And nobody will care to provide them with proper medical care. I am afraid inmates are facing death if the epidemic makes its way to prisons. Even if there are no cases of coronavirus in prison, the inmates will start dying of starvation very soon. The situation is extremely hard.

Afgan, now that you are out of harms way, have you thought about what you want to do next?

I was a journalist and I will continue being a journalist. I will continue investigative reporting, looking into corruption in Azerbaijan and reporting for Azerbaijani media.

Thank you for talking to me. Good luck.

CPJs safety advisory for journalists covering the coronavirus outbreak is available here in English and more than a dozen other languages. Additional CPJ coverage of the coronavirus, journalist safety, and press freedom can be found here.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said due to Curfew, a number of people were not able to get food, and urged the public to send such people to the nearest shelters of Delhi Government, where food was arranged.

In a tweet in Hindi, he shared the list and address of 234 shelters across the city and also their map locations for people to trace the nearest shelter.

"I have come to know that some people are not getting food due to curfew. If you are in contact with someone who is looking for food and support, then send them to the nearest Shelter of Delhi Government, food has been arranged there," Kejriwal said.

Delhi has been under lockdown since Monday as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus.
In the midst of the countrywide panic and pandemonium over coronavirus, social media platforms have been grappling with a problem of their own. A sharp spike in fake newsposts on how the prime ministers call to applaud those at the frontlines of the fight back was timed so as to purify the air and improve blood circulation were shared widely.

Ditto for all news about how Indians are leading the fight against the virus with ayurvedic and homeopathic cures and for conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus. The industry of fakes is bustling even as everything ...
Officials in the city of Oak Ridge North, which draws more than 70 percent its municipal revenue from sales taxes from dozens from businesses along the Interstate 45 north frontage road, are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely.

The city council on Monday night extended a local declaration of disaster another 30 days during a special meeting. The extension comes less than a week after Mayor Paul Bond signed a temporary week-long declaration in conjunction with Montgomery County and other area communities.

Heather Neeley, the Oak Ridge North city manager whose has officially been on the job less than six months after a stint as interim manager, said while she has more than a dozen years of city service in other roles and jobs, being the top leader at the city  which employs 37 people between its police department, city hall staff, water department and other workers  during a once-in-a-lifetime crisis has been a challenge, but she is staying focused and positive as the novel coronavirus pandemic morphs by the day.

About 80 percent of our budget is made up of sales tax revenue. That is kind of the lifeblood of the city, so it will have an impact on our overall budget. Typically, from 70 to 80 percent of our budget is sales tax, Neeley said. We go through a third party where we see our sales tax each quarter. We wont know what impact this will all have until we see a downward fall and the COVID cases begin to level off. Any extraneous training or certificates for business (we had planned), weve put on hold for now to protect out budget.

The city has closed its municipal complex to the public, with staff still working on-site as of March 23 accepting needed documents and payments either electronically online or via an outdoor drop box, Neeley said. The city will delay the opening of its municipal swimming pool and has been cleaning and disinfecting facilities and equipment regularly.

Up until Friday (March 20), we had really been running business as usual with the exception of closing down our parks and canceling our pavilion rental (reservations) because of the Montgomery County order, Neeley said. The (original) order (of a local disaster) the mayor signed gave us a seven-day (declaration). We have about 37 employees; 17 in the police department, they are in a separate building. There are about 10 of us in the administration and another eight or nine in public works.

Neeley said while Oak Ridge North police officers have access to face masks and gloves, the department is changing how it responds to some incident calls in order to maintain proper safety for the departments staff.

Typically, the police are the first on medical calls. What they have started doing is letting EMTs to go to medical calls first. Anything that is respiratory or COVID-19 related, they let the EMTs get their first, she added.

Oak Ridge North is one of few local communities to provide water services to their residents as a city service, as The Woodlands is a coordination of more than 10 municipal utility districts working under the umbrella of Woodlands Water. Like what has happened elsewhere, Oak Ridge North will be offering billing relief for the time being as well as a stoppage of disconnections for non-payment of bills, Neeley noted.

Our (water) guys are working every day right now, but that could change if Montgomery County or the state does any sort of shelter in place in the future, Neeley said of the citys water works team.

In regards to morale, Neeley said the city staff and council  which has a more close-knit feel than other regional communities  has been doing OK despite the unusual nature of the times. Many staff and elected officials have worked together for decades in various roles and the city tends to promote from within to fill leadership roles.

As anywhere, it is so uncertain. That uncertainty can bring some angst. We have a few people with childcare issues working from home, Neeley added. The rest of the staff is working. Nobody is not wanting to come in for fear something may happen. We are all taking precautions.

Neeley is one of two women leading small local cities in the county as a city administrator or manager. She and Shenandoahs Kathie Reyer have been promoted to the top leadership roles at their respective 3,000-resident cities on each side of I-45 in the past several years. Both women had extensive experience with their respective cities for years before nabbing the manager roles they hold.

It is obviously challenging. It is interesting to step into a role (officially) with something like this happening three months later. A lot of us have prepared for things like hurricanes, those are each unique but they follow a pattern. This (COVID-19) is really unprecedented. We have a great (city) council which helps me greatly, Neeley said, referring to her shedding her interim designation when she was officially promoted. It has been able to be business as usual; weve all been able to continue our work. It is certainly interesting to step into a role and then be faced with a pandemic.

The city as a whole has rallied together in a difficult time, Neeley added, noting that the population of the city is older than other nearby communities and those vulnerable citizens have been helped by others in the community. Local businesses and restaurants are also helping as they can, with several culinary favorites doing to-go orders throughout the pandemic.

It is really nice to have a small community when something like this happens, she said. We have all rallied together. As bad as it is, it is nice to see to see those small moments (of community camaraderie).

jeff.forward@chron.com
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A young female orangutan rescued as an infant when her mother was tortured and killed has given birth to a baby of her own - after being returned to the wild.

Orangutan Peni was just three years old when she and her mother strayed into the remote village of Penimaran in West Borneo in 2010 after being driven from their habitat by palm oil plantation developers.

Villagers pelted the mother and baby with rocks and sticks and threw Peni's mother into a pool of water, filling her lungs with liquid, before dragging the pair into a makeshift pen.

A team of rescuers rushed the duo to safety but Peni's mother died soon after and her traumatised infant, who gained her name from the village where she was found, was moved to charity International Animal Rescue (IAR)'s orangutan centre in Ketapang, West Borneo.

Orangutan Peni (right as a baby) was three when her mother (left) was killed in Borneo after they were both driven from their home

Adorable new images show the now-12-year-old adult orangutan relaxing in the trees with her own baby, who is named Tarak

Baby Tarak clings on to her mother Peni as they enjoy swinging through the trees together in Borneo. These are the first pictures of the adorable duo

Over the next four years she underwent intensive rehabilitation to overcome her trauma - entering the centre's 'forest school' to socialise with other young orangutans and re-learn natural wild behaviours like climbing and building nests.

And in September 2014, experts were so pleased with her independence she was able to be released into the protected forest of Mount Tarak in Nanga Tayap District, Ketapang.

Peni's rescuers monitored her progress over the years and were delighted when late last year they discovered she was pregnant - with adorable new images showing the now-12-year-old adult orangutan relaxing in the trees with her own baby, named Tarak.

Peni's rescuers monitored her progress over the years and were delighted when late last year they discovered she was pregnant. Peni is pictured with her baby named Tarak

Karmele Llano Sanchez, programme director of IAR Indonesia, said: 'There can be no better evidence of the effectiveness of our orangutan rehabilitation project than the sight of Peni and her new baby (pictured) living freely in the forest'

Peni - a young female orangutan who was rescued as an infant when her mother was tortured and killed - has given birth to a baby of her own (they are pictured together)

Alan Knight, IAR chief executive, said: 'This is the best news we could hope for after Peni's return to her rightful home in the rainforest.

'Her story began with trauma and tragedy but is now one of happiness and hope for the future.

'The birth of little Tarak really does make all the team's efforts to protect and conserve orangutans worthwhile.'

Having never been in captivity before she was rescued, Peni wasn't accustomed to people and remained wild and independent - essential qualities for primates to be able to fend for themselves in the forest.

Staff at the IAR centre, run in partnership with Indonesia's Centre for Natural Resources Conservation (BKSDA) knew this meant she would eventually be a good candidate for reintroduction to the wild.

Peni was moved to charity International Animal Rescue (IAR)'s orangutan centre in Ketapang, West Borneo after her mother died. She is pictured here recovering at the centre

When Peni was re-released, by the end of her first day she was monitored eating wild fruit and making a nest.

The team continued to monitor her closely, making detailed notes on her behaviour from morning through till night.

Human attacks on orangutans in Indonesia often occur as a result of ignorance and fear so IAR also works to educate communities on what to do if they encounter a primate near their village.

Karmele Llano Sanchez, programme director of IAR Indonesia, said: 'There can be no better evidence of the effectiveness of our orangutan rehabilitation project than the sight of Peni and her new baby living freely in the forest.

Human attacks on orangutans in Indonesia often occur as a result of ignorance and fear so the IAR also works to educate communities on what to do if they encounter a primate near their village. Pictured: baby Peni with her mother who was killed

'Peni's mother was cruelly taken from her when she was only three years old but she will have already learnt much from her in those formative years.

'She continued her education at our conservation centre and, like all the orangutans undergoing rehabilitation, she was kept under close observation throughout those years to monitor her mental and physical development.

'The fact she has now returned to her natural habitat and had a baby of her own is the ultimate proof of her complete reintegration back into the wild.'
T he Trump administration has slashed $1 billion of aid to Afghanistan as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the countrys political rivals over a feud jeopardising efforts to end Americas longest-ever war.

Mr Pompeo delivered a strongly-worded statement as he flew home from a fruitless day in Kabul aimed at ending competing claims to the presidency by President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah and winning their agreement to form an inclusive government.

The announcement at the end of the mission he undertook despite the global coronavirus pandemic underscored how badly stalled the US-led effort to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan has become.

The US deeply regrets that Mr Ghani and Mr Abdullah were unable to agree on an inclusive government, said Mr Pompeo, adding that their failure has harmed US-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonours those Afghan, Americans, and coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives.

Mike Pompeo, left, meets with Abdullah Abdullah / AP

We are today announcing a responsible adjustment to our spending in Afghanistan and immediately reducing assistance by $1billion this year. We are prepared to reduce by another $1billion in 2021, he said.

We will also initiate a review of all of our programmes and projects to identify additional reductions.

On his way back to Washington, Mr Pompeo landed at a base in Qatar for a 75-minute meeting with Taliban officials, including their top negotiator, Mullah Baradar Akhund.

Speaking to reporters after departing Qatar, Mr Pompeo indicated that the aid cut could be reversed if Mr Ghani and Mr Abdullah came to an agreement.
As the number of coronavirus patients in Iran soared to nearly 25,000, an outspoken lawmaker has harshly criticized President Hassan Rouhani for preventing restrictive measures to counter the outbreak, accusing him of suffering from delusion about conspiracies.

Reiterating his opposition to even a partial lockdown, Rouhani had said on Sunday that it was "a counter-revolutionary conspiracy to shut down offices and do harm to the country's economy."

Mahmoud Sadeqi, MP for Tehran, charged in a tweet that decisions made by the highest-ranking Iranian officials are fuelled by delusion of conspiracies, adding that while experts insist on the importance of social distancing and lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus, Rouhani is resisting the closure of government offices, putting people in danger.

Rouhani earlier had declared closure of offices and businesses until April 4, but he later changed his mind and said there will be business as usual starting from March 24.

He again changed his mind on Tuesday, declaring that half of the government work force should stay home.

In the meantime, Health Ministry Spokesman Kianush Jahanpur put the number of coronavirus cases in Iran at 24,811 on Tuesday; 1762 more than the day before.

With 122 new deaths, the official COVID-19 death toll in Iran has reached 1934, Jahanpur said. This comes while some Iranian and foreign reports question the validity of official figures.

According to an exclusive report, data gathered by Radio Farda from various national and local media in Iran quoting local authorities and Health Ministry officials indicate that the coronavirus has infected 55,344 Iranians and has claimed 2,703 lives as of Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, a WHO official who recently visited Iran says the actual infection and death figures are up to five times higher than the numbers announced by the Health Ministry.

Jahanpur added that paramedics have screened more than 41 million Iranians for the virus by Tuesday morning. According to the Iranian president, the "screening" is done over the phone by asking people if they are ill as testing all the population is not practical and "checking people's temperature causes traffic jams."

Jahanpur said the disease control task force has suggested that not more than one in every three employees should go to work.

In the meantime, Rouhani said on Tuesday that the furlough granted to thousands of prisoners in Iran will be extended until April 20 to keep them safe from the virus.

Rouhani claimed that the daily number of deaths has dropped and therefore along with the dropping number of new admissions to hospitals, these can be taken as good signs. But the figures announced by the government in recent days do not show a visible decline in numbers.

Rouhani also called for a 14-day quarantine for everyone tested positive for the virus and called on the nation to observe social distancing at shops and medical centers. All other gatherings including weddings and funerals are not allowed, he said.

Presenting a report about 2,450,000 government employees and the decisions made about them on Tuesday, Rouhani said that 1,200,000 of them including the teachers and staff members of the Ministry of education have already sopped working. From among the rest, those like medical staff and municipal workers, around half a million, should carry on going to work advised that people should always think that anyone they see may be affected by the virus. Others can work on rotation and one third of them should be at work at any given time.

In an odd comment Rouhani said that although the permitted distance between any two people has been announced as 2 meters, people can get as close as 1.8 meters!

In another development, in a letter to Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, one of the Iranian lawmakers, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh suggested that the Majles should pass a law to shut down the whole country for 30 days and extend this period later if necessary.

Meanwhile, Alireza Zali, a Health Ministry official has warned about "the second wave of Coronavirus outbreak" as holidaymakers return home by the first of April.
A woman wears a glove as a preventative measure against the CCP virus at a gas station in Los Angeles on March 18, 2020. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)

Gasoline Futures Hit Lowest Level Since 1999 as Demand Plummets Amid CCP Virus Shutdowns

Gasoline futures on Tuesday plunged below levels seen in the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2008 global financial crisis as refiners cut back production amid widespread shutdowns related to the CCP virus.

Gasoline futures traded at below 45 cents per gallon on Tuesday evening, the lowest price since 1999.

Gasoline futures are a crystal ball for the direction of the gas prices at the pump, which have declined steadily due to a drop in oil prices and collapsing demand at the pump. The national gas price average dropped to below $2.11 on Tuesday, according to AAA.

Pumps in Oklahoma and Tennessee sold gas for 99 cents a gallon on Tuesday. A gas station in Kentucky became the first member for the 99-cent club days earlier.

The average number of gallons sold at the pump dropped by 40 percent below the 30-day average on Monday, according to Patrick De Haan, an analyst with GasBuddy. Demand for gasoline was more than 15 percent lower than the same time last year every day since March 16, according to De Haan.

The plummeting demand is forcing refiners to cut capital expenditures and reduce production. Phillips 66 said on Tuesday it would cut spending on projects including pipelines by $700 million in 2020. Canadas Suncor Energy is cutting its capital spending program by $1.5 billion. Suncor expects its refining volumes to drop, but did not provide an exact figure.

Lockdowns and partial shutdowns in states with large populations like California and New York are driving the national drop in demand as drivers stay off the road in compliance with state and federal guidance aimed at stopping the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the pandemic as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys misfeasance, attempted cover up, and mismanagement led to the global outbreak.

Colonial Pipeline Co said on Thursday it would cut volumes on its primary lines delivering gasoline and diesel fuel to the United States.

Refiners around the world have already started cutting output or are considering such measures as the coronavirus curbs travel and driving.

Exxon Mobil Corp cut production at its 502,500 barrel per day (bpd) capacity refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on March 21, according to sources familiar with plant operations.

Chevron Corp also cut production at its 269,000 bpd California refinery to match decreased demand, sources said.

Delta Airlines is reducing production at its 190,000 bpd refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, by 40,000 bpd, according to a source familiar with the matter.

For most of last week, U.S. diesel margins held up relatively well as both trucking and farming, two sectors that rely on diesel, continued operating.

But refiners moves to divert production capacity previously devoted to other fuels to diesel is starting to cause oversupply in some regions, leading to a drop in cash prices, market participants said.

Cash prices for diesel in Chicago slid last week to 34 cents per gallon below the heating oil futures contract, the lowest seasonally since at least 2011, early Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Reuters contributed to this report.
HANOI, March 23 (Reuters) - Vietnam needs to strictly enforce restrictions on all air, sea and land movements within the country to curb the spread of coronavirus as the risk of community infection is "very high," the Southeast Asian country's prime minister said on Monday.

Vietnam will continue its measures to quarantine people "however much it costs", Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a statement on the government website.

Vietnam's coronavirus cases rose to 118 on Monday, the health ministry said. There have been no reported deaths.

Schools have stayed shut nationwide since Lunar New Year. Authorities have ordered the closure of cinemas, clubs and bars, massage parlours, karaoke lounges and online game centres in urban areas until the end of March. (Reporting by Khanh Vu Editing by James Pearson and Toby Chopra)
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a Singapore-based shipping company will pay a $1.65 million fine to the U.S. government for illegally dumping oily bilge water overboard during a tanker voyage in early 2019.

In addition to the fine, on March 20, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in Oakland, California, ordered UNIX Line PTE Ltd. to implement a "comprehensive" environmental compliance plan as a condition of a four-year probation.

"This sentencing shows that polluting our oceans and misleading the Coast Guard will cost you," Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, in a statement.

On February 26, UNIX Line pleaded guilty in the district court of northern California to charges that its 16,408 gross-ton tanker, Zao Galaxy, dumped the oily bilge overboard between its departure from the Philippines on January 21, 2019, and arrival at the Port of Richmond in northern California on February 11, 2019.

The ship was carrying a shipment of palm oil at the time.

When U.S. Coast Guard officers boarded the ship at Richmond, they discovered that during the voyage a Unix Line-affiliated ship officer ordered the crew to discharge oily bilge water overboard using a contraption of drums, flexible pipe and flanges to bypass the vessel's oil water separator. The discharges were not mentioned in the Zao Galaxy's oil record book.

Unix Line's action violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, the Justice Department said.

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Reality stars Cyrell Paule and Eden Dally welcomed their first child, son Boston Eden, on February 9.

And on Tuesday the Married At First Sight star came home to find her Love Island Australia beau cuddling their little bundle of joy.

Sharing a picture to Instagram on Saturday, the 30-year-old captioned it: 'Coming home and finding my two boys like this. Couldnt be prouder.'

Sweet: Cyrell Paule and Eden Dally welcomed their first child, son Boston Eden, on February 9. On Tuesday, the Married At First Sight star came home to find her Love Island Australia beau cuddling their little bundle of joy

In the photo, Eden is fast asleep in a dim room with his precious son pressed against his chest.

Instead of hitting the coolest clubs on the weekend like he used to do, it's clear the doting dad is now content to stay at home and cuddle with his son.

The 27-year-old recently shared a photo to Instagram in which he's playing with his bub at home on the weekend.

Loving it: Instead of hitting the coolest clubs on the weekend like he used to do, doting dad Eden is now content to stay at home and cuddle with his adorable son

Eden captioned that photograph: 'Saturday nights in with my beautiful little man! Love you son.'

In the image, Eden sat on the couch, flaunting his bulging biceps and tattoos in a camouflage T-shirt while cuddling Boston in a cute black and black onesie.

Despite being only a few weeks old, Boston has already joined the family business by becoming an Instagram influencer.

Mummy's little influencer! Last month, proud mum Cyrell (pictured) cradled the newborn in a promotional post for a skincare brand

Last month, proud mum Cyrell cradled the newborn in a promotional post for a skincare brand.

Sharing a photo to Instagram, she told her 247,000 followers how Eco Tan's 'Glory Oil' reduced the appearance of her stretch marks.

Cyrell's caption ran alongside a precious photo of herself cradling Boston while soaking up the sun at a Sydney park.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Director Michael J Ryan said on Tuesday (March 24) that India has played an important role in eradicating two pandemics, namely small-pox and polio and the country can use its past experience to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus. According to Ryan, India has a tremendous capacity to tackle the coronavirus outbreak situation and win the battle against the deadly virus.

"There is a need in the number of labs where a surge is seen. India is a very populous country and the future of this virus will be considered in a very highly and densely populated country. India led the world in eradicating two pandemics, small-pox and polio so India has a tremendous capacity," J Ryan said during a daily press brief on COVID-19 pandemic.

"There are no easy answers. It is exceptionally important that countries like India show the way to the world as they have done before," he added.

Meanwhile, both Centre and state governments are taking several measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. On Monday (March 23), 30 states and Union Territories, covering 548 districts, were put under loockdown to check the spread of the deadly virus. Three states/UTs, however, have imposed lockdown in certain areas of their territories covering as many as 58 districts.

Curfew has been imposed in Punjab, Maharashtra, and Puducherry on Monday (March 23) as state governments acted with a sense of urgency to strictly enforce the restrictions on the movement of people, deploying police on streets, sealing borders and booking violators.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also imposed the curfew across the state to check the spread of coronavirus. Issuing a message to people of Maharashtra, through social media, Thackeray said, "Today I am compelled to announce a statewide curfew. People were not listening and we are compelled."

The state governments warned people to follow the lockdown seriously or risk facing tough legal actions. The governments took the tough steps amid concerns that people were not following the restrictions seriously, prompting the Centre to ask the states to take strict legal action against those defying the curbs and increasing the risk of community transmission as the number of cases mounted to above 430 on Tuesday.
US has third-highest number of confirmed cases globally behind China and Italy as WHO warns it could be next epicentre.

The death toll in Italy from the coronavirus pandemic rose by 743 in one day to 6,820, reversing a declining trend in fatalities observed over the last two days.

In India, 1.3 billion people will go under total lockdown from midnight (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday for 21 days to combat the spread of the contagion.

Spains deaths surged by 514 in one day, bringing its total to 2,696. It also reported 6,600 new coronavirus cases, raising nationwide infections to 39,673.

More than 17,100 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 108,000 of the 414,277 people diagnosed with the disease have recovered.

Here are the latest updates:

Tuesday, March 24

21:17 GMT  American playwright Terrence McNally dies of coronavirus complications

Terrence McNally, a revered American playwright, librettist and screenwriter whose long career earned him four Tony awards and an Emmy, died following coronavirus complications. He was 81 years old.

McNallys publicist said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency that the esteemed artist was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died while hospitalised in Florida.

An openly gay writer whose subject matter included love, homophobia and AIDS, McNallys notable plays included Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class, along with the musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime.

21:12 GMT  Bad optics: US banks face calls to slash payouts to shareholders

A growing chorus of legislators, former regulators and consumer advocates say it is inappropriate for big banks to tap emergency funding programmes to pay dividends to shareholders.

The eight biggest US lenders, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co, already halted stock repurchases earlier this month.

They characterised it as a patriotic move that would allow them to put more capital toward lending to individuals and businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, which has clobbered stock prices and led the US Federal Reserve to pour trillions of dollars into the financial system.

But none of the banks has cut dividends, with JPMorgan saying it had no plans to do so.

Read more here.

21:08 GMT  Automakers heed calls to retool operations for coronavirus fight

Carmaker Ford Motor Co on Tuesday jumped into the emergency push by major United States manufacturers to produce thousands of ventilators and respirators needed for critically ill coronavirus patients.

By joining forces with General Electrics healthcare unit and 3M Co, Ford is heeding US President Donald Trumps call for US automakers to work across sectors in producing equipment needed for the pandemic.

Read more here.





21:05 GMT  Rebound! Dow closes up 2,100 points  biggest gain ever

United States stock markets roared back into positive territory on Tuesday, on growing hopes that Republican and Democratic legislators on Capitol Hill are close to passing a coronavirus economic aid package approaching nearly two trillion dollars.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded to post its best one-day point gain ever and its biggest percentage gain since 1933, closing up 2,112.98 points or 11.37 percent to 20,704.91.

Read more here.

21:02 GMT  Facebook says coronavirus hits ad sales

Facebook Inc said its business is being hit by the coronavirus outbreak, adding ad sales have weakened in countries taking aggressive actions to reduce the spread of the virus.

20:53 GMT  Latest Italian coronavirus death toll dashes hopes worst is over

Fatalities in Italy from coronavirus have surged in the last 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday, dashing hopes the epidemic in the worlds worst-hit country was easing.

The death toll rose by 743 on Tuesday, the second-highest daily tally since the outbreak emerged in northern regions on February 21, after more encouraging numbers in the previous two days.

Read more here.

20:28 GMT  Spain seeks NATO help as virus death toll touches 2,700

Spains armed forces on Tuesday asked NATO for humanitarian assistance to fight the novel coronavirus as the national death toll touched 2,700 and infections soared towards 40,000.

With the pandemic spreading across the world, Spain has been one of the worst-hit countries, logging the third-highest number of deaths with the latest toll standing at 2,696 after another 514 people died over the past 24 hours.

Despite an unprecedented lockdown imposed on March 14, both deaths and infections have continued to mount, with the Spanish army called in to join efforts to curb its spread.





20:05 GMT  Dow surges 2,100 points as Congress nears deal on virus aid

Stocks surged on Wall Street, sending the Dow up more than 2,100 points, biggest-ever point gain, as Congress nears a deal to inject two trillion dollars into the economy to mitigate damage from the coronavirus outbreak. The Dows gain of 11.4 percent was its largest percentage increase since 1933.

Treasury yields rose in an encouraging sign that demand for low-risk assets was easing. The market has seen other big rebounds recently, only for them to wash out immediately.

Investors say they need to see the number of new infections peak before markets can find a bottom.

19:23 GMT  France coronavirus death toll jumps 240 to 1,100: official

The coronavirus has killed another 240 people in France, the top French health official said, bringing the death toll in the country from the pandemic to 1,100.

Jerome Salomon told reporters that 22,300 people had tested positive for the virus in France, with a total of 10,176 hospitalised of whom 2,516 people are in intensive care.

Officials believe that the published number of those infected largely underestimates the real figure, as only those showing severe symptoms are usually tested.

19:02 GMT  UK nationals with critical health conditions stranded in Pakistan

Dozens of British nationals, many of them dependent on complex medication to survive, are stranded indefinitely in Pakistan due to new border restrictions imposed by Islamabad to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan, on Saturday, abruptly halted inbound international, chartered and private flights until at least April 4, a move which also disrupted most outbound flights.

Read more here.

18:49 GMT  Pentagon says 174 service members have coronavirus

The Pentagon said 174 service members had the coronavirus, an increase of 41 cases from the day before.

In a daily update, the Pentagon added that 59 civilian employees, 61 dependents, and 27 contractors had also tested positive.





18:37 GMT  Medical NGO MSF surprised by Iran decision to cancel coronavirus mission

French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it did not understand a decision by Iranian authorities to cancel a mission it had prearranged to set up a facility to fight coronavirus in Isfahan.

We are surprised to learn that the deployment of our treatment unity is cancelled, Michel-Olivier Lacharite, who is in charge of MSF crisis response team, said in a statement.

18:33 GMT  NY governor sounds alarm over astronomical coronavirus numbers

New Yorks governor warned of troubling and astronomical numbers in the rate of coronavirus infections in the state, saying they were doubling every three days.

Andrew Cuomo said the virus could now peak in one of the countrys most populous states in as few as two weeks, with some 40,000 people needing intensive care  numbers that could severely stress under-equipped hospitals that currently have only 3,000 intensive care unit beds.

18:31 GMT  Clouds hang over aerospace industry as virus disrupts suppliers

The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on aerospace manufacturing, with Boeing Co saying it would halt production of most wide-body jets and Airbus SE, restarting only partial output after a four-day shutdown as suppliers cut jobs.

With airlines unable to fly because of a collapse of demand over fears of contagion, reinforced by air travel restrictions, planemakers and their suppliers are under pressure to save cash to ride out a liquidity squeeze.

Read more here.

18:24 GMT  Italy PM increase lockdown fines, hopes to lift restrictions soon

The Italian government has hiked fines for people who defy a lockdown order, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, adding that he hoped he could start lifting the restrictions shortly.

Anyone caught leaving their home without good reason will now face fines of between 400 euros to 3,000 euros ($430 to $3,227) against a previous 206 euros, Conte said in a television address.

18:05 GMT  Chinas Great Wall opens as curbs lifted in COVID-19 epicentre

China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.

There are signs that life is returning to normal in the region, with authorities reopening a popular section of the iconic Great Wall.

See photo gallery here.

People hike along a section of the Great Wall in Badaling in Beijing, on its first day of re-opening after the scenic sites coronavirus related closure [Thomas Peter/Reuters]

17:16 GMT  Italy coronavirus deaths rise by 743 in a day, total now 6,820

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has grown by 743 to 6,820, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said, reversing a two-day decline.

On Monday, 602 people died. That followed 650 deaths on Sunday and 793 on Saturday  the highest daily figure since the contagion came to light on February 21.

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 69,176 from a previous 63,927, an increase of 8.2 percent, in line with Mondays growth rate.

17:05 GMT  US deaths now 600, almost 50,000 confirmed cases: tracker

Six-hundred people have died from the new coronavirus in the United States, while the number of confirmed cases now stands at 49,768, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

The US has the third-highest number of confirmed cases globally, behind China and Italy. The death rate based on reported cases is now 1.2 percent  but the actual number believed to be infected is far higher, which would bring the rate down.

17:05 GMT  Russia sends ship with military ambulances towards Syria

A cargo ship operated by the Russian Navy transited Turkeys Bosphorus strait en route to Syria loaded with ambulances, a Reuters news agency reporter saw.

Syria reported its first case of coronavirus on Sunday after weeks of rejecting opposition allegations the disease had already reached a country with a wrecked health system and thousands of Iranian-backed militias and Shia pilgrims.

The Russian Dvinitsa-50 ship, part of Moscows auxiliary fleet, was carrying at least three military ambulances along with a shipping container on its deck.

Russia, which has provided military support for President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, operates a naval facility at Tartus in Syria and an airbase in Latakia.

17:00 GMT  Ryanair becomes latest airline to ground flights

Ryanair said it does not expect to operate flights in April or May and has offered its aircraft to European governments for rescue or the essential movement of medicines and personal protective equipment.

The experience in China suggests a three-month period for the spread of the virus to be contained and reduced. We do not expect to operate flights during the months of April and May at this time, but this will clearly depend on government advice, the budget airline said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Read more here.

On March 18, Ryanair said it expected to ground most if not all of its flights from March 24 except a very small number mostly between Britain and Ireland [Peter Cziborra/Reuters]

17:09 GMT  Netflix, Facebook to cut data traffic in India to ease network congestion

Streaming service Netflix Inc and social media giant Facebook Inc said they would reduce the amount of data their services use to ease congested telecoms networks in India, were millions are using home internet amid a lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Netflix will reduce traffic over Indian telecom networks by 25 percent over the next 30 days, the company said in a statement, following similar moves in Europe to help internet service providers experiencing a surge in usage.

17:06 GMT  World on lockdown: Business activity collapses at record pace

Business activity has collapsed from Australia and Japan to Western Europe at a record pace, as measures to contain the coronavirus hammer the world economy, with data for the United States later on Tuesday expected to be just as dire.

The coronavirus outbreak represents a major external shock to the macro outlook, akin to a large-scale natural disaster, analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note.

Read more here.

17:04 GMT  US stocks soar 1,100 points as hopes grow for $2 trillion aid pkg

The stimulus glass is half full on Wall Street on Tuesday, with United States stock markets opening higher across the board on optimism that Republican and Democratic legislators on Capitol Hill will find common ground and pass a coronavirus economic aid package approaching nearly $2 trillion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points or 6.2 percent within minutes of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE building is virtually abandoned as part of coronavirus containment measures, but trading continues electronically.

Read more here.

16:57 GMT  Top Nigerian president aide tests positive for coronavirus

The Nigerian presidents influential chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Abba Kyari, who is in his 70s, is an important figure in President Muhammadu Buharis government and his illness could have ramifications for the running of the country.

Matthew Page, an associate fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House, described Kyari as the lynchpin of the Buhari government. This has the potential to further slow down decision-making within top tiers of Nigerian government, he said.

16:52 GMT  Climate activist Thunberg says shes recovered COVID-19 like symptoms

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg says on social media that she believes she has recovered from mild symptoms of COVID-19 experienced during a period of quarantine following a European trip.

The teenager called on young people to protect groups at greater risk from the disease. Thunberg says her mild symptoms are what makes it so much more dangerous due to the risk of on passing the virus without knowing it.

Sweden only tests patients for coronavirus if they require hospital care. Others are urged to isolate themselves and rest. She urged people to stay at home to slow the spread of the pandemic.

16:44 GMT  Tough combined measures key in virus fight: study

Quarantining infected people, workplace distancing and school closures are most effective in combatting the spread of the new coronavirus when implemented together, according to new research released looking at Singapores response to the killer disease.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore saw a dramatic drop in projected cases when all three physical distancing measures were done at once.

But they warned that if a large number of infected people in the community had no symptoms, or if infection rates were very high, the policies had a much reduced effect.

Singapore has used a policy of testing and tracing of COVID-19 patients to limit the spread of the virus, without ordering a widespread lockdown of society and the economy.













16:33 GMT  Congress closing in on nearly $2 trillion virus aid package

Congressional and White House officials say a deal appears to be at hand Tuesday on a nearly $2 trillion measure aimed at easing the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the top Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer, said agreement appeared close. I dont see any issue that cant be overcome within the next few hours, Schumer said.

Last night I thought we were on the five-yard line. Now were on the two.

16:14 GMT  Trump to use Defense Production Act for coronavirus test kits  govt official

The Trump administration plans to use the Defense Production Act to procure 60,000 coronavirus test kits, amid severe shortages of kits, masks, ventilators and other crucial equipment for healthcare workers, a federal official said.

Peter Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN the administration had decided to use the Defense Production Act because there are some test kits we need to get our hands on. It would be the first time the act is being used for the coronavirus crisis.

President Donald Trump invoked the act last week but said he would hold off on using it until it was necessary, prompting criticism from Democrats including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

16:10 GMT  Coronavirus reaches world heritage Galapagos Islands

The coronavirus pandemic has reached Ecuadors Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site, an official source said.

Norman Wray, president of the Galapagos Government Council, told the state EcuadorTV channel that tests results on Monday established that four people had contracted the COVID-19 disease.

The four permanent residents of the archipelago had returned to the islands from the port of Guayaquil, the worst affected city in Ecuador with more than half of its near 1,000 confirmed cases.

15:45 GMT  Coronavirus death toll in Italys Lombardy rises by around 400 in a day: source

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italys contagion, has risen by around 400 in a day to more than 4,175, a source familiar with the data said.

The figure compared to some 320 deaths on Monday, and if confirmed it might dash hopes of an improvement in the situation which seemed to be emerging in the previous two days.

15:40 GMT  Brazils Bolsonaro buries hatchet with Chinas Xi to fight coronavirus

Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro laid to rest a diplomatic spat with China in a call with President Xi Jinping, with the two agreeing to work together to fight coronavirus as Brazils largest city went into lockdown.

The conversation appeared to mark the end of a dispute that began last week with the presidents son blaming Chinese authoritarianism for preventing faster action against coronavirus, drawing blistering comments from Chinas ambassador to Brazil and entangling the upper reaches of Brazilian government in the row.

15:32 GMT  Romania imposes stricter measures amid virus

Romania announced further restrictions on the movements of its citizens as it stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

During a televised speech, President Klaus Iohannis said government recommendations on avoiding all non-essential movements out of doors were now obligations.

He said electronic surveillance measures would be used to ensure that people in quarantine or self-isolation remain at home.

The army would be deployed to reinforce the police, he said.

15:22 GMT  China resolutely opposed to US stigamatisation: foreign ministry

Chinas foreign ministry attacked US officials for labeling the novel coronavirus the Chinese virus or Wuhan virus, saying it was a deliberate attempt to smear China.

Some US politicians and senior officials have continued to use this expression to stigmatize China, causing great indignation and opposition among the Chinese people, said Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Badly strained ties between the United States and China are deteriorating further with the two sides hurling harsh accusations at each other over responsibility for the spread of the novel coronavirus.





15:08 GMT  Egypt announces 2-week nightly curfew to slow virus

Egypt is set to impose a two-week nightly curfew in the Arab worlds most populous country in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, its prime minister announced.

The International Monetary Fund warned that a shortage of medical supplies could affect the Mideasts poorest nations.

There are over 31,000 confirmed cases of the virus across the Mideast, the vast majority in the hard-hit nation of Iran.

14:49 GMT  Modi puts India under lockdown for 21 days to fight virus

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday the government would impose a nationwide lockdown from midnight for 21 days to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes, Modi said in a televised address.

India has so far reported 519 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 10 deaths.

Read more here.

My fellow citizens, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO PANIC. Essential commodities, medicines etc. would be available. Centre and various state governments will work in close coordination to ensure this. Together, we will fight COVID-19 and create a healthier India. Jai Hind!  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2020

14:44 GMT  Vatican employees balk at lack of full shutdown amid virus

The Vatican is under pressure to let more employees work from home as several of its offices remain open two weeks after the Italian government ordered people to stay home and shut down all non-essential businesses in an urgent attempt to contain the coronavirus.

Vatican employees in three different offices expressed alarm that superiors adopted different policies about working from home. Concern that the varying approaches put people at risk of exposure has been heightened because many Vatican employees live in priests residences or religious communities and eat together in communal dining rooms at home.

Nationwide, more than 50 priests with the virus have died, most of them elderly and from the hard-hit northern Lombardy region, the Italian bishops conference said.

Members of two religious orders in Rome already tested positive for the virus [AFP]

14:39 GMT  Bulgaria Orthodox Church tells believers to pray at home

Bulgarias Christian Orthodox Church has urged believers to observe confinement measures and pray at home to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus after reports of communion-giving from the same spoon sparked angry comments.

All of us are summoned to be responsible for our close ones, our nation and our country, Orthodox Patriarch Neophyte said in a televised address.

As church bells rang across the country, he called on believers to conform our everyday life to all the requirements of the state of emergency remaining in our homes, before the home icon.

Hello! This is Usaid Siddiqui taking over from my colleague Ramy Allahoum.

14:05 GMT  Saudi reports first coronavirus death; UAE gears up for lockdown





Saudi Arabia reported its first death from the coronavirus, a 51-year-old Afghan resident, while the United Arab Emirates main airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi said they would temporarily suspend all passenger flights from Thursday.

Saudi Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali told a televised news conference the fatality occurred on Monday night in Medina, where the mans health had deteriorated quickly after reporting to the emergency room.

The kingdom recorded 205 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the total in the six-member Gulf Coordination Council to more than 2,100, mostly in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Six people have died: three in Bahrain, two in the UAE and the latest in Saudi Arabia.

13:55 GMT  UN seeks total ceasefire in Syria, prisoner releases

The UN special envoy for Syria called for an immediate nationwide ceasefire across Syria to enable an all-out-effort to stamp out COVID-19.

In a statement, Geir Pedersen also appealed on humanitarian grounds for large-scale releases of detainees and abductees in Syria and access for medical workers to detention facilities to help ensure adequate medical care is provided to inmates.

The spread of coronavirus to Syria brings the prospect of a deadly outbreak to a population devastated by nine years of war, with ravaged hospitals and tightly packed camps likely to accelerate infection.

The Assad government announced on Sunday its first case after unconfirmed reports suggested the virus had been detected but covered up, a charge officials denied.

13:40 GMT  Pentagon says 174 service members have coronavirus

The US military said 174 service members had coronavirus, an increase of 41 cases from the day before.

In a daily update, the Pentagon added 59 civilian employees, 61 dependents, and 27 contractors had also tested positive.

13:30 GMT  Egypt declares two-week curfew to counter coronavirus

Egypt declared a curfew from 7pm to 6am for two weeks from Wednesday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and those who violate the measure will be penalised under emergency laws.

Those who do not respect the new rules face fines of up to 4,000 Egyptian pounds ($255) or prison, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a televised press briefing.

I call on all Egyptians to fully comply with these measures, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Twitter. And I affirm that all elements of the Egyptian state will confront any attempts to breach them with the utmost firmness and resolution.

Egypt has confirmed 366 cases of coronavirus, including 19 deaths.

13:20 GMT  US has potential of becoming coronavirus epicentre, says WHO

The United States has the potential to become the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic because of a very large acceleration in infections there, the World Health Organization warned.





The highly contagious respiratory virus has infected more than 42,000 people in the United States, prompting more governors to join states ordering Americans to stay at home.

Over the past 24 hours, 85 percent of new cases worldwide were from Europe and the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters. Of those, 40 percent were from the United States.

Asked whether the US could become the new epicentre, she said: We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential [The] outbreak is increasing in intensity.

13:10 GMT  Tokyo Olympics rescheduled no later than summer 2021

The International Olympic Committee and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympics must be postponed and held no later than the summer of 2021.

After a call with IOC president Thomas Bach, Abe said the July 24-August 9 event would be rescheduled for the summer of 2021 at the latest, as proof of victory over the coronavirus.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the prime minister of Japan have concluded that the Games  in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, the IOC said in a statement after Abe had confirmed the postponement.

The move is to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

12:40 GMT  UKs Johnson tells cabinet people must stay at home

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told his cabinet that it was vital that the public followed his instruction to stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The PM said that by staying at home, people would protect our NHS (National Health Service) and save lives, Johnsons office said in a statement.

Finance Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed to his cabinet colleagues that a scheduled Comprehensive Spending Review would be delayed so that the government could remain focused on responding to the public health and economic emergency.

Only the prime minister, the health minister, the cabinet secretary and the chief medical officer attended the meeting in person. All other cabinet members took part by video conference.

12:35 GMT  Poles will leave home only if justified

Poland will impose further constraints on citizens to prevent the spread of coronavirus including a lockdown, with leaving home only allowed if justified, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday.

We are doing so to prepare for the increased wave of infections, Morawiecki told a news conference.

The government will also limit gatherings and the number of people allowed to travel on public transport at one time, in order to decrease the number of citizens on buses and trams.





12:30 GMT  Practical issues with helping the self-employed persist: UK finance minister

British finance minister Rishi Sunak has said he would make further announcements on measures to help self-employed people in the wake of the coronavirus crisis but that there are issues with the practicality and fairness of so doing.

There are genuine practical and principle reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous scheme to the one that we have for employed workers, he said in parliament.

We need to be confident that that can be done in a way that is deliverable and is fair, he said. There are  genuine questions about practicality, fairness and delivery of any such support scheme.

12:25 GMT  Japanese PM Abe and IOCs Bach agree on idea to delay Olympics

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that he and the head of the International Olympic Committee agreed on the idea of delaying the Tokyo Olympics by about one year.

Abe was speaking to reporters after a phone call with IOC President Thomas Bach on postponing the Games amid growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo had completed preparations when the virus started spreading across the world. Despite insisting for months the Games would go ahead as planned, Abe this week said a delay may be unavoidable if the events could not be held in a complete form.

People have been protesting against the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the capital, Tokyo [Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP]

12:20 GMT  German minister says calls to protect economy over slowing down virus cynical

Calls to protect the economy rather than slow the spread of the coronavirus are cynical and ill-considered, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told Bild newspaper.

You can see that countries which were pursuing that objective, as Britain appears to have been doing, have now changed course, he said in an online video interview.

Asked about suggestions from some US politicians that older people might be sacrificed for the sake of the economy their grandchildren would inherit, he was even more forthright.

That makes me shudder, he said. Its utterly cynical and indefensible and I am very glad to live in a country where such opinions have no relevance.

12:15 GMT  Four NATO service members in Afghanistan test positive

Four NATO service members in Afghanistan tested positive for coronavirus shortly after entering the country, the first confirmed cases in the mission, NATO said in a statement.

The service members were newly arrived in country, and were in a precautionary screening facility when they became symptomatic, were moved to isolation and were tested, the statement said, adding that the nationalities of the people would not be released.

Around 1,500 NATO service members, most who had recently arrived in Afghanistan, were in screening facilities as a precautionary measure, NATO said.

12:00 GMT  Australia limits number of people at weddings, funerals

Australia banned people from eating in shopping centre food courts and limited the number of people at weddings, funerals and social gatherings in a tightening of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.

This will be a significant sacrifice, I know, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra after an emergency meeting of state and territory leaders.

Morrison said businesses involved in beauty therapy, tattoo parlours, physiotherapists and other allied health services could no longer operate. Real estate open houses and auctions were also banned, he said.

Weddings could go ahead only with five people present, including the celebrant, while funerals could proceed with 10 people at most and outdoor social gatherings should also be limited to 10, Morrison added.

11:55 GMT  Austria to use more rapid tests as it broadens testing

Austria will start using more rapid tests to be able to test hundreds of thousands of people as quickly as possible, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

So far, the Alpine country with a population of 8.8 million has tested around 24,000 people with nearly 4,500 cases confirmed.

The government is still collecting data regarding the effectiveness of its measures to curb the spread of the virus and will give an update on that on Friday, Kurz said.

11:50 GMT  Trump acknowledges acquiring masks, ventilators not easy

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday acknowledged the difficulty in procuring crucial healthcare supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the world market  is crazy and that it is not easy for the federal government help US states obtain face masks and ventilators.





11:45 GMT  Kazakhstan suspends exports of food staples

Kazakhstan has suspended exports of buckwheat, sugar, potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbages until at least April 15, the Central Asian nations Agriculture Ministry said.

The Nur-Sultan government this month declared a state of emergency until the same date over the coronavirus outbreak. Kazakhstan has confirmed 67 cases of the disease so far and has locked down its two biggest cities.

11:40 GMT  Egypt announces two-week curfew

Egypt has announced a two-week, 7pm to 6am curfew for its over 100 million people starting Wednesday in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

11:35 GMT  Nigerian presidents top aide tests positive

The Nigerian presidents chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus, a source with direct knowledge and several diplomats were reported as saying by Reuters news agency.

The illness of Abba Kyari, who is in his 70s, brings the disease into the immediate circle of 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari.

11:30 GMT  Iran coronavirus death toll close to 2,000

Irans death toll from the coronavirus outbreak increased by 122 in the past 24 hours to 1,934, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said.

The total number of people diagnosed with the disease increased by 1,762 in the past 24 hours, to 24,811, he added on state TV.

11:10 GMT  Spain reports 6,600 new coronavirus cases, raising total to 39,673

Spains health ministry has reported 6,600 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 39,673.

It said the number of fatalities rose to 2,696 from 2,182 the previous day.

10:50 GMT  Philippines announces 90 new coronavirus cases

The Philippine health ministry reported 90 new coronavirus infections, the single largest daily increase of confirmed cases in the country, bringing the total to 552.

It also reported two new deaths, among 35 in the country so far, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a regular news conference.

10:40 GMT  Nearly half of infected on cruise ship asymptomatic at time of testing

A US government report said 46.5 percent of the 712 people who tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 on board the Diamond Princess in February were asymptomatic at the time of testing.

The cruise ship accounted for the largest cluster of COVID-19 cases outside mainland China at the time, and the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested the high proportion of asymptomatic infections could partially explain the high attack rate on board cruise ships.

The CDC also said traces of the new coronavirus was found in the cabins of infected passengers 17 days after the rooms were vacated, suggesting the virus, known as SARS-Cov-2, can last longer on some surfaces than previously thought. However, the CDC said it is not clear if transmission occurred from the contaminated surfaces and called for more studies.

Police in Spain sing to entertain families under a nationwide #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/yN9uLFkj1k  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 24, 2020

10:30 GMT  Malaysia confirms 106 new coronavirus cases

Malaysias health ministry has confirmed 106 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the countrys total to 1,624, with 15 deaths.

It said 43 of the new cases were linked to a mass religious gathering, which has already been connected to more than 60% of the total infections in the country, which has the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia.

10:10 GMT  Cambodia accused of political clampdown amid outbreak

Cambodia has been accused of arresting and detaining individuals who expressed concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement released on Tuesday, said at least 17 people have been arrested since January for sharing information about the deadly disease, which has killed more than 16,500 people worldwide. It urged the government to immediately stop its clampdown.

Read more here.

10:00 GMT  Indonesia records biggest daily jump in cases

Indonesia has announced 107 new coronavirus cases, its biggest daily increase to date, bringing the total number of infections to 686, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

Meanwhile, seven more people had died of the disease, raising the death toll to 55. Thirty people have so far recovered from the virus.





09:45  Laos records first two coronavirus cases

Laos has recorded its first two cases of the coronavirus, Thai media has reported. The two cases include a 28-year-old male hotel worker and a 36-year-old female tour guide, both in the capital Vientiane, Thai state-owned media MCOT.

The two patients, who work with foreign visitors and travelled abroad, are being treated at a hospital.

09:45 GMT  France has list of companies that could get state support

The French government has drawn up a list of companies that may need state support ranging from a capital injection to outright nationalisation, Frances finance minister said.

Bruno Le Maire told France Info radio that he could not give the names of the companies on the list, but that they knew they could count on the support of the government.

Nationalisation is obviously a last resort, but it is something that we do not exclude, Le Maire said, comparing the current economic crisis to the Great Depression of 1929.

09:40 GMT  Cameroon saxophone player Manu Dibango dies from coronavirus

Cameroon-born singer and saxophone player Manu Dibango has died from a coronavirus infection, according to a statement on his official Facebook page.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove, who passed away on 24th of March 2020, at 86 years old, further to covid 19, it said.

Read more here.

Manu Dibango performing during a concert at the Ivory Hotel in Abidjan [File: Sia KAMBOU/AFP]

09:30 GMT  International Olympic Committee to deliver verdict on games postponement within days

A final decision on whether to postpone this years Tokyo Olympic Games will be taken in the coming days, two sources within the Olympic movement were reported as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo Games organisers are under mounting pressure to postpone the Games due to the coronavirus outbreak. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC President Thomas Bach will hold a telephone conference at 1100 GMT.

09:20 GMT  China says most of its imported cases involve Chinese nationals

Chinas foreign ministry has said that most of the so-called imported cases of the coronavirus reported in the country so far involve Chinese nationals who have travelled to China from overseas.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters during a daily briefing that 380 of the 427 imported coronavirus cases involve Chinese nationals, without elaborating further.

09:15 GMT  UK could introduce stronger measures for violating govt restrictions

Britain could introduce stronger measures than 30 pound fixed penalty fines for people who flout new restrictions announced on Monday to slow the spread of coronavirus, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said.

The police have a range of enforcement tools, and of course fixed-penalty notices and fines are just one of them. If people do persist in behaving in an anti-social way, there are stronger measures that we have, he told ITV on Tuesday.

The legislation will be in place in order to ensure that we have appropriate penalties and appropriate punishment for those people who do not adhere to the clear advice that the government has given and that the police are ready to enforce.

The UK government has ordered people to stay at home after the death toll from the coronavirus reached more than 300 in the country. pic.twitter.com/22HB9xnfFF  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 24, 2020

09:10 GMT  China still at risk of sporadic infection: Health official

China is still at risk of sporadic infection, a health official with Chinas national health commission said, adding that the country cannot afford to shut down its defences yet.

Prevention and control work could still not be relaxed, Mi Feng, spokesman with the National Health Commission, said at a press briefing.

09:00 GMT  Half of Irans govt workers staying at home: President Rouhani

Irans President Hassan Rouhani said about half of all government employees were staying at home as part of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, state TV reported.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries outside China, with more than 23,000 confirmed infections and more than 1,800 dead, according to the latest figures issued on Monday.

Another measure to contain the outbreak, the temporary release of prisoners, will be extended until the end of the current Iranian month of Farvardin, about April 18, he said.

08:50  Thai declares state of emergency, approves new stimulus package

Thailands Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has announced a state of emergency from Thursday to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The move will give the government enforcement powers not normally available to it. They include giving extra authority to officials, the setting up of checkpoints and restrictions on peoples movement.

The cabinet separately approved additional stimulus measures worth 107 billion baht ($3.25 billion) in a bid to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy.

The measures include cash handouts, soft loans, emergency loans, tax breaks, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Authorities have so far reported 827 coronavirus cases and 4 deaths.

08:45 GMT  Bahraini government to execute 4.3 billion dinars stimulus

Bahrains finance minister Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa has announced that his country will soon deliver a stimulus package worth 4.3 billion dinars ($11.41 billion), state TV reported.

08:30 GMT  Taiwan coronavirus cases surpass 200 mark

Taiwan has reported 20 additional coronavirus cases, taking its tally to 215 cases, the government said in a statement.

The new cases involve arrivals from overseas, including Britain, Ireland, Turkey and Indonesia.

08:10 GMT  German cases up by 4,764, total hits 27,436

The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said 4,764 new cases of the coronavirus have been detecting in Germany, raising the total number of infections to 27,436.

It added that the number of fatalities rose to 114 from 86 the previous day.

Germany is the fifth hardest-hit country in the world with more than 27,000 confirmed cases [Matthias Schrader/AP]

08:00 GMT  Chinas Hubei province to remove travel ban

Many travel restrictions in and out of Chinas Hubei province will be removed starting on Wednesday, the local health commission has announced, with the exception of Wuhan, the provincial capital and epicentre of the countrys coronavirus outbreak.

Restrictions for leaving Wuhan will be eased on April 8 and people will be able to travel through a health code, according to the commission. The city of some 11 million people has been under lockdown since January 23.





07:45 GMT  Thailand confirms 106 new cases, three deaths

Thailand has reported 106 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths, a health official said. The country now has 827 cases and 4 deaths since the outbreak began.

Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a Public Health Ministry spokesman, said all three fatalities were patients who had other health complications.

These include a 70-year-old man who had tuberculosis, a 45-year-old man who had diabetes and a 79-year-old man who had health problems, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a Public Health Ministry spokesman, said.

Since the start of the outbreak, 57 patients have recovered and gone home, while 766 are still being treated in hospitals.

07:30 GMT  Macau announces new restrictions on HK, China visitors

Visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan who have travelled overseas in the past 14 days will be banned from entering Macau, the territorys leader said.

Ho Iat Seng said those who havent been abroad will nevertheless be quarantined for 14 days. Visitors from mainland China account for more than 90 percent of visitors to the former Portuguese colony, now the worlds biggest gambling hub.

So far, authorities there have detected 25 confirmed coronavirus cases.

How long will it take to develop a vaccine for #COVID19? @mehdirhasan asks the director general of the International Vaccine Institute. Watch the full interview: https://t.co/KgzNZoMbPf pic.twitter.com/93OmU0d7vb  UpFront (@AJUpFront) March 23, 2020

07:20 GMT  Philippines reports 39 new cases

The Philippine health ministry confirmed 39 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the countrys total number of infections to 501.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters that 33 people have so far died from the virus while 19 people have recovered.

Separately, the economic planning agency raised concern about the state of the economy, saying there was a possibility it could contract as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

07:15 GMT  South Korea confirms 76 new cases, bringing total to 9,037

South Korea has reported 76 new cases of the coronavirus, bring the total number of infections to 9,037, Yonhap news agency reported health authorities as saying.

Authorities in South Korea have detected more than 9,000 cases of the novel coronavirus [Lee Jin-man/AP]

07:00 GMT  Olympics to depend on progress made in battle against coronavirus

Whether the Olympics take place or not depends in large part on the international communitys ability to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Japanese minister in charge of overseeing the games said.

I believe the Tokyo Games cannot move toward the complete form that the prime minister [Shinzo Abe] has mentioned as long as countries of the world have not put an end to the coronavirus, Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto told reporters.

So, its first and foremost for us to join forces and respond firmly for putting an end to the coronavirus, she said.

Abe is expected to hold a telephone conference with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to discuss the possibility of postponing the games by a year.

06:30 GMT  South Korea registers new cases from overseas

South Korea says 19 of 1,444 passengers who arrived from Europe on Sunday were found to have the coronavirus, the first cases detected after authorities began testing all people coming from the continent.

South Korean Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho also said that 101 of some 1,200 passengers who arrived from Europe on Monday have exhibited fever or respiratory symptoms.

While the countrys infections have been slowing, theres concern about the reintroduction of COVID-19 amid broadening outbreaks in the West.

South Korea says it will fully fund the treatment for virus carriers regardless of their nationality. Even if they test negative, South Korean nationals arriving from Europe or foreigners who enter the country from Europe on long-term stay visas are required to quarantine themselves at home for two weeks.





06:15 GMT  Australia coronavirus deaths rise to eight

A woman who was infected with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship has become Australias eighth COVID-19 death.

Health authorities say the woman, in her 70s, died in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday.

She was one of the initial three cases confirmed aboard the Ruby Princess and was taken to a hospital on Thursday.

So far, 133 passengers from the Ruby Princess have tested positive since the ship docked in Sydney following an 11-day New Zealand cruise. The 2,700 passengers had been cleared to go home without self-isolating because the cruise was regarded as low risk.

06:00 GMT  Beijing tightens overseas arrivals measures

All individuals arriving in Chinas capital from overseas must take a COVID-19 test in addition to being quarantined starting Wednesday, the Beijing municipal government announced.

In a notice published online, Beijing authorities said those who have entered the city within the last 14 days also will undergo mandatory testing.

The heightened measures  which apply regardless of ones final destination  follow a previous order that all overseas arrivals quarantine themselves at designated hotels at their own expense unless they live alone. The notice did not say whether this exemption still stands.

Currently, the imported risk from the epidemics rapid spread overseas continues to rise, said the Beijing notice.





03:50 GMT  New Zealand prepares for Wednesday lockdown

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urged New Zealanders on Tuesday to reduce contact with others to a bare minimum in preparation for a one-month lockdown from midnight on Wednesday.

Arderns government wants to move fast to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Simplest thing is to stay at home  thats how we will save lives, Ardern told a news conference in Parliament.

Parliament will sit on Wednesday to impose the state of emergency and lockdown, she said.

03:20 GMT  Thailand reports two more deaths

Thailand has reported two more deaths from coronavirus, with total confirmed cases rising to 827.

Thailand also reporting another two #coronavirus deaths  making 4 in total now https://t.co/7dfbxTd3Fw  Matthew Tostevin (@TostevinM) March 24, 2020

03:10 GMT  Beijing tightens quarantine rules for arrivals from overseas

The Chinese capital is stepping up measures to deal with cases of coronavirus brought in by people returning from overseas.

All arrivals into Beijing will now have to take a test for COVID-19 as well as complete 14 days of centralised quarantine.

03:00 GMT  Philippines confirms 39 new cases

The Philippine health ministry has confirmed 39 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the countrys total to 501.

The number of patients who have died from the virus is 33, while 19 have recovered, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters.

02:30 GMT  Australias NSW reports sharp jump in cases

New South Wales, Australias most populous state, recorded its highest daily rise in coronavirus cases on Tuesday and officials are warning of harsher penalties for anybody violating self-isolation orders.

NSW identified 149 new coronavirus cases overnight, bringing the state total to 818, and the national toll to 1,886 cases. Seven people have died from the disease.

Birds take over the streets in Sydney as Australias biggest city closes down [Loren Elliott/Reuters]

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the pandemic was at a critical stage and enforcement crucial.

We are ramping up our compliance, she told reporters in Sydney. There are harsh penalties, and well enforce that. We have to take this seriously.

02:10 GMT  Thailand reports second death, cabinet to meet

Thailands cabinet is due to meet to discuss its coronavirus response after a second person died from COVID-19.

The country has 721 infections.

A press conference will be held at 10am (03:00 GMT), and the government will consider more measures to address the outbreak later on Tuesday.

02:05 GMT  China says only imported cases, but questions asked over reporting criteria

Caixin Global, a financial news agency in China, continues to raise questions about the way in which China is counting its coronavirus cases.

It spoke to an official in Wuhan, where the disease first originated, who says those who have the virus but have no symptoms are left out of the figures.

As of Sunday, Hubei province said it had zero new confirmed cases for four days. However, a member of a disease prevention team said Wuhan continues to find cases every day, but theyre left out of the public figures as the patients show no symptoms https://t.co/GlYbOqJKJb  Caixin Global (@caixin) March 23, 2020

01:55 GMT  South Korea cases continue downward trend

More encouraging signs from South Korea.

It has just reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the 13th day in a row that is has posted new infections of 100 or less.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) says total infections rose to 9,037. Two more people were confirmed dead, bringing the death toll to 120.

01:40 GMT  Myanmar reports first confirmed cases of coronavirus

Myanmar has reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The health ministry said late on Monday that a 36-year-old travelling from the United States and 26-year-old returning from Britain, both Myanmar nationals, had tested positive.

Investigation is ongoing on history of people who have been in contact with these two patients, it said in a statement.

The Southeast Asian nation shares a long and porous border with China.

People in Yangon rushed to stock up on essentials as Myanmar announced its first two confirmed cases of coronavirus [Stringer/Reuters]

01:35 GMT  Cuba bans all citizens from leaving

Cuba is the latest country to impose a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus  banning Cubans from leaving, closing schools and suspending inter-regional public transport.

Last Friday, foreign tourists were barred from entering the country.

Cuba has so far confirmed 40 cases

01:30 GMT  US says Tokyo Olympics should be postponed

More pressure on Japan to postpone the Summer Olympics with the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee the latest to say the 2020 game should be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The committee says it surveyed some 4,000 of its athletes over the weekend and 65 percent of those who responded indicated their training had been severely affected or halted entirely due to virus-related restrictions.

Its more clear than ever that the path toward postponement is the most promising, USOPC board chair Susanne Lyons and CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.

00:15 GMT  New Zealand reports 40 new cases

New Zealand on Tuesday confirmed 40 new cases of coronavirus, taking the number of confirmed and possible cases in the country to 155.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said six people were in hospital and in stable condition. Four cases are being seen as community transmission, he said.

00:00 GMT  Astronauts in quarantine before ISS mission

Two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut are spending their final weeks on Earth in quarantine before their April 9 mission to the International Space Station.

The Expedition 63 crew will launch from Kazakhstan without the usual ceremonies to mark the occasion and will spend six months at the ISS.

We are ready to go, we are healthy, weve been tested very well with the medical teams, US astronaut Chris Cassidy said on Monday in a video from quarantine.

For updates from yesterday (March 23), click here.
Congress needs to ensure that any big emergency financial stimulus to address a coronavirus - caused economic recession, doesnt put Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk as well, says Johnson.

An emergency Social Security and Medicare payroll tax cut could weaken program financing at the same time a Coronavirus caused recession would significantly increase the number of people claiming Social Security, warns The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Although many older adults today are putting off claiming benefits to allow their Social Security payouts to grow, they are unlikely to be able to afford to wait if they lose their jobs, or when the value of retirement account investments are significantly impacted, says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League.

Social Security and Medicare need to be adequately financed if a recession would occur, Johnson says. When unemployment is high, theres less payroll taxes flowing into Social Security and Medicare, she notes. Providing a complete payroll tax break to stimulate the economy would only exacerbate financing issues and would be unlikely to make a big enough emergency impact when needed, especially for people who arent working, Johnson points out.

For retirees with a 401(k) or retirement savings, a recession would make those lucky enough to have savings more dependent on Social Security, because big changes in equity prices reduce the distributions from those accounts perhaps for several years.

To make matters worse older Americans are at the highest health risk from the coronavirus. Congress needs to ensure that any big emergency financial stimulus to address a coronavirus - caused economic recession, doesnt put Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk as well, says Johnson.

Safeguarding the health of Americans is of primary importance now. The Senior Citizens League is working for legislation that would help strengthen and boost Social Security and lower out-of-pocket Medicare costs. To learn more, visit http://www.SeniorsLeague.org.

###

With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nations largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. Visit http://www.SeniorsLeague.org for more information.

Note to Journalists:

The 2013 issue brief How Did the Great Recession Affect Social Security Claiming? by Richard W. Johnson, Karen E. Smith, and Owen Haaga of the Urban Institute provides helpful research on Social Security claiming behavior by the retiring and disabled adults during the Great Recession.
Six new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the occupied Crimea. All patients returned from abroad.

Crimea.Realities portal reports this with reference to head of so-called administration of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov.

Four patients are members of the same family and were on a cruise in the UAE. Two other patients arrived in the territory of the republic [Crimea] after visiting Lithuania and Belgium, Aksyonov wrote on Facebook.

He noted that the diagnoses of all patients were confirmed with laboratory tests. Crimeans were hospitalized in the infectious disease departments at the peninsula hospitals and stay in separate isolation wards.

Earlier, the Russian "authorities" of Crimea confirmed the first coronavirus case  a man infected with Covid-19 had recently returned from France.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:38:09|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the Group of 20 (G20), the largest economies of the world, to assume leadership in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to G20 leaders dated March 23, Guterres asked them to coordinate action to suppress the virus that causes COVID-19, to mitigate the social and economic impact of the pandemic, and to make sure that the global economy will recover in a more inclusive and sustainable way.

Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that a virtual G20 summit will be held on Thursday morning New York time. Guterres himself will speak at the virtual summit.

The G20 leaders have an extraordinary opportunity to step forward with a strong response package to address the various threats of COVID-19, Guterres wrote in the letter, which was released on Tuesday. "This would demonstrate solidarity with the world's people, especially the most vulnerable."

COVID-19 will require a response like none before -- a "wartime" plan in times of human crisis, he said.
The hand that rocks the cradle

Abigail Adams was one of only two first ladies who were both wife and mother to a president. (The other was Barbara Bush.)

Abigail Smith Adams (17441818) was the daughter of William Smith, a Congregational minister, and his wife Elizabeth, who hailed from the prestigious Quincy clan, a family well-known in the Massachusetts colony for its involvement in politics. Schooled at home by her mother, and given free run of the large libraries belonging to relatives, including that of her father, the largely self-educated Abigail became one of our most erudite first ladies in our history.

A Marriage of Heart and Mind

In 1764, Abigail married her distant cousin, John Adams, a lawyer and part-time farmer whose star was on the rise. To this couple were born six children, four of whom found the grave before their mothers own death from typhoid.

From all evidence, John and Abigail loved each other, and Abigail served as Johns closest adviser, so much so that during the couples White House years some of her husbands enemies referred to her as Mrs. President. She had studied history, particularly that of the Greeks and Romans, and was an ardent supporter of the American Revolution and an early advocate for the rights of women, especially in the field of education. Her voluminous correspondence reveals a quick and lively mind very much acquainted with the politics of the day.

Because John was so frequently absent from home, away on the business of the Revolution and its aftermath, Abigail shouldered many responsibilities: supervising work on the farm, managing the household accounts and investments, and overseeing the education of her children, including that of her son John Quincy Adams (17671848), who would one day become the sixth president of the United States (18251829).

John Quincy Adams, 1796, by John Singleton Copley. Bequest of Charles Francis Adams, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Public Domain)

Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues

Both John and Abigail constantly exhorted their children to practice virtue, to live up to their familys heritage, to study hard, and to learn from the world around them. Though young John Quincy spent several years away from his mother while on diplomatic missions with his father to Europe, Abigail nevertheless continued instruction through her correspondence as to how to live the virtuous life. When the 12-year-old was reluctant to go on a second trip across the Atlantic, Abigail encouraged him to make the expedition with these rousing words:

These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.

Here is an appeal to daring and valor more commonly associated with a mother of ancient Rome than of America.

Education and Exhortations

Both Abigail and John Adams, and some tutors, directed John Quincy in his studies, stressing in particular the importance of history and philosophy, so that at a young age he was translating works by such writers as Thucydides, Plutarch, and Aristotle. On his return from his European excursions, where at the age of 14 he had served as a French translator on a diplomatic mission to Moscow, John Quincy entered Harvard University and delivered a stellar academic performance.

In his 2002 biography John Quincy Adams, historian Robert V. Remini writes of Abigail that here was a feisty woman of remarkable intelligence and determination, a woman of high moral standards who set goals for her offspring that they spent their lives trying to achieve. Even after her sons graduation from Harvard, Abigail kept up a continual stream of reminders and injunctions to John Quincy to do his best in all things, to avoid vice, and to bring honor to the family name.

On at least one occasion, Abigail gave her son a more direct learning experience than he might have wished. As Remini tells us, June 17, 1777, found Abigail and her 7-year-old son watching the Battle of Bunker Hill, in part so that he might witness firsthand the cost of patriotism and the demands of revolution. Long afterward, John Quincy recollected the horrors of this spectacle and the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own over the battlefield death of Dr. Joseph Warren, a close friend of John Adams. Here was a harsh lesson for a boy with only one foot out of the nursery.

A woman of deep faith, Abigail impressed upon her son the importance of Scripture and Christian virtue. When John Quincy first sailed to England at age 10, as Remini tells us, Abigail admonished him to adhere to those religious sentiments and principles which were early instilled into your mind, and remember that you are accountable to your Maker for all your words and actions. Throughout his life, John Quincy read from the Bible in various languages and eventually became a leader in the American Bible Society, which today remains the largest distributor of Bibles in the world.

An Angel on Earth

A portrait of Abigail Adams in later life, by Gilbert Stuart. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Public Domain)

Some historians speculate that Abigails insistence on high standards, her constant advice, and her repeated reminders to be virtuous built resentment in John Quincy and warped his personality. Certainly as he aged he became cold, austere, and dour to the point that some thought him misanthropic, a man of politics who knew not how to play the political game. As Remini writes of his run for reelection to the presidency, even efforts to get him to mingle with the people and smile and wave at them failed repeatedly.

Perhaps Abigail had a hand in shaping John Quincys distaste for the crowd and for politicking, but if so, he never acknowledged any resentment of her. Indeed, as James Traub writes in his biography John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit, Never, throughout his life, would John Quincy Adams speak of either of his parents with anything save love and devotion.

From boyhood, John Quincy kept a diary, writing at times for hours a day and creating a treasure house of historical reminiscences. In 1815, when Abigail, often in frail health, was stricken with typhoid fever, John Quincy, then serving in Washington as Secretary of State and believing that his mother had already died, recorded these thoughts in this diary:

My mother was an angel upon earth. She was a minister of blessing to all human beings within her sphere of action. Her heart was the abode of heavenly purity  She had known sorrow, but her sorrow was silent. She was acquainted with grief, but it was deposited in her own bosom. She was the real personification of female virtue, of piety, of ever active and never intermitting benevolence. Oh God! could she have been spared yet a little longer!

John Quincy Adams, 1818, by Gilbert Stuart. White House. (Public Domain)

When he received confirmation of his mothers death, John Quincy wrote There is not a virtue that can abide in the female heart but it was the ornament of hers.

An inscription on John Quincy Adamss casket read in part: Having served his country for half a century, and enjoyed its highest honors.

A good amount of credit for that service and those honors goes to Abigail Smith Adams.

Cenotaph of John Quincy Adams at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

On battlefields around the world, soldiers have cried out for their mothers as they lay dying. And memorably, Abraham Lincoln once said, All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. In our series The Hand That Rocks the Cradle: Mothers and Sons, we will look at a number of famous men strongly influenced by their mothers. Not all these women were angels, but their love, disposition, and sense of principle left an indelible stamp on their sons.

Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C., Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog.
Australias coronavirus tally could hit 2,000 cases by the end of the day as authorities develop new rules about who can get tested.

NSW and Victoria reported 205 new cases on Tuesday morning, taking the national tally to 1914. Australias death toll stands at seven, all but one in NSW.

Other states are yet to add their new cases. They include Queensland which recorded 60 fresh positive results on Mondayits highest daily increase so far.

The World Health Organisation warned overnight that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, with more than 300,000 cases now confirmed and thousand upon thousands of deaths.

It took 67 days from the first reported of the virus to hit 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000, and just four days for the third 100,000.

WHO says its still possible to change the trajectory of the pandemic, urging countries to adopt rigorous testing and contact-tracing strategies.

Australias Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says testing criteria for coronavirus will change as a result of sweeping travel bans that have lessened the risk of imported disease.

Current rules require tests for people who fell ill within two weeks of returning from overseas, or had contact with such a person.

But Kelly has indicated a rule change thats more focused on community transmission, telling the ABC the traveller component would be removed.

There will be announcements about that over the coming days, he told the ABCs Q&A program on Monday night.

On Tuesday morning, NSW reported 149 new cases, taking its tally to 818. Victoria added another 56 people to its list of infections, taking the state tally to 411.

Queensland has recorded 319 cases since the outbreak began, but wont reveal how many new cases its had in the past 24 hours until later on Tuesday.

In Western Australia, police and Australian Border Force officers will ensure passengers do not leave a cruise ship that has docked at Fremantle Port.

Premier Mark McGowan says no one will be allowed ashore while the vessel refuels before heading for Dubai, amid fears at least 250 people are suffering an upper respiratory illness.

The operator of the ship, which left Italy in January, has denied reports of widespread illness, but McGowan isnt taking any chances after dozens of people with coronavirus disembarked from a cruise ship in Sydney.

Political and health authorities are ramping up the message for people to stay home and implement social distancing, as states including WA and Queensland announce more cash to help workers and businesses survive.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state is now at a critical stage, and people needed to self-isolate where necessary, stay home if they can, and social distance.

This is a difficult time for us, but I am confident NSW will control as much as we can the spread of this virus, so long as everyone steps up and does what they need to do, she told reporters on Tuesday.

She warned that people would face harsh penalties if they were told to self-isolate but didnt.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott has called the decision to let passengers leave the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney was a monumental stuff up. At least 50 people from that vessel have the virus.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made another appeal for people to grasp the gravity of the situation.

Turn your TV onhave a look at Italy, have a look at Spain, have a look at France, Andrews told Triple M Melbourne on Tuesday.

Some states have closed their borders while others are tussling over school closures amid fears the pandemic could affect Australia for months to come.

Border controls are now in place for South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, with only freight and essential travel exempted. Queensland will close its borders on Wednesday.

Schools remain open in South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland.

NSW is also keeping schools open but Ms Berejiklian has told parents to keep their children home if possible.

Victoria and the ACT have moved to early holidays to give schools time to set up online and distance education arrangements, while private schools are making up their minds.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Australians face six months of severe but necessary restrictions, with pubs, bars, nightclubs, cinemas and other indoor venues forced to close.

Supermarkets, petrol stations and pharmacies remain open.

He also warned of a dire year ahead for many, including thousands of Australians who have or are expected to lose their jobs.

Huge queues began forming early on Tuesday outside Centrelink offices as many people who lost their jobs on Monday apply for welfare payments.

The MyGov online portal also crashed on Monday after it was overwhelmed by jobless Australians.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston says no one could have predicted the spike in demand, even though the government shut down entire sectors of the economy.

The government has since asked people trying to register with Centrelink to wait a few days.

We are asking for patience and calm  What we saw yesterday was heartbreaking, Senator Ruston said.

By Tracey Ferrier
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I am an anesthesiologist who practices in Omaha, Nebraska at a large university. Our institution is preparing around the clock to care for our community in the midst of the COVID-19 virus. We are all coming together  doctors, scientists, nurses, technicians, administrators, therapists, and staff to develop plans. Leaders are not sleeping; they are working. We are all preparing. Reading. Staying up to date. Trying to learn from our colleagues around the world. Busy is an understatement. We are focusing on the current work: Write protocols. Order supplies. Build new patient areas. Make new teams. Formulate new ways to communicate. Diagnose. Triage. Test. Care. Treat. Save.

Minute to minute, we are on our phones. Emails are coming at an alarming pace. Meetings are happening over Zoom. All while we are still caring for people who are in car accidents. Having babies. Coming in with heart failure. Diabetes crisis. Having heart attacks. Needing chemo. Requiring cancer surgery.

We are still here.

You may be seeing doctors and nurses on social media who are begging you, pleading with you, to stay home. We are asking a lot of you, we know. We are asking you to follow our public health officials orders, to work from home. To school your kids at home. To not eat out. To Facetime your elderly friends and family members. To cancel parties and weddings and anniversary trips.

We know. It is hard.

You may see us posting we need masks. Begging for tests. Appearing urgent, and afraid. There is a reason we, the health care experts, are pleading with you and with others to do your part.

It is because our singular focus is YOU. It is to KNOW we are doing the BEST for YOU. Many of us are being asked to do the unknown, to step into new roles, to do new things we have not done before to save lives. And we will, no doubt. But we want to prepare, to know we have what we need to save you, and to protect ourselves. Because there are only so many of us, and we need to be able to show up, as healthy and as clear as possible, when called.

We are doctors. We are used to reading, preparing, studying, and talking with experts before we do anything new or treat you in the best way. But we are currently in a race against time, so to speak, and in the unknown. We, as doctors and nurses and staff, are listening to experts. When we are not working at the hospital, we are staying home. We are doing all the same things we are asking of you.

People you know will be sick. People you know will likely die. We will be there. Doing our best.

You are our lifes work. You are what matter the most to us.

Please, do your part and stay home. Support one another.

And support us.

We are doing all we can, for you. And we will get through this, but only together. We need your patience, your support, your kindness, and your understanding.

This doctor thanks you for doing your part.

Sasha K. Shillcutt is an anesthesiologist who blogs at Brave Enough.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Dundalk Chamber of Commerces chairperson has called on the government to introduce a lockdown in the Republic similar to that introduced in the UK on Monday.

Paddy Malone told RTE radios Morning Ireland that the only way such measures could work in the North was if they were introduced in the South as well.

Mr Malone said he was concerned that around 3,000 people travel from Newry to Dundalk for work every day and he warned that the UK lockdown will have a huge economic and social impact on the region, on both sides of the border.

He called for an all island approach, for the island of Ireland to be treated as one unit and for the Irish government to introduce stronger measures.

Otherwise, he warned, there will be two different approaches in place on the island, which will lead to discontent and a questioning of the validity of the orders.

If there are different measures, you would have discontent and questioning of orders.

Mr Malone praised the Irish government for making the first move, but said more now needs to be done.

The Chamber of Commerce was calling on the public to follow government advice and not social media and he urged the government to pay attention to the suggestion of the Chamber.

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People protesting against the citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh and other places were removed by the Delhi Police on Tuesday morning amid the coronavirus lockdown in the national capital, officials said.

A total of nine protesters including six women were detained at Shaheen Bagh and taken to a nearby police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) R P Meena said.

The agitators, mostly women, had been on a sit-in at the site for over three months to protest the newly amended Citizenship Act.

People were requested to vacate the site as a lockdown has been imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, action was taken when refused to move, Meena said.

About 50 protesters including men were at the venue in Shaheen Bagh.

"Most of the protesters vacated the site after police made an appeal but a few refused. So, police detained them," a volunteer at the site requesting anonymity said.

A decision about resuming the protest will be taken after the coronavirus situation comes under control, he added.

On Sunday, during the 'Janta curfew', only five women were at the site while others had left their slippers as a symbol of solidarity.

The women were taking all precautions amid the coronavirus outbreak and sanitisers had been arranged at the venue to ensure utmost hygiene, the volunteer said.

Unidentified men had hurled "inflammable substance" near the site on Sunday but none of the five women protesters present there were injured.

Other protest sites in the national capital including Jafrabad in northeast Delhi, Turkman Gate in central Delhi and Hauz Rani in south Delhi too were cleared by the police.

Protesters at Hauz Rani vacated the site at around 7 am, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur.

"Only two-three protesters were there... After we made an appeal, they left the spot," he said.

The move comes two days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a complete lockdown in the national capital till March 31 in order to control the spread of coronavirus.

The Delhi Police has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the national capital till March 31 banning protests and other gatherings.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code bans assembly of four or more people in one place.

According to the health ministry data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 492. The figure includes at least 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A senior official from the ruling Communist Party of China has revealed that some of the hospitals in coronavirus epicentre Wuhan had prevented doctors from wearing face masks in initial stages to prevent panic among local people.

Ye Qing, a deputy director of the Statistics Bureau of Central China's Hubei province, has been recording the stories in Wuhan for 60 consecutive days since the city was locked down on January 23.

"During the early stage of the outbreak, officials from some hospitals did not allow doctors to wear face masks to avoid causing panic, but other hospitals handled the outbreak much better. Such comparison shows typical bureaucracy," Ye told state-run Global Times in first revelations by an official of what happened in Wuhan after the city began reporting COVID-19 cases since December last year.

While China's massive response to control the spread of the virus after January 23 lockdown of Wuhan and Hubei province came for global prise, the CPC's late response in curbing the virus early came for sharp criticism at home and abroad.

One official in Wuhan said earlier that five million residents of the city left for Chinese New Year holidays in China and abroad by the time government started lockdown of Wuhan and Hubei province.

Over 3,000 doctors and medical staff were infected with the virus while treating patients and 10 of them died. Most of the medical casualties were reported to have taken place early when the medics attended the patients without wearing proper medical gear, a medical expert from Wuhan recently told media.

Ye, who blamed the local bureaucracy for the delayed action, told Global Times that the CPC even held its local legislative sessions in the middle of January and he became aware of the virus when he spotted delegates from Hong Kong attending the meetings with masks.

The local governments of Hubei and Wuhan have been questioned for failing to pay enough attention to the outbreak in the early stage by still holding the local two sessions, which many believed delayed the province's response to the outbreak, the report said.

Ye, also a provincial political advisor who attended the provincial two sessions from January 11 to 15, said he didn't know how serious the epidemic situation was at that time.

During the two sessions, he saw some political advisors from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region wearing face masks.

"Since Hong Kong began to enter the warning period on January 4, they were very cautious and took a risk to come to Wuhan for the meeting. Like many others, I began to realise the seriousness of the epidemic when (China's top respiratory specialist) Zhong Nanshan came to Wuhan and declared that the virus could be transmitted from person to person," Ye said.

The early response to the epidemic was passive. By the end of December 2019, some medical departments and personnel had obtained information about the virus but they did not pay much attention to that, he said.

In Ye's Wuhan journals, he mentioned several times that bureaucratism can kill people as much as the virus, and even worse than the virus to some extent.

He stressed that the delayed action was also related to the process to understand a novel coronavirus. At the early stage, people made bureaucratic mistakes as they did not stick to scientism, and seek truth from facts.

If the communities and supermarkets could be locked down the same day as the city, Ye deemed the situation would have been much better.

"Zhong Nanshan said in an interview that if the lockdown was implemented five days earlier, it could have saved much of the prevention workload, and once the lockdown was implemented five days later, it increased the workload three times," he said, adding that a number of local officials have been punished.

Ye pointed out that the understanding for local residents on bureaucracy comes from several prominent incidents.

First, eight doctors who tried to warn other medics about COVID-19 but were reprimanded by local authorities were among those challenging bureaucracy, he said.

This included Dr Li Wenliang, the "whistle-blower" doctor in Wuhan who was reprimanded by police when he warned about the virus in social media on December 30.

A government investigation later punished two police officers and apologised to his family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Tue, March 24, 2020 16:40 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d28940 1 National rapid-testing,COVID-19-rapid-test,West-Java,ridwan-kamil,Bekasi,Depok,bogor,Bandung-West-Java,COVID-19 Free

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil is planning to hold massive rapid testing for COVID-19 in Bogor, Depok, Bekasi and some regions of Greater Bandung on Wednesday.

The rapid test will be limited to those who meet certain criteria set by the West Java administration, as there are only around 10,000 test kits available, according to the governor.

The administration has created three categories of residents eligible for the testing, which is set to take place at the Patriot Candrabaga Stadium in Bekasi, Pakan Sari Stadium in Bogor and Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung regency.

Category A comprises health workers at hospitals handling patients with the disease, persons and patients under surveillance, as well as the patients' family, neighbors and friends. Category B comprises people whose job exposes them to some social interaction and thus are prone to contracting the virus. Category C comprises people suspected of developing symptoms similar to those of COVID-19.

Please tell the public that this massive test is not for everyone. This test is meant to trace the spread [of the virus], Ridwan said in Bandung on Monday. The test must refer to information from the healthcare facilities and not self-assessment.

Indonesia recorded on Monday 65 new people with COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 579, according to the government's tracker covid19.go.id. The country has also reported 49 deaths. West Java, the second-hardest-hit province across the country, recorded 59 confirmed cases with nine deaths as of Monday.

The governor said the public should stay at home and self-isolate if they did not meet any criteria. If you are healthy, you do not need to take the test, unless you are healthy but you meet the criteria of having had social interaction with a crowd, said Ridwan.

The administration is planning to provide a drive-through service for the rapid test, which uses a blood sample.

Those belonging to Category A will also have to take the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at referral hospitals in their respective regions.

While waiting for the drive-through test, regional leaders can perform this massive test on Category A residents in their respective regions, said Ridwan.

The West Java administration is planning to ship the test kits to regions outside Bogor, Depok, Bekasi and Bandung, especially those with a high exposure to people with COVID-19.

The governor is also preparing the Patriot Candrabagha Stadium in Bekasi where the tests for categories B and C will take place for residents of Bekasi, Bekasi regency and Karawang regency.

[There will be a separate test] for Bogor regency, Depok and Bogor city. The rest are planned to take place at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium for [residents of] Sukabumi, Cianjur, Cirebon and the others, Ridwan added.

The West Java administration will issue the call for category B and C residents to take the rapid test through their respective regional administrations. The governor, therefore, has asked the regency and city administrations to use the West Java administration's mobile app Pikobar, which serves as a coronavirus information center, to collect their residents' data.

After online registration, there will be a verification interview, and then a letter [on the test schedule] will be issued telling people when to come [for the test]. Thus, those coming for the drive-through test should wait for the letter, said Ridwan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's export of chemical products to Kazakhstan increased by 6.6 percent from January through February 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $11.3 million, Turkeys Trade Ministry told Trend.

Turkey's export of chemical products to Kazakhstan amounted to $6.5 million in February 2020, showing a decrease of 2.5 percent compared to February 2019.

From January through February 2020, Turkeys export of chemicals to world markets increased by 1 percent compared to the same period of 2019, and amounted to $3.2 billion.

Over the reporting period, Turkeys export of chemicals amounted to 10.9 percent of the country's total export.

Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to $1.5 billion in February 2020, which is 7.8 percent less compared to February 2019.

In February 2020, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to 10.3 percent of the country's total export.

According to the ministry, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to $20.6 billion from February 2019 through February 2020.

Turkey's foreign trade turnover in Jan. 2020 amounted to $33.9 billion.

In Jan. 2020, Turkey's export increased by 6.4 percent compared to Jan. 2019 and amounted to $14.8 billion.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in Jan. 2020 compared to Jan. 2019, amounting to $19.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
New York: Six television networks began showing US President Donald Trump's latest briefing on the coronavirus outbreak but only Fox News Channel stuck it out to the end nearly two hours later.

It was a notable turning point in coverage of the President's now-daily briefings.

Networks had been starting to hear criticism of how much time they have been showing the President answering questions live, reminiscent of a similar debate in the past about showing Trump's campaign rallies.

Still, there's a difference between political rallies and a White House discussion of a national emergency.
PUNE: Better crowd control from the Pune district administration is needed at Market Yard, the wholesale fruits and vegetables hub in Pune city where panic buying by hundreds of people continued on Tuesday morning.

The panic buying was triggered by an announcement by traders at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) on Monday that they would keep the markets shut from Wednesday as a precautionary measure. Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the market yard in the morning and given the rush, the police had to use the cane to force buyers to form a queue and follow a discipline.

Police personnel seen patrolling at Gultekadi market on Tuesday. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

APMC Traders union president Vilas Bhujbal confirmed that there was panic buying on Tuesday morning.

Although this is the wholesale market, a large number of individual consumers came and added to the pressure on the administration. Although entry was restricted and people were being let inside in small numbers, there was chaos at the entry gate. The situation was brought under control after the police arrived, he said.

Bhujbal said as of Tuesday morning, the APMC traders were firm about keeping the APMCs closed from March 25 to March 31 as a precautionary measure. He appealed to the public not to rush to the market yard and purchase vegetables from local vendors in their respective areas.

On Tuesday morning, Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram confirmed four new positive cases for the Sars-Cov-2 virus taking the total number of positive cases to 32.

As people rushed at large number at Gultekadi market on Tuesday, police forced to interfere and streamline the mob. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

On Monday, state government authorities has appealed to APMC traders to keep the markets and their establishments running and has promised police protection from the crowds. Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar had said, We are engaged in talks with the traders. As their main worry is about large crowds at the wholesale market, we are thinking of providing protection and ensuring that safe distances are kept.

Sunil Pawar, managing director, Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board, the apex body of APMCs said, We have appealed to the traders to take all the necessary precautions and keep their essential services running.

Market Yard at Gultekdi. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)
New Delhi, March 24 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday welcomed the decision of releasing former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from the "unconstitutional detention" and said "it is time restore the rights of people of the Jammu and Kashmir too." "So happy to learn that Omar Abdullah's unconstitutional and undemocratic detention has been revoked at last. Its about time the union government restores democratic and constitutional rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

Her remarks came after the Jammu and Kashmir government revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) of former chief minister and ended his detention on Tuesday more than seven months after he and two other former chief ministers -- Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained ahead of the revocation of Article 370 on August 5 2019.

"Government issues orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah," Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.

The order comes just a day before the hearing in the apex court.

Omar Abdullah was among the 50 odd politicians who were kept under 'preventive detention' after the revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (UTs) on August 5, 2019.

He and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with PSA on February 7 after being detained under preventive detention since August 5, 2019.

The PSA was slapped on former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on September 16, 2019, after 42 days of preventive detention.

A few days before the Article 370 move by the Centre, Farooq Abdullah had presided over a meeting of all parties in Kashmir in which Omar also participated and had adopted a declaration - Gupkar declaration - that they will not accept any tinkering with Article 370.
"CHLOE helps illuminate how the modality, in diverse forms, is reshaping higher education, and how institutions, and their online leaders, are creatively adapting online education to better serve students, old and new."

In its fourth year, the Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) Survey  a survey of Chief Online Officers (COOs)  continued to expand, with 367 U.S. colleges and universities responding, including public, private and for-profit institutions. That represents a 31% increase from CHLOE 3.

As this research is being released, continuity of instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic is at the forefront. Many are turning to remote instruction without adequate planning and infrastructure. While online learning teams are rising to the occasion with rapid response  clear evidence that the modality is mainstream in higher education  expectations of what the modality can achieve under these emergency circumstances should be tempered. Facilitating communication regarding end-of-term course requirements should be the goal. The CHLOE 5 survey will include questions regarding continuity of instruction during the COVID-19 crisis.

The latest results  available in the report CHLOE 4: Navigating the Mainstream  reflect how institutions have embraced online learning as well as the range of approaches they take to move online learning from the periphery to the mainstream, institution by institution.

"The CHLOE partnership between Quality Matters and Eduventures Research was founded in 2016 on the belief that online learning was transitioning from an experimental phase to a mainstream component of postsecondary education in the U.S., said Ron Legon, QM Executive Director Emeritus and co-lead of the CHLOE project. The CHLOE reports, drawing on the knowledge and observations of the online officers who manage online activity at their institutions, are making a major contribution to understanding this phenomenon in detail and how it is changing higher education."

According to Richard Garrett, Chief Research Officer for Eduventures Research, a division of ACT | NRCCUA, and co-lead of the project, CHLOE helps illuminate how the modality, in diverse forms, is reshaping higher education, and how institutions, and their online leaders, are creatively adapting online education to better serve students, old and new.

Additional key findings include:



Growth of COO Position  Prior to 2000, only 15% of CHLOE 4 participating institutions had a COO role. Today, 100% of responding institutions do, with five out of eight positions developed in the past decade. Additionally, 60% of COOs report that their roles are expanding.

Faculty Preparation  Required preparation of faculty members to teach online was reported by 60% of respondents.

OPM Partnerships  OPM partnerships have doubled since 2017  from 12% to 24%.

Support Services  Support services for online learners are largely handled by units that also serve the on-campus population. Some services such as student recruitment, orientation and advising are more likely to be separately administered for online students.

Online Orientation  Online student orientation is surprisingly uncommon with only 30% of respondents reporting that it is required at their institution.

We believe that the CHLOE Report is important to everyone who is striving for quality in their online offerings, shared Whitney Kilgore, Chief Academic Officer at iDesign, CHLOE 4s platinum sponsor. This years report provides critical insights into key elements of online learning, including course design, engagement strategies and accessibility.

CHLOE 4 also expanded the institutional models of online learning, adding a sixth model  Flagship  comprised of the leading 4-year public universities, with research and public service roles, as designed by their home states and recognized by the Association of American Universities, with fewer than 7,500 fully and partly online students. Twenty out of the 60 flagship schools in the U.S. are represented in the CHLOE Report.

Eric E. Fredericksen, Contributing Editor of CHLOE, and Associate Vice President of Online Learning at the University of Rochester, acknowledged the important role of his colleagues. The CHLOE team is grateful to the Chief Online Officers at our colleges and universities for their contribution to this research effort. This study is essential to our understanding of an area that is vital to most higher education institutions in the United States.

This report was made possible through the partnership of QM and Eduventures Research  the research division of ACT | NRCCUA  and the support of sponsors iDesign, ExtensionEngine and Instructional Connections. To download the report, visit the Quality Matters website or the Eduventures Research website.

The co-authors of the report, Ron Legon for Quality Matters and Richard Garrett for Eduventures Research, are available for comment:

Ron Legon, Ph.D., Executive Director Emeritus, Quality Matters (rlegon@qualitymatters.org; 312.545.2325)

Richard Garrett, Eduventures Chief Research Officer, ACT | NRCCUA (rgarrett@eduventures.com; 617.704.8481)

Eric Fredericksen, Ed.D., Associate Vice President for Online Learning and Associate Professor, University of Rochester (eric.fredericksen@rochester.edu; 585.273.1714)

About Quality Matters

Quality Matters (QM) is the global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. It provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations. When you see QM Certification Marks on courses or programs, it means they have met QM Course Design Standards or QM Program Review Criteria in a rigorous review process.

About ACT | NRCCUA

Now part of ACT, The National Research Center for College and University Admissions is an educational data science and research organization serving over 2,000 member institutions comprised of public and private colleges and universities across the nation. Since 1972, NRCCUA has been a leading provider of data, technology, and programs serving students, high school educators, colleges and universities from its offices in Lees Summit, MO, Boston, MA, New York, NY, and Austin, TX. These solutions represent the link between students making important life decisions and those providing the resources and information they need to succeed in their post-secondary educations and careers. With the launch of Encoura Data Lab, the company now combines data science, advanced analytics, Eduventures research, predictive modeling and omnichannel enrollment services in one platform to enable institutions to make real-time strategic and operational decisions to meet their unique enrollment goals and create the highest probability of student success. For more information, visit https://encoura.org.
As the world commemorated the World Tuberculosis Day amidst Covid-19 pandemic, governments across the world have been challenged to channel the same solidarity used in combating coronavirus (Covid-19) towards Tuberculosis (TB).

This call was made by the WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Monday, during the press briefing on the global status of Covid-19.

Mr Ghebreyesus said while the world is currently plagued with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, Tuberculosis could make more people vulnerable to Covid-19.

Solidarity

Mr Ghebreyesus asked for solidarity from governments, funders and the community at large in tackling TB globally.

He reminded everyone that although COVID-19 is dominating the worlds attention, theres another respiratory disease that is both preventable and treatable.

He said the World TB Day was an opportunity to remind world leaders of the commitments they have made to end the suffering and death caused by this ancient and terrible disease.

The world is rightly responding to COVID-19 with urgency and purpose. We call on the global community to harness that same urgency and purpose for the fight against tuberculosis  and for a healthier, safer, fairer world for everyone.

COVID-19 is highlighting just how vulnerable people with lung diseases and weakened immune systems can be.

TB

Every March 24, the World Tuberculosis Day is celebrated to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

The theme this year is It is time. The theme is a call for accelerated action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets to end TB epidemics by 2030.

Tuberculosis is an agelong infectious disease that affects the lungs, and one of the worlds top infectious killer, killing over 1.5 million people yearly.

It is more deadly than the ongoing Covid-19, but it has a cure if quickly detected.

In 2018, 10 million people fell ill with TB worldwide and 1.5 million people lost their lives to this disease, a report from the WHO has shown.

According to the report, Nigeria is one of the eight countries with the highest burden of the disease globally.

Although the report showed some level of global improvement in placing more people on TB treatment in 2018, Nigeria and seven other countries  India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and South Africa accounted for 66 per cent of the new cases.

READ ALSO:

Unfortunately, many cases of TB globally are being missed.

The coronavirus outbreak could be of devastating effect to vulnerable people with lung diseases and weakened immune systems.

Call for action

Meanwhile, UNAIDS has urged world leaders to honour their commitment to the political declaration made at the UN meeting in 2018 to end TB by 2030.

UNAIDS said that in 2018, 10 million people fell ill with TB worldwide and 1.5 million people lost their lives to the disease, including 251,000 people living with HIV.

While there has been a 60 per cent reduction in deaths from TB among people living with HIV since 2000, the world is not on track to reach the 75 per cent reduction by 2020, it stated.

The agency said it is critical to remember that we need to sustain services for addressing TB epidemics and TB/HIV infections globally.

It said there is still a $ 3.3 billion yearly funding shortfall for TB prevention and care.

It is also timely to remember that programmes already in place to combat TB and other major infectious diseases can be leveraged to make the response to COVID-19 more rapid and effective.

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MEA discusses measures to fight corona with China, EU

New Delhi: The Indian government has advised several Kashmiri students to stay put in their hostels in Bangladesh and not to try and cross over to India in view of the current travel restrictions.

India on Tuesday also discussed measures to combat the coronavirus with China and the European Union (EU).

In the wake of reports that several Kashmiri students in Bangladesh were desperate to cross the border to return to the Valley, the Indian high commission in Dhaka said, We are in touch with the students and they have been informed that movement through border ports have been suspended.

College principals have assured that hostel facilities will continue to be available for Indian students. We would like to reiterate our advice that students should not undertake travel to try and cross into India, the high commission added.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar, meanwhile, said that India and China have agreed to further boost bilateral ties by working together to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussed with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China our working together in combating Covid19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in tis domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation, Mr Jaishankar tweeted.

The G-20 Summit is expected to take place in the Riyadh in November this year.

The EAM also exchanged views on challenges faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic with Josep Borrell Fontelles, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy.

Mr Jaishankar assured Mr Fontelles Indias full support in return of EU citizens.
It was indeed a sweet revenge for BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan who took over as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister for the fourth time on Monday night, snatching power from Congress veteran Kamal Nath just 15 months after he handed over the state to him.

Nath resigned on March 20 before facing the Supreme Court-mandated trust vote. The vote was necessitated after former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 Congress legislators in his camp quit and joined the BJP, with the Congress alleging that the saffron party was indulging in the toppling game.

Chouhan, known as Mamaji, is an interesting choice for various reasons. The 61-year-old BJP leader was the chief minister for 13 uninterrupted years till 2018. He had been at the centre- stage of Madhya Pradesh politics since the time he took over in 2005. He had stuck to Madhya Pradesh and continued to dabble in the state politics though he was made the national vice-president. He even declined to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Political compulsions went in favour of Chouhan, who was considered as a rival to Modis prime ministerial candidature in 2013, being picked as the CM again despite there being other prominent contenders. Chouhan was also seen as close to former BJP chief LK Advani. But things have changed now. Today, Modi has emerged as a much stronger leader even overtaking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in terms of popularity.

He has proved that he is not only a crowd puller but also a vote catcher both in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He has also risen in stature in the world, finding a place in the high table after rubbing shoulders with global leaders these past five-and-half years.

As for the caste factor, Chouhan has proved himself as an effective backward class leader. He entered electoral politics in the early nineties and has dug in his heels in the state. His caste also was one of the reasons for the choice as Modi and Amit Shah found that in the other BJP-ruled states, CMs were mostly the forward castes, be it Adityanath in UP, Yediyurappa in Karnataka or Khattar in Haryana.

Interestingly, Madhya Pradesh is not as caste-oriented as neighbouring Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. Though caste is one of the important factors, it is not the defining factor. The original people of the state were mostly tribals and they consider all others as migrants. The state now has a very mixed population with substantial populations of Brahmins, Marathas, Telugus, Odiyas and Gujaratis as it borders on Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajashtan and Jharkhand.

Moreover, as chief minister, Chouhan had built in the past 15 years a social coalition of upper castes, who had traditionally been with the party, Other Backward Classes (OBC) to which he himself belongs and segments of Dalits and tribals.

Also, there was a view in the leadership that after losing state after state in recent times, popular leaders like him should be encouraged. He also came closer to the RSS with his efforts to introduce yoga classes and Vande Mataram in schools.

Though he was also sidelined for some time like Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh - the other senior chief ministers who lost their states - Chouhan was more graceful in accepting whatever position was given to him by the party high command. This probably brought him back in Modi-Shahs good books.

Secondly, and more importantly, Chouhan was seen as the safe choice for the BJP in faction-ridden Madhya Pradesh.

While there were other contenders like Narendra Singh Tomar and Thawar Chand Gehlot (both union ministers), Narottam Mishra (the chief whip of the legislature party), Kailash Vijayvargiya (the BJP national vice-president) and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly till now Gopal Bhargava, Chouhan emerged as the clear choice.

After the fall of the Kamal Nath government, the BJP needed somebody who had the stature, experience and temperament to shoulder the responsibility. Also among the available choices, he was the popular leader. Had the times been different, the choice could have been Viayavargiya or Tomar or Mishra.

Chouhan won the race also because he had been in the frame right from the day the operation began to oust Kamal Nath. It was he who filed the petition in the Supreme Court last week seeking directions to issue an order to the Speaker of the state assembly to conduct a floor test.

And to win the bye-elections to seats that have fallen vacant after the resignation of the rebel MLAs, Chouhan was better suited than the other chief ministerial aspirants. The BJP has to win at least 15 seats if it wants to have a stable government, as the majority at present is very thin.

Challenges before the chief minister are many. The first will be to tackle the killer pandemic coronavirus. The second is to take everybody along. The third is to win the bye-polls. All three are daunting tasks.

(The author is a political analyst. Views expressed are personal)
The final member of the Oval Four - four young black men who were 'fitted up' by a corrupt police officer nearly 50 years ago - has finally had his conviction overturned by senior judges.

Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine 'Omar' Boucher - then aged between 19 and 23, were arrested at Oval Underground station in 1972 by a police unit known as 'the mugging squad', who accused them of stealing handbags.

The unit was run by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell, who had previously served in the South Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) police force, and was involved in a number of high-profile and controversial cases in the early 1970s.

The final member of the Oval Four - four young black men who were 'fitted up' by a corrupt police officer nearly 50 years ago - has finally had his conviction overturned

The Oval Four were convicted in November 1972 of attempted theft and assaulting police, and Mr Christie was also found guilty of theft of a handbag, following a five-week trial at the Old Bailey.

All four were sentenced to two years, later reduced to eight months on appeal.

Mr Trew, now 69, Mr Christie, now 70, and Mr Griffiths, now 67, had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal in December, after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) earlier in 2019.

Mr Boucher's conviction was not referred to the Court of Appeal, as the CCRC had been unable to trace him - but Mr Boucher, now 71, contacted them shortly after his friends' convictions were overturned.

At a short hearing in London on Tuesday, Lord Justice Fulford - sitting with Mrs Justice Carr and Mr Justice Goss - quashed Mr Boucher's conviction, saying that the safety of the conviction was 'fundamentally undermined by the apparent lack of integrity of DS Ridgewell and the team he led'.

Lord Justice Fulford added: 'It is clear that Mr Boucher's conviction is unsafe. It is highly unfortunate that it has taken nearly 50 years to rectify this injustice.'

were arrested at Oval Underground station in 1972 by a police unit known as 'the mugging squad' - run by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell (pictured)

The hearing was conducted with the judges in the courtroom, but with barristers representing Mr Boucher and the prosecution dialling in by telephone.

In a statement after the hearing, Mr Boucher's solicitor Jenny Wiltshire, head of serious and general crime at Hickman & Rose - who also represented Mr Trew and Mr Christie - said: 'While it is, of course, happy news that Mr Boucher's conviction has been quashed, the fact that it has taken nearly so long is very concerning.

'The British Transport Police and the Home Office have known about this officer's corruption for decades. Yet they have done little to right his wrongs.

'DS Ridgewell was first denounced as corrupt in 1973. He was imprisoned in 1980. The BTP could have re-examined his cases then. But they didn't.

'They instead left it to his victims to try and work out for themselves exactly how they had been set up, and to gather the evidence they needed to prove their innocence.

'In my view, the BTP should now conduct a wholesale review of all this officer's cases. It seems to me very likely that there may be many other victims of his corruption.'

Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine 'Omar' Boucher were arrested at Oval Underground station in 1972

Ms Wiltshire added: 'My client is grateful to the court for agreeing to hold this hearing under difficult circumstances.

'Having spent 48 years unfairly labelled a criminal, he was keen to have this heard as soon as possible. The court clearly agreed and conducted the hearing by telephone.'

Ridgewell was involved in a series of controversial cases in the early 1970s in which young black men were falsely accused of crimes - which led to calls for the Home Secretary to open an inquiry - culminating in the 1973 acquittals of the 'Tottenham Court Road Two', two young Jesuits studying at Oxford University.

He was then moved into a department investigating mailbag theft, where he joined up with two criminals with whom he split the profits of stolen mailbags.

Ridgewell was eventually caught and jailed for seven years, dying of a heart attack in prison in 1982 at the age of 37.

In January 2018, Stephen Simmons' 1976 conviction for stealing mailbags was quashed after he discovered Ridgewell was later jailed for a similar offence just two years after his own conviction.

Part of the evidence in Mr Simmons' appeal was Mr Trew's book Black for a Cause... Not Just Because...' which detailed Ridgewell's long history of 'fit-ups'.

At the hearing in December, Judy Khan QC said Mr Trew, Mr Christie and Mr Griffiths' case was 'perhaps unprecedented' in that it had 'already been cited in support of quashing another appellant's conviction' before their names had been officially cleared.
Clear Aligners Market Overview

Global clear aligners market size is growing pervasively, mainly due to the popularity of clear aligners or invisible aligners. Over the past few years, dentistry has evolved dramatically with technology advances and consumer awareness, driving new opportunities in ortho-restorative & comprehensive treatment. As a result, digital transformations in dentistry are allowing reformed comprehensive treatment planning, reinventing the practices in orthodontists & clinics with digital platforms.

According to Market Research Future (MRFR), the global clear aligners market valuation is expected to reach USD 7019.96 MN by 2025, growing at 20.80% CAGR throughout the review period (2019  2025). There has been a spurting rise in the demand from the dentists and orthodontists to provide clear aligners to their in-office patients. Also, advancements in the 3D printing industry and additive manufacturing are accelerating the clear aligners market growth.

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Additionally, factors such as the growing dental service organizations, increase in dental procedures, and the rising prevalence of dental diseases drive the global clear aligners market share. On the other hand, complications of clear aligners and the increase gray market for dental distribution are the major factors acting as growth impeding factors. Nevertheless, companies that do offer adult orthodontics coverage for benefit-eligible employees would support market growth throughout the forecast period.

Global Clear Aligners Market  Segmentation

The analysis has been segmented into four main dynamics to widen the scope of understanding,

By Product Type : Hard Type, Medium Type, and Soft Type.

By Age : Teenager, and Adult.

By Channel : Direct Sales, Distributor, and others.

By Regions : Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Rest-of-the-World.

Clear aligners are customized for a tight fit, and hence they are best for adults and teens. Adults of all ages choose clear aligners to improve their looks and fix long-standing dental issues. For adults, national healthcare provides orthodontic treatment, and clear aligner therapy inclusive in the corporate plans itself. Adults are looking for more affordable, premium oral care products. Additionally, customers are using HSA and FSA funds to purchase clear aligner therapy.

Global Clear Aligners Market  Geographical Analysis

North America dominates the global clear aligners market. The largest market share attributes to the growing aesthetic dentistry and other vast specialized services present in North American countries. Besides, high expenditure on healthcare and wellness is the main driving force behind the growth of the clear aligners industry in North America.

Additionally, the increasing demand for advanced dentistry, alongside the presence of a large number of notable players in this region drives the clear aligners market size. Heading with contributions from the US market, the North American clear aligners market is estimated to witness substantial investments over the assessment period.

Europe stands second in the global clear aligners market due to the rising per capita health & wellness expenditures and well-established healthcare sector in the region. Besides, the soaring demand for dental procedures led by the increasing incidences of oral problems fosters regional market growth. Moreover, factors such as the vast application of technologically advanced techniques and the growing importance of treatment, planning, and diagnosis increase the regions clear aligners market share on the global front.

The market is majorly led by countries such as the UK, Germany, and France due to their huge investments in the development of dentistry. The European clear aligners market is projected to register a phenomenal CAGR during the review period.

The Asia Pacific, clear aligners market, perceives an exponential growth, emerging as a promising market globally. Continuously growing economy in the region is acting as a major driving force for the growth of the regional market. Furthermore, recent developments in dentistry and per capita disposable income are fueling the regional market growth.

Growing markets of India & China backed by the vast population and burgeoning medical treatment foster the growth in the regional market. Furthermore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia among the other southeast Asian countries are projected to contribute significantly to the regional market growth.

Global Clear Aligners Market  Competitive Landscape

Highly competitive, the clear aligners market appears to be well-established, with several notable players forming a competitive landscape. To gain a larger competitive advantage in the market, brand reinforcement, mergers & acquisitions, and innovation remain the popular trends for the players in the market. Also, they make substantial investments in new product development, technology launch, and to expand their global footprint. They innovate manufacturing techniques to drive their product launch and to drive the expansion they acquire or collaborate with promising companies from the emerging market.

Clear Aligners Market Major Players:

Players active in the global clear aligners market include

Dentsply Sirona

Align Technology Inc.

Institut Straumann AG

Danaher Corporation

Clarus Company

3M

Clear Aligners Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:

March 18, 2020 - Align Technology Inc. (the US), a 3D scanner and dental clear aligner manufacturer, announced the acquisition of a German CAD/CAM software company, Exocad GmbH, to strengthen its digital dentistry platform. Exocad has come up as an innovative frontrunner in the area of digital dentistry, and Align Technology had a fantastic partnership with it in the past.

The addition would continue to allow Align Technology to broaden and deepen its digital platform, addressing restorative needs in the companys end-to-end digital platform that facilitate ortho-restorative & comprehensive dentistry and accelerate the adoption of Invisalign treatment among its patients worldwide.

Get More Information on Clear Aligners Market Research Report  Global Forecast till 2025 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/clear-aligners-market-6974

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.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 14:32:10|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 23, 2020 shows empty roads after the start of a curfew decreed by the government in Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government has decided to impose a nationwide curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)
She knew it wasn't a good idea and her daughter would disapprove. Nonetheless, Barbara Figge Fox, 79, recently went to four stores in Princeton, New Jersey, to shop for canned goods, paper towels, fresh fruit, yogurt, and other items.

"I was in panic mode," said Fox, who admitted she's been feeling both agonizing fear and irrational impulsivity because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Susannah Fox, Barbara's daughter, had been warning her exceptionally healthy mother for weeks of the need to stay inside as much as possible and limit contact with other people. Everyone age 60 and older is at high risk of complications from COVID-19 and should adopt these measures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.

"At one point, when I was pushing her to limit her activities, my mother said defiantly, 'Well, I'm going to die of something,'" said Susannah, an adviser to health care and technology companies. "And I said, 'Well, that's true, but let's not rush it.'"

Are precautions of the sort the CDC has endorsed really necessary, even in areas where the new coronavirus doesn't yet appear to be circulating widely? What about disease-free adults in their 60s and 70s? Do they need to worry about going to a restaurant or a friend's house for dinner? Are all outside activities ill-advised?

I asked several geriatricians for their advice. All cautioned that what they told me could be upended by unforeseen developments. Indeed, over the past week, the governors of about a dozen states  including California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Washington  have told residents, and not just older adults, to stay inside, in an aggressive effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Here's what geriatricians think is reasonable, and why, at the moment:

Know the odds. Current warnings were originally based on data from China, which has reported that 80% of deaths from COVID-19 occurred among people age 60 and older.

The latest data from the U.S. was published by the CDC last week. Of 4,226 known COVID-19 cases at the time, people 65 and older were responsible for 80% of deaths, 53% of intensive care unit admissions and 45% of hospital admissions. Those 85 and older suffered the worst outcomes.

Data from China, the U.S. and other countries also indicates that people with illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and lung disease, and those with compromised immune systems, are more likely to become critically ill and die if they become infected. The CDC recommends that these patients stay inside and practice strict precautions.

What's not yet known: lots of details about the underlying health status of older adults in China and other countries who've died from COVID-19. "We just don't have this kind of information yet," said Dr. Carla Perissinotto, associate chief for geriatrics clinical programs at the University of California-San Francisco.

As a result, considerable uncertainty about the true nature of risk remains. What's clear, however, is that older adults have less robust immune systems and are less able to mount a protective response against the coronavirus.

Exercise more caution. Uncertainty also surrounds the degree to which the coronavirus is circulating in communities across the country because testing has been so limited.

Some people don't develop symptoms. Others won't realize they've contracted the coronavirus until becoming symptomatic. Both groups may unwittingly transmit the virus, which can live on hard surfaces such as door handles or store shelves for up to 72 hours.

Given how little is known about the extent of the virus's community spread, most physicians suggest erring on the side of caution.

Dr. Michael Wasserman's 82-year-old mother, Fern, called him several times recently with questions. Could she go out to dinner with his brother? No, Wasserman said he told her, "restaurants are one of the most dangerous places right now for old people." Could she go pick up a prescription at the pharmacy? No, he said, "the last place you want to go is a pharmacy or a doctor's office where there are sick people next to you." What about the grocery store? No, get deliveries, he urged.

But Wasserman, who's 60 and a triathlete, isn't as strict with himself. "Would I go for a walk? Yeah. The way I see it, I'm in a gray zone. I can go out, but I have to be careful."

Consider your health. Wasserman isn't alone in making a distinction of this kind. "What a number of physicians are saying is, you should consider whether you're frail" in assessing your personal risk, said Dr. John Morley, a professor of geriatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

He ticked off the questions that entails. "F: Are you consistently fatigued? R, for resilience: Can you climb a flight of stairs? A, for aerobic: Can you walk a block? I, for illnesses: If you've got five or more, that's bad. L, for loss of weight: That's not good."

If you answer yes to three or more of those questions, you should be "really careful and self-isolate," Morley said.

Even if you score 1, "you should be taking some care," he continued. "If you want to have a couple over for dinner, make sure they don't have the sniffles or a fever or a new cough and they haven't been traveling."

"I've been telling people, this is about how healthy you are, not how old you are," said Dr. William Dale, director of the Center for Cancer and Aging Research at City of Hope, a cancer center in Duarte, California.

But even healthy people are becoming sick and, "honestly, I think we're all trying to figure out how worried to be," Dale said.

Assess risks. Of course, older adults should follow guidance from state and local health departments, as well as the federal government. But the advice varies widely, adding to people's uncertainty.

"I don't think it's as simple as 'Don't go out' for all older adults. Social contact is still really important," Perissinotto said. "If you're healthy and over 60, with prudence, hand hygiene and being aware of your surroundings, you should still be able to go about some activities," such as taking a walk or visiting with a neighbor while maintaining a safe distance.

Leslie Kernisan, a San Francisco geriatrician and the founder of the geriatrics advice website BetterHealthWhileAging.net, offered several concrete suggestions. If you're going to the store, consider wearing cloth gloves, because viruses don't survive as well on soft surfaces.

Try not to handle your smartphone when you're out of the house. "A phone is a hard plastic surface that can easily get contaminated," she said.

If you're worried that older parents aren't following rigorous enough precautions, don't lecture them, Kernisan advises. Instead, ask how they're feeling about the coronavirus. What do they know about it? What plans have they made?

Foster well-being. Asked what was safe for older adults, Dr. Paul Tatum, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Texas-Austin's Dell Medical School, focused on factors that contribute to well-being.

"It is safe to exercise, and, in fact, it's very important to keep exercising," but not at the gym or in large groups, he said. "It's safe to get plenty of sleep"  but avoid sleeping pills, if possible.

"It's safe to prevent worry and take a break from social media and too much news," Tatum said.

"It's safe to take care of your spiritual needs in this time, but doing it at a distance is wise. Don't hesitate to reach out to your church or synagogue community and say, 'I'm not able to come in. Can I schedule a few minutes on the phone with someone?' It's safe to call your neighbor and say, 'I need some help.'"
The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in November announced its picks for the best airlines in Africa in 2019Kenya Airways for having the best improved intra-Africa connectivity in 2018 and Royal Air Maroc for its remarkable financial performance and profitability.

Kenya Airways introduced the highest number of new routes in 2018, including flights to Malindi, Mauritius and Mogadishu. The airline is also increasing the capacity and frequency of flights to about a dozen other cities in Africa, including Cape Town, Zanzibar and Kigali.

The African Continental Free Trade Area came into effect in 2019, becoming the worlds largest free trade area by number of member states. By rewarding intra-Africa connectivity, AFRAA is encouraging its members to take advantage of it.

Kenya Airways award comes soon after the airline marked one year since it launched a non-stop flight from Nairobi to New York, cutting travel time between Africa and the US by at least seven hours. Now travellers no longer need to transit through European or Middle Eastern cities. The company announced that after just 12 months of operating the NairobiNew York route, it has carried 100,000 travellersa great success, it said.

Yet despite all these accolades, there is no denying that the airline, like many others in Africa, has gone through turbulent times. Surges in operating costs from ambitious expansion and rising fuel costs continue to eat into the airlines profit. In the middle of this year, the airline posted a $740 million net loss after taxes in 2018, compared to a loss of $640 million for the period between April and December 2017. It has plans to re-nationalize and to explore public-private partnerships.

To some extent, the travails of the Kenyan carrier reflect the struggles faced in operating a profitable airline in Africa today.

High taxes, restricted market access, high operational coststhe cost of jet fuel runs 35% higher in Africa than in the rest of the worldare some of the challenges African airlines face, according to Abderahmane Berthe, Secretary-General of AFRAA.

Africa represents 16% of the global population but accounts for only 3% of global air traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). However, demand is slowly growing.

Over the last two years, it grew by an estimated 2%, a study by global air travel consultancy firm Sabre. Published in November 2019, the study also revealed that travellers are willing to spend up to 27% more on air travel if they can move around easily and freely.

So why are there still obstacles to tap into the growing number of passengers in Africa?

According to Christian Folly-Kossi, a Lome-based aviation consultant and a former Secretary-General of AFRAA, the reason lies in national ambition. Every country wants to have a national carrier at all costs: A flag, a national anthem, and an airline are considered the basic attributes of sovereignty, he says.

So as passenger numbers grow, countries are relaunching their national carriers. Uganda is the latest to start operating a national company. Ghana and Zambia are making plans to relaunch theirs, while Senegal is trying for the third time in two decades to put its own in the air.

Let me give you an example to buttress my point, Mr. Folly-Kossi said. Professional boxers have known this for a long time: you cant have a heavyweight compete against a featherweight. One of them will not make it out of the ring. Smaller African airlines may be run out of business in their own countries by the bigger international carriers. This is why African air regulators are reluctant to liberalise their air spaces. Recent data on airline routes profitability in Africa appears to confirm Mr. Folly-Kossis misgivings.

According to OAG (originally the Official Aviation Guide), a UK-based air traffic analysis company, the most profitable air routes in Africa are operated by Emirates, which connect South Africa to Asia and Europe through Dubai.

South African Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines were the only African airlines operating any of the 10 most profitable African routes between April 2018 and May 2019. The most profitable intra-African route, between Johannesburg and Cape Town, is operated by South African Airways.

Yet South African Airways, just like Kenya Airways and Air Cote dIvoire, is struggling to stay afloat. Over the last two decades, the South African carrier has had to rely on massive bailouts by the government, estimated by local media to be to the tune of $1.96 billion.

Still, while IATA says that the continent can expect millions of passengers by 2036 and to grow the numbers by 5% annually over the next 20 years, more airlines in every African nation competing for the same routes would not solve the industrys issues, aviation experts say.

Mr. Folly-Kossi advocates for airlines operating between regional hubs that smaller airlines would then feed. In Europe, smaller countries such as Belgium, Switzerland and the Scandinavian nations understood as early as the 1980s and 1990s that their airlines would only survive if they operate around the concept of hub-and-spoke, he said. This is a system of air transportation in which local airports offer air transportation to a central airport where long-distance flights are available.

For instance, Ethiopian Airlines partners with ASKY, a West and Central African regional carrier, to operate a West African hub out of Lome, Togo, for its transatlantic flights to Brazil and New York and soon to Houston, Texas in the US. Similarly, Kenya Airways also plans to make Nairobi a major hub in East Africa around its regional expanded network.

If there could be five additional hubs, Mr. Folly-Kossi believes, it would unlock the African market for both short- and long-haul flights.
William Luther /Staff photographer

There are now 69 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bexar County, according to city officials.

The updated totals show the number of community spread cases increased to 18 as of Tuesday, the previous number was 16.
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said on Tuesday that the states need to impose complete lockdown to break the chain of the spread of coronavirus and also start placing orders for equipment needed to combat against the virus.

"The state governments have been ordered to place their requirements for equipment to combat coronavirus," said Aggarwal at a press conference here.

Briefing media persons here today, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said: "We have asked states to make dedicated COVID-19 hospitals."

He said that as per the information received so far, the work has started at the state level in Gujarat, Assam, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

He also said that though most states and Union Territories have imposed a complete lockdown, "there are a few states where lockdown has been enforced partially."

He also said, "The partial lockdown will not help the Central government's intention to break the chain of the spread of coronavirus."

Meanwhile, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra announced a complete lockdown on Sunday.

"Today at a Cabinet Secretary-level meeting, DRDO, Bharat Electronics Limited and other main organisations of Government of India which are research-related were consulted as to how to promote our indigenous manufacturers so that sufficient ventilators can be provided to the country," said the Joint Secretary.

This discussion was held in the backdrop of the government prohibiting the export of sanitizers and all ventilators including any artificial respiratory apparatus or oxygen therapy apparatus or any other breathing apparatus, falling under any ITCHS Code (Indian Trade Clarification based on Harmonized System), with immediate effect.

According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases reached 482.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Conor Joerin was packing food into a delivery van outside his Bloor Street restaurant Sugo on Monday when the tow truck arrived.

Since closing his two restaurants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to patrons and staff, Joerin has been dropping off whats left in his kitchen stores to foods banks and families most in need  prepared pasta meals, as well as dried pasta, homemade jarred sauce and fresh produce.

On Monday, Joerin, owner and operator of Sugo and Condos pizzeria next door, said he started loading the van at 3:45 p.m., which he parked across from the restaurant on the north side of Bloor just east of Lansdowne Avenue.

As he was locking up the shop, a Toronto Police parking enforcement officer automatically tagged his van and had it towed for parking on Bloor during rush hour, despite decreased traffic during the emergency.

Theres no rush hour. They just shut the city down, said Joerin Monday, when reached at the car lot after paying $400 to get his van back.

The north side of Bloor Street on that stretch has no-stopping rules in effect between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Last week, the city stopped enforcing some, but not all, parking violations as people were asked to work from home. Parking in a no-stopping zone during rush hour  something Mayor John Tory has pushed to enforce during his administration  is not one of the rules that was relaxed.

Joerin said there should be leniency for people trying to make deliveries or pick up essential items given the current situation.

He said he would have parked on the south side of the street, which only has rush hour restrictions in the morning, but a family that lives in an apartment above the restaurant was packing up a van and he wanted to give them space. Joerin said he was 20 minutes into the rush hour period when the vehicle was towed.

Even a grace period of an hour or two right now  but theyre still hitting Bloor Street like its normal everyday business  Maybe they could be a little more forgiving with times, he said, adding the current rules are not clear.

Obviously its a changing situation, but I think they need to be pretty clear with people and understanding with whats going on in these communities and neighbourhoods.

On March 18, Tory announced enforcement would be paused for the following offences:

on-street permit parking areas;

on-street time limit offences;

North York winter maintenance bylaw;

expired vehicle validation licence plates;

boulevard parking;

school zones with posted no-stopping/no-standing/no-parking signage.

Asked Tuesday why parking enforcement was still cracking down on rush hour offences, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who is heading the citys emergency operations centre during the outbreak, said its being reviewed.

We are live to that issue. Those concerns have been received and have been fed in to the emergency operations centre, Pegg told reporters at city hall.

Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in a statement that officers are being encouraged to use discretion where possible if vehicles are actively engaged in deliveries. She added that police have also temporarily suspended impounding heavy delivery vehicles in the downtown core so supply chains are not negatively impacted during the pandemic.

Tory told the Star Tuesday he would ask police to look into the issue more in light of dramatically reduced traffic levels.

I wish the guy hadnt been towed, he said. Thats unfortunate.

The towing cost Joerin. He paid $150 to the city and $250 to the towing company to get the van released from a lot in the Junction  where he said eight people were packed too close together in a trailer trying to get their vehicles back  and make the deliveries hed promised.

The outbreak has caused stress for business owners and residents alike, and hes trying to make something positive out of a bad situation, he said.

Joerin said he didnt feel comfortable doing takeout even though its permitted by provincial orders, saying he didnt want to risk his staff and the neighbourhood and it didnt feel right to do business at all. That meant laying off the staff at Sugo and the newly opened Conzos.

He was back in his restaurants on Tuesday prepping more free pasta meals in the kitchen.

Weve burned up all our perishables over the last week pretty much and the weekend  mostly to food banks in the form of prepared meals, but also to a couple of churches and a makeshift shelter, he said.

He posted on Instagram Monday that he will make free deliveries for anyone in need of food.

$400 in tickets and a virus, will not stop us from feeding the community! that made us!! We love you Toronto!!!
The son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Mohammed Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, of lying about how he contracted coronavirus.

Mr Abubakar, in a short message he shared on the WhatsApp platform of The Atiku Mandate, said he never shook hands with the governor when they met on board an Aero Contractors aircraft.

The duo, accompanied by their wives, boarded the plane on March 18 at about 5:20 p.m from Lagos to Abuja.

On his return to Abuja, Mr Abubakar tested positive for the virus, and has since been undergoing treatment at a government facility.

Following Atiku Abubakars open declaration of his sons health status, the governors spokesperson, Mukhtar Gidado, announced in a statement that the governor had self-isolated, citing his meeting with Mr Abubakar.

Mr Mohammed said he boarded the same flight and shook hands with Mr Abubakar.

On Tuesday, Mr Gidado said in another statement that Gov Mohammed had tested positive for the virus.

This is to inform the general public that the results of the six initial tests carried out by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on His Excellency, Senator Bala Mohammed, his family and aides that accompanied him to Lagos is (sic) out, the statement said.

Of the six initial tests carried out, one sample was confirmed positive of COVID-19. The positive result happens to be that of His Excellency, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, the Executive Governor of Bauchi State.

At this point, it should be noted that the governor is on self-isolation as his doctors and officials from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) have taken full charge of his quarantine.

His Excellency solicits for prayers from all and requests that all those who had contact with him or anyone known to have the same medical condition to go for test immediately in order to avert further spread of COVID-19 epidemic, the statement reads.

But Mr Abubakar said he did not shake hands with Governor Bala Mohammed.

He said he sat on a seat across the aisle on the Aerocontractors flight from Lagos to Abuja.

Governors trip abroad

Meanwhile, findings by PREMIUM TIMES have shown that like the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, the Bauchi governor was also in Germany between March 12 and 15.

He was said to have returned to Nigeria on March 15.

Another source within the Atiku family, who did not want to be named, also told PREMIUM TIMES that; It was, therefore, surprising that the governor in his statements never mentioned that he travelled to Germany where he met many business partners and investors. Why did he hide such an important aspect of his movement and the emphasis was on a handshake that never happened.

Corroborating the claim were some of the governors tweets and pictures posted on March 13, which showed his trip in Germany, sitting on a round table amongst foreign partners.

PREMIUM TIMES learned that the governor signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a German organisation, Water is Right Foundation, and also reportedly met two representatives of Bauchi community in Germany.

Usman Giade of Deutsche Welle Radio and another Bauchi State indigene, identified as Gar of the University of Berlins Linguistics department, represented the community at a meeting.

Meeting Dangote, Nanono, others

Since then, the governor had other meetings. He met with the business mogul, Aliko Dangote, and the minister of agriculture, Sabo Nanono, last week, according to his tweets.

The tweets said Mr Dangote led a team of the Aliko Dangote Foundation to his office and pledged to empower 1,000 rural women in each of the 20 local government areas in the state.

Also, resulting from our meeting this afternoon, the @AlikoDangoteFdn further committed to building five additional primary healthcare centres for enhanced healthcare service delivery in the state. #GreaterBauchi, the governor tweeted six days ago.

The tweet was accompanied by a group picture with the governor standing beside Mr Dangote among other personalities.

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Similarly, on Thursday, the governor tweeted about the ministers visit with their picture was also shared.

He also shared his photo at the National Economic Council meeting where he sat close to the Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, and another where he was in a discussion with his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki.

It is, however, not clear, if these individuals and officials the governor had met within the last one week have embarked on self-isolation or not.

EDITORS NOTE: This post has been amended to correct the attribution error suggesting that Mr Abubakar shared his comment with PREMIUM TIMES via the WhatsApp platform. An inaccurate quote was also corrected.
By Trend

Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers has held a meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ali Asadov on March 23.

The meeting participants discussed the situation related to coronavirus infection in the country and made s decision to declare a special quarantine regime to prevent the spread of the infection.

The special quarantine regime envisages the following restrictions:

- Those above the age of 65 are banned from leaving home. Lonely persons of this age will receive social services in accordance with the law;

- Entry and exit to/from Baku, Sumgayit and Absheron is restricted. This restriction doesnt apply to special-purpose vehicles, including ambulances, emergency and rescue vehicles, as well as cargo transportation vehicles;

- regardless of the form of ownership, passenger transportation between districts and cities is suspended;

- the relevant departments were instructed to ensure the return of Azerbaijani citizens from abroad by charter flights with the condition of their placement in compulsory quarantine for a period of 14-21 days within a certain schedule. In this case, preference should be given to families with young children, the elderly, persons in need of medical care, and women;

- The Baku Transport Agency should provide a special line for express buses that will run along the route between metro stations from 06:00 to 22:00. Passengers are advised to minimize the use of the metro and give preference to ground modes of transport;

- Gathering in groups of more than 10 people in public places, including on the streets, boulevards, parks, etc. is banned;

- citizens are advised to keep a distance of two meters;

- a new regime is introduced in catering enterprises;

- Home delivery is available without time limits from 12:00 to 15:00;

- the operation of all shopping centers is suspended (with the exception of supermarkets, grocery stores and pharmacies located there);

- the relevant departments were instructed to ensure the operation of grocery stores, pharmacies and other vital facilities.

Monitoring the implementation of the requirements of the Special Quarantine Regime has been entrusted to the Ministry of the Internal Affairs. The Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers urges the population to stay at home, follow the self-isolation rules and call 103 or the hotline 1542 in the case of detecting coronavirus symptoms.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-23 21:26:53|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits Hubei's maternity and child health care hospital in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, March 23, 2020. Leading a central government group to oversee the epidemic control work in Hubei, Sun visited two hospitals and a community health service center in Wuhan on Monday. Sun urged medical institutions to restore medical services for non-COVID-19 patients while continuing efforts against the coronavirus. (Xinhua/Li He)

WUHAN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan Monday urged medical institutions to restore medical services for non-COVID-19 patients while continuing efforts against the coronavirus.

Leading a central government group to oversee the epidemic control work in central China's Hubei Province, Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visited two hospitals and a community health service center in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei.

After inspecting medical facilities and visiting front-line medical staff at the hospitals, Sun called for coordinated distribution of medical resources and personnel, as well as triage-based treatment to ensure the safety of non-COVID-19 patients.

Sun stressed fine management and enhanced measures in the orderly restoration of daily medical service of relevant departments, with priority given to special groups of people including pregnant and lying-in women, newborns and the elderly.

Internet-powered healthcare should be encouraged, Sun said, adding that community healthcare service should be gradually restored to divert patients with definitive diagnosis and treatment schemes to primary-level medical institutions near their homes.

Sun also underscored the implementation of community-based family doctor programs, psychological counseling for residents and the integration of public hygiene and national fitness campaigns.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says enforcement is being stepped up as the number of COVID-19 cases in NSW is now over 1000, which includes a two-month-old baby.

Addressing media at the repurposed Rural Fire Service headquarters on Wednesday morning, Premier Berejiklian said she "strongly backed in" the tighter restrictions introduced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday night.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday. Credit:AAP

Ms Berejiklian also revealed that NSW was planning to implement mobile phone tracking technology similar to what is used in Singapore to stop the spread of coronavirus. The technology will help authorities monitor where people are when they are meant to be self-isolating.

The Premier says there should be no social entertaining at home except with immediate family members.
At this juncture, we should not be surprised when presumed positive or positive test results are identified within our community, Olson said in his message to parents on Monday after the first case of coronavirus was reported. We assume this will continue to happen, and this is a major reason why schools in Illinois are currently closed and why the governor issued a stay at home order through April 7.
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When governor Newsom signed an executive order last week to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Southern California elections, he included this provision: counties must send mail-in ballots to all registered voters in three upcoming special elections.

The Orange County Registrar has already canceled in-person voting for the Apr. 7 Westminster City Council special recall election. Vote centers were scheduled to open this weekend for that contest.

"Pursuant to Governor Gavin Newsom's Executive Order (N-34-20), the generalized use of in-person voting may present risks to public health and safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and could risk undermining social distancing measures imposed by the State Public Health Officer," O.C. Registrar Neal Kelley said in a statement.

These moves give us a glimpse of what the future could hold: voting during a pandemic, when election officials have to weigh the risks of gathering at polling places versus the need to make voting accessible to everyone.

"We're having to adjust exactly how we administer the elections so that we maintain the right to vote but keep everybody as healthy as possible," said Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

UC Irvine law professor Rick Hasen argues that California and the rest of the country should be gearing up now to hold the November election under continuing threat from coronavirus.

"It's going to be a lot more vote-by-mail," Hasen said. "It's going to be more expensive -- because this requires more scanners, more workers, more printers, postage, all those kinds of things."

Currently, every state allows some voters to cast ballots by snail mail -- but most places make it a lot harder than California. In a third of states, you need to provide an excuse, like being out of town, to vote absentee. Expanding "no-excuse" vote-by-mail is one of the sticking points slowing congressional negotiations over coronavirus funding.

"All voters should have access to this in their states -- and they should be able to sign up as permanent absentee voters," said UCLA professor Matt Barreto, co-founder of the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

The group published a report on Monday urging Congress to mandate that states receiving COVID-19 relief funding allow universal access to voting by mail.

The report also includes recommended steps to make in-person voting safer: marking off six feet of space between voters and workers, setting up sanitization stations, providing paper ballots and encouraging voters to bring their own pens, and removing senior care facilities or nursing homes from the list of in-person voting sites.

In other words, crowded conditions like those seen in L.A. County during the Mar. 3 primary, as the county initiated new voting locations and equipment, just won't do.

"We are going to need to come up with a system where people can still participate in democracy -- but not while overcrowding and being around each other," Barreto said.

But California is already a model for the rest of the country when it comes to socially distanced elections, Padilla said. The state allows early voting, lets people register to vote online and provides an option to be a permanent mail-in voter.

California's electorate has been shifting towards mail-in voting for years, a process that's accelerated under the Voter's Choice Act, where counties are required to mail a ballot to every registered voter.

Los Angeles County has a one-time exemption from this requirement in 2020, but Padilla and the County Board of Supervisors have asked the L.A. County Registrar to explore expanding vote-by-mail to every voter in November.

Voters hoping to cast their ballot at the Ace Hotel voting center in downtown Los Angeles braved long lines, with some people reportedly waiting up to two hours to vote on Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2020. (Chava Sanchez/LAist )

Nearly two-thirds of Californians voted by mail in the 2018 general election, but Angelenos have traditionally preferred voting in person. Vote-by-mail participation in L.A. County was closer to 45 percent in 2018. Turnout numbers are still being finalized for the Mar. 3, 2020 presidential primary.

"There may be some additional costs that would need to be covered short-term given the emergency situation that we're in," Padilla said. Ultimately, according to the secretary of state, voting by mail with flexible in-person options is the most cost-effective model over the long-term.

A PROBLEM OF ACCESS AND EQUITY

Increasing the country's reliance on voting at the mailbox, instead of the ballot box, presents challenges to equity, Barreto said.

Racial minorities and younger voters see their ballots rejected at a much higher rate than white voters when voting by mail, according to a 2018 ACLU/University of Florida study. And those voters were also less likely to successfully get their ballots "cured" -- fixed and accepted -- after a signature mismatch is flagged.

The UCLA Voting Rights Project report recommended states standardize their signature verification process and give voters three weeks to cure their ballots if election workers reject them because of a signature problem.

"We want to make sure that there are safeguards in place so that everyone has their vote-by-mail ballot counted," Barreto said. "And so we're putting far fewer people in harm's way on election day for any in-person voting."

Thanks to a 2018 court ruling, California counties can't reject mail-in ballots without warning. County registrars now have to give voters a heads-up and at least a week to fix a signature mismatch and get their vote counted.

One more challenge presented with expanding vote-by-mail: cheating.

"Voter fraud is very rare, but when we do see election crimes they tend to happen with absentee ballots," Hasen said. A North Carolina congressional election was invalidated last year because a scheme was uncovered to collect and complete absentee ballots to help one candidate win.

"So it's important there are protections in place to make sure there's no tampering with absentee ballots," Hasen said.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Will counties be mailing a ballot to every California voter this fall?

We don't know yet. Padilla says his office is watching the upcoming California special elections and primaries in other states to help plan for the November general election.

"Because it can and will go on as scheduled," Padilla said.
At the Southeast Florida emergency room where 62-year-old nurse Penny Blake works, hospital administrators put gloves, cleaning supplies, and N-95 masks behind lock and key because people were stealing them.

Twelve hundred miles away, at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, N-95 masks, which are only supposed to be worn for up to eight hours, are so scarce that doctors are keeping them in their lockers. Once you get one, the feeling is you keep it for as long as you can, said Dr. Michelle Lin.

In more than a dozen interviews with TIME, medical professionals from California to New York painted a picture of scarce resources, growing anxieties, and frustrations with hospital administrators and the government for failing to adequately prepare. Chief among their concerns was the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, gowns and eye gear. With more than 43,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States so far, a lack of this gear means they face a high risk of exposure to the viruswhich, in turn, means accidentally exposing other patients, their own families, and their colleagues at a time when hospitals cannot afford to have critical personnel on the sidelines.

The biggest concern we have is that we will not have enough personal protective equipment to take care of the number of patients that are coming in, says Blake. And if we cant protect ourselves, then were not going to be able to be there for them.

Dr. Matthew Baldwin, a critical care physician and pulmonary specialist at New York Presbyterian-Columbia Hospital says he expects the problem to get worse from here. Weve had an exponential increase in the number of patients that have come into hospital and have been hospitalized in the last 48 hours, he told TIME on March 21. I think theres genuine concern now, that in the near future, we will run out of personal protective equipment.

In recent weeks, governors, mayors and public health officials have begged President Donald Trump to address shortages in medical equipment, but theyve received conflicting messages. On March 18, Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act, a 70-year-old law that authorizes presidents to compel American companies to prioritize federal government orders to produce equipment necessary to protect national security over other orders. By March 24, FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN the law would be used to procure 60,000 more masks. But around the same time that day, the President tweeted he and his team havent had to use it.

Story continues

Trump has suggested there was no need for mandatory marching orders because companies, like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, were already ramping up production of PPE on their own. Trump also said on March 22 that invoking the act would be tantamount to socialism. The concept of nationalizing our business is not a good concept, he told reporters.

The Department of Health and Human Services has estimated that if the coronavirus outbreak lasts a year, healthcare providers and patients will require 3.5 billion N-95 masks, which are also called respirators. The U.S. currently has roughly 12 million respirators in its national stockpile.

Blake expresses disappointment in the government in part for failing to adequately prepare for the crisis. It is part of the federal governments responsibility to ensure that there are resources out there for protection of their citizens, she says. I find it hard to believe that no one foresaw that this could have been a potential need in this day and time.

In the absence of a coherent national supply chain, states and health care facilities across the country are scrambling to ration what PPE they have. Administrators at hospitals in Seattle and Washington, DC have asked doctors and patients to reuse masks for prolonged periods, while staff at one Chicago hospital have started using washable lab goggles instead of disposable face shields, according to the Washington Post. An article in the American Journal of Infection Control recommends N-95 respirators be put on only five times before they lose their full effectiveness.

Basically, Ive been told to wear that same N-95 respirator mask for 24 hours, an emergency physician working in a Tennessee hospital told TIME. And if it doesnt get contaminated, I was supposed to reuse it the next day. At Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, some providers have also begun reusing masks after shifts, Lin said. Some have even gone as far as spraying Lysol on the mask to reuse it, she adds.

The Tennessee hospital has also moved some of its protective garb, like gowns and face shields, to more secure areas. While the measure is reducing theft, its also making it harder for healthcare workers to access the supplies when they need them. Recently, when the trauma physician was treating a critically ill trauma patient with a high risk of blood contamination, she didnt have time to grab the tools necessary to keep her and her patient safe. We did not have masks with face shields immediately available, she says. That was scary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested on March 17 that health care providers might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort.

Administrators at both Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and the Providence St. Joseph hospital chain based in Washington state predicted in mid-March that at least some of their facilities were down to a few days worth of critical PPE supplies.

In Los Angeles County, where there are at least 536 confirmed patients and seven deaths, a nurse who treats a vulnerable population at a large hospital told TIME shes been instructed to limit how much PPE she uses, and in some cases, acquire her own. We have been encouraged to go to Home Depot and buy our own eyewear, she says. Shes also been asked to give blood, as her hospital grapples with a short supply due to fewer blood drive donations in the surrounding areas. The Red Cross doesnt have a normal flow of blood donors coming in, she says. Our job is blood, sweat and tears.

In Pittsburg, a labor and delivery nurse tells TIME she is only permitted to wear surgical masks during cesarean sections, despite frequent visits from other staff and unscreened patients who come from at-risk floors. Providers in her department are not given access to the N-95 masks, which provide the best protection against airborne illnesses. Im mentally and physically exhausted, the nurse says. Im here to help the community but at the same time, Im probably exposing them.

According to staff guidance published by the Mt. Sinai Hospital System last week, asymptomatic employees, regardless of exposure to a known case of COVID-19 would not be tested for the disease. It would also not test employees with mild symptoms who do not require hospitalization. In a statement to TIME, Dr. David L. Reich, the systems president and chief operating officer defended the protocol, saying that Mt. Sinai is following state and city guidelines. As priorities shift in the coming weeks, Mount Sinai has the capacity to perform additional testing and we will do so, as directed from our city and state officials, he said.

The Tennessee doctor, who asked not to be named to avoid retribution by her employer, explained shes nearing a breaking point. Its pretty overwhelming. This is the most anxious Ive ever felt in my entire life, she said through tears, adding, This is the most stressed out Ive ever been.

In Italy, where COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, doctors are facing so many serious cases that many are forced to decide which patients are given ventilators, a life-saving breathing machine. There are nowhere near enough ventilators available in either Italy or the U.S. What Id like to tell my American colleagues, Roberto Tonelli, a 31-year-old pulmonologist in Modena, Italy told TIME, is be prepared for the amount of deaths you will see.

Back in Florida, Blake is watching Italy closely. Right now, those of us in healthcare, we all have pre-traumatic stress disorder because we know whats coming, and we know its going to be a storm, she tells me. She knows that being in her sixties puts her at an increased risk of serious COVID-19 symptoms, she says, but she has no plans to step off the frontlines.

Thats my job. I went into nursing because I wanted to help people, she says. I just feel like Ive got to get in there and use my personal protective equipment.

For her sake, and for that of her patients, hopefully she has enough of it.

-With reporting by Francesca Trianni/Orlando and Haley Sweetland Edwards/New York
24.03.2020 LISTEN

When we started our peace movement in Liberia in the heat of the civil war in 2003, we were called toothless bulldogs. But we proved that womens active participation in a peace process can make a significant difference in the effectiveness and longevity of peace agreements. It all began with seven women before it became the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace  a mass movement of Christian and Muslim women committed to ending the war and achieving sustainable peace.

It is not that women are naturally more peaceful than men; rather they are committed participants in peace processes that affect the entire spectrum of a society. If a peace process is left in the hands of military men or warlords whose expertise is war, we shouldnt be surprised if the result denies the needs of average citizens.

A peace process enables an examination of the impact of conflict on the entire community and creates a roadmap for addressing the social, political and economic causes of such a conflict. It is not a one-size-fits-all - what worked well in Liberia, for example, may not work in Rwanda. While lessons can be learned from each situation, the key inescapable point is that a peace process must be led by local actors, including women.

In April 2019, I had the opportunity to spend time with officials of womens organisations in Cameroon. The women recounted horrific stories of rape, the hacking off of hands by armed groups and the abduction of young children for the purpose of turning them into killing machines. Their families faced malnutrition and other health challenges. In whole regions of the country, schools and businesses have been closed, as communities live in fear of armed attacks.

While these sufferings and human rights violations are going on, world leaders and the international community are struggling to find a solution to the Cameroon crisis. Well-intentioned as these efforts are, they err in sidelining women.

Cameroonian women understand the root causes of the conflict in their country and the dynamics that continue to fuel the crisis. The international community should assist in strengthening the solidarity between women in the anglophone and francophone regions of Cameroon, enhance their leadership capacity and help speed the momentum for peace.

In Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia and other parts of the world, we must ensure that womens peace and democracy activism is rewarded not just with jobs and political leadership but also with the transformation of the lives of all women.

The value of what women do at the community level, without recognition, without funding, is incalculable. Women are the ones sustaining peace and nurturing society, yet most never get to attend high-profile events overseas, nor do they get adequate political representation. Political leaders and national strategic plans will come and go, but womens commitment to building a better society for their children remains a constant.

If we are to Silence the Guns by 2020 as the African Union directs, African leaders must govern with integrity, foster development and tackle corruption. They must address injustices and impunity, particularly regarding sexual violence. The bodies of women, children and the vulnerable must not be exploited. Laws and traditions and cultural practices that devalue women and make them second-class citizens need to be expunged from the statute books. Women are not objects, they are persons.

We must cut back on the purchase of arms and munitions. Women will tell you that Africans need security, affordable healthcare, quality education, justice and all the things that dignify a human so that they are not led by deprivation to fight. It is time to heed womens wise counsel. This is an issue of leadership and political will.

What peace means

We need to reframe our notion of peace. Peace is not the absence of war; it is the full expression of human dignity. Peace is an environment in which human needs can be met. It means education for our children, health systems that function, a fair and unbiased justice system, food on the table in every home, an empowered, recognised, appreciated and fully compensated community of women and a lot more.

International organisations must trust women and listen to their guidance. Too often, funding for grassroots womens groups is considered risky. Womens groups may be expected to have a record of funding before new funding is allowed. That is like being denied a visa because you havent traveled before.

We need institutions that are willing to trust women. As important as it is to invite women to New York and Geneva for conferences, international organisations must support these women to stay on the frontlines of nation-building in their respective countries.

Women also need to be active in politicsas candidates, elected officials and votersbecause if the political class does not include them, womens issues will not be addressed. The unanimous election of Sahle-Work Zewde to the position of president of Ethiopia by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly in October 2018, making her the first woman to hold that office and Africas only female head of state in 2019, is a powerful statement and an inspiration to young women across the continent.

In the coming years, I hope to see African women push for their rights and civic roles. And I hope that Africans, especially the young, will begin to think about how to be an active part of the greatness of the African continent.

Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in leading a womens peace movement that helped end the Liberian civil war in 2003.
Shalena Broaster (left); Odell Johnson; and Johnson's mother, Regina Johnson, on March 19 at Highway Temple of Love in North Philadelphia, where Broaster and Johnson were married. Read more

On the day Kobe Bryant died earlier this year in a helicopter crash, Shalena Diva Broaster decided not to keep putting things off about her relationship.

The Oxford Circle resident decided to go ahead and marry Odell Johnson, the 37-year-old computer technician she had dated for six years, instead of waiting for everything to be perfect.

I was in the car with my boyfriend, and I said, You know what? God forbid if something happened to you and Im in the obituary listed as your special friend,  she told him.  Ive spent all of this time with you, dating you and never married you, and what if something happened to you? Or what if something happened to me and you never married me? I dont want that. 

Johnson readily agreed, and told her to select a date. Broaster, chief executive of the digital consulting firm Best Selling Year, chose March 19, the first day of spring, to symbolize their new beginning. The fact that the nation was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic didnt change things for the couple.

Instead, it added to the poignancy and solemnity of their nuptials. As the rest of Philadelphia raced around stocking up on toilet paper, food, and liquor in preparation to self-isolate, Broaster and Johnson faced each other in the midst of all of that chaos and vowed to love each other through everything.

There were just seven guests in attendance, three fewer than mandated for public gatherings by the White House. It would have been nine, but Broasters parents decided not to go, because her mother cares for an infirm elderly relative, and didnt want to risk picking up COVID-19 and unwittingly transmitting it.

It took place at the Highway Temple of Love in North Philly. The bride wore a burnt orange jumpsuit. She hesitated when the minister asked the guests to join hands for a final prayer, remembering all the calls for people to maintain social distance. The moment passed quickly. A friend took cell phone pictures afterward.

 READ MORE: Its spring. We want to go outside. How do we safely social distance? | Elizabeth Wellington

We got our licenses on March 9. Had we waited a week later, we wouldnt have been able to get it, because City Hall shut down, she told me. Corona really did affect everything, but we were just so happy."

Since Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf had ordered restaurants to close to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the couples first meal was takeout  chicken cheesesteaks, buffalo wings, salad, and a mint chocolate milkshake from Philly Style at Broad and Diamond Streets.

There were no tables, no chairs, you couldnt even sit down. We literally had to get our food and go, said Broaster, author of the 2013 book Fire All of Your Friends: A Womans Guide to Becoming Her Own Best Friend.

Im so glad that I didnt have grand plans," she said. "If we did have honeymoon plans, it probably would have been canceled.

In hindsight, they were right not to postpone things.

In this period when were been told to isolate within our homes and practice social distancing from our friends and neighbors, we become more acutely aware of what really matters, and thats family, love, home, and good health.

I know Ill never forget this time. Ive had time to sit and reflect, and to do things around the house that I never would have bothered with had things continued on normally.

The coronavirus is stripping away a lot of the fabric of our culture, and its making us rethink whats really necessary and whats not," Broaster reflected. Its making us strip all of that superficial stuff away and get to whats really real.

For her and Johnson, its love.
Editor's note: Todays Tuesday Topic was submitted by Lou Ann Lindblade, vice president of the Tolerance Week Board of Directors, on behalf of the board.

Along with many other spring events, Tolerance Week was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. After things settle down, we will explore rescheduling the events of Tolerance Week. We cannot, however, postpone the practice of tolerance in our daily lives. In fact, in view of the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in, we need to be tolerant more than ever.

Casualties of the cancellation were the Tolerance Week Essay Contest and the Ella Holtzen Tolerance Week Art Contest (named in honor of the 2016 Art Contest winner who died with her brother Beck in an ice-related auto accident in January).

One essay entry arrived in our in-box early. The assignment: Please express how the practice of tolerance will make the world a better place. Thank you, Isabel.

With Tolerance

Isabel Martinez, Bishop Heelan High School sophomore

"With tolerance

I would be able to look at those around me and be happy with their individual nature while also loving and accepting that my own nature is beautiful;

"I would be able to stop masking the parts of me that dont fit into the social norm and recognize that the unique aspects of my personality are what make me lovable;

"I would be able to view the world through a new perspective in which being different is not equivalent to causing trouble.

"With tolerance

"People will be able to go home to their bed and not have to worry about whether or not people will like who they are tomorrow but actually get rest;

"People will be able to walk down the street without worry about the person on the other sidewalk yelling at them because who they are in that moment is who they are at their best;

"People will be able to go to work, church, the mall, the movies, or just have fun without having to worry that someone will make that day their last.

"With tolerance

"Children wont have to learn how to put on gas masks, hide in closets, or barricade doors because our nation and its peoples actions will never go so out of hand;

"Children will never have to suffer as they did in Germany in the 1940s, in Vietnam from the 1950s to the 1970s, or as they do now in countries like Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq because children should never be part of a war plan;

"Children will never have to wait until theyre older to understand why their parents are struggling through a hard time because there will be no hard times to understand.

"With tolerance, everything would change.

"Everyday life and international affairs would face the same effects. People would be nicer, society would be kinder, and war would be over. Everyone would be able to breathe without facing the consequences of existence.

"With tolerance, you could live."

Author's note: Isabel Martinez was the 2019 Tolerance Week High School Essay Winner and the 2018 Tolerance Week Middle School Essay Winner. She will receive a special Tolerance Week Award for Excellence due to the cancellation of this years contest.

Editor's note: Tuesday Topic is a weekly Opinion page feature. Each Tuesday in this space, local, regional and state writers will discuss issues in the news. If you have an idea for a Tuesday Topic, please contact Editorial Page Editor Michael Gors at 712-293-4223 or mike.gors@lee.net.

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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:45 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d321f0 1 Business COVID-19,state-owned-enterprises,coronavirus,erick-thohir,state-firms,Transportation,SOEs,travel,profit-and-loss Free

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has instructed state-run firms to be ready to endure losses caused by weak demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those firms in the transportation and travel sectors.

Speaking to the media via teleconference on Tuesday, Erick said that SOEs should not be thinking about their balance sheets at the moment but focus on playing their part in helping to curb the pandemics impact on the people and the economy.

He especially mentioned state airport operators PT Angkasa Pura I, PT Angkasa Pura II and train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

They are all ready to book losses and keep their operations going, said Erick.

Despite the declining demand for transportation modes such as trains, airplanes and ferries, Erick said that state-owned firms would continue providing maximum service to the public.

Read also: Garuda, severely affected by COVID-19, may restructure bonds: Minister

He added that he had also told state-owned banks to maintain operations as they could play a part in helping the government disburse cash assistance to impacted families.

The ministry is also conducting reviews of the operations of transportation SOEs and maintaining talks with the government and local administrations on limiting their services. The government has urged Indonesians to work, study and pray from home and implement social distancing to slow down COVID-19 infections in Indonesia.

The SOEs Ministry may also propose incentives for state-run utility firm PLN and telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) to provide essential services for Indonesians as they stay at home, Erick said.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia had reported 686 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 55 deaths. Thirty people who contracted the virus have recovered. Globally, the pneumonia-like illness has infected over 383,000 people and claimed at least 16,500 lives.
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Linkedin Edward Johnson and Jason Scott (Bloomberg) Canberra  Tue, March 24, 2020 22:12 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d3be80 2 World COVID-19,Australia Free

Australia is enforcing more stringent controls to slow the spread of the coronavirus, banning non-essential travel overseas, closing food courts in shopping malls and restricting weddings and funerals after the number of cases surged past 2,000.

Addressing reporters after a meeting of the National Cabinet late Tuesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was experiencing heart-breaking events and that the virus could only be defeated through following social distancing guidelines. Weddings must be limited to the couple, celebrant and two witnesses, while funerals could only be attended by about 10 people.

Earlier this week, the government closed pubs, casinos, cafes and restaurants and has already banned indoor gatherings of 100 people or more. Yet still the number of cases keeps growing, reaching 2,136 as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, up 427 from a day earlier. Schools remain open, yet parents have been urged to keep their children home and follow online learnings courses.

Authorities have expressed concern about citizens refusing to self-isolate for 14 days after returning from overseas. The majority of cases in the nation are linked to international travel, in particular Europe and the Americas. The government had previously issued a strong warning against overseas travel, which has now been tightened to a ban.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said he was very worried about the very, very steep growth in the rate of infections and urged people to change their behavior.

Australia joins countries worldwide imposing ever tougher measures to contain the outbreak that has infected 382,000 people and killed 16,500. Beauty, tanning and nail salons and other personal services will close, as will theme parks and recreation centers. Morrison was forced to clarify his comments during the press conference, saying that shopping malls will remain open, and only the food courts inside would be impacted by the new measures.

Following common sense rules and doing the right thing -- thats how we slow the spread of this virus and thats how we save lives, Morrison said. It also means that when we all do that, that we can potentially limit further economic harm from other measures.

Parliament rushed through more than A$80 billion ($47.4 billion) in fiscal stimulus for the coronavirus-stricken economy at a special sitting in Canberra on Monday, aimed at saving businesses and jobs as the nation lurches toward its first recession since 1991.

As non-essential services close, waves of newly unemployed workers rushed for financial aid and formed massive queues outside welfare-support offices, placing enormous pressure on government services. Australias jobless rate is set to soar in the next three months to 11.1%, just shy of a recession-era peak, according to Westpac Banking Corp.s Chief Economist Bill Evans.
The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene is out March 24. Photo: Netflix

On February 1, 2009, nearly 100 million Americans sat down to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers squeak out a 27- to-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. The second it ended, the action went from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to Dunder Mifflin for a special double episode of The Office. The show was already NBCs most popular comedy, with upwards of 9 million viewers a night (even though it never came close to Friends-like numbers), but this was a chance to introduce it to a new mass audience.

Ben Silverman, producer: I was running the network at the time and I was talking to everyone about what we should put on after the Super Bowl. Theyre like, Should we put The Apprentice on? Im like, No, The Apprentice is fine and its got that audience already. Itll do well, but its not gonna do that much better there. What asset do we have that can also grow, sustain, and help really drive the night? Everyone came around to the idea of it being The Office and said, Lets do this and lets figure out how we stunt it and make it big.

Jen Celotta, writer: We wanted people who didnt know about The Office and who were watching the Super Bowl to enjoy it. That caused us to think a little differently than we normally would about the show. We ended up throwing out a bunch of story ideas and we never did that before or since.

Halsted Sullivan, writer: We were tasked with making it a stand-alone episode, but making it something that fans who have been along for the ride all five seasons could enjoy, but also people who tuned in to the show for the first time would be able to enjoy. It was very important. We were given a lot of mandates and they didnt even come from NBC. They came from Greg [Daniels, producer]. He was like, Look, this is our opportunity to sort of re- pilot the show and introduce a whole new group of people to The Office. Its very important to have a really grabby opening.

Warren Lieberstein, writer: It needed to be an electric opening because we were concerned about channel switching.

Gene Stupnitsky, writer: That was a very stressful time because Greg came in one day and he had a big idea inspired by some French film he saw. Basically the idea was that Jim loses Pam in a poker game. He was like the father of us all and we were like, Dad  Your idea  Were not so sure about it.

Lee Eisenberg, writer: But we started breaking the poker game episode.

Gene Stupnitsky: We went pretty deep into it.

Lee Eisenberg: It was a show that needed to be small, real, and relatable. And then it was like, Okay, he loses her in a poker game .

Greg eventually came to his senses and approved an idea where Dwight stages a mock fire to test everyones safety response time, causing Stanley to have a heart attack. The fire drill took place seconds into the episode and was a scene of absolute mayhem, complete with Angela desperately hurling a cat into the air, Oscar crawling through the ceiling for help and falling to the ground, Kevin breaking into the snack machine and stealing all the candy, and everyone else desperately trying to find a way out.

Ben Silverman: The fire drill was insanity. Greg and I talked about it and were like, Okay, lets make this one hundred percent like a movie, like a stunt. When it happens, how do people not change the channel?

Kate Flannery, actor: That scene was a big deal. It was so fun, but I also knew that it was expensive, so its like, Dont fuck this up. It was definitely like a little nerve-wracking because you just didnt want to be the one that messed it up for everybody else.

Anthony Farrell, writer: Greg was like, Its the Super Bowl episode. We need it to be big and crazy and wild and this is the first thing theyre gonna see, so we want people to stick around. He said to me and [fellow writer] Ryan Koh and some of the writers assistants, You guys work on this cold open. We knew it would start with Dwight setting off the fire alarm and Greg was in a place where he was like, We need it to be bigger and crazier. So we just started adding all sorts of crazy shit happening with the mayhem and the melee, like them using the photocopier as a battering ram and cats falling out of the ceiling. A lot of it wound up getting shot.

Randy Cordray, producer: All of the characters think they are going to die. Oscar jumps up on his desk and climbs up into the drop ceiling and Angela pulls out a cat from her file cabinet and says, Save Bandit! And she throws Bandit up to Oscar, who doesnt want anything to do with Bandit. And then moments later the cat crumbles through a panel of the drop ceiling and falls back down. This was a big sequence that Greg really wanted in the show. Well, you cant injure an animal, and so we had to figure this out. We had to build a stuffed animal to match Bandit. It was about $12,000 because seamstresses have to match the coat of the cat, they have to meticulously paint furry fabric and create the exact shape and size of Bandit.

Jeff Blitz, director: In the original script, Oscar was already in the ceiling when Angela threw up the cat. They had thought that it would just be like a stuffed cat. Oscar would extend his leg out from the ceiling to kick the cat back down. I thought that that would seem really mean-spirited. I thought it would just be really funny if the throw is just a little too strong and so the cat went too far and then came down. And then I was convinced that we couldnt use a stuffed cat because it would look like a stuffed cat being thrown. We ended up using two real cats. There was one trainer who was standing in the ceiling to catch the first cat and another trainer to throw an identical cat back down. Then there was a cat thrower who had an Angela wig and Angela wardrobe on that we had to bring in for that.

Randy Cordray: I worked with a wonderful animal training company at that time that provided us with the cats. We talked at great length with them. They absolutely will protect their animals. The animals are their livelihood. And you just dont want to hurt an animal in filming. Its illegal, its a felony, its unethical, and none of us want to do that.

Jeff Blitz: The trainer had said that she was comfortable with us only doing it like two or three times. Greg wanted to know why that was and she was like, Well, because the cat gets scared of doing stunt work and cant do this kind of work anymore and then it will need to be retired. Then Greg wanted to know what the lifetime income of a cat like that might be so that if they wanted to do more takes they [would] just buy it out forever. When Greg floated it, Randy was like, No way, cant do that.

Randall Einhorn, director/cinematographer: That whole scene was pandemonium to shoot, but really fun.

Jeff Blitz: Theres a moment when they start to run and the camera goes down. I think thats an actual take where Randall didnt mean to fall, but we just used it.

But a zany fire drill scene wasnt enough for NBC. They wanted the episode to feature big-name guest stars to draw in a bigger audience.

Lee Eisenberg: The network was insistent that we get celebrities, and that was really complicated. I remember wanting Matt Damon or Ben Affleck to be on it. I was like, Okay, well get somebody who has a blue-collar feel to be running a warehouse or theyre gonna go up against Michael somehow. Its Matt Damon or Ben Affleck versus Michael Scott. For a lot of reasons, people just decided that putting someone like that in just takes you out of the reality of the show.

Randy Cordray: Greg was really at odds with NBC over this. His point was, How does that fit into a show based in an office in Scranton, Pennsylvania? What would celebrities be doing interacting with a paper company office in Scranton, Pennsylvania? Why would you pitch that idea? That makes no sense. What would celebrities be doing in Scranton? His way of doing that was to make a movie within the movie. Andy had access to stream a movie on his laptop and so we created this movie. That was our way of satisfying the network creative people and putting promotable star talent into the Super Bowl episode.

Halsted Sullivan: The Office always shied away from stunt casting. At the time, Will & Grace would have someone like Cher or J.Lo on every episode, and the episode [would be] about that person. What we didnt wanna do is have some stunt casting in our opportunity to showcase The Office as a new pilot to the world and say like, Oh, youre gonna get Jack Black every week if you tune in. So, instead we had Jack Black and Jessica Alba in that stand- alone movie so we could promote them. They were in the show, but at the same time, at no point did our characters get outshone by these big movie stars.

The pirated film that Andy shows Jim and Pam, Mrs. Albert Hannaday, is about Jessica Alba taking her boyfriend (Jack Black) to meet her grandmother, played by Cloris Leachman. Black falls madly in love with Leachman and they furiously make out in a bathroom.

Jeff Blitz: In one of the early drafts of it, the movie itself had a martial arts spin to it. But then they landed on this weird Mrs. Robinson thing. The day we shot it felt very un-Office-like. Jack Black was very into it, but nobody was ready for the energy that Cloris Leachman brought to it. At the time we shot that, Cloris Leachman was in a frame of mind where whatever was on her mind, she would say. In no way was she restrained and she let everyone there know she was excited about the idea of making out with Jack Black.

Warren Lieberstein: I love the Harold and Maude dynamic. Just knowing the two of them were going to be making out, it was worth the price of having that in there.

The second half of the episode centers on Michaels thinking it would be fun to stage a Comedy Centralstyle roast of himself in the warehouse, but he grows deeply depressed when everyone takes the opportunity to viciously insult his intelligence.

Halsted Sullivan: This was probably the most difficult episode to write that season. It took longer than any other episode because it had to be an hour and it had to be stand-alone. I remember for a long, long, long time we did not have an ending. And I came up with the idea for the roast. Thats because I grew up in Atlanta and my father was president of a medical school. Every year, they had a follies where all the students would make fun of the professors and we would go to that. It was a fun evening, but it was also like, Oh, is this really what you think of me? And that turned into the roast of Michael, where he was able to bring the office together again and restore order after all this chaos by becoming the victim. Of course, it did really hurt his feelings, but in the end it brought the office back together.

On a more serious note, Pams dad decides to leave her mom after having a private talk with Jim. Pam is freaked out and wonders what Jim could have possibly said to him. She finds out in the end. He said that you told him how much you love me, a teary-eyed Pam tells Jim. About how you feel when I walk in a room, and about how youve never doubted for a second that Im the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. I guess hes never felt that with my mom, even at their best. The Jim-and-Pam scenes are as dramatic and heavy as the rest of the episode is goofy and absurd.

Jeff Blitz: There was a lot of talk with Greg about whether Jim and Pams emotional stuff should play with as much drama as it does. I remember Jenna and John felt strongly that the truth of it meant that they had to go to a place of drama and that seemed so right to me.

Warren Lieberstein: We definitely were aware that theres a certain part of the audience that very much likes the Jim-and-Pam stuff. And theres a huge swath of people that liked the antics of Dwight. We knew in that particular episode we had enough time, an hour, to really satisfy and hit all different kinds of viewers that we could possibly hit that enjoyed our show.

Twenty-two million people watched the full episode and 37.7 million people watched at least some of it. It was the highest-rated NBC show in nearly five years in the coveted eighteen-to-forty-nine-year-old demographic.

Paul Feig, director: My greatest regret from The Office is that I so badly wanted to direct that one. I had just directed the Merediths-intervention episode that I dont think the network liked, so they wouldnt let me direct the hour-long episode, and then that ended up winning an Emmy for Jeff Blitz. I always feel like, Oh, I almost had an Emmy. Jeff did a great job though. Its a really good episode.

Ben Silverman: That really propelled the show. It exposed it to a whole new audience that showed up and kept watching and grew.

From The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene, published March 24 by Dutton, an imprint of the Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright  2020 by Andy Greene
The Bayelsa State government has banned persons coughing or sneezing from boarding commercial vehicles as part of preventive measures in the state against coronavirus.

Confirmed cases of the virus have so far risen to 40 in Nigeria, on Tuesday morning. There has been no report of an infection in Bayelsa State, however.

The Ministry of Transportation, Bayelsa State, on Tuesday, issued a statement barring all persons coughing or sneezing or showing any sign of respiratory infection from boarding any commercial vehicle or boat in the state.

Commercial vehicles in the state, the statement said, are henceforth allowed to carry only one passenger in the front seat and two in the back.

Speedboats would be carrying only two passengers per seat, while commercial tricycle, otherwise known as keke, would be carrying a maximum of two passengers at any time, with the rider sitting alone in the front.

Transport operators in the state are to provide alcohol based hand sanitisers in their vehicles for use by the driver and passengers, the statement said.

The governments directive also requires commercial cars and buses to have wipes and tissues inside their vehicle for passengers to use in wiping down door and other handles.

The government advised residents of the state against non-essential travel.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, declared COVID-19 a pandemic and since then, the spread has worsened and more deaths have occurred.

The spread of the disease has also led to countries locking in millions of their citizens, closing social spaces, locking down entire regions and shutting their doors against travellers from other countries.

Nigeria has taken a number of measures to contain the spread. These include closing the borders and suspending international flights. Different states have also been releasing their preventive or containment measures, as the need arises.

Following the confirmation of 10 new cases in Edo, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday, the number of individuals who have tested positive to the novel coronavirus disease in Nigeria has risen to 40.

READ ALSO:

Of the ten (10) new cases, one (1) is in Edo State, two (3) are in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and six (6) are in Lagos State, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control said in an update on Monday night.

The case in Edo State is being treated at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital; cases in the FCT are being treated at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada; and the cases in Lagos State are being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba.

All six (6) new cases have mild to moderate symptoms and are currently receiving treatment.

Edo in South-south Nigeria is producing its first case and becoming the sixth of the countrys 36 states and FCT where cases have emerged since an unnamed Italian tested positive.

Of the 40 coronavirus cases so far confirmed, two cases have been discharged and one death has been recorded.

A breakdown of the cases by states showed that Lagos has 28, FCT- 7, Ogun- 2, Ekiti- 1, Oyo- 1 and Edo- 1.

In its Monday update, the NCDC said a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at level 3, was continuing to coordinate the national response activities.
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Linkedin Xin Wen in Beijing and Huang Zhiling in Chengdu (China Daily/Asia News Network)  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:07 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d2ec9b 2 News China,Beijing,zoo,Beijing-zoo Free

Beijing Zoo reopened on Monday after being closed since Jan 24 as part of efforts to control the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

The 5,000 animals have been fed well, are housed in sanitized areas and are enjoying the spring sunshine.

Zhang Chenglin, the zoo's deputy director, said, "Some of the animals, such as the pandas, preferred to have more exercise when the zoo was empty."

Veterinarians checked the animals' health. A pregnant Malayan tapir received the most attention, with regular ultrasound examinations.

Ma Tao, who looks after pandas at the zoo, starts his working day at 7 am by taking a fixed route on a delivery truck to feed the animals in their enclosure.

Workers such as Ma help prepare 2,000 kilograms of food for animals at the zoo every day, including chopped carrots, fresh cucumbers and raw meat.

"My happiest time of the day is to see the animals eating, even if sometimes they take a bite out of my arm," Ma, who is in his 40s, said jokingly. He added that it usually takes about three hours to distribute food to all the animals.

Occasionally, they need "afternoon tea", with grapes being the red pandas' favorite. Ma often feeds these animals by hand.

With snow falling in Beijing in the middle of last month, keepers spent more time checking on the animals. Some of the inhabitants preferred to keep warm in their enclosures, while others enjoyed being outdoors.

Zhang said: "Tufted deer prefer to be outside and can resist the cold even in extreme wintry conditions. They jump and run around frequently in the snow."

In the past month, zookeepers have been engaging with these animals to win their trust.

Zhang said he is most concerned about baby tufted deer, as they are extremely timid. He added that the term of a pregnant tufted deer is between three and seven months, during which time the animals must be provided with a quiet and stable environment to ensure they have adequate rest.

In the wild, tufted deer, which are listed as a national first-class protected wild animal, usually inhabit forests at an altitude of about 1,000 meters.

"Keepers need to be patient so that these creatures can get to know them after the first contact," Zhang said. "In the case of a newborn tufted deer, a keeper has to come to the animal at least four times before it will trust him and eat from his hand."

Zhang said disinfection measures at the zoo have been strengthened.

"We completely disinfect and sterilize the zoo once a week," he said, adding that the animals' food is carefully checked and purchased from Xinfadi, a wholesale market for agricultural products about 20 kilometers south of the zoo.

"We have sufficient food stored at the zoo to feed the animals for six months," he said, adding that designated suppliers have to be contacted in advance for deliveries of some food, such as bamboo for the pandas.

Zhang said online trips to the zoo are available, where visitors can see enclosures being disinfected and the animals fed.

Beijing resident Wang Shengru and her 6-year-old daughter are eagerly waiting to revisit the zoo. The chimpanzees are the young girl's favorite, as the animals make her laugh when they eat bananas.

Due to the outbreak, both mother and daughter have remained at home for more than one month. "She misses her animal friends terribly," Wang said.

Since Feb 22, Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has been livestreaming footage of animals being fed. In the mornings during weekends, two "hosts" use a phone camera to take online visitors on a sightseeing tour of the zoological park.

Many people have voiced concern about food supplies for animals at the zoo, with online donation campaigns being launched to provide them with fresh vegetables, fruit and meat. The livestreaming sessions show that the animals are being fed well.

Read also: Over 30 percent of tourist sites reopened in China

Daily routine

In Ya'an, Sichuan province, Su Lingxiao takes a bus to the Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at 8 am.

Together with colleagues living in the base's dormitories in downtown Ya'an, the 26-year-old keeper reaches the mountainside facility in less than an hour to begin her daily routine of caring for a panda.

"The only unusual thing at the base since the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak has been the frequent use of disinfectant," Su said.

Although the base has been closed since late January due to the outbreak, disinfectant has been sprayed there twice a week on the interior roads.

Su said, "The door handle to the panda enclosure is sprayed with disinfectant, while a natural gas flame is used to briefly burn corners and cracks in the walls in the panda enclosuresareas difficult to reach with disinfectant."

After eating breakfast in the canteen, Su goes to the panda's enclosure to check on the animal's health and to see how much bamboo it has eaten during the night.

"If everything is all right, I start cleaning the enclosure and preparing the panda's food, which includes bamboo, bamboo shoots, a special bun, carrots and apples," she said.

"I feed the panda four times a day, the last time being just before I take the bus back to the dormitory at 5 pm," she said. "My routine has remained exactly the same as before the outbreak."

Su is one of some 20 keepers at the base. To celebrate Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 25, she stayed in her home county of Longchang, Sichuan, for 10 days. On Feb 4, her father drove her back to the dormitories in Ya'an, a journey of three hours.

"I was in quarantine for 14 days before I returned to work. Four other keepers also went home and had to be quarantined," Su said.

An animal lover since primary school, Su raised rabbits in her home village in Longchang. After majoring in animal medicine at Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University in Liaoning province, she has worked at the base since 2016.

The bus traveling between the dormitories and the center is largely empty because only keepers and some administrative staff members can be admitted due to the outbreak. Employees who normally cater to visitors have remained at home, Su said.

Different species of bamboo are planted at the center's four bases, but for the pandas, their favorite food is bought in other areas of Sichuan.

Zhang Guiquan, head of the Shenshuping base at the center and a senior veterinarian, said: "Although transportation is not as convenient as before the outbreak, there has been no problem buying bamboo. There is an ample supply for the pandas at all the center's bases.

"Generally speaking, pandas do not contract pneumonia. I don't think they will fall victim to the virus as I've seen no cases of people transmitting it to animals."

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is home to 312 of the world's 600 pandas in captivity, the largest such population in the world.

Pandas are native to the southwestern province of Sichuan and to Shaanxi and Gansu provinces in the northwest of China.

According to the 2019 Annual Conference of the Chinese Committee of Giant Panda Breeding Techniques, held in November in Chengdu, Sichuan, there are more than 1,300 pandas living in the wild in the province, accounting for 75 percent of the national total.

Topics :

This article appeared on the China Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
On Sunday, Indians took to their balconies and streets at 5 pm to collectively commemorate the dedication and hard work of public health workers in containing treating the coronavirus pandemic. However, a day since, several stories of harassment faced by doctors have surfaced on social media.

Even as doctors and frontline health workers continue to provide 24-hour support to hospitals, several doctors have taken to social media to narrate how they are being discriminated against in their housing complex or rented flats. According to a message that has been going viral on WhatsApp, a government doctor was asked to stay away from his housing complex since he had been working with COVID-19 patients.

Yet another doctor by the name of Sanjibani Panigrahi claimed she had faced similar harassment and threats from her society.

So many incidents are coming to light of sincere govt doctors who are now being threatened to enter their own homes! Please look seriously into this matter@narendramodi sir. Regards, A govt doctor. pic.twitter.com/MmLHZejsjf  Dr.Devashish (@DevPalkar) March 23, 2020

Similar incidents were reported from Telanagana where doctors were asked to vacate their homes by landlords for fear that they would make the premises "dirty". Many feared that resident doctors working with COVID-19 cases would further spread the virus to others. On Facebook, a doctor wrote that several medical students and resident doctors in Warangal had been rendered homeless as their landlords had kicked them out.

It's really concerning to see tweets that say ppl r asking young doctors to vacate their rented flats. So the clapping thing for the Healthcare & other essential services was just superficial?!! Society should be ashamed of treating the ones risking their lives as untouchables.  Doctor Outsider (@QuirkySeelie) March 24, 2020

The incidents come just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the nation to commemorate health workers and doctors, many of whom are struggling day and night and often without the proper protective gear or necessary precautions, to help the nation survive one of the biggest healthcare emergencies India has ever seen. Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 has been on the rise in India with ten people losing their lives to the virus.
United Nations Human Rights chief called for ease of sanctions on Iran and other countries to support the lives of millions of people during Coronavirus pandemic. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on March 24 that the broad sectoral sanctions should urgently be re-evaluated in countries which are facing serious challenges due to the novel Coronavirus.

Bachelet highlighted the impact of the collapse of any country's medical system because of the death, suffering and wider contagion. The 68-year-old UN official warned that impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for everyone in the context of a pandemic.

Humanitarian exemptions to sanctions measures should be given broad and practical effect, with prompt, flexible authorization for essential medical equipment and supplies, said Bachelet in a statement.

Read: US Should Lift Sanctions If It Wants To Help Iran Battle COVID-19: Hassan Rouhani

'Weak health systems'

Bachelet, who has also served as President of Chile, gave the example of Iran which has reported over 1,900 deaths and facing crippling sanctions from the United States. She underlined the impact of sectoral sanctions on access to essential medicines and medical equipment. She added that a variety of sanctions may also impede medical efforts in Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

"The majority of these states have frail or weak health systems. Progress in upholding human rights is essential to improve those systems but obstacles to the import of vital medical supplies, including over-compliance with sanctions by banks, will create long-lasting harm to vulnerable communities, said the Human Rights chief.

Read: Amid Coronavirus, NDMA Imposed In Entire Country; Read The Guidelines Here

On March 23, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the United States should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran contain the coronavirus outbreak. During a televised address, Rouhani said that he has rejected the humanitarian assistance offered by Washington and added that if they really want to help Iran then they should lift sanctions.

Read: Coronavirus Pandemic Fuels Calls For Sanctions Relief On Iran, Venezuela

Read: Iran FM Accuses Trump Of maliciously Tightening Sanctions Amid Coronavirus Threat
Organisers of the Lincolnshire Show, one of the countys flagship events, have cancelled this year's event due to the ongoing coronavirus situation.

The annual show welcomes more than 60,000 visitors, 6,000 students and 600 trade stands each year, and has been running for more than 135 years.

But the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society has now agreed to call off this year's show, due to take place on 24 and 25 June, calling it a 'devastating decision'.

Jayne Southall, CEO of the Lincolnshire Showground, said: We have been monitoring the news continually but as the situation has unfolded, we know we have no alternative but to cancel the 136th show.

The team are heartbroken, but we fully understand the governments guidance to cancel large public gatherings and national events to help reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.

"The safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, competitors, exhibitors and visitors is as always our number one priority.

The show has only had to cancel a handful of times in the Lincolnshire Agricultural Societys 150 year history - during World Wars and more recently because of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.

Ms Southall added that as a charity, the cancellation of the show is going to have a 'significant impact' on their work.

We would like to thank everyone for supporting the show and for their hard work and commitment during this difficult time," she said.

"All of our surplus funds go towards our educational work, but also affects our exhibitors, businesses and the local community around us."

In the next few days, Lincolnshire Agricultural Society will contact traders, sponsors, suppliers, livestock and equine exhibitors, schools and ticket buyers regarding the next steps.

The 2021 Lincolnshire Show will take place on 23 and 24 June.

It comes as organisers for the Great Yorkshire Show and Royal Welsh announced that their annual shows will not go ahead this year.

Other major agricultural shows to have cancelled include the South of England Show, the Nottinghamshire County Show, the Royal Highland Show, Beef Expo, the British Pig and Poultry Fair and the Grassland & Muck Event.
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said because of Prime Narendra Modi's appeal to clap and applaud those at the forefront of combating the coronavirus, people are not realising the seriousness of the lockdown being enforced to contain the pandemic.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said citizens will take something seriously if there is a fear or terror about it.

"When the fear was starting to build up, PM Modi asked people to clap and bang thalis (steel plates) by coming out in their balconies or windows to boost the morale of health workers," the Marathi daily said.

Responding to the call, people came out in large groups and danced on streets, which gave a "festive look" to the situation, it said.

"Who gave a non-serious approach to the entire issue? Political party workers came out on streets and raised slogans. It is we who violated the prohibitory orders. It is the duty of citizens to obey the lockdown ordered by the state government," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now appealed to people to stay at home and take the lockdown seriously. "But people do not fear the coronavirus after Sunday evening's event ofclapping and banging of thalis with music," it said.

What is the use of concern raised by the prime minister or chief minister if people do not feel serious or concerned about the political situation? the Sena asked.

When Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sealed Delhi borders and said the airport will also be shut, the Civil Aviation Ministry said airports will remain open and international flights will land.

"If there is no coordination between state governments and the Centre, the coronavirus epidemic will not be contained," it said.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has said it lacks adequate medical equipment to tackle the epidemic. The Union Health Ministry should take this seriously, since the premier health institution falls under its jurisdiction, the Sena added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 382 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, Asian markets were trading sharply higher after the US Federal Reserve launched unlimited bond buying and other fresh steps and the US Congress appeared closer to a deal on a massive stimulus package to boost the world's largest economy hammered by the coronavirus.

In US, stocks booked sharp losses on Monday as the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation overshadowed the Federal Reserve's pledge to buy unlimited bonds and bolster emergency lending facilities to support the flow of credit into the economy.

The central bank's unscheduled announcement comes as investors remain unhappy with a lack of government action to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back home, key domestic benchmarks crashed on Monday after the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic sent major Indian states into a lockdown. Investors feared that the Covid-19 outbreak could bring economy to a grinding halt. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex crashed 3,934.72 points or 13.15% at 25,981.24. The Nifty 50 index slumped 1,135.20 points or 12.98% at 7,610.25.

The Sensex and the Nifty hit lower circuit limit of 10% in morning trade. The market resumed trading at 10:43 IST for pre-opening session. Normal trading started from 10:58 IST.

The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2989.29 crore yesterday, 23 March 2020, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1082.24 crore, yesterday, 23 March 2020, as per provisional data.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck Germany plans to conduct the new edition of their "UNESCO - Merck Africa Research Summit (MARS) 2020" with the aim to empower women & youth in research on October 13th in Lusaka, Zambia on the side of their annual conference Merck Africa Asia Luminary.

"The summit aims to contribute to building research capacity in the African research community, with special focus on 'The Role of Scientific Research in responding to Cancer and Vaccines Development - Two emerging challenges in Africa'. The end objective is to empower African young researchers & women researchers, advancing their research capacity and promote their contribution to STEM", explained Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of UNESCO-MARS.

UNESCO-Merck Africa Research Summit - MARS 2020 will have scientific support from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), African Union Scientific, Technical and Research Commission (AU-STRC), Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Graduate School, Tata Memorial Centre, India and Merck Foundation.

"We will present the 'Best Young African Researcher Award' and the 'Best African Woman Researcher Award' to recognize the outstanding contribution of African Female Scientists with the aim to promote women in research and advance their contribution to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)," added Dr Rasha Kelej.

The summit will be a unique opportunity for the winners of a MARS Research Awards to share their research output and findings. It is also an opportunity for networking and career development. The Summit will provide a platform where they will be able to discuss and enable a conducive environment for better research.

Abstracts are invited from final year African PhD students and young investigators involved in research related to either of the following topics: 1) Cancer (specially in women) & 2) vaccines development. The applicants should be primarily based at African Research Institutes and Universities, although collaboration within Africa as well as outside is encouraged.

Last Date of Submission:

Applications can be submitted till 30th of August 2020

How to apply:

Applications can be submitted via email to mars@merck-foundation.com

along with your CV (including name, gender, country, university/hospital name, email address, mobile number) and the abstract document as an attachment

Other Details:

* All Abstracts will be peer reviewed and 15 winners will be eligible for a sponsorship to attend UNESCO MARS Summit.

* Best three Abstracts will be eligible for Research Awards.

* Research Awards will be also dedicated for Best African Women Researchers

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.)
A day after the historic rout, equity benchmark Sensex bounced back to close 693 points higher on Tuesday as investors noted governments across the world taking prompt economic measures to offset the financial damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian equities followed an improved investor sentiment in Asia after the Federal Reserve announced limitless bond-buying programme to support the US economy.

Meanwhile, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help through the coronavirus lockdown was in works even as fresh cases of virus spread reported from various parts of the country.

After gyrating 1,823.97 points, the BSE barometer gave up some gains to end 692.79 points or 2.67 per cent higher at 26,674.03. It hit an intra-day high of 27,462.87 and a low of 25,638.90.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 190.80 points, or 2.51 per cent, down at 7,801.05.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, HUL, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries, while M&M, IndusInd Bank, ITC, PowerGrid and L&T were among the losers.

According to experts, a major package from the government of India and the Reserve Bank is expected shortly, and the market is likely to remain hugely volatile with rising possibility of V shaped recovery occasionally.

The US Fed is now leading from the front with its historic package which includes open-ended purchase of securities, direct loans to companies, purchase of corporate bonds, lending against student loans and credit card loans, they said.

The Federal Reserve on Monday announced it will buy unlimited amounts of US Treasury debt -- essentially printing money for the economy -- as well as new steps to lend directly to small- and medium-sized companies that have been among the hardest-hit as economic activity dries up.

Other central banks are also expected to follow suit with bold measures to ease the severely strained credit and financial markets, experts noted.

Traders said extreme lockdown measures taken by the government of India and authorities across the world still weigh on global investor sentiment.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rallied up to 8 per cent. Exchanges in Europe too rallied up to 6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated marginally against the US dollar to 76.17 (intra-day).

Global crude benchmark, Brent crude futures rose 5.22 per cent to USD 28.44 per barrel.

Coronavirus cases in India crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

The number of global Covid-19 infections has shot past 3,80,000. Worldwide fatalities topped 16,500.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While announcing the nationwide lockdown in his address to the nation on Tuesday evening, Modi said that this was an essential step to fight coronavirus decisively. He added that saving the lives of people was a priority now. (Image: News18)
More than 1,000 Navy personnel are gearing up to treat their fellow Americans aboard a floating hospital. Their commander said they've been given no end date for the unique deployment, as experts warn medical facilities face severe overcrowding amid a global pandemic.

The hospital ship Mercy departed San Diego on Monday afternoon. Its destination is just 120 miles up the coast at the port of Los Angeles -- but first it must complete a series of operations, tests and certifications at sea, Capt. Jonathan Olmsted, Mercy's civilian master, said.

The Mercy will arrive in LA within a week, Capt. John Rotruck, the ship's commanding officer, said. Much about what happens next is dependent on how serious the situation gets in LA or other spots along the West Coast.

"We are prepared to stay underway until the need is complete or until it doesn't make sense anymore," Capt. Dan Cobian, the mission commander, said. "... We are prepared to stay as long as necessary in Los Angeles and prepared to move on to whatever port or destination that FEMA directs or is required by higher headquarters."

Related: Why the Navy's Hospital Ship Mercy Is Going to LA Instead of Hard-Hit Washington

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor said on Sunday that the ship has been directed to LA because California is projected to need five times more hospital beds than Washington state, even though there are currently more coronavirus cases there than in California.

The medical professionals on the Mercy came from several West Coast naval hospitals and clinics, including those at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms in California and Bremerton and Oak Harbor in Washington.

The Mercy won't treat patients with coronavirus but will instead take overflow patients from hospitals in LA. Rotruck said the ship is equipped to perform surgeries and respond to patients who require intensive care. The ship will not provide care to children or pregnant women, he added.

The crew members weren't individually tested for coronavirus but were asked to complete a questionnaire. If there was any indication that they could have COVID-19, Rotruck said there was follow-on medical testing.

Civilian patients who are treated on the ship will also be screened, he added.

"If we identify someone as COVID-19 positive, our intention would be to transfer their care back off of the ship," Rotruck said. "... We practice infection control every day in our normal hospital operating environment. We're going to do the exact same thing on the Mercy and also apply additional disinfection measures throughout the ship."

The Mercy has an initial stock of coronavirus tests on the ship, the captain added, and will request more through their normal supply chain if needed.

Rear Adm. Timothy Weber, commander of Naval Medical Forces Pacific, said there's not yet an estimate on how much the operation could cost.

As the sometimes fatal virus continues to spread, Weber stressed that it's important for everyone to do their part in practicing social distancing, washing hands and avoid touching their faces.

"Whether you're in a military hospital on shore, at sea or anywhere else, those are critical," he said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read More: Air Force Cancels Most Space-A Travel as Pandemic Spreads
The upcoming Lenovo Legion-branded Android gaming phone has now appeared at Chinas CNIPA patent website, complete with a few new details. That listing also happens to hold full-color photos of the handset, pulled down from the site by Pricebaba. The images reveal a design take thats uniquely suited for gamers.

For starters, the entire rear panel appears to be transparent. The images show the handset in a metallic grey color, with what appears to either be a second red variant. Conversely, the images showcase LEDs under the panel that light up through the see-through backing. In the images, the coloration highlights a shuriken-shape at the center of the design

The detail is consistent with the Legion branding, which stretches across the device from the bottom to the fingerprint scanner  set just below its triple-camera array.

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Near the right-hand edge at the center of the rear panel, a physical fan is visible. Lenovos Legion division has included the word Cool next to the fan. That hints that the fan is likely integral as part of the devices previously reported disruptive cooling solution.

What details does CNIPA give for the Lenovo Legion gaming phone?

Aside from the confirmation of cooling features and a triple-camera array over a transparent backing, there are at least a few other details the patent images reveal. To begin with, the Lenovo Legion gaming phone will feature larger-than-average bezels above and below the display.

That will house a selfie camera and earpiece. But it will also make room for a second USB-C port. One USB-C port is in place at the bottom-center of the handset but theres another in the left-hand edge.

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That will undoubtedly be utilized to attach accessories or secondary displays. For instance, it may be used chiefly for the now-expected Lenovo Legion gamepad. That follows recent reports that the company will release such an accessory to compete with other gaming smartphones. It may also be usable with other accessories such as earphones.

With two ports, users will additionally be able to use their handset while charging in two different configurations. Lenovo has already said the Legion gaming phone will feature at least 55W fast charging technology. And thats going to be useful since the rear of the device also denotes a relatively huge 5,050mAh battery is in place here.

The larger-than-average battery will not only be useful to drive a more optimized gaming experience. Rumors have stated that the device will utilize a battery-draining 144Hz refresh rate for the display panel. Thats alongside LPDDR5 RAM and the very latest in UFS fast storage.

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Finally, the under-panel markings note one key discrepancy. Previous reports have confirmed the use of a Snapdragon 865 chipset for this phone. But the unexpected images show designation for the Snapdragon 855 SoC. Its not clear whether thats a misprint or if it points to a deeper problem with prior reports.

When is this phone expected to arrive?

Aside from reports and hints from Lenovo that a powerful, 5G-ready, Legion-branded smartphone will drop soon, details about its probable launch date are fairly slim. The device has been appearing in reports since at least the middle of December, last year.

Given the current global coronavirus pandemic and its limiting-effect in terms of large gatherings and smartphone demand, Lenovo may choose to hold off on any announcements. Or the company may choose to do a soft-launch in select regions where the market is beginning to rebound  launching later to other regions. If that happens, the company may choose to launch via a virtual announcement.

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If Lenovo stages a larger launch event, thats not likely to happen for at least a few months.
Pakistan has suspended six civil servants after they posed for a selfie with a coronavirus patient in a quarantine centre, an official said today.

The selfie - widely shared on social media - pictured a group of men around the apparent patient, several of them smiling broadly and none wearing face masks.

The picture was taken at a quarantine facility near Sukkur in virus-hit Sindh province, where 399 of the country's 892 COVID-19 cases have been recorded so far.

Pakistan has suspended six civil servants after they posed for a selfie with a coronavirus patient (circled) in a quarantine centre, an official said today

'Six of the government employees have been suspended and put into quarantine,' Rana Adeel, deputy commissioner in Sukkur, told AFP.

The commissioner added the six - employees of the provincial land department - were visiting a local politician who was in quarantine after contracting the novel coronavirus during a visit to Iran.

A family wearing facemasks sit in rickshaw as they take a ride past a closed market in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

The suspension comes as Pakistan continued locking down large swathes of the country to battle the contagion.

Sindh police reported more than 700 people had been arrested in the bustling Karachi since Monday when the province announced its lockdown.

Pakistan has a history of failing to contain infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis.

So far, authorities have confirmed six deaths from coronavirus.

Workers make face masks with sewing machines at a small factory during a government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Announces $15.2 Million in 2019 Revenue and

Downsizing of Operations in Response to Coronavirus

Boulder, Colorado, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA) announced today operating and financial results for the three and 12 months ended December 31, 2019.

Due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus and the uncertainty of its impact on the Companys operations, the Company has decided to cancel its Q4 2019 investor conference call previously scheduled for March 26, 2020.

Financial Highlights

 Our 2019 revenue was $15.2 million, which represents a 59% increase compared to 2018 revenue and our largest ever annual revenue. Our 2019 revenue includes $6.7 million recognized from three project contracts we signed with a single multi-facility operator (MFO), which we define as businesses that own and operate two or more cannabis cultivation facilities in either the U.S. or Canada.  For 2019, our operating loss and net loss was $1,311,000 and $1,339,000, respectively. This compares to a 2018 operating loss and net loss of $4,820,000 and $4,744,000, respectively.  Our 2019 adjusted net income1 was $92,000, compared to a 2018 adjusted net loss of $2,592,000. This year we achieved our first ever annual adjusted net income, a key milestone that we established in early 2019.  Our Q4 2019 revenue was $3,719,000, compared to Q4 2018 revenue of $2,195,000, an increase of 69%. Our Q4 2019 net loss was $800,000, compared to a Q4 2018 net loss of $816,000. Our Q4 2019 adjusted net loss was $154,000, compared to a Q4 2018 adjusted net loss of $811,000.  Our 2019 gross profit margin was 29.9% compared to 25.6% for 2018, an increase of 4.3 percentage points.  As of December 31, 2019, our cash was $922,000, compared to cash of $253,000 as of December 31, 2018. We generated $672,000 in cash flow from our operating activities during 2019. Our working capital deficit was $1,437,000 as of December 31, 2019, compared to a working capital deficit of $1,031,00 as of December 31, 2018. However, our year-end working capital deficit includes $503,000 of accrued compensation expense that was paid in stock options in Q1 2020. Excluding the accrued compensation expense, the 2019 year-end working capital deficit was $934,000.

1 Adjusted net income (loss) means our GAAP net income (loss), after adjustment for non-cash equity compensation expense, debt-related items and depreciation expense.

Downsizing of Operations

A number of recent events have had an adverse impact on our operations and financial condition, including constraints on capital availability for our customers and prospects who have commenced, or are contemplating, new and expanded cannabis cultivation facilities and the recent outbreak of COVID-19, a novel strain of coronavirus, which has spread across the globe including the U.S. Most recently, the response to this coronavirus by federal, state and local governments in the U.S. has resulted in significant market and business disruptions across many industries and affecting businesses of all sizes. This pandemic has also further tightened capital access for most businesses.

As a result of these events, we assessed our near-term operations, working capital, finances and capital formation opportunities, and implemented, in late March 2020, a downsizing of our operations, including workforce reductions, reductions of salaried employee compensation and a reduction of hours worked to preserve cash resources, cut costs and focus our operations on customer-centric sales and project management activities. The extent to which COVID-19 will impact our business and financial results will depend on future developments, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.

The duration and likelihood of success of this downsizing effort, workforce reduction and cost-cutting measures are uncertain. If these actions do not meet our expectations, or additional capital is not available, we may not be able to continue our operations. In addition, any potential government mandate to limit non-essential work would have a material adverse effect on managements revised plans. If our customers or prospects are unable to continue operations or obtain project financing and we are unable to increase revenues, or otherwise generate cash flows from operations, we will not be able to successfully execute on the various strategies and initiatives to grow our business.

*******

Tony McDonald, CEO, commented: Despite achieving record revenue in 2019 and our first-ever year of positive adjusted net income, we, along with all the companies in our industry, are in unchartered waters. We now face the uncertainties of the coronavirus outbreak and how this will impact our business and the operations and pending or planned projects of our customers and prospects. While it is too early to make any long-term assessments, our business has slowed considerably as a result of the effective shutdown of large parts of the U.S. economy. However, we continue to deliver products and services to our customers during this extraordinary disruption.

About Surna Inc.

Surna Inc. (www.surna.com) designs, engineers and sells cultivation technologies for controlled environment agriculture including: (i) liquid-based process cooling systems and other climate control systems, (ii) air handling equipment and systems, (iii) a full-service engineering package for designing and engineering commercial scale thermodynamic systems specific to cannabis cultivation facilities, and (iv) automation and control devices, systems and technologies used for environmental, lighting and climate control. Our customers include commercial, state- and provincial-regulated cannabis growers in the U.S. and Canada as well as other international locations, including those growers building new facilities and those expanding or retrofitting existing facilities. Currently, our revenue stream is derived primarily from supplying our products, services and technologies to commercial indoor and hybrid sealed greenhouse facilities ranging from several thousand to more than 100,000 square feet.

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, we leverage our experience in this space to bring value-added climate control solutions to our customers that help improve their overall crop quality and yield, optimize energy and water efficiency, and satisfy the evolving state and local codes, permitting and regulatory requirements. Although our customers do, we neither produce nor sell cannabis.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. These statements reflect our current beliefs, and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in this press release, including the factors set forth in Risk Factors set forth in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and subsequent filings with the SEC. Please refer to our SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business, including but not limited to the risks and uncertainties associated with our business prospects and the prospects of our existing and prospective customers; the inherent uncertainty of product development; regulatory, legislative and judicial developments, especially those related to changes in, and the enforcement of, cannabis laws; increasing competitive pressures in our industry; and relationships with our customers and suppliers. Except as required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The reference to Surnas website has been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such website is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our financial results on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, we use non-GAAP measures including net bookings and backlog, as well as other significant non-cash expenses such as stock-based compensation and depreciation expenses. We believe these non-GAAP measures are helpful in understanding our past performance and are intended to aid in evaluating our potential future results. The presentation of these non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to our GAAP results and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information prepared or presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures reflect an additional way to view aspects of our operations that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business.

Statement about Cannabis Markets

The use, possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana is prohibited by U.S. federal law for medical and recreational purposes. Although certain states have legalized medical and recreational cannabis, companies and individuals involved in the sector are still at risk of being prosecuted by federal authorities. Further, the landscape in the cannabis industry changes rapidly. This means that at any time the city, county, or state where cannabis is permitted can change the current laws and/or the federal government can supersede those laws and take prosecutorial action. Given the uncertain legal nature of the cannabis industry, it is imperative that investors understand that investments in the cannabis industry should be considered very high risk. A change in the current laws or enforcement policy can negatively affect the status and operation of our business, require additional fees, stricter operational guidelines and unanticipated shut-downs.

Surna Marketing Jamie English Managing Director of Marketing jamie.english@surna.com (303) 993-5271

Surna Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

December 31, 2019 2018 ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 922,177 $ 253,387 Accounts receivable (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $151,673 and $119,022, respectively) 138,357 210,187 Inventory, net 1,231,243 935,886 Prepaid expenses and other 269,491 128,348 Total Current Assets 2,561,268 1,527,808 Noncurrent Assets Property and equipment, net 257,923 520,321 Goodwill 631,064 631,064 Intangible assets, net 11,930 23,028 Deposits 51,000 51,000 Operating lease right-of-use asset 534,133 - Total Noncurrent Assets 1,486,050 1,225,413 TOTAL ASSETS $ 4,047,318 $ 2,753,221 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS (DEFICIT) EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 1,832,959 $ 1,917,087 Deferred revenue 1,444,472 641,798 Accrued equity compensation 503,466 - Current portion of operating lease liability 217,843 - Total Current Liabilities 3,998,740 2,558,885 NONCURRENT LIABILITIES Operating lease liability, net of current portion 404,209 - Total Noncurrent Liabilities 404,209 - TOTAL LIABILITIES 4,402,949 2,558,885 Commitments and Contingencies (Note 10) SHAREHOLDERS (DEFICIT) EQUITY Preferred stock, $0.00001 par value; 150,000,000 shares authorized; 42,030,331 shares issued and outstanding 420 420 Common stock, $0.00001 par value; 350,000,000 shares authorized; 228,216,638 and 224,989,794 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 2,283 2,250 Additional paid in capital 25,326,593 24,538,027 Accumulated deficit (25,684,927 ) (24,346,361 ) Total Shareholders (Deficit) Equity (355,631 ) 194,336 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS (DEFICIT) EQUITY $ 4,047,318 $ 2,753,221

Surna Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Years Ended December 31, 2019 2018 Revenue, net $ 15,224,454 $ 9,581,968 Cost of revenue 10,675,601 7,132,090 Gross profit 4,548,853 2,449,878 Operating expenses: Advertising and marketing expenses 675,703 979,711 Product development costs 521,044 317,713 Selling, general and administrative expenses 4,662,695 5,972,948 Total operating expenses 5,859,442 7,270,372 Operating loss (1,310,589 ) (4,820,494 ) Other (expense) income: Other (expense) income, net (27,977 ) 58,254 Interest expense - (2,908 ) Gain on change in fair value of derivative liabilities - 21,403 Total other (expense) income (27,977 ) 76,749 Loss before provision for income taxes (1,338,566 ) (4,743,745 ) Income taxes - - Net loss $ (1,338,566 ) $ (4,743,745 ) Loss per common share  basic and dilutive $ (0.006 ) $ (0.022 ) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, basic and dilutive 227,662,184 218,752,365

Surna Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday told the Britishers to "stay at home" to relieve the pressure on the health care system amid the coronavirus disease outbreak.

"From this evening, I must give the British people a very simple instruction -- you must stay at home," the prime minister said in his address to the nation.

The people "will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes: shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible; one form of exercise a day, for example, a run, walk or cycle, alone or with members of your household; any medical need to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home".

Police will be allowed to enforce the restrictions, "including through fines and dispersing gatherings".

The restrictions will be reviewed in three weeks to see if they can be relaxed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) on Tuesday issued a new Code Yellow warning of strong wind, targeting in a first stage almost three-quarters of the country, respectively a new Code Orange warning of moderate snowfall and blizzard, aiming to cover the southwestern counties, the alerts being in force, gradually, by Thursday night.

According to the weather forecaster, the long of the Code Yellow period, in the most part of the mountain area, in Dobrogea, Muntenia, Banat, Crisana, locally Oltenia, southwestern Moldavia, as well as in the southern half of Transylvania wind speed will increase in general from 55km/h to 75 km/h. In more than three-quarters of the country, the weather will maintain especially cold for the last decade of March.

Furthermore, on 24 March in the counties of Mehedinti, Dolj and in the mountain area of the Caras-Severin, Hunedoara and Gorj counties, a Code Orange warning of moderate snowfalls (10 - 15 l/sqm) will come into force, with heavy snow deposit. The wind speed will intensify up to 55 km/h - 75 km/h and in the mountain area of Caras-Severin, Hunedoara and Gorj counties the wind gust will go beyond 80 km/h - 90 km/h, while on the peaks it will hit 120 km/h, with strong snowstorms.

ANM also says that from 24 March 20:00 hrs to 26 March 10:00 hrs, a Code Orange for wind intensification will occur in the mountain area of the Caras-Severin, Mehedinti, Hunedoara and Gorj counties, with wind blowing at 80 km/h - 110 km/h in general, shattering the snow.

In addition, a Code Yellow warning will come into force from 24 March 20:00 hrs to 26 March 10:00 hrs. covering the mountain areas in 19 counties, from northeastern Muntenia, as well as the counties of Constanta and Tulcea, with the wind blowing at 55 km/h to 80 km/h, while at the mountain snow will be shattered and visibility will be diminished.
Among the 567 confirmed coronavirus cases in Orleans Parish, COVID-19 has infected a number of the city's firefighters, according to the firefighters' union president.

On Monday, 54 firefighters tested positive or received contact tracing notification that they have interacted with someone that has the virus. New Orleans Fire Department union president Aaron Mischler did not say how many have actually been diagnosed with COVID-19, but he did say at least four fire stations are without a sufficient amount of firefighters.

Later that day, a City of New Orleans spokesperson said only one NOFD firefighter has tested positive for coronavirus, and the employee does not respond to medical calls.

The department has 480 firefighters on the force.

Mischler said he tested positive and is in quarantine.

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"I dont know when and where I was exposed," Mischler said. "Odds are I was at work."

NOFD was already faced with retention problems and an employee shortage before the pandemic.

+3 Major New Orleans hotelier furloughs 500 workers, sets up grants amid coronavirus closures Joe Jaeger, the largest single owner of hotels in New Orleans, said he is in survival mode after suspending operations and furloughing more th

Mischler said firefighters are told to work unless they are experiencing symptoms. Those employees who came into contact with a positive case, but still aren't showing symptoms, are asked to wear N95 face mask for 24 hours.

"The number of cases are going to go up," Mischler urged. "They could infect others in the fire house or in the public when they go out to calls. Some guys may not even know they were exposed."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Afghanistan on Monday without saying whether he was able to broker an agreement between the country's squabbling political leaders. Pompeo was in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a US peace deal signed last month with the Taliban. He'd traveled thousands of miles despite a near-global travel shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel. But as his plane took off from Kabul, there was still no announcement on whether he'd worked out a solution to Afghanistan's political impasse.

Pompeo leaves Kabul

Since the US-Taliban deal was signed, the peace process has stalled amid political turmoil in Afghanistan, with the country's leaders deadlocked over who was elected president in last September's presidential polls. President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, have both declared themselves the country's president in dueling inauguration ceremonies earlier this month. Pompeo met separately with Ghani and then Abdullah before meeting together with both Afghan leaders. His schedule also had Ghani and Abdullah coming together for a one-on-one meeting, presumably to discuss a possible compromise.

The United States pays billions every year toward the Afghan budget, including the country's defense forces. Afghanistan barely raises a quarter of the revenue it needs to run the country, giving Pompeo considerable financial leverage to force the two squabbling leaders to overcome the impasse. The political turmoil has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks that would include the Taliban. Those talks are seen as a critical next step in the peace deal, negotiated to allow the United States to bring home its troops and give Afghans the best chance at peace.

We are in a crisis," a State Department official told reporters accompanying Pompeo. The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved and resolved soon, that could affect the peace process, which was an opportunity for this country that (has) stood in this 40-years-long war. And our agreement with the Talibs could be put at risk." The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. concerns.

The U.S. and NATO have already begun to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan. The final pullout of U.S. forces is not dependent on the success of intra-Afghan negotiations but rather on promises made by the Taliban to deny space in Afghanistan to other terror groups, such as the insurgents' rival Islamic State group. But within days of the U.S. and the Taliban signing the peace deal in Qatar on Feb. 29, Afghanistan sunk into a political crisis with Ghani and Abdullah squaring off over election results and Ghani refusing to fulfill his part of a promise made in the U.S.-Taliban deal to free up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The insurgents were for their part to free 1,000 Afghan officials and soldiers they hold captive. The exchange was meant to be a good-will gesture by both sides to start the negotiations.

The urgency of Pompeo's surprise visit was highlighted by the fact that the State Department has warned American citizens against all international travel, citing the spread of the new coronavirus. Pompeo has cancelled at least two domestic U.S. trips because of the outbreak, including one to a now-cancelled G7 foreign ministers meeting that was to have taken place in Pittsburgh this week. That meeting will now take place by video conference. Pompeo's last overseas trip in late February was to Doha, Qatar, for the signing of the U.S.-Taliban peace deal he is now trying to salvage. As the virus pandemic has worsened, causing many nations to close their borders and airports and cancel international flights, Pompeo and the State Department have come under increasing criticism for not doing enough to help Americans stranded overseas get home.

On Saturday, just hours before he departed on his unannounced trip to Afghanistan, Pompeo was roundly attacked on social media for a photo he posted to his personal Twitter account of him and his wife, Susan, at home working on a jigsaw puzzle with a scene from the Tom Cruise film Top Gun on a TV screen. Susan and I are staying in and doing a puzzle this afternoon. Pro tip: if you're missing the beach, just throw on Top Gun! the caption read. Many of the critics took Pompeo to task for apparently not working while thousands of Americans are struggling to find transportation home from various countries. Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been trying to jump start talks between Afghans on both sides of the conflict  the next critical step in the U.S.-Taliban deal  tweeted early Monday that the two sides are talking about the prisoner exchange.

The intra-Afghan negotiations were never going to be easy but since Washington signed the peace deal with the Taliban, it has struggled to get the Afghan government to at least offer a unified position. Pompeo's visit is also extraordinary for the fact that the U.S., like the United Nations, had earlier said it would not again be drawn into mediating between feuding Afghan politicians. While the Afghan election committee this time gave the win to Ghani, Abdullah and the election complaints commission charged widespread irregularities to challenge Ghani's win. In Afghanistan's previous presidential election in 2014, also marred by widespread fraud and deeply disputed results, Ghani and Abdullah emerged as leading contenders. Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry mediated between the two and eventually cobbled together a so-called unity government, with Ghani as president and Abdullah holding the newly created but equal in statue post of the country's chief executive. However, the Ghani-Abdullah partnership was a difficult one, and for much of its five years triggered a parliamentary paralysis leading up to the September balloting.
ISTANBUL, March 24 (Reuters) - A cargo ship operated by the Russian Navy transited Turkey's Bosphorus strait en route to Syria on Tuesday loaded with ambulances, a Reuters reporter saw.

Syria reported its first case of coronavirus on Sunday after weeks of rejecting opposition allegations that the disease had already reached a country with a wrecked health system and thousands of Iranian-backed militias and Shi'ite pilgrims.

The Russian Dvinitsa-50 ship, part of Moscow's auxiliary fleet, was carrying at least three military ambulances along with a shipping container on its deck.

Russia, which has provided military support for President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, operates a naval facility at Tartus in Syria and an airbase in Latakia.

The Russian military said on Monday that none of its servicemen had contracted the coronavirus.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was tested for the virus after returning from Syria this week, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday. He tested negative. (Reporting by Yoruk Isik in Istanbul, writing by Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow Editing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
Good Morning Britain hosts Kate Garraway and Charlotte Hawkins were pictured arriving at the Global Radio studios on Tuesday amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Kate, 52, has a slot on Smooth FM radio and no doubt Charlotte was due to be a guest on her show.

Charlotte, 44, had a big smile on her face as she headed inside while continuing to adopt social distancing measures.

Out and about: Good Morning Britain hosts Kate Garraway (pictured) and Charlotte Hawkins arrived at the Global Radio studios amid the coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday

The lovely ladies have been practising social distancing, while Charlotte even using a ruler to make sure she is always two metres away from her co-stars.

And Kate took a picture of Leicester Square, which was deserted hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson enforced stricter rules in a bid to flatten the curve.

Sharing the snap, Kate wrote that people should keep adopted social distancing measures and stay at home where possible in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Stylish: Charlotte looked lovely in a red top with a leopard print heart and black trousers

Addressing the nation on Monday night, Boris said people should stay at home but can take one walk or run a day, either solo, or with a member of their household.

People can visit a local shop to pick up groceries and he also said only essential key workers should continue to work.

Kate was pictured wearing a rainbow coloured scarf with a pink top and skirt as she headed inside, wrapped in a black cosy coat.

Keeping spirits up: Kate teamed a pink skirt with a rainbow coloured scarf for her outing

Doing her bit: Charlotte was no doubt keen to support the radio station

Wow! Kate took to Instagram Stories to share a picture of the normally bustling Leicester Square which was decidedly empty

Charlotte wore a red top which had a leopard print heart emblazoned across the front, worn with black trousers and heeled ankle boots.

Meanwhile, their GMB co-host Piers Morgan took to Twitter on Tuesday after Health Secretary, Matt Hancock clarified who can and can't go to work.

He had said: 'If you can't work from home you can go to work, and it is important to do so to keep the country going.'

Piers retorted: 'What? This is absurd. The ONLY people who should go to work are essential workers needed in the fight against coronavirus. Please clarify - urgently.

Taking no chances: Piers, Charlotte (pictured) and Kate have been sitting two metres apart on GMB, the recommended safe distance amid COVID:19, according to the government
Bookstores and indie publishers have been scrambling as state-mandated closures expanded along the West Coast late last week and the new coronavirus outbreak worsened. When the first wave of closures and cancelations landed earlier this month, Colleen Dunn Bates, founder of southern Californias Prospect Park Books, saw all of her authors upcoming events canceled. The indie press released Read Me, Los Angeles by Katie Orphan this month, with two more titles on deck for April. This is a big hit for a small press, said Bates. I'm now looking at my June books and considering painful decisions to possibly postpone their release, and also stalling on all new acquisitions.

The publisher operates with a staff of three part-time employees with everyone working from home during Californias shelter in place order. I've guaranteed them their usual pay even if there isn't enough work to do, for as long as I can swing it, said Bates. We're communicating via email, but it's spotty. I'm thinking we should start having the occasional conversation on Zoom.

Booksellers are experimenting with digital tools as well. In Portland, Ore, one indie bookseller is experimenting with Facebook Live author events. At the moment, digital events seem to be the only potentially viable option, so let's hope they work out, said Michael Keefe, a bookseller and publicist at Portlands Annie Blooms Books. The bookstore is currently only accepting phone and online orders; it is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for phone orders and curbside pick-up and has seen an increase of ten times the normal amount of daily online orders.

On April 2, the bookstore will host a 7 p.m. Facebook Live reading with author Steven Mayfield, author of the forthcoming book, Treasure of the Blue Whale (Regal House Publishing, April 1). The event was choreographed last week by Jessie Glenn, the director of MindBuck Media Book Publicity. It will be promoted as we would a regular book reading event through regional press and media, said Glenn, who is lining up other bookstore partners around the country for future Facebook Live author events. I prefer face-to-face contact, said Mayfield as he prepared for the digital event. I did set up a Facebook page for my last book and have promoted the living daylights out of Treasure of the Blue Whale on several platforms, including Facebook.

The reading will be a test run for us, said Keefe. We'll be curious to see whether it's beneficial for everyone involved, in terms of exposure and book sales. We usually host two to three events per week. If it were feasible to build back up to that frequency, that would be wonderful. The bookstore would like to focus on digital events for local authors who consign books at the store. According to Keefe, a large percentage of the stores events have always featured local authors.

Facebook Live has also been a powerful tool for C&T Publishing, a California-based publisher of quilting, sewing, and crafting books. On March 20, publisher Amy Barrett-Daffin hosted a Facebook Live craft tutorial for readers. We will continue to do these,"said Barrett-Daffin. Our goal is to help our community stay engaged and keep busy during this very stressful time and make something that sparks joy.

The C&T Publishing team had transitioned to cloud-based software in December 2019, so the transition to a work-from-home lifestyle has been smooth. In early March, they created a plan to prepare for pandemic closures and created a Virtual Private Network so files could be safely shared between co-workers homes.

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, Barrett-Daffin said she expects to see decreased sales for existing titles, an inability to sell our upcoming titles, and resources being really tight, but is working with her distributor National Book Network during the crisis. As long as we can overcome the short and midterm issues I don't foresee a long term negative impact, she said. We predict that many more people will look to crafting while they are stuck at home, and that is an upside for us.

As booksellers and publishers adapt, the PubWest trade association is exploring new ways to connect with members. Last Friday, Prospect Park Books founder Bates led PubWests first digital strategy roundtable for indie publishers on Zoom, a weekly platform for members to share ideas and reconnect during the Covid-19 crisis. To be honest, I'm quite pessimistic about the short-term outlook, said Bates after the off-the-record call. But I wouldn't be a book publisher if I wasn't an inherent optimist, so I think we'll find ways to keep publishing books and get them an audience. Booksellers and publishers interested in joining the next roundtable can contact PubWest executive director Kent Watson for call-in details.

Brad Lyons, the publisher of Chalice Press in Saint Louis joined the PubWest Zoom meeting and shared his thoughts after the off-the-record call. Currently, his whole staff works from home and meets in virtual forums every day. The faith-based publisher has utilized cloud-based tools for remote work for the last five years, so the publisher was prepared for the transition. A large share of our readers are churchgoers, said Lyons, so the restrictions on the size of gatherings has forced those who would congregate on Sundays to find other options like online worship or small-group discussions.

Lyons team is now focused on book-group offerings and helping authors engage with readers digitallygoing beyond frontlist with digital outreach. Were also reintroducing our backlist to those audiences, Lyons said. In that sense, this crisis presents a new opportunity.
Li Wenliang, 34, died from coronavirus in China. He was one of a group of doctors in China's virus epicentre who shared posts on social media warning of a Sars-like virus spreading in the city in December.

Front line medical staff and priests appear to be more likely to fall seriously ill or die from coronavirus, figures show.

In Italy, nearly one in ten of its near-60,000 cases of the killer virus is a healthcare worker, while 23 deaths have been reported among medical staff.

And at least 60 priests have succumbed to the illness, just weeks after Pope Francis encouraged clerics to visit COVID-19 patients and support medics.

Meanwhile in mainland China, a 29-year-old and a 34-year-old doctor are among 26 front line medics known to have died from the disease.

At least 3,300 of China's 80,000 cases since the outbreak began in late December have been healthcare workers.

Doctors and nurses are vulnerable to the virus because they are repeatedly exposed to higher doses of the bug than the general public.

And the majority of priests who have passed away were over the age of 70 and had underlying health conditions - two factors which increase the chance of dying.

It is unclear how many medics in the UK and US have been infected, but it is expected to be in the hundreds already.

Here, experts tell MailOnline why healthcare workers and priests appear to be more vulnerable to COVID-19's killer symptoms.

Doctors and nurses are vulnerable to the virus because they are repeatedly exposed to higher doses of the bug than the general public. And the majority of priests who have passed away were over the age of 70 and had underlying health conditions - two factors which increase the chance of dying

A patient wearing a face mask is wheeled into La Paz hospital on March 23 in Madrid

French rescue team wearing protective suits carry a patient on a stretcher from Mulhouse hospital

Healthcare workers

Doctors and nurses are susceptible to catching coronavirus because it is highly contagious and they are exposed to it more often than the general public.

Close proximity to patients means they receive a higher dose of virus, which allows the bug to penetrate the lungs more deeply and frequently, experts say.

Doctors may also fail to fight off the virus because their immune systems are weakened due to being overworked and not getting enough sleep amid the pandemic.

Luigi Ablondi, 66, the former general manager of Crema hospital died at the Cremasco hospital in Italy on Monday. He became one of Italy's 23 medics to die from COVID-19

Luigi Frusciante, who were in their 70s, both came out of retirement in order to help fight the growing coronavirus crisis in his community in Italy

SO WHY ARE DOCTORS AND NURSES NOT DYING IN THEIR DROVES? Even though a disproportionate number of healthcare workers appear to catch COVID-19, it seems that very few actually die from it. For example, around 5,000 medics have caught the disease but only 23 have died. In China, 3,300 healthcare workers have been infected but just 13 succumbed to the virus. It is 'probably' because front line medics are normally in their 20s, 30s or 40s, experts say. Younger adults are much more likely to fight off the illness and to avoid its killer symptoms. Advertisement

A lack of protective gear - a problem which medics in the UK, Italy and China have all struggled with - exacerbates the risk.

Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'It's always a bell shaped curve and although the old and infirm are the majority risk group those with a higher incidence of infection will also feature.

'That is, more front line health workers get infected than the general population so however low the risk to younger people they will disproportionately show it.

'It may also be that because of close proximity they receive a higher dose of virus than average and so the virus penetrates the lower lung more frequently. The lack of PPE [personal protective equipment] would exacerbate this.'

Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases professor at the University of East Anglia, said: 'It is a race between the virus and our immune system. Giving the virus a head start by a very heavy exposure dose as would be the case in doctors or nurses without enough personal protective equipment or by the body having a weakened/delayed immune system as would be the case in many elderly would lead to the virus winning more often.'

Italian doctors Giuseppe Finzi also died of coronavirus, driving up the country's death toll

Priests were encouraged by Pope Francis to visit coronavirus patients and support healthcare workers and volunteers during the outbreak

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE AGES OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS WHO GET INFECTED? Chinese health officials carried out the biggest ever study on the never-before-seen strain of the virus, using data from 72,000 cases. Results showed the SARS-CoV-2 virus posed the greatest threat to older patients and those with underlying conditions, such as cancer and heart disease. AGE 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ DEATHS (%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.1%) 7 (0.7%) 18 (1.8%) 38 (3.7%) 130 (12.7%) 309 (30.2%) 312 (30.5%) 208 (20.3%) Advertisement

Doctors in China believe the coronavirus has mutated into two strains, one more aggressive than the other.

Some believe doctors may be exposed to the lethal strain more often than the general public.

Experts haven't ruled it out, but say there is not yet enough evidence to support that this.

Priests

The majority of the 60 priests who have died so far in Italy have been over the age of 70 with underlying health conditions.

These two factors weaken the immune system and increase the chance of death from COVID-19.

They were also encouraged by Pope Francis to visit coronavirus patients and support healthcare workers and volunteers during the outbreak.

Mingling with contagious people may have led to the spike in deaths in the Catholic Church.

Italy's healthcare system has also struggled to cope with the huge surge in patients needing breathing assistance.

It means that many doctors have had to select which patients get access to ventilators based on their chance of survival.

Those who are over the age of 70 and have underlying health conditions, such as the priests, may be being overlooked.

NHS doctors treating coronavirus patients are being forced to buy face masks from DIY stores and BUILDING SITES amid nationwide shortage

Frontline NHS doctors are being forced to buy face masks from DIY stores because of nationwide shortages amid the coronavirus crisis.

The British Medical Association said some of its members were so desperate they had approached building site workers and asked to borrow industrial dust masks.

Protective gear such as masks, gowns, goggles and gloves, are essential for limiting the spread of the highly infectious disease which lurks in the air for hours and survives on objects for days.

Health chiefs have confirmed there are problems with dwindling supplies globally, which is having knock-on effects with distribution.

The BMA says ministers must remember it is their duty to protect staff as the epidemic in the UK worsens.

It also urged for testing of health care workers immediately in order to avoid medics unnecessarily self-isolating and leaving hospitals under-staffed.

NHS doctors treating coronavirus patients are being forced to buy masks from DIY stores amid shortages, according to the British Medical Association. Pictured, a health care worker at Virginia Hospital Center, US, putting on personal protective equipment (PPE)

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA chair of council, said: 'Frontline staff must have the proper personal protective equipment if they are treating patients with Covid-19'

RETIRED NHS STAFF TOLD TO COME BACK - EVEN THOUGH THERE ISN'T PROTECTIVE CLOTHING TO PROTECT THEM Up to 65,000 ex-doctors and nurses are being told your NHS needs you to fight the biggest health crisis in more than a century. Anyone who quit or retired in the past three years is being urged by ministers to return to help tackle coronavirus. But at the same time those already on the frontlines say they can't get their hands on the proper masks and protective equipment to stop them catching the disease. People fear the retired coming back to work could be risky because older people are known to be most likely to die if they catch the coronavirus, and depriving them of the right equipment could be a recipe for disaster. One said on Twitter: 'You are expecting retired doctors and nurses to [be] kamikaze pilots, they are in the most at risk group.' Another added: 'What could possibly go wrong?' Emails, which will go out this morning, echo Lord Kitcheners Your Country Needs You recruitment poster from the First World War. Staff will be allowed to re-register immediately with either the General Medical Council, the doctors professional watchdog, or the Nursing and Midwifery Council, its equivalent for nurses. NHS officials have not put a figure on the number of former doctors and nurses they expect to bring back but last week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he hoped to get our hands on as many as possible. All returning staff will be paid fully according to the amount of time they can work and will be given brief training and induction. The NHS is also allowing some of the most experienced trainee doctors and nurses to join the front line. Those in the final year of their degrees will be allowed to take up paid roles without having to pass their final set of exams. Advertisement

The BMA said it had heard many of its members do not have the right personal protective equipment (PPE), or if they do, it is in very short supply.

Doctors, both in GP practises and hospitals, as well as patients are all at risk if there is inadequate PPE.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA chair of council, said: 'Frontline staff must have the proper personal protective equipment if they are treating patients with Covid-19 or suspected to have Covid-19.

'We are hearing of staff trying to buy masks from DIY stores in desperation because they are not being provided with it by their employers. This is unacceptable.

'The Government must find a reliable way to increase the production and distribution of PPE [personal protective equipment].

'If any healthcare worker, treating someone with Covid-19 was to become ill, or worse, due to a lack of PPE, the consequences will be dire and the impact on patient care catastrophic.'

England's chief doctors Professor Chris Whitty has said NHS colleagues are right to complain they are facing shortages.

'I completely understand the points that my colleagues in the NHS are concerned about on PPE, they write to me regularly about this and entirely reasonably,' he said yesterday.

'This is a major strand of work for much of the Department of Health and Social Care.

'In the short term this is about making sure the PPE stocks that there are go to the right places, in the longer term ... there will be a global issue we need to put together,' he added, noting stocks are running low in some countries.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS providers, said there was not a shortage of PPE, but a 'logistical problem' in distributing it.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'We have obviously been talking to national NHS leaders and what they say to us is there are sufficient national stocks of personal protection equipment but there is currently a problem in terms of the logistical distribution of them.

'What's happened is that because of the sudden and understandable spike in demand it is taking a bit of time for the logistical distribution to catch up.

'But the bit that they are saying to us is there are sufficient national stocks, the issue is actually ensuring that those stocks reach the frontline in the right numbers, in the right places, at the right time.'

His comments came after Dr Paul Evans, a GP in Gateshead, told the programme that frontline staff did not have PPE that 'inspires the confidence of the staff' who are seeing patients who potentially have COVID-19.

Dr Evans said: 'I would suggest that asking health professionals to see patients with a potentially lethal aerosol or airborne transmitted illness without adequate PPE draws an uncomfortable parallel with a decade or so ago sending soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq in Snatch Land Rovers that were referred to by the troops at the time as mobile coffins.'

England's chief doctors Professor Chris Whitty has said NHS colleagues are right to complain they are facing shortages. Picutred, a medical worker wearing full protective clothing treating a patient suffering from coronavirus disease in Cremona, Italy

Health chiefs have confirmed there are problems with dwindling supplies globally. Pictured, health care workers put on their personal protective equipment before people arrive at a drive through testing site for coronavirus in Arlington, Virginia

It follows GP Faye Kirkland's comments to the BBC that some doctors are having to resort to using cooking aprons because they hadn't been sent enough disposable single-use plastic aprons.

And it was revealed earlier this week that doctors were being sent face masks that expired four years ago.

Boxes of masks handed out to multiple GP surgeries by NHS England are printed with an expiry date of 2016, but in an apparent attempt to conceal the issue, stickers showing a later expiry date of 2021 have been placed on top.

GPs suggested it was an apparent attempt to 'hide' the original date and admitted they were worried about the quality of equipment being provided.

The Government was forced to deny the masks are unsafe, as the Department of Health and Social Care claimed they have been relabelled after passing 'stringent tests'.

The BMA have also warned it's imperative that healthcare workers are tested for the highly infectious coronavirus without further delay.

Government advice says people must self isolate for 14 days if they or a relative has COVID-19 symptoms. It means many vital medics may have to stay at home unnecessarily, adding pressure to an already stretched workforce.

'In order for the NHS to work as effectively as possible during this time, it's essential that all healthcare professionals and their families are tested for the virus not only for their protection, but most importantly, their patients,' said BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey.

'We understand that priority testing is taking place in some areas for frontline NHS staff, however, it's clear that this is not yet widespread.

'The NHS will struggle even more if increasing numbers of staff are forced to remain at home for up to two weeks, not knowing whether they have the virus and therefore not able to care for patients.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson efforts were working on 'ramping up daily testing from 5,000 a day, to 10,000 to 25,000 and then up at 250,000'.

It is understood testing will be expanded to frontline health care workers nationwide, currently only being accessed by a fraction.

Frontline staff in North Hampshire are set to have access to testing from 19 March, GP Online reports.

But the BMA has warned that this must be expanded across the UK 'without delay'.

NHS workers in Scotland are only being tested if they have symptoms, a strategy which has been criticised for failing to protect those most exposed to the virus.

In Wales, hopes have been raised that testing will be rolled out to staff soon.

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the novel coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: 'Based on careful risk assessment, a phased rollout of testing will commence starting with healthcare workers involved in frontline patient facing clinical care.'
Photo: Beau B/Flickr

Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Austin.

Austin reportedly expected to announce shelter-in-place order

The city of Austin is expected to announce a shelter-in-place order today to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, according to KXAN News.

Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston.

Texas moves to ban most abortions, due to virus outbreak

The governor and attorney general of Texas are moving to ban most abortions in the state during the coronavirus outbreak, declaring they don't qualify as essential surgeries.

Read the full story on KGET - TV 17 Bakersfield.

Man faces intoxication manslaughter charge after running red light, driving into pole, Austin PD says

This crash marks Austin's 21st deadly crash of 2020. Twenty-two people have died in crashes so far this year in the Austin area.

Read the full story on KVUE.

Austin startup Vinder helping restaurants sell perishable goods

The startup is currently seeking volunteers to help deliver the purchased items.

Read the full story on KVUE.

How to help: Website helps you navigate nonprofits in your area

If you're at home and wondering how you can still help your community, there's a website that can help you track down different spots.

Read the full story on KVUE.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
HOUSTON, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Drilling Company ("Parker" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors, following a global search led by Heidrick & Struggles, has appointed Sandy Esslemont, a veteran of the oil & gas industry, to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Esslemont will also join the Company's Board of Directors. He succeeds Gary Rich, who retired from the Company at the end of 2019.

Gene Davis, Chairman of the Parker Board, said, "We are very pleased to welcome Sandy as Parker's new chief executive. The Board conducted an extensive, global search for the best executive positioned to drive Parker's growth and profitability. With a track record of creating value for multiple companies and across industry cycles, we are confident that Sandy has the vision, experience, deep knowledge of our business, and leadership qualities to propel the Company forward, and we look forward to working with him."

Mr. Esslemont commented, "I have admired Parker for its reputation for service and reliability, which has been earned over many years through strong customer relationships and a value-added offering. It is an honor to join Parker, and I look forward to working with the Board and the talented Parker team to create value for the Company and for our stakeholders."

Mr. Esslemont has more than 37 years of international oil & gas industry experience in drilling operations, petroleum technology, and executive management. He has held leadership roles at privately held, publicly-traded, and venture-backed companies in roles based in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Europe, Australasia, and the Middle East, the majority of which are in the oilfield services and related industries. Prior to joining Parker, he served as CEO for Abrado, a Houston-based company he helped found, and before that was CEO and Chairman of SensorTran Inc., which was sold to Halliburton under his leadership.

Mr. Esslemont holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, and is an active member of Society of Petroleum Engineers.

About Parker Drilling

Parker Drilling provides drilling services and rental tools to the energy industry. The Company's drilling services business serves operators through the use of Parker-owned and customer-owned rig fleets in select U.S. and international markets, specializing in remote and harsh environment regions. The Company's rental tools services business supplies premium equipment and well services to operators on land and offshore in the U.S. and international markets. More information about Parker Drilling can be found on the Company's website at www.parkerdrilling.com.

Contact: Investor Relations, (+1) (281) 406-2000, [email protected].

SOURCE Parker Drilling Company

Related Links

http://www.parkerdrilling.com


JUSTICEINFO.NET: So far, what has been the biggest hurdle the TRNUC has faced?

GABRIELLE LOUISE MCINTYRE: It is difficult to identify the biggest hurdle so far. One hurdle is of course the passage of time, because of which people dont remember or claim not to remember the events alleged. Another hurdle is keeping on top of the number of complaints that are being heard simultaneously, around 130 currently, and recalling the evidence that has already been given in relation to a case. We cannot refresh our memories in an efficient manner because we have a backlog in the transcription of the hearings. Where that record is in Creole, it has to be translated into English, the working language of the Commission, which creates further delays. But even scheduling the hearings involves overcoming hurdles, particularly in relation to locating witnesses, either in the Seychelles or abroad, so that we can serve them with a request to appear.

Based on some testimonies, there has been a lack of material evidence or access to it for the TRNUC. Does this affect the Commissions work?

A lack of evidence makes it difficult to make a determination and the Commissioners have to decide what the unavailability of evidence signifies in any particular case.

Does that mean that youve been unable to establish the facts in some cases?

The Commission has to try and find that evidence through other sources. For example, the lack of availability of police records has led the Commission to seek evidence from members of the police force at the time of the alleged complaint and obtain evidence directly from them. This method has been used in relation to the disappearances of Gilbert Morgan and Hassan Ali and is being used in relation to numerous other cases.

The Commission is not seeking to punish or alienate perpetrators. It is trying to bring them into a process of reconciliation

In the past months weve often had the impression that the Commission has a hard time reaching conclusive findings; you hear evidence from victims but rarely get decisive and helpful evidence from former alleged perpetrators, or state authorities

The Commission will reach conclusive findings on a case when it has exhausted its investigations. At this point in its proceedings it has not sought to make conclusive findings because it is still assessing the evidence. Most persons accused of the perpetration of gross violations of human rights before the Commission are served first with a suspect notification and the right to make a written response to that notification. The Commission has not yet reached the stage in its proceedings when those against whom credible allegations have been made and who have been given the right to answer in writing will be called to testify. It needs to build its evidentiary basis prior to calling these people to testify. It is not seeking to punish or alienate perpetrators. It is trying to bring them into a process of reconciliation and give them the opportunity to explain the context in which they carried out human right violations, to seek forgiveness from the complainants but also from society.

The Commissioners are aware that people are not telling them the whole truth

Some feel that the commissioners do not push hard enough for answers

The Commissioners do not believe a combative attitude towards witnesses is conducive to building a collective spirit focused on reconciliation. The Commission is seeking to build trust with the community and confidence in all persons that it will accord them a fair process. The Commissioners are aware that people are not telling them the whole truth, but it is also confident that as the process continues people that have been reluctant to be forthcoming will be more likely to do so. Indeed, it already has examples of witnesses coming forward and telling the Commission half of what they know and a few days later advising that they wish to come back because they have more information. Reconciliation is about cooperation, you cant force reconciliation on people, and the Commission is seeking cooperative relationships with complainants, witnesses, suspects and perpetrators. It has to be underscored that the Commission is not a court, it is not judging people, it is seeking to bridge divisions between people.

With regard to investigations, concerns have been raised too. Do you have a strong team?

Investigations are led by the Commissioners with the support of five investigators. Resources are extremely limited and only one of our investigators has any previous experience in investigative activities. In relation to each case we gather as much documentary and other information as we can, locate important witnesses, request written responses, send out suspect notifications etc. Once we have exhausted investigative efforts and as soon as we have all the relevant transcripts in relation to the evidence heard in a case, we will make determinations.

February was the deadline to file complaints  how many have been lodged?

We had 426 cases as of 9 February 2020, but a few have been withdrawn and some have been ruled inadmissible as they do not allege a human rights violation or a connection to the coup detat of 1977. I would say we have approximately 420 cases, but admissibility decisions remain outstanding on approximately 200 of these cases. In most of the outstanding cases we need further information from the complainant.

Will the Commission achieve its mandate in 3 years?

There is no doubt that it will be challenging and that we do need more resources, but we are committed to doing all within our power to complete our mandate in that time frame. For a small country like Seychelles it is important that a process such as this not be allowed to linger and drag on. Its effectiveness will be reduced by long delays and its ability to meet its objectives seriously undermined.

Interview by Patsy Athanase, our correspondent in The Seychelles
EDWARDSVILLE  As we approach Easter Sunday, most area churches have switched to live streaming masses and services, including funeral services.

For the Archdiocese of Springfield, which in the Edwardsville area includes St. Boniface, St. Cecilia and St. Marys churches, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki instituted several changes.

In line with social distancing and keeping groups to 10 or fewer people, the church has switched to recording and sharing messages on its website and social media platforms.

Also, during this time, I ask the priests of our diocese to celebrate the mass sine populo, that is, without a congregation, privately in their churches, during hours when the churches are closed. This includes all weekdays and Sundays, effective March 18, continuing through the Easter Vigil and ongoing until further notice, he stated.

Catholics are dispensed from their Sunday obligation until further notice. All Confirmations and First Holy Communions in the Diocese of Springfield are canceled through December. All non-sacramental parish activities are canceled across the diocese, until further notice. For more details, visit dio.org/coronavirus.

Masses celebrated by priests sine populo at the cathedral will be streamed live via the diocesan Facebook page and I encourage all the faithful to watch one of these masses or one of the many other live masses on other outlets. In place of receiving the Blessed Sacrament, I encourage the faithful to make a spiritual communion, he said.

Paprocki has asked his congregation to increase, rather than decrease, their prayer and fasting, in solidarity with their brothers and sisters locally, nationally and worldwide.

Leclaire Christian Church in Edwardsville is hosting online services only through the end of March. As of Monday, the next events the church has posted are on April 5 and Easter events  a breakfast on April 11 at 9 a.m. followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for children from ages 2 to 11 and Easter Services on April 12.

Lead Minister Andy Turner said via email Monday that he and his leadership team will meet March 30 to discuss April plans but nothing concrete has been decided at this time, but they will continue to honor governmental requests not to meet during the lockdown.

We attempted a new platform (church online) yesterday for our livestream, and due to the number churches across the country streaming services the servers had some trouble keeping up  so it didnt start too well for us, said Turner. Eventually we got it back up and running along with different Facebook Watch Parties. Weve also posted our services on YouTube.

Between the two platforms (church online and Facebook) we prominently used, we had between 150-175 households watching our services, he said. We generally are a church of around 550, so 150-175 family units/households probably puts us close to regular Sunday attendance, but not quite.

The advantages to using an online church platform are largely attributed to the convenience it provides, Turner continued. We will continue to have people check out our online services online throughout the week. The disadvantages are mainly found in the lack of community. Its not that community isnt possible in an online church; it just looks different and you have to work harder for it.

At St. James Lutheran Church in Glen Carbon, in-person worship stopped March 17. Livestreaming began March 18 and will continue on the churchs website or via its YouTube Channel.

I think it went okay, said St. James Pastor Aaron Mueller replied via email Monday. He said the positives are that they have the technology that allows them to (virtually) meet together around the Bible while still being safe and responsible for the health of themselves and their neighbors.

Im not totally sure exactly how many people tuned into the live stream, but I think it was slightly more than usually attend in person, Mueller said. We usually have between 150 and 170 in person, and there were around 60 devices following the live stream on Facebook and  around 300 views on YouTube.

The big negative, of course, is that a lot of us have grown very close to each other and not being able to get together is very difficult. A smaller negative, for me personally, is the weirdness of preaching a sermon to an empty sanctuary; Im having to learn how to preach to a camera and its not something Im used to.

At Eden Church on North Second Street, as of Saturday, modified Sunday services are available to view on the churchs Facebook page on Sunday morning. It also offers services by telephone at 8 and 10:30 a.m. There is also an Eden Church Exchange Group on Facebook to exchange goods and services among members with need.

Trinity Lutheran Ministries canceled its dinner and service last Wednesday, out of concern and love for our members, guests and our community. All non-worship activities are also canceled at least through the end of March, including remaining Lenten dinners.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735
Chinas sharing economy will see new development opportunities after the novel coronavirus epidemic subsides, industry insiders predicted.

Photo taken on May 24, 2017 shows a student using shared washing machine in a university in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

According to a recent report on the sharing economy issued by the think tank State Information Center, fields including shared healthcare, online education and food delivery saw spikes in both traffic and transaction volumes as people moved their consumption activities online.

Ping An Good Doctor, an online healthcare platform, recorded more than 1.1 billion visits, 10 times more new users, and nine times more inquiries than before on a daily basis.

Orders at the mini-program for the fresh food delivery platform Missfresh surged by 309 percent in the first six days after Chinese New Years Eve.

Meanwhile, retailers including Alibabas offline fresh food supermarket chain Hema Fresh and the countrys catering industry have joined forces by sharing personnel to meet the challenges brought by the outbreak.

In the fight against the epidemic, internet-based technologies have been used in more fields, and people are cultivating better online consumption habits, said Yu Fengxia, deputy director of the Sharing Economy Research Center under the State Information Center, adding that these favorable conditions will bring new opportunities to the sharing economy in the future.

Furthermore, industrial internet, an important pillar of shared manufacturing, is also seeing new development opportunities.

Institutional innovation should be enhanced to meet the requirements for boosting economic development amid the epidemic prevention and control drive, according to Yu.

East Chinas Shanghai and central Chinas Wuhan have been rolling out related policies to achieve this aim. For example, internet-based rehabilitation services are covered by medical insurance, which will further boost the development of shared healthcare.

Yu is upbeat about the prospects for Chinas sharing economy, adding that greater policy support for the sector, in aspects including business environment, flexible employment and consumption, will lead to new sharing services and models.
Pearl Jam is giving fans a chance to preview its upcoming release over the phone.

Gigaton, due out on Friday, can be sampled by calling long-distance.

Fans can call (585) -20-PEARL (585-207-3275) for the chance to hear songs from the album. Dance of the Clairvoyants and Superblood Wolfmoon Have already been sent out as singles.

A North American tour to support the release has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.

Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster.
Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) on Monday warned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosis stimulus package does little to address U.S. reliance on Chinese supply chains to deliver crucial medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite bipartisan concern on the issue.

In a letter to Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), Banks suggested that the legislation utilize directives from the Department of Defense to prioritize American medical and drug manufacturing at Chinas expense, including the Berry Amendment, which requires the DoD to prioritize the purchase of domestic goods. Banks also cites the Defense Industrial Capabilities Fund, which utilizes national security funding to incentivize the purchase of domestic medical products.

We can never allow China to dominate our health care supply chain using the same unfair trade practices that it used to dominate so many other industries, Banks wrote in the letter.  . . . It would be gravely irresponsible to grant China a level of favorable access to U.S. government contracts equivalent to that of domestic companies.

President Trump echoed the sentiment during a coronavirus press conference on Tuesday afternoon, saying that the pandemic proves that America should never be reliant on a foreign country for the means of our own survival.

President Trump: "We should never be reliant on a foreign country for the means of our own survival." The pandemic has shown "how critical it is to have strong borders and a robust manufacturing sector." pic.twitter.com/kNY3YlvmBR  Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 24, 2020

In a further statement to National Review, Banks slammed Democrats for ignoring Chinas stranglehold on American medical manufacturing in Pelosis 1,404-page bill, which does not mention China once.

Story continues

Actions speak louder than words  Speaker Pelosi has proven her fondness for expensive performance art, carbon-neutral airlines (shes serious) and diversity commissars; while completely ignoring vulnerabilities in our medical supply chain that endanger American citizens and undermine our sovereignty, Banks stated.

Over-dependence on Chinese medical supplies has drawn bipartisan concern in recent months. In December, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), along with senators Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), Mitt Romney (R., Utah), and Tim Kaine (D., Va.), sent a letter to secretary of defense Mark Esper to voice concerns over the overreliance of Americans on Chinese-manufactured pharmaceuticals.

Earlier this month, the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus  Mark Pocan (D., Wisc.) and Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) warned the CEOs of major pharmaceutical manufactures of serious concerns about the consolidation of the supply chain for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and medical supplies in China and other countries that play a large role in the global supply chain.

A March 12 Senate panel hosted by senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.)  who has introduced legislation to reduce Chinas supply-chain influence  revealed that thousands of our generic drugs and even some of the brand name products and perhaps even new therapies for coronavirus may depend on the chemicals that are sourced primarily in China.

Pelosis new stimulus package calls for $1 billion to support vitally necessary medical counter measures to support a reliable U.S.-sourced supply chain to help against coronavirus, but makes no mention of limiting Chinas influence and shifting medical supply chains back to the U.S.

Banks is proposing a number of amendments to help address the supply-chain shortcomings in the package, which were reviewed by National Review.

This bill should include Band-Aids for the economic fallout from COVID-19, the purpose of a stimulus package, but it also should permanently fix a systemic threat to every Americans health  our reliance on China for crucial medical products, Banks said in a statement. Because of scrutiny generated by coronavirus, a lot of Americans became aware of our overreliance on China, and representatives from both parties began to pay lip-service to the idea of fixing our supply chains.

Most of the amendments focus on enhancing the authority of the Federal Drug Administration, including requiring American manufacturers of essential medical devices to report any supply chain discontinuances or potential shortages to the FDA. It would also task the FDA with designating National Centers of Excellence in Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (NCEs) which would work to create a national framework for continuous manufacturing implementation.

Banks also suggests that drug manufacturers be required to report to the FDA on the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient in each drug produced overseas  a measure promoted by Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) earlier this month.

More from National Review
President Trump said Monday that he will extend the deadline for having a federally recognized form of identification to board a domestic airline.

The deadline to comply with the 2005 Real ID Act was supposed to be Oct. 1. Oregon was expected to be the final state in the country to meet those requirements, which stipulate that a passport, passport card or Real ID card are required to board a domestic flight, enter a federal building or government facilities.

"At a time when we're asking Americans to maintain social distancing, we do not want to require people to go to their local DMV," the president said in a news conference Monday. He didnt specific when the new deadline would be.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., had introduced legislation last week calling on the administration to push back the deadline until September 2021.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Springfield Democrat who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has also called for a delay.

Wyden said Monday, I am gratified that our bipartisan call for postponement of the Real ID Act appears like its on the route to reality. While I am glad Donald Trump has finally seen reason on this public health concern for Oregonians, I am pressing the White House to deliver specifics. Those details are essential to reassure Oregonians the deadline will be delayed at least a year and wont be forced amid a global pandemic to risk their health by jamming into DMV offices to get documents.

Oregon is one of, it not the last state in line by its own design, and it would not be able to start issuing the licenses, per the states own timeline, until July 6.

The state had estimated that some 960,000 drivers would want a Real ID card this summer. It estimated that would translate to 32 licenses issued per minute for 62 business days between July 6 and Oct. 1.

Oregon last fall started encouraging residents who didnt have one to get a passport instead of banking on obtaining a Real ID during the summer crunch.

According to the U.S. State Department, it can take six to eight weeks to obtain a passport. Passports can be expedited in certain cases or issued the same day in certain locations.

Oregon is one of the last in the country to take action on Real ID because lawmakers stiff-armed federal regulators in 2009 and prohibited the state from spending money to comply with the federal act. The state wasnt the only one to do so. But it was one of the last to change its stance. In 2018, the state Legislature repealed the previously bill and set a path toward compliance by 2020.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released clear guidelines about the things youll need to keep in mind if youre caring for COVID-19 patients.

The times are scary - many of us have never seen an infection this widespread or seen our cities go into a complete lockdown. But contracting the new coronavirus isnt an immediate death sentence. About 80% of the cases confirmed are mild, which means that they dont have any extreme symptoms - they may even be asymptomatic. And while they need to be isolated because theyre still infectious, they could make a full recovery very soon. The situation could also demand mild cases to be treated at home. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released clear guidelines about the things youll need to keep in mind if youre caring for COVID-19 patients. Here are some of the most important factors:

1. Isolation

Compared to the previous coronaviruses, the novel strain of coronavirus is extremely contagious, which is why the patient should be isolated in one part of the house, ideally a bedroom with an attached toilet. No one should share the room or the toilet with them. The door connecting it to the rest of the house should remain closed while any door leading to a balcony or terrace can remain open. There should also be a separate lined dustbin in the room for the patient to discard things in. According to the WHO, there is no evidence yet that the coronavirus can be transmitted to pets. But patients should still avoid contact with them for the time being.

2. Ventilation

Patients shed the virus wherever they go. This means that if they are isolated in a room, the virus will be present on a lot of the surfaces, and especially items that are used a lot. The virus can even stay in the air for up to 3 hours according to a study, which is why ventilation is important. If your house is centrally air-conditioned, you shouldnt use the AC as the virus could travel through the vents. Open the windows instead so that the rooms get aired out from time to time. Getting some fresh air and sunlight might also help the patients fell less suffocated by the quarantine.

3. Disinfection

Regular cleaning is very important and needs to take place in two steps - but even before that, ensure that you wear a mask, gloves and even a plastic apron when cleaning the area or anything that the patient came in contact with (or might have gotten their bodily fluids - like spit - on).

The two-step cleaning process: First, clean the floor and furniture and high-touch surfaces like doorknobs with detergent and water. Then, after rinsing, use a disinfectant (containing 0.1% of sodium hypochlorite). Also disinfect the TV remote, mobile phone, tablets, etc.

Ensure that the bedcovers, blankets, towels and kitchen utensils used by the patient arent used by anyone else. These can be washed with water and detergent and can be reused by the patient. Fabrics can also be machine washed at a temperature of 60-90 degrees Celcius.

Hand hygiene should be maintained diligently by everyone staying in the house, whether theyre providing care for the patient or not. The hands should be washed with soap and clean water before and after preparing or eating food, after using the toilet, and anytime they look or feel dirty.

4. Social distance

Try to keep face-to-face interactions to a bare minimum with the patient. Use of any shared spaces like the kitchen should be minimised and the windows should be kept open in these areas. The patient should wear a mask when entering shared spaces and maintain a distance of 1-2 meters from anyone else present in the house. The patient should also wear a mask as much as possible, but especially when their caregiver enters their room. Ideally, only one person, who is in good health and does not have any underlying diseases, should provide care for the patients. No visitors should be allowed during this time. The caregiver should always wear a mask and protective gear when entering the room where the patient is staying. Protective gear should be carefully disposed of promptly and the caregiver should wash their hands immediately after. This trash should be treated as infectious waste.

5. Communication

Taking care of COVID-19 patients isnt just about containing the spread. You also need to plan for the loneliness that comes along with being isolated. Establish a means of communication with the patient, like talking on the phone regularly while sitting in different rooms, keeping each other updated on the condition as well as regular happenings in the other parts of the house. Take a few minutes to talk to them about something completely unrelated to the coronavirus so they can briefly forget about being a patient. The caregiver should also stay in contact with a medical professional. Give them regular updates, ask them questions when you have a doubt and contact them immediately in case of a change in the patients condition.

For more tips, read our article on Coronavirus.

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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25)  Authorities arrested on Monday the suspect in the murder of Surigao del Sur radioman Christopher Chris Rapido Lozada.

The suspect was identified as Rolly Mahilum, and was captured at Barangay San Vicente 2, Tagbina, Surigao del Sur by the provincial police.

Lozada was an anchor and the operations manager at DXBF Prime Broadcasting Network. He was gunned down in October, 2017.

His companion that day, Honey Faith Toyco, survived the shooting and positively identified the suspect. Toyco is now under the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice.

Even at this time of national emergency, our law enforcers are still relentlessly pursuing suspects in cases of violence against media workers. We commend the continuing efforts of the Philippine National Police in bringing to justice these fugitives from the law, said Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin M. Andanar.

Presidential Tas Force on Media Security Executive Director Undersecretary Jose Joel M. Sy Egco said that continued monitoring of all media killings by the PTFoMS are now reaping more arrests and convictions of perpetrators.

It can be recalled that the motion for reconsideration filed by Mahilum was denied by Surigao City Acting Prosecutor Joan Francis Alas-Esmero who found no cogent reason to reverse her resolution finding probable cause for the indictment of respondent for murder and frustrated murder.

RELATED: PH deadliest country in Asia for journalists  report
Prisons in England and Wales have been put on immediate lockdown to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

Inmates at all public sector jails will only be allowed out of their cells to take showers, make phone calls and do exercise.

All visits from family and friends have been cancelled, but prisoners due to appear in court will be allowed to go unless the courts' service says otherwise, the prisons' trade union said today.

Prisoners will also be expected to observe social distancing measures, keeping six feet apart from one another wherever possible.

Those who usually carry out kitchen, cleaning and laundry work will be allowed to continue, according to the POA (Prison Officers' Association).

Prisons in England and Wales have been put on immediate lockdown to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Pictured: Inside HMP Pentonville in London

The prisons' union said it 'praised the decision of the Secretary of State for Justice and the Director of Public Sector Prisons for their decision to place Prisons in England and Wales on immediate lockdown'.

The first case of a prisoner being infected with COVID-19 was at HMP Manchester last Wednesday.

On Thursday it was revealed that two inmates at HMP Kilmarnock in Scotland also tested positive for the virus.

Today it was revealed that a prisoner at Britain's largest prison, HMP Oakwood, has contracted coronavirus,

The inmate at the all-male Category C jail in Staffordshire had been self-isolating since Tuesday, before a test result confirmed his status on Saturday.

John Whitwam, managing director of G4S custodial and detention services, said: 'We have confirmed one case of coronavirus at HMP Oakwood.

'The health and safety of our staff and the people in our care is our top priority and we have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases.

'We are in regular discussion with Public Health England and following their guidance.

'The person concerned had already been self-isolating since Tuesday, in accordance with national guidance, and will remain in isolation and in regular consultation with our on-site health professionals. His family have been contacted and will be kept up-to-date.'

At the end of last week nearly 1,000 prison officers were self-isolating after developing symptoms or coming into contact with someone who had.

It was reported that cell searches and drug tests for inmates could be scrapped due to staff shortages.

Former chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick called for low-risk prisoners with short sentences to be released to ease pressure on the system.

Trials expected to last more than three days have been postponed, despite nearly 33,000 criminal cases currently due to be heard by crown courts, according to the most recent figures.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.
New Yorks coronavirus outbreak has violently erupted over the past few days, and the state is now driving the national epidemic  while on the West Coast, public health experts are wondering if an early and aggressive response saved California from a similar fate.

California reported some of the earliest coronavirus cases in the United States in late January. And in the first week of March, California and New York were neck and neck on cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. But over the past week, New York case counts have doubled every few days, and the state now has nearly 10 times the cases California does: 38,000 to 4,200.

Infectious-disease experts say early maneuvers in California, especially in the Bay Area  first discouraging people from gathering in crowds and then ordering them to shelter in place  may have had a dramatic impact, even if they came only a few days ahead of those in New York.

But other factors may also be in play. New York is testing far more people  three times as many as California  and therefore identifying more cases, for example. And its possible that whats happening 3,000 miles away could be Californias future.

New York may just be three or four days in front of us. Were going to see an increase in the number of cases here as well, said Dr. Warner Greene, a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco who specializes in HIV but is studying the new coronavirus. Days matter  they really matter. You think youre fine, youre absolutely fine, but this thing is just waiting to explode.

But we went into shelter in place quicker; we got people apart quicker, Greene said. That could be a contributing factor to what were seeing in California now. And thats why I think the whole country should be sheltering in place.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday identified the United States as the next potential epicenter of the pandemic, with China and South Korea both on a path to recovery and Italy starting to see signs of its outbreak slowing down, though gradually.

New York state now makes up roughly half of the United States 86,000 cases of COVID-19. On Tuesday, experts on the White House Coronavirus Task Force advised that residents who have fled New York City, where the bulk of cases are located, should place themselves in a two-week quarantine to avoid infecting people in other parts of the country.

New York state is also testing more people than anywhere else in the country  120,000 as of Thursday, compared with about 77,000 in California, 57,000 of which havent been processed yet.

How and why New Yorks testing is so far beyond Californias isnt entirely clear. New York started testing more people sooner than California because the state requested and received emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to start using its own test on Feb. 29. At that time, California was using tests supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was trying to play catch-up after early production errors slowed down distribution to the states.

But testing alone doesnt explain why New Yorks case counts are so much higher than Californias, or why the rate is spiraling up so fast on the East Coast. The death toll in New York was five times higher than Californias  500 deaths to 85, as of Friday. Deaths tend to be a much more reliable marker of the spread of the disease than cases because determining how someone died is not dependent on the availability of testing kits.

Also, hospitals across New York state, and in New York City in particular, are filling up, but California hasnt yet seen a similar surge.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued stay at home orders last Sunday, two days after Newsom did the same for California and five days after Bay Area health officers told 6.7 million people to shelter in place.

New York City and the Bay Area had about 450 and 300 cases, respectively, when the Bay Area stay-home orders were issued on March 17. When Cuomo shut down the state on March 22, New York City had 5,500 cases. The Bay Area: 539.

Shelter-in-place orders hadnt been in effect long enough to entirely account for the dramatic differences, but the Bay Area issued other directives earlier, such as shutting down mass gatherings, advising people to work at home when possible, and asking older adults and people with compromised immune systems to stay home.

We were more aggressive; we got out there a little earlier, said Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley. We were maybe a week up on New York, and that doesnt sound like much time, but in terms of the spread of this pandemic, its enormous.

Indeed, lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic taught public health leaders that speedy, assertive actions could save lives, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious-disease expert who has been consulting with Bay Area officials on the coronavirus response.

John Minchillo / Associated Press

Time is critical. You cant be late, not even by a week, Rutherford said. We moved to lockdown, for lack of a better phrase, relatively quickly. I think were reaping the benefits.

There are other explanations for New Yorks particularly brutal outbreak. New York City has the densest population in the country, and for a virus that spreads primarily by close contact, density could make a huge difference. For weeks, if not months, New Yorkers were crowding subways, high-rise elevators and even sidewalks while the coronavirus spread among them.

Even in the Bay Area, where BART trains can be packed at commute hours, there isnt nearly the same level of close gathering.

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.

Different places appear to have very different disease dynamic, said Dr. Robert Siegel, a Stanford infectious-disease expert. You could have predicted New York was going to have a big problem because of the high density of people, which is ideal for spreading the virus. Were spread out more in California.

Cultural issues also could play a role, though infectious-disease experts arent sure in what ways New Yorkers might differ from Californians that might explain the differences. New York City has a younger population than San Francisco, and its bars stay open two hours later every night  perhaps that factored into the spread of the disease, experts said.

And some of the explanation may come down to luck. In pandemics, certain individuals are sometimes found to be so-called super-spreaders, capable of infecting dozens or even hundreds of others. In the 2004 SARS epidemic, also caused by a coronavirus, one person in Canada was linked to 128 cases in a hospital.

Mark Lennihan / Associated Press

No super-spreaders have been identified in the current outbreak, but that doesnt mean a few particularly contagious people arent at the center of some clusters in New York, Rutherford said.

Local and state leaders warn that California will surely see its case counts climb in the coming weeks. And California, too, is bracing for a surge on hospitals that could strain resources beyond capacity. New York may be on a more advanced track than California, but that doesnt mean the West Coast wont end up on a similar trajectory.

I can feel confident that things are going to get worse before they get better, said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, at a news conference on Monday, during which he advised residents to take seriously the orders to stay at home.

Every community where the virus has taken hold has seen a surge in coronavirus patients who need to be hospitalized, Colfax said. We expect that to happen in San Francisco soon, in a week or two, or perhaps even less.

Staff writer Catherine Ho contributed to this report.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com
Both oil and stocks rallied on Tuesday morning as news of a Fed stimulus initiated some bullish sentiment in markets, but poor fundamentals are likely to drag oil prices down again





Chart of the Week

- Chinas annual oil imports increased to 10.1 mb/d in 2019, while the U.S. import total averaged around 7 mb/d.

- Roughly 55 percent of Chinas oil imports comes from OPEC countries, which is the smallest share since 2005.

- Russia is the largest source of supply for China, averaging 1.6 mb/d, or 15 percent of Chinas imports.

Market Movers

- Phillips 66 (NYSE: PXD) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) cut refinery runs at a few large U.S. refineries because of weak demand.

- Total (NYSE: TOT) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) each cut spending by around 20 percent and suspended share buybacks.

- EOG (NYSE: EOG) scrapped its plan for a debt offering due to volatile market conditions.

Tuesday March 24, 2020

Stocks jumped at the start of Tuesday trading due to progress in Washington on a stimulus package, and also on some glimmers of hope in Italy on the rate of deaths and new coronavirus cases. Oil showed some signs of life, but analysts still think that the next major move for prices is down.

Oil has more room to fall as storage fills up. Multiple reports from analysts and investment banks see further room to fall for oil because of fears over a lack of adequate storage. Any traders with the capacity to store oil are probably putting their hands up, looking at the contango, Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at Axicorp Ltd., told Bloomberg. Oil could head to $10 to $15 a barrel very quickly if OPEC and Texas cant reach an agreement on cutting production.

Related: Big Oil Prepares To Suffer In 2020

OPEC speaks with Texas RRC. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo spoke with Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton, raising speculation about mandatory cuts in Texas. Just got off the phone with OPEC SG Moh[ammed] Barkindo. Great conversation on global supply and demand, Sitton said on Twitter. We all agree an international deal must get done to ensure economic stability as we recover from COVID-19. The Texan official said the OPEC chief had invited him to the next meeting of the organization in June. Most analysts see such a Texas-OPEC deal as highly unlikely.

U.S. sends envoy to OPEC. The Trump administration will appoint Victoria Coates as a special envoy to Saudi Arabia on energy issues, in an effort to negotiate an end to the price war.

Russias weaker rouble helps sustain price war. Russias currency has lost 20 percent of its value in the past three weeks, a trend that cushions the blow for Russian oil producers as it deflates costs. Saudi Arabia has to defend a fixed exchange rate.

U.S. airlines prepare for total shutdown. According to the Wall Street Journal, major U.S. airlines are drafting plans for a potential voluntary shutdown of virtually all passenger flights across the U.S. No decisions have been made.

Oil majors cut spending. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), Total (NYSE: TOT) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) all said they would cut capex by roughly 20 percent each, while also suspending share buybacks. Chevron said it would cut spending in the Permian in half, which would translate into 125,000 bpd less by the end of this year than previously expected. With analysts predicting $10 oil, more cuts are expected.

10 percent of global oil supply uneconomic. Roughly 10 percent of global oil supply would become uneconomic if oil prices remain below $25 per barrel, according to Wood Mackenzie. If prices dont rebound, the taps will inevitably be turned off or strategically choked back in some areas, WoodMac analysts said. The industrys ability to keep higher-cost barrels flowing will be severely tested.

Spending cuts could reach 70 percent. E&Ps could cut capex by 68 percent this year, relative to 2019, according to Rystad Energy.

Exxon could delay Mozambique LNG. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) may delay the FID for its massive $30 billion LNG project in Mozambique. The project, which includes an LNG export terminal and offshore gas drilling, was thought to receive a greenlight in the first half of 2020. Mozambique is one of a few key projects in Exxons portfolio.

S&P cuts WTI forecast to $25. S&P cut its oil price forecast for 2020 by $10 per barrel since its last estimate. The firm now sees WTI averaging $25 this year, with $30 for Brent.

Refiners cut processing. Refineries around the world are reducing processing rates because of narrowing margins as demand collapses. Jet fuel margins turned negative recently.

Related: The Reason Why Russia Refused To Cut Oil Production

Oil-producing countries ask IMF for help. Around a dozen oil-producing countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have turned to the IMF for financial assistance amid the collapse in crude prices. The Fund said that it was ready to mobilize its $1 trillion lending capacity to help countries in need.

Natural gas to balance before oil. The cut in natural gas production could be faster than for oil, helping to balance the market sooner. Shale gas drillers in Appalachia are reducing drilling, but the contraction in the Permian for oil drilling will also cut associated gas output. As we move into 2021, this path of declining oil and gas production, if sustained, will likely result in an exceptionally tight summer 2021, which suggests current forward prices are not sustainable, Goldman Sachs wrote in a report. The bank said that natural gas prices could rally sharply next winter.

Chinas SPR cant save oil market. China has repeatedly taken advantage of past market downturns to buy cheap oil for its strategic reserve, but this time around the rate of SPR stockpiling is expected to be half as large as previously.

Canada braces for cuts. Western Canada may need to lower production by around 440,000 bpd beginning in April as storage fills up, according to Rystad Energy.

U.S. banks could face credit issues from oil bankruptcies. Regional banks in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma have seen their share prices fall and may face credit issues later this year as a result of the downturn.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A surfer leaves the water near the Huntington Beach Pier in this file photo. The structure was closed Tuesday as the city works to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

As the ongoing coronavirus outbreak upends everyday life on an everyday basis, Orange County residents can now get the latest facts at their fingertips.

The county has launched a new text-alert system to share updates and resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Residents can sign up by texting OCCOVID19 to 888777. The county's Emergency Operations Center will send out daily text message updates to those who enroll.

The system, a collaboration with Everbridge Nixle, is the latest telephonic resource the county has rolled out to distribute information regarding the coronavirus  which so far has infected 125 residents.

Two hotlines  one for public information, (714) 628-7085, and an Orange County Health Care Agency referral line, (800) 564-8448  are also available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Orange County's new alert system will send news and updates to residents via text message. (Los Angeles Times)

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Orange County and throughout the state, officials have steadily ramped up their efforts to lessen the disease's spread.

A centerpiece of the local-, county- and state-level response has been ordering residents to stay home as much as possible and to maintain a 6-foot buffer around themselves should they venture outside.

However, popular destinations  particularly along the coast  continued to draw crowds of cooped-up Californians over the weekend, leading some officials to take more drastic steps to curtail the congregations.

Huntington Beach officials announced the closure of the city's iconic pier, effective Tuesday.

"Although Huntington Beach prides itself on its amenities, our top priority remains the health and safety of our community," Mayor Lyn Semeta said in a video statement.

The Laguna Beach City Council also directed its staff to close city beaches by Monday night and work toward blocking local trail access to county wilderness parks.

Amid the continuing outbreak, Gov. Gavin Newsom has deployed the California National Guard to assist food banks statewide. President Trump also has announced that the federal government would pay for National Guard deployments in the state.

"I applaud our brave men and women in uniform that have been activated in California to assist the people of this great state as we combat the coronavirus pandemic," Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel said in a statement Monday. "I welcome the National Guard's assistance in providing necessary food and supplies to our residents in this time of great need."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:09:09|Editor: huaxia

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HOUSTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Chamber of Commerce (ACC) along with several community partners on Monday donated more than 42,000 U.S. dollars of medical supplies to Houston, the fourth largest city of the United States.

In response to the emergency call for personal protective equipment, the Asian American community has spent the last few weeks raising supplies for the city to help curb COVID-19, ACC said in a release.

The donated medical supplies include 10,000 masks, 151 liter of sanitizers, 800 isolation gowns, 270 goggles, 500 facial Shields, 250 boot covers and 3,600 gloves.

"We as a collective body, including Chinese-American, Korean-American, Vietnamese-American, Japanese-Americans, Filipino-Americans and the various other AAPI ethnicities, are in support of helping Houston through this challenging crisis and will stand by Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city of Houston in whatever the needs are," said Bin Yu, ACC board chair.

"The City of Houston has been in support of our Chamber since our existence 30 years ago and we have built our campaign in rallying together where we titled it: 'Together, Houston is Stronger,'" he added.

Houston Tsinghua Alumni Association, Sino Professionals Association, JJ Clemence Volunteer Team have participated in ACC's campaign. More organizations such as Chinese Civic Center, Houston Beijing University Alumni Association, George H.W. Bush Foundation - China CoronaVirus Action Network and Houston Chinese Association will follow suit, said the statement.

Founded in 1990, ACC has been supporting the business community in Houston for 30 years focusing on increasing business with the Asian community locally and abroad for all Asian countries, as well as improving the overall economic prosperity of Houston.
P Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has called out the government for dallying with setting up the promised economic task force to formulate measures for the coronavirus pandemic.

In a series of tweets on March 24, the senior Congress leader said: Woke up to read the shocking news that, four days after the PMs announcement, the promised Economic Task Force has not been set up by the government ! (sic)

Ministry of Finance has disowned responsibility for constituting the Task Force. Why doesnt the FM pick up the telephone and speak to the PM? Or is that taboo in this government? (sic) he added. He further linked an article with the essential elements of a rescue plan as reference.

Follow our LIVE blog for latest updates on COVID-19

He also claimed the Centre was taking credit for measures undertaken by the state governments: After refusing to respond to the call for a nationwide lockdown, the central government is owning the lockdowns announced by the state governments. Ironic and amusing, but still welcome!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on March 19 had said that the government would set up an Economic Task Force to combat the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian economy.

The government is working on a relief package for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and among the considerations is a direct cash transfer scheme for the most vulnerable sections of society, CNBC-TV18 reported.
The jury have failed to reach verdicts in the trial of three Dublin men accused of raping a woman in a car.

The three Dublin men, who are now in their early 20s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping a woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5, 2016.

The trial heard that three men were all teenagers when they drove the then 18-year-old woman to Dollymount Strand were they are alleged to have raped her one after the other. The defendants say that the woman consented to all sexual activity and had initiated sex.

On day 29 of the trial, the jury indicated that they were unable to reach a verdict on any count after deliberating for five and a half hours.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he wished to express his gratitude on behalf of the judiciary and the people of Ireland to the jury for their service.

Mr Justice Owens said that these have been exceptional circumstances due to the events of the past few weeks and that he would exempt the jury from future service for longer than would normally happen in a trial like this. He exempted them from jury service for a period of 15 years.

He remanded the three men on continuing bail and adjourned the matter to June 15 next.

During the trial, the woman testified that on the night of the alleged rapes she met the defendants, who she didn't know, in an internet cafe in the city centre. She said they told her they were going for a drive and would bring her back to where she was.

She said she did not want to go at first, but agreed to go for a walk and got into the car with the three men. She said that the car ended up in the middle of nowhere and was out at the sea.

The woman said the men then raped her. She said she felt horrible, shocked and disgusted. She said her door had a child lock on it and she could not get out of the car the whole time she was there.

She said she was told that another person was going to pick her up and bring her home. She said the car headed off very quickly.

Another car arrived containing three different men, and she was raped by two of the men in this car, the woman told the trial. She said that these men all got back into their car afterwards, laughed and drove away, leaving her in the middle of nowhere.

None of the men who she said arrived in the second car is before the court.

Giving evidence during the trial, one of the accused men said that the complainant was trying to ruin his life, that he has never disrespected a woman and never would.

Ms Lawlor put it to the man that he never thought a homeless woman who was addicted to tablets would follow this case through. He rejected this suggestion, said nothing happened to the woman and that she was treated with nothing but respect by himself and his two gentlemen friends.

He accepted that he put her number in his phone alongside the word slut.

In his direct evidence this accused said that on the date in question, he was in an internet cafe in Dublin city centre with the other defendants when the woman came into the back room.

He said he had never met her before that date and that she asked to go for a spin in his car and said she had no problem with doing the three of them. He said the four of them got into his car and she suggested that they go to Dollymount.

The court heard the man entered the woman's name in his phone with a letter and then the word slut. He agreed with his counsel that was not a nice name and commented that he was not going to call her and bring her on a date after she had sex with him and two of his friends.

'Are we going to have some fun?

The woman testified that after stopping the car the driver said are we going to have some fun?

She said that the three men got out of the car and then the man who had been in the front passenger seat got in beside her. He asked were they going to do anything and she said no.

She said the man pulled down his trousers, put on a condom and pulled down her trousers. She said she did not want to do anything and he got on top of her and put his penis inside her vagina.

The woman said that after the man was finished, he left the car and the another man came over. She said she did not want to go through that again before this man put on a condom and raped her.

She said that after the second man was finished, he called over his friend and handed him a condom. The third man then pushed himself on her, kissed her and raped her. She said she did not consent to it.

Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, told the jury that the woman was a target on the night in question in a way that someone with greater supports in their life might not have been.

Ms Lawlor said it was put to the woman that she was someone who did not know the difference between consensual sex or rape. She told the jury that unfortunately the woman knew exactly what the difference was between having consensual sex and being raped.

'Each of the three believed there was consent'

In her closing speech to the jury, Caroline Biggs SC, defending one of the men, said it was easy to say I have been raped but it was not so easy to back up the allegation.

Ms Biggs asked the jury if they had suffered a violent assault as suggested by the woman, did they think that they would be sending texts saying they were addicted to sex four days later.

In his closing speech to the jury, Patrick McGrath SC, defending one of the men, said the evidence in the case stood on the credibility of the woman. He said that when you looked at the woman's capacity for making allegations and her overall character, he suggested that she was someone that is lacking wholly in credibility.

Mr McGrath said the woman was a fantasist and a person who does not value the truth.

Paul Greene SC, defending one of the men, asked jurors to consider if his client intended to rape the woman, why would he have used a condom or why would he have dumped it at the scene instead of disposing of the evidence.

None of the three believed they had committed a crime and each of the three believed there was consent. And there was consent, Mr Greene said.
A new DigiTimes report claims that Apple could launch its AR glasses by 2022. The report states that Taiwan-based optical component suppliers are already working on developing Apples smart glasses.

At this point, it is clear that Apple is indeed working on a pair of smart glasses. Plenty of references to the headset have been found in iOS 13 and other reputable sources have also confirmed the same. What is unclear is when Apple plans on launching this AR headset and what all features it will offer.

Taiwan-based optical component suppliers are engaged in the development of Apples augmented reality smart glasses, which may be commercialized by 2022, according to industry sources.

The last rumor surrounding the AR headset pointed to Apple partnering with Valve for it. Reputed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had claimed that Apple could launch its AR headset in 2020, though the chances of that happening are admittedly looking quite slim. A report from The Information last year had claimed that Apple executives discussed the launch time frame of the AR headset and glasses, with a potential 2022 launch on the cards. This would then be followed by the release of a sleeker AR glasses in 2023. As for the headset, it would look similar to the Oculus Quest.

It is unclear how Apples first AR headset will look like and what all features it will pack. Apple could possibly try and include a LiDAR scanner  first seen on the 2020 iPad Pro  on its AR headset as it would allow for a rich and unique AR experience. The first iteration of the glasses are rumored to rely on the iPhone for all the processing work which makes sense given the power and battery life limitations that such a device poses. The company is working on a new AR app and new AR experiences for iOS 14. The company is very bullish on AR and it is clear that it is only a matter of time before it brings its first AR headset to the market.

[Via DigiTimes
While legislators in Washington D.C. and states try to fashion financial relief for businesses interrupted by the public health actions related to coronavirus, outside pressure is mounting on private property/casualty commercial insurers to do more than explain why insurance coverage is mostly not available.

A group of 18 members of Congress has asked the property/casualty insurance industry to pay business interruption claims, even where their customers policies exclude such coverage. Insurers declined, telling lawmakers that most business interruption policies do not, and were not designed to, provide coverage against communicable diseases such as COVID-19.

However those same insurers hinted they may be open to helping in some other way. The U.S. is in the midst of a national crisis that will require federal assistance that provides funding directly to those American individuals and businesses most in need. Our organizations stand ready to work with Congress on solutions that provide the necessary relief as soon as possible, continued the letter from the industry that knows how to send out checks. Insurance trade groups have not yet disclosed any details of what they have in mind.

Jon Bergner, assistant vice president of public policy and federal affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), put the calls for help in perspective.

Yes, there are a lot of nascent ideas being floated as we all try to get a handle on responding to COVID-19. NAMIC members are facing many of the same challenges as the entire business community, who are also NAMIC members policyholders, he told Insurance Journal.

He said the industry has called on Congress to provide direct federal assistance to prevent mass lay-offs or business failures  as soon as possible but cautioned about complicating delivery of assistance with more administration.

Speed and efficiency are top priorities when it comes to providing emergency aid, and all the more so given the unprecedented scale of this crisis. Involving the insurance industry as an added layer of administration would only serve to make the system slower, even under the best of circumstances, and should be avoided at this point, he added.

Sean Kevelighan, president and CEO of the Insurance Information Institute (III), told regulators and an audience of 2,500 on a National Association of Insurance Commissioners web conference, that while there is now pressure for insurers to cover business interruption resulting from a pandemic, insurers have investigated and modeled pandemic scenarios as they do other catastrophes and found it is not feasible to underwrite the risk in a way policyholders would be able to buy.

It is important to appreciate that as much as this is a catastrophe of historic magnitude, there are more on the horizon  hurricanes, wildfires, floods  and we must remain prepared in the way that we have long planned, so again, we can continue to act as the financial first responder that we have been for several centuries, Kevelighan stated.

David Sampson, president and CEO of the American Property Casualty insurers, told the same conference that it is important to defeat efforts to imposed retroactive coverage. He stressed that the current surplus funds and loss reserves of the industry are there to pay claims under policies as they have been underwritten and not to pay claims not anticipated.

Sampson said business interruption issues are at such a scale in this pandemic that a federal solution is needed. He said insurers have been in talks with the White House and Congress on what that response should look like and what business insurance coverage might look like in the future.

Coverage Analyses

Elsewhere, financial analysts have expressed uncertainty about how coverage questions in the area of business interruption will play out.

There may be exclusions, but there may very well be different interpretations around those exclusions in the U.S. and elsewhere, said Stephan Holzberger, chief rating officer of AM Best, announcing that his organization will be developing a pandemic stress test for the insurers it rates.

The original property/casualty insurance industry reaction that business interruption losses may be modest may have been too optimistic, according to Meyer Shields, KBWs insurance analyst. He said he believes that the combination of an aggressive trial bar, legitimately suffering insureds, and potentially ambiguous policy language could contribute to loss exposure for the industry.

However, to the extent that the insurance industry ends up paying business interruption losses due to the coronavirus, more of those losses are likely to be paid by specialty insurance carriers than standard carriers, Shields added.

We think its far too early to estimate industrywide (much less individual company) Business Interruption losses, but at this point, we expect some losses to materialize, and if so, theyll probably disproportionately impact specialty rather than standard insurers, since the latter groups policy language is typically subject to regulatory approval, and is usually more consistent, less customized, and hence less prone to including unintended coverage, he concluded.

A seemingly more damaging assessment for commercial insurers came from the chief executive of an insurtech. Chris Cheatham of RiskGenius, in a new publication, described the possibility that the absence of language explicitly covering communicable disease claims or exclusion clauses in commercial insurance policies will put more carriers on the hook to cover business interruption and other claims. RiskGenius, which specializes in analyzing insurance policy language, estimates that roughly 80 percent of commercial insurance policies are silent or vulnerable on communicable disease coverage.

In a post on the RiskGenius Insurance Prospectus blog, Cheatham notes that while many attorneys believe other provisions in a Silent COVID policy would exclude coverage, such as the need for physical damage to trigger coverage, his team believes this issue may arise in claims and litigation.

While insurance experts would be correct in asserting that insurance policies silent on communicable diseases traditionally do not cover communicable disease losses, we are focused on what may occur with unexpected court rulings or new laws and regulations, he wrote in an email newsletter about the blog item. (See related article, How Silence May Impact Commercial Insurers on COVID Cover)

In a separate development, a restaurant (Oceana Grill) filed the first lawsuit on a business interruption coverage matter in a civil district court in New Orleans Monday, asking a state judge for a declaratory judgment that its all-risks policy from Lloyds of London will cover its damages if ordered to close by civil authorities in response to the coronavirus.

Also, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, issued a memorandum with consumer relief and economic stimulus ideas that include the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act, which would create a reinsurance program similar to the Terrorism Risk Insurance act for pandemics, by capping the total insurance losses that insurance companies would face. This was a request from the National Retail Federation, according to the memorandum.
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Australian citizens returning home from overseas have been left dumbfounded by the 'relaxed' safety measures at Sydney's International Airport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison shut Australia's borders to all non-residents on Friday in a desperate attempt to combat the spread of COVID-19 and said all travellers returning to the country must self-isolate for two weeks.

But many of the Australians landing in Sydney on Tuesday morning say they weren't screened, didn't have their temperatures checked and were sent home with nothing but a leaflet about self-isolating.

Simone Sharples, who flew in from San Francisco, said she was 'surprised' by the carefree border control measures - despite returning from one of America's worst-hit cities as the number of infections in Australia surges towards 2,000.

The 42-year-old, who travelled with her two children Max, 12, and Millie, 14, said she was simply handed a pamphlet advising her to self-isolate for 14 days.

Simone Sharples (right) encountered 'very lax' safety measures when she flew into Sydney from San Francisco on Tuesday with her two children, Max, 12, and Millie, 14.

A man and woman are covered head-to-toe in blue hazmat suits at Sydney International Airport on Tuesday

A man speaks on the phone while sitting with a trolley carrying his luggage at Sydney Airport

Travellers sit crammed together at Sydney Airport as they attempt to head home before further travel restrictions hit due to the coronavirus outbreak

Sean Jones, 46, flew back to Sydney after moving to New Zealand four weeks ago for work. He has no idea when he will be able to return

'I was very surprised we didn't have to get a temperature check or anything like that,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The attitude in [Sydney] airport seemed very lax.'

Ms Sharples and her family had been living in Seattle for a year but as the deadly virus takes a tighter grip on the globe, she decided they needed to move home.

'What really frightened me was the gun sales, I just thought, we need to get out of here.'

At 3pm on Monday she had booked flights for her and her two children to fly back to Australia, landing on Tuesday morning.

They had half an hour to pack their entire lives into five suitcases and were forced to leave behind their father Peter who stayed behind to sell their house and car.

They have no idea when they will see him again.

The family has no home in Australia as they hadnt planned to move back until later in the year. They will now spend the next two weeks staying at a hotel because she doesn't want to stay with family in case of them has the virus.

Palo Razus, 45, his wife Melanie O'Halloran and their son Sam also landed in Australia on Tuesday after spending three months working in ski resorts

Travellers wore gloves, face masks and hazmat suits at Sydney Airport on Tuesday as the world attempts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

Gabbie, 21, had been in Bali with her boyfriend when she got a desperate call from her parents that she needed to return home

Ms Sharples said it was unclear what she was allowed to do and where she was allowed to go during the isolation period.

In an update to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Sharples said she was unable to organise her groceries.

'I am trying to get groceries delivered but there are no slots available,' she said.

'Totally impossible to do the right thing without the infrastructure in place.

'Luckily we are in a position where we can order takeout - definitely not our preference - but I am certain there would be many who couldn't afford that luxury.'

Ms Sharples said she phoned the hotline and they advised her to order takeaway meals three times a day.

Palo Razus, 45, his wife Melanie O'Halloran and their son Sam also landed in Australia on Tuesday after spending three months working in ski resorts.

Mr Razus said he was stunned by the stark contrast between Australia and the US at the moment.

Gregory Murray (right), 52, Anne Murray (left), 82, and Patrick Murray (right), 72, flew back to Sydney after a two week holiday in New Zealand. They said they were happy to leave as it was getting 'scary' over there with the new lockdown rules

Brendan McCann is a fly-in fly-out mechanical fitter who lives in New South Wales and works in Queensland

Travellers wore protective glasses to match their gloves, face masks and hazmat suits at Sydney Airport

A woman covered in protective clothing holds a sleeping child on her lap while waiting at Sydney Airport

Geoffrey Mealing, 63, (far right) had to cut his holiday in NSW short after it was announced Queensland would shut its borders on Wednesday

There are currently 15 states in the US under stay-home orders. New York and California were the first, along with Washington state.

'Australia still seems very relaxed [about the coronavirus crisis],' he said.

The family were also given a pamphlet advising them about the 14-day isolation period and had to sign a piece of paper declaring they understood the restrictions.

After arriving from one of the worst infected places, the family will now take public transport to they make their way home to rural Victoria.

They said they were concerned for the safety of others as they could be carrying the virus without knowing, so they each had masks and gloves to wear during their trip home.

One person in a hazmat suit also covered their shoes, in a desperate attempt to ensure they won't fall ill with coronavirus

A man and a woman wear face masks as they wait for their flight in Sydney Airport's domestic terminal

Travellers walk through Sydney Airport on Tuesday, as states and territories across the country move to shut their borders

Travellers fail to follow the 1.5 metre social distancing guideline as they sit huddled waiting at the gate

They were worried that others weren't taking the same precautions.

'We've been warning our friends and family to take this seriously, to self-isolate,' Ms O'Halloran said.

'Where we've come from it had already basically been in lockdown for two weeks.

'To love them more is to self-isolate from them.'

Sean Jones, 46, flew back to Sydney after moving to New Zealand four weeks ago for work. He has no idea when he will be able to return.

As he arrived he was give a face mask and handed a pamphlet advising him of self-isolation.

He said during his flight passengers were seated one seat apart to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

One woman is seen on the phone with her luggage at Sydney Airport on Tuesday

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, with more than 1,7000 Australians now infected, state governments are now putting extreme measures in place to slow the spread and hopefully ease the pressure on the health system.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced this week the state will shut its borders from midnight on Wednesday, leaving holidaymakers scrambling to get home.

Gabbie, 21, had been in Bali with her boyfriend when she got a desperate call from her parents that she needed to return home.

Her boyfriend decided not to return with her and has chosen to stay in Bali.

'I'm really sad and very disappointed because I don't know how long I'll be away from my partner for,' she said.

A woman in a face mask carries her skateboard as she walks through the airport on Tuesday

A family check-in for their Virgin flight at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. Australians have scrambled to return to their home as states and territories shut borders

A man looks at his laptop while keeping his distance from other travellers at Sydney Airport

The lockdown has been even more devastating for Brendan McCann who is a fly-in fly-out mechanical fitter.

The 30-year-old works in Queensland but lives with his wife and two kids, aged six and one, in New South Wales.

When news broke of the border lockdown he had to quickly change his flights and had to say his goodbyes to his family, unsure of when he may return.

'I don't know how it works. I could be stuck there. My daughter is pretty upset, my missus is pretty upset.'

The uncertainty is the worst part, he said.

A group of travellers walk through Sydney Airport after arriving in the city on Tuesday

People are seen walking through the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport on Tuesday

A man and a woman lie on the couches and wait at Sydney Airport on Tuesday
SCIENTISTS at University of Limerick have helped discover a molecule that could have a major impact on how data is stored and processed, and is said to have solved "a 50-year-old puzzle" in physics.

The UL researchers from the Bernal Institute found that a simple metal-organic molecule can go beyond simple binary computing logic and can in fact switch between three distinct, long-lived states.

This first demonstration of a ternary molecular traffic light device could provide a low-energy means of storing and processing unstructured big data required for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Damien Thompson, Associate Professor in Physics at UL who leads a research team in predictive materials design at the Bernal Institute, proved, using state of the art computer simulations performed on the Irish Centre for High-End Computing supercomputer, that the surprisingly stable third state is made possible by an unequal sharing of electrons between different sides of the molecule.

The work, published today in the world-leading journal Nature Nanotechnology, is a result of an international collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), and Texas A&M University (TAMU).

The device was conceptualized and developed at NUS by Professor T Venkatesan and his post-doctoral researcher Dr Sreetosh Goswami, based on a molecular complex discovered by Prof Sreebrata Goswami of IACS in Kolkata. Prof Stanley Williams, founding director of the Quantum Science Research Laboratory at Hewlett-Packard and now at TAMU, developed the new device paradigm based on the newly discovered electrical properties.

Science Foundation Ireland-supported scientist and theory lead on the project Professor Thompson explained that big data is the Achilles heel of next-generation of computing, demanding ever-increasing higher computing density which means, with current binary devices, huge power requirements, impractically complex component manufacture and/or convoluted circuit designs.

Here, we managed to push way beyond industry roadmaps by finding a ternary resistive memory device with three states that are well-separated from each other in terms of conductance and, just as importantly, stay working away perfectly for weeks on end, explained Professor Thompson.

The trick to this first commercially viable multi-level computing device is a slightly arcane physical phenomenon called charge disproportionation or symmetry breaking, which we proved using computer simulations, he added.

Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Institute, said the research was high impact and reinforces the ambition of the Bernal Institute to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context.

This is a continuation of Bernal scientists world-leading contribution to the field of predictive materials modelling, he added.

Professor Sean Arkins, Dean of Science and Engineering at UL, said: Researchers at ULs Department of Physics continue to pioneer the exploitation of organic materials for electrical applications, and this work places them at the forefront of molecular nanotechnology.

Professor Thompson outlined that scientists have long noticed that certain materials can breathe in an electric or magnetic field, and sometimes the electron cloud around the molecules can lose its symmetry.

This has remained an academic curiosity until now lacking technological relevance because it has always been associated with a big change in temperature or pressure, he said.

Whereas here the third asymmetric state is created simply by allowing current to flow through the device and it persists over a broad temperature range (-100 to +100 C) so it is suitable for most conventional computing as well as future applications emerging from the symbiosis between physics, computing and biology.

In this new material, ions pulse back and forth between different binding sites on the molecules, which opens up the third state, making it energetically accessible and technologically exploitable, he added.
Strict Lockdown  only allowed out for very limited purposes  gatherings in public of more than two people banned

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 23rd, 2020

UPDATE: The UK Government have now issued this simple to read guidance document following the announcement tonight. It is likely further clarifications and details on the practicalities of the measures will further emerge.

Original article below

The Prime Minister has announced a lockdown of the UK due to the National Emergency.

There are a range of measures including banning groups of 2 or more and people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

 shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

 one form of exercise a day  for example a run, walk, or cycle  alone or with members of your household;

 any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and

 travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

The new rules state you should not be meeting friends and if your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

A video has been released with more guidance on this tweet from UK Gov, that includes the following slide:

The full video statement is below:

The transcript of the statement is below, which contains more measures:

Good Evening,

The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone.

All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.

And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.

And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.

Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.

And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.

To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it  meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

So its vital to slow the spread of the disease.

Because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHSs ability to cope  and save more lives.

And thats why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.

And though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all  the time has now come for us all to do more.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction  you must stay at home.

Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

one form of exercise a day  for example a run, walk, or cycle  alone or with members of your household;

any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and

travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

If you dont follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

To ensure compliance with the Governments instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:

close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;

we will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with;

and well stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.

I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to peoples lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.

And thats why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.

And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.

Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.

With the time you buy  by simply staying at home  we are increasing our stocks of equipment.

We are accelerating our search for treatments.

We are pioneering work on a vaccine.

And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.

I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus.

Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline.

But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.

Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together.

To halt the spread of this disease.

To protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

And I know that as they have in the past so many times.

The people of this country will rise to that challenge.

And we will come through it stronger than ever.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.

Thank you.

The above speech was delivered by PM Johnson at 8:30pm.

Shortly before we tweeted on the local mood after it was announced earlier in the evening there would be a UK-wide address.
Donated Funds Will Help with Increased Need for Food and Hygiene Products

QUINCY, Mass., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As food banks face increased demand due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus, Stop & Shop today announced it will be donating one million dollars to be divided among its 13 regional food bank partners. The money will support the food banks in their efforts to fight food insecurity amid the current pandemic.

Stop & Shops long-time regional food bank partners are:



Greater Boston Food Bank

Rhode Island Community Food Bank

Worcester County Food Bank

Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

Food Bank of CT

Foodshare

Food Bank for Westchester County

Food Bank of the Hudson Valley

Fulfill

Food Bank for NYC

Community FoodBank of NJ

Long Island Cares

Island Harvest

The effect of coronavirus is far more than physical; its having an economic impact on families and their ability to put food and other necessities on the table, said Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid. This donation will help our food bank partners across the Northeast who let us know theyre in need of cash to support the vital work they are doing in our communities to ensure access to food.

The one-million-dollar donation will support the food banks as they assist small business workers who may not be compensated during temporary closures, children without access to meals at school, older Americans who are most vulnerable right now, and existing clients who currently face food insecurity daily.

Stop & Shop is committed to eradicating hunger in the communities it serves. For more information about Stop & Shops charitable endeavors, visit https://stopandshop.com/community/.

About Stop & Shop

A neighborhood grocer for more than 100 years, today's Stop & Shop is refreshed, reenergized and inspired, delivering new conveniences for customers. Committed to helping its communities enjoy better food and better lives, Stop & Shop has a longstanding history of giving back to the neighborhoods it serves with a focus on fighting hunger and helping children to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA Company and employs nearly 60,000 associates and operates over 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com

Stefanie.Shuman@stopandshop.com
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with print media heads through video conferencing over COVID-19 and lauded media for its "praiseworthy role in disseminating information".

According to a press release, Prime Minister Modi interacted with over twenty journalists and stakeholders from print media from all over the country.

The journalists joined the interaction from fourteen locations and consisted of both and regional media, representing eleven different languages.

Prime Minister said, "Media has played a praiseworthy role in disseminating information to every nook and cranny of this nation. The network of media is pan-India and spread across cities and villages. This makes the media all the more significant in fighting this challenge and spreading correct information about it at micro level."

He added that the newspapers carry tremendous credibility and the local page of a region is widely read by people. It is therefore imperative that awareness about coronavirus is spread through articles published on this page.

It is essential to inform people about where the testing centres are, who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested and follow home isolation protocols. This information should be shared in newspapers and web portals of the paper, the Prime Minister said.

He also suggested that information like the location of availability of essential items during lockdown can also be shared in the regional pages.

Prime Minister asked the media to act as a link between government and people and provide continuous feedback, at both and regional level.

He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of the spread of the virus, through the inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers.

The journalists and stakeholders from print media said that they will work on the suggestions of the Prime Minister to publish inspiring and positive stories.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm tonight on issues relating to the COVID-19 threat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker detailed the states efforts to stock up on personal protective equipment and said President Donald Trump was responsive to the states needs in a phone call Monday, one day after the pair feuded on Twitter.

During his daily COVID-19 briefing in Chicago, the governor also announced a new partnership with manufacturing and biotech industries in the state to produce needed supplies and called for donations of personal protective equipment, or PPE.

My administration continues to work day and night to scour the globe in the global supply chain, Pritzker said of the hunt for medical supplies needed to deal with COVID-19.

The briefing came as the state announced 236 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 1,285, and three new confirmed deaths, bringing the total to 12.

The three new deaths came in Cook County  two men in their 80s and a man in his 90s. Monroe County reported its first case, meaning the virus now has been confirmed in 31 counties, although experts urge all Illinoisans to assume the virus already has reached their community.

As the state tries to ramp up its preparation efforts in terms of supplies, it is working with in-state manufacturers and trying to buy supplies on the marketplace, Pritzker said. In an effort to bid for ventilators, Illinois was competing with the federal government, he said. In another case, it was bidding against other states and other countries.

Its the federal governments job to make sure that cash-strapped states are not paying more than they should have to pay for supplies, that we are not watching prices go up by the hour, because were competing against one another, yet for the common good, Pritzker said at the briefing.

He said the first shipment of medical supplies from the federal government came on March 12, and a duplicate order came on March 20, but the two shipments combined equaled only a fraction of the states request.

He said the total requests and shipments were as follows: 2.34 million protective N95 masks requested, 246,860 received; 900,000 surgical masks requested, 91,298 received; 7.4 million gloves requested, 325,082 received; 924,000 gowns requested, 91,298 received; 47,500 goggles requested, none received; 120,000 face shields requested, 111,978 received.

He said the state also requested 4,000 respirators but received none.

He said the state made another request for hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, gowns, goggles and meals ready to eat, but the March 20 shipment the state received contained the same size shipment it received March 12 without any of the other items.

Pritzker said he spoke to Trump around noon Monday and the president was very responsive. He said he talked to Trump about a need for masks and ventilators, and noted he has called on the president to use the National Defense Production Act to make the federal government a single purchaser for the necessary equipment rather than having states bid each other up.

The president was very responsive, frankly  he didnt so much like the idea of invoking the Defense Production Act, but he did say, you know, What do you need? Let me see if I can get that for you, Pritzker said of the call. It seems like hes being very responsive to what I asked for. And I hope that well be able to receive those items in relatively short order.

The pair spoke hours after Pritzkers Monday morning appearance on Good Morning America and struck different tones than they did Sunday on Twitter when they traded barbs.

Partisan bickering regarding the COVID-19 response prompted a statement from Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, Monday afternoon.

Fighting for our state through this pandemic is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue, Durkin said in a statement. We share a common enemy and share the same goal of working together to eradicate COVID-19. As in all emergencies, time spent on blame or fault provides little or no merit nor solutions. Despite the challenges, the time is now and we must be vigilant and united to defeat this virus.

Pritzkers office also announced that the state has executed contracts to buy 2.5 million N95 masks, 1 million disposable surgical masks, 11,000 gloves and 10,000 personal protection kits.

Per the partnership with the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or iBIO, some companies will begin manufacturing products ranging from medicine and therapies to N95 masks, gloves, gowns, ventilators and sanitizer and other medical equipment.

Pritzker said some facilities would be repurposed to manufacture needed equipment and all would meet social distancing and other guidelines.

While the task is daunting, manufacturers stand ready to once again answer our nations call, conquering obstacles and leading the way forward, said Mark Denzler, IMA president and CEO. The Illinois Manufacturers Association and the 592,000 women and men working on factory floors across our state are proud to support Gov. J.B. Pritzkers efforts to combat and contain this virus, producing life-saving products in desperate need across Illinois.

The IMA and iBIO also are organizing medical supply donation programs, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will direct donated supplies to health care and emergency response providers across the state with the most need.

I would also like to make a direct ask to the owners of tattoo parlors and nail salons and elective surgery centers and other facilities temporarily closed during this crisis, to contact my administration about their stores of PPE, Pritzker said.

Pritzker said those looking to donate PPE can email the administration at ppe.donations@illinois.gov.

Pritzker also noted that the states unemployment claims website is on a new platform designed for increased demand. He encouraged those affected by COVID-19 to apply for unemployment online rather than by phone at www2.illinois.gov.
The inflation of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, a prototype space habitat, is shown in this series of images taken by a NASA camera on the International Space Station during expansion operations on May 28, 2016.

A company that builds expandable space habitats has laid off its entire workforce, according to media reports.

Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace , which has long aimed to set up outposts in Earth orbit and on the moon, let 20 employees go last week and then laid off all 68 of its remaining workers on Monday (March 23), SpaceNews reported .

Sources told SpaceNews' Jeff Foust that the moves were caused by a "perfect storm of problems," including the coronavirus pandemic . (On March 20, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered all "nonessential" businesses in the state to close, in an attempt to slow the virus's spread.)

Related: Inflatable space stations of Bigelow Aerospace (infographic)

A Bigelow Aerospace spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to Foust but told him the company planned to hire workers back after things returned to normal. But other sources felt the layoffs were likely to be permanent, Foust wrote.

Bigelow Aerospace has been developing NASA-derived expandable-habitat technology for two decades. The company builds modules that launch in a compact configuration but inflate dramatically off Earth, providing more usable internal volume than traditional aluminum habitats.

Bigelow has launched three experimental habitats to date. The Genesis I and Genesis II uncrewed test modules reached Earth orbit in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) flew to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule in 2016. BEAM remains attached to the orbiting lab and serves as a storage compartment.

The company is also developing a huge module called the B330 , which would offer 330 cubic meters (12,000 cubic feet) of habitable volume. The B330 is the envisioned backbone of Bigelow Aerospace outposts in Earth orbit, lunar orbit and the surface of the moon, which would be visited by paying customers for a variety of purposes, from scientific research to tourism.

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 .
The paintings are by 60 Vietnamese and Singaporean artists including Dang Dinh Ngo, Tran Thieu Nam and Gloria Keh. The paintings are in various media, such as oil-on canvas, lacquer, watercolour and acrylic depicting different themes.

The paintings are not only beautiful, but they also convey a message of kindness and national solidarity, said Irish Pham, representative of the Viet Art Exchange.

The artists from every part of the country wish to help fighting COVID-19. They want to make their contribution to the national fight against the epidemic.

A lacquer painting measuring 100cm by 100cm by Tran Thieu Nam.



Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the artists will take the rest.

Bidders can make a fair offer based on the starting price below the painting. If they don't want to bid publicity they can message Iris Pham privately.

Payment will be carried out within a day. The artists will be responsible for transporting paintings to the customers if the auction is successful. If they are not in Vietnam they will take the painting by themselves.
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.

[music]

Last week, President Trump sounded newly serious about combating the coronavirus, calling himself a quote, wartime president. Maggie Haberman on why days later, and with the situation only worsening, the president is abandoning that message. Its Wednesday, March 25.

maggie haberman

Hello, guys.

michael barbaro

Hi.

maggie haberman

Hi.

michael barbaro

Maggie, it is Tuesday afternoon. Can you tell us about what just happened on the Fox News Channel?

archived recording (bill hemmer) Over the next two hours, the president, the vice president, and the officials tasked with leading our nations response on the virus pandemic will join us to answer your questions all across America.

michael barbaro

We just saw Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump sit for two hours at a town hall meeting  virtual town hall meeting  with Fox News from the White House, where they took questions by remote.

archived recording I think a lot of us right now are just wondering, what is the potential for a national stay-at-home order? Is this something that America could be seeing in our near future?

maggie haberman

Pence answered a bunch of questions first.

archived recording (mike pence) Carly, I can tell you that at no point has the White House coronavirus task force discussed what some people call a nationwide lockdown.

maggie haberman

Then, President Trump came on for the second hour.

archived recording (donald trump) Our people are full of vim and vigor and energy. They dont want to be locked into a house or an apartment or some space. Its not for our country. Were not  were not built that way.

maggie haberman

And his message was even louder of a message that hes been delivering for the last day or so, which is that while we have to take the coronavirus seriously 

archived recording (donald trump) You know, I dont want the cure to be worse than the problem itself.

maggie haberman

 in his words, the cure cant be worse than the disease.

archived recording (donald trump)  the problem being, obviously, the problem. And you know, you can destroy a country this way by closing it down.

maggie haberman

And by that, he means that the hits to the economy are becoming unsustainable. That it cant go on forever.

archived recording (donald trump) Youre going to lose people. Youre going to have suicides by the thousands. Youre going to have all sorts of things happen. Youre going to have instability. You cant just come in and say, lets close up the United States of America, the biggest, the most successful country in the world by far.

maggie haberman

And then he broke some news.

archived recording (donald trump) Id love to have it open by Easter. OK? I would love to have it open by Easter. archived recording Oh wow, OK.

maggie haberman

And that news was that he believes that by April 12, which is Easter, that that could be when the country and its economy are reopened.

archived recording (donald trump) Its such an important day for other reasons, but Ill make it an important day for this, too. I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.

michael barbaro

Maggie, this seems very much at odds with the messaging coming from more local leaders and health officials in the areas of the U.S. that have been most directly hit by this pandemic so far. Im thinking, for example, of the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who was warning New York residents 

archived recording (andrew cuomo) Look, this can go on for several months, OK?

michael barbaro

 that they should be preparing for four, six 

archived recording (andrew cuomo)  eight months, nine months.

michael barbaro

Nine months of life under isolation and shutdown to fight the coronavirus.

maggie haberman

Michael, about half an hour or so before Mike Pence started this town hall 

archived recording (andrew cuomo) You have 20,000 ventilators in the stockpile. Release the ventilators to New York.

maggie haberman

 Andrew Cuomo was pleading with the federal government to send more resources, especially ventilators, because the number of cases that are severe in New York is growing and keeps getting bigger and bigger. And it is outpacing the number of materials that they have for doctors to treat them.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) I need the ventilators in 14 days. Only the federal government has that power.

maggie haberman

You have health officials in New York, health officials in California, health officials in President Trumps own government saying we are not just a mere two or three weeks away from things going back to normal. And theyre basing that not just on idle projections, but watching what those curves have looked like in terms of the spread of the virus.

michael barbaro

Also, Maggie, help us understand how we got here and why this is the message from the president at this critical moment  when how we respond, what measures we take, and how long we take those measures really matters. And so I wonder where you think that starts. Where do we begin to understand that?

maggie haberman

Michael, you need to go back to January 22 when the president was in Davos for the World Economic Forum.

archived recording (joe kernen) Its great to see you. Thank you for joining us again in Davos. Weve done this before. archived recording (donald trump) Thats right.

maggie haberman

And he did an interview with CNBC. And at that point, the virus was already in the U.S.

archived recording (joe kernen) The C.D.C. has identified a case of coronavirus in Washington state.

maggie haberman

And he was asked by the interviewer if he was concerned that this could become a pandemic.

archived recording (joe kernen) Have you been briefed by the C.D.C.? archived recording (donald trump) I have. archived recording (joe kernen) Are there worries about a pandemic at this point? archived recording (donald trump) No, were not at all.

maggie haberman

And the presidents response was, no, not at all.

archived recording (donald trump) Its one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. Its going to be just fine. archived recording (joe kernen) OK.

maggie haberman

He didnt want to talk about it publicly at the time.

michael barbaro

And why do you think that was?

maggie haberman

Well, according to a number of people who were in contact with him, it was because he didnt want to rattle the financial markets. That he was hoping that it was going to stay under control, and the stock markets are his political weathervane, and he thinks they need to stay up in order for him to win re-election. And he didnt want to do anything to disturb that. And he didnt want to create a panic.

michael barbaro

OK. So what happened next?

maggie haberman

So after that, a couple of days later, as there were more cases and it was clear that it was spreading out of China  where it originated  the president took this move that he was widely criticized for by Democrats and even some Republicans at the time. Which was he halted a number of flights from China into the U.S.

archived recording (sean hannity) Disneys closed. archived recording (donald trump) Yeah. archived recording (sean hannity) Movie theaters are closed. Hospitals being built. I think were now up to our eighth case in the United States. How concerned are you? archived recording (donald trump) Well, we pretty much shut it down coming in from China.

maggie haberman

The idea was to halt the spread of the disease, keep transmissions to a minimum. He was accused of xenophobia. He was accused of making a racist move. At the end of the day, it was probably effective, because it did actually take a pretty aggressive measure against the spread of the virus. The problem is, it was one of the last things that he did for several weeks.

michael barbaro

Hmm. So the right decision in retrospect, but not accompanied by similar actions that might have contained transmission.

maggie haberman

Thats exactly right. In the same way that George W. Bush was criticized for his Mission Accomplished banner about Iraq, the president treated that moment as if it was his mission accomplished moment. He did not do anything after that in terms of alerting the public, or telling people to be safe, or telling people to take precautions. And it basically squandered several weeks within the U.S.

michael barbaro

Right. Looking back at the timeline, we can now see that on the same day that the president stopped those flights from China, the coronavirus was already being reported by the W.H.O. in Japan and South Korea, and those countries are still sending their citizens to the United States on flights that have not been stopped. So the horse is out of the barn.

maggie haberman

Exactly. It was not anything close to a whole-of-government approach. And at that point, there was a task force that was formed, and it was being led by the health and human services secretary, Alex Azar. But it was outside of the White House, and it was rife with all kinds of turf battles. And the president, meanwhile, was still trying not to talk about it.

michael barbaro

And succeeding in that, for the most part.

maggie haberman

And succeeding in that, for the most part. It was not something that came up in interviews that he did, which were mostly with friendly interviewers who werent going to ask him things that he didnt want to talk about. And look, its not as if it wasnt getting news coverage. The New York Times had it on the front page almost every day from the end of January. It was very clear that this was a global crisis, but it was not being treated as an American crisis. And I think a lot of that is because the president just was not talking about it.

michael barbaro

And do we know what information the president is receiving during this time? Is he getting a bunch of briefings  one would think he would be  that are conveying the seriousness of the approaching situation?

maggie haberman

Theres conflicting information, Michael, about exactly how specific and how alarmed the briefing materials the president was receiving were at this time. We understand that a lot of folks in the National Security Council were taking it very seriously, and that information had been passed to him. We understand that Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, took it very seriously, but its not clear that he was sharing all of that with the president or that he was being allowed to tell it to the president. There were some people in the White House who viewed Alex Azar in particular as quote-unquote alarmist  thought that he was overstating the threat. And when the president doesnt want to take something particularly seriously, hell often poll test advisers until he finds the one who agrees with him that he shouldnt take it seriously. And I have every reason to believe that he was looking for people to affirm his sense that this didnt really need to be addressed. And one of the places that he would go to hear his own thoughts affirmed or for solace was Fox News.

archived recording (jeanine pirro) If youve ever had a question whether the mainstream media distorts, whips up, throw things out of focus or has an agenda, especially when it comes to the Trump administration, look no further than coronavirus.

maggie haberman

They were very much echoing what he believed and wanted to believe, which was that the criticisms about inactivity that he wasnt doing enough was all part of an effort to harm him.

archived recording (trish regan) This is yet another attempt to impeach the president. And sadly, it seems they care very little for any of the destruction they are leaving in their wake  losses in the stock market. All this, unfortunately, just part of the political casualties for them.

[music]

maggie haberman

At this point, the president is in India being fitted by Prime Minister Modi, and public health officials start basically taking matters into their own hands. They start giving public warnings. One top health expert gave a press briefing where she said that 

archived recording (dr. nancy messonnier) Now, its not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen.

maggie haberman

It was no longer a question of if the virus would spread in the United States, but when.

archived recording (dr. nancy messonnier) And how many people in this country will become infected, and how many of those will develop severe or more complicated disease.

maggie haberman

And that hospitals and businesses and schools should start making preparations accordingly.

michael barbaro

Right.

maggie haberman

This was as the president was now on his way back from India, and the stock market reacted terribly to these warnings. And the president was furious. He called the health and human services secretary, saying that the remarks had rattled people. He called one of his top economic advisers, Larry Kudlow, wondering what could be done to stop the slide. But at this point, as angry as the president was, it was clear to him and to his advisers that this was no longer something he could ignore.

[music]

michael barbaro

Well be right back. So Maggie, what happens once the president recognizes that this is something that has to be addressed?

maggie haberman

The president put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the task force.

archived recording (mike pence) Good afternoon. We just completed todays lengthy meeting of the White House coronavirus task force.

maggie haberman

And that was a big moment, because this task force that had been kind of diffuse and fighting with itself was for the first time being run from the White House. And it was meant to signal that the president was taking this seriously. So Mike Pence had control of this thing for basically two weeks. And during that time 

archived recording (mike pence) Were continuing to lean into this effort in full partnership with state and local health authorities around the country 

maggie haberman

 he was trying to communicate that they were working on a plan 

archived recording (mike pence)  to ensure that we do everything to prevent the spread of the disease.

maggie haberman

To address the spread, that they were working on guidelines, that they were aware of problems with testing for this virus that have plagued this administration for weeks.

archived recording (mike pence) To mitigate its expansion and to provide necessary treatment to Americans that have been impacted.

maggie haberman

And after two weeks, Vice President Mike Pence was getting a lot of praise for his demeanor in these briefings.

archived recording (mike pence) If I may, well be back here every day. Get used to seeing us. Were going to bring the experts in. Were going to make sure and give you the best and most high quality, real time information from the best people in the world. So thank you all for being here. archived recording Thank you. Youre welcome back any time.

maggie haberman

And that became a point of concern for some of President Trumps own advisers, who didnt want to see Mike Pence get all of the attention.

michael barbaro

Huh. So the people around the president didnt want the vice resident, rather than the president, to be the one seen as quarterbacking this major national crisis?

maggie haberman

Thats right. There was concern among the presidents top advisers that it would look as if Vice President Pence was basically doing the job the president should be doing  calming a nation, giving out accurate information, sounding as if hes in charge. And that led to this idea that the president should give an Oval Office address. So on March 11, the same day the W.H.O. declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, President Trump sat in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk at 9 p.m., and the klieg lights came on and the teleprompter started rolling. And he gave an address to the nation.

archived recording (donald trump) My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak with you about our nations unprecedented response to the coronavirus outbreak that started in China and is now spreading throughout the world.

maggie haberman

For the first time, he acknowledged that this could impact older people.

archived recording (donald trump) The highest risk is for elderly population with underlying health conditions. The elderly population must be very, very careful.

maggie haberman

He talked about a ban on most travel from Europe.

archived recording (donald trump) To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.

maggie haberman

But the address, which was brief, as Oval Office addresses usually are, was seen as a disaster.

michael barbaro

Why?

maggie haberman

The President looked uncomfortable. He stumbled over the teleprompter, which he never does well with.

archived recording (donald trump) I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will 

maggie haberman

And it was riddled with errors, including about the travel ban.

archived recording (donald trump)  and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade in cargo, but various other things as we get approval.

maggie haberman

He suggested that it would apply to cargo and trade. It didnt, and those mistakes sent the stock markets plummeting.

michael barbaro

Right. And my assumption was that the President hoped the speech would do the exact opposite, which is it would give confidence to the stock market and send it back up.

maggie haberman

Thats right. The markets continued to tank over the next couple of days. And aides started realizing that there had to be a major course correction or the presidency could be threatened. And the President realized this too. So on March 17 

archived recording (donald trump) I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus.

maggie haberman

 we saw a pretty different tone from President Trump as he talked about this virus.

archived recording (donald trump) Well be invoking the Defense Production Act just in case we need it. Last week, I signed an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act.

maggie haberman

He described it soberly. He suddenly seemed willing to answer questions without being combative.

archived recording (journalist) Do you consider America to be on a wartime footing in terms of fighting this virus? archived recording (donald trump) I do. I actually do. Im looking at it that way, because you know 

maggie haberman

He described himself as a wartime president. He seemed to be taking this seriously in all of the ways that a nation usually looks for a leader to take such a crisis seriously.

archived recording (donald trump) Its a very tough situation, here. You have to do things. You have to close parts of an economy that six weeks ago were the best theyve ever been. We had the best economy weve ever had. And then one day you have to close it down in order to defeat this enemy. But were doing it, and were doing it well. And Id say the American people have been incredible.

maggie haberman

This was dramatically different from what we had heard just a few days earlier.

michael barbaro

Well, so, Maggie, how then do we get to today, where one week later, the situation with this pandemic has only gotten dramatically worse? The virus is exploding in places like New York. The number of infections and deaths are rising across the country. And yet, the presidents message has now kind of reverted back to where it was weeks and weeks ago. His language has changed. His overall comportment and the words hes using  theyve all kind of returned to a period where he was not taking this as seriously.

maggie haberman

There have been people in the Presidents circle who, this entire time, even as the President changed his tone, still thought that some of the moves that the government was making were too aggressive. And those aides started, late last week, talking about the fact that they might want to revisit some of these guidelines and ease up on some of them for targeted groups after this initial 15-day period had ended, which is going to be March 30th. The president started getting the message in earnest on Sunday night that this is something that he needed to worry about. That there might not be an economy to return to once the country was fully back to normal. And so he tweeted on Sunday night that the cure couldnt be worse than the disease. And that was the beginning of a massive shift of the federal government, which had moved toward aggressive measures to mitigate this virus and its spread, to suddenly suggesting that they could see the end nearing.

[music]

archived recording (donald trump) We cant lose a Boeing. And we cant lose some of these companies. And companies  frankly, Bill  that were solid as, like, AAA companies. Because of whats happened over the last couple of weeks, they go from AAA to being, like, they could use a hand. archived recording Tough time. archived recording (donald trump) We cant  youre right. We cant lose those companies. If we lose those companies, were talking about hundreds of thousands of jobs, millions of jobs. The faster we go back, the better its going to be. We have a pent-up energy thats going to be unbelievable.

michael barbaro

Is there a meaningful contingency of conservative leaders, thinkers, and politicians, economists even, people in business who feel this way, who feel like theres been an overreaction to this virus in the form of shutting down the American economy?

maggie haberman

There are. Some of them are people who have been the presidents advisers on and off for a while, like Stephen Moore of FreedomWorks, whos an economist and who advised the president at various points. He wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal with Art Laffer, who the president gave the Medal of Freedom to not that long ago. And in that op-ed, they said, essentially, that the government cant sustain this. That the economy cant sustain this. And that there needs to be less draconian moves made to keep people safe but still allow the country to run.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

maggie haberman

There is no public health expert in the government telling the president that these moves are too severe. There is no public health expert in the government telling the president that the curve is about to let up on the spread of the virus. Everything the president has done about this virus has been a reaction to something, and right now he is reacting to pressure to reopen portions of the economy, as the job losses are facing potential millions by April.

michael barbaro

You know, I dont know whether the President would frame it this way, but I wonder if hes forcing all of us to reckon with what is the ultimate moral dilemma of this pandemic, which is what economic and social cost were willing to pay to save some uncertain number of lives. And he seems to be saying, in effect, Im willing to take the risk that a certain number of Americans will get sick and will die for the greater economic good and health of the United States.

archived recording (donald trump) I mean, think of it. We average 36,000 people  death, death. Im not talking about cases, Im talking about death. 36,000 deaths a year. People die, 36  from the flu. But weve never closed down the country for the flu. So you say to yourself, what is this all about? Now  archived recording How did you  archived recording (donald trump) Its never been done. archived recording How did you process that? archived recording (donald trump) Not good. I wasnt happy about it.

maggie haberman

Michael, I think thats very much what hes saying. And in fairness to him, Governor Cuomo has openly voiced the same moral dilemma that he is wrestling with. Its just that Governor Cuomo came down on the other side of it, which was that there is no cost that can be put on human life.

archived recording (andrew cuomo) Yeah, my mother is not expendable. And your mother is not expendable. And our brothers and sisters theyre not expendable. And were not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable. And were not going to put a dollar figure on human life. The first order of business is save lives, period. Whatever it costs.

maggie haberman

New York has been, as we know, much harder hit than most of the rest of the country. Most of the rest of the country has not had to go through what New York is going through right now with surges in hospital stays and a number of sick people. The president says most of the country agrees with him, and maybe thats why.

[music]

But the president is taking a really large gamble, and going with his gut, that the greater good will be served for the rest of the country by trying to preserve the economic health of the country more quickly than his health experts would like him to.

michael barbaro

Maggie, thank you very much.

maggie haberman

Michael, thank you.

michael barbaro

On Tuesday night, Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease specialist and an influential member of the presidents coronavirus task force, was asked about the presidents plan to reopen the U.S. economy by Easter.

archived recording (journalist) Where are you now with this timeline of 19 days from now? archived recording (dr. anthony fauci) So thats really very flexible. We just had a conversation with the president in the Oval Office talking about, you know, you can look at a date, but youve got to be very flexible. On a literally day-by-day and week-by-week basis, you need to evaluate the feasibility of what youre trying to do.

michael barbaro

With the president standing beside him, Fauci said it would be foolhardy to ease restrictions if major parts of the country were still in the throes of the pandemic.

archived recording (dr. anthony fauci) Obviously, no one is going to want to tone down things when you see whats going on in a place like New York City. I mean, thats just, you know, good public health practice and common sense.

[music]

michael barbaro

Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today.

archived recording (narendra modi) [SPEAKING HINDI]

michael barbaro

Nationwide lockdowns over the virus continued on Tuesday with India becoming the latest and largest country to require citizens to remain indoors, in Indias case, for the next 21 days.

archived recording (narendra modi) [SPEAKING HINDI]

michael barbaro

In a televised speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Indians, quote, If you cant handle these 21 days, this country will go back 21 years. And in the United States, Senate leaders said they were nearing a deal on a historic $2 trillion stimulus bill after days of objections from Democrats over who would monitor billions of dollars in loans to American businesses.

archived recording (chuck schumer) Weve been fighting very hard that any bailout fund  money to industries that have trouble  have real oversight and transparency. Thats vitally important.

michael barbaro

On Tuesday, Democrats said they had persuaded Republicans and the Trump administration to allow an independent inspector and a congressional oversight board to scrutinize the loans, and were almost ready to support the bill.

archived recording (chuck schumer) I hope, I pray, that we can come together very quickly and pass in large numbers a bipartisan bill that will help the American people who so badly, badly, badly need our help.

[music]

michael barbaro
Covid vaccination pace in children shows youth's sense of responsibility, says PM Modi

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PM Modi-Afghan PM Ghani discuss COVID-19 situation

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday discussed the evolving situation in the region arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a telephonic conversation, the two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Both the leaders exchanged Navroz greetings, noting that the festival symbolises the shared heritage and cultural linkages between the two countries.

"The leaders discussed the evolving situation in the region, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation," the statement said.

On Monday, Modi thanked President Ghani for his contribution to the coronavirus emergency fund.

Coronavirus outbreak: As nation hails PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi accuses Centre for failing to prepare

"Thank you Afghanistan, for contributing USD 1 million to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund in solidarity with our South Asian neighbourhood. Tashakkur President Ashraf Ghani," the prime minister had tweeted.

Besides Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal have contributed to the fund.

Addressing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders and representatives on March 15, Modi had proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India.

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Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 15:46 [IST]
"We made a tremendous effort and we are still a possibility of forming a government," an exhausted Mr Fahey said. The nail-biting result came after a campaign which, in the final few days, turned nasty - underlining the increasing desperation of the major parties. Premier Bob Carr with his cabinet on April 3, 1995. Credit:Peter Rae Mr Carr forecast that the "most likely reading" of the election outcome was Labor with 49 or 48 seats plus the support of two Independents. There are 99 members in the NSW Legislative Assembly. "I qualify that by saying much will depend on the count of votes ... on Monday," he said. "In the case of Badgerys Creek, it is a count that may go until Wednesday."

Mr Carr won qualified support for his claim from former Deputy Liberal Leader Bruce Baird, who said the ALP was likely to form a minority government with 49 seats to the Coalition's 48, with two non-aligned Independents. Mr Baird was glad to be retiring from the uncertainty of a hung Parliament and flying to Hawaii. "When you see a minority government on the horizon it's like hell and I am very pleased to be jetting off to Hawaii," he said. "Good luck to them". Whatever the final result, NSW last night plunged into what threatens to be a prolonged period of political turmoil.

In a sign of things to come, National Party Leader Ian Armstrong called for another election. Bob Carr, the new Premier of NSW at State Parliament on March 30, 1990. Credit:Phil Carrick "I would much rather go to the polls again than have the Independents' handbrake applied again. "I will be very, very disappointed if we end up with people with less than 2 per cent of the popular vote holding the balance of power," he said. Hinging on the result of counting just a few hundred votes, and some intense political horse-trading, are the futures of Mr Carr and Mr Fahey.

Last-minute figures coming in the tally room at the Sydney Showground favoured Labor forming a government: its hold on Kogarah firmed and late counting in Bathurst from the Labor stronghold of Lithgow should help the ALP keep its last doubtful seat. The Government still has four seats in doubt: Badgerys Creek, Blue Mountains, Gladesville, and Murwillumbah. This gives, at the last count, 46 seats to Labor, 45 to the Coalition and one aligned Independent, two Independents and five seats in doubt. Even if postal votes tip the result, several of the close seats are likely to end up in court with lawyers from both sides arguing over a few precious votes. One Liberal strategist last night was already talking of taking the seat of Kogarah to the Court of Disputed Returns for alleged breaches of electoral laws during the campaign.

The referendum for fixed, four-year terms was carried overwhelmingly. Overall, the voting pattern showed increased support for Labor, an almost equal drop in support for the Liberal Party, a small increase in the National Party vote, and an almost halving of the Democrats' vote, with many peeling off to the Greens. In the Legislative Council, Greens Leader Ian Cohen may win a seat, although the final result will not be known for weeks. Of the three sitting non-aligned Independents, who held the balance of power in the last Parliament, John Hatton junior lost South Coast, formerly held by his dad, to Liberal Eric Ellis. nd Dr Peter Macdonald was fighting desperately to hold on to his seat of Manly against a strong challenge by Liberal David Oldfield.

It is even possible, according to election analysts, that there could be an effective 49-all tie between the Coalition and ALP in the 99-seat Legislative Assembly, with one surviving non-aligned Independent - Clover Moore, who has retained Bligh - holding the balance of power. In a hung Parliament, the decision about who will govern NSW for the next four years may not be decided until Parliament resumes in May, and Governor Peter Sinclair could possibly play a decisive role. Asked who she would support in a minority government, Ms Moore said: "The way I feel at the moment, it has been a very nasty campaign and I don't feel like talking to any of them. "But after a good night's sleep I will take the same sensible approach that I have before. "I plan to reform the Electoral Act so we can have clean, honest campaigns in the future. Another minority government will be a real challenge for me and a lot of hard work."

Dr Macdonald said: "At this stage I won't give any indication at all. "I've still got to win and this is something (hung parliament) I don't want to speculate on at the moment." However, Dr Macdonald did say that if he managed to snatch Manly he would "support the party with the numbers". Both Dr Macdonald and Mr Oldfield late last night refused to break out the champagne for victory. An exhaused Dr Macdonald said it would take "days" for a result in Manly.
Google has launched a new program called Stadia Makers that could lead to the release of more titles for the platform, particularly ones from experienced indie developers. The tech giant has announced the project during its virtual Games Developer Summit, calling it the first step into its self-publishing expansion.

It teamed up with cross-platform game engine creator Unity to support the participants. In particular, the developers are getting technical assistance from the two companies, as well as up to five physical development kits, depending on team size and structure. Also, Stadia will offset some of their development costs. At the moment, the program is looking for indie developers building their game on Unity 2019.3 or later and are expecting to release it in 2020 or 2021.

In the announcement, the Stadia team said developers have launched 30 games on the platform so far, and 120 titles more will ship this year. That's still such a tiny number compared to the number of games available on other platforms, though, and it remains to be seen if this initiative could change that. Google didn't reveal if it's already talking with specific developers for the program, so it's still unclear what kind of games players are getting. Players can expect a title by the British developer behind Gears of War, however, which has announced that it's developing an exclusive title for Google Stadia.
Georgia coronavirus cases have spiraled to 1097, and now 38 have died from the deadly new strain of virus in the state. The state health department said 361 have been hospitalized.

The Tuesday report showed 1,026 cases. It was at 800 on Monday.

State Health officials said, "Todays significant increase in cases is in part reflective of improvement in electronic reporting efficiency from commercial laboratories. These reports often have sparse patient data and DPH will be working to complete these records, so data will change over time."

It has now reached 87 Georgia counties.

Two Georgia healthcare workers have now died.

A 42-year-old employee of a hospital in Newnan was found dead at her home during a welfare check. It was estimated she had been dead 12-16 hours. Her young child was with her when she was found.

An employee of Donalsonville Hospital in Seminole County died at another facility after testing positive. Hospital officials wrote, We are deeply saddened by the loss of our employee and send our thoughts and prayers to all friends and family. A second employee at the hospital was said to have also tested positive and was in isolation.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottom ordered residents to stay at home for the next two weeks.

Bartow County south of Chattanooga at Cartersville now has 76 cases - up from 61 on Monday. Floyd County (Rome), where two have died, is up to 12 cases and Gordon County (Calhoun) is up to eight.

The cases remain centered around the Atlanta area, with 191 now in Fulton County and 90 in Cobb County. There are now 97 cases in Dekalb County (Decatur). Gwinnett County has 46 cases with one death. Clayton County (Jonesboro) has 21. Five people have died in Cobb County (Marietta) and two in Fulton County (Atlanta).

Dougherty County (Albany), where six have died, has risen to 101 cases. Lee County, which is near Albany, has 24 cases.

Whitfield County is still listed with two, and Catoosa and Chattooga counties with one each.

No cases have yet been recorded in Walker or Dade counties.

Cherokee County (Canton) now has 30 cases and Carroll County (Carrollton) 26. Clarke County (Athens) has 17 cases and Hall (Gainesville) 16.

An expert in pandemics at Emory, Dr. Carlos Del Rio, has called on Governor Brian Kemp to "shut the state down." He said the state is about to reach "the point of no return" in dealing with the highly contagious virus. He said Georgia hospitals could be overrun with thousands of more patients than they have hospital beds.
Donald Trump is facing a backlash after appearing to mock Mitt Romney for self-isolating after spending time with fellow Republican senator Rand Paul, who tested positive for Covid-19.

The Utah senator is being extra cautious because his wife, Ann Romney, has multiple sclerosis.

The former presidential nominee released a statement on Sunday saying he has no symptoms but was getting tested for the virus, on the advice of his doctor.

On Sunday Mr Trump was asked in a White House briefing on Sunday about how Senate Republicans would win votes with several members in quarantine. After learning that Mr Romney was one of the members who took the advice to self-isolate, he said: "Romney's in isolation? Gee, that's too bad."

A reporter asked: "Do I detect sarcasm there?"

The president shook his head and responded: "None whatsoever."

Many were unconvinced because of recent disparaging comments about Mr Romney, the sole Republican to support removing the president from office on impeachment charges.

CNN analyst Asha Rangappa tweeted: "Imagine expressing glee - even veiled as saracsm - that someone might be infected with a life-threatening illness that could leave him unable to breathe and to possibly die...WHO DOES That?? Oh yeah, the president of the United States."

Mika Brzezinski, co-host of Morning Joe and herself a former target of slurs by Mr Trump, wrote: "The President behaves like a spoiled child .. comment about Romney ridiculous. I'm glad the reporter called him out and asked him about it.

PBS News Hour's White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor pointed out the apparent difference between Mr Trump's prepared and unprepared remarks, tweeting: "Classic example of President Trump.

"Trump speaking at the beginning of this press conference with prepared remarks: 'No American is alone as long as we're united.' A few minutes later, Trump, speaking without prepared remarks: "Romney's in isolation? Geeeeee - that's too bad."

The president's seemingly sarcastic response is just one of the many ways he has used the health crisis to denounce state representatives who criticise him or the federal government's inaction in January and February.

Recommended US police chiefs demand coronavirus testing for first responders

Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois complained on CNN's State of the Union about how federal inaction and a lack of supply had created the need for states to compete with each other for medical supplies, increasing prices.

"We're competing against each other, we're competing against other countries," Mr Pritzker said.

Mr Trump then tweeted: "Governor of Illinois, and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldn't be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings."

The president ignored reports from US intelligence agencies earlier this year that warned of the severity of Covid-19, according to the Washington Post  something he has denied. On Sunday, he announced that the National Guard would assist New York, California, and Washington, the states worst affected by Covid-19.

As of today, there are 35,000 reported cases and more than 500 deaths in the United States.
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.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gekkobrain today announced that Gekkobrain for SAP HANA and S/4HANA Migrations is now available for purchase on SAP App Center, the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. Gekkobrain's solution integrates with SAP ERP and delivers simplified SAP S/4HANA migration and data-driven business process analysis to customers.

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Gekkobrain for SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA Migrations supports any version of SAP NetWeaver from 7.02 and up. The solution also offers:

At SAP App Center, businesses can discover approximately 1,800 innovative partner solutions that integrate with and extend SAP solutions. The solutions are SAP-validated and can be sorted by SAP product line, industry, solution type and use-case scenario, creating a seemingly endless supply of opportunities. Find, try, buy and manage SAP partner solutions digitally at www.sapappcenter.com.

Gekkobrain is a partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program. As such, it is empowered to build, market and sell software applications on top of market-leading technology platforms from SAP. The SAP PartnerEdge program provides the enablement tools, benefits and support to facilitate building high-quality, disruptive applications focused on specific business needs  quickly and cost-effectively. The program provides access to all relevant SAP technologies in one simple framework under a single, global contract.

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SAP, SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Netweaver and other SAP products and services 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. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Gekkobrain
DETROIT, MI  The mayor of Michigans largest city says it will be about two weeks before all households in the city without running water because of unpaid bills would have service restored under a plan to reconnect everyone to ensure proper sanitation during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a Monday, March 23 press conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said 700 households already had service restored amid a new effort that began March 9, after the state agreed to temporarily cover the cost of reconnecting unpaid accounts.

By the end of next week, I expect every single house in Detroit that was turned off for nonpayment to be turned back on, Duggan said.

However, water policy advocates questioned whether the city could, in fact, reconnect everyone who needs it by April 5, and whether the two-week timeframe was adequate as the citys number of people stricken by the virus continues to rise.

They are advocating for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take emergency steps, such as setting up bulk water and sanitation stations in Detroit until everyone is reconnected.

The number of confirmed Detroit cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, increased over the weekend from 149 on Friday to 411 on Monday. Six people in the city have died. Detroit represents the largest cluster of cases in Michigan. Statewide, there have been 1,328 reported cases and 15 deaths.

The point of reconnecting homes in Detroit and other cities which have stopped disconnecting customers due to unpaid bills is to ensure everyone has access to running water for hand-washing and other personal hygiene during the outbreak.

Emergency delivery is needed today. We cant wait two more weeks, said Elin Betanzo, a drinking water engineer who played a crucial role in revealing the Flint water crisis.

We have the largest number of coronavirus cases in the state of Michigan in Detroit, Betanzo said. The pace just isnt there to meet the immediate public health crisis.

A coalition of state environmental justice groups asked Whitmer last week to deploy the National Guard and enlist plumbers from around the state to set up public water stations in cities like Detroit, Flint and Benton Harbor to aid low-income residents who cant easily reconnect to municipal service due to plumbing issues at their home.

Long periods without use has damaged plumbing in many homes, they warn. Also, they say digital outreach methods are missing many low-income residents who can only be reached by going door-to-door. Whitmers office said last week it was reviewing the request.

Related: Damaged plumbing delays restarts, activists warn

Duggan said news reports about plumbing issues at Detroit homes prompted Carlo Castiglione, president of the UA Local 98 plumbers union, to call him at home over the weekend and offer assistance. Castiglione accompanied Duggan at the podium on Monday. Duggan said Castiglione is recruiting contractors that plan to hit the streets on Wednesday.

We have somewhere between 100 to 150 houses that as weve gone out, the problem wasnt that they couldnt pay their bill, it was the plumbing itself couldnt handle the water, Duggan said. People needed huge repairs.

Duggan urged people to call the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) at 313-267-8000 if they need water service restarted.

Theres no reason anybody should be without water by the end of next week. It either means 1), the plumbing in your house is broken. Or 2), you didnt reach out, Duggan said.

DWSD spokesperson Bryan Peckinpaugh said the goal is to complete the water service restorations that dont need plumbing repairs by the end of this week. Those that need plumbing repairs will be completed by the end of next week.

Under the recent agreement, the state is covering the cost of water restarts for 30 days. After that, customers must pay $25 a month to maintain water service.

The exact number of households without water service is somewhat unclear. The city disconnected more than 23,000 homes last year. About 9,500 were still off as of mid-January, according to Bridge Magazine. The city says only about 3,000 of those are occupied. Last week, DWSD said a contractor door-knocked 2,640 households with known water remaining off due to a service interruption for nonpayment. According to the DWSD website, door knocking was only done at homes where the water has been shut off since April 2019.

According to the DWSD website, it had received more than 6,400 calls to apply for water service restoration as of March 19. However, only about 1,150 of those calls came from a household eligible for a water restart under the new plan.

Betanzo said inaction has made the problem worse. Although Whitmer and the Great Lakes Water Authority board had approved $1.1 million in February to prevent service interruptions in Detroit, the governor declined to support a moratorium on water shutoffs.

If somebody had been listening to these people advocating to turn the water back on, we could have had a plan, Betanzo said. We knew this would be a long-term process. Its not just turning the valve. They waited until it was an absolute crisis, but they clearly cant keep up.

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

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces(computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

READ MORE:

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Michigan spas, fitness centers cope with shutdowns: Its very, very challenging

Coronavirus creates scary time for Michigan retailers

Timeline of coronavirus in Michigan: How did we get here?
Photograph: Reuters

Voters in a Mexican border city have rejected the construction of a massive, US-owned brewery in an arid region rife with water shortages  an improbable victory for a collective of farmers and activists over a deep-pocketed company backed by state and local officials.

Related: Fate of US brewery in drought-hit Mexico goes to Amlo poll

In a weekend plebiscite in the city of Mexicali, 76.1% of voters cast ballots against the $1.4bn brewery, being built by Constellation Brands to brew beer for export  including Corona, Modelo and Pacifico.

Theres been an intense campaign [against the brewery] by a resistance movement for two years  protesting in the streets and going to the courts to hold a plebiscite, said Daniel Solorio, a lawyer who has worked with the opposition.

Its surprising the president called a plebiscite on such short notice, he said, but weve been demanding a vote for two years.

Alfonso Cortez Lara, water expert at the College of the Northern Border, said the brewery was projected to use more water than all the industrial users in Mexicali combined.

Were talking about 25% of our [water] reserves, he said of the brewerys proposed peak water use.

Federal officials said on Monday the plant would lose its water permits and the government would seek to negotiate with the company.

Critics complained that only 3.5% of people in Mexicali participated in the vote, which was called barely two weeks earlier by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

It was the latest of a string of controversial projects the populist leader has put to sudden plebiscites, which critics contend are rigged to induce his preferred result.

The vote  carried out amid the coronavirus pandemic  came at a tricky time for Mexico, where the economy has stagnated and the peso has plunged.

International investors appear spooked by Lopez Obradors willingness to call snap votes on projects already under construction, such as a new airport in Mexico City.

Story continues

The consultation on #ConstellationBrands in Mexicali is a strong blow to investor confidence on the eve of an economic crisis, the business chamber Coparmex tweeted on Sunday.

Related: Mexico protesters fear US-owned brewery will drain their land dry

Constellation Brands shares fell by more than 10% on news of the plebiscite.

Cortez said the issue would probably be taken to court under an investor protection provision in Mexicos free trade deal with the United States and Canada.

Mexico is the worlds biggest beer exporter, but the industry has become the focus for resentment in the arid north where breweries are perceived as using scarce water resources to slake US thirst at a time when climate change is exacerbating droughts in the region.

Earlier this year, Mexicos national human rights commission warned that the Mexicali brewery risked violating the right to water and highlighted irregularities in the permitting process.

Lopez Obrador said the consultation was necessary because the company and local authorities didnt take the people into account.

Were not against foreign investment, he said, but we also have to take the peoples opinion into account and take care of our natural resources.
MADRID  Spanish army troops disinfecting nursing homes have found, to their horror, some residents living in squalor among the infectious bodies of people suspected of dying from the new coronavirus, authorities said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the elderly residents were completely left to fend for themselves, or even dead, in their beds. She said the discovery over the weekend included several nursing homes but did not name them or say how many bodies were found.

A judicial probe into the horrific discovery was opened Tuesday as Spain announced a record one-day jump of nearly 6,600 new coronavirus infections, bringing the overall total to more than 39,600. The number of deaths also leaped by a record 514 to almost 2,700, second only to Italy and China.

As bodies piled up, Madrid took over a public skating rink as a makeshift morgue after the city facility overflowed. To date, 1,535 people have died in the hard-hit Spanish capital, more than half of the national total. The capital region has over 12,350 infections.

This is a tough week, Dr. Fernando Simon, head of Spains health emergency center, told a daily news briefing.

Relatives of elderly people and retirement homes workers expressed growing concern about the situation at the centers.

With everything that is happening with the coronavirus, this was a ticking bomb, said Esther Navarro, whose 97-year-old Alzheimers-stricken mother lives at the Usera Seniors Center in Madrid, where soldiers found some of the bodies.

Now we are bracing ourselves for the worst possible outcome, she told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.

A worker at the nursing home said at least two bodies had to remain in the home for a day before funeral workers, who are working around the clock, arrived to take them away.

We are very saddened, because the residents are almost like our own relatives due to the time we spend with them, the worker, Jose Manuel Martin, told Cadena SER radio.

Pedro Nunez said his father-in-law, Zoilo Patino Lara, died at the nursing home from the virus on Saturday, although he was never diagnosed or taken to a hospital when symptoms appeared. The man, in his 80s and suffering from advanced Alzheimers, was not removed until Sunday despite Nunezs repeated calls to funeral home workers.

Domusvi, the private company contracted by the Madrid regional government to run the Usera nursing home, confirmed that two residents died there over the weekend. A company spokeswoman, who declined to give her name, blamed the delay on funeral homes that failed to come quickly to take away the bodies.

While most people suffer only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, for older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause far more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Nursing homes worldwide have been especially hard hit. In the United States, several facilities have seen unusually high death tolls, and federal officials found that staff members who worked while sick at multiple long-term care facilities contributed to the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable elderly in the Seattle area.

On Monday, federal regulators gave the Life Care Center in Kirkland three weeks to address the serious infractions that have been linked to the death of at least 37 residents. The nursing home failed to identify and manage sick residents and failed to notify health authorities in a way that placed residents in immediate jeopardy, regulators found.

Besides Washington state, burgeoning outbreaks at nursing homes in Illinois, New Jersey and elsewhere in the U.S. have underscored long-running problems in the industry. As in Spain as well as in Italy, France and elsewhere in Europe, among the biggest problems has been a critical staffing shortage.

In Spain, the government announced last week that it would take over control of senior-care facilities from private companies and, as part of an unprecedented aid package, set aside 300 million euros ($323 million) for adding additional social workers and caretakers.

Although Spanish households have traditionally included three generations living under one roof, nursing homes have mushroomed across the country over the past two decades, with multinationals and investment funds entering the lucrative business. According to Spains official scientific research body, CSIC, there were 373,000 people in more than 5,400 nursing homes across the country in 2019.

Miguel Vazquez, the president of Pladigmare, an association that fights for better conditions in Spains nursing homes, said the virus pandemic has forced a spotlight on the lack of personnel and resources that the wave of profit-seeking private investors has brought to the business of running the facilities.

Spain has turned a right to being properly cared for, as enshrined in our laws, into a business that benefits from saving costs, Vazquez said, adding that private facilities have been even more opaque than usual since authorities trying to halt the spread of the coronavirus closed the residences to visitors earlier this month.

Now that relatives cant get in, we dont really know whats going on there, he said, adding that the situation was even more dire in the Spanish capital, where 92% of some 400 nursing homes are privately owned or managed.

The head of AETE, which represents the countrys largest for-profit nursing home businesses, said that criticism for localized problems should not be extended to the whole industry, which he said has been urging authorities to provide additional protective gear for weeks.

Jose Cubero also said that overburdened hospitals in Madrid were rejecting patients with COVID-19 from nursing homes.

We provide assistance but we are not health care facilities. The elderly also have the right to be treated in hospitals, Cubero said.

Simon, the doctor appointed by the Spanish government to coordinate its response to the outbreak, said that over 5,400 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus.

Everyone has been making a titanic effort, especially our health workers, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told a televised daily news conference, where journalists submitted questions via messaging apps.

At the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink-turned-makeshift-morgue on the outskirts of Madrid, security forces guarded the premises as funeral vans entered the building via an underground car park. Madrid authorities took up the rinks offer after the citys municipal funeral service said it could take no more coronavirus victims until it restocked with more protective equipment.

The city government said bodies would be held at the rink until they can be taken to be cremated or buried.

Madrid has also turned two city hotels into hospitals to help with the overflow of virus patients and plans to convert five others. Madrids hotel association has offered 40 hotels to help medical workers. Madrid also set up a field hospital in the Ifema trade fair complex, where the U.N. climate conference COP25 was held in December.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Scott Morrison has ordered more workplaces close and vowed to crackdown on 'large social gatherings', as he banned all overseas travel effective midnight on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister met with his 'war cabinet' in Canberra on Tuesday night to discuss further health and safety measures as national cases of COVID-19 soared past 2,000 and an eighth person died.

Beginning on Wednesday night, Australians will be banned from eating at shopping centre food courts, and the number of people at weddings, funerals and social gatherings will be limited to curb the spread of coronavirus.

'This will be a significant sacrifice, I know,' Mr Morrison told reporters following an emergency meeting of state and territory leaders.

The new rules come after registered and licensed clubs, entertainment venues, cinemas, casinos, nightclubs, indoor sports venues, including gyms, and places of worship were ordered to close as part of 'stage one' restrictions rolled out on Monday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison imposed further restrictions on areas of large social gatherings, including food courts, galleries, museums and other venues as part of 'stage two' measures to combat spread of COVID-19 on Tuesday

The government banned people from eating in shopping centre food courts in new health measures unveiled on Tuesday. Pictured: Chairs are removed from a food court in Melbourne to discourage eating in

Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to provide takeaway services, the prime minister said

Takeaway services at restaurants, cafes and food courts will still be allowed to operate.

AUSTRALIA'S NEW TRAVEL BAN EXPLAINED: Advice was already in place, with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommending Australians not travel, but the new measure will make it an enforced ban. Exceptions will be made for aid workers, some other government and commercial workers, and people seeking to go overseas on compassionate grounds - meaning some flights will still go ahead. The precise timing of the ban is yet to be determined but it is expected to occur on Wednesday. 'The number of people who are leaving Australia now is very, very low,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday. 'But it strikes me on those numbers there are people defying that advice and looking to go overseas on leisure travel. 'They can't do that because when they come home, they put Australians at risk.' Advertisement

In a further crackdown, personal service businesses 'where there is a lot of contact', such as beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, tattoo parlors, (excluding physio therapists), will be forced to shut.

Hair dressers and barbershops will remain open provided they adhere to social distancing guidelines and limit the number of people on their premises.

'It is very important to strictly manage the social distancing and limitations of the number of people in their premises, so that's four square metres per person,' the prime minister said.

'On top of that, to restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premise to no more than 30 minutes.'

Real estate auctions and open houses will also no longer be allowed to take place.

Social sports such as large groups of people playing soccer in a park have also banned, and boot camps and personal training will be restricted to a maximum of 10 people.

Yoga and barre sessions, as well as spinning and other exercise sessions, can continue so long as they abide by the 10 people or fewer rule as well.

'You can see what we're trying to do, limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmitting of the virus through the social interactions which are not considered necessary,' Mr Morrison said.

In a further crackdown on travel, the government announced an outright ban on travelling overseas, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel

Under the tight new restrictions, weddings could go ahead only with five people present, after it emerged 37 people became sick with coronavirus at a wedding in Stanwell Tops, NSW (pictured) earlier this month

Mr Morrison said businesses involved in personal services 'where there is a lot of contact' such as nail salons (pictured) tattoo parlors and other allied health services will no longer be able to operate

AUSTRALIA'S 'STAGE TWO' COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS The government is looking to limit interactions between groups, particularly any event or gathering with 10 or more people. The new restrictions, from 11.59pm on March 25, mean: BUSINESS * Food courts in shopping centres will only be available for takeaway food. No sitting. * Auction houses will shut. Auctions and open house inspections are banned. * Outdoor and indoor markets are banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories. * Personal services such as beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours (but not physiotherapy) are banned. * Hairdressers and barbers can continue but must strictly manage social distancing * Amusement parks and arcades, and indoor and outdoor play centres must close. * Boot camps and personal training must be limited to 10 people and enforce social distancing. * Social sports such as large groups of people playing soccer in a park are banned. * Galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSLs and swimming pools must close. SOCIAL DISTANCING * Weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple the celebrant and two witnesses, no more than five people. * Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people - but with some exceptions granted by states and territories. SCHOOLS * It is safe to send children to school up to the end of the term. * But some pupil-free days will be needed to plan distance learning. * Schools will reopen after the term break with a mix of distance learning and in-school learning for all "essential workers". * PM to meet with teachers and other sector representatives about keeping schools open and protecting staff. ESSENTIAL WORKERS * Everyone who still has a job is an essential worker. TRAVEL * The official "do no travel" warning is now an outright ban on overseas travel, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel. EXPORTS * New offence of profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to such things as medical supplies and masks. Advertisement

He also unveiled strict restrictions that would effectively ban large weddings by limiting the number of people in attendance to five - including the couple and the celebrant.

'Large gatherings for weddings, sadly, won't be possible under these new arrangements,' he said.

'Sadly, also, and I know this will be very difficult, funerals to no more than 10 persons observing the rules around the four-square-metre rule and the social distancing practices.

'This is not an easy decision. Where we have already found, and Dr Murphy can speak to this, some of the events that have been some of the major transmitting events, it has been exactly these types of events, particularly weddings.

'And that is why, regretfully, we have to be able to put these arrangements in place.'

He was likely referring to a wedding in Stanwell Tops, NSW, earlier this month, where 37 people mysteriously contracted coronavirus.

As for travel, the government had previously issued a do-not-travel warning on its Smart Traveller website pertaining to all overseas trips.

Mr Morrison announced there is now an outright ban on travelling internationally, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel.

Protective screens have been installed at Woolworths supermarkets to limit the amount of contact between people

The prime minister urged all Australians to refrain from leaving their home unless 'absolutely necessary'

Newlyweds at Circular Quay pose for their wedding photos. Large weddings have been banned under the new measures

He said it is clear from the numbers of people still travelling that some are defying advice not to travel anywhere in the world.

NO HOUSE PARTIES OR LARGE INDOOR GATHERINGS: Under new social distancing measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, Scott Morrison urged against hosting parties and intimate gatherings inside people's homes. The prime minister said the number of guests at people's homes should be kept to a minimum, meaning large birthday celebrations and barbecues are prohibited.

'These will be a significant sacrifice, I know. We've all been to those events as extended families and gatherings. And gathering together in that way, even around the large family table in the family home when all the siblings get together and bring the kids, these are not things we can do now,' he told reporters on Tuesday. 'All of these things present risks and they obviously present them to the elderly members of our families as well, who we need to protect.' He said state authorities will consider putting measures in place that could potentially lead to penalties for those who organise such events. Advertisement

Chief Medical Office Brendan Murphy urged those returning from overseas to follow self-isolation guidelines as he revealed the number of positive diagnoses in returning travellers continues to soar.

'We are very worried about the rate of rise of the number of coronavirus cases in Australia, particularly over the last few days,' he said.

'It is a very, very steep growth and it is very concerning. Still, a significant proportion of those new cases are returned travellers or contacts of returned travellers.'

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia soared past 2,100 on Tuesday as the number of positive results emerging in NSW - the country's worst-affected state - continues to grow at an alarming rate.

Many of the newly identified cases of COVID-19 came from a cruise ship whose passengers were allowed to disembark last week even though several showed signs of illness.

The national death toll rose to eight on Tuesday after an elderly woman who was on board the Ruby Princess died from the disease.

The prime minister urged all Australians to stay refrain from leaving their homes unless 'absolutely necessary' - such as going out for groceries or medical needs.

Leaving the house for brief walks or exercise can continue as long as those activities are done in small groups.

Those who could work from their home were advised to do so if possible.

'You should only go outside your home to go to those essential things I talked about, not to go and congregate in groups. We need you to stop doing that. That is not going to help,' Mr Morrison added.

'Visits to your premises, to your house, to your residence, should be kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests.

Restaurants on Melbourne's popular Chapel Street have been forced to resort to takeaway services only, in light of the new restrictions

'We don't want to be overly specific about that, we want Australians to exercise their common sense.'

'If we do all these things then we are going to be able to put greater pressure on slowing the rate of the spread of this virus.'

As part of the sweeping new measures, outdoor and indoor markets have been banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories.

Galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSLs and swimming pools also must close.

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

He remained firm on the government's controversial stance to keep schools open.

'This is incredibly important. It's going to be a tough year in 2020 and one of the things I don't want to have yielded up is a year of a child's education,' he said.

'We need to work so hard together to try and ensure that those kids get that education and that is not lost to this virus.

'It is safe to send your children to school.'

Earlier on Tuesday, the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW called for unified advice after Premier Gladys Berejiklian advised schools would remain open but recommended parents keep children at home if possible.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell insisted in press conference the message around schools is clear.

'School is open for those who need to attend,' she told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

Ms Mitchell said the absentee rate across public schools was 41 per cent on Monday which she expected to increase significantly.

The NSW premier maintained schools are a safe place and that it's appropriate for public schools to start online learning in case the COVID-19 outbreak worsens.

For many, there has been anger over mixed messages from officials in Australia's system of federal and state governments, which are separately responsible for regulating different services.

The operation of schools has been a flashpoint, with Mr Morrison advising they remain open, while some state leaders urged parents to keep their children home.

'It is as clear as mud and no wonder parents are confused out there,' Anthony Albanese, the leader of the federal opposition party, told ABC Radio.

Mr Morrison said authorities would consider harsh new penalties for anyone who does not comply with an self-isolation order.

Australia has already ordered pubs to close and restricted restaurants and cafes to offering takeaway services in a bid to limit social gatherings.

The economic impact was becoming visible, with long queues forming outside offices of the main welfare agency across the country.

Westpac economists said the extraordinary measures to counter the spread of the disease would push the unemployment rate above 11 per cent which would be the highest since the country was last in recession in the early 1990s.

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Leading doctors and medical experts come together to beg Scott Morrison to place Australia into total lockdown NOW - and say they are 'terrified' of the coronavirus

Some of Australia's leading medical experts have called for a full escalation of the country's lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus before it's too late.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered a series of draconian measures from midday on Monday including the closure of bars, cafes and restaurants.

But as the national number of cases surged past 1,700 on Monday evening, top doctors from across Australia called on Mr Morrison to close schools and place the country into total lockdown.

As part of a joint video message, Sydney neurologist Dr Kate Ahmad said she was 'terrified' the rapidly increasing case count could overwhelm the country's health system.

The number of infections in Australia has more than doubled in the space of four days from 710 last Thursday to 1,716 on Monday.

'I am terrified the increasing number of cases are going to overwhelm our hospitals and we are going to have to make terrible triage decisions and we are not going to get the care we need,' Dr Ahmad said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses the media on the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday. Leading medical experts have called on the Australian government to close schools and extend Monday's partial lockdown

'I've been a doctor for 35 years and I'm scared,' associate professor David Allen added.

Their comments were echoed by the Western Australian president of the Australian Medical Association Andrew Miller.

'I'm calling on the government to jump on the breaks. We want them to impose lockdown until we have this under control,' he said.

The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia Nick Talley meanwhile said more had to be done by the government to stem the virus' spread.

Front line health workers are also being put at risk by the lack of a shutdown, the chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists warned.

'All non-essential services should be shut down now, we ask governments of all persuasions to act now,' Dr Angelo Virgona said in the video uploaded on Sunday.

'The spread of this virus is going to lead to a catastrophe for health workers who are on the front line and we need to protect them.'

The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia Nick Talley said more had to be done by the government on top of the new restrictions to stem the virus' spread

Queensland will shut its borders from midnight on Wednesday to slow the spread of coronavirus after the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia announced the same move.

New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT still have open borders.

Unemployed Australians forced out of a job by the new restrictions were lined outside Centrelink offices on Monday hoping to to lodge claims for unemployment benefits and emergency assistance.
The war against the new coronavirus is a world war. Each and every country around the globe is investing its resources in saving human lives and adopting preventive measures against mass contagion. All countries are anxious about suffering countrywide health system and hospital failures. This is in addition to anticipated economic crises, which no one really knows how to assess at this point in time. But in Israel, in addition to all of this, a vicious, uncompromising political war is being waged. Even as the coronavirus spreads, no truce is in the offing despite the situation. This is a full-fledged political war in all its ugliness and disconnection.

As a reminder, shortly after its swearing-in on March 18, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein dispersed the Israeli legislature, preventing the plenum from voting on replacing him and establishing House committees. Following petitions, the High Court of Justice intervened to enable the Knesset to convene. Subsequently, the center-left bloc, which holds the majority in the new Knesset, would choose on March 23 the composition of several Knesset committees.

But which line of action did the right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc  which follows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through thick and thin, even in the coronavirus era  choose to adopt? They decided to boycott the discussions. In other words: If they cant call the shots in the Knesset because they lack a majority, they wont be partners in the Israeli parliament, period.

And, as aforesaid, all of this is taking place when Israel is subject to an almost-hermetic closure: The number of coronavirus sufferers is increasing alarmingly, businesses are falling apart, and about half a million jobless people are sealed in their homes and anxious at seeing their livelihoods go down the drain.

Meanwhile, Netanyahus concerns are centered on strengthening his own bloc, lest others dare to replace him. In the face of attempts to replace the current Knesset speaker faithful to Netanyahu, even though his opponents have an absolute majority to do so, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum for a fourth election campaign. Simultaneously, chairman of the Likud faction Miki Zohar has signed up all the members of the right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc on yet another loyalty oath to the Leader. In this oath, they pledge that if Blue and White will promote elections of a new Knesset speaker or laws against the continued tenure of the prime minister charged with criminal activity, then all negotiations for a national unity government will stop.

The High Court instructed Edelstein on March 23 to assemble the Knesset by March 25 to carry out a vote for choosing a new Knesset speaker. Will Netanyahu carry out by then his threat and halt all contact with Blue and White regarding the establishment of an emergency government? One thing is clear: Blue and White leader Benny Gantz does not have much resistance power. Only 10 days ago, March 15, Gantz received the mandate from the countrys president to assemble a government, but the person calling the shots is none other than Netanyahu, who is taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis for his own political needs. According to Netanyahu, the very idea of removing a serving prime minister from office during a tremendous world crisis is unthinkable. Adding insult to injury, according to Netanyahu, is the very idea of establishing a minority government supported by Arab Knesset members from the Joint List, who were nicknamed by Netanyahus associate, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, terrorists in suits.

Gantz is in a real bind. If he joins a unity government in which Netanyahu will serve as the first prime minister in the rotation, Gantz will be viewed as violating his election promise not to serve under a prime minister charged with criminal offenses. But if he refuses, he will be accused of dragging Israel into a fourth election campaign at this difficult time.

Gantz received the mandate to assemble a government by virtue of the support of 15 members of the Arab Joint List, including its Balad faction, which refused to recommend him in the September 2019 election campaign. If Gantz abandons the Arab legislators now, it will be viewed as a betrayal not only of them but also of the Arab citizens standing at the forefront of the coronavirus battle. This is not a cliche: Many of the medical teams or squads in Israeli hospitals are composed of Jews and Arabs working together in full cooperation. In order to remind Gantz who backed him, someone disseminated a viral protest on social media of Arab medical teams who wore masks on their faces, with a caption saying, Sharing the same fate, sharing the same government.

Gantz cannot afford to ignore this protest. Is it really true that Arab physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and sanitation and lab workers are good enough to save Jewish lives but not to be partners in power? The Arab Joint List with all of its 15 members is the almost exclusive representative of the Arab public in Israel. Large percentages of Arab localities voted for the Joint List. Even Balad performed a historical act when it gave over its three Knesset members to the Joint List after much soul-searching. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Balad Chairman Mtanes Shihadeh said that his party decided to give change a chance, for the sake of everyone. Such a change would entail ending the incitement and retaliating against those who call them terror supporters or terrorists in suits. We can assume that it was not easy for members of Balad to recommend to the president Gantz  chairman of the so-called party of generals.

Therefore, while Netanyahu continues to strengthen his right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc with cement, Gantz understands that he must involve Joint List members in government business. If he allows himself to be pulled into Netanyahus government, he will lose the support of the Joint List forever. Meantime, it seems that Gantz is attentive to these voices. We wont harm the minority and its important voice.  Despite the difficult, but correct, moves, we will vote for them and give them full backup, even if it harms us politically, Gantz said March 23 in the Knesset.

Netanyahu had demanded that Blue and White promise not to appoint terror supporters to head Knesset committees. Nevertheless, Blue and White decided to support the appointment of two Joint List Knesset members to head committees: Ahmad Tibi to head the Labor and Welfare Committee, and another Joint List member (undecided as of yet) to head a committee that would deal with violence in the Arab society in Israel.

Whether an emergency government will ultimately be formed or whether Israel will hold its fourth election, it must signal the beginning of a partnership in the government. Wild incitement against Arab Knesset members must be greeted with actions on the ground, not words. Even right-wing voters will quickly discover that the terrorist in the suit appointed to head the Labor and Welfare Committee is actually an experienced legislator, responsible and committed, who aspires to prove to those who voted for him as well as those who opposed him that he has but one goal: to serve all Israeli citizens during routine, normal days, but mainly during the coronavirus era.
An Algerian appeals court on Tuesday sentenced a key figure in the country's anti-government protest movement to a year in prison, a lawyer and a rights group said.

Karim Tabbou has played a leading role in the mass protests that have rocked the North African country for more than a year.

On March 11 he was handed six months in prison and an additional six-month suspended sentence for "undermining national unity".

The Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) said at the time he would be released on March 26 for time served since he was detained in September.

But on Tuesday morning, his lawyers were summoned to an unscheduled court hearing.

"The judge didn't want to listen, and withdrew to deliberate," defence lawyer Amine Sidhom told AFP.

"When he got out, he announced a sentence of a year in prison." Said Salhi, vice-president of LADDH, told AFP he was "shocked".

"We are stunned by what is happening, not only to Karim Tabbou but to the Algerian justice system. It's beyond comprehension," he said.

LADDH confirmed the one-year sentence for Tabbou, whose portrait is often held aloft at protests.

Amnesty International said he had also been fined 50,000 Algerian dinars (around $405) over videos in which he had "peacefully criticised the role of the army in politics".

"Karim should never have been charged in the first place simply for expressing peaceful political views and the authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him," said the rights group's regional director Heba Morayef.

Vast demonstrations broke out in Algeria in February last year after then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a bid for a fifth term after 20 years in power.

He stepped down in April after losing the support of the army, but protesters have continued to hold mass rallies demanding a sweeping overhaul of the ruling system.

Rights groups say several dozen people connected with the protest movement remain in detention, though the exact number is difficult to establish due to rearrests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the same day Italy saw a dip in the number of deaths from the coronavirus, the U.K. was forced into a full lockdown with Europe still scrambling for new ways to mitigate the devastating social and economic impact of the pandemic.

With markets on edge, the finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 nations held an emergency call, which left investors underwhelmed. Back in 2008, when the financial crisis took off, it was coordination among the G-20 countries that marked a turning point.

That's proving elusive, for now, with President Donald Trump declaring that the U.S. "was not built to be shut down."

Europe has become the virus epicenter, but even there it still looks like every leader is acting alone - lockdowns are happening at different times and enforced differently. The U.K., a laggard, is finally doing what the rest of the big European economies have already done: shut down to stop the spread of a highly-infectious disease that is pushing health-care systems to the limit.

While the approaches to containment haven't been unified, leaders in the European Union are realizing that they'll need innovative solutions to stop their economies from sinking, indeed a country like Italy already saddled with enormous debt will need rescuing. The gravity of the recession is something economists and policymakers are still coming to grips with.

German officials on Monday said they're ready to help and are prepared to support an emergency loan from the euro area's bailout fund. As the continent's dominant economy and biggest contributor, Germany carries the most weight and was instrumental in the Greek bailout when that country's problems had put the euro at risk.

Angela Merkel's government will present its rescue package - backed by 156 billion euros in new debt - to lawmakers on Wednesday and is looking to start the money flowing as soon as this week, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said in an interview on broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday. Once the crisis is over in the coming months, Germany plans to return to its "policy of frugality," said Altmaier, who will hold a news conference later Tuesday on the economic impact of the pandemic.

As the euro-area bloc debates more aggressive collective action to prop up the economy across the region, its finance ministers will hold a video conference on Tuesday to discuss the next steps.

The timing comes as France saw a rise in deaths of about 20% and Spain registered 462 fatalities in 24 hours. Italy, meanwhile, which offered some early lessons in fighting the virus, recorded a decline in the numbers of new cases and deaths.

In the U.K., which left the EU, the virus already claimed 335 lives as of Monday, a jump of about 15%. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the public that its National Health Service could be overwhelmed, just like the Italian one, in two weeks. Sweden is clinging to a laissez-faire approach.

Even so, people appeared to be blatantly disregarding advice to self isolate. On Monday, in an address to the nation, Johnson brought down the shutters and said police would be deployed to break up gatherings and make sure people were staying home.

If Italy's experience shows anything, it's that measures to isolate affected areas and limit the movement of the people must be taken early and strictly enforced.

It's a message that is resonating as Cyprus and the Netherlands also get tough.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel somberly announced drastic measures to force people to keep their distance. And then, in a stunning development, she went into self-isolation after being exposed to the virus.

On Monday, her spokesman said her first test came back negative. Merkel, a veteran of many a crisis, has come out of this looking like she's in control. Her popularity has jumped to the highest since the 2017 election.

Indeed, the virus is testing the leadership chops of various government heads. While European countries may finally be getting on the same page, the global response to the outbreak has been piecemeal.
Museums and galleries across the city may be shut down, but that doesnt mean you cant take a virtual tour of the exhibits and collections currently on display from the comfort of your own home. Here are five local museums and galleries offering virtual tours of their collections.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Museums and galleries across the city may be shut down, but that doesnt mean you cant take a virtual tour of the exhibits and collections currently on display from the comfort of your own home. Here are five local museums and galleries offering virtual tours of their collections.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights rolled out its new virtual tour last week.

In the 20-minute video, a museum tour guide takes viewers on a 360-degree journey through the Indigenous Perspectives gallery and Canadian Journeys gallery. Stops on the tour include an 800-year-old moccasin print, a floor projection entitled Lights of Inclusion and an exhibition devoted to human rights defender Viola Desmond, the Nova Scotia activist who appears on the $10 bill.

Winnipeg Art Gallery

Winnipeg Art Gallery

While the Winnipeg Art Gallery is currently closed, there is no shortage of art available online for art lovers.

WAG CEO and director Stephen Borys is sharing a daily post featuring a piece of art from the WAG collection every day, along with a short reflection on the piece, and the entire WAG collection is available online through the WAG@Home program.

You can find Borys daily reflections and the WAG collections online at wag.ca.

Dalnavert Museum

Dalnavert Museum

Dalnavert Museum is a historic house located in downtown Winnipeg. The Victorian mansion was built in 1895 and was home to Sir Hugh John MacDonald, son of Canadas first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald.

While currently closed to the public, the museum has an online virtual tour of the period-decorated house that you can click through (it also works on mobile). It also features specific points throughout the space where you can learn more about what life was like at Dalnavert in 1919, the year of the Winnipeg General Strike.

The online tour is available here.

Transcona Historical Museum

An often overlooked area of the city when it comes to cultural offerings, Transcona happens to feature a museum that hosts its entire collection online.

The Transcona Historical Museum explores the impact both world wars had on the small railway town that eventually became part of the City of Winnipeg. Railway workers from Transcona were deemed to be essential during both wars, as they were instrumental in maintaining the national railway system that transported supplies and troops across the country.

While not as technologically advanced as the virtual tours offered by larger organizations, the gallery nonetheless boasts a huge collection of interesting artifacts that tell thought-provoking stories about the past residents of the neighbourhood.

Take a look at the Transcona Museum online.

Prairie Pollination

Prairie Pollination

Prairie Pollination, created by the Manitoba Museum for the Virtual Museum of Canada program run by the Canadian Heritage Information Network, is an online collection of exhibits and galleries.

Features include a behind-the-scenes tour of the natural history vault at the Manitoba Museum, hosted by Diana Bizecki Robson, that explores the way research specimens are stored, and an expanation of why the Small White Lady's Slipper is so sneaky from University of Manitoba professor Anne Worley. Also available is a gallery of endangered Prairie plants and possible ways to save them.

You can also play games, such as Honey Hunt, where you become a pollinator and have to avoid predators while gathering nectar to make into honey.

A gallery and virtual tour of plant life on the Prairies is available here.

Frances.Koncan@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @franceskoncan
A man was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after he was assaulted in the street in the inner-Brisbane suburb of West End on Monday, according to police.

It will be alleged a 41-year-old Highgate Hill man was attacked on Boundary Street just after midnight. A police spokeswoman said it was not believed the alleged attacker knew the victim.

The man was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where he remained in a critical condition with a serious head injury on Monday night.

A crime scene was declared on Boundary Street - which was closed between Vulture Street, Jane Street and Russell Street for a significant period on Monday morning.
MACAO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Macao authorities will further tighten the entry policy to curb imported COVID-19 infections, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s chief executive said on Tuesday, after Hong Kong's similar upgrading of entry policy.

Macao SAR's Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said the residents of the Chinese mainland, the Hong Kong SAR and the Taiwan region who have been overseas in the past 14 days, will be barred from entering Macao from Wednesday.

Macao authorities had banned the entry of foreigners since March 19, including foreign work permit holders.

The chief executive added that all people, including Macao residents, who have been to the Hong Kong SAR and the Taiwan region in the past 14 days should stay in a 14-day medical observation in a designated facility when entering Macao.

Macao residents who have been overseas in the past 14 days will also be put under a 14-day quarantine in a designated facility upon returning Macao.

Ho also said the flight transfer service in the Macao International Airport will be suspended.

The Macao SAR has reported a total of 14 COVID-19 cases since March 16, all of which were imported ones.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX-V: MMS) (ASX: MIO) (the Company or Macarthur) has been awarded a grant valued at $85,000 from the Western Australian Government to support drilling of a diamond drill hole at its Moonshine North Nickel Prospect, located within its Lake Giles Iron Project in Western Australia.



The grant is provided under the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) administered by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS). The program provides $5 million a year to encourage innovative drilling in greenfields and under-explored areas of the State and offers up to 50 per cent contribution to drilling costs.

Highlights

The EIS grant of $85,000 was awarded to Macarthur for a diamond drilling program targeting nickel mineralisation at Moonshine.

Deep drilling is planned, targeting two prospective targets: A ~20,000 Siemens plate conductor (MC02) geophysical anomaly. An anomalous nickel horizon found in a nearby drill hole (LGDD_054) close to surface. This hole intersected 19 meters @ 1% Ni (from 8 meters to 27 meters) including 1 meter @ 1.42% Ni (from 13m). This weathered surface expression could be a secondary dispersion of a massive sulphide source at depth.



Moonshine Nickel Prospect

The Moonshine North Nickel Prospect lies within the Lake Giles Iron Project located 150 kilometres northwest of Kalgoorlie and 450 kilometres north east of Perth in Western Australia.

The Project area covers part of the Yerilgee Archean Greenstone belt within the Yilgarn craton. The geology consists of volcanic sequences mainly comprising of high magnesium basalts, komatiitic and ultramafic flows with numerous interflow banded iron formations (BIFs). The ultramafic rocks at Lake Giles are considered of Kambalda komatiite type. The extensive komatiite sequences of thick olivine cumulate flow units and felsic-intermediate volcanism indicates that the area fits a regional geological criterion for hosting komatiite nickel sulphide deposits such as those existing nickel mines within the Kalgoorlie Terrane (Figure 1).

Moonshine Targets

Anomalous nickel val Moonshine North Nickel Prospect Location Map.ues of up to 1.42% were found within first 30 meters of historical diamond drill hole LGDD_054 from the Moonshine North prospect (Table 1).

This is uniquely high in nickel concentration in comparison to subsequent drill hole data. The elevated nickel values are within the weathered zone and may be classified through different theoretical explanations. One being that the mineralised zone is related to a stratabound magmatic sulphide source (secondary dispersion from a primary massive sulphide source), the other a lateritic supergene deposit i.e. a secondary by-product of chemical weathering producing a concentration of nickel within the saprolite regolith zone. Diamond hole LGDD_005, drilled for magnetite exploration in close proximity to the target was also investigated, however was not analysed for nickel or PGEs (Figure 2, Table 2).

Figure 1. Moonshine North Nickel Prospect Location Map:

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d43530ad-2071-491e-9863-7cb756dbe886

Logging of LGDD_054 and LGDD_005 confirms that disseminated sulphides are abundant throughout the sequence including some sulphide mineralization within quartz veins believed to be a product of hydrothermal fluid convection. Metasedimentary rocks are abundant in this section that have been subject to significant alteration and may be associated with a volcanic massive sulphide deposit.

In 2018, the Company completed a MLEM survey successfully delineating two bedrock conductors, MC01 and MC02. MC01 and MC02 are interpreted to be the same geological source offset by faulting1 . There was a standout anomaly on Line 50600N which had the highest amplitude Bz response and a conductance of 20,000 Siemens more than twice that used for modelling the same conductor on adjacent lines. Interpretation of the data recommended a target drill hole into MC02 and on or close to line 50600N. Although the Moonshine North prospect has been previously drilled for magnetite, no holes have adequately tested the conductor with historical drilling typically limited to a depth of 250m.

Following the MLEM survey, Macarthur commenced a two-hole Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program in late 2018 targeting the identified conductor (Table 1). Both holes intersected massive and semi-massive sulphides at end of hole, however, were unsuccessful in effectively testing the conductor. Assay results for the two drill holes and historical holes did not identify any economic mineralisation, however trace elements such as chromium and potassium indicate marginal zones of potassic alteration that may be a distal expression of other mineralization or an ore deposit at depth. Significant sulphides intersected at E.O.H indicates the conductor was only just intersected.2

Table 1. Significant nickel assay intervals from diamond hole LGDD_054 drilled at Moonshine.

Hole ID m From m To Interval Ni % LGDD_054 10.5 22 11.5 1.03 Including 14.0 15.0 1.0 1.42

Table 2. Drill hole locations

Hole ID Type EOH (m) Easting (mE)* Northing (mN)* Dip LGDD_054 DDH 370 788,083 6,674,746 -90 LGDD_005 DDH 175 788,118 6,674,791 -60 18MNRC001 RC 198 788,035 6,674,937 -60 18MNRC002 RC 197 787,947 6,675,113 -60

*GDA94, Zone 50

Planned Drill Hole

Figure 2. Map showing cross section of planned hole CFDD_2 illustrating the two targets; anomalous nickel horizon previously intersected by nearby hole LGDD_054 with up to 1.4% Ni close to surface, and MC02 conductor extending at depth detected from the 2018 MLEM survey:

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/70591e10-8a43-4cbd-aed0-ade51cec0fa1

A 460-meter depth diamond drill hole is planned (CFDD_2) to target two separate prospective horizons. The anomalous nickel horizon previously intersected by nearby historical drill hole LGDD_054 close to surface and the MC02 conductor plate identified in the 2018 MLEM survey at depth (Figure 2). This drill hole will also provide a better understanding of the genesis and lithogeochemistry of the komatiites at the Moonshine Nickel Prospect and aid further targeting for the possible discovery of a komatiitic nickel ore deposit.

Figure 3. Total magnetic intensity from the 2018 MLEM survey with historical drill holes and planned drill hole location:

Figure 3 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0343788e-c70c-4b41-bc87-10e3f9ac7fde





On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman

For more information please contact:

Joe Phillips

CEO & Director

M +61 (0)448 899 247

jphillips@macarthurminerals.com

Qualified Person

Mr Andrew Hawker, BSc. Geol, MAusIMM and MAIG, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists is a full-time employee of Hawker Geological Services Pty Ltd and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr Hawker has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Company profile

Macarthur is an iron ore development, gold and lithium exploration company that is focused on bringing to production its Western Australia iron ore projects. The Lake Giles Iron Project mineral resources include the Ularring hematite resource (approved for development) comprising Indicated resources of 54.5 million tonnes at 47.2% Fe and Inferred resources of 26 million tonnes at 45.4% Fe; and the Moonshine magnetite resource of 710 million tonnes (Inferred). Macarthur has prominent (~1,281 square kilometer tenement area) gold, lithium and copper exploration interests in Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition, Macarthur has lithium brine Claims in the emerging Railroad Valley region in Nevada, USA.

This news release is not for distribution to United States services or for dissemination in the United States

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including but limited to statements regarding: the proposed strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs at the Project; anticipated increases in annual production at the Project; anticipated decreases in Project costs; the possible reclassification of current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources in the future; expected completion of the FS on the Project containing a new reserve calculation and a new economic assessment; the granting of a license for the Menzies rail siding; the status of the MRRT; and plans to secure mining approvals under the Mining Act, are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the reliability of information prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. 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 no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron or magnetite demand or substitution by other metals or materials; the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron magnetite; the general level of global economic activity; future changes in strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs with respect to the Project; final Project costs varying from those determined from the EOI program; failure to successfully negotiate a BOO arrangement for the Project; failure to complete the FS; failure of the FS to reflect currently anticipated increases annual production and decreases in expected costs at the Project; the results of infill drilling being insufficient to reclassify current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources; failure to receive a license for the Menzies rail siding; failure to repeal the MRRT; and failure to obtain mining approvals under the Mining Act. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

_________________________________

1 Press Release filed August 28, 2018, titled Macarthur Minerals Identifies Multiple Priority Metal Sulphide Targets at Lake Giles

2 Press Release filed January 15, 2019, titled Macarthur Minerals Update on Nickel Exploration at Its Lake Giles Project in Western Australia
In approving hydroxychloroquine, ICMR emphasized that it was only for health workers and caregivers treating sick family members.

The novel coronavirus ravaging the planet currently has no cure. The virus, which evidence suggests originated in a wet market in Wuhan, China, belongs to the same coronavirus family which caused SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2002 and is attributed to 15% of flu cases. The SARS-CoV-2 strain which causes COVID-19, however, has never been seen before which means that no therapy has been developed specifically for it. As stated by the WHO, currently no treatment or cure directly addresses COVID-19 - all medical intervention is currently focused on easing and fighting symptoms. Developing new drugs is a technological and bureaucratical task which can take years - but the world needs answers right now.

Previously developed drugs, among them broadspectrum anti-virals, HIV drugs, and those developed for Ebola and SARS have seen a surge of interest and clinical trials are underway to gauge their effectiveness in treating COVID-19.

Interestingly, anti-malaria drug chloroquine, and its derivative hydroxychloroquine, has entered the fold as well. President Trump insists that it could be a game-changer, and several countries, including India as of yesterday, have given a nod to the drug.

What is the evidence in favour of the drugs?

The fact is that evidence so far is limited and based on anecdotal reports from doctors combating the disease. Many clinical trials are currently underway, and it will be a while before any consensus emerges from them.

A highly cited French study is being used to prop up chloroquines effectiveness. The unblinded, 25 participant study showed that those treated with the drug had a decrease in viral load; positive cases went from 90% to 25%. Supplemented with azithromycin, a broad-based antibiotic, the decrease in viral load was even greater.

However, this is a highly flawed study; the sample size is tiny, and an examination of supplementary data shows that only 4 participants underwent PCR testing to assess viral loads - the rest of the data was qualitative. A poorly designed, small study is hardly the benchmark for basing national drug policies.

Previous in-vitro studies have shown that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine reduce the spread of the virus strain that caused SARS (SARS-CoV-1). Since SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 are very similar, these findings have raised hopes in the medical community.

However, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who appears regularly alongside President Trump, has maintained that the evidence for the drugs effectiveness remains unconvincing. While it may play a role in treating COVID-19, clinical trials, which are currently underway, will have the final say in the matter.

What is chloroquine?

Chloroquine is an oral prescription drug, derived from the naturally occurring quinine, which was discovered in 1820. Quinine is the active ingredient in antimalarials and has helped to dramatically reduce the number of malaria-related deaths. Tonic water has some quinine in it - it has been suggested that the combination of gin and tonic was consumed widely in colonial India to ward off the mosquito-based infection.

Hydroxychloroquine is used for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Why may the drug be useful against COVID-19? Previous research with SARS-CoV has shown that the drug inhibits the ability of the virus to replicate.

Health officials urge not to self medicate

At least three cases of overdoses have been reported in Nigeria and one in the US as well. While the advantages of the drugs are that they are easily available, cheap and well-tolerated, side effects do exist - such as nausea, altered state, and diarrhoea. Dangerous interactions have also been noted in medical literature, so it is advised to not take the drug on your own volition.

In approving hydroxychloroquine, ICMR emphasized that it was only for health workers and caregivers treating sick family members.

While times are unpredictable and scary, it is always a bad idea to self-medicate, especially when prescription drugs are involved. Until stronger studies and clinical trials are able to corroborate current suspicions, preventive measures remain the best course of action.

For more tips, read our article on Coronavirus.

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
INVOKE Public Sector (formerly known as Servenity), announced it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the RSO (Rapid Sustainment Office) at the USAF (the United States Air Force) Open Innovation Pitch Day in San Francisco, California.

INVOKE Public Sector was awarded the contract in the automation and robotics focus area. As part of Phase II, INVOKE Public Sector will implement Robotic Process Automation as a Service (RaaS) at Hurlburt Field with the 1st Special Operations Group, to streamline several process areas related to flight authorizations, air and ground space planning, and maintenance work orders.

The contract confirms INVOKE Public Sectors continued dedication and leadership in helping Public Sector and Government clients adopt intelligent automation and digitize business processes

The opportunity to partner with the USAF to transform mission-critical activities through intelligent automation is a great accomplishment for INVOKE Public Sector. We will help the USAF rapidly gain efficiency, scale, and quality, without the need for large upfront investment in IT infrastructure and skills acquisition, by implementing our proprietary Robotics as a Service (RaaS) solution.

We have identified three mission-critical activities where automation will reduce tedious work, remove human error, enhance data consistency, and increase the speed of execution. This effort will increase readiness, safety, and throughput enabling the warfighter mission. said Stephen Holt, General Manager of INVOKE Public Sector.

[We had an] amazing week in San Francisco...$17M awarded on the spot [for] game-changing technology ... [like] virtual robots to automate USAF processes, drones to inspect runways, AR/VR integrated gloves, and much more. ....We continue to lower barriers for the very best tech companies and innovation hubs to join the important mission to transform the operations and sustainment enterprise vital to the worlds most advanced Air Force. said Nathan Parker, Deputy PEO, Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO)

About INVOKE Public Sector:

INVOKE Public Sector (formerly known as Servenity) specializes in implementation and managed services for next-generation technologies like Robotic Process Automation, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. We give Public Sector and Government clients the technology, implementation, and lifecycle expertise to successfully implement intelligent automation engagements.

About the RSO:

The Rapid Sustainment Office's (RSO) mandate is to increase mission readiness by quickly identifying, applying, and scaling technology vital to the operation and sustainment of the United States Air Force. The RSO focuses on reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and increasing readiness. The RSO selected 17 companies with a total investment of up to $17MM in multi-year contracts to scale new technology within the USAF and greater DoD.
The Jammu and Kashmir authorities on Tuesday (March 24) revoked the Public Safety Act slapped against National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and released him from house arrest.

Booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), Omar Abdullah has been kept under detention ever since the Centre abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. He has been under detention for the past seven months at Srinagar's Hari Nivas, where he recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Going by a couple of photographs that surfaced on social media last year, Omar had grown a long salt and pepper beard and was almost unrecognisable, triggering mostly anger and anguish from netizens. The pictures showed Omar smiling in a snow-covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard.

Omar Abdullah's sister Sara Pilot has filed a Habeas Corpus plea in the Supreme Court seekign his release and while hearing the plea on March 18, the apex court ordered the counsel appearing for Jammu and Kashmir administration to take instruction and inform the top court about government's plan to release the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.

Sara Pilot has approached the top court challenging her brother's detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, saying the order was "manifestly illegal" and there was no question of him being a "threat to the maintenance of public order".

It may be recalled that Omar's father and NC chairman Farooq Abdullah was released from house arrest on March 16. Farooq had been under house arrest since September 15, 2019, almost a month after the Centre scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territorie - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In December 2019, Farooq's detention was extended by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities for a period of three months.

Meanwhile, several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti are still under detention and it is expected that these leaders will soon be allowed to walk free.
The Drais Cares Team Volunteers at a Recent Just One Project Event

As part of Drais Las Vegas ongoing commitment to serve the local community through its Drais Cares program, the company has made a donation to support Share Village, formerly known as Veterans Village.

The donation included food and supplies from the Drais Beachclub restaurant, in addition to 40 cases of water provided by Oxigen Water. The donated items, which were delivered over the course of three days by the Drais team, will sustain the center for an estimated 30 days.

Drais Cares is a community initiative created by the staff of Drais Las Vegas to serve children, veterans and others who are in need. In addition to ongoing assistance for Share Village, the organization supports many local causes including The Just One Project, Foundation for Positively Kids and several local schools. Share Village provides housing, food, medical assistance and other resources to veterans and local community members who are in need.

About Drais Beachclub  Nightclub

For more information, visit DraisGroup.com and follow Drais on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram  @draislv, @draisbeachclub, and @draisafterhours.
To entice prospective buyers, brokers are offering video tours of properties; virtual tours using Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, and 3-D technologies like Matterport as well as live interactive tours via videoconferencing sites like Zoom. And however old school, there are also lots of photographs.

But whether virtual tours will lead to an actual offer is doubtful.

Investors might have the resources and knowledge to buy homes without actually seeing them in the flesh, said Emile LEplattenier, the managing editor of TheClose.com, a real estate strategy website. But I have yet to meet an actual buyer willing to do the same.

Agents generally spend money on virtual tours more to cater to homeowners whims than to actually sell real estate, Mr. LEplattenier added. Covid-19 isnt likely to change that.

But Jason Haber, an associate broker at Warburg Realty, said: I think theres a new market: the online market, the only one we have now. We want to be in that marketplace. You have the most number of eyes looking at a property and you want that property to be part of the conversation.

And, he insists, there is still plenty of conversation going on.

You might think the upheaval would cause everyone to stand down, he said. But Covid-19 is a Rorschach. The way you view the virus you project out to the real estate market.

He said he had clients who felt there was too much uncertainty to move forward right now, But I have other clients who are frankly opportunistic, and are looking to see what discounts sellers are willing to do.

Judy Szablak, an associate broker in the Westport, Connecticut office of the real estate firm Coldwell Banker, said she hadnt seen much of a slowdown and had fielded several calls from prospective buyers last week.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Western Australian has surged by 35, including a four-year-old and 10-year-old from the same family.

The West Australian premier has flagged banning regional travel in a bid to stop the spread of the killer virus as unprecedented queues crossed the South Australian border after the closure deadline.

Western Australia's total number of cases is now at 175 with five confirmed in regional parts of the state.

Premier Mark McGowan has flagged banning regional travel in a bid to stop the spread of the killer virus as unprecedented queues crossed the South Australian border after the closure deadline

Health minister Roger Cook said eight were passengers on the Ruby Princess cruise ship and four were on the Ovation of the Seas.

That is on top of seven other confirmed cases from those ships on Monday.

Dozens were confirmed after the ships docked in Sydney last week.

'Now you see just what an impact those two cruise ships have had nationally,' Mr Cook told reporters on Tuesday.

Premier Mark McGowan promised restrictions would not be imposed on anyone already at the WA border but told tourists wanting to visit it was too late.

Exemptions to the 14-day isolation rule will only be made on compassionate grounds and for essential workers.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Western Australian has surged by 35, including a four-year-old and 10-year-old from the same family

Mr McGowan insisted intrastate travel must be avoided, adding restrictions on movement between WA's nine regions would be announced soon, probably excluding travel between Perth and the neighbouring Peel region.

'This is pretty extreme but this is the process we are now going through,' he 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

'Stop your holidays, stay home, just do your essential stuff.'

Mr McGowan also warned beaches would be closed if people did not practice social distancing.

'I don't want to be doing this, but if we have to protect people from themselves on our beaches, then we will.'

The premier said another stimulus package was coming.

Optus Stadium has become a coronavirus emergency response centre for police.

A TransPerth bus driver, who travelled overseas then returned to work, has also tested positive.

Mr Cook said 11 people were in hospital, four of those in intensive care.

He also announced expanding WA's testing regime, including an 'aggressive outreach' program for areas where community transmission is apparent.

The regime will also include disembarked cruise ship passengers.

Western Australia's total number of cases is now at 175 with five confirmed in regional parts of the state

The criteria for COVID-19 clinics remains the same.

Elective surgery will be further reduced, with operations essentially only for urgent cases.

Mr Cook also said the shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers was easing, with shipments flowing into Australia.

Meanwhile, Australian Border Force and WA Police officers remain at Fremantle Port ensuring no one disembarks from Magnifica while the cruise ship refuels and reprovisions before departing for Dubai at 6pm.

The owners have denied any of the ship's 1700 passengers are sick, but the state government says they have provided inconsistent information.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 05:06:35|Editor: huaxia

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"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives (against the coronavirus)."



UNITED NATIONS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global cease-fire in face of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives (against the coronavirus)," he said in a virtual press encounter.

He asked warring parties to pull back from hostilities, put aside mistrust and animosity, and silence the guns.

A global cease-fire is crucial to help create corridors for life-saving aid, to open precious windows for diplomacy, and to bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, he said.

A bombed-out car is seen in Damascus, Syria on Feb. 25, 2020. An explosive device ripped through a car in Damascus on Tuesday. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

"Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties in some parts (of the world) to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more: end the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world," he said. "It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere, now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever."

COVID-19 is a common enemy to the world. The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all relentlessly, said Guterres.

Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world. The most vulnerable -- women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced -- pay the highest price. They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19, he said.

"Let's not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed. Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted. Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable," he noted. "The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war."

An Afghan security force member stands at the site of a blast in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2020. At least 10 people were injured as an explosive-borne motorbike exploded in the Police District 6 on Wednesday afternoon in the Afghan capital, police said. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

Guterres said he has directed his special representatives to engage with local governments "to create a global dynamic" in order for all countries to put pressure on all warring parties to stop fighting.

"My special envoys will be now working with the parties to the conflict to try to make sure that this global appeal is not only listened to but leads to concrete action, leads to a pause in fighting, creating the conditions for the response to COVID-19 to be much more effective."

He noted that war-ravaged areas are those where the capacity of response is very limited. "If the fighting goes on, we might have an absolutely devastating spreading of the epidemic."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration have been working hard to have a plan in order to create conditions in facilities housing refugees and displaced people to prevent the arrival of the virus and to create the capacity to respond and to mitigate the impact inside those facilities, he said.

Sudanese people take part in a demonstration in Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2019. Five people were killed and dozens of others injured during a shooting attack in El Obeid city on July 29. The incident sparked a wave of anger and widespread protests across Sudanese cities. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua)

Guterres asked the international community to fully support those measures.

He reaffirmed the world body's determination to lead.

This is the moment in which the United Nations must be active. The UN must fully assume its responsibilities, first doing what it has to do: peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, support to the different bodies of the international community, the Security Council, the General Assembly, he said.

At the same time, the United Nations must be able to address the concerns of the peoples of the world and appeal for a massive mobilization and for a massive pressure on governments to suppress the disease and to address the dramatic economic and social impacts.

(Article by Xinhua Reporter Shang Xuqian; Video by Xinhua Reporter Xie E) 
Customers who entered a David Jones store in Adelaide's south last week are urged to seek medical advice after a staff member tested positive to coronavirus.

The Westfield Marion store has been closed and detailed cleaning has begun.

It is unclear when the store will reopen.

In a temporary closure sign posted on the store's front door, David Jones said it was 'taking all necessary actions to ensure that our customers can shop with confidence when we re-open'.

Customers who entered a David Jones store in Adelaide 's south last week are urged to seek medical advice after a staff member tested positive to coronavirus

Australia's coronavirus tally could hit 2000 cases by the end of the Tuesday

Customers who entered the store between 9am on March 16 and 11am on March 21 and who become unwell are asked to contact the Public Health Hotline.

The staff member returned the positive result late on Monday and is currently in isolation at home.

Earlier on Tuesday, South Australia opened its second drive-through testing station, as authorities maintained the state had the world's most strenuous testing regime.

There have now been 17,800 people tested for the virus in SA, with the processing time reduced to 21 hours.

Premier Steven Marshall said that number represented the most tests per capita of anywhere in the world.

'Strong testing is a hallmark of how we have worked towards tackling the coronavirus head-on,' he told reporters.

The Westfield Marion store has been closed and detailed cleaning has begun. It is unclear when the store will reopen. Pictured: A man wears a face mask on Monday

'I'm very pleased with the level of testing we have done, which gives us a high confidence level that as to this point in time we haven't had any community transmission of the disease.'

The new drive-through clinic opened on Tuesday at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre, north of the city, while the first clinic has been operating at the Repatriation Hospital in the southern suburbs.

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

SA Pathology clinical lead Tom Dodd said the first centre had been successful and was seeing one car every five minutes.

'People have been extremely cooperative and flow has gone very well, there's been no issues with anyone,' he said.

Dr Dodd said he was confident South Australia had enough testing kits to keep up with demand, which is currently between 1000 and 1600 tests each day.

There are now 134 confirmed cases of the virus in the state, after an extra 34 patients were diagnosed on Monday.

The state government has also increased the cleaning regime for schools and has boosted supplies of sanitising gels, soap, toilet paper and paper towels for students and teachers.

Mr Marshall said the health and welfare of all South Australians was the government's top priority and practising proper hygiene was a key weapon in limiting the spread of the disease.

'Our schools and early childhood facilities are essential services in this time of national need, and we will continue to support them in every way we can,' he said.

Public Health Hotline: 1800 671 738
With tens of thousands of Illinoisans out of work, experts warn that people applying for unemployment benefits need to be patient.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an emergency order last week that shuttered all non-essential businesses statewide to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois. The move was a broad-stroke effort to tamp down the spread of the virus, according to public health experts. It has also exposed tens of thousands of Illinoisans to something they may have never experienced before: Applying for unemployment benefits.

For those who have been laid off, perhaps the most important piece of advice is to stay calm.

I know its not a very easy thing to do and people are probably very tired of hearing that, said Julie Courtney, director of McHenry County Workforce Network.

Courtneys public entity administers the federal Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.

Step one, she said, is to properly file for unemployment.

You can visit the state website, ides.illinois.gov, or you can call their customer service center and get help that way, she said.

Typically, the state will confirm receipt of the application, later approving it, and then depositing an unemployment check into the persons account or sending them a check. Courtney said this process wasnt immediate and can take a week.

Typically, the person has to be able and actively seeking other employment to receive unemployment benefits, but IDES changed its rules to allow for benefits to be paid as long as the worker is ready to return to the position they were laid off from as soon as the employer calls back.

For those not expecting a callback, this is when the job hunt begins. Courtney said Illinoisworknet.com is one state resource for job hunters. It also has a section to connect workers to one of the high-demand positions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted on: March 24, 2020 4:16 PM

The once-a-decade gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, which was to be held in Canterbury, Kent, in July and August this year, has been rescheduled for 2021 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision was taken yesterday (Monday) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, following consultation with a range of stakeholders, including the trustees of the Lambeth Conference Company, the charitable organisation which runs the conference on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In recent weeks the Lambeth Conference organising teams have been prayerfully thinking through the impact of Coronavirus pandemic on the plans and preparations for this important event. Archbishop Justin Welby has consulted a number of key players, including his fellow primates  the leaders of the 40 autonomous churches of the Anglican Communion.

In a video message, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: The place of a Bishop at a time of difficulty is a place of a shepherd when the wolf is attacking the flock. It is to be with them. To be alongside them. To love them. To suffer with them.

Because of the Coronavirus, travel around the world is deeply restricted and the amount of time that we will face these limitations is unknown. For these reasons, so that we may be good shepherds as bishops in the Anglican world, and encourage the church to be there for Gods suffering world, we have decided to reschedule and postpone the conference and to put it forward till 2021 at pretty well the same time.

Well write to the bishops with the exact dates as soon as we have them fixed. In other words, a delay of one year. We are absolutely not cancelling. When we come together it will be in a world reshaped by what is going on at the moment, and it is ever more important that we meet to pray, to study the scriptures, to hear the word of God, to comfort, to gain a fresh vision of what it is to be Gods Church for Gods World.

Someone pointed out today that the Lambeth Conference of 1920 delayed from 1918, met in the shadow of the First World War, that the conference of 1948 met in the shadow of the Second World War. Both of them having seen terrible events, God send that we do not see anything like that. But let us remember that as we come together and share our wisdom, we will need to hear from the Spirit through each other to think and ponder and study, to worship and pray.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the Lambeth Conference Company has been monitoring the situation and following advice from public health authorities, a spokesperson for the Lambeth Conference company said. The public health risk of the Coronavirus in the United Kingdom has now been assessed as high by the UKs Chief Medical Officers and a wide range of governmental measures are in place to respond to the health crisis.

This significant meeting of Anglican bishops and spouses will continue to be planned- with an exciting and engaging programme, being held in the same venue at the University of Kent and Canterbury Cathedral  just one year on.

We recognise that this will be a significant disappointment for all those registered to attend. Whether thats as an event delegate; participating in the hospitality programme; contributing to the conference programme; being part of our Resource Centre or serving as a volunteer or steward at the event. Especially as the Lambeth Conference in 2020 was set to be the largest conference yet. However, the health and safety of our event attendees is our utmost priority.
Abortion rules will not be changed as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the health secretary has announced, after the government published and then deleted changes to the law.

Matt Hancock was pressed by MPs after the Department of Health said it would allow women and girls to take abortion pills at home, without the need to attend a clinic or hospital, and for doctors to prescribe from their own homes.

This statement was removed from the department website just hours later on Monday, with officials saying it was published in error.

Speaking in the Commons, the health secretary said: We have no proposals to change any abortion rules as part of the COVID-19 response.

Labours Wes Streeting (Ilford North) said his party colleague Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley) had sent him a text message containing unparliamentary language about the issue.

The UK has been placed on lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak. (PA)

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He said: I think the secretary of state needs to give a clear explanation to the House as to why it was yesterday that clear guidance was provided by the Government on access to abortion early in the day, only to be removed from the Government website later in the day.

Why is the Government not listening to the royal colleges and why is the Government making it more difficult for women to get access to an essential procedure during this time of crisis?

Hancock repeated his earlier answer on there being no proposals to change the law.

Current NHS procedure requires two doctors to provide signatures to certify that the abortion being carried out does not breach the terms of the Abortion Act 1967. (Getty)

DUP MP Jim Shannon (Strangford) warned against any stealth changes to the law applying to unborn children, insisting such measures deserve appropriate scrutiny.

Health bodies have asked Mr Hancock to temporarily amend the law to ensure a single medical professional can sign off abortions so that women can access care and are not put at risk of spreading or contracting coronavirus.

Story continues

The current law requires that two doctors provide signatures to certify that the abortion being carried out does not breach the terms of the Abortion Act 1967.

I will get in my god damn car and drive to Westminster and sit on the desk of ministers in charge of abortion care. Why won't they listen to the clinicians? @MattHancock  Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) March 24, 2020

Over the next 13 weeks, 44,000 women in England and Wales are estimated to need access to an early medical abortion, requiring 88,000 signatures.

In normal circumstances, the need for two signatures means women can be asked to come to a clinic more than once, or to get a signature from their GP first.

The current law requires that two doctors provide signatures to certify that the abortion being carried out does not breach the terms of the Abortion Act 1967.

Over the next 13 weeks, 44,000 women in England and Wales are estimated to need access to an early medical abortion, requiring 88,000 signatures.

In normal circumstances, the need for two signatures means women can be asked to come to a clinic more than once, or to get a signature from their GP first.

Alternatively, doctors may have to physically find another doctor to provide the second authorisation.

Coronavirus cases have been rising sharply across the world. (PA)

Some of the 13 signatories include representatives from the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

They want Hancock to amend the Coronavirus Bill to mirror temporary changes to the number of doctors required to detain someone under the Mental Health Act.

The letter reads: In normal circumstances, this aspect of the law may be clinically unnecessary but it is the law nonetheless and we make the best of the situation.

In the current circumstances with COVID-19 meaning doctors are self-isolating or off sick and the NHS under immense pressure, it wastes valuable time, puts everyone at greater risk of spreading or contracting coronavirus and risks our ability to provide abortion care at all.

It continues: As Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regardless of how controversial a topic you may consider this to be, you must recognise the unacceptable impact on any woman forced to continue a pregnancy for want of a second doctor to sign off a form.
New Delhi, March 24 : The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced deferment of March 26 biennial polls to 18 seats in the Rajya Sabha in view of the current state of lockdown in many parts of the country on account of novel coronavirus threat.

The EC took the decision based on feedback regarding restrictions imposed in 32 states in the backdrop of COVID-19 disease which has claimed 10 deaths and infection to over 500 people across the country.

The biennial elections for 18 seats from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan were to be conducted on March 26 and the date before which election was to be completed as earlier announced by the commission was March 30.

The States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan have issued orders of lockdown to contain the transmission of COVID-19.

"Commission has reviewed in detail the matter. The prevailing unforeseen situation of public health emergency indicates the need for avoidance of possibilities of gatherings of any nature, which expose all concerned to possible health hazard.

"The poll process in the above said elections would necessarily include the gathering of polling officials, agents of political parties, support officials and members of respective Legislative Assemblies on the poll day, which may not be suitable in view of the prevailing unforeseen situation and related advisories in the country," the EC said.

Section 153 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 specifies that the Election Commission for reasons which it considers sufficient, may extend the time for the completion of any election by making necessary amendments in the notification issued by it under section 30 or sub-section (1) of section 39; and accordingly, the Election Commission has deferred the poll and extended the period of the Rajya Sabha election.

The list of contesting candidates, already published for the said elections by the respective Returning Officers shall remain valid for the purposes of remaining activities, as prescribed under the said notification, the EC said "Fresh date of poll and counting for the said biennial elections shall be announced in due course after reviewing the prevailing situation," it said.

On March 11, World Health Organization declared Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 a global pandemic. Ministry of Health and Family Affairs and Department of Personnel and Training have issued various guidelines and instructions to monitor and contain the transmisSion of COVID-19.

The Centre on March 22 asked all the state governments to take all measures to break the chain of transmission which includes suspension of all train services, sub urban rail services, closure of all activities except essential services such as hospitals, telecom, medicine shops and provision stores till March 31.

Election Commission had declared polls to 55 Rajya Sabha seats on February 25. Another bypoll was announced later to fill the vacancy caused by resignation of BJP MP Birender Singh. Polling for all seats was scheduled for March 26.

After 37 candidates were elected unopposed and nomination papers of a TMC candidate for a West Bengal seat was rejected due to technical reasons, polls to 18 seats, "four each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, three each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two in Jharkhand and one each in Manipur and Meghalaya" are now due.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation regarding coronavirus last week and its public receptivity has been largely positive. His was a calm and composed reassurance befitting the leader of a populous democracy that while the governmental machinery is doing its best, the responsibility also lies with the people themselves to make sure that things do not get worse. He was also direct when he suggested that even though it might seem that India has been relatively protected from the Covid-19 outbreak, it was an illusion that he tried to break by underlining India as a developing country with a massive population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation on coronavirus pandemic on March 19, 2020, calling for 'Janata curfew' on March 22, 2020. (Photo: PTI)

But even as he put the stark realities before the people, he also gave them a sense of national purpose by bringing them together for the Janata curfew and asking them to publicly acknowledge the role of those on the frontlines of this struggle with the deadly virus  our doctors, medical personnel, cleaning staff et al.

Good communicator

Of course, the critics will find things to criticise as they should in a democracy but Modis role in managing the crisis so far needs to be acknowledged. At a time when the paucity of global leadership is palpable across the world, Modi has been one leader who has managed to bring his domestic requirements and global responsibilities in sync. He has been communicating with Indians regularly and directly from the very beginning and has not been shy of articulating that this pandemic would also need an effective global response.

Compare this to the shambolic performance of Europe in managing this crisis within its boundaries or of the US President Donald Trump who has been all over the place in his attempts to come to grips with this tragedy or of the Chinese leadership whose irresponsible behaviour led to the crisis in the first place and one can assess how effective Modis leadership of India has been at this critical juncture.

Solidarity in SAARC

India has quietly, but effectively, responded to this pandemic at multiple levels. Domestically, with all its resource constraints and population pressure, Modi governments graded response in gradually scaling up its policies without causing undue panic has ensured that the people have largely rallied behind the governments efforts.

PM Modi addressing the SAARC leaders over video conference on March 15, 2020 (Photo: Twitter/ @narendramodi)

But even at a time when the world is consumed with internal problems and most countries have been focusing more and more inwards to fight the viral contagion, India decided to challenge these assumptions when Modi called the SAARC nation conference on Covid-19. Calling for a coordinated response among the SAARC neighbours to effectively combat coronavirus in the region, Modi proposed the creation of a Covid-19 emergency fund with India making an initial contribution of $10 million. Despite knowing well that Pakistan would do its best to politicise even this endeavour, which it eventually did by raking up the Kashmir issue, Modi was categorical that it was imperative for South Asian nations to work together and that the region can respond best to coronavirus by coming together, not growing apart.

Modi also proposed setting up of rapid response teams of doctors, specialists and arrange for testing equipment, besides imparting online training to emergency response staff so as to build capacity to fight such challenges across the region. This was the first time when during this crisis world witnessed a nation rising beyond its immediate national concerns. Modis initiative came much before any other such regional initiative and drew a positive response not only from regional states but also from countries like the US and Russia as well as the World Health Organisation. Modi also became the first global leader to call for a G20 summit via video conferencing to advance a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications. This was accepted by Saudi Arabia, the chair of the G20 this year.

India has been evacuating a significant number of its nationals from coronavirus hotspots like China, Iran and Italy as well as stranded students in places like Manila and Singapore. Those evacuated include not only Indians but also citizens of countries as wide-ranging as Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru. Requests for emergency medical equipment from Bhutan and the Maldives have also been responded to by India.

So far, so good

These are tough times of global crisis when leadership has been in short supply. It is in times like these that nations need steady hands. For India, Modi has so far been successful in providing that right mix of authority and reassurance. Days ahead will be tough and the scale of the problem facing India is huge. From managing the immediate fall out of the crisis in the short term to thinking about re-building its science and technological base to ensuring the sustainability of its multilateral medical outreach towards the wider South Asian region and reassessing the national security implications of relying on others in key economic sectors, Indian policymakers face daunting long term challenges. Indian leadership has done well so far but going forward it will need the support of the people if the nation is to weather this storm effectively.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: How PM Modi scored with COVIDiplomacy
Massive crowds continued to fill parks and beaches across the US despite statewide stay-at-home orders and repeated warnings from officials to prevent the spread of coronavirus by avoiding group contact

Joshua Tree National Park in California closed the sprawling landmark to everything but foot and bicycle traffic beginning 17 March, but scores of cars have been parked along roads leading to the entrance over the weekend.

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state's 40m people to shelter in place on Thursday.

Hawaii residents slipped past yellow police tape with surfboards and inner-tubes in hand to visit the state's beaches, which were packed with visitors over the weekend.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwall bluntly told Hawaii residents that the city is "pretty much hunkering down" and warning against large gatherings, Governor David Ige is under pressure to enforce stricter statewide quarantine efforts to slow the Covid-19 outbreak.

Frustrated officials have sounded the alarm to stay indoors as the number of confirmed cases of the virus climbs past 30,000 in the US and spring weather is luring crowds outdoors.

On Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo demanded New York City officials come up with a plan to disperse crowds from public areas, saying that "the density level in the city is wholly inappropriate".

"I don't know what they're not understanding", he said during a briefing on Sunday. "This is not life as usual. .... It's insensitive, it's arrogant, it's self-destructive, it's disrespectful to other people, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now. This is not a joke and I am not kidding."

Governor Cuomo said officials must "come up with a plan" to enforce self-quarantine efforts within 24 hours of his warning.

On Monday, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis finally announced the closure of its parks and beaches after spring breakers already swarmed beaches and nearby bars over the last week.

Despite previous warnings to avoid beaches, the state's attempt to limit crowds has "not resulted in the reductions needed to best protect public health and safety as Florida continues to mitigate the spread of Covid-19", the state's parks department announced.

Late last week, Miami-Dade County, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Naples and other beach towns announced beach closures, though thousands of spring breakers had already flocked to those destinations.

On the Gulf Coast, a popular destination for college students on spring break, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ordered all beaches closed last week as the state's coastal destination Gulf Shores announced beach closures in the city.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has refused to close down beaches but has urged people to stay at home and practice "social distancing".
A band trip to London with unexpected surprises helps one drum major understand the value of staying calm when faced with change.

Flexibility: It is a virtuous characteristic, especially for a leader. It is the ability to adapt to any situation that arises or may arise.

Everyone has memories they cherish, and sometimes navigating a few bumps in the road make those moments even more treasured.

Leadership Transition

Serving in my first year as a drum major for the Pride of Bixby Marching Band at Bixby (Oklahoma) High School took dedication, persistence, and practice. I began preparing for leadership before the prior season even ended.

After our band director announced our team of drum majors for the 2018 to 2019 season, he encouraged us to participate in Zephyrus Arts Institutes SoundSport ensemble in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Once there, I was in a unique position as a performer and a conductor for the small group.

At Zephyrus, we participated in a clinic led by Dan Potter, a professional radio host and announcer for Drum Corps International and Music for All. He talked about his experiences being a performer, and he inspired me. I realized that any drum major can be a metronome for the band, but each drum major must also choose what values to embody and how to lead.

Bigger and Better

Meanwhile at Bixby, we received news that we would be taking our talents and hard work internationally to participate in Londons New Years Day Parade for 2019, and I was ecstatic. The excitement was felt by every member. For the next year and a half, the trip would be on all of our minds every day.

For me, being a drum major is not just an on and off switch I flip during band rehearsals. It means taking your group and organization with you wherever you go. I quickly became synonymous with the band in my community but also built my own path to create the experience that I wanted for myself.

I have lived in Bixby, Oklahoma, for all of my life, and I have seen the school grow and push its programs into bigger and better things each year. Going to London was a very big opportunity for us and for the community.

The Pride of Bixby would represent our school and city not only on the state or national level, but we would showcase who we are to 300 million viewers worldwide. Few schools get the chance to take 200-plus students across the world, and that was special to us all, coming from such a small city.

London Bound

On Dec. 27, 2018, the Pride of Bixby embarked on its adventure to London, or so we thought. Four of the six planes took off as planned. However, two other flights were canceled. This unexpected situation meant that our ensemble was now spread out in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Atlanta, and London as band members were either stranded or completing parts of their journey.

I was among the first to arrive in London. After the initial feelings of relief that we made it, I was quickly reminded that we were the lucky few.

Keeping composed under pressure and during uncomfortable situations became paramount. In order to remain stoic as a leader, I kept my chin up and my eyes to the future. To help us get through the ensuing madness, I remained calm and confident while also being flexible until issues resolved.

By Dec. 29, everyone had landed in London. We were given the unique opportunity to perform and play for the BBC on New Years Day. Though not originally in our plans, we woke up at 3:30 a.m., so we could appear on the morning news before the parade. Four hours after the news performance, we were ready for the two-mile trek through the streets of London. We brought some of our culture and life to the paradegoers and viewers as we played the tunes Oklahoma! and Uptown Funk.

Seeing the city of London through such a special experience made all the worries and stress melt away. With time and flexibility, our problems resolved, and we all got to participate in something we will never forget.

Eye-Opening

Following this eye-opening trip, I felt prepared for anything as I headed into my last high school marching band season this past fall. Many of the younger members worried about small things, such as, What if the prop is too big, and they dont like our show? or What if we dont make finals?

The response I always found myself giving was, We will just have to be patient because only time will tell.

Because of our ups and downs in London, I learned how important and hard it is for leaders to portray confidence in the least reassuring of times. One very real experience helped me go from saying I was flexible to realizing what it means to truly be and allow myself to be flexible in order to melt some of the stress away of such a strenuous job.

In Dececmber 2019, we did a feature story on another band attending the 2020 London New Years Day Parade. Learn who else performed here.

Photos courtesy of Shipman Photography and Aaron J. Morton.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has issued a plea for the government to step up coronavirus testing, after it emerged that tests continue to run at around 5,000 a day.

As long ago as 11 March, the NHS set out its plans to ramp testing up to 10,000 a day, and last week Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that this would be increased to 25,000. In an upbeat press conference on Thursday, the prime minister suggested the number could eventually reach 250,000 as new tests came on stream.

But figures released today showed that 5,605 tests were conducted on Monday, bringing the tally between 16 and 23 March to 39,840, almost doubling the total since the beginning of the outbreak to 83,945.

The figures were published as it emerged that Mr Johnson wrote to UK research institutes on Sunday asking them to lend the NHS the expensive machines needed to carry out tests for Covid-19, and warning that there were none available for the government to buy.

Health secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that officials were negotiating the purchase of millions more kits, with the aim of ramping up the rate of testing.

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But Mr Hunt, now chair of the Commons Health Committee, warned that the public would lose confidence unless the government spelt out how quickly it could scale up testing.

He called for a move to widespread testing in the community of the kind seen in the successful suppression strategies in countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Mr Hunt told MPs: The concern is that we appear to be testing on a daily basis virtually no more people than over a week ago, when the commitment was to increase the daily amount of tests form 5,000 to 25,000.

He asked the health secretary to give us an estimated date when we will get back to routine Covid-19 testing in the community of all suspected cases.

Mr Hunt said: Even if that is three to four weeks away, a date means that there is a plan and without a date, people wont be confident that there is a plan.

Mr Hancock refused to give a target date for wider tests, but said the Department of Health was in the process of purchasing millions of tests for use as quickly as possible.

He later told a Downing Street press conference that the NHS had bought three and a half million antibody tests which are expected to allow people to see whether they have had the virus and are therefore immune to it.

And he said that a new testing facility was opening up in Milton Keynes.

Staff at hospitals and care homes for the elderly across the country have expressed rising frustration about a lack of tests, which leave them unable to be sure whether to remain at work or stay home to avoid infecting colleagues. An online petition calling for the priority testing of frontline NHS staff has gathered 1.2m signatures.

The World Health Organisation has called on governments around the globe to test, test, test as widely as possible so infected people can be isolated and their contacts traced.

The Politico website reported that the email sent to research institutes around the country on Sunday included a personal plea from prime minister Boris Johnson stating that No 10 was making an urgent appeal for machines to carry out coronavirus tests in the national interest.

An unnamed source within the research sector told Politico: Its great that they are ramping up testing, but it should have been done weeks ago. This is costing lives every day.

But a government source said the message was the latest in a number of requests for help to the private sector and academia stretching back several weeks.

In the email, a senior Downing Street aide said: We will meet all expenses and assume all liabilities and requirements associated with the use of these machines for this purpose. We undertake to return or replace the equipment when the emergency is over. We would very much like to collect any machines you have tomorrow (Mon 23) or Tuesday.

An attached letter from Mr Johnson said that there are no machines available to buy, and that the urgent appeal is therefore in the national interest.

He added: If you have any staff who are experienced in using the machines ... that would also be very helpful.

Labours shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth raised concerns over the PMs apparent suggestion that there were no machines available.

Mr Ashworth told the House of Commons: Many NHS staff will be asking why didnt we procure machines and kits sooner?

Mr Hancock refused to comment on the email, but told MPs he did not recognise claims that the government was finding it impossible to buy testing machines.

It is true, absolutely, that we are bringing testing machines together to provide a more efficient testing system, he told the House of Commons.

I am very grateful to the universities who have these testing machines and are putting them into the system. This is a national effort and they are playing their part, but we are also buying machines where we can.

Mr Johnsons official spokesperson said: It is no secret that we are rapidly scaling up our efforts to boost testing capacity to protect the vulnerable, support our NHS and save lives.

Together with Public Health England and the NHS, we are exploring how we can work across industry and academic sectors to establish viable options which will significant ramp up the number of tests we can carry out.
In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday held a meeting with officials of the Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in the capital.

During the meeting, some of the clauses which were discussed were contracting of positive cases in the community, how to address public concerns through helpline numbers and e-mails etc.

In India, there are 446 active COVID-19 cases, while 36 have been cured, informed Health Ministry.

So far, nine people have lost their lives to the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kuwait's Equate Petrochemical Co plans to issue 10- and 30-year US dollar-denominated bonds and five-year sukuk, according to an investors' note seen by Reuters, in what would be the first international debt issuance from the Gulf in more than a month, says a Reuters report.

The deal will be of benchmark size, which generally means at least $500 million per tranche.

Bond sales from the Gulf have faltered due to the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp fall in oil prices.

Some have been shelved, including sukuk, or Islamic bonds, planned by Dubai Islamic Bank

Equate hired Citi, JPMorgan, KFH Capital, MUFG and NBK Capital to lead the deal. First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Mizuho and SMBC Nikko are also on the deal.

The banks are arranging a series of calls with global investors that began on Monday, to be followed by the three-tranche transaction, subject to market conditions.

The pandemic is also complicating bond roadshows.

"Someone was going to go first I guess!" a Dubai-based fund manager said. "Not the ideal industry - so that's a bit of a surprise."

The yield on Equate Petrochemical 10-year dollar bonds due in 2026 had climbed to 4.6 per cent on Tuesday from 2.8 per cent on March 6, when talks between Opec and other oil producers over coordinated output cuts aimed at supporting crude prices collapsed.

The yield on its five-year dollar bonds due in 2022 jumped to 4.6 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the same period, Refinitiv data showed.

Equate Petrochemical is 85 per cent owned by the Dow Chemical Company and Petrochemical Industries Company, a subsidiary of government-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
Are you prepared to die for the economy? I asked my 76-year-old grandmother as she fried an egg this morning. She turned to me as though Id just asked her to bash herself over the head with her skillet.

No, she snapped at me, before going back to making breakfast for her and my 79-year-old grandfather.

Yet thats exactly what Republican Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said seniors are willing to do. Appearing yesterday evening on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight, Patrick said, No one reached out to me as a senior citizen and said, as a senior citizen, Are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if thats the exchange, Im all in. He later added, There are lots of grandparents out there like me.

This came after President Trump tweeted: WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF as he wrung his hands over the economy. He now says he will re-evaluate our current self-isolation measures at the end of the 15-day period, contradicting the advice of Americas top scientists and medical professionals. Trump was planning to make the crashing economy the cornerstone of his re-election campaign.

Recognizing how dangerous this type of rhetoric is, some Democratic leaders are speaking out. It is essential for the soul of this nation that [Patrick] be repudiated in the strongest possible terms by major Republican leaders, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz tweeted. Conservative writer and CNN host S E Cupp was even more blunt in her criticism. [T]his is morbid, evil, and wrong, she wrote in one of several tweets about Patricks remarks.

They are not alone in their anger. As of this writing, #NotDying4WallStreet is the top trending topic on Twitter in the United States. As artist and advocate Summer Wesley pointed out, If your economy requires sacrificing the lives of just to save it, how can it be worth saving?

The answer is: its not, at least not for most folks. Its easy for Trump and Patrick to be so blase about possibly killing a generation of Americans because despite being seniors themselves, they know their chances of perishing from COVID-19 are small. Theyre both men of means. As access to testing shows, if you have enough money you can buy the medical attention you need. Indeed, thats the principle the entire US healthcare system is built around.

Yet many of Americas seniors struggle just to make ends meet. According to data from the US Census Bureau, as many as 14 per cent of Americas seniors live below the poverty line. Last year, MarketWatch reported that in 2017 more than five million seniors couldnt afford enough food.

This is hardly surprising, as social security is paltry and age discrimination rife; a recent AARP survey found that three in five older workers have experienced discrimination in the workplace. This economic inequality often leads to adverse medical care, as well. A 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that nearly a quarter of American seniors cant afford their prescription medications, with rural patients often at an even greater disadvantage, rationing medicine rather than taking it as prescribed. Last year, NBC Think reported that at least 1 in 5 Americans over 50 have experienced age discrimination in medicine, a problem which can lead to deadly results for seniors.

I dont want to live in a nation that treats Papaw and Mamaw like cannon fodder. Many  if not most  seniors dont want that, either. I want my grandchildren to know that for them, Grandma lived, tweeted author Connie Schultz. My grandmother echoed this sentiment: I would die for my grandchildren, but I dont want to. I dont want to die for the economy.

I dont want my grandparents to die either, which is why Im self-isolating with them on this mountain. Theyre in their 70s, which means they could have another quarter-century of life ahead of them. I want them to be able to live every moment of it.

I moved in with my grandparents in November. They need me, but I need them more. They practically raised me, put me through college, have loved and supported me through abusive relationships and depression and poverty. They have done the same for my father and my aunt, my cousins, and countless other relations. I want to give them all the love and support I can, not  as Trump and Patrick would have me give them  a deadly virus.

My grandparents are the backbone of our family. The same is true for families across this nation, where grandparents offer love, support, and guidance, playing central roles in family life. They are not old pack mules to be put out to pasture. What Dan Patrick and Donald Trump are suggesting is heartless and cruel. If either of them wants to catch coronavirus, so be it  best of luck, fellas.

I, however, have no interest in sacrificing Mamaw and Papaw at the altar of late capitalism.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Asian-Americans are not the reason for the spread of novel coronavirus. He said this after the Asian-American people became the target of a growing number of racist comments and attacks due to the spread of coronavirus.

AFP

American President Donald Trump tweeted It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world







"They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail Together!"

AFP

Trump also defended his use of the terms China Virus and Chinese Virus to describe the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 which originated in the China city Wuhan.

Previously his calling the virus a china virus led to Asian American getting beaten up on a New York Subway.

Donald Trump said that he was using this term as China blamed the virus on US soldiers.



He said last week "Because it comes from China. It's not racist at all, no, not at all. It comes from China, that's why. I want to be accurate."

He further added: "I have great love for all of the people from our country, but as you know China tried to say at one point, that it was caused by American soldiers. That can't happen. It's not gonna happen, not as long as I'm President. It comes from China."

He also kept on denying that it wasn't a racist term to use.

The WHO-World Health Organisation has discouraged the use of such words and terminology saying this can stigmatise communities and falsely indicate to others that they cannot be infected.
Officials Weigh Restarting the Economy with Public Health Needs

'Public Health Includes Economic Healththats a Key Point. Its Not Either-Or,' Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow Said

Officials are seeking to strike a delicate balance between protecting the lives of Americans amid the COVID-19 outbreak and accommodating peoples needs to get back to work and make a living.

Bipartisan calls are mounting to consider ways to restart the economy as soon as possible amid the pandemic to minimize the economic impact as parts of the country grind to a halt to mitigate the spread of the virus.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that President Donald Trumps point on shutting down of the economy being unsustainable is essentially correct.

Meanwhile, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that economic health should factor into public health considerations, saying its not either-or.

Speaking at a briefing at New York Citys Javits Center, which is being converted into a temporary hospital site, Cuomo said there are ways to restart the economy with younger, recovered, tested workers without compromising public health, but added that the crisis at hand . . . has to be the priority.

Once theyre resolved, let them go back to work. Let the younger people go back to work. Let the recovered people go to work, Cuomo said, adding, And then ramp up the economy with those individuals.

Cuomos remarks follow statements made by Trump at a Monday press briefing, where the president sought to balance public health needs amid the outbreak with ways to minimize the economic impact of the crisis.

Trump told reporters that his administration will monitor the situation and use public health data to recommend new protocols to allow local economies to cautiously resume their activity at the appropriate time.

We also have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the OKmeaning the OK to get going, to get back, lets go to work, Trump said. Our country wasnt built to be shut down.

This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down, he added.

Our people want to return to work, Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday. They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM!

In his remarks Tuesday, Cuomo similarly called for exploration of ways to reconcile the apparently competing objectives.

Its not the economy or public health, Cuomo said. Its restarting the economy and protecting public health, its both.

Cuomo insisted people in high-risk groups, like the elderly, those with compromised immune systems or with underlying health conditions, should focus on staying safe amid the outbreak.

My mother is not expendable. Your mother is not expendable. We will not put a dollar figure on human life. We can have a public health strategy that is consistent with an economic one. No one should be talking about social Darwinism for the sake of the stock market, Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

New York State now has over 25,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Cuomo said, with over 3,000 people hospitalized and nearly a quarter of those requiring intensive care at some point.

On Tuesday, Kudlow said that while Trump wants to restore economic activity as soon as it is feasible, the president would not disregard the advice of public health professionals.

Were not abandoning the health professionals advice but there is a clamor to try to re-open the economy, perhaps make it less of a shut-in, Kudlow told reporters Tuesday at the White House.

Asked by reporters whether its worth opening up the economy at the expense of public health, Kudlow rejected framing the issue as a zero-sum equation.

Public health includes economic healththats a key point. Its not either-or, Kudlow said, according to RealClearPolitics White House correspondent Susan Crabtree. Thats why were taking a fresh look at it.

Earlier, Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick suggested on Tucker Carlson Tonight that getting the country back to normal by going back to work would be a calculated move some might be willing to take.

Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if thats the exchange, Im all in, said Patrick, who is about to turn 70.

My message is, lets get back to work. Lets get back to living, Patrick said.

Our biggest gift we give to our country, and our children and our grandchildren, is the legacy of our country, he said. And right now that is at risk, and I feel like, as the president said, the mortality rate is so low, do we have to shut down the whole country for this?

The White Houses 15 Days to Slow the Spread campaign (pdf) includes calls for social distancing, teleworking, and limiting social gatherings to 10 or fewer people.

At the end of the 15-day period well make a decision as to which way we want to go, where we want to go, the timing. And essentially were referring to the timing of the opening. Essentially the opening of our country, Trump said Monday. Because we have it pretty well shut down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.

Stay at home orders have been issued over the past week in multiple states, affecting more than one in three Americans, in efforts to curb the spread of the CCP virus that causes COVID-19. The states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, West Virginia, and Washington.

Residents are recommended to remain at home unless they need to leave for essential activities. Non-essential businesses have also been ordered closed. Each state has slight variations as to what qualifies as essential, but generally the list encompasses grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and basic health services.

The Epoch Times 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.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has not been fired.

Related: Cuomo wins praise for 'wisdom' amid coronavirus crisis as Trump blusters

That might not seem much in the way of news but Dr Fauci is the public face of the US scientific community in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, and as such must regularly appear alongside Donald Trump at the White House podium.

Across the US media, the doctors reaction to every Trumpian claim, exaggeration or outright lie is frantically parsed for meaning, his occasional absence from the podium subject to national debate.

In a brief interview with Science magazine published on Sunday, Dr Fauci, 79, was asked how it felt to stand there as the representative of truth and facts [when] things are being said that arent true and arent factual.

I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down, he said. OK, he said it. Lets try and get it corrected for the next time.

That, Dr Fauci said, involved members of the White House coronavirus taskforce who, the next time they sit down with him and talk about what hes going to say, they will say, By the way, Mr President, be careful about this and dont say that.

In one notable recent example, Trump spoke from the podium on Friday about the idea that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, might treat the coronavirus. Dr Fauci then knocked the claim down, gently.

Many of the things out there are what I have called anecdotal reports, he said. The information that youre referring to specifically is anecdotal. It was not done in a controlled clinical trial, so you really cant make any definitive statement about it.

He subsequently told the New York Times he did not want to embarrass Trump, adding: I dont want to act like a tough guy, like I stood up to the president. I just want to get the facts out. And instead of saying, Youre wrong, all you need to do is continually talk about what the data are and what the evidence is.

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Fauci told Science he was sort of exhausted. But other than that, Im good. I mean, Im not, to my knowledge, coronavirus infected. To my knowledge, I havent been fired.

Asked how he hadnt been fired, having corrected the president so many times, he said: Well, thats pretty interesting because to his [Trumps] credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.

Dr Fauci also described the process by which Trump prepares for briefings, which some say should not be carried live, given the presidents use of the podium to attack reporters and his political enemies.

We sit down for an hour and a half, Dr Fauci said, go over all the issues on the agenda. And then we proceed from there to an anteroom right in front of the Oval Office to talk about what are going to be the messages, what are the kind of things were going to want to emphasize?

Then we go in to see the president, we present to him and somebody writes a speech. Then he gets up and ad libs on his speech. And then were up there to try and answer questions.

Asked how often he disagreed with the president, Dr Fauci said: I dont disagree in the substance. It is expressed in a way that I would not express it, because it could lead to some misunderstanding about what the facts are about a given subject.

He was also asked about a moment on Friday when Trump joked about the deep state department and the doctor was seen to smile ruefully then rub his brow and jaw. It became an internet meme.

Related: US cities in coronavirus quarantine, seen from above  in pictures

Dr Fauci declined to comment.

He was also asked about Trumps decision to refer to the coronavirus, the scientific name of which is Covid-19, as the Chinese virus. Would he ever do the same?

No.
Coronavirus cases in Australia have hit 2,146 after another surge in people falling ill.

As the number of cases continues to spiral, the government is considering bringing in 'draconian' measures to stop its spread.

Scott Morrison is meeting his 'war cabinet' tonight and could announce 'stage two' measures, however he has so far ruled out a full lockdown like the one announced in the UK by Boris Johnson.

Coronavirus cases in Australia have passed 2,000 after another surge in people falling ill

Health Minister Greg Hunt deferred questions about what stage two may look like and when it would come in, but said discussions would take place tonight.

'The general direction obviously is about people spending more time at home [and] obviously keeping distance,' he 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

'We are developing a staged approach. We recognise and appreciation what has happened in other parts of the world and indeed all of us are learning from each other.

'But obviously this notion of greater isolation, more time at home, less time out in groups, [is] what we are encouraging.'

After Mr Morrison and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee met today, the issue would be discussed by the National Cabinet tonight.

Mr Hunt stressed that stage 2 was 'not the last stage' and a graduated series of steps to a full lockdown - if required - was being ironed out.

'We have always indicated as the Prime Minister said and the national cabinet said, this was stage one,' he said.

Daily Mail Australia has been told the government will only push ahead with even more draconian 'stage two' restrictions if coronavirus transmissions in the community continue to escalate or Australians fail to 'socially distance'.

Stage two would almost certainly see the forced closure of 'non-essential' businesses and other restrictions, although the Federal government is keeping mum on just what exactly those will be.

Health Minister Greg Hunt deferred questions about what stage two may look like and when it would come in, but said discussions would take place tonight

Empty tables and chairs are seen after NSW began shutting down non-essential businesses and moving toward harsh penalties to enforce self-isolation as the spread of coronavirus

Measures would likely include closures of more non-essential businesses, and lower limits for group gatherings - currently at 100 indoor and 500 outdoor.

Some of or all of New Zealand's level 3 restrictions could be imposed, such as closing libraries, museums, food courts, and, pools.

Face-to-face GP consultations are also banned, but Mr Hunt implied those would still be necessary for many cases.

However, in his speech he announced a massive rollout of telehealth that every Australian would be able to access and encouraged to use.

Mr Hunt also announced that Australia was more than doubling vital health resources like masks, ventilators, and test kits.

Ventilator capacity is at 2,000 but will soon be doubled to 4,000 by better utilising current stock - and will be boosted to 9,000 within weeks.

Joggers get some exercise outside - an activity that would still be allowed under the strictest lockdown so long as they run solo

'Today work is being done, led by the Chief Scientist Alan Finkel in conjunction with others, which could add an additional 5,000 invasive and non-invasive respiratory and ventilator units to the Australian capacity,' Mr Hunt said.

Millions of masks will also arrive in Australia soon to keep health workers safe and not transmitting coronavirus to patients or their families.

Mr Hunt said 30 million would arrive within two weeks and another 24 million by the end of April.

A huge increase in testing for coronavirus is also on the horizon after deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly, admitting the testing guidelines would soon change.

Only those people who had arrived from overseas, or been in contact with someone who had a confirmed case, had qualified to get one of the limited amounts of tests.

Gyms across Australia were shut at 12pm on Monday by order of the government's stage 1 restrictions, forcing this pair to work out in a park in Sydney

A nurse takes a sample for testing at the newly opened COVID-19 drive-thru testing facility at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre in Adelaide on Tuesday

Mr Hunt said 97,000 new kits arrived last week and another 100,000 were on the way, 63,000 of which were the highest-grade PCR tests.

'They will allow us to assist with greater testing of health workers themselves to give them confidence, and, where appropriate, patients,' he said.

Mr Hunt had also ordered 1.5 million 'point-of-care tests' which can give an accurate result in as little as 15 minutes and be used by a GP.

'As we receive these newly approved - only approved over the weekend and in some cases in the last four hours - what are called point-of-care tests or finger-prick tests, they will be deployed, which will then allow for greater testing of patients within the general practice setting,' he said.

About 149,000 people in Australia have been tested - 558 tests per 100,000 people - about the same as South Korea and far higher than Britain's is 117, and the U.S. 22.

However, questions have been raised about whether the right people are being tested since the borders were closed to non-residents on Friday night.

Mr Hunt said 97,000 new kits arrived last week and another 100,000 were on the way, 63,000 of which were the highest-grade PCR tests

What would a full coronavirus lockdown look like? A full lockdown of Australia, as is the case in Britain, New Zealand, Italy, and elsewhere, is the potential endgame of the government's planning. As the virus gets worse, more restrictions will be in place until Australians are confined to their homes. For an insight into what the nation could expect next, here's a summary of how other cities and nations have handled COVID-19 lockdowns. NEW ZEALAND A senior government source said Australia's shutdown stages will look similar to those unveiled by Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern's, but with crucial differences. Ms Ardern announced her four-stage program on Monday and will take the country to its most extreme stage for four weeks starting this Wednesday. All New Zealanders who don't work in essential services will be told to stay home. Schools and universities will be shut. Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, with her four stage shutdown plan 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 People will only be able to catch public transport for medical reasons or if they work 'essential' jobs. If you want to get some fresh air and go for a walk or a jog, you will have to do it on your own. The government has been granted sweeping powers to lock people at home. The military will be called in to enforce the rules. Essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies and medical centres will stay open. But supplies could be rationed. ITALY Italy's death toll is now higher than China's at more than 5,400 people and the prime minister announced increasingly severe measures on Sunday. The country has enforced a strict lockdown on cities for weeks, with police squads reportedly charging as many as 40,000 citizens with flouting the rules. Shoppers are forced to wait in 'socially distanced' queues just to go to the supermarket. TURIN, ITALY: A train station stands almost totally vacant as police and soldiers enforce a desperate lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 An Italian priest adjusts selfies sent by his congregation, which he has glued to chairs, to celebrate Sunday mass in Giussano Citizens are only allowed to move about town for 'non-deferrable and proven business and health reasons'. Parks and beaches are shut. Joggers have been told to stick to running around the block, or close to their home. But the government has only recently announced the closure of non-essential businesses and industries. PERU The poverty-stricken South American nation has shut its borders and the streets have been taken over by the military. LIMA, PERU: Soldiers on the streets during the first night of curfew in the nation's capital Trapped Australian tourists have described mhelicopters buzzing overhead and soldiers walking the streets, and a strict night-time curfew enforced. There are oppressive restrictions on what tourists can do - not much, other than wakl to the shops - amid growing community anger at the virus being brought into the country. WUHAN, CHINA The epicentre of the coronavirus and capital of the disease-ravaged Hubei province has suffered through the strictest lockdown the world has seen. COVID-19 is thought to have originated in 'wet markets' where live animals, such as bats and pangolins, are sold to be eaten. Most of the city's 11 million residents were banned from leaving their homes except to get essential supplies or receive medical attention. WUHAN, CHINA: A man eats his noodles in his residential compound - unable to leave unless going to shop for essentials A resident checks his laundry on his building terrace during lockdown in Wuhan Authorities stormed house after house, searching for people who were infected by the virus. No journeys were allowed outside the city except for compelling medical or humanitarian reasons. Children were banned from school - or even playing outside. Advertisement

The Health Department said criteria would be changed to better reflect the current situation, but did not specify what the new guidelines would be.

'As we learn more about the virus, we have continued to review the testing criteria,' it said on Monday night.

'In light of our stronger travel restrictions, the focus logically moves to the community with COVID-19 symptoms, on top of returned travellers and close contacts of cases.'

The announcement followed comments on Q&A by deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly, admitting the testing guidelines would soon change.

'We'll be removing the traveller component, but we're working on that at the moment,' he said, and promised an announcement this week.
Michael Gove has apologised for incorrectly claiming separated couples cannot move children between households, hours after Boris Johnson announced the most severe restrictions on British public life in recent history.

In an effort to tackle the escalating threat of coronavirus in the UK, the prime minister urged individuals to stay at home except for a strictly limited set of reasons in a televised address to the nation on Monday evening.

Appearing on ITVs Good Morning Britain, Mr Gove, the cabinet office minister, wrongly insisted that children under the age of 18, whose parents are separated, should remain in the households they are currently in.

We should not have children moving between households. I know this is incredibly difficult, this is an emotionally fraught time and a difficult one, he said. Wherever possible if there could be contact through social media, or non-physical contact then that should carry on.

Family divorce lawyers have previously raised concerns around social distancing measures, with one telling The Independent there was widespread confusion about what arrangements between couples might mean.

Clarifying his comments in a second interview on the BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Mr Gove said: On another broadcast on Good Morning Britain, I was asked specifically about divorced or separated parents and whether or not children could move from one household to another.

One of the things that is clear is that if it is the case that children are under the age of 18 need to move from one parents home to another parents home, that is allowed.

Within the context of all us seeking to reduce social contact, that is allowed. I was not clear earlier on that broadcast.

On his Twitter account, the Cabinet Office minister added: I wasnt clear enough earlier, apologies. To confirm  while children should not normally be moving between households, we recognise that this may be necessary when children who are under 18 move between separate parents. This is permissible and has been made clear in the guidance.

Government advice, released on Monday evening after the prime ministers address, states: Where parents do not live in the same household, children under 18 can be moved between their parents homes.

Elsewhere, Mr Gove said all major constructions would should go ahead, but jobs carried out in close quarters in someones home would not be appropriate.

But Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said a lot of construction work was not critical, or essential, claiming he had made clear at yesterday meeting of the governments emergency Cobra committee that he disagreed with construction work going ahead.

Asked whether construction workers should be heading into sites today, he told ITV: My view is no, I made that point quite forcibly after yesterdays Cobra, and I made that point quite clearly to the prime minister. According to the governments advice, the answer is yes.

The cabinet minister also said that non-essential shops  such as clothes and toy companies  could continue to work through online deliveries, after being forced to close their high street operations.
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G C Murmu on Tuesday conveyed his greetings to the people of the union territory on the auspicious occasion of Navratras and Navreh and asked them to pray at home.

In his message, the Lt Governor said the festival will bring harmony, brotherhood, amity, peace, progress and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also extended warm greetings to the people belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community who celebrate Navreh on this day, which coincides with the first day of the Chaitra Navratras, the beginning of the Hindu New Year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With masks, ventilators and political goodwill in desperately short supply, more than one-fifth of the worlds population was ordered or urged to stay in their homes Monday at the start of what could be a pivotal week in the battle to contain the coronavirus.

Warning that the outbreak continues to accelerate, the head of the World Health Organization called on countries to take strong, coordinated action.

We are not helpless bystanders, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.

Britain joined other countries in ordering residents to restrict their movements, imposing its most draconian restrictions ever in peacetime.

In an address to the nation from 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was critical to prevent the virus from spreading between households and that police would be authorized to break up gatherings of more than two people in public during what he termed a national emergency.

I must give the British people a very simple instruction, the prime minister said. You must stay at home.

Under the measures, people will only be allowed to leave home for a few very limited purposes to relieve the pressure on the National Health Service, Johnson said.

In Italy, the hardest-hit country of all, declines in both new cases and deaths for a second consecutive day provided a faint glimmer of hope, though it is too soon to say whether the crisis is leveling off.

Italian officials said Monday that the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier. All told, the outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country, and pushed the health system to the breaking point.

The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected, accounting for roughly 12% of the countrys total cases.

The crisis kept easing in China. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged late last year, said it is allowing residents limited movement as its lockdown is gradually relaxed. China is now sending planeloads of protective gear and doctors to Europe.

The U.S. is completely wasting the precious time that China has won for the world, said Geng Shuang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Worldwide, more than 374,000 people have been infected and over 16,000 have died from the virus, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.5 billion people around the globe have been instructed to stay in their homes.

Adam Geller and Lori Hinnant are Associated Press writers.
Long term investing works well, but it doesn't always work for each individual stock. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding South China Financial Holdings Limited (HKG:619) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 95%. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 62% over the last twelve months. Furthermore, it's down 35% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. However, one could argue that the price has been influenced by the general market, which is down 22% in the same timeframe.

We really feel for shareholders in this scenario. It's a good reminder of the importance of diversification, and it's worth keeping in mind there's more to life than money, anyway.

See our latest analysis for South China Financial Holdings

Because South China Financial Holdings made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last half decade, South China Financial Holdings saw its revenue increase by 9.0% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. So it is unexpected to see the stock down 46% per year in the last five years. The truth is that the growth might be below expectations, and investors are probably worried about the continual losses.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

SEHK:619 Income Statement, March 24th 2020

Take a more thorough look at South China Financial Holdings's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that South China Financial Holdings shareholders are down 62% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 23%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 43% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand South China Financial Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with South China Financial Holdings (at least 1 which is a bit concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Story continues

Of course South China Financial Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

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.
Some yachties are losing work due to the global pandemic. Tiffany Copeland from Below Deck Mediterranean tweeted, It must be getting bad. I just got let go from my job.

She added that she was freelancing as a mate, but the full-time crew still has a job. But Bobby Giancola also from Below Deck Med recently told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that a previously planned charter was canceled. I was supposed to go on a two week trip to the Bahamas and they canceled, he said.

Paget Berry, Parker McCown | Karolina Wojtasik/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Paget Berry and girlfriend Ciara Duggan from Below Deck Sailing Yacht are currently in Italy where the coronavirus hit hard. The pair appear to still be working. Unfortunately Ciara and I are not in quarantine in Bali Indonesia, but we are currently working in Italy on a boat where the Coronavirus has hit the hardest in Europe so far. Everything is in lockdown, bars, restaurants, gyms, you name it, its shut! Current routine is work, washing hands, work, washing hands, work, you get the point! So dont be selfish and get back in your house, Berry shared on Instagram.

Yacht bookings are down but not out

Captain Timothy Laughridge told The Triton that yacht bookings have dipped. Its not a good year to mention bookings with the coronavirus, he said. Captain Glen Allen, president of Fleet Miami said the company is still waiting to make some decisions based on how the pandemic plays out. Were talking about not sending Harle for the first time in 11 years, he said. M/Y Harle is a 146-foot Feadship.

However, he notes that many pre-planned charters still set sail. The charterers went ahead with their trip, he said. Lots of guests are coming in on private jets. That is important to note.

Laughridge said many people seek a safe harbor on a yacht. One of the safest places to be away from people  isolated on a yacht. How they get here could be a challenge. The problem is there are too many unknowns and changes in travel rules.

Industry experts are optimistic

Unlike cruise ships, the yachting industry is an entirely different animal. Allen shares that the industry has fared well during other major economic downturns like the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 recession, and numerous hurricanes. Proper planning prevents panic, as always, he told The Triton. In those terms, we aim to stay positive. Yes. its bad, but it will get better.

The argument is always made, Why are the rich spending on yachting?  he said. The reality is, if they dont, they kill jobs. Each yacht employs many people, directly and indirectly. We need to support them. If we keep pounding on this, maybe people will understand that. This is not just using ritzy boats. It means jobs in so many communities.

Patrick Kelly from Lauderdale Marine Center says the small footprint the industry serves will likely benefit the industry. We have such a porous industry  crew go home on vacation, we have every nationality. The thing that gives me hope in the industry is that most vessels are not in contact with large numbers of the general population, he remarked. Yachts can control, to a large part, the extent of their exposure. It is primarily crew, owners and vendors. Most are clean, theyre clean to a fault, and that helps tremendously.
Lloyd said insurers could be guilty of backing the wrong horse and end up with a result that is counterproductive for the industry.

We dont always look at the downside of industry ramifications with the cases we choose to run, Lloyd said. But perhaps we should. When a case law bulletin hits my inbox, all too often I wonder why that case was run to hearing.

A case in point was the Lloyd v Thornbury [2019] NSWCA 154 involving a tenant who was injured when he fell into one of several holes dug in the backyard at the direction of the landlord and in the presence of the tenant in a bid to resolve a drainage problem.

Lloyd said the case created questionable law and highlighted the risk of rolling the dice in litigation itself and the random selection of a judge.

It reminded me of pre-tort law reform cases when some judges sought ways to find for plaintiffs in either liability or damages, Lloyd said.

He also noted the long period it took to resolve the case, with the Appeal Courts decision handed down in June 2019, seven years after the incident occurred.

Thats a long time to have a liability claim on your books in the hope of obtaining a favourable judgement, Lloyd said. Multiply that across your portfolio and youre creating a significant reserving challenge for the company.

The Appeal Court did not overturn the decision that found the landlord guilty of breaching his duty of care when he failed to backfill the holes, and upheld a 40% contributory negligence finding. It called, however, for a re-trial on the damages quantum, finding the primary judges findings inconsistent with and unsupported by the evidence at trial.

Lloyd said lower court judgements could be incredibly random and inconsistent at times, but insurers had to weigh up whether appeals were justified.

In policy construction cases, statistics show youve got a better chance in the higher courts of achieving your objective, but thats an expense and most certainly has no guarantee of a favourable outcome.

Lloyd also reminded insurers to act with utmost good faith, in accordance with Section 13 of the Insurance Contracts Act.

Im not saying there are persistent breaches of utmost good faith but reminding insurers the greater onus for compliance with the duty of utmost good faith is on them and to avoid using indemnity as a form of defence with insureds, Lloyd said.
Los Angeles, March 24 : Hollywood's veteran actor-filmmaker Woody Allen has attacked his former partner, Mia Farrow, accusing her of trying to destroy his career with sex abuse allegations in a new book that was threatened by the scandal.

The filmmaker's memoir titled "Apropos Of Nothing", was released on Monday, March 23, by Arcade Publishing, weeks after officials at publishing group Hachette opted to drop the book following protests and a walk-out by employees supporting Farrow's daughter, Dylan Farrow, who said that she was molested by Allen, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The director repeats his innocence in the book, writing: "I never laid a finger on Dylan, never did anything to her that could be even misconstrued as abusing her; it was a total fabrication from start to finish." He then attacks actress Farrow, saying the accusations arose from her "Ahab-like quest" for revenge, referencing the obsessed whaling ship captain in Herman Melville's classic "Moby Dick".

Woody also recalls a visit to Farrow's Connecticut home in August 1992, when he reportedly molested Dylan, and acknowledges he briefly placed his head on his then-seven-year-old daughter's lap.

"I certainly didn't do anything improper to her. I was in a room full of people watching TV mid-afternoon." Allen was the subject of two separate investigations into the allegations in the 1990s but he was never charged.

The moviemaker also opens up about his romance with his current wife, Soon-Yi Previn - Farrow's adopted daughter - in the new memoir, saying: "we couldn't keep our hands off each other" when they first fell in love.

He then explained why he and Mia were no longer together when he began dating her daughter, who is 35-years-younger than Allen, and recalls the day Farrow learned of the affair after discovering erotic photographs of her daughter.

"Of course I understand her shock, her dismay, her rage, everything. It was the correct reaction," he said.

"Sometimes, when the going got rough and I was maligned everywhere, I was asked if I had known the outcome, do I ever wish I never took up with Soon-Yi? I always answered I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A female passenger aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship has died with COVID-19, bringing the national death toll to eight.

The woman in her 70s was transported directly to hospital from the Ruby Princess which docked in Sydney on March 19. She passed away in RPA Hospital on Tuesday morning.

The Ruby Princess cruise ship at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay, Sydney. Credit:Kate Geraghty

This patient was one of the initial three passengers who were confirmed to be COVID-19 positive following testing of retained specimens from on-board the Ruby Princess," NSW Health said.

She is the seventh person in NSW and the eighth person nationally to die with coronavirus.
Drizly, an alcohol delivery service founded in 2012, reported a 450 percent increase in sales in New York City in the 72 hours following the closure of bars in the city. In short, people are still thirsty as they stay home curing the COVID-19 pandemic.

And with that thirst has come more interest in Drizly and whether or how you can use it. The company raised $32.8 million in funding and partnered with Anheuser-Busch in 2018 to stock its Office Bud-e fridges. Its currently operating in 26 states, and across the U.S. and Canada its available in many major cities.

The inventory of alcohol is pulled from local liquor stores near the delivery area. Before coronavirus, Drizly prided itself on its ability to deliver alcohol in under an hour. But because of the increase in demand, users might have to wait a little bit longer to get alcohol delivered to their doorstep.

Drizly categorizes its inventory online by type, by brand and by price. For under $10, users can find wine or speciality craft beers.

You can also see what other people are buying and whats popular, if youre looking for some inspiration. Alcohol products receive customer ratings, though you might disagree with them on a personal level  Keystone Light got 4.5 out of 5 stars, for example. With Drizly, users can order mixers, soda, bitters, ice and other bits to help them craft their cocktail.

In light of the social-distancing guidance from the federal government, Drizly users can contact their delivery person to arrange a minimal contact delivery to keep both them and the delivery person safe.
A medical examiner has ruled the death of a nurse who was beaten unconscious in 2014 by an unruly patient in a Brooklyn hospital a homicide.

Registered nurse Evelyn Lynch succumbed to her injuries in November 2019, six years after she was knocked to the floor and repeatedly stomped on by Kwincii Jones at Brookdale University Hospital, according to investigators.

Lynch was 75 years old when she passed away on November 10.

The New York Medical Examiner has ruled nurse Evelyn Lynch's November 2019 death a homicide, six years after police say patient Kwincii Jones (pictured in the center with his face obscured) brutally beat her at Brookdale University Hospital

At the time of his arrest, Jones, 46, was charged with attempted murder and assault.

Jones has been institutionalized since 2018, when he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him by reason of mental disease or defect, reported the New York Daily News.

It will now be up to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office to determine whether to upgrade Jones' existing charges, or file additional counts.

A representative of the DA's Office told DailyMail.com via email on Tuesday that prosecutors are in the process of reviewing the case.

Jones, then aged 40, had been admitted to Brookdale University Hospital on or around February 5, 2014, complaining of stomach pains.

Police say in February 2014, Lynch was removing Jones' catheter when the patient lunged at her and repeatedly stomped on her head, rendering her unconscious and cracking her skull

Two days later, Lynch, a veteran nurse who has worked at the hospital for decades, went to remove the patient's catheter when Jones allegedly lunged at her, knocking the then-69-year-old woman to the floor.

Police said Jones proceeded to stomp on Lynch's head 10 times before hospital staff called for help.

After the attack was stopped, Jones locked himself inside a bathroom and stayed there until police arrived and arrested him.

Lynch was hospitalized in critical condition after suffering skull fractures and facial injuries. She was then transferred to Kings County Hospital, where she underwent brain surgery.

In the wake of the violent attack, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Brookdale University Hospital $78,000 for failing to protect its staff from violent patients.
An elderly man has become the first person with coronavirus to die in Offaly today, according to a family member.

The Department of Health this evening confirmed one more deaths from the virus in the Republic of Ireland.

The confirmation came just hours after a woman in Tullamore said her grandfather had died due to the virus in the town.

It's understood the man was in his 80s and had underlying conditions but the woman claimed, "it was ultimately Covid-19 that made him worse."

Posting in a public information group for Covid-19 in Tullamore, the woman said: "I am begging each and every one or you in this group if you aren't following the necessary steps and precautions, please do so, because I don't want any of you to have to feel what my family is feeling today."

There has now been 1,329 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland. Seven people have now died in the State.
- The ex-county leader said the sanitisers would help in complementing the government's efforts to combat spread of coronavirus in the country

- She also distributed water tanks and detergents to Nandi residents particularly those in market centres

- Netizens, however, took issue with her decision to brand some of the disinfectants with her image

- They expressed concerns the former woman rep was taking advantage of the pandemic to rekindle her political star ahead of the upcoming 2022 contest

Former Nandi woman representatives Zipporah Kering has tested the wrath of Kenyans after boasting of donating handwashing sanitisers to locals.

The ex woman rep who is currently a director at Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) said the move was aimed at ensuring Nandi residents, particularly those in market centres, were protected against the highly infectious disease.

READ ALSO: Majority of Kenyans want Uhuru to put country on full lockdown to contain COVID-19

Ex Nandi woman rep Zipporah Kering. Photo: Zipporah Kerin.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Murang'a landlord saves MCA who travelled abroad from mob accusing her of not self-quarantining

In her Facebook post on Tuesday, March 24, Kering said she was focused and determined to complement the government's efforts to combat spread of coronavirus pandemic in the country and would continue doing so by availing necessary items such as sanitisers.

While netizens did not have any problem with her message and plans, it was the branding of some of the sanitisers with her image and name that rattled them to call her out.

"As the Kenya Ministry of Health under Jubilee government is trying to find more ways of curbing the ongoing widespread of COVID-19 , Im more focused and determined in ensuring all Industrial centres , car and motorbike stages and parkings are equipped with Sanitizers as one way of maintaining high hygiene," she said.

On one of the brands, the politician wrote on it " stay safe beyond corona" followed by her image then her name at the bottom.

Ex Nandi woman rep Zipporah Keringr donated sanitisers branded with her image. Photol: Zipporah Kering

Source: Facebook

A section of Kenyans felt the former woman rep was taking advantage of the pandemic to rekindle her dwindling political star ahead of the upcoming 2022 contest.

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.

Middle class Kenyans on 'self quarantine' and 'work from home' government directive | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Another coronavirus death has been reported in Maharashtra, which has already seen a total of 107 positive cases, on Tuesday.

The victim, a 65-year-old man, had returned from the UAE on March 15. He went to Ahmedabad and came back to Mumbai on March 20. He died on March 23 in Kasturba hospital. He was suffering from high-blood pressure and was a diabetic too.

With this, there have been five coronavirus deaths, including that of a Filipino, in Mumbai.

Amidst the gloom came some good news. Twelve of the coronavirus positive patients have tested negative after undergoing treatment and are being discharged.

"We have advised them to stay home quarantined. People should not get scared. Proper treatment and rest can cure the coronavirus as well. The first tests of all these patients were positive while the last two tests turned out negative," a health officer said.

This came on the heels of the announcement that India's first dedicated wing to treat coronavirus patients has been opened in Mumbai. The 100-bed facility is at the Seven Hills hospital.

Food and civil supply minister Chhagan Bhujbal, meanwhile, told people not to panic and stockpile essential goods.

"We have got enough foodgrains and other essentials. The stock can last for the next few months. At this moment, the important thing is to stay at home and stay safe," he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai police seized three truckloads of masks - 25 lakh of them in all worth Rs 15 crore.

Senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar demanded strict action against the culprits and said they should be charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime (MCOCCA) Act of 1999.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said people should understand the gravity of the situation.

"Those exploiting the situation and milking it for their own benefit will face severe punishment. We will not spare anyone, Pawar said.

ALSO SEE:
Hollister Biosciences Inc., the creator of California's #1 hash-infused pre-roll HashBone, is producing thousands of bottles of hand-sanitizer for its community in wake of the coronavirus.

VANCOUVER, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Hollister Biosciences Inc. (CSE: HOLL, FRANKFURT: HOB, OTC: HSTRF) (the "Company" or "Hollister") - through its Hollister Cannabis Co division, is stepping up to manufacture and distribute a few thousand bottles of hand sanitizer to Hollister, CA.

A statewide "shelter at home" mandate has been issued for California, putting a halt to non-essential manufacturing and delay in distribution. Cannabis retailers and manufacturers are considered essential businesses in California. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hollister is using its essential business standing and facility to source and produce hand sanitizer for its local community.

Hollister will be giving its first batch of hand sanitizer to the Hollister food bank. Multiple batches of hand sanitizer are expected to be delivered to community organizations over the next few weeks.

The CEO of Hollister Biosciences Inc, Carl Saling, shared: "The community of Hollister, CA is near and dear to our hearts, and as the first licensed cannabis company in the city of Hollister, CA, I feel that we must do whatever we can to help.



It infuriated me seeing companies price gouging much needed items, such as hand sanitizer. I am all for making money, but not at the expense of playing on people's fears during a time of crisis. We just had to act.



We are going to focus on donating to the facilities that are often overlooked: the food bank, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and homeless shelters, where some of the most vulnerable are sheltering in place.



I am calling all business owners to step up in this time of crisis and do whatever you can to help your local community."

About Hollister Biosciences Inc.

Hollister Biosciences Inc. is a California based vertically integrated cannabis company with a vision to be the sought-after premium brand portfolio of innovative, high-quality California-grown cannabis and hemp products. Hollister uses a vertically integrated, high margin model, controlling the whole process from manufacture to sales to distribution or seed to shelf. Products from Hollister Cannabis Co. include HashBone, the brand's premier artisanal hash-infused pre-roll, along with solvent-free bubble hash, pre-packaged flower, pre-rolls, tinctures, vape products, and full-spectrum high CBD pet tinctures. Hollister Cannabis Co. additionally offers white-labeling manufacturing of cannabis products. Our wholly owned California subsidiary Hollister Cannabis Co is the 1st state and locally licensed cannabis company in the city of Hollister, CA birthplace of the "American Biker."

Website: www.hollistercannabisco.com

HOLLISTER BIOSCIENCES INC.:

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "would", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com

SOURCE Hollister Biosciences Inc.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 04:56:19|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Tuesday urged all Palestinian workers in Israel to return to their homes in the West Bank amid the hike in COVID-19 cases in Israel.

"In light of the dangerous and ongoing development in Israel, and the expected curfew, we ask all workers to return to their homes, for their protection and safety," Ishtaye said in a statement.

All workers should get home quarantine for 14 days after return, while those who show any symptoms of the infection with the novel coronavirus need to contact the nearest medical facility, and follow the measures ordered by the Palestinian government, he added.

His call came as Israel reported two new deaths and 214 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the the total number of confirmed cases to 1,656.
[March 24, 2020] Tamarin Health Announces the Sana Support Network to Aid in Covid-19 Response

BRIGHTON, Mass., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tamarin, the digital health company which provides tools and advanced analytics for collaborative healthcare decision making, announces the launch of its Sana support network to aid physicians and healthcare professionals during Covid-19. Sana is a virtual patient support network that works in the background, white labeled as an extension of the clinical team, freeing providers to focus on rising in-office needs or an increasingly demanding hospital schedule. Powered by a clinical affiliation agnostic, collaborative platform and a nationwide network of clinical caregivers, Sana monitors patients virtually with the intention of keeping patients at home. Sana caregivers identify gaps in care, appointment needs, decline in status, and, in the event of escalating complications, provide triage recommendations to physicians for telemedicine, an in person visit, home health, or hospitalization. Providers can rely on Sana to monitor patients in a variety of situations, such as: For patients at risk for Covid-19

For patients confirmed positive for Covid-19 but not hospitalized

General care management, or

For the Remote Patient Monitoring or Chronic Care Management programs reimbursable under Medicare Tamarin believes that extending the clinical team for general patient support, early identification, ad intervention of complications can prevent unnecessary utilization of healthcare facilities at a time when concerns of overcrowding are increasing.



"From day one, our tools were built for the remote care management that is needed during this outbreak," said Kat Kuzmeskas, MPH, co-founder and CEO of Tamarin. "It is crucial that our healthcare system is able to care for patients in a hybrid approach. We must work together to collectively fight this pandemic." Tamarin is currently working with nearly 200 physicians across the nation in Medicare'sBPCI-A, and using the Sana support network, has saved its physicians on average more than $7,000 per clinical episode.

To register for Sana, please visit www.sana.tamarin.health/register About Tamarin Health Tamarin, founded in 2017, envisions a future of secure, easy access to healthcare data for all. To create that future, the company forms support networks (akin to its namesake, the Tamarin), and finds, refines, and distributes data for collaborative healthcare decision making, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes and decreasing the cost of care. To learn more about Tamarin, visit our website https://www.tamarin.health and peruse our career openings at https://angel.co/company/tamarinhealth Media contact:

Kat Kuzmeskas

[email protected]

(617) 544-3940 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tamarin-health-announces-the-sana-support-network-to-aid-in-covid-19-response-301028897.html SOURCE Tamarin

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Under the Bay Area-wide shelter-in-place orders, moving and delivery services like U-Haul are allowed, but not required, to operate.

As a result, Some Bay Area residents have been left in the lurch.

David Crook was in a less than ideal situation paying rent on two San Francisco apartments. Then the shelter-in-place order hit.

Crook and his wife were planning to move from the Mission to lower Pacific Heights on March 25. They had moving van parking permits from the city, movers scheduled, and arrangements with PG&E and Xfinity to switch service.

Thats when all hell broke loose, he said.

The city canceled the moving van permits. The movers said they would still come, but Crook didnt know if it was a good idea. Meanwhile, the couple was juggling two landlords  seeing if they could stay in their old apartment while holding a place (ideally rent-free) in the new one.

This is beyond anybodys ability to plan ahead for, Crook said.

Crook, like countless others in the process of moving into, out of, or within the Bay Area during a pandemic, was stuck in limbo. The public health orders dont specifically prohibit moving, but do tell everyone to stay home.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management has since clarified that Bay Area residents can still move. If their movers are willing, the workers should practice 6 feet of social distancing and sanitation as specified in the order.

Residents do not need to cancel their moving plans  they are free to move. But they should follow social distancing and we strongly recommend self-isolating when they arrive at their destination to not put others at risk, a city representative said in an email.

Scott Snow is helping his girlfriend move into his place in San Francisco in order to avoid paying two mortgages. He already stored his old furniture and ordered new pieces from West Elm to be delivered to his house. On the companys website, it says stores are closed but deliveries are still happening. But when he spoke to a customer service agent on the phone, he was told drop-offs were delayed in the Bay Area until the shelter-in-place order lifts  although they are legal.

In the meantime, Snow has been sleeping on the floor.

Now Playing: In the first days of the coronavirus shelter-in-place order, many Bay Area residents flocked to S.F.s Chrissy Field, Baker Beach, Marina Green and other popular outdoor spots. Officials have since decided to close some areas and consider shutdowns. Here's how some residents have been responding to the coronavirus pandemic and the shelter-in-place mandate.

I think shes going to move anyways and shes going to sleep on the mattress on the floor. It stinks. Theres bigger problems even for me in the world right now. Its materially problematic for us. Ive got two kids and its a small house and now were in a room with no furniture, he said.

Snow was also frustrated by the inconsistency in delivery services. While he was able to order an enclosure for his sons rabbit and a new litter box for his girlfriends cat on Amazon so the two animals could live in peace, he doesnt yet have a bed.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The uncertainty, just like it affects businesses, it affects personal decisions as well, he said.

Snow subsequently received a message that deliveries were restarting and he would get his new furniture by March 31.

West Elm, owned by Williams Sonoma, didnt respond to a request for comment.

Crook and his wife decided to go ahead with the move on Wednesday because they cant afford two rents. They plan to load essentials like computers, food, cleaning supplies and medicines into a U-Haul and take it to the new place before the movers arrive.

Theyll then leave the new apartment before the movers arrive to place the heaviest items  a bed, armoire, bookcases and desk. Those will sit for days, in a quarantine of sorts, before being cleaned and positioned.

Everyone will wear gloves and masks.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
WASHINGTON  Rep. Andy Kim, self-quarantined after being in close contact with a colleague who tested positive for the coronavirus, learned Tuesday that he did not have COVID-19.

Kim said his test came back negative.

Ive seen first-hand the stress of waiting for test results, and it shows how absolutely important it is that everyone who needs a test has access, said Kim, D-3rd Dist. Our economy cant recover and people cant go back to work if were still fighting a pandemic."

Kim announced Thursday that he was self-quarantining after a lawmaker he had been in close contact with, fellow rookie House Democrat Ben McAdams of Utah, tested positive for the virus.

McAdams is one of two House members who have the coronavirus, along with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also tested positive, and two Republican senators who had been contact with him, Mitt Romney and Mike Lee of Utah, are self-quarantining.

Before then, Kim closed his Washington office after a staffer working for Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., tested positive. Both Kim and Schweikert have offices on the same floor of the Longworth House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol.

The House remains in recess until lawmakers are recalled to the Capitol to vote on a stimulus package totaling at least $2 trillion. The Senate is close to a bipartisan agreement on a bill, which House approval expected to follow.

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Mike Pence on Monday urged the Democrats to pass the coronavirus relief bill after the bailout vote had earlier collapsed into partisan bickering.

The vice president said those in the senate and the house of representatives need 'to step up, reach an agreement, and pass the care act'.

Democrats blocked the phase three coronavirus economic stimulus package again on Monday, even though Republicans claimed ahead of the vote that they were proposing a bipartisan bill.

Speaking on Fox News on Monday evening Pence told Sean Hannity: 'The president has made it clear from early on as I made clear to governors today and our latest conference call, we are working with Republican and Democrat governors across the country.'

Pence said his and Donald Trump's hope is that 'we'll work out the final details, we'll get this thing on the floor, we'll speed relief to the American people and the bill will stay focused right where it should be'

He added: 'And that is on on helping working Americans, families, businesses across this country, weather the storm of the coronavirus.'

Senators voted 49-46 Monday afternoon on the nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill  with a few 'aye' votes missing as five Republican senators self-quarantine over coronavirus fears.

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Mike Pence on Monday urged the Democrats to pass coronavirus relief bill after the bailout vote had earlier collapsed into partisan bickering. The vice president said those in the senate and the house of representatives need 'to step up, reach an agreement, and pass the care act'

Speaking on Fox News on Monday evening Pence told Sean Hannity: 'The president has made it clear from early on as I made clear to governors today and our latest conference call, we are working with Republican and Democrat governors across the country'

Although Democrats and Republicans have spent days negotiating this package, talks dissolved on the Senate floor Monday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed each other for holding up the relief.

Pence added: 'Up to this point, on the first two bills that the congress passed, we saw a great spirit of partisanship. As the president said tonight, we are still hopeful.

'May be before the day is out tomorrow, we will see Democrats come together as republic with Republicans and provide immediate financial assistance the average family of four will receive a payment of four thousand dollars to weather the storm bird there will be payroll support for businesses across.'

But as the bipartisan effort in Congress continues to crumble, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is said to be preparing to bring to the House floor her own phase three package.

There are more than 35,000 confirmed cases and 471 deaths

The 'Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act' is a counter bill that was proposed after McConnell blames Democrats for delaying the bill's progress.

Pelosi claimed in a statement that the Republican bill in the Senate puts 'corporations first, not workers and families.'

Some of the measures outlined in the new bill are already included in the Senate GOP package, but Senate Democrats claim the final product of the revised Senate bill still didn't meet their minimum demands.

The noon vote on an economic stimulus package dissolved Monday into a Senate floor quarrel as Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer blamed each other for delaying financial aid to American people and companies.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell went on a tirade when he took the podium Monday, railing against Democrats for blocking the first version of the phase three economic stimulus bill Sunday night.

Democrats again were able to block the GOP-backed phase three economic stimulus bill as Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer's Senate-floor statements dissolved into a partisan argument over who was holding up aid to the American people

As the package was blocked for the second time in two days, Nancy Pelosi revealed she was unveiling a counter proposal

The Kentucky Republican insisted that Democrats are holding up money to try and get measures passed that he claims are irrelevant.

'Yesterday, when the time came to vote on these urgent measures, our Democratic colleagues chose to block it,'McConnell said of the phase three bill brought up for a vote Sunday night.

'Why are Democrats filibustering the bipartisan bill they helped write? An appropriate question to ask this morning as the country waits on us,' he continued. 'So let me give the American people a taste of the outstanding issues we woke up to this morning.'

Schumer shot back during his statement immediately following McConnell's that he is trying to 'get things done,' while he claims Republicans are playing the partisan blame-game.

McConnell shared what he called the 'Democratic wish list' of unrelated measures they were hoping to get passed with the nearly $2 trillion relief package, including tax credits for companies using solar and wind energy and setting new emission standards for airlines.

'Are you kidding me?' McConnell said, clearly aggravation. 'This is the moment to debate new regulations that have nothing whatsoever to do with this crisis? That's what they're doing over there. American people need to know it.'

'Democrats won't let us fund hospitals or save new businesses unless they get the dust off the Green New Deal,' he criticized.

Schumer said it was Republicans who were making the situation into partisan squabbles, but didn't push back that his party was trying to get things passed in the bill that weren't related to relief from coronavirus.

'Every time we hear the Majority Leader come out it's a partisan screed,' Schumer asserted. 'While I'm in my office with the president's Secretary of Treasury, the president's congressional liaison, getting things done.'

'We Democrats are trying to get things done, not making partisan speech after partisan speech,' he continued.

Steven Mnuchin urged lawmakers earlier in the day Monday to get the nearly $2 trillion package passed through Congress to continue combatting the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

'We are going to make sure we get through this and we are going to win this war,' the Treasury secretary told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network Monday morning.

'I want everybody to know, we need to get this legislation passed today,' he pleaded.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged senators to get the phase three stimulus package passed Monday after the first version of the bill failed to get through the upper chamber on Sunday

'I want everybody to know, we need to get this legislation passed today,' Mnuchin said during a phone call interview with Fox Business Monday morning, adding he was getting off the phone soon to head to the Senate to meet with bipartisan leadership there

Mnuchin has been spearheading the administration's efforts to get a bipartisan bill passed. The former Democrat has worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the past and was able to help get the $100 trillion phase two bill passed earlier this month.

'I am on my way to the Senate this morning to meet with Mitch McConnell and his team and Senator Schumer,' Mnuchin told Fox Business.

'You can ask that question to Democrats,' he said when asked why Democrats are pushing back on the bill that was already proposed. 'What I am saying is we need this to pass today.'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Mnuchin spent all night negotiating measures both Republicans and Democrats could agree on, meeting a handful of times Sunday to get the bill ready.

'Leader Schumer and Secretary Mnuchin are working late into the night, and they just had another productive meeting,' a spokesman for Schumer said in a statement after 9:00 p.m. Sunday night.

Majority Leader McConnell is prepared to lay out the new bill on the Senate floor at 12:00 p.m.

A bit after midnight Schumer spoke to reporters on Capitol Hill, telling them there were major 'problems' with the first version of the bill McConnell presented Sunday night.

'Huge amounts of corporate bailout funds without restrictions or without oversight  you wouldn't even know who is getting the money,' the Democratic leader said at 12:20 a.m. of the failed measure.

'Not enough money for hospitals, nurses, PPE [personal protective equipment], masks  all the health care needs. No money for state and local government, many of whom would go broke. Many other things,' he continued.

'So we're working hard to make them better, and we are making progress,' Schumer said of bipartisan efforts. 'We're getting closer and closer. And I'm very hopeful, is how I'd put it, that we can get a bill in the morning.'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is brought the revised phase three economic stimulus package to the floor for a second vote Monday afternoon, but it was blocked by Democrats 49-46

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at the Capitol after late-night negotiating that there were major 'problems' with the first version of the bill presented by McConnell

Schumer met several times Sunday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (center) on Sunday to discuss the more than $1.5 trillion bill

Congressional leadership met several times over the weekend to negotiate the details of the bill. McConnell's office revealed a picture of him talking with house Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

The third phase of a stimulus package was unable to pass through the Senate Sunday as Democrats blocked the GOP measure meant to target economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

The 'ayes' fell particularly short Sunday night as five Republicans self-quarantined and were unable to go to the floor to cast their votes.

The measure failed with a tie vote of 47 voting in favor of the stimulus package and 47 voting against it.

Kentucky Republican Rand Paul announced Sunday afternoon that he tested positive for coronavirus, causing a handful of other GOP senators to self-isolate over fears they contracted the virus.

'He is feeling fine and is in quarantine,' a tweet from his official Twitter account revealed in the statement announcing Paul's condition.

'He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person,' the statement continued.

'He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends and will continue to work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time.'

Paul is the first senator to test positive for the fast-spreading respiratory disease and the third member of Congress.

Representatives Mario Diaz Balart of Florida and Ben McAdams of Utah revealed last week that they have also tested positive.

Five Republican senators are self-isolating, including Rand Paul, who's office announced Sunday that he tested positive for coronavirus  becoming the first senator to contract the disease

Utah Senator Mitt Romney announced Sunday he was quarantining after coming into close contact with Paul several times in the last week and claimed he would be taking a test to see if he contract the virus

Utah Republican Mitt Romney announced Sunday he would be self-isolating after coming in close contact with Paul several times in the last week.

'Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with CDC guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor,' Romney's office said in a statement.

The announcement came about an hour after Paul's office revealed the senator's situation.

McConnell is facing extra obstacles on getting the bill passed as the Republican majority has essentially slimmed with five unable to show up for votes as they remain in self-isolation.

Democrats, Republicans and Trump have all expressed they are interested in implementing a temporary measure to allow lawmakers to vote remotely as more and more self-quarantine over fears of contracting or spreading coronavirus.

More than 50 congressmen and women have already signed onto a resolution proposed by California Democrat Eric Swalwell demanding that the House allow remote voting.

The measure argues that Congress is breaking the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on social distancing by gathering hundreds of people into the same space for sessions.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio are proposing a similar remote voting resolution on the Senate side of Congress.

'We could be in a position where  I certainly would be in favor of it. Where they could vote from a certain outside location. I would be in favor of it,' Trump said Sunday during a White House coronavirus task force briefing.

'I was thinking about it today, I mean we could be in this  look, with what's going on, nobody's seen anything like this. You could have a lot of people in there from Congress,' he continued. 'I would be totally in favor of it on a temporary basis.'
The governor has ordered all bars and restaurants to close. All schools have been closed. All hair salons and barbershops have been closed. And all gatherings of over 10 people have been banned. That includes weddings, funerals and church services of over 10 people.

And this week, the governor issued a Safer at home order, putting further restrictions on people and businesses.

They have been closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet, despite forcing thousands of businesses to close their doors and hundreds of thousands of people in Wisconsin to stop working, the governor is insistent on going forward with the scheduled April 7 election.

That is preposterous.

Gov. Tony Evers has sent out daily messages to the public warning them to stay home.

In his message that he released over the weekend, Evers said, First responders, nurses and so on are putting their lives and their hearts on the line to help us get through this. Now what we can do to help them is frankly stay home. Whatever we can do to stay at home will help those health care workers do the jobs that they need to do to help us get through this.

Holding an election is completely contrary to that advice, not only because of the voters who will go out but the poll workers as well  poll workers who, because of age, are considered most vulnerable.

In a letter to the governor, Meagan Wolfe, the Wisconsin Election Commission chief election official, wrote about the states urgent need for sanitation resources, poll workers and health official liaisons.

Local election officials do not have access to the supplies they need, the letter states. This is not a problem we have 18 days to solve, this is a problem today.

Georgia was supposed to have its presidential primary on Tuesday. But its been delayed until May 19.

Louisiana was supposed to have its primary on April 4. It has been postponed until June 20.

Puerto Rico also delayed its election.

Wisconsin should follow suit.

DNC Chair Tom Perez said elections should continue as scheduled because changing the date provides confusion, which could lead to disenfranchising voters.

The only thing confusing right now is hearing government officials stand up and tell citizens to stay home, but then refuse to move the date of the April election.

Not moving the April election is what is disenfranchising voters.

Already in the village of Mount Pleasant incorrect absentee ballots were sent out to 361 voters. With the haste and stress clerks are under, there are sure to be more issues reported around the state.

Voters are encouraged to vote by mail instead of in person, but taking the steps to have a ballot sent by mail may be challenging for some.

And if they dont vote absentee by mail, then they have two choices  dont vote or leave their homes and possibly infect someone or get infected.

Those voters are disenfranchised.

Every day, the governor delays this decision the more people he is putting at risk as they go to the polls early to absentee vote. The decision to postpone and set a new date  ideally in two months  needs to be done today.
Last weekend, the Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), operated by NASA to detect potentially hazardous space bodies that may collide with our planet, revealed the fly-bys of not one but four asteroids from within the identified potentially hazardous belt around Earth. Now, multiple reports have stated that yet another asteroid, the gigantic 1998 OR2, is making an approach towards Earth next month. Given NASA's labelling of its trajectory as potentially hazardous, does the world seem like it would have yet another thing to worry about, beyond the ongoing coronavirus pandemic?

Well, not quite.

Before we get all panicky, it is important to understand the term 'potentially hazardous' in space parlance. According to NASA's official classification of asteroids and other space rock orbits, anything that intersects the Earth's orbit at a distance of less than 7.5 million kilometres will qualify as being potentially hazardous. As a result, observers of this space will need to note that there are thousands of asteroids and space debris that lie within this perceived belt, and pose very little to absolutely no threat to our planet.

On this note, it is important to note that asteroid 1998 OR2 will fly past Earth at a distance of 6.3 million kilometres from our planet, which, be rest assured, is more than just safe distance from us. For reference, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 3,85,000 (385,000) kilometres, which places the 1998 OR2 at a distance of 16.4x as that between Earth and its closest celestial body.

Had this not been so, however, it appears that we may have had a problem in our hands. The asteroid 1998 OR2, which will fly by us at 3:26PM IST on April 29, is rather hefty, and has a diameter of 4.1 kilometres (~13,450 feet). In comparison, the asteroid 2020 DP4, which was the largest of the four asteroids that flew past Earth in the wee hours of Monday, March 23, measured only 180 feet in diameter  making the soon-to-approach 1998 OR2 nearly 74x the size. With a space rock as big, it surely would have been cause for concern had the asteroid fly-by happened in closer proximity.

As we discussed before, asteroid fly-bys are neither uncommon and nor particularly threatening. It is a fairly regular occurrence, which scientists and space researchers have observed for a long time. However, given advances in technology, NASA has designed CNEOS to give us an edge in detecting space objects that can potentially collide into Earth. While small space rocks are of no threat and easily disintegrate in the Earth's atmosphere, researchers are looking for ways to devise techniques to deflect potential asteroids away from collision course, should need arise.
A suspect is behind bars in the blunt force trauma death of a man in Birmingham last month.

Rory Antinio Brownlee, 53, is charged with reckless manslaughter in slaying of 46-year-old Bryan Edward Hooper. Reckless manslaughter is a felony.

On Saturday, Feb. 29, North Precinct officers were dispatched to a fight call at Second Avenue North and 13th Street. Officers arrived on the scene to find Hooper unresponsive on the ground.

Hooper was taken to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center where he remained until his death almost a week later. The Jefferson County Coroners Office said he died from blunt force trauma.

According to court records, Brownlee recklessly caused the death of Hooper by hitting him in the head. Authorities have not announced any additional details in Hoopers death.

Brownlee, also charged with drug possession, is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on bonds totaling $185,000. He has a court date set for April 20.


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A homeless agency has said they are seeing an influx of prisoners who have been released early in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in overcrowded jails.

Inner City Helping Homeless said these former inmates are resorting to homeless services that are already bursting at the seams and ill-prepared to prevent the spread of the virus through homeless hostels.

Councillor Anthony Flynn, CEO of the Dublin-based ICHH, said they dealt with 12 prisoners, who had just been released, on Monday and expected to see more over the subsequent days.

The Irish Prison Service has released around 200 inmates on temporary release within the last fortnight in order to ease overcrowding and prevent, and deal with, any Covid-19 outbreak.

In the last week there has been an influx and on Monday we had 12 case referrals from prisoners released and we are expecting to see more, said Cllr Flynn.

I understand the concerns of the IPS in relation to the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, but we are in the same situation with homeless services.

He said there were homeless units accommodating 40-50 people, with one unit housing 80 people, with multiple-occupancy rooms and communal eating areas.

You have between four to six in a bedroom or dorm, and a minimum of two people and they are eating together. Thats not social distancing.

He said the Dublin Region Homeless Executive had managed to increase the number of beds available and tried to encourage social distancing, but said the numbers looking for beds had not decreased and the reality showed social distancing wasnt happening.

They are increasing the bed numbers available, but we are not seeing a reduction in homeless people and my assumption is thats down to the numbers leaving prison and Id expect it to get worse over the coming days.

He added: You cant treat homeless people like cattle and stockpiling them into units - the situation is already unmanageable.

Cllr Flynn said that as well as a higher proportion of mental health and addiction issues, there was a serious issue of compromised immune systems with homeless people.

Dermot Kavanagh, director of Cork Simon said that, as it stood, they hadnt seen the same issue in Cork.

He said the numbers in their own shelter were down on normal rates  40 currently, compared to 47 typically and just nine people were accessing their Nightlight service, compared to 16 normally.

He said their shelter consisted of 25 single bedrooms and 11 twins. In addition, their soup run was now a take away and they were restricting numbers to their day service.

In a statement, the IPS said that some releases were nothing to do with the Covid-19 temporary releases and relate to the end of a sentence or the granting of bail by a court  and that in these cases it was not possible to notify housing authorities in advance.

It said some prisoners opt not to disclose their risk of homelessness to the prison authorities, and will present to homeless services following their release.

The IPS said it funded 12 resettlement coordinators through the Irish Association for Social Integration Opportunities and that in recent weeks, a further six staff had been provided.

In 2018, these officers assisted 414 prisoners and in 2019 worked with 371 prisoners, the service said.

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Carl Zimmer

Nearly 70 drugs and experimental compounds may be effective in treating the coronavirus, a team of researchers reported on March 22, night.

Some of the medications are already used to treat other diseases, and re-purposing them to treat COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, may be faster than trying to invent a new anti-viral from scratch, the scientists said.

The list of drug candidates appeared in a study published on the website bioRxiv. The researchers have submitted the paper to a journal for publication.

Follow our LIVE blog for latest updates on COVID-19

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

To come up with the list, hundreds of researchers embarked on an unusual study of the genes of the coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2.

To infect a lung cell, the coronavirus must insert its genes, co-opting the cell's own genetic machinery. The cell begins to produce viral proteins, which are used to produce millions of new viruses.

Each of those viral proteins must be able to latch onto the necessary human proteins for the process to work.

In the new study, the scientists investigated 26 of the coronavirus' 29 genes, which direct production of the viral proteins. Researchers found 332 human proteins targeted by the coronavirus.

Some viral proteins seemed to target just one human protein; other viral proteins are capable of targeting a dozen human cellular proteins.

Researchers sought drugs that also latch onto the human proteins that the coronavirus seems to need to enter and replicate in human cells. The team eventually identified 24 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat such seemingly unrelated diseases as cancer, Parkinson's disease and hypertension.

On the list were such unexpected candidates as haloperidol, used to treat schizophrenia, and metformin, taken by people with Type 2 diabetes.

Investigators also found candidates among compounds that are now in clinical trials or that are the subject of early research. Intriguingly, some of the possible treatments are drugs used to attack parasites.

And the list includes antibiotics that kill bacteria by gumming up the cellular machinery they use to build proteins. But some of those drugs also attach to human proteins. The new study raises the possibility that this side effect might turn out to be an anti-viral treatment.

One drug on the list, chloroquine, kills the single-celled parasite that causes malaria. Scientists have long known that it can also attach to a human cellular protein called the sigma-1 receptor. And that receptor is also the target of the virus.

Chloroquine has been much in the news this past week, thanks to speculation about its use against the coronavirus -- some of which was repeated by President Donald Trump at a news briefing at the White House on March 20.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, followed the president's remarks with a warning that there was only "anecdotal evidence" that chloroquine might work.

Only well-run trials could establish whether chloroquine was safe and effective against the coronavirus, Fauci said.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it would begin a trial on chloroquine, among other drugs.

And on March 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York announced that the state had obtained a large amount of chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin to start its own drug trial.

Nevan Krogan, a biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the new study, warned that chloroquine might have many toxic side effects, because the drug appears to target many human cellular proteins.

"You need to be careful," he said. "We need more data at every level."

Krogan's collaborators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Pasteur Institute in Paris have started testing 22 of the other compounds on the list against live coronavirus grown in their laboratories.

On the night of March 22, they were still awaiting the first results.

c.2020 The New York Times Company
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Iranian doctors and nurses, like their peers worldwide, are dealing with an unprecedented public-health crisis: the coronovirus has taken more than 1,900 lives and infected 25,000, according to official statistics. But they are also dealing with a unique challenge as U.S. sanctions exacerbate shortages of crucial medical equipment.

Faced with calls to relax sanctions during the pandemic, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has maintained that the sanctions do not target imports of food, medicine, and medical equipment, or other humanitarian goods. But the issue facing Irans healthcare system is not about what the sanctions target, but rather what their humanitarian exemptions fail to encompass. On this point, Pompeo is being disingenuous.

The humanitarian exemptions pertain to medicine and medical devices, terms that are narrowly defined to emphasize the treatment of disease, excluding medical equipment. For example, personal protective equipment such face shields, which doctors and nurses need to protect themselves from the risk of infection and which are also used in industrial applications, do not fit the typical definition of humanitarian goods.

Moreover, the Treasury Department requires their specific authorization for the export of a wide range of advanced medical equipment to Iran by American companies. These restrictions apply to equipment crucial for fighting the virus, including ventilators, CT scanners, decontamination equipment, and full-mask respirators.

European and other foreign companies seeking to exports these goods to Iran are also encumbered by the U.S. regulations. International banks are reticent to accept Iran-related payments, particularly given that the Central Bank of Iran, which is subject to U.S. secondary sanctions, oversees the exchange through which importers receive foreign currency allocations.

Although the Treasury Department issued a new general license in February reestablishing the ability of Irans central bank to play a role in payments related to humanitarian trade, the license does not extend to advanced medical equipment unless authorized by a specific authorizationsomething non-U.S. companies cannot obtain.

Story continues

For this same reason, such equipment cannot currently be sold through the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement, the payment channel often cited by Trump administration officials to show their commitment to the wellbeing of Iranians. SHTA, which launched in February, is also not an option for exporters that do not maintain an account at Banque de Commerce et de Placements, the Swiss commercial bank at the heart of the channel.

These restrictions help explain why European exports of personal protective equipment to Iran fell by two-thirds as the Trump administration moved to isolate the Iranian economy under its maximum pressure campaign. Total European Union exports fell from 39 million euros in 2017 to just 13 million euros last year.

In late February, the Trump administration formally conveyed an offer of assistance to Iran in confronting the virus crisis. On Sunday, Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said he had rejected that offer, suggesting the U.S. might include in any aid shipment a drug that will keep the virus alive and prevent its eradication."

Khameneis paranoid response stands in sharp contrast to calls for sanctions relief and other assistance issued by members of the Rouhani administration, business leaders, and prominent artists, as well as ordinary Iranians on social media.

But the absence of public detail about the administrations offer meant that Khamenei faced no political cost for dismissing it outright. If the administration had publicized the details for the Iranian public to see, it would have created pressure for the aid to be accepted.

In any case, the opportunity to provide aid may have passed. Trump will find it politically difficult to send assistance to Iran now that the U.S. is facing its own full-blown crisis and seeking to import equipment from abroad. However, there are three administrative steps that could be taken that would significantly improve Irans ability to respond to its virus outbreak while costing the U.S. nothing at all.

Frist, the administration should widen the scope of the humanitarian exemption to include the full range of items and equipment necessary to help Iranian doctors and nurses fight the epidemic.

Second, it should provide comfort letters to key international banks at the heart of Irans commercial import of medicine and medical equipment, clarifying the scope of acceptable trade. To date, the Treasury Department has only provided such a letter to BCP as part of the new SHTA payments channel.

Third, the administration should ease Irans access to its existing foreign currency reserves. The U.S. already has the means to provide this relief without granting Iran unfettered use of the funds.

When the Trump administration eliminated waivers permitting the sale of Iranian crude to eight key customers in May 2018, it also discarded a system of escrow accounts which enabled Iran to use accrued oil revenue exclusively for the purchase of humanitarian goods from the countries to which it was exporting. This system allowed oil revenues accrued and spent outside of Iran under the strict oversight of both local regulators and the Treasury Department, effectively eliminating the risk of misuse.

It would be easy to restore such an escrow system to enable Iran to use a portion of its ample foreign currency reserves now sitting frozen in accounts worldwide. Such a system could even be established in lieu of granting Iran the $5 billion loan it has requested from the International Monetary Fund, which would require the Trump administration to make larger political concessions.

The Trump administration should acknowledge that limited sanctions reliefamounting to a few administrative actswould in no way change the overall posture of its maximum-pressure policy and in no way compromise U.S. national security. Helping Iranian doctors and nurses to protect themselves so that they can bring the epidemic under control is essential to shortening the duration of the global crisissomething that is in the clear interest of all Americans.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj is the founder of Bourse & Bazaar, a media company that supports business diplomacy between Europe and Iran through publishing, events and research.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

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Fox Business presenter Liz Claman had revealed that she is self-quarantining after coming into contact with a colleague who has tested positive for Covid-19.

The 56-year-old made a brief appearance on her show, Claman Countdown, on Monday afternoon to tell viewers that she was six days into her self-isolation, saying: Miss you guys.

She is the latest Fox personality to put herself into quarantine. Charles Payne informed viewers last week that he was self-isolating, and Lou Dobbs chose to stay in quarantine after contact with a diagnosed employee.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace sent an email to staff saying: "As we have said from day one of this crisis, the health and safety of our employees and their families is our number one concern.

We have led a daily internal executive task force on the Coronavirus since late February with several doctors and have been preparing for this outcome."

This sentiment, expressing early action and serious recognition of the impact of Covid-19, contradicts a series of statements made on the network since the disease emerged.

At the start of March, several Fox News hosts dismissed the threat of Covid-19, sometimes referring to the pandemic as a "hoax."

"This scaring the living hell out of people: I see it, again as let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax," Sean Hannity said on a March 9 show.

Fox business host Trish Regan said that media coverage of the virus was "yet another attempt to impeach the president."

Days after Ms Regan's comments, there was an increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths, and more states were closing non-essential businesses and limiting capacity in public spaces. After her comment, Ms Regan was no longer present for broadcast. On-air personalities stopped referring to the pandemic as a hoax.

Take the following crucial precautions over the next couple of weeks," said Mr Hannity on his show last week. "Do it why? Because we love our grandmothers, our grandfathers, our older moms and dads. They are the most vulnerable. They are the most at risk.

However, several Fox segments still do not reflect Covid-19 coverage on other news networks.

"You know, that famous phrase: The cure is worse than the disease?" said Fox News weekend host Steve Hilton on Sunday.

This language was mirrored in a Tweet Mr Trump sent out also on Sunday: "WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"

More than 600 people have died from the virus in the US, and at least 14,641 have died globally, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and other public health officials are warning against ending containment in favor of re-starting the economy, according to the Washington Post.

"We are getting more and more information that someone can transmit even when they are asymptomatic," said Dr Fauci in an interview with CNN. "So in order to protect oneself, society and particularly vulnerable people, we've really got to adhere to the physical separation."

On Monday, Fox News started pushing for a return of the labor force.

Notably, Mr Hannity also expressed unsubstantiated claims of a Covid-19 cure. During an interview with Mike Pence, he read a letter from a "doctor from the New York area" that recommended an unapproved remedy that included hydroxychloroquine, which is used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of Malaria.

This segment of Mr Hannity's show seems to refer back to comments made by Mr Trump, who incorrectly announced that hydroxychloroquine had been fast-tracked to approval by the FDA as a cure for Covid-19 in a White House press briefing on March 19.

On Tuesday, NBC reported that an Arizona man died after drinking chloroquine phosphate. Mr Trump has also asserted that chloroquine is a game changer against Covid-19. Members of his own administration have denied these claims.
New Delhi, March 24 : The government has provided big relief to the corporate sectors on compliance related issues related to incorporation of businesses, qualifications of directors and board meetings, among others.

As per the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, a company has now been given six more months to file declaration of commencement of business. At present, such declaration has to be made within six months from incorporation.

She also announced that the mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within prescribed interval provided in the Companies Act, 2013 shall be extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters, up to September 30.

Applicability of Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of FY 2019-2020 as was notified earlier, she said, adding that this will significantly ease the burden on companies and their auditors for the year 2019-20.

As per Schedule 4 of the Companies Act, 2013, independent directors are required to hold at least one meeting without the attendance of non-independent directors and members of the management. For the year 2019-20, if the independent directors of a company have not been able to hold even one meeting, the same shall not be viewed as a violation, the minister said.

Directors of registered Indian companies have also been freed from complying with the residency rules that mandate them to be in India for a minimum period of 182 days.

"Under Section 149 of the Companies Act, non-compliance of this rule was treated as a violation. Now, it shall not be treated as a violation," the Finance Minister said.

The government has also decided to give more flexibility to the companies over the need to create a deposit reserve from 20 per cent of the deposits maturing in FY21 by April 30. This requirement can now be met by June 30.

Also, companies have been given time till June 30 to invest 15 per cent of debentures maturing during a year in specified instruments. The date of compliance for this earlier was April 30.
South Africa on Monday announced a three-week lockdown with soldiers patrolling the streets to ensure compliance as more countries in the continent reported coronavirus fatalities and the disease spread.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government had "decided to enforce a nationwide lockdown for 21 days" from midnight Thursday to "avoid a human catastrophe."

There have been more than 400 coronavirus cases in Africa's most developed economy -- the highest in sub-Saharan Africa -- with the number climbing six-fold in just eight days.

Ramaphosa said the numbers could spiral given that South Africa has "a large number of people with suppressed immunity because of high HIV and TB and high levels of poverty and malnutrition."

"This is a decisive measure to save millions of South Africans from infection," he said. "Without decisive action, the number of people infected will rapidly increase... to hundreds of thousands."

Ramaphosa said the army would patrol the streets along with the police to ensure the ban is respected.

More African countries were expected to announce tough confinement measures after sealing their borders and closing public places.

DR Congo locked down its second city Lubumbashi for 48 hours on Monday and deployed security forces. Streets were deserted and stores were closed, an AFP journalist said.

The move came after two people with suspected coronavirus arrived on Sunday on a scheduled flight from the capital Kinshasa.

Fast-track tests were carried out on them and the results were positive.

"A 48-hour-long total confinement has been declared over all Haut-Katanga province as of Monday," Governor Jacques Kyabula said in a statement.

The measure "will enable the authorities to identify the other passengers aboard this plane for quarantining," he said.

The plane was carrying 77 passengers, the authorities said.

The DRC has recorded 30 cases of coronavirus since March 10, two of them fatalities.

Rising cases

Africa has been slow to follow the terrifying rise in virus cases seen in the Middle East and Europe.

Children in the notorious Nairobia slum of Kibera learn how to wash hands to help prevent coronavirus. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

The reason for this is unclear, but many African countries have used the precious time to impose travel restrictions, close schools and appeal for social distancing.

However, the numbers are now rising significantly.

According to a toll compiled by AFP, the number of known cases across the continent -- including North Africa -- stood at more than 1,600 on Monday, of which some 50 have been fatal.

The first detected case south of the Sahara was announced in the Nigerian city of Lagos on February 28, and the first death was reported in the Sahel state of Burkina Faso last Wednesday.

It was then followed by fatalities in Gabon, the DRC and Mauritius.

On Monday, three more countries were added to this list: Nigeria -- the most populous country in Africa -- as well as The Gambia in western Africa, and Zimbabwe in the south.

All three deaths were of individuals who had arrived after making extensive trips abroad.

The Nigerian fatality was a 67-year-old man who had returned from medical treatment in Britain and had cancer and diabetes, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said.

The death in The Gambia was of an itinerant 70-year-old teacher from Bangladesh who had arrived from neighbouring Senegal.

In Zimbabwe, the ministry of health reported the death of a 30-year-old man who had travelled to New York last month and returned home on March 9, transiting through Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa.

Peril for Africa

Ghana on Monday closed schools and universities and suspended public events, while in Burkina Faso, a security source said the authorities "were thinking more and more about total confinement of the population for two or three weeks."

Rwanda late Saturday barred all "non-essential" movement, Gabon imposed night curfew, while the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius began a 14-day lockdown on Friday.

Health experts have sounded loud and repeated warnings about Africa's vulnerability to coronavirus.

A nurse walks past one of the few working ambulances in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town of the Zimbabwean capital Harare. By Jekesai NJIKIZANA (AFP)

Crowded shantytowns, poor sanitation and decrepit health infrastructure offer ideal opportunities for the lethal microbe.

"The system itself is overstretched and inadequate to deal with a coronavirus epidemic," Zimbabwean doctor Norman Matara told AFP last week.

He said there were only eight functioning intensive care and two isolation units in the whole of his country.

But lockdowns too can have a catastrophic in countries where there is little or no social safety net to help people buy food or pay their bills.

"In reality, partial or total confinement could have disastrous effects for the African continent," Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala said on her Facebook page.
Australian expatriates and travellers stranded in the UK due to global coronavirus lockdowns will be able to apply for visa extensions.

Thousands of Australians had been left in limbo by border closures, flight cancellations and now a British government-imposed lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly pandemic.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that all foreign nationals stuck in the country will be able to apply for special visa extensions lasting until May 31.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured) announced that all foreign nationals stuck in the country will be able to apply for special visa extensions lasting until May 31

'Many foreign nationals have found themselves unable to return home since the outbreak of COVID-19 due to flight cancellations and border restrictions,' a Home Office statement said on Tuesday.

'The extension has been put in place to give these individuals peace of mind that they will not be penalised for overstaying their visa when the situation is out of their control due to COVID-19.'

'Those who contact the Home Office for these visa extensions will be expected to return to their home countries as soon as possible once flight and border restrictions are lifted.

'No immigration enforcement action will be undertaken during this time for those who email the Home Office as outlined above.'

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will also allow Australians and other foreigners to switch their work visas from within the UK, where they previously had to return to their home countries to apply.

People will be allowed to switch between UK student and work visas and between different work visas.

'UKVI will continue to process applications as quickly as possible, however some applications may take longer than usual due to COVID-19 related operational pressures,' the statement said.

Australian Dominique Mills, who has been trapped in limbo in Scotland after her flight back was cancelled, was relieved not to have to travel to Brisbane to switch her UK work visa.

'It's like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders,' she told AAP.

Australian Dominique Mills, who has been trapped in limbo in Scotland after her flight back was cancelled, was relieved not to have to travel to Brisbane to switch her UK work visa. Pictured: Woman in quiet street in Glasgow

'A little bit of breathing space.'

She said her family and friends were relieved she wouldn't need to travel through crowded airports given her history of bouts with life-threatening pneumonia.

'Though to be honest, it's been such a roller coaster my trust is a little burned... won't believe it until I get through to someone on the (UK) immigration line tomorrow,' Ms Mills said.

'The amount of times I've called over the last week and they've said they can't help me has me skeptical.

'But it's nice to finally have a urgent need recognised and legislated for.'
In a footnote to its 73-page decision, the Ninth Circuit  which heard the appeal en banc, or as a full panel of 11 judges  also explained what constitutes illegal copying when it comes to works that involve generic or commonplace elements. In those cases, the judges said, only a minimal, or thin, level of copyright applies, and a plaintiff must show that a work is virtually identical to a defendants.

The author of the panels majority opinion, Judge M. Margaret McKeown, gave no specifics about what kinds of works may apply, just that they must be virtually identical if the range of protectable expression is narrow. But lawyers, and at least one judge, seized on that statement as applying to brief musical passages that may recycle common chords or melodies  exactly the situation with Perrys hit Dark Horse, which a jury last summer found had infringed on an eight-note instrumental pattern in a Christian rap song.

Just a week after the Led Zeppelin decision, the judge in Perrys case, Christina A. Snyder of Federal District Court in Los Angeles, cited the Ninth Circuits footnote in a ruling that threw out the Dark Horse jurys verdict  and, with it, a $2.8 million damages award. Those eight notes were not a particularly unique or rare combination, Judge Snyder wrote, and therefore could not be protected by copyright. (Lawyers for the plaintiff, Marcus Gray, who performs under the name Flame, have said they will appeal.)
Last night, Brandon Waltman arrived at the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of South Alabama Childrens and Womens Hospital right after shift change to find that his daughter, Emmarie Grace, had been moved.

The nurse in charge told him his little girl had been moved and isolated. Another nurse on the unit had tested positive for COVID-19. Every baby she had cared for would be isolated and tested as a precaution.

It was the nightmare scenario Waltman had worried about since his newborn arrived at the University of South Alabama Medical Center two weeks earlier. The little girl hadnt been eating, and now all of a sudden they learned she might have been exposed to a deadly virus. Waltman said his daughter already had a private room at USA and doesnt seem to be showing any symptoms of COVID-19.

I dont really think shes been infected, but I do think they should have been a little more proactive, Waltman said.

Born on Feb. 20, Emmarie Grace seemed healthy but refused to eat. After almost a week at home, she was readmitted to a nearby hospital in Mississippi and then transferred to USA  which is better equipped to handle medically-complex children.

Doctors have been running every test in the book to find out whats wrong. As the baby still struggled to eat, the news about coronavirus grew bleaker.

We thought it couldnt get much worse, Waltman said. But now its just like everything is piling on.

Although young children appear to be more resistant to coronavirus than older patients, the prospect of an outbreak in the NICU is frightening. The unit at USA provides care for babies born very prematurely and those who require ventilators. Even minor respiratory illnesses can quickly become life-threatening for these tiny patients.

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said yesterday the youngest patient in Alabama diagnosed with COVID-19 was 2 years old. Since the virus is still so new, doctors dont fully understand how it affects babies and children, but deaths among the very young appear to be rare. A report issued last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found no deaths in people younger than 20 in the first 4,000 U.S. cases.

Still, Waltman said he hoped the hospital would take stronger action to control the potential spread. The hospital limited visits to parents, but he said no one checked him or his wife Joanna Waltman for symptoms when they came to visit Emmarie.

Also, they created a policy to limit visits to one parent at a time. That left the other parent wandering the streets, and potentially interacting with infected people, while waiting for his turn.

Whats the other parent supposed to do? Waltman said. It just makes more sense for both of us to be isolated in her room.

Only three cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Mobile, out of 215 statewide. Testing has been slower to ramp up in south Alabama. Gary Mans, associate vice president of marketing and communications for USA Health acknowledged that an employee tested positive, but did not identify the department where they worked.

A USA Health employee has tested positive for COVID-19," Mans said. "USA Health continues to implement all state and national guidelines to ensure we protect our patients, providers and staff.

His daughter recently had surgery to insert a feeding tube so the family can return home to Mississippi and quarantine together at home.

We love our little girl and want to make sure she is as healthy and happy as possible, Waltman said.
DUBLIN, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Disposable Medical Gloves - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Disposable Medical Gloves market worldwide is projected to grow by US$2.8 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 6.1%.



Examination Gloves, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 5.9%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$6 Billion by the year 2025, Examination Gloves will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.



Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 5.2% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$100.4 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$86.8 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets.



In Japan, Examination Gloves will reach a market size of US$330.6 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 9% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$766.2 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders.



Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.



All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



Competitors identified in this market include, among others:

Ansell Healthcare Products LLC

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Cardinal Health Inc.

Cypress Medical Products LLC

Halyard Health Inc.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd

Kossan Rubber Industries BHD

Medline Industries Inc.

Molnlycke Health Care AB

Paul Hartmann AG

Rubberex Corporation (M) Berhad

Semperit AG Holding

Shijiazhuang Hongray Group

Supermax Corporation Berhad

Top Glove Corporation Bhd

Vulkan Medical AS

Total Companies Profiled: 90

Key Topics Covered



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Disposable Medical Gloves - A Prelude

Market Outlook

Key Growth Drivers

Select Growth Impediments

Global Market for Rubber Gloves - An Insight

Innovations Drive Growth

Asia - Focal Point for Future Growth

- Focal Point for Future Growth Malaysia Dominates Rubber Gloves Market

Recent Market Activity

Global Competitor Market Shares

Disposable Medical Gloves Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2020 & 2029

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Improving Healthcare Expenditure Turbo Charges Demand

Rising Incidence of Hospital Acquired Infections Propels Market Growth

Aging Population and Growing Number of Surgical Procedures Spur Demand

Diagnostic Laboratories Increasing in Number - Demand for Medical Gloves to Surge

The Trend towards Powderless Examination Gloves for Medical Use

Medical Gloves Market to Sustain Healthy Growth

Increasing Healthcare Awareness to Spur Demand for Medical Gloves

Latex Gloves Rapidly Lose Share to Synthetic Gloves

Nitrile Gloves - An Effective Synthetic Alternative to Natural Rubber Latex Gloves

Nitrile Gloves Witness Surging Demand

Vinyl Disposable Gloves Laced with Inherent Drawbacks

Manufacturers of NR Latex Gloves Rise to the Challenge

Underplayed Advantages of NRL: Hoping to Reinstate Consumer Confidence

Implementation of Double Gloving Practice Spurs Growth Opportunities

Natural Rubber Production Scenario

Durability of Medical Gloves: A Key Issue

Future of Powdered Gloves Precariously Hangs in Balance

Product Variables for Commercial Success

Managed Care Vs. Cost Concerns

Industry Upbeat on the Technology & Innovation Front

Hartalega Develops Non-Leaching Antimicrobial Gloves with Active Ingredient

Surgical Gloves: Shaped by Comfort, Fit & Barrier Protection

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



IV. COMPETITION



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tpwyaq

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


Major fashion businesses have begun contributing to the global shortage of protective supplies for medical workers, from retailers like H&M and Zara to luxury firms like LVMH, Kering and Prada. Now, individual designers are beginning to fight the global pandemic, including Christian Siriano, who just last week announced he'd be refocusing his brand's production to creating surgical masks. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accepted Siriano's pledge and encouraged others to follow: "Who's next? Let's do this together NY," he tweeted.

Grisel Lopez, the Puerto Rican, nonbinary designer behind Brooklyn-based brand Possessed, is taking on the challenge  and doing so independently. They're using PVC to manufacture clear, BDSM-leaning face masks that they first introduced for Fall 2020 during NYFW. "Due to the scarcity of masks, I will be making them for hospitals and frontline workers," Lopez announced on Instagram. "They can be sanitized and reused with soap and water or alcohol."

Lopez, who says they're an asthma patient and therefore cannot risk exposing themselves to COVID-19, is seeking New York volunteers to help deliver the face masks to hospitals while supplies last. Additionally, they're looking for Cuomo and companies "to donate materials to create more of these products and send them to people willing to sew." NYC has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic, with roughly 5% of the world's confirmed cases.



Related | Emerge From Quarantine as a Musician

Possessed's latest initiative ties back to their core mission of empowering and building community  especially for their LGBTQ customers. In a 2018 interview with PAPER, Grisel spoke to the importance of this: ""[Possessed] has helped many of my girlfriends feel powerful," they said, specifically referencing their queer customers. "It has catered to a lot of people." They continued, "I didn't move to New York to hide. I've always wanted to give the best."

For more on Possessed, follow their Instagram (@_possessed_), and visit possessednyc.com.
The U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, announced aggressive new actions early Monday to try to bolster the world's largest economy against the jolting effects of the coronavirus.

The Fed said it would buy an unlimited amount of government-backed debt and mortgage-backed securities to support credit markets. The central bank also unveiled a series of lending programs to assist both large and small businesses, even as many U.S. companies lay off thousands of workers in the face of declining demand for their products and services.

The unusual timing of the Fed announcement came just ahead of the open of a new week of trading on the roiling U.S. markets, where stocks have sustained huge losses this month as the deadly pandemic spreads across the globe and deepens concerns across the United States.

U.S. stock futures had been trading down 2 percent or more Sunday night and into Monday. Initially, the Fed announcement had no effect on that trend, with the widely watched Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chip American companies dropping nearly 3 percent at the open of trading.
SAN MATEO, California, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 24, 2020, MORE Health, a Silicon Valley headquartered cross-border telemedicine company, is launching a premier, freely available self-assessment tool for COVID-19 in six languages at covid19.morehealth.com.

The MORE COVID-19 Self-Assessment was co-developed by a team of U.S. and international infectious disease experts, including Dr. Gary Schoolnik, former Chief of Infectious Diseases at Stanford Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, and Professor Wang Yan, Deputy Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Peking University First Hospital. Dr. Schoolnik has long been devoted to the research and treatment of infectious disease in the U.S. and around the world. And he is currently treating COVID-19 patients in the United States. Professor Wang Yang has specialized in the practice of clinical infectious disease for over 20 years, and she has direct experience treating patients with COVID-19 and remotely assisting medical staff in Wuhan, Hubei with severe COVID-19 infections.

The self-assessment can help guide a user to decide if they should recuperate at home or drive to a designated testing location; it can help users decide if they should call 911 or contact their primary care physician for help. MORE Health's tool can reduce anxiety and panic in the majority of people for whom testing is not needed, and can also screen people who are possibly infected in large numbers simultaneously reducing the burden on healthcare systems and helping to quickly identify high-risk patients.

To broaden access, MORE Health is making self-assessment completely free to users and hospitals around the world to help them customize their own hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system. The website does not have advertisements and it does not collect any personal information.

About MORE Health

Long before the outbreak began, MORE Health was assisting Chinese physicians by allowing them to use our platform to consult with top physicians at top US hospitals. Over time MORE Health perfected its platform through practical experience with cases and technological refinements. MORE Health is now a leader in the field of cross-border telemedicine. It also has strong capabilities in artificial intelligence-supported diagnosis, and it has developed artificial intelligence diagnostic programs for patients with lung cancer. Learn more at www.morehealth.com, or contact them at [email protected].

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/596627/MORE_Health_Logo.jpg

SOURCE MORE Health
As schools in multiple Australian states close - and online learning is launched in others - teachers are offering their best advice for parents now finding themselves in the role of educator.

A viral post written by an Irish primary school teacher has addressed some of the main concerns parents are grappling with today, namely how closely children need to follow the syllabus now that their regular learning has been disrupted.

'This is not homeschooling. This is an unprecedented emergency situation impacting the whole world. Let's keep perspective,' she wrote.

'Homeschooling is a choice, where you considered, you plan for it and you are your child's school teacher in whatever form you choose.

As Australian schools close in some states - and call for online learning in others - teachers are offering their best advice for parents now finding themselves in the role of educator (stock image)

'This is at best distance learning. In reality, it's everyone trying to separate their bums from their elbows because none of us know what we're doing and what's right and wrong here.'

While Ireland has been in lockdown for longer than a week, Australians are starting to feel the effects of a nationwide shutdown on international travel, restaurants, beaches - and schooling.

Chief Learning Officer at Cluey Learning Dr Selina Samuels says her biggest concern for our teachers and parents facing disruption is maintaining learning momentum for students.

'Many schools are already flagging the challenges represented by serving the needs of their students remotely,' she told FEMAIL.

'There is the more obvious issue of access to the appropriate technology and then comes the necessary skillset to deploy it effectively. Plus adapting what works in the classroom to an online environment isn't always easy.

'These point to a potential issue of learning inequity that has not been fully anticipated or provided for.'

Chief Learning Officer at Cluey Learning Dr Selina Samuels says her biggest concern for our teachers and parents facing disruption is maintaining learning momentum for students

The best skills children can learn from home: * Do a bit of reading every day (independent or to them or via audiobook etc) * Some free writing now and then. If they'll keep a diary or something, great. If not, would they draw a comic? * Practical hands on maths. Be that via cooking, cleaning, outside or some maths games physical or digital. * Some fine motor work. Lego, cutting, playdough, tidying up small toys. * Physical exercise everyday * Some art/music where possible through the week. Doesn't need to be guided. * If they are old enough getting them to independently work on a project is great for keeping brains ticking over. Get them researching in a book or online and putting together something to present to you or family. * If younger, lots of imaginative free play, the more independent the better. Advertisement

Cluey Learning, an Australian-made online tutoring website, is offering free guidance to parents, teachers and students on Monday March 23 and March 30 who are entering into an at-home schooling routine.

'As Australia starts to grapple with deploying effective online learning, we're readying ourselves to share fast, useful and effective guidance from our deep experience in this space. We'll be releasing advice in line with the ever-changing situation,' Dr Samuels said.

Meanwhile teacher Dr Anne Chalfant from Annie's Centre, which is in Sydney, has released a different approach and has released a schedule for children to follow, to get the most out of this time.

For children of all ages, Dr Chalfant recommends their day start at 7.30am and they have all books and equipment set up on a table by 9am.

For kids aged between five and eight they should be doing three 20 minute academic activities between recess and lunchtime before they're allowed to get creative or do some form of physical activity by 4pm.

The length of those activities increases as the child ages, for example, children aged between nine and 12 will need to do two 40 minutes activities between recess and lunch, while teenagers should mainly focus on 50 to 55 minutes blocks of activities.

Older students can also work on revision during this time to ensure they have mastered everything that was covered in term one.

While there are no perfect measures in place, it's important to maintain kindness and compassion towards children during this time, as they are just as confused as the adults around them.



School closure policy splintered across Australia on Monday, with Victoria shutting down its institutions, those in other states staying open, and New South Wales urging parents to keep their children at home and switch to online learning.

Meanwhile teacher Dr Anne Chalfant from Annie's Centre, which is in Sydney, has released a different approach and has released a schedule for children to follow, to get the most out of this time

Older students can also work on revision during this time to ensure they have mastered everything that was covered in term one

The conflicting policies among different governments came amid debate about which policy was best to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the schools will keep operating at least until the first term holidays in three weeks and be reassessed after that, based on updated medical advice.

However she said parents, where possible, should keep their children at home and continue lessons online.

The classrooms would remain open for those children whose parents needed to keep working or who did not have sufficient home internet capacity.
Photo: David Wilson/Flickr

Missed the most recent top news in Dallas? Read on for everything you need to know.

Cowboys center Travis Frederick announces retirement

Five-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick has announced he is retiring from the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys center since 2013, Frederick missed the 2018 season, due to a battle with Guillain Barre Syndrome, but returned in 2019 to earn another Pro Bowl nod.

Read the full story on WFAA.

Dallas Animal Services reduces operations, makes all adoptions free until further notice

The only non-staff permitted to enter the shelter will be individuals who contacted DAS about their lost pets.

Read the full story on CBS DFW.

Dallas Police ask community for help in Kaleb Simpson's homicide investigation

The Dallas Police Department is asking for help from the community in finding who's responsible for the death of Kaleb Simpson, 20. Simpson was found dead from a gunshot wound in a parking lot at 9821 Summerwood Circle on March 22.

Read the full story on CBS DFW.

19-year-old dead, 2 injured after truck hits tree, flips in Old East Dallas

One person is dead and two are injured after a truck hit a tree and flipped Saturday on wet roads in Old East Dallas, authorities said.

Read the full story on Advocate.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Seniors left to die at retirement homes amid coronavirus outbreak, Spains defense minister reveals

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Several patients at senior homes in Spain have been found dead after being abandoned by staff during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the countrys defense minister revealed, and prosecutors are now promising to prosecute those responsible.

The bodies were discovered by soldiers who were sent in to offer emergency healthcare assistance and disinfect the elderly people's homes, Spains Ministry of Defense said, according to The Telegraph. An unspecified number of abandoned dead bodies were discovered at the privately-run homes where most of the staff had stopped going after getting infected with the new coronavirus themselves.

The army, during certain visits, found some older people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told the TV channel Telecinco. "We are going to be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences.

Were going to be very blunt and implacable over this and we have a very clear message: The full weight of the law will fall on those who dont meet their obligations.

Dozens of deaths have been reported at retirement homes across Spain, which is the second worst affected country in Europe after Italy. Italy now has the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the world, numbered at more than 6,000.

A week ago, at least 19 deaths were confirmed at the Monte Hermoso senior center in Madrid, where some 400 senior living facilities are located.

While authorities in Spain threaten to prosecute the workers who left the sick seniors to die, some complain that they are being forced to work in dangerous conditions, without proper equipment. Funeral homes, they say, have also been coming late to collect bodies senior home staff are unable to touch due to protocols in place to prevent the spread of the disease.

Workers are putting themselves on the line, without resources, without healthcare support, without protective gear, Jose Manuel Ramirez, president of the Association of Social Services Directors and Managers, told El Pais in response to the threat of prosecution he called unfortunate and shameful. He urged the public not to criminalize employees who are acting like heroes and heroines.

About 14% of Spains approximately 40,000 coronavirus infections are among health workers, Reuters reported.

Officials revealed that the military disinfected 179 nursing homes on Monday and plan to clean another 96 on Tuesday.

Rafael Aguilera, mayor of Alcala del Valle, a small town in Andalusia, pleaded for help after reporting 38 of 42 residents at the local nursing home had tested positive for the virus, along with 60% of staff.

The virus doesnt kill people ... whats killing people is the system, he said at a news conference.

Our seniors need a permanent solution now. We need oxygen, ambulances and hospitals, he said in a video posted on the towns Facebook page. A person died in our arms because we couldnt get hold of oxygen.
Osprey Child Safety Products and Osprey Packs of Cortez, Colo., is recalling about 88,000 Poco child carriers sold in the U.S. and Canada.

A child seated in the carrier can slip through the leg openings, posing a fall hazard to children.

The firm has received four reports of children falling through the carrier leg openings, resulting in one report of a skull fracture and one report of scratches to the head.

This recall involves all models of Poco, Poco Plus and Poco Premium child backpack carriers manufactured between January 2012, and December 2014.

The nylon child carriers were sold in three colors: Romper Red, Koala Grey, and Bouncing Blue, and have a metal frame and a gray padded childs seat inside. The production date is stamped on a black label sewn into the interior of the large lower zippered compartment on the back of the carrier.

Recalled carriers have a production date code of S12SBPR1, S12SBPR1B, S12SBPR2, S12SBPR3, S12SBPR4, F12SBPR1, F12SBPR2, S13SB IPO, S13SBPR1, S13SBPR2, S13SBPR3, S13SBPR4, F13SBPR1, F13SBPR2, F13SBPR3, S14SBPR1, S14SBPR2, S14SBPR3, S14SBPR4, S14SBPR5.

Osprey is printed on the fabric above the kick stand. The model name is printed on the back at the bottom.

The carriers, manufactured in Vietnam, were sold at REI and specialty outdoor stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com from January 2012, to December 2015, for between $200 and $300.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled carriers and contact Osprey for a free Seat Pad Insert for use along with the existing safety straps to secure the child in the carrier.

Consumers who previously received and installed the free Seat Pad Insert in their carriers are not required to take further action.

Consumers may contact Osprey toll-free at 866-951-5197 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MT) Monday through Friday, by email at pocoseatpad@ospreypacks.com or online at www.ospreypacks.com and click on Poco Safety Notices on the navigation bar at the top right hand corner of the page for more information.
Ambassador Bishop Samuel Ben Owusu is strongly appealing to the Government of Ghana to establish a Public Health and Safety Authority (PHSA); which he suggests would support the nations efforts in implementing stronger public health and safety for its people. The PHSA would help regulate interventions, enhance clinical training and management, and build new laboratory capacity. These efforts would ensure surveillance on cases and contact tracing information, provide efforts on infection control and community engagement, and provide food supply and hunger management in critical situations such as we are facing with Covid-19.



Amb. Bishop Owusu is encouraged by the responses he is receiving from civil society, traditional leaders, religious organizations, private and public institutions to help curb the spread of this pandemic. He is however of the opinion that as a nation it is important that we do not take anything for granted as our health system may not be able to contain further escalation of the virus. He is encouraging the Government to remain in the forefront and provide accurate education and information through our social and mass media transmissions; this would give the people access on how to combat and protect themselves against the virus spread.



Amb. Bishop Owusu is also calling on the government to begin implementing stimulus packages which would include the reduction on the communication taxes and to encourage both private and public telecommunication companies to reduce cost of calls / data by 50 %. This would help the people remain in contact as information is being disseminated.



The Ambassador is also calling on the government to take steps to help reduce food prices by releasing stocked up food onto the market. Provision of boreholes in deprived and densely populated communities across the country should be urgently considered by government, churches and religious organizations, district assemblies, and wealthy public-spirited individuals. This would ensure that as the government is shutting down churches and work, and even schools, the people would not be burned by rising cost of food; as they would be able to sustain its cost.



Most importantly, the main strength of this virus is the countrys inability to test and be aware of its spread; hence, the Ambassador is appealing to the government, to provide all necessary support needed by our health care sectors across the board to ensure that they are prepared to test the people and to provide adequate medical attention to those who need it. Certainly, inadequate testing, our poor and failing health systems, shortages of health care supplies including mask, gloves, and beds, to name a few, would in fact propel this country into a more dire situation if we are not prepared; hence Amb. Owusu, is urging the government to provide the support needed for our health care workers to be equipped for the worse case scenario and if need be a lockdown of the entire nation to avoid emergency situation.



He is calling on all Ghanaians to take adequate precaution for their own safety, and to join the campaign of UN End Covid -19 now.



Bishop Samuel Ben Owusu



UN Peace Ambassador,



Call / WhatsApp



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Andhra Pradesh reported its



eighth confirmed COVID-19 case on Tuesday with a 25-year-old man, who returned from London on March 19, testing positive for the virus.

The man, who was admitted to a hospital in Tirupati, tested positve on Tuesday, the medical and health department said in a bulletin,



It said 14,907 people who returned to the state from various countries were under surveillance.

Of them 2,723 completed the 28-day quarantine period, while another 84 were admitted to hospitals across the state.

Meanwhile, state Director General of Police D G Sawang said cases were registered against 338 people under for violating the orders on total lockdown.

Over 200 vehicles in which the people were roaming on the roads were also seized, he said.

"The restrictions on account of the lockdown will only increase and we will deal very firmly with those who wilfully violate the prohibitory orders.

It is only in public interest that the lockdown has been imposed," the DGP told reporters.

The DGP said while inter-state movement of vehicles and people has been stopped, inter-district borders within the state too would be shut.

In many villages across the state, the villagers themselves used various methods to seal all entry and exit routes to their respective villages to ensure "nobody goes out, nobody comes in.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Agreement to characterize gene expression and immunological signature of tumors

- SkylineDx focuses on discovery and development of novel gene-based biomarkers

LUND, Sweden, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BioInvent International AB ("BioInvent") (OMXS: BINV) today announces an agreement with SkylineDx to characterize the gene expression and immunological signatures in tumors of patients pre- and post-treatment with BI-1206.

SkylineDx is a molecular diagnostics company which focuses on the discovery of novel gene-based biomarkers with high clinical utility for patient targeting and stratification. Headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, SkylineDx operates a CAP/CLIA certified laboratory in San Diego, California, USA.

Together the companies will research and develop predictive immunological signatures to help identify patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and solid cancers who are likely to show clinical responses if treated with BI-1206, BioInvent's lead product candidate.

Martin Welschof, CEO of BioInvent, said: "We are delighted to be working with SkylineDx, a company that has built up a great deal of expertise in molecular diagnostics, which is essential for the development of targeted cancer therapies. Identifying the right patients who are likely to respond to treatment with BI-1206 will constitute a major asset in the development of this promising treatment and, along with Fc?RIIB expression levels, should support the extension of its use to other malignancies."

Dharminder Chahal, CEO of SkylineDx, said: "It is a real pleasure to announce our collaboration with Bioinvent, a true pioneer in promising new cancer treatments. As a diagnostics company, we always strive for precision medicine. Joining forces to identify true responders in early phase pharmaceutical trials, will make mark an important milestone towards that goal."

About BioInvent

BioInvent International AB (OMXS: BINV) is a clinical stage company that discovers and develops novel and first-in-class immuno-modulatory antibodies for cancer therapies, with two ongoing programs in Phase l/ll clinical trials for the treatment of hematological cancer and solid tumors, respectively. Two preclinical programs in solid tumors are expected to have entered clinical trials by the end of 2020. The Company's validated, proprietary F.I.R.S.T technology platform simultaneously identifies both targets and the antibodies that bind to them, generating many promising new drug candidates to fuel the Company's own clinical development pipeline or for additional licensing and partnering.

The Company generates revenues from research collaborations and license agreements with multiple top-tier pharmaceutical companies, as well as from producing antibodies for third parties in the Company's fully integrated manufacturing unit. More information is available at www.bioinvent.com.

About SkylineDx

SkylineDx is a high-tech commercial-stage biotech company headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and a CAP/CLIA certified laboratory in San Diego, California, USA. The company uses its expertise to bridge the gap between academically discovered gene expression signatures and commercially available diagnostic products with high clinical utility. With the focus on diagnostics, SkylineDx assists healthcare professionals in accurately determining the type or status of the disease or to predict a patient's response to a specific treatment. Based on the test results, healthcare professionals can tailor the treatment to the individual patient. To learn more, please visit www.skylinedx.com.

For further information, please contact:

Martin Welschof, CEO Hans Herklots, LifeSci Advisors +46 (0)46 286 85 50 +41 79 598 71 49 martin.welschof@bioinvent.com hherklots@lifesciadvisors.com

BioInvent International AB (publ)

Co. Reg. No. Org nr: 556537-7263

Visiting address: Ideongatan 1

Mailing address: 223 70 LUND

Phone: +46 (0)46 286 85 50

www.bioinvent.com

The press release contains statements about the future, consisting of subjective assumptions and forecasts for future scenarios. Predictions for the future only apply as the date they are made and are, by their very nature, in the same way as research and development work in the biotech segment, associated with risk and uncertainty. With this in mind, the actual outcome may deviate significantly from the scenarios described in this press release.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 12:08 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0fec8 1 National national-exam,COVID-19,coronavirus,Nadiem-Makarim,house-of-representatives,Education,UN-ditiadakan,DPR Free

The government and House of Representatives have agreed to cancel the national exam for elementary, junior high and high school students amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Syaiful Huda, chairman of House Commission X overseeing education, told the press on Monday night that the decision was made in a teleconference between the lawmakers and Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim on Monday

"The spread of the COVID-19 is expected to occur until April, so it is impossible for us to force students to gather for the national exam under the threat of the pandemic. Therefore, we agreed that the national exam will not be administered, the National Awakening Party (PKB) politician said.

The national exam for high school students was supposed to run next week, while junior high and elementary school were scheduled for the end of April.

Syaiful added that there were several options the government and lawmakers were looking at to replace the national exam, one of which was to use assessments based on cumulative grades on report cards from three years of study for high school and junior high students, as well as six years of study for elementary students.

Read also: Some 70,000 Indonesians could be infected with COVID-19 before Ramadan, scientists say

"Later on, the school will calculate the grades considering all aspects on the report cards, including curricular and extracurricular activities," he said.

There is also the option of implementing an online national exam.

We do not want to gather students in school buildings," he said.

Nadiem previously planned to abolish the national exam and replace it with a very different kind of educational assessment for 2021. However, lawmakers were against the idea.

Nadiem in December 2019 explained that the minimum competency assessment referred to a test that would mainly evaluate students literacy and numerical competence.

The number of coronavirus infections nationwide reached 579 as of Monday, with 49 deaths and 30 recoveries.
To ensure social cohesion and communal peace, media professionals and clerics have been advised to apply diplomacy in their reportage and sermons, so as to stem the tide of religious conflicts in Nigeria.

This was the high point of a communique issued after a roundtable discussion among religious leaders, journalists and media experts on Monday.

Tagged Media Dialogue with Religious Leaders on Advancing Peace and Interreligious Dialogue in the Age of Social media, the event was held in Abuja by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

The dialogue was aimed at advancing peace and harmony, and proper reportage of religious conflicts.

Deliberation

During the discussion, participants urged everyone to support the sanctity of human life and do nothing to promote acts of violence against humanity, including publishing discourses justifying religious intolerance and expressions dividing humanity during sermons.

The head, media and communication, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Aselemi Ibrahim, called for balance in reportage while condemning the concept of a single story, which he said fuels social unrest in Nigeria.

The media has not been fair in the reportage of the religious crisis as a social responsibility. Religious reportage should be geared towards national cohesion while considering corporate existence of the nation, Mr Ibrahim said.

In his doctoral thesis titled The role of political, socioeconomic factors and the media in Nigerias interreligious conflict, Aliyu Musa said the reportage of the Jos religious violence in 2008 was biased in the representation of the north and south.

He noted that newspapers are regionally, ethnically and religiously inclined. They are particularly affected by factors like ownership, location, staffing and audience perception, which determine how they tailor reports.

Consequently, journalists were entreated to avoid the use of religious stereotypes in describing perpetrators of crimes in the society.

Crimes should be reported the way they happened, and the religious background of the deviant be reported with less focus on his/her religion, a NAN reporter, Angela Atabo, said.

The participants said it was the responsibility of the media to promote the value of friendship and mutual acceptance of others in co-existence.

They also called for interfaith cooperation, noting that there was a need for the leadership of Christian and Muslim groups to communicate their interests without inciting hatred.

Religious leaders were urged to be conscious of their expressions on social media while guiding their followers not to act on any castigating reports about their faith on social media.

On his part, the representative of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Paul Odeniyi, regretted the failure of some elite in bridging the social gaps and promoting peace.

He, however, urged the media which he described as the opinion shaper to be conscientious in dealing with reporting conflicts.

He said the agency would continue to partner with the center to ensure a proper sensitisation of religious leaders.

Earlier in his address, the coordinator, AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, noted that fears of religious conflicts breaking out in Nigeria could threaten peace and unity of the country if not checked.

To achieve this, he said, media and information literacy should be used as a tool to change the behaviour of opinion moulders who are often religious leaders and media professionals.
[March 24, 2020] AVANT Communications Deploys 8x8 to Modernize Its Communications and Video Collaboration

8x8, Inc. (NYSE:EGHT), a leading integrated cloud communications platform, today announced that AVANT Communications ("AVANT"), a platform for IT decision-making for next generation technologies, has deployed the 8x8 X Series Unified Communications (News - Alert) as a Service (UCaaS) solution to help enhance the employee experience for their mobile and remote workforce in the United States and United Kingdom. Experiencing dynamic business growth as it worked closely with many of the leading technology vendors in the industry, AVANT realized it could transform the way it did business through the modernization of its communications and collaboration platform. After evaluating several vendors to displace its legacy system, AVANT selected the 8x8 (News - Alert) cloud voice, chat and video meetings solution, all on one, open cloud technology platform, for its more than 100 employees in the US and UK. "Our employees need to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively and productively, whether in the office or remote from home, to enable our growing ecosystem of Trusted Advisors and technology partners to help companies navigate change and solve their business and technology challenges," said Ron Hayman, COO at AVANT Communications (News - Alert). "We chose 8x8 because they met our strict requirements for a mobile and remote workforce, including reliable voice quality, resilient global infrastructure, desktop and mobile applications, tight Salesforce CRM integration, with video meetings and rooms functionality." AVANT initially deployed 8x8 X Series at their Dallas office, and then expedited the roll out for their Chicago headquarters, remote employees, and in the UK to ensure the company is ready, responsive and resilient to implement a seamless mandatory work from home policy at a moment's notice. Employees now have the flexibility of using a modern cloud communications and video collaboration platform with the same full features and user experience in the office, at remote locations, and on desktop and mbile devices.



"As a trusted partner and one of 8x8's top Master Agents, AVANT's growing network of Trusted Advisors relies on them for their guidance and expertise on a wide range of UCaaS, CCaaS and video collaboration offerings. We are thrilled that AVANT deployed 8x8 to modernize their communications and video collaboration platform," said John DeLozier, Senior Vice President and Global Channel Chief at 8x8, Inc. "Amongst the many vendors in this space, AVANT chose 8x8, and we couldn't be more proud. We look forward to continuing our close relationship with AVANT, now both as a partner and customer, and providing them with best-in-class cloud communications services for all of their employees." More than 3 Million Video Meetings Monthly Active Users Globally

8x8 X Series meets the needs of businesses with a mobile and remote workforce by providing a highly reliable and resilient solution across desktop and mobile devices for voice, video, chat, contact center, APIs and advanced analytics. This allows companies to unify a distributed workforce and enable flexible workstyles. 8x8 Series includes 8x8 Video Meetings, which is also available as a free, unlimited standalone version at https://8x8.vc, and provides international dial-in numbers in more than 55 countries. 8x8 Video Meetings is optimized for use with the WebRTC standard which enables attendees to instantly join meetings without any downloads or plugins. 8x8 has experienced a significant increase in usage across its video meetings solutions with monthly active users growing globally to now more than 3 million. For the latest 8x8 Video Meetings usage statistics, user stories and social posts updated daily, visit https://www.8x8.com/live. About 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact center, and enterprise-class API solutions powered by one global cloud communications platform. 8x8 empowers workforces worldwide to connect individuals and teams so they can collaborate faster and work smarter. Real-time business analytics and intelligence provide businesses unique insights across all interactions and channels so they can delight end-customers and accelerate their business. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or follow 8x8 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. 8x8 and 8x8 X Series are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. About AVANT Communications AVANT Communications ("AVANT") is a platform for IT decision-making and the nation's premier distributor for next-generation technologies. AVANT provides unique value to its extensive network of Trusted Advisors with original research, channel sales assistance, training, and tools to guide decision-making around IT services that promote business growth. From complex cloud designs to global wide-area network deployments to the latest in security services, AVANT sets the industry standard in enabling its partners and clients to make intelligent, data-driven decisions about services, technology and cost-effective communications. For more information, visit www.goavant.net, or connect on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005203/en/

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March 24, 2020 Drilon: COA rules, anti-graft law will not be waived in 'Bayanihan' bill Senate Minority Franklin Drilon on Tuesday said that audit regulations on government agencies and the anti-graft law will remain enforced in the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act" which would assist the President in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. On Monday, the Senate, voting12-0, approved Senate Bill1418 or the "Bayanihan to Heal As One Act" authored by Senate President Tito Sotto III and Senator Pia Cayetano. Drilon, however, made it clear that the move by Congress does not in any way waive audit rules and regulations and the anti-graft law. "Nais kong bigyang diin na hindi ibig sabihin na isasantabi na natin ang ating auditing rules, ang safeguards, ang anti-graft laws. Hindi po binabalewala iyan," Drilon said in an interview with radio station DzBB on Tuesday. "It does not mean that we will set aside Commission of Audit rules and our anti-graft law. Kapag hindi natin sinunod ito ay may pananagutan pa rin tayo," he warned. The minority leader agreed that these are extraordinary times as coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads throughout the country. "Aminin natin o hindi, talagang may emergency sa ating paligid ngayon. Many are sick and the demand on medical services is very high, and manyhave lost their livelihood and income due to the quarantine," he said. Drilon said he hopes that the measure will "give enough leeway to the executive branch to do their job" within three months. Drilon amended the Malacanan bill and put a stop on the desired "perpetual exercise of the emergency powers" by limiting the same to three months, unless Congress extends the same. Under the proposed measure, the President is given the authority to declare savings within the executive branch in the 2020 General Appropriations Act and use them to augment items that could address the effects of the coronavirus in the country. Drilon said he proposed amendments to make the provisions of the measure compliant to the Supreme Court rulings on Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). "Ang power to realign ay dapat sang-ayon sa mga reglamento na inilabas ng Korte Suprema doon sa PDAF at DAP cases," he added. "Ang sinabi ng Korte Suprema ang pwede lang i-realign ay yung within the executive branch, hindi kasama yung sa legislative, judiciary, constitutional commissions, at dapat may savings," Drilon explained. "We also made sure that the funds will be used to fund programs, projects and activities that directly related to addressing the covid-19 pandemic" he added. The minority leader also proposed to prioritize several items in the budget which the Senate adopted. These include the following: Under the Department of Health - operational budgets of government hospitals, primarily those indentified for treatment of COVID-19; prevention and control of other infesctious diseases; eergency preparedness and response; quick response fund;

Under the University of the Philippines - the operational budget of the Philippine General Hospital;

The National Disaster Risk Reduction fund or calamity fund;

Programs of the Department of Labor and Employment, such as but not limited to Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disvanvantaged/Displaced Workers and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program;

Under the Department of Agriculture - Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program; The minority leader also expressed full support to the grant of P8,000 to Filipino poor households for two, urging the executive to roll out the program at the soonest time possible to help them cope with the effects of COVID-19.
Hoarders being bused into small communities on the pretext of picking fruit were plundering shops in the lead-up to the coronavirus meltdown.

Daily Mail Australia has been told Victorian wineries were told to stop bringing in grape pickers after supermarkets were 'raided' by hoarders.

In the Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne, groups of hoarders were seen stripping supermarkets of products.

Hoarders have been found filling and emptying storage facilities around Melbourne with basic supplies (above)

A woman is seen at a Melbourne storage facility with loads of products most Australians have been unable to get their hands on (above)

Footage caught a group of shoppers avoiding the Woolworths two-tin limit on baby formula by purchasing in rounds at the Docklands store in December - the same month coronavirus was discovered in China

A source who works closely with the region's wine industry told Daily Mail Australia the foreign pickers had been causing headaches for struggling locals.

'They had to stop bringing in the buses,' he said. 'It had become a problem.'

With the contracted workforce now effectively banished from the area, and the harvest approaching its end over the next week, locals hope things may return to as close to normal as possible given the situation.

Local casuals are believed to be be finishing off the harvest.

'The supermarkets have definitely been busy because a lot of people have left the city and have come down here,' a local merchant said.

The revelations come amid reports large quantities of household products that have been stripped from Australian supermarkets have ended up in storage facilities ready for export back to China.

One Melbourne man told Daily Mail Australia he saw a woman either stacking or removing large quantities of sort-after household products at a Collingwood storage facility late last week.

'It was just disgusting,' Dan said. 'I approached the woman and asked what she was doing, but she couldn't care less. People are just looting the country.'

The revelations came a day after Daily Mail Australia reported that furious shoppers had hit out at a group of women seen stripping baby formula from a supermarket's shelves despite supposedly strict purchasing restrictions.

An angry shopper from Rowville, in Melbourne's south-east, took photos of the group and posted them to social media on March 17.

The shopper said the three baby formula opportunists 'bounding to and from' the Woolworths buying a tin of formula each time - 'without a baby between them'.

Last week, pictures emerged showing three-tonne pallet loads of baby formula sitting on the tarmac at Sydney airport ready to be flown to Hong Kong.

The photos were taken by a Sydney father and airport worker who was shocked to come across the delivery on the runway after struggling to buy formula for his six-month old daughter.

'Last night my wife went to 17 different supermarkets to find just one tin of baby formula so we can feed our child,' the worker told 9 News.

A woman had her car stuffed with items at a Collingwood storage facility just outside of Melbourne. People fear product is being exported back to China

People awaiting their turn to purchase toilet paper, paper towel and pasta at Coles Supermarket in Sydney last week

'A manager of a supermarket told my wife, 'Well I'm sorry but you should have stocked up before.''

The father said he even tried to switch to a more available brand but his daughter 'did not want any of it. She was crying, she wasn't feeding.'

A video posted on social media on March 8 of a gang looting a supermarket of baby formula has drawn equal venom from angry Australians.

Thousands have commented on the video, which was actually shot in December last year at the Docklands Woolworths in Melbourne.,

The video showed members of the group buying tins of baby formula two at a time, before storing them in bags outside of the shop and returning for more.

Furious shoppers called out a group of women for buying up all the baby formula at Woolworths in Melbourne's south-east last week

Hoarders were sprung at a Melbourne supermarket in December cleaning out shelves of baby formula. It just so happen to coincide with the outbreak of coronavirus in China

Pictures emerged showing three-tonne pallet loads of baby formula sitting on the tarmac at Sydney airport ready to be flown to Hong Kong

The man who posted the video at the time, Andy Frances, shared his outrage and said: 'This isn't about the people taking the cans in the video below. This is about Australian Mums and Dads that can't get their babies preferred formula.'

It was the same month the coronavirus was first recognised in China when health authorities revealed they were treating dozens of cases.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed grocery hoarders amid the COVID-19 crisis and said he had a plan to stop them if the situation continued.

'There are measures that could be moved towards if we had to do it, but, to be honest, I'd be very disappointed if we had to,' he said.

A Wooloworths spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia staff do their very best to monitor the purchasing of baby formula.

'We encourage any parents who find their chosen baby formula is unavailable on the shelves to speak with store management, so we can help get them stock as quickly as possible,' the spokeswoman said.
IN response to the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), a local firm, Sahara Ventures, has postponed the 2020 Sahara Sparks season and its events until further notice.

Sahara Ventures Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jumanne Mtambalike said yesterday that this years event with the theme Future Reimagined focuses on rethinking Africas future by imagining Africa in 2030 would be held at the end of July.

Sahara Ventures and partners through its events wing, Sahara Sparks Events Limited, organises events on innovation and technology entrepreneurship with stakeholders in Africa.

The events explore possibilities of using innovation, technology and entrepreneurship as tools to foster Africas socioeconomic development, he said.

However, he added, in response to and abiding by precautionary measures announced by President John Magufuli and the World Health Organisation (WHO) of prohibiting small and large public gatherings, the #FutureReimagined campaign would continue and the company was exploring possibilities of conducting virtual events.

We will confirm this in the next 14 days. Alongside this, some of the events to the main SS20 as it has been our tradition will continue. This includes the Silicon Dar Startup School event expected to take place on April 1-3 to be hosted at the Data Lab University of Dar es Salaam College of ICT, he said.

Sahara Sparks is a regional event with average attendees of more than 1,000 people every year from different countries and nationalities.

It focuses on demographic trends for economic transformation in Africa, capitalising on the digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution, nurturing regional integration and cross-border collaboration.

It also focuses on combating climate change and embracing circular economy, fostering innovation for development to realise SDGs and deepening good governance and cross-generation leadership dialogues.

According to Mtambalike, other events towards the main event that were planned to happen between April and August will either be cancelled, postponed or conducted virtually.
Everyone is handling self-quarantine differently. Britney Spears is offering up daily yoga moves to her followers, actress Gal Gadot set up a group sing-along of 'Imagine' with her plethora of celebrity pals (to mixed reviews) and Ellen DeGeneres looks like she's run out of friends to call.

But how are our nation's tech bros getting through this? And more importantly, what are they doing to help?

From big donations to clueless tweets, here's how they're weighing in on the global pandemic.

Mark Zuckerberg

Getty Images for Breakthrough Pr

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been busy. He's funding more coronavirus testing in San Francisco, educating the public using Facebook via livestreams and donating the masks he had stored in case of wildfires.

Zuckerberg live-streamed an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading expert on the subject.

The doctor discussed social distancing with Zuckerberg, saying he expects the measures to last more than 15 days.

Facebook is also putting facts from experts on the news feeds of its more than two billion users, working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Facebook also announced a $100 million program to help small businesses by offering $100 million in cash grants and ad credits as restaurants, bars and shops are forced to close.

Zuckerberg is also giving a $1,000 cash bonus to Facebook's 45,000 employees which will be distributed throughout April. They're also up for big bonuses.

And don't worry, he's also working from home at the moment.

Bill Gates

Getty Images

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering with the University of Washington to fund at-home testing kits for coronavirus in Seattle, where it's prevalent. The foundation is also developing home-testing kits.

The noted philanthropist, famously the world's second-richest person, already committed to donating $100 million to help detect and treat the virus.

Gates also answered questions during a Reddit AMA, where he said, "If a country does a good job with testing and 'shut down' then within 6-10 weeks they should see very few cases and be able to open back up."

But he also said testing in America is "not organized yet," explaining, "In the next few weeks I hope the Government fixes this by having a website you can go to find out about home testing and kiosks."

Jack Dorsey

Twitter's CEO is giving back on (you guessed it) Twitter.

Getty Images

The billionaire Twitter founder sent out a tweet that quickly went viral offering up money via CashApp to people in need. In a helpful twist, Dorsey owns Square, which owns (you guessed it) CashApp.

He has also been busy tweeting out facts about the pandemic (as well as supporting Beyonce).

Jeff Bezos

Getty Images for WIRED25

Bezos owns Amazon, which owns Whole Foods. The grocery store announced that employees diagnosed with coronavirus will receive two weeks of pay. Though this was after it received backlash for suggesting employees donate sick days to each other.

Workers at Amazon in Italy are currently striking to protest treatment. After employees were diagnosed, practices didn't change, with employees claiming social distancing measures were not being implemented.

Amazon is doing better than ever as people order delivery from home daily. The business is even looking to hire 100,000 new employees at higher salaries than usual for its warehouse and delivery in America to keep up with demand.

The company CEO recently told his employees that he believes the pandemic will get worse and is offering double pay for hourly workers.

Bezos has also reportedly been in contact with the White House about the pandemic. Hopefully, he doesn't voice-to-text Trump, as he's notoriously not great at that.

Michael Bloomberg

Getty Images

Now former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is no longer spending all of his money on campaign commercials he has turned his attention to the spreading pandemic.

He pledged $40 million to fight coronavirus but some of the people close to him could be at risk. Members of his campaign staff have now been laid off without health insurance after they were exposed to the virus.

Before dropping out of the race, billionaire Bloomberg had promised to keep his employees on until March 31 and if he could, find them new jobs. He ended up letting hundreds go, which left them without health insurance.

Elon Musk

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk / AFP via Getty Images

Musk might have some of the most controversial takes on coronavirus - just look at his Twitter for proof (fellow billionaire tech bro Jack refuses to delete his tweets). He said kids were "essentially immune" although that has since been proven to be untrue.

He has, however, promised to make ventilators if the shortage continues, using his Tesla factories. He said that he has 1,200 ventilators ready this week.
Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.
Tourism bosses have called for a wider government rescue package than the 4bn in income support measures; and want businesses in their industry to receive the bulk of it.

Industry representative body the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) said the Government is not doing enough to protect employers, warning that the tourism industry here is on the brink and could see job losses top 200,000 in the near-term if action is not taken.

Latest CSO figures showed 265,000 people working directly and indirectly in Irelands tourism industry. However, an estimated 150,000 people have lost their jobs during this crisis.

Leading hospitality organisations including Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland and the Restaurant Association of Ireland have been meeting Government, led by ITIC.

Irelands tourism industry is worth around 9bn, with 75% of its economy reliant on in-bound travel. ITIC said very little of that will be seen this year and even if Covid-19 disappeared immediately, it would be into 2021 before the start of a recovery would be seen. It said the virus presents shattering economic implications to the industry.

The organisations want a multi-billion euro package to support tourism businesses, with that package including a job retention scheme, interest-free loans, debt forbearance, and business continuity grants.

ITIC chief executive Eoghan OMara-Walsh said Ireland is currently way behind Germany, France and the UK in terms of its economic response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Our Government needs to get very serious very quickly about the business impact of Covid-19 and borrow big, as other European nations are doing, to stabilise the economy. It is time for Government to agree to spend to protect the economy and the Irish tourism and hospitality industry has to get its fair share, he said.

ITIC has put to Government a three-step plan to save Irish tourism.

Covering business survival, liquidity measures and stimulation of demand; it calls for a waiving of local authority rates, interest-free loans from the main banks and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, State-guaranteed working capital and business continuity loans and insurer commitment to the provision of business interruption cover.

It also calls for financial support for the cancellation of large events as a result of Covid-19.

In order to stimulate demand, ITIC wants the tourism Vat rate to be set at 0% for the duration of the outbreak crisis and then set at 9% on a permanent basis once recovery has set in. A doubling of investment in overseas marketing is also warranted, it said, while domestic marketing should also be increased to drive home holidays.

It has also lobbied for support for airlines to allow them maintain and renew key routes.

Good tourism businesses and excellent tourism people risk getting dragged under by this tsunami, said ITIC chairperson Ruth Andrews, and Government must do much more to protect companies and help keep them in business.

ITIC also wants a directive to insurance companies that Government advice to the public to avoid pubs, and restaurants is enough for businesses to claim on their insurance where they have appropriate interruption cover in place.
Indias 1.3 billion people will go under total lockdown for 21 days to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, warning that anyone going outside risked inviting the virus inside their homes, and pledging $2bn to bolster the countrys beleaguered healthcare system.

From 12 midnight today [1830 GMT Tuesday], the entire country will be in lockdown, total lockdown, Modi said on Tuesday in a televised address, his second in a week.

To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown, he said, putting nearly one-fifth of the worlds population under lockdown.

India has lagged behind other nations in the number of COVID-19 cases, but there has been a sharp increase in recent days to 519 infections, including 10 deaths, according to the government.

Earlier on Tuesday, police enforced lockdowns across large parts of India put under curfew, as health officials warned that the coronavirus was spreading out of big cities, where it first appeared, into smaller towns.

Health researchers have warned that more than a million people in India could be infected with the coronavirus by mid-May

India has already severed international flight links and will stop domestic air services at midnight in a bid to halt the spread.

Fears of virus spreading

There are fears in India about the virus spreading into impoverished communities and the ability of resource-starved public health sectors to cope.

A health official in the western state of Maharashtra said new cases were starting to appear in small towns after a first wave emerged in big cities like Mumbai.

This trend is worrying as rural areas have limited infrastructure to deal with the outbreak, said the state health official who declined to be identified, saying he was not authorised to speak to journalists.

States have been imposing their own lockdowns and have been suspending train and bus services and ordering traffic off the roads.

A new concern in the northern Indian state of Punjab was the risk of infection from an estimated 90,000 overseas Indians who had travelled back to their ancestral homeland, the state governments top health official, Balbir Singh Sidhu.

Many people from Punjab live in Britain, the United States and Canada and travel back in the cool winter to visit.

A team of scientists based mainly in the US said this week that Indias tally of infections could jump to 1.3 million by mid-May if the virus maintains its rate of spread.

Even with the best-case scenarios, probably, you are in a very painful crisis, said Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan who was involved in the study.

More than 377,300 people have been infected by the coronavirus globally, and 16,520 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Breaking up Delhi protests

Earlier on Monday, police in the Indian capital broke up the longest-running protest against a new citizenship law, citing a ban on public gatherings because of the coronavirus.

Dozens of people, many of them women, had been staging a sit-in protest since early December on a street in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, turning it into a focal point for opposition to the law seen as discriminating against Muslims.

Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the protesters and told them to leave, said Delhis joint police commissioner, DC Srivastava.

It is a dangerous environment, with this coronavirus, he told reporters.

Some demonstrators resisted the police, and at least nine people had been detained, six of them women, Srivastava said, adding there was no violence.
I feel a bit like this about Kerrville, Texas, where I went to high school.

Each time I return, there is less and less of that kid who, once upon a time, wanted to live there forever.

A town growing dimmer every time I see it

The only constant about Kerrville, TX is the rate at which my youth disappears.

I have said that the trip back is difficult, and it isdifficult in a way that magnifies the ordinary ambiguities of sentimental journeys. Going back to California is not like going back to Vermont, or Chicago; Vermont and Chicago are relative constants, against which one measures ones own change. All that is constant about the California of my childhood is the rate at which it disappears.

-Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem


The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across Nigeria has risen to 40, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed early Tuesday, after four new cases were diagnosed late on Monday.

The new cases were reported on the health agencys situation report dashboard and its Twitter handle, @NCDCgov.

Two of the four cases were confirmed in travellers who just returned to the country.

Of the 40 cases, 28 had travel history to high-risk countries in the last two weeks.

A breakdown of the current cases shows that three of the cases were diagnosed in Lagos State and one in Abuja.

As at 11:00pm on the 23rd of March, there are 40 confirmed cases of COVID19 in Nigeria. Two have been discharged with one death recorded, the NCDC said.

With the newest update, Lagos has so far reported 28 cases of the virus, FCT  7, Ogun  2, while Oyo, Ekiti, and Edo states have one case each.

So far, a breakdown of cases by states in real time, shows that 37 cases are active, two have been discharged and one death reported.

Four new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria. 3 are in Lagos State and 1 in FCT Two of these cases are returning travellers As at 11:00pm on the 23rd of March, there are 40 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with 1 death recorded pic.twitter.com/cR94MO6xnC  NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 23, 2020

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Death

Nigeria had reported the first death from Covid-19 on Monday. The patient was a Nigerian who had underlying illnesses and died due to complications in Abuja.

He recently returned from the United Kingdom.

As of Monday, most of the remaining 39 cases were clinically stable with mild symptoms and one patient being oxygen-dependent.

Precautions

With the increasing number of confirmed cases in the country, the federal government has been putting in place some measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Some include the ban on all international flights effective from Monday, with the exception of emergency and essential flights.

Some states have also banned large gatherings, closed schools and some offices

Response activities

With new cases soaring daily, the government has intensified contact tracing to trace those who might have been in contact with the infected groups.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, had earlier lamented that most of the people who returned to Nigeria from high risk countries are part of the reasons why cases have been rising in the country.

He said most of them had not adhered to the directives to self isolate for 14 days after returning to Nigeria.

The fight to contain COVID-19 is a call for collective action, he said.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Atiku dispels perfidious information about sons case

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Mr Ehanire urged all Nigerians to take self-isolation and social distancing very seriously, to prevent the spread of the disease in Nigeria.

He added that people should ensure that they maintain at least two metres (5 feet) physical distance between themselves and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
As the nationwide count of coronavirus positive cases crossed 517, various state governments have ordered a complete lockdown to contain the rapid spread of novel virus. Meanwhile, state police has expressed dissatisfaction over non-adherence to the government orders on clampdown and have requested citizens to practise self-isolation and stay at home. Here's how they implemented a unique way of motivating people to do so:


All airlines have been asked to stop transporting overseas Vietnamese to Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City from March 25 to 31 to prevent overcrowding at quarantine facilities in the southern metropolis.

The Ministry of Transport has requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to inform all airlines of the new decision, as quarantine camps in Ho Chi Minh City can no longer receive people coming from foreign nations.

Flights carrying overseas Vietnamese will instead be directed to airports in other provinces and cities, depending on the capacity of local isolation facilities.

The CAAV was also told to provide favorable conditions for flights that transport foreign citizens in Vietnam back to their home countries.

Since March 18, many flights traveling from other nations to Tan Son Nhat have already been redirected to Can Tho International Airport in the namesake Mekong Delta city.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected nearly 381,500 and killed more than 16,500 globally as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 123 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, with 17 having already walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

No death from the disease has been recorded in the country so far.

From March 21, all incoming travelers to Vietnam have been isolated for 14 days as part of more assertive measures to curb the spread of the epidemic.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS?

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.
JACKSON, MI -- Joyce Anderson had one last flower delivery to make before closing her shop due to the coronavirus outbreak.

She made it count.

Anderson, owner of Jos Flowers, 4130 W. Michigan Ave. in Blackman Township, donated her inventory of fresh flowers to Arbor Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Spring Arbor.

Anderson, who has owned the business for 21 years, was forced to close as the stay-at-home order enacted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer due to COVID-19 went into place on Tuesday, March 24. Despite the closing, she wanted to bring some positive energy to people.

I just figured there was so much sadness in the world, Anderson said. I thought this could put a smile on a few faces.

Arbor Manor is planning to distribute the flowers to residents rooms, as they are not gathering in groups, Anderson said.

Anderson plans to re-open her shop when the stay-at-home order is lifted.

I am just hoping we can pick up where we left off, she said.
Senate Democrats have yet again blocked Republicans' "phase three" coronavirus economic stimulus bill.

In a 49-46 vote on Monday, Democrats voted almost unanimously against pushing Republicans' $1.8 trillion package to a floor vote, putting it far short of the 60 votes it needed to proceed. They said they're still negotiating with the Trump administration over the bill, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier Monday he was "hopeful" they'd "reach a deal today."

The Monday vote came after lengthy debate on the floor of the Senate, during which Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the most conservative Democrats in the body, slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for being "worried more about the economy than we are the health care and the wellbeing of the people of America." Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who's up for a tough re-election race this fall, meanwhile switched his vote to side with Republicans, saying he was "embarrassed" by the political gaming over the bill.

Senate Democrats similarly blocked the bill in a 47-47 procedural vote on Sunday. It would provide $1,200 checks to individual Americans and more to families, but also contains industry bailouts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) characterized as a "slush fund" for corporations.

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By Hereward Holland

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo imposed a two-day lockdown in part of its copper and cobalt heartland and a union official said a Glencore mine in a neighbouring province had repatriated some foreign workers in response to an expanding coronavirus outbreak.

The governor of Haut-Katanga province, Jacques Kyabula, issued the lockdown order late on Sunday and said the boundaries of the province would also be closed after two people tested positive for the virus in the provincial capital, Lubumbashi.

Sandeep Mishra, a general manager at Chemaf, the Congo subsidiary of Dubai-based Shalina Resources, confirmed its mines in Haut-Katanga had been suspended for two days and said production would suffer as a result.

Ivanhoe and MMG Ltd, which also have concessions in Haut-Katanga, had no immediate comment.

In neighbouring Lualaba province, Glencore's Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) mine, a copper and cobalt project, repatriated 26 foreign workers on Monday in response to the outbreak, a union official told Reuters.

Charles Kumbi, a regional programme director with the IndustriALL union, which has an affiliate at KCC, said the workers had been sent home on technical leave but would resume work once the situation got back to normal.

A Glencore spokesman declined to comment.

The governor of Lualaba province, which is home to several other large copper and cobalt projects, ordered all public markets to close on Monday except those selling food and medicine.

The governor, Richard Muyej, told Reuters that the order does not apply to mines. He also said the Haut-Katanga governor's order does not apply to mining shipments originating in Lualaba, which could still be trucked through Haut-Katanga to the Zambian border.

Together, Haut-Katanga and Lualaba account for nearly all of Democratic Republic of Congo's output of cobalt, a component in electric car batteries. Congo produces about 60% of the world's cobalt.

Story continues

Indigo Ellis, Head of Africa Research at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said she expected the lockdown and possible subsequent disruptions to weigh heavily on copper output.

"Operators will likely place mines under care and maintenance for a minimum period of 14 days, as weve seen in comparable mines in Peru and Chile," Ellis said.

"The difference in DRC is that these companies will have to make the first move. Local and national governments will likely not mandate shutdowns to try and keep up resource rents."

Authorities said they were trying to locate passengers who were on a flight on Sunday from the national capital Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, on which two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a video posted on Twitter, Governor Kyabula asked them to stay at home and contact the medical services.

Only the military, police, medical staff and authorised civil servants will be allowed to travel around the province, he said. Otherwise, transport from trucks to bicycles and barges has been halted.

"No activity will be tolerated in Haut-Katanga during this 48-hour period," Kyabula said.

The two cases from the flight took the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Congo to 30, including two deaths.

More than 1,700 cases of coronavirus have now been reported across Africa, according to a Reuters tally.

There are concerns that the continent will not be able to handle a surge in cases without the depth of medical facilities available in more developed economies.

(Additional reporting by Helen Reid; additional reporting and writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
The countrys public transit agencies say they are facing financial hardship because of the outbreak, which has cost them billions in revenue lost from steep ridership declines. Public transportation systems are collectively in the hole nearly $10 billion, according to the American Public Transportation Association. The total includes unanticipated costs for deep cleaning, masks, gloves, sanitizer and disinfectants to protect employees and help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
THE new National Mental Health Hospital and an expansion to the National Rehabilitation Hospital are being lined up as locations for treating coronavirus patients.

Both developments are nearing completion and could provide almost 300 beds between them.

Sources confirmed that the new hospitals are among locations with isolation facilities that are being considered to boost health service capacity should it be needed.

The National Forensic Mental Health Service (NFMHS) hospital at Portrane, Co Dublin is due to be operational this summer.

It will ultimately replace the current Central Mental Hospital facility in Dundrum.

But it has the capacity to provide care for 170 patients as and will have an intensive care rehabilitation unit and it is under consideration as a possible location for coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, a 120-bed development at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire is also being lined up as a place to treat patients with the virus.

The new facility has en suite single-rooms.

Read More

Sources said that any HSE-owned premises that have isolation facilities are under consideration for use if acute hospitals come under pressure.

The HSE is said to be making good progress in securing extra capacity, while hoping that it wont have to be used due to measures like social distancing and proper and frequent hand washing by the public.

Health chiefs have been in talks with private hospitals about the 1,900 beds in the sector.

Hotels and places like the Garda training college at Templemore may be used as step down or isolation facilities to further increase capacity.

Read More

It was reported by the Currency website last week that the massive Citywest Hotel outside Dublin is to be turned into a field hospital by the HSE amid talks with its owners.

The hotels rooms would be used to accommodate patients or the medical staff treating them.
A Stewartville man was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital Monday evening after suffering burns in a fire at an abandoned house.

Fire departments from Rochester, Eyota and Elgin were called to the Olmsted County-owned site at the 4600 block of 70th Avenue NE in Haverhill Township about 6:20 p.m.

A passing motorist saw the abandoned house on fire and a person running from the building and called emergency responders.

The site, identified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as the "Penz property," was obtained by the state of Minnesota from Calvin Penz in 2017 via tax sale. Olmsted County took ownership of the property last month, according to Olmsted County property records.

The property is identified by the MPCA as a brownfield site with multiple environmental hazards, including petroleum, solid waste and leaking ground waste.

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When crews arrived, they found a 37-year-old man in his underwear at a nearby property with severe burns on his body, according to Olmsted County Sheriff's Capt. Scott Behrns. It is unclear if the man took his clothes off or if they were burned off.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Behrns said it was unclear why the man was at the property and evidence at the scene was not consistent with the statement he gave to law enforcement. There were indications of narcotics activity on the property, Behrns said.

The man was taken by ambulance to a nearby intersection and from there was taken by helicopter to a hospital in the Twin Cities.

One injured in pollution site fire
Coronavirus update: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced nationwide lockdown in the wake of increasing cases of novel corona till 21 days i.e., three weeks. The nationwide lockdown will be in effect from midnight to save every Indian, he said. The 21-day lockdown period is to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Earlier today, the central government on Tuesday prohibited the export of ventilators, sanitisers, and other ICU equipment with immediate effect in the wake of increasing novel coronavirus cases in India. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total number of positive coronavirus cases has risen to 519 (including 39 discharged people and 9 deaths).

Also Read: PM Modi Speech Live Updates: Prime Minister's second address on coronavirus to begin at 8PM

Out of these six cases, five are from Mumbai and one is from Nagar. The states of Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Odisha, Sikkim have entered their lockdown phase as the country battles COVID-19 pandemic. The central government had annonced a complete lockdown in 75 districts across the country on Sunday. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in the country has increased to 482, as stated by ICMR at 10am on Tuesday. As cases increase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that he will address the nation at 8pm.This is the second address to the nation in less than a week by the Prime Minister. He will speak about coronavirus, the measures taken and things that are important to keep in mind amid the outbreak. To make matters easier for coronavirus patients, the government has announced that it will now include COVID-19 treatment under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme. The first case in Northeast has also been reported. The patient, a citizen of Manipur had returned from the UK. Back in Wuhan that is the epicentre of the entire coronavirus pandemic, the authorities have lifted outbound travel restrictions on its citizens. Wuhan will allow outbound travel from April 8, while the other cities of Hubei province will allow it from March 25.

Also read: First Made-in-India COVID-19 test kit by Mylab gets commercial approval

Also: PM Modi's address to nation on coronavirus; where and when to watch live stream

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Chloroquine demand skyrockets after ICMR recommendation

Follow the latest developments on the pandemic on the coronavirus live updates here:

10.45 pm: The right thing to do is for every citizen to support the lockdown whatever may be the hardships; I am certain the PM understands the urgency of announcing a financial package, tweets former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Listened carefully to Prime Ministers address. Left me with a mix of emotions  relief, vindication, frustration, disappointment, worry, fear etc.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

The lockdown is late, but better late than never. Those who mocked the idea of a lockdown will do the country a great favour by remaining silent for 21 days.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

PMs announcement left a gaping hole. Who is going to provide cash to the poor that they need for the next 21 days?  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

Why does it take 4 days and more to work out the promised financial package? We have enough talent to finalise the package in 4 hours.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

What is the meaning of Rs 15,000 crore announced by PM? Let me repeat  government needs to find Rs 5 lakh crore over the next 4-6 months to manage the economic consequences.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

The right thing to do is for every citizen to support the lockdown whatever may be the hardships.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

I am certain the PM understands the urgency of announcing a financial package and putting cash in the pockets of the poor, daily workers, agricultural workers, self-employed etc.  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

Once the package is announced, there are other pressing sectoral problems that have to be addressed. For example, how are the farmers going to harvest their crop beginning April 1?  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

9.19 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for offences and penalties during the 21-day complete lockdown in India.

Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for offences and penalties during the 21-day countrywide lockdown. #CoronavirusLockdownpic.twitter.com/wo7TKR80eA  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.13 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs releases guidelines, list of essentials ahead of 21-day lockdown

Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for the 21-day lockdown, list of essential services that will remain open. #CoronavirusLockdownpic.twitter.com/hwRgWEM88z  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.12 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs issues order for 21-day lockdown.

Ministry of Home Affairs order for the 21-day countrywide lockdown. #CoronavirusLockdownpic.twitter.com/Hz1KDfYHIA  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.00 pm: Coronavirus latest news: Six more tested positive in Punjab

Six more people tested positive for COVID-19 on Punjab. With this the total number of confirmed cases to 29 in the state, according to the officials.

8.54 pm: Coronavirus India: Cabinet Secretary takes high-level meeting to impose nation-wide lockdown

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday convened a high-level meeting with top DG and Chief Secretaries of states and UTs to ensure nation-wide lockdown in the country. They will also discuss several issues such as essential supply, medical stores etc.

8.53 pm: Here are few other highlights from PM Modi's COVID-19 address

If we don't handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family will go backwards by 21 years

I have full faith that we will emerge victorious from this challenge

I have requested all states that health services should be first priority in this situation

Requested all states that health services should be first priority

Social distancing is the only way to combat novel coronavirus. Social distancing not only for infected people but for every citizen including the Prime Minister.

A coronavirus-infected initially appears to be normal and healthy, doesn't show any symptoms. So, be precautious and stay at home.

Centre has allocated of ?15,000 crore to strengthen health infrastructure to combat COVID-19 pandemic

Showing a poster, PM Modi said corona means 'Koi Road Par Na Nikle' (No one should come out roads)

8.43 pm: Don't believe rumours and superstitions, says PM Modi

Don't believe in rumours and superstitions, don't take any medicines without consulting doctors, says PM Modi.

8.42 pm: PM Modi tells India to think of corona warriors

PM Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday asked every Indian to think of the welfare of several essential service staff at the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. . "Think of those doctors, those nurses, the para-medical staff, pathologists who are working day and night in order to save lives. Pray for those who are working nonstop to keep your neighbourhoods and the society sanitized. Think of the mediapersons who are working in life-threatening situations to bring you accurate news 24/7," he said.

8.35 pm: PM Modi announces Rs 15,000 crore stimulus to fight against COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Tuesday that the central government has approved Rs 15,000 crore-stimulus to strengthen the health infrastructure of India. "To strengthen the health infrastructure of the country, the central government has made a provision of Rs 15,000 crores today," he said. "This includes testing facilities related to coronavirus, personal protective equipment, isolation beds, ICU beds and ventilators. The number of other necessary equipment will be increased rapidly," he added.

8.31 pm: India at a decisive stage in fight against coronavirus, says PM Modi

"India today is at the stage where our actions today will decide how much we can reduce the impact of this major disaster. This time is to strengthen our resolve again and again," said PM Modi.

8.27 pm: Pm Modi explains the need for a national lockdown

"It took 67 days for the first lakh people to be infected from coronavirus. It only took 11 days for the next 1 lakh to be infected. Even more scary is the fact that it took only four days for the figure to rise to 3 lakhs," said PM Modi.

8.26 pm: An infected person may not always show symptoms: PM Modi

"You have to remember that many times a person infected with coronavirus may seem to be healthy in the beginning. It is not known if he is infected or not. So take precaution and stay in your homes," said PM Modi.

8.24 pm: Coronavirus news in India: Please stay at home, appeals PM Modi

"Just do one thing, stay at home! Today's decision of countrywide lockdown has drawn a Lakshman Rekha around the door of your house," said PM Modi on national lockdown.

8.22 pm: Coronavirus in India: Lockdown will have economic cost but will save lives, says PM Modi

"Certainly, the country will have to bear the economic cost of this lockdown. But every government's priority is to save the life of every Indian at this time," PM Modi said.

8.20: Every state, district, village in India under lockdown from midnight, says PM Modi.

8.15 pm: If next 21 days are not controlled, nation will go 21 years behind: PM Modi

8.11 pm: PM Modi announces complete lockdown in the nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced nationwide lockdown in the wake of increasing cases of novel corona till 21 days i.e., three weeks. The nationwide lockdown will be in effect from midnight to save every Indian, he said. The 21-day lockdown period is to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

8.05 pm: PM Modi thanks citizens for Janta Curfew success

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday thanked every citizen who made the March 22 Janta Curfew successful. "People of India proved that we can unite when there's a calamity. you all deserve appreciation for the success of Janta Curfew," PM Modi said during his 8 pm address.

8.00 pm: PM Modi starts his address to the nation on COVID-19

7:55 pm: PM Modi to address the nation shortly on coronavirus

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation shortly on issues relating to coronavirus.

7:40 pm: Eight new coronavirus cases confirmed in Karnataka, tally goes up to 41

Karnataka health department on Tuesday said that eight new confirmed cases of coronavirus has been detected in Karnataka, which took tally to 41. Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa has warned that stringent action will be taken against those who do not follow law and come out onto streets unnecessarily in violation of steps enforced by government to control COVID-19 spread.

7:30 pm: 232 FIRs registered, 111 people arrested for violating curfew in Punjab

As many as 232 FIRs have been registered and 111 people have been arrested for violating the curfew imposed in Punjab to contain coronavirus outbreak, Panjab government reportedly said.

7:25 pm: Total coronavirus positive cases spike to 519

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total number of positive coronavirus cases has risen to 519 (including 39 discharged people and 9 deaths).

7:20 pm: Indian Railways to pay all contractual, outsourced staff

Ministry of Railways has decided to treat contract and outsourced employees 'on duty' during the period of suspension of Passengers services in Indian Railways. To ensure that employees are not retrenched due to suspension of services/lockdown, Ministry of Railways has issued necessary instructions to Zonal Railways.

7:10 pm: 'Don't travel unnecessarily', urges Maharashtra CM Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday sought peoples' cooperation to contain the spread of coronavirus in the State. "Do not travel unnecessarily. Don't strain our resources. If possible don't step out. We will come out of this successfully, we need your co-operation," says Thackeray.

He also asked Police to be gentle with people, who are moving out for essentials. "If people are moving out for essentials, be gentle with them and ask them not to move out without any reason. I am asking police that we are not stopping people from living, just changing the lifestyle a bit," he added.

7:00 pm: 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed till 2021 due to coronavirus outbreak

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Tuesday agreed to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until 2021, amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is "accelerating". There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

6.45 pm: Coronavirus news in India: AIIMS Doctors write to Amit Shah over being ostracised by neighbours

The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has written to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting action against the eviction of healthcare professionals from their homes and provision of transport facility as well.

Delhi: Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has written to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting appropriate action against the eviction of healthcare professionals from their homes and provision of transport facility. #COVID2019pic.twitter.com/n7G7P1kEHl - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

6.34 pm: Coronavirus in India: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi donates 1 month salary to PM's National Relief Fund

Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Tuesday that he has donated his one month salary to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to "strengthen the fight against COVID-19". "I have decided to donate my 1 month salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to strengthen the fight against #COVID19. I appeal to people serving in coal and mining sectors to come forward and support our nation in combating this pandemic by donating generously," he tweeted.

I have decided to donate my 1 month salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to strengthen the fight against #COVID19. I appeal to people serving in coal and mining sectors to come forward and support our nation in combating this pandemic by donating generously. - Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) March 24, 2020

6.20 pm: Coronavirus Noida news: No entry to all parks till April 15

The authorities have banned the entry to all parks in Gautam Buddha Nagar beginning March 24 till April 15. Only the concerned workers will be allowed to enter.

6.13 pm: Coronavirus update in India: States should impose full lockdown; partial lockdown won't work, says Health Ministry

The Health Ministry said in a press conference on Tuesday, that partial shutdown won't work and that the states should implement full lockdown in preventing the further spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.

6.02 pm: Coronavirus Delhi news: Construction workers to get Rs 5,000, announces CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that the construction workers will be given Rs 5,000 by the Delhi government as their livelihood has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

5.59 pm: Coronavirus in India: West Delhi police gives details of lockdown violations

The West Delhi Police on Tuesday said that it has made a total of 77 arrests/FIRs, detained 674 and seized 66 vehicles for violating lockdown imposed by the central government in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 77 people have been arrested & FIRs registered against them, 674 people have been detained & 66 vehicles seized for violating #lockdown in West Delhi: Delhi Police #CoronavirusLockdownpic.twitter.com/VK1pduXJDg - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

5.53 pm: Have the capacity to carry out nearly 12,000 lab tests, says ICMR chief

"Today we have the capacity to conduct around 12,000 lab tests. For the last few days, on average, we are conducting 1,200-1,300 lab tests on a daily basis,"The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) chief Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday.

5.46 pm: Coronavirus Delhi news: CM Kejriwal urges landlords to give 2-3 months' concession to tenants who cant pay rent

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the landlords to give 2-3 months' concession to tenants who are not in condition to pay rent.

#WATCH: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says,"There are many daily wage earners in Delhi who stay at rented homes. If some tenants are not in a condition to pay their rents to landlords, they can be given some concession for 2-3 months." #COVID19pic.twitter.com/JmkXNODdU3 - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

5.35 pm: Govt bans export of ventilators, sanitisers, other ICU equipment

The central government on Tuesday prohibited the export of ventilators, sanitisers, and other ICU equipment with immediate effect in the wake of increasing novel coronavirus cases in India.

5.26 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Mumbai Police finds unique way to keep people indoors

The Mumbai Police on Tuesday took to Twitter uniquely persuade people to say indoors in order to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus in the city.

5.23 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Maharashtra, Telangana legislative council bypolls postponed

The legislative council bypolls in Maharashtra and Telangana have been postponed in the wake of increasing cases of COVID-19 in the states.

5.18 pm: Coronavirus in India: Priyanka Gandhi asks UP Congress district committee members to inform each other about health through WhatsApp

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday wrote a letter to the district committee of Uttar Pradesh Congress and asked the members to inform about their health on WhatsApp. She also instructed the party workers to spread correct information about the novel coronavirus to the infected people in the state and their respective families through calls and WhatsApp.

5.14 pm: Coronavirus news in India: Rajya Sabha secretariat to remain closed till March 27

The Rajya Sabha secretariat will remain closed till March 27 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

5.10 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Rahul Gandhi urges people to united against COVID-19

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote a letter in which he appealed to people to stand united against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

5.03 pm: Coronavirus J&K news: Govt seals borders

The National Highway connecting J&K with Punjab has been sealed permanently at Lakhanpur. People entering the union territory from this highway will be quarantined in Kathua.

4.55 pm: Coronavirus cases in India: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discusses COVID-19 situation with his Chinese counterpart

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar on Tuesday held discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as he reviewed the current situation. S Jaishankar said, "Global challenges require global cooperation".

Discussed with State Councilor and FM Wang Yi of #China our working together in combating #COVID19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming #G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation. - Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 24, 2020

4.46 pm: Coronavirus in India: Total COVID-19 positive cases reach 29 in Punjab

The total number of novel coronavirus positive cases have reached 29 in the state of Punjab, informed Health Minister Balbir Singh Siddhu on Tuesday. The state has sought an additional Rs 150 million from the central government to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

4.35 pm: Coronavirus Maharashtra news: Six new COVID-19 positive cases confirmed; total tally at 107

The number of novel coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra have climbed to 107 after six fresh cases were confirmed in the state. Out of these six cases, five are from Mumbai and one is from Nagar.

4.30 pm: COVID-19 lockdown Day 2: Cops ensure people follow rules

As the country enters its day 2 of lockdown, UP cops are ensuring that people follow the rules strictly. The roads at Yamuna express way are barricaded. Police is checking passenger cars and ambulances. People who are neither a part of essential services nor emergency services are being turned away.

4.15 pm: Coronavirus updates: Centre asks state govts to deploy fiscal resources for medical facilities

The Central government has asked all state government to deploy fiscal resources for creating additional medical facilities such as hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards etc to combat novel coronavirus pandemic.

Central government asks all State Governments to deploy fiscal resources for establishing additional medical facilities - hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards, expanding & upgrading existing facilities - to combat #COVID19. @PMOIndia@HMOIndia - Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) March 24, 2020

4.00 pm: Lockdown in Karnataka: Indira canteens to be closed

The Karnataka government has decided to close the Indira canteens as a precautionary step to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus. The state government runs Indira Canteen which is a food subsidisation programme.

3.45 pm: Coronavirus Himachal Pradesh news: State govt imposes state-wide curfew

The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday imposed a state-wide curfew in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. One patient had died in the state on Monday.

3.30 pm: Waiver on minimum balance requirement fee will remain for three months, says the FM.

3.14 pm: PM himself monitoring the situation; sub-groups of industrialists, MPs under economic task force are already giving their inputs; economic package will be announced soon, says the FM.

3.11 pm: With respect to commerce activities, for procedural and eligibility point of view, extension of timeline will be given, but there shall be not an extension or modification for scheme guidelines, says the FM.

3.10 pm: We will reduce bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers, says the FM.

3.10 pm: There shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee, says the FM.

3.10 pm: Debit card holders to withdraw cash from any bank ATM for free for next three months, says FM.

3.07 pm: Verification of documents and grant of NOC for quarantine will be relaxed from 7 days to 3 days, says the FM.

3.07 pm: Rebooking of quarantine cubicles for cancelled consignments in aquatic quarantine facilities with additional booking charges will be allowed, says the FM

3.06 pm: Delay up to 1 month in arrival of consignments will be condoned, says the FM.

3.05 pm: Sanitary import permits for shrimp brood stock and any other aquaculture which were to expire betweeen March 1 and April 15, are all now being extended by 3 months, says the FM.

3.00 pm: Threshold for insolvency under IBC raised from Rs 1 lakh to RS 1 crore to protect MSMEs, says the FM. If the situation continues beyond April 30 sections 7, 9 and 10 of IBC for six months to prevent companies from being forced into insolvency, says the FM.

2.58 pm: Deadline for investing 15 per cent of debentures maturing during a particular year into specificied instruments extended to June 30.

2.56 pm: Directors who do not comply with the minimum residency requirement will not be hold in violation, says the FM.

2.55 pm: Newly incorporated companies given additional 6 months for declaration of commencement of business.

2.48 pm: For 2019-20, if independent directors have not been able to hold a single meeting, it will not be seen as a violation, says the Finance Minister.

2.48 pm: Requirement of holding board meetings has been relaxed for 60 days for two quarters, says the FM.

2.47 pm: Moratorium on MA-21 registry from April 1, 2020, says the FM.

2.45 pm: Customs clearance will operate 24X7 up to June 30 as an essential service, said FM Sitharaman.

2.38 pm: Last date to apply for compensation scheme has been extended to June 30, 2020.

2.38 pm: Companies with less than Rs 5 crore turnover, no interest, late fee or penalty will be charged, says the FM. Bigger companies will only have to pay interest at 9 per cent, she added.

2.37 pm: Last date for filing March, April and May GST returns and compensation returns has been extended to June 30, 2020, says FM Sitharaman.

2.31 pm: Due dates for issue of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of returns, return statements, applications, reports, and any other documents and any compliance by the taxpayers, including investment and savings instruments for rollover benefit of capital gains under Income-tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act, STT law, CTT law, Vivad Se Vishwas law, and others, where the time limit was expiring on March 20, 2020, shall now be extended to June 30, 2020, said the FM.

2:30 pm: Vivad se Vishwas has been extended to June 30, no 10 per cent addtional charge at all, says FM Sitharaman.

2.30pm: Aadhaar-PAN linking extended to June 30, asys FM Nirmala Sitharaman

2.30 pm: No extension, but on delayed deposit of TDS only reduced interest of 9 per cent will be charged till June 30, said the FM.

2.26 pm: For delayed payments made till June 30, interest rate reduced from 12 to 9 per cent, said the FM.

2:26 pm: For financial year 2018-19, the last date for income tax returns will be June 30, 2020, announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while addressing the media via video conferencing.

2.26 pm: Very close to coming out with economic package to deal with coronavirus crisis, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

2:05 pm: 12 coronavirus patients in Mumbai get cured

At Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, 12 patients have recovered from COVID-19, as per media report.

2:00 pm: FM Nirmala Sitharaman to hold press conference shortly

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday. In this press conference, she may announce conomic measures to overcome Covid-19 impact.

"Even as we are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon) I will address the media at 2pm today, specifically on statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Via video conference," she informed on Twitter.

2:00 pm: Indian Railways to manufacture protective gear

In a bid to control the spread of novel coronavirus infection, Indian Railways is planning to develop personal protective equipment (PPE) on a large scale after procuring raw materials. It is also mulling to manufacture ventilators and train its medical staff to add to overall capability in order to fight the COVID 19 outbreak, as per an IE report.

1:50 pm: Govt asks states to transfer funds to construction workers via DBT mode

Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has reportedly asked States to transfer funds to construction workers via DBT mode. Over 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with construction welfare boards.

1:45 pm: Tamil Nadu govt to give one month's extra salary to health department workers

Health Department workers like doctors, nurses and all those who attend to coronavirus patients will be given one month's extra salary, said Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami in state assembly on Tuesday.

1:40 pm: Reliance Ind sets up India's first dedicated COVID 19 hospital in Mumbai

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has set up India's first dedicated COVID 19 hospital in Mumbai. 101 positive COVID 19 cases have been reported in Maharashtra, so far.

1:38 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with print media heads through video conferencing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with print media heads through video conferencing, over #COVID19pic.twitter.com/89wRUlCTvz  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

1:35 pm: Bhopal Memorial Hospital declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital

Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal Memorial Hospital has been made dedicated COVID19 hospital.

1:30 pm: Jammu Government Medical College declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital

Government Medical College, Jammu has been declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital for Jammu Province, to be readied by 25th March evening, says Principal Secretary Planning Jammu & Kashmir Rohit Kansal.

1:25 pm: Goa announces complete lockdown from midnight March 24

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said there will be complete lockdown in Goa from midnight today till March 31.

1:15 pm: Two coronavirus patients in Ladakh get cured

Two patients who tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh have been completely cured. Following this, total number of positive cases in Ladakh now stands at 11.

1:00 pm: Actor Rajinikanth donates Rs 50 lakhs to film employees federation of South India union workers

Actor Rajinikanth has donated Rs 50 lakhs to Film Employees Federation of South India Union workers who are facing shutdown due to coronavirus outbreak.

12:55pm: Health Minister says 1.8 lakh people under surveillance

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that National Centre for Disease Control is monitoring potential coronavirus cases. Over 1,87,000 people are under surveillance and around 8,000 are housed in various isolation facilities.

12:49pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold pres conference at 2pm

FM Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference at 2pm on Tuesday. She will address statutory and regulatory compliance matters at the press conference. PM Narendra Modi will also address the nation at 8pm tonight.

Even as we are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon) I will address the media at 2pm today, specifically on statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Via video conference. @FinMinIndia@PIB_India@ANI@PTI_News  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 24, 2020

12:42pm: Death toll increases to 11

Another person has succumbed to coronavirus. The death toll has reached 11. The latest victim, a 65-year-old patient from Maharashtra had travel history to UAE.

12:34pm: J&K to turn hospitals into sanatorium for patients

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to turn hospitals into sanatorium for coronavirus patients. SKIMS Medical College, BCD Hospital Srinagar, JLNM Hospital, and Police Hospital, Srinagar have been transformed for isolation purposes.

12:34pm: Ranchi Police cracks down on lockdown violators

Ranchi Police has cracked down on people who have violated the lockdown. It has also taken action against shops that were selling products other than essential items.

12:30pm: Five people cured in last 24 hours: CM Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that there have been no new cases in Delhi for the last 24 hours and that 5 people have been cured of coronavirus during that time.

 24          5                               pic.twitter.com/e4GynrLopC  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 24, 2020

12:20pm: US applauds India for janta curfew

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) in the US has applauded India for the janta curfew observed on Sunday. It said it was heartwarming to see people unite despite isolation.

Inspiring to see people across #India coming together despite being physically apart to applaud workers on the frontlines combatting #COVID19#JantaCurfew AGW https://t.co/F6OmN4CZEj  State_SCA (@State_SCA) March 23, 2020

12:10pm: Visakhapatnam under lockdown

Andhra Pradesh government has annoucned complete lockdown at Visakhapatnam. The state has reported six COVID-19 cases.

12:00pm: Sonia Gandhi writes to PM Modi to help migrant workers

Sonia Gandhi has written to PM Modi seeking help for migrant workers who are bound to lose their jobs amid the stringent lockdown. She said that around 44 million workers face uncertain future and that their livelihoods are at stake.

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi writes to PM Modi on COVID-19. The letter states, "I request you to consider advising the State Building&Other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures, particularity wage support to construction workers." pic.twitter.com/CdE1d4NXCz  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

11:50am: Election Commission of India (ECI) has deferred the Rajya Sabha Elections.

11:45am: Govt to include coronavirus in Ayushman Bharat

Governement will include treatment of coronavirus under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme. All beneficiaries will be included as per the existing norms.

11:40am: Air India aks employees to work from home

As the country goes under lockdown, Air India has asked its employees to work from home. The airline has said that a roster of employees will be drawn up for essential services.

Air India (AI): Departmental Heads/General Managers may draw up a roster of employees who are required to render essential emergency services within each dept till 31.03 to reduce attendance in office to the basic required numbers to meet the operational requirements. #COVID19pic.twitter.com/Yw0YSRhWsr  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

11:30am: Coronavirus cases increase to 482 in India: ICMR

11:05am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8pm today.

10:50am: Wuhan to lift travel restrictions

Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic has decided to lift the travel restrictions it had imposed on the citizens. While restrictions will be lifted by April 8, other cities in Hubei province would lift them by March 25.

#BREAKING#Wuhan to lift outbound travel restrictions starting April 8; other cities in #Hubei Province to resume transport services from March 25, local authorities said on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/SDK3axGAy9  CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) March 24, 2020

10:46am: Indian armed forces evacuate 1,186 people from foreign countries

The Indian armed forces have cleared 1,186 people from foreign countries. This also includes medical staff. Around 796 people are under quarantine. There are two positive cases while two have symptoms.

10:40am: Two more cases have been reported in Gujarat. Total cases 33.

10:30am: Locals gather at Shaheen Bagh

Despite a complete lockdown, locals have gathered at the Shaheen Bagh protest site. The site was cleared by the Delhi Police due to the lockdown. Along with Shaheen Bagh other protest sites such as Hauz Rani, Jafrabad were also cleared.

Delhi: Locals gather near the anti-CAA protest site in Shaheen Bagh which was cleared by police today morning, amid complete lockdown in the national capital to prevent the spread of #Coronaviruspic.twitter.com/lkOkcbPcIN  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

10:15am: The Mumbai Police has ordered specific timings for essential items

The Mumbai Police Commissioner has ordered the following timings for esential items:

Milk -- 6am to 8am

Newspapers -- Upto 7am

Vegetables, kirana, medical shops -- 8am to 11am

10:10am: Protest site at Hauz Rani cleared

Along with Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi Police has also cleared the Hauz Rani protest site. Section 144 has been imposed in Delhi and there is complete lockdown due to coronavirus.

10:00am: Delhi Metro closed till March 31

Amid the strict lockdown, Delhi Metro has shut its services till March 31. Noida Metro has also announced the shutting of its operations till March 31.

Delhi Metro rail service closed till March 31 as the national capital is placed under complete lockdown pic.twitter.com/xurkXIrEqH  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:50am: All immigration posts closed

The government has shut down all immigration posts. All 107 immigration check posts including at airports, sea ports, land ports, rail ports and river ports have been shut down by the government. However, vehicles and carriers with essential goods have been exempted from the restriction.

9:40am: Another 8 cases reported in Maharashtra

The state government announced that 8 more cases were reported in Maharashtra, taking the toll to 97. One cases each in Kalyan Dombivli, Mumbai, Thane, Khandala and a family of four from Islampur Sangli have been tested positive. They all had travel history outside India.

9:37am: 30 UTs, states, 548 districts under lockdown

Adding to the initial list, Indian government has announced lockdown in 548 districts across 30 states and union territories.

Important Announcement : 30 States/UTs announce complete lockdown in the entire state/UT covering 548 districts #Covid_19india#CoronaUpdatesInIndi#Covid19Indiapic.twitter.com/iNWq6wVrzh  PIB India (@PIB_India) March 23, 2020

9:33am: Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Committee offers space for quarantine

The committee lauded CM Kejriwal in his efforts to curb coronavirus. In a statement the committe said that it will offer DSGMC Sarai of Gurudwara Majnu ka Tilla Sahib as quarantine facility, with provision for langar for the poor and needy.

9:27am: Delhi Police Commissioner appeals to people to stay at home

"Appeal to people to stay at home. No movement or gathering of people is allowed, prohibitory orders issued in this regard.People associated with essential services exempted.Strict action to be taken against those who defy orders," said Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava.

9:25am: Kashmiri students protest in Bengaluru due to lockdown

A group of Kashmiri students protested in Bengaluru airport over cancellation of domestic airlines. The students said that they were supposed to go to Kashmir but were now stranded due to the lockdown.

9:15am: People come out despite lockdown

Despite lockdown, people across the nation have been seen coming out to the streets. Joggers were spotted in Nagpur even as the city is under lockdown. On Monday, the Prime Minister also lamented that people were not following restrictions as they should be and urged people to remain indoors. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also asked people to stay indoors and said that people should not think that they can't contract coronavirus.

Maharashtra: People come out for morning walk in Nagpur, even after Maharashtra government has announced a statewide curfew, in wake of #CoronavirusPandemicpic.twitter.com/8TbMBLcdH0  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:11am: Religious places shut down

As Delhi undergoes a complete lockdown, religious places have also been shut. Visuals from an empty Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.

Delhi: Hanuman Temple near Connaught Place remains closed as complete lockdown has been imposed in the national capital, in wake of #Coronaviruspic.twitter.com/rrP1UKClWz  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:10am: Nepal under lockdown from 6am today.

9:05am: First case in Manipur reported

Manipur has reported its first coronavirus case. The patient is a 23-year-old from Imphal West. The patient had returned from the UK and is now under treatment in JNIMS.

9:00am: Security has been tightened at Shaheen Bagh

As protesters refused to clear the site, the Delhi Police had to use force. Section 144 has been imposed in Delhi that prohibits gatherings of more than four people. Some protesters have been detained as well.

DCP South East:People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Protest site has been cleared.Some protestors have been detained https://t.co/lVgXzL9WD6pic.twitter.com/0uBdwGHKMw  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

8:50am: People stock up in Punjab

As the state announces lockdown, people in Amritsar rush to the grocery shops to stock up on essential goods. Meanwhile, they all feel such a step is required to flatten the coronavirus curve.

Punjab: People come out of their homes to buy essential goods in Amritsar, amid lockdown in the state. A buyer at a milk shop says,"Govt has taken the right step to control the spread of #COVID19. But govt must specify the time when shops selling essential goods will remain open" pic.twitter.com/4Um4jPG98c  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

8:45am: Uttarakhand reserves 25% of hospital beds for coronavirus patients

Uttarakhand has said that it will reserve 25 per cent of the beds in its public and private hospitals for coronavirus patients. This will be applicable for hospitals thata have atleast a 100 beds.

8:40am: Kolkata Police arrests 225 people for violating lockdown

Amid strict searches, the Kolkata Police have caught 225 people for violating lockdown on Monday. The Kolkata police said that the violators will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servants.

8:37am: Ladakh samples negative

All the 16 samples that were sent from Ladakh have been testes negative. Out of the 16 samples sent, 12 were from Kargil and 4 were from Leh.

8:35am: Shaheen Bagh protest site cleared

As Delhi observes a full lockdown, with only essential services operational, the Shaheen Bagh protest site has been cleared by the Delhi Police. The Shaheen Bagh protesters have been demonstrating against the CAA and NRC for months. Even during the janta curfew on Sunday, protesters were demonstrating at the site.

8:30am: First Indian test kits approved

The Indian FDA/Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given its nod for the first Made in India test kit for coronavirus. The kit was developed by Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd in record six weeks. The kit is much-needed as currently, India ranks lowest in terms of testing done per million population.
White House officials expressed growing alarm on Tuesday about the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, advising people who have passed through or left the city to place themselves in a 14-day quarantine.

Officials warned that the outbreak could reach its peak in New York City much sooner than expected and said they had begun treating the region as a coronavirus hot zone, akin to areas of China and Europe overwhelmed by the virus.

About 60 percent of the new cases in the country were in the New York City metropolitan area, and the infection rate was eight to 10 times greater than other parts of the country, officials said at a briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Anyone in the New York metropolitan area who has traveled: Our task force is encouraging you to monitor your temperature, be sensitive to symptoms, and we are asking anyone who has traveled out of the New York City metropolitan area to anywhere else in the country to self-isolate for 14 days, Vice President Mike Pence said.
The enemy used proscribed weapons, namely 120mm and 82mm mortars.

Russia-led forces mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on March 23, as a result of which two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action.

"Two members of the Joint Forces [of Ukraine] were wounded amid enemy shelling yesterday, March 23," the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in a morning update on Facebook on March 24.

Read alsoUkraine's JFO HQ updates on enemy losses in Donbas last week: 13 killed, 22 wounded

The enemy used proscribed weapons, namely 120mm and 82mm mortars, as well as an anti-tank missile system, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and riffles.

Hotspots were the towns of Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, the villages of Vodiane, Novotoshkivske, and Shumy.

Ukrainian servicemen fired back to counter the attacks, using available weapons, the JFO HQ said.

Two enemy attacks were recorded from 00:00 to 07:00 on Tuesday, March 24. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported over that period.
Some of you go straight to an alphabet soup of scientists for information  the C.D.C., the W.H.O., Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and local health departments.

And a whole lot of you come to us, The New York Times. We appreciate your support, now more than ever, as our staff travels the world to cover this virus. (Please dont forget to subscribe and support our work.)

But some of the most moving notes we received had nothing to do with news alerts or C.D.C. updates. They were about your fears, small joys and a new way of life.

Heres some of what you wrote (these notes have been edited and condensed). Thank you for sharing. Stay safe.

Finding what matters

I am 73 years old, diabetic with heart issues. So, I am following the new rules: Live alone, remain alone, sheltered. The news is nonstop Covid-19. But I need life, not updates. I miss most that which I took for granted. I am rediscovering that my adult daughters really do love me, that my ex-wife and I still worry about each other, that my faith fills a very real spot in my life. My world may have flipped, but my priorities are falling back into order.

 Peer T. Lykke, Barrington, Ill.

A mad scientist

For scientific information about coronavirus (R-naughts, duration and timing of viral shed, time it can live on various surfaces, etc.) Ive tried to use peer-reviewed publications. When I need to communicate this information to my family, Ive used pop-sci blogs and publications. Ive been designated Policy Team by my family, in charge of deciding protocols. My most recent dictum is to quarantine nonperishable groceries for one to three days (depending on packaging) before letting them enter the house. Im mad with power, but I have the evidence to back it up, so no one can argue.

 Katherine Goyette, a student at Dartmouth College who is living back home in Exeter, N.H., and waiting impatiently for spring term courses to start

An unexpected opportunity

As we learn to video chat with the kids and thinking that its just you and me babe for many months to come, I realize that perhaps its finally time after 47 years for us to work on our relationship!

 Bill Dorf, from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Weaverville, N.C.

Walking the line

I live in an extended care Seniorenheim in Nurnberg, Germany; I am an 86-year-old woman from Rhode Island. My small world has changed. I cannot any longer chat with acquaintances in the dining room at midday. What do I see from my window? The same people walking their dogs  some not much larger than my cat, Babe. They now walk alone, whereas often they walked in pairs. I also walk the same path with my friend, not side by side, but in single file in keeping with distancing.

 Pauline Hartwig, Nurnberg, Germany

A veterans view

I recall a day, long ago, actually 1944, while I was in China in World War II. Yes, we were forced to be aware that we were under something called an air raid. I am reminded that we had to make decisions, just as we do today. We did not need to be told to HUNKER DOWN  in this case a slit trench.

 Melvin Thompson, Independence, Mo.
Construction will continue on the South Beltway even as the contractor for Nebraska's largest-ever infrastructure project has failed to secure financing due to market instability from the COVID-19 outbreak, transportation officials announced Monday.

Nebraska Department of Transportation officials will continue to negotiate with Hawkins Construction of Omaha to resolve this challenge and keep the project moving forward, the department said in a news release.

Early construction on the three-year project continued Monday.

"Although this is a surprising development, NDOT remains committed to the Lincoln South Beltway project," Transportation Department Director Kyle Schneweis said in a news release.

"In some ways, for a project that has had so many hurdles, this is just one more. We could not have imagined the scenario that got us here today, but our team has been hard at work with the Hawkins team examining every possible option to minimize the potential impact on the projects schedule."

Schneweis and Chris Hawkins of Hawkins Construction planned to comment further on the development during a teleconference Monday afternoon.

In December, state transportation officials awarded the long-awaited project to Hawkins, the only company to bid on its construction who pledged to build the freeway for $352 million.

That bid amount included Hawkins' cost to finance construction while the state made quarterly payments over an expected eight-year timeframe, according to the Transportation Department.

State lawmakers in 2019 passed a new financing tool to allow expedited construction of the beltway with a more standard, phased payment schedule that ensures the construction can proceed without siphoning money away from other state roads projects.

This is a developing story. Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or rjohnson@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSRileyJohnson.
(CNN)  Coronavirus has drastically shifted the world's buying habits, and American businesses are rapidly adjusting to the new pandemic reality.

Many retailers are shut down, but consumers continue to flock to pharmacies, grocery stores and take-out restaurants. Demand for essential goods and food has skyrocketed and stores are hiring like crazy to keep up.

CVS

CVS said it is looking to fill a total of 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary positions nationwide, including "store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and member/customer service professionals."

On its website, the retail pharmacy chain said the new employees will help take some strain off its existing workers. The company plans to hire many of the employees who were furloughed or laid off by some of its major business clients, including Hilton and Marriott.

CVS says it plans to use virtual job fairs, virtual interviews and virtual job tryouts during its hiring process.

Walmart

Grocery stores and online retailers have been overwhelmed with an influx of customers now being forced to spend more time at home because of the novel coronavirus. As a result, Walmart, the nation's largest grocery store chain, is looking to beef up its own supply chain.

The company plans to hire 150,000 workers for full-time, part-time and temporary positions at its distribution and fulfillment centers across the United States.

It is also expediting the hiring process in light of news of mass layoffs around the country. Applicants can "get hired and begin working ... in as little as 24 hours," according to Walmart's website.

"We're growing, expanding and looking for more people who want to make a difference providing for customers," Greg Smith, Walmart's head of supply chain, said in a statement.

Instacart

Instacart is looking to hire hundreds of thousands of workers to meet surging demand for grocery deliveries as millions of people are urged to stay home.

The on-demand grocery startup said it wants to hire 300,000 "full-service shoppers" in North America over the next three months. They will be treated as independent contractors. The hires would more than double the company's current workforce of full-service shoppers.

Amazon

Amazon has seen an unanticipated boom in business now that coronavirus "shelter-in-place" orders across the nation have limited many Americans to online shopping.

The company plans to hire 100,000 people nationwide for full-time and part-time roles in Amazon's delivery network and at its fulfillment centers.

"We also know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants, and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis," the company said in a statement on its website. "We want those people to know we welcome them on our teams until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back."

Albertsons Companies

Albertsons -- the parent company for Albertsons, Safeway, Randalls, United Supermarkets and several other food and drug retail chains -- wants to hire 30,000 new employees to keep up with increased demand.

A spokesman for the retail conglomerate said the new roles are for "delivery drivers, personal shoppers, our distribution centers, and our call center."

"We are hiring in all [subsidiaries] across the 34 states (DC) we operate," the spokesperson said via email, declining to provide further details.

Dollar General

Dollar General is looking to add up to 50,000 employees to its workforce by the end of April. The company said it anticipates most of its new roles will be temporary, but it also expects some of the new employees will receive "long-term career growth opportunities."

PepsiCo

Pepsi said that it wants to hire 6,000 full-time, frontline employees in the coming months. The company is also providing "enhanced benefits" to its US-based workers and increasing its compensation for its current US frontline employees amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a written statement, PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said the company's employees are doing "important work" providing food and beverages to people at a critical time.

"We couldn't be prouder of our PepsiCo team for the role they play in restocking pantries and refrigerators," he said.

Papa John's

Papa John's is one of three major pizza chains looking to take advantage of all the restaurant closings across the country.

The company announced plans to hire 20,000 new "restaurant team members."

"For anyone looking for immediate ways to earn an income, we're making it quick and simple to apply, interview and be hired at Papa John's," Marvin Boakye, Papa John's chief people and diversity officer, said in a statement. "We are in the unique position -- as a restaurant that specializes in delivery and carryout -- to help our communities through this crisis."

Domino's

Domino's plans to hire 10,000 employees to work as pizza makers, delivery personnel and customer service representatives. The company is also looking for people to fill roles at its supply chain centers in addition to management and assistant management positions.

In particular, Domino's is recruiting 1,000 new employees to work at more than 100 stores in the Chicago metro area.

"The opportunity to keep feeding our neighbors through delivery and carryout means that a small sense of normalcy is still available to everyone," Domino's CEO Richard Allison said in a statement. "Our corporate and franchise stores want to make sure they're not only feeding people, but also providing opportunity to those looking for work at this time, especially those in the heavily impacted restaurant industry."

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is recruiting more than 30,000 employees across the nation and says its new drivers can start working in as little as five hours upon hiring.

"Now more than ever, restaurants have an important role in feeding families and those looking for safe, fast, and reliable food from brands they can trust," the company said in a statement.

7-Eleven

7-Eleven, the nation's largest convenience store chain, expects to hire up to 20,000 new store employees to meet increased demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Some of the new roles are for delivery workers to help the company meet a spike in mobile orders received through its delivery app.

"This will provide job opportunities and ensure 7Eleven stores remain clean and in-stock with the goods our customers need during this critical time," the company's president and CEO Joe DePinto said in a statement.

GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare needs additional manufacturing employees to build medical ventilators, which have been in high demand and short supply during the coronavirus pandemic. Kieran Murphy, GE Healthcare's president and CEO, said the company also needs to increase its manufacturing capacity and output of CT scan machines, "ultrasound devices, mobile X-ray systems, patient monitors and ventilators," which are critical to diagnosing and treating Covid-19 patients.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "These companies are hiring thousands of new employees during the coronavirus pandemic."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 09:15:32|Editor: huaxia

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A man wearing a face mask walks at the Trocadero Palace in Paris, France, on March 17, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

Expressing his sincere sympathies to and firm support for the French government and people, Xi said China is willing to continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity for France.



BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with France to push for closer cooperation within multilateral frameworks, joint control of COVID-19 and better global health governance, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday night in a phone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

Recalling that at a critical moment in the fight against the coronavirus disease, he and Macron have had three phone calls since January, Xi said that has demonstrated the high level of both the mutual trust between the two presidents and the China-France relationship.

By carrying forward their friendly tradition of mutual sympathy and support, and helping each other with medical supplies, China and France have set an example for people in all countries to help each other and overcome difficulties together, he added.

The Chinese president, who introduced the situation of epidemic prevention and control in China upon request, said he pays close attention to the COVID-19 outbreaks in France and Europe, noting that France is taking a series of active and effective prevention and control measures.

People wearing masks are seen at the Montparnasse train station in Paris, France, March 19, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

Expressing his sincere sympathies to and firm support for the French government and people, Xi said China is willing to continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity for the European country.

Both China and France shoulder the arduous responsibility of safeguarding international and regional public health security, Xi stressed, suggesting that they carry out sincere cooperation to promote joint research programs, strengthen cooperation in frontier health and quarantine inspection, support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), help African countries enhance epidemic prevention and control, and strive to build a community of common health.

Xi said China stands ready to work with France to encourage all relevant parties to step up coordination and cooperation within such frameworks as the United Nations and the Group of 20 (G20), engage in joint prevention and containment, improve global health governance, help developing countries and other countries in need with capacity-building, and cushion the epidemic's impact on the world economy.

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 on March 18, en route to France. The medical supply was mobilized by two Chinese charities to help combat the spread of COVID-19. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

For his part, Macron briefed Xi on the current epidemic situation in France and the relevant measures that have been taken.

He said he highly appreciates the fact that the Chinese government and people, with great courage and decisive measures, have effectively contained the disease in a short period of time.

The French side, he added, is sincerely grateful for China's valuable support and help, and is willing to make concerted efforts with China to boost bilateral health cooperation and encourage all relevant parties to promote cooperation within such frameworks as the G20 and the WHO, so as to beat the pandemic and cope with its impact on the world economy.

The two heads of state also agreed to maintain close communication and promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, so as to ensure continuous development of China-France relations at a high level, and maintain the stability of China-France as well as China-Europe industrial chains and supply chains. 
WASHINGTON - Ventilators. Masks. Gowns. Gloves. Swabs. Health-care equipment large and small - all lifesaving - is in extremely short supply as American hospitals prepare to be overwhelmed by the coronavirus.

There's a drastic wartime tool at President Donald Trump's disposal to force U.S. manufacturers to make this medical equipment. But Trump has been reluctant to enforce the Defense Production Act. He's been so inconsistent in his public statements on it that it's hard to tell whether it's in use even when his own FEMA director says it is.

On Tuesday, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor said part of the law is being used to get 60,000 test kits to states. But The Washingon Post's Aaron Gregg has been reporting that's nothing new. Around the same time Tuesday morning as his FEMA chief spoke to CNN, Trump tweeted that the act is not "in full force," likely referring to the fact the federal government is still not forcing manufacturers like automakers to start making medical equipment. His reasoning: Private companies are doing this on their own.

Let's explain why this act matters so much.

The Defense Production Act would allow Trump to push U.S. manufacturers such as automakers and clothing companies to pivot to making medical equipment for hospitals and medical workers who say they are out of equipment or will be soon to treat the expected onslaught of coronavirus patients. He could also organize what equipment goes where.

Governors, Democrats in Congress and some Senate Republicans have been urging Trump for at least a week to invoke the act, and his potential 2020 opponent Joe Biden came out in favor of it, too.

Trump has given a variety of reasons for not doing so, including:

- It's for a "worst-case scenario."

- Governors should be finding ways to have U.S. companies make ventilators.

- U.S. companies are doing it anyway. "GM, Ford - so many companies - I had three calls directly - without having to institute 'You will do this,' these companies are doing that right now," Trump said Sunday.

But governors and even some Senate Republicans are telling him that the federal government has the best leverage for purchasing power. They worry they are overpaying and that companies won't be able to prioritize orders from states without help from the federal government.

"It's like the wild West" trying to compete with states for supplies, Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker told CNN on Sunday.

Trump has somewhat perplexingly maintained that it's a state issue. "Governors are supposed to be doing a lot of this work," he said on Thursday. On Saturday, when asked why his administration hadn't spent weeks or months trying to build up a supply of medical equipment despite knowing ahead of time that coronavirus posed a serious threat, Trump blamed past presidents. "Many administrations preceded me," he said. "For the most part they did very little with regard to what you're talking about."

It looks like Trump almost put the act into motion under pressure from Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday said he had a call with Trump about, among other things, invoking the act. Their conversation about the act went like this, according to a Schumer spokesman:

Schumer urged [Trump] to immediately invoke the Defense Production Act to get ventilators & other important medical equipment to those who need it - [Trump] told Schumer he would, and then [Trump] yelled to someone in his office to do it now.

But that went nowhere. And on Sunday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced legislation to require Trump to enact this and to put in a major purchase order of 300 million masks and do a survey of what other medical equipment needs to get made.

Congress approved the act in 1950 during the Korean War to help the government stock up on wartime materials such as aluminum and copper, doubling production at that time, according to a 1982 congressional Research Service report. Other presidents have used it to beef up the U.S. defense industry, especially during the Cold War.

The act would allow the president to more or less force U.S. manufacturers to build medical equipment for hospitals. It accomplishes this in a few ways, according to a congressional Research Service report:

Trump could require U.S. manufacturers that already make ventilators to prioritize federal government contracts for supplies over, say, Europe, which is increasing its requests. (The United Kingdom has asked its top private manufacturers to start making ventilators.)

Trump could require U.S. manufactures to make more face masks and other "critical materials and goods" and offer loans or promises to buy these things. The federal government could then decide which hospitals should get this equipment.

Trump could block proposed or pending foreign corporate mergers that threaten national security. That seems less of a concern with the coronavirus, where global cooperation is necessary.

Trump also could have companies "employ persons of outstanding experience and ability and to establish a volunteer pool of industry executives who could be called to government service in the interest of the national defense." That could turn a company such as Tesla, which primarily makes cars, into one that focuses more on ventilators. Chief executive Elon Musk said on Twitter that his company would be willing to do it. General Motors could also get involved. Trump has also mentioned the clothing company Hanes as an option.

If Trump did invoke the Defense Production Act to have U.S. companies make health-care equipment, it would be one of the most dramatic uses of the act in decades. Trump apparently isn't ready to go down in the history books that way yet.

- - -

Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Tetra Images | Getty Images

Analysts warn that the COVID-19 pandemic could disrupt the global pharmaceutical supply chain which is heavily reliant on China and India, as India takes harsh measures to combat the spread of the virus, exacerbating an already fragile supply situation. Key raw materials in drug production are manufactured in China, then exported to India where they are used to make the final product. These drugs are then shipped to countries around the world. Now, analysts have warned that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens this critical supply chain and could cause significant disruption to the availability of drugs over the next several months. According to experts who participated in a Morgan Stanley investor call last week, China's supply activities are improving but India is now a key country of concern.

Risk of disruption

India is the global leader in generic drug production, while China is the world's largest supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). India imports nearly 70% of its APIs from China and also depends on them for a variety of other key ingredients in drug production. The coronavirus outbreak in China has caused supply issues for Chinese drug-ingredient manufacturers resulting in curtailed production and shipments. However, Morgan Stanley's pharma equity research team noted on Sunday that Chinese manufacturing of API and intermediates  other raw materials  had improved in recent weeks. Rohit Bhat, research analyst at B&K Securities, a Mumbai-based financial advisory firm, echoed the point, writing on Monday that full disruption in China looked unlikely. Still, he warned that Indian companies dependent on Hubei Province, the original epicenter of the outbreak, would feel the heat and may need to source quickly from other suppliers or traders. The Morgan Stanley analysts also warned that, "although coronavirus cases are currently limited in India, our experts see risk that rising infection rates could disrupt the drug supply chain." The U.S. drug industry has meaningful exposure to India supply; Bhat estimated that Indian pharmaceutical companies supply approximately 40-50% of all U.S. generic drugs. In a statement on February 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn acknowledged that it was closely monitoring the supply chain with the expectation that the COVID-19 outbreak would likely have an impact. This included potential disruptions to supply or shortages of critical medical products in the U.S. In early March, India restricted exports of 13 APIs and the drug formulations made from them in an effort to protect itself against domestic shortages. Following this decision, on March 11, Hahn told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that the agency had not yet determined how the restrictions would affect U.S. drug supplies.

India locks down

Now the Indian government is stepping up measures to control the outbreak on its own soil. A 14-hour "public curfew" was implemented on Sunday, transport was substantially restricted and authorities announced a lockdown in dozens of cities and districts. Coronavirus cases in India are still fairly limited relative to the rest of the world. It has 519 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, and 10 deaths. In contrast, China and Italy, the worst-hit countries, have reported 3,281 and 6,077 deaths from coronavirus respectively. However, the Indian government is acting now in an effort to prevent rising infection rates.

Drug shortages?
Open source

Another six cases of infection with coronavirus registered in occupied Crimea as Representative of occupation authority Serhiy Aksyonov stated.

In the Republic of Crimea, six new cases of coronavirus infection confirmed. It is established that all diseased are the citizens of the republic who returned from the countries unfortunate with coronavirus. Four diseased are the members of one family, who were in the tourist cruise in the United Arab Emirates and were travelling at the cruise liner. And two more cases are brought it, the diseased came to the territory of the republic from Lithuania and Belgium.

All of the patients have laboratory-confirmed diagnoses in the established order. All of them were hospitalized to the infectious units of the Crimean clinics. They stay in the separate boxes.

Four infected have asymptomatic disease, which was established in the laboratory. Two of diseased are in the moderate state.

The circle of contact people is established. The people of close contacts are hospitalized in the infectious units, others are under medical control in self-isolation.

As of 13:30, on March 24, there are 97 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine. 3 cases were lethal and one patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
What are the best practices in UI UX design for user onboarding in a constantly changing global environment? Ita Babayan and Armine Manukyan, from Ucraft talk localisation, navigation, and how customer needs are greatly influenced by cultural perception, at Awwwards Conference Tokyo.

User on boarding is not just a cool trick that we can use it's actually a necessity we need to keep in mind, that the era we're living in the technology is constantly evolving and our applications are becoming much much more complex

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Get your ticket for the next Awwwards Conference: Talks, Workshops, Meetups and Parties for digital creatives to learn key tools, current trends and emerging web technologies from leading agencies, whilst making connections within the international design community.
MEXICO CITY, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) ASUR a leading international airport group with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia, today provided an update on COVID-19 and impact on its operations.

Since March 16, 2020, various governments have issued flight restrictions for different regions of the world. With respect to the airports ASUR operates, on March 21, 2020 the Colombian government suspended commercial aviation for all airports in the country as from March 25 through April 13, 2020. As a result, ASUR's commercial operations at the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin, Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Rionegro, the Los Garzones Airport in Monteria, the Antonio Roldan Betancourt Airport in Carepa, the El Carano Airport in Quibdo and the Las Brujas Airport in Corozal will be been suspended.

To date, neither Mexico nor Puerto Rico have issued flight restrictions. In Puerto Rico, the FAA has accepted a request from the Governor of Puerto Rico that all flights bound to Puerto Rico land at LMM Airport, which is operated by ASUR's subsidiary Aerostar, and that all passengers be screened by representatives of the Puerto Rico Health Department. As a result, the LMM airport remains open and operating, albeit with substantially reduced flight and passenger volumes. Mexico and/or the United States may issue flight restrictions similar to those issued in other parts of the world, which would cause a significant further reduction in our operations.

Over the last few days, some of the airlines and other clients and tenants that operate in ASUR's airports, have asked for assistance, either through discounts on payments owed to ASUR or by an extension on those payments. The Company remains in commercial discussions with those clients and tenants regarding their contracts. Notwithstanding these discussions, ASUR believes it has sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations and continue operating in the normal course.

About ASUR

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rio Negro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares. For more information, visit www.asur.com.mx

Forward Looking Statement

Please note that any opinions, estimates or forecasts regarding the performance of ASUR issued by these analysts reflect their own views, and therefore do not represent the opinions, estimates or forecasts of ASUR or its management. Although ASUR may refer to or distribute such statements, this does not imply that ASUR agrees with or endorses any information, conclusions or recommendations included therein.

Some of the statements contained in this press release discuss future expectations or state other forward-looking information. Those statements are subject to risks identified in this press release and in ASUR's filings with the SEC. Actual developments could differ significantly from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information is based on various factors and was derived using numerous assumptions. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except as may be required by applicable law, we do not have an obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new information, future or otherwise.

SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V.

Related Links

http://www.asur.com.mx


Andrew Cuomo

Periscope

Gov. Andrew Cuomo emphasized New York State's dire need for ventilators and criticized the US government for not being more proactive in helping.

New York requires 30,000 ventilators and has obtained 7,000, Cuomo said.

Cuomo suggested sending resources from the national stockpile to New York until the state gets a handle on the spread of the coronavirus, at which point they could re-allocate them to the rest of the US.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo stressed the state's need for ventilators and criticized the US government for not providing more resources to New York during a press conference Tuesday.

New York State, which usually operates with several thousand ventilators under normal conditions, now requires a total of 30,000 to meet the increased needs due to the coronavirus outbreak, the governor said.

Cuomo said that ventilators  a piece of equipment that helps patients who are under respiratory distress breathe  is "the difference between life and death."

New York has obtained 7,000 ventilators but Cuomo is urging the US government to release the 20,000 ventilators in the national stockpile to New York in order to meet the high demand.

He proposed a system of allocating the ventilators based on areas in the US most in need  first to New York, which currently has 25,665 cases of COVID-19  and then sending the ventilators to other regions in the country after the state has "flattened the curve."

Cuomo emphasized New York's need for ventilators since the disease is accelerating faster than originally projected in New York, with the rate doubling every three days. However, the state is aggressively testing for the disease with a higher level of testing than any other state in the country and the highest per capita level of testing in the world.

Story continues

Cuomo implored the government to intervene and order companies to begin manufacturing ventilators now. The governor emphasized the difficulty of obtaining ventilators worldwide because of the high demand and their difficulty to manufacture, and stressed that simply accepting volunteered help from companies willing to produce ventilators on the side wasn't enough, as the lag time between when they were completed would be multiple weeks.

Cuomo scoffed at FEMA sending 400 ventilators when 30,000 were needed.

"You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators? What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000 ventilators?" he said. "You're missing the magnitude of the problem."

Shortly after Cuomo's address Vice President Pence announced on Fox News that FEMA shipped an additional 2,000 ventilators from the national stockpile to New York and 2,000 more would be sent Wednesday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
As restrictions to help stop the spread of coronavirus are implemented, the price food and cleaning supplies have soared in the Damascus markets reports Enab Baladi.

The price of some foodstuffs and vegetables jumped, coinciding with the Syrian regimes decision to close some shops and restrict citizens movements in the face of the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

According to what Enab Baladi has seen, prices have increased by rates between 20 and 40 percent, with the prices varying from one market to another, as people increase their demand to buy and store foodespecially after the first official infection in Syria was recorded on Sunday.

These rises have added to the already-high prices of cleaning materials, sterilizers and masks, which have disappeared in large numbers from stores due to increased demand amid deteriorating purchasing power among citizens.

About a week ago, Enab Baladi saw in the Damascus market high prices for large-capacity Dettol antiseptic bottles, up to 22,000 Syrian pounds. Medical alcohol packages were 1,500 pounds, while the price of a small box of Touch sterilizer was 800 pounds, and the masks 900 pounds.

Syria tops the list of the poorest countries in the world, with a poverty rate of 82.5 percent, according to data from the World By Map website, which was mentioned in a report in February.

The sites numbers correspond with figures from the United Nations, with the proportion of Syrians under the poverty line estimated at 83 percent, according to its annual report for 2019, on Syrias most important humanitarian needs.

The purchasing power index in the capital, Damascus, witnessed a significant decline, reaching 9.49 points, and the website Numbeo ranked it as very low.

Increased demand  in anticipation of a mandatory quarantine

The decision to close the markets coincided with people buying and storing food supplies, fearing the regime government would impose a mandatory quarantine, as part of its measures to confront the coronavirus

The cabinet issued a circular, calling for the closure of markets, as well as commercial, service, cultural, and social activities, from Mar. 22, 2020, until further notice.

The circular excluded food centers, pharmacies and private health centers, provided that they were committed to public health and safety management and procedures.

The Minister of Health, Nizar Yazigi, announced on Sunday the registration of the first infection with the coronavirus (Covid-19), noting that she is a 20-year-old girl who came from outside Syria.

As the virus continues to spread globally, the number of infected people around the world has reached more than 340,000, with more than 14,000 deaths.

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.
The number of coronavirus cases in Worcester increased by three to a total of 16, including a city firefighter and a recruit in the fire academy, officials said Monday.

Both are in isolation, City Manager Ed Augustus Jr. told reporters.

The seven members of the fire department, who were in contact with the firefighter, and the 27 recruits in the fire academy along with eight instructors are being tested for COVID-19 and are in isolation, Augustus said.

All are expected to be tested on Tuesday.

This is important. This is why were trying to expedite the testing of our police and fire [departments], Augustus said. To make sure if there are positive cases we can isolate them and isolate the impact on our first respondents and making sure that the important services that our entire community relies on are there when we need it.

Augustus said the city had already implemented strict protocols between the shifts of fire and police groups. Between shifts, the entire fire house is cleaned, Augustus said. The same is done with police vehicles during shift changes.

We are doing a very aggressive job in all our city locations, including the first responder locations to make sure that whether it be bump rooms in the fire stations, the kitchens, the equipment theyre interacting with can be as clean as possible, Augustus said.

Augustus said the city has sufficient numbers of firefighters to overcome the absences even if all seven in question tested positive for COVID-19.

At any given time we have a lot more than seven firefighters who are on vacation or who are out sick or days off, Augustus said.

The city plans to test all first responders as soon as possible. Although, while it gives the city a feel of how many were infected, but its only for single a point in time.

The key, Augustus said, is preventing outbreaks in multiple stations.

If this happened in multiple locations throughout the city then you would start to get challenged, Augustus said. Thats quite honestly where the conversation with the commonwealth and the national guard would come in to support frontline needs should our staffing levels get to a point where we didnt think we could meet our responsibilities.

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By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is still transferring some inmates from coronavirus hotspots such as New York City to prisons in other parts of the country, even as three prisoners tested positive for the COVID-19 respiratory illness over the weekend, a top union official said on Monday. AFGE Council of Prison Local 33 President Shane Fausey called on Attorney General William Barr to take 'unprecedented' action to temporarily stop the movement of all prisoners between facilities until the virus can be contained.

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is still transferring some inmates from coronavirus hotspots such as New York City to prisons in other parts of the country, even as three prisoners tested positive for the COVID-19 respiratory illness over the weekend, a top union official said on Monday.

AFGE Council of Prison Local 33 President Shane Fausey called on Attorney General William Barr to take "unprecedented" action to temporarily stop the movement of all prisoners between facilities until the virus can be contained.

"I am imploring the attorney general of the United States to stop all inmate movement, shelter in place at least for 14 to 21 days, following the guidance of the White House press briefings," he said in a phone interview.

"We need to flatten this curve, he added, referring to the strategy of slowing the virus' spread to prevent hospitals and healthcare systems from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and BOP did not have any immediate comment.

The BOP, which operates 122 facilities, has taken some precautions similar to those in state and local jails and prisons by suspending social visits. [nL1N2BG00X]

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday he is mulling an executive order to let BOP release some totally nonviolent prisoners, while criminal justice advocates are pushing Congress to include a measure in the coronavirus stimulus bill to let some elderly inmates free sooner.

The BOP's new policies do call for scaling back inmate movements, but exemptions exist for managing bed space and medical and court trips.

Fausey said the movement of inmates is particularly concerning in cases where newly processed prisoners are sent from various detention facilities in New York City into federal prison facilities in Western Pennsylvania.

New York City is the current epicenter of the national epidemic with nearly 17,000 known cases of the highly contagious respiratory illness.

Over the weekend, one inmate at a BOP detention facility in the New York borough of Brooklyn tested positive for COVID-19.

Another two inmates at a prison complex in Oakdale, Louisiana are in isolation after becoming infected, and three BOP staffers have the illness, the BOP website says.

"BOP is lagging behind the other states" in its response to COVID-19, said Inimai Chettiar, a legislative and policy director at the Justice Action Network, adding it is urgent to take action now.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Thousands of workers are set to get an increase in the 203 a week emergency coronavirus payment as part of a new income support package during the pandemic.

Sources said the Government is about to announce a "substantial" hike in the Covid-19 social protection payment and is considering a subsidy for employers to keep staff on their payroll.

They said the details of the package were still under discussion yesterday.

One of the options being examined was subsidising wages by up to 80pc.

Workers who face losing their jobs or who have already been laid off will benefit from the supports that are expected to be signed off by Cabinet today.

McDonald's, Subway and Krispy Kreme were among the latest businesses to announce they were shutting their doors as closures continued across the country.

Pressure mounted on the Government to roll out a comprehensive income support scheme after the British government announced it would fund up to 80pc of salaries for workers who were retained in jobs, up to 2,700 a month. The scheme will last for at least three months.

Ministers have been involved in a race against time to come up with a workable scheme as the threat posed by the virus to the economy grows.

Employers fear they face insolvency if they are hit by an avalanche of redundancy payment claims by workers who are legally entitled to seek them after being laid off for between four and six weeks if work is not guaranteed.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said he accepted the 203 per week pandemic unemployment payment is not enough for many workers.

He said the Government needed to do something really quickly for those who risk losing their jobs.

Senior Government sources said a number of options had been examined at talks to find "the easiest and most effective" measures.

Concerns were raised that a flat rate subsidy like 500 a week, for example, would mean some staff could end up with higher wages than they would normally get.

But others argued that setting up a scheme based on a portion of wages is complicated and would take longer to roll out.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions proposed a 1.7bn plan in which the State would pay 75pc of wages for three months, up to 40,000 of pay per worker.

Employers would contribute 25pc in a scheme that it said could be modelled on maternity benefit arrangements.

Ibec proposed that the Government funds at least 70pc of wages for 20 weeks for up to 500,000 workers at a cost of 4bn.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, general secretary of Ictu, Patricia King, urged him to immediately intervene and put "much more ambitious measures" in place.

"An estimated 140,000 workers have already been laid off over the past week or so and business representatives are talking of a further 200,000 or so being laid off over the coming days," she said.

"This could bring us in a matter of weeks close to the total number of jobs lost in the first two-and-a-half years of the post-2008 crash."

She said a household of two adults and one child with a single income between 45,000 to 50,000 could see a fall of nearly two-thirds in their after-tax income.

She noted that in Denmark, a temporary wage compensation scheme for companies with employees at risk of lay-off had been introduced.

Economist Tom McDonnell, of NERI, said although the Ictu wage subsidy scheme sounds expensive, it represents around 1pc of GDP and would not significantly increase the cost of borrowing.

"If we can come out the other side with those employees working and all organisational structures and supply chains intact, you can basically restart the economy in June and July, with the same productive capacity, and not have to go through a recession," he said.

Adrian Cummins, of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said the Government needs to put a package in place urgently as the vast majority of small employers don't have the cash flow to make redundancy payments.
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New Zealander culinary TV star Bobby Chinn has taken to social media to express gratitude toward altruistically minded Vietnamese volunteers working at an isolation facility for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) where his father is staying.

When I think of the Vietnamese, I bow my head to them with utmost respect, the chef wrote on his verified Facebook page with more than 74,000 followers.

The post is accompanied by a photo of Vietnamese volunteers sleeping outdoors on the ground at a centralized isolation zone.

No beds, sleeping in the streets and sidewalks... This is dedication, the caption reads.

The update had received over 44,000 likes and been shared 17,000 times on Facebook by the time of writing.

Volunteers sleep on the ground of a quarantine facility in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam in this photo posted to the verified Facebook page of Bobby Chinn on March 22, 2020.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Chinn confirmed the photo was authentic.

His father, Wayne Frank Chinn, is being quarantined at the Center for National Defense and Security Training, managed by the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, in neighboring Binh Duong Province.

The father was placed in isolation upon recently entering Vietnam from Malaysia.

He and all other passengers on the flight were transported to the centralized isolation facility on March 18 and will stay there for a 14-day period.

According to the chef, despite being 78 years old, his father maintains an optimistic spirit during the quarantine and has no pre-existing medical condition.

The septuagenarian is adapting well to the isolation process and wishes to express his appreciation for the work of Vietnamese volunteers.

Chinn told Tuoi Tre his father understands that the mandatory quarantine is what needs to be done to prevent the disease from spreading and that the Vietnamese government is doing the best they could with what they have, and their responses deserve recognition.

Bobby Chinn is seen in this photo posted to his verified Facebook page on May 24, 2010.

Bobby Chinn is an international chef, television host, restauranteur, and cookbook author.

He has achieved celebrity status across Asia and the Middle East thanks to his roles as host of Discovery TLC's World Cafe culinary show and judge in MBC's Top Chef Middle East cooking competition.

Bobby Chinn is no stranger to Vietnamese cuisine and culture as he has opened two restaurants named for himself in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2001 and 2011, respectively.

He also runs a Vietnamese restaurant in London.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The coronavirus COVID-19 has upended everything, including business as usual in Washington. In a matter of days, facing the reality of a nationwide shutdown and a worsening economic crisis, Congress got serious about spending moneya lot of it.

A recovery package in the trillions of dollars is expected soon, and more stimulus bills are likely to follow. While the most powerful lobbies in Washingtonthe airlines, the oil companies, the chambers of commerceare ready with their wish lists, the media and policymakers arent talking enough about how recovery and stimulus bills could help journalism.

Free Press, the independent, nonprofit advocacy organization I lead, champions structural solutions to the news businesss dire financial problems. Weve long campaigned for more federal and state support for public media, opposed media consolidation, and argued that journalism is too important to democracy to be left to the whims of the market.

In the face of this pandemic, the public needs good, economically secure journalists more than ever. As most of us are sheltered in place, journalists are out there tracking the spread of COVID-19, separating fact from fiction, and holding politicians and powerful institutions accountable. We need the press asking tough questions and digging through fine printstarting with this fast-moving recovery bill, which is both absolutely necessary and particularly ripe for corruption and boondoggles. Crucially, we need local reporters delivering information on how to stay safe and healthy, who is saving lives, what institutional failures are making matters worse.

To support that work, we need a journalism stimulus now. Free Press is asking for at least $5 billion in emergency funds right awaywhich would be less than half of one percent of a trillion-dollar recovery packageand that Congress put a foundation in place to help sustain journalism over the long term.

A journalism-recovery package should include:

Doubling federal funds for public media. After decades of trailing behind leading democracies in support of public media, over the next two years, Congress should double the annual federal appropriations for public media. This would amount to an additional $930 million.

People need trustworthy news and information that isnt hidden behind a paywall and more educational resources for kids who will be home from school for the foreseeable future. This money isnt for Downton Abbey reruns. It should be earmarked specifically for emergency support, education, and especially local journalism.

The House Democratic version of the recovery bill reportedly includes $300 million for public media, mostly devoted to station operations to keep struggling stations in underserved areas on the air. Community stations should be a priority for this spending, particularly in places where other journalism outlets have disappeared and public and community media might be the only sources of news.

California offers a model for what additional needed investments might look like. The Los Angeles Unified School District teamed up with PBS SoCal/KCET to offer instruction over the airwaves while kids are out of school, with separate channels focused on different ages. We should be doing this everywhere, for children in preschool through high school. To help make that happen, Congress should appropriate at least $200 million to bolster and expand public medias Ready to Learn initiative or similar programs to cover all school-aged children.

ICYMI: Dr. Anthony Faucis tightrope act

The bulk of the rest of the funds should be used to support local journalism in all forms, to hire reporters, editors, and producers who will cover COVID-19 and everything that follows. This money should flow to any public-media platformonline, radio, TV, printand it shouldnt be limited to NPR and PBS stations. Any nonprofit, public-minded entity doing journalism should be made eligible.

Of particular concern in a deep recession will be the viability of newly created nonprofit newsrooms, which have popped up across the country in recent years and are often focused on holding local governments accountable. To ensure that funds reach these vital newsrooms, Congress should dedicate an additional $70 million specifically to a fund for small nonprofit newsrooms and startups.

Direct support for daily and weekly newsrooms. Over the past thirty years, tens of thousands of daily and weekly newspaper jobs have disappeared. A severe economic downturn threatens to make a dire situation even worse. Some outlets are already shutting their doors. Many of the industrys worst wounds were self-inflicted, but the emphasis now needs to be on keeping reporters employed and refilling some of the empty seats.

Any recovery package should include at least $2 billion over the next two years to fund newsroom jobs at commercial outlets committed to local coverage. These could be daily newspapers, community papers, or alt-weeklies (which are in bad trouble). The immediate priority is keeping outlets in business and workers on the payroll. Direct, emergency subsidies of say $25,000 per newsgathering position could make sure reporters everywhere stay on the local COVID beat. Just $625 million would help retain 25,000 newsroom jobs.

Over the next two years, as coverage of both the health and economic crises continues, Congress could offer deferred or no-interest business loans that could be repaid in the future. Another sensible approach could be through tax credits, in which the government picks up a significant part of the tab for newsroom staff wages through the end of 2021. An Emergency Jobs for Journalism Tax Credit could offer $40,000 per newsroom employee hired during the remainder of calendar year 2020; the tax credit would apply through the end of 2021.

While were at it, we should ease the transition of news outlets to nonprofit status and incentivize local, independent, or worker ownership and control when outlets go up for sale or into bankruptcy. We should also consider giving household tax credits for paid subscriptions to local news outlets.

At the same time, the government should increase its public-service advertising in local outlets, especially those that are free, by at least $100 million.

New investments in the news we need. We are long overdue for a major investment in services that provide community information. To restore whats been lost and meet growing needs, Congress should take COVID-19 as an opportunity to revive and reimagine journalisms future.

A forthcoming recovery or stimulus bill should include another $2 billion to seed a First Amendment Fund to support new positions, outlets, and approaches to newsgathering. Such a fund, distributed by a new division of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or another newly created entity, could offer grants to meet civic information needs, create jobs dedicated to newsgathering and community engagement, and prioritize places and populations that the mainstream outlets have never served well. The effort could be modeled on and work in tandem with state-level projects like New Jerseys Civic Information Consortium and similar projects being developed in Colorado and Ohio.

READ: Bear Witness

The fund should be seeded with a significant investment. Over time, it could be sustained through a small tax on targeted online ads, as Free Press has proposed. The basic idea is that online platforms that are responsible for polluting the civic discourseand that are making plenty of money, even during the spread of COVID-19should help clean it up.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. We need significant public investments in all corners of the economy, and journalism is no exception. We cant get through this pandemicor the next onewithout a resilient and community-centered media system.

Undoubtedly, big media conglomerates are already working hard for handouts behind the scenes. But instead of corporate tax cuts and stock buybacks, we need targeted measures that will put more reporters on the ground in communities and make sure the public can get the trustworthy information it needs.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Craig Aaron is the president and co-CEO of Free Press and Free Press Action.
Katie Haskins didnt think her seafood cafe and retail shop, Hooked in Latham, would ever sell strip steaks, three cuts of chicken or pork sausages, to say nothing of butternut squash and toilet paper.

Such are the strange times of an unprecedented business environment, when millions of restaurant workers nationwide are at least temporarily unemployed, a good number of New York states 50,000 restaurants are in hibernation and the rest are trying to get by on takeout and delivery.

As supermarkets shelves are picked clean, some restaurants like Hooked are adapting their business models to become minimarts, offering raw ingredients and pantry staples well beyond what theyd previously stocked. Other restaurateurs are trying to find different ways to help their laid-off employees and the public at large.

Were asking people what they want and trying to bring it in for them, said Haskins. She and her husband, Luke, are the only people still working at Hooked, the rest of the staff having been let go last week. The Haskins also manage River Street Market, a food hall in Troy, that has been fully closed since last week and will remain so until the COVID-19 pandemic passes.

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Hooked still has a small menu of made-to-order dishes and display cases of fish and seafood brought in fresh from Boston. But there is also beef, chicken, pork, a melange of vegetables, eggs, milk and, later this week, toilet paper, sourced from a wholesale distributor. The shop, the only business still operating in the Galleria 7 food hall, will be open noon to 7 p.m. daily through Friday, with weekend hours to be assessed in the coming days. It offers takeout with orders submitted via email or Facebook messages  with only two of them, theyre usually too busy to answer the phone  or, when possible, delivery. On-site shopping is also available, with a limited number of customers admitted at a time.

In Malta, Nanola Restaurant owner Shane Spillenger worked mostly by himself over the past week, turning out bulk quantities of pulled pork and barbecued chicken that he sold to takeout customer in large containers along with boxes of frozen sides and snacks that he either had in stock or bought from a restaurant-supply warehouse.

It seems like everybody got an air fryer for Christmas, so they all want chicken wings and mozzarella sticks they cant get at the grocery store, said Spillenger.

All of his approximately 40 employees have been laid off, he said, but customers keep contacting him privately with orders and requests to stay open; last week he was even including rolls of toilet paper with takeout food. (Its gone now.) He intends to operate as long as he can this way, Spillenger said.

Art Riley, chef-owner of McGreiveys Restaurant in Waterford, is serving takeout lunch and dinner daily from a limited menu, rotating his kitchen staff to keep employed people who have been with him between five and 13 years.

The approximately 50 takeout orders McGreiveys sold per day over the weekend is enough to cover payroll and expenses, but, Riley noted, he has already paid off the restaurants mortgage. If I had a landlord, he said, Id be (crapping) bricks.

Though the Times Unions database of area restaurants offering takeout and/or delivery continues to grow and now runs to more than 250 options, some notable names have stopped takeout and delivery, citing concerns for the health of employees, customers and the general public. After publishing a stirring defense late last week of the value of restaurants providing takeout and delivery as a food option beyond supermarkets  going to far as to call it an obligation  Ric Orlando, executive chef of New World Bistro Bar in Albany, reversed himself within a day. He and owner Annette Nanes ended New Worlds takeout and delivery Saturday despite strong business.

In a blog post headlined SHUT IT DOWN, Orlando wrote, It has become crystal clear that asking my crew to come to work is irresponsible.  It is almost impossible to observe social distancing protocol when working in a restaurant.

Also in Albany, Cafe Capriccio developed a brisk business for takeout and delivery last week, said founder Jim Rua, who runs the restaurant with his son, Franco.

But, the elder Rua said Monday, It was very clearly apparent to (us) that while Cafe Capriccio could develop a viable business during this crisis, the exposure to staff was too great. I personally would not choose to work under these conditions, and Franco and I agreed that if we felt threatened then we had to protect our colleagues. The stopped takeout and delivery after Saturday.

That was the final takeout/delivery night as well for DZ Restaurants three busy dining spots in Saratoga Springs  Boca Bistro, Chianti Ristorante and Forno Bistro. Initially closed last week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned all New York restaurants from offering bar service and dine-in options, DZ tried takeout for a few days but opted not to continue this week. The company said in an online note on Sunday, It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to pause our takeout program for the safety of our staff and guests.

In contrast, Vic Christopher, owner of Clark House Hospitality in Troy, said he feels closer to his customers than ever as a result of being able to provide them with takeout and delivery of food, drinks and cases of wine. The companys five entities  three restaurants, a bar and a wine shop  have been condensed into the cafe space of Little Pecks in downtown Troy and the around-the-corner 22 2nd St. Wine Co. Christopher does deliveries, about 20 a day, himself on a scooter, and Little Pecks serves a steady takeout business, its menu buttressed by items from its siblings Lucas Confectionery wine bar and the restaurant Pecks Arcade.

Part of the Little Pecks space has been returned to a previous concept, called The Grocery, that sells ingredients, drinks, toilet paper and more, as well as serving as a pickup spot for a growing number of nearby hospitality businesses including The Placid Baker and the juice company Collar City Cold Pressed. Customers buy through the respective stores and collect their purchases at Little Pecks, which maintains a small staff that practices social distancing and limits the number of people in the shop at one time, Christopher said.

Heidi Knoblauch, owner of Plumb Oyster Bar, also in downtown Troy, temporarily closed the business except for a Cocktail Club with about 30 members who signed up for six mixed drinks delivered weekly for four weeks. But, last week, Knoblauch and partners launched tipyourbartender.online, a website that allows customers to donate directly to members of the service industry.

When the site went live, on Friday, it had about 250 profiles of restaurant workers who are now unemployed. Each profile includes a personal narrative and a link to a Venmo or PayPal account for the subject. The site as of Tuesday had grown to well more than 300 profiles, Knoblauch said, and racked up 24,000 views from 7,700 unique visitors.

She said, Its really been remarkable how receptive and supportive people have been.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission's President Ursula Von Der Leyen on Tuesday had a telephonic conversation during which the latter praised the Indian leader for taking early measures to prevent a rapid spread of coronavirus in India.

During her conversation with Prime Minister Modi, the European Commission's President also expressed her appreciation for the assistance rendered to the European citizens in India amid coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, the prime minister expressed condolences over the loss of life in the European Union due to COVID-19.

"PM expressed his condolences on the loss of life in the European Union due to COVID19. He emphasized on the need for coordination and cooperation among all countries to fight the pandemic. PM also dwelt on the steps taken by India for containing the spread of Coronavirus infection," Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

"Ms. Von Der Leyen mentioned that the Prime Minister's leadership in taking early measures has been the key to preventing a rapid spread of the disease in India. She also expressed her appreciation for the assistance rendered to the European citizens in India in this situation," it added.

The two leaders discussed the global situation in the context of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Modi emphasized on the need for coordination and cooperation among all countries to fight the pandemic.

The prime minister also dwelt on the steps taken by India for containing the spread of Coronavirus infection.

"He emphasized on the need for coordination and cooperation among all countries to fight the pandemic. PM also dwelt on the steps taken by India for containing the spread of Coronavirus infection," it added.

More than 10,000 people have been killed by coronavirus across the European continent.

According to India's Health Ministry, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country has reached 509.

Coronavirus, which originated from China's Wuhan city in December, has so far affected people in about 190 countries, with over 14,000 fatalities. It has led to nationwide lockdown in several countries, the shortage of supply of essential goods and has caused huge financial loss at the stock market.

The virus epicentre has now shifted to Europe, according to the WHO.

As the COVID-19 is unfolding, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that the coronavirus will cause a global recession in 2020 that will be as bad as the 2008 financial crisis, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  More allegations are emerging in the case of Lori Vallow, the Idaho mother arrested in Hawaii in connection with the disappearance of her two children. The details come again via the ex-husband of Vallow's niece, who filed paperwork in an Arizona court in connection with his own child custody battle. In a February filing, Brandon Boudreaux alleged ex-wife Melani Boudreaux knows the whereabouts of JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17. A filing made by Brandon last week includes what is said to be an account from Melani's current husband, Ian Powlowski. That account delves into Vallow and new husband Chad Daybell's religious beliefs, touching on "zombies, demons, wizards, sorcery, and doctrines that are based on but add to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," per AZ Family.

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In it, he alleges that "Melani had been told by Chad and Lori that her children had been possessed and had become zombies" and that "Brandon had been possessed by a demon or another dark entity," reports ABC15. Brandon was shot at on Oct. 2, 2019, and Powlowski's account states that Melanie suggested to him that Lori and Chad could have been behind the attempt on his life: "If shooting at Brandon was indeed based on the idea that he was not longer actually Brandon and needed to die as part of the Lord's plan, then the kid's lives could be forfeit based on the idea that they're not really Tylee and JJ anymore." NBC News notes the filing defines zombies as "human bodies that have had their original spirits forced from them and have been possessed" by a demon, disembodied spirit, or slug. (Read more Lori Vallow stories.)
ISIS has called on God to increase the coronavirus torment of non-believers and boasts that crusader nations have been forced to retreat due to the pandemic, it has been reported.

The Islamic State has released a new newsletter from their al-Naba publication which follows up on the terror group's previous article which instructed members on how to deal with the spread of the virus.

They begin the article by stating that God 'has imposed something of his painful torment on the nations of his creation,' claiming the virus is God's response to idolatrous nations, according to Al-Masdar News.

ISIS has called on God to increase the coronavirus torment of non-believers. Pictured: ISIS fighters hold the al-Qaeda flag

It then calls on God to increase the torment against any non-believing nations and protect the believers from any harm.

It says: 'We ask God to increase their torment and save the believers from all that.

'Indeed he is harsh of punishment against the one who rebels against him, and merciful to the one who obeys him and stands with him,' the terrorist group said, as quoted by a researcher.

The terrorist group stated that the illness has forced the 'crusader nations' to retreat and increase military presence in order to contain the spread of the virus.

A member of the medical team sprays disinfectant as a precautionary move against the coronavirus outbreak at Baghdad international airport in Iraq. The country has 233 confirmed cases and has reported 20 deaths from the virus

While ISIS does not specifically call the virus by its official name, they do highlight the impacts the illness has had around the world.

It comes after ISIS last week issued guidance for terrorists on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

A list of 'religious directives' on tackling infectious diseases appeared in the same newspaper as the most recent comments.

It comes after ISIS issued guidance for terrorists on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in a newsletter (pictured)

The list included 'stay away from sick people', 'wash your hands before eating' and 'avoid travel to affected areas'  similar to advice being issued by world governments.

But it also included decrees such as 'put your faith in God and seek refuge in him'.

Jihadists were also told 'illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God.'

While ISIS has lost almost all of its so-called caliphate in the Middle East, it is thought to still hold pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria.

Iraq suspended flights at its domestic airports from March 17 to 24 to help tackle the virus. Pictured: Tehran during the crisis

Syria's government has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a 20-year-old woman who has been quarantined.

They have shut their borders, locked down citizens and closed schools, restaurants, cafes and parks and suspended conscription into the army.

The virus is also spreading in neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq. Iraq suspended flights at its domestic airports from March 17 to 24.

The country has 233 confirmed cases and has reported 20 deaths from the virus.
CALGARY, Alberta, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FluroTech Ltd. (TSXV: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF), a technology company focused on becoming the standard in the analytical Cannabis and Hemp testing market, is pleased to announce it has entered into an non-exclusive US distribution agreement with North Carolina based HempLab Inc.



The distribution agreement provides for FluroTech and HempLab to work together to introduce the CompleTestTM to regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies on the east coast of the United States with the goal of having CompleteTestTM become an approved testing device to accurately determine if a sample of biomass contains more than 0.3% THC, the legal limit to be classified as Hemp under the USDA guidelines.

HempLabs Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder John Herring, brings over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and a keen understanding of how new technology can help alleviate compliance testing, including the ability to identify the difference between Hemp and Marijuana, which is an issue currently backlogging the cannabis industry. HempLab has selected the CompleTestTM as the technology it wishes to promote as it believes it provides an accurate, easy-to-use, portable testing solution to law enforcement, licensed growers and dispensary owners.

Its imperative that law enforcement seek out new technologies that will assist in expediting the process of determining what substance our officers are dealing with, stated Mr. Herring. The CompleTestTM device has the ability to efficiently delivers rapid and accurate results. This is absolutely crucial in our efforts to enforce the transportation of illegal products as well as limiting down time and delays for those transporting legal products.



Mr. Herring and his team at HempLab will be actively engaged in introducing the CompleTestTM as the testing solution to be adopted by law enforcement on the east coast of the US.

The CompleTestTMs decarboxylated full potency testing makes Hemp compliance testing quick, easy and readily available, stated Rex Kary, Chief Operating Officer at FluroTech. Attracting law enforcement to utilize the CompleTestTM has been a strategic initiative for the Company and Im confident that our product and Mr. Herrings network will allow us to capitalize on the market opportunity that exists.

Story continues

HempLab also serves the agriculture sector focused on growing Hemp for CBD extraction. HempLab will deliver the CompleTestTM device to its customers that not only desire accurate CBD potency results during the growing season but also to ensure their crop is harvested prior to exceeding the legal THC limits

About HempLab, Inc.

HempLab is a North Carolina based distribution company focused exclusively on the marketing, sales and support of the CompleTestTM device. HempLab was co-founded by CMO David Claassen, CEO John Herring and COO Ken Weeks. In addition, HempLabs CTO is Paul Grzybowski, who previously worked in the research laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

To learn more, visit www.HempLab-USA.com

Contact Information

Ken Weeks

Chief Operations Officer

919.522.0491

ken@HempLab-USA.com



HempLab, Inc.

2843 Edwards Drive

Simpson, NC 27879

info@HempLab-USA.com



About FluroTech (TSXV: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF)

FluroTech is a technology and marketing company whose core business is focused on the commercialization of new technologies in the Cannabis and Hemp industries. FluroTechs proprietary spectroscopy-based technology allows for the testing and identification of organic and inorganic compounds contained within biological samples. Using technology that was first developed at the University of Calgary, FluroTech has created a two-part solution comprising a platform technology called the CompleTest and consumable testing kits. Its accuracy has been independently validated. FluroTech continues to develop additional applications for the CompleTest platform technology.

To learn more, visit www.FluroTech.com

Contact Information

Danny Dalla-Longa

Chief Executive Officer

403.680.0644

danny@flurotech.com



FluroTech Ltd.

7 - 3535 Research Road NW

Calgary, AB T2L 2K8

info@flurotech.com



This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the benefit or account of U.S. persons, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally refers to information about an issuers business, capital, technology or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuers prospective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes disclosure about the Corporations market opportunity, including in respect of US based distributors, and advancements in technology and accuracy of testing. The Company made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to prevailing market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors described in the Corporations Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors and the failure to realize anticipated benefits of the evolving regulations or the advancements in the CompleTestTM technology. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive.

The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this news release, unless it is required to do so under Canadian securities legislation.

Neither the 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 of this release.




China Aviation Daily | Mar. 24, 2020

CHINA

3/18/2020 Overseas students advised to not return to China If trip is unnecessary Chinese students overseas are better off suspending their trips back to China if "it's not very necessary", a health official in Beijing said on Wednesday, as the novel coronavirus spreads worldwide and long trips may increase their risk of being infected.

3/19/2020 State-owned airlines post sluggish performance amid epidemic China's three major carriers all posted sluggish operational data in February, in the wake of the global novel coronavirus epidemic, according to their statements released on Wednesday. However, the domestic air travel market is starting to pick up in March.

3/19/2020 HK may expand screening facilities beyond airport Starting on Thursday, travelers arriving in Hong Kong from any foreign country will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine - mostly at home.

3/20/2020 CCAC cap inbound flights China civil aviation authorities will cap the number of inbound flights to the country in a bid to tighten the control of imported cases of novel coronavirus.

3/21/2020 CAAC orders orderly redirection of Beijing intl flights China's top civil aviation administrator has called for a safe and orderly operation to ensure inbound international flights scheduled to land at the Beijing Capital International Airport are redirected to designated entry airports in nearby cities.

3/23/2020 Beijing flights will be diverted Starting Monday, the Chinese capital will redirect all the inbound flights scheduled to land at Beijing Capital International Airport to 12 designated airports where passengers' health condition will be checked.

3/23/2020 Passenger routes help deliver goods to traders China National Aviation Holding Corp has made efforts to prevent and control the novel coronavirus by providing rescue guarantees and ensuring the smooth operation of flights.

3/23/2020 Foreign airlines suspend Beijing flights after reroute order International airlines are reevaluating their Beijing flight schedules as some have already suspended services after Chinese officials began diverting international flights to the capital to other domestic destinations.

GOVERNMENT

3/17/2020 IATA: Airlines need up to US$200 billion to survive virus The global airline industry needs government aid and bailout measures totaling between US$150 billion and US$200 billion if it's to survive the coronavirus crisis, according to the International Air Transport Association.

3/17/2020 ACI Europe predicts 100 million passengers lost in Q1 in Europe European airports stand to lose more than 100 million passengers and EUR 2 billion of revenue in the first quarter of 2020 alone, due to the Coronavirus situation.

3/17/2020 Italy announces plan to take over struggling Alitalia airline Italy will renationalize flag carrier Alitalia as part of a larger coronavirus-related economic rescue plan.

3/17/2020 Korea State lenders to package US$164 mn loans to back Jeju Air acquisition of Easter Jet State lenders will package up 200 billion won (US$164 million) in syndicate loan to back Jeju Air, Korea`s largest low-cost carrier (LCC), in its acquisition of smaller player Easter Jet and operation of the two under common aviation challenge from global pandemic that has put the air travel business in limbo.

3/17/2020 Egypt suspending all flights amid coronavirus spread Egypt is suspending all flights into and out of the country's airports beginning at noon Thursday.

3/19/2020 India mulls up to US$1.6 billion rescue plan for aviation sector after coronavirus India is planning a rescue package worth as much as US$1.6 billion for the aviation sector, which has been battered after the coronavirus outbreak forced countries to close borders and brought air travel to a near-halt.

3/20/2020 Norway government rescues norwegian with US$543 million loan guarantee Of the government's proposed crisis package of 6 billion Norwegian kroner (US$543 million), half will be made available to Norwegian. The support is in the form of state guarantees for bank loans.

3/21/2020 Turkey halts flights to 46 more countries over COVID-19 To help curb spread of coronavirus, Turkey stops flights to 68 countries in total, says Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

3/22/2020 UK Government plans to buy stakes in airlines Amid a worldwide drop in the number of people flying due to the coronavirus, the government of the United Kingdom is considering buying a stake in British Airways and other UK based airlines.

3/23/2020 UAE suspends all passenger and transit flights The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will shut down passenger services for its national carrier - one of the world's largest airlines to fall victim to the economic effect of the new coronavirus.

3/23/2020 US provide financial aid to U.S. airports A Senate Republican coronavirus stimulus package would provide financial aid to U.S. airports, transit systems and passenger railroad Amtrak, but $50 billion for struggling U.S. airlines would be a loan not a cash payout.

3/23/2020 FAA plans to extend minimum flight requirement waiver through Oct. 24 FAA said Sunday it has tentatively decided to extend temporarily waivers of minimum flight requirements at U.S. airports through Oct. 24 to help airlines facing a steep decline in travel demand due to the coronavirus.

AIRLINES

3/18/2020 WestJet releases list of flights with confirmed COVID-19 cases WestJet is warning passengers of several recent flights of the potential exposure to a person who has since tested positive for COVID-19.

3/20/2020 Ethiopian Airlines suspends flights to 30 countries hardest-hit by COVID-19 Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to 30 countries hardest-hit by novel coronavirus (Covid19) effective immediately, PM Abiy Ahmed has announced.

3/21/2020 SAA suspends int'l flights over COVID-19 South African Airways (SAA) announced on Mar 20 it would suspend international flights until May 31 in response to government travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

3/21/2020 Qatar Airways drops Airbus A380s, cuts flight to Australia, London Qatar Airways will trim its flights to Australia, and the rest of the world, across April and May 2020, while also grounding most of its ten Airbus A380s in response to a global downturn in air travel.

3/21/2020 Etihad Airways temporarily suspends services to Pakistan Etihad Airways on Saturday suspended flights to Pakistan and reduced services to the US, Australia, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea and Switzerland to contain spread of coronavirus.

3/21/2020 Air Canada cancels all Toronto-North Bay flights amid COVID-19 pandemic Air Canada has decided to temporarily suspend its main route out of the North Bay Jack Garland Airport. The Toronto to North Bay service will be temporarily suspended starting on March 23 until April 30.

3/21/2020 Kenya Airways suspends international flights Kenya Airways has "temporarily suspended" all international services effective midnight March 25.

3/22/2020 Turkish Airlines reduce destinations to just 5 from over 300 Turkish Airlines announced it will be suspending international flights to all but five destinations: Hong Kong; Addis Ababa; Moscow; New York City; and Washington, DC.

3/22/2020 Emirates stops nearly all passenger flights, slashes wages Emirates, one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, said on Sunday it would stop nearly all passenger flights this week and cut staff wages by as much as half because of the coronavirus impact on travel demand.

3/22/2020 Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia limit number of flights till March 31 Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia will significantly reduce its overall network, following the nationwide movement control order from March 18 to 31.

3/22/2020 American Airlines baggage handler at DFW Airport diagnosed with COVID-19 An American Airlines baggage handler at DFW International Airport left work this week after being diagnosed with COVID-19, raising the total to three company employees now out with the fast-spreading virus.

AIRPORT

3/17/2020 UK airports may be forced to shut down within weeks due to COVID-19 The CEO of AOA has warned that UK airports may be forced to shut down within weeks due to COVID-19 if the UK government doesn't provide immediate support.

3/17/2020 Abu Dhabi International Airport closes Terminal 2 The UAE's Abu Dhabi International Airport (UAH) has confirmed the closure of one of its three terminals amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

3/17/2020 Vancouver International Airport introduces more screening measures Vancouver International Airport, one of just four Canadian airports allowed to accept international flights as of Wednesday, is stepping up its screening, adding more signs and information, and targeting passengers who exhibit signs of illness.

3/18/2020 Chicago's Midway Airport tower closed after employees test positive for COVID-19 FAA is temporarily closing the tower at Midway Airport, the second largest airport in the Chicago area, as several technicians at the facility tested positive for COVID-19.

3/18/2020 Gatwick Airport to implement different measures Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the UK's London Gatwick Airport has announced its plans to implement different measures, including job cuts, to 'safeguard the financial resilience of the business'.

3/20/2020 Auckland Airport requests passengers with confirmed flights During the COVID-19 pandemic, Auckland Airport in New Zealand has requested that passengers only come to the airport when their international flights are confirmed to depart in three hours.

3/20/2020 4th TSA worker at Orlando International Airport tests positive for COVID-19 A fourth TSA worker at Orlando International Airport has tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency said Sunday.

3/21/2020 Manchester airport sees its passenger traffic down 81% Passenger traffic is down 81 percent compared to the same time frame last year, said Manchester-Boston Regional Airport officials, who warn the transportation hub is facing a financial shortfall of US$5 million to US$8 million this fiscal year.

3/21/2020 Mumbai airport sees its international passenger traffic down 70% in Mar International passenger traffic at Mumbai airport, the country's second busiest airport here has seen a sharp decline of up to 70 per cent in March, in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, an airport official said on Saturday.

TRAVEL

3/17/2020 Travel industry pushes for US$150 billion in aid as coronavirus cripples business The U.S. travel and tourism industry is seeking US$150 billion in relief to help grapple with the coronavirus pandemic that has ground travel to a halt.

3/17/2020 Coronavirus could inflict US$800 billion hit on travel industry Based on new analysis from the U.S. Travel Association, the organization projects an US$809 billion hit on the U.S. economy and the loss of 4.6 million travel-related jobs in the country.

3/17/2020 Tourism industry calls for US$150 billion in assistance The U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) on Tuesday called on Congress and the administration to provide US$150 billion in overall relief to the broader travel sector as it struggles through a coronavirus epidemic.

3/17/2020 ASTA requests coronavirus relief from congress The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has requested coronavirus relief from Congress.

3/19/2020 USTA: COVID-19 will cost U.S. travel 4.6M jobs before May The U.S. Travel Association yesterday forecast 4.6 million jobs will disappear from the travel sector by the end of April, revising a previous timeline.

3/20/2020 World Travel and Tourism Council: One million jobs a day being lost due to coronavirus The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says that "a staggering one million jobs are being lost every day in the Travel and Tourism sector due to the sweeping effect of the coronavirus pandemic".

BUSINESS AVIATION

3/18/2020 Business jet-maker Textron Aviation furloughs thousands of US workers as coronavirus hits aerospace industry Business jet-maker Textron Aviation on Wednesday said it will furlough thousands of U.S. employees, as the rapid spread of coronavirus hurts the aviation industry and other sectors.

3/18/2020 EBAA calls on governments to support Europe's business aviation community The European Business Aviation Association is calling on the continent's governments and legislators to support the sector throughout the coronavirus crisis, as the pandemic forces the grounding of many aircraft and risks the future of a host of firms.

3/18/2020 US general aviation braces for cornoavirus hit US flight instructors, flight schools, aviation museums, small airports and an array of associated businesses may be in for tough times as the coronavirus stifles aviation-related commerce.

3/19/2020 Private jets companies thrive as airlines go bankrupt amidst coronavirus pandemic With commercial airlines engulfed by a maelstrom due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the private jet sector is thriving. According to reports, Global consultancy CAPA said that all major airlines are could go bankrupt by May.

3/19/2020 China and HK wealthy flee coronavirus in west by private jet Hong Kong international airport reported its busiest day for private jet activity on record this week as wealthy residents of the territory and Chinese citizens rush back to the city before authorities imposed strict quarantine measures on new arrivals.

3/20/2020 Private jet industry asks for bailout funding The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) sent a joint letter with other industry groups to congressional leaders saying the industry is facing "increasing financial uncertainty" and that private-jet companies should be included in any airline or aviation bailout.
The situation inside Spains senior homes, which have been hard hit by the coronavirus epidemic, is even more dramatic than previously thought.

On Monday, Defense Minister Margarita Robles revealed that the armys Emergency Military Unit (UME), which is providing these centers with medical and cleanup assistance, has found seniors in a state of complete abandonment, when not directly dead in their beds.

Workers are putting themselves on the line, without resources, without healthcare support, without protective gear Jose Manuel Ramirez, president of the Association of Social Services Directors and Managers

Late on Monday, public prosecutors announced an investigation into allegations that there are elderly people, some of them sick, living in extreme conditions and with poor hygiene at senior residences. Reports of deceased residents will also be investigated, and prosecutors will determine whether there is any criminal liability.

We are going to be absolutely implacable and forceful about the treatment that seniors are getting in those residences, said Robles in statements on TV network Telecincos magazine show El Programa de Ana Rosa. After asserting that most centers are treating residents adequately, the minister added that the weight of the law will fall on those who fail to meet their obligations.

Overwhelmed

But workers at these centers complain that they are being forced to work in dangerous conditions, without proper equipment, that funerary services are showing up late to collect bodies and that protocols prohibit care home staff from touching them in order to prevent further contagion.

Jose Manuel Ramirez, president of the Association of Social Services Directors and Managers, called the ministers statements unfortunate and shameful. Workers are putting themselves on the line, without resources, without healthcare support, without protective gear, he said, asking people not to criminalize employees who are acting like heroes and heroines.

Senior care homes have been at the center of numerous coronavirus outbreaks in Spain, and managers have long been complaining about a lack of human and material resources to deal with the situation.

Dozens of deaths

Two members of the army's UME unit outside the Amavir senior residence in Pozuelo de Alarcon (Madrid). RRF (Europa Press)

The Defense Ministry has confirmed that bodies were found at several senior residences. At many of these centers, some staff members had walked out on the job after coronavirus outbreaks were detected.

Last week it emerged that more than 100 elderly people have died at senior homes across the country, although there are no official government figures. The Health Ministry transfers queries to regional governments, and the Madrid region  the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic  does not provide numbers, either.

Sources at the public agency Imserso, which is in charge of senior and social affairs, said that there may be isolated cases of overwhelmed senior centers, but insisted that most residences are functioning adequately despite a shortage of equipment and personnel, given that many workers have fallen ill themselves or have been quarantined.

Last weekend the armys UME unit began rendering assistance to overburdened senior homes. The government said that any center that is unable to provide proper care has the obligation to inform regional and central authorities so that the UME can be dispatched to help with disinfection and other duties.

Following protocol

Healthcare sources said that bodies of deceased residents are normally taken to a refrigerated room where they remain in storage until they are collected by funerary services. When the death is thought to be caused by Covid-19, however, protocols prohibit workers from touching the body until funerary personnel show up with protective gear.

But the current overwhelming demand at Madrids funerary services means that up to 24 hours are elapsing between the time of death and the time of collection.

Two workers at a residence in the Madrid district of Usera told EL PAIS that the UME walked in on Sunday morning to disinfect the premises, and found the body of a man who had died the day before. The corpse was still lying in bed in the mans room. He was there from early afternoon [on Saturday]. I arrived at night, and at 8am the next morning he was still there, said Jose Manuel Martin-Lopi, who works the front desk at the senior home.

A nursing assistant who spoke on condition of anonymity said the body was collected at around 11.30am on Sunday. Normally the process takes two hours, what with the paperwork and informing the family. In this case it wasnt so, said Martin-Lopi. A center spokeswoman said that the body could not be moved because it was thought it could be a source of contagion, and that protocol establishes that they had to wait for the funerary services.

On Monday, the UME also began transferring coronavirus victims from Madrid hospitals to a makeshift morgue thats been set up at the Palacio del Hielo ice rink, the Defense Ministry has confirmed.

English version by Susana Urra.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Like many of its hemispheric neighbors bracing for the coronavirus pandemic, Cuba is in harms way. Although the socialist regime boasts world-class physicians and a dedication to health care for all, the reality is more complicated. Covid-19 is anything but an equal opportunity affliction: Companeros with connections or access to dollars have a far better shot at securing medication and loading up on groceries during a lockdown, independent journalist Yoani Sanchez reports.

The island autocracy doesnt have a vaccine for economic misery wrought by a global health emergency. While the outbreak is still incipient (11 confirmed cases and one death as of March 19), fear of contagion is already hurting tourism, Cubas second largest source of foreign exchange. Cuban economist Pavel Vidal, who teaches at Javeriana University, in Cali, Colombia, estimates that tourist arrivals will fall 8% to 12% this year. Prior global disruptions  9/11, the SARS and swine flu outbreaks  suggest the blow to tourism in Cuba could far outlast the epidemic, dragging on for 16 months to 18 months, Vidal said.

Yet Cuba may also prove to be one of the rare countries for which the pandemic presents an opportunity. Cuban doctors were among the international first responders in Wuhan to tend to the sick and assist Chinese authorities on the ground. They brought along homemade medication, a variety of interferon used to treat cancer, which Havana claimed helps virus-afflicted patients  and some regime enthusiasts erroneously heralded as a wonder cure. Cuba in the vanguard. Always Cuba! Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro extolled to reporters in Caracas earlier this month.

The islands physicians are also reportedly on their way to Spain and Italy, and to help prepare for an outbreak in Nicaragua.

Cuban physicians were already a global brand. Since the 1960s, waves of its doctors and medical specialists have brought dozens of developing nations welcome care. As recently as 2015, Cubans deployed 37,000 doctors in 77 countries, a study by the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School found.

Story continues

This was not altruism. At the height of the international medical missions, in 2013, Cuban doctors sent $10.2 billion back to Havana, according to official government figures. While the haul is much smaller today, medical services are still Cubas biggest export, kicking in $6.4 billion or 43% of foreign earnings  twice as much as tourism  in 2018.Then came the backlash. As their footprint spread, Cuban medical missions also drew scrutiny. Doctors abroad earned scandalously low salaries  up to 70% of which stayed in government coffers  and were subject to intimidation. Regime minders looked over their shoulders, imposed curfews and restricted contacts with host societies. The program also took a hit when Latin Americas Pink Tide of Cuba-friendly leftwing governments was voted out of power. Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador canceled their contracts with Havana. Some 8,000 physicians left Brazil alone upon the election in 2018 of rightwing populist Jair Bolsonaro, who vowed to gut the program. The economic implosion in Venezuela, until recently one of Cubas best clients, further shrank Havanas medical meal ticket.

Cuba since then has been scrambling to carve out new markets and replenish the flow of hard currency. Cuban officials are negotiating providing medical services to underserved indigenous communities in Canada. The islands physicians are already in French Guiana and have carried out missions in Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates and Qatar. Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a socialist, opened the door to Cuban doctors as Brazil shut its own.

The coronavirus pandemic could deepen the trend and even reopen borders: The Brazilian health ministry announced an outbreak contingency plan to hire scores of physicians, including Cubans. Cuban medical personnel could help countries with poor health care infrastructure do systematic testing and set up emergency facilities to treat patients, said William LeoGrande, a Cuba expert at American University. When a vaccine becomes available, they could help plan and carry out mass vaccinations  something thats done routinely in Cuba.

As encouraging as that sounds, dispatching planeloads of indentured doctors to fight on the frontlines of a pandemic is bad medicine. The government tends to see that the best thing for the economy is income that goes directly to the state budget, Vidal told me. The result is inefficient services, scant benefit to the consumer economy and medical wage slaves, so giving the biggest draw in Cuban soft power a bad name. The Cuban government must change the business model, Vidal said.

Instead of topping up Havanas coffers, Cuba should do right by its doctors and its own brand. Most of the income must be left to doctors, who could bring wages to Cuba instead, help their families, and encourage the economy by expanding consumption and making investments in the emerging private sector, Vidal said.

With 159 nations (and nearly all of the Americas) facing a deadly illness, the more trained medical personnel on global call, the better. Cubas flying doctors are well suited to the task. The prognosis for Havana is less clear.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Mac Margolis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin and South America. He was a reporter for Newsweek and is the author of The Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Ford announced Tuesday that it's working with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment and protective gear for healthcare workers to help address shortages in the fight against the coronavirus.

Healthcare workers around the country have expressed concern about difficulties in attaining enough critical supplies, such as masks, gloves and ventilators, to deal with the influx of patients suffering from the highly contagious virus.

Ford said it will work with 3M to produce a new kind of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for healthcare workers, while also helping to increase production of 3M's current respirator device.

A PAPR has a clear mask that fits over the face. Air is drawn in through a tube connected to a pump that filters the air. The PAPR will be made using parts from both Ford and 3M, the automaker said, including fans used in the Ford F-150's optional ventilated seats. Ford is also working with companies that make batteries for power tools to find a battery that will provide a desired eight hour operating life on a single charge.

Ford said it is exploring the possibility of producing the devices at one of its Michigan factories. 3M will also make the respirators at its own factory, Ford said.

Ford also announced that it's working with GE Healthcare to increase production of ventilators, sophisticated air pumps needed by some critically ill coronavirus patients. It is not clear exactly how Ford will help GE to make more ventilators.

"Working with 3M and GE, we have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this vital equipment," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in the company's announcement. "We've been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs."

The automaker also said it will work with the United Auto Workers Union to assemble clear plastic face shields that protect people from possibly infectious bodily fluids. The Ford-designed masks are being tested at Detroit-area hospitals. They could be used by healthcare workers, but also others, such as store clerks, who must regularly deal with the public.

Ford is also using 3D printers at its Advanced Manufacturing Center to create disposable air-filtering respirator masks. Once approved, Ford said, the company could initially 1,000 masks per month but hopes to increase production as quickly as possible.

In the past, Ford has been involved in projects like building aircraft during World War II and iron lungs for polio patients. That history provided motivation for these new activities, CEO Jim Hackett said.

"It's inside Ford where people remember these stories," Hackett said in a CNN interview, "so the ideas were coming from within the company."

Other major US automakers have also made similar announcements.

General Motors said last Friday that it was going to work with Ventec Life Systems to help increase its production of ventilators for hospital patients. On Monday, the two companies announced that Ventec "is now planning exponentially higher ventilator production as fast as possible" as a result of the partnership.

GM said it is also looking into producing the devices at its Kokomo, Indiana, electronics assembly plant.

Ford has been coordinating with GM to ensure that the companies' efforts don't put a strain on any particular suppliers or other companies and hinder the goal of increasing production as much as possible, said Jim Baumbick, Ford's vice president for enterprise product line management.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also said on Twitter that his company could make ventilators if needed.

Last Saturday he tweeted that he had had "a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators."

Medtronic confirmed that it has had discussions with Musk.

Musk has not given any specific timetable for producing ventilators, though, and did not say what his companies and Medtronic might do together. Tesla spokespeople did not respond to requests for more information.

"Medtronic will work with Tesla and others to try and solve this ventilator supply challenge," a Medtronic spokeperson told CNN Business in an email. The company also did not provide any information about how Musk's companies could help in the production of more ventilators.

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters that Musk had donated 1,000 ventilators. Musk Tweeted later that those ventilators had been purchased from China,

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also announced Monday it would produce as many as 1 million protective face masks a week that it would donate to hospitals, police and emergency personnel dealing with coronavirus patients.

All four automakers announced last week that they would temporarily shut down production of cars and SUVs at their US factories in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

Additional reporting by Jackie Wattles
About one-third of people are satisfied with the parliamentary election results, while another third is dissatisfied, according to the latest Focus poll carried out in mid-March on 1,013 respondents.
Zahra Buhari

President Buharis daughter, Zahra took to Instagram to make an indirect remark about coronavirus which is currently ravaging most countries around the world.

In her Instastory post, Zahra stated that the earth is cleansing itself and its inhabitants.

She also shared a post about karma, hours after her father tested negative for coronavirus while his Chief of Staff Abba Kyari tested positive for the virus.

Zahra wrote;

Recall that Mr Kyaris influence in the current administration has been a matter of serious concern for Aisha Buhari, the presidents wife. The first lady has repeatedly lashed out at the chief of staff for allegedly caging her husband and rendering her redundant in his government.
Now is the time when the rich can help out their respective countries and many of them have stepped up to make sure they are doing what is required of them. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has donated coronavirus kits to the US, Africa as well as Asia; our own business tycoon, Mr Anand Mahindra, is setting up his factories to manufacture ventilators for patients. He has also promised to donate 100 per cent of his salary for the coming months, to make sure the medical facilities don't break down.

Adding to this, the Reliance Foundation owned by Mukesh Ambani, has set up India's first COVID-19 hospital which will be solely dedicated to treat patients who are infected by coronavirus.

Indias First Dedicated Covid Hospital by @RFhospital in collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated 100 bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19. #CoronaHaregaIndiaJeetega  Reliance Foundation (@ril_foundation) March 23, 2020

The medical facility has 100 beds and has been set up in Seven Hills Hospital along with adequate modern equipment to treat patients. Not just that, the foundation is also working towards providing the health care workers with proper protective gear so that their risk of contracting the infection is reduced.

Moneycontrol

In a series of tweets, the company's official Twitter handle explained some basic and necessary facts about the hospital.

The hospital houses a negative pressure room which will help in preventing cross contamination and also control the infection from spreading.

This first-of-its-kind-in-India centre is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and includes a negative pressure room that helps in preventing cross contamination and helps control infection #CoronaHaregaIndiaJeetega  Reliance Foundation (@ril_foundation) March 23, 2020

All beds are equipped with the required infrastructure, bio medical equipment such as ventilators, pacemakers, dialysis machine and patient monitoring devices etc #CoronaHaregaIndiaJeetega  Reliance Foundation (@ril_foundation) March 23, 2020

They also added that Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre will offer help people returning from other countries, to quarantine themselves by providing them with special medical facilities.

@RFhospital to offer special medical facilities to quarantine travellers from notified countries #CoronaHaregaIndiaJeetega  Reliance Foundation (@ril_foundation) March 23, 2020

Apart from this, Reliance has also donated Rs 5 crore to the Maharashtra government's relief fund to help those who have been the virus' victims. According to a Financial Express report, the company's statement on the same was, 'RIL has deployed the combined strengths of Reliance Foundation, Reliance Retail, Jio, Reliance Life Sciences, Reliance Industries, and all the 6,00,000 members of the Reliance family on this action plan against COVID-19'.

Moneycontrol

This is a great initiative by them and more such facilities need to be set up by those who can afford to do so in order to help the current situation. The only way to fight this is to fight it together.
T he trouble with humans is that they do not behave like straight lines on graphs. Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made, sighed the great 18th-century philosopher, Immanuel Kant. He would have found ample evidence for the imperfectability of humans in the present situation. Finding the best way forward, correcting omissions and earlier mistakes in response to the spread of coronovirus is a lot trickier than statistics about infection rates and deaths convey.

Like many of us watching Boris Johnsons broadcast last night with its instruction to stay at home, I feel torn by frustration over this delayed response to the spread of Covid-19. And, surely, blows will be traded on that score once the Cabinet is freed from bonds of loyalty over a desultory start to the crisis. If London and Britain are, as the Government so often tells us, open for business, then they are also likely to be open to an aggressive virus that travels across the world in an age of globalised trade and long-haul travel.

It would be churlish to accuse Johnson of slacking. He looks to me like a figure who, after the hoopla of a victorious election campaign and the excitement of making himself at home in Downing Street with a settled mandate, has realised that leading a panic-stricken country is all sweat, many hard choices between warring groups of advisers vacillating between statistical models, and little reward. But he has sought to adjust. The faux-Churchillian tone has been dropped, and lackadaisical advice that a bit of hand-washing and self-isolation would sort matters out while we reached herd immunity has been exchanged for a clearer message. Even the tousled hair has been calmed down to nearly normal levels of neatness.

It is easy to point to the necessity of clampdowns abroad  it is harder to admit there are unenviable trade-offs here, because populations respond differently, even when they face the same evidence. Kant might have added that the crooked timber also depends a great deal where we are and what our friends are doing. Town and country, for example, exhibit widely differing responses to the same information.

Anne McElvoy

Driving back from a trip with a friend to the West Country a couple of weeks ago, we heard news from London of supermarket queues around the block and earnest demands on our texts to seek out loo paper. The mood in a large Somerset supermarket meanwhile was polite restraint itself, which calmed my own silly urge to go into a loo-roll frenzy.

Unthinkingly, we copy moods and behaviours around us  which is why we head to the seaside or park to get fresh air in a small family group, thinking we are doing something useful for our stiff legs and mental health, only to find the places as thickly populated as on a sunny bank holiday. So the lesson when it comes to dealing with political communication is keep it very simple and be clear what you want people to do  and what not.

Britons are outraged at being told they cannot sit outside pubs, while Germans worry about their constitution

We have learned the hard way in the past weeks that leaving it to common sense is not good enough. The crooked timber in us expects others to stay at home while we find an excuse to go out. A desire to believe that constraint is extreme is a part of our national character  the luxury of escaping tyranny for centuries. But it also points to a perversity, as I discovered hearing one senior politician privately argue that a dinner should go ahead because he felt the response was too draconian (the wider view was that he should dine alone). We should also take a look at our own behaviour. I know that my own weakness is the just one more temptation to get something done or make one more journey which is marginally useful but not essential. Call it implausible deniability  it is catching.

It is also worth remembering, given that Britain has a tendency to deem itself exceptionally great at stuff or particularly awful, that others are struggling with the trade-offs of the pandemic too.

Angela Merkel gets reverent press coverage for her calm response to the crisis, although there is some hindsight at work here. The initial advice of the German government also relied on the same herd immunity idea for which Johnson has been roundly criticised. And Merkel has had to tussle over the rights of the central government to override the powers of the various federal states and misplaced agitation from opposition parties about central diktats overriding the German constitution.

Political national character asserts during a crisis. Britons are outraged at being told they cannot meet in the park or sit outside a pub, Germans start worrying about the constitution. Emmanuel Macron is everyones favourite  rebooting his presidency in a national crisis plays to his character strengths (decisive) and his centralising bossiness. But Paris also has questions to answer on how fast the virus spread to yield such a high death toll to date  and the response to the lockdowns so far have been well over 90,000 recorded instances of citizens saying non to being told to stay indoors or stop fraternising. We are, it turns

out, all stroppy in our own way. Some countries will clearly be judged in the medium to long term to have responded more effectually than others. The biggest effect on the percentage death rate is how many people each country tests, so the biggest gap in the UK response looks like a failure to embrace mass testing much earlier.

Dysfunctional politics are magnified by the crisis. A divided US Congress yesterday still could not agree for a second day on a rescue package of economic measures: a warning to Democrats tempted to make hay that the result is counterproductive and ill-serves voters caught in the divide. Here, Johnson will shortly get the Opposition any government needs in the form of Keir Starmer, who is likely to be the winner of the Labour Party leadership race.

Its strange to recall that their course was set when it seemed that the most dramatic challenge facing us was what to do about Brexit trade deals.

The Almighty clearly has a way of getting the last laugh on us crooked humans.
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[March 24, 2020] VitalSource and Publishers Expand Free Access to eTextbooks Internationally during COVID-19 Pandemic

To assist students and institutions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, VitalSource and leading publishers have expanded free access to digital learning materials to higher education students throughout the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester. "With the rapid transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we joined with our publisher partners and took immediate steps to reduce barriers to educational opportunities for students," said Kent Freeman, President of VitalSource. "After announcing this opportunity to U.S. students last week, we are now expanding free access to e-texts to the higher education community in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in an effort to help more students affected by this unprecedented disruption." In coordination with participating publishers, access to an expansive catalog of etexts will be available for free to students in the United States through May 25, 2020; in Canada through April 30, 2020; in Ireland and the United Kingdom through 30th June, 2020, at schools that have been affected by recent campus closures, have moved to distance learning, and meet eligibility requirements. Students simply log in to the VitalSource Bookshelf app using their school email address and can then view course materials from participating publishers via VitalSource's capabilities within Bookshelf.



VitalSource Managing Director, International, Alice Duijser said, "VitalSource recognizes the global ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and is taking sweeping action to provide necessary support to institutions in countries where we have the greatest reach to help ensure access to the immediate resources students need to adapt to a new way of learning." To view a list of publishers and resellers who are supporting this effort, visit https://get.vitalsource.com/vitalsource-helps-ukir.

Students who need assistance accessing eTexts at no charge can visit https://get.vitalsource.com/vitalsource-helps-ukir. About VitalSource VitalSource is the leading education technology solutions provider committed to helping partners create, deliver, and distribute affordable, accessible, and impactful learning experiences worldwide. As a recognized innovator in the digital course materials market, VitalSource is best known for partnering with more than 1,000 publishers and resellers to deliver extraordinary learning experiences to millions of active users globally - and today we're also powering new, cutting-edge technologies designed to optimize teaching and learning for maximum results. Learn more at https://get.vitalsource.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert), Facebook, and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005217/en/

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Theres a whole series of questions of how this is all going to work assuming we agree that some sort of social distancing will be in place for some time, said Simon Rosenberg, founder of NDN, a liberal think tank. Will the president even meet with leaders of Congress any longer? Can they have face-to-face meetings to work out negotiations? Will people use video conferencing more? As government adapts to the age of social distancing, its the nature of Congress to have people packed together, but how will you bring people together if you cant actually be together?
People protesting against the citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh were removed by the Delhi Police on Tuesday morning amid the coronavirus lockdown in the national capital, officials said.

A total of nine protesters including six women were detained and taken to a nearby police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) R P Meena said.

The agitators, mostly women, had been on a sit-in at the site for over three months to protest the newly amended Citizenship Act.

People were requested to vacate the site as a lockdown has been imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, action was taken when refused to move, Meena said.

About 50 protesters including men were at the venue when it was vacated.

"Most of the protesters vacated the site after police made an appeal but a few refused. So, police detained them," a volunteer at the site requesting anonymity said.

A decision about resuming the protest will be taken after the coronavirus situation comes under control, he added.

On Sunday, during the 'Janta curfew', only five women were at the site while others had left their slippers as a symbol of solidarity.

The women were taking all precautions amid the coronavirus outbreak and sanitisers had been arranged at the venue to ensure utmost hygiene, the volunteer said.

Unidentified men had hurled "inflammable substance" near the site on Sunday but none of the five women protesters present there were injured.

Meanwhile, the protest site at South Delhi's Hauz Rani too was cleared after the Delhi Police made an appeal on Tuesday morning.

The protest site was cleared at around 7 am, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur.

Only two-three protesters were staging a protest against the newly amended citizenship law at the venue. After we made an appeal, they left the spot, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (March 24, 2020) slammed the Centre for not preparing in advance to tackle the Coronavirus threat, saying that there is acute scarcity of the equipment and infrastructure for those fighting the deadly virus.

The Congress MP too to Twitter and said that he felt sad about the state of affairs as crucial time for preparedness has been missed.

"I am feeling sad, because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared," the Congress MP tweeted. Rahul Gandhi had raised the alarm as early as on February 12 and his suggestions were not taken seriously, his Congress party alleged.

I am feeling sad, because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared. #CoronavirusPandemic https://t.co/dpRTCg8No9  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2020

Rahul Gandhi`s tweet comes in wake of a tweet by Haryana-based doctor Kamna Kakkar who tweeted that the hospitals are facing acute shortage of essential protective equipment.

"When they arrive, please send N95 masks and gloves to my grave. Taali aur thaali bhi baja dena waha! Regards, frustrated sarkari doctor," Kakkar said.

She had tagged her tweet to the Prime Minister and chief minister of the state.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also commented on this tweet by saying, "Dear PM, this is what is wrong with your strategy to fight #COVID-19. Doctors-Nurses-Health Workers don`t need mere `mention` but `protection` of N-95 Masks, Hazmat Suits/Shields, Gloves/Goggles/Shoe Covers."

The Congress leader said that government should listen to the call of Doctors who are deprived of basic needs.

The party leaders have been raking the issue of scarcity of masks and other essentials while questioning the government on the export of these items despite clear instructions from the World Health Organisation.

Meanwhile, Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (March 24, 2020) urging him to address the concerns of unorganised sector workers in view of lockdown and stringent preventive measures being taken to contain the epidemic.

In her letter, Sonia Gandhi had demanded the launch of a welfare plan for the unorganised sector, especially construction workers, in wake of lockdown forced by the spread of the coronavirus.

Seeking immediate relief in the form of emergency wages in a letter addressed to PM, she said that lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across the country have left for their hometowns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn while many workers are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihoods due to the stringent lockdown measures.

Sonia said several countries around the world including Canada have announced wage subsidy measures as part of its Covid-19 Economic Response Plan and New Delhi should also consider rolling out relief measures for migrant construction workers.

Considering the extraordinary situation, I request you to consider advising the state building and other construction welfare boards to roll out emergency wage support for the construction workers who are in distress, she said.

Earlier on Saturday, Sonia had expressed concern over the governments response to coronavirus and demanded a relief package for the poor, farmers, small businesses and middle class. She had also demanded expansion of COVID-19 testing to include people under surveillance and symptomatic cases.

According to Health Ministry data, the country has reported nearly 500 coronavirus cases. This includes 10 deaths even as the government races against time to check the spread of the deadly virus. Almost the entire country has now been placed under a lockdown. Road, rail and air traffic has been suspended till March 31. The Centre has asked states to take strict action against the violators.

There is a complete lockdown in as many as 548 districts of the country affecting several hundred million people. The Indian Railways has also cancelled all passenger train operations till March 31.
Medical staff wearing protective gear check the body temperature of man at his arrival in a new COVID-19 diagnose center in a gymnasium on march 23, 2020, in Taverny, on March 22, 2020, on the seventh day of a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) in France.(Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

The coronavirus pandemic is hitting all around the world. Here is a look at how some countries are dealing with the infectious disease.

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A victim of the Covid-19 virus is evacuated from the Mulhouse civil hospital, eastern France, Monday March 23, 2020. The Grand Est region is now the epicenter of the outbreak in France, which has buried the third most virus victims in Europe, after Italy and Spain. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP

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Liza Garza and her children Faith, 8, Christian, 10 and Joseph, 11, sit on top of their vehicle while they pray during a 'drive -in' Mass in the parking lot of St. John's Episcopal Church Sunday, March 22, 2020, in McAllen, Texas. The church remains closed because of restrictions set in place due to concerns over the coronavirus. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP) AP

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A passenger wears a face mask after arriving at Hong Kong airport, Monday, March 23, 2020. For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) AP

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A commuter crosses 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal during morning rush hour, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) AP

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Police officers check passenger's travel documents, at Rome's Termini main train station, Monday, March 23, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) AP

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Medical staff transport a patient on a stretcher to a medical helicopter at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, on March 22, 2020, on the seventh day of a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) in France. (Photo by PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images)

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A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt (Oder), eastern Germany, Monday, March 23, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.(Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP) AP

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A temple worker wearing a mask to protect himself from the coronavirus (COVID-19) attaches a name card with a wish to a lantern at Jogyesa Temple as Buddhists prepare to celebrate Buddha's birthday on March 23, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea has called for expanded public participation in social distancing for the next two weeks, as the country witnesses a wave of community spread and imported infections leading to a resurgence in new cases of COVID-19. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, 64 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 8,961. SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - MARCH 23 (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

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Burton resident Bethann Glenn gets a kiss from Minnie, a 4-year-old beagle mix, during a drive-in church service on Sunday, March 22, 2020 at Davison Missionary Church in Davison. The church worked with WMPC 106.9FM and 1230 AM to allow drivers to tune in on their car stereos to hear the live worship and preaching from a stage in the parking lot. (Jake May | MLive.com) The Flint Journal, MLive.com

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A nurse assembles plastic-wrapped chairs in a waiting area in the central emergency room of the University Hospital in Essen, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2020. The University Hospital in Essen has specially adapted to patients who have fallen ill with the coronavirus. (Marcel Kusch/dpa via AP) AP

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Commuters wearing a face protection mask travels on the underground on March 23, 2020 in Various Cities, . Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to at least 182 countries, claiming over 10,000 lives and infecting hundreds of thousands more. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

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An emergency and rescue car drives on the deserted A4 highway near Erfurt, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2020, the day after the German government spoke out more restrictions to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) AP

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A doctor prepares himself at a roadblock for his mission at the quarantined village of Neustadt am Rennsteig in Thuringia state on March 23, 2020 near Neustadt, Germany. Local authorities announced the measure last night following the confirmation of 11 cases of COVID-19, the disease resulting from infection with the coronavirus, in Neustadt and the surrounding Ilm region. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have topped 24,000 across Germany, and so far Thuringia, with approximately 250 cases, has seen a relatively low number of infections. NEUSTADT, GERMANY - MARCH 23 (Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)

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A couple walk hand in hand through St James's Park in London, Monday, March 23, 2020. The British government is encouraging people to practice social distancing to help prohibit the spread of Coronavirus, further restrictions may be imposed if the public do not adhere to their advice. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) AP

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A resident lies on a sun lounger in protective clothing and with a mask behind barrier tape on Neumarkt in front of the Frauenkirche and reads a book in Dresden, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2020. To contain the coronavirus, Saxony now bans all gatherings of three or more people in public. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.(Robert Michael/dpa via AP) AP

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A bypass road that connects Ramallah with neighboring villages, is closed with rubble by Palestinian security forces to enforce new government measures against the coronavirus, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, March 23, 2020. On Sunday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh declared a two week set of strict precautionary measures that include confining residents to their homes, restricting movement between cities and deploying security forces, along with other measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) AP

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London's financial district Canary Wharf is seen as a man exercises in Greenwich Park in South London on March 23, 2020, as people come to terms with the governments request for social distancing as the Covid-19 pandemic grips the UK. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

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A man crosses an empty street in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, March 23, 2020. The government has ordered a lock down until the end of the month to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) AP

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Pedestrians walk in Regents park with the Post Office Tower as a backdrop in London, Monday, March 23, 2020. The British government is encouraging people to practice social distancing to help prohibit the spread of Coronavirus, further restrictions may be imposed if the public do not adhere to their advice. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) AP

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Members of a local residents group wear protective gear as they disinfect a local park as a precaution against the new coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 23, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) AP

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Passengers stand in an almost empty Termini main train station, in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) AP

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Asylum seekers wearing masks to avoid coronavirus cross the border from New York into Canada at Roxham Road Wednesday, March 18, 2020 in Hemmingford, Quebec. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP) AP

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A commuter wearing a protective facemask studies a smartphone as he sits with others in the carriage of a metro in Paris on March 23, 2020, on the seventh day of a lockdown in France to attempt to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

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Theresa Malijan, a registered nurse, holds up her hand as she demonstrates how she collects a swab from patients at a drive-through COVID-19 and coronavirus testing station for University of Washington Medicine patients Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Seattle. The appointment-only drive-through clinic began a day earlier. Health authorities in Washington reported more COVID19 deaths in the state that has been hardest hit by the outbreak. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) AP

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A family watches a movie from their car at a drive-in theater as South Koreans take measures to protect themselves against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 23, 2020 in the Seongdong district of Seoul, South Korea. South Korea has called for expanded public participation in social distancing for the next two weeks, as the country witnesses a wave of community spread and imported infections leading to a resurgence in new cases of COVID-19. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, 64 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 8,961. SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - MARCH 23: (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Getty Images

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A woman walks past a line of workers and visitors waiting to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, at the main entrance to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) AP

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Sarah Marton, para-professional at Niles Township District for Special Education, left, talks with her son Cooper Marton, an 8th grader at Disney II Magnet School, while her son studies school work with his computer at his home in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order closes all kindergarten through 12th grade schools a public and private a "for educational purposes" from March 17 through March 30, with students returning to classes March 31 due to coronavirus. Some individual districts, and some other states, have chosen to keep schools closed longer than that. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) AP

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A young boy, who was traveling with his mother, stops to look at the clock in Grand Central Terminal during the morning rush hour, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) AP

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Several journalists are seen at the entrance of IFEMA, the exhibitions venue that will host a campaign hospital to assist coronavirus patients from Madrid hospitals on March 23, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. Spain plans to continue its quarantine measures at least through April 11. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to at least 182 countries, claiming over 10,000 lives and infecting hundreds of thousands more. MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 23 (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

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General View of McDonald Jones Stadium during play with no crowd due to the COVID-19 lockdown during the round 26 A-League match between the Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City at McDonald Jones Stadium on March 23, 2020 in Newcastle, Australia. NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 23 (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

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Aircraft tug pull passenger airplans of German airline Lufthansa to parking position at a runway of the Frankfurt Airport on March 23, 2020 in Frankfurt, Germany. Lufthansa is grounding 700 of its 763 planes due to a collapse in reservations and passenger numbers caused by the worldwide effects of the coronavirus. Airports across the globe have closed, governments have imposed severe restrictions at borders and tourism has come to a halt. FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - MARCH 23 (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

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A ambulance worker wears a mask while arriving with an infant patient at the emergency entrance to WellStar Kennestone Hospital that is serving patients who are being tested for COVID-19 and coronavirus on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Marietta, Ga.(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

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Medical staff take care of a victim of the Covid-19 virus being evacuated from the Mulhouse civil hospital, eastern France, Monday March 23, 2020. The Grand Est region is now the epicenter of the outbreak in France, which has buried the third most virus victims in Europe, after Italy and Spain. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP

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HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's government said on Monday it was banning Cubans from leaving the country, closing schools and suspending interregional public transport in its fight to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Havana started to ramp up measures last Friday when it barred foreign tourists from entering the Communist-ruled Caribbean island nation that relies heavily on tourism for hard currency.

Cuba has so far confirmed 40 cases of the virus that originated in China and has since spread worldwide, including a 61-year-old Italian tourist who died.

"We have decided to regulate the departure of all our compatriots from the national territory for a simple reason: to look after their health, that of their relatives, their neighbors and colleagues," Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in a roundtable discussion on state television.

Cubans and foreign nationals who live in Cuba will be able to return the island but will have to be isolated in camping facilities, college dormitories and other institutions designated by the state for 14 days, he added.

There are currently 500,000 Cuban residents who are abroad for personal and work reasons, he said.

"All Cubans who arrive including those suspected of harboring the illness will be received, isolated, treated and cured if the illness is detected, but we cannot encourage trips," he said.

Two of those infected with the coronavirus in Cuba, a country of 11 million people, are in a critical state, according to the Health Ministry. Both had pre-existing conditions, including diabetes.

In total, 1,036 people are hospitalized for epidemiological surveillance, with 531 suspected of having the coronavirus. A further 37,788 are being monitored in their homes by their physicians.

Marrero said it was partly because of public concerns about hygiene and crowding in schools that led the government to suspend classes for three weeks. They will resume on April 20 after spring break, depending on the status of the coronavirus outbreak.

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"I feel more secure now knowing they will be at home and not exposed to the virus," Susana Valdes, 37, a mother of two, told Reuters. "It's definitely better for my son who has asthma so is particularly vulnerable."

Cuba was also suspending interregional transport, which 22,000 people use each day, and considering what to do with urban transport, used by 2 million Cubans daily, Marrero said.

None of the 32,574 tourists still in Cuba would be allowed to leave their hotels starting on Tuesday, with all excursions banned, he said.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Photo: Courtesy of Zhao Jianbin

Taking a provisional flight, which is probably the first large-scale assistance from China to its nationals in Europe, 125 people living in areas hit hardest by the coronavirous outbreak in Italy came back home and are currently quarantined in a hotel in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.

Two sources close to the Wenzhou government confirmed with the Global Times that they have undergone health checks and are under medical observation at the Wenzhou Binhai Grand Hotel. The hotel's website said that it is a wholly foreign owned luxurious five-star hotel with 469 rooms.

Most of these passengers were born in Wenzhou and Lishui, major hometowns of overseas Chinese in Italy, with students, children and elderly people accounting for a large proportion. More flights might be arranged to take those in need back, sources said.

Since March 15, a video clip showing a crew member wearing a protective suit and disinfecting a female passenger before boarding the plane has gone viral on Chinese social media platforms.

The video clip was posted by one of the passengers on his Sina Weibo account and was largely welcomed by Chinese netizens. Many said that with full measures and checks, it is the right way to get some overseas Chinese back home.

Another video clip post by the passenger shows some passengers sitting in the cabin wearing masks while an announcement says that "it is a great honor to accept the Party and the country's commission to welcome you home on behalf of the motherland."

Overseas Chinese have been always concerned about their country and families back home, and have donated money and materials for China's response to COVID-19.

Now, the situation in China has come under control while overseas Chinese are facing danger. "Please believe: the motherland does not and will not forget you," the announcement also said.

The Global Times contacted one passenger, Zhao Jianbin, who is chief editor of the website Chinatown in Italy, on March 18 and he shared his homecoming stories. To him, this was an unforgettable experience, in which he has felt the caring of his motherland and witnessed the differences of two countries in combating the epidemic.

Photo: Courtesy of Zhao Jianbin

A decision in hours

Zhao said he received a notice from a local overseas Chinese WeChat group on March 15 saying that a provisional flight would be arranged to take some in need back to China and those who have the willingness just need to register their information on a pre-booking system.

The registration system said people at higher risk, such as seniors and pregnant women, along with overseas students and children are prioritized to get the tickets. It advised people without urgent need not to take the flight, in order to reduce the risk of infection during the journey.

On March 15, he received a phone call from the airline and was told to pay the ticket price as the flight was scheduled to take off at around 6 pm.

"It was around 9 am. I was buried in reports about the worsening epidemic situation in Italy. The number of infections and deaths continued to go up and breaking news kept popping out saying more places were out of control. When I received the phone call, I immediately realized it was an opportunity. I did not think for a minute, I just clicked the payment button," Zhao said.

On his way to the airport, the city was like a deserted town as the country has announced a nationwide lockdown and the total number of coronavirus cases in Italy rose to 27,980 on Monday, including the dead and recovered.

Photo: Courtesy of Zhao Jianbin

A flight without stewardesses

After waiting for about three hours at the Milan airport, Zhao, with another 124 passengers, finally started their journey to China.

According to Zhao, the airplane is designed to carry 400 passengers and was expected to bring just 200 passengers back to China due to infection concerns. But some who booked tickets did not make it because it was too late for those living outside Milan to catch the plane.

"The moment I got on the airplane, I felt it was like two totally different worlds," Zhao said. Before boarding, passengers need to go through thorough health checks including disinfection and body temperature. There were no stewardesses in the plane, but crew members wearing protective suits and goggles. All the passengers in Zhao's cabin wore masks, with some wearing rain coats. There was no airplane meal, which Zhao said was in order to reduce infection risks.

Only five people were in business class, with the tickets going for 3,625 euros ($3,957) for adults and 2,772 euros for children. Passengers in economy class also sat separately, with a price of 2,660 euros for adults and 2,027 euros for children, according to Zhao.

After the 12-hour flight, the 125 passengers finally arrived at Wenzhou airport on March 15 afternoon and were welcomed by large numbers of epidemic prevention workers, shuttles and ambulances. They got off the plane in groups and received a thorough health check, Zhao recalled. After that, they were sent to the Wenzhou Binhai Grand Hotel for 14 days of collective quarantine.

From panic to calm

Zhao said they were asked to pay the bills by themselves which is 450 yuan per day for accommodation and 100 yuan for three meals. Those who are above 13 years old live separately and those below 13 can be accompanied by one adult.

Apart from several passengers who were taken to hospital for further tests, the rest are in a stable mood, according to Zhao. On the first day back in China, Zhao said he felt a little nervous but now he has calmed down.

He said the only thing that troubled him was that he could not stay with his family, but this anxiety was later relieved because his child said "we are here to get quarantined, not to relax."

"The flight was hasty. It seems my life has totally changed. Some people said I was buying misery, but I think it was worthwhile. I have witnessed how Italy reacted to the epidemic, and have heard a lot on how China spared no efforts in combating the virus and controlling the outbreak. Now I see that for myself through the country's first provisional flight. It was an experience that could never be bought," Zhao said.

Thirteen flights have been sent to the worst-affected countries, of which seven provisional flights have been arranged to take back 1,101 Chinese nationals, Chinese officials said, adding that such flights will be arranged according to actual need.
How We Won the Cold War, but Are Losing This Time

Commentary

The United States won the Cold War because, despite inferior numbers of weapons, its aircraft, ships, submarines, and ground forces had far better equipment.

And it had far better equipment because there was a major industrial shift in the commercial world that the Pentagon exploited.

This great shift was to microelectronics. Around 1981, the Russians were two or three years behind the United States in using microelectronics in their weapons systems. By 1986, the gap between Soviet and U.S. military equipment based on electronics had grown a lot, and, with an in-place and a largely effective U.S.-led export control system, there was no chance the Russians could get either the electronics or computers they needed for their military.

The Russian military buildup went from high optimism to massive frustration. When the Israelis, using mostly American planes, killed the Syrian Air Force flying mainly Russian MIGs and Sukhois, Russias top military leaders knew they were in deep kimchi. And when Afghan Mujahiddin wielded U.S.-made Stinger missiles to trash powerful Russian gunships and fill body bags flowing back to mother Russia, the Russian people revolted, and it wasnt long before the Communists collapsed.

The revolution in military affairs, something the Russians predicted before we thought of it, materialized in the Cold War in the United States. It was powered by microelectronicsintegrated circuits, microprocessors, small computersall of which could be embedded in weapons to make them smarter and more lethal, and having a tremendous force multiplier effect.

The result was that one U.S. fighter aircraft was worth 20 Russian aircraft, one tank was worth 30 Russian tanks, and one submarine could find, track, and destroy the best subs the Russians had.

That is how the Russians were beaten at their attempt to outgun the United States.

Restrictions Lifted

But today, despite far outspending all potential rivals when it comes to military outlays, we are in trouble. There is more than a good chance that we could lose a fight with China.

When the Cold War ended, the United States started to lift its restrictions on the export of high technology and especially on advanced computers and on microelectronics. By 1996, only five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the multinational institution to protect technology, known as the Coordinating Committee, or COCOM, had been disbanded by the Clinton administration.

America began shifting its industrial base to China, and thousands of companies rushed to build factories and sign deals with Communist-backed companies. Meanwhile, China smartly adapted its own approach allowing local entrepreneurs space to get rich, provided they backed the Party and regime.

China began sending more and more of its young engineers, physicists, scientists, and doctors to the United States for training, creating strong bonds with U.S. universities and research institutions. That provided universities with cash, and led them to believe they would be influential in China in the future. These benefits and notions mesh well with the social and political agenda of progressive U.S. schools of learning; no limits of any kind were put on collaboration or on the protection of vital intellectual property.

Industry was no better, and, in fact, the nexus between manufacturing and markets in China and U.S. politics taught many U.S. companies that they needed to stand up against any tampering with the gold mine they thought they discovered. As a result, the United States adopted a policy of promoting U.S. technology transfers to China, shifting the U.S. economy from a center of manufacturing to a so-called center of services. The bottom fell out of the high-end labor and scientific markets unless it was linked to China.

American politicians jumped on the bandwagon, supporting the export of U.S. technology and manufacturing, while often saying they backed measures to deal with unemployment and job retraining at home. But the net resultthe bottom lineis that Americans stopped training for jobs that werent there. Even when they were there, U.S. companies preferred importing cheap, high-end labor in the form of engineers, software specialists, and even doctors to fill the void.

They got special visas with the help of the U.S. government at the same time the same politicians let millions of untrained and uneducated illegal immigrants pour across our borders, sucking up many of the low-end jobs that remained. But illegals offered off-the-books and off-the-tax rolls, cheap hourly workers who still took advantage of the United States medical infrastructure, welfare benefits, and schools at the expense of taxpayers, mostly working-class people.

Many important technologies have migrated from the United Stateseverything from jet engines and aerospace know-how, to nanotechnology, to advanced computers, artificial intelligence, sensors and coatings, automation machines, and much more. What didnt flee over the table, or was covered up by companies trading prized intellectual property ostensibly for market access, has gone through subterfuge, spying, and electronic cyber stealing.

Its not unacceptable to say that the United States has two defense budgets: one for ourselves and the other for China. When China steals stealth technology and the plans to the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, they not only rob us blind but they exploit billions we invested in our defense, which goes into Chinese analogs such as the Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang FC-31 fighter-bombers. The list of thefts is extremely long, and it isnt surprising to see China operating in the global arms market with products that either trace to Russia or the United States.

Clearly Losing

And there are areas we are clearly losing.

One of the most critical areas is quantum computing and quantum cryptography. If the trend in that sector continues, China will be able to read anything weve tried to protect with encryption and, inversely, our National Security Agency will be hogtied, because NSA supercomputers wont be able to break Chinas codes. A new generation of cellphones and internet of things devices will be accessible to China but not to the United States.

In a world where cyber is the new third dimension of national security, this is a looming disaster. Making it worse, the Pentagon wants to align itself more with Silicon Valley.

The United States is also losing in nanotechnology, because a large number of scientists working on nanotechnology in U.S. universities and research labs are Chinese. China is more than willing to underwrite such efforts because of the huge payoff.

Nanotechnology is rapidly becoming one of the worlds most important new military technologies, as the key coating system for stealth in airplanes, missiles, ships, and submarines. Its playing an important role in composites.

Nanotechnology promises a new generation of protective clothing for troops, of propulsion systems mixed into solid fuels for rockets, of chemical and biological nanosensors can be used to detect harmful chemicals and biological weaponsweapons China is developing, of ballistic protection in the form of body armor and other cladding; and of anti-corrosion, making weapons able to operate longer in the field or to operate at higher temperatures.

Should the trend, already very far along, continue to rise exponentially, the United States is the sure loser.

We arent prepared to meet the challenge. There are no real limits on industry, on universities, on research labs, or on individuals selling their knowledge. And investing more in science and technology wont produce positive results only for the United States, because our security is so lax.

No guidance has emerged to halt the transformation of the United States into a China surrogate. No limits have been placed on most, if not all exports. There is no general understanding of the threat, and no grasp of the implications.

If there is a next war, we may very well lose.

Stephen Bryen is regarded as a thought leader on technology security policy, twice awarded the Defense Departments highest civilian honor: the Distinguished Public Service Medal. His most recent book is Technology Security and National Power: Winners and Losers.

Michael Ledeen is freedom scholar at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He has served as a consultant to the National Security Council and the departments of State and Defense, and as a special adviser to the Secretary of State. He is the author of 35 books, most recently Field of Fight: How to Win the War Against Radical Islam and its Allies, co-authored with retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Several companies are hiring to help handle the demand, including Instacart, which said Monday it plans to add 15,000 people who will shop for and deliver groceries ordered through its service in Illinois and 300,000 nationwide. Walmart announced plans to recruit 150,000 temporary employees to work through May, including 5,000 in Illinois. Walmart also said it will give current employees bonuses, as did CVS and Walgreens, while Jewel-Osco, Whole Foods and Amazon said theyre temporarily raising wages.
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Mongolia has resumed coal exports to China, the country's Finance Minister Chimed Khurelbaatar said here on Monday.

The resumption started on Monday via Gashuun Sukhait border port after the Mongolian government lifted a ban that was imposed in February to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"Our country has resumed coal exports to China via the border point of Gashuun Sukhait. We hope that that coal exports to China will be fully recovered soon," said Khurelbaatar.

Coal transport trucks will be disinfected and drivers will wear protective suits.

As of Monday, a total of 10 people, nine Mongolian citizens and a French national, tested positive for COVID-19 in Mongolia and their conditions remain stable, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Disease.
More than 10,000 people have been killed by coronavirus across the European continent. The gruesome milestone has been reached just five weeks after the first death was recorded on the continent, in France, on February 15.

With yesterdays 1,414 new deaths, the total for the entire continent reached 10,220 deaths from 192,663 cases. Among the European Unions 27 countries, 9,720 deaths have been recorded from 172,407 cases.

Judie Shape, center, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, blows a kiss to her son-in-law, Michael Spencer, left, as Shape's daughter, Lori Spencer, right, looks on, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, as they visit on the phone and look at each other through a window at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

In Italy, 601 new fatalities brought the total to 6,077 deaths. Almost 5,000 new cases of the virus were reported. Many more lives are threatened even before these new cases, with 50,418 active cases and 3,204 classed as serious, critical. All told, 63,927 people have been infected in Italy.

In Spain, the death toll reached 2,206, with 434 new deaths reported, up from 391 the previous day. There were 4,321 new cases, making for a total of 27,528 active cases. Some 2,355 are classified as "serious, critical."

The inability of health and social care services across Europe to cope with the destructive impact of the virusafter decades of being underfunded, privatised and de-staffedresulted in soldiers, drafted to disinfect and run residential homes in Spain, finding elderly people dead in their beds, abandoned to their fate with the country under a strict lockdown.

In France, there were 186 new deaths, an increase over the previous days 112, bringing the total to 860. The deaths included another two medics, one a GP and the other a gynaecologist. There are over 13,000 active cases in the country, 8,675 people in hospital and 2,082 people in critical condition.

A further 34 people perished in the Netherlands, bringing the total to 213, and 24 people died in Germany, bringing fatalities to 118.

In the UK, after it was announced that 54 more people had died, and 335 in total, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a lockdown of the country Monday evening. People can leave their homes only for very limited purposes, including shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible and one form of exercise a day. Only two people can be together, unless they live in the same household. Police can enforce the lockdown, including through fines and dispersing gatherings, said Johnson.

The Foreign Office advised the up to one million Britons on holiday or on business trips abroad to return to the UK immediately. They warned that otherwise there would likely be no more commercial flights available, with air routes likely shutting without warning Tuesday and Wednesday.

Johnsons government has refused to take a number of critical measures to stop the spread of the virus. Its original plan, before being forced to retreat, was to allow the mass infection of the population, supposedly to achieve herd immunity. The government still advises all who suspect they have the virus not to seek treatment in hospital, but to self-isolate at homewithout being tested.

More evidence is emerging that those who are contracting the virus and in some cases dying are from many age ranges, including younger, fitter people, from a baby who was born with the virus to a group of three 30-year-old junior doctors in the same UK hospital who were diagnosed Sunday and required ventilators.

In response, the ruling elite is putting into operation draconian attacks on civil liberties that set a dangerous precedent, while providing no real medical assistance.

Yesterday, the Johnson government was able to pass all stages in the House of Commons of the Emergency Coronavirus Bill, under which he and his ministers are granted extraordinary authoritarian powers, including banning any assembly of people, at any time and place.

This week, Hungarys parliament will hear a bill under which far-right prime minister Viktor Orban is set to receive dictatorial powers enabling him to rule by decree. The powers provide no defined cut-off date and include imprisoning those deemed to be spreading fake news for prison terms of up to five years.

No government in Europe or internationally is carrying out the mass testing required to successfully quarantine and then treat those infected, who may not be showing symptoms but who are still spreading COVID-19. Even front-line medical staff are not being tested. Due to health service cuts, there is hopelessly inadequate provision of basic medical facilities, including ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff.

In contrast, the banks, corporations and super-rich are being granted bailouts that eclipse those granted to the bankers and financial institutions after the 2008 global financial crash. In recent days, Germany, France, Britain and Spain have announced massive subventions to big business, under conditions in which millions of workers have already been laid off, with only those in essential services now employed in most European countries.

Well over a trillion euros have been made available in a matter of days to prop up the financial aristocracy and corporate billionaires. Chancellor Angela Merkels government has made available a package worth around 750 billion to protect Germanys banks and major corporations. Emmanuel Macrons French government committed 300 billion and Johnsons Chancellor Rishi Sunak 350 billion.

Spains Socialist Party Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has committed $219 billion to the corporations, including 100 billion of guarantees for company loans. A further 17 billion of direct support for enterprises is available and 83 billion is reportedly being reserved for private sector investment.

These handouts represent a gigantic raid on the public purse for the second time in a decade. Germanys bailout is the equivalent of 20.5 percent of GDP, Spains, 15.6 percent and the UKs, 15 percent.

These bailouts followed the lead of the European Central Bank, which last week announced a 750 billion new money-printing programme aimed at keeping financial markets afloat. The ECB is committed to buying government debt and private securities with the new funds by the end of this year.

These vast sums are just a down payment, with government officials in treasuries in the main European counties stressing that there will be unlimited funds available. This was confirmed yesterday, as Johnsons government agreed to nationalise the losses of every private rail franchise in Britain for the next six months initially. This transfers all revenue and cost risk to the government, but leaves private firms able to still reap profits and be paid a management fee under an emergency measures agreement.

Workers throughout Europe must demand a programme directly opposed to that of the corporations and the governments that act on their behalf. They must reject this unprecedented bleeding dry of the public purse for the purpose of funding big business and the bankers. These entities must be taken under public control and run by the working class in the interests of society.

In a statement Monday, The spread of the pandemic and the lessons of the past week, the WSWS proposed the measures necessary for workers to take forward the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic: The working class must demand universal testing and free and equal access to health care; the closure of all nonessential production, with full income to those affected; safe working conditions in industries essential to the functioning of society; and an emergency program to build health care infrastructure and ensure that all medical workers have access to the necessary equipment.
If you happen to hop into a taxi driven by this cabbie, be sure to wear a mask, sanitize your hands before paying and let her lower the windows for ventilation.

Those are just some of the conditions one anxious taxi driver named Maharani Chakra Dewi has set out in five different languages in a bid to keep the working mother and others safe and healthy amid the coronavirus outbreak.

My passenger need to take care of the health cause I have loved ones at home waiting for me. Sick fever call ambulance. Dont take [taxi]. Thank you, she explained Friday on Facebook. It has been shared more than 1,000 times as of today.

COVID-19 has killed two in Singapore and infected 509 people as of yesterday. Around the world, nearly 400,000 have taken ill and more than 16,000 died.

The taxi driver said in her post that she has been really worried about the pandemic, causing her to spend money every few days on servicing the air-conditioning in her taxi to keep the air clean and fresh.

She also said that she disinfects the vehicle daily, asks passengers to wear the masks and use hand wipes she provides, and winds down the windows to ventilate the air in the vehicle.

But she said that passengers have been complaining about her efforts to fight the disease, by calling her a freak and saying that the taxi smell like hospital.

I have kids at home. Hope passenger please help me follow my taxi rules, she said.

Other stories you should see:

This Singapore Grab driver really needs a few more screens

From food courts to supermarkets, heres what social distancing looks like in Singapore

This article, Anxious Singapore cabbie sets out COVID-19 conditions for her passengers, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
The World Health Organization says infections and deaths globally from the new coronavirus are expected to increase considerably when global figures are published later Tuesday.

Dr. Margaret Harris, a WHO spokeswoman, said overnight reporting showed 85% of the new cases are being reported in Europe and the United States.

On Monday, WHO counted more than 334,000 total cases globally. Harris said but in fact the outbreak is accelerating very rapidly and the case numbers we received overnight will put that up considerably.

As virus deaths mounted and Americans hoped for some economic relief Tuesday from their divided government, health officials and leaders warned that the world was entering a critical period that would determine just how deeply the pandemic slices through their nations.

While Chinese authorities said they would finally end a two-month lockdown in hard-hit Hubei province where the coronavirus outbreak first began, nations in Europe, North America and elsewhere pressed harder to enforce the stay-at-home restrictions placed on 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Those measures could significantly impact the trajectory that the virus will take as it spreads across the world. World Health Organization warned that the outbreak is accelerating but said nations and individuals can all have an important impact.

We are not helpless bystanders, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000.

We can change the trajectory of this pandemic. One viral social media video showed Italian mayors, sometimes profanely, berating their fellow citizens for not staying inside.

On Capitol Hill, a nearly $2 trillion plan that would prop up businesses and send checks to American households has stalled in Washington for days, but officials said they expect to reach a deal later Tuesday.

Democrats have argued that it was tilted too much toward corporations rather than helping American workers and health care providers.

It appears that it will be soon that the U.S., which has more than 46,000 infections and 530 deaths, overtakes hard-hit Italy in the number of infections.

Authorities say the U.S. is on track to eventually overtake China's nearly 82,000 infections and how soon that happens depends on how seriously Americans take the state-at-home restrictions.

In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hot spots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people. More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and 125 have died. A state-wide lockdown took effect Monday.

The mayor warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor announced plans to convert a New York City convention center into a hospital.

This is going to get much worse before it gets better, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tighted all travel restrictions, demanding that people do not visit family members or friends and stick with only the people they live with.

Nearly 384,000 people worldwide have been infected and more than 16,500 have died from the virus, according to by Johns Hopkins University.

In Italy, Spain and France, the pandemic is pushing national health systems to their breaking points.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country. Officials said Monday the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier, offering some glimmer of hope.

The risks remain for doctors, nurses and others on the front lines: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the coronavirus die. Spain says 12% of its cases more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected.

A Madrid ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue as the number of bodies of virus victims in the Spanish capital mounts.

Overwhelmed by a virus hotspot in its eastern city of Mulhouse France was getting help from hospitals in neighboring Germany and Switzerland.

Confusion rippled through Britain on the first morning after Johnson ordered a three-week halt to all nonessential activity.

The government has told most stores to close, banned gatherings of three or more people and said everyone apart from essential workers should leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise. But photos showed crowded trains Tuesday on some London subway lines.

I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now," London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted. "Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.

Asian stock markets reacted positively Tuesday, markets in Japan and South Korea posting significant gains after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis.

The move toward lockdowns has been influenced by the success of such measures in China, where the virus was first found late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

China barred people from leaving or entering the city on Jan. 23, and soon expanded that to cover most of Hubei province, home to 70 million people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Women will temporarily be able to take both pills for early medical abortion in their own homes without the need to attend a hospital or clinic, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced.

The move was in response to a number of organisations who wrote to the health secretary urging him to amend the law during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak to stop non-essential travel of women to undergo an abortion.

The new measures make the home, whether that of the patient or medical practitioner, a suitable venue to take both abortion pills, confirmed the Department of Health and Social Care.

This is in order to terminate pregnancies up to nine weeks and wont require women or girls to attend a hospital or clinic first.

Consultations with a doctor can also take place via a video link or telephone, rather than face-to-face, says the document.

Prior to the announcement, abortions in England could only be carried out in a hospital, by a specialist provider or a licensed clinic and needed to be approved by two doctors to certify that the abortion being carried out did not breach the terms of the Abortion Act 1967.

Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International UKs Northern Ireland Campaign Manager, said: This is a welcome and necessary step to ensure people can self-manage abortions at home, particularly during the current global health pandemic.

Allowing both pills to be taken at home gives women the dignity and space to safely end their pregnancy and must become a permanent healthcare option.

Amnesty UK is urging the same provisions to be extended to women in Northern Ireland. The current situation with Covid-19 has created additional barriers and hardships that means travelling for this healthcare is no longer a safe or viable option, said Teggart.

Earlier today, a number of health bodies wrote to the health secretary urging him to change the law so that a single doctor could sign off abortions.

Without this, the organisations warned that women would not be able to access care early, will be forced to present at later gestations, and will risk spreading the coronavirus to themselves or others.

Some of the 13 signatories included the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Over the next 13 weeks, 44,000 women in England and Wales are estimated to need access to an early medical abortion.

In normal circumstances, the need for two signatures means women can be asked to come to a clinic more than once, or to get a signature from their GP first.

Alternatively, doctors may have to physically find another doctor to provide the second authorisation.

The letter reads: In normal circumstances, this aspect of the law may be clinically unnecessary but it is the law nonetheless and we make the best of the situation.

In the current circumstances with Covid-19 meaning doctors are self-isolating or off sick and the NHS under immense pressure, it wastes valuable time, puts everyone at greater risk of spreading or contracting coronavirus and risks our ability to provide abortion care at all.

It continues: As Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regardless of how controversial a topic you may consider this to be, you must recognise the unacceptable impact on any woman forced to continue a pregnancy for want of a second doctor to sign off a form.

Independent abortion providers account for almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of procedures, and this proportion is expected to rise, as pressure on the NHS increases during the Covid-19 outbreak.

They rely on the equivalent of just 20 full-time doctors, of which 70 per cent also work in the NHS, and so are more likely to be in contact with people with Covid-19.
Police and Australian Border Force officers are on red alert ahead of the arrival of the cruise ship Magnifica at Fremantle Port, to make sure no-one leaves the vessel.

Premier Mark McGowan says no one will be allowed ashore when the vessel docks to refuel following its arrival about at 5am on Tuesday, amid fears at least 250 of more than 1700 passengers are suffering upper respiratory illness.

'I will not allow what happened in Sydney to happen here,' Mr McGowan said.

The ship arrived in Fremantle on Tuesday at 5am and police are ensuring no one disembark

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

In a statement the WA government said the vessel had provided inconsistent advice to 'both the state and federal governments, about the health of its passengers and its intentions around disembarkation'.

'The state government's position was clear this morning. That position was based on the latest information received from the cruise company,' the statement said.

'MSC Cruises now advises that all passengers and crew are 'well' or don't suffer from any 'respiratory diseases'.

Australia's number of positive coronavirus cases stands at 1,886 and seven dead.

But ship Operator MSC denies any crew or passengers on the ship, which departed Italy in January and is on its way to Dubai, have respiratory or flu-like illnesses.

'There is no evidence to suggest anyone onboard may be infected with COVID-19,' the company said.

The slow-moving ship was just west of Rottnest Island around 3am and was on track to swing southeast before heading to Fremantle Port.

The MSC Magnifica is seen berthed in Fremantle harbour on March 24, 2020

The MSC Magnifica arrived on Tuesday morning with police and border force officers to monitor the ship to ensure no crew or passengers disembark

An Australian Border Force vehicle is seen parked outside the Fremantle Passenger Terminal as the MSC Magnifica berthed on March 24, 2020

A MSC Cruises spokesperson said the ship is now on the way to Dubai and that the docking at Fremantle was just a 'technical call' and that all passengers are well.

'Along her scheduled itinerary, the ship is calling Fremantle in Western Australia for a technical call only,' the spokesperson said.

'While there, neither passengers nor crew will disembark as the ship only plans to refuel before she continues along her scheduled itinerary.

'All passengers and crew on board are well.

'Reports that more than 250 passengers on board are suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus are untrue.'

A passenger wipes the glass of his balcony on the MSC Magnifica on March 24, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia

Passengers look on from the decks and the balconies of their rooms on the MSC Magnifica on March 24, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia

The MSC Magnifica arrived on Tuesday morning with police and border force officers to monitor the ship to ensure no crew or passengers disembark

Meanwhile, WA will clamp down on all interstate road, rail and port traffic and order all interstate arrivals to isolate for 14 days from 1.30pm on Tuesday.

On Monday, Health Minister Roger Cook said the state had 20 new coronavirus cases, bringing WA's total to 140. Two people are in hospital in a critical condition.

Mr McGowan said parents can keep their children home from school but they must not roam shops and beaches.

Schools will remain open until the end of term with the state to provide tools to allow students to continue learning.

Education Minister Sue Ellery said it was 'too early to call' any changes to ATAR exams, but plans were in place to ensure Year 12 students are not disadvantaged.

Passengers look on from the decks of the MSC Magnifica on March 24, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia

Passengers look on from the balconies of their rooms on the MSC Magnifica on March 24, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia

Health officials said that four cruise ships had been allowed to disembark in Sydney despite cases of coronavirus on board.

Health officials identified four cruise ships - the Ovation of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice, Ruby Princess, and Voyager of the Seas - as having confirmed cases.

But despite that huge risk to public health, hundreds of cruise ship staff poured into the city on Saturday from one of the infected ships - all without getting tested.

Three passengers and a crew member were diagnosed with the virus on the Ruby Princess.

Two of the cases happened on two separate journeys on the Voyager of the Seas, with the other last cases coming being on the Ovation of the Seas and the Celebrity Solstice.

People are seen aboard the Celebrity Solstice on Friday (pictured) as it docked at Circular Quay amid the coronavirus crisis

Scores of employees could seen be after piling out of the Ovation of the Seas ship without being tested for coronavirus (pictured on Saturday)

The Celebrity Solstice (pictured) - one of the four cruise ships named as having confirmed cases of coronavirus - docked in Circular Quay on Friday

The workers appeared to spread further away from each other as they moved further inland, as new social measuring guidelines recommend a 1.5metre distance be kept between people (pictured)

On Thursday, Ruby Princess passengers were ushered off the ship as it arrived in Sydney and flown back home without being notified several people on board had been struck down by the deadly illness.

More than 2,600 holidaymakers were on board, with three now confirmed to have the virus, as well as one crew member.

Among the positive cases are a couple who flew home to Darwin.

An email seen by the Australian shows that when the Ruby Princess arrived in Sydney on March 8, its captain claimed no one aboard was ill.

But in fact, the ship logged 158 unwell passengers using an online government portal, known as the Maritime Arrivals Reporting Systems (MARS).

Breaching MARS is an offence.

This means the Ruby Princess was then free to take on its next load of passengers and set sail to New Zealand.

It is on this cruise that four people were struck with the virus.

The Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Ovation of the Seas (pictured) returned to Sydney Harbour on March 18, after the ship was refused entry into New Zealand

The Ovation of the Seas docked at Sydney on Saturday, with crew members freely pouring out at Circular Quay - one of the city's busiest train stations.

Employees could be seen piling out of the ship as they made their way inland past the Opera House, luggage in hand.

'The majority of cases diagnosed in NSW were either acquired overseas or are a contact of a known case,' NSW Health said.

'Seventy-four cases have been locally acquired without an identified source of infection. Investigations to establish any links between cases in order to prevent further spread are ongoing.'

Cruise ship passengers disembark from the Princess Cruises owned Ruby Princess (pictured) at Circular Quay in Sydney on Thursday

Officials are scrambling to contact thousands of people who were on board the four cruise ships, which all which visited Sydney within the last month.

Earlier on Saturday, health authorities sent an email advising Voyager of the Seas passengers that a passenger was 'infectious while on the ship'.

This was for a cruise from March 7 to March 18, with the patient believed to be a 66-year-old man from South Australia.

'There are no known linked cases and no evidence of an outbreak of respiratory illness on board,' NSW Health said.

On the Ruby Princess, a doctor performed 13 swabs - later confirming four cases.

NSW Heath Minister Brad Hazzard revealed one of the passengers is 'not particularly well'.
As virus deaths mounted and Americans hoped for some economic relief Tuesday from their divided government, heath officials and leaders warned that the world was entering a critical period that would determine just how deeply the pandemic slices through their nations.

While Chinese authorities said they would finally end a two-month lockdown in hard-hit Hubei province where the outbreak first began, nations in Europe, North America and elsewhere pressed harder to enforce the stay-at-home restrictions placed on 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Those measures could significantly impact the trajectory that the virus will take as it spreads across the world. warned that the outbreak is accelerating but said nations and individuals can all have an important impact.

We are not helpless bystanders, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000.

We can change the trajectory of this pandemic. One viral social media video showed Italian mayors, sometimes profanely, berating their fellow citizens for not staying inside.

On Capitol Hill, a nearly $2 trillion plan that would prop up businesses and send checks to American households has stalled in Washington for days, but officials said they expect to reach a deal later Tuesday. Democrats have argued that it was tilted too much toward corporations rather than helping American workers and health care providers.

It appears that it will be soon that the U.S., which has more than 46,000 infections and 530 deaths, overtakes hard-hit Italy in the number of infections.

Authorities say the U.S. is on track to eventually overtake China's nearly 82,000 infections and how soon that happens depends on how seriously Americans take the state-at-home restrictions.

In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hot spots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people. More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and 125 have died. A state-wide lockdown took effect Monday.

The mayor warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor announced plans to convert a New York City convention center into a hospital.

This is going to get much worse before it gets better, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tighted all travel restrictions, demanding that people do not visit family members or friends and stick with only the people they live with.

Nearly 384,000 people worldwide have been infected and more than 16,500 have died from the virus, according to by Johns Hopkins University. In Italy, Spain and France, the pandemic is pushing national health systems to their breaking points.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country. Officials said Monday the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier, offering some glimmer of hope.

The risks remain for doctors, nurses and on the front lines: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the die. Spain says 12% of its cases more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected.

A Madrid ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue as the number of bodies of virus victims in the Spanish capital mounts.

Overwhelmed by a virus hotspot in its eastern city of Mulhouse France was getting help from hospitals in neighboring Germany and Switzerland.

Confusion rippled through Britain on the first morning after Johnson ordered a three-week halt to all nonessential activity.

The government has told most stores to close, banned gatherings of three or more people and said everyone apart from essential workers should leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise. But photos showed crowded trains Tuesday on some London subway lines.

I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now," London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted.

"Ignoring these rules means more lives lost. Asian stock markets reacted positively Tuesday, markets in Japan and South Korea posting significant gains after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis.

The move toward lockdowns has been influenced by the success of such measures in China, where the virus was first found late last year in the central city of Wuhan. China barred people from leaving or entering the city on Jan. 23, and soon expanded that to cover most of Hubei province, home to 70 million people.

On Tuesday, after more than a week in which China said the vast majority of new virus cases were imported from abroad, authorities said the restrictions in Hubei would end. People cleared by health authorities would be able to leave the province after midnight. Wuhan itself will remain locked down until April 8.

For most people, the causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Some 102,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.

In contrast to other European nations, German health authorities offered some hope that the country has flattened the exponential spread of the virus, which has already infected nearly 30,000.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vietnam's largest tech firm, FPT, on Sunday announced it had dedicated its 2,000-room university dormitory as a quarantine site and US$850,000 in medical supplies to support the Government's fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

FPT Corporation

The dormitory is part of FPT University campus, located in a 300,000-square meter hi-tech park that is 40 minutes drive from the center of Hanoi. It is a four-building complex with lush greenery and many facilities available to accommodate thousands of students on campus.

Over the weekend, hundreds of FPT employees and students have gathered to vacate the rooms and help set up the quarantine facility. Besides accommodations, the company also donated to the local Government US$850,000 worth of medical supplies such as ventilators, disinfection chambers, and medical protective equipment. The dorm-turned-quarantine site is expected to be active from 23 March until the pandemic is over.

People is our most valuable assets, and we are doing our best to help the Government fight against COVID-19. FPT wishes to contribute to the protection of front-line doctors, healthcare staff and the community, preventing the spread of the pandemic as well as easing pressures on the Government and local authorities. We hope to see more hands join the battle so we could get through this challenging time together." Truong Gia Binh, FPT Chairman

Earlier in February, FPT helped Vietnam's Ministry of Health to launch a 24/7 virtual chatbot that could handle 5,000 inquiries on COVID-19 every day. The company has also granted free access to its AI-powered online learning platform VioEdu, where local students of all levels could educate themselves during the school closures.

As of Monday noon, Vietnam confirmed 118 positive cases of COVID-19, with no deaths. The country is gearing up to expand centralized quarantine sites nationwide to welcome citizens returning home from virus-hit countries. The Vietnamese Government has won praises from the World Health Organization for an effective operating response system and ability to address urgent public health issues.
FREDERIC, MI  Youve probably heard the joke about the firefighter saving a cat stuck in a tree.

This is better.

There was no trapped feline this time, but firefighters did rescue 23 cats abandoned in the Northern Michigan wilderness on Monday.

The 21 kittens and two mother cats were found in battered boxes in the woods near County Road 612 in Crawford County.

Captain David Pratt and Lieutenant Kurt Nitschke of the Frederic Fire Department found the animals just before lower temperatures rolled in. They brought them to the safety of Crawford County Animal Control.

Thanks Cap and Lt. We are proud of your professionalism and dedication not just humanity but to feline fur babies, department staff wrote on Facebook.

Staff at the AuSable Valley Animal Shelter has been finding homes for the kittens. The four oldest cats are in foster care while the two mother cats are temporarily taking care of the rest of the kittens.

There is a list of people who have called wanting to help find homes for the kittens. For more information 989-344-3273.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:50:19|Editor: yan

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CHINGOLA, Zambia, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China will rise from the economic stress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain its position as one of the major global economic powerhouses, a senior official from a Zambian industry group said in an interview with Xinhua Tuesday.

Emmanuel Gardner, first vice president of the Chingola Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that China, which has managed to contain COVID-19 through the efforts of health practitioners, will remain an economic anchor for the global economy.

"What is important is to learn from how China has managed to fight the virus, through concerted efforts by all stakeholders," he said, adding that China's progress in containing COVID-19 gives hope to other countries that they will fight and overcome the disease.

Gardner also expressed optimism that the Zambian business community would continue to attend international business expos in China.

"Apart from attending trade expositions in China, Zambians will continue to do business with their Chinese counterparts," he said.
By Cynthia Kim and Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea on Tuesday doubled a planned economic rescue package to 100 trillion won ($80 billion) to save companies hit by the coronavirus and put a floor under crashing stocks and bond markets.

The package includes 29.1 trillion won in loans to small- and medium-sized companies, while another 20 trillion won will be used to buy corporate bonds and commercial paper of companies facing a credit crunch, President Moon Jae-in said in an emergency economic meeting.

The announcement follows similar moves by governments and central banks globally as the world economy buckles under the weight of national shutdowns. On Monday, the U.S. Federal Reserve, in a drastic move, pledged to back purchases of corporate bonds and buy unlimited amounts of Treasury bonds to ensure credit flows to corporations and local governments.

"We will make sure that companies don't go bankrupt from the COVID-19 shocks. Normal, competitive companies will never be shut just because of a temporary liquidity shortage," Moon said in a meeting with finance chiefs and Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol.

As part of the rescue package, the Financial Services Commission announced a 10.7 trillion won facility set up to stabilise stock markets. It will also commence a bond buying facility in April that will be funded by 84 institutions, including the Bank of Korea, commercial banks and insurers.

South Korean companies are racing to secure lifelines as self-isolation across the country hits restaurants, airlines, hotels and the entertainment industry in Asia's fourth largest economy.

Investors are dumping their holdings of commodities, stocks and riskier bonds, leading to funding constraints for companies.

The economic impact of the respiratory disease has wiped out about a third of the benchmark KOSPI share index this month, while the spread between corporate bonds and treasury debt has widened, a sign of a possible credit crunch.

Story continues

More than 210,000 small businesses have applied for "emergency loans" the government offered earlier this month, FSC chief regulator Eun Sung-soo said in a news conference.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to shutdowns at auto factories and dealerships in the United States and Europe, which are expected to affect South Korean automakers such as Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp.

South Korea reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, maintaining a downward trend in new infections and raising hopes that Asia's largest outbreak outside China may be slowing.

The daily tally brought the country's total infections to 9,037, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The death toll rose by two to 120.

It marked the 13th straight day the country has posted new infections of around 100 or less. South Korea on Monday reported its lowest number of new cases since the peak of 909 recorded on Feb. 29.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Sangmi Cha; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Sam Holmes)
UPDATE: Workers who believe their employer is putting their health at risk should now contact local law enforcement.

Businesses that call their employees into work during a statewide stay at home order can face fines and other penalties for risking their workers health.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered most businesses and organizations to send their employees home for the next three weeks under an executive order that went into effect March 24. Whitmer carved out exemptions for public safety, health care and workers who are necessary to sustain or protect life, but warned employers against making their employees leave home if those categories dont apply.

"Don't play fast and loose with what is essential and what's not," Whitmer said at a Monday press conference. "Don't try to skirt the rules. If you're not an essential business you need to close and you need to protect your employees. We're confident that the vast majority of people are going to do the right thing."

Violating the executive order, which ends April 13, is punishable by a misdemeanor, $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. Anyone can report violations to the Michigan Attorney General's consumer complaint hotline at (877) 765-8388 or online at www.michigan.gov/agcomplaints.

Local law enforcement will also investigate businesses that stay open in defiance of the order, according to Attorney General spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney.

This is not a recommendation, Whitmer said. This is an order, and we take it very seriously.

Whitmer's executive order keeps open businesses that provide health care, food, medicine, gas and banking. People are still able to leave their homes to gather supplies, visit loved ones and exercise outside but are ordered to follow social distancing practices and stay six feet away from others as much as possible.

The governor's order identifies various types of critical industries that must remain open, including distribution centers, public transit, trash pick-up and disposal, public works and utilities, communications and information technology and "critical manufacturing."

Those businesses can designate suppliers or service providers who are needed to keep their operation going. Suppliers can designate other organizations they need to stay open.

Under the order, employers can designate employees who are needed to conduct minimum basic operations. Those employees will be allowed to leave their home to work.

Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy Barauh said those measures were the result of detailed conversations between the governors executive office and business advocates. Barauh said members of the Detroit Chamber have had a mixed reaction to the order, which he characterized as begrudgingly supportive.

What we didnt want was a blanket shelter in place order, and the governor has not issued that, Barauh said. The governor has not issued that, you know, the governor has issued a stay at home order, which has some meaningful exceptions."

Businesses that don't provide essential services are subjects to fines and forced closure if they continue to operate, Whitmer said. The same goes for businesses that bring in workers that aren't needed to conduct basic operations.

Any businesses that dont comply, there will be ramifications for it to be sure, Whitmer said.

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.

Complete coverage of coronavirus in Michigan.
[March 24, 2020] Small Businesses Already Feeling Huge Drop in Demand Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), New Study by Thryv, Inc. and America's SBDC Shows

A just released national study found that 69 percent of U.S. small businesses have already experienced a large drop in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and 60 percent believe demand will continue to decline. The study of small businesses by Thryv, Inc. and America's Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), a resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA), found that 82 percent of small businesses are "extremely concerned" about the current business environment in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, the study uncovered impacts on the labor market and employment trends. In fact, 64 percent of the small businesses studied indicated employee hours have been cut and 22 percent said they had not been cut yet but they expect to do so. From a supply chain perspective, 74 percent of small businesses indicated that they or their suppliers have seen disruptions in their supply chain. "Small businesses across America are feeling the pain of the coronavirus pandemic," said Gordon Henry, Chief Strategy Officer at Thryv. "They are seeing demand plummet and are unable to stock their shelves due to supply chain disruptions. As a result, they are having to cut employee hours to stay operable." These are just several data points from the joint study by Thryv, Inc. - a SaaS (News - Alert) and marketing solutions company with over 350,000 small business clients nationwide - and America's SBDC conducted among small businesses across the country this past Friday. The research supports the integral role small businesses play and the value they bring to the economy. Both America's SBDC and Thryv Inc. have a long history of working with small businesses. Charles "Tee" Rowe, president and CEO at America's SBDC noted, "One-third of the study respondents said they were likely to apply for an SBA loan and another 1 percent said they didn't realize these were available. SBDCs can provide insight and expertise on what options are available and how to maneuver through the loan process, connecting local business owners with the right resources in these difficult times."



The study indicated 60 percent of respondents have delayed or cancelled plans for new investments, loans and expansions in light of the pandemic. "At Thryv, we make software that helps small businesses stay in touch with their customers remotely, which is essential during this crisis," Henry said. "We're launching special packages to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to stay in touch with customers and stay afloat."

The study was conducted on March 20 through March 23 among more than 850 small businesses, with a margin of error +/- 3.3 percent. Thryv and America's SBDC will continue to gather data from SMBs over the next four to eight weeks. For full study results, email [email protected] About Thryv, Inc.

Thryv, Inc. builds and owns the simple, easy-to-use Thryv software that helps small business owners with the daily demands of running a business; and allows them to take control and be more successful. Thryv provides modernized business functions allowing them to manage their time, communicate with clients, and get paid. These include building a digital customer list, communicating with customers via email and text, updating business listings across the internet, accepting appointments, sending notifications and reminders, managing ratings and reviews, generating estimates and invoices, processing payments, and issuing invoices and coupons. Thryv delivers business services to more than 350,000 small businesses across America that enable them to compete and win in today's economy. Thryv also provides consumer services through our market-leading search, display and social products-and connects local businesses via The Real Yellow Pages from the over 25 million monthly visitors of DexKnows.com, Superpages.com and yellowpages.com search portals; and local print directories. For more information about the company, visit thryv.com. About America's SBDC Program: America's SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Network is a partnership uniting private enterprise, government, higher education and local nonprofit economic development organizations. It is the Small Business Administration's largest partnership program, providing management and technical assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their own businesses. Learn more at www.americassbdc.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005745/en/

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Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo meets with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul on March 23, 2020. Pompeo sought to rescue a U.S.-Taliban agreement deal but failed to make apparent progress. (Associated Press )

Facing collapse of Afghan peace talks before they even start, the Trump administration has threatened to withhold up to $2 billion in aid unless President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival put aside their political differences and open negotiations with the Taliban.

Rebuking the Afghan officials as "irresponsible and dishonorable, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo publicly warned that U.S. aid to the central government could be slashed after his emergency visit to Kabul on Monday failed to resolve the dispute between Ghani and his former coalition partner, Abdullah Abdullah.

"Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests, effective immediately, the U.S. government will initiate a review of the scope of our cooperation with Afghanistan, Pompeo said.

The threat was the sharpest sign yet that the Trump administration is distancing itself from its Afghan ally and moving closer to the Taliban. The longtime U.S. adversary has in effect become a wary partner as President Trump seeks to withdraw thousands of American troops before the November election and end America's longest war.

U.S. and Taliban forces have largely halted attacks on each other, a key commitment in an agreement that the two sides signed last month in Qatar. Nor has the militant group conducted large scale suicide bombings in Kabul and other urban centers, meeting another U.S. demand.

In return, the Pentagon has started withdrawing the first of its 12,000 troops, aiming to be down to 8,600 by midsummer and to be out entirely in 14 months, a central Taliban demand.

The shaky U.S.-Taliban peace has taken hold even though Taliban fighters have stepped up attacks on Afghan troops, causing hundreds of casualties at government checkpoints and remote bases around the country.

On Tuesday, Gen. Austin Scott Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said that the U.S. has told Taliban leaders that the group's attacks are threatening the peace process, and that the U.S. reserved the right to strike back in response to the Taliban offensive.

Story continues

I do want to talk about violence. We all know that its too high, Miller said in televised remarks during a meeting in Kabul with Afghan commanders. Weve told the Taliban that its too high as well, and we tell them that on a daily basis.

At least 27 Afghan soldiers were killed in a single attack last week when Taliban fighters stormed a military post in the southern province of Zabol. It was one of the biggest attacks since the agreement was signed in Qatar on Feb. 29 in an effort to reduce violence and set the stage for inter-Afghan talks.

The Taliban did not commit to halting attacks on Afghan troops, but it agreed to work toward a cease-fire if talks with Kabul begin. The document includes secret provisions concerning the levels and types of attacks that would prompt U.S. reprisals.

Andrew Watkins, a Kabul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, said ambiguous language in the document leaves the U.S. wiggle room to decide when and if to respond.

The only known U.S. response so far was a March 4 airstrike against Taliban fighters who were assaulting an Afghan government checkpoint  and an admonishment by a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul that the Taliban should stop needless attacks.

Instead of daily airstrikes and U.S. special forces raids to assist Afghan troops battling the Taliban, the Pentagon's chief tactic until recently, the Trump administration has focused on persuading Ghani to reach a deal with the Taliban.

Even as he threatened to cut critical aid to Kabul, Pompeo insisted that the U.S. is not abandoning our partnership with Afghanistan.

But Paul D. Miller, a National Security Council official responsible for Afghanistan under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, likened the situation to the point in the Vietnam War when the Nixon administration negotiated a deal with Hanoi and forced the U.S. ally in Saigon to accept it. Two years later, Hanoi's forces captured Saigon.

The fragmentation of the Afghan state becomes a real possibility, as does civil war, a military coup, or a Taliban victory, Miller said in an interview. None of those outcomes are consistent with U.S. interests.

Many Afghan officials see the nascent peace process as a trap to force them into negotiations that, at best, will lead to a U.S. troop pullout and a power-sharing agreement with the Taliban, who ruled with a brutal form of Islamic law in the 1990s.

At worst, they fear, the country will plunge back into bloody civil war.

Ghani has balked so far at a planned prisoner exchange of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners  a confidence-building measure included in the peace plan. That has delayed indefinitely the planned start of peace talks in Oslo between Kabul officials and Taliban leaders.

Ghani also has not finalized a negotiating team that is supposed to include all political factions as well as women, minorities and human rights activists.

Abdullah and Ghani have jockeyed for advantage, neither one willing to risk losing support by embarking on risky talks with the Taliban. The two former coalition partners announced competing governments last month after both claimed to have won Afghanistans disputed presidential election.

The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved and resolved soon, that could affect the peace process," a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Pompeo. "And our agreement with the [Taliban] could be put at risk."

The U.S. does have leverage over Ghani.

The Kabul government is heavily dependent on international assistance. U.S. aid was expected to total $4.3 billion this year, all but $500 million of which was earmarked for training and equipping the Afghan army.

If carried out, the $2-billion cut outlined by Pompeo, which he said could be withheld over two years, could severely cripple Afghan government operations, especially its military operations against the Taliban, analysts said.

Afghan and Taliban officials made their first direct contact Sunday, using Skype videoconferencing to discuss procedures for prisoner releases. But they made little apparent progress, other than to agree that the risk of coronavirus infection made transfers more urgent.

In a clear signal to Ghani that U.S. patience is wearing thin, Pompeo  after his unsuccessful mediation between Ghani and Abdullah in Kabul  flew to Qatar for talks with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban official who negotiated the agreement with the United States.

Both sides said the meeting went well.
Married At First Sight fans are tired of hearing Steve Burley repeating the same spiel over and over to his 'wife' Mishel Karen.

On Tuesday's episode, the 52-year-old barber told Mishel, 48, he 'loved' her, despite the pair yet to kiss on the controversial dating program.

Fans accused Steve of using politician-like tactics to avoid Mishel's questions, roasting him for liking the sound of his own voice.

'He talks a lot but doesn't say much': On Tuesday, Married At First Sight fans slammed Steve Burley (pictured) for stringing 'wife' Mishel Karen along

'Steve is like a politician in a press conference... evading questions and conversation like a pro,' one fan wrote on Twitter.

Another agreed: 'Steve would make a great politician. All talk, no action.'

'Everything I hear Steve say to Mishel, "Oh you are a beautiful, special woman, I love you, we are best friends blah blah" but then does nothing,' a third wrote, adding a gif captioned with 'this is bulls**t'.

'All talk, no action': Fans accused Steve of using politician-like tactics to avoid Mishel's questions, roasting him for liking the sound of his own voice. Both pictured.

'Steve talks a lot but doesn't say much,' another joked.

Other viewers were just 'bored' with hearing the same conversation between the pair too many times.

'Oh goodie! We get to hear the Steve and Mishel convo for the 7916th time,' one user commented from home.

'Blah blah blah': On Tuesday's episode, the 52-year-old barber told Mishel, 48, he 'loved' her, although they're yet to kiss

Another added: 'Just realised my worst fear would be being locked in a room and listening to this conversation between Mishel and Steve on repeat for eternity.'

'Mishel and Steve, I am so bored with this moving at snail's pace. "Do you think we cuddled?" Christ, who cares? Pass me another gin,' another fan said.

'Watching Steve and Mishel is about as enjoyable as your third day working from home. No one is having a good time,' a fourth user joked.

Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7:30 on Channel Nine
According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the Global Medical Laser Systems Market was valued at USD 1.91 Billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 4.65 Billion by the year 2027, at a CAGR of 12.2%. The primary factor driving the growth of this industry is technological advancements. The latest advancements in technology have led to an increase in its applications in the medical industry. These advancements have benefits such as small incisions, a decrease in the intensity of pain, and fast recovery after any surgical procedure. These devices are becoming more advanced with the employment of hand-held diodes. Moreover, the increase in the application of technology for various cosmetic treatments, including hair removal, skin rejuvenation, and body contouring, also supports market growth.

Increasing incidences of chronic and skin diseases and the growing aging population are other major factors contributing to the growth of this industry. Globally, the geriatric population plays a significant role in the growth of the market. In old age, loss of fibrous tissue and reduced vascular and glandular network in the layers of skin takes place. The appearance and characteristics of skin alter and lead to wrinkles, dryness, pigmentary alteration, and sagging of the skin. According to the UN-DESA, the population of individuals above 60 years of age in the U.S. will be 107 Million, and that in China would be 437 million. The growing geriatric population worldwide is leading to the increasing adoption of these devices; thus, supporting the growth of the overall industry.

Request free sample Copy of this research report to understand the structure of the complete report@ https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/2192

For safe operation of a medical laser system, all its essential functions must be monitored exhaustively to ensure that a device will switch off as soon as any malfunction occurs. The essential quantities are the output power and the output energy for pulsed devices. Typically, the power and the energy are monitored at three positions: directly at the head, distal to the shutter and control system, proximal to the beam handling system, and inside the optical end unit as close as possible to the exit.

Further key findings from the report suggest

On the basis of application, the urology segment dominates the global medical laser systems market

Solid state devices are projected to witness lucrative development due to technological advancements and increasing application in the diagnostic field

The dental application segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 11.9%. Medical devices are extensively used in dentistry for the treatment of tooth decay, gum diseases, and biopsy

For power lasers, the power supply, the cooling system, and the head are arranged in a laser console. It also contains the first shutter and the control units, as well as the input coupler for the beam-handling system. The beam-handling systems for the far IR and sometimes also for the UV region could be articulated arms. Light guides are used in the near-UV-region in the visible and near-IR regions.

Based on end-use, cosmetic dominates the global market with a 50% contribution in 2019. The increasing number of aesthetic procedures and growing demand for non-invasive treatments are some of the major factors fostering the growth of the cosmetics segment

In solid- and liquid-state lasers, the medium is excited by optical pumping. Flash lamps and arc lamps are utilized or other suitable light sources like diodes. In gaseous devices, an electric discharge directly through the medium excites the atoms and the molecules via electron impact. To keep the optical losses low and to achieve optimum feedback and decoupling, the resonator mirror must be well coated and uncoated, respectively.

Optical feedback is possible only if the resonator mirrors are aligned in such a way that the electromagnetic wave is reflected into itself. This condition calls for a precise highly stabilized mechano-optical design of the laser head, highly stable under all temperature and pressure conditions.

North America dominates the global medical laser systems with a 44% regional share.

Asia Pacific is expected to account for 19.7% of the global Medical Laser Systems industry. Developing nations, such as China and India, are likely to witness high growth.

Key participants include Alcon Laboratories, AngioDynamics, American Medical Systems, Biolase, Bausch & Lomb Holdings, and Cardiogenesis Corporation, among others.

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For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the Medical Laser Systems market on the basis of type, disease type, treatment type, end-use, and region:

Type (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Solid state laser systems Holmium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser Systems Erbium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser Systems Neodymium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser Systems Potassium Titanyl Phosphate Laser Systems Alexandrite Laser Systems Ruby Laser Systems

Gaseous state laser systems Co2 Laser Systems Argon Laser Systems Krypton Laser Systems Metal Vapor Laser Systems Helium  Neon Laser Systems Excimer Laser Systems

Dye Laser Systems

Diode Laser Systems

Application (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Ophthalmology

Dermatology

Gynecology

Dentistry

Urology

Cardiovascular

Others

End-Use (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Surgical

Cosmetic

Dental

Regional Outlook (Revenue in USD Million; 20172027)

North America U.S. Canada

Europe Germany France U.K. Spain Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China India Japan Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America Brazil



To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/medical-laser-systems-market

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The Milner Foundation, founded by renowned tech investor and science philanthropist Yuri Milner and his wife Julia, has donated $3 million to three Israeli institutions currently leading a "race against the clock" to beat the coronavirus pandemic: Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical response organization, which is launching an innovative project to reduce the number of people coming to clinics; Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and George S. Wise Life Sciences, which will support research efforts aimed at developing treatments for the virus; and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital, which will directly fund the intensive care unit that is caring for COVID-19 sufferers.

Mr. Milner, an Israeli citizen living in Silicon Valley, was an early investor in a range of tech giants that shaped the Internet, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Airbnb and Spotify. He and his wife Julia hope that the Foundation's donation will help fight the spread of infection in Israel, and will advance new research and technological tools to combat the virus. The donation was carried out in close cooperation with Israel's Consul-General to the Pacific North West in San Francisco, Mr. Shlomi Kofman.

"This is an investment in the present and the future," Mr. Milner says. "In the short term, it's a way to increase the intensive care unit capacity in Israel and relieve pressure on doctors and, in the longer term, it will support the search for a cure and help develop a new system of virtual medical treatment.

"In the face of global threats like this, science, technology and innovation are our best hopes. Israel is a leader in those fields, and I hope this initiative can both make an impact on COVID-19, and also become a model that can be replicated by other countries."

Consul-General Kofman adds: "It is wonderful to see Israelis abroad supporting their country at this difficult time. Silicon Valley and the State of Israel share a resourcefulness and ingenuity that will be invaluable in overcoming this crisis, and this donation from the Milner Foundation will be a big help in advancing that goal."

Donation to Magen David Adom (MDA)

MDA is launching an innovative project to reduce the number of people in Israel at healthcare fund clinics as well as hospital accident and emergency rooms. This is currently a critical necessity as the healthcare system contends with massive public demand. The project, which commenced due to the spread of the coronavirus, is part of MDA's day-to-day operations and harnesses advanced telemedicine technologies in intensive care ambulances to provide effective, professional and safe medical treatment and reduce the number of people at clinics and hospitals. Due to this project, it will now be possible to treat coronavirus patients at home as well as those patients who cannot currently enter clinics for routine tests and treatment. MDA prepared the groundwork for the project in 2018, and the need for it has currently risen due to the coronavirus outbreak in Israel; the Foundation donation will enable MDA to fully launch this innovative project.

MDA Director-General Eli Bin says: "Milner Foundation's generous donation takes this initiative -- something we've planned for years -- and instantly turns it into a viable program that can keep hundreds of thousands of Israelis out of hospitals every year. Using technology to benefit our patients has long been a priority at Magen David Adom, and the telemedicine equipment that we will now purchase on a large scale will allow us to significantly increase the number of patients we can respond to at home while reducing the burden on hospitals and preventing unnecessary infections."

Donation to Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University will utilize the donation to promote vaccinations and drugs R&D to treat coronavirus infection. Five TAU research groups will be assisted in their gene sequencing and gene editing technologies, in computer analysis and other advanced methods to find ways to block the penetration of the virus into cells or alternatively to strengthen the body's immune response to overcome infection. TAU scientists will use samples taken from coronavirus patients in hospitals affiliated with the university and will work in close cooperation with many organizations including the Health Ministry, the Technion Institute of Technology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Biology Research Institute and other research institutions in Israel and worldwide.

TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat says: "It's very moving that in these difficult days, Milner Foundation has not forgotten the State of Israel and is generously helping Tel Aviv University. We for our part will do everything in our ability to justify the confidence given to us and through our first-rate researchers, we will contribute our part in this world war of a type that we have never known before."

Donation to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

According to Prof. Ronni Gamzu CEO of TSMC (Ichilov), "The donation would serve the need of supporting Intensive Care Unit department, promoting diagnosis and research for the epidemiology and treatment of the new disease while serving the entire State of Israel and the world."

Milner Foundation

Yuri Milner, who lives in Silicon Valley, California and holds Israeli citizenship, is one of the world's most respected technology investors. His portfolio has included some of the world's most prominent internet companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Airbnb, Spotify, Alibaba, and others.

The Milner Foundation has contributed to a range of initiatives and organizations in Israel as well as to Jewish communities in Europe via The Conference of European Rabbis. In 2018, to mark the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, the Foundation awarded NIS 25 million to 70 outstanding Ph.D. students at the Technion, Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University. In addition, it is a prominent donor to the Peres Center for Peace and FIDF.

At the same time, Yuri and Julia Milner have long supported initiatives that utilize scientific and technological innovations to improve peoples' lives, including joining Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett's "Giving Pledge" initiative, as part of their commitment to donate most of their wealth for important scientific programs.

In 2012, they, together with other senior tech figures including Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, Pony Ma founder of Tencent and Anne Wojcicki founder of 23andMe founded the Breakthrough Prizes -- a not-for-profit organization which awards prizes for breakthrough research in the fields of fundamental physics, life sciences and mathematics. The Breakthrough Prizes are considered among the most prestigious in the world of scientific achievements, and every year six winners each receives $3 million. Since 2012, the organization has awarded more than $200 million to about 2,000 scientists (including some prizes split between the members of large research groups).

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's most influential, comprehensive and sought-after center of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU). TAU is recognized and celebrated internationally for creating an innovative, entrepreneurial culture on campus that generates inventions, startups and economic development in Israel. TAU is ranked ninth in the world, and first in Israel, for producing start-up founders of billion-dollar companies, an achievement that surpassed several Ivy League universities. To date, 2,500 US patents have been filed by Tel Aviv University researchers -- ranking TAU #1 in Israel, #10 outside of the US and #66 in the world.
Posted on: March 24, 2020 4:16 PM

Anglican health and mission agencies from across the Anglican Communion took part in a global consultation last week (16 March) to discuss their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The consultation was organised by the Anglican Alliance, which helps to co-ordinate international Anglican responses to emergency situations. It has 12 years of experience in coordinating responses to individual emergencies; but has never had to face such a global emergency before.

The Anglican Alliance is working intensively across the Communion to learn from effective church responses and share guidelines and resources on COVID-19, the agency said on its website. At the same time we remain working on other issues  disease, conflict, climate change and poverty  which continue to afflict many communities, who will be rendered even more vulnerable by this pandemic.

The Alliance has published an online resource in English, Spanish and Portuguese, with links to some key resources and examples from different provinces. They stress that each country situation is different and churches need to follow their own governments guidelines. The examples and resources that we share from around the Communion must therefore be adapted to each context.

The consultation bought together church leaders, representatives of Anglican development agencies, health and legal experts from almost every region of the Communion. In addition to publishing the key learnings and some examples of best practice, the Alliance is building up a repository of resources and Bible studies that can be adapted for different contexts.

From the Churchs experience of responding to other emergency and epidemic situations, we know that there are three key roles the Church can play in such times to promote preparedness and resilience, the Alliance said. to give hope and combat fear with accurate information and encouragement through our faith; to keep the worshipping and wider community connected, if necessary via messages, phone and online, in case of quarantine and disruption; and to show Gods compassion and care to those affected in our communities, remembering that those already most vulnerable will be most affected.

As the Church, we are called to be a voice of calm and reassurance, affirming that God is with us.

The Anglican Alliance resource is available here in English, Spanish and Portuguese
US President Donald Trump has defended the Asian Americans, calling them "amazing people", following the increasing attack on the community after his use of the term "Chinese virus" for the deadly coronavirus.

Last week, President Trump said that China is responsible for the spread of the novel coronavirus and called the COVID-19 as the "Chinese Virus".

He insisted the term was accurate because the virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

"It is very important that we totally protect our Asian-American community in the United States and all around the world," Trump told reporters at a White House conference.

"They (Asian Americans) are amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. That is very important," Trump said.

Over the last few days reports have emerged of a series of attacks on Chinese Americans.

His critics, in particular human rights bodies and the Democrats, allege that his recent remarks describing coronavirus as "Chinese Virus because of its origin, has created anti-Chinese atmosphere in the US. However, Trump has denied this.

CNN also reported that Asian-American group has been the target of a growing number of racist and xenophobic attacks related to the virus.

"It seems that there could be a little bit of nasty language towards the Asian Americans in our country and I don't like that at all. These are incredible people. They love our country and I'm not going to let it happen. So I just wanted to make that point, Trump said.

According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 16,559 with 381,598 cases reported in 168 countries and territories.

The World Health Organisation has discouraged such terminology, saying it can stigmatise communities and falsely indicate to others that they cannot be infected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was released on Tuesday after nearly eight months of detention. His release order was issued after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), slapped on him on February 5, were revoked.

Abdullah, who turned 50 on March 10, had spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year. The National Conference leader was initially detained under preventive custody and later slapped with the PSA in February.

After walking out of the makeshift detention centre, Abdullah said Kashmiris are fighting life and death.

232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. Its a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019. pic.twitter.com/Y44MNwDlNz Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

J&K as a state was broken down into two union terror territories. For months, people have faced hardships, children couldnt go to school, shopkeepers couldnt earn. Several sectors faced hardships. People were confined to their houses, he said.

I thought I would speak a lot about the situation, but today I realised we are fighting life and death. I would speak openly about what has done to us, our state, he added.

Abdullah also demanded the release of other detainees, including PDP leader and ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti. All those detained in state and outside should be released. I appeal to the government to end the communication gap. In these hard conditions, Mehbooba Mufti and all other political and non-political leaders should be released, he said.

He was detained along with hundreds of politicians in August, when the Centre decided to effectively abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution special and divide the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

The Supreme Court had last week, on Omar Abdullah's sister's petition seeking his immediate release, asked the Centre to respond by this week whether it planned to free him, or said that it would hear the plea against his detention under PSA on merits.

"Now that things are settled in Kashmir, what are your instructions for his (Omar Abdullah's) release," the court had asked.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had also released Omars father, National Conference president and sitting MP Dr Farooq Abdullah, 82, by revoking his detention under the stringent PSA, on March 13.

Another former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, who still remains under detention, tweeted: "Glad he will be released. For all their talk of nari Shakti & women emancipation, seems like this regime fears women the most," in a reference to the petition filed by Sara Abdullah Pilot.

Omar Abdullah was on August 5 detained under Section 107 of CrPC (security for keeping the peace), and once he had served the maximum period of detention, was slapped with charges under PSA on February 5.

In its PSA dossier, the administration described him as a threat to public safety. It said he was planning activities against the Union government. It also highlighted his popularity and potential to draw voters to polling booths.

The grounds were challenged by Sara Pilot in a habeas corpus petition, who said there had been no effort by the authorities to verify the truth behind the information that Abdullah was a threat to peace. On the other hand, there were reams of material in the form of tweets and public statements vouching for his exemplary conduct to maintain peace, she told the apex court.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD said 129 members of the department have now tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), with 6.6% of its unified workforce on sick report  which is more than double the NYPDs usual daily average.

As of Monday morning, 100 officers and 29 civilian members of the NYPD had tested positive, an NYPD announcement said. The number of positive cases is a jump from Sunday, when Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that 98 members of the NYPD had tested positive for coronavirus.

The belief at this time, with very limited information, obviously, is that its not necessarily contracted at work," Shea said. In terms of the testing, the numbers are going up because the testing in the entire city is going up."

Additionally, 2,407 NYPD employees were on sick report, according to the statement.

The increase in the number of employees on sick report was anticipated and, given the nature of the virus, it is expected that this number will grow, the release said. So far, these absences have had a minimal impact on our ability to keep the people of New York City safe and respond to those requiring assistance.

The NYPD has distributed more than 204,000 pairs of gloves, 75,000 N95 masks, 340,000 surgical masks and distributed 125,000 alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer to employees, according to the release. There are approximately 36,000 officers in the NYPD and an additional 19,000 civilian employees.

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

The NYPD has a significant amount of these products on reserve and received an additional shipment over the weekend, the statement said. The NYPD will continue to monitor inventory to ensure officers have the necessary equipment to perform their duties safely.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday that the NYPD will continue to enforce breaking up gatherings. However, Shea said that citywide, by and large we are seeing cooperation.

On Sunday, between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m., NYPD officers visited 1,275 supermarkets and pharmacies and issued only three verbal warnings in Queens for crowd conditions.

Officers also visited 5,143 bars and restaurants during the aforementioned span, and found that 3,817 were closed. Three warning were issued in Brooklyn, the NYPD release said.

Inspections of 573 public places found that 217 were closed, and four verbal warnings  three in Queens and one in Brooklyn  were given.

The NYPD also visited 1,236 personal care facilities. 1,177 were closed and 59 warnings were issued, according to the NYPD release.

***

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Education officials are looking into using online platforms for the coming school year as a contingency plan for millions of students if the current COVID-19 crisis drags on.

The Information and Communication Technology-based adjustments will have to be made as a major feature for teaching and learning, Department of Education Undersecretary Nepomoceno Malaluan told reporters in virtual press conference on Monday.

Some teachers are worried about the challenges of this kind of set up. Chary Patron, a public school teacher in Quezon City, said not all pupils have access to gadgets needed for online learning. She also pointed out not all parents can support learning at home.

May mga ilang magulang din tayo na hirap makabasa at maunawaan ang mga lessons. Kaya may need pa rin to meet students for face-to-face follow-up, Patron told CNN Phillippines.

Leonila Linchangco, also a public school teacher, shares the same concern.

Parang diyan may problema ng konti. 'Yung ibang parents supportive sa mga needs ng mga bata. 'Yung iba hindi masyado, she said.

Officials recognize the limitations of online based education. But they said they need to at least try to make it work.

The DepEd launched DepEd Commons," an online platform that can now be accessed by public school teachers to support remote learning.

It allows students to continue with their lessons while staying at home by providing online review materials and other educational resources.

In this extraordinary situation we find ourselves in, we must walk before we run. We must start somewhere and work our way towards the ideal where all teachers and learners in the country can access such resources, DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua said.

As of Monday, he said there are almost 450,000 unique users of DepEd Commons.

While DepEd looks into these contingencies, they said they still are preparing for opening of classes in June.
Parents around the world are being forced to teach their children at home after schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But keeping children engaged and interested in their work while spending hours inside can be tricky, which is why these creative mothers and fathers came up with clever ideas for making daily assignments fun.

From using toy cars for counting to teaching art with the help of the cat, these fun home schooling ideas were shared on social media in the hope of inspiring others.

It comes after experts stressed the importance of maintaining a sense of routine for children during this uncertain time, even if it is very different to their one at school.

Here, FEMAIL rounds up a selection of the most unusual home schooling techniques found online.

Science at home! One creative mother from Edinburgh revealed how her son, pictured, made his own lava lamp by following a guide on the Glasgow Science Museum website

Being resourceful: US-based Instagram account activities_for_little_hands showed how parents can use a cupcake tray, building blocks and paper to create a counting activity

Practical skills: The parent behind Instagram account teentweentoddler, based in Rugby, Warwickshire, revealed how woodwork could be taught with scraps outdoors

Counting by cars! American STEAM teacher Mr Thurlow showed how he was teaching his son how to measure by using a tape and toy cars that they already had in the house, pictured

Time for a snack! This British mother created a kitchen tuck shop to try and minimise snacking

It's purr-fect! This British mother showed how she created a 'cat mansion' with her child

Back in time! A British mother got creative and turned a turf tray into a world for dinosaurs

Fruit roulette! This German mother showed how to make fruit skewers by rolling a cololur die. Whichever colour the die lands on, put a fruit of the corresponding colour on the skewer

Keeping active: Families across the UK have been starting their days with Joe Wicks' workouts

Life skills: A British hairdresser showed how she is teaching her daughter other skills at home

Do you have creative home schooling ideas to share? Please email stephanie.linning@mailonline.co.uk
Representative Image

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Oil prices have been hit hard due to low demand after novel coronavirus or COVID-19 forced the world to either go on lockdown or partial shutdown. Oil prices are at their lowest level since 2003.

The price war raised by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, after OPEC and its allies failed to agree on production cuts last month also put a lot of pressure.

International benchmark Brent crude futures dropped to $24.68 a barrel intraday on March 23, the lowest since April 2003, down 65 percent from its 2020 peak seen in January. Today at the time of writing this copy, oil price gained 3.44 percent to trade at $27.96 a barrel amid hopes that the United States will sign a $2 trillion stimulus deal to support the economy from COVID-19.

The steep fall in oil price is definitely positive not only for India, which imports around 85 percent of the requirement but also for companies which use as their raw material in any form.

We spoke to analysts to find out what are those sectors or stocks to get benefitted from falling oil price.

Most analysts feel oil marketing, paint and tyre companies gained the most as crude oil is their direct raw material for their products.

"Amid volatile crude prices, oil marketing companies (OMC), paints and tyre sector will be benefited most. We would recommend buying paint

and selective tyre companies in this turmoil. We would recommend investors to refrain buying OMCs from current levels as demand may decline due to coronavirus outbreak globally," Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor told Moneycontrol.

AK Prabhakar of IDBI Capital also said normally oil marketing companies were going to benefit, while paint and tyre sectors will also be benefited as crude is the raw material for them.

It will also benefit the auto sector in general as low price induces to buy vehicles, but as the virus forced to do lockdown, everything comes to a standstill and no demand to auto also.

Further, stocks from FMCG and consumption will also benefit the most from sharp falling oil prices as raw material and packaging cost will be lower, Anand James, Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said.

He feels this fall is going to be a growth multiplier and in fact will be applicable to all sectors when the market will begin recovery.

In terms of stocks, Gaurav Garg recommended buying tyre maker Balkrishna Industries and paint company Asian Paints which are attractively valued.

According to Vineeta Sharma, Head of Research at Narnolia Financial Advisors, in the falling crude prices scenario, HPCL and Asian Paints are two stocks that may be accumulated now.

"The falling crude prices will reduce the burden on oil marketing companies on subsidy front. Also, HPCL's earnings visibility looks attractive on the back of its capex plans," she said.

"HPCL's expansion projects at Mumbai (from 7.5mtpa to 9.5mtpa + residual upgrade project, Rs 4,200 crore capex) and Visakh (from 8.3mtpa to 15mtpa, Rs210bn) refineries are on track for completion by FY21E. The company is available at a dividend yield of 3.5 percent. We recommend buy on HPCL with the target price of Rs 240," she added.

In case of Asian Paints, she said the company which began commercial operations of new plants at Vizag and Mysuru had attained 75 percent capacity utilization by Q3FY20.

"Volumes of the company may remain impacted due to poor global- domestic macros. However, falling crude will boost gross margins of the company and cost rationalization measures will further support profitability. ROE is expected to improve led by margin expansion and improving asset turnover. We recommend buy with target of Rs 2,060 per share," she added.

Asian Paints corrected 21 percent, Balkrishna Industries 45 percent and HPCL 32 percent from their highest closing of 2020.

In fact, the benchmark indices itself lost more than 37 percent from their record highs seen in January, which clearly indicated that valuations supressed to large extent.

AK Prabhakar feels Reliance Industries, the operator of world's biggest refinery complex, is also the major beneficiary of falling oil price as it buys crude in bulk for its refinery. The stock already corrected 44 percent from its 2020 high on concerns of COVID-19, impacting oil demand.

"Once the COVID-19 subsides, the demand along with benefits of IMO fuel regulations impact will improve benchmark gross refining margins (GRM)," said Yes Securities.

RILs retail business has witnessed a very strong momentum in the past few years led by significant expansion in stores and an even stronger like for like growth across segments, it added.

"During FY19-22, we expect RIL to witness an earnings CAGR of 20 percent. Return on equity is likely to improve by 200bps and debt/equity is expected to reduce from 0.7x to 0.4x during the same period. Considering this, we find FY22E EV/EBIDTA of 6.3x attractive," the brokerage said, adding expected increase in ARPU and constant addition to its subscriber base will aid Jio business.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
As students at New Jersey colleges, now living around the world, get ready to start online classes after spring break, regular course stresses could come back with added anxiety thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

But schools across the country, including some of the most prestigious, are moving to pass/fail models to ease some of that burden.

While learning on campus has been a somewhat level playing field, remote instruction is not. Many students have speedy internet and newer computers, as well as space in safe and quiet homes to study. But others must share devices and rooms with family, or may have trouble getting online.

That divide was made clear when Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all schools in the state to close by last Wednesday. When online instruction became an option, officials were reminded that some 250,000 New Jersey households do not have a laptop or tablet at home.

Students are also facing sudden life changes with the order to stay home, coupled with the anxiety of falling ill, which could impact their performance, too.

At Rutgers University, students can choose a pass/no-credit option until May 22, said Dory Devlin, a Rutgers University spokeswoman. The credits will not be factored into their GPA.

For students who do make that choice, the university will add a note in their transcript to indicate the results are part of the coronavirus outbreak.

Some worry that employers may view pass/fail grades negatively under normal circumstances.

While a pass/no-credit grade may impact how transcripts are viewed by employers and other universities, the impact is likely to be minimized by the fact that several universities are currently allowing this conversion, Devlin said.

A Rutgers student started an online petition last week calling for the change. He noted that virtual instruction would make it impossible for students to meet with teaching assistants and professors for extra help in person.

Indefinite virtual instruction means an end to the access, putting many students at a disadvantage, he wrote. These disadvantages cause a great deal of stress for students, adding on the fact that the course load and material will still be the same.

The College of New Jersey also offers an ungraded option for students. They can use it for one, several or all of their courses in the 2020 spring semester.

Princeton University also expanded the pass/fail grading option to help faculty and students navigate the new landscape for teaching and for assessing learning this semester, said Michael Hotchkiss, a university spokesman.

That means they have urged professors to change the grading of their courses, not mandated it. But students can still choose the option.

Princeton also did away with a quota that allowed students to take only so many pass/fail classes a semester, and extended the deadline when students can choose to make the change.

Montclair State University decided Monday it would offer students the choice to select pass/fail or letter grades in many classes, up until May 4.

We hope that these changes will help students successfully complete this semester and alleviate some of the uncertainty brought on by this unprecedented moment in our history, Willard Gingerich, the schools provost and vice president for academic affairs said in a statement.

Other schools have not yet decided how to handle grading.

Margaret McCorry, a spokeswoman for Kean University, said administrators are also discussing pass/fail. Diane DAmico, a spokeswoman for Stockton University, said the school is getting input from student and faculty government on the issue and will likely decide by early next week.

Joe Cardona, a spokesman for Rowan University, said we are considering a lot of options, but it may take some time to make a final decision. Classes there do not resume until March 30.

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Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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No matter how you look at the numbers, one country stands out from the rest: South Korea.

In late February and early March, the number of new coronavirus infections in the country exploded from a few dozen, to a few hundred, to several thousand.

At the peak, medical workers identified 909 new cases in a single day, Feb. 29, and the country of 50 million people appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. But less than a week later, the number of new cases halved. Within four days, it halved again  and again the next day.

On Sunday, South Korea reported only 64 new cases, the fewest in nearly a month, even as infections in other countries continue to soar by the thousands daily, devastating health care systems and economies. Italy records several hundred deaths daily; South Korea has not had more than eight in a day.

South Korea is one of only two countries with large outbreaks, alongside China, to flatten the curve of new infections. And it has done so without Chinas draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the US.

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

As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.

Yet other hard-hit nations did not follow South Koreas lead. Some have began to show interest in emulating its methods  but only after the epidemic had accelerated to the point that they may not be able to control it any time soon.

President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden have both called South Koreas president, Moon Jae-in, to request details on the countrys measures, according to Moons office.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has hailed South Korea as demonstrating that containing the virus, while difficult, can be done. He urged countries to apply the lessons learned in Korea and elsewhere.

South Korean officials caution that their successes are tentative. A risk of resurgence remains, particularly as epidemics continue raging beyond the countrys borders.

Still, Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has repeatedly raised South Korea as a model, writing on Twitter, South Korea is showing COVID-19 can be beat with smart, aggressive public health.

Lesson 1: Intervene fast, before its a crisis

Just one week after the countrys first case was diagnosed in late January, government officials met with representatives from several medical companies. They urged the companies to begin immediately developing coronavirus test kits for mass production, promising emergency approval.

Within two weeks, though South Koreas confirmed cases remained in the double digits, thousands of test kits were shipping daily. The country now produces 100,000 kits per day, and officials say they are in talks with 17 foreign governments about exporting them.

Officials also swiftly imposed emergency measures in Daegu, a city of 2.5 million where contagion spread fast through a local church.

South Korea could deal with this without limiting the movement of people because we knew the main source of infection, the church congregation, pretty early on, said Ki Mo-ran, an epidemiologist advising the governments coronavirus response. If we learned about it later than we did, things could have been far worse.

South Koreans, unlike Europeans and Americans, were also primed to treat the coronavirus as a national emergency, after a 2015 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome in the country killed 38.

The coronavirus is thought to have a five-day incubation period, often followed by a period of mild symptoms that could be mistaken for a cold, when the virus is highly communicable. This pattern creates a lag of a week or two before an outbreak becomes apparent. What looks like a handful of cases can be hundreds; what looks like hundreds can be thousands.

Such characteristics of the virus render the traditional response, which emphasizes lockdown and isolation, ineffective, said Kim Gang-lip, South Koreas vice health minister. Once it arrives, the old way is not effective in stopping the disease from spreading.

Lesson 2: Test early, often and safely

South Korea has tested far more people for the coronavirus than any other country, enabling it to isolate and treat many people soon after they are infected.

The country has conducted over 300,000 tests, for a per capita rate more than 40 times that of the US.

Testing is central because that leads to early detection, it minimizes further spread and it quickly treats those found with the virus, Kang Kyung-wha, South Koreas foreign minister, told the BBC, calling the tests the key behind our very low fatality rate as well.

Though South Korea is sometimes portrayed as having averted an epidemic, thousands of people were infected and the government was initially accused of complacency. Its approach to testing was designed to turn back an outbreak already underway.

To spare hospitals and clinics from being overwhelmed, officials opened 600 testing centers designed to screen as many people as possible, as quickly as possible  and keep health workers safe by minimizing contact.

At 50 drive-thru stations, patients are tested without leaving their cars. They are given a questionnaire, a remote temperature scan and a throat swab. The process takes about 10 minutes. Test results are usually back within hours.

At some walk-in centers, patients enter a chamber resembling a transparent phone booth. Health workers administer throat swabs using thick rubber gloves built into the chambers walls.

Relentless public messaging urges South Koreans to seek testing if they or someone they know develop symptoms. Visitors from abroad are required to download a smartphone app that guides them through self-checks for symptoms.

Offices, hotels and other large buildings often use thermal image cameras to identify people with fevers. Many restaurants check customers temperatures before accepting them.

Lesson 3: Contact tracing, isolation and surveillance

When someone tests positive, health workers retrace the patients recent movements to find, test  and, if necessary, isolate  anyone the person may have had contact with, a process known as contact tracing.

This allows health workers to identify networks of possible transmission early, carving the virus out of society like a surgeon removing a cancer.

South Korea developed tools and practices for aggressive contact tracing during the MERS outbreak. Health officials would retrace patients movements using security camera footage, credit card records, even GPS data from their cars and cellphones.

We did our epidemiological investigations like police detectives, Ki said. Later, we had laws revised to prioritize social security over individual privacy at times of infectious disease crises.

As the coronavirus outbreak grew too big to track patients so intensively, officials relied more on mass messaging.

South Koreans cellphones vibrate with emergency alerts whenever new cases are discovered in their districts. Websites and smartphone apps detail hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-by-minute, timelines of infected peoples travel  which buses they took, when and where they got on and off, even whether they were wearing masks.

People who believe they may have crossed paths with a patient are urged to report to testing centers.

South Koreans have broadly accepted the loss of privacy as a necessary trade-off.

People ordered into self-quarantine must download another app, which alerts officials if a patient ventures out of isolation. Fines for violations can reach $2,500.

By identifying and treating infections early, and segregating mild cases to special centers, South Korea has kept hospitals clear for the most serious patients. Its case fatality rate is just over 1%, among the lowest in the world.

Lesson 4: Enlist the publics help

There arent enough health workers or body-temperature scanners to track everybody, so everyday people must pitch in.

Leaders concluded that subduing the outbreak required keeping citizens fully informed and asking for their cooperation, said Kim, the vice health minister.

Television broadcasts, subway station announcements and smartphone alerts provide endless reminders to wear face masks, pointers on social distancing and the days transmission data.

The messaging instills a near-wartime sense of common purpose. Polls show majority approval for the governments efforts, with confidence high, panic low and scant hoarding.

This public trust has resulted in a very high level of civic awareness and voluntary cooperation that strengthens our collective effort, Lee Tae-ho, the vice minister of foreign affairs, told reporters earlier this month.

Officials also credit the countrys nationalized health care system, which guarantees most care, and special rules covering coronavirus-related costs, as giving even people with no symptoms greater incentive to get tested.

Is the Korean model transferable?

For all the attention to South Koreas successes, its methods and containment tools are not prohibitively complex or expensive.

Some of the technology the country has used is as simple as specialized rubber gloves and cotton swabs. Of the seven countries with worse outbreaks than South Koreas, five are richer.

Experts cite three major hurdles to following South Koreas lead, none related to cost or technology.

One is political will. Many governments have hesitated to impose onerous measures in the absence of a crisis-level outbreak.

Another is public will. Social trust is higher in South Korea than in many other countries, particularly Western democracies beset by polarization and populist backlash.

But time poses the greatest challenge. It may be too late, Ki said, for countries deep into epidemics to control outbreaks as quickly or efficiently as South Korea has.

China turned back the catastrophic first outbreak in Hubei, a province larger than most European countries, though at the cost of shutting down its economy.

South Koreas methods could help the U.S., though we probably lost the chance to have an outcome like South Korea, Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, wrote on Twitter. We must do everything to avert the tragic suffering being borne by Italy.

c.2020 The New York Times Company
Could China YuHua Education Corporation Limited (HKG:6169) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. If you are hoping to live on the income from dividends, it's important to be a lot more stringent with your investments than the average punter.

With only a three-year payment history, and a 2.7% yield, investors probably think China YuHua Education is not much of a dividend stock. A low dividend might not be a bad thing, if the company is reinvesting heavily and growing its sales and profits. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying China YuHua Education for its dividend - read on to learn more.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

SEHK:6169 Historical Dividend Yield, March 24th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 82% of China YuHua Education's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. Paying out a majority of its earnings limits the amount that can be reinvested in the business. This may indicate a commitment to paying a dividend, or a dearth of investment opportunities.

In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. China YuHua Education's cash payout ratio in the last year was 34%, which suggests dividends were well covered by cash generated by the business. It's positive to see that China YuHua Education's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of China YuHua Education's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health.

Story continues

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. The dividend has not fluctuated much, but with a relatively short payment history, we can't be sure this is sustainable across a full market cycle. During the past three-year period, the first annual payment was CN0.065 in 2017, compared to CN0.12 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 22% a year over that time.

We're not overly excited about the relatively short history of dividend payments, however the dividend is growing at a nice rate and we might take a closer look.

Dividend Growth Potential

While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. Earnings have grown at around 2.6% a year for the past three years, which is better than seeing them shrink! China YuHua Education's earnings per share have barely grown, which is not ideal - perhaps this is why the company pays out the majority of its earnings to shareholders. When a company prefers to pay out cash to its shareholders instead of reinvesting it, this can often say a lot about that company's dividend prospects.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that China YuHua Education's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. China YuHua Education's payout ratios are within a normal range for the average corporation, and we like that its cashflow was stronger than reported profits. Unfortunately, earnings growth has also been mediocre, and we think it has not been paying dividends long enough to demonstrate resilience across economic cycles. Ultimately, China YuHua Education comes up short on our dividend analysis. It's not that we think it is a bad company - just that there are likely more appealing dividend prospects out there on this analysis.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 4 warning signs for China YuHua Education that investors should take into consideration.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%.

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 27-year-old woman who was tested coronavirus-positive on March 21 and is admitted at the Phase-6 Civil Hospital is reading magazines and watching You Tube videos on her mobile phone.

She prays before retiring to bed at night.

I was not too worried when I heard about the coronavirus outbreak, but I was somewhat concerned when my samples were taken on March 20. And then when the report came in positive it felt like my world had collapsed, she says.

Totally shaken, her morale down, she says she cried for two hours. I had only heard about the virus on TV and newspapers, but never ever thought I would get infected. I had thought China was very far away and the spread of the virus and deaths could not affect me.

She tested positive after she went to pick up her friend at Amritsar Airport, a 23-year-old female resident of Sector 21 in Chandigarh and the tricitys first coronavirus case.

Several thoughts come to mind: As to why I went to the airport. A big worry was the possibility of my friends and family members falling ill. The sad part was that my 80-year-old landlady, who I love dearly, has tested positive. I pray for her every day, she says

Its difficult to remain confined to a room for days. I spend time reading comics given by my friends and watching YouTube videos on people being cured of the virus and reading WhatsApp messages on my mobile phone. I keep calling family members and friends, who also motivate me. I feel relaxed then.

She says she cant wait to walk out of the hospital and breathe fresh air.

However, her hospital experience has come as a surprise. When I was told I would be admitted to the Civil Hospital I was worried as I did not have a good impression of government hospitals. My perception, however, has changed. The doctors and staff are very cooperative and motivating. Even the food I get is very hygienic.

And this young womans message of the moment is: In case people are infected with Covid-19; they should not be scared and remain positive.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, March 24, night, urged people to take the coronavirus pandemic very seriously. He also announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure to curb community transmission of the virus.

Bollywood celebrities came out in support of the Prime Ministers decision. Anupam Kher was among the first to respond to PMs speech and shared a folded hands emoji on Twitter.

Taapsee Pannu said that staying indoors for 21 days was not a big deal compared to our safety. 21 days ! Not a lot for us in return of our lives. Lets do this everyone ! And hopefully by the end of THIS lockdown we surely will have a reason n time to celebrate. Until then lets get through one day at a time, she wrote.

21 days !

Not a lot for us in return of our lives.

Lets do this everyone ! 

And hopefully by the end of THIS lockdown we surely will have a reason n time to celebrate. Until then lets get through one day at a time.  taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 24, 2020

Be at home. Stay safe. Stay mentally emotionally and physically strong. Spread love. Have faith. Pray often. Speak to all those who matter daily. Meditate. Read. Cook. See the sky turn bluer every day. 21 days. Will pass. Keep it real and make it count you all.  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) March 24, 2020

Tamannaah Bhatia urged fans to stay indoors and wrote on Twitter, Our Prime Minster @narendramodi ji has announced a 21 day nationwide lockdown. A great step to fight corona. Nothing is more important than our lives. My family and I are staying at home, requesting you to do the same. #StayAtHomeSaveLives.

Also see: Mira Kapoor shares glamorous photo during lockdown, promises she isnt sneezing in it

Kangana Ranauts sister Rangoli Chandel called it a pathbreaking action and tweeted, We are so fortunate to have a strong leader like @narendramodi ji, I am pretty sure these 3 weeks will prove to be most crucial in our fight against Corona and will be remembered as a path breaking action when we will look back at this phase ... Jai Hind.

Our Prime Minster @narendramodi ji has announced a 21 day nationwide lockdown. A great step to fight corona. Nothing is more important than our lives. My family and I are staying at home, requesting you to do the same  #StayAtHomeSaveLives  Tamannaah Bhatia (@tamannaahspeaks) March 24, 2020

Wow!! What a speech, totally agree with 3 weeks curfew, high time we take strong actions against the pandemic which is growing like wild fire every day, well done Prime Minister   Rangoli Chandel (@Rangoli_A) March 24, 2020

We are so fortunate to have a strong leader like @narendramodi ji, I am pretty sure these 3 weeks will prove to be most crucial in our fight against Corona and will be remembered as a path breaking action when we will look back at this phase ... Jai Hind   Rangoli Chandel (@Rangoli_A) March 24, 2020

Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani wrote, PM @narendramodi just declared that WE ARE WAR WITH #Corona. Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri tweeted, WE SHALL FIGHT IT. WE SHALL SACRIFICE. WE SHALL WIN. Please join me in this pledge. #coronavirus #lockdown.

PM @narendramodi just declared that WE ARE WAR WITH #Corona   Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) March 24, 2020

21 days !

Not a lot for us in return of our lives.

Lets do this everyone ! 

And hopefully by the end of THIS lockdown we surely will have a reason n time to celebrate. Until then lets get through one day at a time.  taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 24, 2020

Several other Bollywood celebrities also supported the 21-day lockdown as a necessary measure amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.

Came to the village for a week's isolation. Now here for next 21 days. Now missing home too. But the lockdown was essential and this too shall pass. After this tragic intervention we might actually inhabit a more sensitive, united and civilised planet. That hope keeps me going.  Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) March 24, 2020

Jai Hind!!!  together as a nation we can overcome this pandemic. https://t.co/QlvdqJnR5m  Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) March 24, 2020

21 days VS a lifetime ... #StayAtHome  Neha Dhupia (@NehaDhupia) March 24, 2020

A much needed and powerful decision by the honourable PM @narendramodi. One hundred percent in solidarity with the upcoming 21 day national lockdown. Stay in to stay safe. Lets do this. #COiROadparNAnikle #IndiaFightsCorona #JantaCurfew #21Days  Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) March 24, 2020

#CoronavirusLockdown for 21 days announced by @narendramodi in his speech today. We can do this India!! Lets stay positive and sincere to this effort!#StayHome  Shreya Ghoshal (@shreyaghoshal) March 24, 2020

Please stay at home its the only way. This lockdown is for all of us and our safety. #IndiaFightsCorona #StayHomeStaySafe @narendramodi @PMOIndia https://t.co/7H3VcC0Zee  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) March 24, 2020

Guys !! 21 days - We can do this !!! Please dont go crazy stocking up things. Be safe everyone . This maybe the reset the earth needs so desperately. Please stay at home and stay safe and sane !! #IndiaFightsCorona   Huma S Qureshi (@humasqureshi) March 24, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is rapidly spreading in India, with 492 confirmed cases so far and nine deaths. Across the world, more than 3,98,000 people have been infected by the virus.

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Belying their slimy natures, the sticky patches of bacteria called biofilms often form intricate, starburst-like patterns as they grow. Now, researchers at Princeton University have combined expertise in molecular biology, mechanical engineering and mathematical modeling to unravel the physical processes underlying these curious crinkles.

"At a certain point, patterns appear: stripes, zigzags and rings," said co-author Ned Wingreen, the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences and a professor of molecular biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. "It's been one of those things that has personally always puzzled me."

The study, published Mar. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps illuminate how bacteria grow in diverse environments, and could also aid investigations into the physical forces that govern growth and morphing of human tissues.

"This adds to a body of work coming from a mechanical perspective that says what we're seeing is the playing out of physical laws," said Wingreen. "It will help us understand to what extent some of these patterns influence the biofilm properties that are important biologically and medically."

The work is the latest to stem from a collaboration among four faculty members investigating biofilms from multiple perspectives. Along with Wingreen, the team includes Andrej Kosmrlj, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Howard Stone, the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology. They previously worked together to develop a method for peeling biofilms off surfaces.

In this study, the researchers analyzed biofilm formation of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is widespread in watery environments and can cause the disease cholera when ingested by humans. On a soft substrate, the biofilms initially grow as a flat layer but later become wrinkled, with radial and zigzag patterns of peaks and valleys. The study showed that these patterns depend on the relative softness or stiffness of the biofilm's substrate, which the researchers manipulated by varying the concentration of agar, a seaweed-derived substance commonly used to fill Petri dishes.

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On a stiffer substrate, wrinkles first appear at a biofilm's center and propagate outward, while on a softer substrate wrinkles begin to form at the edges and propagate toward the center. In both cases, biofilms end up with zigzag wrinkle patterns at their centers and a more ordered pattern of radial stripes at their outer edges.

This process is driven by a nexus of influences, including each bacterium's uptake of nutrients from the substrate, which leads to uneven growth as nutrients are depleted in the biofilm's center. The bacteria produce new extracellular matrix components as they grow and they also produce molecules that make the bacteria stick to each other and to the substrate.

"This is a very complicated process involving growth and mechanics," said lead author Chenyi Fei, a graduate student in the Lewis-Sigler Institute. "To understand it, we built what we call a chemo-mechanical model. We take into account the nutrients and the nonuniform growth of the biofilm, and how those features translate into the mechanical forces or stresses that accumulate."

The model allowed the researchers to predict which regions of the biofilm would experience maximum stress at particular points in time, and thus to predict where wrinkles would form. The predictions corresponded well with experimental measurements of three-dimensional shapes of actual biofilms, said Fei, whose graduate work is co-advised by Wingreen and Bassler.

"Chenyi cleverly integrated a lot of different mechanisms that are normally studied separately," said Kosmrlj.

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A key aspect of the model is its adoption of classic engineering analyses of mechanical instabilities, which have previously been applied to such problems as the buckling of railroad tracks in extreme temperatures. A similar type of instability causes soft materials like biofilms to form wrinkles.

"In the previous century, mechanical instabilities were being studied with a focus on trying to prevent failure mechanisms in structures," said co-author Sheng Mao, a former postdoctoral researcher at Princeton who is now an assistant professor at Peking University. "But in a new wave of studies, we are trying to exploit these mechanical instabilities to make tunable structures for various purposes," such as soft materials being developed to treat injuries and diseases through tissue engineering.

In addition to advancing knowledge of how growing cells interact with soft substrates, the researchers plan to build on their findings to further investigate bacterial life cycles, including the dispersal stage in which some bacterial cells detach from a biofilm, exit the structure, and colonize new areas.

Bacteria such as V. cholerae "are opportunists," said Wingreen. "They come in, grab some territory, expand, eat everything they can, and then leave. But this last aspect, dispersal, is understudied, and the physics and mechanics of dispersal are going to offer some interesting challenges."

This work was supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, including an NSF award to the Princeton Center for Complex Materials.
"I was completely blown away," Michael recalled. "It was incredible!"

The computer is one of four built by technology influencers for Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) warriors, thanks to technology company ASUS, a leading computer hardware manufacturer.

"We're humbled and honored to support the Wounded Warrior Project and veterans who have made great contributions in service of our country," said Gary Key, Sr. Director of Marketing at ASUS North America. "It's been a thrill to watch leading members of the PC hardware community create unique tributes to veterans' service that will also serve as tools to help those warriors connect with and support their wider community."

Brian Stroh of BPS Customs built Michael's computer.

"It was more important to me to get this one right than any other build I've done before  even my own  and I was proud to be a part of it," Brian said.

It was about more than online gaming when Ryan Gendreau of Overclock.net gave fellow Army veteran Charles "Dozer" Reed his new computer; it was about one veteran supporting another.

"It's just something you feel because it's another veteran who knows what you went through," Ryan, also known as Bluedevil, said. "To give back to a fellow veteran meant the world to me."

And that computer won't just be helping Dozer.

"This computer is going to give me the opportunity to reach and mentor veterans on a different level," Dozer said.

Bitwit and Level 1 Techs also built computers for warriors, and each influencer created a video of himself doing so.

Check out ways you can support veterans and their families, including gaming and livestreaming through WWP Stream to Serve.

About Wounded Warrior Project

Since 2003, Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has been meeting the growing needs of warriors, their families, and caregivers  helping them achieve their highest ambition. Learn more.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project
Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari, tested positive for Coronavirus on Monday.

A test administered by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Buhari reveals he is yet to contract the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus).

According to a report by SaharaReporters, a top government source claimed Kyari has been seriously down since returning from a trip abroad.

Kyari visited Germany and Egypt and only returned on Saturday but did not show any symptoms.

Egypt has confirmed 327 cases of the disease with 14 deaths while Germany has 29,056 infections and 123 deaths.

Read Also: Coronavirus: South Africa Announces Nationwide Lockdown

The chief of staff to the president was said to have attended meeting with Buhari, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council and he was coughing severely.
Like Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle is also a favorite subject for pregnancy rumors as fans long to see another royal baby. Although Meghan and Prince Harry's son Archie is not even one year old yet, people are excited for Markle to have another child. No wonder many were intrigued and happy when "Congratulations Meghan" was trending on Twitter.

Fans of the star mistakenly thought that the "Congratulations Meghan" trend was addressed to the Duchess of Sussex for her second pregnancy. However, the congratulatory remarks are not for her but for "The View" co-host Meghan McCain who just recently announced her first pregnancy with husband Ben Domenech. Apparently, the reason why the tweet was trending on the social media platform is because everyone thought it's for Markle.

Fans funny reactions

After knowing that Archie won't be a big brother soon, fans posted their hilarious reactions on Twitter.

One user posted a clip from the "Avengers" movie saying, "Clicked on 'congratulations meghan' and thought it was about meghan markle turns out it's meghan mccain announcing her pregnancy."

Fan account @megsroyals said, "I saw 'congratulations Meghan' trending and thought it was Duchess Meghan. Smh. Getting my hopes up for nothing. I hate it here. Lmao."

Many expressed their disappointment using funny GIFs to show how their excitement was a letdown after knowing that it wasn't Meghan who is expecting a baby saying.

"Why Twitter [explicit] wit my emotions again. I'm seeing Congratulations Meghan and thinking the Duchess is announcing she pregnant again! Time to social distance myself from twitter..." wrote @naturalkurlz.

Others also addressed the possible reaction of McCain when she sees that the congratulations trend, which is intended for her, only trended because people thought it refers to Markle.

Also read: Meghan Markle Sparks Pregnancy Rumors Anew, Reports Claim She's 'Fuller' and 'Glowing'

Pregnancy rumors

The couple's decision to resign from royal duties will allow them to focus on their family. She Knows reports that now that the pair has finally wrapped up all their royal obligations, they are ready to announce a second pregnancy. The report further adds that since their number one priority is their family, a second child could be expected this year.

Being in a more relaxed condition could be a good thing for Markle, especially if she intends to bear another child. It is said that the actress felt lonely and uncomfortable when she was pregnant in the UK, being away from her family and friends. Meghan also allegedly said that she wants to deliver her next baby in LA where she was born. This way, she won't feel lonely anymore because her family and friends are around her.

Just recently, Markle was the center of pregnancy rumors when she returned to UK to finish their royal duties. People said that she was glowing, which could be a sign that she is pregnant. Some noticed that Markle is fuller similar to how she looked like when she was pregnant with Archie.

There are speculations that Markle is already pregnant, and they are just waiting for the right timing to announce the good news. It is noted that the pair is still occupied with completing their royal duties and establishing a new life away from royalty. Once everything is in its proper order, the couple might be ready to reveal the news.

However, this is mere speculation since Markle and Prince Harry did not release their official statements yet.

Related article: Does Meghan Markle Have a Secret Daughter? The Truth Revealed!

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Ford Motors has become the first automaker in Vietnam to suspend production as a safety measure amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

The U.S. company said in statement Monday that its assembly plant in the northern Hai Duong Province will cease operations starting March 26.

The plant, which assembles the crossover SUV EcoSport and passenger vanTransit, will be suspended for several weeks depending on the pandemic situation, the statement said.

A Ford Vietnam spokesperson said that sales of vehicles and parts will continue as usual. "Ford Vietnam has enough supply for the next several weeks."

Ford dealers in Hanoi said that they still have enough supply until the end of April, but shortages could occur in May, which could result in lower discounts.

The automaker had said in January that it would invest $82 million in expanding its Hai Duong plant to boost production capacity from 14,000 units a year to 40,000.

In the first two months, Ford sold 2,527 units in Vietnam, down 49 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Other Ford plants in India, Thailand and South Africa will also be closed, the company said.

"The health and safety of our employees, dealers, customers, partners and communities is our highest priority," said Mark Ovenden, president of Fords International Markets Group.

General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Wednesday they were in talks with White House officials about how they could support production of medical equipment like ventilators that may be needed to combat the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters.
ALBANY  New York City criminal and family courts are shifting to "virtual court operations" due to the COVID-19 pandemic beginning Wednesday and Thursday.

In a statement, New York's Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks said "extraordinary times like these call for extraordinary measures."

As we continue to calibrate court operations to meet the continually challenging and changing operational environment, the New York state court system remains open for business, maintaining essential and emergency operations.," DiFiore said. "In order to help reduce the spread of the virus and to further protect judges, court staff, attorneys, litigants and the public, by mid-week essential functions of New York City Criminal Court and New York City Family Court will commence virtual operations.

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Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The city's criminal courts will move into a "second phase" of videoconferencing arraignments. All parties in court proceedings will use videoconferencing platform Skype for Business. The arraignment will be open to the public, but uniformed staff will monitor and may limit access to the arraignment parts audience space to maintain social distancing in accordance with public health authorities guidelines.

All arraignments will be virtual, with the judge, prosecution and defense attorney and defendant all from remote locations, the announcement states.

Defendants who have not tested positive for COVID-19 or are not in a high-risk group will be brought to the central booking locations in Bronx, Kings, New York and Queens counties and will participate via video link in those locations. Richmond County defendants will be brought to New York Police Department holding cells at 26 Central Ave. to participate in video arraignment there.



Defendants who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are in a high-risk group will be detained pre-arraignment to participate in video arraignments as follows: Midtown Community Court for Bronx and Manhattan arraignments; and Red Hook Community Justice Center for Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island arraignments.

Family Court proceedings, including, child-protective intake cases involving removal applications, newly filed juvenile delinquency intake cases involving remand applications and emergency family offense petitions, will take place via video and teleconferencing.
In context: As COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe at breakneck speeds, world governments and corporations have been struggling to cope with the fallout. Thousands upon thousands of employees have been told to stay home from work to mitigate the disease's spread. As more people stay inside, internet usage has skyrocketed, and many telecommunications firms have decided to lift some of the restrictions that come with their internet and data plans.

Indeed, Verizon (as well as several other telecoms) has already agreed to lift late fees and end service cancellations (due to payment delinquency) for the next couple of months due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Now, the company is taking things a step further. In a recent press release, Verizon announced that it will be instituting several new policies intended to keep Americans online and alleviate some of the headaches that traditionally come with managing your data plan.

For starters, all wireless consumer and small business customers will automatically get an extra 15GB of high-speed data added to their billing cycle effective immediately -- no action required. Furthermore, Lifeline customers will see their service charges for the next two months of internet and voice service waived entirely.

Fios and DSL plans for both consumers and small businesses will have their data caps removed (though we're not sure for how long), and -- to end things on a high note -- Verizon will be introducing a new Fios broadband discount program for low-income households. Verizon didn't go into details regarding this program's eligibility requirements, but we'll be reaching out for clarification.

Regardless, with the discount, the plans would come out to 200Mbps for $20/mo, 400Mbps for $40/mo, and 1Gbps for $60/mo. Furthermore, just for good measure, Verizon is waiving the router rental charge for each plan (for 60 days) and throwing in a free year of Disney+ to keep you entertained during this pandemic.

We look forward to seeing what other pro-consumer plans Verizon comes up with over the coming months, but for now, these latest announcements are certainly several steps in the right direction.
SPARTA, MI -- A 23-year-old Grand Rapids man was killed in a single-vehicle crash Monday.

The mans crashed vehicle was reported by a passing motorist around 4:45 p.m. Monday, March 23, on 12 Mile Road just west of Laubach Road near the village of Sparta, according to Kent County sheriffs Lt. Joel Roon.

Investigators believe the man headed west on 12 Mile Road when he lost control of his vehicle after cresting a hill, Roon said.

After leaving the roadway, the mans vehicle struck a utility pole and then some trees.

Investigators do not know the exact time of the crash. Roon said its believed the man died as a result of injuries suffered during the crash.

It is not yet clear if speed or drugs and alcohol were factors in the crash, Roon said.

The crash remains under investigation.
After sponsoring a refugee family to move to Canada, one Vancouver Island resident found her kindness repaid when they brought her a food parcel while she was self-isolating.

Robin Stevenson, originally from Leeds, found herself having to stay inside her house after returning from Mexico in early March.

After returning home, Robin received a phone call from a Syrian family she had help immigrate to North America in 2016, and who now run a local grocery store.

Robin, a childrens and young adult author, said: They told me there was food on my porch. They waved from the sidewalk and said that they could bring more food in a few days if needed  though I think there is enough here that even with a teenager in the house, we should be just fine.

They are kind and incredibly generous people and weve become good friends over the past few years. Its been lovely seeing the kids grow  the smallest was just a baby when they came here. I am sure we will always be connected.

Robin has been involved in a number of refugee sponsorships in the last four years.

The author said she has sponsored a number of refugee families over the years (Robin Stevenson)

She said: One thing that I have seen over and over again is just how much newcomers help others and contribute to the communities they resettle in.

Canada is better and stronger because of the refugees who have come here  and while no one should be forced to leave their country, we are lucky to have them.

More than 2,590 people have been diagnosed with the Covid-19 coronavirus in Canada, and 25 people have died.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was not yet necessary for Canada to declare a national state of emergency, but he pleaded with all Canadians to stay home and avoid all non-essential visits.

Robin said: I am just hoping that everyone who is able to will protect others who are more vulnerable by staying home as much as possible.

And Im hoping that we can all be as kind as possible during this difficult time  lookout for others who may need help, and do what you can to help each other through this. 
Saudi Arabia picked a particularly inauspicious time to launch its latest oil price war. As coronavirus travel restrictions cut massively into oil demand  and as OPEC and Russia failed to agree on extending longstanding oil production cuts  Riyadh declared on March 6 it would tear up the entire bargain. Instead of cutting production, Saudi Arabia would reverse course and raise output by 2 million barrels per day. As Washington Post writes, if that werent enough, the Saudis claimed they would increase overall production capacity to the unheard of level of 13 million barrels per day. Already weak oil prices promptly fell by more than half. Oil reached an 18-year low just over $20 on March 18 after five years mostly above $50, and nearly a decade around $100.

The yin-yang Saudi oil strategy made observers wonder whether this price war creates a big risk for Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf petro-states. Heres why. A price war is a blunt tool, and the principal weapon that Saudi Arabia has at its disposal to reestablish discipline among the worlds oil producers. Ramping up oil production pushes down prices, hurting rivals like Russia and Americas shale oil producers. It also sends a reminder that Riyadhs status as the worlds lowest-cost producer means that all rival producers depend to some extent on Saudi good graces for their share of the market.

Could this plan backfire, harming all oil producers? The world endured a short price war in 2014, and a devastating one in 1986 that hollowed out every oil town from Baku to Bakersfield.

The 2020 price war comes in the middle of a global economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has already shaved down oil demand by a tenth, about 10 million barrels a day. As the virus spreads, oil consumption will probably fall further. Launching a price war in these circumstances looks irresponsible, at best.

Why pursue a price war now, of all times?

Saudi Arabia is responding to both long-term trends in oil markets and more recent disagreements within OPEC. In early March, the Saudis initially proposed cuts that would have brought world oil production into line with estimates from the International Energy Agency, which forecast a roughly 3 percent drop in oil demand for the entire calendar year due to the coronavirus.

But Russia, apparently alone among OPEC+ members, refused to go along with Saudi Arabias additional production cuts. Russian oil policy makers, influenced by Rosneft chief Igor Sechin, argued that further cuts would only prolong the opportunism of U.S. shale producers, who had been free-riding on OPEC+ production cuts since 2016.

Each time OPEC cuts managed to boost oil prices, U.S. shale producers brought more oil to market. Sechin argued that the Americans, already faltering under $50 oil, should be forced to make the necessary coronavirus cuts. (That possibility is now under consideration in Texas.)

With Russia unwilling to cut, Riyadh quickly shifted gears. Saudi Arabia has always maintained it would not bear the burden of balancing the market on its own. That meant the price war was on. Rather than protect revenues, Saudi Arabia would try to leverage low prices to recoup the oil market share it had surrendered to US shale and others.

What happens now?

The world has never experienced this type of simultaneous supply and demand shock, so there is considerable uncertainty. One likely early victim is Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to shift the Saudi economy away from oil dependence. Such diversification requires big oil profits to bankroll the incubation of non-oil businesses  and those profits wont be available if the price war drags on for long.

If oil prices stay low, climate action will also suffer. Cheap oil is as disruptive to energy efficiency and substitute fuels as it is to politics. Fewer people are willing to pay extra for clean technologies when gasoline is cheap.

A key irony is that Iran may be the only big Gulf exporter that is insulated from the price war, since its exports have been shut off by the U.S. embargo. But Iran will also find it nearly impossible to retaliate in its usual way  attacking oil shipments and infrastructure  because doing so will have little effect on prices in a world awash in cheap oil.

The war could be short-lived. Saudi Arabia may climb down, now that it has successfully demonstrated its willingness and ability to shock the market. But the shock will already have made its mark on the global economy and on regional politics.
Which? is warning that urgent action is needed to protect travellers who face losing large sums of money amid a breakdown of the travel protections system.

The consumer champion says it has been inundated with messages and requests for help from people who face losing thousands of pounds, with some airlines and package travel providers refusing to meet their legal obligations to issue refunds for cancelled flights and holidays.

While Which? says it supports the government exploring options to help the travel industry, it is demanding that the crisis not be used as an excuse to undermine consumer protections. Reports of some package providers refusing refunds running into thousands of pounds in expectation of changes to the law are, it says, 'unacceptable'.

Which? is warning that urgent action is needed to protect travellers who face losing large sums of money amid a breakdown of the travel protections system

Which? says it has heard from a family that was meant to be travelling to a wedding in Italy and whose flights have not been cancelled, despite Foreign Office (FCO) guidance against going to the country hardest hit by the virus.

Instead, the airline is offering to switch their flights to more expensive ones in the future. In some cases, which? reports, this can cost as much as 100 more per person.

It also says that it has been contacted by unhappy airline customers who are being offered vouchers instead of being refunded, with many complaining that they have received no clear guidance from their airline about what the next steps will be.

All flights on EU carriers in or into the EU and all flights leaving from an EU airport are protected by the EU's Denied Boarding Regulation, which requires refunds or rerouting when flights are cancelled.

People have also been in touch reporting that their travel agents are refusing to offer refunds for cancelled holidays, despite travel regulations. Dozens of holidaymakers due to travel to France in the coming weeks have told Which? that their travel agent is refusing to issue a refund.

Reports of some package providers refusing refunds running into thousands of pounds in expectation of changes to the law are, Which? says, 'unacceptable'

CANCELLING HOLIDAYS, FLIGHT REFUNDS AND MORE - YOUR RIGHTS EXPLAINED PACKAGE HOLIDAYS If the FCO says it's unsafe to travel, tour operators will cancel your trip. You should be offered an alternative holiday or given a full refund. If the FCO has not advised against 'all but essential' travel to the area, your insurance company is also unlikely to pay out if you decide to cancel or curtail your trip because of safety fears. If you've booked a package holiday that might be affected by serious problems locally, but your tour operator refuses to refund you, you can argue that you are entitled to compensation. More information here and here. FLIGHTS If a flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you the option of being reimbursed or rerouted (either on the next available flight or on an agreed date). Amounts of compensation are stipulated via distance, and differs depending on how far away your destination is. There is an exception to the right to compensation if the airline can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken by the airline. In the event of either a cancellation or flight delay, the first thing you should do is contact the airline directly, and make it known that you'll be claiming compensation. If the flight operator doesn't resolve the matter, you should then contact the Civil Aviation Authority. More information here. For more on the Financial Conduct Authority's expectations of insurance firms amid the coronavirus crisis click here. Advertisement

One customer was 'refused a refund for his holiday with a well-known beach holiday specialist'. The customer faces losing 2,300 and the only options being offered are a credit note or rebooking. And, that if he decided to cancel instead, he would have to try to claim on his travel insurance.

The law says customers are entitled to a full refund if your package holiday is cancelled because of extraordinary circumstances at the destination - so they do not have to accept a credit note.

Faced with these difficulties, many people are finding themselves pushed from pillar to post between airlines, tour operators and insurance companies, whose policies are not set up for providers failing to fulfil their duties in this way.

Which? has also heard from holidaymakers who have fallen foul of little-known exclusions in insurance policies, meaning they were not covered for cancelling an upcoming trip, even after the FCO advised against travel to their destination.

Many more people are concerned that they will be uninsured for upcoming trips booked well before the coronavirus outbreak as insurers make sudden changes to their policy terms and conditions.

Taken together, these issues represent a 'serious breakdown of the current system of travel protections', Which? says, a system that's vital to ensuring millions of consumers have the confidence to book expensive holidays and flights abroad.

Which? says urgent action is needed to protect consumers amid the crisis in the travel industry, such as credit notes replacing refunds for package holidays, and strong guarantees or protections, so consumers know they are not at risk of losing their money if a travel firm fails.

And while consumers with holidays booked under the current regulations may choose to accept a credit note, their right to claim a refund must not be taken away retrospectively by any changes to the law. The hard-earned money of thousands of holidaymakers - who may be facing difficulty themselves - must not be used as a backdoor bailout of the travel industry, when direct government support is being used in other sectors.

While the current uncertainty continues, airlines must respond swiftly to this fast-moving situation by informing passengers about what is happening with future flights, and show flexibility with rebooking options if a flight has not been cancelled.

Insurers must also heed last week's warning from the FCA about treating customers fairly and work with the government and travel industry on solutions to tackle the coronavirus crisis, as the public must have confidence that they will be covered when they travel.

Which? Travel Editor, Rory Boland, said: 'We've heard from hundreds of people who face losing large sums of money because their travel plans have been left in tatters or they have been abandoned abroad and face extortionate bills to get home.

'It's vital that the government, insurers and the travel sector work together to tackle the huge challenge posed by coronavirus, as the travel industry depends on people having confidence that they will be protected in times of crisis.'
To deter people from venturing out,



the administration on Tuesday took the stringent step of stopping petrol and diesel saleat the pumps in the Pune city.

District Collector Naval Kishore Ram issued a notification to this effect, addressed to the District Petrol/Diesel Pump Association, exercising powers under the Epidemic Diseases Act.

The order did not specify how long the ban will be in force.

Only government officials who are on essential and emergency duties as well as private individuals working towards "control and eradication of COVID-19 and working in the field of essential and emergency services" and those who need to travel to get medical treatment are allowed to buy fuel, it said.

Such persons should fill up the fuel tank whenever they visit a petrol pump, the notification said.

Despite several appeals and the imposition of restrictions on vehicular movement, people are coming out on the streets, so this step was taken, an official said.

Ali Daruwala, spokesperson, All India Petrol Dealers Association, said that petrol or diesel will be sold only after verification as to whether the buyer falls in the exempted category.

Pune has 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus patients so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its officially been a decade since the pilot episode of The Walking Dead aired on AMC for the first time. For nearly 10 years, weve watched Rick Grimes survive the complete dissolution of society and order and the rise of the zombie apocalypse, from the moment he woke up in the hospital to his emotional final episode. Throughout the decade, weve explored the possibility of survival, peaceful coexistence among groups, disease, and the potential for a cure for the infected so called walkers. The only thing The Walking Dead hasnt touched yet is why and how the apocalypse started to begin with.

Robert Kirkman, writer and co-creator of The Walking Dead, may have just answered a question fans have been asking themselves since Season 1: Where did the virus come from?

*This article may contain spoilers for The Walking Dead.

Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus | AMC

Robert Kirkman says that the walkers were created by space spores

Fans have asked Kirkman about the cause of the zombie apocalypse for years and for all those years, Kirkman never cracked. He has never given fans a real answer, once jokingly connecting the show to AMCs Breaking Bad. After The Walking Dead reached Season 10 without as much of a hint or a wink toward the cause of the outbreak, it began to seem like the mystery would never be solved. That is, until a fortunate fan got an answer from Robert Kirkman on Twitter.

When a fan asked Kirkman to name what exactly created the vicious walkers that plague mankind, he simply responded with, Space spore on January 22nd. The tweet has since been deleted. This extraterrestrial source of apocalyptic terror seemed like a joke to fans at first, but after re-examining some teasers and comic book storylines from previous editions of The Walking Dead comic series, aliens truly might be the cause of the walker outbreak. Kirkman has expressed excitement at the thought of aliens being the culprit in the past, saying, a crazy sci-fi thing that would make the story all that much weirder.

Kirkman explored the idea of aliens in a bonus ending for The Walking Dead comic series issue #75 where a laser sword-brandishing Michonne explains that an alien civilization brought the dead back to life in order to weaken and eventually enslave mankind.

Its possible that Kirkman drew heavy inspiration from the mother of all zombie films, Night of the Living Dead, where the cause of the zombie outbreak was radiation from a fallen satellite. In fact, before Kirkman started on The Walking Dead, he teamed up with comic book artist Tony Moore to pitch a continuation of the iconic black-and-white zombie horror flick.

What does this mean for The Walking Dead?

In short, this revelation means next to nothing for the survivors in The Walking Dead. Even though an explanation for the apocalypse would provide a bit of context and clarity, it wouldnt do very much to serve the story. After all, what would change if the remaining survivors knew why they were living in an apocalypse alongside man-eating walkers?

In a 2018 Tumblr Q&A, Kirkman explained, It couldnt be less important to the story and the lives of these characters. It would be completely out of place in the story. Honestly if a scientist from Washington came to the character and told them what happened the characters would just shrug and say Oh okay It wouldnt change their lives at all

The Walking Dead briefly explored the possibility of a cure by introducing Eugene as a new hope for survival, but after he was revealed to be a fraud, the plotline concerning a cure was dropped and the focal point of the show traveled back to where it has always belonged: survival. Kirkman explained in an interview that The Walking Dead would be a boring show if the story was wrapped up with a cure in place.

While the comic book series has ended, it doesnt necessarily mean that The Walking Dead series will end the same way. After all, the show has veered off from the plot of the comic series several times before. However, the subject of the cause of the apocalypse will probably still remain untouched by the show.

The Walking Dead cast | AMC

How did fans respond to Kirkmans announcement?

The idea of aliens causing the walker outbreak has fans of The Walking Dead split.

Robert Kirkman has said that the zombie outbreak in The Walking Dead was caused by space spores? This could be a joke or a reference to the space probe news report in Night of the Living Dead in homage to Romero? I prefer the latter. wrote one Twitter user. Filmmaker George A. Romeros undying legacy will be forever tied to the creation and evolution of the zombie genre. It would be a poignant tribute for Kirkman to attribute his vision of the zombie apocalypse to something Romero-esque.

Other fans think that Kirkman is simply messing with fans and that the cause of the apocalypse will either remain a mystery or appear to be something much more grounded than an alien invasion. Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, trolled fans on Twitter when asked what caused the zombie outbreak, suggested one Twitter user, I guess he took the joke from the Romero series by saying Space Spores.

Whether or not Robert Kirkman was being serious when he listed space spores as an explanation for the zombie invasion remains to be seen. No matter how intriguing the cause of the apocalypse may be, it ultimately doesnt make a difference to our favorite band of survivors and wouldnt make much of a difference to the story. So, aliens or no aliens, the mystery of The Walking Dead remains (at least, officially) unsolved.
Amid the lockdown and restrictions across the country clamped to stop the outbreak of Covid-19, the coronavirus disease, the functioning of the government has also been affected.

India has reported 482 cases of Covid-19 so far and nine deaths across the country.

Here is how various ministries in the government of India are coping with the lockdown and enhanced restrictions while continuing to do their work.

Finance ministry

We are strictly following DoPTs [Department of Personnel and Training] OM [office memorandum] dated March 22, 2020, a finance ministry spokesperson said.

Preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, directs heads of departments of all central government offices to draw up a roster of staff that includes all officers and employees, including consultants, contract and outsourced employees, who are required to render essential services within each department.

They alone may be asked to attend office from 23rd March until 31st March 2020. In other words, the office should function with a skeletal staff, it said.

Officials working from home should be available on telephone and electronic means of communications at all times, it said. They should attend office if called for, in case of any exigencies of work, it added.

Also read: Each new coronavirus infected Indian could spread it to 4 others, finds ICMR study

It has directed the Department of Financial Services (DFS), which is the administrative authority for public sector banks and insurers, to implement the same directive.

The office of DFS is not located at the North Block. It functions from a building about 2km of North Block that houses the finance ministry.

Ministry of railways

Majority of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Railways workforce has also been asked to ensure bare minimum staff to come to work.

Maintenance staff at railway locomotive sheds, however, are still working at a bare minimum level as goods train loco needs attention, the railway ministry said. Goods trains locomotives also require minimum maintenance work on a daily basis.

There is a lack of clarity at some such sheds over directions issued by the ministry on how the daily functioning would be affected.

Also read: 16 private labs can now conduct coronavirus tests

On Monday, an employee of the Eastern Railways zone in West Bengal who had contracted Covid-19 died.

For now, given an unprecedented cancellation of all passenger, mail express and suburban trains, the ministry has put on hold all priority projects and is focusing on monitoring the situation on the ground.

The priority will be to make arrangements from March 31 when the ban on public transport is scheduled to be lifted.

Railways is working 24X7... We are ensuring supply by moving goods like food grain, coal, POL, milk, vegetables etc, which is very important for society. We clearly understand our responsibility during the next few months. Please support us in fighting the spread of corona and ensuring essential supplies to the public, the ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

External affairs ministry

Only the most essential divisions in the external affairs ministry handling Covid-19 related matters and the issues of stranded Indians are currently functioning, though, with reduced staff, people familiar with developments said.

Among the divisions that are currently working are administration, the Covid-19 cell, the foreign secretarys office and the foreign ministers office, the people said. Rosters have been created for officials to come to work by turns.

Other divisions have resorted to working from home and are using teleconferences to discuss important issues, the people said.

Also read: EC defers Rajya Sabha polls as Covid-19 positive cases spike in country

Its all coronavirus related issues now, anyway. Nothing else is happening. Even the limited bilateral and multilateral engagements underway are related to coordinated efforts to tackle Covid-19, such as the engagement at the level of Saarc or G20, said a person who declined to be named.

Housing and urban affairs ministry

Following the order issued by DoPT, the ministry issued a detailed advisory to its employees. It also suggested that as a precautionary measure, leave be granted expeditiously to all employees who apply for it whenever a request is made for self-quarantine.

At a project monitoring level, the ministry has not stopped work on any of its key projects especially its most ambitious project the Central Vista redevelopment plan.

Click here for complete coverage of coronavirus

On March 20 as the Centre was preparing for a countrywide lockdown, the housing ministry notified the land-use change of over 86-acre area in Lutyens Delhi that currently houses some of Indias landmark buildings like the Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block and South Block, among others, to expedite completion of the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista redevelopment project.

Earlier in March, the Hindustan Times had reported that Centres application seeking environmental clearance for the construction of a new Parliament complex has been deferred by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), and the proposal is likely to be reconsidered after pending court cases related to the project are resolved.

Defence ministry

The defence ministry and the armed forces have been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, setting up quarantine facilities across the country and carrying out evacuations from hotspots like Wuhan and Tehran.

The focus of the ministry is to ensure that the armed forces stay prepared for all challenges not just along the borders but also inside the country where Covid-19 cases are soaring. Another focus is to make sure the disease does not spread within the militarys ranks.

Work in the ministry appears to be progressing well despite the coronavirus situation --- the ministry had green-lighted a Rs 38,000-crore jet deal and unveiled a new draft policy for arms acquisition that seeks to promote indigenisation. The armed forces are issuing instructions to their personnel almost on a daily basis on how to stop the spread of Covid-19 and stay prepared for tasks assigned to them.

Department of military affairs

The department of military affairs, under the chief of defence staff, has issued a letter directing all staff to adhere to the governments fresh guidelines on preventive measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The letter, issued on Monday, said except for officials engaged in essential services, the rest are directed not to attend office from Match 23 to March 31.

However all the officers/officials are requested to be available on telephone and electronic means of communication at all times, said the letter.

Last week, the Indian Army announced home quarantine for soldiers posted in its headquarters here, staggered office timings and imposed a temporary freeze on postings and foreign assignments. The Indian Air Force (IAF) also plans to work with 50% manpower in rotation to prevent the spread of disease within its ranks.

Rural development ministry

In the rural development ministry, just 5% of the officials are coming to office.

But many senior officers are working overtime from office because the financial year is coming to an end and the individual ministries need to submit their reports in the governments expenditure management system.

These reports include both receipts as well as claims.

Our team is working on skeletal staff. Most of the rooms as closed but many officers are working from home too, said a senior bureaucrat of the ministry.

Department of Personnel and Training

For the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), work has been streamlined to ensure a smooth flow of information. All senior officers are communicating via calls and the internet, officials said while speaking to HT.

Our priority right now is to ensure a seamless exchange of information. Key decisions are being taken, yesterday, the UPSC results were declared and uploaded on the website and released by our officials from home, an official said.

Nearly 80% of DoPT staff is now working from home.

The aim is to curtail the spread of the virus and the best way to ensure that is to follow government directives, especially on social distancing, the official said.

WCD ministry

The Union ministry of women and child development, in an office memorandum dated March 18, sent a set of preventive measures to all the employees of the ministry as well as those of its autonomous organisations and attached agencies.

These include the National Commission for Women, Central Adoption Resource Agency and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Employees, who are unwell, are to work from home and asked to keep meetings at a minimum and rely on videoconference and telephones instead.

The ministry also asked its employees to not crowd the chambers and corridors of offices and asked officers to ensure that staff attached with them be allowed to work in shifts.

It also directed employees to rely on the DoPT notification from March 17, which detailed the steps all central employees and offices must take to halt the spread.
Pope calls for global reciting of Lord's Prayer Wednesday; ecumenical bodies pledge to participate

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Pope Francis called on Christians worldwide to recite the Lords Prayer, also known as the Our Father, at noon Wednesday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church took to his official Twitter account on Tuesday morning to announce the call to prayer, asking for participation from Christians of all denominations.

Let us stay united. I invite all Christians to direct their voices together toward Heaven, reciting the Our Father tomorrow, 25 March, at noon, the pontiff tweeted.

The Twitter post included a short video of Francis giving a prayer that had English subtitles, calling on people to pray together for the sick, for the people who are suffering.

I thank all Christians, all the men and women of goodwill who pray at this moment in unison, whichever religious tradition they belong to, Francis said in the video.

Let us stay united. I invite all Christians to direct their voices together toward Heaven, reciting the Our Father tomorrow, 25 March, at noon. #PrayTogether#PrayForTheWorldpic.twitter.com/IsZqgssUVE  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 24, 2020

The Conference of European Churches, an ecumenical Christian organization that received the invitation to pray at noon Wednesday via official letter, announced that they were taking part.

During these times of global uncertainty, we need signs of unity and hope, said the CEC in a statement released Tuesday.

The world today calls us to be united. Not only fighting against this devastating pandemic, but also in order to support one another and to feel in communion, remembering to draw lessons from this crisis.

The World Council of Churches has also accepted the papal invitation given to them via official letter, with WCC General Secretary, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, saying that such observances are a reminder that we are one human family.

As people across the globe are in their scattered working places at home, we will have the opportunity to unite our voices in praying to God with the words that our Lord Jesus Christ taught us, he said.

In addition to Francis call for global recitation of the Lords Prayer, the World Evangelical Alliance is hosting a Global Day of Prayer & Fasting on Sunday.

WEA Secretary General Bishop Efraim Tendero said in a statement released Monday that he believed prayer was still the greatest help that we can give.

As we pray for people in this difficult time, let us assure them of Gods love and care for those who are fearful, Tendero said.

Lets pray especially for all the frontline medical and government workers  for protection, good health, and wisdom in all that they do. Working together with Gods help, we shall overcome COVID-19.
RADNOR, Pa., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) (Norwegian) investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Norwegian on behalf of those who purchased or otherwise acquired Norwegian publicly traded securities between February 20, 2020 and March 12, 2020, inclusive (the Class Period).



Important Deadline Reminder: Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Norwegian securities during the Class Period may, no later than May 11, 2020 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. For additional information or to learn how to participate in this litigation please click https://www.ktmc.com/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-securities-class-action?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=norwegian%20cruise .

According to the complaint, Norwegian is a global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. On August 1, 2017, Norwegian updated its Code of Ethical Business Conduct, which is posted on its website. The Code of Ethical Business Conduct, available throughout the Class Period, discussed health and safety standards, stating in relevant part that its environmental, health and safety programs are designed to ensure the preservation of the environment, and safety and security of [Norwegian]s guests, team members and vendors. In December of 2019, a novel coronavirus strain, COVID-19, was detected in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China. Since then, the virus has spread to numerous countries. The spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the cruise industry, with reports of canceled trips and half-empty ships.

The Class Period commences on February 20, 2020, when Norwegian filed a Form 8-K with the SEC. Attached to the Form 8-K was a press release reporting on Norwegians financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019. In that press release, the defendants discussed positive outlooks for Norwegian in spite of the COVID-19.

On March 11, 2020, the Miami New Times reported in an article Leaked Emails: Norwegian Pressures Sales Team to Mislead Potential Customers About Coronavirus that leaked emails from a Norwegian employee showed that Norwegian directed its sales staff to lie to customers regarding COVID-19. Further, the Miami New Times article revealed the financial impact the COVID-19 outbreak was causing on Norwegian and its employees. Following this news, Norwegians share price fell $5.47 per share, or approximately 26.7%, to close at $15.03 per share on March 11, 2020.

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Norwegian was employing sales tactics of providing customers with unproven and/or blatantly false statements about COVID-19 to entice customers to purchase cruises, thus endangering the lives of both their customers and crew members; and (2) as a result, the defendants statements regarding Norwegians business and operations were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

If you wish to discuss this securities fraud class action lawsuit or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to this litigation, please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check (James Maro, Jr., Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.) at (844) 877-9500 (toll free) or (610) 6677706, or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com .

Norwegian investors may, no later than May 11, 2020 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class members claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, please visit www.ktmc.com .

CONTACT:
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Peak Positioning Technologies Inc. (CSE: PKK) ("Peak" or the "Company") today announced that Li Ying Investment Service Company ("Li Ying"), a Shanghai-based loan broker specialized in real-estate-backed loans, is now a Service Centre of the Company's Jinxiaoer subsidiary.

As a Jinxiaoer Service Centre, Li Ying's downtown Shanghai offices will now prominently feature the Jinxiaoer colours and logo. Li Ying has agreed to abide by Jinxiaoer's standardized code of service and customer experience, which the company is asking all current, and will ask all future, Service Centres to implement. Li Ying will pay Jinxiaoer an annual affiliation fee and has committed to conduct a minimum monthly value of transactions on the platform as well as to recruit a minimum number of new sales reps to the platform each month.

Li Ying has been in business since 2012, brokers on average 30 million RMB (about CAD$ 6 million) worth of loans per month, has an established clientele of repeat borrowers and relationships with a dozen lenders. It is Jinxiaoer's first real-estate-backed loans Service Centre in Shanghai and its second Service Centre in the city, joining Jiu Dong Ltd., which specializes in vehicle-baked loans.

In addition to the fees earned from the platform's registered reps and affiliated Service Centres, Jinxiaoer will earn a service fee from the platform's lenders equal to a percentage of the value of the loans facilitated by the platform.

About Peak Positioning Technologies Inc.:

Peak Positioning Technologies Inc. is the parent company of a group of innovative financial technology (Fintech) subsidiaries operating in China's commercial lending industry. Peak's subsidiaries use technology, analytics and artificial intelligence to create an ecosystem of lenders, borrowers and other participants in China's commercial lending space where lending operations are conducted rapidly, safely, efficiently and with the utmost transparency. For more information: http://www.peakpositioning.com

For more information, please contact:

CHF Capital Markets

Cathy Hume, CEO

416-868-1079 ext.: 251

cathy@chfir.com

Peak Positioning Technologies Inc.

Johnson Joseph, President and CEO

514-340-7775 ext.: 501

investors@peakpositioning.com

Twitter: @PeakPositioning

Facebook: @peakpositioning

LinkedIn: Peak Positioning

YouTube: Peak Positioning

Forward-Looking Statements / Information:

This news release may include certain forward-looking information, including statements relating to business and operating strategies, plans and prospects for revenue growth, using words including "anticipate", "believe", "could", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "potential", "project", "seek", "should", "will", "would" and similar expressions, which are intended to identify a number of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information reflects current views with respect to current events and is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as may be required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53731
T he Spanish army found elderly residents living among dead bodies of people believed to have died from coronavirus in retirement homes, it has emerged.

The troops, who came to disinfect the homes, found residents abandoned and living in squalor around infectious dead bodies, the Defence Ministry said.

The ministry said staff at some nursing homes had left after Covid-19 was detected.

Defence Minister Margarita Robbes told TV channel Telecinco that the government would be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way older people are treated" in retirement homes.

"The army, during certain visits, found some older people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds," she 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

She said the discovery included a number of nursing homes and several bodies but did not disclose the exact location of homes or how many bodies were found.

Spanish health officials have said that in normal circumstances dead bodies of nursing home residents are put in cold storage until they can be collected by funeral services.

However, when bodies are suspected to be infected by coronavirus, they are left in their beds until they can be retrieved by properly equipped funeral staff.

In Madrid, which has seen the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country, the wait for bodies to be collected can take up to 24 hours, officials have said.

Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference that care homes were "an absolute priority for the government.

She added: "We will exercise the most intensive monitoring of these centres.

On Tuesday Spain announced a record daily rise of 6,584 new coronavirus cases, with an overall total of 39,673 people infected.

The country also announced 514 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,696.

Madrids municipal funeral home announced that from Tuesday it would stop collecting coronavirus victims due to a lack of protective equipment. The Spanish capital will instead use a major ice rink, the Palacio de Hielo, as a temporary mortuary until bodies can be taken to be cremated or buried.
When it first became clear that the coronavirus was going to massively change the way we live, people began searching for comparisons between this and other, fictional plagues. Contagion was a popular one. So was The Stand, so much so that Stephen King felt compelled to speak up. No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND, he tweeted. Its not anywhere near as serious. Essentially, calm down.

But people were not deterred. On the contrary, we all thirsted, it seemed, for more narrative road maps, and plenty of outlets tried to find them. The Los Angeles Times implored us to turn to pandemic-centric cinema to understand our new reality. Electric Literature had a list of pandemic novels. So did Vulture and the New York Times. Fear the worst? the Times asked. Writers have been doing that for centuries.

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But these stories do not all show us the same worst. Pandemic art, like the diseases it portrays, has different strains, each with their own defining characteristics. The genre can be divided, I believe, into two main branches: the historical and the speculative, then the speculative split further still. Classifying these genres might seem like splitting hairs. (Though what else is there to do when social distancing?) But by examining what we get from these texts, why we keep turning to them for answers, might help us break the habit of doing so. The problem is your imagination, Francesco Pacifico writes from lockdown in Rome. Stop using dystopias as your compass. In other words, stop thinking you know whats coming. In a time when it feels so difficult to imagine the future, it makes sense to find comfort in those who already have tried to do so.

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Some works of pandemic art are historical stories tethered to real diseases, real times. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. The Decameron. Angels in America. Whether they were written contemporaneously to the crisis they describe or in retrospect, whether they deploy straight realism or not, they are concerned, fundamentally, with the particularities of the world as it was. They are works of historical fiction or at least become so, in a way, through the passage of time.

If the hypothetical is a stress test of civilization, then the fantastic is a stress test of the soul.

But these historical works are not, in general, the ones that we have turned to in these strange weeks. For the lingua franca of our collective psyches, we must look to the other strain, the speculative. For all their historical antecedents or scientific advisers, the pandemics they describe are fictional. It is these that seem to capture our imagination, perhaps because we crave prediction. The foreseeable future, we keep saying, as though we could foresee anything. In a time when it feels so difficult to imagine the future, it makes sense to find comfort in those who already have tried to do so. It makes sense, too, to hope (or fear) they got it right, because even that fear is a kind of hope. At least it means that someone knows whats coming. It is less frightening to think the compass is leading us somewhere dark than that there is no compass at all. But speculative pandemic works are not unitary. I see two distinct subgenres, each with its own tropes and concerns. Lets describe these as the hypothetical and the fantastic.

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The hypothetical narratives are, as the name suggests, what if stories. Our heroes sit, if not in the halls of power, at least closer to them. We see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the doctors on the front lines. Think of The Andromeda Strain. Outbreak. Contagion. It is indicative of the tone of these texts that their titles have a clinical tinge. There is a lot of time in labs and dialogue littered with acronyms of government agencies. They are deeply interested in the ways in which things spread, the mechanisms of human movement and political behavior. The disease, then, is a catalyst. It is the thing that leads us through the decision tree, that lets us see the ways in which our systems would bend or break in response to a test of their capacities. In general, these stories have a similar pleasure to tonguing a burn on the roof of ones mouththeir pain is compulsive and satisfying, cathartic, in the most traditional, dramaturgical sense of the term. They allow us to play through to the end of a worst-case scenario and purge our fear through vicarious experience. Lawrence Wrights forthcoming novel The End of October will almost certainly fall into this category. He says he began with a question: How could human civilization become so broken? This is, I think, the question at the heart of the hypothetical subgenre. It focuses on the how. The fantastic stories, on the other hand, focus on the break.

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If the hypothetical is a stress test of civilization, then the fantastic is a stress test of the soul. The focus tends inward or upward, to questions about morality, love, art, God. These are stories like Blindness. Severance. The Plague. These are more interior stories and, often, more apocalyptically minded. If these works take us to the halls of power here, they are usually abandoned, their former denizens dead or dying. But that is the core of their appeal. We want to read about characters who rise or sink to the occasion, because we like to think about which we would be. Theres an appeal in thinking that the world wiped clean would wipe our sins with it, or at least some of our shortcomings. Wed be better, perhaps, more heroic, more just, more ourselves. The fantastical subgenres appeal is most akin to that of other post-apocalyptic stories, eloquently described by Elmo Keep as a perverse form of wish fulfillment: If this actually happened, they ask, what kind of person would I be? Or as Shirley Jackson put it in The Sundial, her own stab at the apocalypse: You want the whole world to be changed just so you will be different.

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The diseases in the fantastic stories tend to feel more explicitly metaphorical than those in the hypothetical category, less tethered to the precise mechanics of a fictive virus. (The looping actions of Shen Fever victims in Severance, for example, versus the respiratory-neurological one-two punch in Contagion.) But it is not always the nature of the disease itself that defines these categories; Station Elevens Georgian Flu might be more strictly plausible than the zombie hordes of World War Z, but I would argue that the former is fantastical and the latter hypothetical. The novel version of World War Z, with its framing as a fictional oral history, has far more in common, tonally, with the clinical world of Steven Soderbergh than Station Eleven does, with its roving troubadours and wistful lists of what we miss. World War Z is more systems. Station Eleven is more souls.

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There is a popular video of Italian mayors scolding their constituents for going outside and in it the mayor of Reggio Calabria, says: Look, this isnt a film. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend. So, you have to go home. His reference is telling. It is fiction, more than history, that marks the borders of our collective imagination, and none more so than science fiction. We imbue it with prophetic capabilities, argue about whether Orwell or Huxley was right as though they were futurists making projections rather than writers making art. We need look no further than Wrights aforementioned novel, already called prophetic, to see that we are still doing this. We could argue that it is harmless, helpful even. But when we look to our fictions to imagine our futures, they can lead us down strange cul-de-sacs, leave us craving flying cars and swiping shitty touch screens. They can also lead to arrogance, some belief that weve seen this movie and we know whats coming, that we might be Will Smith after all, the hero of this story, exempt from chance, at the center of the narrative. That well make it, maybe, even if others dont.

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We do not have to go without stories. Pacifico suggests Tolstoy, and Id second that. If I feel the itch for pandemic literature, Ill choose the historical strand over the speculative. It is calming, in a strange way, to think of the dying Florence of The Decameron and to know that it had yet to see either the Renaissance or fascism, that all the hope and horrors of centuries of history lay before it, as its future. Maybe this is cold comfort to some, but it soothes me to think that in the grand scheme, things collapse but slowly, which is to say, they change. That, in general, our endings are more whimpers than bangs. It reminds me of the words of the Dark Mountain Project, a group devoted to changing the stories we tell ourselves around climate change: The end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world full stop. But mostly I hope to stay awake to the particulars of our lives now, to the slipstream of the present that now carries us along. To not compare or imagine, but to notice. The other night, speaking with a friend whod likely been exposed, we chatted about the symptoms, and she laughed. It sounds like dialogue from a bad movie, she said. Even if she was right, it didnt matter. It was what we were talking about. It was our lives. It will be for some time to come. Theres no story to tell us how it ends.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Nilesh Veera, director of APMC said, complained that availability of workers is a big problem. They have asked the government to provide enough sanitizers, masks, etc, for worker safety, to call them back. There has been no reply.

Essential commodity markets are facing the challenge of labour availability and transport.

If such disruptions continue, availability would be an issue, say market leaders.

In Mumbai, daily grain offtake had recently doubled to 100,000 bags of 30 kg each a day.

Now, after the lockdown implemented across states, transporters say after they've brought grain from the producing centres, how are they to prove when the vehicle returns that it was used for only essential commodity delivery?

Also, many complain of non-availability of drivers.

The wholesale market at Navi Mumbai is closed till Tuesday and could also be shut on Wednesday, as workers have left for their home home towns or villages.

Availability of workers is a big problem. We asked the government to provide enough sanitizers, masks, etc, for worker safety, to call them back. There has been no reply, complained Nilesh Veera, director of the APMC (wholesale centre).

A representative at the market said there was enough stock for lifting but the problem was lack of workers, as also multiple roadside vegetable vendors being unable to lift the normal consignments in this situation.

Pulses are in demand, with the shift away from poultry products.

However, several pulses' processing units are having similar problems.

In some, workers are not coming or transporters aren't taking goods.

Import in line with government-okayed quotas have arrived at the ports but and are not getting Customs clearance.

Bimal Kothari, vice-chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association, said: I assume today being the first day of lockdown, these trade issues are much smaller, looking at the gravity of coronavirus. We hope things settle in the next few days.

Flour mills are operating at full strength but, said the head of one of these, one of the largest selling companies in the segment is not able to get the needed supply of packing material.

The problem here is that the authorities are not agreeing that packing material needed for essential commodities should also be treated as one of the latter.

Then, there is edible oil, where three-fourth of the country's need is imported annually.

A falling rupee has made the commodity costlier in recent weeks; demand has also reduced, either because of price issue or disruption in supplies.

Crushing and refining units are also facing the issues of worker availability and tanker transport.

A related issue is the decision to keep ships in quarantine on the high seas for 14 days before arriving at ports.

Whether 14 days will be counted from the day the ship left the supply destination or the arrival date is unclear.

Then, there are clearance delays at ports, said an official of a large importing company.

Onion prices at Lasalgaon, the huge wholesale market near Nashik, is apparently only around Rs 12 a kg.

Supply by road transport from there to consuming centres is another issue.

A sector official hoped that going ahead, these things should get sorted.

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
To slow the spread of the new coronavirus, schools across the state must stay closed until at least April 8 under an order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker. But some public school students rely on free and reduced-price meals provided by the school district, and officials and food service providers are finding ways to keep up the service.
Samsung has been hit hard by Vietnam's restrictions on travel from South Korea, setting the production of the latest Galaxy Note smartphones behind schedule.

The new Samsung Galaxy might not be able to keep to the plan of launching this summer

The latest move of the Vietnamese government requiring a two-week quarantine for all arrivals from South Korea has set multinational corporations behind launch schedule with several products, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

Park Noh-wan, the South Korean Ambassador to Vietnam, told local media that Samsung Electronics needs 1,000 South Korean specialists to enter Vietnam to launch its latest product. Quarantining them as required would cause a significant loss, he said.

While Samsung has manufacturing bases across the globe, its smartphone facilities in Vietnam churn out roughly half of the Galaxy handsets it sells worldwide. It has been ramping up investment in the Southeast Asian country, where it also makes OLED displays and home appliances. By value, Samsung accounts for a quarter of Vietnam's total exports.

However, specialists working to bring an OLED production line for a new smartphone onstream were essentially barred from Vietnam, threatening the production schedule of the new Galaxy Notes which is due to come out this summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit South Korea in late February, infecting 8,800 and killing around 110 people, according to Worldometers.info. The number of countries and regions banning travel from South Korea doubled to 100 in just one week, while fifteen others, including Vietnam, imposed quarantines.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government has been tightening measures to prevent and control the spread of the epidemic. They decided to temporarily halt visa issuance to foreigners for 30 days, applicable since March 18, and cut all incoming flights from COVID-19 stricken areas to Vietnam. All entrants shall be medically checked and have to comply with the nations COVID-19 prevention and control measures. VIR

Minh Vu

What if Samsung relocates high-end production line to Vietnam? Samsung Electronics has announced the temporary shutdown of its factory in Gumi, South Korea and has relocated the production line of some high-end smartphone models to Vietnam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8:00 pm on Tuesday on coronavirus outbreak in India. The Prime Minister said he will share details "on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19". Cases of coronavirus infection in India have crossed 500, and 9 patients have died in the country due the deadly virus.

Earlier today, addressing the media via video conferencing, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government is very close to announcing an economic package to help sectors tide over the crisis. She rolled out a slew of measures to help individuals and businesses with various statutory and regulatory compliance matters.

ALSO READ:Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: Govt bans export of ventilators, sanitisers and other ICU equipment

ALSO READ:PM Modi's address to nation on coronavirus; where and when to watch live stream

ALSO READ:First Made-in-India COVID-19 test kit by Mylab gets commercial approval

ALSO READ:$20 trillion lawsuit against China! US group says coronavirus is bioweapon

Follow BusinessToday.In for LIVE updates from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech

8.59: Ministry of Home Affairs will shortly issue guidelines of effective measures and exceptions to the essential services during this 21-day lockdown. There will shortly be an MHA 24/7 hotline to assist states during this period.

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8.54 pm: IN PICTURES: People throng Sant Nagar to buy essentials.

Ministry of Home Affairs will shortly issue guidelines of effective measures and exceptions to the essential services during this 21-day lockdown. There will shortly be an MHA 24/7 hotline to assist states during this period. #CoronavirusLockdownpic.twitter.com/kYR1CgIInl  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

8.37 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan welcomes complete lockdown in India

Delhi: People throng Sant Nagar market to purchase vegetables and fruits, despite restrictions under section 144 of CrPC in city to contain the spread of #CoronavirusPandemic. (Earlier visuals) pic.twitter.com/zIG9hkqEWi  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

8.32 pm: 21 days is a lon tine, but it is the only way to tackle this crisis, says PM Modi.

8.31 pm: Don't take any medicine without doctor's prescription, urges PM Modi.

8.30 pm: Avoid rumours and superstitions, says PM Modi.

8.29 pm: I am happy that private sector is standing shoulder to shoulder with the nation in these times of crisis and contagion, says PM Modi

8.28 pm: Centre has made provisions for Rs 15,000 crore to strengthen the health infrastructure in India, says PM Modi.

8.22 pm: I appeal to you that while staying at home, remember and pray for people who are putting their lives at risk in these difficult times, says PM Modi.

8.20 pm: Citizens of these countries followed government orders and stayed home, says PM Modi.

8.20 pm: Ray of hope in these times comes from countries that have been able to control the spread of coronavirus to some extent, says PM Modi.

8.18 pm: When it starts spreading, it is very difficult to stop coronavirus, says the PM. That's why situation has worsened in several countries.

8.16 pm: WHO says that one infected person can infect hundreds more, says PM Modi.

8.13 pm: You must not forget that sometimes people infected with coronavirus appear to be healthy. They do not look sick at all, says PM Modi.

8.12 pm: Forget what it is like stepping out of the house for 21 days. Stay at home and only stay at home: PM Modi.

8.12 pm: If we cannot manage this 21 days, then India will be pushed back by 21 years: PM Modi.

8.11 pm: This lockdown will be for 21 days, says PM Modi.

8.11 pm: I urge you to stay wherever you are in the country, says PM Modi.

8.10 pm: India will bear the financial consequences of the lockdown. But to save the lives of every Indian is my biggest priority, says PM Modi.

8.09 pm: You cannot step out of your house from 12 am onwards today, says PM Modi.

8.09 pm: From 12 am tonight, the entire country will be in complete lockdown, says PM Modi.

8.08 pm: Some people's irresponsible actions will put India in grave danger, says PM

8.07 pm: Some people are mistaken that social distancing is only for the patients. That's wrong. Social distancing is for everyone, for everyone in the family. Social distancing is even for the Prime Minister, says PM Modi.

8.04 pm: Social distancing is the only option to fight against coronavirus, says PM Modi.

8.03 pm: Coronavirus is spreading so rapidly that despite all preparedness, challenges continue to rise in certain countries, says PM Modi.

8.02 pm: This Janta Curfew show that Indian come together to combat every travesty, says PM Modi.

8.01 pm: Every Indian contributed to Janta Curdew, says PM Modi.

7.59 pm: PM Modi's address to begin shortly.

7.45 pm: PM Modi has said that people over 65 years of age should avoid going out as they are more at risk.

7.41 pm: In his address tonigh, PM Modi might once again strongly urge people to stay at home. He has complained about people not taking the lockdown across various states of India seriously.

7.36 pm: Meanwhile, Centre has asked states to set aside funds to fight coronavirus. Some states have already allocated funds for the cause. PM Modi might talk about this aspect too.

7.32 pm: Earlier today, PIB Fact Check refuted reports that PM Modi will announce a financial emergency to fight coronavirus. On its Twitter handle, PIB Fact Check said that the report is malicious and fake and there is no plan to declare a financial emergency.

7.29 pm: In his previous messages, PM Modi has been emphasising on social distancing. He has advised employers to allow their employees to work from home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

7.23 pm: Hopes of an economic stimulus will be there as PM Modi addresses the nation tonight. FM Sitharaman has assured that the government is very close to finalising an economic package.

7.10 pm: PM Modi might also share details on the progress of COVID-19 economic response task force that he announced in his previous address to the nation. Earlier today, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that the formation of task force is well on the way.

7.07 pm: Talking to the media via video conferencing earlier today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that PM Modi is closely monitoring the situation and an economic package will be announced soon.

7.02 pm: In his address today, PM Modi could share the steps taken by his government so far to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Number of confirmed cases has crossed 500 in India so far, and 9 deaths due to the respiratory infection have been reported.

7.00 pm: PM Modi also interacted with healthcare workers via video conferencing at 5:00 pm today.

6.53 pm: During his interaction via video links with senior journalists, PM Narendra Modi emphasised on the need to keep the fighting spirit of the people up while tackling the spread of the virus.

6:52 pm: Talking to senior journalists from print media earlier today, PM Narendra Modi while interacting with senior journalists from the print media said citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of coronavirus.

6.45 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8:00 PM today.
Since Sunday foreign nationals have not been allowed to enter Vietnam through the border gate. Vietnamese nationals have to make a health declaration and are quarantined.

Cambodia too closed off its borders to outsiders on March 20.

As of Monday afternoon Vietnam and Cambodia had confirmed 121 and 86 cases of infection. No deaths have been reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dung, deputy chief of commissar of the Tay Ninh Border Guard, said: "Prior to the epidemic, an average of 5,000 Vietnamese and Cambodia crossed the international border every day. Since the outbreak began, border guards at Moc Bai have placed 1,000 people in quarantine."
Alexis Madrigal was in his kitchen on Wednesday, March 4, when his phone rang. It was a warm, sunny evening in Oakland, California, and Madrigal, a staff writer at The Atlantic, was cooking dinner for his two children. On the line was Robinson Meyer, a colleague at The Atlantic, who wanted to talk about the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Madrigal and Meyer had previously discussed how they might help people understand how little testing had been done. This time, Madrigal recalls, Meyer spoke with a new sense of urgency.

Imagine that we are on the Army Corps of Engineers beat, and its five days before [Hurricane] Katrina, Meyer told him then. Like, what the eff are we doing here? We dont have a testing number in the US.

Madrigal walked outside with his computer and sat down in the sunshine. As he and Meyer talked, they started a Google Doc and created a form letter they could send to health officials. Then they divided the states between them and went to work. Throughout that night, they scoured health department websites and reached out to all fifty to get the most up-to-date numbers on how many people had been tested so far. In the morning, after a little sleep, they started writing.

Their story, The Strongest Evidence Yet That America Is Botching Coronavirus Testing, went live on The Atlantics website on March 6.

Among other details that turned up in their research was a verified total of 1,895 people who had been tested for COVID-19 in the US up to that point.

Moments after the story ran, Madrigal received an email from Jeff Hammerbacher, a data scientist and founder of Related Science, a medication-discovery platform. Madrigal and Hammerbacher had met as freshmen in college, but had since fallen out of regular contact. Hammerbacher was surprised by what Madrigal and Meyer had done; he, too, had independently built a spreadsheet to track the numbers. Madrigal and Hammerbacher agreed to merge their data into a joint effort, which has since snowballed into the COVID Tracking Project, an intensive effort to update the numbersincluding a state-by-state count of positive and negative results, among other informationon a daily basis.

Since its launch, the project has roped in dozens of volunteersjournalists, researchers, developers, and graduate students among themwho pour hours into the project in addition to their full-time jobs and other responsibilities.

READ: Coronavirus and a Freelancers Dilemma

Among the projects goals, Madrigal says, is to put pressure on the decision-makers responsible for getting out tests and reporting results. Although the CDC publishes testing numbers and results for other illnesses, including influenza, the agency has not been providing the same level of detail for COVID-19. At press time, the total number of tests done nationwide, according to the CDC, is less than half what the Tracking Project has compiled.

Its just classic accountability journalism, Madrigal says. In the old days, you would have published a big feature with these things and then the government would have been like, Okay, fine. Well put the numbers out. Thats not what has happened.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TESTING PEOPLE for COVID-19 is clear: without testing, theres no way to know how widespread the virus is, where it is most concentrated, or how great anyones risk for infection is. There are clinical reasons, too, says William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Clinicians like to know what theyre dealing with when taking care of sick patients, particularly those that are admitted to the hospital, he says. Whether its influenza or COVID-19, you have to use appropriate infection-control precautions, so when we can care for them, we dont get sick ourselves.

Its also important to know how many tests have been done, because that number offers perspective on prevalence rates, Madrigal says. A handful of positive cases in a city means something different if the city has tested ninety people or nine thousand people. Without that denominator, it may look like one state has more cases simply because it has done more testing.

Before our update, we wanted to show you why we do this.

Tracking testing data in the U.S. has been a challenge. The CDC is currently publishing incomplete data that lags several days behind state reports. We collect and clean the state data. Heres how the two datasets differ: pic.twitter.com/Eu8pbiZ5Rf  The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) March 23, 2020

Producing an accurate count turned out to be more complicated than asking each state for a tally, as Madrigal discovered when he and Hammerbacher started comparing notes. Madrigal and Meyer had been thinking like journalists: their original spreadsheet, which represented a snapshot in time, was full of quotes from officials and estimates of testing capacities. Hammerbacher, on the other hand, was thinking like a data scientist. He had collected counts for several days in a row, offering a more longitudinal perspective that he updated every afternoon. He had also been keeping extensive notes that explained quirks in the data. For example, many states report how many specimens have been tested, but it is standard to test two specimens for each person. Determining an accurate count of people tested required dividing the total specimen number by two, which he accounted for in his numbers.

Hammerbachers version was more robust, Madrigal says, and became the framework for the COVID Tracking Project, which includes data for every state along with extensive notes that explain nuances in the data and reasons why the projects totals might differ from published state data. Alaska, for example, doesnt report whether its totals represent specimens or people. And as of March 16, according to the notes, Michigan was only reporting positive tests.

The project quickly took on a life of its own. Too busy to keep updating the database without help, the creators distributed a Google Doc, asking for volunteers. The first person to sign up was Erin Kissane, a friend of Meyers in Astoria, Oregon, whose background included editing technical books and working as editorial director at Open News, where she facilitated collaborations between newsrooms. When COVID-19 started spreading, she went looking for things she could do to help. After a week that felt like ten years with the COVID Tracking Project, she took on the role of managing editor.

The project now includes about sixty-five volunteers, with thirty to forty core contributors communicating daily by Slack. The volunteersa group that includes journalists, researchers, developers, and graduate students, among othersarent paid for their efforts, nor does the COVID Tracking Project receive any funding. Still, theyve poured hours into the project. After a week on the platform, the group came close to hitting its ten-thousand-message archivable limitwhich, Kissane says, Slack generously extended without fee.

Team members compile data throughout the day and enter the numbers along with notes and questions, like what to do about states that record deaths within their totals of positive tests. Then two double-checkers come through to verify numbers and make decisions about ambiguities. An official update happens at 4pm every day, and smaller tweaks happen throughout the day. Data on the site is open for use by anyone who wants to cite it or use it to create visualizations. Plenty of publications have dived in, including the New York Times, Vox, Politico, and Minnesota Public Radio.

Other test-tracking sites exist, Kissane says, but they use scraping technology to grab numbers from around the Web. The COVID Tracking Project is the only one she knows of that relies on human power to collect and make sense of the numbers. It is an unusual combination of rigorous journalism and technological expertise. Were trying to apply journalistic principles of accuracy and human verification over speed, while relying on this pool of heavily technical volunteers who are handling everything that can be automated, Kissane says.

If we can help states clean up their data, understand what people need to know, and maybe keep their websites from falling over, thats a piece we definitely want to be doing.

FOR THE MOST PART, the volunteers have never met in real life. Still, Kissane says, they share a sense of purpose during an uncertain time. I think for a lot of people, working on what is a kind of dark and frustrating database would not be the best choice, psychologically. And then, for some of us, this seems to be how we are managing our anxieties, she says. The idea that we are doing something that may be useful to consumers, to newsrooms, and ultimately to public health authorities who desperately want to publish this information and cantthats kind of weirdly soothing.

Collaboration goes beyond the group itself. In the process of collecting data from states, the COVID Tracking team has forged unexpected relationships with public health departments. The team recently sent around a document to state public health departments that explained what they should be publishing to make it easier for the project to compile and compare numbers. Occasionally, public health authorities respond to the team on Twitter. And in some cases, phone calls from the team, along with pressure from other journalists, have helped push states to change the way they report data or the amount of data they release. The group is starting to identify ways that it might be able to help state agencies with IT support and hosting assistance in cases where sites go down.

It has been super encouraging to see states move from really opaque and patchy reporting to more comprehensive and clear reporting after weve asked, Kissane says. States are working so hard and, as far as we can tell, with very little support on this specific reporting piece. If we can help them clean up their data, understand what people need to know, and maybe keep their websites from falling over, thats a piece we definitely want to be doing.

The projects future is still unclear. At first, Madrigal says, he thought the CDC might see his and Meyers original story and post the numbers he feels sure they have. They still havent done it, and so the project goes on. The team is now moving its information from Slack channels into documents it can preserve. And many times a day, Kissane says, cool ideas for side projects come uplike collecting county-level data or policy-related information. If the CDC eventually starts reporting testing data, Kissane says, there might be room to pursue some of those ideas.

We didnt mean to be doing this work over the long term, and every day we hope the CDC will put us out of business, she says. But until that happens, it appears that we are the closest thing to a human-validated, comprehensive source of this information.

The kind of transparency the project offers has the potential to reduce collective anxiety, Schaffner believes. People are anxious about this, he says, and one reason they are anxious is that they dont have very much information about whats happening in their neighborhood.

For Madrigal, the phone call from Meyer that started the whole project is an emotional memory. He didnt know at the time how much was going to happen next, but he realizes now that the call was the beginning of something new. At that point, no schools were closed. The rest of the world was carrying on as per normal, he says. And over the next twenty-four to forty-eight hoursand now for everybody else over the last two weekseverything kind of changed.

Only now, he says, is the outside world coming into alignment with where his interior thoughts were in early March. It feels like the world forked for me after getting that phone call, he says. Ever since then, everything has been different.

THE MEDIA TODAY: Dr. Anthony Faucis tightrope act

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Emily Sohn is a freelance journalist in Minneapolis who has written for the Washington Post, New York Times, Nature, National Geographic, NPR, and many other outlets.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eldorado Gold Corporation, (Eldorado or the Company) reports that, in accordance with the Quebec provincial government-mandated restrictions to address the COVID-19 situation in the province announced on March 23, 2020, it will temporarily minimize operations at its Lamaque mine until April 13, 2020. The Company also reports that it has today received a Certificate of Authorization from the Quebec Ministry of Environment to allow for the expansion of underground production from the Triangle deposit at Lamaque from 1,800 tonnes per day (tpd) to 2,650 tpd, once operations resume.



Effective March 25, 2020, Eldorado will ramp down operational activity and maintain only essential personnel on site responsible for maintaining appropriate health, safety, security and environmental systems. The Company remains committed to resuming operations in a timely manner once the suspension is lifted.

George Burns, President and CEO, said: Our focus and number one priority is our people and supporting local families and communities. While we are temporarily suspending operations at Lamaque, we continue to run our global operations at modestly reduced manpower levels at this time. This is a result of us putting people first and taking proactive steps to mitigate potential risk to our workforce and mandating work from home where possible. We remain focused on ensuring that these temporary disruptions to our business do not impact long-term value. Inventories of key suppliers, trade routes and delivery times have been reviewed and remain unaffected at this time. Todays receipt of the expansion permit at Lamaque will create jobs and increase value for local communities, Quebec and our shareholders once the temporary suspension is lifted and we are safe to return to normal operations.

The Company continues to monitor the operating environment closely in the jurisdictions where it operates. Eldorado has implemented additional controls at all its operations and offices around the globe to further protect the health and safety of its workforce, their families and neighboring communities, which include:

Restricting site access and conducting employee screening measures, such as thermometric testing;

Putting social-distancing protocols in place and encouraging increased hand-washing;

Educating workforce and local communities about symptoms and transmission of the virus with clear instructions to stay home if one feels unwell;

Halting all non-essential travel; and

Liaising with governments, regulators and other external stakeholders to closely monitor developments.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, Canada, Greece, Romania and Brazil. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO).

Contacts

Investor Relations

Peter Lekich, Manager Investor Relations

604.687.4018 or 1.888.353.8166 peter.lekich@eldoradogold.com

Media

Louise Burgess, Director Communications & Government Relations

604.687.4018 or 1.888.353.8166 louise.burgess@eldoradogold.com

Cautionary Note about Forward-looking Statements and Information

Certain of the statements made and information provided in this press release are forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, these forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", continue, projected, "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements or information contained in this release include, but are not limited to, statements or information with respect to: the duration or extent of the restrictions and suspensions with respect to our operations at Lamaque,and the effect that any such restrictions or suspensions may have on our operations and our financial and operational results; the ability of the Company to continue with any operations at Lamaque or our other operations, or to successfully maintain our Lamaque operations while they are temporarily suspended ,or to restar or ramp-up these operations efficiently or economically, or at all, the impact of COVID-19 on our workforce, suppliers and other essential resources and what effect those impacts, if they occur, would have on our business, our planned capital and exploration expenditures; our expectation as to our future financial and operating performance, gold price outlook and the global concentrate market; and our strategy, plans and goals, including our proposed exploration, development, construction, permitting and operating plans and priorities and related timelines and schedules.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, market uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information.

We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including the world-wide economic and social impact of COVID-19 is managed and the duration and extent of the COVID 19 pandemic minimized or not long-term; tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries, decommissioning estimates, the geopolitical, economic, permitting and legal climate that we operate in; the future price of gold and other commodities; the global concentrate market; exchange rates; anticipated costs and expenses; production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, the impact of acquisitions, dispositions, suspensions or delays on our business and the ability to achieve our goals. In particular, except where otherwise stated, we have assumed a continuation of existing business operations on substantially the same basis as exists at the time of this release.

Even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Many assumptions may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.

Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: the duration and effects of COVID-19, and any other pandemics on our operations and workforce, and the effects on global economies and society,; geopolitical and economic climate (global and local), risks related to mineral tenure and permits; gold and other commodity price volatility; continued softening of the global concentrate market; risks regarding potential and pending litigation and arbitration proceedings relating to the Companys, business, properties and operations; expected impact on reserves and the carrying value; the updating of the reserve and resource models and life of mine plans; mining operational and development risk; financing risks, foreign country operational risks; risks of sovereign investment; regulatory risks and liabilities including, environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical testing and recoveries; additional funding requirements; currency fluctuations; community and non-governmental organization actions; speculative nature of gold exploration; dilution; share price volatility and the price of the common shares of the Company; competition; loss of key employees; and defective title to mineral claims or properties, as well as those risk factors discussed in the sections titled Forward-Looking Statements and "Risk factors in our business" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form & Form 40-F. The reader is directed to carefully review the detailed risk discussion in our most recent Annual Information Form and other regulatory filings filed on SEDAR under our Company name, which discussion is incorporated by reference in this release, for a fuller understanding of the risks and uncertainties that affect the Companys business and operations.

Forward-looking statements and information is designed to help you understand managements current views of our near and longer term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes.



There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change.
With a decades experience as a cleaner, Veronica Zaragoza has seen it all: 13-hour days, cash payments below minimum wage and chemicals that made her head spin.

As concerns around COVID-19 in Toronto deepen, so too has her concern for loved ones. Last week, she picked up the phone and started dialing  working her way through a list of a dozen friends who scrub grocery stores and skyscrapers across the city.

For some, office closures spell devastating job losses.

For others, work is intensifying  and with it, fear.

Im thinking one of the most vulnerable groups to be affected is cleaners. Why? Because we clean everything, Zaragoza says. We are in contact with this virus directly.

Ariadni Marin works Monday to Saturday cleaning a large downtown Toronto grocery store. On Sundays, she rotates to a different building. She is paid $13 an hour, she says, minus a 2.5 per cent cut her boss takes for paying cash.

While non-essential businesses close across the province, disinfection regimens in Marins workplace are more demanding than ever. Every department at the grocery store is anxious for extra cleaning, she says; there is no time for eating lunch or taking breaks.

The work is very, very heavy, and no one is helping us, says Marin, who is originally from Colombia. Sometimes they ask us to stay for longer but dont pay extra time.

She does not have a face mask to wear and has to wash her plastic gloves at the end of each shift so she can reuse them. She has been provided with new cleaning agents; she says she does not know what they are and has received no training on how to use them. The new chemicals make her feel ill.

Above all, she is worried about contracting the virus.

We are always in contact with people and we dont have the necessary equipment, she says.

Zaragoza, who now educates fellow cleaners on their rights through the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre, says long-standing concerns in the cleaning sector are thrown into harsher relief by the pandemic.

Cleaners are among the lowest-paid workers in the city. Many are undocumented, making them easy targets for exploitative bosses, she says.

This is a huge barrier because they have fear asking for their rights.

Recent measures passed by the Ontario government mean workers no longer have to provide doctors notes if they are ill and cannot be fired for not working if they contract coronavirus.

But the legislation does not include access to paid sick days  a particular problem for low-wage workers who cannot work from home.

Marins boss has told her not to come to work if she exhibits virus symptoms.

But I have to work for my food, she says.

Even though all workers  regardless of immigration status  are entitled to Ontarios basic labour protections, cleaning is notorious for employee misclassification. Many cleaners are categorized as independent contractors, who are not covered by employment legislation.

Testing and treatment for COVID-19 will be free to all Ontarians even if they are uninsured, the province says. But undocumented workers are not eligible for new employment insurance relief funds set up by the federal government.

One cleaner, who the Star is not naming because she does not have legal status in Canada, says she recently lost her $12.50 an hour job cleaning an office building downtown, after its occupants began working remotely.

Im on my own here. Honestly, I dont really know what Im going to do, she says. I have money to pay just one month of rent. Thats it.

I think a lot of Canadian people dont want to do these kinds of jobs. Cleaning jobs are very demeaning. I have been sexually harassed, verbally harassed, she added.

In 2013, the City of Toronto declared itself a Sanctuary City after noting while undocumented workers contribute to the Canadian economy by paying for basic needs of shelter, food and other services, as well as paying provincial sales tax, they often face multiple barriers to living healthy fulfilling lives.

They are particularly susceptible to situations where they are required to work for low wages, under poor and unsafe work conditions, and where they have no protection against unfair dismissal, abuse and/or exploitation by their employer, says a staff report from the time.

Francisco Rico-Martinez, the co-director of the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto, says his organization has seen an uptick in concern  often from cleaners  about paying rent, accessing health care and growing xenophobia in recent weeks.

I know many families who have opened their houses for non-status people to clean and to serve and to take care of children, he says.

The cleaning they do in many places, in downtown and in buildings and restaurants, we take it for granted. These are the lowest paid jobs that we have.

Rico-Martinez says he will be appealing to the Mayor John Tory this week to enable three months emergency access to Ontario Works for those who normally wouldnt qualify  so that Torontos sanctuary status isnt false advertising.

This is what we are asking for  an emergency plan for the poorest of the poor, he says.

They deserve to be treated as human beings.

For Marin, a seven-day work week scrubbing box stores has always been short on relief. Only now, the stakes are higher.

I feel like they are asking us to clean everything because they care about everyones health, she says.

Except cleaners.
Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - Gold soared for the second day in a row early Tuesday after the Federal Reserve announced dramatically increased measures to prop up the economy and markets, with open-ended quantitative easing and other programs.

Further, the U.S. dollar is softer and recent gold selling to meet margin calls and offset losses in other markets appears to be abating, some say.

As of 7:30 a.m. EDT, Comex April gold was $99.10 higher to $1,666.70 an ounce. May silver was 67.9 cents higher to $13.94 an ounce after gaining 7% on Monday.

The price surge was triggered by the announcement of new and sweeping measures by the U.S. Federal Reserve to combat the recession that is looming in the U.S.; this also brought the U.S. dollars upswing to an end for the time being, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

The June dollar index was down 1.5 points to 101.740.

Everyone has wanted a shiny piece of gold over the last 24 hours, after the Fed took unprecedented measures to defend the U.S. economy from the coronavirus outbreak, said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. The precious metal has appreciated...since the start of the week and has the potential to extend gains on dollar weakness. A sense of unease over the coronavirus developments and fears around a global recession should support appetite for gold moving forward.

Fritsch commented that measures being taken by Fed policymakers are considerably more aggressive than those implemented during the financial crisis that began in 2008. Further, the U.S. and German governments are working toward massive stimulus packages.

Numerous analysts have been blaming weakness in gold during the last couple of weeks as selling in the futures market to offset losses elsewhere. Fritsch pointed out that the metal rose sharply Monday even though U.S. equities were still on the defensive.

The fact that gold nonetheless gained by 3.5% yesterday can be seen as the first sign that the selling pressure brought about by forced selling is gradually abating, he said. The SPDR Gold Trust also registered an inflow yesterday for the first time in 10 days  and at just shy of 16 tons, it was fairly sizable into the bargain.

On Tuesday, stock-index futures were pointing to a sharply higher open on Wall Street.

Commodity brokerage SP Angel commented that the price increase also has been partly driven by supply constraints as three major gold refineries in Switzerland announced Monday that they have suspended production for at least a week due to measures to combat the pandemic.
Restaurants, movie theaters and sports arenas arent the only businesses laying off employees and cutting hours as the coronavirus crushes the U.S. economy.

So are law firms, marketing companies, insurance providers and countless other enterprises that may seem insulated from the more direct body blows of an outbreak that has triggered the shutdown of public gathering spots across the country.

The vast majority of those affected are small businesses that lack the cash or credit lines that can prop up airlines and other large corporations for many months before they have to slash jobs. Firms with fewer than 500 employees make up 47% of private-sector payrolls, according to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.

To be sure, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, stores and other consumer service providers are on the front lines of the economic meltdown as they lose the bulk of their sales, forcing them to abruptly lay off most or all employees. But those developments have reverberated across the economy in recent days, hammering the revenue of professional service businesses that sell to those restaurants and movie theaters, and creating a cloud of uncertainty that has chilled U.S. commerce broadly.

Whats happening is uncertainty is causing everybody to buckle down and stop spending money, says Jessica Fialkovich, president of a western branch of Transworld Business Advisors, a broker for small business mergers. Its really bad.

Many of the professional service businesses are still earning revenue, with some avoiding layoffs so far and others slashing only a portion of their staffs. But Fialkovich estimates that about 40% of small firms overall are shedding employees. The job cuts are compounding the toll that the restaurant, recreation and retail layoffs are taking on the economy. Three to four million jobs already have been eliminated, and another nine to 11 million are at significant risk, estimates Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics.

Story continues

The economic fallout is spreading quickly, he says.

Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas is devoid of its usual heavy traffic in this photo taken around 11:30 a.m. on March 17, 2020, amid the coronavirus outbreak. A hopeful message is on the marquee at the Paramount Theatre.

Goldman Sachs predicts the economy will contract by an annual rate of 24% in the second quarter while JPMorgan Chase forecasts a 14% decline in output.

Who's hiring: Instacart to hire 300,000 additional workers due to higher demand

Who needs business cards?

Sales have plunged 80% at My Metal Business Cards  which also makes metal membership, VIP and discount cards, says Craig Martyn, CEO of the La Habra, California-based company. While about 20% of his revenue is from trade shows and other events now canceled, Martyn says the impact on his business wide-ranging.

Craig Martyn

I feel like everybody right now is so fearful, he says. People are sitting on their hands and saying, I dont want to spend money on something I dont need to have.

Martyn has laid off eight of his 10 employees, including graphics design, product development and shipping specialists. Martyn himself is loading boxes and etching names onto business cards.

Professional service firms enjoy a distinct advantage. Their white-collar employees typically can work from home and may rarely interact with customers. But many of the workers are highly skilled and tougher to replace. And it can take longer for the businesses to replenish their lost sales than the corner restaurant or nail salon.

Many firms are racing against the clock to secure Small Business Administration-backed loans so they can keep the lights on. The typical small business has 30 to 60 days of cash in reserve, Fialkovich says. Meanwhile, it can take weeks to months to obtain an SBA loan, says Ami Kassar, CEO of MultiFunding, a loan adviser for small businesses.

The question is  how quickly will it come and will it be on time? Kassar says.

A nearly $2 trillion stimulus package that has bogged down in the Senate includes $350 billion in SBA-guaranteed loans. The legislation would allow the firms to not repay the loans if they retain their staffs, but many businesses already have laid off workers. The Small Business Majority, an advocacy group, is calling for at least $250 billion in grants.

Anything short of this will slow recovery efforts, fail Americas small businesses and their employees and represent an abdication of duty in supporting those who need our help most right now, says John Arensmeyer, CEO of the Small Business Majority.

At eAlchemy, a business intelligence firm that helps companies analyze their data to improve sales, revenue has tumbled about 65% as consumer product, electronics, technology and other companies have shelved projects, says CEO Chris Farkas.

Chris Farkas

One minute theyre asking us to do more work and the next theyre halting all work, Farkas says. People are acting swiftly and going deep because everybody has a lot at stake.

That has forced Farkas to lay off four of the eight employees at the Petaluma, California-based company, including software developers and advertising support workers.

Nobody knows how long this is going to last, he says. If we knew this was going to be three to four weeks, many of us could just pay our employees to stay home.

Farkas says hes considering an SBA loan but adds that hes reluctant to take on debt if this is going to last so long that my business wont even survive.

Even if the crisis is over in weeks, Farkas says, How long is it before my clients get back to regular business as they determine, Whats the new normal?... Its going to take another six weeks to figure that out.

Cutting hours

Advertising and marketing firms are also hurting. Creative Noggin, a marketing company in Boerne, Texas, has seen revenue slide 20% to 30% as clients pull the plug on projects, says CEO Tracy Marlowe. One that does cosmetic surgery is seeing its business dry up as Americans focus on more urgent health matters.

Tracy Marlowe

Plus, she says, People dont want to see advertising messages now. Rather than lay off any of her 14 employees, Marlowe has trimmed salaries across the board by 20% to 30% but says layoffs will likely be necessary if the crisis persists for months.

The insurance industry seems recession-proof. But Barry Sanders, owner of Knight Insurance of Broward in Cooper City, Florida, says revenue has fallen 25% as nervous Americans pull back on home purchases. Some may simply be going without home or car insurance.

Insurance is no longer a priority, he says. People are trying to squirrel money away for necessities. Although he hasnt laid off any of his four employees, he says he can hold off on that for only another couple of weeks if conditions dont improve.

Shifting strategies

Some small businesses are dodging layoffs by pivoting to new products or services they hope can bear fruit in these dark times. Rented.com of Decatur, Georgia, which provides consulting and technology services to vacation rental management companies, has seen revenue fall 50%, partly because it has cut prices sharply until June, says CEO Andrew McConnell.

So McConnell, a former management consultant, is offering emergency planning services, as well as long-term rentals, among other services, already securing clients for each new offering.

We are building around what our clients need right now, McConnell says, noting he hasn't cut any of his 16 employees.

At The Hire Talent, a recruiting firm in Brea, California, that specializes in architectural, engineering and construction professionals, revenue has plummeted 75% as businesses put building projects on hold, says CEO Fletcher Wimbush. He has deferred laying off his eight employees  recruiters, a data scientist and marketing manager  noting it takes about a year for each to become productive and profitable.

Fletcher Wimbush

He has tentatively snared a $350,000 SBA loan that he figures should pay the rent and keep the business running another three or four months even if all sales evaporate.

Meanwhile, Wimbush is trying to diversify his staffing services to include plumbers  everyone is home, right?  and a tax specialist. And his firm is providing marketing for a recruiting client that buys distressed assets. If his business collapses, he figures he and his eight employees can work for the distressed asset company.

I can repurpose my workforce, he says. Thats my plan D.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: From marketing to data firms, small business cut jobs
Investors have long been enamored with buybacks for that reason  even the announcement of such a program would often send a companys stock price shooting higher  and companies have preferred them to paying out dividends. But critics of buybacks say theyre a poor use of company cash that could instead be invested in long-term growth and workers.

Companies in the S&P 500 stock index spent more than $2 trillion buying back their own stocks over the last three years, which helped solidify the status of corporations as the single largest source of demand for American stocks. But the recent slump has mostly wiped out the gains; more than $8 trillion in shareholder value has vanished over the past month.

Republicans who had pushed for the tax cuts said they would increase economic growth, prod companies to invest and raise wages for workers. But the results were mixed: Wages did rise, but growth in the gross domestic product didnt accelerate meaningfully. And investment slumped, in part because of last years trade war with China. Democrats pointed to the boom as proof that the law was a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy  over 80 percent of household stock ownership is controlled by the wealthiest 10 percent of American households.

Now, with both the president souring on the practice and critics in Congress turning up the heat on buybacks as they hammer out the details of a stimulus bill, investors have grown leery, too.

In recent weeks, theyve jettisoned stocks of companies that are the among the largest buyers of their own shares. From the markets peak on Feb. 19 through the close of trading on Monday, the S&P 500 buyback index  which measures the performance of the top 100 companies with the highest buyback activity  fell 42.5 percent. That performance was worse than the regular S&P 500 index, which was down roughly 34 percent.

Its significantly underperformed, said Ben Laidler, chief executive of Tower Hudson Research, a financial markets research firm in London. The market is certainly worried about this for some of those stocks.

Buybacks might shrink for the foreseeable future because companies would rather save their cash and dont want to be singled out for criticism by politicians, analysts said. Already this year, announcements of new plans for buybacks are down more than 35 percent  in dollar terms  according to data from Birinyi Associates, a financial markets research group.
A celebrity varicose vein doctor who vowed to keep his private clinics open yesterday despite Boris Johnson's call for an immediate lockdown has now revealed he is to close his three practices.

Last night, Boris Johnson outlined emergency measures designed to tackle the spread of coronavirus, including demanding the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and promising fines for people who do not 'stay at home'.

Shortly after the update, Professor Mark Whiteley, who has treated stars including Virgin radio star Chris Evans, posted a 'Covid-19 update' on YouTube to say he would keep his Whiteley Clinics open in the face of the advice, and even take on new clients.

However, Professor Whiteley, who runs three practices across the UK, in Bristol, London and Guildford, and charges 200 for an initial consultation, has now told FEMAIL today that he would not continue seeing clients.

Scroll down for video

Professor Mark Whiteley (pictured), posted a video on YouTube last night arguing that he could keep his private clinics open despite government advice

The company is a leading practitioner in the UK in treating and researching varicose veins - swollen and enlarged veins that usually occur on the legs and feet. However, the condition is rarely serious and often doesn't require treatment.

Professor Whiteley argued that as a medical service, his clinics were an 'essential' practice, and claimed there was 'absolutely minimal chance of transmission' once inside the walls of the clinic.

He told viewers in the video last night: 'Anyone having medical care can still travel for that medical care.

'Workers at our medical clinic cannot work in an environment from home, and workers who have to work in a work environment, can also travel.

He claimed that the clinic are taking measures to check patients have no symptoms, including a cough and a temperature, and would be asked to leave if they decide to reveal to the clinic that you are in self-isolation

'As such we can still provide services to those who need medical care during this time.'

He went on to claim that the clinic would take measures to check patients have no symptoms, including a cough and a high temperature, and said they would be asked to leave promptly if the clinic found out anyone should be self-isolating.

In his video, Professor Whiteley said that patients being treated would face 'no risk of transmission' because the practice uses 'full disposable sterile equipment'.

'Once you are inside the clinic, there is absolutely minimal chance of transmission,' said the doctor.

Professor Whiteley went on to say that clients would 'probably' be asked to wash your hands after you are examined, and said that in 'exceptional circumstances' social-distancing will not be practised

'We are obeying all the rules you possibly can inside a medical facility, to ensure our patients while also protecting them and our staff.'

However, today, Mr Whiteley appeared to have a change of heart, saying that any future consultations would be conducted virtually and that his staff has 'packed up' and left.

He told FEMAIL he had now sent his 'last patient home' in a private car after deciding against staying open.

Coronavirus has been thought to spread via cough or sneeze droplets, and earlier this month, it was reported that infections could be spread unwittingly by people who have contracted the deadly illness, but have not yet shown symptoms.

Currently UK health bosses advise anyone suspected of having the virus to self-isolate for two weeks.

What treatments are available at the Whiteley clinic? The clinic treat conditions including varicose veins, breast and chest veins, haemosiderin - brown stains, haemorrhoides, venous eczema, leg ulcers, vaginal and vulval varicose veins, excessive sweating, and lymphedema. Treatments include sonovein, microwave varicose vein treatment, endovenous laser ablation, radiofrequency ablation of varicose veins, transluminal occlusion of perforators. Prices are based on a recommend a personalised treatment plan and must be decided following a consultation. Costs for a consultation start from 200 for an initial consultation and 140 for a follow up. Treatments such as Pelvic Congestion Screening have a guideline price of 795 while treatment could set you back  3,700. Meanwhile haemorrhoids treatment costs around  250 for a consultation and can cost up to  2,220 for a procedure. Advertisement

The death toll in the UK today hit 336 after Wales recorded another fatality from the deadly bug, with the number of diagnosed cases jumping from 5,837 to 6,650.

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Children's Hospital Los AngelesWhile the Foo Fighters were wrapping up their tenth studio album, the last thing they expected was to be terrorized by the supernatural.

In an interview with NME, frontman David Grohl opened up about the mysterious spirits that plagued their recording sessions that took place in a 1940s California home. He claims the band knew something was amiss right away.

Explained Grohl, "When we walked into the house in Encino, I knew the vibes were definitely off but the sound was f****** on. We started working there and it wasnt long before things started happening."

The biggest giveaway was that, "We would come back to the studio the next day and all of the guitars would be detuned." The 51-year-old also revealed that, on top of settings being set back to zero on the board, the ghosts would completely mess with what they previously recorded.

"We would open up a Pro Tools session and tracks would be missing," the frontman continued, saying that's when things became a little eerie. "There were some tracks that were put on there that we didnt put on there. But just like weird open mic noises. Nobody playing an instrument or anything like that, just an open mic recording a room."

Despite saying he and his band didn't glean "any voices or anything really decipherable" off the tracks they definitely didn't record, Grohl attests that, "Something was happening."

So, the band set up one of his old nest cams to catch the spirits in action, later seeing things "that we couldnt explain" on it.

That said, the hauntings made the band "finish the album as quickly as we could."

As for the haunted history of the house the band discovered? The landlord made them sign an NDA because it's currently on the market.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, March 23 (Reuters) - North American meat processors said on Monday they would pay extra money to farmers and slaughterhouse workers as the companies scramble to meet surging demand from consumers unnerved by the spread of the new coronavirus.

Companies like Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc want to ensure their slaughterhouses remain supplied with cattle to chop into beef and employees to perform the sometimes grueling work.

Their products are in high demand as shoppers have emptied grocery stores of meat to fill their refrigerators and freezers during a time of "social distancing" to help contain the highly contagious respiratory virus.

Tyson said it would pay farmers a onetime premium on cattle slaughtered this week after facing objections over the company's soaring profits.

"This is an unprecedented time and the intent of our response is to show our support in an effort to help our supply partners weather this extraordinary situation," Tyson said.

Tyson declined to disclose the size of the payments. They are $5 per cwt (100 pounds) for live cattle and $7.94 per cwt for dressed cattle, according to cattle producers.

"They help but they're not going to make whole the losses we're taking," said Lee Reichmuth, a Nebraska cattle producer and board member for the United States Cattlemen's Association.

Margins for U.S. beef processors like Tyson hit a record high of about $580 per head of cattle on Monday, up from about $170 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.

Margins climbed as prices for cuts of beef that companies ship to wholesale buyers jumped about 20% in the past two weeks. April live cattle futures prices fell about 7% over the same period as traders worried that the virus could shut slaughterhouses.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a tweet that the agency was monitoring agricultural markets. He tagged just two commodities in his post - #cattle and #beef.

Story continues

"We are paying special attention to the difference in prices from the farm gate to the grocery shelf," Perdue wrote.

U.S. beef processors increased their slaughter last week to an estimated 653,000 cattle from 633,000 a week earlier and 636,000 a year earlier, according to the USDA.

Cargill will pay U.S. and Canadian slaughterhouse workers a premium of $2 an hour until May 3, with a bonus of $500 to those who complete weekly shifts over a period of eight consecutive weeks, according to the company.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc and Hormel Foods Corp also said they were giving employees temporary pay increases or bonuses. (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Peter Cooney)
According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the Global Cardiomyopathy Medication Market was valued at USD 990.67 Million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 1.17 Billion by the year 2027, at a CAGR of 2.1%. Cardiomyopathy is a sickness of the heart muscle that makes it tough for a person to pump blood to different parts of the body. The principal types of cardiomyopathy contain expanded, hypertrophic, and prohibitive cardiomyopathy. Ischemic cardiomyopathy is one of the most prevalent types. The medications for the healing of such illnesses are implantation devices, drugs, and in rare cases, a heart transplant is additionally performed on the patient. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is the most favored implantation in this ailment at present. The kind of meds embraced depends upon the cardiomyopathy anticipation and how extreme it is.

Key variables adding to the development of the business include the expanding rates of cardiomyopathy-related ailments, such as PPCM (cardiomyopathy manifestations after pregnancy), amyloidosis, cardiomyopathy in children; and different factors, for example, rise in the geriatric population, technological advances in cardiomyopathy medicine, accessibility of assets to adopt state-of-the-art facilities for research applications. The restraining factors the reactions related to the utilization of the drugs for this condition, for example, low pulse, low white platelet tally, and kidney or liver issues, are foreseen to hinder the development of the prescription business for cardiomyopathy.

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The leading organizations are working on multiplying objective explicit medication to dispatch in the market. For example, recently, one of the major pharmaceutical organizations Pfizer got the U.S. nourishment and medication administrations endorsement for their oral medication tafamidis, which is utilized for treating one such deadly coronary illness, known as transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. Their drug will be sold under the brand name Vyndaqel. The organization additionally got an endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration for tafamidis oral detailing, which is sold under brand name Vyndamax. The medication is prescribed to be taken at a dose of Vyndaqel 80 mg once consistently, taken as four 20 mg cases or Vyndamax 61 mg once consistently, taken as a single capsule. Significant players like GSK and Teva Pharmaceuticals, among others, have put brilliantly in the innovative work of development meds for the equivalent.

In regional segment, Europe contributes to a sizable portion of the overall industry because of the rising rates of cardiovascular sicknesses, better policies for health insurance coverage in the locale. The market in the Asia Pacific is expected to create at a higher rate on account of a quick climb in the masses, rise in the spreading of chronic diseases, increase in medical coverage incorporation, and rise in research and development. Developing regions, for instance, Latin America and Middle East and Africa, are foreseen to offer advancement opportunities to the overall cardiomyopathy therapeutics showcase on account of less information among people.

Furthermore, increased government initiatives, availability of research and development funds from private as well as public bodies, improvement in the reimbursement scenario for target disease-specific treatments, and rising awareness about effective treatments are among the key factors propelling the growth of the Cardiomyopathy Medication market.

Further key findings from the report suggest

Chemotherapy medicines engaged with the mending of malignant growth has additionally been related with cardiac dysfunction (CRCD) in a specific uncommon hereditary variation of disease cells, it is one of the adverse symptoms of anticancer treatment. In this way, despite the fact that the endurance rate from malignant growth has expanded, it has also expanded the frequency pace of cardiomyopathy sicknesses by and large, along these lines anticipating the development in the cardiomyopathy medicate industry.

The anti-hypertensives type segment of products is expected to grow with a CAGR of 2.6% during the forecast period. Anti-coagulants remains the chief revenue-generating segment in global

Most of the disease/ailment of the heart muscle, are idiopathic (with no known reason), trailed by Vitamin D and calcium insufficiency.

The end-user type segment of ambulatory service centers is expected to grow at the highest rate of 2.5% in the forecast period due to its growing awareness among patients.

Decreasing costs and increased reliability on underlying technologies have allowed cardiomyopathy associated medications to flourish in cardiac therapeutic applications.

North America remains the key revenue-generating geographical segment in the Cardiomyopathy Medication market. The geographical segment accounted for over USD 379.5 million by 2019. Availability of research funds from the public as well as private sources, availability of state-of-art technologies, presence of key market players in the region, favorable reimbursements for cardiomyopathy medications, rising focus on precision medicine, and increasing awareness about side-effect-free medications, are among the key factors driving the market growth for Cardiomyopathy Medication in this region.

The global cardiomyopathy medication market is highly fragmented with major players like Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceutical, Merck, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and others, collectively constituting a competitive market.

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For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the Cardiomyopathy Medication market on the basis of disease, product, end-user, and region:

Disease Outlook (Revenue in Million USD; 20172027)

Dilated cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Restrictive cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

Unclassified cardiomyopathy

Product Outlook (Revenue in Million USD; 20172027)

Anticoagulants

Antiarrhythmics

Anti-Hypertensives

Cardiac Glycosides

Other Products

End-User Outlook (Revenue in Million USD; 20172027)

Hospitals & Clinics

Ambulatory Service Centers

Other End Users

Regional Outlook (Revenue in Million USD; 20172027)

North America U.S. Canada

Europe Germany France U.K. Spain Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China India Japan Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America

To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/cardiomyopathy-medication-market

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People across South Africa are bracing for a 21-day lockdown after the government announced sweeping new measures to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus.

From midnight on Thursday, March 26 until midnight on Thursday, April 16, all South Africans will have to stay at home, President Cyril Ramaphosa said late on Monday in a televised address to the nation.

This is a decisive measure to save lives of South Africans from infections and to save lives of hundreds of thousands of our people, he added.

On Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases leapt again to 554  just over a week ago, the figure was 62. The surge has raised alarms that a wider outbreak would put under serious stress the countrys already strained healthcare system in one of the worlds most unequal societies.

Ramaphosa stressed that people will still be able to leave their homes to seek medical care, buy food or collect a social grant.

All shops and businesses are to close, with the exemption of pharmacies, laboratories, banks, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare providers.

Health workers, emergency personnel and security services will be allowed to work, while soldiers will be deployed to patrol the streets in support of the police.

A masked newspaper seller waits to make a sale in the virtually empty Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg. [Denis Farrell/AP]

By imposing the lockdown, the government hopes to avoid the spread of the coronavirus in crowded townships and informal settlements where access to clean water for hand-washing can be scarce and self-quarantine practices are hard to apply.

While this measure will have a considerable impact on peoples livelihoods, on the life of our society and on our economy, the human cost of delaying this action would be far, far greater, the South African president said.

200320062936120

For a country already grappling with an almost 30 percent unemployment rate and low economic growth, the lockdown could be disastrous for the economy.

The government said it will create a temporary compensation fund so that businesses can avoid having to dismiss staff, as well as provide tax relief for small businesses.

Ramaphosa said a first phase of the governments economic response would include assisting businesses in distress and a package of more than 3 billion rand ($170m) of funding for industrial firms.

After reporting its first case of COVID-19 on March 5, the country now has the highest number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa. [Themba Hadebe/AP Photo]

Unique circumstances

Commenting on the presidents announcement, Mosa Moshabela, dean and head of the Nursing and Public Health School at the University of KwaZulu-Natal said the lockdown is an opportunity to break transmissions, referring to the 14-day incubation period during which the infection can flare into symptoms.

With the additional week as a sort of buffer, we can assure that anyone who was infected before the lockdown will go through the symptoms and recover within those 21 days, he told Al Jazeera.

Siviwe Gwarube, a member of parliament with the main opposition party, Democratic Alliance, stressed that strict measures were needed in the fight against the pandemic.

As much as we have learned from the global community, the reality is that South Africa has a unique set of circumstances of social economic status of people, Gwarube said.

There are over 50 percent who are poor and over 11 million South Africans are unemployed, so we need to be a lot more heavy-handed if we are going to be able to flatten the curve.

After reporting its first case of COVID-19 on March 5, the country now has the highest number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa is among the most unequal countries in the world with 1 percent of its earners taking home almost 20 percent of all income in the country, according to the World Inequality Database.
The Cabinet of Ministers made such a decision on Mach 23

Open source

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine made a decision to ban the export of ethanol from Ukraine as Prime Minister Denys Shmygal reported on Telegram.

The government made a decision to ban the export of ethanol from the territory of Ukraine from June 1. The checkpoints at the exits from the enterprises, which produce ethanol, should provide the control: for whom and where spirits are shipped, the message said.

Meanwhile, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Ukraine has reached 73 people. 26 people infected during the past 24 hours, 20 people in Kyiv, one in Kyiv region and three people in Ivano-Frankivsk region.

On March 23, Ukrainian cargo aircraft IL-76 landed in Boryspil international airport. The plane arrived from Guangzhou, China, carrying 250,000 tests for Covid-19, the coronavirus.
The issue is first of all about Latin America

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba Open source

Germany supported the request of Ukraine on the evacuation of the Ukrainian citizens from the farthest corners of the globe by the German planes as European Truth reported citing Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba after a talk with his German colleague Heiko Maas.

I am grateful to my German colleague that he supported our request and German planes will take and transfer our citizens from the farthest corners of the globe to Germany where we will help them to return home, Kuleba said.

According to him, the issue, first of all, is about Latin America. The ministers discussed the algorithm of work during the talk.

I may assure that Germany will work with each citizen who needs support on return home, Maas said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that more than 27,000 Ukrainians were expected to return home.

Besides, nearly two thousand Ukrainian tourists are unable to fly home from Thailand after an airline shutdown was introduced in Ukraine due to the COVID-2019 epidemic.
Almost all production in the Balearic Islands has ground to a halt but farmers and ranchers dont have a choice, they have to keep their farms and orchards ticking over no matter what.

The closure of the entire hotel and restaurant sector was a serious setback for farmers who were relying on selling their products and/or animals to those establishments over the coming months.

Now they will have to find another market for the produce, such as small trade, to prevent millions of euros worth of losses.

"There are farmers who reserved almost 60% of their produce for the catering industry, but what are they going to do with these products now?", Asks Joan Simonet, Manager of Asaja.

"We cannot do temporary ERTE because the crops are well under way and the animals have to eat every day, so we need to find a solution for what is an exceptional situation, said Sebastia Ordines, Secretary-General of Union de Pagesos.

He acknowledged that some Agri-food industries will be able to benefit from the measures launched by the Central Government, but farmers still have to work and supply fresh produce to the citizens.

The sale of pork may have fallen drastically, but des Bosc pig farm in Petra is still in full operation.

"Pigs now have no buyers, but we must continue to feed these animals," says Simonet this is the problem that the Agricultural Sector is facing and once the paralysis of economic activity is gone, other disadvantages will follow, such as the lack of forage supply for livestock or the devaluation of the prices of their products.

Temporary

The Covid-19 restrictions in Europe and the rest of the world also present another problem for Majorcan farmers, because of the lack of temporary residents from countries in South and Central America during the summer season.

"We won't have enough labour to gather everything we have sown, especially at farms that are dedicated to horticulture," explains Sebastia Ordines.

Last weekend, the temporary workers hired by Unio de Pagesos returned to Colombia.

"They had to leave last week, but the problem is that no one else is coming now, he said.

Unio de Pagesos points out that as soon as the State of Emergency was declared, the Sector went to work to ensure that there was enough fresh fruit and vegetables to keep the markets supplied.

"This is why we are negotiating with the Government Delegation so that the markets are not closed," adds Ordinas, who says the next step is for the Town Council to use tractors to help disinfect the streets of towns and cities.

"Since the declaration of the State of Emergency we have heard nothing from the Agriculture Minister, the Council has contacted us, but the Ministry has not, he claims.

Online selling

In addition to the direct sale of agricultural products in the weekly markets that are still running in the municipalities, some cooperatives have started making home deliveries.

The Cooperativa de Sant Bartomeu de Soller has encouraged the distribution of products to customers so that they don't have to leave home.

In other Cooperatives, like Ecofeixes in Ibiza, the number of baskets being distributed every week has increased by 71%, according to the Cooperatives Agroalimentarias de Balears.

The objective is to maintain the commitment to local products, which in turn contributes to the development of the Agricultural Sector.
We are learning about Canada, Canadians, everything. As the coronavirus pandemic has mushroomed, the big lesson is simple: the virus is hellaciously contagious, and until we know who exactly has it we need to get away from each other to keep it from spreading. The government and media told you, again and again. Until finally, the prime minister came across like a parent: Im not mad, but Im disappointed. Fine, maybe a little mad.

Enough is enough, Trudeau said, in his daily address to Canadians. Go home, and stay home. This is what we all need to be doing, and were going to make sure this happens, whether by educating people more on the risks or by enforcing the rules, if thats needed. Nothing that could help is off the table.

Hours after Trudeaus call, Quebec and then Ontario shut down everything deemed non-essential, though the devil may lurk in the details. Thats 60 per cent of Canada, before you factor in similar measures in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

It may be too late, but at least it happened. The virus is a truth detector. Who cares? Who listens? Who thinks the rules dont apply to them, and who thinks about their neighbour? Same for governments, and even more so: who prioritizes scientific advice? Who values people, and workers? Who moves quickly enough, and effectively enough?

I do believe that epidemic diseases show our reflection, says Frank Snowden, the Yale professor who wrote Epidemics and Society, a sweeping history of pandemics and human history. Each disease I think is different  I dont think that all epidemics are in any way the same  and the context in which they occur are also different, so one has to make allowances for those differences.

But it certainly is true that these are events that tell us much more about who we are, in lots and lots of ways.

Its true. In the United States the countrys fundamental sicknesses have not been put aside for the pandemic, and the structural weaknesses of the superpower  the bluff of a tilted economy, for-profit health care, the failed state of the Republican Party, and the irredeemable black hole of narcissism and ignorance from its president  have not budged.

Donald Trump trumpets unproven cures, promises empty solutions, and argues with scientists on live TV to cover his failures. He is pushing the idea that the economy is more important than a health system crushed, and perhaps millions dead, as Senate Republicans fight things like paid sick leave.

In America, the mirror shows something like the days before the French Revolution, but with fewer wigs. Trust and information levels between political parties are a chasm. It is a daily tragedy.

So who are we? Broadly speaking, Canada could have been better. Were a nation that hasnt been societally disciplined enough to comprehensively listen to public health experts until were forced to. And our public health officials and governments have been too incremental.

Several public health authorities, including Ontario, are still limiting gatherings to 50, which doesnt make any scientific sense epidemiologically, or when the message is stay six feet apart. (Quebec has limited public gatherings to two.) Especially given the testing gaps in the system, especially in Ontario, which has us still a little blind. Several doctors who do front-line testing in Toronto are apoplectic about the public health standards for who gets a test.

I want to test everybody, said one doctor, who asked to remain anonymous. Anyone can have it, and we have enough tests. I had a colleague diagnosed with COVID-19, and he had the sniffles, at best. But people walk in off the street with a fever and a cough and I have to tell them, you dont meet the testing criteria unless you called Telehealth and got a reference first.

Weve been too slow. Governments have been too trusting in establishing restrictions, and Canadians have not had enough societal discipline to listen to governments or responsible media. If you played beer pong in Vancouver or anywhere this weekend, your posterior should be paddled in public by someone standing six feet away.

Yes, its hard to rewire a free society on the fly. But we havent been good enough. Dr. Hugh Montgomery is a professor and the director of the University College Londons Institute for Human Health and Performance in the United Kingdom. He summed up whats at stake as well as anything anybody has said.

Normal flu, if I get that, Im going to infect on average about 1.3, 1.4 people, if there was such a division, said Montgomery told Channel 4. And if those 1.3, 1.4 people give it to the next lot, thats the second time its passed on. By the time thats happened 10 times, Ive been responsible for about 14 cases of the flu.

This coronavirus is very, very infectious, so every person passes it to three. Now that doesnt sound like much of a difference, but if each of those three passes it to three, and if that happens at 10 layers, I have been responsible for infecting 59,000 people.

Some of those people die. We still need to be bolder, and to be more disciplined. Italys biggest mistakes were the public ignoring public health suggestions. Well, about one million Canadians returned to Canada between March 14 and 20, when the information at the Canadian border about self-isolation was far from uniform, and not always clear. Lets hope they paid attention, and their loved ones make sure they stayed home, and knew what to do. Lets hope they listened.

Correction - March 24, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Frank Snowden is a professor at Harvard University.




President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the new guidelines for the appointment of new permanent secretaries to fill the existing vacancies in 16 states of the federation.

In a statement signed by Mrs Olawunmi Ogunmosunle, Director of Information, office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), on Tuesday in Abuja, the affected states are Kwara, Kebbi, Abia, Anambra and Cross River.

Ogunmosunle said President has also given approval for the commencement of the process for the selection of eligible Directors to fill various vacancies.

According to her, officers from the under listed states in the mainstream of the Federal Civil Service, who attained the substantive rank of director, on Salary Grade level 17 on or before Jan. 1, 201 8, will also participate in the exercise.

She added that they are eligible to participate if they are not retiring from the service earlier than, or on Dec. 31, 2021, and who had updated their records on the IPPIS Verification Portal.The states are Kwara, Kebbi, Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Jigawa, Zamfara and Kogi States.

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In May 1950, two Danish farmers were cutting peat in Tollund Fen, in the middle of the Jutland Peninsula, when they found a mans body. His skin was stained a deep, tawny brown, and he was wearing a pointed cap. Around his neck was a rope. Believing they had found evidence of a murder, the men called the police.

In pictures, the Tollund Mans body appears startlingly fresh, with stubble on his chin and a violent expression on his face. His skin was so well preserved that investigators were later able to take a thumb print. He appears to be suffocating. But he isnt: The man died more than 2,000 years ago, during Europes Iron Age.

Hundreds of bodies have been unearthed from bogs throughout Northern Europe. Some, like the Tollund Man, were initially assumed to be murder victims, and many were reburied in churchyards. The archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin has four of the bodies on display in a group of glass exhibition cases, which allows visitors to peer at individual hairs and study desiccated hands with cleanly clipped nails. Your gaze reaches out across centuries.

The raised bogs of Northern Europe are ideal for preservation. The water in them is highly acidic and low in oxygen, which helps prevent decomposition. The tanning properties of bog moss do the rest. Clothing, tools and even blocks of bog butter have been dug out of the peat. When Danish scientists examined the Tollund Man, they discovered his final meal  gruel  in his large intestine.
Ukraine and Germany continue to hold close consultations on the Normandy format, the Minsk process and counteraction to Russian aggression.

Another key issue was the agenda of the Normandy format, the Minsk process and counteraction to Russian aggression against Ukraine in general. Ukraine very much appreciates Germany's role in this process, and we will certainly continue to work closely and hold close consultations with our German partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said following online negotiations with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The previous summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia was held on December 9, 2019 in Paris. The agreement was reached to hold the next meeting roughly four months later, in Berlin.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba made his first virtual visit to Europe today and held talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

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Linda Cole of Midland broke down in tears as she recalled seeing her mother-in-law through the window screen at Brittany Manor Saturday night. It had been over a week since she and her husband, Dan, had seen his mother, Ella Cole. A 95th birthday party was planned for Saturday, March 14, the same day a no visitor-rule went into effect at Brittany Manor and other such residences.

They called her, but she is hard of hearing, and Linda was concerned she didn't understand why people had stopped visiting.

Last Saturday, Cole, of Midland, called her mother-in-law from the Brittany parking lot.

"I thought, what is the chance of me seeing her in her window," Cole recalled on Monday. "We knew her room number but I had no idea where that room was even located. I called her and told her to go to your window and stand in front of your window. I'm here, I want to see you."

"I saw a shade move," Cole said, overcome with emotion, "and it was her. Bless her heart. She's such a sweet old lady. She immediately lit right up and started waving and blowing me kisses."

Cole said they both stood at the window, her mother-in-law on her phone and Cole on her own, talking and most likely reading lips.

Dan Cole was able to see his mother through the window on Sunday. Her table now faces the window.

"She saw us pulling up and she lit right up," Linda Cole said. "She was waving and blowing kisses."

Another Midlander, Amber Wahl, a self-admitted "hoarder of all things crafts," has spent the last few days making masks for health care providers in her dining room.

She knew masks were in short supply and knew her sister, a pharmacy tech, could use a few. So she dug out some fabric on hand and powered up her sewing machine. She was able to make two masks, which include an inner pocket to add an extra layer of defense, for her sister who picked them up Sunday night.

Wahl was able to complete four more masks but is out of elastic, which seems to be the case around town as people pitch in to help out.

She said she has plenty of fabric and plenty of time and has scoured her craft room looking for extra elastic, praying to find some.

Twice, she said, she picked up a bag of supplies and elastic fell out.

She heard there is a need for masks at Midland's Urgent Care.

"Our health care workers are on the the front line," she said. "We're all in this together. I can do something. It's better than nothing at all."

On Sunday morning, a few members of Memorial Presbyterian Church wrote positive messages on the sidewalks. It is part of a movement, Chalk Your Walk, that is gaining momentum via social media to spread cheer in the neighborhood as people are socially distancing.

She said the chalk art was impromptu.

"On Sunday morning as our senior pastor, The Rev. Matthew Schramm, was streaming the 9 a.m. service for Memorial Presbyterian Church, William Kirkpatrick (regular church attendee) and I grabbed some sidewalk chalk and left inspiring messages to all those who may drive or walk down Rodd and Ashman streets," said Stephanie Lewandowski, director of communications at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland.

"Our hope was that this simple act would bring hope, joy, and love to someone who may feel isolated, stressed, and alone right now. We encouraged our congregation members to do the same for their neighbors on March 22," Lewandowski said.

Midlanders Val and Cynthia Lemen are bringing their music to people's houses instead of people coming to their concerts. The husband-and-wife duo make up the Cool Lemon band and play regularly at the Midland Center for the Arts for its Thursday happy hours.

The Lemens want to offer people encouragement, so they are putting together a live concert feed through their Facebook page Val and Cynthia Lemen. The hour-long show, which features Val on keyboards and Cynthia's vocals, is to begin at 3 p.m.Tuesday, and it will include familiar praise and worship music. Cynthia hopes to figure out how to have words to the music so people can sing-along.

She said they hope to make this a weekly concert, perhaps offering jazz as well as favorite hymns, in the weeks to come.

The Lemens are part of the worship team at Midland Christian Church and own Divine Beauty Studio, which along with other salons, were ordered shut by Gov. Whitmer on Sunday to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Cynthia said they can't help out others financially but they can offer their music.

"What we can do is offer people encouragement from our house," she said. "So people can see some hope, they can look to Jesus."
Four more people tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 37, an official said.

Giving the district-wise breakup, the official said so far Noida has reported 11 cases, Lucknow and Agra eight cases each, Ghaziabad three and Lakhimpur-Kheri, Moradabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Pilibhit, Jaunpurand and Shamli one case each.

Out of the 37 patients, 11 have been cured and discharged, Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan told reporters here.

Those cured include seven from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Lucknow and Noida, he said.

He said the state presently has 2,800 isolation beds and the number will soon be increased to over 11,000.

"The chief minister has directed to start 200 beds each in 51 medical colleges, including the private and government ones. We also have 5,000 quarantine beds," the official said.

The isolation beds are for the treatment of patients found COVID-19 positive, while quarantine beds are for those suspected of having the infection, he said.

The state has testing facilities in six places-- three in Lucknow and one each in Aligarh, Varanasi and Meerut.

"Testing facilities will soon be available in Gorakpur and Saifai also. Private labs are also applying after the Centre issued guidelines for their accreditation," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After two weeks of warnings, why is there still no rubbing alcohol at our local ShopRite? Why is the Acme in the next neighborhood so low on chicken, and Giants paper-goods aisle so barren?

Americas digitally controlled distribution system has unexpectedly made it harder to quickly switch deliveries from shuttered restaurants and retail stores to grocery stores so people can buy what they want there.

So says Jeffrey Tucker, head of Tucker Co. Worldwide Inc., a Haddonfield-based logistics firm whose staff of a few dozen matches producers, consumers and cargoes.

Feeling comfortable going to the store and getting things we need is two to three months away, at best, he warns.

Coronavirus closures have been a disaster for restaurants and specialty retailers  and a boon for truckers and grocery store chains. For the past two weeks, all of a sudden, demand is really high for trucking, says Tucker. "A lot of that is because of panic buying. The freight transportation system is working overtime, trying to replenish groceries.

We as a country are probably going to be eating the same amount of food, but we are not going to be buying that food generally from restaurants. Grocery stores are going to have a significant increase.

Theres so much demand for grocery labor that United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776KS, which represents 35,000 grocery, drugstore, food processing and health-care workers, last weekend negotiated temporary wage premiums averaging 10 percent to 20 percent. These are for jobs with former starting wages around $12 an hour and average pay of $20 an hour, local president Wendell Young told me.

The union, which includes workers at Acme, ShopRite, Giant Eagle, Fresh Grower, Rite Aid and other chains, also won emergency sick-leave and leave-work protections and workplace sanitation designed to keep customers and staff farther apart. Wegmans, Amazon and other nonunion food suppliers have also rushed to boost wages temporarily to get the workers they need for the rush.

That helps keep market doors open, but it doesnt get chicken into stores faster. On Tuesday, Perdue Farms CEO Randy Day told CNBC viewers hes had to retool his plants to repackage chicken into Styrofoam and plastic supermarket trays instead of the corrugated boxes used for restaurant supply. Perdue estimated that it would take two to three weeks until he could meet grocers demand.

Tucker said thats due to the shipping revolution of the last few years: No longer are there giant piles of food products that could be wrapped for stores or restaurants as needed. Instead, the industry has been pre-packaging at the factory: We had just enough inventory, in just about everything, to handle the next few days. It was a beautiful way for the country to stay lean and weather economic storms so we no longer find ourselves in a recession with inventory no ones buying.

And yet that strength has now become a weakness. Paper and corrugated-cardboard companies are going crazy right now, building corrugated like theres no tomorrow. Everyone is changing the packaging to mail-order boxes and grocery-style wrappings.

When will rubbing alcohol reappear on grocery shelves? Tucker said hes been trying to help a client make hand sanitizer. "They needed "50,000 kilograms of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol to start. " He called isopropyl makers and found them all contracted to chemical companies; its a basic industrial ingredient. He turned to ethanol makers and importers. They all said Archer-Daniels-Midland, the Chicago grain-processing giant, is the number one manufacturer of ethanol, but only made enough for the pre-cornoavirus market.

So the market all of a sudden overnight has gone wild for hand sanitizer and alcohol and hand wipes There has never been a moment when Americans wanted these products more than now. It has created a spike in demand that is immeasurable and will take more time to meet.

So this beautiful high-efficiency system ... has been completely upended by this large spike in demand. And that turns out to be a really significant threat to the economy, in the short term.

Thanks to smartphone apps such as DAT Load Board for Truckers (and sites like DAT.com and Truckstop.com, which show truckers what companies are paying, owner-operators have more leverage in negotiating rates than when they lacked this information.

Like hospital workers, the drivers and warehouse workers are heroic. Drivers out there three weeks ago are still out there today; they havent been home, Tucker said.

Should the federal government do more to help? We need leadership from Washington to set the tone. The Secretary of Transportation has to take a far more assertive role. and the Department of Homeland Security, he said.

And I dont think all the governors or their staffers understand that every single thing they own got to them by truck. Unless Grandma stitched them a quilt."

He cited Pennsylvanias abortive policy -- made and rescinded last week -- to close Interstate rest stops and turnpike service areas, while Western states kept them open..

You cant have a 50-state patchwork of regulations if you are going to get your products. Pennsylvania got truckers so irate, it risked having truckers say 'No to hauling freight to Pennsylvania. You make boneheaded, misinformed decisions and decide you are going to be more restrictive than the states around you, you are going to pay the consequences.

America needs to respect its truckers especially now, Tucker concluded: Drivers right now have a lot of power. They are incredibly good, patriotic people." But as the Pennsylvania highway restroom dispute showed, when they feel provoked they will pressure top officials, hard and fast.

(A shorter version of this column appeared in the March 24, 2020 Inquirer)
A 27-year-old man charged with causing criminal damage to Ballymena's War Memorial on Friday night - when poppy wreaths were burned - has been remanded in custody.

Che Donnelly, with an address listed as Princes Street in Ballymena, appeared in the dock in handcuffs at Coleraine Magistrates Court yesterday.

The defendants legal firm emailed the court saying that given the coronavirus pandemic they would not be present.

A court clerk said the email from the law firm said they had no instructions to apply for bail.

The defendant has yet to enter either a guilty or not guilty plea.

District Judge Peter King remanded the defendant in custody to appear at Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast today via video link.

The court was told the defendant had other matters already listed for that date in Belfast.

On Saturday, police in Ballymena said they were investigating an incident of criminal damage to wreaths on the night of Friday, March 20.

A PSNI spokesperson had said on Saturday: Shortly before 11pm police received a report that five poppy wreaths that had been placed at the War Memorial on Galgorm Road had been set on fire.

The wreaths were destroyed as a result of the incident. Police are treating this incident as a sectarian motivated hate crime.
After 27 years, Mike and Andree Sullivan expect to list their four-bedroom century home in Weston on Thursday  just as they had planned before a pandemic rolled right into the real estates sectors busy spring season.

Its a bold move, but not a crazy one. To many peoples surprise, Torontos real estate market is showing few signs of slowing down, despite the mounting crisis.

In fact, house prices are continuing to trend up  14.5 per cent year over year so far this month, according to John Pasalis, the statistic-tracking president of the Realosophy brokerage in Leslieville.

The number of sales also rose last week  18 per cent year over year  although thats down from the 55 per cent of the previous week.

New listings also continued to grow after last weeks COVID-19 shutdown, albeit by only 3 per cent year over year compared to 50 per cent the week before.

The numbers are only a snapshot  a picture of where we are, not necessarily where the market is heading, warned Pasalis.

March break was in the third week of March this year, rather than the second week of the month as it was last year. That could account for some of the lower sales and listing numbers last week. Usually the weeks before and after the spring break are busier than the week itself.

People are definitely trying to list their homes as soon as possible, said Pasalis. Nobody who plans to sell wants to delay.

But he doesnt think the spike in sales and listings the second week of March was related to the pandemic and although some people may have expedited their listings prior to March break, Pasalis says it likely wasnt the majority.

Right At Home Realty president John Lusink is as surprised as anyone to see that listings in his company were up 2 per cent last week compared to the previous pre-shutdown week. Listings are down 6 per cent year over year in March, however, in Right At Homes Toronto, Barrie and Ottawa territories.

Sales that have yet to close were also up 9 per cent last week over the previous week.

Still, despite the markets resilience, many in the real estate industry do expect activity to slow going forward.

Given whats happened this past week with both (real estate) associations and companies now prohibiting open houses, youre going to see a further impact. Most people are making do. At some point if you cant actually get in, that will certainly put a damper on sales figures, Lusink said.

Anecdotally, agents have been sharing with us that they are advising clients to hold of putting their properties on the market unless they absolutely have to, he added.

Donal McCarthy of Keller Williams Referred Urban Realty says he has been watching Toronto Regional Real Estate Board statistics inside the City of Torontos borders.

Although there has been a drop in sales since March 13, its not as reduced as some folks are thinking, he said.

The number of listings had been increasing. Well see next week where thats at, said McCarthy. The market is still churning.

For home seller Mike Sullivan, 67, listing his house was a bit like ripping off a bandage. He wants to get on with the tough decision of leaving the community where the former MP has deep roots.

The stairs are painful for his arthritic knee and the growing gentrification of his beloved neighbourhood is increasingly tough to watch, he said.

Sullivan admits the couple is nervous about selling during the COVID-19 outbreak. They are isolating as much as possible.

When COVID arrived, I started to get anxious but we couldnt get ready in time, he said.

Their realtor, Luisa Bada of Spectrum Realty Services, says sellers are hesitant to list because of the risk of COVID-19 exposure during showings, and few will want to buy a house without seeing it first. But with 360-degree virtual tours and videos, it is still possible to buy and sell. She can also arrange video conferencing so that buyers can take a virtual walk-through of a property.

A big change to the way Bada operates, she said, is that she is now insisting on calls with buyers agents if someone wants to see a house in person.

I want to know more about the seriousness of their buyer and whether or not this is within their reach. If they are just going to a home to see it, forget it, she said.

Buyers who come to the house will be given gloves and hand sanitizer before Bada escorts them through.

Well try to do the no-touch thing as best we can  leave closet doors open, leave lights on so people dont have to touch so much when theyre in the house, she said.

Bada predicts the market will slow. She is already seeing fewer active buyers.

Whether (properties) hold or they drop in price  a lot of that will be determined by a recession if it happens and how profound that might be, she said.

Sullivan says he and Andree are anxious to move closer to family in either Paris, Ont., or Qualicum Beach, B.C., hopefully in the summer.

They are carrying on with listing their four-bedroom, two bathroom home for $1.09 million, reasoning that another family will want to move before school starts next fall.

But, said Sullivan, We are not going to sell for less than its worth. There is no panic.
Image Examples of fake coronavirus treatments in an image provided by the City of London police. Credit... The City of London Police

Dr. Ali, who runs the Private Harley Street Clinic in London, said he was unrepentant about his trading, after taking orders for nearly 7,000 tests at 375 each. He said he had donated 100 tests to the N.H.S.

Im entirely comfortable with the price, and if somebody else wants to offer it for less, thats fine, he said in an interview. I believe the people should be tested, so Im going to offer it.

What Dr. Ali is offering for that 375 takes some explanation.

The Private Harley Street Clinic does not manufacture the coronavirus test kits, nor does it distribute them or process any test results. Yet it has sold the testing kits for more than three times the 120 that the manufacturer, Randox Laboratories in Northern Ireland, charges the public directly.

Once ordered on the Private Harley Street Clinic website, the tests are shipped from Randox directly to customers without ever passing through the clinic. Dr. Ali declined to say what he paid for the kits and claimed not to know what profit he had made, but he said that his price included clinical advice.

Private Harley Street Clinics main asset appears to be the marketing value its name brings through an association with the renowned medical street in London  despite company records showing that the clinic is actually based at Dr. Alis apartment, miles away in North London.

The firm was incorporated in 2017 shortly after Dr. Alis two previous companies, which had almost identical names, were struck off the governments register of companies for failing to provide required financial data. Private Harley Street Clinic was also threatened with being struck off until it posted financial accounts last summer, which showed that it had total net assets of less than 200.
Los Angeles, March 24 : Hollywood star Ben Affleck and Spanish actress Ana de Armas have quarantined together after their romantic getaway.

The rumoured couple got back to Los Angeles after a cost time together in scenic Costa Rica and Cuba and Costa Rica. Now, they hav quarantined themselves together at home.

"Ana is very happy with Ben," a source told Us Weekly, according to a report in aceshowbiz.com.

The source added: "She loves spending time with him and they have great chemistry and a lot of fun together." The rumours of the two started when they were spotted together in her hometown of Havana, Cuba in early February. The pair, who met during the filming of their upcoming psychological thriller movie "Deep Water", continued their romantic getaway in Costa Rica.

While on their getaway, the two stars engaged in liberal PDA, and were seen sharing kisses with each other.

Onlookers watched as Affleck, known for his comicbook role of Batman in "Justice League", seemed to be "blissfully happy and giddy" in the company of Armas, the new Bond girl in the upcoming "No Time To Die".

The source added: "He can't stop smiling and laughing. He is clearly very into Ana." The insider went on to explain that the pair "have been staying at their home on the beach relaxing" and "coming out for sunset walks each day and look very happy together." Affleck has made no attempt to hide the relationship. When Armas, 31, posted photographs on social media, Affleck joked that he ought to get credits because some of the pictures were clicked by him.
In Ohio, meanwhile, the governor there took a different route, calling off the state's primary.

Here in the Quad-Cities, Iowans wont go to the polls for another 2 1/2 months, and who knows what the situation will be then. With all the daily changes, 10 weeks seems like an eternity. But it is not.

We dont know how long the isolation measures weve all taken will remain in place. But it seems as if it will likely go beyond the April 16 date in the governors emergency order. This may stretch out for months.

We believe it is important, to the extent possible, to keep the primary on schedule. The health and safety of Iowans and all Americans come first. But the healthy functioning of our economy, and our democracy, are vital to calming our frayed nerves and upholding confidence.

If the need for social isolation continues into June, there should be steps taken to make sure that polling places are kept clean and that voters can keep their distance in order to avoid further spreading the coronavirus.

We also must take a hard look at expanding vote by mail, or absentee, options.
The publishers of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post on Tuesday released a statement critical of the Chinese governments decision to bar American journalists for the three publications from working in China.

The unusual statement, signed by A.G. Sulzberger of The Times, William Lewis of The Journal and Fred Ryan of The Post, was released online early Tuesday and was scheduled to appear in the rival newspapers Tuesday print editions.

We strongly urge the Chinese government to reverse its decision to force the Americans working for our news organizations to leave the country and, more broadly, to ease the growing crackdown on independent news organizations that preceded this action, the publishers said in the statement. The media is collateral damage in a diplomatic dispute between the Chinese and U.S. governments, threatening to deprive the world of critical information at a perilous moment.

On Wednesday, China announced that all American journalists at the three newspapers based in the country whose credentials were set to expire in 2020 had to hand in their press cards within 10 days. The action would affect at least 13 journalists, according to an estimate by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.
When confusion reigns a single voice is needed Peter Hartcher speaks for many who yearn for a single point of truth to guide us through the turbulence generated by this global pandemic (Greetings from Australia, the Commonwealth of confusion, March 24). But within this confusion there lies a transformative power to not only develop better ways to save lives but to reorder our total understanding of society. For too long we have placed far more emphasis on economic and national security at the expense of meeting the needs of the individual. This pandemic has already taught us that there can be no greater single point of truth than human survival and the protection of our planet and its species. Vincent Zankin, Rivett (ACT) Peter Hartcher is right, we only need to look towards the United States to understand the absolute confusion that is being created because politicians believe they need to be seen taking charge by delivering medical information and commentary about COVID-19. Enough ... I want to hear about the virus from medical experts and researchers. Id rather see the Prime Minister working with the states and territories to develop a unified strategy to meet the economic and social challenges facing all Australians at this unprecedented and unpredictable time in our history. Elizabeth Starr, Abbotsford Doctor Brendan Murphy seems a genuine medico with sufficient gravitas to be convincing. The problem for him and for us is that he is dominated at the podium by the constant presence of the Prime Minister who is doubtless doing his best but is a constant reminder of earlier untrustworthiness. Peter Hartcher is right  we need one clear and respected voice to us that is seen to be above politics. Anne Garvan, Chatswood West With reference to Hartcher's call for a single voice on the current plague. Out of all the voices heard so far Norman Swan is by far the best and should be installed. Paul Keys, Clouds Creek

People are castigated for gathering on Bondi Beach, thousands are allowed to disburse into the community from cruise ships. People's jobs are taken from them one day, the next day the government is surprised to see large gatherings outside Centrelink offices. Why are people confused? Chris Gresham, Taree Our virus crisis information disseminators could learn a lesson or two from Boris: spit  out  all  instructions  with  unmisinterpretable  clarity ('' 'Do not leave your home': Boris Johnson locks down Britain'', March 24). Pen Layton-Caisley, Marrickville Leaving schools open as many lose jobs is hypocrital There is one question the Premier is not answering (''Home school experts offer parents help'', March 24). We understand and accept the message that schools are safe for our children but this is not the question people are asking. The question is: doesnt the failure to close schools undermine all of the other drastic public health measures that have been taken, at such a high price to so many? How do you think it feels to be someone who is now unemployed, because of a shutdown, seeing things being done in half measure. You are dragging out the inevitable and its not fair to those who have been forced to drop like flies first. Louise Sutherland, Kareela People who kept their children out of school on Monday; taking them with you on non-essential shopping is not isolation. They were better off at school. Gary Lawrence, Bangor

Distant hopes Social distancing is a concept many people are simply choosing to ignore. On a quick dash into my local shopping mall, I was twice passed in queues at the cash register as I attempted to keep the recommended distance from my co-shoppers. When I explained I was greeted with a dismissive shrug. We really are living in a fools paradise - hello Italy! Rae Fletcher, Hurstville No wonder the public is confused. The government imposes a social distancing rule of two metres but then allows hairdressers and beauty parlours to remain open. It would require a long pair of scissors to cut a client's hair or manicure their nails from a distance of two metres. Ray Morgan, Maroubra Today I walked on the beach. I only passed about 15 people, all at a socially responsible distance, but said ''hi'' as I went. Only about three people responded. Im retired and most of my social groups have shut down. Can we please all say ''hi'' as we pass by? It could make a big difference as we cope with this crazy world. Sue Humphreys, Newport Maybe a unisex version of the Elizabethan hooped dress, mandatory for all outings, is what's needed to encourage people to keep their social distances. Charmain Brinks, Newcastle

Not so super Beware the advice from the super industry (''Last resort: Funds urge caution'', March 24). In retirement, I have now lost more than 10 per cent of my modest nest egg, even though I moved it into a conservative mix. I have heard people have lost much more. It is unlikely those in my position will ever recover those losses, especially when you now have to live off the principal because there is no income flowing. Lyndall Nelson, South Turramurra One wonders what long-term effects will linger at the end of this current crisis. You cannot help but think that this crisis may well be the final nail in the coffin for public confidence in the compulsory superannuation system. Norm Fairbairn, Melrose Park A league of its own? If rugby league means anything to the people, it will survive. If it doesn't, it won't (''NRL shut down'', March 24). That's how the market works. I can cope with that. I am not so content with that philosophy being applied to health and education. Peter Bourke, Rockdale

Rethink needed on visas Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: I am a nurse in a busy oncology clinic. Staffing has increasingly become an issue, it is difficult finding skilled nurses to work in the specialty. In recent months we have been fortunate to take on board two young, amazingly gifted professionals, both Irish nurses on working visas. They want to stay in Australia for two years, which means they will be required to work regionally. One nurse left yesterday to pick fruit in Victoria. Is it unreasonable to propose that these nurses stay working in their chosen profession and still get the two-year working visa. They add enormous value at a time that is unprecedented. Karen Hansen, Paddington Lessons in literature A ray of hope on the horizon. I once visited Eyam, the village described in Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders (Letters, March 24). Tourists wander through the streets looking at the 17th-century houses, each with a plaque on the door listing the occupants who died in 1666. It's not until the curtains twitch you realise people are living in these houses, and Eyam is now a pleasant, healthy Derbyshire village. With luck, we'll all be like that in 300 years or so. David Swain, Glenhaven

I also spent a week in the plague town of Eyam. The local guide disabused us of the idea that the village folk quarantined themselves to protect the rest of the country. She said it was more likely that if they hadnt they would have been murdered by people in neighbouring villages. They took social distancing very seriously in 1665. Anne Carpenter, Frenchs Forest More books to read: Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year and sci-fi fans could dip into Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. If one has less time, Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Masque of the Red Death could fit the bill - but not if you want a good night's sleep. Mike Reddy, Vincentia I recommend adding Cormack McCarthys book The Road to the apocalyptic reading list. Maureen King, Lane Cove We could add The Decameron to the plague reading list. Boccaccio wrote it about 1353, with stories being told by a group of friends who escaped the Black Death in Florence. Pam Linnett, Twin Waters, Qld Minette Walters' two novels The Last Hours and The Turn of Midnight about the plague in 1348 and its effect on Dorsetshire, are riveting reading. Sue Thomson, Kirribilli

Caught in kindness Last Friday, as I stepped into a lift at the Gordon shopping centre, I became so giddy that I would have fallen to the floor if the other shoppers had not supported me. They were marvellous, calling for an ambulance and waiting with me until it arrived. I had never experienced giddiness like this in my life (I'm 91 years old) and wondered if this could be the dreaded coronavirus. No doubt it crossed my helpers' minds also. The hospital finally diagnosed dehydration and allowed me to go home on Sunday. I would like my helpers to know how much I appreciated their care and kindness and allay any fear of the virus they may have felt. Pat Sharp, East Lindfield No news is good news Waiting in line at the chemist I overheard some sound advice being dispensed on the phone to an obviously worried person: ''No madam, you sound fine and dont need to come in, the best thing you can do is to stay at home and dont turn on the news tonight. Nick Andrews, Bellevue Hill

A sad drinking tale In honour of Slim Dusty and lyricist Gordon Parsons, The Pub With No Beer should be rewritten and recorded as The Beer With No Pub (''Sydney's oldest pub calls last drinks'', March 24) John Macdonald, Kings Langley Profits from gloom Either we are not being told there are supply line issues or the supermarkets are having a field day: $6 for a lettuce, $12 per kilo for broccoli and a small cauliflower for $13. Looks like profiteering to me. Arthur Sannen, Castle Hill Carry on ...
24 doctors and about 50 priests have died in Italy serving the sick. Almost five thousand health workers infected. In his homily, Francis speaks of sloth, "the sin of the neutral, neither white nor black". "The sin of sadness that is the seed of the devil, of that inability to make a decision about one's life, but yes, to look at the life of others to complain".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Doctors, nurses and priests who died from the coronavirus epidemic. It is for them that Pope Francis invited to pray in the mass celebrated this morning at Casa Santa Marta.

He introduced the Mass saying: I received the news that in these days, a number of doctors and priests have died, I don't know if there were a few nurses. They were infectedbecause they were serving the sick. Lets pray for them, for their families. I thank God for the example of heroism they give us in caring for the sick.

He then reflected on the theme of water suggested by the readings of the fourth Tuesday of Lent (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; John 5 1-16).

Pope Francis began his homily saying that the days readings present water as a sign and means of salvation. This water brings life, and heals the waters of the sea, making it new water.

It is beside a pool of water that Jesus encounters a paralyzed man. Hed been waiting to be healed beside that water for 38 years. Pope Francis then delved into the incongruity of a man who waited that long without doing anything to help himself.

It makes us think. It's a bit long, isn't it? Because someone who wants to be healed would have organized things so that someone would help him.

His response also makes us wonder. He doesn't say Yes; he complains. About the illness? No. the Pope said. Neither do we see him jumping for joy or telling the whole world as others did after they were healed. He doesnt even thank Jesus when they meet up again in the Temple. Rather, he goes off to inform the authorities. Whats wrong with this man?

His heart was sick. His soul was sick. He was ailing from pessimismfrom sadnessfrom tepidity (acedia). This is the mans sickness. Yes, I want to live, and he just stayed there. Is his response: Yes, I would like to be healed? No, its it's always the others that get there first. It's always the others. The response to Jesuss offer of healing is complaining about the othersfor 38 yearsdoing nothing to be healed.

The Pope went on to describe this as a sin of surviving and complaining about others lives. It inhibits this man from making any decisions for his own life.  I'm a victim of this life. These type of people breathe by complaining, the Pope remarked. We do not see the joy and decisiveness that the man blind from birth had after being healed. Many of us Christians live in this state of tepidity, the Pope said.

They are incapable of doing a lot but they complain about everything. Tepidity is poison. Its a fog that surrounds the soul that doesnt allow it to live. It's also a drug because if you taste it often, you like it. You end up addicted to sadness, addicted to tepidity. This is a fairly habitual sin among us. Sadness, tepidity. Im not going to say melancholy, but it's very similar. It is a gray life, gray because of this bad spirit of tepidity, sadness, melancholy.

Pope Francis concluded his homily encouraging us to reread the 5th chapter of John. Let's think of water, that water that is the symbol of our strength, of our life  the water that Jesus used to regenerate us in Baptism. Lets also think about ourselves  if there is the danger that one of us might slip into this tepidity, into this neutral sin  neither black nor white. This is a sin that the devil can use to drown our spiritual life and our personal life. May the Lord help us understand how awful and evil this sin is.
Radio amateurs participate in Russian international contest The Gulf Times reports the Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) participated in the 27th edition of the Russian International Amateur Radio Competition (RDXC-2020)



The newspaper says:



[The event was] organised by the Russian Amateur Radio Union to allow all radio amateurs in the world to participate in the competition.



Mass participation at the associations headquarters was replaced in this years competition with the sole participation of Qatari radio amateurs stations, each from their home, provided that participation from the associations headquarters is limited to only one participant who co-ordinates with the rest from their homes to work as one team representing QARS in this international competition.



In preparation for this competition, the QARC prepared a special station at the associations headquarters, allowing participation in several sub-competition categories that range from one operator category with low transmission capacity (100 watts) to one operator category for all bands with a transmission power (5 watts) to several operators with a low transmission capacity as well as a group of several operators for all bands, the association participated in the international call sign of the Qatar Wireless Amateur Association (A73A).



Chairman Board of Directors of QARS, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah emphasised that the associations participation in this competition for this year is of special importance, especially in light of the conditions the world is going through following the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19), adding that the associations participation is to confirm its continuation with its international activities even in the case of the inability to assemble.



He indicated that the association has prepared a model station with a number of modern devices and high-quality antennas for the participation in this international competition.



The goals of the Qatar Amateur Radio Society are to develop the hobby among citizens and organising its practice in accordance with the laws applied locally and internationally, along with co-operating with the relevant authorities in developing regulations related to granting licences to practise the hobby and operate devices that are used for this purpose within the framework of international agreements that regulate the use of radio frequencies.



Source Gulf Times

https://m.gulf-times.com/story/659033/Amateur-radio-buffs-participate-in-Russian-interna
EasyJet boss Peter Bellew has been forced to issue an apology after circulating a video among staff which appeared to make light of the coronavirus crisis.

He said there was 'ridiculous hype' surrounding the virus which has killed 422 in the UK alone.

The airline is facing criticism for slashing staff's salaries by up to 67 per cent while bosses reportedly agreed to just a 20 per cent salary decrease for themselves.

In the footage, filmed in Gatwick Airport's crew room, he said: 'Despite all the ridiculous hype that is going on about the virus we had full first wave operating and great cooperation from the crew.'

Brushing aside the dangers posed by COVID-19 as 'ridiculous press coverage' he told staff to continue reporting for duty.

He then added that due to the lower than usual numbers of passengers workers should focus on getting flights out on time.

Mr Bellew said: 'While we have less passenger numbers we really need to focus on better on-time performance.

'I need everybody please to show up for work at the moment and in spite of all the ridiculous press coverage it is getting.

EasyJet boss Peter Bellew (pictured) has been forced to issue an apology after circulating a video among staff which appeared to make light of the coronavirus crisis

'We will do the safe thing by our customers and our staff.'

Bellew apologised for the video - which was posted on February 27- and said 'the language used to describe the pandemic was insensitive and inappropriate,' The Sun reports.

This video comes just days after the easyJet boss appologised for plagiarising Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's St Patrick's Day message.

Mr Bellew said he 'borrowed' some of Varadkar's phrases, The Guardian reports.

Bellew apologised for the video (pictured)- which was posted on February 27- and said 'the language used to describe the pandemic was insensitive and inappropriate'

As part of a 'coronavirus cooperation contract', easyJet will pay staff half their salary over four months or 67 per cent of it over six months.

But bosses reportedly agreed to just a 20 per cent salary decrease for themselves.

EasyJet announced that it would be running a minimal schedule of flights and that most aircrafts would be grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.

EasyJet is facing criticism for slashing staff's salaries by up to 67 per cent while bosses reportedly agreed to just a 20 per cent salary decrease for themselves (stock image)

It also said it was 'committed' to getting people home adding: 'Where flights are cancelled - and where local authorities allow - we will operate rescue flights to repatriate customers.'

The company highlighted it had launched its winter schedule earlier than usual in order to give people more choices later on in the year.

'We know that customers with a booking in the coming weeks may be unsure about travelling at the moment, so they can re-book to another flight later in the year without paying any change fees.'
On Sunday, President Donald Trump challenged the Big Three automakers to switch their production lines over to manufacturing ventilators to meet the increasing demand states and hospitals say they will need to handle spread of the coronavirus.

Not to be left out, Tesla chief Elon Musk tweeted over the weekend about his meeting with one of the leading ventilator companies.

But as noble as these intentions may be, supply chain experts say it is not like flipping a switch in a factory and such a move could take months before a line is operational. When you are repurposing a factory, it really depends on how similar the new product is to the existing products in your product line, said Kaitlin Wowak, a professor at the University of Notre Dame who focuses on industrial supply chains. Its going to be a substantial pivot to start producing an entirely different item.

The National Institues of Health estimates there are slightly more than 62,000 ventilators in the U.S. A February report by Johns Hopkins Univeristy stated that "During a severe influenza pandemic, it has been projected that the demand for assisted ventilation in hospitals could increase by 25% or more." That would mean an additional 15,000 machines.

So where would they come from? Here is a look at some of the top manufacturers of ventilators, many of which have plants here in the United States.

Vyaire Medical

Vyaire Medical is a Chicago-based supplier of respiratory care devices and is the largest supplier of "consumables," or masks and tubes needed for patients to use the ventilators.

We are receiving unprecedented demand for our ventilation equipment, a company spokesman told FOX Business on Monday.

The company currently has 200 employees working on the manufacturing line with plans to "rapidly expand that". On average, a single ventilator takes about 2 to 6 days to build and the company has produced an average of 1,000 to 1,700 ventilators. The company added that they are looking at mulitplying that by 10 greater given the current demand.

Story continues

Vyaire has two manufacturing plants, one located in Mexicali, Mexico for the production of masks and ventilator tubes, and one in Palm Springs, CA for the production of the ventilator machines themselves.

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GE Healthcare

In a press release on Thursday, Chicago-based GE Healthcare said it would work "around the clock" to increase its output of medical equipment including CTs, ultrasound devices, mobile X-ray systems, patient monitors and ventilators in an effort to help combat the coronavirus.

As the global pandemic evolves, there is unprecedented demand for medical equipment, including ventilators. We continue to explore all options to support this increased need, GE Healthcare President & CEO Kieran Murphy said.

In order to meet the demand, the company said that it is adding manufacturing lines to ventilator production and increasing the number of shifts available in order to speed up how many ventilators can be produced. They will also hire additional manufacturing employees and shift current employees to support increased demand immediately.

In addition, the company said it would monitor the health of its field service engineers and provide them with personal protective equipment, work with its supply chain partners to mitigate shortages, and work with global regulators to help address customer questions about how to meet patient needs.

The company manufactures its ventilators at a plant in Madison, Wisconsin.

Medtronic

Medtronic is a medical device manufacturer based in Dublin, Ireland with over 90,000 employees worldwide.

The company says it has increased production by more than 40 percent to date with 250 employees currently dedicated to the production of ventilators. The company said in a tweet on Thursday that it has plans to "more than double" that number.

Medtronic recognizes the demand for ventilators in this environment has far outstripped supply, said Medtronic executive vice president Bob White in a statement, No single company will be able to fill the current demands of global healthcare systems. However, with all manufacturers increasing their production and through partnerships with governments, hospitals and global health organizations, Medtronic is committed to getting more ventilators into the market and to the right locations in the world to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19.

In order to meet the demand, Medtronic will transfer staff from its other sites to support its ramp up activities as well as make additional manufacturing shifts availabe to turn the plant into a 24/7 operation.

Ventec Life Systems

Washington-based ventilator manufacturer Ventec Life Systems announced in a joint statement Friday that it will partner with General Motors to help increase production of ventilators that are needed in hospitals dealing with patients who have the coronavirus.

We are working closely with Ventec to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products to support our countrys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, said Mary Barra, GM Chairman and CEO. We will continue to explore ways to help in this time of crisis.

With GMs help, Ventec will increase ventilator production, added Chris Kiple, Ventec Life Systems CEO. By tapping their expertise, GM is enabling us to get more ventilators to more hospitals much faster. This partnership will help save lives.

Ventec Chief Strategy Officer Chris Brooks told FOX Business on Saturday that the partnership is expected to increase production from 150 ventilators a month to close to 1,000.

TRUMP TOUTS AUTOMAKERS FOR VENTILATOR PRODUCTION: LET'S 'SEE HOW GOOD YOU ARE'

Hamilton Medical

Hamilton Medical is a ventilator manufacturer based in Bonaduz, Switzerland. The company said in a statement on Friday that since the beginning of the year, it has "massively increased" its capacity for producing ventilators and is aiming to double its production by the end of April.

"Normally, we produce 220 ventilators per week. We have already increased output by 50% compared to that. We are aiming at producing over 20,000 ventilators this year", the company said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story

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A federal appeals court in New York on Monday let stand a ruling that prevents President Donald Trump from blocking critical voices from the Twitter account he uses to communicate with the public.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to revisit an earlier holding that Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked individual Twitter users who were critical of the president or his polices.

"Excluding people from an otherwise public forum such as this by blocking those who express views critical of a public official is, we concluded, unconstitutional," wrote Judge Barrington Parker.

"Twitter is not just an official channel of communication for the President; it is his most important channel of communication," the judge concluded in a decision with implications for how elected officials throughout the country use social media platforms to communicate with constituents.

Two judges, nominated to the bench by Trump, disagreed with the decision and would have reconsidered the earlier ruling.

"The First Amendment's guarantee of free speech does not include a right to post on other people's personal social media accounts, even if those other people happen to be public officials," Judge Michael Park wrote in a dissent, joined by Judge Richard Sullivan.

Park acknowledged that the president's use of Twitter has been unprecedented but noted that Trump created his personal @realDonaldTrump account years before taking office.

Allowing the court's decision to stand, he wrote, will lead to the social media pages of public officials being "overrun with harassment, trolling, and hate speech, which officials will be powerless to filter."

Of the nine judges who considered the Trump administration's request, Park and Sullivan announced that they would have revisited the earlier decision.

The decision Monday leaves in place a unanimous three-judge panel ruling from July. The court held that because the president uses his Twitter account to conduct official government business, he cannot exclude voices or viewpoints with which he disagrees.

The court's initial ruling addressed only the interactive spaces on Twitter for replies and comments, and applies to accounts used to conduct official business. The judges also did not decide whether elected officials violate the Constitution when they block users from private accounts.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the lawsuit in 2017 on behalf of seven people blocked from the president's account. Katie Fallow, one of their attorneys, said in a statement Monday that the court's action affirms that the First Amendment "bars the President from blocking users from his account simply because he dislikes or disagrees with their tweets."

"This case should send a clear message to other public officials tempted to block critics from social media accounts used for official purposes," she said.

The Justice Department is reviewing the ruling, a spokeswoman said.
Last week Google announced it will pause Chrome and Chrome OS releases to deal with its adjusted work schedules as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the company said that it would work to ensure current releases are as stable as possible, and that for now, it will not promote Chrome 81 from beta to stable.

As Chrome Unboxed points out, a post a few days ago explains that the new plan is to skip a milestone release entirely. Director of Technical Program Management Jason Kersey writes in a post the beta channel will remain on version 81 until 83 is ready to promote from the development channel, while 82 will skip its cycle through the process entirely. That could mean an earlier release date than planned for version 83, but no decision has been made there yet.

Chrome 81 is supposed to bring new mixed reality features and a trial of NFC tie-ins to the browser, and HTTPS changes that will remove older protocols and block some content if it tries to load via HTTP on a secure site. About Chromebooks notes Chrome OS features anticipated for version 81 that include easier sideloading of Android Studio apps and an improved Bluetooth pairing setup, but all of that will have to wait, and for good reason.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Spectrum Health hospitals in Grand Rapids could use space inside one of Grand Valley State Universitys facilities if the coronavirus pandemic results in patient overflow.

The health system and university have long had an agreement that would allow Spectrum to use space inside GVSUs Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences if needed. That agreement, which has existed for about a decade, has become operational for the first time, according to Mary Eilleen Lyon, associate vice president of university communications at GVSU.

Spectrum Healths three hospitals in Grand Rapids were not at a high percentage of occupancy as of Tuesday afternoon, March 24, according to a spokesperson for the health system.

As of Tuesday, March 24, the state of Michigan reported 1,791 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19 and 24 deaths. There were 65 confirmed cases in the state one week prior.

Spectrum Health has tested 1,064 people for coronavirus, of which 53 have come back positive for COVID-19. The hospital system has three in-patients with coronavirus and 38 patients under investigation for coronavirus in its 13-county area, as of Tuesday.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said the state is preparing for an influx of sick people and attempting to find ways to get more ventilators, personal protective equipment like masks and additional hospital bed spaces.

Michigan Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said the state is working to identify where there may be additional space for hospitals.

In Grand Rapids, Spectrum Health has two adult acute care hospitals (Butterworth and Blodgett) and one childrens hospital (Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital). System-wide, there are 1,850 hospital beds.

Spectrum Health and GVSU are preparing space in the Cook-DeVos Center as a precaution in case patient overflow is necessary. The instructional space already has beds in place for learning and could accommodate up to 250 total hospital beds.

We remain committed to adapting, preparing and finding new solutions to ensure the health, safety and appropriate care for our community in the midst of this critical and rapidly evolving health crisis, said Tina Freese Decker, President & CEO, Spectrum Health. This arrangement provides contingency medical space, should we need it."

The two organizations are preparing space in the Cook-DeVos Center as a precaution in case patient overflow is necessary. The instructional space already has beds in place for learning and could accommodate up to 250 total hospital beds.

The space still requires state of Michigan approval, but the organizations are preparing now so additional beds could be available quickly if needed. In that case, the beds would be used for low acuity medical patients.

Grand Valley State University has resources to help fight this virus, and we are pleased to work with Spectrum Health, said Grand Valley President Philomena V. Mantella. We will provide space and any resources we have to assist our state and country.

Lyon said normal occupants of the health sciences building are working remote, following the executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to limit all non-essential work and travel until 11:59 p.m. on April 13 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

Lyon also said staff has vacated the space per the agreement with Spectrum Health.

The arrangement between Spectrum Health and GVSU takes advantage of contingency planning between the two organizations, which is part of their combined emergency preparedness measures.

Health officials are urging residents to practice social distancing and limit in-person interactions to reduce the spread of the virus. Kent County Administrative Health Officer Adam London said residents need to take some pretty dramatic actions in order to bend the curve and reduce the amount of suffering that is likely to happen as a result of this pandemic."

The models are showing us that by taking these aggressive actions now we can bend the curve and we can stay within, for the most part, stay within the ability of our health care systems to provide care and by doing so we can pretty dramatically reduce the number of people who are projected to need hospitalization and to die as a result of this epidemic," London said.

Read all of MLives up-to-date coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces(computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

Read more on MLive:

West Michigan hospitals fighting coronavirus get stockpiled masks

All Michigan residents, most businesses ordered to stay home to slow spread of coronavirus

Whats open, whats closed under Gov. Whitmers coronavirus stay-at-home order

Hospitals, doctors overwhelmed by coronavirus worriers: Kent County Health officials
Positive coronavirus cases for Quintana Roo now 22, claim of virus in Bacalar, false

Cancun, Riviera Maya, Q.R.  UPDATED MARCH 24: As of March 23, the total of positive coronavirus cases for the state of Quintana Roo has risen to 22.

Health officials report that of the 22 cases, 19 are in the municipality of Benito Juarez and three in the municipality of Solidaridad. Of the cases, nine are women and 13 are men. Eight of the 22 are Mexican nationals, while 14 of the positive cases are foreigners (tourists).

The Secretary of Health, Alejandra Aguirre Crespo is calling on people not to minimize preventive actions against the virus.

In an address, Governor Carlos Joaquin said The government of the state of Quintana Roo is taking this situation very seriously. We continue to adhere to work protocols, both in epidemiological and medical surveillance.

Aguirre Crespo also says that the social media claim of a positive case of COVID-19 in the municipality of Bacalar is completely false.





UPDATE: As of March 23, the number of positive cases around the country also rose, reaching 367 confirmed cases. Of this, 292 are imported cases, 70 are associated with importation and in five cases, there are no identifiable histories of importation.

As of March 23, the number of deaths rose to four, the third being confirmed in Jalisco. According to Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramirez, the death was that of a 55-year-old man, making him the third victim in the country and the first in the state. The governor reported that the patient died in Clinic 110 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS).

The fourth death is of a 71-year-old man in Mexico City, who authorities say, suffered from diabetes and kidney failure. The World Health Organization is now placing Mexico in Phase II, despite the fact that the Ministry of Health insists that the country is still in Phase I.
A woman pays cash while wearing gloves during special hours open only to seniors and the disabled at Northgate Gonzalez Market, a Hispanic specialty supermarket in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 19, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

House Democrats Unveil CCP Virus Stimulus Bill

House Democrats on March 23 unveiled a $2.5 trillion emergency bill in response to the package under negotiation by the Senate that aims to stem some of the economic toll of the CCP virus pandemic.

The 1,400-page proposal, released Monday evening, offers each taxpayer in a household $1,500or $3,000 for joint returnsand $1,500 for each child, with a maximum payment of $7,500 for a family of five under the Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act.

The cash payment would have to be repaid by individuals with an income of more than $75,000, or more than $150,000 for couples filing tax returns jointly. Households may choose to repay the sum over the course of three years.

In contrast, the Senate proposal laid out Sunday provides a quick, one-time stipend of about $1,200 per individual, $2,400 for couples, and $3,000 for a family of four, with the money cut off at higher income levels.

The House Democrats proposal also offers to funnel more than $150 billion into the health care systemto health care providers and community health centersas the spread of the CCP virus continues to spread rapidly across the nation.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement of the outbreak in Wuhan allowed the virus to spread across China and fan a global pandemic.

Hospitals, under the Democrats bill, would receive an additional $80 billion in low-interest loans, $5 billion more than what has been offered by Senate Republicans nearly $2 trillion package.

In their proposals, both Senate Republicans and House Democrats have offered allowing businesses to carry back net operating losses from this year, 2019, and 2018. However, the House bill places has restrictions in place on what businesses can qualify.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised over the allocation of expenses in the House Democrats proposal toward areas that appear unrelated to the COVID-19 outbreak, including $35 million for the operations and maintenance of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., reported Fox News.

It also includes the allocation of $300 million for the National Endowment of the Humanities, a further $300 million for the National Endowment of the Arts, $278 million for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and $100 million for NASA.

Republicans and Democrats were still struggling on Monday to reach an agreement on a far-reaching CCP virus stimulus package, after failing to reach a deal over the weekend. Democrats said it contained too little money for states and hospitals and not enough restrictions on a fund to help big businesses.

The 49-46 vote left the $2 trillion measure short of the 60 votes needed to advance, as the chamber remained deadlocked for a second day. Only one Democrat, Doug Jones of Alabama, voted with Republicans to advance the bill. He told CNN that he voted because he thinks theres been great progress.

I believe that we needed to really send a message to the American people and to both side of the aisle that the clock is ticking, that we need to get this done and we need to get it done now, and the best way to do that is to proceed, he said.

According to official government data collated by Johns Hopkins University, by the end of Monday, there were 46,450 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United States and 590 deaths.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Dublin, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Agricultural Biotechnology: Emerging Technologies and Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The study scope includes key agricultural biotechnology tools (i.e., next-generation DNA sequencing, biochips, RNA interference, synthetic biology tools, and gene editing tools); synthetic biology-enabled chemicals and biofuels; biotech seeds; and biologicals.



The report analyzes these technologies and products to determine present and future market sizes, and to forecast growth from 2019 through 2024. The report also discusses industry strategic alliances, industry structures, competitive dynamics, patent status and market driving forces.

The research provides in-depth coverage of the agricultural biotechnology industry structure, including genomics technology providers (e.g., genome editing, NGS and microarray companies); major seed companies; biotech trait companies; synthetic biology tools companies; companies developing plant feedstocks; and agricultural biologicals companies. It provides an in-depth analysis of major industry acquisitions and alliances during 2018 and 2019.



96 agricultural and biotechnology companies are profiled in this report.



The report includes:

32 data tables and 60 additional tables

A detailed review of the global markets for agricultural biotechnology and other emerging technologies

Analyses of the global market trends with data from 2018 to 2019, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024

Discussion of key agricultural biotechnology tools such as next-generation DNA sequencing, biochips, RNA interference, synthetic biology tools and genome editing tools, and assaying their role in enhancing the marketplace

Underlying market opportunities for biotechnology tools, genomic-enabled products, and biotech seeds enhancing growth for the coming five years

Key merger and acquisitions, joint ventures, and alliances within the large biotechnology companies, allowing them to participate in the upside of new genomics technologies that will enhance their breeding, seed development, and biologics programs

Company profiles of market-leading participants, Ajinomoto Co, BASF, Cibus, Novozymes, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Qiagen

Market Insights



Global megatrends are driving the need for higher agricultural yields, creating strong tailwinds for innovative seed traits and biological pesticides and stimulants.

World population growth, coupled with rising incomes, lead to consumption of higher-quality foods, including meat. This, in turn, creates higher consumption of feed crops, including maize, soy, and wheat. At the same time, the total acreage of arable land available for producing crops is under pressure from a range of forces, including growing populations, urbanization, and global warming.



These global forces are creating leverage in the industry to increase productivity and crop yields. Biotechnology provides strategic tools for the agricultural industry to meet these market demands. This report examines the role of these technologies in agriculture and quantifies their market impact.



Reasons for Doing the Study



Agriculture is a fundamental and strategic component of a country. As a result, agricultural technologies provide competitive geographic advantage and are highly desirable. Biotechnologies address the pressing industry need for higher crop yields and other desirable traits. Agricultural biotechnology is a key and growing component of the global agriculture industry and is thus of interest to a wide audience.



This report seeks to provide a qualitative and quantitative description of the agricultural biotechnology industry so that emerging market opportunities can be identified and exploited by the reader. The report does this by examining the main product applications and markets, thereby helping companies to prioritize product opportunities and strategic opportunities. The report highlights key market and industry trends, as well as quantifying the main market segments, in order to help the reader better understand industry structure and changes occurring in the industry.



Rapid changes in technology-intensive fields such as DNA sequencing, gene editing, and synthetic biology are driving new products and applications in agriculture. These developments create unique market opportunities. This report analyzes these trends and their impact on future markets for agricultural products.



Based on these market and technology dynamics, it is especially timely to examine the agricultural biotechnology industry.

Key Topics Covered



Chapter 1 Introduction

Study Goals and Objectives

Reasons for Doing the Study

Scope of Report

Methodology

Information Sources

Geographical Breakdown

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights



Chapter 3 Overview

Scope of Report

Agricultural Biotechnology Market

Industry Growth Driving Forces

Life Cycle Status

Agricultural Biotechnology Industry

Chapter 4 Technology Background

Introduction to Crop Technologies

Plant Modification Platforms

Agricultural Biotechnology Tools

Next-Generation Sequencing

Biochips

RNA Interference

Gene Editing

Synthetic Biology

Seed Technologies

Development of a Genetically Modified Seed

Agricultural Biologicals

Chapter 5 Agricultural Biotechnology Applications

Applications Overview

DNA Sequencing Applications

Biochip Applications

RNAi Applications

RNAi-based Insecticides

RNAi-based Crop Traits

Advantages of RNAi in Agriculture

Synthetic Biology Applications

Biofuels

Renewable Chemicals

Gene Editing and Engineering Applications

Chapter 6 DNA Read, Write and Edit Industries

Agricultural Seed Genomics Industry

Biotech Traits Industry

Sequencing Industry

Sequencing Instruments Industry

Long Read Sequencing Industry

Gene Editing Industry

Agricultural Biologicals Industry

Chapter 7 Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances

Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances

Key Trends

Discussion of Corporate Deals

Chapter 8 Agricultural Biotechnology Markets

Forces Driving Industry Growth

Global Demographic and Land Use Trends

Demand for Higher Yields

Rise of the Middle Class in Developing Countries

Advances in DNA Read, Write and Edit Technologies

New Commercialization Pathways

Emergence of Critical Mass in Plant Traits Industry

Market Summary

Market for Agricultural Biotechnology Tools

Biochips

Gene Editing Tools

RNAi Tools

DNA Sequencing

Synthetic Biology Tools

RNAi Market

Gene Editing Market

Gene-edited Biologicals

Gene-edited Seeds

Biotech Seed Market

Synthetic Biology Market

Polymers

Enzymes

Other Renewables

Biofuels

Biologicals Market

Agricultural Biotechnology Regional Markets

Agricultural Biotechnology Market by Region

Market for Biotechnology Tools, by Region

Synthetic Biology-Enabled Market by Region

Biologicals Market by Region

Market for Biotechnology Seeds by Region

Chapter 9 Patents

Sequencing-Related Patent Issues

Synthetic Biology Industry Patent Analysis

Gene Editing-Related Patents

Gene Editing Patents (Sangamo Case Study)

Biotech Seed-Related Patents

Chapter 10 Company Profiles

Adama Agriculture Solutions Ltd.

Advanta Ltd.

Agbiome Llc

Agrisoma Biosciences Inc.

Agrivida Inc.

Agreliant Genetics Llc

Ajinomoto Co. Inc.

Amfora Inc.

Arborgen Inc.

Arcadia Biosciences Inc.

BASF AG

Bayer Ag

Beam Therapeutics Inc.

Benson Hill Biosystems Inc.

Bgi Shenzhen

Calyxt Inc.

Cardea Bio

Cargill, Inc.

Caribou Biosciences Inc.

Caszyme

Certis Usa Llc

Cibus Inc.

Corteva Inc.

Crispr Therapeutics Ag

Danaher Corp.

Depixus

Diversity Arrays Technology

Dlf Seeds A/S

DNA Electronics Ltd.

Eurofins Scientific

Evogene Ltd.

Evolva Sa

Forrest Innovations

G+Flas Life Sciences Inc.

Genapsys Inc.

Gencove Inc.

Genus Plc

Ginkgo Bioworks

Genecopoeia

Harvest Genomics

Illumina Inc.

Inari

Intrexon Corp.

Isagro Spa

Joyn Bio

Kaiima Bio-Agritech Ltd.

Kaveri Seed Company Ltd.

Keygene N.V.

Koch Agronomic Services Llc

Kws Saat Se

Maronne Bio Innovations Inc.

Meiogenix

Metahelix Life Sciences Ltd.

Newleaf Symbiotics Inc.

Nexgen Plants Pty Ltd.

Nomad Bioscience Gmbh

Novozymes A/S

New England Biolabs

Nucelis Llc

Ontera

Origin Agritech Ltd.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Pacific Biosciences Of California Inc.

Pairwise Plants Inc.

Performance Plants Inc.

Perkinelmer Inc.

Phalanx Biotech Group

Pivot Bio

Plant Bioscience Ltd.

Plant Health Care Inc.

Precision Biosciences

Promega Corp.

Qiagen Nv

Qtlomics Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Quantapore Inc.

Quantum Biosystems Inc.

Rahan Meristem Ltd.

Real-Time Genomics Inc.

Recombinetics Inc.

Rnagri

S&W Seed Co.

Sakata Seed Corp.

Sangamo Therapeutics Inc.

Sigma Aldrich Corp.

Syngenta Ag

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Trace Genomics Inc.

Trigall Genetics

Tropic Biosciences Uk Ltd.

Ugentec

UPL Ltd.

Verdeca

Vilmorin & Cie Sa

Vhl Genetics

Yield10 Biosciences Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hib70i

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Trumps desire to be back to normal soon contradicts advice from health experts, who say more action is needed.

Public health authorities, state governors, and even some members of his own administration are pushing back against President Donald Trumps professed desire to roll back measures intended to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check and reopen the country for business.

In his regular daily briefing on Monday evening, Trump said the nation could not afford to continue the lockdowns that have brought the country, and its $20-trillion economy, to a virtual standstill during the past several days.

America will, again, and soon, be open for business, Trump said. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.

In a town hall broadcast on Fox News on Tuesday, he reiterated his preference for a quick return to normality and said he hoped to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter, which is April 12.

Our people want to return to work. They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2020

Trumps pronouncements run counter to the advice from health experts and emergency management officials, who have said that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction  staying home from work and isolating themselves  the number of infections will overwhelm the healthcare system and lead to many more deaths.

The debate reflects a growing gulf between Trumps economic and political advisers, who fear that weeks of uncertainty will lead to even further economic devastation and weaken his political prospects in the November general election, and his public health officials. Trumps scientific point man on the crisis, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that the internal debate has been intense.

What the president is trying to do is to balance the public health issues with the fact that this is having an enormous impact on the economy of the country, which may actually indirectly even cause a considerable amount of harm and difficulty  even health-wise, Fauci said on Monday. So, its a delicate balancing act which the president is trying to get right. And were under very intense discussions right now about what the most appropriate timeline is and, if we do modify it, how to modify it.

On Tuesday, however, most public health officials said curtailing the preventive measures now would cause more harm than good. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the country is still early in the throes of the epidemic.

Anyone advising the end of social distancing now, needs to fully understand what the country will look like if we do that. COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the yr ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country. 15/x  Tom Inglesby (@T_Inglesby) March 23, 2020

Trumps own Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, Pete Gaynor, said the social distancing measures in place are working and any decision to roll back those precautions should be made by health professionals.

I think its about timing, so I leave the timing up to the medical professionals and the scientists about when we get out of it, Gaynor said during an appearance on CNN.

Even some Republicans have pushed back against Trump. Marylands Republican Governor Larry Hogan, also appearing on CNN on Tuesday morning, lamented the mixed messages coming out of the administration regarding the preventive measures.

Were just trying to take the best advice we can from the scientists and all the experts, and making the decisions that we believe are necessary for our states, Hogan said. We dont think that were going to be in any way ready to be out of this in five or six days, or whenever this 15 days is up from the time that they started this imaginary clock. Most people think that were weeks away from the peak, if not months.

What remains unclear is to what extent Trump is in a position to dial back the preventive measures. So far, most of the restrictions have been enacted by state and local officials, who retain the ultimate authority over the extent to which businesses remain shut down.





People across the country were taken aback when one of Trumps surrogates, Texass Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, appeared on a Fox News opinion programme on Monday evening and suggested that older Americans most susceptible to the virus might be willing to heed Trumps counsel and sacrifice themselves for the good of the country.

No one reached out to me and said, As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that America loves for its children and grandchildren? And if that is the exchange, Im all in, Patrick told Fox News Tucker Carlson.

Those of us who are 70-plus, well take care of ourselves. But dont sacrifice the country, Patrick, who turns 70 next week, added. I dont want the whole country to be sacrificed.

There were indications on Tuesday that Trumps rhetoric was influencing his supporters. Jerry Falwell Jr, a prominent evangelical leader and steadfast Trump fan, announced that the 5,000 students at his Liberty University in Lynchburg, Tennessee would be welcomed back to campus next week at the conclusion of spring break.

The move runs counter to almost every other university in the country, which has moved classes online for the remainder of the academic year.

I think we have a responsibility to our students  who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here  to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board theyve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life, Falwell told a local newspaper, the Lynchburg News & Advance.
Employees work to produce face masks at the Citizens of Humanity headquarters in Huntington Park. (Citizens of Humanity)

The COVID-19 crisis has caused fashion and textile companies, including ones in Los Angeles, to refocus their businesses and align with a common goal: to address the urgent need for face masks and hospital gowns.

This deficiency includes medical-grade N95 masks to filter about 95% of airborne particles as well as reusable cloth masks, which offer a layer of protection to food workers and senior citizens as well as anyone going out to the grocery store.

Major fashion brands are stepping in to help gather or make these much-needed supplies. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton announced Saturday that it would obtain 40 million medical-grade face masks from a Chinese industrial supplier to distribute to French health authorities. Italian brand Prada shared Monday that it's producing a run of 80,000 overalls and 110,000 face masks at one of its factories for Italian medical personnel.

Prada is producing overalls and masks to be worn by medical personnel in the Tuscany region of Italy during the coronavirus pandemic. (Prada)

French luxury conglomerate Kering will produce face masks in the workshops of its brands Balenciaga, Gucci and Saint Laurent. Also in Europe, the Stockholm-based H&M Group announced that it would make masks and other necessary equipment, while Inditex, parent company of Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara, said it would produce hospital gowns and masks.

Back in the U.S., American fashion and textile brands are joining the efforts to help combat the coronavirus. The Washington, D.C.-based National Council of Textile Organizations announced last week that a coalition of American fashion and textile brands, working with the federal government, had come together to produce masks as well. Those 10 businesses includes California companies American Giant, Los Angeles Apparel and AST Sportswear Inc. as well as brands such as HanesBrand and Fruit of the Loom.

On Tuesday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced that the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund was introducing a fundraising enterprise, A Common Thread, to assist fashion businesses jolted by COVID-19. Steven Kolb, president and chief executive of the council, told The Times on Monday: "Masks, gloves and isolation gowns are in dire shortage at this moment, and many luxury brands have available resources to create these. ... [The] CFDA has been in touch with over 50 brands looking to create [personal protective equipment].

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Already, New York fashion designer Kerby Jean-Raymond has established an initiative, Your Friends in New York, and dedicated $50,000 to the cause, to assist women and minority-owned small creative businesses and distribute needed medical supplies. The designer posted on Instagram that his fashion label Pyer Moss has converted its headquarters into a center to house donations of masks, gloves and gowns.

New York fashion designer and "Project Runway" host Christian Siriano jumped in early to help with the crisis by tweeting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. A brand representative told The Times on Monday that Siriano has prototypes of masks that are pending government approval. On his website on Sunday, Siriano posted original sketches and paintings of models in tulle gowns with matching face masks that have fetched $295 to $895.

In addition to Siriano's efforts, fellow New York-based designer Brandon Maxwell (who also announced he will give away three bridal gowns to brides affected by the crisis), along with L.A. brands Citizens of Humanity, Hedley & Bennett and Michael Costello, are pivoting to gown and mask production.

Los Angeles fashion designer Michael Costello wears a custom face mask prototype. (Michael Costello)

Meanwhile, fashion labels Rachel Comey, Prabal Gurung and Irvine-based St. John Knits are sourcing materials and creating patterns to ready their facilities to help after they receive the green light from the U.S. government.

Here's how some Los Angeles fashion designers and brands are helping in the COVID-19 crisis.

Michael Costello

Costello created a washable face mask in a black, cotton-nylon stretch fabric, which he is personally producing, along with two seamstresses, at a rate of about 150 per day at his atelier in downtown Los Angeles. Costello is working to enroll other Los Angeles designers (so far, that effort includes Ashton Michael, Michael Ngo and Bryan Hearns) to join him in his goal of producing at least 20,000 masks to donate to healthcare facilities.

In a post Monday on Instagram, Costello offered to send a pattern and a list of materials to anyone who wants to help from home.

Im trying to produce as many masks as I can with fabrics that we have in stock  cotton, neoprene and nylon  and I have researched fabrics that are OK to use, with higher air filtration effectiveness rates, Costello said.

Costello said he's in talks with a friend from high school, who manufactures surgical-grade masks in Calabasas at the rate of 60,000 per hour, according to the designer. The designer also said another friend, Beverly Hills-based eyebrow guru Anastasia Soare, is willing to offer space in her warehouse to help amp up production, while City Business Shipping in downtown Los Angeles has agreed to waive shipping fees.

Fashion designer Michael Costello sewing face masks at his Los Angeles studio. (Michael Costello)

Im not looking for any fame, publicity, money. If I can just provide some funding for the seamstresses who have been so loyal to me for years, thats my ultimate goal here, Costello said. At a time like this, Im trying to force myself to be creative. Because if we cant do what we love, lets do what we can.

AST Sportswear Inc.

Abdul Rashid, chief operating office of AST Sportswear Inc. in Brea, said his company began to produce reusable cotton face masks last Wednesday to donate to hospitals and healthcare facilities strictly at our own cost. The company shipped 1,000 masks Monday morning, free of charge, to the office of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.

A seamstress manufacturing face masks at the AST Sportswear Inc. headquarters in Brea, Calif. (AST Sportswear Inc.)

AST has already donated more than 5,000 masks to hospitals, healthcare facilities and nursing homes in California as well as in Michigan, Texas, Nevada and other states. It plans to donate an additional 50,000 by the end of this week.

Up until Wednesday, I only made T-shirts, said Rashid. We had to readjust many of our machines. Last Friday, I had 30 new machines delivered to me and I have 80 more machines coming this week.

Face masks produced by AST Sportswear Inc. (AST Sportswear Inc.)

Starting Monday, through a Federal Emergency Management Agency project, the company will additionally produce 250,000 units per week of a face mask design approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hanes is manufacturing the fabric, which has an antimicrobial chemical added in the finishing process, that we will receive by the end of this week.

Los Angeles Apparel

Dov Charney, chief executive of Los Angeles Apparel, said his company began to manufacture washable face masks five weeks ago at the 150,000-square-foot headquarters on East 59th Street in Florence. He noticed a shortage early. Now, more than 400 employees are making the masks and medical gowns.

Los Angeles Apparel Chief Executive Dov Charney wearing a mask of his design at the company's Florence headquarters. (Los Angeles Apparel)

The Los Angeles Apparel cotton mask is available for purchase ($30 for a pack of three in black, white or yellow with purple trim at losangelesapparel.net). The company is also selling wholesale to other businesses such as Albertsons and Pavilions. Charney has additionally donated thousands of masks to organizations in need.

He said he sent a shipment by Uber to San Diego and has received calls from nurses and healthcare facilities in L.A., Seattle, New York and Las Vegas.

Los Angeles Apparel face masks, pack of three for $30. (Los Angeles Apparel)

We spent a long time trying to find the right fit. I spoke to a lot of scientists and doctors, Charney saidof his design, which has a metal nose piece. (The company will also soon produce the textile masks designed for the FEMA project.) Were buying hundreds of machines, and Im hiring hundreds of people. I hope by next week, if I really hit it hard, Ill make 50,000 and then, the next week, well try to get it to 100,000. The reality is that the United States needs about one billion textile masks, because the N95 is not comfortable and you need to change it several times a day. A textile mask you can keep. Its kind of last resort but, at the same time, its like a pair of jeans. You can use it again.

Hedley & Bennett

Ellen Bennett, founder and chief executive of Hedley & Bennett, a workwear company that makes uniforms and aprons in the Vernon neighborhood of Los Angeles, is now producing face masks at her 16,000-square-foot facility. In collaboration with Dr. Robert H. Cho, chief of staff at Shriners for Children Medical Center in Pasadena, Bennett has designed a washable, cotton chambray face mask with an inner pocket that can hold a filter supplied by the wearer.

Hedley & Bennett's the Wake Up & Fight Mask, $22 for two; with one donated to someone in need. (Hedley & Bennett)

Not everyone has access to a HEPA filter, but there are many household materials that can help to filter viral particles  vacuum cleaner bags filter almost as well as a surgical mask does, and they are cheap and plentiful, Cho said. Almost every hospital has run out of N95 masks. In the hospital, we have plenty of breathable, filtration materials that can be cut to fit inside this mask. I have seen a lot of people reusing N95 masks, but they are disposable and only meant to be worn for eight hours. If you use an N95 mask incorrectly and are not fit-tested, it can be worse than not wearing a mask, as all the air goes straight to your mouth.

Hedley & Bennett has donated masks to Shriners and is in talks with the Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. It also has thousands of masks in production for World Central Kitchen, celebrity chef Jose Andres nonprofit foundation.

On Monday, Hedley & Bennett posted a retail pre-order that would allow someone to buy one mask for $22 and have a second one donated. However, orders overtook capacity. Now the company is capping pre-orders by email at 1,000 daily.

Our team is ramping up to be able to make thousands of units per week, Bennett said. We are marching forward starting today, and we are having to activate on a grassroots level right now like never before, which is why we called it the Wake Up & Fight Mask. ... We just have to do what we can to contribute to this, even if were not a giant company.

Citizens of Humanity

After shutting down its Huntington Park production facilities on Friday evening, Amy Williams, chief executive of Citizens of Humanity, said the company has switched gears to create a face mask prototype out of 100% cotton (created for her own workers), which she sent to City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai, Stanford Childrens Hospital, UCLA Health and other organizations. One version of the mask can be used over an N95 mask or worn separately.

A Citizens of Humanity employee work to produce face masks at the brand's headquarters in Huntington Park. (Citizens of Humanity)

A second prototype also includes a filter insertion pocket. Williams said she's waiting to hear back from Garcettis office on a standardized mask design, which is being approved by a USC doctor.

Williams said the company has received orders from San Francisco nonprofit Family House, which helps families of children with cancer, and upscale L.A. natural foods grocer Erewhon Market. The masks are being sold at the cost of production to nonprofit businesses (with fabric donated) and a higher price to for-profit businesses to help subsidize the price of fabrics and trims. For now, 15 seamstresses are at work on the masks.

Our factory is used to producing over 75,000 pairs of jeans each month, which are much more labor-intensive, so I think we can produce up to 150,000 masks a week, said Williams, adding that gowns and other items might be next.
Oprah Winfrey has admitted that she was 'late to the party' in taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously - despite suffering from pneumonia just a few months ago.

The 66-year-old mogul is certainly taking it seriously now, and is currently holed up in one of her three Santa Barbara, California-area homes.

But speaking with Oprah Magazine's digital director Arianna Davis on Instagram Live on Monday, she revealed that she didn't heed warnings early on, and her 69-year-old partner of 24 years Stedman Graham was even slower to follow social distancing protocol.

So far away: Oprah Winfrey said her longtime partner Stedman Graham is currently staying in their guesthouse

Oprah, it seems, was one of many people who assumed that the pandemic couldn't possibly be as dangerous as doctors, scientists, and other experts warned.

Luckily, she came around  but it took a bit longer for Stedman to get with the program, so Oprah had to temporarily banish him to the guesthouse.

'"I don't see what everybody's getting so upset about!" That's what Stedman was saying... and that's why Stedman's at the guest house!' she said.

'Stedman did not arrive from Chicago until Thursday. He had been speaking in St. Louis... he'd been on planes, so Stedman is like, "What's the procedure for coming home?"

'The procedure is...you ain't coming and sleeping in my bed!' Oprah told him.

'And literally, he goes, "I'm not?" And I go, "Have you not been paying attention to the news? Social distancing does not mean you go and sleep in the same bed with the person! When you just got off American Airlines!"'

Oprah was especially anxious that she be protected from the virus, as she's already had pneumonia this year, having contracted the illness at the end of 2019. However, in an Instagram Stories video about Stedman's quarantine, she confessed that she only recently finished her antibiotics.

Banished! He's there for a couple of weeks after arriving in California from Chicago on Thursday; Oprah said he continued to travel through last week

Luckily, Stedman is happy to protect her too.

'My friends say "Oh, isn't Stedman upset?" He's really not. He's happy to keep me safe,' she said.

Oprah revealed in September that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The ailment causes air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and fill with fluid or pus and whilst shes back to full health now, she described the condition as 'serious.' Those with respiratory illnesses like pneumonia can also end up at greater risk from coronavirus, which causes issues with the lungs.

While in the guesthouse, Stedman is well taken care of, getting breakfast and dinner delivered to the guesthouse and having 'love chats' with Oprah outside the window.

Not to mention, this guesthouse is likely pretty luxurious. Oprah owns three separate homes in Montecito, all worth millions of dollars.

Though she didn't confirm which one she is staying in  and Oprah is quite private about her home life  it's been reported that her home of choice is a $52 million estate that covers about 23,000 square feet.

It was first built in 1912, with the mansion completed in 1958. It has 14 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, 10 fireplaces, and views of the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

'My friends say "Oh, isn't Stedman upset?" He's really not. He's happy to keep me safe,' she said

Naturally, there's plenty of space to stretch out, and Oprah admitted that she's not getting stir crazy just yet  and doesn't expect to.

'I'm never bored, because I always have myself. I never feel alone, have never felt alone, because I just love being with myself,' she said. 'So this is more time to be with myself without the guilt. Usually it's like, you're with yourself but everybody wants to be someplace else. But there's nowhere to be!'

Oprah also told viewers that they 'will come out stronger if you choose to come out stronger and 'actually get the lessons from it'.

'If you think it's just about a virus...it's not. It's about the forces of life trying to tell us about ourselves. Whatever it is you're feeling, it's because you're supposed to be feeling it,' she said.

'Whatever this is putting you through, you needed this moment, and it was the only moment that could bring us to this realization. I'm looking at it from the bigger picture.'
More than 1,000 people have



been arrested in the city in a span of 24 hours for flouting the lockdown order imposed by the state government at 5 pm on Monday, a senior police officer said.

Amid the growing coronavirus scare, the West Bengal government has announced a lockdown in the state till March 31, in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

As many as 1,003 people have been arrested by the Kolkata Police for violating the Total Safety Restrictions



271 from south division, 198 and 118 from south suburban and central divisions respectively, the officer said on Tuesday.

In the north and the south west divisions, 99 each were arrested for flouting the rules, while 97 more were picked up from eastern suburban division.

Altogether 55 people were nabbed from the port division, the officer said.

During naka-checking and patrolling, police picked up another 58 people from the southeast division and eight have been arrested from the east division, he said.

"All of them will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience of order duly promulgated... the senior officer added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had repeatedly urged people to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, and follow the guidelines set by the government.

Nine people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the state so far. Of them, one died at a city hospital on Monday afternoon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PORTLAND, OR and FLORIANOPOLIS, BRAZIL / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / LeadsRx, a marketing attribution software company, has expanded internationally with its first reseller, Puzzle Ads. This move is in response to a growing interest in impartial marketing analytics outside the U.S., especially in Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Marketers and advertisers in these regions are responding to the pressure to prove Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) numbers for their businesses.

Puzzle Ads is the first vendor to offer LeadsRx impartial multi-touch attribution to marketers and advertisers in Brazil. The company offers a full-service capability including ad placement and attribution for advertisers who until now struggled to have the transparency and accountability required to achieve the best return on investment for their advertising budgets.

"LeadsRx marketing attribution technology is unrivaled in the industry," said, Ines Pimpao, Operations Manager of Puzzle Ads. "The LeadsRx Universal Conversion Tracking Pixel sets it apart from other solutions in the marketplace by providing a single technology for tracking all digital touchpoints and offline programs too. Incorporating this approach into our trade desk capabilities offers Brazilian companies the best solution for maximizing ad spend in a cross-channel approach."

LeadsRx Attribution helps marketers connect the dots between cross-channel marketing programs and new customer acquisition. It gives them a deep understanding about the customer journey across all communications channels and touchpoints. The ultimate goal for all marketers is to get their message in front of a target audience using the right marketing channels, at the right time, and when people are likely to make a purchase. Importantly, LeadsRx provides marketers the real-time analytic evidence and the precise insights of how advertising is performing so that marketers can take immediate action to maximize ROAS.

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"With LeadsRx we now have access to real-time attribution data that allows Puzzle Ads advertisers to optimize their campaigns across all marketing channels - something that we see few advertisers doing with agility and assertiveness in Brazil," said Joao Amaral, Sales Manager of Puzzle Ads. "As we reviewed all the options, we recognized immediately the benefits of LeadsRx marketing attribution software and its strong suitability with the particularities of the Brazilian market."

By having access to real-time data through LeadsRx attribution software, Puzzle Ads and its clients can leverage that data to optimize ad campaigns deployed across its trade desk capabilities. The combination of these two technologies not only exposes which advertising efforts are producing the best results but gives insights into how to leverage other ad buying opportunities as soon as the very next day.

"Puzzle Ads is ahead of the curve, realizing the vast potential that marketing attribution holds for advertisers," says AJ Brown, CEO and cofounder of LeadsRx. "They have a unique ability for advertising, particularly with their trade desk capabilities, and we knew they would be an ideal first reseller to expand our marketing attribution platform internationally."

For more information about LeadsRx and international opportunities contact info@leadsrx.com.

About Puzzle Ads

Puzzle Ads is a trading desk specialized in multi-touch attribution. With access to research, programmatic and attribution technologies, Puzzle Ads provides the Brazilian market with digital media planning and buying services. All of this with a clear purpose: to allow marketers to defend the impact of media investments on the results of their business. To learn more, visit puzzleads.com.br.

About LeadsRx

A fast innovator and a marketer's choice for 3,500-plus global and local brands, LeadsRx is an unrivaled multi-touch attribution SaaS platform. Powered by a unique Universal Conversion Tracking Pixel,

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It looks increasingly likely that Oregon lawmakers will convene next week to vote on an initial response to the coronavirus health and economic crisis, Sen. Arnie Roblan and Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday.

Roblan, a Coos Bay Democrat, is a co-chair of the Joint Special Committee on Coronavirus Response which is developing proposals for the broader Legislature to take up. He said the Legislature will likely assemble next week, rather than this week. Gov. Kate Brown is expected to make the call soon.

House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, was pushing for lawmakers to convene this week since, with the end of the month approaching, many hard-hit Oregonians have bills piling up, spokesman Danny Moran said. But the logistics did not work out.

A few weeks after Republicans in both chambers walked out and essentially shut down business at the Capitol to kill a climate change bill, lawmakers from both parties were largely in agreement Tuesday that the state must broadly prioritize aid to ensure Oregonians have adequate food, shelter and healthcare to get through the crisis. Assistance to small businesses is also a top priority. Top Democrats and Republicans will now work out the details of exactly how to achieve that through legislation.

Rep. Paul Holvey, a Eugene Democrat and co-chair of the coronavirus committee, urged his colleagues Tuesday to just try to keep together as much as we can because these are trying times. People are going to depend on us."

The co-chairs of the committee are going to summarize members priorities in a letter to legislative leaders, Roblan said. The committee received an unusually large amount of public comments from people affected by coronavirus and the states response.

Lawmakers from both parties said they hope the healthcare response can include a boost for mental health services. The stress that were all under is real, Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, said. "Theyre not imagining it. And that well take care of each other  I think thats important.

Tuesday was the fourth lengthy and wide-ranging meeting of the committee, which looked at dozens of potential spending and policy proposals, from preventing commercial and residential foreclosures to expanding the states family leave act for parents during public health emergencies and boosting spending on food assistance.

Democrats and Republicans on the committee have raised concerns that the state will have a limited amount to spend on aid, especially as the economic slowdown cuts into tax revenues. Unlike the federal government, Oregon must by law maintain a balanced budget and reserves built up during the good economy could quickly be drained.

Brown, in remarks Tuesday, similarly emphasized the need to be fiscally restrained. The bottom line .. is we have far more needs than we have resources, she said. As you are well aware, the economy is tumbling down."

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, appealed to the committee Tuesday morning to focus in on the states most immediate needs since this will likely be the first of multiple special sessions this year to address coronavirus impacts.

Although the Capitol is closed to the public, it appears lawmakers will have to gather there to vote on legislation. Floor session and committee meetings are all streamed live and archived on the Legislatures website. Legislative lawyers are still exploring what options are available to minimize the potential spread of coronavirus during voting, for example if a suspension of parliamentary rules could make it possible for lawmakers to take turns voting individually on the chamber floors in order to maintain safe distances.

-- Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
WikiLeaks announced this morning that Julian Assanges lawyers will file a bail application at Westminster Magistrates Court tomorrow. The attempt to secure Assanges release from the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison comes amid warnings that the British penitentiary system is at risk of an eruption of coronavirus infections.

A press release issued by WikiLeaks states that Assanges lawyers will argue that he is vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak in the prison where he is on remand.

The WikiLeaks founder suffers from a raft of medical conditions, stemming from almost a decade of arbitrary detention. He has been denied adequate medical care since his incarceration in Belmarsh Prison began last April. This has prompted doctors from around the world to repeatedly demand that he be transferred to a university teaching hospital and to warn that he may die if urgent action is not taken.

The release cites the calls for Assanges freedom made by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer, along with those issued by representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe. Melzer found last May that Assange was showing medically-verifiable symptoms of psychological torture due to the protracted persecution and the public mobbing he has endured.

Julian Assange leaving Westminster Magistrate's Court in a prison van on January 13 (Screenshot via YouTube)

WikiLeaks noted the clear dangers that the coronavirus pandemic, which is rapidly spreading throughout Britain and internationally, could have catastrophic consequences across the prison system.

In comments to the Guardian this morning, Dr Hans Kluge, regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for Europe, warned of mass infections in prisons across Europe and internationally unless the boldest of actions were taken.

Carina Ferreira-Borges, WHO director for prisoners health, added: We are talking about a highly vulnerable population in overcrowded conditions and once COVID-19 gets inside prisons, everyone will be contaminated very quickly.

There is a risk of a huge mortality rate and unprecedented burden on the national health systems of countries that are already overstretched, Ferreira-Borges said.

Within Britain, the WikiLeaks press release cited Andrea Albutt, the president of the British Prison Governors Association, who has warned there will be deaths in penitentiaries. The Prison Officers Association has likened the risk in jails to those present on cruise ships. Neil Hardwick, the former chief inspector of British prisons, has called for all low-risk inmates to be released.

On March 16, the Prisoners Advice Service (PAS), an independent legal charity that offers representation and information to inmates, issued a call for the immediate release of a raft of low-risk inmates. They included all prisoners over the age of 75; those over 50 convicted of non-violent offenses; all immigration detainees; prisoners with less than a year to serve and those being held on extradition requests.

In an opinion piece published in the Guardian, Eric Allison, a PAS trustee, documented the horrific conditions in British prisons that make a substantial coronavirus outbreak almost inevitable.

He pointed to a report by the National Audit Office last month, which found that a number of prisons were in physical disrepair, with leaking roofs, failing heating systems and rat infestations. A parliamentary inspection last year found that 10 of 35 prisons did not meet minimum hygiene and cleanliness requirements.

Allison documented the appalling medical care provided to prisoners. He recalled one instance in which a prisoner was provided with a paracetamol after complaining of severe leg pain. It later became clear that he was suffering from gangrene and his limb was amputated.

Allison referred to the fact that Professor Richard Coker, an expert on the spread of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has warned that a coronavirus outbreak may affect as many as 60 percent of all prisoners. Already, two prisoners have tested positive, one at HMP Manchester and the other at a prison in Wales.

Pointing to the risks facing Assange, WikiLeaks stated that HMP Belmarsh receives 300 new prisoners every month, most of whom are then dispersed to prisons around the country. HMP Belmarsh has a total of approximately 800 prisoners and the highest suicide rate in the prison system. It noted that Assange should be released, based on the PAS guideline.

Despite the growing demands, the British authorities have thus far refused to remove any prisoners from the penitentiary system. This is of a piece with the negligent response of the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the pandemic, including its initial policy of wilfully allowing the virus to spread on the absurd pretext that this would create herd immunity.

The refusal to release Assange is particularly criminal. The WikiLeaks publisher has not been convicted of any offence. He is being held solely to facilitate an extradition request from the US government, which is seeking to prosecute Assange on charges under the Espionage Act and imprison him for life over WikiLeaks exposures of US war crimes, global diplomatic intrigues and human rights violations.

After Assange was expelled from Ecuadors London embassy and arrested by the British police on April 11, he was immediately convicted of bail offences. The conviction, however, was a travesty of justice. Assange had already forfeited his bail monies, and the initial legal basis for his 2011 arrest by British policea Swedish international arrest warranthad been dropped years before.

Despite this, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison, although bail offences usually do not incur a custodial penalty. In September, when Assange was eligible to be released, Judge Vanessa Baraitser preemptively denied Assange bail, declaring that he was a flight risk and would remain imprisoned until the completion of his extradition hearing.

Baraitser cited the fact that in 2012, Assange had sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy when he was under British bail restrictions. Assange only took the action, however, after he had exhausted all legal appeals in Britain. He faced the imminent prospect of extradition to Sweden, merely to answer a prosecutors questions, under conditions in which the countrys authorities would not provide any guarantee that they would not dispatch him to the US to be imprisoned for WikiLeaks publishing activities.

While he was effectively detained in the Ecuadorian embassy, as a result of British threats to arrest him if he set foot outside the building, Assanges status as a political refugee was repeatedly upheld by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. As UN Rapporteur Nils Melzer and other legal experts have stated, the claims that Assange evaded justice in 2012 are aimed at criminalising political asylum.

The ongoing imprisonment of Assange is one expression of a multi-pronged assault on his legal and democratic rights. This was exemplified during the first week of the British extradition hearing that began on February 18. Assange was repeatedly handcuffed and stripped naked and had his legal documents stolen by prison guards. He was isolated at the back of the court room in a bullet-proof glass box to prevent him from participating in the proceedings.

The International Bar Associations Human Rights Institute warned that his treatment was likely a violation of British and international law.

The dangers confronting Assangefrom his threatened extradition to the US, to his heightened health risks in prisonunderscore the urgency of building a mass movement of workers and young people to secure his complete freedom. The same authorities that have spearheaded the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder are imperilling not only his life, but those of millions of people around the world, with their criminally-negligent response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Linkedin Sausan Atika and Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Denpasar  Tue, March 24, 2020 18:44 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d347a9 1 National Nyepi,COVID-19,COVID-19-bali,COVID-19-Jakarta,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,#coronavirus,Hindu-Day-of-Silence,#Nyepi,Bali-Airport,#Bali,social-distancing Free

The COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia has undeniably impacted how religious communities observe their traditions.

On Wednesday, Balinese Hindus will observe Nyepi (Day of Silence), which marks the Balinese New Year and is reserved for self-reflection.

In Bali, Nyepi is synonymous with deserted beaches, empty streets and lights switched off at night. Nyepi is the only day of the year when Bali's airport and seaports close. Everyone, regardless of their religion, must remain in their house or hotel during Nyepi.

The isolation during Nyepi in a way resembles social distancing, unlike the rituals prior to and following Nyepi, which usually involve large crowds.

Amid growing concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, Bali Governor Wayan Koster has banned all ogoh-ogoh (menacing-looking giant effigies) parades across the province, not even a short march around small neighborhoods, during this years ngerupuk ritual on the eve of Nyepi, is allowed.

No ogoh-ogoh parade in any form [is allowed], Koster said last week while announcing his policy.

Ngerupuk is the islands biggest street parade, in which the local youths compete with each other to create the most magnificent ogoh-ogoh.

Ogoh-ogoh were first introduced in the 1980s and have since become a permanent fixture at Nyepi spectacles across Bali, the only Hindu-majority province in Indonesia which relies much on tourism.

Actually, the ogoh-ogoh parade is not part of the original Nyepi rituals. So, we are not obliged to hold the parade, the head of the Indonesian Hindu Religious Council's (PHDI) Bali chapter, I Gusti Ngurah Sudiana, said, urging all Balinese Hindu communities to obey the call.

The PHDI, Bali Customary Village Council, and Bali governor also urged Balinese Hindus to host the melasti -- a procession that features pilgrimages to the sea to purify temples -- and tawur agung rituals with a smaller number of participants.

Because the virus is highly contagious, we urge people to adjust the rituals to make our island safer for all of us, Sudiana said.

Bali, a province with more than 4 million people, has six confirmed COVID-19 cases with two fatal cases as of Monday, all of which authorities said originated outside the island. The province has yet to confirm any local transmission.

One day after Nyepi, Balinese Hindus perform the ngembak geni ritual, in which they travel to their hometowns or visit relatives to exchange forgiveness.

But on Monday, less than three days before the ngembak geni ritual, Koster issued another notice advising people to stay at home on Thursday.

Yet there have been reports of people defying authorities.

Young people carried ogoh-ogoh in processions through the streets of Denpasar on Tuesday. "The Satpol PP [Public Order Agency], backed by the pecalang [Balinese traditional guard] immediately dispersed the groups," Denpasar city spokesperson Dewa Gede Rai said. Another large crowd reportedly headed to a beach in Gianyar for the Hindu melasti ceremony a few days before Nyepi.

In Jakarta, the countrys epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Nyepis series of ceremonies were held with similar adjustments to the number of participants.

Less than 30 Hindus -- all wearing masks -- gathered at Aditya Jaya Hindu temple in Rawamangun, East Jakarta on Tuesday to observe the tawur agung ceremony, held a day before Nyepi.

Jakartas Nyepi organizing committee chairman Ida Bagus Nyoman Banjar said smaller celebrations did not reduce the meaning of Nyepi.

We will follow the governments call to limit congregational [rituals] and keep a distance. But the meaning of the rituals is not diminished at all, he said after the event on Tuesday.

The committee has also canceled the ogoh-ogoh parade to prevent large crowds.

We already have the ogoh-ogoh here, but we will keep them for next years event, said Banjar, who is also a doctor.

As a doctor, Banjar said he understood well the importance of following the government's call to maintain social distance.

Social distancing is our collective effort to fight COVID-19, he added.

Jakartas Hindu community performed a melasti purification ritual in Segara Cilincing Hindu Temple in North Jakarta on Sunday. It was also attended by less than 30 participants.

I Gede Ngurah Utama, a Hindu who lives in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, said that Tuesday was the first time he went to the temple after the PHDI had urged Hindus to pray at home, in line with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction to self-isolate.

"It was quite empty. Usually more people come," he said.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, after a meeting with religious leaders in the capital, announced on Thursday that the city would limit Nyepi ceremonies and other religious practices for the next two weeks.

During Nyepi, Hindus are required to stay at home and reflect on themselves and this is in accordance with the social distancing measure called for by the government, said I Nengah Dharma of the PHDIs Jakarta chapter.

The policy has been put in place to stem the transmission of the coronavirus disease, as Jakarta continues to see a rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which stood at 377 as of Tuesday. Jakarta also recorded 32 deaths.

Several other regions also canceled ogoh-ogoh processions and limited rituals ahead of Nyepi, including Yogyakarta and East Javas Surabaya.

Many Catholic, Christian and Muslim communities have also adjusted their religious traditions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Editors note: This article has been updated with information about religious observations in Bali during the COVID-19 pandemic.
KAMPALA  Security agencies have blocked nine Tanzanian businessmen from entering Uganda through Mwanza port.

The group, which had come to the country using MV Upendo, were escorted back by security agencies.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga on Monday said the move was in line with implementation of Pesident Musevenis directive to close all Ugandas border points in the wake of coronavirus.

We have a country that is actually very secure. Our joint security organs are ensuring no person enters Uganda; including all pedestrians, cyclists or motorists, he said.

We were having an influx of residents from Tanzania and Kenya that were trying to brave the waters of Migingo Island but our enforcement team were able to drive them back to where they were coming from, Mr Enanga added.

He said a joint security team is now focusing on implementing the ban on travel to and from Uganda and ensuring no persons enter Uganda by land or water, with the exceptoion of drivers of cargo cars and accompanying crew, not exceeding three people.

He said security at all Ugandas border points was reinforced with additional deployment to ensure strict adherence to the border lock down to forestall the spread of coronavirus.

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The coronavirus pandemic has caused turbulence for airlines. (Photo Illustration by REB Images / Getty Images)

Getting a refund from an airline has never been easy, and it hasnt become more so in this time of chaos in the airline industry and elsewhere.

Id welcome you to the Twilight Zone, but anyone who has tried to get an airline refund, even if the flier has died, has already visited the TZ. Now, with the postponement of the Olympics (and pretty much everything else), we may become permanent residents.

Before plunging in, please heed these words from Kurt Ebenhoch, executive director of Travel Fairness Now, a consumer advocacy group. Your chance of getting a refund varies by carrier, and its something thats in flux right now, said Ebenhoch, whose group specializes in airline and hotel issues.

Policies that were in place before are not always holding up as were finding that companies want to hold onto money.

Into this shifting landscape we introduce shifting policy. Fasten your seat belts, friends. Bumpy doesnt begin to describe it. Heres what you need to know:





Dont immediately cancel your ticket

But, you protest, you always advise us to cancel a ticket if we know were not going to be able to use it. Shouldnt I do that now?

No, said Charles Leocha, president of Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group that does extensive work on airline issues.

If you have a flight planned in the next three or four weeks, do not call up and cancel the flight, Leocha said, even if you dont want to go or cant. If the airline cancels your flight  and they are canceling flights right and left  you are eligible for a cash reimbursement.

If the airline cancels the flight and cant accommodate you within a certain period of time, it is supposed to refund your money.





Supposed to? Why supposed to?

Some may offer a voucher first. Dont fall for it. Ask for the money. Nicely.

But not all airlines are playing by the same rules

Consider the case of United Airlines, which, like all carriers, has been rocked by the coronavirus chaos.

Then it counterpunched, Brian Sumers reported in Skift. Uniteds policy, like many airlines, was that you could get a refund if your flight was delayed by more than two hours.

Story continues

Then United changed that to 25 hours and said it applied retroactively to all tickets. Then the policy changed again, this time to delays of six hours, Sumers said.

And now? At last check  and this may very well change again  United won't allow refunds on international travel, Brett Snyder, who runs CrankyFlier.com, a consumer advocacy site, said in an email Tuesday.

If your flight changes by more than six hours, you can hold that in a credit. If you don't use the credit within one year from the original date of ticket issue, then you can get a refund.





OK, when should I cancel?

You usually can cancel up to about the time of departure, but as the rules shift, Snyder said in an interview, you should give yourself a bit of a buffer  a day or two before your flight. If you dont cancel and you dont show up for the flight, youll be considered a no-show and youll get nothing back.





Hold off on requesting for a refund for Olympics tickets

If you have a nonrefundable ticket, the general cancellation rules apply: Youll get a voucher, minus a change fee, and it will be good for within a year of the purchase of your ticket, not the flight.

But, Snyder said, I have seen Japanese airlines be pretty generous with refunds through this coronavirus mess. So it wouldn't shock me if they added a policy themselves that would allow refunds for Olympic tickets.

Stay tuned.





Read the airlines contract of carriage

If youre looking to while away those lonely hours in lockdown, read the terms and conditions, a.k.a. the contract of carriage, on the airlines website.

Yes, this may seem like a bigger punishment than having to stay home, but these contracts lay out the ground rules for cancellations. Arm yourself with information before doing anything. Copy relevant parts of the contract on a document you can consult as youre speaking with an airline representative.





Read your email

The airline may have communicated with you by email about changes to your ticket, its policies or other matters. Get up to date on anything that pertains to the goal youre trying to achieve.

Determine that goal and adjust your expectations

Understand that getting a refund may be a struggle. Its that way in the best of times.

Most airline tickets are nonrefundable. Theyre almost always cheaper and thus more attractive to leisure travelers.

The downside is that if you want to cancel, you will probably not get your money back. But the downside to that downside is that you may get a voucher good for a year from the date of your ticket purchase, not from the date the trip was to begin. And youll have to pay a hefty cancellation fee.





Should I call the airline then?

If you bought your ticket through a travel advisor (formerly called an agent), call the advisor.

If you bought your ticket as part of a cruise package that is no longer going to sail, call the cruise line.

If you bought your ticket through an online travel agency such as Expedia, call Expedia (which asks those who are not traveling within 72 hours to delay calling) or the online travel agency.

If you bought your ticket directly from the airline, call the airline, but be prepared for a wait. Call centers are overwhelmed. Some will give you a callback time so you dont have to hang on the phone.

Whatever you do, gather your travel information before you call  ticket number, purchase date, credit card and frequent-flier numbers. You may not need all of it, but you wont be fumbling at the last minute.





Dispute the charge on your credit card

If get nowhere, call your credit card company and file a dispute if you bought your ticket within the last 60 days. The credit card companies carry a fairly large stick when it comes to dealing with their users issues. This is a last-ditch effort, and you must be mindful of the 60-day timeline  determined from the date you bought the ticket, not the date of your trip.





File a complaint with the Department of Transportation

Leocha of Travelers United notes that the DOT tells you first to contact your airline to try to resolve your problem. Then, when it receives few complaints about an issue, it may conclude that whatever youre complaining about is not a problem. But, Leocha said, the DOT has no way of knowing how many complaints were made to the airline because thats what it told you to do.

To file a complaint, go to the DOTs Aviation Consumer Protection page (lat.ms/DOTcomplaint). It may not resolve your issue immediately or ever, but at least you will be on the record and a groundswell may result in changes.





Contact your elected representatives field office

Your elected officials arent usually the first people you turn to, but they often can have an enormous effect on the outcome of a dispute, especially if the entity in question is the subject of legislation that involves bailouts.

Bailouts or no, we have seen excellent results in resolving passport problems and, more recently, Global Entry issues.





Finally, deep, cleansing breaths

One of my bosses used to tell me this fairly often. It doesnt solve anything, but it may calm you a bit. And in this time of turmoil, thats quite an advantage.

Have a travel problem, question or dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry.




For three nights now, Harry Guy-Walters and Molly Holmes have lain in bed in an Airbnb in the Bolivian city of La Paz and listened as riots take place outside.

Its pretty terrifying, he says. Were trying to sleep in this strange city we cant get out of  and its all kicking off everywhere.

The couple, both 23, have seen their dream gap year trip to South America turned into a living nightmare, due to the coronavirus.

Instead of exploring the countrys famed salt flats and Lake Titicaca, they have been left entirely trapped in their apartment with no way of getting home  as violence spreads across the locked down country.

Covid-19 has meant virtually all flights out have been cancelled and all land borders closed.

Now, a country-wide government curfew means residents and visitors have been ordered to stay inside at all time apart from a slim window between 8am and midday. Although with some cities, including nearby El Alto, now seeing nightly battles between police and protestors, it would seem not everyone is following the new laws quite to the letter.

Except for food supplies, were not going out at all, says Molly, a marketing executive, from the three-room apartment. If we caught the virus here and needed treatment, weve no idea what would happen.

They have repeatedly, they say, contacted the British embassy begging for help. Each time, they are told to stay put and hold tight. But more than a week since the countrys borders were sealed off, no help  or even suggestion of help  has been forthcoming. They feel, they say, abandoned.

I just want to be home, says Molly. It doesnt feel safe here. The curfew is supposed to be in place until 4 April but our neighbour says the rioting will only get worse the longer it goes on.

Their desperate plight reflects that of hundreds of thousands of people stranded abroad as country after country across the globe shut their borders and airlines dropped flights  often without any notice  in a bid to prevent the pandemic.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said last week that up to a million Brits could be stranded abroad, unable to return for possibly months.

Yet for Harry and Molly, their attempts to get home are perhaps indicative of the problems experienced by many UK citizens overseas: a feeling of being let down by embassies which were supposed to be there for them.

Whenever youre in England, you always feel that if anything goes wrong in a foreign country, ring the embassy and theyll sort it right out, says Harry, a scaffolder by trade. But... I have found, not only was it hard to get in contact with someone, but since I have, the updates are brief, theyre not personal and they dont fill you with a lot of confidence.

(Provided (Provided)

The couple  who met while studying at the University of Nottingham  had been in South America for seven months on their once-in-lifetime trip.

Last Monday, with foreign office advice still suggesting it safe to be abroad, the couple set out on a three-day excursion to Bolivias remote salt flats.

But within hours of setting off, they received news that next-door Chile was cutting off its borders for a period. And, by Tuesday  with the couple a day-long drive from Uyuni, the nearest city  that advice from the British government had also changed: it now said nationals should avoid all non-essential overseas travel.

Safe to say, that put a dampener on the excursion, says Molly, who is originally from Kings Lynn. Thats really when we decided we needed to get home  but it took until Wednesday to get back to Uyuni.

From there it was another day of travel for them to Santa Cruzs Viru Viru International Airport, the countrys biggest, where they were told all planes had been grounded.

We were showing staff all these flights on Skyscanner, says Molly. They were looking at them going, These flights no longer exist, Im sorry.

Acting on advice that the land border with Brazil remained open, the couple headed there, with three Australians they had met at the airport  in the hope they could catch a flight to Europe once across the border.

It was an eight-hour journey with five of us plus luggage in a four-seater car, says Molly. It was the worst journey of my life...At one point, we ran out of petrol and had to siphon it from a motorcyclist .

The trip was futile anyway.

At the border, they were turned away. After several hours queueing, gun-toting guards said all crossings had been stopped. When the couple tried to show officials they had connecting flights to Europe booked from an airport just six kilometres away, they were told it did not matter.

When they tried to argue the point, one guard unclipped his gun. Clips on Brazilian news showed the chaos as hundreds tried to make the same pleas.

It was the scariest moment of my life, says Molly. We left pretty soon after that.

(Provided (Provided)

Now back in La Paz  which the British embassy said would be the most likely destination for a rescue flight  they are sitting each day, hitting refresh on the governments website, hoping to be saved. So far, without any luck.

It feels like were prisoners, says Harry, from Bishop Stortford. We have nothing to do but are just trying to fill our heads with as much knowledge about the situation as possible so we can try and be prepared.

They have, they say, no real medical supplies. Well, we have a thermometer in a first aid pack so, if one of us gets it, at least well know, says Molly.

Responding to the criticism that they had done little to help, a spokesperson for the foreign office said: We recognise that any British people currently overseas may be nervous about the impact of coronavirus on their travel and their health.

We are in close contact with travel providers and our international partners to provide support to those British people affected by ongoing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

But the statement was of little comfort to the couple.

We know were not the only people in this situation, says Harry. We know there are others far worse off. But we wanted to share our story, I suppose, to show what we feel is neglect by the government. Not just to us but to thousands of people also trapped in different parts of the world.
Much like the coronavirus crisis of today, the health officials and political leaders of 1918 stressed the importance avoiding crowds of people to help beat the influenza epidemic ravaging the population.

While the modern term social distancing was not used, the ideas were the same.

Before television, internet and social media, newspapers were used to get the message out.

In a full-page list of rules in the Oct. 6, 1918 Syracuse Herald, Health Officer, Dr. D.M. Totmans number one suggestion was, Avoid contact with other people so far as possible, especially crowds in unventilated places.

In another notice, on Oct. 10, after the city had banned all public gatherings, it was again stressed to avoid crowds:

If ten people in a crowd of a hundred have the influenza the other ninety may easily catch it. One person might infect an entire room full of people.

For the most part, residents of the city followed the guidelines and just a week after Syracuse began shutting down, positive effects were being seen.

A giant World War I bomber flying over Syracuse brought thousands to the city's streets, rooftops and windows at a time when "social distancing" was being practiced to stop the influenza epidemic. Heritage MicrofilmHeritage Microfilm

Every indication is that the public is doing its best to co-operate with the physicians and health officers, the Herald reported. There has been a noticeable falling off of streetcar traffic, and there have been few crowds in the downtown sections of the city. People are staying at home, and thus helping to check the spread of germs.

But people are people, and much like the young spring breakers seen recently partying down in Florida, sometimes ideas of public safety go out of the window when something fun or interesting is going to happen.

There is within all of us, whether its 2020 or 1918, to hold onto normalcy even in the most difficult of circumstances.

It wasnt the beach that brought thousands of people outside in Syracuse on Oct. 18, 1918. Instead, it was a giant military bomber that brought people out of their houses.

(One of the most incredible things about the Influence epidemic of 1918 was that it occurred during World War I. That generation faced a world war which killed 116,516 Americans and an epidemic which killed a conservative estimate of 675,000 more.)

And rather than shame them, the local media kind of encouraged it. Probably because it aided the war effort.

Look out! the Post-Standard warned on Oct. 16, 1918. A bombing airplane probably will appear over Syracuse with eight aviators on board.

It was the first Handley-Page bomber to be built in the United States and it was on its way from Mineola on Long Island to Dayton, Ohio.

It was the largest aircraft of its kind ever assembled and it would be flying right over downtown Syracuse.

The people of the city, like the rest of the country, were fascinated by the new field of aviation, so it is no wonder that so many streamed outdoors to catch a glimpse, no matter what it meant for their health.

Thousands of Syracuse thronged the streets and watched this practical demonstration of Americas great skill in the manufacture of air machines, the Herald reported.

Roofs of all the high buildings in the citys business districts were covered with hundreds and window space in all buildings was at a premium.

Arriving at Syracuse just as the noon whistles sounded, the bomber made a circle travelling over the post office, City Hall and the County Courthouse before continuing its way west.

Liberty Loan literature, provided by the Herald, was dropped at several drop points, the booklets being flung in all directions by the brisk wind then prevailing.

The people watching from below were stunned by the size of the plane.

Its great size was a revelation to Syracusans. Much has been read, of course, of the great length and width of the machine, but figures on such matters cannot be appreciated until the craft is actually seen.

There were no opinion pieces written about what the people had done, or the risks they had taken.

On the same day that the bomber flew over Syracuse, there was a small uptick in influenza deaths in the city.

The newspaper death list counted 48 more people succumbing to the sickness in the previous 24 hours.

READ MORE

1918: Syracuse bans all public gatherings for 17 days to halt spread of influenza

1905: No one knows who killed this Cayuga County hermit and miser with an ax

1913: How one man with smallpox endangered countless lives from Chittenango to Syracuse

1925: To halt the spread of disease, Syracuse declares war on spitting

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle at jcroyle@syracuse.com or call 315-427-3958.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has urged the Nigerian government to waive taxes for citizens as part of socio-economic palliatives for the impact of Coronavirus pandemic.

CISLACs Executive Director, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in a statement on Tuesday, noted with concern the current trend in the spread of Covid 19 virus pandemic.

According to him, the increasing global spread as well as the latest sporadic spread in Nigeria is worrying.

We also note the continual shut-down of government offices including the legislative arm of government both at national and state levels, schools, some international airports and private sector offices within the country.

CISLAC therefore urges citizens to abide by government directives on mass gathering and to observe personal hygiene, and imbibe healthy eating habits, the statement noted.

Mr Rafsanjani also called on governments at local, state and federal levels to be more prepared for disaster response and management to be able to curb the spread of the virus and other epidemics.

COVID 19 has, as of now, infected over 350, 000 people worldwide and killed 15, 000 globally.

CISLAC observes that inadequate preparedness for the management of epidemics, such as the Covid 19, is a result of poor funding allocation for the health sector, widespread corruption and lack of palliative measures.

Nigeria has only two doctors per 1000 citizens and 0.5 beds per 1000 citizens. Health personnel is unable to effectively deliver essential health services.

In addition, over 90 per cent of the Nigerian population is without health insurance coverage and cannot afford even basic health care, the executive-director lamented.

READ ALSO:

Continuing, Mr Rafsanjani said: CISLACs long-term experience in the health sector shows the inability to effectively address numerous public health challenges.

Political instability, corruption, limited institutional capacity and an unstable economy are major factors responsible for the poor development of health services in Nigeria.

Households and individuals in Nigeria suffer from dysfunctional and inequitable health system, which prompts them to delay or not seek health care and having to pay out of pocket for health care services that are not affordable.

This could prove disastrous in the context of the fast spreading COVID 19 pandemic.

Mr Rafsanjani, therefore, called on Nigerians to comply with health experts advice and government directives in order to stay safe from contracting Coronavirus.
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, a figurehead of Scotland's independence movement, was yesterday cleared of committing multiple sex offences against nine women after a case that led to divisions in the nationalist movement.

Mr Salmond (65) was found not guilty by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh of 12 charges, including attempted rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. A charge of sexual assault with intent to rape was found not proven.

Mr Salmond, who led the devolved Scottish government for seven years until 2014 and helped drive growing support for Scottish independence as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), had denied any wrongdoing.

Inappropriate

During the trial he said some of his behaviour had been inappropriate but he had not broken the law.

"Obviously, above all I would like to thank my friends and family for standing by me over the last two years," an emotional Mr Salmond said outside court.

In 2018, Mr Salmond took legal action against the Scottish devolved government, now led by his successor Nicola Sturgeon, over how it handled a complaints process against him in a sexual harassment case.

He won a judicial review in January last year over how that case was handled by the Scottish government when it conceded it had acted unlawfully in probing the harassment claims.

The case has pitted the two most popular figures in the Scottish independence movement against one another and a dispute has continued to simmer between two factions in the nationalist party.

SNP lawmaker Joanna Cherry said there needed to be an independent inquiry into how the allegations against Mr Salmond were handled by her party.

"Those of us who know him, and indeed many of the thousands of people who have met him over the years, did not recognise the man described in the evidence," Ms Cherry said in a statement.

"This verdict of acquittal is the culmination of two very lengthy investigations."
As the coronavirus raged across the nation, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice wondered why people were looking to him for answers. Justice, a billionaire Republican with no previous political experience leading a particularly high-risk state, has rambled through mixed messages on the virus, diminishing his credibility with some West Virginians who have said its been a struggle to discern exactly what he wants them to do.

The low point may have come in a heavily criticized address broadcast statewide Saturday evening, when Justice warned: If we dont act and we dont act as strongly as possible right now, were going to lose lives  and lots of lives just minutes after he declined to order a broad lockdown. As the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the states largest newspaper, noted in a headline, he urged action but took none.

Justice also offered jumbled sets of numbers that puzzled viewers in their randomness.

The big $64 dollar question is just this, he said at one point. We dont want to end up 10 days from today where New York is today.

The speech represented a low point in a shaky period of gubernatorial leadership, with the role itself seeming to baffle Justice at times. Speaking frankly in another speech last week, Justice cut himself off mid-sentence to interject a thought: I really dont know exactly why this is this way, but I guess everybody is looking to me or the government for guidance, you know.

That introspective comment came not long after Justice told people that if you want to go to Bob Evans and eat, go to Bob Evans and eat, as health officials and politicians around the world warned people to avoid crowded places.

While governors in neighboring states, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, as well as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have won praise for clear-eyed and specific guidance about the virus, criticism of Justice is coming from all angles.

Outside a grocery store Monday, West Virginia retiree Jim Hale just shook his head when asked about Justices Saturday night speech.

I was wanting to listen to what he had to say, Hale said as he loaded bags into his car. I dont know why we all wasted our time.

Jared Hunt, a spokesman for the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, shared his own take on Twitter, clearly and concisely echoing guidance offered previously by the governor to avoid crowds, practice good hygiene and stay home as much as possible.

I do believe theres an actual, important message West Virginians should understand tonight  because this is literally a deathly serious situation, Hunt wrote, But it did get lost in translation.

Republican Del. Joshua Higginbotham promptly endorsed one of the governors primary challengers, Woody Thrasher, on Twitter. Thrasher, he wrote,  can actually speak in coherent sentences. 

West Virginia Senate President Mitch Carmichael, a Republican who has sometimes been critical of Justice, said he didnt want to hammer on the governors statements but acknowledged the confusion around the governors remarks.

Its been widely viewed as creating a lot of uncertainty, he said in an interview.

Justice defended the speech, saying he was told he did a good job at relaying the threat.

Well first of all, I would be really remissed if I didnt tell you that, you know, my address on Saturday evening, you know, after hours and hours of discussion with these great people behind me, everyone here felt like that I was to go and do exactly what I delivered, Justice said at a Monday press conference in which he called for more decisive containment steps than he had included in the televised address.

West Virginia, with its high rates of older residents and people with existing health problems, has the nations highest percentage of adults at risk of developing serious illnesses from the virus, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Testing in the state has lagged, as it has nationally. West Virginia was the last state in the U.S. to report a confirmed case, which drew praise from President Donald Trump but was attributed by Justice himself to the low number of tests administered in the state. Less than two weeks ago, West Virginia had tested only 12 people, though that number is now in the hundreds, state health officials said. At least 20 people have tested positive.

The governor last week declared a state of emergency and ordered the closure of bars, restaurants, casinos, gyms, health clubs, recreation centers, barbershops, nail salons and hair salons. Schools statewide are closed until at least March 27.

On Monday, after calls from leaders in the states capital region for a stay-in-place directive, Justice announced he was going forward with the order to urge people to stay home as well as mandate the closure of nonessential businesses.

Still, problems abound. Dave Ramsey, president and CEO of the Charleston Area Medical Center, which serves the capital region, said health care workers feel abandoned by the federal and state governments.

We cant get the the equipment we need, we cant get the testing we need, said Ramsey in recorded video. Its as though theyre ignoring the people in the front line that are really taking care of patients in America.
On March 16, a lawsuit was filed in district court in New Orleans seeking a declaratory judgment about whether the business income coverage in a Lloyds property policy would cover a government-mandated shutdown or curtailment of a restaurant due to the coronavirus.

The policyholder law firm filing the suit asserted in a press release that, The policy issued by Lloyds of London provides coverage for a civil authority shutdown and does not contain an exclusion for a virus pandemic. As we shall see, the absence of a specific exclusion doesnt mean there is coverage if the insuring agreement is never triggered. In addition, a literal reading of the policy indicates that it, in fact, does not provide coverage for a civil authority shutdown of this type.

The press release goes on to say, We filed this action because we have reason to believe that Lloyds took premiums without the intention of providing the indemnity paid for. If there is no intent to cover losses caused by a viral pandemic (almost certainly the actuarial intent), then no premiums were taken to provide coverage that does not exist or was not intended to exist. The assertions in the suit for potential fraud appear to be patently absurd.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the claims in the lawsuit in the context of the actual policy form(s) involved and the facts and circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, including the governmental orders impacting many businesses.

Let me offer two caveats before I begin. First, I am not an attorney and nothing in this article should be construed as offering any type of legal advice. My goal is to offer a coverage analysis based on policy language and logic. Second, insurance is not a commodity. Policy forms are different and the analysis in this article largely addresses one industry-standard form which, by chance, happens to be the form used in the Lloyds policy.

There have already been numerous articles written, many by attorneys, opining whether or not most business income policies cover business interruptions caused by viral pandemics and any resulting shutdowns imposed by civil authorities. Many of these articles cite specific case law dealing with pollution exclusions and what constitutes direct physical loss in policy insuring agreements. At the end of this article is a listing of recommended articles including an excellent one is entitled Commercial Property Insurance Coverage and Coronavirus by attorney Shannon OMalley of Zelle LLP.

The consensus of most legal pundits and insurance experts is that most business income policies do NOT cover shutdowns due to viral pandemics. But, as this article intends to demonstrate, even if they did, the amount of coverage available would likely be minimal at best.

The Lloyds policy in question, according to the copy I received, offers coverage under the ISO CP 00 30 10 12  Business Income (And Extra Expense) Coverage Form, an industry-standard form and probably the most common business income coverage policy found in the insurance marketplace. With that as the coverage basis for this article, lets review the assertions in the lawsuit.

Policy Exclusions

The lawsuits FACTUAL BACKGROUND claims that the Lloyds policy provides all risk coverage. It then goes on to say that An all risk policy is an insurance policy which covers all risks unless clearly and specifically excluded. That is not technically a factual statement. Presumably, its made to support the statement two paragraphs later that, The policy does not provide any exclusion due to losses, business or property, from a virus or global pandemic.

The absence of a specific exclusion doesnt create coverage. Coverage is created initially by the policys insuring agreement(s). Sometimes an exclusion is included in a policy simply to reiterate, clarify, or amplify that certain exposures are not covered in order to prevent or minimize litigation. However, the failure to include specific exclusions for every conceivable cause of loss is not practical and, again, is not evidence that any omitted cause of loss is covered, especially when there is no express mention in the policy of coverage for all risks.

To illustrate, in 2006, ISO introduced the CP 01 40 07 06  Exclusion Of Loss Due To Virus Or Bacteria endorsement. The reason cited in their Forms Filing CF-2006-OVBEF (a state-specific version was filed in Louisiana). The reason for the endorsement cited in the filing was that, while the current pollution exclusion in ISO property forms encompasses contamination, incidents at that time involving viral and bacterial contaminants like SARS and legionella warranted specifically addressing those causes of loss. According to the filing [emphasis added]:

Disease-causing agents may render a product impure (change its quality or substance), or enable the spread of disease by their presence on interior building surfaces or the surfaces of personal property. When disease-causing viral or bacterial contamination occurs, potential claims involve the cost of replacement of property (for example, the milk), cost of decontamination (for example, interior building surfaces), and business interruption (time element) losses.

Although building and personal property could arguably become contaminated (often temporarily) by such viruses and bacteria, the nature of the property itself would have a bearing on whether there is actual property damage. An allegation of property damage may be a point of disagreement in a particular case.

In addition, pollution exclusions are at times narrowly applied by certain courts. In recent years, ISO has filed exclusions to address specific exposures relating to contaminating or harmful substances. Examples are the mold exclusion in property and liability policies and the liability exclusion addressing silica dust. Such exclusions enable elaboration of the specific exposure and thereby can reduce the likelihood of claim disputes and litigation.

While property policies have not been a source of recovery for losses involving contamination by disease-causing agents, the specter of pandemic or hitherto unorthodox transmission of infectious material raises the concern that insurers employing such policies may face claims in which there are efforts to expand coverage and to create sources of recovery for such losses, contrary to policy intent.

In light of these concerns, we are presenting an exclusion relating to contamination by disease-causing viruses or bacteria or other disease-causing microorganisms.  Copyright ISO Properties Inc., 2006. Reprinted under license from Insurance Services Office Inc.

Via filings with state regulatory authorities throughout the country, ISO expresses the intent of its policy language, even without the filed endorsement, to not cover loss or damage caused by or resulting from any virus, bacterium or other microorganism that induces or is capable of inducing physical distress, illness or disease. The CP 01 40 endorsement was created to head off any unintended claim disputes and litigation.

The Lloyds policy in question includes the unendorsed language in the ISO forms that continues to include the pollution exclusion referenced in the filing. To further support the intent of these forms to not cover viral contamination, we have to look to the insuring agreement(s) as well.

Insuring Agreement(s)

The policy form insuring agreement includes the following [emphasis added]:

We will pay for the actual loss of Business Income you sustain due to the necessary suspension of your operations during the period of restoration. The suspension must be caused by direct physical loss of or damage to property at premises which are described in the Declarations and for which a Business Income Limit Of Insurance is shown in the Declarations. The loss or damage must be caused by or result from a Covered Cause of Loss.

The lawsuit asserts that, It is clear that contamination of the insured premises by the Coronavirus would be a direct physical loss needing remediation to clean the surfaces of the establishment. The key phrase here and in many other lawsuits is direct physical loss. So, what constitutes direct physical loss?

As mentioned earlier, at the end of this article is a listing of articles that specifically cite case law addressing the direct physical loss issue. Does the mere presence of a substance on the surface of property, especially that which can be removed with a Clorox wipe, constitute direct physical loss? In the case of Columbiaknit, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., cited in the Commercial Property Insurance Coverage and Coronavirus article, the court stated:

The recognition that physical damage or alteration of property may occur at the microscopic level does not obviate the requirement that physical damage need be distinct and demonstrable.

The mere adherence of molecules to porous surfaces, without more, does not equate to physical loss or damage.

In other words, if the surface of property can be cleaned such that the property has not been altered then, in one view, it has suffered no direct physical damage. The view hold that, in order to constitute direct physical damage, there must be some permanency and not just a temporary impairment. As suggested by the ISO CP 01 40 filing, the nature of the property itself would have a bearing on whether there is actual property damage. Smoke from a fire, especially one with hazardous residue, can result in the destruction of food products but may be relatively easily cleaned on nonporous surfaces.

If someones vehicle is dirty, would the owner consider filing an auto insurance physical damage claim, or would he or she simply wash the vehicle? When a homes contents become dusty or outdoor property is covered in pollen, do home owners rush to file homeowners contents claims because this contamination is especially hazardous to people with respiratory problems, or do they dust or, in the case of outdoor property, wait for the evenings anticipated rainfall to remedy the damage?

Current science indicates that the coronavirus doesnt survive more than 12-72 hours on most surfaces. In other words, even if left untreated, the damage self-destructs. Most auto policy collision coverage applies only to direct physical loss. If you damage a fender in a wreck, it does not restore itself to its undamaged state. Property charred by fire does not magically heal. In the case of coronavirus contamination, the affected property becomes unaffected in a matter of time. The property is only temporarily impaired and suffers no real permanent damage.

Perhaps seemingly frivolous claims like dirty cars has never been tested because deductibles would preclude recovery anyway. Or perhaps common sense dictates that superficial damage should just be remediated without involving an insurance adjuster or the courts?

Admittedly, a viral contamination is potentially more serious than one involving dirt and dust or even the impact of pollen on someone with respiratory problems or allergies. However, at this point, we are concerned with whether there is actually any real, direct and physical damage, not the potential amount of the damage in the form of a loss of business income. Also, keep in mind that the burden of proof is on the insured that an insuring agreement is triggered. Well come back to that point momentarily.

Finally, there is some case law that supports an interpretation of direct physical loss to include damage that is not structural but could make the premises unfit for occupancy or functionality. However, a notable difference between those cases and the present one is that there was actually proof of some manifestation of at least an odor. In the lawsuit in question, no specific evidence is provided of any viral contamination. In fact, neither of the governmental orders covered in the following section of this article allege any actual damage anywhere.

This situation is reminiscent of a condition in most property policies that insureds must reasonably protect their property from further damage and the insurer will pay for the cost to do so. So, for example, if a hurricane knocks out the windows in a building and the owner has someone board up the windows to protect the interior of the building, the insurer will pay for that expense. However, if the owner boards up the window because a hurricane is approaching, that expense is usually not covered. Its only after there has been damage that coverage is triggered. Similarly, in this case, there must actually BE damagepreventive measures are not covered and prevention of disease transmission is precisely the purpose of government-mandated closures.

As an aside, whats interesting is the actual language in the ISO form. The full phrase in the policy language is direct physical loss of or damage to property. There are two ways to interpret this grammatically:

The consensus interpretation: [direct physical loss of] or [direct physical damage] to property

An alternative interpretation: [direct physical loss of] [or damage to] property

The first interpretation applies the direct physical requirement to loss and damage. The second interpretation only applies the direct physical requirement to loss, otherwise implying that any other kind of damage short of loss does not require the damage to be of a direct physical nature.

I dont know if this has ever been litigated as a syntactical ambiguity, but it might be an approach to get around the direct physical requirement for damage.

Order of Civil Authority

Since there was allegedly no known viral contamination at the restaurant which is the subject of the lawsuit, the suits focus is on the impact of governmental orders to discontinue, curtail, or modify operations in a way that causes a loss of business income due to a cessation or slowdown of business activities. For a restaurant, this could include a mandate to close, reduce occupancy, or limit sales to carry-out, drive-thru, or delivery.

The lawsuit specifically references proclamations from the governor and the mayor. The governors order applies to certain businesses:

because of the ability of the COVID-19 virus to spread via personal interactions and because of physical contamination of property due to its propensity to attach to surfaces for prolonged periods of time.some business establishments are unable to continue current operations without unacceptable risks to the health and safety of the public. [emphasis added]

The mayors order says that:

there is reason to believe that COVID-19 may be spread amongst the population by various means of exposure, including the propensity to spread person to person and the propensity to attach to surfaces for prolonged periods of time, thereby spreading from surface to person and causing property loss and damage in certain circumstances. [emphasis added]

Why is the rationale for the orders of interest? This is the Civil Authority Additional Coverage in the ISO form [emphasis added]:

Civil Authority  In this Additional Coverage, Civil Authority, the described premises are premises to which this Coverage Form applies, as shown in the Declarations.

When a Covered Cause of Loss causes damage to property other than property at the described premises, we will pay for the actual loss of Business Income you sustain and necessary Extra Expense caused by action of civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises, provided that both of the following apply:

(1) Access to the area immediately surrounding the damaged property is prohibited by civil authority as a result of the damage, and the described premises are within that area but are not more than one mile from the damaged property; and

(2) The action of civil authority is taken in response to dangerous physical conditions resulting from the damage or continuation of the Covered Cause of Loss that caused the damage, or the action is taken to enable a civil authority to have unimpeded access to the damaged property.

Civil Authority Coverage for Business Income will begin 72 hours after the time of the first action of civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises and will apply for a period of up to four consecutive weeks from the date on which such coverage began.

Civil Authority Coverage for Extra Expense will begin immediately after the time of the first action of civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises and will end:

(1) Four consecutive weeks after the date of that action; or

(2) When your Civil Authority Coverage for Business Income ends; whichever is later.  Copyright Insurance Services Office, Inc., 2011. Reprinted under license from Insurance Services Office Inc.

Lets examine each of the highlighted policy language excerpts:

When a Covered Cause of Loss causes damage to property other than property at the described premises.

The first requirement for coverage is that there must be damage to property other than the subject property (a provision later requires this other property to be within a mile of the subject property). Note that the requirement here is simply damage and not necessarily direct physical damage. However, the requirement is that there IS damage, not that that there might be or could be damage. Nothing in the lawsuit supports the plaintiffs burden of proof that there IS damage that triggers the insuring agreement.

caused by action of civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises.

If there IS damage, the resulting loss to the subject insured must be caused by an order of the civil authority that prohibits access to the described premises. If, for example, the governmental order allows restaurants to continue operations with a drive-thru or carry-out, then there is no access prohibition.

Access to the area immediately surrounding the damaged property is prohibited by civil authority as a result of the damage.

Finally, this condition (and a second one cited in the policy language) must be met for coverage to be triggered. That does not appear to be the case in the circumstances cited by the lawsuit. There has been no demonstrated damage to nearby property, nor does a civil authority order prohibit access to the area immediately surrounding the damaged property. As far as I know, citizens are free to walk the streets throughout this areathey simply, at worst, cant transact business at some establishments.

Clearly, the premise of the lawsuit does not trigger civil authority coverage because of the clear and unambiguous language of the policy. This illustrates how important it is to read the precise language in the insurance contract in question and not generalize about coverage.

Despite one of the primary assertions of the lawsuit (a requirement of direct physical damage) not being applicable, there simply is no proof of damage. This situation is akin to the FAA effectively shutting down airports and the businesses therein following 9/11. For example, in United Air Lines, Inc. v. Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, the court said closures were based on the fear of future attacks, not because of the damage to the Pentagon.

Likewise, closer to home in the Louisiana case of 730 Bienville Partners, Ltd. V. Assurance Co. of America, the court found that the order of civil authority coverage did not apply to a hotels loss of business due to the FAA closure of airports following 9/11.

Its interesting that the governmental proclamations specifically reference property damage as a basis for the order. Perhaps this language was suggested by an astute attorney familiar with 9/11 litigation and/or insurance policy language. However, a proclamation does not constitute proof and the reality is that the circumstances of this pandemic simply do not trigger coverage under this policy language. And, if were being honest, any denial of access is not really a result of the damageits to prevent the communication of the virus from person to person using property surfaces as the means of transmission.

In February, ISO made two advisory forms available to subscribing insurers:

Business Interruption: Limited Coverage For Certain Civil Authority Orders Relating To Coronavirus

Business Interruption: Limited Coverage For Certain Civil Authority Orders Relating To Coronavirus (Including Orders Restricting Some Modes Of Public Transportation)

The introduction of these coverage forms supports the premise that, without them, ISO considers their business income forms to not provide coverage otherwise. Whether courts will concur with that presumption is another matter.

Conclusions

There is a consensus among insurance coverage experts and likely case law that direct physical damage of property requires more than superficial, temporary contamination that can be remediated relatively quickly and inexpensively.

Case law that has found superficial damage to constitute direct physical damage is based on damage that has actually occurred, not on damage that might have occurred or could possibly occur.

Even where damage can be proven, the language of the Civil Authority coverage in the ISO business income forms is unlikely to be triggered, especially when governmental orders, however phrased, are issued not because of any actual property damage, but rather to prevent property damage and, more likely, to prevent the spread of disease from person to person. The property damage angle, at best, is an attempt to trigger insurance coverage where none exists and for which no premium was ever collected.

Finally, in the unlikely event that coverage IS triggered, the amount of coverage is likely to be limited. In the case of damage at the insured property, there is often a 72-hour waiting period for coverage. Most premises can be remediated within that time frame such that there is little, if any, loss of business income and any extra expense payment is likely to be relatively low. Similarly, the ability to clean the facilities quickly, even HVAC treatment, means that, if the 72-hour period is exceeded, it likely wont be by much. And, in the case of civil authority orders, the coverage is usually limited to 2-4 weeks.

It will be interesting to see how the courts respond to this and other lawsuits seeking coverage. My conclusion, based on the policy language addressed in this article, is that there will be little, if any, coverage for business income loss. If there is coverage to be found, it will likely be for remediation under direct property forms and/or extra expense coverage under business income forms. Regardless, I would not anticipate long-term coverage for business income losses.

This article has been reprinted with permission from www.InsuranceCommentary.com.

Wilsons recommended reading:

Commercial Property Insurance Coverage and Coronavirus by Shannon OMalley, Zelle LLP

https://www.zelle.com/assets/htmldocuments/Commercial%20Property%20Insurance%20Coverage%20and%20Coronavirus.pdf

First Coronavirus Coverage Suit Filed For Business Interruption by Randy Maniloff, White and Williams LLP

https://www.whiteandwilliams.com/resources-alerts-First-Coronavirus-Coverage-Suit-Filed-For-Business-Interruption.html

Coronavirus: Is There Coverage Under Property Insurance by Paul Ferland and Alycen A. Moss, Cozen OConnor

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2f384dcf-bcfe-4e56-9611-5cfa5b08e424

Why Everyone Should Tender a COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim to Their Insurers by Nicholas Reuhs, Ice Miller LLP

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=49c91b2d-1c71-4122-88fc-a2a096f04ca4

Will Business Interruption Insurance Provide Coverage for Coronavirus Losses? by Julie E. Nevins and Robert Lewin, Stroock Special Bulletin

https://www.stroock.com/publication/will-business-interruption-insurance-provide-coverage-for-coronavirus-losses/

Applying Commercial Property Insurance To COVID-19 Losses by David Kroeger and Elin Park, Jenner & Block LLP

https://jenner.com/system/assets/publications/19625/original/kroeger%20park%20March%20ILU%20March%2012%202020.pdf?1584115939

Topics Lawsuits COVID-19 Claims Excess Surplus Profit Loss Property Pollution Lloyd's
(Photo : REUTERS/Stephane Mahe) A medical worker, wearing a protective face mask and a protective suit, works in a pulmonology unit at the hospital in Vannes where patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are treated, France, March 20, 2020.

A recent debate between Piers Morgan and Matt Hancock was filled with fumes on Good Morning Britain as NHS or National Health Service staff reveal that nurses don't feel protected due to the fact that they have to share masks! The coronavirus (COVID-19) has started to spread around the world and is rapidly growing still.

The global shortage of supplies is due to the increasing demand for face masks, which were originally manufactured for the medical personnel but have recently been used by individuals for private security reasons.

Piers accusations towards the government

According to Piers, the Health Secretary is misleading the British public and unable to protect the very NHS workers who battle the virus. Matt Hancock has just denied that the government was ever planning to deploy a herd immunity strategy and also added that the frontline medics were the top priority.

Piers then claimed that the NHS was being "run over" and that the government was "woefully ill-prepared" when it comes to dealing with this pandemic. The most striking sentence was, "The nurses don't feel protected" --this sums up the entirety of the whole situation.

Read Also: Could the Coronavirus be Targeting Men? 70% of Covid-19 Deaths in Italy are Male Leaving Scientists 'Mystified'

According to Piers, "Why is it that Spain, France, Italy, Belgium; all these other countries around us in Europe are in almost total lockdown and we see these catastrophically stupid scenes across the country...we've seen all weekend people going out partying like it's a bank holiday. "

The nurses and medical personnel affected

Nurses within the Hillingdon Hospital are reported working 36-hour shifts that is within the Prime Minister's constituency. These nurses have come out and said that they have to wash, reuse, and even share masks while taking care of patients who have been tested positive of the coronavirus!

The Doctors' Association chairman by the name of Dr. Rinesh Parmar made an appeal to Boris Johnsonexpressing that nurses and doctors feel like "cannon fodder" due to the lack of kits and other protective equipment.

Read Also: Maker of $11,000 Ventilator Valves Threatens to Sue Volunteers Using $1 3D-Printed Replicas That Just Saved 10 Coronavirus Patients!

A letter was then written as a follow up in the Sunday Times, stating that almost 4,000 NHS workers have been expressing their concerns to the Prime Minister to "protect the lives of the life-savers" by resolving the "unacceptable" shortage of necessary protective equipment.

Actions being currently taken

According to NHS England, millions of other PPE items had been delivered to hospitals, ambulance trusts, care homes, and etc. over the last few days. Aside from PPEs being delivered, the army would also "play its part" by offering help in the distribution of the supplies.

According to the Health Secretary, there have been signed new laws over the recent weekend that which has given the police power to enforce bans towards pubs, clubs, and restaurants as well.

Piers has pointed out that herd immunity has been their constant choice of strategy, but Matt Hancock has been adamant and consistently denying that it has ever been the strategy.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The barrister son of a millionaire law lord nicknamed 'Sid Vicious' has blown his entire inheritance on a losing battle with his step-sisters over his father's will.

Michael Templeman, 68, went to war with Sarah Edworthy, 66, and Jane Goss-Custard, 70, after his father, Lord Sydney Templeman, left them his 580,000 home in Devon in his will.

Under a previous will, the famously sharp-witted judge - who earned his nickname from wary lawyers on the wrong end of his quick ripostes - had left most of his 817,000 estate to Mr Templeman and his brother Peter, with the sisters getting just 18,000 each.

His death, aged 94 in 2014, sparked a bitter family feud, with Mr Templeman, of Woking, Surrey, claiming twice-widowed Lord Templeman was not in his right mind when he changed his will.

The brilliant-minded judge was suffering from dementia at the time he changed his plans to leave the house to the sisters in 2008 and was so forgetful he could not even use his Sky TV remote control, his son said.

But the High Court has now ruled the will was valid after finding that Lord Templeman wanted the sisters - who were step-daughters of his last wife, Sheila - to get the house, because of his 'love and affection' for them.

The will of Lord Sydney Templeman including his 580,000 home in Devon was at the centre of a legal battle after he gave it to his second wife's stepdaughters instead of his barrister son Michael Templeman, 68, (pictured outside court)

Michael Templeman, 68, went to war with Sarah Edworthy, 66, (left outside court) and Jane Goss-Custard, 70, (right outside court) after his father, Lord Sydney Templeman, left them his 580,000 home in Devon in his will

Ruling against Michael and his wife Lesley, Mr Justice Fancourt also ordered him to pay the costs of the case - which are thought to be up to 350,000, more than three times the windfall of approximately 100,000 he inherited under his father's will.

The judge said the house, known as Mellowstone, in Exeter, had only come to Lord Templeman from Sheila and he was keen that it reverted back to her family - Ms Edworthy and Ms Goss-Custard - when he died.

'He had come to love them as if they were his own daughters and they him as if he were a father,' he told the court.

He added: 'He left it to them because he felt, emotionally, that that was where Mellowstone belonged.

'He wanted to pass it back to Sheila's family because he felt that it properly belonged there.

'The reason for doing so was the love and affection that he felt in August 2018 for Jane and Sarah.'

The court heard Lord Templeman married his first wife, Margaret Rowles, in 1946 and had two sons, Michael, and the Rev Peter Templeman, who did not contest the validity of the will.

He retired from the House of Lords judicial committee in 1994 and married second wife, Sheila Edworthy, in 1996, treating her stepdaughters, Ms Edworthy and Ms Goss-Custard, as his own.

Mellowstone had been built by Sheila and her first husband, Ms Edworthy and Ms Goss-Custard's father John Edworthy, in 1974. The sisters described it as their 'family home' of over 40 years and Lord Templeman moved in following the marriage.

His own property, Manor Heath, in Woking, Surrey, was sold for 815,000 in 1997 and the proceeds split between him and his two sons.

Sydney Templemans razor-sharp intellect earned him the epithet 'Sid Vicious' (Sydney Templeman is pictured)

Earlier wills of Lord Templeman divided the vast majority of his fortune between his sons - but he had a change of heart following Sheila's death in 2008, the court heard.

A new will was drawn up and signed in August 2018, leaving Mellowstone - which he had by then himself inherited from Sheila - to Ms Goss-Custard, 70, of Lympstone, near Exeter, and Ms Edworthy, 66, of Newport, south Wales.

His own sons would split most of what was left, getting about 100,000 each.

Challenging the will, Mr Templeman, 68, - who represented himself - argued that his father did not have sufficient mental capacity to make it at the time and that Ms Edworthy and Ms Goss-Custard should get only the 18,000 apiece they were due under his previous will.

At the time he made the will, he could not use his TV remote control and, despite being financially secure, frequently worried 'irrationally' about his income and tax, and carried a sheaf of crib sheets to remind him 'what not to worry about,' his son said.

He also appeared to have forgotten that he had already made an amended will in 2004, leaving only 18,000 each to the sisters, with the brothers getting most of an estate valued at 817,000, he claimed.

'His memory was not working well and he was not thinking clearly,' Michael told the judge during a hearing in January.

Ms Edworthy and Ms Goss-Custard had already received a major windfall when Sheila passed onto them shares in a 'very very desirable' 870,000 waterfront property in Cornwall, he said.

In then going back on that by making the new will in 2008, there was 'the strongest possible evidence that he had forgotten' what was agreed, said Mr Templeman.

But the sisters said the retired judge was no more than 'slightly forgetful' by the time the will was made, with Mrs Edworthy telling the court: 'I can understand somebody of 80-odd not being able to use a Sky control.'

Lord Templeman left his 580,000 Exeter home (pictured) to Sarah Edworthy, 66, and Jane Goss-Custard, 70, the stepdaughters of his second wife, Sheila

Their barrister, Alexander Learmonth, said the scrupulously fair lord's decision to pass Mellowstone to the sisters was understandable, given it had been 'their family home.'

'Lord Templeman was by all accounts - including Mr and Mrs Templeman's - a man for whom fairness was an important consideration,' he said.

Mr Templeman had also himself accepted gifts of large sums of money 'without quibble' when his father handed out more than 500,000 to members of his family between 2009 and 2011, said the barrister.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt said that, as well as Mellowstone having been their stepmother Sheila's originally, the sisters had grown incredibly close to Lord Templeman in the two decades before he died.

'Contrary to his reputation as an uncompromising judge...Lord Templeman clearly had a very different side to him: a warm, emotionally empathetic and loving side, with devotion to those who loved and cared for him,' he said.

He added: 'It is very clear that, in sharing with Jane and Sarah the final years of his life with Sheila, he became very attached to them and was to all intents and purposes part of their family.

'They helped him to care for Sheila at the end of her life and they helped him to look after his and her affairs before her death and then helped him to cope with his grief.

'All the evidence suggests that Lord Templeman was at all times a strong and decisive person, as well as someone who was concerned to do the right thing as he understood it to be.

'I consider that he was making a gift of Mellowstone because that is what he wanted to do.'

The judge said Lord Templeman had had difficulty with his short-term memory at the time he made the will, but his memory of distant events was 'very good' and his working memory 'functional.'

'In that regard, his considerable pre-morbid intellect assisted him,' he said.

'There is no cogent evidence to suggest that Lord Templeman's mental functioning was impaired in 2008 to any significant degree except in respect of the difficulty the was experiencing with his episodic memory.'

The judge ruled that the 2018 will - leaving Mellowstone to the sisters - was Lord Templeman's last valid will.

He ordered that Michael pay the sisters' costs of the case - estimated at about 350,000 - with 200,000 up front pending assessment of the final bill.
Resistance is a well-intentioned, well-crafted film on a worthy topic: the anti-fascist activity during World War II of Marcel Marceau, the late, great French mime known best for saying nothing at all, let alone anything political. But the handsomely mounted, Czech Republic and German-shot Resistance is partially undone by one of its most basic aspects, the casting of the main character.

Jesse Eisenberg, so good in last years The Art of Self-Defense, is Marceau, the gangly son of a Jewish butcher in the northern French town of Strasbourg on the German border. Its the late 30s and Marcel has little interest in following in his fathers professional footsteps or the politics and activism that consume his brother, Alain (Felix Moati). Instead, hed rather entertain denizens of a local cabaret with his Charlie Chaplin impression, something that shames his father.

Things start to change for the aspiring actor when he reluctantly agrees to help with a group of Jewish orphans from across the border that the German government has allowed to leave  after killing their parents. It helps that he has a bit of a crush on one of the organizers of the goodwill mission, Emma (Clemence Poesy).

It turns out the children love his mime act. One of the older girls, Elsbeth (Bella Ramsey, who played Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones) really bonds with him. But he doesnt have a lot of time to bask in adulation. After the Germans invade, Marcel, Alain, Emma and other members of the French Resistance flee with the children to southern France before trying to escape to Switzerland.

More Information "Resistance" Rated R: for some violence Running time: 121 minutes Streaming: on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play/YouTube, Vudu, PlayStation, cable platforms beginning March 27 *** (out of 5) See More Collapse

Eisenberg  who, at 36, is more than twice as old as Marceau was when he became involved with the orphans  gamely throws himself into the role, but he never disappears into it. Hes still Eisenberg, tics and all, and his hit-or-miss accent only underscores that problem. In fact, the film has a larger issue in that the Germans, when speaking among themselves, only speak German, while the French characters, like Eisenberg, all speak accented English of varying quality. Theres also a bit of cameo casting, with Edgar Ramirez and Ed Harris showing up in small roles, the latter as General Patton.

So its not a surprise then that the most compelling character is the horrific Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, aka The Butcher of Lyons, played with a chilling but gleeful cruelty by German actor Matthias Schweighofer. All of the films best, and most suspenseful moments, involve him. When hes on screen, Resistance becomes the powerhouse movie director/writer Jonathan Jakubowicz clearly wants it to be. (Schweighofer, a star in Germany and Austria, deservedly may become better known on this side of the world after he appears in Zack Snyders next film, Army of the Dead.)

Still, for all its flaws, Resistance does shine the light on a figure who may not have had much to say on stage but, when German push came to Gestapo shove, valiantly spoke through his actions.

cary.darling@chron.com
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed Ukraines interest in joining NATO's Enhanced Opportunity Partnership and counts on the support of Germany.

He stated this following online talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance. I confirmed my German counterpart Ukraines interest in obtaining the status of a participant in the Enhanced Opportunity Partnership. We will be grateful to Germany for supporting Ukraine in this matter, Kuleba said.

As reported, in January 2020, Ukraine formally applied for membership in NATOs Enhanced Opportunities Partner program which is a tool for deepening the Alliance's bilateral cooperation with third countries.

ish
Infosys was up 7.76% to Rs 567.55 after the company said the US Securities & Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation on the whistleblower allegations.

As previously disclosed, in connection with the audit committee's investigation into certain whistleblower complaints which concluded in January 2020, Infosys cooperated with an investigation by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the same matters, Infosys said in a statement on Tuesday, 24 March 2020.

Infosys said it received notification from the SEC that it has concluded its investigation and the company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter. Infosys added that it has also responded to all the inquires received from the Indian regulatory authorities. The IT major said it will continue to cooperate with the authorities should there be any additional requests for information.

On 21 October 2019, an anonymous whistleblowers accused the chief executive officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and chief financial officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of "unethical practices".

In November 2019, Infosys said that the anonymous complaints make certain allegations. There is no supporting evidence to substantiate the allegations. Two of the anonymous complaints were received on 30 September 2019. On 16 October 2019, the company was made aware of a letter that refers to 30 September 2019 complaint purportedly written to the office of whistleblower protection program, Washington D.C.

The anonymous complaints were placed before the audit committee and the non-executive members of the board, in accordance with the whistleblower practice of the company.

After unveiling Q3 results in January 2020, Infosys announced conclusion of the independent investigation into allegations contained in the anonymous whistleblower complaints disclosed earlier. The audit committee determined that the allegations are substantially without merit. It concluded that no restatement of previously announced financial statements or other published financial information is warranted.

Infosys' consolidated net profit soared 12.23% to Rs 4,457 crore on a 2.04% rise in net sales to Rs 23,092 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019.

Infosys is engaged in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services.

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Global healthcare provider Iqarus, an International SOS company, has developed and launched a new service to safely manage suspected cases of coronavirus following their disembarkation from an offshore location.

The new service, CMED, includes assessments to determine if a worker is fit to travel, and the provision of tailored advice from the Iqarus clinical team, in line with current Health Protection Scotland guidance.

Since the first reports of a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19) on an offshore installation in the Norwegian section of the North Sea, there has been a steady increase of suspected and confirmed cases.

Iqarus has been working round the clock with its client base to support them in mitigating their risk, encouraging clients to closely monitor the situation and advise them on how best to safely continue operations.

The global healthcare provider has now developed a service to support clients with the receipt, transfer and assessment of suspected cases of COVID-19 from Aberdeen heliports which allows duty holders to meet their obligation to assess patients and determine if they are fit for onward travel.

Dr Stuart Scott, clinical director, offshore, topside and diving at Iqarus explained: Offshore assets are confined spaces, with plenty of movement by multinational staff on and off the rig, usually by helicopter between onshore bases in Norway and the UK

With cases increasing across both countries, it was only ever a matter of time before the virus spread to offshore platforms.

In order to offer a solution to the growing concern of operators and offshore workers, Iqarus can now offer clinically appropriate transport from either of the Aberdeen heliports to its dedicated reception centre in Aberdeen.

Following initial offshore assessment from the asset medic, the patient will then be transported via bespoke helicopters  aptly dubbed the corona copter  that meet full hygiene standards for each trip.

Upon arrival on-shore the patient is assessed following which the healthcare providers team of specialist clinicians will advise suitability for onward travel or alternatively, refer them to the next point of assessment.

Dr Scott continued: Until now, returning suspected or confirmed cases back to shore for treatment was a predicament. The wellbeing of others, and mitigation of infection spread is paramount to operations. Flying patients back brought with it concerns for pilots safety, whilst teams onshore have not been properly set up to deal with potentially high-risk cases.

This new service, further backed by the recently confirmed helicopter operators, means that we can assess those patients quickly with the best quality of care at the heart of it.

The new opt- in service, CMED, is available to all duty holders in line with HSE L123. Fully risk assessed, it is the exclusive means by which Iqarus will use a medevac for suspected COVID-19 cases.

Dr Scott also reminds clients and the wider business community that following government guidelines and best practice for good hygiene is still key to restricting the spread of the virus.

For offices, we recommend following the standard guidance for any business in terms of good hygiene and travel screening. Its all about educating employees and keeping them informed. We all have a responsibility to protect the people who work for us and with us, he said.

In addition to providing accurate information, especially during the initial uncertain period when a new virus emerges, advice on how to mitigate further risks and ensure business continuity should be shared.

Iqarus key recommendations include:

*Government advice remains that those who develop symptoms of a new continuous / persistent cough, or a high temperature (above 38oC) should self-isolate for 7 days;

*Those who share a household with someone who develops these symptoms should self-isolate for 14 days to ensure they do not develop symptoms themselves;

*People who are asymptomatic are advised to follow social distancing measures to minimise the spread of Covid-19;

*This advice also applies to those mobilising to offshore installations. Individual installation operators will risk assess individuals who have travelled internationally within the last 14 days;

*Health Protection Scotland have advised that testing of symptomatic individuals is currently not being carried out offshore; and

*If there are any concerns as to whether a particular individual should mobilise offshore, these should be discussed with your Medical Advisor and recommendations will be made on a case by case basis.

Iqarus, which has been providing healthcare solutions for the oil and gas industry for more than 40 years, delivers effective medical and occupational health services in complex and demanding operating environments.

As the largest provider of healthcare to the industry, its medical and security experts have extensive experience supporting clients in previous outbreaks including Ebola, Zika virus, plague, SARS, bird flu and the H1N1 2009 influenza pandemic. -- Tradearabia News Service
Italian writer based in Tunis discusses work in progress Nicolai focuses on memory and meeting of cultures

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 24 - In a period marked by the coronavirus emergency, some have opted to return to Italy while others remain abroad. Venetian writer Elena Nicolai, based in Tunis after a period in Pakistan, has been taking advantage of these days of general quarantine in Tunisia to finish writing her latest work. In Tunis, a crossroads of history and cultures, Nicolai's characters meet. The author tries to bring together various cultures and distant places in her work, through destinies swept up by historical currents. Accompanying the protagonist of "Il Vecchio Leone" ("The Old Lion"), her debut novel published in 2017, readers find themselves in an Italian province where the colours of Tunisian streets and meet-ups in crowded cafes can be found once more. Jasmines, the flower that became symbolic of the country's uprising, is seen in a chapter entitled "Il Profumo del Gelsomino" (The Scent of Jasmine").



Memory, reflection and the search for meaning through distant lands was also a key theme in her second novel, "L'Albero delle Quaglie - Tra i Sentieri di Islamabad un Segreto", published in 2018. The author told ANSA that her latest novel is expected to be published prior to Christmas 2020. (ANSAmed).




March 24 : On March 25, 2020, the auspicious Marathi New Year ( Gudi Padwa 2020 ) will be celebrated in Maharashtra and also people from Goa. Make this festival extra special by sharing these freely downloadable Whatsapp status videos and share with your loved ones. Scroll on and also view all the Gudi Padwa greeting cards, wishes, and messages that are perfect to make this festive season extra special.

Status 1: Gudi Padwa WhatsApp Status Free Download

Status 2: Gudi Padwa WhatsApp Status Free Download

Smile and welcome happiness into your homes this New Year

Happy Gudi Padwa

Image Source: Prokerala.com Celebrate Gudi Padwa with Whatsapp stickers

Image Source: Prokerala.com Shine bright this Gudi Padwa

Spreading love, and luck to my loved ones with my prayers

May your dreams come true

Happy Gudi Padwa

Image Source: Prokerala.com May Gudi Padwa bring you love and luck this year

Life is about love

Life is about forgiveness

Let positive spirits fill your home and life from now on

Happy Marathi New Year
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- One of West Michigans largest employers is shutting down all manufacturing through April 13.

Officials with Herman Miller, a furniture manufacturer based in Zeeland, announced Monday, March 23, they would temporarily stop all West Michigan manufacturing operations effective at midnight.

The announcement came after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday, March 23, ordered all residents to stay home and most businesses to close through April 13 to slow the spread of coronavirus.

It was not immediately clear if Herman Millers manufacturing operations would be allowed to continue under the order. Only businesses deemed essential are allowed to continue operating throughout the stay-at-home order.

Related: Cases of coronavirus in Kent, Ottawa counties continue to rise

Herman Miller did not immediately respond to attempts for additional comment. Anyone with questions or needing additional information is asked by the company to call 1-800-597-8970.

According to Grand Rapids-based economic development group The Right Place, Herman Miller was the seventh largest employer in West Michigan in 2017 with 3,621 employees.

As of Monday afternoon, March 23, Kent County has 29 cases of coronavirus and Ottawa County has 13 cases, according to the latest data from county health officials.

Statewide, 1,328 have been diagnosed with coronavirus, 15 people have died and dozens more are being treated in intensive care units, Whitmer said Monday.

One death related to COVID-19 has been reported in Kent County while no one in Ottawa County with the disease has died.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

Read more:

Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order torture, but good for some and way overboard for others

Michigan coronavirus cases now at 1,328, with 15 deaths

Three generations make sure 85-year-old man doesnt spend birthday alone while social distancing
CVS Health Chief Executive Larry Merlo said a lack of personal protective equipment has slowed the widespread rollout of its drive-thru tests for the coronavirus and limited the number of tests that sites are able to do.

In an interview on "Closing Bell," he said CVS is working closely with Walmart, Walgreens and Target to make tests more readily available.

"One of the rate-limiting steps is the availability of protective gear for those that are manning those sites, and that's something that we're working through," Merlo said.

Workers at the drive-thru tests must wear gowns, masks and gloves as they swab a patient for a sample. They must change that gear after each person to avoid getting the next person sick.

Leaders of the four retailers, including CVS, met with President Donald Trump at the White House on March 13 and committed to having drive-thru testing sites in their parking lots. So far, CVS has one test site, Walmart has two and Walgreens has one. Target has not yet announced when test sites may open near its stores.

Thus far, all of the test sites are limited to first responders and health care workers.

Last week, Walmart's Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs Dan Bartlett attributed the delay to supply issues, too. He said it has had trouble getting test kits and finding masks, gloves and other personal protective gear for workers.

CVS opened its first test site last week in Massachusetts. The site is in Shrewsbury, a suburb in Worcester County. It's taken a hands-on role with its test site: It staffed the facility near its store with its own employees, such as nurse practioners. Walmart's and Walgreens' sites are staffed by government workers.

Merlo said the company has learned a lot from the first site, but he did not say when or where it may open additional ones.

He said the site can do 100 to 110 tests per day and has seen high demand. "The tests are actually booked almost through the end of this week," he said.

One of the lessons, he said, is how the company could scale up to more drive-thru lanes. In Massachusetts, he said CVS can only fit one drive-thru lane, but he would like to take its concept to larger nearby parking lots, such as at schools and open two, three or four drive-thru lanes to "get as many as 500 tests done a day."

Along with testing, CVS is in the middle of an aggressive effort to fill 50,000 jobs, from store associates to home delivery drivers, as it deals with a growing demand for over-the-counter medicines, prescriptions and other health-care services.

It is also giving bonuses, ranging from $150 to $500, to pharmacists, store associates and other employees who must be on-site at CVS facilities, to recognize their work during the pandemic.
Our Girl returns to BBC One in 2020 with its fourth series - here's all you need to know.

Military drama Our Girl is currently airing with a new six-part series, written and created by Tony Grounds.

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Our Girl started on Tuesday, March 24 at 9PM on BBC One with new episodes continuing weekly on Tuesdays. You can watch episodes online as they air or catch up via BBC iPlayer here.

Our Girl series 4 cast

Michelle Keegan will reprise her role as Georgie Lane for the final time, announcing earlier this year she'd depart the show after the new series.

Alongside Michelle, back for series four are Rolan Bell as Kingy, Ben Batt as Blue, Mark Armstrong as Spanner, Jack Parry-Jones as Jackson, Sean Ward as Fingers and Sean Sagar as Monk and Dominic Jephcott makes a return as the new Brigadier.

Back home in Manchester, Angela Lonsdale and Sean Gilder return as Georgies parents, Joan Kempson as her Nan and Linzey Cocker as her sister, Marie.

Meanwhile, new cast members will include Nico Mirallegro (Rillington Place, My Mad Fat Diary), Will Attenborough (The Hollow Crown, Home Fires, Midwinter Of The Spirit), Kaine Zajaz (Informer, Raised By Wolves) and Amy-Leigh Hickman (EastEnders, Ackley Bridge).

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Also joining the cast are Josh Bowman (Revenge, Time After Time), Nabil Elouahabi (EastEnders, The Night Of) Nebras Jamali (The Looming Tower) and Badria Timini (Syriana, Unforgotten).

Our Girl series 4 spoilers

In the fifth episode this week (Tuesday, April 21), Georgie fears her army career is over, following some painful sessions with the psychiatrist. So when she senses something isnt right with Omar, will she be trusted?

Pending a psychiatric assessment, Georgie struggles with the realities of being put on reduced duties - but her meetings with the psychiatrist unlock some difficult home truths for her.

Calling on her friend Dr Antonio, Georgie is appalled to learn that he has been helping with a medical assessment of Omar, in preparation for brokering a deal. Georgie doesnt call Antonio out on it, but instead steals his security pass.

Enlisting the help of Prof, Georgie uses the pass to inveigle their way into Omars cell, and finally confronts him about what he did to Elvis - but his confused, unsatisfactory answers leave Georgie sensing that something about him isnt quite right.

Meanwhile, we see Afghan trainees Rabee, Poya and Zarek in discussion, and we discover that the Omar in the cell is not the real Omar, but one of his stooges. Rabee is planning a huge attack but what?

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Elsewhere, Mimi explodes at Cheeses teasing, Antonios motives are called into question, and Monk and Throbber are brought closer by a canine companion.

All of the past series are currently available to purchase on DVD.
Mr. Abbott has said that with so many counties unaffected so far by the coronavirus, what works in urban Texas does not necessarily work in rural Texas. He said on Tuesday that his primary obligation was to public health and safety, but added, If the goal is to get the economy going, the best thing we can do to get the economy going is to get Covid-19 behind us.

Mr. Abbott has taken a series of steps to curb the spread of the virus, including deploying the National Guard, banning dine-in service at restaurants, shutting schools and limiting social gatherings to groups of 10 or fewer people. He suggested that more severe measures may be on the way, remarking that he was surprised to see how many drivers were on the road when he was on his way to the news conference in Austin.

It is clear to me that we may not be achieving the level of compliance that is needed, he said, adding, We will continue to evaluate, based upon all the data, whether or not there needs to be a heightened standard and stricter enforcement.

Mr. Abbotts remarks on Tuesday came amid a national backlash over Mr. Patricks statements on Fox News, in which he echoed comments by the president, who had expressed hope that the economy could be restarted sooner rather than later.

Mr. Patrick took it further.

Im not living in fear of Covid-19. What Im living in fear of is whats happening to this country, he said. And you know Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival, in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if thats the exchange, Im all in.

On social media, humorous GIFs about whether the old should sacrifice themselves for the young spread like wildfire, and #NotDying4WallStreet began trending on Twitter.

In Texas, some elected officials were silent on the lieutenant governors stance, while others scratched their heads.
A nurse treating patients with the novel coronavirus says red eyes may be a sign that someone is infected.

Chelsey Earnest, a worker at the Life Care Center in Kirkland - the epicenter of the outbreak in Washington - told CNN that the eyes were 'the single most important' sign that residents had COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

'It's something that I witnessed in all of [the patients],' she said.

'They have, like...allergy eyes. The white part of the eye is not red. It's more like they have red eye shadow on the outside of their eyes.'

Chelsey Earnest (pictured) is a nurse who treated coronavirus patients at Life Care Center in Kirkland, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington state

She said redness around the eyes was the most important sign that someone was infected with the virus. Pictured: Medics transport a patient through heavy rain into an ambulance at the Life Care Center, March 7

Earnest said that if she told one physician that somebody had red eyes, a hospital bed would be made ready for them. Pictured: Sisters Carmen Gray (reflected at left) and Bridget Parkhill visit their mother Susan Hailey, who is recovering from coronavirus at Life Care, March 24

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn't have red eyes - or any eye issues - on its list of symptoms.

What is included are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Persistent pain or pressure in the chest and bluish lips are listed as emergency signs.

But the American Academy of Ophthalmology sent an alert on Sunday about reports that the virus can cause conjunctivitis, which is inflammation of the membrane that lines the eyelid.

Earnest said patients at Life Care Center often would go from having no other symptoms but red eyes to dying.

'We've had patients that just had the red eyes as the only symptom that we saw and go to the hospital and pass away,' she told CNN.

'I've even had the disaster medical control physician say: "Do they have the red eyes?" And I will say: "Yes."

'And he'll say: "I'll find you a bed." It's just something about this, the way that it affects these patients.'

Life Care Center, which is located outside Seattle, has been one of hardest hit from the virus since the first cases were detected in February.

Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. rose to 783 Tuesday evening; the numbers as of 7.30pm

As of Tuesday, at least 129 patients, staff and visitors were infected, according to the CDC and Life Care Center.

At least 35 people have died, 18 of them being patients.

Jeffrey Duchin, an officer for Public Health, Seattle & King County, said he asked hospitals to offer staff, but he was denied.

'I personally would have thought that we would have been able to muster more staff from our local healthcare system,' Duchin told KUOW.

'But I think everybody at this point was already experiencing some degree of COVID-19 stress, and didn't feel like they had staff that they could spare.'

In the US, there are more than 54,000 confirmed cases across all states and territories and more than 700 deaths.
The Tamil Nadu government is scaling up the infrastructure in its fight against coronavirus, with a 350-bed isolation ward at a city government hospital set to be ready, Health Minister C Vijayabskar said on Tuesday.

The facility coming up at a government hospital here would be ready by Wednesday, he said in a tweet.

#Infrastructure:#TNHealth is scaling up additional facilities... a 350-bed isolation ward will be ready by tomorrow at Tamil Nadu Govt Multisuper Speciality Hospital to accommodate more patients, if required," he said.

Tamil Nadu has reported a total of 12 positive cases of the virus so far, including a 45 year-old man who has since been discharged following treatment.

In a seperate tweet, he said the city-based Apollo Hospitals has informed the goverment about its preparedness to treat coronavirus patients at a 100-bed facility.

The Centre has also approved a COVID19 testing lab at Apollo, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A FACTORY which employs around 700 people in West Limerick will temporarily close its doors, because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Kostal, located in Abbeyfeale, will close its doors for at least a month. The company has another facility in Mallow, Co Cork,.

It is hoped that, if market conditions permit, both plants will be able to resume operations from around April 27.

Workers from inside the factory in Abbeyfeale were informed that the factory will shut its doors as of close of business on Tuesday.

I'm there for four years, so I'm full time. There is about 150 to 200 people that are only temps and are worried they won't be coming back at all,

There are a lot of couples with families working there. They are really going to feel it.

A statement from the company today said, "This is a most regrettable but necessary course of action under the circumstances brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic which has presented us with serious challenges in meeting public safety directives around social distancing, given the numbers of employees on site. The safety and welfare of our workforce is paramount.

"Our operations have also been impacted by Covid-19 in terms of supply chain and a decrease in demand for products across Europe.

"This closure is for an initial period up to 27th April and will be reviewed with resumption thereafter depending on developments with Covid-19."

The decision followed the widespread shutdown of major car production plants in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain because of the coronavirus crisis, which in turn reduced the demand for the electronic component the factory produces.

The firm is one the largest employers in Munster, and the most prominent employer in the Abbeyfeale area.
HONG KONG, Mar 24, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - VCREDIT Holdings Limited ("VCREDIT" or the "Group"; stock code: 2003.HK), a leading independent online consumer finance provider in China, is pleased to announce its audited consolidated annual results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2019 ("the Year").



During the Year, the Group's total income increased by 41.2% to RMB3,864.4 million, underpinned by the Group's strategy to shift completely to a pure online consumer finance platform while transitioning to a more balanced funding split between direct lending, trust lending and loan facilitation. 40.4% new registered users increased during the Year. The Group's highly automated and intelligent credit and risk management and transaction processing systems allow the Group to market products which gain popular acceptance by the market. Loan facilitation service fees surged 362.3% to RMB1,247.4 million. Net profit increased to RMB64.8 million. Adjusted net profit increased by 24.5% to RMB368.2 million.



In 2019, the number of loan transactions received by the Group increased by 71.7% to RMB 3,833.2 thousands. The amount of loans also increased by 62.6% to RMB33.75 billion. The Group's newly established customer acquisition algorithm has further bolstered its customer reachability, while the credit card balance transfer products and consumption credit products are both purely originated and assessed online through an automated process utilizing its proprietary Hummingbird system. The Group applied its own advanced fintech technology to online consumer finance business, to further boost its nationwide recognition and gain market share.



The Group has successfully transformed into a pure online consumer finance service provider, and it overcame numerous difficulties by leveraging on its leading industry fintech capabilities. The Group primarily offers two credit products through its pure online loan origination processes: (1) credit cards balance transfer products, and (2) consumption credit products, both of which are installment based.



The Year saw a significant tightening-up of the regulatory framework of China's consumer finance industry, raising the qualification requirements and codes of conduct of industry participants that are becoming almost exclusively funded by licensed financial institutions. The Group's long-standing track record of working with licensed financial institutions enables it to maintain a high standard of business setup that can withstand regulatory changes and challenges. During the Year, in order to expand its consumer finance ecosystem, the Group has successfully established mutually beneficial cooperation with 15 new institutional funding partners with diversified backgrounds, including commercial banks, consumer finance companies and trusts. With its institutional funding partners, which now number 45 and are expected to grow, the Group aims to leverage its stable funding sources to better serve its customers. Moreover, the Group has cooperated with third-party guarantee companies and has begun to establish strategic cooperation with asset management companies, which offered added flexibility and protection to its institutional funding partners.



The Group's fintech strength has been further upgraded during the Year. Through the collaborations for joint modeling with leading Chinese internet companies, a new comprehensive scorecard was successfully constructed which can effectively enable the Group to differentiate risk between new and repeat borrowers, thereby enhancing its risk underwriting ability vis-a-vis prospective borrowers. For example, the Group has been working closely with Beijing Baidu Wangxun Technology Co., Ltd. ("Baidu") in developing big data incorporated borrowers' credit scores which assist the Group in making credit decisions. These scores have the potential to be commercially licensed to other financial institutions and third parties to the financial benefit of the Company and Baidu, respectively. In June 2019, the Group has established a subsidiary, Chengdu Vcredit Jiaozi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. ("Vcredit Jiaozi") in Chengdu, which was jointly invested in by Chengdu Financial DreamWorks Investment Management Co., Ltd. Chengdu Vcredit Jiaozi was designed to provide one-stop risk management solutions for data collection, third-party data integration, machine learning, business intelligence analytics and model building to equip traditional financial institutions with more comprehensive and intelligent risk prevention capabilities.



In 2019, the cooperation between the Group and China Telecom Co., Ltd. ("China Telecom") has continuously strengthened. Through the collaboration with China Telecom, the Group offered products to help China Telecom customers purchase mobile phones with its financing. During the Year, the Group offered credit lines to more than 1.5 million China Telecom customers from 230 different cities in China, with more than 60% of them eventually using the collaboration loan products accounting for a total loan volume of RMB873.2 million. At the same time, the Group has built a strategic relationship with China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. ("China Mobile") to develop installment loan products. In cooperation with China Mobile, the Group introduced China Foreign Economy and Trade Trust Co., Ltd. as the new funding partner and re-launched the collaborative products with China Mobile in December 2019.



In early 2020, the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) hit China, causing disruptions to business and economic activity. The Group will continue to monitor the development of the COVID-19 outbreak and market situation, assess the impact on its operations and taking measures to best protect its employees from being infected. Looking forward, the Group is committed to further build and expand its online consumer finance business to better serve its borrowers, funding partners and business partners, as well as to bring value to the shareholders. In the meantime, the Group will keep a foothold on fintech, to further develop its risk-based pricing and risk management capabilities. The internet finance industry is still in the period of survival of the fittest while the Group has successfully transformed into a pure online business platform and its business scale has grown steadily. Operational efficiency continues to improve. Furthermore, the Group will continue to invest proactively in fintech to strengthen its own business, provide customers with higher quality and enriched products.



About VCREDIT Holdings Limited (2003.HK)

VCREDIT Holdings Limited ("VCREDIT") is a leading player in China's consumer finance industry with over 10 years of track record. The Company caters to prime and near-prime borrowers underserved by traditional financial institutions by offering credit card balance transfer products, and consumption credit products. To match the funding needs for these products, the Company primarily engages institutional funding partners through three types of sustainable and scalable funding structures: trust lending, credit-enhanced loan facilitation and pure loan facilitation. Through such funding structures, VCREDIT provides institutional funding partners with solutions at varying levels of risk discretion and flexible profit-sharing arrangements.



Website: http://www.vcredit.com/











Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.





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Berlin, March 24, 2020  Hungarian lawmakers should not pass amendments to the countrys criminal code that threaten journalists with prison sentences for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Hungarian National Assembly is scheduled to vote on March 31 on a set of amendments to the countrys penal code that would indefinitely extend the current state of emergency in place in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and which would impose prison sentences on those deemed to be spreading false information about the pandemic, according to news reports and the amendments, which CPJ reviewed. Hungary declared a state of emergency, cancelling most public events and restricting entry in the country, on March 11, according to reports.

The amendments include prison sentences of up to three years for those convicted of spreading falsehoods about the virus that are alarming or agitating [to] a large group of people, and would impose prison terms of up to five years for those convicted of spreading a falsehood or distorted truth that has negative repercussions for public health.

Government officials and pro-government media outlets have accused independent media organizations of spreading false information when they have questioned the governments approach to handling the coronavirus crisis, according to news reports.

In recent years, CPJ has documented how the government has systematically dismantled media independence and used verbal attacks, lawsuits, and other means to harass critical journalists in Hungary.

Hungarian lawmakers should reject the proposed penal code amendments that risk imprisoning journalists, and should only use the civil code for such issues, said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, in New York. Independent reporting is an effective way to fight the coronavirus and should be encouraged; this crisis should not be used as a pretext to further curtail press freedom in Hungary.

The draft amendments are part of a package of laws that would grant many new powers to the government, according to news reports. Prime Minister Viktor Orbans Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, and will not need opposition parties support to pass the measures, according to those reports.

In response to an email seeking comment from CPJ, the Hungarian governments international spokesperson, Zoltan Kovacs, sent an article he wrote for a state publication, which stated that the amendments were creating sanction for reckless speech that could impair or thwart efforts to protect people from the spread of the virus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:00:24|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that China stands ready to provide assistance within its capacity for Brazil's battle against COVID-19 and help contain the global spread of the coronavirus disease.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere sympathies and firm support to the Brazilian government and people over their fight against COVID-19.

Noting that the disease has recently broken out in many parts around the world and been spreading rapidly, Xi said the top priority now is for countries to strengthen cooperation.

Upholding the notion of a community with a shared future for mankind, and with an open, transparent and responsible attitude, China has been releasing epidemic information in a timely manner, said Xi.

China, he added, has also been sharing prevention, control and treatment experience with the World Health Organization and the international community without reservation, and doing its best to provide assistance for other parties.

Xi said he follows the outbreak in Brazil closely, and hopes that Brazil will arrest the epidemic's spread as soon as possible.

Noting that China and Latin American and Caribbean countries held a video conference on epidemic prevention and control on Tuesday, Xi said China is ready to provide assistance within its capacity for Brazil and contribute to curbing the global spread of the disease.

Xi stressed that the international community has already arrived at a consensus that China made enormous sacrifices in the fight against COVID-19 and bought precious time for the world.

As comprehensive strategic partners, he said, China and Brazil need to maintain strategic focus, support each other on their respective core interests and major concerns, and jointly send to the international community a message of solidarity and a positive signal that they are in the COVID-19 battle together.

Meanwhile, the two countries should push forward practical cooperation in various fields, enhance communication and coordination within such multilateral frameworks as the G20 and BRICS, and jointly safeguard and advance their comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi added.

The Chinese president said he is confident that China and Brazil will certainly beat the disease hand in hand and lift their all-round cooperation to higher levels.

For his part, Bolsonaro said that the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading in Brazil, and that the Brazilian side thanks China for facilitating its purchase of necessary medical supplies in China.

Brazil, he added, hopes to enhance exchanges on epidemic prevention and control with China, make joint efforts against the coronavirus disease, and contain its spread in Brazil as soon as possible.

The Brazilian president said he salutes the great Chinese people, reiterating that the friendship and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries are indestructible.

Brazil stands ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation with China, and enhance communication and coordination within such multilateral frameworks as the G20, so as to make due contributions to combating the epidemic and reinvigorating the economy, he said.
Three NI firms have joined forces to offer free guidance for SMEs during the coronavirus outbreak.

Law firm McKees, accountancy firm Harbinson Mulholland and financial services practice Kerr Henderson, have created the SME Support Forum to provide free guidance through a series of regular webinars in the coming weeks.

The companies joint aim is to provide real-time legal, financial and insurance support and practical steps to help as many businesses as possible.

Chris Ross, managing partner of McKees, said: We are seeing businesses closing across the province, thousands of people are losing their jobs, employers are accommodating sick and worried employees, insurance policies are not being covered and there is massive disruption to supply chains. And some businesses just dont know where to turn to for help. We have partnered with Harbinson Mulholland and Kerr Henderson to set up the SME Support Forum which is specifically for people in Northern Ireland who own an SME business and are currently worried about their livelihood and that of the people who work for them. We are here to help get people the practical information they need at this terrible time.

We are encouraging SMEs to get in touch with the questions and issues they need help and support with at this time and we will do our very bes t to guide them in the right direction.

To follow the SME Support Forum go to www.mckees-law.com
CVS Health has announced plans to hire 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary roles across the country as the nation battles the coronavirus outbreak.

Roles include store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and member/customer service professionals.

The company will utilize a technology-enabled hiring process that includes virtual job fairs, virtual interviews and virtual job tryouts.

The company is also awarding bonuses to employees who are required to be at CVS facilities to assist patients and customers. Bonuses will range from $150 to $500 and will be awarded to pharmacists and certain other health care professionals on the frontlines, store associates and managers and other site-based hourly employees, the company said.

Our colleagues have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to providing essential goods and services at a time when theyre needed most, said Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO, CVS Health. As they continue to be there for the individuals and families we serve, were taking extra steps to provide some peace of mind and help them navigate these uncertain times.

Working with the Bright Horizons network of national in-home and center-based daycare providers, employees will be able to take advantage of up to 25 fully covered days of backup care. This benefit will begin in early April for both full- and part-time employees.



The company has made 24 hours of paid sick leave available to part-time employees for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paid sick leave is in addition to the 14-day paid leave the company is providing for any employee who tests positive for COVID-19 or needs to be quarantined as a result of potential exposure.

Other grocery and pharmacy chains have also recently announced plans to hire additional employees and improve benefits.

Supermarkets and pharmacies across the U.S. have been slammed as customers stock up on food and supplies, leaving stores struggling to resupply toilet paper and other staples.

Public officials have urged against such panic buying, saying there's plenty to go around.
As countries around the world shut down travel and closed borders to combat the spread of the coronavirus, some 13,500 Americans are seeking assistance from the State Department to get back to the U.S. The global shutdown left travelers, tourists, and expatriates scrambling to board flights home over the past two weeks after President Donald Trump announced a travel ban on flights from Europe. Since then, other countries have ratcheted up restrictions on travel, and the airline industry has essentially ground to a halt. Emirates, the worlds largest long-haul airline, is grounding all of its flights beginning March 25. Thats left Americans stranded abroad with dwindling travel options and mounting bureaucratic hurdles to leaving countries that are in the process of locking down their populations.

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The State Department says it has suspended its day-to-day visa operations and redeployed workers to help get Americans home. The diplomatic arm of the U.S. government says it has already assisted more than 5,000 returning American travelers and that it is chartering flights dedicated to repatriating American citizens. Some Americans have also found their way home squeezed on military flights. Making the task even more challenging is that some countries have already ceased internal flights, leaving Americans scattered and having difficulty returning to major international travel hubs abroad. Once there, with some airports and air traffic controls effectively closed, arranging chartered flights isnt straightforward. In some cases, evacuations are relying on smaller military airports that have remained operational.

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One aspect of the repatriation effort that has caused confusion is the cost of the emergency travel and who foots the bill. Last week, dozens of stranded travelers in Morocco were flown out of the country to London, where they were provided seats on British Airways flights back to one of 10 cities in the United States designated as entry points to manage return of passengers from abroad. Passengers were made to sign a promissory note for $1,485 to reimburse the U.S. government for the passage. Travelers who were able to snag the last commercial flights out of Morocco reported fares that were significantly lower. Repatriation flights are not free, the U.S. Embassy in Ghana said in a notice to Americans trying to evacuate. Your U.S. passport will be canceled pending loan repayment arrangements. You will not be permitted to renew your passport until youve arranged a repayment plan with the Department of State.

Roughly 10 million American citizens live abroad, and those who are in sustainable living situations overseas have been urged to hunker down for the foreseeable future. Consider whether you are ready to ride out an undetermined period of time where you are now, or do you want to go to the United States to wait out events, a senior diplomatic official told the Washington Post. If its the latter, do so now, and that last bit is all caps.
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The absence of a respected medical professional who has become a media star during the coronavirus crisis (due to his straightforwardness and ability to correct the record) was noticeably absent on Monday during a White House press briefing  and Americans, perhaps rightly so, freaked out.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of President Donald Trumps coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become a fixture at such press briefings.

But because he has corrected Trumps false statements on many occasions  and because, in interviews with print journals such as Science where he openly acknowledged the presidents shortcomings  the doctor has reportedly irked Trump for being so forthcoming.

"Where's Fauci?" is quickly becoming one of the most-asked questions of 2020.  Jill Colvin (@colvinj) March 23, 2020

It was revealed over the weekend, for instance, that Fauci understood the presidents words werent always accurate. I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down, Fauci explained when it comes to correcting Trump every time he makes a misleading statement.

When reports of that statement made the rounds  and when Fauci didnt show up to the Monday presser after a social media meme of him giving a facepalm to Trumps commentary became viral  some worried he was on the path that so many in the Trump administration have taken so far, toward being removed from his position.

Somewhere in Washington, Dr. Fauci just put his head in hands as the President repeated for the fortieth time that hes excited about malaria medication. pic.twitter.com/8Hw9n2WhIV  Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 22, 2020

Do you know whats more dangerous than COVID? Telling the truth about Trump as a member of the executive branch, CNN host Chris Cuomo said on his program Monday evening.

Fears of his departure (including the loss of exceptional truth-telling during those press briefings) were somewhat alleviated on Tuesday morning, when Trump tweeted out praise for Fauci on social media.

But the fact that the president has been grumbling about him still has many worried, as well as questioning: is it only a matter of time before the good doctor is given the boot?

Where's Dr. Fauci? Oh. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Sorry, Dr. Fauci! If you don't agree with Dear Leader 110% of the time and genuflect in every press conference, you will find yourself *gone*. https://t.co/c3ukXPJTEH  Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) March 23, 2020

Faucis reputation as a medical expert (hes served in his current role since Reagan was president) may help keep him in place for now. Trump likely views him as an expert Americans trust, and thus good to keep around  a net benefit, even if he is an occasional annoyance to him.

Yet, as weve seen in the past, those who are critical of the president within his own administration dont seem to last long. Fauci may be the exception, given the crisis were currently facing  but he may also be shown the door, if he goes too far.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:01:03|Editor: yan

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ISLAMABAD, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday unveiled a relief package to provide financial support to different economic sectors and laborers being affected by COVID-19.

Talking to the media in Islamabad, Khan said 200 billion rupees have been allocated for the laborers, who have been hit due to lockdown in provinces and restrictions on the movement and business in the country.

He also announced release of tax refunds amounting to 100 billion rupees to help the industrial sector and the export sector.

A total of 100 billion rupees will be given to the small and medium industry and agriculture sector with deferred interest payment, Khan said, adding concessional loan would be extended to the sectors.

Another 50 billion rupees were announced for the government-run Utility Stores to provide essential items of daily use to the people on reduced rates than the market prices.

Khan said the vulnerable families, affected by the pandemic, will get 3,000 rupees per month for a period of four months and 150 billion rupees have been allocated for this purpose.

A 50-billion-rupee package will be given to the medical staff for necessary supplies while the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan would receive 25 billion rupees for the purchase and procuring of safety kits and other equipment to face the challenge of the coronavirus.

Khan also announced complete cut of taxes and reduction in process on edible items like cooking oil, ghee and pulses to lower the prices of kitchen items to facilitate common people. Huge incentives will also be announced for the construction industry in a few days.

He refused to declare a complete lockdown of the country and argued that Pakistan cannot afford a complete lockdown with the imposition of curfew.

"The situation in Pakistan is not too bad to go for the lockdown and this would be the last option," the prime minister said, adding the government would review the situation after a few weeks.

Replying to a question, he said the economic situation had been improving in the country as the macroeconomic indicators witnessed rising, but the COVID-19 outbreak has hit the economy.

"I appeal to the people to refrain from overreacting, as wrong decisions taken out of fear can be more disastrous than the coronavirus itself," Khan said.

According to the data released on the official website of the health ministry of Pakistan on Tuesday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 900 in the country. (1 U.S. dollar = 158.72 Rupees)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:50:38|Editor: yan

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OTTAWA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged the Canadian parliament to pass emergency legislation against the COVID-19 pandemic for Canadians and businesses.

Trudeau said proposed sweeping new powers to let his government spend money without parliamentary approval are needed because the COVID-19 pandemic presents an "exceptional situation."

Those include broad new powers to authorize the federal cabinet to spend money until December 2021, and in some cases without any time limits at all, without having to put their proposals to a vote in the parliament.

At his daily address to the nation Tuesday morning outside Ottawa Cottage where he has been in self-isolation, Trudeau said his government's intention was not to undermine the role of parliament to act as a check and oversight on federal spending.

Trudeau said he has spoken with opposition leaders Tuesday and that work is underway to strike the right balance between parliamentary accountability and granting the government the power to act quickly.

"We recognize that this pandemic is moving extremely quickly and it is an exceptional situation that requires extreme flexibility and rapidity of response by governments to be able to help Canadians and react to a situation that we've seen is moving quickly every single day," he said.

"We've been in close discussion with the opposition parties to find a way to both get that flexibility to be able to get measures out the door and keep in place our democratic institutions and the values that are so important to us all," he said. "We will always ensure that our system works in a robust way both around accountability and helping Canadians as quickly as is necessary in these exceptional circumstances."

The legislation includes the amendments needed to enact the promised emergent financial package of 82 billion Canadian dollars (about 56 billion U.S. dollars), which contain 27 billion Canadian dollars in financial aid for Canadians and 55 billion Canadian dollars in economic stimulus and tax deferral measures for businesses.

All provinces and territories in Canada have declared some form of public health crisis or state of emergency. But questions continue to circulate as to whether the local efforts are enough to deal with those not following the physical distancing measures or whether it's time the Canadian federal government intervene with extreme powers.

As of Tuesday noon, there are 2,176 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 deaths in Canada.

Nearly half of Canada's COVID-19 cases are now being acquired through community spread, a significant shift as the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths rises across the country.

On Monday, the Public Health Agency of Canada said that 44 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country are the result of community transmission, meaning they have no link to international travel and Canadians could contract the virus while visiting friends or buying groceries.
CALIFORNIA - Congressman Doug LaMalfa spoke on the phone with Action News Now anchors Debbie Cobb and Hayley Watts about the $2 trillion stimulus package for the response of the coronavirus.

Watch the two videos above to hear the congressman speak on the package itself while also touching on how long the package would last, what he believes it must be focused on and the bi-partisan conversation of the package.
Protesters at Shaheen Bagh were evicted on Tuesday in view of the sweeping lockdown measures as well as prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 CrPC to contain the spread of Covid-19 epidemic. The protesters at the southeast Delhi locality had been protesting on an arterial road, connecting Delhi and Noida, since December 15.

On Tuesday, the police evicted the protesters and cleared the site of tents, wooden beds and other material. Ten people, including six women, were detained after they refused to cooperate, police said.

RP Meena, the deputy commissioner of police (South East), said the protesters were appealed on Tuesday to clear the site as the government has banned the assembly of four or more people and rolled out lockdown measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. We requested them to vacate the road. They continued to ignore the request. An FIR was registered under IPC and Section 3 of Epidemic Act, 1897 against four men and six women and they were arrested, Meena said.

Another senior police officer said the protest was in progress despite several requests and guidelines issued by the Delhi government and the Delhi Police. To avoid any further spread of Covid-19, the protesters were removed from the site.

In order to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, hundreds of locals blocked the arterial road no. 13 A  that connects south Delhi with Noida  at Shaheen Bagh on December 15, 2019. In the three months that passed by, protesters refused to vacate the spot unless CAA is repealed. The CAA fast-tracks citizenship for people belonging to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. The law has been challenged in the Supreme Court for being exclusionary and based on religion, and has resulted in widespread protests across India.

The police also cleared the anti-CAA protest sites at Jamia Millia Islamia and Hauz Rani at Malviya Nagar. Installations, including a map of India made with a wire mesh, a replica of India Gate, and a makeshift library at the bus stop, which had become symbols of the protest at Shaheen Bagh were also removed.

Ritu Kaushik, one of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh, said the movement will continue on social media till the epidemic continues. Despite the Shaheen Bagh roadblock case pending in Supreme Court, the police dismantled the protest area. They could have only asked protesters to leave, why did they dismantle the tents, stage, benches and installations, and take them to a police station?, Kaushik said.

On Tuesday, protesters said there was a heavy mobilisation of police personnel in the early hours of Tuesday. They blocked some of the lanes. Around 5.30-6 am, police came and forcibly evicted us. Since we were protesting in shifts, I was not present when the police came, said Prakash Devi, another protester.

The graffiti on the walls and gates of Jamia Millia Islamia was also removed on Tuesday. While protesters blame police for the action, officials have denied any role in it. It must be the job of civic authorities who could be painting the walls. We arent aware of any such work, a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.

South Delhi Municipal Corporations public relations officer, Radha Krishnan, however, said they were not involved in whitewashing the graffiti. The big roads near Shaheen Bagh dont come under us. It comes under the Public Works Department (PWD), he said.

Officials of the PWD did not respond to calls for comment.

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Doing a minor re-allocation of portfolios in his cabinet, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday entrusted Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar responsibility of all COVID-19 matters, while relieving Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu from it.

The move comes amid allegations that there was a lack of co-ordination between the two ministers who were handling the affairs related to coronavirus.

Sriramulu will be in-charge of Health and Family Welfare, excluding all matters related to COVID-19.

He will also continue to hold the additional portfolio of Backward Classes Welfare department, an official notification signed by Governor Vajubhai Vala read.

Sudhakar, a qualified medicaldoctor, will be in-charge of Medical Education and all COVID-19 matters.

Responding to a question on portfolio reallocation, Yediyurappa said all ministers were working together as a team to fight the spread of virus.

"We are all together as one, as someone has to take decisions, so we have given responsibility to Dr Sudhakar.

Sriramulu, Sudhakar and I are working together, they are in constant touch with me, and there are no differences.

Sriramulu will have to tour the state to assess the situation everywhere, while we want one of them to remain here, so the responsibility has been distributed," he said.

Earlier this month, former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy alleged lack of co-ordination between Sriramulu and Sudhakar and had urged them to work in tandem.

Both ministers then hit back at the JD(S) leader and asked him not to mix into a serious matter like COVID-19.

The two also said they had good coordination and were working as a team under Yediyurappa's leadership.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday imposed curfew in the state till further orders in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

"Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to impose curfew in the whole state from 5 pm today till further orders, in wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state, as well as the country," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced a complete lockdown in the state to stop the spread of the fatal virus.

The Chief Minister said that the government had sent 57 samples of suspected COVID-19 patients, out of which 55 came negative and only two patients have tested positive.

Both the patients are stable, he added.

According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases has reached 482.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Photo : Remo Casilli on Reuters ) [VIRAL] Italy's Oldest 95-Year-Old Coronavirus Survivor Did Not Used Any Antiviral Meds to Cure COVID-19 (Photo : Reuters ) [VIRAL] Italy's Oldest 95-Year-Old Coronavirus Survivor Did Not Used Any Antiviral Meds to Cure COVID-19

A new sign of hope is now boosting the positivity of residents in Italy since a 95-year-old grandmother in the country just got cured by Coronavirus. The grandmother is now healing and ready to go home to her nursing home. She said that the hospital wherein she was admitted did not use any antiviral medications during her stay in their facilities-- which shows how miracles can happen in any way possible.

Italy's oldest Coronavirus survivor: "I'm now fine, they'll send me home in a little while."

Alma Clara Corsini, 95, from Fanano in the Italian province of Modena, is now cured with her positive case of Coronavirus. This is what a local Italian newspaper reported on Mar. 18, explains how the oldest Coronavirus survivor in the country survived the deadly viral disease.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. They were good people who looked after me well, and now they'll send me home in a little while," said Corsini.

According to the report, Corsini was rushed to a hospital in the city's northern province of Pavullo on Mar. 5. She was immediately admitted to the hospital since her symptoms showed a positive Coronavirus reaction to her body, and because of the initial studies saying that older people tend to be more prone to the disease.

On Mar. 18, Corsini was able to survive the COVID-19 without any help from any antiviral medicines that are now circulating all over the world. She said that her hospital staff helped her to recover from the disease. The Italian hospital also proudly showcased their success with the case of Corsini and called her the "pride of the staff."

Italy's success rate in curing Coronavirus disease

Italy is now the worst-country that experiences the highest number of Coronavirus positive victims in a short span of time. As of now, health experts in the country already recorded death tolls of over 5,000 people-- which is a higher rate compared to China. Italy also has an increasing number of less than 60,000 infected citizens, with only over 7,000 recoveries since the first case.

The third worst-hit country to have Coronavirus in Spain with over 1,500 fatalities and less than 30,000 positive cases, Iran follows the lead to over 1,500 fatalities and more than 21,000 cases. This number is then followed by France with over 600 deaths and 16,000 positive cases, while the United States of America has recorded over 350 deaths and more than 30,000 positive cases since the spread of the disease.

Now, the authorities around the world are making stricter implementations of a ban to all travels, increased protocols in guiding everyone to stay in their homes, advising all to observe proper hygienic processes and practice social distancing to help curb the spread of the disease.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Josh Dye: For me being in the bubble of reporting and not interacting with many people, Im finding it hard to grasp how bad things are. Jennifer Duke: I think being remote makes it feel much more real. Being in the newsroom gives you a way of distancing yourself from it because it's all about the "story" of it. But when you're at home you realise that this affects you, your neighbours, your family, etc. Charlotte Grieve: Yep. Colin Kruger : This is getting close to the '98 Asian Financial Crisis when I was in Bangkok from a 'this is hitting home' perspective.

Luke Higgs: Covering the news is more than a little dispiriting. Googling where Wall Street is at 4 in the morning to see if I should get up early has been super fun and obviously pretty alarming. JM: What are CEOs and contacts telling you about conditions in the economy? Dominic Powell : Retailers, as you'd imagine, are terrified. Sales by many accounts are down 40-50 per cent and landlords have been until recently reluctant to negotiate rents down. Online will be the saving grace for most of them, but they're all still crying out for more stimulus (unless you're a supermarket) to make sure they can survive this. Zoe Samios: Media companies are doing a combo of work from home and that thing where half go in one week and half don't. They are very, very worried. Mainly because their businesses are under huge financial pressure. Charlotte Grieve: I spoke to an investor last week who thought it was all an over-reaction and that more people die from diabetes each year. That sounded a bit simplistic to me but who knows how widely its believed. Most people seem to focus on the uncertainty of it all and also most refuse to speculate on when the market will bottom out.

But there's also this (maybe hopeful) sense of optimism that it will pass and it's a good opportunity to get stocks while they're cheap. One positive has been it's made people, young and old, more engaged with their superannuation. They are now realising, for better or worse, that they are investors and affected by market volatility. Colin Kruger: I spoke to a fundie mate yesterday who says he thinks this will match the '73 market downturn and there will not be a pick up until a vaccine arrives late next year. How are you personally finding the challenge of working from home? Sarah Danckert: I've found it relatively easy given our technology. But I have an unusual (but perhaps common in the industry) issue. My partner is also home and we have no office and only an open plan living area and no Wi-Fi or phone connection in bedrooms, so we've been playing nice, scheduling in interviews around each other. Our puppy Pippy is happy but confused, we're here but there's not much interaction with her. She's also cried loudly during a call with Virgin, though I think Virgin's PR could relate.

David Scutt: I have four screens, fast internet and music pumping in the background to keep me going. I often work from home because of the setup but I do miss the social interaction and the time to think on my walk into the office Charlotte Grieve: I think the main thing I miss about the office is being able to quickly ask someone something, which I do a lot of. But I've been easily able to call people for help when needed so it's not that bad. Another loss is probably the unplanned chats with colleagues that give you ideas for stories. Loading Zoe Samios: I'm probably the same as everyone in that I miss the social interaction, being able to ask things quickly in the office. My partner is also at home and he's in recruitment so managing calls between us and working around each other is a challenge. But it's an exciting time to report even if it's madness. Stephen Bartholomeusz: The only issues Ive had are the lack of access to the office printer and the Bloomberg machine. Im going through a black ink cartridge every two days . Other than that, Im probably drinking twice as much coffee as I would if I were in the office but am getting more sleep without the need to drive into the city.... and, like most of you, miss the interactions you get in the office.
Interim SPR1NT data showed presymptomatic babies with SMA treated with Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) soon after birth achieved age-appropriate motor milestones



In addition to meeting both co-primary efficacy endpoints, nine of 22 patients in the completed pivotal STR1VE-US study demonstrated the ability to thrive, a stringent composite endpoint remarkable compared to untreated children with SMA Type 1



Ongoing START long-term follow-up study (cohort 2) demonstrated sustained durability of Zolgensma, including the achievement and maintenance of milestones in the follow up period, now up to 5 years post-dosing and up to 5+ years of age



Cumulative safety data from 335 patients treated with Zolgensma indicate a safety profile consistent with previously-reported safety information

Basel, March 24, 2020  AveXis, a Novartis company, today announced a one-time infusion of Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) showed rapid, significant and clinically meaningful therapeutic benefit in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) across a range of studies, including in patients treated presymptomatically, and sustained durability in patients now up to five years post-dosing and some patients more than five years of age. The STR1VE-US study findings are being presented today during a virtual Clinical Trial Session conducted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), scheduled after the 2020 MDA Annual Conference was cancelled due to COVID-19. The accepted posters for SPR1NT, START long-term follow up and cumulative safety data will be published online by MDA in the coming weeks.

Interim data from the ongoing SPR1NT study continue to show patients achieved age-appropriate motor milestones when treated with Zolgensma presymptomatically. Most patients (7/8) with two copies of SMN2 who achieved the ability to sit independently did so within the World Health Organization window of normal development. The six remaining patients in this cohort of 14 patients have not yet passed the developmental window. The importance of independent sitting is that it allows for the potential development and integration of the cognitive, sensory and motor skills that are important for functional independence and social development. Additionally, nearly all patients were fed orally and required no feeding support. Most remained within the age-appropriate weight range. No patients required ventilatory support of any kind.

SMA is a disease that robs babies of the ability to talk, eat, sit up and even breathe. In complete contrast to the natural course of the disease, patients who received Zolgensma soon after birth before the onset of symptoms are achieving age-appropriate motor milestone development  an extraordinary outcome for SMA patients, said Olga Santiago, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, AveXis. These SPR1NT data demonstrate the truly transformational impact a one-time dose of gene therapy can have, and further underscore the importance of newborn screening and early intervention to alter the course of the disease.

SMA Type 1 patients experienced rapid, sustained and clinically meaningful improvements in motor function in the completed pivotal STR1VE-US study. In STR1VE-US, nearly all (91%) patients met the co-primary efficacy endpoint of event-free survival at 14 months, and more than half (59%) of patients met the co-primary efficacy endpoint of sitting for 30 seconds at 18 months of age, a milestone never achieved in the natural history of SMA Type 1. Importantly, nine of 22 patients demonstrated the ability to thrive at 18 months of age. As the goal of treatment for SMA Type 1 moves beyond survival and motor milestone achievement, the STR1VE-US trial is the first to incorporate this stringent composite endpoint  inclusive of functions of swallowing, feeding and age-appropriate weight maintenance  and demonstrate remarkable achievements in symptomatic patients with SMA Type 1, the most prevalent form of the disease accounting for 60% of SMA diagnoses.1,2

New data from the START long-term follow-up study continue to demonstrate the durability of a single, one-time dose of Zolgensma in patients now up to five years post-dosing and some patients more than five years of age. All patients in this study who received the therapeutic dose were alive and free of permanent ventilation and continued to maintain developmental milestones, including two patients who achieved the new milestone of standing with assistance during the long-term follow-up period.

Cumulative safety data from patients treated with intravenous Zolgensma in clinical trials, U.S. managed access program, the RESTORE global registry and commercial experience were consistent with previously-reported safety information. Reported adverse events (AEs) were monitorable and manageable, and the overall benefit-risk safety profile remains favorable.

The bar for treatment efficacy in SMA Type 1 patients has been raised beyond event-free survival and motor milestone achievement, and the expectation is now that these patients maintain the ability to thrive, an unprecedented and challenging endpoint, said Lisa Deschamps, Chief Business Officer, AveXis. Further, with hundreds of patients now treated, including some more than five years post-treatment and more than five years old, these new data further reinforce the profound benefit a one-time dose of Zolgensma has on SMA patients.

SPR1NT Data as of December 31, 2019

SPR1NT is an ongoing Phase 3, open-label, single-arm, multi-center trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a one-time intravenous (IV) infusion of Zolgensma in presymptomatic patients with SMA and two or three copies of SMN2 who are <=6 weeks of age. Fourteen patients with two copies of SMN2 and 15 patients with three copies of SMN2 were treated.

As of December 31, 2019, the mean age of patients in the two-copy cohort was 11.2 months (6.0-18.6 months of age) at last follow up. For the three-copy cohort, the mean age was 9.7 months (3.3-15.1 months of age). Nearly all patients were alive and free of ventilatory support of any kind. All patients were fed orally and required no feeding support. Most remained within (at or above third percentile) the gender and age-appropriate weight range.

All patients in the two-copy cohort achieved or maintained a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders (CHOP INTEND) score of 50. Thirteen patients achieved a CHOP INTEND score of 58, including nine patients who achieved a score of 58 for three consecutive visits. According to natural history, untreated patients with SMA Type 1 almost never achieve a CHOP INTEND score 40.

Of patients with two copies of SMN2, eight patients so far were able to sit independently for at least 30 seconds (range 5.711.8 months of age), with seven of these achieving independent sitting within the range of normal development. Four patients so far were able to walk independently (range 12.218.3 months of age). Patients in this cohort who have not achieved these milestones yet are still within the normal age development window for these milestones.

Of the patients with three copies of SMN2, four patients were able to stand alone without support for at least three seconds (9.512.4 months of age) and three patients were able to walk independently (12.215.1 months of age), all achieved within the range of normal development. Patients in this cohort who have not achieved these milestones yet are still within the normal age development window for these milestones.

All patients experienced at least one adverse event (AE) after dosing of which 17 were considered treatment-related. Overall, the most common AEs were pyrexia (30%), upper respiratory tract infection (23%), constipation (17%), and nasopharyngitis (17%), which are consistent with events experienced by children with SMA and the general population. Six patients were reported to have serious adverse events (SAEs), none of which were assessed by the investigator and AveXis to be related to treatment.

STR1VE-US  Study Complete

STR1VE-US is a part of the global Phase 3 STR1VE clinical program. This includes open-label, single-arm, single-dose, multi-center trials (STR1VE-US in the United States, STR1VE-EU in Europe and STR1VE-AP in Asia Pacific) designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single, one-time IV infusion of Zolgensma in symptomatic patients with SMA Type 1 who are less than six months of age at the time of gene therapy, with one or two copies of the SMN2 backup gene and who have bi-allelic SMN1 gene deletion or point mutations.

In STR1VE-US, 20 of 22 patients (91%) met the co-primary efficacy endpoint of event-free survival at 14 months, and 13 of 22 patients (59%) met the co-primary efficacy endpoint of functional sitting for 30 seconds at 18 months of age. Thirteen patients (59.1%) achieved the developmental milestone of functional independent sitting for 30 seconds (P<0.0001 vs natural history) at the 18 months of age study visit. A 14th patient achieved the milestone of sitting independently for 30 seconds at 16 months of age, but this milestone was not confirmed at the month 18 visit. Fifteen patients (68.2%) did not require non-invasive ventilatory support at any point during the study. Eighteen of 22 patients (81.8%) did not use ventilatory support (as assessed by Trilogy BiPAP data) at 18 months of age.

STR1VE-US is the first trial in symptomatic patients with SMA Type 1 to incorporate the stringent composite endpoint of ability to thrive. Of the 22 patients, nine (40.9%) achieved this co-secondary endpoint at 18 months of age (P<0.0001 vs natural history), including 19 patients (86.4%) who did not receive nutrition through any feeding tube or other non-oral method, 14 patients (63.6%) who maintained weight (greater than third percentile) consistent with gender and age and 12 patients (54.5%) who were able to tolerate thin liquid.

In STR1VE-US, patients achieved rapid and sustained improvement in motor function unseen in natural history. CHOP INTEND scores increased by an average of 6.9 points at one month (N=22), 11.7 points at three months (N=22) and 14.6 points at six months (N=20) after gene therapy treatment. Twenty-one patients (95.5%) achieved a CHOP INTEND score 40, and 14 (63.6%) achieved a CHOP INTEND score 50.

No new deaths have been reported. As previously reported, one patient died from respiratory failure six months after receiving Zolgensma, which was assessed as due to underlying SMA and unrelated to treatment by the investigator and an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board. As previously reported, one patient discontinued (withdrew consent) at 11.9 months of age; this patient required permanent ventilation prior to withdrawal of consent. All 22 treated patients were reported to have at least one AE, of which 12 were considered by the investigator to be related to Zolgensma. Ten patients were reported to have SAEs, three of which were assessed by the investigator and AveXis to be related to treatment. Overall, the most frequently reported AEs were pyrexia (54.5%), upper respiratory tract infection (50.0%), constipation (40.9%), and scoliosis (40.9%), which are consistent with events experienced by children with SMA and the general population. AEs were manageable and consistent with the known safety profile of Zolgensma.

START Long-Term Follow-Up (LTFU) Data as of December 31, 2019

START was a Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of a one-time IV infusion of Zolgensma in SMA Type 1 patients with the onset of clinical symptoms before six months of age. At the close of the 24-month study, all 12 patients in cohort 2 (targeted therapeutic dose) were alive and free of permanent ventilation. Without treatment, most of these patients would not survive past the age of two or would require permanent ventilation. Ten of these 12 patients voluntarily enrolled in an ongoing observational long-term follow-up of the START study.

START LTFU is an ongoing, observational, long-term follow-up study of patients who completed START and electively enrolled in the study. As of December 31, of the 10 patients from cohort 2 who enrolled in LTFU, all are alive and free of permanent ventilation. No previously achieved motor milestone has been lost during the follow up period. Two patients gained the new milestone of standing with assistance (neither of whom have received treatment with nusinersen) during the follow up period.

The mean age of patients was 4.8 years (range 4.35.6 years) and the mean time since gene therapy treatment was 4.5 years (range 4.15.2 years). Six out of 10 patients (60%) are not currently receiving concomitant therapy with nusinersen. No patient who was free of ventilatory support at the end of the study has initiated new mechanical respiratory support during the follow up period. Six out of the 10 patients (60%) do not require regular, daily respiratory support more than four years after dosing.

There were no new treatment related SAEs and no AEs of special interest occurred during the long-term follow up study.

Cumulative Safety Data as of December 31, 2019

Safety data from post-marketing experience (192 patients) was consistent with previously observed safety data across all clinical investigations of IV Zolgensma (100 patients) and the U.S. managed access program and the RESTORE global patient registry (43 patients). Data reviewed from 335 patients indicated that nearly all patients experienced AEs, however, most were not serious and were unrelated to treatment. In general, AEs associated with Zolgensma are monitorable and manageable: (1) liver transaminase elevations should be monitored through liver function tests and managed through the use of prophylactic prednisolone; (2) thrombocytopenia events have been transient and resolved without medical intervention and can be monitored through platelet counts; and (3) reported cardiac events have been heart rate changes and laboratory abnormalities without associated clinical sequelae. Troponin I should be monitored.

A thorough analysis has been completed to assess sensory abnormalities indicative of dorsal root ganglia inflammation. While this remains a preclinical finding and clinical events have not been reported, AveXis has implemented a monitoring plan in clinical trials to evaluate and characterize this further.

No new deaths reported; two deaths were previously reported after Zolgensma dosing (STR1VE-US and STR1VE-EU), both of which were considered unrelated to treatment based on autopsy findings.

Novartis will conduct a conference call with investors to discuss this news release on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 3 p.m. Central European Time and 9 a.m. Eastern Time. A simultaneous webcast of the call for investors and other interested parties may be accessed by visiting the Novartis website. A replay will be available after the live webcast by visiting https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar.

About Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi)

Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is a proprietary gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pediatric patients less than two years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Zolgensma is designed to address the genetic root cause of SMA by providing a functional copy of the human SMN gene to halt disease progression through sustained SMN protein expression with a single, one-time intravenous (IV) infusion. Zolgensma represents the first approved therapeutic in the companys proprietary platform to treat rare, monogenic diseases using gene therapy. Approximately 400 patients have been treated with Zolgensma, including clinical trials, commercially and through the managed access program in the U.S. The therapy was recently approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and AveXis is pursuing registration in close to three dozen countries, with a Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use opinion expected in 1Q 2020 and regulatory decisions anticipated in Switzerland, Canada and Australia in late 2020 or early 2021.

AveXis has an exclusive, worldwide license with Nationwide Children's Hospital to both the intravenous and intrathecal delivery of AAV9 gene therapy for the treatment of all types of SMA; has an exclusive, worldwide license from REGENXBIO for any recombinant AAV vector in its intellectual property portfolio for the in vivo gene therapy treatment of SMA in humans; an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with Genethon for in vivo delivery of AAV9 vector into the central nervous system for the treatment of SMA; and a non-exclusive, worldwide license agreement with AskBio for the use of its self-complementary DNA technology for the treatment of SMA.

About Spinal Muscular Atrophy

SMA is the leading genetic cause of infant death.3 If left untreated, SMA Type 1 leads to death or the need for permanent ventilation by the age of two in more than 90% of cases.4 SMA is a rare, genetic neuromuscular disease caused by a lack of a functional SMN1 gene, resulting in the rapid and irreversible loss of motor neurons, affecting muscle functions, including breathing, swallowing and basic movement.5 It is imperative to diagnose SMA and begin treatment, including proactive supportive care, as early as possible to halt irreversible motor neuron loss and disease progression.6 This is especially critical in SMA Type 1, where motor neuron degeneration starts before birth and escalates quickly. Loss of motor neurons cannot be reversed, so SMA patients with symptoms at the time of treatment will likely require some supportive respiratory, nutritional and/or musculoskeletal care to maximize functional abilities.7

Indication

Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is an adeno-associated virus vector-based gene therapy indicated for the treatment of pediatric patient less than 2 years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene.

Limitation of Use:

The safety and effectiveness of repeat administration of Zolgensma have not been evaluated.

The use of Zolgensma in patients with advanced SMA (e.g., complete paralysis of limbs, permanent ventilator dependence) has not been evaluated.

Important Safety Information

Acute Serious Liver Injury

Acute serious liver injury and elevated aminotransferases can occur with Zolgensma. Patients with pre-existing liver impairment may be at higher risk. Prior to infusion, assess liver function of all patients by clinical examination and laboratory testing (e.g., hepatic aminotransferases [aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase], total bilirubin and prothrombin time). Administer systemic corticosteroid to all patients before and after Zolgensma infusion. Continue to monitor liver function for at least 3 months after infusion.

Thrombocytopenia

Transient decreases in platelet counts, some of which met the criteria for thrombocytopenia, were observed at different time points after Zolgensma infusion. Monitor platelet counts before Zolgensma infusion and on a regular basis afterwards.

Elevated Troponin-I

Transient increases in cardiac troponin-I levels (up to 0.176 mcg/L) were observed following Zolgensma infusion in clinical trials. The clinical importance of these findings is not known. However, cardiac toxicity was observed in animal studies. Monitor troponin-I before Zolgensma infusion and on a regular basis for at least 3 months afterwards.

Adverse Reactions

The most commonly observed adverse reactions (incidence 5%) were elevated aminotransferases and vomiting.

Please read full Prescribing Information for Zolgensma, including Boxed Warning for Acute Serious Liver Injury.



Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as potential, can, will, plan, may, could, would, expect, anticipate, seek, look forward, believe, committed, investigational, pipeline, launch, or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for Zolgensma, or regarding potential future revenues from Zolgensma. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Zolgensma, will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that Zolgensma will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding Zolgensma could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AGs current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



About AveXis

AveXis, a Novartis company, is the worlds leading gene therapy company, redefining the possibilities for patients and families affected by life-threatening genetic diseases through our innovative gene therapy platform. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bannockburn, IL, the goal of AveXis cutting-edge science is to address the underlying, genetic root cause of diseases. AveXis pioneered foundational research, establishing AAV9 as an ideal vector for gene transfer in diseases affecting the central nervous system, laying the groundwork to build a best-in-class, transformational gene therapy pipeline. AveXis received its first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in May 2019 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). AveXis is also developing therapies for other genetic diseases, including Rett syndrome, a genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) SOD1 and Friedreichs ataxia. For additional information, please visit www.avexis.com.

About Novartis

Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend peoples lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the worlds top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com.

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References

1. Verhaart IEC, Robertson A, Wilson IJ, et al. Prevalence, incidence and carrier frequency of 5qlinked spinal muscular atrophy  a literature review. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2017;4;12(1):124.

2. Data on file

3. Farrar MA, et al. Ann Neurol. 2017;81(3):355-368.

4. Finkel RS, McDermott MP, Kaufmann P. et al. Observational study of spinal muscular atrophy type I and implications for clinical trials. Neurology. 2014;83(9):810-7.

5. Anderton RS and Mastaglia FL. Expert Rev Neurother. 2015;15(8):895-908.

6. SolerBotija C, et al. Brain. 2002;125(7):1624-1634.

7. Wang CH, et al. J Child Neurol. 2007;22(8):1027-1049.

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An Ongoing Series on Coronavirus

Who could forget the legendary scene from Jaws when Mrs. Kintner, whose boy had been killed by the shark, slapped Chief Brody:

I just found out that a girl was killed here  and you knew it! You knew there was a shark out there! You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway! You knew all those things! But still my boy is dead now. And theres nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.

Mayor Vaughn: Im sorry, Martin. Shes wrong.

Chief Brody: No, shes not.

Chief Brody and Mayor Vaughn ignored their problem, with disastrous results. We too have a shark problem, but rather than doing everything to combat that threat, we continue to feed the predator known as coronavirus.

The last installment discussed how government incompetence allowed COVID-19 (C19) to spread. But incompetence loves company, so schools, hospitals and people have joined the fray. The point of illustrating incompetence is to learn from those mistakes  not blame for the sake of blame  so we are better prepared next time. And lets be clear: that next time is both today, and very possibly this fall, should C19 go dormant this summer.

But first, several things. Most Donald Trump supporters exhibit common sense and rationality. But significant numbers have turned a blind eye to the many mistakes the government, and, by extension, the president, have made handling corona. We wont rehash those errors, but claiming that the administrations response thus far has been wonderful, while casting blame on the past administration, speaks to an astounding ignorance. Giving carte blanche approval to any leader, even when obvious mistakes are made, is counterproductive in normal times, but downright dangerous during a crisis.

Some may take offense at my tone, labeling it caustic and preferring a more genteel message. Not going to happen. I dont give a damn if people like me, since a commentator shouldnt have any friends. Popularity isnt my aphrodisiac; taking people to task, and hopefully changing hearts, minds, and, in this case, behavior, is. And if a global pandemic with a totally unknown virus isnt enough for us to act responsibly, maybe shaming irrational people will. If not, God help us all.

*

The following situations promoted the spread of coronavirus:

Cruise Ship: This boggles the mind. After the corona-stricken Princess cruise ship  where over half of those tested were C19-positive  docked in Oakland, California, what did the top brass from the U.S. government, including on-site experts from the CDC and NIH, do? In front of the entire world, they herded thousands of passengers together, funneling them down the gangway and into processing tents, with everyone standing literally less than a foot apart! How can officials be in full protective gear, but order passengers with no protection to violate the CDCs 6-foot separation rule?

The on-site officials should be fired for endangering lives, but the Trump Administration should also be held responsible. No, the president didnt make that idiotic decision, but those agencies are under his command, and the buck stops with him. But the passengers themselves are also to blame. Just as some in the second Twin Tower blindly followed a security guards order to go back to their offices  which became a death sentence  so too did passengers do what they were told, without question, and without invoking common sense or gut instinct. For days, they had maintained personal distancing, yet jettisoned that rule when they needed it most. Clearly, being an infectious disease doctor or a Ph.D. in Public Health arent automatic qualifications for making the right decisions. We need to be smarter, all around.

Beaches Still Open: How is it possible that Floridas Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, still  STILL!  has not closed the beaches? What more does he need? Not only is there no health benefit in keeping them open, but he is killing himself and the GOP politically. The governors impotence has him being shamed and outmaneuvered by mayors across the state who are doing it themselves. This is a microcosm of the nation, as President Trump has frequently been beaten to the punch by governors doing the right thing. When Republicans lose because of their paralysis to act, they will have only themselves to blame.

Millennials and Generation Z: This column has long hammered millennials for their unprecedented entitlement and lack of empathy. Thankfully, many others are joining that chorus after thousands ignored warnings to stay home, and instead chose to congregate on beaches. Most may be relatively unscathed if they contract C19, but they will, with 100 percent certainty, kill people when they return home and transmit it. And know what well see? No true remorse, but plenty of social media postings about what they wore to funerals, and countless thoughts and prayers emojis to garner self-validating likes. Never have two generations been so utterly worthless.

Doctors: Numerous doctors became infected after recently attending  ready for this?  crowded medical conferences, including one in Times Square, that discussed ways to stop the spread of coronavirus! You cant make this up. So not only did they infect each other, but many got on crowded airplanes, flew all over the country, and saw patients. And these are the experts?

Nursing Homes: Washington State nursing homes were Americas original epicenter, where many victims died. The authorities answer to stop corona? Limit visits to one outside person, per day  like corona only strikes after a residents first visitor. Its truly petrifying that such people have oversight over the care of our most fragile citizens.

Celebrities: After testing positive, English actor Idris Elba was featured on national television while in quarantine. Yet right next to him was his wife, who was potentially uninfected. But too few called Elba out on his terrible example since, if you are positive, you need to be isolated! Yet in a remarkable display of irresponsibility, Elba defended his action. What do these people not understand?

Oklahoma Guv: Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt posted a photo of himself eating at a crowded restaurant with his very young children. Being an idiot is one thing, but endangering kids, who can also be super-spreaders, is beyond inexcusable. Then again, Gov. Stitt also recommended that Oklahoma schools remain open, so what would we expect?

Schools Not Closed: As of last week, far too many schools around the country were still open, and several states had done virtually nothing to stem C19s spread. Do those in power think theres an award for staring into the face of the beast the longest, with no protective measures? Tragically, theyve forgotten that its not about them, but the safety of children and their families.

Many colleges waited too long to close. But why the delay? Of course they were going to close; they were just too obtuse to see it. No college could risk thousands of students returning from spring break with corona in tow, yet their indecision was staggering  especially since the worlds most elite universities proactively took the initiative, from Harvard to Rice, and Vanderbilt to Stanford.

Ditto for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which sent out a voluminous March 12 letter (with too many out of an abundance of caution lines to count) stating that all extracurricular activities would be canceled, but schools would remain open. Hello? So the virus only attacks during CYO games? The archdioceses message was beyond ludicrous  which is why, less than a day later, it closed all schools. Brilliant.

But the churchs incompetence didnt end there. It failed to cancel Masses quickly, didnt stop Communion-by-mouth, and waited far too long to postpone sacraments  in some cases, procrastinating until the day before to call them off.

Hospitals: Many healthcare systems lacked foresight to stock up on protective gear. Now, many face serious shortages, including some of Philadelphias best hospitals, resulting in nurses and doctors ill-equipped to face the virus. Many failed to lock up what gear they did have, resulting in widespread theft. And some greedy physicians are still performing elective surgeries, needlessly endangering everyone.

How long will we ignore our killer shark before acting responsibly?
Public school teachers worried about whether missing at least three weeks of school would cost them a paycheck or two or impact their pension can breathe a sigh of relief.

The state Legislature has your back.

An emergency school code bill that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday addresses the payment of teachers. The bill would ensure that anyone employed by a school on March 13 shall be paid the same as they would have if the pandemic had not occurred.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of schools on March 13. On Monday, Wolf said schools would be closed until at least April 6 as part of the coronavirus mitigation effort.

Additionally, the school code bill guarantees school employees will not see their pension credit or contributions reduced in any way either.

The measure also includes a waiver from the states mandate that a school year include a minimum of 180 instructional days.

These changes were amended on Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee into a Senate-passed school bill that alters the teacher and principal evaluation system to reduce reliance on student performance measures, starting in 2021-22.

The committee met on the first day the House operated under temporary rules that allow members to vote remotely to give them the opportunity to obey social distancing rules during the COVID-19 outbreak. About two-thirds to three-quarters of members chose to make use of that option judging by the number who showed up on the House floor.

Wolfs order closes schools until at least April 6, but he said that could be extended longer if it is considered necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

If schools are closed for an extended period, it will become difficult for schools to make up the missed days before the end of June.

Another part of the emergency changes to state law is a relaxing of rules on schools use of flexible instructional days. These are days when schools could give out school assignments to students to do at home and still have the day count.

State law limits districts to a maximum of five flexible instructional days in a school year. Districts also must obtain approval from the education department to include flexible instructional days in their arsenal to help avoid making up days when school is closed for weather or some other emergency situations. The deadline for seeking that approval has long since passed.

The emergency school bill authorizes the states education secretary to determine a new maximum number of flexible instructional days schools can use and waives the previous application deadline for gaining department approval.

It further goes on to require schools to provide a written notice to parents of students with an individualized education program to ensure the student receives a free and appropriate public education.

It also requires schools to make a good faith effort to offer continuity of education to students using alternate means during the period of closure, submit a plan for doing that to the education department, and post it on their districts website for parents to review.

Among other provisions, the bill also ensures that no school shall receive any less state funding than it would have if the pandemic had not occurred. It ensures charter schools would receive the same tuition payments they would have received based on their March 13 enrollment. It also requires schools to provide employees who clean school facilities during the pandemic with the appropriate cleaning materials and protective clothing and gear.

If approved by the House, the bill moves to the Senate, which is also scheduled to be in session on Wednesday. The bill is expected to receive a Senate vote later in the day.

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.
You know, look. Do you think this is the first time someone has told me to go back to where I came from? Certainly not. Hes nothing if not predictable. I know were all exhausted and sort of emotionally rubbernecking from the constant fire hose. But from Frederica Wilson to Maxine Waters to April Ryan, to me, even to what he revealed about himself as early as the 1980s by discriminating in renting to African Americans, to his calling for the capital punishment of what we now know as the Exonerated Five  Central Park  hes nothing if not consistent. So its hard to be disappointed when youre not surprised. It was confirmation of who we already knew him to be. I felt that it was meant to distract us, and I was appealing to everyone to not take the bait. Because, as harmful as hateful rhetoric is  and I do believe it helped sow the seed for things like what happened in El Paso  I wanted us to remain with our eyes fixed on his hateful and hurtful policies and what we could do to resist these draconian, xenophobic, oppressive, racist policies that seem to be coming out by the hour.




Haiti - FLASH : Sunrise Airways suspends all its international flights





The Haitian-based airline Sunrise Airways based announces the suspension of all its international flights from Tuesday, March 24 until April 3, 2020.



Message from Sunrise Airways :



"Dear Passengers,



In the last 3 days, Sunrise Airways has operated more than 11 flights to bring around 1200 passengers safely to their home country https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30322-haiti-flash-sunrise-airways-repatriates-passengers.html



[...] all our international flights are suspended from today 24 March 2020 and until April-3 -2020, given the situation due to the current health crisis and the measures taken by the authorities.



Our domestic flights will be reduced but will still operate.



We wish to reassure those who have not been able to travel so far, and to inform them that all passengers whose journey was planned until June 30, 2020, will be able to modify their ticket and reschedule their trip until October 31, 2020 for free and without any penalty.



Take your time, you have more than 7 months to decide when you want to travel.



In order to preserve the security of our staff, and to comply with the local governments businesses closure orders, our points of sale will be closed to the public but we will be available through a hotline every day from 7am to 5pm at the usual call numbers. [customer service in Port au Prince at (509) 2811 2222 and in Santo-Domingo at (809) 236 0777].



Stay at home, take care of you and your beloved ones and respect the safety instructions.



THIS INFORMATION CAN BE MODIFIED AT ANY TIME"



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30322-haiti-flash-sunrise-airways-repatriates-passengers.html


















As Research Chair, Dr. Kaplan will provide strategic oversight of the AUA Office of Research, as well as the research component of the Urology Care Foundation, the official Foundation of the AUA. Dr. Kaplan will also work to advance research across the full spectrum of urologic disease, as well as increase and diversify funding opportunities worldwide. Further, he will also help to develop and implement new initiatives to facilitate the advancement of urologic research and reduce the burden of urologic disease.

"Dr. Kaplan's impressive experience and accomplishments in supporting, leading and advancing urologic disease research, including Chairing the AUA Research Advocacy Committee," said AUA President-elect and presiding officer of the Research Chair Search Committee, Scott Swanson, MD. "He also has an impressive track record obtaining substantial research funding from the National Institutes of Health, private donors and other sources. The AUA Board of Directors, staff and I look forward to working with Dr. Kaplan furthering urologic research education, funding and endowment support for the benefit of AUA members and the public."

Dr. Kaplan has been awarded five National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and has received more than $13 million in research funding. He serves as both member and/or Chair of numerous study sections for the NIH and chaired the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Prostate Strategic Planning Committee. He currently serves as a member and past Chair of the AUA Research Advocacy Committee and has served on the AUA Guidelines Panel for the development of the Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) clinical guideline. He was an AUA Research Scholar from 1988-1990 where he focused on identifying molecular markers and urodynamic parameters that herald bladder and prostate dysfunction. Dr. Kaplan was awarded the prestigious John K. Lattimer Award for Lifetime Achievement in Urology by the National Kidney Foundation in 2003.

An active member of the urology community, Dr. Kaplan is Director of Mount Sinai Health System's Wellness Program for Men and is also a Professor with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Kaplan's postgraduate training included an internship and residency in the Department of Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital as well as a residency in Urology at the Squier Urologic Clinic, Columbia University. His research interests include the study of benign diseases, the association of metabolic factors with voiding dysfunction and female urology. Follow Dr. Kaplan on Twitter at @MaleHealthDoc.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has nearly 22,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

SOURCE American Urological Association

Related Links

https://www.auanet.org


Government is urging people to be more disciplined and stay indoors to stop the spread  100,000 police officers have been deployed to enforce the restrictions.

France is entering a second week of lockdown as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise.

The French government urged people to be more disciplined and stay indoors to stop the spread while 100,000 police officers were deployed to enforce the restrictions.

Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler reports from Montmoreau-Saint-Cybard in western France.
Two New York City hospital systems are barring partners from delivery rooms as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the US.

New York-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai Health System - which have a combined 18 hospitals - say no visitors will be permitted in rooms where pregnant women are giving birth.

Several obstetricians and midwives decried the policy changes and said expectant mothers might choose to give birth at home instead, at risk to their own health.

It comes as the the number of cases in New York surpassed 25,000 - 10 times as many cases as California, which has the second-highest number of cases - and the number of deaths hit 210.

New York-Presbyterian (left), which has a network of 10 hospitals, said it was banning visitors in delivery rooms, as of Sunday as the coronavirus outbreak spreads. On Monday, Mount Sinai Health System (right) announced a similar decision for its network of eight hospitals

Several doctors and midwives say the decisions might lead pregnant women to give birth at home, at risk to their own health. Pictured: Emergency Medical Technicians wheel a stretcher into the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, March 18

Staffers at NewYork-Presbyterian, which has a network of 10 hospitals, allegedly learned of the decision during a video briefing on Sunday morning.

The updated policies were posted on the hospital's website on Monday and have since gone into effect.

'At this time, no visitors including birthing partners and support persons are permitted for obstetric patients,' the statement reads on the website said.

'We understand that this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, but we believe that this is a necessary step to promote the safety of our new mothers and children.'

Additionally, all patients over the age 18 are banned and just one visitor is allowed for each pediatric patient, and that person must be a parent or caregiver.

Actress Chloe Sevigny, (picturd), who is currently expecting her first child, expressed outrage over the decision

In an Instagram post, the 45-year-old actress called the news 'distressing.' Pictured: Sevigny at The New Group's 25th Annual Gala, New York on March 9

Meanwhile, obstetricians and midwives, at Mount Sinai Health System, which has eight hospitals, were told of the decision on a conference call.

Mount Sinai's policy changes were published on its website and went into effect on Tuesday.

Exceptions include 'pediatrics and end of life situations' and only healthy visitors will be allowed in these situations.

Both hospitals referred DailyMail.com to their websites' statements when asked for comment.

The New York Post reports that certain hospitals - including NYU Langone Health, Northwell Health and the city's Health and Hospitals Corp - are all allowing visitors for women in labor.

Several expressed outrage over the decision including actress Chloe Sevigny, who is currently expecting her first child.

#pregnantincoronatime,' Sevigny, 45, wrote in a caption accompanying two photos of her holding her bump.

'I hope all expecting families are finding some calm. Today's news in NY was very distressing for all.'

Meanwhile, a petition on change.org asking hospitals to reconsider their polices has garnered more than 293,000 signatures.

And NYC Midwives warned on Instagram that these restrictions will lead to more women delivering babies in their homes 'whether or not that is the best medical decision for them.'

However, Dr Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Yale University, encouraged expecting mothers to give birth at hospitals.

'I would strongly encourage people to still deliver in a hospital because there are certain things that home births don't have,' she told DailyMail.com.

'If you have complications, or if an emergency happens, what kind of help will you get?'

She also encouraged pregnant women to practice the same social distancing techniques as the general population.

'Don't forget basic stuff when you're pregnant. Do the social distancing. Encourage pregnant women to come in by herself for appointments,' Dr Minkin said.

'We're also trying to see one pregnant women at a time rather than a room full of women.'
A

lex Depledge stares out across her usually humming Brixton headquarters to see a handful employees scattered around the office.

In the last two weeks shes seen the outlook for her online architecture business Resi darken. A relatively buoyant, post-election housing market has ground to a halt as buyers are unable to view properties and homeowners arent inclined to spend big on their property. The bit thats going to hurt us is consumer gloom and not wanting to make such a big decision, says Depledge. Some people will have their heart and mind set and theyll go ahead to build and well welcome them with open arms and other people will be a bit more reticent.

Resi, which has 110 staff, is the UKs largest residential architecture specialist. It aims to be a one-stop shop for those building or extending homes, offering 3D designs; acting as a planning agent; getting costs from builders and a broking service to fund the build. Originally called BuildPath, Resi also holds all the information about a project  from plans to quotes  for users online.

The good bit for us is that were virtual, says Depledge down the line as she digests the virus-induced chaos. We dont visit the home anyway, we do everything remotely.

Resi is Depledges second business, after selling find-a-cleaner site Hassle.com in 2015, and notched up just under 3 million in turnover last year. Its now nearing profitability.

It has been a bumpy ride for the Bradford-born entrepreneur which has taken in depression, burnout and hard graft, as well as marriage and motherhood, and began over a Chinese in Warrington. She and business partner Jules Coleman were working for consulting giant Accenture on a project for United Utilities in Warrington when, in glamorous circumstances (a 3am takeaway accompanied by wine), they vowed to work together if they hadnt started their own businesses in five years time. It was like when you say to your best boyfriend, lets get married if were still single at 40, says Depledge. Sure enough, Coleman later learned to code, quit her job at PwC and secured funding for a tech venture, persuading Depledge to join her in 2011. That business became Hassle. Originally a marketplace for services from dogwalking to hairdressing, the duo found the sprawling business difficult to manage. It was impossible to execute so many thing well. We started to run out of money and I got depressed, stressed and was going to go back to a corporate job. Instead, they switched to focus on helping people find cleaners, expanded into Europe and sold to a German rival in 2015 for 27.5 million.

The problem was the sale felt premature. We had to do a year working after and I left after six months. I didnt get out of bed for a week. I was a mess, my whole identity was wrapped up in that company. Depledge, who boasts a broad Yorkshire accent and a healthy distain of the Silicon Roundabout tech scene, adds: I also felt a tremendous amount of guilt about having this money, that I didnt deserve it. I had to have a lot of therapy to work out Id worked hard for it.

A disastrous experience while extending her house in Streatham convinced Depledge to dive back into start-ups with Resi. She struggled to visualise what a project would look like from 2D plans, argued with contractors about what had been agreed and suffered endless delays. She found an industry with low productivity, dominated by small architecture firms. We went into Resi thinking how do we empower the consumer with more knowledge and education so we can make informed decisions?

Depledge has almost completed the jigsaw of services she wanted to provide with Resi, and is now exploring bringing the supply of building materials and interior design into its offer. She also sits on Sadiq Khans London Economic Action Partnership panel, which aims to stimulate growth and improve social mobility.

Depledge admits work could now slow. Before corona, we were doing 200 projects a month  anything from a porch to 20 houses. If and when the gloom lifts, this looks a business built on solid foundations.
US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vital medical supplies and personal protective equipment as the country for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus.

Till Monday, more than 43,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day, according to Worldometer, a website which compiles COVID-19 cases. With 139 deaths, the number of fatalities crossed 550 by Monday night.

Signing the executive order, Trump said his government would take action against hoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protective equipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.

"Very simply, we will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit," he asserted, adding the Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute fraudulent schemes related to the pandemic.

New York State, in particular New York City, emerged as the hotspot of one of the worst public health crisis in the United States in recent memory. Nearly one in every two Americans infected by novel coronavirus are from New York City which reported 5,085 cases on Monday taking the total to 20,875.

As many as 157 residents of New York, a city which has one of the highest concentration of people in the country, have died of coronavirus so far. Of the total deaths in the city so far, 43 were reported on Monday.

Health officials warned that COVID-19-related casualty figures in New York are expected to jump significantly in the coming days.

White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah L Birx told reporters that New York City, the New York Metro area of New Jersey and parts of Long Island have an attack rate close to one in 1,000. This is five times of what the other areas are seeing.

"Through high throughput lab investigations we are finding that 28 per cent of the submitted specimens are from that area, whereas it is less than 8 per cent in the rest of the country," she said.

"So to all of my friends and colleagues in New York, this is the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self-isolate at this time. Clearly, the virus has been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community," Birx said.

President Trump told reporters at a White House conference that New York along with other hotspots such as Washington State and California is the top priority for his administration.

"Essential medical supplies and emergency equipment are being rushed to New York." he said, adding the Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing eight million N-95 respirator masks and 13.3 million surgical masks across the country right now.

"Focusing on the areas with the greatest need, we have shipped 73 pallets of personal protective equipment to New York City and 36 pallets to the State of Washington. In the past 96 hours, FEMA has also received donations of approximately 6.5 million masks. We are focused on some of the hotspots," Trump said.

He also announced that clinical trials for existing drugs that may prove effective against the virus will begin in New York.

"The federal government is working to help obtain large quantities of chloroquine. It will be a big game-changer. So, we will see distribution starting tomorrow (Tuesday) early morning in New York. I think a lot of people are going to be hopefully very happy with the results. We all will be watching it closely," Trump told reporters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AVON LAKE, Ohio -- Mayor Greg Zilka announced Monday (March 23) that five residents -- including a city police officer -- have tested positive for COVID-19.

The police officer is in isolation at home for the next 14 days, as has become customary upon diagnosis.

David Covell from the Lorain County Health Department informed the mayor about one of the cases on March 18. Zilka said he held onto the information until it was confirmed. On March 19, that case was confirmed, he said, along with a second case, then two more cases on March 20 and, finally, the fifth case -- the police officer.

All are expected to make a full recovery, said Zilka, and each will be monitored by the Lorain County Health Department by contacting each several times per day. None need hospitalization and all have been at the doctor.

Zilka made a point of noting that no EMS crews were involved in any of the five cases. All went to doctors and all were tested.

He also mentioned Gov. Mike DeWines recent restrictions regarding Ohio parks.

Parks are now a yes and a no, he said. Parks are all right to visit, but the playgrounds in the parks are recommended to be off limits. We will be putting up signs within 48 hours. If you do go into parks, it is OK, but keep your distance from others.

The mayor also recognized a donation of a significant number of masks that was made from a local business to both Avon Lake and Sheffield Village.

Read more from the Sun Sentinel.
Massachusetts lawmakers rescheduled special state elections and passed a bill that would allow cities and towns to postpone their own upcoming races to June, sending it to the governors desk.

The two special Senate elections, one for a seat vacated by Sen. Donald Humason of Westfield and another vacated by Sen. Viriato deMacedo of Plymouth, were rescheduled until May 19. Humason, a Republican, left office to become mayor of Westfield, and deMacedo, also Republican, in November to take a job at Bridgewater State University.

The House issued its own orders to reschedule two special state elections until June 2. That postpones a special election for a seat left vacant by Rep. Shaunna OConnell, a Republican who became mayor of Taunton, and another left vacant by Rep. Jennifer Benson, a Lunenburg Democrat who left her post to head the Alliance for Business Leadership.

Under the election bill, municipal governments with elections before May 30 can reschedule them to some time prior to June 30. Any eligible voter can vote by mail for an election before June 30.

The reason we put it off for both the special elections and municipal was to enable robust mail-in balloting, to be able to give people the time to request mail-in ballots, to have them sent to their house, to return them back to their city or town clerks, said Senate President Karen Spilka.

Once city officials vote to reschedule an election, the municipality must post the vote and a sample ballot on its website within 20 days of the rescheduled date, according to the bill.

The town must notify the public in other ways, such as through a reverse-911 call, mass email, advertisements on public access television or a news release.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Spilka did not extend signature collection deadlines, despite requests from political candidates across the state.

Three House members and nearly a dozen congressional candidates signed a letter on March 16 urging the Baker administration and lawmakers to delay the June 2 signature collection deadline by 30 days.

We have suspended in-person events for the immediate future and are moving our outreach online whenever possible to be sure we are doing our part to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities and prevent an undue strain on our health system, the letter states. We hope you will take immediate action to protect the residents, volunteers, and local election officials throughout our state.

When asked about the deadline, DeLeo and Spilka said they are discussing possible alternatives, such as potentially requiring candidates to submit a smaller number of signatures to get on the ballot for the September primary.

There are ways of making sure you get your 150 signatures, said DeLeo, the states longest-serving House speaker, in reference to the 150 certified signatures state legislative candidates must submit. In addition to that I think we are talking about, not so much maybe extending the deadline, but maybe we have to consider not only the state level, but the federal level as well, the U.S. Senate candidates in terms of the number of signatures, so I think those are things that are, that we are talking about.

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Miss England is pleading with the UK government to help her fly home to Britain so she can help the NHS amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former doctor turned beauty queen, Bhasha Mukherjee, became trapped in India while doing charity work when the Indian Prime Minister cancelled all flights out of the country.

The 24-year-old, who worked at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, was on a four-week humanitarian tour of India with the Coventry Mercia Lions.

She said she felt 'guilty' hearing about NHS staff working 13-hour shifts and decided to book the first flight home.

Bhasha posing with a copy of Around the World in Eighty Days by French writer Jules Verne

Bhasha in her 'scrubs' while working as a junior doctor, before her humanitarian campaign

But her 21 March flight out of the country was cancelled as global Covid-19 cases continued to soar and the Prime Minister of India imposed a travel ban.



Bhasha said her plane sat on the tarmac in Delhi for four hours before passengers were told to disembark.

She then traveled to the capital of India's West Bengal state Kolkata to self-isolate with extended family.

Now, she is begging the UK government to help her return to Britain where she intends to help a beleaguered NHS fight coronavirus.

'It was last week that everything started to change very rapidly,' she said.

'I started getting emails from work asking me to return. I knew how badly I was needed so I emailed telling them I was willing to come back.'

Bhasha said the new travel ban has made it impossible for her to know when she can return to the UK.

She said it would be 'really helpful' if the British government could help British nationals get home.

'I know this is a global pandemic, but I have no idea how to handle the situation,' she added.

Stunning in red - Bhasha said she 'feels like a refugee' after being trapped in India after the Covid-19 lockdown

Bhasha the beauty queen feeling ecstatic as she is crowned Miss England in August last year

The beauty queen was born in India, but moved to Derby with her family when she was nine.

She started her first shift as a junior doctor in August 2019, just hours after being crowned Miss England.

Bhasha flew back to India earlier this month alongside her mum Mita to do charity work with a group that supports several international charities.

But after the travel ban was imposed, the pair were separated when her mother was unable to board the same flight back to Kolkata.

The pair were also due to fly to Pakistan the following week for their next trip.

'We were hoping to be out of the country by the end of the day because it would be the last day that we could travel,' she said.

'I got on the flight and they started doing the safety checks.

'I actually fell asleep because it was really early in the morning, but when I woke up an hour had gone by and we were still on the ground,' she added.

Despite telling passengers the delay was due to a technical fault, airline staff eventually said the plane had been grounded indefinitely.

'It was such an anxiety provoking situation. I thought how am I going to get home and back to work,' she said.

'There were hundreds of people just standing there in the airport with their bags desperately trying to get on a flight and leave. I was just sat on the floor crying.

'Everyone was crying, desperately trying to get home. I felt like a refugee,' she added.

Bhasha said she is being forced to self-isolate among family because her 92-year-old grandmother is among people vulnerable to Covid-19.

'I'm literally stuck in my room feeling completely useless,' she said.

The Miss England contest has also been postponed due to the global outbreak.
The Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Lagos State, Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, has warned transport operators in the state to adhere to the laid down guidelines for transportation sector by the Lagos State Government.

MC Oluomo gave the warning in a bid to curb the spread of Coronavirus across Lagos State.

Also Read: Coronavirus: South Africa Announces Nationwide Lockdown

In a statement he personally signed, the NURTW Chairman warned against overcrowded parks and vehicles among others.

The NURTW Chairman also called for the provision of alcohol-based sanitizers across the parks in the state and temperature reader to test passengers before boarding the buses.

He, however, warned that those caught violating the guidelines would be dealt with.
Sri Lanka's coronavirus cases on Tuesday reached 100 with authorities reporting four new cases, health officials said.

In view of the rising number of the novel coronavirus cases globally, the country has suspended all international flights arriving in the country.

"We have found four more today and all of them were arrivals from abroad three from Italy and one from the US," Dr Anil Jasinghe, Director General of Health Services, said.

On Tuesday, the authorities opened the capital city of Colombo for the first time in four days after a continuous curfew as part of the lockdown to combat COVID-19.

Long queues were seen outside super markets and retailers as people lined up to buy essentials.

The three Western province districts which included capital Colombo was designated high risk zones for the spread and the areas will remain under an indefinite curfew.

Officials said the decision was made having gauged the level of high numbers of people gathering at trading stores to buy their essentials. This posed a greater risk for further spread of the disease.

The authorities decided to relax the curfew conditions asking the traders to remain open until they served the last customer before the curfew came to be reimposed at 2 PM (local time).

Pharmacists were asked to keep open despite the curfew and ensure deliveries.

The chief of the COVID-19 operations Army chief General Shavendra Silva said that over 300 persons who underwent a 14-day quarantine period on Tuesday left the centres located in the eastern and northern provinces.

All of them were returnees from Italy and South Korea. They have been issued a certificate to say they do not carry the virus.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa chaired an all-party meeting to discuss the crisis.

"We decided to seek the views of all political parties which represented parliament and to get their assistance too to face the situation," he said.

The Sri Lankan government on Monday pledged to contribute USD 5 million to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

The total number of deaths from the coronavirus cases stood at 16,961 across the world, according to multiple reports.

More than 386,350 declared cases have been registered in 175 countries and territories since the pandemic first emerged in China in December.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All of Alabamas K-12 public schools are closed right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. Heres what we know right now about whats next for the states 722,000 students and 90,000 employees.

When will school reopen?

At this time, schools are scheduled to reopen on April 6. Monday afternoon, Alabama Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey told the Montgomery Advertiser that he will be ready to announce a decision on Thursday.

Make sure you are following your school and school districts social media accounts and official websites for more information.

Are my childs teachers supposed to be working while Alabama schools are closed?

Technically, teachers are still being paid and are expected to be working unless theyre on spring break. Each of Alabamas 138 school districts can decide whether to require teachers and other employees to report to school buildings or attend meetings, in accordance with public safety orders.

Beginning Monday, 92 Alabama school districts started a week of spring break. Another 28 school districts start spring break on March 30.

Am I supposed to be teaching my child at home?

According to state education officials, all learning is optional at this point. School officials are not supposed to be requiring work from students during the period from March 19 through April 3. However, education experts recommend parents try to keep kids learning wherever possible.

There are multiple free online resources, and for students without internet access, educators recommend reading books and doing some type of art activity. Check with your childs teacher and school officials for recommendations on activities for students while schools are closed.

What about online learning? Cant my kids at least do that?

Each school has different capabilities. While students in wealthy districts might have both a device (laptop, iPad, Chromebook) and an internet connection, many areas in Alabama dont have a reliable internet connection. More than half of children in Alabamas public schools are in families that receive some form of federal meal or income assistance, which means its not likely they have internet at home.

This map shows where internet services are hard to come by. According to the FCC, in three Alabama counties--Bullock, Greene and Perry counties--none of the population has access to fixed internet services that reach minimum benchmarks for service. In those same three counties, though, more than 90% have access to a minimum level of mobile service, but theres still a concern about how well students can complete schoolwork on a mobile device.

Related: Schooling online in Alabama during a worldwide pandemic

My child needs special education services. Isnt the school supposed to provide them?

During the full school closure, no special education services are required. However, education officials are still looking for guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, and compensatory education (meaning making up for any knowledge or skills lost) could be needed for students receiving special education.

Heres the latest guidance from federal education officials.

Extremely disappointed to hear some school districts were using info from @usedgov as an excuse not to educate kids during this #COVID19 emergency. Nothing from @usedgov should prevent schools from offering education through distance instruction. https://t.co/4qpnK8WWcj  Secretary Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) March 23, 2020

How can I get meals for my children?

Many schools are offering free meals to all children 18 and under during the school closure period. AL.com has a list of those we know about, but please check with your schools social media or official websites for more information.

During spring breaks, most school districts will not be offering free meals, though a few are. Call 211 for information about where meals are available during spring break closures.

What about my high school senior? Will she get to graduate?

Alabama Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said making sure seniors graduate and receive their diploma is his highest priority. He said that while seniors may not graduate on time (meaning in May), with work through the summer, students will likely be able to graduate and go on to college in the fall.

Be aware that many colleges are working on ways for orientation to be conducted virtually, online, because campus visits are not possible.

Will students have to make up these missed days? If schools reopen, could kids go to school into the summer?

During a state of emergency, the Alabama superintendent has the authority to waive makeup days. At this point, no decisions have been made about reopening schools or whether the school year will be extended. Mackey said he will have more information on March 30.

Kansas and Virginia have closed schools statewide through the end of the school year.

What about state standardized testing?

All state standardized testing is cancelled for the current school year. Juniors had already taken the ACT. There will be no federal or state report cards for accountability for the current school year. State education officials said theyre working to determine how not testing students will impact schools labeled failing under the Alabama Accountability Act.

What about the April ACT test?

ACT officials announced that the April test is being moved to June. See this link for more information.

What about Advanced Placement tests?

Advanced Placement officials announced all AP exams (currently scheduled for May) will be at-home tests. The test will be all essay, no multiple choice. See this link for more information.

The health and safety of educators and students are the AP Programs highest priorities. We considered canceling AP testing this year, but 91% of AP students surveyed asked we not. So well invest heavily to provide optional online daily AP review classes and at-home AP testing. pic.twitter.com/t9GXAIF0lb  Trevor Packer (@AP_Trevor) March 20, 2020

What about the SAT college entrance exam?

SAT officials announced the May 2 testing is canceled. Click this link for more information.

Updated: 3/24, 12 noon to include news that Virginia has also closed schools for the remainder of the school year.

Updated: 3/24, 4:30 p.m to include news that Alabama Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said he will make an announcement on Thursday about when schools could reopen.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has issued a Stay at Home order for the entire state beginning Wednesday, March 25 through April 7. That will effectively shut down IndyCar Series teams from working at the shop for an extra week as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be addressed.

The next two weeks are critical if we are to slow the spread of COVID-19, and we must slow the spread. You must be part of the solution, not the problem, Gov. Holcomb said during a live address Monday afternoon televised throughout the state.

Holcomb has ordered that all residents of Indiana remain in their homes except when working for essential businesses or for permitted activities, such as taking care of others, obtaining necessary supplies, and for health and safety.

Essential businesses and services include but are not limited to grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, police stations, fire stations, hospitals, doctors offices, health care facilities, garbage pickup, public transit, and public service hotlines such as SNAP and HIP 2.0, according to the Governors executive order.

This decision is important to IndyCar Series teams and vendors as they currently do not fall under the essential business category. The majority of teams in the NTT IndyCar Series are based in the Indianapolis area and will be impacted by this order. Team Penske is in Mooresville, North Carolina, and Dale Coyne Racing is in Plainfield, Illinois.

Teams in IndyCar already had shut down after returning from the canceled St. Petersburg street race last week. Several, including Chip Ganassi Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing and Dale Coyne Racing, had announced they would re-open on March 30 prior to Governor Holcombs announcement.

The Indiana Governors executive orders mean those operations will remain closed for at least another week. Teams have told NBCSports.com that some of the engineering and simulation work is being done while staff works from home.

Story continues

IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are moving forward with the intention of running the 104th Indianapolis 500 on May 24, provided the COVID-19 pandemic is under control by then.

NBCSports.com will update this developing story.

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

IndyCar teams affected by governors Stay at Home order through April 7 originally appeared on NBCSports.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:21:26|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 24, 2020 shows the interior of the closed Church of Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. On Tuesday, Palestine declared that the total number of COVID-19 cases in its territories hit 60, of which 58 are in the West Bank and two in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian authorities on Sunday declared a 14-day lockdown on the West Bank as part of measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

by Sanaa Kamal

GAZA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- For weeks, the blockaded Gaza Strip has witnessed a rare calm between the Palestinian armed factions and Israel, amid the outbreak of novel coronavirus.

Palestinian observers and political experts told Xinhua in separate statements "both Israel and Islamic Hamas movement are busy in their internal affairs to protect their communities from the pandemic."

The pandemic killing tens of thousands of victims around the world has succeeded in forcing arch rivals, such as Hamas and Israel, to replace the battlefield with indirect cooperation to strengthen precautionary measures, as experts said.

In fact, Hamas is monitoring the borders, which separate Gaza and Israel, and preventing any attempts to launch rockets from Gaza into Israeli cities, as well as thwarting attempts to infiltrate into Israel.

"It is a normal condition because neither Hamas nor Israel is interested in any military escalation," Naji al-Batta, a political expert, told Xinhua.

Not only Hamas but also Islamic Jihad seeks to combat the virus in the strip, investing their military experiences as well as equipment to prevent the spread of the virus, al-Batta said.

He added that Israel, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad are trying to unite their efforts to combat "the greatest danger," adding that all of them are at the same atmosphere.

No one can deny that Israel is a medically advanced country, al-Batta explained. "Israel is afraid that if the virus hits Gaza Strip, all the residents should take their treatment inside it," he said, adding that "it will cost Israel a lot."

He believed that it is utterly insane for either of the Palestinian or Israeli sides to take a military step because certainly, no one will benefit from it and everyone will be a loser.

On March 13, Israel allowed the shipment of 200 medical examination sets to detect the novel coronavirus in the blockaded coastal enclave, expressing its willingness to cooperate with Hamas to combat the pandemic.

"Israel is obligated to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Palestinian territories, to avoid any transmission between the two sides," political expert Mustafa al-Sawaf told Xinhua.

"Until now, there is no direct contact or cooperation between the two sides," al-Sawaf said. "But Israel seeks all the time to prevent the spread of the new virus in Gaza by providing the medical supplies to local residents."

Besides, Israel and Hamas do not prefer to involve in any new military escalation, according to al-Sawaf, because they have a common goal of fighting the virus.

"I think Israel will increase the pace of providing medical aid to Gaza and assist its residents because they live in one space and the spread of the epidemic poses a danger to all," he added.

Therefore, Israeli media recently reported that Israel is anxiously following up the situation in the Gaza Strip, seeking to support Hamas' efforts to combat the virus.

For his part, Mazen Shameya, a Gaza-based analyst, told Xinhua that coronavirus crisis might achieve a long-time cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and even push them to a form of bilateral cooperation.

Shameya said that the health considerations are a priority, which is directly reflected in the dealing between Israel and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Hassan Lafi, a local researcher, explained that Israel is afraid of a scenario that is considered the most difficult about the possibility of a mass Palestinian exodus towards Israeli territories.

Lafi noted that, in this case, Israel would not be able to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from moving towards it to escape the pandemic, which increases pressure on providing more aid.

Israel has imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized it in 2007.

A local Gaza-based committee resisting the Israeli blockade has warned in January that Israel's embargo has led to a severe humanitarian deterioration in all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, especially in the health sector.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by Hyundai Motor America and its U.S. dealers, announces a donation of $2 million for COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing Centers in partnership with children's hospitals throughout the U.S. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has created a particular threat to children with cancer, many of whom have compromised immune systems. COVID-19 drive-thru testing provides a safe and trusted way for children who present risk factors to receive the care they need. As a leading funder of pediatric cancer research, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has supported the health and well-being of children with cancer since 1998.

"Hyundai is a company committed to improving the well-being of society and the health of children," says Jose Munoz, President and CEO, Hyundai Motor North America. "In the last few weeks, our society has been challenged with a major pandemic that has had significant consequences to life, safety and well-being. Children who are diagnosed with cancer are particularly at high risk. Through our Hyundai Hope On Wheels program, we are committed to being a strong partner on behalf of children's health and assisting during this time."

The following children's hospitals are the first three of ten to receive a $200,000 donation to support their Drive-Thru Testing Centers (additional hospitals to be announced):

CHOC Children's ( Orange, CA )

) UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital ( Cleveland, OH )

) Children's National Hospital ( Washington, D.C. )

"This is an unusual time in our nation as we combat the ravages of COVID-19 coronavirus," says Scott Fink, HHOW Board Chair and Hyundai dealer-owner, Hyundai of New Port Richey (New Port Richey, FL) and Hyundai of Wesley Chapel (Wesley Chapel, FL). "Hyundai dealers across America unite with Hyundai to serve humanity, as we come together in this time of national crisis. Through our involvement with Hyundai Hope On Wheels, we know that children who are fighting cancer have weakened immune systems and are at a high risk for COVID-19. Together, we have directed additional resources to the various hospitals, who are arranging COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing Centers at their facilities across the U.S."

For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing Centers, and to get the most updated list of partnering hospitals, visit www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org.

Hyundai Hope On Wheels also developed a video message of hope, communicating how this challenging time can be overcome together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4QfwzANxgE&feature=youtu.be

Follow Hyundai Hope On Wheels on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, twitter.com/HopeOnWheels or Instagram.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels.

HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS

Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest non-profit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 835 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $170 million toward childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

At Hyundai Motor America, we believe everyone deserves better. From the way we design and build our cars to the way we treat the people who drive them, making things better is at the heart of everything we do. Hyundai's technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to create a better experience for customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and nearly half of those sold in the U.S. are built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com.

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America

Related Links

www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org


VALLEJO (BCN)

A Vallejo police officer has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, police officials announced on Monday.

The officer, only identified as a man, traveled internationally before testing positive, police said. Upon returning home, he was told to self-quarantine and hasn't returned to the force since returning home, nor had contact with other officers.

Police said the officer has suffered mild symptoms for approximately eight days, including dry throat, mild body aches and fatigue. He was tested last Tuesday and received results Monday. He is self-quarantining at home in Solano County.

He will be cleared by his doctor before returning to work, police 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.
Midland Mayor Patrick Payton had a serious tone during a Monday afternoon press conference.

And it wasnt because there were about 15 persons under investigation for coronavirus in COVID-19 wards set up at Midland Memorial Hospital. It seemed to come from the realization of what could be.

Rather than waiting to be told to shelter in place, we, as a community, have to take this seriously, Payton said. Our (hospital) chief of staff just told you theres a danger of our hospital being overrun if we dont take care of ourselves and take care of whats going on around here. That means you dont congregate at Dennis the Menace Park because its an open-air park. You still dont congregate in these places. The reality is, were the kind of people who take these challenges seriously. We are the kind of people who do not need to be told what to do, but who do the right thing. And, now, youve seen us turn the page this week. And it is imperative that each and every one of us do absolutely the right thing that we know to do, so that we dont have to be told anymore what to do. So, we can protect our own, protect ourselves and get to the other side of this.

Mondays press conference with Midlands Unified Command was a reminder of best practices -- from common-sense stuff like thoroughly washing ones hands to taking seriously the recommendations of social distancing and other once-in-this-lifetime restrictions. Officials also put notice out there that cities in Texas are either thinking about or already have started shelter-in-place measures that are more restrictive than Gov. Greg Abbotts current declaration for residents of Texas.

Dr. Larry Miller, chief medical officer for Midland Memorial Hospital, said Monday that while there was still just one confirmed case that there were 15 people at MMH under investigation for coronavirus (an increase of three to four on Friday) and about 10 at MMH who are high risk. A proportion of those will be positive, Wilson said. He said a majority of the persons under investigation are older than 50, and there are four on ventilators.

Wilson said there likely are people in the community who have the infection, and by avoiding calls to stay at home, they are increasing the odds of spreading the virus to others. He said when vulnerable people  15 percent of the population -- get the virus, they end up in the hospital.

Its a simple thing, and we can stop this disease in its tracks, Wilson said. If we stay separated from one another and we keep spread out  if I cough right now, none of you are going to get a virus load from me if I if I were infected. But by and large, its a safe thing if were separated from one another.

But if were going to ignore this -- we go to a grocery store and one person is coming down the aisle this way, and Im walking down the opposite direction and we pass right beside one another, were ignoring the realities of this thing -- its going to continue to spread. Its just something were not used to. And we have to be thinking differently than were used to thinking. Because this really does impact us. And if you dont want to end up like New York, in Midland, Texas, with the level of disease and the doctors in the hospital, getting sick and being ventilated themselves, weve got to avoid that. And the only way were going to be able to do that successfully is to be the citizens I know the West Texas folks are and listen to whats being told to us by our leaders and follow through on this. Because if we dont do it for ourselves, somebodys going to do it for us at some point.
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DCB Bank on Tuesday announced CSR spending worth Rs 1 crore in the next three months for intervention and measures to contain the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.

The announcement comes a day after the government allowed companies to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for tackling the disease.

"The bank will engage with various agencies and partners to manage the response to Covid-19 in India. It aims to deploy this fund within the next three months," DCB Bank said in a statement.

DCB Bank remains committed to its CSR initiative for the overall betterment of Indian society and its people.
Germany's Global Savings Group (GSG), the e-commerce content company, has acquired French cashback company iGraal for 123.5 million in a mixture of cash and stock.

Specifically, the deal was reached with iGraal's majority owner M6 Group and consists of 35 million in cash; the remaining is made up of an exchange of shares. The acquisition is said to be one of the largest in the cashback and loyalty space in recent years, with iGraal considered the leading digital cashback player in France.

"In 2019, GSG and iGraal jointly saw more than six million members using its loyalty tools and connected advertisers to around 400 million consumers," says GSG. "The deal makes GSG the largest rewards, savings and shopping content platform in Europe".

As a result of the acquisition, Munich-based GSG says it expects to have more than half a billion shopping-related touchpoints and to facilitate over 40 million transactions to its merchant partners in 2020. (Coronavirus world recession permitting.)

It is also talking up the data it has access to, saying that the additional user interactions provide GSG with valuable new insights into the shopping behaviour of millions of consumers worldwide and will enable it to build an "even smarter" advertising platform for its partners.

In combination, iGraal and GSG say the two companies intend to expand their cashback and loyalty solutions into new European markets and significantly increase its member base and reach. Despite strong investments and market expansion, GSG expects to stay profitable also in 2020," adds the company.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of iGraal follows GSG buying Pouch, the U.K.-based money-saving browser extension, in January 2019. This saw the Pouch team join GSG, and Pouch founders Ben Corrigan, Jonny Plein, and Vikram Simha becoming Pouch Global Product Leads at GSG.

Launched publicly in September 2016, Pouch is best known for its shopping tool that automatically alerts buyers to working voucher codes as they visit over 3,000 U.K. e-commerce sites. The Pouch browser extension is available for Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
DAMN: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: DONT PANIC!Antiviral Drug Combo Available Now! | MD RANTS

Written by Steve Blechman

23 March 2020

DAMN: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: DONT PANIC!

Antiviral Drug Combo Available Now!

By Steve Blechman

Anxiety is leading to fear and panic! Hope and good news is on the way! Researchers and doctors in France, South Korea and the United States are using the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin (brand name: Zithromax or Z-Pak), which is prescribed for upper respiratory infections. President Trump has announced a national trial, and emergency medical supplies of this drug combo are coming to New York on Tuesday, March 24th. The President was criticized at first but now he has the support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Anthony Fauci, director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

This drug combination isnt a miracle cure for COVID-19 virus but may save lives, lower the infection rate and spread of the virus until we have a vaccine in the next 12-15 months! What the hell do we have to lose? This antiviral combo might work! They have already been approved for many years in the treatment of malaria, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and upper respiratory infections. Some researchers have said that the low incidents of coronavirus in Africa may be the result of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and its use for many years. We need to stop or kill this virus ASAP!

More testing, social distancing, shutdowns, and properly washing hands will help, but not on their own! Compassionate use of this drug combo for the sick should be recommended universally now!

Hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin combo can slow down viral replication and regulate the overreaction of the natural immune response and lower inflammation in the lungs. Sure, more controlled clinical studies are needed but why wait if we can save lives!

I was very pleased to see an editorial today in the Monday, March 23rd, 2020 edition of The Wall Street Journal. The article is entitled: These Drugs Are Helping Our Coronavirus Patients by Jeff Colyer and Daniel Hinthorn. The authors of the report said that on March 9th, a team of researchers in China published results showing hydroxychloroquine was effective against the 2019 coronavirus in a test tube. The author suggested a five-day, 12-pill treatment for covid-19: two-hundred milligram tablets twice a day on the first day followed by 1 tablet twice a day for four more days.

A more recent French study used the drug in combination with azithromycin.

But researchers in France treated a small number of patients with hydroxychloroquine and a Z-Pak, and 100% of them were cured by day six of the treatment. Compare that with 57.1% of patients with hydroxychloroquine alone, and 12.5% of patients who receive neither. Whats more, most patients cleared the virus in three to six days. Rather than the 20 days observed in China. That reduces the time a patient can spread the virus to others. A couple of careful studies of hydroxychloroquine, but results may take weeks or longer. Infectious disease experts are already using hydroxychloroquine clinically with some success.

Other existing antiviral drugs and new unapproved drugs are under investigation at this time and are being fast-tracked and brought to market as quickly as possible against the COVID-19 virus! These drugs include remdesivir, an antiviral drug (available from Gilead Sciences) that has great potential. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has started the first clinical trials, an important randomized clinical trial for the clinical treatment of the coronavirus. Also, the anti-flu drug favipiravir and HIV Kaletra, which is a combination of antivirals Lopinavir and Ritonavir. The biotech company Moderna, Inc. has said that the experimental vaccine for coronavirus is being fast-tracked and may be available as early as the fall for a select few but large quantities and mandatory testing which can take 12-15 months required to prove safety and efficacy!

Like I said earlier, the scientific evidence is preliminary and more clinical trials on this potential antiviral drug are needed.

SO, DONT PANIC! Knowledge is power! Be proactive, smart and logical. You should know the real risks and take the necessary precautions. Below are reliable, authoritative sources. Beware; unfortunately a lot of misinformation is on the internet.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!!

Sources:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/

2. World Health Organization (WHO) https://www.who.int/

3. National Institutes of Health (NIH) https://www.nih.gov/

4. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/

References:

1. Gautret et al. (2020) Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID  19: results of an open  label non  randomized clinical trial. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents  In Press 17 March 2020  DOI : 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949 Etherington@etherington/March 19 , 2. French study finds anti-malarial and antibiotic combo could reduce COVID-19 duration. Darrell2020. 3. Chloroquine for COVID-19: Cutting Through the Hype. Chris Baraniuk. Mar 20, 2020. The Scientist. 4. A malaria pill from the 1940s has caught the eyes of doctors, analysts, and even Elon Musk as a potential coronavirus treatment by Andrew Dunn Mar 19, 2020. Business Insider. 5. COVID-19: Could Hydroxychloroquine Really Be An Answer? Aude Lecrubier. March 18, 2020. The MedScape. 6. A Trial of LopinavirRitonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19. Bin Cao, M.D. et al. March 18, 2020. New England Journal of Medicine. 7. Audio Interview: New Research on Possible Treatments for Covid-19. Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., and Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D. March 19, 2020. N Engl J Med 2020; 382:e30. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2005759 8. COVID-19 Incubation Period: An Update by Stephen Baum Stephen G. Baum, MD reviewing Lauer SA et al. Ann Intern Med 2020 Mar 10, 2020 9. COVID-19 treatment might already exist. By Nevan Krogan - Professor and Director of Quantitave Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco. March 26, 2020. Live Science. 10. These Drugs Are Helping Our Coronavirus Patients. Jeff Colyer and Daniel Hinthorn. March 22, 2020. Wall Street Journal.

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Source: The Critical Investor for Streetwise Reports (3/23/20)

The Critical Investor takes a deep dive into this explorer's projects, joint venture and financing.



Alianza Minerals Ltd. (ANZ:TSX.V) was ready for its Phase II drill program at its fully owned flagship Haldane silver project, after their Phase I drill target defining program was completed earlier during the summer of last year. The company has been busy raising additional cash for 2020 exploration, and it started out with a small financing of $250,000 at 5 cents per unit on January 30, 2020. This wasn't really impressive, but the same financing ended up being oversubscribed unexpectedly to no less than $1.1 million during February, which you don't hear too often for tiny explorers, and provides Alianza with enough cash for Haldane for the remainder of this year.

The timing of this financing was near perfect, as the coronavirus started to wreak havoc on the world directly after this, and is on its way to paralyze the entire world economy now, as countries are shutting down the borders, and entire sectors deemed non-vital in many countries are being shut down at the moment, including mining operations in countries like Peru most recently, which declared a state of emergency. Other countries are likely to follow suit soon.

As a consequence, a recession is becoming more and more likely for this year according to many analysts, although a recession already was in the cards based on many indicators. As I believe this myself as well, I see the virus combined with the oil move of Saudi Arabia and Russia as a perfect storm type catalyst for an accelerated initiation of a recession. So far, Alianza Minerals hasn't been hit directly by the virus, as in staff being infected, although President and CEO Jason Weber and Executive Chairman Mark Brown visited the last PDAC convention in Toronto. The share price has been another story, as hardly any stock has been immune to the latest market meltdown:



Share price Alianza Minerals; source tmxmoney.com

Fortunately fundamentals of the company are only improving, so the opportunity presented keeps getting better in my view. Another development illustrates this further, as the other important news of this new year so far was that Alianza Minerals managed to reel in Coeur Mining in January to do a JV on one of its properties. The option agreement relates to a Letter of Intent where a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining can earn an 80% interest in the property by (i) funding $3.55 million in exploration over five years and (ii) making scheduled cash payments totaling $575,000 over eight years. Coeur must also fund a feasibility study and notify Alianza of its intention to develop a commercial mine on the property on or before the 8th anniversary from the date of notification of the class 1 exploration permit.

All pictures are company material, unless stated otherwise.

All currencies are in US Dollars, unless stated otherwise.

Management was obviously very pleased with the increased raised amount, as Jason Weber, president and CEO, commented: "Management appreciates the support of shareholders and participants in the current financing, enabling us to significantly expand the placement. We are very much looking forward to 2020 and our first drill program in Nevada with our partner Hochschild PLC in April."

They had no clue the additional amount was coming in, as they tried for months, but were pleasantly surprised.

This 5c round involved a full warrant, which is something I don't really like to see for dilution reasons, but in theseat the time of the raisealready dire times, a half warrant was too much to ask for apparently. This warrant is valid for three years and is exercisable at 10c.

Finder's fees of 7.5% in cash and 7.5% in finder's warrants were paid to eligible parties, amounts weren't disclosed. Mark Brown, one of the largest shareholders, participated a bit in this offering, as can be seen here:

The proceeds of this round will be used for working capital, general expenses and exploration at the Haldane project, as stated by Jason Weber:

"With Alianza's working capital covered for 2020 and into 2021, we are in an excellent position to build upon the upcoming drill program with Hochschild at our Horsethief Gold Project in Nevada, and advance or option out additional projects. Exploration expenditures in 2020 will exceed $1.5 million with the majority of that funded by our partners."

Earlier on at the end of January, Alianza Minerals signed an option agreement relating to a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining, to explore the road-accessible Tim property in the southern part of Yukon. Exploration at Tim is targeting high-grade silver-lead mineralization similar to that being mined by Coeur at its Silvertip operation, located 12 kilometers south of the property.

Coeur can earn an 80% interest in the property by funding C$3.55 million in exploration over five years and making scheduled cash payments totaling C$575,000 over eight years. Coeur must also fund a feasibility study (FS) and notify Alianza of its intention to develop a commercial mine on the property on or before the 8th anniversary from the date of notification of the Class 1 exploration permit.

"We are very pleased to have partnered with Coeur to advance the Tim Silver Property," stated Jason Weber, president and CEO of Alianza Minerals. "Tim looks to be a Silvertip analog, and the Coeur team is an obvious choice to move the project forward. It will be a great advantage to have Coeur's geological expertise applied to the project."

As described in earlier analysis about Alianza, it was basically decided on a coin flip whether Tim or Silvertip was to be explored and developed, because of the similar characteristics. The Silvertip analog isn't going to be smooth sailing though. The operating high grade Silvertip Mine in British Columbia didn't immediately turn out to be the valuable asset Coeur thought it would be, as it had to impair Silvertip massively in their Q4 financials:

"- $250.8 million impairment, and temporarily suspending mining and processing activities at Silvertip - Reduction in carrying value to $150.0 million and temporary suspension of mining and processing activities driven by further deterioration in zinc and lead market conditions as well as processing facility-related challenges. The Company plans to (i) double its exploration investment in 2020 to potentially further expand the resource and extend the mine life, and (ii) pursue a mill expansion to improve the asset's cost structure and its ability to deliver sustainable cash flow."

Keep in mind the Silvertip Mine was valued by Coeur at US$400 million but acquired for US$250 million (US$200 million in direct payments and US$50 million in milestone payments) from a partnership between Denham Capital and JDS Silver in September 2017. JDS Silver is closely related to JDS Energy and Mining, who did the economic studies, engineering and contracting on this project, as represented on their website:

"JDS, as the general contractor, completed the construction of the Silvertip mine located on the Yukon-British Columbia border. JDS also completed the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Project which provided the client with preliminary engineering and development plans as well as and economic information that provided an initial view of project viability and a guide for advancement of the project. Consistent with the JDS formula for value addition, the work performed identified the most practical and profitable direction for project development JDS is currently managing all aspects of the mine construction as lead EPCM provider.

JDS is also currently working on providing support for the Silvertip Project paste plant design and construction with the use of equipment from the Diavik Diamond Mine. JDS was also responsible for the teardown and demobilization of the equipment at its prior to transporting to the Silvertip site."

JDS Silver began construction in December 2015 and began production in October 2016, which was halted in 2017 due to ramp-up issues. After the acquisition by Coeur, production efficiency was improved and commercial production restarted again at the end of 2018, but problems started to surface during 2019 as production remained below target primarily due to extended planned downtime, which was implemented to complete key projects targeting improved mill availability. It all didn't really work out, as an impairment analysis generated the massive devaluation conclusion based on a slow ramp-up, weaker-than-forecast zinc and lead prices, and significantly higher treatment charges for zinc and lead concentrates. A new plan for increased production and resource expansion has been launched by Coeur, showing the invalidity of both resource and mine plan from earlier stages.

As the new owner of Silvertip, which has a relatively limited resource and likewise mine life, Coeur could have an interest in Tim to develop it as a backup resource, if Silvertip exploration doesn't generate the desired resource expansion. If Tim results in an economic resource, it could at the very least serve as an extra source of ore for the Silvertip mill and processing plant. Of course the hypothetical Tim resource would need to have the same metallurgy otherwise Coeur would have to install a different flow sheet at the processing plant, increasing sustaining capex further. According to Weber, the potential for likewise metallurgy is one of the reasons Coeur is keen on Tim, as it sees the same units and style of mineralization so it feels the metallurgy has a good chance to likely be similar.

The 2020 exploration program at Tim is expected to target high-grade silver-lead-zinc Carbonate Replacement Mineralization ("CRM"), similar to that found at Coeur's Silvertip operation. Coeur's tentative exploration plans are in-line with those recently announced by Alianza, and will consist of detailed mapping, soil geochemical surveys and reopening old trenches, which date back to 1988.

As the coronaor COVID-19virus is impacting mining operations everywhere, I asked CEO Jason Weber if exploration programs for his projects would be affected. He answered the following: "At this point in time we are proceeding with plans for our projects. The length and degree to which business and travel is limited by the virus mitigation methods enacted by the U.S. and Canadian governments is the largest factor, but we want to be ready to start projects as soon as is safe to do so."

Alianza Minerals already worked on the Tim project in the past, as early as 2008 in a JV with International KRL Resources, and never lost interest in it, despite silver prices crashing from US$30-45/oz levels since then. Besides this, silver got hit extremely hard the last few weeks, and is trading in the US$12/oz range now, which is a level not seen since 2009.

Unfortunately, drilling by KRL in 2008 didn't hit any interpreted carbonate-replacement style mineralization associated with identified IP anomalies, and the property was returned to the predecessor of Alianza Minerals later that year.

In 2013, Alianza funded a small program to complete a focused work program and re-evaluated a historical zone of silver-lead rich Carbonate Replacement Mineralization (CRM) originally exposed by mechanized trenching in 1988. Historical chip sampling across the zone returned 352 g/t silver and 9.12% lead across 4.00 meters. In addition to this exposure, similar mineralization was also reported in adjacent trenches. This zone has never been tested with drilling. Alianza resampled the central trench in 2013, returning 3.7 meters assaying 365 g/t silver and 7.5% lead from a channel sample, which was a decent sampling result.

Three series of sawn channel samples were taken across the exposure at approximately 1 meter spacing between channels. Weighted average assays for each of the channel series are shown below and are interpreted to be near true width:

Channel Interval (m) Silver (g/t) Lead (%) Central 6.40 220 4.74 Including 3.70 365 7.54 including 0.70 976 8.32 West 2.70 269 8.23 including 0.70 829 7.94 East 2.50 280 10.28

Drilling on the property targeted IP geophysical anomalies again, but unfortunately didn't return any economic results. However, according to management, at least some of the holes appear to be drilled parallel to mineralization. Further mapping and soil geochemical work is required to gain a better understanding of the structural and stratigraphic setting and how that relates to both IP and soil geochemical data. Ideally, that would lead to the identification of thick receptive carbonate horizons interacting with structure to produce potentially economic CRD mineralization. With a better understanding of the geology of the nearby Silvertip Mine, mapping may allow for a reinterpretation of the geology in the context of Silvertip.

I was wondering how Tim and its sampling/IP results resembled Silvertip, how exploration progressed Silvertip from discovery into a resource, if and how this strategy could be useful (or not) for Tim, and what Alianza hopes to find when drilling Tim out further. Jason Weber stated that he is planning a tour of the Silvertip Mine and surrounding exploration targets this summer. This will help tie together the geology at Tim and the Silvertip Mine. Coeur has been very pleased with their brownfields exploration on site and believes there is excellent potential to add significantly at the Silvertip Mine and find a resource at Tim. The exact specifics of comparable geology aren't ready to be disclosed to the public yet.

I am looking forward to exploration programs at Tim, and according to Weber Coeur was planning to get on site this spring. Coeur is the operator.

Until recently, the Haldane project in the Yukon has seen the most work. According to Weber, exploration programs for this project will likely consist of some additional groundwork including soil geochemistry and trenching and later drilling and this will start in the summer. Plans are still in the initial phase as the 2019 program data is still being evaluated. Besides Haldane, the company also had a JV with Hochschild in Nevada, initially involving three projects. The Horsethief property is considered the most prospective and remains active, the BP and Bellview projects were recently returned.

When I talked to Jason Weber the last time, he stated that Horsethief hosts five primary drill targets, of which four target areas are defined by surface exposures of altered carbonate rocks and one target at depth, interpreted from induced polarization (IP) and resistivity geophysical surveys. Management has been working with Hochschild's technical team to prioritize these targets for a 2,500 meter drilling program in 2020. The original plan was to start drilling Horsethief in October/November of this year, but this plan was already deferred into Q1, 2020 as Hochschild was re-prioritizing exploration programs across the board, and now the coronavirus is kicking in, things have changed again. According to Jason, they are still targeting a spring startup but may be affected by the virus mitigation efforts. The plan is for a 3,000 meter program in 10 holes starting in May. The company intends to have logistics in place to commence the program as soon as it safe to do so if startup is indeed delayed.

Conclusion

Alianza Minerals did very well to raise C$1.1 million in February, much more than anticipated and right before the coronavirus outbreak, effectively crippling all money-raising efforts for most companies. Of interest is the new Coeur JV regarding the Tim project, which has all the hallmarks of a Silvertip analogy, notwithstanding the fact that Coeur has issues to optimize operations over there, not helped by a lowering silver price lately. Exploration at Tim will start at this spring. The company is also preparing step out drilling after the winter break at Haldane, and the Horsethief project is awaiting a drill program in May if conditions permit, with Alianza being the operator. So despite the corona pandemic, Alianza doesn't seem to be hampered a lot, and their JV partners simply continue operations and exploration programs, of course by following precautionary measures wherever applicable, as health of staff is a primary concern. Results of the various programs should start to come in around June/July, and although sentiment for anything equity-related is at a low right now, Alianza Minerals has two good chances of hitting economic intercepts.

I hope you will find this article interesting and useful, and will have further interest in upcoming articles on mining. To never miss a thing, please subscribe to The Critical Investor's free newsletter, http://www.criticalinvestor.eu, in order to get an email notice of my new articles soon after they are published.

The Critical Investor is a newsletter and comprehensive junior mining platform, providing analysis, blog and newsfeed and all sorts of information about junior mining. The editor is an avid and critical junior mining stock investor from The Netherlands, with an MSc background in construction/project management. Number cruncher at project economics, looking for high quality companies, mostly growth/turnaround/catalyst-driven to avoid too much dependence/influence of long-term commodity pricing/market sentiments, and often looking for long-term deep value. Getting burned in the past himself at junior mining investments by following overly positive sources that more often than not avoided to mention (hidden) risks or critical flaws, The Critical Investor learned his lesson well, and goes a few steps further ever since, providing a fresh, more in-depth, and critical vision on things, hence the name.

[NLINSERT]

Disclaimer: The author is not a registered investment advisor, and currently has a long position in this stock. Alianza Minerals is a sponsoring company. All facts are to be checked by the reader. For more information go to www.alianzaminerals.com and read the company's profile and official documents on www.sedar.com, also for important risk disclosures. This article is provided for information purposes only, and is not intended to be investment advice of any kind, and all readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence, and talk to their own licensed investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions.

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3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy.

4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Coeur Mining, a company mentioned in this article.

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President Donald Trump is attacking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo again over the coronavirus pandemic.

During a virtual town hall with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump spoke about how hed like to reopen the U.S. by Easter, comparing the number of flu deaths to those from COVID-19. Medical experts have urged continuing social distancing and keeping non-essential workers home, while Trump has argued that the economic impact could be worse.

We cant have the cure be worse than the problem, Trump said Monday. We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems."

Earlier Tuesday, Cuomo said New York will see the peak of coronavirus cases sooner and higher than expected, with as many as 140,00 hospital beds and 30,000 ventilators needed within 2-3 weeks. Cuomo urged Trump to use the Defense Production Act to order companies to produce ventilators.

FEMA says, were sending 400 ventilators. Really? What am I going to do with 400 ventilators when I need 30,000? Cuomo said. You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators.

The president said its a war, its a war. Then act like its a war."

Trump said Cuomo was very nice," but criticized the governor for complaining."

He had a choice. He had a chance, Trump told Fox News on Tuesday. He refused to order 15,000 ventilators."

The Daily Beast reports the president then showed Fox News Bill Hemmer a printout of an article from The Gateway Pundit. It says that he didnt buy the ventilators in 2015 for a pandemic, established death panels and lotteries instead," Trump said, paraphrasing the far right-wing blog known for publishing conspiracy theories.

Im not blaming him or anything else, Trump continued, but he shouldnt be talking about us. Hes supposed to be buying his own ventilators. We are going to help.

According to The New York Times, the panel Trump referenced may be the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, which studied the states available ventilators for a 2015 report giving hospitals guidelines on how to decide who to ventilate and who to effectively let die during an emergency. The task force said that, in the worst-case scenario of a flu-like pandemic, New York could be short by as many as 15,783 ventilators a week at the peak of the crisis.

President @realDonaldTrump: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to order 16,000 ventilators back in 2015 for a pandemic! pic.twitter.com/QXVlZIH61h  Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) March 24, 2020

Trump repeated comparisons to influenza to make his case for loosening guidelines on social distancing despite other states, including New York, issuing stay-at-home orders and requiring non-essential businesses to have 100 percent of its workforce from home.

We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu. We dont turn the country off. Every year. When I heard the numberyou know, we averaged 37,000 people a year. Can you believe that? Trump said. This year we are having a bad flu season.

But we lose thousands of people a year to the flu, he continued. We never turn the country off. We lose much more than that to automobile accidents. We didnt call up the automobile companies and say, Stop making cars, we dont want cars anymore.

Cuomo has not responded to Trumps comments, but the two have repeatedly clashed on a number of issues beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, a Republican, has previously claimed New Yorkers are leaving the state like never before, while Cuomo, a Democrat, has accused Trump of inciting hate and doing nothing but tweet when it comes to gun control.

Last month, Cuomo met with Trump at the White House to negotiate an end to the Trump administrations decision to prevent New Yorkers from enrolling in Global Entry and other trusted traveler programs. Hours before the meeting, Trump suggested he wouldnt allow New York residents to have access to faster border crossings and shorter airport lines unless it benefits him personally. Cuomo also irked the president when he signed a law preventing presidential pardons for state crimes, including his associates like former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

New York needs 30,000 ventilators.



It will be the difference between life and death.



The federal government must provide these ventilators.



Only the federal government has the power to deliver.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 24, 2020

Coronavirus in NY: 25,665 cases confirmed, 10 times more than any other state

Coronavirus peak coming in less than 3 weeks; 140K beds now needed, Cuomo says

Coronavirus: Cuomo wants more ventilators, but are there enough specialists to run them?

NY is test case for coronavirus response; feds must act like it, Cuomo says
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, right, talks to the media about the latest actions the state is taking to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, as Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine looks on, Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in Olympia, Wash.

Rachel La Corte/AP

Washington state residents must remain home effective immediately, according to an order from Gov. Jay, which is Inslee intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Businesses deemed non-essential must close within 48 hours unless employees can work remotely.

The order permits residents to leave for activities such as grocery shopping or medical appointments.

The order notably comes later than similar orders in New York and California, despite Washington being an early epicenter of the outbreak.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday ordered residents in the state to remain home for at least two weeks due to the coronavirus crisis, effective immediately.

The order requires all businesses deemed non-essential to close within 48 hours unless employees can work remotely. Essential businesses include grocery stores, pharmacies, and banks. Restaurants  which Inslee earlier this month ordered to close dining rooms  can continue offering take-out and delivery service.

Residents can leave for "essential activities" such as grocery shopping or visiting the doctor, and they are permitted to go outside, but they must remain at least six feet away from others at all times.

Inslee's order notably comes later than similar orders in New York and California, despite Washington being an early epicenter of the outbreak.

Washington had 2,221 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 110 related deaths as of Monday afternoon.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Excitement about treating the new coronavirus with malaria drugs is raising hopes, including with President Donald Trump. But the evidence that they may help is thin, and a run on the drugs is complicating access for people who need them for rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

Chloroquine and a similar drug, hydroxychloroquine, showed encouraging signs in small, early tests against the coronavirus. But the drugs have major side effects, one reason scientists dont want to give them without evidence of their value, even in this emergency.

Yet those preliminary studies sparked intense interest after Trump tweeted 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. He cited a French study that gave the combo to six patients.

Some French doctors and politicians also are pushing to expand hydroxychloroquines use. The mayor of the French city of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said on television Monday that he was on his sixth day of treatment and has the sense Ive been cured.





MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:



 The Latest: US officials working on $2 trillion rescue deal



 What you need to know today about the virus outbreak



 In global fight vs. virus, over 1.5 billion told: Stay home





Scientists, however, warn about raising false hopes and say major studies are needed to prove the drugs are safe and effective against coronavirus, and to show that people would not have recovered just as well on their own. One such study starts Tuesday in New York.

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

Right now, there is no drug that looks like its proven so overwhelming in early-stage clinical trials that we can say its highly promising, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS Face the Nation.

Some people are even trying to take matters into their own hands, with disastrous consequences. A Phoenix-area man died and his wife is in critical condition after taking chloroquine phosphate, an additive used to clean fish tanks. The cleaning agent has the same active ingredient as the medicine chloroquine but is formulated differently.

Dr. Daniel Brooks of Banner Health Cares poison center in Phoenix urged people not to self-medicate. The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution, he said.

THE DRUGS AND SIDE EFFECTS

Chloroquine has been used to treat malaria since the 1930s. Hydroxychloroquine came along a decade later and has fewer side effects. The latter is sold in generic form and under the brand name Plaquenil for use against several diseases.

The drugs can cause heart rhythm problems, severely low blood pressure and muscle or nerve damage. Plaquenils label warns of possible damage to the retina, especially when used at higher doses, for longer times and with certain other medicines such as the breast cancer drug tamoxifen.

Chloroquine is an extremely toxic drug with a terrible side effect profile. Hydroxychloroquine is far safer, but its side effects are still significant, Meghan May, a microbiologist at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, wrote in an email. If it is not abundantly clear that it is beneficial, giving this drug to a critically ill patient feels risky.

THE EVIDENCE

Thats where the evidence comes in  and, so far, there is not much. Hydroxychloroquine curbed coronavirus ability to enter cells in lab tests, researchers reported last week in the journal Nature Medicine. That doesnt mean it would do the same in people or that they could tolerate the doses tested in the lab.

A report from China claimed chloroquine helped more than 100 patients at 10 hospitals, but they had various degrees of illness and were treated with various doses for different lengths of time. They also might have recovered without the drug  there was no comparison group.



COPING WITH THE OUTBREAK:



 Grieving and saying goodbye in the time of coronavirus



 Virus pandemic an unprecedented test for a young generation



 During virus, priests master livestream at Gothic cathedral



 'I can do it.' Couple braves pandemic to help NYCs homeless





The French study has attracted the most attention. Doctors gave hydroxychloroquine to 26 people with confirmed coronavirus infections, including some with no symptoms. Six also were given the antibiotic azithromycin.

Some of the 26 were not counted in the final results because they didnt complete the study  whats known as lost to followup  but that included three who worsened and were sent to intensive care, one who died a day after later testing negative for the virus, and one who stopped treatment because of nausea.

After six days, no patients given hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin had virus detected in swabs from the back of the nose, versus 57% of those given the malaria drug alone and 12.5% of some other patients who received neither drug.

Thats encouraging, but many things could have affected the outcome, such as how sick people were, when they were treated, what other treatments they received, as well as their age, gender and underlying health conditions.

It is a very weak study ... leaving us in suspension of whether the combination strategy has any merit, said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego.

Its biggest limitation: A drop in detected virus doesnt mean the drugs will improve survival or shorten illness.

It could very well be that the drug is reducing viral shedding but having no impact on the clinical course of those patients, Gottlieb said.

A STRAINED SUPPLY

The supply already is pinched for patients who need the drugs for other reasons. A University of Utah service that tracks shortages says four of the seven companies that make generic hydroxychloroquine have reported them. Three other generic drugmakers previously stopped making the tablets.

Five manufacturers have stopped making chloroquine, but three others still do.

Erin Fox, senior director of the Utah service, wrote in an email that the universitys health system has detected that some doctors are writing prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine for themselves and family friends to have on hand or hoard just in case.

The university refuses to fill those prescriptions, and at least one state has banned hoarding: The Ohio Board of Pharmacy says pharmacists cant dispense hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine unless for lupus or rheumatoid arthritis or a confirmed COVID-19 case.

Patients already are feeling pinched. Toni Grimes, 47, has been taking hydroxychloroquine for 13 years for lupus and said Monday that, for the first time, her standard 90-day refill order is being delayed until March 30. Grimes, who runs a Phoenix-area Lupus Foundation support group, said another member also hasnt received her refill.

Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak

This is our mainstay treatment, she said.

STUDIES HAVE STARTED

Among the studies underway is one led by the University of Minnesota throughout the U.S. to see if hydroxychloroquine can prevent people exposed to the virus from getting sick or reduce the severity of illness if they do. Its aimed at health care workers and people with someone in their home who has tested positive. People can email covid19@umn.edu if they think theyre eligible.

Associated Press writers Lindsey Tanner in Chicago, Angela Charlton in Paris, Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, New Jersey, and Astrid Galvan in Phoenix contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Family Promise Annual Luncheon has been changed to a No Show Luncheon on Tuesday, March 31, from 11 am to 2 pm via Facebook Live at Family Promise of Montgomery County, Texas. www.facebook.com/FPMCT/ . No tickets to attend the event are necessary and its free to participate online.

Family Promise is a local nonprofit serving four homeless families at a time in rotating faith communities in a collaborative mission to increase their job readiness, and stability to enable them to be self-sustainable. Approved families with children are entered into Family Promises 90-day personal plan to reach attainable goals with a case manager. Topics include positive parenting skills, stress management, family safety, and budgeting. Families are provided meals, hygiene items, clothing, childcare, transportation, and shelter through partnering churches in the community.

Family Promise families graduated from the 90-day program in 2019 with a 100 percent success rate securing employment in fields as a pharmacy technician, an administrative assistant, and a prison guard to name a few. Graduated families stay connected to the program through private group forums and staff engagement. It is important for families to know that the organization is still interested in supporting the families that graduate.

Church partners set up bedding accommodations on Sunday afternoon for a weeklong stay through the following Sunday morning. Volunteers with the church provide a morning breakfast for the guests and evening meals. Each family must leave each day to seek work, get children to school or daycare, or work on their goals at the Family Promise Day Center located near downtown Conroe. Church involvement is critical to the success of Family Promise. The Day Center is where the families conduct job searches, receive case management, cook mid-day meals, do laundry, and store most of their belongings.

During the event hear from a graduate family of the program, some of the Family Promise Board Members and American Idol Finalist Phil Stacey. The Annual Spring Luncheon is one of the largest fundraisers every year. Community support is needed more than ever to continue serving homeless families. The current families in the program are having to stay in hotels since they cannot stay in the churches with the coronavirus. This is an escalating cost to the Family Promise organization.

View all the silent auction items on the Facebook page and register for alerts when new items are posted by signing up online at https://conta.cc/2WFOxdU. Raffle tickets will be sold online, 1 for $5 or 5 for $20 for a gift card tree and phone calls will be accepted during the luncheon for silent auction items. Call 404-323-9601.

Conroe Church of Christ is a collaborative faith partner with Family Promise.

Family Promise gives us the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus through hospitality, said. Lisa Van De Walle, a volunteer coordinator with the church. The church is simply an extension of our own homes; a place we can offer rest and reassurance to families needing a little extra help getting back on track.

Currently there are nine churches sharing the hosting responsibilities for a week at a time. Without church support, Family Promise must pay approximately $562/week for food and lodging in a hotel for each client family.

The families that enter our program have come from trauma, said Marilyn Kasmiersky, Executive Director of Family Promise of Montgomery County. The sudden loss of a job, accident, illness or domestic violence and not being able to provide for your family is a hopeless and scary feeling. The families have used all of their resources and may be going from couch to couch for shelter. Some families end up in their car with their children. You can see sadness and fear on the faces of the children. They did not have a choice in this situation.

Sponsors for the 6th Annual (No Show) Family Promise Luncheon include Amy and Chris Havern, Woodforest National Bank, the Kurtz Family, Dr. Ken Davis, the Woodley Family, Christ Church United Methodist, Woodforest Wealth Strategies, Re-elect Judge Claudia Laird Campaign, Dennis Fletcher, Savanah Manhold, Cherrie Watson, Claudia Hohlt Broker Associate, and Jo Ann Linzer, Attorney at Law. Annual Sponsors include Bleyl Engineering, Cowboy Kia, 5 Point Credit Union, MJR Services, Americas Home Place, and Conroe Church of Christ.

Since 2001, Family Promise of Montgomery County has served 350 families; including 600 children, to secure a stable housing, provide for their families, and contribute to the community. Additional programs include ROC Program (Reaching Our Children): counseling and supportive services for children, KAR-GO (Keeping Autos Reliable  Gas & Oil) Program to pay for repairs, tires, registration, and gas.

All donations directly assist families with needs of obtaining their drivers license, meeting medical needs, paying rental deposits, providing families with gas cards, and covering childcare amongst many other essential services. Additional costs for the organization include maintaining the Day Center and supplying household supplies to support approximately 20 families a year.

All you have to do is watch the event via Facebook Live on www.facebook.com/FPMCT/ Tuesday, March 31, from 11 am to 2 pm!

Find out more about Family Promise of Montgomery County by visiting www.familypromiseofmc.org. Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FPMCT Call 936-441-8778 from 7 am to 5 pm Monday - Friday.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lambasted President Trump on Tuesday for sending only 400 ventilators to New York from the federal stockpile of 20,000 when the state needs 30,000 to battle coronavirus as he warned other states they would soon see a spike in cases of their own.

Speaking at the Javits Center, which will become a temporary field hospital in New York City with 1,000 hospital beds, Cuomo revealed that the number of coronavirus cases across the state of New York had risen to 25,000 and 15,000 in New York City, overnight.

He needs 30,000 ventilators to treat the wave of patients who will soon need care but FEMA has only given the state 400 from a stockpile of 20,000.

'You pick the 26,000 who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,' he said on Tuesday in an angry plea to the government to share more.

Cuomo's math was off: if every sick person who he says needs a ventilator didn't receive one from the federal government, the true death toll would be even higher at 29,600.

He went on to say that Trump and the government have told him they will not release the ventilators 'because companies are coming forward who want to do it.'

Trump boasted about the ventilators on Twitter, saying on Tuesday morning: 'Just got 400 ventilators to NYC!'

On Tuesday afternoon, after Cuomo criticized him, the president spoke at a live Fox town hall where he said Cuomo 'had the chance to buy 15,000 ventilators in 2015' but didn't. The president is determined to get the country back to where it was by Easter, and says he wouldn't shut down for the flu so should not have to for coronavirus.

Cuomo said on Tuesday that for him, the fight was about doing anything necessary to protect the vulnerable population. He agreed with Trump not wanting to keep the country on lock-down and said it was 'unsustainable', but that the economy had to come second to public health.

New York is now so desperate for the ventilators that doctors have begun experimenting by having two patients share one at the same time.

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Gov. Cuomo fumed that he needs 30,000 ventilators but that only 400 have been delivered to the state of New York

Four hundred ventilators will delivered to New York City by FEMA on Tuesday

Cuomo fears the numbers are going to continue to rise.

Trump on Tuesday tweeted proudly about the 400 ventilators he had sent to New York

He is urging the government to look at what is happening in his state and learn from the pandemic there in order to be prepared for other states.

'We have procured 7,000 ventilators - we need another 30,000. You cannot find them. You cannot buy them.

'This is a critical and desperate need.

'We're going so far as to trying an experimental procedure where we split the ventilator - you use one ventilator for two patients with two sets of tubes,' he said.

Cuomo warned that the 'apex' of the virus will hit New York in just 14-21 days.

He predicts the state will need 140,000 hospital beds including 40,000 ICU beds and 30,000 ventilators.

OTHER STATES WILL BE NEW YORK IN JUST A MATTER OF WEEKS

Cuomo described New York as the 'canary in the coal mine' of the virus pandemic.

'We have the highest and fastest rate of infection,' he said, adding that it was not because New Yorkers were any less healthy than other states but that it was the state doing the most testing and therefore producing the highest number of positive cases.

'We're just getting there first - deploy the resources here in New York for our apex and then after the apex passes here, once we're passed the critical point, deploy the ventilators to where they are needed.

Mayor Bill de Blasio with one of the 400 ventilators on Tuesday morning at a Manhattan warehouse where they were distributed from

Proxima surgical gowns were among the many supplies at the Javits Center, one of several field hospitals that will be set up in Manhattan

There are also a large number of N-95 masks at the center. They are one of the hardest things to source

Boxes of face masks piled high at the Javits Center in anticipation of the wave of patients that is expected in several weeks

'We are just a test case. That's how the nation should look at it. Look at us today.

'Where we are today, you will be in three weeks, four weeks, six weeks - we are your future and what we do here will chart the course for what you do.

'I'm not asking you to help New York just to help New York. I'm asking you to help New York to help yourselves.

'Let's learn how to do it right and right here - act as one nation here and we learn the lesson here, we will save lives in your community, I promise you that,' he said.

THE PEAK IS COMING FASTER AND HARDER THAN ANTICIPATED

NEW YORK CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS CASES: 25,000 CURRENT HOSPITAL BEDS: 53,000 HOSPITAL BEDS NEEDED: 140,000 CURRENT VENTILATORS: 7,000 VENTILATORS NEEDED: 30,000 Advertisement

Since yesterday, there are 4,790 new cases of the virus in the state of New York. There are 2,599 new cases in New York City alone.

Cuomo said the peak is coming faster than anticipated.

'The increase in cases continues unabated. The rate of increase has gone up, it's doubling every three days.

'That is a dramatic increase in the rate of infection. We were looking at a freight train - we're now looking at a bullet train.

'We haven't flattened the curve. The curve is actually increasing.

'The anticipated need now is 140,000 hospital beds and approximately 40,000 ICU beds. Those are troubling and astronomical numbers.

'They project at this time could be 14-21 days away - not only do we have a spike in the increase, when you spike the increase in cases it accelerates the apex.

'We're doing everything we can on every level to slow the spread,' he said.

There is an urgent need for hospital beds; the state only currently has 53,000 and Cuomo predicts 140,000 will be needed.

'I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need.

'We're calling all professionals in the healthcare field - we want to enlist as many staff as we can and as many back up staff, because healthcare workers will get sick.'

'This is going to go on for weeks. We'll need a back up reserve staff,' he said.

DRUG TREATMENT TRIALS AND AN ANTI-BODY TEST TO FIND OUT WHO HAS HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED FROM IT

Cuomo has also introduced trials for the anti-malaria drug that President Trump has touted as a potential treatment for the virus.

He also announced a plan for identifying people who had the virus without knowing it by testing their blood for virus anti-bodies.

'The tests will determine if a person has had the virus and recovered without knowing it. It would allow them to go back to work and restart the economy,' Cuomo said.

Dow surges more than 1,500 points as Wall Street bounces back from three-year lows on hope $2tr coronavirus rescue bill is close US stocks joined a worldwide rally on Tuesday as optimism rose, for one day at least, that government officials and central banks are unleashing enough aid to ease the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow jumped more than 1,500 points and the S&P 500 surged more than 7% in midday trading as a wave of buying interrupted what has been a brutal month of nearly nonstop selling. Stocks had bounced back from three-year lows with the optimism was born in part out of signs that Congress and the White House are nearing an agreement on close to $2 trillion in aid for the economy. Top congressional and White House officials said they expect to reach an agreement Tuesday on the relief package, though some issues remain. Investors have been frustrated waiting for the U.S. government to do what it can to help the economy, which is increasingly shutting down by the day, after the Federal Reserve has done nearly all it can. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,130.26 points (6.08%), at the open to 19,722.19. The S&P 500 opened higher by 107.04 points (4.78%) at 2,344.44. The Nasdaq Composite gained 335.47 points (4.89%) to 7,196.15 at the opening bell. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes had closed about 3 percent lower on Monday as a rise in US infections and lockdown in several states overshadowed historic measures by the Federal Reserve to boost credit in the economy. The market has seen rebounds like this before, only for them to wash out immediately. Since the market began selling off on February 20, the S&P 500 has had six days where it's risen, and all but one of them were big gains of more than 4%. After every one of them, stocks fell again the next day. Ultimately, investors say they need to see the number of new infections peak before markets can find a bottom. The increasing spread is forcing companies to park airplanes, shut hotels and close restaurants to dine-in customers. Altogether, estimates suggest at least 10% of the U.S. economy is shutting down, according to Rob Sharpe, head of investments and group chief investment officer at T. Rowe Price. Economists are topping each other's dire forecasts for how much the economy will shrink this spring due to the closures of businesses, and a growing number say a recession seems inevitable. Advertisement

'Once we get that test, you're going to find hundreds of thousands of people who have resolved. Once they've resolved, let them go back to work.

'Let the recovered people go back to work. It's even better for the older, vulnerable people - and then ramp up the economy with those individuals.

'You're restarting the economy. Those two can be consistent if done intelligently.

'Don't make us choose between a smart health strategy and a smart economic strategy - we can do both and we must do both.

'It's restarting the economy and protecting public health,' he said.

'This is important for us to know because these are then health care workers who could go back to work and workers who could return back to the private sector,' Cuomo said Tuesday.

It's not yet clear when and where exactly the test will be deployed, but Mt Sinai previously said it would begin using the blood test in its clinics.

The new blood test will at least tell those workers when its safe to return to work and may indicate to others that they've already been infected without getting seriously ill and are now immune.

'They may have been infected and resolved and never knew it, but if they had coronavirus and it resolved, now they have an immunity to the coronavirus,' and most doctors believe it could be for a 'significantly' long time, Cuomo said.

Both he and Mt Sinai suggested the tests will first be administered to health professionals, but such testing could also help jump start the economy once it's available more broadly.

Trump said on Monday that the country would be 'reopen' within a matter of days.

He has resisted a national quarantine, saying some states are not as badly affected as others, and is working with business leaders to come up with the huge amounts of equipment needed.

PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE 20 PERCENT - 'WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE MY MOTHER'

Cuomo said on Tuesday that he was concerned about the vulnerable population who would not be able to self-resolve.

'Eighty percent are going to self-resolve. Twenty percent are going to need hospitals. It's not about that. It's about a very small group of people in this population who are the most vulnerable. They are older, they have compromised immune systems, they are HIV positive, or they have emphysema, or they have an underlying heart condition, or they have bad asthma, or they're recovering from cancer. Those are the people who are going to be vulnerable to the mortality of this disease, and it is only 1 percent or 2 percent of the population.

'But then why all of this? Because it's one percent or 2 percent of the population. It's lives, it's grandmothers and grandfathers and sisters and brothers.

'And you start to see the cases on TV. It's a 40-year-old woman who recovered from breast cancer but had a compromised immune system and four children at home. That's what this is about. It's about a vulnerable population. I called the executive order that I passed Matilda's law - my mother,' he said.

Matilda's Law mandates that anyone over the age of 70 must stay indoors at all times unless they are going to receive medical care.

They can only accept visitors if the visitor stays 6ft away from them and is wearing a mask.

'It's about my mother. It's about my mother. It's about my mother. It's about your mother. It's about your loved one. And we will do anything we can to make sure that they are protected,' Cuomo said.

CUOMOS' LOVE LETTER TO NEW YORK AND PRAISE FOR THE HEALTHCARE WORKERS DOING 'GOD'S WORK'

Towards the end of the press conference, Cuomo became emotional as he talked about how much he loved the state.

'We're going to get through it because we are New York and because we've dealt with a lot of things, and because we are smart. You have to be smart to make it in New York. And we are resourceful, and we are showing how resourceful we are. And because we are united, and when you are united, there is nothing you can't do. And because we are New York tough. We are tough. You have to be tough. This place makes you tough, but it makes you tough in a good way.

'We're going to make it because I love New York, and I love New York because New York loves you. New York loves all of you. Black and white and brown and Asian and short and tall and gay and straight. New York loves everyone.

'That's why I love New York. It always has, it always will.

'And at the end of the day, my friends, even if it is a long day, and this is a long day, love wins. Always. And it will win again through this virus,' he said.

He also urged New Yorkers to give thanks to doctors and nurses if they see them.

'Our health care workers, who are doing God's work. They are doing God's work. Can you imagine the nurses who leave their homes in the morning, who kiss their children goodbye, go to a hospital, put on gowns, deal with people who have the coronavirus?

'They're thinking all day long, oh, my God, I hope I don't get this. Oh my God, I hope I don't get this and bring it home to my children.

'You want to talk about extraordinary individuals - extraordinary,' he said.

I WILL defy the doctors, says Trump who claims 'our people want to return to work' and assures that 'seniors will be watched over' despite medical experts warning his back to business plan could kill MILLIONS

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he can re-open the economy while protecting at-risk populations from the coronavirus despite warnings from medical experts that strict containment measures are still needed.

'Our people want to return to work,' the president wrote on Twitter.

'They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!,' he argued.

His push on Tuesday comes as Congress closes in on a deal for a $2 trillion economic rescue packages for individuals and businesses hit hard by the coronavirus.

The stock market rose Tuesday morning in the hopes the legislation will soon be passed and checks will flow into the pocket books of Americans.

And Larry Kudlow, chief economy adviser at the White House, warned there will still be shut-ins and hot zones even if some ares become more open.

'We're not abandoning the health professionals' advice, but there is a clamor to try to reopen the economy, and perhaps I'll call it less of a shut in. And so that's one piece that's yet to be determined, but it's one piece is being looked at. We still need the assistance because in the next week or two or three, you're still gonna have a lot of hot zones, you still got a lot of shut ins. There's no miracle here. We're not just flipping a switch.

'The assistance is so vital,' he told reporters at the White House Tuesday morning.

President Trump has been clear he's worried about the economic affect coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic. Numerous states have closed restaurants, gyms, bars, and clubs. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. States like California and New York have advised people to stay home as much as possible. And the stock market has tanked, erasing nearly all the gains it made since Trump took office.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle have warned President Trump against an early ending to social distancing.

'There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do whats necessary to stop the virus,' wrote Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney on Twitter. She went into voluntarily quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus.

And Hillary Clinton wrote letting people die was not worth rescuing the economy.

'It's incredible that this has to be said: Letting thousands of people needlessly suffer and die is wrong. It's also not a recipe for rescuing the economy,' she tweeted.

Additionally, the World Health Organization has warned the United States has the potential to become the new coronavirus epicenter following a 'very large acceleration' in infections.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday night assured the countrymen there will be no crisis of essential commodities during the 21-day lockdown that is beginning midnight.

IMAGE: Locals buy vegetables and essential goods at a store after PM Modis announcement of 21 days of lockdown in wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Patna, on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

In a series of tweets, Shah also asked people not to panic as the whole country would fight the coronavirus outbreak together.

'I assure all the countrymen that there will be no shortage of essential commodities in the country during the time of lockdown," he said.

Shah said the central government along with all the state governments is making adequate efforts to deal with the prevailing situation.

His tweets came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 21-day lockdown as a concrete step to combat the pandemic which so far claimed 10 lives in India.
Positive social media is part of the fight against coronavirus, lets not make mental health an unintended victim in the process. By John Sheridan

In the past fortnight the mental health of literally all of Ireland has been turned on its head in the face of the fight against covid-19. At first, there was probably a originality to the new situation but post St Patricks day reality set in that this isnt like a red weather alert, this is going to be so much different.

There are so many things causing strain on the mental health of every single family in the country: the unknown of a global pandemic, the fear and emotion around the health of family and friends, the financial earthquake which has seen hundreds of thousands suddenly out of work.

There are the other stresses too: the panic shopping, being confined to our homes, children being out of their school routine, not being able to visit our parents and older relatives, workers trying to work from home and the lack of any social or recreational activities.

Added onto that is the relentlessness of hearing about covid-19 on media and social media, because frankly, that is what is consuming everyone. The ping of yet another notification to our phones is followed by the dreaded thought of what now.

Social media is an incredibly powerful resource. It is an unprecedented ability to catch the mood, but also gets messages out quickly when needed. Positive social media is part of the fight against coronavirus, but lets not make mental health the unintended victim of it in the process.

So far social media has by and large been a force for good in the face of covid-19. It has allowed information to be freely shared, allowed the HSE provide information in a quick and timely manner. It also showed huge responsibility as people appealed to friends and followers to stop panic buying.

Some videos of pubs and bars being packed evoked a mass sense that things needed to change and proactively bars started closing, North and South as it became clear people were moving ahead of what was being asked of them.

That said, we seem to have reached a point whereby on one hand we are rightly lauding those involved in the fight against Coronavirus - in particularly the health care professionals - but on the other hand we are now engaging in trial by social media in an ever evolving and delicate situation.

There is one clear source of direction and advice that is the Chief Medical officer and the HSE. This expert advice is then correctly communicated through the government and trusted news sources. Social media is of course part of that process too, but it appears to have had conflicting results.

Good morning everyone, except those queuing for chips in Howth was one message I read. I even saw Minister Simon Harris post a late-night tweet which clearly had a tone of exasperation to it, which was out of step with the calm measured communication on Coronavirus we now associate with him.

Just over a month ago, Caroline Flack died tragically. Her death resulted in an epiphany of people saying it should be a new start for social media and that we ought to be kind to one another.

Every year hundreds of thousands in Ireland put their efforts into supporting mental health charity Pieta House through the Darkness into Light event. Most participants post on social media that they attend the event.

Huge steps have been taken in recent years to change the narrative around mental health and suicide for people to talk more, to exercise more and to seek help if they need it.

Huge work has been done on calling out bullying in schools and workplaces and putting in guidelines and regulations to allow victims seek resolutions. Online social media platforms are adult playgrounds and the same rules should apply to it.

Right now in the face of a huge global pandemic, we have a fight to physically fight the virus as a world; but also we have to ensure that in the process of hopefully flattening the curve that we dont cause such a culture that the online audience is judge and jury on what we should do next and issue judgements which may be at odds with expert public health advice.

I dont have a medical qualification, but Im of the view 95 percent of success in the public engagement on this issue will be about public buy in and engagement and the rest is actually about enforcement from state agencies.

Public Buy-in does not come from lecturing anybody in person or online. Education and clear consistent messaging are what creates public buy-in and gets us results. If enforcement is needed thereafter then so be it.

As the days go by and as emotions get tested more and more in this unprecedented situation, there will no doubt be tougher, and we get used to more severe restrictions in coming weeks.

It is a tough emotional time for everyone. The fear of the unknown feeds so much anxiety in all of us. Stick to the facts is probably a phrase we need to all use more when we are anxious and also when on social media.

So perhaps, the next time you go to tweet a picture or post a comment think about it twice. Will making that post actually add to the prevention or add to the panic?

Is your message going to make yourself or anyone else more informed as to the facts or is it simply a momentary release of frustration? Finally, and most importantly, does your post on social media contradict the official advice of those trusted and qualified to inform us about what we have been asked to do?.

And finally, stay safe but #BeKind in the process to protect everyone from Covid-19 but also from damaging mental health in the process.
Following the nationwide measures being deployed by governments in the country to contain the spread of Coronavirus, the Commandant General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, has directed the immediate deployment of disaster management operatives of the corps across the country to curtain the speed spread of COVID 19

A press statement issued by Ekunola Gbenga the Media Assistant to the Commandant General said Abdullahi Muhammadu met with his management team on Monday 23rd of March by 8:00hr directed the directorates especially the disaster management directorate to liaise with State Commandants across the nation to adequate deployment of 9,500 Personnel Nationwide to curtain the speed spread of COVID 19

The commandant General said that the directive was in compliance with the order of the Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. The deployment cuts across the 774 LGs in the country for the safety of the people. He calls for Cultural, environmental protection, behavioural change of Nigerians in this trying period.

The Disaster operatives of the corps have been trained by United Nations both home and abroad, National Emergency Management Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Nigeria Nuclear and Regulatory Agency (NNRA) etc, Gana said.

The CG asked the officers to prepare for the task ahead and should wait for the Hon. Minister directives before commence operation. He revealed that the minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has promise kits and training for the officers to be deployed for the operations.

Worried by the spate of COVID 19 and general apprehension of epidemic in the country, the NSCDC boss, Abdullahi Gana call for individual three (3) days fasting and prayer for the Nation. He emphasized the need for all well meaning Nigerians to go on their knees and commit the nation to the hand of God to quell spread of COVID 19 in our country.

Gana, while encouraging the Corps personnel to participate actively in the three (3) days fasting and prayers, also call on all other security agencies, religious groups, including Christians and Muslims, civil servant, public servants and other good spirited Nigerians to join in the special prayer to invoke the spirit of God against COVID 19 in the Nation.

Signed

Ekunola Gbenga

Media Assistant to the Commandant General (NSCDC)
Former Bachelor star Jessica Brody has revealed the unique way that the coronavirus shutdown has affected her.

The 31-year-old, who is currently in self-isolation, said that she's unable to get more lip fillers due to the lock down, which has affected her cosmetic physician's clinic.

'Somebody asked me where I get my lips done,' she said in a YouTube Q&A video.

Troubled times: Bachelor star Jessica Brody (pictured) is unable to get lip fillers due to the coronavirus shutdown

'I go to Dr Eros in the city, but currently at this point in time he's not open because of the pandemic.'

She continued: 'I've been going to him for seven years now and he's fantastic. He's very professional.

'He will never do any fillers or work on my face that I don't really need and he's always been great to me.'

'I go to Dr Eros in the city, but currently at this point in time he's not open because of the pandemic,' she explained in a YouTube Q&A

In addition to lip fillers, Jessica also recently got porcelain veneers from celebrity dentist Dr Dee.

Last month, the brunette penned an emotional post on Instagram where she confessed she'd 'been bullied' for years over her teeth - forcing her to get new porcelain veneers.

'I'm honestly so happy I could cry. What a difference!' she wrote, revealing incredible before-and-after photos of her extensive dental makeover.

'He will never do any fillers or work on my face that I don't really need and he's always been great to me': The 31-year-old lavished praise on her doctor, who called 'very professional'

The 31-year-old explained that she'd had her 'old, cheap, stained composite veneers' removed.

She then had 10 Picasso Porcelain veneers put on at Vogue Dental Studios in Melbourne by Dr Dee.

'I have been bullied throughout my younger years for my teeth and Im just so happy to have the bright, white smile I never thought Id have,' she wrote.

New smile! In addition to lip fillers, Jessica also recently got porcelain veneers from celebrity dentist Dr Dee

Jessica shot to fame as an intruder on Matt Agnew's season of The Bachelor.

The bombshell is set to return to screens this year on Bachelor In Paradise.

A trailer for the upcoming season shows Jessica kissing fan favourite Ciarran Stott, indicating that she could have a big storyline on the spin-off.
Britains youngest MP has returned to her former job as a care worker to help tackle the coronavirus crisis.

Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome announced she would donate her earnings from the part-time role to a local Covid-19 support fund.

The 23-year-old Labour politician said she was returning to her pre-parliament job because the care system is in serious danger of falling apart at the seams because of the global pandemic.

She added in a video posted on Twitter: Im returning part-time to my previous job as a care worker because social care is in crisis.

This is an act of solidarity with my colleagues who are already working so hard and will be struggling under the increased pressure and with elderly people who are at higher risk if they do contract coronavirus.

Ill be continuing with my role as local MP and Ill donate my earnings from my care work to the local Covid-19 fund.

Ms Whittome, who was elected in December 2019, also called for an emergency universal basic income, mass testing, and contact tracing on the scale of other countries that have successfully contained the disease.

Thousands of former healthcare workers have also come out of retirement to help fight the outbreak after health secretary Matt Hancock called on them to return to work.

The UK death toll from the virus hit 355 on Monday as cases climbed to 6,650.

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Britain woke on Tuesday to life under a string of strict new measures after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown on Monday evening.

The restrictions, which include only going outside to shop for necessities and to exercise once a day, have been brought in to curb the spread of Covid-19 in a bid to take pressure off the NHS.
The Texas Department of Insurance reports that insurance claim-handling deadlines have been extended for 15 days as of March 20 to help insurers respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The extension was implemented after Governor Greg Abbott suspended certain provisions of the states prompt pay laws and Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan declared the COVID-19 pandemic a disaster under Texas Insurance Code Section 542.059(b).

Despite the extension, the Texas Department of Insurance said it expects insurers to work with policyholders who may experience financial hardships due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The department also said it encourages insurers to use grace periods for payments, temporary suspension of premium payments, payment plans, and other actions to allow continuing insurance coverage as appropriate.

TDI additionally said it would work with carriers to minimize the regulatory effects of an insurers actions to provide policyholder relief, specifically for financial review requirements. The term suspension is not intended to mean the forgiveness of the premium, TDI said.

This extension will be in effect until the governors suspension and the commissioners declaration are lifted. While the temporary claims handling rules are in place, TDI said insurers should:

Promptly identify, evaluate, and resolve claims.

Promptly acknowledge receipt of a claim.

Promptly make appropriate assignments for the investigation of a claim.

Continue to service and handle claims payments in a timely manner.

Source: TDI

Topics Texas Claims
The first call comes from the lab. State law requires each one to notify the Alabama Department of Public Health every time a specimen tests positive for the novel coronavirus.

From there, a staff member reaches out to the county health department where the person lives. As of Tuesday, the Jefferson County Department of Health had fielded 90 such calls in the last week and a half. Each one triggers a mandatory quarantine for patients  14 days, enforceable by law.

Then the case heads to the disease detectives, public health employees who try to track down every individual who spent at least 15 minutes within a 6-foot radius of an infected person. They start with the usual suspects, like family, and go from there.

We build a possible network by tracing the persons movements, said Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director of disease control for the Jefferson County Department of Health. Then we start branching out from there.

Much of the work happens over the phone. Calls to employers, co-workers, family, friends and acquaintances identify possible vectors of the fast-spreading illness. These people must stay home, check their temperatures and report back to public health.

With each new case, staff members try to build a perimeter around the pandemic to keep it in check. But each time it stretches, they need more hands to hold the line. Already the effort has borrowed staff who usually monitor tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections.

Were okay on manpower right now and we can flex up, Willeford said. The concern with this is the exponential growth.

Willefords team tries to stop outbreaks before they begin. When it works, it doesnt make headlines.

Public health has always done its best work when nothing happens, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Now they are on the front lines of the battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

We had several near misses like Ebola and swine flu, Benjamin said. This for all practical purposes is the big one weve been waiting for.

It has hit a public health system strapped for resources. Only 3 percent of total health spending goes to public health, Benjamin said.

The Alabama Department of Public Health lost $21 million in Medicaid revenue last year and another $5 million from local governments. A report about outbreak and emergency preparedness by the Trust for Americas Health found that Alabama had the second largest percentage rate drop in public health funding from 2018 to 2019 behind New Hampshire.

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said last year the department would close some county health offices and limit hours in others to save money.

Theres no database of funding for local health departments, but research by the University of Washington shows it can vary widely. Their sample showed a range from $1.10 per capita all the way up to $48.74, with a median of $9.15.

I cant tell you where Alabama specifically stands regarding its local public health funding, said Betty Bekemeier, professor of public health at the University of Washington. No one can since comparable local public health data dont really exist across states and even within a state.

The Jefferson and Mobile County Departments of Health operate independently with funding from local taxes. The rest of the counties fall under the jurisdiction of the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Public health departments are all very different, Benjamin said. We always say if youve seen one local health department, youve seen one local health department.

Willeford said Jefferson Countys local funding provides protection from state budget cuts, but doesnt leave a lot of room for frills.

The Jefferson County Department of Health doesnt have a state-of-the-art laboratory or a broadcast studio. On the day Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson announced the first restrictions to keep people at home and apart, technical limitations forced him to announce it outside and in person.

We receive local tax funding that takes care of us, Willeford said. It allows us to weather a storm. But most of that budget goes to keeping the lights on.

An infusion of federal cash to fight the coronavirus has boosted the states ability to fight coronavirus, but the increase in cases has Willeford concerned. Now that several business have closed by order of the Jefferson County Health Officer, the department is using inspectors to monitor patients under quarantine to make sure they stay home.

Normally we all have our own areas we work on, Willeford said. But right now, were all working together on this issue.
By Bahk Eun-ji



The primary suspect of the so-called Nth room case, who allegedly operated an illegal content ring focused on humiliation and torture of women including underage victims on the Telegram messenger app, will be shown to the public in a press photo line, Wednesday, according to the police Tuesday. This will be the first time for law enforcement authorities to disclose the face of a sex offender.



According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, a committee consisting of three internal members and four outside members, including lawmakers, university professors, and psychiatrists, decided to disclose the identity of the suspect, Cho Ju-bin, 25, considering his malicious methods of producing and distributing sexually explicit and disturbingly abusive video content of women and minors.



"The committee made the decision after reviewing fully the reasons for limiting disclosure of his identity, including the human rights of the suspect and secondary damage to the suspect's family and neighbors," the police said.





Broadcaster SBS revealed the face of Cho Ju-bin, 25, the notorious child pornography suspect. Courtesy of SBS

Cho, currently known by his nickname on Telegram, "Baksa (doctor)," is a graduate of Inha Technical College. He was reportedly a hardworking student who achieved the position of chief editor of the school's newspaper, but who also often got into trouble with professors and other students over his stories in the paper.



Cho, who attended elementary, middle and high school in Incheon, entered the department of Information and Communication at the university in 2014, and earned an average GPA of 4.17 out of 4.5 until his graduation in 2018. In particular, his writing skills were so good that he won the first prize in a book review contest hosted by the school's library in his second semester in 2014.



Cho was selected as a trainee reporter of the school newspaper when he was a freshman in 2014, and worked as a staff reporter and editor-in-chief until 2015.






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A Toronto dad has started a swimwear line for trans girls after his own trans daughter struggled to find an appropriate swimsuit.

Jamie Alexander's 12-year-old daughter Ruby was born male, but has identified as female for years. But while Jamie and his wife accept and embrace her for who she is, they know that Ruby will face some unique challenges in life  and Jamie wants to make sure going swimming isn't one of them.

So the entrepreneur has launched a new swimwear line called Rubies, which includes specially-made bikini bottoms that are stylish and hide a bulge.

What a dad! Jamie Alexander's 12-year-old daughter Ruby was born male, but has identified as female for years  and he's launched a swimwear line just for trans girls in her honor

Protecting their daughter: Ruby's parents support her but are aware that others may be less kind

Jamie came up with the idea when Ruby was 11 and they were planning a family vacation to Panama.

'What should Ruby wear to the beach in a country that may not be ready for a girl like her?' he wrote on the Rubies website. 'With that came a bigger question: how could [we] help girls like Ruby enjoy the same activities as their friends  with the same level of comfort and confidence, and no matter where they went?'

Speaking to the CBC, he said: 'In the early days, when she socially transitioned, we put her in boys clothing for gym and swimming. She was reluctantly going along with us.'

On a later trip with family friends, they let Ruby wear a bikini. But while that didn't pose a problem in that environment, Jaime knew it wouldn't always be that easy.

'It's a general fear that you don't want your kid to be sort of called out,' he said. 'Someone doesn't feel comfortable and they feel that it's a potential safety issue.'

Dedicated: He got to work, picking out fabric to make the first prototype for a bikini for trans girls. He was then accepted to Fashion Zone, a fashion startup incubator at Ryerson University

So he got to work, picking out fabric to work on the first prototype for a bikini just for trans girls.

He was then accepted to Fashion Zone, a fashion startup incubator at Ryerson University, where technicians helped him bring his idea to life.

That evolved into a second prototype, and a third and a fourth and so on. He even enlisted trans girls to test them out and provide feedback.

Now, finally, they've landed on a design that is now available for pre-orders online.

The bikini bottoms currently come in black and hot pink, and have a 'soft compression that provides worry-free comfort and helps keep everything in place'.

'If your little rockstar is looking for a nice front view, this no-nonsense bikini bottom will give her support in all the right places,' reads the product description.

Pre-order! Now, finally, they've landed on a design that is now available for pre-orders online

'If your little rockstar is looking for a nice front view, this no-nonsense bikini bottom will give her support in all the right places,' reads the product description

Helping: The brand is also selling T-shirts with its logo and the phrase 'every girl deserves to shine'  and Jamie intends to use the proceeds to send free swimwear to trans kids

'It magically turns a pointy poker into a mound. No tucking required. Made of the highest quality compression spandex and mesh that provides a comfortable fit, this bikini is slick, stylish AND sensible.'

In a statement to the New York Daily News, Jamie added: 'We design form-fitting clothing for trans girls and their friends  so that they never stop being active and being girls, no matter where their day takes them.

'We believe that every girl should be able to enjoy the same level of comfort and confidence as her friends  whether its the beach, ballet, gym or swim.'

In addition to swimwear, the brand is also selling T-shirts with its logo and the phrase 'every girl deserves to shine'  and Jamie intends to use the proceeds to send free swimwear to trans kids.

'I think he's amazing,' Ruby told the CBC about her dad.

Next up, he hopes to make a one-piece suit and leggings.
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PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Crexendo, Inc. (OTCQX:CXDO), an award-winning premier provider of cloud communications, UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service), call center, collaboration services, and other cloud business services that are designed to provide enterprise-class cloud services to any size business at affordable monthly rates, today announced that it has rolled out a package for new and existing customers intended to keep America working.The Package is intended to allow new customers to quickly move to the Cloud and provide additional incentives to current customers so that they may continue operating during this American time of crisis. Crexendo is offering the following incentive package through May 31, 2020:Up to 4 free months of service for new customers.Waiving activation fees for new customers.Free collaboration licenses that include screen sharing and videoconferencing for new and existing customers.Free mobile applications and softphone applications for new and existing customers.Additional discounts for non-profits, education and government organizations on top of all of these additional incentives to assist those who are serving our Country in this time of crisis.The capability of getting your business set up on Crexendo's services within a day or two.Steve Mihaylo Chief Executive Officer Commented "The Keep America working package is our way of supporting the businesses of this County. The need to work remotely has never been more apparent. This package allows businesses with legacy premise based phone systems to quickly move to the cloud so that they can continue operating from a remote location or from home. Our cloud communication services play an essential role in allowing businesses to operate seamlessly from remote locations. We have also provided additional incentives to current customers as the need for these services has never been greater. We all need to work together, albeit apart to get through this crisis." Doug Gaylor President and Chief Operating Officer commented "The Crexendo Ride the Cloud solutions are essential in the today's world. This is not a temporary issue that will disappear with COVID 19, one thing we have learned is that the ability to nimbly and quickly alter communication patterns in a crisis is perhaps the most important differentiator any business can have. The Crexendo solutions have always given businesses that ability. We have always said "It's not just your phone it's your business" and that has never been more fitting than today. Please contact us if you have any questions"About CrexendoCrexendo, Inc. is an award-winning premier provider of UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service), call center, collaboration services, and other cloud business services that are designed to provide enterprise-class cloud services to any size business at affordable monthly rates.Safe Harbor StatementThis press release contains forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "will" and other similar statements of expectation identify forward-looking statements. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include information about Crexendo (i) believing that the keep American working package is the Company's way of supporting the businesses of this County; (ii) stating that the need to work remotely has never been more apparent; (iii) this package allows businesses with legacy premise based phone systems to quickly move to the cloud so that they can continue operating from a remote location or from home.; (iv) our cloud communications services play an essential role in allowing businesses to operate seamlessly from remote locations; (v) believing that the need for these services has never been greater; (vii) believing that the Crexendo Ride the Cloud solutions are essential in the todays world; and (viii) believing that thing learned is that the ability to nimbly and quickly alter communication patterns in a crisis is perhaps the most important differentiator any business can have and that the Crexendo solutions has always given business that ability.For a more detailed discussion of risk factors that may affect Crexendo's operations and results, please refer to the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and quarterly Form 10-Qs as filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements, except as required by law.Contact:Crexendo, Inc.Doug GaylorPresident and Chief Operating Officer602-732-7990dgaylor@ crexendo.com SOURCE: Crexendo, Inc.
Some days ago, I received a call from the Presidential Office inviting me to join a meeting chaired by the president of Egypt on the occasion of Egyptian Womens Day.

It took me a moment to comprehend the invitation. Meeting the president would be an honour, of course, but I could not help asking myself why me and also whether if it was a large meeting whether it would be safe to attend given the threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

However, as if the caller had read my thoughts, he assured me that the meeting was only a round table to share in a dialogue with the president and that all health precautions would be applied and respected. He answered my thoughts, but he did not reply to my question of why me.

I was very excited to receive the invitation. I felt honoured and that my career as a university professor, researcher and at one point a civil servant had been crowned by the invitation. I have had the honour of meeting various political leaders and other figures worldwide and have also attended various conferences in which President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has been in attendance. But even so, meeting the president of your country in a small group and getting a chance to share a dialogue with him is very different.

Egypt celebrates Egyptian Womens Day every year on 16 March to mark womens historic struggle for their rights and to recognise their achievements and the obstacles that currently face them. March 16 is a special day in the history of Egyptian womens struggle for their rights, as the roots of the day date back to 1919 when women participated for the first time in political demonstrations during the 1919 Revolution in Egypt.

When I entered the Ittihadeya Presidential Palace for the meeting, all health and safety measures were applied with a smile and a welcoming note. As promised, the meeting was a limited one, with distances maintained when seated and when taking an official photograph.

The meeting was attended by Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel-Al, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and the ministers of planning and economic development, finance, health and population, social solidarity, and media, and the president of the National Council for Women. It included a MP, two mothers of martyrs who had died in terrorist attacks, an academic, an active NGO member and myself.

The meeting was attended by Maya Morsi, head of the National Council for Women, who expressed her gratitude to the political will and determination of the president to support womens rights and to empower women on the social, political and economic levels. I looked at Maya Morsi with great respect, as although she has recently lost her son, she has never neglected her role and goal to support womens rights. Her strength at such a difficult time is worthy of great respect and appreciation.

The president discussed the role of women in society, and he also touched on developments regarding the spread of the Covid-19 virus worldwide. He explained the health and safety measures put in place to protect the country and urged the women attendees to continue to play their positive role in society during this global crisis that has crossed borders and manifested itself in a national one.

He called on women to play an active role in encouraging all citizens to show further discipline in complying with health instructions in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. He elaborated on the economic and financial measures that have been taken to give economic support to industry and the tourism sector and capital market. He said it had been decided to extend the moratorium on taxes on agricultural land for a period of two years, and he elaborated on the governments decision to pay five bonuses to pensioners representing 80 per cent of the basic wage, in addition to granting annual periodic bonuses of 14 per cent in the next fiscal year. He came across as being both transparent and confident.

Those attending the meeting shared their views with the president, saying that in every crisis there could be a blessing. Discussion took place about how young people could play a role virtually or physically in helping society at the present time, and words were said expressing the belief in Egypts young people among those present and their capacity to help and loyalty to their society. Other ideas were discussed about how to maintain the legacy of martyrs who had lost their lives defending Egypt from the threat of terrorism.

As the meeting ended, with no shaking of hands but loads of sharing of respect and pride in the leadership of the country, there came the question of whether there should be a collective photograph given the threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus. The answer was that there could be, provided that we all maintained our physical distance from each other, even if this of course did not apply to our emotional distance.

This warm meeting with the president on the occasion of Egyptian Womens Day ended with hope and confidence in the political will and determination of the countrys leadership to work with hearts full of belief, confidence and good faith for the good of Egyptian women and for the country as a whole.

The writer is member of the advisory board at the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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I dedicated the greater part of March in telling the story of the Ghana Media. In this Ghana month, I have sought to take readers through the trajectory of where we have come as a country as far as the inky, microphone and console fraternities are concerned.

I started this whole discussion by giving a general historical overview of the media in Ghana. I gave the history, starting with indigenous media, newspaper, radio, Ghanas first and only news agency, and television.

I then looked at how the media has existed under different political regimes, starting with the colonial era.

In part two of this write-up, I dealt with the media during regimes such as the Nkrumah era, Busia and Limann, the various military regimes and the early part of the forth republic.

Todays article concludes the whole write-up on the history of the Ghana media.

The NPP regime

The legacy of the first New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was one of a media-friendly government, post-2000. The John Kufuor government, with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as Attorney-General, repealed the Criminal Libel Law, cementing the media pluralism and freedom in the country. By the time the NPP government left office in 2008, more than 120 licenses had been granted for private, mostly commercial, radio and television stations.

The government, however worried about the level of unprofessionalism the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law had brought into the profession, drafted a sedition bill. This bill, if it had been promulgated into law, would have impinged on media liberties. However, as some scholars say, it died at birth.

The relationship between the second NPP government, under Nana Akufo-Addo, and the media is one that some people believe has not been best.

A couple of brutalities by state and individual actors, such as the alleged threat on Manasseh Azure Awunis life, leading to a temporary exile; the killing of Ahmed Suale; the assaults on Latif Iddrisu, David Andoh, Christopher Kevin Asima, a presenter of A1 Radio in Bolgatanga, the three Ghanaian Times journalists by policemen, the modern ghana premises and journalists, among others, have all contributed, somewhat, in marring the perfect relationship the NPP in times past had with the media.

Broadcast pluralism

Looking at the various regimes, the focus has so far been mainly on newspapers. This is has been the case because broadcast pluralism in Ghana in itself is largely a new phenomenon, starting only in the nineties. Unlike newspapers, until the fourth republic, broadcast media was solely in the hands of the state. The state-controlled radio and television for close to 60 years without any or much private interference.

The liberalisation of Ghanas airwaves began in 1996. Some communication scholars believe the Jerry John Rawlings NDC government was forced to relinquish its monopoly over the airwaves. The liberalization came after the Independent Media Corporation of Ghana (IMCG) started broadcasting from an unlicensed FM radio station, Radio EYE, in November 1994.

Radio EYE was shut down, shortly after it was opened, by the government and its equipment seized. However, Professor Gadzekpo contends that this compelled the government to set up a committee to draft guidelines and regulations for private broadcasts, and by the end of 1996 private broadcast was underway.

Engagement of audiences

The private broadcast started with business entrepreneurs rather than media practitioners becoming owners. This was due to the substantial investments required to establish FM and TV stations and the high licensing fees.

Private FM stations brought to the fore a new style of broadcasting. For instance, phone-in programmes were introduced, thus allowing listeners to participate in discussions on almost any issue. This was driven largely by the need to attract audiences.

Communication scholars say the liberalisation of the airwaves accounted for the outcome of Ghanas 2000 elections which, for the first time in the countrys history, saw the peaceful alternation of power from an incumbent government to the opposition.

A U S foreign affairs columnist, Thomas Friedman, has asserted that the ability to call into shows, by the masses of often illiterate voters, was largely responsible for the defeat of the incumbent NDC in the 2000 election. While scholars like Jonathan Temin and Daniel A Smith have contested this assertion as over-romanticizing the role of the media in electoral politics, others such as Professor Gadzekpo say few will dispute the impact FM radio, aided by widespread mobile telephony, has had in energizing the public sphere and in providing contending political candidates and parties with a bigger and more audience participatory platform for debate.

Some scholars have also credited radio liberalisation with championing a linguistic revival in local languages. Professor Kwesi Yankah, Ghanas current Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, in his paper Language, and mass media and democracy in Ghana contends that private radio stations have helped foreground Ghanaian languages and foster its growth . . . helped to preserve, revive and valorize Ghanaian languages whose use in the media was on the decline.

Broadcast and newspaper

Broadcast pluralism also brought into the country a symbiotic relationship between the broadcast media and newspapers. It is believed that, largely, newspaper stories constituted the basis for radio and TV stories and discussion shows.

Similarly, newspaper is also said to have benefited from broadcast media. Newspaper review shows on both radio and television, for instance, have given newspapers, even the least viable, visibility and relevance because their contents are discussed and amplified beyond their limited circulation to audiences hitherto beyond their reach.

Again, like newspapers, broadcast media has bred its own celebrities. As Professor Gadzekpo puts it, the high dependence of the medium on newspapers for news and scandal has produced the editor/social commentator, a hybrid media superstar who promotes his/her stories, pushes his/her own political agenda, and amplifies through the airwaves many of the sins of the unprofessional press.

The future of the media

There is no doubt that the media have their own downsides. For example, the inability of some investors in media to have clear plans for recruiting their human resource needs has led to the engagement of, sometimes, inexperienced personnel, leading to immature industry of journalists who are often long on zeal, but short on professional and ethical values. Inadequate capital by some media owners leads to a weak media system where journalists largely depend on soli (tips from event organisers) to survive.

The media, despite its successes in recent times, is still, largely, fundamentally weak at information gathering and investigative journalism, partly because they do not have and cannot afford the adequate numbers and qualified staff as well as the resources required to get a good job done.

The media, therefore, need to build long-lasting businesses with a stronger economic background to survive the test of time. Media organisations have to consider remarkable reforms in the structure and operations of the business of media and in newsroom culture and practices.

Media owners must give priority to training programmes that build the capacity of their staff in order to build a robust industry. Short term training from international organisations, local non-governmental organisations, and media associations concerned with improving media coverage and impact, may have their success, but media organisations themselves must be serious with committing resources to the development of their journalists.

Again, media owners and managers must commit resources to improve media content, hire better-qualified professionals and hold them accountable to much higher journalistic standards.

Speed over accuracy must be checked by editors/producers. It is always good to break the right news than to break just the news.

Young journalists must look for good journalists, learn from them and write from your conscience.

The End

The author is the General Secretary of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG National) and a Masters of Arts Communication Studies student of the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana.
Resettlement will be suspended in the next few days affecting Canadas refugee intake

IOM, UNHCR suspend resettlement travel; Canada returning irregular migrants to U.S. Resettlement will be suspended in the next few days affecting Canadas refugee intake

IOM, UNHCR suspend resettlement travel; Canada returning irregular migrants to U.S. Resettlement will be suspended in the next few days affecting Canadas refugee intake

IOM, UNHCR suspend resettlement travel; Canada returning irregular migrants to U.S. Resettlement will be suspended in the next few days affecting Canadas refugee intake Mohanad Moetaz Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Countries around the world have taken drastic measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), such as introducing international travel restrictions and tightening their borders. Canada is no exception.



However, Canadians, permanent residents, immediate family members of Canadians and permanent residents, as well as study and work permit holders will still be able to return to Canada.

In light of travel restrictions worldwide, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have announced that they are taking steps to suspend resettlement travel for refugees.

These organizations are concerned that without the suspension of resettlement travel, refugees may be at risk of getting exposed to the virus.

The UNHCR assisted the resettlement of some 63,600 refugees last year, a large portion of whom were from Syria. Resettlement consists of transferring refugees from a state that has granted them asylum, to a third state that has promised permanent settlement.

Canada is one of the few countries offering resettlement solutions through the UNHCR programme. Other countries include the United States, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom, as well as the Nordic countries. Since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016, Canada has been the number one country to offer resettlement solutions.

Resettlement provides a vital lifeline for particularly vulnerable refugees, and IOM and UNHCR will continue their work in refugee-hosting countries, in collaboration with all relevant partners, to ensure that the processing of cases for resettlement continues, the UN Refugee Agency mentioned in a statement.

Do you have questions on coronavirus and Canada immigration?

Check out our FAQ page

A video posted on Twitter by UNHCR Canada states that refugees fleeing wars may still be allowed to cross borders, even if countries adopt measures to help control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Despite these claims, many countries have temporarily suspended refugee intake and resettlement arrivals, according to UNHCR.

As such, the UNHCR and IOM are trying to appeal to countries to allow the entry of refugees at risk, especially in the most extreme of cases.

Canadas commitment to refugees

Canada recently announced its 2020-2022 immigration levels plan, which revealed plans to allow more than one million immigrants to enter Canada over the next three years. Of these new immigrants, Canada would seek to welcome 154,600 refugees. With this announcement coming amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic, it is unlikely that the plans will change, and Canada may remain committed to refugee intake, including resettled refugees.

Non-resettled refugees are those who have not yet been granted asylum in a second country.

In light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has put in place special measures. Irregular migrants and refugees crossing the border by foot from the U.S. will be returned, even if the asylum claim is made at a port of entry.

All refugee claimant appointments are cancelled until April 13th 2020. The IRCC will contact refugee claimants with information about new appointment dates.

Asylum seekers can still submit an in-person refugee claim if they do not have a pre-scheduled appointment.

Once the coronavirus has been contained, Canada will likely return to welcoming large numbers of resettled refugees and being a global leader in this regard.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs
Officials in the U.S. and elsewhere fear theyll face a coronavirus scenario similar to Italys soon. Three doctors and a nurse in Lombardy, the region hit hardest by the virus, described what they faced and offered advice to those awaiting the storm.
The federal government has rushed through an emergency regulation banning dentists from prescribing an arthritis drug being touted as a potential COVID-19 treatment, after reports some were prescribing it in bulk to themselves and their families.

That has led to shortages for patients who really need the drug.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has now taken the extraordinary step of urging its members to refuse to dispense the medication unless it is being used to treat arthritis or malaria.

Dentists are now banned from prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Credit:iStock

The drug, hydroxychloroquine, is an old anti-malarial now used to treat autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: The National Population Register (NPR), the first phase of the Census 2021, won't be held as scheduled in April because of the 21-day nationwide complete lockdown announced by Narendra Modi as a measure to curb the coronavirus.

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Dimapur, a commercial hub of the state, witnessed "unprecedented" movement of vehicles during the lockdown which began from Sunday midninght, he said.

The order, issued by Dimapur police commissioner Rothihu Tetseo on Monday, will come into force from 6 am on 24 March, the official said.

The Nagaland government will promulgate prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC in Dimapur district from Tuesday to make people stay indoors during the ongoing lockdown declared in the state to contain the coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

In its latest drastic step, the Fed offered to buy unlimited amounts of assets to steady markets and expanded its mandate to corporate and muni bonds. The numbers were certainly large, with analysts estimating the package could make $4 trillion or more in loans to non-financial firms

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.2 percent, though that followed a drop of almost 6% on Monday. South Korea and Australia also recouped a little of their recent losses.

While Wall Street seemed unimpressed, investors in Asia were encouraged enough to lift E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 by 1.9 percent and Japan's Nikkei by 4.9 percent.

Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday as the US Federal Reserves sweeping pledge to spend whatever it took to stabilize the financial system eased debt market pressures, even if it could not offset the immediate economic hit of the coronavirus.

Asian American activists have reported a spike in bias incidents since the epidemic erupted, including a woman who was followed and beaten on the New York subway.

His tone - and avoidance of calling novel coronavirus the "Chinese virus" -- contrasts with last week when he voiced anger at being accused of racism.

"It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

US President Donald Trump has called for protection of Asian Americans after charges that his use of the term "Chinese virus" had aggravated a backlash.

The health ministry, in its daily press briefing on Monday, said Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh are under complete lockdown.

The moves a day after the Supreme Court heard petitions seeking the removal of anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh to prevent the spread of coronavirus, along with other pleas pending before it in the matter.

According to India Today reports, Shaheen Bagh has removed protesters from the site on Tuesday amid lockdown announced in view of coronavirus till 31 March in Delhi.

While it took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases of COVID-19, it took only 11 days for the second 100,000 cases, and just four days for the third 100,000 cases, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said.

The pandemic of disease caused by the coronavirus is accelerating, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, with more than 300,000 cases now recorded and infections reported from nearly every country worldwide.

Announcement of the extraordinary measures briefly lifted US stock index futures before Monday's trading session began, but the mounting death toll from COVID-19 and a tide of lockdowns of more US states quickly sent the main indexes into the red, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its worst month since World War Two.

Wall Streets slide deepened on Monday as the rapidly spreading coronavirus forced more US states into lockdown, overshadowing unprecedented moves by the US Federal Reserve to shore up credit across the economy. After recently cutting interest rates to near zero, the Fed will now lend against student loans and credit card loans, as well as back the purchase of corporate bonds and make direct loans to companies.

"There are no easy answers. It is exceptionally important that countries like India show the way to the world as they have done before," he added.

"There is a need in the number of labs where a surge is seen. India is a very populous country and the future of this virus will be considered in a very highly and densely populated country. India led the world in eradicating two pandemics, small-pox and polio so India has a tremendous capacity," J Ryan said during a daily press brief on COVID-19 pandemic.

The executive director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Michael J Ryan, on Tuesday said that India has a tremendous capacity to deal with the coronavirus outbreak situation as it has experience of eradicating two pandemics, namely small-pox and polio.

It marked the 13th day in a row the country has posted new infections of around 100 or less. South Korea reported its lowest number of new cases on Monday since with a peak of 909 cases recorded on 29 February.

The daily tally brought the countrys total infections to 9,037, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The death toll rose by two to 120.

South Korea reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, maintaining a downward trend in new infections which raised hopes that Asias largest outbreak outside China may be slowing.

"Very simply, we will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit," he asserted, adding the Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute fraudulent schemes related to the pandemic.

Signing the executive order, Trump said his government would take action against hoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protective equipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.

Till Monday, more than 43,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day, according to Worldometer, a website that compiles COVID-19 cases. With 139 deaths, the number of fatalities crossed 550 by Monday night.

US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vital medical supplies and personal protective equipment as the country for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus.

Today is perhaps the first positive day we have had in this hard, very tough month, said Giulio Gallera, the top health official in the northern region of Lombardy, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak.

The Civil Protection Agency said the number of fatalities from the month-old contagion stood at 6,077, while confirmed cases totaled 63,927, an increase of 4,789 over the past 24 hours  the smallest rise for five days.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy rose by 602 on Tuesday, the smallest increase for four days, while the number of new cases also slowed, raising hope that the most aggressive phase of the epidemic may be passing.

Nasscom also advised companies to plan the teams in such a way that in places like Delhi NCR, the mission critical staff would not have to cross the state borders of UP, Delhi and Haryana.

"This is only for truly mission critical work, and any misuse will put us at the risk of losing the trust (of) the Government and might seriously impact the entire industry," Debjani Ghosh, president, Nasscom said in the advisory.

As an increasing number of states across the country imposed lockdown and restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus, Nasscom, in an advisory to member companies, cautioned that "essential services notification cannot be interpreted to be used for projects that had to be completed in the near term and contracts carrying penalties, etc."

Industry body Nasscom on Monday urged IT companies to prepare for a complete lockdown and ensure that only a handful of staff members are allowed to come to work to support mission-critical functions.

With his central message calling on people to restrict their movements outside their homes only for the very basic essentials, Johnson said, "From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction you must stay at home."

In a televised address to the nation on Monday evening, he said while no prime minister wants to make such demands on the population, the situation was such that he was forced to clamp down on people's movement and the crackdown on any gatherings of more than two people.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has enforced the strictest curbs on movement of people for at least three weeks to try and control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, where the death toll has reached 335.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it had listened to feedback from athletes and was encouraged by a clearer path towards postponement.

Major sporting nations Australia and Canada withdrew on Monday as organisers came under mounting pressure to postpone the event for the first time in its 124-year modern history.

US Olympic organisers joined calls for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the International Olympic Committee, according to member Dick Pound, has decided to delay the event, likely for a year.

However, it will not include hardened or dangerous criminals, he said. According to the order, prisoners convicted or charged with offenses having jail term of up to seven years can be given parole.

The Tihar Prison authorities said they are planning to release around 3,000 prisoners to ease congestion in jails over the coronavirus threat. "We will try to release around 1,500 convicts on parole or furlough, and around the same number (1,500) of undertrial prisoners (on interim-bail) in the coming three to four days to ease congestion in jails in the wake of coronavirus threat," Sandeep Goel, DG (Prisons), said.

Lockdown has so far been ordered in 39 out of the total 51 districts of the state in view of the coronavirus pandemic, a public relations department official said.

During the meeting, Chouhan reviewed the coronavirus situation in the state and directed for imposition of curfew in the capital city Bhopal and Jabalpur. So far, five cases of coronavirus have been found in Jabalpur and one in Bhopal.

The Madhya Pradesh government has imposed curfew in Bhopal and Jabalpur cities, where coronavirus cases have been found. Soon after assuming charge, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting around Monday midnight and issued the directives.

As of Tuesday morning, toll due to COVID-19 rose to 9 and the number of cases stood at 468, including 424 active cases.

Meanwhile, the Home ministry decided to stop incoming passengers on all 107 immigration posts, including airports, seaports and land ports.

The government ordered a complete lockdown in 30 states and Union Territories, covering a total of 548 districts in the country.

Manipur has reported the first case of COVID-19 in Northeast India, say reports. Northeast Now reports that a 23-year-old from Imphal (west) has been identified as the first confirmed case in the state.

Benchmark indices opened in positive territory on 24 March with Sensex added more than 1000 points.At 09:17 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 1,212.60 points or 4.67 percent at 27193.84, and the Nifty up 353.85 points or 4.65 percent at 7964.10.

The figure includes at least 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, the Health Ministry said. The total number of active COVID-19 cases across the country now stands at 446, after over 22 fresh cases were reported.

Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday. According to the data updated Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 492.

She was one of the initial three cases confirmed aboard the Ruby Princess and was taken to a hospital on Thursday. So far, 133 passengers from the Ruby Princess have tested positive since the ship docked in Sydney following an 11-day New Zealand cruise.

A woman who was infected with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship has become Australia's eighth COVID-19 death.Health authorities say the woman, in her 70s, died in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday, reports The Associated Press.

Benchmark indices erased most of its early gains but trading higher with Nifty above 7700. The Sensex is up 369.34 points or 1.42 percent at 26350.58, and the Nifty up 108.40 points or 1.42 percent at 7718.65. About 559 shares have advanced, 696 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.

Taking to Twitter, Mumbai Police issued an advisory against the spread of fake news. The tweet said that "no such directions" have been given by them. They asked citizens to warn them in case of any doubt and to dial 100 or tweet to them.

In a letter to the chief secretaries of all states and union territories on March 23, the ministry said robust and essential information dissemination networks like TV channels, news agencies "are of utmost importance to ensure timely and authentic information dissemination".

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed all states and union territories to ensure "operational continuity" of print and electronic media in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Out of the 113 passengers who were brought back from Malaysia on board an Air Asia flight to Chennai, Tamil Nadu last night, nine symptomatic passengers were referred to hospital. The remaining 104 were taken to an Air Force quarantine facility in Tambaram, reports ANI.

Apollo 24/7 has launched an artificial intelligence-based free app to guide users on the novel coronavirus. The self assessment scan has been developed on the basis of guidelines from the WHO and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the government of India.

The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has reached 101 on Tuesday. Four more patients were tested positive in Pune and one was tested positive in Satara.

With a detection time of about 45 minutes, the test couldn't have come at a better time  as the United States, China, India and many nations barring the EU, struggle to meet the rapidly growing demand for coronavirus testing.

The American Food and Drug Administration has approved the first rapid diagnostic test for the novel coronavirus, which could encourage quicker and more testing for the infection, amidst the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Bachchan's tweet comes in the wake of several similar fake news stories misinterpreting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal of clapping and clanking plates to express gratitude to those providing essential services during this global health crisis.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Monday was heavily criticised for one of his tweets, which claimed vibrations from clapping, blowing conch shells as part of Sunday's Janta Curfew would have reduced or destroyed coronavirus potency as it was 'Amavasya', the darkest day of the month.

Some of the states that have imposed a complete curfew are Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab. Tamil Nadu will be imposing Section 144 from 6.00 pm today. The Nagaland government also promulgate prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC in Dimapur district from today.

The number of states and Union Territories (UTs) which have imposed a lockdown has increased to 32 from 30 last night. The number of districts under lockdown has increased to 560 from 548.

A 23-year-old Manipur-based girl who recently returned from the UK has been tested positive for coronavirus, marking the first case in the North-East region of the country. She is currently undergoing treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) hospital in Imphal.

Two new positive cases of coronavirus are recorded in Gujarat, total cases mount to 33, stated the Gujarat Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi. She also said that the government was surveying 27,000 people in the state who have recent travel history.

His announcement comes even as the number of confirmed cases in India soared to 492.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm regarding the vital aspects relating to the COVID-19 menace.

Three new cases were reported in Pune and one in Satara.

The number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra rose to 101, health officials told PTI. Maharashtra currently has the highest number of onfirmed cases in India.

Elections to 55 Rajya Sabha seats were scheduled to be held later this week.

"We will be implementing it once the approval is given and as soon as the government allows treatment of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals," an official said.

The National Health Authority, responsible for the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, has decided to include the test and treatment of the respiratory ailment in its packages and has sought permission from its governing board, they said.

Coronavirus test and treatment may soon be covered under the government's health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, official sources said on Tuesday.

It went on to allege that the purpose of maintaining the virus within the laboratory was to use it to "kill US citizens and other persons and entities in nations perceived to be an enemy of China."

"Because China has agreed by treaty to outlaw such weapons, these actions cannot be official governmental actions of the People''s Republic of China and are not subject to any possible claim of legal immunity from suit," the lawsuit said, as cited by Law and Crime.

Larry Klayman, his advocacy group Freedom Watch and Buzz Photos, a Texas company, filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging that the novel coronavirus was "designed by China to be a biological weapon of war", and that whether or not the country intended to release it, China violated "US law, international laws, treaties, and norms."

American lawyer Larry Klayman has filed a USD 20 trillion lawsuit against China for the creation and the release of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 334,000 people globally.

However, all essential and emergency services are exempted, officials said. During the lockdown, all commercial establishments, shops and factories will remain closed, except those dealing in essential commodities like food, grocery, medicines, etc., they said.

The Haryana government had earlier ordered lockdown in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panchkula districts till March 31 but later decided to extend the measure to the entire state.

Entire Haryana went under lockdown on Tuesday, a day after the state government issued the order to help check the spread of coronavirus.

Her five close relatives - son, husband, sister, sister's husband and the latter's daughter - also tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, the official said.

She tested positive for COVID-19 earlier after her throat swabs were sent to the National Institute of Virology to check for the possibility of swine flu (H1N1).

The woman, who is also an anganwadi (state-run woman and child care centre) worker in Panshet region of Velha tehsil, is admitted to a city-based hospital and continues to be on ventilator support due to respiratory failure, he said.

As many as 87 people, including some anganwadi workers, who came in contact with a 41-year-old woman diagnosed with COVID-19 have been home quarantined in Maharashtra's Pune district, a health official said on Tuesday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said no new coronavirus case has been reported in the National Capital in the last 24 hours and the biggest challenge now is to not let the situation go out of control. Five people infected with COVID-19 have been discharged from hospitals after getting treatment.

They said the authorities ordered stricter restrictions on Tuesday in view of the instances of non-cooperation and violations of restrictions from the general public reported at several places across the valley.

Restrictions were intensified with security forces sealing off many roads and erecting barricades to check unwanted movement of people across the valley to enforce the lockdown for containing the spread of the coronavirus infection, the officials said.

Authorities in Kashmir tightened curbs on the movement of people to prevent the spread of coronavirus on Tuesday, a day after 49 people were arrested for violating the lockdown order, officials said.

In a series of tweets, he urged the police to prevent further harassment of media staffers.

Taking to Twitter, Hindustan Times' editor Sachin Kalbag alleged that Mumbai Police's patrol staff were assaulting media office car drivers who go to pick up reporters and other critical staff needed to run a publication. He said that all drivers had official letters of statement of purpose and yet were harassed.

Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava also attended the high-level meeting at the LG office, an official said. The situation emerging out of the coronavirus outbreak was discussed in the meeting, they said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain met Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday to discuss measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in the National Capital.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would address the media at 2 pm today amid preparations of preparing an economic package that is likely to help the country through the coronavirus lockdown. She said in a tweet that the package would be announced soon on priority and that she would give the media presser through video conference. Her speech will be specifically be focused on statutory and regulatory compliance matters.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

A top functionary of the central government has called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

As people continue to venture out despite lockdown, the Centre has advised state governments and union territory administrations to impose curfew wherever necessary in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday.

The government's chief spokesperson on COVID-19, Subroto Bagchi, said the shutdown will be in force till 29 March. He said the decision was taken after the state's chief secretary chaired a meeting with all district collectors.

The whole of Odisha will be under lockdown from Tuesday midnight because of the coronavirus threat, a top state government official said. Fourteen of the state's 30 districts are already under a lockdown.

Air India had stated on Sunday that vigilante resident welfare associations (RWAs) and neighbours were ostracising and calling police on its crew members who went abroad as a part of their duty.

Amid major disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak in the aviation sector, IndiGo had stated on Monday that there have been some instances where its employees were ostracised by their communities as a result of their "line of duty and travel history".

As India's two major airlines Indigo and Air India reported harassment of their crew members by neighbours amid coronavirus pandemic, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that he has "requested" authorities concerned to extend all possible support and protection to the crew and their family members.

The government has advised the people not to venture out unnecessarily during the lockdown and maintain social distancing.

While two cases were registered in Goshaninuagaon police station against 30 people, one case each was registered in Bada Bazar and Town police stations against eight and four persons, respectively, he said.

Police have booked 42 persons in Berhampur city in Odishas Ganjam district for defying the lockdown imposed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday. At least four cases have been registered in this connection in three police stations, sub-divisional police officer BP Pati told PTI.

"Some restrictions have been imposed because of the lockdown in some districts on the movement of vehicles and trucks carrying goods have been stopped. This could lead to a shortage of essential commodities, the directives issued by Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.

In a bid to prevent a shortage of essential commodities in the locked-down districts of the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued directives on not stopping the vehicles carrying these items.

Hubei province and Wuhan which together have over 56 million population were kept under strict lockdown since January 23 with a ban on all movement of people and transportation.

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus cases were first detected in December last year on Monday reported one new confirmed case of the COVID-19 after reporting zero cases for five consecutive days.

China on Tuesday said it will lift the travel curbs in Hubei province, where the deadly coronavirus first emerged last year, on Wednesday and will end the three-month lockdown of its capital Wuhan on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine over the city with a population of over 11 million as the COVID-19 began to abate.

She said the country is in the midst of the worst global pandemic and this has necessitated stringent measures for containment and management of the COVID-19 transmission. "These measures have led to widespread economic disruptions that had a debilitating impact on the informal sector," she noted.

In a letter to the prime minister, Gandhi said over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a "precarious" future as many of them are stranded in cities and are deprived of livelihood due to the lockdown.

Expressing concern over the plight of construction workers after the country-wide lockdown over coronavirus, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce emergency measures, including wage support to those in distress.

Himachal Pradesh government had announced a lockdown in the state on Monday but people are not taking it seriously, Agnihotri said.

Talking to PTI amid reports of violation of lockdown directions in several parts of the state, the leader of opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly said curfew should be imposed in Dharamshala, industrial town Baddi in Solan district and other populated areas.

Curfew should be immediately imposed in populated areas of Himachal Pradesh to ensure social distancing to avoid the spread of coronavirus, Congress Mukesh Agnihotri said on Tuesday.

Ballia MP Virendra Singh Mast, who is also the national president of BJP Kisan Morcha, has also extended financial assistance of Rs 35 lakhs from his fund.

In a letter to Ballia district magistrate, Kushwaha, BJP MP from Salempur, has extended financial help of Rs 50 lakhs from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund in checking the disease and providing necessary medical equipments.

Two BJP MPs Ravindra Kushwaha and Virendra Singh Mast have extended financial help through their MPLADS funds for medical equipments to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Three fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported in Telangana on Tuesday, taking the total number of people detected for the coronavirus in the state to 36, the government said. The three fresh cases are a 49-year-old man with travel history to London, a 39-year-old woman who returned from Germany and a 61-year-old woman who travelled to Saudi Arabia, a media bulletin on COVID-19 said. The condition of all three patients was stable in designated hospitals, it said. The Telangana government has already announced a lockdown till March 31 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a briefing via video conferencing shortly. The briefing is likely to be about the measures the government is taking to reduce the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, including an economic relief package.

"All of UP to be locked down by Wednesday," Additional Chief Secretary of Information Awanish Awasthi said, without providing further details.Seventeen of the state's 75 districts that reported positive cases of coronavirus have already been placed under lockdown. Uttar Pradesh has reported 33 cases of coronavirus, including a foreigner.

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to extend the lockdown, currently being enforced in 17 districts, to the entire state to combat coronavirus and an announcement on the duration of the curbs is likely later on Tuesday, a senior official said.

We have come up with a comprehensive plan about statutory and regulatory compliance matters, said fiance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a media presser on Tuesday. She also said, "The lockdown has been done with an intention of flattening that curve of coronavirus spread. Therefore, I must appreciate you all for joining us today. We are close to coming up with an economic package, which will be announced soon."

The last date for income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 is extended tfrom 31 March to 30 June, announced Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. She said that she will be making announcements on income tax, customs, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)-related matters, bank-related compliances, fisheries, among other things. She added that for the delayed payments, interest rate has been reduced from 12 percent to 9 percent.

The finance minister announced on Tuesday that the Aadhaar-PAN linking date has been extended to 30 June 2020 from what was 31 March 2020. Nirmala Sitharam also said that the Interest rate on delayed deposit of TDS reduced. She said, "No extra 10 percent interest will be charged between now and 30 June."

The last date for filing March, April and May 2020 GST returns is being extended to 30 June 2020, said Nirmala Sitharaman during the media conference on Tuesday. She added that different staggering dates will be applicable, but all will be the end of June. The interest rate for filing a delayed return has also been brought down.

She added that only interest will be applicable, but no late fee and no penalty for bigger companies.

The finance minister announced on Tuesday that there is no interest, no penalty and no late fee will be charged for companies with a turnover of less than Rs 5 crore. The minister said that the interest rate for such companies is reduced to 9 percent.

The government announced on Tuesday that payment date under the Sabka Vishwas scheme, which was for settling disputes in the indirect tax regime, has been extended till 30 June 2020.

In a major relief to imports/exporters, the government on Tuesday said that customs clearance now an essential service, till 30 June, 2020 and it will be working 24/7.

The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that the applicability of The Companies Auditors Report Order 2020, which was supposed to have come into force in 2019-20, has been shift to 2020-21.

The government on Tuesday said that the mandatory requirement of holding board meetings is being relaxed by a period of 60 days, has been relaxed for the next two quarters. The finance minsitry said that if no board meeting held for 2019-20, it will not be considered a violation

Nirmala Sitharaman also said that If there was a company director who does not comply with the minimum residency requirement, it shall "not be treated as a violation."

The finance ministry announced that for newly incorporated companies, there is a requirement to file declaration on commencement within six months, which the government is giving an additional six months to file their returns.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that the threshold of default extended to Rs 1 core from existing Rs 1 lakh, in order to prevent insolvency proceedings against MSMEs.

Meanwhile, for fisheries, the finance minister said that a one-month delay will be condoned in the arrival of the consignment of fisheries. Import permits for fisheries expiring in April have been extended by three months.

The government is considering to suspending Section 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), at a later stage, if the current situation continues beyond six months.

The government said that bank charges are reduced for digital trade and transactions.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, while briefing the media about the government's plan for relief plan announced that debit cardholders who withdraw cash from any bank ATM can do it free of charge, from any other banks ATM, for the next three months. She also stated that there shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee.

She also said, "We are closely monitoring the situation. SEBI has come up with guidelines and stated its position on the recent volatility. We are monitoring the stock market."

As the media briefing came to an end, Nirmala Sitharama reiterated that an economic package will be announced "sooner", rather than later.

Two more persons tested coronavirus positive in Srinagar on Tuesday, taking such patients in the city to three. One woman, who returned after Umrah pilgrimage from Saudi Arabia, has already tested positive and is admitted at Srinagar's superspecialty hospital.

Citing the experience in South Korea, the World Health Organisation has been stressing on the importance of tests to fight the pandemic, which has so far claimed nine lives in India.

The molecular diagnostic company, which received statutory approvals late on Monday from authorities, can manufacture over 15,000 testing kits per day from its facility at Lonavala in Pune district and the same will be ramped up to 25,000 kits per day, its co-founder Shrikant Patole told PTI.

In what may go down as an important solution in India''s fight against coronavirus, Pune-based Mylabs Discovery Solutions has created an indigenous solution to test patients for COVID-19 that can halve the time taken for results.

The government is working on an economic package to deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown to control the coronavirus crisis and the same will be announced soon, she said adding different sub-groups have held sectoral discussions.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said regulators and her ministry are monitoring developments and volatility in stock markets. She said the developments on stock markets are monitored thrice a day.

Coronavirus cases in South Africa rose to 554 on Tuesday, with an increase of 102 cases in 24 hours. News18 reported that local businesses are racing to plan for a nationwide lockdown from midnight on Tuesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 21-day lockdown in an address to the nation.

"Home Collection can happen ONLY if prescribed by a qualified physician for COVID-19 test, which is a swab based test. We offer safe and hygienic sample collection at home by our trained technicians. Get accurate and quick reports done at cost in 24 hours. To book a home visit for COVID-19 testing, Call 8422-801-801. Metropolis stands with you during this crisis. We care for you."

A statement on the website of the Metropolis pathology lab said, "Metropolis has been approved by the government to test and collect samples for COVID-19 under ICMR approved COVID-19 testing registration number Metro001.

Maharahstra health minister Rajesh Tope said that coronavirus cases rose to 106 in the state and three deaths have been reported till Tuesday.

"All of UP to be locked down by Wednesday," Additional Chief Secretary of Information Awanish Awasthi was quoted as saying. The districts currently under lockdown are Agra, Lucknow, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Lakhimpur Kheiri, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Kanpur, Meerut, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Pilibhit, Jaunpur.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said that the lockdown imposed till 25 March in 17 districts will be extended across the state on Wednesday in a bid to combat the coronavirus.

With this, the number of coronavirus cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh are at nine, officials said. Her husband and daughter have been quarantined, while their housing society has been completely sealed  no entry or exit allowed except in emergency cases.

A 47-year-old woman with no recent history of foreign travel tests positive for COVID-19 in Noida, PTI quoted officials as saying on Tuesday.

In a letter to chief secretaries of states, Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba said, "All states should immediately identify & earmark hospitals dedicated for management of COVID-19 cases & ensure they are fully ready in the event of a further spike in the number of confirmed cases".

"We can produce 1 to 1.5 lakh tests in a week, we are trying to increase our production for the public. These kits cost 1/4th the price that the imported kits are being sold for," said Ranjit Desai, a scientist at the lab.

A Pune-based, Mylab Discovery Solutions, has developed India's first indigenous novel coronavirus testing kit that has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), ANI reported. A single kit costs Rs 80,000 and can test 100 patients.

Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal will impose a statewide lockdown from 5 pm on Tuesday, the respective chief ministers' offices said. The lockdown in West Bengal will be in effect till 31 March, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Tuesday said that at least 118 government laboratories have been included in ICMR network of coronavirus testing. "The network has the capacity to test 12,000 samples a day. Additionally, 22 private laboratory chains, with about 15,500 collection centres, have been registered with ICMR till today," the statement said.

"The term asymptomatic means literally the absence of symptoms . It describes a condition that is present, but in which a person does not show any outward signs or symptoms of the disease."

"Mathematical modeling done by ICMR suggests that entry screening of travellers with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 can delay the introduction of the virus into the community by three days to three weeks," the statement added.

The ICMR on Friday said, "The empiric use of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of SARS-Cov-2 infection is recommended only for asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases."

"In last 40 hours no new patient has been tested positive for COVID-19 in Delhi. Of the 30 patients some patients have gone home. There are only 23 patients now. This is good news but we shouldn't be happy as the fight is still on. The numbers might spike anytime. We should remain alert," he added.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that no new cases of coronavirus had been reported in the National Capital in the last 40 hours.

The resident doctors of the AIIMS institute, in a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, alleged that people are questioning them over their activities because they are in touch with COVID-19 patients and those suspected of having the infection. The Resident Doctors' Association on Friday said that they "have been forced to vacate rented houses".

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, taking note of the reports of doctors claiming that they are facing discrimination because they are treating COVID-19 patients, said, "On the request of Prime Minister we clapped for our doctors, nurses and others who are giving essential services. But now I am getting information that a landlord has forcefully evicted a nurse tenant as works among coronavirus patients."

Another doctor, said, "Police are prohibiting our mess workers from bringing food from outside. We request the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to solve the problems faced by the health professionals."

Doctors at Sanjay Nursing Home claim to have housing and food issues amid the lockdown due to the novel coronavirus. Senior resident doctor Amandeep Singh was quoted by ANI as saying , "Doctors who are living on rent here are being asked to vacate their houses as their landlords believe that they will spread the virus."

"After his telephone talks with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, PM Shinzo Abe spoke to the press and explained that the two have agreed that the Tokyo Olympic Games would not be cancelled, & the games will be held by the summer of 2021," the statement said.

Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe's office on Friday said that after discussions with the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, an agreement to defer the Olympics scheduled for this year in Tokyo by a year.

The unprecedented peacetime restrictions, which will last at least three weeks, are intended to stop the state-run National Health Service (NHS) being overwhelmed after the number of deaths from the coronavirus in Britain rose to 335.But social media images showed London Underground railway trains were packed with commuters and one large retail chain suggested it wanted to stay open.

Some workers were also still mingling close together after Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday evening ordered people to stay at home, said most shops must close and banned social gatherings.

Roads were much quieter than usual on Tuesday after Britain went into virtual lockdown to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but London Underground trains were crammed with people and streets were far from deserted.

The Delhi government on Friday issued an advisory to pharmacists and chemists through the chemists' association, to stop the sale of drugs like hydroxychloroquinolones chloroquine, lopinavir, etc to anybody except those who have a "prescription from a registered medical practitioner".

"Im DEEPLY ANGUISHED to see reports pouring in from Delhi, Noida, Warangal, Chennai etc that DOCTORS and PARAMEDICS are being ostracised in residential complexes & societies. Landlords are threatening to evict them fearing #COVID2019 infection. Pls dont panic!" he said.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that he was "deeply anguished" over reports of discrimination against doctors treating coronavirus patients.

The Centre on Friday prohibited the export of sanitisers and all ventilators including any artificial respiratory apparatus or oxygen therapy apparatus or any other breathing apparatus, falling under any ITCHS Code (Indian Trade Clarification based on Harmonized System), with immediate effect.

"For once (and only once), the stars may definitely favour you if you follow these predictions!" the Mumbai Police said on Twitter.

Two more coronavirus cases have been reported in Gujarat's Rajkot, a 36-year-old man and 76-year-old woman, The Indian Express reported. "The man has a travel history to abroad, whereas details of the woman are being ascertained, Rajkot CDHO Dr Mitesh Bhanderi said. Both patients are residents of Rajkot," the report said.

The health ministry on Friday said, "The total number of coronavirus cases in India rises to 519. As many as 470 cases are active in the country, 40 have been cured and 9 have died."

China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting 23 January in a surprise middle-of-the-night announcement and expanded it to most of the province in succeeding days. Train service and flights were canceled and checkpoints set up on roads into the central province.

People with a clean bill of health will be allowed to leave, the provincial government said. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until 8 April.

Chinese authorities said Tuesday they will end a two-month lockdown of most of coronavirus-hit Hubei province at midnight, as domestic cases of the virus continue to subside.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in India at 8 pm today.

The first patient of COVID-19 in Kashmir has been successfully treated and will be discharged after completing quarantine, reports said. Director of SKIMS hospital AG Ahangar told reporters that the woman was recovering very fast and would be discharged soon after completing the quarantine period.

"Citizens across every socio-economic section is worthy of praise for the success of the janata curfew," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his second address to the nation over the novel coronavirus, said that the janata curfew, an exercise of self-isolation, carried out on 22 March, was extremely successful and that every citizen had followed the guidlines.

"There is a misconception that social distancing is only for those who are sick. Social distancing is for everyone, even the prime minister! Some people are spreading false information, which will affect every single citizen of the country. And if all citizens are affected, the negative effects are unimaginable," he said.

Detailing the efforts taken to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus across the world, Modi said that the precaution of social distancing is a tried and tested way of succeeding in curbing the pandemic.

"I urge you to forget the outside world for these 21 days. Forget every work except the work of staying at home. With this order, we have drawn a 'lakshan rekha' around your house from now onwards," Modi said, giving details of the complete nationwide lockdown in effect from tonight.

He also said that multiple countries around the world are suffering from the coronavirus, despite having world-class health care systems.

Narendra Modi quoted WHO statistics to emphasise the need of the complete nationwide lockdown in a bid to spread coronavirus. He said that from taking 60+ days to spread to one lakh people, the coronavirus has now started spreading faster and faster.

"People in countries like America have adhered to the quarantine guidelines laid down by the government to the last letter, which is how they are starting to overcome the disease now. Social distancing -- from the prime minister down to the last citizen in every village, has to follow self-isolation," Modi said, urging citizens for the second time over quarantine.

Modi said that every citizen should be compassionate and grateful for those in essential services like doctors and nurses and police, and even the media and hygiene workers who are sanitising public areas.

"I have appealed to state governments to make the public healthcare the highest priority right now. I am also sure that private companies will also join in the efforts to curb the infection," he said.

Modi announced a 15,000 crore package for COVID-19, to acquire medical equipment and protective gear, and also increase training of medical and paramedical staff, testing facilities, PPEs, ICUs, and ventilators.

"India is at the stage where our actions today, will decide that to what extent we can bring down the impact of this disaster. This is the time to strengthen our resolve again and again," Modi said.

The essential services that were functional on 22 March during the Janata curfew will remain operational even during the complete nationwide lockdown that was announced by Narendra Modi on Tuesday. This includes grocery stores, among other facilities.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will issue guidelines of "effective measures and exceptions" to essential services during the 21-day nationwide lockdown. There will shortly be an MHA 24/7 hotline to assist states during this period, ANI reported.

"All stores selling essential goods will be opened in Puducherry tomorrow. As a relief measure to the poor, the government will provide Rs 2000 to each family holding ration cards, through direct benefit transfer system," Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy said.

"PM has addressed the nation. He made some important announcements and even I was a bit concerned after hearing don't step out of your home. I wanted to understand what he meant when he said lockdown. So I called him," he added.

Soon after the nationwide complete lockdown was announced by Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said, "We have enough stock of essential commodities and food grains. Please do not panic."

People across Mumbai, in areas like Andheri and Bandra and Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, thronged to essential commodities stores soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced on Friday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines on the 21-day lockdown ordered to curb the spread of the coronavirus on Tuesday. Listing the establishments that will mandatorily remain closed during the lockdown, the ministry also listed the exemptions including grocery and ration shops, petrol pumps, banks, ATMs, etc.

All state government offices shut except 1) Police, home guards, civil defence, fire and emergency services, disaster management, and prisons; 2) district admin and treasury; 4) electricity, water, and sanitation; 5) Municipal bodies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, soon after his address to the nation announcing a complete lockdown for 21 days, took to Twitter to urge citizens not to panic. Meanwhile Union health minister Harsh Vardhan also reiterated that essential services will continue to remain functional.

Mumbai Police are patrolling several parts of the city, including Bandra, announcing that all shops, grocers and pharmacies will be open for the next 21 days, during the complete lockdown announced by Narendra Modi.

Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said, "I appeal to all the people, not to panic! For our state, nothing changes. CM Uddhav Thackeray ji locked down Maharashtra stepwise over the last two weeks, complete lock down since yesterday. CM also spoke to PM right now, essential services will be on as they have been since yesterday."

The Tamil Nadu government said that three new cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in Chennai on Friday.

Nitin Pai, director of think-tank The Takshashila Institution, tweeted saying, "This chart helps explain why the 21 day lockdown is necessary. The outbreak just got onto the exponential curve; extreme social distancing now can reduce the slope and the infection rate."

Six more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Punjab, taking number of confirmed cases to 29 in the state, officials said.

Narendra Modi urged against panic buying soon after announcing the nationwide complete lockdown as a measure to fight the spread of coronavirus in the country.

News18 reported that a 50-year-old man was tested positive for coronavirus in Mizoram, which is the second case in the northeast. "He has a travel history of Qatar, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Doha," the report said.

In view of the 21-day nationwide complete lockdown, Supreme Court says it will not take up the matter listed before it for tomorrow through video conferencing. The matters are adjourned.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases on Friday rose to 536 in India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

News18 reported that "due to the prevailing situation, the NPR and Census exercises have been deferred till further orders".

The National Population Register (NPR), the first phase of the Census 2021, won't be held as scheduled in April because of the 21-day nationwide complete lockdown announced by Narendra Modi as a measure to curb the coronavirus.

"We request Mumbaikars to stay calm and rest assured that all emergency services & essential commodities will be available throughout lockdown. The shops will remain open and you may commute as per guidelines to nearby stores. Dial 100 if you face any inconvenience," the Mumbai Police tweeted.

"I thank all the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, pathologists and police personnel who are risking their lives and fighting against an epidemic like coronavirus day and night. I also appeal to the people to cooperate with them in these tough times and pray for their health," Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

In response Harris said, "We are now seeing a very large acceleration in the numbers of cases from the United States  so it does have that potential. We cannot say that that is the case yet, but it does have that potential," the report said.

"Harris was asked: "Do you see the United States going on to become the epicenter of this outbreak, overtaking Europe?"

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said that the United States has the "potential" of becoming the next coronavirus epicentre as cases continued to rise in the country, CNN reported.

"Today we received 110 samples. 97 samples are done with testing, 2 of these were found positive, both are from Rajkot. One of them has a travel history to a foreign country," Gujarat chief secretary Anil Mukim said.

CNN reported that there are 49,070 cases of the novel coronavirus in the US as of Tuesday. At least 600 people have died, the report said.

Im not blaming him or anything else, but he shouldnt be talking about us. Hes supposed to be buying his own ventilators. Were gonna help. But if you think about Govornor Cuomo, were building him four hospitals, were building him four medical centers, were working very hard for the people of New York. Were working along with him and then I watch him on the show complaining, and he couldve had 16,000 that he couldve had at a great price and he didnt buy them," he was quoted by CNN as saying.

I watched Gov. Cuomo and he was very nice, were building him hospitals, were building him medical centers, and he was complaining about  were doing probably more, definitely more than anybody else and he was talking about the ventilators, Trump said of Cuomo.

Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed New York governor Andrew Cuomo for "complaining" about the shortages of ventilators in the state.

Gujarat chief secretary Anil Mukim on Friday said, "The total number of #coronavirus positive cases in the state rises to 35. Every minister of the state will be donating their 1-month salary towards #coronavirus relief work."

"I give it two weeks," Trump he was quoted as saying. "I guess by Monday or Tuesday, it's about two weeks. We will assess at that time and give it more time if we need a little more time. We have to open this country up."

"Speaking during a Fox News town hall, Trump reiterated he was eager to see the nation return to normal, even as doctors warn the nation will see a massive spike in cases if Americans return to crowded workplaces or events," the report said.

US president Donald Trump said that he wants the US "opened up and just raring to go by Easter" which is just two weeks away, CNN reported.

"We request Mumbaikars to stay calm and rest assured that all emergency services & essential commodities will be available throughout lockdown. The shops will remain open and you may commute as per guidelines to nearby stores. Dial 100 if you face any inconvenience," the Mumbai Police tweeted.

"I thank all the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, pathologists and police personnel who are risking their lives and fighting against an epidemic like coronavirus day and night. I also appeal to the people to cooperate with them in these tough times and pray for their health," Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

In response Harris said, "We are now seeing a very large acceleration in the numbers of cases from the United States  so it does have that potential. We cannot say that that is the case yet, but it does have that potential," the report said.

"Harris was asked: "Do you see the United States going on to become the epicenter of this outbreak, overtaking Europe?"

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said that the United States has the "potential" of becoming the next coronavirus epicentre as cases continued to rise in the country, CNN reported.

"Today we received 110 samples. 97 samples are done with testing, 2 of these were found positive, both are from Rajkot. One of them has a travel history to a foreign country," Gujarat chief secretary Anil Mukim said.

I wholeheartedly support @narendramodi ji decision of complete lockdown of the country. This is the only way to fight #Covid19 and save millions of lives. But urge @PMOIndia to immediately announce a relief package for the poor and daily wagers.

CNN reported that there are 49,070 cases of the novel coronavirus in the US as of Tuesday. At least 600 people have died, the report said.

Im not blaming him or anything else, but he shouldnt be talking about us. Hes supposed to be buying his own ventilators. Were gonna help. But if you think about Govornor Cuomo, were building him four hospitals, were building him four medical centers, were working very hard for the people of New York. Were working along with him and then I watch him on the show complaining, and he couldve had 16,000 that he couldve had at a great price and he didnt buy them," he was quoted by CNN as saying.

I watched Gov. Cuomo and he was very nice, were building him hospitals, were building him medical centers, and he was complaining about  were doing probably more, definitely more than anybody else and he was talking about the ventilators, Trump said of Cuomo.

Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed New York governor Andrew Cuomo for "complaining" about the shortages of ventilators in the state.

Gujarat chief secretary Anil Mukim on Friday said, "The total number of #coronavirus positive cases in the state rises to 35. Every minister of the state will be donating their 1-month salary towards #coronavirus relief work."

"I give it two weeks," Trump he was quoted as saying. "I guess by Monday or Tuesday, it's about two weeks. We will assess at that time and give it more time if we need a little more time. We have to open this country up."

"Speaking during a Fox News town hall, Trump reiterated he was eager to see the nation return to normal, even as doctors warn the nation will see a massive spike in cases if Americans return to crowded workplaces or events," the report said.

US president Donald Trump said that he wants the US "opened up and just raring to go by Easter" which is just two weeks away, CNN reported.

Narendra Modi on Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: The National Population Register (NPR), the first phase of the Census 2021, won't be held as scheduled in April because of the 21-day nationwide complete lockdown announced by Narendra Modi as a measure to curb the coronavirus.

News18 reported that "due to the prevailing situation, the NPR and Census exercises have been deferred till further orders".

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, "I would like to assure the 23 crore people of Uttar Pradesh that we have enough stock of essential items like vegetables, milk, medicines etc. For the safety of you and your family don't step out of your houses and maintain social distance.

"From tomorrow, vegetables, milk, fruits, medicines and other essential commodities will be delivered to your door steps for which we have identified more than 10,000 vehicles. I appeal to you to not go to market to buy essential items."

Narendra Modi urged against panic buying soon after announcing the nationwide complete lockdown as a measure to fight the spread of coronavirus in the country.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines on the 21-day lockdown ordered to curb the spread of the coronavirus on Tuesday. Listing the establishments that will mandatorily remain closed during the lockdown, the ministry also listed the exemptions including grocery and ration shops, petrol pumps, banks, ATMs, etc.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will issue guidelines of "effective measures and exceptions" to essential services during the 21-day nationwide lockdown. There will shortly be an MHA 24/7 hotline to assist states during this period, ANI reported.

Modi announced a 15,000 crore package for COVID-19, to acquire medical equipment and protective gear, and also increase training of medical and paramedical staff, testing facilities, PPEs, ICUs, and ventilators.

"I have appealed to state governments to make the public healthcare the highest priority right now. I am also sure that private companies will also join in the efforts to curb the infection," he said.

Narendra Modi quoted WHO statistics to emphasise the need of the complete nationwide lockdown in a bid to spread coronavirus. He said that from taking 60+ days to spread to one lakh people, the coronavirus has now started spreading faster and faster.

He also said that multiple countries around the world are suffering from the coronavirus, despite having world-class health care systems.

Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country, starting from midnight on 24 March for 21 days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in India at 8 pm today.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that he was "deeply anguished" over reports of discrimination against doctors treating coronavirus patients.

"Im DEEPLY ANGUISHED to see reports pouring in from Delhi, Noida, Warangal, Chennai etc that DOCTORS and PARAMEDICS are being ostracised in residential complexes & societies. Landlords are threatening to evict them fearing #COVID2019 infection. Pls dont panic!" he said.

Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe's office on Friday said that after discussions with the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, an agreement to defer the Olympics scheduled for this year in Tokyo by a year.

"After his telephone talks with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, PM Shinzo Abe spoke to the press and explained that the two have agreed that the Tokyo Olympic Games would not be cancelled, & the games will be held by the summer of 2021," the statement said.

The resident doctors of the AIIMS institute, in a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, alleged that people are questioning them over their activities because they are in touch with COVID-19 patients and those suspected of having the infection. The Resident Doctors' Association on Friday said that they "have been forced to vacate rented houses".

They also requested appropriate action against those forcing eviction.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Tuesday said that at least 118 government laboratories have been included in ICMR network of coronavirus testing. "The network has the capacity to test 12,000 samples a day. Additionally, 22 private laboratory chains, with about 15,500 collection centres, have been registered with ICMR till today," the statement said.

A 47-year-old woman with no recent history of foreign travel tests positive for COVID-19 in Noida, PTI quoted officials as saying on Tuesday.

The last date for filing March, April and May 2020 GST returns is being extended to 30 June 2020, said Nirmala Sitharaman during the media conference on Tuesday. She added that different staggering dates will be applicable, but all will be the end of June. The interest rate for filing a delayed return has also been brought down.

As the media briefing came to an end, Nirmala Sitharama reiterated that an economic package will be announced 'sooner', rather than later. She also said, 'We are closely monitoring the situation. SEBI has come up with guidelines and stated its position on the recent volatility. We are monitoring the stock market.'

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, while briefing the media about the government's plan for relief plan announced that debit cardholders who withdraw cash from any bank ATM can do it free of charge, from any other banks ATM, for the next three months. She also stated that there shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that the threshold of default extended to Rs 1 core from existing Rs 1 lakh, in order to prevent insolvency proceedings against MSMEs.

The finance ministry announced that for newly incorporated companies, there is a requirement to file a declaration on commencement within six months, which the government is giving an additional six months to file their returns.

The government on Tuesday said that the mandatory requirement of holding board meetings is being relaxed by a period of 60 days, has been relaxed for the next two quarters.

In a major relief to imports/exporters, the government on Tuesday said that customs clearance now an essential service, till 30 June 2020 and it will be working 24/7.

The last date for filing March, April and May 2020 GST returns is being extended to 30 June 2020, said Nirmala Sitharaman during the media conference on Tuesday. She added that different staggering dates will be applicable, but all will be the end of June. The interest rate for filing a delayed return has also been brought down.

The finance minister announced on Tuesday that the Aadhaar-PAN linking date has been extended to 30 June 2020 from what was 31 March 2020. Nirmala Sitharam also said that the Interest rate on delayed deposit of TDS reduced. She said, "No extra 10 percent interest will be charged between now and 30 June."

The last date for income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 is extended to June 30, announced Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. She said that she will be making announcements on income tax, customs, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)-related matters, bank-related compliances, fisheries, among other things. She added that for the delayed payments, interest rate has been reduced from 12 percent to 9 percent.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would address the media at 2 pm today amid preparations of preparing an economic package that is likely to help the country through the coronavirus lockdown. She said in a tweet that the package would be announced soon on priority and that she would give the media presser through video conference. Her speech will be specifically be focused on statutory and regulatory compliance matters.

Ahead of Narendra Modi's address, the whole of Odisha will be under lockdown from Tuesday midnight because of the coronavirus threat, a top state government official said. Fourteen of the state's 30 districts are already under a lockdown. The Madhya Pradesh government has also imposed curfew in Bhopal and Jabalpur cities, where coronavirus cases have been found, right after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would address the media at 2 pm today amid preparations of preparing an economic package that is likely to help the country through the coronavirus lockdown.

India has reported its tenth death on Tuesday after a 64-year-old man who was admitted to Kasturba hospital on 23 March, died within a few hours of admission. He had returned from the UAE and had travelled to Ahmedabad on 15 March, returned to Mumbai on 20 March.

American lawyer Larry Klayman has filed a USD 20 trillion lawsuit against China for the creation and the release of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 334,000 people globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm regarding the vital aspects relating to the COVID-19 menace. Meanwhile, the 26 March Rajya Sabha election to 55 seats, scheduled to be held on 26 March, has been deferred.

Two new positive cases of coronavirus are recorded in Gujarat, total cases mount to 33, stated the Gujarat Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi. Meanwhile, a 54-year-old domestic passenger was arrested at the airport here for allegedly refusing to follow instructions given by doctors for the prevention of the spread of novel coronavirus, police said on Tuesday.

The number of states and Union Territories (UTs) which have imposed a lockdown has increased to 32 from 30 last night. The number of districts under lockdown has increased to 560 from 548. The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has reached 101 on Tuesday. Four more patients were tested positive in Pune and one was tested positive in Satara.

Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday. According to the data updated Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 492. Benchmark indices erased most of its early gains but trading higher with Nifty above 7700. The Sensex is up 369.34 points or 1.42 percent at 26350.58, and the Nifty up 108.40 points or 1.42 percent at 7718.65.

Benchmark indices opened in positive territory on 24 March with Sensex added more than 1000 points. At 09:17 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 1,212.60 points or 4.67 percent at 27193.84, and the Nifty up 353.85 points or 4.65 percent at 7964.10. Manipur has reported the first case of COVID-19 in Northeast India, say reports. Northeast Now reports that a 23-year-old from Imphal (west) has been identified as the first confirmed case in the state.

The Tihar Prison authorities said they are planning to release around 3,000 prisoners to ease congestion in jails over the coronavirus threat. However, it will not include hardened or dangerous criminals. While in the UK, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has enforced the strictest curbs on movement of people for at least three weeks to try and control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, where the death toll has reached 335.

Security was tightened at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh, on Tuesday, after a prohibitory order under section 144 CrPC has been promulgated in Delhi, with the police clearing out the protest site. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the pandemic of disease caused by the coronavirus is accelerating, with more than 300,000 cases now recorded and infections reported from nearly every country worldwide.

The number of deaths in India due to the novel coronavirus rose to nine on Monday with 468 testing positive as the Centre announced a lockdown in 22 states and Union Territories across the country and the Indian Council of Medical Research recommended the use of an anti-malarial drug in cases of high risk.

The health ministry, in its daily press briefing on Monday, said Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh are under complete lockdown.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked captains of industry to ensure that the production of essential items is not impacted in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and there is no hoarding and black marketing. "The impact on the economy will be felt for some time to come," said Modi as he exhorted India Inc to adopt a humanitarian approach and not to cut down on the workforce in spite of the COVID-19 negative impact on their businesses.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that companies' expenditure to fight the coronavirus pandemic will be considered valid under corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The coronavirus outbreak will be treated as a disaster, the Finance Minister said on Twitter.

The Delhi Police on Monday moved to seal all border pickets in the national capital and said curfew passes will be issued to people associated with essential services as "execution" of the prohibitory orders in the city was "not up to the mark today".

Media persons, however, will not need the passes and their ID cards will suffice, they said.

Details like the format of the application for the passes and from when they will be required, etc are likely to be shared on Tuesday, the police said.

On Sunday, police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in Delhi till 31 March in view of the coronavirus outbreak, banning protests, and other gatherings.

Section 144 of the CrPC bans the assembly of four or more people in one place.

The Nagaland government will promulgate prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC in Dimapur district from Tuesday to make people stay indoors during the ongoing lockdown declared in the state to contain the coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

The order, issued by Dimapur police commissioner Rothihu Tetseo on Monday, will come into force from 6 am on 24 March, the official said.

Dimapur, a commercial hub of the state, witnessed an "unprecedented" movement of vehicles during the lockdown which began from Sunday midnight, he said.

Police seized a number of taxis for plying on roads, the official said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has enforced the strictest curbs on movement of people for at least three weeks to try and control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, where the death toll has reached 335.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday evening, he said while no prime minister wants to make such demands on the population, the situation was such that he was forced to clamp down on people's movement and the crackdown on any gatherings of more than two people.

With his central message calling on people to restrict their movements outside their homes only for the very basic essentials, Johnson said, "From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction you must stay at home."

In the US, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vital medical supplies and personal protective equipment as the country for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus.

Till Monday, more than 43,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day, according to Worldometer, a website that compiles COVID-19 cases. With 139 deaths, the number of fatalities crossed 550 by Monday night.

Signing the executive order, Trump said his government would take action against hoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protective equipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.
Last week saw the newest annual earnings release from China Hongqiao Group Limited (HKG:1378), an important milestone in the company's journey to build a stronger business. Results look mixed - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at CN84b, statutory earnings beat expectations 4.9%, with China Hongqiao Group reporting profits of CN0.70 per share. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

See our latest analysis for China Hongqiao Group

SEHK:1378 Past and Future Earnings, March 24th 2020

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for China Hongqiao Group from four analysts is for revenues of CN88.0b in 2020 which, if met, would be a modest 4.5% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to drop 13% to CN0.62 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN90.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN0.83 in 2020. The analysts seem less optimistic after the recent results, reducing their sales forecasts and making a large cut to earnings per share numbers.

Despite the cuts to forecast earnings, there was no real change to the CN5.30 price target, showing that the analysts don't think the changes have a meaningful impact on its intrinsic value. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values China Hongqiao Group at CN6.91 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CN4.18. 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

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that China Hongqiao Group's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 4.5%, compared to a historical growth rate of 19% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 2.6% next year. So it's pretty clear that, while China Hongqiao Group's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

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. They also downgraded their revenue estimates, although industry data suggests that China Hongqiao Group's revenues are expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at CN5.30, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for China Hongqiao Group going out to 2021, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for China Hongqiao Group (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) you should be aware of.

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.
New Delhi, March 24 : In the wake of coronavirus scare in the country, the Indian Navy has issued guidelines for personnel to work from home while meeting requirements of essential operations, the force said on Tuesday.

In an advisory for its men, the Navy said that "personnel not on duty to be available on telephone and required to close up at short notice".

Only personnel required to render essential services would be deployed in their respective units during the lockdown period.

The guidelines are issued based on the prevalent government directives, said a senior Indian Navy officer.

The force stated that all essential offices and positions such as the war room, communication centres and others will continue to be function in fully capacity.

It also said that coastal security and harbour patrols will continue with full manpower.

However, for sailing ships, guidelines have been issued for "necessary screening of personnel prior to departure as well as continuous monitoring at sea".

It pointed out that all mission-based deployments like in the Gulf of Oman, to re-assure Indian flagged vessels operating/transiting through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman following maritime security incidents in the region will function will full capacity.

Starting March, the Navy had announced the postponement of its biggest multilateral naval exercise - Milan2020 -- in the Indian Ocean due to coronavirus outbreak outside China and increase in numbers of cases in India.

The multi-nation naval exercise was to be staged off the Vizag coast from March 19, with participation of 41 countries, bringing together maritime forces from all over the region and beyond.
- The Senate has been plunged into anxiety over the Covid-19 status of 35 senators who just returned from the United Kingdom

- The senators were said to have travelled to the UK for a seminar but upon their return, they failed to self-isolate and instead mingled with their colleagues

- The revelation emerged hours after Abba Kyari, Buhari's chief of staff, accused some House of Representatives members of violating airport screening procedure

Following a revelation that some members of the National Assembly failed to comply with the routine check at the airports as part of preventive measures towards curbing Covid-19, the ninth Senate has been thrown into anxiety.

Abba Kyari, President Muhammadu Buhari's chief of staff had raised an alarm over the arrogance of some lawmakers to health officials at the national airports.

In his letter directed to the speaker of House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila dated Saturday, March 21, Kyari alleged that some lawmakers who returned from oversea failed to comply with directives and violated airport screening procedure.

The senators were said to have travelled to the UK for a seminar but upon their return, they failed to self-isolate.

Source: Twitter

As fear heightened over the status of the lawmakers, reports emerged that not less than 35 senators who returned from the United Kingdom, like their colleagues at the lower chamber, failed to adhere to the self-isolation guideline.

The senators, according to The Nation, attended a Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) seminar in London.

But upon returning back to Nigeria they showed up at the chambers and mingled with their colleagues instead of going on compulsory 14-day isolation to know their infection status.

Legit.ng gathers that the senators are members of the Senate committees on upstream, downstream and gas comprising two female senators.

The affected senators were said to have returned back on March 14 and gone on normal legislative activities despite being told by the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan, to self-isolate.

In fact, the Senate president refused to either hug or shake hands with them to the consternation of the affected senators," a source revealed.

Now, we have a big challenge in the Senate. Some of us are pushing that these senators should rescue themselves from all the activities in the chamber.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi state, has reportedly gone on self-isolation after it was established that he had contact with the son of former vice president Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku's son, whose name was not mentioned, tested positive for coronavirus after returning to the country amid Covid-19 scare.

Disclosing the development in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle on Sunday night, March 22, Atiku said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been duly informed about the situation.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

oronavirus: 6 outrageous lies about the disease | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
LADY IN WAITING

My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown

By Anne Glenconner

It seems particularly apt that Anne Coke Tennant, Baroness Glenconner, was born into an ancient British family whose crest is an ostrich swallowing an iron horseshoe, symbolizing, as she puts it, our ability to digest anything. Readers of her sometimes amusing, sometimes appalling, sometimes affecting, sometimes clueless memoir will learn that she was a perfect ostrich: Burying her head in the sand may well have been the only way to endure a 54-year marriage to her terrifyingly eccentric, deeply profligate husband, who would reward her loyalty by disinheriting her, and to remain in the good graces of her notoriously difficult, consummately petulant childhood friend Princess Margaret, whom she served for nearly three decades as a lady-in-waiting.
If you think you are fit, have no health issues and can walk around freely, hold on. You need to know about what happened in This European country, with a population of just around 360,000 people, has successfully tested most of its citizens. And surprisingly, 50 per cent of those who were found to be infected by had no symptoms.

Heres the latest on cases, including recent reports suggesting new signs of the infection.



Recently, India saw a spike in the number of cases, with the number of those affected reaching 492. These include the 36 people who have been cured and discharged, and 9 who have died.To curb the spread of coronavirus, or Covid-19 as it is called, both the central and state governments have taken several measures, including a complete shutdown across 32 states and Union Territories.

However, compliance issues were seen on Monday, with some people deciding to travel and meet others. Prime Minister again urged all citizens to understand the gravity of the issue and follow lockdown restrictions. He also asked state authorities to enforce lockdowns more strictly and ensure compliance. These people who ventured out probably felt they were safe as they exhibited no visible symptoms of Covid-19. Well, if you believe no visible symptoms are a sign you are safe, here is something you should know.

Unlike a majority of contagious diseases, coronavirus symptoms vary widely. Among people who have tested positive for the virus, there are those who were entirely asymptomatic, those with mild to moderate respiratory illnesses, cold-like symptoms  runny nose, congestion, sore throat, muscle ache, shortness of breath and cough.

In fact, recent reports even suggest that loss of smell and taste could be signs of a Covid-19 infection.

According to a New York Times report, Anosmia, or loss of the sense of smell, and ageusia, an accompanying diminished sense of taste, have emerged as peculiar telltale signs of Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, and possible markers of infection.

The NYT also reported that British ear, nose and throat doctors, citing reports from colleagues around the world, called on adults who lost their senses of smell to isolate themselves for seven days, even if they had no other symptoms, to slow the spread of the disease. Published data are limited, but doctors are concerned and are raising warnings.

Then how does one find out if a person is infected and how should the spread of the disease be prevented?



Considering the myriad range of symptoms, a test is necessary. Besides, practising social distancing can be a great help. The central and state governments in India have, therefore, enforced lockdowns as a measure.

However, the World Health Organizations Emergency Expert Mike Ryan has said the lockdowns are not enough to defeat the virus. "What we really need to focus on is finding those who are sick, those who have the virus, and isolate them, find their contacts and isolate them, too," Ryan said in an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

In fact, US Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams told NBC's Today: We should be acting as if we have the virus, adding that the mentality...

To know more, listen to this podcast


New Delhi, March 24 : Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi has demanded unveiling of a welfare plan by the Centre for the unorganised sector, especially construction workers, in wake of lockdown forced by the spread of the coronavirus.

"Considering the extraordinary situation, I request you to consider advising the state building and other construction welfare boards to roll out emergency wage support for the construction workers who are in distress," Sonia said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She pointed out that several countries, including Canada, have announced wage subsidy measures as part of their economic response plan amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Congress leader said that that wage welfare boards have collected cess of Rs 49,688 crore till March 2019 but spent only Rs 19,379 crore till that time.

Sonia Gandhi said that lakhs of workers, mostly migrants, were facing hard in the absence of alternate sources of income.

Lakhs of people are returning to their native states, hometowns and villages, including 44 lakh construction workers.

Party leader Kapil Sibal also demanded financial help for the poor rendered jobless due to coronavirus scare in the country, demanding at least Rs 10,000 each to them.

He said that though the shutdown is 'positive', many people were out of work, such as migrants, those working in the unorganised and other sectors, agricultural labour, unemployed, and daily-wagers, who should be provided Rs 10,000 each through Direct Benefit Transfer to overcome the crisis.
We're all going through one of the scariest things we've all ever experienced, the Coronavirus pandemic has made everyone panic-stricken and just paranoid about everyone.

While so many people have the privilege of staying inside and working from home, there are still the ones who are on the front lines and their job requires them to be outside and potentially get infected.

That mainly consists of people in the medical field and everyone working for airlines. They have no option but to still work and risk their lives and in return, they are being harassed for it.

A lot of airline crew members are sharing videos of themselves breaking down because of how they're being ostracised by their neighbours and even their families are suffering because of them potentially being infected.

Yes, it's okay to take measures but acting out of fear and losing all your empathy, especially at a time like this, is not the way to go.

Can't believe how people are treating our airline crew. This @IndiGo6E crew is nearly broken from being discriminated & taunted. When she is gone for her flight, her mother is even refused groceries in her society. Police is also not helping. @amitshah #coronavirus #india. pic.twitter.com/yuuTnYhqKq  Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) March 24, 2020

People applaud them from bringing all the people stuck abroad back home and this how they repay him.

And look at this. @AirIndiain crew being harassed ar 10 pm last night Lawrence Road, Keshav Puram, Delhi. And they are dying to come back to India if stranded outside the country on special AI, IndiGo etc flights. Cc : @DelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/Y1dI62oLQ2  Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) March 24, 2020

It's that simple.

The Cabin Crew who are "the invisible heroes" in the fight against #CoronaVirus, are being harassed by housing societies & flat owners. We are not a threat & we do take all kind of precautions onboard our flights. If you can't appreciate us, then atleast don't ostracize us! pic.twitter.com/xKDi9mbJnN  BiTANKO BiSWAS (@Air_India_CREW) March 21, 2020

Yes, please.

Doctors, medical staff, flight crews being assaulted/shunned. Aren't these the people we supposedly came together to thank on Sunday? Govt needs to eschew its tokenism, orders,monologues and talk to citizens, answer questions on how to deal with these unprecedented times. https://t.co/DoeeqzApzK  Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) March 24, 2020

No compassion.

This is how our airline crew are treated by 'Indians' who clapped to show solidarity.



She is from Indigo airlines. She and her mother are getting attacked/harassed on the name of #COVID . Even police is not helping.



This is hate, pure hate.pic.twitter.com/rl52Tcb9lv  Sanghamitra (@AudaciousQuest) March 24, 2020

What did the clapping accomplish?

That 5 pm clapping was mere tokenism and a spectacle, another PR exercise for the great leader. The ones who have put their lives at stake are being stigmatised and ostracized by the same people who were a part of that spectacle. This is so inhuman. https://t.co/TnPbMTdnKB  Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) March 24, 2020

Hmm.

this is the main reason that people don't want to be seen going to quarantine. they instinctively know how they are going to get treated.



Indians may not know social distancing but they know how to brutally enforce social untouchability. Its in their blood. https://t.co/WSf5AZi0FW  (((Dominique Fisherwoman))) (@AbbakkaHypatia) March 24, 2020

Unacceptable is the word.

This is heartbreaking to watch and hear. Sunday evening's thanksgiving was not only tokenism but also highly hypocritical if we don't actually believe in what we stood on balconies for. Just shameful, mean-spirited and unacceptable. https://t.co/lJnZsb4lSS  Maya Mirchandani (@maya206) March 24, 2020

This is not okay.
By Laman Ismayilova

A woman has many roles in a society. A loving mother, a lovely sister, a good friend, an affectionate spouse, this list is endless.

Azerbaijani woman is a caring mother, loyal wife, wise public figure, and brave soldier. One such famous woman was Sarah Khatun, whose name entered the history as the first female diplomat not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the entire East.

Sara Khatun was a woman of strength, courage and dignity; one who values herself and fights for what she believes in.

Daughter of Pirali bey and the mother of the ruler of the Akkoyunlu state  Uzun Hasa, she was born on the lands of Bayandur. Sara Khatun was a skilful diplomat and headed embassies to resolve disputed issues.At the most difficult times for Azerbaijan, Sara Khatun displayed courage and wisdom.

Negotiations with Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire were especially successful. Sarah Khatun, who has great authority in the entire Middle East, brilliantly fulfilled her son's mission.

The first round of negotiations with Mehmed II was held in 1463, in Goyluhisar. There she could make peace, according to which Uzun Hassan promised not to impede seizure of Trabzon by the Ottoman Turks, and Ottomans had to leave the territory of the Akkoyunlu.

She also persuaded the Sultan that the treasury of Trabzon should belong to his bride  Despine Khatun, princess of Trabzon and to bring this wealth to a palace of her son.

During these negotiations Mehmed II and Sara Khatun called each other "mother" and "son".

Sara Khatun also helped the last Trapezuntine Emperor by providing him and his family with freedom.

Mehmed II kept his promise, given to Sara Khatun: the Emperor and his children and young nephew Alexis were graciously accepted by Sultan and were sent to Constantinople on a special ship with courtiers and all private property, except piles of jewelry which were given to Sara Khatun as a reward for her polite intermediation.

She was famous not only in the Akkoyunlu state, but also in Western countries as incredibly talented female diplomat.

Sara Khatun made a significant contributions to the strengthening her own country. She will stay forever in the history of Azerbaijan as a brilliant diplomat, wise woman and courageous leader.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
REDDING, Calif.  With schools closed parents are turning to online learning.

Medical professionals say if your child needs a tutor, practice social distancing.

Professionals say parents should limit the number of people coming into their homes. But if your kid does needs some extra help with school work make sure they dont get too close.

Best-case scenario is that they would be able to use technology, said Kerri Schuette, a spokesperson for Shasta County Health & Human Services Agency We really want people to limit the number of people in their physical circle.

Several parents tell Action News Now, they're trying to get creative with teaching their kids. Such as going outdoors for science, while keeping their social distance. Some are even making cookies for home economics.

I think it's necessary to keep their brains active and going, but there are other ways than just having to sit in front of a computer online, said Jessica Vance of Redding.

But as families stay inside to help their kids learn, people heading to the grocery store are being extra cautious while they shop.

Several people were wearing masks and even gloves at the grocery store.

Its to protect myself, Im ancient and I also am compromised health-wise, said Ed Schoon, a Mount Shasta resident.

Shasta County health official wants people to really practice social distancing. Officials suggest limiting the number of times heading to the grocery store.

But while grocery stores remain open, the coronavirus is hitting a lot of small businesses hard, forcing many of them to close. Many people in Redding are doing their best to support their local shops. Even if it's only ordering items online or getting their food to go.

You still need your goods, you still need the stuff to run your household and you need to get it somewhere, said Rod Stiles of Redding.

Many of the small businesses cant rely on their reserves for long. The Chamber is urging business owners to apply for a disaster loan and reach out to their business banks

We know that this is a time filled with uncertainty, as no one knows how long this COVID-19 pandemic will last, said Jake Mangas, Chief Executive Officer with the Redding Chamber of Commerce.

We feel your pain and we are committed to doing all that we can as your chamber of commerce to help you through this uncertain time.

The Chamber also tells Action News Now its expecting more help to come in for small businesses.
To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, our critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work.

San Antonio Express-News journalists are researching answers to readers questions about the novel coronavirus. To submit a question, go to ExpressNews.com/assignmentdesk.

During the flu season, is it possible to get the flu and the coronavirus at the same time? Or, will the flu worsen into the coronavirus? Is it actually two different strains?

From Dr. Fred Campbell, an internal medicine specialist at UT Health San Antonio:Influenza and coronavirus, particularly COVID-19, are two completely different respiratory viruses, so unfortunately a vaccine against one will not work for the other. Treatments can be different as well.

Dr. Campbell said it is possible to get them in succession or even at the same time, but added, Since we havent had a flu season, I dont think that has happened, but it could certainly in the fall.

Given that nicotine has been shown to guard against COVID-19 infection, aren't vape shops the most essential business around?

Recently, researchers in France have found that smokers there are dramatically under-represented among those infected by the coronavirus. Similar but less pronounced patterns involving smokers have been noted in China. Not surprisingly, interest has focused on nicotine as a possible preventative agent. Having health care workers wear nicotine patches is a possible first step. That said, no medical experts are suggesting that anyone take up smoking or vaping to ward off the coronavirus. As pointed out by the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, the harmful effects of smoking and vaping, including reduced resistance to respiratory ailments, are well-established. Among the other recent findings: Smokers who are infected with the virus are more likely than non-smokers to require hospitalization. https://tobacco.ucsf.edu/reduce-your-risk-serious-lung-disease-caused-corona-virus-quitting-smoking-and-vaping

I think Mayor Nirenberg, Judge Wolff and their staffs have done an outstanding job during this pandemic. If Gov. Abbott relaxes restrictions on things that might be harmful to our population, do they still have the authority to continue with the restrictions we currently have?

When Gov. Abbott on Monday announced plans to gradually reopen businesses and ease some restrictions on social contact, his order overrode local COVID-19 restrictions. Among them in San Antonio was the requirement to wear a face mask in crowded settings or face legal consequences. Mayor Nirenberg and Judge Wolff are now crafting new local orders that will allow residents to patronize reopened businesses but still require them to stay at home except for essential activities. Wolff noted that the city and county continue to have flexibility to implement safety measures not explicitly addressed by the governor.

I see so many people wearing masks and gloves when out in the public. I am concerned with those I see with only the mouth barely covered and often pulling the mask down to talk to a child. Isn't there a proper procedure for wearing a mask to protect yourself and others?

The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District has created a short video explaining proper mask care and usage. Common sense would say that if the mask is not covering the persons mouth, it is not serving its intended purpose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-tD5lddmc&t=5s

If we receive our Social Security monthly check through direct deposit, will the IRS access those bank account numbers to send our stimulus checks? Or do we have to furnish the IRS with our bank account numbers?

Just sit tight. If the IRS already has your bank account numbers, you will receive your stimulus payment as a direct deposit. If you already receive Social Security, disability or veterans benefits, for example, you will automatically receive a stimulus check.

I work for a school district and was laid off at spring break due to Covid-19. I have filed for unemployment benefits. I will file for my second 2 weeks. I was approved for benefits but as of today I have not received anything nor have I gotten the $600 I was to receive. When will I receive payment from the state or stimulus fund?

After reviewing your question, a spokesman for the Texas Workforce Commission said, We encourage the claimant to continue requesting payment every two weeks, even if they have not received benefit payments yet. This will speed up the process for them to receive benefits once they are eligible.

He said that, on average, it takes around 21 days for someone to receive benefits either by direct deposit or a debit card sent by mail, from the time that they apply and become eligible. The timing can vary on a case by case basis.

In addition, he said that through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PFUC) program, anyone receiving Texas Unemployment Insurance will also receive an additional $600 in weekly benefits. This program is available for the weeks ending04-04-20 to 07-25-20.

Is it me or is there very inconclusive data that can be gleaned from the corona numbers floating around? In a county of close to 2,000,000, do we really only have 1,126 cases of Covid-10, with deaths of 39? They are all tragic but apparently very approximate since the testing has been so abysmal. Do we really have a hold on the extent of damage from this virus?

Thus far, slightly over 20,000 people  representing about 1 percent of the population  have been tested in Bexar County, and medical officials are quick to acknowledge the limited conclusions that can be drawn from such a small sample.

In response to your question, a spokesperson for San Antonio Metropolitan Health District said, All data is based on testing. We are only 2 months into this pandemic. As testing increases, so will data and so will the studies of the virus. It is a new virus, and we are learning more about it daily.

At a Tuesday afternoon meeting of city and county officials, Dr. Barbara Taylor, the leader of the Health Transition Team, announced a plan to double local testing capacity to about 3,000 a day.

Without a viable vaccine, why is herd immunity, as seen in Sweden, not being given more of a chance?

Herd immunity occurs when the majority of a population has become immune to an infectious disease, either by exposure and recovery or through vaccination. That will take time to achieve with COVID-19 because the novel coronavirus that causes it has not previously infected humans.

In Sweden, the government has not imposed rigid stay-at-home policies or closed schools and businesses. Most residents have observed social distancing guidelines, and the economy has not been brought to a halt.

That said, Sweden has not been spared. According to Johns Hopkins University, Sweden has recorded 18,926 COVID-19 cases and 2,274 fatalities, a death rate of 12 percent  more than twice that of the U.S. This would appear to undercut the argument for relying on herd immunity at this stage of the pandemic. Further, no scientific proof has emerged thus far that someone who has recovered from the coronavirus is immune from contracting it again.

Can someone be infected by using toilet paper in a public restroom?

According to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, there is no evidence that COVID-19 is transmitted via toilet paper. Someone concerned about this possibility should consider taking his or her own supply when in a public place, a Metro Health spokesperson said.

Is a fabric curtain enough to separate people at a business for social distancing?

As with masks, if a material is too thin and located in a place of heavy traffic, it will not help. Many retail stores have resorted to using a hard acrylic material as a barrier between employees and customers, since it is also easy to clean.

Im concerned that when walking my toy poodles on blacktop street in our busy neighborhood, they could pick up COVID-19 droplets from sneezes on their paws, then track those in the house. How realistic is this concern?

There is no evidence of this happening, according to Metro Health. It would be similar to tracking droplets into the house on your shoes  possible but not likely.

Are there statistics yet on effects of coronavirus in reasonably healthy people over 70? Whats the percentage of milder symptoms? Hospitalization? Death? What is the rate of infection between those who are essential workers and those sheltering in place. Perhaps health care workers can be a separate category.

The CDC has noted that COVID-19 is much more dangerous for older adults. Eight out of 10 deaths reported in the U.S. have been adults 65 and older. While no set of statistics responsive to your specific questions was found, a glance at Metro Healths online data underscores the danger. People age 70 and over account for about 10 percent of all confirmed coronavirus cases in Bexar County  and 58 percent of the deaths. To view these and other statistics on COVID-19, go to sanantonio.gov/health/news/alerts/coronavirus.

Once restaurants are opened for dine-in, who will be responsible for ensuring they are adhering to strict health guidelines? Ive always been cautious or avoided using salt/pepper shakers, condiments on tables where the same spoon is used by customers, salad bars serving utensils used by everyone, etc. As patrons, I guess ultimately the amount of risk we wish to take to dine at our favorite places will fall on us.

A spokesperson for Metro Health said that once local eateries reopen, city sanitarians will provide education to restaurants to make sure they increase sanitation and items are cleaned as often as possible. Customers are encouraged to wash their hands before eating and use sanitizer with alcohol content above 60 percent to help prevent the spread of germs.

I have a friend that received a $2,400 stimulus check for him and his wife, but she passed away in May 2019. This was noted on his 2019 tax return. What should he do?

Strangely enough, this appears to be a common occurrence. The IRS is under pressure to get the stimulus cash into the hands of taxpayers as soon as possible. In the rush, mistakes are made.

The IRS is supposed to check death records before issuing payments, but those records can be incomplete at the federal level. States are responsible for sending death records to the federal government, but there is often a substantial lag in reporting.

The Social Security Administration is in charge of keeping the governments master death file. However, since the agency receives 2.5 million death notices a year from states and other entities, the file does not update in real time.

The Treasury Department has been trying to sift out stimulus checks for the deceased before they go through. Clearly, the Treasury Department is not batting 1.000 in that endeavor.

It is not immediately clear what the government plans to do about checks that have already been sent to deceased taxpayers.

Legal experts are examining the possibility that the $2 trillion CARES Act (for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) may not technically prohibit payments to people who died this year or last year, so long as they would have otherwise been eligible.

Either way, the government could deem it more trouble than it is worth to try to track down a stray $1,200 here or there.

It is possible your friend could view his outsized stimulus check like a Community Chest card in the original Monopoly game  bank error in your favor.

I know we are told to use hot water and soap to remove the virus from our hands. When parks and rivers are open and we swim or float, is it possible to catch the virus from the water, even if we social distance?

Since the COVID-19 virus is so new, there is much we still dont know about it. For now, researchers do not believe that the virus can be effectively transmitted via water.

Even if there is a small chance the virus could survive for long in water, a larger body such as a river, lake or ocean would probably dilute it to levels that would be harmless, researchers say.

The more significant hazard with floating on a river is maintaining social distancing. As anyone who has ever floated the Guadalupe on a particularly fast day will attest, it can be impossible to avoid bumping into fellow tubers. Especially if adult beverages are involved.

Once the river parks and lakes open, wading or swimming would seem to be safe, assuming you and your fellow swimmers can keep your distance from one another. Be sure to check that any public surfaces, such as picnic tables, are properly sanitized.

When will the DMV offices open? We that are too old to renew our driver license online have to appear in person. This is a concern.

So far, there has been no communication from Gov. Greg Abbotts office about when Department of Motor Vehicles offices might reopen.

For drivers over age 79 who are required to renew their Class C licenses in person, this creates a problem. To address it, the state has established a grace period allowing people to continue to drive legally on an expired license for up to 60 days after the DMV resumes normal operations.

Once the DMV offices are open, you would need to visit one in person and renew your license before the grace period is up.

Diabetes is always listed as one of the underlying health conditions that place a person at greater risk if the person contracts the COVID-19 virus. Is there any difference in the risk factor for Type 2 as compared to Type 1 diabetes?

It is true that health officials believe that diabetics are at greater risk of developing severe complications if they contract the novel coronavirus.

There doesnt yet seem to be much research comparing outcomes between the different types of diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, patients with Type 1 diabetes are generally more prone to develop a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis in conjunction with viral infections.

In diabetic ketoacidosis, the blood becomes acidic and eventually toxic. This can cause the body to go into septic shock.

No matter which type of diabetes one has, the risk of severe illness is lower if the condition is already well-managed.

When people do not manage their diabetes well, fluctuating blood sugar levels increase the risk of a number of complications stemming from a coronavirus infection.

My 5-year-old son lives with his mother and grandmother. I have been self-isolating for the last four weeks and have not seen my son during that time. His grandmother is concerned that if my son comes to visit me, that its putting her health in danger. Is there something I can do to make his visits to my home safer so his grandmother would not worry when he goes back home?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a 14-day quarantine for anyone suspected to have been infected with the novel coronavirus. If you have been isolated for four weeks, with no contact at all with other people, you should not be at risk to transmit the disease.

If you have not shown symptoms of the virus at all to this point, even better.

To ease the mind of your sons grandmother, continue to follow the CDCs best practices guidelines. Continue to isolate with your son when he is with you, making sure both of you wash hands frequently with soap and water.

We are retired teachers. We have faithfully filed taxes every year. We never get a refund  always pay. Our only income is Teacher Retirement System pension and Social Security. Everyone I know has received their stimulus check, but we have not. Any ideas?

It could be that the IRS does not have your bank account information on file in order to make a direct deposit. This is especially likely if you have never received an IRS refund before.

If that is the case, dont worry! You have two options:

First, you could update your information with the IRS at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. Once the IRS receives your bank account information, it will initiate a direct deposit.

That might not get you your payment immediately, however. It can take a few days or even weeks to process your request.

This brings us to your second option. The federal government expects to begin sending paper checks this week to people who did not request a direct deposit. If you did not receive your payment yet, it is possible, though not guaranteed, that your check is already in the mail.

Will the upcoming executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott give gyms the green light to open with churches, restaurants and schools?

It is difficult to say. The governor has only hinted at what might be in the next round of reopenings, which he says will be announced either Friday or early next week.

In radio interviews this week, Abbott suggested restaurants, hair salons and retail businesses could soon be reopened to foot traffic, provided they adhere to as-yet-unspecified safety standards.

Schools will remain closed until at least the fall, Abbott said.

Where that leaves gyms remains to be seen. Their status could be clarified as soon as the contents of Abbotts next executive order are known.

A controversial reopening plan in Georgia includes gyms among businesses that could resume some operations as early as Friday.

We will have to wait and see if Texas follows suit.

I read the coronavirus does not survive after 75 degrees, so I put our masks in the clothes dryer with wet clothes to get them ready again. Is that adequate?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends washing a cloth face mask in a washing machine on the hottest setting after each use.

The combination of detergent, heat and agitation should be enough to disinfect your mask. Bleach is also helpful in deactivating the virus. Just be sure not to use it with clothes you do not want bleached.

If time is of the essence, hand-washing the mask with soap and warm water would also suffice, the CDC says.

It is unclear whether heat alone is sufficient to kill COVID-19, and if so what temperature and what duration would do the trick.

In a recent study, researchers in France had to heat the virus to 197 degrees Farenheit for 15 minutes in order to fully deactivate it. A typical household dryer can reach between 140 and 155 degrees on the highest setting.

To be safe, it would be best to wash and dry the mask between uses.

Are outpatient surgery centers scheduled to reopen in the next few weeks?

On March 22, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered doctors and hospitals to postpone nonessential surgeries. Last week, Abbott eased that restriction somewhat. But hospitals are still trying to figure out how soon they might be able to return to full service.

First, they would have to certify to the states Health and Human Services Commission in writing that they will continue to reserve at least 25 percent of their capacity for COVID-19 patients.

Hospitals that resume elective procedures will be barred from requesting additional protective equipment from the state for the duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

Even if they meet those requirements, it isnt as if hospitals can flip a switch and begin performing nonessential procedures. Many local hospitals have furloughed employees and will need time to restaff.

When contemplating a non-emergency or outpatient surgery, consult with your doctor on the timing.

They always say to wash your hands often with soap and water. How many times a day is often?

There is no standard answer to this question. The recommended frequency for hand-washing depends on where you have been and what you have been doing.

The CDC advises to wash your hands:

Before, during and after preparing food

Before eating food

When sick or caring for someone who is sick

Before and after using the bathroom, changing a diaper or caring for a child who has just used the bathroom

After touching an animal, animal feed or animal waste

After handling garbage.

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, the CDC recommends that people wash their hands after they have been in any public place and especially after having touched a surface that may be frequently touched by other people  gas pumps, door handles, shopping carts, electronic cashier screens, for instance.

I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine. I wash it daily and use a cleaning device weekly for 30 minutes that uses ozone to sanitize the machine. Does that kill coronavirus?

The good news is the ozone gas is almost certainly killing any and all pathogens in your CPAP machine. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved ozone-based devices for cleaning a CPAP apparatus.

Ozone has proven effective at killing viruses similar to COVID-19, including the SARS virus and H5N1. Ozone gas, however, is also toxic to humans.

Although ozone-based cleaning devices are marketed with claims that they keep the ozone gas inside the machine, the FDA said in a February advisory that the gas can leak at tubing connections and filters. That can result in unsafe ozone levels in the room where the CPAP device is located, especially if the room is not well ventilated.

When it comes to sanitizing a CPAP machine, the FDA recommends following the manufacturers instructions, which typically call for cleaning with soap and water.

Both my vehicles have inspections due by April 30. I know Gov. (Greg) Abbott has given a 60-day grace period to register cars. That ignores the problem of getting ones vehicle inspected, the first step in renewing registrations. I dont want another person in my car due to possibly being exposed to COVID-19. Im over 60 and retired. What is the State doing about vehicle inspection requirements during COVID-19 problems?

Gov. Abbott has indeed issued a 60-day grace period for vehicle registration. If your new sticker is due this month, you will not be fined for driving with an expired one through the end of June. The state has not waived the requirement to have your car inspected. However, you will have the same 60-day grace period for getting that accomplished.

Many dealerships and other auto shops remain open in some capacity during the COVID-19 crisis and could perform your inspection. Unfortunately, it appears you will have to let an inspector into your vehicle at some point before the end of June.

Something else to bear in mind: Many tax offices throughout Bexar County and surrounding areas have been closed to foot traffic during the pandemic. It is advisable to check ahead to make sure your nearest office is open or else be prepared to use mail-in or night-drop options when applying for your new registration.

What is the plan and schedule for stimulus payments to Social Security recipients?

In general, the IRS uses information from a persons most recent tax returns in order to determine eligibility for the stimulus payments stipulated in the CARES Act.

Retirees who receive Social Security benefits but did not file a tax return in either of the past two years are still eligible for the stimulus payment and are slated to be paid on schedule. The IRS has announced it will use information from the Social Security Administration to make payments to those people.

There are two situations in which a Social Security recipient might need to take an extra step in order to receive his or her payment. If you first began receiving Social Security payments in 2020, you will not yet have a Social Security statement on file with the federal government. In that case, you will need to provide the IRS with additional information by filling out an online form at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here.

Also, if you are a Social Security recipient eligible to receive additional payments for dependents under the age of 18, you need to let the IRS know about them at that same link.

I have not seen info on the virus survival in outdoor environments (sunshine). Most outbreaks seem to relate to enclosed environments and close contact (churches, bars, retirement homes). If outdoor environments are safer, could we perhaps open up patio dining and beer-gardens, even outdoor arenas  with social distancing of course.

Since COVID-19 is a new virus, it is still unclear how it might respond to various environmental stimuli. Early research has shown high-intensity ultraviolet rays can kill the coronavirus on surfaces. Since 95 percent of the suns UV rays are absorbed in the atmosphere before they reach the Earth, however, sunlight itself might not be effective against the virus.

Likewise, researchers studying the outbreak of SARS (short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in the early 2000s concluded that sunlight had little or no effect on that virus. SARS was caused by a coronavirus genetically similar to but distinct from the one that causes COVID-19.

Most COVID-19 outbreaks appear linked to enclosed gatherings. It is simply more difficult to keep proper social distancing in an enclosed space than in an open one.

With that in mind, it would seem logical that outdoor patio dining and beer gardens would be safer to open than bars or restaurant dining rooms. The reopening of large outdoor venues for concerts and other activities appears to be more remote.

Recommendations from the White House call for states to await a two-week downward trend in coronavirus infections before beginning to lift any of the current lockdown measures. Some states, such as Georgia and South Carolina, are moving to open certain businesses earlier.

Why is the testing here in San Antonio so low?

Dr. Fred Campbell, an internist and associate professor of medicine at UT Health San Antonio, attributed the limited availability of coronavirus testing to a lack of coordination and leadership at the federal level. He said states are doing what they can to obtain more test kits.

Not only is there a national shortage of tests  there are also shortages of reagents and swabs, both of which are necessary for the testing process, said Dr. Jan Patterson, an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

This is a failure at the national level, Patterson said. What this means locally is that we do not have enough tests to test everyone who may need it.

The issue is not unique to San Antonio. There are similar problems across Texas and across the country.

The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District had tested about 10,000 people as of Friday, and officials said they would like to test more.

If you believe you may need to be tested for COVID-19, go to covid19test.quacito.com and use Metro Healths self-screening tool. If the screening recommends testing, the tool will provide a list of options for getting tested.

When will widespread COVID-19 testing be available in our area?

Widespread testing will depend upon coordination between governments, Campbell said. There is a need to manufacture things like swabs, for instance, which is something that could conceivably be initiated at the federal level, he said.

Testing is currently available at a drive-thru site at Freeman Coliseum, next to the AT&T Center; at all 19 Texas MedClinic locations; and at both Alamo City Urgent Care locations, a city spokeswoman said.

Some doctors offices are offering COVID-19 testing as well.

The city is working on adding more testing sites and hopes to boost its testing capacity.

If people suspect theyve been exposed to COVID-19 through close contact with someone else, but arent experiencing symptoms, they should isolate themselves for 14 days  even if they receive a negative test result. Thats because the virus incubation period can last that long.

Why has the mayor and/or county judge closed golf courses when they were sanitizing carts and only allowing one person per cart? It was some of the best social distancing opportunities that allowed people to have some relief and exercise; same argument for tennis. No science (no data) behind these decisions  The evidence suggests it was complaining from a few whiners and it was fear of criticism that led to overreaching shutdowns.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg enacted new guidelines for private golf courses in the second addendum to his Stay Home Work Safe order.

Private golf courses may allow people to play  but only if there are no equipment rentals, caddies or other golf course personnel involved. Golfers must practice social distancing. Groundskeeping activities may continue.

Private golf courses may also continue to sell food, but only if they follow the same rules imposed on restaurants  takeout or delivery only, no on-premises dining.

Municipal golf courses remain closed.

The mayors guidelines are consistent with guidance from the Texas Attorney Generals office, city officials said.

I am taking care of my 86-year-old mother. She is in relatively good health for her age and fairly active, but has a heart condition. We have isolated ourselves, only going out to Walmart pickup for groceries. My 28-year-old niece is living by herself at a distance from us and is not doing well being isolated  She has asked to come live with us and I really want to help her, but Im conflicted because I want to keep my mother safe. What steps should I take for protection of my mother if my niece comes to stay with us?

There is a definite risk to bringing someone else  even another family member  from an outside environment into your home. Taking in your niece goes against safety protocols recommended by public health officials, especially because you live with an elderly parent who may be more vulnerable to and more severely sickened by COVID-19.

Its possible your niece could be an asymptomatic carrier like we think a number of people are, said Dr. Fred Campbell, an internist and associate professor of medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

Another doctor agrees: Introducing a new person could mean introducing a new pathogen, said Dr. Jan Patterson, an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

If your niece comes to stay, Patterson said, you may want to have her maintain physical distance and wear a mask when she is around your 86-year-old mother.

Would a few minutes in a microwave oven be effective in decontaminating simple face masks?

No. Not only is this ineffective  it could be dangerous because a paper mask or cloth mask could be flammable. The best way to clean a mask is with soap and water in a sink, doctors say. Soap is extremely effective against COVID-19, Campbell said.

The media has reported of an additional $600.00 weekly payment for unemployment benefits; how and when does this take place?

The gross payment of $600 weekly comes from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program and is paid through the Texas Workforce Commission. This is on top of traditional state unemployment benefits. In fact, the weekly $600 payment is added to any eligible unemployment benefit claim.

The federal payments, which TWC began distributing this week, are scheduled to last through late July. Whether theyre extended beyond then will depend on the federal government.

Claimants may apply for both the federal assistance and traditional state unemployment benefits in one visit to the TWCs Unemployment Benefit Services website. Once applicants are approved, they just need to call every two weeks to request payment, a TWC spokesman said.

Full-time workers whose hours were reduced are eligible for partial benefits, which will be calculated based on their recent wages. They are also eligible for the federal $600 weekly benefit.

Applicants must certify that theyre partially or fully unemployed  or that they are unable and unavailable to work because of COVID-19.

The TWC urges people to apply online if at all possible because its phone system has been bombarded by calls. Before COVID-19, the agency received an average of 13,000 calls a day. On several occasions in the past week, the TWC received 1 million to 3 million calls per day.

Some people who applied for unemployment benefits years ago may no longer know their TWC passwords or PIN numbers. In most cases, those old passwords have been reset, so the TWC urges those applicants to try creating new passwords or PIN numbers before calling the agency for assistance.

The TWCs phone number is 800-939-6631.

I used to ride VIA Route 93 several times a week. These buses have fabric seats with a high back. Are they still being used and, if so, how can you sanitize them? You cant clean fabric the way you can the plastic molded seats. I didnt even like these buses prior to the COVID-19 situation. I always leaned forward because I dont want my head touching a seat where dozens of other people have rested their heads.

VIA Metropolitan Transit cleans and disinfects its buses and vans every night and throughout the day as part of its cleaning protocols, which were expanded in response to COVID-19, the agency said.

This includes disinfecting and sanitizing high-touch, high-traffic areas like handles, straps, and seats with EPA-approved, hospital-grade solution, VIA officials said in a statement. While the vinyl seats are treated with a towel and dampened with the sanitizer, cloth seats require a mist of the sanitized disinfectant to wet the upholstery.

Those cloth seats are allowed to dry for five to 10 minutes so the cleaning solution can be most effective.

Is it possible that some people have strong immune systems and are immune to COVID-19?

The short answer: Someone who has never been infected by the virus cant be immune to it.

We would not expect someone who had not been infected with COVID-19 to have immunity because this is a completely new pathogen to mankind, said Dr. Jan Patterson, a UT Health San Antonio professor of medicine and an infectious disease physician.

It is certainly possible some could have it and only have a mild or asymptomatic case, and this is likely where a strong immune system would enter in. So, one could fight off a significant infection. This may be one reason the elderly are more susceptible to infection, as parts of the immune system become less effective over time.

Its possible that some people with only mild or asymptomatic cases were exposed to smaller amounts of the virus, she added.

Its also a complicated question because some people who progress to severe infection can have an overactive immune reaction  cytokine storm  that can actually damage the lungs and make it more difficult to breathe, Patterson said. This is one of the complications of severe infection that we have to fight as part of treating the disease.

I see Walmart selling cleaning wipes that are ammonia based, not alcohol based. What disinfectants are effective? Clorox? Alcohol? Ammonia? Lysol?

The coronavirus isnt hard to kill using routine disinfectants, Patterson said, as long as those products contain at least 70 percent alcohol, based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Its getting about that time of year  is there any talk about Bexar County Tax Appraisal freezing residential taxes this year?

Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti said he supports a joint request that the county and the city of San Antonio sent to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on March 20, asking the governor to suspend the requirement to reappraise property values for the current tax year.

Uresti also asked the Bexar Appraisal District to roll over 2019 property values to the 2020 tax roll  or to reduce property values for the current tax year if possible.

So far, no decision has been made, Uresti said in a statement Thursday.

Uresti said hes instructed the Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson law firm to work with the Bexar County Sheriffs Office to cancel all delinquent tax property sales scheduled for April and May. Hes also asked the sheriffs office to cancel all mortgage lender foreclosure sales set for April and May.

I understand that citizens are facing unexpected challenges right now, whether its additional day care costs or even the loss of jobs, Uresti said. We continue to work diligently to process tax refunds to qualifying taxpayers as quickly as possible. We also continue to reach out to our taxpayers to ask them to apply for any property tax exemptions they may qualify for.

The Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collectors office doesnt set property values or determine property taxes. The Bexar Appraisal District  a separate agency  determines property values. Various local governments set the tax rates. Urestis office simply collects the taxes.

I feel like the amount of personal protective equipment going out to health care facilities should be investigated. I work for a Methodist hospital and we are still wearing the same dirty mask all day long and not changing it in between patients with illnesses. Or we are forced to take off and reapply dirty masks, which puts us at risk for becoming ill. If the supplies are doing as well as they say, then why are we still risking our own safety?

According to Methodist Healthcare, staff members at its hospitals throughout the San Antonio area are given a low-barrier protective mask to wear throughout their shift unless they work in an area requiring more sophisticated protection. Employees receive a new mask at the start of each shift.

Methodists policy stipulates that a mask must be replaced during the shift if it becomes wet, damp or torn; if it gets visibly soiled; or if it poses breathing difficulties. Employees whose masks become soiled should ask their supervisors for a new one under Methodists policy.

Methodist employees wear the same mask throughout a shift while seeing multiple patients if the mask isnt damaged or soiled and doesnt cause breathing difficulties. These procedures follow the CDCs recommendations, which aim to conserve personal protective equipment.

Health care personnel must be careful not to touch their face masks. If they touch or adjust their masks, they must immediately sanitize their hands.

While we have the supplies and equipment we need at this time, we are doing everything possible to secure products as the worldwide shortage of personal protective equipment  is a reality, said Palmira Arellano, Methodist Healthcares vice president of communications and community affairs.

Employees with questions about Methodist Healthcares COVID-19 preparations and policies may send those queries to an internal email address: MHSL Incident Command Center.

How long is a person who has contracted coronavirus, but is asymptomatic, considered contagious?

There isnt a clear answer to this question yet because people without symptoms usually arent diagnosed, given the current testing shortages, said Dr. Jan Patterson, a UT Health San Antonio professor of medicine and an infectious disease physician.

Someone with no symptoms may not be contagious for as long as someone who is displaying symptoms, according to infectious disease principles. People with symptoms of COVID-19 are urged to remain in isolation for at least seven days after symptoms first appear and for at least three days after symptoms have resolved.

Less is known about those who are asymptomatic because we havent had a lot of testing in those people, Patterson said.

Understanding the preferred scenario may be to wait, is it permissible under the stay-home order for contractors to renovate an occupied residence? If so, what daily screening and sanitation measures are appropriate? The contractors are needing work, but personal and community safety absolutely must be the first priority.

Home maintenance and repair activities are considered essential under the city of San Antonios Stay Home Work Safe order. The Metropolitan Health District recommends that homeowners follow social distancing practices and sanitize surfaces in line with guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the renovations arent an emergency and can be rescheduled, Metro Health recommends that the work be postponed.

Does copper kill viruses? If so, how about using copper-infused fabric for masks and/or gloves?

Copper doesnt kill viruses, but its true that microbes  bacteria and viruses, primarily  dont last as long on copper surfaces, Patterson said. The catch is that copper is very expensive, so its unlikely to be infused into fabrics for masks and gloves, she said. The logistics of working copper fibers into masks and gloves also would be difficult.

My wife and I were having a discussion on whether beards would make a comeback  My wife doubted it because beards can still be exposed to the virus. Does shaving off a beard help? Can an exposed beard be any more a carrier than clothes or anything else still exposed?

Its hard to say, but studies unrelated to the coronavirus have shown that beards can harbor microorganisms. Protective masks dont fit as snugly on men with facial hair, so some physicians have shaved their beards. Even homemade masks dont fit as well on men who prefer the unshaven look. Just in terms of protection during this time, its probably better not to have a beard, Patterson said.

How will I receive the stimulus check (if I even qualify)? My only income is retired military and receiving Social Security. I do not file federal taxes electronically, but obviously do get my Social Security directly deposited to my bank.

The IRS already has your banking information on file if you receive Social Security retirement payments. You will indeed receive a stimulus check for $1,200. The answer is the same for those receiving disability payments or survivor benefits through Social Security  the IRS already has your information.

Those who dont receive such benefits and didnt file taxes in 2018 or 2019 because their income was too low or for other reasons may visit the IRS economic stimulus payments website at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments and use the Non-Filers application to enter their personal and banking information.

For those who file taxes, the IRS is launching a Get My Payment application this month on that same website so taxpayers can check the status of their payments and whether they will be electronically deposited or sent by mail. Taxpayers can also provide their bank account information through this application if the IRS doesnt have their direct deposit information on file and if their check hasnt been mailed yet.

There are some people who wont qualify for stimulus payments. They include people earning high incomes, those who can be claimed as dependents on others tax returns, those who dont have a valid Social Security number and those considered nonresident aliens by the IRS.

Can you add a graph that shows the number of new cases added each day? The cumulative total doesnt show that data as clearly.

The Express-News has a bar graph on its home page at www.ExpressNews.com that shows the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the increase day by day. Look on the right side of the home page for Coronavirus cases in the San Antonio area. Also, in the daily Coronavirus section of the newspaper, youll find a full-page informational graphic titled The outbreak in Texas. Near the middle of that page is a bar graph showing the number of new cases identified in the San Antonio region by date.

Why arent they doing more to stop people from breaking the Stay At Home order? I saw over 1,000 warnings issued last week.

As of Monday, the city had issued more than 1,600 warnings and issued 26 citations for alleged violations. City officials said the COVID-19 pandemic has posed great challenges for everyone and that education is an important part of their enforcement efforts. They noted that repeat offenders were ticketed and that certificates of occupancy were revoked in some cases.

How do you distinguish congestion in the lungs and coughing from seasonal tree pollen and mold allergies from COVID-19 here in San Antonio? Also, back in December, early January, I had a bad dry cough that took weeks to shake, which I attributed to cedar pollen. Furthermore, during this time, lots of people in my office were also having similar allergy issues, making us wonder if our office was a sick office with mold. Is it possible this was an early, less lethal form of COVID-19 circulating?

Its highly unlikely what you experienced was anything related to COVID-19.

The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed on Jan. 21 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The case surfaced in a patient in Washington state who had returned Jan. 15 from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus began in December, the CDC said.

Allergies dont cause dry coughs and fevers, said Dr. Erika Gonzalez of the South Texas Allergy and Asthma practice. Those symptoms could stem from the flu or another virus, she said.

Itching in the eyes, nose, throat or ears is a reassuring sign of allergies. Youre also likely suffering from allergies if your symptoms lessen or go away after you take an antihistamine. Taking such medication wont help someone sick with COVID-19.

I would like to know what is meant by a pressure cell, or room, where people are placed after they test positive for the coronavirus.

A negative pressure room  or negative pressure cell, at Bexar Countys jail facilities  is a defined space from which air that could be carrying germs does not escape. In a negative pressure room, air constantly passes through a purification system that kills viruses and bacteria, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Unlike traditional air conditioning  where air is pushed out a vent and then flows out of a room through doors or other openings  a negative pressure room draws air in through a vent and uses the purification system to prevent infectious particles from spreading.

Ive been taking Plaquenil for lupus for almost six years. Could that give me and others like me immunity when coronavirus testing becomes more widespread to allow people to go back to work?

It is uncertain whether Plaquenil will prove effective against COVID-19, and there is no scientific basis to believe the drug could confer immunity against the coronavirus.

Plaquenil is a brand name for hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. President Donald Trump has spoken encouragingly of using it to treat COVID-19 on an experimental basis.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization permitting doctors to administer hydroxychloroquine and a second anti-malaria drug, chloroquine phosphate, to people hospitalized with COVID-19.

But clinical trials in support of the drugs effectiveness against the virus have not been completed in this country. Thats why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says: There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved  to prevent or treat COVID-19.

I am curious as to why a car dealership is considered an essential business and can remain open. I can understand their maintenance facilities remaining open, but sales? If they can sell cars, then why cant my barber sell his services?

The definition of an essential business has varied around the country. Guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security include automotive repair and maintenance facilities among essential businesses  but not auto sales establishments or dealerships.

But in the end, thats a decision for state and local officials. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenbergs latest declaration of public health emergency lists car dealerships as essential businesses. Its an exception to business closures listed under transportation, likely based on the idea that purchasing a car could be indispensable in carrying out other essential services.

Defining what constitutes an essential service has been murky since enforcement began, but a haircut seems especially difficult to accomplish while complying with social distancing.

I noticed H-E-B reporting when its employees are diagnosed with COVID-19. I havent read or heard about other businesses reporting if any of their employees are diagnosed with COVID-19. Are Home Depot, Academy, Lowes, etc. reporting any cases?

Although H-E-B has announced that five employees at San Antonio locations tested positive for the coronavirus, companies are not legally required to disclose that information. Businesses must balance sharing information to maintain a safe work environment against the risk of violating employee privacy.

With only a few masks available, can a mask be decontaminated by being left out in the sun and fresh air? Wont that kill the virus if present? What about washing the mask with soap and water?

The CDC recommends routinely cleaning cloth face coverings, which can be homemade, in a washing machine. Sunlight and fresh air would not be sufficient to kill the coronavirus. Though studies have shown that coronavirus decays naturally over time, it can persist on surfaces for several days, according to the World Health Organization.

Regarding the possibility of reusing masks in a medical setting, the CDC said ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, vaporous hydrogen peroxide and moist heat showed the most promise as potential methods of decontamination.

With Bexar County Jail reporting two inmates with COVID-19, will prisoners in those cell blocks be kept for 14 days of observation?

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said county officials are taking extraordinary measures to contain the virus, requiring both staff and inmates to wear masks and establishing a separate pod for inmates who become infected.

When the first case emerged Friday, the two cell blocks where that inmate had been held were shut down, and jail staff members administered twice-daily temperature checks to all inmates confined to those living areas. Every area the infected inmate contacted was sanitized and disinfected, according to a spokesperson.

My husband is a Bexar County patrolman who has had to perform wellness checks on COVID-19 patients and respond to a call for a violation of COVID-19 quarantine. On the news, they spoke about agents going to follow up on COVID-19 patients and people under quarantine, starting last Wednesday. Why wasnt it done sooner?

According to Deputy Johnny Garcia, a spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriffs Office, BCSO Patrol Deputies have not been responding to Medical Welfare calls unless there are exigent circumstances involved. Fire and EMS have been handling these calls, not law enforcement.

He added: All BCSO Patrolman have been issued PPE gear (N95 masks, gloves, protective eyeglasses and hand sanitizer) to ut
EAST HAVEN  Democrat Dave Yaccarino will challenge state Rep. Joe Zullo, R-East Haven, in November for Zullos 99th District legislative seat, Yaccarino announced.

Yaccarino said he also intends to seek the cross-endorsement of the Working Families Party.

Ill work with the Democratic majority in the assembly and Mayor Carfora to see that East Haven gets every dollar in state aid that it deserves, Yaccarino said. The working class residents and retirees in East Haven deserve security and dignity.

Yaccarino is the son of 87th District state Rep. Dave Yaccarino, R-North Haven. He holds a masters degree in molecular biology from Quinnipiac University. Yaccarino said he bought a home in East Haven because the town is affordable and has a strong sense of community.

Since moving to East Haven, Ive become very involved in the East Haven Democratic Town Committee, and currently serve as the co-captain for District 4.

Yaccarino said he is concerned about the states investment in the future and our community.

My fiancee Stephanie and I worry about the usual things: paying our mortgage, funding for public schools, the cost of health care, the cost of child care, being able to retire someday, Yaccarino said.

Its a time of extreme inequality and we all know there are incredibly wealthy people in this state, he said. But the burden of balancing the budget always seems to fall on the working class. That needs to change.

If elected, Ill work on policies that help working families in East Haven like capping out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and stopping predatory foreclosure practices, Yaccarino said.

Yaccarino, a 2001 graduate of North Haven High School and a 2005 graduate of Boston College with a degree in biology, also is an Eagle Scout. His full-time job is in a lab that develops genetic tests related to cancer treatment.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Yaccarino formally launched his campaign with a video announcement on his Facebook page at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Zullo, who announced plans to seek re-election on Feb.26, responded to Yaccarinos announcement, saying, With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Ive been focusing the bulk of my efforts on helping my Mayor and our local officials to effectively protect our community and on fielding residents questions.

Although I was born and raised in East Haven, Ive never had the privilege to meet Mr. Yaccarino, though I imagine Ill get to know him better between now and November, Zullo said.

Im hopeful that our collective efforts to overcome COVID-19 will be successful and I look forward, as life returns to normal, to hitting the campaign trail so that I can talk with residents about my work as a ranking member of the housing committee fighting to retool the States affordable housing regulations and my efforts to oppose the tax and spend agenda of the majority in Hartford.

More than ever, this health crisis has shined a spotlight on the need to make Connecticut more affordable and to prioritize resources, especially for blue collar, working families, Zullo said. I welcome Mr. Yaccarino to the race. However, in the immediate short term, my efforts and energy will remain concentrated on helping our state and our community to address and overcome this health crisis.

mark.zaretsky@

hearstmediact.com
By Sanjeev Miglani and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said on Monday it will shut down domestic flights to halt the spread of coronavirus and imposed a curfew on a giant state

as the number of people dying of the disease ticked up across densely populated south Asia.

India has reported 415 cases of the coronavirus but health experts have warned that a big jump could be imminent, which would overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure.

On Monday, India confirmed its eighth death - of a 54-year-old man with no history of foreign travel, suggesting the start of community transmission of the virus, officials said.

Streets were deserted in the national capital Delhi and offices shut at the start of a lockdown to run till the end of the month.

The government ordered commercial airlines to shut down domestic operations from midnight on Tuesday on top of a ban on international flights to try and contain the coronavirus. About 144 million people travelled on domestic flights last year.

Rail travel, the lifeline of India, has already been suspended after thousands of people, mostly migrant workers, swarmed train stations to go home as businesses shut down and jobs dried up.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said many Indians were not taking the lockdown seriously. "Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously," he said on Twitter.

The chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, which has had the highest number of cases in India, ordered a curfew from Tuesday to force people indoors.

"Despite multiple requests, people are not following rules. This compelled the government to impose the curfew," Uddhav Thackeray said.

The country's main stock exchange located in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, will however remain open, an official said.

Newspapers cancelled print runs in Mumbai after vendors refused to distribute them due to worries about the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year and has spread around the world.

Story continues

Globally, cases exceed 325,000 with deaths topping 14,000.

THOUSANDS FLEEING TO NEPAL

Nepal ordered all land border crossings with India and China shut until March 29, saying thousands of people, most of them Nepali migrant workers, had crossed into Nepal in recent days from India, believing their homeland to be safer.

Nepal reported its second case of the coronavirus on Monday, a citizen who had recently returned from France.

"The closing of the border crossings is meant to ensure that no one infected with the virus crosses over to Nepal from India and China," said Surya Thapa, an aide to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.

In Pakistan, the opposition-ruled southern province of Sindh began a lockdown including in the biggest city of Karachi, even though Prime Minister Imran Khan said he opposed such a sweeping measure because of the economic consequences for the poor.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Asia:

*Pakistan - 803

*India - 415

*Sri Lanka - 86

*Afghanistan - 40

*Bangladesh - 33

*Maldives - 13

*Nepal - 2

*Bhutan - 2

-----------------------

TOTAL - 1,394

(Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmad, Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Gibran Peshiman in Islamabad, Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu. Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Robert Birsel, William Maclean)
Extra education supports for students are now available for free thanks to the innovation of local teacher Carl Lynch and his team at revise.ie.

The team have worked together to offer online, live and interactive classes which are available free to any student to supplement the work they are already doing with schools. What started as a means to make this content available to the students of St Kierans College has now, it seems, gone to a much wider audience.

Carl who normally has 30 students in his Leaving Certificate classroom has, this week, had nearly 400 students attending that same 'class'. Similar numbers attended English classes which were also available in this first week - as were classes for second, third and fifth year students.

Other subjects are coming online too, with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music, Accounting, Business and others expected for Junior Cert and Leaving Cert students.

These are extraordinary times in education. When the decision was made to shut schools, every school in Ireland, and every teacher in them, made the move to try innovate to ensure that although the classroom experience would be different the education could continue.

All schools have done a massive amount of work in this area and anecdotally you hear of wonderful accounts of overworked students still doing homework and classwork - albeit now in an online environment. It - was an extraordinary ask of teachers and schools to try - in a completely new way - to continue their essential work.

"We are very fortunate with all our schools in Kilkenny, as they have responded generously to this challenge. Students of all ages are busy keeping up their studies," says Carl.

So if you hear the wonderful tones of Daniel ODonnell playing from a computer near you - it turns out that it might not be a change of musical taste for your son or daughter but rather a sign that they are studying hard - this is, it seems, how they do maths today... For more go to www.revise.ie.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi talked with King Abdullah of Jordan on Tuesday by phone, discussing the experiences of Egypt and Jordan in their attempts to counter the coronavirus, the Egyptian presidency said.

The two leaders agreed to coordinate between the two countries institutions involved in the current coronavirus outbreak to exchange experience and information.

Egypt will impose a curfew from 7pm to 6am for two weeks as of Wednesday, as part of stricter measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Jordan imposed a strict curfew on Saturday that bans people from leaving their house at any time under any circumstances.

El-Sisi and King Abdullah also exchanged views about a number of regional issues.

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Arakan Army soldiers gather at a camp in western Myanmar's Rakhine state in an undated photo.

An airstrike following fierce fighting between Myanmar forces and the rebel Arakan Army killed a child and wounded 15 villagers in Rakhine state, hours after the government formally branded the AA a terrorist group  a move a local lawmaker said could lead to endless fighting in the future.

As hostilities raged on late Monday in Rakhines Minbya township, President Win Myint declared that the AA, its political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), and affiliated groups and individuals have constituted a danger to law and order, peace and stability of the country and public peace and are unlawful under Section 15(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

This is the time to secure the peace through political consultations, [but] now this move has inflamed the fire for more armed conflicts, said Pe Than, a lower house lawmaker from the Arakan National Party.

It is very concerning that the government has confirmed that it favors the militarys actions over negotiations, he said. We see the possibility of endless fighting in the future.

We see many more armed conflicts coming in northern Rakhine and Paletwa township of Chin state because the government has designed the AA a terrorist group, said Whei Tin, a Chin state lawmaker from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

I receive many phone calls from local people asking me how they can survive in the midst of endless battles, added Whei Tin, who previously was kidnapped by the AA and held for three months.

After fighting ended Monday, the Myanmar military dropped bombs from a helicopter during an airstrike on Chaetung village in an apparent response to the AAs earlier armed assault on a military training school, villagers told RFAs Myanmar Service.

The mostly ethnic Chin community of about 170 households is among those that comprise Minbyas Kanni village tract where the military training school is located and near to where the clashes took place.

At first, the blasts didn't hit the village said a Chaetung resident who declined to be named out of concern for his safety. Later, they hit the village and burned the houses.

As the aircraft flew overhead, villagers hid beneath the houses, but when the houses were hit and burned, they got burned in the fire, the resident said.

'Killed by other causes'

Among the 15 injured Chin civilians were seven students and a toddler who were taken to a hospital hours after the attack once permission for their transfer was granted, villagers said.

Maung Biden, a 10-year-old who was injured, died at Minbya Township Hospital Tuesday morning, while two others among the injured were transferred to Sittwe General Hospital, they said.

We were able to leave the village early this morning around 6 a.m. for Minbya, said a volunteer who requested anonymity out of fear for his safety. The child had burns on his entire body.

Myanmar forces denied responsibility for the destruction, with military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun saying there is no reason why bombs would be dropped on Chaetung village.

These people must have been killed by other causes, he told RFA. It is impossible that bombs would fall into their village. Our strikes only target areas where the AA launches attacks against us.

Our targets are so far away from the villages, he added. We have already released information regarding the attacks and the routes they [the AA] used in the attack.

The AA announced Monday that its soldiers had burned down a military training school building, killed about 20 Myanmar troops, and captured others along with ammunition during the area clash.

An announcement issued by the military commander-in-chiefs office the same day said 300 AA soldiers had attacked five target areas early Monday, but later retreated with heavy casualties. Myanmar forces captured the bodies of 15 AA soldiers and 15 different kinds of weapons, the office said.

An appeal to stop fighting

Salai Tun Hla Kyaw, chairman of Rakhine states Chin University Students Union issued an appeal to the armies to end the hostilities.

We have learned that many children and students were injured during the armed fighting, he said. We would like to appeal the armed groups to fight away from civilian villages.

We also appeal them to avoid arresting, killing, and intimidating civilians, he added.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha said the presidents statement has shown that the government doesnt have any policies to resolve the problems peacefully and justly.

We see that it wants to use military force as the only means of dealing with the problems, he said.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said the AA deserved to be branded a terrorist organization.

The government has designated the AA a terrorist group. What else should it be if it is not called terrorist group, given that it has engaged in terrorist acts? he asked.

It is reasonable, he said. We are determined to carry out counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism operations to eliminate terrorist groups.

Thaung Aye, an ex-military officer and current lawmaker from the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said the governments designation of AA would benefit security forces in Rakhine state.

It is good they have designated the AA a terrorist group, he said. Regardless, it is encouraging for the security forces who are undertaking the safeguarding of peace and stability in the state.

Conflict will intensify

Min Zaw Oo, founder of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, said the terrorist declaration showed that both the government and the military have agreed on the need to use military force to resolve problems with the AA.

They have shown that they will not tolerate AA troops establishing footholds in northern Rakhine state and will not recognize these areas as AA territory.

Based on this, Ive concluded that armed conflict in the region will intensify, added Min Zaw Oo.

Because the military has shown that it prefers to use only violence to resolve the problems, there will be more armed conflicts as a result, he added.

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi labeled the AA a terrorist insurgent group in January 2019 and ordered government forces to crush it after rebel soldiers launched deadly attacks on four police outposts in the northern part of the state.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
As concern for the future of Formula 1 ramps up, Jacques Villeneuve has urged the sport to keep planning ahead.

On the face of it, the situation is dire.

The government has forced Alpha Tauri, in crisis-struck Italy, to close its factory.

Asked what his role is now, boss Franz Tost told f1-insider: "Keep the company going, motivate the employees, exude some calmness.

"Since Monday, all businesses in Italy not absolutely necessary for life have been closed. Naturally our factory is among them.

"We wanted to keep producing parts but this is no longer possible. So we have to discuss how to proceed," he added.

Tost also spoke about the horrific news coming out of Italian society and hospitals, and said he is keeping himself busy in his home gym and with a bookshelf of books.

"It's important that you don't give up," he said. "That the hard time passes. And not if it passes, but when."

Outspoken 1997 world champion Villeneuve said the situation will be easier for the drivers, who can spend the forced break from normal life training.

"The cancellation of six races out of 22 is not such a big problem," the Canadian told Sky Italia. "Some races can be replaced with Magny-Cours or Imola.

"But this will hit small teams like Williams financially.

"The engineers can use this time working from home, and for the drivers, not much changes. It really only depends on whether they get their salary," Villeneuve added.

Team boss Zak Brown said teams like McLaren will use the situation to "try new things" in order to keep busy and entertain the idle racing world.

"I think in situations like this, once you get your head around it and protect the team, protect the business, we can start looking at some fun and creative ways to engage with you," he told fans.

And if the pandemic continues for a long period of time, former driver Marc Surer thinks a solution could be races without spectators in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

"But then you run out of organisers who can afford to do that," he told Germany's Sport1.

"Hopefully we can have at least half of the races. But even if there are only five or six, that's enough to crown a world champion."

Even so, Formula 1 will be damaged. "Liberty Media has no income because there are no races. That's why the teams now have difficulties and have to work on the back burner," Surer said.

And even if the world is ultimately declared pandemic-free, what will F1's future look like in the society that emerges?

"In February, Formula 1 was afraid of China," an editorial in Italy's Corriere dello Sport noted. "Now, countries are afraid of Formula 1."

(GMM)
Senate on Monday was negotiating a nearly $2 trillion (1.73 trillion) emergency bill that aims to stem some of the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. The talks remain fluid after Democrats pushed back against an initial Republican draft of the bill on Sunday, and officials in both parties said that final numbers would be known only after the talks are resolved. Below are some details currently under negotiation, which would need to be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives before going to President ...

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Harris County may have to close its testing sites this week if the federal government does not refresh their dwindling supply of test kits and protective medical gear, officials warned Tuesday.

With the nation already short on supplies, Harris Countys remaining tests as of Tuesday morning  consisting of pre-packaged nasal swabs  are being split between two sites they are operating and that cache is expected to last through Thursday.

The estimate was provided after county officials reassessed their stock twice in one day.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, while announcing a stay-at-home order at a news conference, said their kits would certainly last through Tuesday, but after that, was spotty. That date was pushed back to Wednesday after another review of supplies, and again to Thursday with another check.

The supplies stem from four to five palettes of boxes that FEMA delivered Thursday, which was then divided evenly between the county and city of Houston to help with testing the entire region for the novel coronavirus.

The shipment was enough to get the testing sites up and running, according to officials.

The Harris County Public Health District opened their test sites over the weekend to first responders and medical professionals before expanding it Monday to community members.

Another shipment was supposed to arrive by Monday night, said Mac McLendon, head of the countys Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

The thought process was that wed be resupplied in three to four days, but that has not happened, he said Tuesday.

According to McLendon, each site has been instructed to do no more than 250 tests a day to prevent inundating labs with a deluge of samples  which will go bad if not attended to.

A spokeswoman for Harris County Public Health expects that each site will go through the 250 tests daily.

Weve either got to acquire some locally or were out of business, McLendon said.

Harris County is not the only region running low, but some states are running lower, he said citing a conference call he had Tuesday morning with FEMA. The shipments have been prioritized to areas of greater concern, though McLendon did not disclose which regions that would be. New Yorks case level skyrocketed past 25,600 on Tuesday.

The city of Houston, however, expects its supplies -- including swabs -- to last a bit longer. At their Butler Stadium site, more than 700 people were tested from Friday through Monday. Houston Health Department spokesman Scott Packard said they have enough test kits and protective medical supplies to last a few more days, without elaborating on how many swabs were left.

Were not at a critical mass yet, he said.

Packard said the city tested 159 people on Friday, 161 on Saturday, 198 on Sunday and 200 more on Monday, never reaching the 250 maximum.

On Thursday and Friday, more than 750 people were tested at United Memorial Medical Center, a private hospital in Acres Homes that has been the focal point of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lees call-to-action in treating the pandemic.

Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer for the hospital, said in a phone call that FEMA provided a modest amount of supplies but he was unsure when the next shipment would arrive. Remmington Belford, a spokesman for the congresswoman, said no FEMA supplies had been given to the hospital and they were using their own funds to purchase protective gear and tests.

The results of tests at United Memorial are funneled through local health jurisdictions associated with the patients residence and then confirmed through that municipalitys health department, according to officials.
Bhopal: A day after the reins of power changed from the hands of the Congress to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, a woman collector who had allegedly hit a leader of the saffron party during a rally in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act was transferred.

Video clips had shown Rajgarh Collector Nidhi Nivedita purportedly slapping a man during the BJP rally on January 20.

Nivedita was on Tuesday shifted to the MP secretariat as deputy secretary while Neeraj Kumar Singh was appointed in her place in Rajgarh. Chouhan also transferred Sub-Divisional Magistrate Priya Verma who was involved in the scuffle along with Nivedita.

After the January 20 incident, BJP leaders, in the opposition at the time, including current chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had condemned her behaviour and demanded action against her.

The Chouhan government on Tuesday also transferred Rewa Municipal Corporation commissioner Sabhajit Yadav, who has had run-ins with prominent BJP leaders in the state.

In November last year, Yadav had also written an open letter to Chouhan. Yadav has been appointed as additional secretary at the secretariat, while Arpit Verma has been given additional responsibility as Rewa municipal commissioner.
[March 24, 2020]

AirDesk Solutions Offers Cost-Effective Work-From-Home Services

SALT LAKE CITY, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AirDesk Solutions announces a discount plan to help businesses deploy a remote workforce. New customers will receive two month's free service with no on-boarding fees. The AirDesk virtual workspace platform allows workers to securely access their office workspace from any location.

AirDesk's contemporary solution goes beyond typical desktop and screen sharing technology and delivers applications to the user as if installed locally. Desktop computers, tablets, and phones become a productive tool for remote work.

"We have helped hundreds of businesses move to cloud virtual workspaces in the last decade. During the current business disruption, our customers have quickly transitioned their staff to a home workforce," said Forrest Blair, CEO of AirDesk Solutions. "At this crucial time when businesses need to keep workers productive, we ae offering a cost-effective way to support that effort."







About AirDesk Solutions

AirDesk Solutions provides office automation and IT cloud services to streamline business processes and simplify IT management. AirDesk powers access to information and applications from any office or mobile device, anywhere and anytime. For more information, please visit www.airdesksolutions.com.

Media Contact

Forrest Blair

AirDesk Solutions

801-441-2101

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The price of gold jumped Rs 1,528 to touch Rs 42,247 per 10 gram in Mumbai bullion market on a weaker dollar, but the gains were capped by a stronger rupee. The major gold trading centres have been shut due to the lockdown announced by state governments to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease with only online sales taking place.

The bullion metal extended gain after US Federal Reserve announced the purchase of an unlimited amount of treasuries and securities to halt cash rush caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The US dollar index, measured against a basket of six currencies fell 0.77 percent to 101.697.

The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 38,698 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 42,247 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 31,685 plus GST in the retail market.

According to Navneet Damani, Vice President, Motilal Oswal, gold prices rallied by more than 4 percent in the previous session shrugging off earlier losses after the US Federal Reserve took aggressive new steps to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, providing a boost to the precious metal pack.

Market participants will keep their eyes on the PMI numbers expected from major economies.

The broader trend on Comex could be $1,575-1,630 and on the domestic front prices could hover in the range of Rs 40,500-42,000.

Anantha Padmanaban, Chairman, India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council told Bloomberg that the total gold consumption in the country is likely to fall 30 percent to 483 tonnes in 2020 from 483 tonnes in 2019.

The gold/silver ratio currently stands at 104.76 to 1, which means the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold.

Silver prices rose Rs 3,475 to Rs 40,325 per kg from its closing on March 23.

In the futures market, gold rate touched an intraday high of Rs 42,184 and an intraday low of Rs 39,929 on MCX. For the April series, the yellow metal touched a low of Rs 37,530 and a high of Rs 44,961.

Gold futures for delivery in April gained Rs 533, or 1.29 percent on the MCX trading at Rs 41,696 per 10 gram in evening trade in a business turnover of 4,414 lots. Gold contracts for June delivery rose Rs 894, or 2.15 percent, at Rs 42,551 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 14,516 lots.

The value of the April contract traded so far is Rs 3,631.67 crore and June contract saw the value of Rs 1,953.35 crore.

Similarly, Gold Mini contract for April jumped Rs 642, or 1.55 percent at Rs 41,959 in a business turnover of 4,180 lots.

Gold price is trading under rising trend line channel, and the price is expected to trade positive. Sustaining above Rs 41,350, the next leg of the rally would push the price higher towards Rs 41,600-41,700 levels, according to Axis Securities.

Source: Axis Securities

On the hourly chart, the price has started trading above 9, 21 and 60 EMA which is a positive sign.

MCX Gold has intraday support at Rs 41,065-40,920 whereas resistance is placed at Rs 41,935-42,150 levels, according to Motilal Oswal.

The brokerage firm said spot gold has support at $1,575-1550 whereas resistance is at $1,608-1,620.

At 13:02 pm (GMT), spot gold rose $49.43 at $1,602.58 an ounce in London trading.
Like the rest of America, Amy Bohner couldnt find any hand sanitizer. So she made some herself.

Bohner and her husband, Steve Bohner, own Alchemy Construction in Arcata (Humboldt County) and they worried about keeping their employees safe. Luckily, the Bohners also own Alchemy Distillery, which meant that they had plenty of hand sanitizers main ingredient in stock: alcohol.

We made a test batch, just about 200 little 50ml bottles for our job sites, clients and home, Bohner says. We had some extra to give to friends with elderly family members. We gave some to first responders. Then we just kept getting calls. Word was out.

Alchemy is one of many distilleries around the country that has pivoted, in the past few weeks, from producing alcohol for drinking to producing alcohol for cleaning. Just within California, the roster includes Wright & Brown, Falcon, Krobar, Hanson, Heretic Brewing and, soon, Seven Stills. Its a way for these businesses to lend a hand during the ongoing public health crisis, even when the outlook for many small, independent distilleries is uncertain as some of their main sales channels  bars, restaurants and tasting rooms  have temporarily closed.

Deric Mendes

As concerns over the spread of the coronavirus mounted, sales of hand sanitizer jumped 73% year over year by late February, according to Nielsen. The new surge in distiller-made hand sanitizers is thanks in part to new guidelines from the federal government. On March 18, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau announced that it was relaxing the rules that would typically prohibit a spirits producer from making industrial products like hand sanitizer. The waiver lasts through June 30.

Things changed pretty quickly, says Farid Dormishian, co-owner of Falcon Spirits in Richmond. He and his business partner had wanted to begin giving out hand sanitizer three weeks ago, but getting the go-ahead was tricky before the alcohol bureau eased its regulations. Now, he says he thinks hell be able to have everything ready to ship out this week.

Amy Bohner

The challenge, Dormishian says, will be keeping up with orders.

Were giving 1,000 bottles to the city of Berkeley, he says. I just got a message from a dialysis center; they need over 100,000 ounces per month. Were talking to Kaiser to provide some in bulk.

Figuring out the logistics may be complicated. But as it turns out, learning to make hand sanitizer is relatively simple.

Deric Mendes

Bohner, along with many other distillers, is following one of the recipes recommended by the World Health Organization, which calls for ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, glycerol and sterile water. Many distilleries already buy neutral ethanol from suppliers  and are simply using higher-proof versions for the sanitizers  but in Alchemys case, the base is rye whiskey.

In fact, when Bohner learned about the relaxed guidelines from the TTB, We were in the middle of a rye whiskey production run, she says. We had already milled organic rye and fermented it. We figured we could switch gears.

Instead of putting this into a barrel, she said to her husband, lets just make it into a hand sanitizer.

Of course its been a big decision for distilleries to shift from high-end spirits to hand sanitizer, and in some cases, to charge little or nothing for the products.

Amy Bohner

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Alchemy, Bohner says, is still generating income by selling its spirits through distributors. That, plus the generosity of many of the distillerys suppliers, is allowing her to donate her hand sanitizer at no cost to the recipient. (For now, Alchemy is donating all of its sanitizer to a local hospital.) The farm that sells Alchemy its rye, which the Bohners then ferment and distill, has donated 2,000 pounds of the grain. And its label supplier has said it will print the sanitizers labels for free.

Some distilleries are charging small fees for their sanitizers: Krobar in Paso Robles is selling bottles ranging from $10 to $27 to the general public. Falcons Dormishian had hoped to provide sanitizer for free, but has decided instead to charge recipients just for the cost of goods  a cost that still doesnt account for the distillerys other expenses, like rent and labor. Falcon currently has no revenue: It has decided to stop producing spirits for now, and has already turned down three orders from wholesalers, in order to focus on sanitizer production.

Its a sacrifice, but to Dormishian, its worth it.

We just knew we had to do something about this, he says.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
Xiaomi is hosting an online-only event in China today. Expected to launch are the Redmi K30 Pro and the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom.

The day has arrived for the Redmi K30 Pro to get launched in China via an online presentation. At the same event, Xiaomi is also expected to unveil the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom, and even a refresh Redmibook laptop with with Ryzen processors and a Mi Air Purifier F1. There are more accessories that will get launched as well according to hints left at Xiaomi's Weibo channel.

How to watch Redmi K30 Pro live stream

The K30 Pro launch event will be streamed live via the brand's Weibo channel. The event will begin at 2PM local time (11:30 AM IST) where Xiaomi will be revealing more details around the specs, features, price and availability of the Redmi K30 Pro and K30 Pro Zoom Edition. Not much is known about the two devices except for the fact that they will be powered by the flagship Snapdragon 865 SoC, have 5G support and sport a bezel-less display with a pop-up camera. Notaby, the previous Redmi K30 was launched in India as the Poco X2, which might mean that the Redmi K30 Pro could very well be the much-elusive Poco F2 everyone is still waiting for.

Redmi K30 Pro expected price and specs

The Redmi K30 Pro will be a flagship device under the Redmi brand and based on previous leaks, it's likely to priced around CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs 35,200). The pricing may of course change. Based on the recent teasers from Xiaomi, the K30 Pro will rock an HDR10+ Super AMOLED display with 1200 nits of brightness and 180Hz touch sampling. Both phones are expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 865 and feature UFS 3.1 for faster read-write speeds.

As for the cameras, the K30 Pro will retain the pop-up selfie camera. The rear panel will reportedly come with a circular module housing a quad camera setup that includes a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor. A telephoto lens is expected to deliver 3x optical zoom along with dual optical image stabilisation. Not much is yet known about the K30 Pro zoom, but we might just see a persicope telephoto lens on the phone.

Refreshed RedmiBook 14 with Ryzen processors, Mi Air Purifier F1, Redmi x Keith Harring Accessories to also launch alongside

Based on a recent leak, Xiaomi is also expected to take the wraps off a refresh RedmiBook 14 that is expected to rock 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. Not much details are known but the 2020 model may be powered by the latest Ryzen 4000 series of APUs. The previous 2019 model of the RedmiBook 14 was powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U or AMD Ryzen 7 3700U processors.

Xiaomi is also expected to launch an new Mi Air Purifier F1. Furthermore, a new Redmi TV is also expected to launch today.

Finally, XIaomi has been teasing a new lineup of accessories in partnership with Keith Harring which might be unveiled at today's event. However, the company didn't reveal what accessories will get the refresh. Stay tuned as we bring you more details once the event starts streaming.
A 74-year-old Kansas man died from the coronavirus after a 'week of immeasurable suffering', his wife says.

Dennis Wilson of Lenexa first became ill March 12 and went three times to see doctors, says his wife Joanna, but on each visit, despite being sick, was told he did not have enough of the symptoms required to test for the flu like infection.

Dennis finally got so sick that he had to be rushed by ambulance to the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission campus in Overland Park, says Joanna, who was told she couldn't see him because she too had go into quarantine.

Dennis Wilson of Lenexa first became ill March 12 and went three times to see doctors, says his wife Joanna, but on each visit, despite being sick, was told he did not have enough of the symptoms required to test for the flu like infection.

Dennis, a former biology teacher who served as superintendent at Lamar R-1 School District and was working as a professional magician, is survived by Joanna, their three children and six grandchildren

Dennis died on Saturday as Joanna wrote 'the fight is over' in a heartbreaking post on Facebook about her husband's passing which has gone viral, reports The Kansas City Star.

Dennis, a former biology teacher who served as superintendent at Lamar R-1 School District and was working as a professional magician, is survived by Joanna, their three children and six grandchildren.

Americans across the nation have complained of similar challenges in getting tested for the coronavirus.

More than 46,000 people tested positive for coronavirus by Monday night, and more than 580 people known to have died from the infection

There have been more than 43,000 confirmed cases in the US of the infection, also known as COVID-19, which has been blamed for 553 known deaths.

Missouri has had 183 confirmed cases and three known deaths from the virus, reports the state's Health and Senior Services Department.

Dennis, who was one of the three persons to pass from the infection, was also the first person to die from COVID-19 in Johnson County, where he resided.

In the post, she recalls how events unfolded.

She said he had first gone to an urgent care clinic on March 12 after having flu-like symptoms. He had already been feeling sick for about a week, but was told to go home and drink plenty of fluids and rest.

However, the next night, Joanna writes, he went to another urgent care clinic. When he tested negative for influenza A and B, she says, Dennis was sent home again under similar advice.

Dennis briefly had more energy on March 15, but by the evening was complaining he was short of breath. When he became worse, Joanna took him to AdventHealth in Lenexa around midnight. A chest X-ray showed he was suffering bilateral pneumonia.

Even though a doctor suspected Dennis had COVID-19, Joanna says he still did not meet the conditions for testing.

By 4 a.m. the next day, Dennis had to be rushed by ambulance to the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission campus in Overland Park and Joanna was told to quarantine.

She posted an image of Dennis' wallet after finding playing cards inside, calling it 'a little levity in the midst of a serious situation' regarding her husband, who, when he's not a school superintendent, works as a magician.

Joanna posted an image of Dennis' wallet after finding playing cards inside, calling it 'a little levity in the midst of a serious situation' regarding her husband, who, when he's not a school superintendent, works as a magician.

'Never in a million years would I ever have thought we would be in such a situation! Never!' she wrote that night. When the test came back three hours later, she added, 'Confirmed! Please keep us in your prayers. And pray hard. Please!'

She was eventually allowed to see her husband for five hours last Tuesday.

Joanna posted a picture of Dennis' hand as she held it in the emergency room after she was allowed to visit him, despite being quarantined at home for two weeks

Joanna posted a picture of Dennis' hand as she held it in the emergency room after she was allowed to visit him, despite being quarantined at home for two weeks

'Dennis is still so very ill,' she wrote on Facebook after the visit. 'Covid-19 has a strong hold on his lungs and won't let go! His pneumonia is extensive and debilitating and potentially very deadly! And as long as that's the case then he will need life support. Please continue to pray for him!'

Then Saturday night, a heartbroken Joanna announced the sad news of Dennis' passing.

After meeting with her children at the hospital to learn what had happened, Joanna returned home and said she realized that 'it's final.'

'I walked into my home now knowing for sure he would never walk through the door again,' she wrote. 'And now I start another complete quarantine, and think what kind of funeral I can plan from home, knowing it might not take place for quite awhile and might be a lot less than I think he deserves. More travesty!

'And then, I have the task of completely ridding our home and belongings of Covid-19, something I'm not quite sure I know how to do or have the energy for. I cannot go anywhere or have visitors in so I'm now finding myself in the grips of great sorrow and grief completely alone. Where do I begin?'
Doctors, nurses, paramedics and sanitary workers involved in treating COVID-19 patients in isolation at government hospitals in Tamil Nadu will get a special payout of a month's salary to honour them, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami told the Assembly on Tuesday.

Lauding their work while legislators stood up and applauded after his appeal, the chief minister said doctors, nurses, paramedics and cleanliness workers are working with a sense of dedication, even risking their lives.

"We are duty bound to appreciate them," he said, adding they would get a special payout of one month salary.

Days ago, Palaniswami had rechristened Tamil Nadu's sanitary workers as 'cleanliness workers.'

In a statement in the House, the chief minister said air ambulance service would be started at a cost of Rs 10 crore to transport critical patients to hospitals.

To further develop four state-run hospitals, including the Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine at Tambaram Sanatorium in Chennai and upgrade King's Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research's lab to Bio safety Level-III, a total amount of Rs 110 crore will be spent in the current fiscal, he said.

Palaniswami said a robotic surgery centre will be set up at a cost of Rs 34.60 crore at the state run multispeciality hospital in Chennai at the government estate.

The chief minister also announced Rs 1,000 to all ration card holders, free rice, sugar, and other essential commodities, in view of the lockdown in the state.

'Rs 1000 to all ration card holders, free rice, sugar, and other essential commodities. To avoid long queues, commodities will be issued on a token basis,' Palaniswami said as posted on the official twitter handle of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Tamil Nadu Assembly members clapped for a minute expressing gratitude towards the health department, police and all other departments working amid coronavirus pandemic.

Palaniswami on Monday said that restrictions under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure will be imposed in the state till March 31 in the wake of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The order will come into effect from March 24 at 6 pm.

-- with inputs from ANI
Over the past few days, Ive been asked a number of questions regarding the availability of the printed edition of The Times if we were placed under shelter-in-place orders. While we fully support the measures being implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, effective as of 10:59 p.m. Tuesday Region time, rest assured that we will do everything possible to ensure the continued production and delivery of your newspaper.

The leadership team at The Times Media Company has been proactive in our approach to this crisis and developed extensive contingency plans to ensure that the newspaper will be delivered each morning, just like always, during this crisis.

We have made arrangements with four backup production facilities should we have to close our press and packaging departments. We have made provisions for all necessary pre-press work to be done remotely. We are actively recruiting carriers and substitutes so no matter what comes our way, we will be able to carry on!
Doctors have called on Australians to stay home and the government to put a full lockdown in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Australia took another significant leap on Tuesday, soaring by more than 400 from Monday to 2,146 and an eighth death was confirmed.

Associate professor David Allen said the Federal Government needed to follow the lead of other countries and do more to battle the deadly bug.

Professor Allen is part of a group of Australian medical experts who have joined forces with the global health community in calling for people to stay home during the virus pandemic.

Doctors in hospitals around the world have shared powerful messages of advice in the past week, holding up signs which read 'we stay here for you, please stay home for us'.

Cafes, bars and restaurants across Australia were ordered to close on Monday following an announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Mr Morrison has since updated the list of businesses affected to services like libraries, beauticians and food courts in shopping centres - with the exception of takeaways.

Australians will also be banned from travelling overseas under a further crackdown on international trips as the government tries to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But professor Allen said universities, schools and other non-essential businesses should also be shutdown to curtail the virus' spread.

Australian doctors have joined the global effort to call for people to stay at home. Pictured: Doctors holding up signs reading 'we stay here for you, please stay home for us'

Sydney neurologist Dr Kate Ahmad also told A Current Affair if the number of hospital admissions for the coronavirus gets out of control, doctors would have to start making decisions as to who has access to treatment and who does not.

'I think the really worrying thing is we may get to the point Italy has reached where we cannot offer ventilation or an ICU bed for people who are otherwise in good health,' she said.

'We may have to go on a first come, first served basis or make triage decisions like 'we'll only ventilate you if you're under a certain age'.

'That's not a situation any doctor wants to be in.'

Health minister Greg Hunt announced on Tuesday ventilator capacity in Australia would soon be doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 - and boosted to 9,000 within weeks.

Millions of masks will also arrive in Australia soon to keep health workers safe and not transmitting coronavirus to patients or their families.

Mr Hunt said 30 million would arrive within two weeks and another 24 million by the end of April.

Sydney neurologist Dr Kate Ahmad said doctors would have to start making decisions as to who has access to treatment and who does not if the infection rate got out of control

2,146 cases have been confirmed nationally in Australia as of Tuesday, including eight deaths

Dr Ahmad had said in a YouTube video shared on Sunday she was 'terrified' the rapidly increasing case count could overwhelm the country's health system.

'I am terrified the increasing number of cases are going to overwhelm our hospitals and we are going to have to make terrible triage decisions and we are not going to get the care we need,' Dr Ahmad said.

'I've been a doctor for 35 years and I'm scared,' professor Allen added.

The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia Nick Talley said more had to be done by the government on top of the new restrictions to stem the virus' spread

Their comments were echoed by the Western Australian president of the Australian Medical Association Andrew Miller.

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

'I'm calling on the government to jump on the breaks. We want them to impose lockdown until we have this under control,' he said.

The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia Nick Talley meanwhile said more had to be done by the government to stem the virus' spread.

Front line health workers are also being put at risk by the lack of a shutdown, the chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists warned.

'All non-essential services should be shut down now, we ask governments of all persuasions to act now,' Dr Angelo Virgona said.

'The spread of this virus is going to lead to a catastrophe for health workers who are on the front line and we need to protect them.'
Gurugram: Now the havoc of Corona growing on one side has increased so much that there is a view of terror everywhere. As of now, the number of people who have died from this virus has been more than 15000. The fear of this virus is spread among people. A young man fell unconscious while walking on foot near a petrol pump built between Rajiv Chowk of Gurugram to Jhadsa Chowk. Police and civil surgeon were informed about this. Fearing Corona, no one came forward to help the young man. The shocking thing is that even after 25 minutes of giving information to the police control room, no assistance was received.

Paytm is giving big gift to customers

According to the information received, even after making several calls at ambulance control room 108, the phone was not received. Civil surgeon JS Punia could not get any help till long after giving this information. After 40 minutes, ambulance was called.

2 miscreants looted Rs. 10,000 from former police inspector

Due to the panic of the coronavirus, no person was willing to lay his hands on the unconscious person. Attempted to stop the ambulance of the Cloud 9 hospital passing by, but the driver refused to take the patient. Looking at the condition of the person, it seemed that he was hospitalized. He has cotton and needle marks on his arm, including blood. The person has been identified as Dil Bahadur originally from Nepal was on foot from Rewari to Gurugram. Fainted due to his condition here. RSO Mohit Sharma reached the spot and brought conscious to the unconscious person by giving first aid. In 55 minutes, Ambulance reached the spot and took Dil Bahadur to the hospital.

People seen Violating Delhi lockdown, case registered
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Paris  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:10 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d2f1d0 2 Books Asterix,obituary,Albert-Uderzo Free

Albert Uderzo, who drew the "Asterix and Obelix" comics that delighted legions of children and adults over the past six decades, has died aged 92, his family said Tuesday.

"Albert Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly, after a heart attack that was not linked to the coronavirus. He had been extremely tired for the past several weeks," his son-in-law Bernard de Choisy told AFP.

Uderzo created Asterix in 1959 with the writer Rene Goscinny, who brought them to life in the French-Belgian comics magazine Pilote.

The adventures of the indomitable Gaul, with his winged helmet and formidable blond moustache, and his massive sidekick Obelix as they gleefully thwarted Roman legionnaires became a huge hit, with translations into dozens of languages.

Read also: Asterix gets update with female heroine in latest outing

The series has extended into 38 books, most recently "The Daughter of Vercingetorix" from last year, though Uderzo had stopped illustrating by then, while Goscinny died in 1977.

Both men are considered founding fathers of modern comics and graphic novels, with more than 370 million of their books sold worldwide, and several stories turned into animated cartoons and feature films.
Michael Broadbent, a leading English wine authority who codified the practice of tasting and describing wine while, as head of Christies wine department for many years, virtually created the modern wine auction, died on March 17 in Berkshire, England. He was 92.

His son, Bartholomew Broadbent, confirmed the death.

Mr. Broadbent was a prolific author and wine columnist whose most important works, The Pocket Guide to Wine Tasting, first published in 1968, and The Great Vintage Wine Book (1980), have appeared in many editions and languages.

Tasting was an effort to organize and articulate the various components that go into tasting, describing and judging a wine. Describing wines has been a pastime as far back as Pliny the Elder, but it was often done haphazardly, by tasters given to whimsical flights of doggerel or, by the early 20th century, to reflections on social stratification, with references to breeding and nobility.

Mr. Broadbent instead set out a methodology that gave structure to tasting. He outlined the importance of every element, from the time of day, to his preferred glassware, to the order of wines and even to the lighting in the room.
Danske Bank, one of Northern Ireland's biggest business lenders, has urged firms to provide full cash flow analysis if applying for the Government's Covid-19 business interruption loan scheme

Danske Bank, one of Northern Ireland's biggest business lenders, has urged firms to provide full cash flow analysis if applying for the Government's Covid-19 business interruption loan scheme.

It comes as Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said banks should release the money swiftly so that companies here, whose income had dried up overnight as a result of Covid-19, could survive.

He said a vast range of local businesses, from food service to automotive, had seen demand disappear.

Firms who make parts for cars have been hit by a closedown of the big motor manufacturers in Europe, while food service providers are hit by the collapse of the restaurant industry.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) opened for applications yesterday. It can provide facilities of up to 5m for smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues as a result of the pandemic.

The CBILS is delivered by the British Business Bank through other lenders.

As well as CBILS, the Chancellor also announced on Friday a scheme for companies to have 80% of employees wages paid up to a maximum of 2,500 per month.

Mr Kelly said: Companies will be going through their cash right through to the end of April, having to pay two months wages at a time when theyre not getting any income from the customer side. Money from the business interruption fund needs to begin to flow into firms.

The major lenders here said they were hoping to implement the scheme quickly.

A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland said: We are working with the British Business Bank to enable implementation as soon as possible.

We are advising business customers to get in touch with us to work through the best options for them as our assistance can include emergency working capital and payment flexibility on loan facilities.

Robert McCullough, head of business sector engagement at Danske Bank, said: The scheme is a great initiative for supporting businesses.

It is important to note that lenders will want to see the assumptions made in terms of cashflow analysis to support the lending proposal.

Provision of quality information from the customer at the start of the process will lead to a quicker turnaround in terms of getting funding.

Meanwhile, AIB in Northern Ireland said it had applied to join the loans scheme.

A spokesperson for Ulster Bank said: We know that the impacts of coronavirus are being felt by Northern Irelands businesses, and understand that the ongoing uncertainty is a worry and challenge for our customers.

Ulster Banks parent bank has been working closely with HM Treasury and the British Business Bank.

Meanwhile, a scheme run by the Department for the Economy is to give grants of 10,000 and 25,000. A spokesman for the department said: This crisis is without parallel and developing a scheme for tens of thousands of businesses would be complex and challenging in normal times.

Therefore, we ask for patience. The scheme will be operational as soon as possible.
Srinagar, March 24 : Two more persons tested coronavirus positive in Srinagar on Tuesday, taking such patients in the city to three.

Government spokesman Rohit Kansal said on his Twitter handle: "Two more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Full details regarding the second being ascertained." One woman, who returned after Umrah pilgrimage from Saudi Arabia, has already tested positive and is admitted at Srinagar's superspecialty hospital.
As coronavirus cases keep surging in India and panic grows among locals, tourists hardly find a shelter.

Mumbai, India  When 35-year-old Israeli traveller Sharon Shalev decided to move to the coastal Indian state of Goa in mid-February after spending a few months in the country, she did not have the coronavirus on her mind. After all, India had only seen three confirmed cases by then.

But that started changing, as more and more cases of COVID-19 started getting registered in India. Ten days ago, when the Indian government announced that it would be suspending visas for all incoming travellers, except a handful of categories, Shalev decided that staying put in Goa, known for its sandy beaches and idyllic settings, would be safer than risking her travel.

But last week, her landlady, an elderly Goan lady, asked Shalev to evacuate the apartment and locked it, fearing that the Israeli national might be carrying the virus that has killed more than 16,000 globally.

Shalev tried to find other accommodation in the same area, but she failed. Her neighbour, another old woman, told me that she had rooms to rent too, but shed rather it remained empty than give it out to a foreigner.

And Shalev is not the only one left in the lurch.

As Indias COVID-19 cases rise swiftly, so is panic and fear among locals.

In some of the countrys most popular tourist hotspots, foreign tourists are finding it tough to gain shelter, with panicky guest houses and hotels turning them away or worse, as Shalev discovered, evicting them.

For many others, their interactions with locals are marked by suspicion and rudeness, from being asked to leave restaurants to being refused cab rides.

Shutting doors

Many believe that behind this panic among locals around the spread of the virus through foreign tourists lies a mix of context and panic, driven by disinformation. Much of it is driven through Indias vast usage of social media networks, especially WhatsApp with more than 200 million users.

According to data made public by the Indian government, India saw 10.89 million foreign tourists in 2019, bringing in $30bn in foreign exchange earnings for the South Asian nation.

However, among the first cases of COVID-19 that India reported were a group of 15 Italian tourists who tested positive#. That, and the fact that a majority of Indias COVID-19 cases continue to be those with recent travel history, have added to peoples suspicions in places frequented by tourists, say locals.

There is a genuine sense of fear among people here that foreign tourists might be carriers, because the virus has come to India from abroad, said Durgadas Kamat, the national spokesperson of Goa Forward Party, a regional political party based out of Goa, which sees close to one million foreign tourists annually.

So, it is just natural. People just dont want to take risks anymore, especially after what is happening across different countries.





Michael Jules found himself fighting similar battles. Jules, 33, an American national, and his Indian partner, Ankita (both names changed to protect their identities), decided that there could be nowhere safer to be than the latters parental home in the northern city of Lucknow, which is where they headed in mid-February.

Lucknow is the capital of Indias most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, a state that reported its first case only on March 12.

I hadnt seen another foreigner and I was worried about how people would react to my presence in this gated community. My intuition proved correctI was told to lay low and stay unseen [by my hosts], said Jules.

That helped, only to a limited extent. As cases began to emerge, the domestic help refused to come to Ankitas home citing Juless presence.

The managers of the building where the house was, also stepped in, pressuring her parents to evict him. Jules had no option but to leave; the couple drove for over seven hours, across more than 530km (329 miles) to reach New Delhi on Sunday, when the Indian authorities had ordered a nationwide lockdown.

Not only am I now forced to endanger my health by travelling during an epidemic, when food, accommodation and transportation is problematic, but also, this has taken a toll on our relationship with Ankitas parents, said Jules.

Panic and fear

At the beginning of March, India had recorded only three cases of COVID-19. In three weeks, that number has seen a 100-fold increase, with there now being more than 500 cases by Tuesday morning.

The rapid rise in Indias COVID-19 cases has led to many reacting with fear, panic and even, racism. Across the country, there are reports of racist attacks on people from Indias northeastern region that borders China, suspecting them of being carriers of the virus.

Much of it has also seeped through various travel forums on social media, especially on Facebook. Fervent appeals for help and relief by tourists stranded in different parts of India are often met with derision by locals, some of them even asking these tourists to go back to your countries.

Many other travellers are bracing themselves for a turbulent time.

For 35-year-old Dannie Sowden, a United Kingdom national who runs a therapy business in Jaipur, this has been a turbulent time. Sowden has been made to feel unwelcome in taxis, asked to leave restaurants and says she has been subject to hostile looks in public spaces.

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I think people get fixated on the fact that the virus was brought in from someone outside and they are so worried that they let that fear take over and things escalate. After all, it is far easier to blame someone else and pin your fears on to external factors. Though, scared or not, I dont think there is justification for this kind of behaviour, she said.

Fearing for her personal safety, a few days ago, she decided that she would not leave home, even before the government could impose travel restrictions.

Hanna*, a Polish national, currently in the northern city of Jaisalmer, was traumatised and scared after the hotel she was staying in asked her to leave over the weekend, because they wanted to shut down the night before the nationwide lockdown.

Initially, other hotels refused to allow her in, asking for a medical certificate vouching that she was healthy. Hanna says she would have been without a roof, if not for the intervention of local police who helped her obtain the certificate.

Ambivalent response

So far, Indian authorities have not addressed this. Instead, one of the responses by local Indian authorities has been to ban tourists. Some of the states that banned tourists include popular tourist destinations of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Indian-administered Kashmir and Nagaland.

Last week, the government in Kerala, a very popular tourist destination which saw more than one million foreign tourists footfalls in 2018, came out to denounce such attacks on foreign tourists, asking locals to not see foreign tourists as carriers of the virus.

But Goas tourism minister said the state government had imposed restrictions on tourists. We have decided not to allow any fresh foreign tourists inside Goa. In fact, we even turned back two cruise ships from Dubai that wanted to dock in Goa last week, Manohar Ajgaonkar told Al Jazeera.

However, Ajgaonkar said the government had not instructed the eviction of any tourists already staying in Goa.

Locals say that this ambivalence has led to many guest houses taking matters into their own hands.

* Name changed for security reasons
MADRID  Across Western Europe, health care professionals have used the language of war to describe the struggle against the coronavirus, which has left some hospitals on the brink of collapse.

And health care workers are the soldiers on the front lines.

Out of Spains 40,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, 5,400  nearly 14 percent  are medical professionals, the health ministry said on Tuesday. No other country has reported health care staff accounting for a double-digit percentage of total infections.

But the problem is widespread throughout Europe. In Italy, France and Spain, more than 30 health care professionals have died of the coronavirus, and thousands of others have had to self-isolate.

In Brescia province, the center of Italys outbreak, 10 to 15 percent of doctors and nurses have been infected and put out of commission, according to a doctor there.
 Close Expert calls Trump's corovirus tweet 'bogus'

As the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns the US could be the next coronavirus epicentre following a surge in cases and deaths to 43,925 cases and 547 respectively, Donald Trump is under fire for hinting at a return to business as usual within weeks, prioritising the health of the economy over that of Americans.

We are watching a train wreck in slow motion, commented former White House ethics chief Walter Shaub. If Trump carries through on this threat to open things up real soon, the death toll will be catastrophic.

On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic senators have assured the public they are very close to agreeing terms on a $2trn (1.7trn) stimulus bill and expect to finalise a deal on Tuesday.

The president appeared to declare victory over the virus  "we win"  as he looks to restart the US economy by Easter, despite no evidence that Americans can safely return to work without spreading the virus within three weeks.

During his White House briefing on Tuesday, the president said: "What timeline this would be."

But pressed on whether anyone in his administration has supported a rushed return to business as usual, the president said he thought it was a "beautiful time" and "based on a certain level of weeks"  but didn't say it was at the recommendation of health officials.

The administration also warned New Yorkers and anyone who recently travelled to the state to self-quarantine for up to two weeks as the city has become an "epicentre" of transmission in the US.

Asked whether the president has consulted with Governor Andrew Cuomo about those guidelines, which would impact millions of people in New York City while non-essential businesses are closed across the state, Mr Trump said the two are "talking".

The governor said he has "exhausted every option available to us" as the state has experienced a surge in confirmed cases, including nearly 15,000 in New York City alone.

"We are not slowing it, and it is accelerating on its own", he said on Tuesday as he dismissed the president's idea for Americans to return to work soon for the sake of the economy, potentially endangering more-vulnerable people and spreading the virus even further.

He said: "That's not the American way. That's not the New York way."

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LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz reminds investors of the upcoming April 6, 2020 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who acquired of Sasol Limited (Sasol or the Company) (NYSE: SSL ) securities between March 10, 2015 and January 13, 2020 inclusive (the Class Period).



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

On October 27, 2014, Sasol announced the construction of an $8.1 billion ethane cracker and derivatives complex called the Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP).

On June 6, 2016, Sasol reported that the expected total capital expenditure for the [LCCP] could increase up to US $11 billion, including site infrastructure and utility improvements. Moreover, the Company disclosed that the estimated LCCP capital cost and extended schedule will reduce the expected project returns by approximately the same amount as the Companys lower long-term price assumptions.

On this news, Sasols American depositary receipt (ADR) price fell $3.53 per share, or approximately 11%, to close at $28.60 per share on June 6, 2016, thereby injuring investors.

On May 22, 2019, during pre-market hours, Sasol revealed that the cost estimate for the LCCP has been revised to a range of $12.6 to $12,9 billion which includes a contingency of $300 million.

On this news, Sasols ADR price fell $4.50 per share, or nearly 15%, to close at $25.64 per share on May 22, 2019, thereby injuring investors further.

On August 16, 2019, during pre-market hours, Sasol postponed its full year 2019 financial results because of possible LCCP control weaknesses.

On this news, Sasols ADR price fell $0.74 per share, or over 4%, to close at $17.67 per share on August 16, 2019, thereby injuring investors further.

On October 28, 2019, Sasol disclosed that there were errors, omissions, and inaccuracies in the [LCCP] cost estimate and that the highest level of management had engaged in a number of unethical and improper reporting activities. Sasol also announced the resignation of, inter alia, its Joint Presidents and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Senior Vice Presidents and others previously in charge of the LCCP.

On January 14, 2020, Sasol confirmed an explosion and fire at its LCCP low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit. Sasol stated that [t]he unit was in the final stages of commissioning and startup when the incident occurred.

On this news, Sasols ADR price fell $1.70 per share, or nearly 8%, over the following two trading days to close at $19.99 per share on January 15, 2020, thereby injuring investors further.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Sasol had conducted insufficient due diligence into, and failed to account for multiple issues with, the LCCP, as well as the true cost of the project; (2) that construction and operation of the LCCP was consequently plagued by control weaknesses, delays, rising costs, and technical issues; (3) that these issues were exacerbated by Sasols top-level management, who engaged in improper and unethical behavior with respect to financial reporting for the LCCP and the projects oversight; (4) that all of the foregoing was reasonably likely to render the LCCP significantly more expensive than disclosed and negatively impact the Companys financial results; and (5) that as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/FRC_LAW .

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Sasol securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than April 6, 2020 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Frank R. Cruz, of The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-914-5007, by email to info@frankcruzlaw.com , or visit our website at www.frankcruzlaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts
Last week, two high-profile San Francisco health start-ups began marketing at-home coronavirus kits that let people collect their own saliva samples or oral throat swabs and then send the specimens to commercial labs to be tested for the virus.

The start-ups, Carbon Health and Nurx, each said they were preparing to offer thousands of the kits in the coming weeks. By Friday afternoon, the Nurx site said its kits had reached capacity for today and promised more would be available for sale this week.

But on Friday evening, the Food and Drug Administration issued an alert warning consumers that it had not authorized any test for the coronavirus that people could buy and administer at home. Carbon Health and Nurx subsequently suspended sales of their kits.

As the coronavirus pandemic intensified across the country, the two companies and other start-ups rushed to market collect-your-own specimen kits without rigorous published studies proving the effectiveness of at-home swabbing for coronavirus testing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  The National Economic and Development Authority has called for "widespread" coronavirus testing, as it flagged that at least 116,000 jobs are at stake as the disease continues to spread.

A March 19 assessment released by the agency on Tuesday showed mounting losses borne by the Philippine economy due to the COVID-19 outbreak, ranging from at least 428.7 billion to 1.36 trillion.

NEDA outlined a three-level response to address the impact of the pandemic, starting with clinical and medical response.

"The key to a successful medical response is widespread testing," the agency said, pointing out that health authorities also relied on early diagnosis to control the 2019 dengue epidemic.

"A patient who is diagnosed earlier could be given care to prevent secondary infections. Moreover, early diagnosis will lead to early initiation of quarantine procedures and, therefore, limit or prevent the spread of the virus," the state economists said.

READ: Plea for mass testing receives online support

Calls for mass testing have gained ground on social media, especially after senators and some high-ranking officials demanded to be prioritized for testing despite the limited number of kits and the long line of sick patients waiting to be processed in hospitals. The hashtag #NoToVIPTesting became a trending topic on Twitter during the weekend.

READ: Duque: Some 'VIPs' directly requested for COVID-19 testing

However, health officials have rejected the idea of conducting mass testing now, admitting that local laboratories are "challenged" by limited capacity.

The NEDA study pointed out that early diagnosis of COVID-19 patients would incur costs which could "overburden" the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, while supply of test kits could be a problem. However, it suggested that authorities can secure additional funding elsewhere, or solicit donations as well as financial support.

Health monitoring and referral systems must be set up alongside enough research personnel to study the disease, while health workers should be kept safe and provided with shelter and transport as they cure patients.

This should be accompanied by public health measures, such as travel bans, proper hygiene, ban on mass gatherings and close contact, as well as school and work suspensions.

The bulk of the losses due to COVID-19 would be incurred during the month-long quarantine in Luzon  the country's main financial engine  anywhere from 298 billion to 1.09 trillion, as most businesses are shut down as the government scrambles to contain the disease.

NEDA also pointed out foregone opportunities in terms of consumer spending, remittances, exports, and tourism. Together with the enhanced community quarantine, as many as 1.8 million Filipinos could be out of jobs if the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak stretches until June. The result: economic growth could slip to 4.3 percent or even slower, well below the original 6.5-7.5 percent goal for 2020.

The Asian Development Bank said early March that 252,000 jobs are at risk as tourism is halved due to the outbreak, but that was before the Luzon shutdown was implemented.

Travel restrictions for both foreign and domestic tourists alone could displace as much as 56,600 workers, NEDA said.

"Once the enhanced community quarantine is lifted, there may still be reduced economic activity as the public becomes hesitant to engage. The best way to address this problem is to assure the public of the adequacy of our improved health systems," NEDA said.

The government has restricted movement and business operations in the entire Luzon, only allowing workers in critical industries like healthcare, food preparation, banks, groceries, and media to report to work while the rest were told to stay at home to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease of COVID-19. Malls and offices have been shut, with the state appealing for work-from-home arrangements from March 17 until April 13.

International debt watcher S&P Global Ratings said a recession across Asia-Pacific is guaranteed, as it slashed the growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, Fitch Solutions said growth could slip to 4 percent.
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Linkedin Kristine Servando (Bloomberg)  Tue, March 24, 2020 16:56 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d2c5f4 2 Food Odette,restaurant,food Free

Singapores Odette has held on to the title of Asias best restaurant for the second year running, as top chefs grapple with city lockdowns, temporary closures of their restaurants or food-supply interruptions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cantonese restaurant The Chairman in Hong Kong, Tokyo kaiseki eatery Den, neo-Parisian bistro Belon in Hong Kong and Singapore-based barbecue restaurant Burnt Ends rounded out the top five. The winners were announced in a video livestream, in place of a ceremony originally planned for Saga prefecture, Japan, during cherry blossom season.

Odette chef Julien Royer said his three-Michelin-starred restaurant has been working hard to support guests who have had to delay their visits and change travel plans.

In unpredictable times food can be a source of comfort, Royer said in an email interview. And now more than ever we wish to offer our guests the comfort of a beautiful and thoughtful meal above all else.

Over the past year, Royer has experimented with ingredients like zesty Buddhas hands fruit and pickled ginger flowers, with the latter adding acidity to Odettes flower of cured hamachi, a fish thats very popular in Japan. Ginger  helps fight coughs and colds, which is especially helpful during this time, he said.

Royer used kampot pepper to spice up Odettes signature pigeon recipes, and added Asian flavors like wasabi and Nashi pear to his Normandy brown crab dish. He also sought fresh produce from the citys few farms, including jicama, baby beets and blue peas alongside tarragon flowers grown by Odettes chef de cuisine, Adam Wan.

New entries included Inua in Tokyo; Bukhara in New Delhi (which makes a return after dropping off the list in 2017); Macaus Sichuan Moon (closed until further notice); JL Studio, serving Singaporean cuisine in Taichung, Taiwan; and one-Michelin-starred Hansikgonggan in Seoul, whose chef and owner, Cho Hee-suk, also won the Asias Best Female Chef award.

The challenges facing restaurants around the region may vary, but few businesses will remain unscathed by the coronavirus outbreak. However, even as the crowds keep their distance the culinary experimentation continues.

In Bangkok, Suhring (No. 6 on the list) suspended operations until April 30 after Thailands government ordered schools, shopping malls and restaurants to close. The coronavirus has infected more than 700 in the country.

The outbreak has been harsh on us and the majority of our peer[s] around the world, said Thomas Suhring, who opened the restaurant with his twin brother Mathias in 2015. We have seen a huge decrease of visitors from around the world.

Prior to the shutdown, Suhring took temperature checks on guests and staff, and spaced tables up to two meters apart so that guests could enjoy German dishes including Simmentaler beef with caviar on whole grain bread and spatzle (egg noodles) served with fresh truffles. A professional cleaning company was tasked with disinfecting the restaurant twice a week.

Just a 14-minute drive from Suhrings location in Bangkok, Indian fusion restaurant Gaa (No. 15) is planning to launch a takeaway and delivery program due to restrictions on dining out. It has also urged staff to stay home if they are feeling unwell. We are not taking any chances, said Chef Garima Arora.

Gaa revamped its menu format at the start of this year after Arora visited her hometown, Mumbai, and realized that a coursed meal is just not how we eat back at home. That inspired Gaas current menu of five festive feasts. Each feast has a theme, such as street food (fruit chaat; duck liver on toast), seafood (scallop papadum; crayfish) or vegetarian dishes (roselle saag; corn bread).

Asked what she would cook if Thailand were to impose a total lockdown, Arora said: I honestly never cook at home and I dont think any cook wants to spend time in the kitchen on their day off  but everybody knows my comfort food is nachos. I can always have it.

Bangkok scored a new entry on this years list with 80/20, a Thai restaurant run by husband-and-wife team Napol Jantraget and Saki Hoshino.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based Burnt Ends (No. 5) has kept a worried eye on the flights delivering its fresh goods each week as shipping delays become the norm. The barbecue restaurant sources about 85 percent to 90 percent of its supplies from overseas, including Japan and Australia, according to Australian chef and owner Dave Pynt.

Burnt Ends, which has one Michelin star, started cooking in recent months with firefly squid, A5 wagyu (the highest Japanese rating for this cut of steak), maitake mushrooms and a buttermilk-brined lamb. A visit to Katzs Delicatessen in New York also made a lasting impression: Pynt started experimenting with homemade pastrami.

Pynt says while the restaurant has seen a drop-off in tourists, local diners have stepped up to support his business. To ensure safety, kitchen and wait staff undergo temperature checks two times a day. Hand sanitizers are made available to diners, and guests who are noticeably unwell are asked to leave.

Im worried, Pynt said in a phone interview, when asked about how the virus is impacting business. Its really hard. You want to be positive  But I think for the world to get back to some sort of normality, its going to be a long slog.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Chef Richard Ekkebus of two-Michelin-starred Amber (No. 31) said food-supply logistics have been a challenge. But he says the restaurant has been able to source the ingredients it needs to continue serving its French menu, which includes dishes such as pigeon with foie gras, pepper berry and blackcurrant as well as spelt with black trumpet mushroom and preserved black truffle.

Amber reopened in April 2019 with a renovated interior and a new menu that eliminated what Ekkebus calls the usual tricks of the trade, including butter, refined sugar and salt, so that ingredients natural flavors could shine through.

Where salt is needed, he said, its distilled from natural umami through ingredients like seaweed or techniques like fermentation. Where dairy is required, weve searched for plant-based alternatives.

Read also: Bali-based Locavore claims Asias sustainable restaurant award

Mume in Taipei (No. 18 and the best restaurant in Taiwan) has seen a drop in its usual tourist clientele, prompting it to close once or twice a week and to limit the number of reservations to ensure ample space between diners. Mumes staff wear face masks at all times and to check guests temperatures before they sit down. The chefs wear antimicrobial gloves while preparing food.

Just like most business[es] and maybe 99 percent of the hospitality industry, we are of course greatly affected by the outbreak, said Mumes chef and owner, Richie Lin.

Lin can count one blessing: His food is 99 percent locally sourced, enabling him to offer a tasting menu that includes cuttlefish with mullet roe and black garlic as well as abalone and duck risotto. Lin says his interest was piqued by indigenous ingredients such as wild vegetables that is foraged by aboriginal [people] of Taiwan.

Manila chef Jordy Navarra had to temporarily close Toyo Eatery (No. 44)  the highest-ranked in the Philippines and known for succulent three-cut pork barbecue alongside 18-vegetable salad  as the city entered quarantine. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a lockdown on Luzon, the countrys largest island and its economic engine, until April 13.

Right before we closed, Navarra said, we prepared and baked bread that we donated to some of the health workers and support staff.

Navarra, who is self-quarantined at home with his wife and dogs, sees an upside to the pause: In a way its given our team a chance to relax and spend time away from the hustle of the restaurant.

William Drew, Director of Content for Asias 50 Best Restaurants 2020, said pushing ahead with this years awards was a way to recognize the hard work of chefs and their teams over the past year even when so many restaurants have suffered or closed.

The challenges for the hospitality and gastronomic sector as a whole are certainly the biggest any of us has ever witnessed since the birth of fine dining or the modern restaurant sector as we know it, Drew said in an email interview. All we can all do is try to support each other, send positive messages, stay connected and prepare for recovery once the situation improves, whenever that may be.

Asias 50 Best Restaurants list is selected and voted on by a panel of 300 food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs and foodieshalf of them womenacross Asia. The awards have been held and published each year since 2013 by William Reed Business Media.

Heres the full list for 2020:

1. Odette  Singapore

2. The Chairman  Hong Kong

3. Den  Tokyo

4. Belon  Hong Kong

5. Burnt Ends  Singapore

6. Suhring  Bangkok

7. Florilege  Tokyo

8. Le Du  Bangkok

9. Narisawa  Tokyo

10. La Cime  Osaka, Japan

11. Les Amis  Singapore

12. Vea  Hong Kong

13. Indian Accent  New Delhi

14. Mingles  Seoul

15. Gaa  Bangkok

16. Sorn  Bangkok

17. Il Ristorante Luca Fantin  Tokyo

18. Mume  Taipei

19. Neighborhood  Hong Kong

20. Fu He Hui  Shanghai

21. Jaan by Kirk Westaway  Singapore

22. Wing Lei Palace  Macau

23. Sichuan Moon  Macau

24. Nihonryori RyuGin  Tokyo

25. Seventh Son  Hong Kong

26. JL Studio  Taichung, Taiwan

27. TocToc  Seoul

28. Zen  Singapore

29. Sazenka Tokyo

30. Ministry of Crab  Colombo, Sri Lanka

31. Amber  Hong Kong

32. 8  Otto e Mezzo Bombana  Hong Kong

33. Lung King Heen  Hong Kong

34. Hansikgonggan  Seoul

35. Ode  Tokyo

36. Raw  Taipei

37. Locavore  Bali, Indonesia

38. Paste  Bangkok

39. Bo.Ian  Bangkok

40. La Maison de La Nature Goh  Fukuoka, Japan

41. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet  Shanghai

42. Corner House  Singapore

43. Shoun RyuGin  Taipei

44. Toyo Eatery  Manila

45. Bukhara  New Delhi

46. Sushi Saito  Tokyo

47. 80/20  Bangkok

48. LEffervescence  Tokyo

49. Inua  Tokyo

50. Nouri  Singapore

Topics : Odette restaurant food
San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would dramatically accelerate the closure of County Jail No. 4, the decrepit, seismically dangerous lockup on the top floor of the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St.

By expanding pretrial diversion programs and other initiatives to reduce the jail systems population, and by eliminating delays in processing cases that keep people behind bars longer than necessary, Fewer is looking to have the jail closed by no later than Nov. 1.

City officials have long sought to decommission the jail. Its part of the seismically unsafe Hall of Justice, which has been beset by crumbling infrastructure and frequent sewage overflows that have prompted flurries of lawsuits from inmates. Former Sheriff Vicki Hennessy has called County Jail No. 4 depressing and an embarassment to the city.

Last year, Mayor London Breed set a July 2021 deadline for when she wanted the roughly 300 inmates at County Jail No. 4 moved out of the Hall of Justice, along with hundreds of city staffers who work there.

But amid the growing coronavirus pandemic  which especially threatens incarcerated people and others clustered together  closing County Jail No. 4 has taken on new urgency, Fewer said.

For people living in these communal settings, we think its dangerous. And public health officials recognize it as dangerous, Fewer said.

Jose Bernal of the Reentry Council, praised the idea.

The focus right now is about saving lives in face of a pandemic, and so there is immediate urgency to reduce the jail population, he said, adding that health and safety have long been a problem at the jail. As someone who served time there, I know firsthand, he said.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Despite widespread agreement about the need to shutter the crumbling jail, Fewers proposal faces resistance from the Sheriffs Department.

As written, the supervisors legislation is not only irresponsible, it is a threat to public safety. However, we remain open and committed to working with Supervisor Fewers office on a responsible plan to close County Jail No. 4 while maintaining public safety, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, who oversees the operation of San Franciscos jails, said in a statement.

Miyamoto expressed concern that the legislation would bar the city from investing in the citys two remaining jails because it prevents the city from adding beds to County Jails Nos. 2 and 5.

With no replacements planned, this leaves the city unprepared and with no capacity to manage any unforeseen changes in the criminal justice system, he said.

The Sheriffs Department announced Sunday that a deputy at County Jail No. 4 tested positive for the coronavirus. As of Monday, there were no known cases of COVID-19 among San Franciscos inmate population.

In response to the growing virus threat, San Francisco Superior Court officials approved the release of 26 inmates who had fewer than 60 days left to serve on their sentences, the Sheriffs Department said Friday.

This public health crisis is exposing what we have been saying for years: County Jail 4 is an extremely unsafe and unsanitary facility and needs to be closed as soon as possible, said Public Defender Mano Raju.

Amid a slow but steady decline in San Franciscos jail population in recent years, Fewer said she envisioned her legislation as an opportunity to really examine how (San Franciscos criminal justice system is) able to do it, what things we need to work on and what are some of the best practices out there.

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.

Fewers legislation requires the citys Sentencing Commission, a body comprising a broad swath of representatives from the citys criminal justice system, to guide the expansion of pretrial diversion programs and collaborative courts for people who qualify for them. It would prohibit the expansion of ankle-monitoring programs to reduce the jail population, however, as written.

It also calls on San Francisco Superior Court officials to address lengthy court case processing and to avoid unnecessary continuances that can extend the time inmates spend behind bars, and on the Sheriffs Department to find ways to expedite the booking process.

By Oct. 1, a month before the November deadline, Fewers legislation wants San Franciscos jail population reduced to, at most, 1,044 inmates. At that point, inmates could be safely housed at one of San Franciscos two remaining jails, she said.

There were 944 inmates in San Francisco jails as of Monday afternoon.

Were already 100 below our goal, Fewer said. We agree its an aggressive timeline, but were also already below where we need to be. We all agree the jail needs to be closed. This is just moving with more urgency.

The legislation would require the commission to present a progress report to the Board of Supervisors by June 1 to ensure the city can stay on track to meet Fewers November deadline.

San Franciscos jail population has decreased steadily in recent years, thanks in part to an expansion of pretrial diversion programs, an overall reduction in violent crime and reforms enacted to prevent people from staying in jail because they cant afford bail. This January saw an average inmate population of 1,164 inmates, down from 2,131 in January 2008.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
Hokey Pokey is a Kiwiana gem. Conveniently available everywhere and celebrated in every town and province, its a foodstuff with a proud legacy and generations of family food experience behind it.

However, the only true regionally protected dish in New Zealand is from the south  the cheese roll. Sniffed at by food snobs, the cheese rolls construct and delivery can be argued at length  much like poutine (thats another column).

South Island Sushi, as its known, is fiercely protected by the south, and largely unknown and not consumed in volume outside its territory. Its almost like blasphemy to even try reproducing it in the North Island, with very bad culinary karma to the person that attempts to defy the grilled cheese gods. Cheese rolls are a cultural icon and, importantly, an icon of place.

So what of the culinary taonga for our region? Is there a dish representative of these bays of whales? Im pleased to report from my foraging that this area is certainly an abundant giver of many wild and introduced edibles  a veritable smorgasbord. Foraging on the Hibiscus Coast, it dawned on me the concept of a regional edible offer from here should utilise the hibiscus, which is beautiful, plentiful and has been synonymous with the marketing of the region for years.

We could be the Hibiscus highway for real  offering hibiscus cordial, sorbet, syrup, tea, popsicles, cookies, marshmallows, even pavlova!

My Mr 5 and Miss 7 (team foragers) have made a concerted effort to explore the area seeking food adventure  of the wild kind. We propose that the Hibiscus flower is representative of this area and tastes delish. Join us?

Hibiscus Syrup

2 cups water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup dried hibiscus flowers

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 (1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger root,

Zest of 1 lemon

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sugars dissolve and flowers soften  about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and steep the syrup until flavours combine, about 5 minutes. Strain syrup into a container through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing solids with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Use the syrup as a mixer with your favourite tipple; as a drink topped up with water, or with fruit salad. Can be frozen in cubes and put in drinks.

Important note:  Dried Hibiscus flowers are available online, and in specialty food stores and Farro Fresh.  Never eat any plant unless you know for certain what it is, and do not pick your own to consume unless you can be sure the plants have not been sprayed.
She spent the last 12 years in Los Angeles, but was born in New York and raised in Charlotte, N.C. She met her Hungarian husband 6 years ago, and eventually they moved to Budapest.

Before they embarked on their life-changing journey together, she says she searched on Pinterest because that's what she always did before life-changing journeys. She found that there wasn't that much information on black culture in Budapest.



Yes, there were a few black people that visited and documented their Instagram pics, but not much substance she says. So she decided to document her journey and give a voice to all who want to relocate, explore, and get answers about the small black community in Budapest, Hungary.



Now that she've lived in Hungary for over a year, and have given birth to their daughter in this country she is proud to be a resident of Budapest. She has learned so much about this beautiful country she says, and there is so much more to see so she challenges you to take this journey with her via her blog. Click here to visit her site.





1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?

I moved to Hungary in January 2017. As my Husband is Hungarian we wanted to connect with his roots. So we moved to Budapest as a hub to also travel around Europe.



2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?

This is my first time living outside of my home country. I was a big travelers and have lived in 3 different states during my lifetime.



3. What surprised you most about Hungary?

What surprised me most was the sense that the country is a bit behind the times. It took a ton of slowing down, and a ton of paperwork later, I have begun to understand the culture a bit more.



4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?

I always start with a walk along the Danube Starting from Parliament to the chain bridge. Walk the chain bridge, and then walk down the beautiful street towards st. Istvan basilica. That is always the start of any of the trips. Getting the lay of the land in such a beautiful way. And I always stop off to some of my favorite eateries or rooftop bars to take it up a notch.



5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?

Langos - Sour cream, cheese, and garlic is how I like it!



6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?

Tortillas and cheese. Slap together a quick quesadilla and Im happy.



7. What is your favourite Hungarian word?

Wow I have a ton that I like koszonom szepen. oh but wait I have a favorite phrase. Margit hid, budai hidfo HEV allomas. Its one of my favorite tram stops, and one of the first phrases I learned. (the name of the stop and you can transfer to the train line.)



8. What do you miss most from home?

Trader Joes for sure! Its a grocery store with the best organic, and international food.



9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?

If I can't do what I love which is what Im doing I would like to pursue being a meteorologist. Weather has always fascinated me.



10. What's a job you would definitely never want?

I would never want a job where I didnt have to use my brain.



11. Where did you spend your last vacation?

Egypt was my last vacation and it was nerve racking, anxiety driven, but ultimately fun!



12. Where do you hope to spend your next holiday?

I was supposed to be in Sicily next but coronavirus. I have many trips planned, but we just have to wait on this virus before we pull the trigger.



13. Apart from temptation, what can't you resist?

Have a good time! I love to be the life of the party I cant resist.



14. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?

My favorite film was Clueless. A teen cult classic.



15. Red wine or white?

Proseco? Is that a choice fine white!



16. Book or movie?

Movie I only read blogs these days. Fun Fact: If I am reading a book it is always a book that will be turned into a movie. I like testing my imagination and seeing if the director portrays what I read.



17. Morning person or night person?

Night person!



18. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?

Equal rights all across the board and spectrum.



19. Buda or Pest side?

Buda side by day and Pest side by night!!!!



20. What would you say is your personal motto?

Live your life to the fullest.
FELTON, California, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With reference to the information published by the professionals, in 2018, the scope of the global Plumbing Fixtures Market was priced at US$ 87.7 billion. It is estimated to grow at a 4.8% CAGR by the completion of the prediction period to touch US$ 121.9 billion by 2025.

The plumbing fixtures are a consumable means that can be linked with the plumbing arrangement to transport and drain water. Fixtures have transformed radically during the previous a small number of years by means of material, stylishness and color. There are a number of categories of plumbing fixtures existing in the market. It consist of urinals, channel drains, bathtubs, showers, drinking fountains and others.

A number of criterions about the active operation & design of plumbing fixtures are prepared by a number of governments. Together the material of the component along with the design of plumbing fixtures such as toilet pans, tubs, wash-basins, sinks and others are dependent on criteria and certifications those are necessary to guarantee security and reliability.

Drivers:

Growing use of contemporary kitchens and bathrooms on an international level is estimated to motivate the demand for plumbing fixtures during the period of upcoming years. Sequentially, this is expected to have a robust influence on the development of the plumbing fixtures market.

Inclination for contemporary kitchens and washrooms that are not only useful but likewise have an artistic appeal is growing between the metropolitan residents. Increasing acceptance of earthenware resources in sanitary ware because of their outstanding features of tolerating the heat has influenced the salaried class people to expend on remodeling kitchens and washrooms.

The demand for plumbing fixtures is being encouraged by way of the solid development in the business of construction. The application of plumbing fixtures in residential buildings is estimated to observe the maximum speedy development.

Get Sample PDF and read more details about the "Plumbing Fixtures Market" Report 2025.

Restraints:

The most important encounter recognized for the companies in the global plumbing fixtures industry is to design fixtures considering the established criterions for a number of materials used in the manufacturing of goods.

Classification:

The global plumbing fixtures market can be classified by Sales Network, Application, Location, Deployment, Product, and Region. By Sales Network, it can be classified as: Offline shops, Brand showrooms, Company Retails shops, Dealer shops, Multi Brand Showrooms, Online shops and others. By Application, it can be classified as: Remodel & Repair, New Construction. By Location, it can be classified as: Kitchen, Bathrooms and Others. By Deployment, it can be classified as: Commercial, Residential. By Product, it can be classified as: Drains, Showers, Sinks, Taps & Faucets, Toilet Pans, Bathtubs and others.

Regional Lookout:

By Region the global plumbing fixtures industry can be classified as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa. In 2018, North America arose such as the biggest market for these fixtures. It was responsible for a share of beyond 25.0% of global revenue. The Americans are creating annals by way of creating washrooms, beyond regular number, in every house. More than 44% of American houses are there having attached washroom. This tendency is expected to upsurge the supplies of plumbing fixture.

Asia Pacific is likely to be the speedily developing market, increasing by a 5.4% CAGR during the period of 2019 to 2025. This development is credited to the huge number of new-fangled building schemes going on through Asia. In the year 2018, more than ten thousand schemes were going on, that encompassed erection of railway stations, airports, offices, industrial unit, schools & educational establishments, hotels & restaurant, shopping complex & malls, hospitals and additional alike places.

Companies:

Due to greater concentration of native manufacturing companies in developing economies comprising India and China, along with the high-class French an Italian brands, the business is split. The companies are speedily modernizing their line of product to create their goods aristocratic and smart. The most important motivating reason is the willingness between the shoppers to additionally expend for the deluxe goods.

Similarly, the manufacturing companies are taking part in partnerships and mergers & acquisition activities, to increase their position in the market for these fixtures. By way of the figure of companies, estimated to upsurge during the upcoming years, the competition is expected to additionally become stronger.

Some of the important companies for plumbing fixtures market are: TOTO LTD., Moen Incorporated, Jacuzzi Inc., Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC, Colston Bath, PROFLO, Kohler Co., GROHE AMERICA, INC., DELTA FAUCET COMPANY, and American Bath Group. Additional notable companies are: LIXIL Group Corporation, Kohler Co., Geber it AG, Roca Sanitario S.A, Masco Corporation, MAAX Bath Inc., Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc., and Elkay Manufacturing Company.

Browse 80 page research report with TOC on "Global Plumbing Fixtures Market" at: https://www.millioninsights.com/industry-reports/plumbing-fixtures-market

Market Segment:

Plumbing Fixtures Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Bathtubs



Sinks



Toilets



Showers



Faucets & Taps



Drains



Others

Plumbing Fixtures Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Residential



Commercial

Plumbing Fixtures Location Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Bathroom



Kitchen



Others

Plumbing Fixtures Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

New Construction



Repair & Remodel

Plumbing Fixtures Distribution Channel Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Online



Offline

Plumbing Fixtures Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

North America



U.S.



Europe



U.K.





Germany



Asia Pacific



China





India



Central & South America



Brazil



Middle East & Africa (MEA)

& (MEA)

UAE

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The thriving urban agriculture study will look at how we can help mitigate environmental degradation in the Bay watershed while providing economic feasibility to farmers. Photo by Edwin Remsburg. Considering the current pandemic and associated food shortages, research in food systems to determine the options available to city planners is a necessity.

University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) is collaborating with multiple universities, partners, farmers, and stakeholders from throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed region in a 5-year sustainable agriculture systems study, led by Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, and funded by a prestigious $9 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).

This comprehensive, multi-institutional project entitled Thriving Agricultural Systems in Urbanized Landscapes, and headed by principal investigator David Abler of Penn State, is an interdisciplinary framework developed to conduct practical research into sustainable agriculture practices that will mitigate environmental degradation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed while providing economic feasibility to farmers and farming communities for the long-term.

Considering the current pandemic and associated food shortages, research in food systems to determine the options available to city planners is a necessity. Population growth, as well as sprawl, affects how people access food, and the availability of nutritious food and clean water. The unpredictability of other factors such as climate change and infectious diseases like the COVID-19 crisis, can further exacerbate issues of supply and demand.

The goal we are envisioning is to predict what agriculture will look like in a rapidly urbanizing Chesapeake Bay watershed in 25 years; can we sustain the agriculture that already exists, and how we can advance our systems to go beyond where agriculture is today? said Gurpal Toor, professor and extension specialist with the Department of Environmental Science and technology in AGNR, who is the grant teams expert on nutrient management and water quality.

Toor will be working with a diverse team including researchers from Penn State, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, The Ohio State University, Nancy Nunn with the Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, as well as Professor Ray Weil, preeminent soil scientist with AGNR. Recognizing that consumers within these urban communities value the local foods, open space, wildlife habitats, and agritourism associated with urban farm operations, the team of almost 20 scientists will create feasibility studies to maintain those systems in the face of intensifying competition for land, population sprawl, and water pollution.

Toors part in this ambitious, multi-faceted project is to determine mass balances of nutrient distribution to farm fields -- the inputs and outputs of nitrogen and phosphorus -- essential nutrients needed to grow more fruitful yields of crops, but which can be detrimental to the Bay environment when introduced in excess.

Traversing across Maryland, Toor will assess mass balances of nutrients in farm fields for different regions to determine how much runoff occurs. If we can do that, maybe there are inefficiencies in the production systems, where nutrients runoff because they arent applied at the right time the plant needs them, or some other scenario, Toor said. So the idea is to do a quantifiable study of mass balances, finding where theyre inefficient and looking at the types of best management practices that could be implemented in those regions to reduce nutrient losses to receiving waters in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay.

Ray Weil, a world-renowned soil scientist with AGNR, will lead a separate effort under the umbrella of the grant developing case studies on innovative farms in and around urbanized areas and looking at how management practices can protect soil and groundwater health.

Ive been working with a number of small, highly diverse, commercial farms that are doing some innovative things, said Weil. This is a forward looking project so we will examine the progressive things those farmers are doing, like composting leaves collected by municipalities and community supported agriculture, to determine how successful those practices are, how those farms interact with the urban environment, and what are the environmental and soil health impacts.

Weils project will also involve a second component using test plots at the Central Maryland Agricultural Research and Education Center. Also focusing on progressive farming techniques and soil health, the experimental plots will look at the impact of advanced cover cropping techniques and how they affect nutrient flows and groundwater quality.

This is important because most of our studies on cover cropping are short term, said Weil. We look and compare different cover crops, or no cover crop, and ask how this affects yields the following year. But this project will look at some of the benefits that carry over four or five years -- organic matter, improving the soil -- theres very little data on the long term effects of cover cropping.

The data derived from the field researchers like Weil and Toor will be compiled by modelers who will extrapolate that information to be effective throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed region. Armed with these models and visualizations of potential future scenarios, the team will work with stakeholders who have a vested interest in the future of farming, urban agricultural systems, environmental and economic impacts, to make recommendations regarding how to move forward with policies that are acceptable and economically beneficial to communities.

This rigorous project also involves economists, and a human component that will be examined to better understand peoples perceptions, said Toor. There is a social dimension that comes into play into everything that we do to help ensure that the things we offer though research will be accepted by the larger community, he said. We do all of this research, but when it comes to the cost to implement...its useful information but can it be practically implemented? No one is willing or should have to take a financial loss.

While still in the beginning phases of the project, the end goal is to communicate that message to other farmers, says Toor. We cant perform nutrient mass balance studies for every single field, but we will find similarities between environmental regions and provide best management practices that will be profitable by reducing unnecessary overfertilization, Toor said. When we offer these best management practices to farmers, were telling them that not only are you helping the health of the Bay, but its also about sustaining agriculture and agricultural communities.

For more information on the USDA NIFA grant or the University of Marylands role in this project, please contact Laura Wormuth, Communications Coordinator, University of Maryland Extension at lwormuth@umd.edu.


WASHINGTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance (AKCA) is commending the final affirmative vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission as an important conclusion to a campaign to address unfairly traded Chinese imports of wooden cabinets and vanities. Today's unanimous vote means that antidumping and countervailing duty orders will now go into effect the first week of April.

"Today's ITC vote is a major win for the American kitchen cabinet industry and our American workers," remarked Edwin Underwood, President and COO of Marsh Furniture Company. "This is an extremely important victory for the American kitchen cabinet industry and importantly our great American manufacturing workers. When given a level playing field, the American kitchen industry can compete with anyone in the world."

"The decision rendered by the International Trade Commission helps level the playing field for American kitchen cabinet workers and our great American manufacturing industry," said Mark Trexler, President and CEO at Master WoodCraft Cabinetry. "We look forward to working with our federal enforcement agencies to ensure that China now plays by the rules. Furthermore we commend the International Trade Commission and staff for completing the investigation in difficult circumstances."

While preliminary duties are currently being collected, once the orders are issued, duties will be collected at the final rates, which are higher for most companies. On 24 February 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued antidumping and countervailing duty final determinations. The total antidumping and countervailing duties were as follows: Dalian Meisen 269.91%, Foremost 122.1%, Ancientree 13.33%, with all others 58.89%. Today's ITC vote means that almost all manufacturers that import from China will face final combined AD/CVD cash deposit rates of about 59%. The orders will remain in effect for a minimum of five years, and duty evasion, absorption and circumvention are strictly illegal.

The AKCA is comprised of more than 50 member companies based across the United States. In February 2020, members of the AKCA testified in front of the International Trade Commission to stand up for American workers and protect the historic American industry.

On March 6, 2019, the AKCA initiated one of the largest trade cases ever filed against Chinese imports at the International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce  a case which challenges China's manipulation and unfair trade practices in the wooden cabinet and vanity production industry.

About AKCA:

The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance (AKCA) is a coalition of organizations that have joined forces to fight for American kitchen cabinet workers and our industry. Established in 2019, AKCA is standing up for American workers and supporting the actions of those who oppose China's cheating of America's kitchen cabinet industry. We are proud to support one of the largest trade cases in history filed against China at the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce.

SOURCE American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance
Coronavirus: EU urges Greek plan for refugee camps 'Equipping camps to examine suspected cases and qurantine'

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MARCH 24 - A spokesman for the European Commission said Tuesday that they were in contact with the Greek authorities in relation to the drawing up of a plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They added that the Commission is aware of the overcrowding in refugee camps on Greek islands and that Greece is equipping the camps to be able to examine suspected cases and to impose quarantine. (ANSAmed).




Witnessing the birth of a child is a monumental affair for every parent, especially when it comes to a firstborn. Being able to meet the little one that is half of each parent after a gruelling 9 months for the first time, is an experience a parent can never fully express in wordsbecause it is just so overwhelming.

And it is with a heavy heart that a Malaysian dad, Jack Daniel, missed this opportunity.

I missed the opportunity to help my wife during her hardest time and failed to be her side during the most historical time of our marriage life. I still wouldnt be able to see my baby girl for the next few weeks.

Father Misses Birth of His Firstborn

According to Daniel in a recent Facebook post, he had been separated from his wife and unborn baby in Malaysia due to work commitments in Singapore, following the lockdown in Malaysia to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Jack Daniel / Facebook

Daniel mentioned in his post that his wife was in her third trimester. So when he received news of the lockdown, it only intensified his worry.

His wife had started to experience labour pains and was brought to the hospital on the evening of 21 March. She was later transferred from Hospital Sungai Siput to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun after a high heartbeat rate in his baby was observed.

Precautions against the COVID-19 outbreak were carried out without exceptions.

No one was allowed to go inside the labour room due to the COVID19 outbreak. We were informed [that] even if I (the husband) would not be allowed inside, wrote Daniel.

And that is in line with why Daniel decided to stay in Singapore, instead of rushing to meet the family after receiving the good news.

He explained: Im locking myself from going out from Singapore due to this COVID19 outbreak. I dont want my family members to be infected. I decided to stay because I care.

Being a dad for the first time, while being away from his loved ones definitely put a toll on him as he said: I have to endure all the pressure and tensions of becoming father for the first time virtually.

Story continues

Baby Girl Delivered Safely

Amid all the worries, Daniel said that his wife managed to pull through on her own, delivering a baby girl safely.

Kudos to my wife and she managed everything alone inside by the grace of God, she delivered a baby girl safely around 1.30am.

Father Misses Birth of His Firstborn

Father Misses Birth of His Firstborn: His baby girl was delivered safely! | Photo: Jack Daniel / Facebook

Daniel also expressed his gratitude to the entire medical team who assisted with his wifes safe normal delivery.

He leaves a heartfelt message to his wife in his post: to my dear wife, you are a strong woman, Im sorry that I couldnt be there with you. I love [you] with all my heart and take care of the baby till I come.

Father Misses Birth of His Firstborn: We sacrifice our family needs for you, you please stay at home for us. | Photo: Jack Daniel / Facebook

Be blessed that you are called to be home

While Daniel shares his experience in this touching post, as much as he cares for the health of his family, he also urged everyone to stay at home for the sake of their own safety.

We sacrifice our family needs for you, you please stay at home for us, he ends off his post.

You can view new dad, Jack Daniels full post here:

Also read:

Darren Lim Travels 2,700km On Motorbike Just To Return To Singapore Before Malaysias Lockdown

Malaysia Lockdown: Man Shares Husbands Hilarious Struggles To Help Wives Shop For Groceries

The post Dad Posts Touching Tribute To His Firstborn After Missing Her Birth Due To Malaysia Lockdown appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids.
English Lithuanian

AB Amber Grid, legal entity code: 303090867. Address: Savanoriu pr. 28, LT-03116 Vilnius, Lithuania.

Amber Grid (hereafter, the Company) hereby informs that on 23rd of March 2020 UAB EPSO-G Audit Committee (which also acts as Companys Audit Committee) expressed an opinion about the amendment of the contract which Company is willing to conclude with UAB EPSO-G regarding the lending and borrowing contract signed on 27th of March 2019 (hereafter, the Agreement):

 Agreement is in line with the market conditions;

 Agreement is fair and reasonable with respect to other shareholders of the Company, which are not Party of this agreement, because entering into this contract would positively affect Companys financial results.

The Board of the Company at the meeting held on 24th of March approved the Agreement.

The current three-year group mutual lending and borrowing Agreement has set the maximum borrowing limit for AB Amber Grid to EUR 15M, which is going to be increased to EUR 35M after signing the Agreement.

More information:

Laura Sebekiene,

Head of Communications of Amber Grid,

ph. +370 699 61 246,

e-mail: l.sebekiene@ambergrid.lt


Robyn Cornish, 83, has lived in the Forest Hollow Mobile Home Park for two decades. But she says its only been since new management took over, within the past few years, that her water, and that of the more than 100 other residents, has been sporadically disconnected for days at a time.

Last weekend was the most recent instance and it couldnt have come at a worse time  in the middle of a global pandemic in which people are being encouraged to keep themselves and flat surfaces clean, she said.

And Im diabetic, she said. I need to be drinking water.

Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames on Tuesday afternoon promised another resident of the north Beaumont mobile home complex  one of two who attended the councils general meeting to tell the members how unacceptable they believe it was that the water was turned off  that the city would not again turn off the water during the public health crisis. And a majority of the council members seemed united in pursuing legal action against the landlord.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

City Manager Kyle Hayes said the citys been dealing with the landlord, who now owes $53,000 in water utility charges, for the better part of the last year.

He said the property owner says there are leaks in the water line on the citys side, which has resulted in higher water bills that the landlord has refused to pay. The city, on the other hand, says the leaks are on the property owners side.

Out of the past 10 billing cycles, Hayes said, the property owner has paid his bill in full three times.

According to a lawsuit filed against the city as a result of the water disconnection, if the bills were adjusted for anomalies that the property owner believes are the citys fault, it would seem the accounts are current or very near current.

Related: Gov. Abbott declares state disaster amid coronavirus spread

Additionally, the lawsuit says the city has refused to allow the property owner to have access to the locked meter box or install a flow/shutoff valve on his side of the meter.

Southern Choice Properties, which manages the park, also runs at least three other mobile home parks in Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi. A call to the company was not returned as of press time Monday night.

The lawsuit says the property in the last year has fluctuated between 50 and 78 units, all of which use a single water line.

Hayes said the process to turn off the water in the most recent incident was set in motion weeks ago  long before COVID-19 was a serious concern for Southeast Texas. But the shutoff was delayed by a complaint to the state Public Utility Commission.

Then we gave them seven to 10 days notice that, if you dont make your payment, your water will be cut off March 19, he said in an interview with The Enterprise after the meeting. It was set up in advance.

Related: Jefferson Co. opens first drive-thru test site

The water was turned off Thursday and back on Saturday evening. However, the timeline of bringing the water back online is a point of contention between Ames and council member Mike Getz.

Getz said he reached out to Ames and Hayes by email on Friday, encouraging them to turn the water back on. That email went without a response and the water wasnt turned back on until late the next day  around the same time 136th Civil District Court Judge Baylor Wortham signed an injunction requiring the city to turn the water back on.

Getz also wonders how the city legally could turn off the water during the pandemic, as Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order requiring the delivery of essential services to be continued.

You dont get to use peoples lives as a bargaining chip in the middle of a pandemic, he said, later adding that this situation was caused and continued by the landlord and the city should hold him accountable.

Related: Port Arthur clinic to practice telemedicine after coronavirus closing

The lawsuit says the City Manager indicated that the City didnt care there was a global pandemic ongoing, and the only way to restore service was to pay $30,000 immediately.

However, Ames says she didnt know about the injunction until after the decision to turn the water back on was made. And she helped lead an effort to deliver pallets of water to the resident in the interim.

Neither spoke to why the decision to turn off the water Thursday was allowed to move forward in the first place.

Hayes said the citys procedure is to cut off the water if a payer is two months behind, a process thats driven by a computer system that prints out a daily report of customers who fit that description.

Related: Rural healthcare at risk in big outbreak

However, more than one council member and Hayes on Monday acknowledged that its not the residents fault and other methods need to be taken to recover the overdue bills.

We feel sorry for everything theyve gone through, Hayes said. We, like the mayor stated, are not going to cut off the water during this situation again. It is not their fault at all.

Hayes advised the council that in the future, the city should require apartment complexes, mobile home parks and other multi-family living sites to have individual meters so all renters dont have to be accountable should the landlord not pay the collective bill.

A hearing on Worthams injunction is scheduled for April 1. City Attorney Tyrone Cooper said the city plans to attend that hearing and explain the overdue water bill.

The council also is expected to discuss moving forward with a lawsuit against the property owner during its next executive session.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
ANN ARBOR, MI  A memorial to honor Arthur Fillbrunn, a well-known Ann Arbor panhandler who died last month, is postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Community members who knew Fillbrunn, who died at 66 following a stroke, were planning to gather Wednesday, March 25, at Hathaways Hideaway downtown to pay respects.

Several downtown businesses agreed to pitch in funds and food for the gathering, which was planned in part as a fundraiser for local shelter and mental health services.

But its postponed indefinitely now amid the COVID-19 outbreak, said Paquetta Palmer, one of the organizers.

This crisis hit us like a Mack Truck, she said, expressing hopes of being able to hold the memorial in April or May.

As of now, with the deadly virus still spreading, it remains uncertain when it will be safe for group gatherings again.

Arthur, downtown Ann Arbors well-known panhandler, dies at 66

Its been two weeks since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency after Michigan confirmed its first two COVID-19 cases March 10.

The states total reported cases climbed to 1,328 as of Monday, March 23, including 42 in Washtenaw County.

The majority of cases have been in southeast Michigan, including 411 in Detroit, 227 elsewhere in Wayne County, 329 in Oakland County and 175 in Macomb County.

There were at least 18 confirmed deaths in Michigan from COVID-19 as of Monday. The state website listed 15 but did not include three deaths in Washtenaw County.

One in six COVID-19 cases in Washtenaw County had required hospitalization as of Monday. Experts say the novel coronavirus is about 10 times deadlier than the seasonal flu.

Whitmers stay-at-home executive order took effect Tuesday, March 24, and is currently scheduled to last until April 13.

Assume coronavirus may be present in public places, Washtenaw health officer warns

Fillbrunn, who died shortly before the outbreak hit Ann Arbor, was a fixture on the streets of downtown for over two decades, often roaming the Main Street area.

Many in the community knew him simply as Arthur, and many who didnt at least knew the sound of his crutch clanking down the sidewalk and the usual refrain of his scratchy voice.

Excuse me, the bearded man in the ball cap or winter hat would say to passersby before asking for 50 cents or a buck to get something to eat.

Fillbrunn battled with substance abuse and mental health issues and was homeless off and on, though he lived in public housing before he died, those who knew him said.

He frequented the downtown library for many years, said Ann Arbor District Library Director Josie Parker, who fondly recalled Fillbrunn always acknowledged her with a friendly nod.

I always got a nod, and then he moved on and went about his business and I went about mine, she said.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS AND MLIVE:

Complete coronavirus coverage in Michigan.

Tuesday, March 24: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Literati Bookstore seeks immediate support to stay open

When a week feels like a year: The dramatic change in the University of Michigan campus amid coronavirus

In the midst of coronavirus pandemic, couple says, I do

How to report if your non-essential workplace is still open during Michigans coronavirus stay home order
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to follow social distancing on Tuesday, in his second address to the nation in less than a week, as the coronavirus-related disease cases and deaths mounted with more than 500 people infected and nine killed across the country.

More than a billion people, or nearly 90% of Indias population, are under lockdown as of Tuesday evening with authorities imposing unprecedented measures, including stringent travel restrictions, to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease.

All districts in as many as 32 states and Union territories (UTs) have completely shut down, barring the delivery of essential services.

Experts are saying that social distancing is the only way to deal with the coronavirus crisis across the globe. There is no other way to deal with coronavirus and we need to save ourselves. And we have to break the cycle of its infection, the Prime Minister said.

He called out people to remove all doubts about who has to follow the practice of social distancing.

Some people are under the impression that social distancing is only for Covid-19 patients  it is for every member of the family and even the prime minister. And the wrong impressions and thoughts can bring a lot of trouble to their families, friends and the even the entire country, he said.

People will have to pay dearly and it will unimaginable, he warned.

The Prime Minister had tweeted earlier in the day that he will address the country on the fast-spreading disease with flu-like symptoms to share some important things.

In a television address last Thursday, Modi highlighted the threat posed by the Sars-Cov-2 virus, which causes the disease, and appealed to people to practise social distancing and work from home. He had also asked Indians to take a pledge to keep themselves and others in the society safe.

He had requested citizens to observe a Janta Curfew (peoples curfew), which was in place for 14 hours on Sunday - from 7 am to 9 pm. And, people stayed off the roads and public places during this period.

Since then, India has announced unprecedented restrictions, including travel curbs, to stop the infection. As many as 32 states and Union Territories, including Delhi, are under complete lockdown.

On Monday, Modi appealed to state governments to ensure the adherence to the unprecedented measures announced in several parts of the country, saying that many people are still not taking the situation seriously.

And then, again on Twitter, Modi said he called upon industry leaders to continue following the work-from-home order as much as possible.

The Prime Minister had also expressed concern in a tweet that many were not taking the lockdown seriously.

Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed, he had tweeted in Hindi.
A woman who was infected with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship has become Australia's eighth COVID-19 death.

Health authorities say the woman, in her 70s, died in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday.

She was one of the initial three cases confirmed aboard the Ruby Princess and was taken to a hospital on Thursday.

So far, 133 passengers from the Ruby Princess have tested positive since the ship docked in Sydney following a 11-day New Zealand cruise.

The 2,700 passengers had been cleared to go home without self-isolating because the cruise was regarded as low risk.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mohamed abu Daga and his bride Israa, wearing face masks, are allowed to have their wedding ceremony in Palestine

Northern Ireland couples due to get married in the coming weeks have been left devastated by new measures to control the spread of coronavirus.

Every year in Northern Ireland there are between 8,000 and 8,500 marriages at an average cost of just over 33,000 - contributing between 264m and 280m to the economy.

Julie-Anne Robertson, who owns EP Design - a wedding planning company in Portadown - said she is being contacted every day by distressed couples.

She said: "Even before the Prime Minister made his announcements, couples who had weddings planned right up until the end of June were realising they would need to postpone their wedding.

"This is what we have been urging clients to do rather than cancelling it, because we are actually all in this together and wedding suppliers recognise that not only is this terrible for the wedding couple, it is not ideal for them either.

"They want to come up with a solution that makes everyone happy or at least the best of a bad situation."

Cancelled weddings mean cancelled honeymoons, and Coleraine-based travel counsellor Briege McAuley said this is something the industry is coming to terms with.

She said: "The impact on couples having to cancel wedding plans varies depending on their honeymoon but a lot of the airlines at the moment are allowing free changes and hotels are allowing free cancellation.

"If the airlines and hotels continue to refund everything, the travel industry is going to go bust, so the industry is trying to get new directives from the Government."

The ripple effect of a cancelled or postponed wedding affects florists, hair and make-up artists, musicians, and photographers, many of whom are self-employed.

David Coote, a photographer from Co Down, said he is facing unemployment for the first time in 30 years because of the impact cancellations and postponements are having on the business.

He said: "For the past week-and-a-half bookings I have had for the next three months or so have either been cancelled or postponed.

"This really creates a cash flow issue when you are self-employed because obviously my bills are still coming in.

"Hopefully the Government will address the issues facing the self-employed because at the moment I am sort of unemployed for the first time in nearly 30 years," he added.

Case study

A Belfast bride-to-be is among those forced to postpone her dream wedding due to Covid-19.

Becca Harper and Tim Atkinson, from Dundonald, were due to get married on Saturday in Belfasts Titanic Hotel after two years of planning and spending 20,000.

Their big day has now been postponed until November due to venues closing and travel bans being imposed to deal with the pandemic.

The couples wedding was booked for 125 guests with around 50 of these due to travel from England, Scotland and Wales.

Their two-week honeymoon in Canada has also been cancelled and provisionally replaced with a trip to Iceland and the US.

Becca, who turns 30 tomorrow, says she and Tim (37) were forced to make the difficult decision after further lockdown measures were announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

She said: I rang the hotel and they only had one Saturday available for the whole of the year on November 14 so we took it. As much as we would have loved to get married this weekend, were not upset but instead excited about our new date. For us the priority was to do the right thing socially to ensure everyone will be safe and well.

The last thing we would have wanted was to go ahead this weekend and put our family and friends at risk. So many of them are nurses and doctors working on the front line, she said.

We hope to give them a party to remember in November to say thank you for all theyre doing.

Lauren Harte
As several airlines grounded thousands of aircrafts amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak, they are facing an unprecedented problem finding a place to park them. As per reports, taxiways, maintenance hangars and even runways at major airports are being transformed into giant parking lots for more than 2,500 airliners. The number of flights in the storage has doubled to more than 5,000 since the start of the year, according to Cirium data, with more airlines are expected to be parked in the coming weeks. Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd have reportedly further announced cuts to flight schedules, as per reports.

READ: Private Jets Companies Thrive As Airlines Go Bankrupt Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

Dunno, this is a runway at ATL that has been closed off to accommodate parked aircraft. Maybe the lines are bad because passenger demand far outweighs flight availability,airport staffing and flight availability. pic.twitter.com/OW8fISAH1F  Brigitte Combs (@AbeilleCombs) March 22, 2020

FlightRadar24 data

Germany's biggest airport, Frankfurt has been reportedly converted to an aircraft parking lot for Lufthansa, Condor and other airlines. Lufthansa has rented parking spots at a military airport close to Zurich, as per reports. Similarly, scores of planes are parked at other major airports, including Hong Kong, Seoul, Berlin and Vienna as well as traditional desert parking lots in Victorville, California, and Marana, Arizona, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.

In Manila, Philippines Airlines jets are parked in the Lufthansa Technik Philippines hangar, an airline official reportedly said. Smaller airports have also been converted to parking lots. As per reports, Melbourne airport also expects to take 50 planes from Qantas and its low-cost airline, Jetstar, according to the airport's chief executive, Justin Giddings.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak Wipes $157 Billion Off The Share Value Of Biggest Airlines

$157 billion loss for airlines

According to international media, the outbreak COVID-19 has wiped 41%, or $157 billion, off the share value of the world's 116 listed airlines, with many using up their cash so fast they can now cover less than two months of expenses. Meanwhile, the industry's main global body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), estimates the sector needs up to $200 billion in government support to help airlines survive.

READ: Air India Allows Crew To Work From Home, Other Airlines To Follow Suit

READ: Coronavirus: Puri Seeks Protection For Airline Staffers Being Harassed By Neighbours
The school and college shutdown is being extended until Monday April 20 at the earliest, but no decision has been taken in relation to the State written exams in June.

The Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle exams are still scheduled to go ahead as normal, but that could change, depending on the spread of Covid-19 in the community.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the extension as part of a wider package of measures to restrict the spread of the virus.

However, Maynooth University (MU) will not be re-opening for face-to-face lectures for the rest of the academic year, it has announced.

The university made the announcement amid the uncertainty over how long the Covid-19 crisis will last.

Maynooth said the uncertainty has caused additional stress for some students.

Earlier, Education Minister Joe McHugh said they wanted to make the State exams to happen but they would be influenced public health officials.

Speaking on Galway Bay FM today, the minister said: "We dont know where we are going to be in terms of the peak of this virus."

But he added: "I think we owe it to those young people who are studying and putting in the effort to see this through to try to have these exams this year. When I say this year, I mean the dates that are defined for this year. Thats what we are working towards."

In the worst case scenario, schools would not return until the end of August/ September, more than five months after closing their doors on March 12.

The extended shutdown leaves little time for post-primary schools, which wrap up by the end of May anyway, to resume in a meaningful way in the current academic year.

The primary school year continues to the end of June, so that offers more latitude for a resumption of classes at the countrys 3,000 primary schools, if circumstances allow.

While the orals and practicals, which were due to start his week, have been cancelled, running the written exams is now the top priority of the Department of Education.

However, if it is too problematic to run all the exams, the Leaving Cert will get priority.

Some 126,000 students are entered for the June exams  61,053 due to sit the Leaving Cert and 65,190 at Junior Cycle level.

Institutes of technology ( IoTs) have ruled out the use of traditional exam halls for end of year assessments.

The Technological Higher Education Association (THEA), the umbrella organisation representing the institutes and TU Dublin, said assessments will respect social distancing.

Individual colleges will be in touch with their students about the revised arrangements for different courses, which will include online assessment and more extensive use of continuous assessment.

THEA said colleges were committed to ensuring that the cohort of 2020 was not delayed or disadvantaged through the current crisis.
New Delhi: Bigg Boss 13 fame contestants Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill are back to the trends list and how! Soon after their first-ever music video together - Bhula Dunga - hit online SidNaaz, as they are fondly called, started trending on Twitter. The song was also one of the top trends. The romantic song showcases sizzling chemistry between Sidharth and Shehnaaz and is about love and pain. Their fans have given a perfect 10 to them and on YouTube, Bhula Dunga is trending on #1 with close to 7 million views (and counting) in just a few hours.

The soulful number has been composed by Darshan Raval while the lyrics courtesy goes to Gurpreet Saini and Gautam Sharma.

Watch Bhula Dunga here.

Bhula Dunga was one of the most-awaited music videos as it stars Sidharth and Shehnaaz, who enjoy a massive fan-following. Before launching the song, the duo even went live on Instagram to interact with their followers and Shehnaaz requested her fans to "make the song a hit".

Loved their chemistry, watching this on repeat, read a comment posted on the YouTube thread. Another user commented, "Sidharth and Shehnaaz's scenes are so well made. Their chemistry looks so natural."

Sidharth and Shehnaaz's relationship was one of the most talked-about topics of 'Bigg Boss 13' and this song is totally a treat to their fans.

Did you like Bhula Dunga? Tell us in the comments section below.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that a "tsunami wave" of coronavirus cases will crash in the next two to three weeks on the healthcare system of the state, which is the epicentre of the infection in the US with 157 deaths.

"New York City was seeing double of the number of cases every two and a half days -- that can take your breath away. That curve they keep talking about that we have to flatten -- the curve -- that's not a curve that is a wave, a tsunami," Cuomo said.

Appearing on a CNN show, Cuomo said, "This wave is going to crash over our healthcare system. It will crash anywhere from 10 days to three weeks (from now), it is going to overwhelm the system," he said.

The US now has at least 42,663 coronavirus cases and 541 deaths. For the first time on Monday, the US reported more than 100 deaths in a single day due to the virus.

After the initial cases were reported in Seattle, New York State has now become the epicentre of the outbreak in America. The state has been the hardest hit with a total of 20,875 cases and 157 deaths.

New York City alone has seen 13,119 cases. The city's high population density has triggered fears of the virus spreading further and faster.

At a White House briefing, White House's Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah L Birx said nearly 1 in 1,000 people in the region have contracted the virus, an "attack rate" five times that of other areas.

Cuomo has signed an executive order requiring all hospitals to increase capacity by a minimum of 50 per cent with a goal of increasing capacity by 100 per cent.

To cater to the hospital capacity, the governor said the State Department of Financial Services is requesting that health insurers disclose the number of nurses, doctors and other health professionals they employ so the state can reach out to those employees and ask them to temporarily serve in the medical field during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor also announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of a new experimental drug in New York on a compassionate care basis to help treat COVID-19 patients.

The trial will use antibody injections to help stimulate and promote individuals' immune systems against the virus.

Further, Cuomo announced an initial delivery of hospital supplies to Jacob K Javits Center, a sprawling convention centre in Manhattan, where The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started to build a 1,000-bed temporary hospital that will boost New York's medical capacity.

The Jacob K Javits hospital, which will open next week, is in addition to the four sites selected by the Army Corps of Engineers that will create temporary medical facilities in downstate New York with total capacity up to 4,000.

The federal administration has deployed 339,760 N-95 masks, 861,700 surgical masks, 353,300 gloves, 145,122 gowns and 197,085 face shields to New York State with many state supplies already sent to the Javits Center.

Cuomo voiced grave concern over the lack of sufficient ventilators in the state to deal with the growing number of cases.

He said the federal government has sent 500 ventilators to the state but that is a small percent of the actual requirement.

"We can scramble and create beds. We won't have the equipment and we won't have the ventilators. I have been saying for weeks we need 30,000 ventilators. I've been saying it publicly, I've been requesting from the federal agencies. They've sent 500 ventilators, we need 30,000 ventilators. If you don't have the ventilator, a person who needs the ventilator will die without the ventilator. It's a respiratory disease," Cuomo said.

Earlier, the New York governor had said that there is need to ensure "economic viability" and pivot to a more functional economy.

He said whether young people and persons with strong immunities could resume to work was being looked into.

"There has to be a balance or parallel tracks that we're going down. We're talking about public health, we're talking about isolation, we're talking about protecting protecting lives. There also has to be a parallel track that talks about economic viability," Cuomo said.

"I take total responsibility for shutting off the economy in terms of essential workers. But we also have to start to plan the pivot back to economic functionality. You can't stop the economy forever," Cuomo said.

He added that there is need to think about whether everyone stays out of work and for how long.

Cuomo has implemented the New York State on 'pause' executive order, a 10-point policy to ensure safety for everyone.

It includes a new directive that all non-essential businesses statewide must close in-office personnel functions effective at 8 pm on Sunday and temporarily ban all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason.

When in public individuals must practice social distancing of at least six feet from others and young people should also practice social distancing and avoid contact with vulnerable populations.

Cuomo said the state has implemented New York 'pause' and "we have to start thinking about New York 'forward' that will require thinking about how to restart or transition to a restart of the economy.

He said the state of New York has tested 78,000 cases and as of Sunday about 25 per cent of all the testing nationwide is being produced in New York. New York state has about 20,000 positive cases state-wide.

Currently 13 per cent of the cases are hospitalised and of this 24 per cent require ICU and ventilator facilities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Port Arthur clinic that closed after one of its employees tested positive for coronavirus will begin telemedicine services this week in an effort to help lower income residents maintain access to medical care during the pandemic and accompanying economic turmoil, its director said Monday.

We have the room, but I see the gaps in access being exacerbated as people are laid off and potentially lose their insurance, said Dr. Marsha Thigpen, CEO and executive director of Gulf Coast Health Center.

The Gulf Coast clinic on Memorial Boulevard announced late Sunday that it was closing for 14 days for a deep cleaning and that at least 30 staff members are working from home under quarantine. The infected employee  identified only as a medical provider  came in contact with 18 patients last week before going into quarantine upon learning they had been exposed to a COVID-19-infected person during an out-of-state trip. The worker was tested Friday, and the clinic got the positive result on Saturday night.

Clinic locations in Jasper, Silsbee, Orange and West Port Arthur are still open, and Thigpen said the rest of the 100-person staff at the Memorial Boulevard location had been dispersed elsewhere.

Pharmacies at Walgreens and Walmart have agreed to provide patients short-term supplies at a discount until they can use Gulf Coasts pharmacies again. The discount for certain medications may be limited.

Thigpen said Monday afternoon that the clinic was about 36 hours away from beginning the remote services.

Gulf Coast had actually purchased its telemedicine equipment six months previously and was taking steps to eventually complete the permitting process to facilitate the return of psychiatric services, but an immediate path was cleared after a declaration from Gov. Greg Abbott waived some regulations.

The clinic had tested about 10 patients who qualified under public health guidelines for the coronavirus. Thigpen said it had only about a dozen tests available.

We had been given assurances that we would be getting more testing kits soon, but weve been more worried about running low on protective equipment (for staff), she said. Weve been given word from the county that they would be trying to assist as soon as supplies come in.

County Commissioner Shane Sinegal, who represents the Port Arthur area, said he was concerned by the testing delays in Jefferson County. He also said medical providers serving the citys vulnerable populations need more support.

Weve confronted things like AIDS and ebola in the past, but this virus has shown some weaknesses and gaps we are going to have to address, he said. (Tropical Storm) Harvey showed things we needed to make a priority that we just werent before. This virus has done that also.

Port Arthur lost one of its two hospitals last fall when Christus Southeast Texas decided to shutter St. Mary Hospital.

The facility had fewer than 7,000 admissions between 2013 and 2014 and 56,600 ER visits during the same period, but was heavily used by some of the most vulnerable patients in the community. Currently 3 in 10 residents in Port Arthur live in poverty and one-third of the population does not have health insurance.

Sinegal said people in the area have come to rely on clinics like Gulf Coast Health Center, which sees patients with or without insurance, and the nonprofit community clinic Ibn Sina Foundation.

Gulf Coast sees about 20,000 patients in some 65,000 appointments a year.

Thigpen said it wants to continue to be the medical provider for Southeast Texas patients in need and will continue to take on appointments, but sees the need for their services increasing in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/jdickjournalism
Surprise! There is an all-new Eternals comic available now from Marvel

A globe-trotting story about the Eternals vs. Deviants in the 500 Year War
Disney has said it hopes to provide some much-needed moments of respite for families during the coronavirus crisis as it launched its long-anticipated streaming service in the UK and Ireland.

Disney+, which has also launched in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland, after a roll-out in the US in November, will debut with at least 25% less bandwidth to ease pressure on internet service providers during the outbreak.

It will be home to more than 500 films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, 26 exclusive original movies and series, and thousands of television episodes, including the Star Wars spin-off The Mandarlorian and more than 300 episodes of The Simpsons.

The wait is over! TODAY ISTHE DAY! pic.twitter.com/jhfuz2vGDP  Disney+ UK (@DisneyPlusUK) March 24, 2020

The company warned it has had to close some of its Disney+ customer services centres due to the coronavirus outbreak and customers should expect longer than normal wait times for live chat and phone support this week, suggesting people visit the online Disney+ Help Centre at https://help.disneyplus.com/csp.

Kevin Mayer, chairman of Walt Disney direct-to-consumer & international, said: Launching in seven markets simultaneously marks a new milestone for Disney+.

As the streaming home for Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and National Geographic, Disney+ delivers high-quality, optimistic storytelling that fans expect from our brands, now available broadly, conveniently, and permanently on Disney+.

We humbly hope that this service can bring some much-needed moments of respite for families during these difficult times.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, weve had to close some of our Disney+ customer service centres & expect longer than normal wait times for live chat/phone support this week. For answers to common questions & tips to navigate Disney+, visit our Help Centre: https://t.co/Gh0bNDOH9o  Disney+ UK (@DisneyPlusUK) March 23, 2020

Discussing launching the service in the middle of the pandemic, Ricky Strauss, president of Disney+ content and marketing, told the PA new agency: We are, all of us in the world that we live in, facing really challenging times.

Video of the Day

Our focus at the moment is the same focus we had when we launched from the beginning here in the US and some other markets in November, which is to provide quality content and storytelling, and have the benefit of the backlog of our catalogue to entertain people and to provide hours of incredible content from the Walt Disney Company, and that continues to be our focus and our mandate.
By PTI

NEW YORK: An Indian-origin physician has been indicted in the US's Ohio state for sex trafficking and illegally distributing a controlled substance.

A federal grand jury in Toledo returned the two-count indictment, according to which Manish Raj Gupta, 49, a plastic surgeon, from August to September of 2016 used force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to compel a woman, to engage in commercial sex by drugging her without her consent or knowledge.

He also allegedly committed sexual acts on her while she was unconscious which he recorded.

The court records also stated Gupta often travelled to Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Detroit for medical conferences and hire escorts in centrally located hotels.
The Togetherness of Social Distancing

Commentary

As the coronavirus stops normal life, trapping more Americans in their homes, some have raised the specter of another health threat: loneliness. Before this crisis seized our anxieties, much discussion centered around the dangers of perceived social isolation and feeling cut off from others.

A 2015 analysis by Brigham Young University found loneliness is a bigger cause of early death than obesity. And so we must ask: Is all this social distancingstaying away from other humans as a way to curb the virus spreadadding to loneliness?

No, on the contrary. With everyone in the same boat, those who felt alone may now sense they have company. The popular hashtag #alonetogether captures the seeming contradiction.

Its one thing to sit home by yourself and see everyone else enjoying friends, family and a good time out. But if everyone is stuck home on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights, its harder to feel that youre deprived of companionship and others arent.

Not going places has freed up timeand the needfor communicating with fellow humans by phone, email, texting and social media. People I rarely see have been connecting with me, ending their communications with please stay in touch.

Ive heard from an Italian friend in Turin, a coronavirus hot spot in full lockdown. Once hopeful, Donatos emails grow more desperate by the day. His last one predicts that Americans will soon share the tragedy now visiting Italy. Is that some sort of consolation, that Italy is not alone in its suffering? He asks that I keep writing, and I do, every day.

Id been out of touch with my cousin Janet when she messaged me on Twitter from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Having just returned from London, she was stuck in massive crowds trying to get through screening at the airport.

For an hour we tweeted back and forth. She described the crazy situation at the airport, and I sent links of new reports on the mess she and airline passengers elsewhere were experiencing. I was also easing her boredom.

My friend Don is a teacher in New York City. Hes giving lessons remotely, which he could do from anywhere, including far from the citys coronavirus outbreak. Don has received offers to be hosted out of town. He wants to stay in the city, however, so he can experience and share his students struggles.

My 95-year-old aunt lives in an assisted living facility in Florida. Before this pandemic, Aunt Shirley had been a bit depressed living among other old people who were, in her words, on their last legs. She mourned the loss of her vital self.

Needless to say, the coronavirus has shrunk her physical world further. No resident may leave the building. No visitors may enter. Of course, all the communal activities have been canceled.

Well, thats now everyones life.

When she called this week, Aunt Shirley was unexpectedly chipper. No longer just another old lady getting through the day in a cloistered institution, she was part of a larger mobilizationnot unlike the Great Depression or the world war she knew all about. She now has a commanding role as family matriarch, checking in on and advising the younger folks. And were all calling Aunt Shirley more frequently.

Ironically, demands for social distancing are forcing some Americans into closer proximity. A friend in Houston reports that her bookshop job has been frozen to minimize contact with others. But with her sons colleges closed, Amanda is now overseeing a house packed with three children and a husband working from home.

Good luck to them. Good luck to everyone. Were all occupying the same strange times, and thats a form of togetherness, isnt it?

Froma Harrop is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, Harrop has worked on the Reuters business desk, edited economics reports for The New York Times News Service, and served on the Providence Journal editorial board. She has written for such diverse publications as The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, and Institutional Investor.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Lehigh Valley real estate agents are finding creative ways to show homes without homebuyers stepping on a property.

The changes are coming in an effort to thwart the spread of COVID-19. By Monday afternoon, Pennsylvania surpassed 600 total cases of the new coronavirus with a jump of 165 new reports of COVID-19 in the last day. The latest figures put the state total at 644 as of Monday afternoon.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all non life-sustaining businesses to close its doors on March 19. Conventional open houses, previously held for multiple hours on a weekend for those wanting to see a property, no longer meet essential guidelines. The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors has since instructed all agents to cease in-person real estate services and only offer services that can be performed remotely without in-person, physical interaction.

The result is utilizing interactive listings, virtual reality home tours, 3D home staging, and livestream virtual open houses to put potential homebuyers in a home without anyone having to physically leave a home. The methods go beyond buyers clicking through photo galleries on a listing or watching a one-size-fits-all standard video tour of a property, said Rebecca L. Decker Francis, who leads The Rebecca Francis Team affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach.

Francis used a livestream virtual open house this past weekend of a Lower Saucon Township property. The virtual showing took potential buyers room-by-room, stopping to point out features such as hardwood flooring, a living room fireplace, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a back yard paver patio. Guests were able to linger in a bathroom or the master suite, taking as much time as needed to look around, Francis said.

Potential buyers also were able to ask questions via a live chat feature. Francis said while some who logged on to the new technology had visited the property prior to pandemic, the virtual endeavor in total generated 40 logged-on guests, several placing bids and an agreement reached by Sunday evening.

Open houses are an integral part of the home buying and selling process," she said. This was not unexpected, but the situation has escalated quickly, and our team is agile enough to adapt. Real estate doesnt stop. Sellers need to sell their homes, and there are buyers still looking for their forever home."

Marissa Burkholder, a real estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roachs Allentown office, said if she physically must enter a home, shell wear booties on her feet, gloves over her hands and ask homeowners to leave closet doors open so she doesnt have to touch doorknobs. Potential buyers dealing with Berkshire Hathaway are being asked to submit forms as a precaution stating they havent recently been out of the country, dont exhibit signs of fever and arent sick. Documents between buyers, sellers and real estate agents can be submitted electronically, she said.

Burkholder recently had a videographer gather footage of a development where new construction was readying to be built. The videographer was able to capture the propertys surrounding 70 acres and profile the local agent a potential buyer would be working with. The process, Burkholder said, can make things seem somewhat normal again to buyers.

Its familiarizing them before we have phone chats ... this gives a more personal approach, she added.

Other measures, such as 3D home staging, can help sellers position their homes differently without having to physically move any furniture. Its also not unheard of for a seller to Facebook Live an activity going on in the home as a fun way to show off the space to potential buyers, real estate agents say.

Creighton Faust, a real estate broker with RE/MAX Central, said its all about thinking outside the box to iron out the contracts during an unprecedented time.

There are some who are in urgent need of housing for whatever reason -- their house sold, job relocation, etc -- so there is activity out there, he said. Our challenge with these now is getting them through the pipeline with inspections, title searches, appraisals, etc, which I believe can be done.

Another obstacle in the wake of the pandemic is the fear agreements could potentially fall through in the event a potential buyer loses a job and cant secure a loan. A COVID-19 addendum by Pennsylvania Association of Realtors could help potentially extend the timeline for a closing if need be if both the buyer and seller agree to it, Francis said.

Buyers and sellers under agreement could change their minds, she said. They might say were out; well lose our deposit. Were too afraid. People being cautious is an understatement."

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Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming, antibiotics have saved millions of lives from fatal infections world-wide. However, with time bacteria have developed mechanisms to escape the effects of antibiotics - they have become resistant.

With fewer antibiotics available to treat resistant bacterial infections, the possibility of entering a pre-antibiotic era is looming ahead.

Alternative strategies are being explored and helper compounds are attracting attention. Helper compounds are non-antibiotic compounds with the capability of enhancing the efficacy of antibiotics.

How to boost antibiotics

One such helper compound has been suspected to be cannabidiol (CBD); a cannabinoid from the cannabis plant. Now a research team from University of Southern Denmark, has published a scientific study proving the effect of CBD.

Janne Kudsk Klitgaard is Principal Investigator and corresponding author. First author is PhD student Claes Sndergaard Wassmann. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

When we combined CBD and antibiotics, we saw a more powerful effect than when treating with antibiotics alone. So, in order to kill a certain number of bacteria, we needed less antibiotics, they say.

Bacteria clones spread globally

In the study, CBD was used to enhance the effect of the antibiotic bacitracin against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria; a major human pathogen that frequently causes community- and hospital-acquired disease.

Multidrug-resistant clones of this pathogen have spread globally. In some countries, treatment of bacterial infections with these resistant bacteria are difficult and the problem is projected to be an ever-larger problem in the future.

According to the researchers, the combination of CBD and antibiotics may be a novel treatment of infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria.

How do the bacteria die?

Three things happened with the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, when the researchers treated them with the combination in their study:

The bacteria could no longer divide normally.

The expression of certain key genes (cell division and autolysis genes) in the bacteria was lowered.

The bacterial membrane became unstable.

Anti-resistance must be stopped

According to the researchers, overuse of antibiotics is the main cause of antibiotic resistance.

If we combine an antibiotic with a helper compound, that enhances the effect of the antibiotic, we need less antibiotic to achieve the same effect. This may contribute to the development of fewer resistant bacteria, says Janne Kudsk Klitgaard.

###

In another, not affiliated study, led by Eric D. Brown, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University in Canada, researchers have found that another cannabis compound, CBG cured mice of MRSA infections as effectively as vancomycin, a drug widely considered to be the last line of defence against drug-resistant microbes. This study is currently under review at the ACS Infectious Diseases journal.
A junior doctor today issued a moving appeal to members of the public as she urged them to stay indoors and 'prevent further avoidable deaths.'

Dr Katie Sanderson, a junior doctor in Acute Medicine at a London hospital, pleaded with listeners to 'stop and think before leaving their house' as she spoke to BBC Radio 4 this morning.

The 32-year-old told the show she had been 'reduced to tears in the work loos' after seeing pictures of 'huge crowds on Clapham Common and Highbury Fields' and people queuing 'unsafely' up and down the country.

Dr Sanderson said she was now forced to ask coronavirus patients and their loved ones whether they 'want to die in hospital or at home.'

She told MailOnline: 'I am 32 and I have colleagues in intensive care who are in their 30s. A friend who is 28 told me they had made their will.

'Really, really, take this seriously. I have heard people say, I want to get coronavirus so that I will be immune. It doesnt work like that.

'If you do not take this seriously, you are condemning someone to potentially dying with a nurse they dont know, because we are not allowing visitors in hospitals. That, or dying at home.

'That is the reality of it.'

Dr Sanderson has also asked for companies or entrepreneurs to supply mobile phones for free to hospital patients who are isolated, and unable to talk to their families.

Dr Sanderson wears cherry red clogs to work, which she says 'cheer her up' during what is an incredibly difficult time for NHS workers

Dr Sanderson told MailOnline today: 'I am doing something I feel profoundly uncomfortable doing, so please, do something you feel uncomfortable doing too.

'Challenge someone if you think they are doing something dangerous; anything you see that is dangerous. Dont just think someone else is going to do it.

'Have difficult conversations with your families.

'I am not telling people to be a policeman, but I dont see people who are having these difficult conversations enough.'

Dr Sanderson told Radio 4 the situation across the UK, 'is involving incredibly rapidly.'

She added: 'Last week our A&E completely transformed and is now seeing large numbers of patients coming in every day.

'Im having conversations with patients and families of patients asking if they want to die in hospital, where were not allowed to have visitors, or if they want to die at home.

'Theyre conversations that last week I cannot have imagined having.'

She also warned that while London may be the epicentre of coronavirus cases at present, the rest of the UK will soon be affected.

She said: 'Even if this is not the situation in hospitals outside London yet, things are going to evolve incredibly rapidly there and what I would say is; dont think about hospital bed numbers, intensive care, capacity today.

'Think about where we will be tomorrow, the day after, next week.

'I love my job and I want to spend the rest of my working life working in palliative care, looking after people who are dying. Healthcare workers have chosen to devote their working lives to looking after the sick and the dying.

'We will look after your relatives with compassion, with care and love.

'But I do not want to be overwhelmed by tears in a loo at work because somebody sends me a picture today of people queuing unsafely.

'This is going to be hard enough as it is and what we need you to do is make sure that every person sits down this morning before they leave their house, reads the guidance, stops and thinks about it and how you will interpret it and behaves as safely as possible.

'We have had preventable transmissions of this deadly infection over the weekend and yesterday.'

Ambulances outside an NHS centre in London yesterday as hospitals anxiously await further coronavirus admissions

Nurses at Northwick Park Hospital

Dr Sanderson then issued a desperate plea to members of the public to stop and think about how they can help others.

'What I want every single person in this country to think this morning  is how we can have not a single further preventable death or preventable transmission of this infection and that doesnt involve waiting for further clarification of the guidance, somebody cannot tell you what to do every second of the day.'

Asked if the government has been strict enough, she added: 'I dont think it matters, it is not a time for recrimination or criticism of government policy, I am sure the time will come when our response to this problem will be dissected.

'I want to join my voice with voice of Boris Johnson  which is not something I thought I would say  and say please dont think about the mistakes we have made, please start the clock again.

'It is the 24th of march. We can make sure that there is not a single further preventable death that could be your mother, it could be you.

'There are healthcare professionals in intensive care now who are my age - Im 32. Please, please, please dont spend your time talking today about mistakes that may have been made just think about what you can do to save lives.'

'People today have been out infecting others, some of whom will die needlessly': Junior doctor's impassioned email urging friends and family to take care and to 'challenge dangerous behaviour' Dr Katie Sanderson sent this email - with the subject line, 'Cherry red clogs', to her friends and family on Monday morning. In it, she details her account of working with patients who have coronavirus. Many firsts on Sunday, one of which is sending an email that may be forwarded to people I don't know, but here goes. Apologies first, that this is likely to be somewhat incoherent and is repeating information that I have sent to some of you already. I qualified as a doctor in 2017. I did a night shift on Thursday, and went back to work on Sunday. I couldn't have imagined what I was coming back to. I was one of the most blase about coronavirus a couple of weeks ago. But after today I feel a searing sense of shame that I did not do more earlier to furnish people with the information they desperately need to know about this virus. This is a terrible illness. It affects people of my age (32), without underlying health conditions, so severely that many have needed hospitalisation. And it is a fatal illness for many people who are older and/or have underlying health conditions. We are still in the very early days of dealing with coronavirus, and it is a steep learning curve for all of us. We are working under huge pressures in ways that are changing as we speak. I am begging you to act now. Challenge any behaviour that is dangerous. As anyone who knows me can tell you, writing this email is an act of supreme discomfort for me, and I have been up since 5am. If I can do it so can you. Challenge young people who think they won't become ill, or that it doesnt matter if they do. People today have been out infecting others, some of whom will die needlessly. If they themselves don't become seriously ill, they are potentially contributing to the death of somebody the age of their parents. This is through a tragic lack of accurate information, which you can help to combat. Unnecessary social contact means this: does my life depend on this social contact? I make no claim at all to be a public health expert, but this is the advice that I have given to my family and those I love based on what I am seeing. What is social distancing? We are trying to keep our spirits up but this makes it difficult. So we all need to focus on what we CAN do. I work in an absolutely fantastic hospital. My colleagues never cease to amaze me  they are incredibly skilled, kind, compassionate, and they will look after you and your loved ones with care and dignity. We are adapting with great speed, and in another day, another week, another two weeks, we will be better at this. We will have more testing, and better information about this disease. But it will be very hard for us if we are inundated with patients who have been needlessly infected because people did not have the information they needed at the right time. Do not panic. We will look after you. But what you can do is to please listen to those of us who are working on the wards, accept our apologies if we (I speak for myself) haven't acted fast enough, and make this your mission. This is hard enough for us in the hospitals as it is. I do not want to spend precious moments crying in the loo because I am being sent messages by my family and friends saying there are huge crowds on Clapham Common and Highbury Fields. I am speaking in an individual capacity, and have various ideas for how to help that I thought I would share. My thinking on this situation has changed very rapidly and I dont know how sensible these thoughts are, but maybe this is something people wiser than myself could think about. Access to phones We currently have a policy of no visitors to most of the hospital that I work in. I imagine this is likely to become a widespread policy. Because of this, it is important that any Covid-19 patient has access to a charged phone so that they can be in communication with their relatives. I cannot do anything about this personally but there clearly are people who can. I imagine we will need more basic phones as well as smart phones, as some people find these difficult to use, and cannot learn instantly. Respect hospital visiting rules Please encourage people you know to respect hospital visiting policies. We are finding it heart-breaking enough to exclude people, but if we have to resort to thinking about contacting hospital security to remove someone it will be even more terrible. Please don't put us in this position. Everybody is in the same boat and we will look after your relative with the dignity and compassion with which would want our own relatives to be looked after. Minimise contact We are trialling minimising our contact by having one doctor going into a room with another of us documenting outside the room listening to the assessment on the phone, and experimenting with phoning patients where this does not compromise care. My phone has gone flat countless times today. I will leave this thought with you as I don't think I can realistically do anything about this. Music for patients I looked after a man in 2017 who died listening to extraordinarily beautiful music on Radio 3  I think he died listening to an old recording of Beatrice Harrison playing the Elgar Cello Concerto with the LSO. I am going to be at work and have no way to facilitate this, but perhaps there is a way for those in hospital or dying to be able to listen to music if they want to. I realise this is not everybody's taste in music. In my experience there is massive variation in access to TVs/radios/phones in different hospitals. I want to conclude by saying how extraordinarily fortunate I feel. I am not religious, but I feel blessed. I work wearing a pair of cherry red clogs lent to me by my most stylish friend (bar one). Pathetic as it sounds, I am cheered up every time I see them poking out of my scrubs. I have a freezer full of food cooked for me by my amazing cousin A, and by my father (which I feel somewhat less enthusiastic about, but am equally grateful for). I am staying in a flat lent to me by my generous aunt and uncle. I am driving to work in a car lent to me by my parents. Every day I write a note asking not to be given a parking ticket and put it in the windscreen. And I have not received a parking ticket. The generosity of my family and friends knows no bounds. I drive to work and home talking to friends and family, or listening to playlists that they have sent me. I work with some of the best people I know, who are putting their lives at risk unquestioningly (today, notably, a D and B, an E, an O and another K, some working across different trusts and in the community). I have never felt so grateful to be alive. If medicine has taught me anything, it is that life is precious. Please do something that is uncomfortable for you, if it means that you might help somebody else. I am doing something I find excruciatingly embarrassing. I could mention so many people but am going to head for bed. Know that I am thinking of the people I love as I sit in my empty flat, having banished a couple of wonderful and motley house guests. Look after all the doctors, nurses, managers, administrators, porters, drivers etc that you know. I am relatively safe. I have far less contact with patients than nursing staff do. Think of people endlessly deep-cleaning rooms used to look after Covid-19 patients. I will leave you with this terrible photograph of my cherry red clogs, knowing that it will horrify their stylish owner, and the thought that there is plenty of food, and this is an opportunity for us all to come to terms with the fact that we eat too much. Many of us, at any rate. Lots of love K PS somebody just left a microwave on my doorstep! Also I am desperate to spread the word. I hope this is a call to arms, but please don't reply because I will be at work this week. Advertisement

Coronavirus lockdown: Who can still go out and why?

Boris Johnson last night imposed an unprecedented lockdown on the UK and told everyone they 'must stay at home' to slow the spread of coronavirus as he set out just four instances when people can go outside.

Describing the crisis as a national emergency, he ordered families to stay in their homes except in special circumstances.

All 'non-essential' shops will be closed and public gatherings of more than two people banned.

Mr Johnson said the measures will be 'under constant review' and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks' time if the evidence allows.

He said that 'no prime minister wants to enact measures like this' but the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the 'very limited purposes' were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well,' he added.

What are the four reasons that Britons can leave their homes?

shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible;

one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person;

travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are six feet (two metres) apart from anyone outside of your household.

What stores will close? And what are the exceptions that will stay open?

Restaurants - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway that can remain open

Cafes, including workplace canteens - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway can remain operational. Cafes or canteens at hospitals, care homes or schools; prison and military canteens; services providing food or drink to the homeless.

Public houses

Bars and nightclubs, including bars in hotels or members' clubs

Hair, beauty and nail salons, including piercing and tattoo parlours

Massage parlours

All retail with notable exceptions - Supermarkets and other food shops, health shops, pharmacies including nondispensing pharmacies, petrol stations, bicycle shops, home and hardware shops, laundrettes and dry cleaners, bicycle shops, garages, car rentals, pet shops, corner shops, newsagents, post offices, and banks.

Outdoor and indoor markets - exceptions are market stalls which offer essential retail, such as grocery and food.

Auction houses

Car showrooms

Hotels, hostels, BnBs, campsites and boarding houses - exceptions are where people live in these as interim abodes whilst their primary residence is unavailable they may continue to do so. Key workers can continue to stay in hotels or similar where required.

Caravan parks/sites for commercial uses - exceptions are where people live permanently in caravan parks or are staying in caravan parks as interim abodes where their primary residence is not available, they may continue to do so.

Libraries

Community centres, youth centres and similar - Facilities may remain open for the purpose of hosting essential voluntary or public services, such as food banks or homeless services. We will do everything to support vulnerable people who are without a network of friends and families.

Places of worship for services - exceptions are for funerals following the social distancing guidance; places of worship should remain open for solitary prayer. Live streaming of a service without audience would be permissible.

Cinemas, theatres and concert halls - Live streaming of a performance by a small group could be permissible with social distancing observed.

Museums and galleries

Bingo halls, casinos and betting shops

Spas

Skating rinks

Fitness studios, gyms, swimming pools or other indoor leisure centres

Arcades, bowling alleys, soft play centres and similar

Enclosed spaces in parks, including playgrounds, sports courts and pitches, and outdoor gyms or similar

Who are the key workers?

Health and social care -

Doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers; producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare -

Nursery and teaching staff , social workers and specialist education professionals who must remain active to keep schools running.

Key public services -

Those running of the j ustice system, religious staff, charity workers, undertakers, journalists and public service broadcasters.

Local/national government -

'Only those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits'.

Food and other vital goods -

Those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of key goods like hygienic and veterinary medicines.

National security -

Police and support staff, MoD workers, the armed forces, fire and rescue services, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles.

Transport -

Workers on air, water, road, and rail passenger modes, as well as air, water, road, and rail freight transport modes.

Utilities, communication and financial services -

Staff needed for financial services like banks and stock markets; workers in the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors, the postal service, sewerage and telecoms.

How long will the new restrictions last?

The government's Cobra emergency committee met at 5pm yesterday and signed off the extraordinary new restrictions - similar to those which have already been imposed across the rest of Europe.

They will last for three weeks initially - but the government's own experts have suggested the situation could take up to a year to resolve.

What enforcement action will there be?

In his address to the nation Mr Johnson said if people do not follow the new rules officers 'will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings'.

Police will be able to fine people 30 if they ignore the rules and these on-the-spot fines will be 'ramped up' if there is widespread flouting, the government has said.

Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor businesses compliance with the regulations, with police support if necessary.

Businesses and premises that breach them will be subject to prohibition notices, and potentially unlimited fines.

What social events can go ahead?

All social events are also being stopped including weddings, baptisms and other religious ceremonies but funerals will still be allowed to go ahead, attended by immediate family only.

The government is banning public gatherings of more than two people, what are the exceptions?

where the gathering is of a group of people who live together - this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home.

where the gathering is essential for work purposes - but workers should be trying to minimise all meetings and other gatherings in the workplace.

Are you still allowed to get a takeaway?

Government guidance says people can still access their local takeaway, this includes delivery drivers. But people are not allowed to consume any food or drinks on the premises.

Venues offering takeaway or delivery services must not include alcoholic beverages in this list if their license does not already permit.

Think you know coronavirus symptoms? These sufferers' stories may make you think again

As Covid-19 claims more victims by the day, every one of us is on red alert looking out for the symptoms that could mean we, too, are infected.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the major warning signs are fever, fatigue and a dry cough.

But it says other indicators include headache, shortness of breath, general aches and pains or a sore throat. And a very few people, it adds on its website, will report diarrhoea, nausea or a runny nose.

However, as the virus affects more people, doctors are getting a clearer idea of other common symptoms, which may mean the WHO information is soon out-dated.

Although the WHO says a small minority of those infected with the coronavirus experience digestive symptoms, such as diarrhoea or loss of appetite, a study of 200 Covid-19 patients published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology last week found these symptoms affected almost half the patients early on in the illness.

Just yesterday, the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology  which represents experts in ear, nose and throat medicine  said even a loss of smell or taste, or the eye infection conjunctivitis, could mean someone is affected.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the major warning signs of coronavirus are fever, fatigue and a dry cough (stock image)

It urged anyone with taste or smell problems to immediately self-isolate  even if they have no other symptoms.

As with colds and flu, many of the symptoms those with Covid-19 experience are not actually triggered by the virus but the bodys attempts to get rid of it.

Coughing, for example, is an automatic reaction we have developed to try to expel foreign organisms, whether they are viruses or specks of dust, from the airway. Nausea and diarrhoea are believed to mark the digestive systems attempts to flush out the virus. And symptoms such as headaches and muscle pain are thought to be caused by the inflammation that arises in tissue as the immune system floods the body with defender cells to try to quell the invasion.

But a sudden loss of taste or smell could be due to the virus destroying cells in the nose, or even the brain.

A study in the Journal of Medical Virology in February found coronaviruses such as this new strain may be able to infect the central nervous system, affecting some of the senses.

But why do we all react so differently when our bodies are invaded by the virus?

This is a really fundamental question that is very hard to address, says Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London.

But we think its down to a combination of genetic differences between each one of us, and the fact that our immune systems all have their own particular strengths and weaknesses.

Our DNA, says Professor Openshaw, controls the number and activity of the receptors we have on the surface of cells throughout our bodies which act as a target for Covid-19.

Receptors are like locks that allow the virus to get into a healthy cell and infect it. Professor Openshaw says it may be that those receptors are more prolific or more active on cells in different parts of the body in some people compared with others.

This might explain why some people get headaches from the virus, but others develop nausea or muscle ache. But it may also be due to the fact that our immune systems are good at some things and not others.

The immune system is extremely complicated, says Professor Openshaw. Its a vast network of inter-connected moving parts and everyone has different areas where their immune system is really superb and areas where it is quite deficient.

Just how much the symptoms vary from one person to another will become clear when you read these four stories of those who have just recovered from, or who are still battling with, the virus that is changing the nature of life as we know it.

Reading the following accounts may provide valuable insight into what to watch for  and what to expect if you yourself become infected.

I lost my sense of taste and smell

Linda Carr, 69, a former TV production assistant, lives in Hethersett, Norfolk, with her husband Rodney, 64, a retired sound engineer. She says:

A fortnight ago, I suddenly lost my sense of taste and smell. It was very odd  I felt I had this horrible taste in my mouth.

Rod had been ill the week before for about four days, with aching limbs and fatigue, but as none of these symptoms matched what Id read about Covid-19, we didnt worry too much.

Linda Carr, 69, a former TV production assistant, lost her sense of taste and smell

I quickly developed other symptoms. I felt very sick and terribly fatigued. But I didnt have a temperature or a cough so, again, Covid-19 was not on my radar.

Within two days I could barely stand. I didnt have the energy to lift one foot in front of the other. Rather ominously I had also started to cough. I went to the GP to pick up some unrelated blood test results and she took my temperature and said it was high and I should go to hospital.

I felt very scared then. Rod drove me straight there and I was put in an isolation room and tested for Covid-19. My temperature turned out to be 39.9c and everyone who came into the room had to wear a mask  Rod wasnt allowed in to see me.

The test results came two days later and confirmed I had Covid-19. I started to worry that I might not survive. I had never felt so ill. Im fit and healthy and have no underlying illnesses. I walk miles every day and workout on a treadmill in the garage, but even I felt awful.

Doctors kept me on paracetamol and fluids and I needed oxygen tubes up my nose for two days as my blood oxygen levels had dropped so low. The care was amazing. One poor nurse had red raw hands where shed had to wash her hands so much.

I couldnt face eating anything while I was in hospital and have lost 10 lb in weight since my symptoms started.

On Sunday, after five nights in hospital, I was discharged. My consultant said it was heartening to see someone who had recovered. Im still weak but now Im in isolation at home with Rod. We have separate bedrooms and bathrooms. I have no idea where I picked this up  I certainly hadnt been in contact with anyone who had been overseas, Id only been to the pub and shops. People really need to stay indoors now.

Five of us fell ill after a family meal

Isla Haslam, 29, a public relations consultant, lives in Balham, South London. Her brother Jonathan, 26, a market research executive, mother Jane, 56, stepfather Dave, 59, and sister Harriet, nine, have all developed symptoms. She says:

Isla Haslam, 29, a public relations consultant, lives in Balham, South London

When I saw groups of friends meeting up on Clapham Common in London this weekend, I wanted to tell them to go home and stop putting themselves and others at risk.

Two weeks ago I was like them and didnt think twice about going to visit my family in Suffolk for an early Mothers Day dinner.

When I arrived, my mum said we should all wash our hands and use separate towels  she was worried as my brother and I had come from London. My mum, stepdad, brother, sister and I had a lovely dinner and catch up.

I stayed overnight before travelling back to London. But the day after I left, Mum called to tell me my brother, who had stayed on for a few days, had developed a dry cough and a high temperature.

He didnt worry about it too much at first as he thought it was due to his mild asthma, but two days later he was so short of breath Mum had to call out a paramedic.

The crew tuned up in hazmat suits and seemed fairly sure he had Covid-19. They told the rest of the family to self-isolate for two weeks.

My brother later heard that a friend hed gone for a drink with had developed symptoms.

Around the same time, I fell ill too. It started with me feeling absolutely shattered, having an upset stomach and a runny nose. I was so exhausted I felt like Id been run over by a bus. My brain wasnt functioning right either  I couldnt concentrate.

Soon I ached all over and had a tight chest. I lost my sense of smell and taste next, and my appetite. I didnt eat for about five days in total. I also had diarrhoea.

One day I slept for 17 hours. I treated myself with Night Nurse, a sedating cold remedy.

Luckily I had the flat to myself so I could isolate, and I survived on supplies left by friends.

It was six days before there was any improvement. And, just as I was beginning to get better, my Mum developed symptoms.

She has asthma and her reliever inhaler was no longer helping the breathlessness. On Sunday, she was taken to hospital in an ambulance as a precautionary measure, but discharged on Monday morning. My stepdad and sister have also had a fever, cough and fatigue.

It is without doubt the worst illness that has taken over my family and I really want to warn people against unnecessary social contact.

Virus settled so deeply in my lungs

Thea Jourdan, 50, a writer and editor, lives in Hampshire with her husband David, 56, and their three children, Imogen, 13, Hugo, 12, and Oscar, ten. She says:

Thea Jourdan's introduction to Covid-19 began with the slightest tickle in the back of her throat

There was no continuous cough. No burning fever. Instead my introduction to Covid-19 began with the slightest tickle in the back of my throat, coupled with a constant, dull headache.

I began to feel unwell on Thursday morning, four days after I had attended a Sunday lunch to celebrate a friends birthday. It was just ten of us, and we ate outdoors, picnic-style.

No one had a cough and no one was sneezing. But I now know that one guest had been at a business meeting in London a few days before the party and some people present at the meeting have since tested positive for Covid-19.

Now he, like me, and all the other guests  bar my three children  have symptoms.

Initially I felt exhausted, as if I was dragging myself through treacle and had no choice but to go to my bed. I had no meaningful cough and I wasnt running a fever. But I had a peculiar sensation of something settling deep within my lungs, almost like breathing in talcum powder. I wanted to cough but I couldnt.

Going upstairs, talking, even having a bath made me breathe harder. I had a sense that my blood pressure was spiking, too.

When I looked in the mirror, my face and neck looked red and puffier than normal.

I also had brain fog. I was unable even to fill out forms from the childrens schools. I just wanted to sleep, while trying to keep the kids safe and away from my quarantine area  my bedroom.

I told my husband to stay away and I tried to isolate myself from the children as much as possible  so no hugs or kisses.

The hostess of the party called me to let me know the others were ill, but I had already taken the decision to self-isolate. She told me some elderly guests were very unwell with high temperatures and exhaustive coughing.

I felt quite calm until Friday, when I started to feel as if a heavy weight was placed on my chest. Ive never felt a virus settle so deeply in my lungs. It was scary.

I have mild asthma and found I could only draw breath properly if I stayed calm and lay on my side in bed. If I ventured from bed I felt dizzy.

Since then, the tightness in my chest has reduced, but every day brings a new symptom: aching shoulders and crippling pains in my knees, which were so bad that as I climbed into bed one night tears came to my eyes. It felt like the worst cramp imaginable running up my thigh and calf.

I have also had tummy pain and nausea. Right now, I am waiting to see if I am going to turn the corner.

Im strong, resting as much as possible, and positive that I can beat this.

I thought my fatigue was from exercise

Fiona Bugler, 52, runs a wellbeing consultancy and lives in Brighton with her son Frankie, 23, and daughter Ciara, 19. She says:

Fiona Bugler, 52, felt unusually tired, but put it down to the after-effects of running a half-marathon at the beginning of the month

Frankie had been interning in London, commuting up every day using the Tube and doing a fair bit of socialising, too. But two weeks ago, he came home with a persistent dry cough. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep and said he felt rough. We wondered if it was the coronavirus, but Frankie had a high temperature for only one night, so I didnt bother seeking help as he was otherwise well.

Around the same time I felt unusually tired, but put it down to the after-effects of running a half-marathon at the beginning of the month.

But by the next day, Friday, Id developed a high temperature  38.5c  and my sense of taste and smell had disappeared virtually overnight. I had no appetite.

I was aching all over and had a pain in my chest and upper back and, despite my tiredness, I found it hard to sleep. I also had a dry cough. Sometimes I would feel like I was getting better for a few hours, and then Id feel worse or develop another random symptom such as earache.

As if that wasnt enough, I developed an unrelated urinary tract infection (something I am prone to) and phoned my GP surgery to ask for antibiotics.

When I reeled off my other symptoms, my GP said it sounded like I had Covid-19 and should self-isolate and not go outdoors at all for at least seven days. I asked how he was coping, and he admitted he had 40 other patients to phone back after me.

To be honest, I didnt have the energy to go out anyway. Im an endurance athlete but I was completely floored by thisI woke up yesterday  ten days after my symptoms started  and still felt terrible, like I had been poisoned. This is going to take some time to get over, even though I am fitter than the average person.
24.03.2020 LISTEN

The mayor of Italy's worst-hit coronavirus town has said he is bringing his daughters home from the UK because he believes they will be safer.

Giorgio Gori, mayor of Bergamo in Italy's north, said he made the decision to bring his daughters home from school in Taunton and Canterbury after concluding that the UK government is not taking the threat of coronavirus seriously enough.

Italy put in place a stringent nationwide lockdown two weeks ago with all shops except supermarkets and pharmacies closed and people banned from the streets except to go to work, to seek medical help, or for other emergencies.

The UK, which has seen 281 deaths from the virus putting it almost exactly where Italy was a fortnight ago, has so-far shrugged off calls for tougher measures.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 08:47:06|Editor: Liu

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SINGAPORE, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Singaporean government will be donating 500,000 U.S. dollars to support the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for COVID-19, which aims to limit human-to-human transmission of the virus.

According to a press statement jointly issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health on Monday night, the donation is in response to appeals by the United Nations (UN) and the WHO.

The ministries said that Singapore is deeply concerned about the growing scale of the COVID-19 outbreak and its enormous public health, social and economic impact, including the loss of many precious lives.

"Singapore will continue to work closely with the WHO and the UN to explore how best we can contribute to the ongoing efforts," they added.
The messages began pinging around Instagram around noon on Monday.

Nashom Wooden, an omnipresence on New Yorks gay bar and club scene, was dead at 50 after a short illness that he had suspected but not confirmed was Covid-19.

It came as a shock, first because Mr. Wooden looked barely different than he had at 35, but also because among people in nightlife, there was about him a survivalist quality rivaled only by Susanne Bartsch, the drag queen empress whose parties he sometimes appeared at, and Lady Bunny, his drag queen comrade and former roommate.

Over the years, Mr. Wooden performed in heels as Mona Foot; appeared with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert DeNiro in the 1999 movie Flawless; co-wrote and performed a song that became a top 10 hit all around Europe; bartended at the Cock, a longtime gay dive in Manhattans East Village neighborhood; and showed up at countless movie premieres and fashion shows, usually in his fitted Maison Margiela leather jacket, dark jeans and Rick Owens boots.

Mr. Wooden grew up in Brooklyn but came of age at Boy Bar, the not-quite-bar not-quite-nightclub where many an early 90s drag queen was hatched.
This article is updated multiple times a day with coronavirus news from Colorado Springs, the Pikes Peak region and elsewhere in Colorado  an
Japan on Monday imposed tougher quarantine on travelers from the U.S. as the coronavirus epidemic spreads quickly there.

All visitors from the U.S. must quarantine themselves for 14 days after arrival. Visitors from China and Korea are already under the same restrictions.

But Korea is still accepting most travelers arriving from overseas, although it has toughened screening. A senior Foreign Ministry official here told reporters Monday, "We have not made any decisions yet about restrictions on visitors from the U.S."


In a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Alaska on March 23 announced a new mandate. As per reports, the new mandate states that anyone entering the state from the outside must self-quarantine themselves for 14 days. State officials also reported that the state now has 36 confirmed coronavirus cases.

Implementing stricter measures

According to reports, four of the 36 cases announced seem to be community spread rather than originating elsewhere. The new quarantine mandate goes into effect from March 25. According to the mandate, all people arriving in Alaska must proceed from the airport to a quarantine location such as a residence or a hotel room. All incoming passengers will have to fill up a form that will state where they plan to quarantine themselves.

The state has also announced another mandate prohibiting close contact between all people outside of families. The Alaskan town of Anchorage is under a hunker down order wherein all the residents are asked to stay at home and some businesses have been asked to close. As per reports, the state mandate orders that all businesses, congregations or gatherings where individuals are within 6 feet of each other must cease all operations. The mandate also prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people.

Read: Alaska Senate Puts $1,000 Stimulus Payment In Budget Bill

Read: Alaska Villages To Ban, Restrict Air Travel Amid Coronavirus

According to reports, Governor Mike Dunlevy said that the coronavirus required at least some temporary vigilance so that health-care facilities can build up the capacity needed to tackle the rising number of cases. These new mandates have been issued as the government faces pressure from medical professionals to order more restrictions before COVID-19 patients overburden the states limited health facilities. As per reports, the Alaska State Medical Association, which has almost 500 members, supported a statewide shelter in place policy as requested by more than 120 physicians in a letter to the governor on March 21.

Read: Alaskas Governor Suspends Classes At Schools, Limits Agency Visits Amid Coronavirus Scare

Read: US 2020 Census Begins In Remote Fishing Village On The Coast Of Alaska
The home ministry has issued guidelines under the Disaster Management Act (DMA) for application of various measures across the country to fight the spread of coronavirus during the 21-day lockdown announced by prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening.

The guidelines are being issued to maintain consistency in the application and implementation of various measures while maintaining essential services and supplies including the health infrastructure says the home ministry release.

MHA guidelines follows the declaration of lockdown, which will come into effect from Tuesday midnight for the next 21 days as announced during PMs modi address to the nation on Tuesday.

The guidelines have announced a maximum sentence of two years for obstruction of a government official in discharge of his enforcement duties under the DMA.

It also announces several other penalties including jail term for two years for offences like false claim, false warning, misappropriation of money or materials etc.

Prime minister said the lockdown will be like curfew but much more stringent than the Janta Curfew that was observed voluntarily on Sunday requiring people to stay home except for emergency situations.

This order should remain in force in all parts of the country for a period of 21 days from 25.03.2020, the order says.

The home ministry is also expected to announce a 24/7 hotline to assist states during this period, said a news agency.

Another agency reported that Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba will chair an urgent meeting with all the state Director Generals of Police (DGPs) and Chief Secretaries on Tuesday night to chalk out a plan on coronavirus pandemic.

Examples of other countries like Italy and the UK among other European nations that have already enforced lockdown suggest that all services and businesses except for essential services will be shut down and people will have to mostly stay at home, except for minimal outings for grocery or for unavoidable medical attention.

The ban on public gatherings and mass events which is already in force will continue along with closure of education institutions and recreational avenues like cinemas, malls, gymnasiums, clubs, bars, pubs, restaurants, swimming pools, parks, circuses, community halls, marriage halls, etc will continue.

It is not clear if all public transport will continue to be off road as well, however, it looks likely since Railways has already shut down its services till 31st March and other states have enforced similar curbs on road transport both in the public and the private sector.
The eighth death caused by the coronavirus was recorded on Tuesday morning in Romania, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) informs.

According to the GCS, the death is of a man aged 70, admitted to the Clinical Infectious Disease Hospital in Craiova, confirmed positive on March 19. The patient arrived on March 7 from Italy with his daughter, who is currently in self-isolation.

The patient was admitted on March 19 to the SCBI with respiratory insufficiency, being admitted to the ICU section of the hospital. He had pre-existing conditions for which he had an insulin treatment. Furthermore, the patient had second-degree obesity.
Hairdressers will stay open under Scott Morrison's new coronavirus restrictions, but customers will only be allowed in for 30 minutes.

The prime minister said on Tuesday night that beauty salons - as well as tanning, waxing and tattoo parlours - must close from midnight on Wednesday evening.

But barbers and hairdressers will be allowed to stay open, so long as they limit the number of customers inside and only let people stay there for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Hairdressers will stay open under Scott Morrison 's new coronavirus restrictions, but customers will only be allowed in for 30 minutes

'It is very important to strictly manage the social distancing and limitations of the number of people in their premises, so that's four square metres per person,' the prime minister said.

'On top of that, to restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premise to no more than 30 minutes.'

Yoga and barre sessions, as well as spinning and other exercise sessions, can continue so long as they are attended by 10 or fewer people.

'We are not unconscious of the real impact these measures are having on the lives of daily Australians so we will continue to do everything we can, both as a federal government and at state government and territory governments around the country, to do all we can to support our people through what is going to be an incredibly difficult time,' Mr Morrison said.
A two-month lockdown of 50million people in China's Hubei province - ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak - will be lifted this week, the government has said.

People who have a 'green' health certificate - meaning they have tested negative for the virus - will be allowed to leave the province from midnight on March 25, the first time they have been allowed out of the region since January 23.

However, restrictions on travelling into and out of the mega-city of Wuhan - where the virus first emerged - will remain in place until April 8.

It comes after China reported zero new domestic infections from coronavirus earlier this month, though new cases are still occurring in people returning from abroad.

The easing of restrictions will be closely watched by western countries such as the UK which are just entering lockdown, with no clear idea how long the measures might last for.

50 million people who have been isolated in China's Hubei province since lockdown was imposed on January 23 will be allowed into and out of the province from March 25

The mega-city of Wuhan, ground zero for coronavirus, will remain in lockdown until April 8

There have now been more than 81,000 cases in China, and the death toll has reached 3,270

Hubei's lockdown was among the most draconian anywhere in the world with people told to stay at home unless there was an emergency - with one person per household permitted to leave every three days to buy food and essentials and the use of private cars banned indefinitely.

Housing estates would keep only one entrance open, to be guarded to make sure only residents could enter or leave.

Chemists, hotels, food shops and medical services remained open, but all other businesses were ordered to close.

As the virus has eased its grip on the province in recent weeks ruled have been relaxed, with people allowed to return to work and leave their homes for exercise and to visit other parts of the province.

Easing the lockdown does not come without risks, however - as people who have been isolated away from the virus for months start mixing and cause the potential for a second wave of infection.

New cases have slowed dramatically over the last month, although the first locally transmitted infection in nearly a week was reported in Wuhan Tuesday, along with three cases elsewhere in the country.

But the figures pale in comparison to imported cases, which reached 74 nationwide on Tuesday - a trend that has fuelled anxiety about a possible second wave of infections just as authorities appeared to be bringing the country's outbreak under control.

Seven more people died, the National Health Commission said, all in Wuhan.

The 74 imported cases were the most since officials started reporting the data at the beginning of March, and the number was nearly double that reported Monday.

A man wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus walking along a street in Wuhan in China, March 12

Restrictions have been slowly eased in Wuhan, with some workers allowed to return to their jobs provided appropriate social distancing measures are adhered to

As nations across the globe battle to contain the pandemic, which has now killed more than 16,500 people worldwide, the total tally of imported cases in China has soared to 427.

Many cities have brought in tough rules to quarantine arrivals, and all Beijing-bound international flights are being diverted to other urban centres where passengers are screened for the virus.

Authorities in Beijing said Tuesday that anyone entering China via another city and then making their way to the capital in the last two weeks would also be tested for the virus and told to enter quarantine.

Shanghai and Beijing each reported a locally-transmitted infection Tuesday that came from an imported patient.

State media warned of a second wave from abroad, with the nationalistic Global Times saying on its front page that "inadequate quarantine measures" meant it was "highly likely, even inevitable".

There have now been more than 81,000 cases in China and the death toll has reached 3,277.

As the rate of infection slows in China, the rest of the world has stepped up measures to try and battle the raging pandemic.

Workers disinfect a subway train in preparation for the restoration of public transport in Wuhan, as coronavirus restrictions are slowly lifted

Residents wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus taking a walk in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province, March 12

China is anxious about an influx of infections brought in from other countries, with the number of imported cases climbing steadily in recent weeks to pass 350.

Of the 39 new cases reported Monday, 10 were in Shanghai and 10 were in Beijing.

Many cities have brought in tough rules to quarantine new arrivals.

Authorities have said all Beijing-bound international flights will be diverted to other cities where they will be screened for the virus to help make the process more efficient.

Those who get the all-clear will be allowed to continue to Beijing where they will still be sent to quarantine facilities.

There have now been over 81,000 cases in China, and the death toll has reached 3,270.
Joe Biden is in the process of narrowing down his list of potential running mates, and his allies in the business community are weighing in with their favorite choices.

Since Biden announced earlier this month that he plans to pick a woman as his nominee for vice president, leaders of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and other industries have been reaching out to him and his presidential campaign about whom they think should join him on the ticket, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Some of these business leaders involved with the lobbying effort are fundraising for Biden's campaign. They declined to be named in this story because these conversations were deemed private.

Biden said Tuesday that he is looking to cut down his list of potential running mates in order to begin the vetting process, but he would not say whom he is considering.

The names being floated and pushed to Biden by this group include Sens. Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, two of his former rivals in the primary; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; and Florida Rep. Val Demings, these people added.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. The University of Michigan has hired a new law firm to lead the investigation into allegations that a doctor, now deceased, molested hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, attorneys for some of the men accusing the late Dr. Robert Anderson of sexual abuse say they are continuing to communicate with current and prospective clients in regards to their in- and out-of-court disputes with the university.

The school said Tuesday that WilmerHale has replaced Steptoe & Johnson, which it cut ties with two weeks ago after learning some of the firms attorneys represented high-profile clients accused of sexual misconduct.

WilmerHale is also handling Michigans investigation into sexual misconduct allegations made against Martin Philbert. He lost his job as chief academic officer, but is still on the schools payroll as a faculty member with tenure protection while the investigation continues.

The university is fully committed to allowing WilmerHale to conduct vigorous and independent investigations in both matters, regent Denise Ilitch said in the schools statement. The engagement letter with WilmerHale specifies that the firm will issue a non-privileged report at the conclusion of the investigations.

The university announced more than a month ago that it was investigating allegations of abuse against Anderson, and it offered counseling to anyone affected by the alleged misconduct.

WilmerHale will conduct its investigations with attorney-client privilege to protect the confidentiality of all sexual misconduct survivors and witnesses, the school said.

That stance did not sit well with attorneys for Andersons accusers, who want the school to accept state Attorney General Dana Nessels offer to investigate the matter. She said her office will only do so, though, if the school waives all privilege and hands over any document or information requested.

The only attorney-client privilege which exists is between the University of Michigan and the law firm they hired, WilmerHale, said Denver-based attorney Parker Stinar, who is trying to reach an out-of-court resolution with the school on behalf of more than 70 clients. Once again, the University of Michigan is denying students, alumni and the public transparency.

Numerous men have come forward publicly and anonymously as John Does in lawsuits to allege that Anderson molested them during medical exams.

Larry Lage is an Associated Press writer.
Despite calls for immediate suspension of oil and gas drilling lease sales on federal land amid slumping prices, the U.S. will hold lease sales this week in four states, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the Department of the Interior, has slated for Tuesday and Thursday lease sales in four Western states: Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado, according to the tentative schedule of BLM.

Conner Swanson, a spokesman for the Department of Interior, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment, but had said last week that the lease sales on federal land were being evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

In Wyoming, BLM Wyoming has proposed to offer 105 parcels in the March 2020 quarterly oil and gas lease sale. Those parcels total about 118,219 acres, BLM Wyoming says, noting that the state is one of the top U.S. energy producers on public lands. In 2018, BLM Wyoming raised nearly US$117 million through oil and gas lease sales.

Typically, a total of 48 percent of lease sale revenues go to the state, while the remainder goes to the U.S. Treasury, the BLM said. Lease sales are one of the pillars and critical contributors to the Trump Administrations America-First Energy Plan.

However, the sharp drop in oil prices over the past week has had some organizations concerned that the U.S. taxpayer will not be getting a fair return on oil and gas leases.

Last week, conservative and taxpayer groups called on the U.S. Administration to suspend lease sales on our public lands for the rest of the year amid the current oil glut, depressed prices, and systemic fiscal weaknesses in the leasing process.

In this environment, it is impossible for the American taxpayer to expect anywhere near a fair return on oil and gas leases. This is due to more leases selling at the minimum bid amount, or worse, at the even lower non-competitive lease rate. Just last week, the administration held a lease sale for public lands in Utah where nearly 90% of acres sold received the minimum bid of $2 per acre. In addition, oil produced during a depressed market brings in fewer royalties, nonpartisan budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) and Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS) said in a statement.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
AFP via Getty Images

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos faces backlash after publicising a relief fund the public can donate to for his contract employees working during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Amazon Relief Fund was created with $25m from the e-commerce company to assist its employees and partners, specifically those who are responsible for the necessary task of delivering all the products consumers order across the US.

Its focused on supporting our US-based Delivery Associates employed by Delivery Service Providers, our Amazon Flex Delivery Partners, and Associates working for Integrity Staffing, Adecco Staffing, and RES Staffing, and drivers and support team members of line haul partners under financial distress due to a Covid-19 diagnosis or quarantine.

Besides the company contributing $25m to the fund, it also allows the public to donate if they deem it important. While we arent expecting anyone to do so, you can make a voluntary donation to the fund if you desire to do so, Amazon wrote on its funds website.

Amazon tweaked the wording to the above after initially encouraging people to donate via text, according to Popular Information.

But asking for public donations has still caught some backlash online.

How is your company worth over a TRILLION dollars and you want the public to donate to an employee relief fund?! As if Amazon cant pay their employees themselves, one frustrated consumer wrote on Twitter.

Amazon is worth $1tn, and Mr Bezos is worth an estimated $114bn, making him the world's richest man. In 2018, the company reported an income of $11bn but paid $0 into federal taxes.

As the pandemic continues and more consumers turn to the e-commerce site to stock up on necessary essentials, the company is anticipated to post an even larger income this year. But it is still asking for consumers to contribute to its fund if they would like.

We are not and have not asked for donations and the Amazon Relief Fund has been funded by Amazon with an initial donation of $25 million. The structure to operate a fund like this, which hundreds of companies do through the same third-party, requires the program to be open to public contributions but we are not soliciting those contributions in any way, a spokesperson with Amazon told The Independent.

Story continues

How is your company worth over a TRILLION dollars and you want the public to donate to an employee relief fund?! As if Amazon cant pay their employees themselves smfh  Bean$z (@Beanszzz) March 21, 2020

The fact that Amazon has made billions in profits and continues to profit during this crisis, but set up a charity called Amazon Relief Fund so Amazon customers could donate to help their workers affected by corona virus is really telling.  Jay Long (@jaywrong) March 22, 2020

Amazon has a relief fund for their workers...



AMAZON



The one whose founder is Jeff Bezos?



The man whose net worth is $110 BILLION.



Does anyone ANYONE else see the irony in this??  Faizah (@_FaizahKarim) March 21, 2020

Amazon announced that during the pandemic it would be hiring an additional 100,000 employees to help address the surge in demand for its services. It also increased pay by $2 per hour and doubled pay when working overtime for employees on the frontlines.

Initially, the company decided it would only pay full-time employees sick leave during the pandemic. Up to two weeks of sick leave would be provided to all Amazon employees diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed into quarantine.

Employees in places like Chicago and Sacramento then put pressure on the company to extend its policy to cover part-time workers in the warehouses. On Monday, Amazon agreed it would extend its sick leave policy to those who work 20 hours or more.

People who are not covered for paid sick leave are encouraged to apply for Amazons relief fund.

Read more

How to help the elderly and vulnerable during the coronavirus

How to feel less anxious about the coronavirus

How to be productive when working from home during coronavirus

Which countries around the world has coronavirus spread to?

The dirty truth about washing your hands
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump, under growing pressure to rescue an economy in free fall, said Monday that he may soon loosen federal guidelines for social distancing and encourage shuttered businesses to reopen  defying public health experts, who have warned that doing so risks accelerating the spread of the novel coronavirus or even allowing it to rebound.

"America will again and soon be open for business  very soon," Trump said at the daily White House news conference. "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself."

As he has watched stock prices plummet and braces for an expected surge in unemployment, Trump has received urgent pleas from rattled business leaders, Republican lawmakers and conservative economists imploring him to remove some of the stringent social distancing guidelines that he put in place for a 15-day period ending March 30, according to several people with knowledge of the internal deliberations.

The various arguments, which are gaining traction across the political right, can be boiled down to this: No matter how many people may lose their lives to the coronavirus, many millions more stand to lose their jobs and face ruin if the economy does not reopen.

The consensus among experts  including infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci and other senior officials on Trump's coronavirus task force  is that restaurants, bars, schools, offices and other gathering places should remain closed for many more weeks to mitigate the outbreak, the worst effects of which are yet to be felt in the United States.

But Trump has been chafing against that notion and impatient to get American life back to normal.

"If it were up to the doctors, they'd say let's keep it shut down, let's shut down the entire world  and let's keep it shut for a couple of years," Trump said Monday. "We can't do that."

Trump predicted that "we're going to be opening our country" in a shorter time frame than months. He announced that the administration was developing new protocols to allow local economies outside of what he called "hot spots" of the coronavirus spread to resume activity and would make a decision at the conclusion of the current 15-day period.

 READ MORE: Congressional negotiators close on nearly $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus package

Trump drew parallels to the flu season, which he said was on pace to be responsible for the deaths of about 50,000 Americans, as well as to car crashes  comparisons that Fauci and other experts have dismissed as examples of false equivalency.

"You look at automobile accidents, which are far greater than any numbers we're talking about," Trump said. "That doesn't mean we're going to tell everybody no more driving of cars."

Trump's deliberations  detailed in interviews with more than 20 senior administration officials, outside advisers and other people briefed on the internal discussions, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid assessments  present to a nation already on edge about the pandemic a remarkable portrait of a president in limbo.

Inside the White House, tensions are growing over how quickly people can return to work. Trump's pending decision sets up a clash between the scientific experts advocating strict restrictions and the political and economic advisers who share and encourage the president's impatience.

In his public comments, Trump has conveyed uncertainty about how to protect the public's health while staving off economic calamity  and, especially, about the period of time during which Americans' lives will remain upended.

Trump tweeted his indecision at 11:50 p.m. Sunday, a message he reiterated to his followers midday Monday after news of his pending pivot was widely reported: "WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"

Trump has cast himself as a "wartime president" but has publicly vacillated about the severity and length of restrictions. Last week, he said guidelines may be in place until July or August, but the messages he wrote or shared Monday on Twitter covered the gamut, from a video featuring Fauci explaining the benefits of "physical separation of people" to complaints from ordinary citizens that they were under "house arrest."

Democrats criticized Trump for his scattershot messaging.

"He's a notion-monger, just tossing out things that have no relationship to a well-coordinated science-based governmentwide response to this," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

 READ MORE: U.S. reports over 100 coronavirus deaths in a single day, 500 total

Even with much of the country adopting social distancing measures, such as remaining six feet away from other people outside their household and working from home if possible, the number of coronavirus cases has surged as testing becomes more readily available to people experiencing symptoms.

More than 42,000 people in the United States have tested positive for covid-19, the disease the virus causes, and the death toll surpassed 500 on Monday, when more than 100 deaths were reported in a single day for the first time. The spread nationally is expected to dramatically increase in coming days as access to testing expands and results are processed.

Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, and other leading public health experts have told administration officials that prematurely scaling back social distancing could not only hamper mitigation efforts, but also overwhelm hospitals.

Still, Trump is fixated on the economy  alarmed by the effects of the coronavirus so far and concerned about the impact of long-term contraction and surging unemployment on his reelection chances in November, according to people familiar with his discussions.

There is a growing fear inside the administration that an effective freeze on an array of major sectors of the economy for an indefinite period could be economically unsustainable no matter what stimulus package Congress passes or what monetary levers the Federal Reserve pulls.

Though restrictions on restaurants and other business have been set by state governments, the president could influence practices if he changed the federal government's guidelines about social distancing and business closures.

The push for Trump to do so has come from broad swaths of his political coalition, from prominent economists and media figures to key lawmakers in the Senate and the House.

The Wall Street Journal's influential editorial board published an editorial late last week calling on the administration, as well as governors, to rethink their coronavirus mitigation strategies. "No society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its overall economic health," the board wrote.

Conservative economists Stephen Moore and Art Laffer have been lobbying the White House for more than a week to strongly consider scaling back the recommendation that restaurants, stores and other gathering spots be closed, although exactly what that would entail remains unclear.

Financial titans, including former Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, and conservative media figures also have embraced the idea.

"In one week we need to be heading back to work, school, stores, restaurants and churches with new protocols in place," Laura Ingraham, a conservative commentator whose show on Fox News Channel the president is known to watch regularly, tweeted Monday.

Conservatives close to Trump and numerous administration officials have been circulating an article by Richard Epstein of the Hoover Institution, titled "Coronavirus Perspective," that plays down the extent of the spread and the threat. The article, published last week, had predicted that deaths would peak at 500, the milestone surpassed Monday.

Trump has been canvassing his advisers, Republican lawmakers and other allies about what his course of action should be, and in his deliberations, a natural tension has emerged between the advice of Fauci and other medical experts and that of business leaders, such as those in the hospitality industry, which included Trump before he entered politics.

One senior administration official said there is a widespread understanding among government officials about the need to reopen the economy but that proposals have not yet been presented to Trump. Officials have considered options, including allowing people to go back to work if they are able to avoid public transportation or to return to their jobs if they are not in areas with high infection rates.

The coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence has sought to take the economic and health ramifications of the outbreak seriously and worked to balance the two priorities, officials have said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and officials from the Office of Management and Budget are seen internally as conduits for the business community and have been pushing to get the economy back on track as quickly as possible, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The president is right. The cure can't be worse than the disease," Kudlow said Monday on Fox News Channel. "And we're going to have to make some difficult trade-offs."

One option under consideration is a gradual scaling back of current restrictions in which people younger than 40 who are healthy go back to work on a certain date, followed by people ages 40 to 50, according to one person briefed on the discussions.

Describing the overall dynamic, Moore said in an interview, "You have a classic case of the public health people saying, We have to keep everyone sequestered for as long as this takes without any regard to the economic cost. The economics team is saying, If this lasts seven to 10 weeks, there wont be much of an economy to save. "

Moore added, "I'm not in any way disparaging the public health people. They are vital to this process. But you can't have a policy that says we're going to save every human life at any cost, no matter how many trillions of dollars you're talking about."

There is dissent within the Republican Party, however, including from some close allies of the president.

"It would be a major mistake to suggest any change of course when it comes to containment," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview. "I just spoke with Dr. Fauci  he believes that, if anything, we should be more aggressive and do more  You can't have a functioning economy if you have hospitals overflowing."

While Trump has focused on the 15-day timeline, health experts said that is not expected to be enough time to defeat the virus's spread. Cases in the United States are rapidly increasing and have not yet reached their peak, but hospitals are experiencing severe shortages of protective equipment and ventilators to treat the increasing numbers of patients. Because of the delays expanding testing capabilities, the country still does not have comprehensive data about the spread of the virus and its mortality rate.

Public health experts have strongly warned against any loosening of social distancing measures. Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard's Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, said, "Now is the time to tighten restrictions on contacts that could transmit the virus, not loosen them."

"If we let up now, we can be virtually certain that health care will be overwhelmed in many if not all parts of the country," Lipsitch said. "This is the view of every well-informed infectious epidemiologist I know of."

Yasmeen Abutaleb, John Wagner and Erica Werner contributed to this article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:02:14|Editor: yan

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KAMPALA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's minister of finance Matia Kasaija on Tuesday said the country is in talks with neighboring Kenya over the dwindling fuel supply.

Kasaija told parliament that Uganda's fuel reserves were drying up as the quota it imports through Kenya's seaport of Mombasa has reduced.

"We have raised the issues with the Kenyan authorities and we are doing everything possible to ensure the supply of petrol and diesel is sorted," he said.

He attributed the reduction to global outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has forced the oil producers in Middle East to reduce the supplies.
So, the hashtag #Hantavirus is trending on Twitter ever since a case of a man dying in China from the same, made the headlines. According to Global Times, a man passed away after contracting the virus while he was on his way back to Shandong Province on a chartered bus.

Now, the thing is that since this news contains the words 'virus' and 'China', people are under the impression that a brand-new virus has come into existence from the South Asian country and will attack the whole world like the novel pandemic COVID-19 is doing. But in reality, there's nothing to worry about.

pehle corona aur ab #Hantavirus

Whole world to china pic.twitter.com/LzinAitRwh    (@God_of_tweets) March 24, 2020

During a fragile time like this it is extremely important to not be ill-informed regarding matters like these. Hantavirus is not a new virus but it has been around for several years now.

Unlike the novel pandemic coronavirus, hantavirus is not airborne. It is not a communicable virus and does not get transmitted from human to human. This virus usually only infects rodents and human beings can get infected if they come in contact with rodent urine, feces or saliva.

Pinterest

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's website states, 'Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. Even healthy individuals are at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus'.

Symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, chills, muscle ache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea. People can also contract the infection if they touch their face, mouth, eyes, nose etc after coming in contact with rodent droppings or rats around the house.

Shutterstock

Several videos on the Internet show people in China eating rats and bats - sometimes even raw - which is possibly why the news of a man dying of Hantavirus has caused fear and panic among people.





#Hantavirus

How will someone come up with an idea to eat an animal uncooked? How, just how

 pic.twitter.com/JGiuIpoxhJ   Roi Salomon Escadela  (@Solite007Eze) March 24, 2020

People who are well-aware of the correct facts about the virus are trying to educate those who are spreading fake news about it.

Don't Spread Rumors it Doesn't Transmit From Person to Person #Hantavirus pic.twitter.com/iaM2H6fW6I  Doctor.PrasadSKF (@Dr_PrasadSKF) March 24, 2020

Spread the truth not fakeness, for those who are panicking from #Hantavirus pic.twitter.com/bnHTcdNmSv  _quarantine (@Dr_AntiGod) March 24, 2020

To those who are trying to spread rumor so people can panic, we already have enough fuss around the world. #Hantavirus is not a new virus and humans may only be infected through contact with rodent urine, saliva or feaces. Chinese people only need to stop eating rats  pic.twitter.com/cBk3wEqk3E  Olamide Popoola Of Ibadan (@lamidepopoola) March 24, 2020





In spite of having access to all sorts of information about the virus on the Internet, people are wreaking havoc on Twitter about the same and the world is aware of how bad things get when fake news comes into play.

Waking everyday to more bad news, why the coexistence of two viruses? #Hantavirus and #COVID19 still coming from same country, only China. https://t.co/1VGvagssfz  the good FEMI (@misi_f) March 24, 2020

Someone said Autyvirus is Corona elder sis and HantaVirus is Corona Pro...China dropping these viruses like they got an album coming

Which one is #Hantavirus again now?? It's like #COVID19 called for backup #Hantavirus pic.twitter.com/T0tcJbWUND  Standoski (@real_standoski) March 24, 2020





Good morning. Woke up praying and hoping for a good news by the time I come online.... logged in on twitter to see another new virus #Hantavirus trending  I seriously cannot can pic.twitter.com/BOJb1I8EaX  Olayinka  (@YinkaPost) March 24, 2020

So there is a new virus called #Hantavirus and its first victims are Chinese. I'm honestly tired of China and this world. pic.twitter.com/2Lk8scqdnn  Laolao (@itz_laolao) March 24, 2020





Kind people of the world, please use your common sense and the right way to access the Internet for valid information. Think before you tweet because your words have the potential of creating unnecessary panic during a time when panicking is the last thing we need to do.




With the COVID-19 outbreak expected to unleash long-term economic consequences, Hero Cycles on Tuesday said it is setting aside Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to address and mitigate its impact on partners and the community at large.

The contingency fund will be put to use as and when required to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 situation on employees, suppliers, customers and communities across India, it said in a statement.

The company has also reached out to state governments where it has major facilities (Punjab, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) to extend any help required by authorities in addressing the crisis.

Hero Motor Company's international subsidiaries are undertaking a similar exercise in Britain and Germany where they have a significant presence.

"As an organisation that stands for the principles of with a humane approach, we are allocating Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to help the entire ecosystem around our organisation survive this crisis," said Chairman of Hero Cycles Pankaj M Munjal.

The company said it is assessing the economic, health and social repercussions of the crisis and pledges to stand behind its partners and associates.

Incorporated in 1966, Hero Cycles Ltd is the world's largest cycle manufacturer in the world with a manufacturing capacity of 7.5 million cycles per year.

Its parent Hero Motor Company Group has an asset base of 1.2 billion dollars (about Rs 9,105 crore) and over 7,500 people across the globe.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 24, 2020] Molina Healthcare Launches Coronavirus Chatbot

Molina Healthcare ("Molina") today unveiled its Coronavirus Chatbot, an enhanced digital tool for members seeking information about COVID-19 risk factors and their own personal risk profile. This valuable, new self-appraisal feature is available for members looking for current insight, risk factors, live help, and appropriate action to take if symptoms are present. "Molina's new Coronavirus Chatbot is intended to offer some peace of mind and guidance during this time of uncertainty," said Dr. Jason Dees, EVP and chief medical officer, Molina Healthcare. "We quickly developed the feature to help put critical information in the hands of our members and to empower them to best protect their health. We look forward to bringing additional health care resources to members through our innovaive partnerships."



Molina's Coronavirus Chatbot was developed in collaboration with Microsoft (News - Alert), and is available on Molina's website, its member portal, and mobile app. The tool provides both general and specific guidance based on members' responses to various questions, in addition to providing informational links. It can be found in the upper right corner of the Molina website and is available around the clock. "We're grateful to be able to help Molina Healthcare quickly offer a COVID-19-focused Chatbot to their community and patients," said Hadas Bitran, head of Microsoft Healthcare Bot Team. "Putting this bot in place will help provide initial assessments that can take some of the pressure off care teams and help identify those who need care."

About Molina Healthcare Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, provides managed health care services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare served approximately 3.3 million members as of December 31, 2019. For more information about Molina Healthcare, please visit molinahealthcare.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005202/en/

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Amid major disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak in the aviation sector, IndiGo on March 23 said there have been some instances where its employees were ostracised by their communities as a result of their "line of duty and travel history". Air India had stated on March 22 that vigilante resident welfare associations (RWAs) and neighbours were ostracising and calling police on its crew members who went abroad as a part of their duty.

"There are some instances when our employees have been ostracised from their communities as a result of their line of duty and travel history," IndiGo said in a statement.

"The nation gave a standing ovation to the heroes for their fight against this pandemic on March 22. Our operational crew, in all areas, play an equally important role to keep vital services intact. Our colleagues have been working selflessly to serve the country at this critical juncture," it added.

Coronavirus LIVE updates

The low-cost carrier stated that its employees have been the front-runners in bringing Indian citizens back to the country and "enabling" them to reach their hometowns even during restricted movements.

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

"Please support our operating colleagues in such a difficult time," the airline noted.

India has banned all international flights from March 22 for a period of one week. Moreover, the Indian government on March 23 stated that no domestic flight would be flying in its airspace from March 25 onward.
Notice: The print edition of Mainstream Weekly is now discontinued & only an online edition is appearing. No subscriptions are being accepted
Instacart plans to hire an additional 300,000 "full-service" contractors to help it deliver groceries to people during the coronavirus pandemic. With so many individuals and families stuck inside as a result of social distancing measures and shelter in place orders in states like California, Instacart says order volume has increased by 150 percent over the last few weeks, with people buying more per cart as well.

The company currently operates in about 5,500 cities across the United States and Canada. Instacart's plan will see it hire broadly in states like California and New York. In the former, for instance, it plans to bring on approximately 54,000 new full-time shoppers. In other states like Texas and Florida, it will hire thousands of new contractors as well, and provide them with paid sick leave if they're diagnosed with COVID-19 or need to self-isolate.

With just how much the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the economy, it's likely a lot of people who are desperate for work will take on these delivery jobs, which will put them at higher risk of getting sick. As a consumer, you can use Instacart's new contactless delivery option to help keep those people safe.

Correction, 3/24/20, 10:15AM ET: This story and headline originally referred to these workers are "full-time." In Instacart's language, these workers are "full-service," but they are still independent contractors, not employees. We apologize for the error.
Social distancing and restrictions against gatherings of more than 10 people means that most churches have had to shut their doors in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

So many people feel hopeless and discouraged right now, said Sharon Glasgow. Christ is truly the only one who can encourage them.

Sharon and her husband, Dale, own a farm and wedding venue in the Hartwood area of Stafford County. Recognizing that many people would miss the comfort of gathering together for worship, the Glasgows decided to host a drive-in church service this past weekend.

We knew we had parking for a large amount of people, Sharon Glasgow said. We had the sound system. And we found a worship leader.

Twenty-four hours before the service, which was held Sunday afternoon, the Glasgows posted information about their plans on Facebook and Instagram.

Those are the only two ways people knew about it, and we still had 63 cars there, Sharon Glasgow said.
The organiser of a protest in Dingle has defended the move to block 40 French and Spanish fishermen from entering the town on Monday.

Robert Brosnan told Newstalk Breakfast that the blockade was organised because of concerns that fishing crews from France and Spain were not observing social distancing in the town last weekend.

Crews from Spain and France were moving through the town not keeping social distance, causing fear in the community.

Mr Brosnan said that the town has a sizeable elderly community with a number of nursing homes.

This is causing unnecessary and extra worry to a community already told to keep to themselves.

People in the town felt that they were not being listened to, he said.

When he heard that two French vessels were due in port at high tide on Monday he decided to take a stand. He and a group parked cars at the end of the pier, effectively blocking anyone from moving off the pier.

He said he was proud of the stand he and his colleagues had made. We identified a danger and took a stand on behalf of the community.

Mr Brosnan said he understood that the crews would want to walk around when they come into port, but they had not been observing social distancing measures and they came from two countries that were badly impacted by the Covid-19 virus.

We have to protect our community.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- REECH AUTO has introduced a new shareholder backed by Henan provincial government, making it the first Chinese EV startup held by government-owned investor.

According to the business data platform Tianyancha, REECH AUTO's majority shareholder became a Henan-registered investment entity in early March, which currently holds 60% stake in the startup. Its advent made the registered capital surge to RMB3.366 billion from RMB1.347 billion. At the same time, the company's name also changed to REECH AUTO Technology Group Co.,Ltd. from REECH AUTO Technology (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. Prior to the modification, the startup was wholly controlled by a Shenzhen-based investment management firm, which possesses the other 40% stake now.



(Photo source: REECH AUTO's WeChat account)



Founded in August 2016, REECH AUTO has not put any mass-produced model onto the market yet. The company disclosed in June 2018 it planned to roll out three platforms dubbed CC, M, and S, and launch a new model per half year. The first model was supposed to hit the market in last June, while the goal hasn't been realized as planned.

Besides, REECH AUTO signed strategic cooperation and joint manufacturing agreements with Changan Automobile on May 24, 2019. Under the agreements, both parties would co-manufacture the startup's first mass-produced model code-named M500 at Changan-Suzuki's second vehicle plant. Nevertheless, no update has been reported from then on.

In 2018, Wang Xiangyin, who assumed the startup's CEO then, said REECH AUTO was ready to obtain car-building qualification by working with contract manufacturer, making independent application to authorities, and acquiring stake of other carmakers.

As we know, car building is an extremely cash-burning business which is hard to sustain without solid capital support. Some analysts said REECH AUTO has largely lagged behind rivals in terms of financing progress, car manufacturing qualification, vehicle R&D and delivery. The situation is even worsened because of the NEV subsidy phase-out.
The wife of a 38-year-old man who has been admitted to hospital after being infected by coronavirus has pleaded with fellow Britons to stay at home to stop the disease from spreading.

Catherine Brown's husband Damion, 38, was rushed to hospital with severe breathing difficulties.

Mrs Brown said her warehouse manager husband went into isolation 12 days ago when he started showing symptoms of the disease.

Catherine Brown, pictured, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire has pleaded with people to heed the coronavirus lockdown after her fit and healthy 38-year-old husband Damion was struck down by the disease and rushed to hospital

The family, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, were waiting for the all-clear when Mr Browns condition worsened.

Mrs Brown has made an emotional video and posted it on Facebook pleading for people to heed the governments lockdown message.

She said her husband, who is an avid gym fan and incredibly fit and strong, is now fighting for breath.

She said Mr Brown does not wish to be placed into a coma  despite medical advice  because hes afraid he will not wake up again.

Mrs Brown said: I am just so scared in case they put him to sleep and that is it. When you have a family member fighting like this, nothing else matters. Please stop going outside. Don't give this to somebody else. I don't know why it's not sinking in with people.

Somebody gave this to us or to me and I gave it to him, and they might have just given it to 100 other people - and that's really scary. I just want everybody to pray and send positive healing our way, because this is horrible.

Damion Brown and his wife Catherine have urged members of the public to stay at home after the fitness fanatic, left, was hospitalised with coronavirus

Mrs Brown, left, pictured with her husband, right, appealed for people to heed the government's advice

Mr Brown has so far refused to allow medics to put him into an induced coma to allow him to better fight the virus

I can't even go and visit him and he's scared. It's been the worst week of my life.

According to The Sun, Mr Brown also released a video filmed two days ago from his hospital bed, while wearing an oxygen mask.

He said: A lot of people aren't taking this seriously and think this is a joke. This is no joke. I'm a fit person. I work out regularly.

Did I expect this to be happening to me? No, I didn't. Everybody just needs to take this seriously and think about your families.
Collaboration between Triumvira Immunologics and Lonza will leverage the innovative Cocoon Platform for novel TAC01-HER2 program

TAC01-HER2 cells will be tested in an early stage clinical trial targeting solid tumors

Quote from Paul Lammers, MD, MSc., President and CEO of Triumvira:

"Given the challenges of manufacturing existing cell therapies, we believe it is critical to leverage innovative technology to automate manufacturing processes to improve consistency, accelerate logistics, reduce footprint, and reduce cost. Additionally, as our novel TAC technology exhibits a strong rationale for treating solid tumors, having a manufacturing process that, once commercialized, could be used at point-of-care would be vital to conveniently deliver cell therapy to patients given the high incidence of solid tumors."

Quote from Eytan Abraham, Head of Personalized Medicine, Lonza Pharma Biotech:

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with Triumvira to accelerate and enable bringing novel cancer immunotherapies to the clinic and patients. We are leveraging the Cocoon Platform, coupled with the array of R&D and manufacturing capabilities and expertise that Lonza brings to the table, to accelerate the path to the clinic and commercial approval. Our focus is on doing this in a way that will allow these novel therapies to be manufactured reliably, reproducibly, at the needed scale and a sustainable cost."

Triumvira Immunologics, Inc. (Triumvira), a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel platform for engineering T-cells to attack cancers, and Lonza, a leading cell gene therapy manufacturer, announced today that the companies have an agreement in place.

This collaboration, aimed at the development of Triumvira's TAC01-HER2 T-cell therapy for treating solid tumors, will leverage Lonza's expertise in process development and the usage of its proprietary Cocoon Platform. This automated patient-scale cell therapy manufacturing platform offers flexibility to execute a wide variety of protocols within a single system is enabled through a single-use, highly customizable cassette and custom programming.

Immunotherapy, particularly T-cell products, belong to the most potent drugs that could overcome the complex barriers encountered in solid tumors. However, current T-cell approaches remain insufficiently effective. The TAC receptor represents a significant advancement, providing a novel mechanism of T-cell activation, leading to improved anti-tumor responses in solid tumor models.

TAC01-HER2 has demonstrated encouraging and repeated safety and efficacy in multiple preclinical models of HER2-overexpressing tumors. Within this collaboration, TAC01-HER2 will initially be tested in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial examining different HER2-overexpressing solid tumors.

About Triumvira Immunologics

Triumvira Immunologics, Inc. ("Triumvira") is a clinical stage immunotherapy company with the vision of developing novel T-cell therapies that are safer and more efficacious than current cell therapy cancer treatments, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies.

Our proprietary T-cell Antigen Coupler (TAC) technology recruits the entire natural T-cell receptor and functions independent of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), allowing for the development of better therapies for a broader range of patients with solid or liquid malignancies and with diseases other than cancer. With operations spanning North America, our corporate offices are in Austin, Texas, with our research facilities in Hamilton, Ontario.

For more information, visit www.triumvira.com or send email inquiries to partners@triumvira.com.

About Lonza

Lonza is an integrated solutions provider that creates value along the Healthcare Continuum. Through our Pharma Biotech Nutrition segment and our Specialty Ingredients segment businesses, we harness science and technology to serve markets along this continuum. We focus on creating a healthy environment, promoting a healthier lifestyle and preventing illness through consumers' preventive healthcare, as well as improving patient healthcare by supporting our customers to deliver innovative medicines that help treat or even cure severe diseases.

Patients and consumers benefit from our ability to transfer our pharma know-how to the healthcare, hygiene and fast-moving consumer goods environment and to the preservation and protection of the world where we live.

Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, Lonza today is a well-respected global company with more than 100 sites and offices and approximately 15,500 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2018. The company generated sales of CHF 5.5 billion in 2018 with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.5 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.

Additional Information and Disclaimer

Lonza Group Ltd has its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST"). Lonza Group Ltd is not subject to the SGX-ST's continuing listing requirements but remains subject to Rules 217 and 751 of the SGX-ST Listing Manual.

Certain matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and estimates of Lonza Group Ltd, although Lonza Group Ltd can give no assurance that these expectations and estimates will be achieved. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty and are qualified in their entirety. The actual results may differ materially in the future from the forward-looking statements included in this news release due to various factors. Furthermore, except as otherwise required by law, Lonza Group Ltd disclaims any intention or obligation to update the statements contained in this news release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005026/en/

Contacts:

Triumvira Contact Details

Joshua Carle

Vice President, Business Development

Triumvira Immunologics, Inc.

Tel +1 512 790 0222

partners@triumvira.com

Lonza Contact Details

Dr. Kristin Koehler

Investor Relations

Lonza Group Ltd

Tel +41 61 316 8782

kristin.koehler@lonza.com



Dr. Sanna Fowler

Head of External Communications

Lonza Group Ltd

Tel +41 61 316 8929

sanna.fowler@lonza.com
Social media companies have been under tremendous pressure since the 2016 presidential election to do something  anything  about the proliferation of misinformation on their platforms.

Companies like Facebook and YouTube have responded by applying anti-fake-news strategies that seem as if they would be effective. As a public-relations move, this is smart: The companies demonstrate that they are willing to take action, and the policies sound reasonable to the public.

But just because a strategy sounds reasonable doesnt mean it works. Although the platforms are making some progress in their fight against misinformation, recent research by us and other scholars suggests that many of their tactics may be ineffective  and can even make matters worse, leading to confusion, not clarity, about the truth. Social media companies need to empirically investigate whether the concerns raised in these experiments are relevant to how their users are processing information on their platforms.

One strategy that platforms have used is to provide more information about the news source. YouTube has information panels that tell users when content was produced by government-funded organizations, and Facebook has a context option that provides background information for the sources of articles in its News Feed. This sort of tactic makes intuitive sense because well-established mainstream news sources, though far from perfect, have higher editing and reporting standards than, say, obscure websites that produce fabricated content with no author attribution.
New Delhi: Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) saw zero domestic flights cancellations on Tuesday with high occupancy in most flights a day before the airport goes under complete lockdown for a week in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. Only cargo terminals will be allowed to operate as usual during this period.

Officials said as all three passenger terminals will be completely shuts, they might use at least two runways to park grounded aircraft while one will be kept clear for emergency services.

The government had announced on Monday that all domestic flights across the country will remain suspended from Wednesday till March 31. Last week, all outgoing and arriving international flights were cancelled as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

According to officials, flight cancellations are common due to technical faults, weather conditions or operational reasons. One of the officers from the airport said on the condition of anonymity: Tuesday saw higher occupancy in domestic flights as it was the last day of operations before the one-week ban, however, the total footfall remained low at the airport as compared to usual days because international flights have already been suspended. No domestic flight was cancelled by any airline till Tuesday evening.

The officer further said: With the closure of all international flights and the janta curfew on Sunday, many flights had to be grounded at the IGI airport. As a result, one runway was also shut, which is now being used temporarily to accommodate idle aircraft. Now, with the complete suspension of passenger flights, theres a possibility that another runway will be shut and will be used as an aircraft parking stand. At least one runway, however, will continue to be in operation as cargo terminals will be functional, as usual. It will also cater to VIP movement and emergency services, if required.

CISF TO CONTINUE DEPLOYMENT

While the majority of the ground handling staff, housekeeping staff, airline crew, airport management staff and restaurant operators have not been called to the airport for the next week, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who guard the airport, will remain in place as usual.

Our personnel will remain deployed to secure the premises, as usual. Since the airside will be almost shut, our focus will be more on the city-side. Staff from the areas such as check-in counters and security hold area will be deployed to strengthen peripheral security. Cargo areas will be in focus as it will be the only operational terminal during the period, said a senior officer from the CISF, who wished not to be named.

AIRLINES OFFER COMPENSATION OPTIONS TO FLYERS

Meanwhile, keeping in mind flyers financial losses, several airlines announced that the PNR of the passengers, whose flights scheduled between March 25 and 31 were cancelled, will be kept secured and that the passengers can redeem the same once the suspension is lifted.

GoAir said in a statement it has introduced a flexible and convenient program that will protect passengers from the hassles of rescheduling and cancellation. This offer will apply to all existing and new bookings made between March 1, 2020 and April 15, 2020  wherein customers who have booked any flight on any sector will rest assured to not initiate any rescheduling or cancellation and will be saved from the time-consuming and tedious efforts to call or email their request. Rather, they can simply not show up for the flight and GoAir will protect the PNR for a period of one year. The passenger can contact GoAir at any time over the next one year to redeem this ticket on any GoAir flight on any date between April 15, 2020 and April 15, 2021, with no charges being levied. Fare difference may be applicable, the statement said.

In a similar announcement, IndiGo said passengers booking reference or PNR will stay safe as a credit account in the same PNR with the same ticket value. The credit account can be used for travel before September 30, by the same passenger. For those who are booked to travel till April 30, they can cancel their itinerary at zero cancellation fee, create credit account in the same PNR and book an alternative travel of the same ticket value, any time up till September 30. Also, those who are booked to travel till September 30, can change their itinerary at zero change fee, (fare difference applies) for travel up till September 30, it said.

SpiceJet also issued a statement, saying for passengers who had booked travel between March 25 and March 31, their booking will be automatically cancelled and a reservation credit for the entire amount will be created and they can use it to make another booking for the same passenger for a period of one year, from the original date of travel.
EFECTE PLC -- COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT -- 23 March 2023 at 18.45

Efecte Plc: Notice to the Annual General Meeting

Notice is given to the shareholders of Efecte Plc to the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 22 April 2020 starting at 11:30 EET at Innopoli 3, seminar room Maslov, at the address Vaisalantie 6, Espoo, Finland. The reception of persons who have registered for the meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will commence at 11:00 a.m. EET.

A. MATTERS ON THE AGENDA OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

At the Annual General Meeting, the following matters will be considered:

1. Opening of the meeting



2. Calling the meeting to order

3. Election of persons to scrutinise the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes

4. Recording the legality of the meeting

5. Recording the attendance at the meeting and adoption of the list of votes

6. Presentation of the Financial Statements, consolidated financial statements, the Report of the Board of Directors and the Auditors Report for the year 2019

- Review by the CEO

7. Adoption of the Financial Statements and the consolidated financial statements

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and the payment of dividend

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be distributed for the financial year that ended on 31 December 2019.

9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO from liability

10. Resolution on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors

Efecte Plcs shareholders who in total represent approximately 40 % of all of Efecte Plcs shares and votes have proposed that the fees for the members of the Board of Directors are increased by 3 %. The members will be paid the following fees for their term of office: the Chairman of the Board be paid EUR 3,090 per month and the other members of the Board of Directors be paid EUR 1,545 per month each.

In addition, the above-mentioned shareholders propose that approximately 40 per cent of the remuneration be paid in Efecte Plcs shares and approximately 60 per cent be paid in cash. The part of the remuneration paid in shares will be paid by issuing new shares and/or transferring companys own shares to the Board members within four weeks from the release of the business review for 1 January - 31 March 2020 or, if this is not possible taking insider rules into account, as soon as possible thereafter. A member of the Board of Directors is not entitled to sell or transfer the shares received as Board remuneration during three years following the payment of the remuneration.

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In addition, the Chairman of the Board and the other members of the Board of Directors be compensated for reasonable travelling costs for attending the Board meetings.

11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that six (6) members be elected to the Board.

12. Election of members of the Board of Directors

Efecte Plcs shareholders who in total represent approximately 40 % of all of Efecte Plcs shares and votes have proposed that the current members of the Board Pertti Ervi, Turkka Keskinen, Kari J. Makela and Paivi Rekonen be re-elected to the Board and that Brigitte Falk and Esther Donatz be elected as the new members for the term until the close of the next Annual General Meeting. Hannu Vaajoensuu, a current member of Efecte Plcs Board of Directors, has informed that he is not available for re-election.

The CVs of all persons proposed as Board members are available on the company's website at https://investors.efecte.com. All proposed members have given their consent to the election.

13. Resolution on the remuneration of the auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the remuneration of the auditor be paid against an invoice approved by the company.

14. Election of auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Ernst & Young Oy, a firm of authorised public accountants, be re-elected as the companys auditor for the term until the close of the next Annual General Meeting. Ernst & Young Oy has notified the company that Authorised Public Accountant Juha Hilmola would be the companys responsible auditor.

15. Authorising the Board to decide on the repurchase of the companys own shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorise the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 450,000 shares of the company in one or several instalments by using funds in the unrestricted shareholders equity. The proposed number of shares corresponds to approximately 7.6 per cent of all shares in the company.

The shares may be repurchased in order to improve the capital structure of the company, to carry out acquisitions or other arrangements related to the companys business, to be transferred or cancelled for other purposes, to be used in the companys incentive plans, or if the Board of Directors otherwise deems it to be in the interest of shareholders.

The price paid for the shares repurchased under the authorisation shall be based on the market price of the companys share in public trading. The minimum price to be paid shall be the lowest market price of the share quoted in public trading during the authorisation period and the maximum price the highest market price quoted during the authorisation period.

The companys own shares may be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shareholdings of the shareholders (directed repurchase).

It is proposed that the authorisation be effective until the next Annual General Meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2021. The authorisation will revoke the repurchase authorisation granted by the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2019.

16. Authorising the Board to decide on the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorise the Board of Directors to decide on the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares referred to in Chapter 10 Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act in one or several instalments in the manner described below.

The Board would, pursuant to the authorisation, be entitled to decide on the issuance of an aggregate maximum of 1,000,000 new shares. The Board may decide to issue new shares or shares held by the company. The maximum number of shares included in the proposed authorisation accounts for approximately 16.8 per cent of the companys shares.

The authorisation includes the right to issue shares, option rights and/or other special rights entitling to shares through private offering, in other words, to deviate from the shareholders pre-emptive right, if there is a weighty financial reason for doing so from the companys point of view, such as using them as consideration to carry out acquisitions or other arrangements or investments related to the companys business, and/or as part of the remuneration of the Board members paid in shares as resolved by the Annual General Meeting. The authorisation also includes the right to issue shares, option rights and/or other special rights entitling to shares against payment or without charge. Issuance without charge requires that there is an especially weighty financial reason for doing so from the companys point of view and taking the interests of the companys all shareholders into consideration.

Under the authorisation, the Board of Directors will be entitled to decide on any terms and conditions of the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares, including the recipients and the compensation to be paid.

It is proposed that the authorisation be effective until the next Annual General Meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2021. The authorisation will revoke the share issue authorisations granted by the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2019.

17. Closing of the meeting

B. DOCUMENTS OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The above-mentioned proposals for decisions relating to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting as well as this notice are available on Efecte Plcs website at www.efecte.com. The Financial Statements, consolidated financial statements, the Report of the Board of Directors, and the Auditors Report of Efecte Plc will be available on the above-mentioned website no later than 1 April 2020. The proposals for decisions and other above-mentioned documents are also available at the Annual General Meeting. Copies of these documents and of this notice will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the meeting will be available on the above-mentioned website as of 6 May 2020 at the latest.

C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

1. The right to participate and registration

Each shareholder who on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. 8 April 2020, is registered in the shareholders register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder whose shares are registered on his/her personal Finnish book-entry account is registered in the shareholders register of the company.

A shareholder who is registered in the shareholders register of the company and wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting shall register for the meeting no later than by 17 April 2020 EET on 10:00 a.m. by giving a prior notice of participation. Such notice can be given:

on the internet at https://investors.efecte.com/

by telephone +358 400 383 064 Mon-Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or

by regular mail to the address Efecte Plc, Vaisalantie 6, FI-02130 Espoo, Finland.

All registrations must be received by the company no later than by 17 April 2020 EET on 10:00 a.m., irrespective of the method of registration.

In connection with the registration, a shareholder shall notify his/her name, personal identification number or business identification number, address, telephone number, as well as the name of a possible proxy representative or assistant and the personal identification number of the proxy representative. The personal data given to Efecte Plc is used only in connection with the Annual General Meeting and with the processing of related registrations.

2. Holders of nominee-registered shares

A holder of nominee-registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting by virtue of such shares based on which he/she would be entitled, on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. 8 April 2020, to be registered in the shareholders register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. In addition, the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting requires that the shareholder has, on the basis of such shares, been temporarily registered in the shareholders register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd at the latest by 17 April 2020 EET on 10:00 a.m. As regards nominee-registered shares, this constitutes due registration for the Annual General Meeting.

Holders of nominee-registered shares are advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders register of the company, the issuing of proxy documents, and preregistration for the Annual General Meeting from their custodian bank. The account manager of the custodian bank shall register a holder of nominee-registered shares who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting temporarily in the shareholders register of the company by the deadline stated above.

3. Proxy representative and powers of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the meeting by way of proxy representation. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting.

When a shareholder participates in the Annual General Meeting by means of several proxy representatives who represent the shareholder with shares on different securities accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration. A template for the power of attorney is available on the companys web page at http://investors.efecte.com.

Any proxy documents should be delivered as originals to Efecte Plc, Vaisalantie 6, FI-02130 Espoo, Finland, before the deadline for registration.

4. Advance voting

A shareholder with a Finnish book-entry account, may vote in advance on certain items on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting through the company's website during the time period 23 March 2020 to 17 April 2020 at 10:00 am (EET). Unless a shareholder voting in advance will be present in the Annual General Meeting in person or by way of proxy representation, he/she may not be able to use his/her right according to the Finnish Companies Act to request information or voting, and if decision proposals have changed after the beginning of the advance voting period, his/her possibility to vote on such items may be restricted. The conditions and instructions relating to the electronic advance voting can be found on the company's website at http://investors.efecte.com. The Finnish book-entry account number of the shareholder is required for voting in advance.

5. Other information

Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act, a shareholder who is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the meeting.

On the date of this notice to the Annual General Meeting, 23 March 2020, the total number of shares in Efecte Plc is 5,959,990 and the total number of votes in Efecte Plc is 5,959,990.

Additional information about the effects of the Coronavirus epidemic can be found at https://investors.efecte.com/en/annual-general-meeting-2020.





Espoo, 23 March 2020

EFECTE PLC

The Board of Directors









Further enquiries:

Taru Makinen

CFO

Efecte Plc

taru.makinen@efecte.com

+358 40 507 1085

Certified Adviser:

Evli Bank Plc, tel +358 40 579 6210





Efecte Plc

Efecte is a Finnish software company offering cloud-based Service Management solutions and related supportive professional services. With Efectes software, organizations can flexibly manage all internal and external services, for example, an IT, HR or finance departments services, customer service and access rights. Efecte is one of the leading software vendors in its field for medium-sized and public organizations in Finland and the Nordic countries. The company was established in 1998 and is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland marketplace. Efecte operates in Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark.
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. plans to sell about $14 billion of shares in Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as part of an effort to raise $41 billion to shore up businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Japanese conglomerate is considering raising the remainder of the money by selling a stake in SoftBank Corp., its domestic telecommunications arm, as well as part of Sprint Corp. following its merger with T-Mobile US Inc., said one of the people, who requested anonymity discussing private transactions. The Alibaba stake sale could range from $12 billion to as much as $15 billion, the people said.

SoftBanks shares surged as much as 21% in Tokyo Tuesday in their biggest intraday gain since listing, just days after marking a drop of roughly the same magnitude. The reversal comes as founder Masayoshi Son is finally doing what investors have been urging for years -- using his stake in Alibaba for shareholder returns and to pay down debt.

Son has set in motion his biggest play yet to silence critics, unveiling the unprecedented plan Monday to unload 4.5 trillion yen ($41 billion) of stock and alleviate investor concerns that at one point shaved more than 40% off SoftBanks value from a February peak. The company, which also operates the $100 billion Vision Fund, is vulnerable to economic shocks given its enormous debt load and ties to unprofitable startups from WeWork to Oyo Hotels. Many of the Vision Funds biggest bets lie in whats known as the sharing economy, which has been particularly hard-hit by a virus thats causing millions of people to stay indoors and slash travel spending.

The market sent a strong message and SoftBank has heeded it, Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Holdings who writes for Smartkarma, said after Mondays announcement. Whats changed is that this will entail a meaningful sale of Alibaba stake with much of the proceeds going to shareholders, he added. SoftBank has never done that before.

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Read more: Masa Son Unveils a $41 Billion Asset Sale to Silence His Critics

While SoftBank didnt specify which assets would be sold, its Alibaba stake is worth more than $120 billion and makes up the largest chunk of unrealized value. Its unclear what timeframe SoftBanks looking at -- its stock in Sprint and Hong Kong shares of Alibaba may be subject to lockup periods: one year from listing in Alibabas case and up to several years for Sprint, though certain conditions may allow earlier transfers and the company could employ special vehicles to get a deal done. Alibabas stock was up as much as 2.7%, reversing early losses on Tuesday in Hong Kong.

An Alibaba spokesperson didnt respond to an emailed request for comment. SoftBank spokespeople in Tokyo and the U.S. declined to comment.

SoftBanks Fire Sale May Erode Stake in Alibaba: Tim Culpan

The Japanese companys envisioned asset sale would almost match its entire market value last week. Part of the proceeds would go toward a new share buyback program of as much as 2 trillion yen that comes on top of previously announced repurchases.

The scale of the endeavor surprised investors and sent SoftBank soaring. Yet even after Mondays and Tuesdays combined gain, the stock remains down about 33% from its 2020 peak, underscoring persistent concerns that tumbling technology sector valuations will damage Sons debt-laden company.

The coronavirus-triggered rout has spread to credit markets and sparked a surge in the cost of insuring debt against default -- including that of SoftBank, whose credit-default swaps touched their highest level in about a decade. Apollo Global Management, the alternative asset management house co-founded by Leon Black, has placed a short bet against bonds issued by SoftBank because of its tech exposure, according to the Financial Times.

Alibaba, Sprint and SoftBank Corp. are worth as much as $190 billion combined, estimates Atul Goyal, senior analyst at Jefferies Group. But Son will want to keep at least a 50% stake in the domestic telecom unit because its the only cash-generating asset and its dividends help pay for SoftBanks interest on debt, he wrote. And since Sprint is going through a merger with T-Mobile, most of the funds will initially have to come from Alibaba, he said.

This buyback is music to our ears, Goyal said. But the timing of this announcement is not ideal. We would have ideally preferred such an announcement from a position of strength and not because the SBG stock came under tremendous pressure.

(Updates with Alibabas shares from the third 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.
While the country responds to the Covid-19 pandemic, mass-transit employees continue to show up day after day to ensure that emergency medical workers and other critical personnel can do their jobs for the people of New York. Thats why its so disheartening to watch as some in Washington use mass-transit funding as political currency.

Mass transit continues to be the lifeblood of New York, even as the frenetic city hits pause to ensure our collective health and safety.

We are in uncharted waters. Ridership has sunk to never-before-seen lows: subway ridership down by a startling 76 percent, buses by 62 percent, Metro North by 94 percent and the Long Island Rail Road by 71 percent. In a normal year, farebox revenue constitutes nearly half of the M.T.A. annual budget  about $8 billion. Thats on top of more than $6 billion in state and local taxes dedicated to the M.T.A. that is likely to evaporate in the inevitable downturn. Additionally, our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees, and we expect the aggressive disinfecting efforts undertaken to protect them to total over $300 million on an annualized basis.

The scale of the operating budget deficits the M.T.A. and other agencies face is unprecedented.

This is an extraordinary time calling for extraordinary measures. Congress needs to get that message  that its crucial that the coronavirus relief package include at least $25 billion in funding for mass transit to ensure that the M.T.A. and systems across the country not only continue to operate through the crisis, but also serve as the catalyst for economic growth once the pandemic subsides and the countrys pulse begins beating again.
Washington: The Federal Reserve launched an unprecedented effort on Monday to flood the US economy with money amid the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as Congress debated a rescue plan for American workers and companies.

Like patients around the world battling the disease itself, the US economy is on life support, with some forecasters projecting a 14 percent contraction in the April-June quarter while the global economy could shrink 1.5 percent this year.

Americans have been ordered to stay at home, and the Fed warned of "severe disruptions" from the virus as it rolled out another series of measures to pump funds into the economy, including buying unlimited amounts of government debt a move akin to printing money.

President Donald Trump signaled his approval of the Fed's move last weeks to slash the benchmark lending rate to zero, saying central bank chair Jerome Powell had "done a really good job," in a reversal of previous criticism over his refusal to lower rates.

The president also praised the strong US dollar but acknowledged it makes "trade much tougher" an unusual statement from an American president, who typically don't comment on the currency's value.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent the day meeting with congressional leaders, and played down Democratic concerns about taxpayers coming to the rescue of major corporations.
GREENWICH  The latest closure in town is the lobby of the train station in central Greenwich as the number of coronavirus cases increased in town to 45, First Selectman Fred Camillo announced Tuesday afternoon.

The closure goes into effect at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The station itself will remain open, and train service will not be affected.

It is imperative that we deploy any measure which will help reduce the virus infection, Camillo said. I recognize the inconvenience to anyone who is using the railroad system. At this point, I expect the disruption will be minimal because of the governors order closing so many nonessential businesses.

Metro-North and the state Department of Transportation made the decision out of concerns about the spreading coronavirus. The elevator in the lobby is not large enough to keep the minimum six feet of space that is recommended for proper social distancing.

To access the platform for a train heading toward NYC, stairs are located on Steamboat Road or Arch Street. For ADA access, parking will be available on the south side of the tracks and elevators are available on each side of the pedestrian bridge, said a spokesperson for the Ashforth Co., which owns the downtown train station and building.

Signs will be posted on the doors directing passengers to opposite side of the complex.

Greenwich had already closed the buildings at the train stations in Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich. Passengers can still catch trains from the platforms at any of the stations in town, but Metro-North reports that ridership is down about 90 percent.

Also, a total 45 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, up from the 31 who had been reported as of Sunday, Camillo said, citing statistics from the towns Department of Health.

Greenwich Hospital said 133 patients have tested positive for the virus at its testing site and 33 of them are hospitalized. Residents from across the region are being tested at Greenwich Hospital, not just town residents.

Camillo also urged residents to support the local businesses that remain open, including restaurants that are offering takeout service.

And even though he closed the towns beaches and parks, Camillo said residents should get outside to enjoy fresh air and exercise  as long as they practice social distancing.

People can use our trails, he said. We dont want people elbow to elbow, but use those trails. Weve got miles and miles of them. We also have 90 miles of sidewalks that are adjacent to public roads in this town. We encourage you to get out and get to know your neighborhoods from a different perspective.

Camillo said he expects the number of coronavirus cases in the country to spike. The town has taken several steps to mitigate the spread of the virus, but more cases are expected, he said.

Given the unprecedented nature of the outbreak and the response at all levels of government, Camillo urged residents to remain positive.

This is a tough time given the economic impact, the impact on peoples livelihoods and the impact on the public health he said. Its a trifecta of worry for people, but we have had crises in our country before. We all lived through one recently in 2001. Weve had world wars. In 1918, in the last great pandemic, we lost 200 people in Cos Cob, including my great-grandparents and their six kids had to raise themselves.

When you look at it that way, we are much more advanced as a society now with technology and other tools at our disposal, Camillo said. Were a great people. Were resilient. The American people are at their best at times like this.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
There has been one new death from coronavirus confirmed in Ireland this evening by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. The tragic passing of a male patient in the east of the country with an underlying condition has brought Ireland's Covid-19 death toll to seven.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has also been informed of 204 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. There are now 1,329 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 HPSC, as of midnight, Sunday 22 March (965 cases), reveals:

55% are male and 45% are female, with 44 clusters involving 243 cases

the median age of confirmed cases is 45 years

277 cases (29%) have been hospitalised

of those hospitalised, 36 cases have been admitted to ICU

247 cases (26%) are associated with healthcare workers

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 535, (55% of all cases) followed by Cork with 123 cases (13%)

of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 47%, close contact accounts for

of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 47%, close contact accounts for 23%, travel abroad accounts for 31%

The Department of Health has today launched a new COVID-19 Information Dashboard which provides up-to-date case information. It's available at www.gov.ie/dashboard

The National Public Health Emergency Team met last night (Monday 23 March) and this morning (Tuesday 24 March) to review Irelands response to COVID-19 preparedness.

Read more: An Taoiseach announces further restrictions which will be in place until at least April 19

There have been 17,992 tests have been carried out as of midnight last night. There are approximately 2,000 tests being carried out across the country at the moment and that number is expected to reach 3,000 tests per day by next week.

The average wait time, which was approximately one week before, is now approximately 26 hours from the time the sample arrives at the lab. Turnaround times in hospitals would be significantly shorter.

Anyone wanting a test will have an initial consultation with a GP who refers you to a sampling centre. The sample then comes to a laboratory for assessment. Laboratories are currently testing samples taken on Sunday.

There are huge shortages of protective gear for health workers but it has been confirmed that a considerable stock of masks, gowns and goggles are being supplied by China this week.

If you are experiencing symptoms, such as fever and cough, self isolate and call your GP who will guide you and refer you for a test if necessary. There is now a testing centre open at St Joseph's Hospital, Longford, but this is by GP referral.

Worldwide, the figures have surpassed 400,000 with a total of 409,052 cases reported in 196 countries. In total, there have been 18,262 deaths and the number of recoveries has amounted to 107,073.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; We are now in the crucial weeks of our response to Covid-19. All actions we take are based on epidemiological evidence and in proportion to our experience on this island.

As we learn more about this disease, we are prioritising who will be tested. If you are not in a priority group, you might not be tested. However, if you have the symptoms, assume you have Covid-19 and isolate yourself.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; Priority groups for testing include close contacts of a confirmed case with symptoms, healthcare workers with symptoms and people who are vulnerable with symptoms.

Whether you are tested or not, the advice remains the same; if you have any symptoms, assume you have Covid-19 and isolate yourself for 14 days to help stop the spread of this disease. Household contacts of a suspected case should restrict their contacts for 14 days.

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said; 14,692 samples have been tested at the NVRL, of which 93% returned negative.

Ireland is following WHO advice to test, test, test and is in the top quartile in terms of number of tests we have performed per capita. This, alongside physical distancing measures and intensive contact tracing, is deemed best practice internationally for dealing with this threat.

Analysis of public health contact tracing has shown that the average number of close contacts per confirmed case has decreased from 20+ to the region of 5 contacts. This shows that the public is following health advise and actively limiting the amount of people they engage with.

NPHET will meet again on Thursday 26th March, to review Irelands ongoing preparedness and response to Covid-19.
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield revealed why they'll continue to host This Morning live from the studio amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During Tuesday's instalment, the hosts insisted they're still required to come into work as the government have classed them as 'essential workers', after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plunged the nation into a lockdown.

In a bid to cheer the nation during the global crisis, presenters Holly, 39, and Phil, 57, took a trip down memory lane by looking back at their best bits on the show, leaving the duo in fits of giggles.

The show must go on: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield revealed why they'll continue to host This Morning live from the studio during Tuesday's edition amid the coronavirus crisis

Addressing their viewers following Boris' speech on Monday, media personality Phil said: 'Lets start off by explaining probably for the first time ever, why we are here today.'

His co-star - who practised social distancing by sitting a few feet away from him - added: 'The government has classed us as essential workers for the time being, as we are here to answer your questions and inform you on what is happening.'

Phil highlighted that their studio crew has been scaled back, adding: 'We are running with a skeleton staff and for now on, with lots of people working from home.

'In fact, the mobile crew have brought the cameras through from GMB through a hole in the wall. There are millions of others quite rightly staying at home.'

Business as usual: The hosts are required to come into work as the government have classed them as 'essential workers', after the Prime Minister plunged the nation into a lockdown

In good spirits: In a bid to cheer the nation during the global crisis, presenters Holly, 39, and Phil, 57, took a trip down memory lane by looking back at their best bits on the show

Compliance: The TV stars practised social distancing by sitting a few feet away from each other (pictured with Piers Morgan, Lorraine Kelly and Dr Hilary Jones)

On Monday night, the head of the government ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.

Following the news, Holly and Phil attempted to bring some light relief to their viewers as they reminisced on their best bits from their 11-year joint stint on programme.

'We are running with a skeleton staff and for now on': Phil highlighted that their studio crew has been scaled back

The throwback clips featured when the pair were forced to deliver their own cooking segment in chef Gino D'Acampo's absence, as well as Phil joking Holly that would 'pee her pants' from laughter.

Reflecting on their hilarious moments, the blonde admitted: 'One day [I'll wee myself] and it'll be the end of my career!'

'If you've never seen our show, welcome to our world', Phil quipped, before the TV veterans cackled over Holly's laughing track - which was originally created when the star belted out a kooky chuckle in a previous edition of the show.

On Monday, the Dancing On Ice hosts adhered to social distancing rules for the first time on the show, with Holly admitting she couldn't wait to hug her close friend again.

Cheerful: Following the news, Holly and Phil attempted to bring some light relief as they reminisced on their best bits from the programme, before playing Spin to Win with viewers

Overwhelmed with giggles: Reflecting on their hilarious moments, the blonde admitted: 'One day [I'll wee myself] and it'll be the end of my career!'

Effortlessly chic: The blonde beauty looked as sophisticated as ever as she styled a pale blue jumper with a leather mini-skirt

Earlier, they appeared on Good Morning Britain for a debate on how to discuss the coronavirus pandemic with children, as ITV launched its new daytime schedule after axing popular shows Lorraine and Loose Women.

During the GMB chat with Piers Morgan and Lorraine Kelly, the mother-of-three admitted she is struggling with what to tell her two eldest children about the global crisis.

Holly and her husband Dan Baldwin are parents to Harry, ten, Belle, eight and Chester, five.

The ITV star told Piers, Phil and Lorraine: 'I have Harry, who's ten and Belle, who's 8. It's about talking to them in an appropriate way'.

'I can't wait to hug my friend again': On Monday, the Dancing On Ice hosts adhered to social distancing rules for the first time on the show

'No one knows your kids better than you do, you know the right approach,' Phil, a father of two, reassured his colleague.

Piers pointed out that 'what we're being asked to do in terms of sacrifice, going home to watch the telly, is not that bad'.

Good Morning Britain star Susanna Reid joined in the chat from home, where she's been self isolating for the past week after one of her teenage sons developed symptoms.

'One thing with children, I think it's good to focus on the good. There are people delivering meals to front line staff and nurses in critical care are getting those fresh meals. That's an example of the goodness,' she said.

ITV daytime confirmed in a statement that neither show would continue as of Monday 23rd March, with Lorraine Kelly joining an extended version of GMB, and This Morning continuing 'as usual'.

The statement read: 'ITV Daytime has taken the decision to stop broadcasting Lorraine and Loose Women live from Monday 23rd March.

'This decision has been made to minimise the number of staff travelling in and out of our studios and working together on shift at any one time.

New rules: This Morning has been airing with minimal crew during the global crisis, which has claimed 335 lives in the UK

'We're focusing our efforts on providing to viewers the latest news on the rapidly changing situation which aims to offer some stability and continuity in all our lives whilst so many of us are at home right now.

'Thats why we have taken this tough decision to protect our GMB News programme in the morning and keep This Morning on air for as long as possible.

'From Monday we will be running an extended version of Good Morning Britain from 0600 until 10am.

Off air: It was announced on Sunday that Good Morning Britain will be extended by an hour from Monday after Lorraine (pictured last week) and Loose Women were suspended

'At 9am Lorraine Kelly will join Piers in the GMB studio for the last hour and then hand straight over to the This Morning studio with Phillip and Holly as usual running from 10am until 1230pm.

'We will then run some of our most favourite repeat episodes of Loose Women from 12.30pm to 1.30pm to give viewers something to smile about each day at lunchtime.

'We have been reducing our crew numbers over the last week and these changes will enable us to reduce them further and help us build further resilience with the aim of Daytime content continuing to air for as long as possible.

'Safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved with our programmes is our priority and in this dynamically developing situation we will obviously continue to review these new arrangements on a day by day basis and follow at all times the latest PHE and WHO guidelines.'




Facebook Messenger has now announced a two-part approach to provide assistance during coronavirus pandemic and future outbreaks. One initiative addresses the need for governments and officials to communicate with the population at large. The other is geared toward preventative and assistive measures for end users going forward.

The first of the two initiatives wont necessarily be the most impactful but will be more immediate. Namely, Facebook has partnered with its developer community to offer free services to government and UN health agencies. Thats being done in a bid to help those bodies scale their response to the continuing COVID-19 and coronavirus pandemic.

The end goal is to keep the general population informed and connected where government resources are slim.

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Messenger will connect government health organizations and UN health agencies to developers who are offering cost-free services. Those developers will assist the given organizations in finding the most effective way to share timely, accurate, official coronavirus information rapidly. That includes the development of response and conversation automation. But it also includes live help via chats for citizens  among other solutions.

Facebook also provides a couple of examples of how its new partnership and initiative are already being put to use. Not only has Argentinas Ministry of Health teamed up with Botmaker.com to launch a new 24-hour question and answer Messenger experience. UNICEF and Pakistans Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSRC) are using Messenger to keep people informed as well.

Facebook is challenging developers to actively find coronavirus solutions

The second initiative put forward by Facebook Messenger on coronavirus may be more far-reaching. Partnering with hackathon provider Devpost, the company is asking developers globally to take part in a Messenger-specific hackathon online. That will center around building solutions to confront social distancing, education, and other key issues surrounding COVID-19.

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Those solutions can be global or localized and participants will be given special access to Messenger-related content. For instance, the company is giving free access to Facebook Live tutorials provided by product experts. But its also giving access to a wide range of additional support materials. The company says any interested developers will want to subscribe to the Facebook for Developers newsletter for updates.

Now, winning participants will be given invitations to attend F8 2021, following the shutdown of this years Facebook developer conference. That will not only include flights and accommodations. Facebook is also offering the chance to take part in the F8 hackathon for winners. But the biggest prize may be that winners will receive mentoring from Facebooks engineers to build out their proposed solutions.

Looking beyond coronavirus

The proposed Messenger-based solution-building exercise will undoubtedly prove useful to address ongoing issues associated with coronavirus. But it could also pave the way for more useful responses to future crises going forward since it is building a network between governing bodies and developers. In effect, it lays the groundwork for future solutions.

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Since Messenger is among the most used messaging platforms around, if not the most used of those apps, the added benefit is greater too. By putting forward one of the worlds best messengers, Facebook is offering a wide-reaching platform that can more quickly reach a wider audience. That makes any solutions built there more likely to have a lasting impact well beyond coronavirus.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade on Tuesday undertook sanitisation work of Municipal Hospital here as the country battles to contain the spread of COVID-19. Disinfectant sodium hydrochloride solution diluted in water was sprayed in the premises and quarantine facilities are being prioritised for the exercise.

"In the wake of COVID 19 and its continuous threat of spread, the work of sanitation of Municipal Hospital is undertaken jointly by the fire brigade. We are using Quick Response vehicle to spray disinfectant sodium hydrochloride solution diluted in water. Priority will be given to quarantine facilities to disinfect so that spread restricted," a fire brigade statement said.

Earlier, Mumbai moved to a complete lockdown mode as Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a statewide curfew to curb numbers of the contagious disease. "Today, I am compelled to announce a statewide curfew. People were not listening " said Thackeray on Monday.

Maharashtra has been one of the worst affected Indian states reporting over 100 COVID-19 cases as the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) confirmed 482 cases throughout the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Buhari has reportedly tested negative for Coronavirus as his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, has allegedly tested Positive to the vrius.



According to Thisday, presidential sources say the test for the president was necessitated after his Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari tested positive on Monday. Kyari had travelled to Germany on Saturday, March 7th to meet with officials of Siemens in Munich on the Nigerian electricity expansion programme. He returned exactly one week later on Saturday, March 14th, but did not show any symptoms.



He was said to have been at a meeting on containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria all through Sunday March 22nd where he reportedly started to cough. Subsequently, he voluntarily submitted himself for testing and was informed of his status yesterday.



Kyari has however gone into absolute isolation following the test result. He is said to be hale and hearty and showing no symptoms apart from the occasional cough.









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.

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One college dean likened the battle against the coronavirus to the Peloponnesian War. A university president compared the turmoil on her campus to a bad bridge hand. And another president disclosed that he and his wife had been infected.

In letters to students, faculty and staff members, university administrators in recent days have cut the spring semester short and ordered classes to go online. They have broken the news that commencement will be called off and, sometimes, that tuition will not be refunded. They have calmed nerves, and raised hackles, with their words  and sometimes their dance moves.

On Tuesday, the president of Harvard University, Lawrence S. Bacow, shared that he and his wife had tested positive for the coronavirus. He said that he did not know how they had contracted it, but were heartened that they had not come into contact with many people over the last few days.
The Order of Malta Ambulance Corps (Order of Malta) volunteers will support to the Health Service Executive (HSE) as the health crisis caused by COVID-19 continues to develop.

Following a call for support made by the HSE, the Order of Malta is now beginning to mobilise volunteers and equipment to assist in providing healthcare services to people across the country.

Comdr. John Wright is National Director for the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps.

While our top priority is the safety and health of our volunteers throughout this time, we are confident in the measures we have put in place to ensure our organisation is prepared and ready to provide assistance to the HSE in the form of personnel and other assets, including vehicles and equipment as needed. Our COVID-19 task-force is assessing the situation as it develops, and we are in regular communication with the HSE and other emergency bodies, he said

The Order of Malta is one of the largest providers of first aid and voluntary ambulance services in Ireland and is listed as a Voluntary Emergency Services resource available to the HSE under the Framework for Major Emergency Management.

There are Units of the Order of Malta in the following counties: Armagh, Carlow, Clare, Cork, Derry, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up as the country tackles the spread of coronavirus, and emphasised the need to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour-mongering.

Interacting with senior journalists from the print media via video links, he also said the citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

He said it is critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard national security.

During the interaction, Modi asked the media to act as a link between the government and people and provide continuous feedback at both national and regional levels.

"He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of spread of the virus through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said.

According to the statement, Modi underlined that "it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up".

The prime minister also "emphasised that it was important to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour mongering. Citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19," the statement said.

The prime minister thanked the participants for the feedback and reminded them of the social responsibility towards the less privileged.

Modi said the media has played a praise-worthy role in disseminating information to every nook and corner of the country. He said that the network of media is pan-India and spread across cities and villages.

This makes the media all the more significant in fighting this challenge and spreading correct information about it at micro level, he said.

He said that newspapers carry tremendous credibility and the local page of a region is widely read by people.

It is, therefore, imperative that awareness about coronavirus is spread through articles published on this page. It is essential to inform people about where the testing centres are, who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested and follow home isolation protocols.

This information should be shared in newspapers and web portals of the paper, the prime minister said. He also suggested that information like location of availability of essential items during lockdown can also be shared in regional pages.

The journalists and stakeholders from print media appreciated the role played by the prime minister in communicating effectively and leading the country from the front.

They said that they will work on the suggestions of the prime minister to publish inspiring and positive stories.

They also thanked him for reinforcing the credibility of print media and noted that the entire nation has followed his message of coming together to face this grave challenge, the statement said.

Over 20 journalists and stakeholders from print media from all over the country interacted with the prime minister via video links. The journalists joined the interaction from 14 locations and consisted of both national and regional media, representing 11 different languages.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Dutch firm has created a new coronavirus test that can give results in just 15 minutes in the same fashion as a pregnancy stick.

Sensitest's blood test, manufactured in China, detects antibodies that signal the body is fighting the deadly infection.

It is not able to spot the virus in its early stages, but it can reveal if someone has already beaten the virus without showing symptoms.

The small company said it would be open to negotiate a deal with governments to supply tests for the masses.

CEO Robert Das said a rapid diagnostic tool like this is 'desperately needed' to curb the global pandemic, as the number of cases reaches more than 400,000.

It follows increasing pressure on the UK Government to push rapid tests through the door and get more of the population swabbed.

Public Health England (PHE) is in the process of investigating tests on the market, but have not revealed which ones of the dozens emerging globally.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned today that Britain has lost track of the coronavirus crisis because of its controversial testing scheme to only test patients in hospital.

One million Britons will have caught the life-threatening infection by the end of next week, he predicts. Some 6,600 cases have officially been reported so far.

A Dutch firm has created a new coronavirus test that can give results in just 15 minutes in the same fashion as a pregnancy stick as pressure grows on the UK government to test more people

Sensitest's blood test, manufactured in China, detects antibodies that signal the body is fighting the deadly infection. It shows results like a pregnancy test

In Britain routine tests are only given to people so ill they have to go into hospital, or those who are already on wards.

It means only 5,000 patients are tested for the deadly virus each day in the UK, a fraction of the numbers tested in other countries.

Even NHS staff, who are treating COVID-19 patients, don't get tested.

The Government have promised to ramp up its daily capacity to 25,000, which will prioritise health workers first.

That means thousands are expected to be infected who will never get an official diagnosis.

Sensitest Corona Rapid test can show on the spot whether a patient has produced antibodies against the COVID-19 virus using a small sample of blood.

Within 15 minutes, it shows whether a person's body has produced antibodies IgM and IgG, which would signal they are battling the coronavirus, even if they do not have symptoms.

CEO Mr Das told MailOnline: 'It's just like a pregnancy test. When you test too early it will be negative.

'As soon as you produce enough antibodies, it will give a positive result within 15 minutes.

Sensitest Corona Rapid test can show on the spot whether a patient produces antibodies against the COVID-19 virus using a small sample of blood

The test result can be read after 15 minutes. The result is positive for two lines in the test window, and negative for one line. The result is not pictured in this test

'The test will also give a positive result after the virus has gone and you have recovered, because your body will still be protected by IgG.'

HOW DOES THE DUTCH TEST WORK? Sensitest Corona Rapid test can show if someone has coronavirus within 15 minutes. It may not work in the very early stages of the disease, the CEO admitted. Blood is collected and dropped onto a cassette. Then, two or three drops of a buffer liquid are added using a pipette. The test result can be read after 15 minutes. The result is positive for two lines in the test window, and negative for one line. The product can only be used by doctors, and is not ideal for patients to use on themselves. Tests like this look at whether someone's immune system is equipped to fight a specific disease or infection. When someone gets infected with a virus their immune system must work out how to fight it off and produce substances called antibodies. These are extremely specific and are usually only able to tackle one strain of one virus. They are produced in a way which makes them able to latch onto that specific virus and destroy it. For example, if someone catches COVID-19, they will develop COVID-19 antibodies for their body to use to fight it off. The body then stores versions of these antibodies in the immune system so that if it comes into contact with that same virus again it will be able to fight it off straight away and probably avoid someone feeling any symptoms at all. To test for these antibodies, medics or scientists can take a fluid sample from someone - usually blood - and mix it with part of the virus to see if there is a reaction between the two. If there is a reaction, it means someone has the antibodies and their body knows how to fight off the infection - they are immune. If there is no reaction it means they have not had it yet. Advertisement

Mr Das said the test, which became available only last week, is currently being bought privately by doctors across the Netherlands.

The situation in Holland reflects that of the UK - 5,578 cases have been reported and 277 deaths.

Mr Das said: 'In Holland, we are distributing the test among doctors all over the country especially in the east where concentrations of patients are.

'We are getting calls from physicians all day, especially in areas where they say there are not enough tests available.

'We can supply thousands of these tests, but not millions. We would need government support.

'I would definitely be open to that and say let's start to negotiate. I think this product is very important for us at the moment. We need it, desperately.'

Mr Das was not able to provide the accuracy result for the blood test, but said the manufacturers - who also make the company's pregnancy tests - have a 'good reputation'.

Public Health England declined to comment on which commercial tests it is looking into as a viable option to use on the general population.

As the coronavirus crisis escalates day by day in the UK, the Government continue to use a testing method which takes two days to produce a result.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson his aides have repeatedly defended the testing regime amid backlash over their efforts.

Initially the plan was to test anyone with symptoms or who had contact with a positive case. But as the outbreak worsened in February, the strategy shelved.

Now, people who believe they have the illness are urged to self-isolate unless their conditions became so severe they need medical help, at which point they will be tested.

It means health chiefs don't know the true scale of the coronavirus epidemic in the UK.

Today the former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt slammed the testing scheme in the UK - which is almost impossible for lay people to access.

Mr Hunt, who was the longest serving Health Secretary before Matt Hancock took over in 2018, told MPs: 'All our public focus has on social distancing.

'But testing and contact tracing to break the chain of transmission is every bit as important if not more important.

'South Korea avoided national lockdown despite having a worse outbreak initially than us.

'Taiwan introduced temperature scanning in malls and office buildings but kept shops and restaurants open, they've had just two deaths.

'In Singapore restaurants remain open and schools reopening.

'But 10 days ago in this country we went in the opposite direction and stopped testing in the community.

Mr Hunt added: 'How can we possibly suppress the virus if we don't know where it is?'

Mr Hunt noted that testing had not been increased in the past week despite repeated promises.

He said: 'The concern is that we appear to be testing on a daily basis virtually no more people than over a week ago when the commitment was to increase the daily amount of tests from 5,000 to 25,000 tests.'

In response, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed 'millions' of tests had been purchased - but he could not say when the public would be able to access them or how.

He said: 'We are in the middle of buying the tests that are needed and especially the new tests that have just come on stream.

'We have now purchased millions of these tests which are arriving in the next days and weeks.'

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has also called for an overhaul on the testing strategy.

More testing was needed, he said, adding: 'On this side of the House we have called for testing for the virus to be carried out within our communities on a mass scale starting with NHS and care staff as a priority.

'We urge the Government to rapidly scale up testing.

'I'm told that many labs at hospitals haven't been able to start testing or are currently testing at under planned capacity because of supply chain issues with the relevant chemicals that are used and the kits to do the testing.

'If this is the case, could the Government update the House on what they are doing to urgently procure the testing kits we need?'

Today it's been claimed that a desperate appeal to research labs was made by Mr Johnson to lend the government coronavirus testing kit.

According to Politico, a Downing Street aide sent a message to research institutes on Sunday asking to borrow expensive equipment currently needed to carry out tests.

'We urgently need to scale up testing. There is only a limited supply of these machines, so the PM is making an urgent appeal for you to lend us your machine(s) for the duration of the crisis,' the email reportedly said.

'We will meet all expenses and assume all liabilities and requirements associated with the use of these machines for this purpose. We undertake to return or replace the equipment when the emergency is over. We would very much like to collect any machines you have tomorrow (Mon 23) or Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other experts have warned that mass checks are crucial for keeping the spread of the killer disease under control.

BioMedomics claims its test can screen for coronavirus in 15 minutes using a small drop of blood and a tiny device that can be carried into the field

Test by test: The types of coronavirus kits from 10-minute finger-prick results to a mask which can diagnose instantly that the government could be using amid row over shortage  as PM brands impending antibody check a 'game changer'

GOVERNMENT IS WORKING WITH FIRM TO MAKE AN ANTIBODY AND ANTIGEN TEST The UK Government is working with the inventors of the home pregnancy test to develop a coronavirus testing kit in Britain and Senegal. Mologic was granted 1million to produce two different types of test which reveal if someone has ever had the deadly virus in the past. The kits  one will look for antigens in spit, the other will scour blood for antibodies  could also tell if a person currently has the infection. But the company, who laboratory in Bedfordshire was visited by Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month, estimates it will be up to six months before Brits can use them. Antibody tests check to see if the body has substances in the immune system which are created when it comes into contact with the virus for the first time. They could be a game-changer for the UK and allow health officials to work out when people are safe because they've already had COVID-19. However, the tests can't accurately tell if a patient is currently infected, unlike swab tests  which take much longer to get a result. If a test comes back positive and they have a cough or fever, it suggests the patient is currently infected  but many patients only suffer mild symptoms. Mologic is also working on an antigen test. The firm hopes it will take just 10 minutes to produce a result, like that of the antibody test. Antigens are parts of a virus that trigger the immune system's response to fight the infection, and can show up in blood before antibodies are made. Advertisement

Boris Johnson yesterday announced that coronavirus testing was to be ramped up to 25,000 per day after the government was slammed for potentially allowing tens of thousands of infected people to walk the streets undiagnosed.

Only 5,000 were being swabbed for COVID-19 previously, a fraction of the number seen elsewhere.

Mr Johnson said a new 'game changing' coronavirus test which analyses antibodies in the blood could detect asymptomatic patients and those who have already shrugged off the bug.

The Prime Minister said this would allow people to know whether they had gained immunity and get back to their working and social lives as soon as possible.

Public Health England previously said that only patients who meet certain criteria will be able to be tested for the bug and those who were being screened were having nasal swabs.

The Prime Minister conceded that the NHS will continue to use nasal swab tests that take up to 48 hours to be analysed in a lab.

Other countries around the world - including the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Italy - have been using testing kits that take just minutes to produce results.

And in a further development, Oxford University researchers claimed that they have created a new test which analyses viral RNA to detect COVID-19 in just 30 minutes.

Here, MailOnline looks at the cutting-edge testing kits currently being rolled out in other counties and at private clinics in Britain:

FINGER PRINT TEST

Name: COVID-19 IgM IgG Rapid Test

Manufacturers: BioMedomics

Diagnostic time: 15 minutes

The blood test is not being used in the UK, despite health bodies in China, Italy and Japan diagnosing patients with it.

On March 5, BioMedomics claimed its 'quick and easy' test was ready and being used in South Korea, Japan, Italy, China and some countries in the Middle East.

After the sample of blood is collected, a technician injects it into the analysis device - which is about the size of an Apple TV or Roku remote - along with some buffer, and waits 15 minutes.

One line means negative, two lines in a spread-out configuration means the sample contains antibodies that the body starts making shortly after infection.

A blood sample is collected, inserted into the reader, a buffer is combined, and results come back within 15 minutes, the company claims

Two lines closer together mean the person is positive for the later-stage antibodies, and three lines mean the patient is positive for both types of antibodies.

A small study showed the test produced a correct response 80 per cent of the time.

PHE confirmed it was not using the advanced blood test because it was not accurate enough, and are hoping to develop their own. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also yet to approve it.

A former PHE strategist said he was 'not confident' the test could produce correct results and is therefore unlikely to be rolled out. However, the method was desirable.

NASAL SWAB

Name: TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit

Manufacturers: ThermoFisher

Diagnostic time: Four hours

The DIY test detects specific DNA given off by the coronavirus in the noses of infected patients.

Samples are then delivered to labs where they are analysed and results are produced within four hours.

The test was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration this week and 5million kits will be sent across America in the coming days.

It is hoped the UK will follow suit after representatives from ThermoFisher, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, were seen entering Downing Street last night carrying a box with the tests.

It is understood ministers were giving a demonstration of how the test works.

FINGER PRICK TEST

Name: COVID-19 Rapid Test Cassette

Manufacturers: SureScreen Diagnostics

Diagnostic time: Ten minutes

The private firm, based in Derby, has created a test which can allegedly determine with 98 per cent certainty if a person is infected.

It involves taking a blood sample via finger prick and then putting it into a screening device.

SureScreen Diagnostics says a prick of blood from the fingertip is sufficient to determine with more than 98 per cent accuracy

The private firm says its test has been validated and is already being used in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Turkey, UAE, Kuwait and Oman. Currently, official swap-based methods take between 24 and 48 hours for results to come back

Public Health England cautions members of the public against using such tests amid fears they are unreliable, saying there is 'little information on the accuracy of the tests'

Results are displayed in a similar fashion to those of an at-home pregnancy test within minutes and could potentially save delays in diagnosis.

SureScreen says its test has been validated and is already being used by private buyers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Turkey, UAE, Kuwait and Oman.

It is believed around 175,000 tests have been conducted with the SureScreen kit so far. The company claims it has had over two million orders for next month.

Director David Campbell said: 'We've been working hard to produce a coronavirus test (COVID19) that can be used at the patient side, with capillary blood, easily taken from someone's fingertip and diagnose them within 10 minutes.

'There is a big problem with the diagnosis of the disease currently because the standard method of screening is to send samples to the laboratory, which takes a lot of time.

'Meanwhile, someone could be spreading the virus without knowing, or having the issue of self-isolation.'

FACE MASK TESTS

Manufacturers: University of Leicester

Diagnostic time: 12 hours

How it works: Breath test inserted in a mask

Scientists have started a trial of the pioneering 2 gadget, which tests have already proven can detect tuberculosis, a deadly lung infection.

Scientists have started a trial of the pioneering 2 gadget (pictured), which tests have already proven can detect tuberculosis

The researchers at the University of Leicester and the University of Pretoria designed 3D printed strips of polyvinyl alcohol that are inserted into the mask (pictured)

The masks, which could cost pennies if manufactured on a wider scale, are fitted with strips that soak up droplets from the wearer's breath, which may be carrying traces of bacterial or viral infection.

The strips can be tested in labs with results coming back within hours. Current tests for coronavirus can take up to 48 hours.

University of Leicester researchers believe it will be at least two months before they can test the masks on actual COVID-19 patients.

But they are hopeful it will work because it is a respiratory disease, meaning it infects the lungs and can is present in the air people breathe out.

After 30 minutes, the strips can be tested in a laboratory (pictured)

First, the team have to test the gadgets on dozens of patients with other lung infections to prove they can pick up bugs other than tuberculosis, which they were designed for.

Patients with infections such as flu and bronchitis will have the results from their mask tests compared to those from throat swabs, which are known to be accurate.

Tests on tuberculosis patients, the only ones that have been done so far, show the masks can detect the killer disease almost 90 per cent of the time.

Leicester's Professor Mike Barer and colleagues are hopeful they will be successful because the coronavirus infects the lungs in a similar way to tuberculosis.

BREATH TEST

Manufacturers: Northumbria University, Newcastle

Diagnostic time: Almost instantly

A breath test that helps rapidly identify patients with coronavirus has been developed by British scientists.

The technology, developed by a team at Northumbria University in Newcastle, is still in development and needs further testing.

But experts believe it could be quickly change the way the virus is spotted around the world.

A breath test that helps rapidly identify patients with coronavirus has been developed by British scientists (file)

Dr Sterghios Moschos, right, said the test could be used to produce results in minutes

The Northumbria team's test collects breath samples which can be tested separately for biological information - known as biomarkers.

These biomarkers, which include DNA, RNA, proteins and fat molecules, can spot diseases of the lung and other parts of the body.

People simply breath into the device, which is similar to a breathalyser used by the police.

Dr Sterghios Moschos, associate professor at Northumbria University, said: 'Our ambition is to reduce the need for bloodletting for diagnosis in its broadest sense.'

The test is currently being trialled.

PRIVATE HARLEY STREET CLINIC

Manufacturers: Private Harley Street Clinic

Diagnostic time: Three days

How it works: Nose and throat swab

Price: 375

More than 2,000 people have ordered a 375 home testing kit from a Harley Street clinic in London after being turned down by the NHS, according to the Daily Telegraph.

In addition to individuals, some 60 firms including oil and telecoms companies, have bought them for their staff.

On its website, the item can be easily 'added to cart,' much in the same way as conventional online products

Dr Mark Ali, director of the Private Harley Street Clinic on London's world-renowned medical avenue, said his practice was offering a new kit for 375 each

The test is posted to the client's home or preferred address, where the client takes swabs from both the nostrils and throat.

The sample is then placed in the box provided and posted back as per the instructions.

Dr Mark Ali, director of the Private Harley Street Clinic on London's world-renowned medical avenue, said his practice was offering a new kit for 375 each.

On its website, the item can be easily 'added to cart,' much in the same way as conventional online products.

The practice says the test is 'performed by a world renown UKAS accredited British laboratory and the test results are 100% accurate and do not require further tests to confirm any diagnoses.'

The website hastens to add, that though it oversees the entire process, patients should not attempt to pick up their kits from Harley Street.

'Please note under no circumstances can this test be done in our clinic or be collected from our clinic.' The website states.

'It is sent to your designated address by courier service within 48 hrs. Please refer to the details below and order through the link at the bottom of this page.'

Dr Ali told The Telegraph he has received countless requests from buyers.

'People are worried sick. They want to get some clarity back in their lives,' he told The Telegraph.

'We've got university students in England who want to go back to Nepal, but need to know if they have the disease so they can be let back into their own country.

'We've got a businessman who owns a construction company employing 60 people. He needs to know the state of play, or he risks letting down his customers. So every single person in that company is being tested.'

ANTIGEN TEST

Manufacturers: Mologic

Diagnostic time: Ten minutes

British firm Mologic is working on an antigen test after receiving 1million from the UK Government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken on a tour of the Bedford laboratory of Mologic earlier this month

The firm hopes it will take just 10 minutes to produce a result, like that of the antibody test.

Antigens are parts of a virus that trigger the immune system's response to fight the infection, and can show up in blood before antibodies are made.

SALIVA TEST

Manufacturer: myLAB Box

US-based firm myLAB Box is mass producing a home test that requires a saliva swab to be sent away to an overnight lab to be analysed

Diagnostic time: One day

US-based firm myLAB Box announced this week that it has opened pre-sales of its COVID-19 home test for health professionals, doctors surgeries and pharmacies.

They require suspected patients to self-collect a saliva swab sample. These samples are sent away to a lab to be analysed overnight.

myLAB Box also said that free telephone consultations will be made available to those who test positive for the virus.

It is planning to process up to 20,000 tests per day once it is approved by the FDA. It is currently under review.

FINGER PRICK TEST

Manufacturer: Scanwell

Diagnostic time: 15 minutes

American startup Scanwell has produced a finger prick coronavirus test that takes just 15 minutes to complete at home.

It is posted to users via next-day delivery and is used alongside the Scanwell Health App.

American startup Scanwell has produced a finger prick coronavirus test that takes just 15 minutes to complete at home. It will work in conjunction with a health app (similar to its UTI test)

The test can be completed and uploaded through the app within 15 minutes, according to the company

The test is being fast-tracked for approval by the FDA but isn't expected to hit the US market for another six to eight weeks.

Scanwell is best known for its smartphone-based urinary tract infection screening platform.

CT SCANS

Who came up with the idea? Mount Sinai Health System, New York

Diagnostic time: 1 hour 30 minutes

How it works: Detects lung damage

Doctors from The Mount Sinai Health System in New York say CT scans may be faster than nasal and throat swabs at diagnosing coronavirus patients.

The team were the first in the US to analyze lung scans of patients in China with the highly contagious disease.

They said they were able to identify specific patterns in the lungs as markers of the virus, also known as COVID-19, as it developed over the course of about two weeks>

Patients who received scans zero to two days after symptoms first appeared had little to no evidence of lung disease in their results like this 19-year-old male who had a CT scan one day after symptoms first appeared

The team said the pattern in the lung of coronavirus patients are similar to scans of patients with SARS and very different from diseases such as bacterial pneumonia (pictured)

The researchers say these quicker diagnoses could help keep patients isolated in early stages of the disease, perhaps even before symptoms appear and when it may not show up on other scans such as chest X-rays.

'CT scans are an extremely powerful diagnostic tool, because you can seen the inner organs in a three-dimensional way,' lead author Dr Adam Bernheim, an assistant professor of diagnostic, molecular and interventional radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told DailyMail.com.

'And you can see the manifestation of many diseases.'

For the study, published in the journal Radiology, the team analyzed scans of 94 patients at four medical centers in four Chinese provinces.

The patients had been admitted between January 18 and February 2, and all had either recently traveled to Wuhan - the epicenter of an outbreak - or had come into contact with an infected person.

Radiologists reviewed the scan and took notes based on when symptoms first appeared and when the CT scan was performed.

Thirty-six patients received scans zero to two days after reporting symptoms and more than half showed no evidence of lung disease.

The team says this is important because it suggests that CT scans cannot reliably detect coronavirus in its very earliest stages.

Nasal and throat swabs test can identify patients even before patients become symptomatic, although some may still have the virus if they first test negative.

Its results, however, may take days to get back from the agency's labs.

But 33 patients who received scans three to five days after symptoms developed had patterns of 'ground glass opacities,' or haziness in the lungs.

'The lung abnormalities are very round in shape and affect the perimeter of the lung,' co-author Dr Michael Chung, an assistant professor of diagnostic, molecular and interventional radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told DailyMail.com.
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have osteoarthritis in my knee that continues to worsen. Would a steroid injection help my knee pain? How long does the treatment last, and how often can it be repeated, if necessary?

ANSWER: Corticosteroid medications are powerful drugs that can be useful in decreasing pain and inflammation in various musculoskeletal conditions, including joint problems such as osteoarthritis. Depending on your health and the severity of your symptoms, the effects of a corticosteroid injection can vary quite a bit. If the injection decreases or eliminates your pain, you may be able to get another injection if your symptoms return. Because of the possibility of serious side effects, though, the number of injections -- and how often you can receive them -- is limited.

A corticosteroid shot helps relieve joint pain by decreasing inflammation in and around a joint. These medications are used in people who have osteoarthritis because the disease frequently leads to joint pain, tenderness and swelling, especially in the hands, knees, hips and spine. The injections also are commonly prescribed for people who have pain due to other disorders, such as tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, gout, bursitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Getting a corticosteroid shot usually does not require an overnight stay. Rather, an office visit to your health care provider usually will suffice. Before the injection, the area around the injection site is cleaned thoroughly with a special cleaning solution. Your health care provider may apply an anesthetic spray to numb the area where the needle is inserted. To make sure the needle is placed correctly, your health care provider may use ultrasound or a type of X-ray called fluoroscopy to watch where the needle goes inside your body.

After the needle is inserted, the medication is released into the injection site. Typically, these shots include the corticosteroid medication to relieve pain and inflammation over time, as well as an anesthetic to provide immediate pain relief.

How long the pain relief from a corticosteroid injection lasts depends largely on your individual health situation. For some people, the effects may last only a week or two. Ohers may be symptom-free for several months or more.

Corticosteroids can effectively relieve symptoms such as joint pain, tenderness, and stiffness, but they are not without risks. For some people, the shot may cause a flare of pain and inflammation in the joint just after it is given. In most cases, these symptoms fade within 48 hours of receiving the injection.

Although uncommon, longer-lasting complications can include nerve damage, joint infection, damage to nearby tendons, and thinning of the cartilage and bones near the injection site. Some people may have temporary pain relief due to the numbing medicine commonly used with these shots but not long-term pain relief. Also, people who take blood thinners to treat stroke, and heart or clotting disorders, may not be able to receive corticosteroid injections safely while on those medications.

Some evidence indicates that repeated corticosteroid shots do not change the way arthritis in the spine progresses over time. Chronic use of the shots eventually can cause cartilage within a joint to deteriorate, resulting in permanent joint damage. Because of that, these injections usually are not given more often than once every six weeks. It is also typically recommended that people receive corticosteroid injections no more than three or four times a year.

Review the benefits and risks of a corticosteroid injection with your health care provider to help you decide if it is right for your situation. -- George G.A. Pujalte, M.D., F.A.C.S.M., Family Medicine and Sports Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

(Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn't replace regular medical care. E-mail a question to MayoClinicQ&A@mayo.edu. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.org.)

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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Tue, March 24, 2020 11:23 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0d5ae 4 Inforial Free

Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar has announced that village administrators can disburse village fund for tackling the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, known as COVID-19.

By March 22, as reported by kompas.com, COVID-19 had infected 514 people across Indonesia, 48 of whom have died of the disease.The pandemic has also put the world  including Indonesia under the threat of an economic recession. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was quotedby kompas.comas saying that Indonesias first-quarter economic growth might be corrected to 4.8  4.9 percent.

Thus, taking all measures possible, including using the village fund, is vital to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and treat patients. Abdul said he would disburse Rp 850 trillion (US$50 billion) of the fund to village administrators across Indonesia to combat the pandemic.

According to Abdul, village administrators will focus on using the village fund to conduct labor-intensive programs in the context of COVID-19 pandemic mitigation. Thus, the fund will be used for collective actioninvolving villagers.

Emphasis would be placed on preventive measuresinvolving villagers, he continued. On the prevention level, village administrators will use the fund to educate residents in their area on how to live in a healthy and clean manner, Abdul said.

He expressed hope that a clean and healthy lifestyle could curb the spread of the coronavirus. He advised people to consume lots of fruits and vegetables while also consuming herbs such as ginger andcurcumin, which could boost human immunity.

Also, do not forget to get enough rest and exercise regularly, he said.

All the activities at the village level require administrators to coordinate closely with national authorities, such as the national COVID-19 task force headed by National Disaster Mitigation Agency head Doni Monardo, in order to ensure that all villages across Indonesia use the fund in proportion with their actual needs.

As per our coordination meeting with the agency, the ministry will focus on using the fund in villages across several areas [with high COVID-19 prevalence]: Central Java, East Java, West Java and Banten, he said.

According to Abdul, the village fund will also be used to treat COVID-19 patients.

We will continue to engage in daily communication with villages to monitor the disbursement and use of the village fund, especially related to the labor-intensive activities. We would also like to map out the villages in order to design a support system for them, he said.

Besides these campaign and prevention activities, the ministry has established a mobility protocol to prevent infections at the village level.

The protocol is this: Guests who plan to stay for 24 hours or more must report to the village administration office; village healthcare professionals must conduct a medical checkup on guests who plan to stay for a prolonged period in the village; and finally, administrators must put up publicbanners comprising information on how to prevent COVID-19.

Let us break the chain of COVID-19 infections. Together we can, he said.
TDT | Manama

The Cabinet approved yesterday a BD4.3billion economic stimulus package to support citizens and the private sector amidst the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19).

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace.

The Cabinet commended HM King Hamads directive to unite Bahrains efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread in order to safeguard the wellbeing of citizens and residents.

These are through measures taken by the government, led by HRH the Prime Minister and HRH the Crown Prince, to introduce the BD4.3 billion economic stimulus package.

Under the package, the Cabinet referred an urgent request to the Legislative Authority to enable the government to pay the wages of Bahrainis working in the private sector for a period of three months, starting from April 2020.

All necessary measures will also be taken to enable the government to pay the electricity and water bills of all individuals and companies, also for three months, starting from April 2020.

The Cabinet further decided to exempt individuals and businesses from paying municipality fees, and exempt industrial and commercial enterprises from government industrial land rent fees  both for the same threemonth period from April to June.

The Cabinet also decided to exempt tourist facilities from tourist fees from April for three months. Meanwhile, the Cabinet extended its congratulations to HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, after his safe return to the Kingdom.

The Cabinet noted that motherhood is a central building block of society and mothers throughout the Kingdom continue to receive royal support to strengthen their ability to contribute to both their working and family life.

The Cabinet welcomed the widespread public support to combat the coronavirus, which remains a testament to the Bahraini spirit.

Also at the meeting, the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning presented the outcomes of health inspections carried out in shops and facilities across the Kingdom.

OTHER DECISIONS

 A memorandum was referred to set the framework for setting up a Board of Trustees at the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies

 A memorandum was reviewed on the Ministry of Labour and Social Developments plans for upcoming job fairs and the success of such events in 2019

 A memorandum was approved to transfer all data related to national youth clubs to the civil organisations system at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, to maximise the benefits of a unified and integrated electronic database

 A proposal was approved to expand Raya Road, extending from Galali to Busaiteen, to expand road connectivity for Al Dair, Samaheej and Galali villages

 A proposal was approved to build a community health centre in Khalifa Town and the allocation of a budget for the project

 A draft was approved of the governments response to a proposal to institute preschools for boys in North Sehla, Bu Quwah, Saraya 2 and Jablat Habshi
ELSAH  On March 19, after days of rain and clouds, a small cluster of Principia College students gathered on the bluffs near the green to take photos of an evocative sunset in shades of pink and yellow.

It was a sign, found in a round of Principia Pilot interviews, of the remarkable calm most who are left on campus are feeling on the new pandemic footing.

This feels like the calm after the storm, it makes me feel peaceful, said Carolina Vilcapoma Batistini, a sophomore from Peru. I just truly wish  and I am praying for  this to be over soon so that we can all go back to normal.

Normal disappeared last week as campuses across the nation sent students home. Interim President John Williams sent all Principians home who could go home until pandemic fears subside. They drained out of campus between Friday and Sunday (March 13-15). Now there are just 54  mainly international  students here.

For the spring break duration, theyve been housed in Gehner and Anderson East, but were allowed back in their own houses on March 21, said Mark Hagenlocher, assistant dean of student life. By that night, a total of 69 students are expected on campus.

Students who couldnt leave have kept themselves busy working many hours a day in dining services, at mail services, helping out facilities, or just taking time to keep up with homework.

It feels like a desert sometimes, said freshman Sam Robalino, from Ecuador.

But while its true that campus is fairly empty, other students whove stayed here during previous breaks say they dont notice much difference.

The atmosphere, though, doesnt feel negative. Some students express gratitude to be here in peace on campus.

I am glad and grateful that I was allowed to stay on campus, said Gesler Joya, a sophomore from El Salvador. I would not have any other place to go to. Principia put a roof over my head and food on my plate and that is awesome.

He explains that nobody is allowed to enter his country right now because there has been no case there of COVID-19 so far.

I am just giving time to myself right now, said Victoire de Visme a sophomore from France. She said its an opportunity to have some personal space and be able to collect her thoughts and find peace in a moment of trouble.

Within the limits of social distancing, students are gathering in small groups in the evening, playing cards and board games or watching movies in the living room. Last night, four students were playing Fifa on the big screen in the Gehner living room while others were playing Uno.

Some students are cultivating hobbies.

I am currently reading a book called Zero to One for startups, said Joya explaining that he is very passionate about apps and business.

Others are staying in shape by going to the gym: Now that everything is so empty, it feels like having a private gym said Sam Robalino, a freshman from Ecuador.

The Principia kitchen staff is busy operating a deep cleaning of the dining hall and Pub. And a new social distancing set-up has decreased the number of tables and seats in the dining room, separated farther than usual.

New hygiene rules have been implemented, noticeable immediately in the absence of the bread station close to the oven. Anyone who wants a piece of bread has to get it from staff in order to limit public contact with the food.

We have had around 30 students coming to breakfast (lately), said Trey McCartt, assistant director of the kitchen staff, implying that the kitchen will now need to re-evaluate demand and how much food to order.

In the meantime the construction of the new School of Government is proceeding as usual and the access ramp to the Scramble Room has almost been completed with the addition of a clear barrier.

Besides the hand sanitizer dispensers that have been placed all over campus nothing seems much different, said Yenum Egwuenu a junior from Nigeria. I have been hearing the news and it still does not feel real, we are so far away from everything here at Principia that it does not seem to affect us.

Current plans are that teaching will be done in classrooms for the few students who are on campus and simultaneously streamed online for students elsewhere. But, said De Visme, expressing the uncertainties implied by the fact that she is going to be the only one still on campus for some of her classes: I am not sure if teachers are actually going to come to teach.
Eleven persons, who travelled with the COVID-19 patient of Manipur, were identified as 'high-risk contacts' by the state health department on Tuesday, officials said.

The 23-year-old patient, who tested positive in Imphal after returning from the UK, reached Delhi from London on March 18 and took another flight to Kolkata, where she stayed for a few days with fever and a sore throat. From there she took a flight to Imphal via Agartala on March 21, official sources said.

An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official here said a list of passengers who travelled with the woman from Kolkata to Agartala was handed over to the Tripura government.

We handed over the details of the passengers to the state health department after we came to know that the woman was found to be COVID-19 positive in Imphal," the official said.

State nodal officer for coronavirus Deep Debbarma said 11 high-risk contacts were identified among the passengers who travelled with the woman.

Initially, we have identified 11 persons as high-risk contacts and they have been asked to go on self-quarantine at their respective homes. We expect to get the final test reports by Wednesday evening," he told reporters.

Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar said altogether 72 passengers from the state flew with the woman.

Meanwhile, four persons were arrested in the state during the day on charges of hoarding of essential goods, state food and civil supplies minister Manoj Kanti Deb said.

"We have conducted several raids to check hoarding. Anyone found to be involved in this type of crime would not be spared," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Images of victims of coronavirus are seen in their graves inside a church in Serina near Bergamo, one of Italy's cities worst-hit by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Italy. Bergamo, in northen Italy has the most equipped hospital in the country  but Coronavirus has made impossible to find the resources for everybody, so many people are dying at home.
As fears about COVID-19  the disease caused by the novel coronavirus  continue to mount, theres something that can be a source of comfort rather than concern: our pets.

In mid-February, Idexx Laboratories, an American multinational corporation and global leader in veterinary diagnostics, started testing samples from dogs, cats and horses for the coronavirus strain responsible for COVID-19. Veterinarians submitted more than 3,500 specimens from dogs, cats and horses in South Korea and all 50 U.S. states, including areas experiencing human COVID-19 cases like Seattle.

To date, zero have tested positive.

Our results aligned with the current expert understanding that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person to person and that pets arent likely to contract the disease and probably have a low likelihood of spreading the disease, Dr. Jim Blacka, a veterinarian and senior director at Idexx, told TODAY.

A man pets a cat (Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society)

He said Idexx was able to quickly develop and validate its testing because of its large team developing technologies to screen for infectious diseases. Additionally, veterinarians were already submitting samples to test for other health issues.

Download the TODAY app for the latest coverage on the coronavirus outbreak.

As a leading diagnostic company, we felt we had a responsibility to veterinarians and the pet-owning community to better understand the animal health implications of this novel coronavirus, he said. Screening for infectious disease is core to what we do.

Blacka said Idexx will continue testing and collaborating with health authorities and animal hospitals.

At Idexx we believe veterinary hospitals play an important role in animal and public health. As such, we view veterinary practices as an essential service for our community. Were proud to partner with veterinarians and well continue to monitor COVID-19 and pet health across our global Idexx reference network.

A woman pets a smiling pit bull. (Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society)

Can pets carry the COVID-19 virus?

Dr. Heather Loenser, a senior veterinary officer for the American Animal Hospital Association, which maintains a COVID-19 resource page, said she thinks Idexxs news supports the veterinary industrys stance that there is no evidence that pets can be a source of COVID-19 in people.

Story continues

There are multiple ways that any pathogen (germ) can be transmitted, she told TODAY in an email. The current evidence from Idexx suggests that dogs cannot spread the virus through their saliva or mucous via oral or airborne transmission.

Pets & Animals

Can pet fur transmit coronavirus?

However, she said its still not understood whether a pet can carry COVID-19 on their fur as a fomite if they become contaminated by an infected person sneezing or coughing on them.

Therefore, it is important to follow the CDCs recommendations and avoid kissing your pet and wash your hands after petting them, she said. If you become infected with COVID yourself, it would be best to limit contact with your pets, just like you would socially distance yourself from other people.

Loenser urged people to keep their pets at home with them during the pandemic.

Please dont abandon your pets. They wouldnt abandon you, she said. If shelters become overrun and shelter workers become ill, your pet could truly suffer. If you need help caring for your pet, please contact your veterinarian, friends and family to provide support.

Sleeping puppies (Sarah Ause Kichas / Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society)

Representatives at the nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society also believe the Idexx research appears to support existing evidence that its safe for our pets to remain in our homes. In fact, companion animals can offer comfort during the crisis, according to Julie Castle, chief executive officer for the organization.

As studies have shown, the companionship of pets can reduce stress, lessen depression and anxiety, and lower blood pressure, she told TODAY in an email. Their constant companionship can help us feel calmer and more secure and quell feelings of loneliness and isolation that many of us will be facing in the upcoming weeks and months.

As the strain of reduced hours and unemployment takes a toll, she hopes people will reach out to friends, neighbors and relatives to see if they need help with their pets. We could even surprise them with the gift of a bag of dog or cat food.

Castle said its also a terrific time for fostering a pet from a local animal shelter.

There are so many dogs and cats who would love to spend this time with you and your family, and the need to support our local shelters has never been greater, she said. Having a pet for company can help make you happier, more comfortable and even more productive.
The book opens in a dreary Rochester, N.Y., neighborhood, when a lumbering, intellectually disabled woman in a dime-store wig, perched awry calls the police about a child lying on the floor of her pantry. The child turns out to be her 3-year-old grandson, Raymie, and he has been dead several days, having fallen from a counter while trying to reach a bag of sugar. Dunn seems to waver between understanding whats happened and hoping Raymie will get better. (When the paramedics arrive, Dunn asks them, You can fix him, cant you?) Dunn is arrested, charged with second-degree murder and assigned a public defender named Karen Hughes. Hughes is just a few years out of law school, but she doesnt dare turn down the judges order to take the case, even though she knows she is in over her head. The playing field was skewed from the start.

Hughes hired Vinocour, then a forensic psychologist in Rochester, to assess whether Dunn was cognitively fit to stand trial. Dunns life is a picture of poverty, inequality and racism  one impossible hardship after another. She suffered terrible abuse as a child and went on to have five children, each apparently by a different father, nearly all of whom were also cognitively challenged. She tried, and failed, to hold jobs  on an assembly line and as an aide in a nursing home. Raymie was born a drug addict and spent his life malnourished. He was hyperactive and aggressive. The night he died, hed been trying to fry cornmeal and pepper in a pan. Dunn repeatedly found him turning on the gas stove in the middle of the night. She feared for her own and her childrens safety (at least two of her children were just a few years older than Raymie), and at one point tied Raymie first to herself and then to a metal grate to keep him from starting a fire in the middle of the night  an act that forces Vinocour to grapple with whether this makes Dunn deficient in a moral sense. When she is charged with second-degree murder, it is on account of her depraved indifference.

As Vinocour assesses Dunns mental fitness, her argument takes on a prismlike complexity. The book is divided into three sections  the crime, the trial, the punishment  with the first taking up more than half the narrative. Vinocour is hesitant about meeting Dunn after seeing her on television, when a local station broadcast the story as a sensational crime. Vinocour reveals that her own father was cruel and abusive, and that she escaped him by going to college and racking up professional accolades. And watching Dunn, Vinocour felt an instant disdain for her.

But as we are slowly introduced to Dunn, her slowness, her gaze eternally flat or vacant, a haunting question repeats itself: What does it mean to know right from wrong in the abstract, but not to be able to make that distinction in practice? We can all agree that murder is wrong, but what about murder in order to save the life of another person? Tying Raymie to a grate in the floor is wrong in the abstract, but is it also wrong when that child might burn down a house and kill others? Dunn told Child Protective Services that she couldnt take Raymie in after his mother, whod been homeless with him for months, was committed to psychiatric care. But the agency left the boy in Dunns care anyway. Who is wrong in this scenario? Such difficult questions are at the heart of Vinocours investigation.
Martello iQ is an IT Operations Analytics solution that unies disparate monitoring tools, cloud platforms, and IT Service Management (ITSM) systems for improved troubleshooting, decreased downtime, and easier reporting. Performance and availability of business services such as Office 365 and unified communications (UC) is critical to the productivity of today's increasingly remote workforce. The new release of Martello iQ helps IT teams manage the demands of an organization's remote workforce by maintaining service levels around the clock and enabling performance analytics.

Denmark-based Kbenhavns Professionshjskole (University College Copenhagen) uses Martello iQ to consolidate data from multiple monitoring, IT service management, and business applications. The addition of Service Level Agreement (SLA) monitoring in the latest release of Martello iQ now also enables the education institution to ensure the reliable delivery of its business services.

"Introducing SLA reporting into our environment has historically been a challenge for us. With the newest release of Martello iQ, we were able to set up the SLA reporting feature within minutes and can now display data about the availability of business services and SLA performance to our entire team," said Michael Vestergaard, IT System Administrator at Kbenhavns Professionshjskole. "Now we can see when the SLA drops below 99% because the number turns red and we are immediately alerted. Since we can also see what the source of an issue is, we know, for example, that putting devices into maintenance actually has an impact on service quality."

Key features of the latest Martello iQ release:

Increased Focus on Service Level Agreement Monitoring

Aligns IT teams and business stakeholders according to terms of Service Level Objectives (SLO) targets.

Improves customer service and enables issues to be rectified proactively before impacting the end user by enabling SLOs to be configured for each business service and using these settings to calculate and display performance data.

Augmented Mitel Performance Analytics Alarm Management Capabilities

Partners and enterprises using Mitel Performance Analytics (MPA), the UC performance analytics software developed by Martello, can now bring together unied communications and IT operations for complete ICT performance visibility and control.

Rich dashboards now provide comprehensive visibility across all devices.

"With the unprecedented increase in the number of remote workers across all industry sectors, business-critical services are more dependant than ever on the reliable performance of applications and devices," said John Proctor, President and CEO of Martello. "With Martello iQ, technical teams and business stakeholders can become more closely aligned and leverage a single pane of glass view across the network to track, prove, and promote exceptional service levels."

Learn more about Martello iQ.

Learn more about Mitel Performance Analytics.

Register for our upcoming Webinar on March 26, 2020.

Learn more about Martello Remote Work Solutions

About Martello Technologies Group

Martello Technologies Group Inc. (TSXV: MTLO) is a technology company providing digital experience monitoring and optimization solutions that monitor, analyze and optimize the performance of real-time cloud services. Martello's products include SD-WAN technology, unified communications (UC) performance analytics software, and IT analytics software. Its partners include Mitel, Microsoft and Paessler. Martello Technologies Group is a public company headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with offices in Montreal, Amsterdam, Paris, Dallas and New York. Learn more at http://www.martellotech.com

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements that address future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Corporation's control. These factors include: general market and industry conditions, risks related to continuous operations and to commercialization of new technologies and other risks disclosed in the Corporation's filings with Canadian Securities Regulators.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Corporation's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Corporation expressly 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.

Neither the 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.

SOURCE Martello Technologies Group

For further information: Media Contact: Tracy King, VP Marketing, [email protected], 613.271.5989 x 2112

Related Links

https://martellotech.com/


As more and more Canadians do their part to flatten the COVID-19 curve by staying home, grocery delivery and click-and-collect services are seeing unprecedented demand, leading to delays in much-needed food deliveries.

Toronto resident Matt Spencer found this out the hard way upon returning from a family vacation to Cuba on March 21. He ordered from Grocery Gateway the same day, knowing he and his family had to self-isolate for 14 days, and was told his order wouldnt arrive until April 2.

There is food here and we can make it through if we have to, but I mean it wont be ideal, Spencer said, adding the family is running out of fresher things like milk and eggs. He said hes glad he stocked up on some essentials before going on vacation.

Spencer, who has two young sons, said he tried a few delivery services, but they all warned of similar delays. One delay he was thankful he didnt have: his wine and beer order, which he said arrived within an hour.

A spokesperson for Metro, with operates more than 950 stores in Ontario and Quebec including Food Basics, said in an email the company is seeing overwhelming demand for delivery, and that it is working to increase capacity to mitigate the demand and decrease delays.

In an open letter to customers, Metro president and CEO Eric La Fleche said while the companys supply chain is strong, shoppers should be mindful of their orders so as not to cause shortages for others.

We are continuing to increase our online grocery capacity to serve the people in our communities who need it most. But we ask that you use this service responsibly as well.

Loblaws said it has increased staffing for its PC Express pickup and delivery service, and eliminated pickup fees.

We are managing the rising number of orders and are ramping up our systems as quickly as possible so that our customers can shop online with confidence, a spokesperson said in an email, adding that shoppers will see wait times of a few days depending on location.

Instacart, a third-party grocery delivery service, said in an emailed statement that it plans to hire 300,000 more shoppers over the next three months to deal with increased demand, more than doubling its current shopper cohort. The company has seen its order volume grow by more than 150 per cent in the past couple of weeks, and is seeing a surge in new customers as well.

Instacarts spokesperson said the company is also seeing an uptick in orders for others, where customers order groceries for a friend or family member.

As for Spencer, hes planning ahead, anticipating the delays to continue for a month or more.

My plan is  once the groceries arrive, order the next batch, he said.
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney introduced a resolution Tuesday urging Mayor London Breed to use her emergency powers to increase pay and protections for employees at essential businesses, such as grocery stores and food delivery companies.

Only essential businesses  which include restaurants and cafes offering takeout and delivery  are allowed to stay open during San Franciscos shelter-in-place order. Haneys resolution, which has no legislative teeth, comes in response to grocery and retail workers who say they are risking their lives by coming to work every day.

What it means to work at a grocery store is very different today from what it meant two weeks ago, and their pay and protections should reflect that, Haney said.

Resolutions are nonbinding and are often just a statement of values from the Board of Supervisors. Since the citywide emergency was declared, supervisors have increasingly turned to resolutions to urge Breed to use her executive powers to quickly enact changes they would like to see.

Even expedited legislation could still take a few weeks to finally go into effect, but the mayors executive powers allow her to act much faster.

Jeff Cretan, a spokesman for the mayor, said Breed is working through a number of ideas on how to help workers who are impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. He said the mayors office is happy to continue working with the board on any ideas they have.

We appreciate resolutions, but phone calls also work for sharing ideas, he said.

The city has promised funding for businesses to expand already-required paid sick leave to some workers. But Jim Araby, a spokesman for the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents employees at Safeway and other stores, said it is important for businesses to recognize the risks that their employees face while on the job.

Grocery store workers and food-delivery drivers have fear and anxiety about their risk of exposure to the virus, he said.

Cashiers are probably seeing an average of 300 to 500 people per shift, he added. And all of the (social distancing) measures that are being put in place are harder for them to abide by. They are taking peoples money and interacting with a large range of customers.

Haney wants other large stores  those with 20 employees or more  to come in line with grocery giant Safeway, which on Monday reached an agreement with a union representing Northern California workers to increase their pay, hours and sanitation.

Under the agreement, Albertsons, the nationwide grocery chain that owns Safeway, pledged to give a $2-an-hour pay raise to California grocery workers at Safeway, Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions stores.

The grocery store also said it will pay workers for up to two weeks if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are told by their health care provider that they need to quarantine or self-isolate. Employees 65 or over who choose to self-isolate out of an abundance of caution will be able to use accrued sick or vacation time.

Haneys resolution also urges the mayor to use her emergency powers to provide child care for all employees working in retail grocery, retail drugstore and food delivery services, such as DoorDash and Postmates.

Our city cant operate if the grocery stores arent open, Haney said. And these folks are scared and they are vulnerable. The experience at their job has changed quickly, and they should know that their city has their back.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com
Governor Gavin Newsom tightened California's coronavirus lockdown on Monday, shutting parking lots at beaches and parks in the most populous US state after tens of thousands flouted social distancing rules over the weekend.

The new measures come at the start what what would normally be the busy summer season in California, which sees millions of residents and tourists flock to the packed beaches to enjoy the West Coast sunshine in the coming months.

The state is already under orders to stay at home, but images of record crowds flocking to beaches such as Malibu and Santa Monica went viral on Sunday.

People defy 'stay at home' order over the weekend issued by California Governor Gavin Newson by riding their bikes along Huntington Beach, California

Similar scenes were captured in Miami, where large crowds gathered at beaches. COVID-19 cases in the US have risen to over 45,000

'I had a little anxiety, as all of you did, watching the news of all those folks and crowds in our parks, out there on the beautiful California coast,' said Newsom.

'We're going to shut down all state parking lots' immediately, he added, saying 'we can't see what we saw over the weekend happen again.'

California, one of the worst-hit US states, has more than 2,000 confirmed cases, including at least 27 deaths.

California Governor Gavin Newson has announced state parking lots will close in an effort to stop crowds going to beaches and parks in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus

A common sight for the next three months? A parking lot next to Santa Monica beach, with Santa Monica pier in the distance, is mostly empty after Newson's announcement

Last week Newsom ordered all residents to stay home, barring essential activities, and to maintain social distancing.

But the order will likely not be enforced by police, Newsom said, expressing hope that people would self-regulate.

'We need to help you help yourself, a little bit more, those folks that were making their way out' at the weekend, Newsom said Monday, calling the new measure a 'soft closure.'

'To recognize when you're on a single-track trail out in our beautiful wilderness, that single track means going up the mountain, and down the mountain - which means it's almost impossible to socially distance.

'When you're out there and you can't even find parking at a beach, it suggests you're not going to practice social distancing, and it may suggest you may want to find a new location.'

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is deserted as shops close, people stay at home and tourism grinds to a halt

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti loosened restrictions on restaurants delivering alcohol to people in their homes. Other US jurisdictions have made similar moves.

'This will not only be something nice for the people of LA, but good for those businesses to keep them alive, so that when this crisis is over your favorite neighborhood watering holes and restaurant will still, we hope, be there,' he said.

Governor Newsom also praised entrepreneur Elon Musk for delivering 1,000 new ventilators to Los Angeles from where they will be distributed to hospitals, with fears that US medical facilities will not have enough of the crucial machines to cope with a surge of people sick with the COVID-19 illness.
UTICA, N.Y. --- MVHS held a press conference on Monday updating the community on their response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Medical officials making several announcements including the suspension of remote testing sites throughout Oneida County.

MVHS said that the decision was made due to the lack of testing supplies and protective equipment.

"This decision was made in conjunction with the county health department and Rome Memorial Hospital. We simply do not have the testing kits or swabs necessary to continue with this testing," said Darlene Stomstad, president/CEO of MVHS.

Dr. Kent Hall, chief physician executive said that Individual caution is more important than the testing itself.

"As the governor has said on multiple occasions, the more tests you do, the more you will find. So the inverse to that is the fewer tests you do the less you will find. But if you presume that everyone has got it, then becomes less important," said Hall.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is requiring all hospitals to increase their capacity by 50 percent.

MVHS said the increase would move their average capacity at both St. Lukes and St. Elizabeth's from 375 patients to 525 patients.

"Based on what we are seeing in other states and what we are seeing in our state, we are preparing for a large surge in volume," said Stomstad.

She also added because of this, they are seeking the help of retired nurses and doctors. Those interested are asked to call 315-624-5607.

MVHS also said that they're getting creative with the limited resources that they have. Stomstad said their employees are creating facemasks for doctors and nurses out of laminate, plastic and rubber bands.

This is all in preparation for the possibility of downstate patients needing to come to upstate hospitals due to overflow.

Cuomo saying in his briefing that its a plan that they are considering. Specifically pointing out Utica Hospitals.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said in his briefing that "the hospitals have received no word that that is happening right now."

Stomstad said that they would need to be prepared if that time comes, saying, "Our priority is to our community, however, we are part of the state of New York and we will take care of any patient that comes here."
She's one of many celebrities staying at home amid the coronavirus crisis.

And Nina Dobrev was determined to keep herself entertained during her time in quarantine, as she braved an outing on Monday to get some supplies.

The Vampire Diaries star, 31, stepped out with an intricate mask to protect herself as she went out to get a Game Of Thrones monopoly game to keep entertained.

Ready to go: Nina Dobrev stepped out in a face mask to pick up some essentials (including a Game Of Thrones BOARDGAME) on Monday, amid the coronavirus outbreak

Nina kept things casual by covering herself in a pink co-ord ensemble that teamed a T-Shirt and matching Splendid trousers that were tucked into sleek boots.

Protecting herself from contracting the virus, the actress wore a blue ventilation mask while she also wore a pair of round sunglasses.

Her brunette locks were brushed into a tousled style that fell over her shoulders, and she opted to forgo wearing make-up for the occasion.

Protection: The Vampire Diaries star, 31, stepped out with an intricate mask to protect herself during the ongoing global pandemic

Nina recently revealed that she was 'bored' while staying inside during the ongoing global pandemic, and would be sharing throwback snaps to keep entertained.

Having just returned from a holiday at the Kruger National Park in South Africa, she has shared a number of photos to update her feed.

In her first post explaining her reasoning, she wrote: 'No content? No problem.

'A few weeks ago I took a social media detox, unplugged and went on Safari but now Im bored quarantined at home so Im going to blow up the feed with throwbacks.'

Cosy: Nina kept things casual by covering herself in a pink co-ord ensemble that teamed a T-Shirt and matching trousers that were tucked into sleek boots

Earlier this month, Nina was busily promoting her new show Run This Town with her co-star Ben Platt, prior to a quarantine being put in place.

In the drama, she plays the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's sexually-harassed political aide Ashley Pollock during his turbulent final year.

'I felt like it was a really important story,' said Nina of Run This Town during the pair's sit-down interview on Today.

She continued: 'Especially right now in the political climate that we have here. [Ford] was almost like a precursor to what's going on in the United States. He was extremely polarising.'
Documents filed in a Houston court outline how detectives used surveillance video clips to obtain a warrant to arrest Hoa Nguyen in connection with the murder of his older sister, Huong Nguyen, whose body was found in the trunk of her car in New Orleans East on March 13.

Hoa Nguyen, 37, faces a count of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Huong Nguyen, 42.

In the records filed in Houston, where Hoa Nguyen was arrested over the weekend, New Orleans police said he was the only other person at Huong Nguyen's home when she returned there the night of March 11. And, investigators allege, he was the only person seen walking away from the vehicle where Huong Nguyen's body was found.

+4 New Orleans man accused of killing his sister, Huong Nguyen, is captured in Houston A New Orleans East man suspected of fatally shooting his older sister and stuffing her body in the trunk of her car this month has been arrest

Huong Nguyen was reported missing after she failed to show up for work at an insurance office on March 12.

She had been at work the previous day, and police said they determined she had then gone to her home in the 11200 block of South Idlewood Court, in New Orleans East, because she had left her purse and the keys to her missing 2006 Toyota Camry there.

Investigators found the Camry parked in the 4900 block of Robin Hood Drive, about a half-mile from Huong Nguyens home, the night of March 13. The body of the former Gambit weekly newspaper advertising sales representative was in the trunk, and an autopsy showed she had died as a result of gunshot wounds, police said.

Police wrote that one of the people they interviewed was Hoa Nguyen, who lived in the same house and who they believed was the only other person there when his sister arrived home. Hoa Nguyen said he heard the door open and close twice, a few minutes apart, when she came home but didnt actually see her.

According to the court documents, investigators canvassed the neighborhood and secured multiple security camera videos.

One showed Huong Nguyens car pulling forward into her driveway about 10 p.m. on March 11, when information from a digital safe-driving program in which she was participating showed her finishing a trip.

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About 40 minutes later, another video clip showed her Camry backing down the driveway, turning around and going up the driveway again in reverse, police said. Then, about 10 minutes after that, the car drove away from the home, police said, citing the video footage.

+8 NOPD says Huong Nguyen's brother murdered her, put her in her car trunk; he's wanted A 42-year-old woman who was shot to death and then found in the trunk of her car last week was killed by her brother, New Orleans police said Friday.

Other clips showed the car being parked at Robin Hood Drive, police said. The clips, taken together, also show a man then emerging from the vehicle and walking back toward the Nguyens home, police said.

One of the detectives who interviewed Hoa Nguyen identified him as the man walking from the car  where his sisters body would later be discovered  toward the house on South Idlewood, police said. Another unidentified person who knows Hoa Nguyen also identified him as the man in the video footage, police said.

Police obtained a warrant calling for Hoa Nguyens arrest on March 19. He was conspicuously absent from his sisters wake that evening and her funeral the following day. Both drew sparse crowds due to social distancing measures implemented during the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities in Houston arrested Hoa Nguyen on Saturday. He faces mandatory life imprisonment if eventually convicted of murder.

His first appearance in Houston court was postponed from Monday to April 7. It is not clear when he may be transferred to New Orleans.

Police havent publicly discussed a possible motive for the killing.

'She celebrated life': Loved ones of slain New Orleans woman found in car trunk seek answers Linda Cao has no idea who fatally shot her best friend, 42-year-old Huong Nguyen, and then put her body in the trunk of Nguyen's car in New Or
Sibanye-Stillwater preparations for Covid-19 and US PGM operations update

Posted by Publisher Internet

Sibanye-Stillwater (Tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW  https://www.commodity-tv.com/play/sibanye-stillwater-diversifying-globally-in-metals-and-jurisdictions/ ) is a leading, global precious metals company. The Group employs over 80,000 people at its geographically diversified operations in three countries and contributes significantly to regional and local economies, and supports local communities and a diverse supplier network in the regions it operates.

The spread of the Covid-9 corona virus outside of China was rapidly identified as a significant risk and promptly prioritised by the Group in February 2020.? The rapid proliferation of the COVID-19 corona virus across the globe since then is unprecedented, with many countries already enforcing previously unimaginable restrictions to contain the spread and limit the impact of the virus.?

The safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, contractors and communities is our overriding concern and every effort is being made to identify and minimise the risks posed by the virus for employees and contractors, while ensuring the ongoing continuity and sustainability of our operations at the same time.?? A balanced approach is necessary to minimise prolonged health and economic consequences of the virus for all our stakeholders.

While we have currently had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at our operations, we are mindful of the heightened risk and role we have to play in arresting the spread of this global pandemic.? We have aligned our approach and efforts with guidelines and best practices provided by the South African and United States Governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. We continue to engage with regulatory authorities, and industry bodies such as the Minerals Council and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), as well as partnering with organisations such as The Employment Bureau of Africa (TEBA to manage risks posed by migratory labour.

We are also engaging constantly with stakeholder representative bodies at Government and community level, as well as labour representatives. It is at times like these when leaders from all constituencies must stand together in the struggle against the spread of this virus.

Our high level COVID-19 response

Our high level approach has been three pronged to manage the risks throughout the organisation:

to develop and implement protocols, procedures and systems to measure and identify the risks to develop and implement proactive measures to mitigate COVID-19 risks in the event of an outbreak to ensure the health and safety of employees and to manage the consequences in a manner which least disrupts the operations

An executive Corona virus Steering Committee led by the Group Chief Executive Officer has been established to provide regular oversight, guidance and counsel to a multi-disciplinary Coronavirus co-ordination team.? The co-ordination team comprises of representatives from our different operating regions, operating segments and business units, and it meets daily to update plans in line with the dynamic information around COVID-19. The team is responsible for the development and implementation of measures to prevent the incidence and limit or spread of COVID-19 among the workforce, ensure comprehensive and regular stakeholder engagement and develop business sustainability and post COVID-19 recovery plans.

The Group has implemented high-level measures to contain and restrict the spread of COVID-19 including:

Stakeholder communication and engagement An extensive communication campaign to raise awareness about COVID-19 amongst employees and communities, and provide channels for consistent and relevant feedback We have mapped a wide range of stakeholders linked to our business and begun engaging to ensure alignment with our protocols and identify possible ways in which we can collaborate to jointly minimise the risks. These include local health facilities; government departments (Health, DMRE and Home Affairs), SADC Embassies, Minerals Council and other mining companies; suppliers and local NGOs. We have also engaged private healthcare providers on collaboration possibilities such as private testing via Lancet as well as having key persons for case and disease management in medical schemes



Workplace hygiene The nature of our business means that large groups of employees may gather in areas in the workplace. To that extent, we have put in place personal and workplace hygiene programmes to reduce this risk. This includes making soaps and other disinfectants available, screening of employees and contractors, adopting protocols around biometrics and enforcement of sick leave for employees who present with flu like symptoms High-risk areas in the workplace and employee transport are cleaned and sterilised regularly Appropriate PPE and sanitisers are being supplied and the use in all high-risk areas is mandatory



Travel restrictions International and non-essential local travel has been banned and heightened approval processes for travel have been implemented A mandatory 14-day quarantine period and screening has been implemented for employees returning from travel from high risk destinations



Remote work and limitation of direct engagement Remote work and work from home protocols, where possible, are promoted and facilitated and direct meetings at corporate office and on site have been prohibited, with access strictly controlled and all visitors subject to the same screening and hygiene protocols as employees



Screening Employees returning from leave or business travel undergo mandatory screening to identify any possible risk of exposure and to determine travel patterns and contact points to enable an appropriate response in the case of an outbreak. Any employees displaying symptoms or who have travelled to high risk areas will undergo mandatory quarantine Agreement has been reached in South Africa with TEBA to screen all employees who migrate from neighbouring countries for testing at their borders of entry, thus reducing exposure risk Employee screening at Company managed facilities in South Africa is carried out regularly Pre-shift screening of employees and contractors in the US has been implemented



The COVID-19 situation is dynamic and continually evolving. Sibanye-Stillwater has developed detailed plans to mitigate the impact of the virus and contain the spread of any infections that may occur, as much as possible, should they occur. We are monitoring the developing situation and continue to refine our plans on an ongoing basis. Further information to address the COVID-19 threat will be announced as is becomes applicable.

Possible impact on US PGM operations

In order to further proactively manage the COVID-19 threat at our US PGM operations and comply with the added requirements of local health authorities, a decision has been made to significantly reduce the number of people at our US sites, whilst maintaining production from current operations.

Specific actions taken include:

demobilising contractors involved in growth capital activities

facilitating remote work for personnel that are not required on site

prohibiting face-to-face contact with external parties and restricting site access to employees

The Blitz project accounts for the majority of contract workers at the US PGM operations and these decisions are likely to temporarily impact growth from Blitz in 2020 and delay the project?s development schedule. In addition, we have received a force majeure notice from the manufacturer of the mills to be used in the expansion of the concentrator. Further detail will be provided once we have concluded a full impact assessment.

We are also making sure that these short-term disruptions do not impact longer-term business plans while ensuring we are well-positioned to safely and efficiently ramp-up operations in a timely manner once the worst of this global pandemic passes.

Our US PGM operations are a ?critical infrastructure industry? as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, with PGMs essential components of many chemical, medical and biochemical applications. This includes the use of PGMs in many drugs used to treat a wide range of cancers, pacemaker electrodes, catheters, guides for arthroscopic surgery and in self-rescuer masks used by first responders. Platinum is also an essential catalyst in petrochemical plants necessary for energy production. As the only primary PGM producer in the United States, we will endeavour to maintain current production from our Stillwater and East Boulder mines, while maintaining throughput through our Columbus Metallurgical Complex in order to provide PGM?s to the critical sectors mentioned above. Aside from the Blitz project activities, our other operations are largely unaffected by the aforementioned decisions.

Ends.

Investor relations contact:

Email: ir@sibanyestillwater.com

James Wellsted

Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +27 (0) 83 453 4014

Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa Proprietary Limited ?

Ends.

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch??

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information in this announcement may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the ?safe harbour? provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including, among others, those relating to Sibanye-Stillwater Limited?s (?Sibanye-Stillwater? or the ?Group?) financial positions, business strategies, plans and objectives of management for future operations, are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management and directors of Sibanye-Stillwater. ?All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also often use words such as ?will?, ?forecast?, ?potential?, ?estimate?, ?expect? and words of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in this disclaimer and in the Group?s Annual Integrated Report and Annual Financial Report, published on 29 March 2019, and the Group?s Annual Report on Form 20-F filed by Sibanye-Stillwater with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 5 April 2019 (SEC File no. 001-35785), and the Form F-4 filed by Sibanye Stillwater Limited with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 4 October 2019 (SEC File no. 333-234096) and any amendments thereto. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. ?The important factors that could cause Sibanye-Stillwater?s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, our future business prospects; financial positions; debt position and our ability to reduce debt leverage; business, political and social conditions in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Zimbabwe and elsewhere; plans and objectives of management for future operations; our ability to obtain the benefits of any streaming arrangements or pipeline financing; our ability to service our bond Instruments (High Yield Bonds and Convertible Bonds); changes in assumptions underlying Sibanye-Stillwater?s estimation of their current mineral reserves and resources; the ability to achieve anticipated efficiencies and other cost savings in connection with past, ongoing and future acquisitions, as well as at existing operations; our ability to achieve steady state production at the Blitz project; the success of Sibanye-Stillwater?s business strategy; exploration and development activities; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to comply with requirements that they operate in a sustainable manner; changes in the market price of gold, PGMs and/or uranium; the occurrence of hazards associated with underground and surface gold, PGMs and uranium mining; the occurrence of labour disruptions and industrial action; the availability, terms and deployment of capital or credit; changes in relevant government regulations, particularly environmental, tax, health and safety regulations and new legislation affecting water, mining, mineral rights and business ownership, including any interpretations thereof which may be subject to dispute; the outcome and consequence of any potential or pending litigation or regulatory proceedings or other environmental, health and safety issues; power disruptions, constraints and cost increases; supply chain shortages and increases in the price of production inputs; fluctuations in exchange rates, currency devaluations, inflation and other macro-economic monetary policies; the occurrence of temporary stoppages of mines for safety incidents and unplanned maintenance; the ability to hire and retain senior management or sufficient technically skilled employees, as well as their ability to achieve sufficient representation of historically disadvantaged South Africans? in management positions; failure of information technology and communications systems; the adequacy of insurance coverage; any social unrest, sickness or natural or man-made disaster at informal settlements in the vicinity of some of Sibanye-Stillwater?s operations; and the impact of HIV, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the content. Sibanye-Stillwater expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement (except to the extent legally required).
An Argentinian backpacker and her 10 friends have contracted coronavirus after attending a party with hundreds of people on Bondi Beach.

Florencia Barreiro, 24, said up to 200 Australians and tourists were at the party two weeks ago.

'We were not worried. We were unconscious of it, as people still are now I guess. We saw it as something distant from us. Nobody was mentioning it anywhere,' Ms Barreiro told 10 Daily.

The beach party was held before Scott Morrison banned non-essential services and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people.

But within days the hospitality worker - who arrived in Australia in December - started experiencing body aches and a congested nose.

There are 2,363 cases of coronavirus in Australia as of Wednesday morning

The 24-year-old was told by Prince Wales Hospital on Monday that she had tested positive.

Because Ms Barreiro lives with 12 other backpackers, the NSW Government immediately moved her into social housing.

Ms Barreiro said Australia's response to the pandemic has been inconsistent, and called on other backpackers and locals to stay at home.

'I want people to realise how if we don't stay at home, we could end up in the same situation as Italy,' she said.

Ms Barreiro's diagnosis comes after several more cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in backpackers in the Bondi area.

'There were two recent parties that some of the cases attended where the cases may have acquired their infections,' a spokesman for NSW Health said.

Those two parties were the Boogie Wonderland party at the Bucket List on March 15 and a party at Club 77 on the same date.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned thousands of people who flouted the social distancing measures and flocked to Bondi Beach over the weekend to soak up the sun

Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned thousands of people who flouted the social distancing measures and flocked to Bondi Beach over the weekend to soak up the sun.

'What happened at Bondi Beach was not OK and served as a message to federal and state leaders that too many Australians are not taking these issues seriously enough,' he told reporters on Sunday.

On Tuesday night, Mr Morrison ordered more workplaces close and vowed to crackdown on 'large social gatherings', as he banned all overseas travel.

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

From midnight on Wednesday, Australians will be banned from eating at shopping centre food courts, and the number of people at weddings, funerals and social gatherings will be limited to curb the spread of coronavirus.

'This will be a significant sacrifice, I know,' Mr Morrison told reporters following an emergency meeting of state and territory leaders.

The new rules come after registered and licensed clubs, entertainment venues, cinemas, casinos, nightclubs, indoor sports venues, including gyms, and places of worship were ordered to close as part of 'stage one' restrictions rolled out on Monday.

There are now more than 2,300 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia, including eight who have died.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Construction on Hayward Field is still on despite the global coronavirus pandemic.

University of Oregon officials said in a statement that teams working on the site are urging workers to practice social distancing techniques.

"University officials have messaged to its teams across campus the need to follow the direction of local, state and federal authorities," the statement says. "This includes standard requirements, such as use of personal protective gear, including gloves, as well as guidance specific to COVID-19, such as additional hand-washing stations and social distancing on job sites and in meetings. It is the universitys understanding that crews at Hayward have been directed to practice social distancing and that additional hand-washing stations have been installed."

Michele Gladieux is a Eugene resident who walks by the construction site regularly. She says social distancing on the work site isn't always put into practice.

"It seems like people are social distancing more," Gladieux says. "But there are times up on high platforms where people are pretty close together."

University of Oregon student sophomore Garret Weintrob says there are students who think the construction shouldn't be a priority at this time.

"There's definitely people who think, 'Wow, coronavirus, social distancing, why are all these people still doing construction in a close environment? Is that still really necessary?'" Weintrob said.

The project is planned to be completed this spring.
Maryland Guard helping with Strategic National Stockpile push

By Lt. Col. Wayde Minami, Maryland National Guard / Published March 23, 2020

BALTIMORE (AFNS) -- Recently activated Maryland Air National Guard members are working at a Strategic National Stockpile in Maryland, preparing and loading medical supplies and equipment to help the state respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Maryland Department of Health, working with Gov. Larry Hogan's COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, has developed a plan to allocate scarce resources to provide as much protection as possible to the state's most vulnerable populations, considering the level of need, as well as access in the commercial pipeline.

All assets provided by the Strategic National Stockpile were prioritized for health care workers and hospitals. The Strategic National Stockpile is a national supply of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in severe public health emergencies that cause local supplies to run out. The stockpile is maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is stored at key locations throughout the United States.

Airmen from the 175th Wing, based at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport in Middle River, Maryland, have been at the site sorting medical equipment and supplies, preparing them for shipment and loading them on trucks to be distributed across the state.

"Today we are taking the supplies (provided by the federal government), such as gowns and gloves and the things that health departments, hospitals, long-term care facilities, dialysis centers, nursing homes and Emergency Medical Services around the state that are in short supply," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Malloy, a ground transportation specialist with the 175th Logistics Readiness Squadron. "I've always been proud to wear this uniform, especially when we get deployed on the federal side. But, this time being activated on the state side, I feel really proud to be able to serve my community and be able to help those in our community, those in need."

This is not the Maryland National Guard's first experience working with the Strategic National Stockpile. During the 2018 Vigilant Guard Exercise, 15 members of the Maryland Air National Guard practiced preparing to ship medical supplies from the stockpile to combat simulated hurricane and waterborne illnesses in Maryland.

"This is a great example of the value the National Guard brings to emergencies like this," said Army Maj. Gen. Timothy E. Gowen, the Maryland adjutant general. "Our troops are not only cleared to work at sensitive locations, such as the Strategic National Stockpile, but they have had hands-on experience doing so. These kinds of established relationships are crucial to rapid, effective crisis response."

The Maryland National Guard is working alongside various agencies and civil authorities, such as the Maryland Department of Health, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are really proud of our partnership with the National Guard, both for this response and past activities," said Robert R. Neall, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health. "We appreciate their expertise and level of professionalism. As we are able to acquire additional personal protective equipment, we will continue to coordinate with the National Guard to get it out quickly into the hands of the health care providers and organizations who need it most."



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People and firms are struggling with life under lockdown, but the government's predicament is greater. Many countries are now familiarising themselves with the economic self-distancing that will change our world as we know it.

This process has made many speculate that globalisation is on the brink. Our economic world order is fading, they say. Even the World Health Organisation is being marginalised! When it comes to a time of crisis, our collective perspective of the open free trade system has changed. The world is self-isolating.

But the spread of coronavirus is a byproduct of globalisation, not its result. This is not the first pandemic to bring the world to the point of paralysis. Emergencies such as these do not, alone, change the course of history. However, decisions made by politicians and rulers in response to them certainly do.

The Black Death was not the sole reason behind the Waning of the Middle Ages, as the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga argues in her book of the same title. The spread of that virus in Europe coincided with the peak of the Thirty Years War, which was the real force behind the global shifts that followed.

The same can also be said about the 1918 Influenza pandemic, which broke out at the end of the First World War. Europe did not scramble towards another conflict, which changed the face of the continent and the world, because of the flu. In fact, the rise of xenophobia and nationalism, particularly in the 1930s, was a central effect of the Great Depression and also led to the rise of extreme and erratic leaders who thought only about isolationism, and put little faith in cooperation during crisis.

Today, President Donald Trump is making similar mistakes in his fight against coronavirus. His response at the beginning of the outbreak was slow, immature and shambolic. His lack of leadership, both in the US and towards Europe, left each and every country no choice but to focus on surviving, without any regard to the neighbours or allies. He prefers pandemic power politics and likes to call coronavirus the Chinese virus. But what he doesn't seem to grasp is that his leadership is losing the US the battle of survival as the world leader in the face of China's success in the fight to contain the pandemic.

The acceleration of the ongoing rivalry between the US and China during this outbreak was, of course, inevitable. Regardless of who will be the next US president, suspicion and distrust towards everything Chinese is now deeply entrenched in modern American political thought. The trade war, the UK Huawei 5G saga, and the US plan to exclude China from its high technology, were all political forces already pushing against globalisation before the pandemic began to spread.

It also taught the world a useful lesson: trying to flatten the curve of China's rise, instead of adopting a policy of cooperation with it, will hit the US and its allies hard. And it will not contain China's ambitions.

As China recovers from being the source" of this pandemic, it will have two objectives: to end disruption to its supply chains and burnish its image on the world stage. By isolating Europe, closing the borders and focusing only on solving the problem of Covid-19 inside the US, Donald Trump is helping China reach its strategic goals.

The range and speed of the outbreak in Europe and the US are due at least in part to a lack of strong political leadership and a ready willingness to burn the bridges once a crisis happens abroad. Nationalism is not a result of the coronavirus outbreak, but it is contributing to the social and economic severity of the pandemic.

As this pandemic keeps gnawing into Europe and the US, China is stepping forward as a bulwark behind defeating the coronavirus. In offering (and receiving requests) to help western and other nations contain it, China is doubling down on its success by promoting, in addition to its model, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan's experiences in fighting the virus too. China is using globalisation to isolate the US and tarnish what Stephen Walt, the American thinker, calls the Western brand".

China is committed to saving the globalised system. Many countries might be plunged with an economic and cultural self-quarantine in the short term, but once this is all over, they will fall back into line as the world aggressively pursues the normality it briefly lost.

Trump is a bit of tough luck for the whole world. His ignorance and poor leadership might extend the transitional period before we come back to that normal, but the virus won't end the world order altogether.

China has been promoting its brand since Trump took office. This brand is simple to understand: globalisation is Chinese. And while coronavirus is one of globalisation's problems, the global economy will mobilise to turn the tide against it.
A Chinese air passenger has verbally abused an airport staff member as she refused to be quarantined after travelling from a coronavirus-ravaged country.

Social media footage shows the female traveller, 30, getting into a heated argument with a hazmat-clad health officer on Sunday at the Chongqing International Airport in southeastern China.

She is seen screaming at the airport worker: 'I'm going to sue you! I'm definitely not going [to quarantine]! You f****** idiot!'

Social media footage shows the female traveller, 30, getting into a heated argument with a hazmat-clad health officer on Sunday at the Chongqing International Airport in China

The furious woman then shouted at other passengers who were trying to ease the situation: 'You all shut up!'

The unidentified traveller claimed that she arrived in Shanghai after returning from Phuket, Thailand on March 11. She then travelled to Chongqing on Sunday.

But she was required to be isolated after arriving in China due to the new quarantine requirements, according to Chinese media.

Chinese officials have ordered passengers arriving from virus-hit countries to be quarantined for 14 days as the country seeks to curb the contagion from 'imported cases'.

Chinese officials have ordered passengers arriving from virus-hit countries to be quarantined for 14 days as the country seeks to curb the contagion from 'imported cases'. A worker at the Shanghai airport is pictured escorting passengers to a bus that will take them to their city

A passenger is pictured being checked after he landed at the Beijing International Airport

The woman claimed that she had a green health code issued by the Shanghai airport after she arrived from Thailand. But the traveller failed to show any documents to prove that she was virus-free.

Cities across China have ordered their citizens to scan dedicated barcodes at the entrance of public places or transport stations to prove they are not potential coronavirus carriers.

Residents who have not been in contact with confirmed or suspected patients are assigned a green code, which will allow them to leave their homes without restriction.

The passenger is believed to have returned to Shanghai after she refused to comply with the local airport's regulations.

She needed to go back to where she flew from because she didn't want to be quarantined,' a Chongqing official told the press today.

The news comes as China sees a rising number of cases imported from abroad, threatening to spoil its progress to contain the epidemic. Travellers are seen walking past a thermal scanner as they enter the arrival terminal of Hong Kong International Airport

Passenger are pictured landing at the arrivals hall of Hong Kongs International Airport today

The news comes as China sees a rising number of cases imported from abroad, threatening to spoil its progress to contain the epidemic.

Overseas Chinese are paying up to 21,000 for a seat on charter planes to fly home as China is now deemed to be a safe harbour during the escalating coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese students who were studying abroad said that they felt 'scared' and 'helpless' while staying in Europe during the outbreak due to the inaction of authorities and the public.

The UK's coronavirus death toll has jumped to 422 in the biggest daily rise yet, officials have announced as the crisis continues to spiral out of control. Passengers are seen squeezing onto a busy Central Line underground train at Stratford station in London yesterday

Globally, over 361,000 people have been infected with the contagion and the death roll has risen to 15,683.

The UK's coronavirus death toll has jumped to 422 in the biggest daily rise yet, officials have announced as the crisis continues to spiral out of control.

Eighty-three more patients died overnight in England, including 21 at the one NHS trust in London. Scotland also announced two fatalities, while Wales confirmed another death.

Britain also saw a record spike in cases today, with more than 8,000 patients now known to have the infection. But the true toll is likely to be closer to the 400,000 mark, scientists say.
Old people and children were particularly advised to refrain from attending mosques. (PTI)

Hyderabad: Ulema and muftis belonging to different schools of thought have urged the members of the Muslim community to offer the mandatory five times a day prayers at home during the lockdown announced by the Telangana state government to contain the spread of Covid-19.

A meeting of ulema and muftis was held in Jamia Nizamia in Hyderabad to consider the prevailing situation and whether to issue an edict exempting the performance of the five time prayers in mosques. They could not reach a consensus and it was decided to issue only an advisory.

After the meeting, a joint fatwa was issued which stated: In Sharia foregoing jamaat (praying in congregation) was permitted under certain conditions and circumstances and Covid-19 comes under such situation. Due to which people prefer to perform prayers in their homes instead of masjid (it) is not wrong in the eyes of the Sharia. There is hope that Allah will give them the same reward as (when) they perform in the masjid.

According to Sharia, saying prayers in a mosque is obligatory and the reward is higher than saying prayers at home.

Moulana Mufti Khaleel Ahmed said most of the Muftis opined that mosques should not be locked.

However, Muslims have to be urged to say their prayers at home as a precautionary measure.

It was clarified that those who prefer to pray in their homes in the prevailing conditions will not be deemed as abdicators of a farz (canonical obligation) and we hope with the Almighty Allah that they will get the same reward as if they say prayers in the mosque, the moulana added.

He said the muftis felt that old people and children particularly should prudently refrain from attending mosques.

They also said the mats in the mosques should be removed and the mosque premises should be cleaned frequently.

They also felt that only farz and wajib namaaz (obligatory prayers) should be performed in mosques and sunnan and nawafil (optional but spiritually beneficial) can be said at home.

Mosque Committees were urged to lock the mosques immediately after farz prayers and open only at the time of prayers.

It was also agreed that those who develop symptoms of the coronavirus should not attend congregational prayers and must refrain from visiting mosques and perform prayers at home.

Imams and sermonizers were advised to shorten the sermon and prayers and implore special supplications.

All Muslims were advised to follow the virus protocol to check the virus from spreading and asked not to endanger the lives of others. Moulana Mufti Khaleel Ahmed said worshipping and taking precautions are both Islamic teachings and every Muslim should follow the teachings.

Muftis and scholars from various schools of thought attended the meeting.

Among the most notable were Moulana Mufti Giyas Rahmani, state president Jamiat Ulema Hind (Arshad Madani), Moulana Mufti Abdul Mughni Mazhaeri, city president of the Jamiat Ulema Hind (Mahmood Madani), and Moulana Dr Ahsan bin Mohammed al-Hamoomi.
New Jersey now has at least 3,675 known cases of the coronavirus, including 44 deaths, as officials announced Tuesday an increase of 846 positive tests and 17 deaths  the largest single-day increase in statewide deaths since the pandemic began.

This is a sobering report, Gov. Phil Murphy said at Rutgers-Newark during his daily coronavirus press briefing, noting that New Jersey ranks second in the nation for number of cases, after New York.

Were at war, Murphy added. Theres no question about it.

The new deaths from COVID-19  the illness causes by the virus  include cases in Bergen (5), Morris (3), Essex (3), Hudson (2) and one each in Monmouth, Camden, Passaic and Union counties, said state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

Nine of the deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. There are at least 19 long-term care facilities in the state with patients who have tested positive, Persichilli said.

Persichilli also revealed for the first time the rate of positive versus negative tests from seven laboratories reporting to the state. Of the 12,000 tests that have been done at those labs, 3,600 have been positive  a rate of 27%.

Thats a really important rate," Persichilli said, noting the information can steer the states plan for medical care going forward. "That will help us in our predictive modeling.

Officials have not said how many people have been hospitalized with or recovered from the illness in New Jersey, which has 9 million residents. Its also unknown how many residents may have the virus but have yet to be tested.

The partial list of county-by-county cases includes:

Bergen County: 701

Essex County: 342

Monmouth County: 288

Middlesex County: 277

Union County: 246

Hudson County: 234

Passaic County: 216

Morris County: 204

Ocean County: 180

Somerset County: 102

Mercer County: 58

Camden County: 51

Burlington County: 42

Hunterdon County: 25

Gloucester County: 19

Sussex County: 18

Warren County: 15

Atlantic County: 6

Cape May County: 3

Cumberland County: 2

Salem County: 1

Another 645 cases are still under review to determine where the person resides, state health officials said.

Officials have said they expect the number of positive tests to continue to increase in New Jersey as they see more evidence of community spread and testing continues to ramp up in the state.

But they emphasize that more testing will give them a better sense of how to respond to the outbreak.

The more facts we have, the more we can make decisions, Murphy said.

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, Murphy has closed all schools in the state, ordered people to stay at home except for necessary travel, banned social gatherings, and ordered non-essential retail businesses to close until further notice. Officials have promised to prosecute those who violate the orders.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday hed like to reopen the U.S. economy my mid-April. Trump has said in recent days: We cant let the cure be worse than the problem."

Murphy, a Democrat, stopped short of criticizing the Republican president. But Murphy also said he does not plan to scale back New Jerseys response.

Given the enormity of the impact on the economy, I can understand folks who want to find a fast and as short a road back to normalcy as possible," the governor said. "Weve got to do it responsibly, and I dont think anyone is suggesting otherwise, but were not there yet and were going to stay the course.

Murphy said he does not know when the number of cases in New Jersey will peak or when the state will return to normal because he announced the most aggressive actions to limit human interaction  including a near-lockdown of the state  just three days ago.

We need a longer runway to get a handle on this, he saids.

There are now government-run drive-thru coronavirus testing centers in Paramus and Holmdel, as well as a number of sites run by county agencies, hospitals and private companies. Both state-run testing sites closed early Tuesday after quickly hitting testing capacity.

Meanwhile, officials announced Tuesday that four new pop-up field hospitals are on their way from the federal government to help deal with the surging cases. They will be located in Secaucus, Edison, and Atlantic City, with a fourth location to be determined.

Plus, New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy announced a new fundraising effort called the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. The video launching the effort included Jon Bon Jovi, Stephen Colbert, Danny DeVito, Whoopi Goldberg, Carli Lloyd, Charlie Puth, Bruce Springsteen, and Jon Stewart.

The virus has infected more than 414,000 people and killed more than 8,500 worldwide, while more than 107,000 have recovered, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

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The United States, by contrast, has had to cobble together a support system that is in some ways brand-new. Under the stimulus package, many Americans would get one-time payments, but they would have to be fired or furloughed by their employers to qualify for some of the most substantial financial protections. And because it has taken some time to achieve bipartisan consensus, businesses and workers in shuttered cities and states have been left with uncertainty.




"" (Wish you good health!) exclaimed Ren Huiling, a 10-year-old girl from Xinglong village in southwest China's Guizhou province, to the camera, with recently-plowed fields and tree-covered mountains behind her.

Learning to pronounce the more-than-10 syllables in Persian, the official language of Iran, was no easy task for the fourth grader. But Ren was delighted to send the message to people living in one of the countries hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ren's message is part of a short video featuring students from Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School as they send their wishes to those dealing with the global pandemic and share practical tips for preventing the novel coronavirus in 10 languages, including English, Italian and Spanish.

Ren Huiling, a 10-year-old student from Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School in southwest China's Guizhou province, puts her palms together during an activity to practice gratitude. [Photo courtesy of Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School]

Although located in a remote mountainous area, the primary school encourages students to see beyond themselves and care about what is happening in the rest of the world.

"As the pandemic spreads around the globe, more and more people are keenly aware that viruses know no borders," said Xiao Shijian, the school's principal. "As teachers, we hope our students can understand that the relentless virus has threatened hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, and despite differences in ethnicity, race and language, we're all human beings facing a common challenge."

According to the daily COVID-19 report released by the WHO, a total of 332,930 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide as of 10:00 CET on March 23.

"We wanted to shoot the video to teach the children about the glory of humanity -- standing together and helping each other in difficult times. We want to give them the belief that love and care can also go beyond national borders," Xiao explained in an interview with China.org.cn.

The primary school with fewer than 100 students has been at the forefront of the "humanist rural education" strategy, an innovative teaching system oriented towards the characteristic needs of rural children, ever since it was jointly rebuilt by the local education authority and the non-governmental organization Tianzige in 2017.

The playground and reading corridor of Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School in southwest China's Guizhou province, taken in 2019. [Photo courtesy of Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School]

"The school's development can be attributed to support from numerous kind-hearted people, including many foreign friends. This video also enables our students to express their gratitude," said Xiao, who is also the founder of Tianzige.

Like most areas in China, Guizhou postponed the start of its spring semester in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Faced with an extended winter holiday, Xiao was not worried that students would miss classes, as in her eyes, the outbreak itself is a valuable source of knowledge and a good opportunity to learn about real life.

Xiao believes that compared with reading textbooks and doing homework, it is more important for students to concern themselves with current affairs, draw the right lessons from the crisis and develop compassion for others.

In addition to producing the multilingual video, teachers at the primary school also set up a series of free online courses titled "Fighting COVID-19  Special Classes for Rural Children" to help students learn from life.

Each of the courses is comprised of three main parts: latest news, epidemic prevention knowledge and selected articles on the outbreak. They aim to update students on the pandemic, cultivate their critical thinking and improve their character through interesting and interactive teaching styles.

Posters for the free online "Fighting COVID-19  Special Classes for Rural Children" courses developed by Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School in southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo courtesy of the Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School]

For example, a picture e-bookwith audio was created to teach students not to discriminate against certain groups due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Zheng'an county, where the primary school is located, was formerly classed as a national-level poverty-stricken county. Known as the "gateway to northern Guizhou," it was removed from the list of impoverished regions in early March.

Education has been high on China's agenda as it promotes poverty alleviation and the revitalization of rural areas. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) on poverty alleviation included special education programs for poverty alleviation during the period. Meanwhile, the Plan for Rural Vitalization Strategy (2018-2022) also prioritized the development of education in rural areas.

For Xiao and her colleagues, their work is part of the efforts to ensure that each and every child in rural areas has fair access to high-quality education.

"We came here with the mission of exploring a new education model for children in mountain villages. Change is needed for education in rural areas, and the primary school at Xinglong can be a starting point," wrote Xiao in an article explaining her motivations for working in the village school.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers at the school want to educate their students about the importance of goodness and wisdom inleading humanity through crises, Xiao said.

They are striving to achieve that goal through the video, with the courses, and undoubtedly more strategies in the future.

The video was produced by the Tianzige Xinglong Experimental Primary School and provided to China.org.cn.

.
 Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects daily (e.g., tables, countertops, cellphones, computers, light switches, doorknobs, and cabinet handles) using a regular household detergent and water

 Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.

Anyone who has been tested and is awaiting results should self-quarantine for 14 days. That means one should stay home and limit close contact with other individuals.

Those who experience symptoms  including having a fever, developing a cough or having shortness of breath  should also immediately remove themselves from work environments and limit their contact with family, friends and the general public. They should then seek testing by contacting a primary care provider.

More testing information can be found on the Iredell County Health Department COVID-19 web page (https://nciredellcounty.civicplus.com/1383/Coronavirus-COVID-19)
DAKAR, March 23 (Reuters) - Glencore's Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) mine, a copper and cobalt project in Democratic Republic of Congo, repatriated 26 foreign workers on Monday in response to the country's coronavirus outbreak, a union official told Reuters.

Charles Kumbi, a regional programme director with the IndustriALL union, which has an affiliate at KCC, said the workers had been sent home on technical leave but would resume work once the situation got back to normal.

A Glencore spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
ELKO  The Elko County School District will go ahead with its scheduled regular meeting Tuesday night in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, but with limited availability to the public.

The Board of Trustees will attend via teleconference, said Superintendent Todd Pehrson.

The boardroom is limited to 10 people, according to social distancing guidelines recommended by the federal government.

In a directive issued by Gov. Steve Sisolak on March 22, governing bodies are allowed to convene by telephone or other electronic means and provide the public the opportunity to comment by telephone or email.

The board will discuss district policies regarding the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing superintendent search.

On March 15, Sisolak ordered all schools statewide to close for three weeks. That closure has been extended through mid-April.

In a letter to families from the Nevada Department of Education, parents were encouraged to continue learning and model healthy coping skills. It also provided suggestions for engaging children in family activities.

Meals are being provided to students through Chartwells and the Nevada Department of Agriculture, which is in partnership with the school district.

Communities In Schools Weekend Food Program is still in operation and is working with enrolled families.

Families who are not enrolled are encouraged to visit the CIS Facebook page or contact them at 775-738-2783 for more information.

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The government is announcing stricter controls to limit the spread of coronavirus.

From midnight tomorrow, food courts in shopping centres will no longer be open (though takeaway food is still allowable).

Auction houses and open house inspections cannot continue services.

Beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, and tattoo parlors will now be forced to close.

Hairdressers and barbershops will be allowed, only if they abide by social distancing (of one person per four square metres) and that nobody is on the premises for more than 30 minutes.

Scott Morrison addresses the nation. Credit:AAP

This is on top of the rules already announced on Sunday, banning club sports, bars, cinemas, casinos, churches and concerts.

Boot camps and personal training is limited to no more than 10 people and must also strictly follow social distancing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said weddings could continue so long as only the couple, celebrant and witnesses attend and observe the rule of one person per 4 square metres.

"But, large gatherings for weddings, sadly, won't be possible under these new arrangements," Mr Morrison said.

Mr Morrison said the medical advice was still that schools should remain open, particularly for children of emergency workers, despite Victoria calling the school holidays early.
CESCO workers disinfect a BMW facility and car displayed in the showroom in Seoul, on March 24. / Courtesy of BMW Korea



By Kim Jae-heun



BMW, one of Korea's favorite German carmakers, is accelerating corporate efforts to fight the new coronavirus here.



BMW Group Korea has started its "BWMMINI Relief Care Service Campaign" from Feb. 10 to temporarily close its driving center in Incheon and carry out disinfection at all its premises while keeping their employees working from home.



The carmaker said its local dealer firms are strengthening 'untact' services whereby they offer to pick-up, repair and return the vehicles of customers who are hesitant to visit stores. This is to minimize the possibility of spreading the virus between customers and relieve their anxiety.



Sanitation is a top priority concern at every BMW stores in Korea. All the employees must wear a face mask and customers without a face mask are restricted from entering the premises. Also, body temperatures checks are in place at entry points and hand sanitizers are available for use at all times. Tables for consultation at stores are 2 meters away from each other to help maintain social distancing guidelines.



BMW Korea is working with CESCO, the No. 1 disinfection and pest management business here, to beef up quarantine efforts and disinfect all of its facilities including its headquarters, service centers and showrooms in Korea. CESCO uses disinfectants approved by the Ministry of Environment.



The carmaker hired Sonax Service, a professional car care service firm, to disinfect cars displayed at showrooms and cars for test drives as well as cars released from shops. Sonax uses probiotics technology in their disinfectants. In addition, both CESCO and Sonax Service workers visit BMW stores to educate their employees about hygiene and sanitation matters.



BMW Korea has donated 800 million won together with its car dealer firms and Community Chest of Korea to help the country overcome the novel coronavirus. The fund will be used to purchase medical supplies, protective clothing and necessities for doctors and nurses. BMW plans to support children in Daegu and North Gyeongbuk Province, where COVID-19 spread was most concentrated in the country.



The carmaker takes its social responsibility seriously and is the first foreign car brand to establish a non-profit organization in Korea. Since the establishment of BMW Korea Future Fund in 2011, the carmaker has donated over 32 billion won ($25.45 million). In 2014, BMW raised 1 billion won together with its eight local dealer firms to help victims and bereaved families of the sunken ferry Sewol.


BEDBURG, Germany, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SANY Group, a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, held a donation ceremony at its industrial park in Bedburg Germany yesterday, delivering 22,000 masks to hospitals of Essen and Bedburg, where SANY Europe is located.

From March 17 to 19, 2020, a total of 50,000 N95 medical masks with the European CE mark were shipped in three batches from SANY Group in Changsha to its European headquarters to help in the fight against Covid-19.

Mr. Feng Haiyang, Consul-general of the Chinese Consulate in Dusseldorf, sent a letter to SANY Europe GmbH, noted "We highly praise the kind donation of medical masks by SANY Europe to local governments in Germany and the donation of medical supplies to China. I sincerely hope and look forward to SANY making continuous achievements in business and as a role model among Chinese enterprises in Europe for social responsibility."

Nordrhein-Westfalen is the state with the most confirmed Covid-19 infections in Germany, and Essen is the city with many strong healthcare institutions in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Among the 50,000 masks donated by SANY Group, 20,000 masks will go to hospitals in Essen, and 2,000 will go to hospitals in Bedburg. SANY Europe, with the help of Chinese Embassy and Consulates in Germany, will also contact and donate the remainder of medical masks to other local governments and medical institutions across the country to support the fight against the pandemic in Germany.

Printed on the boxes of masks is a German proverb written in Chinese and German: "Berg und Tal kommen nicht zusammen, wohl aber die Menschen" meaning Mountains and valleys don't come together, but humans do. Chinese President Xi Jinping quoted this German proverb during his visit to Germany in 2014 to express the long history of mutual exchanges and profound friendship between the two peoples.

In addition, to the first batch of medical masks to Germany, SANY Group also donated a further 80,000 masks to Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Austria, and Sweden for overseas partners with the quote of "Our destiny is closely connected in both good and hard times."

"During the worst period of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, China was helped by many countries. To return the favor, SANY Group made the quick decision to extend a helping hand to the German people in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic," said by the principal of Sany Group.

About SANY Group

Established in 1989, SANY is a global manufacturer of industry-leading construction and mining equipment, port and oil drilling machinery, and renewable wind-energy systems. To date, SANY has built 25 manufacturing bases, 12 sales regions and over 100 offices with more than 400 dealers and 8,000 suppliers worldwide. In China, SANY has established seven industrial parks in Beijing, Changsha, Shanghai, Shenyang, Zhuhai, Kunshan and Urumqi. With global R&D centres and manufacturing bases in the U.S., Germany and India, SANY's products are exported to 150 countries and regions.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137044/SANY_Medical_Masks_Donation.jpg
A commission formed by Congress to assess military and national service is calling for women to be included in selective service registration, Military.com has learned.

The 11-member National Commission on Military, National and Public Service is set to release a final report with 164 recommendations Wednesday, following two-and-a-half years of research and fieldwork on topics including propensity to serve in the military; the civilian-military divide; and the future of the U.S. Selective Service System.

One of the most hotly debated questions considered by the panel is whether women should be required to register for the draft for the first time in U.S. history.

A source with knowledge of the report confirmed that the commission had recommended that women should be made eligible for selective service. Politico first reported Tuesday on the commission's findings.

Other recommendations include keeping the U.S. Selective Service System and keeping the registration requirement, which currently applies to American males within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

Related: Bringing Back the Draft: 5 Possibilities for the Future of Military Conscription

The panel was created as a result of debate over whether women should be made to register for the draft. In 2016, the same year all military ground combat and special operations jobs were opened to women for the first time, two Republicans in Congress, both veterans, introduced the "Draft America's Daughters Act of 2016." The move was intended to provoke discussion; both lawmakers planned to vote against their own bill.

But the provision ultimately became law as part of the 2017 defense policy package. From that initiative, the commission was formed to further study the issue.

During 2019 hearings on the question, Katey van Dam, a Marine Corps veteran who flew attack helicopters, argued eloquently in support of including women in selective service registration.

"Today, women sit in C-suites and are able to hold any military job for which they are qualified," she said. "As society expects opportunity parity for women, it is time to also expect equal civic responsibility. In the event of a major war that requires national mobilization, women should serve their country to the same extent as male citizens."

In an interview with Military.com earlier this month, Joe Heck, the chairman of the commission and a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve, said the issue of including women in draft registration had inspired passionate debate among the commissioners.

"The recommendations made represent the consensus of the commission," he said. "We believe that the commission's recommendations specifically in regard to [the U.S. Selective Service System] will best place the nation as able to respond to any existential national security threat that may arise."

Heck also said the commission planned to chart a "cradle-to-grave pathway to service" for Americans.

In addition to the report, the commission will release accompanying draft legislation Wednesday to assist Congress in turning its proposals into law. A future hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee is also planned to discuss the commission's findings.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read more: Marines to Shut Down All Tank Units, Cut Infantry Battalions in Major Overhaul
The Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has warned the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC) , Com. Adams Oshiom...





The Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has warned the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC) , Com. Adams Oshiomhole against taking actions that could be subjudice on the appointment of Senator Abiola Ajimobi as the National Deputy Chairman(South) of the party.





The Court presided over by Justice U. N. Agoumoh , said it would be contemptuous for anyone to be appointed into the position by APC National Working Committee until the case filed by an aspirant, Mr. Michael Akinleye contesting Ajimobis proposed nomination, is determined.





The suit with registration number FHC/AD/CS/8/2020 was filed against the NWC to halt Ajimobis appointment on the premise that the position had been micro-zoned to Ekiti.





Joined in the suit are: APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole(1st respondent), National Working Committee(2nd) , National Vice Chairman, South West(3rd) , APC South West Zonal Caucus(4th), Ekiti State Chairman of APC(5th) , Ekiti State Caucus of APC(6th), All Progressives Congress (7th) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi(8th).

The seat became vacant following the appointment of Oti ba Niyi Adebayo as a Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, which brought the feeling by Ekiti APC that Senator Gbenga Aluko should be allowed to fill the vacancy in respect of the partys micro-zoning, rather than moving it to Oyo State.





At yesterdays proceeding, the Counsel to the Claimant, Barr. Taiwo Omidoyin drew the attention of the Court to the fact that the National leadership of APC, who were respondents in the case before the Court had gone ahead to appoint and inaugurate Ajimobi into the office, despite the pendency of the case.





The lawyer to the respondent, Chief Anthony Adeniyi quickly interjected and denied vehemently, saying Ajimobi has neither been nominated nor installed as the Deputy National Chairman(South). I couldnt have lied before the Court having spent over 40 years at the bar as a lawyer.





At this point, Justice Agoumoh said: The position of this court that the status quo ante bellum be maintained in this case still subsists.





I want to warn the lawyers to tell their clients not to do anything that will jeopardize the case in Court.





I hope your clients have not taken any steps as regard the case at hand? The consequences will be dire for anyone who flouts the order, the court ruled.





The case had been adjourned to April 7, for further hearing.




The Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse began at least eight days of closure to most public foot traffic Monday, but offices were staffed and ready to help via phone, emails and the internet.

We are here and they can call the office and get information, said County Assessor Dan Fisher. We are still available to them.

Due to coronavirus concerns, county officials announced last week that non-essential local government offices would be closed for in-person business to the public from Monday through at least Tuesday, March 31.

But offices, including those at the courthouse, are still staffed and citizens can call for information and to inquire about possible appointments.

Proceedings before District Court Judges Kurt Krueger and Robert Whelan will continue as scheduled, but parties are asked to appear in the courtrooms no than 10 minutes prior to scheduled times. Some hearings and inmate appearances could include videoconferencing.

Its a little different for Justice Court and City Court. Justices of the Peace Jimm Kilmer and Ben Pezdark and City Court Judge Jerome McCarthy are open for scheduled business from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

But unless specifically instructed by court staff or law enforcement to physically appear for those courts, call 406-497-6201 and discuss your matter with the court clerk.

For other offices, theres a wooden box inside the right-side entrance of the courthouse up the south steps where people can drop off payments or documents. And if you need to get certain documents or applications, you can call the respective department and arrange to have someone meet you in the front.

The Water Utility Division also has a drop box for payments outside of its building at 124 W. Granite St.

Meanwhile, the citys buses are continuing their normal routes but certain precautions are being taken, said Mark Neary, the countys Public Works director. Riders must board through the back, for example, and the first three front seats are blocked off to give drivers the social distancing space they need.

Although public works crews arent congregating closely in the mornings as they used to, they are out and about performing their duties, Neary said. They include road, water and wastewater crews, he said.

The Treasurers Office is one of the busiest at the courthouse, since that is where people often go to renew vehicle registrations, get license plates and ask about and pay property tax bills.

One of our biggest struggles will be helping the folks that have new vehicle purchases, said Treasurer Lori-Baker Patrick. If the paperwork comes from a dealership, typically the paperwork is signed, but if it isnt we can try and get the signatures via email.

But that will only be possible if the customer can print the documents, sign and then scan them back to us for processing, she said. The best thing is to call or email and we will be able to give them their options based on their situation.

For general information, you can call the Treasurers Office at 406-496-6300, you can email questions to lpatrick@bsb.mt.gov and for more specific numbers and links, see the list on Page A3.

The 2020 election season is still on, for now at least, and anyone with general questions can contact the Montana Secretary of States Office at 406-444-2034 or the Butte-Silver Bow Clerk and Recorders Office at 406-497-6335. See a list of specific links on Page xx.

Sally Hollis, Butte-Silver Bows clerk and recorder, said some forms for voter registrations and absentee ballots can be filled out and mailed or faxed (406-497-6328) to her office and in some cases, because of the temporary shutdown of the courthouse to general public traffic, sent back via email to (clerkrec@bsb.mt.gov).

The District Court Clerks Office wants attorneys to file pleadings by mail or electronically if possible and is encouraging anyone who needs to conduct business in the office to call for assistance first at 406-497-6350.

Because everything related to the coronavirus has been in flux, some requests and assistance will probably have to be handled on a case-by-case basis, said District Court Clerk Tom Powers.

They are offering specific instructions to those seeking marriage licenses and ask that applicants call or email (clkofdistcourt@bsb.mt.gov) the office for details.

Fisher said some people visit his office to inquire about property tax assistance programs and they can still do that over the phone by calling 406-497-6290. Those with questions about valuations of their property can contact the Department of Revenue at 406-497-6282.

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Three days after posting on social media that she was sewing face masks to donate to medical professionals and medically vulnerable people in need, San Antonio resident Bess Burton was flooded with requests.

A friend who worked at a hospital in Pearsall wanted at least 10. Someone working at University Hospital wanted one. Then she saw the post in her neighborhood Nextdoor group from the president of Southwest General Hospital: a plea for donations of protective gear so the hospital could save its surgical and N95 respirator masks for the highest-risk situations.

We are literally looking at bandanas, wrote Southwests Jon Turton.

A dire shortage of surgical and respirator masks amid the coronavirus pandemic has medical professionals across the nation improvising to keep themselves safe and prevent the spread of the virus.

Typically, respirator and surgical masks are used to protect doctors and nurses from dangerous germs and viruses. But with the equipment in serious short supply, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued guidance that said health care workers can use items that arent officially considered personal protective equipment.

More Information Want to learn to sew masks? Visit www.Deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask. See More Collapse

Homemade face masks  including bandanas and scarves  can serve as a last resort.

Were trying to get stuff from our suppliers, and everything is back-ordered, said Dr. Eric Wilke, partner in the Emergency Center at Alamo Ranch, a freestanding ER on the far West Side. They are on a rotation schedule trying to spread it out to as many people as they can.

Concerned community members and crafters have mobilized to support the cause. One Facebook group, called Sewing Face Masks for San Antonio, jumped to 406 members within three days.

A YouTube video posted by Indiana-based Deaconess Health System that showed how to sew the masks received more than 881,511 views within three days. That hospital system also created an online directory of other hospitals and organizations nationwide in need of masks. Health systems in places such as Tyler, Dallas and Houston have asked for as many as 540 masks.

In San Antonio, Gonzaba Medical Group, which runs three urgent care clinics, and Promotion Physical Therapy submitted requests. But so far, none of the citys major hospitals has listed themselves as in need.

That doesnt mean doctors and nurses arent asking for them, though.

Ive had to triage requests and ask people to wait so that I can support nurses and doctors, said Burton, who has been sewing daily since Friday.

Like many San Antonians stuck at home, Burton was scrolling through Facebook when she came across a request for hand-sewn face masks. I thought, well, thats something I can do at home, said Burton, who lives with her husband and teenage son.

She went to Walmart and bought 10 yards of quilting fabric in all sorts of prints  decorated with puppies, elephants and cats. With her sewing machine, each mask took less than 15 minutes to complete.

She posted about her crafting project on Facebook, and within three days, she received requests for more than 100 masks  from nurses, people with compromised immune systems and even a woman in North Carolina whom shed never met.

The shortage has meant that medical professionals have been left to seek protective equipment from outside their normal sources, including on Amazon.com. The CDC also said health care workers can use the same face mask for an extended period of time while treating multiple patients, rather than removing it between each visit.

At some medical facilities in San Antonio, face masks are now locked away and rationed.

Every day, we put in an order and it gets canceled, said San Antonio emergency medicine physician Dr. Eddie Wright.

He used to leave a box of masks out in the lobbies of Prestige Emergency Room, which includes three freestanding ERs he co-owns on the citys West and Northwest sides. But now, people try to take them even when we put them behind the counter, he said.

In an attempt to save supplies for medical professionals on the front lines of the pandemic, Gov. Greg Abbott recently issued an executive order that postpones all surgeries and procedures that arent considered immediately medically necessary. Medical professionals and institutions that fail to comply could face penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned Monday.

Even the crafting stores that supply the materials needed to make face masks are feeling the strain. Across town, elastic has been bought out from crafting stores shelves.

I looked on Amazon, and the earliest you can get delivered is May, said Mary Wright, who had made about 26 masks as of Monday afternoon. She has enough elastic for about 20 more masks and plans to substitute with elastic headbands and string or ribbon once she runs out.

One of Wrights neighbors, who has family members who work at University Hospital, requested 20 masks. Her cousin living in Illinois, whose daughter works as a nurse, asked her to send her some, too.

This has all just blown up in the past day, Wright said. I got a Facebook message from a lady who was referred to me, and I dont even know how they got my name.

marina.riker@express-news.net

Staff writer San Antonio Express-News reporter Madalyn Mendoza contributed to this report. | Marina Starleaf Riker is an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News with extensive experience covering affordable housing, inequality and disaster recovery. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with his Czech Republic counterpart Andrej Babis by telephone on March 23 to discuss their efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

Babis lauded Vietnams efforts and asked the two countries to enhance information sharing and cooperation in the field.

PM Phuc, for his part, emphasised that COVID-19 is a common challenge for the world at present.

Vietnam stands ready to collaborate with the Czech Republic and all of its partners to fight the epidemic, he said, adding that no country could unilaterally act to overcome such a global-scale public health crisis.

The Vietnamese PM thanked and spoke highly of the Czech Republic Government and people for providing care for the Vietnamese community in the country.

He suggested the host government continue providing favourable conditions for them to stabilise their lives and ensure the necessary conditions to combat the disease.

The PM affirmed that Vietnam is ready to partner the Czech Republic in all areas to overcome existing difficulties, and will direct ministries and agencies to make it easier for Czech Republic citizens to return home in the near future.

Vietnam thanks the Government, Parliament and people of the Czech Republic for supporting the development of the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the European Union, especially pushing forward the European Parliaments ratification of the EU  Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Czech Republic Parliaments approval of the EU  Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, he said.

On the occasion, PM Phuc invited Babis to pay an official visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Babis accepted the invitation with pleasure, and expressed his hope to visit Vietnam soon./. VNA
An organisation representing the Bahai community has condemned the death sentence upheld by a court in Iran against one of its members, imprisoned since 2013 for his religious beliefs, according to a statement.

Despite a humanitarian crisis and mounting health concerns in Yemen, an appeals court in Sana'a on Sunday upheld a "religiously-motivated death sentence" against Hamed bin Haydara, it said.

"At a time when the international community is battling a global health crisis, it is incomprehensible that the authorities in Sana'a have upheld a death sentence against an innocent individual solely because of his beliefs instead of focusing on safeguarding the population, including Baha'is," said Diane Ala'i, representative of the Baha'i international community to the United Nations in Geneva.

The Baha'i international community unequivocally condemns the death sentence against Haydara, she said.

After a series of trials spanning four years, Haydara was sentenced to public execution in 2018, the statement issued by the national spiritual assembly of the Baha'is of India said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People line up to get a test at Elmhurst Hospital due to CCP virus outbreak. in Queens, New York, on March 24, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

13-Year-Old Girl Dies of CCP Virus in Panama: Health Officials

A 13-year-old girl has died from the coronavirus in Panama, according to health officials.

The teen girl was being treated at a childrens hospital in the South American nation when she died on Sunday, said officials.

The deaths were notified to the [Ministry of Health] epidemiological system after the Gorgas Memorial Institute carried out the rigorous examinations and determined that the deaths were the result of respiratory complications due to COVID-19, officials said in a news release, referring to the CCP virus.

The Epoch Times 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.

Officials didnt provide any more details about the teens death. So far, six people have died of the virus in Panama, including a 92-year-old, officials said, according to Telemetro.

A family in Georgia, meanwhile, said that a 12-year-old girl is fighting for her life in a hospital after testing positive for the virus.

Justin Anthony told CNN that his cousin Emma was placed on a ventilator after she tested positive for the virus that emerged in China. She was diagnosed with pneumonia on March 15.

The patient remains in isolation, and we have consistently used appropriate precautions. Additional details will not be released due to patient privacy laws, hospital spokeswoman Jessica Pope told CNN.

Anthony issued a warning that children can suffer adverse effects from the CCP virus.

Kids can get it and I know one whos fighting for her life, Anthony said. I know first hand how dangerous it is, he also warned to CNN. Everyone keeps saying it doesnt impact younger people. But heres a 12-year-old fighting for her life. People need to practice social distancing. People need to take care of their children. People need to take this seriously.
A SECOND Corbally girl stranded in Australia has got in touch with the Limerick Leader and she says they are the tip of the iceberg.

It follows a story published on www.limerickleader.ie last night with Aimee Landers, Murroe and Aine Ryan, being stuck in Perth.

Lesley Grace, aged 25, from Corbally, said she has had almost the exact same experience as Aimee and Aine.

"I honestly don't think my mum or I have slept in days trying to find a solution. Its heartbreaking that the Australian dream is over, but after a year of droughts, bushfires, and now coronavirus the straw has finally broke the camel's back and I am desperately trying to return home to Ireland from Sydney.

"I have booked a number of flights with Emirates and British Airways, all of which have now been cancelled. These airlines have advised refunds won't be processed for up to 90 days, and further more they have said it's likely to be July or Sept before they return to normal operations," said Lesley.

She said all the major airport hubs are closing this week - UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai - and there are little to no available alternatives.

I have spent over six hours at the airport this morning (Monday) trying to find a way home after I was refused entry to my 6am flight by Emirates as my connecting flight in Dubai has been cancelled.

The travel agent in the airport has said they cannot get me a flight, even to the UK, for under AUD $5,000 /2,700 before this weekend, which I simply cannot afford after already purchasing flights, and warned that close to 90% of the flights the agent I spoke to booked for people on Sunday have been cancelled or rescheduled which would mean waiting another 90 days for a refund, said Lesley.

Everyone in Sydney she speak to is losing their jobs and "literally have no way of supporting themselves".

"The Australian Government have said they won't be offering any financial support to Irish citizens on tourist and working holiday visas, and if you cannot afford to remain here and support yourself over the coming months then you need to leave before March 31.

"I quit my job last week and organised everything to fly home. I've spent most of my savings on flights, left where I was living, and I'm completely lost for what to do next. To give you an idea of the economic situation here at the moment over 36,000 people applied for 5,000 temporary supermarket jobs this week, so to say I am not hopeful of my chances of finding work anytime soon would be an understatement, said Lesley.

She continued: "To make matters worse I am staying in multi-person dorm rooms in hostels which significantly increase my chance of catching the virus, especially as an outbreak has been reported amongst backpackers in two parts of Sydney this week, and if I am to become ill I will not be in a position to afford healthcare costs and the required self isolation."

Lesley has looked up the travelwise app, the Department of Foreign Affairs website, and contacted the live chat for the Irish Embassy, as well as left voice messages for the Irish Consulate / Embassy in Australia.

"So far the only advice I have been able to get is to speak with the airlines. The airlines simply cannot help me, they are overwhelmed by the number of passengers desperate to get home, and the ever increasing Government restrictions. I cannot even get through to the Emirates hotline in Australia, my mum has had to call for me from Ireland and put me on loudspeaker from another phone to get any information.

"Everyone I speak to is panicking at the moment. Its horrible feeling so helpless and so far from home, especially having family members in the vulnerable risk category. My biggest fear now is with more and more air routes closing daily getting home is simply not going to be an option if the Government don't step in as quickly as possible," said Lesley.

She worked for the Department of Health in Sydney for a couple of months when she first arrived, before leaving to complete her regional work for her second year visa in Barossa Valley, and North Melbourne.

"After discussing with my mum how bad things were getting at home and in Europe I decided the most important thing right now is being with family. I don't have any brothers or sisters so my mum is pretty worried about getting me home, and I hate the thoughts of her being at home on her own indefinitely in lockdown.

"So, I booked flights home, quit my job - jeopardising my chance at gaining my second year visa - and left where I was living to come to Sydney and fly home.

Now she is stuck in Australia. And to make matters worse there is talk of a lot of hostels closing their doors.

Everything is so uncertain right now, concludes Lesley.

Deputy Niall Collins said the Government must act to repatriate Irish in Australia.

He has written to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs asking them to outline the Governments plan to repatriate Irish people living in Australia.

Deputy Collins called for a repatriation plan after a number of airlines announced that they are to cease flights out of Australia.

He said last week the HSE launched its On Call for Ireland appeal and thankfully it has been overwhelmed with applications from Irish people wanting to come home to work in the health service and help tackle the spread of the coronavirus.

"The applications have come from all over the world, with many Irish people in Australia signing up.

"However many healthcare workers, as well as other Irish people wanting to return home, are finding it increasingly difficult to leave Australia as many of the main airlines are ceasing flights out of the country.

"I have been made aware of a number of cases of young people, whose visas are on the brink of running out who are now worried that they may not be able to get home and are worried about outstaying their visa and running out of money," said Deputy Collins.

These people dont know how to get home he said.

"People who had booked flights have had them cancelled and they are beginning to panic. I have written to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney asking them what plan is in place to ensure that these people are repatriated home, and not left stranded in Australia.

"I believe we have a duty to these Irish citizens, particularly when so many of them were responding to an initiative to improve the countrys ability to contain Covid-19. We must ensure that these people can make their way home safely", concluded Deputy Collins.
Michelle Obama has spoken to Ellen DeGeneres about what it is like staying at home with her husband and two daughters, saying this is like no other time in history.

Earlier this month, it was announced that The Ellen DeGeneres Show was suspending production until the end of March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While unable to interview celebrity guests at Warner Bros Studios, DeGeneres has instead being calling up several of her high-profile friends to see how they are doing in self-isolation.

On Monday, the television talk show host called up the former US first lady to discuss how the Obamas are faring on a day-to-day basis.

Obama explained that they are trying their best to structure their days, while her daughters, 18-year-old Sasha and 21-year-old Malia, are taking their college classes online.

The 56-year-old said that while the family is trying to keep a routine going, they are also Netflix and chilling when relaxing.

This is like no other time in history, particularly for our kids, who are so used to being occupied and stimulated all the time, Obama said.

I feel for all the folks who are going to suffer because of whats going to happen to the economy and we have to be mindful of what were going to do to support those folks when this quarantine is over and people are looking at whats left of their businesses and their lives.

The best-selling author added that on the positive side, being in self-isolation has forced her family to sit down with each other, have real conversations, really ask questions and figure out how to keep ourselves occupied without just TV or computers.

Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the key to a successful marriage In our house we dont take ourselves too seriously, and laughter is the best form of unity, I think, in a marriage. On Live with Regis and Kelly in February 2011. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On not underestimating yourself "You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own." In a speech to schoolgirls at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in North London in April 2009. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On inspiring young people I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong, so dont be afraid. You hear me? Young people, dont be afraid. Be focused, be determined, be hopeful, be empowered Lead by example with hope, never fear, and know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life. In her final White House address in January 2017. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On double standards regarding parenting When a father puts in long hours at work, hes praised for being dedicated and ambitious. But when a mother stays late at the office, shes sometimes accused of being selfish, neglecting her kids. At the "Let Girls Learn Event" in Madrid, Spain in June 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the importance of diversity in film and TV For so many people, television and movies may be the only way they understand people who arent like them I come across many little black girls who come up to me over the course of this 7 years with tears in their eyes, and they say: Thank you for being a role model for me. I dont see educated black women on TV, and the fact that youre first lady validates who I am.' In an interview with Variety in August 2016. AFP/Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On maintaining hopeful following the election of Donald Trump See, now we are feeling what not having hope feels like, you know. Hope is necessary. It is a necessary concept. What do you give your kids if you cant give them hope? In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in December 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On motherhood "My most important title is 'mom-in-chief'. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world." At the Democratic National Convention in September 2012. AFP/Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On championing women's education Men in every country need to look into their hearts and souls and ask themselves whether they truly view and treat women as their equals. And then when you all encounter men in your lives who answer no to that question, then you need to take them to task. You need to tell them that any man who uses his strength to oppress women is a coward, and he is holding back the progress of his family and his country. In a speech at the summit of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, July 2014. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On dealing with bullies When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you dont stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high. At the Democratic convention, July 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the meaning of success "Success isnt about how your life looks to others. Its about how it feels to you. We realised that being successful isnt about being impressive, its about being inspired." In a speech at the Oregon State University commencement, June 2012. Getty Images

Its a good exercise in reminding us that we just dont need a lot of the stuff that we have, she stated.

When times are bad, having each other, having your health, we can do with a lot less and I think thats an important lesson that I want my kids to understand as they get out there in the world.

Recommended Michelle Obama and Ashely Graham share powerful IWD posts

DeGeneres ended her call with Obama by saying she wished to challenge her to a planking match, where they could raise money by asking people to bet on who is likely to win.

When sharing her phone call with Obama on Twitter, DeGeneres wrote that her friend makes the world a better place.

Obama responded by tweeting: Always brightens my day to get a call from my friend Ellen, especially on this rainy Monday at home.

Its good to know that even when were apart, were still got each other #StayAtHome.
Washington in the Time of Domitian



A Peek into the Drains



By Fred Reed

March 24, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - As you cross the Fourteenth Street Bridge from Arlington into Washington on a sunny spring day, the vista is magnificent, uplifting. Huge blue sky, brisk wind, the broad brown river flashing in the sunlight. As a portal to the capital of a world empire, it is suitable, even convincing. This new Tiber is at the confluence of the Rio Bravo, Orinoco, and Nile, which has its implications, but never mind. The streams of tourists debouching from the bridge into Georgetown think themselves in the new Rome, a beguiling conurbation of power and glory.

Not everywhere. Amid the blank buildings and empty night somewhere near P Street, a cop finds a blonde woman of maybe forty crawling on the sidewalk. In jeans and sweatshirt, she hugs the rest of a bottle of Jim Beam. She has profusely wet her pants. She sees the cop and says no, no in alarm and begins sprinting for a nearby alleysprinting to the extent that one can on all fours while clutching a bottle. Blind drunk and nursing a cirrhosis aborning.

The cop walks on. Arresting her would clog the jails, the judge would let her out on recog, and the next night she would be with another bottle. This will not go on forever. She has obvious motor problems and does not crawl well.

In many ways unseen by awed tourists, the city resembles that of Juvenal in corruption, mendacity, and vice. There is the undercity, mostly black, in districts never walked by provincials, angry, hopeless, ready to burn, baby, burn. There is the overcity, discreet behind closed doors, of pols and lobbyists, avaricious, with its Chivas and lines of white powder. The tourists see the middle city of bureaucrats and bartenders and, on the Capitoline, maybe a fleeting glimpse of Newt Gingrich or Mitch McConnnell. Barb, look, itsI thinkyes, its Newt.

Occasional fissures appear in the armor of the elite. We now learn of the monied and powerful who thronged to Epsteins island to frolic in pedophilic lubricity, Bill and Hillary among them. My gracious, the little sweetties would do anythingIs this not purest Caligula?

Ah, the island, shhhh! Here were luscious succulents of sixteen, nymphets fit for the amusement of jaded pols. Yes, nymphettes reconstituted as virgins every morning, their chastity a renewable resource, like the liver of Prometheus. Libido candy, fantasy fodder, worthy to satisfy a British prince. Which they did. Was it Andrew or Charles? I cannot keep them straight, but the Lolitas could. That after all was their job. They were good for a romp on the workbench under hidden cameras, thus fortifying relations between Buckingham Palace and Mossad. There is nothing like video of royalty and underage ginch to clinch a desired treaty with Tel Aviv. Especially so if the princeling has a taste for the more exotic disciplines.

But the yearning public will never know since Epstein, a man of six feet, hanged himself from a bedstead two feet from the flooror was it three? Presumably by standing on his head.

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The understanding of Washington peddles daily on the lobotomy box to the lobotomized of Middle America is properly charming. For example there is Connecticut Avenue lovely over forested Rock Creek Park. Or we see well-swept Capitoline Hill, old and aristocratic. It is as yet only lightly hunted over by predatory black gangs, gathering and hunting. There, in Lincoln Park, Abe in statuary perpetually frees the slaves, which of course he didnt, but the pols and politically correct control history. All is wholesome.

The public is not invited to see long rows of abandoned Victorian homes, windows boarded over, or whole developments with orifices mostly bricked up and, within, filthy mattresses stained with things better not thought about. There are old needles and remnants of the traditional banquet of shooting galleries, Night Train bottles and empty cans of Vienna sausages.

No. Here is the seat of Empire. All must be seemly. It is only fitting. In the interest of propriety we hide the better class of vice, the suited agents of the arms industry carrying valises of money for waiting congressmen. We hide the crack whores ugly as the corpses they will soon be, and the occasional dead body of an unsuccessful purveyor of drugs. Free enterprise is not without risk.

Across the dark city in Southwest, on Half Street if memory serves, a down-demo gay bar throbs likenever mind. It is small, isolated, an old wooden building. Southwest is not a place where you would see a suburban family with 2.1 perfect children and a Volvo. Macho Man by the Village People thumps from the juke. On the bar a buff and hirsute fag who looks like Sergeant Rock the Killer Marine is dancing naked and teabagging all who volunteer for this service. Which many do. A pair of outrageous queens mince and prance and lisp like Castillian gentry. In the mens roomthere is no othera gorgeous, slender, nicely curving redhead in a cocktail dress bats her eyes at the urinating inverts. Whether she is a pre-op transexual , a really good TV, or already done isnt clear. She could pass in any night club in Rome.

In the clean sweep of Connecticut Ave above the Park, prosperous office scum float atop the hidden city, well-dressed, lawyers and office serfs chattering in shi-shi restaurants of the stock market and who is paying what to buy votes in Congress for what legislation. The Indispensable Country never sleeps, not anyway until the bars close.

It is more like Rome than most know. Many blocks away in Shaw, come night, a black transvestite of 230 pounds waits in the bushes. He is built like a running back and wears a thong bikini and size 15 high heels. He is soliciting customers forit is better not to ask for what.

A passing police car ignores him. Arresting him would entail paperwork, an important consideration near the end of a shift. Besides, the car would smell for days.

Further off, skanks in plastic miniskirts lean against lamp poles, offering a quick-and-dirty stand-up in an alley for twenty bucks. Commerce cannot be crushed, even in Washington.

Around the dogleg on Pennsylvania Avenue the President watches himself on television into the small hours. He is advised by Ivanka, the Palace Athena, who has written of the UK as the United Kingston. Athenas these days are not what they were. Her father, Trump Pater, may be a hybrid of Nero and Clarabelle the Clown, but at least he likes big girls.

Across Connecticut from the entrance of the Zoo is a small restaurant that once was a blues bar but has degenerated into a nocturnal hangout for the squalling stupid, chiefly recent graduates of University Shaped Places dedicated to extracting money from the unwise by means of debt slaveery. They talk loudly and vulgarly, the boys coxcombs and the girls honking through their noses like poorly played kazoos. Should the city be attacked by another Hannibal, whom they would think of as Lecter, perhaps they would rush manfully, or personfully, out and smite the invaders with mighty blows of weighty smartphones. My guess is that they would hide under the tables.

Off Dupont Circle in an old brownstone, Black Rose, the local S&M club, holds a party. Under the federal log many things scuttle. A guy, nekkid as a jaybird, is attached to chains dangling from the ceiling while his girlfriend, a nice looking blonde in a catwoman suit, whacks him with a riding crop. Perhaps she is a descendant of Messalina, who was said to have such tastes. No one pays attention. They instead stand around with drinks and talk of bond prices. This is hobbyist kink, played at by people who have known each other for years. They are bureaucrats, legislative assistants, upper middle class but not Congressmen, who do such things more discreetly.

On Cap Hill, a lobbyists evening party is in full flood, everyone well lubricated. A reporteress for a local magazine, a pretty brunette, is still there when the cocaine comes out. Normally a journalist would be excluded, but no major figures are present. She has never tried blow. Later she tells her boyfriend, Fred, that stuff was so good Ill never go near it again.

In the Capitol, a Roman dome of an edifice dedicated to the perpetration of democracy, a congressman shepherds constituents through a grip-and-grin in his office. They have come from small towns to be impressed at being in the Capitol. A grip-and-grin is for those less important than those in a squat-and-gobble, more appropriate to homestate bankers than housewives and owners of hardware stores. The effect is that of a Border Collie with a herd of sheep. The legislator smiles convincingly, knowing his craft. He is so glad you could come and so glad to see you, how are things back in East Jesus, a town close to his heart. Wherever the hell it is. Meanwhilehe looks over the shoulder of the hearer to scan the next name tag, a practice well known in the imperial city, a town given to professional sincerity.

To finish this photo album of the imperial capital, we go to the Hawk and Dove, a Hill watering hole, where a pair of minor political mechanics are doing the DC Bob. One leans forward over the table and says, Were having more trouble with these goddam He ducks his head and looks to the left, then to the right, scanning for possible listeners. There are none. goddam affirmative action hires. We cant get anything done. The DC Bob.
Dozens of restaurants and retail businesses across San Francisco are boarding up their storefronts with plywood, lending the normally lively retail corridors a feeling of neighborhoods about to be slammed by a hurricane, rather than one under siege by a pandemic.

While the improvised wooden barricades violate building codes, city enforcement agencies said the property owners who nail plywood over their shop windows and doors to prevent theft or vandalism during the shelter in place would not be cited.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro, Glen Park and Noe Valley neighborhoods, said business owners want to protect their property while not running afoul of city building codes. Some of the boarded-up businesses have already been tagged with graffiti, which in normal times would lead to a San Francisco Public Works citation and fine.

With the city into the second week of a stay-at-home health order, these are not normal times.

Department of Building Inspections Communications Director John Murray assured Mandelmans office that inspectors are focused on life safety issues, rather than blight, as long as the shelter-in-place order is in effect.

Zoning Administrator Corey Teague said in an email that boarding up storefronts violates planning code requirements around fenestration and transparency in many neighborhoods. But he said he has ordered enforcement staff to take no active code enforcement steps during the shelter-in-place, except for life-safety issues.

Businesses can use their judgment on this issue, he stated. If they chose to board up a storefront, they should be mindful of their methods, especially on historic storefronts-facades.

Jeremy Spitz of Public Works confirmed that the department will not enforce graffiti violations on private property during the shelter-in-place order.

Property owners should be prepared to paint over any graffiti when things open back up  whenever that might be, he said.

A city citation for maintaining a blighted property is the last thing small businesses need as they lay off workers and fight to survive.

Unfortunately, the state of the world is such that break-ins are something that small businesses face regularly, and fewer eyes on the street makes it more likely, Mandelman said. The opportunities for mischief and mayhem are increased.

At least 30 businesses were hemmed in with plywood on Monday in the Mission District, including the Chapel, Nighthawk, Paxton Gate, Mi Lindo Peru, Needles & Pens, the Crepe House, Aggregate Supply, Betabrand, Dandelion Chocolate, Taqueria El Buen Sabor and the Valencia Room. Seven business are boarded up on one block alone on the east side of Valencia between 16th and 17th streets.

Deb Horn and Paul Miller, who own the Royal Cuckoo Market on 19th Street, have been putting plywood up at night but taking it down during the day. They are the last business still serving customers on their block between Mission and Capp streets. The business is a liquor store and wine bar, with coffee, sandwiches and soups to go.

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.

Typically, Royal Cuckoo Markets block is bustling at night, with patrons from the cocktail lounge Beauty Bar, the Peruvian restaurant Kimbara, and the West Africa spot Little Baobab.

We are the last business left standing, Horn said. Its pretty desolate here after dark  a lot of the regulars who normally keep an eye on the store are not around.

Manuel Mendoza, owner of Osorio Construction in the Excelsior district, said his work crew boarded up seven businesses last week and expects more work along Valencia Street and other retail strips. He said he hears increasing stories from business owners who have been victim of break-ins, including two restaurants, a drugstore and a liquor store. He himself had $20,000 worth of tools stolen last week.

Everybody is talking about break-ins, he said. A lot of people think its going to get a lot worse and they need to protect what they can before they dont have nothing left.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
A global push to slow the spread of the coronavirus ramped up Monday with more governments imposing emergency lockdowns that have put more than 1.7 billion people confined to their homes.

In the face of the relentless march of the virus, the United Nations appealed for an immediate ceasefire in the worlds conflict zones, and France and China called for urgent talks of the G20 major economies to coordinate an international response to the escalating crisis.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the pandemic was clearly accelerating as the number of deaths surged close to 16,000, with over 350,000 declared infections, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

More than 10,000 have now died in Europe alone, the new epicentre of the disease.

But Tedros added: We are not helpless bystanders. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.

From New Zealand and South Africa announcing new lockdowns, Germany banning even small gatherings, Italy barring domestic travel and Hong Kong shutting its borders to non-residents, the new round of containment efforts highlighted a deepening sense of panic around the world.

At least 1.7 billion people globally have now been asked to stay home in line with mandatory or recommended measures rolled out by increasingly anxious governments, according to an AFP count.

Tedros acknowledged that a number of countries were struggling to take more aggressive measures because of a lack of resources.

But while praising the energy being put into finding a vaccine, he cautioned that there was currently no proven effective treatment.

Markets on both sides of the Atlantic were hammered again as the virus continued to wreak havoc on the global economy, spurring fears of a global fallout not seen since the Great Depression.

And with major cultural and sporting already wiped off the calendar, there are mounting calls to postpone the Tokyo Olympics and Japans prime minister admitted delay could be inevitable.

 Necessary measures 

With war-ravaged Syria announcing its first coronavirus case, UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed for a worldwide ceasefire to protect the vulnerable in conflict zones.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war, he said.

In Italy, now the hardest hit country, the death toll passed 6,000. But the number of single-day deaths was slightly down on Sunday, offering a glimmer of hope it may finally be turning a corner.

Other European nations also continue to choke peoples movement, with Greece the latest to follow Italy, Spain and France in imposing a nationwide lockdown.

Normally bustling city streets in Greece were suddenly deserted.

Its a bit of a hassle but these measures are necessary and well get used to them, said Athens resident Maria Bourras, who leaves her house regularly to walk her dog.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday announced a ban on gatherings of more than two people, before putting herself in quarantine after learning she had been treated by an infected doctor.

Her office said the 65-year-old was doing well and her first test came back negative.

 Were at war 

Italy banned travel and shut down a range of industries and businesses, while residents were finding creative ways to pass the time indoors as shut-in measures neared the two-week mark.

Since I cant go out, I do gymnastic exercises in my house. I drink at least five times a day: Ive got five glasses of water lined up in my kitchen so I dont forget! 86-year-old Rome resident Carla Basagni told AFP.

Spain readied to extend its state of emergency, which bars people from leaving home unless absolutely essential, until April 11.

It reported another spike in fatalities, bringing its total to 2,182 dead  the third highest in the world after Italy and China.

Residents across France also remained shut in their homes and the government said lockdown measures could extend past the end of March as the death toll reached 860.

Meanwhile Britain inched towards similar tough measures, with the government under pressure to clamp down after crowds flocked to holiday hotspots and beaches at the weekend, defying social distancing recommendations.

Markets reeled after the US mega rescue package collapsed, sending bourses in Asia, Europe and the US on a downward spiral again.

US President Donald Trump hinted he was running out of patience with the economic shutdown caused by the mass quarantine measures.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, he tweeted.

Trump had on Sunday ordered thousands of emergency hospital beds to be set up at coronavirus hotspots as a trillion-dollar economic rescue package crashed in the Senate.

Were at war, in a true sense were at war, he said.

More than a third of Americans are under various forms of lockdown, including in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, but the number of infections nationally has continued to climb.

Highlighting the desperation in the worlds biggest economy, the mayor of New York pleaded for desperately needed hospital supplies and urged Trump to enforce a nationwide lockdown.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said it stands ready to deploy all our $1 trillion lending capacity and warned that the recession could be at least as bad as during the global financial crisis.

And Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison bluntly told his compatriots they faced an economic crisis akin to the 1930s Great Depression.

 Moral burden 

As the pandemic overwhelms hospitals, doctors are having to prioritise patients based on their chances of survival, inflicting a huge moral burden.

We go into medicine to heal people. Not to make choices about who can live, said Philippe Devos, an anaesthesiologist in Belgium.

The virus emerged in China in December, after first being detected at a market that sold wild animals for human consumption in the central city of Wuhan.

Beijing has since sought to sow doubts over whether the virus began in Wuhan, while portraying itself as a saviour in the global fight and a role model for quarantines.

On Monday it reported no new local cases of the virus, while life slowly started returning to normal in Wuhan.

But there are fears across Asia of imported cases from Europe and other hotspots.

SOURCE: AFP
Two more people including a man in far western North Dakota have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus illnesses in the state to 34.

The two new cases identified between 3 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday are in a Dunn County man in his 20s and a Burleigh County woman in her 60s, state health officials announced. Both had traveled. Neither has been hospitalized.

The Dunn County case is the first confirmed in far western North Dakota. The Burleigh County case is the county's 18th, and it's the sixth consecutive day of a positive case being confirmed in the county. Aside from neighboring Morton County, which has seven positives, no other county has more than three cases. Officials have not speculated on why Burleigh-Morton's total is so high.

State and private labs have now conducted 1,488 total tests, with 1,454 being negative. There have been four hospitalizations and no deaths.
Islamabad, March 24 (IANS) In order to facilitate the return of Pakistani nationals stranded at the Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha airports due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government in Islamabad has permitted Fly Dubai and Qatar Airways to operate special flights, which are expected to arrive here on Tuesday, a media report said.

For the stranded passengers at Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports, the government decided to allow operation of one flight by Fly Dubai to Islamabad, Dawn news quoted a spokesman for the Aviation Division as saying.

He said the Fly Dubai flight was carrying about 150 passengers who were in transit at Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports.

Likewise, the government has granted special permission to Qatar Airways to operate a flight for Islamabad to bring back stranded passengers at Doha Airport.

This flight will bring back 72 Pakistani nationals.

All the passengers arriving from Dubai and Doha will be subjected to strict health screening on their arrival in compliance with directives issued by the Health Ministry.

--IANS

ksk/
In early 2020 the Philippines Air Force again assigned Italian made S211 jet trainers to maritime patrol duty. Only three of these elderly aircraft are still flyable and they will remain assigned to maritime patrol until they are no longer able to fly at all. This is not the first time these S211s were assigned to maritime patrol.

In 2005, after the Philippines retired the last of its eight F-5 jet fighters, the S211s filled in. The1960s era F-5s were not much of a match for more recent warplanes and were expensive to maintain but were useful for ground attack. As a temporary substitute, the Philippines used armed S211 trainer aircraft for airstrikes against Moslem and communist rebels. The S211 also performed maritime patrol. In 2008 even that was halted. The rising price of oil forced sharp cutbacks in maritime patrol flights by its five S211 jet trainers. These five aircraft also served as the only fighter aircraft the Philippines had. The Philippines bought more helicopters, which were very useful in fighting Moslem and communist rebels.

The Philippines originally bought 25 S211s in the 1980s but, due to accidents and lack of maintenance, only about five were available for service most of the time. The 2.7 ton S211s have a max speed of 665 kilometers an hour and can stay in the air for about five hours per sortie. The S211s were not really doing much with the maritime reconnaissance flights, as the aircraft lacked search radar and depended on the eyes of the two pilots to spot anything. Prop-driven SF-260 Italian-made basic trainers then replaced the remaining S211s.

The SF-260 has been around for over 40 years and about a thousand have been produced. This is a 1.1 ton, two-seat aircraft, with a max speed of 347 kilometers an hour, and an endurance of about six hours. It can be equipped to carry a 100-150 kg (220-330 pounds) of weapons and be used as a light attack aircraft. The Philippines had previously bought 64 SF-260s and has been using them for decades. In 2008 the Philippines Air Force bought another 18 SF-260, for about $812,000 each. Back then, because of operational losses and wear-and-tear, few of these were still in service. With the arrival of the 18 new ones that changed and as of 2020 twenty SF-260s are still flying. These can also be used for maritime patrol but, because they are slower than the S211s, they are not as effective. The S211 can get to an area where Filipino commercial or naval ships have reported a suspicious, usually Chinese, ship operating where it should not be.

To replace the S211s in 2015 the Philippines ordered twelve South Korean jet powered TA-50 armed trainers for $49 million each. The price includes training, spare parts, and some tech support. The single-engine, two-seat aircraft is intended to restore jet combat aircraft capability in the Philippines Air Force. The TA-50 were all delivered by 2017 and have been used as light attack aircraft as well as trainers.

The TA-50 is the combat version of the South Korean designed and manufactured T-50 trainer. This aircraft was developed over the last decade, at a cost of over two billion dollars. The first test flight of the T-50 took place in 2002. The 13 ton aircraft is actually a light fighter and can fly at supersonic speeds. With some added equipment (radars and fire control) the T-50 becomes the TA-50, a combat aircraft. This version carries a 20mm auto-cannon and up to 4.5 tons of smart bombs and missiles. The T-50 can stay in the air for about four hours per sortie and has a service life of 8,000 flight hours.
Amidst the heavy lockdown and curfew situation in cities like Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra and more, lives of people have almost come to a standstill. Except essential services, nothing stands open, and while we may grumble about it now, it's only for the larger good, especially keeping the COVID-19 outbreak in mind.



The pandemic is still not contained and can spread from person to person even with minimal contact. So, it's safe to stay home and in isolation to curtail the spread of this deadly virus, suggest experts.

Although people are widely practising self isolation across the globe, the animals are not necessarily in isolation and can need medical help or treatment when everything else is shut down.

 Twitter

It's a common myth that animals like dogs can be carriers of COVID-19, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) has dismissed any such claim by saying it's still not confirmed if animals can be carriers or be infected at all. So, if you have pets, take care of them and give them all the love they need, especially now that you're in absolute isolation.



Recently, the Narendra Modi government told all the states in the country to ensure that medical help for animals is treated as an essential service, which should not be suspended over the COVID-19 lockdowns across the country.

It is requested that veterinary hospitals and dispensaries in the state, including private veterinary clinics, veterinary pathologies, animal shelters etc. function in the normal course and the veterinary services be considered in the list of Essential Services, said a letter, addressed to all chief secretaries dated March 23, by the centre.

It is necessary to ensure continuous emergency services in the animal husbandry and veterinary sector, especially in emergent animal health issues situations.

These May include but are not restricted to, emergency services like disease diagnosis and treatment, monitoring of any emergency livestock and poultry diseases, immediate disease reporting, etc, the letter further said, which was written by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Upamanyu Basu.

 Flickr

Even with this order being passed through successfully, veterinarians have been advised to maintain absolute standard of hygiene and avoid public gatherings at all costs if they're treating animals.



On the same day, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) wrote another letter to all states emphasising that all law enforcement agencies ensure that animals and birds do not suffer due to hunger during the lockdown due to COVID-19.

This is a valuable service consistently provided by compassionate individuals and the absence of it may cause a large number of animals and birds to suffer and die and carcasses of the dead animals and birds may further spread different diseases amongst community which will be difficult to control, Dr O.P. Chaudhary, Director of the AWBI has written.

In fact a tweet from BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, regarding pet shop owners locking animals inside their shops, also surfaced on the internet asking people to help these animals out, in case they were heard inside locked shops.

The situation is quite alarming. In some places, food is being stoppedNo animal grains and chara is being allowed to come to Haryana from UP. Even pedigree from Hyderabad is being stopped by Mumbai, Maneka Gandhi said.

 Twitter

While we're concerned about the health of our pets and street animals, we also don't want them to succumb to their illnesses at home or outside. With animals outside being at great risk of dying due to negligence, their carcasses can also help spread other infections and diseases.



Hence, vet services being functional at this point in time is absolutely necessary.
At this point, it feels like everyone and their mother can't stop talking about Netflix's latest true crime documentary series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness  and for good reason.

A juicy, addictive binge-watch, the docu-series is focused on "Joe Exotic"  the now-imprisoned exotic animal enthusiast  and his feud with big cat sanctuary founder Carole Baskin, who he was convicted of trying to murder through a hired hitman.

And while there's a lot of material covered in the seven-part show, it turns out that Carole herself is less than pleased with one particular episode focused on the disappearance of her ex-husband, Don Lewis.

In a newly published blog post called "Refuting Netflix Tiger King," Carole hit back at the documentary and contended that it was "disappointing," filled with "lies," and made "without any regard for the truth."

Within the series, Joe and other interviewees hypothesized that the animal activist was involved in Don's disappearance and may have covered it up by feeding his remains to the tigers at the sanctuary  something that Carole denied in Tiger King. However, in the wake of the buzz surrounding the show, she's decided to push back against the speculation featured within the show.

Beginning by saying that she was initially approached by the Tiger King directors about a documentary that would "expose the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs," Carole said that it was "disappointing to see that the docu-series not only does not do any of that, but has had the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers."

"As part of that, it has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don 21 years ago," she continued, before contending that they didn't even give her the opportunity to rebuff these claims. "They did not care about truth. The unsavory lies are better for getting viewers."

Carole then went on to talk about the "supposed circumstantial evidence" surrounding her rumored involvement and talked in-depth about her relationship with Don, the restraining order he filed against her, and the reason he supposedly granted her Power of Attorney. She also alleged that he owed money to the "local version of the mafia" in Costa Rica.

"As [Don's ex-wife] Gladys and the daughters did everything they could to make life difficult for me after Don disappeared, they spread this rumor that they thought I had ground Don up and fed him to the cats. And the media loved it." Carole said, before delving into what she contended were the fallacies of that particular theory. "The idea that a human body and skeleton could be put through it is idiotic. But the Netflix directors did not care. They just showed a bigger grinder."

Additionally, Carole also wrote that while "Don was not easy to live with and like most couples we had our moments," she "never threatened him" and "certainly had nothing to do with his disappearance."

Netflix has yet to respond to Carole's post but, in the meantime, you can read it in full, here.
Minister of Law and Justice and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday appealed to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to facilitate the opening of two more Covid-19 testing centres in the state, amid a spurt in suspected cases.

Currently, Bihar has just one testing laboratory at Rajendra Memorial Research Institute (RMRI) in Patna.

An official release here said Prasad - who also holds the communications portfolio has urged the health minister to take note of the request to aid the opening of two testing centres one at Patna Medical College and Hospital and the other at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences.

The Patna Sahib MP has been assured by Vardhan that instructions have issued in the matter and necessary equipment for IGIMS, Patna has been dispatched, the release said.

Three people have tested psotive for Covid-19 in Bihar, one of whom died on Saturday night, according to the State Health Societys bulletin.

Of the 194 samples collected so far, 175 tested negative for the disease while reports for 14 cases have not arrived as yet, the bulletin said.

Two samples have been rejected, it added.

An isolation centre will be set up at Bihta ESIC hospital in the state capital, the official release issued by Prasad said, contending that Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has given his consent in the matter.

The Patna Sahib MP has further instructed superintendents of all top hospitals here to ensure that patients do no face any difficulty during the course of treatment, it said.

He has asked the Patna district administration to ensure steady availability of foodgrains and other essential items, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Utility company Pacific Gas & Electric has pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter charges related to the Camp Fire, the deadliest blaze in California's history that left 85 people dead.

The company pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire, taking fault for the monstrous inferno that ripped through the Northern California town of Paradise.

PG&E will pay $13.5billion to victims of the 2018 blaze and other 2017 fires in a settlement reached with the Butte County district attorneys office on March 17, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under that deal, PG&E said prosecutors wont pursue further criminal charges.

Utility company Pacific Gas & Electric has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter in the deadly Camp Fire that razed Northern California in 2018. Firefighters pictured tackling the fire in Paradise, California on November 9, 2018

The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state that claimed 85 lives and spanned more than 153,000 acres. Firefighters and deputies pictured carrying the body of a Camp Fire victim in Paradise, California on November 14, 2018

PG&E will pay $13.5billion to victims in a settlement with the Butte County district attorneys office, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission from March 17. This photo shows a structure burning in the Camp Fire as it razed through Paradise, California in November 2018

The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state and claimed 85 lives and spanned more than 153,000 acres.

The company was sentenced to a maximum fine of 'no more than $3,486,950' and was ordered to reimburse the Butte County District Attorneys Office $500,000 for the cost of the investigation into the fire.

PG&E will also help pay for efforts to restore access to water for residents affected by the loss of a canal destroyed by what became known as the Camp Fire, according to KTLA.

'We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident,' PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson said.

'We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident,' PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson said. Pictured in December 2019 during a Senate hearing on the impacts of the wildfires

PG&E will also help pay for efforts to restore access to water for residents affected by the loss of a canal destroyed by what became known as the Camp Fire. Fire and smoke pictured around PG&E transmission towers on November 12, 2018 in Pulga, California. The first report of the deadly Camp Fire was made near here

A fallen powerline pictured on top of a burnt out vehicle on the side of a road in Paradise, California on November 10, 2018 in the wake of the Camp Fire

Investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection found the utility company responsible for the devastating Camp Fire due to 'poor maintenance' after its electrical lines caught on fire on November 8, 2018, CAL Fire said in a news release.

'The tinder dry vegetation and Red Flag conditions consisting of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures promoted this fire and caused extreme rates of spread,' CAL Fire said.

In January 2019 PG&E filed for bankruptcy due to billions of dollars in claims related to the deadly wildfires that ravaged through California state.

This is the second time PG&E has been blamed for a devastating wildfire.

In 1997, the company was found guilty of causing a fire three years earlier in Nevada County that burned down a dozen homes.
AKRON, Ohio  A Cleveland attorney who specializes in open-government cases is skeptical of the reasoning used by state Attorney General Dave Yost to conclude that live-streaming otherwise closed-door government meetings during the COVID-19 crisis complies with the states open meeting laws.

David Marburger, of Marburger Law LLC, in an interview with cleveland.com describes a letter of guidance that Yost sent to public officials as relying on unlikely to be correct analysis. But he said legal challenges to governments holding closed-door meetings probably would fail.

This coronavirus has turned everybody and everything upside-down, Marburger said. The fear its created, the anxiety its created, the fact that its an unprecedented emergency in all of our lifetimes and that its a sustained emergency Judges will defer to the government administrators in an emergency.

Akron City Council, the Akron School Board and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority are among governments that have begun relying on Yosts letter to ban the public from meetings and instead livestream their proceedings. The Summit County Public Health department on Friday issued an order instructing local governments to suspend public meetings, or to hold them without the presence of the public.

In his March 13 letter, Yost states that he seeks to reconcile the need for governments to comply the Open Meetings Act (OMA) with an order from Ohio Health Director Amy Acton that bans mass gatherings of more than 100 people and recommends social distancing.

Yost says that a meeting can still be open to the public if live-streamed online or on television. He goes on to say that the OMAs requirement for a local official to appear in person can be met via teleconference, making reference to both video conferencing and phone calls.

The practices outlined above would likely satisfy the requirements of the OMA, Yost writes, concluding that certain, unspecified parts of the Open Meetings Act could be dispensed with under a state of emergency.

Contacted by cleveland.com to comment on the opinion, Marburger said he disagrees with Yost for two main reasons.

For one, Marburger notes that Actons order against mass gatherings prohibits crowds far larger than those typically attending government meetings.

This order applies to 100 or more people in the same physical room, and while that might be theoretically possible [to occur at a local government meeting], its highly unlikely, Marburger said.

Judging from the YouTube livestream, no more than 20 city employees were present in council chambers during Akron City Councils special meeting on March 20.

I dont see how Akron could look at this letter and think that it was okay to exclude the public and the press from the room in which the council was meeting when you wouldnt have a total of 100 people anyway, he said.

Marburger added that council could have taken steps for people to sit six feet apart  a precaution that Cleveland City Council has taken while still allowing the public to attend weekly meetings.

In addition, Marburger questions whether the health directors authority to issue orders about health also gives Acton unfettered discretion to order violations of statutes.

In his letter, Yost cites a provision in the Ohio Revised Code that says the Ohio Department of Health shall have ultimate authority in matters of quarantine and isolation. Marburger said such an authority does not necessarily override laws.

Amy Acton is not a legislator, so I would doubt that her authority supersedes legislation, statutes, so that she can order people to violate them, Marburger said.
Talking point: refugees are more vulnerable than ever

Refugees truly are in a hopeless situation.

In mid-March, the catastrophic war in Syria entered its ninth year, a bleak and astonishing anniversary that passed unremarked in UK and European capitals.

And for all but the vanishingly small fraction of people who have been resettled in countries like Scotland, the suffering today  right now  is worse than ever.

Syrians find themselves in one of several hells. Inside, millions are crushed up against Turkeys border awaiting the resumption of Assads bombing. Those who survive this war on civilians have only poverty and ruthless authoritarianism in their futures.

And the experience for the 6.7 million who escaped ranges from precarious to Hobbesian.

When a fraction of them tried to claim asylum in Europe in 2015, it caused a political crisis that none of us was apparently capable of overcoming.

Five years on, and that situation is far from resolved. In camps in and around Europe today, tens of thousands of men, women and children  Syrians and other asylum seekers together  are held in limbo, unwanted by anyone, anywhere.

Instead of living up to European values, the EU has taken a policy of prevarication, paying billions to Turkey to keep people away. The policy worked, in the cruel and utilitarian sense that it reduced the number of asylum seekers.

But when that deal temporarily broke down last month, the guards of Fortress Europe turned nasty.

Who can forget the footage of Greek coastguards ramming and shooting at a dingy full of screaming civilians just metres off the Turkish coast? This is Europe in 2020. It brings shame on all of us.

The UK Government has said it stands by the rights of states to control their borders.

Going further still, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen praised Greece for being Europes aspida  the Greek word for shield.

To ask how much worse it can possibly get for refugees is a redundant question. It will continue to get worse. A better question might be directed at ourselves: what, exactly, will it take to shake Europe out of our state of wilful ignorance?

The outbreak of COVID-19 has pushed all other considerations to the margins, so much so that to even write about something else right now feels, somehow, embarrassing.

But its not as if COVID-19 doesnt affect refugees, too. There are already reports of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Greeces infamous Moria camp, causing Medecins Sans Frontieres to suspend its work there.

How does social distancing work in a camp such as Moria, designed for 3,000 but hosting 20,000? Can you imagine how sanitation is there at the best of times?

There will now be efforts to clear camps in Greece under the authority of dealing with hotbeds of coronavirus. Aid workers are having to leave. But what will happen to the people left behind?

A functioning and humane emergency asylum programme needs to be implemented. Thats what hundreds of charities and NGOs, including the Scottish Refugee Council, have come together to demand under the banner of a new campaign group called Europe Must Act (EMA).

What can Scottish politicians do? Talk more about it, for a start. With the exception of Neil Findlay, not a single MSP has tweeted about it. Joanna Cherry raised it in Westminster. But politicians who talk up internationalism and European values could say more, particularly to EU contacts.

EMA launched a petition. Sign it. Try and get the UK Government to join and expand efforts by the voluntary coalition of countries, including Finland, France and Croatia, who had pledged to take 1,500 unaccompanied children before the COVID-19 lockdown.

At this most awful of times it is, as always, the most vulnerable who will suffer. None are more vulnerable right now than refugees.
Photo credit: Chung Sung-Jun - Getty Images

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Marine Corps is eliminating all of its tanks and most of its artillery to become a smaller, lighter force.



The Marines are shifting towards the ability to seize small islands in the South China Sea during wartime.

Marine aviation, law enforcement, and other arms will also face steep cuts or elimination.

The U.S. Marine Corps is remaking itself to better fight China in a potential conflict, and its making bold choices to make it happen. The Marines will eliminate all of their tank units (a capability the service has had for nearly a century), most of its tube artillery, and a substantial amount of aviation units. In return the service will bulk up with long-range rocket artillery and anti-ship missiles, weapons the service thinks will be more useful in island-hopping campaigns in the South Pacific.

Photo credit: TED ALJIBE - Getty Images

The Marine Corps, according to USNI News , says it is not optimized to meet the demands of the National Defense Strategy. The service also identifies China as the pacing threat to the U.S. and its allies in the coming years. Most experts believe that in the event of conflict between the two countries, the South China Sea will be a major theater of war.

The sea is the location of several island archipelagos , including the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, and a number of islets, atolls, shoals, and other above-water terrain features. In recent years China has claimed up to ninety percent of the South China Sea and established military bases at several key locations.

Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Devan K. Gowans

If war unfortunately breaks out, the Marine Corps will almost certainly ride into the South China Sea on Navy transport ships and seize many of these islands with military bases, in order to deprive China of their ports and airfields and the ability to flex military power. None of these islands are very large: Fiery Cross Reef , the site of a Chinese military air base, is only 677 acres. Subi Reef , the site of another air base, is only 976 acres.

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The small size of the islands limits the size of the force needed to defend them, as well as the size of the force required to take them. The Marines apparently think that 65-ton M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks wont be needed in amphibious assaults launched to take them, especially since China is unlikely to base their own tanks on these islands. Heavy cannon artillery in the 155-millimeter range would also be unnecessary, as the islands are too tiny to utilize their range.

Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Pfc. William Redding

The Marines are eliminating all four tank battalions, including three active duty and one reserve battalion equivalent. The Marine Corps has fielded tanks for 97 continuous years, receiving six M1917 six-ton tanks from the U.S. Army in 1923. The cuts will remove approximately 200 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks from the Marines' inventory. Bridging units capable of setting up mobile bridges are also going away, as none of the islands have any rivers or streams.

The service will also eliminate three infantry battalions, each with about 800 personnel, 16 out of 21 artillery cannon batteries, two out of six amphibious companies, and four tiltrotor and helicopter squadrons. Even F-35 units will take a hitthough the Marines wont deactivate any squadrons, each will have only 10 F-35s instead of the planned 16. Presumably that will also mean the Marines will buy fewer F-35s.

Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Andy O. Martinez

The Marines will make heavy cuts in existing capabilities to stand up new capabilities. Long range rocket artillery, which will allow the Marines to strike other islands and even Peoples Liberation Army Navy ships at sea, will see a 300 percent boost. The Marines rocket artillery platform is HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. HIMARS is a six tube rocket launcher mounted on the back of an armored truck, and has the capability to

The Marines are also buying new Naval Strike Missiles and Maritime Strike Tomahawk , a variant of the Tomahawk land attack cruise missile. Both missiles will allow the Marines to quickly fortify any islands that fall under their control, forcing Chinese navy ships to keep their distance. Maritime Strike Tomahawk has an unclassified range, according to Defense News , of about 900 nautical miles.

Photo credit: DigitalGlobe/ScapeWare3d - Getty Images

The Marines new blueprint is not without risks. The lack of tanks and the loss of tube artillery and an attack helicopter squadron arguably leaves the Marines with fewer weapons to confront main battle tanks. One potential combat zone for the Marines is the Baltic Sea versus Russia, and Moscow has several thousand tanks.

But the U.S. defense budget even before the coronavirus crisis was going to be tight in the 2020s, and the economic downturn from the ongoing public health emergency will be severe. A remodeled Marine Corps is inevitable and the service is taking the initiative before someone forces it on them.

The rest of the armed services would do well to follow the Marines example.

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The Chinese tech giant, Xiaomi will be donating lakhs of N95 masks to states that have been hit hard by COVID-19. The company is also donating protective suits to hospitals like AIIMS and St. Johns to combat the virus.



In an open letter to Mi fans, partners and colleagues, India head Manu Kumar Jain said: "At Xiaomi India, we've taken several measures of precaution such as curtailing business travel and external meetings, ensuring employees and all partners wear masks in public and keep their hands clean and sanitised.

 Xiaomi

We are also maintaining the highest standards of caution and hygiene in our operational warehouses and manufacturing plants to ensure that packages that are manufactured and shipped are safe & hygienic. Each facility such as corporate office, warehouse, Service centre, Mi Home, manufacturing plant will abide by the lockdown orders issued by the state and UTs, he added.



 Twitter_Manu Kumar Jain

At a time when India could face shortages for crucial equipment like masks and protective suits, this move couldnt have come at a better time. Donation of these suits will ensure a prolonged fight against the virus by medical staff at hospitals. In addition to donations, the company has now implemented a token system at more than 2000 authorised centres. The service centres will also allow four persons in the store at a time.



Xiaomis efforts come a week before the launch of Mi 10 that boasts flagship-level specifications. The smartphone is going to launched online as the launch event was cancelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mary Wong fled her native Hong Kong on Feb. 20 with her one-year-old daughter and her husband. The situation there looked grimthe city had 70 cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, and officials were refusing calls to fully close the border with mainland China. To stay safe, Wong and her family decided to fly halfway across the world to Philadelphia, where her husband is from. There were no cases there yet, and just 15 in the U.S. They planned to stay for up to two months to avoid the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak that was increasingly threatening Chinas neighbors.

Less than a month later, she fled again, this time back home to Hong Kongbooking her return tickets on March 13, the same day U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. By that time, the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Philadelphia, hundreds were reported in New York state and cases across the U.S. had soared to more than 2,000.

It was actually an obvious decision to come back, Wong says. Hong Kong seemed safer. Even in the suburbs, you dont know how many people have gone to New York or other states, and come back to Philadelphia.

Wongs family is one of several that fled Asia as the coronavirus spread across China, only to decide that their refuge thousands of miles away had suddenly become even riskier. That there-and-back-again ordeal shows the rapid global spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, which has now infected more than 380,000 people in nearly every corner of the world.

Read more: Will Coronavirus Ever Go Away? Heres What One of the WHOs Top Experts Thinks

Wong made it back to Hong Kong three days before the government enforced mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travelers from abroadthough, she is staying home for two weeks as a precautionary measure. Authorities are concerned that returnees from the U.S. and Europeincluding students who were studying abroadare a major cause of a new round of infections.

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A cleaner wipes down chairs at the departure hall in Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong on Mar. 19, 2020. | May JamesEchoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Hong Kong largely saw off the first wave of the epidemic. But there were almost 400 confirmed cases in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory as of Tuesday, more than double the number from the previous week. A majority of cases in the past week have been people who had traveled to places like Europe and the U.S.or those who came into contact with them. And its not just Hong Kong. Singapores Ministry of Health said almost 80% of its new cases over the past three days were imported from travelers. Taiwan is seeing a similar trend.

In mainland China, where the coronavirus was first reported, imported cases have apparently outpaced local transmissions for almost a week. Hubei province, where the worst hit city Wuhan is located, recorded five straight days of no infections last week.

A new phase

At the start of the outbreak, countries across the world were quick to implement restrictions on travelers from China and other Asian nations. But more than three months in, Europe and the U.S. have become the new epicenters of the outbreak, with thousands of COVID-19 cases each day. That means travelers from those places are at risk of sparking fresh outbreaks in parts of Asia that had largely brought the virus under control.

Were moving into a new phase, Ben Cowling, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong, tells TIME.

In one or two weeks time, we could see outbreaks where we dont really know where people got [the virus]. Maybe someone who came in with the infection wasnt identified, who spreads it to a family member, who spreads it to the community. Thats going to happen in Hong Kong, and in other parts of Asia, Cowling says.

In Singapore, a school break that just ended last weekduring which many traveled abroadcoincided with the spike in coronavirus cases in Europe and the U.S., according to Hsu Li Yang, an associate professor and infectious disease expert at the National University of Singapore.

Many of the children and parents who had traveled overseas are all returning or have returned now. So we expect to see a higher number of cases for the next couple of weeks, Hsu says.

Read more: What We Can Learn From Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong About Handling Coronavirus

All travelers coming into Hong Kong must now quarantine themselves for a two weeks, and starting Wednesday non-residents will be barred from entering or transiting in the territory. In mainland China, policies differ depending on the cityin Shanghai, travelers from countries including the U.S., Italy, France and Spain must undergo a 14-day quarantine, while everyone coming into Beijing regardless of origin will be sent to quarantine centers. Taiwan and Singapore have banned all short-term visitors.

Thats why we went, to be in a bubble

Just like Wong, Ran Elfassy also traveled to the U.S. with his 8-year-old daughter as COVID-19 cases climbed by the day in Hong Kong. He returned to the city on March 10, a little over a week before the local government imposed the mandatory 14-day quarantine order for all arrivals. (But to be safe, both are sheltering in place at home for at least two weeks.)

Ran Elfassy and his 8-year-old daughter in their Hong Kong home before flying to the U.S. in February. | Ran Elfassy

The 48-year-old, who owns a management consultant company, took his daughter to stay with family in Savannah, Ga., in early February. The decision, he says, wasnt so much due to fear of catching the disease, but his desire for a sense of normalcy for the two of them.

My wife and I were both scouring the news and we realized theres going to be a lot of panic, Elfassy says. We anticipated that people are going to have to stay inside a lot, so we thought itd be good to go to a place where theres less urgency, where movement is less limited.

Elfassy was able to work remotely, and his daughter had no problem completing her online learning assignments from the U.S. His wife stayed behind in Hong Kong.

For the first few weeks in Savannah, the coronavirus had not yet made local news. Thats why we went, to be in a bubble, he says.

It was about a month and a half into their stay before the first cases were confirmed in Atlanta. I heard about people starting to buy up all the food and toilet paper, and then my dad tells me that he went to Walmart, and all the bread and milk was gone, he says.

Elfassy decided then that it was time to leave again, moving up the planned return flights for him and his daughter by two weeks.

We could sense the panic was starting in Savannah. It was undeniable that the virus had basically landed in the U.S. and was going to start becoming more of an issue, he says. Its going to be in the same in both places, so we may as well be in Hong Kong.

Its going to be bouncing around for the next year or two

What began as an outbreak largely in mainland China has since become a global pandemic. The number of reported cases outside China now far surpasses those inside China, which, as of Monday, represented only about a quarter of cases worldwide, according to John Hopkins Universitys virus tracker.

The death toll in Italy, which has almost 64,000 cases, has now exceeded deaths in China. The U.S., which had around 4,400 cases just last week, now reports at least 46,400making it the country with the third highest number of infections.

A usually busy 5th Avenue is seen nearly empty in New York City on Mar. 23, 2020. | Angela WeissAFP/Getty Images

Experts are concerned the virus could ricochet across the world for the foreseeable future.

Its going to be bouncing around for the next year or two. There are going to be different places more affected at different times, Cowling says.

He adds, however, that because of strong containment measures, Hong Kong and Singapore do not appear to be at risk for a major community outbreak on the scale of what the U.S. and some European countries are seeing.

But he worries that mainland China could be hit hard again, just as it attempts to return to normal. The country, which has reported zero local cases for days (though some are skeptical of official figures), has relaxed restrictions. In Beijing, traffic has returned to the streets. In Shanghai, bartenders were seen mixing cocktails for partygoers at a busy nightclub. On Tuesday, Chinese officials announces they were lifting the lockdown for most of Hubei province and said they would do the same in Wuhan on April 8.

Cowling isnt reassured. While steps will be taken to prevent returnees from bringing the virus back with them, such measures, he says, dont contain local transmissions once infections are already there.



He adds: I dont think China is going to have too long a period of calm before a second wave begins.
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday argued that thousands die every year from the flu and the United States doesn't shut down the economy, adding he wants the guidelines he put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus over by Easter.

'We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu. We don't turn the country off,' President Trump told Fox News on Tuesday during a virtual town hall.

He said his goal would be to have a return to normal by Easter Sunday, which is April 12. That is 19 days away.

'I'd love to have it open by Easter. I would love to have it opened by Easter,' Trump said. 'I will tell you that right now. It's such an important day for other reasons, but I will make it an important day for this. I would love to have the country opened up, and they are just raring to go, by Easter.'

His policies recommended no social gatherings over 10 people, which has closed several houses of worship and sent religious services online. The guidelines also recommended not eating at restaurants but ordering take out, which would prevent Easter brunch reservations. But the president his timeline for a return is realistic.

'I think it's possible. Why isn't it? We've never closed the country before,' he said.

He called Easter a 'very special day' and said he'd like to see people back in church for it.

'Easter is a very special day for me,' he told Fox News' Bill Hemmer after the virtual town hall aired. 'The churches aren't allowed essentially to have much of a congregation there and most of them I watched on Sunday fall in line.'

He added that 'I think Easter Sunday and you will have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time and it is just about the timeline that I think is right. Gives us more chance to work on what we're doing and I'm not sure that's going to be the day but I would love to aim it right at Easter Sunday so we are open for church service and services generally on Easter Sunday would be a beautiful thing.'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday argued that thousands die every year to the flu and the United States doesn't shut down the countr

President Trump, who appeared on a virtual Fox News town hall with Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the coronavirus task force, said he wants the country open by Easter, which is April 12

President Donald Trump speaks to Fox News Channel anchor Bill Hemmer during a Fox News Channel virtual town hall, in the White House Rose Garden with Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Deborah Birx, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams

President Trump argued that while the flu can kills thousands so can a terrible economy. The president has been in conflict with some medical experts who are pushing for strong anti-containment measures to stay in place in order to stop the virus.

'Look, you're going to lose hundreds of people to the flu,' he said. 'But you're going to lose more people by putting a country into a massive recession or depression. You're going to lose people. You're going to have suicides by the thousands. You're going to have all sorts of things happen. You're going to have instability. You can't just come in and say, "Let's close up the United States of America."'

The president spoke on Tuesday morning with several billionaire hedge fund and private equity managers about reopening the U.S. economy, Bloomberg News reported, including Citadels Kenneth Griffin, Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment, John Paulson and Blackstone Group Inc.s Stephen Schwarzman.

Trump said whenever the guidelines are eased, people will still have to social distance and wash their hands.

'People will have to practice all the social distancing and don't shake hands and wash your hands and all the things that we are doing now. But we have to get our country back to work. Our country wants to be back at work,' he said during his Fox News town hall.

He reiterated his argument that the cure can be worse than the disease, which he started making this week as the economic effects of virus have been felt.

'Our country wants to go back to work. Again, the cure, this cure is worse than the problem. Again, many people, in my opinion more people, are going to die if we allow this to continue. We have to go back to work. Our people want to go back to work,' he said.

President Trump said a decision would be made on a new set of recommendations on Monday or Tuesday, which marks the end of his 15 Days to Slow the Spread guidelines released last week.

Earlier Tuesday he argued he can re-open the economy while protecting at-risk populations from the coronavirus despite warnings from medical experts that strict containment measures are still needed.

'Our people want to return to work,' the president wrote on Twitter.

'They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!,' he argued.

President Donald Trump said he can re-open the economy while protecting at-risk populations from the coronavirus

First responders from IU Health Bloomington hospital pick up a woman at the corner of 1st St and S. Walnut St who was sitting slumped over, and was saying she was having trouble breathing, and other COVID-19/Coronavirus symptoms in Bloomington, Ind.

President Trump has begun advocating for a return to normal life even as medical experts give the opposite advice.

His push on Tuesday comes as Congress closes in on a deal for a $2 trillion economic rescue packages for individuals and businesses hit hard by the coronavirus.

The stock market rose Tuesday morning in the hopes the legislation will soon be passed and checks will flow into the pocket books of Americans.

And Larry Kudlow, chief economy adviser at the White House, warned there will still be shut-ins and hot zones even if some ares become more open.

'We're not abandoning the health professionals' advice, but there is a clamor to try to reopen the economy, and perhaps I'll call it less of a shut in. And so that's one piece that's yet to be determined, but it's one piece is being looked at. We still need the assistance because in the next week or two or three, you're still gonna have a lot of hot zones, you still got a lot of shut ins. There's no miracle here. We're not just flipping a switch. The assistance is so vital,' he told reporters at the White House Tuesday morning.

President Trump has been clear he's worried about the economic affect coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic. Numerous states have closed restaurants, gyms, bars, and clubs. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. States like California and New York have advised people to stay home as much as possible. And the stock market has tanked, erasing nearly all the gains it made since Trump took office.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle have warned President Trump against an early ending to social distancing.

'There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do whats necessary to stop the virus,' wrote Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney on Twitter. She went into voluntarily quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus.

And Hillary Clinton wrote letting people die was not worth rescuing the economy.

'It's incredible that this has to be said: Letting thousands of people needlessly suffer and die is wrong. It's also not a recipe for rescuing the economy,' she tweeted.

Additionally, the World Health Organization has warned the United States has the potential to become the new coronavirus epicenter following a 'very large acceleration' in infections.

Over the past 24 hours, 85 percent of new cases were from Europe and the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters on Tuesday. Of those, 40 percent were from the United States.

Italy currently has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world with more than 6,000, after abruptly overtaking China - where the outbreak began in late December and 3,281 people have died - late last week.

But the U.S. is on pace to become the new leader after its death toll climbed to 586 as of Tuesday, a sharp rise of more than 200 since Sunday.

Over the past week, there has been a surge of new cases as testing across the country increases. On Monday alone, more than 11,000 new positive cases were confirmed as the total number surpassed 46,400.

Fifteen hard-hit states are now in various forms of lockdown as experts say the peak is yet to come and that the current state of crisis will last for another several months, at least.

Asked whether the United States could become the new epicenter, Harris said: 'We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential.

'They [the US] have a very large outbreak and an outbreak that is increasing in intensity,' Harris added, noting that she expects large increases in case numbers and deaths globally, which currently stand at 392,780 and 17,159 respectively.

The warning came hours after President Trump said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days and promised America will be open for business 'very soon'.

Members of the Maryland National Guard control entry to a section of parking lot on the south side of FedEX Field that officials said will become a clinic for health screenings in response to the coronavirus

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the US has the potential to become the new coronavirus epicenter following a 'very large acceleration' in infections. More than 11,000 new positive cases were confirmed nationwide Monday

The WHO warning came after President Trump said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days and promised America will be open for business 'very soon' at a White House press briefing on Monday (pictured)

As of Tuesday morning more than 46,400 people in the US have tested positive for coronavirus and 586 have died

This graph shows how the number of new cases in the United States per day compares with Italy over the past five days

'America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,' President Trump said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing Monday. 'A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.'

As the president talked economics and down played the medical portion, he was surrounded by fewer than usual numbers of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Attorney General Bill Barr and Dr. Deborah Birx were present. Dr. Tony Fauci, the nation's foremost expert in infectious diseases, was not.

President Trump complained about the caution brought by health care professionals, saying he told his team they would close the 'entire world.'

'I was telling them, if it was up to the doctors, they would keep it shut down, they would say "let's shut down the entire world."' You can't do that,' he said.

Trump was asked if Fauci agreed with his emphasis on the economy.

'He doesn't not agree,' the president replied.

And Trump wouldn't commit to listening to his medical experts when it comes to a final decision.

'Ultimately I have to make a decision but I certainly listen to them in a number of people. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Fauci and for Dr. Birx and I'll be listening to them and others that are really doing a good job,' he said.

But Fauci acknowledged Tuesday he looks through a medical lens and that Trump looks at all facets.

'Obviously this is something under very intense discussion. What the president is trying to do is to balance the public health issues with the fact this is having enormous impact on the economy of the country, which may actually - indirectly - even cause a considerable amount of harm and difficulty health wise. So its a balancing act and the president is trying to get it right,' he told WMAL radio in Washington D.C.

'The president has the awesome responsibility of considering every facet of this,' he added. 'He takes in advice from a number of people, from a number of vantage points and then he makes a decision.'

Trump announced a new set of policies on Monday, March 16, meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus, that included closing restaurants and no social gatherings over 10 people.

He said that situation will be reassessed at the 15-day mark, which would be early next week.

His comments on Monday were were met with outcry from medical experts including Tom Inglesby, a director at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Inglesby warned coronavirus will 'spread widely, rapidly, terribly and millions could die' if Trump lifts lockdowns in the United States early. He tweeted a thread aimed at 'anyone advising the end of social distancing'.

The WHO epicenter warning came as:

New York state is expected to begin trials on Tuesday for hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug touted as a potential 'miracle' coronavirus treatment

US airlines are believed to be working on plans for a complete shutdown of all passenger flights across the country as air-traffic control systems begin to feel the effects of coronavirus

Seventeen states have issued stay-at-home orders affecting some 187 million Americans: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and West Virginia

The Tokyo Olympics was postponed for a year after Japan called for a delay due to the coronavirus crisis

This chart shows the number of daily new cases in China (red) and the US (blue), starting from the dates on which each country crossed the threshold of 30 new cases. Last Thursday, the US number of daily new cases surpassed China's peak

The US death toll surpassed to 580 on Monday - a sharp rise of more than 100 in one day. Medics are seen carting a patient out of the Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, where 35 people have died since the US outbreak began

Fifteen states have implemented various forms of lock-down to stem the spread of coronavirus. The National Guard is active in all 50 states - pictured here in Maryland last week

Two members of the New York Army National Guard are seen directing traffic outside a testing center in Staten Island

There are now more than 187 million people in various forms of lockdown across America as states choose to shut down non-essential businesses to battle the spread of coronavirus

But the president said it would not be just an economic decision to reopen, promising medical experts would have input.

'We, also, have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the okay. Meaning the okay to get going, to get back, let's go to work,' he said on Monday.

Investors have also warned that Trump's desire to rapidly reopen the economy despite signs the coronavirus is still spreading may backfire, with higher deaths and citizens remaining fearful of going out.

US markets have been roiled by the spread of the virus in the country and as states have shut parts of their economies.

Over the past 24 hours, 85 percent of new coronavirus cases reported globally were from Europe and the US, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris (pictured) said Tuesday

News of Trump reopening the US economy anytime soon would not be taken well by investors, who remain anxious about the coronavirus' uncertain trajectory and its economic toll, said Axel Merk, chief investment officer of Merk Investments.

'Markets will react badly because they have learned that this approach doesn't work,' Merk told Reuters. 'From a medical point of view, you have to break the exponential growth and you do that with shelter in place policies.'

Some experts have predicted the U.S. could experience up to 20 per cent or 30 per cent unemployment because of the coronavirus.

The cost of a mistake could be deadly. A March 16 study by Imperial College in London predicts 2.2 million deaths in the United States in an unmitigated epidemic, with critical care bed capacity exceeded as early as the second week in April.

Trump's push for a return to normal comes as the economy is tanking and Fauci warned that social distancing may last 'several weeks.'

Additionally, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams warned Monday it get worse.

'This week, it's going to get bad,' Adams told NBC's 'Today Show.' 'We really, really need everyone to stay at home.'

He advised patience.

'We know it's going to be a while before life gets back to normal,' he told CBS 'This Morning.'
Correction appended.

Some flights between Hawaii and Portland, as well as other North American cities, will be temporarily suspended as Hawaii takes further action to slow the coronavirus.

Hawaiian Airlines announced Tuesday that it will maintain its regular flight schedule through Wednesday to allow people to return home, before suspending all but a single daily flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles.

The two other major airlines who fly between Portland and Hawaii, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines, have not yet announced any changes in service.

Hawaii is our home and all 7,500 of us at our company care deeply for it, Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said in a news release. We support the state of Hawaiis efforts to quickly contain this illness."

Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced a 14-day quarantine requirement for all arrivals to the state Saturday, set to take effect Thursday. He also announced a stay-at-home order Monday, to last through April 30.

Both measures are an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. As of Tuesday, Hawaii had reported 66 cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC.

The suspension of flights will last at least through the end of March. The airline has not yet announced its plans for April, but said it will be ready to resume its regular schedule once the quarantine has been lifted.

Hawaiian Airlines will also reduce its flights to neighboring islands, but will maintain some flights for those who need to travel between them.

Travelers who need to get home, cancel reservations or change flights can find resources online at hawaiianairlines.com/coronavirus.

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that while Hawaiian Airlines is suspending flights, other airlines continue to schedule flights from Hawaii to Portland.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence held a call with some of the most prominent investors and leaders on Wall Street to discuss the coronavirus impact on the economy, according to sources.

Investors on the call included Citadel's Ken Griffin, Third Point's Dan Loeb, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, Vista Equity's Robert Smith, Intercontinental Exchange's Jeffrey Sprecher and Paul Tudor Jones, hedge fund manager and co-founder of Just Capital.

The call Tuesday took place just an hour before Trump warned of a drastic decline in U.S. economic growth if the nationwide shutdown continued. Trump also said Tuesday that he'd like to see the U.S. economy "reopen" by Easter, less than three weeks away, a step-change from a previous suggestion that the country wouldn't turn the corner until several months from now.

The call with some of Wall Street's top investors and hedge fund leaders was less focused on potential actions the administration could take to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus. Instead, it was more focused on how America's top money managers are viewing markets and the U.S. economy, the people familiar with the matter said.

kayla tweet

The call also included discussion on what more the Federal Reserve could do to support industries that are feeling outsized pressure as a result of the virus and how the central bank could help certain corners of the financing markets from seizing up.

Sources described the call to CNBC's Scott Wapner as "constructive" and that the general idea was that the U.S. economy cannot be allowed to crash. Those people also said that the call reiterated that the virus won't be permanent and that the U.S. needs a thoughtful tack when dealing with the virus and even a date-certain approach to getting back to business.

wapner tweet

"They're saying 25 points of GDP," Trump said in a televised town hall appearance Tuesday.

One invisible in the change in messaging is Nick Ayers, the Georgia political strategist who served as chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence until January 2019. Ayers, who now sits on the board of global software company, Veeam, has sounded the alarm on a long-term shutdown to the White House and has served as a backchannel with corporate executives who share that fear. Ayers, CNBC has learned, arranged Tuesday's call with Wall Street investors.

The president said in a Fox News "virtual town hall" event at the White House that he'd like to unleash the American economy by mid-April despite the protective measures instituted by a slew of states to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"We're opening up this incredible country. Because we have to do that. I would love to have it open by Easter," Trump said.

"I would love to have that. It's such an important day for other reasons, but I'd love to make it an important day for this. I would love to have the country opened up, and rarin' to go by Easter."
TUNIS  The nongovernmental organization Observatory of Rights and Freedoms of Tunis launched a national campaign March 4 to pressure the Tunisian state into bringing home the children of Tunisian Islamic State fighters killed in conflict areas.

Observatory head Anwar Awlad Ali stated during a press conference in the capital that 104 children are stuck in Syria, 58 of whom are girls, 78 were born in Syria and 88 under 13 years old. He indicated that 65% of their fathers are dead, 25% in prison and 5% deported to Tunisian prisons.

Awlad Ali said that dozens of Tunisian children are still trapped in Libya, kept with their mothers in Libyan prisons. He added that more efforts are needed to help these victims who chose neither their parents nor where to live.

At the same conference, Awlad Ali called on the Tunisian authorities to apply the constitution and international agreements related to children by respecting the right of return for all Tunisians.

Halima al-Juwayni, member of the Tunisian Human Rights League, stressed to Al-Monitor that these children must be returned to their families in Tunisia and not be held accountable for what their parents have done. She called on the state to establish treatment facilities to rehabilitate these children.

She added that regardless of whether the Tunisian state has the capabilities to provide for the children and their reintegration into society, they must be brought back home.

In a Feb. 28 protest in front of the parliament, parents of militants who died in Syria called on the Tunisian state to bring home their grandchildren.

Human Rights Watch reported Feb. 6, Tunisian authorities should now do their utmost to promptly bring home more than 36 other children of [IS] suspects who remain stranded in Libya, as well as 160 others believed to be held in camps and prisons in Syria and Iraq.

Amna Guellali, Tunisia director at Human Rights Watch, was quoted in the report as saying, Tunisia should move swiftly to follow this positive step with further action to bring home its children trapped in squalid camps and prisons in war-torn countries.

Since Feb. 12, 2019, Human Rights Watch has accused Tunisian officials of dragging their feet on helping bring home Tunisian children held without charge in foreign camps and prisons for families of IS.

In his statement to Al-Monitor, Tunisian parliamentarian Salim Basbas said the process of bringing home Tunisian children from conflict areas is slow because of severed diplomatic relations between Tunisia and Syria since 2012 as well as instability in Libya.

Basbas added that Tunisian law does not bar these children from entering Tunisia because they are innocent victims who fell victim to their parents involvement in terrorist organizations. He noted that there is a special committee in the Tunisian parliament working on the issue.

On Jan. 23, Tunisia brought home from Libya six children whose militant fathers were killed in 2016 in the city of Sirte, the former stronghold of IS in Libya. They were rescued by the Red Crescent and received by Tunisian President Kais Saied at the Carthage Palace.

Mustafa Abdel Kabir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Al-Monitor that the children languishing in the Maitika prison of Tripoli and the Misrata air force base, on the Syrian-Turkish border and inside Syria and Iraq are paying for sins they did not commit, but the Tunisian authorities are making no effort to bring them home. He added that the issue has become purely political.

In a Jan. 23 statement, Saied stressed the importance of providing psychological and medical care for these children before handing them over to their families. He called on the authorities to facilitate the process of bringing the remaining children in Libya home.

On the other side, Badra Gaaloul, director of the International Center for Strategic, Military and Security Studies, told Al-Monitor that the childrens return to Tunisia poses a threat to national security because they hate the state, whom they blame for their separation from their parents. She warned of their potential attempts to take revenge.

Gaaloul added that Tunisia is ill equipped to receive and care for them. The country is not capable of integrating them into society, especially those over the age of eight years, she said.
March 24 : The beginning of chaitra masam of Telugu calendar 2020 marks the beginning of Sri Sarvarinama samvatsaram. Chaitra Suddha Paadyami or Chaitra shukladi or day 1 of chaitra month is celebrated as Ugadi - traditional new year of Telugu people and Kannadigas. Ugadi is a much awaited festival and people of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka is all set to celebrate Ugadi 2020 on Wednesday, March 25.

In Maharashtra, this day is celebrated as Gudi Padwa or the Marathi New Year and is celebrated with a lot of gusto. Sindhis celebrate the day as Cheti Chand.

At the onset of a new year, what's more reassuring than showing your care and love to your friends and family. Here is a collection of Ugadi images and greetings to wish your family and friends a Happy Ugadi. Welcome Ugadi and the new year by sharing these Ugadi greetings, wishes and Whatsapp status.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Wishing you a Happy Ugadi 2020

Image Source: Prokerala.com Happy Yugadi 2020

Image Source: Prokerala.com Celebrate Yugadi digitally

Image Source: Prokerala.com Happy Telugu New Year greetings

As we begin a New Year of life

I wish that you are blessed with success and happiness

Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Ugadi Facebook posts

Let happiness stay in your homes

Let good health be a part of you

Praying that your life be blessed this year

Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Whatsapp stickers for Telugu New Year 2020

Wishing that abundant love and luck fill your life

Wishing you a Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Auspicious Ugadi celebration images

Wishing that you become stronger in heart

Wishing that you become wiser in mind

Wishing you an overload of happiness

Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Love and live this Ugadi in happiness

May Ugadi bring in peace and fortune into your homes

Have a blessed Yugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Ugadi Stickers for WhatsApp

May your darkness wipe away

May the light shine in your life

Wishing that you have a splendid Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Have a blessed Ugadi

Welcome Ugadi with hope, and positive minds

Look forward to making your dreams true

Happy Yugadi to you

Watch Ugadi 2020 WhatsApp Status Video!
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Linkedin Ong Sor Fern (The Straits Times/Asia News Network)  Tue, March 24, 2020 11:01 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0b69e 2 Art & Culture Singapore,Singapore-International-Festival-of-Arts,travel,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

The Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) and the blockbuster National Theatres War Horse are the latest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic. The two biggest productions on Singapores upcoming cultural calendar have been cancelled.

The Arts House Limited (AHL), presenter of Sifa, which was to have been held from May 15 to 31, announced that the annual arts festival will go on hiatus in a press release on Monday.

The West End hit, War Horse, which was to have been staged at the Esplanade from April 24 to May 10, has also been cancelled. Patrons who have bought tickets will be contacted about refunds.

The cancellation will be a financial blow for the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT), which is jointly presenting the show with the Esplanade. SRT's director Charlotte Nors, 53, said: "Having worked for seven years to bring National Theatre's War Horse to Singapore, it is heart-breaking that it cannot proceed. But the Esplanade and SRT fully support the safety measures put in place and place everyone's well-being as our number one priority."

The National Arts Council (NAC), which commissions Sifa, said in a statement: "As a significant number of Sifa programmes comprise international acts, the current border and travel restrictions have severely impacted festival planning. To ensure the safety and well-being of our audiences and performers, programmes would also need to be further adjusted to put in place safe distancing measures.

"Given the impact to the overall festival experience for audiences, NAC supports the decision of AHL and its festival director not to stage SIFA 2020."

While the main show has been cancelled, the NAC added it will support the four Singapore theatre companies which were due to premiere four new commissions at the festival.

Read also: List of all postponed concerts in Indonesia so far over COVID-19

The shows by Nine Years Theatre, The Finger Players, The Necessary Stage and Toy Factory Productions included partnerships with overseas theatre groups and performers who now cannot come to Singapore for rehearsals and performances. But the NAC's statement added that the festival will continue with work with the groups for alternative ways to stage works, including webcasts, work-in-progress showings, as well as digital conversations.

Theatre groups are hopeful that the commissions will still see the light of day at some point.

TNS's general manager Melissa Lim, 43, said: "We are currently in discussions with Sifa to explore the possibilities for a staging at a later date."r

Toy Factory's artistic director Goh Boon Teck, 49, whose ambitious three-year Under The Southern Bough trilogy was to have concluded at this year's festival, sees a silver lining: "Given this crisis, we will use this time that we have now to think deeper to strengthen our production. We will plan more workshops and continue our research for the production after June or July. We look forward to the actual staging in the near future."

Ms Sarah Martin, Arts House's chief executive officer, said in a statement: "While we are all disappointed by this decision to no longer hold the festival in May, the safety and well-being of our patrons, artists and staff will always be AHL's number one priority."

Two other shows have also been affected by Covid-19. Malay theatre group Teater Ekamatra's Berak has been cancelled and Dream Academy Productions' Vote Kumar is postponed.

Berak was to have opened on Wednesday, March 25. But Ekamatra's artistic director Fared and company director and general manager Shaza Ishak said in a Facebook post: "After careful deliberation and in consideration of the health and well-being of our audience, artists, and crew, we think this is the most responsible action we can take."

Patrons who have purchased tickets can opt for full refunds through Sistic, or donate the cost of their tickets to support the company.

Comedian Kumar's satire was to run at the Esplanade from April 8 to 18, but rescheduled to run between Oct 28 and Nov 7. Patrons who have bought tickets can retain them for the show's new dates.

The Singapore Book Council's flagship festival, the Asian Festival of Children's Content, has also been postponed from May 28 - 31 to Oct 3-4.



Topics :

This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
India on Tuesday asked its students studying in Bangladesh not to panic and stay at their hostels after their colleges were shut due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that has left over 16,500 people dead worldwide.

The Indian government's advice came amid reports that group of 70 Kashmiri students studying in Dhaka are stranded at Benaport, the border area between India and Bangladesh, after their colleges were shut. The outbreak of the pandemic has forced the government to put travel restrictions.

"We urge Indian students also to stay in your hostels and stay protected," the Indian High Commission in Dhaka tweeted.

"If you stay safe, we can break the chain. We are here to help you. Our helplines are available 24X7. Please call us at 00 880 255067371 or 00 880 255067372," the mission said.

India is working to contain spread of COVID19, it said.

"Our prime minister has urged all to take precautions not panic. In interest of public health, personal safety and safety of loved ones,we urge all to stay safe in present residences and avoid non-essential travel," the mission said.

Around 7,000 to 10,000 Kashmiri youth reportedly study in Bangladesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canadas largest oil and gas company said it would cut its capital program this year by 26 per cent as it tries to outlast the plunge in crude prices.

Suncor Inc. will lower its capital program by $1.5 billion ($1 billion U.S.) this year to between $3.9 billion and $4.5 billion, the company said in a statement. It will also reduce operating expenditures by $1 billion from $11.2 billion in 2019, and is adjusting refinery utilization because of the drop in fuel demand. The company is also delaying its target of $2 billion of incremental free funds flow by two years to 2025.

Suncors cuts follow $4.4 billion in reductions already announced by other companies in the nation. Canada has been particularly hard hit by the oil crash, as pipeline constraints force steep price discounts even beyond the drop in global benchmark prices. Workers in the remote oilsands region in Alberta are also bracing for potential outbreaks of the coronavirus.

The simultaneous supply and demand shocks are having a significant impact on the global oil industry, Mark Little, Suncors chief executive officer, said in the statement. We are adjusting our spending and operational plans to be prepared in the event the current business environment persists for an extended period of time.

The companys full-year production outlook is 740,000 to 780,000 barrels a day, compared with about 743,000 in the first quarter. That includes an increase in bitumen output offset by lower production expected from Fort Hills, where the partners are reducing it to a one-train operation to increase cash flow, according to the statement.

The Syncrude annual coker turnaround is being deferred from the second quarter to the third, while MacKay Rivers return to operations has been intentionally extended to May because of the virus and low prices. The company is also seeking options for its project to extend the life of the Terra Nova floating production vessel as Spain is no longer able to accommodate a dry dock slot.
WILLIAMS BAY  The Geneva Lake Environmental Agency is considering new methods of combating the invasive species starry stonewort, which was found in the lake in summer 2018.

The seaweed-like algae plant can grow into large and bushy masses, inferring with boating and other recreational activities when it reaches the lake surface. The invasive species can also force out native species and reduce the biodiversity of the lake.

The environmental agency first combated the species with chemical algaecide in Trinke Lagoon, where the highest concentration of the species had been found.

But agency director Ted Peters said the treatments were only able to slow the spread of the species, not eradicate it.

Chemical treatments were enacted in summer 2019 and caused the species to recede slightly, but did not fully eradicate it as desired, according to Peters. Starry stonewort later was discovered to have spread from Trinke Lagoon to two other areas in the lake.

Peters said the starry stonewort in the lagoon is under 14 feet of water, making it difficult to reach with the algaecide. A creek flowing into the lagoon can also wash the chemicals away before they actually reach the plant, he added.

Were reviewing how successful the chemical treatment is in the long-term management strategy, he said.

With funding available for at least one more chemical treatment, the agency may try combating the algae through that method again in June. But other methods are being considered, such as hand pulling the stonewort by scuba divers.

Heidi Bunk, a water resources management specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said while the long-term effectiveness of hand pulling is still being evaluated, it can be advantageous because it allows for the removal of starry stonewort without harming native species in the way chemical treatments might.

She said lakes that are over-managed with chemical treatments, which can kill native plant species, can actually increase the spread of some non-native species. She said while the treatment may temporarily reduce a starry stonewort population, it also opens the door to future spreading by potentially killing native plants that would otherwise compete with the invasive species.

Lakes that are lightly managed and dont do much harvesting or chemical treatment tend to have a less severe population expansion of non-native species, Bunk said.

She added that piers, boats and other water structures that block the lake from sun can decrease the amount of native species in a lake.

Peters said the agency is considering hand-pulling portions of the starry stonewort to reduce its spread. He said the less aggressive method may be to let the starry stonewort adjust to the lake on its own and let native plants reduce the spread naturally.

Native species might be our best ally in controlling this stuff, Peters said. Maintaining a healthy native population of plants so there is no place for these invasive species to come in and take over.

The hand-pulling strategy was tried in Pike Lake, near Hartford, where starry stonewort populations eventually decreased after competing with native plants.

Bunk said while there are differences in depth and boat traffic between Geneva and Pike Lake, both have healthy native plant populations, making the two somewhat comparable.

Peters said the reduction of starry stonewort in Pike Lake has in part been successful because of its Clean Boats, Clean Water program, which educates boaters at boat launches on how to reduce spreading the species.

They havent done any control methods on their population, he said. They are taking a very aggressive approach to Clean Boats, Clean Water to prevent it from spreading to other sections.

Karen Yancey, executive director of the Geneva Lake Conservancy, said Clean Boats, Clean Water initiatives are also being considered by a newly founded task force focused on addressing environmental issue in Geneva Lake.

She said while the removal of invasive species is important, it is equally important to stop other invasive species from entering the lake, or spread to other lakes.

She said an invasive species sub-committee has been formed to determine the best way to combat the starry stonewort, in part by speaking with groups in and out of state that have dealt with the species before.

Bunk said it is unlikely Geneva Lake will ever fully eradicate its starry stonewort population and that the best outcome may be a healthy equilibrium between native and non-native species.

Were past the point of eradication, she said. Our best hope is low detect; that means theyre found here and there, growing among native plants and not causing much of a problem.

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That was enough to buy a pack of 20 Matinee extra douce fags back in the day, or two centre-stall movie tickets. That was pre-Decimal Currency Day, Monday, July 10, 1967.

But this would be a foreign language to anyone under 50. Theres also a bag of thrupenny bits, or three pences, tiny silver coins. You could buy a licorice strap and five aniseed balls with one of those in the 1950s. Grandma Miles would scrub a hand full of thruppences and hide them in the Christmas pudding.

Theres also a few shilling coins, 1/-, 12 pence, a bob, one twentieth of a pound  ten cents in real money terms. That would have bought a pie and a cream bun at Riselaw Road School in the late 1950s.

Now theres a stack of these coins sitting on Greerton Lion Alison Becks living room table in Pyes Pa.

The coins come out of top drawers, the forgotten change jar at the back of the cupboard, from estates, from behind the cushion on the couch, says the Lion.

Its money people dont want. And we give it value again.

Collecting coin may seem small change, but its all about scale. In small quantities theyre not worth well, tuppence. Except to a numismatologist, a student or collector of coins, or the Reserve Bank may pay out their face value.

But coins are big business for the Lions. Money creates money.

For example, up and down the land last year, Lions collected 339,821 coins weighing 1,670.286 kilograms and 3679 bank notes. Total value $40,478.92 so far. Because the Lions also dispatched a crate containing 500 kilograms of unwanted coins to a foundry in Australia. Theyre still awaiting a credit for that.

And every year that money is pumped into the Lions Clubs Heads Up for Kids project  a project that provides a helping hand for young people to engage in an experience or activity that will enable them to live a dream, set some fife goals, and reach their full potential.

More than 100 you people have received scholarships to organisations such as Spirit of Adventure and Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre.

Its just lovely to be able to help a kid who, otherwise, might not have got the chance, says Alison from behind her pile of coins.

Shes playing teller  counting and sorting the coins into bags. Bag one  New Zealand and Australia copper one and two cent coins. Bags two through five are for New Zealand silver 5,10,20 and 50 cent coins. And so on.

No bag for the coin with a hole though  probably a Japanese five or 50 yen coin. Both pretty much the same size although the 50 yen coin has the reeded or grooved edge. So Alison Becks task does have its interesting moments.

There is also a Fiji 50 cent coin. On its own not much good, but because were collecting coins, theres a good chance we will find 50 of them. The Reserve Bank pays face value and that gives us another $25 for Heads Up for Kids. In turn the bank sends it back to the country of origin.

Its not a finite fundraiser, not yet, not by a long stretch. The Reserve Bank estimates there is $80 million in old decimal and pre-decimal New Zealand coins and old bank notes unaccounted for. In ten years of the Heads Up for Kids, the Lions have scrimped, scrounged, collected and recovered $591,100 of it, but theres still a lot of obsolete currency which is no longer legal tender, out there in the market place.

You can help. Alison says there are big Resene paint tins in the BNZ bank in 13th Avenue and Greerton, Westpac in Greerton and the ANZ at The Crossing. Drop by with your old coins. Put them to good use.
Dubai's Road and Transport Authority's (RTA) Rail Agency has recently introduced the remote asset condition monitoring system to capture data relating to the condition of railway switches without human intervention.



By using a special algorithm, the system can predict potential faults of these vital switches before they develop, and accordingly enables taking proactive measures to avoid any major fault that might disrupt the Dubai Metro service.



"The implementation of the Remote Asset Condition Monitoring System is a landmark development in shifting from conventional management methods to a highly sophisticated predictive maintenance method, based on the anticipation of faults before they occur," said Mohammed Al Amiri, Director of Maintenance, Rail Agency.



"The system contributed to cutting railway faults drastically, which reflected on the performance of the Dubai Metro network and reducing the costs of the service outage," he added.



"The system will considerably reduce costs that would otherwise be spent on conventional maintenance of the metro. Accordingly, it will increase revenues and help achieve high-performance indicators in operation and maintenance," stated Al Amiri.



"The system will also support RTAs efforts to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest metro in the world," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Whats happening

As the coronavirus outbreak has escalated in the United States, public health officials have repeated the same pieces of advice over and over to help curb the viruss spread: Practice social distancing and wash hands frequently.

Those measures are all but impossible for the 2.3 million people inside Americas jails and prisons. Inmates are often packed into crowded cells and common areas. Soap can be hard to come by, and hand sanitizer is frequently banned because of its alcohol content. Jails and prisons struggle to provide even basic health services, a former prison health official said.

Health experts have begun sounding the alarm about the potential for devastating and fast-spreading coronavirus outbreaks inside prisons and jails. A storm is coming, the chief medical officer for New York Citys jails said. Theres concern that jails and prisons could be major spreaders for the virus as released prisoners, guards and visitors carry it into the larger community. A surge in sick inmates could also overwhelm nearby hospitals, especially in rural areas.

Cases of COVID-19 are already popping up in prisons and jails. More than 80 people in New Yorks jail system have reportedly tested positive as of Tuesday. Californias prison system saw its first confirmed case on Sunday.

Why theres debate

Health experts and prison reform advocates argue for drastic measures to be taken to prevent mass infection and death among incarcerated people. The simplest steps, they say, are to significantly increase personal hygiene resources, screen people coming in for symptoms, provide improved access to health care and set up plans to humanely isolate confirmed cases.

Improving conditions inside jails and prisons will help, but experts argue that the only way to prevent severe outbreaks is to dramatically reduce the number of people locked up in the first place. Doing that would mean lowering the number of new inmates through steps like limiting enforcement on low-level crimes and suspending pretrial detention for those who cant afford bail. It could also mean releasing inmates. Some have called for anyone near the end of their sentence to be released early. Others say inmates over age 65 should be let out unless they pose a specific public safety risk. Officials in many parts of the country have begun enacting some of these steps. President Trump said his administration is considering releasing some prisoners in the federal prison system.

Story continues

Prison reform activists say preventing tragedy behind bars also requires changing common thinking about jails and prisons. The idea that theyre closed systems isolated from the broader community is incorrect, they argue, and the basic humanity of incarcerated people needs to be recognized. These steps will not only save lives, they say, but will also help prevent deadly riots like the ones that have happened in Italy and Colombia.

Perspectives

The prison population needs to be reduced dramatically

The coronavirus pandemic requires us to act in ways we never would have imagined to mitigate virus spread. We need to rapidly decrease the population in the citys jails to slow the spread of the virus.  Robert L. Cohen, New York Daily News

Limit the number of new inmates

Virtually no defendant should be admitted to jail during this emergency who does not pose a risk to public safety. By definition that includes anyone with bail set, whether they can pay it or not, and anyone subject to jail for a technical parole or probation violation.  Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Release inmates facing the greatest risk from the virus

Emergency powers should also be applied to order early jail releases and bond adjustments. Especially vulnerable groups include the immunocompromised, pregnant people, older adults, and those with underlying conditions that the virus is known to compound. Failing to release them risks their lives.  Chanta Parker, Amanda Alexander and Jonathan Sacks, Detroit Free Press

Police should reduce enforcement of low-level offenses

It is also critical that jails take swift action to reduce the number of people in confinement. Local law enforcement can safely reduce these numbers in several ways: These include reclassifying misdemeanor and lower-level felony offenses that do not threaten public safety into non-jailable offenses, using citations instead of arrests for all low-level crime and indefinitely postponing all parole and probation office visits.  Amanda Klonsky, New York Times

Suspend pretrial detention and bail

Judges must immediately refuse to remand every possible new arrestee to correctional facilities  for everyones sake.  Chandra Bozelko, NBC News

Step up prevention of other health issues to lighten the load on health care

Standard public health interventions, like flu shots, are even more important during disease outbreaks  if fewer people get the flu, they can stay out of health care facilities and leave more resources available for those who really need it.  Nicole Wetsman, The Verge

Significant steps need to be taken before its too late

The goal, however, should be to release inmates before an outbreak gets bad. Once an outbreak begins, after all, releasing inmates could spread the disease outside, especially since coronavirus can spread even if someone doesnt have symptoms.  German Lopez, Vox

Establish humane ways to isolate sick inmates

In facilities that are already at or over maximum capacity  large-scale quarantines are not feasible. Solitary confinement as a means of quarantine is a violation of constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.  Nancy Gertner and John Reinstein, Boston Globe

The public must recognize the humanity of incarcerated people

People in prison or jail may have made bad decisions to wind up behind bars, but theyre still human beings worthy of Gods grace. As our country braces itself for the coronavirus, lets make sure that those in the justice system are protected, too.  Van Jones and Jessica Jackson, CNN

Officials need to be willing to make politically unpopular decisions

Authorities should release those who do not pose an immediate danger to public safety, while also reducing arrests and delaying sentencings. These moves carry inherent political risks, but they are for the greater good of the public at large.  Josiah Rich, Scott Allen and Mavis Nimoh, Washington Post

Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

Read more 360s

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijans necessary preventive measures are highly appreciated by the World Health Organization (WHO), Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev made the remark in Baku at the briefing in connection with the special quarantine regime announced in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

WHO has not yet raised an alarm in relation to the situation in Azerbaijan, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan added.

"This is the result of organizing the governance system in Azerbaijan at the perfect level under the leadership of the president, Hajiyev said. At the same time, this shows the country's preparedness for such emergency situations. Azerbaijan took the necessary preparatory measures in early January when the epidemic was slightly observed. All this is highly appreciated by WHO."

During the meeting of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers held on March 23 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ali Asadov, a decision was made to impose a special quarantine regime to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Taking into account the experience of various countries in combating the coronavirus COVID-19 worldwide and in order to protect the populations health and prevent its spread in the country and possible consequences caused as a result of infection, Azerbaijan announced a special quarantine regime from 00:00 (GMT+4) March 24 through April 20 in accordance with the Article 25 of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic about Sanitary and Epidemiologic Wellbeing.

Azerbaijan remains one of the countries, least affected by the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The country's official structures are applying necessary measures to prevent any possible exposure of coronavirus. Azerbaijan has also imported necessary medical equipment to carry out coronavirus tests.



Azerbaijan's official structures have also set up quarantine centers in the country's districts, which would allow to react faster to the possible outbreak due to joint borders. Azerbaijan shares border with Iran, where coronavirus is currently spreading rapidly.
tech2 News Staff

Redmi K30 Pro will launch today in China at 11.30 am IST. It is also speculated that Xiaomi might also unveil a Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition along with a new RedmiBook and an Air Purifier today at the launch event.

Redmi K30 Pro launch event: How to catch the live updates

The event will kick off at 2.00 pm CST, which means in India, you can catch the livestream at 11.30 am. The livestream will be available on the company's Weibo account.

Redmi K30 Pro expected specifications

A Weibo post by Lu Weibing, Redmi General Manager confirmed previously that Redmi K30 Pro will be powered by Snapdragon 865 chipset.

As per the previous reports, the smartphone is likely to feature a circular camera module that houses quad-camera setup and pop up selfie camera. Redmi K30 Pro will probably come with 5G connectivity and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The smartphone might be equipped with a 4,700 mAh battery that will support 33W fast charging. The report also suggests that Redmi K30 Pro might feature a 64 MP Sony IMX686 primary sensor at the back.

Xiaomi will reportedly launch a Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition that is likely to be available in 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant, 8 GB RAM + 256 GB internal storage and 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage variant. This edition might come in Moonlight White, Sky Blue, Purple, and Space Grey colour options.

As for Redmi K30 Pro, the report suggests that it is likely to come in 6 GB RAM + 128 GB internal storage variant and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant.

In addition to this, the report also reveals that the all-new Mi Air Purifier F1 might also go official in China tomorrow.

A report by 91 Mobiles referring to tipster Ishan Agarwal suggests that Xiaomi is likely to launch RedmiBook 14 Ryzen Edition that will offer up to 16 GB RAM and might feature an FHD IPS display. It is expected to come with an AMD Radeon Vega graphic card.
Featured stories

When will Ohio end its stay-at-home order and other coronavirus restrictions? (cleveland.com)

Democrats including Ohios Sherrod Brown block Senate GOP coronavirus bill (cleveland.com)

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will freeze state government hiring, seek big spending cuts amid coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

Six in Ohio now dead from coronavirus: Department of Health update for Monday, March 23 (cleveland.com)

Heating sinuses with hairdryer, taking lots of vitamin C will not prevent coronavirus: Debunking COVID-19 myths (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus in Ohio

The 442 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ohio are spread across 46 of Ohio's 88 counties. Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Mapping Ohios 442 coronavirus cases, and trend since first confirmed (cleveland.com)

Ohio sheriffs say theyre unlikely to issue citations to residents who violate Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home coronavirus order (cleveland.com)

Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton urges hospitals to report coronavirus tests ASAP, but said state doesnt know how many tests have been given (cleveland.com)

What businesses should do if they dont have thermometers: Ohio Health Department advice (cleveland.com)

Ohio stops releasing daily unemployment claims numbers amid coronavirus threat at Trump Administrations urging (cleveland.com)

How many hospital beds are near you? Details by Ohio county (cleveland.com)

Giant Eagle installs plexiglass shields, enacts bag changes to stem coronavirus spread (cleveland.com)

Social media posts falsely claim census response will lead to coronavirus stimulus checks (cleveland.com)

Essential Ohio Lottery sales will continue, lottery commission announces (cleveland.com)

Landscapers, lawn-care providers wait for answer from governors office (cleveland.com)

Battling coronavirus loneliness? Youre not alone. Experts urge using technology to stay connected with family and friends (cleveland.com)

Help! I dont know how to be a teacher! Home-schooling parents, teacher trainers offer advice during coronavirus shutdown (cleveland.com)

Small gatherings to exercise remain legal but fewer during coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

Can you get coronavirus from your dogs hair? Heres an inane newsroom conversation about answering that question (cleveland.com)

Local drive-in movie theaters delay season openings because of coronavirus (cleveland.com)

More than 40 online services you can get for free from home during the coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

Crime

Cuyahoga County Jail officer accused of trying to kill family members by setting Brook Park apartment on fire, officials say (cleveland.com)

Man shot to death inside Cleveland liquor store (cleveland.com)

Multiple shootings in Akron leave 1 person wounded, police say (cleveland.com)

Leader of Amish beard-cutting attacks will get to go home (WEWS Channel 5)

Cleveland / Cuyahoga County

Cleveland City Hall.

Ohio confirms nine new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Cleveland, bringing total to 36 (cleveland.com)

Cleveland City Council OKs steps to address coronavirus hardships, calling for eviction relief, aiding troubled businesses (cleveland.com)

Cuyahoga County addresses coronavirus concerns of sewer workers, who walked off job (cleveland.com)

Greater Cleveland small businesses, retailers fear for future if coronavirus shutdown lingers (cleveland.com)

Cuyahoga County buys 75 thermometers to screen people at jail, county buildings (cleveland.com)

Judge orders northern Ohio federal courthouses closed to public due to coronavirus (cleveland.com)

University Hospitals new app can monitor coronavirus infections, other health issues from home (cleveland.com)

Addiction and isolation amid the coronavirus shutdown: Providers, groups find ways to connect (cleveland.com)

Transit advocates ask Greater Cleveland RTA for free rides, rear-door boarding in response to coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Cleveland budget targets $1.84 billion in spending; Mayor Frank Jackson says city built to weather a recession (cleveland.com)

Cleveland approves incentives to aid Sherwin-Williams development of $300M downtown headquarters (cleveland.com)

Cleveland City Council approves tax incentives to aid $20 million Larchmere apartment development (cleveland.com)

Downtown Cleveland buildings mysterious new owner has ties to the uber-wealthy Walton family (cleveland.com)

Bedrock, Tower City Avenue owner, offers rent relief for small retailers as pandemic causes pain (cleveland.com)

SouthPark, Great Northern, Beachwood Place, Pinecrest close in response to Ohios stay-at-home order (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus Rapid Response Fund raises more than $5.3 million to help agencies during coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

Ohio National Guard helps Cleveland Food Bank with no touch food distribution (photos) (cleveland.com)

Painting hearts, chalking sidewalks: Signs of solidarity while staying home during coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

Latest Greater Cleveland restaurants delivery-takeout guide (cleveland.com)

Local news East

Former Euclid police officer takes own life in departments lobby (cleveland.com)

Kent State University cancels May 4 50th remembrance events due to coronavirus threat (cleveland.com)

Shaker Heights Municipal Court curtails operations, sets new schedule amid coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

Solon closes all city buildings to public; here are services still available during COVID-19 crisis (cleveland.com)

Local news West

U.S. Steel to idle Lorain tubular plant, lay off 250 workers by May 24 (Elyria Chronicle-Telegram)

West side community leaders speaking out to residents during coronavirus sheltering (cleveland.com)

Honks for Hugs big car parade at Avon Lake senior home brings smiles, lifts spirits (photos, video) (cleveland.com)

Parma limits access to City Hall during coronavirus pandemic, promotes social distancing and local businesses (cleveland.com)

North Olmsted closes City Hall to public; council passes emergency spending ordinance (cleveland.com)

Lakewood City Council approves emergency coronavirus spending ordinance (cleveland.com)

Seven Hills closing meetings to public access due to coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

Westlake library offering instant online library cards during coronavirus shutdown (cleveland.com)

Akron / Canton area

Summit County Public Health lays off about 20 non-essential employees amid coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

State

Ohio lawmakers favor rescheduling primary election earlier than June 2, House Republican says (cleveland.com)
On Mar 23, we issued an updated research report on Bank of Hawaii BOH. The companys top line gets support from improving non-interest-bearing deposits and rising loan balance. However, mounting expenses and a lack of diversification in fee income sources pose a near-term headwind.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the companys current-year earnings has been revised 1.8% downward in the past 30 days. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Shares of Bank of Hawaii have fallen 40.5% so far this year compared with the industrys decline of 36.8%.

The companys organic growth efforts and increasing net interest income (NII) have supported revenue growth. Further, NII and net interest margin are likely to gain from non-interest-bearing deposits, which accounts for 32% of total deposits.

Moreover, Bank of Hawaiis loans and deposits are witnessing an increasing trend. Thus, strong deposit balances will help the company to generate higher loans and fund other business needs. Furthermore, backed by a strong capital position and stability in earnings, the banks steady capital-deployment activities, which include regular dividend payouts and share buyback, seem sustainable.

However, its non-interest expenses are increasing continuously primarily due to a rise in salaries expenses. This rising trend exposes the bank to operational risks and affects its bottom-line growth. Costs are likely to continue rising in the near term as the company is focusing on growing its franchise.

The lack of revenue diversification is another key concern for Bank of Hawaii. Though driven by rate cuts, the mortgage banking activities improved and resulted in higher fee income in 2019; the same has been on a declining trend over the past few years. Thus, the absence of diversifying efforts is likely to hurt Bank of Hawaiis top-line growth.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are PennyMac Financial Services PFSI and Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Moody's Corporation MCO, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Story continues

PennyMac Financials earnings estimates for the current year have been witnessing upward revisions over the past 30 days. Further, the companys shares have gained 16.9% in the past three years.

Virtu Financials consensus estimate for current-year earnings has witnessed upward revisions over the past 60 days. Moreover, in the past three years, its shares have gained 19.6%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings for Moody's has been witnessing upward revisions in the past 60 days. Also, its share price has increased 48.1% in the past three years.

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Dear President Akufo-Addo,



In my article, Coronavirus disease on a Crowded Planet, I suggested ten (10) things we can do. Lockdown was one of the ten measures.



Mr. President, to clarify, lockdown does not mean total shutdown of the country. This morning, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have, all, advocated lockdown. I pray and hope your Government will listen in good faith and act urgently. I think your Government is lagging behind in its response to COVID-19. You have waited for the vertical transmission to translate into horizontal transmission.



Let us not wait any longer! Let us not rely on the fact that COVID-19 is not very devastating on populations such as ours  because we have a relatively young population as compared to Europe and we do not have many people who smoke etc. Yes, Ghanas population is young; but we have weaker health systems that cannot sustain a full-blown intracommunity outbreak.



In addition, our settlements and transportation (tro tro, taxi) systems are very weak and crowded. Furthermore, we also have people with diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary diseases such as Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis among others who will be terribly affected if COVID-19 gets out of hand in Ghana, our dear country. Assuming 200 people (God forbid) need ventilators at the same time for respiratory support in Ghana; do we have enough anaesthetists and logistics to cover them while at the same time ensuring we have enough to take care of other medical and surgical emergencies? 2 Mr. President, let us act now and act decisively.



Thank you, Mr. President. Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah Former Minister for Communications Frontline Health Worker In Ghana NB: I wish to reproduce the ten (10) suggestions; I made towards Ghanas victory against Coronavirus disease for your consideration. WHAT CAN WE DO?



Prevention! We must keep it simple: thorough handwashing with soap under running water. Where running water is unavailable, authorities should provide Veronica buckets (a Ghanaian invention) and tippy taps.

We must report early to health care providers when we develop fever, cough or difficulty in breathing.



We must not shake hands.



If you already have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cancer, long-standing respiratory disease such as asthma, you stand a higher chance of contracting coronavirus disease. Same can be said for the elderly above 60 years. Therefore, greater precautions must be exercised.



Also, do not refuse to be quarantined or self-isolate if need be  you can read, listen to music, watch television and participate in group video chats but stay away from gatherings, gyms, sleepovers and concerts for fourteen (14) days. 3



Social distancing really helps. We must also limit contact between people to reduce the spread of infections. So, limit being in large groups; Government should strongly consider implementing a lockdown to prevent horizontal spread of the infection.



Governments. Governments must act fast and decisively to nip the pandemic in the bud and build resilient health systems. I urge the President of Ghana to release money from the Heritage Fund  even if that is the last resort  to bend the arc of infections urgently and immediately before it is too late for Ghanaians.



Furthermore, the required infrastructure and logistics are disproportionately scanty in Ghana. I do not expect mushrooming of new infrastructure overnight. We ought to be realistic. The ministers for Health and Local Government and Rural Development should engage all Regional Directors of Health to identify facilities in the sixteen regions of Ghana as possible quarantine centres. It will be impossible to transfer coronavirus patients from the hinterlands to the capital, Accra.



The United Nations, African Union, ECOWAS, CSOs, NGOs, Pharmaceutical Companies, researchers, public health and policy experts including health workers must accept our common but differentiated responsibilities and work to save our crowded planet to ensure sustainable growth and development.

10.Finally, I urge you to stop peddling rumours and myths about coronavirus disease. Help save everyone, including yourself

















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
SEOUL, South Korea  A Moorhead woman, Pvt. 1st Class Marissa Jo Gloria, was found dead in an Army barracks at Camp Humphreys here on Saturday, March 21, according to a story published Tuesday by the military newspaper Stars and Stripes .

Gloria, a combat engineer with the 2nd Infantry Division sustainment brigade, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical staff, according to Stars and Stripes.

Gloria's death remains under investigation, according to the story, which also cited a military spokesman who took the unusual step of ruling out any connection to the coronavirus.

"There was no illness, and she did not present any COVID-19 related symptoms," Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton told Stars and Stripes.

Gloria joined the Army in Fargo in January 2019, and she was assigned to the sustainment brigade after completing training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Gloria arrived at Camp Humphreys last April, according to Stars and Stripes, which cited a news release.

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According to Stars and Stripes, Lt. Col. Robert Dion, commander of the brigades 11th Engineer Battalion, expressed condolences:

"Marissa was a key member of the Jungle Cats Battalion. We are all deeply saddened by the loss and will keep her family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."
Students from Trine University in Angola, Indiana, found a way to work out after their schools gym closed while observing the COVID-19 social distancing precautions on March 16.

The video shows five male students using cinderblocks as weights to do upper body exercises.

Trine Unversity student Noah Benzing captured the video. Benzing posted the video on his Twitter account with the caption: No gym no problemsthe grind doesnt stop out here.

Benzing told Storyful the members of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter House, are still at school and are self-quarantining at their fraternity house. They still wanted to maintain their fitness, so they opted to use the cinderblocks for their hour-long workout. Credit: Noah Benzing via Storyful
Paris, 24 March  As school closures impact nearly 80% of the worlds student population, UNESCO on Monday convened an online meeting of an ad hoc group of education ministers who shared information about scaled-up measures deployed in their countries to support teachers, parents, and students in coping with home learning. They also pointed to emerging challenges that require global cooperation.

The ad hoc Group, set up after the first online meeting of education ministers organized by UNESCO on 10 March, consists of 11 countries from all regions: Costa Rica, Croatia, Egypt, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, and Senegal.

Over the past 10 days, the number of students affected by school and university closures in 138 countries has nearly quadrupled to 1.37 billion, representing more than 3 out of 4 children and youth worldwide. In addition, nearly 60.2 million teachers are no longer in the classroom.

Opening the meeting, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stressed that the the responsibility to act is a collective one, and announced the forthcoming establishment of a Global Covid-19 Education Coalition to further mobilize the expertise of multiple partners and strengthen support to national educational responses.

While the focus during the early days of school closures was on deploying distance learning solutions, the spotlight has shifted to supporting teachers and families. More than ever, learners need to be accompanied as much academically as emotionally, said Stefania Giannini, UNESCOs Assistant Director-General for Education. This is a wake-up call for education systems to place dedicated efforts on socio-emotional skills  empathy and solidarity, she said.

We cannot replace the presence of teachers and pedagogical relationships, but we have no choice and must do our best to support principals, teachers, parents, and learners while ensuring their safety, said Italian Education Minister Lucia Azzolina. We are using social media tools to keep alive the relationship between teachers and students, and keep up their motivation.

Costa Rica is using social networks to relay daily reading plans for students and parents and challenge students to develop campaigns to contain the spread of the pandemic. Iranian Minister of Education Mohsen Haji Mirzaie described a new triangle of learning connecting teachers, parents and students via virtual classrooms supported by social networks.

In addition to virtual platforms, all countries are using public television to provide courses for students of all ages as well as training to teachers. Only 60% of students have internet so we had to provide a mix of distance education with open TV to reach everyone, said Mexicos Minister, Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, who added that his country is also exploring strategies to reach children with special needs.

While the duration of school closures remains uncertain, countries are concentrating efforts on empowering teachers. We are very focused on giving teachers responsibility for the process of learning and offering virtual learning courses, said Costa Ricas Vice Minister Melania Brenes.

Croatias Minister of Science and Education Blazenka Divjak shared her countrys approach which first prioritized tailor-made contents for teachers and is now increasing support to help them develop learning materials independently, take ownership of the process, and feel secure in a digital environment.

Actions to counter inequalities were raised by several ministers. Italy announced an 85 million package to support distance learning for 8.5 million students and improve connectivity in isolated areas.

Peru translated contents into 10 indigenous languages and developed materials on the socio-emotional aspects of education to help learners deal with isolation.

Nigerias Education Minister Adamu Adamu called for a national upscaling of UNESCOs School Meets Learner programme, which uses technology to reach out to school girls and women in the northeastern part of the country.

The sudden generalization of distance learning is bringing new challenges to the forefront. Egypts Minister Tarek Shawki urged action around the governance of the digital ocean of materials that are not accredited by the Ministry or any credible institutions.

Frances Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer stressed the need for global collaboration around the appropriate regulation of digital learning providers to ensure adherence to rules on the collection, management and use of data, especially the personal data of children and youth.

Meanwhile, several ministers highlighted that the current crisis is also ushering in new thinking around the practice of education.

We have made more progress with digital and distance learning in the past 10 days than in the past ten years. Without a doubt this crisis will change the way we think about the provision of education in the future, said Egypts Minister Tarek Shawki, while Frances Minister underlined the impact of new approaches and mindsets. Education is a key answer to the crisis and to the rebuilding of our societies after.

Minister Koichi Haguida from Japan noted that school closures had improved national mechanisms to protect children. While maintaining a high level of caution, he said the country plans to open schools next month for the new academic year and is closely liaising with health experts on the process.

Providing a global update on the pandemic that now affects 200 countries, Khassoum Diallo from the World Health Organization underlined that preparedness has to be strengthened in all countries, stressing the need for intersectoral approaches.
2020-03-24

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has kept abreast of developments in order to minimise the viruss impact on the Banks operations.

DBSA supports the decision by the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council to enforce a nation-wide lockdown, enacted in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

The safety of our employees is a priority in all key decisions. The DBSAs stance on the lockdown is as follows:

Travel

The DBSA has cancelled all regional and international travel by employees.

Work from home strategy implementation

The Bank has invoked its Pandemic Business Continuity Plan and all employees are working from home until further notice.

Meetings and events

We have cancelled all face-to-face events and meetings and have recommended that all meetings be held virtually.

Our business continuity efforts

We are effectively managing the risks presented by COVID-19 to both our employees and stakeholders. DBSA employees are available telephonically, via email and via online meetings where possible. Please be reassured that our services are not impacted by our adoption of the measures and principles recommended by the World Health Organisation and the lockdown.

Thank you for your continued support as we fight to curb the spread of the virus.
Legend has it that the Hindu god Lord Shiva had allowed his wife Parvati to visit her parents for nine days around this time. Hindu scriptures also say that the period of Chaitra is when Goddess Durga had killed the buffalo-headed demon Mahisasura.

Legend has it that the Hindu god Lord Shiva had allowed his wife Parvati to visit her parents for nine days around this time. Hindu scriptures also say that the period of Chaitra is when Goddess Durga had killed the buffalo-headed demon Mahisasura. The nine nights of celebrating Shakti, thus came to be known as nava (nine) ratri (nights) or Navratri.

The nine-night long festival falls four times in a year. Even though Sharada Navrarti (September-October) is the one which is celebrated with the most pomp and grandeur, Chaitra Navrarti, which falls between March and April, too is observed in many parts of the country.

The other Navratris celebrated in India are the Magha Navratri and the Ashada Navratri.

Vasant or Chaitra Navratri 2020

The festival is named after the spring season and is observed on the lunar month of Chaitra. In many parts of the country, it is celebrated as the spring festival. This year, Chaitra Navratri falls between 25 March and 2 April.

According to the Hindu mythology, the nine goddesses who are worshipped across the days of the festival are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, Sidhidatri

People usually fast during this period and perform elaborate pujas at home and offer fruits, milk, flowers and traditional prasads to the deity.

For those fasting, they can eat sabudana khichdi, kuttu ki poori, aalo ka halwa during the festival.

How to celebrate Chaitra Navratri 2020

With the ongoing coronavrius pandemic, it is advised people do not congregate in large numbers thus curbing the spread of the virus.

With many practicing self-isolation and social distancing, those who are fasting should make sure they eat a lot of protein rich food like nuts and fruits during the period of the fast.

Also, one should thoroughly clean whatever fruits and vegetables prior to consumption and sanitise their hands before having any prasad.
US entertainment giant Netflix will reduce the data its streaming service in Australia consumes in a bid to reduce broadband congestion as mobile and internet providers struggle to cope with rising demand from people stuck at home.

Netflix was due to compress the bit rates of its streams from Tuesday evening to help telecommunications providers cope with high levels of demand, following a similar move in Europe. Netflix Australia is the first local provider to reduce bit rates.

Netflix is experiencing a sharp uptick in usage as people stay home. Credit:Bloomberg

Ken Florance, Netflix's vice president of content delivery, said the reduced rates will be enforced in Australia for the next 30 days.

"Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on the telecommunications network by 25 per cent while also maintaining the quality of our service," Mr Florance said.
Victoria Hewson is a solicitor and co-founder of Radical, a campaign for truth and freedom in the gender recognition debate. She and Rebecca Lowe, her co-founder, alternate authorship of this column on trans, sex and gender issues.

Last week, The i Paper reported that the Government has indefinitely delayed the reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA)  a process initiated in July 2018 in the May era.

At present, the GRA enables people in England and Wales to change their gender for (almost) all legal purposes, as long as they have two medical reports showing a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, they can prove they have lived in their acquired gender for two years, and they provide a statutory declaration that they intend to remain in their new gender for the rest of their life.

After providing evidence of these things to a Gender Recognition Panel, a trans person can obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which means they must be treated in law as if they were a member of the opposite sex, and they are entitled to a new birth certificate and National Insurance Number under their new gender.

The Reform of the Gender Recognition Act Government Consultation was launched in 2018 by Penny Mordaunt, then the Minister of State for Women and Equalities.

As set out in the consultation document, the aim of the consultation was to seek views on how best Government might make the existing process under the Gender Recognition Act a better service for those trans and non-binary people who wish to use it.

It was noted that many trans people feel that [the current] process is overly intrusive, humiliating and administratively burdensome. They argue that by requiring a diagnostic psychiatric report, the process perpetuates the outdated and false assumption that being trans is a mental illness.

And it was stated that, because the current system is denying too many people access to the legal recognition that they want, it had become necessary to make it easier for trans people to achieve legal recognition.

The consultation was, therefore, designed to find the best way to achieve this.

It sought views on whether the requirement for diagnosis of dysphoria should be dropped, and whether people should continue to be required to provide evidence of living in their acquired gender.

Other questions included whether the 140 fee for obtaining a GRC, and the requirement to provide a statutory declaration of intention to live in the new legally recognised gender until death, should be retained.

Now, if the GRA were to be reformed in these particular ways, it would mean that a certificate would be available to anyone requesting it  without them needing to provide medical confirmation from a doctor, or evidence of having lived in their acquired gender for two years.

This is already the case in a number of countries, cited as examples in the consultation document, and is informally known as self-identification or self-ID.

Although the consultation closed in October 2018, and the Government Equalities Office  which was responsible for the consultation  has stated that it received more than 100,000 responses, no responses have been published.

Meanwhile, the issue has become increasingly politically charged in recent months, with candidates in the Labour leadership contest becoming embroiled in divisive debates on the matter of transgender rights, while high-profile legal cases concerning the treatment of children and women have been working their way through the courts.

The Scottish government has gone further, having issued for consultation a draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which would introduce self-ID for people in Scotland.

This has caused a furious backlash from womens groups in Scotland, as well as division within the SNP, as prominent members, such as Joanna Cherry, are strongly resistant to self-ID.

However, it has now been reported that the Scottish government is putting its reform on hold too, in order to concentrate on measures to deal with Covid-19.

In the news article referred to above, The i Paper suggested that the UK Government had already become wary of initiating a similarly divisive process in Westminster, even before the topic of Covid-19 rightly took over the Governments agenda.

At Radical, we would welcome the scrapping of the proposed GRA reforms.

Both governments claims about the defects in the current process seem overstated, given evidence from the Gender Recognition Panels themselves (as opposed to survey data and claims by activists that the UK Government relied upon).

Enabling men to change their gender for legal purposes (including purposes relating to laws against discrimination in the provision of services) would undoubtedly undermine womens privacy and safety, as it would become legally risky to challenge a male-bodied person in a womens space.

We have already seen a move towards the provision of unisex facilities, such as changing rooms in shops  in the place of single-sex alternatives  which is causing confusion, and arguably defeats the argument of trans activists that it is unsafe for trans women to use the same changing rooms and toilets as men.

Moreover, all of this feeds into a bigger concern about the conflation of the concepts of sex and gender, and a dangerous shift towards the denial of biological truth.

However, it is important to note that there are certain issues arising from the Westminster Governments consultation document  issues that, generally, are simply referred to, rather than focused upon materially  that should indeed receive further consideration.

Some of these issues could usefully be pursued by the Government Equalities Office. It is certainly the case that the operation of the Equality Act, in respect of trans people with a GRC, should be clarified, and as a matter of urgency.

Furthermore, when more normal times have returned, the Government should be investigating why the number of under-18s being referred to Gender Identity Development Services went from 96 in the period 2009-10, to 2,016 in 2016-17  and why demand for adult services at the UKs leading gender identity clinic has seen annual increases of 20-40 per cent in recent years
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Berlin  Tue, March 24, 2020 12:04 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0f49a 2 Lifestyle toilet-paper,panic-buying,coronavirus,COVID-19,health Free

The coronavirus pandemic has sent panicked shoppers across Europe into a toilet-paper buying frenzy. But how much do you really need? And what to do if the unthinkable happens and you run out?

A German online calculator is here to help.

At www.blitzrechner.de/toilettenpapier, curious users can work out how long their stockpile will last.

Just type in how many rolls you have and your individual "usage behavior" and the calculator will tell you for how many days you'll be covered.

For true aficionados, there is an expert mode where you can add the length of your quarantine and your average number of sheets per wipe.

Generally speaking, people tend to wildly overestimate their TP needs, the website says.

Read also: On a roll: The psychology behind toilet paper panic

"Many people use more toilet paper than needed. For a 'number one', one or two sheets should suffice," it adds.

The website also offers some suggested alternatives to toilet paper should the supermarket shelves be bare.

Washcloths, strips of old rags and even a quick shower are all good options. But be careful not to flush kitchen roll as it could clog up the toilet.

Germany, like many European countries, has seen demand for toilet paper spiral since the start of the outbreak.

Similar tongue-in-cheek stockpiling calculators have sprung up in other countries too, like the UK site Howmuchtoiletpaper.com.

Videos of scuffles in supermarkets have been circulating widely on social media -- one argument over toilet paper in a supermarket in Mannheim last week even ended in a fistfight that required police intervention.

Chancellor Angela Merkel set a better example when she was photographed doing her weekly shop last Friday with just one pack of toilet paper in her trolley -- and four bottles of wine.

That's just how Merkel rolls.
A new political climate prevails in Ottawa today, as a small contingent of members of Parliament gathers to approve the governments coronavirus economic rescue plan. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has already asked his party to curb purely partisan attacks on the ruling Liberals and focus on constructive criticism.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new political climate prevails in Ottawa today, as a small contingent of members of Parliament gathers to approve the governments coronavirus economic rescue plan. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has already asked his party to curb purely partisan attacks on the ruling Liberals and focus on constructive criticism.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, though feeling unwell and staying home since last Thursday, also appears to be taking the high road in national debate about the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced support for the governments economic aid plans and offered to help speed implementation.

The suspension of political hostilities may, however, be hard on candidates running to replace Mr. Scheer as Conservative leader. (Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press files)

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet similarly agreed to adjournment of the House of Commons two weeks ago and supported the governments measures, while asking for more help for low-income families.

This uncommon chorus of political harmony matches the needs of the moment. The pandemic by Monday afternoon had already claimed the lives of 20 people of the 2,035 confirmed and presumptive cases among Canadians since it was first detected in Canada on Jan. 25. More deaths and many more cases are expected before Canada sees the last of it.

Some people have been slow to recognize the danger COVID-19 presents. A united front among the political parties may encourage compliance with the advice of health authorities who have been pleading with Canadians to stay home as much as possible, keep two metres apart from other people and wash their hands frequently  all this to avoid catching or spreading the disease.

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This uncommon chorus of political harmony matches the needs of the moment.

The suspension of political hostilities may, however, be hard on candidates running to replace Mr. Scheer as Conservative leader. Party loyalists love to hear the candidates firing verbal volleys at the ruling Liberals, competing to see who can fling the most wounding insults at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Scheer is asking the combatants to lay down their rhetorical arms.

The party had been planning to pick a new leader June 27 at a convention in Toronto. During this season of pandemic, when large meetings threaten contagion and people must maintain a safe social distance, campaigning for party leadership is not really practical. The Tories will likely have to defer the June convention, keeping Mr. Scheer in his role as interim leader until the pandemic has subsided and normal political life can resume  and who knows when that will be?

If the Conservative Party does arrive at a decision to defer the leadership convention indefinitely, leadership candidates can safely sheath their verbal weapons, knowing there will be plenty of time to show their gladiatorial skills once the health crisis has passed.

In the meantime, the government should take every opportunity to acknowledge wise advice it hears from opposition parties. A month ago, when Mr. Trudeau consulted opposition leaders about rail blockades by anti-pipeline protesters, he ostentatiously excluded Mr. Scheer from the consultations because he disagreed with the Conservatives law-and-order stance. In the current circumstances, he should listen to all the party leaders, including those with whom he disagrees, and do his best to keep the national chorus singing in harmony.

While Parliament is suspended and the government is giving the nation daily televised updates, Mr. Trudeau and his colleagues are necessarily in the spotlight and the opposition parties are in the shadows. Mr. Trudeau should find a way to bring them visibly into the mix, and make this is a Canadian moment, not merely a Liberal Party moment.
On Monday, Congress failed for the second consecutive day to reach a compromise for relief legislation to support Americans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., lambasted the inability for Congress to act during a speech on the Senate floor. U.S. Senate Democrats blocked progress on Phase Three of the congressional response to COVID-19, his office said, referring to a procedural vote on a proposed stimulus package.

I am absolutely shocked, Sen. Toomey said. And I am going to try to convey to my colleagues a sense of the urgency that I think this moment demands and they apparently dont understand, because our Democratic colleagues all voted to prevent us from considering this legislation.

He continued, Weve been invaded by a potentially lethal species. A virus that is infecting Americans now by the tens of thousands, growing numbers every day.

Toomey said Pennsylvanians are terrified because they know they still have to put food on the table. They still have to pay the rent or a mortgage. They still have to clothe their kids. They still have all the ordinary expenses of living and theyre not allowed to earn a living. Because of the extreme measures were taking to try to avoid an absolute catastrophe.

Still, the U.S. Senate failed to reach a compromise on Monday.

In this crisis nobody should go broke or suffer financially because of the cost of treating COVID-19, said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in a statement. He called to expand Medicaid to cover every penny for people who lack health insurance or have insufficient insurance.

Casey said of President Donald Trump, Hes proven himself to be an unreliable communicator, I just want to be blunt about that.

Were deeply committed to ensuring that small businesses have the support they require, said Trump on Monday in a statement released by his press office.

The U.S. Senates failure to come together for the American people during the last 48 hours brought decries from members of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the people of Pennsylvania in Washington, D.C.

I am disappointed by the Senates inability to reach a deal that champions the working people and small businesses of our country and the health care workers on the front lines of this pandemic, said U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th, of Easttown. Our community, commonwealth, and country are in dire need of leadership and support during this crisis. Minutes and hours matter for our countrys physical and economic health.

Houlahan has hosted several virtual Town Hall meetings with constituents during this crisis.

Just last week, I hosted a telephone town hall with local small business owners and employees who need help now, she said. We need bipartisan legislation that lifts up these businesses, families and individuals who, through no fault of their own, have fallen on hard times. Small businesses serve as the backbone of Pennsylvanias economy, and Im acutely focused on ensuring whatever bill comes before me adequately addresses their urgent concerns.

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5th, of Swarthmore, concurred.

The delay in passing the third coronavirus relief bill can be attributed to both the way in which Senate leadership developed the bill  failing to include House leadership in early negotiations  and the differing priorities of the two parties, Scanlon said.

Scanlon said her office is working around the clock to cut red tape and push legislation that will get medical supplies in place to diagnose and treat patients and protect medical personnel and first responders from harm, and to help Pennsylvanians navigate the economic, educational and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am so grateful to local officials, medical professionals and first responders who are pulling out all the stops to protect us and be ready as the number of cases increase, Scanlon added.

We are at a tipping point in the midst of this global pandemic and we need the president to act. President Trumps refusal to use the Defense Production Act to address the dire shortage of much-needed emergency medical equipment is putting lives in our district and across the country at risk, Scanlon said. The law provides an avenue for the federal government, in times of crisis, to coordinate the manufacturing of essential, life-saving items. There are companies right here in our region who are eager to step up and produce these materials, but without any guidance from the White House, their hands are tied and lives hang in the balance.

This is not a time for placing blame or shirking responsibility. The scope of this pandemic, and its potential impact upon Americans, is too immediate and life threatening to await a voluntary response from the corporate sector. I urge President Trump to use his authority under the law to coordinate the national effort we need to overcome this challenge, save lives, and protect the vulnerable who are at greatest risk. We dont have a moment to wait.

Some state lawmakers were not surprised by Congress failure to act with bipartisan vigor to help the American people during a moment of national emergency and unprecedented unknowns impacting not only thousands of business owners, but millions of families.

Sadly, Im not totally surprised that both sides of the aisle could (not) come to a consensus on how to provide economic relief to the people of this country. The operational definition  in my mind at least  of relief does not put hardworking people in debt because of this pandemic, said State Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th, of Royersford.

Muth hopes that Congress will act to pass federal legislation to support state efforts already underway to make a difference.

Many, if not all, of our proposed efforts for relief at the state level are dependent on what happens at the federal level, Muth said. Both guidelines and dollars proposed and implemented dictates what we can do at the state level and what gaps we, as a General Assembly, may need to address. Its my hope that all levels of government would be working together in a collaborative manner, devising a plan that provides true relief that helps all of the people struggling.

However, Muth said she has yet to see a federal plan supported by both chambers or parties in the federal or state government.

State Sen. Tim Kearney, D-26th, of Swarthmore, said, If we are going to get through this crisis, we all need to work together.

COVID-19 is an unprecedented public health emergency and now an economic one, said state Sen. Thomas Killion, R-9th, of Middletown. There is no place for personal or partisan agendas in our response to this crisis.

As elected officials our primary goal remains protecting the health and welfare of Pennsylvanians. We must also act swiftly and decisively to lessen the severe damage this crisis has done to the finances of hardworking citizens, small businesses and our states economy. Legislatively, my top priority is prompt passage of Senate Bill 1096 which would establish a disaster relief fund to provide zero-interest loans to Pennsylvanias small businesses. Were a resilient state, Killion said.

He added, Working together, Pennsylvania will get through this.

There is much to do, said state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th, of Franklin.

On Monday, state Rep. Carolyn Comitta, D-156th, of West Chester, told the Daily Local News, These are not partisan issues.

Comitta continued, U.S. Senators must work together to pass provisions now that will address the fear and anxiety and real needs of every American and every PA citizen caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

She also gave thanks for the emergency management personnel working every day to make a difference for the betterment of all people in Pennsylvania.

I want to express my deep gratitude to every health care worker and first responder who are working 24/7 to be there for us and care for our families and neighbors during this crisis, Comitta said. These community angels are always there when we need them  and we need each of them now more than ever. Everyone, thank you for taking such good care of us  and take good care of yourselves.

Results matter. Regardless of rhetoric.

The failure to pass this Sunday was a good example of how government frequently creates unintended consequences by working fast to address issues, but failing to include important transparency and accountability, said state Rep. Christina Sappey, D-158th, of West Bradford. That seems to be what the problem was. Im still hopeful theyll get it done.

Sappey added, We need bold, swift action from Washington to help please keep our small business and our communities afloat.

And while congressional lawmakers continue to debate the details on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C., state lawmakers in Harrisburg are taking action as swiftly as possible. Many are working from home with virtual voting sessions slated for later this week in the state House and state Senate.

The state legislature is actively working on measures to help our schools, businesses and our citizens in this crisis, Sappey said. Our first step was to approve our ability to vote remotely, which we did last week. This week Im hoping to see legislation move that will directly help our education system continue to function, our small businesses operate and our most vulnerable get what they need to stay safe and healthy.

There has likely never been a moment in our lifetimes when we have been so aware that we all have a part to play in a thriving society, said State Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-155th, of Uwchlan Township. Healthcare workers, grocery store workers, first responders, mail carriers, warehouse workers, and janitorial workers are risking their own health to keep our families fed, healthy and comfortable. They are our everyday heroes.

State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-157th, of Schuylkill, said she is spending her time and effort to make sure Pennsylvanias senior citizens, teachers, students, first responders, community partners, businesses, local leaders and neighbors are fully aware of the state programs available to them during this unprecedented national crisis.

She said she is working with community partners to make sure senior citizens understand that the state tax deadline has been extended to July 15, that food-insecure students have access to meals, and that Pennsylvania enterprises are aware of small business legislation that will provide them much needed relief.

Shusterman said, I am committed to making sure our first responders and health care workers are safe and have the essential protective gear so they can continue serving our community.

She said her office is here to listen, to connect and to help. Shusterman serves as Deputy Whip in Harrisburg.

State Rep. Kristine Howard, D-167th, of Malvern also shared thoughts on the U.S. Senates inability to pass relief legislation for Americans during the last 48 hours.

I am disappointed that the Senate failed to move forward on legislation to provide needed relief for Americans suffering on multiple fronts directly related to the COVID-19 epidemic, Howard said. However, as important as it is to get action swiftly, it is also critical to get the right action. I agree with Democratic leaders in the Senate that the economic assistance be focused on individual workers and small business.

Many state lawmakers are citing the U.S. Senates inability to work together during a national crisis as the crux problem.

Yet, Howard countered this notion.

Some may call the failure to move the bill a fault of partisanship, Howard said. I prefer to believe it is due to differences in policy preferences and priorities that predated the coronavirus pandemic. The gross concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, tax cuts for corporations that facilitated stock buy-backs over worker pay raises and new jobs, opposition to the Affordable Care Act, cuts in safety social-net programs creates an environment that makes for significant disagreements on policy and priorities and undermines trust.

Still, regardless of the days most recent happenings in Washington, D.C., Howard remains hopeful. I believe a deal will be struck very soon providing the dire need for relief Pennsylvanians are feeling, she said. I am heartened and moved by the way our Pennsylvania local and state leaders, businesses, non-profit service providers, religious leaders, friends and neighbors are rising to the challenge and doing their parts to slow the spread of this pandemic and help one another in every way we can.

And while Pennsylvanians continue to move forward, albeit whilst practicing the new norm of social distancing and mostly staying at home, the need for action in Congress remains paramount if relief from the federal level is to arrive at the homes of every day citizens facing unfathomable financial hardships thanks to unprecedented travel restrictions and state mandates for business and school shutdowns, which began earlier this month.

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4th, of Glenside, said that the failed U.S. Senate package, put forward by U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., missed the mark and lacked the needed transparency to ensure that Congress was placing families and Main Street before Wall Street.

The focus of this package must be American families, our hospitals, small businesses, and state and local governments desperately in need of relief, Dean said. House and Senate leadership will continue to negotiate with the White House to get a relief package that will place American families and Main Street first  we are close.

Dean continued, Pennsylvanians can be assured that we are working to get all Pennsylvanians the necessary assistance they need.

She said the response of Congress must be timely, robust, comprehensive, creative and in partnership with the private sector, banking communities, and nonprofits  and mindful of the most vulnerable.

Said Dean, In all we do, we must do it with truth and transparency and a constant commitment to good government.

Its tragic that, at this very moment when the country is so threatened by this virus that the leaders of both parties cant bring themselves to a compromise, said state Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland. Over the last decade weve seen an increase in partisanship. And the unfortunate consequence of that is certainly seen in whats happening in Washington  What we see now is that this partisanship is preventing the government from handling a common threat.

Dinniman, who announced his retirement from the state Senate earlier this year, said, This virus doesnt know the difference between Republican or a Democrat or an Independent. And neither should Congress.

He said when local, county, state and federal lawmakers work together for the well-being of the American people, a synergy for good occurs.

He also compared the crisis at hand today similar to hard days of the Civil War, when travel and the economy were collectively at a standstill.

Theres no question that (this) is probably the greatest economic challenge we in the commonwealth have had in a long time, Dinniman said.

He, like millions of Americans across the nation, cited concerns for the economy.

The greatest potential now is for a recession, Dinniman said. Were going to have to work very hard to get ourselves back in order, he said, noting, economically, that will require a lot of innovation.

Of the federal legislation on hold because of partisan bickering in Congress, state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160th, of Upper Chichester, said, This is something that has to get done immediately. And the only focus here should be on our constituents who are hurting enormously.

He said the uncertainty is making the situation worse because of the crisis at hand. Barrar worked on Monday from his office at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.

As a state representative, Im here at the capitol today, Barrar said. Im trying to do everything I can to show leadership and bipartisanship to assure our constituents that, at the end-of-the-day, well find a solution. If we all come together and work for the betterment of our constituents.

He said the governors stay-at-home order for the Philadelphia region was disappointing although he understood the need for it. Barrar said, I just prayed that we wouldnt get to this point. He described the climate created by the pandemic as very scary and thus causes citizens to ask themselves serious questions per what the future holds.

Yet always, hope remains.

Barrar said he will work with his colleagues to find solutions now to address todays challenges and to address the financial hardships yet to emerge when the dust settles.

Just a month ago we had the strongest economy in the world, Barrar told the Daily Local News on March 23. And weve seen some very devastating times. But I truly believe in the American spirit that will get us through this.

He said everyone faces hard times moving forward. It is difficult to know what is ahead of us because we havent seen the end of it yet, Barrar said regarding the virus. But, when we get to the end of this pandemic here, I think then, better minds will come together and we will be able to assess the damage done to our economy.

The divide between the political parties, he said, just has to stop.

How do we get money to the American people as fast as possible? I just hope to God that Congress is capable of rising to that task, Barrar said.

The state representative, whose district spans Kennett Square to Concord, said a Herculean lift was needed now to show the American people: We are united, working together.

Lawmakers who did not respond, as of press time, to multiple commentary requests for this article include: state Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th, of North Coventry and state Rep. Dan Williams, D-74th, of Coatesville.

The White House declined several requests to provide comment for this report.
Frances Denny

INDO-

When Urvi Sharma and Manan Narang, who both grew up in New Delhi, met at RISD in 2016, they realized they were working on similar projects: reinterpretations of the Charpai, a traditional Indian bed. They decided to join forces under the moniker INDO- and soon debuted Char Quarter, a pale beech bench with a woven cord seat and split-turned legs. Soon they took that same approach to other Indian archetypes, using ikat dyeing techniques on the tambour doors of a credenza and updating mooda seats as barstools by placing them atop skinny steel legs. (In May, theyll debut mooda-inspired light fixtures at the WantedDesign fair.) Each piece comes out a little different from the last, but they embrace those variations. Growing up, a lot of the objects we encountered were handmade, recalls Sharma. Now some of that is being lost for the sake of convenience. So were trying to celebrate an element of hand and the identity it brings with it. indo-made.com

Or Harpaz

LEAH SINGH

Upon returning to India after attending Parsons School of Design, Leah Singh experienced her homelands vibrant textiles with fresh eyes. I saw an opportunity to modernize these traditions and target a new market, explains the designer, now based between New Delhi and New York. Age-old techniques, she learned, were languishing as artisans pushed their children toward office jobs. But at local Indian markets she connected with producers from across the country who could stitch, weave, and print her patterns on pillows, carpets, throws, and more. Each group has its specialty: In West Bengal, Kantha embroiderers compose patterns from triangles, whereas in Punjab, Phulkari embroiderers sew in small stitches that are perfect for more intricate designs. I dont change the way they work, says Singh, who adapts these customs with her own color palettes and architecturally inspired motifs. Theyre so special. Theyve been there for so long. I want to highlight that. leahsingh.com

Story continues

Or Harpaz

TANTUVI

After years working on the corporate side of the fashion industry, Arati Rao needed a change. I felt disconnected from the process of making, explains the New Yorkbased designer, who quit her job in 2009 and headed to India, her familys homeland, to explore its rich craft culture. People can make anything there, she marvels. You just have to find it. Founded in 2012, her own brand, Tantuvi (it means weaver in Sanskrit), has quickly segued from textiles into rugs and other home products. Rather than producing the wares in factories, Rao tapped cottage-industry workers in Rajasthan and Telangana to create graphic dhurries and rugs. Natural fibers are dyed by a family in Jaipur before being sent to villages in Rajasthans Thar Desert, where they are woven on panja looms. Theres a true revival happening in India, explains Rao, who just launched a collection of new rugs and bath mats at Shoppe Object in February. Government grants have resuscitated areas that lost a lot of weavers. Now more peopleeven Indianswant handcraft again. tantuvistudio.com

Alanna Hale

SOFT-GEOMETRY

Growing up in India, we both saw women artisans weaving cane at incredible speed, remembers Utharaa Zacharias, who cofounded the San Josebased studio Soft-Geometry with her friend Palaash Chaudhary in 2018. That childhood memory inspired a first series of industrially produced steel chairs, some of which were outfitted with cane seats. It takes about 48 hours to weave one, she explains. The pair learned the technique from local cane weavers in Kerala and soon began collaborating with Indian craftspeople in other ways. When a New Delhi factory asked if they had a use for the leftover wood cutoffs, Zacharias and Chaudhary devised a technique to glue the pieces together and carve them by CNC machine into a doughnut-shaped table base. Next up, theyre working with another group of artisans on furniture and lighting that feature traditional bone inlay, which they plan to launch later this year. soft-geometry.com

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Kathmandu, March 24

Commercial and development banks of the country are open though the country has gone on lockdown in its bid to control the coronavirus infection in the country.

The regulatory agency, Nepal Rastra Bank, says the banks have been told to open a few particular branches and inform the public about the business. As the government has allowed the public to purchase essential goods such as foodstuffs and medicines, they require money, hence the banking service can also be deemed essential, according to Dev Kumar Dhakal, the chief of the NRB Bank and Financial Institution Regulation Department.

Meanwhile, insurance companies are not in operation though the insurance service is also listed as an essential service. The sectors regulator, the Insurance Board, has told the companies not to charge interests if the clients fail to pay their premium during this period.
MONTREAL - Bombardier Inc. is temporarily halting production at its Canadian plants, sending 12,400 employees on unpaid leave as the plane maker suspends its 2020 financial forecast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company said Tuesday it is stopping all non-essential work in the country, including aircraft and rail production in Quebec  where 9,000 workers are heading home  and Ontario.

The shutdown  set to start Tuesday evening and continue until April 26  comes in response to orders by the Quebec and Ontario governments on Monday to suspend non-essential activities as part of an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The stoppage will be in effect nearly two weeks longer than Quebecs required break, which runs until April 13.

We give ourselves two weeks to relaunch everything, said Bombardier spokesperson Olivier Marcil. The supply chain will have to adapt.

Bombardier, which carries a hefty debt despite multiple asset sales over the past five years, has cut all discretionary spending and is pursuing additional measures to enhance liquidity, chairman Pierre Beaudoin said in a statement.

The Montreal-based firm, reduced to a single revenue stream after announcing the sale of its rail division to French train giant Alstom SA last month, may face falling demand for new business jets amid the broader economic slowdown triggered by the outbreak.

The sale  essential to pay down Bombardiers US$9.3 billion debt  once again shrank a company that a year ago boasted three major divisions  commercial aircraft, trains and business jets.

Its hard to see demand for new business jets holding up, Financial Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said in a phone interview Friday.

The COVID-19 crisis is dragging down corporate profits and equities markets, which both correlate strongly with demand for private planes, said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with Teal Group in the Washington, D.C., area.

Last week, Financial Bank lowered its delivery forecast for Bombardier business jets to 145 planes from 154 this year, and to 120 planes from 150 for 2021. The backlog for the Global 7500  Bombardiers new, ultra-long-range business jet listed at US$73 million apiece  remains healthy, with the aircraft sold out through 2022.

The bigger issue is going to be the supply chain, because theyre very complicated pieces of equipment with hundreds if not thousands of suppliers, said AltaCorp Capital analyst Chris Murray, noting the ripple effect of plummeting travel demand for manufacturers.

Looming on the horizon are debt maturities of US$1.48 billion and US$1.7 billion due in 2021 and 2022 respectively. About 60 per cent of the US$9.32-billion total debt is due within five years.

The US$8.2-billion deal with Alstom and other recent transactions will leave Bombardier with net proceeds of between US$4.2 billion and US$4.5 billion after deducting the Caisse de Depot et Placements equity position, as well as adjustments for debts and other liabilities, Bombardier said in February.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021 if it can move through European Union regulatory hurdles.

While competition rules remain a hazard, governments may think of it as a way to strengthen that part of the industrial landscape by completing the transaction, Murray said.

Meanwhile delays and some volatility continue to plague several large, challenging rail contracts, said Alain Bellemare last month, shortly before his ouster as CEO announced on March 11.

Bombardier shares have hit new lows over the past week, hovering between 38 and 50 cents at their cheapest price in decades.

In the Montreal area, the affected factories sit in Mirabel, Saint-Laurent, Dorval and Pointe-Claire, and east of Quebec City in La Pocatiere.

Bombardiers aerostructures plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland, will also temporarily cease operations until April 20, with the majority of its 3,300 site workers returning home. Last week, the factory in Cespin, France, that specializes in rolling stock had to cease operations until further notice.

Executives as well as workers are forgoing pay, Bombardier said Tuesday. Board members have also agreed to forgo compensation for the remainder of the year.

Bombardiers now suspended outlook from last month had projected revenue growth to US$15 billion from US$13.7 billion in 2019. The company also forecasted margins for earnings before interest and taxes of 3.5 per cent. Both figures fell below analyst expectations.

The multinational continues to work on closing the US$550-million divestiture of its CRJ region jet program to Mitsubishi and the US$500-million sell-off of its aerostructures business in Belfast and Morocco to Spirit AeroSystems, both of which were initially expected in the first half of 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BBD.B)
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A source close to the Duke of Sussex revealed it was his decision to move his family to Canada. (Image via PETER NICHOLLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

A source reportedly close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has revealed it was Prince Harry who made the call for the couple and their son to move to Canada.

In a new interview with Us Weekly, an unnamed source said Prince Harry had already had enough of royal life prior to the Sussexes move to Vancouver Island.

When it became clear Meghan was never going to get a fair shake, Harry snapped, the source told the magazine. Hes adamant that it was his call to move to Canada.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to want a "normal upbringing" for their son, Archie. (Image via Getty Images).

Despite completing their last engagement as senior members of the royal family on March 9, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wont officially resign as working royals until March 31. The couple will reportedly make Vancouver Island their home base, along with their 10-month-old son Archie.

A second source also reportedly close to the couple said the decision to leave Britain and royal life behind was largely influenced by their desire to raise their son outside of the public lens.

ALSO SEE: 'F--k your freedom': Evangeline Lilly slammed for controversial social distancing comments

[Harry] wants to shield his son from the negativity and tension he wouldve been exposed to back in England, the source said. He knows what its like to grow up in the spotlight, and he wants to give Archie the most normal upbringing possible.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at one of their final engagements as senior members of the royal family. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

While details of the couples next steps are unknown, they recently took to social media to issue a statement regarding COVID-19. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex encouraged those struggling with anxiety due to the global pandemic to reach out to loved ones in any way possible, while observing self-isolation.

Many of us may feel confused. Or alone, or anxious or scared ... and in isolation, some of us may just feel bored, or that you dont know what to do with yourself without your normal routine. Its perfectly normal to be feeling any of these things, the message read. Our emotional well-being is challenged everyday whether we realize it or not, but our lives are usually filled with distractions. Now with constantly changing COVID coverage, we are all adjusting to this new normal and the feelings that come with it.  Yes, there is isolation and physical distancing, but there doesnt have to be loneliness.

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ALSO SEE: Meghan Markle swears by these leggings  and theyre perfect for working from home

According to the Daily Mail, a friend revealed that both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were grateful to be able to spend time with the royal family before the pandemic, adding that Harry was concerned for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and his father, Prince Charles.

Prince Harry is said to be worried for his father and grandmother amid COVID-19.(Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Harry and Markle voluntarily quarantined themselves upon returning to Canada, and taking steps to protect themselves and staff as they continue to work on their charitable initiatives.

Meghan said just because they are isolating themselves, it doesn't mean they can't help. They aren't just sitting around at home doing nothing, the source said. Meghan told her inner circle that what's happening in the world right now is a mental health crisis. She said they are working with a mental health non-profit to create some sort of online support system for those most vulnerable, like new mothers suffering from postpartum depression. People who lack support systems need reassurance that they are not alone.

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has had to tamp down President Trump's uninformed statements on the coronavirus. (AFP via Getty Images)

It's a truism that ignorant information tends to fill a vacuum. Thanks to people like President Trump and Elon Musk, we're now learning that ignorance can drive good information out of the public sphere  dangerously.

The leading data point on the perils of this sort of ignorance comes from Phoenix. There, the hospital chain Banner Health reports that a man has died and his wife is in critical condition after they ingested chloroquine phosphate.

The widow told NBC News that the couple had watched briefings in which Trump talked up the use of chloroquine as a therapy for the virus. In fact, the substance they took wasn't the medicinal preparation for humans. It was "an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks," Banner says.

It's also used to treat common diseases of aquarium fish, for which it's available only with a veterinarian's prescription. The widow said that the couple had a supply of the aquarium compound at hand because they had used it to treat their koi.

'It may work, it may not work. I feel good about it. Thats all it is. Just a feeling.'

Dangerous misinformation about chloroquine from President Trump

Within a half-hour of their ingesting the chemical, the couple began to succumb to poisoning.

Multiple lessons should be drawn from this incident. One is that no one should try to treat themselves for any serious condition without a doctor's advice.

More important, however, is that public officials and celebrities who don't know what they're doing should put a sock in it. There's no more perilous time to be spouting ignorant takes than during a mass panic attack, like now.

Start with Trump. His behavior is nothing short of reckless and shameful. After apparently being told about a few studies that posit potentially positive anti-viral effects from chloroquine, a drug used widely as an anti-malarial and also for serious diseases such as lupus, Trump began touting it as a nostrum for the novel coronavirus.

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Not only has this caused a shortage of the drug for patients who genuinely need it, but Trump is way, way ahead of the science. There have been studies of the efficacy of chloroquine in combination with another drug in combating the virus, but they are still preliminary and some are inconclusive.

Trump's heedless promotion of an unvalidated drug to an audience desperate for solutions to a public health emergency can have potentially devastating consequences, as we can now see. Despite his documented aversion to speaking the truth, for many people his words still have the veneer of government advice.

The truth is that chloroquine taken without a doctor's supervision can be dangerous for many people. The list of side effects is long, including nausea, vomiting, cramps, headache and diarrhea. So is the list of counterindications. It can affect the heart and isn't recommended for diabetics, pregnant women or people with impaired liver function, among many others.

This hasn't stopped Trump. "HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," he tweeted over the weekend. At a press briefing a few days earlier, he had expounded on the topic, declaring that chloroquine had shown very, very encouraging early results and that were going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.

This forced Trump's medical advisors to step up to undo the damage. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, an oncologist, explained at the briefing that the drug was being tested only in the setting of a clinical trial  a large, pragmatic clinical trial" to determine its efficacy and safety.

The very next day, Trump said, It may work, it may not work. I feel good about it. Thats all it is. Just a feeling. That forced Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases and a trusted actual expert on the topic, to emphasize that studies are still being done "to determine if its truly safe and truly effective.

Let's be frank here. On this topic, Donald Trump is an ignoramus. Anyone who follows his advice or believes that he knows what he's talking about needs to have their head examined, professionally.

The same goes for Elon Musk. The chief executive of the electric car company Tesla is the quintessential business tycoon who believes that because he's had some public success in one sphere, his opinions on a wide spectrum of other things are all but infallible.

On March 13, Musk tweeted that chloroquine "maybe worth considering" for the treatment of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The tweet got more than 13,000 retweets.

Last week, Musk tweeted the absolutely false assertion that children are "essentially immune" from the virus. This assertion was promptly contradicted by Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of Trump's coronavirus task force, who said: No one is immune. We know it is highly contagious for everyone.

Musk also has tweeted, "The coronavirus panic is dumb." And he tried to keep his Tesla factory in Fremont open despite local officials' shelter-in-place order by deeming it an "essential business." Local officials eventually persuaded him otherwise, and he closed it down.

Celebrities pitching nostrums for health conditions have been permitted to infest the public airwaves for years. Some, like Gwyneth Paltrow, have built business empires out of doing so. In most though not all cases, these activities pose little harm except perhaps to their marks' pocketbooks. In others  witness the persistence of the anti-vaccine lobby  they can cost the lives of innocents.

But nothing is as egregious as the promotion of supposed cures or treatments for the novel coronavirus, the biology of which is still under study by professionals and in many ways still a mystery. Trump has turned himself into a threat to public health. And Musk may not be far behind.
A large funeral procession held near Tehran for a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has caused outrage with its apparent disregard for the deadly coronavirus pandemic that is raging across Iran.

Several hundred people took part in the procession held in Vardavard, west of the Iranian capital, on March 24 for former IRGC Rasulollah division chief Hossein Asadollahi, according to photos published by Iranian media.

The photos highlight a clear breach of health-safety measures being preached by Iranian authorities in the fight against the coronavirus, which had officially killed 1,934 Iranians as of March 24.

Many of the mourners were seen wearing face masks but they were standing very close to each other while holding the casket of Asadollahi.

Iranian media reported he died from an "illness" caused by his exposure to chemical weapons used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88.

Believed to be in his 60s, Asadollahi was reportedly involved in the fight against "Takfiri terrorists," meaning he played a role in Iran's efforts in Syria.

There are an estimated 100,000 such injured veterans from that conflict and many are extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus because they suffer from respiratory diseases or lung injuries.

The funeral in Vardavard comes amid the closure of schools, commercial centers, Islamic shrines, and other public places in an effort to contain the pandemic that has officially infected some 25,000 Iranians.

It also comes amid repeated government calls for citizens to remain in their homes, respect social-distancing directives, and to refrain from traveling for the Norouz holidays.

Iranians have also been told not to hold funeral ceremonies for their loved ones to help slow the outbreak of the coronavirus that has ravaged the economy and overwhelmed hospitals and health-care workers.

"The images are clear, you just have to cry. No need for an explanation," Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on Twitter while posting some of the photos of the large funeral.

Others said the funeral amid the deadly pandemic had heightened the risk of infection while highlighting a disregard for the lives of Iranians. "The lives of the people are never a priority," Washington-based rights human rights activist Roya Boroumand said on Twitter.

"How are the many families who have buried their loved ones without any ceremony to protect the health of the society going to feel by seeing these images?" Tehran-based lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh tweeted. "Until today we thought only the living face discrimination and [injustice] but now some demonstrated that there can be discrimination even among the dead."

IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif said those taking part in Asadollahi's funeral march had gathered impulsively and that the procession was not organized by the powerful IRGC, which has been involved in the country's fight against the coronavirus by providing relief to the sick and taking part in sanitizing efforts.

"The presence of a few citizens, companions, and supporters of commander [Asadollahi] for his funeral and burial was spontaneous," he said.

The IRGC has faced widespread anger and criticism in recent months for the January downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet near Tehran that killed all 176 people on board, including many Iranians.

Sharif said the IRGC was committed to respecting decisions by the country's national countercoronavirus task force to refrain from holding public gatherings. The IRGC "did not plan a public funeral for Asadollahi," he was quoted as saying by domestic media on March 24.

Iran is facing one of the world's worst outbreaks of the coronavirus, which comes as the country's economy has been devastated by tough U.S. sanctions.

Estimates of the number of Iranian who have died from the pandemic are much higher than the 1,934 deaths and 24,811 cases of infection thus far reported by the Health Ministry.

Authorities have also been blamed for the intensity of the outbreak due to their initial slow response and failure to quarantine the city of Qom, where the first two deaths from COVID-19 were reported on February 19 and from where the virus is thought to have spread throughout Iran.
L ondoners woke up today to a new reality of quiet streets and shuttered stores  but serious overcrowding on the London Underground brought anguished appeals from medics for people to stay home and save lives.

Above ground, the cityscape was one of orderly compliance with the near-lockdown announced by Boris Johnson last night as millions of people stayed at home and most businesses obediently closed their doors to customers.

Underlining the national emergency, Army trucks drove over Westminster Bridge and past the House of Commons to deliver urgent supplies to St Thomas Hospital.

Below ground there was confusion and anger as passengers struggled to maintain social-distancing on platforms crowded with people trying to get to work on a stripped-down Tube service.

Commuters onboard a busy train at Leytonstone central station / PA

Junior doctor Katie Sanderson, 32, spoke up for the thousands of medical staff working in wards of sick and dying patients by appealing: Please, please, please  think about what you can do to save lives.

She spoke of doctors being overwhelmed with tears after seeing pictures on social media of crowded Tube carriages, knowing it inevitably meant more infections and higher mortality.

We will look after your relatives with compassion, with care and love, Dr Sanderson told the BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

But I dont want to be overwhelmed with tears in the loo because somebody sends me a picture today of people queueing unsafely.

This is going to be hard enough as it is. What we need to do is make sure every person sits down before they leave the house, stops and thinks about it.

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Waterloo station looking empty PA Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

Dr Sanderson said she was now having anguished conversations with families about whether they wanted loved ones to die at home or in congested wards.

That could be your mother, she said. That could be you. There are health professionals in intensive care who are my age, 32.

Please, please, please think about what you can do to save lives.

Armed Police in Westminster talk to a jogger this morning / Jeremy Selwyn

Early indications were that public transport usage was down 25 per cent compared with yesterday as Londoners and commuters heeded the new government advice.

But Nurse Julia Harris, who commutes to Imperial College NHS Trust, said she had left earlier and changed her route to avoid crowds but still found the District line to be busy.

I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.

NHS sonographer Nicola Smith tweeted photographs of rammed carriages on her early commute: This is my Tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now Im risking my health just on the journey in?!

She issued a plea to the Mayor and the Prime Minister to sort it out. Sadiq Khan  put the Tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or Boris Johnson start policing whos getting on. Help me!

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A senior NHS nurse, with more than 30 years experience, said he had to miss two packed Victoria line trains to get to his hospital from Finsbury Park. He told the Standard: This morning I finally lost my patience with the very public the NHS are trying to protect.

Its pointless for a nurse like me and my NHS colleagues to continue to work tirelessly trying to care for people with the virus while so many of the public are putting themselves at risk unnecessarily. Please consider your families and the NHS you swear you love.

A commuter wears a mask as they travel on an underground train / Getty Images

Political arguments began to surface. The Evening Standard has learned that there was a division at yesterdays Cobra meeting that set the new rules, where Mr Khan and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon both urged for a ban on construction work, while the Government decided that major projects could continue subject to social-distancing measures.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said marshalling and checks may be needed to control the entry of passengers to the Tube and prioritise the NHS.

Responding to the images of packed carriages he said: Its not healthy. Wherever people can work from home. They should.

Michael Gove arrives in Downing Street / Getty Images

He told LBC the Government wanted to see more trains for essential workers: We hope to be able to ensure that we can support the Tube and London transport to run trains at a frequency in a way that people can practice social distance.

Mike Brown, commissioner of Transport for London, joined pleas for the Government to ban construction activity, saying that self-employed construction workers were the main cause of early-peak hour crowding on the Tube.

Boris Johnson: British public must stay at home

I am a little bit concerned about government advice, he told the Standard, adding that 40 per cent of construction workers were self-employed with no certainty of their wages.

Circle line traveller Jay Atkins, 27, said: Im a crane operator and my site is still left open with over 200 people working. Its really hard to be safe.

We are stuck really, if the sites dont close then we have to turn up to get paid. Ive got family and kids at home who are staying in and Im still out here bringing whatever I can catch home. Its really scary. Mr Atkins made clear he would rather be staying at home.

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The Government was hoping to rush out a support package for self-employed workers and those in the gig economy. It will be the fourth emergency package from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Mr Khan defended the reduction in public transport. He said 20 per cent of TfL staff were absent due to illness or self-isolation, making it impossible to run a full service.

In key developments:
A week after its in-state Connecticut rival Webster Bank detailed its initial steps for borrowers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, Peoples United Financial issued a statement of its own plans to support customers, mostly on a case-by-case basis in the early going as families and businesses come under financial hardship.

Bridgeport-based Peoples United has the largest customer base in Fairfield County at 26 cents of every dollar on deposit as of last June, and with more than $21 billion in deposits trails only Bank of America statewide. Peoples United recorded a $520 million profit last year.

The company pledged an unspecified amount of monetary support for relief efforts, and is posting updates online at www.peoples.com.

Peoples United did not make CEO Jack Barnes available Tuesday to discuss the companys initiatives, with a bank spokesperson not providing an immediate indication of any planned changes in the companys staffing on a temporary or permanent basis as a result of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Like other banks, Peoples United is focusing on drive-up service over the coming few weeks to reduce the chances of coronavirus transmission.

As a community-oriented bank, we have a responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of our customers, colleagues, and communities, especially during this time of uncertainty, the company quoted Barnes saying as part of a Tuesday press release sent to media outlets. We encourage our customers ... to discuss individualized approaches to reducing hardship they may be experiencing. Our goal is to provide increased flexibility so that we can collectively emerge from this crisis more united and stronger than ever.

Connecticuts banks have implemented differing policies in the two weeks since Gov. Ned Lamont declared a public health emergency, which among other measures put the state Department of Banking into action reaching out to the entities it regulates to clarify their responsibilities to consumers.

Webster Bank was among the first to issue a public statement of its initial steps, which included a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures; increased daily limits on debit card purchases; an allowance to withdraw up to $25,000 from certificates of deposit without penalty; and options to defer payments on varying personal and commercial loans, depending on need.

On Monday, Middletown-based Liberty Bank announced the creation of a $5 million fund that by months end will offer existing customers an interest-free credit line of up to $5,000, which can be paid off over two years after an initial six-month period.

For its part, Peoples United is offering forbearance on consumer loans for customers that can demonstrate the need, steering them to a hotline at 1-800-463-0416 to see if they qualify for relief. Peoples United is also offering extended payment terms to the end of May on business credit cards it offers.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
P harmacies are calling on the public to only buy medicines they need now as an "exceptionally high demand" could lead to delays for prescriptions during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Mark Lyonette, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said providers were doing everything possible to maintain the supply of medicines.

People stockpiling medicines in response to the coronavirus pandemic has lead to an increase in demand for all types of products.

But the chief executive of NPA, which represents independent community pharmacy professionals, said there are currently sufficient medicines to meet the demand in the UK.

Customers in a London Boots store were told they could only buy limited amounts of hand gel in one go. / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Lyonette warned the high demand for medicines could lead to longer waiting times while pharmacy staff process prescriptions.

He said: In most cases, pharmacies are currently able to meet need in a timely fashion, even if that means limiting the quantity of certain medicines sold to each customer.

Certain products, for example, hand sanitisers, paracetamol and thermometers, are only intermittently available.

Please only buy the medicines you need now for you and your family; this will help to avoid creating difficulties for others, so that everyone in your community gets the medicines they need.

There is no overall shortage of prescription medicines, but the current exceptionally high demand means that it may take longer than you are used to for pharmacy staff to process prescriptions.

Online pharmacies have had to limit orders or stop them altogether as they battle an "unprecedented" demand for their products.

The Lloyds Pharmacy website said they had temporarily paused online orders until March 30, as they deal with a high volume of demand for pharmacy products.

It asked customers to buy products only as and when needed to ensure pharmacies can continue to provide care for everyone over the coming months.

Lloyds Pharmacy has temporarily paused online orders. / PA Archive/PA Images

Echo Pharmacy, a repeat prescription service by Lloyds Pharmacy, told its customers it could take 72 hours longer than normal for their prescription to arrive.

The chief executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council said that pharmacy professionals were working under significant pressure during the coronavirus crisis.

Duncan Rudkin said there had been increasing numbers of reports that staff had been experiencing abuse, disorder and even violence from members of the public.

Abuse of pharmacy staff is never acceptable, he said in a statement.

Pharmacy is a key part of the national response and its workforce are entitled to be treated with the same respect as other key healthcare professionals.
Greta Thunberg says she may have contracted coronavirus and has self-isolated at home with her father.

The teenage climate activist said she appeared to have been infected along with her dad, actor Svante Thunberg.

Both began having symptoms after a recent train tour of Europe together and so have been in isolation for the last weeks, she said.

They were travelling in Europe before lockdowns were imposed by many governments across the continent in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.

In an Instagram post today, Thunberg said she suffered shivers, a sore throat, a cough and felt tired after travelling with her father from Brussels.

The Swedish 17-year-old said in a video published by the New Scientist today that her father had 'more intense symptoms' such as a fever and that she has now recovered.

In an Instagram post today, Greta Thunberg said she suffered shivers, a sore throat, a cough and felt tired after travelling with her father from Brussels

In a video published by the New Scientist today Thunberg said her father had 'more intense symptoms' such as a fever while she only had 'mild symptoms'

She said: 'For the last two weeks I have been isolated and then I got the virus.

'I came home from central Europe and then I isolated myself from the beginning, because I thought I might as well as I've been on trains...and so I don't want to put anyone else at risk.

'But then I started feeling some symptoms after a few days. But the important thing is that I didn't basically feel that ill.

'At the same time my father was feeling much more intense symptoms.'

Thunberg said in her Instagram post that she self-isolated in an apartment away from her sister and mother after noticing symptoms 10 days ago.

She added that she wanted to raise awareness about how easy it was to transmit the infection without realising.

Greta Thunberg's father Svante (pictured a press conference during the COP24 summit) was also said to be suffering from coronavirus that he contracted while touring Europe with his daughter

Teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg said she may have contracted coronavirus with her father while on trains in Europe.She is pictured during a Friday for Future event last December

The campaigner said: 'I didn't basically feel that I was ill. It could be that I was feeling unusually tired, I was coughing a bit.

'That is because I'm not in a risk group, I didn't get it very seriously. That also is very dangerous because you don't know you have it.

'If I wouldn't have been for my father getting it at the same time and much more intense than me, I might not even have noticed it that I was sick.'

'Many people don't feel symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms, but it can be contagious.

'That is something I want to communicate, that many people don't feel symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms, but it can still be contagious. So you have to really practice social distancing whether you feel ill or not.'

On social media the teenager called on young people to protect groups at greater risk from the disease.

Thunberg went on to explain that in Sweden patients cannot get tested for COVID-19 unless hospital treatment is needed.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg taking part in the rally ''Europe Climate Strike'' in Brussels earlier this month

She added: 'So of course I'm not 100 per cent sure I have got it. But it would have been very strange if it would have been something else, because it just fits very... especially with my father's reaction, it's exactly fitting with the symptoms.'

Coronavirus has been spreading rapidly across the globe since it came to light last December, reaching more than 160 countries and claiming more than 17,000 lives and with over 400,000 cases.

The youth climate strike movement that Thunberg inspired drew millions onto the streets around the world in 2019.

This year, however, faced with the emerging pandemic, young Fridays for Future climate activists have taken their weekly actions digital, using the Twitter hashtag #ClimateStrikeOnline.

Thunberg urged young climate activists, many now stuck at home as schools close, to help others through the COVID-19 epidemic and to keep up their activism in safe ways.
A MyBroadband reader recently got sick  with symptoms including a cough, a sore throat, fatigue, and a high temperature  after returning to Johannesburg from a trip to Cape Town.

Having travelled through two international airports, the reader was concerned that he may have been infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

He self-isolated after his symptoms emerged and contacted his local COVID-19 hotline to be tested.

The medical personnel responded and provided him with requests for information and documents which he was asked to complete.

This information and documentation were then sent to his doctor. A few hours later, he received a call from the doctors office with two questions:

Have you been out of the country in the past two weeks?

Have you knowingly been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus?

Having answered no to both questions, he was told that he didnt qualify to be tested.

He is currently recovering well and does not think he has the coronavirus. However, without having been tested, uncertainty and concerns remain.

The screenshots below show a part of the form which he had to complete to get tested.

Concerns about testing criteria

While it is understandable that coronavirus testing must be restricted because of resource constraints, the testing criteria has raised concerns about under-reporting of community-based infections.

Wits School of Governance chair Professor Alex van den Heever said the bias in the testing process is creating a problem.

Theyve been turning people away if they didnt fit the criteria. I believe that is a serious error of judgement, he said.

We are essentially turning a blind eye to possible community-based infections, van den Heever said.

Van den Heever said if we start seeing community-based infections of 100 to 200 per day, we would probably have to escalate the prevention strategy.

Pro-active testing needed

The World Health Organisations top emergency expert Dr Mike Ryan has said national lockdowns are not enough to effectively fight the coronavirus.

What we really need to focus on is finding those who are sick, those who have the virus, and isolate them, find their contacts, and isolate them, he said.

This echoes the call from the World Health Organisation for all countries to test each suspected case of the virus.

He highlighted that a fast reaction is needed to fight the virus and cautioned against trying to be right before you move.

Speed trumps perfection. Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management, he said.

The problem in society we have at the moment is everyone is afraid of making a mistake  everyone is afraid of the consequence of error. But the greatest error is not to move.

Ryan added that strong public health measures must be put in place to ensure the virus outbreak does not continue after restrictions are lifted.
DUNSTABLE (dpa-AFX) - Whitbread expects its financial performance for the year ended 27 February 2020 to be in-line with expectations. However, trading in the period subsequent to the year-end has been materially adversely impacted by COVID-19. The company expects to begin the process of temporarily closing all Premier Inn hotels in the UK with immediate effect. Its hotels in Germany will also close. The company noted that it is in discussions with the UK Government regarding the use of some hotels, in locations near hospitals, to support front-line key workers. The Board has decided not to declare a dividend for the full year fiscal year 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
NICOSIA, March 23 (Reuters) - Cyprus on Monday announced a lockdown on the island until April 13 to fight of the spread of coronavirus, saying the movement of people was banned until then unless absolutely necessary.

"We are truly at war, and this isn't won by enlisting our children to give or take lives by means of arms," Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in an address. "Its a war which can only be won if we batten down the hatches."

Cyprus has reported 116 cases of coronavirus, including 21 new cases confirmed on Monday. The island had effectively sealed its borders with a widespread ban on civilian air traffic which came into effect on March 21. (Reporting By Michele Kambas)
Zarif: US impeding global fight against COVID-19

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 23, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message praised the global campaign for lifting sanctions, saying the US is impeding the international fight against coronavirus.

"Iranian people appreciate the growing global campaign of government & civil society leaders calling for the lifting of illegal U.S. sanctions," Zarif wrote on his Twitter account.

He added: "U.S. is NOT listening, impeding global fight against #COVID19."

"The ONLY remedy: DEFY U.S. mass punishment," Zarif noted.

"MORAL & PRAGMATIC imperative."

Earlier in an interview with Brazilian media 'Folha de S.Paulo', Iranian top diplomat said the US Medical Terrorism impeded Iran's effective reaction against the coronavirus pandemic.

The US maximum pressure against Iran blocks exports "so, we have fewer resources for investment", he added.

Iran is a rich country but due to sanctions we do not have the necessary resources to serve affected people, he noted.

It makes no difference for banking restrictions whether you want to buy humanitarian goods or not, Zarif said, in reference to the cut-off link of SWIFT Interbank Financial Telecom of Central Bank of Iran by the US Department of Treasury.

Moreover, due to the US sanctions, European manufactures of medical equipment do not maintain trade with Iran, he said, adding that the US imposes economic and medical sanctions against Iran in different shapes.

Zarif said that the US sanctions on Iran amount to Crimes Against Humanity.

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E mergency legislation designed to tackle the coronavirus outbreak that includes measures never before seen in peace time in the UK has cleared the House of Commons.

The bill, which will now go before the Lords on Tuesday, gives the government wide-ranging powers unlike any other legislation in recent times.

Measures outlined in the the plans include police being given powers to force people with Covid-19 symptoms to isolate and workers being able to claim sick pay more quickly.

The bills passage through the Commons on Monday night came after Boris Johnson announced a lockdown of the UK for three weeks to combat the spread of the illness.

Boris Johnson: British public must stay at home

It completed all its stages through the Commons in one day without opposition MPs forcing any votes after Number 10 offered the concession that it would be reviewed every six months.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier stressed the powers in the bill would only be used "when strictly necessary" and would remain in force only for as long as required.

The 329-page Coronavirus Bill enables the action to increase the available health and social care workforce and ease the burden on frontline staff and slow the spread of the virus.

The legislation, which was published last Thursday, set out powers for the police to detain people suspected of having coronavirus and send them to be tested. People who fail to do so could be fined up to 1,000.

The bill will also allow employers to reclaim statutory sick pay funds from HMRC to help with the burden of increased staff absence due to the outbreak of the killer illness.

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

And for workers it will scrap the three-day waiting period so they can receive payment from the day they stop working.

It also sets out powers for ministers to write port operators requiring their operation be suspended and for events or gatherings to be cancelled.

Food suppliers would also have to provide information to the appropriate authority if all or part of a food supply chain is being disrupted or is at risk of disruption.

The legislation, which is time-limited for two years, also modifies current laws to enable coroners to conduct an inquest without a jury for anyone who dies of Covid-19.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK surged by 967 to 6,650 on Monday.

The national death toll also jumped to 336, with 55 new cases confirmed.

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Addressing the nation, Prime Minister Mr Johnson earlier said people will now only be allowed to leave their homes for very limited purposes and that police will have the power to help to enforce the latest restrictions.

People must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, for exercise but only once a day, any medical need and travel to work but only if essential.

Shops selling non-essential goods will also be closed and gatherings in public of more than two people who do not live together are being prohibited.

Other premises including libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms, and places of worship must also shut.

Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed, with police being handed the power to step in and enforce the new measures.

Mr Johnson said people had been asked to stay at home during this pandemic: "And though huge numbers are complying - and I thank you all - the time has now come for us all to do more.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:05:37|Editor: yan

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WINDHOEK, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Namibia announced a blanket ban of all in-and-outward flights from all countries with immediate effect in a move to curtail the further spread of COVID19 in the country.

The Namibian government has also instituted a total lockdown, closing six border entry points and declared that they will no longer allow any none Namibians to enter the country until after 30 days.

The Namibian President Hage Geingob and his Minister of Health Kalumbi Shangula confirmed the lockdown starting on Tuesday.

"Upon a declaration of the state of emergency we banned flights from three countries but we have now extended these to affect flights from all countries. We are also urging people to stay away from crowded places including bars and shebeens and law enforcement will assist in this," Shangula said.

The Namibian minister said all private hospitals and doctors should report all cases of suspected COVID-19 to the Ministry of Health to deal with.

Speaking at the same press briefing Namibian President said he has also appointed former Minister of Health Bernard Haufiku as the focal point person on COVID-1.

"From now onwards it is now all out war as we put measures to protect our citizens," Geingob said.

Namibia has recorded six COVID-19 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.
MAPUTO  Mozambican troops battled Islamist insurgents in a northern town on Monday close to billion-dollar gas projects being developed by Exxon Mobil and Total, the authorities said.

The general commander of the Mozambiques police, Bernardino Rafael, said the insurgents had attacked the town, Mocimboa da Praia, and an army barracks there before dawn, wounding dozens of people.

Mocimboa da Praia is just south of the Afungi Peninsula, where gas projects worth $60 billion are located.

The town is strategically important to the projects. Until recently it was the location of the main airport for workers traveling to the site, before a landing strip was built at Afungi itself. And its port is used for some cargo deliveries for the projects.
Coronavirus pandemic has brought Lithuania under quarantine. But volunteers of Vilnius, as well as multiple entrepreneurs and businesses have come together to help the doctors and people in risk groups, serving as an example of what a united city can do to help those in need.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Lithuanian government has imposed quarantine  and people in the capital Vilnius reacted with solidarity and speed. In the first week of quarantine thousands of volunteers offered their help, entrepreneurs have raised large sums for medical equipment using just online messaging, and telecommunications companies provided resources to coordinate the joint effort. The ongoing efforts of Vilnius municipality to build a tech-savvy and focused community of citizens also proved to be crucial in the face of crisis.

The force that is uniting the biggest numbers of volunteers is the municipality-inspired group Gedimino Legionas (Gediminas Legion) that is raising and coordinating initiatives of direct support. The name of the group refers to Gediminas, who was one of the most important rulers of Lithuania, the founder of Vilnius in the 14th century and the symbol of its historical strength. Since then the city went through many challenges and crises, from fires and enemy onslaughts in the 16-18th centuries to Soviet occupation in the 20th century.

Gedimino Legionas was born last year, as an initiative to resist a potential hybrid war by hunting down fake news, applying ones IT or language skills or any other personal abilities. While last years events were just a test, this time, in the face of the pandemic, the Legion is actually using everything it was built to do. Volunteers are joining into groups and are taking up any tasks that they can  such as taking care of senior citizens by helping them with shopping for food and medicine. Seniors are informed about the need to stay at home through different communication channels: posters, flyers, and even drones.

Providing help to overloaded medical staff, volunteers of Gedimino Legionas are raising funds for protective equipment or respirators or volunteering to walk dogs of doctors and nurses. Gedimino Legionas constantly refreshes the information on what needs to be done. The legion has already attracted more than 3000 volunteers and this number grows every day.

It is not the only effort of volunteer coordination. Competing telecommunications providers Telia, Bite and Tele2 have joined other businesses and public institutions in organizing the national volunteer coordination center Strong Together. Both volunteers and help-seekers can register through the website. Then the coordination team matches offers and requests, such as food aid to those who need it or being a courier with ones own car.

When it comes to individual entrepreneurs and businesses, one of the first responders was serial entrepreneur Vladas Lasas, who offered to organize a hackathon Hack the Crisis. This virtual hackathon is taking place in Vilnius this weekend. Participants of the three-day event will generate innovative solutions for healthcare, emergency response, economy and other spheres of life affected by quarantine. Volunteers from the Lithuanian government, corporates, and startup community are helping to coordinate the activities.

Many businesses direct their efforts towards providing support for doctors and medical staff as healthcare institutions are experiencing overload and doctors lack surgical masks and equipment. In a matter of hours entrepreneurs raised around EUR 600,000 through online communication. Well-known journalists and the tech community joined the fundraising efforts using online messaging, social media posts and specially created websites. Fundraising efforts still continue and the funds are constantly increasing.

Larger businesses extended an offer of free internet services to all medical facilities, while real estate developers MG Baltic Group purchased and donated the much-needed lung ventilation equipment to Vilnius city medical facilities.

There are many more businesses that donate their products or adapt production lines to the new situation. Distilleries and chemical plants are using their lines to produce disinfectants. Popular restaurants are providing free food for medical staff, servicemen, volunteers, and isolated people. Fashionable clothing designer Robertas Kalinkinas is producing substitute surgical masks for doctors lacking professional protective equipment.

All the initiatives of the Vilnius business community are impossible to list. New ideas are brought forward every day. The city demonstrates the same resistance to a crisis that it has proved repeatedly throughout its history, and shows the world what a strong community can do in the face of crisis.
As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the NHS are urging people to frequently wash their hands.

Like the majority of cold and flu bugs, health experts state that the virus is spread through droplets transmitted into the air from coughing and sneezing, which people nearby can take in through their nose, mouth or eyes.

However, if the droplets land on surfaces and are picked up on the hands of others, it can spread further.

As a result, health experts say that frequent hand-washing is the most effective means of prevention with both Public Health England and Health Secretary Matt Hancock recommending that people wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds at a time to curb the spread of germs.

While vigorous hand-washing and using harsh sanitisers are both vital in reducing the spread of the virus, they can have an adverse effect on the skin, leaving hands feeling dry, cracked and sore.

According to Dr Susan Mayou, a consultant dermatologist at the Cadogan Clinic, this is because over time, excessive washing depletes the skins natural protective barrier.

Repetitive hand-washing can damage the integrity of the skin as a barrier, stripping away natural oils and causing hands to become dry, sore and irritated, Dr Mayou says.

If you have damaged the skin it becomes less effective as a barrier against infection so moisturising is essential - but definitely dont stop the hand-washing!

Dr Adam Friedmann, a consultant dermatologist and clinical lead at The Harley Street Dermatology Clinic, adds that many people who are adhering to the NHSs advice will experience irritant contact eczema - an eczema caused by a chemical, such as soap, irritating the skin.

So what simple things can we do to reduce irritation? Here is a dermatologists guide to looking after your hands during the coronavirus crisis.

Use an anti-microbial hand wash

Both Dr Mayou and Dr Friedmann recommend using a moisturising cleanser such as Dermol 500 to wash your hands instead of traditional soap as it can help to soften and hydrate the skin, especially when youre suffering from conditions such as eczema or dermatitis.

While soothing, the product is an antimicrobial emollient meaning it kills microorganisms and stops their growth.

Alternatively, Dr Mayou suggests looking out for products that contain ingredients such as shea butter and aloe vera.

Invest in fragrance-free hand creams and moisturising mask

After drying your hands or the application of hand-sanitising gel, Dr Friedmann says you should apply a generous layer of hand cream to help keep them nourished, soothe any dry areas and minimise skin irritation. Dr Mayou adds that creams are much more effective than lotions, with Aveeno, Neutrogena, CeraVe and Cetraben among some of her favourite purse-friendly and effective options.

If youre looking for a more intense hit of hydration, hand masks are a great treatment method for concentrating ingredients on your digits.

Hand masks work just like face masks and while some consist of a thick cream that you apply to the backs of your hands others come in ready-made gloves that you leave on for a while (usually around 10-20 minutes) as the product soaks in and works its moisturising magic. Some of our top picks are Aveenos nourishing hand mask and Patchologys Perfect Ten self-warming hand mask.

Wear gloves

Wearing gloves will provide an added layer of protection and are particularly beneficial when cleaning, Dr Mayou explains.

Many household cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that can be damaging to the skin, causing an irritant dermatitis, she says, while Dr Friedmann adds that rubber gloves should only be worn for short periods as they may exacerbate skin conditions.

The trouble with wearing non-breathable gloves is that sweat will build up and this can actually worsen the situation as sweat can be quite an irritant, he points out.

Dr Mayou adds that wearing gloves outside will give a layer of protection against the elements, which can also be drying to the skin, while applying a thick layer of hand cream at night with cotton gloves before bed can help nourish and repair skin.

Dry your hands properly

In addition to frequent washing, Dr Friedmann says not drying your hands properly can have a drying effect on skin as it strips the skins natural oils when it evaporates.

Dr Mayou agrees, adding that drying your hands thoroughly is also important in reducing the transmission of bacteria and viruses, which is more likely to occur from wet skin.

Single use paper hand towels are more hygienic than electric hand dryers in reducing the risk of transmitting viruses. If using a hand dryer, ensure hands are dried thoroughly - do not finish the drying process by wiping hands on jeans or clothing as these may not be clean and may transfer infection back onto the hands, Dr Mayou says.

In the home, cloth hand towels should be changed frequently, especially if used by several people, to prevent transmission of infection.

Seek expert help

If your hands are inflamed, itchy, swollen or painful and showing no signs of improvement, Dr Mayou suggests it could be time to seek advice from a dermatologist for treatment and to determine if there is an underlying cause.

Dr Friedmann adds that people should seek help the moment that the hand condition is making life uncomfortable or unbearable.

We can undertake tests to ascertain whether this is an allergy or an irritant eczema and give treatment, he says.
A branch of the Foursquare Gospel Church has announced a four-day prophetic power crusade. The theme of the crusade is: Breaking the Yoke of Witchcraft. The prophetic service will take place in Nsukka in Southern Nigeria from April 23 to 26 2020.

Authorities in Nigeria should be concerned about this religious service because it has the potential of spreading misinformation and panic in the community. This event is happening at a time of so much fear over nature and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of infections in Nigeria has continued to rise every day and people are desperately looking for ways and means of containing the spread of the virus. At this time, many people are vulnerable, gullible and susceptible to taking any measures including witch-hunting to stay safe, healthy and alive. Existing research has shown that witchcraft allegations happen more during a time of social stress and tension.

And COVID-19 has occasioned so much tension in the communities. It has provided a breeding ground for witchcraft imputation and witch-hunting. The organisers of this church service want to exploit the pervasive fear and tension across the country.

They would get the people to buy into spiritual and supernatural causation of the disease, and reinforce occult fears and anxieties. This church service is a mechanism to mine the uncertainty and anxiety in society. It has the potential of inciting hatred and violence and getting the church members to use the narratives of witchcraft to make sense of the spread of the pandemic.

Authorities in Nigeria should take appropriate measures to call the organizers of this prophetic power crusade to order.
The International Monetary Fund will shortly disburse $400 million to support Tunisia in its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nizar Yaich on a private radio station. This sum of money will be disbursed in the coming two to three weeks, he added.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a teleconference with G20 on Monday: We will massively step up emergency finance as nearly 80 countries are requesting our help.

We are working closely with the other international financial institutions to provide a strong coordinated response, she added.

The pandemic has so far affected 114 people in Tunisia (74 imported cases and 39 domestic) and killed three, according to the Health Ministry. All the people who had returned to Tunisia from abroad had been quarantined and 10,514 are still under regular medical supervision.

To curb the fast spreading of the disease, authorities have imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:56:17|Editor: huaxia

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TAIPEI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A French citizen studying in Taiwan was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Tuesday evening.

The patient, a man in his 30s, had contacts with a previously confirmed patient, a French tourist who arrived in Taiwan on March 12 and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 18, the agency said in a press release.

The latest patient developed a fever and cough on March 20 and has received treatment in an isolation ward, according to the release.

The case raised the total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan to 216.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Sunday that the country has two confirmed positive cases of coronavirus COVID-19, and both are in mandatory self-isolation at home and are recovering.

The first confirmed positive case came via the UK-Miami to the island and the second was a student returning from New York.

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) over the weekend collected forms that were filled in by incoming passengers with residency on Sint Maarten, and an overview of the information was provided to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Monday.

These were the last flights to bring Sint Maarten residents back home before the closure of the countrys airspace on Sunday midnight for incoming passengers.

These persons had to register with CPS and as such have done so.

Totals as of March 20 March 23

Self-quarantined 42 322

Self-isolation 40 57

Suspected cases 13 22

Positive 1 2

Negative 9 12

Pending 3 8

The numbers on Friday, March 20 were as of 8.00 pm and by March 23 increased to final totals up to that day. The number of self-quarantined persons are mainly returning residents who have to stay confined at home.

The spike from 42 to 322 comes from all those returning over the weekend who have been compliant and registered with CPS to be monitored, and we appreciate their compliance.

The self-isolation cases are those who have dialed 914 as a result of the public awareness campaign and are being monitored for symptoms.

The suspected cases are a subset of the self-isolation cases (13 of the 40 persons) by Friday (22 of the 57 persons) by Monday. Tests are being run by Institute Pasteur in Guadeloupe and we are currently awaiting tests on eight patients.

We ask the community to remain vigilant with hygiene practices throughout the day, remain indoors at home as much as possible.

Those that returned from abroad, while CPS has access to the flight manifest, it would be a gesture of good faith to call, register and email the form to CPS  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - in order to be monitored even if you have no symptoms as this time or call 914 for more information, Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs said on Monday.
THE Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) has withdrawn a murder case facing six students of Katoro Islamic Secondary School charged with murdering a Form Four student, it has been disclosed.

Acting Kagera Regional Officer-in charge for public prosecutions, Ms Chema Maswi, told the Daily News that the DPP had entered a nolle prosequi (to be unwilling to pursue) and the six students were discharged on Friday.

She identified the students as Usama Ramadhan (17), Sharifu Uledi (19), Hussein Mussa (20), Abdallah Juma (19), Sharif Amri (19) and Fahad Abdulaziz (20) - all of them being students of Katoro Islamic Secondary School.

However, she said, two other co-accused, including a teacher and a security guard were being charged in a PI case No 18/2019.

She named them as Badru Issa Tibagilirwage (27), a security guard and Majaliwa Abdu (35), a teacher.

Earlier, State Attorney Suzan Masule told the court that the two accused together with six other accused jointly murdered Muddy Mswadiku Said (19), who was a Form Four student at Katoro Islamic Secondary School.

The offence was allegedly committed on April 14, last year. An entry of nolle prosequi may be made at any time after charges are brought and before a verdict is returned or a plea entered.

On March 6, last year High Court Judge Lameck Mlacha convicted Respicius Patrick Mutazangira (51), a teacher from Kibeta Primary School in Bukoba Municipal Council of the murder of a Standard Five pupil and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Two teachers - Mutazangira and Herieth Gerald (47) were facing a murder case PI 56/2018 for murdering Sperius Eradius (14), who was a Standard Five pupil at Kibeta Primary School.

The offence was committed on August 27, 2018. Judge Mlacha noted that Mutazangira acted with malice aforethought punishing Eradius using a piece of firewood and a compass to force him to confess to have stolen Herieths wallet.

The words he uttered while punishing the pupil in Kiswahili are Ngoja niwaoneshe nguvu ya jiwe and Nitakuwekea alama ya kudumu utakayowaonesha wajukuu wako loosely translated as Let me show you the power of stone and I will put a mark on your body which you will show your grandchildren.

Judge Mlacha noted that the remarks clearly indicated that he had the intention to kill the pupil.
Health workers gathered outside the Hospital Clinic joining applause by police officers and residents in support of the medical staff that are working on the COVID-19 virus outbreak in Barcelona, Spain on Monday. Read more

MADRID  Spain started storing bodies in an ice rink converted to a makeshift morgue Tuesday, as coronavirus deaths mounted there and around the world, with the World Health Organization warning the pandemic was still in a nascent stage with infections expected to increase considerably.

Some 85% of new infections came from Europe and the United States, according to the WHO, with Spain registering a record daily increase of 6,584 new infections and a leap of 500 in the death toll to 2,696.

A Japanese TV network reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would propose postponing the upcoming Tokyo Olympics by a year because of the outbreak.

In Madrid, vans driven by workers in protective suits and masks brought bodies to the Palacio de Hielo  Ice Palace  mall to store at its indoor skating rink until they can be buried or cremated after other facilities became overwhelmed.

The Spanish capital last week adapted two hotels to serve as emergency hospitals to help with the overflow of COVID-19 patients. It plans to convert five more, and Madrid's hotel association has offered a total of 40 of its buildings to be used. The city has also set up a field hospital in the Ifema trade fair complex, not far from the makeshift Ice Palace morgue.

As health care workers worked around the clock, they also struggled with scarce supplies.

"All over the country, you see examples of workers inventing homemade suits using plastics," Olga Mediano, a lung specialist at a hospital in Guadalajara, a city east of Madrid, told The Associated Press.

"The protective suits are fundamental because without health workers we won't be able to do anything."

More than 387,000 people worldwide have been infected by the new coronavirus and more than 16,700 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. More than 101,000 people have recovered, including more than 60,000 in China.

Japan's NHK television reported that Abe will propose a one-year postponement for the Tokyo Olympics during talks with IOC President Thomas Bach. Abe said a postponement is unavoidable if the 2020 Games cannot be held in a complete manner amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Abe held telephone talks with Bach after the IOC said it would make a decision on the Tokyo Games over the next four weeks.

In Geneva, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris cited a "glimmer of hope" in hard-hit Italy after two days of slight declines in the number of new cases and deaths, while cautioning it's "early days yet"  and the trend needed to be monitored.

In another positive sign, Chinese authorities said they would finally end a two-month lockdown in hard-hit Hubei province where the coronavirus outbreak first began.

Still, Harris said the scope of the global outbreak was "enormous" and that cases were expected to increase "considerably."

"Just to put it in proportion: It took two years in the worst Ebola outbreak we ever had, the West African outbreak, to reach 11,000 deaths," Harris said.

In a sign of hope, Chinese authorities said they would finally end a two-month lockdown in hard-hit Hubei province where the coronavirus outbreak first began, while nations in Europe, North America and elsewhere pressed harder to enforce the stay-at-home restrictions placed on 1.5 billion people worldwide.

In the U.S., the government was expected to pass a $2 trillion spending plan that would prop up businesses, which has been stalled for days.

There have been more than 46,000 infections and 530 deaths in the U.S. as the virus continues to spread.

In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hot spots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people. The mayor warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor announced plans to convert a New York City convention center into a hospital.

In Italy, Spain and France, the pandemic has already pushed national health systems to their breaking points.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country. Officials said Monday the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier.

Amid the spiking numbers in Spain, relatives of elderly people and retirement homes' workers are expressing growing concern about the situation in retirement homes across Spain, especially in Madrid.

"We live in anguish, we have no information whatsoever," said Esther Navarro, whose 97-year-old mother with Alzheimer is at the Residencia Usera in Madrid where some of the cases have been identified.

Spanish prosecutors are launching a judicial probe after Spanish army troops disinfecting elderly nursing homes discovered elderly people living among death bodies of those who had allegedly contracted the new coronavirus.

Confusion rippled through Britain on the first morning after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week halt to all nonessential activity. The government has told most stores to close, banned gatherings of three or more people and said everyone apart from essential workers should leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise. But photos showed crowded trains Tuesday on some London subway lines.

I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now," London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted. "Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.

Asian stock markets reacted positively Tuesday, markets in Japan and South Korea posting significant gains after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis.

The move toward lockdowns has been influenced by the success of such measures in China, where the virus was first found late last year in the central city of Wuhan. China barred people from leaving or entering the city on Jan. 23, and soon expanded that to cover most of Hubei province, home to 70 million people.

On Tuesday, after more than a week in which China said the vast majority of new virus cases were imported from abroad, authorities said the restrictions in Hubei would end. People cleared by health authorities would be able to leave the province after midnight. Wuhan itself will remain locked down until April 8.

In contrast to other European nations, German health authorities offered some hope that the country has flattened the exponential spread of the virus, which has already infected nearly 30,000. Chancellor Angela Merkels government approved a massive new aid package to cushion the economic fallout of the outbreak, offering more than 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) to tide small companies and entrepreneurs through closures and to pump capital into bigger companies.
Congress on Tuesday kept up the attack on the Modi governments handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, targeting it on reports of shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE) for doctors treating patients of the contagious disease and demanding the ouster of Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

I am feeling sad, because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and should have been much better prepared, Rahul said on Twitter reacting to a Haryana-based doctors complaint on social media about shortage of masks and gloves at a district hospital.

Congress leaders said Rahul had flagged the grave nature of the COVID-19 outbreak way back on February 12 and accused the Modi government of not taking the former Congress Presidents advise seriously.

Respected Prime Minister, WHO's advice 1. Ventilator 2. Surgical Mask, why did the Indian government allow the export of all these things till March 19, instead of keeping sufficient stock? Which kind of forces have encouraged these games? Isn't this a criminal conspiracy, Rahul had asked.

Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the Modi government of putting the lives of doctors, nurses and health workers leading the fight against Covid-19 into jeopardy.

Commerce Minister permitted export of Masks, Coveralls, Ventilators until 19th March as India faced scarcity. When will this equipment be available now? Please tell a time frame. Also, what should the doctors, nurses and health professionals do in the interregnum period, Surjewala asked.

In an open letter, Rahul also appealed to the people to follow strict isolation to flatten the curve of the spread of the Covid-19.

I strongly appeal to each of you to follow strict social isolation and distancing measures. Containing the virus requires us to minimise our contact with people as much as possible, Rahul said in the letter in English and Malayalam, targeted at his constituents in Wayanad Parliamentary constituency.

Rahul said global public health experts have warned that a large number of cases remain undetected in India and could spread in the absence of containment measures.

The fight against the epidemic, he said, involved making urgent lifestyle changes and noted that the next 3-4 weeks were crucial for India.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANOTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

(Alesund, 23 March 2020) Hofseth BioCare ASA ("HBC" or the "Company") announces that it has completed a private placement towards Chief Science Officer Dr. Bomi Framroze, through issuance of 3,253,370 new shares, at a price per share of NOK 6.73, which is 2% above the closing price on 20 Friday 2020 (the "Private Placement"). The Private Placement consequently raises approximately NOK 21.9 million in gross proceeds to the Company.

The Private Placement is resolved by the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") based on the authorization granted the Board by the general meeting of the Company on 30 August 2019, registered on 5 September 2019.

The Company considers the Private Placement beneficial in two respects. Bomi Framroze is an important member of the management of the Company, with competence and experience the Company requires in order to pursue stated strategies and achieve set targets. When Framroze is given the opportunity to subscribe for shares in the Company through the Private Placement, this is in accordance with the Company's practice in terms of incentivizing employees and other contributors to the Company's success. Secondly, the Private Placement will provide the Company with new capital to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, and which will also serve to strengthen the Company's balance sheet.

Dr Bomi Framroze is a discovery research scientist with over 30 years of experience and more than 60 global patents and publications. His expertise in protein and enzyme science has been key to driving HBCs product development and R&D. Central to the production of HBCs products is a proprietary enzyme mix developed by Dr Framroze. When added to fish off-cuts (the remains of the fish after filleting) and mixed with water the enzyme hydrolysis cuts the protein into peptides (protein subunits), leaving the oil and bones untouched producing unprocessed, natural fish oil (OmeGo) and natural, marine collagen/calcium (CalGo). The peptides are then spray dried creating a powder (ProGo) of a multitude of peptides with varying biological effects. These effects are being systematically researched within HBCs R&D programme.



Under Dr Framroze, key HBC R&D successes include the successful completion of the clinical trial programme of ProGo for the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), preclinical work in collaboration with Stanford University with ProGo for the treatment of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a serious illness seen in preterm infants, and in vitro data in a phenotype of asthma where a component of the salmon oil has demonstrated a marked anti-inflammatory effect.



The clinical trial work of ProGo in IDA has resulted in both the granting of global patents for this clinical benefit and a label application to Health Canada, which is currently under review. If granted, HBC will be the first nutraceutical company to have a non-iron containing claim for the correction and prevention of IDA. Dr Framrozes ongoing work has also identified a fraction of the bioactive peptides that drive much of the benefit in IDA. This provides the potential for HBC to encapsulate the peptides and move more towards a pharmaceutical rather than nutraceutical product.



The ongoing research work assessing the benefit of the ProGo peptides in gastrointestinal protection has demonstrated significant activity in a proprietary NEC animal model and work continues to identify the bioactive fraction of peptides driving this benefit. This could potentially enable enhanced dosing and further augmentation of the marked anti-inflammatory effect seen to date. Preclinical work continues in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and, as for NEC, HBC's ultimate aim is to develop the bioactive peptides as a pharmaceutical agent.

Story continues

The Board is of the opinion that the Private Placement complies with the equal treatment obligations under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and Oslo Brs' Circular no. 2/2014, in particular due to the fact that the Private Placement is directed towards a particular individual who holds a very important position in the Company and that his recent success and continued work on the projects described above is expected to be valuable for the Company and all its stakeholders. Further, the Private Placement involves a relatively limited dilution of existing shareholders, which the Board considers are justifiable when taking into account the expected contribution to the long-term success of the Company that the continued services of Bomi Framroze will contribute to. On this basis, the Board has considered the Private Placement to be in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders. As a consequence of the Private Placement structure, the shareholders' preferential rights were deviated from.

For the same reasons the Company will not carry out a repair issue directed towards shareholders that are not offered to participate in the Private Placement.

The new shares allocated in the Private Placement will be settled through cash payment, and the new shares shall be delivered as soon as practicable after full payment has been received and the new shares have been registered.

Following completion of the Private Placement, Bomi Framroze will directly and indirectly hold 5,000,000 shares in the Company.

Following registration of the new share capital pertaining to the Private Placement, the Company will have 329,073,881 shares outstanding, each with a par value of NOK 1.

For further information, please contact:

Roger Hofseth, CEO of Hofseth BioCare ASA

Phone: +47 951 47 941

E-mail: rh@hofseth-as.no

James Berger, Head of Investor Relations & Strategy at Hofseth BioCare ASA

Phone: +41 799501034

E-mail: jb@hofsethbiocare.no

About Hofseth BioCare ASA:

HBC is a Norwegian biotech company that develops high-value ingredients and finished products from Norwegian salmon off-cuts. Ingredients are further developed into discovery and pre-clinical studies in multiple clinics and university research labs in several countries. Lead clinical and pre-clinical candidates are development towards a Gastro-Intestinal (GI) Protective Medical Food, Medical Food to help treat age-related Sarcopenia, and future pharmaceutical clinical studies on the treatment of Anemia and NEC-IBS with Salmon Protein Hydrolysate fractions. The company is founded on the core values of sustainability, traceability and optimal utilization of natural resources. Through an innovative hydrolysis technology, HBC can preserve the quality of lipids, proteins and calcium from fresh salmon off-cuts and trimmings.

Hofseth BioCare's headquarters are in Alesund, Norway with branches in Oslo, Chicago, Mumbai, Menlo Park and Tokyo. HBC is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange Axess list with ticker "HBC". More information about Hofseth BioCare at www.hofsethbiocare.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
The coronavirus pandemic has reached Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site, an official source said on Tuesday.

Norman Wray, president of the Galapagos Government Council, told the state EcuadorTV channel that tests results on Monday established that four people had contracted the COVID-19 disease.

The four permanent residents of the archipelago had returned to the islands from the port of Guayaquil, the worst affected city in Ecuador with more than half of its near 1,000 confirmed cases.

The archipelago of volcanic islands lies just over 900 kilometers to the west of Ecuador.

English naturalist, biologist and geologist Charles Darwin developed his Theory of Evolution after studying endemic species in the Galapagos islands.

More than 30,000 people live on the islands, which have a limited medical infrastructure.

A week ago, the government ordered a total ban on visitors to the islands, where measures are already in place to restrict the movement of people.

In 2019, more than 270,000 people visited the Galapagos islands, including many from countries that have been badly affected by the coronavirus, such as France, Spain and the United States.

Without giving more details, Wray said there was "still a large number of people who went to Galapagos more than 14 days ago who haven't been able to leave," both foreigners and Ecuadorans.

Ecuador, one of the worst coronavirus-affected countries in Latin America, has taken a number of steps to combat the spread of the disease, including closing its borders, nighttime curfews, restrictions on the circulation of vehicles, a closure of schools and universities, a lockdown, and a state of exception.

The infected people in the Galapagos will undergo health protocols before being transferred to the mainland, the regional government said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SoftBank plans $41 billion of asset sales to expand buyback and cut debt A journalist raises her hand to ask a question to Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son during a news conference in Tokyo

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> plans to raise as much as $41 billion to buy back shares and reduce debt in an unprecedented move to restore investor confidence as a financial market rout pummels its shares and its portfolio companies.

The Japanese tech conglomerate's plans come as it contends with a growing financial squeeze on the company and its $100 billion Vision Fund, which has recorded two consecutive quarters of losses after its tech bets fell short, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic's impact on the global economy.

Its shares jumped 19% for their biggest daily gain in nearly 12 years after the pledge to sell or monetise up to 4.5 trillion yen ($41 billion) of assets to buy back 2 trillion yen of its shares in addition to a buyback of up to 500 billion yen announced earlier this month.

The buyback tops the $20 billion of purchases sought by activist investor Elliott Management, which has put pressure on SoftBank to improve shareholder returns, and will retire 45% of the group's shares.

The asset sale will be executed over the next four quarters.

"This will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet while significantly reducing debt," Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said in a company statement without specifying what will be sold.

SoftBank's share price has been hammered by investor scepticism over the outlook for Son's bets on start-ups such as WeWork and Uber <UBER.N>.

Its plans to fund the initial 500 billion yen buyback with debt was received negatively by analysts and investors who were concerned by Son's willingness to leverage the company.

Beyond the share buyback, proceeds will be used for repaying debt, buying back bonds and boosting cash reserves, reflecting Son's "firm and unwavering confidence" in the business, the company said in the statement.

ASSET SALES

Given the current market fragility, SoftBank may look to monetise its stakes in the merged Sprint <S.N> and T-Mobile US <TMUS.O> or Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba <BABA.N>, said Redex Holdings analyst Kirk Boodry.

Story continues

Son previously offloaded part of the stake in Alibaba, of which SoftBank owns 25%, in a complicated transaction ahead of the 2016 purchase of chip designer Arm.

Monday's announcement comes after SoftBank's conglomerate discount - the difference between its market capitalisation and the value of its assets - yawned to a record 73% last week.

"That's a wake-up call that investors are really worried," Boodry said, overriding Son's previous reticence to slim the portfolio.

High on the list of pressing problems is a fight brewing over a major soured bet on co-working start-up WeWork, with SoftBank considering pulling out of a $3 billion bid to buy additional shares.

REDUCED OPTIONS

SoftBank's financing options are becoming increasingly constrained, however, as domestic banks hit internal limits for lending to the highly leveraged group.

Last month it pledged almost a third of its stake in domestic telecoms company SoftBank Corp <9434.T> to raise up to $4.5 billion from 16 financial institutions.

The telecoms business is viewed by analysts as another candidate for asset sales.

The cost of insuring SoftBank against default, which spiked to at least five-year highs last week, fell on the news.

The group's shares closed almost 19% up on Monday but remain down 33% this year.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and David Goodman)
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Consumer Biometrics Market has shipped 2100 million units in 2019 and is expected to reach 5263 units shipment by 2025, registering a CAGR of 17.2%, during the period of 2020-2025 . Rising demand for ease and convenience, availability, and reachability of biometrics is expected to create opportunities for the market further. According to the findings of a survey commissioned by VISA, consumers are ready to leave the password behind. 70% of consumers believe that biometrics are always more comfortable as they do not involve memorizing passwords. More than 65% of consumers are already familiar with biometrics, while 86% are interested in using biometrics to verify the identity or to make payments.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877824/?utm_source=PRN



- The increasing connectivity and digitization have increased customer interactions with devices and services, which is further demanding identity authentication for access. The increasing awareness of the need for sophisticated biometric security, widening the scope of applications of biometrics technology in consumer electronics, to improve customer experiences, and technological advancements are expected to drive the growth of the market over the forecast period.

- The rapid proliferation of the internet and the growth of mobile devices has led to increased payments through mobile. This mode of payment is anticipated to experience significant growth over the next few years.

- For instance, according to GSMA, the number of smartphone subscribers in North America is expected to reach 328 million by 2025. Moreover, by 2025, the region is likely to witness an increase in the penetration rates of mobile subscribers (86%) and the internet (80%), the second-highest in the world. Additionally, according to GSMA, by 2025, Europe is estimated to have the highest rate of penetration of the internet (82%) and smartphones (88%).

- The increasing penetration of smartphones, which are equipped with fingerprint sensors, is among the prominent driver for the growth of fingerprint sensors. According to the Credit Suisse report, in 2018, the shipment of smartphones with fingerprint sensors worldwide stood at 1,082 million units.

Key Market Trends

Fingerprint Sensing Modules to Hold the Major Share



- Devices used for fingerprint biometrics provide the users with increased convenience, availability, and reachability of embedded biometrics. The demand for fingerprint sensing modules for consumer authentication is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period on account of the increasing demand for biometric technology for access management, need for better security, and change in consumer preference for new technologies with a personalized experience.

- Smartphones, in that row, have witnessed an increasingly growing trend in this technology over the past five years. This technology has been leveraged to facilitate online transactions, authentication, and many other services.

- A survey conducted on 1,000 US adults by Veridium to understand biometric consumer sentiment indicated that their most preferred form of biometric identification on their phones is the fingerprint, at 63%. Other forms of identification are ranked way below, such as facial recognition (14%), traditional passwords and PINs (8%), and voice recognition (2%).

- The market studied has seen various technological developments in smartphones from a separate fingerprint scanner to an in-display fingerprint scanner. Vivo, a Chinese Smartphone brand, was the first to implement in-display fingerprint. Starting with the launch of the iPhone 5S, which had a TouchID capacitive technology, many other next-generation smartphones have incorporated multiple biometric options that users can set for different purposes.



Asia-Pacific to be the Largest and Fastest Growing Market



- Asia-Pacific has the largest population of all the regions. With an increase in the urban population and increased purchasing power, Asia-Pacific is expected to be one of the largest and fastest growing markets for consumer biometrics.

- Major smartphone companies, including Huawei, Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Lenovo has its manufacturing facilities in China. With the continuous increase in smartphone sales, the demand for fingerprint sensors to be embedded into smartphones is expected to increase in the country.

- Seeking the growing opportunities in the market, the companies in the region are manufacturing biometric sensors. For instance, in December 2019, Chinese sensor manufacturer Goodix introduced its latest ultra-thin optical in-display fingerprint sensor by integrating it in Oneplus 7T pro 5G Mclaren.

- Automotive companies in the region are actively investing in integrating consumer biometric solutions in their upcoming vehicles. For instance, Xiaopeng Motors has introduced its P7 model, which has an embedded fingerprint sensor in the handlebar.

Competitive Landscape

The providers of consumer biometrics market are adopting an aggressive pricing strategy to gain a competitive edge in the market. Many companies are increasing their market presence by introducing new products or solutions or by entering into strategic mergers and acquisitions. For Instance, in June 2019, Assa Abloy signed acquired the international identity solutions business of De La Rue, a leading passport manufacturer based in the United Kingdom. De La Rues International Identity Solutions business is a strategic technological addition to the company.



- February 2020 - Goodix has developed some innovative fingerprint solutions, which will power up advanced 5G flagship experiences with dual commercialization, which are Huawei Mate Xs, and Realme X50 Pro 5G. These innovations will result in better positioning of the company.

- January 2020 -Next Biometrics Group SA received an order for UIDAI and STQC certified fingerprint biometric readers in India, with a value of USD 750,000. The customer provided a 20% upfront payment, and the first readers are in transit. The purchase order reflects the increased demand for biometric solutions, primarily those related to the Indian Government's Aadhaar program, which continues to provide NEXT with opportunities to expand its share in the growing Indian market.

- November 2019 - Synaptics Inc. announced its expansion into the automotive segment, with the launch of its fingerprint biometrics for the automotive industry. The company is expected to roll out these solutions to the global market in the first half of 2020.

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/p05877824/?utm_source=PRN



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.



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A pub owner has thrown open his bar to devastated staff he had to lay off and other jobseekers hours before it was forced to close due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Publican Alistair Flower issued a challenge to anyone who had lost their jobs to run his kegs dry at the Settlers Inn Hotel in Port Macquarie on the New South Wales Mid North Coast on Monday morning.

About 90 sacked staff from the hotel and 100 other jobseekers enjoyed free beer while respecting strict indoor capacity and social distancing regulations now in place.

Settlers Inn Hotel publican Alistair Flower (centre) offered free beer to sacked staff on Monday morning before shutting down the bar at noon

The bar closed at noon as all services regarded as non-essential shutdown indefinitely, which had been announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison hours earlier.

'I had a lot of beer that would have ultimately gone to waste and thought that anyone who had lost their jobs deserved a drink,' Mr Flower told Daily Mail Australia.

'The atmosphere in the bar was very sombre and very different to one I've ever experienced. It was the wake up call everyone needed about what's happening in the world right now.'

Mr Flower was inundated with online praise for the heartwarming gesture.

'What a legend, what a great Aussie thing to say and do,' one man posted.

One woman added: 'True Blue Aussie spirit at its best.'

The hotel's bottle shop and takeaway menu remains open.

Mr Flower enjoying a beer at the pub he's had for five years. Settler's Inn Hotel in Port Macquarie remains open for takeaway food and alcohol

Around 200 people who had lost their jobs due to the new rules took up the publican's invitation (pictured) on Monday morning

Mr Flower said his staff had been warned a week prior their jobs were at stake due to proposed lockdowns.

Up to 30 contracted hotel staff such as security guards, cleaners and entertainers were also laid off.

Mr Flower managed to keep 15 staff on.

'That may all change tomorrow, if they follow the lockdown in the UK,' he said.

'It may mean I will have the shut hotel entirely and lay off some or all of my staff.'

'We just taking each day at a time.'

Alistair Flower now hopes Australians will take the coronavirus pandemic more seriously

Mr Flower has three other pubs and a cafe on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Two pubs were shut down entirely while the other and cafe are still open for takeaway.

Mr Flower has no hard feelings towards the federal and state governments, despite the devastating financial effect lockdowns will have on his businesses.

'It's the step the government needed to take to make people more aware about coronarvirus,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'People aren't taken it seriously enough.'
A citizen of Ukraine evacuated from one of the European Union states has exhibited coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms at the International Boryspil Airport in Kyiv, a press service of the Interior Ministry has said, citing the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

"A woman, whose express test showed a positive result, was evacuated from the EU countries. Despite the demands of doctors, she wanted to pass passport control line and to leave the airport," the Interior Ministry reported on Facebook.

According to the report, after explanatory work on the need for further medical examination, the woman was transferred to a hospital in Kyiv.
Milk prices are likely to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, despite dairy markets remaining relatively stable over the last 10 days.

Industry sources expressed growing concern regarding the impact of the pandemic on demand for both dairy products and dairy commodities.

Although dairy commodity markets have suffered losses over the last 10 days, these have been somewhat restrained given the extent of the global economic turmoil.

Reports that New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has maintained its forecasted milk price range between 28c/l and 30c/l for 2020 ($7/kg to $7.60g of milk solids) was also positive news for milk producers.

However, the industry consensus is that markets for commodity products such as skim milk powder (SMP) and whole milk powders (WMP) are becoming increasingly difficult, and this will filter back to the farm-gate price for milk.

One industry insider pointed out that buying for the Chinese food service sector was dead and that this would inevitably impact global demand. Another Irish dairy source said international buyers were sitting back and deferring orders until markets had settled.

Rabobank dairy analyst Richard Scheper said a downturn in dairy demand from the food service sector still had to filter back along the supply chain.

"The dairy industry is facing challenges with regards to export logistics. Ultimately, this will also put pressure on milk prices," he said.

The food service sector, including restaurants and bars, is an important pillar for dairy consumption, particularly in the US and Asia.

"In addition, the impact on the dairy sector in Europe should not be underestimated," he added.

The widespread closure of restaurants as a result of Covid-19 will inevitably hit demand as significant volumes of EU dairy products are consumed by the food service sector in other regions, Mr Scheper explained.

The impact of the pandemic on this area of global dairy markets had been masked by increased consumer buying in supermarkets during the early days of the crisis in Europe and North America.

Supermarket sales

The fall-off in buying for the food-service sector could have a more pronounced effect from here on.

The increased supermarkets sales will not be enough to completely offset other losses, Mr Scheper maintained.

Last week's GDT was back 3.9pc, with SMP down 8pc to 2,350/t and WMP back 4.2pc to 2,600/t. However, butter prices were steady at 3,854/t, while cheddar was up 2.6pc to 4,090/t.

Dutch spot prices have broadly tracked the GDT trends. Butter prices were at 3,410/t, back from 3,570/t in January. The price of WMP was steady at 2,960/t, with SMP back 230/t since the start of the month to 2,230/t.

Securing containers for dairy exports remains a serious concern, Mr Scheper said. Much of the capacity has been held up in Asian ports due to Covid-19, but activity levels in China's ports had improved since last week.

He added that dairy markets faced additional challenges due to collapsing oil prices, which has undermined the purchasing power of oil-producing nations.

Mr Scheper said the fall-off in farm-gate prices would vary from country to country, as would the speed of the recovery. The rate of recovery will depend on how long it takes to get Covid-19 under control, and the long-term economic impact of the crisis.
The coronavirus epidemic spanning the world has put protective gear for healthcare workers in such critical supply that Lehigh Valley Health Network is asking the community to dust off their sewing machines.

The network is looking for volunteers to help sew fabric face masks for staff, who can wear the masks for their shift, wash them and reuse them.

This helps us preserve our supply of professionally manufactured (personal protective equipment), according to a news release.

Hospitals nationwide are preparing for a flood of COVID-19 patients, expecting many of them to need intensive care from an infection thats easily spread by droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Some hospitals are already reporting or projecting shortages of the protective equipment nurses and doctors rely on to stay healthy while on the front lines of fighting the virus.

The world is experiencing such a shortage of surgical masks and respirators because China is now sending supplies to Italy and France. And Americas mask supply is dwindling so fast the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling health care providers they can use homemade masks, like a bandana or scarf, as a last resort when face masks are not available.

LVHN providers are already being advised to reuse single-use N95 respirators -- masks that are thicker and tighter than normal surgical masks, named for their ability to block 95% of small airborne particles -- in accordance with evolving CDC guidelines. LVHN is also accepting donations of unused N95 masks.

Employees received detailed instructions last week on when to use the masks and how to properly store them for reuse. Currently, they are still being discarded at the end of shifts, but that could change, according to a communication with staff.

St. Lukes University Health Network put out a similar call for donations over the weekend.

Anyone with a sewing machine and sewing skills is invited to make the fabric face masks. You can find patterns and instructions online or find video tutorials and instructions at LVHN.org/facemask.

What do you need to make a mask?

Tightly-woven, breathable cotton fabric is preferred or another tightly-woven, breathable fabric blend, in any color or pattern. You also need elastic banding.

While donated masks will be laundered by the network prior to distribution to employees, LVHN emphasizes that only healthy individuals, with no one in their household displaying symptoms, should consider donating fabric and making masks.

Where to take them:

Bring completed face masks, in a clearly marked bag, box or container, to 2024 Lehigh St., Allentown, Pa., Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. More locations to come.

Cant sew? Heres how to help

LVHN is accepting donations of any of the following materials, which will be distributed to people who can sew more face masks:

 Fabric bolts: tightly-woven, breathable cotton fabric, or fabric blend, also tightly-woven and breathable, in any color or pattern.

 Cut pieces of fabric: tightly-woven, breathable cotton fabric (preferred), or fabric blend, also tightly-woven and breathable, cut to 6-inches by 10-inches.

 Swatches of fabric: swatches of tightly-woven, breathable cotton fabric (preferred), or fabric blend, also tightly-woven and breathable fabric, can also be used.

 Elastic used for sewing

Where to bring items that can be used to make masks

Clearly label the items and bring them to 2024 Lehigh St., Allentown, Pa., Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Accepting other donations

LVHN also will accept donations of new, unused personal protective equipment, such as:

 N95 respirators

 Dust masks

 Eye protection

 Goggles

 Face shields

 Boxes of nitrile gloves

 Hand sanitizer

Where to bring PPE donations

Clearly mark the items and bring them to 2024 Lehigh St., Allentown, Pa., Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Questions? Contact covid19donations@lvhn.org

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.
Actor Javier Bardem is defending his longtime friend Johnny Depp in his $50 million defamation lawsuit in Virginia against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Bardem, 51, gushed about Depp's 'respectful attitude' and, several times, expressed his deep 'love' for his Pirates of the Caribbean co-star in a declaration obtained by The Blast, on Tuesday.

The No Country for Old Men star is the latest in a string of celebrity support that Depp has called on for help in his legal battle, including Bardem's wife Penelope Cruz.

Defending his friend: Javier Bardem offered glowing support for friend Johnny Deep in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard in a legal declaration obtained by The Blast on Tuesday (Pictured: Bardem and Depp in 2011)

'I love Johnny. He has always been a true gentleman and an extremely generous and caring friend to my family and myself,' Bardem said in his statement.

Back in March of 2019, Depp, 56, filed the defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 where she claimed she was abused by Depp.

In his declaration, Bardem echoed glowing sentiments about the star, similar to those of his wife Penelope Cruz, who also defended Depp.

'I not only love Johnny but respect him deeply and I thank him for being the free and careless little boy he is in his art and the mature and loving man he is in the lives of others, always there when we need him,' Bardem said.

'I love Johnny. He has always been a true gentleman and an extremely generous and caring friend to my family and myself,' Bardem said in his statement (Pictured in 2017)

In her op-ed, Amber did not name Depp as her perpetrator but strongly inferred that it was him.

Similarly, Javier Bardem didn't name Depp's ex in his declaration, however he did seem to reference her.

'I love Johnny because he is a good human being, trapped in the lies and manipulations of toxic beings and yet smiling and loving us all in spite of it.

'How? Through his music, through his acting, through his silence. This means a lot. Thank you, Johnny. Millions of others like me love you deeply,' Bardem stated.

Where it started: Back in March of 2019, Depp, 56, filed the defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 where she claimed she was abused by Depp (Pictured together in 2016)

As part of his lawsuit, Deep claimed that Heard had physically abused him during their marriage rather than the other way around, a claim Heard has denied.

In previous declarations, Johnny's famous ex Winona Ryder, 48, said she found Heard's violence and abuse allegations against Depp 'impossible to believe.'

Ryder explained that the description of Depp as an incredibly violent person 'is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved'

And, Vanessa Paradis, with whom Johnny shares two children and dated for 14 years, went as far as to call Heards allegation untrue.

Johnny's team: Several other of Depp's famous friends and ex-partners have publicly come to the defense of the actor, including Penelope Cruz, Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis (Pictured in 2018)

Not the Johnny I know: Ex Winona Ryder explained in a previous declaration that the description of Depp as an incredibly violent person 'is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved' (Pictured in 1991)

This is nothing like the true Johnny I have known, and from my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me,' she wrote in a declaration of her own.

I have seen that these outrageous statements have been really distressing, and also caused damage to his career because, unfortunately, people have gone on believing these false facts, she explained.

Deep and Heard were married in February 2015. She filed for divorce in May of 2016, along with a temporary restraining order against him, stating in a court declaration that he had been verbally and physically abusive during their relationship.

The two sides reached a settlement and finalized the divorce in January 2017, which included the dismissal of the restraining order and Deep paying her $7 million that she subsequently donated to charity.
(@FahadShabbir)

Kyrgyzstan's number of COVID-19 cases has almost tripled over the past 24 hours, increasing from 16 to 42, the country's coronavirus response center told Sputnik on Tuesday

BISHKEK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) Kyrgyzstan's number of COVID-19 cases has almost tripled over the past 24 hours, increasing from 16 to 42, the country's coronavirus response center told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Kyrgyzstan has declared national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

"As of March 24, 2020, 26 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been registered in the republic. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 42," the spokesman for the response center said.

As many as 142 people are hospitalized, with additional tests now being conducted for 100 of them over fears they may be infected.
With the expanding mobile gaming market, there's going to be room for more smartphones tailored to the niche and Lenovo wants in. The upcoming Lenovo Legion phone, named after the company's gaming brand, is all set to be revealed this year. And judging by the frequency of the teasers and leaks, the announcement date isn't too far.



Lenovo Legion in Gray

The latest leak comes from the Chinese patent website - CNIPA. The application holds a plethora of detailed renders of the phone showcasing it in two different colors - Red and Grey. We can also clearly see the Legion logo at the back, which is most probably LED-illuminated.



Lenovo Legion in Gray

It looks like the back panel is almost entirely made of metal but we can't confirm for sure. The triple camera setup sticks out and blends with the overall design language. What's more, there's a small opening with the "cool" inscription right next to it with a picture of a fan. Perhaps this is the innovative cooling solution Lenovo was talking about. We wonder how it will fare against the new nubia Red Magic 5G, which also boasts active cooling with an ultra high RPM fan.



Lenovo Legion in Red

Oh, and don't mind the Snapdragon 855 inscription, it's probably a render of an earlier prototype, which in turn also means that there could be some design changes before it launches. The battery capacity of 5,050 mAh on the back panel seems more believable though.



Lenovo Legion from the side

Going around the sides, we find a hardware notification slider, or quick toggle for some sort of high-performance mode, and a set of shoulder triggers for gaming. More importantly, there are two USB-C ports - one at the bottom and one left side so you can continue playing while the phone charges without the cable getting in the way.



Lenovo Legion from the side

The front doesn't have any cutouts and the top bezel houses the usual set of sensors, selfie camera and the earpiece, which most likely doubles as a loudspeaker. The bottom bezel is a bit on the thick side as it will ensure better, more comfortable grip during gaming.



Lenovo Legion sketches

This one is a pretty massive leak if you ask us but keep in mind that the renders look a bit old, due to the Snapdragon 855 inscription, so there could be some changes before the launch.

Via
The replacement of an arch culvert on 218th Avenue southeast of Columbus City should begin this summer, while a bridge replacement project on 95th near Wyman is tentatively scheduled to begin this fall, he said.

No timetable to replace a bridge at Gladwin was provided on the five-year plans projection worksheet, although the engineers did list it among the proposed FY 2021 projects.

The proposed projects listed for FY 2022 include nearly eight miles of hot mix asphalt, or HMA, paving overlay on County Road X17 south of Columbus City and County Highway 305 near Letts; four miles of road rock and base treatment on 218th Avenue; and two bridge replacement projects  one on 65th Street, about seven miles east of Wapello; and another on N Avenue, southwest of Wapello.

In FY 2023, four projects are proposed, including one bridge replacement, two HMA overlays and one rock and base treatment.

The proposed bridge work would be on County Road W66, north of Cotter. One of the overlay projects is planned for a one-mile stretch of Russell Street in Oakville, while the second would be four miles of F Avenue in Port Louisa Township near the Louisa Generating Station.
Australia doesn't have enough specialist critical care nurses to operate the thousands of new ventilators coming into the health system to handle the coronavirus pandemic, nurses are warning.

Health authorities are preparing hospital intensive care units for a wave of COVID-19 patients within weeks, with Health Minister Greg Hunt working to double the number of ventilators in Australian hospitals to more than 4000.

However, intensive care nurses say the plan could cost lives if standards are not maintained, as the government scrambles to find thousands of extra nurses to monitor coronavirus patients fighting for their lives on ventilators.

Each bed in a hospital's intensive care unit is manned by the equivalent of five full-time registered nurses across eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, about half of them holding a postgraduate qualification in critical care nursing.
By The Associated Press Mar. 23, 2020 | 03:31 PM | WASHINGTON

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was tested a week ago for the novel coronavirus , but continued working at the Capitol because he felt that it was highly unlikely he was sick since had no symptoms of the illness, he said Monday. Paul also said he did not have direct contact with anyone who tested positive for the virus or was sick.

Paul announced Sunday that he had tested positive for the virus, becoming the first case of COVID-19 in the Senate and raising fears about further transmission of the virus among senators, including some who are in their 70's and 80's.

Since nearly every member of the U.S. Senate travels by plane across the country multiple times per week and attends lots of large gatherings, I believed my risk factor for exposure to the virus to be similar to that of my colleagues, especially since multiple congressional staffers on the Hill had already tested positive weeks ago,'' Paul said in a statement Monday.

For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol,'' Paul added. Current federal guidelines would not have called for him to get tested or quarantined, Paul said.

"It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested,'' he said.

Paul, 57, had surgery last year to remove part of a lung damaged in a 2017 assault by a neighbor who attacked him over a long-standing landscaping dispute. Paul broke several ribs in the incident and was later awarded $580,000 in damages and medical expenses.

Perhaps it is too much to ask that we simply have compassion for our fellow Americans who are sick or fearful of becoming so.'' he said in the statement released by his office. "Thousands of people want testing. Many ... are sick with flu symptoms and are being denied testing. This makes no sense.''

Paul, an eye surgeon, went into quarantine Sunday after learning his results.

His announcement led Utahs two GOP senators  Mike Lee and Mitt Romney  to place themselves into quarantine, stepping away from negotiations as the Senate worked on a $1.4 trillion economic rescue package for the coronavirus crisis. At least five senators, including Paul, are in self-quarantine.

Paul was on Capitol Hill this past week, including at a luncheon Friday among GOP senators. He spoke on the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon, addressing the cornonavirus and a failed amendment he sponsored that would have paid for virus relief efforts by withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

A spokesman for Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Moran briefly saw Paul at the Senate gym Sunday morning and that he shared that information with GOP colleagues at a policy meeting. Moran followed CDC guidelines and kept a safe distance between him and Sen. Paul, spokesman Tom Brandt said. Moran has spoken with the attending physician at the Capitol and has been told he does not need to self-quarantine, Brandt said.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, chastised Paul on Twitter, saying his decision to return to the Capitol after he was tested  but before he learned the results  was absolutely irresponsible.

"You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus, Sinema said Sunday.

Other senators, including Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, had gone into self-quarantine while they awaited the results of a coronavirus test. Both were negative.

A day after Pauls announcement, calls grew among senators for remote voting. Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted that I totally support the idea and said the change should be made before the Senate leaves town. First-term Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., tweeted that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. It is time to bring the Senate into the 21st century.

Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Dick Durbin of Illinois have put forward a bipartisan resolution to amend Senate rules to allow senators to vote remotely during a national crisis.

"At some point (remote voting) is going to become inevitable, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who announced Monday that her husband has coronavirus.
2020 MIAMI Residential President Alberto Carrillo The MIAMI Realtors Residential Board is comprised of a diverse, talented group of Realtors and we are excited to do our part to improve our real estate industry"

The nations largest local Realtor association has elected Miami native Alberto Carrillo as its 2020 Residential President. He and the entire Board of Directors were installed Feb. 28 at MIAMIs 2020 Inaugural Celebration at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

The Residential Board of MIAMI is dedicated to leadership in the industry, the real estate profession, and the communities it serves. They analyze information, are actively and visibly involved in events and programming, and promote Miami and South Florida worldwide. The association represents 52,000 residential, commercial, and international real estate professionals.

The MIAMI Realtors Residential Board is comprised of a diverse, talented group of Realtors and we are excited to do our part to improve our real estate industry, Carrillo said.

Carrillo is vice president of RelatedISG International Realty, after serving as Sales Manager originally for the Downtown/South Beach Offices which were then relocated to the Edgewater Office. He has more than 13 years of Miami real estate experience.

In his time with RISG, Carrillo has overseen the transition of the agencys original, 700 square-foot office in Downtown Miami to their new, 2,200 square-foot flagship office in Edgewater. He also acts as the sales manager for the Edgewater location, cultivating the branch into the No. 1 office for the entire company. In 2018, Carillo was instrumental in the opening of the sixth RISG office location in Brickell.

In his new role as vice president, Carrillo will work side by side with Vidal to oversee the companys growth and development as well as the relaunch of the Fort Lauderdale office.

Carrillo came to RISG in 2014, after working for the Keyes Company for four years. While at Keyes, he focused on building relationships and creating development deals in the commercial sector, while still maintaining a year-over-year increase in residential sales. Before that, the agent spent six years as sales manager for AquaSun Realty where he was actively involved in the business development and growth of the company.

Carrillo served as the 2017 chairman of the MIAMI Young Professionals Network Leadership Board.

Carrillo is active in numerous organizations including the MIAMI Association of Realtors (where he was a key factor in the MIAMI YPN network being awarded National Association of REALTORS YPN of the Year) and the REALTORS Political Action Committee (RPAC) for the National Association of Realtors. He also serves on the Board of Directors at both the state and national level for the MIAMI Association of Realtors.

Carrillo has a background in information technology and computer technology, and utilizes his knowledge to help young Realtors leverage new technology and social media to sell properties.

Announcing the 2020 MIAMI Residential Board

Joining Carrillo are: Residential President-Elect Daniel A. Guerra of Fortune International Realty; 2019 Residential President Ines Hegedus-Garcia, C2EX of Avanti Way Realty; Governor Eddie Blanco of Stratwell; Governor Maria E. Carrillo, CRSSFR, C2EX of The Keyes Company; Governor Scott Diffenderfer, CIPS, LCAM of COMPASS Florida; Governor Jorge H. Fernandez, C2EXof RelatedISG International Realty; Governor Justine Jimenez Garcia, CIPS, CDPE, MRP, C2EX of Countywide Properties ERA; Governor Carlos Gutierrez of COMPASS Florida; Governor Julio Guzman of Avanti Way Realty; Governor Angelique Hibbert, GRI, ABR, SRS, PSA of The Keyes Company; Governor Ed Martinez, C2EX of RE/MAX Unique Realty; Governor Nora Muci, CIPS, GRI, TRC of Muci Group Real Estate & Investment; Governor Neal Oates Jr., CRS, C2EX, SFR, AHWD of World Renowned Real Estate; Governor Martha Pomares, GRI, ABR, CIPS, CRS, C2EX of Douglas Elliman Real Estate; Governor Dianne Regaldo Kammerer, CAM, CRS, C2EX of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate; Governor Michelle Rojas, CRS, GRI, ABR, SRS, C2EX of Brown Harris Stevens; Governor Denise Sicuso of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty; Governor Enrique Teran of Avanti Way Realty; Governor Albert Vasquez, ABR, SRS, CDPE of Keller Williams Realty Miami Lakes.

Deborah Boza-Valledor, CIPS, CRB, CRS, GRI, TRC, RSPS, AHWD serves as the COO & Chief Marketing Officer of the MIAMI Association of Realtors. Teresa King Kinney, CAE, CIPS, GRI, RCE, TRC serves as the CEO for the MIAMI Association of Realtors.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors

The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 100 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 52,000 total real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 222 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com

###
CHICAGO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Powering Chicago , the voice of Chicago's unionized electrical industry, today announced a free solar safety training program for Chicago area fire departments designed to help firefighters safely handle solar panels while on the job. Launched in late 2019 as a pilot program, more than 150 firefighters from 12 suburban departments have successfully completed the training to date.

With generous federal and state incentives available to homeowners and business owners who adopt renewable energy practices, solar panel installations are on the rise in Illinois. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association , the amount of solar capacity installed in Illinois is expected to grow by more than 1,700% over the next five years.

As the prevalence of solar panels in the state increases, so too do the risks for firefighters who lack proper education and training necessary to safely deal with them in an emergency. Electrocution, exposure to hazardous substances, and roof collapse from improper installations are just a few of the risks firefighters face when they encounter solar panels on the job.

"Solar power is an important element of Illinois' renewable energy future, but it presents unique challenges for first responders when they arrive on the scene," said IBEW Local 134 Business Representative Bob Hattier, who leads the program in his capacity as an IREC Certified Master Trainer PV. "We offer this training as a free workforce development program to ensure firefighters are knowledgeable about the latest technologies and can work with their municipalities to enact codes that ensure public safety."

The training program, which can be completed at the fire department's facilities or at the IBEW/NECA Technical Institute in Alsip, IL, focuses on system awareness and identification, safety concerns and hazard mitigation, and codes and standards affecting solar and energy storage. The program is offered in two formats to best meet the needs of those participating, either as a three-day unit to reach all shifts from the participating fire department or as a one-day session only for key personnel.

To date, firefighters from Alsip, North Riverside, Berwyn, Tinley Park, Park Forest, University Park, Crete, Lockport, Dolton, Chicago Heights, Oak Forest and Cicero have participated in the training program.

"The training Powering Chicago's members receive in renewable energy sources like solar panels is among the most advanced in the country," said Gene Kent, director of the IBEW/NECA Technical Institute. "We want those who help keep our communities safe to benefit from those same training resources, which is why we're providing this program free of charge. We know that in doing so, the firefighters who participate will be better able to identify potential problems, respond in a safe manner and serve their communities."

For additional information about the training program, please visit the Powering Chicago website .

About Powering Chicago

Bringing together the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 electricians and the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) of the City of Chicago, Powering Chicago is an electrical industry labor-management partnership that invests in consistently better construction, better careers and better communities within the metro Chicago region. Employing the latest technology, its members are elevating industry performance through their commitment to safety, level of experience and reliability, while also investing in the future of skilled labor through an innovative apprenticeship program that is paving the way for the next generation of skilled electricians. For additional information, visit poweringchicago.com .

SOURCE Powering Chicago

Related Links

http://poweringchicago.com


The share price of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) jumped by over 8 per cent on Tuesday afternoon after the company signed an agreement with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to acquire its intimate hygiene brand VWash.

"The deal includes the acquisition of intellectual property rights including trademarks, design and know-how related to the VWash brand," HUL said in a statement.

The consideration has been split into two parts involving an upfront cash payment upon closing of the deal and a deferred consideration over the next three years, it said.

The transaction is subject to fulfilment of certain conditions and both the companies are looking to seal the deal in the next few months.

"Glenmark will continue to manage the until the transaction is completed, and will also continue to manufacture for HUL for an agreed period of time," said the HUL statement.

VWash was launched by Glenmark in 2013 and the brand has established itself as a market leader in female intimate hygiene category.

The acquisition is in line with HUL's strategic intent to enter fast-growing segments of the future in premium beauty and personal care category said Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta.

"We strongly believe HUL is well-positioned to further scale up this business, given the strength of our market development and distribution capabilities," he said.

HUL is India's largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company with its products touching the lives of nine out of ten households in the country.

At 1 pm, HUL stock was trading 8.04 per cent higher on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 2,020 per unit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

Trend:

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has donated 500,000 manats to the Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus to contribute to the measures taken by the government to prevent wide spread of coronavirus in Azerbaijan.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation also rendered support for its beneficiaries in the field of combating coronavirus.

Upon the instructions of Azerbaijan's First Vice-President, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation provided disinfectants, masks and other personal protective equipment to nurseries, orphanages and boarding schools in Baku and in the Azerbaijani districts, the social service institutions for people who reached the retirement age, the Children's Neuropsychiatric Center, as well as institutions rendering neuropsychiatric social services in Baku and in the districts of the country.

These institutions were disinfected. The Foundation also provided organizational support in observing the social isolation regime and regulations of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Indian government has set up a 24x7 helpline for queries about the virus and its victims, with the number of cases rising quickly in many Asian countries.

On the last day of the year 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted to a "pneumonia outbreak" of unknown cause in Wuhan, in China's Hubei Province. Wuhan is the seventh-largest city in the most populated country in the world  home to some 11 million people. The epicentre of the outbreak is thought to be a wet market in Wuhan that sells seafood, animal meat and unregulated wild game meat, which has since been shut down, sanitized and in lockdown.

The earliest symptoms of respiratory infection in those who tested positive for the coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) go back to 8 December 2019. The virus has had ample time to spread like any common respiratory illness would in people  through coughs, sneezes, and close contact with an infected person. Scientists have found that the SARS-Cov-2 virus is most contagious in the week before and after symptoms start to appear.

As of 24 March 2020, a total of 3,83,944 confirmed cases of the infection have been reported, in 165 countries/regions world over.

Even now, as researchers work on potential treatments (nearly 70 FDA-approved drugs are currently being explored to treat Covid-19 infections) and a potential vaccine (40 reported candidates are at various stages of clinical trials), which is estimated to take between 12 and 18 months to develop, experts have stated.

There's little that can be done about a coronavirus infection that has already spread in your district or city. But there's plenty you can do to avoid being infected by the virus. Below is a comprehensive guide to the coronavirus, information on how to prevent getting infected, and how to keep tabs/stay informed with the latest information on its spread.

Q. What is the 2019 novel Coronavirus?

A novel coronavirus (CoV), or a new coronavirus, is a respiratory virus humans are susceptible to that hasn't been previously identified. The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, or the SARS-CoV-2 for short) is a respiratory virus that was first discovered in Wuhan, a city in China's Hubei Province in December 2019.

Q. Where did the coronavirus come from?

Health officials and research institutions are still working on identifying the exact origin/source of the 2019-nCoV, but suspect that the first human victim(s) was infected by a snake. Coronavirus is a large family of viruses of which only six can infect humans. The 2019-nCoV is one of them, and so are the SARS and MERS viruses.

The earliest reported cases of hospitalized people with the infection were a group of workers and customers at a local seafood wholesale market that also sold processed meats and live, consumable animals like poultry, donkey, sheep, pig, camel, fox, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs and reptiles. The virus likely came from an infected animal; Chinese officials claim the virus jumped from snakes to humans.

Two other widely-recognized coronaviruses  SARS (which spread to humans from civet cats) and MERS (which spread to humans from camels)  also originated in animals. (something about SARS & China connection and dates. MERS a date for the virus)

Q. To what regions and countries has the infection spread to?

As of 24 March, 3,87,382 cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed in the following countries:

China (81,558)

Italy (63,927)

US (46,450)

Spain (35,212)

Germany (29,560)

Iran (23,049)

France (20,149)

South Korea (9,037)

Switzerland (8,795)

United Kingdom (6,726)

Netherlands (4,767)

Austria (4,668)

Belgium (3,743)

Norway (2,625)

Canada (2,088)

Portugal (2,060)

Sweden (2,059)

Australia (2,044)

Brazil (1,960)

Denmark (1,699)

Israel (1,656)

Malaysia (1,624)

Turkey (1,529)

Czechia (1,289)

Japan (1,140)

Ireland (1,125)

Ecuador (981)

Pakistan (892)

Luxembourg (875)

Thailand (827)

Poland (766)

Chile (746)

Cruise Ship (712)

Finland (700)

Greece (695)

Indonesia (686)

Iceland (588)

Romania (576)

Saudi Arabia (562)

South Africa (554)

Philippines (552)

India (511)

Singapore (509)

Qatar (501)

Slovenia (442)

Russia (438)

Peru (395)

Bahrain (377)

Estonia (369)

Mexico (367)

Egypt (366)

Croatia (361)

Panama (345)

Colombia (306)

Argentina (301)

Lebanon (267)

Iraq (266)

Serbia (249)

Dominican Republic (245)

Armenia (235)

Algeria (230)

Taiwan (215)

Slovakia (204)

Bulgaria (202)

United Arab Emirates (198)

Latvia (197)

Kuwait (191)

Hungary (187)

Lithuania (187)

San Marino (187)

Uruguay (162)

Costa Rica (158)

New Zealand (155)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (150)

Morocco (143)

North Macedonia (136)

Andorra (133)

Jordan (127)

Vietnam (123)

Cyprus (116)

Moldova (109)

Malta (107)

Albania (104)

Burkina Faso (99)

Sri Lanka (97)

Brunei (91)

Tunisia (89)

Cambodia (87)

Oman (84)

Ukraine (84)

Venezuela (84)

Belarus (81)

Senegal (79)

Azerbaijan (72)

Kazakhstan (68)

Georgia (67)

Cameroon (66)

Trinidad and Tobago (52)

Liechtenstein (51)

Uzbekistan (49)

Congo (Kinshasa) (45)

Afghanistan (42)

Kyrgyzstan (42)

Cuba (40)

Nigeria (40)

Bangladesh (39)

Mauritius (36)

Rwanda (36)

Honduras (30)

Montenegro (29)

Bolivia (28)

Ghana (27)

Paraguay (27)

Cote d'Ivoire (25)

Monaco (23)

Jamaica (21)

Guatemala (20)

Guyana (20)

Togo (18)

Barbados (17)

Madagascar (17)

Kenya (16)

Maldives (13)

Ethiopia (12)

Tanzania (12)

Mongolia (10)

Equatorial Guinea (9)

Uganda (9)

Seychelles (7)

Benin (6)

Gabon (6)

Haiti (6)

Suriname (6)

El Salvador (5)

Bahamas (5)

Congo (Brazzaville) (4)

Eswatini (4)

Fiji (4)

Guinea (4)

Namibia (4)

Angola (3)

Antigua and Barbuda (3)

Cabo Verde (3)

Central African Republic (3)

Chad (3)

Djibouti (3)

Liberia (3)

Niger (3)

Saint Lucia (3)

Zambia (3)

Zimbabwe (3)

Bhutan (2)

Dominica (2)

Gambia (2)

Laos (2)

Mauritania (2)

Nepal (2)

Nicaragua (2)

Sudan (2)

Belize (1)

Eritrea (1)

Grenada (1)

Holy See (1)

Mozambique (1)

Papua New Guinea (1)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1)

Somalia (1)

Syria (1)

Timor-Leste (1)

Q. What are some apparent symptoms of a coronavirus infection?

The following symptoms could manifest within 2 to 14 days after exposure, according to the CDC, based on the incubation period of its close cousins, the MERS viruses.

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)

Q. How does nCoV-2019/SARS-Cov-2 spread?

When breathed, sneezed or coughed out, people with a coronavirus infection release tiny droplets (aerosols) containing the SARS-CoV-2. These particles have been shown to linger in the air for several hours, as per a study published by The New England Journal of Medicine. The study also determined how long the virus can live on certain surfaces, such as plastic and steel.

Every strain of coronavirus poses a different level of risk as far as transmission goes. Some are more easily passed on than others. Some may also be more virulent (dangerous) than others. Currently, there is no known way to predict how the virus will mutate in such a large population  we just have to hope for the best, and brace ourselves for the worst.

Scientists continue to look into the virus's transmission, the severity of infection in different cases, and other features of the virus and its behaviour to look for clues as to what vulnerabilities SARS-CoV-2 takes advantage of to replicate and cause severe infections/fatalities.

Q. Can the infection via raw or cooked meat of an infected animal?

In areas affected by the virus, WHO has advised taking extra precautions in live animal markets like that in the epicentre, Wuhan. Direct contact with live animals or surfaces they use, without having any protective equipment over your face and hands, is high-risk in an infected area.

As a meat consumer, medical experts recommend avoiding any raw or undercooked animal products  i.e., to cook all meat thoroughly  and be extra cautious when handling raw meat, milk or organs of animals to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked food items.

Q. Can you prevent a coronavirus infection?

As of 24 March, no vaccine exists that can prevent coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection in someone who has been exposed to it. The most effective way of staying safe from the infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus entirely.

Based on the behaviour of respiratory viruses in general, the CDC has outlined a bunch of everyday activities to steer clear of an infection:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Avoid leaving home if you are sick. Do not step out of self-quarantine without a mask.

Cover your coughs or sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Q. Can a mask help prevent coronavirus transmission?

There are many reports of face masks and surgical masks flying off shelves in cities the coronavirus outbreak has spread to. Experts, however, are divided over whether they are useful in preventing transmission of the airborne virus. The most commonly available variant  surgical masks, like the ones shown below, are not very good prevention tools, say experts.

"Routine surgical masks for the public are not effective protection against viruses or bacteria carried in the air...they are loose, have no air filter and leave the eyes exposed," Dr David Carrington, a virologist at the University of London told BBC News.

But there are some specific modes of transmission that masks can help prevent  the "splash" from a sneeze or a cough, and transmission by hand-to-mouth contact. That said, wearing a mask limits the risk of transmission but doesn't guarantee safety. Dr Carrington maintains that the best way to avoid germs, as with any airborne illness, is to wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, avoid touching your face and eyes, and avoid contact with people displaying symptoms of respiratory illness.

Wearing gloves isn't a very effective prevention method either, WHO says, since hand-washing is a far better prevention tool, and wearing gloves would make people less inclined to wash their hands.

Q. Is the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection treatable?

As of 24 March, there is no suitable (or known) antiviral treatment for a SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV infection.

Infected individuals have been told to self-quarantine and seek medical care to help with any symptoms they have. For severe cases of the infection, treatment might need additional care (ICUs, for example) to support normal functioning of vital organs. This bottleneck  an insufficient number of available ICUs is a big bottleneck for the health services in developed and developing nations alike.

That said, the genetic material of the virus has been sequenced in many countries and research labs around the world have free, open access to resources that can help understand the virus better, find treatments or vaccines against it. This greatly improves the chances of finding an effective treatment  including a potential vaccine to avoid getting infected in the first place.

"There are no approved vaccines or therapeutics for any of the respiratory coronaviruses," according to Vineet Menachery, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of TexasGalveston told Popular Mechanics. Some promising candidates that are making their way into the human trials "would likely be effective against this novel virus," he adds.

Also read: Australian scientists grow coronavirus in the lab  game-changing tool to diagnose, develop vaccines

Q. How can I track the spread of coronavirus in my country/city?

The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins has launched an online dashboard to track the spread of coronavirus worldwide. The dashboard is updated live with data from multiple sources  the WHO, and the Centers for Disease Control in the US, China and Europe. The resource displays a visualisation of the infection on a world map by country or region, along with a tally of confirmed cases, suspected cases, number of fatalities and number of patients that have recovered from the infection.

Other reliable resources you can use to track the infection include the US CDC situation tracking page and the WHO's tracking page.

Specifically for India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has a frequently updated stats of the number of cases listed and displayed state-wise.

Q. How can I report or enquire about a coronavirus infection?

The Indian government has set up a 24x7 helpline for queries about the novel coronavirus, with the number of cases quickly rising across the world.

"A 24X7 call centre is active for responding to queries on ncov2020. Anyone seeking information can call on the number 011-23978046," the Union ministry of health said in a tweet. "If you seek any help, you may call to know details about District and State surveillance officers and in case any clinical query connect with Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Officer."
[March 24, 2020] IP Infusion announces new OcNOS Optical Transport solution for data center interconnect, long haul and service provider backhaul

IP Infusion (News - Alert), a leading provider of intelligent network software for telecom and data communications services, today announced general availability of their new OcNOS Optical Transport solution will enable support for modular open packet transponder systems for data center interconnect, long haul and service provider backhaul use cases. OcNOS is the industry's first full-featured network operating system for seamless transition from traditional networks to white box implementations. The first available platform for the OcNOS-based solution is the Cassini packet transponder from Edgecore Networks (News - Alert). Cassini is the industry's highest capacity (3.2T) and first modular open packet transponder, offering a flexible mix of 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) packet switching ports and 100/200 Gbps coherent optical interfaces. The Cassini platform enables DMDM-based long haul transport and supports CFP2 ACO and DCO modules from different vendors which support L2/L3/Multicast features for metro, long haul and data center interconnect use cases. Both packet switching and optical line side can be managed via CLI, SNMP or NETCONF. Key customer benefits of the OcNOS solution include a modular chassis with Pay-as-you-grow option enabled by line card (option of 1~ 8); choice of ACO or DCO pluggable slots; and interoperability with standard CFP2 devices from other vendors. In South America, IP Infusion worked with TIP community members on a field trial of Cassini. The field trial deployed Edgecore's Cassini running IP Infusion's OcNOS between the cities of Lurin, Lima, and Trujillo on an existing third-party optical line system. The field test was conducted at the distance of more than 1000 km by deploying other vendors ROADM (News - Alert) and MUX. Cassini was equipped with CFP2-ACO modules from Fujitsu Optical Components (FOC). All these elements provided an end-to-end solution that operators can use to increase the capacity of their existing optical networks. "The desire of network operators to control end-to-end solutions and components to achieve operational simplicity and open interfaces is driving the momentum towards open optical networking," said Atsushi Ogata CEO, IP Infusion. "The combination of the carrier-grade OcNOS networking operating system and the Cassini packet transponder from Edgecore Networks gives our network customers another example and further shows that IP Infusion is a leading software vendor for service provider network disaggregation."



"With support for Cassini and DCSG, IP Infusion is well aligned with TIP and helping to drive disaggregated networking to service providers. We are pleased that disaggregated networking has now arrived for optical transport solutions," said Dave Hutton, Chief Engineer, Telecom Infra Project. "Cassini further demonstrates Edgecore's leadership position in the Open Networking ecosystem. We are thrilled to partner with IP Infusion, our optical partners, and the TIP community to deliver open packet transponder technology powered by OcNOS to the marketplace, providing operators choice, innovation and control," said Jeff Catlin, Vice President, Technology, Edgecore Networks.

"We are glad to work with IP Infusion and the TIP community to build economical, disaggregated optical networking solutions. These solutions would enable customers to achieve high integration while optimizing networking cost and capacity," said Yukiharu Fuse, CMO of Fujitsu (News - Alert) Optical Components, Limited. "With the IP Infusion's OcNOS support for Edgecore's Cassini and ACO and DCO modules from different vendors, our customers are able to deploy disaggregated networking for optical transport services. We already have customers nearing deployment of this combination and are excited to expand customer traction in our market. The disaggregated optical transport system offers our customers a very flexible, cost effective way to increase capacity of their existing optical networks," said Jose Miguel Guzman, Solutions architect from Whitestack, LLC, a system integrator in South America. "We are excited to collaborate with IP Infusion and the TIP community to help develop the TAI interfaces covering both the CFP2 ACO and DCO plugins for the disaggregated optical networking solution to market," said Atul Srivastava, CTO of NEL-America. As part of the Telecom Infra Project's (TIP) Open Optical & Packet Transport project group, IP Infusion is coordinating the integration of all the elements of the fully disaggregated transport network, including the Transponder Abstraction Interface (TAI) API for uniform management of optical modules from different vendors. About IP Infusion IP Infusion enables disaggregated networking solutions for carriers, service providers and data center operators. We provide network OS solutions for today's networks to allow network operators to reduce network costs, increase flexibility, and to deploy new features and services quickly. IP Infusion is an integrator and customer service provider for DANOS-Vyatta (News - Alert) edition, as well as a provider of the OcNOS and ZebOS network operating systems to our more than 300 customers. IP Infusion is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of ACCESS CO., LTD. Additional information can be found at http://www.ipinfusion.com IP Infusion, ZebOS and OcNOS are trademarks or registered trademarks of IP Infusion. ACCESS is registered trademarks or trademarks of ACCESS CO., LTD. in the United States, Japan and/or other countries. Northforge Innovations is a registered trademark of Northforge Innovations, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005053/en/

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The number of Louisiana residents confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus spiked Monday to nearly 1,200 people, and the viruss death toll in the state grew dramatically overnight, a troubling trend that had Gov. John Bel Edwards enacting a statewide stay at home order and planning a televised plea for people to comply.

At least 34 residents have died from the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus, according to Louisianas health department, up from 20 confirmed deaths a day earlier.

Edwards ordered his states 4.6 million residents to voluntarily stay at home starting at 5 p.m. Monday unless they need to carry out essential tasks such as getting food or medicine. First responders and workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, doctors offices and other critical operations are exempt from the directive, which will remain in effect until at least April 12.

The Democratic governor planned a prime-time, statewide TV broadcast Monday night to talk about Louisianas response to the coronavirus. The state has one of the highest per-capita rates of confirmed infection, with the outbreak spreading so rapidly that Edwards has warned that Louisiana is on a trajectory similar to Italys, with health care facilities at risk of being overwhelmed within the next week.

The virus has spread to at least 41 of the states 64 parishes, according to the health department figures. The epicenter of the states outbreak remains in the New Orleans region, which accounts for 25 of the deaths. Residents of the Baton Rouge area and in north and central Louisiana also have died from the virus.

Louisiana joins New York and Georgia in leading the nation in the number of nursing homes with coronavirus cases, a federal report shows. At least seven homes in each of the three states have confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases, according to Sundays report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Current or suspected cases of COVID-19 have been found in at least four nursing homes in each of three other states: Washington, Illinois and New Jersey.

This coronavirus causes only minor flu-like symptoms in most people, who recover in a matter of weeks. But it is highly contagious and can cause severe illness or death in higher numbers among the elderly and people with underlying health problems.

Of the Louisiana residents who have died from COVID-19, nine lived at Lambeth House, a New Orleans retirement home and nursing facility, state health officials said. Forty-two people from Lambeth House have tested positive for the coronavirus. A second cluster of cases has been identified at a Donaldsonville retirement and nursing home, with five infections identified Monday, the health department said.

We continue to be in daily contact with Lambeth House and in daily contact with any other facility that has people with symptoms. We even start at the point of symptoms. We want to be very cautious and watchful here, said Dr. Alexander Billioux, Louisiana assistant secretary of health.

Even as Edwards and public health officials called on people to stay home, one pastor refused to comply with a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people. A Baton Rouge area church held services for more than 1,800 people Sunday, many of them brought in on buses, according to WVLA-TV. Edwards described that as disappointing.

We need everybody to embrace these mitigation measures and to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, the governor said.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Catholic Church in New Orleans, Archbishop Gregory Aymond, announced Monday that he had tested positive for COVID-19, saying in a statement that he had very mild symptoms and had self-quarantined.

Complicating New Orleans fight of the disease spread, rats and mice are abandoning their hiding places in walls and rafters of shuttered businesses and venturing outside. On Bourbon Street workers in protective clothing placed poisonous bait in storm drains and set out traps.

Unfortunately, whats happening is, many of these rodents are looking for an alternative food source, Claudia Riegel, the citys pest control director, said Monday.

___

SOURCE: Associated Press
Medicago, a company part-owned by Philip Morris International (PMI), has announced that it has made significant progress towards the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.

As importantly, Medicagos research is based on tobacco plants, contrary to most research for vaccines that is based on eggs.

The biopharmaceutical company is headquartered in Quebec City, has successfully produced virus-like particles (VLP) of the coronavirus in just 20 days using proprietary plant-based technology. The company did so successfully after obtaining the SARS-CoV-2 gene, which is the virus causing the COVID-19 disease.

Philip Morris International has commented:

We are encouraged by the news announced by Medicago. The investment in the Company is part of our bigger shift towards science, technology and innovation. Our thoughts go out to all those who are being impacted by the disease and its consequences on our societies. We sincerely hope the very innovative work of Medicago will contribute to addressing the situation. We do not feel further comments would be appropriate in days like there.

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(Natural News) People should avoid using ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory drugs because they could increase the risk of infection by the deadly coronavirus. This advice came from a tweet made by the French Health Minister Olivier Veran on March 14 that soon gained traction worldwide. Following his social media post, the French government released an official announcement concerning the use of known painkillers such as ibuprofen and how they could cause grave adverse effects, particularly in those infected by COVID-19. The bulletin recommended the use of acetaminophen, more commonly known as Tylenol, instead.

On Tuesday, Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), told reporters in Geneva that experts are looking into the matter, but seconded the advice of the French Health Ministry, saying: In the meantime, we recommend using rather paracetamol, and do not use ibuprofen as a self-medication. Thats important.

He quickly added that people whose use of ibuprofen is prescribed by a physician can still choose to take them. The popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is sold under several brand names, such as Motrin, Nurofen and Advil.

How ibuprofen can increase susceptibility to the coronavirus

The French Health Ministers tweet over the weekend was prompted by an article published in The Lancet on March 11. In it, researchers proposed that certain medications that increase the production of a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 or ACE2 also increase the risk of severe coronavirus infection.

 #COVID19 | La prise d'anti-inflammatoires (ibuprofene, cortisone, ) pourrait etre un facteur d'aggravation de linfection. En cas de fievre, prenez du paracetamol.

Si vous etes deja sous anti-inflammatoires ou en cas de doute, demandez conseil a votre medecin.  Olivier Veran (@olivierveran) March 14, 2020

ACE2 is a protein produced by cells that cover the surfaces of major organs, such as the skin, the intestines, the kidneys and the lungs. These cells also serve as the outer lining of blood vessels. Previous studies have found that ACE2 acts as a receptor on the surfaces of these cells, and human pathogenic coronaviruses bind to this protein, so they can infect their targets. Because of scientific evidence supporting this interaction, the researchers proposed that increased production of ACE2 would facilitate infection with the novel coronavirus.

We therefore [hypothesize] that diabetes and hypertension treatment with ACE2-stimulating drugs increases the risk of developing severe and fatal COVID-19 [the disease caused by the novel coronavirus], the researchers wrote in their report. They also suggested that the necessity of these medications puts people with the conditions they mentioned at a greater risk of getting infected by the virus. (Related: Prestigious vaccine journal: Flu vaccine increases coronavirus infection risk 36%.)

Some notable examples of ACE2-increasing medications are anti-hypertensives like ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II type-I receptor blockers (ARBs), which are widely used by diabetics, and those with heart problems to lower their blood pressure. The researchers also listed thiazolidinediones, which are used for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, and ibuprofen as medications that increase the levels of ACE2 in the body.

WHO reverses its announcement, refutes claim that ibuprofen increases coronavirus risk

On March 19, two days after Lindmeier spoke to reporters, the WHO released a statement regarding the issue of whether or not ibuprofen should be avoided due to the coronavirus crisis. On its official Twitter account, the agency reversed its earlier statement and said that it does not recommend against the use of ibuprofen, citing a lack of clinical data to support claims that it could worsen the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Q: Could #ibuprofen worsen disease for people with #COVID19? A: Based on currently available information, WHO does not recommend against the use of of ibuprofen. pic.twitter.com/n39DFt2amF  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020

Reckitt Benckiser, the British pharmaceutical company responsible for Nurofen, also released a statement acknowledging the growing concerns over the use of ibuprofen, especially when addressing symptoms of coronavirus infection. Ibuprofen is one of the milder NSAIDs or painkillers used to address muscle pain and fever  two commonly reported symptoms that signify the onset of illnesses caused by viruses.

In a statement posted by the companys spokesperson, Reckitt Benckiser assured the public that their safety is its topmost priority and that the company does not currently believe there is any proven scientific evidence linking over-the-counter use of ibuprofen to the aggravation of COVID-19. The spokesperson further said that the company would give the WHO, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other local health authorities any additional information or guidance necessary for the safe use of their products following evaluation, reported ScienceAlert.

Since the warnings about ibuprofen use surfaced on social media, some experts have voiced their disagreement with the issues raised against it. One of the most vocal was Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University and one of the scientists who discovered the genetics behind a persons susceptibility or resistance to the Ebola virus. She said that there is, as yet, no evidence that anti-inflammatory drugs increase susceptibility to the novel coronavirus.

This is lighting my timeline up and it's getting on my nerves. To be clear: there is no evidence whatsoever that ibuprofen, NSAIDs, and other anti-inflammatories increase susceptibility to #SARSCoV2 #HCoV19 #COVID19 #coronavirus.https://t.co/BxdP9Bdsio  Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) March 14, 2020

In a series of tweets posted on March 15, she explained that higher levels of ACE2 do not lead to more infected cells as viruses require more than just ACE2 to replicate. Rasmussen also said that more infected cells do not necessarily mean more virus either because not all susceptible cells will produce the same amount of virus. Additionally, she cited the variability of individual responses to a particular virus as something that dictates susceptibility. Meanwhile, genetics, environment and overall health, according to Rasmussen, can influence the severity of COVID-19.

Is it really safe to use ibuprofen?

Warnings about the use of ibuprofen are not new to the French public. According to an online report posted on Wednesday by France24, authorities have raised concerns about the serious complications that may arise from the use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen even before the coronavirus pandemic. They said that taking anti-inflammatory drugs are risky for people with infectious diseases as these medications tend to weaken the bodys immune response.

Studies also associate organ-related complications with the use of NSAIDs. In 2008, French researchers found that their use increased the risk of severe skin and soft tissue complications in children with chickenpox. Adults and the elderly who contract the same viral disease are also exposed to the same risk following the use of NSAIDs. The researchers attributed these complications to the activity of anti-inflammatory drugs, which can impair neutrophil blood cell function. Neutrophils are white blood cells that serve as the bodys first line of defense against infections.

In an interview with CNN, Rupert Beale, a researcher at The Francis Crick Institute in London, also said that another good reason why people should avoid ibuprofen is that it may exacerbate acute kidney injury brought on by any severe illness, including severe COVID-19 disease.

Sources include:

JPost.com 1

JPost.com 2

NPR.org

Twitter.com 1

Twitter.com 2

Twitter.com 3

TheLancet.com

Healthline.com

ScienceAlert.com

France24.com

TheGuardian.com

BPSPubs.OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com
Though Mahesh Babu hasn't officially announced his next project, rumours about him teaming with several filmmakers have been doing the rounds for a while now. First, the actor was said to be working with director Vamshi Paidipally but things didn't work out and Mahesh asked his good friend on rework on his script. Then, for the longest time, it was being said the Telugu superstar would act alongside Chiranjeevi in his much-awaited film, Acharya.

But sadly that didn't happen either as Ram Charan was eventually brought on board to do the extended cameo in the movie which is being helmed by Koratala Siva. Just a few days back, we then reported about Sarileru Neekevvaru hero doing Parasuram's next directorial venture. While the movie was supposed to go on floors soon, the situation has now changed as the entire country is in lockdown because of the novel Coronavirus outbreak.

All film and TV shootings across India have been stopped and the scenario will remain the same for a week or two more it seems. Anyway, the latest buzz regarding Mahesh Babu is that the 44-year-old actor has apparently asked Anil Ravipudi to start working on his script right away. According to a report in 123telugu.com, Mahesh wants to keep a project ready as Parasuram's film may take time to roll.

Mahesh and Anil last worked together in Sarileru Neekevvaru which arrived in cinema halls earlier this year on January 10. Co-starring Rashmika Mandanna, the movie opened to a lukewarm response from the critics but it managed to impress the audience and therefore got cash registers ringing big time not just in India but overseas as well.

Mahesh Babu To Soon Start Shooting For Parasuram's Film? Deets Inside
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - Contact Gold Corp. (TSXV: C) (the "Company" or "Contact Gold") is pleased to announce results from rock sampling from the Tango target at the Green Springs gold project located on the Cortez Trend in Nevada.

Contact Gold Rock Sampling Highlights - Tango Target:

There are 26 samples ranging from 0.1 g/t Au to 1.52 g/t Au across the target area

Separately 7 samples with +20 g/t Ag not associated with gold mineralized samples

1.52 g/t Au is the best gold-in-rock sample

172 g/t Ag is the best silver-in-rock sample

Target measures 500 x 250 metres where exposed, and dips shallowly to the west under cover.

"Tango is the most obvious drill target I have ever seen and represents yet another large-scale gold occurrence hosted at the highly altered and gold mineralized Pilot Shale formation at Green Springs. It has never been drilled due to the lack of permits to do so. My team believes that Tango has strong potential to yield a large gold discovery and with all exploration permits now in place, it is a high priority for drilling in later 2020," said Matt Lennox-King, President & CEO of Contact Gold. "Much of our rationale for acquiring Green Springs was to begin aggressively testing for one million + ounce Alligator Ridge type deposits hosted at the base of the Pilot shale formation. USMX was only interested in mining the outcropping gold mineralization hosted in the basal Chainman shale, and as such, only a very small percentage of the holes tested for Alligator Ridge type deposits."

The Tango Target is hosted in the Pilot Shale at the contact with the underlying Guilmette limestone; the same horizon that hosts drilled gold mineralization at the Alpha Zone, located 500m to the South (see news release January 14, 2020). At Tango, the lower Pilot Shale formation is intensely silicified with strong hematite and hydrothermal barite alteration, and dips shallowly west beneath unaltered upper Pilot Shale. A large gold-in-soil anomaly with values ranging from 122 ppb Au to 1070 ppb Au was outlined by previous operators over an area measuring 500 m x 250 m. Contact Gold geologists mapped and rock sampled the northern portion of Tango in early winter 2019, with 26 rock samples collected before snow cover arrived. The highest gold samples grading +1 g/t were collected from strongly decalcified, oxidized Pilot Shale adjacent to the intensely silicified Pilot Shale. Contact Gold intends to build roads and drill pads in 2020 to facilitate an initial drill program at Tango.

The Green Springs project is fully permitted under a 70-acre Plan of Operations permit from the United States Forestry Service, which covers drilling and exploration activities across all known zones and certain key targets. Contact Gold completed 1,300 metres in 10 drill holes at the Alpha, Echo, Charlie and Bravo zones in its first drill program at Green Springs in 2019. Drilling by Contact Gold returned significant intervals of oxidized gold mineralization in all zones.

2019 Drill Highlights include:

4.09 g/t Au over 38.10 m in hole GS19-09 (Echo, news release January 28, 2020 )

1.02 g/t Au over 22.86 m in hole GS19-10 (Bravo, news release February 12, 2020 )

1.68 g/t Au over 35.05 m in hole GS19-03 (Alpha, news release January 14, 2020)

For a map of the Tango Target please click:

http://www.contactgold.com/_resources/news/Green-Springs-Tango-20200324.jpg

For a map of the Alpha Zone to Tango Target area please click:

http://www.contactgold.com/_resources/news/GS-Alpha-to-Tango-20200324.jpg

For a location map of the Green Springs target areas, please click:

http://www.contactgold.com/_resources/news/GS-Targets-20200324.jpg

Contact Gold signed a purchase option agreement with Ely Gold Royalties to acquire an undivided 100% interest in Green Springs in July 2019. Green Springs is an early stage exploration property and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource estimate at Green Springs.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Vance Spalding, CPG, VP Exploration, Contact Gold, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Drill intercepts were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 0.14 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of material averaging less than 0.14 ppm gold for low grade intervals and higher grade intervals were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 1.00 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of assays averaging less than 1.00 ppm gold. Gravimetric assays are used for all Fire Assays above 4.00 ppm gold. Cyanide solubility assays are completed on all Fire Assays greater than 0.1 g/t. True width of drilled mineralization is unknown, but owing to the apparent flat lying nature of mineralization, is estimated to generally be at least 70% of drilled thickness. Quality Assurance / Quality Control consists of regular insertion of certified reference standards, blanks, and duplicates. All failures are followed up and resolved whenever possible with additional investigation whenever such an event occurs. All assays are completed at ALS Chemex; an ISO 17025:2005 accredited lab. Check assays are completed at a second, reputable assay lab after the program is complete.

About Contact Gold Corp.

Contact Gold is an exploration company focused on producing district scale gold discoveries in Nevada. Contact Gold's extensive land holdings are on the prolific Carlin, Independence and Northern Nevada Rift gold trends which host numerous gold deposits and mines. Contact Gold's land position comprises approximately 140 km2 of target rich mineral tenure hosting numerous known gold occurrences, ranging from early- to advanced-exploration and resource definition stage.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.contactgold.com.

For more information, please contact: +1 (604) 449-3361

John Glanville - Director Investor Relations

Chris Pennimpede - Corporate Development

E-mail: info@ContactGold.com

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to the anticipated exploration activities of the Company on the Green Springs property.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; 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 and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53705
Spain recorded 514 deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday, the highest daily increase so far, as the country struggles to contain the outbreak despite strict rules that are keeping people from leaving their homes.

There were 2,696 deaths in total, compared to 2,182 the day before, according to the latest health ministry data. The number of confirmed cases rose to 39,673 from 33,089.

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez had warned over the weekend that the worst was yet to come, and called on Spaniards to be strong.

The country is already in the second week of a lockdown set to continue until April 11th , with severe restrictions on mobility, police patrolling the streets and the army helping to move patients.

Soldiers drafted in to help disinfect and run residential homes have found a number of elderly people abandoned and dead in their beds, according to the countrys defence minister.

News of the grim discoveries came as Spain experienced a further rise in the number of coronavirus deaths and cases, and as health authorities set about distributing almost 650,000 rapid testing kits.

On Monday, the countrys defence minister, Margarita Robles, said that members of the specialist Military Emergencies Unit had found the corpses as they carried out their duties.

During some of its visits, the army has seen some totally abandoned elderly people  even some who were dead in their beds, Ms Robles told the Ana Rosa TV programme.

SOURCE: REUTERS, AFP, AP
The federal government has raised the alarm that the country could be toeing the line of China and Italy if the situation on coronavirus outbreak does not improve..

According to Osagie Ehanire, the health minister who spoke on Monday in a media briefing, if other cases had not come to Nigeria after the Italian index case, then the country would have been fine.

He said:

In less than 48 hours, the Italian who came to Nigeria (index case) was identified. The contacts we found for him were 179. They were all traced and monitored. Out of the 179, one was positive and put in isolation with the Italian. Both were cured and discharged.

If other cases had not come to Nigeria, that would have been the end of COVID19 in Nigeria. But other cases came in that were not part of the first one. That is why we are saying that you do not compare what we have now with what we have in China or Italy. If we do not act fast, we could be heading in something dangerous like that (in China and Italy). They now transmit among themselves.

Read Also: Covid-19: Dont Be More Muslim Than Prophet Mohammed, Stay At Home  MURIC

We have to get those who have been infected now. If we dont, it may be a serious burden in the system. I am sure some are hiding, they will not report for whatever reason. Nobody will be arrested or asked to pay anything. Those who are returning now are Nigerians. With the closure of our airports, we will reduce inflow of new cases and deal with the ones we already have, Ehanire said.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has warned Muslim faithful to eschew extreme positions in matters of religion in order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

In a statement in Lagos on Monday, MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, urged Muslim faithfuls to obey the ban on religious gathering by some state government.

Akintola said that MURIC would not support any Muslim group or individual found contravening the ban on public gathering because the ban was not targeted at any religious group.

He asked Muslims to adhere to the restrictions because it is in the best interest every citizen during this coronavirus crisis that is ravaging all parts of the globe.

In spite of governments efforts at sensitizing the general public on the need to shun gatherings, many Muslims are still calling our office asking us to speak against the ban on public gatherings so that they could observe Jumuah service, he said. Let us make our position clear on this. MURIC will not support any Muslim group or individual found contravening the ban on public assembly because the ban is in the best interest of citizens. It is not targeted at any religious group. Saudi Arabia cancelled all Jumuah prayers. It also suspended Umrah. For the first time in history, nobody is performing tawaaf at the Haram. In Kuwait, adhan (call to prayer) has been changed from Come for prayer (haya ala al-salat) to Pray in your houses (soluu fii buyuutikunm). But here in Nigeria we still find a handful of Muslims who insist on conducting Jumuah service. Do we want to be more Muslim than Muhammad (peace be upon him)? He said Islam is religion of moderation which does not encourage extremism, adding that the curse of Allah is upon extremists. MURIC warns against extremist propensities. We all can see where Boko Haram has taken us. It started from little excesses like this. Islam is a religion of moderation. It is dangerous phenomena like Corona Virus that the Glorious Quran warned us against when it said Do not make your hands contribute to your own destruction, but do good for Allah loves those who do good (Wa laa tulquu biaydiikunm ila al-tahlukah, Quran 2:195), he said. We Muslims must face reality. The manner of congregational salat inside the mosque has all the likelihoods of infection. We stand shoulder to shoulder and feet to feet. There must be no gap between a worshipper and the man standing next to him. On the contrary, health experts recommend at least one meter between persons in social interaction in order to prevent infection. MURIC urges all Muslims to see governments instructions on Covid-19 as necessary and beneficial to them. It is therefore in their best interest to cooperate. Zuhr prayers should be offered at home in place of Jumuah. The same may be done with the five congregational prayers where the number of those in the mosque is more than 20. However, we strongly advise praying daily salat at home with members of the family as domestic jamaah, he said.

ALSO READ: Dont Stop Mosque Prayers, Muslims Are Immuned To Coronavirus  Scholar Tells Nigerian Government
Pan African Resources PLC

(Incorporated and registered in England and Wales

under Companies Act 1985 with registered number

3937466 on 25 February 2000)

Share code on AIM: PAF

Share code on JSE: PAN

ISIN: GB0004300496

("Pan African Resources" or "the Company" or "the Group")

ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SOUTH AFRICAN 21-DAY LOCKDOWN AND SUSPENSION OF 2020 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

Shareholders are referred to the South African Government directive of Monday evening, 23 March 2020, enacted in terms of the South African Disaster Management Act (the "Order"), which requires a 21-day national lockdown, effective midnight 26 March 2020 to midnight 16 April 2020 (the "National Lockdown"), in order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The full Government announcement can be found at http://www.thepresidency.gov.za.

The National Lockdown requires all non-essential businesses and activities to be suspended, with people confined to their homes. The lockdown will therefore impact all South African mining operations, including the operations of Pan African Resources. Under the Order, "companies whose operations require continuous processes such as furnaces or underground mine operations will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance to avoid damage to their continuous operations".

The health and safety of its employees and communities are of paramount importance to Pan African and the Group has already implemented a number of measures to mitigate the risk of the Covid-19 virus spreading at its operations. The Group is implementing contingency plans to ensure that all operations are safeguarded and secured during the National Lockdown period. The Group is also engaging with all stakeholders, including the South African Government, to obtain further detail on permitted activities during the National Lockdown.

The Group's liquidity position is robust, with immediately available facilities of U$20m. In addition, Rand Merchant Bank has already agreed, subject to final credit approval, to defer the last three tranches of the existing gold loan's redemption, constituting 5000 ounces (U$7.8m), to the first quarter of the 2021 financial year. Furthermore, the Group has access to an additional gold loan facilities of approximately U$11m, should it be required. In the event that the National Lockdown is extended for a prolonged period, the Company will look to reschedule its short term senior debt obligations. The Company's banking Consortium has also confirmed its support for the Group should further liquidity be required during this period.

In consideration of the National Lockdown and its impact on the Group's operations, FY2020 production guidance is suspended until the Company is in a better position to quantify the full impact of the lockdown. The Company will continue to monitor the situation, and will inform shareholders as new information becomes available.

Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, commented: "Pan African supports all measures to limit the impact of COVID-19 on the people of South Africa. Even though the National Lockdown will impact negatively on our operational performance in the short term, our Group is well positioned and our operations robust. In South African Rand terms, the gold price is now at a record level, and we look forward to resuming full-scale operations to the benefit of all of our stakeholders as soon as it is possible and safe to do so".

Rosebank

24 March 2020

For further information on Pan African, please visit the Company's website at www.panafricanresources.com
If you put aside the imperialistic approach to mission that says, Weve come to save you from darkness and hell, and adopt a position that says, God has spoken in various ways to various people at various times, then it opens you to look for things that enlighten you, that come from below, from the people that traditional missionaries lost, he said, according to the book 100 Americans Making Constitutional History.
CALGARY, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - ENMAX Corporation (ENMAX) announced today that the transaction to purchase Emera Maine for $1,286 million CAD ($959 million USD) from Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA) has successfully closed. Including the assumed debt, aggregate enterprise value is $1.3 billion USD on closing. Emera Maine is a regulated electricity transmission and distribution utility in the state of Maine, servicing more than 159,000 customers.

"We are pleased to have completed this acquisition, as it reflects our strategy to grow ENMAX's regulated utility business in North America, leveraging our expertise in the provision of safe, reliable, regulated transmission and distribution electricity services," said Gianna Manes, President, and CEO, ENMAX. "ENMAX has made significant, long term commitments to Emera Maine's employees, customers, and Maine communities, and we look forward to delivering on our commitments and moving forward together."

With this acquisition, ENMAX has increased its regulated rate base by 50 percent, with 70 percent of ENMAX's future cash flows being derived from regulated and non-commodity sources. ENMAX is using its strong balance sheet to grow and is committed to paying down the acquisition debt over time. The acquisition will support ENMAX's continued provision of stable, high-quality dividends to its Shareholder, The City of Calgary.

Emera Maine will continue to operate as a stand-alone utility headquartered in Bangor and will operate under a new name to be announced in the future. In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, both ENMAX and Emera Maine place priority on efforts to ensure the health and safety of employees and the continuity of safe, reliable service to customers. Both companies have also taken steps to support customers and communities during this difficult time.

About ENMAX

ENMAX Corporation, through its subsidiaries, makes, moves, and sells electricity to residential, small business and large commercial customers and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. ENMAX Power Corporation owns and operates transmission and distribution infrastructure in Calgary, and ENMAX Energy Corporation owns diverse generation facilities throughout the province. Through its subsidiaries, ENMAX offers a range of innovative energy solutions to over 674,800 customers across Alberta, including electricity, gas, renewable energy, and other services. In March 2020, ENMAX acquired Emera Maine, a regulated electric transmission and distribution utility serving more than 159,000 customers in Northern and Eastern Maine.

SOURCE ENMAX Corporation

Related Links

www.enmax.com


Did you hear that Japanese scientists have found that a dry mouth will increase your chances of falling ill with coronavirus, so you should drink water every 15 minutes to wash pathogens into your stomach acid?

Or that it's confirmed by researchers at Stanford that the virus is not heat-resistant and that keeping things above 27 degrees neutralises the threat? Gargling with bleach is also apparently effective, if done cautiously.

Going to water ... the fake news on drinking every 15 minutes and other false hopes in the time of coronavirus. Credit:James Brickwood

None of this is true, of course. But I've seen it all circulating on social media. You've probably seen it too. And it's almost always shared by well-intentioned friends and relatives.

They used to be old wives's tales. Now they've been turbocharged into fake news. The reason this news travels  like a virus  is that people are inclined to believe what they hear from family and friends. But Uncle Jack never used to have a megaphone to yell about how garlic every morning would stop the virus.
Carlo Verdelli, Chief Editor of La Repubblica, a left wing and well-respected Italian newspaper, has been put under police protection after receiving death threats from Neo-Nazi groups. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) together with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their Italian affiliate, Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in expressing solidarity towards Carlo Verdelli and strongly condemning this appalling intimidation.

The police protection measure was ordered by the Interior Ministry on 12 March, following several threats including a death threat coming from a so-called "Neo-Nazi" silent cells.

The FNSI Main Boarding said: The police protection of Carlo Verdelli illustrates the Italians problem with Nazi fascism. We urge the Italian authorities to identify and prosecute the representatives of these groups who keep acting undisturbed in the wake of principles and ideals extraneous to the Republican Constitution and the democratic order.

IFJ and EFJ welcome the decision to put the journalist under protection and urge the Italian authorities to identify and bring the aggressors to justice without delay.
The government has provided more clarity about what constitutes essential services once the country is in lockdown.

MBIE deputy chief executive Paul Stocks says the purpose of escalating New Zealand's COVID-19 alert level to 4 is to stop the virus in its tracks and reduce contact between people.

"That's why we need as many businesses as possible to close their premises now if our one shot at beating the virus is to be successful.

"Only the businesses absolutely essential to ensure the necessities of life, like supermarkets and pharmacies, can stay open. If in doubt, the business premises should be closed."

He says this means the Warehouse needs to close its stores.

Paul says "big box" retailers like Bunnings, PlaceMakers and Mitre 10 can stay open to trade customers for essential purposes only.

"These retailers play an important part in the construction supply chain, but they cannot sell goods to the general public."

Dairies can continue to operate, but must ensure strict physical distancing rules for customers.

Paul says dairies sold basic food items like bread and milk, often to the elderly who may not be able to get to a supermarket.

"If any dairy breaks the rules, we will shut it down. If there is evidence of systemic abuse, we will remove them from the essential services list."

All restaurants, cafes and bars must close all aspects of their operation, including delivery.

That means food delivery services like Uber Eats and Deliver Easy cannot operate either, however, the delivery of food that is not pre-cooked will be allowed.

"We are doing further work on online ordering of non-food products for home delivery to see if this type of retail can be conducted safely. We will update advice on this once further decisions are made."

Liquor stores will also need to close, except where they operate in licensing trust areas.

Businesses that are a critical part of the supply chain for essential services are also able to continue operating, but must do so in a way that is safe.

"For example, if you make chemicals that are needed for our wastewater plants, then we need you to keep operating at the minimum level required."

Paul says there will be significant limits on what people could buy, however, the list could be adapted if it is found some essential services needed to be made available.

Further details on essential services:
According to highly placed sources, even as the corporation is falling short by Rs 50 crore pertaining to salaries

Hyderabad: The Covid-19 crisis has hit Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) very badly, particularly in monetary terms.

Officials claimed that deployment of tax inspectors to the corona special teams has adversely impacted their current month property tax collection. Till now the corporation has only collected `67.56 crore and were falling short by about `400 crore to reach the current year's annual property tax target of `1,800 crore.

As against the monthly requirement of Rs 110 crore towards salaries, the corporation, presently, has a mere Rs 60 crore in its kitty, according to sources. They claimed that the state government would not be held responsible as payment of salaries to its employees has to be from the GHMCs own treasury.

According to highly placed sources, even as the corporation is falling short by Rs 50 crore pertaining to salaries, things might worsen if the lockdown continues for the first two weeks of April. This will have a direct bearing on regular maintenance activities like sanitation and also take a toll on the Early Bird Rebate Scheme.

That apart, sources said that the corporation is yet to clear bills to the tune of Rs 550 crore pertaining to infrastructure projects and others since January. Prior to the lockdown, the corporation has cleared pending December bills worth `148 crore, with the state government releasing Rs 78 crore from its budget.

A senior GHMC official, on condition of anonymity, told Deccan Chronicle that Covid-19 crisis has already hit revenues very badly. He said though instructions were given to the bill collectors to achieve the current financial year property tax target, coronavirus containment is the top priority of the government.

If the crisis continues for three months, the corporation would be bankrupt, thereby affecting all basic civic amenities. If Rs 50 crore is not collected within a week, salaries of employees may not be credited, the official said.
Aerospace manufacturing firm Bombardier will close its Northern Ireland sites until April 20, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision comes a day after staff expressed concern about social distancing at work.

A number of employees at the companys east Belfast site had brought their concerns to management on Monday morning.

However, in an internal email to staff on Tuesday, the company explained that following announcements from Bombardier Aviation regarding the closure of sites in Quebec and Ontario, all production will temporarily stop in Northern Ireland.

These measures will help us maintain as many people as possible in full-time employment, the email added.

It continued: We will use this period to review all our factories and office areas to ensure that, on our return, we can meet the latest government social distancing guidelines.

We will keep the situation under constant review given any change in government guidelines and essential business needs driven by customer requirements.

Before leaving today, please work with your local supervision to ensure your work area is left secure, safe and tidy.

On exiting the facility, please leave in an orderly fashion, respecting your colleagues and maintaining social distancing.

The email also stated there is still a lot of uncertainty from government and Bombardiers customers and ensured employees that they would communicate with them as frequently as possible.

Thank you for your continued support for our business, the company concluded. During the shutdown period, take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

We look forward to working together again shortly to ensure that continued success of our business in Northern Ireland.
For 28-year-old Sonu, life has taken a drastic turn. A week ago, work was as usual for her. Waking up at 7 in the morning, getting her daughter ready for the school, cooking a meal and stepping out of the house. She would begin work at 8.30. Of the four houses where she works as a cook and househelp, she would first pick the one with lesser members and then move to other houses.

However, theres no work now.

During the coronavirus outbreak, India is on a partial lockdown. National capital New Delhi is under a curfew. The extreme measures are taken to control the deadly outbreak which has killed thousands globally.

These are precarious times for all of us. I never thought this would happen someday. None of us ever imagined this situation, a worried Sonu says.

Representational Image

Sonu hails from Bihar and migrated to Delhi in 2009 with her husband. She got married in 2007. Currently, she lives in a rented accommodation with her 10-year-old daughter in Delhis Freedom Fighters Enclave, Saket.

My husband is in Bihar. He is a farmer by profession. He comes here sometimes. But right now it is just me and my daughter here, she tells.

Sonu has been asked to not come to work by all the four households where she works as househelp. With the recent government order, everyone is advised to stay at home. While this means that most people would be working from home and doing household chores by themselves, this also means losing jobs for maids and cooks. While some called to tell her to stop coming to work the following day, some offered an additional amount of money to ease the economic burden.

I am not working currently. The schools are shut and my daughter is at home too. Everyone has asked me to not come to work now onwards. I got the last months salary on the first of this month so I have some money saved up for the month and to take care of the daily expenses. But I have no idea how long this will last. I dont know if my employers will give me any salary next month. Some said that they will pay me even if I do not go but I cant really tell, Sonu says in a worried voice and some lines on her forehead.

She fears managing the house will be difficult if she doesnt receive her salary.

One didi called me in the morning and asked me to come, not for work but she was offering me some additional money so that I am able to take care of my finances in this situation. I went out but the police did not allow me to enter the society. I went back home. She called me later saying that she will visit me in the evening. That money would really help me.

Sonu is worried that if she doesnt get the salary for this next month, it would be difficult for her to manage the house. I have to pay a total of Rs 5,500 per month for the rented accommodation, including the electricity bill and water bill. I have a ration card but Ive never used it. I remember chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing that we will get groceries at a cheaper rate. That was very generous of him, she explains.

Representational Image

She is also worried about the coronavirus pandemic. She worries for her daughters safety and of her employees. I have never seen anything like this. I am scared of the virus but we are dealing with it in our own ways. My daughter and I do not step out of the house even though she sometimes wants to go out, I tell her this isnt the best time,she says adding it is difficult to explain children.

When asked what precaution she is exercising, Sonu says that she doesnt have a mask and has hardly used a sanitiser in her life. She says,If I step out, I tie my dupatta around my mouth and nose. Waise bhi TV pe kaha hi zaroori nahi hai mask pehna jaaye, so this works for me.

Thousands of maids share a similar story. Those in the informal sector are hit the hardest. There is uncertainty around their hard-earned money. The future of large numbers of domestic workers looks uncertain. While there are several welfare schemes announced by the government, what they really need is the certainty that they will still have their jobs when the situation gets better. While many residents have given a paid leave to their house helps concerning their safety and their own, in the long run domestic workers would need more than this.
By Kelsey Johnson

OTTAWA, March 23 (Reuters) - Canada is asking recently retired meat inspectors to come back to work as it tries to ease staffing shortages and ensure the food system remains intact during the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Monday.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) told meat processing plants on Friday it would be reducing the agency's staffed hours at domestic meat processing plants because of capacity constraints, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

It was not immediately clear when the reduced staffing, including no overtime and no Saturday shifts, would take effect.

Industry officials fear the CFIA move could cut the output of meat across Canada by 10% or more, said one of the sources.

"There's a challenge around human resources ... mainly for our inspectors," Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told reporters on Monday when asked about the availability of meat inspectors, saying Ottawa was investigating whether provincial officials could help share the burden.

"We are also in the process of hiring new inspectors, training new inspectors, bringing back inspectors who just retired a year or two ago," she said, but did not give details.

CFIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bibeau has said the agriculture sector is an essential industry as Canada grapples with an outbreak of the coronavirus that has seen consumers strip grocery store shelves bare.

Industry officials have said the food supply chain is functioning well despite the increased demand for food.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa was immediately making C$5 billion ($3.45 billion) in credit available to cash-crunched farmers and producers.

Those in need of assistance can apply for the funding through Farm Credit Canada (FCC), the country's biggest agricultural lender, Trudeau said.

Last week, Canada said temporary foreign workers with valid visas, on which the country's labor-strapped farms rely heavily, would be exempted from tightened border measures.

Nearly 60,000 temporary foreign workers are employed on Canadian farms, many from Mexico and the Caribbean. Foreign workers also make up about 3% of the meat and seafood processors' labor force.

Bibeau told reporters that Ottawa was negotiating with Guatemala to secure permission for an industry group to operate a designated charter flight to bring farmworkers to Canada. ($1=1.4513 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa; Editing by David Ljunggren and Peter Cooney)
SAGINAW, MI-- Across the state, more people are using technology to see their doctors and get screened for COVID-19--with some hospitals seeing a 35 to 80 percent increase in virtual visits.

Telemedicine, which allows patients to be seen by a doctor virtually, is being utilized more after public and private healthcare insurers expanded their coverage to include the service amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expanded access to telemedicine for people receiving Medicaid on March 12. In addition, healthcare insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Care Network, Priority Health, Meridian, CVS Health, McLaren and Health Alliance Plan also announced theyd cover the service and waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing.

Since then, hospital officials in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Saginaw say more patients are seeing their doctors online. The service is also being used to screen for COVID-19. Hurley Medical Center in Flint is now considering offering the service to its patients.

The recent changes in reducing costs to patients have definitely resulted in an increase in interest and acceptance of virtual visits, said Kristin Knoll, a representative of Covenant Medical Group in Saginaw. Covenant is offering virtual doctors visits through MyChart.

As telemedicine becomes used more and more during this emergency situation it will become evident to patients and insurance companies how critical it is to become part of mainstream care delivery, Knoll said.

Telemedicine allows patients to see a doctor online, generally in a video chat. The system is primarily utilized in rural areas where it can be time-consuming to see a doctor, but its especially important when a virus, like COVID-19, is being spread.

In the current public health emergency, telemedicine helps reduce risk to patients and providers and helps decrease the spread of the virus, Knoll said. Keeping people at home is key to help prevent the spread of infection.

The hospital has offered telemedicine for years, but it wasnt widely adopted until now, according to Knoll.

The current situation has highlighted how valuable this service is for patients and will certainly help establish telemedicine as an integral part of the care delivery continuum, Knoll said.

Covenant has more than 230 healthcare providers that are virtually visiting patients.

Physicians have been seeing patients virtually to keep (them) safe and support the community during this critical time, Knoll.

Carolyn Wyllie, a representative of Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, said the hospital has seen a 35 percent increase in people booking virtual immediate care visits on BronsonConnect, the hospitals telemedicine system.

The hospital has also seen an 80 percent increase for scheduled video visits with patients established in their practices, according to Wyllie.

Wyllie said telemedicine offers benefits like convenience for patients.

(Theres) no wait, no line and no need to drive to an appointment, Wyllie said. Appointments tend to be much faster than a traditional visit for patients and often less expensive.

Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids began video visits for primary care in 2015. More than 100,000 video visits have been conducted since its operation, according to Spectrum Health officials.

People can schedule a video visit using a smart device, tablet or a computer with a webcam and internet connection.

The video visits are popular at Spectrum Health, especially during the cold and flu season. Screening for COVID-19 is free for people who are experiencing symptoms related to the disease.

Screening can also be done over the phone through Spectrums hotline (616) 391-2380 or Bronson Care Advisor (269)341-7788.

Covenant is in the process of establishing a hotline for COVID-19 screenings.

We are asking people who are not severely ill but are experiencing respiratory illness to call their primary care physician first, Knoll said. For those who do not have a primary care physician, we are establishing a hotline to connect these patients with Covenant physicians ready to assess risk for COVID-19.

The hotline with virtual visits will be operational early next week and will likely be provided with no cost to the patient, Knoll said.

Read more on MLive:

Hurley suspends all routine visitations due to coronavirus

Mass Transportation Authority to continue services amid coronavirus Stay Home, Stay Safe order

What Grand Rapids residents are saying about Michigans stay-at-home order

Were just trying to get done what we can, Ann Arbor workers say of stay-at-home coronavirus order

Why didnt I get my haircut 2 weeks earlier? Jackson resident reacts to stay-at-home order
This article could be about any number of sectors of the economy. But around here were focused on wine. So lets talk about how to support the wine industry during these trying times. Last week I wrote about How to Buy Wine While Self-Isolating. One of the primary tips there was to purchase wine directly from individual wineries.

In service of that idea, here is a list that I will endeavor to keep updated in the days to come of the different deals that Im aware of from individual wineries. Most are offering free shipping (not a small thing when it can easily run $30-60 depending on where you are) and many are offering additional discounts and specials. Ill group them by region, but I have a feeling this is going to be an unusually long list.

[Five hours later]

Holy cow. I clearly need to be careful what I ask for on Facebook and Twitter. I probably could have saved myself some trouble and written a post that was short and sweet and went something like this:

Pretty much every winery is offering a great deal to wine buyers at the moment, from free shipping to discounts.

Its hard to say this, but you can smell the fear out there in the marketplace. Wineries that are usually mailing list only are opening up their allocated inventories to the public. Some producers are offering $500 worth of wine for $300. We all need something to drink while were holed up at home, so I hope youll join me in purchasing wine from these folks.

The near ubiquity of specials, sales, and various offers makes it all the more clear that now is the time to be supporting wineries. If it werent so painful and scary, the kinds of opportunities that are out there for wine lovers to save money would be incredibly exciting.

A number of regional associations and groups of wineries have assembled their own lists of deals and promotions from their member wineries. I have endeavored to put links to those lists at the top of each regions section.

I will continue to update this list as I can. I hope you will make use of it and buy something good to drink to go with your self-quarantine.

#keepwinealive

UPDATE 4/10/20 4:30 PM  Added additional deals and master lists for Mt. Veeder and Calistoga wineries.

UPDATE 4/2/20 10:00 AM  Added San Luis Obispo wineries master list.

UPDATE 4/1/20 2:00 PM  Added El Dorado Master list and other individual winery offers.

UPDATE 3/27/20 6:40 PM  Added Napa Vintners library sale info and other Napa offers.

UPDATE 3/26/20 1:50 PM  Added Santa Barbara master list and several additional offers.

UPDATE 3/25/20 10:30 AM  Added several more deals.

UPDATE 3/24/20 4:35 PM  Added several more offers, and a link to the Santa Lucia Highlands wine associations roundup of deals from their members.

UPDATE 3/24/20 09:00 AM  Jancis Robinson has made a similar effort to catalog online retailers around the world who are still shipping in this season on her web site.

CALIFORNIA WINERIES

Mount Veeder  Some of Napas high elevation producers in Mount Veeder are offering special deals and promotions.

Calistoga Winegrowers  Many wineries from the Calistoga AVA at the northern end of Napa Valley have promotions listed.

San Luis Obispo Wine Collective  Its not 100% obvious that this site contains deals, but if you click through to individual wineries youll see offers from each.

El Dorado  El Dorado has published a SIP with El Dorado master list of winery deals.

Napa Valley  Napa Valley Vintners is opening up their wine library to sell back vintages on their web site starting Monday March 30th at 10 AM. The listing is posted now, and the sale will be hosted at www.openthecellar.com. Additionally, the Vintners have begun to create two master lists, one of wineries doing home deliveries in Napa and another of wineries hosting virtual tastings. Both lists will continue to be populated for the next few days.

Santa Barbara  Heres the master list of Santa Barbara producers offering deals.

Lodi  Lodi has launched the Lodi Wine To Go program and has a list of wineries offering specials.

Sonoma Wine Road Wineries  Every one of these more than 65 wineries in Sonoma is offering $5 flat-rate shipping on all case orders with promocode sipsonoma.

More Sonoma Wineries  More than 100 wineries in Sonoma County are offering deals.

Santa Lucia Highlands  The Santa Lucia Highlands winery association has rounded up all the deals being offered by their member wineries.

Paso Robles Wineries  Dozens and dozens of Paso Robles wineries are offering various discounts and promos to enjoy a little Paso at Home.

Santa Cruz Mountains Wineries  Many of the wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains are offering some sort of deal for online orders or delivery.

Wineries of San Diego  The wineries in the San Diego area are offering various discounts on their wines and shipping.

Ryder Estate  This brand is offering $1 ground shipping (excludes HI & AK) on 6+ bottles (mix and match) of wine, through the end of April.

Gifft Wines  Kathy Lee Giffords wine brand is offering $1 ground shipping (excludes HI & AK) on 6 or more bottles of her Pinot Grigio.

Scheid Vineyards  This Monterey winery is offering $1 ground shipping (excludes HI & AK) on 6+ bottles of wine, through the end of April. 10% of all sales through the end of April will be donated to Meals on Wheels of Monterey County.

Alder Springs Vineyard  This Mendocino producer is offering 50% off a case with free shipping to California, New York Illinois, and Massachusetts. The code is STAYHOME.

Moone-Tsai Wines  This Howell Mountain-based boutique winery is offering a 15% discount on select wines including their 2017 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017 Napa Valley Chardonnay and 2017 Pinot Noir as well as free shipping on purchases of 6+ bottles with the code: SpringForward.

Scoto Family Wines  This family winery and cider producer in Lodi is offering $.01 shipping for orders of 6 or 12 bottles, 30% off 6 bottles of same varietal and 50% off 12 bottles of same varietal.

Kunin Wines  This Santa Barbara producer is offering once cent shipping on 6 or more bottles.

Martellotto Winery  This one-man operation from Santa Barbara is offering free shipping on all orders over $50 during quarantine.

J. Cage Cellars  This Sonoma Pinot specialist is offering free shipping on 3+ bottles and special stay at home wine packages.

Wine Trade Network  This global brand is offering free delivery and 30% off with promo code: SWR30 which can be entered at checkout.

BonAnno Wine  This Chicago-based wine brand makes Napa and North Coast wines and is taking 50% off shipping charges for case purchases and donating 100% of its profits to the restaurant worker charity of your choice.

Urban Legend  This urban winery in Oakland is offering free curbside pickup, free delivery of any order of 2 or more bottles in the East Bay, and free shipping on three or more bottles West of the Rockies.

Rootdown Cellars This tiny producer is offering 15% discounts using the promo code: ROOTDOWNBABY! plus free delivery near Healdsburg and curbside pickup for everyone else. Free shipping on any case orders or larger.

Emeritus Vineyards  This Russian River Valley producer is offering $1 shipping on 12 or more bottles.

Schug  This well-known Carneros brand is offering 1-cent shipping on case orders and weekly flash sales on their web site.

Saddleback Cellars  This Napa producer is offering 15% off for any quantity of wine and free shipping on 6 bottles or more. Use code 15OffWine and FreeShipping6 at checkout. Posse members receive 25% off with code 25OffWine.

Jeff Cohn Cellars  This long-standing urban winery in Oakland focused on Rhone and Zinfandel wines is offering one cent shipping for any order more than six bottles.

Tatomer Wines  This small producer of Riesling and Gruner Veltliner is offering free shipping on 6 bottles or more. Plus some special new releases available.

Turley Wine Cellars  Offering online buying from their tasting rooms for the first time ever. Ship or schedule a no-touch pickup. Theyre selling wines usually only available to mailing list customers.

Iron Horse Winery  Offering $1 shipping on all orders of six bottles or more.

Red Car Wine Co.  Is offering free ground shipping including in case purchases. Deals include a $528 case of Syrah for $349, shipping included, and a $658 mystery case for $249!

Jason-Stephens Winery  This boutique producer from the Santa Clara Valley is offering free ground shipping for three bottles or more, and 20% discounts to pick up wine.

Dashe Cellars  Will ship you wine for a penny using the promo code ATHOME. Even more impressively, theres no shipping minimum. Time to get some Zinfandel.

A bunch of winemakers and Bottle Barn  These folks have put together Shelter in Case  a Killer case of wine for $469 (a $590 retail value) with free shipping.

Scar of the Sea  This winery and cider maker is offering free shipping on every order of 6 bottles or more and 35% off if you use the promo code COVID19.

Smith-Madrone  This little producer up on Napas Spring Mountain is offering $1 shipping with no minumum quantities. Time to load up on Napas best Riesling and some killer mountainside Cabernet.

Kivelstadt Cellars  This Sonoma Valley producer is offering to give you dinner and wine, with no contact pickups.

Hesperian Wines  This swanky Napa producer is offering a 60% discount on library prices of $250 a bottle and releasing a three-pack of 2004, 2007 and 2010 for $300. There will also be a six-pack of two of each for $480 (or $80 bottle) which is a discount of 68%. Normal price would be $1500. He also has a 12-pack of Anatomy for $300 ($25/bottle) a discount of 44% over the regular price of $45. Contact the winery to purchase.

Frogs Leap  This well known, sustainable producer is offering a new Interactive Tasting Series with John & Rory Williams, happening weekly on Saturdays at 3p PST/ 6p EST via Zoom and Instagram Live. Wines for each tasting are available for sale on the winerys web site, which is offering $5 flat rate shipping on all orders, all the time. Ground and 2-day service. The winery remains open for purchases and pick ups and is also offering home delivery service to Napa Valley locals  from Napa to Calistoga addresses and everything in between.

The Spire Collection  The Jackson Familys collection of luxury wine brands from around the world (La Jota in Napa, Zenas Crown in Oregon, Capensis in South Africa etc.) is offering free shipping and a virtual guided tasting event at a time of your choosing. Interested parties can reach the Spire Collection team via email at membership@spirecollection.com or by phone at 707-948-1920. The cost is simply purchase of the wine, ongoing membership not required.

Kendall-Jackson  Separately, Kendall-Jackson is offering 20% off all its wines with shipping included for all orders above $75.

Waits-Mast Cellars  This tiny, tiny urban producer of Pinot Noir and more in San Francisco is offering $5 flat-rate shipping for three or more bottles plus guided virtual tastings on your schedule.

Hahn Family Wines  This Central Coast producer is offering free shipping for any three or more bottles.

Gary Farrell Winery  This venerable Russian River Valley Pinot producer is offering a personal virtual tasting with wines for $380 with the promise of discounts on wine and shipping after the initial purchase.

Two Shepherds Winery  This blogger turned successful winemaker is offering free shipping for 6 bottles or more and flat rate $10 shipping for everything less than that.

Ruby Hill Winery  This Livermore Valley producers is offering free shipping on all purchases.

Tablas Creek Vineyard  The rockstar of Paso Robles is offering $10 flat rate shipping on any quantity.

Grounded Wine Co  This one-man winery by Josh Phelps is offering one cent shipping on any case of wine and will donate 10% of his sales to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Benovia Winery  This Russian River Valley producer is offering free shipping on 3 bottles or more.

https://jcbcollection.com target=_blank rel=nofollow>JCB Collection  JCB Collection, the personal brand of Jean-Charles Boisset is offering free shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more with the code SPRINGCLEAN which will also unlock various other wine discounts. The various Boisset-owned properties are also offering curbside pickup, and Oakville Grocerys wine program is featuring home deliveries.

Poe Wines  Poe Wines, a boutique producer in Sonoma county with both sparkling and still wines is offering 15% off all wines and free shipping on orders of three bottles or more.

Reeve Wines  This boutique producer is offering free shipping on 6 or more bottles.

Copain Wines  Cpoain is offering free shipping on all orders through March 31st with the promo code SHIPNOW.

Brewer-Clifton  This storied producer of Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara is offering free shipping on all orders through at least April 1.

Bricoleur Vineyards  This Sonoma County producer is offering $9.95 flat-rate shipping on any order, and will donate 10% of all wine purchases to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Use the promo code SIPFROMHOME.

The Donum Estate  The Donum Estate is offering $10 flat-rate shipping and will donate $10 for every online order to the World Health Organizations COVID-19 Response Fund.

The Plumpjack Group  CADE winery, Odette Winery, and the Plumpjack Winery are all offering $1 shipping on 6 bottles or more, and will deliver for free to your home in Napa or American Canyon. The wineries are also offering virtual tasting sessions.

La Clarine Farm  La Clarine Farm is offering free gound shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more and 20% off orders of 12 bottles or more.

Chateau Montelena  Chateau Montelena is offering a COVID19 Wine Shelter package of a copy of the movie Bottle Shock and a mixed half or full case of wine with 1 cent shipping on all case orders. Youll also get a free tasting when the tasting room is back opening. Owner Bo Barrett and his winemaker will also be doing virtual tastings / digital happy hours in the days to come.

LIOCO  This trendy producer has opened up their library for purchase and is offering free shipping on 6 bottles or more.

Extea Wines  This boutique producer known for their Albarino is offering 10% discounts on cases of wine.

Sosie Wines  This small producer in Sonoma is offering free blue glove delivery in San Francisco and half-off shipping for orders of three bottles more using promo code: SHELTER3 and free shipping for orders of 6 or more bottles with promo code SHELTER6. Theyre also offering virtual tastings with the winemaker on demand.

Matthiasson Wines  This rockstar producer is offering to send you the wines youd taste if you came for a tasting. Six wines or 12 wines at roughly a 20% discount to normal prices, plus free shipping, and then a Zoom session scheduled at your convenience to talk with Steve and Jill about the wines. Separately, if you just want some wine, you can get up to a 20% discount on prices and free shipping for 12 or more bottles, or $15 flat rate shipping and a 10% discount under six bottles.

Chappellet  This storied Napa proucer is offering $1 shipping on all online orders with no minimums.

The Wine Foundry/Anarchist Wine Co  This is offering $1 same-day Wine Deliveries to SF, Marin, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Southern Napa and Sonoma Counties with any purchase of 3 bottles or more, and $1 national shipping on cases of 12 or more using promo code stayathome. Founder and owner Stuart Ake is also running virtual tastings.

Ziata Wines  Karen Cakebreads personal label is offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more with promo code SHIP2YOU.

Parallel Wines  This boutique Napa producer is offering virtual tastings.

Foley Food and Wine Society  Most of the Foley Family wineries are offering 15% discounts for non members and 25% discounts for members plus $10 flat rate shipping on case orders.

Alexander Valley Vineyards  AVV is offering $1 per bottle shipping for 2 or more bottles (plus $1 order processing fee) through April 1.

Workman Ayer  Workman Ayer is offering 20% off all purchases and $10 flat rate shipping.

Trois Noix Wine  This little one-woman producer is offering $1 shipping for CA, OR and NY plus 15% off the entire order with the promo code FRIENDS2020.

Patz & Hall  This well-known Chardonnay and Pinot Noir house is offering 1-cent shipping on all orders through 3/31.

Benevolent Neglect Wines  This tiny solo operation is offering a pay what you can offer on its wines to members of the hospitality industry. Prove you work in the business, and then pay what you want for a bottle of wine. Yes, really. Please dont abuse this.

Ridge Vineyards  Legendary producer Ridge is offering free shipping to all club members on orders of any size with promo code STAYIN, and free shipping to anyone for orders of 6 or more bottles, no promo code needed.

Belden Barns  This Sonoma producer is offering virtual tastings.

Halleck Vineyard  This boutique producer is offering virtual tasting packages.

Courtesan Wines  Bridget Raymond is offering various QuarantWINE packages. Free shipping on case orders and discounted shipping for smaller quantities. Shes also offering virtual tasting sessions.

Cellars 33  This San Francisco Urban Winery is offering free, contactless delivery in San Francisco.

Terra Valentine  This Napa producer is offering a special 6-pack of wines.

Gros Ventre Cellars  This Russian River Valley producer is offering free shipping or delivery on orders of 6 bottles or more.

Lang & Reed  This little Loire inspired outfit will give you 2-day air for the price of ground shipping when you order.

Vinca Minor Wine  This natural wine producer is offering free shipping on cases of wine and $20 flat fee shipping on everything else. Theyll also hand deliver in the East Bay.

Anaba Wines  This Sonoma producer is offering one-cent shipping through the end of March.

Hamel Family Wines  Hamel is Offering free ground shipping on all orders of 3 bottles or more. For anyone who has had to cancel a tasting experience due to the tasting room closure, they will offer a complimentary tasting when they reopen.

Oak Farm Vineyards  This Lodi producer is fffering free shipping on three bottles or more. They are also allowing customers to come to the winery for pickup only, and meet customers at their cars to deliver wines so no one needs to leave their vehicle.

Aperture Cellars  This super-boutique father and son brand is offering free shipping on 6 bottle and case orders.

Far Niente  All wine club orders will ship free of charge in April.

Charles Krug  This historical Napa estate is offering free shipping on all orders.

Oceano  This Central Coast winery wants to give you 20% off your first order (using code FIRST), as well as free ground shipping on 6 bottles or more.

La Crema  This Sonoma winery is offering free shipping and 15% off all orders using promo code LCNOW through the end of March.

Long Meadow Ranch  This Napa producer is offering free ground shipping on all orders using the code SENDWINE at checkout.

Stony Hill Vineyard  The producer of one of Californias most ageworthy Chardonnays is offering free ground shipping on all orders using the code NEEDWINE at checkout.

J Vineyards  This producer of excellent sparkling wine and Pinot Noirs is offering free ground shipping on 3 or more bottles purchased. A portion of proceeds will go to charity.

Louis M. Martini  This histrical Napa producer is offering free ground shipping on 3 or more bottles purchased. A portion of proceeds will go to charity.

William Hill Estate  William Hill is offering free ground shipping on 3 or more bottles purchased. A portion of proceeds will go to charity.

Sans Wine Co  This organic, Napa-based canned wine producer is offering free shipping on orders of $45 or more, and in addition, they are sending out family recipes with each shipment, since more people are cooking at home.

Lail Vineyards  Normally only available to mailing list members, Lail is offering up their wines via e-commerce for the first time plus free shipping.

Inglenook  One of Napas legendary estates, Inglenook is offering $5 shipping on orders of six or more bottles.
In recent days, President Trump has cast himself as a "wartime president" leading the US into battle against an "invisible enemy  while at the same time allowing governors in hard-hit states to run the show. Trump has spoken of Democrats like New York's Andrew Cuomo as allies in the "war" against Covid-19, following a strategy mapped out by his "war cabinet," also known as the President's Coronavirus Task Force.

Though he initially tempered on-camera praise for some governors' efforts with subsequent Twitter-borne insults, he continued to maintain an uneasy alliance with those across the aisle as the nation's financial markets had their worst week since 1929, and the number of American cases grew to over 30,000.

Moreover, Trump has  albeit reluctantly  acknowledged the necessity of stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures recommended by experts like CDC Director Robert Redfield and Dr Anthony Fauci.

According to sources with knowledge of president's thinking, his generally magnanimous tone towards these prominent Democrats and the same sorts of career civil servants he's spent most of his term in office maligning as the "deep state" is the result of a belated realization. He now sees that the inaction which marked the first few months of the pandemic would not reflect well on him if state and local officials' actions contrasted significantly with the tone coming out of the White House.

As a result, this uneasy nonaggression pact with his adversaries has allowed both the president and public health experts to tout the stay-at-home orders, school closures, and event cancelations which have spread across the United States.

But now multiple Trumpworld figures say such strategies may need to remain in place for longer than the initial "15 days to slow the spread" recommended by the CDC. Thats left the president restless and ever more concerned about his own re-election prospects.

As of Monday morning, Trump appeared to be discarding the advice of his "field generals" in favor of a peripheral figure in his Fox News kitchen cabinet, ex-David Cameron adviser Steve Hilton.

Hilton, who has spent the three most recent years in exile from UK Conservative politics hosting a weekly show on the president's favorite channel, caught Trump's attention during his Sunday night broadcast by leveling a broadside against Anthony Fauci. Earlier, Fauci had shrugged off criticism about potentially overreacting to Covid-19 in a recent interview by telling his interlocutor: I like it when people think Im overreacting because that means were doing it just right."

Unimpressed by the world-famous virologist, Hilton opined: Well, thats easy for him to say! Hell still have a job at the end of this, whatever happens. Our ruling class and their TV mouthpieces whipping up fear over this virus, they can afford an indefinite shutdown. Working Americans cant, theyll be crushed by it. You know that famous phrase, The cure is worse than the disease? That is exactly the territory we are hurting towards. Hilton continued on to say that a "total economic shutdown" of the US would "kill people.

Not long after, Trump issued an all-caps tweet echoing Hilton's sentiments.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO! he wrote.

 Expert calls Trump's coronavirus tweet 'bogus'

The next morning, the president retweeted a bunch of random Twitter accounts echoing the same sentiment, which National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow praised him for during an appearance on Fox News.

"The president is right. The cure can't be worse than the disease. And we're going to have to make some difficult tradeoffs," said Kudlow, an ex-CNBC pundit who, unlike most other NEC directors, isn't a trained economist.

Yale Medical School psychiatrist Dr Bandy Lee explained that Trump wants the initial 15-day period to be enough, and so he will declare it to be so because the "magical thinking" he engages in prevents him from seeing the consequences of sending Americans back to work prematurely.

"He can't see the consequences of his actions or the benefit of intervention so he's going to do whatever he can to undermine it and stop this cure," she said. "He's not dwelling in reality at all."

It appears Trump is now preparing to turn against his own advisers and go to battle against the same governors who have taken charge in the fight against the pandemic. For this wartime president, it seems, the truce was temporary.
(Alliance News) - South32 Ltd on Tuesday withdrew its full-year earnings guidance and added it is clarifying whether it will be exempt from a South African government virus lockdown.

The Perth-based miner explained that its work with electricity supplier Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd classes it as an essential business.

"South32 understands that businesses essential for the maintenance of power generation in South Africa are exempt from the lockdown. We will work with the government to determine the impact of this exemption on our South African Energy Coal and South Africa Aluminium operations, given the role they play in the sustainability of Eskom's generation network," the company said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said a three-week lockdown will be imposed from midnight Thursday with new curbs on which businesses remain open also being introduced.

Rampahosa had said all businesses will be closed, save for "pharmacies, laboratories, banks, essential financial and payment services, including the JSE, supermarkets, petrol stations and health care providers".

South32 said it has made plans for its South Africa manganese and metalloys alloy smelter operations to "be placed on care and maintenance".

The company said it will update the market with new 2020 production guidance "when further information becomes available".

Chief Executive Officer Graham Kerr said: "To-date, we have not yet experienced production interruptions from Covid-19 at any other operations. We continue to monitor the impact of restrictions being placed on the movement of people and goods by governments across the world and will continue to update the market as appropriate."

South32 shares were 8.9% higher at ZAR18.82 each in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Global giant India joined the countries ordering their citizens to stay at home Tuesday, putting a third of the world on lockdown as the coronavirus epidemic forced Japan to postpone the Olympics.

Despite warnings from the United States and Europe that the unprecedented shutdown is pushing the world economy towards collapse, more governments are opting to stop potential virus-carriers going out and about.

And just as China, where the new strain emerged last year, began to loosen some restrictions, neighbouring India ordered its 1.3 billion people -- the world's second biggest population -- to stay at home.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "total lockdown" call doubled the number of people around the globe under some form of movement restriction to more than 2.6 billion people.

People gather at a pharmacy in Mumbai following the Indian prime minister's announcement of a government-imposed nationwide lockdown. By Indranil MUKHERJEE (AFP)

"To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family... every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown," Modi said.

Modi spoke as the epidemic continued to ravage the global economy and cut a swathe through the world's sporting, cultural and social agenda, forcing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be pushed back to next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to sound an optimistic note, vowing the delayed sporting extravaganza would be "a testament to mankind's defeat of the new virus".

'You can destroy a country'

Across the planet, the grim COVID-19 toll continued to mount, with close to 17,000 fatalities and almost 390,000 declared infections -- including more than 200,000 in Europe alone, according to an AFP tally.

Many governments are listening to health experts who warn the only way to slow the epidemic -- and save the lives of the elderly and vulnerable -- is by imposing "social isolation" measures on a population.

Staff prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. By STR (AFP)

But US President Donald Trump, for one, is not convinced the move is worth the enormous economic cost of sending workers home and closing "non-essential businesses" -- perhaps for weeks or months.

"A lot of people agree with me. Our country -- it's not built to shut down," Trump told Fox News. "You can destroy a country this way by closing it down."

Meanwhile, there were some positive signs from China, where the virus first emerged in December.

Coronovirus up close. By John SAEKI (AFP)

Residents of Hubei province -- the initial epicentre of the disease -- will now be allowed to travel from midnight under moves to lift restrictions on about 50 million people.

"We are celebrating today," a female doctor surnamed Wu told AFP. "The doctors and nurses are becoming more and more relaxed as the days go by."

Nevertheless, the relaxation of rules will not apply to the hardest-hit city of Wuhan until April 8, and fears are rising in Asia over a second wave of infections fuelled by people arriving from abroad.

Japan has been better prepared than some countries to weather the coronavirus epidemic but its new stadiums will not see the Olympic Games this year. By NICOLAS ASFOURI (AFP)

And the situation is still critical in Europe, where hardest-hit Italy saw the daily death toll shoot back up to 743 after two days of slight decline from a world-record peak for this virus of 793 on Saturday.

Ireland ordered non-essential businesses to be shut, Britain planned a 4,000-bed emergency hospital in London and Spain called for practical support from the NATO military alliance.

'Unprecedented collapse'

The extraordinary measures being imposed around the world have radically altered daily life and have also thrown up up horrifying tales.

Soldiers in Spain tasked with fighting the outbreak reported finding abandoned elderly people -- some dead -- at retirement homes.

India is just the latest country to introduce a lockdown. By Arun SANKAR (AFP)

Younger people have been warned not to visit elderly lowed ones to avoid spreading the virus to the most vulnerable, but "ticking time bombs".

"It's very hard for the families not knowing what's happening inside," admitted Pauline, a teacher whose mother is living in an elderly care home in Paris where the virus has been detected.

Countries in Africa, where health systems are often fragile, are also ramping up their response to the virus as cases and deaths rise.

Another vulnerable site for infections are cruise ships, and Chile has become the latest country to prevent one -- the Dutch-flagged Zaandam with 1,800 people on board -- from docking.

Chile is concerned that 42 of those on board with flu symptoms might be carrying the coronavirus, but previous experience with a ship off Japan has shown the disease spreads quickly among trapped passengers.

'Whatever it takes'

The financial impact of economies grinding to a halt continued to unnerve policymakers, who have opened the spigots and flooded the markets with yet more cash to keep the wheels turning.

On Tuesday, G7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs vowed to "do whatever is necessary to restore confidence and economic growth and to protect jobs, businesses, and the resilience of the financial system".

In the United States, the Federal Reserve has unveiled an unprecedented bond-buying programme, in a move not seen since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Europe has taken similar measures -- and finance ministers met on Tuesday to coordinate a bigger response -- but economists say the lockdowns have already damaged business.

A closely-followed PMI survey by analysts IHS Market showed a collapse in economic activity in the eurozone "far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis".

But despite the grim data in Europe, world stock markets rallied strongly on Tuesday on the Federal Reserve moves.

burs-dc/txw
State Department of Correction officials are under fire after failing to announce a potential case of the coronavirus among prison staff despite questions posed by legislators.

DOC officials announced Monday that a correction employee assigned to the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown has tested positive for COVID-19, the quick-spreading disease caused by the coronavirus.

The person last entered the prison on March 17  the day Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, the co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to DOC Commissioner Rollin Cook questioning agency policies on preventing the spread of the disease and asking if a release of some of the prison population was imminent to keep inmates safe.

Cook did not mention the potential that an employee could be infected with the virus in his response to Winfields questions sent late Friday.

I am extremely upset about this, Winfield said minutes after the DOC released the information about the positive test Monday. At this point, no matter what happened, the fact that there isnt a plan to deal with this and there will be no way to explain it. On top of that, my job is to make sure there is oversight. I asked specific questions. I dont even know what were doing. It may be too late, but I need answers.

DOC officials stalled throughout the weekend in responding to questions about potential positive test results at the prisons. Agency spokesperson Karen Martucci said information would be coming out Monday. The employee, who has not been named, has been self-monitoring at home since Wednesday, she said.

As of Monday, anyone entering the states prison will undergo a wellness check, including having their temperature taken, Martucci said. It is unclear if incoming inmates from the states courts were having their temperature checked or any medical assessments before being processed into a state prison.

DOC officials said previously that incoming inmates would be screened with questions.

Winfield had sent Cook a letter March 17 seeking answers on the agencys policies regarding the virus including the potential early release of prisoners to ease overcrowding with the onset of COVID-19 in Connecticut.

The response he received five days later was inadequate and didnt provide the answers he was seeking, Winfield said Saturday. My concerns are that the answers that I have gotten werent the answers to my questions, said Winfield who is now seeking clarification from both Cook and the office of Gov. Ned Lamont.

Statewide there have been 10 fatalities and 415 people with positive test results for COVID-19 as of Monday, according to Lamont who has been issuing executive orders limiting large groups, closing businesses and encouraging people to stay home. The elderly and those with prior health conditions are the most likely to develop serious complications or death. The virus causes fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

Advocates who called for the release of inmates last week contend that state prisons are a ripe environment for the easy spread of the highly communicable disease among a vulnerable population that is already prone to health issues including opioid use disorder, hepatitis C and other conditions.

But it didnt appear that DOC officials were making a move to get low-level offenders out before the virus could take hold in the states prisons. Cook did shut down volunteer and community visits to cut down on the potential introduction of the virus into the prison system.

But many say its not going to be enough to quell the spread of the disease in tight quarters.

Carmen Nieves has been protesting live on Facebook for nearly a week from outside the Bridgeport Correctional Center where her husband, Juan Rivera, is being held, to seek his release before the virus blows through state prisons.

They are scared, Nieves said of her husband and the men she can hear calling out to her as she speaks to Rivera on a daily basis. They are getting depressed. The government doesnt care about our prison system.

Shes been standing across the street from the BCC facility every day since Tuesday in an attempt to draw attention to what she calls inaction on the part of the DOC and the state Judicial Branch.

Im seeing the judicial marshal trucks bringing in more people every day, she said. I saw one marshal who crossed the street and went into a store and then came back and went inside without any protective equipment.

Rather than a massive emptying of the prisons, Winfield and community re-entry officials are asking for a measured response that would release offenders who have a place to go and supports.

Im not advocating for the release of someone who doesnt have a home, said Daryl McGraw, a Senior Re-Entry Analyst with the Institute for Municipal and Regional Planning at Central Connecticut State University.

McGraw instead suggested opening up state college campuses, which are now empty, to house low-level offenders who are being held on low bonds to spread out the rest of the prison population in individual rooms instead of dormitories that house dozens at a time. DOC also has some closed facilities, he said. You could open partial areas of the buildings to quarantine people at least. They do have the buildings, they do have the space.

As a former inmate who now works in re-entry McGraw said its impossible for prisoners to practice social distancing while incarcerated. Short of a lockdown, it is impossible, he said. And anybody who is in a dorm setting cant do that.
Passenger and all-cargo airlines are welcoming the relaxation of non-safety related regulatory requirements by aviation authorities, which they say makes it easier to quickly launch flights carrying medical relief supplies or repatriated nationals stranded overseas by new coronavirus travel bans.

Several nations have implemented measures, such as excluding crew members from quarantines, to prevent disruption to all-cargo flights delivering ventilators, masks, medicines and other health- and hygiene-related products used to prevent and treat the COVID-19 disease, according to industry officials and international authorities.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, which normally manages traffic to control congestion and now is only open for core activities, has released takeoff and landing slots assigned to passenger airlines and made them available to cargo operators, a move that The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) said other airports should follow.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN body, is asking governments to facilitate the entry, departure and transit of aircraft engaged in relief flights, including granting overflight and landing rights. Existing bilateral and multilateral air trade agreements make it difficult to quickly change routes for carriers based in countries that aren't signatories to them.

ICAO is also reminding nations of their responsibility under international law to expedite customs clearance of goods during a health emergency.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) singled out the European Aviation Safety Agency and civil aviation authorities in the United Arab Emirates, China, Mexico and the U.K. for helping airlines cope with the COVID-19 crisis by extending time for licenses, ratings, endorsements, certificates, training and other requirements set to expire for aircrews, instructors, examiners, aircraft maintenance personnel, air traffic controllers and aircraft airworthiness reviews.

Story continues

Lufthansa Cargo thanked airport authorities at its home base in Frankfurt for reducing operational restrictions, which help airlines make quick adjustments during a time when flight schedules are changing constantly in response to dynamic developments.

Governments are cutting red tape in all sorts of areas to deal with an unprecedented pandemic that has virtually shut down the global economy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration loosened rules so that private laboratories could test people for the coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Transportation waived rules governing how long truck drivers can remain behind the wheel each day. The U.S. Trade Representative is waiving tariffs on Chinese-made medical products, including personal protective gear, being used to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. And state governments are scraping procurement rules to speed the acquisition of needed medical supplies to hospitals.

"Aviation is built on partnership and working together. The actions taken by these regulators will provide airlines and licensed crew with the necessary flexibility for licence extensions without compromising safety. We urge others to quickly follow suit and grant similar short-term relief," said Gilberto Lopez Meyer, IATA's senior vice president for safety and flight operations, in a statement.

Recent decisions by Somalia and Djibouti to effectively ban all international flights, including cargo charters, for two weeks are concerning, TIACA Secretary General Vladimir Zubkhov said in the group's weekly newsletter on March 20.

Zubkhov asked the ministers of transport in both countries to reconsider their decision. "In the current major crisis, airfreight is essential for the transport of food, basic necessities and health-related products  in other words everything necessary for people to survive. The global economy also needs airfreight to continue to supply businesses and factories," he said in letters to both governments.

Last week, air transport groups urged governments to be more flexible with regard to freighter operations in coronavirus zones.

Image: Flickr/Aero Icarus

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Srinagar, March 24 : National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana today welcomed the release of former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, describing it a step in right direction.

"It is a defining moment that will go a long way in further strengthening democracy and initiating genuine political activities in Jammu and Kashmir", Rana said in a statement issued from Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan.

Rana expressed the hope that release of Omar will lead to release of all other political leaders against whom there are no criminal charges. This is imperative for generating an atmosphere of trust and creating conducive conditions to resume healthy political discourse in the larger interest of the people.

He said that the National Conference has always been a strong votary of democracy and secularism, which he described as the cherished agenda of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and political philosophy of the party that stands guarantee to steering Jammu and Kashmir to peace and prosperity.
The Indian government has announced a one-week ban on all domestic air travel across all airports in the country, in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, said a report.

The ban will be enforced from 11.59pm tonight (March 24) and will continue till 11.59pm on March 31, Times of India reported citing an order issued by the ministry of civil aviation.

International flights had already been banned for a week and most of the country's land borders have been sealed.

Only aircrafts belonging to the state or union government, those engaged in medical evacuation, those with special permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and freighter flights carrying cargo within India and from abroad will be arriving and departing Indian airports from Wednesday, the report said.
Garner, a biology professor, next turned to the Internet to find doctors in need, many of whom are posting with the hashtag #GetMePPE, short for personal protective equipment. That was when he realized just how many health-care workers were desperate for gear  and how many people were trying to donate but unsure how to do so.
Egypt will impose a night-time curfew for two weeks from Wednesday to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli announced. "Movement will be banned on all public roads from 7 pm to 6 am... for two weeks," Madbouli told a news conference on Tuesday. "All mass transport, public and private, will be halted over the same period." Penalties for violators include a fine of up to 4,000 Egyptian pounds (just over $250) and even prison, he said. The prime minister said central and provincial government services, including the issuing of licences, would be suspended for two weeks. He said that malls and shops selling more than basic goods would be allowed to open until 5 pm on work days but would be required to close over the Friday-Saturday weekend. Cafes and nightclubs would be closed, while restaurants and other food outlets would be allowed to offer delivery services only. Bakeries, grocery stores, pharmacies and supermarkets outside malls would be exempted. Cairo supermarket owner Sayed Hamdan was supportive of the government's curfew and was upbeat that economic activity would not slow down. "This decision is wise for the people in general. As supermarket owners, it's not going to affect us as much. People will just end up buying during the day instead of at night and it might even increase because people are afraid of the coronavirus," he told AFP. "We have undertaken sterilisation measures for our workers and the store itself using gloves, disinfectants and masks," Hamdan added. He also noted that he had enough stock for his customers who gravitated towards staples like oil, sugar and bottled water. The health ministry has so far registered 19 deaths from the coronavirus in Egypt out of 366 confirmed cases. The government has already closed schools and universities and halted air traffic in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus among the country's 100 million people. Flights have been grounded for a further period until 15 April, Egypt's information minister announced Tuesday, following the prime minister's new conference. Religious authorities have since Saturday shut all mosques and churches and halted prayer gatherings for at least two weeks. - Demonstrations - Madbouli said the government might impose stricter measures if the situation worsened and the number of confirmed cases topped 1,000. He condemned calls for demonstrations saying they provided fertile ground for the transmission of the virus. Early Tuesday, police moved promptly to disperse dozens of demonstrators who had attempted to hold overnight marches in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria. Footage posted on Twitter showed marchers chanting: "God is greatest," and: "May God rescue us from this plague." They were "dispersed in accordance with government measures preventing gatherings to avoid contagion", a security source told AFP, adding that no arrests were made. Dar al-Ifta, Egypt's institution for issuing religious edicts, condemned such protests as "malicious" and "forbidden" under Islamic law. The institution urged Egyptians to comply with government measures against the spread of the virus. Protests have effectively been banned in Egypt since 2013 and the country has been under a state of emergency since April 2017. In a series of tweets after the prime minister's announcement, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his government will be strict in its enforcement of the curfew. "Any breaking of the measures will be dealt with firmly and swiftly according to the law," he said. In Sayeda Zeinab, a working class suburb in the heart of Islamic Cairo, Akram Ramadan also expressed relief at the premier's measures and was critical of the small scale gathering in Alexandria. "People aren't heeding the message and they're still out and about in the streets...These are people who are trying to ruin the country and we can't put up with this anymore," he said. "I myself am going out shopping now before night-time... we should be considerate of others and not hoard items," Ramadan added. A cleaner disinfects the display case housing the gold funeral mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Patients at a Betty Ford rehab are in danger of catching coronavirus after a former patient tested positive for the potentially fatal disease, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned.

Staff at the Hazelden Betty Ford treatment center in St .Paul, Minnesota, told its remaining patients to 'assume' they also have COVID-19 and admitted the contagious infection was likely to spread among patients.

The infected patient, who is in her 60s, was discharged from the facility last week after developing a fever. Five days later, she tested positive for COVID-19.

But despite the known exposure to the infected patient, a source claimed to DailyMail.com that one resident was allowed to leave the facility and board a plane.

The remaining patients are left with a choice between staying in lock down or leaving the treatment center and possibly infecting others.

Patients at a Betty Ford rehab in St. Paul, Minnesota (pictured) are in danger of catching coronavirus after a former patient tested positive for the potentially fatal disease, DailyMail.com has learned

Staff at the Hazelden Betty Ford treatment center in St Paul, Minnesota, told the remaining patients in a letter to 'assume' they also have COVID-19 and admitted the contagious infection was likely to spread among patients (pictured)

In a letter to patients, Betty Ford staff wrote: 'At the Hazelden St Paul location, an individual who has been in the facility in the past week - including the residence, the group room and cafeteria - has been diagnosed with COVID-19.'

Staff admitted 'there are patients infected with the virus in our community who may not be diagnosed or have symptoms.'

Patients at the rehab, who suffer from alcohol and substance abuse, were instructed to 'assume' they were all infected.

'Assume that you and those around you have the virus,' the letter read.

The state of Minnesota currently has 169 confirmed COVID-19 cases, one death and has tested 4,680 people since screenings began in early March.

A source, who has asked to remain anonymous, explained the original infected patient developed a fever and the rehab 'told her to leave and move into a hotel.

'Then she had a test and it was confirmed that she had the virus.'

The center's remaining patients have not been given tests, despite their proximity to the infected woman.

'They haven't given us tests but because we all live together and eat together, it's likely we have it. We are all in lock down,' the source explained.

The remaining patients are left with a choice between staying in lock down or leaving the treatment center and possibly infecting others. The center will now be carrying out temperature checks twice a day and have instructed the 20 patients to no longer share cigarettes, beverages or food

The source continued: 'Usually I go home to visit my family at the weekend but there are 20 of us waiting to see if we present symptoms.

'I feel fine but there are people who have sore throats and stuffy noses.

'There are people who are choosing to leave even though we are probably infected with the virus.'

'I don't want to infect anyone else so I don't know whether to stay or go,' the source added.

The center will now be carrying out temperature checks twice a day and have instructed the 20 patients to no longer share cigarettes, beverages or food.

Hazelden Betty Ford Chief Nursing Officer and Coronavirus Incident Commander Jill Seward (pictured) said: 'We applaud any patient for informing us if they test positive after leaving our care'

Hazelden Betty Ford Chief Nursing Officer and Coronavirus Incident Commander Jill Seward, RN, said: 'It was a former patient whom we had discharged five days earlier because of a fever protocol we established to check all patients and staff daily for symptoms of COVID-19a sign that our procedures to identify symptoms are working well.

'We are a healthcare system fighting two potentially fatal illnesses: addiction and COVID-19. Like other healthcare systems, we are taking every practical precaution to reduce risks for our patients and staff, and following detailed procedures whenever someone has symptoms, is exposed or is diagnosed after discharge.

'As a healthcare system, we will undoubtedly see more cases as the virus spreads and will continue to follow our CDC-informed protocols to limit risks and respond aggressively when needed. We applaud any patient for informing us if they test positive after leaving our care. It's helpful to everyone.

'The coronavirus outbreak is at the 'community spread' stage and testing remains limited, so it is prudent for everyone everywhere to take precautions as if they may have been exposed, and that means following CDC guidelines around hand washing, social distancing, cleaning and disinfecting, etc.

'We have implemented detailed protocols and procedures to limit the risk of transmission in our healthcare facilities, and that includes at least one daily fever check for all patients, staff and others at our sites.

'If anyone presents with symptoms common to COVID-19, we are taking great care to discharge them with resources and recommended next steps.

'We also are working closely with incoming patients to ensure they have a safe discharge plan in advance, just in case they develop symptoms while with us. Boarding an airplane with COVID-19 is not a recommendation we give, though discharged patients ultimately decide which next steps to take for themselves.'
As delivery and take-out food become the new norm for supporting local restaurants, bike-share company Gotcha is offering its wheels to restaurants.

Gotcha removed their bikes from public use in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent the state on lockdown. To keep the e-motor powered bikes in use, Paul Colabufo  who manages Gotcha operations in Syracuse  suggested opening the bikes up to delivery workers.

Now well see if it can help keep a few local businesses afloat during this time, Colabufo said.

All 200 Gotcha bikes in Syracuse will be available for restaurant use for $15 a day per bike or a discounted rate for five or more bikes.

If you own/manage/work at a restaurant or know someone who does, please spread the word ... I manage Syracuse's bike... Posted by Paul Colabufo on Monday, 23 March 2020

Colabufo added that restaurants can keep the bikes on their premises and that Gotcha will be available to change the battery or fix other maintenance issues with the bikes.

When we enter a market, we become part of the community. Small, local businesses are crucial to our economy and Gotcha is focused on helping them during this difficult time, said Sean Flood, CEO of Gotcha.

While this is an uncertain state for all, we want to do what we can with the products and people we have to support local businesses and their employees in Syracuse.

Restaurants interested in using Gotcha bikes can contact Colabufo at (315) 254-3639 or pcolabufo@ridegotcha.com.

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Measures to reduce human contact and to still allow key state activities to proceed are included in emergency laws due in the Dail this week.

The Irish Examiner understands that the special Covid-19 linked legislation will include easier ways for parents to get birth certificates while the rules on planning will also be addressed.

The Cabinet met today to agree a raft of emergency supports, including for workers and businesses.

But the emergency laws, while focusing on banning evictions and rent hikes during the virus emergency period, will also ease bureaucratic rules for a number of activities.

These include the difficulties parents with newborns may have in trying to secure birth certificates, while avoiding human contact.

It is also understood that problems around planning will be addressed in the new laws.

Ways for medical professionals to re-register with authorities will also be among the laws as will arrangements for former defence force members to help with the response to the emergency will be included.

Parties and TDs are expected to debate the raft of emergency laws on both Thursday and Friday of this week.

Opposition parties were briefed on the emergency laws at government buildings today.

The measures come amid uncertainty whether the outgoing government will have the power to pass further laws without the full formation of the next Seanad, the count for which gets underway next week.

In the absence of a new government or Taoiseach, 11 members of the Upper House cannot be appointed and the Seanad could be left in a state of limbo, potentially unable to approve emergency laws tabled by the government.
Help is on the way for thousands of Australians now scrambling to get refunds for cancelled flights due to the strict coronavirus travel bans.

Holiday plans have been thrown into disarray due to suspended flights with international and domestic travel bans now in force as the deadly virus outbreak spreads.

The latest advice on the Smart Traveller website issued last week urges Australians to not travel overseas.

Domestic travel has also impacted in recent days as Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland closed its borders and forced travellers arriving from interstate to self-isolate.

The good news is that Australian airlines and travel companies are doing what they can to refund and compensate affected travellers left out of pocket.

Qantas is offering passengers flying before May 31 the chance to cancel their flights. The airline announced last week will ground its entire international fleet, including overseas Jetstar flights from late March. Pictured is Sydney International Airport

Qantas announced last week it will cut scheduled international flights from the end of March until May.

For travellers who want to cancel flights Qantas Passengers booked on international or domestic flights on or before May 31 have until March 31 to cancel flights and retain the value as flight credit. Cancellation fees will also be waived. Jetstar Passengers with existing and new bookings up until May 31 can cancel their flight before March 31 in exchange for a credit voucher to be used at a later date. Virgin Australia The airline is offering flexibility on new and existing bookings for travel on and before the extended period of June 30. Advertisement

Passengers who have bookedvinternational or domestic flights on or before May 31 have until next Tuesday (March 31) to cancel flights and retain the value as flight credit.

Cancellation fees will also be waived when passengers are ready to rebook flights.

'Those who are booked to fly after May 31 still have the option of changing travel to a new date or cancelling their booking and putting the value towards a future flight,' the Qantas website states.

'The flight credit must be redeemed by September 30 or within 12 months of the date that the original ticket was issued.'

Qantas urges passengers to show understanding and patience during this busy time.

'Due to high demand, we're experiencing long call wait times. Were currently working through the most urgent travel dates,' the website states.

Airlines have cancelled many domestic flights after several states and territories closed their borders in recent days (stock image)

Jetstar has suspended 70 per cent of Australian domestic services and 90 per cent domestic services in New Zealand until May 31.

It's offering passengers with existing and new bookings up until May 31 the option of cancelling their flight in exchange for a credit voucher to be used at a later date.

'It applies to Jetstar Airways domestic and international travel to and from Australia and New Zealand and Jetstar Asias flights between Darwin and Singapore,' the Jetstar website states.

Qantas passengers have until next week to cancel their travel on and before May 31 and receive flight credit in exchange

Virgin Australia also offers flexibility on new and existing bookings for travel on and before the extended period of June 30.

The same offer applies for flights with discount carrier Tigerair.

Passengers with regional airline Rex with travel up until June 30 can also claim the ticket value in credit with change fees waived.

The airline announced earlier this week all passenger travel operations across Australia except for Queensland will be suspended.

Third party booking website Webjet has been overwhelmed with customers inquiries with its primary customer centre in the Philippines out of action until further notice due to new government restrictions.

'We are experiencing incredible volumes of customer requests for support, and this has resulted in long wait times,' Webjet states on its website.

'Every team member in Melbourne is working to prioritise customer requests with scheduled travel in the next 24 hours.'
A 73-year-old law professor has captured the hearts of thousands after a photo of him giving an online lecture in front of a Pinocchio doll amid the coronavirus pandemic went viral.

Montana Vaughn, a student at the University of North Carolina School of Law, took to Twitter on Sunday to share a snapshot of his teacher dressed up in a button-down and tie while speaking in front of an empty classroom  aside from a doll propped up in the front row.

'My professor is 74 and he isnt confident using Zoom so hes prerecorded the rest of our classes,' the law student explained. 'Today, I watched the first one. He has a Pinocchio doll in the front row because he isnt comfortable teaching to an empty room. Im social distancing for this man and this man only.'

Student: A 73-year-old professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law has become an online star after a photo of him giving a lecture in front of a Pinocchio doll went viral

Captive audience: The doll was propped in the front row in the empty classroom during the lecture

In just a few days, the image has been retweeted more than 167,000 times and has received over 1.1 million likes, with thousands of people taking to the comments to praise the professor.

After the snapshot went viral, Montana returned to the thread to share that he had actually gotten his teacher's age wrong by one year.

'Update: He says thank you and that he is *actually* 73,' he tweeted.

'You know hes telling the truth because its hard to lie with a Pinocchio doll in front of you,' one person joked, while another added: 'Protect him at all costs. And learn all the things from him!'

Aww: Law student Montana Vaughn shared the photo, explaining his professor brought in the doll to prerecord his lessons because 'he isn't comfortable teaching to an empty room'

Whoops! After the snapshot went viral, Montana returned to the thread to share that he had actually gotten his teacher's age wrong by one year

Hilarious: One person couldn't help note that the professor wouldn't lie about his age with Pinocchio in front of him

'Is it normal on quarantine day 13 for the slightest acts of human kindness to send you into a weeping spiral?' asked comedian Zack Bornstein.

Someone else tweeted: 'Ill add your professor to my long list of special people who I am self isolating for!'

Others hoped that the Pinocchio doll would become somewhat of a mascot for the students as they continue their studies.

'Come graduation day/season I want that Pinocchio doll dressed up in a graduation gown, cap, given a printed or rolled up diploma prop, and a graduation pictures photoshoot,' one Twitter user wrote. 'Extra brownie points if there's also a pic of him tossing his graduation cap in the air and/or a ceremony.'

Going viral: The image has been retweeted more than 167,000 times and has received over 1.1 million likes, with thousands of people taking to the comments to praise the professor

'Its obvious. He is Geppetto,' someone else noted.

The heartwarming image also brought to light the struggles educators are facing while trying to create engaging lessons for their students remotely to prevent the spread of the virus.

'As a fellow professor who misses her students like crazy, seeing how much we are doing and quickly for the sake of providing students with normalcy, routine, and yes, education, this tweet left me sobbing in gratification,' one person commented.

'You are the reason people choose [to] teach. Thank you!!!'

Loving it: Many fans wanted to see more of the Pinocchio doll, while one professor revealed she is using puppets in her lectures as well

'I am thinking of the challenges that Professors are facing, how they are holding themselves accountable regardless of the risks they could be subjecting themselves to,' another wrote. 'All due respect to your professor and everyone in academia who are working hard during this time.'

And it turns out the professor isn't the only one who is utilizing dolls in the classroom during these trying times.

Associate professor Emily Jane O'Dell responded to Montana's tweet with a photo of herself posing with two puppets, and all three of them are wearing protective face masks.

She tweeted: 'I have been teaching with my puppetsthey are amazing teaching assistants...'
Members of the beauty industry have warned clients against inviting therapists into their homes to carry out treatments.

Concerns have been raised about the number of therapists who are offering to do home visits during this period of social distancing.
CAA has nothing to do with Muslims in India, says Delhi Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid urges all Muslims to pray from home, beat coronavirus

Jama Masjid may have to close again, says Shahi Imam

Jama Masjid to remain shut until Mar 31

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: The iconic Jama Masjid will remain closed for public till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the imam of the mosque, said on Monday.

The decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus as many people who travel abroad also come to offer prayers at the mosque, he said.

During this period, the daily chorus in the mosque will remain unaffected but people will not be allowed to offer prayers.

Around 2,000 people offer prayers at the mosque everyday, while the number swells to 10,000 on Fridays, he said.

"As a precautionary measure, we are closing the mosque for offering prayers till March 31. We have appealed to people to offer prayers inside their homes during this time," Bukhari told PTI.

To test coronavirus, ICMR recommends 2 RT-PCR kits

Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH) has also appealed to people to make special prayers to fight the disease.

JUH president Maulana Arshad Madani said coronavirus has engulfed the entire world.

"The human being, despite all his educational and scientific advancements, has no option to deal with this disease. I appeal to all citizens of the country to take precautionary measures to protect themselves from this pestilence and must follow the instructions issued by the World Health Organisation and the central health ministry," Madani said in a statement.

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Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 8:24 [IST]
Baby Boomers are beginning to get up in age, and the result is an overall aging population across the United States. In fact, an estimated 52 million Americans were aged 65 or older according to the Census Bureau's 2018 statistics.

About one-quarter of older Americans live in California, Florida, and Texas - but these are not the states with the oldest average populations. There are many states with smaller general population sizes, which have the oldest population age profiles.

These are the 10 oldest states in the U.S. based on census statistics.

1. Maine

The oldest state in the country, Maine has an average age of 44.9 years, a number that has remained fairly stable over the past five years. Like New Hampshire, the state saw an influx in migration during the 1970s that has now resulted in Maine's older age group being higher than the national average. Of about 1.34 million citizens, more than 309,000 were more than 65 years old in 2018.

2. New Hampshire

Aged people often need the assistance of caregivers to ensure their long-term physical and mental fitness.

In New Hampshire the average age is 43 years, largely due to a boom in population by about 60% in the 1970s - migration that then slowed to a trickle in future years. The population was mainly boosted by Baby Boomers at the time, and it is that group now tipping the scale toward an older median age. The workforce is feeling the brunt of the age crunch as retiring employees have fewer younger workers to take their place.

3. Vermont

Vermont is well-known as an older state with a population getting older by the year, with a current average age of 42.8. More than 18% of the state's population is over 65 years old, which has grown continuously since the early 1990s when it aligned more with the national average.

4. West Virginia

Traveling is good for people of all ages.

West Virginia saw relatively healthy population growth near the beginning of the millennium, but was expected to begin declining in 2016 with an overall loss of almost 20,000 residents by 2030. The main reason would be fewer births than deaths, and that stems largely from an average age of 42.7 in the state.

5. Florida

It may come as a surprise to some that Florida is not the top of the list for aging populations, as the number of retired residents has been on the rise for some time. The mean age increased drastically between 1970 and 2010, and now hovers around 42.2 years. There's not expected to be much change in future years - it's anticipated the state will age continually over the next quarter of a century.

6. Connecticut

A number of ailments grasp people as they age but these can be overcome with proper lifestyle and care.

With an average age of 41, Connecticut finds itself on the list as one of the fastest-aging populations in the States. The shift is primarily due to a near-zero rate of migration and relatively low but stable birth rates. Some towns in the state are getting younger, but the overall population of Connecticut continues to rise in age - particularly communities like Bridgewaterm Washington, Sharon and Salisbury.

7. Pennsylvania

Like the rest of the country, the population of Pennsylvania continues to rise in age with nearly one-third of its residents being 55 years or older after a census conducted in 2017. The average age in Pennsylvania sits at 40.8 mainly due to the older group of adults increasing while statistics show a decline in younger age groups because people are having fewer children and others are moving out of the state for education and employment opportunities. The issue has prompted Pennsylvania to design the State Plan on Aging, which defines an approach to respond to the trend and address how the state can continue to manage its budgets and infrastructure with an aging population.

8. Delaware

Often, socialising with peers is a great mood-booster in old age.

Delawareans can expect only one age group to grow exponentially over the coming decades, and that is its 65-plus demographic. In 2015, the population of Delaware was expected to increase by about 60% from 2015 to 2050, moving from 159,000 to 263,532. It's causing some concern for decision-makers in the state, as it relies heavily on personal income taxes but the number of working adults will be on the decline as Delaware's seniors begin to retire - especially with the average age of the population currently sitting at 40.7 years.

9. Rhode Island

It is estimated by 2030 more than 100,000 of Rhode Island residents will be age 65 or older, which would account for about one in four. The increasingly aging average age of its citizens (40.1 years) is natural, as the state's growth rate has slowed while the population ages.

10. New Jersey

In New Jersey the total population is about 8.9 million people in 2020, and the state's average age is 40. Part of the reason for this is a generally lower number of younger residents, which has historically been on the decline. In 2010, the number of young people had decreased by 1.1% over numbers in 2000.
TOKYOIt was as if the Japanese capital was collectively gripped with a form of spring fever. The sun was shining and the cherry blossoms were blooming, and the capital seemed to all at once decide it had had enough of social distancing.

Two months into the pandemic here and the parks last weekend were full in Tokyo with people gathering to view cherry blossoms. The temples were packed with those seeking blessings for the spring and the bars and restaurants were filled.

Just north of Tokyo, a martial arts events attracted around 6,500 people packed into the Saitama Super Arena on Sunday, despite the local governors pleas for restraint. On Saturday, more than 50,000 people gathered in Sendai, north of Tokyo, to see the Olympic flame, newly arrived from Greece, burning in a golden cauldron.

Japan had so far dodged the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, but last weekend the capital was proof of what many experts have long warned: People might put up with social distancing for a few weeks, but eventually tire of remaining indoors, and seize on the smallest piece of good news as an excuse to venture out again.

So much for the obedient Japanese of some crude stereotypes. It also does not bode well for the idea that Europe and the United States will be able to maintain social distancing for months on end.

I am very concerned about complacency and fatigue, said Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease expert at Kobe University. People cannot stand remaining in a restricted lifestyle for a long, long time.

Japan has been a puzzling outlier in the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite limited testing in the early weeks of the outbreak, and despite cold weather perfect for spreading respiratory infections, Japan has avoided the kind of explosive growth in infections seen in South Korea, Europe and the United States.

Japan added 38 new cases on Monday, bringing the number of confirmed infections to 1,140, with 42 deaths, not including cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The sense here is that Japan has dodged a bullet, either by luck or judgment, but experts warn the country is not invincible.

Im deeply concerned about the current situation in Japan, said Hitoshi Oshitani, a virology professor at Tohoku Universitys School of Medicine and a member of the governments own expert advisory panel.

Now the first wave of is almost under control ... but the second wave has already started, he said. It is probably going to be much worse, and we are going to have more outbreaks, and some of them are going to be big.

Some critics say Japan is deliberately burying its head in the sand, either to protect its economy from a damaging shutdown or in a vain bid to lower the chances of an Olympics cancellation.

But by rationing tests only to people with prolonged fevers and more serious symptoms, they argue, the government has undercounted the number of infections and lulled the country into a false sense of security.

The government has given an optimistic picture all along, and so people dont have an image of it being that scary, said Masahiro Kami, executive director at Medical Governance Research Institute, who has been calling for more extensive testing. Thats natural if you see just the numbers.

But Oshitani and Iwata say the government has been wise to concentrate its resources and its testing capabilities on people with more serious symptoms, and needs to strike a balance between strict measures and sustainable ones.

Each region, Iwata says, needs to make its own decision on how strict to be in imposing social distancing measures, depending on their local caseload  precisely because strict controls cannot be sustained forever, and should be reserved for when they are most needed. And many people did stay home last weekend in cities like Osaka and Kobe where infection rates have been climbing, he says.

But that doesnt excuse what happened in Tokyo, Saitama and Sendai last weekend, critics say.

They bemoan a lack of leadership from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has personally done little to drive home the importance of social distancing to the general public and often seems to have taken a backseat role to Health Minister Katsunobu Kato.

Its situations like this where Abe has not stepped up, said Jeff Kingston, a professor at Temple University Japan. Its a familiar situation during this crisis where Abe has been MIA.

In Tokyo, some people are working from home, but commuter trains remain packed during the rush hour. Kami is worried the government seems to be putting the economy ahead of the publics health.

Whether Japanese habits  wearing masks, and bowing rather than shaking hands  have helped slow the epidemics spread remains an open question.

But good habits wont protect Japan if complacency sets in, especially with a new wave of infected people entering the country from Europe and the United States, experts say.

Oshitani says he expects the government to come down more firmly this week to limit social interactions, as it now understands how dangerous the situation has become.

Our enemy is optimism, said Kuni Miyake, president of the Foreign Policy Institute, quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelts inaugural address in 1933 that only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

I dont want to be a foolish optimist, he said. I want to be a wise pessimist.

Read more about:
[March 24, 2020] Free web-based tool tracks COVID-19 spread in near real-time

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Free dashboard tracks spread of the coronavirus

Tool shows side-by-side contagion curves by continent, country and state

Free open-access tool cross-references data from reputable repositories such as Johns Hopkins University Center for Science Systems and Engineering and the World Health Organization COVID-2019 Situation Reports.

Encourages individuals and authorities to "flatten the curve" VirusTrack.live, the most accurate real-time pandemic tracker for COVID-19, launched today. The non-commercial online tool is available for authorities, media, individuals and developers looking to contribute toward flattening the curve and tackling the global spread of the coronavirus. The free and open-access tool dynamically cross-references data from repositories such as Johns Hopkins University Center for Science Systems and Engineering , BNO News , World Health Organization COVID-2019 Situation Reports, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US hospital data from Community Benefit Insight, and US county data aggregators to provide the most current COVID-19 contagion information on the web.



"Our focus is on data quality and on presenting current and actionable information with a minimum of clutter," explains Andrew Lombardi, project co-founder. "Infographic maps look nice, but the information they present is qualitative, not quantitative. The charts from VirusTrack.live are designed for easy interpretation." VirusTrack is a non-commercial, non-advertising, open source project. The team invites contributions from the general public, NGOs and government officials, health scientists, and technologists looking for ways to help in this crisis.

"We developed VirusTrack.live because existing maps and dashboards are visually striking but don't display trends or let you compare multiple locations side-by-side in real-time," said project founder Eugene Ciurana. "VirusTrack allows users to select and compare states, countries, US regions, or continental regions within the same context. The unprecedented severity of this pandemic means information is in constant flux, we wanted this user-friendly decision support system to be accessible to everyone." Dr. Juvid Aryaman, chief scientist at London-based Farad.ai and project co-founder, continued, "We saw this opportunity to distill accurate information from the trove of noisy and contradictory data sources out there. We aim to keep the public informed and to improve planning. In the next few days VirusTrack.live will generate high-confidence predictions of how the pandemic will evolve." "We aren't selling anything or even asking for donations. Anybody can use the tool in any way they like," Ciurana says, adding that all website content is freely available for re-publication under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. VirusTrack.live welcomes information about data sources, suggestions, and general feedback via [email protected] The VirusTrack.live team is keen to share the resource with global authorities, media outlets, and individuals in order to empower them to make better decisions, informed by accurate data. About COVIDvu Open Source Virus Tracking Team

The COVIDvu Virus Tracking Team was founded by open source advocate and angel investor Eugene Ciurana, Mystic Coders software entrepreneur Andrew Lombardi, and Farad.ai chief scientist Dr. Juvid Aryaman. VirusTrack.live was built in less than three weeks with volunteer contributions from scientists and engineers worldwide. About Farad.ai

Farad.ai is a London-based startup in the real-time electrical energy optimization, trading, and management space. It makes edge technology for pinpoint predictions of nationwide energy pricing, use, and allocation events at 30-minute intervals, up to 90 days in the future, derived from minimal and noisy usage data. About Mystic Coders

Mystic Coders is a boutique team of developers based in North America and Europe. They specialize in software development across many languages and technologies including Java, Python and React. Our team are the professionals in coding it, teaching it and speaking about it. Media Contact:

Alice Bonasio

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/free-web-based-tool-tracks-covid-19-spread-in-near-real-time-301028504.html SOURCE VirusTrack.live

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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Foreign Ministry of the National Accord Government on Tuesday called on Libyan citizens to "properly treat all Libyan guests, residents of both diplomats and expatriate workers", assuring that "they have always been supporters of the Libyan people in their crises in all circumstances"
China on Tuesday reopened a section of its iconic Great Wall to visitors, as the country limped back to normalcy after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Badaling section of the Great Wall will be open daily from 9 am to 4 pm. The daily number of visitors will be capped at 19,500. Around 60 kilometers from Beijing, it's the most popular section of the wall for tourists.

As of 2 pm on Tuesday, a total of 892 tickets had been reserved by visitors to visit the area, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

China in January closed all its museums and tourist centres all over the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

To be permitted entry, visitors must book tickets on the official website or through social media app WeChat in advance and register with their personal information to get a health code.

On their arrival at the Badaling Great Wall, they will have their temperatures checked.

A one-way circular tour route has been designed to prevent the gathering of crowds. The cableway, the China Great Wall Museum, the ancient Great Wall and some other sections however will remain closed.

The Badaling Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Beijing's Yanqing district. The scenic section received more than 9.9 million visitors in 2018.

China on Tuesday announced that it will lift the three-month lockdown on more than 50 million people in the central Hubei province, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

There have been more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 in China and 3,277 deaths from the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
But neither Trump nor many of his allies appear to care that much about the human toll. Or at least theyve convinced themselves that an extended lockdown is more harmful than anything the virus can do. Trump, The Washington Post reports, is fixated on the plummeting stock market, is chafing at the idea of the country remaining closed until the summer and growing tired of talking only about the coronavirus. Key officials within the administration  like Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury  are pushing the president to get the economy back on track. The president is right. The cure cant be worse than the disease, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on Fox News on Monday. And were going to have to make some difficult trade-offs.
Press Release

March 24, 2020 Dispatch from Crame No. 748:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Mass Testing Now PH Petition I commend the Mass Testing Now PH group for its initiative. I join their call for a national mass testing program that prioritizes: (a) health workers or frontliners; (b) PUIs and PUMs; and (c) vulnerable sectors like the elderly and those with underlying illnesses. Urgent and appropriate action is imperative in the race against time to address this pandemic. Mandatory mass testing will save lives. Thus, this should be paramount in our government's battle plan. PUIs are dying even before they can be tested. This should not be the case. This should never be the case. COVID-19 maybe new and aggressive, but it can be defeated by a collective political and social commitment. Political will ang kailangan lalo na sa gitna ng ganitong uri ng krisis. With the steady rise in the number of cases in our country, procurement of test kits should be prioritized. With still a limited number of test kits, symptomatic PUIs should be top priority. As soon as we have the test kits in massive quantity, both procured and donated from foreign sources, focused and organized testing should begin immediately in highly-populated or high density areas, especially those with widespread poverty. The most vulnerable members of our society should be protected at all cost. We are in the brink of an outbreak. Walang panahon upang magpatumpik-tumpik pa! Puwede tayong humalaw sa karanasan ng Marikina LGU sa pagtatayo ng kanilang sariling molecular biology laboratory. Ang mga ganitong inisyatiba ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ay makakatulong upang higit pang mabigyan ng tibay ang ating panawagan. My office joins various sectors in constantly and persistently demanding from government decisive responses to the crisis and for accountability. Lubos ang aking paghanga sa mga youth health advocates na bumubuo ng Mass Testing Now PH na buong-pusong naglilingkod sa ating bayan, anumang panganib ang haharapin.
Even before virtually all of San Antonio was sent home to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the citys new poet laureate, Andrea Vocab Sanderson, was thinking of ways to help people through this difficult period.

Ive thought about maybe trying to do something, she said in an interview March 16. It would be great to come up with a writing prompt, because people are going to be stuck at home.

Two days later, she had done just that. She created Invite to Write S.A. and Invite to Write S.A. for kids on Facebook.

Her first prompt for adults was an invitation to write poems about social distancing; another sought poems of gratitude. Shes asking children to write a version of their favorite fairy tale, putting themselves in the action, and to write about the animal that best suits their personality. Many of those who have posted their writing have gotten encouraging feedback from her.

The pages are one clear sign that her term as poet laureate is going to be different from those of her predecessors. Another is her quest to get up to speed on technology that she can use to forge virtual connections while in-person gatherings are banned.

Everybodys in a situation where theyre battling their own fears and personal issues, as well as trying to figure out how to live life safely and smartly, she said. Fear isnt rational. It never has been. Thats where we are.

On ExpressNews.com: SAs indie bookstores connecting online, curbside

In challenging times, poetry is particularly important, she said.

To me, poetry is just like church, she said. Like a good sermon, its a comfort, its a call to action, its an invocation and an invitation. We gather to share this communal space, whether it be together physically or just in unity of spirit to share in this experience, and were all going to get something different from it.

Sanderson is the fifth writer and the first African American to hold the post since it was created in 2012. She follows Carmen Tafolla, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Jenny Browne and Octavio Quintanilla.

Like her predecessors, Sanderson was selected by a panel of nationally recognized poets, all of whom are based out of state, said Sebastian Guajardo, special projects manager for the citys Department of Arts & Culture, who oversees the program.

Everyone in San Antonio and everyone in Texas knows everybody else, Guajardo said. So we determined at the very beginning that the selection panel would be nationally recognized poets from outside of Texas.

Seven poets were nominated this year, and the panel reviewed their writing, as well as their work in the community and the case that nominators made for why each should win the post.

Sanderson received three nominations, Guajardo said.

They talked about her involvement in the community, the number of groups that she participates in and her work with youth, he said. Shes committed to youth and such a wonderful poet.

When her selection was announced, there was a huge outpouring of love and support  as well as its about time comments  on social media. Sanderson said she got nearly 900 reactions to the news on Facebook.

I was so overwhelmed, she said.

Fellow poet Jim LaVilla-Havelin was one of the people who nominated her, and he urged others to do the same.

What I wrote in my nomination, and I meant it, is that Vocab inspires me, LaVilla-Havelin said. And thats fine. I need it as much as anyone else.

But I have watched her inspire young people in the juvenile detention center. I have watched her inspire people who  you know the line, I dont read poetry, I dont get it  Vocab has reached them and opened poetry up for them in ways that are extraordinary.

On ExpressNews.com: Big Mama bloggers new book looks On the Bright Side

Alexandra van de Kamp, executive director of Gemini Ink, has witnessed that same ability in Sandersons work with the literary organizations community outreach programs.

She pulls people out of any kind of shy place they might be about their creativity and just brings them out, van de Kamp said. And that goes from youth to adults.

Each poet laureate serves two years and comes up with an initiative to pursue. They usually spend the first year working on the details and the second year implementing it, Guajardo said.

Sandersons initiative still is being developed, but whatever shape it takes, she said she wants to convey her love for her hometown and find ways to make poetry accessible and fun for everyone.

Carmen Tafolla set such an immaculate standard for us, the Madison High School graduate said, adding that she was particularly impressed by an event Tafolla held at San Pedro Park that aimed to tell the story of the city through diverse voices. I loved that idea, and I want to follow in her footsteps and try to make sure that poetry is on every side of town. That means so much to me.

Working with young people is another passion for her. Sanderson, 38, has worked for the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center for 17 years. Shes on an overnight shift that starts at 10 p.m.

I work in an office by myself, she said. Im kind of like the secretary of the prison.

These days, she spends a lot of time sterilizing the space. As she always has, she also does a lot of writing.

Its a place of creativity for me, she said. The irony of my life is that I have created work in this place where things are restrained and restricted.

She sometimes returns during daylight hours to work with the youth there, helping them express themselves.

They need to understand at a young age that they have power in their voice, she said. There are so many young people, especially in underserved communities, that dont have any source of empowerment. Theyre not being fed spiritually, and their confidence is not being fed.

She has seen firsthand how poetry can help youngsters open up.

Its a powerful thing, she said. I definitely want people to feel like they can get up in front of a room of their peers and be supported as they speak their truth.

Both Guajardo and LaVilla-Havelin mentioned how much Sanderson does  LaVilla-Havelin described her as indefatigable. In addition to her day job and her writing, she is active with a variety of poetry groups, hosts various events, and co-founded and performs with the band the Foreign Arm. And theres all that teaching with Gemini Ink.

I dont know how she does it, Guajardo said.

Sanderson was to have officially begun her term with an investiture on Tuesday, just ahead of National Poetry Month in April. Those plans are on hold because of the pandemic

We want to be able to have the investiture, have Andreas family and her cohort of poets and the people that shes worked with and the community to be here and to be able to celebrate, Guajardo said. It will be a big event.

Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
Police say this is a picture of the Kia Optima believed to have struck and killed Derrick Drayton on West Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia last Wednesday. Read more

Philadelphia police are asking for the publics help in finding a driver who fatally struck a pedestrian and kept going last week.

Derrick Drayton, 63, of the 2700 block of North Hemberger Street in North Philadelphia, was killed Wednesday at 11:09 p.m. when he was struck by a Kia Optima in the 2300 block of West Hunting Park Avenue in the citys Nicetown section.

The vehicle was eastbound when it struck Drayton, police said. Believed to be a model from 2015 to 2020, the Kia had damage to the windshield on the passenger side, and possibly to the hood and fender area, police said.

There is no information on who was operating the vehicle. In Pennsylvania, a driver convicted of a hit-and-run death could be sentenced to up to three to six years in prison.

Police ask anyone with information about the vehicle to contact the departments Accident Investigation Division at 215-685-3180 or call 911.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 09:57:21|Editor: ZD

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against the common threat of the COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 180 countries and regions.

The following are the updates on the contagious illness.

- - - -

LONDON -- A new emergency bill to give the British government great powers to fight coronavirus was approved by lawmakers Monday night.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that "to defeat it, we are proposing extraordinary measures of a kind never seen before in peacetime. Our goal is to protect life and to protect every part of the National Health Service."

- - - -

BELGRADE -- Serbian authorities plan to fight the COVID-19 in cooperation with Chinese experts, and have decided to start massive testing among its population, President Aleksandar Vucic said at a press conference on Monday.

Crisis staff for COVID-19 met experts from the frontlines of the battle in China, and according to Vucic who attended the meeting, they discussed ways for healthcare staff to treat the virus infection and deal with the virus itself.

- - - -

UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global cease-fire in face of the novel coronavirus disease.

"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives (against the coronavirus)," he said in a virtual press encounter.

- - - -

DAKAR -- Senegalese President Macky Sall on Monday declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of COVID-19 in his country, where a total of 79 cases have been reported.

"As of midnight tonight, I declare a state of emergency across the national territory," the president said in his speech to the nation, adding that the state of emergency across national territory, together with a curfew, is to raise the level of response to the spread of COVID- 19.

- - - -

NICOSIA -- Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced on Monday night a total ban on unnecessary movement in the country in a further move to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a televised address to the nation, Anastasiades said the ban comes into effect as from 6 p.m. on Tuesday until April 13, with violators of the decree being liable to an on-the-spot fine of 150 euros (161 U.S. dollars).

- - - -

COPENHAGEN -- Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen on Monday announced the extension of the coronavirus lockdown for a further two weeks.

"We will now extend everything we have set in motion until April 13," Frederiksen said at a press conference.

- - - -

YANGON -- Myanmar reported its first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Chin state and Yangon region late Monday, according to a release of the Ministry of Health and Sports.

A 36-year-old Myanmar national who arrived from the United States tested positive late Monday after being treated in isolation due to a high fever days ago in Chin state.

- - - -

BERLIN -- The German government brought home around 120,000 citizens who had been stranded abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday.

"We have chartered our own aircraft," for example from Lufthansa, he said. Also, the government supported private travel operators by organizing landing permits and over-flight rights.

- - - -

GENEVA -- More than 300,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported from almost every country and region in the world, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, noting "the pandemic is accelerating."

Speaking at a daily briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it took 67 days from the first reported case of COVID-19 to reach the first 100,000 cases worldwide, while the second and the third 100,000 cases were reported just within 11 days and 4 days respectively.

- - - -

BERLIN -- The German government has approved the "largest aid package" in the country's history to combat the coronavirus, the Ministry of Finance (BMF) announced on Monday.

To finance a "protective shield" for families, employees, self-employed people and companies, the German government will seek to borrow around 156 billion euros (168 billion U.S. dollars), according to the BMF.
A congressionally mandated commission is recommending women should be eligible for the draft, a move that comes five years after the Pentagon opened all combat roles to women.

This is a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency, the commissioners wrote in the 255-page report, obtained by POLITICO.

The 11-member commissions final report, which was required by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, was briefed to the Pentagon on Monday and will be presented to the White House and congressional staffers Tuesday.

The report does not require action, but its recommendations pave the way for lawmakers to move to include women in the draft more than 100 years after Congress passed the Military Selective Service Act in 1917. While no one has been conscripted into the U.S. military in more than 40 years, the act requires all American men to register for the draft when they turn 18. Men who fail to register can be fined, imprisoned and denied services such as federal student loans.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The recommendation comes five years after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter formally rescinded the Pentagons combat exclusion policy that had prevented women from serving in combat roles. Today, more than 224,000 women serve on active duty, and at least 30 women completed the U.S. Army Ranger School as of August 2019, according to the report.

While it's not clear that Congress will immediately take up legislation to allow women to register for the Selective Service, the report gives lawmakers a mandate to do so. In 2017, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have required women register for the draft, but the proposal was dropped from the bill. At the time, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), then-chairman of the Armed Services Committee, argued the amendment was getting ahead of the mandated review.

Story continues

A proposal to expand the draft to include women was first introduced in 2016 by then-Rep. Duncan Hunter, a vocal opponent of women serving in combat, in an unusual episode during negotiations over the annual defense policy bill. Hunter offered the amendment as a dare, and voted against his own proposal.

Today, the publics opinion on including women in the draft is mixed, with 53 percent supporting the change and 38 percent opposing in a 2017 survey cited by the commission. The commission heard from many people who fervently believed women should not be required to register for the draft. Some expressed concerns that including women would damage their ability to perform their unique status in society as wives, mothers and caregivers. Others raised concerns over the possible risks to women posed by combat roles, saying women are more likely to be injured in training.

Some asserted that integrating female conscripts would have a significant impact on military readiness due in large part to natural physical differences between men and women that have practical consequences for the lethality of gender-integrated fighting units, according to the report.

But calls to expand the draft to women have been growing in recent years. In a 2019 case, a federal judge in Texas ruled that an all-male draft was unconstitutional in response to a lawsuit brought forward by the National Coalition for Men.

Experts argue that allowing women to participate in the draft will enable the military to access to a wider talent pool, as well as allow women to share in a fundamental civil obligation.

Its insulting to suggest Americas mothers and wives and daughters couldnt contribute, whether the need were rebuilding levees after a natural disaster or repelling an invasion from our shores, Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told the commission. Americas daughters should be slotted into service as their physical and emotional suitability proves capable of, just like Americas sons.
DCE for Kwahu East, Hon Isaac Agyapong

24.03.2020 LISTEN

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kwahu East, Hon Isaac Agyapong has called for calm over the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) which is rapidly spreading across the world.

According to him, Ghanaians must follow doctors and government directives on the virus in order to prevent further spread.

Coronavirus has become a global problem. It has severely affected the economy in many countries. The NPP government is monitoring the situation and taking necessary measures. But I would request all to maintain hygiene and follow government directives, Hon. Isaac Agyapong said in an interview with BRYT FMs Evans Boateng.

While the health ministry continues to issue directives on measures to prevent contracting the virus, the Kwahu East DCE has stressed that everyone should stay updated.

Hon Isaac Agyapong also charged Ghanaians to remain positive as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across globally.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced some bold directives as part of measures to stop the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

His Excellency has placed a ban on church-related activities, mosques prayers, as well as all other public gatherings.

According to him, "all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and religious events such as services in churches and mosques have been suspended.

The president has also ordered the closure of Ghanas borders from the Sunday, March 22, 2020, to help reduce further escalation of the Coronavirus infection rate in the country.

As of Sunday, March 22, 2020, three more cases of the novel Coronavirus have been confirmed by the Health Ministry, taking the total number of active cases to 23 with one death.
Chandigarh, March 24 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the announcements made by the Union Finance Minister, terming them as inadequate in the light of coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation.

The announcements made by Nirmala Sitharaman do not fully reflect the concerns in the prevailing situation, said the Chief Minister, underlining the need for a comprehensive package to build the confidence of all sectors of the economy and support the underprivileged.

It was the need of the hour for the Centre to urgently come out with a detailed economic package without further delay, said Singh, pointing out the Finance Minister had failed to come out with details of the task force announced by the Prime Minister to work on such a package.

No suggestions had been taken so far from the states on the composition of the task force, nor any details shared, he said, hoping that it would be representative and would rise to the occasion triggered by this unprecedented crisis.

Noting that Punjab had already sent in its suggestions to the Prime Minister and the Union Finance Minister on the interventions required by the Central government, he expressed the hope those would be taken cognizance of.

The Chief Minister said he had hoped for more than mere postponement of the date of filing tax returns.

Even the due date has not been changed in spite of the fact that most states are under curfew and lockdown, he pointed out.

Amarinder Singh said the Finance Minister had even failed to make any mention of equated monthly installments (EMIs) on loan repayments and default.

There was no adequate attention being paid to the plight of the poor, especially the unorganised workers, which all the states had been pressing for, said the Chief Minister.

There was an urgent need, he said, to double the public distribution system quota and provide free of cost ration for at least two months to the people in the prevailing situation, as already sought by the state government.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 19:58:14|Editor: huaxia

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YGC Executive Summit Series Empowers Fortune 500 Leaders to Turn Industry Challenges Into Action

YGC launched Executive Summit Series starting in Austin and Houston to invite innovation executives to openly share industry challenges and propose potential solutions. Following the summits, the enterprise leaders are encouraged to seek appropriate next steps both internally and externally. Some have opted-in for milestone based proof of concepts through rapid prototyping and others are looking to explore the problem further through Hackathons and workshops.

In 2019, YGC hosted the first Executive Summit: Data at IBM design HQ in Austin with executives from Ascension, ExxonMobile, BP, Dun & Bradstreet (News - Alert), National Oilwell Varco and Walmart. The theme of data also brought attendees from S3, BuildGroup, Charles River Ventures and Perot Jain to share collective insights from their portfolio ventures.







The discovery from the summit led to formation of YGC's first venture in the energy sector, solving inefficiencies in workforce management within Oil & Gas.

Last month, YGC partnered with Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) to host the Executive Summit: Energy in Houston with leaders from Shell, BP, Fluor, Chevron (News - Alert), Saudi Aramco, CSL Capital Management and HESS. The featured speaker, Dr. Nils Kaageson-Loe, shared the importance of adapting to digital transformation and providing upskilling opportunities for 156,000 members of SPE worldwide.

Henry Liu, Partner and COO of YGC states: "YGC is determined to work with our oil and gas partners to weather this difficult business climate. Our first order of business is to make labor more skilled, efficient, and transferable to other industries facing critical needs."

The upcoming Executive Summit Series in May will be limited to less than ten attendees to adapt to the new business environment with the on-going concerns.

About YGC

YGC partners with Fortune 500 leaders to build industrial-grade software applications that solve complex industry challenges. YGC is a corporate venture studio based in Austin, Texas.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005675/en/
On Monday, the Foreign Ministry said that video conferencing of senior health officials of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries has been scheduled to be held on 26 March. The ministry said the conferencing will share experiences of dealing with the corona virus, which includes screening, contact tracing, quarantine and isolation at entry points.

War against Corona, Gautam Gambhir announced to give 50 lakhs

Apart from this, PM Modi in particular thanked the SAARC members on Monday for their contribution to the Corona Virus Rescue Fund set up to fight the spread of the virus. He thanked the heads of states of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Nepal for their contribution to the joint fund.

Coronavirus vaccine will come to market soon, work going on in US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked to the representatives of SAARC countries about the corona virus. In that conversation, PM Modi proposed the COVID-19 Emergency Fund. PM Modi tweeted and thanked Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Monday. Prime Minister Modi thanked Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for his $ 1 million cooperation. Apart from this, PM Modi also thanked Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his contribution of $ 5 million. PM Modi said that with our mutual support we will be able to fight this disease effectively.

CM Shivraj proved majority in Vidhan Sabha, no Congress MLA was present
[March 24, 2020] The Smart Grid Data Analytics Market was valued at USD 1451.6 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 2943.9 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 12.76%, during the period of 2020-2025

NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Smart Grid Data Analytics Market was valued at USD 1451.6 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 2943.9 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 12.76%, during the period of 2020-2025. With the advent of advanced technology such as IoT, players are focusing on integrating smart grid solutions in a wider aspect. As data generation has been continuously experiencing an upward trend, power utility companies are combining big data with billions of more rows of additional IoT and smart sensor data. The data gathered from smart meters can provide a better understanding of customer behaviour, and hence, facilitate customer segmentation. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877816/?utm_source=PRN - Growing investment in smart grid projects drives the market. According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), the world electricity demand is anticipated to increase by nearly 80% between 2012 and 2040. Expansion, modernization, and decentralization of the electricity infrastructure for improved resiliency are the planned investments from organizations. The power grid infrastructure is progressively becoming more digitized and connected, thereby, ensuring the reliable and secure flow of critical digital communications. Moreover, various projects have begun to take place across the Indian subcontinent, aimed at removing issues faced by the population regarding electricity.

- Enormous influx of data drives the market growth. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), to enable being smart, a massive amount of data is exchanged between grid components and the enterprise systems that manage these components. Based on the application, information exchanged helps economically optimized bidirectional power flow between a utility and its customers.

- Also, according to a survey published by Bridge Energy in 2019, 93% of utility vendors are expecting the availability of solutions to analyze and process data within their company. Furthermore, smart grids collect much more data than the manual energy meter reading system. This permits the use of data analysis techniques and the preparation of highly realistic consumption forecast, as many more variables are taken into account. Therefore, the opportunities for smart grid analytics are expanding because there is an exponential increase in the amount of data available, in order to develop analytical models.

- High costs of smart grid systems and lack of skilled professionals restraints the growth of the market. The most prominent limitation in smart metering is the availability of capital funding. Smart systems are comparatively expensive than the regular metering equipment that is employed by most of the service providers and users. Further, different smart meters are designed with various parameters, based on the operational requirements and consumer requirements, which inhibits as a complicated equipment that needs skilled labor for handling and installation. Key Market Trends

Metering Solution is Expected to Hold Significant Market Growth - The increasing smart grid investments and the surge in the rate of integration of renewable sources of ower generation to the existing grids, along with increasing R&D refurbishment activities in developed economies, are expected to support the growth of the global smart metering analytics market.





China and the United States have witnessed a high-scale deployment of smart meters, mainly due to the continuous support from the respective governments. The aforementioned factors are expected to drive the demand for analytic solutions to handle the vast data from these smart meters.

- The Private US-based utility companies, such as ConEd and Duke , are witnessing significant growth in smart meter deployments. This is evident by the fact that smart meters deployed by utilities in the United States reached about 98 million at the end of 2019 and will reach 107 million by the end of 2020 (Edison Foundation Institute for Electric Innovation Estimates).

- Furthermore, in 2019, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, the energy services company under the Union Ministry of Power, replaced about 50,000 conventional electricity meters with smart meters in the New Delhi Municipal Council area, India . This will result in the generation of more data per year. The Chinese State Grid Corporation also planned to install 380 million smart meters in the country by 2020. Owing to these factors, the market studied is expected to witness growth during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific to Witness the Fastest Growth

- The Asia-Pacific region is being dominated by two highly populated country i.e. India and China. The rising population in countries like China, Japan, and India has stimulated the demand for residential infrastructure and electricity consumption, therefore accelerating the demand for electricity in the nations are backing the usage of smart grids which in return will create a market for smart grid data analytics.

- The emergence of smart cities is expected to add to the region's competencies in the market. South Korea decided to invest USD 350 million in 300 companies to help develop an IoT ecosystem within the country. A pilot is being launched in a town southeast of Seoul, in partnership with Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom, to setup IoT-based infrastructure for renewable energy.

- Further, one of Thailand's major utilities is planning to use data from smart grids and smart meters to track and predict electricity outages in the future. This will help improve the distribution of power to customers

- Moreover, in July 2019, a Switzerland-based smart grid company, DEPsys, opened its second subsidiary, DEPsys Ptd Ltd, in Singapore. This subsidiary is expected to meet the needs of distribution system operators (DSOs) in Asia-Pacific by contributing to the digitization of grids.

- Also, in August 2019, Itron partnered with the government-owned utility, Western Power, in Australia to connect around 240,000 electricity meters. This partnership will help the utility provider gain visibility into the operation of its electricity distribution network, enabling automated data collection, new remote services, and the ability to proactively monitor faults and outages.

- Therefore, all the above factors combined will fuel the smart grid market which in return will boost the smart grid data analytics market in the Asia-Pacific region during the forecasted period. Competitive Landscape

The smart grid data analytics market is fragmented and highly competitive in nature. Owing to the emergence of new startups offering a broad range of innovative solutions catering to diverse industry requirements, the market is witnessing intensifying competitive rivalry. Also as the major players are considered to be synonymous with good performance, they are expected to have a competitive edge. Key players are Siemens AG, Itron Inc., IBM Corporation, etc. Recent developments in this market are:

- Oct 2019 - Uptake partnered with Symboticware to provide mining companies with an end-to-end, integrated AI, and data science solution to increase the productivity of mobile mining equipment. The joint solution combines Symboticware's SymBot device, which provides comprehensive data capture from mining fleets, and Uptake's Asset Performance Management (APM) software, Asset IO, which applies AI to surface predictive insights from the data.

- Jan 2020 - Itron, Inc. signed a contract with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to improve grid awareness and reduce operating costs. Through this partnership, LADWP will deploy Itron's Industrial IoT network and Distribution Automation (DA) solution with the aim of modernizing its grid. 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/p05877816/?utm_source=PRN 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: [email protected]

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Intl: +1 339-368-6001 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-smart-grid-data-analytics-market-was-valued-at-usd-1451-6-million-in-2019-and-is-expected-to-reach-usd-2943-9-million-by-2025--registering-a-cagr-of-12-76-during-the-period-of-2020-2025--301029113.html SOURCE Reportlinker

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24 Mar  Maggie Wilson had to cut her trip to Egypt short following the announcement that the Philippines was imposing a community quarantine of Metro Manila.

As reported on GMA News, the actress recently shared a photo of her with the backdrop of the Great Sphinx of Giza, and wrote, "I just wanted to share the only and most decent photos I took of our 2-day trip in Cairo. It was supposed to be a 10-day birthday trip around Egypt but as soon as we got word that Manila was going on lockdown, we cut our trip short so we could come home and be with our family."

"We made the most of our trip despite the weather. As you can see, it was raining when we visited the pyramids. It rained the entire two days we were there. The roads were heavily flooded and there was a power and water outage in the entire city. BUT, we had an amazing time because my Tita Helly and Uncle Sherif took such good care of us," she added.

It was a good decision to leave, as Wilson stated that Egypt went into total lockdown due to the virus only two days after they left.

"I hope that you are all safe, at home, and enjoying time with your loved ones. So let's all cooperate, practice social distancing and pray that this whole thing blows over soon. Love you guys! Stay safe and well," she added.

(Photo Source: Maggie Wilson Instagram)
ROUYN-NORANDA, Quebec, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chibougamau Independent Mines Inc. (CBG-TSX-V in Canada, CLL1-Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Lang & Schwarz Stock Exchanges in Germany, CMAUF-OTC in the US), herein called Chibougamau, wishes to inform shareholders that as of 16:30 today, our offices located at Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec will close for a minimum of three weeks due to the ongoing Corona Virus crisis. Employees will work from home and we expect, in large part, to function as usual. Chibougamau is doing this in an abundance of caution to protect our most valuable asset, our staff, none of whom are ill nor display any symptoms. Calls to our office will be forwarded to reception and responded to as quickly as possible.

We also wish to update Chibougamaus shareholders regarding its ability to withstand the current crisis and going forward. Chibougamau has just completed its latest successful drill program. We are looking at the next steps in exploration particularly on the C-3 copper/gold zone. Chibougamau has sufficient funds on hand to maintain the company and all its properties going forward.

Should we decide to undertake a major drill program, Chibougamau would need to return to the market for funding. A number of shareholders have indicated that, should the company require additional funding to pursue drill programs, they would be pleased to participate.

Keep Safe!

This press release was written by Jack Stoch, P. Geo., President and CEO of Chibougamau Independent Mines Inc. in his capacity as a Qualified Person (Q.P.) under NI 43-101.

Neither the 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 the release.



We Seek Safe Harbour. CUSIP Number 167101 203

LEI 529900GYUP9EBEF7U709

For further information, contact: Jack Stoch, P.Geo., Acc.Dir.

President & CEO

Chibougamau Independent Mines Inc.

86, 14th Street

Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec Canada J9X 2J1 Tel.: 819.797.5242

Fax: 819.797.1470

info@chibougamaumines.com

www.chibougamaumines.com

46,695,042 shares issued and outstanding
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Karen Reincke was pulling in $150 to $200 a day driving for Uber and Lyft, ferrying customers to neighborhoods across San Antonio.

As recently as the weekend before St. Patricks Day, people were still out and about and requesting rides.

Maybe they knew it was the last hurrah, Reincke said.

Then restaurants and bars started shutting down and companies began sending employees home. Reinckes earnings plunged to $50 to $100 a day. She turned to delivering for Postmates, DoorDash and other companies, but the money isnt the same, and theres more competition as others flock to delivery jobs to get by.

Like many San Antonians who are now struggling to get by, shes worried about making rent.

Landlords are concerned, too, as they anticipate late or missed payments and maintaining payroll for their own staff.

The apartment industry right now is in panic mode, said Marc Ross, president of Bob Ross Realty, a company that operates about 700 units in the area. Everybody is trying to figure out how were going to continue operating our businesses while being cognizant that our customers are having issues.

Though a car payment is on the horizon, bank overdraft fees are piling up and there are groceries, internet and cell phones to pay for, Reincke, 55, said shes grateful her landlord is working with her.

Im looking on the bright side and trying not to get too depressed and out of it, she said. Im trying to keep it all up and not totally break down.

On ExpressNews.com: 5 things to know about eviction in San Antonio during the coronavirus pandemic

As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic ripples through San Antonios economy, some of the citys most vulnerable workers are facing trimmed hours, furloughs or lay-offs.

People who are part of the gig economy or work in industries such as hospitality, food and tourism tend to be among the lowest-paid and dont have the option of working from home. Doing their job may also mean risking exposure to coronavirus, and many cant take paid time off if they get sick.

Now, with April 1 approaching, some workers are grappling with how theyre going to pay rent and other bills. Experts say renters and homeowners should spend no more than a third of their income on housing, but about half of San Antonios renters and a third of its households pay more than that.

Missy Harnish, a 46-year-old single mother who cleans houses and works as a care-giver, is worried about paying rent and other bills. She lost two cleaning jobs last week and is relying on a clients car to get around.

Amid so much uncertainty, Harnish wonders what the future will look like for her teenage children.

I feel hopeless right now. I find myself crying when I go pick up food at the school, she said. I have never seen anything like this.

To help prevent people from losing their homes, the Supreme Court of Texas recently ordered courts across the state to temporarily suspend evictions. Courts must halt most eviction proceedings through April 19 and wait until after April 26 to force people out.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency also announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer landlords mortgage forbearance if they dont evict tenants.

Renters should not have to worry about being evicted from their home and property owners should not have to worry about losing their building due to the coronavirus, said FHFA director Mark Calabria.

On ExpressNews.com: Dramatic San Antonio housing crisis is squeezing the income of households and renters

Apartment associations are urging tenants struggling to make rent to reach out to managers, and encouraging property owners to waive late fees and set up payment plans.

Along with a slow-down in payments, landlords may see leasing activity drop, since many arent offering tours. Theyre also concerned about occupancy sliding and values plummeting.

To keep employees and tenants safe, landlords are closing pools and fitness centers, limiting office visits and canceling events.

We have closed all amenities on our sites (and) common areas, said Kimberly Mader, regional vice president at Roscoe Property Management. The Austin-based company oversees 21 complexes in San Antonio, according to its website.

Charles Henry Sr. owns three rental houses in the area, two of which hes currently renting out. Hes asked tenants to notify him if theyre laid off. If that happens, he said he plans to cut their rent in half.

He recently put the third house on the market and got an offer within a day. Now, with no end to the pandemic in sight, hes wondering if he should sell it.

I dont want any of my houses to just sit, he said. The unknown of it all is what really makes me nervous.

Gregory, one of thousands of workers on the River Walk, is also nervous.

With tourists staying away from San Antonio, Gregorys hours at a restaurant along the waterway were recently slashed from 46 to 12 per week. That means he will go from making $1,300 to $1,500 every two weeks to roughly $400.

The 48-year-old, who asked that his last name not be used because hes worried about his job, said he has a family to support. He has worked at the restaurant for nearly 10 years.

I was paying all the bills, he said. How am I going to make rent?

madison.iszler@express-news.net
Omar Abdullah (Image: Twitter/@MamataOfficial)

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah is set to be released on March 24, reports suggested. He is currently in detention under Public Safety Act (PSA). The PSA charge against him has been revoked.

He had been under detention since August 2019, when the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories (UTs).

Abdullahs father and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah was also released from detention earlier in March.

The Supreme Court of India (SC) had on March 18 asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to inform by next week if it is releasing Omar Abdullah.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah told counsel appearing for the Centre that Abdullah's sister Sara Abdullah Pilot's petition against his detention will be heard on merit if he is not released soon.

(This is a developing story. Check back for updates)
Insurance industry professionals might take some pride in knowing that they are considered essential.

In states where only essential businesses are allowed to keep operations going during the coronavirus epidemic, it appears insurance employees can continue to work.

Of course, they must still practice social distancing, limit human contact and, where possible, switch to remote work.

Most states identify health care, grocery stories, pharmacies, utilities, first responders, military, shipping and financial services as among essential businesses.

The following states have issued some sort of order limiting business operations and/or citizens from congregating or leaving their homes for non-essentials. But most appear to exempt insurance from restrictions and consider it an essential business:

Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (Johnson County), Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania (7 counties), Washington and Wisconsin.

New Jersey mentions financial services but makes no specific mention of insurance as an essential business.

The situation is changing daily and can be less clear for some businesses other than insurance. There is no mandatory federal order on what is an essential business, although there is guidance from the Department of Homeland Security that states can follow.

Insurance is so important its right up there with pot shops in several states including Pennsylvania, California and Hawaii, where the restrictive orders allow marijuana dispensaries to continue operating. Liquor stores make the grade in some states, too.

I am seeing a number of situations where a business is deemed essential in one state, but non-essential in the state next door. That is nuts. There should be a federal standard, Gerald Hathaway, an employment attorney with Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath in New York, told Insurance Journal.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin issued a memorandum specifying that financial services  including insurance  is a critical infrastructure sector and its employees should continue to work amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury memo mirrors the language of COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security on essential workforces.

This is how the Treasury and DHS guidelines on critical workforces describe those in critical sectors related to insurance: Workers who are needed to process and maintain systems for processing financial transactions and services (e.g., payment, clearing, and settlement; wholesale funding; insurance services; and capital markets activities).

However, DHS leaves states leeway to use their own judgment in deciding what are essential businesses and critical functions in their states.

[T]his list is advisory in nature. It is not, nor should it be considered to be, a federal directive or standard in and of itself. In addition, these identified sectors and workers are not intended to be the authoritative or exhaustive list of critical infrastructure sectors and functions that should continue during the COVID-19 response. Instead, State and local officials should use their own judgment in using their authorities and issuing implementation directives and guidance, the DHS memo says.

Topics COVID-19
Sydney, Australia (CNN Philippines Life)  The day that Maritina* decided she wanted to leave her husband, she knew she wanted a clean break. They were married for a little more than a decade, and in that time she had discovered his text messages to other women, uncovered lies, and found mounts of credit card debt he left in her name. Maritina wanted to be free. I knew if there ever was a time to leave him, it was then, she says of that moment. If I left him then, I could still salvage and rebuild the rest of my life.

In the Philippines, the only country in the world besides the Vatican City where divorce is prohibited, there are only two options for separation. One is legal separation, and the other is a declaration of nullity or a legal annulment.

Atty. Jaye de la Cruz Bekema, Chief Legislative Officer of Senator Risa Hontiveros who helped draft one of the divorce bills, says: Legal separation is a separation of physical union and assets, but the parties are considered to be still married to each other and thus cannot remarry. A declaration of nullity, on the other hand, requires the separation meets specific grounds. Most of the time, she says, it is based on Article 36 of the Family Code, which is quite a high bar, says Bekema, as it requires that a psychological incapacity existed at the time of celebration of the marriage.

Maritina couldnt opt for the legal separation, because it would mean that she and her husband would technically stay married. She decided to file for an annulment. With an annulment, everything is severed because technically, if youre granted an annulment, your marriage never happened at all, she shares.

First, Maritina hired a lawyer, and this cost her around 100,000. She filed on the grounds of psychological incapacity, and for that, she needed psychology tests and a doctor. This cost her an additional 200,000. This is why they say annulment is only for the rich, she says. You need to be able to afford the bills. Think of those people that can't afford to free themselves from an abusive marriage, those who are stuck with their spouse because there is no other recourse. She adds that reasons like infidelity or physical battery are not considered grounds for a declaration of nullity. But if the guy cant get it up for marital relations, that is a valid excuse as long as it is incurable, she notes.

Then comes the process of the annulment, which includes going through your entire history of marriage, highlighting only the challenges for court. "Theres no time or place to dwell on anything good.

The judges ruling took a few months after the trial, and the whole process took about two years.. While the process for her was reasonably straightforward, others with children or spouses who contest will probably have to deal with a longer more complicated process.

What is terrifying is the idea that you wont get your annulment, says Maritina, which is a reality that occurs in the Philippine court, as the result is dependent on the decision of the Solicitor General. You cant move on with your life. And no matter how sure you are or how airtight your case is, theres still that little irrational voice inside you wondering if youll be able to be truly and legally free. According to statistics from the Office of the Solicitor General in 2011, 6% of all annulments filed were denied or dismissed.

He-said, she-said

Early this year, a House committee had unanimously approved three measures to legalize divorce in the Philippines. These were House bills 100, 838, and 2263. These bills seek to rid of the need for grounds like psychological incapacity, lack of consent, or incapability to bear children, for one to file for separation.

This approval is progress for a country that has lawmakers attempting to legalize divorce since 1999. Last year, the House of Representative passed the measure on the third and final reading, but the Senate rejected it.

The bill meets strong opposition in a conservatively Catholic Philippines. Dissenters like Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-list Representative Bro. Eddie Villanueva argued that having divorce would make marriage cheap. Villanueva adds that the process is redundant because of the existence of an annulment or legal separation. What we really need is to improve the annulment process and make it pro-poor in terms of cost and time. It may necessitate an executive action or a legislative one, but certainly not a divorce bill. The Catholic church has also voiced out its position on the divorce bill, calling it unconstitutional.

Bekema argues that while costs are certainly restrictive, they are not the only reason that an annulment or a legal separation is prohibitive. The requirement of proving psychological incapacity, for example, to get an annulment, is tedious and doesnt meet everyones criteria. The need to demonstrate psychological incapacity in annulment proceedings are very often ugly, as parties present, many times, make up evidence of various forms of psychosis, narcissism, etc. Not only is this unnecessarily toxic, but it also affects the children.

In addition, couples who go through a legal separation are still considered married, and therefore cannot remarry. The divorce bill addresses these aspects.

Bekema explains that the divorce bill will adopt the same processes as legal separation and a declaration of nullity, but that the timeline and procedure are significantly shorter. "For example, the Solicitor General who is involved in every petition for declaration of nullity will no longer be involved in divorce cases. There is also the possibility of shortened proceedings in certain circumstances.

While it cannot be said yet how much a divorce will cost, the bill does have a provision to protect indigent litigants, stating that the court is required to waive their fees. The bill acknowledges that many Filipino women are still financially dependent on their husbands, so the economic impact is a usual consideration, says Bekema. That is why our bill includes clear provisions for support.

A peaceful uncoupling

When 22-year-old Kana Takahashis mother suddenly flew home from Japan five years ago, she knew that something was up. Kana and her younger sister were raised in the Philippines by an aunt. Her mom, a Filipino, and her dad, a Japanese, worked abroad.

It was her aunt who broke the news about her parents divorce. She was very open to my sister and me, no sugar-coating. She explained what happened, assured us that nothing much will change, and that it was for the better. After that, we planned the arrangement and made sure that everyone was happy with it."

As a daughter of a divorced couple, Kana was present at the Senate hearing last year, making a statement in support of the passage of the divorce bill in the Philippines. She says that growing up watching her parents toxic relationship fester was not good for her and her sister. They always fought and argued, even with the little things, she says. The environment was very toxic, and it came to a point when me and my sister didnt want to be around them. It was affecting our emotional health. It was also affecting our family and our dynamics. Everyone was mad all the time.

When the divorce was finalized in Japan, she was expecting things might get uglier, but she was surprised when her family instead found peace. Leaving toxic situations really changes your perspective, says Kana. It made me reflect on my relationships more. That you shouldn't be afraid to cut off relationships if theyre not healthy anymore.

Now, her parents maintain a healthy friendship, which has been helpful for everyone in the family. She says the divorce made them open up more to each other, and made them more compassionate. "We would always talk about our feelings and things that make us uncomfortable. It was better than ever, and we also became super close to our parents!

She adds that keeping a family together means maintaining a healthy, loving environment for everyone  this includes acknowledging that when things are bad, it is okay to let go. She pleads, If you dont want a divorce, then dont get one. But you shouldnt impose your beliefs on other people. They deserve to have a choice. They deserve to be free.

No escape

For many Filipino women, finding an escape from a husband is not an easy option, and often it can be dangerous. Violence and domestic abuse is a typical scenario, as according to a 2017 report from the Philippine Statistics Authority, one in four women have experienced spousal violence  be it physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Without an accessible and affordable option to separate from an abusive husband, some women are left with no choice. The absolute divorce bill hopes to protect all women stuck in loveless, abusive, and dysfunctional marriages, and provide a way out.

At present, a draft committee report is being circulated among senators who are members of the Committee on Women for their signatures. Once enough signatures are achieved, the report is then sponsored in the plenary by Senator Risa Hontiveros, where it will be subjected to interpellation and amendment. After which, it will be voted on by all senators on the floor.

When Maritina received news of the approval of her annulment in 2018, she said it felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. I felt happy. And because I was so at peace with my situation, there really wasnt that much pain. I did everything I could to save that marriage. I was not sorry I wanted out. I didnt want anything out of the annulment. Like Tina Turner, I just wanted to leave with my name.

*Name has been changed upon request.
The embassies of the United Kingdom and the United States of America are among the foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Bucharest that announced, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, that they are restricting their activity to consular emergencies, and the Embassy of Belgium and the Embassy of Denmark are presenting to their citizens abroad the options of online groups through which they can find support in the countries where they are located.

The activities of the embassies come to the recommendations of the Foreign Ministries from all over the world, which should provide assistance to citizens abroad who are facing unexpected situations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

*** The US Embassy in Bucharest announces, on its official website, that it has suspended all non-urgent visa issuance activities, "for health security, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic". Those in urgent need of visas should mention this on the online platform www.ustraveldocs.com, on their own profile, the US Embassy also shows.

*** Italy, the country that reported over 6,000 deaths from 2019-nCoV infection, is in the red zone of the pandemic map. Thus, the Italian Embassy in Bucharest, included has transmitted the rules of the Peninsula authorities.

*** The Embassy of Denmark in Bucharest announced, on its official website, that as of March 14 the existing border control will be extended to include the control of all of Denmark's border crossing points, this measure being part of the effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

*** The Embassy of Belgium in Romania announced, as of March 18, that it will provide only emergency consular services, with a small team. At the same time, the diplomatic mission presented, at the beginning of the week, a Facebook group marked "#BelgesSolidaires", where Belgians from abroad can enter into dialogue.

*** The Embassy of the Netherlands in Bucharest announced, on its official Facebook page, that between March 18 and April 6, consular services will be strictly limited to medical or humanitarian emergencies.

*** The French ambassador in Bucharest, Michele Ramis, sent a message to the French citizens in Romania.

*** The Israeli Embassy in Bucharest has restricted, since March 11, its consular activity and announced, on Facebook, that consular services will be provided only for emergencies, namely the renewal of travel documents, cases of loss or theft passport, registration of a birth or issuing of a passport for the newborn and notary services.

The diplomatic missions in Bucharest also transmit, on the Facebook pages and on their own websites, the latest measures that the Romanian authorities take in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, from transport to the country of origin and the rules that must be followed on Romania's territory.

At the same time, citizens are encouraged not to travel to Romania unless absolutely necessary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on March 24 discussed the evolving situation in the region arising out of the coronavirus outbreak. In a telephonic conversation, the two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Both the leaders exchanged Navroz greetings, noting that the festival symbolises the shared heritage and cultural linkages between the two countries.

"The leaders discussed the evolving situation in the region, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation," the statement said.

On March 23, Modi thanked President Ghani for his contribution to the coronavirus emergency fund.

"Thank you Afghanistan, for contributing $1 million to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund in solidarity with our South Asian neighbourhood. Tashakkur President Ashraf Ghani," the prime minister had tweeted.

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 Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal have contributed to the fund.

Addressing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders and representatives on March 15, Modi had proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of $10 million from India.
Enough measures have already been taken in Ukraine to control the spread of the virus.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal does not support the introduction of a national emergency in Ukraine over the novel coronavirus.

"There is no need to introduce an emergency in Ukraine. A state of emergency is introduced in the event of an emergency. Today, the spread of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared that in many European countries," he said on ICTV.

Read alsoZelensky: Government not to introduce state of emergency to pass unpopular decisions

Enough measures have already been taken in Ukraine to control the spread of the pandemic, he said. "It doesn't seem the introduction of an emergency in Ukraine is required this week," he added.

Yet, he said, the situation might change within the next few weeks.

As UNIAN reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky says the possible introduction of a national emergency in Ukraine would not be used to "push certain unpopular decisions," yet it would be aimed at protecting Ukrainians.
The market extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade amid positive global cues. Global stock markets reacted positively to the US Federal Reserve's open-ended asset purchase program on Monday, as well as other measures to keep the market functioning. The Nifty regained 7900 mark.

At 13:31 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 1167.24 points or 4.49% at 27,148.48. The Nifty 50 index rose 313.75 points or 4.12% at 7,924.

The broader market traded mixed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 3.27% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.17%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 911 shares rose and 1175 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was positive with 41 stocks advancing and 9 stocks declining.

Media Briefings:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference at 2 pm today (24 March).

"Even as we are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon) I will address the media at 2 PM today, specifically on statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Via video conference," Finance Minister said in a tweet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm today. The prime minister tweeted that he will talk on the "vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19".

COVID-19 Crisis:

In an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19, complete lockdowns were announced in India's 30 states/Union Territories and a total of 548 districts.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has put the state under curfew to ensure compliance with lockdown restrictions amid the COVID-19 crisis. Essential services such as grocery, milk, medical shops, etc. will remain open. All places of worship will be closed. All forms of public transport will not be operational. Furthermore, all the district borders within the state will be sealed.

Coronavirus has infected more than 381,739 people and killed more than 16,558 across the world.

More than 102,429 people have recovered. India has reported 10 deaths and over 508 cases so far.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys jumped 9.08% to Rs 574.50 after the company said the US Securities & Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation on the whistle blower allegations. As previously disclosed, in connection with the audit committee's investigation into certain whistle blower complaints which concluded in January 2020, Infosys cooperated with an investigation by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the same matters.

Infosys said it received a notification from the SEC that it has concluded its investigation and the company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter. Infosys added that it has also responded to all the inquires received from the Indian regulatory authorities. The IT major said it will continue to cooperate with the authorities should there be any additional requests for information.

Shares of IndusInd Bank were down 0.79% to Rs 333.90. The scrip tumbled 29.99% to hit the day's low at Rs 235.60. The bank announced the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer with effect from 24 March 2020, for three years. The bank said Romesh Sobti, shall demit the office of Managing Director & CEO of IndusInd Bank, on 23 March 2020, in line with the tenure approved by RBI. The announced was made after market hours yesterday, 23 March 2020.

Hindustan Unilever surged 7.98% to Rs 2022 after the company announced that it has signed an agreement with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to acquire its intimate hygiene brand VWash. The deal includes the acquisition of intellectual property rights including trademarks, design and know-how related to the VWash brand. The consideration has been split into two parts involving an upfront cash payment upon closing of the deal and a deferred consideration over the next three years. The transaction is subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, and both parties would be working together to complete this in the next few months. Glenmark will continue to manage the business until the transaction is completed, and will also continue to manufacture for HUL for an agreed period of time.

Global Markets:

European markets opened higher while Asian markets were trading sharply higher after the US Federal Reserve launched unlimited bond buying and other fresh steps and the US Congress appeared closer to a deal on a massive stimulus package to boost the world's largest economy hammered by the coronavirus.

On Monday, the Fed pledged that it will run an open-ended asset purchase program amid the global coronavirus outbreak. Fed said the program will run in the "amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions and the economy." The pledge is a new chapter in the Fed's "money printin" as it commits to keep expanding its balance sheet as necessary, rather than a commitment to a set amount.

In US, stocks booked sharp losses on Monday as the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation overshadowed the Federal Reserve's pledge to buy unlimited bonds and bolster emergency lending facilities to support the flow of credit into the economy.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andy Street is Mayor of the West Midlands, and is a former Managing Director of John Lewis.

Coronavirus is the gravest public health threat our nation has faced in generations.

Its also correctly described by the Chancellor as an economic emergency. The measures announced by Rishi Sunak on Friday night represented an unprecedented package of support for the business sector, employers and employees.

While the decision to close leisure businesses such as bars, gyms and cinemas will have disappointed some, it was unquestionably the right thing to do as we attempt to slow the spread of infection.

Across sectors of business, there will have been a huge sense of relief as the Chancellor announced that the Government would cover 80 per cent of the wages of employees who are sent home, along with the deferment of VAT bills.

While economists are scrambling to model what the economic effects of the Virus may be, policy makers are having to act swiftly, and with imperfect information.

But what seems clear is that this setback will see the sharpest downturn we have ever experienced.

Indeed, it could be deep, but it is also expected to be relatively short-lived. This is in sharp contrast to the Financial crisis of 2008 where the shortfall was prolonged. Therefore, if the intention is to bridge what may be a deep but hopefully narrow V-shaped valley then the policy moves are right.

Now the challenge is to deliver this package of fiscal support as quickly as possible, pumping money directly to where it is needed. Lets be clear, these measures do much more than support businesses, they are providing a lifeline to people when they need it most. Time is of the essence.

As our medical and scientific experts work tirelessly to deal with the infection, we must act with equal intent to immunise our economy from its side effects.

Here in the West Midlands this week I was made acutely aware that many businesses are facing a potentially catastrophic cashflow crisis, which has to be addressed if we are to protect the economy.

This week saw a meeting of the West Midlands Regional Economic Contingency Group, which brings together business organisations and political leaders in a forum that feeds directly to central Government.

And the message I heard from local businesses was crystal clear: businesses well beyond the hospitality sector have seen a collapse in their order books.

From our biggest firms  such as JLR, which has just announced a three-week closure of its sites  to the smallest shops, we have to protect businesses and their employees.

There was a genuine welcome for the announcements that government had already made. However, I heard two messages that I will take back to government personally:

First, the new loans and business rate holidays have got to come very, very quickly in particular to help larger businesses make their cash payments to small suppliers.

Second, it was clear that for some businesses loans are not the answer  the real issue is how we reduce the cost of their operations so they can maintain their businesses and hold on to as many people as they can through the crisis.

The pledge on Friday to defer VAT payments and cover 80 per cent of some wage costs directly addressed these concerns.

If we Conservatives are serious in our claim to be the party of business, now is the time for us to stand up and prove it  and I believe that the Prime Minister and Chancellor have done just that with their swift and bold actions.

I have confidence that the robust economy we have built in West Midlands will survive the crisis if cash is delivered to where it is needed, and I believe the people of the West Midlands have the resilience and fortitude to not only withstand it but to bounce back afterwards too.

We have faced real hardship before. From the Coventry blitz to the mass lay-offs of the Seventies and Eighties, the people of this region have shown they will always overcome challenges.

Its already happening. Right now, community support groups are being set up by volunteers across the conurbation to help the vulnerable.

Social media is awash with local people reaching out to help their elderly neighbours and supporting the key workers who are so vital in the battle against Coronavirus.

Shopkeepers are politely restricting the sales of items to stop panic buying and ensure everyone is catered for.

This altruistic reaction comes despite the fact that people have until now found themselves pulled in two directions  should they follow advice to socially distance themselves or self-isolate, or worry about their livelihoods vanishing if they step away from the workplace.

Indeed, even after the landmark support measures announced on Friday some questions remain.

Self-employed and freelance workers have expressed concerns that they are less protected than others, and as I write this we await the Governments response.

The West Midlands is a hotbed of self-employment, and I am confident that a response will come.

A hallmark of the cool-headed, evidence-driven leadership shown by the Prime Minister throughout this crisis has been to react to each new challenge clearly and decisively.

Now, with Fridays measures unveiled to the relief of bosses and workers everywhere, the real challenge is in the speed of delivery. Businesses that have been told to shut their doors cannot wait too long for cash. Workers who have been sent home cannot wait too long for income.

The health authorities have shown that we can move quickly and efficiently in reaction to this crisis.

Here in the West Midlands, we have some of the best hospitals in the country and our NHS workers are already going above and beyond to hold back the outbreak.

Preparations in the UK health service have been going on at speed since the first news emerged of a viral outbreak in China, back in December.

And at local government level the West Midlands has quickly pulled together. Our councils in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton are working through the implications of the crisis for adult social care.

Our schools are keeping their doors open to look after the children of key workers. As people stay at home, Transport for the West Midlands is introducing a restricted timetable that will ensure key workers and the vulnerable can still get around.

Across the nation, in all walks of life, we are learning that we will overcome coronavirus by working together. Now the wheels of Government must quickly hit top speed to release the funds that will protect our economy from its side effects.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:36:37|Editor: yan

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TIRANA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Albanian leaders hailed here on Tuesday the unanimous decision of the European Union (EU) member states to start accession negotiations with Albania.

In a video conference on Tuesday, the bloc's General Affairs Council gave a green light to the opening of EU membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

Via a Facebook video-message, Prime Minister Edi Rama hailed the decision, saying that Albania entered a new phase of its history in the midst of a "world war", referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

The unanimous Yes of the 27 EU member states, Rama underlined, comes after another Yes from the Donors Conference held in Brussels on Feb. 17, when the EU, along with many other countries, gave Albania support for its reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the November earthquake.

Albanian President Ilir Meta welcomed the EU decision, saying "it clearly confirms Albania's European perspective."

"Not a minute should be wasted to implement as soon as possible any of the conditions that precede the intergovernmental conference on starting chapter negotiations," Meta said in his Twitter message.

Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruci called the decision a major historical event for Albania, North Macedonia and the whole region.

"The Albanian Parliament is proud of the contribution and legitimacy it gave to this long and difficult process, which finally found the support and consensus of all member states," Ruci said.

Lulzim Basha, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, welcomed the decision, underlining that "it is in Albania's hands to fulfil the conditions in order to go through with the opening of the negotiations."

On Tuesday, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi announced via a Twitter post the decision and congratulated both countries, saying that "this also sends a loud and clear message to Western Balkans: your future is in EU."

During his visit in Tirana on Feb. 3, David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament (EP), said the EP strongly supports the opening of Albania's accession talks with the EU.

In October last year, the bid by Albania and North Macedonia to open EU accession negotiations was blocked due mainly to France's opposition, when Paris justified its decision with the need for the EU to develop a new accession methodology.

At the Munich Security conference held in mid-February this year, French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear that France's position would depend on the report from the European Commission.

Earlier in March, the European Commission reaffirmed its recommendation for opening the accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia.

Albania applied for EU membership on April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession to the EU.
The boss of Centrelink has admitted the MyGov website crashed on Monday due to high demand from jobseekers affected by coronavirus shutdowns.

Government Services Minister Stuart Robert had originally claimed the website went down after being hacked in a cyber attack.

'I probably should have waited for the investigation before jumping the gun,' Mr Robert told 2GB radio.

He explained the site had prepared for an estimated 55,000 applications but was caught off-guard by the 100,000 users trying to log-on to the site at the same time.

'My bad not realising the sheer scale of the decision on Sunday night by national leaders that literally saw hundreds of thousands, maybe a million, people unemployed overnight.'

The boss of Centrelink has admitted the MyGov website crashed on Monday due to high demand from jobseekers affected by coronavirus shutdowns

Thousands of Australians lined up outside Centrelink offices on Monday after the government ordered businesses to close their doors

State governments with the backing of Canberra issued an order that from midday on Monday a raft of industries would be required to partially or fully shut their doors.

Pubs, clubs, cinemas, and gyms are some of the businesses required to close while restaurants and cafes can cater to takeaway and delivery orders only.

Minister Robert urged Australians to keep trying the website, perhaps later in the evening, if they can't get through and that call centre hours have been extended from 8am to 8pm.

Australians who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus crises were seen waiting in lines outside Centrelink offices as early as 4.30am on Monday - four hours before centrelink offices open.

Lines to access Centrelink in Brunswick, Melbourne, were 200m long by 7am after 88,000 hospitality workers lost their jobs on Monday after the government restrictions were brought into effect to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians who have never been unemployed before are now queuing up to access benefits.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the government did not expect the vastly accelerated demand and was caught unprepared.

'We are asking for patience and calm,' Ms Ruston told the Today program.

Centrelink will boost its workforce by 5,000 people to deal with the increase in demand.

Unemployment in Australia is predicted to soar to 15 per cent, which would account for the highest rate of people out of work since 1932, according to The Age.

ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch said unemployment was likely to soar even quicker than it did during the global financial crisis.

'Periods of higher unemployment are associated with a deterioration in mental health and a higher suicide rate. And in this crisis, social distancing and isolation pose additional risks to mental health,' she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the coronavirus pandemic was now turning into an an economic crises.

'Together, and with the rest of the world, we face this unprecedented challenge. A once in a hundred year event,' Mr Morrison told federal parliament on Monday.

Government Services Minister Stuart Robert had originally claimed the website went down because of a cyber attack
Cement plant and company readiness for the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr Michael Clark By

Published 24 March 2020

As this extraordinary Technical Forum is being written, the world is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy, Spain and France are in complete lock-down with citizens required to remain in their homes. The UK and the United States are not far behind needing to impose such drastic restrictions.



In the UK sweeping restrictions were introduced on Monday, 23 March. All social gatherings in restaurants, public houses, gyms and leisure centres have been banned, with those and many retail shops having now closed their doors. Countries have closed their borders to try to control and prevent the spread of the virus, while the Emirates airline has suspended all its passenger flights until further notice.



Some travellers arriving in countries that still have open borders are being required to immediately go into 14-days quarantine. In a few cases, their movements being tracked electronically by way of a bracelet tag to ensure compliance. In these drastic circumstances how can cement plants ready themselves for the impact of the virus?



We can separate the appropriate actions into immediate responses to enhance readiness, and longer-term preparations and planning to promote readiness for such a pandemic.

Immediate responses

The first point to make is that every cement company and plant will have to follow the instructions and requirements of their local government. These will naturally vary between countries and regions. It is part of the role of cement companies to support local governments in their attempts to control the pandemic, but it is also possible to take the lead from governments around the world in formulating our immediate responses to the pandemic.



Personal hygiene, such as regularly washing and sterilising our hands, is the first step in avoiding the virus. Washing hands and personal hygiene should be normal practice, of course, but this can be promoted strongly on the cement plant with additional facilities made available. Dr Clark knows too many cement plants where the personnel washing facilities are aged and inadequate. These showcase the cement companys commitment to their personnel and their hygiene. If modernisation and cleaning up of such facilities was to come out of the virus, this would be a good thing. Management need to take the lead in developing hygiene practices in the same manner as they lead in promoting safety practices.



For many cement plants, being open to educational and familiarisation visits is part of fostering good community relations. However, since we are instructed not to visit family and friends, these are not normal times. Therefore, it is entirely legitimate and appropriate to suspend and close the plant to visits for the duration of the pandemic.



All but essential travel within countries is banned and where possible, we are told to work from home. Operating, maintaining and managing a cement plant do not lend themselves to working from home. Plant equipment is operated from remote control rooms, but these are within the factory. Operators will need to travel to the plant to access those control rooms. In addition, maintaining the cement factory equipment requires working on the equipment in situ or dismantling it to send components to be refurbished. Therefore, maintenance personnel will need to travel to the factory to perform this work. Operations and maintenance management also need to travel to the plant to fulfil their role on a daily basis. However, commercial and business management is often remote from the plant. This minimises the requirement for commercial and business management to visit the cement plant.



Social interactions are to be minimised and gatherings limited to a maximum of two people, excluding those from the same household. The operation of a cement plant is often a solitary role shared by many people on different shifts around the 24h working day. Driving a loader or haul truck in the quarry is a solitary task, as is operating the crusher, mills or kilns, or attending the conveyor belt strings and patrolling the plant equipment. Break and meal times are not usually solitary events, but in these times of the pandemic they need to be. Canteens and mess rooms should be closed with food delivered to the plant operators at their place of work. This will bring additional hygiene requirements. When people are sharing the same workplace, such as various people on different shifts, then inter-shift hygiene becomes the responsibility of each individual operator. The workplace should be left in the same hygienic, sterilised state as each person would expect to find it when they begin their shift.



Some actions on a cement plant cannot be solitary for safety reasons. Intervening in the process to clear blockages in chutes or preheaters is potentially dangerous and should not be undertaken individually. In these circumstances, personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn whenever such interventions are taking place and this forms a barrier between operators working together.



Communication and training will be vital to work safely while minimising interactions. Such procedures should be reviewed in light of the pandemic. Maintaining factory equipment in situ also involves tasks that require people to work together. Procedures and equipment need to be reviewed to minimise the risk of infection between people working together.



In Dr Clarks experience, the working day on most cement facilities begins with a meeting of the plant and departmental management to review the events of the preceding day and plan the actions of the coming day(s). In too many instances, plant and departmental management spend considerable amounts of time attending management meetings. This is not appropriate during the current period. There are many communications technologies available that eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction with the attendant danger of infection.



If the pandemic results in fewer and more focussed meetings then that will be an improvement arising from a very unwelcome challenge. Of course, there is still the requirement for one-to-one meetings and for relationships to be built up within cement plant management teams. However, these should have been built up before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic so that they are strong enough to survive when regular face-to-face meetings have to be curtailed.



As established, travel to the cement plant is a necessity for the operators, maintenance staff and management of the cement plant. Travelling from the plant may also be necessary to

visit suppliers, local authorities or customers. Again, separation of manufacturing from the commercial and business management of a cement company will minimise the need for such travel. This does not mean that such external visits are unnecessary, just that the cement plant management do not need to make the visits themselves.



Perhaps most importantly, is that the cement company sales people continue to visit customers to secure sales of cement. No doubt the pandemic will result in lower construction activity and reduced sales of cement, so securing whatever sales can be achieved will be critical for company survival. It is crucial to establish how this can be implemented while still minimising external visits by sales personnel. The digitisation of the sales and delivery process can help in this process. Admittedly, such digitisation is not going to happen in response to the current pandemic. Such sales digitisation takes months and years to realise, as does any type of digital transformation, by which time we all hope this situation will be behind us. However, the pandemic could prompt company management to launch such digitisation initiatives.



Finally, we are told that if we suffer symptoms such as a dry cough, sore throat or high temperature then we should self-isolate at home for 14 days. Therefore, company and plant management have to prepare for some of their key staff having to self-isolate and be away from work for protracted periods at very short notice. A cement company or cement plant should already be prepared for such a scenario as plants cannot be reliant on any individual. Knowledge needs to be captured in documented procedures and human capital needs to be developed via training and succession planning, such that there is no reliance on any individual. Everyone needs to have a ready replacement within the organisation.

Longer-term preparations and planning

The directors of a cement company are responsible for identifying and managing risks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an external, strategic risk to a cement company and cement plant. The first stage of managing risks is to identify them.



The second stage is to assess the potential impact of the risk individually and in combination. For example, what will be the impact if one, two or three of the kiln master burners (control room operators) have to self-isolate for 14 days at the same time? What will be the impact if both the plant manager and his deputy have to self-isolate for 14 days concurrently? What will be the impact if some of these or other key personnel succumb to the virus? The impacts of both a sales collapse and a government-ordered shutdown also need to be considered.



The third stage is assessing the likelihood of the COVID-19 risk actually impacting the cement company or plant. Dr Clark would suggest that it is prudent to expect that it will indeed be impacted, simply because it is better to overestimate the likelihood than underestimate it. Dr Clarks experience is that if something can go wrong, then it probably will.



The fourth stage is to develop plans for controlling the risk in line with the cement company's risk appetite. The company needs to look at how the likelihood of the risk occurring can be reduced, while also considering the potential impact if it does occur. Who will be responsible for these risk management actions? We have already looked at how to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 impacting a cement plant. These risk analysis, assessment and management responses needs to be prioritised and recorded in a risk register.



Finally, the COVID-19 risk, and indeed all the risks in the risk register, need to be regularly reviewed. The COVID-19 risk should currently be reviewed on a daily basis. Has the likelihood or potential impact of the virus changed? An outbreak in the immediate vicinity to the cement plant would change the likelihood. One of more members of staff self-isolating would also change this. Questions need to be asked about if the risk management plans remain sufficiently robust and relevant, or whether new risks have emerged. Does the prioritisation of risks in the risk register need to be changed? Hopefully, at some time in the near future, the priority of the COVID-19 risk will diminish. We are not there yet.
Network International, the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East & Africa (MEA), has announced a total of Dh5 million ($1.3 million) in cash and other practical relief measures for merchant partners, in support of the economic stimulus packages announced earlier by the UAEs leadership and the UAE Central Bank.

As part of its support, the payments company will contribute nearly Dh3.7 million ($1 million) in cash to 1,000 of its most severely impacted merchant clients operating in the SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) sector, a key contributor to the national economy and, at this time, among the most vulnerable. The contribution will alleviate financial pressures among the small businesses that have been affected severely by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Network International has put in place the following relief measures for its UAE-based SME merchant partners, with immediate effect:

 1,000 SME merchant clients that have been severely impacted economically will each receive Dh3,673 / (USD 1,000) in cash.

 New small business users of N-GeniusTM Online will benefit from 0% Merchant Service Fees over the next 3 months to help them quickly enable their business online.

 Minimum transaction fees have been waived for all Networks merchant clients in the UAE across all industries for the next 3 months.

Commenting on the support measures, Samer Soliman, managing director for Network Internationals Middle East operations, said: Genuinely caring for the health and safety of our teams, clients and the wider community is at the heart of the decisions we are taking during this time. As concerns around the global COVID-19 pandemic evolve, we recognise that some of our merchant partners have been severely impacted by this extraordinary situation and we are standing by those that need us most, with immediate and practical relief measures over the next few months. Our cash support will offer these businesses much needed liquidity to help relieve the stress on their cash flow so they can carry on operations.

Soliman added: In addition to supporting clients that have been severely impacted, we are also waiving minimum monthly service fees for all merchant clients for the next three months. And, as more people opt to make purchases online we are helping small businesses transition to online payments by waiving Merchant Service Fees for the next three months for new users of N Genius Online, our market leading internet payment gateway."

"We are grateful for the loyalty and trust our customers, partners and teams show in us, and I am optimistic this time will help us collaborate further and share innovative ideas to meet the changing needs of the marketplace and positively impact the UAEs economy, he said. - TradeArabia News Service
Terrence McNally Photo: Al Pereira/Getty Images

Terrence McNally, the boundary-breaking playwright, has died due to complications related to the coronavirus. McNally was 81, and was a lung-cancer survivor with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1938, McNally built a wide-ranging career in theater, working on everything from intimate dramas, like Frankie and Johnny and the Clair de Lune, to epic musicals, like Ragtime, to landmark portrayals of gay men, as in Love! Valour! Compassion, to opera, and more.

McNally graduated from Columbia University in 1960. His first Broadway show came in 1964  And Things That Go Bump in the Night  and had a solid hit in 1975 with The Ritz, a farce about a straight mobster who hides out in a gay bathhouse. McNallys breakout success came later, however, with Frankie and Johnny, a two-hander relationship drama set over the course of a single night between a short-order cook and a waitress. It premiered Off Broadway in 1987 starring F. Murray Abraham and Kathy Bates, and was adapted to film in 1991 with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer; last year, it was revived on Broadway with Michael Shannon and Audra McDonald to mark McNallys 80th birthday.

McNallys work on musicals included collaborations with John Kander and Fred Ebb on The Rink, on Broadway in 1984, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, in 1993. McNally won his first Tony Award for the book of the latter musical, based on Manuel Puigs novel about two prisoners in a Latin American country, one of whom is gay and shares his show-business fantasies with the other. McNally won two more Tonys, each for Best Play, in 1995 and 1996 for writing Love! Valour! Compassion!, a drama set among eight gay men on a summer vacation, and for Master Class, centered on a fictionalized version of Maria Callas. In 1997, he won another for the book of Ragtime, with music by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, which brought the sweeping E.L. Doctorow novel about early 20th-century America to the stage with a mosaic of plots and characters.

McNally continued to experiment with genre and tone, notably in 1997s Corpus Christi, which drew controversy for depicting contemporary gay men reenacting the lives of Jesus and his disciples and had its original run canceled; The Full Monty, a 2000 musical about a group of steelworkers who decided to strip; and Dead Man Walking, the first of three collaborations with Jake Heggie. McNally continued to work until quite recently, reuniting with Kander and Ebb on 2011s musical The Visit and with Ahrens and Flaherty on the book for the stage version of Anastasia. He won another Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2019. McNally held a civil-union ceremony with his husband, producer and lawyer Tom Kirdahy, in Vermont in 2003, and they formally married in Washington, D.C., in 2010.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases is still only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the community-level spread of the disease, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton emphasized Sunday, as she soberly shared the figures, including hospitalizations and deaths.

On the ground in Cuyahoga County, public health officials have finessed a way to get a clearer understanding of the number of people here with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Theyve created a tracking system that gets in front of that daily snapshot  a picture obscured by a bottleneck of lab results and shortages of test kits and sample swabs that have narrowed testing to only health care workers and the sickest patients.

Relying on time-tested methods for tracing the spread of disease  calling and interviewing people, gathering their contacts, recording symptoms  they started last week to compile a list of presumed COVID-19 cases.

As of Monday, the Cuyahoga County suburbs had 149 cases of the coronavirus, not including the 36 cases reported separately by Cleveland city health officials. Statewide, there were 442 confirmed cases, 104 hospitalizations and 6 deaths.

Using the in-house system, county public health workers and physicians identified an additional 26 presumed cases of the disease in the county as of Monday morning. Presumed cases include people who have developed symptoms of the disease after being in close contact with a known positive case but who have not been tested themselves.

An exponential growth of potential cases

Pretty quickly after the first COVID-19 cases came in earlier this month, the county board of health staff realized that they would need to look beyond the number of confirmed cases, Romona Brazile, deputy director of prevention and wellness, told The Plain Dealer.

The board of health turned to its growing team of disease detectives, doctors and residents who call patients with confirmed cases and compile lists of their contacts: people the confirmed cases worked closely with, sat next to in church or relatives in their home. And the nurses and medical students who reach out to those contacts.

If those contacts have or later develop symptoms of the virus, which can include a fever, chills or shortness of breath, they are presumed to have the disease. And the cycle continues.

Its just an exponential growth of people, Brazile said of the contacts theyre tracking.

The presumed cases are being treated as COVID-19 cases, Brazile said, meaning people are being given strict isolation instructions and are mailed a letter by the county to share with first responders, if needed.

Not every local department is taking these additional tracking steps but as cases increased in Cuyahoga County, Brazile said, we needed to put in another step to limit exposure.

A new level of disease tracking

Tracking the path of disease isnt new for the county; disease investigators there do it regularly for influenza, sexually transmitted infections and viruses like West Nile.

But that work and the public health warriors  as Board of Health Commissioner Terry Allan dubbed them  who do it are usually behind the scenes, invisible to most citizens.

Romona Brazile, director of prevention and wellness for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. Brazile, a registered nurse, has worked for the department for 18 years and said the scale of the operation to track COVID-19 is "once in a lifetime." (Cuyahoga County Board of Health)

Brazile has been working almost every day for the past month to keep up with the spread of coronavirus throughout the community. She is part of a 50-person team at the board of health, all of whom are working long hours.

The scale of this is not even in comparison with anything weve had to do before, said Brazile, a registered nurse who has worked at the board of health for 18 years.

The work is urgent; the public health workers want to reach as many people with possible exposure as quickly as possible to assess and quarantine right away, Brazile said. That way, if they start experiencing symptoms, they have already reduced their exposure, she said.

Tracking presumed cases is also an important stand-in because many people with symptoms dont need to be tested; public health officials have said up to 80% can safely treat the virus at home. That reserves limited tests for those who are hospitalized and health care workers.

During a Monday press briefing, Acton urged primary care doctors to follow the lead of public health workers and to ask patients with symptoms of the virus about others who live in the home. She said physicians should give instructions for anyone sick to isolate and anyone exposed to quarantine.

You dont need a test to do that," she said.

Like many things related to this pandemic, Cuyahoga Countys disease tracing system is adjusted daily, sometimes more often, as additional cases come in and the capacity to handle them shifts, Brazile said.

Initially, health departments tracked travelers referred to them by the state for symptoms of the disease. Travel restrictions have since reduced those cases.

Before the number of cases surged, public health staff were able to check-in daily with patients who had been exposed to the virus to record their body temperatures and the progression of any symptoms.

Now, the work has shifted to tracking the symptoms and spread among the confirmed and presumed cases, she said.

Those patients are given a private phone number to call, which is monitored around the clock by medical students who can connect them with a physician, if they develop symptoms or their condition worsens.

Dr. Adeola Fakolade, a Cleveland preventive medicine physician, works in Parma Monday as part of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health's COVID-19 response.

Information and data experts at the board are working on a way to track both confirmed and presumed positives electronically, but for now they have developed a system of paper forms that are placed in different bins or drawers to track cases and a giant whiteboard paint wall to keep up with contact counts, case counts, hospitalizations and clusters.

The board is also using geospatial systems to begin mapping lab-confirmed and presumed positive cases, said Dr. Heidi Gullett, medical director for the county board of health during a Monday press briefing. That information hasnt been shared publicly out of caution for privacy issues, officials said.

Maps have helped disease investigators keep an eye on clusters, or the spread of the virus geographically in the county.

Disease clusters could be, for instance, a family that has multiple members in the same household. Or a number of people who attended the same social event. Or a health care worker who has interacted with a number of patients.

The team also is monitoring any confirmed tests in high-risk places, like nursing homes and assisted living facilities, Brazile said, and providing special instructions on how to isolate those patients and look for symptoms among other patients or staff members.

We are going to investigate even if it is only one case, Brazile said.

Officials want to prevent the widespread transmission of the virus among patients and staff members that has occurred in nursing homes in other states, including Washington and Illinois.

The local curve

Their tracking method isnt precise, it isnt a medical diagnosis, officials said, but its the best possible way to start figuring out what the local curve for coronavirus might be.

The county is exploring a few different ways to map and examine the local curve, including the use of geographic mapping of lab confirmed and presumed positive cases.

For some, eager for more information on where clusters might be or how the disease is spreading, it can be frustrating that more details have not been shared with the public.

I think we always have to balance between adequately addressing a public health problem, providing information people need to take care of themselves and protecting individuals privacy, Brazile said.

The denominator

Another hurdle is what public health officials have referred to as the denominator problem: knowing the total number of tests performed in a county or statewide for the virus.

Under normal circumstances, laboratories would be reporting positive, inconclusive and negative results, Gullett said.

But with the quick ramp-up and tests results coming from hospitals and private labs and physicians offices, it became impossible to continue to enter all positive and negative tests into a statewide data system, Gullett said.

Acton acknowledged Monday that lab results from private labs handling COVID-19 were lagging quite a bit and that the state doesnt know how many people in total have been tested. She encouraged hospitals to immediately report data on positive tests to the state health department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gullett said health officials are working with local hospitals and private testing labs to try to get an accurate count of the total number of tests, in order to find that denominator and calculate the percent of tests that are positive.

But not all of the hospitals are sharing their testing information publicly, and what is shared may not be suitable for an apples to apples comparison. However, hospitals are sharing positive cases with the state.

University Hospitals said it has performed 850 coronavirus tests and has a 4% rate of positive tests. The Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth have declined to provide specific numbers to The Plain Dealer.

An additional complication, Gullett said, is that not every sample collected by a hospital or a physician is tested for coronavirus. The collected samples are first tested for other respiratory infections, like influenza and RSV, which can have similar symptoms.

The tests for COVID-19 were limited further last week after there was a shortage of testing supplies, namely the cotton swabs used to collect samples.

Adding somewhat to the confusion is that hospitals use the term presumptive positive to refer to tests that they have found to be positive but have not yet been confirmed positive by the state.

Understanding onset and symptoms

County health officials, in addition to tracing confirmed and presumed COVID-19 cases, are starting to track the symptoms that the people they interview have experienced, Gullett explained. It will help them, eventually, better understand the progression of the disease and its effect at the population level.

This is a new disease, Gullett said, We want to understand this virus and how our immune system responds to it.

Brazile said that while information is not yet concrete, nurses and doctors are getting a sense from their many interviews for how the disease can progress.

In general, complications happen in the second week after symptoms begin, health officials have found. In addition, symptoms can change rapidly from the onset of the disease.

Anecdotally, nurses are learning that for some, the earliest symptoms for those who develop COVID-19 are more of a general malaise. People dont feel like themselves for a few days or a week before developing other symptoms, Brazile said. COVID-19 also seems to be different in that the respiratory symptoms arent generally sniffles associated with things like seasonal allergies but are more in the lower respiratory system.

Coronavirus also can feel similar to a seasonal flu, of which there are a lot of positive cases as well.

We may not be able to tell the difference at first, Brazile said.

Thats why their message is simple. If people have symptoms: Stay home, Brazile said.

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"Some of the best nurses we have, the nurses we learn from actually, come from South India. Kerala - in particular. We are absolutely reliant on them and other EU nationals who come here and work..."

This clip from former British MP Anna Soubry's interview to the BBC is now doing the rounds on social media.

Soubry rightly points out the role of foreign workforce in the British medical sector and says they are at the forefront of the fight against the virus that has claimed over 300 lives so far in the United Kingdom.

So, how is the UK's fight against coronavirus going?

24-year-old Sangeetha (name changed on request), a native of Kerala's Kottayam, who is a nurse at the Basildon University Hospital, Essex told The New Indian Express that the British health department is handling the situation well and is regularly passing instructions over the email. But, lack of Personal Protection Equipments (PPE) and staff crunch could prove problematic, she said.

"Masks are not promoted among health workers here as they consider it a practice degrading the dignity of patients. So, we generally work without wearing them. This extremely courteous culture is a little too much for employees from other countries. Many consider this practice a threat to life and have begun raising objections," she said.

Even after repeated requests, nurses working in general wards are not allowed to use masks unless they are dealing with a suspected coronavirus case, she said. However, all Personal Protective Equipment including masks is mandatory for those working in isolation wards.

Earlier, the chair of the Doctors' Association had condemned the lack of PPE at hospitals and said medics were being treated as "cannon fodder" and were like "lambs to the slaughter."

"Young employees like us are okay with this practice to some extent, but senior colleagues, who are living here with their families and have kids at home, are gravely concerned.

"This is a national trend and is not limited to any county or hospital in particular. A friend of mine, who is now working in Australia, said the unavailability of PPE kits is a major problem there as well," said Sangeetha.

Though increasing cases pose a threat to the National Health Service (NHS), hospitals across England have coped so far and the work pressure and stress too have been manageable, Sangeetha said.

"Health personnel's work schedule here is not very hectic as in India. The mandatory working hours are 37.7 per week, which means you have to work just three days unless you want to volunteer for extra hours. Working on Sundays means you receive double payment and the whole system remains unchanged even in these difficult times."

She said staff across departments chip in and share the workload.

"I haven't worked in the COVID-19 isolation ward yet since I get deployed at the cardiac ward most times. But still, it has become impossible to stay away from fever cases now. We attend to people who come with symptoms and with queries about the virus and recently, I had to take the throat swab from a suspected case," she said.

Coronavirus fears might have seen Indian medical staff getting ostracised and even evicted from their residences by landlords, but Sangeetha said that there was no such issue in England. In fact, their work has come in for appreciation from many quarters.

Working at the hospitals has not hampered their social life so far, Sangeetha adds. The hospital authority also monitors the health status of the employees regularly, she said.

"A colleague who had developed fever and cold was asked to self-isolate for a week. When she called after a week to communicate her willingness to report for duty, she was asked to extend her leave for a week more as she had a symptomatic cough."

Sangeetha said usually it takes 4-5 days for a coronavirus test result to return from labs. Though they have vowed to make it available under 48 hours, it has not happened so far.

As of March 24, more than 6,650 cases have been confirmed in the UK and over 77,000 people have been tested.

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In an interview with Science Magazine, Dr. Fauci responded to a question about how he had managed to not get fired by saying that, to Mr. Trumps credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.

But Dr. Fauci also said there was a limit to what he could do when Mr. Trump made false statements, as he often does during the briefings.

I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down, Dr. Fauci said. OK, he said it. Lets try and get it corrected for the next time.

In an interview with CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday, Dr. Fauci played down the idea that there was a divide between him and the president. There isnt fundamentally a difference there, he said.

The president has heard, as we all have heard, what are what I call anecdotal reports that certain drugs work. So what he was trying to do and express was the hope that if they might work, lets try and push their usage, Dr. Fauci said. I, on the other side, have said Im not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work. So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint, and the president was trying to bring hope to the people.

A White House spokesman and Dr. Fauci did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Fauci came to his current role as the AIDS epidemic was exploding and President Reagan was paying it little attention. He and C. Everett Koop, the surgeon general, were widely credited with spurring the Reagan administration to action against AIDS, a fact that underscores Dr. Faucis ability to negotiate difficult politics.

He has recognized Mr. Trumps need for praise; in the presidents presence and with audiences that are friendly to him, Dr. Fauci has been complimentary. He told the radio host Mark Levin on Fox News of the administrations response to the virus: I cant imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more.
The global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has been acutely felt in eastern Ukraine, where the line of contact between government-controlled territory and regions held by Russia-backed separatist formations has become even more complicated than usual. The measures introduced by Kyiv and the separatists to control the coronavirus have exacerbated the humanitarian situation near the contact line in the Donbas, but have had little effect on the military situation. The fighting continues. On March 23, the Russia-backed separatist group that calls itself the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) suspended the operation of the only pedestrian checkpoint through the contact line at Stanytsya Luhanska. And while the so-called LNR and the other Russia-backed separatist group known as the Donetsk People's Republic have shut themselves off from the rest of Ukraine, the border with Russia remains open.

On the morning of March 23, the Russian government excluded residents of these separatist-held areas from the list of foreigners prohibited from entering the country until May 1, thus indirectly equating them with Russian citizens. On March 18, Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed head of the separatists in Donetsk, announced that all residents of the region had two days to return home, after which the "border with Ukraine" would be closed. The separatist formation in the Luhansk region took similar action on March 21.

And starting March 21, all vehicle checkpoints on the line of contact in the Donetsk region  which are in fact the only vehicle crossing points along the entire line of contact -- were closed by the self-proclaimed separatist formation. On March 16, Kyiv introduced a quarantine throughout the country in connection with the coronavirus pandemic and imposed a special regime for crossing the line of contact that was allowed only for urgent cases related to work, visiting relatives, for studies, or for medical treatment.

Until now, about half a million pensioners from the occupied territories regularly crossed the contact line into government-controlled areas. All of them received a state pension, which was equivalent to about $100 per month. That meant a cash flow of about $50 million per month, and a whole infrastructure was developed near the contact line to serve these pensioners: bus services, pharmacies, supermarkets, and ATMs. The money was spent in stores and at markets on separatist-held territory, providing a crucial economic boost.

Due to the crisis, the Ukrainian government decided to abolish the mandatory verification of pensioners once every 60 days in separatist-held areas for the duration of the quarantine and for 30 days after it.

On behalf of the state-owned Oshchadbank, SMS messages were sent to worried pensioners, explaining that their pensions would be transferred to their bank cards. But how the elderly would withdraw their money from these cards without going across checkpoints to ATMs on the government-controlled side remains unanswered. There is still no functioning banking system in the separatist-held territories where they live, and it is possible to pay with cards only for purchases on the Internet, the delivery of which to these territories will also be partially interrupted. So far, there have been no COVID-19 cases officially registered in the separatist regions. According to separatist media, Russia has sent humanitarian aid, including Russian-made tests for the coronavirus.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- State and federal officials in Cuyahoga County say major investigations like the sprawling probe into the countys jail and government will continue as the agencies conducting them implement measures to limit the spread of novel coronavirus.

As law firms, prosecutors, judges and law enforcement curtail operations to prevent as much face-to-face contact as possible, defense attorneys say they have noticed a decrease in the speed cases moving through the courts and a drop in the number of new cases filed.

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association President Ian Friedman said attorneys reported a marked slow-down of the amount of work done on cases. Friedman said he expects law enforcement will have to prioritize which investigations deserve their limited resources.

At this moment, the primary question is, what is essential at this time? Friedman said. We have to evaluate that on a day-by-day basis.

Spokespersons for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalley and the Cleveland FBI told cleveland.com that their offices are limiting face-to-face contact and have allowed employees to conduct business by telephone. But all assured that their offices are continuing to investigate crimes.

Limited operations

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down as part of a 23-page stay-at-home order set to take effect Monday. The order carves out exemptions for essential functions. That includes law enforcement, judges, prosecutors and other court personnel.

Courts across the county and Ohio have taken varying approaches to the spread of COVID-19.

As part of its response, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court has one grand jury reviewing evidence and handing up indictments, when it usually has three. Three judges, instead of the courts usual 34 judges, are scheduled to take the bench each day for the next three weeks to hear conduct vital hearings focused on getting people out of the county jail.

Courts postponed most jury trials scheduled for 30 days through the middle of April, and Yosts office issued a legal opinion saying that delaying trials during the declared public health emergency will not adversely affect a defendants speedy trial rights.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff David Schilling has also informed local police departments not to bring people arrested on minor and non-violent crimes to the county jail, and police have begun issuing court summons in some of those cases.

The moves have led to a near-halting of cases currently in the pre-trial process where the defendants are not in jail, and fewer cases presented to grand juries for indictment.

Friedman said those factors, coupled with scaled back operations at other government agencies that frequently work with law enforcement, will likely lead to fewer cases until the virus subsides.

Investigations are going to continue, particularly for the serious matters, he said. We have to look at what the alleged conduct is, and it may be that a lesser offense is no longer going to be a priority.

Effects on county probes

Investigators in Yosts office are conducting examinations into both the mistreatment of inmates in the county jail and potential corruption in county government. Those investigators are continuing to work while practicing social distancing, using personal protective equipment and avoiding unnecessary risk, spokesman Steve Irwin said.

Irwin declined to comment on the specifics of the ongoing investigations and how the response to COVID-19 has affected ongoing corruption investigations.

Much of the work left in the investigation that saw investigators seize records and documents from the office of County Executive Armond Budish on Valentines Day 2019 involves poring through thousands of pages of records that prosecutors turned over to the defense in court proceedings in December.

Douglas Dykes, the former human resources chief accused of making an illegal payment to another county worker without approval and then lying about it, was initially set to go to trial in April. A judge continued that trial until October, Irwin said.

Prosecutors will conduct pre-trial conferences by telephone in on other cases that Yosts office has brought as part of the investigations, including against former IT general counsel Emily McNeeley, jail director Ken Mills and guards who are accused of participating in an illegal drug and contraband operation within the jail, Irwin said.

Investigators will coordinate with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff to access the jail if needed, Irwin said.

We continue to investigate crimes and provide assistance to local law enforcement, Irwin said. First responders are always on the front lines, and this is no different  the rule of law continues to apply to everyone.

Investigations will continue

OMalleys office has moved to limit the conversations between prosecutors and law enforcement personnel as well as victims to being conducted by telephone whenever possible to cut down on face-to-face contact, spokesman Tyler Sinclair said.

We continue to pursue new leads and work our cases to bring criminals to justice, Sinclair said.

Special Agent Vicki Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Division of the FBI, said its agents are practicing social distancing by working from home where possible and limiting travel to essential business.

Anderson pointed to Fridays indictment of a Toledo doctor accused of drugging and raping patients, and FBIs arrest that same day of a Summit County man charged with scamming an elderly Sagamore Hills resident out of thousands of dollars as evidence the agents are still working.

The FBI will continue steadfast in our mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution throughout this period of national emergency, Anderson said.

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A 42-year-old Bangladeshi national, wanted in 2002 bomb blast case in Bangladesh, was arrested by Thane crime branch on March 19.

He had been staying illegally in India for more than 15 years. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bangladesh and was released on bail on medical grounds in 2004. He had been absconding since then.

Mophajjal Hussain was arrested from Cidco bus stop, near Thane railway station. The accused had fled from Bangladesh in 2004. Hussain was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in three bomb blasts at a mosque in Ilispur village in Bangladesh in 2002, said a senior official from Thane crime branch, unit 1.

One person had died and many injured in the bomb blasts. In 2004, the convict got bail on medical grounds. But, he fled from his country and came to India and lived in West Bengal, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. During investigation, the convict said that for the past few months he was living at Turbhe gaon in Navi Mumbai, said the police.

The man has been arrested under section 14 A of Foreigners Act, 1946, and sections 3 (A) and 6(A) of Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950. He has been remanded in police custody till March 27.
One of the sons of former vice president and 2019 Presidential Candidate for PDP, Atiku Abubakar has tested positive to Covid-19.

The former vice president make this news public through his verified twitter account, and also disclosed that his son has been transferred to the Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for isolation and treatment.
Only three weeks ago, we wrote that the long-awaited movie sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" moved its scheduled release to June 24, 2020. The world has changed a lot since then, but there's zero word yet from Paramount about whether that date will hold. We'll continue to keep our fingers crossed and hope the world is open for business by Easter.

As part of what seemed like an especially well-oiled rollout, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise gave a brief interview to U.K. movie magazine Empire that appears in the newly released May issue. The article is not available online, but we acquired a copy and have all the new dirt contained therein.

The big news is a quote from Bruckheimer: "The Navy wouldn't let [Tom] fly an F-18, but he flies a P-51 in the movie, and he flies helicopters. He can do just about anything in an airplane."

Depending on your perspective, it's either a relief that the Navy wouldn't put an actor at the controls of a $71 million aircraft or a huge disappointment that Maverick won't actually be piloting the plane in some of the movie's action sequences.

The filmmakers put a premium on making things as real as possible. Cruise resisted the idea of a sequel for decades but recently realized there was a way to make the movie work: "I realized that there were things that we could accomplish cinematically. And I started getting excited about this big challenge of, 'How do we do it?' So I said to Jerry, 'I'll do it if...' Meaning, I'm not going to do the CGI stuff."

Bruckheimer also revealed some serious dope about the challenges they faced making the original 1986 movie. "We put the actors in the F-14s, and we couldn't use one frame of it, except some stuff on Tom, because they all threw up," laughs the producer. "It's hysterical to see their eyes roll back in their heads. So everything was done on a gimbal. But in this movie, Tom wanted to make sure the actors could actually be in the F-18s."

At a recent event in New York, a group of young actors who joined Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick" were enthusiastic about the experience. Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez and Monica Barbaro described the intense aerial boot camp they went through to prepare themselves for the flight scenes.

Cruise describes himself as a tough taskmaster. "When you're pulling heavy Gs, it compresses your spine, your skull; it makes some people delirious," he said to Empire. "So I had to get them up to being able to sustain high Gs, because they have to act in the plane. I can't have them sick the whole time."

The actor-producer seems especially excited about these flying scenes. "I have been developing aerial photography, making it more subjective," Cruise said. "I've done more aerial photography than pretty much any other actor alive. On 'American Made,' we started to explore using real aircraft, and changing the language of how to do something practically. It's not just capturing action. You can't imagine the amount of engineering involved, the tests we have to do."

The thing is, Tom, plenty of Military.com readers can understand exactly the amount of engineering involved and the tests required. That's why we're all getting so antsy waiting to see "Top Gun: Maverick."

Stay tuned for the latest news as we get it.
WASHINGTON  Texas was making record gains getting voters on the rolls. Now the coronavirus threatens to grind that progress to a halt, throwing up major hurdles to Democratic efforts to make the states November elections competitive for a change.

Texas' emergence as a battleground in 2020 depends largely on new voters, and both Democrats and Republicans have poured millions into efforts to register them  massive campaigns that have already added two million voters since the 2016 election.

But the coronavirus countermeasures  particularly limits on public gatherings  threaten to seriously hamper those efforts.

Because Texas is one of 11 states that do not allow voters to register online, much of the work depends on face-to-face interaction  going door to door and setting up booths on college campuses, at concerts, naturalization ceremonies, graduations and other big events that are prohibited in the time of COVID-19.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

Crises like this really expose the failures in our system  the fact that we dont have online voter registration, the fact that we are a state currently that doesnt allow vote by mail, said Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, a former Democratic U.S. senate candidate who launched Jolt, a group focused on mobilizing Texas voters, where she is now a consultant.

The virus hit as Texas topped 16 million registered voters for the first time. The state had been adding voters faster than its population grows heading into the 2020 presidential election. Now it has everyone rethinking the outreach campaigns that were underway.

Engage Texas, a Republican super PAC with nearly $10 million on hand, says its redirecting field staff to start calling people. As of January, the group said it had registered 100,000 conservative voters. Now its focusing mostly on calling people whose voter registrations have lapsed or who may not know they arent already registered.

Theyre making good contact by phone, and obviously since people are at home perhaps more often now than they were in the past, it makes sense that telephone contact is more successful this week or these days than it has been in the past, said Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for the group.

For subscribers: Gov. Abbott shuts Texas schools, restricts bars and restaurants through April 3

The Texas Democratic Party, meanwhile, says it is reworking everything, launching a fully digital organizing project that will include a new Nextdoor.com-style website where people can post about everything from politics to whats happening in their communities during the pandemic. They say theyre doing aggressive outreach to get people on it. And the party says it is starting weekly calls with groups in all 254 Texas counties.

Obviously the challenges are not insignificant, said Cliff Walker, Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Democratic Party. But it helped us reorient and take our organization program that was going to be focused on voter registration at the doors  and we had great plans to ramp up a lot of that type of face-to-face interaction  and to do something thats different and could be a silver lining on a really big dark gray cloud.

The party says its most effective registration efforts in 2018 were reaching out to people who were new to Texas  and that effort wont change now.

But the virus makes other outreach efforts impossible.

Its a tragedy. Its a democratic tragedy, said Drew Galloway, executive director of Mobilize Organize Vote Empower, a group that registered 7,500 voters on college campuses in three weeks in before the pre-primary deadline in February.

For subscribers: Texas exploring all vote-by-mail ballots for May runoff

MOVE used to set up on 55 college campuses across Texas, where they would help students fill out registration forms and then mail the forms for them.

Now the group can do little more than send links to voter registration forms and pester students with follow-up texts and emails urging them to fill it out and mail it in.

Advocates see those setbacks as setbacks caused by broader problems with the states election system that the virus is exposing. Because Texas doesnt yet allow everyone to vote by mail, Gov. Greg Abbott has already delayed at least one round of elections  something advocates say could be avoided if people could vote from their homes.

MOVE is part of the Texas Youth Power Alliance, a group that set a goal of registering 300,000 new voters in 2020. Jolt, which is also part of the alliance, claimed its organizers talked to some tens of thousands of potential voters in 2018, seeking to register voters on college campuses and at quinceaneras.

It is much harder to get students  many of whom are no longer in their dorms on campus  to print a form when many dont even have printers, than it is to simply show up on campus and get their signatures, Galloway said.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

That is a 10-step process, versus what used to take two minutes to do, he said. If we did have online voter registration, they could go online, register to vote, change their address and do that in a couple minutes.

The outreach to college-age students matters especially in Texas, which is a very young state, he said. More than 40 percent of the population is under 30.

There are going to be students  regardless of party  that are not going to be registered to vote and are not going to be able to vote in the upcoming election because of our current voter registration laws, Galloway said.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Arakan Army Attacks Military Training School in Myanmar's Minbya Township

2020-03-23 -- The Arakan Army on Monday attacked a regional military training school in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, sparking fighting in nearby areas that left casualties on both sides, spokesmen from the two armies and a local lawmaker said.

The morning AA assault on the No. 9 military training school in Rakhine's Minbya township prompted fighting between the two armies in at least three nearby locations with fatalities on both sides, said Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun.

"The AA attacked the military training school at 6 a.m.," he told RFA's Myanmar Service. "They have attacked us at at least three locations."

Myanmar forces regained control of the areas around 11 a.m., he said, adding that there were casualties on both sides and that government soldiers seized the bodies of dead AA troops and some of their weapons.

Zaw Min Tun did not provide the numbers of deaths and injuries among Myanmar soldiers and said that the military training facility is not strategically important.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha confirmed the attack on the training facility, but did not state the number of dead and injured among the ethnic army's ranks.

The clashes took place in an area about a 15-minute drive away from Kanni village on the Yangon-Sittwe highway, a major thoroughfare in the region, and occurred as a result of a military airstrike, said Rakhine state lawmaker Hla Thein Aung of Minbya township.

"I can confirm that this armed fighting occurred in response to the military's airstrike on the nearby area," he told RFA.

"A villager from Oakpho Taung village told me there were heavy artillery attacks near their villages," he added. "When I call him again, I lost the phone connection."

Zaw Tun, secretary of Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), a local relief group assisting some of the tens of thousands of civilians displaced by the conflict, said the military is increasingly using aircraft in its battles with the AA which have intensified since late 2018.

"Local villagers said the military has used fighter jets in some places," he said. "They said it was three fighter jets that came one by one. They are also using the helicopters. In some places, the aircraft arrived in a group of as many as seven or eight."

Zaw Tun predicted a further escalation of hostilities given the situation on the ground, including recent intense fighting between the AA and government troops in Paletwa township of neighboring Chin state.

Dozens of civilians have died in the regional fighting since the beginning of 2019 and more than 140,000 displaced villagers have been tallied by the REC, including ones now living in displacement camps and those who have sought shelter in monasteries and with friends and relatives.

A government-ordered internet service shutdown in eight townships in northern Rakhine and in Chin's Paletwa township has kept residents in the dark about developments concerning the hostilities and the coronavirus pandemic as well as prevented them from conducting business.

Reported by Nay Myo Htun for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.



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- The Kenyans accused the state of insensitivity as they were kept waiting for hours without any explanation

- Some decried the high cost of accommodation charged by hotels in Nairobi with Pride Inn Hotel for instance charging KSh 9,000 per night

- Health CS Mutahi Kagwe had earlier said all people entering Kenya must quarantine at their own cost

Kenyans returning from abroad have clashed with the government over mandatory quarantine meant to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

They accused the state of insensitivity as they were kept waiting for hours without any explanation even as some were taken to expensive hotels charging between KSh 4,200 to KSh 12,600 per night.

READ ALSO: Kenya Airways offers free Nairobi flight to needy Kenyans stuck in US

Travellers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Photo: BD.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Manu Dibango: Renowned Jazz maestro succumbs to coronavirus

Speaking to KTN News, one of the affected citizens, Leonard Muteti, who arrived to the country from Japan, decried the high rate of charges in the hotels noting some people were stranded as they could not afford the cost.

We arrived, checked in at immigration department at around 11:30am and we waited until 3:30pm. We were taken to the Boma Hotel but we were told it was full, so Pride Inn was recommended."

"At the Pride Inn Hotel, we were asked to pay KSh 9,000 per night for the next 14 nights, an amount some people could not afford but we told we could not leave unless we pay," Muteti said.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said all travellers from abroad must self-quarantine at the their own cost. Photo: Ministry of Health.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Raila asema hakukutana na Naibu Gavana wa Kilifi aliyenaswa na COVID-19

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe had earlier said all people entering Kenya must quarantine at their own cost in hotels or government established centers.

"Whereas we had allowed Kenyans to come into the country, we have observed that there are those who are not observing this; we have therefore decided that all persons who violet self-quarantine would be forced to quarantine and thereafter arrested and charged," the CS warned.

A file photo of Pride Inn Hotel, Nairobi. Photo: Pride Inn Hotel.

Source: Facebook

Kagwe earlier issued an apology to the travellers saying the mandatory quarantine was inconvenient but necessary to protect the lives of others.

Sixteen cases of COVID-19 have so far been confirmed in Kenya with fears the number could rise as the patients who tested positive came into contact with several others.

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.

Kenyans call out Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi and Church Leaders | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Now is the perfect time to catch up on the best books, films, television shows and podcasts you might have missed. Here, five songs that make the perfect accompaniment to a night of cooking.

Billy Idol.

Don't Know What's Normal by Shintaro Sakamoto

If there was ever a song that demanded an overabundance of spaghetti and a whole lot of cheese, it's this Japanese solo act, bringing good saucy vibes.

Cyprus Avenue by Van Morrison

They say baking is meant to ease anxiety. So it makes perfect sense to make spiced chocolate chip cookies while listening to a sigh of cellos.

Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol

We're all spending an inordinate amount of time inside at the moment, so why not shake things up with this '80s pop banger, while making a solitary salad?
Gurugram: Last week, when a man was detected with Covid-19 in a condominium in Nirvana Country, panic rippled out to other high-rises in the vicinity. Amid the uncertainty of the evolving situation, various condominiums in the neighbourhood ramped up their efforts aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus disease. One such Nirvana Country condominium, Fresco Apartment, responded to the crisis by forming a Combat Corona committee. Comprising volunteers with knowledge, interest and subject matter expertise about the disease, the committee took a number of steps that are now being followed to try and check on the spread of the pandemic.

Starting from Wednesday, the condominium is entering a complete lockdown with a ban on the entry of all domestic staff (maids, drivers, car cleaners and dog walkers). Visitors are not allowed to go beyond the main gate. Only essential staff or medical assistants will be allowed to enter the condominium. People entering the building with deliveries have to use a hand sanitiser and get their temperatures checked. Further, plastic sheets have been placed on lift buttons and the sheet is disinfected every hour with Dettol and cotton. Until last week, the condominium had placed toothpicks inside the lift which were being used by residents to press the lift buttons without any direct contact. However, due to resource constraints and better efficiency, plastic sheets replaced the toothpicks.The RWA has also banned the supply of newspapers.

In other checks, the RWA has requested all residents to self-quarantine themselves and not leave the premises till March 31. Residents have been asked to limit their movements within the condominium as much as possible. In line with the mandated rules, the condominium has made it mandatory for people with international travel history to share their travel details with the maintenance office.

Nilesh Tandon, RWA president of Fresco, said that the condominium had imposed a partial lockdown on Saturday and was following it up with a complete lockdown from Wednesday. Besides the lockdown, we are ensuring taking small steps that can go a long way in breaking the chain. Our staff members are advised to wash their hands three to four times in a single shift. They have been asked to stand at a distance of two metres from each other during their daily briefing and not share their pens with others, said Tandon. He added that while children were not stepping out of their apartments, swings were also being sanitised.

Anticipating a complete curfew, the condominium is preparing rooms for support staff and their family. We are preparing rooms for service staff whose services are essential to run the society. In case there is a complete clampdown that restricts all movement in and out of the condominium, we can get the support staff and their families shifted here so that they can stay here till the situation improves, added Tandon.

Asha Johari, a resident, said that with a complete lockdown in force in the condominium, silence enveloped the complex. It almost feels like a curfew has been imposed on the condominium. There is panic and uncertainty but people are reaching out to each other, said Johari, who has been cooped up in her apartment with her son for a week now. A class 12 student, her sons last board examination was called off because of the coronavirus outbreak. My son was supposed to appear for examinations for higher education in the Netherlands but with the board exams postponed, he is in a dilemma since ambiguity is prevailing on the future course of action, she said.

The extended period of lockdown, however, has given Johari a chance to bond with her son over household chores. My son is doing all the household work and helping me out. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, he wasnt as involved as he is now. Now, we divide the responsibilities among themselves and, I believe, these days will help him in becoming more self-sufficient, she said.

Johari also noted that pollution levels had gone down with people staying in and her son had benefited from that. My son was having severe asthma but due to a decrease in pollution levels, for the first time, he is not having any medicines, she said.

Johri is also a part of a volunteer network that has been formed in the wake of the contagion. These self-help groups will reach out to people in need of assistance. We are trying to manage the situation with support from residents, who are pitching in and helping each other out. People who are unable to cook can reach out to resident volunteers who will prepare food for them too. Recently, a woman reached out regarding shortage of milk and around ten people volunteered to help her out, she said.

Vaibhav Singla, another resident, said that most residents were being advised to not deduct the salary of domestic help unable to work during this period. He also said that the RWA was quickly debunking any misinformation that may find its way to society Whatsapp groups. Panic was created when a case was reported from the vicinity. To avoid any such negative situation, our RWA has been taking steps to ensure that misinformation and fake messages are debunked internally within the society WhatsApp groups, said Singla.

Within the condominium, there are grocery shops that are being used for commodities. While a shortage of supplies has not been reported so far, residents said that Milk Basket had stopped delivering to the apartment, which was a cause of concern. Milk Basket has refused to deliver to the apartment due to a shortage of manpower. We have two-three shops within the condominium through which people are managing, said Singla.

Tandon, however, said that talks had been held with the company to resume the supply of milk. We have reached out to Milk Basket and they will be placing a mobile van on campus if everything works out. We will ask people to share their contact numbers and their order will be delivered to the tower guard. We dont want anyone crowding near the mobile vans, said Tandon.
MILFORD  A homeless man from New Haven who has the coronavirus and fled quarantine in that city and was found in Milford is staying put in quarantine at an undisclosed location, in constant touch with health officials, Milford Health Director Deepa Joseph said.

Joseph said her department is in constant touch with the man, who is cooperative and compliant, so there was no need to issue a legal quarantine order.

Such quarantine orders are rare, Connecticut Association of Directors of Health past president Shane Lockwood told the Register Monday, noting in 27 years as a health director he had never issued one.

The man is being connected with local social service resource providers regarding his overall situation, Joseph said, but said she does not know the details of that work.

As to whether the homeless man came in contact with anyone else in Milford and required testing, Joseph said she could not comment.

He has agreed to stay where he is and in constant touch with the health department until he is no longer contagious.

Police in New Haven said Monday that the man, after being located in Milford, was being held under quarantine order and police guard.

Milford officials painted a softer picture. Police Chief Keith Mello said the homeless man wasnt legally detained in any way.

New Haven officials told the Register Monday they want to know how the unidentified 50-year-old was able to walk out of Yale New Haven Hospital and be found in Milford eight hours later.

Yale New Haven Hospital Senior Vice President Vincent Petrini issued a statement Monday saying the hospital is working with the city on creative ways to discharge patients who dont require hospitalization, but lack an appropriate home setting.

However, under current Connecticut law, quarantine orders are issued to individuals and we do not have the authority to hold persons in the hospital against their will, Petrini said.

New Haven Health Director Maritza Bond said the man was close to being discharged when he just left. Bond had legally ordered the mans quarantine, but since it was specific to Yale New Haven Hospital, that order does not apply in Milford, New Haven health officials told the Register Monday.

New Haven is activating Hill Regional Career High School as an emergency shelter for homeless people who have COVID-19 and no home setting in which to isolate themselves.
Australians working from home amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic can brighten their morning routine by ordering indulgent breakfast boxes filled with golden crumpets, lemon curd and thick cream.

Butter maker Pepe Saya in New South Wales has teamed up with acclaimed bakery brand Crumpets by Merna to deliver the ready-to-eat packages across all Australian states and territories.

Setting you back $35 plus a $20 flat rate shipping fee, each box is filled with six crumpets, six small packets of Pepe Saya's rich butter, a pot of creme fraiche and a jar of lemon curd.

New South Wales butter maker Pepe Saya has teamed up with acclaimed bakery brand Crumpets by Merna to deliver these ready-to-eat breakfast boxes across Australia

The boxes are available to order on both the Pepe Saya and Crumpets by Merna websites, with next day delivery to most areas of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

Six packs of blueberry crumpets and vegan options made with coconut are also available for $15 from Crumpets by Merna's official site, along with large boxes of 30 crumpets for $45.

Crumpets are best served toasted with lashings of butter and your choice of sweet or savoury topping.

Smooth peanut butter, Nutella, honey, fruit, fried egg, chilli, cream cheese or Vegemite are some of the most popular toppings in Australia.

Crumpets are best served toasted with lashings of butter and your choice of sweet or savoury topping, like honey, smooth peanut butter, Nutella or Vegemite

The breakfast boxes are the latest home delivery service being rolled out across the country after cafes, restaurants and bars were forced to shut their doors indefinitely to sit-in customers on Monday.

Popular Italian chain Fratelli Fresh yesterday launched its 'Gourmet Grocer & Home Chef' service in an effort to cope with the financial strain of the worldwide pandemic.

The restaurant will now offer ready-made meals, pasta sauces and a range of fresh, dry and tinned grocery items to homes around Sydney to help alleviate the pressure of shopping and home cooking.

The online service will take orders daily, with those received by 7pm delivered the next day between 4pm and 8pm from Monday to Saturday.
A nonprofit organization aiding New Jersey residents with diabetes is offering an additional level of support during the coronavirus crisis.

The Hackensack-based Diabetes Foundation announced Monday that, starting next week, it will begin mailing free diabetes emergency kits to residents in need, with enough supplies to last for two weeks.

Ginine Cilenti, the foundations executive director, said 550 applications were received by days end. She said the service is aimed at those who cannot afford to stockpile supplies in their homes or are unable to get to pharmacies.

Kits will include items such as a glucose meter, test strips, a lancing device, ketone strips, lancets, alcohol swabs, glucotabs, juice boxes, snacks, and a diabetes backup emergency kit checklist, the organization said.

Interest in the service surged after Gov. Phil Murphy mentioned it on Twitter.

The Diabetes Foundation has also opened a hotline for individuals living with all types of diabetes to receive a free Backup Emergency Kits.



Anyone needed an emergency backup kit can apply to receive on by visiting https://t.co/723cn5c6vR or calling 973-849-5234.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 23, 2020

These are some of the most-used diabetes supplies, in addition to their insulin and other medications, Dr. Steven N. Ghanny, a pediatric endocrinologist, told NJ Advance Media.

It would be dangerous to run out of these supplies during this time of crisis, added Ghanny, a pediatric endocrinologist at Hackensack University Medical Center.

The organization did not say how many kits will be provided, but noted the contributions of various corporate partners, including BD, Novo Nordisk, Ascensia Diabetes Care, Arkray, Liss Pharmacy and Inserra ShopRite Supermarkets.

Founded in 1990, the Diabetes Foundation assists individuals diagnosed with prediabetes, Type 1, Type 2, or gestational diabetes.

We are hoping these kits can provide some peace of mind for our most vulnerable participants during this time of uncertainty as many are confined to their homes, Cilenti said in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media.

The kits give each person who receives them another two weeks supply of the daily items that are necessary for testing and management of low blood sugar. With the need for social distancing during this period, the kits allow those with diabetes the opportunity to avoid waiting in line at crowded pharmacies and other stores, Cilenti said.

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.
SACRAMENTO  In a January budget proposal of record size, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted a projected multibillion-dollar surplus and new programs to reshape homeless services, boost wildfire prevention and provide health care for immigrant seniors living in the country illegally.

That plan has been dashed by the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak, which experts say is pushing the U.S. into a recession.

Although Newsom does not have to unveil a revised 2020-21 spending plan until May, its clear that the widespread shutdown of Californias economy will take a huge bite out of the personal-income, corporate and sales taxes that fund much of the state budget. The governor and lawmakers are facing scaled-back wish lists and the likelihood that they wont be able to put this budget to rest even for months after its due.

Newsom has nevertheless expressed confidence about whats to come. At a news conference last week, he stressed that nothing about our economic situation is comparable to the 2008 recession, in particular because, after a decade of expansion, California has built up more than $20 billion in reserves.

Weve never been in a better position to weather a recession. Period. Full stop, Newsom said.

With the economy in flux, its difficult to know how big a hit California will take. The economic forecast used by the state Department of Finance to create Newsoms budget plan accounted for a slowdown, but the stock market has since dropped well below those projections.

Daniel Mitchell, a professor of management and public policy at UCLA, said the coronavirus has already been a tremendous shock to the economy. About half a million people filed for unemployment in California just last week. Even if Congress tries to stimulate activity by sending everyone a check, he said, it wont have much effect if people have nowhere to spend the money while stores and restaurants are largely closed. Rebuilding those industries could take years.

If you create enough disruption, its not so easy to go back, Mitchell said. So you could be looking at a very prolonged period here in California where the underlying economy is not good.

Under a moderate recession scenario modeled by state finance officials  larger than the dot-com bust of 2001 but not as bad as what happened in 2008  California would lose $50 billion in tax revenue over two years. Declines of $15 billion to $20 billion would continue for several more years as the economy clawed back to recovery.

Conditions are incredibly fluid and dynamic, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the Department of Finance. Were going to have a better sense four to five weeks from now what the world looks like than we do today.

Gabriel Petek, the nonpartisan legislative analyst, warned in a memo last week that abrupt and nearly across-the-board curtailment of spending that is now underway sets it apart from previous downturns. His office expects that the drop in stock prices will cost the state billions from a steep decline in capital-gains taxes, which provided more than 10% of the general fund last year.

Regardless of the ultimate revenue estimates, the Legislature almost certainly will have to reassess its policy priorities for the upcoming year, Petek wrote, and shift spending to aid public health and economic recovery efforts.

The Legislature suspended its session last week because of the outbreak. For now, lawmakers are set to return April 13, giving them about two months to meet a constitutionally mandated deadline of June 15 to pass a budget or go without pay.

Even that could wind up being an interim plan. Filing deadlines for personal income taxes, which make up two-thirds of general fund, recently were pushed back until July 15. Although not everyone will take advantage of that option, the state will be relying more than usual on economic forecasts, rather than cash on hand from April collections, to craft a budget.

The state is sitting on more than $20 billion in reserves, which could help cushion the blows of the economic downturn. About $16 billion of that is in the rainy-day fund created by then-Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature in 2014. As approved by voters, the law automatically sets aside money each year until the balance reaches 10% of general fund revenue.

To tap the reserve account, the governor must declare a fiscal emergency, and the Legislature can use only up to half in the first year. But even under the Department of Finances moderate recession scenario, the savings could disappear quickly  and fall far short of filling the budget holes that open.

I by no means want to diminish what lies ahead, Palmer said. We are monitoring constantly and we will act accordingly.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Authorities in Alaska say an 18-year-old man is under arrest, suspected in the murder and sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl who went missing in a small western Alaska village.

Alaska State Troopers say the man was arrested Monday in connection with the death of Ida Aguchak, of Quinhagak. The body of the girl nicknamed Girlie was found in the village dump March 23 after she was reported missing a few hours earlier.

Online court records indicate the man has not been charged as of Monday afternoon, but troopers say they would forward charges of first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a minor, kidnapping and tampering with evidence to prosecutors.

After the girls body was located, tribal police secured the scene and troopers arrived in the village from Bethel, authorities said. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation assumed control of the investigation.

Quinhagak is a mostly Yupik community of about 700 people located 71 miles (114 kilometres) southwest of Bethel.
Every time the television channels broadcast Donald Trumps coronavirus briefings live, people rush to social media to urge them not to do so again.

The danger in doing so, they say, is too great, to the stability of the stock markets, or else the sanity of the nation.

After the presidents latest briefing, in which he suggested he was likely to roll back the federal safety protocols and travel restrictions much sooner that he had previously suggested, there were similar calls  this time to protect the health of Americans.

Just eight days ago, Trump had suggested steps such as social distancing, travel restrictions and the closure of businesses, might have to remain in place until the late summer.

If we do a really good job, well not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way, had we not done a good job, but people are talking about July, August, something like that, he said, his face stern. Could be longer than that.

On Monday nights briefing, from which top health official Anthony Fauci was notably absent, the president claimed he would be looking at changing those regulations in as little as two weeks.

Im not looking at months, Ill tell you right now, Trump said. Were going to open up our country.

At the same time he admitted the situation was going to get worse in the US in the coming days, something experienced by other countries.

Certainly this is going to be bad, Trump said, agreeing with remarks his surgeon general made earlier in the day predicting a deteriorating situation.

I want America to understand this week, its going to get bad, Jerome Adams had told NBC News. Right now, there are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously.

Trump also admitted the changes he was looking to make had not been supported by any health officials.

 Boris Johnson announces nationwide lockdown to tackle coronavirus

If it were up to the doctors, they may say, Lets keep it shut down. Lets shut down the entire world, he said, dismissing their worries. Asked if Fauci agreed, he said he did not not agree.

Were not going to let the cure be worse than the problem, said the president.

The result of Trumps briefing was more confusion, not less. And potentially much more danger.

Esther Choo, an Oregon-based physician and healthcare advocate, tweeted: Ive completely lost it. Someone asked me if Im angry. Im beyond that. There is some emotion on the other side of angry and thats where I am.

The reason for the presidents rapid about turn may be no more simple than people may guess.

Covid-19 has not become any less deadly, or infectious.

John Hopkins Universitys tracker suggests that 380,000 people around the world, and that while 100,000 have recovered, at least 16,000 have died.

Rather, as Axios reported earlier in the day, the president has grown tired with the advice of health officials whose recommendations will likely result in financial meltdown. That is not something he wants to have on his back as he campaigns for re-election.

Senior Trump officials, including the president himself, have only limited patience for keeping the economy shut down, it reported. They are watching stocks tumble and unemployment skyrocket.

That was what we witnessed on Monday night as Donald Trump sent conflicting messages about the virus, and his administrations shifting response to it.

It was nothing less than perilous. That is why people want to keep him away from the cameras.
The Andrews government is resisting pressure to release some of the states 8100 inmates from Victoria's overcrowded prisons as fear and anger grows over the risk of a dangerous coronavirus outbreak.

Inmates, their families, public health experts and lawyers have demanded the early release of some non-serious offenders after NSW moved on Tuesday to free some of its 13,000 prisoners.

Naomi Murphy, indigenous community activist, called for women on remand who have somewhere safe to stay, who are minimal risk to the community, and who want to go, to be let out. Credit:Justin McManus

The wife of a white-collar criminal, aged in his 60s and due for release from Beechworth Correctional Centre later this year, said her husband's health problems had worsened and he should be released into home detention, even if it meant his sentence was put on hold.

"We are not saying to the Corrections Minister, 'Just let everybody out.' We're saying 'Maybe look at home detention', the woman, who did not want to be named, said.
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Agriculture testing services conduct various types of testing such as that of water, soil, seeds, food, fertilizers, and other testing services to inspect and determine their quality parameters. The increasing demand for agriculture testing services across the globe to maintain the quality standards and to maximise agriculture production is boosting the market growth significantly. The agriculture testing services market is segmented on the basis of sample type, by service type, by end user, and by region.

On the basis of sample type, the agriculture testing services market has been segmented into water, soil, seed, water, fertilizer, food, and others. On the basis of service type, the agriculture testing service market has been segmented into on-site and off-site agriculture testing services. On the basis of end users, the agriculture testing services market has been segmented into farmers, agricultural consultants, fertiliser manufacturers, research bodies, and others. On the basis of region, the agriculture testing services market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Africa and Emerging Countries.

Rapidly increasing global population and urbanisation are some of the major concerns across the globe. Increasing population creates a burden on the agriculture industry to maximise the overall yield production. Continuous focus on the maximisation of yield production also requires a larger quantity of agriculture products such as fertilizers, seeds, and others. The increasing demand for the quality inspection of these agriculture products to generate the maximum yield is ultimately boosting the agriculture testing service market.

Key Players Focused on Expansion in Lucrative Asian Markets

Regions such as North America, Europe, and East & South Asia are among the key regions in which the agriculture industry is growing rapidly. Prominent manufacturers are continuously focusing on these regions to capture a significant market share in terms of revenue. Agriculture testing service providers provide various types of testing services such as soil testing, food testing, water testing, seed testing, fertiliser testing, and other testing services in these regions.

The presence of an adequate number of key agriculture service providers and the frequent requirement of agriculture testing services in these regions is fuelling the growth of the agriculture testing service market. These key agriculture testing service providers firmly believe in acquisitions and expansion strategies to expand their global footprints.

For instance, Eurofins, one of the prominent agriculture testing service providers, announced the acquisition of Laboratoire de Bromatologie de lOuest (LBO) to extend its network of food testing laboratories in France on May 23, 2018

The company also strengthened its footprint in France by acquiring Protec Group to expand its food and water testing activities

ALS Limited, another agriculture testing service provider, acquired the Mikrolab Group in Sweden on October 3, 2017. The Mikrolab Group provides pharmaceutical, environmental, and food testing to a wide range of clients

On the basis of geography, North America and Europe are anticipated to capture a substantial market share in terms of value in the agriculture testing services market due to the presence of an adequate number of service providers in these regions. Moreover, the rapidly growing crop production and the need for the quality testing of these crops in the above-mentioned regions are among factors that are considerably driving the agriculture testing service market. In Latin America, there is growing demand for agriculture testing services due to the increasing consumption of fertilisers. Increasing agriculture production in the South and East Asia, along with the quality testing of agriculture products, is fuelling the growth of the agriculture testing service market.

The report tracks some of the key companies operating in the market, such as BUREAU VERITAS, Intertek Group plc, Eurofins Scientific, SGS SA, A&L Great Lakes., Agri-Labs, Inc., Polytest Laboratories, Waters Agricultural Laboratories, Inc., J. K. ANALYTICAL LABORATORY & RESEARCH CENTRE, Lilaba Analytical Laboratories, Kinsey Ag Services, AgroLab, TUV NORD GROUP, Akshar Analytical Laboratory & Research Center, and AGQ Labs USA, and Interstellar Testing Center Pvt. Ltd.

SGS SA, BUREAU VERITAS, Intertek Group plc, and Eurofins Scientific are estimated to capture a prominent share of the agriculture testing service market. These tier 1 companies hold a share of approximately ~ 50 % of the agriculture testing service market.

Source:http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/07/23/1886432/0/en/Agriculture-Testing-Services-Market-Leading-Players-to-Account-for-50-Shares-Future-Market-Insights.html

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Australia could run out of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds within weeks if the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases continues, the ABCs medical expert Dr Norman Swan says.

According to Dr Norman Swan, NSW could reach its ICU capacity by April 10 with Victoria following shortly after.

In that case ICU physicians will be faced with some very difficult decisions, he said on ABCs Q&A on Monday night.

In NSW there are 13 coronavirus patients in ICU, the states chief medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Tuesday morning.

Dr Swans prediction on Q&A was prompted by a question from an elderly lady who asked would older Australians with respiratory problems be denied the equipment they needed to survive.

If youre already sick and frail, you dont necessarily put up very well with a ventilator, he said.

Dr Swan noted that overseas, 30 to 40 per cent of ICU beds are filled with young people.

University of Queensland virologist Professor Ian Mackay told Yahoo News Australia advanced medical systems, such as what is in place in Australia, are struggling to cope abroad, meaning medics are having to decide who to save.

An Italian hospital struggles to cope with the influx in patients. Source: 60 Minutes

Will older people who catch the virus be denied a ventilator if theres a shortage? #QandA pic.twitter.com/KcyNZqoUyR  ABC Q+A (@QandA) March 23, 2020

[The outbreak] is enough to swamp an advanced healthcare system, he said.

These are not some small town thing, theyre advanced health care systems and theyve got them in northern Italy, and yet theyre still being completely overwhelmed.

Theyve had to choose between someone living and dying because they dont have enough beds, space or staff to cope with the sheer overwhelming number of sick people.

Australia is not Italy, deputy chief medical officer says

Story continues

However, deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said Australia was able to triple its ICU capacity, which is understood to be around 2500 beds, if needed.

Dr Norman Swan (left) and Professor Paul Kelly (right) on Q&A on Monday night. Source: ABC

There is also a possibility, if needed, for temporary medical facilities to be quickly constructed as heavily documented in Wuhan and in some parts of Italy.

He also warned Australia is not Italy and quashed any suggestion Australia is two weeks behind the European epicentre.

We have been testing and finding many more mild cases, he stressed.

Italy only tested the top of the pyramid, the very serious cases if they came into hospital.

Over 60,000 COVID-19 tests have been performed in NSW alone.

Italys most restrictive lockdown measures were implemented when its death toll edged towards 1000, while Scott Morrisons latest restrictions, although not as stringent as Italys, have come as Australias toll stands at seven.

On Tuesday after, Australias number of confirmed cases rose to 1,973.

Mr Kelly said estimations still stand that roughly 20 per cent of Australias population would contract the virus and reiterated the viruss outbreak was a prolonged event in the absence of a vaccine.

This is not a two or four week phenomenon, its until we get the vaccine, he warned.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
Eli, 14, of Valparaiso, suffered what authorities said were traumatic, life-threatening injuries on March 19. Firefighters with the Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department, along with Porter County EMS and deputies with the Porter County Sheriffs Department, responded around 2:30 p.m. that day in the area of Eagle Ridge Drive and Falcon Way for a call about a man down.
Solo Printing, a commercial printing company located in South Florida, celebrates its 35th anniversary. We are so proud to have achieved such a momentous milestone for the company. We started as a two-man operation and have grown into an operation with over 140 employees, said Manny Hernandez, President of Solo Printing.

Taking it back to 1985, when Miami Vice was the hottest show, and two brothers, Manny and Jorge Hernandez, started Solo Printing. Their main focus was to change printing for the better by providing exceptional service and committing to high-quality printing equipment. Solo Printing is now one of the nations largest minority owned printing companies and a provider of superior color lithography.

Operating out of a 180,000 square foot facility, with over 140 highly trained and dedicated employees, Solo Printing is one of the best printing companies serving not only the United States, but also the Caribbean.

Since its inception in 1985, the company has been meeting everyones printing needs. With its state-of-the-art equipment, Solo Printing offers the finest prepress, digital printing, sheet-fed printing, web-offset printing, full-service bindery, and mailing and fulfillment services.

We are so proud to have achieved such a momentous milestone for the company. We started as a two-man operation and have grown into an operation with over 140 employees. To become one of the largest competitors in the Southeast United States was no easy feat, but we will never forget who got us here, our clients and our employees, said Manny Hernandez, President of Solo Printing.

In addition to playing a major role in the printing industry, Solo Printing believes in protecting the environment through green printing practices and empowering communities through local sponsorships and donations.

With over three decades of commitment to the planets environmental health, Solo Printing utilizes the latest eco-friendly technology and has earned triple environmental certifications - Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

As a company who believes in empowering communities and brightening the global future, Solo Printing is always proud to give back to the community. In 2018, the minority-owned printing company sponsored a local non-profit organization called BLUE Missions, who helps to connect communities around Latin America with access to clean water and sanitation. The following year, Solo Printing participated in the Miami Corporate Games in support of the deMoya foundation, who help create a more equal workplace by hiring individuals with unique abilities.

More about Solo Printing:

Established in 1985, Solo Printing is a national, award-winning printing service. With more than 30 years of industry experience, Solo Printing provides premier printing services such as pre-press, digital printing, sheetfed printing, web offset printing, and more. With its high-tech printing equipment, sustainable printing certifications, and employee expertise, the Miami-based company has repeatedly won industry awards and continues to be the leading printing service in South Florida. For more information, visit the Solo Printing website at https://www.soloprinting.com/.


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:12:22|Editor: huaxia

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Pedestrians pass by a closed restaurant in New York, the United States, March 15, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

We could see a 30 percent contraction in the U.S. economy in the second quarter. The Covid-19 pandemic will also have ripple effects across the world, and will be especially damaging for emerging economies that rely on export markets in the advanced countries, said a renowned U.S. expert.



WASHINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The spreading Covid-19 pandemic that has made 100 million Americans stay at home will have a "catastrophic short-term impact" on the U.S. economy, a renowned U.S. expert said on Monday.

"We could see a 30 percent contraction in the economy in the second quarter. The length of the recovery will depend both on the progress of the virus, and on whether many businesses are driven into bankruptcy over the next few months," Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Xinhua via email.

The U.S. economy is driven mostly by consumer spending for goods, restaurants, conventions, hotels, gyms, sporting events, concerts etc., "much of this has been shut down," said Alden.

Tourists have a rest under an electronic news bulletin on Times Square in New York City, the United States, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The outbreak is "equally damaging" for the world economy, he said. "Despite warnings, the world was not well-prepared for this. And we will all pay a high price."

"With few exceptions, Japan, South Korea, perhaps China if it keeps containing the virus," all the major economies are relying on the strategy of shutting down their economies to prevent the spread of the virus, Alden said.

"This will have ripple effects across the world, and will be especially damaging for emerging economies that rely on export markets in the advanced countries. It is quite possible that this will tip over into an emerging markets financial crisis," he said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Monday a plan to purchase U.S. treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities with no limit to help markets function more efficiently amid coronavirus uncertainty.

The Fed is "doing everything within its ability" to shore up the economy and stave off deeper financial problems, Alden said.

People walk past a closed broadway theatre near Times Square in New York, the United States, March 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"It has behaved with an appropriate urgency that comes from learning the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis -- that there is far more danger in under-reacting than in over-reacting," he said.

It is "encouraging" to see the Congress is discussing a large economic stimulus package, "which is desperately needed," he said.

"But the Senate at the moment has its priorities backwards, focusing far more on bailouts for large companies -- which are best able to weather this storm-- and less on far more urgent needs, including expanded unemployment insurance, guaranteeing sick leave for workers, ensuring that health care workers have the tools they need to stay safe, and getting money quickly into the hands of Americans who need it," he said.

A total of 573 people have died from novel coronavirus in the United States, where there are 41,511 confirmed cases, by 3:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (1930 GMT) on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

By Wednesday, when all 12 current state orders take effect, more than 126.8 million people, or 39 percent of the U.S. population, will be officially urged to stay home, reported CNN on Monday. 
Ninety-two Chadian soldiers have been killed in the deadliest attack ever by Boko Haram jihadists on armed forces in the country, President Idriss Deby Itno has said.

The attack is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in the vast, marshy Lake Chad area, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria in 2009 before beginning incursions in its neighbouring countries to the east.

"We lost 92 of our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers," in the attack overnight Sunday in Boma, the president said on Tuesday.

"It's the first time we have lost so many men," he added, after visiting the site of the attack in the Lac province, which borders Niger and Nigeria.

The attack on soldiers on the Boma peninsula lasted at least seven hours, and reinforcements sent to help out were also targeted, one soldier told AFP.

He said 24 army vehicles were destroyed, including armoured vehicles, and captured military arms were carried off in speedboats by Boko Haram.

"The enemy has hit at our defences hard in this zone," a senior officer said.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in recent months on the islands of the Lake Chad basin.

Boko Haram's insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced nearly two million in northeastern Nigeria since it began, according to the UN.

Since 2015, countries in the region have cooperated in the Multinational Joint Force, a regional coalition engaged around Lake Chad with the help of local residents formed into vigilante groups.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There has been criticism of Transport for London due to overcrowding on the London Underground and bus services. Passenger numbers are down significantly: by the end of last week there was a 70 per cent fall in the number of passengers on the tube and a 40 per cent reduction in passengers on the buses, compared to normal circumstances.

Despite that, there are significant problems. First of all, those of us familar with commuting in London can imagine that even with such reductions, the social distancing  guidelines of six and a half feet would be hard to maintain. Secondly, there has been a reduction in services. Last week, TfL announced:

London buses will operate fewer services, but TfLs extensive night bus network will continue to provide critical workers with a reliable night option on Friday and Saturday nights and throughout the week. Everyone is urged not to use public transport for anything other than essential journeys.

Following the Governments advice to stop non-essential social contact, the Mayor of London has asked Transport for London (TfL) to make a number of changes to services to ensure a safe and reliable service to enable Londons critical workers who need to make essential journeys. The Mayor of London and TfL are urging all other customers to follow the Governments advice and not make anything but essential journeys40 London Underground (LU) stations that do not interchange with other lines will be closed until further notice.there will be no service on the Waterloo & City line TfL will gradually reduce the frequency of other services across the TfL network to provide a service for critical workers to get to where they need to  ensuring that remaining services are not overcrowded. TfL is aiming to run Tube trains every 4 minutes in Zone 1, with the possibility that this will reduce further..London Overground, TfL Rail, the DLR and London Trams will run fewer services.

On the bus network, from Monday 23 March until further notice, a service similar to a Saturday will run.

Some reduction in services would probably be inevitable. A number of TfL staff are already unavailable for work. Even though there is considerable overmanning, the tube unions are very powerful and would be resistant to showing flexibility to allow the service to be maintained. But the extent of the reduction in services is a choice, at least at this stage. The idea is to give people a nudge to stay at home  but not to close down the service entirely.

I can see that this might have some impact. Supposing, for example, that your nearest tube station is Holland Park. That has been closed so if you want the Circle Line you would have to walk a bit further (to Notting Hill Gate or Shepherds Bush) for your Central Line train. If the journey is necessary then you would  if it is not really necessary then it might discourage you.

What is harder to justify is the reduced frequency of trains for those who do feel they need to persist with travelling. My hunch is that overwhelmingly those Londoners who are working from home would do so, even if the trains were not less frequent. Often, indeed, they would be required to work from home by responsible employers.

But there are millions of key workers  that definition has rightly been broadened to include many in the private sector. They have not just the right, but the duty, to continue going into work for the benefit of us all. Should they be forced to put themselves and their families at risk being being obliged to use crowded buses and trains?

One option would be greater compulsion. Andrew Boff, a member of the London Assembly tells me:

TfL have rightly reduced the tube services to Saturday frequencies. This should be enough for those who have no choice but to travel. But weve all been surprised by the number of people who, lets face it, cant all be key workers, commuting as though these were ordinary times. The Government doesnt want to use compulsion, preferring that people adjust their behaviour out of consideration to those who are more vulnerable to the effects of Covid19. It appears that that concern is not as widespread as we first thought. You wont meet many people more libertarian than I am, but in these critical times excessive social contacts are nothing short of a danger to many thousands of people. If it needs a law to protect them then so be it.

Would such a draconian law be practical?

I am sure that the Mayor of London and his officials at TfL are concerned to save lives, with the power that they have. What makes these decisions so grim is that they involve a trade off. Could they end up doing more harm than good? The honest answer is that we dont know. But it would seem to many of us that a mistake has probably been made. The frequency of trains and buses should be increased so that those key workers we rely on, are able to commute in safety
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Vicki Guy and her 15-year-old son got tested six days ago for COVID-19. They were told to quarantine themselves at least until the results came back.

Theyre still waiting.

So are others. Complaints about delayed coronavirus test results are piling up in Onondaga County, where the first triage test site was set up a week ago at Syracuse Community Health Center. County officials today said they are still waiting for results on hundreds of tests taken last week.

The worst delays were caused by a backup at one of the labs where tests are analyzed, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. That problem has been fixed, he said.

Slow test results leave sick patients isolated and uncertain about whether they have the highly contagious and occasionally life-threatening disease. Even worse, slow results delay the countys effort to track down other people who may be infected and get them tested.

If Guy and her son test positive, a county health investigator will contact them and ask a lot of questions designed to identify anyone they have been in contact with since getting sick. Then those people would be contacted to see if they have been sick and need testing.

As the virus spreads, the county health department is training new investigators to do the time-consuming follow-up work. But every day that a test result is delayed is another day the virus could spread undetected.

Dr. Stephen Thomas, an infectious disease specialist at Upstate University Hospital, said the hospital is trying to set up an on-site lab where test results could be delivered within hours. That would make a huge difference, both for patients and the health care system, he said.

Imagine, if you can get a test turned around in a couple of hours, what that means for people in terms of their ability to quarantine-slash-isolate, the ability for us to stop burning PPE (protective equipment) in the hospital, the ability for us to strategically place people in different parts of the hospital, Thomas said. It would be a game changer.

Thomas could not predict how soon such a facility could be in place. Upstate is talking with several manufacturers, all of whom are waiting for emergency approval from the federal government before their systems can be used.

In the meantime, most test results take three to five days to come back, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. The majority of tests are being done by Syracuse Community Health Center, which sends them to Quest Diagnostics labs in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Virginia lab had a backlog last week that delayed some of the tests from Syracuse.

But even with that problem ironed out, Quest has not been able to promise results in less than three to five days, McMahon said.

Thats why its critical that people who get tested remain quarantined until they get their results, McMahon said. If they need help with grocery shopping or other issues, they can call the county help line at 315-218-1987, he said.

Guy, 42, of Baldwinsville, said her doctor sent her to Syracuse Community Health Center after she and her son got sick after traveling.

On Feb. 24, Guys son returned from Melbourne, Australia, where he had competed in a Pokemon tournament that drew players from around the world, including Hong Kong, Japan and Italy. Soon after, they both traveled to St. Louis for another tournament, returning March 2.

About a week after returning, Guys son fell sick with a fever and flu-like symptoms. Last Monday, Guy also became ill. The next day, St. Patricks Day, they both got tested. By then the Syracuse health center was testing more than 300 people a day.

Getting the test was easy  maybe too easy, Guy said. She had heard that the nasal swab test was very uncomfortable because the swab must be inserted far up the nose, but that was not Guys experience.

They barely got the swab up there, she said. It didnt hurt at all.

Now shes worried that her results might be inaccurate even if they come back negative.

Fortunately, she and her son are feeling better, Guy said. While they wait for test results, they have remained isolated in their home as instructed.

We still stayed in quarantine, she said. I dont know that everyone would do that.
Weve heard the term time and time again. Health professionals are telling us that flattening the curve is of utmost importance. But what does that mean?

Every state has a certain health care capacity line. That represents how many cases their health care system can handle.

Most days, we work underneath that line, said Alaska Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink, during a press conference. So we have car accidents, we have people with heart disease. We have people with respiratory symptoms.

Health officials are concerned that an overwhelming amount of cases of COVID 19 could overwhelm the healthcare system to a point where people in need of intensive care may not be able to get the needed attention.

When we get above the health care systems ability to care for people, thats when we start to see health care people get sick, she said. That's when we start to see hospitals collapse. Thats when we see hospitals not be able to treat you for your heart attack.

In an attempt to 'flatten the curve' and the amount of stress on the healthcare system, officials are asking the public to follow CDC guidelines to keep themselves and others healthy.
A planned meeting of the Anaconda-Deer County Commission on Tuesday night to vote on a financial settlement agreement with Atlantic Richfield has been scrapped because of concerns over the coronavirus.

Chief Executive Bill Everett said early Tuesday morning that the meeting set for 6 p.m. at the Washoe Theater has been cancelled.

We couldnt find a way to hold the meeting that would be safe amid the coronavirus  so its postponed to a later date until further notice, Everett said. Its for the best interest and safety of the community.

The wide-ranging agreement is part of consent decree negotiations and includes major improvements to public health and safety and nearly $29 million in community development funding over the next 25 years. About $9 million would be paid within the first year of the agreement.

Everett had said Monday that he understood the need to practice social-distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The reason why its [at the Washoe Theatre] is so that people can be spread out and be safe, Everett said Monday. Were trying to do it as safely as possible.

This will be the sixth formal meeting weve had about [the financial settlement] over the last month, and the most people weve had in attendance was close to 20 people, he said, adding that he expected attendance will be minimal.

The meeting was not going to be broadcast or livestreamed, Everett said Monday, but people were welcome to send emails and letters for public comment on the agreement.

But Everett said Tuesday morning that community safety was the top concern and cancelling the meeting was the right decision to make.

The agreement is the second main component of a proposed Anaconda consent decree to be announced. It follows a pact on a proposed settlement between the parties relating to the Old Works Golf Course, announced last August.

In that agreement, Atlantic Richfield agreed to pay for operations of the course for 25 year, to forgive a $1.2 million debt incurred by the county to Atlantic Richfield on the course, and to pay another $2 million in capital improvements for the course.

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The Duchess of Cambridge appears to have been swapping style tips with fellow European royals after stepping out in their latest go-to ensemble - a pink trouser suit.

Kate Middleton, 38, joined the likes of Queen Letizia of Spain, 47, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, 47, and Crown Princess Victoria, 42, when she stepped out in a blush blazer and matching trousers from Marks & Spencer to meet NHS staff at call centre in Croydon, south-west London, on Thursday.

And now a stylist has revealed how the Duchess of Cambridge might have embraced pink 'as a way of brightening the mood' and 'sending a message of hope' during the coronavirus outbreak.

Susie Hasler, who runs Styled by Susie, revealed how Kate may have opted for the look to avoid appearing 'too formal' and adding a 'femininity' to her appearance.

The Duchess of Cambridge was this week spotted in a Marks & Spencer blush blazer and matching trousers when meeting staff at call centre in Croydon, south-west London, on Thursday (pictured)

Susie said it was 'lovely' to see royals step out in varying shades of the colour over the last few months.

She revealed: 'How lovely to see more royals embracing such a pretty, soft colour. Its a great look for spring.'

The stylist went on to explain: 'It could be the royals are embracing pink more in these dark times as a way of brightening the mood, sending a message of hope at a time when we need it the most.'

She revealed how Kate had opted for the perfect 'spring-time' tone and appeared particularly stylish in her Marks & Spencers ensemble.

Pink suits ensembles have also been sported by Queen Letizia of Spain this month (pictured right) and Queen Mathilde of Belgium last year (pictured left)

She said: 'The Duchess of Cambridge is striking in this darker hue.

'Her tailored suit has a masculine cut with straight lines and edges - she even has a seam running down the front, so there are lots of angles.

'If this outfit had been in a darker colouring too, it would have been too much. It would have appeared too formal. The colouring adds femininity to it.

'A softness that also complements her skin tone so well - our future queen looks radiant,' she added.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore a pink blazer with matching trousers in September 2019, when visiting staff at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm

Commenting on the look adopted by the European royals, Susie said: 'Letizia, Kate and Victoria all have very dark colouring - which is perfect for this shading.'

Kate opted for the look as she joined Prince William, 37, to visit coronavirus frontline health workers in London on Thursday.

They met staff at a London NHS 111 call centre - and, in light of new social distancing rules, discussed the idea of remote conferencing for future royal visits.

Meanwhile Queen Letizia cut a stylish figure in a satin pink suit earlier this month as she attended a conference in Madrid.

Princess Victoria cut a sophisticated figure in a pink blazer as she and Prince Daniel visited the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights in January, this year

The Spanish royal wore the elegant ensemble as she met with workers from the APRAMP charity which protects sex worker in Spain.

Meanwhile, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden looked effortlessly sophisticated in a chic blush pink blazer as she visited an LGBTQ non-profit organisation in Stockholm in January.

She wore the blazer with matching trousers a couple of months earlier in September 2019, when visiting staff at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

In the same month, Queen Mathilde of Belgium looked chic in a pink suit as she took her son to meet his new teacher on the first day of term.
Tuolumne County Public Health Department View Photo

Sonora, CA  Tuolumne County Health officials released the Monday Coronavirus testing update: Total Tested 784, Total Negative 782, Total Recovered 2

Total Tuolumne residents positive 2, hospitalized 0, in isolation 0. Case details are below.

Tuolumne Countys attestation documents were approved as detailed here, along with Amador, Mariposa, and Calaveras as detailed here. Further details from the Tuolumne Health Officer on Phase Two Recovery are here.

Other Counties Number of Positive Tests (as of 5/18/20 3:30 PM) Alpine Amador Calaveras Mariposa Madera 1 (1 recov.) 10 (8 recov.) 13 (13 recov.) 15 details here 71 (53 recov.) Merced Mono San Joaquin Stanislaus SCC Prison 216 (127 recov.) 34 (5/18) 699 (534 recov.) 544 (412 recov.) 0 (5/18)

* Reported numbers do not necessarily include those routed through a commercial laboratory, only those routed through Public Health to a Public Health Laboratory and those reported through the State infectious disease reporting system. All positive cases must be reported to Public Health. State data is here, National data is here.

An updated overview of myMotherLode Coronavirus news stories is here. For all previous public health number updates go here.

GENERAL INFORMATION & PREVIOUS UPDATES

Community Resources Portal: https://bit.ly/TCcovidPortal

Tuolumne County Public Health Website: www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/publichealth

Public Health COVID-19 Call Center: (209) 533-7440

Case Identification

As part of an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak investigation at a congregate living facility outside of Tuolumne County, the two cases that were previously assigned to our county have now been reassigned to the county where that facility is located. As a result, our case count is now a total of two, both of which have recovered.

Tuolumne County Public Health was notified on 4/27 of a new confirmed positive COVID-19 test result in an 72-year-old male from Tuolumne County, who has recently been receiving care in a congregate living facility outside of the county. It appears that this is where he acquired the virus. The individual has not been in Tuolumne County since January and he will continue to isolate outside of the county. There is no known risk to Tuolumne County residents. (case transferred back to the county where he acquired the virus)

A 90-year-old female Tuolumne County resident is receiving care in a congregate living facility outside of the county, details here. (case transferred back to the county where he acquired the virus)

The California Department of Public Health has now assigned cruise ship passengers who had tested positive for COVID-19 to their counties of residence. These cases were previously assigned by the State separately to the cruise lines. We have received one such case of a 72-year-old male who completed their isolation on the cruise ship in March. Therefore, our data now indicates 2 total positive cases in Tuolumne County residents. There is no known risk to the public from this latest assigned case.

Follow-Up on the Positive Case in a 34-year-old male non-resident Shared on 3/10: The individual was in the area performing essential work in accordance with the Governors order. The individual sought medical care in Tuolumne County and has been in isolation outside of Tuolumne County since that time. Contact tracing was conducted and it is evident that transmission occurred outside of our county, and no close contacts were identified in Tuolumne County. At this time, there is no known additional risk to Tuolumne County residents. This case will be assigned to the individuals county of residence.

On 3/30 a second positive case identified in a Tuolumne County resident. The individual traveled while she was not symptomatic to areas with known community transmission before the stay-at-home order was issued. It is important to remember that the individual isolated herself while symptomatic and she has been cleared from her isolation period.

A on 3/26 the notification of a positive case of COVID-19 in a non-Tuolumne County resident being treated at Adventist Health Sonora. The individual has now recovered and their travel companion has cleared the quarantine period and did not develop symptoms during the quarantine. Public Health maintained daily contact with them during the isolation & quarantine periods to ensure they had supplies that allowed them to remain in their home and out of contact with people during that time period.

Local Activations & Declarations

As businesses and activities begin to reopen or expand as part of the staged modification of the statewide stay-at-home order, we want to remind the public that the statewide order is being modified in a measured way. The order has not been lifted and folks should continue to take precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and healthy. To prevent further spread of COVID-19, Californians should not travel significant distances and should stay close to home. Our ability to continue to contain the spread of the virus in Stage 2 will allow us to continue planning for and advocating with the state for Tuolumne County to allow some Stage 3 activities to resume. Thank you all for your cooperation and continuation of preventive activities such as physical distancing, washing your hands, staying home if sick, and reducing non-essential travel.

Tuolumne Countys attestation documents have been posted on the California Department of Public Healths website: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Local-Variance-Attestations.aspx This means that Tuolumne County may move into Late Stage 2 of the state roadmap to modifying the stay-at-home order. The updated order detailed here requires filling out the daily employee screening form here.

Interim Health Officer Dr. Liza Ortiz submitted an attestation to the state to allow a variation for Tuolumne County to proceed into Late Stage 2 of the Governors roadmap to modifying the stay-at-home order. This will include in-store shopping, pet grooming, offices, dine-in restaurants, and outdoor museums (all following posted safety protocols). The state will review the documentation and if approved, post to the California Department of Public Health website. Once the public posting of our attestation is complete, we will be allowed to further open business sectors as the industry guidance and checklists for reopening are made available on the state roadmap website. The attestation package is here for reference. The local health order restricting short-term lodging remains in effect, as does the order on Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI) screening. Though we begin some modifications, the statewide stay-at-home order is still in place and folks should continue to practice physical distancing, minimize their time outside of the home, and wash their hands frequently. To prevent further spread of COVID-19 to, and within, other jurisdictions within the State, Californians should not travel significant distances and should stay close to home. We will continue to provide updates as we receive more information.

In alignment with the state order, the State Health Officer issued a new Order, 5/8/20 describing the gradual entrance into Stage 2 of the statewide stay-at-home order. Details are here.

Governor Newsome provided an update yesterday on movement into early stage 2 of the roadmap to modifying the statewide stay-at-home order as detailed here.

An update and clarification on State and local roadmaps to modifying the statewide stay-at-home order is in the news story posted here.

Tuolumne County Public Health is coordinating closely with State and Regional partners, as well as other County agencies, including the Innovation and Business Assistance department on planning for implementing phases of the Governors roadmap to modifying the stay-at-home order. As part of this planning, Innovation & Business Assistance hosted a webinar as detailed here on April 22nd. Many other facets of planning for the modification of the stay-at-home order are also ongoing and we look forward to sharing more information as plans progress.

Tuolumne County Public Health notes they are is continuing ongoing coordination with local, regional, and state partners for the COVID-19 response. This includes planning for coordinated efforts related to the 6 indicators in Governor Newsoms roadmap to modifying the stay-at-home order here. More details are on myMotherLode here. Pubic Health shared The stay-at-home order is working, and it is saving lives. We understand the sacrifice that everyone is making during this pandemic and the publics cooperation is greatly appreciated as we strive to remain in containment and keep our community healthy.

An update to the Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI) Employee Screening form is here. This update incorporates the latest CDC guidance on allowing critical employees to continue working if they have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient, if specific precautions are taken. All essential businesses in Tuolumne County have been directed to screen their employees before they begin their shift according to the local Health Officers Order on 3/26 and retain that documentation for at least 14 days. That order was reported on here.

This update incorporates the latest CDC guidance on allowing critical employees to continue working if they have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient, if specific precautions are taken. All essential businesses in Tuolumne County have been directed to screen their employees before they begin their shift according to the local Health Officers Order on 3/26 and retain that documentation for at least 14 days. That order was reported on here. On 4/6/20, Tuolumne County Interim Health Officer, Dr. Eric Sergienko issued a Health Officer Order clarifying essential vs. non-essential activities as detailed here.

On 4/3/20, The Interim County Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko issued a Health Officers Order clarifying the Statewide Stay-at-Home order as related to short term lodging facilities as detailed here.

Acting Tuolumne County Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko issued a Health Officer order effective today, 3/26/20 to screen for febrile (related to fever) respiratory illness and for ill residents to isolate. The order includes direction for healthcare provider reporting of febrile respiratory illness (FRI), monitoring and isolation instructions, and for all employers to screen employees at the start of work. The most recent version of the order is here.

PUBLIC HEALTH COVID-19 CALL CENTER: Public Health has activated a call center that will go live on 3/18/20 at 9 a.m. The call center will be open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The call center phone number is 209-533-7440. The Adventist Health Sonora COVID-19 triage line for local patients concerned they may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 has knowledgeable registered nurses are available to provide advice and refer patients to appropriate care when needed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and may be reached by calling 209-536-5166. Patients who are experiencing an emergency should call 911.

The Public Health Department has activated its Department Operations Center (DOC) to most effectively respond to the COVID-19 incident, including communication and coordination with our federal, state, and local partners. This includes ongoing receipt and processing of resource requests from our partners through the Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC) program.

Dr. Eric Sergienko, acting Tuolumne County Health Officer, has declared a local health emergency in order to enhance the effectiveness of the response to COVID-19, to seek and utilize mutual aid, potentially obtain reimbursement, and ensure that the Countys public health professionals and providers have all necessary resources to provide quality care and keep our community safe.

Dr. Sergienko issued a revised Health Officer Order on 3/17/20

The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians declared a State of Emergency on March 19, 2020 due to COVID-19.

The Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, declared a local state of emergency on 3/17/20.

In order to better focus public health resources on the changing needs of California communities, as of March 18 th , the state is no longer collecting information about California travelers from countries that have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks. Community transmission has been identified in California since late February, and since early March, most of the confirmed cases in the state were not related to travel outside of the U.S.

The Tuolumne County Environmental Health Division has developed important materials related to food safety, handling, and delivery for the foodservice industry, and those who are assisting with food distribution during this emergency. Please see attached documents. Currently, under the State Health Officer order, restaurants are only to provide to-go, drive-through, or delivery options.

The City of Sonora declared a local emergency on March 16th, 2020 due to COVID-19.

State Orders & Federal Orders



The Stanislaus National Forest Extends Recreational Site Closures Until May 15

The Tuolumne County Sheriffs Department has issued a press release regarding education and enforcement of Health Officer Orders. As detailed here.

On March 19, 2020, the State Public Health Officer Dr. Angel issued the following, To protect public health, I as State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health order all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors, as outlined at https://www.cisa.gov/identifying-critical-infrastructure-Workers.

To view the full Executive Order, visit: https://covid19.ca.gov/img/Executive-Order-N-33-20.pdf

For more information about the Executive Order, visit: https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/?fbclid=IwAR16K1XfBpq_kuRtMJLNVZjP9VeIsoTvH5EkdOUFxLrMiIaUS7Bs54jJ4Z8

In order to better focus public health resources on the changing needs of California communities, as of March 18 th , the state is no longer collecting information about California travelers from countries that have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks. Community transmission has been identified in California since late February, and since early March, most of the confirmed cases in the state were not related to travel outside of the U.S.

, the state is no longer collecting information about California travelers from countries that have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks. Community transmission has been identified in California since late February, and since early March, most of the confirmed cases in the state were not related to travel outside of the U.S. All California State Parks have been closed to vehicle traffic. View the news story here.

COVID-19 Testing:

State testing sites have been activated in many areas in California, including in Mariposa County and in Lodi. Tuolumne County residents are able to access these testing sites with an appointment. Individuals will be billed through their health insurance. Tests will be paid for by the state for individuals without health insurance. Copays or deductibles will not apply to the visits. No fees will be collected at the testing site. While priority is given to those who are high risk, everyone is welcome to schedule testing by going online to https://lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling OptumServe at (888) 634-1123. To find a testing site nearest you go to https://bit.ly/2ypCrMv.

Quest Diagnostics may be able to provide COVID-19 antibody testing with a doctors order, details were in the news story here. Tuolumne County Public Health notes they would like to reiterate that Public Health cannot speak to the accuracy of the tests being offered by commercial laboratories and we are not currently making a recommendation for the testing. They further say, According to a press release issued by Quest Diagnostics, the tests they are using are being submitted for Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, but they have not yet been issued such. It is our understanding that Quest labs may be experiencing a high volume of test requests and reduced availability for processing those requests. Individuals should contact their healthcare provider to determine if testing is recommended.

Tuolumne County Public Health has provided an update and clarification in regard to testing for COVID-19, the document is viewable here, the news story is here.

Testing is being conducted at the discretion of health care providers in the community, based on their clinical assessment and current recommended guidance

Tests that will be conducted through the Public Health laboratory system are coordinated with our Public Health Department

Testing is available through Quest laboratories with a health care providers order. These tests are not required to be communicated through the Public Health Department, but our local providers are strongly encouraged to do so

Any positive test result must be reported to the Public Health Department

Community Agency Updates:

We would like to include relevant updates from agencies that serve the community (e.g., the Senior Center is closed but they are offering drive-through lunch pick-up). Please submit updates to PHPIO@co.tuolumne.ca.us by noon each day for your update to be included in this daily email update.

A new COVID-19 Community Resources Website has been developed to connect the public with resources such as local food assistance, grocery and restaurant information, community agency services, and more. The website is now live and can be found HERE: https://bit.ly/TCcovidPortal If your organization would like to have information included as a resource on the website, there is a link to a survey in the introductory section of the site. The Tuolumne County Public Health website will continue to provide daily updated COVID-19 information.

Tuolumne Me-Wuk Indian Health Centers have provided an update to their services. They are assisting tribal and non-tribal members during the COVID-19 pandemic. They offer medical, behavioral health, and emergency dental appointments. Expanded dental services will be offered as statewide guidelines are updated. They also have an active tele-medicine option available. Please see their website for more information: https://tmwihc.org/

Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits will be available for eligible California families soon. Due to COVID-19, children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school will get extra food benefits. These food benefits are called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT benefits. These benefits help families in California buy food when schools are closed because of the Coronavirus emergency. Families will get up to $365 per eligible child on their P-EBT card to use on food and groceries. Families with children who get CalFresh, Medi-Cal or Foster Care benefits do not need to apply. Most will get their P-EBT card in the mail during the month of May. P-EBT cards will begin arriving in May, 2020. Families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and who do not get their P-EBT card in the mail, must apply online before June 30, 2020. The online application will launch in late May. Additional information will be posted as soon as its available.

Community Resources Website details, note that while a neighboring county has made some revisions to the coronavirus restriction, Tuolumne County Public Health officials are still reviewing the situation, Project RoomKey update and testing report changes detail in this news story here.

Adventist Health Sonora is providing a COVID-19 online chat at www.AdventistHealthSonora.org and a triage line available Monday-Friday 10am-6pm at 536-5166 and 536-5000 at other times.

is providing a COVID-19 online chat at www.AdventistHealthSonora.org and a triage line available Monday-Friday 10am-6pm at 536-5166 and 536-5000 at other times. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an Executive Order that allows enrollment waivers for child care subsidies to certain populations. These waivers and child care subsidies are valid through June 30, 2020. The order prioritizes eligibility in certain categories including essential workers. Please view the website for more info: https://www.icesagency.org/news_events/headlines.html/article/2020/04/14/governor-newsom-s-executive-order-for-child-care-subsidy

We would like to include relevant updates from agencies that serve the community (e.g., the Senior Center is closed but they are offering drive-through lunch pick-up). Please submit updates to PHPIO@co.tuolumne.ca.us by noon each day for your update to be included in this daily email update.

Twain Harte Area CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) has established a call service to provide daily phone calls with folks who would like a check-in each day. See the attached graphic.

(Community Emergency Response Team) has established a call service to provide daily phone calls with folks who would like a check-in each day. See the attached graphic. The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians Social Services Department has provided information on resources available to their tribal community. As detailed here.

has provided information on resources available to their tribal community. Catholic Charities has updated some of their service changes. Grace Fund Program GRACE Fund will continue to operate by appointment only and requires staff to work remotely. The programs requirements are being modified to safeguard clients and staff to reduce face to face contact. Contact number: (209) 532-7632 Mother Lode Ombudsman Program The Program Coordinator and Program Assistant are working remotely to respond to Ombudsman calls per State guidance. No visits to facilities are allowed at this time. Contact number: (209) 588-1597 SSVF/VETFAM Program All staff are working remotely assisting Veterans to secure housing and provide case management via phone or email. Contact number: (209) 396-6903 Mother Lode Counseling Program Counseling service are still being provided. To safeguard clients and staff, the counselors will be providing telehealth sessions. This can be done through multiple electronic forms: facetime, zoom or Google Meet. Contact number: (209) 396-6953

has updated some of their service changes. Jamestown Family Resource Center, Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, and Resiliency Village are partnering to help with food distribution for those in need during this emergency. Applications can be submitted at this link or by calling 536-2092. Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA) ATCAA offices are closed until further notice. Please call 533-1397 for general information Head Start has been closed until further notice

Food Bank: Food is being distributed by highest need. Please call 984-3901 x101 for information on signing up

Area 12 Agency on Aging

A12AA has closed their office for in-person services but will continue to be available by phone during normal business hours. All HICAP appointments will be conducted by phone.

A12AA has closed their office for in-person services but will continue to be available by phone during normal business hours. All HICAP appointments will be conducted by phone. Behavioral Health Lambert Center  closed until further notice TCBH Enrichment Center  Beginning 3/27, the Enrichment Center will be open for showers and laundry only for those not housed or those with no access to a shower or laundry facility. Please visit here for more information. The 24-hour crisis phone line is: 209-533-7000 or toll free 800-630-1130 The ICES (Infant Child Enrichment Services) office is closed to the public until further notice, although most services are still being provided. This includes provider payments, child care referrals, and resources to providers and families. Call the main phone line at 533-0377, and messages will be returned if requested. Or write to info@icesagency.org and a response will be given shortly. Foothill Pregnancy Center- Some programs and services have changed. Please call 536-9262 for information



Libraries All branches of the Tuolumne County Public Library will be closed until further notice due to the Shelter in Place order issued by the Governor. All late charges for materials due during this time will be waived. The library will appraise the public as we receive new information. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our digital library is always open at https://ncdl.overdrive.com/ .



Senior Center The Senior Center at 540 Greenley Road will be closed until further notice The Senior Center will have meals available for pick-up only at 540 Greenley Road in Sonora. Lunches will be made available to current Intake Congregate Clients and by reservation only. Current lunch participants who would like to reserve a lunch should call 209-533-2622 by 9 a.m. that morning For more information, visit: http://www.sierraseniorproviders.org/ If you would like to help with their efforts, please visit: http://www.sierraseniorproviders.org/ways-to-help/ The Meals on Wheels Program is continuing service as usual The Sonora, Jamestown, and Groveland Congregate lunch sites have ceased on-site serving



Mass Gatherings

The State order issued on 3/19 (see above) supersedes the County Health Officer order from 3/17/20.

Mass Gatherings:

Per the 3/17/20 Tuolumne County Health Officer Order (applicable until 4/30/20):

All events that have more than 50 participants shall be canceled or postponed to such a time as this Health Officers Order has lapsed

All events that may have fewer than 50 participants where it is not feasible to maintain social distances of six feet shall be canceled or postponed to such a time as this Health Officers Order has lapsed

Gatherings for those who are at high risk of severe illness, such as those older than 65, those with existing heart or lung disease, and those with diabetes, shall not exceed more than ten participants who are at high risk

Issuance of assemblage permits and facility use permits shall be canceled

View the CDPH Guidance for Gatherings, here.

Schools:

The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools announced on 3/18/20 that County schools will extend their closure through April 13, 2020, with the anticipated return to classrooms on April 14 th , depending on guidance from the Governor, CDE, and the State Department of Health. View the full announcement here: https://www.tcsos.us/wp-content/uploads/Extended-School-Closures-03_18_2020.pdf

, depending on guidance from the Governor, CDE, and the State Department of Health. View the full announcement here: https://www.tcsos.us/wp-content/uploads/Extended-School-Closures-03_18_2020.pdf Columbia College campus is closed. All instruction and student support services continue and have been moved to online format. Check their website for more information: https://www.gocolumbia.edu/about/goals.php

The School Districts of Tuolumne County are working with their Community Partners to help deliver meals to families of school-age students (0-18). Please visit the following page to see how each district is distributing food to families: https://www.tcsos.us/newsroom/2019-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-meal-distribution/

Private school closure is at school administrator discretion Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy has reported that they will be closed 3/18/20 through 4/12/20

Please view the CDPH COVID-19 Schools guidance here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/School%20Guidance_ADA%20Compliant_FINAL.pdf

Businesses

County of Tuolumne Innovation and Business Assistance is looking to determine the business impacts of COVID-19 in our county. Business owners are asked to complete a survey HERE: https://www.tcdisasterassistance.com/business-survey

COVID-19 Business Resources Tuolumne County: https://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/1265/COVID-19 Governors Office of Business and Economic Development: https://business.ca.gov/coronavirus-2019/



COVID-19 Guidance Highlights:

New guidance on community masking was issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). It is important for everyone to understand that this is not an order to wear a mask and it DOES NOT replace the importance of staying home, social distancing, and hand washing as the most effective means of protection against COVID-19.

an order to wear a mask and it replace the importance of staying home, social distancing, and hand washing as the most effective means of protection against COVID-19. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has their guidance documents available in one place: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Guidance.aspx

Food, Beverage, Other Services:

Bars, wineries, breweries, and pubs should be closed, except for venues that are currently authorized to provide off sale beer and wine to be consumed off-premises

Restaurants should be closed for in-restaurant seated dining, and should be open only to drive-through or other pick-up/delivery options

For the full guidance, click here.

What You Can Do:

Practice everyday preventive actions to stay healthy

Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds, or with hand sanitizer of soap is not available

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth

If you are ill, stay home. If other family members are ill, including children, keep them home.

Practice social distancing: put more space between yourself and others. About 6 feet is good, if you can

Avoid contact with people who are sick

Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects often with soap and water or household cleaners. Dont forget your cell phone

Follow Local and State Health Officer Orders

To learn about COVID-19 symptoms, visit the CDC Symptoms website here.

If someone in your household has tested positive for COVID-19, keep the entire household at home and keep in touch with your medical provider.

If you have symptoms or get sick:

Stay home, unless you need to seek medical care and call first if at all possible

Stay away from other people, pets, and animals. As much as possible, you should stay in a specific room and use a separate bathroom if available

Wear a face mask to avoid spreading germs

Cover your cough with a tissue and immediately throw it in the trash, or cough into your bent elbow. Wash your hands after using a tissue

Wash your hands often and avoid sharing personal items

Please see full CDC recommendations here

Thank you all for your support and efforts to protect the safety and health of our community.
KFC on March 24 announced that it will close all its restaurants across the UK and Ireland in wake of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Only two days earlier, it had announced that it would be open for takeaways, drive-thrus and home deliveries. However, now it has announced that all the restaurants would be shut by March 26 until further notice. This comes as the deadly coronavirus infected 6,650 in UK and 1,125 in Ireland.

Taking to Twitter, the fast chain restaurant released a statement asserting that it had taken the step to ensure the safety of guests and staff. It added that they were also determined to find a way to distribute unused food which included working with their food donation scheme partners and thanked their "amazing" team.

As of today, we will begin closing all our restaurants in the UK & Ireland. Stay safe  pic.twitter.com/pX4WzgExyC  KFC UK & Ireland (@KFC_UKI) March 23, 2020

Read: WHO Reveals Coronavirus Does Not Spread Airborne As People Stockpile Masks Globally

Read: Nepal Announces Nationwide Lockdown Over Coronavirus Pandemic

Receives backlash for advertisement

This comes as an advertisement by the company came into a bit of heat amid the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. While public health organisations around the globe are stressing on the importance of hand-washing to combat the spread of the deadly virus, KFC, on the other hand, recently released an ad to highlight the deeply satisfying lick while relishing one of their fried chickens. According to an international media report, around 160 people have complained to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the restaurants 'ill-timed Finger Lickin' campaign.

The advertisement shows a montage of diners licking their fingers after having food from KFC. After the release, several people complained to the advertising watchdog and reportedly said that the promotional clip was irresponsible and the behaviours being showcased helped increase the chance of the spread of coronavirus. As per reports, the ASA is currently investigating the complaints and no investigation has been launched as of yet.

Image credit: AP

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Odisha To Put Stickers Outside Houses Of People In Home Quarantine

Read: Prakash Raj Pays His Staff Advance Salaries Till May Amid Coronavirus Lockdown; Read Post
Tens of thousands of UK travellers are stranded around the world, unable to get home despite the governments call for them to do so.

The Foreign Office warned against travel abroad on Tuesday 17 March. But it was not until Monday 23 March that holidaymakers, business travellers and people visiting friends and families were urged to come home.

By then, for many people, it was too late.

Dozens of stranded travellers have contacted The Independent to ask for help, all of them saying that UK missions abroad have been unable or unwilling to help.

Some of more than 600 British travellers in Peru are likely to be brought home in the next day or two.

A British Airways Boeing 777, the first of several promised rescue flights is on its way to Lima, and is expected to arrive late afternoon local time in the Peruvian capital.

But thousands of other travellers are trapped  particularly in New Zealand, the South Pacific and southeast Asia  with many more in far-flung locations.

The prospect of being trapped on the other side of the world from loved ones and pets at a time of crisis is terrifying, Nina Rosenberger told The Independent.

Along with her partner, Ed Pocock, they have been in New Zealand on a holiday they had planned for two years.

We left when the UK was still given the advice that it was safe to travel, apart from China and Italy, and arrived in NZ before the traveller self-isolation ruling.

Unfortunately, our flights home are now cancelled and there are no options for returning home as Australia, UAE and Singapore have all moved to ban transit.

Were unable to contact airlines who have closed their phone lines and travel insurers are so overwhelmed by requests were yet to reach them.

The British High Commission is still giving advice for people to work with airlines to rebook flights, but this is not possible as all flights have already been cancelled and the earliest airlines are allowing rebookings for is July.

Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Show all 20 1 /20 Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Top: Nabi Younes market, Mosul Bottom: Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Grand Mosque, Mecca Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Nabi Younes market, Mosul Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Basra Grand Mosque, Iraq Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Taj Mahal hotel, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Dubai Mall, UAE Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Gateway of India, Mumbai Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Victoria Memorial, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sidon, Lebanon Reuters

The UK are showing no efforts currently to repatriate us and others in the same position.The New Zealand governments advice to tourists trapped for the four-week lockdown is to stay in the same place, but there is no financial support from either them or the UK government.

Some hotels and campsites are closing for the lockdown. My partner is self-employed and neither of us are able to work from NZ, so having to pay for both accommodation here and the rent for our London flat is daunting.

Meya Isaac, who is trying to fly home from Fiji, said: Were just getting false information again and again and again.

 Boris Johnson announces nationwide lockdown to tackle coronavirus

We cant go via Auckland, we cant go to America, we cant go via Singapore or Australia. So thats it. There are no flights going back to England.

The government dont regard us as a priority. The closest we may get to help is that the German government may be sending a plane over to Fiji, and if theres enough space then we may be allowed on it.

An FCO spokesperson said: We recognise that any British people currently overseas may be nervous about the impact of coronavirus on their travel and their health.

We are in close contact with travel providers and our international partners to provide support to those British people affected by ongoing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

Some airlines, including British Airways, Qantas, Qatar Airways and North American carriers, are continuing to fly long-haul services, but bookings are extremely heavy  and last-minute cancellations are becoming very frequent.

On Monday evening, Etihad abruptly said all non-UAE citizens would be barred from all flights.

Emirates, the biggest carrier of intercontinental passengers in the world, is closing down its entire operations on Wednesday.
Why Georgia is Succeedeing In Fight Against Coronavirus? - GeorgianJournal
MEDFORD, Ore.  Public health officials in Jackson County say that three more positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been found in the county, bringing the total to seven. Officials also released more details about the demographics of the cases they have seen so far.

"Of the three new cases, one is between the ages of 30-39 and two are between the ages of 70 to 79," Jackson County said. "All cases are believed to be community-acquired. Jackson County Public Health is working to identify and isolate/quarantine any individuals who may have been in close contact with the cases."

Three of the known cases in Jackson County are between the ages of 50-59, three are between the ages of 70-79, and one between the ages of 30-39, officials said. Fifty-seven percent are male and 43 percent are female. Two of the six cases acquired the infection through travel, but all of the latest five are from community spread.

Jackson County has entered the phase of rapid community spread of Covid-19, says Dr. Jim Shames, Jackson County Health Officer. What we are seeing now reflects how well we accomplished personal distancing a week ago. How well we isolate ourselves now will determine how much illness we have next week.

Previous statements from Jackson County have given few identifying features about the cases, which has been typical for public health authorities in southern Oregon up to this point. In past interviews, officials have cited privacy concerns as the reason for keeping these details confidential. In smaller communities, the risk of a COVID-19 patient being "outed" are much higher, likely to be accompanied by an unwarranted level of stigma.

Officials in southern Oregon have preferred to use back-tracking investigations to quietly contact any people who have been in close quarters with the individual, followed by quarantine and monitoring for symptoms.

On Tuesday Jackson County Public Health announced its third case  believed to be a result of community spread, the first case in the area not found to be travel-related.

"There is no known travel-related exposure or contact with a known case. Therefore, this is believed to be community-acquired," officials said on Tuesday. "Jackson County Public Health is working to identify and isolate/quarantine any individuals who may have been in close contact with the person in the last 14 days."

The first two cases were announced on March 7. Jackson County officials said that both were individuals that had traveled to areas with more active spread of the virus, and both were being isolated at home.

RELATED: Fifth person tests positive for COVID-19 in Josephine County

With the latest test results in Oregon and across the United States, there is more evidence of active community spread of COVID-19, and Jackson County said that this is something they have expected to see in Oregon and in Jackson County.

Governor Kate Brown released new executive orders that take additional steps to ensure that Oregonians stay home in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 on Monday.

Under the new executive orders are directives for individuals to maintain social distancing. These directives state during the ongoing state of emergency that, to the maximum extent possible, individuals are to stay home or at their place of residence.

"We understand the difficulties of practicing social distancing, this is not something we are used to doing, and we miss being close to family and friends," Jackson County said in a statement. "But, by practicing social distancing and staying home, we are slowing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting those who are more likely to suffer severe complications from COVID-19. Those most vulnerable are include adults 60 and older, or anyone with a serious health condition, including lung or heart disease, diabetes, or anyone who has a suppressed immune system."

Here are what individuals should and shouldnt do:

Do:

Stay home as much as possible; this includes kids

Stay at least 6 feet away from others any time you are out

Go out only for essentials (groceries and medical care)

Exercise outside (hiking, biking) only if you can be 6 feet apart from others

Have video and phone chats

Drop food off to neighbors who cant go out

Dont:

Gather in groups

Get together with friends (no drinks or dinners)

Have playdates for kids

Make unnecessary trips

"Social distancing is the most critical action Jackson County residents need to take right now in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of the community," health officals said. "By slowing the spread of COVID-19, we are flattening the curve. The curve is the number of people projected to contract COVID-19. The faster the infection curve rises, the quicker the local healthcare system gets overloaded beyond its capacity to treat people. By slowing the infection rate, the infection curve flattens, allowing our healthcare system to operate and care for those who need it. Stay home and save a life."
PM said he wants remove 'dil ki doori and Dilli ki doori': Omar Abdullah after meet on J&K

Restore statehood first, if you want elections in J&K: Omar Abdullah to Centre

Terrorists or not: Omar Abdullah asks Centre to clarify stance on Taliban

Govt needs to give sense of security to people cutting across religions in J&K: Omar

Explained: Why it took so long to release Omar Abdullah from detention

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Srinagar, Mar 24: Nearly eight months of his detention, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was released after charges under the Public Safety Act was revoked in February.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was in detention since August 2019 during the abrogation of Article 370. In February 2020, Omar and another former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, were booked under the Public Safety Act.

J&K govt orders release of former CM, Omar Abdullah

The continued detention of Omar Abdullah, who recently turned 50 on March 10 and other politicians from Kashmir had become a major political issue, with opposition parties calling for their imediate release.

Also, Omar Abullah's sister had approached the Supreme Court seeking his release.

On March 13, Omar's father, Farooq Abdullah was released from detention.

Iltija Mufti, Mehbooba Mufti's daughter, who has been handling her mother's Twitter handle, welcomed Omar's release and slammed the authorities for the perceived lack of action to free her mother.

In a Tweet, Iltija said, "Glad he will be released. For all their talk of nari Shakti & women emancipation, seems like this regime fears women the most".

Omar Abdullah, who was kept in house arrest under the Public Safety Act, was put at Srinagar's Hari Niwas, which is a designated sub-jail at Zabarwan mountain range in Srinagar.

Earlier, the Supreme Court asked the central government to inform the court within a week if it is planning to release National Conference leader from detention.

After 7 months in detention, Farooq Abdullah meets son Omar

The plea was filed by Sarah Abdullah Pilot, Omar Abdullah's sister. The apex court ordered the counsel appearing for Jammu and Kashmir administration to take provide the information within seven days.

Sara Abdullah's petition filed in the Supreme Court observed that no "material facts which are imperative for an order of detention."

The plea also pointed out that the grounds for the detention order were allegedly lacking any material facts or particulars which are imperative for an order of detention.

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Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 12:03 [IST]
More than 13,500 U.S. citizens abroad are seeking State Department help to return home because of the coronavirus, a U.S. official said on Monday.

The official urged all Americans who are uncomfortable remaining overseas to 'get out now' while commercial flights are still available.

The State Department this week will bring back about 1,600 Americans abroad on about 16 flights, the senior U.S. official told reporters, saying about 5,700 people have already come back, many through flights arranged by the agency.

The vast majority of an estimated 10 million U.S. citizens abroad live there and do not wish to return, the official said, but stressed Americans should weigh whether they are comfortable remaining overseas indefinitely.

President Trump's State Department says more than 13,000 Americans want help returning home, and warns people to 'get out now' while commercial flights are still available

Tourists stranded in Morocco try to get a flight out. Americans in places as far away from each other as Morocco and Peru have complained they are unable to get commercial travel out of the respective countries and have not gotten assistance from the U.S. government

'If you are somewhere where you think 'no, this is not where I would want to be over the long haul,' take advantage of existing commercial opportunities and get out now,' he said.

Last week, the State Department warned those abroad that they would not be able to count on the U.S. government to help them get home if global travel shuts down.

The department issued a new level four guidance - its highest warning - that Americans should not travel abroad because of the coronavirus and warned people they would be stuck overseas if they choose to do so.

Additionally, the guidance warns people 'if you decide to travel abroad or are already outside the United States' then you should 'have a travel plan that does not rely on the U.S. Government for assistance.'

'Consider returning to your country of residence immediately using whatever commercial means are available,' the department advises.

There are multiple reports of American citizens who got trapped when countries closed their borders with little warning in an effort to contain the coronavirus.

Americans in places as far away from each other as Morocco and Peru have complained they are unable to get commercial travel out of the respective countries and have not gotten assistance from the U.S. government.

The department also advised Americans abroad to shelter in place given the coronavirus threat.

'We are aware the governments of several countries have announced suspension of air travel,' the department told The New York Times. 'We are considering all options to assist U.S. citizens in these countries and are continuously assessing travel conditions in all areas affected by COVID-19. We will continue to update our travel advisories and safety information for U.S. travelers as situations evolve.'

Fewer than 30 State Department employees overseas have tested positive for coronavirus, a second senior official said.

More than 351,300 people have been infected globally and over 15,300 have died.

In the U.S, the number of infections has spiked, with more than 43,000 testing positive, and more than 550 dead.
BOSTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathi Fairbend, MS, RPT, America's Body Mind Therapist, has a simple way of describing her book, STAND UP TO DEPRESSION. "If this book were a pill, I think every psychiatrist in America would prescribe it for depression." She isn't joking. "The techniques I describe have no side effects, can be easily combined with any form of psychotherapy or medication, and can help alleviate sadness, fatigue and low self-esteem."

The full title of Ms. Fairbend's book is STAND UP TO DEPRESSION: How to Activate the Body Mind Miracle and Defeat Depression. The book makes the elegant and convincing case that correcting one's posture can literally pave the way to elevating one's mood. And it's available on Amazon.com and other online bookstores.

In STAND UP TO DEPRESSION, Ms. Fairbend clearly describes and illustrates a series of simple exercises that readers can perform at home to improve both posture and mood.

"When a person learns to stand up straight and look forward in life, a profound, positive feedback loop is activated between his or her musculature and brain," Ms. Fairbend, one of the nation's most prominent physical therapists, said. "This isn't just a theory. It has been shown at Columbia University and Harvard University that positive posture literally alters hormone levels in beneficial ways. It's time more research is done to show the effects of positive posture on neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine."

In fact, another study conducted during 2017 at the University of Auckland in New Zealand showed "upright posture [improved] affect and fatigue in people with depressive symptoms."

Ms. Fairbend's bold statement about her book being a worthy "prescription" for depression has been backed up by Donald Ingber, MD, PhD, Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. "Kathi explores how reestablishing a healthy physical posture can feed back to positively influence how we feel about ourselves and improve our cognitive state," he said. "In essence, she offers a potential escape from the downward spiral of depression."

Rock G. Positano, DPM, MSc, MPH, DSc (hon), Professor at Manhattan's famed Hospital for Special Surgery, put it this way, "Medicines have their place. Psychotherapy has its place. But the physical 'stance' that can help signal the mind that a person is moving forward in life, not giving up, has been neglected. No more. Many, many people will benefit from what STAND UP TO DEPRESSION delivers."

Shortly after publication, STAND UP TO DEPRESSION quickly achieved bestseller status an Amazon.com and garnered rave customer reviews like this one:

After reading this book, I feel better able to manage my depression. Kathi's voice is reassuring and it makes perfect sense that the way I hold my body connects to the way I feel emotionally. The strategies outlined in this book are described clearly and I can easily apply them to begin to feel well. I'm grateful to have this new way of managing depression in my good self-care tool kit.

Ms. Fairbend is making herself available to the media, in hopes of spreading her message about the link between good posture and good mood. "It is, quite simply, a professional quest of mine to use this message and the exercises I describe in my book to help as many depressed people as possible," she said.

Contact:

Kathi Fairbend, MS RPT

781 899 6289

[email protected]

SOURCE Kathi Fairbend
SOMEHOW, in the face of an unprecedented threat, we have rallied ourselves. We have organised in response to a virus that is moving through Europe with astonishing speed. The coronavirus pandemic has scythed its way from Lombardy, through the densely populated cities and regions of Switzerland, Germany, France and the Low Countries, through Spain and Scandinavia, and it has reached Europes far flung places: Greece, Ireland, Iceland, and the Faroes. By March 19, Italys death toll had surpassed Chinas.

In Ireland, as elsewhere, the number of cases has been increasing by 30% per day (although that declined to 15% at the weekend of March 20th). At 30%, 600 cases become 8,000 in ten days, and 150,000 in just three weeks. So the threat is grave and the task the community faces is daunting and urgent.

There is only one way to win the war on the coronavirus: by keeping the numbers of new infections each day at the lowest possible level. When each infected person passes the virus on to fewer than one other person on average, then the virus can start to die out in the community. That is what happened in China - and this is the path we must follow.

The principle is simple: avoid getting infected by another person, and if you do get infected, do not infect anyone else. In particular, do not infect anyone vulnerable. This can only be achieved by rigorous physical distancingstay away from other people, do not mingle, stay at home, keep a two-metre distance when you must have an interaction with another person; and by meticulous cleanliness - wash your hands, clean the surfaces and objects you use, dont touch your face, cough and sneeze with due care to minimise the dispersal of possibly infected droplets, dispose of tissues immediately and carefully.

A Conversation With Our Community

Our public hospitals have deep roots in our communities and their first responsibility is to provide acute medical care to our communities. But they are also important repositories of scientific knowledge, and centres of learning. These additional roles include the public dissemination of information on health topics, including the one that we all are grappling with now. Our communications department has produced and distributed on social media several short videos about hygiene; and clinicians and executives are making themselves available for radio and television interviews. We are thankful to the media for facilitating and moderating this part of our work, and we recognise the importance of journalism at this critical time.

Many readers will have seen one of UL Hospitals consultants, Dr Catherine Motherway, giving important messages to the nation in very blunt terms on RTEs Prime Time on March 19th, messages that need to sink in and change behaviour quickly. The interview has been viewed by over one million people world-wide.

Dr Catherine Motherway, Intensive care physician at UH Limerick discusses how well provided with ICU beds Irish hospitals are, and steps the community might take to prevent the spread of Covid 19 #RTEPT | #COVID19 | #coronavirus | @mcculld pic.twitter.com/mJNUip7jnZ  RTE Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) March 19, 2020

Sickest Patient First

Prioritising the most ill among our patients is a fundamental concept in the social justice that governs medical care. It is a concept that UL Hospitals has adopted and it informs the development of our clinical services. The Covid-19 outbreak shows us exactly how necessary it is to adhere to so simple a principle. This is why Ireland, the HSE and UL Hospitals are working flat out to increase Intensive Care Unit capacity quickly. We are preparing for the arrival of very many extremely ill patients.

Widely Distributed Leadership

Good care is the result of countless actions by skilled and diligent doctors, nurses, health and social care professionals (HSCPs), and health care assistants (HCAs), at the bedside, in the ICU, in the resuscitation room and throughout our hospital system. At this time also, the medical scientists and personnel of our Department of Pathology have been doing Trojan work in diagnosis of Covid-19 cases. In the coming weeks it will be really important that clinical experts take on key leadership roles. What we have seen so far is an impressive national response to Covid-19, complimented by an equally impressive response at local level, particularly in critical care preparedness. This has been encouraged and facilitated by managers and executives who deserve enormous credit for their hard work and meticulous attention to detail. The important tasks of recruiting additional staff, securing supplies of ventilators, oxygen, drugs, personal protective equipment and such like, and the ramping up of critical care capacity, fall to these valuable colleagues.

How Can I Help You?

Public hospitals operate in the Samaritan tradition and their mission is to help people. UL Hospitals Group is deeply committed to this tradition and mission. The question How Can I Help You? is at the core of our ethos. It applies to patients, to colleagues, and to the wider community. In the current crisis, it is essential that it is observed. We appreciate the way the community has supported and encouraged our staff, and heeded our advice. It makes a real difference.

Mid West Together

In this terrible springtime, we have seen exceptional unity in the community. All sectors of society, public and private, have come together to organise, to prepare, to help, to serve. The calm, obstinate resolve, the kindness in the words spoken to us, and indeed the fear in peoples faces, are very moving. My friends and colleagues at UL Hospitals are immensely grateful for your unstinting goodwill as we face into the most difficult days of our lives. We have prepared as well as we can. We will do our best.

Dr Gerry Burke is the interim chief clinical director at UL Hospitals Group
An internationally renowned choreographer's position with The Royal Ballet has ended after he was suspended amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

The Royal Opera House, which is home to the Royal Ballet Company, said that an independent investigation into Liam Scarlett had concluded.

There 'were no matters to pursue in relation to alleged contact with students of The Royal Ballet School', it said.

The Royal Ballet's choreographer Liam Scarlett, 33, is leaving after sex misconduct claims

Mr Scarlett (pictured meeting Prince Charles at the Royal Opera House) was the youngest choreographer to have a full-length ballet commissioned by the company

Scarlett joined the Royal Ballet Company in 2006 and retired from dancing in 2012 to focus on choreography.

The artist-in-residence was being investigated over claims of sexual misconduct involving students.

Now the Royal Opera House has 'confirmed that Liam Scarlett's position with The Royal Ballet ended' today.

'As he will no longer work with, or for, The Royal Ballet, it has been agreed that the scheduled performances of Liam Scarlett's Symphonic Dances will not go ahead this summer,' the statement said.

The choreographer (pictured left with dancers) graduated from the school in 2005

Laurent Cuthbertson and William Barcewell perform in The Royal Ballet's production of Swan Lake, featuring added choreography by Scarlett in March 2020

'We can confirm that the independent investigation has concluded and found there were no matters to pursue in relation to alleged contact with students of The Royal Ballet School.'

The allegations sent shockwaves through the ballet world, with Australia's Queensland Ballet among those to cut ties with Scarlett.

The Royal Opera House previously said it was 'made aware of allegations relating to Liam Scarlett' in August 2019.

'The individual was immediately suspended and an independent disciplinary investigation opened,' it said.
The following events are planned for the upcoming week throughout the region:  Jurassic Quest, featuring more than 100 life-like dinosaurs, dinosaur themed rides, live dinosaur shows and more, opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 23 at the Pennsylvania Convention...
Police are hunting for two men accused of stealing more than 500 rolls of toilet paper from supermarkets in Australia during the coronavirus outbreak.

The pair are alleged to have broken into the storage areas at four separate outlets in Sydneys south-west suburbs on Sunday, after a spate of panic buying has cleared many shelves of loo roll.

One of the men was reported to have threatened a supermarket employee at the Auburn branch with a knife, according to New South Wales police.

David Elliott, the minister for police and emergency services in New South Wales, condemned the disgraceful theft and urged anyone with information to come forward.I support any measures taken by police to protect our communities from this sort of disgraceful criminal activity, Mr Elliot said on Tuesday.

Police image of two men suspected of stealing toilet paper from storage rooms (New South Wales Police Force)

The people of NSW will not tolerate criminal behaviour at any time let alone during this crisis. People need to grow up and look out for our most vulnerable.

Investigating officers have issued pictures of the two men accused of the theft in the hope a member of the public will recognise them.

The first man is described by police as being of Mediterranean / Middle Eastern appearance, about 185 to 190cm tall, aged in his 30s, with a solid build.

He has tattoos on his arms and was wearing a grey collared shirt with long blue track pants. The second man is described as being 175 to 180cm tall with a slim build, aged between 30 and 35, and was wearing black Adidas trousers and a camouflaged hooded jumper.

While the pair appeared to be targeting toilet paper and stole multiple packs from the supermarkets in Granville and Auburn, they left empty handed from the shops in Bass Hill and Lidcombe.

More than 500 rolls were estimated to have been taken in all, according to Australian media reports.

Australia has experienced particularly intense bout of stockpiling in recent weeks. Two women were charged after a fight over toilet paper in a Sydney supermarket, while a man was tasered by police after allegedly attacking staff at a store in Tamworth that had temporarily run out of the same in-demand product.

New South Wales polices acting inspector Andrew New has urged people to stop panic buying loo roll and said supply chains were in place to make sure everyone had enough.

There is no need for it. Its not the Thunderdome, it's not Mad Max, we dont need to do that.

There are 2,044 confirmed coronavirus cases across Australia and eight deaths from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A man wanted in connection with



three blasts at a mosque in Bangladesh in 2002 has been arrested from Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra police said on Tuesday.

The crime branch of neighbouring Thane Police arrested the 42-year-old man, who was involved in the crude bomb blasts, one inside and two outside the mosque, an official said.

One person was killed and many were injured in the triple blast, which took place at Ilispur in the jurisdiction of Colarua Police Station, he said.

The man has been identified as Mophajjal Hussain alias Mopha Ali Gazi alias Maphizul Mandal, originally from Satkhira in Khulna state of Bangladesh, the official said.

Hussain was staying at Turbhe in neighbouring Navi Mumbai since the last few months and was doing odd jobs there, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajasthan's textile town Bhilwara has taken a massive screening exercise for suspected coronavirus carriers after 13 people, including three doctors and nine nursing staffers of a hospital, tested positive over the past few days in the state.

The thirteenth person who tested positive for Covid-19 infection was a family member of a doctor. The total number of corona positive patients in the state as on Tuesday was 32.

Amid Covid-19 scare in the city, the district administration has imposed curfew and sealed city's borders to trace the source of contagion.

Survey of about 70,000 households has been done between March 19 to 24 by 1,075 official teams. Screening of 3.5 lakh people living in the city and rural areas has been done," said Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday.

"Entry and exit without screening is prohibited in Bhilwara. We have controlled the community spread threat, the minister added.

Comparing Bhilwara with Italy is incorrect, said the minister, seeking to stem fears, triggered after a foreign organisation drew the ominous parallel. The advised minister advised people to shun any misleading information.

Dwelling on government's preparedness to curb the virus spread, the minister said there is no dearth of ventilator, masks and sanitisers to deal with any situation.

Sharma said the staffers of a private hospital were mostly infected with the virus due to the fault of the hospital.

The Health Department has made a massive arrangement to deal with the situation and there is nothing to worry about as the department is maintaining a close watch, the minister said, seeking to reassure people.

So far, 32 positive coronavirus cases have been detected in the state and their condition is stable, said the minister, pointing out that there has been no death in the state till now due to the corona affliction.

According to Health Department officials, a total of 124 people came in direct contact of the 13 positive patients in Bhilwara, while some others came in contact with other positive patients in the state, but all of them have been kept either in home-quarantine or isolation in various hospitals.

A total of 2,507 people, including 95 foreign returnees, were diagnosed with Influeza like illness, the department figures disclosed.

Among quarantined or isolated persons, 123 people are under home quarantine, 38 in hospital isolation wards while 130 others have been kept in quarantine facilities developed by the state's Health Department, the figures disclosed.

Bhilwara's Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Mushtaq Khan said out of the three rounds of screening, first round will be completed in a couple of days.

The local administration has identified the areas conducting screening in the second phase.

Between February 20 and before going into isolation last week, a doctor of the internal medicine department of the Bhilwara private hospital, who was first to be found Covid-19-positive, and other staffers the hospital had seen thousands of patients coming from neighbouring districts and states.

This has allegedly triggered a threat of community spread of coronavirus, said authorities.

Meanwhile, neighbouring districts have also starting contact tracing of those who visited Bhilwara during the period.

Ajmer District Collector Vishwa Mohan Sharma has appealed to the people to inform authorities if anyone has visited Bhilwara recently and get themselves tested at nearby government health facility.

Among the 32 corona-positive patients, 13 are in Bhilwara, six in Jaipur, four in Jhunjhunu, three in Jodhpur, two in Pratapgarh and one each in Pali and Sikar besides an Italian tourist couple.

As per official figures, test reports for 89 corona suspects are pending.

The Rajasthan government has ordered lockdown in the entire state till March 31 and has imposed prohibitory orders to curb the infection spread at community level.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Researchers at Keio University report in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health the results of an in-depth study on the importance of sleep for childrens health and social behavior. The main findings showed that the sleep onset time and duration of sleep are important factors for the development of social competence in children aged between 18 and 42 months.

Sleeping baby. Image Credit: Etsuko Tomisaki, Keio University

Common sense dictates that sleep in early childhood is important, but it is not widely known that Japanese infants have the shortest sleeping time in the world. Scientific research has shown that sleep is important for brain formation and that the frontal and parietal association areas of the brain play important roles in the development of social ability. The goal of my research is to clarify the relationship between sleep and the social competence of Japanese infants. Etsuko Tomisaki at Keio Universitys Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care

Methodology

Specifically, Tomisaki and her colleagues conducted a cohort study on the effects of sleep on the social competence of children and the relationship between changes in sleeping habits and their social competence through interventional research. The research looked at children at three different stages of development  ages 18 months, 30 months, and 42 months.

In Tomisakis research, social competence refers to an infants ability to understand and get along with others, and evaluating this is based on what is called the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS). Sleeping time refers to the time required to enter non-rapid eye movement (non-REM), whereas waking time is a state of being completely awake. Finally, night sleep time is anytime the child is asleep minus daytime naps, and subtracting the time the child wakes up during the night.

We asked caregivers to record their infants daily sleep log according to the Japan Childrens Study Sleep Questionnaire (JCSSQ). The log included sleep onset time, waking time in the morning, and sleep length. We recorded videos of interactions between caregivers and their infants as they played in the controlled environment of a 4x4 meter playroom with a small table and chairs. We asked the caregiver to teach their child the challenging task of building a house with small building blocks, which would be difficult to achieve for the child alone. The videos of the interaction between caregivers and their children were reviewed by trained evaluators. Etsuko Tomisaki

As part of the study, the Index of Child Care Environment (ICCE) questionnaire was used to assess the quality of each childs childcare environment according to 13 categories, including human stimulation, to determine the degree of parental care given by both partners, as well as social stimulation, which takes into account aspects such as outings to the park with the childs caregiver.

Tomisaki stresses that the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) was critical for analyzing the observation sessions and assessing the social competence of the children. The IRS contains 70 behavioral and 11 impression score-items to assess children according to categories including autonomy and empathy. It also assesses caregivers, who are scored in areas including respect for autonomous development, respect for empathy development, and so on. The maximum score on the IRS scale is 25, where a higher score indicates a higher level of social competence.

Main findings

Tomisakis research showed that the sleep onset time and duration of sleep are important factors for the development of social competence in children aged between 18 and 42 months.

In our study only 6.8% of infants in Japan were sleeping more than 11 hours at night, explains Tomisaki. Also, only 14.5% went to sleep before 9 p.m. The average onset time was 10 p.m., and 36.3% went to sleep later than this time. Our results indicate that Japanese children do not get enough sleep based on reports that nocturnal sleep durations of at least 11 hours in children less than 3.5 years is important for unimpaired cognitive ability when the children are 6 years old. Our research was focused on a limited range of ages and we only looked at sleep patterns of children who were 18 months old, so I think that it is important to expand this study to older children, and we hope that this research will be a protective factor to help prevent various childhood problems.
President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on March 21, 2020, in Washington. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Trump: Spread of CCP Virus Not the Fault of Asian Americans

President Donald Trump said on March 23 that Asian Americans arent responsible for spreading the CCP virus and that they need protection, after he was accused of racism in labeling the growing pandemic the Chinese virus last week.

Its very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world, Trump said during a White House press briefing March 23 with his virus task force.

They are amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form, he said. Theyre working closely with us to get rid of it, and we will prevail together.

Trump emphasized his comments in a Twitter thread on March 23.

It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

When asked at the news conference what prompted his remarks, Trump said that it seems that there could be a little bit of nasty language toward the Asian Americans in our country.

I dont like that at all, he said. So I just wanted to make that point, because theyre blaming China, and they are making statements to great American citizens that happen to be of Asian heritage, and Im not gonna let that happen.

It came after the president called the CCP virus the Chinese virus in a Twitter post last week.

The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2020

The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before! Trump posted on March 17.

Trump explained the following day at a press conference that his choice of words was based on Beijing putting out information that was false, [saying] that our military gave this [virus] to them.

Rather than having an argument, I had to call it where it came from. Its a very accurate term, he said.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement of the outbreak in Wuhan allowed the virus to spread across China and create a global pandemic.

Trump has repeatedly criticized China and its handling of the virus outbreak, but hes been careful to avoid criticisms of its leader, Xi Jinping.

On March 20, Trump said he greatly respects China and Xi, but added that it was unfortunate the virus began in China and got out of control. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijings delay in sharing information about the virus created risks for people worldwide.

At the same time, Trump and his administration have strongly rejected attempts by some Chinese officials to blame the virus on the U.S. military.

Trump last week suggested that the Chinese communist regime is to blame for the CCP virus, which has spread to more than 160 countries and territories around the world, killing thousands.

Reuters contributed to this report.
business Nation under lockdown for 21 days, but stock market will stay open Daily operations of BSE will continue as usual, said CEO Ashish Chauhan while backing PM Modi's decision of a nationwide lockdown.
New Delhi, March 24 : Amid the nationwide lockdown, the condition of daily wagers seems to have turned pathetic with many posting their videos of distress on social media.

A video posted from Facebook account and shared by many daily wagers, including handcart-pullers, have appealed the government for help. A person is seen in the post saying, "We don't have anything to eat. I appeal the Delhi government and the Bharat sarkar for help." The other people in the video are seen saying they couldn't go to their native places due to the lockdown.

The Congress has also demanded help for the distressed. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal reiterated the Congress demand for financial help for the poor rendered jobless due to coronavirus scare. He demanded at least Rs 10,000 for each of them.

Urging the government to work fast and not wait for the calamity to reach its doors, Sibal tweeted: "When at war, respond on a war-footing." Terming the shutdown 'positive', Sibal said many people, such as migrants, those working in the unorganised and other sectors, farm labourers, unemployed, and daily-wagers, were out of work and they should be provided Rs 10,000 each through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) to overcome the crisis.
Colorado officially abolished the death penalty in the state on Monday, becoming the 22nd state to do so since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

The bill bans capital punishment for defendants convicted of Class 1 felonies in Colorado beginning July 1, but does not automatically commute the sentences of those already on death row awaiting execution by lethal injection.

However, Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed the legislation banning the death penalty and commuted the sentences of the three individuals on death row in Colorado to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Commutations are typically granted to reflect evidence of extraordinary change in the offender. That is not why I am commuting these sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Polis said in a statement.

Rather, the commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the State of Colorado, and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the State of Colorado, the governor said, adding that he understands that some victims agree with my decision and others disagree.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler slammed the legislation, saying it nullifies jury verdicts for serious criminals.

With a mere stroke of his pen and buried under the coverage of an urgent, global pandemic, Gov Polis wiped away three separate unanimous jury verdicts for some of the worst murderers in our states history, Brauchler said.

Colorado performed its last execution in 1997, when Gary Lee Davis was killed by lethal injection for kidnapping a 33-year-old woman and murdering her.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / AMPD Ventures Inc. ("AMPD" or the "Company") (CSE:AMPD)(FRA:2Q0) provides update to AMPD shareholders, stakeholders and customers.

The past few weeks have seen extreme disruption around the world, including volatility in capital markets, driven by uncertainties surrounding COVID-19.

With AMPD's focus being primarily on digital industries and the ability for many of our customers to remote compute, we remain confident in growth opportunities in our business and the network of industries we work within. AMPD recently completed a private placement and expect that the Company has the financial resources to deal with the anticipated economic conditions that COVID-19 may cause. There do not appear to be any significant interruptions to the AMPD supply chain.

We remain operationally focused, and expect to be well positioned to maintain industry-wide demand for our infrastructure and services. Media reports are indicating that there has been an increased interest in computer gaming, eSports and other digital media consumption during the crisis. For example, PC-game digital distribution platform, Steam, has been experiencing record numbers of over 20M concurrent players connecting to its service since social distancing mandates were introduced around the world.

COVID-19 demands both local and global efforts to protect the most vulnerable, to study this virus, and to care for the sick.

We are pleased to provide an update on the ways in which AMPD is doing its part.

At our AMPD Head Office and Data Centres

We implemented a national work-from-home policy which began on Monday, March 16, 2020. Employees and contractors are currently working remotely using our cloud-based subscriptions and collaborative communications tools to help maintain a business-as-usual standard across the Company. Our employees are remaining as productive while ensuring their safety and security and the safety and security of their families.

AMPD has been leveraging our strengths in high-performance computing to assist our key customers in their transition to work-at-home policies by, for example, increasing bandwidth to our data centres to improve access to resources that people are now using remotely.

We are accelerating the development of our platform that facilitates effective remote infrastructure utilization across a wide range of sectors, primarily via powerful remote workstation technologies and other collaborative tools. This has been a key area of development for AMPD and the current situation has prioritized this area of the business.

Market Conditions

Global health and geopolitical tensions have been making news headlines, and business and investment media also have reported a recent devaluation in the financial markets. AMPD is subject to the same set of market conditions as almost every other tech company in the world. We continue to make progress in developing our customer pipeline and the development of our second data centre, DC2.

Digital Marketing

Since going public in 2019, AMPD has been working on ramping up its digital marketing communications as part of an initiative to increase shareholder awareness and customer acquisition. We recently hired Mishka Gounden, a corporate communications professional with over ten years of experience in public market communications. Mishka will spearhead the implementation of our digital marketing program, which will include a series of industry-focused blog posts, investor and customer targeted newsletters, employee spotlights, business updates and social media campaigns. The first issue of the AMPD Newsletter will also provide answers to various Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQs") we have recently received from our stakeholders. To receive the newsletter, investors, customers and stakeholders are encouraged to sign up at www.ampd.tech.

About AMPD Ventures Inc.

AMPD specializes in providing high performance cloud and compute solutions for low latency applications, including video games and eSports, digital animation and visual effects, and big data collection, analysis and visualization. The shares of AMPD are listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (symbol AMPD) and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 2Q0). For further details on AMPD Technologies, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.ampd.tech) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AMPD Ventures Inc.

"Anthony Brown"

Anthony Brown,

CEO and Director

For further information please contact:

ir@ampd.tech

Tel: 604-332-3329 ext. 3

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement

Certain statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information herein include, but are not limited to, the growth opportunities in our business and industries we work within, impact of COVID-19 on our financial resources, employees, and supply chain, and consumption of computer gaming, eSports and other digital media, and our digital marketing program.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including the impact of COVID-19 on global economic conditions, our supply chain, our financial resources, our customers, our prospects and our relevant industries, the ability to maintain sufficient financial resources, and timing of our digital marketing program. Although our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include uncertainty regarding the impact of COVID-19 on global economic conditions, our supply chain, our financial resources, our customers, our prospects and our relevant industries those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 2A Listing Statement dated October 17, 2019 and "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada.

All forward looking statements and information contained in this News Release are qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: AMPD Ventures Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/582234/AMPD-Provides-Corporate-Update-Amid-COVID-19-Outbreak
Kerala Police Cyberdome on Tuesday said that it is conducting an online hackathon named 'CODE-VID-19' to find IT-based innovative solutions that can help the police in the fight against coronavirus.

"We are conducting an online hackathon named 'CODE-VID-19' to find IT-based innovative solutions that can help police in the fight against COVID-19. We call upon the tech-community across India to come forward and contribute to this fight against COVID-19. Showcase your technical skills to stop-prevent-contain the pandemic COVID-19," Kerala Police Cyberdome said in a statement.

"The objective of online CODE-VID 19 is to find a technology-based innovative solution for police to effectively contain coronavirus for the benefit of society. The last date of submission of your idea and technical solutions is 29-03-2020. The best idea will be suitably rewarded. We invite you, to leverage your technical skill to fight pandemic COVID- 19," the statement added.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday announced a complete lockdown in the state as the number of COVID-19 cases reached 95 in the state.

According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases reached 482.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lawmakers in the European Parliament are calling for asylum-seekers in Greece's overcrowded camps to be evacuated because of the deadly risk posed by the novel coronavirus.

In a letter released Monday, the head of the parliament's civil liberties committee, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, warned that the 42,000 migrants packed into the facilities built for just 6,000 had no possibility of social distancing.

"One of the main issues to be addressed to avoid the quick and wide spread of COVID-19 on the Greek islands is the urgent preventive evacuation of the overcrowded camps... If the EU fails to take immediate action, the situation on the Greek islands will become unmanageable with the risk of many deaths," he said.

The letter was addressed to the EU's commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic.

The parliamentary committee also called for EU member states to coordinate health access for asylum-seekers and more funding to boost hospital capacity and intensive care.

Greece has so far not detected any coronavirus infection cases in its migrant camps set up on some of its islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos.

The country has registered 695 cases, including two in the Greek community on Lesbos, and 17 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Michael Ciaglo, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Midland exploration and production company Diamondback Energy is cutting its 2020 drilling budget for a second time this month as crude oil continue to fall to nearly 20-year lows.

In a statement issued late last week, Diamondback has cut $1.2 billion from hits capital budget, meaning that the company now plans to spend between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion on drilling and completing new wells this  and plans to cut more, if oil prices continue to fall.
Maegan Blackwell hadnt traveled recently.

The 32-year-old wife and mother from Katy diligently washed her hands throughout the day and was religious about using hand sanitizer and disinfectants.

She was not out of the country or near someone who had it, said her mother, Jeanette Maurer, who runs a Katy childrens charity. She is a mother who was just shopping for her family and eating out to support local restaurants.

Still, Blackwell ended up this month in a negative pressure room at a Katy hospital, diagnosed with a possible case of COVID-19. Her admittance followed what her family says were several unsuccessful efforts to get tested for the novel coronavirus. She was discharged March 24 with instructions to self-quarantine at home as she awaited COVID-19 test results, according to a discharge report that she provided to the Houston Chronicle. She subsequently learned that she had tested negative for the virus.

Still, her case reflects the challenges that some have face in getting tested as doctors try to follow protocols and as states and localities endeavor to make testing available to greater numbers of patients. Harris County officials said recently they might have to close testing sites if the federal government did not send another shipment of them and other medical supplies.

Blackwell shared her experience with the Chronicle because she wanted others to take the coronavirus threat seriously and follow the guidance of experts to practice social distancing and other preventative measures.

Please, stay home, Blackwell warned from her hospital bed on March 23, prior to her discharge. Listen to what the government and the doctors are telling you. I was just doing normal activities. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone, and our hospitals wont be able to handle it.

Blackwell, who has a 3-year-old son and works from home sewing costumes for children, said her symptoms began March 15. She felt fatigued and had a headache. Blackwell took a nap, and when she woke up, she was struggling to breathe.

I thought maybe it was just allergies, so I decided just to take it easy, she recalled.

The next evening, Blackwell began running a fever and experiencing a dry cough. On March 17, Blackwells husband Andrew called their primary care physician, who instructed her to come into the office for strep and flu tests. When both tests came back negative, her doctor was perplexed.

The family physician phoned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was on the phone with her for almost two hours while they tried to figure out what to do, she recalled.

In the end, the CDC told me to go to the emergency room, she said.

The CDC has said the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the disease, but that an analysis of U.S. cases from Feb. 12 to March 16 found 38 percent of those requiring hospitalization were younger than 55.

When Blackwell went to the emergency room at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, she said, the doctors gave her a second test for strep and flu. The results were negative again. According to Blackwell, the hospital was reluctant to administer the COVID-19 test amid a shortage of test kits and because she didnt fit the profile for most cases.

(The hospital) wouldnt give me the test even though the CDC wanted me to have it, she recalled. They just said over and over that I couldnt have it because I hadnt traveled.

Blackwell was sent home.

Andrew Blackwell was determined to find a test for his wife, even putting out a plea for help on Facebook.

After making several phone calls, Andrew found a private clinic in Sugar Land that had a COVID-19 test. Dr. Tayma Shaya, who runs the clinic, agreed to see Blackwell by video conference and concluded Blackwell had all the signs of the coronavirus. She arranged for Blackwell to be tested and to be admitted at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital.

Shaya believes the hospital may have followed CDC guidelines too strictly in declining to test Blackwell. When Blackwell first arrived at the hospital, Shaya explained, the CDC had issued guidelines directing doctors only to test patients who had traveled recently. Given that many Houston-area residents travel, she said, she doesnt believe lack of travel history should have disqualified patients from being tested in this region.

Guidelines are important, of course, but you also have to look at the person and assess them as an individual, Shaya said.

By the time Blackwell was admitted March 21, her vital signs were poor. According to Blackwell, her blood pressure was 88 over 40, and her resting heart rate was 160 beats per minute. She was almost in septic shock when they admitted her, Shaya said.

The doctors took Blackwell to a part of the hospital that has been converted to a special COVID-19 isolation ward. She said she was told that test results were backlogged.

Theyre not sure whats going on, and weve been running so many tests, she said Monday.

Meanwhile, her husband and son Alexander were directed to self-quarantine at home.

I have a 3-year-old son, and keeping him entertained without going outside makes up my day, Andrew Blackwell said the night of March 23. I try to keep my mind on him so that I dont worry too much about my wife.

He voiced frustration that Maegan wasnt tested sooner given that three doctors concluded she should be.

She had every single red flag that we know of and every single symptom, he said.

Representatives of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital initially declined to comment on her case, citing patient privacy laws. The hospital has been following the testing criteria outlined by the CDC and other agencies, the hospital said. After Blackwell signed a waiver allowing the hospital to discuss her case, a spokesperson confirmed Blackwell had tested negative.

Maegan Blackwell lauded the care that she received after being admitted at Memorial Hermann Katy. As she spoke from her hospital bed, she accidentally bumped the button to call the nurse. The nurse was at the door within 10 seconds.

As you can see, theyre very responsive, she laughed.

Doctors administered steroids, antivirals, malaria medications and antibiotics, she said. Blackwell never required a ventilator, she says, but she received regular oxygen treatments to help her breathe. For Blackwell, the pain was the worst part of her illness.

The body aches alone are 10 times worse than the flu, she said Monday. The pain is constant on my chest. It feels like your whole chest is caving in.

Blackwell was baffled as to how she became ill.

She said she began paying attention to the spread of COVID-19 in early March.

I did my shopping at Costco and Kroger to make sure I had necessary things, and I shopped at Joanns to get things for my crafts, but it was just normal day-to-day stuff, she recalled.

She went to lunch with friends and took her son to play dates until Fort Bend County Judge KP George declared a public health emergency on March 12, at which point she began practicing social distancing. She also began limiting her trips to the store for essential items only.

After Blackwells admission to the hospital, she said, her condition improved even as she still experienced pain.

Blackwell hopes her story will serve as a warning to people who are continuing to leave their homes and interact socially despite the threat of infection. Such concerns prompted local officials to issue stay-at-home orders recently in most Houston-area counties.

Im talking to the nurses, and (the danger of the virus) is not overblown, Blackwell said before she went home. The hospitals are not prepared for this. Theyre running out of masks. Theyre running out of gowns. Theyre having to ration everything.

A hospital spokeswoman said Saturday, "Memorial Hermann has a steady supply of personal protective equipment for our healthcare workers, but the utilization of that PPE has increased significantly over the last few weeks. "

"Recognizing this as a potential issue and seeing others from across the globe struggling with PPE supply, we have worked diligently and proactively to take the necessary steps to ensure our healthcare workers continue to have the required PPE to safely care for patients," she said.

Editors Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Blackwell later tested negative for COVID-19. A hospital spokesman clarified that Blackwell was treated in a negative pressure room, not intensive care, and has adequate personal protective equipment.

claire.goodman@chron.com
Passengers on board a cruise ship that was granted permission to dock in Hawaii after being turned away from New Zealand, Tahiti and Fiji over coronavirus fears have finally begun to disembark.

Hawaii officials flip-flopped on a decision before eventually agreeing to let the passengers off at Honolulu Harbor as the cruise liner faced mechanical problems and needed repair work.

The 2,000 passengers, none of whom are believed to have COVID-19, were disembarking the ship on Monday and Tuesday before catching chartered flights home and entering a 14-day period of self-isolation.

Most of the passengers are Australian.

Norwegian Jewel passengers disembark at Pier 2 at Honolulu Harbor, Monday. The development came after Hawaii officials changed their minds several times about whether the 2,000 passengers on the Norwegian Jewel could set foot in the state

Norwegian Jewel passengers disembark at Pier 2. There were no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus on the Jewel, according to state and cruise line officials

The Norwegian Jewel is pictured docked in Honolulu on Monday, March 23

The Norwegian Jewel docked on late Sunday afternoon after setting sail from Sydney last month.

The journey's original end date of last Wednesday ended up being extended by almost a week as the cruise ship found itself turned away from multiple ports.

Some of the passengers were allowed off the ship on Monday, while the rest will be flown home by Norwegian Cruise Line today, from Honolulu to Los Angeles; Sydney; London; Vancouver; British Columbia; and Frankfurt, Germany.

All passengers are required to go through U.S. customs and are screened by cruise line doctors on board the ship.

A woman, bottom left, looks out from the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship in Honolulu on Monday

A plane takes off over the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship as it sits docked in Honolulu on Monday. Passengers from the cruise ship that was turned away from other ports before arriving in Hawaii are being taken to Honolulu airport for chartered flights home

A man walks on the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship in Honolulu on Monday. Passengers will remain on board the Norwegian Jewel up until three hours before their charter flight is scheduled to leave

They will then enter a terminal at the harbour and undergo thermal screening. Anyone displaying symptoms such as a fever will be examined by doctors.

Passengers will remain on board the Norwegian Jewel up until three hours before their charter flight is scheduled to leave, according to local paper the Star Advertiser.

On arrival in their home country, it is likely that passengers will face a 14-day isolation period.

The ship needs repairs to its propulsion mechanism which requires that there are non on board, the Hawaii Department of Transportation said.

The Norwegian Jewel cruise ship docks at Honolulu Harbor on Sunday afternoon. Most of its 2,000 passengers are Australian and none have tested positive for coronavirus

Passengers on board the Norwegian Jewel. They are to disembark in Hawaii as the ship requires repairs and Norwegian Cruise Lines is chartering flights from Honolulu to Los Angeles; Sydney; London; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Frankfurt, Germany

'A detailed plan is being developed with Norwegian Cruise Line that keeps passengers isolated to avoid any potential strain on Hawaii's resources, while also addressing the well-being of the cruise line passengers who have been at sea for a very long time,' said Jade Butay, director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

The ship had to cut short its 23-day cruise of Australia and French Polynesia because many ports were closed due to the coronavirus, the ship's owner, Norwegian Cruise Line, said in a statement.

'Because of the additional precautions we are taking in response to the COVID-19 crisis, it will take some time to transport these passengers safely to their chartered planes and we thank the public for its cooperation and understanding,' Butay said.

The Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is in lock down while health authorities test a man for Coronavirus on February 14

There are no confirmed cases of the coronavirus among the ship's 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members, the transportation department said.

On Thursday, the Norwegian Cruise Line said the Norwegian Jewel was turned away by Fiji and New Zealand.

The ship had refuelled in American Samoa but was not allowed to disembark at the Port of Pago Pago.

The Norwegian Cruise Line suspended the ship for all voyages from March 13 to April 11.

'Please know that we will continue to consult with The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take action as necessary,' the company said in a statement.

'Our business also relies on the availability and accessibility of ports around the world. As such, we will continue to monitor the situation and evaluate the feasibility of redeploying our ships as planned on April 12, 2020.'
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the deadline for obtaining a REAL ID for travel requirements is being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government was scheduled to begin requiring a REAL ID, enhanced drivers license or similar valid identification cards in order to board any domestic flight starting Oct. 1, 2020. Trump said Monday that the deadline will be moved back to avoid crowding at DMV offices.

We are postponing the deadline for compliance with Real ID requirement at a time when we are asking Americans to maintain social distancing, Trump said during a White House briefing on the COVID-19 crisis.

Trump said a new deadline would be announced at a later date.

In New York, Department of Motor Vehicle locations went to appointment-only last week to help limit crowds. Appointments can be made online. Some DMV offices have adjusted hours of availability or closed entirely.

The REAL ID, or Real ID, was created in 2005 to increase federal security measures after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The REAL ID, which also serves as standard drivers licenses and identification cards, will be required for any adults 18 or older flying within the United States or to enter federal buildings and military bases.

New York has three types of identification: A standard drivers license, an Enhanced ID, and REAL ID. Both an Enhanced ID and a REAL ID will allow you to fly anywhere in the U.S., while a standard drivers license will not.

The REAL ID and Enhanced ID will also allow New York state residents to enter federal buildings, and Enhanced IDs will allow you to travel to Canada, Mexico and some Caribbean countries without a passport -- but not by plane. Passports are still required for all international flights.

There is no additional cost for a REAL ID, but you must go to a DMV office to get one in person. You cannot get a REAL ID online or by phone or mail.
Michael Cohrs is a US Army veteran, father, grandfather, and social studies teacher happily living with his wife, Lynn, in coastal Georgia where he continues to enjoy learning about different peoples and cultures, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and other role-play adventures. He has published his latest book Hunter and Warrior of Rhudaur: a spellbinding adventure inspired by the legendary works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Riam, a hunter in his hillman clan, has no idea what is about to happen to him. As he returns from a hunt for food, he encounters trolls, orcs, and a rogue hillman ranger who plots against his people. With the help of the dwarf Toram, whom he saves, Riam avenges his betrayed clan and discovers how the manipulations of clan politics is normal for his people and decides to try a new way. With the help of Toram, he uses the wealth and weapons he acquires along the way to leave the culture of the hillmen and become a dwarf-trained warrior in pursuit of vengeance for his dead father and mother. He joins a quest that seeks to fulfill the ambitions of all the members of an adventuring party, and along with Toram, his dwarven friend, he heads north into perilous danger.

Trespassing into the lands of the Witch King and entering into an orcish stronghold to acquire a fabled lost treasure almost costs them their lives. Riam encounters a dragon guarding a treasure, and his method of dealing with it leaves more problems than answers. The group finishes their quest in the north but are left with the problem of returning south. The return trip is as dangerous but just as profitable as they leave the north and return home.

Published by Page Publishing, A Michael Cohrss engrossing book is a must-read for avid fans of medieval fantasy fiction.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchaseHunter and Warrior of Rhudaur 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.


People in Ireland have made over 20,000 donation to COVID-19 GoFundMe campaigns in Ireland.

One in every two GoFundMe campaigns started in Ireland over the past seven days have been related to COVID-19. More than 20,000 donations have been made and a massive 677,000 has been donated to these campaigns to date.

There are now more than 200 COVID-19 campaigns in Ireland and these were started by people who want to support those who have been affected most by COVID-19, from support of charity events that were cancelled, funds to buy medical supplies or meals for the vulnerable in local communities.

Cian OFlaherty, campaign organiser of the hugely successful Feed The Heroes campaign stated that "we have been blown away by the depth of public support for our campaign, it's an honour to be in charge of an incredible voluntary team with a critical mission in this difficult time. The frontline are incredibly grateful for public generosity and will make sure that these funds are put to good use and have an impact. Thank you to everyone who has supported Feed The Heroes and donated on GoFundMe."

Many of the people donating to a GoFundMe campaign may be doing so for the first time, GoFundMe is happy to reassure those donating that they and the donations they make are kept safe.

How GoFundMe keeps users safe:

 All GoFundMe campaigns face some form of vetting before withdrawal

 Vetting focuses both of the identity of the person and the legitimacy of the cause

 GoFundMe has a 24 hour customer support and trust and safety operation. Experts with backgrounds in finance & law enforcement make sure the millions of euros that donated get safely to the right place via best in class processes and technology

 GoFundMe is proud to be the only fundraising platform backed by a guarantee, which means that all donors, campaign organisers and beneficiaries are protected by a refund policy in the very rare event their funds don't get to the right places.

Some COVID-19 Campaigns in Ireland:

 Protect those who protect us is raising money for protective equipment for frontline workers in hospitals

 Help the homeless get through the COVID-19 Crisis was started by Maia Dunphy to raise funds for Merchants Quay Ireland and Inner City Helping Homeless

 Roz Purcell created the Feasta Cookbook for the Mater & Mercy Hospitals

 Student Nurses Covid-19 is supporting student nurses who are working full time without pay during this crisis
Businesses remaining open in Oakland County during the statewide stay-at-home order will need to screen their employees daily for COVID-19 symptoms, county officials announced Tuesday.

The measure, effective at noon March 25 through April 13, requires businesses deemed essential under Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home order to conduct daily health screenings for coronavirus, including questions about symptoms, any close contact with someone with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis and travel history. The order recommends a temperature check using a touchless thermometer.

Anyone displaying symptoms should be sent home and kept from working for three days with no fever and seven days since the first symptom, and those with close contact to a diagnosed COVID-19 case are required to stay away for 14 days under the order.

During a Tuesday press conference announcing the decision, Oakland County Executive David Coulter and Oakland County Health Officer Leigh-Anne Stafford said the measures were necessary to limit further spread of the disease.

If were doing this on a daily basis, people are going to start to see symptoms may change, Stafford said.

The order also asks open businesses to create a plan for workers and customers to keep at least six feet of space from each other within or outside the business and limit building capacity to accommodate for social distancing.

Stafford gave the example of grocery stores laying tape near checkout lines to show customers how far away they should stand as a possible implementation of this rule.

Oakland County has had one of the highest rates of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state thus far. Stafford said the latest county data indicates there have been 436 total confirmed cases in the county, with 100 hospitalizations and five deaths.

Coulter said there are enforcement mechanisms the county can pursue if businesses are not cooperating, but said hes hoping most businesseswill step up and do the right thing.

Were not trying to fill the jails with our business owners, what were trying to do is provide clear guidance, he said.

He said the county is preparing for the "worst-case scenario, and remains in talks with motels, hotels and conference centers in the event additional hospital beds are necessary.

The new requirements were announced as Michigan residents and businesses around the state adapt to the stay-at-home order now in effect. Whitmer said when announcing the new rules Monday that the stay-at-home order is "absolutely necessary to protect public health.

The executive order directs Michigan residents to stay in their homes through April 13. The executive order went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, March 24, and violations are a misdemeanor.

The order prohibits all businesses and operations from requiring workers to leave their homes unless those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations.

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.

Complete coverage of coronavirus in Michigan.

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There are now 155 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand.

There is a total of 40 new confirmed cases as of 10am today.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield says three probable cases. This is where people have returned negative tests, but the clinician treating them has diagonsed them with COVID-19, and are being treated as positive.

There are currently six people in hospital, none of them are in critical condition.

Ashley says there are 12 people who have recovered from the virus.

At today's press conference, he says there are also four cases of suspected community transmission. This is where there is no clear connection to overseas travel.

Three of these are in Auckland and one in Wairarapa. Ashely says this is two more than yesterday.

He says there is also one confirmed case in a rest home in Auckland.

A update on the All of Government COVID-19 National Response will provide an update to the media on the national COVID-19 response at 1pm today.

Speakers include: all of Government Controller John Ombler  update on Covid-19 national response, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health  health update, Iona Holsted, Secretary for Education  education update and Paul Stocks, Deputy Chief Executive MBIE  essential services update.

What we know so far

New Zealand has moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 3  Restrict, and will move into Level 4  Eliminate, as New Zealand escalates its response to stop the virus in its tracks.

Due to the early and strong steps weve taken, New Zealand is fortunate not to be as hard-hit by the virus as other countries but the trajectory is clear. We are under attack like the rest of the world and must unite to stop the worst from happening here, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

If community transmission takes off in New Zealand the number of cases will double every five days. If that happens unchecked, our health system will be inundated, and thousands of New Zealanders will die.

Together we can stop that from happening and our plan is simple. We can stop the spread by staying home and reducing contact.

Moving to Level 3, then 4, will place the most significant restrictions on our people in modern history but they are a necessary sacrifice to save lives.

At Level 3, we are asking non-essential businesses to close. This includes bars, restaurants, cafes, gyms, cinemas, pools, museums, libraries and other places where people gather together.

Essential services will remain open, such as supermarkets, banks, GPs, pharmacies, service stations, couriers and other important frontline service providers.

Gatherings, indoors or out, and of any shape or size, must be cancelled. This means weddings, birthday celebrations and other gatherings.

Workplaces should have everyone working from home. Essential services will stay open at every level, but must put in place alternative ways of working including physical distancing of staff of two metres.

Schools will be closed from tomorrow, except to children of essential workers who still need to go to work each day including doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and police. This will be temporary, and schools will close entirely from midnight Wednesday.

The school term break will be brought forward. For the remainder of this week and through the term break schools will establish ways to deliver teaching online and remotely as quickly as they can.

Public transport and regional air travel is restricted to those involved in essential services and freight, with domestic air travel permitted in some cases for people to leave the country and to get home to self-isolate. Private travel is allowed.

I say to all New Zealanders: The Government will do all it can to protect you. Now Im asking you to do everything you can to protect all of us. Kiwis  go home.

Today, get your neighbours phone number, set up a community group chat, get your gear to work from home, cancel social gatherings of any size or shape, prepare to walk around the block while keeping a two-metre distance between you.

If in doubt, dont go out.

These measures will be in place for four weeks at this point.

New Zealand is fighting an unprecedented global pandemic and it will take a collective effort of every single New Zealander doing the right thing to give us our best shot at curtailing community outbreak,."

Further details available at www.covid19.govt.nz

In a nutshell

 New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 3  Restrict

 New Zealand to move up to COVID-19 Alert Level 4  Eliminate, in 48 hours

 Two-staged approach to give people and businesses time to prepare

Level 3, from today

 Non-essential businesses must close

 All events and gatherings must be cancelled

 Schools will only open for children of essential workers. They will close completely when we move to Level 4

 Workplaces must implement alternative working with everyone who can to work from home

 No discretionary domestic air travel between regions

 Public transport for people undertaking essential services and transport of freight only

Govt takes significant economic decisions as NZ readies for Alert Level 4 in COVID-19 fight

The Government is announcing significant further support for the economy, workers and businesses as the country unites to prepare for Alert Level 4 in the fight against COVID-19.

Cabinet today agreed to remove the cap on the Governments wage subsidy scheme, which will inject a further $4 billion into the economy over the next eleven weeks.

In addition:

The Government is expediting urgent work on new income support measures for all workers above and beyond the wage subsidy scheme, to be appropriate for how the economy will operate under Alert Level 4.

The Government, Reserve Bank and retail banks have agreed in principle to significant temporary support for mortgage holders and a business finance guarantee scheme for those impacted by COVID-19 as the country moves towards Alert Level 4. The details of this will be announced in the next few days.

Cabinet has agreed to freeze all rent increases and to look to extend no-cause terminations to protect people during this difficult time.

We have a chance to beat this virus as we step up our public health response. We know this will have significant impacts on the economy, and we are doing what it takes in response to this rapidly changing situation, says Finance Minister Grant Robertson.

These significant measures  along with previous moves to raise benefits and tax changes to support cashflow  are focussed on cushioning the blow for workers and businesses as we respond to this unprecedented global crisis. As we have said before, we cannot guarantee to stop all job losses, but we are doing our best to cushion the blow.

"As this crisis evolves, we are moving rapidly to support New Zealanders.

"Now that many New Zealanders may not be able to go in to work for the next few weeks, our priority is ensuring they continue to receive some form of income through this period.

"All employers affected by COVID-19 will now be able to apply for the existing subsidy to support the wages of all of their workers.

"The changes mean the forecast cost of the wage subsidy scheme is being lifted from $5.1 billion to $9.3 billion. This assumes 50 per cent of businesses access the 12-week scheme.

The $9.3 billion is an estimate, not a cap or a floor. This means the support will be there to meet the demand. We are doing what it takes to put support in place for workers and businesses.

We can do this because New Zealand is one of the best-placed economies in the world to deal with COVID-19, due to our low Government debt and strong economic fundamentals going into this global crisis, says Grant.

MSD will do its best to get payments out the door as quickly as possible, says Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni.

But we ask that people have patience and show a little kindness to staff there who are working as quickly as they possibly can. A payment system of this magnitude is unprecedented in New Zealand.

Wage subsidy scheme  Cabinet decisions on 23 March:

A number of other important changes are being made to the scheme:

The previous $150,000 cap is being lifted, so that all employers can access the full payments to subsidise each of their workers salaries.

New businesses (eg. that are less than a year old) and high growth firms (eg. firms that have had significant increase in revenue) are also eligible. They need to demonstrate the revenue loss assessment against a similar time period, for example a 30% loss of income, attributable to COVID-19, in March 2020 compared to January 2020.

Self-employed people with variable monthly incomes are eligible if can demonstrate the revenue loss assessment against the previous years monthly average (eg. 30% loss of income attributable to COVID-19 comparing March 2020 to the average monthly income in the period March 2019 to March 2020).

The scheme does cover registered charities, non-governmental organisations, incorporated societies and post-settlement governance entities.

Other criteria still apply, including the 30 per cent revenue reduction and for businesses, on their best endeavours, to maintain their named employees at 80 per cent of their pre-COVID income. The same twelve-week period applies to the wage subsidy scheme.
- The Hubei province in China will soon lift the travel restrictions as the cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to lessen

- However, the travel ban in the city of Wuhan will be removed in April

- A photo also showed that the barricades placed for the lockdown in Wuhan are now being removed

- The netizens were pleased to know that the Hubei province is starting to recover from the pandemic

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The Health Commission for Hubei province in China announced on Tuesday that it will lift the travel restrictions in and out of the province.

KAMI learned that the travel ban will be lifted on March 25, except for the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a report by the GMA News Online, the decision of lifting the travel restrictions came after the number of COVID-19 cases in the province continues to decrease.

According to Bloomberg, the transportation in the city of Wuhan will resume on April 8, almost 3 months after the city was placed under lockdown.

On March 19, the Hubei province reported zero new cases of COVID-19, a large decrease after the pandemic infected more than 80,000 people in China.

A social media post by ABS-CBN News showed that the barricades along the boundary of Wuhan are now being removed.

The netizens are happy to know that the situation in the epicenter of COVID-19 is now going back to normal. Here are some of their comments on the Facebook post:

Thank you, Lord. Sana sa Pinas din. Let's be part of flattening the curve. Soon makakalampas din tayo.

All Glory to God! Hoping and Praying for the Philippines as well.

Thanks God! keep safe to all just pray

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As previously reported by KAMI, the National Health Commission reported zero cases of COVID-19 in Wuhan for the first time since the outbreak began.

As of posting time, there are 378,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease in the whole world. Meanwhile, over 100,000 of the patients have recovered.

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!

KAMI went out to the streets of Manila and sought to find out if people will be able to guess the voices of their favorite celebs just by playing a recording. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
During the Democratic Weekly Address, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) stated that Democrats wont support relief for corporations unless it comes with conditions.

DeFazio was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Hi, Im Congressman Peter DeFazio. I represent the 4th District of Oregon and serve as Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Theres no question we are in an unprecedented moment and fighting an unprecedented foe  COVID-19. People are worried about their health and that of their loved ones; the stability of their personal finances and the future of our economy. Its important to remember we are all in this together. Right now, Americans are working at every level, around the clock, to make sure we get through this crisis and that we take care of each other.

I see many acts of kindness and compassion in my communities in Oregon every day. Health care workers and first responders are working incredibly hard and sacrificing so much to treat and protect patients. School districts are stepping up to make sure students can get grab and go meals. Neighbors are helping neighbors get the food and supplies they need. One car dealership in my district is providing drivers to deliver meals and groceries to senior citizens and others with limited mobility. And a local distillery started making hand sanitizer for the community for free.

Thats so important because at the end of the day, putting people first is how we get back on our feet. Thats why Democrats are fighting For The People  to ensure that workers, families and students come first  that they are at the core of any piece of emergency legislation coming from this Congress to address this crisis.

In a matter of days, Congress has passed two bills that put families first, providing funding to jump-start the development of a vaccine; assist states with response; manufacturing and distributing needed medical supplies, and help people get food, paid sick leave and more.

One of our next priorities must be providing badly-needed relief to keep goods and essential workers moving  something Im focused on right now. Theres virtually no aspect of the transportation sector and the tens of millions of jobs it supports, that hasnt been hurt by this sudden change. As we adjust to a new reality, for now, of staying close to home, ridership on our public transit systems, commuter rail, Amtrak and airlines has plummeted  nearly zeroing out revenue streams.

But heres the thing: transportation will always be critical to our nation  especially right now. We need to make sure medical professionals can get to work. That the critical medical supplies they need are delivered urgently and responsibly. That the grocery store employee  whos working hard to keep the shelves stocked at your local store has a way to work. We need to make sure truck drivers and airplanes can move the cargo that so many people need right now, from prescriptions, to toiletries, to food and critical medical supplies and canned goods.

We will get through this pandemic stronger than ever. I am committed to making sure we keep our country running in the short-term and to position ourselves for a strong and speedy recovery fueled by the investments we need to build a 21st century transportation system and provide millions of jobs.

So, Congress is having intense discussions about the best path forward right now to keep all parts of our transportation system moving. And one thing is certain: we cannot repeat the mistakes Congress made in the wake of 9/11 or 2008, when the federal government awarded big corporations virtually no-strings-attached-relief. The results for corporate interests were great, while working families were largely left behind.

So, Democrats wont support relief for corporations unless it comes with strict guardrails that ensure American workers get taken care of first. That means any relief goes first to paying workers and protecting their benefits, like health insurance and retirement accounts  not stock buybacks, not executive giveaways, not layoffs.

That means capping corporate pay, prohibiting bonuses and golden parachutes for CEOs.

That means making certain workers and everyday Americans have a seat at the table where important business decisions are being made so Main Streets interests are fully considered  not just Wall Streets. We cant forget that most workers are the most valuable and important asset to a business of any size.

Of course transportation is just part of the equation, and rest assured, I and my fellow Democratic colleagues in Congress are working hard to get relief to people who lose their jobs, small businesses that have been shuttered and those who are struggling to make ends meet.

This is an unprecedented crisis. It will have lasting impacts on society. But I know that when faced with a national crisis, Americans rise to the challenge. We already see it in our communities, and I know that together, we can come out of this safer, stronger and more unified than before.

In the meantime, I urge everyone to heed guidance from the CDC and your state and local public health officials.

Wash your hands. Stay home if youre sick, practice social distancing, dont buy more supplies than you need and if your community is advised to shelter in place, understand that experts are making that difficult call only because its absolutely necessary to protect you and your fellow citizens.

We will get through this.

Be healthy, be safe and be kind to each other.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Alabama About 4.9 million people Gov. Kay Ivey had resisted a statewide order, saying that she wanted to balance the health of the state's residents with the health of the economy. "We are not California," she said on a conference call with reporters, according to AL.com. But after Birmingham, the largest city in the state, issued a shelter-in-place order for its residents, and amid growing pressure, the governor issued a statewide order. You need to understand we are past urging people to stay at home," she said. "It is now the law. Stay at home

Alaska About 737,000 people "We crossed a line today," Gov. Mike Dunleavy said, issuing instructions for people to stay home or remain six feet or more from one another when outside. The mayor of Anchorage had previously asked residents to "hunker down." Stay at home

Arizona About 7.2 million people Gov. Doug Ducey said he issued the order at the recommendation of health officials. "Im grateful to everyone making adjustments to fight this virus and protect others," he said. "We need to keep these efforts up." Stay at home

California About 39.6 million people California, Americas most populous state, was the first to order all residents to stay home. Others quickly followed suit. This is not a permanent state, this is a moment in time, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. We will look back at these decisions as pivotal. Stay at home

Colorado About 5.7 million people A number of counties and cities in the state, including Denver and Boulder, had issued their own stay-at-home orders, but Gov. Jared Polis also issued a statewide order, reiterating the need for everyone to stay at home. We owe it to ourselves and our fellow Americans in order to save lives, he said. Stay at home

Connecticut About 3.6 million people At this critical time it is essential that everyone just stay home, Gov. Ned Lamont said. Stay at home

Delaware About 973,000 people I dont want Delaware to be the example of what not to do in response to this crisis, Gov. John Carney said. Shelter in place

District of Columbia About 702,000 people Mayor Muriel E. Bowser issued a stay-at-home order for all residents, joining the nearby states of Maryland and Virginia in a move that virtually shut down the nation's capital region. "Many people want to know how they can help right now," the mayor said. "For most people this is how  by staying home." Stay at home

Florida About 21.5 million people Gov. Ron DeSantis, who for weeks resisted more stringent statewide measures even as cities and counties took action, announced that he would order the states more than 21 million residents to largely stay at home. The governor said he started coming around to the necessity of a statewide order once the White House extended national guidelines to combat the coronavirus until April 30. To me, that was, People arent just going to back to work, Mr. DeSantis said at a news conference in Tallahassee, the state capital. Thats a national pause button. Stay at home

Georgia About 10.6 million people Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he would issue a statewide order for all residents to shelter in place, following a similar stay-at-home order in Atlanta and other areas. He said he made the decision, in part, after learning that many people without symptoms are transmitting the virus. "At this point," he said, "I think it's the right thing to do." Shelter in place

Hawaii About 1.4 million people As in other states, there are exceptions to the stay-at-home order in Hawaii, including leaving the house to go surfing and swimming. But the governor's office said violations could be punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, or as much as one year in jail. The threat of COVID-19 is unprecedented and requires aggressive action," Gov. David Ige said. Stay at home

Idaho About 1.8 million people Our health care and public safety workers are putting themselves in harms way to respond to the coronavirus emergency, and we owe it to them to do our part by following this statewide stay-home order, Gov. Brad Little said. Stay at home

Illinois About 12.7 million people I dont come to this decision easily, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. I fully recognize that, in some cases, I am choosing between peoples lives and saving peoples livelihood. But ultimately, you cant have a livelihood if you dont have your life. Stay at home

Indiana About 6.7 million people Gov. Eric J. Holcomb asked "Hoosiers to hunker down." He added: You must be part of the solution, not the problem. Stay at home

Kansas About 2.9 million people After several municipalities in Kansas issued stay-at-home instructions in quick succession, including in the greater Kansas City region, Gov. Laura Kelly issued a statewide order. "While I left these decisions to local health departments as long as possible," she said, "the reality is that the patchwork approach that has developed is inconsistent and is a recipe for chaos." Stay at home

Kentucky About 4.5 million people Gov. Andy Beshear ordered all non-essential businesses to stop operating in-person services by March 26 and urged residents to stay "healthy at home." In a news conference on March 27, he clarified that the state's campaign amounted to telling residents to stay home. "That doesn't mean you need to cower down in your home," he said. But "you stay at home, unless you are getting groceries or other supplies that you may need." Healthy at home

Louisiana About 4.6 million people If we want to flatten the curve, we have to take action today, Gov. John Bel Edwards said. New Orleans had previously issued its own order. Stay at home

Maine About 1.3 million people We are in the midst of one of the greatest public health crises this world has seen in more than a century," Gov. Janet Mills said. "This virus will continue to sicken people across our state; our cases will only grow, and more people will die. I say this to be direct, to be as honest with you as I can. Because saving lives will depend on us. Stay at home

Maryland About 6 million people Citing a drastic uptick in cases and deaths in Maryland and the United States, Gov. Larry Hogan issued a statewide stay-at-home order. "We are no longer asking or suggesting that Marylanders stay home," he said. "We are directing them to do so." Stay at home

Massachusetts About 6.9 million people Gov. Charlie Baker stopped short of declaring a formal order, but announced an advisory for residents to stay home. I do not believe I can or should order U.S. citizens to be confined to their home for days on end, he said. It doesnt make sense from a public health point of view, and its not realistic. Stay at home advisory

Michigan About 10 million people Without a comprehensive national strategy, we, the states, must take action, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, urging residents to stay home. Stay at home

Minnesota About 5.6 million people Gov. Tim Walz emphasized the need to slow the spread of the virus over time and not overwhelm hospitals in Minnesota. "We are asking you  because it is going to take cooperation and collaboration  stay home," he said. Stay at home

Mississippi About 3 million people Gov. Tate Reeves announced a shelter-in-place order and asked all residents to take enforcement seriously. "If you will self-enforce this, it will go a long way to slowing the spread," he said. Shelter in place

Missouri About 6.1 million people Residents in the Kansas City, St. Louis and St. Louis County areas were among those under instructions to stay at home before Gov. Mike Parson issued a statewide order. The governor had previously rejected the step, but issued the order to "stay ahead of the battle." Stay at home

Montana About 1.1 million people "We cannot rebuild our economic strength without doing everything we can now to flatten the curve and slow the spread of this virus," Gov. Steve Bullock said. Stay at home

Nevada About 3.1 million people Gov. Steve Sisolak had shut down all nonessential businesses and encouraged residents to stay home for weeks before issuing a formal order, codifying a message he had been trying to send for weeks: "STAY HOME for our State," he said on Twitter. Stay at home

New Hampshire About 1.4 million people Gov. Chris Sununu had earlier described a stay-at-home order as not a "practical ask" of residents, but later put one in place. "We can't stress this enough  you should stay at your house unless absolutely necessary," he said. Stay at home

New Jersey About 8.9 million people We know the virus spreads through person-to-person contact, and the best way to prevent further exposure is to limit our public interactions, Gov. Phil Murphy said. Stay at home

New Mexico About 2.1 million people Addressing questions about whether she was issuing a shelter-in-place order, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said that the tantamount effect of what were doing is basically the same. She added: This is quite frankly an instruction to stay home. Stay at home

New York About 19.5 million people Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has shied away from the language of a shelter-in-place order, which he said evoked images of shooter situations or nuclear war. Words matter, the governor said, instead describing it as putting all of New York on pause. This is the most drastic action we can take, he said. Stay at home

North Carolina About 10.4 million people A number of cities and counties in North Carolina had already ordered their residents to stay home, but Gov. Roy Cooper made it official statewide. "Even if you dont think you have to worry about yourself, consider our nurses, doctors, custodial staff & other hospital workers who will be stretched beyond their capacity if we are unable to slow the spread of this disease," he said on Twitter. Stay at home

Ohio About 11.7 million people Gov. Mike DeWine has been notably aggressive in his response to the coronavirus, and Ohio was among the first wave of states to adopt this measure. We havent faced an enemy like we are facing today in 102 years, he said. We are at war. Stay at home

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has told older and vulnerable people across Oklahoma to stay home, but mayors in the state's major cities, including Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman, ordered all residents to do so. "We want to leave no doubt," Mayor David Holt of Oklahoma City said. "The safest course of action during this public health crisis is to stay home." Ardmore About 25,000 people Shelter in place Claremore About 19,000 people Stay at home Edmond About 93,000 people Shelter in place Moore About 62,000 people Shelter in place Norman About 123,000 people Stay at home Oklahoma City About 649,000 people Shelter in place Sallisaw About 9,000 people Shelter in place Stillwater About 50,000 people Shelter in place Tulsa About 401,000 people Shelter in place

Oregon About 4.2 million people Gov. Kate Brown took the action after seeing the states scenic trails and beaches packed with people over the weekend. If you're still not sure about an activity, skip it, she said. Staying home will save lives. Stay at home

Pennsylvania About 12.8 million people Starting March 23, Gov. Tom Wolf began ordering an expanding number of counties to stay at home, including in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions. On April 1, he announced he was enacting the order statewide. We appreciate the shared sacrifice of all 12.8 million Pennsylvanians," he said. "We are in this together." Stay at home

Puerto Rico About 3.2 million people Gov. Wanda Vazquez issued an order imposing a nightly curfew and allowing people to leave their homes during the day only to buy groceries or medicine, go to the bank, attend medical appointments, tend to caregiving responsibilities or work in businesses deemed essential. All citizens will have to stay home to stop the spread of this virus, she said. Curfew

Rhode Island About 1.1 million people Gov. Gina Raimondo issued a stay-at-home order in a state that has gone to great lengths to protect itself from outsiders, especially people fleeing New York City. She said a surge in cases was inevitable. "This is going to get very real very fast for all of us," she said. Stay at home

South Carolina About 5.1 million people Charleston and Columbia had previously ordered residents in those cities to stay at home before Gov. Henry McMaster issued a statewide "home or work order," which requires all South Carolinians to limit movement outside their home or place of work except for essential activities. South Carolina became the last state on the East Coast to issue such an order. Stay at home

Tennessee About 6.8 million people Residents in the Nashville and Memphis areas were already under instructions to stay at home as much as possible when Gov. Bill Lee issued statewide guidelines urging everyone to do so. "We need you to do that to protect the lives of your neighbors," he said. Stay at home

Texas About 29 million people For weeks, Gov. Greg Abbott left it to local officials to impose the most restrictive orders. Millions of people in certain cities and counties were told to stay home, including in Harris County, which includes Houston; Dallas and Tarrant Counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth region; and Bexar County, which includes San Antonio. On March 31, Mr. Abbott tightened guidelines, but said that "this is not a stay-at-home strategy." The next day, he released a video message to Texans, saying he had ordered "all Texans to stay at home, except to provide essential services or do essential things like going to the grocery store. A spokesman for Mr. Abbott later confirmed that Texas was under a statewide stay-at-home mandate. Stay at home

Utah Summit County, a popular area for skiing and tourism, became the first in Utah to issue such a restriction, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Salt Lake County also issued a similar order. The goals are to save lives and stop our hospital system from being overrun, Mayor Jenny Wilson of Salt Lake County said. Davis County About 352,000 people Stay at home Salt Lake County About 1.2 million people Stay at home Summit County About 42,000 people Stay at home

Vermont About 626,000 people I need all Vermonters to understand that the more quickly and closely we follow these stay-at-home measures, the faster and safer we can get through this and get our daily lives, and our economy, moving again," Gov. Phil Scott said. Stay at home

Virginia About 8.5 million people Gov. Ralph Northam, who shut down schools and nonessential businesses and banned gatherings of more than 10 people, had said that issuing a stay-at-home order was a matter of semantics. But after seeing beaches and other public areas packed with people, he issued a formal order. "It is clear more people still need to hear this basic message: Stay home." Stay at home

Washington About 7.5 million people Gov. Jay Inslee tried begging people to stay at home in Washington State, which has among the worst outbreaks of the virus in the country. Then he made it mandatory. The fastest way to get back to normal is to hit this hard, he said. Stay at home

West Virginia About 1.8 million people West Virginia was the last state to have a confirmed case of the virus, but Gov. Jim Justice quickly joined a chorus of other governors calling on residents to stay inside. A stay-at-home order is not martial law, he said, reminding residents that they could still leave their homes for food and outdoor activity. But he warned: The magnitude of this is unbelievable. Stay at home

Wisconsin About 5.8 million people Gov. Tony Evers initially thought he would not have to issue such an order, but later changed his mind. You can still get out and walk the dogs  its good exercise and its good for everyones mental health  but please dont take any other unnecessary trips," he said. "Limit your travel to essential needs like going to the doctor, grabbing groceries or getting medication. Stay at home
In late summer 2015, I stood on the deck of a small cruise ship in the Canadian Arctic and saw a polar bear. It was my first time encountering one up close. The bear was lonely and beautiful, adrift on a snow-covered slab of ice in the open sea. The water beyond the floe was cold and dark, but around the bear, where a hidden mass of ice below the surface captured light, there was turquoise.

I had seen other bears on this trip, some just vanilla ice cream scoops on red-brown tundra in the far distance. A few were distinct: one scaled a cliff to rob nesting seabirds of their eggs; another swam by as passengers crammed into the small inflatable boats we used for shore landings, its ears and snout barely visible above the water. But this sighting was different. The ships PA system had crackled in the dining hall as we all sat eating our lunch; a crew member announced that there was a polar bear ahead. Wed abandoned our soup bowls and stampeded to our cabins to grab puffy down jackets and cameras; the captain had slowed the ship to a crawl and then brought it to a full stop, coming to rest with the gentlest bump against the berg that held the bear.

Now a hundred tourists packed the deck in near-perfect silence, our only sounds the artificial clicks of digital cameras and the occasional sigh. The bear glanced up at us briefly, sniffed, and then dismissed us, returning his attention to a disemboweled seal that lay bloody on the snow beside him. He worked at the carcass, tearing off dark strips of tough blubber with his long yellow teeth, ignoring a handful of gulls that hovered eagerly nearby. We stood and watched the bear butcher that seal for more than an hour. We were close enough to hear the scrape of his claws on the ice, close enough to see that the seals eyeballs had popped out of their sockets and now dangled in the snow on long tendrils of nerve tissue.

As I observed the scene, I realized that I was witnessing a kind of reversal: the real animal behind the iconographythat is, the image of a solitary bear on a dwindling ice throne. In the age of climate change, the polar bear has become the mascot for a planetary crisis. With its crucial habitat, Arctic sea ice, in inexorable and well-documented retreat, it seems a usefuland, to those who havent seen one maul anything, adorablesymbol for an otherwise abstract warming process.

The polar bear as climate change symbol is ubiquitous. A Google search yields links to countless stories from CNN, the BBC, CBC, and many more outlets, alongside search suggestions for starving, global warming, sad, skinny, and dying. A notable example came in 2006, with the big-eyed cartoon polar bear swimming hopelessly in search of vanished sea ice in Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth. The appeal of polar bears has been attributed to the identifiable-victim effect. As Kate Manzo, a geographer at Newcastle University, writes in a 2010 paper, The basic idea is that numbers (or dry statistics) fail to either spark emotion or motivate action in the same way as images do.

Bears, in other words, are more compelling than bar graphs. Manzo charts the rise of the polar bear as an embodiment of climate change in connection with a few near-simultaneous events in the mid-2000s. One was a viral image of two Alaskan polar bears that seemed to be howling against injustice as ice crumbled around them. (The image was shot in 2004 but received its widest circulation when the Canadian Ice Service released it alongside a 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.) Another was the sudden global celebrity of Knut, the Berlin Zoos baby polar bear, born in 2006. As a cub, he was not only photographed and relentlessly documented by webcam but also trademarked, televised, and commemorated in everything from ringtones to stamps to credit cards. Knut even posed for Annie Leibovitz, landing the cover of Vanity Fair.

With polar bears, journalists had stumbled on a shorthand for climate changesomething specific, with emotional heft, that could be used to stand in for a slow-moving and almost invisible crisis. For millions of people who would never lay eyes on one in real life, let alone on a shrinking shard of ice, the polar bear would signify a looming disaster that otherwise felt distant, even irrelevant. But the polar bear, hungry and paddling on, couldnt tell the whole story.

I realized that I was witnessing a kind of reversal: the real animal behind the iconography.

If the polar bear capped the modern age of climate journalism, we can trace the beginnings of that era to the summer of 1988. It was unusually hot. Since the early years of the twentieth century, scientists had discussed the possibility that the planet would eventually be warmed by an excess of carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere. By the fifties, the first long-term data-gathering projects to document the increase in CO 2 had been launched. But public awareness was limited, and news outlets had given the threat only occasional notice. The New York Times published its first reference to a terrestrial greenhouse effect on August 2, 1970, reporting that its future consequences are unknown. (A story from 1961 had referred to the same effect on Venus.) Through the sixties and seventies and into the eighties, global warming was a prediction about something that might happen, says Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science at Harvard University who specializes in the story of climate change. Most people think its still pretty far away and they dont want to put a date on it.

But a hearing on June 23, 1988, changed that. Dr. James Hansen, the director of nasas Goddard Institute for Space Studies, appeared before the Senates Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Capitol Hill. Forty-seven years old, with a thinning brown comb-over, he wore a tan suit and a dark reddish tie. Seated before the committee, he pulled a pair of microphones in close, leaned forward, and explained his findings. He offered three key conclusions: First, that in all recorded history the earth had never been hotter than it was in 1988. Second, that the planets warming could now be attributed with a high degree of confidence to the greenhouse gas effect. And third, that the effect was already pronounced enough that it might explain the incidence of extreme weather events. The greenhouse effect has been detected, Hansen said, and it is changing our climate now. In a highly visible forum, with reach beyond the scientific community, the climate discussion had turned abruptly from speculation to something concrete.

Hansens role was to share his research on global temperature patterns, not to prescribe policy. The presiding senator on the committee, Timothy Wirth of Colorado, picked up where the scientist left off: The global climate is changing as the earths atmosphere gets warmer, he said after Hansen had testified. Now the Congress must begin to consider how we are going to slow or halt that warming trend and how we are going to cope with the changes that may already be inevitable. The next day, the front page of the New York Times was topped by the headline Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate.

A few months later, Discover made global warming its cover story. Andrew Revkin, the author of the piece, used Hansens testimony as the jumping-off point for a wider look at climate science. The magazines eye-catching front depicted Earth glowing white-hot and melting into a puddle, overlaid with the lines The Greenhouse Effect: This Summer Was Merely a Warm-Up. The next year, 1989, Bill McKibben published The End of Nature, which would become known as the first mainstream book on climate change. It seemed as though something was changing, that attention was being paid.

And then came the backlash. Hansens testimony triggered a rapid public relations response from the fossil fuel industry and other interested parties; that reaction and its fallout were the subject of Oreskess 2010 book Merchants of Doubt. Sadly, thats when the both sides false equivalence kicks in, she told me. Because journalists dont realize whats happening. They dont get it. They dont understand that this is a disinformation campaign. And frankly, most of the scientists dont understand it either. So the scientists dont call it out. That old journalistic touchstone of balance provided an ideal platform for companies like Exxon and BP to distort the science of the greenhouse gas effect. In a 2008 paper on televised news coverage of climate change between 1995 and 2004, Maxwell Boykoff, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, found that 70 percent of American news segments dealing with climate offered the kind of balanced coverage that ultimately obscured the scientific consensus.

In 2001, the George W. Bush administration announced its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 treaty that had offered a road map for emissions reductions and emphasized the contributions of industrialized nations. Kendra Pierre-Louis, who is now a reporter on the climate change desk at the New York Times, was in college at Cornell at the time. She remembers a series of campus protests and sit-ins where students spoke out against Bushs decision and called for the university to implement Kyoto even if the federal government would not. Pierre-Louis read The End of Nature and was shocked to realize that it had been published so many years earlier. I dont want to call it a blackout rage moment, she said. But I was just very confused. Everyone seemed to have known about this for over a decade and there didnt seem to be a lot of traction. By the mid-aughts, thats where things stood: scientists were largely in agreement, the public was largely unengaged, and journalists were struggling to connect the two. Enter the polar bear.

Ive been trying to tell this story for a long time, Gore says in the opening minutes of An Inconvenient Truth, and I feel as if Ive failed to get the message across. Back in college, Gore had studied under one of those early CO 2 data gatherers, Roger Revelle. So after Gores loss in the 2000 election, he returned to a project he had put aside during his vice presidency: giving public presentations about global warming. A touring slideshow led to the documentary, an Academy Award, a Nobel Peace Prize (awarded jointly to Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), and a critical milestone in the publics awareness of climate change. I remember the image he put on-screen: the animated polar bear, stranded on a shrinking iceberg, the open ocean menacing all around. As Gores voice-over describes polar bears swimming long distancesto find the ice, he transfers the bears sense of crisis to the viewer. The image cemented my awareness of the polar bear trope.

Journalisms wide embrace of the polar bear was logical, to a point. It leaned on the language of conservation, Pierre-Louis said. The polar-bear-on-sea-ice image was similar to save-the-whales campaigns and dolphin-safe tuna can labeling and the World Wildlife Funds panda logo. The overwhelming problems of the environment could be channeled through friendly megafauna.

But that focus also had limitations. For one thing, it led to several news cycles, over the years, of wrangling about the precise connections between viral imagesof a sad-looking bear, for instance, that was most likely dying of starvation or injury at the moment the photojournalists camera snappedand the effects of climate change. I do think, in retrospect, there were some problems with it, said Boykoff, whose recent book, Creative (Climate) Communication, is about effective ways to engage the public in environmental science. The polar bear, so far from most people, made it appear that climate change was something that was distant from us, Boykoff added. And so there is an argument that could be made that it did have this kind of stifling impact on engagement. Whereas if we really talked about how its affecting urban centers, how its affecting our daily lives, how its really an intersectional set of challenges, not just a single issue, and it permeates everything from land-use decision-making to immigration policy in the United Statesthat livens up all kinds of discussions that I think people find relevant.

For communities of color, the stereotype has always been that environmentalists care more about animals than they do about them.

A half hour or so into An Inconvenient Truth, Gore rattles off a statistic about the ten hottest years on record to date, noting how recent they all were. The hottest of all, Gore says, was 2005. That year saw what were historically high temperatures in a number of US citiesincluding, incidentally, New Orleans. We know what he is teeing up: Hurricane Katrina, a flooded New Orleans, nearly two thousand people dead, and the haunting imagery that most of us will remember from the hot, swampy days that followed the storm. Stranded residents waving for rescue from baking rooftop islands, the displaced hordes packed into the Superdome, Sean Penn in his skiff. Gore quotes Winston Churchill: We are entering a period of consequences.

I didnt connect Hurricane Katrina with climate change when it struck the Gulf Coast, or for many years afterward. Neither did the writer Mary Annaise Heglar, who lived through the storm. Not at all, at the time, she told me recently. And I dont think most people down here did eitherI dont remember seeing a lot of people make that argument, certainly not on TV. (As is so often the case, theres more room for coverage to diverge in print: On August 30, the day after the storm hit New Orleans, the New York Times ran a news story disputing the idea that Katrina was fueled by climate change. The day after that, the Times ran an opinion piece that began, The hurricane that struck Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming.)

Attuned to stories about the failures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about the Danziger Bridge shootings, and about Kanye Wests famous declaration that George Bush doesnt care about Black people, I thought of the aftermath of Katrina as a story about race and racism, about infrastructure and inequality, about political indifferenceand about the sheer emotional and financial and logistical difficulty of abandoning ones home. But the story of climate change is the story of all those things, too. Its not as simple as a white bear on shrinking sea ice.

Last fall, Heglar published an essay in Guernica that linked her familys experience during Katrina; the threat of climate change; and the story of Emmett Till, the fourteen-year-old boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Katrina descended the day after the 50th anniversary of the murder of Emmett Till, Heglar points out in her piece. The climate crisis is covered in the fingerprints of slavery and Jim Crow and colonialism and genocide and patriarchy, she continues. Its what happens when large swaths of people are not only systematically left out, but forced to be their own gravediggers and pallbearers. I cant help but see how those same layers complicate and exacerbate the crisis. When I spoke with her, Heglar compared using pictures of polar bears to tell the story of climate change to focusing on bombs to tell the story of war. You need to show the impacts on people, she said. In particular, for communities of color, the stereotype has always been that environmentalists care more about animals than they do about them.

As for the bears themselves, they are declining in some regions, but certain populations are stable and, in parts of the world, their numbers are increasing. Even as it becomes increasingly evident that they might not make for the best climate change symbol, the trope remains prevalent. I recently noticed that, to illustrate the impact of climate change on communities in northern British Columbia, a Vancouver paper had run a photo of a polar bear dipping a reluctant paw in the water. Surely the editors could have come up with some local imagery for the story, Id thought. There are no polar bears in British Columbia.

Some journalists, however, are trying to pivot in a human direction. Last October, Fiona Shields, the photo editor of The Guardian, published a note to the papers readers under the headline Why were rethinking the images we use for our climate journalism. She wrote: Often, when signalling environmental stories to our readers, selecting an image of a polar bear on melting ice has been the obviousthough not necessarily appropriatechoice. These images tell a certain story about the climate crisis but can seem remote and abstracta problem that is not a human one, nor one that is particularly urgent. From now on, instead of reaching reflexively for a stock image of a polar bear on an ice floe (the most convenient option in this era of shrinking time and money), The Guardian promised to strive to find human-focused images to tell its stories. We need new imagery for new narratives, Shields wrote. This can be challenging in a fast-paced newsroom but it is important to be nuanced and creative with search terms to unearth photography beyond the usual keywords of climate change, heatwave and floods.

The New York Times climate desk is seeking out alternatives, too. Recently, the Times used a high-end infrared camera to create a visual of a methane leak in Texas, normally an invisible event. Pierre-Louis pointed out that environmental journalists have vastly better tools at their disposal than they did during her college daystools that can help make symbolic bear-on-ice imagery obsolete. Attribution scienceused to determine the role of climate change in any major weather disasterhas progressed enough that researchers can calculate, almost in real time, the likelihood that a given event would have occurred without the influence of global warming. Such was the case during 2017s Hurricane Harvey, andclose to home for mewhen a retreating glacier caused the abrupt and total disappearance of a Yukon river, the worlds first known example of river piracy that can be firmly attributed to climate change.

I dont think theres an ideal image that is out there to be discovered, Manzo, the Newcastle University geographer, who has continued to study the impact of climate change media, told me. Its: What is it that you want to visualize? What is it you want to show? What message have you got that you want to get across? Different aspects of the problem will require different points of focus, and were only just starting to see a wider array of perspectives, with new and different ways of getting at the story.

That day on the ship, we eventually left the polar bear to his meal. The captain revved up the engines and motored on through a mostly ice-free Northwest Passage. We travelers returned to our abandoned lunches, and then dispersed to the hot tub or the bar. Beautiful and terrible as the polar bear had been, we had to leave him behind.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Eva Holland is a freelance writer based in Canadas Yukon. Her first book, Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear, comes out in April.
A new nine-part limited series Mrs America, based on the true events of the movement to ratify the American Equal Rights Amendment, will screen on Foxtel from late April.

Cate Blanchett takes on her first US television role as a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, in the FX drama, which also features Aussie Rose Byrne.

Other cast include Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks and Tracey Ullman plus John Slattery, Ari Graynor, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Melanie Lynskey and Kayli Carter.

This screens 5 days after its US premiere.

The series explores one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 1970s which helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted the US political landscape.

Mrs America features an all-star cast and is depicted by the women of the era from sweetheart of the silent majority Schlafly, to the second wave feminists such as Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne) the most recognizable leader of the womens movement, who played a major part in the effort to pass the ERA.

Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) plays Alice, a fictional character and Phyllis best friend who joins her to block the ERA.

Margo Martindale (The Americans) plays Bella Abzug, a three-term US Congresswoman, trailblazer in the feminist movement and leader in the effort to pass the ERA.

Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) plays Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman and, when she launched her unprecedented 1972 campaign, the first African American candidate to run for President from a major political party.

Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) plays Jill Ruckelshaus, a pro-choice, socially progressive Republican who was appointed by President Ford to run a presidential commission to advance womens rights and push for ratification of the ERA. She fought to keep the Republican Party from being taken over by the Religious Right.

Tracey Ullman plays Betty Friedan, the author of The Feminine Mystique and founder of the National Womens Political Caucus. She was an active proponent of the ERA.

Mrs America is executive produced by Emmy Award winner Dahvi Waller, who serves as creator and showrunner, Academy Award nominated Stacey Sher, Coco Francini, Cate Blanchett and Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, who directed four of the nine episodes, including the first two.

Tuesday, April 21 at 8.30pm on FOX Showcase.
Around 3,000 beds were moved into an exhibition center in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Tuesday, March 24, as soldiers helped convert the hall into a makeshift hospital to treat people with the novel coronavirus, the defense ministry said.

The site, Hall 1 at the Belgrade Fair complex, is the largest self-supported dome in Europe and usually hosts events such as trade fairs and exhibitions. The hall was taken over by the government as cases of COVID-19 rose across the country, and as concerns that the countrys health system would become overwhelmed with new cases of COVID-19.

By 3 pm on Tuesday, 303 cases had been confirmed in the country, and three people had died as a result of the virus, officials said.

Defense minister Aleksandar Vulin, who inspected the site on Tuesday, said doctors from China, where the virus was first detected, would assess whether improvements can be made, according to a statement from the ministry.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, President Aleksandar Vucic said only people with minor symptoms would be sent to Belgrade Fair Hall. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful
The listed hours for New Jerseys two state-run coronavirus testing sites are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lately, though, theyve been hitting capacity and closing early after less than an hour, sometimes even before official hours start.

The reality is that both sites have just 2,500 testing kits to use per week and have been limiting tests to about 350 per day  meaning neither the site at Bergen County Community College in Paramus nor the one at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel will operate for the full day anytime soon.

Gov. Phil Murphy has said the long lines have reflected the pent-up demand for testing in the state.

The site at Bergen Community College closed early on each of the five days it has been in operation as capacity was reached. On Tuesday the Paramus facility actually shut down more than a half hour before it was scheduled to open based on cars already in line. On Friday, when the site opened for the first time, the center reached capacity by noon with 654 tests being administered by the end of the day, according to health officials. There was a long line of cars waiting to get into the site that stretched for nearly three miles.

The PNC Bank Arts Center site shut a half-hour after opening on Monday, its first day of operation, and closed not long after opening again Tuesday.

As people line up earlier and earlier for the chance to get tested, both site are hitting capacity at an earlier time. The sites are only open to New Jersey residents who are symptomatic. Health officials have urged the worried well not to get in line since they will be turned away.

Although samples are collected at the two state-run sites, they are shipped to labs elsewhere to be tested.

Both sites are supported by FEMA  the Federal Emergency Management Agency. New Jersey is one of FEMAs 12 priority states and currently has the second highest number of positive tests in the country.

In addition to FEMA-supported sites, Atlantic Health, the parent company of Morristown Medical Center, has begun drive-through testing in Morris. The site is only accepting patients who meet the state Department of Healths criteria for COVID-19 testing through appointments made by Atlantic Medical Group physicians, according to a new release.

InFocus Urgent Care also has begun setting up test sites in Mercer County, according to reports.

Two drive-thru facilities have opened in Secaucus  the first site launched at the Riverside Medical Groups command center, and the second at Hudson Regional Hospital.

Testing also is being conducted at various state laboratories, hospitals and private companies, as well as at the Hackensack Meridian Hospital and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

When state officials gave their lat update, there were 2,844 positive tests and 27 deaths. Another update is expected at 2 p.m.

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.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Scientists at University of Limericks Bernal Institute have helped discover a molecule that they claim could have a major impact on how data is stored and processed.

The UL researchers found that a simple metalorganic molecule can go beyond simple binary (0  OFF, 1  ON) computing logic and can in fact switch between three distinct, long-lived states.

This first demonstration of a ternary molecular traffic light device could provide a low-energy means of storing and processing unstructured big data required for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Damien Thompson, Associate Professor in Physics at UL who leads a research team in predictive materials design at the Bernal Institute, proved, using state of the art computer simulations performed on the Irish Centre for High-End Computing supercomputer, that the surprisingly stable third state is made possible by an unequal sharing of electrons between different sides of the molecule.

The research solves a 50-year-old puzzle in physics.

The work, published today in the world-leading journal Nature Nanotechnology , is a result of an international collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), and Texas A&M University (TAMU).

The device was conceptualized and developed at NUS by Professor T. Venkatesan and his post-doctoral researcher Dr. Sreetosh Goswami, based on a molecular complex discovered by Prof Sreebrata Goswami of IACS in Kolkata. Prof Stanley Williams, founding director of the Quantum Science Research Laboratory at Hewlett-Packard and now at TAMU, developed the new device paradigm based on the newly discovered electrical properties.

Science Foundation Ireland-supported scientist and theory lead on the project Professor Thompson explained that big data is the Achilles heel of next-generation of computing, demanding ever-increasing higher computing density which means, with current binary devices, huge power requirements, impractically complex component manufacture and/or convoluted circuit designs.

Here, we managed to push way beyond industry roadmaps by finding a ternary resistive memory device with three states that are well-separated from each other in terms of conductance and, just as importantly, stay working away perfectly for weeks on end, explained Professor Thompson.

The trick to this first commercially viable multi-level computing device is a slightly arcane physical phenomenon called charge disproportionation or symmetry breaking, which we proved using computer simulations, he added.

Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Institute, said the research was high impact and reinforces the ambition of the Bernal Institute to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context.

This is a continuation of Bernal scientists world-leading contribution to the field of predictive materials modelling, he added.

Professor Sean Arkins, Dean of Science and Engineering at UL, said: Researchers at ULs Department of Physics continue to pioneer the exploitation of organic materials for electrical applications, and this work places them at the forefront of molecular nanotechnology.

Professor Thompson outlined that scientists have long noticed that certain materials can breathe in an electric or magnetic field, and sometimes the electron cloud around the molecules can lose its symmetry.

This has remained an academic curiosity until now lacking technological relevance because it has always been associated with a big change in temperature or pressure, he said.

Whereas here the third asymmetric state is created simply by allowing current to flow through the device and it persists over a broad temperature range (-100 to +100 C) so it is suitable for most conventional computing as well as future applications emerging from the symbiosis between physics, computing and biology.

In this new material, ions pulse back and forth between different binding sites on the molecules, which opens up the third state, making it energetically accessible and technologically exploitable, he added.
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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Jorge Cueva's life story could easily be the plot for a movie. At just the age of 18, Jorge, better known as Mr. Tempo, came to the U.S. from Mexico. Not knowing any English, he was only able to find a job, dishwashing for a local restaurant. That was some 20 plus years ago, now Jorge Cueva heads a diverse restaurant company that plans to have 9 locations by the end of 2020.Jorge Cueva was born and raised in Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state, Jalisco. In 1992, Jorge and his family decided to leave Mexico and immigrate to the United States in search of a better life.This was the beginning of a journey even Jorge never imagined.Jorge Cueva's humble beginnings in the restaurant industry took place in Washington as a dishwasher at the restaurant, Montezuma's. From there, Jorge slowly moved his way up ranks to a manager position. After working for over 7 years, he saved up enough money to go to college and obtained a degree in hotel-restaurant management. With his schooling and previous work experience, he opened his very own restaurant in 1997.Jorge's 28 years in the restaurant industry have started to pay off. He now owns five different establishments. Unlike a traditional restaurant, Jorge's restaurants have a wide variety of dishes ranging from seafood, sushi, tacos, steak, salads, all the way to burritos. His restaurants are known for their top-tier customer service and food. In fact, some customers wait for over 2-3 hours before even sitting down at a table. His two biggest current establishments are King & Queen Cantina and Tempo Cantina which are both located in California.When we asked him about his success and what it feels like to have come so far, he said, "The possibilities of creating anything you want are endless. Everything you dream, think or imagine you can achieve. Limits only exist in your mind. No one can stop you, you are the creator of your reality and your destiny." Not a single setback could keep Jorge Cueva's drive at bay. With over 5 new locations planned in the next few years, it seems Jorge's empire will only get bigger.Find out more about Mr. Tempo and his establishments here:Media contact:Name: Jorge CuevaCompany: Tempo CantinaWebsite: Jorgecueva.com Email: jorge@ tempourbankitchen.com SOURCE: Jorge Cueva
An Australian woman who tested positive to coronavirus has spoken out about her diagnosis after initially begging her parents to keep her condition a secret.

Gretel Harvey, from Brisbane, fell ill with COVID-19 after returning from her overseas holiday to London and Morocco on Thursday.

The 26-year-old became 'rapidly unwell', experiencing severe symptoms and difficulty breathing before receiving news that she had contracted the virus two days later.

Ms Harvey, who runs a catering business, opened up on being one of the 2,000-plus Australians who have tested positive for coronavirus, revealing how the stigma surrounding the disease prompted her to 'selfishly' keep it under wraps.

Gretel Harvey, from Brisbane, became ill with COVID-19 after returning from her overseas holiday to London and Morocco on Thursday

Ms Harvey said it wasn't until she became ill and confined to her empty house, unable to see her family, boyfriend and friends, that reality set in

'Two days ago, you couldn't have paid me to do this. But after some deep thinking and perspective, I feel somewhat compelled,' she said in a Facebook post on Monday.

'After returning from my trip on Thursday, I became rapidly unwell and on Saturday received a positive result for COVID19.

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

'Naturally, out of selfish panic I sent my family into silence and begged them not to tell anyone. Why? Who would buy food from the COVID girl? My business could not possibly survive a positive result.'

Like most young Australians, Ms Harvey admitted she initially had a flippant attitude towards the outbreak and never imagined she would be one of the thousands to catch the virus.

It wasn't until she actually became ill and confined to her empty house, unable to see her family, boyfriend and friends, that reality set in.

'For the entire duration of my trip, I joked about catching this disease. I shared memes, I made jokes, I thought I was invincible. Had I known what I know now, there is no way I would've gone on that holiday. Hindsight, huh?' she added.

'I've been to some dark places in the last three days. Not only am I incredibly unwell, I am lonely, I am stressed, I am sad, I am scared.

'I didn't see the face or hair colour of a single person that looked after me whilst in hospital and I am yet to wrap my arms around the ones I love.'

Although she felt shame over her health condition at first, Ms Harvey felt inclined to speak out and warn others to protect themselves after receiving an outpouring of support from loved ones.

Ms Harvey (pictured on holiday) admitted she initially had a flippant attitude towards the outbreak and never imagined she would be one of the thousands to catch the virus

'I begged my family to not give people that opportunity because I was worried about the business, that nobody would ever buy from me ever again how ridiculous,' she added.

'Right now, the ONLY important thing is protecting each other by alleviating the stress on our healthcare system.

'If a 26yo, fit, healthy woman experienced the most sinister symptom of all  I cannot stress to you enough, how easily I have felt this virus' ability to kill the elderly and compromised.'

Ms Harvey urged people to stay inside and call for the people to remove the stigma surrounding positive diagnoses.

'STAY THE F INSIDE. Whilst the closure of our small businesses (mine included) for the foreseeable future makes this more achievable, it is a scary time for us all and our economy, but we are all riding this wave together.'

'Finally  don't be afraid of a positive result. I wish somebody had told me to 'get over myself'. It is what it is. I am not the COVID girl. That's just the selfish, panic story I'm telling myself.

'There are so many bigger and more important things taking place right now than the reputation of my small business.

'My health will return, the virus will go away, and in due course  the business will bounce back. I am optimistic about that. '

Ms Harvey's post has received more than 800 likes and hundreds of comments praising her for her bravery.

'Sending our love and good positive vibes your way beautiful girl. Your positivity will bring your health and business back,' one person commented.

Another added: 'Great wake up call for all those getting around in denial... Thanks for sharing..hope your feeling better soon.'




U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the White House, March 23, 2020, in Washington, DC. AFP



U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been accused of racism in labeling the coronavirus pandemic the "Chinese virus," said in tweets on Monday that Asian-Americans were not responsible for spreading the disease and needed to be protected.



Earlier on Monday, the New York Times cited advocacy groups and researchers as saying there had been a surge of verbal and physical assaults on Asian-Americans reported in newspapers and to tip lines as the virus has taken hold in the United States.



Trump last week ratcheted up his rhetoric against China over the coronavirus, saying Beijing should have acted faster to warn the world after the disease outbreak there. He also dismissed criticism that his labeling it the "Chinese virus" was racist.



He brushed aside a reporter's question on Wednesday as to whether it was potentially harmful to Asian-Americans to give the disease that name, as well for an unnamed White House official to have privately termed it the "kung flu."






TUNIS (Reuters) - Renewed bombardments were reported by both sides in Libya on Monday after a pause in fighting that followed the main combatants agreeing to a ceasefire because of the coronavirus epidemic. The United Nations last week backed a call for the eastern-based Libyan National Army and the internationally recognised government in the capital Tripoli to accept a truce and both sides agreed

TUNIS (Reuters) - Renewed bombardments were reported by both sides in Libya on Monday after a pause in fighting that followed the main combatants agreeing to a ceasefire because of the coronavirus epidemic.

The United Nations last week backed a call for the eastern-based Libyan National Army and the internationally recognised government in the capital Tripoli to accept a truce and both sides agreed.

On Monday, the LNA and residents of Tarhuna, south of Tripoli, said Grad rockets fired by pro-Tripoli forces had landed in the town.

In Tripoli, local officials said an LNA missile landing near the only functioning airport, Mitiga, killed two people and wounded another.

Libya has not yet confirmed any cases of the coronavirus, but international aid agencies and local health officials have warned that its conflict will make combating an outbreak very difficult.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Turkey sends 26,000 test kits to Colombia in fight with coronavirus

Colombia has 277 confirmed coronavirus cases and three deaths.

Turkey has dispatched 26,000 test kits for the novel coronavirus to Colombia, the latter's National Institute of Food and Drug Monitoring (INVIMA) said Tuesday.

COLOMBIA WILL RUN TESTS MORE EFFICIENTLY

INVIMA said in a statement that the kits arrived on Sunday, enabling the country to run tests quicker and more efficiently.

INVIMA Director Julio Cesar Aldana Bula thanked the Turkish government for its support.
SINGAPORE, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global digital wealth management solutions provider, InvestCloud, has announced Taryn Balthazar as EVP, Head of Distribution Asia Pacific and Australia as the firm looks to scale up its presence and delivery capabilities in APAC.

InvestCloud's Singapore appointment is a major step in the firm's drive to build local teams across key markets throughout South East Asia. The move is designed to support product delivery and development of closer relationships with key clients and partners across the region.

Having led the delivery of the largest robo-advice and digital self-select investing project for InvestCloud in the U.S., Balthazar will now spearhead InvestCloud's growing Asia business. Balthazar will be joined by InvestCloud specialists from its headquarters in California to build the Singapore office.

"I'm excited about this opportunity to help drive growth for InvestCloud in Asia," said Taryn Balthazar, "I've spent a lot of time across the Asia-Pacific region working with clients, including one of the largest wealth managers in Australia, and am looking forward to delivering our digital capabilities to firms throughout the region."

InvestCloud, which supports more than $2tn of assets for over 700 clients, supplies digital solutions pre-integrated into the cloud to companies operating across the entire investment management value chain around the world.

John Wise, co-founder and CEO at InvestCloud commented: "I'm delighted that Taryn will be heading up our Singapore office. Her tremendous experience in delivering digital solutions to many of our leading clients, including the largest banks in the U.S., will serve our clients in the Asia Pacific market well. In addition to the team joining her from our California office, Taryn will be joined by local talent consisting of staff from my former company, Netik."

According to a recent Aite* report, the Asia Pacific financial services market has experienced prolonged above-global-average growth, creating opportunities for wealth management firms that traditionally focused on North America and Europe. Successful financial services firms will be those who offer nimble digital strategies that improve customer experience while increasing productivity for their firms. InvestCloud's ability to deliver beautifully designed client engagement experiences and intuitive, efficient, operations solutions has been proven across its client base that includes some of the industry's household names.

Sources

*Aite's Top 25 Global Wealth Management Firms Market Monitor, October 16th, 2019

About InvestCloud Inc.

InvestCloud is a global company specializing in digital platforms that enable the development of financial solutions, pre-integrated into the Cloud. The company offers on-demand client experiences and intuitive operations solutions using an ever-expanding library of modular apps, resulting in powerful products. Headquartered in Los Angeles with additional offices in New York, Toronto and London, InvestCloud supports more than $2 trillion in assets across 700+ diverse clients  from some of the biggest banks in the world, wealth managers, institutional investors and institutional asset managers to family offices, asset services companies and financial platforms. For more information, visit www.investcloud.com.

SOURCE InvestCloud

Related Links

https://www.investcloud.com


British and Irish farmers who supply McDonald's will see their produce diverted as the fast food giant closed stores due to the coronavirus crisis.

McDonald's, one of the largest purchasers of British beef by volume, said it had taken the 'difficult decision' to temporarily close 1,270 restaurants.

The company sources beef, dairy and eggs from over 23,000 British and Irish farmers.

Around 50,000 tonnes of UK and Irish beef is sourced every year from approximately 16,000 producers.

Paul Pomroy, Chief Executive Officer of McDonalds UK & Ireland, said the move comes amid 'difficult circumstances' for the company.

"We have not taken this decision lightly and know that our restaurants have been playing an important role in the community providing hundreds of thousands of free drinks to frontline health and social workers and emergency services personnel," he said.

"But I have been clear throughout this that we would only continue to operate whilst it was safe for our people and together with our franchisees, we feel now is the time to make this decision to temporarily close."

The Irish Farmers' Association said the temporary closure is a 'big blow' to the beef sector as it will put 'further pressure' on farmers.

IFA President Tim Cullinan said: Unfortunately, this is whats happening across Europe where closures have had an impact on the food service sector.

"However, some of this has been mitigated by an increase in retail trade as people are buying more at home.

Mr Cullinan recently wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture calling for more support for EU beef producers as the coronavirus crisis continues.

Arla, which has been supplying milk to McDonald's for 30 years, said it is working with the restaurant chain to reallocate products.

The British dairy cooperative was expected to supply over 30 million litres of organic milk to the restaurant chain this year.

Elsewhere, Nando's has also announced a temporary closure of its 400 restaurants across the UK and Ireland.

The chicken restaurant said in a statement that its eat in, takeaway and delivery 'will all stop until further notice.'
Lancaster County Public Defender Joe Nigro says hes asked his attorneys to prioritize efforts to get as many people out of the county jail as possible in the coming days in response to the looming threat of COVID-19.

The virus is going to spread like crazy when it gets to the jail, and its not going to spare anybody, the defense attorney said Monday. Our number one priority is we need to keep people alive."

Nigro said if someone doesnt pose a serious risk of harm to someone else, they should be released. So hes directed his attorneys to focus on asking judges to consider bond reductions, house arrest or furloughs of misdemeanor sentences.

Theyre trying to get as many people in front of judges as they can, Nigro said. Often by video.

He said he'd been following news about the coronavirus closely as it has unfolded over recent months. His office west of the Hall of Justice was quick to put up signs asking people with symptoms not to come in and to take steps to try to limit in-person meetings.

But he knew county jails, where his attorneys regularly have gone to meet with clients, could become a dangerous place  for attorneys, inmates and jail staff alike  once the virus gets there.

Nigro said the countrys county jails, which hold people accused of serious crimes before trial and people sentenced on misdemeanors, have been likened to cruise ships where the virus has been seen to spread rampantly.

So Nigro reached out to Lancaster County judges and the court administrator, trying to instill a sense of urgency. COVID-19 is in Lincoln and will hit the jail at some point. If they take steps now, fewer people could become sick or die, he said.

We have to significantly reduce that jail population, Nigro said.

Last week, the population at the Lancaster County Department of Corrections went from 621 to 596.

Not nearly enough, in my opinion, Nigro said.

He said hes hoping they can make a further dent in that number this week.

We understand there are going to be certain charges where those folks may not get out. But there shouldnt be anyone in on a drug charge or a theft or a forgery, Nigro said.

He said hed like to see the jail population reduced to 100 or 200 people.

Brad Johnson, the jails administrator, said he doesnt know how realistic those numbers are. But he said he thinks theres still some room for the numbers to go down. He said theyve expanded video court capacity, hoping to see more bond reviews and house arrest efforts in the next week or so.

I think everybodys taking that seriously and doing everything they can, he said.

As of Monday morning, they were down to 557 people, 213 of them serving misdemeanor sentences and the rest awaiting trial.

Johnson called the reduction a combined effort, saying law enforcement has been working hard to cite and release folks if they dont pose an immediate risk to the community, and the courts have been adjusting bonds and letting people out a "little more liberally.

He said Community Corrections also has been looking at the possibility of releasing more people with ankle monitors, but demand for the devices is up as jails across the country are working to do the same.

Right now, he said, no one in the jail is showing any symptoms of COVID-19. No one has been isolated or quarantined.

Johnson said they're doing everything they can do to keep inmates and staff healthy. Theyve stepped up cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch areas, encouraged staff to wear gloves and started screening anyone coming into the jail, checking for a fever and other symptoms.

Last week, they shut off visitors and volunteers and limited professional access to try to slow any introductions of the virus. Johnson said theyre allowing inmates more phone calls so they can stay in contact with their families.

Theyve got contingency plans in place for when inmates need to be isolated or quarantined, which becomes very staff intensive.

Its not ideal, he said. But thats the environment were in right now."

Today's jail mugshots

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger
Monday's session was held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak but was broadcast via an internet livestream.

The trial of four men accused of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine in 2014 will be adjourned until June 8 to give defense lawyers more time to prepare.

Judges at the hearing in the Netherlands passed such ruling on Monday, March 23, according to Reuters.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from Russia-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard. Russia has denied any involvement.

Read alsoMH 17 victims' lawyer: Putin's name to be heard in court as he authorized Buk deployment

The defendants  Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko  held senior posts in Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, according to prosecutors. They face preliminary charges of murder and of causing an aircraft to crash.

Prosecutors say the four men helped to arrange the Russian missile system used to shoot down MH17, a civilian aircraft, killing all onboard. Most of those killed were Dutch.

Pulatov did not appear in person but sent lawyers to represent him and they have told the court their client was not in any way involved in the crash. The other defendants are being tried in absentia.

Pulatov's lawyers argued at the opening of the case on March 9 that they needed more time to read through all the court documents. On Monday, the Dutch judges agreed with them.

"The court suspends the examination of the Pulatov case until June 8th, 10 a.m., and the defense will be able to speak at that time," presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

He said that meant the cases against the other three defendants, which are being tried simultaneously, would therefore also be suspended until that time.

Monday's session was held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak but was broadcast via an internet livestream.
We were told that if America passed Obamacare, it would result in death panels.

This lie was invented by Sarah Palin in 2009, during the fight for what would become the Affordable Care Act. It was the hysterical version of the common conservative critique that universal health care means government rationing.

Virtually every European government with universal health care restricts access in one way or another to control costs, and it isnt pretty, said a Wall Street Journal editorial about the A.C.A. The Journal allowed that our system already rations health care according to peoples ability to pay for it, but argued that thats how freedom works: This is true of every good or service in a free economy and a world of finite resources but infinite wants.

This argument was always specious, but it looks especially absurd in light of the coronavirus tearing through the world. Americas inadequate health care system, far from increasing liberty, is poised to make death panels more likely.

As waves of sick people crash onto undersupplied hospitals, doctors are preparing to make choices about who will get access to ventilators and other equipment, and who will get only palliative care. Health workers are urging efforts to suppress the outbreak and expand medical capacity so that rationing will be unnecessary, reported The Times. But if forced, they ask, how do they make the least terrible decision?
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 19:42:46|Editor: xuxin

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by Xinhua writer He Fei

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Repeat a lie ad nauseam and it might come true. At least that's what some U.S. politicians believe.

As the COVID-19 caseload continues to spiral upwards in the United States, some Washington politicians, instead of focusing on containing the epidemic, have been on a systemic offensive to cover up their incompetence by trying to shift the blame to China.

But calling the pathogen a "Chinese virus" serves as nothing more than evidence that Washington has ulterior motives since it is known to all that the virus' origin remains undetermined and such a spurious argument only serves to stir up xenophobia, division and hate.

U.S. media have already reported rising incidences of hate in which Asian Americans have been spit on, yelled at and even attacked in the country. This is counterproductive at a moment when solidarity and trust are desperately needed for the people in the United States to brace themselves to confront the challenge.

Furthermore, the use of the term "Chinese virus" runs counter to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines intended to avoid stigmatizing a country or a particular group of people when naming infectious diseases. That's why the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009 is not called "the North American flu" despite originating from there.

Washington's stock-in-trade wastes the great sacrifices made by China to curb the virus' further spread and buy the world time, efforts that have been praised by the WHO and world leaders.

The current campaign to smear China also illustrates Washington's defiance against scientific common sense.

Although COVID-19 was first reported in China, scientists have yet to determine the virus' origin. Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Italy, recently told U.S. National Public Radio that strange pneumonia cases appeared in Italy as early as November, which could mean the virus was circulating in parts of Italy before the outbreak in China.

Also, Robert Redfield, director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted earlier when testifying to the U.S. Congress that some Americans who seemingly died of influenza tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a posthumous diagnosis.

As the number of confirmed cases surpasses 40,000 and continues to surge in the United States, self-serving attempts to blame China will only make Washington hooked by its own lies. Criticism of the U.S. government's epic failure in handling this public health emergency is continuing to mount.

The global pandemic is spreading to more countries and infecting more people. To beat this deadly disease, all nations must come together.

The United States, the world's sole superpower, can and should play a major role in this fight for the ages. Those in the White House and on Capital Hill should quit lying their way out of the crisis. Time - now more than ever - is of the essence.
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Linkedin (Kyodo News) Kathmandu, Nepal  Tue, March 24, 2020 20:00 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d37e1b 2 News Nepal,lockdown,travel,destination,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Nepal began a weeklong lockdown on Tuesday to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, with the Himalayan nation's 30 million people ordered to stay at home.

The government's decision to issue a stay-at-home order came hours after Nepal confirmed its second coronavirus case on Monday.

Schools, offices and markets were closed and streets empty in the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday as people and businesses complied with the order. Violations carry penalties.

In a statement, the government said all domestic flights are to stay grounded, and that all private and public vehicles are to stay off the streets during the lockdown.

Read also: Nepal closes Mount Everest for climbers because of coronavirus fears

Citizens are allowed to leave home for purchasing medicine and food. All nonessential services and manufacturing have also been ordered to shut down.

The second virus case was found in a 19-year-old Nepali student who arrived in Kathmandu from France via Qatar on March 17. She is currently isolated at a hospital.

Nepal reported its first case in January -- a Nepali man who had been studying in Wuhan, at the center of the virus outbreak in China. He has since recovered.

On Monday morning, Nepal sealed its land borders with India and China for a week to all traffic except for cargo trucks. All international flights have already been suspended.
The country's biggest lender State Bank of India on Monday said it will provide 0.25 percent of its annual profit for 2019-20 to fight the coronavirus outbreak in India

New Delhi: The country's biggest lender State Bank of India on Monday said it will provide 0.25 percent of its annual profit for 2019-20 to fight the coronavirus outbreak in India.

The announcement came hours after the government notified spending by companies to deal with the coronavirus outbreak as corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity under the companies law.

The fund used to fight the coronavirus pandemic will be spent from CSR funds, SBI said in a statement.

"This is in line with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' notification of spending CSR funds for COVID-19 as an eligible CSR activity," it said.

Companies' expenditure to deal with the coronavirus outbreak will be considered as CSR activities.

Over 400 people have been infected by a coronavirus and at least seven people have died while many states have announced lockdown to curb the spread of infections.

The bank will use this fund for various activities related to COVID-19 mainly to support health care for underprivileged people in cooperation with healthcare professionals and industry, it said.

Some of the initiatives will centre around the promotion of healthcare, including preventive health care, sanitation and disaster management, it added.

"This is a time for the nation to be united. We at SBI will continue our support towards the people and communities of India amidst this critical period in the best possible way," SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said.

"I also urge all the responsible corporate citizens to come forward and not only take all precautionary preventive measures for the entire staff, their families and people around but also contribute generously to support fellow countrymen who need financial help in these unprecedented difficult times," he added.

Earlier in the day, the government said spending by corporates to deal with the coronavirus outbreak will be considered as CSR activity under the companies law.

Under the companies law, certain classes of profitable entities have to shell out at least 2 percent of their three-year annual net profit towards CSR activities in a particular financial year.

CSR funds could be utilised for various activities related to coronavirus, including those related to preventive healthcare and sanitation, as per the circular.
She has spent the past week in the mountains practising social distancing.

And Helena Christensen treated her fans to a slew of snaps from her secluded getaway as she took to Instagram this week.

The Danish supermodel, 51, travelled to Upstate New York amid the coronavirus pandemic, and has been staying in a forest with her son Mingus, 20, and friend Camilla Staerk.

Stunning: Helena Christensen treated her fans to a slew of snaps from her secluded getaway as she took to Instagram this week

Revealing she was taking full advantage of her surroundings, the Vogue covergirl shared snaps out enjoying nature.

In a series of striking images, Helena was clad in a skimpy black swimsuit as she posed up a storm whilst paddling in a riverbed.

The brunette bombshell showcased her phenomenal physique in the scanty one-piece which featured a plunging neckline and thong cut.

Glamorous: In a series of striking images, Helena was clad in a skimpy black swimsuit as she posed up a storm whilst paddling in a riverbed

Family fun: The Danish supermodel, 51, travelled to Upstate New York amid the coronavirus pandemic, and has been staying in a forest with her son Mingus, 20, and friend Camilla Staerk

Hard at work: The former Victoria's Secret Angel revealed she would be using the time to work on her designs, as she runs a clothing line with friend Camilla

The mother-of-one also gave her followers a look at her breathtaking surroundings in a series of stunning images, as she revealed snow had begun to fall on the mountainside.

Helena fled to the mountainside with her son and pal amid advice to practise self-distancing and social isolation to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The former Victoria's Secret Angel revealed she would be using the time to work on her designs, as she runs a clothing line with friend Camilla.

In a post on their business page, the pals penned: 'Dear Friends.. Sending love and thoughts to you from our mountain isolation spot in Upstate NY.

'Navigating this surreal time is challenging for us all, but at least we are in this together. Wanted to share how grateful we are for family, friendships and our incredible team and partners.

'Being in nature always makes us feel creative and we have been thinking about how to keep the wheels moving and help our fellow NYers...'

Getting cold: The mother-of-one also gave her followers a look at her breathtaking surroundings in a series of stunning images, as she revealed snow had begun to fall on the mountainside

Helena has also been spending some quality time with son Mingus, who she shares with ex Norman Reedus.

Mingus, who is with the Unsigned Group modelling agency, has made a name for himself after walking in several high profile runway shows.

Speaking to Metro UK, however, Helena said that her son was 'so not' following in her footsteps down the catwalk on a permanent basis.

'Hes like, "This is definitely not for me, but I love [designer] Raf Simons, so Im going to do these Calvin Klein shows," and then he realized there are a lot of opportunities in there, that will be very beneficial.'

Helena added that she was glad Mingus - who has already taken some college courses - was not looking into modeling on a permanent basis, adding, 'Ive got to say, whatever he does, Ill support him in it.'

She said that her son's plan was to 'work a little' and 'save up some money' with the intention of pursuing a career in film making.

She added: 'Whatever comes his way, and he feels like doing it, Ill be right there behind him and supporting him.'
A Salvadoran mother with three children called and called, she said that nobody answered the phone call and she just heard the dreaded on-hold music. This is the sad story for many immigrants hoping to pass in to the United States via the court system.

One person has claimed that he repeatedly tried the names of US Customs and Border Protection lawyers on the list of free or inexpensive attorneys. Yet nobody responded, and he began to look at Tijuana lawyers, who considered him deceptive. The Judge cautioned that Mexican lawyers would not be permitted to practice in the United States.

One after the other, El Salvador and Honduras asylum seekers who have been awaiting the court trials in the United States in Mexico reported before Judge Lee O'Connor to justify why they were unable to hire an attorney despite months of effort.

Families of the asylum seekers who were already in the United States have been spending hours contacting and following up for their appeals. Asylum seekers are eligible to hire lawyers, however, the state won't be paying anybody who simply can not afford it in a criminal trial court. Usually, a private lawyer costs approximately $7,000.

There have been a variety of other drawbacks, from the absence of Mexican insurance to security issues. Many people seeking asylum do not have mobile phones and often travel regularly.

The absence of lawyers makes it easier to understand how only 4% of Mexico's decisions proceeded in asylum, whereas the national grant average for 2019 was 29%.

According to the Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, only 5.3% of asylum seekers who were legally considered to be subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols have been provided legal practitioners by the end of January, compared with 85% for asylum seekers across the state.

The San Diego proceedings were cancelled on Friday without reason, hours after Governor Gavin Newsom had advised 40 million people to stay home until further notice, however the courtroom stayed open.

Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, even said that the prosecutors in San Diego suspended proceedings until next Friday due to coronavirus. She had no idea whether judges postponed trials in several other border courts.

This virus poses further obstacles, as legal practitioners deal with possible exposure in small courthouses and a ban for at least 30 days on non-essential travels to Mexico. Several courts have been shut down but Mexico has maintained its proceedings in the Justice Department's Executive Office for the Immigration Review.

The list is open to asylum seekers who are returning to Mexico and who have trial dates at a tent court in Laredo, Texas, around two hours drive from San Antonio. Neither of the seven juridical organisations accepts Remain in Mexico cases so they keep themselves off the list to prevent being cut off from their other clients.

Meeting clients in Mexico is a major undertaking for lawyers. The Judge of San Diego, O'Connor, asked a prosecutor how much time she had been sitting in her car after a visit to her client, amazed of how it took two hours for her to get there.

Related Articles:
With seniors being the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, H-E-B launched a program last week in hopes of keeping them safe from large crowds.

The grocery store chain announced Friday in a news release that it has partnered with Favor Delivery to offer a low-cost service that will supply seniors with essential food and supplies at their doorstep.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news with mySA.com:

Seniors, age 60 and older, can place orders through the Favor app from a curated list of products.

All delivery and service fees are waived for the first 30 days of the state-wide program. Orders will include a $10 tip that will go to the Favor runner delivering the items.

We heard from our customers loud and clear, and were ready to offer one of the safest, healthiest solutions in the marketplace dedicated to seniors who are worried about going out in public, said Martin Otto, H-E-B chief operating officer. Together with Favor, H-E-B is committed to helping Texans get the products they need while slowing the spread of coronavirus in our communities.

RELATED: H-E-B says its employees will receive extra pay during the coronavirus pandemic

There is a senior support phone line with volunteers from both companies to accept and process orders over the phone from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week. To access the support line, call 833-397-0080. Seniors can also place their orders on Favors website, or by downloading the Favor app and searching for H-E-B.

To find out more about the program, visit favordelivery.com/senior.

Priscilla Aguirre is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
As mysteriously as it began, water that for months oozed from around the bottom of a Bathurst Street utility pole has abruptly dried up.

Last week I wrote about a pole at the southwest corner of Bathurst and Glengrove Avenue that Catriel Blum told me had been leaking water from around its base since last summer.

I suggested tapping the pole like a maple tree, to see if water would pour out like sap. An amusing idea, but it was obvious that the source of the water was beneath it.

Blum emailed again a few days later to say the hydro pole has stopped leaking! One of the seven wonders of Toronto has disappeared.

When water starts bubbling out of the road or a sidewalk, its usually from a ruptured water main below ground. So I asked the city to investigate and got a surprising reply: Testing revealed the water is untreated, which points to runoff or ground water, said Toronto Water, adding it couldnt find any leaks in its local infrastructure.

That suggests the water is coming from a spring or underground stream; I learned from previously writing about wetness that cannot be explained that Toronto has many natural sources of ground water.

Blum, who has long lived in the area, speculated as much in one of his notes to me. His theory was supported by an email from George McClellan, who lived in the same area as a boy.

When I was growing up in the 1950s on Glencairn (Avenue), there was a creek that ran generally from the northwest to the southeast that was open and it flowed behind the houses on Alexandra Wood, said McClellan.

There was a concrete bridge on Glencairn, between Alexandra Wood and Forest Wood and the stream came from the area of Bathurst and Glengrove.

The stream was eventually covered over as the area was developed, he said, adding the bridge was demolished and water from the stream was funneled through a pipe that was installed.

I suspect that the water around the pole is coming from the pipe which replaced the open stream.

That sounded like a valid theory, so I ran it past Don Ford, a hydrogeologist with the Toronto Region Conservation Authority and an expert on ground water in the GTA

The hydrogeologic database that I have access to includes information on the horizontal and vertical extent of aquifers that generally can transmit water, and aquitards that generally dont transmit much water, Ford said in an email.

Based on the information available to me, I dont see any reason to suspect the existence of springs in the vicinity of the utility pole. Yes, ground water can cause the symptom, but I highly doubt it in this particular location.

In an interview, Ford said that if a utility pole is sunk into a layer of sand that can more easily conduct ground water, it can eventually make its way to the puncture point and ooze out of the ground.

Given that Glengrove is at the bottom of a small hill that crests one block to the south at Glencairn, Ford said its possible that the water is pushing down the incline, through the sand layer and surfacing around the pole.

Its also possible for the water to run intermittently through the sand, he said, and stop bubbling out from around the pole, as mysteriously as it started.

The bottom line is that it stopped. I wish we could say the same about other problems that are bubbling up around the world.
COHOES  Local volunteers who are sewing and donating masks to help combat the coronavirus epidemic have run into a roadblock: The hospitals wont accept them.

Albany Medical Center Hospital, Glens Falls Hospital and St. Peters Hospital representatives said theyre not taking the handmade masks because they dont meet the standards for personal protective equipment.

While very good intentioned, we are unable to accept cloth or homemade masks at this time. These masks are not considered personal protective equipment since their ability to protect a healthcare worker is unknown, said Sue Ford, a spokeswoman for Albany Medical Center Hospital.

Its disappointing, said Barbara LaMarche, who organized volunteers with ties to Cohoes to sew masks. The group of about 11 people intend to keep sewing, LaMarche, a retired nurse, said Tuesday.

They had planned to donate their masks to St. Peters Hospital but were told Monday night they wouldnt be accepted.

Last Thursday, LaMarche worked with Beverly Karpiak, a fellow Cohoes resident and vice chair of the St. Peters Health Partnership's board of directors, to arrange the donation of about 100 masks. The plan changed Monday night.

St. Peters Health Partnership at this time is unable to accept donations of the handmade masks because of the inability to determine their effectiveness, Karpiak said Tuesday.

Karpiak said there may be places where the masks could be used.

LaMarche launched the local campaign after seeing news reports about Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind., accepting hand-sewn masks in reaction to a shortage of masks for healthcare workers. LaMarche downloaded the instructions from the hospital and began recruiting people to sew.

Like many people, LaMarche wanted to find a way to help medical workers confront the outbreak.

What do you do as an ordinary citizen, LaMarche said. She thought she found the answer.

LaMarche doesnt know how to sew, but putting the word out brought in volunteers.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Were just a small group. These are people who have connections to Cohoes whether they grew up here or have relatives here, LaMarche said.

A Glens Falls Hospital spokesman said the hospital is grateful for the offers of handmade masks.

We encourage anyone to make as many masks as they would like. We ask that you store them at your home until such time that we need you to bring them in, said Ray Agnew, a hospital spokesman.

Glens Falls Hospital provides volunteers a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that explains homemade masks are a last resort for treating people infected with coronavirus and should be used with face shields.

The city of Cohoes had promoted the hand-sewn masks on its Facebook page as a demonstration of city residents volunteerism.

We appreciate all of the work these Cohoes residents and others who have joined this effort have done. I have little doubt that these cloth masks will be used by others who lack access to masks, Mayor Bill Keeler said.
(Photo : REUTERS/Michele Tantussi) A man plays his instrument on a balcony at the Kreuzberg district, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Berlin, Germany, March 24, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Nick Oxford ) American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. March 23, 2020.

New York scientists have created the first blood test a look at to detect whether or not a person has already been infected through and evolved immunity to coronavirus.

Researchers at Mt Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine made the first serologic test for COVID-19 in the United States. They intend to roll it out in the next couple of days in its clinics.

Diagnostic testing for coronavirus has stumbled into existence in the U.S. The tests had been extensively available across the country, where the growth of tests means thousands of additional cases diagnosed daily, bringing the U.S. general to more than 42,000 cases.

It comes as 100 coronavirus deaths have been reported in the U.S. in a single day for the first time because the virus started out infecting Americans.

ALSO READ: New Coronavirus Symptoms: Scientists Say People May Not Notice Signs of COVID-19 as Some of them Seem Normal





Will these serologic tests serve its purpose well?





Cheaper, faster, more reliable serologic tests will serve a private function. However: these imply who has already been infected with coronavirus, whether or not they knew it or not, and has exceptional antibodies to fight the infection.

Scientists claim people whose blood assessments positive for coronavirus antibodies are not going to be reinfected and can be capable of going back to normal.

And when these blood tests become positive for those antibodies, health officials would be informed that the restricted movement would be lifted without risking a steep uptick in the viral spread.

But they're also more accessible ways to determine and contain. It's silent spreaders and the uncertainty of who is probably inflamed that makes coronavirus dangerous and makes sweeping restrictions on hobby necessary.





ALSO READ: New Scientific Warning Suggests Coronavirus May Not Disappear Soon





Serologic check is the key, says WHO





Since the early days of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reiterated that a serologic check could be the key to working a clearer picture of how many people are infected.

These assessments have been developed by China, Singapore, and South Korea. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advanced and is verifying their research.

The Mt. Sinai team claimed the U.S., who struggled to set up swab diagnostic checks, finally has a blood test for antibodies in opposition to coronavirus.

Dr. Florian Krammer, head of the microbiology lab that created the blood test, told Leapsmag that the team gave step-by-step instructions for its test. He said hospitals and research labs would benefit significantly from the kits.

Krammer added that patients suspected of getting coronavirus have their regular blood tests. Those samples, according to him, can be analyzed with the serologic check without doing a brand-new blood test.

The serologic check can also detect antibodies in a person who isn't currently sick a month prior, Krammer said.





Immunity check?





If these people --- including those presently infected --- have high levels of specific antibodies, Krammer said these people would be protected towards the virus spread.

Krammer told Leapsmag that people probably can not get reinfected once they have an excellent immunity system and have antibody levels.

Once this is the case, those people are much more likely safe to resume relatively everyday activities without the risk of becoming infected or infecting someone else.

It's still too soon to tell, however, how long this immunity will remain.





 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nigeria records chloroquine poisoning after Trump endorses it for coronavirus treatment

by Stephanie Busari and Bukola Adebayo

March 24,2020 | Source: CNN

Health officials in Nigeria have issued a warning over chloroquine after they said three people in the country overdosed on the drug, in the wake of President Trump's comments about using it to treat coronavirus.



A Lagos state official told CNN that three people were hospitalized in the city after taking the drug. Officials later issued a statement cautioning against using chloroquine for Covid-19 treatment.



US President Donald Trump claimed at a White House briefing last week that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the "very powerful" drug chloroquine to treat coronavirus.



"It's shown very encouraging -- very, very encouraging early results. And we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. And that's where the FDA has been so great. They -- they've gone through the approval process; it's been approved. And they did it -- they took it down from many, many months to immediate. So we're going to be able to make that drug available by prescription or states," Trump said.



He added: "Normally the FDA would take a long time to approve something like that, and it's -- it was approved very, very quickly and it's now approved, by prescription."



However, the FDA after the briefing issued a statement saying it had not approved the drug for use against Covid-19 and is still studying its effectiveness against the disease.



Trump's endorsement of the drug led to a surge of interest among Nigerians keen to stock up on the medication, which has led to inevitable price hikes in the megacity of around 20 million inhabitants.



One man told CNN that in a pharmacy near his home on the Lagos mainland, he witnessed the price rise by more than 400% in a matter of minutes.



Kayode Fabunmi, a Lagos-based lawyer, said: "The pharmacist knew the market and was saying to every incoming customer, 'You know Donald Trump has said this thing cures coronavirus,' and the price kept changing.



"The original price was 200 naira (around 50 cents), then it became 500 naira ($1.38) then it became 1,000 naira ($2.77) while I was there," he said.



The Lagos State Health Ministry issued a brief statement saying there was no "hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in prevention or management of coronavirus infection."



Chloroquine is used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.



Malaria is an endemic disease in Nigeria and other parts of Africa and for many years, it was common to treat it with chloroquine. However, at least 40 African countries, including Nigeria, have phased it out as a frontline antimalarial drug and replaced it with other drugs following widespread resistance to it.

 2020 Cable News Network.Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Theme(s): Others.
The Delhi Police on Monday moved to seal all border pickets in the national capital and said curfew passes will be issued to people associated with essential services as "execution" of the prohibitory orders in the city was "not up to the mark today".

Media persons, however, will not need the passes and their ID cards will suffice, they said. Details like format of the application for the passes and from when they will be required, etc are likely to be shared on Tuesday, the police said.

On Sunday, police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in Delhi till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak, banning protests, and other gatherings. Section 144 of the CrPC bans assembly of four or more people in one place.

In a communication on Monday, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava ordered that all border pickets in Delhi be sealed with "immediate effect".

All essential services will continue without any hinderance, he said. According to the order, private organisations in Delhi engaged in essential services will seek curfew passes from the office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of their respective district.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Here's what counts as essential services

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC has been promulgated in Delhi.

The passes being issued by the Delhi Police are only for the interborder movement of people engaged in essential services. The same will be required to be produced after 12 pm on Tuesday by the time those crossing the Delhi border would have obtained it from the respective DCP office.

Additional DCP of the district concerned will issue the passes after assessing the genuine requirements, it said.

Private organisations located in the national capital's neighbouring districts may also seek curfew passes from the DCP offices -- Southwest, Southeast, Shahdara, East, Outer-North or Outer -- for their employees who commute from Delhi, it added.

Media persons will not need these passes and they can show their ID cards, according to the order. Government officials who are engaged in essential services will also be permitted to enter Delhi on the basis of their identity cards.

The movement of employees of private companies to whom essential services are outsourced by the government shall also be permitted on the basis of identity cards and authorisation issued by the concerned government organisation, the order stated. Strict legal action will be taken against those found violating the prohibitory orders, the police said.

"Strict checking shall be done at the border pickets and internal pickets within the city in every police station area to ensure that no gathering or movement takes place in contravention of the prohibitory orders," the order stated.

To ensure compliance of the prohibitory orders, the police said, patrolling will be conducted. Announcements will be made seeking cooperation of people and informing them about legal action that violation of the orders may attract.

Traffic police, PCR, station house officers and their supervising officers shall move around to inspect the arrangements and ensure compliance of the order, the police said. Local officers will maintain close liaison with the neighbouring districts of the adjoining states, they said.

Also read: Banks' association appeals for digital 'karo na' amid coronavirus outbreak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on March 24 at 8pm on several aspects related to coronavirus. Prime Minister Modi also said in his tweet that he will share some important information with regards to the deadly COVID-19.

, 24 8 Will address the nation at 8 PM today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2020

This, however, is not the first address given by the Prime Minister on COVID-19. On March 23, the Prime Minister held discussions with several industry representatives such as FICCI, CII, and ASSOCHAM through video conference. In this discussion, he urged the industry representatives to be humane and not to cut down on workforce despite the negative effect o businesses due to coronavirus restrictions.

In his interaction with the industry representatives on Monday, Modi also urged them to utilise their CSR funding for humanitarian causes related to coronavirus at this critical juncture. In another tweet of his, the PM said, "Called upon industry leaders to continue following work from home as much as possible in these times. Unless very very important, please do stay home."

Prime Minister is also being apprised of the latest developments and steps being taken by the government to contain coronavirus spread by the GoM (Group of Ministers) headed by Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Prime Minister Modi will also interact with the public of Varanasi via video conferencing on March 25. Interested people can join the interaction directly via the NaMo app.

Will be interacting with the citizens of Varanasi via video conferencing on the 25th at 5 PM. Join the interaction directly via the NaMo App. Do also share your ideas and suggestions for it. #IndiaFightsCorona https://t.co/Q1F43UjeBs - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2020

Also read: Coronavirus: PM urges industry representatives not to cut down workforce

Also read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: PM Modi to address nation at 8 pm today
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday hit out at Jyotiraditya Scindia, saying he 'auctioned' Madhya Pradesh's mandate, and also refuted claims that Scindia was denied ticket for the Rajya Sabha by the party leadership.

The reason Scindia left the Congress was he wanted to become a Union minister once again, Singh alleged.

Scindia quit the party to join the BJP earlier this month, triggering the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government and paving the way for the saffron party's Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take oath as MP chief minister on

Monday.

In an open letter, Singh said, "When Scindia himself went out to auction Madhya Pradesh's mandate, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah were obviously present there to grab it. But auctioning one's own house cannot be termed an honourable deal. It is a very painful development. It has decimated the hopes and struggles of not just the Congressmen but all those who believed in the Congress ideology."

In the 2,000-word letter, which he also shared on Twitter, Singh said, "Scindia joined the BJP at a time when the saffron government (at the Centre) is trying to divide the country as per the RSS's agenda. Some people are saying as there was no possibility for Scindia to get proper post and honour in the Congress, he joined the BJP, but this is wrong. If he wanted to become Madhya Pradesh Congress president, then it had been offered to him in 2013 but then he preferred to remain a Union minister."

"In 2018 too, after the Congress won the state polls, it had offered him the deputy chief minister's post, but Scindia refused it and insisted on making his supporter Tulsiram Silawat deputy CM. But Kamal Nath did not agree, and the recent development has proved he (Nath) was right as Silawat joined the BJP at a time when the dreaded coronavirus has turned into a pandemic and as the state's health minister, it was his primary responsibility (to tackle it)," the former chief minister said.

"Scindia wanted to make this person deputy chief minister but he was not only found to be against the Congress's ideology but also highly irresponsible," Singh alleged.

The Congress leader refuted the allegations that the party did not want to offer Scindia a Rajya Sabha seat.

"As per my information, nobody opposed it as the Congress had the requisite number of MLAs to win two seats of the upper house from Madhya Pradesh. So it was not an issue. The issue was (he wanted to become) a minister in the central government, and at present it is only possible for Modi and Shah to offer that," Singh alleged.

"...all those people in the country who are fighting against the RSS's ideology without any greed, they are all with Congress because the country is standing at ideological crossroads. At this juncture, Scindia's joining the BJP only proves that he wanted to use Congress workers' and supporters' struggle and ideological commitment only for his own personal power. As long as there was guarantee of power in the Congress, he remained with it, when it is weakened, he went to the BJP," Singh said.
An extensive plan by the Egyptian police to combat the coronavirus includes sanitising prisons and police facilities, arresting people who spread rumours, and carrying out raids against price gougers, the interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

All prisons and detention sites have been sanitised to ensure the safety of inmates and prison staff, the ministry said.

The measures also saw the deployment of disinfection and sterilisation teams at police services buildings and facilities.

The ministry said police have arrested several people for spreading rumours and false statements and news on social media about the number of coronavirus cases and the measures adopted by the state to combat the virus.

The ministry has also made many of its services available online through its website (Moi.gov.eg), to limit the number of people visiting its facilities. These services include issuing driving and car licenses, civil registry and work permits.

Security forces have also intensified raids to curb attempts to hoard food commodities, detergents, disinfectants and medical supplies and to ensure prices remain unchanged amid a rising demand due to the coronavirus outbreak, the statement added.

The ministry also said it would provide basic commodities at 30 reduced prices starting April as part of a broader initiative sponsored by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and launched by the ministry in mid-2018.

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Nepal and Bhutan sealed their land borders with India on Monday as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 even as Indian authorities continued to provide support to nationals stranded in various cities around the world.

Bhutans King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck said the country was resorting to the drastic measure of sealing its land borders because of the pandemic. The virus is spreading, causing immense disruption worldwide, and drawing closer to us each day, he said in a televised address on Sunday.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay said the borders were sealed from 6 am on Monday. The Bhutan government said only essential supplies such as food and medicines would be allowed, and returning Bhutanese nationals would be quarantined.

Nepal too completely sealed its land borders with India at 10 am on Monday. India and Nepal had earlier decided to keep four border check points operational, but Nepalese authorities had expressed concern about the unrestricted movement of nationals of both countries, The Kathmandu Post reported.

With the week-long suspension of all international flights to India, Indian missions began extending support to nationals stranded in various cities.

Officials of the Indian mission in Kuala Lumpur are continuing to help Indians stranded while in transit at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Several members of a group of more than 50 Indian students who had sought shelter at the Indian high commission in London were moved to hotels and hostels, people familiar with developments said.

India also sent a consignment of 40,000 masks and other medical equipment to Italy.
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Google Maps vs other navigation services The Introduction

In the Indian context, there are numerous automobile navigation options available around us today that aid in guiding our vehicles to destination. These vary from navigation features in-built into the infotainment system that come with pre-loaded maps, to dedicated external Navigation devices of the likes supplied by Garmin, MapMyIndia, etc to name a few.



However the one that is cheapest (and some being paid) and most popular in masses is the category of mobile device based navigation apps since all that is required is to download the app and one can get started. There are numerous videos on youtube and online reviews citing how these compare against each other but a true comparison in Indian context seems to be rare, given that the accuracy of the maps and the information are bound to vary from country to country. So here I am, presenting my experiences on using some of the more popular ones that I could use during my last long road trip to



Of course the comparison below does not cover the exhaustive list of apps available out there in the market and I encourage everyone who has tried these or one of the other apps not listed here to post their own opinions and experiences.



Sygic - Sygic offers a premium paid map service and first 7 days is full feature trial and also comes in various avatars







The Good Things Lane assist feature - When you come to a road junction where you being on go need to quickly get into the right lane, it zooms the map in an inset frame and shows you which lane to take for easier illustration.

- When you come to a road junction where you being on go need to quickly get into the right lane, it zooms the map in an inset frame and shows you which lane to take for easier illustration. Petrol pumps - Shows you the next closest two petrol pumps on your route with time to reach the first one, this is useful on longer highway trips

- Shows you the next closest two petrol pumps on your route with time to reach the first one, this is useful on longer highway trips Augmented Reality - Project the direction on the road view itself captured through your mobile camera.

- Project the direction on the road view itself captured through your mobile camera. Dash Cam Mode - Automated recording of mobile camera footage if the speed crosses a certain limit

- Automated recording of mobile camera footage if the speed crosses a certain limit Local Business information - Limited to Metro City bounds mostly, outside it is limited or non-existent

- Limited to Metro City bounds mostly, outside it is limited or non-existent Road info - Shows Speed limit, Time to reach destination, location details on map

- Shows Speed limit, Time to reach destination, location details on map Mirrorlink Support - Those of who uses this will know, this one of the limited navigation apps that support screen projection on a Mirrolink connection (like in my Innova Crysta)

- Those of who uses this will know, this one of the limited navigation apps that support screen projection on a Mirrolink connection (like in my Innova Crysta) Community Collaboration - One of the few mobile apps in India that allow reporting for Speed cams apart from regular road closures, etc.

The not so Good Things Petrol pumps - Although it shows you the next two petrol pumps on your route, yet it does not tell you if its on the same side of the road you are travelling or on the opposite side. This matters a lot in highways as openings / provisions to go to the other side of the road may be non-existent or after few miles and the distance can vary. So it may be of little to no use unless you carry an oil can / bottle to park your car on one side of the highway and take extreme risk in walking to the other side in times of emergency. Also this information is outdated as I noticed in some cases it says there is a petrol pump ahead but that is no longer there or has closed down.

- Although it shows you the next two petrol pumps on your route, yet it does not tell you if its on the same side of the road you are travelling or on the opposite side. This matters a lot in highways as openings / provisions to go to the other side of the road may be non-existent or after few miles and the distance can vary. So it may be of little to no use unless you carry an oil can / bottle to park your car on one side of the highway and take extreme risk in walking to the other side in times of emergency. Also this information is outdated as I noticed in some cases it says there is a petrol pump ahead but that is no longer there or has closed down. Street details - While you are on the main road the level of details it shows for the local business is okay for the cities but in highways this becomes limited and moreover the alternative routes or details of smaller lanes that can get you our of traffic / other road closure situations in case of emergency is not much to talk about. So practically it sticks mostly to main roads / highways while showing routes.

- While you are on the main road the level of details it shows for the local business is okay for the cities but in highways this becomes limited and moreover the alternative routes or details of smaller lanes that can get you our of traffic / other road closure situations in case of emergency is not much to talk about. So practically it sticks mostly to main roads / highways while showing routes. Route updates on traffic, closure, etc - Feature wise this is present but I failed to see this in action as road diversion, traffic related delays are not accounted in the trip's estimated end time. Moreover this is part of Premium feature so after your 7 day trial this will be enabled only after purchasing premium license.

on traffic, closure, etc - Feature wise this is present but I failed to see this in action as road diversion, traffic related delays are not accounted in the trip's estimated end time. Moreover this is part of Premium feature so after your 7 day trial this will be enabled only after purchasing premium license. Speed limit - I observed on the highway it shows 75 (as in the screenshot) in place of 80, 65 in place of 70, consistently 5 km/h less than the actual limit on the highway. Also in some cases the speed limit is outdated if you tally with the sign posts on the road.

- I observed on the highway it shows 75 (as in the screenshot) in place of 80, 65 in place of 70, consistently 5 km/h less than the actual limit on the highway. Also in some cases the speed limit is outdated if you tally with the sign posts on the road. Heavy Initial Download - This is one thing I never liked, while in India many users still run on daily limit based mobile internet plans of 1 GB / 1.5 GB / 2 GB per day, etc this app required you to download the map of your city / region prior to getting started which say for India is around 1.8 GB of initial download and can exhaust your daily internet quota unless you plan in advance.

- This is one thing I never liked, while in India many users still run on daily limit based mobile internet plans of 1 GB / 1.5 GB / 2 GB per day, etc this app required you to download the map of your city / region prior to getting started which say for India is around 1.8 GB of initial download and can exhaust your daily internet quota unless you plan in advance. GPS Lock - The GPS lock for your present location takes a lot of time to settle, especially if you are planning the trip indoors. Not sure why this problem happens, probably its how it connects to the satellites.

- The GPS lock for your present location takes a lot of time to settle, especially if you are planning the trip indoors. Not sure why this problem happens, probably its how it connects to the satellites. Alternate Routes - No option showed for alternate routes for the same destination.

Waze - A completely free navigation app, Google bought them in 2013 and ever since some of their features have been inducted into Google Maps, read on to find out







The Good Things Alternate Routes - Shows alternate routes for the same destination in a different screen but in organized fashion with distances covered and ETA in each case

- Shows alternate routes for the same destination in a different screen but in organized fashion with distances covered and ETA in each case Local Business - Searching by names of local business is of similar accuracy in city as Sygic but poor in highways, moreover they do not sort the results by distances which Sygic does pretty well

- Searching by names of local business is of similar accuracy in city as Sygic but poor in highways, moreover they do not sort the results by distances which Sygic does pretty well Search Along - This is cool feature, if you indicate that you want to visit restaurant or fuel stations on your journey after you have decided on your route to the destination it will show you the various options and in each case how much deviation or off route you need to go, results are beautifully sorted by least deviation to most deviation

- This is cool feature, if you indicate that you want to visit restaurant or fuel stations on your journey after you have decided on your route to the destination it will show you the various options and in each case how much deviation or off route you need to go, results are beautifully sorted by least deviation to most deviation Music App Control - Another very innovative and useful feature if you are using your mobile device both for navigation and music on your way and are annoyed to switch screens between them to see the route and control the track played. There is a floating music icon on the navigation screen tapping on which shows the overlayed music controls from your compatible music app like Tidal, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Radio, etc. There may be safety concerns here but used judiciously this is a great add on feature.

- Another very innovative and useful feature if you are using your mobile device both for navigation and music on your way and are annoyed to switch screens between them to see the route and control the track played. There is a floating music icon on the navigation screen tapping on which shows the overlayed music controls from your compatible music app like Tidal, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Radio, etc. There may be safety concerns here but used judiciously this is a great add on feature. difference between taxi and private 4 wheeler

Recording of your own voice - Yes, you can record your own voice for turns and directions to be played, of course street names will not be in your voice.

- Yes, you can record your own voice for turns and directions to be played, of course street names will not be in your voice. Best time to leave - Another useful feature, unlike Google Map where you can set arrive or depart time for a projection of route and ETA, this one shows you within the next 12 hours what is the most ideal time to reach the destination relatively faster than others

The not so Good Things Options for Regional Voice - While there is English UK and English US voices with street names, for Indian context there is only Hindi and its aweful to listen I must say, no English -India option

- While there is English UK and English US voices with street names, for Indian context there is only Hindi and its aweful to listen I must say, no English -India option Community Reporting / Crowd-Sourcing - Option is there to report road events but because of less popularity not useful

- Option is there to report road events but because of less popularity not useful Map Details - No enough to give you idea of side lanes and shortcuts nearby and in some cases you will find the displayed route is through very narrow roads unsuitable for car or completely closed roads, map errors.

- No enough to give you idea of side lanes and shortcuts nearby and in some cases you will find the displayed route is through very narrow roads unsuitable for car or completely closed roads, map errors. No Active Speed & Speed Limit indicator - This feature is absent and something very nicely given in Sygic even though the speed limit is not completely accurate

- This feature is absent and something very nicely given in Sygic even though the speed limit is not completely accurate Traffic Information - They do claim that traffic information in in-built but its limited in the city and not on highways and it does not show which section of the route has delays / slow moving traffic. This is also the reason it shows incorrect ETAs to reach destination if the route involve highways.

- They do claim that traffic information in in-built but its limited in the city and not on highways and it does not show which section of the route has delays / slow moving traffic. This is also the reason it shows incorrect ETAs to reach destination if the route involve highways. Street Address Search - Complete Failure, in most cases you will receive not found, also street names on maps are in accurate in some cases

Maps.me - A completely open source app based on Open Street Maps







The Good Things Initial download - It is minimal, for West Bengal its 45 MB only

- It is minimal, for West Bengal its 45 MB only Business Search - Allows searching by business categories like grocery, banks, police station, etc with respect to current location

Terrain - Absent in the previous options, but surprisingly it shows terrain details like nearby water bodies marked in a different color on the map so that while passing by you know whats around.

- Absent in the previous options, but surprisingly it shows terrain details like nearby water bodies marked in a different color on the map so that while passing by you know whats around. Street names - Quite detailed and accurate, better than the above ones

- Quite detailed and accurate, better than the above ones Current Speed Indicator - Available but without speed limit indicator.

- Available but without speed limit indicator. Local Guide - Surprisingly it does provide a local guide feature with additional download that shows the places of interest around current location.

The not so Good Things Address Search - Poor capability, most of the time it will return only by Area Names or important landmark / establishment in the vicinity only.

- Poor capability, most of the time it will return only by Area Names or important landmark / establishment in the vicinity only. Traffic - This is not evident, and as a result this also culminates in ending up with a completely unrealistic ETA for arrival at destination especially on long distance routes

- This is not evident, and as a result this also culminates in ending up with a completely unrealistic ETA for arrival at destination especially on long distance routes Local Business Search - Not up to the mark

Google Maps - Needs no introduction, popular and for reasons







Well, this is the most widely used navigation app in India because of some basic yet highly important areas that Google Map has ticked all the right boxes as compared to contemporary options and moreover what is offers is accurate and for free of cost even if not the most feature rich.



What works in its favour A Realistic traffic / road delay information overlayed on the road and results in reflecting a very accurate ETA for reaching the destination, it is complex to calculate during city drives and Google does it great and in a city what more can you ask for. Moreover this works great on highways too and probably is the most important reason why people use this.

on the road and results in reflecting a very accurate ETA for reaching the destination, it is complex to calculate during city drives and Google does it great and in a city what more can you ask for. Moreover this works great on highways too and probably is the most important reason why people use this. The level of details on the map are the most with interior lanes, shortcuts, service lanes and local business all put in one option and gets regularly updated too, the advantage google may be getting here is the abundance of android devices with Location services turned on unknowingly and in a way helps reporting to google routes traversed and congestion even without an active reporting service.

are the most with interior lanes, shortcuts, service lanes and local business all put in one option and gets regularly updated too, the advantage google may be getting here is the abundance of android devices with Location services turned on unknowingly and in a way helps reporting to google routes traversed and congestion even without an active reporting service. The Maps do support downloading offline version and that too for custom route

and that too Searching by Local business name is the best among all other options, guess this is because the same platform is open for businesses to plot themselves on the map

name is the best among all other options, guess this is because the same for businesses to plot themselves on the map Excellent timeline feature for easy retrieval later on of trips and routes taken months back.

for easy retrieval later on of trips and routes taken months back. Allows exploring local restaurants, places of interest from the current location

restaurants, places of interest from the current location The best use of back button , believe me this is very useful feature, for example if you are using some of the other apps and amidst a navigation hit the back button, the same is treated as Exit App and not End Navigation unless your fiddle around with the Menu options and tap the right point on the screen, very clumsy and inconvenient while you are driving.

, believe me this is very useful feature, for example if you are using some of the other apps and amidst a navigation hit the back button, the same is treated as Exit App and not End Navigation unless your fiddle around with the Menu options and tap the right point on the screen, very clumsy and inconvenient while you are driving. Night Mode present, although this exist in other apps too, useful for dimming the background to dark theme so that glare to the eye is minimal while driving in evening.

present, although this exist in other apps too, useful for dimming the background to dark theme so that glare to the eye is minimal while driving in evening. The biggest and most active crowd sourced community of users updating information like road diversions, closure, accidents regularly and that is overlayed on routes and used in calculating best routes / ETAs to reach destination.

What can still improve The road event reporting does not allow reporting speed cams , may be in alignment with the interest of law / road safety.

, may be in alignment with the interest of law / road safety. At times diversions are outdated , and if you are being shown a diversion make sure to look ahead in front of the road and zoom out the map to see if the route merges back to the main road after some distance and take an informed decision.

, and if you are being shown a diversion make sure to look ahead in front of the road and zoom out the map to see if the route merges back to the main road after some distance and take an informed decision. No support for music controls , yet.

, yet. The Lane assist feature is present but its so insignificantly presented with a bent arrow that you at times you may miss taking the correct lane unless the voice guidance provides you with additional tips or you slow down / halt and zoom in on the map to understand for yourself.

feature is present but its so insignificantly presented with a bent arrow that you at times you may miss taking the correct lane unless the voice guidance provides you with additional tips or you slow down / halt and zoom in on the map to understand for yourself. The most annoying thing one will find, in-spite of selecting the type of vehicle like 2 / 4 wheeler, at times the maps will guide you aggressively into narrow roads / markets that you may end up feeling disgusted getting into and at best are suitable for 2 wheelers only or cabs at the most. There should be an aggressiveness of route level setting somewhere depending on which Google must not detour to narrow roads even if that saves some time for the sake of a pleasant drive.

/ markets that you may end up feeling disgusted getting into and at best are suitable for 2 wheelers only or cabs at the most. There should be an aggressiveness of route level setting somewhere depending on which Google must not detour to narrow roads even if that saves some time for the sake of a pleasant drive. Better voice control driven routing operations to provide end to end hands free experience, it is available to an extent with Google Now enabled, I recommend instead of running maps standalone better to download Android Auto on the phone and run through it even if your car infotainment does not support Android Auto.

Some notable predecessors



It would be injustice not to mention Nokia Maps in this context as it revolutionized the app driven navigation experience in India with its great offline maps and they were the pioneers of app based turn by turn navigation in a user friendly fashion with an Indian voice and with a great attempt towards providing address based search although not completely accurate at times, yet for the time it was great.



They were rightly superseded by Here Maps in Lumia devices thereafter which again was an upgrade over the Nokia Maps in providing the first of its kind augmented reality like option of exploring a place by turning the camera around a street point and seeing businesses plotted on the live camera image. Of course their business search and address search was not that great so some 3rd party apps emerged in due course based on Google APIs which would allow searching the business / address a lot more accurately (as Google had already splurged ahead in this area by that time) and pass on the geocodes to the Here Maps to do the route navigation only. Not the most intuitive way but used to work great for some time and had the advantage of specifying private / paid Google API keys so that usage remains private too.



I do not have first hand experience with MapMyIndia or Garmin mobile navigation apps so encourage BHPians to pitch in with more thoughts and remarks. In the Indian context, there are numerous automobile navigation options available around us today that aid in guiding our vehicles to destination. These vary from navigation features in-built into the infotainment system that come with pre-loaded maps, to dedicated external Navigation devices of the likes supplied by Garmin, MapMyIndia, etc to name a few.However the one that is cheapest (and some being paid) and most popular in masses is the category of mobile device based navigation apps since all that is required is to download the app and one can get started. There are numerous videos on youtube and online reviews citing how these compare against each other but a true comparison in Indian context seems to be rare, given that the accuracy of the maps and the information are bound to vary from country to country. So here I am, presenting my experiences on using some of the more popular ones that I could use during my last long road trip to Vizag (Journey to Simhachalam & Visakhapatnam in an Innova Crysta) Of course the comparison below does not cover the exhaustive list of apps available out there in the market and I encourage everyone who has tried these or one of the other apps not listed here to post their own opinions and experiences.- Sygic offers a premium paid map service and first 7 days is full feature trial and also comes in various avatars- A completely free navigation app, Google bought them in 2013 and ever since some of their features have been inducted into Google Maps, read on to find out- A completely open source app based on Open Street Maps- Needs no introduction, popular and for reasonsWell, this is the most widely used navigation app in India because of some basic yet highly important areas that Google Map has ticked all the right boxes as compared to contemporary options and moreover what is offers is accurate and for free of cost even if not the most feature rich.It would be injustice not to mentionin this context as it revolutionized the app driven navigation experience in India with its great offline maps and they were the pioneers of app based turn by turn navigation in a user friendly fashion with an Indian voice and with a great attempt towards providing address based search although not completely accurate at times, yet for the time it was great.They were rightly superseded byin Lumia devices thereafter which again was an upgrade over the Nokia Maps in providing the first of its kind augmented reality like option of exploring a place by turning the camera around a street point and seeing businesses plotted on the live camera image. Of course their business search and address search was not that great so some 3rd party apps emerged in due course based on Google APIs which would allow searching the business / address a lot more accurately (as Google had already splurged ahead in this area by that time) and pass on the geocodes to the Here Maps to do the route navigation only. Not the most intuitive way but used to work great for some time and had the advantage of specifying private / paid Google API keys so that usage remains private too.I do not have first hand experience withormobile navigation apps so encourage BHPians to pitch in with more thoughts and remarks. Last edited by Aditya : 25th March 2020 at 08:03 . Reason: Typos
Plenty of Trump-focused political cartoons have circulated the web and social networks since Election Day. But one has drawn particular viral attention: It depicts a wolf in a suit on a campaign billboard with the words, I am going to eat you, while onlooking sheep grazing in a field respond, He tells it like it is.

Paul Noth, the New Yorker cartoonist who drew it, sold it to the magazine back in January and figured it would never appear. The magazine did run it, in August, but the sketch didnt go viral until after Trumps win. The New Yorker added the image to its cartoons Facebook page the day after the election, and that post has been reshared more than 16,000 times. A number of Noths single panel one-liners created early in the campaign have garnered newfound attention now that Trump won.

Noth chose to pursue fiction writing after college because he never thought he could make a living as a cartoonist. However, he never lost his love of cartoons and continued to sketch for fun. Noth, 43, spoke with CJR about how he landed his dream job as an artist, some of his other projects, and his political cartoons. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you become a cartoonist and how did you get your start at The New Yorker?

Ive always been drawn to cartoons since I was a kid and I always kind of wanted to be a cartoonist. By the time I was in college though, I was more interested in being a writer because it didnt seem like the cartoon industry was as viable a thing to be a part of.

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Ive always been a big fan of New Yorker cartoons, so I knew how hard it was to break into. So I mainly did cartoons as a hobby and worked towards being a fiction writer. Then one day, I met Matt Diffee, whos a New Yorker cartoonist, and he and I got to talking. He encouraged me after seeing some of my artwork.

So, it was fall of 2004. I sort of knew the drill at The New Yorker, which was that youre supposed to submit about 10 per week to give them an idea of what your stuff is like. So Matt helped me, he looked at my stuff, and gave me some notes to help refine it a little bit before showing them to Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor. Then Bob invited me to come in, and I sold my first batch of cartoons. That was great.

Related: Why the controversy over an Iowa cartoonist is no laughing matter

What cartoons did you enjoy growing up? Who inspires you?

My favorite earliest on and still one of my favorites is Charles Schulz. I just immersed myself in and loved all cartoons from the time I was a kid. My father was a movie critic at the Milwaukee Journal, so he would bring me home reviewer copies of cartoons that came across the features desk. That wasnt really enough for me, so I would also go to the library and look at them all the time. The first New Yorker cartoonist I really loved was Charles Addams. I used to look through those collections. I was drawn to them and always looking at their work.

Whats your process like to come up with ideas and concepts to submit weekly?

Its changed a little bit over the years. I think the main thing is having that deadline of 10 a week (recommended submission amount for The New Yorker), that was what really made me learn how to become a cartoonist, because one way or another I have to come up with 10. Ive tried a variety of things over time. Now I usually start with the writing (the concept) first, then just start jotting down ideas. By the time Sunday or Monday rolls around, I start drawing the ones I think are the funniest. Once I start drawing them, I actually start to see which ones are the best. Sometimes I have to start drawing to actually see which ones work and which ones dont.

You mentioned that you worked mostly as a fiction writer before becoming a cartoonist. What were some projects that you worked on?

Well I went to college (Emerson College) for writing literature and publishing, hoping to be a writer and thats what I mainly did after school. Around that same year that I broke into The New Yorker, I started to explore other avenues to make a living. I began doing a little bit of freelance comedy writing for television (Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan OBrien, and Adult Swim). I found that unlike my fiction, people liked it. I would get good feedback on it, but nothing really sold that I could make a living from. I then found with comedies and jokes, that was something I could actually do and get paid for. So thats what became my main focus in terms of a career. I pitched an animated sketch (Pale Force) to Late Night with Conan OBrien, that became a recurring thing there.

Im still writing fiction. I have a series of childrens novels, like middle grade novels, that will be published by Bloomsbury. The first one is going to come out in early 2018. Its also comedy driven storytelling with cartoons interspersed throughout a series of three books. The first one is called How to Sell your Family to the Aliens. Its like an absurd funny, sort of like adventure story.

A couple of political cartoons that you created throughout the campaign have recently taken off on social media. What inspired these cartoons and why do you think they are now gaining popularity?

Every week a couple of the cartoons that I do usually turn out to be political. The one with the sheep and the wolf on the billboard, I think that one didnt run until August, but I sold it as early as January or February. I had a couple of Trump cartoons before that as well so it was a topic on my mind clearly.

There was an issueThe New Yorker seldom does thisbut turns out they were planning to do an issue where the cartoons would all be Trump cartoons. So when they put out the call for that, I created the cartoon where they are swearing in Trump. That one, I actually happened to be in the office when that issue was being laid out, that would have been in April. They had the cartoon with the sheep with the wolf billboard and ended up swapping it for the one where he was being inaugurated. So I kind of thought, oh okay that type of thing happens from time to time and things get rejected so often, the wolf one wasnt that good.

So I really didnt have any idea that both these images had a huge viral response, and then after the election an even bigger one. A lot of times, when cartoons get shared a lot on social media, I may not even be aware of it because people wont necessarily put my name on it. So it wasnt until people began to comment and tag me in it that I realized they were everywhere. I think it was sort of a bittersweet thing after the election.

Related: 12 images that capture the new reality show at Trump Tower

There are two other cartoons of mine that gained some attention after the election. One is from August 8, and its in the Kremlin. Its Putin and hes sitting in the center of a table and they are looking at an electoral map. The entire caption is in Russian except for the last words, which are Waukesha County. translated it means, Its all going to come down to Waukesha County.

The other one, is a clown at a podium, he looks really angry and hes slamming his fist down saying, Other countries are laughing at us. That ones had a good response too. The meaning speaks for itself.

Are there any reactions that really stuck out to you?

Well one thing that stuck out is that people began to change the caption. I thought that was kind of funny. Like some post-election thing. For example, the one with the wolf and the sheep someone changed it to something along the lines of hey lets give him a chance, which also works.

Funny enough it begins to morph and change or recontextualize. Sometimes that tweet ends up going viral in different places and not the original cartoon. Ive made the mistake of scrolling down into the comments of someones Facebook post. One time someone texted me and said Hey Ricky Gervais posted your cartoon, and I was like oh thats cool. I began reading down the comments and they became calling each other names, you know like how political comments just devolve into chaos.

Over the last couple of years, the industry has seen many cutbacks. How has this impacted cartoonists?

Its constantly changing, and I think thats why I felt wanting to be a cartoonist was an unlikely career. You really cant even plan for it. That would be such a tricky pool shot to bid your lifes hope on. The odds were always stacked against you. It was always hard to get to The New Yorker, but there used to be a lot of other markets. All of the old timers told me to have something else, and pretty much all of us do have something else, with some exceptions. People are genuinely doing it because they really love it, its not anyones plan to get rich and famous.

Do you think cartoons and cartoonist are still an important part the media ecosystem?

That implies that we ever were. I mean its important to me. I love it as an art form, and part of the fun of it is that its not, or at least the way I do it, a huge political statement cartoon or heavy duty satire. Thats important, but its also hard. I still love cartoons and come up with them all the time and get genuinely happy when I see good work and funny work, and theres a lot of that both online and in print. So its very important to me. Its always kind of helped keep me sane and I hope that its had that kind of role in general.

Whats your favorite cartoon that you have created over the years?

Wow, huh. I mean I have this one that baffles people, and I love it. Ive had a lot of complaints about it. Its probably my favorite one because Im defense of it, and its had a bad reaction. Its hard to explain. Its two guys and they are standing on either side of a monkey standing on a stool, and one of them has a razor in his hand. Hes shaved the face of a clock onto the back of a monkey and the other guy looks like hes objecting to this. He says, Well by that logic no one would ever shave a clock onto a monkey. I get emails about that one from people who are like I went to Stanford and my husband went to Brown and that cartoon makes no sense. I think its a pretty straightforward cartoon.

We didnt get it, either.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Carlett Spike is a freelance writer and former CJR Delacorte Fellow. Follow her on Twitter @CarlettSpike.
The Medicare Rights Center recommends starting the process by calling your local office to get the application started  you can find it using this local office directory. The field agent there can advise you on which forms, and any supporting documents, you will need to submit and where to mail them. Request a protected filing date and proof of receipt from the office. This will create a record that you applied for benefits on that date, which could affect the date your coverage begins.

If you have not previously enrolled in Part A, youll need to do that along with Part B. This is also the time to enroll in a Part D prescription drug plan and a Medigap supplemental policy. Or select a Medicare Advantage plan that includes drug coverage.

If your job loss happens to occur around the time you turn 65, the process will be less complex. This is called your Initial Enrollment Period  the three months before, the month of, and the three months after your 65th birthday.

If you already are receiving Social Security, you will receive your Medicare card automatically for Part A and Part B. If you are not on Social Security (more likely, since youve been working), youll need to sign up. Call Social Security (800-772-1213) or sign up online.

There can be a gap of one to three months before Part A and Part B coverage starts, depending on when you sign up during the initial enrollment period. However, Part A coverage is retroactive up to six months, back to the first month that you were eligible for Medicare.

What about scams related to Medicare and the virus?

Sadly, scammers are taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis to ramp up identity theft and Medicare fraud schemes. The Associated Press reported that scammers were using telemarketing, social media, email and door-to-door visits to market phony tests for the coronavirus and Senior Care Packages with hand sanitizer, or even touting nonexistent vaccines.

The government cautions that you should give your Medicare number only to participating Medicare pharmacists, doctors or people you trust to work with Medicare on your behalf. The agency will not call you to ask for your Medicare number or to check on it.
The Government agreed on cooperation between Ukrainian and Chinese doctors in the fight against COVID-19, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

I would like to inform you that the government has agreed on cooperation between Ukrainian and Chinese doctors. Our doctors will get themselves acquainted with the successful experience of Wuhan colleagues in combating coronavirus, the president said in a video address on Monday, the press service of the head of state reports.

In addition, Zelensky recalled that he had recently held a conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Our international financial partners, including the IMF, the World Bank, the EBRD, have assured of their willingness to support and assist Ukraine, the president noted.

As of the morning of March 24, Ukraine confirmed 84 coronavirus cases, including three lethal ones. One patient recovered and was discharged from a hospital.

ish
First lady Melania Trump has tested negative for coronavirus after being tested on the same day as the President.

'Mrs. Trump got tested the same night as the President was tested, out of an abundance of caution. The test was negative,' White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

Donald Trump announced that his wife took a test during his remarks during Monday evening at the White House coronavirus task force briefing.

President Trump said Monday that first lady Melania Trump had tested negative for COVID-19. Last week the she unveiled her own Coronavirus PSA on Twitter

The President and first lady were tested at the White House more than one week ago, on March 13.

A reporter asked whether the Melania had been tested to which Trump replied, 'yes' and that the was 'fine.'

The Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence were also tested on Saturday after it was revealed a member of the Pence's staff had tested positive for Covid-19.

Trump tested negative for coronavirus last week. He had come in contact with two individuals at his Mar-a-Lago beach club in Florida who had tested positive for the virus.

During Monday evening's briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx, at the podium said she experienced a 'little low-grade fever' over the weekend. Trump joked saying 'Uh-oh' and moved away from her

The President's daughter, Ivanka Trump and a White House senior adviser, also tested negative for the virus last week after she learned an Australian official she met in early March tested positive for COVID-19.

At one point during Monday evening's briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus task force coordinator, said that she also tested negative for the disease after she experienced a 'little low-grade fever' over the weekend.

'It was probably a GI thing, but you know, I'm meticulous. I'm a physician,' Birx said.

'I got a test late Saturday night, and I'm negative. I stayed home another day just to make sure. That's how we protect one another.'

As Birx told of her feeling unwell Trump joked saying 'Uh-oh' and moved a few steps away from her.
One million Britons will have coronavirus by the end of next week, a former health secretary has warned.

Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt criticised the governments policy of only testing patients in hospital for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

He said the rate of infection meant one million people in the UK will have coronavirus by the end of next week.

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

Speaking in the House of Commons while debating emergency coronavirus legislation on Monday, hours before Boris Johnson announced new stringent measures, Hunt said Britain had fallen behind other nations with its response to the pandemic.

There have been 6,650 cases of coronavirus in the UK, with 335 deaths, according to official figures.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt says one million Britons will have coronavirus by the end of next week (Getty Images)

But Hunt said scientific modelling which estimates 1,000 cases for every death means the UK currently has about 300,000 people with coronavirus.

He said: According to the same modellers, the number of cases is doubling every five days, which means that at the end of next week we will have about one million cases or more in this country.

Global cases of coronavirus (PA)

Unless we radically change direction, we will not know where those one million cases are.

Hunt said: Here, all our public focus has been on social distancing, but testing and contact tracing to break the chain of transmission are every bit as important, if not more important.

Watch the video below

Those countries that have turned back the virus rigorously track and test every case and every suspected case, then identify every single person with whom a COVID-19 patient has been in contact to take them out of circulation.

Read more: Minister says coronavirus outbreak is frightening

As a result, those countries have avoided the dramatic measures and some of the economic damage that we have seen in Europe.

Story continues

He said South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have all experienced low deaths tolls through testing and tracing.

Ten days ago in this country, we went in the opposite direction, and stopped testing in the community, he said. How can we possibly suppress the virus if we do not know where it is?

Hunt also criticised Johnson, who defeated him in last years Tory leadership contest, for his handling of testing.

Jeremy Hunt, left, has criticised Boris Johnson's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. (AFP via Getty Images)

Hunt said: The prime minister talked about expanding testing from 5,000 to 10,000 to 25,000, which is welcome. He even talked about 250,000 tests a day, which would be more than anywhere in the world.

I welcome that ambition, but ambition is not the same as a national plan, and we have not seen a national plan on testing.

Health workers, scientists and politicians have all criticised the governments approach to testing, which means only those in hospital are tested, and NHS staff are excluded from tests.
A village in northwestern Pakistan is under lockdown after a 50-year-old man became the first recorded coronavirus-related fatality in the country. Saadat Khan, who had an underlying heart condition, returned ill from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Coronavirus cases in Pakistan have soared to over 900 and there have now been seven recorded deaths.
It was a livestock mart like no other at Kenmare Mart last Friday as the important spring cattle sale got underway.

Instead of hundreds of people from the Beara and Glengarriff area of west Cork and south Kerry gathering for the sale, attendance was restricted to mainly cattle dealers buying and selling the 300 stock on offer.

Mart manager Dan McCarthy said they are grateful for being able to operate as this time of year is important with feed running out and no grass yet.

During the Foot and Mouth crises, Kenmare, like other marts, had to shut down.

Expand Close Social Distancing Sheila Lovett, Kenmare, following strict guidelines at Kenmare Mart, Co Kerry, which is adhearing to strict protocal introduced to all the Countries Mart, to help in the prevention and slowing down the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). which includes a restriction on entry, a safe distance of 2 metres apart, clampdown on crowds, Sanitising and wearing gloves provided to all mart staff and customers. Further restrictions maybe introduced next week. Photo: Valerie OSullivan / 19/03/2020 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Social Distancing Sheila Lovett, Kenmare, following strict guidelines at Kenmare Mart, Co Kerry, which is adhearing to strict protocal introduced to all the Countries Mart, to help in the prevention and slowing down the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). which includes a restriction on entry, a safe distance of 2 metres apart, clampdown on crowds, Sanitising and wearing gloves provided to all mart staff and customers. Further restrictions maybe introduced next week. Photo: Valerie OSullivan / 19/03/2020

"But in some ways this is worse than the Foot and Mouth," said Mr McCarthy.

"People are under awful pressure and stress and worry."

Mr McCarthy, who is also a local councillor, had contacted people to keep the numbers down and tell them not to turn out.

Sitting seats apart and wearing masks is not normal life anywhere, least of all in the south west where mart and fair days are still huge social occasions.

"You'd think you were in a different world. If this were an ordinary day, you would not be able to stand," he said, referring to the crowds such events would normally attract.

Stringent disinfecting had to be carried out and everyone was sanitised on the way in.

Expand Close Social Distancing at Kenmare Mart, Co Kerry. Photo: Valerie OSullivan / Facebook

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Whatsapp Social Distancing at Kenmare Mart, Co Kerry. Photo: Valerie OSullivan

Security men were on the doors and seats were marked apart.

The normally busy canteen was now reduced to a window from which food was being distributed.

There was little talk.

"We are thankful for being able to operate at all and hope we can keep going," added Dan McCarthy.





Contingency plans being put in place by the dairy industry could see teams of critical staff from one milk processor helping to run crucial facilities for another dairy business in the event of a serious Covid-19 outbreak in the sector.

The radical strategy is part of a raft of measures that the dairy sector has drawn up to counter the impact of the global pandemic.

There are growing fears in the dairy sector that milk processing could be brought to a standstill if crucial staff are lost to the virus during peak milk supplies next month.

Close to 75pc of the spring-calving dairy herd are calved at this stage, with ICBF data showing that almost one million dairy calves were registered by last Friday.

With peak milk supplies just six weeks away, the dairy sector is cognisant that it cannot afford any reduction in the country's processing capacity through April and May.

"The processing system is as tight as a drum. The sector can't afford one of the key plants to go offline - we don't have spare capacity at peak," one senior industry source told the Farming Independent.

The contingency plans being compiled by dairy processors are a reflection of a century of co-operation in the sector, according to Conor Mulvihill of Dairy Industry Ireland (DII), who pointed out that while there is enough stainless steel to process peak milk supplies, the immediate concern for dairies is that vital staff will succumb to Covid-19.

Preventative

Dairy businesses have already been active in putting preventative measures in place to tackle the possible spread of Covid-19.

Most dairies have moved all non-operational staff off key processing sites, and set up independent teams to operate these facilities.

Mr Mulvihill said the industry as a whole was now putting in place strategies to cope with a potential "doomsday scenario" where a number of essential staff fall victim to the virus.

"Companies sharing teams of key operational staff is among the measures we've agreed to counter such an eventuality," he explained.

Mr Mulvihill welcomed the relaxation of the driver hour rules for trucks, and said they were looking for the same for the working time directive, which will allow critical staff to do extended shifts should the need arise.

He said the possible reopening of private storage aid (PSA) by the Commission was also critical for the industry. Mr Mulvihill explained that it would give processors the option of holding dairy commodities such as powders, rather than offloading further product onto a weakening market.

Although the request has been made to the Commission, a final decision is not imminent.
Zamil Shipyards, part of Zamil Offshore Services Company, and KenzFigee, a specialist in lifting solutions, have partnered for the provision of offshore crane services and fabrication of KenzFigee offshore cranes and equipment in Saudi Arabia.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zamil Shipyards is an important achievement to further strengthen the position of KenzFigee as a specialist lifting, hoisting and service provider of reliable, durable and quality offshore cranes and equipment in the Middle East region.



Together with Saudi Drill - its representative in the GCC - and Zamil Shipyards, KenzFigee is committed to service its esteemed clients in this region and to contribute to their operational excellence and minimizing downtime of equipment, a company statement said.



Zamil Shipyards is a renowned shipbuilder in the Middle East region and with this collaboration KenzFigee will continue to build a strong and solid foundation as a trusted partner offering solution driven innovations and services with a focus on operational efficiency to clients in this region, said Jan-Pieter Klaver, CEO of KenzFigee.



We are proud to have established this collaboration and looking forward to a pleasant and fruitful cooperation with Zamil Shipyards.



With this significant milestone for Zamil, our plans for creating an extensive centre of excellence and positioning ourselves as one of the most integrated marine service providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took another step forward in the support of Vision 2030, said Nasser F Al Hazzani, COO of Zamil Offshore.



Achieving this in cooperation with KenzFigee a world-leading supplier in the design, production, and maintenance of innovative lifting solutions for the marine and offshore industries.  TradeArabia News Service
Appointment

24 March 2020

Arancibia has been part of the McKibbon family for 8 years and most recently served as General Manager for the 128-room Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando Airport, where he managed 46 associates and all hotel operations. He began his hospitality career in 2007 as Task Force Support for Hilton Hotels, moving up to Operations Manager for Hampton Inn by Hilton in Melbourne and Orlando. Arancibia attended Florida International University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Business Administration and Management.

During his leadership at Homewood Suites by Hilton, Arancibia led his team to achieve outstanding service scores which resulted in the property receiving Hilton's highest honor: the Connie Pride Award in Overall Hotel Performance for 2014, 2016 and 2017. He also guided the team into securing the top hotel for TripAdvisor City Ranking in Orlando. Arancibia spends his free time raising awareness for the LGBTQ+ community through a non-profit organization that assists Orange County residents with medical prevention causes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought India, along with the rest of the world, to a standstill. Thirty-two states and Union Territories in India are under lockdown as per Government orders in a bid to check the spread of the virus infection. Citizens have been asked to stay indoors, while organisations have been asked to allow their employees to work from home (WFH).

For the first time, the industry is faced with an unprecedented situation where the entire workforce is working from home. Some have had the experience of working from home for a day or two while unwell, but rarely has one been faced with the WHF situation over a sustained period of time. This new work reality is going to hit people in the coming days more as there is no abatement in the Covid-19 spread situation.

The most important aspect for every individual and company is to keep productivity levels up while maintaining quality and motivation. For the creative minds in advertising, who are used to working in teams, churning out campaigns remotely is a different ball game.

Looking at this challenge, Adgully approached some of the best creative minds in the business of advertising to join us in the latest Twitter chat  Managing Creativity while Working from Home.

Join us in the conversation on Friday, 27th March between 3 pm to 4 pm by following us on @adgully. Experts in the panel will share their candid stories on the challenges posed in a work from home environment.

Joinin us for the conversation will be:

Moderator - Naila Patel, Executive Creative Director, Mirum India (@nailamateen)

Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands (@trrippp)

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Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson (@senthilspeaks)

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TwitterChat: Being responsible in times of Covid-19, ad honchos show the way

This is how top ad & communications honchos plan to spend their Curfew Sunday
Publishers of three U.S. newspapers urged China on Tuesday to reverse the expulsion of an about a dozen of their journalists, calling the move "uniquely damaging and reckless" at a time when the world is sharing the burden of fighting the coronavirus.

China announced on March 18 it was revoking the press accreditations of all American journalists in the China bureaus of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, which were due to expire at the end of 2020.

"We strongly urge the Chinese government to reverse its decision to force the Americans working for our news organizations to leave," the publishers said.

"Perhaps more than any major news event in modern history, this moment underscores the urgent importance of both probing, accurate, on-the-ground reporting from the centers of the pandemic and of sharing the information."

China's foreign ministry had not seen the letter, spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily media briefing on Tuesday, but he defended the expulsions, calling them "necessary countermeasures" that were entirely a response to "unjustifiable oppression" of Chinese media in the U.S.

The expulsions were the latest escalation in a dispute over media freedom and access, which has seen Washington order four Chinese state media outlets to reduce their total staff in the United States to 100 from 160.

The U.S. journalists from the three newspapers have until Friday to hand in their press credentials and halt reporting, but will be able to stay a short period longer. One of them said they had been told they could apply for a temporary visa to stay in the country for 7-10 days.

China and the U.S. are locked in an increasingly bitter rivalry that has extended to the coronavirus outbreak.

Last month, Washington demanded journalists from Chinese state media be registered as staff of diplomatic missions. China then expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters - two Americans and an Australian - after the paper published an opinion column calling China the "real sick man of Asia."

Washington cited a "deepening crackdown" on independent reporting in China as the reason for its decision to reduce the number of Chinese state media journalists in the United States.

China's Foreign Ministry has said its measures are "necessary" and "reciprocal" against "escalating discrimination and oppression against Chinese media" by Washington.

A recent report by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China found that 82% of foreign journalists surveyed said they had experienced interference, harassment or violence while reporting during 2019.


Passengers wear protective suits and face masks as they arrive at the Hong Kong Airport. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There are a lot of mixed messages about whether face masks help protect you against COVID-19 if you are walking around, or whether they should be reserved for first responders only. One thing is sure: Face masks are in short supply,

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Snjezana Dacic, left, and her husband, Rajko, pose holding their rings and wearing masks during their wedding in Banja Luka, Bosnia, Saturday, March 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)

If you are likely to be in close contact with someone infected, a mask cuts the chance of the disease being passed on. If you're showing symptoms of coronavirus, or have been diagnosed, wearing a mask can also protect others. So, masks are crucial for healthcare workers who are caring for patients and they are also recommended for family members who need to care for someone who is ill. Ideally, both the patient and caregiver should have a mask, according to the guardian.com.

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A surgical mask is placed on The "Fearless Girl" statue outside the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

Since no vaccines are currently available, the strongest weapons Americans have against COVID-19 are basic preventive measures, like hand-washing and sanitizing surfaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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A student wears a face mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, as he walks after school was let out for the day in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Some advice from the World Health Organization:

If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.

Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.

Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.

Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.

To remove the mask: Remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

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Anais Moyson

Anais Moyson wears a mouth mask, meant to help protect from the spread of COVID-19, that she produced on her sewing machine at home in Antwerp, Belgium. Moyson is making masks for family and friends and hopes to be able to produce enough to deliver to caregivers and local doctors. (Anais Moyson via AP)

Read about the DIY face mask movement on Forbes.com.

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Kin Cheung

Young passengers wear face masks to protect against the coronavirus as they arrive at the Hong Kong airport, (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

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John Minchillo

Bartender Cassandra Paris wears a protective face mask before taking a farewell shot at an early closing time at 169 Bar with patrons. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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Heng Sinith

Buddhist monks wear face masks as they gather to chant in a pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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Zoltan Balogh

A man wearing a protective face mask plays the violin in the subway at Nyugati Square during the coronavirus emergency in Budapest, Hungary. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

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Jenny Evans

A woman in a mask is seen lining up at Centrelink in Bondi Junction on March 23, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

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Jason Paderon

A state trooper directs a vehicle to the COVID-19 testing tents. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)

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Martin Mejia

Women wearing face masks travel in the back a fruit truck in a poor area of Lima, Peru. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Jenna Kieser

Mary Jo Callan, director of the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning at the University of Michigan, wears protective gear as she helps collect donations for the UM Hospitals at the North Campus Research Complex. (Jenna Kieser | jkieser@mlive.com)

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ap
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava to ensure security of doctors who are facing harassment at the hands of some people in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

Shah's directive came hours after a representation was sent to him apprising him about the incidents of harassment of doctors by some landlords, claiming that coronavirus could be transmitted through the medicos.

The home minister spoke to the Delhi Police commissioner and asked him to take immediate action to stop any such incident, an official of the Home Ministry said.

In their representation, the doctors said that some of their colleagues were facing harassment at the hands of some people, particularly the landlords, asking them to vacate their rented premises.

The doctors are claiming that the harassment was meted out to them by some people alleging that coronavirus could be transmitted through them as they are treating the positive cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KABUL -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says a cut in aid from the United States will not affect "key" areas of daily life in the war-torn country even as it battles to stem the coronavirus outbreak.



The U.S. State Department announced late on March 23 that it was slashing $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to convince Ghani and former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to end a feud that has jeopardized a peace deal signed last month.



Ghani said in a televised address on March 24 that he will look to make up the shortfall in a budget that relies on other nations for three-quarters of its funding.



I can assure you that a reduction in the U.S. aid will not have a direct impact on our key sectors and areas, and we will strive to fill the gap with both austerity measures and alternative sources, he said.



It is important for us to preserve the lives of the nation, to maintain prices, to provide services, and to maintain the apparatus of government and republicanism. There will be no impact on people's lives in these areas, he added.



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the slashing of aid in a harshly worded statement after making a surprise visit to Kabul to pressure Ghani and Abdullah to come to an agreement.



Pompeo went to Kabul with an urgent message and "spoke directly to the nations leaders to impress upon them the need to compromise for the sake of the Afghan people," a State Department statement said.

'Missed Opportunity'



Ghani and Abdullah blamed each other for failing to resolve the feuding -- both claim to be the country's legitimate president -- which Pompeo said may lead to further cuts in U.S. funding.



Ghani said during his televised address that Abdullah's power-sharing demands were unconstitutional, while Abdullah lamented Pompeo's visit as a missed opportunity for the impoverished nation.



Pompeo said the United States was disappointed in them, adding that their failure has harmed U.S.-Afghan relations and dishonors the Afghan, Americans, and coalition partners who died in the struggle to build a new future for the country, which is already girding itself for the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak.



Afghanistan has confirmed only 42 cases of the virus, but many fear the number could be considerably higher given the thousands of Afghans who have returned to the country from Iran, the epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East.



After departing Kabul, Pompeo made a stop in Doha, for a meeting with three top Taliban leaders.

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said she met with the Taliban's chief negotiator, Mullah Baradar, and two other Taliban leaders.



The meeting in the Qatari capital -- the highest-level ever held between U.S. and Taliban representatives -- was meant to press the Taliban to continue to comply with a peace deal that the militant group signed with Washington on February 29, Ortagus said.



Pompeo was hoping to advance progress on the peace deal, which could lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the country's 18-year conflict.



Since the signing of the deal with the Taliban, political turmoil has complicated the peace process, which has ground to a halt, with both Ghani and Abdullah arguing they had won the presidency through a contested election in September.



After his talks with the Taliban leaders, Pompeo told reporters that the United States and all countries in the coalition were moving forward with a planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.



"We have a commitment that has a timeline," he said. "We are moving down that timeline."



The Taliban has not given up its campaign of violence against the Afghan government or gone ahead with promised talks with Kabul.



But Pompeo said that the reduction in violence had been "real" and the Taliban had abided by its promise not to attack U.S. forces.



"They committed to reducing violence; they have largely done that," Pompeo said.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
An Indian-origin physician has been indicted in the US's Ohio state for sex trafficking and illegally distributing a controlled substance.

A federal grand jury in Toledo returned the two-count indictment, according to which Manish Raj Gupta, 49, a plastic surgeon, from August to September of 2016 used force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to compel a woman, to engage in commercial sex by drugging her without her consent or knowledge.

He also allegedly committed sexual acts on her while she was unconscious which he recorded.

The court records also stated Gupta often travelled to Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Detroit for medical conferences and hire escorts in centrally located hotels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vinayak Dalmia

It is clear that in these interesting times, the judiciary needs to self-quarantine itself from the trappings of political life.

While there are no explicit prohibitions against judges accepting privileges after retirement, it is time that such ideas be made law. Simply frowning upon it or relying on the probity of individuals will not suffice.

In the United States  a much older democracy than India  federal judges hold the office for life. That office is their pinnacle, their last hurrah. In India, judgeships come with a retirement age. There is life beyond the courts and with that the risk of political patronage.

Former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi had himself authored a judgment attributing post-retirement jobs as bringing the judiciary into disrepute. There is ample evidence to support this.

An Independent Judiciary

As per the Constitution, a retired Supreme Court judge cannot plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of India. The third schedule demands judges perform their duties without fear or favour. In case law, the Sankalchand (1977) and SP Gupta (1981) cases were landmark judgments extolling the virtues of judicial independence. In Nixon M Joseph and Anr vs Union of India (1998), the Kerala High Court frowned upon post-retirement perks for judges.

While separation of powers is embedded in our Constitution, nowhere does it prohibit judges from accepting government appointments post retirement.

In the Constituent Assembly debates, KT Shah argued against judges taking up executive office. He spoke of temptation for greater emoluments risking the judges independence. Shah proposed the introduction of Article 193-A in the Constitution. At the time there was little overlap between the government and the judiciary. The suggestion was rejected by BR Ambedkar as he felt the likelihood of influence was very remote.

The 1958, the 14th report of the law commission recommended banning employment in important positions under the government for retired Supreme Court judges. Sadly those recommendations were never actioned.

Since then the government has become one of the largest litigants in India.

Let no political party going forward be able to entertain the possibility of a biased judiciary. Let no judiciary going forward be able to conjure up post retirement government perks. Let no one going forward lose faith in the judiciary.

Judges Too Are Human

Chief Justices YV Chandrachud, PN Bhagwati and RS Pathak were shining beacons from the 1980s who went on record to raise their objections of post-retirement perks. The best example is CJI Mohammad Hidayatullah who in 1970 delivered his last ruling, one which went against the government of the day (privy purses case). In doing so, he gave up certain subsequent opportunities. Hidayatullah became Vice-President of India after a substantial cooling-off period, in 1979.

There should not a job after the job. Institutions are larger than the individuals that occupy them. Their sanctity must be preserved with religious fervour.

Sadly political patronage has been offered to judges before. From Justice Fazl Ali (1952) as Orissa Governor to Chief Justice P Sathasivam (in recent times) as Kerala Governor, the examples are many.

We must acknowledge that judges too are human as the rest of us. The system must not rely on their higher virtues but be immune to their human frailness. While it would be unfair to say that this is the first time it has happened, it would, however, be unwise to do nothing about it.

The Way Forward

It is time to re-look at the proposed Article 193-A. The relationship between constitutional doctrine and the political environment is ever changing  but, judicial independence should not change.

Some tribunals require the experience of a judge. However, there should be prohibition (or a lengthy moratorium) on judges accepting positions by the executive. This should include Rajya Sabha appointments and governorships  the most coveted of the posts. In this regard, the 1999 Supreme Court Code of Judicial ethics must also be modified.

Similar provisions do exist elsewhere within the legal tapestry. For example, the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 for Judges, Article 148 for CAG and Article 319 for the UPSC Chairperson.

Rather than focusing on this individual case, which is unlikely to be impacted, we must look at the future. MC Setalvad, Indias first Attorney General, spoke of constitutional propriety in the context of an independent judiciary. We must fight for it, as it is all we have.

While the civil liberties will have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, they will have everything to fear from the union of the judiciary with either of the other two branches  this was Justice Gogoi quoting Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary of the US, in a speech he made in 2018. He may not have been the first, but can he go down as the last emperor?
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Automaker General Motors Co. (GM) announced Tuesday that it is suspending its 2020 financial guidance due to uncertainty around the business impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Further, the company intends to drawdown about $16.0 billion from its revolving credit facilities as a proactive measure to increase its cash position and preserve financial flexibility in light of current uncertainty in global markets resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will supplement the company's strong cash position of approximately $15 billion to $16 billion expected at the end of March. 'We are aggressively pursuing austerity measures to preserve cash and are taking necessary steps in this changing and uncertain environment to manage our liquidity, ensure the ongoing viability of our operations and protect our customers and stakeholders,' said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO. Additionally, GM Financial has strong liquidity and capitalization. It had $24 billion of liquidity at the end of 2019 and expects to end the first quarter with similar levels of liquidity. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
The Real host Jeannie Mai opened up about the spread of racism alongside the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, known as coronavirus.

The 41-year-old Mai penned a heartfelt editorial for People about how her heritage (Mai is of Vietnamese and Chinese descent) has lead to 'vulgar remarks and racist memes' on her own Instagram, due to the virus' origins in China.

'It feels like theres two viruses. COVID-19  and fearful ignorance,' Mai began, adding, 'we all need to open up the discussion of Asian American-directed racial tension that has been caused by the novel coronavirus.'

Racism: The Real host Jeannie Mai opened up about the spread of racism alongside the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, known as coronavirus

The San Francisco native added that the first instance of racism she saw after the outbreak of the coronavirus came in her hometown.

She said the Chinese man was collecting cans to be recycled, when he was, 'attacked and mocked by a group of men shouting racial slurs.'

'Even worse, while this man stood crying and pleading for the return of his cans, the onlookers from the neighborhood, ranging from small children to adults, just stared on,' Mai added.

Racism: The San Francisco native added that the first instance of racism she saw after the outbreak of the coronavirus came in her hometown

She also spoke of several incidents in Los Angeles last month, including a, 'middle-schooler being beaten and hospitalized' and a 16-year-old boy in the San Fernando Valley who was physically attacked and accused of having the coronavirus.

Mai also highlighted an incident in midtown Manhattan on March 10, where a Korean woman was confronted by someone in the street, as she was asked 'Where is your corona mask, you Asian b***h?' before getting punched in the face, resulting in a dislocated jaw.

Mai detailed a number of other incidents that took place in New York, along with reports that Chinese businesses in New York have lost 40% of their business due to coronavirus fears.

Incidents: She also spoke of several incidents in Los Angeles last month, including a, 'middle-schooler being beaten and hospitalized' and a 16-year-old boy in the San Fernando Valley who was physically attacked and accused of having the coronavirus.

'Yes, the virus originated in China. Everyone already knows that. But do we all know that not all Asians are from China? And that not all Asians have coronavirus?' Mai said.

She added that New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City's Hate Crime Task Force was investigating an assault on an Asian woman, seemingly triggered, 'by the bigoted notion that an Asian person is more likely to carry or transmit the novel coronavirus.'

Cuomo added that, 'here is zero evidence that people of Asian descent bear any additional responsibility for the transmission of the coronavirus.'

Originated: 'Yes, the virus originated in China. Everyone already knows that. But do we all know that not all Asians are from China? And that not all Asians have coronavirus?' Mai said

Zero evidence: Cuomo added that, 'here is zero evidence that people of Asian descent bear any additional responsibility for the transmission of the coronavirus'

'Viruses dont discriminate against people of certain racial backgrounds. But clearly, people can,' Mai added.

She concluded by stating that avoiding Asian people, 'will not reduce your risk of getting infected by 2019-nCoV. The virus itself is quite equal opportunity, infecting anyone who happens to be close by and can be infected.'

'We need to check our friends who make inappropriate jokes in our circles. Take action against hate crimes when we see it. Dont be bystanders, be upstanders,' she said.

'And finally, your fear is no excuse to be racist to Asians. Racism wont end racism,' she concluded.

Risk: She concluded by stating that avoiding Asian people, 'will not reduce your risk of getting infected by 2019-nCoV. The virus itself is quite equal opportunity, infecting anyone who happens to be close by and can be infected'
Greencoat Renewables has bought a portfolio of wind assets in France from John Laing Group for 30.3m.

The assets have an overall net enterprise value of 95m, with Greencoat assuming around 60m in debt with the purchase.

The portfolio, which consists of three wind farms, is the company's first investment in the continental European renewable energy market.

The assets benefit from a guaranteed income of revenues for the next 12.3 years.

Bertrand Gautier, investment manager at Greencoat, said: "Consistent with our long-term strategy, we are pleased to be making our first investment into the French wind market. Our existing portfolio already has 97pc of its cash flows contracted under REFIT until January 1, 2028, and this acquisition further extends the proportion and duration of our fixed-price revenues."

The purchase is being funded by the company's 380m credit facility.

Following the acquisition, the listed renewable infrastructure company's total installed capacity base will increase to 528.1 megawatts.

Analysts at Davy Stockbrokers yesterday described Greencoat as "one of a select group of companies whose growth model remains intact in the current environment".

Shares in the company were down around 6pc in afternoon trading yesterday, impacted by a very weak market.

Last year, Greencoat spent 152m on acquiring three wind farms, and increasing its existing stake in Cloosh Valley wind farm to 75pc from 50pc.
A survivor of schools that took Indigenous children from their families shares her story of abuse, neglect and healing.

In the third of a five-part series on racism and reconciliation in rural Canada, Al Jazeera explores the legacy of the countrys residential schools.

Read more from the series here:

The Back Streeters and the White Boys

Canadas history of broken promises

Just another Indian: Surviving residential school

How did we become enemies?: Racism and reconciliation

Alberta, Canada  Alsena White, aged 67, is illiterate. She gets by with the help of her children and grandchildren.

Alsena was taught at the Blue Quills Indian Residential School near St Paul, Alberta. From the age of five to 16, she lived at the federal government-funded school, ushered through grade after grade. Yet no one seemed to notice  or to care  that she could neither read nor write.

[To them] I was just another Indian, she says of the Catholic nuns and priests who administered her education. Leaning slightly forward, as if to make sure it is safe to speak, Alsena continues: I tell people I spent 10 years in jail even though I never committed a crime.

It has been more than 50 years since she felt enslaved inside the walls of the school, but the memories still haunt her.

Some of them she had suppressed, she explains. But they returned with a vengeance years later, plunging her into fear and anxiety. Others she has carried with her whole life.

Blue Quills University, formerly a residential school, in St Paul [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Youre going to hell

Theres that little girl inside of me who was severely abused, tormented and told youre going to hell, she says, sitting in the cultural room at the Boys and Girls Club on her home reserve of Saddle Lake Cree Nation. The club serves young people from the reserve, providing social support and resources.

The circular room is painted bright yellow and represents a traditional sharing circle  an important part of the Cree way of life, which offers a safe space to exchange stories, solve disputes and encourage healing.

A small, circular table holds a smudge bowl and other ceremonial items. A trickle of smoke rises from the burning sage and sweetgrass as the aroma fills the room.

The aim of the residential schools, according to Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), was to remove parental influence  spiritual, cultural and intellectual  from the children and to assimilate them into settler society.



The TRC was launched in 2008 as part of the Indian Residential Schools (IRS) Settlement Agreement, which saw billions of dollars paid out to former students in compensation for mistreatment, sexual and physical abuse.



It was a federal government-mandated initiative with hopes to guide and inspire First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples and Canadians in a process of truth and healing leading toward reconciliation and renewed relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.

They threw my name out the window

Alsena remembers the dread that she and other children on Saddle Lake would feel towards the end of each summer. Their parents were mandated by the federal government to deliver them to the Catholic church on the reserve, where farm trucks waited to return them to the Blue Quills Residential School. If the parents refused, they faced arrest and imprisonment.

Alsena recalls how the children were loaded up like cattle onto the trucks and driven the 25km (15 miles) to the school, where they would stay until the following summer.

It was a game of survival from that point on, she says. The drive alone was dangerous  the trucks were overcrowded, there was only a chain to hold on to, and children would often end up with broken bones from falling.

Alsena stands in the place that was her designated spot, when she was a student and called by a number instead of her name [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Alsena says she never felt love at the school. In fact, she never felt human. Until she was 13 years old, she was known by the number 11. From the age of 13 to 16, she was number 39.

I was not Alsena. They threw my name out the window, she says.

Sometimes, though, the French-speaking nuns would call her by something other than her number. Dirty sauvage, she remembers them saying. To this day, she says she despises the French language.

They were on a mission to civilise the Indians, she explains,  by changing our language, changing our religion, changing us as Cree people.





Speaking Cree was forbidden at the school. The punishment was being beaten with a strap, scolded and made to miss a meal. But the pupils spoke it in secret anyway.



The children would find ways to help others being punished for breaking that rule and others. Later that day, in the basement of the former school, Alsena knocks on an old, vertical steel pipe. If you knock just so, she explains, the girls could hear us upstairs.



Certain knocks would mean Im coming up now to give you some food, she says of how they would sneak food to friends who had been sent to bed hungry.

Alsena also remembers reunions in what was called the parlour  the room where parents could come to visit. The visits were on the weekends, but Alsenas parents could only make it when they could find a ride as they had no car of their own. That was just a few times a year. But even when she could see them, the meetings were awkward because her parents spoke little English and with a nun and priest supervising nearby, she was unable to talk to them in Cree.

They were always watching us, she says.

A sense of shame about who she was and where she came from was instilled in Alsena.



The priests and nuns worked in the name of a holy God and, as a child, Alsena struggled to understand the God of the Moniyaw (White Man).

I hated God, she recalls with a shudder. I thought: Why is there a real wicked God? Why a God that makes you feel terrible of being a native person?'



Why is there a God that doesnt care about your feelings at all?' she adds with sadness.

A museum display shows residential school students in Saddle Lake, Alberta [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Memories of abuse

When Alsena was in her mid-50s, she met a lawyer working with survivors of the residential schools. The federal government was compensating residential school survivors as part of the TRC, and the lawyer wanted to know if Alsena had experienced abuse at the school.

She told the lawyer about the physical and verbal abuse she had endured. But she was sure she had not experienced any sexual abuse. Then, later that day, she had a flashback.



I was sitting on my bed, putting away clothes; the memories rushed back, she says. I saw what happened to me. I was looking into the air, on my bed, reliving memories. I remembered what happened to me  and I started to scream. I was crying and thought what the f***?'



The long-suppressed memory Alsena was recalling was of being molested by a nun.

Through long, heavy breaths and tears, Alsena describes the abuse  one incident in particular, when she was eight years old and being bathed by a nun.

Curtains reflecting the colours of the medicine wheel  white, red, black and yellow  hang in the windows of the former residential school [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

I dont want people to forget

In 1971, Blue Quills Residential School became the first in Canada to be turned over to an Indigenous group to administer. The federal government was moving to phase out the schools, and Blue Quills was to be shut down. However, the residents of Saddle Lake and the surrounding Indigenous communities proposed that they take over the building for the education of Indigenous students. The federal government agreed, after about 300 people took part in a sit-in protest at the school.

One of those who took part in the sit-in was Charles Wood, a former manager of the Saddle Lake band.

We have been told that native culture was not good, and that our customs were no-good pagan rites for so long that it was hard for us to believe we were good enough [to run our own schools], he recalls.



But, one evening, one of the elders stood up and asked, how many of you have studied up to grade 12? No hand showed. Then, how many of you have studied up to ninth grade? A few hands. See? the old man said, almost none of us can claim to have received an education. But the white man, the clergy, have been in charge of our education for over a century. We cant do worse than them.'

The group reached a deal with the federal government and control of the school was handed over to them.

A museum display shows RCMP memorabilia and a model of the catholic church where residential school students would be picked up by trucks [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Now, it is a First Nations university, offering post-secondary education, primarily to Indigenous people. It also welcomes people of all cultures to study Indigenous world views.

The Blue Quills vision statement reads that a prime objective is to promote a sense of pride in Indigenous heritage and reclaim traditional knowledge and practices. It is governed by seven appointed board members, each representing one of the seven nearby First Nations communities  Beaver Lake, Cold Lake, Frog Lake, Whitefish Lake, Heart Lake, Kehewin, and Saddle Lake  plus one elder from the Saddle Lake First Nation.

Aesthetically, not much has changed in the sprawling, three-storey, red brick building originally built in the 1930s. The brown staircases and black and white chequered floor tiles remain the same.

The dorm rooms once held rows of wire cots used as beds. They were cold, lonely, often scary places to sleep, Alsena recalls. But if anyone was caught whimpering in the night, they could be punished, she says. And sometimes that meant being taken away and molested.

In the basement, there is a strong, musty smell. The walls are crumbling, and there is debris everywhere. In one of the basement bathrooms, a number 39 is still visible above the spot where Alsena once kept her toothbrush, cup, face cloth and towel.

She sometimes gives tours of the school to groups of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people wanting to learn about what happened in such places. Reactions are varied, she says. But many times, people cry.

That is good, because I want them to feel, she says, pointing to her chest, to the place where her heart is. I dont want people to forget. I want to leave them with an emotion. A feeling. Something to take with them.

Alsena believes that sharing her experience helps her and others to heal.

Not everyone has the chance to heal, however. Because not everyone made it out alive. More than 6,000 children are estimated to have died in Canadas residential schools during the years they operated, most due to neglect, disease and abuse. According to the National Post, there were no listings of any deaths at the Blue Quills Residential School.

Despite this, Alsena says she recalls hearing of a student who was beaten to death by a member of the clergy at Blue Quills, but those kinds of stories were often covered up, she adds. Some children were buried in unmarked graves on residential school grounds. Others were listed as missing or discharged. And some parents were never told what happened to their children.

The TRC established a Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Project in a systematic effort to record and analyze the deaths at the schools, and the presence and condition of student cemeteries, within the regulatory context in which the schools were intended to operate.

Frozen in time

When Alsena returned to the school for the first time about 12 years ago  to help a friend retrieve art supplies from inside the building  she says she had felt ready to enter the space that had for so long been the place of her nightmares.

But as she walked past a closet in the basement, she felt a rush of wind.

I stopped in my tracks, and I cried and cried. It was like my feet were glued to the floor.

She felt frozen in time, she says.

Her friend rushed to comfort her, and Alsena was jerked back into the present.

I felt something let me go, and I walked away, she says.

Alsena makes tea at home in Saddle Lake [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Alsena finds some solace in knowing that she has reclaimed what the school tried to take from her.

When she returned home at 16, she surrounded herself with her culture and language, learned from her mother and grandfather.

I would go with my mother in the bush. Sit and talk with the old ladies [elders], and wed eat sandwiches together. I loved it, she says. My mother showed me how to find medicines and what plant was good for what. My grandfather taught me culture and encouraged me to speak my language.

She still speaks fluent Cree.

Family photos in Alsenas home [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

She became an expert in plants foraged from the lands of her traditional territories and is known in her community as a medicine helper. I dont like when people refer to me as a Medicine Woman because then they think Im into witchcraft, she says, laughing at how people can mistake her role as a teacher of nature with being a witch.

So, I say Im a medicine helper. I know medicines  which ones are good for healing from our Mother Earth.

Alsena knows she could very well have gone down the path of addiction, as so many survivors of childhood trauma do, and she did for a brief time. She fell into a cycle of alcoholism and dysfunction as a youth, but by the time she was 24, she had turned her life around.

She did it for her three children and future generations, she says.

I was sick and tired of living the way I lived, of all the things that happened to me. I thought, Im going to make a better life for myself, she says.

Alsena has been sober for more than 40 years.

Alsena with her horse, Tiny Dancer, at home in Saddle Lake; she loves animals [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Stages of healing

But not every survivor has coped so well. Healing is a journey that can take many twists and turns, Alsena explains, and she respects every stage other survivors find themselves at, including intergenerational survivors who are carrying the trauma of their parents and grandparents.

Others are at their own stages of healing, and thats ok. Some people dont like to talk about what happened, and thats ok too. But I do talk about it  its helpful.

According to the TRC Final Report, released in 2015, residential schools had enduring effects, including health problems, substance abuse, mortality and suicide rates, criminal activity and disintegration of families and communities.

For over a century, the central goals of Canadas Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as cultural genocide, reads the report.

Reconciliation in Canada is still in its infancy.

Alsenas horse, Tiny Dancer [Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera]

Just last year, the head pastor of the St Paul Roman Catholic Cathedral Parish, Gerard Gauthier, wrote a letter to the St Paul Journal about why he thought residential schools were not that bad. He received a backlash online after posting the letter on the local diocese Facebook page.

Since then, Gerard has attended a monthly reconciliation group in St Paul. He says it is an effort to show his support for renewed relationships with Indigenous peoples.

However, he stands by his opinion about residential schools.

People are exaggerating when they say its all bad, he told Al Jazeera during a telephone interview.

They [Indigenous people] would still be in the Stone Age, and wed be living the good life if we didnt teach them to read.

Gerard leads a congregation of 600. He says St Paul struggles with racism, but he believes it is connected to fear.

Its fear of one another. Theres an element of fear in me. They [Indigenous people] might say to me oh, hes just another priest, he says.

To Alsena, nothing good came out of her time at Blue Quills.

Over the years, she has found healing and reconciliation in reconnecting with her First Nation identity and through spending time on the lands of her ancestors, the land where she wants to live and, one day, die and be buried. To her, it is a beloved place.

I never want to be anywhere else. I have been to other countries, and Canada-Saddle Lake is where I want to die. I dont want to ever move  This is where Im safe. This is where I know the land, free of white mans laws.

Last May, Alsena received an Esquao award from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women for her dedication to culture, work in traditional healthcare, being a Knowledge Keeper and role model for her community. The award is considered the most prestigious of its kind in Canada for Indigenous women.

One of the TRCs findings was that attempts to force assimilation failed, in part due to the resilience and resistance of many Indigenous communities  and of survivors like Alsena.
A heartbroken Brit has discovered his fiance cheated less than a fortnight before their wedding after he was put in isolation with his lover over fears they both have coronavirus.

Shocked teacher Matt Hillier, 28, from Warrington in Cheshire, was due to marry Brazilian doctor Octavio Santos on April 1 and had flown to Belo Horizonte for the register office ceremony.

But he discovered the Brazilian hunk had been unfaithful after Octavio Santos, 33, was put into isolation with suspected coronavirus - and had to admit he was in lock-down with his lover, Nathan* - which is a false name.

'I am angry and bitter,' said Matt. 'He is a cheat and this is a total slap in the face.'

Matt Hillier, 28, from Warrington in Cheshire, discovered his fiance Octavio Santos (pictured, on Matt's shoulders), 33, cheated less than a fortnight before their wedding after he was put in isolation with his lover over fears they both have coronavirus

English teacher Matt flew to Belo Horizonte to marry Brazilian doctor Octavio Santos on April 1 after taking their wedding banns in front of his parents and sister in February. Pictured, Matt (left), Octavio (right)

'I've moved to the other side of the world to start a life with this man. I've spent so much time stressing over organising our wedding so that it's perfect.

'I even flew my parents and sister out in February to hear the reading of our wedding banns and I've got everything ready for our ceremony at the beginning of April and this is how he repays me.'

Matt discovered the devastating news when Octavio went away on a long weekend to Rio with a friend last Thursday.

He was supposed to be going too, but had to stay behind because the AirBnb they'd booked wouldn't let them take Octavio's Jack Russell dog, Pico.

Matt said he has been left feeling 'angry and bitter' following the betrayal and admitted it felt like he has been 'slapped in the face.' Pictured left, with Octavio, right

The devastated teacher (left) revealed he had moved to the other side of the world to start a life with Octavio (pictured, right)

Matt was supposed to be going away on the long weekend, but had to stay behind as the AirBnb they'd booked wouldn't let them take Octavio's Jack Russell, Pico. Pictured, Matt and Octavio with Pico

Matt and Octavio (pictured, together) had been together for five years and the teacher mistakenly thought he could trust him

'AirBnb changed their minds and said no dogs were allowed and we didn't have time to find anyone to take the dog in time,' explained Matt.

'I offered to stay in the apartment to look after the dog so that Octavio could have a good time. Nathan was a friend who we'd had a few drinks with on the odd occasion.

'I've been with Octavio for five years and thought I could trust him and I mistakenly thought Nathan and I were friends.

'I spoke to Octavio while they were away and was expecting them home when Octavio called.'

During the conversation on Monday, Octavio said he was feeling extremely ill with a fever and was shaking all over. He told Matt he needed to go straight to the hospital rather than returning home.

'I was really worried as it sounded like coronavirus,' explained Matt. 'But then his tone changed and he said he was very sorry, but that he had slept with Nathan.

'I told him I felt betrayed and that I didn't understand why he would do this. I just wanted him to come home so we could talk about it properly.'

But that wasn't possible because both of them were ordered into isolation for 14 days after having tests for coronavirus, which has killed seven people in Brazil. They are now staying in Nathan's flat where while they await the results.

Matt said he is 'beyond furious' and added that Octavio is due out of quarantine the day before their scheduled wedding date (pictured together)

'I am beyond furious,' said Matt. 'He is due out of quarantine the day before our wedding.

'I can't believe he cheated on me with this guy during their weekend away and now they are both quarantined together. I can't even call him to chat properly to see if we can sort this out because Nathan is in the room next to him.'

Matt and Octavio got engaged last year after meeting on a dating app in Spain five years ago.

At the time, Octavio was visiting Europe as a medical student and Matt was holidaying in Alicante.

When they left, they spoke over the phone every night and Matt flew to Brazil to visit him. Octavio proposed February last year after picking him up from the airport.

'I had just arrived and he handed me a gym bag and I thought this is weird,' Matt explained. 'He told me to open it and there were two rings in there. He said 'I want to marry you because I love you. It was romantic in its own way.

'I was looking forward to spending my life with him. He is gorgeous but he is also timid and tame and was always very charming.'

Matt moved to Brazil in January. His parents and sister flew out in February for the wedding banns. The couple planned to move back to the UK in two or three years where Octavio hoped to become a GP.

Matt has no idea if he will marry the man he thought was the love of his life, and feels guilty for being angry at Octavio as he's so ill. Pictured, Matt and Octavio

Matt isn't able to call Octavio to have a proper chat as he's aware that Nathan is in the room next to him. Pictured, Matt and Octavio with their friends

Now, Matt says he has no idea if he will marry the man he thought was the love of his life.

'For now the wedding is postponed and I don't know what the future holds,' he explained. 'I just want to see him in person and talk. I'm still too angry to think straight right now.'

He also feels guilty for being angry at Octavio because he's so ill.

'You are not meant to be mad at a sick person,' Matt added. 'He has a really bad fever and is sweating a lot and he is struggling to speak because his throat is sore.

'He is now being really apologetic and says he wishes we could go back to it just being me and him. But I don't know if I can forgive him.

'The whole world has been affected by coronavirus and so I have I - but not in the way I thought.'

'I thought I had my whole future mapped out but now it's been taken away from me. I won't let this destroy me, but it hurts like hell right now.'

Octavio commented: 'I'm sorry. It was a drunken mistake and as soon as I am fully recovered I want to be with Matt. I love him and miss him and want to make things right.'
Rolla, MO, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When representatives from Phelps Health, anticipating a shortage of protective masks due to the coronavirus outbreak, needed help, students, faculty and staff at Missouri University of Science and Technology answered by harnessing the power of technology and ingenuity.

Campus was abnormally quiet Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22, not only because it was the weekend before spring break but also because, due to the coronavirus outbreak, most students had moved out for the semester and a majority of faculty and staff prepared to work remotely. But 3-D printers in a couple of buildings on campus were humming away, fabricating prototype masks and face shield brackets.

Inside the Kummer Student Design Center, where S&T students usually work on rockets, solar cars, Mars rovers and other projects, a few students, faculty and staff outfitted one room Saturday with a dozen 3-D printers to produce prototypes for Phelps Healths physicians, nurses and other medical workers.

Across campus, students at Missouri S&Ts Makerspace were using their 3-D printers to fabricate prototypes of the face shield brackets. The university enlisted more printers for the cause Sunday.

Phenomenal prototypes

The S&T prototypes are phenomenal, says Dr. Casey Burton, director of medical research at Phelps Health.

Although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rolla, Burton and Shawn Hodges, Phelps Healths director of ancillary and surgical services, foresaw the need to obtain more protective gear for the Rolla-based regional health system.

Shawn had already been experimenting with 3-D printed masks with Rolla High School but realized he needed to drastically scale up production capacity to meet the needs of our community, Burton says. He reached out to me to rally the university and beyond for their support and to help organize those operations with him on our end.

Burton asked Missouri S&T Chancellor Mohammad Dehghani if it was possible to harness the universitys 3-D printing capabilities to aid in the effort. Dehghani directed others across campus to do what they could to assist.

Story continues

The Kummer Student Design Center staff and students were among the first to respond. Dr. Chris Ramsay, assistant vice provost for student design and director of the center, marshalled the few remaining student members of the centers 19 design teams to set up a 3-D printer farm to run 24 hours a day in the center at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue.

We started out with five 3-D printers at the design center, Ramsay says. I sent a note out to all the design teams, and the students who were still in town brought their printers in and now were up to 12.

Students re-energized

This has re-energized our design team students, Ramsay says. Hundreds of S&T students had worked since the fall on projects for design competitions that are now canceled due to the coronavirus. This community need fulfills a hunger that they have to do something positive and meaningful in this crisis.

While the design center produced prototype surgical masks, S&Ts Makerspace chief executive officer Daustin Hoelscher, a senior computer engineering major from Mascoutah, Illinois, was printing a prototype bracket for the face shields.

Phelps Health medical staff evaluated both product prototypes on Sunday and were continuing evaluations Monday.

This could certainly be a game changer for us and even the rest of the world, so we appreciate Missouri S&Ts efforts, says Dr. Brian Kriete, otolaryngologist and medical director of surgical services at Phelps Health.

Im so pleased with how our university community has come together to help in this time of need, says Dehghani. The rapid response and support for one of our important community partners typifies the true S&T spirit of innovation, ingenuity and community engagement. I am very proud of the way our university has responded to this critical need.

A community effort

The Rolla Public School System is also involved in the effort, with instructors at Rolla High School, Rolla Junior High School and Rolla Technical Institute (RTI) putting their 3-D printers to use. Some students in robotics classes and teams are also helping, says Dr. Amy Hermann, RTI director.

RTI instructors Meghan Bilbrough and Leigh Ann Carpenter also sent out an all call to all our robotics kids, saying if they had 3-D printers, we could help the community. Several robotics kids are now printing too, she says.

Attachment

Andrew Careaga

Missouri University of Science and Technology

573-341-4328

news@mst.edu


Leader of the opposition Aslan Bzhania won election of the President of Abkhazia. According to the CEC, he got 56.5% of the votes.

Second presidential election was held in Abkhazia on Sunday, March 22. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Adgur Ardzinba, deputy of the parliament, leader of the opposition bloc Aslan Bzhaniya and former Minister of Internal Affairs Leonid Dzapshba competed for the top post. Former president Raul Khajimba didn't participate in the election campaign.

The Abkhazia-inform and Sputnik-Abkhazia news agencies report that according to preliminary results of the vote, announced today at a briefing by the chairman of the Central Election Commission Tamaz Gogia, Aslan Bzhania won by a wide margin, gaining 56.5% of the votes. The remaining candidates scored: Adgur Ardzinba - 35.42%, Leonid Dzapshba - 2.22%. People could also choose the option "against all". In accordance with the law On the Election of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia, presidential candidate is considered elected when he receives over half of the votes. The president is elected for five years.

The fact that the elections were considered to be legitimate in terms of turnout became known the day before. According to the data, as of 18:00, over 58% of voters came to polling stations. All election sites were provided with disinfectants. According to observers, the elections were held in a calm, friendly atmosphere, and were completely legitimate. Presidential candidate Adgur Ardzinba agreed with the election results and congratulated the winner. Right now nothing is known about the reaction of Leonid Dzapshba to Bzhania's victory.

Aslan Bzhania, born in 1963, graduated from the Moscow Road Institute, was elected MP of the Abkhaz parliament, major general, as well as chairman of the State Security Service of Abkhazia and a presidential candidate in the 2014 election. After his defeat in 2014, he was dismissed and led the political opposition. He was one of the ideologists and organizers of mass protests against President Raul Khadjimba in Sukhum on January 8-12, 2020. On January 9, at the initiative of Bzhania, the Peoples Assembly of Abkhazia forced Khajimba to resign.

Bzhania has a reputation as supporter of Abkhazia's integration with Russia, while still preserving sovereignty of the republic. He advocates for constitutional order and strict observance of the rule of law, while being against the chaos of "rally democracy". Bzhaniya believes that the assistance Abkhazia receives from Russia won't last forever and that a country cannot always be supported by powerful neighbor. He pursues systemic reforms of all sectors, government stimulation of business and agriculture, strengthening of the budget discipline, improved lending to business, the republics transition to self-sufficiency of its own products, anti-corruption, reform of the health and education system, targeted assistance to disabled people and their families, as well as the fight against drug addiction, which remains one of the more urgent problems of Abkhazia.
US President Donald Trump has called for protection of Asian Americans after charges that his use of the term "Chinese virus" had aggravated a backlash.

"It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

"They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER!"



His tone -- and avoidance of calling novel coronavirus the "Chinese virus" -- contrasts with last week when he voiced anger at being accused of racism.

Asian American activists have reported a spike in bias incidents since the epidemic erupted, including a woman who was followed and beaten on the New York subway.

Trump has called "Chinese virus" an "accurate" term because the pandemic, which has killed more than 16,000 people worldwide, was first detected in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan.

The World Health Organization discourages such terminology, saying it can stigmatize communities and falsely indicate to others that they cannot be infected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The economic aid package that Senate Democrats are currently negotiating with the White House includes a significant expansion of unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost jobs or been furloughed due to the coronavirus crisis. But its not quite what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has described publicly. Depending on who you are, it might actually be a better deal.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer said his negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had reached the two-yard line and included unemployment insurance on steroids, in which the the federal government will pay your salary, your full salary for now four months.

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That is not actually how the program will work. The current draft bill, which was sent to me by a Democratic policy aide, offers jobless Americans a flat weekly payment of $600 on top of the ordinary unemployment benefits they would usually receive, for up to four months. It also extends regular unemployment insurance for an extra 13 weeks and makes more former workers eligible. The spending is federally funded. Another Democratic aide familiar with the negotiations summed it up this way:

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We have expanded the universe of people who qualify for UI (people who are furloughed, gig workers, freelancers  ), and we have increased the benefit by $600 per week for four months (thats in addition to whatever their state would give them as a base salary for being on unemployment). Also expanded UI by 13 weeks.

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What this means is that a lot of low-wage workers will end up getting more money through unemployment than they previously were earning on the job. Perhaps not coincidentally, $600 a week is what you would earn working 40 hours a week at $15 per hour (pretax). And again, thats in addition to normal unemployment insurance. For a lot of restaurant and retail workers whove been furloughed or laid off as a result of the crisis, its a pretty excellent deal. On the flip side, some higher earners who lost their jobs probably wont have their full salaries replaced, as Schumer seemed to suggest.

Aside from the beefed-up unemployment benefits, the new draft bill includes a more generous plan to send most American families a check, whether theyre working or not. It would provide households with $1,200 per adult and $500 per child child for anyone making less than $75,000 and phases down for higher earners. Senate Republicans were widely criticized for shafting the poor in their original proposal, which offered smaller payments to low-income families and nothing to tax filers who earned less than $2,500 last year.

Anyway, Democrats said that increasing unemployment benefits was their top priority going into negotiations over this bill, which originally did not include any significant expansion. I think its fair to say theyve succeeded. As a result of their efforts, a lot of lower- and middle-income Americans are about to receive a life vest made of cash to help them survive this crisis.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to Tuesdays episode of The Gist.
Progress in profitability in second-half year

Record net result at 23.1M in 2019

Strong improvement in cash flow from operations at 30.4 M

Proposed dividend of 0.35 for 2019

Groupe Gorge (Euronext Paris: GOE) releases today its full-year 2019 results.

 million H2 2019[1] H2 2018[2] Change

(Organic) 20191 20182 Change

(organic) Backlog end of period 606.2 214.0 +183.3 % Revenue 139.3 130.2 +7.0 %

(+10.6 %) 274.6 253.2 +8.5 %

(+10.8 %) EBITDA[3] 17.4 10.9 +60.4 % 31.7 16.2 +96.1 % EBITDA margin (%) 12.5 % 8.4 % +416 bp 11.5 % 6.4 % +516 bp EBIT[4] 6.3 3.9 +61.6 % 9.5 2.1 +344.2 % Operating result 4.9 3.9 +26.6 % 4.9 (0.6) +5.5 M Financial result (0.9) (0.7) +23.2% (1.1) (1.0) +13.6 % Taxes 0.0 (2.1) n.m (2.2) (2,2) +2.4 % Net income from discontinued operations 21.3 1.4 +19.9 M 21.6 1.7 +19.9 M Net result 25.3 2.4 +22.8 M 23.1 (2.0) +25.2 M Net result group share 23.0 1.6 +21,3 M 20.9 (1.9) +22.8 M Cash-flow from operations 30.4 (3.3) +33.7 M

The consolidated financial statements for the 2019 financial year were approved by the Board of Directors, which met remotely on March 23, 2020. The audit procedures by the Statutory Auditors are completed, the audit report relating to the certification is being issued. The approval will be ratified in a forthcoming Board of Directors with physical presence of directors after Covid-19, unless the decrees being prepared in the context of this crisis retroactively validate the accounts approval by any means of telecommunication.

In the second half of 2019, Gorge Group's revenues were up +7.0% to 139.3 million (up +10.6% on a like-for-like basis), driven by the performance of all the divisions. In 2019, revenue increased by +8.5% on a reported basis and by +10.8% on a like-for-like basis.

At December 31, 2019, backlog reached 606.2 million, the equivalent of more than two years of revenue for the group.

EBITDA increased by +60.4% in the second half of 2019 to 17.4 million, mainly reflecting the strong performance of all divisions. EBITDA margin reached 12.5% in the second half of 2019. Full-year, EBITDA reached an all-time high of 31.7 million. This remarkable growth of +96.1% reflects the strong increase in profitability in all business areas, and benefits, by 6.2 million, from the application of the IFRS 16 - Leases standard as of January 1, 2019. The group's EBITDA margin for 2019 was 11.5% compared to 6.4% in 2018.

In the second half of 2019, EBIT amounted to 6.3 million, an increase of +2.4 million. In 2019, it increased by +7.3 million to 9.5 million.

In full-year 2019, operating income amounted to 4.9 million, compared to -0.6 million in 2018, after other items of operating income of 4.6 million, with in particular restructuring costs in the three divisions for a total of 1.4 million and depreciation and amortization of assets for 2.2 million.

Financial result was -0.9 million in the second half of 2019, compared to -0.7 million in the second half of 2018. It amounted to -1.1 million in full-year 2019, compared with -1.0 million in 2018.

Taxes were negligible was in second half of 2019, compared to a charge of -2.1 million in the second half of 2018. It stood at -2.2 million for the full year, stable compared to 2018.

Net income from discontinued operations, including the gain from Cimlec group disposal net from transaction costs, amounted to 21.3 million in the second half of 2019 compared to 1.4 million in the second half of 2018, and to 21.6 million in 2019.

Group's net result reached a record level of 23 million in the second half of 2019, an increase of +21.3 million. It reflects the progress in profitability of the divisions and benefits from the capital gain from the disposal of the Cimlec group. In 2019, the group's net profit share was 20.9 million.

Performance by division

 million H2 2019 H2 2018 Change 2019 2018 Change Smart Safety Systems Revenue 55.4 51.6 +7.2 % 112.5 102.1 +10.2 % EBITDA 10.9 9.2 +18.4% 20.8 14.5 +43.0 % EBITDA margin (%) 19.6 % 17.8% +185 bp 18.5% 14.2% +423 bp EBIT 5.7 5.4 +0.3 M 9.9 7.1 +2.9 M Protection of High-risk Installations Revenue 48.3 45.7 +5.8 % 91.8 90.9 +1.0 % EBITDA 3.2 0.7 +2.6 M 5.2 (0.2) +5.4 M EBITDA margin (%) 6.7 % 1.5% +524 bp 5.7% -0.2% +588 bp EBIT 0.8 0.6 +0.2 M 0.9 (1.3) +2.1 M 3D Printing Revenue 36.0 33.3 +7.9 % 71.3 60.9 +17.1 % EBITDA 2.7 1.0 +1.7 M 5.3 1.2 +4.1 M EBITDA margin (%) 7.6% 3.0% +459 bp 7.5 % 2.0 % +549 bp EBIT (0.5) (1.9) +1.4 M (1.5) (4.0) +2.5 M

Smart Safety Systems

In the Smart Safety Systems division, revenue grew by +7.2% in the second half of 2019, driven by growth in the Aerospace business. The Robotics and Simulation activities were merged at the end of the fiscal year to facilitate the implementation of commercial synergies in the defence field. For the year, revenues amounted to 112.5 million, a net increase of +10.2% on a reported basis and +13.1% on a like-for-like basis, excluding SSI and EN Motors sold in 2018.

At December, 31, 2019, the division's backlog reached 526.3 million, a 4.4-fold increase compared to December 31, 2018. It brings exceptional visibility for the next few years.

In the second half of the year, EBITDA amounted to 10.9 million; the decline in the Robotics division, linked to the decline in the Simulation business, was offset by the strong improvement in profitability in the Aerospace division. In full-year 2019, EBITDA increased by +43.0% to 20.8 million, of which 1.9 million was related to the implementation of IFRS 16-Leases standard. EBITDA margin increased from 14.2% in 2018 to 18.5% in 2019, with a superior margin in the second half of the year (nearly 20%).

Operating income was up +0.3 million in the second half of 2019, to 5.7 million, affected by the lower performance of the Simulation activity within Robotics business. For full-year 2019, it stood at 9.9 million.

Protection of High-Risk Installations

The Protection of High-Risk Installations division recorded revenue growth of +5.8% on a reported basis and +15.1% on a like-for-like basis in the second half of 2019. For full-year 2019, revenues were 91.8 million, up +1.0% on a reported basis and +11.0% on a like-for-like basis. This trend reflects, as expected, the further improvement of all the activities.

The division's backlog stood at 73.8 million at December 31, 2019, down -14.7% from December 31, 2018 and -14.2% on a like-for-like basis. This decline is due to a base effect in 2018 and does not reflect the positive business outlook expected in 2020 for the division.

In the second half of 2019, EBITDA increased to 3.2 million, compared with 0.7 million in the second half of 2018. It improved markedly over the year to 5.2 million, an increase of +5.4 million thanks to the sharp recovery of the nuclear business. The application of IFRS 16 standard contributes 1.7 million. EBITDA margin was 5.7% over the year.

In the second half of 2019, operating income amounted to 0.8 million compared to 0.6 million in the second half of 2018, and improved by +2.1 million full-year to 0.9 million.

3D printing

Revenues in the 3D Printing division were up +7.9% in the second half of the year, with both the Systems and Product businesses contributing to this performance. Revenues reached 71.3 million in 2019, up +17.1% compared to 2018 (up +6.3% on a like-for-like basis).

EBITDA in the division showed a marked increase in the second half of 2019 (up +1.7 million) despite a traditionally unfavorable seasonality in the Products business. As a result, EBITDA amounted to 5.3 million for the year, up +4.1 million compared to 2018. It takes into account a favorable effect of 2.1 million related to the application of the IFRS 16-Leases standard. The division's EBITDA margin increased significantly to 7.5% in 2019, up from 2.0% in 2018.

Operating income continued to improve to -0.5 million in the second half of 2019 from -1.9 million in the second half of 2018. Over the year, it improved by +2,5 million, reaching -1.5 million in 2019.

Substantially strengthened financial position as of December 31, 2019

The strong improvement in operating cash flow, which increased to 30.4 million in 2019 compared to -3.3 million in 2018, is one of the major elements of the 2019 financial year. It is the result of the improvement in cash flow to 28.1 million, compared to 9.6 million in 2018, as well as the favorable working capital requirements for 6.4 million.

Cash flow from investments amounted to 2.3 million in 2019, compared to -21.1 million in 2018, driven by the cash proceeds from the disposal of the Cimlec group. During the year, the group maintained a sustained level of investment in research and development, as well as real estate investments. In terms of external growth, the 3D Printing division has completed the acquisition of Surdifuse-L'Embout Francais, paid the earn-out related to Avenao and bought the minority shareholders of a subsidiary.

As of December 31, 2019, the group has a net financial debt (excluding lease debt resulting from the application of IFRS 16 and including treasury shares) of 8.2 million, compared to a net financial debt of 27.7 million as of January 1, 2019.

Dividend proposal

The Board of Directors of Groupe Gorge will propose to the Shareholders' Meeting, which will take place on 8 June 2020, the distribution of a dividend of 0.35 per share, paid in cash, in respect of the 2019 financial year. If this dividend proposal is approved, the ex-dividend date will be July 1, 2020, and it will be payable in cash on July 3, 2020.

2020 perspectives

In the new context of the Covid-19 crisis, Groupe Gorge has limited as much as possible activities within its sites in order to preserve the health and safety of its employees and implemented business continuity plan allowing to work with the maximum safety or remotely when possible.

At this stage, it is impossible to assess the impact of the epidemic on the group's revenue. All measures are implemented to adapt as best as possible to government's guidelines and resume productions when means are available and safety conditions for our employees are met. The group will keep the market informed of any other substantial change in its business.

In this unprecedented context, Groupe Gorge has major assets: diversified activities that are not affected by the effects of cycles, a backlog of more than two years of revenue and a solid financial structure.

For 2020, the Group expects the following qualitative changes in its markets:

In the Smart Safety Systems division, Robotics should continue to perform very well, bolstered by the robotics order from the Belgian and Dutch navies, which is expected to represent an annual contribution of approximately 15 million. Some major new opportunities for mine hunting contracts have already been identified in several countries and could materialise within the next 36 months.

division, Robotics should continue to perform very well, bolstered by the robotics order from the Belgian and Dutch navies, which is expected to represent an annual contribution of approximately 15 million. Some major new opportunities for mine hunting contracts have already been identified in several countries and could materialise within the next 36 months. In the Protection of High-Risk Installations division, the commercial outlook is expected to be good across its markets (firefighting and nuclear). The Oil & Gas business, which now represent less than 4% of revenue, may be affected by the recent drop in the Brent stock price although the group is mainly positioned on gas projects.

division, the commercial outlook is expected to be good across its markets (firefighting and nuclear). The Oil & Gas business, which now represent less than 4% of revenue, may be affected by the recent drop in the Brent stock price although the group is mainly positioned on gas projects. The 3D Printing division has been working for several years on 3D Printing industrialisation projects in various business sectors. These projects involve a large number of machines dedicated to production applications consuming several tonnes of material. Although no industrial orders were signed in 2019, the Group hopes to receive its first such order in the next few months. The Group also expects a surge in its Materials business, with an increase in volume consumed that will validate the significant investments made in the Machines business over several years.

***

Conference call to present the 2019 annual results on Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 am

The information on the 2019 annual results includes this press release and the presentation available on Groupe Gorge's website: www.groupe-gorge.com

On March 24, 2020, Raphael Gorge, Chairman & CEO, and Loic Le Berre, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Finance, will provide the financial community with their comments on the annual results of Groupe Gorge and respond to questions from analysts during a conference call in French starting 10:00 am (Paris time).

To participate in the conference call, you may call any of the following telephone numbers approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time:

France: +33 (0)1 70 71 01 59

UK: +44 (0)2 07 19 43 759

Germany: +49 (0) 6 92 22 22 54 29

The access code to this conference: 51465873#

A replay will be available as soon as possible on the Groupe Gorge investors' website, "Financial documents" section.



About Groupe Gorge

Founded in 1990, Groupe Gorge is an independent group that specializes in high-tech industries. Today, the Group is active in the fields of security and protection in extreme environments, as well as in the 3D printing sector. In its thirty-year history, Groupe Gorge has always developed and driven the latest technological and industrial innovations.





Smart Safety Systems:

Developing complete, innovative technological solutions for complex missions in hostile and confined environments.



Protection of High-Risk Installations:

Protecting people and ensuring the active and passive protection of installations for energy markets and industrial and tertiary sectors in France. Ensuring the maintenance of these protection systems.



3D Printing:

Enabling major industry players to find new routes to successful innovation and production processes by providing 3D printers, premium material, software and 3D printed parts.



The Group reported revenue of 274,6 M in 2019. It is backed by 1,700 employees and operations in 7 countries.





More information on:

www.groupe-gorge.com



Groupe Gorge is listed on Euronext Paris B

ISIN code: FR0000062671

Ticker code: GOE



Investor Contact:

Elodie Robbe-Mouillot

Investor/analyst Relations

Tel: +33 1 44 77 94 77

E-mail: investors@groupe-gorge.com



Anne-Pauline Petureaux

Shareholder Relations

Tel: +33 1 53 67 36 72

E-mail: apetureaux@actus.fr





Press Contacts:

Manon Clairet

Financial Press Relations

Tel: +33 1 53 67 36 73

E-mail: mclairet@actus.fr



Disclaimer

GROUPE GORGE press releases may contain forward-looking statements regarding GROUPE GORGE's targets. These forward-looking statements reflect GROUPE GORGE's current expectations. Such forward-looking statements and targets depend on known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated herein. The risks and uncertainties that could affect the Group's future ability to achieve its targets include, in addition to those indicated in the press release: the strength of competition; the development of markets in which the Group operates and notably the 3D printing division; currency fluctuations; obtaining the export authorizations that may be required for certain activities; control of costs and expenses; changes in tax legislation, laws, regulations or their enforcement; our ability to successfully keep pace with technological advances; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and key staff; the evolution, interpretation and uniform application and enforcement of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), according to which we prepare our financial statements; manufacturing and supply chain bottlenecks; the performance of our business partners (subcontractors, agents, suppliers, etc.). Some of these risk factors are set forth and detailed in our Document de Reference (Registration Document including the annual financial report filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers), available on our website www.groupe-gorge.com. This list of risks, uncertainties and other factors is not limitative. Other unanticipated, unknown or unforeseeable factors, such as changes in the economic situation or financial markets, could also have a material adverse effect on our targets.

This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or to subscribe, or a solicitation to purchase or subscribe shares or securities in GROUPE GORGE or in its listed subsidiaries in any country whatsoever.

Follow us on Twitter for live updates

from Groupe Gorge!

@GroupeGorge

[1] First application of IFRS 16 - Leases as from January 1, 2019 (the impacts are described in the 2019 Universal Registration Document) without applying any retrospective changes for 2018.

[2] In the Protection of High-Risk Installations division, Cimlec and its subsidiaries (Cimlec group) were disposed of on July 9, 2019. In accordance with IFRS 5 - Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, the Cimlec group's contribution is recorded under "Net income from discontinued activities" and not in each line of the income statement.

[3] Operating income before "Net depreciation, amortization and provisions", "Other items of operating income" and "Share in the results of associated companies".

[4] Operating income before "Net depreciation, amortization and provisions" and "Share in the results of associated companies".

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A few months ago it was hard to fathom just how serious a threat coronavirus was.

While we saw headlines about it hitting in China and Asia, before reaching mainland Europe and, eventually, the UK, many of us did not foresee the scale at which the deadly disease would take over.

From people stockpiling on toilet roll and food in supermarkets, leaving empty shelves nationwide, to transport links shutting down and people working from home to practise social distancing; a lot has changed  and in such a short period of time.

One of the latest fallouts of Covid-19, however, is perhaps one of the biggest areas of concern: our schools are shutting down.

Schools across the country have been closed due to coronavirus / PA

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed plans to close schools, colleges and nurseries up and down the country, and confirmed GCSEs and A Level exams would be cancelled for the foreseeable future.

In the wake of the news, parents and pupils alike shared concerns about the future and the impact it would have not only on the education of our young, but also the financial burden this would place on parents  especially for those on lower incomes or not entitled to sick pay.

Thankfully, teachers like Charlotte Yeoman and her colleagues who teach at Portsmouths Priory School are stepping up to offer their support - not just to friends and family, but to their community at large.

Ms Yeoman, who has taught English for 14 years, told the Standard: I was saddened and worried when the news broke that schools would be closing.

My first thought was to the education and experiences that our pupils would be missing out on.

My colleagues and I had many discussions about what would happen to our vulnerable children and how we could help them.

In response, Ms Yeoman posted on Facebook that during school closures she would be to hand if parents were struggling to help their kids out with their schoolwork, or if they required access to resources at this time. Others since have followed suit, sharing similar messages on social media to reach to their wider community.

Many parents are homeschooling their children at this time (Gareth Copley) / Getty Images

Discussing the impact the closures would have on her Year 11 pupils, Ms Yeoman explained: They have worked so incredibly hard for their GCSEs, it was heartbreaking to see them leave and the uncertainty surrounding their exams.

They were given a guard of honour and applauded out of the building at the end of the day by staff, which was probably one of my proudest moments, she continued. To be able to do that for them on what was also one of the toughest days of my career.

Pupils at the school have been given at least two weeks worth of materials to work on at home, and they are all part of an online learning portal, which not only enables them to access work, but also allows teachers to mark submitted work.

When asked if any of the parents or pupils at the school were concerned over access to online facilities, Ms Yeoman replied: As a school and as part of Bohunt Education Trust, our commitment is to providing students with opportunities, regardless of starting point or background.

Additional provision was put in place to support students that had limited access to the internet or digital devices from home.

Equally, staff can set up Google Classrooms online to teach their class remotely, ensuring the childrens learning is impacted as little as possible.

According to Ms Yeoman, parents have been very supportive of the schools approach. She said: All the comments that I have seen on our social media pages have been incredibly positive and supportive of staff and provision put in place at such short notice.

As for the students themselves, Ms Yeoman praises their composure at this time, revealing: One of my Year 10 students came back to collect set texts that we will read next year as well as the material we had prepared so that she could make the most of her time outside of school.

Bohunt Education Trust encourages students to be game-changers  to think for themselves and challenge the status quo - and this was something that I saw in abundance last 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

Summarising why it is so critical for people to band together, Ms Yeoman said: It is so important that we come together in times like these to offer support and guidance in such difficult times.

As Mother Theresa said, None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.

By all of us working together we stand a better chance of curbing the spread of this infection but also getting the very best we can for our young people.

Everything teachers do, they do with love and they do with every inch of their being. So the responses that I have seen from teachers throughout the country is indicative of who we are and what we do.

She continued: What you are seeing at the moment is something that those on the inside of the school gates have always known: that all staff in schools work relentlessly hard for their students.

One of our heroes, Rita Pierson said Every child deserves a championan adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.
India on Tuesday urged its students studying in Bangladesh to stay in hostels and asked them to not undertake travel to try and cross into India.

On Monday, Bangladesh declared a 10-day shutdown, closing down all educational institutions in the country. The Indian High Commission in Bangladesh said that principals of colleges have assured that hostel facilities continue to be available for Indian students.

"Please note that HCI, Dhaka had been in touch with Indian students since yesterday & had advised them that movement through border ports are being suspended. We had requested them to refrain from trying to travel to India," the High Commission tweeted.

"Appeal to Indians in Bangladesh -- We are working to contain the spread of COVID19. Our PM has urged all to 'Take precautions & not panic'. In the interest of public health, personal safety & safety of loved ones, we urge all to stay safe in present residences & avoid non-essential movement/travel," it said.

So far, four persons have died from coronavirus in Bangladesh. As of now, 39 people have been infected across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered Britons to stay at home to try to halt the spread of coronavirus, closing non-essential shops, telling people not to meet with friends or family and warning those who do not follow the rules face fines.

Deaths from the virus in Britain jumped to 335 on Monday as the government said the military would help ship millions of items of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks to healthcare workers who have complained of shortages.

"From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home," Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, replacing his usual daily news conference.

Johnson said people would only be allowed to leave their homes to shop for basic necessities, exercise, for a medical need, to provide care or travelling to and from work where absolutely necessary.

"Thats all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home," he said, adding that people should not meet friends or family members who do not live in their home.

"If you dont follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings," he warned.

The new measures would be reviewed in three weeks, and relaxed if possible.

The government will close all shops selling non-essential goods, Johnson said, including clothing stores, as well as other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

Advice to stay at home and avoid social gatherings went unheeded by millions at the weekend who took advantage of sunny weather to flock to parks and beauty spots, ignoring instructions to stay 2 metres (6 feet) apart.

Under the new measures, the government will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public who do not live together, and stop all social events, including weddings and baptisms but not funerals.

Parks would remain open for exercise but gatherings would be dispersed, Johnson said.

Later on Monday, Britain's lower house of parliament is expected to approve emergency legislation giving authorities sweeping powers to tackle the outbreak, including the right to detain people and put them in isolation to protect public health.

"Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses," Johnson said in his address.

Earlier, in a letter pleading with him to increase PPE supplies, more than 6,000 frontline doctors warned they felt like "cannon fodder" and were being asked to put their lives at risk with out-of-date masks, and low stocks of equipment.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted there had been issues but promised action was being taken. He said the army would drive trucks throughout the day and night to get supplies to medical staff.

"It's like a war effort - it is a war against this virus and so the army have been incredibly helpful in getting those logistics so we can get the supplies to protect people on the front line," he told the BBC, saying the health service now had 12,000 ventilators, 7,000 more than at the start of the crisis.

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TORONTO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists working on COVID-19 treatments, vaccines, and basic research can now access critical data to help them select antibody, RNAi, and protein reagents for more successful experiments. Developed through a combination of AI, bioinformatics, and expert curation, the data is available at https://www.benchsci.com/covid-19-data.

"Studying SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 without the proper reagents and experimental data is extremely challenging," says Casandra Mangroo, VP of Science at BenchSci, whose PhD research focused on virology in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. "Because it's a novel virus, there are limited data and reagents available to help scientists plan and run successful experiments. Thankfully, by leveraging AI, we can extract hidden insights from available literature and predict new uses for existing reagents based on similarities to previously studied coronaviruses."

As a global leader in AI-assisted experimental design, BenchSci is prioritizing initiatives to accelerate SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research. These include:

Data and reagent curation processing and documenting all new publication data and reagents specifically associated with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.

processing and documenting all new publication data and reagents specifically associated with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Reagent repurposing performing an in silico analysis of existing antibody, RNAi, and protein reagents to find those that can be reused for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research.

performing an analysis of existing antibody, RNAi, and protein reagents to find those that can be reused for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research. Experimental insightsusing targeted data mining strategies to identify pertinent publications and extract relevant experimental data from them.

BenchSci will be adding the data to its AI-Assisted Antibody Selection and AI-Assisted Reagent Selection products in the coming weeks. To ensure the most scientists can access it immediately, the company has also created a public data-sharing version at https://www.benchsci.com/covid-19-data.

ABOUT BENCHSCI

BenchSci exponentially increases the speed and quality of life-saving research by empowering scientists with the world's most advanced biomedical artificial intelligence to run more successful experiments. Backed by Google's AI fund, Gradient Ventures, BenchSci uses machine learning to diagnose pharmaceutical R&D health from hidden patterns in procurement data. Customers receive a report on failure rates, productivity, and redundancy by department, therapeutic area, geography, and cost center. They can then address inefficiencies by deploying BenchSci's AI-Assisted Reagent Selection, which empowers scientists to select the best reagents and design criteria for their experiments. Thereafter, post-deployment reports confirm impact and ROI. A turnkey application of AI with immediate, quantifiable impact, BenchSci now optimizes reagent procurement and experimental success in 15 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 3,600 leading academic centers globally. Learn more at https://www.benchsci.com.

For more information, please contact Simon Smith at [email protected].

Related Links

COVID-19 Experimental Data and Reagent Insights

SOURCE BenchSci
Senator Bernie Sanders plans to participate in the Democratic presidential debate in April if one is held, his campaign said on Tuesday, the strongest indication yet that he plans to continue competing against Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 primary for the foreseeable future.

The Democratic National Committee has said previously that there would be a debate in April, but one has not been scheduled. The committee has not announced a media partner or a site host  critical elements that are typically agreed upon at least a month in advance. The coronavirus crisis has already upended most facets of the Democratic primary, and there is no guarantee that the debate will take place.

Still, the fact that the Sanders campaign is signaling, for now, that he would be on a debate stage in April is a strikingly public sign of the Vermont senators determination to wield political influence and challenge Mr. Biden for primacy despite the former vice presidents nearly insurmountable delegate lead.

Senator Sanders is still running for president, said Mike Casca, a top campaign official. If there is a debate in April, he plans to be there.
Trump Pledges to Cover Cost of National Guard Activation

By Kenneth Schwartz March 23, 2020

President Donald Trump is directing the federal government to cover the costs of coronavirus relief efforts carried out by National Guard troops that are activated under the control of state governors.

During a White House news conference Sunday evening, Trump specifically mentioned California, New York and Washington state, those hardest-hit so far, and said National Guard troops would help set up medical stations and distribute hundreds of tons of masks, gowns, respirators and other supplies.

Trump has already approved major disaster declarations for all three states.

Trump Orders FEMA to Ship Mobile Hospitals to Hard-Hit States

A number of governors, including New York's Andrew Cuomo, have been appealing to the White House to nationalize efforts to get medical supplies, complaining that state leaders have been competing against one another to get their hands on what's available.

"I think the federal government should order factories to manufacture masks, gowns, ventilators, the essential medical equipment that is going to make the difference between life and death," Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday in Albany. "It's not hard to make a mask or PPE (personal protective equipment) equipment, or a gown, but you need companies to do it."

Navy hospital ships deployed

Trump said the U.S. Navy medical ship Mercy, will be deployed off Los Angeles and another ship, the Comfort, will be sent up the East Coast within weeks, likely to be docked in New York Harbor.

The head of the White House coronavirus task force, Vice President Mike Pence, said all commercial laboratories in the United States must make in-patient coronavirus testing their priority.

Pence said 254,000 Americans have been tested so far, and that a new test with results in about 45 minutes will be ready by the end of next week.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams says 9 out of 10 people who think they have coronavirus symptoms test negative.

When a reporter asked if illegal migrants can be tested at hospitals or clinics without the fear of being detained, Trump said: "Yes. If that's not the policy, I will make it the policy."

Economic impact

Closing stores and restaurants, theaters and other amusements, grounding travel and ordering people to stay home has battered the U.S. economy.

Record losses on Wall Street, predictions of soaring unemployment numbers and a forecast of a recession are tangible signs that the coronavirus is turning life upside down for 7 billion people around the globe.

But Trump said the U.S. economy will "skyrocket" when the country wins what he calls the war against "the hidden enemy."

Trump did not use the word coronavirus during his news conference, but twice called it the "China virus," ignoring those who say such words veer into a racism.

Trump has denied any racist intent. But he again Sunday complained that he is still upset with China for apparently rejecting U.S. offers of help when the outbreak grew earlier this year.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have repeatedly asked people to call the disease by its proper scientific name: COVID-19.

Leadership criticism

Facing criticism that he has failed to show genuine compassion during the outbreak, Trump said he wanted those who feel alone and isolated to know that "no one is alone as long as we are a united people." He promised to always fight for Americans.

As of late Sunday, there were about 34,000 coronavirus cases in the U.S. and 450 deaths.

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Covid-19: PM Modi Asks Industries Not To Cut Jobs, Despite Negative Business Impact

Sputnik News

20:18 GMT 23.03.2020

New Delhi (Sputnik): Last week, during his national address in view of the coronavirus disease Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced setting up a Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman-headed task force to assess impact of the pandemic on the country's economy.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a meeting with captains of the industry on the economic impact of Covid-19, which has also shaken other countries.

Maintaining that the impact of Covid-19 will be felt for some time, Modi urged industrialists to adapt a humanitarian approach and not resort to job cuts.

In his remarks to the industry during the video interaction, Prime Minister Modi advocated letting employees work from home, saying: "Allow employees to work from home wherever doing so is feasible through use of technology. Adopt a humanitarian approach and not cut down on workforce in spite of the negative impact on businesses."

Stating that several sectors like tourism, construction, hospitality and daily life engagements, including the informal sector, have been hit due to COVID-19, he said: "The impact on the economy will be felt for some time to come."

The Indian industry was represented by various associations such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Assocham, along with several local chambers from 18 cities -- all connected to Modi via video conferencing in view of the country presently being under a partial lockdown due to Covid-19 fears.

The industry associations assured the prime minister that they will maintain a steady supply of essential goods so that the citizens do not face problems.

"They informed the Prime Minister about the steps being taken by them to maintain supply of essential items and medical equipment including ventilators, assistance in creation of isolation wards, utilization of corporate social responsibility funds for combating COVID-19 and provision of assistance to migrant labour," the prime minister's office (PMO) revealed in a statement after the meeting.

Among industrialists participating in the interaction with Modi were Assocham President Niranjan Hiranandani, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Medanta  The Medicity chairman and managing director (CMD), Naresh Trehan, and Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak, among others.

Today's meeting was the second such meeting by Modi with industry leaders, coming two days after a similar meeting with the top bosses of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

During his interaction in the 21 March meeting, Modi asked the pharma industry to work on the manufacture of testing kits for Covid-19, but on a war footing. He assured them that the government was committed to maintaining the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), basic building blocks for medicines. India has been heavily dependent on China for APIs, as 67 percent of the requirement is met from China.

The prime minister also directed the pharmaceutical industry to maintain the supply of essential medicines and prevent black-market profiteering and hoarding.

 Sputnik

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Remembering Dr Mubashir Hasan

Dr Mubashir Hasan, 98, one of the most prominent crusaders for India-Pakistan amity at the peoples level besides being an outstanding champion of democracy in Pakistan, breathed his last at his residence in Lahore on March 14, 2020 leaving behind countless peace activists in both India and Pakistan who had been inspired by his tireless activities for Indo-Pakistan friendship and cooperation over the last 25 years. Dr Hasan was Pakistans Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs in Zulfikar Ali Bhuttos Cabinet (1971-74) besides being the Secretary-General of the Pakistan Peoples Party (1975-77). He was imprisoned under three military dictatorsAyub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zia-ul-Haq; Zia placed him in the torture cell of the Lahore prison. Following the highly successful Third Convention of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy in Kolkata (December 28-31, 1996) Dr Hasan gave a wideranging interview to the Mainstream editor in Kolkata (the full text of which was carried in the Republic Day Special issue of the journal dated January 25, 1997). As a token of our tribute to his abiding memory we are carrying some excerpts from that interview here. He had also come to Delhi to attend Nikhil Chakravarttys 90th birth anniversary on November 3, 2003 where he delivered a lecture on India-Pakistan: Walls Must Come Down. Excerpts from that speech are also being published here. Furthermore, he wrote an article on N.C. on the occasion of Nikhil Chakravarttys birth centenary on November 3, 2013; the full text of that article is also being carried here.

People are now Moved to Strive for Indo-Pak Amity

SC: Dr Hasan, you have been one of the moving spirits behind this Forum since its inception. What are your impressions of the Third Convention of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy which has just concluded in Calcutta? How do you compare this with the previous Conventions?

MH: Well, others in India as well as Pakistan have been of great help in building up this forum. I have also been involved in the activities of the Forum since the beginning but most of the papwerwork and legwork has been done by others.

As far as this Convention is concerned. I think it has been a roaring success. The First Convention was held in an atmosphere of uncertainty. There was great opposition in a section of the Pakistani press that we should not go at all. Some well known leaders had appealed in the newspapers that we should not proceed to Delhi, that is, in February 1995. The Indian High Commission (in Islamabad) had issued 123 visas (to Pakistani nationals to travel to India) but because of what appeared against us quite a few dropped out. But when we came to Delhi we had a well-oiled machinery at the Convention, we sailed through all the sessions and there was unanimity all along.

By the time of the Second Convention in Lahore (November 1995), we had no problem in holding the Convention and all our fears that there may be some demonstration against the Indian delegation whom we had put up in two hotels far away from each otherand we had made eleboarate security arrangements for themwere allayed. Youll be glad to know that there was no untoward incident at all. There was no protest and not a policeman was to be seen in the vicinity of the place where the Convention was held. The Indian delegates were supposed to come on Thursday, the Convention was to have taken place on Friday and Saturday, and they were to return on Sunday. But when they arrived we found that there was no plane on Sunday. So they had an extra day at their disposal and we were very delighted that they stayed an extra day, went about visiting Lahore and the Lahoris received them very well. A Indian girls purse was pickpocketed; I appealed in the press that its contents should be returned; and those were returned.

All that was done in a rather hurry. To hold a Convention in February (1995) and by the time you recover and collect your papers and write your reports it is April-May and then you start making arrangements for the next Convention in November. So we didnt get much time for preparation. Yet, as it was in Delhi, there was a consensus in Lahore.

Then we decided that two Conventions are one too many and in 1996 well hold just one Convention; and the Indian hosts decided that it should be held in Calcutta. At this Convention we had double the number of delegates and double the number of days for discussions.

This Conventions, as I said, has been a roaring success. Now I think in both sides the Forum members understand the problems that are on the way of improving Indo-Pakistan relations.

The talks here were of a substantive nature about what should be done, and we have chalked out programmes. We hope that much of those programmes will be carried out.

And then for us it was a wonderful opportunity to come to Calcutta. I knew Calcutta to be, as always, a very hospitable and cosmopolitan citya city much relaxed, not like Karachi or Bombay where there is so much pressure all the time. We found that very good arrangements had been made for our stay as well as for our Convention, and we had the opportunity to meet a lot of people. Whatever we requested from the West Bengal Government by way of information was made available to us. The Speaker of the State Assembly was kind enough to host a dinner for us and there were other dinners as well. The Chief Minister was kind enough to come to the Speakers dinner and talk to us for quite a while. That was very encouraging.

SC: Did you have any special discussion with him on the Forum and the Convention?

MH: No. He was very glad to know that there was such a Forum. He appreciated what we are doing. There was no special discussion.

SC: Did you extend any invitation to him to visit Pakistan?

MH: Yes, we did. We did request him to come to Pakistan. And he said hell be very glad to visit our country. Now well have to work out the modalities.

SC: Can you please be more specific? When you say the Convention was a roaring success can you explain in what way was it so? Were the discussions more extensive, more wider-ranging and comprehensive?

MH: The discussions were more..

SC: Indepth?

MH: Yes, more indepth, more target-oriented.

SC: And more frank?

MH: Well, the discussions in the Conventions of our Forum have always been frank. But this time there were far less misunderstandings. I think the points of view of the Forum have by now got consolidated.

SC: Although quite a few of the participants, even among the Pakistani delegates, were attending the Convention for the first time, isnt it so?

MH: Thats true. But the fact is that we had done homework in Lahore and had circulated the minutes and details of the decisions of the last two Conventions. So they knew the background.

But not only that. Throughout 1996 we have been holding meetings in various citiesseminars, workshops, even processions have been organised. So the cause of improving Indo-Pakistan relations is well known to the people, particulary those who are interested in coming.

Now, the Convention was a success in the sense that I think peopleboth Indians and Pakistaniswill be returning from here with better defined aims about what they have to do and also we will be able to show to the govern-ments in a better manner that we are just not few in number but we represent the trend of public opinion in both the countries and that they should better pay heed to what we are saying, otherwise they will be the losers.

(Excerpts from the interview of Dr Mubashir Hasan in Kolkata, January 1, 1997published in Mainstream Republic Day Special, New Delhi, Janaury 25, 1997)

Nikhil Chakravartty and the Growing Momentum of Peace

Today in the fifty-seventh year after independence, the people as well as the elites of

India and Pakistan are questioning the wisdom of maintaining a state of confrontation between the two countries. The power of the pundits of old mind-sets is declining. The momentum for peace is growing. Nikhil Chakravarty played the most outstanding role in bringing about this great change. I propose to trace in some detail the three phases in which this change has come about. In the first phase the two governments were the principal actors. In the second phasein the beginning of the eightiesthe intelligentsia of the two countries started playing an important role. The third phase is the era of people-to-people diplomacy.

The partition of the subcontinent into Pakistan and India in 1947 was accompanied by very large traumatic exchange of population and horrible massacres. That these events should cast long shadows over the attitudes of the peoples of the two countries towards each other, was only natural. Not natural, however, was that the two governments should confront each other for more than a few years. Countries go to war but with signatures on a peace treaty, normal intercourse is quickly resumed. That did not take place in our subcontinent. The opportunities we have missed of ushering progress and prosperity for the two peoples have been nothing short of tragic.

[(Excerpts from Dr Mubashir Hasans article on N.C. at the 90th anniversary of Nikhil Chakravarttys birth, New Delhi, November 3, 2003published in Mainstream (November 22, 2003)]

Knowledge blended with Wisdom

Dear Sumit,

An unfortunate accident is preventing me to attend the gathering in Delhi in honour of your illustrious father and my friend Nikhil Chakravartty. We had become friends in the early nineties when I became active in improving relations between India and Pakistan. I had occasion to visit India four or five times every year. The very next morning of my arrival in Delhi, Nikhil very graciously would be there to visit me at the residence of Syeda Hameed at Jamia.

We would discuss the world situation, the regional situation and India-Pakistan relations. In his view, and I agreed with him fully, the specifics of our situation in the subcontinent could best be understood keeping in mind the geopolitical and economic environment of the region and the world as a whole.

N.C. was a great mind. He well knew the entire background of the Indian political leaders. He had followed their successes and failures and he knew their strong points and weaknesses. His knowledge of the Indian political scene and the Indian state made him aware of what a particular leader could do and could not do and what to expect from him.

Nikhil fully understood the limitations the state put forward in the conduct of a Prime Minister and other senior Ministers. N.C. appreciated what came in the way of a Prime Minister, not letting him act the way he would have acted if he were acting as an individual keeping in mind what the people and the media desired. However, also being the custodian of the interest of the state uppermost, the PM was obliged on occasions to opt for another path.

I well remember that a certain matter of public importance had awaited a decision of the Prime Minister Narasimha Rao for a long time. N.C. took up the matter in his column saying that perhaps the Prime Minister was the follower of a certain Chinese philosopher who held that no decision on a matter was also a decision.

The next day after the column appeared there was a gathering of journalists with the Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. N.C. was also present in the gathering. When the PM saw N.C. he beckoned him to come near. N.C. told me that he thought the PM was irked by the column and wanted to explain something about it. However, as N.C. approached, all the PM had to say was: What was the name of the Chinese philoso-pher?

N.C. was highly respected by political leaders and journalist alike. The leaders of the ideology of the Right stoutly opposed N.C.s Left-wing beliefs but they had to respect him for his integrity as a journalist. He was a thorough investigator. Not a word would slip out of his pen that was not true and could not be shown to be true. What made him great in his profession was not merely the knowledge but the wisdom that went with it. He was the greatest journalist of the twentieth century. He stood for peace, prosperity and equality all over the world. He was an indefectible and indefatigable fighter for the cause of the poor and downtrodden everywhere.

Nearer home, constantly improving relations between the peoples and governments of India and Pakistan was his cherished goal. Among many others he was a great supporter of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy from the first day of its founding. He lauded the efforts of the Forum for holding joint conventions in various cities of India and Pakistan.

Nikhil Chakrvaratty was a great Indian, a great South Asian and a great citizen of the world. His fight for freedom, truth and peace shall long be remembered.

(Dr Mubashir Hasans letter to Sumit Chakravartty and article on N.C. during the latters birth centenary, New Delhi, November 3, 2013published the Mainstream issue of November 9, 2013)
On 19 March, the United States State Department sent a Global Health Advisory to United States citizens, warning them to return to the U.S. or prepare to remain abroad for an indefinite amount of time.

After this advisory was announced, many Americans flocked to airports all over the world, in hopes to get home before the boarders officially closed. For any travelers hoping to get back to their home country from Rome, heres what you should expect:

Getting to the Airport

Romes roads are practically deserted of both people and cars. However, the small amount of people, who have left their houses to venture out into a restricted world, are being routinely stopped by police officers. Unless you are willing to take public transportation, a taxi is the best way to get to the airport. This is the only way to avoid being questioned by the police. Taxis will be waved through these checkpoints.

If you plan on taking a rental car to the airport, prepare to be stopped. You can prepare by having the proper documentation on hand and giving yourself plenty of time to get to the airport. Most airlines have suggested that passengers arrive at least three hours before check-in. So, depending on how you plan on getting to the airport, be sure to factor in your traveling time.

Arriving at the Airport

The Fiumicino Airport is typically very busy. However, the airport is the perfect example of how the world has changed since the Coronavirus began to spread. Only a few people stand on the sidewalk, smoking a cigarette or talking on the phone. Cars dont line the curb anymore. Only a few people are lugging their suitcases through the Fiumicino doors.

Checking in Your Bag

A green rope separates you from the airport employees. Each one of them wears a mask. The masks and the distance between you and the employees makes it hard to hear. The rope separating you from the counter makes it hard to place your checked bag on the scale. However, the airport employees will help you the best that they can. Once your boarding pass is printed and your bag is checked in, you will receive a paper asking you several questions: Have you been in any of the following countries? If yes, when was the last time you were in that country? Have you come in contact with a person known to have Coronavirus? Have you experienced the following symptoms within the last two weeks? You will need this paper to enter the United States.

Going through Security

Going through security is typically stressful and chaotic. Most of the time you stand in line for 10 to 15 minutes waiting for the next bin to open. However, the airport was empty and going through the security checkpoint was extremely easy. Theres no reason to rush, as you put on your coat and place your electronics back in your bag.

After Security

This is the point where things start to get hectic. After security, a barricade of police will stop you, before moving on to passport control. They will ask you where you are going, why you were in Italy, how long you have been in Italy for and a myriad of other things. Then, they will ask you to fill out a form. This form will ask you basic information. It is basically a written version of the verbal interview that you just went through. After filling out a form, put on some hand sanitizer and hand in your paper. An Italian police officer will sign off on it, and then you can move on.

Passport Control

Before you can walk up to the counter and get your passport stamped, you will be tested for the virus symptoms . The test is fairly simple. It consists of stopping, standing still while they take your temperature and waiting for the operator to wave you through. If you wear glasses, you will be told to take them off for a more accurate reading. If you pass the test, you will be sent through passport control.

This is another place that typically puts us standing in a long line, waiting to go through. However, the lines for airport control were similar to the lines to go through security. There wasnt a line and getting your passport stamped is the easier part of the airport journey.

Boarding the Plane

Getting on the plane is even simpler than before. There isnt a long line for boarding. However, you will be required to wear a mask, once you get past the gate. Airport masks arent comfortable and strongly resemble toilet paper. The mask is folded in half, with two holes cute out at either end. If you are made to put on a mask like this, dont unfold it. Airport personal will ask you to fix it.

Once the mask is on your face, you will not be able to take it off, until you exit the air plane in America. This mask must remain on your face throughout the airport and on the entire flight.

Ph:bellena / Shutterstock.com
Thiruvananthapuram, March 24 : With Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction for a three week-long national lockdown coming hours after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday called to acting tough with people violating lockdown norms in the state, the state cabinet will meet on Wednesday morning.

Kerala's total lockdown till March 31 began on Tuesday morning and with the directive of the Union government on the same lines, the Vijayan cabinet will examine the conditions that the Union Home Ministry has come out with.

Vijayan had expressed his strong displeasure in the way people in Kerala took to the streets on the first day of the lockout and warned from Wednesday onwards, no more leniency will be shown to those who break the guidelines.

With 14 positive coronavirus cases registered on Tuesday, the total affected in the state increased to 105.

The total number of people under observation at homes increased to 71,944 while 466 are in hospitals.
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Los Angeles County reported the death of a child due to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, marking the first time a person under the age of 18 has succumbed to COVID-19 in the US.

The number of coronavirus cases in the state of California has skyrocketed to more than 2,200 as cities on the West Coast scramble to enforce lockdowns, manufacture medical supplies, procure hospital beds and slow the spread of COVID-19.

Los Angeles County reported four additional deaths related to the coronavirus, bringing the county total to 11 on Tuesday. Officials confirmed an additional 128 cases, bringing the county's total to 662.

One of those deaths included the minor who lived in Lancaster, but further details of their identity was not shared.

The child's death is a 'devastating reminder that COVID-19 infects people of all ages', Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of L.A. County Department of Public Health, said during a Tuesday press conference.

In San Francisco, the first city in the US to go on lockdown, officials warn 'the worst is yet to come' and a surge in cases is expected in a week or two.

In San Francisco there are 131 cases and no deaths, in Santa Clara there are 321 cases and 13 deaths related to the virus. Statewide there are over 2,220 confirmed cases and there have been 49 deaths.

Los Angeles County reported the death of a child due to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, marking the first time a person under the age of 18 has succumbed to COVID-19 in the US. In total LA County reports 662 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths

LA County reported four additional deaths - including that of a child from Lancaster - related to the coronavirus, bringing the county total to 11 on Tuesday. The child's death is a 'devastating reminder that COVID-19 infects people of all ages', Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of L.A. County Department of Public Health, said during a Tuesday press conference (above)

This map shows some of the California cities grappling with the coronavirus outbreak. In San Francisco there are 131 cases and 0 deaths, in Los Angeles 662 cases and 11 deaths, and in Santa Clara 321 cases and 13 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon. Statewide there are over 2,200 cases and 49 deaths

The number of coronavirus cases in the state of California has skyrocketed to more than 2,200 as cities in the West Coast scramble to impose lockdowns, urge the public to stay indoors and brace for a surge in cases. Defiant locals pictured at Baker Beach near the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday, ignoring orders to stay at home to curb the spread of the virus

A sign announcing the closure of the Koret Playground is seen in Golden Gate Park as California continues its statewide 'stay at home order' to curb the public from loitering outside and potentially spreading COVID-19

People pictured waiting in line to check-in at a coronavirus testing center at the Hayward Fire Station #7 in Hayward, California on Monday as the state case toll surpasses 2,000

Workers sanitize streets where homeless people were living on March 20 in San Francisco

'The worst is yet to come,' San Francisco Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax said during a news conference on Monday.

California's coronavirus crisis Statewide there are over 2,200 cases and at least 49 deaths as of Tuesday. Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a shelter in place order on March 19 to avoid the spread of COVID-19. California county cases break down: Los Angeles: 662 cases, 11 deaths San Francisco: 131 cases, 0 deaths Santa Clara: 321 cases, 13 deaths San Diego: 213 cases, 1 death San Mateo: 162 cases, 1 death Orange: 125 cases, 0 deaths Advertisement

'Every community where the virus has taken hold has seen a surge in the number of coronavirus patients who need to be hospitalized. We expect that to happen in San Francisco soon, in a week or two, or perhaps even less.'

Despite the unfolding crisis, crowds of bold locals have continued to gather at public beaches and parks across the state in defiance of warnings to stay at home.

Governor Gavin Newsom mandated a statewide shelter-in-place order on Thursday March 19, following the steps of Bay Area leaders.

LA County is also bracing for the worst as their case numbers rise with alarming speed.

On March 6, there were five people in the county hospitalized with the novel coronavirus. Two weeks later that number had jumped to 48. By Monday, the total had climbed to 90, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And its not just the elderly who are getting sick with COVID-19. In Los Angeles County 80 percent of the cases involve patients between the ages of 18 to 65 and 42 percent are in the 18 to 40 age group.

San Francisco has taken great measures to slow the spread of the virus.

A shelter in place order was placed in the city on Tuesday March 17 that will last until April 7 in an effort to contain the contagious virus. Under the shelter in place orders residents must remain indoors except to get groceries and medicine.

As of Tuesday there are more than 50,000 cases of the killer virus in the US and there have been at least 628 deaths

This chart shows how the number of COVID-19 infections has surged per day

This chart shows how the number of deaths due to COVID-19 have surged this month

On Monday, Gov. Newsom said the state needs an additional 50,000 hospital beds to respond to the outbreak. The Democratic governor said the states 416 hospitals were doubling so-called surge plans to 40 percent of their capacity. A testing center in Hayward, California above Monday

Despite orders to stay home some locals continued to head outside. People pictured walking at a safe distance from one another on Venice Beach in California on Monday

A lone person walks along the empty beach as a lifeguard keeps watch in San Diego, California on Tuesday

The order affects some 6.7million people. Under a full lockdown order people would be further enforced to stay home and require government permission to leave their homes.

However, residents have continued to gather in great numbers in public, prodding San Francisco Mayor London Breed to close down playgrounds and threatened to close other public spaces.

'This is not the time to be hanging out at the park. This is not the time to be visiting friends. You can go outside for essential needs or to get some quick exercise, but then you need to return home. Simply put, go outside as little as possible. Stay home. Save lives,' Breed tweeted Monday.

San Francisco has banned practically all visitors to hospitals and long-term facilities and cancelled elective surgeries and routine medical visits.

Los Angeles County has similarly shut down Laguna Beach to stop revelers from gathering.

Los Angeles County is seeing a rise in coronavirus cases and is bracing for a wave of extremely sick patients.

On Monday, Newsom said the state needs an additional 50,000 hospital beds to respond to the outbreak.

The Democratic governor said the states 416 hospitals were doubling so-called surge plans to 40 percent of their capacity.

The hospital system alone will provide 30,000 beds in its plan to tackle the surge of COVID-19 cases.

On Monday, Newsom said the state needs an additional 50,000 hospital beds to respond to the outbreak, bracing for a surge in COVID-19 patients

'This is not the time to be hanging out at the park. This is not the time to be visiting friends. You can go outside for essential needs or to get some quick exercise, but then you need to return home. Simply put, go outside as little as possible. Stay home. Save lives,' Breed tweeted Monday

Newsom shared this notice after placing a stay at home order, meaning only essential services like pharmacies and groceries stores will remain open

A movie theater sign in Los Angeles urges the public to practice social distancing

The state will seek to acquire 17,000 beds from outside the state hospital system through hotels, motels, fairgrounds, convention centers, and other facilities.

He also announced that state park and beaches parking lots would close in an effort to cur residents from loitering in parks and to encourage social distancing.

'We have numbers that are substantially higher if we dont,' Newsom said Monday. 'We cant bend the curve if everyone is out.'

The state is also expanding production efforts to manufacture 1 billion globes, 500 million N-95 masks and 200 million shields.

On Monday, the California National Guard said it would be deployed across the state for humanitarian purposes to distribute food and medical supplies and help with food banks and aid officials on the Grand Princess cruise ship.

On Friday, President Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would ship mobile hospital units to California within the next 48 hours.

The state is in line to get eight of those units, which will provide 2,000 beds.

The Navy hospital ship Mercy, which is based in San Diego, has also been deployed to Los Angeles to relieve the burden from local hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and take in patients suffering from other medical issues.

Compared to the rest of the country California has the fourth largest concentrations of COVID-19 behind New York, New Jersey and Washington state.
When COVID-19 cleared out the diners at Hong Shing restaurant, owner Colin Li needed to come up with a plan to save the family business.

So he stacked the chairs into a corner, cleared off the tables and devoted the Chinese-Canadian restaurant at Bay Street and Dundas Street West to take-out and delivery orders.

But instead of relying on existing delivery apps, he tapped his now out of work servers to take on the work.

For just over a week now, orders of fried noodles, General Tsos chicken and wok-fried green beans have been assembled on a table in the centre of the dining room. A condiment station with serving size packets of soy sauce, hot sauce, napkins and a giant container of fortune cookies, is set up under a window. Four tables near the entrance are pushed together labelled north, south, east and west, representing a vague map of the city.

Once the food orders are packed, they are placed on the section of the table that corresponds to the address location and every 20 minutes or so the servers-turned-drivers head out on delivery.

Last Monday, the City of Torontos medical officer of health followed other cities around the world and asked restaurants to close in-house service and move to takeout and delivery to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Many restaurants that previously didnt offer takeout signed up with the delivery giants such as Uber Eats, Foodora, Skip The Dishes and DoorDash.

But others opted to skip the apps and do it themselves.

The main reason was economics. On average, delivery apps take a 30 per cent cut of what a restaurant charges for a dish, says Li, whose restaurant launched its own online ordering system two months prior.

During the pandemic, some delivery companies did modify their policies in an effort to help local restaurants. Uber Eats released a statement saying the company was waving delivery fees for customers who order from independent restaurants, as well as allowing restaurants to receive payment on a daily basis rather than on a regular billing cycle. DoorDash also announced it is not collecting service fees for the first 30 days when a new restaurant signs on.

Li said he has signed on with Uber Eats but is not using it as the main delivery service.

We always try to do things internal so we can control the food and the guest relationships. Thats one thing they dont have. Theyre a beautiful platform in terms of advertising, but now, you just have to be really creative with what youre offering.

After the announcement that all bars and restaurants temporarily close last week, Li anticipated a rush of restaurants would be signing up for the same delivery apps and vying for the same pool of self-isolating diners.

So he devised his own delivery system with the goal of bringing back the part-time staff and front-of-house workers he had to lay off when the citys restaurants shut down.

The places that are now doing delivery are using Uber Eats and the like, he says. Its super competitive and we didnt want to be in there. A lot of these restaurants are downtown but since most people are working from home and outside of these delivery zones, (we decided) why dont we extend our delivery zone to them?

Li has been savvy with social media since he took over the family business in the last five years, creating an Instagram page for the restaurant to build a following and attract repeat diners (as well as making amends for a discrimination suit that was filed before he became the owner).

To drum up excitement, Li went on Instagram to announce a daily delivery pop-up in a different GTA suburb such as Brampton, Mississauga, Scarborough, Mimico or North York, areas where few downtown restaurants deliver. In addition to food, Li also randomly did giveaways of Hong-Shing branded merchandise with orders and announced menu specials to set his restaurant apart from other delivery spots.

Everyone is at home and is being more conservative with spending, which makes sense, says Li. Right now everyone is on edge. Some days are better than others, and I dont know what tomorrow will bring. You just have to find ways to adapt now, because customers behaviours have changed and we need to target them differently. You have to be creative because we dont know how long we have to do this.

Japanese souffle pancake shop Fuwa Fuwa signed up with Uber Eats, Skip The Dishes, DoorDash and F.O.D., a Canadian-based app specializing in Asian restaurants, shortly after the shutdown announcement was made.

If you can, coming to our restaurants (to pick up takeout orders) is the best option, says Benson Lau, Fuwa Fuwas business development director. With Uber Eats, they take a percentage from you. We still have to pay rent and staff, and some of them are students who still have to pay for school and rent themselves.

Still, ordering from an app is better than no business at all, he says.

He prefers F.O.D., which is a relatively small company and has been doing more promotions with his restaurant, such as a buy-one-get-one free French toast offer.

The problem with the big apps, is there are so many restaurants its easy to get lost in the mix.

To be honest, closing the restaurant might be easier than just having it open, says Lau. Restaurants already have such a small profit margin. If this shutdown goes longer than two months, I dont think most restaurants will survive. If takeout doesnt take off, it might not even be a month. It is so important to have a cash flow.

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(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are trading sharply up in early U.S. trading Tuesday, with April Comex gold futures spiking to a high of $1,698.00 before backing off to presently trade around $1,675.00. Comex silver futures shot to a high of $14.33 and are presently trading around $13.80. Trading has been wild Tuesday morning amid unconfirmed reports that London spot gold price quotes have become unreliable or have been pulled as U.K. market-makers shut down due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the U.K. government ordering the country on lock-down. Apparently, big gold traders and commercials in Europe who normally base their trading decisions on the London spot price rushed to buy Comex gold futures when they could not get London what they felt were accurate London spot gold prices. One long-time gold market watcher blamed the media for examining March Comex futures, which expire soon and have very little open interest and whose price would be extra volatile amid little liquidity. Importantly, as of this writing, there was no confirmation of this matter as traders try to sort the confusion out. April gold futures were last up $101.00 an ounce at $1,668.70. May Comex silver prices were last up $0.519 at $13.775 an ounce.

Global stock markets were higher in overnight trading. U.S. stock index futures are presently pointed toward sharply higher to limit-up openings when the New York electronic day session begins. It appears the world stock markets took a more bullish stance toward the Federal Reserves atomic bomb monetary stimulus moves Monday morning than did the U.S. markets. However, the U.S. stock index futures played catch-up overnight with the big to limit-up gains.

In overnight news, the U.K. is now locked down to control the Covid-19 outbreak. U.S. airlines are now considering halting all flights, but many believe that wont occur. The buzz in Washington, D.C. and around the U.S. on Tuesday is on when the U.S. will reopen for business and if the cure is worse than the sickness regarding coronavirus and the U.S. economy grinding to a halt. President Trump appears to be getting very uneasy the longer the economy is shut downespecially in this presidential election year.

The U.S. Congress has yet to agree on a bailout package for U.S. businesses and citizens. Home Depot founder Ken Langone had a simple message for Congress Monday: Get off your ass and get something done for the American people. Most Americans agree with him.

In overnight news, manufacturing surveys in Europe and Japan contracted substantially. The Euro zone Markit purchasing managers index (PMI) was 31.4 in March versus 51.6 in February. A reading below 50.0 suggests contraction in the sector.

The other important markets today see Nymex crude oil prices solidly up and trading around $25.00 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is sharply lower after hitting a 17-year high on Monday. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is trading around 0.82% Tuesday.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Goldman Sachs and Johnson Redbook retail sales reports, the U.S. flash manufacturing PMI, the services PMI, new residential sales and the Richmond Fed business survey. The Group of Seven financial ministers also meet today via a video teleconference.

Technically, the gold bulls have seized the overall near-term technical advantage with this weeks huge gains. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in April futures above solid resistance at the March high of $1,704.30. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the overnight low of $1,560.50. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,698.00 and then at $1,704.30. First support is seen at $1,650.00 and then at $1,645.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0

May silver futures bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage but this weeks gains suggest a market bottom is in place. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $15.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the March low of $11.64. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $14.33 and then at $14.50. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $13.22 and then at $13.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0.
TVS Motor Company today announced significant measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). The company has decided to halt all manufacturing operations at its plants in India and Indonesia till further notice. All relevant employees have already been provided with Work from Home facility.

The well-being of the employees is paramount for the company. The immediate focus is to ensure the safety of employees, their families, and the extended enterprise including suppliers, dealers and our customers.

TVS Motor Company has assured that it will protect jobs and salaries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also assured that they would work closely with their dealers and suppliers and extend all support to them in the face of this unexpected difficulty.

Meanwhile, the company has urged employees to adhere to the measures and they have been assured of complete support as they transition to new workplace arrangements in this unprecedented time. TVS Motor Company is continuously reviewing the situation to ensure safety and well-being of the community.

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.)
Rihanna offers

$5 million aid

Rihannas Clara Lionel Foundation is giving $5 million to the response efforts against the coronavirus.

The money will support on-the-ground partners working on the frontlines of disaster response especially those focused on protecting and serving marginalized communities  helping the most vulnerable in the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa prepare for what is to come, the foundation said in a statement.

The funding will be channeled through Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, the World Health Organizations COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and others.

Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalized and underserved communities those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic, CLFs executive director Justine Lucas said in the statement.

The money will go to food banks, testing, healthcare worker training, virus prevention and distribution of critical respiratory supplies.

Woolf falls

to shutdowns

A revival of Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will not reopen when Broadway resumes performances, a second play to call it quits as the theater world grapples with the fallout over the coronavirus.

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starred Laurie Metcalf as Martha and Rupert Everett as George. It managed just nine previews before Broadway was shuttered on March 12. Producers early Saturday blamed cast scheduling conflicts amid the shutdown for abandoning the show.

The move came a day after producers of Martin McDonaghs dark comedy Hangmen said that show also will not reopen on Broadway.

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Hangmen were two of 16 shows that were scheduled to open this spring that were suspended when Broadway went dark.

 Associated Press
ATLANTA, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax is continuing to closely monitor the rapidly evolving COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation and its significant financial impact on consumers and businesses around the globe. All businesses  particularly small and medium-sized businesses  are experiencing unprecedented disruption to supply and demand. As a result, the US and global economies face significant economic contraction and a rapid increase in unemployment. As a leader in credit reporting, Equifax and its affiliates support millions of consumers and thousands of businesses across 24 countries. With this global perspective, the company sees and hears the hardships that people are experiencing every day. That's why Equifax is actively working with creditors and lenders to minimize the effects this virus may have on consumers' credit standing.

"These are uncharted waters for everyone around the world," said Mark W. Begor, Equifax CEO. "That means every part of society - individuals as well as the public and private sector - needs to work together on creative solutions that ease the financial burden caused by this pandemic. While we are taking several steps today, we are also bringing our technology and data resources to bear as we explore additional solutions that could help consumers and businesses manage the impact of the Coronavirus crisis on their credit reports."

The company is working with policy makers around the globe, including the US Congress and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to implement actions that support consumers and businesses during this challenging crisis. In the US, Equifax is working with the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on consumers' credit files. The CDIA is providing important information to creditors and lenders regarding how they should report information during a natural disaster or for accounts placed in forbearance as a result of a natural or declared disaster.

Consumers and businesses who are, or may be, impacted by COVID-19 are encouraged to contact their lenders and creditors directly to discuss their options. Equifax is engaged with many lenders, telecom and utility providers who are offering a variety of options to help people through forbearance and modified payment plans.

Additional support is available for consumers looking to minimize potential negative impacts of the pandemic on their credit through the company's website. There, people can take advantage of the ongoing educational support Equifax provides about how credit reports and scores work.

Equifax is following guidance from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and local authorities to manage during this crisis. The company has activated its business continuity plans to ensure continuous operations for global customers and consumers. In the meantime, more than 11,000 Equifax employees around the globe are focused on continuing to serve consumers and customers.

Equifax will continue playing its essential role in the global economy by providing stability and support for consumers and businesses during these extraordinary economic challenges.

ABOUT EQUIFAX INC.

Equifax is a global data, analytics, and technology company and believes knowledge drives progress. The Company blends unique data, analytics, and technology with a passion for serving customers globally, to create insights that power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 11,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit Equifax.com and follow the company's news on Twitter and LinkedIn .

For more information:

[email protected]

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

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As restaurants across the country grapple with layoffs and restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak, one New Jersey restaurant owner is trying something different.

Demetri Malki, the owner of De Novo in Montclair, is donating 100% of the restaurants sales, starting on Tuesday, to some of his employees. Malki said in an Instagram post that he will be absorbing any overhead expenses, including food, gas, electricity, and more.

Whatever comes in, were going to pay out to our employees, he told NJ Advance Media. (Were) hoping the more we generate, the more we can take care of (our employees).

Malki said he hasnt figured the specifics but is just trying to keep his employees working and busy. He hopes to give all his employees some money, at both of his restaurants, but he will be paying the kitchen staff first.

Once the kitchen staff is paid, Malki said he will distribute the rest among the servers and other front of the house staff.

Keep them afloat in these tough times, he said. Generate food on their table, a roof over their head.

He said he hopes to help about 25 employees at De Novo, but hes not sure how long he can sustain the proposition.

Im just doing this to get to a final finish line, so things (can) go back to normal, he said.

De Novo, a European-styled pub, is open for takeout, delivery, and curbside pickup from 4-9 p.m. Its located at 275 Bellevue Avenue and its number is 973-893-5008.

This story was updated on March 26 with more information on how Malki planned to pay his staff.

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.

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L ondons air quality is causing a public health crisis. Last week, Mayor Sadiq Khan triggered a high air pollution alert for the seventh time in 13 months.

Now he has announced plans to crack down not just on the capitals diesel-engined transport but on other sources of pollution, too.

Taken together, heavy-duty bulldozers and diggers, river and canal vessels and solid fuel burners in the home are responsible for half of the deadly emissions in the city and all are now under scrutiny.

Wood burning fires are seen as a beautiful, cosy alternative to coal. They are also carbon neutral, so long as the trees they burn are replenished.

But they have a dirty secret: burning wood releases invisible particulates into the air that are as bad for us as traffic fumes.

As London clamps down on vehicle emissions, experts says we must also tackle emissions from our own homes.

London is the worst city in the UK for air quality, says Samantha Heath, head of the London Sustainability Exchange think tank.

Air pollution leads to nearly 9,500 early deaths in the capital every year. Londoners need to take control  that means looking at our own particulate emissions from cars and heating.

Clean and stylish: the Alpine fire in Atlantic Blue, 1,494 with a Devonshire surround, 1,554, from Chesney's, chesneys.co.uk

Dr Gary Fuller of Kings College London is studying exactly this. He says domestic wood burning is a large source of the deadly, invisible particulate PM2.5. In winter, 10 per cent of the PM2.5 in London can come from burning wood, says Fuller.

But not all wood burning is equal. There is a hierarchy, with open fires easily the worst culprits.

Airparif, the Paris pollution network, estimates heating a home for one day with an open fire emits the same particle pollution as driving 3,500 kilometres in a diesel car, says Fuller.

IGNORING THE DANGERS

Burning wood on an open fire is prohibited throughout most of London under the Clean Air Act, the smoke control legislation that came into force after the London smogs of the Fifties.

Fires must use smokeless fuel or be contained in a Defra-approved stove that burns cleanly enough to meet the regulations for Smoke-Controlled Zones.

Hotspot: the latest wood burners look stunning in a modern setting and are much cleaner than open fires

But many Londoners ignore this and continue to burn in open fires. According to the Department of Energy & Climate Change, 70 per cent of wood burnt in the city is on open fires: the very worst for air quality and a very inefficient way to heat our homes.

BURNING RESPONSIBLY

A modern stove emits a lot less particle pollution than an open fireplace, says Dr Gary Fuller. So if you are going to burn wood, do it in the most efficient way possible. Even older-style stoves are better than open fires, and modern Ecodesign stoves are best.

"Also, dont burn waste timber because the fumes from wood that has been treated may include lead and arsenic.

CLEANER STOVES, CLEANER FUELS, CLEANER HOMES

Wood burning stoves still put out particulates, but far fewer than open fires. And the particulates from a stove dont come into our living rooms.

A properly installed stove lets no fumes or smoke back into the room. If it does then the chimney isnt working properly, so get it cleaned, says John Nightingale, managing director of supplier Stoves Online.

He adds that a carbon monoxide alarm in the same room as the stove  essential for safety  is the best way to ensure your chimney is doing its job.

New EU standards will regulate emissions from wood burners from 2022 and Brexit Britain may also apply these. The UKs Stove Industry Alliance is working to get the most efficient stoves to an Ecodesign Ready standard well ahead of that deadline.

If an open fire is the equivalent of a diesel car, an Ecodesign Ready stove is similar to a hybrid car. The fire box is designed to be very hot, to burn particulates away. The result is 90 per cent fewer emissions than an open fire. Prices start at 700.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUEL?

You can also reduce emissions by choosing cleaner fuels, as well as a cleaner burner.

Firewood is often sold too wet to burn efficiently and cleanly so you need to buy wood that carries Woodsures Ready to Burn logo and it will have been seasoned or kiln dried.

Cleaner firewood: one solution is to burn kiln dried wood, which produces far fewer emissions than traditional moisture-laden logs

These logs have a maximum of 20 per cent moisture; similar pellets and briquettes have no more than 10 per cent. This in turn leads to lower particulates emissions.

FILTER IT OR FAKE IT

If you have an older stove that you really dont want to replace, there is an alternative. However, it doesnt come cheap.

Mount an electrostatic filter, such as the Poujoulat Top Clean  priced 3,000  in the top of your chimney. Particulates are ionised and attracted to the flue wall, then cleaned away when the chimney is swept. So you do have to have your chimney swept regularly. It cuts emissions of fine particles including PM2.5 by a very welcome 92 per cent.

SO WHATS THE CLEANEST WAY FORWARD?

If you want to get cleaner still, youll have to stop burning wood. Even your gas boiler is better from a health point of view, says Kings College Londons Dr Gary Fuller.

Its also worth noting that realistic flames dont have to mean burning fossil fuels, thanks to a new breed of non-polluting electric fires such the Olympus model from Chesneys, priced from 924 including fire basket. Ultrasonic technology creates a fine mist thats illuminated to produce amazingly realistic flames and smoke.

Built in: much like traditional fireplaces, today's architects can include stoves in their designs for buildings, hiding wiring and chimneys

And electric fires are carbon neutral as long as you have a green energy tariff  which means your supplier only sells you electricity from a renewable source. Visit goodenergy.co.uk and ecotricity.co.uk for more detailed information.

WILL MY NEW STOVE BE BANNED?

The Mayors office has requested new powers to tackle air pollution in London, including tighter limits on emissions. These limits have not yet been set, but Ecodesign Ready is the likely standard to be used for them  so you should seek out such stoves if you are planning to go the wood burning route.

The Mayor has also proposed small zero emissions zones where solid fuel burning would be banned completely. These zones would be reserved for areas with the worst pollution, and are proposed from 2025 onwards. They could also only apply at certain times, such as during peak pollution periods, rather than all day.
The Canadian government has almost doubled its financial backing of a legion of researchers now being called on to develop a counterattack against a series of social, clinical and public health woes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What was initial announced as a $27 million grant package in the first week of March, has since grown to a $51 million promise to support 96 projects that will shore up clinical and public health responses, develop and evaluate diagnostic tools as well as fashion ways to tackle misinformation, stigma and fear both here and abroad.

Canadian scientists at universities and research hospitals from coast-to-coast, including York University and the University Health Network in Toronto, have been given the go ahead by the grants administrator, the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).

York University assistant professor Aaida Mamuji is one researcher delving into the far-reaching social tentacles of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mamuji is looking at destigmatizing Chinese communities in the face of the crisis and actions to address social vulnerability in Toronto and Nairobi, Kenya.

Its not only a health emergency, said Mamuji. Chinese people have been facing bullying at school, harassment in their place of business and general prejudice, she said.

Stigma actually exacerbates the spread of infectious disease, she said. If people are stigmatized, they may not seek medical attention.

The Chinese community faced similar fallout during SARS, she said.

Phase one is understanding the impact and how people of Chinese background are coping with the backlash linked to the crisis in Toronto and Nairobi. The second phase, of the two-year project, is collaborating with emergency management and public health officials to share what they have learned and to work collaboratively to launch a destigmatization campaign.

Her York University colleague, professor Harris Ali, is looking at how social media is playing a central role in the creation and spread of misinformation about COVID-19 by confusing public understanding, fostering racism and xenophobia, and affecting the capacity of public health officials to communicate scientific facts.

There is recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO) that there is a priority to look at social impacts, she said. There will be a forum set up to have all the researchers connect about our respective work.

She said a lot of the information is perishable and needs to be captured immediately in order to inform our preparedness for future crisis.

Unity Health Toronto, a Catholic hospital network, which includes St. Michaels will receive about $4.4 million to fund a host of projects over two years, including looking at technology to strengthen mortality surveillance and therapeutic development.

The University Health Network has already repurposed teams to focus exclusively on its seven projects including clinical research and therapies for recovering patients, said Dr. Brad Wouters, head of science and research at UHN.

We have no effective therapies at the moment, Wouters said, adding that the hospital is also part of the WHO trials. The other major area is drug trials that could prevent infection. Those drugs would be developed for health-care workers.

Wouters says the government grants are a good start but not nearly enough.

We need way more money, he said. I hope the federal government is going to come through with more supports on the clinical research side.

The UHN foundations have been raising money to augment government supports.

The call for applicants went out Feb. 10. The CIHR received 227 research proposals that were peer-reviewed. A priority was placed on acute responses to contain the virus, but Adrian Mota, CIHRs associate vice-president of research said there were a number of viable projects left on the table, which spurred the investment of additional dollars.

He said just over half of the projects were focused on diagnostics, research trials and clinical initiatives, while the balance (accounting for about 30 per cent of the funds allocated) will go toward social projects such as public health response, social media and addressing misinformation about the outbreak.

We did this incredible quickly, he said. It normally takes CIHR 12-18 months to run something like this and we did it in three to five weeks. part of the impetus was getting people going right away.

Mota said the World Health Organization (WHO) was keen on Canada taking a leadership role on the social file, because understanding these issues are important to mitigating the spread of the disease and understanding how we can apply effective intervention.

Were talking about stigma and racism, he said, adding that mental health is also top of file because its important to hone in on the impact on people who are isolated under self-quarantine.
Customers shop at the Uniqlo store in Hanoi, March 6, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo is set to open its second store in HCMC this year just a few months after it opened its first.

The 2,000-square-meter store will be in SC VivoCity shopping center in District 7. The exact opening date is not known but it is expected to be in spring or summer.

Uniqlo Dong Khoi opened in District 1 last December. It attracted 2,000 people on its opening day, with customers queuing up from 4 a.m. to take advantage of discounts.

Osamu Ikezoe, general director of Uniqlo Vietnam, said the brand expects to open three more stores this year.

This month Uniqlo opened its first store in Hanoi at Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach in downtown Dong Da District.

The company had 213 stores in Southeast Asia last year and plans to increase the number to 400 by 2022. Globally, it has over 2,200 stores in 24 countries and territories.

According to German research firm Statista, Vietnam's fashion industry will grow at 22.5 percent a year in 2017-2022 to reach $988 million.
- Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto announced that the local government unit will be providing financial aid to vendors, jeepney and tricycle drivers

- He also said that about 400,000 food packs will be distributed among Pasig City residents

- However, those in depressed areas will be the first to receive the food packs

- Earlier, Sotto announced that all the Pasig City Hall workers will still be receiving their full salaries despite the enhanced community quarantine

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Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto vowed to assist in providing goods and monetary help for informal sector workers that are unable to earn due to the enhanced community quarantine placed all over Luzon.

KAMI learned that the local government unit (LGU) of Pasig City faces the struggle of having people to work during the community quarantine.

In a report by the ABS-CBN News, Sotto shared that financial assistance will be given to vendors, tricycle and jeepney drivers.

The biggest challenge is that a lot of our constituents cannot work, although they understand why this needs to be done, Sotto said at the Laging Handa briefing of Malacanang.

But it becomes a problem when people go hungry. Thats why we bought food packs. Next, well have financial assistance for those vendors who cant sell, as well as for tricycle drivers and jeepney drivers, he added.

Earlier, Sotto announced that 400,000 food packs will be distributed to its residents during the community quarantine period.

Through a Facebook post, Sotto explained that the LGU targets to distribute food packs to the most depressed area in the city.

Target po rito ang mas mahihirap na lugar. Hindi po natin mabibigyan ang lahat. Tandaan na maaari pang tumagal ang krisis na ito, at hindi natin puwedeng ubusin ang resources natin sa isang linggo lamang, he wrote on Facebook.

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As previously reported by KAMI, Sotto announced that the workers of Pasig City Hall will still be getting their full salaries despite the community quarantine.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 501 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines.

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KAMI went out to the streets of Manila and sought to find out if people will be able to guess the voices of their favorite celebs just by playing a recording. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
More than 2.6 billion people worldwide will be in lockdown once India introduces its measures to fight the pandemic at 1830 GMT on Tuesday, according to an AFP tally.

The figure represents more than one-third of a global population the estimates at 7.8 billion in 2020.

At least 42 countries or territories have imposed a mandatory lockdown, including Britain, France, Italy and Spain as well as Colombia, the US state of California, Nepal, Iraq and Madagascar.

India and New Zealand are the last countries to join this list, with South Africa in the club on Thursday.

In most of these territories, people may still leave home for work, to buy food and other essentials and see doctors.

At least five countries or territories -- comprising 226 million people -- have urged their populations to stay at home and limit their movements and contacts to a minimum without enforcing them with threats of punishment.

These countries include Iran, Germany and Canada.

At least 15 countries and territories -- covering more than 189 million people -- have imposed evening curfews.

These include Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast, Chile, the Philippine capital Manila and Serbia. In Egypt, a curfew takes effect on Wednesday.

Some countries have put their main cities under quarantine, with bans on entering and leaving.

This is the case for Bulgaria's largest cities, Almaty and Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan and Baku in Azerbaijan -- together accounting for more than 10 million people.
KUNMING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The 91st Mekong River joint patrol led by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand began Tuesday, as three Chinese vessels left the Guanlei Port in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

In a bid to safeguard the security and stability along the Mekong River, the four countries will carry out joint visits, inspections and an anti-drug publicity campaign during the four-day patrol, according to the Yunnan provincial department of public security.

The mission will cover areas including the "Golden Triangle," an area notorious for drug production, with five vessels in participation.

Affected by the coronavirus epidemic, law enforcement authorities of the four countries will jointly direct the operation by remote video command system for the first time.

A remote video conference was held by the four sides before the patrol to share information.

The law enforcement will send a publicity team to promote knowledge about the epidemic prevention and control.

The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping among China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24) "We go to work for you; please stay at home for us."

The quote has made rounds on social media with health workers pleading for residents to strictly follow home quarantine protocols amid the rapid spike of COVID-19 cases worldwide.

The case is true even in the Philippines, where a Luzon-wide quarantine has been enforced to help curb the spread of the infectious disease.

"If you're not sick, don't loiter around. Just follow social distancing," Dr, Marc Reyes, chairman of the Asian Hospital's Emergency Department, said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

"Let's follow this lockdown and hopefully the lockdown can help flatten the curve," he added, while holding out a sign of the viral message.

Local frontliners have had their fair share of woes in the health crisis, with groups calling for donations for essential medical supplies such as personal protective equipment, masks, and alcohol.

Some large companies as well as foreign entities have pitched in support, but with confirmed local cases rising by the day, the challenges for the health sector continue to pile up.

CNN Philippines spoke to some of the country's frontliners to learn more about the field's daily journey with COVID-19.

Not your normal work day

Reyes noted the Muntinlupa-based hospital has experienced a somewhat "paradigm shift" of admissions with doctors treating familiar faces for different reasons.

"We're used to serious kinds of illnesses like heart attack or stroke, you know. Some trauma patients come in regularly, that's the regular routine patients that we see. This time, we see the same patients coming in. But the hard part is seeing them getting critically ill. Some people succumb to the disease," Reyes said.

He added 90 percent of the patients who go the hospital take the trip for COVID-related matters, with some experiencing symptoms such as severe cough, colds, and diarrhea.

The Philippines has recorded 501 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, including 33 fatalities and 19 recoveries. Like some hospitals around Metro Manila, where the bulk of the cases were reported, Asian Hospital also faced restraints when it comes to physical capacity.

Dr. Carlos Gabriel, emergency medicine physician and Senior Medical Affairs Manager, said the hospital's ward rooms and intensive care units are full. However, the facility will continue to accommodate patients at their emergency room.

"What we're seeing with this disease is that people sit longer which means that the rooms are not freeing up that fast," Gabriel said.

Understaffed shifts, lack of medical supplies

Another big challenge health workers currently face is the lack of manpower.

Due to their first-hand exposure while treating COVID-positive patients, some doctors and other health care staff were required to undergo quarantine, thus resulting in "understaffed" shifts for some hospitals.

"So if that happens, our numbers on the shift are decreased and that means more work for the people who are left behind working," Reyes said.

On top of this, some local health facilities including the big, renowned hospitals in the metro have also reported lack of medical supplies, including the PPEs for frontliners.

"We also understand that the suppliers, the people who are manufacturing these work in another country and that country was also hit... So right now it's very difficult to get these PPEs that are necessary to protect our staff," Gabriel added.

COVID-19 a 'serious' issue

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is not as deadly, with the fatality rate standing at around three to four percent.

According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of patients only experience mild illness and eventually recover. It added that some 15 percent experience severe illness while five percent were critically ill.

Gabriel, however, said this should not stop the public from considering the severity of the issue at hand.

"It is serious, something not to be scoffed at. It's something to be taken seriously. It has infected our friends, family," the doctor noted.

COVID-19 is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze.

To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who show respiratory symptoms.

Globally, the infectious disease has affected over 380,000 individuals in 168 different countries including China, where the virus first spread. More than 16,500 deaths have also been recorded worldwide.

RELATED: DOH sets up COVID-19 emergency hotlines

CNN Philippines' Alyssa Rola contributed to this report.
Lauren was social distancing before it was mandated. Photo: Netflix

Netflix is doubling down on 2020 unscripted hits Love Is Blind and The Circle, giving both shows two-season renewals. The streamer Tuesday also said it was moving forward with a second season of 2019 hip-hop competition Rhythm + Flow, and that it had green-lit a new project from Tidying Up star Marie Kondo. The slightly disappointing news: The four series wont premiere until next year.

Under normal circumstances, Netflix would very likely be able to get second seasons of some of the aforementioned renewals on its platform as soon as this fall. But with anti-coronavirus efforts halting almost all TV and film shooting for weeks to come, while making casting more challenging, such an aggressive timetable appears off the table. (This is not to say Netflix wouldve necessarily rushed second seasons into production for this year even under ideal circumstances, just that the option to do so likely went away once city lockdowns began.) Netflix nonetheless has started the online casting and audition process for Love Is Blind, The Circle, and Rhythm + Flow, and the two-season renewals for the first two shows suggest the streamer is hoping to get the third seasons of both onto the platform within less than a year of their eventual premiere dates.

As for the Kondo series, it will be called Sparking Joy With Marie Kondo and will feature the decluttering expert and her team as they set out to tidy one small town in America, sparking joy in big new ways, per a press release from the streamer. The show is currently scouting for a location and is accepting nominations from potential towns via TidyMyTown.com.

The renewals (and spinoff) underscore Netflixs recent success in the unscripted space, particularly with Love Is Blind and The Circle, both of which became pop-culture phenoms in recent months. Its been incredible to see Netflix members everywhere respond to the raw, authentic stories of real people and real stakes, said Brandon Riegg, Netflixs vice-president of nonfiction series and comedy specials. Theres no word yet on any potential changes for the three renewed shows, though buried in Netflixs release is one tidbit about season two of Love Is Blind: Instead of drawing from Atlantas dating pool, the show is casting the new season in Chicago.
A woman is expected to be OK after a violent crash that trapped her inside her own car Monday afternoon in Houstons Westbury neighborhood.

The woman was driving along Willowbend near Rampart when a young driver drove into the intersection around 6:40 p.m., deputies said. The driver told police he stopped at the stop sign at the intersection and proceeded thinking the intersection was clear.
Talk shows are getting inventive with their formats in the wake of coronavirus shutting down production. In the interest of safety, networks are ditching their studio audiences and sending hosts and crews home.

Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Wendy Williams are among those whose shows are affected by quarantine orders in New York and shooting from home.

Williams misses work and recently said she was willing to risk it for an early return from the hiatus. With those plans thwarted by Fox, the daytime talk queen found a new way to reach fans with mini broadcasts.

Wendy Williams | Manny Carabel/Getty Images

The Wendy Williams Show shut down mid-March

On March 12, it was announced that The Wendy Williams Show would halt production. Days before the official break, Williams stopped filming with a live audience and avoided having co-hosts.

Initially, it was believed the show would come back on after a couple weeks, but as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in New York, city and state governments put everything on lockdown.

Williams visited Dr. Oz post-shutdown

The only television appearance Williams made after her show went on break was on Dr. Oz. She discussed coronavirus and the decision to suspend production due to the pandemic.

The episode  which also lacked a studio audience  aired on March 20, and Williams shared details about the phone call she received from the network to close shop.

They said, Were all shutting down everything. All the networks. Nobody is going to be doing new shows. We want all the hosts to be well. I said but I can do it even with no audience.

Firm orders from Fox and those above prevented that from happening, but since, Williams has been active on social media to connect with fans and launched an inaugural in-home segment.

Williams broadcast from home attracts viewers

Taking a page out of Fallons book, Williams set up a camera in her home to film a short version of her show and put it on YouTube.

The 15-minute video starts out with a full introductory sequence and voiceover, Live from Wendys apartment in New York City, its The Wendy Williams Show at-home edition.

Williams welcomes everyone and explains that fans will not get a tour of her home as she feels its too intrusive. Sipping on Orangina, she spends a few minutes talking about her Betty Boop statue before munching on a plate of food, ASMR style.

She then launches into hot topics, describing them as lukewarm because everybody either seems to have corona or be inside.

Next, fans are informed about Christian Siriano and his team making medical masks for donation, Bethenny Frankel donating supplies to hospitals, and Williams conversation with Dr. Oz.

Williams takes a moment to speak about Kenny Rogers and sends condolences to his wife. Before signing off, she shares that she doesnt know how much longer she can take doing the apartment thing, and its only the first day. What does this mean for fans?

Its possible Williams will make this a regular event until production resumes, but its unclear whether shell do it daily or weekly. In the meantime, fans can check Williams Instagram account or YouTube channel for the next episode.
The Ireland-based carrier said it did not expect to resume operations until at least June.

Ryanair on Tuesday said it does not expect to operate flights in April or May and has offered its aircraft to European governments for rescue or the essential movement of medicines and personal protective equipment.

The experience in China suggests a three-month period for the spread of the virus to be contained and reduced. We do not expect to operate flights during the months of April and May at this time, but this will clearly depend on government advice, the budget airline said in a statement posted on Twitter.

On March 18, Ryanair said it expected to ground most if not all of its flights from March 24 except a very small number mostly between Britain and Ireland.

Airlines around the globe are feeling the pain as travel demand withers because of the coronavirus outbreak, scrapping flights and ditching financial forecasts.

Air France-KLM said on March 16 it would park its biggest airliners and slash services by up to 90 percent. The group said it had identified measures to save 200 million euros ($223m) in 2020 and ways to cut its capital expenditure by 350 million euros ($380m).

Air New Zealand said on March 16 it would cut long-haul capacity by 85 percent in the coming months and the domestic network by 30 percent in April and May. The airline has withdrawn its full-year outlook, frozen hiring and offered unpaid leave to staff.





American Airlines plans to cut 75 percent of its international flights through May 6 and ground nearly all its widebody fleet.

China Southern Airlines reported on March 18 a 73 percent drop in February passenger capacity, saying the impact from the epidemic remains uncertain.

Delta is cutting domestic capacity by 10 percent to 15 percent and international by 20 percent to 25 percent, freezing hiring, offering voluntary leave options to staff and looking at early retirement of older aircraft.

It had received over 4,500 requests from flight attendants for voluntary unpaid leave in April, according to a March 14 paper seen by Reuters.

German carrier Lufthansa cut long-haul capacity by up to 90 percent from March 17, and said it would only operate 20 percent of planned intra-Europe flights.

Austrian Airlines, a part of the Lufthansa group, has halted all regular flight operations until April 19.

Israels El Al sent 5,500 of its 6,000 workers on unpaid leave until May 31 after it slashed its flight schedule.

Emirates said on March 23 it would suspend all passenger flights for two weeks, starting from March 25.

On March 17, Finnair said it would cancel most of its flights until the end of June as it started transitioning to a limited network.

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the owner of British Airways and Iberia, said it would cut its flying capacity by at least 75 percent in April and May. The group detailed cost cuts including a freeze on discretionary spending, working hours reductions and a temporary suspension of employment contracts.

On March 17, the UK pilot union BALPA said that British Airways was due to make an unspecified number of pilots redundant.

Passenger numbers have been badly affected as more countries go into lockdown and would-be travellers avoid flying [File photo/Carlos Barria/Reuters]

JetBlue, which also pulled its first-quarter and 2020 earnings forecast, said it was adjusting schedules between March and early May and was considering more flight cancellations. The airline said the outbreak was expected to make at least a six percentage-point dent in its total revenue per available seat mile in the first quarter.

Norwegian Air said on March 16 it would cancel 85 percent of its flights and temporarily lay off 7,300 employees. The cancellations add to an already difficult financial situation at Norwegian, which has scrapped its 2020 outlook and lost 70 percent of its market value this year.

Qantas has suspended all international flights from Australia and around 60 percent of domestic traffic at least until the end of May. The airline said it could no longer provide guidance on the outbreaks financial impact. Its CEO will take no salary for the rest of the year, the management team will receive no bonuses and all staff are encouraged to take paid or unpaid leave.





Qatar Airways has laid off around 200 employees, all Filipino nationals based in Qatar.

The Danish and Swedish governments said on March 17 they would provide guarantees totalling 3 billion Swedish crowns ($302mn) to SAS, which has grounded most of its fleet and temporarily laid off 90 percent of staff.

Singapore Airlines on March 23 cut capacity by 96 percent, grounded almost its entire fleet and imposed cost cuts affecting about 10,000 staff.

Southwest, which has withdrawn its previous 2020 financial guidance, said it would reduce capacity by at least 20 percent from April 14 through June 5.

Portugals flag carrier, TAP Airlines, which had previously cut 3,500 flights through May, said on March 19 it would further reduce its operations between March 23 and April 19, expecting to fly to just 15 of its 90 destinations.

Chicago-based United Airlines said on March 20 it would slash its international schedule by 95 percent for April because of government restrictions prohibiting travel.

Virgin Atlantic, the UK-based airline, said it would ground 75 percent of its fleet by 26 March and by up to 85 percent at points in April, as it cancelled more flights.

Canadas WestJet has suspended all commercial international flights for 30 days from March 22 and reduced its domestic schedule by 50 percent.

And Hungary-based budget airline Wizz Air said on March 23 it was operating at 15 percent of its capacity and warned that grounding its entire fleet remained a possibility.
Lucifers Spawn? MAGA? Trumps Poll Numbers Rise as the U.S. Faces the Possibility of 1.7 million deaths

150 million U.S. citizens are likely to be infected, thanks to Trumps unwillingness to shut down the country for 14 days. The death toll could be 200,000 to 1.7 million. Why does anyone still support this incompetent ex-reality TV character?



Now the waves of spring vacation millennials returning from beaches and partying are heading home and bringing with them the virus to every town U.S.A. Trumps very stable genius is considering not extending the 14-day self-isolation, containment policy just in time to allow these youngsters to set off another wave of the pandemic.

Thats the leadership we deserve when we allow a self-proclaimed medical genius to control the medical protocols our country will and has followed during the worst medical crisis in our lifetimes.

Worse, the President is going to drop the strategy designed to mitigate the spread of the disease because he says the country was not built to be shut down for weeks or months. Trumps new plan suggestion is to re-open the country against many medical experts most ardent advice, including Dr. Fauci.

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick tested Trumps intended new policy let the old (over 70) and sick die

Click here to read the article.

Forcing the sick and elderly to die, rather than offering care and treatment, is tantamount to the Nazi policies of before and during the Second World War. Re-opening the country and ignoring the risk will be the key to opening pandoras box and allow the disastrous Geni to escape the bottle with no safeguard in place to do a safe do-over. Unlike the virus  this disaster will be fabricated by President Trump and his moronic sycophants that worship money over life.

Still, Trumps approval numbers over his handling of the coronavirus have risen to over 50%. One can only wonder as he downplays the crisis AGAIN after coming around to take it seriously for a few days. Trump has sold his soul to the devil by dooming large numbers of our fellow citizens to death. He is purposely letting infected people move freely around the country and allowing them to come in contact with adults 70 over in the name of MAGA (Making America Great Again).




Besides, Zelensky expects the further development of Ukrainian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has met newly-appointed Chinas Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong and asked the Chinese government to provide additional medical aid to Ukraine as the Presidents Office of Ukraine reported.

I would like to wish good health you and your people. Today, for the whole world, which fights against coronavirus, the health is crucial, the president said, congratulating Fan Xianrong on the beginning of the carry out duties of the Ambassador of China in Ukraine, which coincides with his birthday.

The president noted the efforts of the Chinese authorities, who enabled to stabilize the situation with the spread of coronavirus.

He noted the interest of Ukraine in the consideration of the Chinese experience of the fight against this disease and the establishment of the information exchange with the Chinese medical specialists.

Zelensky thanked for the provided medical equipment received from China and noted the personal assistance of the ambassador in this case.

The president appealed to the Chinese government with the request to provide Ukraine with additional aid: necessary test-systems, medical equipment and drugs.

Particularly, the president expressed gratitude for the continued position of China on the support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed the possibility of the further development of the Ukrainian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation.

It was noted that China is one of the main trade partners of Ukraine; the bilateral turnover made $12.8 billion on the results of 2019 and has prospects for further increase.

Moreover, Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with the Chinese Ambassador the possibility of attraction of the Chinese investments to Ukraine, including the implementation of the infrastructure projects.

On March 23, Ukrainian cargo aircraft IL-76 landed in Boryspil international airport. The plane arrived from Guangzhou, China, carrying 250,000 tests for Covid-19, the coronavirus.

As of 13:30, on March 24, there are 97 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine. 3 cases were lethal and one patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
URUMQI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has donated 380,000 medical masks to eight countries to help with the global fight against the novel coronavirus.

The masks were delivered to Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia and Algeria.

The regional government has organized local enterprises to increase production, according to the regional portal website of ts.cn.

Customs and China Post were coordinated to ensure the timely delivery of the materials.

Xinjiang, a major cotton and textile producer in China, is home to many manufacturers of cotton-related products.
Reuters

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Sunday that the social media company has donated its emergency reserve of 720,000 masks to provide health workers with more protective gear.

To help, Facebook donated our emergency reserve of 720,000 masks that we had bought in case the wildfires continued, Zuckerberg said in a post, adding that the company is also working on sourcing a lot more to donate.

The United States has seen a surge in demand for respirator masks caused by the coronavirus outbreak as the US Department of Health and Human Services, over the next 18 months, aims to buy 500 million masks for the Strategic National Stockpile, the nations supply of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.
As at 12:31 PM, Tuesday, there is a total of 1998 confirmed cases, 62 deaths, and 132 recoveries in Africa, according to Worldometer.

A total of 43 countries in the continent now have confirmed cases of Covid-19.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced a national lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

The lockdown is expected to last for three weeks.

While addressing the nation, Mr Ramaphosa said the government has decided to enforce a national lockdown for 21 days with effect from midnight on Thursday the 26th of March to avoid a human catastrophe.

Mr Ramaphosa warned that the confirmed total of the coronavirus infection and deaths will continue to rise and that the next few days are crucial.

To ensure that citizens comply with the lockdown, the president added that the military will be deployed onto the streets to help police enforce a nationwide lockdown.

South Africa has a total of 554 confirmed cases as it increased by 152 today.

On Monday, Senegal and Cote DIvoire each declared a state of emergency.

Senegals total number of confirmed cases increased to 86 and the President has since imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

President Macky Sall said the speed of the progress of the disease requires us to raise the level of response.

A city in Democratic Republic of Congo, Lubumbashi, began a 48-hour lockdown after the arrival of two people with suspected coronavirus aboard a flight from Kinshasa.

DRC has 45 confirmed cases and two fatalities.

Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ethiopia closed their borders on Monday.

Zimbabwe, after reporting its first death, declared its borders shut to human traffic except returning residents.

Also, public gatherings have been banned indefinitely.

READ ALSO:

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, also closed its land borders after registering its first death. Ethiopia also closed its land borders.

Mauritania and Burkina Faso- the hardest-hit country in West Africa with a total of 114 cases and four deaths  have also announced curfews.

The following are countries with confirmed cases:

Country Confirmed Cases Deaths Recoveries Algeria 230 17 65 Angola 2 Benin 6 Burkina Faso 114 4 7 Cameroon 66 2 CAR 3 Chad 3 Congo 4 Cote D'Ivoire 25 2 DRC 45 2 Djibouti 3 Egypt 366 19 68 Equatorial Guinea 9 Eswatini 4 Ethiopia 12 Eritrea 1 Gabon 6 1 The Gambia 2 1 Ghana 6 1 Guinea 4 Kenya 16 Liberia 3 Morocco 143 9 5 Madagascar 17 Mauritania 2 Mozambique 1 Mauritius 36 2 Namibia 4 Niger 3 Nigeria 40 1 2 Papua New Guinea 1 Rwanda 36 Sudan 2 1 Senegal 86 8 Somalia 1 South Africa 554 4 Seychelles 7 Tunisia 90 3 1 Tanzania 12 Togo 18 Uganda 9 Zimbabwe 3 1 Zambia 3 Total 1998 62 164
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Pernod Ricard (PDRDF.PK, PDRDY.PK, PRN.L) said, with the revised assumptions linked to COVID-19, the Group now projects an organic decline in profit from recurring operations for fiscal 2020 of approximately 20%. On 13 February 2020, the company issued a guidance of between 2% and 4% growth in organic profit from recurring operations. Alexandre Ricard, CEO, said: 'Our business model and strategy are resilient. Our 3-year plan Transform & Accelerate has been very successful, as demonstrated by the fiscal 2019 and first half fiscal 2020 results, and will continue to positively impact the business as we move through the COVID-19 crisis.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
Coronavirus-related articles published by major Chinese news outlets 'were wiped out almost every day' during the pandemic because they were deemed too negative, it has been revealed.

Forty-one news stories written by influential companies were deleted or censored from January 23 to March 13, according to a report released yesterday by independent media outlet You Young Weekly.

The report also found the majority of the filtered articles included 'negative emotions or tragic personal stories'.

The original post, 'Disappeared 41 Coronavirus Reports', has been deleted by its publisher on WeChat.

Coronavirus-related articles published by major Chinese news outlets 'have been wiped out almost every day' during the pandemic because they are too negative, it has been revealed

The report also found the majority of the filtered articles included 'negative emotions or tragic personal stories.' A man with face mask is pictured using his mobile phone in Beijing

In-depth features about coronavirus doctors faced the heaviest censorship compared to other categories, the investigative report suggested.

One of such articles was an interview with Dr Ai Fen, whose text message prompted her colleagues including whistle-blower Li Wenliang to raise the coronavirus alarm.

The ER doctor criticised the management of Wuhan Central Hospital for dismissing the early warnings of the coronavirus. Chinese magazine Renwu quickly retracted the article after publishing it online on March 10.

A doctor whose text messages prompted whistle-blower doctors including Li Wenliang to raise the coronavirus alarm has spoken out about being punished by her hospital for sharing a SARS-like patient's report with her colleagues. Ai Fen is pictured here sitting at her office

Medical staff work in a ward treating COVID-19 coronavirus patients at a hospital in Wuhan

Other censored reports included stories about coronavirus patients, as well as criticism of how the government handled the outbreak.

'Usually, it is very common for the [Chinese] media to have their stories deleted, but we have seen a "big censorship outbreak" in reporting this epidemic,' the report said.

'The media used its limited strength to tear open the truth and rush to the light.

'Although some reports disappeared briefly today, they will have their place in the manuscripts of history,' the article concluded.

Other censored reports also included stories about coronavirus patients, as well as criticism of how the government handled the outbreak. A woman is pictured using her phone in Beijing

It comes as the Toronto-based research group Citizen lab released a report in early March, suggesting that the Chinese messenger app WeChat started to block coronavirus-related content on January 1 and expanded the scope of censorship as the outbreak grew

The news comes as the Toronto-based research group Citizen lab released a report in early March, suggesting that the Chinese messenger app WeChat started to block coronavirus-related content on January 1 and expanded the scope of censorship as the outbreak grew.

But it wasn't until January 7 when the Chinese authorities announced they had identified a new virus.

The report also found the censored messages included criticism of the government, information deemed as rumours as well as references to the Chinese whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang.

The report, released by the Toronto-based research group Citizen lab, also found the censored messages included criticism of the government, information deemed as rumours as well as references to the Chinese whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang

'Although some reports disappeared briefly today, they will have their place in the manuscripts of history,' the article concluded. A woman and a girl are pictured browsing on their devices

Some example keyword combinations contained 'Xi Jinping + Formalism + Epidemic prevention' and 'Local authorities + Epidemic + Central (government) + Cover-up'.

The coronavirus has killed at least 15,683 and infected over 361,000 people around the world, with the brunt of the cases in China.

More than 190 nations are now battling the contagion, with Italy, Spain, US and Iran among the worst-affected.
D ating show Love Is Blind will return for a second and third series on Netflix, the streaming service has confirmed.

The series, which debuted on the streaming platform last month and rapidly became a word-of-mouth hit, sees single participants form connections with other contestants by talking to them from a "pod" without seeing one another.

They quickly form romantic relationships and can then decide whether to propose marriage.

Once they've accepted, they can finally see meet up face to face and then live together for three weeks in the run up to the wedding, giving them a chance to decide whether tying the knot is the right thing to do.

Netflix

(Netflix)

However, not all of the couples go the distance and plenty of relationship drama ensues in what has been billed as the perfect replacement for Love Island.

The show also inspired a successful reunion special, which aired on Netflix, in which the cast gathered to discuss their relationships - and break-ups.

25 underrated movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime 1 /33 25 underrated movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime The Miseducation of Cameron Post  Netflix Chloe Grace Moretz plays the titular role in this powerful drama. After shes discovered kissing the prom queen, Moretzs character is sent to the gay conversion camp called Gods Promise, where she rallies together with fellow disciples in the face of terrible adversity. Booksmart  Amazon Prime Video Olivia Wildes directorial debut Booksmart is an inspired comedy and coming-of-age movie, and one of the funniest films of last year. Swots Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) head out for a night of partying, realising theyve forgotten how to have fun during their high school studies. Captain Fantastic  Netflix In this quirkier than a Wes Anderson convention, this comedy drama centers around a family who have grown up in isolation, with father Ben (Viggo Mortensen) teaching how to live their lives away from capitalist society. Paris is Burning  Netflix This groundbreaking documentary captures the spirit of the trailblazing ball culture of 80s New York, taking us into the lives of the African-American, Latino, gay and transgender communities who made it one of the most influential LGBTQ+ movements of the 20th century. Blindspotting  Netflix This uniquely styled comedy drama follows a man with just days left on his sentence, whose future is thrown in doubt after witnessing a police shooting. Its much funnier and quirkier than it sounds, trust us. Whats Eating Gilbert Grape  Amazon Prime Video This early 90s cult classic follows Johnny Depps young shop clerk in small town America, tasked with looking after his obese mother and mentally impaired younger brother. Theres also one of the first movie performances from Leonardo DiCaprio to look out for. Ingrid Goes West  Netflix Take a trip with Aubrey Plazas outsider Ingrid, as she travels to Venice Beach to infiltrate the Insta-fabulous life of her favourite influencer in this dark, oddball comedy. Dolemite is my Name  Netflix This Netflix drama is a real return to form for Eddie Murphy. Plenty of people were calling for him to be recognised during awards season for his performance as Rudy Ray Moore, the star of blaxploitation films in the 70s. Private Life  Netflix Private Life is one of the few Hollywood movies of recent times that tackles the subject of middle-aged couples trying to have children. Its sensitive and quietly devastating, featuring the best Paul Giammatti performance in years and a great turn from Kathryn Hahn. Okja  Netflix We told you Boon Jong-Ho would be back. A genetically-enhanced super pig and a young girl form an unlikely and beautiful friendship in this gem, going head to head with a superfood conglomerate. This Netflix original was dismissed as vegan propaganda by some when it came out in 2017, but its so much more. Blinded by the Light  Amazon Prime Video A love letter to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, based on the memoirs of Sarfraz Manzoor and directed by Bend It Like Beckhams Gurinder Chadha, this movie is a coming-of-age tale that will resonate with most viewers  fans of the Boss, or not. Atlantics  Netflix This Cannes prize-winning debut from filmmaker Mati Diop tackles a challenging subject matter  the tragic deaths of migrants at sea  in a surprisingly life-affirming way, following a love story at the very edges of human capabilities. Annihilation  Netflix This brilliantly weird high-concept sci-fi is one of the best original Netflix movies yet, following cellular biology professor Natalie Portman as she ventures deeper into a mysterious zone called the Shimmer. Think heart of darkness with added aliens. Under the Skin  Amazon Prime Video In Scarlett Johanssons impressive, varied and sometimes controversial career, Under the Skin stands out as her strangest movie. Here she plays an alien life form who drives around Scotland in a van seducing men, only for them to meet terrifying, unexpected fates after visiting her apartment. The Tale of Princess Kaguya  Netflix Netflix users are blessed with the Studio Ghibli back catalogue on demand. Theyre all worth checking out, of course, but while the likes of My Neighbour Totoro get all the praise, 2013s The Tale of Princess Kaguya features some of the studios most breathtaking animation and elegant storytelling, and is one of our top picks. The Wife  Netflix Glenn Close can count herself unlucky not to have picked up a long-awaited Oscar for her towering performance in this subtle drama, playing a woman who questions everything after her self-obsessed husband received the Nobel Prize. The Two Popes  Netflix Critics including the Standards Charlotte OSullivan tipped this two-hander drama for success at the Oscars a while back. Its gone under the radar slightly since then, but the performances from Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio respectively are electric. Blue Ruin  Netflix Bloodthirsty revenge flick Blue Ruin is a slow-burning delight, and one that might easily go unnoticed on Netflix without an A-list cast to entice viewers. Its a violent and visceral watch at times, but its also a compelling look at human endurance and the impacts of reopening old wounds. Cube  Amazon Prime Video More high-concept sci-fi, this time in the form of an independent Canadian movie from the 90s, where a group of friends find themselves trapped in a maze of cube-shaped rooms, all booby-trapped and not what they seem. Its bonkers, in the best way. American Animals  Amazon Prime Video This esoteric take on the heist movie centres around the real library robbery at Transylvania University, where a group of students attempted to steal a collection of rare books. The movie cuts from dramatisation to documentary footage, and is well worth exploring. Filth  Amazon Prime Video James McAvoy throws the kitchen sink at his performance as a troubled and misanthropic detective in this uniquely distressing and compelling drama, featuring all the guts and grime youd expect from an Irvine Welsh adaptation. The Ritual  Netflix Horror films following inexperienced groups of travellers into the woods have become a sub-genre all of their own, but The Ritual is better than most. This supernatural horror is intelligently done and genuinely scary in places, with strong performances from the likes of Rafe Spall. Snowpiercer  Amazon Prime Video This high-concept thriller helped announce Parasite director and Korean master Bong Joon-Ho to a bigger western audience. Snowpiercer follows a revolt onboard a train, which is carrying the last humans alive on earth in the aftermath of a second ice age. More from Bong Joon-Ho later. Good Time  Netflix The Safdie Brothers anxiety-inducing Uncut Gems is one the most talked about films of the year  and quite rightly, its fantastic  but their previous film Good Time is just as compelling. Robert Pattinson gives one of the best performances of his career, playing a desperate conman in the aftermath of a botched heist. The Big Sick  Amazon Prime Video This alternate take on the classic rom-com tells the story of Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) and Emily (Zoe Kazan), who must learn to deal with adversity and cultural contrasts following Emilys shock health diagnosis. Its beautiful, funny, moving and well worth your time.

Netflix has also confirmed that the US version of The Circle, which originated on Channel 4 in the UK, has been renewed for two more series.

The American edition of the reality show, which sees participants craft an online persona and communicate via social media in a bid to be crowned the top influencers in the network, was filmed in the same block of flats in Salford as the UK version.

There will also be new series of Tidying Up With Marie Kondo and Rhythm And Flow.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- To deter attempts to disable U.S. electrical utilities and to defend U.S. nuclear weapon systems from evolving technological threats, Sandia National Laboratories has begun two multiyear initiatives to strengthen U.S. responses.

Power Grid

One is focused on defending large U.S. electrical utility systems from potential attacks by hostile nations, as well as from damage inflicted by extreme natural disasters like hurricanes and solar flares. The Resilient Energy Systems campaign, a multi-year research portfolio with up to $40 million in total funding, is supported by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, which funds exploratory work in science and technology.

"The original electric grid was not designed with security in mind against cyberhacks, or protection from electromagnetic disturbances, or natural disasters such as hurricanes or geomagnetic solar storms," portfolio manager Craig Lawton said.

"The primary objective of our mission portfolio is to mitigate vulnerabilities caused by antiquated technology in transformers and other components. Solutions require research, and we're looking for collective inputs of ideas from researchers in industry, utility companies, universities, other labs and of course Sandia," he said.

Deterring aggression by updating weapon systems

The second research campaign is developing enabling technical capabilities to help the U.S. maintain its strategic nuclear deterrent.

The Assured Survivability and Agility with Pulsed Power research campaign is a multi-year portfolio with up to $40 million in total funding, again by Sandia's LDRD program. The mission portfolio is intended to explore technologies that use brief but powerful bursts of electrical energy to simulate nuclear explosions -- without resorting to actual nuclear tests -- to better understand their impact on electronics and materials.

"Our nuclear weapons systems have been relatively static, while the capabilities and technologies used by our potential adversaries are evolving at a rapid pace," said Sandia physicist Kyle Peterson, who developed and leads the mission. "We must be more agile in identifying potential threats to maintain an effective deterrent against hostile military actions.

"We're open to, and hope for, input from researchers in industry, universities and other national labs as well as Sandia to contribute ideas and work in this effort," said Peterson.

Additional benefits from both mission portfolios are expected to include more efficient electrical generation, more accurate data for astrophysicists, and a closer approach to break-even and even high-yield fusion, which can generate electrical energy by fusing atoms -- a goal of a branch of physics for 70 years.

Improving resiliency of US utilities

There's room for improvement in the protection of the U.S. energy system, said Lawton.

"Our electrical generating systems may be more vulnerable than we would like," he said.

"Many of these were built in simpler times, some around the early 20th century. Though remarkably durable, since then they have been overlaid with complex computer control systems to assist in responding to the complicated demands of today."

These computer systems, he says, are vulnerable to cyber hacking that could alter or disable them, potentially disrupting power to large geographic areas.

"Electricity runs almost everything in modern society," Lawton said. "Without it, food goes bad, hospitals can't function, credit cards don't work. Dams letting out prescribed amounts of water and gas pipelines operate autonomously through codes."

In addition to maliciously created computer problems, "damage from naturally occurring threats, like hurricanes, can cause problems that may stretch out for long periods of time if replacement parts aren't readily available," he said.

While large utilities already have lightening surge arrestors to mitigate lightning strikes, and highly efficient lightning rods, "they don't operate fast enough to catch a nanosecond electromagnetic wave from a nuclear weapon exploded high in the atmosphere." The electromagnetic pulse could fry unprotected circuits, he said.

While utility companies are required to have contingency plans in place to provide power if one generator in a large system goes out, there's no prepared response if they lose many generators at once, he said.

"These are some of the problems that we expect our upcoming work to mitigate," Lawton said. "We believe that ideas proposed to increase our electrical security will come from Sandia and other national labs, universities and the utility companies themselves."

The intense realm of ASAP

Among the military problems that an adversary might present are more capable weapon systems as well as technology intended to confuse a U.S. missile and deflect it from reaching its target. The Assured Survivability and Agility with Pulsed Power, ASAP, campaign will invest in science and technology needed to ensure that "U.S. military objectives will be met in the event that deterrence fails," Peterson said.

Further study of brief strong pulses of electrical power are needed to help meet that goal. Pulsed-power accelerators store energy and release it in powerful bursts. Those can be converted into X-rays and neutrons to be used as a laboratory version of an actual bomb blast to assess how nuclear and conventional weapon systems would respond if subjected to those environments.

Sandia uses pulsed power technology in a number of different facilities -- Saturn, Hermes and Z -- and is currently developing proposals to enhance some of these capabilities.

One is directed-energy weapon systems, said Peterson. Pulses of pure energy could deter platoons of advancing soldiers by making them uncomfortably warm. Focused to a narrower beam, they could be used to shoot down incoming missiles near-instantaneously.

A dramatically improved successor to the Z facility has been proposed that would deliver 10 times the energy output of Z currently: a petawatt (quadrillion watts) electrical pulse.

Said Peterson, "This would create unprecedented levels of X-rays and neutrons, as much as tens of thousands more neutrons than currently generated by Z today." Z is already the world's most powerful generator of X-rays.

"We have seen petawatt lasers for many years," he continued. "This would be the first accelerator to deliver a petawatt of electrical power and with much larger energies than lasers can generate."

However, to realize such a facility and other advances, the ASAP research campaign is needed to develop better understanding of basic support issues like high voltages and current delivery, electrical breakdowns and how to prevent them, more efficient and reliable capacitors and switches, and new materials for delivering petawatts of electrical power.

Such basic engineering research will do a lot for science, said Peterson. "It would enable better astrophysics experiments, create higher temperatures and pressures for material science, and higher fidelity environments for radiation effects testing on electronics and materials."

Also significant would be creating tools to manage the debris from repeated experiments from an improved Z that each would generate the energy equivalent of more than 20 sticks of dynamite exploding in nanoseconds in a tiny enclosed space.

"If a Z successor were built without improvements in its underlying support structure, its first firing would be a lot easier to achieve than its second," said Peterson.

He's looking for ideas from qualified researchers to help the mission succeed in its aim of improving national security.

###

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.
UPPER THUMB  Because Mondays state executive order supersedes the directive that Tuscola County employees still had to go to work at the courthouse even though it was closed, they no longer have to.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmers Executive Order 2020-21 issued on Monday directed residents to suspend activities that are not necessary to sustain or protect life.

After the governors announcement, Tuscola Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart, who is the courts chief judge, took steps to further shut down the courthouse.

Due to the recent stance by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in regards to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and combating the spread of the disease, the Tuscola County Courthouse will be closed until Monday, April 13, said Gierharts notice. The courts will only handle essential functions during this time.

Although the courthouse is closed and courts are operating at a minimum, crime continues.

Things have slowed down but certainly not stopped," said Tuscola County Sheriff Glen Skrent. "Unfortunately, crime still happens in a pandemic. People violating the law are still being prosecuted. We are taking extreme caution with checking officers and prisoners as they come in for symptoms of the virus."

Everyone is taking whatever precautions we can, as should everyone else, he said.

Through cooperation with the prosecutor, the judges, and the jail, operations have been streamlined to handle arrests as they come in.

During the shutdown, emergency court filings are to be done using email addresses during business hours, but faxes will not be accepted during that time.

The 54th Circuit Court and Family Court can be contacted at 54CircuitCourt@tuscolacounty.org or by calling 989-672-3720.

The 71B District Court and magistrate can be contacted at 71BDistrictCourt@tuscolacounty.org, or by calling 989-672-3800 and selecting option 1.

The Tuscola County Probate Court - Family Court can be contacted at TuscolaProbate@tuscolacounty.org, or by calling 989-672-3850, and the Tuscola County Clerk by calling 989-672-3780.

There is also another positive factor for the countys legal system.

Our inmate population had been reduced prior and is around 50 at this time which is low for us, Skrent explained. This allows us to have a few empty cells in case we have to quarantine an individual with symptoms.

Between the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths increasing each day, the recent stay-at-home order, and some commodities hard to find, there is tension and concern.

I have asked the road patrol to go through parking lots of businesses that remain open to help instill the feeling of security that still exists in our society even with the pandemic, said Skrent.
Several educational institutions in Lucknow have switched to virtual classrooms amid the lockdown over rising cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

For instance, City Montessori School (CMS) has adopted e-learning for its students to compensate for days missed due to the lockdown.

CMS is using the Google Classroom platform, a free web service that aims to simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way.

Google Classroom is an easy platform for students to access lessons, study material and submit assignments shared by their teachers. It is a versatile application that can be used on a desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile phone. It is convenient for both students and teachers, said Geeta Kingdon, president of CMS.

Each teacher and student has been provided with a unique email ID to log in to Google Classroom and access study materials. The schools information technology department carried out a Google Classroom refresher course for all the teachers after Holi as the authorities anticipated closure over the Covid-19 scare.

Hemant Kumar, father of Annanya Verma, a grade three student of CMSs Gomti Nagar Campus, said that her daughter was getting regular lessons and assignments from her teachers. Annanya has learnt how to use Google Classroom well, he said.

Shilpa Arora, mother of Anwita, a class five student of the CMSs Gomti Nagar campus, expressed satisfaction as her daughters time was being productively utilised, despite the lockdown. Anwita learns her lessons and completes her daily assignments. Initially, she found it a little difficult to access online resources, but she got a lot of support from her teacher. Now, she can do it easily, Arora said.

City International Schools students are following a daily timetable of two to five hours of home study. The timetable includes brushing up of spoken English in front of a mirror, experiential learning and doing worksheets designed as self-learning lessons, Google Hangout webinars and assignments posted on Google Classroom, said Sunita Gandhi, director, City International School.

Online learning is the best way to educate children, who otherwise would have suffered immensely because of the mandatory closure of schools to maintain social distancing because of the Covid-19 outbreak, Gandhi said.

Study Hall School teachers are sharing assignments and complementary videos online daily to students between grades one and eight. We are sending worksheets and projects to students. We are also sharing some self-explanatory videos to make them understand the concept, said Shalini Sinha, principal of Study Hall.

Study from home is a good initiative. Students need to prepare the topics assigned by their teachers and repost the videos, she added.

The Lucknow University (LU) has released e-content on its website and has asked students to follow the study materials for their respective courses. Teachers have been asked to upload fresh content related to their subjects, said AK Rai, vice-chancellor of LU.
A pilot wrote a message in the sky while flying over Austria to remind people to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak.

The pilot wrote the words "stay home" while flying a Diamond DA40 single-engine aircraft over Austrian airspace.

The message could be seen on flight tracking sites, which follow aircraft's routes across the world.

The private owner of the plane wrote the message during a 24-minute flight on Monday, after taking off from an airport in Wiener Neustadt in Austria, according to website Flightradar24.

It comes as governments across Europe are increasingly telling the public to stay at home to help stop the spread of the virus.

He said people should only leave home to travel to and from work where "absolutely necessary", to exercise once a day, and to shop for essential or medical items.
The situation surrounding the coronavirus outbreak continues to develop quickly. To keep you up to speed, the Star-Tribune will update this page throughout Monday with the latest news regarding coronavirus in Wyoming.

The numbers:

Confirmed cases in Wyoming: 29

Tests completed in Wyoming: 680 (as of 4 p.m. Monday: 532 at Wyoming Public Health Laboratory, 147 reported to state by commercial labs, one at CDC lab)

Our resources:

Confused about the coronavirus? Read our explainer here.

Looking for medical resources in Casper? Find a list of them here.

In need of financial assistance? We've got you covered here.

Want to know what's closed or canceled? Browse our rundown here.

Trying to order delivery or takeout in Casper? Here are your options.

All of our coronavirus coverage  which can be found here  is free to read.

Latest updates:

New Natrona County case

8:43 p.m.

The second confirmed case in Natrona County was announced Monday night, the 29th in the state.

The patient and immediate household members are now self-quarantining at the recommendation of health officials, the department said.

"The Casper-Natrona County Health Department is diligently working to complete thorough contact tracing on any positive cases identified in Natrona County," the Casper-Natrona County Health Department announcement stated. "This process includes interviewing the positive patient, gathering travel history or possible places of exposure, and identifying and reaching out to any possible contacts as soon as possible. We assure you, we are working rigorously to identify and locate anyone else who may be ill or at risk from exposure and recommend they take the necessary precautions."

Blood donors needed

7:41 p.m.

Coronavirus concerns have severely hurt blood donation numbers, blood center Vitalant says. A quarter of anticipated donations in March have disappeared.

Through the end of June, Vitalant has had over 1,400 blood drives canceled, resulting in nearly 41,000 uncollected blood donations.

The blood center recommends that those who are healthy and able schedule an appointment to donate in the near future. Call 307-237-2328 in Casper to do so (or 307-638-3326 in Cheyenne).

FEMA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage people to donate blood, even as coronavirus worries keep many at home. Blood drives should not be considered gatherings, Vitalant said.

Donating blood is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give. Blood drives have the highest standards of safety and infection control, Pete Gaynor of FEMA said in Vitalant's announcement. "... Just as the social distancing guidance recommends that its okay for people to leave home for necessities like groceries, or a doctors visit, or the pharmacydonating blood is a necessity.

Sick people should not give blood, as centers do not test for the new coronavirus.

Updated coronavirus map

7:20 p.m.

We've added a new layer of data to our ever-changing map of coronavirus cases in Wyoming.

While the map's colors still reflect how hard each county has been hit by COVID-19, we've added dots to each county that show how much testing it is doing  all according to state data.

Same as before, hover over each county to see how many cases have been confirmed there. To see the number of samples a county has submitted to the state lab, hover over its county seat.

Gordon among those seeking more federal funds

6:30 p.m.

Gov. Mark Gordon has joined a group of 21 Republican governors asking Congress to allocate more money directly to states in its stimulus package meant to limit the damage done by COVID-19.

A left-leaning think tank also supports increasing the amount given to states.

County cautious, despite recovered patients

6:07 p.m.

While Fremont County became the first county in the state to announce it has coronavirus patients who have fully recovered, leaders there are urging caution to stop its spread.

The two Wind River tribes have asked all of their members to self-isolate, regardless of symptoms.

More orders coming?

5 p.m.

Gov. Mark Gordon floated the idea of issuing more orders to stem the spread of coronavirus in his state.

He said there was a possibility he would roll out new orders in the coming days, though he didn't elaborate on what those might be.

In recent days, state and local leaders across the country have closed schools for the rest of the year and issued shelter-in-place orders, effectively clearing the streets. The governor said he's not currently considering a shelter-in-place order for Wyoming.

Neighbors step up to plate

4:51 p.m.

It's no secret that masks have been in short supply nationwide. To help with the drought, some Casperites are donating masks to medical professionals, while others are creating new ones.

Governor announces new cases

4:04 p.m.

Gov. Mark Gordon said in his Monday afternoon news conference that there were 28 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wyoming  two more than had been reported to that point.

Shortly after, the Wyoming Department of Health updated its website to reflect two new cases: one in Laramie County and one in Carbon County. The website notes that the new Carbon County patient's residence has "not yet fully (been) verified."

City Council session to be remote

3:47 p.m.

Casper City Council will hold its Tuesday work session remotely, and it will not be physically open to the public or media.

The meeting will be done via web conference, and "many" members of the council will video in themselves to practice social distancing.

The meeting can be watched via YouTube or on cable channel 192. There's no public comment at work sessions, but questions can be sent to the council at CouncilComments@casperwy.gov before the work session.

The announcement did not say whether the change would apply to future council meetings.

More details on first NC patient

3:18 p.m.

Natrona County's first confirmed coronavirus patient is a woman in her 50s who is self-quarantining and appears to have contracted the virus during in-state travel.

The patient, who has not been identified, tested positive after being examined at a Wyoming Medical Center facility. Health officials at a Monday press conference did not identify which clinic, but WMC has established a respiratory and coronavirus-specific clinic, which has tested more than two dozen people for COVID-19 and had seen more than 500 patients within days of its opening last week.

The county has submitted 83 tests to the state lab. Sixty-six have returned negative, one has been positive and 16 are still waiting a response.

County holds presser

3 p.m.

State's biggest district preps remote plan

2:32 p.m.

Laramie County School District 1 is preparing to have students learn remotely if school closures extend beyond April 3.

Pre-kindergarten through sixth graders will focus on English/language arts and math, and "teachers will embed other disciplines when possible" according to an announcement.

Teachers will streamline standards for older students. Electives will be taught "in a creative manner," the district said.

"This week, teachers will be reaching out to families using the Remind App. Students will be invited to refresh their learning beginning with lessons they were working on before the closure," the statement said.

Remote methods may include online instruction, learning packets, phone calls, videos and more. Families without access to technology will receive paper copies.

The new plan starts April 6, if schools haven't reopened by then. A state order last week required all schools close until at least April 3.

While this remote learning plan could proceed through the end of the year, we will consider it a bonus if we can get our students back in schools sooner, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Boyd Brown said in a statement. Know that the districts administration, teachers and staff members miss having contact with our students.

Tribes ask all members to self-isolate

1:49 p.m.

Two patients recover

12:34 p.m.



Two of Fremont County's 10 confirmed coronavirus patients have fully recovered and have been released from isolation, authorities say.

The County has had the most coronavirus cases in Wyoming, with almost all of them linked to a Lander assisted-living center.

Symphony postpones season

12:24 p.m.



The Wyoming Symphony Orchestra has postponed the rest of its concerts and community outreach programs for its season. The April 18 Suffragette Symphony concert will be part of the 2020-21 concert season with dates to be announced in June. Those who already have tickets for the concert can use them for the new date.

The symphony office is closed but phone lines are open at 307-266-1478.

"If you had tickets to our March 14th concert, please consider donating your tickets to help us survive the financial impact of this crisis," Executive Director Rachel Bailey said in a statement. "If requested, we will trade your March 14th concert tickets for a concert during the 20-21 concert season."

We want to hear from you

12:13 p.m.



The federal government has put restrictions on visitation at nursing homes. Do you have a loved one who lives in a nursing home or assisted-living facility? Star-Tribune reporter Seth Klamann is working on a story about the impact these restrictions are having on residents and their families.

Mills police takes protective steps 12 p.m.

Wyoming Community Foundation aims to help nonprofits

11:15 a.m.



The Wyoming Community Foundation is attempting to make money available quickly to nonprofits affected by the coronavirus update.

The foundation expects money to be available much more quickly than through its normal grant application processes.

"We will have a shortened, very simplified application up on the website by the end of the week," said Micah Richardson, foundation director of programs and communications. "Generally, our application cycles have deadlines of June 15 and Dec. 15, and we still are encouraging groups to apply for those, but if you need the money now, use the shortened application."

Examples of nonprofits who may need emergency funding include but are not limited to food banks, shelters, mental health organizations, child and after school care.

Arby's still offering drive-thru

10:41 a.m.



Arby's locations in Casper and Cheyenne will still over drive-thru service, the chain announced Monday. Dine-in operations for restaurants in Wyoming have been closed until April 3. Arby's will offer five sandwiches for $10 today, it says.

WMC telehealth begins

8 a.m.



Wyoming's respiratory symptom screening hotline opened this morning. It can be reached at 307-233-7288, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You should call the telephone hotline if you are experiencing respiratory illness symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throats, nasal and chest congestion. You will be rerouted to a WMC health care provider. That first provider will screen the patient for potential COVID-19 symptoms. If needed, the patient will then be set up for a telehealth appointment with another provider  either at the COVID-19 clinic or elsewhere within WMC  or an in-person visit to the clinic. Those telehealth appointments will feature the provider talking to the patient via a video app. Previously, those apps had to be secure  FaceTime, for instance, normally wouldnt have been acceptable. But in light of the growing COVID-19 crisis, the federal government eased those telehealth restrictions earlier this week. While WMC is still studying what those changes mean, it should allow providers to communicate with patients on a variety of more standard video apps  potentially including FaceTime. During that initial phone call, if a patients in significant medical distress  if theyre having trouble breathing, for instance  they may be directed straight to the emergency room. Generally, hospital and county health officials have urged people who have a fever, a cough or shortness of breath not to immediately report to the ER, unless theyre struggling to breathe. Thats the point of both the respiratory clinic and the new telehealth program.

How does Wyoming's response compare?

6 a.m.



Wyoming has been among the least aggressive states in responding to the coronavirus, something that can be chalked up to a variety of factors. The states first case of COVID-19 was not confirmed until March 11 and, as of Monday morning, just over 26 cases had been reported statewide: one of the lowest caseloads in the country. However, with a lack of widespread testing  and few restrictions on travel in place  it becomes increasingly difficult to isolate and track the illness. One of Wyomings first cases, in Sheridan County, was sourced to one individual with a history of domestic travel. Several other cases have been tied to spread within their communities. While creativity from governors in implementing policy can help to slow the spread of a virus, Meryl Chertoff, executive director of Georgetown Laws Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law, said that in dealing with a national pandemic, the country is only as strong as its weakest link  one of the reasons states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut entered into a multi-state compact to limit travel and close certain facilities operating within each of their borders. Its a shared burden right now, and there should be no sense in any state that youre insulated because youre rural or low-population, Chertoff, a former legislative affairs officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the Star-Tribune.

Have a question about coronavirus that you want answered? Send us an email at editors@trib.com.

You can find all of our daily rundowns here.

Coronavirus in Wyoming: A look at the first week
New York, March 24 : The Donald Trump administrations coronavirus task force co-ordinator Dr. Deborah Birx today announced that a "breakthrough" solution for self swabbing will be available for Americans later this week so that individuals can do their own tests.

Speaking at a White House briefing Monday evening, Birx quoted mortality data from Europe and reassured American parents that no child under the age of 15 had succumbed to the virus there.

"There was the one 14 year old in China. So we still see that there is less severity in children and so that should be reassuring to the moms and dads out there", she said.

Speaking to Generation Z and to millennials, Birx said that less than one per cent of all the mortality is in the under-50 age group. Millennials are America's largest demographic cohort.

Birx called these patterns "reassuring" for all Americans.

Birx said the mortality data from Europe shows that 99 per cent of all deaths there, "in general", are in the over-50 age group and among those with underlying conditions.

"The pre existing condition piece still holds in Italy, with the majority of the mortality having three or more pre existing conditions", Birx said.

Birx cautioned that New York City, Jersey City and parts of Long Island now have an "attack rate" of close to one in 1000 which is five times what other areas are seeing.

"We're finding that 28 per cent of the submitted specimens are positive from that area where it's less than 8 per cent in the rest of the country", Birx said.

Birx called on New Yorkers in the COVID19 hotspots to "absolutely social distance and self isolate".

"Clearly the virus had been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community", Birx said.

New York has become the US epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 99 deaths on Monday, March 23. The US now has nearly one third of global deaths. The Johns Hopkins Hospital tracker puts the US death toll at above 530.

Birx said many of the alarmist projections are based on a situation where preventive social distancing is not in place.

"That's what would happen if we did nothing at all", she explained.

At the same briefing, US president Donald Trump confirmed that New York will begin treating some patients with a combination of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin. Last week, Trump touted anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine as a gamechanger. Trump's task force has contradicted the president's claims saying there is only anecdotal evidence of anti-malarials' efficacy in COVID19 cases.

(Nikhila Natarajan can be contacted at @byniknat)
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Linkedin Agustinus Hari, Markus Makur, Belseran Christ and Benny Mawel (The Jakarta Post) Manado/East Manggarai/Ambon/Jayapura  Tue, March 24, 2020 21:41 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d39afa 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,Catholic-church,protestant-church,Christian,North-Sulawesi,manado,Maluku,North-Maluku,Papua,East-Nusa-Tenggara,bishop,virus-corona Free

Several churches across Indonesia have decided to cancel their Easter celebrations, planned for the coming weeks, amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

A number of churches in Manado, North Sulawesi, for example, have canceled their Easter-related activities in a bid to prevent further spread of the virus.

The synod of the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa (GMIM) issued a letter announcing that it had canceled any events that would involve mass gatherings.

All Easter activities that would involve many people are hereby canceled and replaced with worshiping from home. Sermons will also be broadcast through loudspeakers, GMIM synod head Hein Areina said in the letter.

The Archdiocese of Manado also advised against congregational worships in a letter addressed to all Catholic priests, nuns and brothers in Manado.

From March 22 to April 4, all activities that gather people such as the celebration of the Eucharist, the Stations of the Cross, the liturgy of the Word, the confession of sins, choir practice and other activities are canceled, Archdiocese Benedictus Estephanus Roly Untu said.

Read also: Indonesian churches call for online worship, sermons amid concerns over COVID-19

Benedictus said priests would privately conduct Mass on behalf of the faithful.

"The faithful should take this opportunity to develop their faith and build ecclesia domestica [domestic churches]. The faithful should continue to worship at home as a family," he said.

The Diocese of Amboina, Maluku also canceled Easter rituals after previously announcing that it was now prohibited to attend masses in the province as it had recorded one case of COVID-19 as of Monday.

Mass can be held in [small] communities or at home, but I emphasize once again, no Mass with large crowds, Amboina Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi said, adding that he was following instruction from the Vatican.

Mandagi, who is also the acting head of the Archdiocese of Merauke in Papua, had also earlier canceled all worship activities in Maluku, North Maluku, and Papua.

Meanwhile, Leo L. Ladjar of Jayapura diocese issued a circular advising congregation members to obey the social distancing policy until April 4 and explaining that this period could be extended if the authorities ordered so.

"If the situation has yet to return to normal, we'll look later whether we can still celebrate Easter Holy Week," Leo wrote in the circular.

Read also: COVID-19: Annual Easter Parade in East Nusa Tenggara canceled

The East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration has advised churches in the region not to hold congregational worship during Easter and the Holy Week leading up to the holiday, even though the province has yet to have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

The Archdiocese of Kupang also advised residents to postpone the celebration of the Eucharist for the next two weeks and to perform the Stations of the Cross devotions at home.

The Archdiocese also echoed the governments advice of avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining physical distance in social interactions.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia had recorded 686 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 55 fatalities. (mfp)
Viewers have been left 'appalled' by a documentary on the Corby fetal poisoning scandal - after discovering that one boy was bullied so much due to his deformity that he tried to cut off his own hand.

In 2009, it was ruled that Corby Borough Council had been negligent during their redevelopment of a former steelworks - and was responsible for exposing mothers in the surrounding Northamptonshire area to airborne toxic materials.

The work done between 1985 and 1997 was found to be the cause of severe deformities in a group of young people, who at the time were aged between nine and 22.

In last night's BBC2 documentary 'Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings', mothers and children told of the emotional torment they faced from bullies, who constantly mocked their deformities - leaving viewers 'shocked' at the film.

Susan McIntyre, and her son Connor, then 12, from Corby, are pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, where they are one of a group of families brought a multi-million pound damages action against Corby Borough Council

Lisa and Simone Atkinson, who were also involved in the damages action, appeared in new BBC2 documentary 'Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings', mothers and children have told of the emotional torment they faced at the hands of bullies

Connor McIntyre, was born in March 1996 with a deformed hand, and his mother told that while all her son wanted was to 'get on with his life' as a 'normal kid' he was constantly tormented, and 'never got peace' from his bullies.

She recalled: 'He just didn't get peace from these children, he got bullied that much he would break down and cry and say 'Mum I don't want to go out because people are looking at my hand'.

'He started biting his hand, tried to cut it off. But I think it was a cry for help. All Connor wanted to be a normal kid, to be man and get on with his life. But nobody ever gave him a chance.'

One viewers said of the documentary: 'Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings is mad Living so close to Corby and having lived in Corby, how have I never heard of this?'

Another wrote: 'A real lesson in the depths some public authorities can go to in preventing the truth. Well done to @Collins_Law in bringing some sense of justice and vindication to the families affected'.

A third said: 'Absolutely appalling what has been done and denied and those families left with the aftermath of steelworks poisoning and the effect on the babies'.

The mothers battle began in March 1996 when Susan noticed that her son had been born with an identical hand defect to her friend, Mandy Thorpe, who had given birth earlier that year.

In December the same year, Joy Shatford's boy Daniel was born with a deformed hand; and so, in March 1997, was Kerri Nathwani.

The only thing linking these families was their Northamptonshire town, Corby, and following arduous battle with the council to prove the damage they had caused, the landmark case was finally brought to court in 2009.

The landmark decision established a link between atmospheric toxic waste and birth defects, and was the first in the world to do so , giving millions in compensation to the affected families.

The court case had taken ten years of legal action to reach this point largely because of the difficulty obtaining disclosure of information from Corby Borough Council.

What happened in the Corby fetal poisoning scandal? 1984 - 1999 - Corby Borough Council undertook the demolition, excavation and redevelopment a former steelworks. This involved transporting the waste through populated sites, spilling toxic waste over the roads and releasing huge amounts of dust into the air. Late 1980s and 1990s - the rates of upper-limb defects in babies born in Corby were found to be almost three times higher than those of children born in the surrounding area 2005 - expert evidence was submitted by a group of mothers of thirty children to the High Court in London. They claimed that during their pregnancies they were exposed to contamination from the waste removal operations and wanted to prove a link between toxic waste and the birth defects suffered by their children. Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, set out the terms of the litigation and allowed the parents to pursue the claim against Corby Borough Council . 2009 - The case was heard at the High Court in 2009 and represented 18 young people who alleged that the toxic waste dumped by Corby Borough Council between 1984 and 1999 was the cause of their deformities. In his ruling, Mr Justice Akenhead said it was clear that the council had permitted toxic waste to disperse into the atmosphere. He also said that there was a 'statistically significant' cluster of birth defects between 1989 and 1999 Advertisement

Eighteen children claimed the toxins released during the work had interfered with their foetal development and caused their deformities, two of those children also had learning difficulties.

The majority of the children were born with deformities to either one or both of their hands, while two have clubbed feet and another has both.

Another other child has a non-hereditary birth defect which causes a deformed hip and shortened leg.

Another mother, Lisa Atkinson, whose daughter Simone was born with eight fingers, told of how her teenage years were an 'absolute horror', as Simone, now 31, told how the mental torment of her bullies has had a lasting effect on her emotionally.

Work done in Corby between 1985 and 1997 was found to be the cause of severe deformities in a group of young people, who at the time were aged between nine and 22. Pictured, Mothers and children who featured in the documentary releasing balloons

Lisa Atkinson, whose daughter Simone was born with eight fingers, told of how her teenage years were an 'absolute horror', as Simone, now 31, told how the mental torment of her bullies has had a lasting effect on her emotionally

'When they're little and you're there to protect her', said Lisa. 'What should be the nicest part of your childhood, turned out to be an absolute horror for her.'

Simone went on: 'In secondary school I would hide my hands all the time. You would get the odd person who asked why my hands were like that.

'We had these kids who lived behind us in the same street, who would pick on me a lot and shout at me front the alley way, call me a four fingered freak and then run away from me.

When I was old enough to walk to my dance classes, I would take myself the long way because I didn't want to run into the other children. And I know mentally and emotionally it did affect me.

Lisa added: 'It changed her from being a cheeky toddler, to be a shy introverted little girl, the older she got she realised the focus was her hands so if people didn't see her hands it would be okay.'

Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings is available on BBC iPlayer.
Viktor Orban would have sweeping new powers to rule by decree indefinitely under the new plans. Photo: Reuters

Hungary's parliament is considering legislation granting Prime Minister Viktor Orban sweeping new powers to rule by decree indefinitely.

Human rights groups have warned against giving the far-right leader "carte blanche" to extend draconian restrictions without any clause that would see the crackdown lifted after the Covid-19 crisis is over.

The emergency powers bill would bring in jail sentences for anyone thought to be spreading false information, and would allow Mr Orban to keep issuing decrees for as long as he deems necessary.

"A carte blanche mandate for the Hungarian government with no sunset clause is not the panacea to the emergency caused by the Covid-19 virus in Hungary," warned four human rights groups, including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International, in a joint statement.

"We need strong rule of law safeguards and proportional and necessary emergency measures, not unlimited government rule by decree that can last beyond the actual epidemic crisis."

Mr Orban has already closed schools, borders to foreign citizens, and limited opening of shops and restaurants.

The government declared a state of emergency on March 11, valid for 15 days and aims to extend the measures. Opposition parties said they wanted an all-party discussion about the bill yesterday.

"The aim of the proposal is ... to allow Hungary's government to create and keep in effect its special decrees", even if parliament does not hold a session due to coronavirus in 2020, the bill said.

"No one knows how long we have to maintain this state of crisis," said Mate Kocsis, head of Mr Orban's Fidesz party's parliamentary group.

Mr Kocsis said the government wants to pass the bill in an accelerated procedure, which needs support from 80pc of politicians.

The proposal raised concerns as it would give the government practically unlimited powers without a clear timeframe, said liberal think tank Political Capital. "There is no rational explanation in the current situation for the extension of the state of emergency indefinitely," it said.

Mr Orban's spokesman Zoltan Kovacs rejected criticisms of the bill on Twitter. He tweeted: "It's a state of emergency, btw. Lives are at stake."

Hungary has seen 107 confirmed cases of coronavirus and seven people have died, said John Hopkins University.

In 2015, during the peak of the migration crisis, Hungary declared a state of emergency which has been in effect ever since, even though the number of migrants has fallen.

Fidesz was suspended from the European People's Party group in the European Parliament over its record on respect for the rule of law, freedom of the press and minorities' rights.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Monday presented a report card of the AAP governments 2019-20 budget in the Delhi Assembly, showing that many schemes and projects of departments like Health and Education were on track.

However, the Outcome Budget 2019-20 showed that departments including Transport and PWD have achieved less than 50 percent schemes and projects.

Sisodia presented the third consecutive report card of the government on the progress and achievements of schemes, programmes and projects up to December 2019 under the Outcome Budget.

Outcome Budget was introduced in 2017-18 as a tool linking the budget with outcomes to capture the progress of various schemes, programmes and projects and final deliverables from the citizens perspective. The performance report of 2019-20 showed that out of total 209 indicators of the Education Directorate, 71 percent were on track.

The highlights of the directorate have been entrepreneurship programme, happiness curriculum, CCTV cameras in classrooms.

The Health Departments achievement was 77 per cent on track indicators out of total 1558. Mohalla Clinics and free treatment of accident victims under Farishte scheme have been flagship schemes of the department.

The Outcome Budget breaks down the performance of each major scheme and programme of the Delhi government into two kinds of indicators -- output indicators --which determines services or infrastructure that government departments are required to provide.

The other indicator - outcome indicators - shows exactly how people have benefitted from that schemes. All the Output and Outcome Indicators are expressed in quantifiable and measurable numbers, alongwith timelines for capital projects.

The social welfare departments 78 percent indicators out of total 230 indicators were on track showing the department made impressive progress towards welfare of people.

The Women and Child Development Departments performance was more impressive with 81 percent of total 192 were on track.

The low percentage of on track indicators was seen in case of Transport (47 percent), PWD (39 percent) and Urbam development (50) departments.

The performance report of outcome budget 2019-20 of covered all major departments and agencies combined into 8 major sectors. There are a total number of 567 schemes which contain 2220 output indicators and 1549 outcome indicators.

The prime objective of this exercise is to significantly enhance transparency and accountability in the use of public money, said the report.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Onondaga County has confirmed its first coronavirus-related death.

"I stand here with a heavy heart today, County Executive Ryan McMahon said Tuesday at a 3 p.m. news conference. Weve had our first death in the community from the Covid-19 disease.

This is the second confirmed coronavirus death in Central New York. Sunday, an elderly man from Madison County.

There are now 60 people countywide confirmed to have coronavirus, including eight hospitalized and three in critical condition, McMahon said. Thats seven more confirmed people with the virus than were reported Monday.

Onondaga Countys map has been updated with new cases.

The new totals by community are Syracuse: 18; Clay: 8; Salina: 8; Cicero: 5; Camillus: 4; Onondaga: 4; Manlius: 3; Pompey: 3; Skaneateles: 3; Lysander: 2; Geddes: 1; LaFayette: 1.

The infected persons are still spread evenly over nearly all age groups, absent young children. However, there are now three teenage patients. This is the breakdown:

Teens: 3 cases (16, 18 and 19)

20s : 13 cases

30s: 7 cases

40s: 9 cases

50s: 11 cases

60s: 7 cases

70s: 9 cases

80s: 1 case

There have been 1,333 test results returned in Onondaga County, with roughly 800 tests still out there, McMahon said. The infection rate continues to be between 3 and 5 percent of total tests.

First Onondaga County death

The deceased was an elderly person in the hospital, according to the Onondaga County Health Department.

For privacy reasons, the Health Department will not release the persons name or other details.

I am deeply saddened for the family of this individual who are experiencing this loss," said Dr. Indu Gupta, Onondaga County Commissioner of Health. This sad news proves how important it is to take measures to protect ourselves, our families and our community.

As of Monday afternoon, Onondaga County had 53 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Five people were hospitalized Monday afternoon and two were in critical condition. The person who died was one of the hospitalized patients.

Officials expect that number to grow as labs around the state and the country work their way through a backlog of coronavirus tests.

There are roughly 800 tests taken in Onondaga County that havent yet returned results. McMahon said well see a flood of results each day this week. He said the surge in test results might start winding down Friday, absent a spike in community spread.

Some other numbers from Tuesday:

53 cases are considered to have been contracted individually, meaning from outside family contact

7 cases were contracted via contact with a known infected person

8 of the individual cases have been linked together through social contact -- that means contact outside of immediate family

29 women and 31 men have the virus

There are now 206 people in mandatory quarantine, either after getting the virus or being suspected of having close contact with an infected person.

Infected cases involving public places:

The following are cases of Covid-19 involving people who worked or attended functions in public places. Some of those situations have led county officials to issue warnings of a possible public threat. In other cases, the county says its confident that its investigation showed there is no known public health threat.

If you become sick, contact your primary care doctor. For those without doctors, call Upstate University Hospitals Covid-19 hotline: 315-464-3979.

Possible public threat:

Bethany Baptist Church: Infected person attended on Sunday, March 15.

Asciotis Market, located at 3249 Milton Ave. in Solvay: Infected employee worked from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.

Americas Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, located at 3401 Erie Blvd East, DeWitt: Infected employee worked:

Monday 3/9 8:30 am-5:30 pm

Tuesday 3/10 9:30 am-6:30 pm

Wednesday 3/11 10:30 am-7:30 pm

Thursday 3/12 9:30 am-3:30 pm

No known public threat:

Solvay schools: Infected employee confirmed Tuesday, March 24. District says everyone who came into contact with the staff member has been notified. No further information has been released, including where the staff member worked.

Two Syracuse schools, Roberts Elementary and Institute of Technology: Infected staff members did not appear to have contact with children or others, teachers union says. Infections apparently happened since schools closed on March 16.

Syracuse Veterans Hospital: Infected employee suspected of getting disease outside the hospital. No other information announced. VA says those with contact to employee being monitored.

Syracuse Hancock Airport: Officials have said that the infected worker did not appear to have extensive contact with travelers or other employees. No other information announced.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 14:22 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d1ac89 1 National COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,virus-corona,medical-care-expense,bayar-rumah-sakit,BPJS-Kesehatan,COVID-19 Free

The government has announced that it is providing full medical coverage for COVID-19 patients through the national health insurance provider, the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said the decision was made because of BPJS Kesehatans coverage capacity.

"All costs for hospital treatments for COVID-19 patients will be handled by BPJS Kesehatan, because it has extensive experience in verifying claims from hospitals," Muhadjir said in a statement on Monday as reported by kompas.com.

Read also: COVID-19: Inadequate medical supplies take toll on lives of Indonesian medical workers

Muhadjir said that this would also allow the government to accelerate payments to hospitals that were treating COVID-19 patients.

He added that he had asked the BPJS Kesehatan president director, Fachmi Idris, to implement the measure in coordination with his office, the Health Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

"The funds used [to cover] COVID-19 treatments does not come from either BPJS Kesehatan or the social security fund [DJS]. It is a dedicated fund [for COVID-19 prevention and control]," he stressed, and that BPJS Kesehatan would distribute the funds immediately.

Read also: Indonesia's latest COVID-19 figures

"BPJS Kesehatan is ready to support the [COVID-19] payment policy," Fachmi said separately, and that BPJS Kesehatan would verify all claims from hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in an "accountable" manner before distributing the funds.

Earlier, the government designated 132 referral hospitals across the country for treating COVID-19 patients. (nal)
Katelyn Taylor was arrested by police on Monday morning: Camden Police Department

A woman from Tennessee has been accused of killing both of her grandparents.

Katelyn Taylor was arrested by authorities in Camden, Tennessee, on Monday morning and charged with with two counts of murder.

The Camden Police Department released a statement confirming that Ms Taylor had been arrested after authorities completed a check at the property.

At approximately 8 am, officers with the Camden Police Department conducted a welfare check at a home in the 100 block of Vicksburg Avenue and discovered both residents deceased inside, the statement read.

Ms Taylors grandparents were identified by the police department as 82-year-old Eugene McDaniel and 67-year-old Celeste McDaniel.

The investigation was undertaken by Special Agents alongside the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Camden Police Department, who quickly found Ms Taylor the prime suspect.

During the course of the investigation, agents and investigators determined Katelyn Taylor, the granddaughter of the deceased individuals, as the person responsible, the statement reads.

A motive for the double murder has not yet been released by the police department.

Ms Taylor was booked into Benton County Jail and the bond has been set at $500,000.

Read more

Tennessees coronavirus patient zero praises human kindness
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group (HKG:564) shares are down a considerable 30% in the last month. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 23% over that longer period.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

Check out our latest analysis for Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group

Does Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's P/E of 3.81 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. The image below shows that Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group has a lower P/E than the average (8.7) P/E for companies in the machinery industry.

SEHK:564 Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 23rd 2020

This suggests that market participants think Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group will underperform other companies in its industry. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

Story continues

Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's earnings made like a rocket, taking off 83% last year. The cherry on top is that the five year growth rate was an impressive 21% per year. With that kind of growth rate we would generally expect a high P/E ratio.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's Balance Sheet

The extra options and safety that comes with Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's CN526m net cash position means that it deserves a higher P/E than it would if it had a lot of net debt.

The Bottom Line On Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's P/E Ratio

Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group has a P/E of 3.8. That's below the average in the HK market, which is 8.6. Not only should the net cash position reduce risk, but the recent growth has been impressive. The below average P/E ratio suggests that market participants don't believe the strong growth will continue. Given Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group's P/E ratio has declined from 5.5 to 3.8 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

You might be able to find a better buy than Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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.
T he prospect of practising social distancing may seem like a dog's life for many, but for one happy little dachshund, being cooped up with his family is almost perfect.

Almost - because seven-year-old sausage dog Rolo sprained his tail after wagging it too much amid hours of extra time with his loved ones during coronavirus quarantine.

Rolo's owner, Emma Smith, shared the news of her pooch's injury on Twitter in a post that has attracted a million likes to date.

"So my dog has been so happy that everyone is home for quarantine, that his tail has stopped working, so we went to the vet and the vet said he had sprained his tail from excessively wagging it'," she said.

After being hounded for updates on Rolo's condition by other social media users, Ms Smith went on to confirm on Instagram that the canine had been prescribed a course of painkillers and was on track to be better within a week.

Much to the relief of concerned Twitter fans, footage of the dachshund gently moving his tail from side-to-side later made the rounds online.

"He is super happy and there is now movement from side to side but he is struggling to lift it up in the air," Ms Smith said.

The cautionary tale meanwhile attracted the attention of pet owners across the world, with several social media users sending Rolo messages of support featuring their own four-legged friends.

From Dave the Bulldog in Nottingham...

To Aspen in North Dakota...

Covid-19 concerns were momentarily put on pause as dog lovers came together to wish Rolo well.

Rolo, for his part, was floored by his new-found fame...
Researchers at Stanford University report that they can rejuvenate human cells by reprogramming them back to a youthful state. They hope that the technique will help in the treatment of diseases, such as osteoarthritis and muscle wasting, that are caused by the aging of tissue cells.

A major cause of aging is thought to be the errors that accumulate in the epigenome, the system of proteins that packages the DNA and controls access to its genes. The Stanford team, led by Tapash Jay Sarkar, Dr. Thomas A. Rando and Vittorio Sebastiano, say their method, designed to reverse these errors and walk back the cells to their youthful state, does indeed restore the cells vigor and eliminate signs of aging.

In their report, published on Tuesday in Nature Communications, they described their technique as a significant step toward the goal of reversing cellular aging and could produce therapies for aging and aging-related diseases.

Leonard P. Guarente, an expert on aging at M.I.T., said the method was one of the most promising areas of aging research but that it would take a long time to develop drugs based on RNA, the required chemical.
Europe's Big Oil is curbing investor returns and taking the axe to spending as the market crash hammers earnings.

Energy companies were just emerging from a previous slump that left them with burgeoning debts and reduced investment programmes, only to walk into another downturn that has pushed crude prices to the lowest in almost two decades. CEOs are potentially facing their biggest challenge yet, with the market outlook remaining bleak.

Royal Dutch Shell became the latest to join the list yesterday. Europe's biggest oil company will not continue with the next phase of its share buyback scheme, following similar steps by Italy's Eni, Norway's Equinor and French major Total.

The companies, long the bastion of predictable shareholder paybacks, also pledged major spending reductions.

Shell said it was taking "immediate steps to ensure the financial strength and resilience" of its business.

While the company is not abandoning its buyback entirely, completion of the programme is "not likely to be feasible before the end of 2020".

The move comes as little surprise. CEO Ben van Beurden warned earlier this year that the company would probably miss its repurchase target if the macroeconomic environment did not improve.

The oil major, which was $10bn (9.3bn) short of its buyback goal at the time, said it would not buy more than $1bn in its next tranche.

The Anglo-Dutch major sees a reduction in 2020 cash capital spending to no more than $20bn from the planned $25bn.

It also expects to cut underlying operating costs by between $3bn and $4bn over the next 12 months from 2019 levels.

The measures are expected to contribute as much as $9bn of free cash flow on a pre-tax basis, according to a statement.

Shell said it was still committed to its divestment programme of more than $10bn of assets in 2019-20 but timing depends on the market.

The oil market is being hit by the combination of a supply surge as Saudi Arabia and Russia tussle for market share, and virus-induced demand destruction.

While policymakers around the world are putting measures in place to protect the economy, oil demand is facing a huge risk, with governments enforcing lockdowns in response to the deadly health contagion.

Companies everywhere are crimping their plans. Exxon Mobil is planning a slowdown in its expenditure programme, while BP has said it could reduce capital and operational spending by 20pc this year.

Equinor has halted a $5bn buyback programme and said it was cutting investments, exploration expenses and other costs.

Total, meanwhile, has stopped its repurchasing programme, saying the move would save $1.5bn this year.

Swimming against the tide is Russia's biggest oil producer, Rosneft.

The company said the crude price slump makes buybacks attractive, as it simplified the procedure for its repurchasing programme.

Bloomberg
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin walks to a meeting during negotiations on a COVID-19 relief package on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 23, 2020. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Mnuchin Hopeful $2 Trillion CCP Virus Aid Package Can Be Closed Today

WASHINGTONThe U.S. Treasury secretary and the Senate Democratic leader voiced confidence late on Monday for a deal to be reached soon on a far-reaching CCP virus economic stimulus package that had been stalled in the U.S. Senate as lawmakers haggled over it.

Negotiators made great progress on the bipartisan, $2 trillion stimulus measure on Monday, but without striking a final pact as they had hoped, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters.

There are still a couple of open issues, Mnuchin said just before midnight. I think we are very hopeful that this can be closed out tomorrow.

Schumer said he thought the Senate could vote as soon as Tuesday, adding, Its a huge bill of $2 trillion with many different moving parts.

They gave no specifics about remaining obstacles, but Democrats have said the stimulus plan originally proposed by Republicans contained too little money for states and hospitals and not enough restrictions on a fund to help big businesses.

Two attempts to advance a Republican measure in the Senate failed in the past two days, despite the partys majority.

In the second attempt, on Monday, the 49-46 vote fell short of the 60 needed to advance, as only one Democrat voted with Republicans.

Congress has already passed two packages of legislation to blunt the economic toll of the pandemic, which has killed more than 550 people in the United States and sickened more than 43,800, thrown millions out of work, and led state governors to order nearly a third of the nations population to stay at home.

Tempers have frayed as Republicans accused Democrats of obstruction during a national emergency, even as talks continued for days.

Trump Responds

Republican President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter just as Mnuchin and Schumer spoke, accusing House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of taking an extended vacation and then making demands he would never agree to.

The Democrats want the virus to win? Trump said in the Twitter post. They are asking for things that have nothing to do with our great workers or companies.

Democrats insist any agreement must include more oversight provisions for a $500 billion fund for large businesses, to avoid giving corporate leaders a blank check. Asked about that, Trump responded to reporters, Ill be the oversight.

Mnuchin, the Trump administrations point person on CCP virus legislation, said he would return to the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday to resume discussions.

He told reporters Trump would like to have a deal and was hopeful it could be concluded on Tuesday.

The administration launched a major push last week for action to blunt the economic impact from the pandemic, and an accompanying steep decline in the stock market.

The Senate measure includes financial aid for ordinary Americans, small businesses, and critically affected industries, such as airlines.

Republicans said Democrats were seeking to add unrelated provisions, such as expanded tax credits for wind and solar power and increased leverage for labor unions.

Democrats said provisions sought by Republicans would exclude nonprofit groups from receiving small business aid, and extend a sexual abstinence education program due to expire in May.

Pelosi, who has been involved in the Senate talks, also released her own counter-proposal, which would add billions of dollars to help states conduct elections by mail.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber, short of the 60 votes needed to advance most legislation.

On Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he tested positive for the CCP virus. But since he kept circulating on Capitol Hill after getting tested, three other Republicans decided to self-quarantine as a precaution.

By Richard Cowan and David Morgan
Amid crashing oil prices, oil firms are rushing to cut budgets and exposure to the most prolific shale basin in the United States, the Permian, yet industry bodies expect the shale patch to survive the oil price war and the oil price collapse despite the short-term pain.

Apache Corporation said two weeks ago it was slashing its 2020 capital investment plan to $1.0 billion-$1.2 billion from a previous range of $1.6 billion-$1.9 billion. Apache will also stop pumping oil in the Permian in the coming weeks to limit exposure to short-cycle oil projects.

We are significantly reducing our planned rig count and well completions for the remainder of the year, and our capital spending plan will remain flexible based on market conditions, John J. Christmann IV, Apaches chief executive officer and president, said in a statement.

A few days later, Pioneer Natural Resources also announced it was taking decisive action in response to lower oil prices and global macroeconomic uncertainty.

Pioneer is cutting its 2020 drilling, completion, and facilities capital budget by some 45 percent, expecting it to range between $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. Faced with low oil prices, the company will reduce its operated rig count from 22 currently to 11 operated rigs within the next two months.

Related: Rig Count Plummets As Oil Price War Rages On

With the significant reduction in energy investment over the past five years, exacerbated by the expected decline in shale production, I expect oil prices to recover once the global economy stabilizes and Pioneer to emerge in a stronger, more enviable position through the actions we are taking today, Pioneers President and CEO Scott Sheffield said.

Industry bodies in New Mexico, home to part of the Permian basin, are not all doom and gloom.

Its going to be a challenging business environment, but New Mexico is well-positioned for when we come out of it, Robert McEntyre, spokesperson for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, told Carlsbad Current-Argus.

Story continues

U.S. oil producers will feel the short-term pain from the huge global oversupply and crashing demand in the Covid-19 pandemic, but they are in a position to prevail in the longer term, Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told Carlsbad Current-Argus.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Read this article on OilPrice.com
A health expert on Monday warned that coronavirus will 'spread widely, rapidly, terribly and millions could die' if Donald Trump lifts lockdowns in the United States early.

Tom Inglesby, a director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tweeted his fears after the president said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days.

Inglesby tweeted a thread aimed at 'anyone advising the end of social distancing' .

He wrote: 'COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the yr ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country.'

The president has indicated he supports a return to normal life.

'America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,' President Trump said at the daily White House coronavirus briefing Monday.

He added: 'A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.'

As the president talked economics and down played the medical portion, he was surrounded by fewer than usual numbers of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Attorney General Bill Barr and Dr. Deborah Birx were present.

Dr. Tony Fauci, the nation's foremost expert in infectious diseases, was not. In recent weeks, Dr Fauci has garnered a reputation for repeatedly contradicting Trump's claims about coronavirus.

Tom Inglesby, a director at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security, warned that coronavirus will 'spread widely, rapidly, terribly and millions could die' if lockdowns are lifted

Inglesby, who is listed as specializing in pandemics and infectious diseases, said in his tweets: 'How do we gain time to let hosps get more supplies & prepare for high number of pts? How do we lower the speed of spread of COVID in US? How do we lower odds that ICUs will run out of vents, hospitals run out of space? The answer for now is large scale social distancing.'

He warned: 'To drop all these measures now would be to accept that COVID pts will get sick in extraordinary numbers all over the country, far beyond what the US health care system could bear.'

He also said: 'Many models report that health care systems will be completely overwhelmed/collapse by the peak of cases if major social distancing is not put in place.'

'For now we need to keep production running, doctors offices working, groceries, pharmacies, banks open. It is ok to have science informed dialogue about which businesses need to be closed vs what can stay open in some way if social distancing can be put in place in them', Inglesby wrote.

'But we need to press ahead for now w closed schools, mass telecommuting, no gatherings, strong advisory to stay home unless you need to go out  all are needed to slow this epidemic.'

Other experts have also rushed to condemn lifting lockdowns early.

Dr Scott Gottlieb, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former commissioner of the FDA said that public health had to be prioritized over the economy.

Gottlieb tweeted: 'There's no functioning healthcare with hospitals overwhelmed, no return to work with people terrified of a virus raging uncontrolled. There are two ways to end this. Let a vast swath of people catch covid which is unthinkable, or break the epidemic. We must choose the latter.

'This pathogen brought China to a standstill, with perhaps greater lethality than Spanish Flu. Many middle-aged people are suffering long stays in ICU and survive only after weeks of critical care. Make no mistake about it, this pathogen spares nobody, except thankfully the young.'

Former Barack Obama health official told Politico: 'It is way too early to even consider rolling back any guidelines. With cases and deaths rising by the day, the country must double down, not lighten up, on social distancing and related measures.'

Trump, meanwhile, has complained about the caution brought by health care professionals, saying he told his team they would close the 'entire world.'

'I was telling them, if it was up to the doctors, they would keep it shut down, they would say "let's shut down the entire world."' You can't do that,' he said.

The president argued the nation could watch 'hot spots' were there high levels of infection while opening other parts of the country.

'We're going to be watching very closely the hot spots. We're going to be taking care and watching closely our senior citizens, especially those with a problem or illness. We're going to be watching them very, very closely. And we can do that and have an open economy, have an open country,' he said.

Trump was asked if Fauci agreed with his emphasis on the economy.

'He doesn't not agree,' the president replied.

President Donald Trump said he will reconsider the nation's social distancing policy within a matter of days

President Trump would not promise to listen to advice from Dr. Tony Fauci when it came to ending his 15-day social distancing program

Trump announced a new set of policies on Monday, March 16, meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus, that included closing restaurants and no social gatherings over 10 people.

He said that situation will be reassessed at the 15-day mark, which would be early next week. Some medical experts have warned the United States needs to practice extreme containment measures for several weeks or months to ensure the spread of the virus is stopped.

'At the end of the 15-day period, we'll make a decision as to which way we want to go. Where we want to go. The timing. And essentially, we're referring to the timing of the opening. Essentially, the opening of our country. Because we have it pretty well shut down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy,' he said of the coronavirus.

The United States has had more than 41,000 cases of the virus but Trump said those numbers will start to decrease.

'Obviously, the numbers are going to increase with time. And then they're going to start to decrease. And we are going to be opening our country up for business because our country was meant to be open,' he said.

The area in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, where tourists often line up to take photos, is shown empty as most businesses in the area are closed as a result of the statewide shutdown due to the spread of the coronavirus

A man crosses trafficless section of Queens Blvd in the Sunnyside section of Queens, NY, after a 'stay home' order and the closing of all non-essential businesses

Families practice social distancing while waiting in line at West Oakland Middle school in Oakland, California, to pick up 'grab and go' meals during the coronavirus shutdown

People descend down the Bethesda Metro train station escalator at commuter rush hour, as Governor Larry Hogan ordered the shutdown of all bars and eateries in Maryland

A sign announcing the closure of the Koret Playground is seen in Golden Gate Park in California

People walk at safe distances on Venice Beach in California

President Trump has been clear he's worried about the economic affect coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic. Numerous states have closed restaurants, gyms, bars, and clubs. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. States like California and New York have advised people to stay home as much as possible.

He argued Monday a bad economy could also cause death.

'You have almost 160 million jobs in this country now, by far the most ever. The number of jobs, almost 160 million, so we can't turn that off and think it's going to be wonderful. There'll be tremendous repercussions. There will be tremendous death from that. You're talking about death. Probably more death from that than anything we're talking about with respect to the virus,' he said.

Some experts have predicted the U.S. could experience up to 20 per cent or 30 per cent unemployment because of the coronavirus.

But the president said it would not be just an economic decision to reopen, promising medical experts would have input.

'We, also, have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the okay. Meaning the okay to get going, to get back, let's go to work,' he said.

President Trump has taken up the argument that the cure cannot be worse than the disease, referring to the damage inflicted on the U.S. economy.

Earlier Monday, the president retweeted demands from people to be allowed to go back to work when the 15 days his administration recommended are finished.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams warned Monday it get worse.

'This week, it's going to get bad,' Adams told NBC's 'Today Show.' 'We really, really need everyone to stay at home.'

He advised patience. 'We know it's going to be a while before life gets back to normal,' he told CBS 'This Morning.'
At least 10 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, and a staffer at MCI-Shirley also tested positive, according to the state Department of Correction.

Eight inmates at MTC have contracted the virus as of Tuesday. A DOC staffer and a medical provider who works at the facility also tested positive, the agency confirmed. The latest numbers were first reported by Commonwealth Magazine.

A DOC staffer at MCI-Shirley also tested positive, according to the agency.

The DOC confirmed its first coronavirus case on Saturday. The first infected person was an inmate who was diagnosed with a respiratory infection related to the virus.

MTC is a medium-security facility that houses criminally sentenced men identified as sex offenders and those who have been civilly committed as sexually dangerous people.

DOC has temporarily suspended all family and friend visits to prevent the introduction of the virus into its facilities. Attorney visits are still allowed.

People entering the facility must first take a survey and get their temperatures taken. The National Guard sent members to deliver and help set up screening tents at correctional facilities across the state, and the DOC is conducting the screenings.

Sign up for free text messages about important updates on coronavirus in Massachusetts

At least 1,159 people statewide have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to figures released Tuesday afternoon by the state Department of Public Health. The death toll rose to 11 in Massachusetts.

Across the U.S., more than 53,000 people have been infected, and at least 696 people have died, according to a virus tracker by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, prisoners rights advocates and some lawmakers urged Gov. Charlie Baker last week to release inmates from state prisons who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus and have short sentences.

Public health experts recognize that there is a heightened risk of infection for people who are involved in the criminal system, and that downsizing the footprint of the criminal system should be a part of the COVID-19 public health response, Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

Related Content:
Closeup of a bucketwheel reclaimer at oilsands mines of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

As Canadas energy sector anxiously awaits a policy response from Ottawa to address falling crude prices, some observers predict little can be done to prevent a long-lasting downturn.

Western Canadian Select, the main grade from Canadas energy patch, fell below US$10 per barrel again on Monday, continuing a slide driven by the one-two punch of COVID-19 constricting demand, and the threat of oversupply from a Saudi-Russian price war.

North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI)(CL=F) dropped as low as US$20 per barrel last week. Thats lower than the price crashes in early-2016 and late-2018.

Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist at London-based Capital Economics, believes policymakers need to do more to reduce the chance of a broader recession in the first half of the year becoming a prolonged slump. But he said little can be done at this point to stop a long-lasting hit to energy.

There is little hope of energy investment rebounding if, as we expect, WTI remains below $50 per barrel for most of the next two years, he wrote in a research note on Monday.

The federal government is expected to announce $15 billion in relief measures for the oil and gas sector this week, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. Those could include more access to credit, and funding to put laid-off employees to work cleaning abandoned oil and gas wells, the report said.

The province of Alberta has announced tax relief for the sector, and other measures such as waiving millions in fees collected by the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Brown said falling oil prices reflect a potentially seismic shift in the global oil market that Ottawa will be ill-equipped to meaningfully address.

After consistently losing market share to the U.S. shale industry, some OPEC+ members have found output cuts too hard to stomach, he wrote.

If the group cannot agree to keep production limited, then oil prices will remain lower than they would otherwise be, even once the global economy recovers. Thats bad news for those producers with the highest production costs, such as [Canadas] oil sands industry.
Coronavirus cases in the country crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported on Tuesday taking the toll to ten, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up while tackling the spread of the virus.

As 32 states and union territories imposed complete lockdown till March 31, the Centre asked them to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders.

With the lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Sitharaman told reporters an announcement on the package would be made sooner than later.

Prime Minister Modi while interacting with senior journalists from the print media via video links said citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office(PMO), Modi said it is critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard national security.

During the interaction, Modi emphasised the need to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour-mongering.

"He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of spread of the virus through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers," said a statement issued by the PMO.

According to the statement, Modi underlined that "it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up".

Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

States like Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday decided to expand the lockdown to cover all the districts in the state.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis. The western state has accounted for 101 of the total 492 cases followed by Kerala(91).

The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further.

The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals. Cases of a few more persons having tested positive for the infection were reported from different states during the day.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic in unprecedented steps till March 31.

Authorities have also taken a serious view of several people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely critical to contain the spread of the disease.

A top functionary of the central government called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been told that public gatherings could lead to escalation of the prevailing situation.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.

In Kerala, the latest state to order a lockdown, buses went off the roads and shops, barring those selling essentials, remained shut but violations were galore, prompting police to book culprits.

Autorickshaws and private vehicles, including two-wheelers, were seen plying at several places disregarding instructions that people should not venture out without any valid reason.

At some places in Haryana, police had a tough time to persuade people who were out for non-essential work and sent them back to their homes.

In Bhiwani, at a check barrier, police had to deal with number of two-wheeler riders many of them who were out on roads for non-essential work.

We are persuading them and sending them back to their homes, said a police personnel on duty at a check barrier.

Police in Telangana had to resort to mild caning at some places after many people hit the streets disregarding the advice to remain indoors.

channels showed footage of violators of lockdown being made to do sit ups as punishment in the presence of a woman police official near Hyderabad.

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba asked state governments to immediately identify and earmark hospitals to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to chief secretaries of all the states, Gauba also said it is absolutely essential that surveillance and contact tracing of all positive cases is taken up and no suspected or high risk person is left out.

"All states should immediately identify and earmark hospitals dedicated for management of COVID-19 cases and ensure that they are in a state of full readiness to deal with the situation in the event of a further spike in the number of confirmed cases," he said.

In Delhi, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the status of containment and management of COVID-19 in the country and emphasised on the quality and sturdiness of the community surveillance and contact tracing.

As on date, cumulatively 1,87,904 persons are under surveillance, and around 35,073 have completed 28 days observation period as on day, an official statement said. Vardhan visited the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Control Room and the Testing Laboratories, and reviewed the current status there with the senior officials.

He also interacted with the National Health Mission(NHM) MDs and senior surveillance officers of the states/UTs through a video conference.

You all form our frontline warriors, who through supporting people with correct, timely and vital information, are rendering yeoman service to the nation."



I salute the scientists who work with the testing procedures, and put themselves at risk in their line of duty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health officials are on the lookout for people who may have come in contact with a French tour group, after 31 French nationals in the group tested positive with the coronavirus over the weekend.

A group of 36 French nationals were part of a tour group, of which 31 people tested positive for the respiratory disease in Preah Sihanouk provinces Sihanoukville town. Two people tested positive on Saturday, whereas 29 other French tourists tested positive on Sunday. Additionally, two Cambodian guides accompanying them also tested positive.

One of the infected tour guides said the entire tour group and the other guide were placed under quarantine at the Independence Hotel in Sihanoukville. Hai, who only gave VOA Khmer his first name, added that prior to their arrival in Cambodia, the French tourists had flown to Singapore, then stayed in Laos for two nights before continuing on to Siem Reap.

The group then proceeded to Battambang and Phnom Penh, before heading to Sihanoukville, confirmed the bus company they used.

The tour guide said he joined the group on March 18, last week, and started to have muscle aches, a cough and body pain starting March 19.

The doctor asked me to take fever medication like paracetamol, he said. I took a paracetamol and got better. But, this morning I got a fever again.

Chin Sovannary, who organizes bookings for Chea Lorn bus company, confirmed the travel itinerary for the group. She said the French tourists visited Angkor Wat and few other tourist sites in Siem Reap, but did not attend the River Festival in Battambang, which attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen two weeks ago. The French tourists also took Battambang provinces bamboo trains.

While in Phnom Penh, she said, they visited Wat Phnom. Three drivers who ferried the tourists around the country had also been tested for the viral disease, Chin Sovannary said.

"They tested and got the results last night. They were negative. But the two tour guides got infected, she said.

The tourists stayed at the Angkor Holiday Hotel in Siem Reap, Stung Sangke in Battambang, and Poulo Wei Hotel in Phnom Penh. Receptionists at the three hotels confirmed that health officials had visited all three hotels and ordered all staff members with symptoms to get tested.

Sari Solida, a receptionist at the Stung Sangke Hotel in Battambang, had visited the hotel on Monday but not undertaken any sanitizing efforts, deciding to test only six hotel staff members.

It was unclear if all staff members at these hotels would be tested and if officials would be able to trace all the people the French tour group came in contact with.

Lim Samean, director of the Preah Sihanouk provincial health department, said those found with the coronavirus were being monitored in Sihanoukville, and that authorities were looking for people who had been in contact with them.

As of Monday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Cambodia had risen to 87, of which 52 were foreign nationals and 35 were Cambodians, according to Health Ministry.
Thousands of young Irish people are stranded and forgotten in Australia because of the Covid-19 pandemic and are begging for their governments help right now, according to Sinn Fein TD Matt Carthy.

The Cavan-Monaghan TD said he had been contacted this morning by constituents who are working in Perth and Sydney, desperately seeking help now that Australia has been put on lockdown and all non-essential services have been halted.

Mr Carthy said the current situation in the country for tens of thousands of young Irish people is dire because they are on working holiday visas and are not entitled to State assistance from the Australian government.

In addition, almost all flights in and out of the country have been suspended, leaving thousands of Irish people, mostly aged between 20 and 30, with absolutely no means of living during this lockdown and no means of getting out.

Mr Carthy has today contacted Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney and Minister of State with responsibility for the Global Irish, Ciaran Cannon, to highlight the situation.

He said: "This is a global pandemic that is affecting every country in the world. There are thousands upon thousands of young people stranded in Australia at the moment who have told me they feel like they have been forgotten by Ireland.

"Many of them are on working holiday visas and with the lockdown of Australia in the last 24 hours, thousands of them are suddenly out of work and have no way of supporting themselves during this crisis because they dont qualify for assistance from the Australian state.

"They are desperate to get home, but even if they can get a flight, they are being quoted between AUS$10,000 and AUS$16,000 to get home, which is way beyond their means. They are terrified, they tell me, and they are begging the Irish government to help them".

In his letter to Ministers Coveney and Cannon, Mr Carthy asks that the government considers chartering special flights to get those who want to come home out of Australia. He has also asked that they consider giving direct financial aid to the Irish on visas in Australia who have no way of supporting themselves.

He said: "We need to look after our people, no matter where they are. The situation is unique and unprecedented and the government needs to step up and assist the thousands of Irish in Australia using every and all means at their disposal".




Parents and community members got a first look Monday at Beaumont ISDs plans to continue educating students while school closures across Texas continue efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.

We are in a very fluid situation, Superintendent Shannon Allen said at the beginning of the Facebook Live conference.

The district will spend the next week finalizing plans for each grade level. The plans will be distributed online or through paper packets that cover two weeks of material at a time.

Parents should receive communication from each teacher or campus in the coming days.

We will also push out information for our parents on a suggested learning schedule, Allen said. So this will give parents an idea of what the day could actually look like for their students from waking up in the morning  providing social emotional learning time, English language arts  outdoor activities, mathematics, lunch, creativity time, independent reading time, science and social studies.

Allen stressed that the schedule was a suggestion and not a requirement for parents, noting that some parents might still have to work during the chaotic time.

Jenny Angelo, executive director of curriculum and instruction for the district, fielded questions about students who might need to make up work.

I know in high school we will be pushing out information about some credit recovery options that we have, Angelo said.

But the unpredictable future makes plans unsure going forward.

We just need to evaluate how long the closure will go and then what our summer plans are, she said.

Similar to other districts flex learning schedules that will start later this week, students will relearn content instead of learning new materials. That doesnt make it optional, though, Angelo said.

The work counts. We must provide the work and the instructional continuity, Angelo said. I cant imagine students not doing anything for April, May, June, July  four straight months. So, yes, the students must complete the work that we provide. We do offer a specific parameter of minutes and hours on which to work on that work each day so they do not fall behind when students do have to meet our goals.

Prom and other district-related events are canceled at this point, and the venue for graduation might change, but Allen and Angelo both said their goal was to keep all seniors on track to graduate.

It is very important, students, that you complete your assignments, Allen said. Graduation is important and we still want to make certain that all our students are on track and on target to complete their work and graduate on time.

Some seniors might have to complete individual projects to satisfy their requirements and will be receiving information on that shortly, Allen said.

While parents are given only a suggested schedule, district officials are asking them to fill out a flex-learning tracking log that will be sent out in coming weeks to help the district apply for missed-day waivers after the school closures are lifted.

Parents are going to be responsible for logging the time to verify students instructional time, Allen said.

Allen also addressed the cancellation of the state standardized test by Gov. Greg Abbott last week.

Promotion and retention is normally tied to the STAAR assessment, which is traditionally our fifth-grade and eighth-grade students, Allen said. Promotion and retention of those students will be based on the previous grades that students have earned as well as their participation in our flexible education program.

In an effort to better prepare for next week, the district is asking parents to complete an online survey, after complications with a phone survey last week, district spokesperson Hannah LeTulle told The Enterprise.

We got quite a few responses from our phone survey, she said. But after hearing about some difficulties, we have decided to push it out through a Google form survey as well. The survey can be found on the districts social media accounts.

Some schools, such as Jones-Clark Elementary, have already given more specific information about where packets can be picked up.

Monday, all families will receive a call from their childs teacher for packet pickup and scholar well-checks, a message sent to parents said. Families will need to report to campus to pick up the 2-week instructional packet Tuesday, March 24, between the hours of 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Parents are being asked to stay in their cars while other families are being serviced to maintain physical distance.

If students have not yet received their free wireless internet devices distributed earlier this year, Allen said they could contact their campuses and arrange to obtain them.

The low-tech packets will also be available for pickup at meal service locations across the district.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

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West Australian vets could face turning hundreds of clients away unless the state government confirms their status as an 'essential service' quickly, the Australian Veterinary Association warns.

The push to protect the profession as an essential service comes after the state government took the unprecedented step of cancelling all elective surgeries.

Dr David Neck. Credit:Cottesloe Vet

The AVA WA has urgently called for clarity on what this means for the animal welfare industry.

WA vets have also been forced to deal with personal protective equipment and hand sanitiser shortage, and as the outbreak worsens many clinics have needed to resort to non-contact visits in order to treat sick animals.
DOIT is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Morgan Credits in which Rana Kapoors daughters Radha, Roshini and Raakhe, are directors.

In 2018-19, the company incurred a net loss of Rs 48.76 crore on revenues of Rs 59 crore - a sharp contrast to 2017-18 when it had profits of Rs 2.7 crore on revenues of Rs 43 crore.

To fund these aggressive investments into its subsidiaries in 2018-19, DOIT used debt which doubled to Rs 600 crore in 2018-19 from the previous year.

Former YES Bank chairman Rana Kapoor and his familys labyrinth of firms, in particular DOIT Urban Ventures, are under close scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI has alleged that Dewan Housing Finance Corporation's (DHFLs) promoter Kapil Wadhawan gave kickbacks in the form of builder loans to DOIT Urban Ventures.

The quid pro quo: YES Banks investments in its Rs 3,700 short-term debentures.

Business Standard has accessed the Registrar of Companies (RoC) documents on the firm and they tell an interesting story.

DOIT is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Morgan Credits in which Rana Kapoors daughters Radha, Roshini and Raakhe, are directors.

The RoC documents show that the company is into commodity trading with additional businesses in hospitality and infrastructure, both in India or abroad.

DOITs fortunes changed dramatically in recent years.

In 2018-19, the company incurred a net loss of Rs 48.76 crore on revenues of Rs 59 crore - a sharp contrast to 2017-18 when it had profits of Rs 2.7 crore on revenues of Rs 43 crore.

In the RoC filing, the company justified the loss like this: The company has made strategic non-current investments through subsidiaries/step down subsidiaries in businesses across various sectors such as hospitality, infrastructure, tourism, co-working spaces and so on.

"Some of these businesses, which are in the early stages of their lifecycle, have a longer gestation period before they become profitable and hence their financial statements as on March 31, 2019, have significant accumulated losses.

To fund these aggressive investments into its subsidiaries in 2018-19, DOIT used debt which doubled to Rs 600 crore in 2018-19 from the previous year.

Investigating agencies say that DHFL gave a loan of Rs 600 crore to DOIT which is under scrutiny.

DOITs total liabilities, according to the RoC, rose from a mere Rs 1.86 crore (as it had not taken any loans) in 2016-17 to Rs 415 crore the next financial year and Rs 602.57 crore in 2018-19.

As a result, the debt servicing cost (finance cost) almost doubled from Rs 34 crore to Rs 63 crore during the same period.

Meanwhile, the total value of the assets also rose sharply from Rs 224 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 715 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 853 crore in 2018-19.

A substantial portion of the increase from 2016-17 was due to the increase in non-current assets, which included investment in companies and others whose full value was not realised in the current year.

These went up from a mere Rs 92 crore in 2016-17 to a staggering Rs 729 crore in 2018-19.

This money was invested in the equity as well as in acquiring shares in its 10-11 subsidiary and associate companies which included DOIT Smart Hospitality, Ambience Hospitality, and NCube Planning, among others.

DOIT Smart Hospitality, which is in the business of canteens, restaurants, and bars, received a huge infusion of over Rs 512 crore - a large part of the total investments made by the company.

The hospitality company also has the Kapoors as key directors.

Thats not all. The Kapoor family, through its family office, the Three Sisters Institutional Office, have also put money into many start-ups.

One such investment has been with US-returned Delhi based entrepreneur Amit Ramani who set up two companies: a co-working firm Awfis Space Solutions and NCube (formerly Nelson India), an interior designing and building solutions company.

Ramani is the vice-chairman of NCube.

According to sources, the Kapoor companies invested around $10-11 million in Awfis but their shareholding got diluted as new investors came in.

The co-working business has grown in size, despite competition from US giant We Work and has over 35,000 seats in 63 centres and nine cities.

It has also been able to rope in other private equity players, which include ChrysCapital and Innoven, to invest.

According to Ramani, it is planning an initial public offer in 2022.

Through NCube, in which the Kapoor family companies invested under Rs 10 crore, Ramani has executed over 200 projects across the country.

The RoC documents also say that key managerial persons and their relatives in DOIT exercise significant influence in Seven Rivers Capital Advisors.

The company specialises in early-stage growth capital investments in small and medium-size companies.

Photograph: PTI Photo
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is rejecting appeals to slow its deregulatory drive while Americans grapple with the coronavirus, pushing major public health and environmental rollbacks closer to enactment in recent days despite the pandemic.

As Americans stockpiled food and medicine and retreated indoors and businesses shuttered in hopes of riding out COVID-19, federal agencies in recent days moved forward on rollbacks that included a widely opposed deregulatory action by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The proposed rule would require disclosure of the raw data behind any scientific study used in the rulemaking process. That includes confidential medical records that opponents say could be used to identify people.

The EPA says the rule, first introduced in 2018, is designed to increase transparency. But early drafts drew more than a half-million comments, most of them in opposition. Health experts say it would handcuff federal officials ability to regulate proven health threats in the future, by making it impossible for regulators to draw on findings of public health studies.

The EPA has dismissed demands from 14 attorneys general, the National Governors Association, the National League of Cities and dozens of other government, public health and environmental groups and officials that it at least tap the brakes on that proposed rule while officials confront the national emergency that arises from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal agencies should suspend steps toward enactment for any nonessential rule changes, Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts, one of those signing the appeal, said in a separate email. During this unprecedented public health emergency, we should be focusing our resources on protecting the health and well being of our residents not on fighting against the Trump Administrations reckless environmental proposals and actions, Healey said.

Asked for comment, EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said the agency is open and continuing our regulatory work as usual.

Jones said that the public can still have its say on the proposed rule. As regulations.gov is fully functioning, there is no barrier to the public providing comment, Jones said.

President Donald Trump and his agency chiefs have less than 10 months left in his current term to complete the administrations business-friendly easing of the way the federal government enforces scores of environment and public health protections.

The Interior Department, for example, is moving ahead with a measure that would greatly ease protections under the more than century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Interior closed the 30-day comment period for the change as scheduled last week. Critics say the changes could devastate threatened and endangered species and speed an already documented decline in U.S. bird populations overall.

Interior also ticked off required procedural steps in March on consideration of a ConocoPhillips oil and gas project in the Alaska wilderness and on a development plan for land surrounding New Mexicos Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a World Heritage site at the centre of a long debate over oil and gas development, among other projects.

Interior spokesman Conner Swanson called it unfortunate that these interest groups are playing politics at a time when all Americans need to come together.

All DOI actions, including comment periods, are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis and adjustments are being made to ensure we are allowing for proper public input, while protecting the health and safety of the public and our employees, Swanson said.

Opponents also say they expect the White House to make public as soon as next week the latest version of its rollback in vehicle emissions standards, weakening one of the Obama administrations major efforts against climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.

The ongoing push on rule-cutting as most of the world deals with the coronavirus shows the EPA clearly in a hurry to meet procedural rules to wrap up key rollbacks, said Stan Meiburg, the agencys acting deputy administrator from 2014 to 2017 and a 39-year EPA veteran.

Last week, the EPA released its latest redo of the science rule. The release starts the clock on what the agency said would be a 30-day public comment period, moving the rule a big step closer toward adaptation.

Attorney generals from 13 states and the District of Columbia say the 30-day timeline is even shorter than the agencys usual 60-day comment period for such a change.

States objecting include New York, where a statewide lockdown is in effect as New York City deals with about 10,000 coronavirus cases and about 100 deaths. Around the world, more than one-fifth of the global population is under lockdown orders or advisories as officials struggle for medical supplies to face a new contagion that has no known vaccine or treatment.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat and chairwoman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, separately wrote the agency of the massive disruption of the coronavirus emergency and the personal and professional turmoil that health experts and others who normally would speak out on the science rule are facing.

Agencies have moved public hearings on proposed rules online or to conference calls.

Collin OMara, head of the National Wildlife Federation, pointed to the many low-income Americans in particular all but unable to have their say now that some public comments have moved online.

Nearly 20 million Americans  most of them rural residents, including many members of tribes  have no access to broadband internet, and another 100 million Americans have no broadband internet subscription, the federal government estimates.

In the regulatory world, the public comment periods are vital both for showing support or opposition for a rule change and for laying out the groundwork for any future legal challenges.

In Washington state, the first big U.S. battleground in the pandemic, Joseph Bogaard took time for a telephone call-in comment period on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan for the Snake River this month, even as he worried for elderly parents vulnerable to the disease and for a daughter forced to make her way home when her California university closed because of the virus.

What were finding is people are so distracted and concerned for families that it seemed wrong to ask the public at large to divert attention to the Corps public comment period, Bogaard said last week. Thats even though earlier, in-person public hearings on the same matter routinely drew hundreds of people.

We made a decision, and a bunch of others did, too, that were not going to try to organize people and encourage people to turn out, whether its meetings or phone calls right now, he said. Because people were so distracted.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
The viral inhibitor is a polysaccharide designed to block galectins

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIOXYTRAN, INC. (OTCQB:BIXT), a developmental stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of anti-necrosis drugs designed to treat hypoxia by delivering a small molecule carrying oxygen to the brain of stroke victims announced today that it signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Dr. David Platt for the clinical development and further commercialization, of a galectin inhibitor that could potentially treat COVID-19. A presentation of the technology will soon be available.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bioxytran will pay a $5,000 down payment on the licensing fee to Dr. Platt by April 20, 2020. Future milestone payments of up to $4.0 million are due after; the first sample of GMP material, enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 1 trial, and an NDA approval in the United States. Royalties will range from 15  25% based on the amount of royalties received.

There is strong evidence that supports the possible use of a galectin inhibitor in COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the elderly population who have underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, organ fibrosis, or cancer are at a higher risk of getting very sick from this illness. What these people have in common is high lectin type galectin expression. High galectin blood serum concentrations are all associated with these underlying medical conditions which is why clinicians are having such a hard time treating COVID-19 using traditional therapies. Galectins have a tendency to degrade the immune system of people with underlying disease, which leaves them vulnerable against a cytokine storm.

Bioxytrans new viral inhibitor is expected to restore the adaptive immune system to normal function, which should modulate any existing cytokine storm. In addition, there is preclinical evidence that a galectin inhibitor can bind to the protein spikes of the coronavirus. The companys medical advisory board has theorized that binding to the virus could stop cell entry and assist in elimination of the virus which would then be attached to the drug and processed out by the liver.

Galectins are also at the center of a number of inflammatory cycles and thereby crucial in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases such as organ fibrosis and psoriasis. Targeting these inflammatory pathways with an inhibitor could have the potential to quiet the immunological response which ultimately leads to a healing or a reduction in the side effects in many of these potential disease indications. Targeting galectins may have far reaching implications in many diseases thereby having platform technology potential.

I have been researching galectins and complex carbohydrate modifications for over 35 years, and recent events necessitate an adjustment to our strategy, said Dr. David Platt, CEO of Bioxytran Inc. Galectins are part of COVID-19s recognition system that facilitates viral entry. A few preclinical studies of the coronavirus genus have demonstrated a common galectin fold on the spike protein that is universal to the coronavirus genus. Galectin inhibitors are designed to interfere with this recognition process and prevent viral entry. Galectins are also modulators of the immune response and can be upregulated or downregulated to generate a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response. Our galectin inhibitor may be able to block viral entry and reduce the T-cell anergy. Our rationale for a viral entry inhibitor is based on extensive scientific evidence. We believe that our drug candidate can eliminate COVID-19. It is an important distinction to make that the viral inhibitor is not an antibody. Although it will be used as an antiretroviral, it should be recognized as an entry or fusion inhibitor that prevents the virus from entering the host cell.

The research that links COVID-19 to galectins is very attractive and an eye-opener to novel approaches to fight these deadly viruses, said Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, MD, Ph.D., Consulting Medical Director for Bioxytran Inc. During the SARS and MERS outbreaks much research was conducted on the composition of the virus with the hope of understanding how the virus works. Some of these studies openly concluded that galectins may represent a therapeutic target and should be investigated further. These outbreaks eventually subsided, and along with them, the motivation to conduct further research and development.

Bioxytran is simply connecting the dots by testing its theories with existing galectin inhibitors. The study titled Receptor Recognition Mechanism of Coronaviruses: a Decade of Structural Studies seems to implicate galectins in the pathogenesis of coronaviruses. Hence, galectin may represent an optimal target to treat COVID-19. Reduction of the viral load is a good treatment option, but may do nothing to address the cytokine storm which eventually results in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Our galectin inhibitor can potentially reduce viral entry, help clearing the virus from the blood, and restore homeostasis to the immune system.

About Lectins

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar groups of other molecules. Lectins have a role in recognition on the cellular and molecular level and play numerous roles in biological recognition phenomena involving cells, carbohydrates, and proteins. Lectins also mediate attachment and binding of bacteria and viruses to their intended targets.

About Galectins

Galectins are a class of lectins that bind specifically to -galactoside sugars. There have been 15 galectins discovered, which are numbered in a consecutive manner. Only galectin-1, -2, -3, -4, -7, -8, -9, -10 and -12 have been identified in humans. Galectin-5 and -6 are found in rodents, whereas galectin-11, -14 and -15 are uniquely found in sheep and goats.

Coronavirus-receptor Interactions

COVID-19 is not the only virus that stole a host lectin and integrated it into their spike. A survey of viral lectins with known tertiary structures revealed that galectin-like domains are present in a variety of viral spikes, including influenza. These viral lectins display diverse sugar-binding modes.

About Galectin Inhibitors

Our investigative drug candidate is a polysaccharide designed to block galectins. Another galectin blocker has been through phase 2 clinical trials in cancer and was well tolerated in 140 patients that were dosed in a total of 9 clinical trials. In phase 2 study, it produced a disease stabilization rate of 75% in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) blood cancer, but was never fully commercialized because the last licensee did not have the proper manufacturing expertise. Trials have also demonstrated that a galectin blocker can reverse T-Cell suppression. The safety profile is good, because there are no hematological toxicities and only a few severe adverse events related to rash consistent with immune modulation.

About Bioxytran, Inc.

Bioxytran Inc. is a developmental stage biotechnology company. The company is working towards a first-in-class oxygen treatment platform for victims of brain stroke trauma. The first product to proceed to testing is BXT-25, which will be evaluated as a resuscitative agent to treat strokes, especially during the all-critical first hour following a stroke. The product will also be evaluated for its efficacy in treating other brain trauma issues. BXT-25 is based on a new molecule designed to reverse hypoxia in the brain. Hypoxic brain injuries such as ischemic strokes, could be treated with BXT-25 via an intravenous injection that quickly allows the drug molecule to travel to the lungs and bind with the oxygen molecules. From the lungs the molecule mimics a red blood cell traveling to the brain. Since the molecule is 5,000 times smaller than red blood cells it can penetrate the clot and deliver the oxygen to the critical areas in the brain blocked by the clot. The MDX Viewer will be used in evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the BXT-25. To learn more, visit our website:

http://www.bioxytraninc.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined under federal law, including those related to the performance of technology described in this press release. These forward looking statements are generally identified by the words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan, and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Known material factors that could cause Bioxytrans actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by such forward-looking statements are described in the forward looking statements and risk factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and those risk factors set forth from time-to-time in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bioxytran undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required under federal securities laws.

Investor Relations

Resources Unlimited NW LLC

860.908.4133

info@resourcesunlimitedllc.com


Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg gives a speech at the plenary session during the COP25 Climate Conference in Madrid on Dec. 11, 2019. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

Greta Thunberg Says Its Extremely Likely She Contracted CCP Virus

Activist Greta Thunberg said that she might have contracted the CCP virus and has self-quarantined along with her father after showing symptoms.

The 17-year-old wrote that she stayed inside for the past two weeks, saying in a social media post, When I returned from my trip around central Europe I isolated myself (in a borrowed apartment away from my mother and sister) since the number of cases of COVID-19 (in Germany for instance) were similar to Italy at the start of the outbreak.

The Epoch Times 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.

Around 10 days ago I started feeling some symptoms, exactly the same time as my fatherwho traveled with me from Brussels, Thunberg continued. I was feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat, and coughed.

Thunberg added that her father experienced similar symptoms.

In Sweden, she added, Everyone feeling ill are told to stay at home and isolate themselves.

I have therefore not been tested for COVID-19, but its extremely likely that Ive had it, given the combined symptoms and circumstances, Thunberg wrote.

She added that as she displayed symptoms: I almost didnt feel ill. My last cold was much worse than this! Had it not been for someone else having the virus [simultaneously] I might not even have suspected anything. Then I would just have thought I was feeling unusually tired with a bit of a cough.

Younger people, who are less susceptible to dying from the disease, should take precautions as they could spread the virus to at-risk groups such as elderly people without them realizing it, Thunberg concluded.
From online viewing rooms to virtual gallery tours and clever social media campaigns such as #museumfromhome, the art market is leaving no stone unturned to offset the potential fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a dramatic Instagram post that resonated with the global art world, The Art Newspaper wrote: When God closes a gallery door, [somewhere] He opens a browser window. In another day and age, when nearly all forms of human activity would not have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic-related shutdown, feminists and gender experts would have spilled some (digital) blood over a public comment that masculinised God. But we are facing a far bigger crisis than sparring over gender binaries. It is when the slightest human contact could prove detrimental to ones well-being and survival, and when art  for all its widely known therapeutic qualities  is having to face the worst possible scenario, that of en masse closures of the gallery door.

As art fairs, galleries, institutions, auction houses and museums all over the world announce temporary or prolonged shutdowns, activity on their respective social media handles has been ramped up. From Art Basel Hong Kongs online viewing rooms to virtual gallery tours, online programming events, and clever social media campaigns such as #museumfromhome, the art market is leaving no stone unturned to offset the potential fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

From India, there are a few private galleries that have faced the direct impact of the pandemic, which led to the cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong, originally scheduled for 17-21 March. The galleries are Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Road and Jhaveri Contemporary, New Delhi-based Gallery Espace and Vadehra Gallery, and Kolkatas Experimenter. As an alternative to physically exhibiting the artworks, Art Basel launched the first edition of their online viewing rooms in which more than two hundred galleries are participating.

Even as a report in The Art Newspaper headlined muted sales in these online rooms, the situation may not be as grim as it looks, according to Roshini Vadehra, director of Vadehra Art Gallery, which has been a participant at Art Basel for many years. The online viewing room initiative has already opened with great success, she said, while adding: We have had new collectors reach out to us through this platform and inquire about the works that we included.

For Chemould Prescott Road, which is also a returning gallery at Art Basel, the inability to physically exhibit the works limits the collector's perceptibility which results in delayed responses and acquisition. Commenting on the responses to the online viewing rooms, gallery director Shireen Gandhy said, Though we have received a few sales inquiries, it would be difficult, at the moment, to state if they will materialise or not. We hope they do!

On Firstpost: A database of free books, performances, tours, virtual shows, courses available online in these times of social distancing

Back home, Bihar Museum announced the postponement of the Bihar Museum Biennale, Indias first museum biennale, from its earlier scheduled date, which was 25 March, to 29 June. According to a report, the biennale plans to show artworks from the collection of 14 public and private museums, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai; National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Delhi; Piramal Museum of Art, Mumbai, among other museums. Many of these institutions, along with monuments and museums protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, and several private galleries have announced temporary closures and cancellation of events such as exhibition openings and outreach events.

The upside to these circumstances is the heavy social media marketing being deployed by many of these institutions, museums and galleries, in an attempt to dilute the negative impact of dwindling walk-ins as cities go into lockdown. Given the magnitude of physical distancing and self-quarantines being practised these days, and given the noticeable spike in smartphone activity, the social media strategies are proving to be quite successful.

For example, Mumbais oldest museum, Bhau Daji Lad Museum, posted on its Instagram handle images of clay models  all standing apart from each other, and carrying these taglines: greet people with a wave or a namaste; avoid public gatherings and maintain at least three feet distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. National Museum, New Delhi, has launched for the first time a virtual exhibition of antique objects, Great Steppe: Time. Space. Culture, which is drawn from the collection of the National Museum of Kazakhstan. The collection can be viewed on the National Museums Instagram account @nmnewdelhi. There are also posts by Instagram handles of The Heritage Lab, Mumbais Tarq gallery, India Art Fair, among others, that are engaging with users who are #workingfromhome.

It is a well-known fact that India, despite thousands of years of heritage, is not a museum- and gallery-visiting country. And yet, in terms of the number of smartphone and Instagram users, it is the worlds second largest market. For sure, the spike in social media activity owing to the shutdowns will have a positive impact on digital identities of several players in the art market, and as a result, it provides them an opportunity to boost their following. Even as the digital marketing aspect is taken care of, the larger art market will have to evaluate the economic cost of the coronavirus outbreak that has also affected the worlds biggest art centres: the UK, the USA and China.

With the number of coronavirus infections going up rapidly, along with the increasing panic that has gripped everyday life, it would take a long time for the art market to assess the entire situation. Reactions from some private gallerists in India, regarding the unfolding situation, have been mixed thus far. Of course, this is going to affect all markets for everything, said Peter Nagy, director of Delhi-based Nature Morte, which moved its most recent show to September from its original date of 21 March. The gallery was planning to take part in Art Dubai and Frieze New York, but the fairs have been either cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus concerns. The gallerys Neeti Bagh space in Delhi will remain closed until 31 March.

For Renu Modi, who heads Delhi-based Gallery Espace, the coronavirus pandemic is undoubtedly having an impact on art as it is keeping viewers away from galleries and museums. The outbreak has played havoc on the economy and that will also have an impact on art buying, she said. Roshini Vadehra, on the other hand, added that the gallery has not felt the slowdown in sales that is expected during these uncertain times. Joining the chorus of voices in favour of a rigorous digital media push as galleries face temporary shutdowns, she added: Galleries and art fairs are also becoming more creative in offering collectors a virtual experience of exhibitions. Browsing may not lead to buying big ticket items, but people are inclined to buying well priced works.

Mumbai-based Chatterjee & Lal, which opened its latest show of Mark Primes sculptures on 13 March and is open by appointment only, suggests the slow down has not prevented buyers from making enquiries about art. Collectors are still talking to us about art and that the enforced slow down has allowed some to give attention to art where they may not have had the time previously, said Mortimer Chatterjee, co-founder of the gallery.

For the Indian art market, the widespread shutdown as a result of the pandemic comes after a successful India Art Fair 2020, which demonstrated a renewed interest in South Asian contemporary art. Reviewing the fair, widely regarded as South Asias biggest, Artsy recently published a story which was headlined thus: After a boom and bust, the South Asian Art market is finally maturing. Quoting a report by ArtTactic, the review added that in terms of global rankings, South Asia moved up from 9th to 6th place in 2019, with dealers...seeing increased buyer confidence in contemporary art from the region.

But the long-term ramifications of the coronavirus outbreak have brought back the spotlight on the state of the Indian economy, which is forecast to grow at 4.9 percent in 2019-2020, with the COVID-19 outbreak expected to have an impact on the growth rate. Other than the slowing economy, in the recent past, the Goods and Services tax (GST), and the currency demonetisation have cast a shadow over the Indian art market. As the world at large stares at uncertain times, the coronavirus pandemic appears to have thrown a spanner in the works for the Indian art market as well.

The Indian art market has not been robust in the past few years, so this [coronavirus outbreak] will certainly make things more difficult for everyone. We will now have to wait and see exactly how long it takes for things to return to some sort of normal before we can assess any further effects, Nagy said.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns.

The utility said in a statement it will also admit to a single count of unlawfully starting a fire.





. . .
The first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday by the Palestinian Health Ministry.



Two Palestinian men  aged 79 and 63  who had travelled from Pakistan and entered Gaza through Egypt tested positive for the virus late Saturday and have been in quarantine in Rafah, a town near the Egyptian border, since their arrival on Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry said.



Because of Israels siege since 2007, movement on border crossings between Egypt and Israel is restricted and the vast majority of Gazas population of two million people are virtually prisoners in the enclave.



The fact that until this week there were no reported coronavirus cases in the Strip weeks after the virus spread in neighbouring Israel and Egypt testifies to the cruelty of the siege which cut off Gaza from the world for over 13 years.



On 14 March, Gaza reversed roles and closed its border crossings with both Egypt and Israel to stem the spread of the virus inside the coastal enclave. Schools, public markets and event halls have all been shut over the past two weeks. Almost 1,300 people returning from abroad have been placed into quarantine. Sanitation crews have been spraying disinfectant in streets and public buildings.



Belal Aldabbour, a Gaza-based medical doctor, said that the Strips best hope now is to isolate itself completely from the world and delay the inevitable as much as possible, hoping a vaccine appears soon.



Otherwise, with a population density of 5,200 per square kilometre and poverty rate of 75 per cent, people will suffer both hunger and Covid-19 infection.



UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick warned this week of the frightening consequences of any potential coronavirus outbreak in the besieged Gaza Strip.



Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in the coastal territory in 2007 following an election victory over its rival Fatah.



In 2012, a UN report predicted that Gaza would be unliveable by 2020, where basic infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with a growing population. Gaza has no air or sea ports, and the economy is heavily dependent on outside funding.



UN bodies, local and international NGOs and humanitarian agencies have long called for the end or easing of the Israeli siege, citing Gazas fragile health system which is on the verge of collapse. Incapacitated by wars, decades of systematic de-development, and impoverishment, Gaza has a severe water crisis, power shortages, high rates of unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.



In addition to severely restricting movement for the population, the Israeli blockade limits the import of medicines and other essential items. But Tel Aviv sent 200 coronavirus testing kits to Gaza in recent days.



According to +972, an independent Palestinian-Israeli online newspaper, Gaza has a total of 2,895 hospital beds, or 1.3 beds per thousand people, and 50 to 60 ventilators for adults.



Abdel-Nasser Soboh, head of the World Health Organisations sub-office in Gaza, said the Strip is only prepared to handle the first hundred cases of the virus. After that, it will need further support.



The health system is further aggravated by the emigration of many Palestinian health professionals due to Gazas economic crisis, according to +972. More than 35,000 Palestinians have left the Strip since 2018 alone, among them dozens of doctors and nurses. A Health Ministry official declared they would need at least 300 to 400 more doctors just to close the gap and meet the populations minimum needs.



Gazas population density  an average of 6,028 persons per square kilometre  could make any effort to contain the spread of the virus futile.



The threat of Covid-19 looming over Gaza is perhaps a last opportunity to say what many refuse to hear, wrote Hamid Abuselim in +972. Gazas problem is not a lack of humanitarian aid, as urgent as it may be. It is territorial, demographic and political.



Right now, while Israels Jewish citizens enjoy the land and its resources, Palestinians are denied that same right and barred from returning to their homeland. And while the international community largely focuses on the threat of Israeli annexation of its illegal settlements in the West Bank, many do not care about the unnatural reality experienced by the people in Gaza, Abuselim added.



UNRWA, the relief agency that feeds a million people in Gaza and runs 20 health centres, told the British paper The Independent on Monday that the organisation is two months away from completely running out of money.



Gaza officials told the paper that they only have eight ICU beds prepped for coronavirus cases and a weeks supply of protective kit, like masks, goggles and gowns for medics. Forty-two per cent of the essential drug list is missing, as is 60 per cent of supplies used for investigation and diagnosis.



Qatar announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months, to support UN humanitarian programmes in the Palestinian territory and efforts to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Pompeo Leaves Kabul Without Announcing Deal Between Ghani, Abdullah

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan March 23, 2020

KABUL -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has completed an urgent visit to Kabul without saying whether he was able to broker an agreement between Afghanistan's quarreling political leaders.

Pompeo was in Afghanistan on March 23 to broker talks between President Ashraf Ghani and Ghani's main political rival, former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah.

But as Pompeo's plane left Kabul late on March 23, there was still no announcement on whether he was able to broker a deal between Ghani and Abdullah.

The Associated Press quoted reports from the Afghan capital that Pompeo had given Ghani and Abdullah until March 24 to come up with a compromise in their dispute over the country's official presidential election results. But there was no indication either side had offered to compromise their position.

Pompeo was hoping to advance progress on a peace deal signed in February by U.S. negotiators and the Taliban.

Pompeo met separately with Ghani and Abdullah on March 23 before meeting together with both Afghan leaders.

Since the signing of the deal with the Taliban, the peace process has ground to a halt amid political turmoil, with both Ghani and Abdullah arguing they'd won the presidency through a contested election in September 2019.

According to the official election results, Ghani won the presidency outright in the first round of the election with just over 50 percent of the vote compared to about 39 percent for Abdullah.

But Abdullah has alleged there was widespread fraud in the ballot count and staged his own presidential inauguration to reinforce his claim that he was the legitimate winner of the election.

Pompeo hoped to help end the political stalemate which has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks that would include the Taliban.

Pompeo's visit came a day after the Afghan government held its first talks with the Taliban about a prisoner swap. The talks were announced by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

"Prisoner releases by both sides is an important step in the peace process," Pompeo said in a March 22 statement on Twitter.

The talks -- held via Skype amid the coronavirus pandemic -- lasted more than two hours and were facilitated by the United States and Qatar, Khalilzad said.

The spread of the coronavirus has made the release of prisoners "that much more urgent," he said.

Afghanistan announced the same day the first death in the country due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Afghanistan had 34 confirmed cases of the virus as of March 22.

The United States on February 29 signed a historic agreement with the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the country's 18-year conflict.

According to a joint declaration published by the U.S. and Afghan governments on February 29, the United States and NATO would withdraw all troops in Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban upholds the commitments made in the agreement.

"All sides conveyed their strong commitment to a reduction of violence, intra-Afghan negotiations, and a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire," Khalilzad said.

The envoy said a follow-up meeting between the Afghan government and Taliban will be held in the next two days.

With reporting by AP and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo- arrives-in-kabul-amid-ongoing -political-crisis/30503713.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.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., on March 14, 2019. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Elon Musk Sends 1,255 Ventilators to California to Help Fight Pandemic

Responding to equipment shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he bought 1,255 FDA-approved medical ventilators from China and had the devices flown into Los Angeles.

Musk said in a tweet on March 23 that he purchased the devices on Friday, adding that if you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!

Yup, China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night & airshipped them to LA. If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2020

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press conference Monday that Musk had delivered the ventilators, calling the move a heroic effort.

Earlier, Musk wrote that Tesla would produce ventilators if there is a shortage. He said in a separate tweet last week that plans for production were already underway at Tesla factories, Were working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter.

Millions of Different Type Items Coming

Ventilators, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, are mechanical breathing devices that can direct air and oxygen into the lungs. They are crucial for the care of people with lung failure, which can be one of the complications suffered by patients with severe COVID-19.

The Epoch Times 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 across China and fan a global pandemic.

The rapid outbreak, which has killed thousands of people globally, has strained healthcare systems around the world and led to a shortage of ventilators needed to treat patients suffering from the flu-like illness, which can lead to breathing difficulties and pneumonia in severe cases.

President Donald Trump said in a tweet Tuesday that his administration had just secured 400 ventilators for New York and that millions of different types of items would be shipped to aid states in their the emergency response to the pandemic.

The World market for face masks and ventilators is Crazy, Trump wrote. We are helping the states to get equipment, but it is not easy. Just got 400 Ventilators for @NYCMayor Bill de Blasio. Work beginning on 4 hospitals in New York! Millions of different type items coming!

Earlier, Trump said that General Motors (GM), Tesla, and Ford have been approved to produce ventilators to combat the virus surge in the United States.

GM has partnered with medical equipment maker Ventec and is building ventilators at its plant in Indiana.

We are working closely with Ventec to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products to support our countrys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to explore ways to help in this time of crisis, Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Ford jumped into the emergency push to produce ventilators and respirators.

Weve been in regular dialogue with federal, state, and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs, Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett said, adding that the companys aim was to increase the supply of necessary medical equipment.

Ford and GE Healthcare will expand the production of GEs ventilator design, while Ford will also separately work with 3M to increase manufacturing capacity of its air-purifying respirators.

The company said it was exploring how it could produce these new respirators in one of its Michigan manufacturing plants and help 3M boost production tenfold. It would use fans from its Ford F-150 cooled seats to make parts of the respirators, the company said.

Significant Action

Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had taken significant action to increase the availability of respiratory devices, including ventilators, in the fight against COVID-19.

The FDAs new actions will mean America can make more ventilators during this crisis, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

The FDAs new actions to support response efforts to the pandemic, as detailed in a guidance document (pdf), include eliminating barriers to the production of ventilators and other respiratory devices, such as supply shortages or manufacturing limitations.

For example, the guidance says the FDA intends to exercise enforcement discretion for certain modifications to FDA-cleared devices.

Hospitals and other health care providers can repurpose machines they have now to serve as ventilators, Azar said. If you want to help expand production of ventilators to save American lives in this pandemic, we are going to work with you to sweep every possible barrier out of your way.

Another change is that hospitals and health care professionals may use ventilators intended for other environments, the FDA said.

The agency stated this policy is intended to remain in effect only for the duration of the public health emergency related to COVID-19.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, as of March 24 at 9:55 a.m. ET, there were 46,485 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States and 591 deaths.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Halfway through the 15 days of social distancing the White House recommended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some of President Trumps social media (and broadcast media) influencers are calling on him to relax the guidelines, which they say have created havoc with the economy as retail shopping, restaurant traffic and tourism have been virtually shut down in some parts of the country.

And the president appears to be listening to them.

A global recession would be worse for our people than the Great Depression, wrote Fox News host Laura Ingraham in a Twitter thread Monday morning. Doctors provide medical treatment and cures  they should not be the determinative voices in policy making now or at the end of 15 days. Even another week of this will mean millions more out of work, massive damage to businesses big and small, rental incomes, families at every income level, horrific pain and suffering. But if we knew this was almost over, recovery would be easier.

Last week Ingraham tweeted that Americans need to know date certain when this will end, referring to the precautions the White House has been urging citizens to take. Medical experts say the measures should stay in place until the pandemic risk has passed, something impossible to predict, but likely to extend past the end of the 15-day period.

Medical experts say social distancing is the best way to slow the spread of the virus and not overwhelm the health care system. Hospitals are warning of looming shortages in everything from gloves and masks to beds and ventilators. One of the more dire warnings came in the form of a study from Imperial College London that found if the U.S. didnt take action, 2.2 million people could die.

A week ago the president called for 15 days of voluntary social distancing, and he has predicted in public that the pandemic will be over very soon, but cases continue to climb. As of Monday, there were more than 40,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. and nearly 500 deaths.

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Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Nevertheless, Trump seems eager to get past the containment efforts, and is being encouraged by some of the commentators he listens to.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, Trump tweeted late Sunday night in capital letters. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

He then retweeted many supporters who assailed the precautions as economically damaging. If he was watching Fox News on Sunday evening before his tweet, he would have seen host Steve Hilton say that the cure is worse than the disease for working Americans who cant afford a shutdown. Over the weekend, a number of Fox News personalities shared a post on the blogging platform Medium by a tech employee saying that the reaction to the virus was overblown. After a number of epidemiologists debunked the analysis, Medium removed it.

Members of Congress have proposed direct assistance to workers to help weather the storm of the societal shutdown, suggesting everything from increased unemployment insurance to direct cash payments. Other legislative proposals include rent and mortgage freezes and the cancellation of student debt. Denmarks government is paying 75 percent of workers wages, while the United Kingdom has proposed paying 80 percent of wages during the crisis.

The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, picked up the point on Fox News Monday, stating, The cure cant be worse than the disease. And were going to have to make some difficult trade-offs. The comments come a month after Kudlow said about the virus on CNBC, We have contained this. I wont say airtight, but its pretty close to airtight.

Proposals for the federal government to relax its advisories on social distancing would run counter to the mandatory strictures already in place in states and cities that have been hard hit by the virus.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal argued in an editorial that the country urgently needs a pandemic strategy that is more economically and socially sustainable than the current national lockdown. The newspapers analysis did not take into account the economic and social effects of the hundreds of thousands or millions of deaths that epidemiologists warn could result from a premature ending of the precautions.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams told NBC News Monday morning, I want America to understand this week, its going to get bad.

Right now, there are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously, said Adams, adding, Everyone needs to act as if they have the virus right now. So, test or no test, we need you to understand you could be spreading it to someone else. Or you could be getting it from someone else. Stay at home.

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would issue guidance about how people exposed to the virus could return to work by wearing a mask. This comment was echoed by Ingraham in her Monday morning Twitter thread, where she said, Going back to most jobs after 15 days will require new protocols until this virus burns out  everyone within 6 feet of others MUST wear masks, constant hand washing, gloves, protective goggles if needed.

Ingraham said that the masks are fairly easy to make at home, although hospitals are begging federal and state governments for assistance in acquiring them as supplies run short for those on the frontlines of the fight against the virus.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
A member of the National Covid-19 GP Advisory Committee, Dr Ray Walley, has said GPs are dealing with hundreds of calls every day and the most significant workload is the triage of and dealing with the coronavirus.

Dr Walley said he tells his patients not to focus on the testing, but to focus on staying at home, taking fluids and monitoring their symptoms.

Not all the calls are in relation to the coronavirus, he said and a major part of their job is reassuring people. We know our patients.

It was so important to tell people that 80 per cent with coronavirus will cope well at home with the illness.

Testing was important as it would identify those who were positive for the virus and would stop its spread. Identifying health care workers would allow them back to work, which was important, he said.

It was important to ensure that PPE (personal protective equipment) was provided to all staff so they could continue to work.

Infectious disease specialist Prof Sam McConkey has said the measures being considered by the government to combat the spread of Covid-19 show that the basic freedoms people have had for a century are now being questioned.

We're now about two weeks since the schools and colleges closed, and we're still seeing some increase in cases, so if we really want to control this we probably need to do more interventions, he told Newstalk Breakfast.

Exactly what those would be? I think there are a wide range of things and I suppose rather frighteningly those involve us giving away some of our basic human rights, things like walking the streets, freedom of travel in our own country, restrictions on human movement.

Similarly, the right to property - a very fundamental constitutional right, we may be looking at taking over some of the private hospitals for use in this response to coronavirus.

Some very, very basic things taken for granted for a century are now being questioned, he said. We now need very high levels of buy-in from the public on the measures being proposed.

These decisions are intrinsically political and he said a cross-party Oireachtas committee should be set-up to consider the measures.

Time is of the essence - we probably only have a few days. But I do think we should be asking our 160 TDs to get into small groups of nine or ten, each one of them have an effective chair to keep things moving, switch off the microphone if people are going on a party-political rant.

Once that group have agreed a proposal, then everyone moves behind it and supports it.

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll out emergency welfare measures, including financial support, to millions of construction workers who are in distress due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

In her letter dated March 23 to the Prime Minister, Gandhi requested him to advise the state building and other construction workers welfare boards in this regard.

Gandhi also wrote to Congress chief ministers Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry) to ensure that state welfare boards should provide wage support to registered beneficiaries given that a significant amount of building and other construction workers welfare cess remains unutilised.

Over the last week, lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have left for their hometowns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn. As the second-largest employer in India, over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a precarious future. Many are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihoods due to stringent lockdown measures, she wrote in her letter to the Prime Minister.

She referred to the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 that provides for various welfare measures for workers and the constitution of state welfare boards and welfare fund.

It is reported that the welfare boards collected cess amounting to Rs 49,688.07 crore till March 31, 2019. However, only an amount of Rs 19,379.922 crore had been spent, said Gandhi, who is also the chairperson of the Congress parliamentary party (CPP).

She said Canada and several other countries have announced wage subsidy measures as part of their Covid-19 economic response plan.

More than 600 districts have been placed under lockdown in an effort to stop the coronavirus disease or Covid-19 that has afflicted nearly 500 across India.

Commercial airlines have been grounded, passenger trains stopped and state governments have also severely curtailed the movement of people except to maintain the supply line of essential commodities services.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 05:32:36|Editor: yan

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DAKAR, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese President Macky Sall on Monday declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of COVID-19 in his country, where a total of 79 cases have been reported.

"As of midnight tonight, I declare a state of emergency across the national territory," the president said in his speech to the nation, adding that the state of emergency across national territory, together with a curfew, is to raise the level of response to the spread of COVID- 19.

"The situation is critical. The speed of progression of the disease requires us to raise the level of the response," he said, stressing that his government, administrative authorities and public services will take all necessary measures to implement the state of emergency without delay.

He also ordered the defense and security forces to be ready for the immediate and strict execution of the measures imposed on the national territory.

In accordance with the law on the state of emergency, the Senegalese president said these measures will in particular give the competent administrative authorities the power to "regulate or prohibit the movement of people, vehicles or goods in certain places and at certain times."

In addition to the curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day, Sall also banned all gatherings in public spaces, prohibited public or private meetings of any kind, and ordered temporary closure of public places and meeting places.

"These measures, which are not exhaustive, could evolve depending on the circumstances," he added.

Since midnight Friday, Senegal has suspended all international passenger flights till April 17.

From Monday midnight, Senegal and The Gambia will close their borders for 21 days in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Since Saturday, Senegal and Mauritania have closed their borders till further notice.

Of the 79 COVID-19 cases in Senegal, 38 are imported; eight patients have been declared cured by local health authorities.
Why it matters: With the coronavirus forcing many people to work from home, the disruption is affecting release schedules. Google is skipping version 82 of Chrome, and Microsoft has put a hold on new Edge browser updates.

Google last week announced that it would be pausing its Chrome and Chrome OS releases due to adjusted work schedules caused by the coronavirus, adding that it would prioritize updates related to security, making sure the current Chrome 80 version is as secure as possible. As a result, Chrome 81, which was originally scheduled to launch on March 17, will stay in the beta phase for now.

While Chrome 81 is on hold until Google decides to resume releases, Chrome Unboxed spotted a post that reveals the next version of the browser is being skipped entirely. Jason Kersey, Director of Technical Program Management, writes: we have decided to skip the M82 release to ensure we keep users safe and focus all efforts on maintaining stability.

Kersey adds that the beta channel will remain on version 81 until version 83 is ready to be promoted, while Chrome 82 is being abandoned. The good news is that all the features expected in 82 will be added to Chrome 83, which could arrive earlier than planned.

Google isnt the only company whose browser releases are being disrupted by staff working from home. Microsoft has put a hold on major new updates to Edge and will instead focus on fixing bugs in the current version. Its likely that the company will also skip version 82 of its browser.
Photo: Unsplash

You can leave your umbrella at home for today, but rainfall is in the forecast for Philadelphia, according to the seven-day forecast from drone-powered weather service Saildrone. Saturday's forecast shows the highest possibility of rain at 85%, with expected rainfall of 1.55 inches.

The immediate forecast also has mild temperatures in store for today. Temperatures will make way for warmer weather on Sunday, with a high of 75 degrees.

Skies will be cloudy today. Winds will reach a modest high of 17 mph on Sunday and stay in the teens through Monday.

This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
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.

This diary frankly describes a sex party.

About 15 minutes into my first sex party on Zoom, the dicks came out of the pants. There were more than a dozen of them. Once in a while, someone would offer a compliment, whimper, or flick open a bottle of lube, prompting Zoom to showcase them as the featured speaker. By the half-hour mark, all conversation had ceased, save frequent requests from the host to please mute when there was disruptive background noise. Some things dont change.

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To back up slightly: When I got an email on Saturday from a queer New York City sex party, I almost didnt open it. The weekend before, as New Yorkers were beginning to self-isolate en masse, some sex party organizers had minimized the crisis. But this party in particularand there are several such groups in the city, meeting monthly or more in semi-secret dungeonshas always been my favorite.

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The host, whom Ill call Peter, has a genius for prosocial hedonism. His parties are inclusive and consent-minded (and very fun), and he had proactively, eloquently cancelled this months installment. In its place, he wrote on Saturday, we could join him for an hour on Zoom. The first gathering took place that night, and another was announced for Sunday.

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I Zoomed Sunday afternoon with four friends, one of whom was coming directly from a Zen temple meeting on Zoom. (Zoom, if youre unfamiliar, has become the favored video-conferencing service of the quarantine, for whatever reason.) As the hour of group Zoom sex approached, I hid some dirty dishes and showered, but I didnt brush my teeth or purify any other orifices. I did put on a jockstrap under my sweatpants.

Someone logged on, shouted What the hell is going on?, and broke down in laughter.

I have outgrown most of my shyness in queer sex spaces, but I dont think anyone ever leaves it behind fully. As I waited at my work-from-home desk for the host to start the meeting, I flushed as red as the time I cluelessly stumbled into a hardcore leather bar in Berlin, nearly a decade ago, with my hapless older sister in tow.

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Though I know my angles on FaceTime, Snapchat, and Skype, Ive never cammed, and I keep my face out of most of my nudes. I wasnt sure if Id breach that policy tonight. To make matters worse, I indelibly associate Zoom with newsroom pitch meetingsa far more terrifying and naked experience than any orgy Ive ever attended.

I entered the meeting with my video off. Peter, who is serious but not intimidating, came onscreen and made smalltalk. There was no pressure to show your face or anything else, he explained in soothing tones: I just want to make sure everyone feels like they have an outlet. The previous night, a three-hour jerk-off party had been full of talking. Some participants had been dealing with symptoms of the coronavirus.

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The first guy on Sunday to turn on his video appeared in complete darkness with dramatic opera music blasting. He was calling in from Buenos Aires, had never attended one of the parties in New York, did not know how he got on the mailing list, and, once he turned on a light, was handsome. The opera faded out, some lurkers turned their cameras on, and the conversation took on the friendly, nervous rhythm of an age-diverse gay book club. I turned my camera on.

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The stroking began soon after, our various rhythms and timbres overlapping like a minimalist composition. I switched for a while to the apps gallery view, a grid of dicks, slack jaws, bellies, and butts, mine included. Peter would restate the guidelines whenever a newcomer joined. By minute 40, Hi, were all here jacking off, please turn your sound off had become Welcome to the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. (Sex noises were permitted.) Someone logged on, shouted What the hell is going on?, and broke down in laughter.

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Toward the end, a threesome dialed in and showed us some spit-roasting. Peter asked us to let him know if we were going to come, so he could focus the view; a few people did. When the hour was up, we all said good night.

Have these past few days been the quietest period in history for casual sex in New York City? Thats how it ought to be. But for those of us who count the demimonde among our social support systems and as one of the core civic amenities of urban life, the temporary loss of nightclubs and sex parties has added to the strain. Some of these institutions will survive; others will go the way of the pornos, the piers, and the raunchy bars of which literally one remains.

For now, the last redoubt is virtual. Im grateful for the party. Like all my other videoconferences and stretched-out phone calls this weekplaying games with friends, cooking with my parents, lighting the Shabbat candles with my grandmotherthere was a sweetness to it, real sustenance, mixed with the painful awareness of uncertainty and separation.

For more on Zoom sex parties, check out the April episode of Outward, Slates LGBTQ podcast.
Good morning.

(Heres the sign-up, if you dont already get California Today by email.)

It wasnt just you: Too many people really were outside this weekend.

Normally, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference on Monday, it would light up my heart, to see tens of thousands of people enjoying Californias beaches on a gorgeous day.

But Mr. Newsom said that while the impulse to get outdoors was understandable, we cant see what we saw this weekend.

So, he said, the state would enact what he described as soft closures of state parks: Their parking lots would be closed, but the parks themselves wouldnt be blocked off completely.
Quantzig, a global data analytics and advisory firm, that delivers actionable analytics solutions to resolve complex business problems analyzes how the impact of coronavirus has disrupted E-commerce supply chains. The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected lives globally and controlling the current situation is of utmost importance for businesses across industries.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005222/en/

As individuals continue to take extra precautions to shield themselves from COVID-19, businesses are facing major challenges in protecting their margins from the impact of a pandemic. Request a FREE proposalto explore the benefits of supply chain analytics in e-commerce.

While many enterprises have dedicated teams and risk management departments who are experienced in dealing with supply chain disruptions, for many E-commerce businesses this kind of e-commerce supply chain disruption is a new event that many are unprepared for. Since disruptions in supply chain operations can impact businesses significantly, there is a growing need for businesses to devise a better supply network. However, it's critical to understand and predict how your customers and competitors will respond to the economic downturn. For some, it may turn out to be a golden opportunity to pick up market share, build customer loyalty, and implement better ecommerce supply chain models. For others, demand may plummet and swift action on supply chain revamp and marketing changes may be needed. Considering many such factors, its crucial to note that there is no golden rule to drive supply chain efficiency other than understanding your customers and the current market conditions.

Speak to an expert to find out how we can help you make the most of supply chain data to drive decision-making.

Leading ecommerce giants are now leveraging supply chain analytics to analyze different scenarios to effectively monitor the situation and carry out preventive measures to overcome complexities.

Quantzig's supply analytics capabilities can help you leverage data-driven insights to analyze the current situation in the following ways:

Real-time monitoring to tackle supply chain disruptions Risk assessments to analyze supply chain risks Route and inventory planning based on the latest market conditions OTIF optimization to identify key factors affecting compliance related to carrier, equipment availability, warehouse, and lane traffic

For ecommerce organizations looking to leverage analytics, it's crucial to note that the industry as a whole is fraught with challenges. And to add to their woes, the regulatory environment is getting stricter with new, advanced technologies paving their way into mainstream business operations. The additional pressures on the ecommerce supply chain are now promoting businesses to seek innovative paths to drive profits, and what better way to do so than through the use of advanced supply chain analytics solutions.

Schedule a FREE demo with our ecommerce supply chain analytics experts to learn how we can help you combine data-driven insights in a meaningful way to enhance efficiency and outcomes.

About Quantzig

Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on our engagement policies and pricing plans, visit: https://www.quantzig.com/request-for-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005222/en/

Contacts:

Quantzig

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 538 7144

UK: +44 208 629 1455

https://www.quantzig.com/contact-us
Kamlendra Kanwar

With the return of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in Madhya Pradesh time has come a full circle in the states politics. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was Chief Minister for 13 years is back in the saddle. The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Congress government fell after Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party and joined the BJPalong with him about two dozen MLAs also switched camp.

The 22 legislators who joined the BJP after deserting the Congress belonged to the Scindia faction. The scion of the Gwalior royal family Scindia had been sore for quite a while at being ignored by the Congress high command even as the old guard, of Nath and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, assumed dominance in Madhya Pradesh. He was denied chief ministership and purported promises to him to anoint him as Pradesh Congress Committee chief were not honoured. The last straw on the camels back was when he was not the first of the two names to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP, hurt by the manner in which Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray was hijacked by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to set up the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, was looking for an opportunity to get even with the Congress, and found it in Scindias revolt. In a quid pro quo, Scindia quit the Congress to join the BJP and his legislator-supporters formed a group that was holed up in a Bengaluru resort insulated from the Congress until the appropriate time arrived for them to cross over to the BJP.

The former Congressmen (now in the BJP) are waiting to be rewarded with ministerial berths in the new government under Chouhan, while Scindia has obtained a BJP nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

For the BJP, Chouhan was always the frontrunner, though briefly Narendra Singh Tomars name too did the rounds. The old warhorse that Chouhan is, he was finally considered the safest bet at a time when crucial by-elections are slated which would have a bearing on the longevity of the new government.

Soon after his swearing-in late night on March 23, Chouhan said his first priority would be to combat Covid-19. He evidently has his priorities in order.

Speculation is rife on how many ministerial berths the Scindia faction would be getting. While eight is a number that is deemed to be likely, inevitably, in such situations there would be pulls and counter pulls. What figure the BJP top brass settles for would be dependent on the jockeying at the state level.

Be that as it may, unlike the faction-ridden Congress, where stability was always an issue, the BJP government would predictably be stable. If things go according to plan, the BJP government would complete its term.

The first hurdle would of course be the by-elections to 25 assembly seats: 22 MLAs resigning or being expelled from the Congress, one BJP MLA resigning and two seats falling vacant after the demise of sitting members (both from the BJP).

The BJP would indeed have to do very well in those to re-assert its hold on power. That it would come out triumphant is well on the cards, especially because the party is well-organised and has learnt some lessons from the debacle that led to the loss of power.

Many other lessons need to be learnt in the context of return to power. Corruption is an albatross around the neck of the BJPs state unit. It will now need to reform itself and establish its credentials as a non-corrupt party with an undying spirit of service to the community.

Bureaucratic hurdles, red tape and the lack of ease of doing business are other roadblocks in the path of efficient functioning of a government. The new government would be tested on these parameters.

That the BJP lost power should constantly remind its leaders of the need to justify the peoples trust. The onus would be on Chouhan to prove his credentials as a leader who can lend a measure of stability to Madhya Pradesh and meet the challenges that the new dispensation would be faced with.
Seven Middle Eastern countries have suspended all commercial flights due to a fast-spreading new virus as the aviation industry's largest trade association announced on Thursday that airlines in the region have already lost more than $7 billion in revenue

Dubai: Seven Middle Eastern countries have suspended all commercial flights due to a fast-spreading new virus as the aviation industry's largest trade association announced on Thursday that airlines in the region have already lost more than $7 billion in revenue (translates to roughly over Rs 50,000 crore).

The International Air Transport Association, which represents around 290 airlines worldwide, said the travel restrictions that countries have imposed to slow down the spread of the virus "have more far-reaching implications than anything we have seen before".

The group called for emergency aid of up to $200 billion for airlines globally. In the Middle East alone, 16,000 passenger flights have been cancelled since the end of January. The financial losses translate into hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, IATA said.

The Middle East has some 20,000 cases of the virus, with most cases in Iran or linked to travel from Iran. The virus killed another 149 people in the past 24 hours in Iran, pushing the death toll there to 1,284 amid over 18,000 confirmed cases. Already, major carriers like Emirates have urged pilots and cabin crew to take unpaid leave. Reports have emerged that Qatar Airways laid off several hundred employees. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Job losses in the Middle East have especially far-reaching consequences to the millions of foreign workers who send remittances back home to families in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and eastern European countries. Gulf states like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates rely heavily on foreigners to work as airport support staff, pilots, cleaners and cabin crew.

"A lot of jobs are at risk, economies of the nations are being impacted and airline business in the Middle East is taking a bit hit," Muhammad Albakri, IATA's regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, said in a phone conference with reporters.

"We are suffering, we are struggling. We are bleeding," he said in his most urgent appeal yet to governments to step in and urgently help many of these state-owned airlines by cutting taxes and offering direct financial assistance.

On Thursday, Egypt and Lebanon became the latest two countries in the Middle East to shut down airports and suspend all passenger flights, joining Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco.

Sudan's transitional government reopened airports for 48 hours only to allow Sudanese stranded abroad to return home and expats to leave the country. Libya's rival governments have also closed airports and border crossings, allowing only humanitarian and cargo flights. Other countries have largely limited or halted all flights and border crossings. Some, such as Iraq and Lebanon, have ordered citizens to stay home to contain the virus.

Private businesses, restaurants and government institutions have been ordered shut across many countries in the region, leaving only bakeries, supermarkets and pharmacies open as well as some banks. Since February, Israeli national carrier El Al has laid off 1,000 employees and put another 5,500 on unpaid vacation, "almost all" of its staff, company spokesman Eitan Atias told the AP. It has reduced its flights from 47 destinations globally to just six: New York, Newark, Paris, London, Toronto and Johannesburg.

Albakri said international bookings are down 40 percent for Mideast airlines and domestic bookings are also similarly impacted. The loss of $7.2 billion in revenue as of March 11 is in comparison to last year's revenue at the same time, he said.

In Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, some 138,000 jobs are immediately at risk and $1 billion in airline revenue has been lost, according to IATA. In Saudi Arabia, which suspended the year-round Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, $3 billion have been lost and more than 140,000 people could lose their jobs.

Albakri said airlines at best have two to three months of cash on hand to carry them through.

He said another 163,000 people are at risk of losing their jobs in the United Arab Emirates, home to the region's biggest carrier Emirates and the world's busiest airport for international travel in Dubai.

The UAE's airlines have absorbed $2.8 billion in base revenue loss, Albakri said. The UAE has not shut its airports but has barred the entry of all visitors and even its foreign residents who are currently abroad. The decision, which could last at least two weeks, impacts people whose homes, children, bank accounts and livelihoods are in the country, but who were travelling or outside the country. Only Emirati citizens are allowed to return.

The UAE is unique in that only about 10 percent of its population, or about 1 million people, are Emirati citizens. The other 90 percent are foreign residents who fuel its economy and keep the country running. They hold the vast majority of jobs in construction, transportation, hospitality, sales, medicine, education and other key sectors.

The UAE also announced it was suspending all new labour permits, including those for drivers and domestic workers, until "further notice". For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

Seventeen doctors, including five former health ministers, urged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a letter to impose a widespread quarantine to prevent further infections and deaths, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran joined other countries in ordering on Thursday all shopping centres closed for two weeks. Only pharmacies and food stores will be open, state media reported. Iran also announced Thursday that 10,000 prisoners, among them an unknown number of inmates whose cases are political and related to activism or speech, would be granted amnesty under a decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the occasion of the new year, called Nowruz.

The country has already released 85,000 prisoners on temporary leave to curb the spread of the virus inside prisons.
There is nothing quite as frustrating as being involved in a hit and run accident. You were following the rules of the road, but the other driver was not, and they caused an accident that they refuse to take responsibility for. You may have expected to exchange information with the driver when suddenly the driver sped off without giving you the opportunity to even jot the license plate number down.

It is frustrating, stressful, and downright upsetting to have the experience of getting into a hit and run accident, especially when you are injured and not sure what to do. You might think you will not get compensation for your injuries because the driver took off, but that is not exactly true. In fact, Thomas J. Henry Law wants you to know how to get compensation after a hit and run accident.

Contact the Police

As soon as the hit and run accident happens, call the police. While you may not have been able to get the license plate number, there are some things you might remember about the vehicle, including its make, model, and color. Provide the best possible description to the police because then they can be on the lookout for a vehicle that matches that description and has some sort of damage to it from the accident. You may be surprised to know that the police will often find vehicles that are involved in a hit and run accident when they have a detailed description of what the vehicle looked like.

If the police do end up finding the driver, you can talk to the Texas hit and run attorney and file a lawsuit against the driver. In addition to facing possible criminal charges for leaving the scene of the accident without providing any information, the driver of that vehicle may be sued in civil court. The attorney would want to get compensation for you because of the injuries and damage to your vehicle, which would often come from the hit and run drivers insurance company.

Make a Claim with Your Insurance Company

If the police are unable to find the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident, you might assume that it is a lost cause. You could believe that it would be impossible for you to receive any form of compensation, but that is false. A Texas car accident attorney could help you provide enough evidence to your insurance company to get compensation from them. Although it may take longer for you to get the compensation you need due to your injuries, an attorney would fight for your right to compensation, even if it means negotiating back and forth with the insurance company.

Did You Get in a Hit and Run Accident? Hire Thomas J. Henry Law to Handle Your Case

It is naturally frustrating to get into a hit and run accident. The other driver fails to take accountability for their actions, and you end up with the injuries and damages to your vehicle that you are worried about having to pay for out of your own pocket.

While it is normal for you to have concerns about the situation, you simply need to contact a Texas personal injury attorney for the best advice on how to handle the situation. At Thomas J. Henry Law, we want you to know it is still possible to receive compensation despite getting into an accident with a hit and run driver. If you want to know more, call us at 866-517-5659 or complete our contact form.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
Ahead of their official debut on March 26th, frequent leaker Ishan Agarwal has shared a bunch of information about Huawei's newest phones, detailing both the P40 Pro and P40. As expected, the P40 Pro is all about photography. The phone will reportedly feature a 50-megapixel wide camera, 40-megapixel telephoto camera, a time-of-flight depth sensor and one more (likely ultra-wide) 12-megapixel camera. According to Agarwal, the telephoto camera will be able to zoom in on subjects by a factor of up to 50x.

Obviously, that's not as much zoom as you can get on the S20 Ultra. But considering the 100x Space Zoom feature on Samsung's flagship doesn't deliver great results, it's probably not a big deal.

In the display cutout toward the top left corner of its 6.58-inch screen, the P40 Pro will include a 32-megapixel front-facing camera and depth sensor. In theory, the added depth sensor should allow the P40 Pro to render a more realistic and eye-catching depth of field effect when you use portrait mode to take a selfie.

Agarwal says the phone will also include a component called the Huawei XD Fusion Engine. While we don't know too many details about this feature, it seems likely it will function a lot like Google's Pixel Visual Core. That is, it will probably reduce the time it takes for the phone to compile HDR photos and enhance various other aspects of its photography capabilities.

Internally, both the P40 Pro and P40 will reportedly feature the company's Kirin 990 processor. We detailed the 990 when Huawei announced the chip at IFA Berlin this past September. It's interesting in that it features an integrated 5G modem that isn't compatible with mmWave frequencies. As such, we won't see the kind of speed tests that the S20 has been able to put up in ideal conditions.

Agarwal didn't say how much RAM the P40 Pro will include, nor did he mention anything about potential storage configurations. So we don't have a full picture of the phone's performance capabilities. That said, he does note it will include a 4,200mAh battery. Both the S20+ and S20 Ultra feature larger batteries.

Story continues

Where the P40 Pro may feature an edge over Samsung's latest phones is support for 40W wireless fast charging. To be clear, Agarwal notes he's not certain here. But if accurate, it will be interesting to see how that feature affects the long-term health of the P40 Pro's battery.

Huawei P40

As you might expect, the P40 is a less exciting version of its more capable sibling. Agarwal claims it will feature a 6.1-inch display and a triple camera array made up of 50-megapixel, 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors. Notably, the phone's zoom feature will top out at 30x. It will also feature a smaller 3,800mAh battery and won't have the depth sensors of its more expensive sibling. That said, it will still feature the P40 Pro's XD Fusion Engine.

The two phones may also include a workaround for the lack of Google apps. XDA Developers recently found evidence the company is working on an app that will point people to websites where they can download APKs of apps that aren't available on the company's AppGallery.
Audi Bahrain has added a compact SUV in coupe shape to its model range: the Audi Q3 Sportback.

The new model combines the strong presence and versatile everyday convenience of an SUV with the sporty elegance and agile handling of a coupe. This makes it the first compact crossover of the Audi brand.

The Audi Q3 Sportback stands for strength and precision to an equal degree, and reflects this in all design details. The black grille of the octagonal Singleframe is strongly three-dimensional in design, and this makes it particularly sporty. The same applies for the trapezoidal air inlets and the expressive bumper with its flat blade. Above the wheels, strong contours draw attention to the quattro drive, which comes as standard with most engines.

In the city, on long-haul routes, or on easy terrain  the compact crossover is a dynamic all-rounder. It features progressive steering as standard, whose gear ratio becomes increasingly direct as the steering angle increases, and the sport suspension, says Audi.

Depending on the driving situation, road condition, and personal preferences, the driver can vary the cars characteristics via the standard dynamic handling system, Audi drive select, in six profiles, including the offroad mode.

The Audi Q3 Sportback has a large and highly variable interior. The rear seats offer space for three people. The front seats  electrically adjustable and heated on request  offer a sporty position and a high level of comfort. In addition, Alcantara surfaces on the instrument panel and the armrests emphasize the progressive design philosophy. When driving in the dark, the optional contour/ambient lighting package sets lighting accents with its 30 selectable colours.

The operating and display concept proves how Audi is pushing ahead with digitalization: It comes with 10.25-inch screen diagonal, which the driver operates using the multifunction steering wheel. In the top-of-the-line system, MMI navigation plus, the displays appear in the Audi virtual cockpit, which offers many additional functions, Audi says.

A touch display measuring 10.1 inches is positioned in the centre of the instrument panel. Together with the air-conditioning control unit located beneath it, the display is ergonomically tilted 10 deg towards the driver.

The Audi Q3 Sportback is now available at the Audi Centre Bahrain, starting from

BD21,990 ($58,167) inclusive of five years service package, five years manufacturers warranty and five years of roadside assistance, it says.
What the government, both federal and provincial, has done thus far to help citizens and businesses is a good start, but doesnt go far enough.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that citizens shouldnt have the worry about paying their rent during this time of crisis, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Since then nothing seems to have done to show that private citizens, or business owners who are also tenants, actually have nothing to worry about.

To be sure, Premier Doug Ford has restricted evictions during this crisis, but whos to say that landlords wont evict tenants down the road because they missed rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My partner and I have decided that food and other necessities take priority over rent this month and possibly next.

We are hoping that our landlords understand our situation, but there are no guarantees they will respond appropriately.

Its a very stressful time for all those involved in the rental industry (tenants, landlords and their rental managers).

Having additional stress during an already stressful period  will only serve to make matters worse.

Loans are available to small business owners to keep their businesses from going under.

Why not landlords?

Im not asking that rent be cancelled. Mortgages are being deferred, so it feels like the only folks getting help are those who own homes and people who cannot afford to own are being discriminated against.

For many tenants, April 1, 2020 and the days leading up to it will be unbearably stressful.

Help us!

Bradley Shea, Welland, Ont.

Read more about:
The national Ray White agency says its agents will continue to host virtual property tours, private inspections and on-line/digital auctions.

Their determination was announced after the Tuesday night announcement of the Prime Minister on new bans as of midnight Wednesday March 25, 2020.

"We can take heart from the statement that 'all workers in the economy are essential' and we will carefully adhere to the latest restrictions," Ray White Group managing director Dan White said.

"The key message to take away is that all real estate onsite and in room auctions and open house inspections will be cancelled as of Wednesday night, but our members will still be able to host virtual property tours, private inspections and on-line/digital auctions, as we have been encouraging."

The industry had unsuccessfully lobbied politicians to make estate agents classified as essential.

"Real estate auctions and open house inspections, in particular open house inspections  that cannot continue," PM Scott Morrison said last night.

"In the retail space, auction houses, gatherings together in auction rooms, that can no longer continue," he added, noting Australians would "stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary that you go out."

Were trying to limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmission of that virus, Mr Morrison said.

Mr White said the restrictions "will no doubt provide us with some challenges, we view them as necessary to face the current crisis and welcome the opportunity to continue to support the many Australians who rely on us to support them in renting, buying, selling and managing their homes."

Mr White said no other restrictions were announced for either property management or sales businesses, subject to other restrictions on physical distancing and hygiene.

He pointed out the "clear and significant need of the millions of residential and commercial tenants who will also need support during this time, whether it be for routine maintenance requests or for the more serious matters that will result from widespread financial hardship."
How do you take a kid in for having respiratory problems and you dont test him? he said, using a vulgarity. I am so livid.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, was then treated at a second hospital, where he died, the mayor said. The positive test results did not come back until after his death, and it was unclear when the test was taken.

The boys father, an Uber driver, is also sick, Mr. Parris said.

Im really upset right now. I thought this was a disease that affected people my age, said Mr. Parris, 68. Now I realize our kids are at risk  thats something totally different.

He said that children in Lancaster are now ordered to stay at home, and that if they were found outside, they would be taken back to their homes. We are enforcing the law in Lancaster, he said. I will not lose another child.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported three deaths linked to the coronavirus, including the teenager, bringing the total number of deaths in the area to 11. Officials said that two people between the ages of 50 and 70, one with underlying heath conditions, had also died.

Each loss we experience in L.A. County is tragic, and we are sending our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones whove had to endure this tragedy, Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said in a statement. Covid-19 does not discriminate by age, race or income level.

Officials said 256 new cases had been reported across Los Angeles County over the last two days, bringing the total number of cases there to 662. In the United States, as of Tuesday night, there have been at least 53,478 cases of coronavirus confirmed by lab tests and 714 deaths, according to a New York Times database.
Jodhpur: The number of patients infected with the coronavirus is continuously increasing in Rajasthan. Two more corona virus-infected patients have been confirmed in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. A total of 3 Corona positive cases have been registered in Jodhpur city so far. A corona positive patient has also been found in Pali district. All of them are undergoing treatment at the Mathura Das Mathur Hospital in Jodhpur.

Police taking action against those who roam during lock down

According to the information, the first corona positive case was found in Jodhpur district on March 22 in Shastri Nagar area. The young man had gone to attend a Turkish wedding from 8 March to 19 March and returned on Sunday. On Monday, the investigation report of his uncle and aunt came positive after the young man returned from Turkey was found to be corona infected. These two are kept in an isolation ward.

Ajit Jogi writes letter to PM Modi, "I appeal to declare Medical Emergency"

Both husband and wife, who were found positive on Monday evening, are 62 and 59 years old respectively. They are being admitted to different wards and being treated. Both of them live in the same house with their nephew. He also gets affected with corona due to contact with nephew who returned from Turkey. The administration has completely sealed his house and the surrounding area in Shastri Nagar due to precaution. A team from the medical department is conducting door-to-door surveys in the entire area to find out who came in contact with the infected young man.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan sworn in as Madhya Pradesh CM for fourth time
Coronavirus: 230 infected in Algeria, 90% imported, 17 dead Country in isolation and Blida worst-hit region

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 24 - Some 230 cases of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, have been found in Algeria as of Tuesday.



Seventeen people with the virus have died, according to a statement issued by a special commission set to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the health ministry. The worst-hit region in Algeria is Blida and 90% of the cases were ''imported'' from Europe. The entire country is in ''isolation'' after the latest restrictions decreed by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.



(ANSAmed).




Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 24, 2020

2020/03/24

According to the latest figures from the NHC, March 23 saw 456 patients cured and discharged from hospital in China's mainland, bringing the tally to 73,159.

CCTV: Last Friday you announced that China and Latin American and Caribbean countries would hold a video conference for experts on COVID-19 to exchange views. Could you tell us more about this meeting? Did it live up to the expectations of participating countries?

Geng Shuang: On March 24, experts on COVID-19 from China and Latin American and Caribbean countries exchanged views in a video conference. About 200 officials and experts from China, Latin American and Caribbean countries having diplomatic relations with China, and Nicaragua, as well as representatives of WHO, UNICEF, the Pan American Health Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank attended the video conference, which lasted for over three hours and achieved positive results.

Chinese experts talked in detail about the trajectory and features of the epidemic and Chinese experience in disease control, clinical treatment, customs administration and community-based quarantine and gave thorough answers to their foreign counterparts' questions.

Foreign officials and experts spoke highly of China's effective measures to contain the virus and its important contributions to global public health security. They believed this timely, professional and efficient video conference offered important guidance for their countries. They would like to draw on China's experience and maintain communication and coordination with China to defeat the pandemic together.

Going forward, China will uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and follow closely the situation in Latin American and Caribbean countries. We will do our utmost to coordinate domestic resources and enhance cooperation with these countries in light of their needs to jointly overcome the challenge posed by the virus.

The Paper: In an interview with the Chinese ambassador to the US, American journalist Jonathan Swan said the Chinese government expelled the three Wall Street Journal reporters because of critical coverage of the Communist Party's response to the coronavirus, and then the US government capped the staff of Chinese state-owned media outlets. Do you agree with him?

Geng Shuang: We stated China's position for many times. The measures taken by the Chinese side against the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, among other US media, are all necessary countermeasures against US' unreasonable oppression of Chinese media in recent years. The US side provoked China first and China was only responding in legitimate self-defense.

Last week, I briefed you on the discriminatory restrictions the US has long imposed on Chinese journalists with regard to visa, administrative review and reporting. The All-China Journalists Association detailed all that in a statement (http://www.zgjx.cn/2020-03/12/c_138871257.htm) issued on March 12. I would like to stress the following.

Dating back to December 2018, the US demanded certain Chinese media organizations in the US to register as "foreign agents". In February 2020, it designated five Chinese media organizations in the US as "foreign missions". On March 2, the US announced personnel cap on the above-mentioned five media organizations in the US, demanding 60 Chinese journalists to leave the US before March 13, which in effect expelled 60 Chinese journalists. Since 2018, the US has indefinitely delayed approval and even denied application of visa for 30 US-based Chinese journalists, and nine of them were unable to reenter the US after returning home on leave.

The facts are very clear. The US, out of its long-standing ideological bias against China, has continuously escalated its political oppression and unreasonable restrictions on Chinese journalists. This is simply intolerable.

I would like to stress once again that China welcomes media and journalists from all over the world to do their job in China in accordance with laws and regulations and we will continue to provide convenience and assistance. What we oppose is ideological bias towards China, fake news in the name of press freedom, and violation of professional ethics.

The Wall Street Journal published an insulting article with a blatantly racist headline, which is unacceptable in any country. Our position has been repeated many times earlier on.

Reuters: The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal published an open letter today, calling for the Chinese government to change its decision to expel their journalists. Have you seen the letter and is China going to reconsider?

Geng Shuang: I haven't read this letter yet. But as I recall, we made it very clear on this podium that the measures taken by the Chinese side against relevant US media are all necessary countermeasures and legitimate self-defense in response to US unreasonable oppression of Chinese media in recent years. We are not the reason and the responsible party for the current situation. If any US media agencies, including those you mentioned, have any problems with it, they should raise the complaints to the US government.

As for whether China will reconsider the decision, I shall say the top priority for now is that the US should change its wrong course immediately and stop political oppression and unwarranted restriction against Chinese media.

China Daily: China has deplored and rejected the phrase "Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus" used by a few individuals in the US. However, US Secretary of State Pompeo still used "Wuhan virus" in his tweet on March 23. Do you have anything more to say on this?

Geng Shuang: The Chinese side has repeated many times that some people in the US have been seeking by every means to link the virus with China and stigmatize China. This was met with strong indignation and firm objection from the Chinese people. WHO and the international community explicitly oppose linking the virus with any specific country or region and reject stigmatization.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "it is shameful to see increasing acts of racial discrimination and prejudice as we fight the COVID19 pandemic" and "we must always fight racism and prejudice". EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said the virus knows no border and we need cooperation and multilateralism, instead of competition and recrimination, in face of the common challenge for mankind. It is not the time for countries to blame one another with terms like "Chinese virus". WHO believes that we should avoid calling it "Chinese virus". Now is the moment for solidarity, for respecting facts and for fighting together.

Some in the US who can still see things clearly have publicly opposed the saying of "Chinese virus", pointing out that it is bald-faced racism and xenophobia. They believe that calling it "Chinese virus" will expose certain people under the risk of racism and violence. The novel coronavirus affects everyone and needs to be tackled with joint efforts, instead of fear-mongering in a xenophobic way. Many mainstream media and think tanks in the US have also strongly criticized the absurd remarks made by certain American individuals.

Recently, there have been some arguments between China and the US about the origin of the virus. I want to point out that it was the US side that started this argument. It was also the US that first claimed that the virus originated in China and used such terms as "Chinese virus" and "Wuhan virus". According to media reports, as early as March 6, Pompeo started to use "Wuhan virus" in public remarks. Since then, some US politicians and senior officials have been using this term to stigmatize China, causing great anger and strong opposition from the Chinese people. What I just cited are public records. There is no way for the US to deny this.

Finally, I wish certain people in the US could heed the reasonable voice at home and from the international community and stop making wrongful remarks that stigmatize China. We hope they can understand that confounding public opinion, deflecting responsibilities and shouting "Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus" will not help with their own or the international efforts against the pandemic. The top priority for the US should be focusing on putting their own house in order and working with China and the international community to contribute to the global fight against the pandemic.

CRI: You talked about the imported cases yesterday. Could you tell us the latest number of these cases? How many of them are foreigners? Are most of them Chinese coming back from overseas?

Geng Shuang: Journalist with the Press Trust of India asked about this yesterday, and later on we gathered more information from the competent authorities. According to their statistics, as of 24:00 on March 23, a total of 427 confirmed imported cases had been reported. 380 cases are Chinese nationals and the rest 47 cases are foreign nationals.

Phoenix TV: At present, the virus is spreading rapidly outside China, and many countries in Europe and the US are facing grim situations. Many overseas compatriots, students overseas in particular, are very anxious about whether they should return to their motherland or not. What kind of help have the Chinese embassies and consulates provided to the Chinese students overseas?

Geng Shuang: After the outbreak of COVID-19, overseas Chinese students are concerned about their motherland. We are deeply touched by their initiative of donating money and goods in support of the fight against the epidemic in China. We are very proud of them. As the virus continues to spread overseas, we also care about the safety and health of our overseas compatriots including these students.

Recently, our foreign missions overseas have made it a priority to help overseas students in their study, daily life and self-protection. They have taken actions to fully mobilize resources to help these students address practical difficulties.

Our embassies and consulates are in close contact with the governments, competent departments and schools of the host countries, asking them to attach great importance to and effectively protect the health and safety of our overseas students and their legitimate rights and interests.

They have been timely issuing and updating consular warnings to ensure students are well-informed of the response policies of the countries they stay in and services offered by our embassies and consulates.

They have set up hotlines for overseas students and their parents in China to comfort them and respond to their concerns.

They have provided students with special tips and professional and scientific prevention and control guidance by opening up online consulting platforms and inviting medical professionals to share relevant knowledge.

They also gave students in need free masks, disinfectant solution and hand soap to help them overcome immediate difficulties.

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the US, recently conducted an online conversation with Chinese students in the US. Liu Xiaoming, Ambassador to the UK, and Wu Ken, Ambassador to Germany, were interviewed by CCTV separately, answering questions and offering thorough explanations on various issues of general concern to the overseas students. In addition, Chinese embassies and consulates in other countries and their officials in charge have also published open letters and took interviews to guide overseas students to stay calm, objectively assess the situation, rationally weigh their option of whether to come back to China or not.

Recently, the Chinese embassies in the UK, France, Italy and Saudi Arabia distributed "health kits" containing epidemic prevention materials and guidelines to Chinese students, encouraging science-based response and self-protection and extending care and support from the Party, the government and people back in China. Students said they did feel that they are cared for and backed up by the Party, the government and their loved ones back in China. They feel that the Chinese embassies and consulates are always behind them. In the next step, our embassies and consulates in relevant countries will also take into account the reality of the host countries and timely distribute these materials to the majority of overseas students affected by the epidemic.

Finally, I would like to stress once again that the Party and the government are always concerned about the health and safety of overseas students. For them, the motherland is always their strong backing. China's foreign embassies and consulates will always be there by their side through the hard times.

Kyodo News: This afternoon the Japanese government approved new school textbooks renewing the claim that Senkaku Islands are Japan's inherent territory. What is your comment?

Geng Shuang: Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. We are determined and resolved to safeguard our territorial sovereignty. The fact that Diaoyu Island belongs to China cannot be altered no matter what the Japanese side says or does.

We urge the Japanese side to act in strict accordance with the spirit of the four-point principled agreement between the two sides and make concrete actions to improve bilateral relations.

Bloomberg News: At least seven Chinese nationals who work for US media companies have been informed to quit by the Beijing Personnel Service Corporation for Diplomatic Missions. As the BDS is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are you not a responsible party for this decision? Why were these Chinese nationals forced to quit from their companies?

Geng Shuang: I answered this question last week. My answer remains the same. Relevant departments in China, including the one you mentioned, regulate affairs related to Chinese employees of the Chinese offices of foreign media agencies in accordance with laws and regulations.

Follow-up: So what is the reason that these people are asked to resign from their positions?

Geng Shuang: Like I just said, relevant matters are handled in accordance with laws and regulations.

Reuters: The Taiwan authorities said they asked the WHO for more information on the coronavirus including the risk of human-to-human transmission in late December, but they got no answer. Is this because China pressured the WHO not to deal with Taiwan?

Geng Shuang: If I remember it right, the Spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has made a response to similar questions.

To be brief, the attempt for political play-up or manipulation under the pretext of this pandemic will not succeed. We believe that the WHO will properly resolve the relevant matter, as it always does, in accordance with the one-China principle and Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly.
More than 270 Indians are set to return from Iran in a special flight on Tuesday as part of efforts to evacuate some 500 pilgrims and students from the Covid-19-affected country by the end of the week, people familiar with developments said.

Irans Mahan Air will operate the special flight that will bring back the Indians who have already been screened and tested negative for the Coronavirus, the people said on condition of anonymity. The flight is expected to land in New Delhi after midnight on Tuesday.

Mahan Air is expected to operate another special flight on March 28 to evacuate more Indians, the people said.

We are looking to evacuate some 500 Indians, including pilgrims and students, from Iran by the end of this week, said one of the people cited above.

India has already evacuated close to 600 of its nationals from Iran, where 255 Indians tested positive for Covid-19. One of the people who tested positive died subsequently while the others are being treated by Iranian doctors at a special facility set up by the Indian embassy in the holy city of Qom.

The Indian embassy in Tehran has deployed its officials at several locations to help the stranded Indians, a majority of them Shia pilgrims from Ladakh and Kashmir. Iran is among the countries worst affected by the pandemic, with more than 21,600 infections and 1,685 deaths.

Meanwhile, the French embassy is coordinating with Indian authorities to arrange the evacuation of more than 1,000 French travellers stranded in the country. India suspended all international flights for a week from March 22 and there are indications this measure could be extended.

We are working with the Indian authorities and with airline companies to organise flights for French citizens currently on a visit in India, French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain told HT.

The embassy tweeted a message on Tuesday asking French travellers to report on a designated phone number and an email ID.

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- Kris Aquino gave an update about the current condition of her youngest son Bimby

- She revealed that the handsome child has cough and pneumonia

- The actress also stated that she has been awake for 24 hours monitoring the condition of her son

- She even warned the public to be mindful of simple illnesses because they might result to something bad

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Kris Aquino narrated to the public how she has been taking care of her son Bimby amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that the Philippines is experiencing.

KAMI learned that the celebrity and her family are staying in the spare room of their friends house after spending time with each other in Willie Revillames beach property.

The Queen of All Media revealed that her youngest son has a cough and pneumonia so she has been worrying about him every second.

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Kris also mentioned that she barely sleeps because she wants to make sure that Bimby does not experience chills and difficulty breathing, which are signs of COVID-19.

The prominent showbiz personality also reminded the public to never undermine coughs because they might mean something bad.

"I made the conscious decision to isolate ourselves My prayers were answered, hindi nagka fever si bimb. He took his 2nd dose of antibiotics, and okay ang appetite nya, she wrote.

Ive been awake 24 hours (all parents will understand me) nagbantay ako to make sure nakatulog sya, no chills, and hindi hirap huminga. Sharing this to remind everyone, wag dedmahin ang ubo she added.

In a previous article by , Kris penned a touching message in appreciation of Willie Revillames generosity.

Kris Aquino is one of the most popular celebrities in the Philippines. She is currently on showbiz hiatus because she wants to focus on her responsibilities as the mother of Josh and Bimby.

POPULAR: Read more news about Kris Aquino!

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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!

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But analysts say downward trend in share prices likely to continue as coronavirus batters global economy.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  As central banks throw trillions of dollars at the global economy to help buffer it against the ravages of the spreading coronavirus, stock markets in Asia and Europe rebounded on Tuesday from steep recent falls.

But analysts said the upward momentum is not expected to last, with much more economic pain likely ahead.

The United States Federal Reserve delivered a second wave of extraordinary measures on Monday to support the US economy, pledging to buy an unlimited amount of bonds and setting up programmes to ensure credit flows to companies, as well as state and local governments as business activity ground to a halt.

The unorthodox actions taken so far by the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed, offer a lifeline to companies and Americans affected by a health crisis that is quickly morphing into a global economic downturn.

More countries are going into self-isolation, while shops and other consumer-oriented businesses shut to curb the spread of the virus.

It does appear that the gains across the Asia market had mostly been an attempt to retrace some of Mondays steep losses in a fashion similar to past sessions, Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG, an online trading provider, told Al Jazeera.

Certainly, the Feds latest round of support measures had also been a strong show of the commitment from the central bank that helped to curb further downsides for the market on Monday, Pan said.

However, taking a look at the bigger picture, we continue to see both the US and Asia indices in a downtrend with the broad sentiment yet to show concrete improvement without a stabilisation of the coronavirus situation on a global scale, she said.

Temporary relief

The Feds measures provided some relief to jittery investors, sending most Asian stocks higher on Tuesday.

After losing more than a third of their value from their February highs, South Koreas Kospi Index rallied 8.6 percent, while Japans Nikkei 225 was up 7.13 percent, leading gains in Asia.

Contributing to the Nikkeis climb was technology investor SoftBank, whose shares leapt 19 percent, extending gains this week after the companys surprise announcement on Monday that it will sell $41bn of assets to buy back shares and reduce debt.

Chinas benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.3 percent, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index rose 4.5 percent.

European share markets were also sharply higher, with Germans Xetra DAX index surging by 6 percent in early trade.

And US stock index futures jumped to their highest limit before a temporary halt kicked in ahead of the open of cash trading in New York.

Oil prices rose, with Brent crude gaining 1.96 percent to $29.56 per barrel, extending gains from a near 17-year low reached last week, but below the days high in late Tuesday trading in Asia. US West Texas Intermediate was up 3.8 percent at $24.25 per barrel.

China said on Tuesday it plans to lift its unprecedented lockdown of the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first took hold, on April 8. It was an early sign that the local transmission of the disease is coming under control after two months of sealing the city and surrounding areas.

At least 14,750 people globally have died from the coronavirus, while more than 340,000 infections have been confirmed in at least 177 countries and territories.

Strengthen health systems  everywhere

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday joined a rising number of economists predicting a global recession this year, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. The IMF projected a downturn that could be at least as bad as that during the 2008 global financial crisis, followed by a recovery in 2021.

To get to [the recovery next year], it is paramount to prioritise containment and strengthen health systems  everywhere, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement after a conference call with finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Twenty (G20) top economies.

The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs is projecting global economic output will contract by about 1 percent in 2020, which would be worst than the year following the global financial crisis. The bank estimates Chinas economy is likely to contract by 42 percent in the first three months of this year compared with the previous quarter, according to a March 22 note.

Analysts are now concerned about delays in the US Senate to a spending package worth more than $1 trillion that would help affected US companies and ordinary Americans.

Disagreements between Republicans, who control the Senate, and Democrats, have stalled the bill.

The gains in Asian markets are tentative at best, with global equities likely to see more losses than gains over the near term. The downside bias is fuelled by investors who are still fearing the worst over COVID-19s eventual toll on the global economy, Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM, told Al Jazeera.

While the Feds pledge for unlimited bond purchases and other liquidity-boosting measures helped stabilise the markets, more needs to be done by policymakers, analysts said.

It is still critical to see both monetary policy and fiscal stimulus come together to present a coordinated front against the coronavirus outbreak and the oil shock, Freddy Lim, co-founder and chief investment officer of StashAway, a digital wealth management platform, told Al Jazeera.
Two more persons have tested positive for coronavirus infection, taking the number of virus afflicted cases in the state to 35, but 11 of them have been cured, a top official said on Tuesday.

"Two fresh cases, one each from Shamil and Nodia, were found positive for Corona virus on Tuesday. The total number of cases have now reached 35," Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan told reporters here.

He said of the 35 cases , 11 infected people, however, have been cured and discharged from hospitals, bring the count down to 24.

Those cured include seven from Agra, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Lucknow and Noida, said Mohan, adding conditions of others, undergoing treatment, are stable.

Elaborating on arrangements in the UP hospitals to treat suspected cases, the officer said the state presently has 2,800 isolation beds and the number will soon be increased to over 11,000.

"The chief minister has directed to start 200 beds each in 51 medical colleges, including the private and government ones. We have 5,000 quarantine beds also available" he said.

The isolation beds are for the treatment of patients found corona-positive, while quarantine beds are for those suspected of of having infection and keeping them under observation, he said.

About testing facilities, the principal secretary said the facilities are now available in six places including three in Lucknow and one each in Aligarh, Varanasi and Meerut.

"Testing facilities will soon be available in Gorakpur and Saifai also. Private labs are also applying after the Centre issued guidelines for their accreditation," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Morrisons cashiers have been forced to work behind plastic shields as crowds of shoppers queued outside supermarkets up and down the UK, including Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda, on the first day of a country-wide lockdown.

Concerns have been raised by unions that supermarket staff are not being given the right protection while working in store as checkout staff are still having to handle items after shoppers place them on the conveyor belt.

Large crowds both inside and outside stores that have been seen over the last few weeks have heightened concerns that members of the public could be unknowingly passing on the illness to shop workers who don't always have the correct protective equipment such as rubber gloves.

While many customers have been asked by retailers to keep their distance from shop staff, workers have raised concerns that they have not been permitted to wear protective masks while on shift.

Suppliers of such products have understandably been prioritising the NHS and over 3,000 shop workers have now signed a petition campaigning for all workers to be provided with gloves and masks.

Shoppers across the country waited in line outside stores today after Boris Johnson last night asked people to only shop for essential items.

So far in the UK there have been 422 deaths from the coronavirus and 8,077 confirmed cases.

Union bosses today demanded that supermarkets up their security to protect staff from angry customers. By the end of the week Morrisons said it will aim to have screens that are 1.5 metres wide installed in all stores and at every check out.

The protective screens, which are one and a half metres wide and nearly one metre high, will mean that customers and checkout staff will be shielded and at a distance from each other. The clear screens will feature messages to explain social distancing measure and direct customers to small waist-height windows for transactions.

Morrisons aims to have 1.5 metre wide screens in all stores at every check out by the end of week, one cashier was pictured smiling behind the screen today

People were this afternoon seen lining up outside a Boots pharmacy in Batheaston near Bath, where they waited to stock up on toiletries

People were pictured outside Asda this morning in North Tyneside as they lined up to be let into the store amid a country-wide lockdown

Shoppers outside a Tesco store in Lewes, East Sussex, were seen lining up outside this morning with their shopping bags as they respected social distancing guidelines

The Tesco store in Lewes was operating a one in one out policy today in order for shoppers to remain safe while using their services

People stand apart as they wait for a Sainsbury's supermarket to open in south west London. One man was seen with his trolley in the street

People were this morning seen waiting outside a Pets at Home store today as they stood with their arms crossed to get their hands on pet supplies

Customers queue to shop at Costco in Thurrock, Essex. Many were attending the supermarket in groups while others lined up with their trolleys

People were seen queuing outside one Asda in Benton North Tyneside today, this is while as early as 6.30am people were waiting outside a Tesco's in East Sussex, where a 'one in one out' policy had been implemented.

Stricter controls on public movement were introduced last night and the Prime Minister also asked Britons to use online shopping services where possible.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) last night called on retailers to increase numbers of guards and to limit the number of customers allowed in at one time.

Speaking to the The Times they also said Perspex shields should be introduced on checkouts.

Outside one Asda store in North Tyneside, some decided not to respect social distancing guidelines and had crammed their trolleys next to each other

Banks also felt the strain this morning as some lined up outside this Santander branch in Manchester in order to use its services today

What social distancing? These customers outside a Costco store in Thurrock lined up close together as they waited to enter the store this morning

Morrisons stores will continue to take cash but customers will be encouraged to make contactless, Apple Pay or Google Pay card payments if possible. David Potts, Chief Executive of, Morrisons said:'We want to do our bit to help customers and colleagues from being affected and to help everyone observe social distancing at our checkouts. This will help us to continue to play our full part in feeding the nation it's more than our job.'

Morrisons became the second UK supermarket to introduce the screens after Aldi made the initial decision last week. Tesco is also said to be in talks to protect staff.

Paddy Lillis, the general secretary of the union told The Times that the scenes in supermarkets at the weekend proved that bosses need to protect workers.

Early doors. One woman is seen successfully walking out of a Tesco store with her trolley this morning as others waited in line to enter the supermarket

One shopper was this morning seen wearing a facemask and protective gloves after he dropped his trolley off a Tesco store in East Sussex

People observe social distancing while queuing at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Colton, on the outskirts of Leeds, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus

A man is seen wearing a protective face mask as people queue outside a Sainsbury's supermarket in south west London today, with many also bringing their own shopping bags

Usdaw also demanded more regular breaks for staff working in supermarkets and asked the NHS and elderly shopping hours were enforced, as many customers had been ignoring the rules.

Banks also remained open today and people were seen lining up outside a Santander in Manchester.

This is while social media users claimed that online delivery slots, that the Prime Minister has advocated for use, are currently backed up for weeks at a time.

One use said: 'All slots are fully booked for the next two-three weeks because of panic buying idiots who've never ordered an inline delivery before booking them for the first time'.

Another claimed to have 'scored' when they managed to pick up a packet of toilet roll at their local Co Op.

This is while one said: '@BorisJohnson it's all good saying use grocery deliveries which I do on a weekly basis but because of idiots panic buying majority of items are out of stock so I am forced to go out shopping to fill in the gaps. Sometimes having to visit several shops to try and find everything.'

As the Prime Minister last night advised people to only shop for the essentials he also asked that people only go outside once a day for exercise.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.

A Tesco worker is seen at the front of a store in East Sussex today welcoming customers to the store who got down early to get their shopping done

These shoppers were seen lined up outside a Tesco store in East Sussex this morning. They managed to respect social distancing measures in place

People must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is 'absolutely' unavoidable. Going out for exercise will be allowed once a day, but parks will be patrolled to make sure there is no abuse of the rules.

Police will have powers to fine those who do not fall into line, and disperse any public gatherings, in measures to curb movement only seen during the Second World War. Historians have claimed you have to go back to 1666 to find when people were last forced to stay at home en masse, when Britons had to stay at home for 40 days to halt the spread of the Great Plague.

The PM was finally forced into the draconian move amid fury that many people are still flouting 'social distancing' guidance, with parks and Tube trains in London - regarded as the engine of the UK outbreak - still busy despite repeated pleas.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has launched the online #ThankYouHeroes campaign as a tribute to healthcare workers on the frontlines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

In a message of appreciation for doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical teams who dedicate their days and nights to save lives and ensure public safety, Sheikh Mohammed posted a video showing the round-the-clock medical staffers away from their families rushing to fulfil their duties, said a Wam news agency report.

"Our society needs to stand united in solidarity with our medical cadres against the global pandemic," he said.

Addressing the nations medical teams and staff, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said: "#ThankYouHeroes for your sacrifices, commitment and dedication to our nation."

"Our medical teams today are the nations custodians and the first line of defence against humanitys biggest enemy."

He urged: "I invite everyone to show appreciation for our doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical teams."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid reaffirmed: "Thanks to every doctor, nurse, paramedic and hospital administrator leading the global battle against the coronavirus.

"We are proud of our administrative and medical cadres giving up their comfort for the sake of our nation and risking their own health to save ours."

Stressing on the communitys responsibility against the pandemic, he said: "In appreciation for the relentless efforts of our medical teams, we have to fulfil our own social responsibility to protect ourselves and our nation."

He noted: "Every citizen, resident and visitor owe their wellbeing and health to dedicated healthcare workers who are working hard without seeking any recognition in return. The least we can do as a community is to follow safety guidelines, practice social distancing and stay in our homes."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid concluded: "We are ready to provide the necessary resources and capabilities to save our greatest wealth: people."

He invited citizens, residents and visitors of the UAE to show their appreciation and support for the nations healthcare workers through letters, messages or acts of solidarity using #ThankYouHeroes.

The UAE has intensified its efforts to fight the spread of coronavirus that brought much of the world to a temporary standstill. Medical staff are working around the clock to monitor and detect early coronavirus cases and implement the necessary quarantine measures to patients and those who have been in contact with anyone diagnosed. Hospitals have increased their bed capacities and critical care facilities to ensure full readiness to control the spread of the pandemic, while keeping other healthcare operations running smoothly.
Volcano of Rage Operation, the navy forces aligned with UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), have seized a vessel flying Liberia flag, on its way to deliver illegal aviation fuel to rebel Gen. Khalifa Haftar, few days after the National Oil Corporation (NOC) accused the UAE for smuggling aviation fuel to the east-based commander.

Colonel Rida Issa, commander of the forces, indicated that the vessel called Gulf Petroleum 4 was seized on Sunday evening, Libya Observer reports.

Issa also stressed that findings will be released as soon as the investigations are over.

The seizure came few days after the NOC, the only Libyan entity in charge of the Libyan oil, said a ship hailed from the UAE docked in Benghazi for delivery of aviation fuel.

The NOC said it informed the GNA, the UN and several other countries of the aviation fuel shipment.

A western diplomat stationed in the oil-rich country said the import of fuel to Benghazi would break UN arm embargo imposed on the country since 2011.

Haftar since April last year has launched a military offensive against the GNA in view of capturing the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The UAE, Egypt, Russia, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan back Haftar in his offensive while Turkey, Qatar and Italy has thrown their support being the GNA.
A 40th gathering in Connecticut has been dubbed 'party zero' after guests became infected and spread coronavirus across several states and the around the world.

About 50 guests reportedly gathered on March 5 at a home in the wealthy suburb of Westport for a lavish buffet and celebration.

After the event, roughly half of those at the party became infected with the disease, then transmitted it to other states and the rest of the world.

According to the New York Times, guests left that evening for Johannesburg, New York City, other parts of Connecticut and the wider US.

One of the guests was a 43-year-old South African businessman who started to feel ill during his flight home.

Main Street in Westport, Connecticut, where a party of around 50 people saw around half the guests infected with coronavirus

Westport Museum was one of the landmarks closed as the state of Conecticut tried to halt the spread of coronavirus

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont last week closed restaurants and public buildings statewide

He was later diagnosed with coronavirus and, after seeking medical advice, began contacting others at the party.

But it became impossible to trace all the other guests because so many people at the party had moved around the county and beyond.

Three days after the party, one of the guests woke up in Westport with chest pains, a fever that spiked to 104 degrees, and 'felt like she was dying'.

Julie Endich wrote on Facebook in a lengthy post: 'My journey started on March 8, 3 days after I attended an event with amazing friends.

'I woke up that morning, with incredible chest pain, tightness and heaviness like someone was standing on my chest.

'As the day went on I started to get body aches, chills, fever and headache. It hit me fast. It felt like the flu x 2!!! I couldn't move, I was bedridden and my fevers were spiking to 104.'

Medical workers putting on fresh personal protective equipment (PPE) at a drive-thru coronavirus testing station at Cummings Park in Stamford, Connecticut, yesterday

She added it was four days before she could get test results confirming she had coronavirus.

On the day of the party Connecticut did not have a single recorded case of coronavirus, but as of today 10 people in the state have died with 415 infections.

More than 50 people currently are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Connecticut.

In Westport state officials say there have been 74 cases of infection.

The upmarket enclave remains the Connecticut community with the highest number of infections.

The Connecticut town with the second highest number is Greenwich, with less than half the number of patients.

Arpad Krizsan, who owns a financial advisory firm in Westport and lives in the community, told the Times: 'They think at least 100 times as many people are infected as what the tests are showing. And everybody [in the town] goes to the same four shops.'

A health worker at a drive-thru coronavirus testing station at Cummings Park in Stamford, Connecticut, yesterday

Last week Govenor Ned Lamont closed restaurants and public buildings statewide and begged federal officials for hospital capacity and protective gear to help battle the virus.

In a video release on Friday, Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said the party's hosts, attendees or others should not be vilified because the virus has simply spread so far too quickly.

Mark Cooper, director of the Westport Weston Health District, in a statement on Sunday: 'The increasing number of positive cases is not surprising.

'Last week the number of testing sites and the resulting number of tests being conducted increased significantly. The more testing that gets done, the more COVID19 will be found in Westport and Weston, and across the state. Everyone should assume it is everywhere.

'Of those with confirmed cases in Connecticut, it is interesting to note that the 40 to 49 age group has the highest number of laboratory confirmed COVID19 cases. But no age group is spared, COVID19 can infect anyone.'

So far nationally there have been more than 46,000 cases of the virus in the US with more than 580 people have died.
The rise of internet connectivity and accessibility has led to a corresponding uptick in serial entrepreneurship over the past decade. Defining success in that context is a whole other topic. Some would tie it to monetary gain, while others might point to innovation or positive global impact.

All in all, the best serial entrepreneurs arent solely driven by money. They also enjoy the challenges that lead to success, and get a thrill out of processes such as product development and the creation and unification of teams. But there are only 24 hours in a day, fewer waking hours and even fewer hours that can solely be designated for work-related purposes. Entrepreneurs are still human beings that need to maintain balance, despite their tendency to view downtime as wasted time. To wit, research by the American Psychiatric Association reflects that 72 percent of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health struggles.

Related: 3 Ways to Balance Your Business, Family and Everything Else

Serial entrepreneur Jon Fisher has broken the mold in terms of finding the right balance, and his insights can serve as food for thought for all founders, regardless of where they are in their journeys. Fisher's company, CrowdOptic, uses algorithms and real-time sensor data from electronic devices to enhance security, social media sharing and advertising, and its technology has been implemented in everything from sports to medicine to government. It was also the first patented solution for wearable technologies, such as Google Glass.

But Fisher also was behind Bharosa, a leading provider of fraud prevention and authentication-security solutions that was acquired by Oracle for a reported $50 million in 2007; NetClerk, which offered contractors a way to apply for permits online and is now part of Roper Technologies; and AutoReach, a high-volume power dialer for modern sales teams, which is now part of AutoNation.

Fisher is clearly one to opt for startup acquisition strategies over IPOs, and is big on the fundamentals of strategic entrepreneurism, which is also the title of one of his books. While he does practice what he preaches, his success is owed in equal measure to balancing productivity and quality of life for himself and his employees.

Here are some of Fishers most essential, established tips on how to achieve a sense of balance as a serial entrepreneur.

Maintain a Tribe

In an interview with Resident magazine, Fisher elaborated on his loyalty toward his top team members. We are a longstanding and cohesive team," he said. "Ive invested and founded these companies with the same core engineering team and the same co-workers. The joke around here is that we consider ourselves a less good-looking, legal, married-with-children version of the Ocean's Eleven team. Were building good companies and selling them to other companies.

Understandably, Fisher is only able to maintain his tribe because of the great rapport he established and nurtured over an extended period. Having a solid team not only makes the work day more rewarding for all, but it also saves time, money and resources in terms of the hiring and training process with each venture.

Operationalize Each Company

Fisher claims that the best way for companies to become successful without being over-financed is by operationalizing, or applying systematic approaches while orchestrating operational processes in a way that meets measurable, defined goals that align with business priorities.

This is the way to truly approach scalability, as anything less would be more of a herd mentality that leads to a rapid rise followed by an intense crash and burn, as seen by WeWork. While success cant be guaranteed for all companies, following a methodological approach certainly raises the odds.

Related: The Truth About Work-Life Balance

Make Time for Those Who Matter Most

Fisher realized that many in his circle sacrificed time with their families in favor of accelerating business growth, and they regretted doing so. As such, he and his wife made a pact to never put work before each other and their daughter. In a commencement speech for the University of San Francisco School of Management, he is quoted as saying, Hold your children up high as your greatest inventions, because they are.

He goes on to add that his purpose for building smaller companies to sell is because it takes less capital and risk and, arguably, less of a personal toll.

It is a personal mission for Fisher to let entrepreneurs know that they can achieve financial success without sacrificing family values. Despite all his professional successes, he finds that the amount of quality time he is able to devote toward his wife and daughter is his true indicator of success.

Fisher closed that commencement speech by remarking, Your degrees today, your work to come are the means to leave a trail. Your family is another. I will look for you in the years to come as you build and find your happiness.

Now go out and find yours.

Related:

How to Manage the Emotional Fallout of the Outbreak

How to Maximize Your Productivity By Focusing on Daily Activities Like Sleep

Coronavirus: 6 Workouts You Can Do At Home To Stay In Good Shape



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
An out-of-control shopper wrestled with police before being hit with a baton and slammed against a butcher's deli on Tuesday.

The man was seen brawling with officers next to the supermarket in Kogarah, in Sydney's south.

Three police officers attempted to subdue the screaming man, who clenched his fists and attempted to throw punches.

The man then charged at one of the officers who slammed his head into the glass display case of a butcher's shop.

The scuffle continued and two officers then pinned the man up against the glass, before the third officer hit the back of his knees with her baton.

'Help me! Help me!,' he screamed while managing to shrug one of the female officers off him.

The man's screams continued until the third officer hit him with her baton on the front of his feet, bringing him to the floor.

A New South Wales Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia the man was arrested for breach of bail and other offences.

'The man was hostile and was [pepper]sprayed at the scene,' the spokesman said.

His arrest came after weeks of panic buying at supermarkets, with some shoppers becoming violent as they try to get hold of essential supplies.




Governor Bala Mohammed

The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has tested positive for coronavirus.

His Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mukhtar Gidado, disclosed this in a media statement made available on Tuesday.

The governor earlier said he met and shook hands with Mohammed, the son of former Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

Details later
Coronavirus update: The Lawsuit has been filed against the Chinese authorities by the US Lawyer Larry Klayman to create and release the deadly virus, they claimed that China has used biological weapon for war which was banned in 1925.

Coronavirus update: The plaintiffs have filed the 20 trillion Dollar case against China for creating deadly virus in their labs. The case has been filed by the US lawyer Larry Klayam on the Chinese authorities in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. The plaintiffs claimed that China had created the novel coronavirus in their labs and release it who took the lives of more than 16000 people worldwide.

The lawyers also claimed that China tried to use this biological weapon as the weapon for war. China does not only released the virus and called the world for war, but it also violated the law of the US, other international laws, several norms, and treaties. The lawyers of the US asked for USD 20 Trillion as the punishment, it cant be ignored that the amount is way bigger than Chinas actual GDP.

Reports say US lawyer Larry Klayman and plaintiffs along with his advocacy group Freedom Watch and Texas company Buzz Photos claimed that the country has planned the massive destruction which is against the law. They filed the lawsuit against the Chinese government, Chinese army, Chinese armys Major General Chen Wei, Director of Wuhan Institute of Virology Shi Zhengli and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The plaintiffs also claimed that China has only one lab which deals with the deadly Virus-like coronavirus, it is located in Wuhan and it could be a planned step. Till now, over 17000 people have died due to the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now announced 21-day locked down in India.

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The National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku has described as "unpresidential", former President Mahama's decision to form a COVID-19 response team.



Former President and Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, on Sunday, March 22, 2020, revealed that the opposition party has submitted a proposal of a national action plan on combating the Coronavirus disease to the Speaker of Parliament.



NDC COVID-19 Response Team



Speaking at a church service to end a three-day prayer and fasting organised by the NDC, he also announced the formation of a technical team to spearhead the affairs of the national action plan, pointing it out that it is evidence of their commitment to assisting the government in the fight against the pandemic.



I have also already announced that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is committed to assisting government in this fight by availing all technical and logistical resources at our disposal. As evidence of our seriousness in that respect, we have assembled a technical team to guide our efforts and to lead the NDCs response to the evolving situation. The team is an assembly of experts from the many fields that will be required to implement a national action plan on COVID-19, Mahama reportedly said.



Politicizing Coronavirus Situation



But some have questioned the rationale for and the terms of reference of this response team since they consider it an unnecessary favour seeking attempt by the opposition party.



Unpresidential Conduct



Speaking to this on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Sammi Awuku who commended President Akufo-Addo for his proactiveness in curbing the spread of the scourge, indicted the NDC leader for seeking attention in dire moments for political gain by arrogating unto itself the powers to set up parallel structures to counter that of the state.



''I am struggling to understand former President Mahama and the NDC. Do we establish opposition NADMO in times of floods?'' he quizzed.



"...Mahama's conduct was not presidentialthere was no need to form any committee except for political gain. They have travelled beyond basic politics. What kind of suggestions are they going to give? Politicizing this is the lowest point in this whole discussion...



"...every step of the Government goes a long way to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The government has recalled all retired health experts to help curb the spread of the diseaseThis is not the time to play politics but I was surprised to realize that the leader of the NDC has set up a covid-19 response team. There is no country where an opposition party has set up a response team. what is the terms of reference? It was a wrong move, totally needless and sought to politicize the situation and I think the former Presidents conduct was not presidential at this point in time," the NPP National Organiser said.







Members of NDCs COVID-19 response team1. Nana Kofi Quakyi (Assistant Professor in Public Health/Specialist in Health Economics)2. Dr. Vida Yarkong (PhD in Interdisciplinary Medicine)3. Dr. Prosper Akanbong  Immediate Past CEO of Tamale Teaching Hospital and Physician Consultant4. Dr. Jehu Appiah: Senior Medical Consultant and former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association5. Prosper Bani  Former Minister of Interior and former Head of UNDPs Crisis Prevention and Recovery Team for Africa6. Dr. Zanetor Rawlings  Medical Doctor7. Alex Segbefia  Former Minister of Health8. Mintah Akandoh  Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee of Heath9. Prof. Margaret Kweku  UHAS10. Dr. Jonas Asamoah  Public Health Expert, Hawa Memorial Hospital, Osiem.11. Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh  (Communications Specialist) NCB-HQ

Source: Peacefmonline.com/GHANA









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Construction sites in Ireland are to remain open despite calls from the Unite trade union for work to stop on all sites.

There have been growing calls in Ireland for the government to introduce a nationwide lockdown with the closure of all non-essential workplaces.

An emergency online meeting of Unites National Construction Branch heard that adequate social distancing measures cannot be maintained on sites during the current COVID-19 emergency.

It has become increasingly clear to our members, who work on sites throughout the country, that adequate social distancing cannot be maintained either on site or, in many cases, when travelling to and from sites," Unites Regional Officer for Construction Tom Fitzgerald said.

The result is that approximately 150,000 construction workers are not only themselves susceptible to the spread of COVID-19, but are also at risk of bringing the virus back home to their families and communities  further increasing the strain on our health services."

However, at the moment construction activity is continuing on various projects and the sector is also exempt in the UK from the lockdown there.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have issued a joint statement highlighting the essential projects that workers are delivering.

Tom Parlon, Director General of the CIF, said social distancing and compliance with HSE guidance on Covid-19 is now critical to the continuation of the construction industry.

"We urge contractors and workers to work together to enforce social distancing regardless of any impacts on productivity or deadlines."

The CIF is also asking companies to remind workers that social distancing is critical off-site and on the way to the site.

"Remind workers that they should not travel in groups and while visiting local businesses (shops etc) they must maintain the 1-2 metre distance guideline. Construction workers are to be commended for continuing to operate safely as they deliver essential projects for the health care sector and in housing and infrastructure," Mr Parlon said.

General Secretary of the Congress union Patricia King said they will continue to watch the situation closely.

"Essentially workers should adhere to social distancing guidelines, carry out regular hand washing and use gloves and masks if possible to help contain the spread of the virus in the workplace," she said.

"The HSE has issued guidelines on the Coronavirus and we recommend that this guidance is adhered to by workers in the construction industry."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:51:41|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish banks are consecutively announcing financial support measures for both individuals and institutions in a move to overcome the limitations of the outbreak of COVID-19 with minimum damage.

Three big state banks, namely Ziraat Bank, Halkbank, and Vakifbank, declared several measures on Monday to restrain the sharp deterioration in cash flows in the market during the crisis period.

For Mustafa Sonmez, an economist, the steps of the trio were the natural outcome of the government's 15.4-billion-U.S. dollar stimulus package, which was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week to ease the economic effects of the pandemic.

The banks decided to allow their customers to postpone their interest and capital payments and provide an additional grace period for several sectors, which were mostly affected by the outbreak.

Ziraat Bank said additional flexibility would be granted to companies for salary payments of their employees on the condition that they would not fire any of their personnel.

"Private banks are also expected to follow the state banks and announce their support packages soon," Sonmez told Xinhua.

For him, the reason behind the delay of the private sector is that they cannot easily take advantage of capital supplements provided by the treasury as much as state-owned banks do. "So it would take some more time for them to take bold measures," he said.

The first announcement came on Tuesday from the privately-owned Isbank, stating that it implemented measures to minimize the effects of the pandemic on the economy.

''We delay the debts of the companies and real persons and support them with a grace period," Isbank General Manager Adnan Bali was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency.

Meanwhile, Turkish Finance and Treasury Minister Berat Albayrak on Tuesday announced that tax payments of people over 65 years old were delayed as they are barred from leaving their homes due to COVID-19 concerns.

Turkish authorities have recently imposed a curfew on elderly people and those with chronic illnesses as they are the most vulnerable group to the virus.

"Currently, the main idea both in Turkey or across the globe is keeping companies on the water as much as possible and not to force individuals too much," Sonmez noted. "Because many sectors have collapsed due to the severe shrinking in demand in the market caused by the coronavirus."

In Sonmez's view, individuals are also severely affected by either losing their jobs or isolating themselves at homes.

"The latest predictions about the global economy are very frustrating," he continued. "It is estimated that the world economy will enter a deeper crisis than the previous crises, and Turkey does not have a brighter future either."

Admitting that crisis management under these conditions is very difficult, Sonmez said, "All countries are seeking ways to overcome the effect of the crisis with the least possible damage."

The Turkish government has been continuing to take harsh measures to curb the pandemic as the officials have been warning people not to go out unless necessary.

Turkey has so far recorded 37 coronavirus-related deaths and 1,529 confirmed cases.
DHARAMSHALA: McLeodganj town of Himachal Pradesh is under total lockdown after a 69-year-old Tibetan man died of coronavirus disease on Monday evening, becoming the first Covid-19 death in the state.

Kangra senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vimukt Ranjan said: There will be a total lockdown and no one is allowed to enter or leave the town.

People are not even allowed to leave their houses.

There are sufficient provisions of essential commodities in McLeodganj and there is no need for any panic, said Ranjan.

In case of an emergency, the administration will ensure that supplies are delivered home at the earliest.

No one will be allowed to move out of their houses in the entire McLeodganj area. Please cooperate with the police and administration, the SSP appealed.

PATIENT HID TRAVEL HISTORY

The local administration said that the patient, Tenzin Choephel, who returned from the US hid his travel history.

He landed at Delhi airport on March 15 and had flu-like symptoms. He stayed at Majnu-ka-Tilla Tibetan settlement in Dehli for a week and arrived in McLeodganj on March 21 in a taxi. He went into self-quarantine at home along with three family members but did not disclose his travel history to the administration.

He developed acute respiratory distress on March 23 and was rushed to a private hospital in Kangra town from where he was referred to the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC), Tanda where he died.

His family has been home quarantined.

Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati appealed to all residents with a travel history to inform the authorities. By not doing so, you are putting yourself, your family and the entire society at risk, he said, adding that the other two Covid-19 patients of the state also hid their travel history and one woman patient was not even cooperating with the health staff.

PRIVATE HOSPITAL STAFF QUARANTINED

The authorities have locked down the private hospital where the Tibetan man was first treated. The entire staff has been kept in quarantine. The administration is also identifying the people who came in his contact. The driver of the taxi in which he travelled has also been traced and he and his family members have been quarantined.

500 BACK FROM MIDDLE EAST BEING TRACED

The Kangra district administration is trying to trace around 500 local residents who have returned from Middle-East countries in the past few days.

Most of them are youngsters who worked there as skilled labourers.

Prajapati said an estimated 500 people returned to the district from Middle East after the coronavirus outbreak but have not disclosed their travel history.

He said around 650 people are in self quarantine in Kangra district and the number could go up to about 2,500.

We are taking the help of Asha and anganwadi workers to identify people who had travelled abroad recently, he said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid a visit to Damascus on March 23 for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The official readout of the meeting states that the Russian military leader traveled to Syria on President Putins instructions.

Shoigu last visited Damascus about a year ago, on March 19, 2019. At that time, he was said to have been delivering a message from Putin to Assad.

Why it matters: On March 20, Putin and Assad held a telephone conversation dominated by discussion of Idlib, the Syrian Constitutional Committee and humanitarian assistance. The Russian leader congratulated his Syrian counterpart on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Isra and Miraj.

In the meeting between the Syrian president and the Russian defense minister, the issue of implementing Russian-Turkish agreements on the Idlib de-escalation zone took center stage. Other issues on the agenda included bilateral military cooperation between Moscow and Damascus as well as Russian relief for what the Defense Ministry called the Syrian people suffering from Western sanctions.

New challenges: Shoigus visit took place the day after Damascus reported the first case of COVID-19 in Syria. The news triggered discussions among Russia observers about the types of challenges an outbreak might create. Some noted the possibility of it impacting the geography of deployments and freedom of movement of the Russian military and protocols of contact between Russian service members and their Syrian, Iranian and Turkish peers.

Others focused on the dynamics in Idlib in light of the pandemic. Turkey could be expected to shut down its border to refugees, for fear of the further spread of the novel coronavirus, and do so without criticism from the West given that states there are doing the same to protect their own populations.

The Russian military analyst Alexey Leonkov asserts that the Russian Defense Ministry has the situation under control. [Russia] recently had military exercises in relation to the coronavirus, Leonkov said. The nuclear-biological-chemical (NBS) defense troops focus on such threats. In Tartus and other places that have a presence of Russian troops, all the necessary precautions are being taken. No [potentially] contaminated serviceman will be allowed back into Russia.

Whats next? Putin invested a lot of political capital in his deal with Erdogan on Idlib, so he wants to make sure Assad doesn't torpedo it. Shoigus mission appears to be to provide the necessary reassurances to Moscow's Syrian ally that the agreement with Ankara does not mean Moscow is throwing Damascus under the bus. Assad, however, needs to do some homework of his own to preserve the deal, if only for the sake of the Russian enterprise concerning Idlib.

Shoigu also mentioned Moscow's willingness to provide assistance to jump-start Syrias economic recovery with the help of Russian specialists, so the coming weeks will be telling in what exactly Moscow has in mind.

Know more: See Al-Monitor for more on how Moscow factored the coronavirus pandemic into its decision to break with OPEC+ producers. Also take a look at Week in Review to find out how the coronavirus is bringing Israelis and Palestinians together.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 23, 2020 | 07:16 PM | KENTUCKY





Beshear began by announcing the fourth confirmed death related to the virus, an 82-year-old woman in Lexington that suffered from other underlying health issues. He also shared that the number of confirmed cases within Kentucky is now 124.







Beshear started off with an attempt to encourage unity, by asking all churches and Kentuckians who can, to ring a bell at 10 am every day.





He then announced the new set of actions he is taking in his attempt to slow down the virus, beginning with changes to layoff parameters. According to this new action, any employer with at least fifty employees, who is laying off at least fifteen employees, is encouraged to file a claim on behalf of the employees through the E-Claims process. On that same subject, Beshear also announced that his team had trained 138 state employees for UI Claims Adjudication, in an attempt to alleviate backlog.





Beshear was also pleased to announce the Team Kentucky Fund. The fund is a collaboration with the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet, it is a fundraising platform designed to provide financial assistance to Kentuckians who have been affected by COVID-19. He challenged Kentuckians who have the ability, to make a tax-deductible donation.







Kerry Harvey, Secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet, said this fund is an opportunity to help Kentuckians in need. "Helping people stay safe and navigate through crisis is the heart of public service, and the PPC in particular. We know government can't cure all the problems associated with the pandemic, but this fund is one way to help those who've lost wages," said Harvey. "I encourage everyone to answer the governor's call of joining Team Kentucky. Giving to the fund is a great way to get on the team."







Beshear also announced the creation of the COVID-19 reporting hotline. A hotline for Kentuckians to report any noncompliance of his rules. Anyone wishing to make a complaint should call 1-833-597-2337. The Labor Cabinet is monitoring the hotline from 7:30 am to 9 pm.





Lastly, Beshear asked all radio and TV stations to conduct Public Service Announcements about social distancing as well as other state guidelines in an effort to combat COVID-19. You can see the press conference in its entirety below.











During his Monday COVID-19 press conference, Governor Andy Beshear provided an update, and announced the new actions he is taking in his attempt to reduce the spread of the virus.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Women from all over the world have long been fighting for their rights. Through grit and collective action, women were able to achieve the rights for suffrage, labor and equal wage, education, and many other fundamental rights that a human being ought to have. And yet, until now, there are still gaps that need to be addressed and fixed.

In the Philippines, domestic abuse  where the victim is often the wife  is considered as an epidemic considering how it often happens, yet we remain as one of the only two countries without a divorce bill to help victims escape dysfunctional marriages. A law on reproductive health and rights may have been signed in 2012, but there is scarcity in concrete actions that would benefit womens reproductive health, one of which is the non-existence of safe abortion in the country, leaving women with poor choices when discussing unwanted pregnancies.

Filipino women are also left with the longstanding debate on sex work, as to whether it should be viewed as a valid and empowering form of labor for women. Our current legislation for womens rights and welfare continue to neglect trans women and queer women, who had to carve their own paths in the local womens movement and continue to lobby for ample representation and equal rights in working towards a more intersectional practice of feminism. Women in the Philippines, as well as in most parts of the world, still lack what should be the most basic right: to freely choose for themselves, in every aspect possible, without the risk of harm and judgment.

These, among the many other issues women face today, prove that the state of Filipino women is continually in flux, especially at this point in time. There is also a greater need to always forward intersectionality when fighting for womens rights and advancing the womens movement.

Before the International Womens Month comes to a close, CNN Philippines Life brings you several articles, both old and new, that tackle some of the most pressing, even controversial issues concerning Filipinos today. This feature seeks to spark conversations among readers, in hopes of destigmatizing concepts that need to be talked about  because normalizing these topics is a necessary step to better understand and truly promote intersectional womens rights in its entirety.

Illustration by FRANCES ERIDIO

Why the passage of the divorce bill will help Filipino women

Without an accessible and affordable option to separate from an abusive husband, some women are left with no choice. The absolute divorce bill hopes to protect all women stuck in loveless, abusive, and dysfunctional marriages, and provide a way out. Read more here.

Photo by SAMANTHA LEE

Why lesbian rights must be discussed in the local womens movement

We wanted to be visible and to show that we would like to fight for our rights as well, explained Giney Villar, co-host of the Tita Tibx Podcast and one of the feminist lesbians who demanded equal rights in the 1992 International Womens Day march. Read more here.

Photo by PAU VILLANUEVA

In Payatas, a sewing facility employs drug war widows and orphans

The community initiative Project SOW aims to provide rehabilitation and livelihood programs for left-behind families  parents, orphans, and widows  of victims of extrajudicial killings. Read more here.

Illustration by KRISTIENNE AMANTE

The option for safe abortion is a womans right

Its clear that unintended pregnancy is common in the Philippines, and despite restrictive legislations, so is abortion. Given the failure of our current laws and the long-overdue need for safe abortion, where can Filipino women turn? What other policies and protections are afforded to them? Read more here.

***

GUEST EDITED BY SAMANTHA LEE

PRODUCED BY ELIZABETH RUTH DEYRO

COVER ARTWORK BY ISABEL SANTOS

COVER DESIGN BY THE PUBLIC SCHOOL MANILA

IMAGES USED ON THE COVER IMAGE ARE FROM THE WORKS OF FRANCISCO V. COCHING
(Makes clear total tally is 6,077 not 6,078)

ROME, March 23 (Reuters) - The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has grown by 602 to 6,077, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday, the smallest rise in numerical terms since Thursday, suggesting a clear downward trend.

The Civil Protection Agency initially said 601 people died on Monday, but the agency head told reporters the real number was 602. However, the agency said in a subsequent statement that a death had been wrongly added to Sunday's total, meaning the total tally on Monday was 6,077 not 6,078.

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 63,927 on Monday from a previous 59,138, an increase of 8%, the Civil Protection Agency said -- the lowest rise in percentage terms since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Of those originally infected nationwide, 7,432 had fully recovered on Monday compared to 7,024 the day before. There were 3,204 people in intensive care against a previous 3,009.

The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remained in a critical situation, with a total of 3,776 deaths and 28,761 cases. That compared with 3,456 deaths and 27,206 cases reported up to Sunday. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer, editing by Gavin Jones)
The Philippine Catholic Church is joining two worldwide prayer initiatives of Pope Francis this week as a response to the coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. It is also reaching out to the homeless in the capital.

By Robin Gomes

Heeding the Popes invitation, we recommend that we will pray together the Lords Prayer at 7:00 pm on March 25, wrote Fr. Marvin Mejia, Secretary-General of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a circular on Monday.

Speaking during Sundays Angelus prayer, Pope Francis called on Christians to respond to the pandemic with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness.

In these trying days, while humanity trembles due to the threat of the pandemic, I would like to propose to all Christians that together we lift our voices towards Heaven, he said.

He particularly invited Christian communities and leaders of Christian Churches to join in reciting the Our Father at noon on Wednesday, March 25, Rome time, or at 7:00 pm in the Philippines.

The Pope also announced that on March 27, he will preside over a prayer service and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in front of St. Peters Basilica at 6:00 pm Rome time (1:00 am on March 28, Philippine time).

He will conclude it with the Urbi et orbi blessing, with the possibility of gaining a plenary indulgence for all those following the event live through the various platforms of communication.

Urbi et orbi, the Latin for to the city [Rome] and the world, is normally given twice a year  at Christmas and Easter.

Both papal events will be live-streamed from the Vatican.

The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reported 90 new cases of the virus raising the total to 552. There were also two more deaths, bringing the total fatalities to 35.

Manila Catholic schools open to homeless

Meanwhile the Catholic Church is ramping up efforts to reach out to the vulnerable in the capital Manila amid the virus lockdown.

Some Catholic schools have opened their doors to street dwellers, many of them were instructed by authorities to something missing? church-based feeding and care centre.

Fr. Flavie Villanueva, who heads the Kalinga Center in Tayuman district, said they decided to move the homeless to places where they can be properly cared for.

He said about 168 homeless persons have now taken refuge at the campuses of De La Salle University, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and St. Scholasticas College.

Fr. Villanueva said they will bring about 100 more street dwellers to two other safe spaces where they can stay during the enhanced community quarantine period.

The Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center opens its doors every Thursday and weekend to homeless people who can have a free bath and a simple meal while undergoing formation and counselling.

More than 150 homeless persons usually line up outside the centre to receive help, including a pack of vitamins and a face mask.

Duterte calls for Week of Prayer

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte has declared this last week of March as the National Week of Prayer against the contagion.

The President made the declaration on Saturday, recognizing the vital role of faith in bringing peace, solidarity, compassion, and heroism in times of adversity.

Through prayer, let us, as one nation, find the strength to defeat this invisible enemy, with the aid and blessing of God, Duterte said.

I urge all Filipinos of all faiths, religious traditions, and backgrounds to unite our hearts in prayer as we face the COVID-19 threat, fixing our eyes on the Almighty in this time of afflictions.,

The President has declared a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the entire country.

Last week, he placed the entire mainland Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine, limiting the movement of people on the island, to contain the pandemic. He has also declared a state of calamity in the entire country for six months due to the rising number of infections.

On Monday, the Philippine Congress' House Committee of the Whole passed a bill granting President Duterte more powers during the national emergency amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis.
Flagrantly violating the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijans Goranboy district, Armenian armed forces attempted to commit a provocation, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press service reported.

The provocation was prevented by the Azerbaijani armed forces. One Armenian serviceman was killed as a result of the vigilance of the Azerbaijani armed forces. His body has been on the territory between the trenches of the troops for one day.

The skirmish continues now, but the situation is under control of the Azerbaijani army.

The Defense ministry said that the Armenian side is fully responsible for exacerbating the situation on the line of contact.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 16:16:15|Editor: xuxin

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NEW DELHI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation Tuesday evening on the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Will address the nation at 8:00 p.m. (local time) today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19," Modi wrote on twitter.

This will be Modi's second address to the nation since Thursday when he called for a public curfew on Sunday to fight the spread of COVID-19.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India Tuesday rose to 492.

According to ministry officials, so far nine deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported across the country and 37 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

Meanwhile, almost the whole country is enforcing complete lockdown in view of COVID-19 outbreak.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate late Wednesday night passed a $2 trillion stimulus package  the largest in American history  to address the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to send checks to Americans and loans to business and industry within weeks.

From the oil and gas fields to neighborhood cafes, from hotel maids to factory workers, Texans have waited for days as Congress has haggled over the sprawling stimulus package, which aims to keep the national economy from collapsing under social distancing measures that are designed to slow the spread of the virus.

With city and country governments across Texas, including Houston and Dallas, shutting down non-essential business and schools and ordering residents to stay at home, the clock is ticking. But objections from both sides of the aisle on the finer points of the legislation slowed the bills progress Wednesday, generating impatience in some corners of Congress.

In the end it passed without a single senator objecting, and the package now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives where a vote is scheduled for Friday morning.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Economists see frightening days, even years, ahead from coronavirus

The bill we passed unanimously is not a stimulus. It is a bridge over a flood that the federal government triggered in an effort to save lives, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, said in a statement.

Many senators, including Cruz, said the massive package contained things they werent happy with  but felt the need to pass it anyway.

After spending the past several weeks hearing from those in Texas working on the frontlines of this crisis, I put those real concerns aside to address the more immediate and urgent task of saving as many lives as possible and providing relief from the economic devastation caused by this outbreak, Cruz said.

Oil and gas companies are slashing budgets. Thousands of employees have already been laid off or furloughed from companies such as the Houston oil field services company Halliburton and liquefied natural gas exporter Tellurian. United Airlines, which has some 13,800 employees in Houston alone, warned last week that it may soon lay off as much as half of its workforce, if it didnt receive help from Congress.

Theres a massive chill in tourism, restaurants, hotels, commercial air traffic, said Jeff Moseley, president of the Texas Association of Business. The early dollars are the most important dollars to help these businesses. I was having a conversation with a restaurateur, and he said he already had to lay off 550 workers in his chain.

The Senate plan would more than double the more than $800 billion appropriated in 2009 to prevent the so-called Great Recession from spiraling into depression. Under the deal, the federal government would begin cutting checks to American taxpayers at a rate of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, with payments phasing out at individual incomes above $75,000. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said the Trump administration has estimated those payments could reach people within two to three weeks of the bills passage.

That obviously is still two to three weeks too long, he said. We need to get this done so we can get cash to people who need to money as soon as possible.

For subscribers: What you need to know about the $2 trillion stimulus bill

Unemployment benefits would also be extended for four months, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, wrote in a letter outlining the deal. The legislation would boost the maximum unemployment benefit by $600 per week and ensures that laid-off workers, on average, will receive their full pay for four months. In Texas, the average unemployment checks is currently $246 per week, with the higher earners receiving a maximum $521 weekly, according to the Department of Labor.

At the same time, businesses small and large could apply for hundreds of billions of dollars in federal assistance, with a special carve out for airlines and companies engaged in matters deemed of national security. For small businesses, loans would be forgiven if they didnt lay off their workers.

Everybodys lives are radically changed by this, said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy, who represents 240,000 workers across the state. Some can work from home, but many cant. Their bills are still going to come due, theyre still going to have to feed their families.

Much of the debate in recent days centered around how the money would be distributed to companies, with Democrats wary of a repeat of 2009, when Congress faced heavy criticism for bailing out large corporations only to then watch some of that taxpayer money pay executive bonuses.

Morning Report: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox

Cornyn and Sen. Ted Cruz, both Republicans, have criticized Democrats, accusing them of pushing partisan proposals into the package and pointing to a package laid out by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week that included a provision setting new emissions standards for airlines.

There is a time for political disagreements, Cruz said on the Senate floor. There is a time for policy disagreements. I am no stranger to robust political and policy disagreements. But we are in the midst of a global pandemic. People are dying. People are suffering.

Cornyn said Wednesday that he remained angry at Democrats whom he accused of grandstanding to make political points while the nation desperately needed action. They delayed, and it is reckless and irresponsible, he said.

Democrats responded that Senate Republicans were pushing a package that offered too much to corporations  with little oversight  and werent doing enough for working people. Schumer on Wednesday claimed credit for an expansion of unemployment benefits, a $150 billion relief fund for states and local governments and stronger restrictions on relief offered to major corporations.

It remains unclear whether the concessions will be enough to appease House Democrats, but Pelosi has signaled her approval of the package and House leaders are hoping to easily pass it by a voice vote on Friday.

As I wait for the full details of the renegotiated Senate stimulus package, Ill be looking for a package that puts people over corporations and will take care of all people regardless of immigration status and whether they have a Social Security number or tax ID, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat, tweeted.

Republicans and Democrats agreed they needed to reach an agreement quickly. Widespread layoffs have begun and many more are likely on the horizon.

Crude prices are down by more than 50 percent since December to less than $25 a barrel, imperiling an industry that is vital to Houstons economy and regions around the state. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, another Houston Democrat, with a group of congressional Republicans and Democrats, wrote a letter to Congressional leadership Monday asking the nations 5.3 million oil and gas workers be taken into account.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Why social distancing could send fuel demand to record decline

The CEOs of several major airlines, including United and Dallas-based Southwest, wrote to congressional leaders this week that time is running out.

The breadth and immediacy of the need to act cannot be overstated, they wrote. It is urgent and unprecedented.

In Texas, close to half the states more than 140,000 hotel jobs have already been cut or are expected to be cut in the weeks ahead, according to a report by the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Bookstore chains including Half Price Books and Kinokuniya have temporarily closed their stores to customers, only offering curbside service for those who order ahead.

Already the Texas State Legislature is anticipating a major cut to the states budget, with tax proceeds and state oil revenues falling fast. Under the Senate deal, a $150 billion stabilization fund would help state and local government manage through budget shortfalls this year.

Once the Senate passes the stimulus package, House leaders are moving to try and pass the stimulus package quickly through unanimous agreement in the chamber, avoiding drawn out procedures that could add days to a vote.

Im willing to go up there tomorrow to vote on this, Garcia said earlier this week. We should not finish this week without getting something done.

The fear is that if businesses shut down, they might not be able to reopen when the coronavirus pandemic is finally brought under control in the weeks or months ahead.

In such a scenario, the unemployed would be left to compete over a far smaller pool of jobs, at the same time neighborhoods lose restaurants and stores that might have been around for decades.

We all know were going into a tunnel, but the government says this is how were going to go through the tunnel and this is what were going to do when we get out, so you dont have to worry about your rent and your food, Moseley said. Thats what the governments opportunity is right now.

james.osborne@chron.com

ben.wermund@chron.com

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A Perth bus driver who fell ill with coronavirus after returning from a trip overseas had worked for a week before learning he was sick.

The Swan Transit driver is now in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

He had worked his regular shifts between Monday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 18, but did not show up over the weekend or this Monday after he felt ill, The West Australian reported.

Parent company TransPerth declined to provide further information on the man's condition.

A Swan Transit driver is now in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. He had worked for a week before becoming ill

WA has 175 cases of COVID-19, including two people who are in a critical condition

The bus company is now conducting the contact-tracing process to identify which routes the driver worked as well as any passengers he may have been in direct contact with.

Passengers who used their Smartrider card pay for their fare are not believed to be at risk, but there are concerns for those who may have exchanged cash with him.

Prior to the driver's diagnosis, Swan Transit had ramped up its health and safety measures, sanitising every bus on a nightly basis to prevent further spread of infection.

The buses driven by the man will now be cleaned and sanitised.

'Those affected will be contacted by us or the relevant health authorities. It is incredibly important to follow any health advice you receive,' the company said in a safety notice.

'It is also a reminder to follow all of the strict health guidelines with regards to any symptoms you might be experiencing.

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 remains a challenging time for all businesses, including essential services like ours. We appreciate your care, and please know that we are absolutely committed to ensuring best practice for our drivers and the community.'

TransPerth declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.

WA has 175 cases of COVID-19, including two people who are in a critical condition.

Six people have recovered and one man has died.

Premier Mark McGowan urged residents to stay home if they are feeling sick.

'If you're sick don't go to work ... this is very regrettable,' he said on Tuesday.

Mr McGowan said interstate travel must be avoided, adding restrictions on travelling between WA's nine regions would be announced soon.

He also warned beaches would be closed if people did not practice social distancing.

Perth Zoo is closing for the first time in its 122-year history, but staff will remain on-site to care for the 1,300 animals.
UAB Ignitis Grupe, (hereinafter  the Company) identification code 301844044, registered office placed at Zveju str. 14, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total nominal value of issued bonds 600 000 000 EUR; ISIN codes XS1646530565; XS1853999313.

The Company informs that on 23rd March 2020 received a letter from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the authority implementing the rights of the sole shareholder of the Company (hereinafter - the Ministry of Finance), with the request for the Company to start preparation for its initial public offering (hereinafter  IPO), choosing issue window in accordance to the situation in the capital markets, to initiate IPO process related actions and prepare required documents (hereinafter  the Letter).

The Ministry of Finance formed the Letter in accordance to the decisions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Security Commission for the Coordination of Protection of Objects of National Security, which were announced by the Company on 18th March 2020 in the notification on the material event ( link ).

It is stated in The Letter that the Company should prepare for IPO in accordance with the guidelines of the recommendation provided by the working group (hereinafter  the Working group), which assessed Companys long-term financing alternatives, by September of 2020.

As it was announced in the Companys notification on the material event ( link ), the Working group, on 28th February 2020 provided its recommendation indicating that Company's IPO is the most effective capital raising alternative and recommended to the Ministry of Finance to initiate the adoption of decisions required to delegate the Company to implement the IPO by issuing a new share issue.

The recommendation of the Working Group is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance ( link ).

The Company about the next steps regarding the preparation for the IPO will inform in accordance with the law.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  As patients flood in while hundreds of health workers are quarantined and protective gear becomes scarce, some hospitals are forced to deny admission to more COVID-19 related cases.

A few hospitals have announced that they will no longer accept patients suspected or confirmed with the coronavirus disease due to unavailable facilities and equipment. These are St. Lukes Medical Center, Manila-based Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa and Quezon City-based De Los Santos Medical Center.

St. Luke's has two branches in Quezon and Taguig cities. They are currently housing 48 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 139 patients under investigation for possible infection. Some 592 healthcare workers are also on quarantine.

Both hospitals have already exceeded maximum capacity and admitting more COVID-19 patients will seriously impact our ability to deliver the critical level of care and attention patients need at this time, the hospital management said in a statement.

The hospital stressed that apart from COVID-19 patients they also have to look after those who are suffering from other ailments.

While it is our desire to extend quality healthcare to every patient that needs our help, we can only do so much at this point, said St. Luke's management.

However, it will still provide outpatient COVID-19 testing for those who qualify under the Department of Health's criteria.

The Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center also said they can no longer accommodate more patients to treat for COVID-19 due to full wards, insufficient number of test kits and protective equipment, and a depleted work force.

Medical Director Samuel Ang said the hospitals emergency room will remain open to accepting other medical concerns.

We will be assessing our capabilities on a day to day basis and will at anytime lift this notice whenever we see fit and capable to meet the demands for your health care concerns, said Ang in a statement.

The Asian Hospital and Medical Center said it has also "exceeded full capacity" but is still open to treating non COVID-19 patients.

De Los Santos Medical Center also said it cannot welcome more COVID-19 patients because of low protective gear supply.

It is our responsibility to assure our frontliners, doctors, nurses and other staff be protected at all times, the hospital management said in a statement. It is for this reason that we will be unable to admit additional COVID-19 related cases."

Its intensive care unit and other isolated areas arranged for persons under monitoring are also full, it added.

Under the DOH's revised protocol, only patients with severe symptoms, and high-risk individuals - such as senior citizens and pregnant women - with mild symptoms are tested.

Before the revision, those who were showing mild flu-like symptoms, those with travel history to areas with local transmission and those who have made contact with a patient, were allowed to be tested for the infection.

Meanwhile, the Makati Medical Center also said it has reached capacity, or it cannot guarantee a room for more COVID-19 patients.

The hospital said it has attended to more than 700 suspected infected patients since the outbreak in January. The hospital said it is attending to 70 patients, including 15 percent confined at the intensive care unit. These patients are either positive for the infection or awaiting tests results.

[We] can no longer extend the same degree of care and attention for any additional admission for COVID-19 cases, said Medical Director Saturnino Javier

On Monday, The Medical City in Pasig also exceeded capacity with 18 COVID-19 patients and 64 persons under investigation. There are also 137 healthcare and frontline workers from the hospital who are on quarantine.

"We do not wish to turn you all away, but the reality is that we can no longer provide your loved ones the care they need. Your own initiative to look for other hospitals is appreciated, its management said.

Earlier, the Health Department designated the Philippine General Hospital in Manila and Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan City as facilities that exclusively cater to COVID-19 patients.

The agency also said the Lung Center of the Philippines will also dedicate one wing (with 40 beds) specifically for COVID-19 patients.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/24/2020 -- Crowded with a number of players, the global hydrogen generator market demonstrates a highly competitive vendor landscape. The leading players in this market are investing heavily in developing hydrogen production and transportation methods to gain an edge over their competitors. Air Liquide S.A., Epoch Energy Technology Corp., Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Hy9 Corp., Idroenergy S.R.L., and Hydrogenics Corp. are some of the key participants in this market.



According to the research report, the global hydrogen generator market is estimated to rise at a healthy CAGR of 5.25% during the period from 2016 to 2024. The valuation of this market, which stood at US$0.79 bn in 2015, is anticipated to reach US$12.55 bn by the end of the forecast period. On-site generators and portable generators are two main types of hydrogen generators available in this market. Hitherto, the demand for on-site generators has been higher and the scenario is likely to remain so over the next few years. These generators find considerable application in fuel cells, chemical processing, refining, and petroleum recovery. Among these, chemical processing reports a greater demand for hydrogen generators.



North America to Lead Global Hydrogen Generator Market



Regionally, the worldwide hydrogen generator market is spread across Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and North America. Followed closely by Europe, North America has been leading the global hydrogen generator market over the last few years. With the U.S. becoming the key contributor to the global market, North America is anticipated to remain on the top in the coming years. The rising awareness about the need for clean fuel for transportation purposes and the increasing requirement for refueling stations and power generation plants will aid this market. The surge in shale gas exploration will also add to this market in future.



Among other regional hydrogen generator market, Asia Pacific is registering a promising growth. The increasing production of hydrogen generators in Japan and South Korea is supporting the growth of the Asia Pacific hydrogen generator market considerably. Over the coming years, the surge in the application of hydrogen generators in refineries, thanks to the high demand for petroleum products, is likely to propel this regional market, states the research report.



Request a Sample - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=130



Demand for Clean Fuel Sources Becomes Catalyst



The rising uptake of clean fuel sources is creating a substantial demand for hydrogen generators across the world. Consumers are increasingly being aware of the eco-friendliness of clean fuel sources, which has boosted their uptake among them. Apart from this, the rising demand for electricity and the depletion of fossil fuels at an alarming rate are also creating a need for hydrogen generators, globally. Over the coming years, strict regulatory policies related to carbon emission and increasing industrial application of hydrogen are likely to support the growth of the global hydrogen generators market.



On the flip side, the challenges associated with the distribution and transportation of hydrogen may hamper the growth of the worldwide hydrogen generator market in the near future. The relatively higher cost of hydrogen, when compared to other fossil fuels, may also create obstacles in the growth trajectory of this market. However, the increasing investment in developing the transportation, storage, production, and distribution of hydrogen is expected to add considerably to the global hydrogen generator market in the long term. The swift rise in the uptake of green fuel in the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors is also predicted to propel this market over the next few years, states the research report.
Several lawyers Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the AAP government to extend the benefit of 'Chief Minister's Advocates' Welfare Scheme' to all lawyers enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) irrespective of whether their names appear in the voters list of the national capital or not.

Advocate Naginder Benipal, representing five petitioners who are practicing lawyers, said he mentioned the matter on phone before the registrar (listing and filing) of the high court and was informed by the court official that the plea will be listed once the coronavirus threat is over.

The functioning of the high court has been suspended till April 4 in view of the coronavirus threat and pleas have to be mentioned before the registrar over phone and the hearing on matters of only extreme urgency are to be conducted, that too through video conferencing.

The petition said that in November 2019, the Delhi government had announced the scheme for the welfare of all the practicing advocates of the national capital who are on the rolls of BCD.

A 13-member committee of advocates was set up to give recommendations for the utilisation of the Rs 50 crore grant towards the scheme and the government had accepted the recommendations given by the panel, it said.

The petitioners -- advocates Balvinder Singh Bagga, Manisha Saroha, Vivek Jain, Shivam Chanana and Vaibhav Kalra -- have challenged the Delhi government's decision to restrict the scheme to only those members of BCD who are in the voters list of Delhi.

The petitioners said they are enrolled with the BCD and have membership of Delhi High Court Bar Association and are practicing in courts here but do not reside in the national capital and their exclusion from the scheme is arbitrary and not in conformity with the constitutional scheme and policy.

The plea said that on December 18 last year, the Delhi government had approved all the schemes recommended by the committee. However, despite the recommendation of the committee that the scheme would apply to all the members of BCD, the Council of Ministers restricted the scheme to only those members of BCD who are in the voters' list of Delhi.

The restriction of the benefit of the scheme to only those members of the BCD who are in the voters' list of Delhi is unreasonable, arbitrary, unfair, unjust, illegal and unconstitutional. The purpose of the scheme was to cover under its ambit all the practicing advocates in Delhi on verified rolls of the BCD irrespective of their place of residence/place of voting or any other criteria, the plea said, adding that the restriction was violative of the provisions of the Constitution.

The advocates alleged that the restriction was "politically motivated" and sought a direction to the Delhi government to extend the benefit of the scheme to all the advocates enrolled with the BCD irrespective of their voter ID card.

It also sought direction to the BCD to take appropriate measures for ensuring extension of the benefits of the scheme to all the members enrolled under its roll irrespective of the fact whether they have Delhi voter ID card or not.

The Delhi government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bar Council of Delhi have been arrayed as parties in the petition.

As per the government directive, the eligible advocates who intend to avail the benefits of the scheme may fill the application online which will be available on the website of the Law Department from March 21 till March 31, 2020.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
States, local governments and restaurants are starting to pause plans to curb single-use plastics as they try and control the coronavirus outbreak, per Argus Media and the Wall Street Journal.

Driving the news: "The delays are in response to concerns that reusable bags and containers carry more risk of spreading the virus than single-use items, which are designed to be used once and thrown away," Argus reports.

Why it matters: It's yet another variable in the complicated question of how coronavirus will affect energy use policies and patterns in the near- and long-term.

The big picture: Petrochemicals used to make plastic are a big source of oil demand. The scope of future restrictions on plastics are one factor that will determine when global oil use eventually peaks.

Where it stands: States and local officials in Maine, New York, Massachusetts and elsewhere are taking steps to enable continued plastic bag use.

Where it stands: Major restaurants have also been forced to rethink their plans.

"Starbucks Corp. has said stores that remain open in North America would serve coffee only in disposable cups for takeout," WSJ reports.

"Starbucks, Dunkin Brands Group Inc. and Tim Hortons  owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc.  have all stopped filling customers reusable cups, a U-turn after years of encouraging them."

Go deeper: Our Plastic Planet
Nobel prize winner and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari has tested positive for the novel coronavirus outbreak, his office reportedly confirmed on March 24. As per reports, the 82-year-old has been honoured with the Peace Prize in 2008 for his career nearly three decades mediating peace deals to several conflicts around the world, including Kosovo, Indonesia and Namibia. The former UN diplomat served Finland's highest office between 1994 and 2000 has been confirmed to have contracted the deadly virus on March 23, his office reportedly said in a statement.

READ: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Uttarakhand To Take Strict Action Against Lockdown Violators

The Government website contains decisions by the Government and information on the effects of the coronavirus: https://t.co/gV25ZrIMb3



The website of @THLorg provides comprehensive information on the coronavirus:https://t.co/dWlgBBcq7t pic.twitter.com/0OI95SkI2P  Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) March 22, 2020

Can seasonal workers travel to Finland? Are visa and residence permit applications processed?



We have put together questions and answers about the effects of the coronavirus on worker mobility.#coronafi https://t.co/u4QImJ1tiZ pic.twitter.com/DjM2QD8Vdn  TEM (@TEM_uutiset) March 23, 2020

The fight against the coronavirus is something we all need to tackle together.



Each and every one of us can help by following the guidelines of the authorities and by passing on information to our friends and loved ones.



More:https://t.co/4rm77ujO6z pic.twitter.com/PnmlNvvZPO  Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) March 23, 2020

READ: AICE Exams Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Outbreak? Check Details Here

Wife also tested positive

The statement reportedly said that President Ahtisaari is doing well given the circumstances. Ahtisaari's 83-year-old wife Eeva also tested positive for the infection, as per reports. The health authorities of Finland have reportedly confirmed 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19, although not all suspected infections are being tested. The officials have reportedly said that the real number of people infected with the virus could be 30 times higher. Prime Minister Santa Marin reportedly said that further restrictions on movement would be announced immediately.

Finland has closed its borders and suspended travel to Finland until 13 April 2020. This applies to everyone except Finnish citizens and foreigners with permanent residence in Finland.



International travelers can return to their home countries.



More:https://t.co/aBywX3c6Ts  Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) March 23, 2020

READ: Thailand Government Declares State Of Emergency To Battle Coronavirus Pandemic

READ: Ubbi Dubbi Dance Festival Postponed Amid Coronavirus Scare
As some businesses have closed and restaurants have reduced operations, many Montanans are finding themselves out of work. While Bullock eliminated the weeklong wait period for people to receive unemployment benefits, the state system to access them has been overwhelmed. Bullock said that since March 16, more than 15,000 people had filed claims.

While the chief justice of the state Supreme Court asked that nonviolent inmates be released from county jails, Bullock said Tuesday he has not made a determination about any changes at the state prison in Deer Lodge or other facilities like the prison in Shelby run by a contractor.

Montana has a primary election June 2, and several candidates have called for a vote-by-mail election. Bullock said Tuesday he would have a decision on any possible changes to that election soon, made under the power he has in the emergency declaration he issued March 12.

Bullock said the state is aggressively seeking to increase its critical inventory of supplies and that he got an additional 50,000 N-95 masks through a mutual aid agreement with North Dakota. Those will be distributed all across the state soon. He also issued orders Monday that should open up options for hospitals to increase their capacity in the event of a surge of patients.
The Opelika Chamber of Commerce is encouraging residents to order takeout from their favorite restaurant Tuesday as part of a national effort to help the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Great American Takeout, a social media movement, is encouraging people throughout the country to order at least one of their meals to go on Tuesday.

The Opelika chamber decided to encourage residents to partake in the national effort in hopes of helping local businesses.

We realize many people are already doing curbside pickup, and this is going to help our restaurants during this unique time, Opelika Chamber of Commerce President Pam Powers-Smith said. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is just to encourage citizens to not forget our restaurants that have much-reduced business right now. Pick your favorite or try something new, call your order in and pick it up curbside!

A list of the restaurants that the Opelika-Auburn News knows off that are offering curbside or take out can be found on oanow.com.

State numbersAlabamas COVID-19 patients range in age from age 2 to age 97, state health officer Scott Harris said during a Monday afternoon news conference.
SPRINGFIELD  The novel coronavirus could create long-lasting, devastating damage to Illinois health care facilities that serve vulnerable communities.

Community health centers are treating fewer patients than normal after all 390 locations around the state canceled routine and preventative medical visits to slow the spread of COVID-19 per guidance from federal and state officials.

That means fewer government reimbursements for facilities that use them to pay staff salaries and purchase supplies. According to a report from Capital Link, community health centers in Illinois are projected to lose almost $140 million in revenue over the next three months, or 70 percent of the business typically generated.

This segment of the states health care safety net is already underfunded by about $150 million annually, Jordan Powell, president of Illinois Primary Health Care Association, said.

This could have a long-lasting impact on the health center delivery system, he said. Because were already underfunded, it only exasperates the short-term problem were facing right now.

Illinois entire congressional delegation signed a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker urging the state to allocate temporary funding to alleviate these centers potential need to lay off staff or permanently shutter facilities.

It would be unthinkable for a community health center to be forced to close due to a lack of adequate resources, the representatives wrote. ... While we understand that Illinois will have to make tough choices in the days, weeks, and months ahead, adequate funding provided directly to our community health centers now will ensure we are ready to overcome these challenges.

There is no funding amount cited in the letter, but it specifies it should be adequate for sustaining the provision of core health services in addition to responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and they must be flexible enough to meet the varying needs of our health centers serving Illinois unique and diverse communities under conditions which are rapidly evolving.

Community health centers are present in each of the states congressional districts and nearly all state legislative districts, which Powell said attributes to the bipartisan congressional support for funding.

In his daily novel coronavirus briefing Monday, Pritzker was asked what state resources are available to the facilities, which typically treat 1.4 million patients and create 18,500 jobs.

He did not answer the question directly, instead saying, We want to make sure that those health centers are able to remain open as soon as possible. Pritzker added his administration is collaborating with federal officials to ensure funding is included in a national stimulus bill.

Powell said he and his team have had extremely positive near-daily conversations with the governors staff and representatives from relevant state agencies, and all parties involved understand the issues were facing.

They have a limited amount of resources and there are so many needs out there. Its a difficult problem for them to prioritize those needs, Powell said. Were asking them to help us stay open, and time really is of the essence right now.

It would cost Illinois government less money to provide this emergency funding now, he said, than have to deal with the repercussions of facility closures later. Annually, community health centers save taxpayers $2 billion, Powell added.

Community health centers are designed to treat anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Facilities not only treat medical issues, but substance abuse, dental, vision and behavioral concerns as well as provide prescription medications at a reduced or no cost.

The clinics could alleviate pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms as they struggle to treat those with COVID-19, Powell added, if the facilities had enough personal protective equipment for staff. That includes gloves, gowns and face masks.

We even suggested that our centers could be used as testing centers statewide, he said.
The Massachusetts National Guards first few missions in helping the state ward off the novel coronavirus involve delivering supplies to hospitals and setting up screening tents at correctional facilities, an official said.

The guard members first missions are logistical, said Don Veitch, spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.

Some transportation units are moving supplies to hospitals. Others have delivered tents to the state Department of Correction facilities, setting them up outside the facilities for screening.

People trying to enter a facility are being surveyed and getting their temperature taken, according to the state, which is conducting the screening.

The missions that weve been assigned are critical to help combat the spread of the virus," Veitch said. "On order from the governor, were employing our personnel to transport critical supplies to the places that need it the most.

Gov. Charlie Baker issued an order on Thursday activating up to 2,000 National Guard members to help with the states response to the coronavirus. As of Tuesday, the coronavirus has killed at least 11 people and infected more than 1,000 people statewide.

Hospitals are calling for gloves, face masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help keep workers on the front lines safe as they test and treat patients.

Sign up for free text messages about important updates on coronavirus in Massachusetts

Veitch said he didnt know exactly what supplies were in the latest hospital deliveries, referring a reporter to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Health Secretary Marylou Sudders said on Monday that the state had ordered 3 million PPE items, including gloves, face masks and gowns. The state Department of Public Health has received more than 750,000 masks, face shields, gowns and pairs of gloves from the national stockpile. The most recent shipment received on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Department of Public Health made 89 deliveries of items from the national stockpile to health care facilities across the state. A mix of state workers and National Guard members made those deliveries, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Dentists across Massachusetts responded to a letter sent by Sudders on Friday, donating masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. State officials have also reached out to construction workers and vocational schools in hopes of collecting donations.

The Massachusetts Dental Society announced MEMAs efforts to collect supplies at its website, encouraging members to send supplies to the State Logistics Warehouse in Marlborough. The agency is seeking gloves, eye masks, gowns, booties, face masks, respirators (N95, N99, N100), cleaning products such as sanitizing wipes and surface disinfectants and hand sanitizer.

So far, the state has received 43 responses from dentists, according to HHS.

Sudders said in a statement that her office has also reached out to other companies, colleges and universities for donations, while placing orders with national and international companies.

Once these supplies are received, the Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency are stockpiling those and distributing them to health care facilities and first responders," Sudders said. "We will continue to aggressively pursue all supply chain opportunities and explore new options.

The death toll is up to at least 696 nationwide and at least 18,614 worldwide, according to the coronavirus tracker set up by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. In Massachusetts, at least 11 people have died from the coronavirus as of Tuesday.

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UPDATE (8:53 a.m., March 24): Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a stay-at-home order Tuesday morning, closing most businesses for the county until April 3.

Houston began the week as the largest city in the United States without a shelter-in-place order. Thats not a good thing.

The cross-your-fingers strategy is about hoping the recent closing of bars and restaurants, the canceling of large public events and a 10-person limit on gatherings will be enough to flatten the curve of new coronavirus infections.

That approach hasnt worked anywhere else, and its reckless to expect that Texas will somehow be different. We shouldnt be lulled into complacency by initial numbers from delayed testing. Its going to get worse  much worse.

Youre going to see an exponential increase in the number of people who test positive on a daily basis, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a San Antonio news conference last week. So people just need to prepare, and not be shocked, for the mathematical reality.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

He was right. As of last Monday, Texas had about 85 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. By Sunday, the number had grown to 714.

The mathematical reality also includes a very small window before our health care system is overwhelmed by a surge of patients needing respirators and intensive-care beds. People who couldve survived will not.

This disease cant be stopped with piecemeal measures. Italy began slowly with incremental measures to close restaurants, churches and museums before moving to harsher restrictions. By then, it was too late. Italy now has more COVID-19 deaths  more than 6,000  than the 3,270 in China. The death toll in Italy continues to rise with no end in sight.

It is time for President Trump to issue a national shelter-in-place order that sends a clear message that the way to stop the pandemic is to combine robust testing with strict limits on public interaction. Abbott doesnt have to wait for the president. He should institute a statewide order immediately. Late Monday the Chronicle reported that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo planned to issue a stay-at-home order Tuesday and we urge counties across the region to band together and do the same.

Americans bristle at the loss of liberties, but these are not lockdowns. The orders generally allow residents the freedom to buy groceries and gas, go for a run, walk the dog, pick up medicine or visit a doctor. They are far less burdensome than the sacrifices Americans made to win World War II and no more intrusive than mandatory evacuation orders during hurricanes.

Stay-at-home orders are already in place in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas and New Orleans. Statewide orders are in place in California, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, Louisiana and Ohio.

The economic pain and individual inconvenience of these orders will be great. But the alternative is even bleaker.

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: All of the latest news, numbers and analysis to keep you up-to-date, only on HoustonChronicle.com

Hope that Trump would step in with a stay-at-home order was dampened Sunday when he irresponsibly suggested he might lift existing restrictions if the economic pain becomes too great. Tweeting in all caps that we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself, he veered off course again this week to focus on personal grievances rather than on protecting the country.

The president needs less profile and more courage.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a beacon of medical wisdom in the administration, has raised the prospect of stronger restrictions.

I think we should really be overly aggressive and get criticized for overreacting, Fauci said Sunday on NBCs Meet The Press. I think Americans should be prepared that theyre going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing.

The president needs to listen to the doctor.

In Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested on Fox News Monday night hed rather die from COVID-19 than sacrifice the U.S. economy: Those of us who are 70-plus, well take care of ourselves, he said. Although Abbott recently took the needed step of closing schools, restaurants and bars, he has stopped short of a broader order.

Understand this, I am governor of 254 counties in the state of Texas. More than 200 of those counties in the state of Texas still have zero cases of people testing positive for COVID-19, he said Sunday.

Yes, and he should fight like hell to keep it that way. The pine curtain of East Texas isnt an iron curtain. Theres no vacuum seal around the Panhandle. Many of those rural counties are short on doctors and may lack a hospital. Its simply irresponsible to delay measures that can significantly slow the advance of the virus there.

Whats more, testing remains well behind the real-time infections, and it takes only one person to infect another two, who each infect another two, and so on. Thats what exponential means.

If the tough choices fall to the cities and counties, were glad to see Harris County poised to do the right thing and we hope the region follows. What good are restrictions in one place if people can just take their risky behavior somewhere else? Thats not how you stop this virus. Its not how you keep an even playing field in business.

We are running out of time. We can slow the clock with a stay-at-home order. Leaders, step up and make the hard call.

SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: Keep up with all of the latest breaking news and analysis from the HoustonChronicle.com
The Toronto police board has called a special meeting to be held by phone later this week to discuss its ongoing response to the novel coronavirus crisis, saying the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to continue to have impacts with respect to policing.

As we all continue to navigate through this rapidly evolving and dynamic situation, the board remains committed to ensuring that its governance and oversight role function appropriately, reads a statement from the seven-member civilian board released Tuesday.

The meeting, set for Thursday at 4 p.m., has been called to discuss how the board and the police force will make decisions on future potential urgent and time-sensitive items related to the pandemic response, reads the boards statement.

The meeting will also discuss ways to establish an information-sharing protocol to ensure the timely and consistent flow of information related to Toronto police and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board statement says.

Toronto police chief Mark Saunders has so far been providing relevant and timely updates to the board, reads a report written by Toronto police board executive director Ryan Teschner.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented public health emergency at this time and it is critical to ensure the continuity of adequate and effective policing services, Teschners letter states.

We are in a challenging period. There may be difficulties with respect to the Board meeting regularly as usual.

Toronto police have not made any changes to front line policing. But as of last week, all Toronto police facilities, including police headquarters at 40 College St., are closed to the public.

The service is urging the public to use its online reporting system for incidents including vehicle or property damage, driving or parking complaints, traffic Issues, and theft or fraud under $5000. For now, all criminal record checks must be submitted online.

Last week, the Toronto police confirmed a civilian employee had tested positive for COVID-19, launching an in-depth investigation related to the individual and their contacts, said Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray.

This member does not work in a public-facing role within the Service.

Members of the public can participate in Thursdays phone meeting by dialing 416-641-6104, and entering passcode 1061538, followed by the # key. Audio of the meeting will be posted to the Toronto Police Services YouTube account.
Following the closure of Ghanas borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country, the Ghana Immigration Service has quelled multiple attempts by Ghanaians and foreigners to enter the country illegally.

All borders were closed on midnight of Sunday, March 22. Ghanas coronavirus case count has risen to 52 since then.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, Laud Ofori Afrifa, the Deputy Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, cited the Aflao area as having seen various attempts to enter the country illegally.

Among those intercepted, there were seven Nigerians; four men and three women who were sent back across the border to Togo on March 22.

Also, an American national who had crossed over from Togo was picked up by immigration personnel after he landed at the Lome airport on March 20.

The American national has since been referred to health officials and is under arrest and detention and being sent into mandatory quarantine.

Further action to take on him will be announced in consultation with the legal authorities, Mr. Afrifa added.

Of concern to the state is that local communities were aiding people to enter the country illegally, Mr. Afrifa also stated.

He revealed that 12 Okada riders were arrested for attempting to smuggle things across the border at Aflao.

At the Sogakope inland border, a Ghanaian doctor who flew in through Lome from the US and entered illegally was also intercepted.

Ethiopian Airlines continues to fly to Lome so we are watching that border post very closely because that is where we are seeing the tendency of persons mobbing through, Mr. Afrifa said.

Two Ivorians who hired vehicles from Aflao border and were moving to Accra were also arrested.

Drivers of vehicles have also arrested and they are all being sent to mandatory quarantine and thereafter, the issue of prosecution will be considered.

At Elubo, 21 persons; five Ghanaians, nine Beninois, three Nigerians, a Malian and three Ivorians, were intercepted with the foreigners being sent back across the border.

Up North, Mr Afrifa said there were attempts by Nigeriens and Burkinabes to get out of the country in buses but they have been stopped.

The Deputy Comptroller-General ended his address by urging Ghanaians in border towns to cooperate with the border control measures amidst the pandemic.

We are not in normal times so the manner they have been operating in conspiring to smuggle people out of the country should ceasethey should rather inform us of illegal entries rather than aiding them, he warned.

Aside from this update, Togolese nationals were arrested at the Tatale border attempting to cross with motorbikes at unapproved routes.

Ghana currently has 14 approved entry routes into the country.

---citinewsroom
Two teenagers left heartbroken after seeing an old man 'left with nothing' in his shopping basket are now delivering care packages to the elderly in self-isolation.

Best friends Sam Hornsby and Matty Perry were left feeling upset when they saw an old man who looked desolate as he struggled to get supplies due to coronavirus shortages.

But the 17-year-old boys wanted to deliver smiles around their community and immediately devised a plan to help others who were self-isolating due to Covid-19.

Sam Hornsby, pictured left beside Kellly Heptinstall, Nicky Russell, decided with his best friend Matty Perry, right, to deliver care packages to old people living in their village of Harlington, South Yorkshire

The teenagers are determined to keep their deliveries going as long as possible

Fellow locals have been dropping in donations so the youngsters can carry on their good work

They pooled together roughly 15 each of their own money and purchased items like pasta, porridge, biscuits, toilet roll and teabags and filled 10 bags to be delivered.

They went door-to-door around the village of Harlington, South Yorkshire, where they live, and now plan to continue for as long as they can.

Sam, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said: 'We saw him looking so sad and he was left with nothing, he was just looking at a single bag of flour he had in his hand.

'All I was thinking was that I would never want to see my grandparents left to feel like that - it was so heartbreaking.

'As we walked out of ASDA we said let's chip our money in together and see what we can do to help our little village.

'It blew up from there and now we're hoping to continue to help as many people as we can.

He added: 'We want to inspire others to take care of the elderly in the way they took care of us.'

Best friend Matty, also from Doncaster, South Yorks., added: 'It was so upsetting, I couldn't believe people were really being left to struggle like that.

'Their expression when we delivered the packages was so amazing, they were all so grateful for the little we did.

'Everyone we met told us they were struggling and were worried they might not be able to get through it.'

He added: 'We want other young people around the UK to just do their little part and help someone.

'We had someone in Leeds message us to help get their mum some supplies as he was stuck in America.

'I think if we all did a little bit, it would go a long way.'

Matt's proud mum Kelly Heptinstall, 38, said she wasn't surprised by the kindness shown by the boys, who've known each other for 10 years.

She said donations have been pouring in with many in the community wanting to follow in their footsteps to lend a helping hand.

The stay-at-home mum said: 'I'm massively proud of what they're doing.

'I've been overwhelmed by what they've done. People have left donations at our house.

'They've been helping people in our village and community but now people from other villages have been asking for help.

'Matty and Sam got really upset when they saw this old man who looked so sad.

'They wanted to do something to help and when they got back decided to use their own money to do something about it.

'It's been amazing to see people's reactions, someone said their husband had passed away just four months ago and she didn't know what to do.

'She started crying but she was just so grateful and completely gobsmacked.

'The boys have seen what's been going on and realised that many older people were going to struggle.

'They have always been caring lads, I know how 17-year-olds are meant to be but they're always so polite.'

She added: 'I'm just so proud. In these times this is so important.

'People say only elderly people are affected by coronavirus, but that generation of people fought wars for us so it's time for young people to step up for them.'

Full-time fitter Sam and college student Matty have urged people to be sensible with their shopping - even if they are doing so for a good cause.

Avid mountain biker Sam said: 'A lot of people feel vulnerable and scared in these times, so it's good for us to make sure they don't feel completely alone - even if they're in self-isolation.

'We're doing an inventory of things we're buying now so we can organise everything and not ransack shops when there are others who need supplies too.

'If we're all sensible and all help each other, we will get through this together.'

Barnburgh and Harlington council have donated 250 to the boys' cause.

In a Facebook statement they said: 'Barnburgh & Harlington Parish Council would like to thank Sam and Matty for taking the initiative and time to think of older residents in the Parish at this difficult time by arranging and doing care packs.

'The residents have been overwhelmed by this kindness.

'The Parish Council would like to donate 250 and the Parish Councillors are also going to contribute so this good work can continue.'
HCMC not to allow refusal to go into quarantine

A soldier disinfects a dormitory in HCMC as it is turned into a quarantine, March 19, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

HCMC is considering how to force people into quarantine and penalize those who don't wear masks in public, its chairman said on Monday.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the city People's Committee, said: "HCMC, and the entire country, is bracing itself to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. The next two weeks are an important period that would decide whether we win or lose in this fight."

Some 1,300-1,800 people arrive at the city's Tan Son Nhat Airport every day, which is a huge burden for Saigon in fighting the disease, he said.

There are instances of people who were unwilling to go into quarantine despite persuasion by local authorities.

Recently a Cameroonian pilot at The Ascent apartment building in District 2 refused to go into quarantine after being persuaded by local officials, and the city's Departments of Health and Foreign Affairs. Part of the building has been locked down after a British pilot living there was confirmed infected with Covid-19 last week.

Phong said the Department of Justice must devise procedures to force such people into quarantine, whether in their own homes or in quarantine zones, for the sake of the communitys safety.

The department must also devise policies to deal with people who do not wear masks in public, and the Department of Industry and Trade must punish businesses that hoard masks or increase their prices too much, he said.

Apartment managers need to measure the body temperatures of people going in and out and control their flow, and be aware of the itineraries of residents, he said.

Vietnam has rolled out several measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, including mandatory wearing of masks in public and a temporary ban on entry by foreign nationals.

The country has had 123 Covid-19 cases so far, of whom 17 have recovered. Many of the remaining people, all currently in hospitals, are Vietnamese and foreigners arriving from Europe and the U.S.

The pandemic has killed over 16,500 people and spread to 195 countries and territories.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos faces backlash after publicising a relief fund the public can donate to for his contract employees working during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Amazon Relief Fund was created with $25m from the e-commerce company to assist its employees and partners, specifically those who are responsible for the necessary task of delivering all the products consumers order across the US.

Its focused on supporting our US-based Delivery Associates employed by Delivery Service Providers, our Amazon Flex Delivery Partners, and Associates working for Integrity Staffing, Adecco Staffing, and RES Staffing, and drivers and support team members of line haul partners under financial distress due to a Covid-19 diagnosis or quarantine.

Besides the company contributing $25m to the fund, it also allows the public to donate if they deem it important. While we arent expecting anyone to do so, you can make a voluntary donation to the fund if you desire to do so, Amazon wrote on its funds website.

Amazon tweaked the wording to the above after initially encouraging people to donate via text, according to Popular Information.

But asking for public donations has still caught some backlash online.

How is your company worth over a TRILLION dollars and you want the public to donate to an employee relief fund?! As if Amazon cant pay their employees themselves, one frustrated consumer wrote on Twitter.

Amazon is worth $1tn, and Mr Bezos is worth an estimated $114bn, making him the worlds richest man. In 2018, the company reported an income of $11bn but paid $0 into federal taxes.

As the pandemic continues and more consumers turn to the e-commerce site to stock up on necessary essentials, the company is anticipated to post an even larger income this year. But it is still asking for consumers to contribute to its fund if they would like.

We are not and have not asked for donations and the Amazon Relief Fund has been funded by Amazon with an initial donation of $25 million. The structure to operate a fund like this, which hundreds of companies do through the same third-party, requires the program to be open to public contributions but we are not soliciting those contributions in any way, a spokesperson with Amazon told The Independent.

Amazon announced that during the pandemic it would be hiring an additional 100,000 employees to help address the surge in demand for its services. It also increased pay by $2 per hour and doubled pay when working overtime for employees on the frontlines.

Initially, the company decided it would only pay full-time employees sick leave during the pandemic. Up to two weeks of sick leave would be provided to all Amazon employees diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed into quarantine.

Employees in places like Chicago and Sacramento then put pressure on the company to extend its policy to cover part-time workers in the warehouses. On Monday, Amazon agreed it would extend its sick leave policy to those who work 20 hours or more.

People who are not covered for paid sick leave are encouraged to apply for Amazons relief fund.
Then we waited. Family and neighbors delivered us groceries, leaving them on the front porch like gifts from kindly elves. The kids had a few bad nights, then started to improve. We tried to take walks in the neighborhood (the E.R. doctors had recommended it), but quickly found that the narrow sidewalks required us to constantly circle away from our neighbors, which required shouted explanations that provoked bemusement in some cases, fright in others. So we drove instead, looking for deserted corners of state parks, an empty greensward near a monastery, anywhere with grass and air and little chance of human contact.

Five days went by with no test results. My symptoms stabilized, fluctuated and then ebbed a little; my wifes mostly went away. We had friends in Minnesota who were having a similar experience: Their family had been on a Disney cruise just before the lockdowns (they are True Americans) and come back with an illness; it seemed like a flu for most of them, but the husband, a man of very different physique and temperament from me, had my symptoms  shortness of breath, chest tension, windedness.

Finally, we received my results; the sample had apparently been sent to the wrong lab and the lab had called the wrong doctors office to report them. The test was negative. Trying to explain my symptoms, our doctor speculated about flus that cause asthmatic attacks in otherwise healthy people. But she also noted that plenty of infected people can have negative tests from a single nose swab. (In one study of Chinese patients, the nose swab detected only about 60 percent of coronavirus cases.)

The next day our friends in Minnesota got the husbands results. They were negative as well.

My sons test was delayed  another day, they said. That was three days ago, and yesterday, as I was reading the final edit of this column, our doctor called with the news that they were apparently unable to complete his test because they needed to redo part of it, and they had insufficient material from the initial swab.

So that apparently concludes our testing experience. For our family quarantine, its been almost the full 14 days. I feel better, though there are still flashes of chest pain and discomfort. My wife seems fine now. The kids have what amounts to the remains of a cold, nothing frightening any longer. Whether we had it or not, we appear to be coming through OK.

[Listen to The Argument podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.]

So did we have it? There are three possibilities. The first is that on my travels I acquired a different virus, one we shared throughout our family, that happened to mimic some of the crucial symptoms of the coronavirus during the exact moment the outbreak accelerated.
Math Modelers in Canada Say Lack of Data Makes Flattening the Curve Predictions Difficult

When Caroline Colijn sees the daily numbers of new cases of COVID-19 in Canada, she looks for certain things.

As a disease modelling expert, she says the effects of the measures were taking today to limit the spread of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, may not appear for weeks.

But when they do, if effective, they should begin to appear as declines in the new number of cases relative to the days before and, ultimately, no new cases.

As long as the testing remains consistent, even seeing lower rises or no rises or declinesall of those would be fine, said Colijn, who is the Canada 150 research chair in mathematics for evolution, infection and public health at B.C.s Simon Fraser University.

The decline in new cases is crucial to flattening the curve, once considered math jargon that has become part of everyday language as the public educates itself about the pandemic.

When health experts talk about the curve as it relates to COVID-19, they are referring to the number of active cases over time. In a pandemic, the goal is to ensure the peak of the curve falls below the healthcare systems capacity to deal with it.

But the challenge for both mathematicians and the federal government is a lack of data in some casesand what Colijn called noisy data skewed by many factors in othersmaking it hard to predict the course of the disease in Canada.

An Ottawa Public Health officer (R) waves to the next person in line at the COVID-19 testing center in Ottawa, Canada, on March 23, 2020. (Dave Chan/ AFP via Getty Images)

On March 23, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the federal government continues to ask the provinces to release more precise data, and has offered help to do so if their staff levels are stretched.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was going to raise the issues during a call with the premiers Monday evening.

Ashleigh Tuite, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto, said graphs circulating that show the potential path of COVID-19 in Canada come with huge amounts of uncertainty for several reasons.

First, were still learning about disease transmission and behaviour. Second, confirmed cases reflect the recent past, not the present, because of the viruss incubation period. And third, testing protocols have shifted and many people who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will never be tested, meaning modellers dont have accurate numbers to work with.

Unfortunately the reality is that the data that we have to basically get a sense of whats happening in terms of disease transmission is quite messy, she said.

So those clean lines you see in the graphs are not really reflective of what were going to see in reality.

Still, modellers are doing what they can with the data available. In Tuites models, the worst-case scenario would see about 70 percent of the Canadian population contract COVID-19. The best-case scenario would be a vaccine, but thats not arriving in the short term.

Health care workers speak with an elderly woman at a Covid-19 assessment center in London, Ontario, Canada, on March 17, 2020. (Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images)

In reality, were somewhere in the middle, where measures like social distancing and self-isolation will be key to flattening the curve, she said.

Shortly after schools were closed in Ontario, Tuite created a model showing social distancing could delay the peak of the epidemic by up to one year and reduce the number of cases in that province by 50 to 60 percent.

The delay is important because that gives us time to build capacity in the healthcare system to deal with COVID-19, she said. But even when you have the social distancing, at the peak you still have more cases than the current capacity that we have.

The healthcare systems ability to cope with the CCP virus is also a moving target and the limiting factor with COVID-19 has typically been ventilators and hospital beds. Tuite said she has created models using an estimate of 1,600 ventilators in Ontario, but the number of ventilators can be increased over time.

Trudeau announced last week that the government would offer cash to manufacturers that shift their assembly lines from making auto parts, for instance, to ventilators.

Modelling accuracy should improve over time, Tuite said.

Whether the models are exactly accurate, Tuite, Colijn and others emphasized the importance of sticking to social distancing measures, even if they dont initially appear to work.

The incubation period means there will be a delay and relaxing the practice too soon is known to lead to second waves of the virus.

Social distancing relaxation has been shown to be a reason why there may have been a second wave of SARS and the H1N1 pandemic, said Jane Heffernan, director of the centre for disease modelling at York University in Toronto.

Colijn said right now, maintaining social distancing is super important.

A Canadian border agent wears as face mask at the U.S./Canada border in Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada, on March 22, 2020. (Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images)

Its really tempting to think, OK, we did that for a day or two and then relax it for a little bit because its really hard to do, Colijn said.

But I think right now the best thing Canadians can do is really to maintain these social distancing measures and try to flatten that curve out so that we seeeven if we still see risesthey are as small as they possibly can be and theyre nowhere near where they would have been if we had gone ahead and left everything unchanged.

The Epoch Times 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.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
Mark Wright made the most of the UK sunshine on Monday, heading out for a family bike ride with his brother Josh and dad Mark senior.

The ex TOWIE star was seen zooming around the Essex countryside, but was quick to point out on social media that the trio were strictly keeping to the social distancing rules enforced by the government to help curb the rise of coronavirus.

Posting on Instagram, Mark was in great spirits as he shared a snap of the trio posing with their bikes, two meters apart.

Exercise: Mark Wright made the most of the UK sunshine on Monday, heading out for a family bike ride with his brother Josh and dad Mark senior

'Exercise and fresh air but keeping a safe distance with my brother and dad,' the star wrote.

Dressed in leggings and a zip-up top, Mark accessorised with a knitted hat for his spot of al fresco exercise near his Essex mansion, which he shares with wife Michelle Keegan.

Mark has landed a new job this week, announcing on Monday that he was taking over hosting evenings on Heart Radio, alongside his usual weekend slot.

The excited star shared the news on social media, writing: 'Buzzing to be taking over evenings on the biggest commercial radio station in the uk'.

Family time: The ex TOWIE star was seen zooming around the Essex countryside, but was quick to point on social media that the trio were strictly keeping to the social distancing rules

'Tonight I launch my new show Monday - Thursday 7-10pm. For fun, laughter and only feel good music, join me tonight on Heart where Im going to do everything to make you smile.'

The message earned a sweet comment from Mark's wife Michelle, who wrote 'Yesss' alongside emojis.

During his first evening show on Monday, Mark paid back the support, sharing a snap from the Heart Radio studio as a trailer for his wife's BBC show Our Girl was shown.

Rules: Posting on Instagram, Mark was in great spirits as he shared a snap of the trio posing with their bikes, two meters apart

Bike ride: 'Exercise and fresh air but keeping a safe distance with my brother and dad,' the star wrote as he enjoyed the ride

Heading out: Dressed in leggings and a zip-up top, Mark accessorised with a knitted hat for his spot of al fresco exercise near his Essex mansion

Busy time: Mark has landed a new job this week, announcing on Monday that he was taking over hosting evenings on Heart Radio, alongside his usual weekend slot

Fresh air: The star enjoyed a break from work in the glorious UK weather

'Proud moment, whilst working and broadcasting to the country, I look up and see the wifey. Her new series of our girl is tomo night on BBC1 9pm', the presenter wrote.

Mark and ex Coronation Street star Michelle married in a lavish ceremony in 2015.

The pair have spent much of their married life separated by work, with Michelle shooting Our Girl around the world while Mark spent two years in Los Angeles after landing the role as a presenter for US showbiz show Extra.

The star decided to leave the States in early 2019 in order to spend more time with Michelle, announcing at the time 'it just feels like the right time to come back to the UK and live here with my wife and family.'

Sweet: The excited star shared the news on social media, writing: 'Buzzing to be taking over evenings' earning a sweet comment from his wife Michelle Keegan
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  In a devastating and unprecedented blow in Nigerias recent war against terrorists in Northeast region, over 70 Nigerian soldiers were wiped out in the deadliest attack by the Boko Haram terrorist group near Gorgi village in Borno State
Serbian Army troops were deployed to construct a makeshift hospital for expected coronavirus patients inside an exhibition hall in the capital, Belgrade. They unloaded equipment, including 3,000 beds, on March 24 at the Belgrade fairgrounds. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that only those with light symptoms will be sent for treatment at this location. More serious cases will be sent to established hospitals. Vucic said Serbia will begin to accelerate testing. As of March 24, Serbia reported 303 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease and three deaths.
In an effort to give back to the community during the coronavirus pandemic, Ranger Creek Brewing and Distillery is making its own hand sanitizer to give away for free.

"For us, it felt like it was no question, we needed to help," said Dennis Rylander, cofounder of Ranger Creek. "Our business has been hit in a big way like so many, but we felt like we had the ability to give back and help the community."

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news with mySA.com:

In light of the sanitizer shortages, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission waived licenses typically needed to produce hand sanitizer for a number of distilleries around the state because those facilities have the necessary equipment to make it.

"As long as you have a really high proof alcohol, it is good to kill a lot of things," Rylander said.

The process to make a batch of sanitizer takes several days as it needs to be mixed and then sit before it can be used, Rylander said.

The demand for the sanitizer has been overwhelming for the local distillery. One of its biggest issues at the moment is trying to find enough containers.

On Express News: These S.A. restaurants are now selling groceries

"We had over 200 bulk orders just for places like healthcare facilities, first responders and companies," Rylander said. "And that isn't even from the individuals who want it, too.

"The requests have been crazy, but lots of people are thankful for the help."

Since the first batch was completed on Friday, the distillery has been giving away a limited number of sanitizers daily to people in addition to the large orders they are receiving. On Friday alone, Ranger Creek distributed 200 bottles.

"We are trying to do our part, but we can't do it all so I am really hoping this encourages other businesses to get involved too," Rylander said.

Ranger Creek is among other spirits companies that have started making their own sanitizer. While previously, Austin-based Tito's Vodka had to request that its customers not make homemade sanitizer from its products, the company announced Sunday that it is in the process of making 24 tons of hand sanitizer that adheres to industry standards.

Rylander asks anyone who wants sanitizer to check Ranger Creek's Facebook page for information on when the company has more batches and the dates and times the sanitizer will be available. He asks people not to call the distillery or show up outside of the specified times.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
Many, many moons ago, Woody Allens memoir was dropped by its publisher. Well, its really been less than three weeks, but time has had a way of stretching out lately. It was back when the coronavirus pandemic was still an outbreak.

Apropos of Nothing, the memoir in question, was supposed to be released by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. But after widespread criticism centering on allegations that Allen sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child, Hachette decided to cancel the release.

Allen has denied the allegations against him. Farrow has stood by her claims and found renewed public support in the #MeToo movement. Famous actors, from Colin Firth to Rachel Brosnahan, have either pledged not to work with Allen again or expressed regrets over past collaborations. Some, such as Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet, donated the money they earned while working on Allens film A Rainy Day in New York to charity.

Hachettes cancellation of Allens memoir followed an employee walkout as well as separate statements from Dylan Farrow and her brother Ronan. The latter was incensed in part because his own book Catch and Kill, about the Harvey Weinstein scandal, was published by another Hachette imprint (Little, Brown, and Company). Still, the decision to drop Allens memoir led to much hand-wringing from some who saw the move as an odious example of cancel culture  and an ominous forecast of more censorship to come.

Among them was the author Stephen King, who tweeted: The Hachette decision to drop the Woody Allen book makes me very uneasy. Its not him; I dont give a damn about Mr Allen. Its who gets muzzled next that worries me.

This is a conversation weve had before, of course. Just over the past year or so, weve had to decide whether or not to keep listening to Michael Jackson in a post-Leaving-Neverland era, while my home country of France tripped over itself trying to decide which place Roman Polanskis movies should occupy in our public discourse. (Polanski won the best director award at the Cesars, Frances equivalent of the Oscars, last month. A number of women walked out.)

Fears that powerful men will get muzzled or cancelled have always baffled me, because they, by and large, simply do not align with reality. Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in 1977 before fleeing the US, where he was facing the charges, on the eve of sentencing. Feminist demonstrators who protested outside the Cesars ceremony were accused of attempting to silence him and erase his work from our collective consciousness even as he won the biggest award a director could possibly dream of collecting in France.

(By the way, even if Polanski hadnt received such a prize, this wouldnt have equated him being cancelled. Censorship and simply being passed on for prestigious awards are two very different things.)

But back to Allen. Anyone with a modicum of common sense could have predicted that Allen would find another home for his book. This has, of course, happened, and today, Apropos of Nothing was released by Arcade Publishing in the US.

Ive been accused of attempting to cancel another famous man in the past. Its been a bit more than a year since Liam Neeson, during an interview, told me he had once walked the streets with a cosh, ready to kill a black bastard in response to the rape of a friend.

After the interview, people wanted to know: should Neeson be cancelled? Should he never work again? It quickly became apparent that people had grand ideas about the extent to which well-liked men are held accountable for their words and actions. Neeson is fine, by the way. He appeared on Good Morning America last month to promote his new movie Ordinary Love with Lesley Manville. A few days later, he was on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where he was asked whether Charlize Theron actually shoved a flower in [his] ass in A Million Ways to Die in the West.

You cant muzzle powerful men. Whether you decide thats a good thing or a bad thing is entirely up to you. But please, next time one of them is accused of doing and/or saying terrible things, spare me the hand-wringing.

Powerful men will be fine. They almost always are.
I've been so impressed by the display of musicality coming from other countries on lockdown. Whether it is Italians singing opera from their balconies, or Spaniards playing flamenco while seated on their windowsills, people are still making music in the time of coronavirus. We Americans need to step up our game, which is why I propose you go to your window right now and belt out a showtune (musical theater is, after all, America's response to popular opera). Here are seven suggestions:

1. "Waving Through a Window" from Dear Evan Hansen

This "I want" song comes early in Dear Evan Hansen, when our title character explains his fear-driven life of social isolation. I've always taken the lyrics to be a metaphor for social media  how we're all tap, tap, tappin' on the glass (of our smartphones) and waving through that artificial window in hopes that some other human will notice us. That interpretation holds up in the time of mass quarantine, when the Internet provides the only venue for many people to socialize anymore; but the lyrics also feel quite literal today, as I stare out my window at the bored neighbor across the street staring out hers. Does she also stream the cast recording of Dear Evan Hansen on repeat? I suppose there is only one way to find out.

2. "Summer Nights" from Grease

This kiss-and-tell group number from Grease is always a crowd-pleaser. It has become a karaoke classic, especially since the strange Grease mini-craze of the late '90s. Just try singing it in a piano bar without anyone joining in. Of course, you may not be able to conduct this experiment in an actual bar for some time, but you always have front-facing window happy hour! Particularly ambitious blocks can hold Zoom auditions for Danny and Sandy (a strong falsetto and an ability to harmonize are essential). If Governor Cuomo is to be believed, we may actually be singing this one all through the summer!

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3. "I Know Where I've Been" from Hairspray

I realize that not everyone has a voice like Jennifer Hudson, so I'm recommending this one with some trepidation. However, if you happen to be an individual blessed with a powerful set of pipes and an intrinsic sense for gospel, this would be a stunning number to belt from your window. While the song was written as a civil rights anthem for Motormouth Maybelle, the lyrics are vague enough that they could apply to any struggle through a bleak period  and has any period in your life ever felt bleaker? "I Know Where I've Been" is an emotional reminder of where we've been, and that there is a light leading us to where we need to go.

4. "Tomorrow" from Annie

Similar to "I Know Where I've Been," this anthem of hope was written about another dark period of American history (the Great Depression), but it can easily apply to today. Even those who don't know much about musical theater know this song, because Annie's optimism exemplifies all that is great about Broadway and America. You can sing it when you're 9 or 90, and the same truth still applies: We're all anxiously waiting for a tomorrow in which we can freely move around without fear. Until that day, we'll just keep singing.

5. "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid

Chances are that most people at least know the basic refrain of this Alan Menken-Howard Ashman production number from Disney's The Little Mermaid  and those of us who grew up with VHS copies at home have almost certainly committed it to memory. This is a great way to get the whole street singing and dancing in their apartments  sorry downstairs neighbor! No need to dwell on Francesca Zambello's Broadway roller-derby spectacular (although those who remember it can relive the madness in the above clip, featuring Tituss Burgess as Sebastian). Truly, wouldn't life be better right now if we were all under the sea? (No, this is not your cue to chime in about climate change.)

6. "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music

It's natural to be scared right now, but Rodgers and Hammerstein had an answer to that. In fact, they had several. Considering that the film adaptation of The Sound of Music is one of the most popular movies ever made, it's a safe bet that a lot of your block already knows this little ditty, which Fraulein Maria sings to the von Trapp children during a thunderstorm. You might even want to invent your own verse to reveal your personal favorite things: Carved crystal tumblers for single malt scotches / Cameo brooches and bright brocade swatches. As an encore, I suggest "The Lonely Goatherd," which will get your whole block yodeling, their voices echoing off the brownstone like they were in the Austrian Alps.

7. "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel

This second-act number from Carousel is the ultimate anthem of perseverance, delivered to our protagonist after she makes a grim and life-changing discovery. Its message of hope is so universal that it has been adopted as the theme song of an English soccer team quite accustomed to picking itself back up after heartbreak. So many of us are feeling isolated right now, but it's important to remember the "so many" part of that statement. While we practice social isolation to fight the pandemic, we need not feel quite so lonely when we realize that millions of people are going through the same thing. We'll pull through this moment faster if we keep a song in our hearts and on our lips.
A key trans-Atlantic security forum is objecting to the US Department of Justice's decision to force Turkish public broadcaster TRT to register as a foreign agent.

In a tweet this morning from his official Twitter account, the representative on Freedom of the Media at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the decision to apply the Nazi-era Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to TRT's Washington office would have a restrictive & negative impact on media freedom.

Concerned by the recent decision of #US authorities to force the Turkish public broadcaster @trt to register as a foreign agent in the US, tweeted Harlem Desir, a former French secretary of state for European affairs. #FARA registration has a restrictive & negative impact on media freedom and should not apply to media from another #OSCE participating State.

Desir's office told Al-Monitor that at this stage he had nothing to add to his statement but depending on the evolution of the situation, we might eventually communicate again.

Al-Monitor first reported both the news of TRT's registration and the fact that the Justice Department had required it. TRT insists it is financially and editorially independent of the Turkish government, while the Justice Department argues that it acts at the direction and control of Ankara.

Moscow quickly endorsed Desir's tweet. Russia has bristled at being forced to register its RT television station under FARA in 2017.

The Russian mission to the OSCE tweeted that it shared Desir's concerns, saying FARA registration for the media blatantly violates international obligations and commitments on media freedom and safety of journalists and impede free flow of information.

TRT's registration comes amid an intensifying push by the Donald Trump administration and Congress to get certain foreign media outlets they view as mouthpieces of foreign governments to register under FARA. So far several Russian and Chinese outlets have registered; several hawks in Congress are also pushing for Al Jazeera to register as an agent of Qatar.

This isn't the first time the OSCE's media freedom arm, which bills itself as the worlds only intergovernmental media watchdog, has taken issue with FARA. Branding media entities as foreign agents is a dangerous practice, as it can narrow the space for freedom of the media, Desir warned in late 2017 as the United States and Russia took reciprocal actions against each other's media outlets.

Other groups such as the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have also raised concerns about the cost of forcing media outlets to register under FARA.

We urge U.S. lawmakers to consider the far-reaching consequences of determining what is journalism vis-a-vis the Foreign Agent Registration Act, CPJ's Program Director, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, told Al-Monitor. While we acknowledge the benefits of FARA in exposing foreign lobbying, allowing a federal institution to determine what is propaganda and what is solid reporting could have a negative impact on both the domestic and global media environment.

While the Justice Department's letter requiring TRT's Washington office to register insists that doing so would only help inform viewers about its ties to a foreign entity without harming its news-gathering abilities, the CPJ has pointed out that RT America lost its press credentials needed to access parts of the Capitol after its registration. The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery, which manages media access on Capitol Hill, did not respond to Al-Monitor's request about whether TRT was still a member or whether its registration would lead to a loss of its credentials.
MIDDLETOWN  The mayor soon could increase up the number of coronavirus updates he delivers in an effort to keep residents abreast of developments as the highly contagious illness spreads throughout Connecticut.

Gov. Ned Lamont Monday announced two more fatalities as a result of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 10. In all, 415 cases have been confirmed.

Mayor Ben Florsheim posted about Middletowns first reported case of COVID-19 Saturday night on his social media page: a man in his 50s who has gone into self-isolation.

Florsheim was saddened but not surprised at the news, he wrote on his Facebook page. This is the first confirmed case, but will certainly not be the last. Please take seriously the guidance we have been sharing from Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Well get through this  but it will take time, and will take all of us (to help curb the spread), he added.

When an individual tests positive, the procedure involves health district officials calling the person or a family member to find out details about possible exposures. That no longer includes contact tracing, where partner notification is conducted to determine where the infected individual may have visited or been in the past two weeks.

Its not going to be feasible to do that for everybody, Florsheim explained. Hes still working on an approach to announcing subsequent Middletown cases, but that will not likely happen as each result comes in.

Meantime, as a way to communicate new information directly to residents, Florsheim has been conducting Facebook Live sessions a few evenings a week on his page.

Lamont said Monday all schools in Connecticut are to remain closed until at least April 20.

Middletown students were sent home March 13 with Chromebooks and other materials to work from home. The district will move to online learning March 30, according to Superintendent of Schools Michael T. Conner, who is helping set up the MPS Engagement and Enhancement Digital Learning Pathway.

Middletowns task force began meeting Monday to work out the logistics with central office employees, teachers and administrators, as well as start professional development activities, he said.

Part of those discussions will include what a typical virtual day of school will look like. When we say distance learning and creating an e- or virtual learning environment, the readiness level for teachers varies on a continuum, Conner explained. Youre going to have teachers who are high-flyers with the Google Suite and Classroom, and youll have teachers at that foundational level.

Much needs to be accomplished before the March 30 launch. We have to be able to clear what content is going to be, what the structure of the academic year is going to be  all those technical logistics. Students are going to have to get used to interacting with their teachers in a new environment, as well as vice versa, Conner said.

Hes dubbing next week the first day of school. Getting up to speed will be much like when students and teachers reconvene in late summer.

This is going to be a soft launch, and the depth and breadth is going to scale every single week. Its kind of like getting to know classroom norms, different tasks on the first day of school in a traditional setting, he said. School administrators are being very deliberate and thoughtful during this process. Were taking this very slow, and we want to be very intentional with the launch.

Teachers will be establishing methods of synchronized and asynchronized learning, such as office hours  when theyll be available by phone, chat or other methods  and working virtually with small groups of students who need extra help.

Professional learning for leaders and teachers to support the soft launch of the new educational system will be ongoing.

After speaking with state Board of Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, we are anticipating that digital learning will be in place for an extended period of time, Conner said.

The board approved an amended calendar March 18 that guarantees the last day of school will be June 16. April recess (April 13 to 17) is canceled to ensure public schools come as close as possible to the original 180-day policy mandate, Conner said in an email to parents.

Connecticut primary day, April 28, will be a regular academic day for students, after Lamont rescheduled it to June 2. If classes are back in session by then, Conner will work with police to make sure voting is accompanied by maximum security to ensure social distancing and other safety measures.

Over the last five days, the district distributed more than 6,800 to-go meals to families through its schools. This past weekend, more than 20 local restaurants each delivered approximately 100 meals to Bielefield, Macdonough, Snow and Spencer elementary schools as part of the states emergency meal program for children.

In Regional School District 17, Haddam-Killingworth High School Principal Donna Hayward alerted parents Sunday night that online distance learning would begin Monday morning via Google Classroom.

Students should complete [assignments] just as they would if they were in class each day. Students can and should ask questions of their teachers, and earn grades for their assessments, just as they would normally, she said by email. Students are expected to be doing classwork from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, she said.

The district also is encouraging parents to make sure their children take breaks and get fresh air every day to mitigate long periods of screen time. If a student is ill, a parent must contact district nurse Tanner Pederson at tpedersen@rsd17.org so the absence will be excused.

For seniors, Middletown has set up an online packet of information for residents, which lists important phone numbers, email addresses and Facebook pages, information available on Public Access Channel 19, food pantry/soup kitchen hours, grocery stores with special senior shopping hours, and more.

The citys recreation division is offering ideas for activities and exercise to keep children busy while they are at home.

A second virtual Middletown coronavirus information meeting, conducted by the Community Health Center, will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. Florsheim and representatives from local school districts, senior centers, the health department and others will take part. View the Facebook invite at https://bit.ly/3dorHgW.

The Westfield Fire Department is asking 911 callers to alert them if someone in the home has symptoms of COVID-19. This will allow our personnel to be better prepared to manage the situation when they arrive. We are experiencing unprecedented times.

Also, Middletown police are taking extra precautions to keep the public and officers as safe as possible. They urge those with hearing or other issues that prohibit using a phone subscribe to the text-to-911 service.

If a call is not an emergency, people may be asked to speak to an officer over the phone to file a complaint.

A phone has been placed in the lobby of headquarters at 222 Main St. that allows visitors to communicate with staff. For non-emergencies, people are asked to call dispatch at 860-347-2541, the records bureau at 860-638-4010 (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and the front desk at 860-638-4000.

If officers come to a home or other location for a complaint or emergency, people may be asked about their health or recent travel to screen for possible exposure to the coronavirus. Police are practicing social distancing, and ask that others do the same, the post said.

Your request for police assistance may have nothing to do with your health, but we ask that you have patience with our dispatchers and officers, and cooperate to the best of your ability. We need to do what we can to help prevent the spread, according to the post.

For information, visit the citys website at cityofmiddletown.com, Florsheims Facebook page at BenForMiddletown, and the state of Connecticut coronavirus site at portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus.
[March 24, 2020] Keyavi Data Launches to Make Data Self-Protecting, Intelligent and Self-Aware

Keyavi Data, a data security technology company that embeds protection directly into the data, today announced the public launch of the company and its leadership team. Keyavi's data intelligence technology, which is currently open to a limited number of early access customers, enables data owners to maintain full control of their data for as long as they want. Independent of platform, transport or application, Keyavi protection works wherever that data travels or how it is stored, no matter the data type or format. "Over time, identity management, physical security and loss prevention tools have proven that they are not enough -- data must be intelligent and self-aware so that it can self-protect no matter where it is located or how it is accessed, based on any criteria the owner sets for it," said CEO and chief architect Elliot Lewis who has led protection programs for some of the world's most sensitive data in government and Fortune 100 companies. "Businesses must accept that in the era of remote work, collaboration, a global economy and highly sophisticated threats, they can no longer effectively control their data. Instead, their data must be able to protect itself when out of their possession, whether from theft, loss, or simply sharing data to both enable and innovate in business. The vision of changing the fundamentals of security to protect data at the data level - the one universal denominator across all of information technology - has not been achieved until now." With a name inspired by the Italian word for key, Keyavi is laser-focused on providing companies the power to eradicate the threat of data loss or intrusion. The company's technology uses a unique combination of industry standard tools and proprietary methods and protocols, which allows data to stay under the owner's control no matter where it goes in the world or who possesses it at any given moment. Proven throughout an extensive beta testing period, the company's data intelligence technology embeds itself and "wraps" data in multiple, independent encryption layers. Unlike DLP or other data protection solutions, no layer of the technology can be compromised without triggering protection mechanisms in the surrounding layers. Unless all access requirements are satisfied per the data owner's specifications, the data will be inaccessible. If the data owner wants to changethose requirements or remove access entirely, they can simply change permissions or revoke access immediately on their computer or device.



Keyavi will sell directly to select enterprises initially and through multiple distribution channels and OEM partners moving forward to bring this technology to the widest range of customers. The company will reveal additional details about its technology and products shortly. The company is conducting its most recent seed round for existing and new cybersecurity investors, which is expected to close in early Q2. Interested investors should contact Todd Demko at [email protected].

Keyavi is led by CEO Elliot Lewis. Elliot has more than 25 years' experience in data security including as chief security architect at Dell (News - Alert), director of security and identity at Cisco, CISO at Merrill Lynch and senior security architect at Microsoft's Security Center of Excellence. Elliot did extensive work with federal agencies and military defense and civilian contractors prior to his private sector career. Other security experts on the company's management team include: Chris Chiancone, chief information and technology officer, brings more than 25 years' experience in strategic planning, technological innovation, IT architecture, and data security to his role at Keyavi. Chris served as CIO of the City of Plano, Texas, a member of Dell's Presidential Advisory Board, and a senior director of security and government solutions at Info-Tech Research Group.

Sean Thurston, chief information security officer, has more than 20 years' experience in infrastructure, networking, IT strategy, data centers, system deployment governance risk, and secure cloud enablement. His prior experience includes serving as executive director for technology and information risk at Morgan Stanley, director of innovation and architecture at Bank of America, and senior director for the security research practice at Info-Tech Research Group.

TJ Minichillo, vice president of cyber intelligence, has more than 25 years of leadership and management experience specifically helping to detect and thwart many of the world's most significant cyber threats. Previously, he was head of threat intelligence for National Grid, senior vice president for Citi's Cyber Intelligence Center, and a senior special agent for the U.S. Department of Defense. He has served for a decade on the Intelligence Committee for the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center consortium. To learn more about the company, visit www.KeyaviData.com. Click here to request a demo or participation in the early access program, and here to read a white paper on managing security as millions of American workers switch to remote work. Watch an overview video interview between cybersecurity author and hacker expert Alissa Knight and CEO Elliot Lewis which will premiere at 8:15 am PST. https://youtu.be/xcvyPcm6viE About Keyavi Data Keyavi Data was launched in 2020 to eradicate data loss for enterprises in any market. Rather than trying to contain data in a world reliant on open information and transparency, Keyavi breaks new ground by making the data itself intelligent and self-aware, so that it can protect itself instantly, no matter where it is or who is trying to access. Keyavi is led by a team of renowned experts in data security, encryption, enterprise software, and cyber forensics and analytics. The Keyavi name is inspired by the Italian word for key, and it is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005511/en/

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Three new Covid-19 cases were reported from Gautam Budh Nagar district on Tuesday taking the total confirmed cases reported from the district to 11.

Among the new patients are a 47-year-old woman and her 50-year-old husband who had come in contact with a British national in his Sector 135 office, and another 35-year-old man who had returned from Burkina Faso. Authorities say the three have been isolated in hospitals in the district and their condition was stable.

The couple are residents of a Noida sector 137 society, while the man is from Zeta-1 area of Greater Noida.

In case of the couple, Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officier Dr Anurag Bhargava said,The Briton had in flown from London in the third week of March for an audit and met the man at his office. We suspect that the woman got infected through her husband who had also got in contact with 19 others -- from Delhi-NCR-- working at the firm. We are tracing all of them to put them under quarantine and to see if they develop any symptoms.

The woman was the first to show symptoms and her samples were tested on March 22. Health officials had also taken samples of her husband and adult daughter. While the husbands results came positive on Tuesday, that of the daughter are still awaited.

Health officials are also trying to track down the Briton who had by then left for London and will be getting in touch with the UK high commission.

A few residents claimed that the Briton visited the society during his three-day stay in India. We are confirming their claims, said Prasoon Dwivedi, sub-divisional magistrate, Dadri.

The couple has been admitted in Government Institute of Medical Sciences, while their daughter is under quarantine at the government hostel.

The administration also sanitised the sector 137 society, which was sealed from 2 pm on Tuesday till 10 am on Thursday.

In case of the 35-year-old patient, he had returned from Burkina Faso, West Africa via Turkey on March 18. His sample was collected on March 22. He has been shifted to the Super Speciality Children Hospital in Sector 30, Noida.

The Zeta-1 society has been locked down from till Thursday 7 pm pending sanitisation. All residents have been asked to stay inside their houses.

Both the societies have been locked down for two days as per the orders of the district magistrate, said Dwivedi.

The district magistrate has sealed the district borders till April 15 as precautionary measure to control spreading of COVID-19 virus. Officials have made it clear that any violation of the order will call for a legal action under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

By Tuesday evening, the health department had tracked 1062 travellers, 1717 person were under the surveillance, 363 samples were collected, 259 reports have come negative, 11 positive cases were found while 93 reports are awaited.
Superconductors are materials that can conduct electrical present without resistance, as well as theyre longed for by scientists who research quantum computers as well as companies hoping to transfer power more efficiently. The superconductor inside the Australian meteorite is a well-known material, however the exploration itself comes as a shock.

Researchers have actually identified trace quantities of superconducting product inside among the globes largest meteorites, according to a new research.

Whichs exactly what the scientists were doing below; they were utilizing a grant from the United States Air Force to hunt for superconductivity in whatever materials they can evaluate. Provided the severe environments in which extraterrestrial materials could create, meteorites were a rational place to browse.

Munir Humayun, a professor at Florida State University who reviewed the research, thought that it was an extremely interesting one. He said the writers did a good work ruling out obvious sources of contamination but still discovered it troubling that we know this alloy exists in artificial forms on Earth. The trouble with non-obvious resources of contamination is that they arent apparent, he told Gizmodo.

The group brought their examples to researchers Yimei Zhu as well as Shaobo Cheng at Brookhaven National Laboratory to inspect them making use of electron microscopes. Only afterwards verification could they feel great they d really found a normally happening superconductor from area. Wampler initially offered his results at the March conference of the American Physical Society in 2018, and also the group published their peer-reviewed paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today.

If these alloys tackled superconducting buildings in the cold of space, possibly they might impact the magnetic fields bordering them, producing phenomena possibly visible to telescopes in the world. These theories will need a great deal much more evidence, modeling, and research study prior to they hold any water.

For Schullers group, the discovery of a material currently recognized on Earth doesnt help in their pursuit for brand-new superconductors. They prepare to proceed utilizing the MFMMS method to check through various other examples that may hold exciting new materials.

The group checked via hundreds of meteorite examples: first tiny meteorites and then bigger fragments. Graduate student James Wampler finally measured the superconducting change in two meteorite pieces: one from the Mundrabilla meteorite, among the globes largest meteorites consisting of 22 statistics tons of pieces scattered across Australias Nullarbor plains, as well as one from a meteorite called GRA 95205. The superconducting material was an alloy of indium, lead, and tin, a material previously called a superconductor to researchers. Its the first proof of superconductivity in space.

Its tough to state exactly how specifically this alloy kinds in space. These meteorites components would certainly have undergone chemical adjustments like home heating and recrystallization during planetary system development, obscuring the setting their products initially formed in. While this alloy isnt a superconductor at space temperature level in the world, there are places of area cooler than the 5-degrees-Kelvin at which it ends up being a superconductor. And also, the kind of material in the GRA 95205 meteorite demonstrates it formed in extreme problems that could have formed various other superconducting materials.

 I dont remember the minute when I discovered it, Wampler informed Gizmodo. Your very first response is that its fabricating you out, its something else. Its extremely cynical, not laid-up, however being negative makes you double check yourself.

 The huge takeaway is that there is superconductivity in the sky, naturally happening, Ivan Schuller, among the researchs lead writers from the University of The Golden State, San Diego, informed Gizmodo.

Still, this paper is just one of the surprising papers that makes you go, whoa, we need to check out things we werent considering before, Humayun stated. This paper opens the door on an entire area of query to look at rare metals like these indium-tin-lead alloys not known from meteorites formerly.

This exploration was no attractive eureka minute. Given that the superconductor was a product already known in the world, the researchers immediately wondered whether they d inadvertently polluted the samples.

Schullers group isnt simply curious about meteorites theyre seeking superconductivity everywhere. Six years earlier, his group debuted a technique called magnetic field modulated microwave spectroscopy (MFMMS). The MFMMS technique starts with researchers putting small sample fragments into a tooth cavity loaded with microwaves and an oscillating magnetic field and then cooling it. When examples transition from conductors to superconductors, the method they take in microwaves substantially modifications. The MFMMS technique allows scientists to promptly check with lots of materials to determine whether they are superconductors.
(Ross May / Los Angeles Times)

Scott Lawrence Belton is an active-duty member of the Air Force and recent transplant: He just relocated to the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo from Florida. The 40-year-old had hoped to start making local friends  and maybe find a few dates  after settling in.

But amid the current coronavirus outbreak, Belton finds himself even more alone, telecommuting in an unfamiliar city where bars and restaurants  the places hed most likely meet someone  are closed.

So hes turned to Tinder.

I am in a weird situation because I have to stay within a 200 mile radius [of the base], but I dont know anyone within that 200 mile radius, Belton explained in a message on Tinder.

His bio on the dating app further detailed his predicament: Maybe I should get a girlfriend. Within this Coronavirus Shutdown, I dont know what to do! I cant go to the gym or restaurants? I just moved to California so now I have to resort to meeting people online.

Belton represents an untold number of people exploring virtual alternatives to social interactions and intimacy during a time of unprecedented social distancing. Of course, these measures were put in place to help keep everyone safe. That doesn't make the rules any easier to follow.

Popular dating apps have taken note, with companies like Coffee Meets Bagel advising users to adhere to social distancing actions and other safety precautions while also encouraging digital date ideas, like video dinners.

Bumble user Kaitlyn Fraser, 20, of Niagara Falls, Canada, tweeted that her recent FaceTime date with a match also marked her first ever date. She had originally planned to meet for drinks at a bar on St. Patricks Day, but Canadas bar and restaurant shutdown inspired her to change not only the venue, but also her outfit  she opted for more comfortable pieces  and her first date expectations.

A lot of people worry about a kiss at the end of the first date, like how does that work? Fraser said in a phone interview. So it kind of felt good that I didn't have to be nervous over that.

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While sudden changes to social interactions have inspired a re-imagining of existing dating apps, theyve also led to OKZoomer, the first dating app launched during and in response to COVID-19 quarantine efforts, aimed at college students.

Yale University juniors Patrycja Gorska and Ileana Valdez and Southern Methodist University graduate Jorge Valdez unveiled their timely creation on March 13, providing quarantined college students with opportunities to date in the wake of school closings worldwide. Valdez claimed that the venture has scheduled about 9,900 dates and garnered more nearly 13,000 unique sign-ups since its launch.

College is one of the only times that people can be connected with a wide pool of people they have connections with; because of the new social distancing restrictions they are no longer able to do that, the co-founder said in an email. OKZoomer was created to use the free time people currently have to help them build connections that will last beyond the distance, the social distance.

And yet a drastic shift in IRL (in real life) culture does not necessarily guarantee a shift in online dating culture, which has played a prominent role in modern-day love and relationships long before the coronavirus outbreak.

Brian Petillo, 28, of East Hollywood, who is a documentary producer, has found that online dating has only worsened the stress and anxiety stemming from his social distancing efforts. Im not socially out there typically, he said in a phone call. This just makes it even harder.

He had rejoined Tinder after a recent heartbreak but prior to Californias shelter-in-place actions. Now, swiping in a time of weighted loneliness, the downsides of online dating  low matches and flaky, fleeting conversations  have the potential to strike users self-esteem much harder than before.

Petillo also touched on a specific factor that is much more difficult, if not impossible, to replicate on any virtual platform.

I could have a great relationship with someone and be texting with them constantly and on the phone with them constantly, but you miss the intimacy, he said. There's something about being with someone physically, you know? Even if youre not doing anything physical together, there's still something about being with somebody in person.
Pompano Beach, Florida, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brownies Marine Group, Inc. (OTC:BWMG) a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of modern recreational diving products and onboard compressed air solutions is pleased to announce that, through its wholly owned subsidiary, BLU3, Inc., it has submitted a technical proposal in response to the Department of Defense DIY Hack-A-Vent Innovation Challenge and other similar initiatives seeking innovative ways to rapidly produce ventilators during this time of critical demand due to COVID-19.



About Hack-a-Vent

According to DODs Vulcan, this Innovation Challenge seeks to pool brilliant minds and expertise to develop a low-cost, non-FDA approved, mechanical ventilation support system that can be rapidly produced at local levels with widely available resources. The top 3 submissions will be selected by a panel of experts and may be offered an opportunity to produce a functioning prototype.

BLU3 Ventilator Proposal

BLU3s proposal suggests utilizing an existing BLU3 product, Nemo, at the core of the ventilator solution, which the team has named BLU3 Ventilator. BLU3 Ventilator is the product of converting the companys existing, CE-marked commercial breathing air diving system to perform the behaviors of mechanical ventilation. BLU3 Ventilator is unique in its ability to rapidly be converted into a device that meets all of the Hack-a-Vent requirements. Given the current shortage of ventilators around the world, it is highly beneficial that BLU3 Ventilators manufacturing processes can be easily duplicated into other manufacturing plants in a short period of time and scaled up to meet increasing ventilator demands.

BMG is proud to be a contributor in this global effort to produce a sufficient number of ventilators to treat ill people who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are design adaptations to be overcome before converting the existing product into a working ventilator solution; however, BLU3 believes it holds a major building block to the solution with Nemo. The team expects the first reviews on their proposal by experts in the field to occur within a matter of days.

A Unique Solution

Nemo (diveblu3.com/nemo) is the worlds only diving system with an electronic regulator, which would be modified to serve as a respiration detector sensing the breathing of a patient. Minor software modifications can convert Nemo into a machine that behaves like a ventilator with minimal added cost since Nemo already includes a breathing air pump, respiration sensor, and spare microcontroller capacity. If selected, the team projects that BLU3 Ventilator can be produced at a rate of approximately 2,500 units per week within a 2-week startup period and at a fraction of the cost of currently-available ventilators. BLU3 Ventilator can run continuously with access to wall-power or it can be powered with commonly available 12 volt DC batteries.

Contact Us for Support and Collaboration

Please support the Brownies Marine Group team in their effort to serve the world during this time of crisis. The team is eager to apply their utmost focus and energy toward this global health emergency. Any assistance to move the BLU3 Ventilator proposal into the eyes of more experts for review will be greatly appreciated. Entities interested in collaborations are encouraged to inquire as well. You may contact the team at info@browniesmarinegroup.com .

About Brownies Marine Group

Brownies Marine Group, Inc., is the parent company to a family of innovative brands with a unique concentration in the industrial, military and recreational diving industry. The Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, tests, manufactures, and distributes recreational hookah diving, yacht-based scuba air compressors and nitrox generation systems, and scuba and water safety products in the United States and internationally. The Company has three subsidiaries including Trebor Industries, Inc., founded in 1981 and dba as Brownies Third Lung, BLU3, Inc., and Brownies High-Pressure Services, Inc. dba LW Americas. The Company is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida. For more information, visit: www.BrowniesMarineGroup.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. Stockholders and potential investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this report are reasonable, we cannot assure stockholders and potential investors that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements made with respect to the development, production and marketability of our development stage NEMO product. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, a change in events, conditions, circumstances or assumptions underlying such statements, or otherwise. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and our other periodic and quarterly filings with the SEC.

Source: Brownie's Marine Group, Inc.
ROME - The Vatican is under pressure to let more employees work from home as its offices remain open two weeks after the Italian government ordered Italians home and shut down all non-essential businesses in an urgent attempt to contain the coronavirus.

On the same day the Vatican confirmed four positive cases, Vatican employees in three different offices expressed alarm Tuesday that superiors had adopted different work-at-home policies that forced some to continue showing up. Concern about exposure risk has been heightened because many Vatican employees live in priests residences or religious communities and eat together in communal dining rooms.

Two religious orders in Rome have already been quarantined after several sisters tested positive for the virus. On Tuesday, Romes health service sent its crisis unit to a nursing home run by an order of nuns after several elderly residents got infected. Nationwide, more than 50 priests with the virus have died, most of them elderly and from the hard-hit northern Lombardy region, the Italian bishops conference said.

Vatican offices that handle particularly sensitive issues - such as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - told employees to show up five days a week to prevent documents, files and archives from leaving the office, according to one employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to officially speak to the media.

Officials at the Vatican office that oversees the churchs work in the developing world, known as Propaganda Fide, still require employees to come in at least twice a week. The requirement means staff members who live outside of central Rome must commute using public transportation, said Karlijn Demasure, whose husband works in the mission office.

The whole of Italy closes down but not so the Vatican, at least not Propaganda Fide, Demasure wrote on Facebook. It is dangerous, moving between cities, trains, metro and buses. I cannot believe that this is actually happening!

On Tuesday, the Vatican repeated that its offices would remain open. It said individual department heads should arrange for essential services to be provided to the church with the minimal personnel on hand and incentivizing as much as possible remote working.

It also announced another three positive cases, including two employees of the Vatican Museums, bringing its total to four.

The government ordered Italians to stay home except for reasons of absolute necessity starting March 10. On Saturday, it approved another ordinance suspending non-essential production and other industry, shutting down factories that arent explicitly necessary to keep Italys food, energy and other necessary sectors going.

The Vatican secretariat of state - the main governmental body of the Holy See - on Monday issued new guidance for employees about whether they needed to come into work. According to the advisory, a copy of which was seen by The Associated Press, the secretariat of state urged people to work from home where possible but said employees should come to the office if they lived in Vatican City or nearby.

The guidance also suggested employees could use annual vacation allotments now instead of work, though few would voluntarily give up their traditional holidays in August, when the Vatican and the rest of Italy essentially shut down.

The Vatican, a 108-acre walled city state in the heart of Rome, approved virus-containment measures two weeks ago. But its workplace policies during the public health emergency lag behind the rest of Italy, which has the most virus-related deaths of any country in the world.

Pope Francis himself has complained that he feels like he is in a cage. He slipped out of the Vatican on March 15 to pray at two Rome churches and to take a mini-pilgrimage walking along a deserted Via del Corso, a main street in the Italian capitals historic centre.

Accompanied by his usual security detail, the 83-year-old pope took the outing five days after a nationwide lockdown confining Italians to their homes with limited exceptions went into effect. The pope also has continued meeting with his top advisers in person at the Vatican, according to his daily schedule.

Religious leaders around the world and from all faith groups have been confounded about how to provide spiritual and other assistance to their flocks while following health guidelines urging everyone to stay home and avoid congregating. Some have balked at lockdown measures, and continued to keep churches open.

Even the U.S. bishops conference issued advice at odds with the prevailing health recommendations elsewhere. In an infographic tweet Tuesday, the U.S. conference suggested the Catholic faithful in the U.S. use their COVID-19 time at home essentially as a staycation, urging them to exercise, go for a walk with friends, get to know a neighbour better or learn to play a new instrument with a family member. Italian police are barring people from taking walks and socializing, and public health authorities suggest that even family members practice social distancing given the high degree of contagion within the home.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's car exports to Kazakhstan decreased by 45.2 percent over first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $6.1 million, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

The total value of Turkey's car exports to Kazakhstan exceeded $3.7 million in February 2020, which is 45 percent less compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

The value of Turkey's car exports to the world market amounted to just over $4.9 billion from January through February 2020, having grown by 1 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 16.7 percent of Turkey's total exports during the reporting period of 2020.

The value of Turkey's total car exports exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2020, which is 0.9 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 17.2 percent of Turkey's total exports in February 2020.

Turkey's export of cars from February 2019 through February 2020 amounted to over $30.6 billion.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Tiny Homes

From van and bus conversions to trailers and tiny homes, discover the best in small living and find out how to downsize your own living space.
This article originally appeared on the Aberdeen Patch

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD  With employees of Aberdeen Proving Ground teleworking, business has slowed at The Lunch Box Deli. Since her restaurant was at a lull, owner Theresa Ray said she wanted to do something to help those battling the new coronavirus pandemic.

Nobody is coming from upstairs, Ray said of the customers in her building, where workers from companies like Leidos used to come down for breakfast or lunch. Since these employees are in the tech field, they are mostly teleworking now, under orders to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus.

While other restaurants around the state have started offering delivery since the governor ordered dine-in restaurants to close March 16, it's a bit more complicated for The Lunch Box.



"You can't just drop it," Ray said of a meal at Aberdeen Proving Ground. "It's considered an unmanned package. It has to go from hand to hand. It's not the same as being out in the normal world."

The business also cant do individual deliveries off base. To leave the post and drive back on, its not feasible, Ray said. It takes so long to get off and back on" because of lines at the guard gate.

To keep her restaurant in business, Ray is asking the community to pay for lunches that she will deliver to hospitals and first responders around the region.

People are encouraged to donate $10, which will pay for one lunch.

One man is purchasing 12 lunches a week, she said.

"His wife works in a primary care physicians office, and theyre already exhausted," Ray said.

He wanted to help so much that he made the first delivery on Friday, at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, where an employee came outside to accept the lunches.

As of Monday, Ray said 481 meals have been donated.

But now she has a problem: She has had requests for more than 1,200 meals and needs people to donate to pay for them.

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There are 230 lunches going to Harford Memorial Hospital and 200 to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center this week, Ray said.

Before the deliveries, she sends the staff the menu, so they can make their selections.

And these are not just any lunches that The Lunch Box delivers. Each $10 meal contains a handmade card along with a sandwich, salad or wrap; bag of chips; brownie or cookie; and drink.

The notes have uplifting messages like Donut forget you are awesome, with a picture of a doughnut. Ray said she makes the cards by hand, and they have become a staple at her business. She started putting them in lunch bags about eight or nine months ago, and they've taken off.

Photo by Theresa Ray.

"My [Aberdeen Proving Ground] workers collect these things, Ray said of the love notes, as she called them. They line their cubicles with them. They get recycled through the office, [where] they put them on each others desks. So I do not watch TV or a movie without sitting and doing cards.



She recalled a man in his 60s digging through his bag one day at the restaurant. He was like, Theres no note, she recalled. These people are the backbone of our nations security. They have really stressful jobs and maybe sometimes they come to us for lunch because I have a phenomenal staff who I do really push to ... smile, be personable, love them and that kind of thing.

Now she wants to send that love out to first responders, health care workers and truckers.

Its sustaining their mental capacity, Ray said of first responders. Beyond that, its knowing that people care. Its knowing that this was made possible because people in our community donated to your cause."

Ray said she was brainstorming with her friends and the idea for Feeding Our Heroes evolved. The concept is still growing, as Ray alerted Patch she was getting her food truck in gear Sunday after hearing that truckers were finding they had limited options.

Theyre saying with places closing, theyre having a difficult time finding places to eat because trucks cant go through drive-thrus, Ray said. Im sure we could find a spot off [Interstate] 95 that was safe for trucks to pull off on, she continued, saying she was considering Maryland House or Park & Ride as possible locations.

"You want those masks, you want those medical supplies. But whos bringing those to you? People take them for granted," Ray said. I know I cant save the world, but  the more donations that come in, the more people we can help.

For those staying in, you can get on your computer and donate a lunch, Ray said.



Lunch Box Deli is at 6210 Guardian Gateway, Aberdeen Proving Ground. Hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.



See more about the Feeding Our Heroes campaign.

See Also:
Kaiser Permanente has canceled its $900 million headquarters project in Oakland, in a huge setback for the local economy at a time when the city can ill afford it.

The health care giant scrapped plans to build a 1.6 million-square-foot office tower that would have been Oaklands biggest commercial project. The Chronicle was first to report Kaisers decision.

Delays and increasing costs related to this project caused us to reexamine the feasibility and focus on renovating our current buildings, Kaiser Permanente said, adding that the decision was not related to the coronavirus epidemic.

The move is a sign that the Bay Areas booming office market may be weakening as companies look to cut costs. Construction prices have soared amid a shortage of workers and tariffs on some building materials, making large developments like Kaisers project harder to finance and complete. Housing projects around the Bay Area have also been stalled by rising costs.

Kaiser, Oaklands largest private employer, would have consolidated 7,200 employees from seven East Bay offices into a new 29-story tower at 2100 Telegraph Ave. Real estate experts said the move would free up substantial office space for smaller tenants to occupy, leading to a boost in city employment.

Its a pivot for Kaiser, and one that makes sense for their organization and members at this time, Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. Theyre reinvesting and improving their existing sites across the city, so the most important fact is that theyre staying rooted right here in Oakland. In the meantime, this is an incredible project that will attract an incredible new tenant, Schaaf said.

Lane Partners, a developer that planned to sell part of the project site to Kaiser, declined to comment.

Kaiser has endured numerous challenges in the past year. Longtime CEO Bernard Tyson died in November, and 4,000 mental health workers held a five-day strike in December. A shortage of face masks sparked a protest last week by Kaiser nurses in San Francisco over safety standards. Kaiser said it is complying with government guidelines.

Kaisers project was expected to generate an estimated $23 million in one-time taxes and fees and another $15 million in annual taxes.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Its a real blow to Oakland. The headquarters would have been a major development for the downtown, said Councilman Noel Gallo.

The cancellation affects about five times as much office space as Ubers 2017 decision to scrap its Oakland office at Uptown Station, which is just a few blocks south of Kaisers project. Square has leased that building and had begun moving workers inside over the past month, before the new coronavirus forced most office workers home.

Kaiser owns three Oakland office buildings at 1950 Franklin St., 1800 Harrison St. and 2000 Broadway, and also leases the Ordway Building, 2101 Webster St. and 300 Lakeside Drive in Oakland, along with 1451 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda.

Another major Oakland office tenant, BART, confirmed Tuesday that its headquarters move to 2150 Webster St. is moving forward.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer and Phil Matier is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com, pmatier@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf, @philmatier
On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a partial lockdown, moving to a complete lockdown of non-essential businesses and services from 11:59pm on Wednesday. Schools will then shut down entirely, after being closed to most students from today.

The measures will increase New Zealands COVID-19 alert system from level 3 to level 4, the highest level, on Thursday, in an attempt to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. All workers except those in essential services will be required to self-isolate by staying home, except to go to the supermarket or go for a walk.

Currently the lockdown is scheduled to last for four weeks, but this could be extended if the virus continues to spread. As of today, there are 152 confirmed cases, with four thought to be the result of community transmission rather than from overseas. Five people with the virus are in hospital.

Announcing the lockdown, Ardern warned: If community transmission takes off in New Zealand the number of cases will double every five days. If that happens unchecked, our health system will be inundated, and tens of thousands New Zealanders will die.

The prime minister said we must stop that happening, and we can we have a window of opportunity to contain the virus, to stop it multiplying and to protect New Zealanders from the worst.

The sudden announcement created confusion and panic buying at supermarkets, despite government assurances that these would remain open. Thousands of workers in tourism, retail and other industries have lost their jobs in recent weeks due to the pandemic-induced economic crisis and will have to survive on poverty-level unemployment benefits during the lockdown.

The lockdown is a necessary but far from sufficient measure to contain the virus. The World Health Organisation has urged all countries to carry out mass testing of all people who may have been exposed.

The governments own COVID-19 alert system calls for intensive testing at level 1, but this has not taken place. There have been reports of symptomatic individuals being denied tests. There may well be many more undetected cases.

As of Monday only 6,000 people had been tested. The government last week acknowledged that there is a shortage of test kits, with only 30,000 swabs (which are components of tests) in the country.

The lockdown, particularly the closure of schools, should have happened sooner. The government first announced two cases of suspected community transmission on Saturday. But a lockdown was only announced after significant pressure from doctors, healthcare workers, teachers and other workers.

On Monday a petition signed by over 3,000 doctors and health workers calling for an immediate lockdown was handed to the government. It was supported by two online petitions with a total of over 150,000 signatures.

Petition organiser Dr Kelvin Ward, from Wellington hospital, told the media on Sunday: Its not hyperbolic to say we have only hours to prevent the inevitable horrors we see in countries that waited too long. At the rate we are going, we will look like Italy and the USrunning out of medical supplies, turning patients away, Kiwis dying needlessly, because we are over capacity.

Today, Ward told Radio NZ he was extremely grateful for the lockdown, but added that a strict quarantine should be considered for positive COVID-19 cases, with patients moved to special facilities. At present, the vast majority of cases, apart from those in hospital, are being told to self-isolate at home. Some experts fear this will not be enough to prevent transmission to others.

Opposition to shutting schools earlier came from the trade unions, which have acted as an adjunct of the government and praised its decisions since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

On Sunday, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) denounced the doctors lockdown petition. Spokesperson Hilary Graham-Smith told Newshub that the growing number of signatures was disappointing. She declared that the government hasnt let us down so far and I think that they will make the right decisions at the right time and we just need to trust that.

The Post-Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) and New Zealand Educational Institute opposed school closures until Monday morning. In a YouTube video on March 19, PPTA vice-president Melanie Webber ignorantly declared, schools are safe places. In fact, many classrooms are overcrowded and there is a lack of cleaning staff, hand sanitiser and other basic equipment.

Webber echoed the governments self-serving argument that children under 14 have to be supervised by an adult and if the schools were closed nationwide it will cause widespread disruption to the community.

On Saturday, in a PPTA members Facebook group, union representative Chris Abercrombie denounced teachers advocating a strike. I just think calling for industrial action during a national emergency would be classed as alarmist language, he wrote.

The unions position prompted angry comments on social media. One person wrote in a teachers Facebook group: Where is the union on this? Not representing their members thats for sure Are we all expendable? The assurances by school managers and their masters in the Ministry are obvious nonsensepedalled from the comfort of their own homes. He denounced the excuse for keeping schools openthat there was no proven community transmission of the virusas frankly, an insult to peoples intelligence.

In media interviews today, Ardern warned that things will get worse before they get better, as more New Zealanders return from overseas with the virus. There could also be more cases discovered in the community.

Despite the governments assurances, the risk remains that the health system, which only has 180 intensive care unit beds, may be overwhelmed. Should this happen, the government will undoubtedly seek to blame ordinary people for failing to obey instructions about self-isolation.

The crisis, however, highlights the criminal failure to prepare by successive governments, despite repeated warnings of a possible pandemic. While the Ministry of Health claims it can triple the number of ICU beds immediately, the units are understaffed and under-resourced after more than a decade of austerity. A survey last year by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists found that about 90 percent of ICUs said they needed significantly more staff.

The unions have acted as enforcers of austerity. In 2018 the NZNO forced through a sellout deal that failed to meet nurses demands for a guaranteed ratio of one nurse to four patients. The union echoed the Labour Party-led governments claim that there was not enough money to resolve the crisis in hospitals.

This has been exposed as a lie, with the government last week announcing more than $9 billion in tax cuts and subsidies to prop up businesses affected by the crisis. The Reserve Bank has revealed up to $30 billion may be spent on quantitative easing measures to assist the banks. Just $500 million was announced for the public health system last week.
Arkose Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of online fraud and abuse prevention technology, raised an additional $22m in Series B funding.

The round was led by Microsofts venture fund, M12, with participation from existing investors PayPal and USVP.

The company intends to use the funds for platform development, new hires and global expansion.

Led by Kevin Gosschalk, founder and CEO, Arkose Labs provides an online fraud and abuse prevention technology platform that protects many Fortune 50 companies in the financial services, ecommerce, media, gaming and emerging technology sectors. Going beyond fraud prevention, the company protects any consumer action from abuse and fraud, such as account takeover, fake account abuse, scraping, spam, gift card abuse and many other activities.

Customers include Microsoft, GitHub, Electronic Arts, Singapore Airlines, Roblox and Twilio, among others. Arkose Labs also has offices in Brisbane, Australia.

FinSMEs

24/03/2020
A consignment of medical supplies donated by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, has arrived Nigeria.

The Chinese billionaire had used his foundation to forward millions of face masks, testing kits and other protective equipment to Africa as the continent battles to arrest the spread of COVID-19, a deadly disease caused by coronavirus.

A cargo operated by Ethiopian Airlines, which has been in charge of distribution of the material on the continent, arrived Lagos at about 3:20 p.m. with Nigerias share of the consignment, Business Day reported from the commercial capital.

We appreciate the donation of the Jack Ma Foundation and the generosity of Jack Ma. We admire Abiy Ahmed, our Prime Minister, for his initiative and organization of the entire coordination of the process, the newspaper cited Firihiewot Mekonnen, general manager of Ethiopian Airlines Nigeria, as saying in an email Tuesday afternoon.

The items are part of about five million face masks, 1.8 million testing kits, 60,000 protective gears and other critical materials that arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday. Mr Ahmed has been coordinating their speedy distribution across the continent.

The items had been keenly anticipated across the continent, where many countries, including Nigeria, are still believed to be grossly under-testing potential carriers of the virus, making it difficult to understand its severity amongst the population.
* Health check-ins 7 days a week provoke staff ire -sources

* Confusion after Singapore staff asked to wear masks -sources

* Culture clashes behind China executive departures - sources

* Company denies issues with staff over coronavirus steps

By Keith Zhai and Fanny Potkin

SINGAPORE, March 24 (Reuters) - At Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba Group Holding, staff are furious over demands they submit health reports daily and other coronavirus-prevention steps seen as too invasive, highlighting a long-running culture clash with management from China.

Since February, Singapore-based Lazada has asked all employees to answer detailed questions seven days a week about their health and where they have been lately, according to five people with direct knowledge of the matter.

While the e-commerce firm describes the health reports as not mandatory, employees receive frequent calls from human resources, even on weekends, to make sure reports are submitted, the people said.

Lazada has also asked Singapore employees to wear masks at work, contrary to guidance from authorities, and has also considered urging employees to refrain from attending religious gatherings, they said.

The five employees, who said staff anger was widespread, detailed the measures to Reuters on condition of anonymity because they fear retribution. Three showed Reuters a copy of a health report they had submitted.

Such measures are not unusual in China, which has imposed draconian rules to contain the virus. But they are seen as a huge invasion of privacy by many Lazada staff in countries that include Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The conflict illustrates how Alibaba's business practices have sometimes played poorly abroad and hindered its overseas ambitions. It also shows how tensions can emerge within global companies as they struggle with the virus crisis.

"How does the company use the information gathered daily? Nobody is able to explain," said one of the employees, expressing concern that Lazada might pass on the information to governments.

Magnus Ekbom, Lazada Group Chief Strategy Officer, denied there were issues with staff unhappiness over the measures in a statement to Reuters.

Story continues

"Lazada has a clear top priority to safeguard the well-being of our team and the community around us," the statement said. "Our approach is in line with the recommendations made by the various governments in nations we operate in."

Sources also say this is just the latest chapter in Alibaba's struggles to manage Lazada, a company it owns 90% of after investing $3 billion since 2016 and where morale has been rapidly declining.

Once the top e-commerce firm in Southeast Asia when Alibaba first invested, Lazada has now fallen behind rivals in a fast-growing market of 650 million Southeast Asia consumers across six countries, according to market researchers.

Underlining management woes have been the quick departures of Alibaba executives dispatched to Lazada, with the latest co-president of the unit leaving in January after less than 18 months.

"Some Alibaba executives sent to Lazada have the natural tendency of pushing things the Alibaba way because it proved right in China," said Jianggan Li, the founder of Singapore-based tech investment firm Momentum Works.

"Many tend not to have enough respect for the market, and patience to understand the market deeply," he said, adding that Alibaba's international efforts were still in their early days and the tech giant probably had the determination to learn from mistakes.

Alibaba declined to comment on issues at Lazada for this article.

PUSHBACK

The sources told Reuters many employees had raised their concerns to managers via meetings, emails and messages on DingTalk, an app developed by Alibaba that enables managers to keep constant tabs on staff.

The request that employees at Singapore headquarters wear masks resulted in many queries as it runs counter to guidance from Singapore authorities who recommend masks only if feeling unwell.

"People are confused. If they think working in the office is that dangerous, they should've asked us to work from home," one employee told Reuters.

There were also suggestions from Chinese managers about asking employees to reduce social activities, including religious gatherings, though those steps were not implemented in the face of employee resistance, the sources said.

The pushback has resulted in some changes, as some countries where Lazada operates, such as the Philippines, have stricter privacy laws than China. On March 10, Lazada added a paragraph on privacy protection to the terms of its health check-in programme.

"All personal data collected from the daily health check-in program shall be processed in accordance with the local data privacy laws," said an updated version reviewed by Reuters.

CLASHES AND DEPARTURES

According to sources, senior Lazada executives from China have often been quick to impose what has worked for the mainland Chinese market with little regard to local needs or sensitivities in Southeast Asia's fragmented markets.

Some failed strategies include temporary halts to free shipping in some markets which drove merchants to other sites, and attempts to promote bulk buying, the sources said. They added that these mistakes and a tendency for China executives to have key discussions without local input have taken their toll on Lazada's business performance and on morale.

At job search website Glassdoor, anonymous employee reviews are mostly very critical. Among those that were positive, several said they were writing at the explicit request of Lazada CEO Pierre Poignant who asked employees in a townhall to write glowing reviews. Lazada did not address a Reuters query about the reviews in its statement.

E-commerce in the region was worth $38 billion last year and is expected to grow rapidly, according to a study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.

Alibaba does not break out Lazada's financial performance or disclose market share, but market researchers say Lazada now lags Singapore-based Shopee, which is backed by Alibaba arch-rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Shopee was the most downloaded e-commerce app and the most used in the region as of end-2019, knocking Lazada to second place, according to research firm iPrice. Shopee's website also attracts more visitors than Lazada's, iPrice said.

In Indonesia, the region's biggest economy, Lazada trails Shopee and homegrown marketplace Tokopedia, analysts add.

Lazada disputed the market share assessment. "Lazada has the largest active consumer base in Southeast Asia and continues to gain market share," said the statement by Ekbom, without providing further details.

According to three of the sources, executives from China often do not last long.

Jing Yin, a former Lazada co-president quietly left in January and returned to Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, the people said. Others include the head of Lazada's product team, Jin Luyao, who also returned to Hangzhou in January after less than 18 months while the CEO of the Vietnam unit, Max Zhang, returned in mid-2019 after spending little more than a year in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prior to that, Lucy Peng, one of Alibaba's co-founders, stepped down as Lazada CEO in 2018 after just nine months although she remains executive chairwoman.

Alibaba veteran Jessica Liu has replaced Jing. People who have attended meetings with her said she is smart and understands e-commerce well but her English is limited. That's added to concerns Alibaba doesn't understand Southeast Asia, where English is the dominant language for international business, they said.

Lazada and Alibaba declined to make Liu available for comment. Efforts to reach Liu and the other executives by email and Linkedin were not successful.

The clashes and history of departures have left Alibaba employees wary of coming to the Southeast Asian unit.

"Many people in Hangzhou now see Lazada as a career black hole," one of the sources said.

(Reporting by Keith Zhai and Fanny Potkin; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Edwina Gibbs)
The Bangladesh government said it was freeing opposition leader Khaleda Zia from jail on Tuesday for six months so she can get medical treatment.

Law and Justice Minister Anisul Huq said the move came after a brother and sister of Zia -- who has been in prison for two years -- appealed to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to let her arch-rival fly to London for treatment.

Hasina and Zia are bitter rivals whose families have dominated Bangladesh's politics since independence in 1971.

Huq said, however, the 74-year-old Zia would not be allowed to go to another country.

"On the basis of the application and having been directed by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Begum Khaleda Zia's conviction has been suspended," Huq told AFP.

She is freed "on condition that she remains in her Dhaka residence to receive treatment and does not go abroad".

There was no immediate comment from Zia's family or her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Sentenced to 10 years in jail on graft charges, Zia also faces nearly three dozen other outstanding cases. The BNP says the charges are politically motivated to keep her out of politics.

Her lawyers have had repeated bail applications rejected. They have argued that she could die in prison without proper treatment.

A recent leaked medical report on Zia's health said her rheumatoid arthritis was becoming increasingly serious. She has already had two knee replacement operations.

"As a result of combined active disease and accompanied damage she is, at present, at a crippled state and largely dependent on assistance for her day-to-day activities," the report said.

Hasina took over as prime minister from Zia in 2009 and has ruled since.

The United States, which has warm relations with Bangladesh, said it welcomed the decision to free Zia and pointed to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The global pandemic "needs leadership that is compassionate and prioritizes national unity," Alice Wells, the top US diplomat for South Asia, wrote on Twitter.
Nearly 10,000 Americans were identified as positive for coronavirus Sunday, the biggest one-day increase in the global epidemic, and more than 100 people died, the worst day of mass casualties in the United States since the 9/11 attacks.

The US figures are alarming, with a record 9,418 new cases in one day. Of the 42,964 cases, the state of New York has 20,875 cases, registering 5,085 new cases yesterday. As of Monday, the US toll trailed behind only Italy, with 63,027 (and more than 6,000 deaths) and China, with 81,271 cases and more than 3,000 deaths, but few new cases since the spread of the epidemic was halted last month.

In a revealing statement made on Twitter, Tom Bossert, former homeland security adviser to President Trump, wrote, Sadly, the numbers now suggest the US is poised to take the lead in the number of coronavirus cases. Its reasonable to plan for the US to top the list of countries with the most cases in approximately one week.

Bossert criticized the governments inept response to the pandemic on ABC's This Week, stating that the US needed greater testing capacity mobilized earlier to prevent the whole country from shutting down. He warned that the health system in New York City would soon be overwhelmed.

This assessment was corroborated by the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who indicated that if more ventilators weren't made available to the citys 11 public hospitals, the mortality rate would begin climbing. We can get through this week [emphasis added] with the equipment and supplies we have. That's the blunt reality. We will get to a point where people can't be saved who could have been saved.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, visibly shaken by recent events, issued an emergency order yesterday requiring all hospitals to increase bed capacity by at least 50 percent. On Sunday, President Trump announced that he had approved Cuomo's request to issue a federal disaster declaration for the state, allowing the mobilization of the National Guard with federal financing.

The New York Times reported that more than 78,000 people have finally been tested in the state, accounting for one-quarter of all tests across the nation. The rate of testing in New York has reached 16,000 per day and has led to a huge increase in the number of people identified as infected with coronavirus.

A call to volunteer services has brought forward 30,000 retired doctors and health care professionals. There has been some headway in obtaining personal protective equipment, and the city is to receive 169,000 N95 masks. Though Queens has the highest number of cases of any borough, Staten Island has the highest rate of new infections, with 172 cases per 100,000 residents.

New Jersey has overtaken California as the second-worst state, with 2,844 cases, an increase of 930 in a single day. Other states with distressingly high totals include California, 2,065 (+310)), Washington, 1,996 (+203), Michigan, 1,328 (+293) and Louisiana, 1,172 (+335). Every state in the nation has taken some measures to impose social distancing, closure of nonessential businesses or stay-at-home orders.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued a grim prognosis Monday: I want America to understand this week, its going to get bad. I think there are a lot of people that are doing the right things. I think unfortunately we're finding out a lot of people think this can't happen to them. Everyone needs to act as if they have the virus right now, test or no test. We need you to understand you could be spreading it to someone else or you could be getting it from someone else. Stay at home.

These comments seem calculated to blame a skyrocketing death toll, which Adams clearly anticipates, on the behavior of the American people, particularly young people, rather than on the deliberate policies of the Trump administration of which the surgeon general is a part. (Adams is a right-wing figure, brought from Indiana by Vice Mike President Pence).

Adams was challenged on NBCs "Today" show by host Savannah Guthrie, who pointed to the contradiction between his ominous forecast and Trumps claims that the cure is worse than the disease and that restrictions like social distancing should be phased out quickly.

Citing Trumps statement, Guthrie said, It sounded like the president was at least considering ending these measures after the 15-day period; that sounds like what we're doing to stop it is worse than the virus itself. Where do you come down on that?

Adams simply evaded the issue, claiming, As the nation's doctor, Im here to help America understand how we need to respond to this, and where I come down is that every single day counts. Every single second counts, and right now, there are not enough people out there taking this seriously.

In other words, if people die, its not the fault of the Trump administrationalthough Trumps policies have deliberately facilitated this horrific outcome.

According to Dr. Ashish Jha of the Harvard Global Health Institute, In almost every way, our response has been far less effective than every other major country in the world. It's baffling. We have, in the CDC, arguably the best public health agency in the world. All of us thought that the CDC was going towas prepared and was going to help fight this virus. The federal response has been a fiasco. We knew two months ago this pandemic was coming. Everybody knew. The entire public health community knew. The federal government knew that this pandemic was coming. And there has been one mistake after another.

Health care workers are caught in the frontlines of this calamity. Without proper equipment and with an insufficient supply of protective gear, they place themselves at an ever increasing risk of contracting the infection, falling ill or becoming new vectors for the pandemic by infecting colleagues, patients and their families.

An Italian emergency room physician, Dr. Davide Bova, wrote ominously on conditions at his hospital on social media: They are, and we are in pieces. We are getting sick. We are few, and we average 80 patients waiting to be admitted to the ER. Thursday night, I, alone, was in charge of 40 patients. It is inhuman for them, and for us, for their families and our families.

China's National Health Commission reported that approximately 3,300 health care workers had been infected by early March. At least 22 had perished. Reports from Italy note that about 20 percent of health care workers have been infected and some have died. They are faced not only with personal health risks, but the physical exhaustion and mental anguish of deciding who will benefit from treatment and who must be denied ventilation, decisions applied equitably between their patients and afflicted colleagues.

Dr. Adam Levine, an emergency room physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, wrote: Taking care of yourself also means that you must first protect your own health when you are tending to your patients. This means taking those extra few minutes, no matter the urgency of the situation, to be certain that you put on your protective equipment correctly, and that your team members have done the same. Be even more careful when you remove the equipment, so you don't contaminate yourself or others in the process.

Using his experience in fieldwork during the 2014 Ebola epidemic, he counseled that US health care workers will be facing a situation with which they are not familiara resource-limited setting. They will have to come to terms about how to ration care as a form of duty to their patients; they have an obligation to be stewards of their limited resources. Specifically referencing ventilator shortages, he advised that physicians and hospitals should be prepared to prevent treatment biases that would introduce inequities in who will receive life-saving measures. These measures would have to be transparent and shared with patients, families and the general public.

It is criminal that health workers safety is not ensured through efforts to provide them with the necessary means to work safely. These also include provisions for rest, food and family support. Trump is offering ventilator support to the financial markets in the form of trillion-dollar bailouts, while now threatening to send workers back to work to resuscitate the rotting corpse of capitalism.
Australians are being urged to practise social distancing not just in the public places but at home - making some couples sleep in separate beds.

Government notices in shopping malls and in newspapers are advising everyone to maintain a 1.5-metre space.

Grandparents are also being urged to avoid physical contact with their grandchildren.

Australians are being urged to practise social distancing not just in the public places but at home - making some couples sleep in separate beds. Pictured is a stock image

Jesse Giles, a 13-year-old boy from Tambar Springs in northern New South Wales, put this question to a panel of infectious diseases experts on the ABC's Q&A program on Monday night.

'My question is, if me and my family isolate for 14 days, can I go see my grandmother, who also is isolating? I really want to see my grandmother. Thank you,' he said.

Professor Sharon Lewin, the director of the University of Melbourne's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, had to disappoint him.

Grandparents are also being urged to avoid physical contact with their grandchildren. Pictured is a stock image

Jesse Giles, a 13-year-old boy from Tambar Springs in northern New South Wales, put this question to a panel of infectious diseases experts on the ABC's Q&A program

'Yeah. Difficult one. I don't think grandparents can babysit unless they're practising some social distancing, and, with young kids, that's really hard,' 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

Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has a global mortality rate of about three per cent.

With eight deaths in Australia so far, the mortality rate is 0.4 per cent, with 1,972 confirmed cases as of Tuesday afternoon.

For those over 80, however, the death rate is 15 to 20 per cent, Professor Lewin said.

It's also higher than average for those over 60, with a mortality rate of three to five per cent.

'Older people have a much worse outcome from COVID-19,' Professor Lewin said.

'So that's why there's this great effort to protect the elderly, and particularly the very elderly.'

Professor Lewin declined to advise couples on whether they should sleep in separate beds, with the Peter Doherty Institute referring Daily Mail Australia to state and federal health departments.

So far, health authorities are only advising couples to sleep in separate beds if they are in self isolation for coronavirus, the ABC reports.
People who have symptoms, such as shortness of breath, a fever or cough, should call Metro Infectious Disease at (630) 655-8032 or (630) 654-4201 to find out if they qualify for a test. A person could also call their doctor who would evaluate whether they meet the criteria for testing. Individuals should not go to the tent in Burr Ridge without being screened over the phone and having a medical professional recommend they go.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited several hospitals in Kolkata on Tuesday, including the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital where the eight COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment, and lauded the efforts of the medical fraternity in fighting the disease.

The chief minister visited the ID Hospital around 5 pm and met senior doctors and medical staff treating the COVID-19 patients.

Banerjee discussed with the hospital superintendent about measures being taken for adding 100 more beds to the isolation ward set up for coronavirus cases.

She told the superintendent that her government is working on a plan to reduce the burden on the hospital by adding more beds, to be used only for the treatment of COVID- 19 patients, in another state-run medical facility.

The chief minister also enquired about the condition of the eight COVID 19 patients admitted there.

She also visited the quarantine centre set up at the second campus of the Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital in Rajarhat. Several people with coronavirus-like symptoms are admitted to this facility.

She met the doctors and other medical staff working round-the-clock and praised them for their efforts.

"Please take good care of yourself. We appreciate your hard work, your tireless work for people at this hour," Banerjee told them.

She also went to the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in north Kolkata, and the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital in the central part of the city, besides the SSKM Hospital, NRS Medical College and Hospital, and the MR Bangur Super Specialty Hospital, criss-crossing the length and breadth of the city in a few hours.

She met senior doctors and officials at these hospitals, and took stock of availability of beds in the isolation wards and other medical facilities.

Banerjee, who was accompanied by Commissioner of Kolkata Police Anuj Sharma and senior health department officials, handed over sanitisers and masks to the superintendents of all the hospitals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Takeda pharmaceuticals, a Japanese pharmaceutical company announced that the company is developing a blood plasma-derived therapy against coronavirus and may be among the first approved treatment for COVID-19. (Photo : Pixabay)

Early this month, Takeda announced that they are starting the development of an anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG) for COVID-19 treatment. The drug is named TAK-888.

Hyperimmune globulin is a plasma derived-therapy that has previously treated several acute viral respiratory infection and has the potential to treat patients with COVID-19.

The company may be the first one to have the drug approved. According to Julie Kim, Zurich-based president of Takeda's plasma-derived therapies unit, Takeda could have an advantage because the treatment involves a process that already has approval from regulators. The concentration of the antibody, or titer, is vital in negotiation with regulators for approval. The company did not have to demonstrate safety; they only had to agree with the regulatory agencies on "how to demonstrate that the titer of antibody present in the final product is sufficient to be effective against the disease". The response from the FDA and European Medicines Agency would be crucial to the timing for approval, which may be as early as nine months.

Takeda aims to develop an anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globin. It is a plasma-derived drug, which will harness the blood of coronavirus patients who have recovered from their infections or who had a vaccine. By using this method, researchers hope to harness the antibodies produced by previous patients as a successful treatment for new patients to strengthen their immune systems and reduce the severity of symptoms associated with the novel virus. Since there are no available vaccines yet, the company will have to rely on donated plasma from recovered patients for now.

The use of antibodies from recovered patients is the same process as Takeda's other immunoglobulin products, which have approval from regulatory bodies around the world, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The therapy has yet to be tested on any coronavirus patients.

The use of blood from recovered patients, who have immunity to fight a disease, traces back to over a century. It was used during the H1N1 and Ebola epidemics.

The potential efficacy of using the blood of recovered patients as a preventive measure was highlighted on a research paper at John Hopkins University published on March 13. The China National Biotec Group Co. has been using such plasma to treat seriously ill patients since Feb 8 and reported that it improved within 24 hours.

Takeda admits that one of the bottlenecks in developing a therapy to treat severe cases of coronavirus is obtaining enough plasma blood of recovered patients. To address this, Kim said Takeda is working on the transfer of plasma from two countries while research is being conducted at the Takeda plant in Georgia.

Several pharmaceutical companies are also racing to fight the novel coronavirus. One of the frontrunners, Gilead, is the maker of remdesivir. The mentioned anti-viral drug is now being tested on coronavirus patients with severe illness in the U.S. and China. The pharmaceutical company, Roche, got China's nod of approval for its anti-inflammatory drug Actemra (tocilizumab). It is for the treatment of coronavirus patients with lung complications from the COVID-19.

As of March 24, there are 382,491 confirmed cases in 195 countries and territories. The death toll is recorded at 16,559.
On 11 March 2020, WHO declared Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic and reiterated the call for countries to take immediate actions and scale up response to treat, detect and reduce transmission to save peoples lives.

Situation update

As of 21 March 2020 (4:45 PM), a total of 283 COVID-19 cases (244 Indians and 39 foreign nationals) have been reported in 22 states/union territories. These include 22 who have been cured/discharged, 1 who has migrated and 4 reported deaths. Hospital isolation of all confirmed cases, tracing and home quarantine of the contacts is ongoing.

Government response



The Prime Minister's Office, Group of Ministers, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Cabinet Secretary are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation. The government has invoked powers under The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to enhance preparedness and containment of the virus. With COVID-19 being declared a notified disaster, the State Disaster Response Fund, constituted under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is now available with state governments for response measures.

Central ministries along with states/UTs have taken urgent steps to strengthen community surveillance, quarantine facilities, isolation wards, and ensure availability of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), trained manpower and rapid response teams for management of COVID-19.

Addressing the nation, the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi has urged for resolve and restraint and adopting social distancing. He has also asked fellow citizens to follow 'Janta curfew' (voluntary self-isolation) on Sunday, 22 March 2020 from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

In a new advisory, apart from other prevention measures, the government has banned all international flights from entering India for a week starting 22 March 2020.

Travel of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines, Malaysia to India has been prohibited. All passengers coming from European Union (27 countries), European Free Trade Association (4 countries), Turkey and United Kingdom have also been prohibited from entering India. These are temporary measures and shall remain in force till 31 March 2020. The earlier visa restrictions also remain in force. Universal Health Screening continues at all points of entry.

WHO Country Office for India support

WHO Country Office for India (WCO) has been working closely with MoHFW, on preparedness and response measures for COVID-19, including disease surveillance, laboratory and research protocols, risk communications, training on infection prevention and control (IPC) and cluster containment plan, surveillance and tracking of travellers.

"We welcome Prime Minister's call for a Janta curfew and adopting social distancing. Effective implementation of the strategy will go a long way in controlling the spread of the virus. Along with hand-hygiene, coughing and sneezing in one's sleeves prevents transmission. These measures, together with social distancing can be effective in containing transmission. Even as we maintain social distancing, it is equally vital to stand together in solidarity to overcome this challenge," says Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India.
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Trump says that he wants to reopen the economy by Easter, but Republican Senators are already warning him not to do it.

Trump said he wants the economy open in two and a half weeks:

NEWS: Trump says he'd like to have the country "open" by Easter, April 12. That's in 2 1/2 weeks. And goes without saying, that's deeply irresponsible. pic.twitter.com/wst9q5pyN7  Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 24, 2020

According to CNNs Manu Raju, GOP Sens. Joni Ernst and Deb Fischer are warning against it:

GOP lawmakers making clear they believe Trump should listen to medical professionals before reopening economy. Joni Ernst to me: I think we need to be very cautious about that I want to make sure that we are putting the safety health and well-beings of Iowans, Americans, first.  Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 24, 2020

Sen Deb Fischer: I believe that we should be following the advice of medical professionals I think this next week is going to be tough..I anticipate that is going to continue to grow, and we should be listening to medical professionals  Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 24, 2020

A potentially unprecedented situation is unfolding where the president tries to defy the advice of the nations top medical experts, only to see governors and the rest of the country ignore him and do what is best for public health.

Trump is back to downplaying the fact that thousands if not millions of Americans could die from the coronavirus, and he is back to pretending like the virus isnt that bad. Trump has been leading from behind on the coronavirus epidemic from day one, and he is attempting to prevent a recession after it has already started.

Republicans all need to rebel and prevent Trump from turning a recession into a deadly depression.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Its the federal governments job to make sure that a nurse being properly equipped in Illinois doesnt come at the cost of a doctor being ready for work in California," Pritzker said at his daily news conference. Its the federal governments job to make sure that we have a cohesive, prepared, robust national response. Its the federal governments job to make sure that cash-strapped states are not paying more than they should have to for supplies, that we are not watching prices go up by the hour because were competing against one another.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 23, 2020) - Keith and Kristyn Getty plan to do a Family Hymn Sing Facebook Livestream with fans on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. With hopes to lift spirits in worship, the Gettys will perform well-known modern hymns from Nashville, Tennessee and share their light to homes aound the world. The duo plans to continue this every Tuesday at 7:15pm CST.

Click here to join Keith and Kristyn Getty's Facebook page and here to download this week's lyric book.

Getty Music recently released their newest single, "Christ Our Hope in Life and Death," written by five critically acclaimed songwriters, Keith Getty, Matt Papa, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Boswell, and Matt Merker. This is the first song that the writers have written together as a team.

Keith Getty states, We wrote this song over a period of two years with a number of our team of writers, and Kristyn recorded it with Matt Papa. It is so timely in how it speaks to us and our children. The hymn is inspired by the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, which begins with the profound question, What is your only comfort in life and in death? For centuries, believers have learned the Christian faith beginning with that question. Why start there? Because death is the one statistic we all can be sure of. Less than 3% of modern songs sing of death, in contrast to many of the classic hymns, liturgies, and catechisms. Christianity that does not cultivate a constant awareness of our resurrection hope in the face of death is not authentic Christianity. We need to love those around us enough to sing about death. The only comfort we will truly find this season is to know we can face death by trusting Christ, who conquered the grave.

Stream and purchase the single on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and the Getty Music Store at www.gettymusic.com/christ-our-hope

Watch the lyric video here: www.gettymusic.com/christ-our-hope

ABOUT KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY:

Keith and Kristyn Getty are pre-eminent modern hymn writers in the world today, known for titles such as In Christ Alone." Born in Northern Ireland, they are multi award-winning artists with Keith becoming the first musician of the modern era to be given the OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for service to music and hymn writing.

According to CCLI, they have written over 30 of the top 500 sung songs in USA & UK today and Integrity music estimate 100 million people in the world today in all forms of churches use their music.

As ambassadors for hymns they have performed as a duo for Presidents and Prime Ministers, as well as an annual national hymns tour and Christmas tour including sell out shows each year at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center. They wrote the Sing book and founded the Sing Conference which now welcomes over 15,000 people to Nashville each year. The Getty Music Group, based in Nashville, is now gone to a publishing company, record label, touring company, online learning and foundation, speaheaded by the couple.

Keith and Kristyn live between Northern Ireland and Nashville with their four daughters.

###
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:49:16|Editor: yan

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LISBON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese government announced on Tuesday that the suspension of air links with Italy will be extended for another 14 days due to the serious COVID-19 situation in that country, Lusa News Agency reported.

"In view of the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and of Internal Administration, decided to extend the order of March 10, which suspended flights from all airlines, commercial or private, to or from Portuguese airports or aerodromes to all regions of Italy," noted said a government statement, quoted by Lusa.

The new order of extension takes effect at 00:00 on Wednesday and runs until April 7.

COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, has infected 2,362 people and killed 33 others in Portugal, according to the latest from the health authorities.
Over 10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in a single day in the US, raising the number of COVID-19 patients to 43,734, as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vital medical supplies and personal protective equipment.

IMAGE: A woman in a mask moves boxes of goods that were dropped off at Shuksan Healthcare Center during an outbreak of coronavirus disease in Bellingham, Washington, US. Photograph: Jason Redmond/Reuters

The US also for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus, taking the total number of fatalities to 550 by Monday night.

Till Monday, 43,734 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day, according to Worldometer, a website which compiles COVID-19 cases.

On Monday, Trump signed the executive order aimed at preventing hoarding of critical medical supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak.

He warned that his government would take action against hoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protective equipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.

"Very simply, we will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit," he asserted, warning that the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute fraudulent schemes related to the pandemic that has killed more than 15,000 people worldwide.

New York State, in particular New York City, emerged as the hotspot of one of the worst public health crisis in the US in recent memory. Nearly one in every two Americans infected by novel coronavirus are from New York City which reported 5,085 news cases on Monday taking the total to 20,875.

As many as 157 residents of New York, a city which has one of the highest concentration of people in the country, have died of coronavirus so far. Of the total deaths in the city so far, 43 were reported on Monday.

Health officials warned that COVID-19-related casualty figures in New York are expected to jump significantly in the coming days.

White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah L Birx told reporters that New York City, the New York Metro area of New Jersey and parts of Long Island have an attack rate close to one in 1,000. This is five times of what the other areas are seeing.

"Through high throughput lab investigations we are finding that 28 per cent of the submitted specimens are from that area, whereas it is less than 8 per cent in the rest of the country," she said.

"So to all of my friends and colleagues in New York, this is the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self-isolate at this time. Clearly, the virus has been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community," Birx said.

US President Trump told reporters at a White House news conference that New York along with other hotspots such as Washington State and California is the top priority for his administration.

"Essential medical supplies and emergency equipment are being rushed to New York." he said, adding the Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing eight million N-95 respirator masks and 13.3 million surgical masks across the country right now.

"Focusing on the areas with the greatest need, we have shipped 73 pallets of personal protective equipment to New York City and 36 pallets to the State of Washington. In the past 96 hours, FEMA has also received donations of approximately 6.5 million masks. We are focused on some of the hotspots," Trump said.

He also announced that clinical trials for existing drugs that may prove effective against the virus will begin in New York.

"The federal government is working to help obtain large quantities of chloroquine. It will be a big game-changer. So, we will see distribution starting tomorrow (Tuesday) early morning in New York. I think a lot of people are going to be hopefully very happy with the results. We all will be watching it closely," Trump told reporters.
Two Khasi Students' Union (KSU) activists were arrested in connection with the fatally stabbing of a person in the Iew Duh market last month, police said on Tuesday.

In retaliation to the death of a KSU activist in a clash after an anti-CAA meeting in Ichamati, a series of stabbings happened in the Iew Duh market area, leading to the death of a vegetable seller and leaving six others grievously injured, they said.

"The police left no stone unturned in meticulously collecting evidence and statements from eye witnesses following the stabbings," East Khasi Hills superintendent of police Claudia A Lyngwa said.

Police were able to collate all the evidence to identify the perpetrators of the heinous crime, she added.

A person was arrested on Monday and confessed to having committed the crime along with three other accomplices, Lyngwa said.

Following this, the second accused was arrested, she said, adding that police are on the lookout for the remaining two who have been identified.

The activist, who hailed from Sohra, was injured in a clash between members of the union and a group in Ichamati. He died on February 28, sparking tensions in parts of the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The Transport Ministry has requested the suspension of the transport of Vietnamese from foreign countries to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, starting from 0:00am on March 25 to 31.

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The dispatch, signed by Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan, said the Government Office on March 21 issued Announcement No.118/TB-VPCP, in which the Prime Minister ordered continuing to restrict international flights to Vietnam, including those by foreign carriers, at the maximum, amid the COVID-19 epidemic as it can easily lead to overload in quarantine areas.

The ministry also asked the aviation sector to create favourable conditions for flights carrying foreigners to leave Vietnam.

Earlier, the ministry directed the CAAV to inform all airlines that they must seek permission from Vietnamese diplomatic agencies abroad regarding the transportation of Vietnamese citizens to the homeland, starting from 0:00am on March 23.

The CAAV was also asked to coordinate with Vietnamese representative offices abroad to check the number of Vietnamese citizens in need of returning home and report to the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control./.

Noi Bai airport to serve 276 passengers returning home on Mar. 23

Passengers at the Noi Bai airport

Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport is expected to receive 276 Vietnamese passengers on flights from Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand on March 23.

Earlier, the number of passengers scheduled to arrive at the Noi Bai Airport was 884. However, two flights of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines carrying 608 passengers from the UKs Heathrow Airport and Germanys Frankfurt Airport had diverted and landed at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh province in the morning of the same day.

On March 22, the Noi Bai Airport welcomed 1,712 passengers, all of them Vietnamese, much lower than the previously booked tickets of 2,348.

The Vietnamese Government had decided to temporarily suspend entry of all foreigners from 0:00 on March 22 due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those entering Vietnam for diplomatic and official purposes, for participation in major diplomatic events, or being experts, business managers, highly skilled workers, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defence shall coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and other relevant agencies to issue visa if necessary.

The temporary suspension shall also be applied to all overseas Vietnamese and their relatives granted with certificates of visa exemption.

Entrants said above shall be subject to mandatory medical declarations and other effective regulations at designated areas at ports of entry as well as quarantine at accommodation facilities as currently regulated./. VNA/VNN
With the U.S. economy all but shut down amid the coronavirus crisis, some economists are predicting a new financial crisis that could rival The Great Depression.

'It could be like the 1930s,' Carmen Reinhart, a professor of economics and finance at Harvards Kennedy School of Government told the Associated Press Tuesday.

She warned that the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak is coupled with a global oil price war that is currently unfolding that will have devastating consequences.

'With the markets destroying wealth so quickly, the two shocks we're seeing globally - the coronavirus and the oil-price war - could morph into a financial crisis, she stated.

'We will see higher default rates and business failures'.

Meanwhile, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has gone so far as to warn that unemployment could reach 30% within months - a rate that rivals that of The Great Depression, which stretched from 1929 to 1933.

During the early Depression years, unemployment peaked at 25%. U.S. economic output plunged nearly 30%. Thousands of banks failed. Millions of homeowners faced foreclosure. Businesses failed.

With the U.S. economy all but shut down amid the coronavirus crisis, some economists are predicting a new financial crisis that could rival The Great Depression. Pictured: A long line of men wait along Broadway for their ration of a sandwich and a cup of coffee in Times Square in 1932

A distressed trader is pictured on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week, as markets crashed amid the coronavirus outbreak

No one knows how this recession may unfold or how effectively the government's rescue programs might help. Ignited by an external event - a raging global pandemic - it is uniquely different from both the Depression and the financial meltdown of 2008-09.

Some say that means the situation could be trickier, as the crisis isn't a conventional dislocation rooted in a financial collapse or a burst asset bubble.

The twist this time is that the only sure way to defeat the pandemic - with drastic containment measures like lockdowns, quarantines and business closures - is to deliberately cause a recession by bringing business and social life to a halt.

However, some economists take heart from the fact that the government possesses more potent tools to stabilize the economy than it did in the 1930s, some of them created in response to the Depression. They include a social safety net in unemployment insurance, a guarantee of bank deposits and federally backed mortgages.

Carmen Reinhart, a professor of economics and finance at Harvards Kennedy School of Government told the Associated Press that the economic situation could rival the 1930s

A Salvation Army relief worker tends to a line at a local soup kitchen during the Great Depression of 1929- 1933

Americans are pictured standing in line for their portions of a federal surplus of potatoes and cabbages in Cleveland during the Great Depression. Unemployment reached 25% during the crisis

President Donald Trump, after a hesitant start, now backs a bold and multi-pronged federal response to the crisis. He is pictured Monday

Additionally, the 2008 financial crisis led to the creation of an array of programs to fortify the banking system and encourage borrowing and spending.

President Donald Trump, after a hesitant start, now backs a bold and multi-pronged federal response to the crisis. It is just the sort of sweeping government involvement in the economy that was pushed this year by Democratic presidential candidates, well before the viral outbreak, but is almost always resisted by Trump and other Republicans.

The plan still being negotiated in Congress would deliver, by far, the largest economic rescue plan in U.S. history. At somewhere near $2 trillion, the wide-ranging aid package is intended to sustain workers and companies for at least 10 weeks. After that, further help might be needed.

The package is expected to include, among other things, small business loans to help retain workers; unemployment insurance; added liquidity into the economy; and cash payments for families.

An earlier $100 billion-plus package swiftly passed by Congress last Wednesday and signed by Trump includes a guarantee of paid sick leave for some workers affected by the virus.

A major element of the government's intervention will continue to be the Federal Reserve, which is injecting trillions of dollars in liquidity into the financial system to support key lending programs.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 50,000 Americans have tested positive to COVID-19

Coronavirus cases continue to soar in the US, with fears the country could follow in the footsteps of Italy, where thousands have died from the disease

On Monday, the Fed unleashed its boldest effort yet to protect the U.S. economy by helping companies and governments pay their bills. With lending markets threatening to shut down, the Fed's intervention is intended to ensure that households, companies, banks and governments can get the loans they need at a time when their own revenue is drying up.

As a whole, the emerging all-guns-blazing federal response is at least an echo of the economic stimulus that Roosevelt engineered in the depths of the Depression. Huge government aid programs put tens of millions to work in the construction of public buildings and roads, the pursuit of conservation projects and development of the arts.

Rural poverty was addressed, in part, by buying low-producing land owned by poor farmers and resettling them in group farms. Fannie Mae was created to buy home mortgages issued by the Federal Housing Administration. After the immediate crisis passed, Congress enacted far-reaching reforms of the financial system and banks and established unemployment insurance.

In contrast to today, the 1930s workforce was predominantly a male-dominated one of manual and farm labor. Today's service sector-dominated 21st century economy, populated more by retail, technology and financial services as well as by contractors, freelancers and 'gig' workers, is far different. A 2020 equivalent of the Works Progress Administration would be hard to imagine.

Some economists say a dire situation could be avoided as the government now has more potent tools to stabilize the economy than it did during the 1930s. Participants of an unemployment march are pictured in 1931

In today's environment, more likely than government-created jobs are temporary measures like cash payments and guaranteed paid sick leave. Yet the options for the government are so vast that experts say they could deliver a significant benefit if deployed properly.

'There are more levers now for the government,' says Richard Grossman, who teaches economic and financial history at Wesleyan University, told Associated Press. 'Theres a lot now that the government can do that it wouldn't even have thought of doing in the 1930s.'

An example was a rarely used 1950s-era lever that Trump invoked last week - the Defense Production Act. It empowers the government to marshal private industry to accelerate production of key supplies in the name of national security.

Also last week, the president said he was open to giving the government a vast reach into the private sector - by taking equity stakes in companies that have been crippled by the virus, in exchange for giving the companies emergency loans.

In a series of sweeping steps, the U.S. Federal Reserve will lend to small and large businesses and local governments as well as extend its bond buying programs. The announcement Monday, March 23 is part of the Fed's ongoing efforts to support the flow of credit through an economy ravaged by the viral outbreak

'Right now, the country's frozen': New York attractions, including The Oculus (pictured), are deserted amid the COVID-19 outbreak

This would recall the 2008-09 financial crisis, when the government engineered a $700 billion bailout of banks and automakers - and, in exchange, acquired equity stakes in those companies. That enabled the government to profit years later, when the companies repaid the taxpayer bailouts. The government took over outright the home mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

'Right now, the country's frozen,' said Anat Admati, a professor of finance and economics at Stanford University and senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. 'Policymakers have to decide whats really best for society.'

Admati notes that President Roosevelt's New Deal and unemployment insurance wove a new safety net after the ravages of the Depression. But the net has eroded over the last decade, she says, along with the rise in gig and part-time workers and low-paid staffers in health care and other service industries. Many of those workers don't stand to benefit much, if at all, from unemployment benefits and other programs built for a different era.

A result is that income inequality could worsen as a result of the crisis and the economic and social dislocation it causes.

'There are bailouts and subsidies coming,' Admati said. 'The key is how they are targeted.'
24.03.2020 LISTEN

On the 30th January 2020, an outbreak was declared as a health emergency concern named coronavirus disease. This is pneumonia that was detected in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organisation announced a new name COVID 19 due to the severity of this disease (WHO:2020).

South Africa woke up to the devasting increase of 554 cases confirmed. This is an unsettling, fearful and uncertain period faced by South Africa. The fear of waking up to another confirmed case or being informed that a loved one has contracted COVID 19. Fear and anxiety have become the roommates of many South Africans. What will become of our people and economy?

Phiwe Mncwabe is a South African resident in the Western side of Johannesburg. An Afrikan feminist, born storyteller, avid reader and dabbler of note. A lover of the African continent, aspiring to travel across Africa. She is aspiring to become a strategic problem solver in social and developmental challenges facing Africa. In isolation of her interests in activism, she has explored academia in the field of social sciences in Development studies. She is writing, reading and searching to enter writing spaces in Africa.

The year 2020 has welcomed uncertainty, fear and anxiety for South Africa. A year that is not only significant for South Africa however, the beginning of a decade. COVID 19 a virus with flu like symptoms ,runny nose, sore throat ,cough ,fever and difficulty in breathing has South Africa frightened. Panic shopping, fear of travelling to work, fear of contracting COVID 19 and a knock in our economy.

The unforeseen changes in our academic plans, delay in graduation ceremonies and no contact learning. With strategies put in place to continue our academic calendar to explore digital or online methodologies. Which of our learners and students will have access to explore the digital or online methodologies? According to the South African Government (2020) Minister Blade estimates that our Post Schooling Education and Training System (PSET) consists of  2,5 million students and staff. How many students will have access and what will happen to those that will not have access?

The sad reality is that many of our learners will fall behind and the comfort of being  at home will interrupt discipline plans. Many students or learners might suffer academically because of being used to routine and contact sessions. The students that come from households with a total of nine family members from two room houses, in the previously designated areas will not be flexible to work late. Some communities do not have access libraries for learners and students. The children of South Africa will be wandering, and some might end up be involved in criminal activities. For a virus to have such an enormous impact on a country such as South Africa, I am so moved myself.

Wash your hands for twenty seconds they stress is another concern. Gauteng Province and other parts of South Africa national dam levels are at 66.2% (South African Government:2020). I am of the view that 66.2% will not be enough to fight this pandemic. Let me be frank, the provision of water and sanitation is already a challenge in South Africa. The high-density public areas, informal settlements and the rural areas are severely challenged with the access of clean water. With the COVID 19 adherence to hygiene what will happen to the households who do not have access to clean water? Or rather are they more at risk because the stress on hygiene is highly emphasised?

Our grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts living in the rural areas with no provision of water what does this mean for them? The fears keep rising, so does the number of cases. I beg o municipalities kindly adhere to releasing funds for the provision of water because this disease needs to be controlled everywhere. The standard of the disease is hygiene therefore hygiene must be practised in every part of South Africa.

Dont shake hands to offer greetings they stress is another concern. Employment sector, small businesses and the unemployed will be faced with life changing events. COVID 19 welcomes harsh prospects of a deep economic recession, some businesses will close, and many will suffer job loses (South African Government:2020). Interventions and recovery for these prospects might cause difficulty in the economy. Interventions offered by the Department of Small Business making available over R500 million to assist small business in distress is commendable. However, what is going to happen to the foreign nationals without work permits living in South Africa? With this crisis only a few will have access to claiming funds provided by our government.

Stay away from people who show flu like symptoms, a tough call. The access of adequate healthcare in South Africa is severely challenged and with the looming pandemic, many citizens are at risk. I think what is most stressful as a citizen is the private testing going for R1431.00 (Daily Maverick,Shandy:2020). With the poverty and unemployment so high, right now all we can do is adhere to President Cyril Ramaphosas lockdown call.

In these trying times, I salute Dr Zweli Mkhizes response and constant updates. To all the health workers, public servants, activists, NGOs, Private and Public sector, entrepreneurs and citizens at large. Thank you for adhering to the call to the standard of hygiene and now the lockdown.

Lastly, to the health workers who lost their lives during this time, rest in peace. As for writers like myself its a lockdown and read up period.
Shops and restaurants in Luxembourg City and Esch-sur-Alzette will be allowed to pause rent costs during the crisis.

With all non-essential shops and restaurants closed for the time being, businesses have expressed concerns over staying afloat in times of crisis.

On Tuesday, Luxembourg City mayor Lydie Polfer told RTL the municipal council had made the decision to pause rents for any shops or restaurants situated in municipally-owned buildings, until such a time as the crisis ends. These measures affect around 30 shops or restaurants.

For privately-owned buildings, Polfer said she hoped landlords would show solidarity. The city's food market will remain open for the foreseeable future, as long as the necessary precautions were met.

Esch-sur-Alzette and Dudelange have also followed suit, with the latter announcing the measures in a statement on Tuesday morning. Tenants of both city councils will not have to pay rent until the state of crisis is lifted.

Esch-sur-Alzette mayor Georges Mischo published the announcement on his Facebook page.

 Screenshot

Luxembourg City alderman Serge Wilmes also published the news on Facebook.

On Tuesday afternoon, the municipality of Ettelbruck joined the other cities, announcing they would pause rents for non-essential stores for the months of April and May.

The news follows the appeal made on Monday evening by Minister of the Interior Taina Bofferding and Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot, which asked all municipalities across the country to pay any bills in terms of construction and other businesses to avoid liquidation where possible.

Bofferding also addressed the press on Tuesday morning - read our translation here and catch the summary here.
[March 24, 2020] Rasmussen College President Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen to Retire, June 2020

Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited private college, today announced that effective June 1, 2020, Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen will retire as president. Following her retirement, she will be honored with the title of president emerita. Dr. Ann Leja, Rasmussen's vice president of Academic Affairs and chief academic officer, will assume the role of interim president, effective June 2. "On behalf of the Board, we are grateful to Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen for her leadership and numerous contributions over the past eight years," said Dr. Henry Bienen, chairman of the Rasmussen College Board of Directors. "Her commitment to transformational change for equity and social justice will leave a lasting impact on Rasmussen and the communities we serve. We thank her for her leadership during one of the greatest periods of growth and innovation in the College's 120-year history. We are also pleased to have the expertise, commitment and continuity of leadership that Dr. Ann Leja will bring to her new role, supporting Rasmussen as we continue to meet the evolving needs of our diverse communities." Dr. Boyum-Breen joined Rasmussen College in 2012. She successfully launched the College's graduate education portfolio and has positioned the college to become Rasmussen University later this year. Under her leadership, RasmussenCollege has increased access and student success rates, specifically for students traditionally underserved by higher education, and built the foundation for Rasmussen's emergence as one of the largest Schools of Nursing in the nation.



"As a pioneer in higher education, Rasmussen College's guiding principles of being student-centered and future-facing have been in place for 120 years," said Dr. Boyum-Breen. "I am proud of the innovation and increased access the College accomplished during my tenure, as well as its upcoming move to Rasmussen University. This is the perfect time to usher in new leadership to take Rasmussen University to yet another level in serving our students, employers and communities." Dr. Leja will continue to advance the College's mission and commitment to student success in her new role. She joined Rasmussen in 2015 and has been responsible for the overall strategy and vision for Academic Affairs. Her work has included oversight for teaching and learning, curriculum and programs, assessment and evaluation, and academic services and operations. Under her leadership, a systematic process for assessing student learning and program quality was introduced, and competency-based education was expanded. She has built a strong, innovative leadership team in Academic Affairs.

ABOUT RASMUSSEN COLLEGE Rasmussen College is a private college regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is dedicated to meeting the evolving needs of our diverse communities through in-demand, flexible, accessible and affordable educational programs. A pioneer in career-focused education since 1900, the College leads advancements in innovations such as employer-led and expert-designed curriculum and comprehensive student support services to help working adults advance their educations. Additionally, Rasmussen College is a nationwide leader in competency-based education. Rasmussen College offers undergraduate and graduate programs online and across its 24 Midwest and Florida campuses. The College encourages its students, faculty and staff to strive for academic excellence, community enrichment and service to the public good. For more information about Rasmussen College, please visit rasmussen.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005758/en/

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WASHINGTON  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the highly respected infectious disease expert, did not attend Mondays briefing  and his absence did not go unnoticed.

His whereabouts have become a point of interest since Fauci gave a remarkably candid interview to Science magazine, published Sunday evening, in which he admitted being at odds with Trump over several issues. And because Fauci has, for many Americans, provided a reassuring, rational voice as the coronavirus pandemic upended their lives.

"Even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style," Fauci said in the Science magazine interview.

Daily coronavirus updates: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox

Perhaps the most notable example: While President Donald Trump has seemed to hype potential treatments for COVID-19, Fauci has tamped down expectations with direct, plain English explanations.

But Fauci has also been uncomfortable with Trump's repeated references to the disease as the "Chinese virus," which critics have said is an xenophobic effort to blame foreign forces for the pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks in the briefing room of the White House on March, 10, 2020

Fauci said he hasn't ever used that term and never will.

When Monday's news conference began, Twitter lit up with the #WhereIsFauci hashtag, and it wasn't long before a reporter asked the question.

Trump said he had just been with Fauci and did not express any irritation with him. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Want to talk more about politics?: Join our Facebook group: Across the Aisle, Across the Nation.

Trump said Fauci was at a task force meeting during the press briefing.

Hes a good man. I like Dr. Fauci, Trump said. Hes not here because we werent discussing issues that he is best at addressing, the president said.

Asked if Fauci agreed with Trump on the need to ease some of the travel and social distancing restrictions as a way to revive the economy, Trump said: "He doesn't not agree."

Story continues

The president said he would listen to Fauci's advice on that matter  along with others.

Fauci did attend Tuesday's briefing, and before he even said a word, Twitter alighted with quips about his presence.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Dr. Fauci's absence noticed at White House briefing
Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain
" " A new meta-analysis study published in the Journal of Family Psychology went through five decades of research on spanking and confirms that spanking isn't doing anyone any good. Ptaxa/Getty

Parents are an opinionated bunch. And those opinions make themselves known as soon as children arrive on the scene, if not before. To co-sleep or not to co-sleep? Let the baby cry it out or instantly comfort? To spank or not to spank? In a 2015 blog post for UNICEF, Susan Bissell notes that many parents are choosing to spank. In fact, Bissell writes, "4 out of 5 children aged 2 to 14 are subject to some kind of violent discipline in their homes."

A new joint study conducted by the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan focused specifically on spanking (defined as " an open-handed hit on the behind or extremities") and found that it led to unintended negative outcomes. Or exactly what parents are trying to avoid in the first place.

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"The upshot of the study is that spanking increases the likelihood of a wide variety of undesired outcomes for children. Spanking thus does the opposite of what parents usually want it to do," says Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, co-author and an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, in a press release.

Those outcomes include increased parental defiance, aggression and antisocial behavior, as well as mental health problems and cognitive difficulties, according to the authors' wide-ranging study. And it usually means the child isn't going to do what the parent wants him or her to do, in the short or long term.

Grogan-Kaylor, along with Elizabeth Gershoff, an associate professor of human development and family sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, did a mega meta-analysis, combing through five decades of research on 160,000 children to reach their conclusion that spanking was consistently and significantly associated with negative outcomes.

Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor are hopeful that the lack of evidence supporting spanking as an effective parenting tool will prompt moms and dads to try other measures.

Gershoff adds in the release, "We hope that our study can help educate parents about the potential harms of spanking and prompt them to try positive and non-punitive forms of discipline."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balmoral Resources Ltd. (Balmoral or the Company) (TSX: BAR; OTCQX: BALMF) announced today, following the orders of the Governments of Quebec and Ontario in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that it has, effective immediately, suspended until further notice its exploration activities in both provinces.



Balmorals head office in Vancouver was closed in response to the concerns around COVID-19 on March 12, 2020, with all staff requested to work remotely since that time. To date Balmoral, and Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (Wallbridge) with whom Balmoral shares the Fenelon exploration camp in Quebec, have reported no suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19. The parties have had in place COVID-19 protocols to protect the workforce currently in camp.

The health and safety of our workforce and our exploration partners is always paramount and as such we are making the decision, in line with the decisions by the governments of Quebec and Ontario, to suspend field operations at this time, said Darin Wagner, President and CEO of Balmoral. We would like to extend our thanks to our partner groups, suppliers and shareholders for their cooperation and understanding in this unprecedented situation.

The suspension of field operations will conclude the previously announced Fenelon winter 2020 drill program ( see NR20-03, Feb. 13, 2020 ). At the time of suspension, the winter 2020 program will have come very close to reaching its initial target of 5,000 metres drilled. Drilling has focused on the Area 52 gold target, with six of the eight holes completed to date in Area 52 having successfully intersected visible gold mineralization. Final assay results from the winter 2020 drill program will be provided when they become available.

Qualified Person and Quality Control

Mr. Michael Tucker (P. Geo. B.C., Ont. and Temporary Permit, Que.), Exploration Manager for the Company, is the non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure contained within this release. Mr. Tucker supervised the Area 52 drill program described herein. Mr. Tucker has reviewed the drill core described herein and has approved of the technical information contained within this release.

About Balmoral Resources Ltd.  www.balmoralresources.com

On March 2, 2020 Balmoral announced that it had entered into a definitive arrangement agreement whereby, among other things, Wallbridge is to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Balmoral in an all-stock transaction pursuant to a Plan of Arrangement subject to receipt of shareholder, Court, regulatory and other required legal approvals (the Proposed Transaction). Under the terms of the Proposed Transaction between the parties each Balmoral common share will be exchanged for 0.71 Wallbridge common shares. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction Balmoral shareholders will own approximately 18% of the combined companys pro-forma issued and outstanding common shares.

The record date for the Proposed Transaction has been set as March 27, 2020. The date of the special meeting of Balmoral securityholders to consider and vote on the proposed Plan of Arrangement is set, subject to changes which may result from the current global pandemic situation (none of which are currently contemplated), for May 7, 2020. Additional information on the Proposed Transaction, its benefits to Balmoral shareholders and related documentation can be found on the Companys website or by visiting the Companys public filings at www.sedar.ca .

Balmoral is a multi-award winning Canadian-focused exploration company exploring a portfolio of gold and base metal properties located within the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt. The Companys flagship, 1,000 km2 Detour Gold Trend Project hosts the resource-stage Bug and Martiniere West gold deposits and the Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit. Employing a drill-focused exploration style in one of the worlds preeminent mining jurisdictions, Balmoral is following an established formula with a goal of maximizing shareholder value through the discovery and definition of high-grade, Canadian gold and base metal assets.

On behalf of the board of directors of

BALMORAL RESOURCES LTD.

Darin Wagner

President and CEO

For further information contact: John Foulkes, Vice-President, Corporate Development

Tel: +1 (604) 638-5815 / Toll Free: +1 (877) 838-3664

E-mail: jfoulkes@balmoralresources.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, duration and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results and timing of said results, statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Wallbridge and Balmoral with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words may, would, could, should, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect or similar expressions and include information regarding: (i) expectations regarding whether the Proposed Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction will be satisfied, or the timing for completing the Proposed Transaction, (ii) expectations regarding the potential benefits and synergies of the Proposed Transaction and the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, including integrating the companies or the effects of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays, and statements regarding the various global scale uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on any or all of the above are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include those related to weather, equipment and staff availability; performance of third parties; timing of receipt of assay results from third party analytical facilities; risks related to the exploration stage of the Companys projects; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies and in commodity prices; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing; risks related to the Companys ability to identify one or more economic deposits on the properties, and variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located on the properties; risks related to the Companys ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities on the properties; unquantifiable risks related to government actions and interventions, supply chain disruptions and disruptions and enhanced uncertainty in global financial markets as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic and risks related to the Companys ability to produce minerals from the properties successfully or profitably. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Companys public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Companys mineral properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Manu Dibango, a saxophonist from Cameroon whose 1972 single Soul Makossa made modern African music a clear presence on Western pop charts, died on Tuesday in a hospital in France. He was 86.

His Facebook page said the cause was Covid-19 but did not say where in France he died. Mr. Dibango had lived in France for some time.

Although Soul Makossa was named after makossa, a Cameroonian style of music, and its lyrics were in the Douala language of Cameroon, Mr. Dibangos worldwide hit was an internationalist piece of funk.
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Over the past two years there have been truly disastrous wildfires around the globe: perhaps a silver lining is that attitudinal and economic obstacles to forest management may finally start to be overcome. Since 2000, an average of 72,400 wildfires have burned an average of 7.0 million acres in the USA, with 8.7 million acres burning in 2018. Total wildfire damage cost the State of California alone $85 billion in 2017 and record wildfires push 2018 disaster costs to $91 billion.

This past year Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric preemptively shut off power to 800,000 electric customers for days at a time to eliminate potential ignition hazards from their aboveground power lines. People had trouble getting information, businesses lost customers and perishable inventory, and communities scrambled to deliver backup power to critical medical and other social service facilities. Perhaps those most severely affected were those vulnerable individuals reliant on electrically-powered medical equipment at home for their very survival.

In our two careers, we have championed evidence-based practices to prevent such terrible wild fires. There are now two examples of these changes taking place. The recipe for true resilience is to monitor areas prone to wildfire, educate locals on basic preparedness, provide rapid emergency response services, and modify forests during wet seasons to greatly lower the "fuels" (accumulated vegetative debris) available to feed catastrophic wildfire. Our recommendations include preventive tactics to reduce accumulated wildfire fuels, a by-product of effective fire suppression over the last century, via prescribed burning and manual and mechanical means of forest thinning.

Throughout the USA, we know that indigenous people used prescribed fire for this purpose for millenia, traditions interrupted by largely European settlers of the early American era.

Two interesting exceptions are programs that have effectively mitigated the spread of uncontrolled wildfires: one in Northern California and another in the Pine Barrens forests of southeastern New Jersey.

Research has shown that the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, which occupy sandy soils along the Atlantic coast, were historically subject to frequently recurring wildfires. Bob Williams, a local forest consultant, was highly successful convincing local landowners to use controlled burns and small timber cuts to generate forests that were structurally diverse, fire resistant, and productive of species that either brought economic value or were important for the conservation of endangered species. His methods resulted in commercial timber operations in the Pine Barrens growing highly marketable timber while progressively conserving the ecological value of forests. For decades, however, environmental organizations resisted Williams' counsel. They saw him as the destroyer of truly natural, never touchedbyhumans, old growth forests. They believed that the only "natural" and desirable, beautiful nature was one untouched by human beings.

Then something dramatic occurred when an endangered species, the BobWhite Quail, returned to the state, but only in forests where Williams' methods had been employed. As a result, the Audubon Society made Bob the 2012 New Jersey Audubon Conservationist of the Year. However, Williams and the New Jersey Audubon Society continue to serve as exceptions rather than the rule. Many other environmental advocates still maintained that the only good forest is one never touched by people.

Now in California, and other parts of the USA, in the wake of catastrophic wildfire, there is an increased openness to the need to actively manage forest resources. One example is the fire mitigation work spear-headed by the Pepperwood Foundation in Sonoma County. Pepperwood had been actively reducing fuels on-site at its 3200-acre research reserve via forest thinning, including removing Douglas Fir trees that invade oak woodlands in the absence of fire, to achieve both ecological benefits and fuels reductions. Their grassland management also actively reduced fires hazards and enhanced ecological function via conservation grazing and prescribed fire, similar to methods advanced by Williams and others decades ago.

Pepperwood has the distinction of being one of the rare sites twice-burned in recent wildfire seasons, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire which burned the entire property and the 2019 Kincade Fire, which thanks to CAL FIRE and first responders, impacted only 60% of the property. In 2017, Pepperwood's prescribed burn treatment area was the only the only portion of the preserve NOT burned by the uncontrollable Tubbs Fire. In 2019, first responders found that land management on the reserve seemed to help slow the Kincade Fire and thus allow CAL FIRE to secure the fire perimeter, preventing it from spreading into nearby Wildfire Urban Interface communities.

Pepperwood also leveraged its role as a scientific field station to use its sensor and communications networks to radically improve situational awareness on the reserve and beyond, using 360-degree fire cameras to show CAL FIRE and local fire districts in realtime the extent of fire perimeters and likely spread in order to be far more strategic in their attack.

It is our hope that with the increasingly mainstream acceptance of forest interventions, mainstream environmentalists and environmental organizations will cease to condemn active forest management due to a philosophy that the only true nature one is that never altered by people. Rather, we can learn from our indigenous elders that active forest management is critical to human safety, well-being and ecological health.

For Press Inquires Contact Michael Beas - CEO Atlas Elite Partners

michaelbeas@atlaselitepartners.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel B. Botkin is Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also served on the faculty of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Among his awards are: Top Environmental Scientist of the 2020 Decade, by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), for his outstanding leadership, dedication and contributions to Environmental Conservation; and Marquis Who's Who 2019 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental Science and Writing. His half century of research includes development of methods to prevent and control forest fires. He has published 17 books. email danbbotkinnyc@gmail.com

Lisa Micheli is President and CEO, Pepperwood Preserve, She has PhD, UCBerkeley (Energy and Resources); MS, UC Berkeley (Civil Engineering,Environmental Water Resources); MPhil, Cambridge University, King's College(History and Philosophy of Science); AB, Harvard College (History and Science) Dr. Micheli joined Sonoma County's Pepperwood Foundation in October of 2009 2130 Pepperwood Preserve Rd Santa Rosa, CA 95404. She has been recognized as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar, a Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Environmental Leader, a Bay Nature Institute Local Hero, and a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Society for Conservation Biology. Dr. Micheli serves as a director of the Rebuild North Bay Foundation and as an advisor to the Sempervirens Fund, the Chile-California Conservation Network, the Bay Area Open Space Council, Invoking the Pause (Climate Challenge Trailblazers), and the Water Research Foundation.
All flights carrying Vietnamese citizens to HCMCs Tan Son Nhat Airport are suspended as isolation facilities in the city are overloaded.

The suspension takes effect from Wednesday and will last at least until the end of this month.

The Transport Ministry asked the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam to announce the suspension to all airlines in a bid to ease the pressure on overloaded quarantine facilities in the city.

Earlier, city officials had said that they expected to receive 17,000 Vietnamese coming home from abroad this week.

Earlier on Sunday, Vietnam suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners having diplomatic and official passports such as business managers, experts and high-skilled workers will be allowed to enter the country at this time, and all entrants will be quarantined for 14 days.

Over the past few days, HCMC's Tan Son Nhat and Hanoi's Noi Bai airports, the largest in the country, have been receiving a large number of Vietnamese passengers returning home from foreign countries amidst escalating fears over the Covid-19 pandemic, overloading local quarantine facilities.

Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the HCMC Health Department, said the city has placed more than 7,000 people under centralized quarantine and around 1,000 at home.

On Monday, 27 flights landed at the Tan Son Nhat Airport and all passengers were sent to centralized quarantine areas.

Centralized isolation facilities in the city have around 23,800 beds and the city is calling for hotels and resorts to join the pandemic fight, serving as quarantine centers.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced the suspension of all international flights starting March 25.

Other Vietnamese carriers have also suspended or cut the frequency of international flights.

Currently, only foreign airlines are transporting passengers into the country.

The country has recorded 107 new infections since March 6, with 106 still under treatment and one having recovered last week. 16 other patients were discharged last month after treatment. Of the active cases, 12 have tested negative either once or twice.

Many of the active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners visiting from the same regions.

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed nearly 16,500 people, spreading to 195 countries and territories.
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During this time of social distancing, most of us are struggling to keep our social connections alive. I found that in this flurry of planning how to continue to care for my orthopaedic patients, making sure childcare is lined up, and setting up decontamination zones in my home for my critical care doc husband and me when we come home for the hospital  that I really missed connecting with my friends and family. So, I hosted our first Zoom cocktail party this weekend. Ten couples and the wide variety of topics included: my husbands toe socks (disturbing), Peloton (who knew it could cause prostatitis), Coors Light hoarding (you couldnt pay me to hoard even a single can), blankets (good for Netflix binges), boxed wine versus bottle (its not that bad), PPE (wow, are we really running that low?).

We are mostly physicians  from a wide variety of specialties, a few dentists, a few in business. We were distanced physically but, in many ways, brought closer by this. We remembered what it was like to laugh until we cried (mostly about toe socks), but then we also had somber moments talking about how life, health care, and our businesses will be forever changed.

We talked about how personal protective equipment (PPE) is running low, and worrying about the surge that is right on the horizon for the ones on the front lines  including several in this Zoom chat. Many of us arent sure if our medical and dental practices will survive this pandemic because the elective cases, rightfully so, have been shut down. We are all trying to adjust, continuing to care for patients in this new normal (at least a temporary new normal, we hope).

One of my friends, newly minted as a physician leader in a health care organization, told us how real discussions are happening, like they are in Italy  about having to choose. The worst choice that a human could have to make. Choosing who among the critically ill gets a ventilator and who doesnt when there arent enough vents to go around.

And this is when we cried  the men and the women. Its heartbreaking. Outbreaks will happen. This is just the natural cycle of virology. But its enraging to see our supposed first world country in such dire straits, worrying that we dont have enough PPE or enough vents to take care of everyone. Its enraging to see spring breakers partying without a care, knowing disease will spread among them, and then subsequently others. And those others might be our parents, grandparents, neighbors, kids, siblings, friends  our doctors, our nurses. This isnt going to be Kevin Bacon and Six Degrees of Separation; itll be one degree. We are all going to know someone that has suffered as a result of this pandemic  whether it be their health or their career and ability to earn an income.

And this  this is why its vital for us to keep our connections alive at this time. The support we give to each other, as friends, as colleagues, will be the one constant that will get us through this emotionally. Call, text, check on people. As we are distanced and connected virtually, many of us will have that usual veneer of being OK on social media, when deep down, we may be not.

Nancy Yen Shipley is an orthopedic surgeon and can be reached at her self-titled site, NancyMD, and on Twitter @_nancymd and Instagram @_nancymd.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
AKRON, Ohio  A shooting in the parking lot of a gas station near the Goodyear Heights neighborhood sent one man to the hospital, police say.

It was one of three shootings over the weekend police are investigating, all occurring on Saturday. No one was wounded in the other two shootings.

Officers were called to Akron City Hospital at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday, where a 32-year-old man had been dropped off with a gunshot wound to his upper body, police say. The victim is in stable condition.

The man tells police he was at a Speedway gas station at the corner of Darrow Road and Eastwood Avenue when he got into a fight with another man. The man shot the victim and then left the area in a dark-colored vehicle.

Police did not release a description of the suspect or a possible motive for the shooting. No arrests have been made.

At 12:45 p.m. Saturday, police were called to the 600 block of Sylvan Avenue in the East Akron neighborhood. A 39-year-old male tells police that someone fired shots at him just as he arrived home. The man was not wounded and the suspect left the area in a black car, police say.

Bullet holes were found in the victims car and bullets also struck several nearby homes, police say.

At 2:30 p.m., police say three armed males fired several shots at a vehicle on the 2000 block of Clairmont Avenue in the Firestone Park neighborhood. An unspecified number of people in the vehicle, ages 17 to 20 years old, were not wounded.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the incidents can call detectives at 330-375-2490 or the Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Tips also can be sent by text to TIPSCO at 274637. Callers can remain anonymous.

More crime-related content on cleveland.com:

Cuyahoga County Jail officer accused of trying to kill family members by setting Brook Park apartment on fire, officials say

Man shot to death inside Cleveland liquor store

One dead, one critical in shooting in Clevelands Fairfax neighborhood

Man found dead of gunshot wounds in Cleveland field

Man shot to death in Clevelands Euclid-Green neighborhood
by Adam Koffler | Bears Correspondent | Mon, Mar 23rd 8:29pm EDT

LB Jeremiah Attaochu agrees to a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos. (Adam Schefter on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact:

Attaochu is returning to Denver after playing 12 games for the Broncos in 2019 and recording 21 tackles. Hes more of a rotational linebacker that provides depth to the front seven. The seven-year veteran will be back with the Broncos in 2020 on a one-year deal.
New Orleans area drive-thru testing sites have run out of coronavirus test kits every day since they opened on Sunday, as the number of sick residents seeking diagnoses has outpaced supply in a region where confirmed cases continued to skyrocket.

On Tuesday, the three sites where people with symptoms can be swabbed  two in New Orleans and one in Westwego  had each tested their limit of 250 people by 1 p.m.

By late morning, there were roughly 70 cars in a line outside the UNO Lakefront Arena down Franklin Avenue, though new arrivals were barred by police cars and barricades. By noon, the drive-thru at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing arts had two cars waiting on Basin Street and was still taking new drivers.

The Alario Center site in Westwego had to turn away newcomers after not even three hours of operation.

Though the sites weren't due to close until 6 p.m., midafternoon closures have been the norm ever since the pilot program opened this week to all residents with COVID-19 symptoms.

Local officials acknowledged there are not enough tests to give to the hundreds of people who seek them each day. But they said the test kits are controlled by FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services, which run the federal pilot program.

Asked whether the government planned to increase the number of tests offered at each site, HHS spokeswoman Tara Broido said there is "finite testing capacity" at the commercial labs that partner with the government.

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Broido did not say whether the government intends to shorten the turnaround for receiving test results, which is now between three and five days from the initial test. A spokeswoman for Cantrell said the city continues to urge quick reporting.

Getting tested in most cases has meant waking up early to beat the crowds. On Monday, New Orleans two sites turned away 67 cars when tests ran out before 2 p.m., Norton said. The drivers who missed out were sent to other testing sites or told to return Tuesday.

Another 132 people who showed up Monday were not tested, as they did not have a fever, cough or shortness of breath.

The first day the sites were opened to any driver with symptoms  Sunday  the New Orleans sites ran out of tests at around 2:30 p.m.

Jefferson, which has only one program site, ran out of tests on Sunday and Monday at around noon, according to the parish's social media page.

But on Tuesday, that site was out by 10:30 a.m.
Gov. Cuomo provides decisive action

Bravos to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the countless number of executive actions he has taken to eliminate as much spread of the coronavirus as possible. Gov. Cuomos actions are sweeping but decisive and show that he is fearlessly making the right decisions. We understand that many in upstate New York do not condone his liberal policies, but he is showing leadership during this difficult time. We all should leave the politics behind for the foreseeable future.

School districts mobilize for meals

Bravos to school districts across the region for quickly mobilizing programs to ensure schoolchildren get breakfast and lunch served at their residences when not in school. It is impressive how quickly our communities have responded.

National Guard member clears the air

Bravos to the anonymous member of the National Guard who reached out to the newspaper to explain the great good the guard was accomplishing in requisitioning supplies at a local big-box store for use downstate. It was a reminder that we are all in this together and the National Guard is there to help get us through it.

Telescope steps up for its workers

Bravos to Telescope furniture for deciding to pay its 250 workers their salaries while being shut down for the next two weeks. It is an outstanding show of good faith to the company's work force.

Family showed concern for other residents

Bravos to the family of a local nursing home resident for being proactive and demanding a coronavirus test, because they believed a loved one had coronavirus. The resident eventually died, but considering the number of deaths at nursing homes around the country from coronavirus, erring on the side of caution would have been prudent in this case.

Priest finds way to give confession

Bravos to Rev. Tom Morrette for setting up a confessional in the St. Marys parking lot for parishioners. While we all must be careful regarding our physical well-being, spiritual well-being is important as well.

Two distilleries to make hand sanitizer

Bravos to two local distilleries  Springbrook Hollow Farm and Lake George Distilling Co.  for providing a community service by immediately producing hand sanitizer and making it available to the public for free.

Hospital, Hudson Headwaters partnering

Bravos to Glens Falls Hospital and Hudson Headwaters for agreeing to work together to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the region. In these challenging times for the hospital, it is gratifying to see the two community health services work together.

Making dreams come true

Bravos to all those in Glens Falls who made one young exchange students dream of attending an American prom a reality. It was a small act of kindness that we are sure will be remembered forever. In these difficult times, it was inspiring to read about the effort to make this happen.

The Post-Star editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Stars editorial board, which consists of Publisher Brian Corcoran, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle and citizen representative Chuck Cumming.
Karnataka Chief Minister



B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday warned that stringent action would be taken against those who do not follow the law and come out onto the streets unnecessarily in violation of steps enforced by government to control the coronavirus spread in the state.

Calling for low key Ugadi festival celebrations on March 25, he said those who want to go outside Bengaluru or enter should do it by tonight and stricter restrictions will be in force from Wednesday morning.

"We will take action, we will take very severe action, if they don't follow the law...

if necessary we will not mind to book the cases also," Yediyurappa told reporters in response to a question about people unnecessarily coming onto the roads.

The Karnataka government on Monday night announced lockdown till month end in the entire state, to control the spread of virus.

Orders were issued on Monday prohibiting gathering of more than five people in public places, stopping public and private transport services, and closing of government offices.

Listing measures taken by the government that include the closing of state borders, postponement of board exams, Yediyurappa appealed to people to have low key Ugadi (New Year) on Wednesday, and asked people not to come out of their houses.

Stating that the government's desire was that there should be "curfew like situation" with no one outside, the Chief Minister said people still come out of their houses, which they should not in the interest of their own health.

"We have given instructions that those coming inside Bengaluru and going outside, we have given permission to go or come by this night.

From tomorrow we will take stricter action, and everyone should cooperate," he added.

Reminding that Karnataka is at the third spot with regard to number of COVID-19 cases, the chief minister said only with people's cooperation, its spread can be controlled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
During the last three years, Kingsbridge has successfully delivered on its goal to become a market leader in the provision of financial services to the contractor and freelancer community, and we are delighted to have been part of its rapid growth, noted Oliver Bevan, a Dunedin partner who sits on the Kingsbridge board.

Investing in its people, distribution channels, and technology, the company has doubled its revenues and customers in just three years and created a suite of brands and distribution platforms with which to address the needs of a rapidly growing flexible workforce in the UK and overseas. We strongly believe in the future of this business and are confident that NSM will support the companys continued growth.

Kingsbridge, which started out as a specialist broker in 2001 and now employs around 100 people, owns insurance and tax-related services provider Larsen Howie and insurtech Dinghy. In addition to its Tewkesbury headquarters, the company also has offices in London, Liverpool, Leicester, and Guernsey.

Group chief executive James Twining had this to say: Kingsbridge has grown to become one of the leading players in the new, flexible economy. Dunedin has played a major role in supporting our development over the last three years, providing capital and insight as an experienced financial services investor.

We are delighted to be joining NSM, who share both our values and our vision for how the world of work is changing and the significant opportunities that lie ahead. With the benefits of their investment and experience, we look forward to enhancing our offering to clients and accelerating the next stage of our journey both in the UK and internationally.

Meanwhile the groups current leadership team will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the business post-closing. The sale is subject to regulatory approval both in the UK and Guernsey.

Commenting on the swoop, NSM CEO Geof McKernan stated: We are excited to expand further in the UK with the acquisition of Kingsbridge, which fits nicely into NSMs portfolio of niche-focused insurance businesses. We look forward to working with James and his team and to providing them with support and resources to continue to grow the business.
Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani took to his Twitter page to query the functions of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

Since the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus, there have been calls for increased awareness on how to prevent the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

Also Read: Coronavirus: FG Orders Civil Servants To Work From Home

However, the agency tasked with informing Nigerians on issues has remained silent despite outcry on the lack of awareness on the virus in several parts of the country.

Reacting to the continued silence of the agency, the former lawmaker from Kaduna queried the whereabouts of the agency.
Following a wave of workers protests against the shipping and e-commerce giant Amazon, the corporation is doubling down on its demand that workers remain on the job without protection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Amazon workers in New York City walked off the job after the first known case of coronavirus was detected at a facility in Queens, forcing the company to temporarily shut down the site. In Italy and Spain as well, workers have shut down facilities rather than become sick.

In response, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos published a message from our CEO and founder on a company blog Saturday. Bezos message, hidden behind his feigned paternalist concern for his workers, can be best summed up as shut up and keep working!

Bezos letter begins with various claims about how grateful he is for the vital service shipping workers are performing. He notes workers efforts are being noticed at the highest levels of government, including President Trump, and that [t]his isnt business as usual.

As a concession to workers protesting Amazons efforts to make additional profits from the coronavirus by pressuring workers to ship unnecessary items, Bezos claims that the company will prioritize the shipping of essential items like household staples, sanitizers, baby formula, and medical supplies.

Coming to the point, Bezos, the richest man in the world with a personal fortune of over $120 billion, wrote, Much of the essential work we do cannot be done from home. Weve implemented a series of preventative health measures for employees and contractors at our sites around the worldeverything from increasing the frequency and intensity of cleaning to adjusting our practices in fulfillment centers to ensure the recommended social distancing guidelines.

These are lies. Numerous Amazon workers have written to the International Amazon Workers Voice to describe the companys preventative health measures. A petition circulated by warehouse workers in New York City notes despite larger workloads, Amazon continues to enforce and raise productivity quotas. At the same time, many workers have been shocked to discover the company has been illegally denying them paid sick leave.

In addition, workers are only granted paid time off if they are able to prove they have contracted coronavirus. Given the notorious rarity of obtainable testing, most workers will forgo this and be forced to remain at their posts.

Bezos then says, Weve placed purchase orders for millions of face masks we want to give to our employees and contractors who cannot work from home, but very few of those orders have been filled. Workers are chided to think of others and informed they must wait in line: When our turn for masks comes, our first priority will be getting them in the hands of our employees and partners working to get essential products to people.

Despite his were all in this together claim, it is certain that Bezos and the rest of the corporate and financial oligarchy are not waiting in line for anything. Not only will they be able to work from their mansions far away from infected factories and warehouses but in case they contract COVID-19, they will get the best concierge health care that money can buy. Nothing could contrast more with the miserable health care Amazon workers get from the company doctors who send them back to the fulfillment lines as fast as possible.

Bezos letter is a demonstration of the antisocial character of the entire capitalist class. If masks and other essential protective equipment are not available, Bezos declares to the working class that the show must go on, so he and the rest of the corporate elite can continue to profit. Bezos letter is a visceral confirmation of the conclusion made by the World Socialist Web Site about the capitalist classs motto in dealing with the pandemic: If the accumulation of our billions requires the death of millions, so be it.

Workers reacted to the CEOs declaration that they were expendable with disgust. Its amazing how many words one man can use to say go make me that money, a picker at GSP1 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, told the International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) when asked about the Bezos letter.

The letter behind the letter is about how [hes] exploiting a crisis for financial gain. A genuine philanthropic gesture would be opening your multi-billion-dollar wallet and making sure shelters and soup kitchens were stocked, the Spartanburg worker said.

Like I was saying to other coworkers, Jeff [Bezos] has enough money to give out testing to every Amazon building for COVID-19, another logistics worker in Baltimore wrote the IAWV to say.

We workers are really important what we are doing now is very important because people really need these supplies. Ive even seen some quarantine supplies go through to Amazon myself But we have to understand that people are people and human beings are human beings and our health comes first, the worker said.

A former Amazon worker at the DFW-7 facility in Texas told the WSWS that Bezos profusions of concern means very little to the millions of workers that have incurred bladder infections, fallen from multiple stories, [are] constantly monitored, [made] homeless in your facilities parking lots, and have dropped dead. He demanded that Bezos hand over his own wealth and distribute it amongst the working people, resolve the water crises plaguing Flint, pay for your workers rent, bills, and handover the means of production to the workers.

The WSWS and the IAWV call on workers to form independent rank-and-file committees to press their demands for access to testing and fully paid health care and the closing down of all non-essential production. This must be combined with the fight to transform Amazon, UPS, FedEx and other giant logistic firms into public enterprises, collectively owned and democratically controlled by the working class. The companys technological capacity and global network must be utilized to deliver medical supplies, food and other basic necessities. At the same time workers engaged in this essential work must be supplied with state-of-the-art personal protection equipment and be constantly monitored by professional medical staff. The length of shifts and workloads must be reduced and workers must be paid living wages and provided with free, high quality health coverage.

We encourage workers to contact the World Socialist Web Site if they are in agreement with these demands.
Scott County Memorial Hospital, a critical access hospital in Scottsburg, Ind. (WDRB)

In 2014, rural Scott County, Ind., 80 miles south of Indianapolis, was the site of one of the largest HIV outbreaks in recent years outside of big cities, apparently due to opioid users sharing hypodermic needles. The county is still recovering but now faces the possibility of another deadly epidemic: COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, March 17, the Scott County Health Department announced on its Facebook page that the coronavirus had not been detected in the community yet. By Friday at around noon, it had confirmed the first case, later described as a patient in their 50s with preexisting conditions who died from the coronavirus, becoming one of 12 deaths reported by the Indiana State Department of Health so far.

Although the scale of the outbreak, at least so far, is much lower than that in some big cities, rural counties face distinctive challenges in coping with an epidemic of a life-threatening disease, and public health officials are just as worried as their colleagues elsewhere.

We are working very hard with our local partners to combat the spread of this virus, Michelle Matern, the Scott County Health Department administrator, told Yahoo News. We are treating this like a pandemic flu. And to educate and keep the community informed about the coronavirus, the countys health department has been providing important information via its social media pages.

One of the biggest challenges for rural places like Scott County is that health care access is limited. There is one 25-bed hospital for its 24,000 residents  i.e., about one bed per 1,000 residents. The U.S. average is around 2.9 per 1,000.

Scott County Memorial Hospital is considered a critical access hospital, a designation given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that Congress created in 1997 in response to a series of rural hospital closures during the 1980s and early 1990s. These types of medical facilities serve one-fifth of the U.S. population.

Story continues

For a hospital to have this designation, which allows for increased Medicare reimbursements, it must meet certain criteria. For instance, it must have 25 or fewer beds, be located more than 35 miles from another hospital and maintain an average length of stay of 96 hours or less per patient.

Erika Rogan, a senior associate director with the American Hospital Association Rural Health Services, described the importance of these medical outposts. Many individuals living in rural areas, some of them are traveling 30 minutes, 60 minutes or more to get to the closest hospital. So the idea of critical access hospitals is to lessen that travel burden and have and maintain services in the community itself.

There are problems associated with limited testing for COVID-19 all around the U.S., but in places like Scott County, which already lack resources, this problem is particularly pronounced.

Melanie Robbins, 47, lives in the small town of Underwood in Scott County. A few days ago, her 15-year-old daughter developed symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus: Her chest hurt when she was breathing and her throat hurt. Robbins sought an appointment with a local clinic, but it did not take her insurance. She proceeded to call the local hospital and brought her daughter to the emergency room. We were able to go straight in, and there was no wait, said Robbins. The attending physician there stated, there is no testing, theres no way to test her. Since Robbinss daughter did not have a fever and was not in respiratory distress, she was discharged home.

Robbins is one of many Americans who have felt scared and want answers when their loved ones are feeling sick. But health officials are warning people not to drive to the ER to request testing unless they are experiencing severe symptoms. We dont want to inundate our emergency department with mild cases, Matern said.

This inability to test highlights the difficulty of tracking the spread of the coronavirus, which has been a challenge throughout the country but especially in limited-resource locations.

In the face of the pandemic, Rogan told Yahoo News, CAHs are being given certain waivers to boost their capacity and better manage a possible coronavirus outbreak in the communities they serve: One of the waivers thats already been issued is to allow critical access hospitals to have more than 25 beds so they can use other beds for inpatient care or they can acquire additional beds and they wont be out of compliance. Another waiver Rogan mentioned is an extension to the average length of stay per patient. Patients with COVID-19 may need intensive care for a week or longer.

Since the Scott County Health Department announcement of its first case and death related to COVID-19, Robbins says, shes been staying at home and doing her best to remain positive. Theres a lot of confusion and panic out there, but I do hope people take it seriously and do what the government is telling us to do. Stay home, keep your people at home.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Albert Uderzo, the French illustrator behind Asterix and Obelix that have entertained both children and adults for the past six decades, has died aged 92, his family have said.

Albert Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus. He had been very tired for several weeks. his son-in-law, Bernard de Choisy, said in a statement to AFP.

Born to Italian immigrants, Uderzo retired from drawing in late 2011. The Asterix series, which he created with the late Rene Goscinny, debuted in October 1959 in French magazine Pilote, and quickly developed a cult following.

It follows Asterix, a warrior who lives in Roman-occupied Gaul in the year 50 BC, who is given a magic potion that gives him super strength.

With his best friend Obelix, he keeps his village  the only one that has not surrendered to the Romans  safe.

After the first standalone, Asterix the Gaul, was released, the series went on to sell more than 380m copies, with the books translated into more than 100 languages around the world.

A theme park based on the cartoons, Parc Asterix, was opened outside Paris in 1989.

Uderzo and Goscinny collaborated until the latters death in 1977, when Uderzo took over the writing until 2009.
The department said that doctors, nurses and other health care workers from surrounding states would be able to care for Illinois patients, and that it was putting in place variances for in-state health care workers whose licenses were expired or inactive to resume working temporarily.
Advertisement

Australia has more than 25,000km of mostly unguarded coastline but it cannot even stop COVID-19 from repeatedly sailing straight into its most secure major port.

Almost two months after the first local coronavirus case was detected and a day after the total topped 500, an infected cruise ship docked at Sydney's Circular Quay and spilled about 2,700 passengers onto the streets.

Those who walked off the Ruby Princess were not tested for the coronavirus, despite some displaying flu-like symptoms and complaining of feeling sick.

They simply gathered their baggage, stepped ashore wheezing and spluttering and disappeared into Australia's biggest city.

More than 130 of those aboard the Ruby Princess have now tested positive to COVID-19, making it the single greatest source of infections in Australia since the outbreak began.

A woman aged her 70s who was taken from the cruise ship to hospital after docking died on Tuesday morning.

Other passengers have since spread across the nation on planes, trains and buses, or flown back to their home countries, potentially taking the virus with them.

Meanwhile, thousands of Australians are being allowed to walk off planes from virus-stricken Europe and the US with just a leaflet and a warning to stay indoors.

Passengers are pictured disembarking from the Ruby Princess at Circular Quay on March 19. There have since been at least 66 coronavirus cases linked to the ship

An elderly lady protests against the arrival of the Magnifica at Fremantle Passenger Terminal in Western Australia on March 24. It was initially thought passengers on board the ship were ill but the cruise operator has told authorities it is clear of coronavirus

Michael Dobrin, 82, and his wife Rona, 75, tested positive to COVID-19 two days after they disembarked from the Ruby Princess. Mrs Dobrin said she and her husband developed a cough a day or two before the ship docked, but they were not told others on board were sick

WHERE DID INFECTED PASSENGERS FROM THE RUBY PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP GO? NEW SOUTH WALES: 107 cases WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 11 QUEENSLAND: 9 TASMANIA: 3 NORTHERN TERRITORY: 2 ACT: 1 TOTAL: 133 Advertisement

How this appalling failure in border security occurred and how to prevent another potentially disastrous breach is still being debated, with legal action against the Ruby Princess and the government being considered.

Eight ships including seven cruise-liners carrying thousands of passengers will arrive in Sydney over the next seven days amid fears they will contain hundreds of coronavirus patients.

On Tuesday, Western Australian police and Australian Border Force officers met the cruise ship Magnifica at Fremantle to make sure no-one left the vessel.

Premier Mark McGowan said: 'I will not allow what happened in Sydney to happen here.'

'We will not allow passengers or crew to wander the streets. This is a non-negotiable position.'

Mr McGowan had been told at least 250 of more than 1,700 passengers were sick.

Operator MSC denied any passengers or crew on the ship, which departed Italy in January and is on its way to Dubai, had respiratory or flu-like illnesses.

Australia already has 1,972 coronavirus cases and has recorded eight deaths. After reporting only a gradual spread in January, the numbers are sharply increasing.

The federal government has introduced bans on all non-residents coming into the country and returning citizens are required to self-isolate for two weeks.

A woman aged her 70s who was taken from the Ruby Princes to hospital after the ship docked in Sydney died on March 24. More than 130 of those aboard the ship have now tested positive to COVID-19

Buses line up to take Australian evacuees from the coronavirus-struck cruise ship Diamond Princess in Darwin after they arrived on a Qantas flight from Japan on February 20

Border controls are now in place for South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, with only freight and essential travel exempted. Queensland will close its borders on Wednesday.

But the most important border - the one that makes Australia an island continent - is still being breached and the most alarming new infections have come by water.

How cruise ships could continue to bring infected patients into the country has led to blame-shifting, anger and bewilderment.

Cruise ships have been an obvious potential source of infected coronavirus arrivals since the Diamond Princess was quarantined off the coast of Japan in February.

More than 700 passengers of the 3,700 people on board that ship quickly developed coronavirus.

Diamond Princess was forced to stay at sea for almost three weeks before the decision was made to quarantine people onshore.

As coronvirus swept the world, cruise ships were barred from docking in Australian ports for 30 days from March 15.

The federal government suspended all cruise ships - however some, such as the Ruby Princess, have only just completed their trips

Passengers disembark from the Ruby Princess at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal on February 8 before the ban on cruise ships was put in place

The federal government granted exemptions to four vessels which were already on their way back to Australia.

Those ships - Ruby Princess, Ovation of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice and Voyager of the Seas - arrived in Sydney between March 18 and March 20. All have had cases of coronavirus since docking.

The NSW government gave the all-clear for the Ruby Princess to berth in Sydney Harbour on March 19, considering its arrival 'low risk'.

Passengers who arrived on the ship have claimed they were 'waved through' the port without facing any health screenings.

Some then spent as long as four days onshore potentially spreading COVID-19 before they were ordered to self-isolate for 14 days via emails and phone calls.

The Ruby Princess was carrying 2,647 travellers and staffed by 1,148 crew. So far at least 133 - including 26 still in NSW - have tested positive to the virus.

Ruby Princess passengers Ben Hardimon and fiancee Channese Pintar (pictured) were rushed off the Ruby Princess in Sydney on March 19 without being tested

A third of the passengers on the ship were not from Australia, raising the possibility Australia could further export the disease.

COVID-19 cases linked to the Ruby Princess have emerged as far away as Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

INFECTIONS FROM FOREIGNERS COMING INTO AUSTRALIA At least thirty-five cases have been linked to a wedding at Stanwell Tops south of Sydney on March 6. The transmissions were possibly linked to a couple who travelled from the US. Ten American tourists tested positive for COVID-19 during a wine tour to South Australia's Barossa Valley last week. Every day from March 1 to March 17 international flights brought infected cases into Australia through Sydney Airport alone, NSW Health data shows. At least 133 passengers who disembarked the Ruby Princess cruise ship have tested positive to the virus. Advertisement

NSW Police Minister David Elliott has called the decision to allow passengers to leave the Ruby Princess cruise ship a 'monumental stuff-up'.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said last Saturday: 'With the benefit of what we now know... I'd have said, "Yeah, maybe we should hold them on the ship".'

An elderly couple who caught coronavirus on the Ruby Princess claims crew did not tell them other guests had symptoms of the illness.

Michael Dobrin, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor, and his wife Rona, 75, tested positive to COVID-19 two days after they disembarked.

Mrs Dobrin said she and her husband developed a cough a day or two before the ship docked, but they were not told others on board were sick and so did not worry.

'They didn't tell us a thing - nothing,' she said. 'A note under the door would have been enough.

'We would have isolated ourselves in the cabin if we'd known. We're not spring chickens, we're high risk.'

Reports emerged the ship logged 158 illnesses before it arrived in Sydney. Princess Cruises told Daily Mail Australia it did not test for coronavirus on board.

Tamworth man Greg Butler, who was on Ruby Princess, is also among those to have learnt he has COVID-19. Mr Butler said he was waved through security when he disembarked in Sydney without any health checks

'The protocol is for swabs to be taken of ill guests who report flu-like symptoms which are then submitted to the relevant public health authority for testing,' it said.

Ms Dobrin said passengers were unaware of how the coronavirus crisis had escalated since their voyage began on March 8 and were not advised of the need to take extra precautions.

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

'Everyone was mingling, there was no social distancing because we weren't told we needed to be doing that,' she said.

'It's like the medical advice was frozen in time from when we got on board even though it was changing rapidly outside.'

Passengers were finally told after the ship left Napier that New Zealand's borders were closed and they would be returning to Sydney.

But Ms Dobrin said even after that, passengers were allowed to wander freely around the decks.

'People were going down to the pool, we were lying in the sun, eating in the dining room, dancing, seeing shows,' she said.

Mr and Mrs Dobrin were not screened when they disembarked and only got themselves tested when news broke of other Ruby Princess coronavirus cases.

'People have been let off the ship, with no testing, flying all over the place without knowing they might have it, Mrs Dobrin said.

'I'm seething with bloody rage.'

Ben Hardimon and his fiancee Channese Pintar were also rushed off Ruby Princess without being tested for coronavirus.

As of Tuesday there had been 1,972 cases of coronavirus in Australia with eight fatalities

Ovation of the Seas is pictured after offloading passengers in Sydney Harbour on March 21

'It was just rush, rush, getting off,' Mr Hardimon told the ABC's 7.30 program.

'Basically, from the moment we left the ship to where we were waiting for the shuttle bus was about only six or seven minutes.'

Authorities did not check passports or ask if Mr Hardimon and Ms Pintar had a fever or any other symptoms. 'It was just straight on down,' Mr Hardimon said.

Several hours passed before Mr Hardimon received an email telling him to self-isolate.

Tamworth man Greg Butler, who was on the Ruby Princess, is among those to have learnt he has COVID-19.

Mr Butler told the Daily Telegraph he was waved through security when he disembarked in Sydney without any health checks.

'They didn't check bags, they didn't check passports,' he said. 'We could have brought a bag of heroin in and walked straight through with it.'

No one's temperature was taken - despite some passengers feeling sick - and Mr Butler was allowed to travel home on public transport.

A group embraces as the Royal Carribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas returns to Sydney on December 16. Five coronavirus patients from a later voyage are linked to the ship

The prime minister announced on March 15 international cruise ship operations would ceease and all travellers engtering Australian from March 16 must undertake mandatory self-isolation

The next day Mr Butler learnt the ship had been contaminated and he began to feel symptoms himself. He has bad headaches, a cough, and felt pins and needles throughout his body.

'They've just let nearly 3,000 people into the city, God knows how many people had the virus,' he said.

Princess Cruises said its health management standards were are at a higher level than might be found on airlines or other modes of transport.

'Disembarkation from a ship is subject to a health clearance being received from the relevant public health authority, a practice that has been a longstanding feature of shipping,' it said.

There are now also five confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to Ovation of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean International.

Ovation of the Seas left Sydney on March 11 bound for New Zealand but was forced to turn around on March 15. It arrived in Sydney on March 18.

Crew members of the Ovation of the Seas walk past the Sydney Opera House after disembarking from the ship on March 21. Five coronavirus cases have been linked to the ship

Ovation of the Seas passengers were initially advised by NSW Health upon their return to Australia they did not need to self-isolate.

It was not until Sunday those who had been on board were told to self-quarantine.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison played down the federal government's responsibility for the Ruby Princess mistakes when he addressed Parliament on Monday.

Quarantine and self-isolation requirements were announced on the vessel, with disembarking passengers handed self-declaration cards.

'The chief health officer of NSW said this was a low risk,' Mr Morrison said.

'I note that NSW Health has stated that it undertook a full assessment of the Ruby Princess and allowed the passengers to disembark.'

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Mr Morrison was effectively blaming the NSW government for failing to protect the nation's borders.

'There's a pattern there of him blaming NSW and Gladys Berejiklian's government,' Mr Albanese said.

The cruise ship Magnifica is pictured berthed at Fremantle in Western Australia for emergency refueling on March 24

'The truth is that the federal government are responsible for the entry into Australia.'

The defence force has now been called on to track down infected passengers from the Ruby Princess before they spread the virus any further.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said 'contract tracing support teams' were being set up across Australia to help NSW Health find anyone who may have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 patient.

NSW Health Director of Communicable Diseases Vicky Sheppeard said tougher restrictions had been implemented as a result of the confirmed cruise ship infections.

No passenger with a respiratory illness or flu-like symptoms can disembark until a COVID-19 swab has been taken and come back negative.

Still, cruise ships continue to reach Australian shores.

Professor Bill Bowtell, a health adviser who led Australia's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, said the federal government should have done to prevent COVID-19 earlier.

Even after the United States emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot flights continued to come in until last Friday night.

Australian defence personnel have been tasked with helping track down passengers who disembarked the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney on March 19 (stock image)

Workers wearing protective suits are pictured unloading supplies from a truck to be loaded onto the Magnifica cruise ship docked in Fremantle on March 24

Australia banned the entry of foreign nationals from China on February 1. A travel ban was placed on Iran on March 1, South Korea on March 5 and Italy on March 11.

A complete ban on all non-residents and non-Australian citizens flying into the country was not enforced until 9pm on 20 March.

Three flights from San Francisco into Sydney alone carried infected passengers on Monday last week.

At the weekend South Australian officials revealed ten US tourists travelling through the famous Barossa Valley wine region had tested positive.

Authorities said the tourists arrived in the state separately and were believed to have flown into the state.

Professor Bowtell said the government's early closure of the border to Chinese visitors was 'commendable' but it should have broadened it to other countries.

'It has been very clear for weeks and months what controls should be put in place at borders,' said Prof Bowtell, from the University of New South Wales's Kirby Institute of Infection and Immunity.

'A lot of things that ought to have happened at airports did not happen... You have to ask why that didn't happen in Australia.'

Passengers queue to check in for a flight at Sydney Airport on March 20. Australia banned travel from China, Iran, South Korea and Italy but left its borders open to the United States

Coronavirus time bombs: Aussies returning from overseas are STILL being let in with nothing more than a leaflet and a warning to 'self isolate' - despite more 80% of infections coming from abroad

By Kelsey Wilkie

Australian citizens returning home from overseas have been left dumbfounded by the 'relaxed' safety measures at Sydney's International Airport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison shut Australia's borders to all non-residents on Friday in a desperate attempt to combat the spread of COVID-19 and said all travellers returning to the country must self-isolate for two weeks.

But many of the Australians landing in Sydney on Tuesday morning say they weren't screened, didn't have their temperatures checked and were sent home with nothing but a leaflet about self-isolating.

Simone Sharples, who flew in from San Francisco, said she was 'surprised' by the carefree border control measures - despite returning from one of America's worst-hit cities as the number of infections in Australia surges towards 2,000.

The 42-year-old, who travelled with her two children Max, 12, and Millie, 14, said she was simply handed a pamphlet advising her to self-isolate for 14 days.

Simone Sharples (right) encountered 'very lax' safety measures when she flew into Sydney from San Francisco on Tuesday with her two children, Max, 12, and Millie, 14.

A man and woman are covered head-to-toe in blue hazmat suits at Sydney International Airport on Tuesday

A man speaks on the phone while sitting with a trolley carrying his luggage at Sydney Airport

Travellers sit crammed together at Sydney Airport as they attempt to head home before further travel restrictions hit due to the coronavirus outbreak

Sean Jones, 46, flew back to Sydney after moving to New Zealand four weeks ago for work. He has no idea when he will be able to return

'I was very surprised we didn't have to get a temperature check or anything like that,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The attitude in [Sydney] airport seemed very lax.'

Ms Sharples and her family had been living in Seattle for a year but as the deadly virus takes a tighter grip on the globe, she decided they needed to move home.

'What really frightened me was the gun sales, I just thought, we need to get out of here.'

At 3pm on Monday she had booked flights for her and her two children to fly back to Australia, landing on Tuesday morning.

They had half an hour to pack their entire lives into five suitcases and were forced to leave behind their father Peter who stayed behind to sell their house and car.

They have no idea when they will see him again.

The family has no home in Australia as they hadnt planned to move back until later in the year. They will now spend the next two weeks staying at a hotel because she doesn't want to stay with family in case of them has the virus.

Palo Razus, 45, his wife Melanie O'Halloran and their son Sam also landed in Australia on Tuesday after spending three months working in ski resorts

Travellers wore gloves, face masks and hazmat suits at Sydney Airport on Tuesday as the world attempts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

Gabbie, 21, had been in Bali with her boyfriend when she got a desperate call from her parents that she needed to return home

Ms Sharples said it was unclear what she was allowed to do and where she was allowed to go during the isolation period.

In an update to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Sharples said she was unable to organise her groceries.

'I am trying to get groceries delivered but there are no slots available,' she said.

'Totally impossible to do the right thing without the infrastructure in place.

'Luckily we are in a position where we can order takeout - definitely not our preference - but I am certain there would be many who couldn't afford that luxury.'

Ms Sharples said she phoned the hotline and they advised her to order takeaway meals three times a day.

Palo Razus, 45, his wife Melanie O'Halloran and their son Sam also landed in Australia on Tuesday after spending three months working in ski resorts.

Mr Razus said he was stunned by the stark contrast between Australia and the US at the moment.

Gregory Murray (right), 52, Anne Murray (left), 82, and Patrick Murray (right), 72, flew back to Sydney after a two week holiday in New Zealand. They said they were happy to leave as it was getting 'scary' over there with the new lockdown rules

Brendan McCann is a fly-in fly-out mechanical fitter who lives in New South Wales and works in Queensland

Travellers wore protective glasses to match their gloves, face masks and hazmat suits at Sydney Airport

A woman covered in protective clothing holds a sleeping child on her lap while waiting at Sydney Airport

Geoffrey Mealing, 63, (far right) had to cut his holiday in NSW short after it was announced Queensland would shut its borders on Wednesday

There are currently 15 states in the US under stay-home orders. New York and California were the first, along with Washington state.

'Australia still seems very relaxed [about the coronavirus crisis],' he said.

The family were also given a pamphlet advising them about the 14-day isolation period and had to sign a piece of paper declaring they understood the restrictions.

After arriving from one of the worst infected places, the family will now take public transport to they make their way home to rural Victoria.

They said they were concerned for the safety of others as they could be carrying the virus without knowing, so they each had masks and gloves to wear during their trip home.

One person in a hazmat suit also covered their shoes, in a desperate attempt to ensure they won't fall ill with coronavirus

A man and a woman wear face masks as they wait for their flight in Sydney Airport's domestic terminal

Travellers walk through Sydney Airport on Tuesday, as states and territories across the country move to shut their borders

Travellers fail to follow the 1.5 metre social distancing guideline as they sit huddled waiting at the gate

They were worried that others weren't taking the same precautions.

'We've been warning our friends and family to take this seriously, to self-isolate,' Ms O'Halloran said.

'Where we've come from it had already basically been in lockdown for two weeks.

'To love them more is to self-isolate from them.'

Sean Jones, 46, flew back to Sydney after moving to New Zealand four weeks ago for work. He has no idea when he will be able to return.

As he arrived he was give a face mask and handed a pamphlet advising him of self-isolation.

He said during his flight passengers were seated one seat apart to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

One woman is seen on the phone with her luggage at Sydney Airport on Tuesday

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, with more than 1,7000 Australians now infected, state governments are now putting extreme measures in place to slow the spread and hopefully ease the pressure on the health system.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced this week the state will shut its borders from midnight on Wednesday, leaving holidaymakers scrambling to get home.

Gabbie, 21, had been in Bali with her boyfriend when she got a desperate call from her parents that she needed to return home.

Her boyfriend decided not to return with her and has chosen to stay in Bali.

'I'm really sad and very disappointed because I don't know how long I'll be away from my partner for,' she said.

A woman in a face mask carries her skateboard as she walks through the airport on Tuesday

A family check-in for their Virgin flight at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. Australians have scrambled to return to their home as states and territories shut borders

A man looks at his laptop while keeping his distance from other travellers at Sydney Airport

The lockdown has been even more devastating for Brendan McCann who is a fly-in fly-out mechanical fitter.

The 30-year-old works in Queensland but lives with his wife and two kids, aged six and one, in New South Wales.

When news broke of the border lockdown he had to quickly change his flights and had to say his goodbyes to his family, unsure of when he may return.

'I don't know how it works. I could be stuck there. My daughter is pretty upset, my missus is pretty upset.'

The uncertainty is the worst part, he said.

A group of travellers walk through Sydney Airport after arriving in the city on Tuesday

People are seen walking through the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport on Tuesday

A man and a woman lie on the couches and wait at Sydney Airport on Tuesday
Ashwani Mahajan By

Today, the entire world is suffering from the havoc inflicted by the coronavirus. The WHO has already declared it a pandemic. So far, over 3,51,700 people have been infected by the virus worldwide, of which more than 15,370 have lost their lives. And the number of people infected is steadily increasing.

In India, more than 400 people are reported to have been infected, out of which eight have died.

It is believed that in India, we are currently in the second phase of the corona spread; and the next two to three weeks will be very crucial. So far, most of the cases in India are directly related to people coming from abroad, that is, foreign tourists or Indians coming from abroad and their relatives and friends who come in contact with them. The random testing by ICMR, in which 826 cases were investigated last week, all reported negative. This showed there was no community spread at least till then. But this doesnt mean that India will not suffer from community spread of the virus. This is being learned from the experience of China, Italy, Iran, etc.

The human-to-human spread of the virus began in Wuhan, China. Chinese authorities learnt about the virus infection in December 2019 itself. Some people have claimed that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and linked it to the manufacture of biological weapons by China. But the scientists of this institute say that both its locaction and the spread of the virus there is merely a coincidence.

Most believe that this virus reached the human body from animals due to the culture of eating exotic animals in China. It likely came from bats or from an animal infected by the bats. So there is unanimity that the virus originated in China. Perhaps this is the reason why US President Donald Trump is calling it the Chinese virus. This is not the first time that a virus has spread from China. In 2002 too, an infection called SARS in which thousands of people around the world were infected and more than 750 died, came from China. The country mishandled that outbreak too.

Based on the information received, the incidence of this virus is decreasing in China and soon normalcy will be restored in China. Even if we ignore the conspiracy angle or the exotic food habits, the complaint from all over the world is that despite having information about this virus in December, the Chinese government didnt respond properly and allowed its spread.

Did the Chinese government act responsibly? Did they warn the world about this? Based on the information received, it is found that no one other than the Chinese government can be held responsible for the initial spread of the virus that has now turned into a pandemic. How the Chinese government mistreated the doctor, who raised alarm about this virus for the first time and who eventually died, is no secret.

This infection has spread to more than 150 countries throughout the world, and Italy and Iran have been among the worst hit. According to reports, Chinas One Belt One Road (OBOR) Project is a major contributor to the spread of this infection in these nations. Despite being so far away from China, the cause of the outbreak in these two countries can be explained by OBOR linkages. Significantly, China has been aggressively pursuing this project for some time to advance its strategic and economic interests. Italy and Iran are two countries that are major stakeholders in this project. Italy has opened its infrastructure to transport, and even four major ports, to Chinese investment. Lombardy and Tuscany are the two regions with the highest Chinese investment.

Iran. which has been under severe US economic sanctions for a long time, started encouraging Chinese investment, and in 2019, they officially signed the OBOR for construction of a 2,000-mile-long rail track crossing western China to Tehran and to Turkey. In addition, the Railway Engineering Corporation of China is laying a $2.7 billion high-speed railway line coming out of Qom. Along with this, Chinese technicians are also renovating the nuclear power plant. Irans health experts believe that this infection spread to Qom, either from Chinese workers or businessmen coming from China. Its notable that India has said a big no to OBOR right from the very beginning.

China has been capturing the worlds markets for a long time by adopting tactics like dumping, export subsidies and many other tricks. In such a situation, manufacturing declined not only in India, but also in large developed countries like the US, Europe, and other countries around the world. They also started facing payments crises.Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, increased globally. Today, with the import of goods from China not possible due to the lockdown there, manufacturing all around the world has been hit hard.

The havoc of corona on the one hand and the economic crisis on the other have been forcing many countries to think whether China can remain the center stage of globalisation in the world in times to come. Nations around the world may redefine their relationship with China and try to reconstruct their industries. The latest example is the `3,000 crore plan of our government to revive active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), that is, the pharma industries raw materials. While the Chinese government has now become active to try and minimise its infamy, the world will soon have to decide the nature of economic activities in the future.


24.03.2020 LISTEN

A decent job is an essential marker of a young persons success. It provides financial security for his or her future family and contributes to the economic growth of their country. With more than half of Africas population under the age of 25, the need for decent jobs is enormous.

In Africa, youth make up 37% of the working-age population, but 60% of that number is unemployed. The youth demographic is very large compared to the available opportunities in the market, writes Obiageli Ezekwesili, former World Bank Vice President of the Africa division, in her article Youth unemployment: Challenges & Opportunities in Economic Development.

In Kenya for example, a recent study by the UN Development Programme put the countrys unemployment rate at a staggering 39%, the highest in the region, compared to 24% in Tanzania and 18% in Uganda.

The demand for decent jobs is only expected to grow as the Africa Institute for Development Policy estimates that the continent will account for 29% of all people aged 15 to 24 by 2050.

Some organizations have taken on the youth employment challenge through innovative and broad-based public, private and civil society partnerships that have the potential to be more impactful than they could have aspired to working alone.

One example is the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and private sector representatives. Together they create opportunities for African youth by enhancing leadership skills, bolstering entrepreneurship, and connecting young African leaders with one another and innovative leaders in the private, civic, and public sectors. The programme has four regional leadership centres  in Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal to cover West Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya to cover East Africa, and one near Pretoria in South Africa for the sub-region.

Betty Kariuki, YALIs director of partnerships, believes that creating opportunities for youth is achievable if Africa can engage the triple helix of the three sectors 

public, private and civil society  to work together.

She gives an example of the East Africa center which is working in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation and Deloitte East Africa Ltd, the implementing agent, to create training opportunities for African youth. The Southern African center is in partnership with the University of Southern Africa and Dow Chemical Company.

So far, more than 13,000 young Africans have graduated from the YALI programme since its inception in 2010. A survey carried out by YALI in 2017 in 14 countries in Eastern and Central Africa showed that 47% of alumni had created an average of 2.75 jobs each. Furthermore, because the programmes graduates are diverse, these opportunities cut across the continent, employing youth from many geographic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds.

In Uganda

From the city of Masaka in the Buganda region of Uganda, 28-year-old Stephen Katende is the founder of Kisoboka Africa, an organisation that seeks financial inclusion for underserved communities in Uganda. He credits the training he received from YALI, which helped his organisation introduce business training for his community and created job opportunities for 10 other young people as trainers.

YALI prepared me to face the business world. I was introduced to design-driven entrepreneurship where business is about solving problems, something that the organisation I founded required, says Katende.

In Kenya

In Kenya, the African Management Services Company (AMSCO), a private sector organisation, collaborated with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Foundation to co-create Business Development Services for the 2jiajiri programme that provides unemployed and out-of-school youth with technical skills training opportunities to help them grow micro-enterprises.

2jiajiri stands for Tujiajiri  a Swahili word for Lets employ ourselves. The programme has a two-step approach. (1): Inception; vocational skills training and (2): Incubation, where participants receive financial support as well as business development services for their existing or new businesses for a period of 12 months.

The overall target is to support creation of jobs and wealth for at least 50,000 youth engaged in the informal sector within

eastern Africa between 2016-2020. So far, the 2jiajiri project has trained 23,000 young people in technical skills and financial literacy across the region.

Joshua Oigara, the KCB Groups Chief Executive, says: We are committed to scaling up the investment to build small enterprises as they offer the greatest potential for self-employment, they will now be able to access financing which will allow them to grow and therefore absorb the skilled workforce.

One of the 2jiajiri beneficiaries, 30-year-old Oliver Jemuge, who is currently employed by the Foundation, says: I encourage more organisations to come together to help create opportunities for young people.

Watching these young entrepreneurs, especially those I have journeyed with from the business conception stage to securing funding for their businesses, seeing them grow from nothing to somewhere, has changed my mindset on African youth. They are capable. They just need someone to hold their hand and whisper, it is possible and help them to maneuver the challenges that lie on their journey, especially funding and access to market, says Mr. Jemuge.

In Rwanda

In 2013, Rwanda launched Youth Connekt, a youth empowerment partnership between the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Youth. It trains young people in entrepreneurship and development skills through boot camps, which have created about 1,000 permanent jobs and 2,700 temporary jobs for young people within three years.

UNDP is also planning to build partnerships with the private sector, civil society, national governments and with support from the Government of Denmark, to scale up the programme to other African countries.

Attending Youth Connekt gave me a business perspective by listening and learning from various presenters on how to start and grow a business, says Pearl Umuhoza, 28, and the founder of Yummy and Fresh, a startup for healthy foods in the capital Kigali. Since launching her business, she has employed six permanent staff.

I have grown this business through knowledge acquired by attending various entrepreneurship programmes, they have really helped me to think and act as an entrepreneur, Ms. Umuhoza adds.

In West Africa

In West Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the largest African entrepreneurship initiative and represents a $100 million commitment to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs over a 10-year period. Established in 2015 by Elumelu, a Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist, the foundation has provided 7,531 young entrepreneurs with non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each thus far. The programme also provides access to mentors and business training.

The initiative has attracted many investors and like-minded partners for the various programmes it runs, including UNDP, France Development Agency (AFD) and the German Development Agency (GIZ).

TEF has opened up doors of opportunity for me, beyond the seed capital I used to start my business. It has placed on me the responsibility of becoming an enabler of people (a solution provider), writes Jiraji Kelvin Tersoo. Jiraji is the founder of Agritech Hub, Nigeria, an innovative space for developers, entrepreneurs and startups, to build a tech ecosystem for startups and developers.

Mr. Tersoo says the biggest lesson he has learnt as an entrepreneur is consistency and teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work, he says.
How many of you watched Deepika Padukone's latest release Chhapaak? For those who haven't and don't know what it is about, it is the story of an acid attack survivor who is put through the legal wringer while trying to heal from the ordeal, based on the true story of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. We can't help but salute her and women like her for having the courage to put their lives back in place after such a gruesome attack. While we celebrate their courage, what about about those who have lost their lives in the name of so-called love? Arya P Gopi discusses such attacks against women who've lost their lives just because they dared reject the advances of men who later became their murderers. And she does so through her documentary No Means No.

Arya P Gopi

Arya, a second-year MA Mass Communications student from Pondicherry University, recollects the horror of reading the news of the murder of civil police officer Soumya Pushpakaran of Vallikunnam Police Station in Alappuzha district by Ajas, a colleague. "The incident happened on June 15, 2019. The woman police officer was knocked off her bike, stabbed, doused in petrol and burnt alive for rejecting Ajas' proposal. Soumya, a woman in her 30s and the mother of three children, died on the spot. Ajas succumbed to burn injuries after a few days from the incident," describes the 22-year-old morbidly. While he paid for his actions, the story doesn't end there. "Such incidents are prevalent today. If a woman rejects a man's proposal, she is killed. I wanted to make a documentary highlighting this concept to bring such cases into the limelight," shares Arya who shot the documentary as part of her Master's specialisation project in October 2019. "But the documentary does not stick to Soumya's case alone. It revolves around other incidents related to murder in the name of rejected love in Kerala, including Kavitha Vijayakumar and Neethu," she informs.

Manu Ashokan, director of Malayalam movie Uyare was interviewed as a part of this documentary

When we ask about the different messages conveyed, she explains, "I have included the laws related to petrol procurement where oil companies are banned from selling petrol in plastic bottles. Only a few petrol pumps are aware of this law. I have also concentrated on the aspect of the victim's relatives, psychology of the murderer and the motive behind the act." And does she believe that the message has been effectively delivered? She proudly says yes. "I have received positive responses from friends, faculty members and a few experts. One of my male friends even confessed how the thought of causing harm to the girl who broke up with him dissipated after he watched the documentary and that it was a real eye-opener. This is definitely the impact I wanted to create," she smiles. The documentary won first place in the Cine Evolution Youth Festival 2020 conducted at St Joseph's Degree & PG College, Hyderabad. It was also part of the AVTAR Film Festival at Dr GR Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore and Pondicherry International Documentary and Short Film Festival.





The aspiring filmmaker informs us that she wants to make more documentaries on cases of violence against women. "I worked for almost a month to complete this project as I had to travel to different districts in Kerala to meet with the different resource persons. Most of the families were reluctant to share any information regarding the incident. However, I received consistent support from my professor Dr T Balasaravanan, my cinematographer Suresh Y and production crew members Athira S and Anantapadmanabhan U. As it is a challenging topic, I was worried if I could do justice to it. But with the opinions and feedback I have received, I feel like I have," she says, signing off with a content smile.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday night assured the countrymen there will be no crisis of essential commodities during the 21-day lockdown that is beginning midnight.

In a series of tweets, Shah also asked people not to panic as the whole country would fight the coronavirus outbreak together.

"I assure all the countrymen that there will be no shortage of essential commodities in the country during the time of lockdown," he said.

Shah said the central government along with all the state governments is making adequate efforts to deal with the prevailing situation.

His tweets came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 21-day lockdown as a concrete step to combat the pandemic which so far claimed 10 lives in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Babis lauded Vietnams efforts and asked the two countries to enhance information sharing and cooperation in the field.

PM Phuc, for his part, emphasised that COVID-19 is a common challenge for the world at present.

Vietnam stands ready to collaborate with the Czech Republic and all of its partners to fight the epidemic, he said, adding that no country could unilaterally act to overcome such a global-scale public health crisis.

The Vietnamese PM thanked and spoke highly of the Czech Republic Government and people for providing care for the Vietnamese community in the country.

He suggested the host government continue providing favourable conditions for them to stabilise their lives and ensure the necessary conditions to combat the disease.

The PM affirmed that Vietnam is ready to partner the Czech Republic in all areas to overcome existing difficulties, and will direct ministries and agencies to make it easier for Czech Republic citizens to return home in the near future.

Vietnam thanks the Government, Parliament and people of the Czech Republic for supporting the development of the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the European Union, especially pushing forward the European Parliaments ratification of the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Czech Republic Parliaments approval of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, he said.

On the occasion, PM Phuc invited Babis to pay an official visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Babis accepted the invitation with pleasure, and expressed his hope to visit Vietnam soon.
Mozambique and UNODC Jointly Tackling Emerging Violent Extremism and Terrorism Threats Facing Southern Africa

Photo:  iStock / Zabelin

23 March 2020 - The Government of Mozambique and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) again joined efforts from 10 to 12 March to address the growing violence in Northern Mozambique, that has killed over 700 people and displaced over 100,000. In Pemba, Northern Mozambique, the region most affected by the violence, UNODC and the Government of Mozambique organized a final training workshop and table top exercise for key investigators, defence officials, prosecutors, and judges to support their work in countering violent extremist and bringing terrorists to justice.

The workshop was supported by the Government of Canada and the United Nations Peace and Development Fund as part of larger efforts to support the Southern Africa Development Community to respond to the growing terrorism threats facing the region.

This training workshop was the final in the series of three workshops and represents the culmination of UNODCs terrorism prevention engagement in Mozambique over the past year, aimed at providing Mozambique with practical knowledge and tools needed to combat this complex threat. As a result of this partnership, Mozambique has already established a new Counter-Terrorism Unit within the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) and reported an increased capacity to effectively prosecute these crimes.

The Government of Mozambique is an important partner of UNODC, working jointly to address this growing threat. The workshop was opened by Antonio Domingos Mapure, the Permanent Secretary of the Government of Cabo Delgado, the province most affected by the violence. He acknowledged the critical situation that the province is currently facing and the need for strengthening preventive and other measures to restore stability.

He added that often, cases are not prosecuted due to a lack of evidence but that there have been considerable improvements in the investigation and processing of judicial proceedings, as demonstrated by the number of acquittals and convictions, following the first UNODC workshop in July 2019. He noted that thanks to this training series some gaps in capacity for the criminal justice system to provide an effective response had been addressed.

Americo Juliao, Deputy Attorney General, expressed hope that UNODC assistance could help to identify recommendations for the development of a strategy for the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of terrorism cases. He also referred to the need for strengthening cooperation of national institutions in charge of the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in Mozambique.

Guy Banville, Counsellor of the Canadian High Commission in Mozambique pointed out that Canada supports domestic solutions for peace and security, including through strengthening the capacity of governments to address security challenges, including violent extremism. He highlighted that Canadas contribution to this workshop and the strengthening of criminal justice institutions is part of its peace and security efforts in Mozambique

Cesar Guedes, UNODC Representative to Mozambique, thanked the Governments of Mozambique and Canada for their partnership on this workshop noting that: Violent extremism and terrorism are growing threats facing the region. UNODC is pleased to be supporting Mozambique to effectively prevent and counter these complex threats. UNODC commends Mozambique for its commitment to addressing these challenges, and we look forward to continuing to support these efforts in the future.

Octavio Zilo, Chief Prosecutor of the Cabo Delgado Province, concluded the workshop by highlighting the need for more training from UNODC.
Lori Vallow, who is in jail in connection to the monthslong disappearance of two of her children, thought the two had been possessed and were zombies, according to newly filed court documents.

The claims were made in documents filed last week in an Arizona court by Vallow's niece's ex-husband, who has also said his former wife knows the whereabouts of Vallow's children, Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, who were last seen in September.

Brandon Boudreaux made the claims about Vallow's thinking her children were zombies in a court filing connected to his battle with his ex-wife, Melani Boudreaux Pawlowski, over custody of their children, according to East Idaho News, which obtained a copy of the document.

The filing includes an alleged conversation Pawlowski's current husband had with his attorneys after meeting with law enforcement.

It says that Melani Pawlowski told her husband she was concerned about Joshua and Tylee because Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, believed "their children had been possessed and had become zombies."

Melani Pawlowski (Jacques Billeaud / AP)

Zombies are described in the court documents as "human bodies that have had their original spirits forced from them and have been possessed" by either a demon, a disembodied spirit or a worm or slug.

She shared concerns that shes been told Brandon needed to die and that may indicate that Tylee and JJ needed to die as well," the document alleges, referring to Joshua by his nickname.

The filing described a cult-like religion that in addition to zombies included beliefs in teleportation and "dark and light portals."

Pawlowski allegedly told her husband that she learned about some of these beliefs from a temple and from Vallow and Daybell, the document states. Ian Pawlowski said the first time he heard about these. notions it was a "jolt," but that he tried to keep an open mind.

Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan. (Freemont County Sheriff's Office)

The filing does not say how Boudreaux obtained this information, and attorneys for Melani and Ian Pawlowski could not immediately be reached on Tuesday. Attempts to reach an attorney for Vallow were also not immediately successful.

Story continues

In a petition filed in February, Boudreaux said that his ex-wife knows where Vallow's children are.

Police in Rexburg, Idaho began searching for Joshua and Tylee in November, two months after they were last reported seen, after authorities tried to conduct a welfare check on Joshua.

Pawlowski's attorneys has denied the claim that his client knows where the children are.

Mrs. Pawlowski has cooperated with law enforcement, including meeting for hours with the FBI on three separate days. As she told the FBI, Melani does not know the whereabouts of the missing children of her aunt, Lori Vallow," one of her attorneys, Robert P. Jarvis, said in a press release.

Authorities have said that Vallow and Daybell are not cooperating with the investigation into Joshua and Tylee's disappearance. Vallow was arrested in February on charges of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children after she and her husband were found in Hawaii.

She was extradited to Idaho where she is being held on a $1 million bond.
Have you heard of the Houdini act? The phrase which means to escape gets its name from Harry Houdini. The Hungarian-born American is arguably the greatest illusionist of the modern times, known for his signature escape acts.

Born in Budapest to a rabbi, Houdini was a lot more than just a magician.

He performed in the circus early on in his life after coming to the US, along with performing his escape stunts for various television shows and movies. He also wrote books and was a fan of aviation.

Born as Ehrich Weisz on March 24 in 1874, Houdini had taken this stage name after French magician Jean Eugene Robert Houdin. However, later the Hungarian wrote a book that criticized Robert Houdins skills as a magician.

Throughout his life, Houdini devised newer and more complex cages to escape from. In 1908, he came up with the milk can trick. He would get handcuffed and sealed inside the large milk can filled with water. After this, he would stage his escape.

He also had the Chinese water torture cell as part of his dangerous acts. Houdini was reckless in his lifestyle and extremely proud of his abilities.

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He and his wife Beatrice Houdini, who served as his stage assistant, campaigned against people who boasted psychic abilities, like mind readers. The Houdinis claimed that all of the future and past telling was on the basis of simple tricks.

He wrote two books on the subject  Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) and A Magician Among the Spirits (1924). The duo even promised to reach out to the other after one of them died.

After Houdinis death in 1926 due to a ruptured appendix, Beatrice held a seance (an attempt to communicate with spirits) every year to see if Houdini contacted her from the other side. She stopped the practice after the 10th failed attempt.

Houdini knew how to keep his tricks exclusive. He had the Chinese water torture cell, his most famous act, copyrighted.

In this performance, the magician is lowered upside down into a water-filled tank while his feet remained locked together. He has to escape within a particular time.

As one could not copyright magic tricks, Houdini first performed the act as a part of a play and applied for the dramas copyright. Thereon, he used to sue anyone who tried on a similar act.

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Kong Mas is shown in a Facebook photo posted on the day of his arrest, Jan. 16, 2019.

A Cambodian appeals court upheld an 18-month jail sentence for a member of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party for posts he made on Facebook in early 2019 criticizing government policies.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on October 18, 2019 sentenced CNRP activist Kong Mas, for insulting the government and incitement to commit a crime based on a Facebook post, which contained comments critical of Prime Minister Hun Sens government and predicted -- correctly -- that Cambodia would be the target of EU trade sanctions.

Kong Mas lawyer, Sam Sokong. said the verdict is unfair to his client and he already consulted with his client to file an appeal to the Supreme Court.

As defense lawyer for Mr. Kong Mas, I think the verdict doesnt render justice for my client. I have already discussed with my client and I will file an appeal to the Supreme Court to revisit the verdict of the Appellate Court, he said.

I am so disappointed with this verdict. I had hoped for his release, Kong Mass wife Kol Sath told RFAs Khmer Service.

Kol Sath said she had gone more than a year without her husband and his jailing has hurt the family financially, physically and spiritually.

I dont know what will happen next. My health and his are not good, as we are experiencing high blood pressure, she added.

According to the domestic human rights group LICADHO, authorities arrested as many as 18 people for posting COVID-19 related concerns on Facebook.

As COVID-19 cases continue to spread across Cambodia, the government has jailed or re-educated more than a dozen people accused of spreading fake news about the global pandemic, LICADHO said.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
A Florida politician is in hot water after stating that the COVID-19 virus can be killed before taking hold in the body by blowing heat from a hair dryer up ones nose, WKMG News 6 in Orlando reports.

Bryant Culpepper, an Okeechobee County commissioner, apologized for comments he made during an emergency meeting Friday where he claimed to have a seen a video online detailing how if a persons nasal passages were heated up, the COVID-19 virus just falls apart and disintegrates.

RELATED: Arizona death prompts warning against self-medication

At the meeting, Culpepper said, So you hold a blow dryer in front of your face and you inhale with your nose and it kills all the viruses in your nose. That sounds like a simplified way of doing things but sometimes the cures for some of the diseases are very simple.

Theres just a lot of misinformation on how to cure this disease and I personally would just leave that to your medical provider, Tiffany Collins, an administrator for the Florida Health Department immediately countered during the meeting. Ive heard so much just sad information about how to cure this virus.

The following day after the meeting, Culpepper posted an apology on his social media.

I am Heartfully Sorry for comments I made on Social Media. I was only trying to give comfort to those in Okeechobee who have no insurance to treat there families, Culpepper wrote. I should have ignored the comments that I perceived as hateful and the embarrassment I caused to my Fellow Commissioners and our Administrator And her staff I will not offer anymore suggestions unless they are tried and proven I ask for All of your forgiveness for anything offensive that I uttered during these exchanges.

Fernando Martinez is an editorial assistant at SFGATE. | Email: fernando.martinez@sfgate.com & Twitter: @fernan_dough
In view of the lockdown in the state due to coronavirus, the Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of all subordinate courts from March 26 to April 4.

"In view of the state government imposed lockdown till March 31, the Uttarakhand High court is pleased to close all the subordinate courts of the state with effect from Mar 26 till April 4," the High Court said in an order

"However, the cases of utmost importance/urgency, the District Judge shall decide as to whether urgency exists or not and to take action as per convenience. Remands and bail of the arrested persons shall be done as per the holiday practice," the order added.

Earlier in the day, the state government decided to take over the control of all private hospitals, which have 100 or more beds and reserve 25 per cent of these for COVID-19 patients.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
IN a bid to address the impact of coronavirus outbreak in the economic sector, the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) has formed a special team that will help to contain the situation.

The TPSF Chairperson, Ms Angelina Ngalula said the foundation recognizes the efforts by the government in curbing the virus and that it stands with the public in the war against the deadly disease.

 We recognize the efforts by the government under the leadership of President John Magufuli, Prime Minister Kassium Majaliwa and Minister Ummy Mwalimu, they have set strong strategies for fighting coronavirus, she said.

She added that the government understands the effects of coronavirus in the countrys economy and that TPSF is keen to support the fight against the problem.

We are prepared to support the government in fighting the diseases to ensure there are no negative economic impacts, she noted.

She said the TPSF is set to provide education to the public regarding the virus, especially on its transmission, how to prevent ourselves and control the disease in accordance to the given guidelines by the authorities.

She added that the second task is to mobilize the public to get essential resources that are crucial in the fight against coronavirus.

The team had talk with Minister Mwalimu and her deputy, Dr Faustine Ndugulile on the importance equipment which includes masks, sanitizers, protective gowns, ventilalators, ambulance, scanners, she said. Ms Ngalula added that the third task is to protect Tanzanians employment opportunities.

She said TPSF is already in talk with various stakeholders on various strategies that will help to protect majority Tanzanians employment by protecting business operations and production.

She said TPSF through its special team has already started to support the testing exercise in various economic sectors in the country.

Already some members of TPSF have provided buildings for self-isolation among travelers who arrive in the country from most affected countries, she noted.
BRATISLAVA, March 24 (Reuters) - The Slovak government will approve a law allowing state institutions to use data from telecommunications operators to ensure people in quarantine due to the coronavirus outbreak remain isolated, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Tuesday.

The government plans to discuss the measure on Tuesday before speeding it through parliament, Matovic said. Slovakia has quarantined travellers returning from abroad and those in contact with people infected with the new coronavirus. (Reporting by Tomas Mrva, Writing by Michael Kahn, Editing by Alison Williams)
Security services arrested Monday evening in the city of Sale 113 adults and nine minors who had refused to comply with the health emergency measures recommended by public authorities to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

They were arrested on the public road without having the required exceptional movement permits, National Police (DGSN) said in a statement.

Several of these individuals were arrested late at night without having legal justification, despite the awareness-raising campaigns undertaken by public authorities to reinforce precautionary measures against the spread of the pandemic.

The adults were placed in custody, while the minors were placed under control, said the DGSN, affirming that the isolations measures were respected during the transfer as well as during the investigation, conducted under the supervision of the competent public prosecutors office.

In Fez, police arrested Monday five individuals suspected of having incited citizens, last Saturday, to public assembly in the old Medina and in the districts of Ain Kadous and Bensouda in violation of the state of health emergency.

The five individuals, aged 26 to 49, were arrested for having deliberately disobeyed and refused to comply with the preventive measures taken part of the health emergency, and for a behavior putting at stake the security and safety of citizens.

One of the individuals had been convicted under the anti-terrorism law and another had a criminal record (violence, harm to persons and goods), said the DGSN.

Search continues to arrest anyone involved in these acts, which are harmful to the health security of all citizens.

On Sunday, the police had arrested two young people in Tetouan for having instigated dozens of Moroccans to breach the quarantine.

Saturday, many small marches in the cities of Tangier, Fez, Aroui, Tetouan and Sale were held in total disregard for the protective measures to avert the coronavirus outbreak.

Many lawyers and ordinary citizens called for the arrest of those who encouraged young people, including children, to mass in streets in total disregard for the precautionary measures taken across the country to prevent the spread of the virus.

A group of lawyers said the call for disobeying the lockdown amounts to terrorist crime that saps public order and undermines public health.

Theologians also condemned the disobedience as contrary to religious precepts that call for the need to preserve the health and life of the human being.

Moroccans on social media largely condemned the marches as irrational and conducive for the spread of the virus.

The decrees giving authorities a green light to enforce the lockdown and all the related measures submitted by the Government was adopted unanimously Monday by the two chambers of the Parliament and published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette.

The texts lay the legal framework for public authorities to take all appropriate and necessary measures and to declare a health emergency in any region, prefecture, province or commune, or throughout the whole national territory if necessary, whenever the security of people is threatened by an epidemic or contagious disease and whenever the situation requires urgent measures to protect them from these diseases and curb their spread.

The texts also set imprisonment terms ranging from one month to three months for any person violating the quarantine measures and fines between 300 and 1,300 Dirhams.

The lockdown in Morocco came after a series of measures including closing all schools, mosques and public gathering venues.

Total coronavirus cases in Morocco reached 170 by Tuesday afternoon, including five deaths.
The times require all qualified hands on deck.

Put a temporary ban on coronavirus malpractice suits.

In the United States and most other countries, anyone who helps out in a roadside accident, earthquake or similar medical crisis is protected from subsequent legal second-guessing by good Samaritan laws. Without such laws, doctors fearing a medical malpractice suit might fail to help.

The same principle should be applied throughout the Covid-19 crisis. Many difficult decisions will have to be made regarding who receives treatment and by whom. Medical workers are already volunteering for hazardous duty; why expose them and their employers to the additional risk of a lawsuit?

To accelerate innovation, suspend patents.

A hospital in Brescia, Italy, had an urgent need for valves necessary to hook up a patient to a ventilator. An enterprising start-up figured out a way to produce the valves with a 3-D printer and made 100 of them in a day, which it donated to the local hospital. Ten patients were treated immediately.

That raw creativity was rewarded with the threat of a lawsuit by the owner of the patent on these valves even though they had been unable to supply them.

Suppliers that cannot meet the demand for their product, be it ventilators, masks or gowns, do not lose any money if others figure out ways to jump in and temporarily fill the gap. Lets not punish creative heroes.

Patents should be briefly suspended for the production of anything deemed necessary to fight this virus. Each country  including the United States  should look into suspending their patents globally. After the crisis is over, intellectual property rights can be restored, and any firm that decides to stay in the industry should then be required to start paying normal patent license fees. Those Italian valve innovators said they had no intention of continuing in that business. They were just trying to help.

Take a deep breath on privacy worries.

The strict stay-in-place rules that have been adopted around the world are imposing enormous economic and emotional costs. It is essential that we fight the spread of the virus as quickly as possible. Tragically, this process been severely handicapped by a shortage of tests in many places, including much of the United States. Now that testing is beginning at scale, a crucial step to speed the fight is to identify the network of people who have had contact with those who newly tested positive.
spacex is plowing ahead with its plans to beam high speed internet to Earth from a constellation of satellites.

This week, the Elon Musk-owned aerospace company received approval from the FCC to build 1 million user terminals on Earth that are meant to support its Starlink project - a constellation of mini satellites that will eventually beam high speed internet down to Earth.

The terminals will be able to receive signals from space and relay them to users on Earth.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) has gotten approval to build user terminals for the company's Starlink program that aims to beam internet down to Earth using satellites

According to the approval, SpaceX now has a 'blanket license for the operation of up to 1,000,000 fixed earth stations that will communicate with its non-geostationary orbit satellite system.'

As reported by CNET, Musk has said that terminals will look like a 'little UFO on a stick' that maneuver to catch the signals beamed down from the satellites.

Musk has also said that the terminals will be easy to install and can be 'plugged in and pointed at the sky.'

The approval is the next step in SpaceX says it plan to speckle low-Earth orbit with its mini satellites.

In all the company plans to have as many as 1,500 satellites in orbit by the end of 2020 and as many as 42,000 in total.

Despite SpaceX's progress and consistent additions to its constellation, the plan has caught the ire of some astronomers who warn of the implications of crowding the sky with so many satellites.

In November, astronomers at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile recorded nearly 20 satellites operated as part of SpaceX's Starlink program as they streamed across the sky, disrupting the experts' exposure and obscuring images.

Elon Musk is set launch at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into low-orbit to blanket the world with high speed internet, but the plan is causing quite the stir among astronomers and stargazers  the devices are blocking their views of the night sky (pictured)

Researchers were in the middle of studying Megallanic Clouds as part of ongoing research into dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way which requires long exposures of the night sky.

As a result, a group of designers have crated a petition asking the public to say no to the irresponsible practice of littering the night sky.

Created by Under Lucky Stars, the firm hopes to gain 100,000 signatures over the next 30 days which will be given to policy experts and officials at the White House to determine what the next steps will be.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  Wyandotte Elementary teachers are letting their students know just how much they miss them.

With Indiana schools closed until May 1, they took to the streets to say hello.

More than twenty cars made up the "teacher parade" for the elementary students Monday. The route ran through several neighborhoods to reach the entire student body. It was designed so that social distancing is practiced while the coronavirus continues to spread.



Principal Marybeth Fitzgerald says the wellbeing and education of the students is always their main priority.

"We want make sure kids know they're safe and they're loved," said Fitzgerald. "In TSC, we've worked really hard to try and figure out how to be safe. We're working on how to make sure we can get remote learning, but our main focus is make sure everyone is safe."

Wyandotte's therapy dog, Cash, with the teachers to greet the students as well.

Parent Adriana Mesaros said her family appreciated the gesture.

"It's hard for everyone, but stay in the car, stay a safe distance between us so we don't spread the virus," Mesaros said. "But, we're all in this together!"

Her daughter, Alicia, enjoyed the parade, but wished she was back with her teachers again.

"It's better to be in a school with them teaching me than being at home and doing work," said Alicia.

Fitzgerald said they hope that by the end of the month, they'll be able to tell students the plan going forward.




Officers of the USMC on the Okahukura Road, March 17, 1943. Harold Marsh collection.

American servicemen stationed in Warkworth during WWII were a long way from home, training for the Pacific theatre and an uncertain future. Initially, the men were not allowed beyond Warkworth, but eventually that changed and they were allowed further afield, including the City of Wellsford.

Port Albert couple Gwyn and Bess Farr and their daughter, Joan, befriended several of the servicemen, including PFC Claude W Eissler, 2nd Band Section, US Marine Corps. Claude wrote to them during 1943 and 1944, describing his activities.

One typical week for his dance orchestra included playing at Wellsford on Wednesday night, at Warkworth on Thursday night and at Government House in Auckland on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the orchestra gave a concert at the American hospital in Auckland. The orchestra then returned to Warkworth for a dance at the Patriotic Hut. Another similar week ended with a 60-mile hike.

Within a few months, the men were shipped out. A letter from Claude dated July 17, 1943 states: I hardly know how to begin. There are so many things that I would like to tell you about and of course its all taboo. I think I can tell you that we are situated in a very beautiful spot.

By August, troops had been given permission to write home saying that they were in New Zealand prior to their last move and were now on an island in the South Seas surrounded by coconut palms. Claude said the band had to take long truck rides to provide music for visiting entertainers who were flown in

In December he wrote: Just got your Dec 4 letter and since I know what you are interested in finding out, Ill save the suspense and tell you that we participated in the Empress Augusta Bay operations on Bougainville Island.

The dance orchestra arranger-leader was going to arrange their saxophones a la Glenn Miller and Claude was awfully anxious to hear how it will sound. He later remarked, Incidentally, in case you are wondering, our bands werent harmed any by being in combat. They sound much the same as ever.

His last letter, dated March 21, 1944, began, I dont think I will ever be able to thank you enough for everything you have done for me. The fruit cake which you sent for my birthday was gone before I had much more than a taste of it myself. The letter concludes:

Both the concert and dance bands had a good reception last night at a new outdoor theatre, which was just recently opened near here. And that is all for now. Im hoping to hear from you again soon. Sincerely Claude

Theres one rear view photo of Claude in a Gwyn and Bess Farr album with the notation, A very superior nice, lad. We heard from him for months and then  nothing.

A Google search result turned up the following: EISSLER, Claude Wallace, 417805, CasCo, MarBks, NATC, Corpus Christi, Tex, April 6, 1945, died of wounds (mc)

He was 23.

Lyn Johnston, Albertland Museum

www.albertland.co.nz
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday night appealed to citizens not to panic over the nationwide lockdown announced by the Centre in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, saying there is enough foodgrain stock in the state.

IMAGE: Policemen try to stop a motorist at a barrier on a road during a curfew in Mumbai . Photograph: Prashant Waydande/Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days from Tuesday midnight, asserting that unless India's 130 crore people practice social distancing, the country will lose the war against coronavirus outbreak and slide back 21 years.

"There is enough foodgrain stock and I appeal to people not to pile up stocks," Thackeray said in his live address on social media.

Maharashtra, which has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases (107) among states so far, is already under lockdown and the PM's announcement means extension of the drastic measure in the state.

The CM said he spoke to Modi after the announcement of national lockdown, made in his second broadcast in a week on the pandemic, and shared his assessment that the coronavirus situation is serious.

Thackeray said like others his heart also skipped a beat when the PM announced that no one should step out of their homes during the lockdown.

However, after speaking to Modi post the address, he realised that essential services will remain accessible to people during the lockdown period as is the case in Maharashtra, Thackeray said.

"Like everyone, my heart also skipped a beat after the PM's announcement. But I spoke to PM and told him Maharashtra was already under lockdown since the last two days.

"Essential services will continue to be available and people should not have any misunderstanding or confusion regarding this. Medical shops and pharma companies will continue to function as usual," Thackeray said.

"As the PM said, the problem is serious and people should understand that to remain safe we need to stay in our homes. If we come out, the virus will come in our homes," the chief minister said.

In a tweet, Thackeray said, 'Whatever measures the state government has already announced will continue. Essential services will continue to function. Don't panic and get confused...don't come on the streets and crowd markets and shops.'

Nothing changes for our state, says Aaditya Thackeray

Maharashtra Tourism Minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to people not to panic as the state continued to top in the number of coronavirus cases and remained under lockdown.

Aaditya Thackeray, son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said essential services will remain unaffected.

'For our state, nothing changes. CM Uddhav Thackeray ji locked down Maharashtra stepwise over the last two weeks, complete lock down since yesterday,' Aaditya Thackeray said in a tweet.

'CM also spoke to PM right now, essential services will be on as they have been since yesterday...don't panic,' he said.

Mumbai police issues helpline for vehicles carrying essentials

To ensure smooth movement of vehicles carrying essential commodities during lockdown, Mumbai Traffic Police on Tuesday set up a 'Corona Traffic Helpline'.

If a vehicle engaged in transportation of essential commodities or provision of essential services faces any hurdle, traffic police can be contacted at 022-24937747 and 24937755, an official said.

Mumbai Police said the lockdown will not affect supply of essential items and asked people not to panic, even as queues were seen outside shops across the metropolis.

Essential services and shops selling essential commodities will remain open, and there is no need to panic and rush to shops now, said a spokesperson of Mumbai police.

Be asked people to dial police helpline number 100 for queries or help or reach out on its official @Mumbaipolice Twitter handle.

'People need not worry. The supply chain will continue,' he said.
Iran's President Rohani claims number of coronavirus patients, deaths decreasing

03/24/20

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN - President Hassan Rohani claimed on Tuedsay that the number of patients and deaths related to coronavirus is decreasing and this is promising. Speaking at a meeting of the National Task Force for Combating Coronavirus, the president said the number of the coronavirus-related patients being admitted at hospitals in different provinces is declining and the death toll is also slowing.



Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of March 24

Infections: 24,811

Deaths: 1,934

New Cases: 1,762

Recovered: 8,913

The president made the claim while during the past 24 hours 1,762 cases have been added to the number of coronavirus patients. Only the number of deaths decreased by 5 persons in comparison to Monday.



The Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that the number of patients confirmed to have contracted the virus has reached 24,811. It also said 122 persons have died over the past 24 hours.



On Monday, the ministry confirmed 1,411 new cases of coronavirus and 127 deaths.



Rohani also thanked health workers for their "sacrifices" by taking care of the patients.



So far a number of health staffers have lost their lives.



Some of Iran's medical staff on frontline of coronavirus fight

(see photos by IRNA)



Staff at the coronavirus ward of Kamkar hospital in Qom

(see photos by ISNA)

The president also lauded citizens for observing instructions in containing the pandemic disease.



"I thank the people of our country who paid attention to the recommendations and health protocols. Because statistics show that people have paid particular attention to these recommendations."



The president also said, "No one with a corona disease should be moving around the country."



"We must also maintain the appropriate distance of 2 meters, and to ensure that trips and travels come to a minimum."



Session of Iran's National Task Force for Combating Coronavirus

Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced on Monday that new regulations will be announced including observation of social distance.



Rohani added based on a new decision by the National Task Force all the businesses and gatherings that had to remain closed until April 1 are extended until April 3.



He said educational and academic centers, where there are large crowds, are among the centers that should be closed, but supermarkets should remain open.



Tehran under lockdown

(see more photos by Mona Hoobhefek, ISNA)

Rohani added, "Anyone who has traveled should have received SMS and questions should be asked if they have problems and be checked at the place."



Iran is the most affected country by the coronavirus in the Middle East. So far, 1, 934 Iranians have lost their lives, almost more than half of those died in China, where the virus first emerged.
The Authority of Social Contribution  Maan has launched the Together We Are Good programme to provide the community with the chance to support Abu Dhabi Governments efforts to address the current health and economic challenges.

The programme stimulates social responsibility through opening the door for financial and in-kind contributions from individuals and companies.

Together We Are Good is the first project of Maans recently launched Social Fund, the official government channel to receive contributions from the community to tackle pressing social challenges.

The programme directs contributions according to priorities and in cooperation with relevant partners, with priority given to medical and educational aid and food supplies.

Participants wishing to contribute financially can send SMS messages to 6670 (Dh1000 ($272.76)), 6678 (Dh500), 6683 (Dh100) and 6658 (Dh50). They can also call 8005-MAAN for volunteering and in-kind and financial contributions above Dh1,000 or send messages on WhatsApp on 0543055366.

Transfers can also be made via First Abu Dhabi Bank using the IBAN number: AE100351011003988349032. In-kind contributions include equipment, buildings, services, and time as well as expert volunteering efforts.

Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Department of Community Development  Abu Dhabi, said: As the world continues to go through extraordinary and unprecedented times, the UAE remains in a strong position to mitigate risks and limit the impact of global challenges on the national economy and the health and wellbeing of everyone thanks to the early precautionary measures taken by our leadership.

It is imperative for individuals, the private sector and the civil community to join and support the governments efforts to ensure that the nation continues to be on the right path to get out of this crisis with minimal losses.

We are confident that our society, with its diverse and multiple backgrounds, is capable of forming an inspiring model from the UAE to the world in the face of the current health challenges."

Salama Al Ameemi, Director General of Maan, urged the community to stand together on a shared platform of compassion and kindness to overcome the current challenges.

She said: This is the time for our community to show the strength of our solidarity and unity. We urge individuals, the private sector, and civil society to think about how to contribute with us. Support will not be limited, and anyone who believes that they are able to contribute can contact us.

She added: The Social Fund is prepared to receive contributions of any size, whether big or small, and we will continue to work tirelessly with our government partners to distribute resources based on priorities.

We are confident of our ability to overcome these difficult circumstances by working together, hand in hand. We can all contribute to the efforts being made to face this global challenge, and to express the spirit of solidarity with which the UAE has come to be known. -- Tradearabia News Service
Voters are now set to head to the polls May 19 to pick a new Western Massachusetts senator.

Special elections were originally scheduled for March 31 to fill the seat vacated by now-Westfield Mayor Don Humason, as well as a second Senate seat and two House seats. But last week, as the spread of the coronavirus and the precautions around it both intensified in Massachusetts, legislative leaders announced plans to delay the votes.

State Rep. John Velis, D-Westfield, and John Cain, a Republican from Southwick, are vying for the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District Senate seat.

Both said last week they hoped the election would go on as planned because the district needs representation during the coronavirus crisis.

But later as legislators announced they were working to delay multiple elections, Velis said he understood their position.

Obviously Im disappointed in that I have spent the last several months campaigning day and night for this seat, he said. But a decision has been made and I strongly respect that. The health and well being of all citizens  both in the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District and the commonwealth as a whole  is absolutely paramount.

He said his House office has been inundated with calls and emails from concerned citizens on many issues including unemployment benefits, child care, seniors access to meals and small businesses are struggling to survive due to the ordered shutdowns, and said his focus now is to help them.

This is why I got into public service, and this is what this moment requires, he said.

Cain, owner of Cains Mechanical Inc. in Agawam, said through his campaign manager that he is discouraged by the decision but will continue to campaign through the new election date.

He criticized Velis for changing his position over the past few days. Velis, a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, said he helped run an election in Afghanistan and felt it was wrong to encourage people there to cast a vote and promote canceling an election here.

I am disappointed in my opponents decision to backpedal amidst the pressure from party leadership, Cain said. Although I cannot be 100 percent certain of the health risks involved, I do not believe they present more of a threat than actively encouraging Afghans to go to the polls.

Western Mass needs fiscally conservative representation on Beacon Hill, Cain said. Absentee ballots and proper precautions at the polls including hand sanitizer, maintaining a safe distance, and the use of gloves would allow for the election to proceed so that we have needed representation, he said.

Holyoke City Clerk Brenna McGee said she was relieved by the decision. She said her staff have not been able to order hand sanitizer for the polling places. Voters would have to share pens and voting booths are not designed to allow social distancing. There were also concerns about finding enough poll workers.

I am thankful that the state legislature took appropriate measures today to postpone the special election, she said. The world is in a state of crisis right now and the health and safety of the voters, the police officers who work the election and the election workers should be one of our main concerns.

McGee said earlier she was concerned many people would decide not to vote due to health concerns.

Voting is one of our more important rights as citizens and I think it is important that voters feel safe while voting, she said.

Humason, a Republican, resigned the Senate seat in January after being voted in as mayor. Originally he said he wanted to see the special election proceed, but also heard concerns from the Westfield city clerk about how difficult it would be to run the voting safely.

He said he is concerned about the lack of representation in the Senate for the 11 communities, especially since work on the state budget is beginning in the spring.

It will fall to the House members of the different communities to ensure the district receives any needed funding. Other senators are likely to step in and help the leaders in those communities as they have in the past when there are vacancies in the Senate or House, Humason said.

In all four legislative races across the state, primary voters have already decided the parties nominees, leaving the general special elections remaining.

The two Senate seats were last held by Republicans  who now hold just four of the 40 Senate seats. The Senate set both elections for May 19 via an order it adopted Monday afternoon.

In the Plymouth and Barnstable Senate district, the candidates are Falmouth Democrat Susan Moran and Bourne Republican Jay McMahon. Viriato deMacedo resigned the Senate seat last fall for a job at Bridgewater State University.

The House, during its informal session Monday morning, adopted a pair of orders setting June 2 as the new date for elections to fill the seats last held by Taunton Republican Shaunna OConnell and Lunenburg Democrat Jennifer Benson, who each resigned for new positions.

OConnell was elected mayor of Taunton. Democrat Carol Doherty and Republican Kelly Dooner, both of Taunton, are now vying for her 3rd Bristol District seat, which also represents a precinct in Easton.

In the 37th Middlesex District, where Benson vacated her seat to become the head of the Alliance for Business Leadership, the contest is between Acton Democrat Danillo Sena and Lunenburg Republican Catherine Clark. The district includes Boxborough, Shirley, Harvard and parts of Acton, Ayer and Lunenburg.

Lawmakers on Monday also sent Gov. Charlie Baker a bill (S.2608) that would allow cities and towns to postpone municipal elections scheduled for this spring. That bill also includes language specifying that any eligible voter may vote early by mail for any annual or special municipal or state election held on or before June 30, 2020.

A third House seat remains vacant almost three weeks after the election to fill it. Representative-elect Kate Lipper-Garabedian, a Melrose Democrat, prevailed March 3 in the race to succeed now-Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur in the House. Amid the closures, cancellations and restrictions driven by the coronavirus pandemic, Lipper-Garabedian has not been sworn in.

Like in the Senate, Democrats hold a supermajority in the House, currently accounting for 125 seats  126 once Lipper-Garabedian officially joins the body  to the Republicans 31.

Material from the State House News Service was used in this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 15:24:42|Editor: xuxin

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KAMPALA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Financial service providers in Uganda are reducing their charges to enable their clients to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic that is expected to hit the country's economy hard.

Stanbic Bank said in a statement Monday that it is cooperating with the Uganda Bankers Association to support its clients in this time of need.

"We are encouraging our customers to make use of our digital channels as much as possible to conduct their daily banking activities and for making payments," the statement said.

"In order to support this initiative and ease the burden on customers we have reviewed our pricing on selected services for the next 30 days effective from March 23," the statement added.

The government has urged the public to maintain social distancing in order to prevent the spread of the disease that broke out in the country on Saturday.

Stanbic Bank said payments for utilities, paying television or taxes through the bank's application, online banking and mobile money would not incur fees. Cash withdrawals of up to 50,000 shillings (about 14 U.S. dollars) per day either through agents or automated teller machines would also be free.

"As we take on the new precautionary measures, Stanbic Bank will provide banking services to ensure your needs are catered for to minimize any distress during this time," the bank said.

The bank's statement comes several days after other providers especially through mobile money also announced cuts to their charges for the financial service.

Airtel Uganda on Thursday announced that person-to-person transactions on the mobile money platform would be free of charge for the next 30 days. This is aimed at limiting transactions by physical cash to digital transactions.

MTN Uganda, another telecommunication company last week also announced a similar move as Airtel.

Meanwhile, the government on Monday formed a committee that will coordinate the private sector in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Minister Ruth Aceng said in a statement that the committee includes manufacturers, real estate, media, and the service industry, among others to help coordinate and mobilize resources in the battle against the virus.

"COVID-19 is a battle which we can only win if we join hands together as Ugandans. We should all be responsible and helpful to one another and collectively guard our country," said Aceng.

"The private sector has been quietly supporting the fight enormously. Let's join hands together in this battle," she added.

Ugandan Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija on Thursday told the parliament that the pandemic forced the country to lower its economic growth projection for this financial year by 0.3 to 0.8 percentage points.

Kasaija said the projection was downgraded from the targeted 6 percent for the financial year 2019/2020, adding that in the worst scenario, millions of Ugandans would be pushed into poverty.

To deal with this economic shock, both fiscal and monetary policy adjustments would be required, the minister said.

He said the government would seek a concessional loan from the World Bank to deal with the financing gap in the national budget for the next two fiscal years. The amount would be 100 million U.S. dollars and 90 million dollars for the two financial years respectively.

Uganda is also considering beefing up its import substitution and export promotion strategies.

Uganda has nine confirmed cases of COVID-19, all of whom are Ugandans who returned from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates from March 20 to 22.
There were big queues outside Beshoff Bros fish and chip shop in Howth over the weekend.

The emergency measures which have led to school closures and social distancing rules are expected to be extended well beyond this week as health experts meet today to review the coronavirus crisis.

Further restrictions on public places aimed at preventing breaches of social distancing are also expected.

The National Public Health Emergency Team overseeing the crisis will meet today to consider whether to extend the emergency measures, including school closures beyond the original target date of March 29.

Restrictions

The measures are designed to slow the spread of the virus and allow health services to cope with the expected surge in cases.

"I would not be giving anyone any indication that by March 29 we see things changing," said chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan.

The more successful restrictive measures are in slowing the spread of the virus - the "more likely they are to last longer", he added.

The group will also consider recommendations on how outdoor sites will be better policed to ensure visitors practise social distancing and there is no repeat of crowds flouting distancing rules

Wicklow County Council yesterday closed all council playgrounds, as well as the cliff walk from Bray to Greystones and public toilets on the Bray seafront.

"Wicklow County Council regrets taking this decision and urges the public to follow social distancing guidelines," it said.

It follows the closure of car parks and facilities at Glendalough, as well as both sides of the Sally Gap at the weekend, due to what gardai called "the sheer volume of traffic in the area".

Local communities have expressed fears that crowds flocking to parks, beaches and trails are making it impossible to maintain social distancing

The HSE's tips for social distancing include recommendations to "avoid crowded places", "reduce interactions" and "keep a space of two metres between you and other people".

Health Minister Simon Harris has warned that some public areas may be shut, and said Wicklow County Council was right to restrict car parking and food outlets in Glendalough at the weekend.

However, the minister has also noted the importance of exercise and the outdoors to mental health and well-being as Irish people come to terms with life without schools and sports.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that people visiting crowded parks at the weekend "probably turned up not realising how bad they were going to be so I don't think we should be berating people about this".

"If [the National Public Health Emergency Team] recommends further restrictions, we will implement those further restrictions," he added.

Pressure

"But any decision was made on further restrictions isn't going to be made because of what's trending on Twitter, or because of populism or political pressure.

"It will be made on the advice of the chief medical officer, and his team of expert public health doctors and biologists, immunologists, and that's as it should be."

Meanwhile, Dr Holohan said that tens of thousands of people are ringing GPs daily seeking tests, but a proportion of these are the worried well.

The HSE has promised that inroads will be made into the backlog of 40,000 people waiting days for a test this week as more than 40 testing centres open around the country today.

The median age of those affected here is 44, which is lower than in the UK and Italy.

Healthcare workers accounted for one in four people infected here.
Putting together a solid rum offer

Todays rum category already seems vast. Couple that with ever-changing consumer trends and assembling a decent rum selection can seem like navigating a labyrinth in a blindfold.

Here, DR explores the key trends in rum styles outside of spiced rum. We look at how the industry has reacted to classification attempts and explore what effective measures can be taken to put together a solid rum offer.

TREND WATCH

The trend towards premiumisation in rum is the result of several other consumer shifts, including a maturing interest in the category, increased cocktail knowledge and a desire to drink less but better.

Consumers have become extremely knowledgeable with which spirits they choose when ordering a drink, says Ruben Maduro, founder & chief executive of Amsterdams Spirited Union Distillery, saying they tend to move away from mainstream brands and instead know which brands to choose and what to mix them with.

He adds: We have seen consumers being selective with their gin and flavoured tonic. This is now also happening with rum.

Martamaria Carrillo, global brand manager & co-founder of Colombian aged rum brand La Hechicera, says premiumisation is evolving.

More and more consumers are experiencing what we like to call true rums, meaning there are no added sugars or colourings, and they are enjoying these rums neat or over ice, Carrillo says. As consumers trade up and discover the nuances of rums and the depths of flavour, they are slowly moving away from traditional cola and rum and opting for simple, classic cocktails.

Hand-in-hand with premiumisation comes the trend towards quality and provenance, believes Liam Hirt, director and co-founder of Bristols Circumstance Distillery. In terms of what that means for retailers, Hirt suggests taking the time to research brands credentials as well as focusing on bottlers of vintages and blends.

Maduro concurs. As consumers become more knowledgeable, he also describes an increase in the number of rum crusaders. At the same time, there are more brands setting out to make an impact and add more transparency to the rum category.

At The Whisky Exchanges sister company, Speciality Brands, managing director Chris Seale expands on the provenance trend, highlighting that geographical origin has become a key purchase driver for consumers.

This has encouraged the emergence of new quality rums from Latin America, the Caribbean and even Japan, he says. Our premium rum brands, from Venezuelas Diplomatico and Jamaicas Hampden to Haitis Clairin, are all fully benefiting from this trend and building strong followings as consumers are keen to explore their stories but also their various tasting profiles.

Innovation around flavour is an important trend, Hirt adds, highlighting coffee infusions. Spirited Union has hit upon more sophisticated flavour offerings with its botanical rum line-up.

CLASSIFICATION DEBATE

In May 2019, The Whisky Exchange, led by buyer Dawn Davies MW, introduced a new classification system for rum, placing more emphasis on flavours and production than colour. The system is inspired by the technically-based Gargano Classification for rums devised by Luca Gargano, of the Italian-based Velier rum brand, and Richard Seale of Foursquare in Barbados.

The move has received a mixed reception. La Hechiceras Carrillo applauds the initiative: One obstacle the category faces is consumer confusion, Carrillo says. Consumers are confused about age statements, colour and flavour - what a true rum should taste like.

Jonathan Welch, co-founder of Brand Harbour, which represents organic, single estate rum Copalli also believes that making it easy to choose between different styles and rums with clean ingredients versus other types can only aid consumers in finding the product that fits their needs and aligns to how they feel products should be made.

In the new world of rums, Spirited Unions Maduro agrees that the fundamental reason behind the classification of rum is great. However, there are limitations.

In practice it will be difficult to live by these rules as rum is a vibrant and global category, he says, highlighting his own botanical rums.

But Circumstances Hirt is not a fan. He says distillers such as Circumstance and Empirical Spirits have moved to producing spirits outside of traditional categories. He believes the old guard of rum is desperately trying to impose their views of what rum is allowed to be on consumers and the entire industry, under the guise of protecting the consumer.

He points out that even Scotch whisky has begun to relax its rules by allowing tequila casks for maturation.

I am an advocate of transparency rather than classification. he adds.

PUTTING TOGETHER A RUM OFFER

Whether retailers use the classification system as a tool to organise their offer or not, it seems the rum consumer is as diverse as the rum category.

Master of Malt editor Kristiane Sherry describes the level of rum education as varying from genuine expert to first-time drinker. She says retailers have to meet the needs of everyone on that scale.

Having clear navigation is helpful  but also incredibly challenging to get right, she says. You need a balance between accuracy and accessibility; a system that does not get too technical

and that everyone can use. While a typical consumer might not understand the difference between typically pot and column distilled styles, for example, they may understand the differences in character and flavour between light and heavy marks.

Sherry also believes retailers need to have a clear demarcation between sugar cane-based and molasses styles. This is an essential area to get right, as consumers, especially in the UK, remain largely unexposed to cane-based expressions. We need to make sure we present a product accurately and build an understanding to ensure the bottling meets their expectations, she adds.

Nick Bell, spirits buyer at Harvey Nichols, advocates balance. He says it is easy to get carried away with lost distilleries and finding the rarest rum. He adds: Keeping the range diverse and interesting is always more rewarding than buying rums youd like in your own personal collection, and consumers will respond in kind.

When it comes to helping consumers understand different styles of rum, education has to start with staff. We keep our store staff informed as they are the direct point of contact for our customers, says Bell. Where possible, we always insist our staff try every bottle we sell, often through presentations from the brands. This is to ensure they are knowledgeable when advising customers on our rum range.

Copallis Welch also believes it is important to offer brands that talk to the big trends driving consumer choices, including respect for the environment, sustainability and activism on one hand, great stories, great tastes and openness about product ingredients and origins on the other.

As rum continues to capture the hearts and minds of consumers, innovation will continue to drive both premiumisation and debate around classifications. For those retailers staring at a well- stocked gin display, all this will feel very familiar.

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Families on farms have been warned to be vigilant while schools are closed during the coronavirus crisis.

The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) said that with curious minds and adventurous spirits, children love to get out on the farm to meet the animals and explore.

However, farms are a place of work and are a dangerous environment for children, the UFU said.

UFU deputy president, Victor Chestnutt, said: Children are naturally curious.

Children view farms as one big play area and fail to understand the consequences that go hand in hand with playing around machinery, equipment and livestock.

Farms, and in particular working farms, can be tempting places for them to play and often children do not understand the dangers a farm can present.

Agriculture has one of the highest fatal accident rates of any industry in Northern Ireland and is the only high-risk industry that has to deal with the constant presence of children.

It can be very difficult to both supervise children and work on the farm said Mr Chestnutt.

With this in mind, parents/guardians should think about preventative measures they can put in place to help protect children from the dangers.

These measures include providing children with a securely fenced-off play area, ensuring unattended vehicles are kept locked, and discouraging children from using bales of any description for playing. It is vital that every farmer and farming family take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their family.

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is calling on the farming community to keep children safe on the farm and they have provided a farm safety checklist.

The UFU encourages farmers and their families to visit www.hseni.gov.uk for more information on farm safety.

It advises that children should not be allowed in the farm workplace, but any access for children aged under 16, for example for education, should be planned and fully supervised by an adult not engaged in work activity.

It also reminds farmers that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to drive or ride on any agricultural machine.
The number of passengers and crew exhibiting flu-like symptoms aboard a Holland America Line cruise ship travelling around South America has spiked by more than 80 per cent  from 42 to 77 cases  in just two days.

A total of 247 Canadians are among the 1,243 passengers on the Zaandam, which also has 586 crew members.

On Tuesday, Holland America said in a statement that 30 passengers and 47 crew members are now sick. It comes after the company first reported 42 "influenza-like" cases on Sunday among passengers and crew.

The Zaandam had initially planned to dock 10 days ago in Punta Arenas, Chile to allow passengers to fly home amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic. But the country refused to allow anyone to disembark, and the ship is currently sailing off the coast of Peru with no confirmed docking plans.

The spike in reported illnesses is heightening worries for Tanya Williams, of Waterloo, Ont., whose 72-year-old father John is on the ship. She believes that rapid spread could be a sign of a potential COVID-19 outbreak on board.

"I'm very concerned," said Williams. "I really want him to come home."

She said her father told her a few days ago that he had developed a cough and a sore throat.

Submitted by Chris Joiner

It is currently unclear whether the sick individuals on the Zaandam have COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus which has quickly spread on several other cruise ships. The ship has no COVID-19 test kits on board.

But Holland American said Tuesday that another company ship is en route to deliver extra supplies, staff and test kits to the Zaandam. The ships are set to meet up on Thursday, off the coast of Panama.

Holland America said the sick individuals on board have been quarantined and that the rest of the passengers and non-essential crew have been asked to remain in their cabins.

"Food gets delivered to our cabins, sort of a hodgepodge of things," said Canadian passenger Chris Joiner, who has confined himself to his cabin with his wife, Anna. "We are keeping our spirits high and staying busy."

Story continues

A warning

The South American cruise departed Buenos Aires on March 7 and was originally scheduled to end in San Antonio, Chile on March 21. But the voyage was cut short on March 14 due to concerns over the global spread of COVID-19.

The Zaandam is now returning north, with plans to dock in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on March 30.

However, Holland America says it has yet to secure permission to pass through the Panama Canal after the country closed its borders to foreigners on March 16.

"Alternative options also are being developed," the company said in its statement.

A day before Holland America announced there were ill people on board, Williams sent an email to the company to inform it of her father's symptoms and warning the cruise line to take the prospect of a COVID-19 outbreak seriously. She said she has yet to receive a reply.

"I wanted them to know that there was concern and that they were accountable," said Williams. "I also wanted to know what they were doing about it. What is their plan if there's an outbreak on the ship?"

Holland America also didn't reply to a request for comment from CBC News.

Holland America Line

Now that there is a yet-to-be-diagnosed illness spreading on the ship, Williams said she hopes the cruise line will seek help from the Canadian government.

Global Affairs Canada told CBC News that the federal government is working closely with Holland America to ensure the safe return of Canadian passengers.

"We are doing everything to provide assistance under these unprecedented circumstances," spokesperson Krystyna Dodds said in an email.

Another COVID-19-hit Princess ship

Elsewhere, the coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on other cruise ships.

On Tuesday, an Australian woman in her 70s died after falling ill from COVID-19 while aboard cruise on the Ruby Princess, which docked in Sydney on March 19, health officials in New South Wales said in a statement.

More than 130 others who were on the ship have now also tested positive, said NSW Health, adding that no cases of COVID-19 had been identified by doctors on board before people disembarked.

The ship and its 2,700 passengers had set sail for a New Zealand cruise on March 8.

The Ruby Princess is the third Princess cruise ship to experience a coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this month, 19 crew members and two passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on the Grand Princess, before it ended its journey in northern California. And in February, more than 700 people aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan contracted the virus. Six have since died.
Biogelx, a Scottish biomaterials company is pleased to announce the appointment of Alison Clayton as their new Chief Executive Officer. Alison joins the company to succeed Mitch Scanlan who has recently retired after his tenure at Biogelx.

We are absolutely delighted to have Alison come on board here at Biogelx, her commercial experience coupled with her academic background will help move the company to the next phase of its evolution. John Waddell, Chairman

Alison joins Biogelx following over 25 years in the contract testing industry and has worked for companies such as Eurofins, Quintiles, and Aptuit.

She possesses a strong focus on operational and customer delivery. Alison has a degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow in Pharmacology and a strong background in academic research having spent 7 years in various post-doctoral research positions.

I am excited to be joining Biogelx at this time when the applications for the products in 3D Bioprinting and also 3D Cell Culture are growing. Said Alison Clayton, CEO We have extensive collaborations ongoing with both academia and commercial organizations which further develop the applications for the products maximizing their utility within the research and development space.

Margaret Temple has been appointed to the board of directors as a non-executive director. Margaret joined the Life Science industry in 1995 in business Development with Q-One Biotech Ltd.

She has over 25 years of global commercial management experience in the life science CRO sector. In 2007 she co-founded Vitrology Ltd and served as CEO from 2008 through to its acquisition by the Swiss multinational SGS in 2012.

Biogelx is excited to announce that they have completed a successful round of fundraising and would like to thank The University of Strathclyde, the Scottish Investment Bank, and their private investors.

This new round of investment will be used to support the growth and development of the business and research and development of new hydrogel and bioink products for use in 3D cell culture and 3D bioprinting.

About the Companies

Biogelx was formed as a spin-out company from Professor Rein Ulijns lab at the University of Strathclydes Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry. Professor Ulijn remains with Biogelx as CSO.

Biogelx core technology is self-assembling synthetic peptide products which have gained a global reputation in 3D cell culture for both Drug Discovery and Regenerative Medicine.

This core technology was also used to develop a product family of novel bioinks which allow for the development of advanced three-dimensional tissue models.

The University of Strathclyde is a leading technological university based in Glasgow with over 23,000 students from over 100 countries. Awarded the University of the Year 2019 in the Times Higher Education Awards being the first university to ever win the award twice, and the Scottish University of the Year by the Sunday Times Good University Guide

The Scottish Investment Bank is the investment arm of Scotlands national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise. Its activities support Scotlands SME funding market, making sure businesses with growth and export potential have adequate access to growth capital and loan funding.
The COVID-19 Lockdown across the country is affecting a lot of people as well as their businesses. And smartphone makers are getting equally affected by this lockdown.

Reuters

Oppo & Vivo factories shut

Recent reports have revealed several smartphone makers have stopped their manufacturing facilities in India. First ones in line were Chinese smartphone makers Oppo and Vivo who have stopped making phones in their factories in Greater Noida.

Reuters

Worlds largest smartphone manufacturing facility shut

South Korean smartphone maker Samsung too has joined the bandwagon, shutting down its largest facility of manufacturing in the world in Noida, amidst COVID-19 concerns. It has also asked its people in operations as well as R&D to work from home until situations get better.

LG shuts its factories too

Yesterday, another South Korean smartphone maker LG revealed that it will be temporarily shutting its two manufacturing facilities till March 31, 2020.

Xiaomi shuts factories, donates face masks

Even the most popular smartphone maker in India, Xiaomi, announced that it is shutting down its plants in Bengaluru, after a notice by the authorities.

The company shared in a tweet, stating, Each facility such as corporate office, warehouse, service centre, Mi Home, and manufacturing plant will abide by the lockdown orders. while also announcing that it will be donating lakhs of masks to the government as well as hospitals to help them fight against COVID-19.

Apple too manufactures its iPhones in India, although they havent made any official announcements for the suspension of manufacturing as of now.

Strategy Analytics

Global smartphone shipments will go further down

Last month, according to a report by Strategy Analytics, the world saw a considerable drop in the number of device shipments, dropping a staggering 38 percent -- largest in the history of smartphone market across the world -- from 99.2 million units in February 2019 to just 61.8 million units in February 2020, and it looks like with so many factories shutting down, its only going to get worse.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Its true: Times of crisis reveal what people are really all about.

And were seeing it writ large in Washington, D.C., these days, from President Donald Trump on down to congressional leaders.

First up: The Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who stymied the bi-partisan coronavirus relief bill for their own political ends.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told colleagues that the coronavirus pandemic was a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. The relief bill would be the vehicle for doing just that.

No, congressman. The pandemic is a time for lawmakers to help constituents who are falling ill and literally dying from coast to coast. Clyburn has gone from being the kingmaker who saved Joe Bidens bid for the Democratic presidential nomination to coronavirus bad guy in a matter of weeks.

According to USA Today, heres some of the pork and progressive agenda goodies that the Dems wanted to choke the bill with: Racial and gender pay equity provisions; mandates for diversity on corporate boards; increased use of minority-owned banks by federal offices; increases in collective bargaining power for unions; increased fuel emission standards and required carbon offsets for airlines; tax credits for alternative energy programs; student loan payment deferment; a $9.5 billion giveaway to colleges and universities; $100 million to juvenile justice programs, and suspension of enforcement of immigration laws.

None of which has anything to do with providing medical personnel with the equipment that they need. None of which increases hospital capacity. None of which helps the small businesses that are getting crushed.

You thought it was Easter season? Its Christmas for Dems on Capitol Hill.

Shame on them. And shame on the New York Times, which revised its headline about the bills collapse multiple times in order to divert attention away from the fact that the Dems were playing politics at a time of life and death in America.

20 Photos: Staten Island coronavirus drive-through testing opens

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, already wants to move toward easing coronavirus social-distancing restrictions. Trump tweeted on Sunday that he would evaluate the restrictions at the end of the 15 day period. He said he wants to open up the country. Hes not going to keep things closed for months.

Yes, we will have to figure out how American business gets back on its feet after the pandemic has passed. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said the same.

But were not at that point yet. Were not near that point yet. Were just entering what weve always been told is the real crucible of this thing. The next three weeks are going to tell the tale.

Lets get through the next few weeks first before we think about how were going to get back to normal. Trump was slow to acknowledge the damage that COVID-19 could do. He shouldnt look to move too quickly past the pandemic now, no matter how worried he is about the economy and the stock market.

Were going to get through this. Theres going to be a morning after, like they said in the movie The Poseidon Adventure. But we have to get through it first. We cant rush through it, no matter how badly we all want to get back to normal.

But the real devils in this whole thing are the Capitol Hill lawmakers, their family members and staffers who sold stock after getting briefings about the damage that the virus could do to financial markets.

Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), James Inhofe (R.-Okla.), David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Rep. Susan David (D-Calif.) lead the disgraceful hit parade on this one.

On the one hand, if people are playing the usual political games, maybe this virus isnt so bad after all.

Or maybe these knuckleheads are fiddling while Rome burns.

Well find out soon enough.

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3D-printing has proved its mettle time and again, being the test bed for products made from raw materials in a way that was never thought of before. Come the time of Coronavirus scare and here is the technology acting as a saviour yet again. This time to make the much needed ventilators, out of snorkelling masks!

Isinnova, a local Italian 3D printer business has come up with a unique solution to fight the shortage of ventilators at the time of ongoing crisis. The company has managed to make a 3D printed adapter that is able to turn a snorkeling mask into a C-PAP mask for oxygen therapy. For those unaware, the C-PAP masks are being used to treat the severe Coronavirus cases.

3D Printed Ventilator (Image: Isinnova)

The idea for the adapter was borne in the mind of Renato Favero, head physician at Gardone Valtrompia Hospital in Italy. Favero then got in touch with Isinnova to execute the idea and come up with an easily executable plan for the same.



As per a blog, the company then approached Easybreath snorkeling maker Decathlon. Decathlon was immediately willing to cooperate, as per Isinnova. A 3D printed prototype was then made and was found to be correctly working. The blog even mentions the hospital staff to be enthusiastic about the idea.

Doctor Favero shared with us an idea to fix the possible shortage of hospital C-PAP masks for sub-intensive therapy, which is emerging as a concrete problem linked to the spread of Covid-19, the post reads. Its the construction of an emergency ventilator mask, realized by adjusting a snorkeling mask already available on the market.

The company has even released a DIY video of how to make the ventilator using the snorkelling mask. For that, you would need the 3D printed adapter designed by the company. Isinnova has shared the design for the same on its website for anyone to download and carry on with the DIY process.

Though the mask is deemed to be a success, a full scale production of the masks has not been carried out yet. That is because Neither the mask nor the link are certified and their use is subject to a situation of mandatory need, as the company points out. The company even mentioned that patients using the device will have to sign a declaration.
T his childrens intensive care unit has been transformed by a multi-million-pound art project.

St Marys hospital, Paddington, joined up with the Albers Foundation to design the interior.

The foundation represents the estates of German artists Josef and Anni Albers whose geometric patterns and calm colours are seen throughout the unit. It includes murals from his Homage To The Square series, as well as bed screens and wallpaper taken from her work.

The head of the unit Dr Simon Nadel said it was an attempt to combine state-of-the-art clinical equipment and space with beautiful artworks to create a healing and therapeutic environment.

The 10 million refurbishment will almost double the number of beds and enable staff to treat an extra 200 seriously ill children every year. A fundraising campaign  the More Smiles Appeal  raised 2 million and a further grant of 2.8 million came from the Imperial Health Charity, with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provided the remaining funds.

The foundations director Nicholas Fox Weber said: For Anni, abstract art was a source of balance and diversion, a relief from lifes troubles.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has lauded the efforts made by the Indian Government in dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. Even as the number of Covid-19 cases in the country are poised to touch 500, all states and Union Territories have been put under lockdown. Media reports, quoted WHO Executive Director Michael J Ryan as saying that India has a tremendous capacity to handle the Covid-19 crisis, given the fact that the country has earlier been successful in eradicating two pandemics  small-pox and polio.

Since early March 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been gradually escalating communications and spends on advisories pertaining to the Covid-19 outbreak. By the time, WHO had declared it to be a global pandemic on March 11, the Government of India had already initiated an awareness campaign allowing the citizens of India access to the latest news and updates on Coronavirus and be able to protect themselves.

During the first phase of the awareness campaign, the Government collaborated with telco operators Jio, Airtel and Vodafone to replace the precall ringtones of users with a default ringtone which was an advisory on Covid-19. The ringtone begins with a disturbing coughing sound, which also led to some social media chatter praising the Governments initiative.

Subsequently, The Times of India (12th March, Mumbai edition), Hindustan Times (12th March, Delhi edition), Deccan Herald (12th March, Bengaluru edition), and Indian Express (12th March, Pune edition) carried either state or central government advisory on Covid-19. On March 10, India had reported its first casualty from the virus in Karnataka.

On March 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the nation's attention with his first speech on the threat of Covid-19. He requested citizens to maintain order, avoid overcrowding hospitals, minimise travel unless absolutely necessary and initiate a self-imposed or Janta Curfew on Sunday, March 22.

Read More: #COVID19: Brand communications supporting #JantaCurfew

Until then, most of the government communication had come through the mass media via television and newspapers, and statutory mentions in AIR and Doordarshan.

Despite the clout of AIR and DD, in the age of private news channels and FM, urban India has been rallied around mostly by private news channels and government advertising in newspapers, observes Dilip Cherian, Founder & Managing Partner, Perfect Relations.

Cherian adds, Clearly all communications so far have been totally superseded by the Prime Ministers broadcast on Thursday night. Its the definitive governmental message which laid out the outline of a short term public behavioural change and the plan (yet to be defined) of an economic package in the offering. The big rehearsal for Janta Curfew was the focus on the war metaphor indicating that more was on the way.

At the central government level, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare advertised on TV, print and digital mediums to raise awareness on the virus. At the state levels, COVID-19 announcements and campaigns have been promptly deployed by the Maharashtra State Government and Delhi Government leveraging print and OOH mediums.

Advisories have been issued by various institutions of public service. In Maharashtra, the Public Health Department, Maharashtra State, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), and Mumbai Police.

In Delhi, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi, Committee on Peace and Harmony, Delhi Legislative Assembly, and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

The address by PM Modi galvanised the government into action and till date Print, Radio, Digital, Mobile, OOH and TV have been leveraged as part of the 360 degree awareness campaign.

According to Shan Jain, Chief Strategy Officer, Madison Media, While on most of the media, the messaging has been spread through editorial support, the expanse of media spends from the central government and state governments is estimated to be anything in the range of Rs 100-150 crores till now.

Jains estimation comprises both central and state governments spending on media. Heres a breakdown of estimated government spending across the media.

It is important to note that these figures are merely estimates and in some cases like the governments collaboration with telcos could be pro bono.

Jain states, Although Governments messaging and efforts were there on-ground but the message from the PM which was covered across the media spectrum could have been the biggest step in making people aware about the gravity of the situation which was not the case earlier.

It is difficult to put an estimate on TV and digital spending as the pandemic has received a lot of earned media coverage.

Jain believes that the government has spared no expense for the awareness campaign. She says, There are about 60-70 million phone connections. Normally, to insert a ringtone ad takes up to Rs 1 per call. That itself is a big buzz. The government would definitely have leveraged all Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) authorized newspapers at least once. There is also an OOH and radio presence in virus affected cities.

Despite the best efforts of the government the virus has spread to 23 states. If the government communications have to be sustained for a prolonged period nationwide then it could be looking at spending a significant amount in the coming months.

By now all the factual details of the pandemic have already been communicated, says Jain. She opines that It would be best for the government to leverage print media tactically to announce new information that has come to light on the virus. The trend that we are observing as far as media is concerned is wherever there is organic coverage like on TV and digital, the government is relying on editorial support.

She adds, The government will rely heavily on print as it is the most credible media.

Read More: COVID-19: How print players are fighting fake news with public service announcements

Meanwhile reports are pouring in concerning consumer fears that newspapers might be a medium for the transmission of the virus. To allay these fears, publishers have released videos showing them spraying newspapers with disinfectant.

However, some publishers have already announced that their publications will temporarily cease operation in select cities(Mumbai, Guwahati) until March 31st. Media reports suggest that publishers are in talks with the government to verify if newspapers can indeed transmit the virus.

Role of Communications

As of filing this report, the Ministry of Health and Welfare website reports 9 dead, 446 infected and 36 cured/discharged. On going government communications will be essential in letting the people know whether there is a cure to the virus and guide infected citizens to the authorized healthcare facility. Ultimately, it will be up to the government to let the people know that the situation whether has come under control.

Cherian explains, The role of communications is to spread Awareness, Acceptance and Action  the three As of communication. Communications is about creating awareness about not just the disease but also its preventive measures. At Perfect Relations, weve seen these three steps at play whether its for Polio Programmes or for Swine Flu programmes.

He further says, At another level, Acceptance is about getting people to come together on a common platform to ensure there is a unified direction to take. For example, it may mean some sacrifices in terms of lifestyle changes, workplace changes (we at Dentsu have implemented an immediate work-from-home policy for our employees), social distancing difficulties, losing business due to a lockdown etc. Communication is critical to getting people to adapt to any new circumstance. Finally, there are things to be done and measures to be taken that the government is doing, as well as asking people to conform to those actions. Its about talking-up the role of a good citizen and goading him or her to undertake actions that help society to cope better. Most importantly, well designed and expertly crafted communication alone can help dispelling misinformation which is extremely critical in situations like these.

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12:40, 24.03.20 2050

He says the country is in a better shape than it was when the 2008-2009 crisis began.
With American lifestyles busier than ever, dining out or grabbing a quick drive-thru meal has become part of our routine. From burgers to Mexican food, we are fortunate to a variety of dining options available to us. Check out our list of the largest restaurant chains found in the US, and chances are you've already been to a few this week.

10. Pizza Hut

In 1958, two brothers, Dan and Frank Carney, borrowed $600 from their mother to open a pizza shop in Wichita, Kansas. They chose the name Pizza Hut since their original sign only space for eight letters. The company's success was built on a commitment to using only top-quality ingredients and that commitment continues today.

9. Chipotle Mexican Gril

The name Chipotle comes from the Mexican name for a smoked, dried jalapeno chili pepper. Chipotle prides itself on only sourcing high-quality raw ingredients in their selection of burritos, tacos, bowls, and salads. The company was founded in 1993 in Denver, Colorado, and has succeeded in its mission to create fast food in a non-traditional fast-food setting.

8. Burger King

The McDonald's fast-food business inspired Keith J Kramer and Matthew Burn to start their own hamburger restaurant. In 1953, they set out to produce top quality, great-tasting fast food items at an affordable price. Today Burger King is well established as the Home of the Whopper, serving its well-known flamed grilled patty - along with many other menu items - to millions of customers each day.

7. Taco Bell

In 1962, Taco Bell founder, retired Marine Glen Bell, saw an opportunity in the fast-food space crowded with hamburger and hot dog restaurants. Bell opened his first Mexican-inspired fast food restaurant in 1962. Today there are 700 restaurants in the US.

6. Wendy's

Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy's is easily recognizable by its logo depicting Dave's daughter. Wendy's prides itself on their "fresh never frozen" approach to hamburgers. Though Wendy's lacks a signature menu item like many of its competitors, it is known for its squarely shaped burger served on a traditional round bun.

5. Chick-Fil-A

With 1,850 restaurants in 41 states, Chick-Fil-A is one of the largest restaurant chains in the US. The company, headquartered in Atlantic, is known for its signature chicken sandwich. The founder's deep Southern Baptist beliefs are a strong influence in the corporate culture, with all stores closed on Sunday.

4. Dunkin' Donuts

A leader in coffee and baked goods, this coffeehouse chain began in 1950. Dunkin' Donuts offers customers over 50 varieties of donuts, drinks, breakfast sandwiches, and bagels. It's no wonder "America Runs on Dunkin.

3. Subway

Subway offers made-to-order sub sandwiches with a fresh variety of vegetable and meat selections. One of Subway's Sandwich Artist will take your requests and serve your sandwich or salad any way you choose. The company was founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca when he was just 17 years old.

2. Starbucks

Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1971, this well-known coffee house today it known for its hot and cold beverages, pastries, snacks, and light lunch items. From Flat Whites to Carmel Macchiatos, people everywhere look for the Starbucks mythological Greek mermaid logo to jumpstart their day.

1. McDonald's

Known the world over for their signature burgers and fries, many people don't know the fast-food leader started out as a hot dog stand. In 1937, two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald opened for business in San Bernardino, California. It wasn't until 1948 the pair began focusing on hamburgers. That first restaurant incorporated an arched design into the building's architecture. Today the McDonald's iconic golden arches are the most recognizable symbol in the world.
By Park Si-soo





Kim On-soo, the PR and marketing director of the University of Utah Asia Campus, has won an award from the American school for his contribution to international cooperation and academic exchanges.







Kim shared the 2020 Excellence in Global Engagement Award with Steve Burian, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Utah. The latter won the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) prize from Pakistan's president last year for his leadership on research and solutions to critical water issues in Pakistan through the U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W).







Kim was the first school official awarded due to strong recommendations from undergraduates who say he deserves credit for continued dedication to boosting the school's social responsibility and exchange programs.







"I would like to thank the marketing/communications team that has set up a common goal of boosting international cultural exchanges between Songdo International Business District (in South Korea) and Salt Lake City (in the U.S.)," Kim said. "I will dedicate myself to making the Asian campus a bridge linking Songdo and Salt Lake City and far beyond."







The award ceremony will take place in autumn at the University of Utah's main campus in Salt Lake City.






Written by ACM

*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Facts: In China (First to be Affected) about 3.300 People Died by the new CoronaVirus in 3 Months, but in Italy (EU) it's Already about 5.500 who Died in 1 Month only (since February's End) !

Meanwhile, in Russia (China's Neighbor) there are Only about 440 People Infected and just 1 Dead, (both Less than Greece or Luxembourg, inside the EU !), in mostly Recent "Imported" cases...

Moreover, in China's "Wuhan" area, (reportedly at the Origin of that Virus), all Inhabitants have just been Authorized to Return Back to their usual Jobs (they can even Travel around their Region), and Transports are Fully Re-established, while, on the Contrary, around the EU, even various Massive Personal Confinements at Home are Currently Spreading (in France, Germany, Spain, even the UK, Greece, etc), and some ask now Even Stricter Measures.

-------------------

Concerning Strategies, some inside the EU, more or less openly, Claim that Stop the Virus would be an "Utopia", and, in Fact, push to Focus on a Defensive "Flattening of the Epidemic Curve", i.e. merely Delaying its Spread, just in order to let the Health Systems (Hospitals, etc) some Time to cope with the Rapid Accumulation of Infections, which have been practicaly let to Spread all over their National Territory, (f.ex., mutatis-mutandis, in France and Spain, partly Greece and Germany, the UK too, etc). In the meantime, the Augmentation of Infections is still much Higher than that of Recoveries, at least until now.

On the Contrary, the Chinese Strategy appears to call for Rapid attempts to Stop and Reverse the Virus, with Early Diagnosis, Early Confinement, and Early Treatments, as the Drastic Territorial Confinement of the Virus around the Wuhan Area Only, mostly Succeeded. In Addition, the New Infections have almost Stopped in China, (with the Exception of a Small Number of "Imported" cases from Abroad), while the Recoveries still Grow every day, Approaching 7/8 of the cases ! Will they manage to Finaly Overcome some reported Errors Initially committed at the Begining ?

In the USA, Recently, inter alia, efforts to boost Scientific/Technological Research for Treatments and/or Vaccines reportedly have Started Earlier than elsewhere, (even if several Other Countries, including in the EU, Russia, China, etc, appear to try to Catch up, more or less Rapidly), and Borders' Protection apparently Moved Drasticaly, (with the Exception of Mexico, which still has a Surprizingly Tiny Number of Only a Few Infections). But a special Big Federal Budget due to Boost the Health System, SMEs, Citizens' Economy, etc., has just been Delayed and Blocked by the Political Opposition (Center-Left "Dem." Party of "Socialists"/Liberals), which reportedly Exploited the Infection and Confinement of 5 pro-Government Conservative Senators, that practically Swept their Majority at the Senate, adding even an Alternative Plan, full of Provocative Demands on various Other, UnRelated Issues, (concerning, f.ex., Migrants, the Electoral System, more Powers to Trade Unions, even the Post, Aviation's relations to "Global Warming", etc), as the Country approaches a Crucial Presidential Election in a few Months...

------------------------------

In the middle of such Circumstances, WHO's Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in a Press-point at nearby Geneva, After having, Recently, named the New CoronaVirus a "Pandemic", and while, still, Acknowlding, Nowadays, that the Spread of that Virus is Globally "Accelerating", Nevertheless, for the 1st Time, he clearly Launched a vibrant Call to pass from mere "Defense" into an "Attack" against the Virus !

- "You can't Win ... Only by Defending. You have to Attack, as well", he stressed.

- Indeed, f.ex., merely "asking people to Stay at Home and other physical Distancing measures are an important way of Slowing down the spread of the virus and buying Time (Comp. Supra)  But they are Defensive measures", he said.

- On the Contrary, "to Win, we need to Attack the Virus with Aggressive and Targeted tactics", WHO's Chief stressed.

- Indeed, "we're Not Helpless Bystanders. We Can Change the Trajectory of this Pandemic", he Boasted.

This comes shortly After WHO's Director General recently Praised China's Latest Reports of "No New Cases" of Infection, "for the First time since the COVID19 outbreak started". Indeed, "Wuhan provides Hope for the rest of the World, that Even the Most Severe situation Can be Turned Around".

- "Of course, we must exercise Caution - the situation can Reverse", he had advised then. "But the Experience of cities and countries that have Pushed Back this CoronaVirus give Hope and Courage to the rest of the World", he had already pointed out.

- In particular, Ghebreyesus pointed, Mainly, at :

* "Testing every Suspected case" ;

* "Isolating and Caring for every Confirmed case" ;

* "Tracing and Quarantining every close Contact" ;

* "Mobilizing Resources internally From Less-Affected Regions ... to Increase Capacity", (f.ex. in France, etc) ;

* "International Solidarity", as, already, "several Countries have sent Emergency Medical Teams to Care for patients and Train health workers in Other Countries that Need support", (f.ex. Russia to Italy, etc, while China sends Material) ;

* "Build a Network of Emergency Medical Teams ... to provide surge capacity of High-Quality health Professionals who can be Deployed to care for patients and save lives" ;

* "Protect Health Workers" ;

* "Address... the global Shortage of ... life-Saving Tools", as "personal Protective Equipment" (f.ex. Gloves, DesInfectants, Masks, Ventilators, etc), of which we must "Rationalize and Rrioritize the Use", by "addressing every part of the Supply Chain, from raw Materials to finished Product" ;

* "Work Together to increase Production, (particularly of "Essential Protective gear", but also Ventilators, etc), Avoid export Bans, and ensure Equity of Distribution, on the basis of Need" ;

* Find "Effective Therapeutics", (for Care + Vaccine, for which "there is a Desperate Need", as he stressed), with "Treatment that has been Proved to be effective Against COVID-19" : Not "UnTested", but with "the Right Evidence", he also Praised as "Great to see the level of Energy Now being directed to Research Against COVID-19" ;

* Join WHO's "SOLIDARITY Trial", "to generate Robust, high-Quality Evidence as Fast as possible", "that will Help us to move with Speed and Volume", if "More Countries ... sign up to the SOLIDARITY Trial, and Other Large Studies" (NB), so that "we will get Results Faster on which Drugs Work" ;

+ ETC...

Curiously, he didN't Yet Explicitly mention "Vaccines", neither Borders' Closure vis a vis Over-Infected Regions and/or Countries, even this Might be Implied by the General Principles that he stressed. The First, Perhaps, Because he Focused Now on "Fast" Results, (while Some Claim that Vaccines would Delay, but Others Ambition to Move more Rapidly), and the Second, probably for Diplomatic reasons, (Even if, f.ex., Russia and China, etc., are Recently Starting to be Affected by their Reluctance or Delay to Block Travels from some Other, too Infected Countries, of the EU and/or Other Areas in the World : Comp. Supra).

For Comprehensible motives, WHO's Head also Omitted any Explicit Mention (even if it might, eventually, be Implied by his General Call for a large "Offensive" to "Save Human Lives" : Comp. Supra) to the Letters Recently send to the UNO and WHO Chiefs by the Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad, (Surprizingly Backed even by Many USA President Trump's fans : See http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/ahmadinejadonlabomadevirus1.html + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/ahmadinejadonlabomadevirus2.html, etc), to Help Find the "Labo" which might have produced such an "Anti-Human Weapon" as the "SARS-CoV-2" Virus, (as some Already call the New CoronaVirus COVID-19, f.ex. also the Prestigious USA Medical Journal "NEJM", See: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973, etc, even if, in Fact, it Should be called "SARS-CoV-3", since, Meanwhile, had appeared also MERS, earlier), in order to take Measures against those Responsible for such a "Threat Against Humanity", as he Denounced.

- At any case, as WHO's Head stressed, all these Measures (Comp. Supra) for "Solving this Problem (of the New CoronaVirus' Pandemic) Require Political Commitment and Political Coordination at the Global Level".

=> That's why, inter alia, he also announced his intention to "Address Heads of State and Government from the G20 Countries" Later "this Week" : Indeed, "we Need Unity in the G20 Countries", and "Political Commitment" with "Strong Solidarity", that Can Help us to ... Fight this Pandemic in the Strongest Way possible", Ghebreyesus Urged.

But, while WHO's Chief asks to become "Offensive" against the Virus, Contrary to Others who Stick to mainly "Defensive" methods, with Different Strategies which push Big Gaps among Countries, (Comp. astonishing concrete Facts cited Supra), What could be the Right Path ?....

(../..)

("Draft-News")
Joint Statement on Behalf of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on the First Anniversary of ISIS's Territorial Defeat

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

March 23, 2020



The text of the following statement was released by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

Begin text:

One year ago the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS, in conjunction with our local partners, liberated ISIS's last remaining stronghold in Baghouz and crushed its territorial ambitions. Today, nearly eight million people have been freed from ISIS's control in Iraq and Syria. Many have returned home to rebuild their lives thanks to various forms of Coalition assistance and stabilization support.

Progress in our campaign allows for the restructuring of our footprint, without prejudice to our ability to carry out our mission. In the meantime, the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the Iraqi and Syrian people, and to our mission, led to temporary adjustments to protect the force during this period, in full coordination with Iraqi authorities.

While we celebrate this critical milestone in the fight against ISIS, the work of the Global Coalition is far from complete as Daesh/ISIS remains a significant threat. The Global Coalition will continue its comprehensive efforts in Iraq and Syria, and globally, to deny ISIS's ambitions and the activities of its branches and networks, until the job is done.

End text.



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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on March 23 said that the United States should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran contain the coronavirus outbreak. Rouhani during a televised speech rejected the humanitarian assistance offered by Washington saying that if they really want to help Iran all they need to do is to lift sanctions. Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East, where, as of March 23, more than 1,800 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus.

Read: US State Secretary Warns Iraq That Attacks On Americans Will Not Be Tolerated

Iran has blamed the United States for hampering its efforts to tackle the outbreak in the country and urged American citizens to call on their government to lift sanctions. The economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States are choking off its oil revenues and have stopped its banking transactions. On the other hand, the coronavirus outbreak has forced the country to take draconian measures like lockdown of public places and businesses, which is pushing the country's economy further into the swamp.

Read: Multiple Rockets Hit Iraqs Military Base Where US, UK Troops Were Killed: Report

The US-Iran conflict

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been running high since 2018 when the US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, also known as JCPOA. However, the tensions escalated to an all-time high, when the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq that houses the US and NATO forces were hit by multiple rockets during the wee hours of January 8. The incident was first reported by Iranian state TV, who described it as Tehrans revenge operation over the killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by US air raid near Baghdad's international airport on January 3, along with six others. The White House and the Pentagon confirmed the death of Iran's powerful military head by saying that the attack was directed by US President Donald Trump.

Read: Rockets Hit Iraq Base Housing Foreign Troops, Third Attack In A Week

Coronavirus outbreak

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 has claimed more than 16,500 lives across the world and has infected nearly 3,81,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Italy, Iran, and Spain are the most affected countries outside mainland China, where, as of March 22 the combined death toll stands at 10,200.

Read: British School Children Join Online Physical Education Lesson Amid Lockdown
SHAMOKIN  The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is upset with the decision not to file criminal charges against the owner of a Northumberland County dairy farm accused of animal abuse.

It was its complaint that led to a state police investigation of Reitz Farms in Shamokin Twp. last June.

After reviewing the results of a state police investigation, the district attorneys office concluded criminal prosecution was not warranted, it was announced Monday.

The decision was based on the findings of an independent veterinarian who found conditions met acceptable standards under state law, District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said.

Dr. David R. Wolfgang, who is retired, issued a report in which he found places for improvement but no evidence of maltreatment or beatings, he said.

Animals had cover, food and water and received treatment for their injuries, the report stated, according to the DA who added if charges were filed they likely could not be sustained.

State police say a trooper trained in animal cruelty participated in the investigation that included visits to the farm and interviews with the owner and his veterinarian.

Responding to the decision not to pursue charges, Daphna Nacminovitch, PETAs senior vice president of cruelty investigations, issued the following statement:

Any reasonable person recognizes that it's cruel to strike a cow nearly 60 times with a cane, deny cows care for massively swollen joints seeping blood and pus and confine calves to barns saturated with urine and manure.

If cruelty and filth are acceptable to authorities in Pennsylvania, personal responsibility is all that's left, so PETA asks everyone to remember these animals' sufferingand choose vegan milk and cheese.

PETA conducted its own undercover investigation that included videos of what it alleged were deplorable conditions at the farm that it says kept 300 cows and scores of calves.

It alleged cows were denied care for grapefruit-sized masses that oozed blood and pus and they were kicked and beaten with a cane on their udders.

Another allegation was calves that were separated from their mothers shortly after birth were forced to lie in their own manure and urine day after day in filthy barns and denied the opportunity to go outdoors.

PETA claimed its investigation revealed 60 percent of the cows being milked had leg joints that were swollen.

The video shows a male using a stick on a cow. That individual has not been seen since and is believed to have been from Kenya, Matulewicz said.

Since the investigation began the dairy farm has proactively and independently revised and improved its animal care procedures, state police say.

PETA points out the same dairy farm was investigated in 2009 over allegations cows were in so much pain they could not stand up.

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.

--

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Of these, 221 were added to the list Tuesday and the rest are those already quarantined, according to the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC).

Tuesday marked the highest number of people deemed Covid-19 suspects in a day since the pandemic started as an outbreak in Vietnam late January. The number was more than twice what was recorded two days earlier.

Suspected infectees are those whove returned from stricken areas or have had direct contact with returnees from those areas and show symptoms like cough, fever and shortness of breath. Those tagged as suspects are quarantined at hospitals specialized for Covid-19 treatment after testing positive twice for the virus.

Aside from quarantining suspects, Vietnam has placed many others under medical monitoring - those entering Vietnam from virus-hit areas or have met with infected people but have not showed any Covid-19 symptoms.

These people are routinely checked at entry ports before being sent to medical camps for 14 days of monitoring. Some people with low infection risks are quarantined at home, and monitored and checked by local medical staff every day.

Anyone showing signs of Covid-19 symptoms like coughing or fever will be placed in hospital quarantine. If they test negative for the coronavirus, they will undergo additional monitoring at home or at a medical camp.

As of Monday morning, there were more than 46,900 people placed under medical monitoring, with more than 26,100 quarantined at home.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 123 Covid-19 infections, including 106 active ones diagnosed since March 6. Earlier, 17 other patients had recovered and were discharged from hospital.

Of the current active cases, 14 have tested negative between once and thrice.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last Wednesday ordered the suspension of all international flights to Vietnam as the country restricted entry country by air, road and sea.

Starting last Sunday, Vietnam also suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

Anyone entering the nation from abroad will compulsorily be placed in quarantine for two weeks.

The total fatalities caused by Covid-19 have jumped to more than 17,250 as the disease spreads to 196 countries and territories.
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The Rwanda authorities have given the green light to KLM to fly back home its nationals stranded in Europe in the wake of flight restrictions and other measures by various countries to check the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 16:44:14|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai-based Fosun Foundation, in cooperation with a British foundation and Chinese companies, has donated medical supplies, including respirators and protective suits, to Britain and France.

The foundation and the Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation had 1,000 N95 respirators and 1,300 protective suits delivered to a hospital in West Midlands of Britain on March 20, the Fosun Foundation announced on Monday.

Meanwhile, 80,000 face masks and 5,500 protective suits were delivered to the health department of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region in France.

Companies including the educational giant New Oriental and the health food producer Zuodanli contributed to the donation.

On the packing boxes of the supplies, Fosun printed Chinese poems, the lyrics from the song "Hope for the Future" by Paul McCartney, and famous words of the French writer Victor Hugo, sending best regards to the people of the two countries.

As of Sunday, the Fosun Foundation, in cooperation with companies, had deployed and donated a total of eight batches of medical protective supplies to Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Britain and France.
Qantas is to operate the first non-stop flight from Darwin to Heathrow as travellers struggle to return to the UK amid the coronavirus crisis.

Its flagship Sydney to London service usually flies via Singapore but, due to travel restrictions on international journeys, the airline has been forced to find an alternative route.

Australian carrier Qantas will temporarily operate its Sydney to London flight via the capital of Australias Northern Territory, where the Airbus A380 aircraft will stop off to refuel.

Qantas and Jetstar international flights will be suspended from end March until at least 31 May 2020. Domestic flying reduced by 60% until the end of May 2020. International lounges and a number of domestic lounges will be temporarily closed. Full details https://t.co/P11mGmj8Ci.  Qantas (@Qantas) March 18, 2020

The flight to the UKs largest airport from Darwin will take 16 hours and 45 minutes  believed to be the first non-stop flight between the two destinations.

The temporary route will only operate this week, before Qantas suspends all international flights until May 31 at the earliest.

It comes after NHS nurses accused the Government of turning their backs on them, as they were left stranded in Australia following numerous flight cancellations.

Laura Mclaughlin will be flying home from Darwin (Handout/PA)

The 27-year-old, from Preston, worked as an accident and emergency nurse in a hospital in Southport, Merseyside.

She said she had been in contact with former colleagues in the UK about returning to work, who said they are so short-staffed they need as much help as possible.

Ms Mclaughlin said she had managed to secure a seat on the flight from Darwin to Heathrow, but there were a number of NHS staff, including doctors and physiotherapists, who are still searching for a route back to the UK.

Weve been to the embassy, trying to get hold of people to help us, but were just getting no answers, Ms Mclaughlin told the PA news agency.

I dont think its good enough. We need to be prioritising flights for the NHS key workers to be getting home to be helping the pandemic.

UK nationals in Australia: we are setting up a way for you to provide your contact details to us. We will be able to communicate with you directly, including updates on commercial flight availability to the UK. It will go live today.  UK in Australia  (@ukinaustralia) March 24, 2020

I have hopefully got this flight confirmed for tomorrow, but its still helping all the other people along the way trying to get home.

She said one-way flights to the UK were costing upwards of 13,000 dollars (6,600), adding: As nurses, we dont have that sort of money to be able to book a flight and get home.

Were really keen to come and help but were all feeling a little bit like everyone has turned their back on us at the moment.

Its such a long way to be stuck with no flights with no help from the embassy or the Government.

Ms Mclaughlin said bringing back nurses from retirement was fantastic, but said there were young nurses around the world who want to return to help the NHS.

Mr Starling said he was in a Facebook group with over 500 NHS staff (Ned Starling/PA Wire)

The 28-year-old, who has been travelling around Australia for three months with his girlfriend, who is a nurse, said he was in a Facebook group with another 500 NHS workers looking to get back from Australia.

If theres any way of just promoting this idea that if there is repatriation, theres a whole bunch of useful people that are willing to come back now, as soon as possible, to work, he told PA.

I personally feel that these are people that need to be back in the country.

My reason for wanting to come back is really because I want to provide some help at home.

A spokeswoman for the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: We recognise British tourists abroad are finding it difficult to return to the UK because of the unprecedented international travel and domestic restrictions that are being introduced around the world  often with very little or no notice.

The FCO is working around the clock to support British travellers in this situation to allow them to come back to the UK.
In a move to reduce the financial implications of the coronavirus on the economy, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has proposed a raft of measures to the State.

LSK wants the National Treasury to implement the measures that are intended to benefit citizens and businesses that are hard hit by the effects of Covid-19 in the country.

One of the proposals is that the government should provide incentives to manufacturers of essential supplies such as sanitisers, toiletries, masks, gloves, vitamins and specialised medical equipment by temporarily lowering the applicable corporation tax for the current year of income.

LSK also wants lower taxes on donations to the Kenya Red Cross, County Governments or any other agency tasked with the management of national disasters.

In a statement, outgoing LSK President Allen Gichuhi also expressed concern over the impact of the coronavirus on low-income Kenyans.

To cushion these employees from the negative economic impact of the pandemic, we propose a temporary waiver on Pay as You Earn (PAYE) on low-income employees earning Sh23,885 and below per month until Covid-19 is brought under control, he said.

In the 13-point letter copied to the Cabinet Secretary National Treasury, LSK said every individual is entitled to a personal relief of Sh16,896 per year under the third schedule of the ITA.

This translates to Sh1,408 per month, he said.

To ensure that the affected individual taxpayers are able to meet their daily expenses and other unplanned expenses, we propose that personal tax relief to resident individuals be enhanced by 100 per cent for taxpayers for the current year of income, wrote Gichuhi.

Further, LSK wants the mortgage relief increased from the current Sh300,000 per annum to Sh500,000 to provide relief to borrowers whose liquidity is likely to be affected.

The bar association also proposes a 90-day extension period for payment of the taxes in order to accommodate the potential challenges by taxpayers to make payments within statutory time limits.

This is bearing in mind that April is the first quarter of the financial year for most taxpayers and the due date for the payment of the first installment corporate tax and the balance of the corporate tax liability for the previous financial year, said Gichuhi.

And to operators in the hospitality industry, the lawyers want the government to grant tax rebates and waivers to cushion them against losses.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Pakistan became the only member state of the SAARC which did not announce a contribution to the SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund with Sri Lanka on Monday becoming the latest member to pledge a contribution. Lanka pledged $5 million to the fund, which was proposed by PM Narendra Modi on March 15 during a video conference with heads of all SAARC nations. Heads of all SAARC states participate in the video call with the exception of Pakistan which was represented by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza.

Other member states who have already contributions include Bangladesh with $1.5, Bhutan with $100000 million to the kitty, Nepal with approximately $1 million, Afghanistan with $1 million and Maldvies with $200000. Modi during the video conference had pledged $10 million. In separate tweets, Modi thanked the leaders of Bhutan and Afghnistan. China, which saw the first cases of the coronavirus, enjoys observer status in the SAARC.
AidData: Powerful lessons in global development

Students solving global problems: As a research lab housed within the universitys Global Research Institute, AidData facilitates innovative research projects that bring students and faculty together to solve global problems. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption

How much foreign direct investment are China and Russia putting into low- and middle-income countries? How much is China spending on an industrial port project in Sri Lanka? How much of Chinas foreign aid supports their own strategic economic development? These are just some of the many questions students are helping to answer in William & Marys AidData program.

As a research lab of the universitys Global Research Institute, AidData facilitates innovative research projects that bring students and faculty together to solve global problems.

The program gives students direct exposure to current, high-level international policies and issues. When Georgiana Reece 22 was looking to explore her interests in economics and Russia, a professor was quick to suggest she apply to AidData.

As an economics major studying Russian language, AidData offered the perfect opportunity to improve my language skills in an economic research setting, said Reece, who is from Durham, New Hampshire. I learned Chinese and studied abroad in China during high school. Through working at AidData, I am excited to get direct access to post-communist development research and the global impact of Russia and China as their economies become more open.

In January, Reece joined more than 80 students who are hired by AidData each semester to research the flow of international development financing around the world. AidData uses innovative research methods to track, monitor and evaluate worldwide development projects.

Part of what makes AidDatas work unique is its use of an open-source methodology that was initially developed by Austin Strange 12 while he was a student at William & Mary. The TUFF (Tracking Underreported Financial Flows) methodology provides a systematic way of tracking aid and other forms of state financing from emerging donors such as China.

Other AidData staff and students later extended this approach to track development assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, nations that do not publish comprehensive or detailed information about their overseas activities.

Learning how to do this type of research is pretty intense with a steep learning curve, said Reece of the rigorous, four-week training. Im excited to be exposed to this experience which will certainly help me pursue other opportunities in international finance and development after I graduate.

The spending tracked can range from Chinas donation of trash cans in Africa to billion-dollar Chinese loans to build power plants in Pakistan. AidDatas findings are used to help governments, organizations and policymakers make better-informed decisions. Elite media like The New York Times and The Economist regularly cite AidDatas research.

We use publicly available resources for data collection which makes our methodology transparent and replicable to others, said AidData Junior Program Manager Katherine Walsh 18. The sources we use could be the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or local media sources, embassy and trade mission websites, as well as databases recipient country governments maintain.

An international relations major, Walsh started as an intern with AidData during her freshman year. She later became a research assistant and spent five semesters working with AidData as a student.

I was interested in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and I initially applied to AidData because of the opportunity to use my foreign language skills for research, said Walsh. After graduation, Walsh continued at AidData as a part-time resource until she joined the staff as a junior program manager in June 2019. In her current role, she helps to organize the data collection, manage student research assistants, and ensure high-quality data.

AidData offers a unique, hands-on learning experience that cant be taught in classes, said Walsh, who is from Poquoson, Virginia. Working here, you gain an intimate knowledge of global development projects that few people in the world have. Its really interesting work.

Like Walsh, Lincoln Zaleski 20 has worked for AidData since his freshman year. An international relations major with a minor in Arabic, Zaleski has used the skills hes learned to explore two of his own independent research projects.

I want to work for the government, either in policy creation or policy implementation, said Zaleski who is from Boston. Its been great to watch AidData grow in the time Ive worked here. As the methodology continues to be improved and standardized, the research possibilities will only continue to expand.

As AidData grows, even more students will be able to explore their interests and gain valuable experience.

The skills learned at AidData are transferable to a wide range of professional interests. So many organizations now are interested in China and its global impact, said Walsh. Many companies are also interested in the research and foreign language skills the students learn, skills that not only aid in their professional development but may ultimately impact the course of global public policy.

For mathematics and economics major Wenyang (Martin) Pan 20, working with AidData for the last two years has not only built his confidence in his computer and research skills, it has given him greater insight into his culture.

China is my home country, but I didnt know much about the larger role China played in the world, said Pan who is from Guangdong. I was curious to learn how China is financing other countries. There is not a big focus on this inside China.

Pan is one of 18 Chinese international students who is using his Mandarin language skills to conduct research. Ultimately, Pan hopes this experience will benefit him in pursuing a masters degree in data science.

Ive learned how to manage a team and facilitate research training, said Pan. I look forward to continuing to engage in other opportunities at AidData that will help me shape what I will do in the future.
Medics disinfect the airstair of a Vietnam Airlines' plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

180 Vietnamese stranded by a flight ban in Cebu will fly back home on a Vietnam Airlines flight tonight.

The flight, which will take off at midnight and land in the southern city of Can Tho Wednesday morning, is being organized following a previous request by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines and many Vietnamese citizens, a Vietnam Airlines representative said.

Two days ago, the embassy wrote to Vietnams National Steering Committee for Control and Prevention of Covid-19 and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, asking for help in bringing a group of Vietnamese in Cebu back home.

The embassy said many Vietnamese studying in the Filipino city wanted to go home after the authorities there suspended schools in a move to curb the spread of Covid-19.

However, all commercial flights from the Philippines to Vietnam have been halted, stranding them in Cebu.

For this particular Cebu - Can Tho flight, all passengers will have their health checked before getting on the plane and will be quarantined for 14 days after landing.

The entire aircraft will be disinfected after it completes the mission.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last Wednesday had ordered the suspension of all international flights to Vietnam as part of stringent entry restrictions, by air, road and sea.

Starting last Sunday, Vietnam had suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

Vietnam has also begun to quarantine for two weeks all people entering the nation from abroad.

Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will suspend all of its international flights from Vietnam starting Wednesday. VietJet Air has made a similar move while Bamboo Airways had stopped flying to South Korea.

Vietnam has recorded 123 infections so far, with 10 fresh cases confirmed Monday.

Since March 6, 107 new cases have been added, of which 106 are under treatment. One patient recovered last week.

Many of the currently active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners visiting from the same regions.
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New York City's streets continue to be an eerie and disturbing sight, empty of tourists and residents as locals shutter themselves indoors to avoid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Big Apple's subway system that usually shuttles millions of commuters a day is now desolate, with the few passengers who brave the journey wearing protective face masks and plastic gloves.

The Dumbo area and Brooklyn Bridge Park were completely empty on Tuesday afternoon, despite the sunshine and clear skies that typically draw crowds to the scenic site.

Even tourist destinations like Times Square and the glamorous Fifth Avenue are completely deserted of visitors and traffic.

As of Tuesday, New York has more than 25,600 cases of the killer coronavirus, more than nine times as many cases as the next highest state.

New York City's streets continue to be an eerie and disturbing sight, empty of tourists and residents as locals shutter themselves indoors to avoid the coronavirus outbreak. The empty streets of Times Square in Midtown Manhattan pictured Tuesday afternoon

The Dumbo area of Brooklyn was completely empty on Tuesday afternoon, despite the sunshine and clear skies that typically draw crowds to the scenic site

A playground sits empty in the Dumbo area of Brooklyn on Tuesday as children and adults alike stay inside their homes

A girl waves from her apartment in Dumbo, Brooklyn in New York City on Tuesday as the city's lockdown continues

A man took advantage of the empty streets to go for a jog on Tuesday morning as the city has closed businesses and workers were ordered to work from home

This scenic photo spot in Dumbo, Brooklyn, usually teeming with tourists and photographers trying to get the perfect shot, was shockingly empty on Tuesday afternoon due to the coronavirus pandemic

The empty streets of Manhattan pictured Tuesday in New York City with just a few cars on the road in light of the sweeping COVID-19 pandemic

New Yorks cases alone account for seven percent of the global number of cases. Overnight, there were 2,500 cases in New York City and nearly 5,000 in the state of New York.

Nationwide there are more than 50,000 cases and there have been at least 624 deaths.

New York City alone had 13,119 cases as of Monday night. At least 2,213 of those patients are hospitalized and 525 are in the intensive care unit, as per CNN.

On Monday, health expert Dr. Deborah Birx said in a news briefing with President Donald Trump that the greater New York City area has an 'attack rate close to one in a thousand'. That's five times higher than other areas and states.

The Times Square subway station was practically empty on Tuesday afternoon. Typically this stop is bustling with life full of tourists, commuters and buskers

A man pictured walking in the Union Square subway station wearing a mask and gloves to protect himself on Tuesday in NYC

A shuttered tourist store in Midtown Manhattan pictured above on Tuesday afternoon. It's not clear when businesses will be given the green light to open up again

In Midtown few people were seen walking in the streets, many of them armed with masks to protect themselves from catching the contagious COVID-19 virus, as the case toll in NYC mounts to over 25,000

This group of women wore face masks as they strolled through Midtown, Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon

Experts warn that New Yorkers should anticipate to see cases rise and are urging residents to stay home at all costs. Pedestrians with Target shopping bags pictured in Midtown, Manhattan on Tuesday

The iconic Charging Bull statue in Manhattan's Financial District strikes a lonely figure Tuesday, despite usually being a tourist attraction

'(New Yorkers are) the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self isolate at this time. Clearly the virus had been circling there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the community,' she said.

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lambasted President Trump for sending only 400 ventilators to New York from the federal stockpile of 20,000 when the state needs 30,000 to battle coronavirus as he warned other states they would soon see a spike in cases of their own.

Speaking at the Javits Center, which will become a temporary field hospital in New York City with 1,000 hospital beds, Cuomo revealed that the number of coronavirus cases across the state of New York had risen to 25,000 and 15,000 in New York City, overnight.

The New York Stock Exchange trading floor has also been temporarily closed for the first time in 228 years as a result of coronavirus concerns. The trading floor pictured Tuesday

Construction work continues on 85 Jay in Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York, as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the city which is in lockdown, as pictured on Tuesday

A man wearing a masks crosses the street in the usually bustling area of Midtown, Manhattan, that now resembles a ghost town

The streets of Fifth Avenue are empty, New York, as numbers of coronavirus cases continue to rise in the city. Fifth Avenue pictured Monday

A man wears a gas mask in Downtown Brooklyn, New York, as coronavirus cases continue to rise on Tuesday

Some locals were seen exercising in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn as gyms throughout the city were closed

People were seen practicing social distancing as they walked around downtown Brooklyn on Tuesday

A man in a face mask rests in Battery Park in Manhattan, which was almost empty on Tuesday afternoon

A man takes photos of Barbie dolls fashioned with face masks in Battery Park

A man enjoys a cigar in a largely empty Battery Park

'You pick the 26,000 who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,' he said on Tuesday in an angry plea to the government to share more.

Cuomo described New York as the 'canary in the coal mine' of the virus pandemic.

'We have the highest and fastest rate of infection,' he said, adding that it was not because New Yorkers were any less healthy than other states but that it was the state doing the most testing and therefore producing the highest number of positive cases.

'We're just getting there first - deploy the resources here in New York for our apex and then after the apex passes here, once we're passed the critical point, deploy the ventilators to where they are needed.

'We are just a test case. That's how the nation should look at it. Look at us today.

'Where we are today, you will be in three weeks, four weeks, six weeks - we are your future and what we do here will chart the course for what you do.

'I'm not asking you to help New York just to help New York. I'm asking you to help New York to help yourselves.'
Following the collapse of crude oil prices from 2014 to date

, which triggered unpleasant memories to

Nigerian government which found

itself in unchartered waters. Since than It continues to struggle to revive the

economy amidst dwindling oil revenues compounded by unemployment, poverty and

insecurity and due to over defendants on one major government revenue the

country remains weak and fragile -being

outstripped by population growth.

Who to blame for this mess up: Provocative policy of the Nigerian

government is the dependence on oil resources as a source of foreign exchange

earnings to the detriment of agriculture despite the country is blessed with

untapped mineral resources. With outbreak of the coronavirus, which has puts

global economics in uncertainty again, Nigerias economy is being caught in the

cross-hairs.

Nigeria the so called

Africas largest economy cannot currently fund its budget due to Covid

19 because budget passed with a benchmark oil price of $57 per barrelnearly

double its current price of around $28,

knowing fully government relies heavily on petrodollars. It is now unarguably,

the collapse of oil prices not only pose a strategic danger to the global

economy but it has been danger to Nigerias economy development and also a catalyst behind nation domestic predicaments.

Absolutely there is lack of foresight from our leaders for

not save as much as possible especially

when the crude oil price reached its peak but Nigeria Forex reserve is

$37billion and can finance 4months of imports max and Nigeria technically has

$2,2billion.

Even before Covid 19

pandemic Saudi threw OPEC members under the bus because Russia refuses to cut

production to prop price up. Saudi flooded the market and offered discount to

buyers. Russia refused production costs because it thinks; cuts empower Shale

producers in America. Now Nigeria have about 50cargoes of oil floating on

international waters without buyers. A cargo contains about 2 million barrels

of oil.

Now Nigeria is facing severe

challenges. Oil price volatility is accentuated by rising commodity

prices, possibly the devaluation of the

naira against the U.S. dollar. Time for economy diversification

Notwithstanding federal government trying to diversify

the country economy but non-oil sector growth has not translated to

improvements in government revenue.

There is no state in Nigeria with less than 10 untapped different mineral resources. Regards to

diversification of the economy there is need for Federal government to develop

the country untapped mineral. Despite

this huge opportunity still domestic

mining industry is underdeveloped, leading to Nigeria having to import minerals

that it could produce domestically.

According to 2018 report of geology and mineral resources of

Nigeria estimated Nigerias iron ore

deposit to reach three billion tonnes, coal, three billion tonnes while lead

and zinc are to reach 10 million tonnes each. If Federal Government can make a lot of money

from mining if well exploited and invest

into coal, gold, tantalite, and

cassiterite to shore up revenue. Just from

iron ore experts says Federal Government can make $280 billion from iron

ore annually more than what the country earn from crude oil. The country will

set itself free unless federal government

develop the country untapped mineral

industry, modernise the agricultural sector and develop the tourism industry.

Wrote in from Kano
Grange Hill turned EastEnders star Lee Macdonald has got engaged to his long-time love Jess.

The actor, 51, took to social media to reveal he had popped the question and gave a nod to his famous former on-screen character Zammo.

Sharing a picture of the happy couple, Lee wrote: My partner Jess JUST SAID YES! Wedding next' alongside a red heart emoji.

Just said YES! Grange Hill's Lee MacDonald, 51, revealed he is engaged to his long-term love Jess as he paid tribute to iconic character Zammo with a cheeky caption

Just Say No: The actor featured in Grange Hill's most famous - albeit controversial - storyline when Zammo spiralled into an addiction to heroin, which climaxed in an overdose scene

In the picture, Jess looked delighted as Lee outstretched her hand to show off her diamond ring.

The couple have been dating for eight years but no doubt they will hold off before walking down the aisle during the COVID:19 lockdown.

Lee played Samuel McGuire on BBC show Grange Hill from 1982 to 1987 alongside Ant McParlin and Declan Donnelly.

Iconic: Lee played Samuel McGuire on BBC show Grange Hill from 1982 to 1987 alongside Ant McParlin and Declan Donnelly (pictured in the late 1980s)

His caption references the Just Say No anti-drug campaign which came about after his Grange Hill character Zammo died of a heroin overdose in shock TV scenes.

In May last year, he made his debut as a character called Terry in EastEnders but before that, he was working as a locksmith, until his agent told him to concentrate on getting his acting career back.

Lee had previously claimed that playing drug addict Zammo in Grange Hill 'ruined his career'.

He claims that he struggled to find any work afterwards as potential employers didn't want to be associated with drug use.

All change: Lee starred in EastEnders, playing Terry the bus driver last year

Speaking to The Sun, Lee explained: 'I was leaving Grange Hill but earning reasonable money doing personal appearances in clubs and places like that.'

'But then I got a call and they said, "We're not going to use you any more".

'I was like, "What?" And they said they didn't want their nightclubs to be associated with a drug addict.'

Congrats: Sean Maguire, starred alongside Lee as 'Tegs' Ratcliffe on Grange Hill and was quick to pass on his well-wishes

Speaking in 2007, Lee also discussed his struggle to get acting work in his late teens because of his negative association with drugs.

'After [the new series] was out, my agent said 'Nobody wants you any more because it's a drugs related character. So nobody wants to use you,' he told fan site Grange Hill Gold.

'I lost loads of work because adults didn't want me at the club because it was drugs related. But that's the power of telly . . . More so in the 80s when there was only a couple of channels. '

'Things were taken a lot more seriously than they are now. There's so much stuff that kids watch now that is outrageous.'

Since leaving Grange Hill in 1987, Lee has enjoyed cameos in The Bill, Birds Of A Feather and Neighbours, but Zammo was his last long-term part.

However he has moved away from acting to become a locksmith, and open his own store in Banstead, London.
Investigators seek to extend detention of four ex-policemen involved in Golunov case

 Moskva city news agency, Kirill Zykov

12:44 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  Investigators have lodged motions to extend detention of four ex-police officers involved in the case over drug planting on journalist Ivan Golunov.

Consideration of the motions against Igor Lyakhovets, Maxim Umetbayev, Akbar Sergaliyev and Roman Feofanov is set in the Basmanny District Court of Moscow for March 26, the courts spokesperson Irina Morozova told RAPSI on Tuesday.

In late February, Alexey Kovrizhkin, the lawyer for Lyakhovets, told RAPSI that another defendant Denis Konovalov had testified against his client, saying it was him who had ordered to plant drugs on Golunovs bag and apartment. Investigators believe Lyakhovets, who does not admit guilt, is the organizer of the crime.

Earlier, all five ex-police officers, investigators allege are involved in the case, were placed in detention for two months, until March 29. Defendants are ex-Moscow narcotics control policemen Lyakhovets, Konovalov, Akbar Sergaliyev, Roman Feofanov, Maxim Umetbayev. They are charged with abuse of power, evidence tampering and illegal drug trafficking. All the men except Konovalov plead not guilty. Konovalov was later released from detention and put under house arrest.

Investigators believe that they planted drugs on Golunov. Thus, they falsified the results of operative search activity that later became inculpatory evidence against Golunov in a drug dealing case; however, the drugs had been earlier illegally bought and kept by the police officers, according the Investigative Committee.

In late December 2019, investigators opened the case over arrest of Golunov. The journalist was recognized as an injured party. All five defendants in the case have been dismissed from police.

Golunov was arrested in Moscow on June 6, 2019. On June 8, the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow placed him under house arrest for 2 months. According to the Interior Ministrys official statement, police seized nearly 4 grams of methylmethedrone from Golunov.

The journalist pleaded not guilty, insisted that the drugs were planted on him during the arrest and claimed that his prosecution is related to his journalistic investigations.

According to his defense, an examination showed no drugs in his biomaterial.

On June 11, charges against Golunov were dropped because of a lack of evidence that he participated in the crime, and the journalist was released.

On June 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed two generals of police on the back of the arrest of Golunov.




Business leaders, among others, ask govt to let go of fiscal target, seek stimulus, and direct cash transfer.

Top India Inc representatives, in an unusual video-conference meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, sought a fiscal stimulus for industry to battle the coronavirus crisis that has forced factories and offices to shut down indefinitely.

The business leaders, including Hindustan Unilever chairman and managing director Sanjeev Mehta, TVS chairman Venu Srinivasan, and Piramal group chairman Ajay Piramal, also told the PM that monetary incentives must be given to the vulnerable sections.

Modi had called the virtual meeting to discuss possible solutions to the rapidly declining industrial production after the government decided to shut down around 80 coronavirus-hit districts, with further plans to introduce similar steps for other major urban centres.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) president Sangita Reddy, as well as her counterpart in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vikram Kirloskar, attended the meeting, along with other members.

They were united in the idea of direct cash benefit transfers to the economically vulnerable population.

Both industry bodies have called for cash transfers of Rs 5,000 each to workers and those earning below Rs 5 lakh as well as a one-time payment of Rs 10,000 for senior citizens.

The PM was keen on knowing the details of the proposed cash transfer which may boost the stagnating consumer demand, multiple people present in the meeting said.

Overall, industry has sought relaxed loan provisions and measures to boost liquidity.

All borrowers should be given a three-month moratorium on all loans and all repayment obligations should be suspended for this period.

"The CII also emphasised that there is an immediate need to facilitate and enable advances for ways and means for industry across sectors and the government could perhaps explore options of a moratorium on interest and principal for the next three months, Kirloskar said.

He added the governments priority should be on 'flattening the curve or reducing the number of new infections as soon as possible.

The CII has also called for dollar-liquidity swap as India is in a comfortable position as far as its dollar reserves are concerned.

Similarly, Ficci has suggested that the government must take a 200-basis point hit to the fiscal deficit target, which can bring about Rs 4 trillion worth of liquidity in the system.

No further accounts should be considered as non-performing assets from March 16 onwards, while the payment of standard loans should be deferred by two quarters.

"Aside from bank loans, liquidity should also be maintained for commercial papers and corporate bonds, Reddy said.

Ficci has also argued that no new cases should be opened under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code at the National Company Law Tribunal for companies affected by coronavirus.

The chambers reiterated that none of the moves being sought by them would have any major negative financial implication for the government.

At the meeting, Modi stressed that supply of essential items should not be impacted, while black marketing and hoarding must be prevented.

However, TVS Group's Venu Srinivasan pointed out that clarifying what constitutes an essential item remains a problem.

"Now, a lot of stocks are trading at less than 50 per cent of two years ago. When the bulls come back, it will be a 'V' shaped recovery," he added.

Heeding the government's call to burden more responsibility, business leaders have also assured the PM that workers will not be laid off casually and firms would try to guarantee the financial safety of the most vulnerable.

For instance, CII members will dedicate their plant facilities to help scale up manufacturing and availability of essential equipment needed to deal with the medical emergency linked to ventilators, sanitisers, essential drugs, medical services, on a no-profit basis.

Ficci members plan to support up to 5,000 new medical beds by converting hotel rooms into medical facilities.

The industry body is working with Niti Aayog to produce beds and ventilators for isolation and quarantine, and is sharing data for virus testing practices.

Besides Mehta, Srinivasan and Piramal, other business leaders to log into the meeting included Rajan Bharti Mittal, Uday Kotak, Pankaj Patel and Harsh Pati Singhania.
Imphal/Agartala, March 24 : Manipur reported its first case of coronavirus as a 23-year-old woman who returned from the United Kingdom tested positive, making it the first case in the northeast region of India, an official said on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by K. Rajo Singh, the Director of Manipur's Health and Family Welfare Department, the woman is now undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal.

"The woman was found infected during examination at the JNIMS. She is a resident of Thangmeiband Lourung Purely Leikai in Imphal west district. She had fallen sick on Monday," another official of Health and Family Welfare Department said on condition of anonymity.

The Manipur government has a list of 99 people who arrived in the state in recent times from coronavirus-affected countries and are now in house quarantine.

Two doctors of JNIMS, L. Shivadutta Singh, Research Scientist and Rajkumar Manojkumar Singh, Associate Professor and Principal Investigator, both of Department of Microbiology, issued the positive nCoV confirmation certificate at 6.40 a.m. on Tuesday.

Soon after the medical test report, Rangitabali Waikhom, District Magistrate, issued an order on Tuesday prohibiting movement of people in the entire Imphal west district.

The Manipur government has asked the people to stay indoors. The health official said that tracing of the person's movements and contacts of the nCoV carrying woman are being identified.

According to health and police officials in Manipur, the woman, who returned from London and arrived in Delhi and then in Kolkata on March 19, did not reveal her travel history earlier before she was detected positive with the novel coronavirus. The officials said that on the same day (March 19) the younger brother of the woman had arrived in Kolkata from Atlanta. Both stayed in a hotel in Kolkata and arrived in Manipur capital Imphal on March 21 by a private airliner via Agartala airport (Tripura).

A media report also said that the woman and her brother returned to Imphal via Guwahati airport. The police have cordoned off the house of the woman, whose father is a professor in Manipur.

Officials of Airport Authority of India in Agartala and the private airliner are collecting details of the passengers who travelled in the same flight with the nCoV infected woman. All the seven states of northeast have declared lockdown fearing the spread of novel coronavirus from migrants, who are returning back to home from affected countries and other states of India.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
B oris Johnson is facing calls for clarity after placing the UK on a police-enforced lockdown under drastic new measures issued in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

The Prime Minister ordered people only to leave their homes under a list of "very limited purposes", banned public gatherings of more than two people and ordered the closure of non-essential shops.

But police chiefs warned of phone lines being inundated with calls on Monday night with questions about what movements are still permitted, while MPs also called for answers.

In an historic address to the nation from Downing Street, Mr Johnson ordered people to only leave their homes to shop for basic necessities "as infrequently as possible", and for exercise once a day.

Boris Johnson addresses the nation on Monday night / Andrew Parsons

They can also seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if "absolutely necessary", under the measures to last until at least Easter Monday.

"That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home," he said.

"You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home."

UK lockdown: What you need to know

A failure to follow the rules could see police dispersing gatherings and imposing fines, which Government officials said would start at 30.

After the UK death toll hit 335, the PM ordered the immediate closure of non-essential stores including those selling electronics and clothing.

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All public gatherings of more than two people - other than those they live with - will be barred, the PM said.

Other premises to join pubs and restaurants in being closed are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms, places of worship and hotels.

Parks will remain open for exercise, but all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped. Funerals can continue.

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

Mr Johnson said the measures will be "under constant review" and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks if the evidence allows.

Politicians who had piled pressure on the PM to enforce strict measures amid fears people were disregarding social distancing advice largely welcomed his announcement.

But there were calls for answers to the public's concerns after the PM scrapped his daily press conference on Monday to announce the measures in a statement.

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Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley warned the public not to "cripple our phone" lines with enquiries on the PM's announcement.

Lincolnshire Police warned of an "extremely high volume" of calls, and Humberside Chief Constable Lee Freeman said his force had received "a number of calls" on the subject which he said he was unable to answer.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents officers in the capital, warned enforcement will be "very, very challenging" with "large amounts of sickness" already seen in the force.

"We will be dealing with it, but I'm not sure we will have the resources to be able to see it through," he told Sky News.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "There now needs to be clear guidance to employers and workers about which workplaces should close - and the Government must close the loopholes to give security to all workers, including the self-employed, as well as renters and mortgage holders."

Mr Johnson, who is to talk with his Cabinet on Tuesday, was also said to have prompted members of the public to call MPs to ask whether they should travel to work or not.

Online supermarkets appeared to buckle under the strain after the announcement, with crashes occurring on the Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda websites.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the measures that "amount to a lockdown" were "essential for the protection of all of us".

Forty-six more people died in England alongside four in Scotland and four in Wales on Monday, taking the number who have died in British hospitals after testing positive to 335. Those who have died in England range in age from 18 to 105.

In an earlier escalation of advice, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told citizens travelling overseas to return to the UK using commercial routes that are still running.

"If you are on holiday abroad the time to come home is now while you still can," he said.

Foreign Office staff are working to help citizens get back where routes have been halted due to the crisis.
Curfew

The Madhya Pradesh government has imposed curfew in Bhopal and Jabalpur cities, where coronavirus cases have been found.

Soon after assuming charge, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting around Monday midnight and issued the directives.

During the meeting, Chouhan reviewed the coronavirus situation in the state and directed for imposition of curfew in the capital city Bhopal and Jabalpur.

So far, five cases of coronavirus have been found in Jabalpur and one in Bhopal.

Lockdown has so far been ordered in 39 out of the total 51 districts of the state in view of the coronavirus pandemic, a public relations department official 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

The chief minister has asked the authorities concerned to ensure supply of essential goods to people, he said.

Just 15 months after losing power, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday night for a record fourth term.

The 61-year-old MLA from Budhni took oath of office at a simple function in Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.
The woman had been spinning disinformation in various online groups where she was an admin, with a total audience of nearly 100,000 subscribers.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says its operatives have detained a Kherson-based woman who had been disseminating disinformation on coronavirus spread, aiming to sow panic among Ukrainians and destabilize the region.

The woman had been spinning fake news in various online groups where she was an admin, with a total audience of nearly 100,000 subscribers, the SBU press service reports.

The investigation revealed her contacts with LPR-DPR terrorist groups and coordination with admins of other groups in social networks promoting separatism.

Read alsoRussia deploying coronavirus disinformation to sow panic in West, EU document says

Previously, she posted calls for ousting the Ukraine government and promoted the idea of creating the so-called Novorossiya, the long-sought Russian project for eastern Ukraine.

However, with the onset of coronavirus quarantine restrictions, the perpetrator shifted her focus on spinning fake news on Covid-19.

The investigation is underway.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia has been spinning to international audiences a narrative claiming that the EU is falling apart amid the coronavirus outbreak, aiming to sow splits in the Bloc.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:22:00|Editor: yan

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TIRANA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Six hundred inmates in Albania will leave prison temporarily and self-isolate in their homes for a period of three months as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the country's Justice Minister Etilda Gjonaj announced on Tuesday.

Via a video message on Facebook, Gjonaj said the government has approved a normative act aiming to strengthen measures in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Albanian prisons.

The prisoners who benefit from the act are those who still have three years left from their sentence, as well as those who still have five years left but are over 60 years of age and suffer from a chronic illness.

"Both categories benefit only if they have not committed serious crimes or participated in criminal organizations or groups," Gjonaj said, adding that the act comes into force on Tuesday.

The minister stressed that the authorities have taken all necessary measures in the country's prisons, and strengthened medical services aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection.

"All those who are serving their sentences in our prison system have our special focus. We are taking care to protect everyone's life, regardless of their status," she said.

During their self-isolatation, meetings between prisoners and their family members are suspended and have been replaced by online communication in order to protect their health and that of their families, Gjonaj noted.

As of Tuesday, Albanian health authorities had confirmed a total of 123 positive coronavirus cases. Ten patients have recovered and five have lost their lives.
The government on Tuesday banned export of all sanitisers and ventilators with immediate effect in wake of the coronavirus outbreak

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday banned export of all sanitisers and ventilators with immediate effect in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Export of all sanitisers...is prohibited, with immediate effect," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

It also banned exports of all types of ventilators, including any artificial respiratory apparatus or oxygen therapy apparatus or any other breathing appliance or device.

Last week, it had banned export of certain ventilators, surgical and disposable masks and textile raw material used for making masks.

There is a shortage of hand sanitisers and face masks in the market amid the coronavirus outbreak as people resorted to panic buying.
Led by market leader Diageo, the liquor industry is joining hands with state governments to fight the coronavirus pandemic by manufacturing and supplying hand sanitisers.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a high demand for sanitisers as hand washing is an effective way to keep the infection away.

Liquor companies like Diageo and Radico Khaitan have decided to stop bottling alcohol at some of their plants and instead make hand sanitisers following an appeal by the government and a promise to give them the needed permits.

"We will support the government and the hospitality sector during this pandemic by manufacturing 3 lakh litres of bulk hand sanitisers from our 15 units across the country," Anand Kripalu, managing director and chief executive officer of Diageo India, said.

As part of the initiative, the company will also donate 5 lakh litres of ENA (Extra Neutral Alcohol), which is a key ingredient in making sanitisers, to the sanitiser industry, he said in a statement.

This amount of ENA can produce more than 2 million units (250 ml each) of hand sanitisers, he added.

Diageo is the country's largest liquor maker.

The country's second largest liquor maker Allied Blenders & Distillers, which produces the globally largest selling whiskey Officer's Choice, said it has not decided on manufacturing hand sanitisers since there is a tedious licensing process.

"We have not taken a final call on this. A liquor company cannot make something that needs a drug licence under the existing licence. Having said so, it does not mean we will not do our bit to help the nation," Deepak Roy, vice-chairman of ABD, told PTI over phone on Tuesday.

Smaller player Radico Khaitan said it would start producing sanitisers from its Rampur distillery and has already applied for necessary permissions. It has also chalked out distribution plans.

"Being a leading spirit manufacturer, we have decided to extend our support to the country in this worrisome time of the coronavirus outbreak," Radico Khaitan Chief Operating Officer Amar Sinha said in a statement.

"Radico Khaitan has kick-started expanding the use of ENA at its mother distillery in Rampur into production of hand sanitiser which will be available at retail stores in a few days," he added.

According to Kripalu, Diageo has also announced health insurance cover to on-trade partners and donation of free masks to government public health departments.

As part of this initiative, it is offering health insurance cover worth Rs 3 crore to bartenders and would also donate around 1,50,000 masks to the public health departments of five states.

An e-mail sent to the All India Distillers Association did not elicit a response on questions about other distillers' efforts towards making hand sanitisers.

Last week, FMCG leader HUL cut the prices of its handwash product and also promised to increase production to help alleviate supplies issues in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Beauty products maker VLCC has also started production of hand sanitisers.

Some liquor companies overseas are also in the process of making hand sanitisers.

"While we advise that you cannot use our standard vodka product as a hand sanitizer, our team at the distillery has been working hard to get all of the pieces in place to begin production on a hand sanitizer that adheres to industry and governmental guidance," American vodka maker Tito's said in a tweet on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Mar 24 (UNI) Lauding the media for its praise worthy role in disseminating information about the Corona virus to every nook and cranny of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on the media to generate awareness about importance of social distancing to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

In an interaction with over twenty journalists and stakeholders from print media from all over the country via video conference, the Prime Minister said that media has played a praise-worthy role in disseminating information to every nook and cranny of this nation.

He said that the network of media is pan-India and spread across cities and villages. This makes the media all the more significant in fighting this challenge and spreading correct information about it at micro level.

Mr Modi said that newspapers carry tremendous credibility and the local page of a region is widely read by people. 'It is, therefore, imperative that awareness about coronavirus is spread through articles published in this page. It is essential to inform people about where the testing centres are, who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested and follow home isolation protocols. This information should be shared in newspapers and web portals of the paper, the Prime Minister said. He also suggested that information like location of availability of essential items during lockdown can also be shared in the regional pages,' the PM said.

Prime Minister asked the media to act as a link between government and people, and provide continuous feedback, at both national and regional level.

He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of spread of the virus, through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers.

Underlining that it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up; PM emphasized that it was important to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour mongering.

'Citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19,'he said.

The journalists joined the interaction from fourteen locations and consisted of both national and regional media, representing eleven different languages.

The journalists and stakeholders from Print Media appreciated the role played by the Prime Minister in communicating effectively and leading the country from the front.

They said that they will work on the suggestions of the Prime Minister to publish inspiring and positive stories.

They also thanked him for reinforcing the credibility of print media and noted that the entire nation has followed his message of coming together to face this grave challenge.

Prime Minister thanked the participants for the feedback and reminded them of the social responsibility towards the less privileged. He said it is critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard our national security.

The Health Secretary thanked the journalists for preventing the spread of panic through sharing information about proactive, preemptive and graded response of the Government.

She appealed to the print media to prevent the spread of misinformation in this hour of crisis.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry and I and B Secretary also participated in the interaction.

UNI AR JAL 1822
A coalition of restaurant chains has issued an open call for Americans to order from their favorite restaurants on Tuesday, March 24. Theyre calling this effort The Great American Takeout.

While all New Jersey restaurants are closed for dine-in eating, takeout and delivery remain vital lifelines during the coronavirus pandemic.

Both small businesses and New Jersey locations of chain restaurants have been offering curbside pickup and no-contact food delivery in light of the health crisis.

While restaurants are deemed essential businesses, they have taken a hit due to the elimination of on-premises eating.

Americas restaurants are in crisis, a Twitter account for The Great American Takeout posted on Friday. On March 24, were asking Americans to support the restaurant industry by joining #TheGreatAmericanTakeout and eating a delivery or pick-up meal.

Customers are also asked to share photos of the food they buy using the hashtag #TheGreatAmericanTakeout.

Will you commit to eating at least one delivery/takeout meal on 3/24 to help save our nations struggling restaurants?



RT if youre in! #TheGreatAmericanTakeout pic.twitter.com/K387ee0hUy  #thegreatamericantakeout (@TheGATakeout) March 20, 2020

Restaurants in the coalition include Habit Restaurants  which operates the The Habit Burger Grill locations in New Jersey  Panera Bread, California Pizza Kitchen, Applebees, Chevys Fresh Mex and more.

This is no longer about the survival of individual restaurants, said Russ Bendel, Habit Restaurants CEO, in a statement. Its about the future of our industry. And time has run out. Together, we must act to support each other and our communities in unprecedented ways.

Some restaurants have been offering deals to help customers participate in The Great American Takeout. Qdoba is offering a promotion through which customers can enter to win a $100 gift card to spend on Tuesday by following the chain on Instagram and tagging three friends.

Applebees locations in New Jersey (operated by Doherty Enterprises) are offering free delivery at applebees.com, as are Chevys locations.

Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

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In brief: Google is continuing its push to get more content onto its Stadia platform. It is now offering development kits and funding for projects to small studios that commit to supporting Stadia. Along with the kickbacks and equipment, the Unity team will provide technical assistance to developers in the program.

On Monday, Google announced the Stadia Makers program at its Games Development Summit. The initiative looks to provide small indie developers extra tools to help them self-publish on the Stadia platform.

In partnership with Unity, the program will offer studios technical support from Unity staff, up to five Stadia development kits, and subsidies from Google in helping to offset extra costs for developing on its game-streaming platform. In exchange, developers have to promise to offer Stadia support at launch.

Currently, the program is only open to those studios that are designing games using Unity 2019.3 or later. They also must have projects that will be ready to release in 2020 or 2021. However, Google said that it hopes to expand Stadia Makers in the near future.

This program will start small and expand to pave the way for development teams of all sizes to bring their titles to Stadia, the company said in a press release.

The tradeoff, of course, is that Stadia will build its catalog of games much faster. We have already seen efforts to ramp up production with Google snagging established studios and talent, opening its own publishing house, and working with other game makers to bring their titles to the streaming service.

An incentive like Stadia Makers might be a win-win for smaller developers who may find it a struggle just to bring their content to even one platform. For those interested in joining, Google has posted a signup page. The search giant will consider applications on a case-by-case basis.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been released after almost 8 months of detention. The release order was issued after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), that were levelled against him on February 5, were dismissed.

The National Conference leader had spent 232 days in custody since the Centre announced the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5, 2019.

The Supreme Court, hearing a plea filed by his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot, had asked the government to clear Omar Abdullah's release. The court also said if there is no clarity on the release they will be forced to hear the petition filed by Sara Abdullah.

Earlier, on March 5, the apex court had said it will hear the petition filed by Sara Pilot challenging her brother's detention under the Jammu and Kashmir PSA-1978, after the Holi break.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress leader, has welcomed the government's decision to revoke PSA against Omar Abdullah and tweeted that it's time the government restores democratic rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

So happy to learn that @omarabdullah's unconstitutional and undemocratic detention has been revoked at last. Its about time the union government restores democratic and constitutional rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well. - Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 24, 2020

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti continues to be under detention along with Farooq Abdullah, also welcomed the government's move to revoke PSA against Omar Abdullah.

PDP, in a statement released on Tuesday, said, "We welcome the release of Omar Abdullah from detention and urge the government to release Mehbooba Mufti and along with her all other political prisoners who are either lodged in jails outside J&K, sub jails or under house detentions."

"Detaining politicians with dissent under PSA with absurd charges questions the basic principle of world's largest democracy," the statement added.

Iltija Mufti, daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, also welcomed Omar Abdullah's release.

Iltija Mufti, in a tweet, said, "Glad he will be released. For all their talk of Nari Shakti & women emancipation, seems like this regime fears women the most."

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When deciding to close the doors of black churches, congregational leaders across the US wrestle with unique considerations. Paul J. James, pastor of CareView Community Church in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, noted in an interview with The Undefeated how closing is counterintuitive to most churches, especially the black church where were just glad to get together because of how hard life has been historically for us here in America. Church has been a safe place for us. Its been a safe harbor. Now here we are faced with the inability to come together.

Last week, the federal government strongly urged Americans not to gather in groups of more than 10, and restrictions keep coming. We suspect that many churches will close in the near future, but the decision will not been easy.

In St. Louis, the mayor hosted a teleconference with 300 clergy, including many of black churches, to urge them not to hold services. While some chose to stop meetings and modify their ministries, others struggled to make the change.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned gatherings of more than 50 but then exempted churches from penalties. This will give some churches more options, though many are choosing to modify in some way. Triumph Church, which has seven locations in the Detroit area, will continue to gather in person, for now, though it expanded the number of services to reduce congregation size and is asking members to register ahead of time so it can maintain at least six feet between worshippers. It is also providing an online service and a drive-in service.

A lot of things inform these responses to the coronavirus outbreak: culture, histories of discrimination, and marginalization, as well as faith-based values. People experience events like COVID-19 not only as individuals but also in communities and in the social locations we inhabit. As social scientistsDeidra as a black woman doing research on HPV and Elaine as a white woman who studies how religious organizations respond to sciencewe offer some observations based on our research for the past 10 years at the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University. We have been gathering upwards of 150 religious and civic leaders regularly to talk about how we can use social science research on religion to build common ground for the common good.

Among the congregations we have checked in with during the past two weeks, it seems to us that in our city of Houston, Texas, black churches, in particular, have continued to gather in person. In our city, Windsor Village United Methodist Church, which has about 16,000 members, and Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which has more than 2,500, both initially responded with statements informing members that while they would be exercising precautions, they would still be holding corporate worship services. They have since modified their approaches: Windsor Village transitioned to all virtual services last Sunday; Good Hope met for corporate worship while requiring adjusted practices, such as liberal hand washing and greeting by waving instead of hand shaking.

In African American communities where Go Down, Moses is commonly sung, a unique history of knowing God as protector and deliverer means faith, not fear, in the midst of this pandemic.

But pastors are now being forced to exercise a different kind of faithtrusting God as provider in the midst of financial and other kinds of threats, as they are having to make the difficult decision of closing church doors in order to protect the flock within communities that deeply prioritize collective strength and uplift.

Social scientist of religion Cleve V. Tinsley IV says that There are multiple reasons these large mega-churches may keep their doors open, reasons that relate to a complex web of fear of paying large mortgages and staff salaries, smaller black churches collapsing because of lack of institutional and financial support; they also may not have the kind of larger structural resources to maintain their buildings that some mainline churches have when their doors close and giving inevitably drops off.

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There also may be differences between older and younger generations of black Americans. Those who have been through Jim Crow may go to church no matter what. We need to be considering the structural, economic, and generational divides that shape responses to COVID-19, said Tinsley.

Public health scholars also offer the Health Belief Model to explain why some might continue to meet despite public health warnings. The model suggests that people engage in health-promoting behaviors, such as social distancing, when perceived threat of a disease is high (meaning preventive action is the product of ones perceived susceptibility of contracting a disease as well as their beliefs about the severity of it). For some black Americansand many other Americansmyths about immunity to COVID-19 coupled with WHO reports that 80 percent of the cases are mild might factor into the equation.

Another reason may be that some black Christians have more pressing problems. Poverty and race are deeply connected in cities like Houston. For example, black families are twice as likely as white and Asian families to be living in poverty.

When I (Elaine) recently surveyed congregations about how they are responding to new scientific technologies, one pastor of a predominantly black church in an impoverished metropolitan area told me with a laugh, I think for most people within my congregation they are just dealing with the routine of living. If I started talking to them about science they might say, Pastor, what the hell is wrong with you?

In some ways, then, intense fear of the virus may be a preserve of the privileged. Those who barely have enough food and are living paycheck to paycheck may not have capacity to worry about virus spread. Those who are the least paid may also be the most likely to have to go to work when sick, not to be given extensive sick time, or to suffer in other ways.

According to sociologist Jason Shelton, black churches have filled an important social role for black Americans who have been kept out of other social institutions, which may lead to mistrust in those institutions. For example, according to a new Pew Research study, nearly 80 percent of black Protestants are not confident that President Donald Trump is doing a good job to address the outbreak.

Further, we do not see many scientists and physicians of color talking about COVID-19 in the media. We have Jerome Adams, the US surgeon general and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, but we need many more public black voices to amplify the voices of the black scientists and epidemiologists that we do have. And long term, we simply need more black Americans in science and technology professions. Black Americans, who comprise 12 to 14 percent of the US population, make up just over 1 percent of all those who have careers in science, medicine, or technology. One black pastor said to Elaine during a recent research interview that for many African Americans, science seems like a no-trespassing zone, where they feel marginalized because of both their race and their faith.

What can we do? Churches can play a role in alleviating this public health crisis by partnering with health experts to inform people of actions they can take to reduce risk. Practicing extensive hand washing, avoiding social gatherings, and staying home if we or others in our households are sick is the best way to love our neighbors. In this way, we can gracefully push back on the notion that science is at war with Christianity, a myth weve uncovered in our work interviewing scientists and congregants. To overcome COVID-19, we will need the best science has to offer made accessible and relevant to everyone.

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In the words of theologian and writer Candice Marie Benbow, as a Sunday kind of people, we bear witness to our faith and resilience every day. And, on the day we consider most holy, we have an incredible opportunity to reimagine the ways we honor that truth.

Back in Pennsylvania, James emphasized the black churchs unique history of creativity in meetingbe it during slavery to strategizing during the civil rights era to combatting racism today. When church already feels defined, he feels that the black churchand all churchescan find a fuller expression of church as it started in the first-century. Further, he told The Undefeated, We say, I will go to church, where the first-century person would not have had an idea of a concept of going to a place for church. Church was wherever the relationships werewhere the people were. The coronavirus may be a gift [to help us get back to] the most authentic expression of church.

Elaine Howard Ecklund is Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Director of the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University. She is, most recently, author of Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values that Move Us Beyond Fear.

Deidra Carroll Coleman is a DrPH candidate at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston studying human papillomavirus vaccine initiation for black and Hispanic youth. She is also a research project manager with the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University.
A leading doctor who spent a day in intensive care at Londons biggest NHS trust has described how the scene left him scared.

It came as a neighbouring east London trust announced it was postponing chemotherapy and cancer surgery because it was under such pressure treating coronavirus patients.

Professor Richard Schilling, one of the countrys top cardiologists, tweeted last night: Just spent the day on ITU at NHS Barts Health. I skydive and mountaineer and I am scared.

"Please respect the risks these brave clinicians are taking for you and your families and isolate to limit the spread of Covid-19.

There have been 12 deaths at Barts Health, which runs five east London hospitals.

Professor Schilling, who works at St Bartholomews hospital in Smithfield, said on his way into work today: The A&E, ITU and anaesthetic teams [are] getting the highest exposure and greatest risk.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS trust, which runs Queens hospital in Romford and King George in Ilford, said it was postponing all routine planned surgery  including cancer operations  for at least a fortnight.

All outpatient appointments, including endoscopy internal investigations and chemotherapy appointments, both in-person and by phone, were also being halted.

The trust, where there have been nine Covid-19 deaths, said: This is because we are now seeing an increase in the number of seriously ill patients (who have tested positive for Covid-19) at our hospitals, which is only going to increase in the days and weeks ahead.

"Postponing chemotherapy will help to protect our cancer patients as these intense drugs affect their immune system, making them more susceptible to contracting Covid-19.

We are reviewing these patients to ensure no harm will come to them by delaying their treatment.

A sign points the way to a NHS 111 Coronavirus Pod at The Royal London Hospital / AFP via Getty Images

The trust said only the most urgent operations would go ahead but maternity appointments at Queens  one of the capitals busiest hospitals  would continue.

A total of 129 deaths across London had been declared by NHS England by 9am yesterday, although it is thought there is a lag of up to 48 hours in deaths being reported  meaning there may already be dozens more.

Yesterdays official figures included the first deaths at the Royal Free London trust, which runs the Royal Free in Hampstead, Barnet General and Chase Farm in Enfield. There was also a first death at Kingston hospital.

Only two of the 18 London trusts with A&Es have so far not recorded a coronavirus death  The Whittington, in Archway, and Hillingdon, the main hospital for Boris Johnsons Uxbridge constituency.

The Royal Free trust, where four deaths were announced yesterday, today banned visitors.

People wearing masks as a precautionary measure against Covid-19 leave Northwick Park Hospital / AFP via Getty Images

Great Ormond Street childrens hospital has increased the capacity of its paediatric intensive care unit and has opened its general wards to children being treated at other hospitals. It does not treat adults but the move allows other hospitals to use vacated childrens wards and paediatric staff to treat adults.

Today, doctors on the frontline of Londons NHS continued to warn of a lack of protective equipment. They said patients were dying of cardiac or respiratory arrest because of the time it takes medics to put on protective hazmat suits.

They expressed concern at the knock-on impact on other patients such as those suffering heart attacks, due to the focus on coronavirus.

For every person who is getting ill with Covid, it feels there is someone who is getting really suboptimal care, one medic said.

People wearing face masks leave Northwick Park Hospital / AFP via Getty Images

A junior doctor working in A&E at a major London hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Standard: I think its important people understand how awful it is at the hospital, because its hard to imagine. You often feel very powerless and overwhelmed by just the stealthy nature of what we are seeing.

"It feels like almost every single patient we see has it. A whole new A&E for non-Covid patients has had to be opened in a different ward.

Only two A&E doctors that I know are currently off sick. But I actually think we are touching the surface here We are going to need support for a long time...When doctors start being off work in droves it is going to be really rough.

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, co-founder of the grassroots Doctors Association UK, said: A month ago we warned the Government in the Evening Standard about doctors concerns that the NHS was not well prepared. It seems doctors were canaries in the coal mine after-all.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Nargiz Sadikhova  Trend:

Fifty-one Kazakh citizens were returned to the country from Azerbaijan over the period from March 18, 2020 till March 22, 2020, Kazakhstans embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend.

Kazakh citizens were returned with the help of Kazakhstans embassy in Baku and state authorities of Azerbaijan.

Thus, over the period from March 19 till March 22, 41 person arrived from Baku Port to Aktau via a ferry. Ten Kazakh citizens returned to the country by plane from Baku via Moscow to three Kazakh cities: Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Atyrau. On March 23, 2020, 13 more Kazakh citizens departed from Baku to Aktau port, the embassy said.

By a decision of State Commission on Provision of Emergency State under the president of Kazakhstan quarantine regime has been introduced in Kazakhstans Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities at 00:00 (GMT +6) on March 19, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.

First two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 68 people.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.

As of today, over 381,500 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 16,500. Meanwhile, over 101,800 people have reportedly recovered.

Several countries are working on a vaccine against the new virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Lockdowns imposed to control the coronavirus have battered Chinas appetite for everything from coal to copper, pushing stockpiles of raw materials higher and global prices lower. The next crunch could come from supply. The risk of an outbreak is growing in ill-prepared producer countries, with mandatory quarantines and border shutdowns threatening to choke off production.

Prices of bulk commodities are already seeing some support from such disruptions, as ports and mines close. Coking coal in particular has outperformed owing in part to Mongolias decision in late January to seal its border with China, which cut off a key source of supply. The impact may be only short term. With factory shutdowns spreading through the U.S. and Europe, the reduction in wider metals supply would need to be dramatic to offset crumbling global demand. Upheaval could provide some price support regardless.

Appetite for virtually all commodities has slumped since January, when the extent of damage from the novel coronavirus became clear. Even where mills, smelters and factories stayed open, that largely translated into crammed warehouses. Chinas industrial production, investment and retail sales for the first two months of the year plunged across the board, with construction particularly weak. Chinas economy is now all but certain to contract in the first quarter from a year earlier.

With European automakers and other manufacturers shuttering operations, the drop in commodity demand in the first three months is likely to be even worse than during the global financial crisis. Steel demand will fall more than a fifth, copper will slide 14% and aluminum almost a third, analysts at BMO Capital Markets estimate.

It hasnt helped futures prices that the latest wave of closures is coming as we head into the second quarter, usually a peak period for demand. China, by contrast, was worse hit during the quieter Lunar New Year. Copper, a bellwether of confidence in global manufacturing, has tumbled to four-year lows of around $4,800 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.

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Travel and quarantine restrictions have already damaged supply, making it harder for miners to fly employees in and out and impeding projects under construction. Perus quarantine has already prompted Anglo American Plc to stop all nonessential work at its $5 billion Quellaveco project and withdraw most of the sites 10,000 staff and contractors. Canadas Teck Resources Ltd. has suspended work at its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 in Chile, while Rio Tinto Group says work has slowed on its underground mine at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia.Lockdowns may be even more severe. Copper mines are among the worst affected as Chile and Peru, the worlds top two producers, scramble to contain the virus, prompting Anglo American, Antofagasta and others to send staff home. Chilean state behemoth Codelco will work at reduced capacity for two weeks, while workers at BHP Groups Escondida, the worlds largest copper mine, threatened action to compel the company to take more preventative steps. The miner said Saturday it would reduce the number of contractors onsite. Analysts at Bank of Nova Scotia estimate a two-week halt in operations in those two countries would amount to 325,000 tons of lost production  roughly 4% of their combined annual output. This serves to underline the geographical concentration of a handful of key materials. Lithium is produced mainly in Chile and Australia, while iron-ore exports are dominated by Australia and Brazil. The price surge after last years Vale SA dam disaster shows what a port closure could do to the iron-ore market, though such a move appears unlikely given the huge budget contribution that the material makes to Brazil and Australia.

Many producer countries are developing economies and ill-equipped to handle an epidemic that has floored even the worlds richest nations. In Brazil, the response has been patchy at best, with some states taking measures that are increasingly at odds with the federal government. Poorly implemented lockdowns, as seen in the Philippines, could push thousands of casual workers out of cities in search of work in more remote areas  potentially extending the spread.

If more drawbridges are raised, expect supplies from explosives and tires to heavy equipment to get blocked, hampering even mining operations that could otherwise keep going. In the meantime, low prices will hurt some higher-cost projects, though rock-bottom prices for oil, a significant input, will cushion the blow. This will affect smaller producers first, given the healthy balance sheets of big miners. Still, operations like Rios Pacific Aluminium, or pricey U.S. copper mines, look vulnerable.

Demand was the first part of an unprecedented crunch for the global commodities industry. The second act is only beginning.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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BAD AXE  Huron County Board of Commissioners Chairman Sami Khoury has decided to further close buildings owned by the county to the public until April 13.

The decision comes as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order directing Michiganders to stay in their homes unless they are a part of the critical infrastructure workforce, engaged in an outdoor activity, or performing tasks necessary to the health and safety of themselves or their family. The statewide shutdown has been extended by a week to April 13.

Because of the executive order, the commissioners could only tackle items on their agenda that were considered essential, such as paying the bills and granting medical requests to county employees.

Non-essential actions, such as appointing new members to the planning commission, approving a settlement to a grievance of a county employee, and thanking Lowell and Beth McDonald for their community support, have been postponed to a later meeting.

Khoury said he would leave it up to the department heads to conduct their own business regarding which employees are essential, how many employees should be in at one time, who can work remotely, assure their employees would be paid, and to make sure there are no shared spaces in any of the offices.

There would still be at least one person in the county clerks office in order to keep the countys finances going.

The meeting itself was held at the Expo Center on the Huron County Fairgrounds in order for the commissioners and members of the public who attended to maintain a six-foot distance from each other.

Steve Allen, the public guardian for Huron County, said that he received calls from Michigan State Police concerning the legality of the meeting in light of the executive order, along with the number of people gathered committing misdemeanors as they are congregating contrary to the law.

The executive order prohibits all public and private gatherings of any number of persons outside of a single household.

He said the commissioners themselves were not violating the states Open Meetings Act.

Khoury said the commissioners would consider holding their next meeting through virtual means due to the changes the governor made to the Open Meetings Act which allow for them through April 15.

Khoury was initially against the idea of having a virtual meeting, feeling that face to face contact is better. He changed his mind after realizing that such contact could endanger peoples lives.
A simple card game provided community and a career in public service for Bryan Barnett. He hadnt found inspiration for his scholastic studies until he was invited to join a card game at lunch. It didnt seem transformational at the time, but he said yes, met a group of people That led me to becoming the student body president among the myriad of other leadership roles in the university. The seemingly simple invitation ended up paving his path into serving his community as a public servant.

The mayor has used his community of Rochester Hills, Mich., and his community of peer mayors to build a city with high marks for its business prospects, safety, fire department and more. While he was the youngest person in the nation to be elected mayor of a city with a population greater than 50,000, Bryan Barnett attributes his citys many successes to the great team he has in Rochester Hills that focuses on innovation, infrastructure and inclusion.

Even despite the uncertainty and fear of the coronavirus pandemic thats affecting the nation, Mayor Barnett believes that combating COVID-19 will require a local, state, national and global response that would be impossible without the notion of community. As social distancing creates feelings of isolation and loneliness, Mayor Barnett is inspired by his constituents that create community through their tremendous optimism and willingness to help.

Listen to the full interview to hear Bryan Barnett discuss glow-in-the-dark sidewalks, the importance of being invited, and how mayors across the nation are "In the Arena" together during this coronavirus pandemic.Governing
The Kerala government has appointed 276 doctors in the health department to strengthen its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the backdrop of rising cases in the state.

The doctors were selected by the state Public Service Commission from the existing rank list and appointed to be the part of the health ministry to fight the coronavirus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post.

Kerala went in for a total lockdown from midnight on Monday with 28 new positive cases, the highest on a single day, being reported, taking the total number of people under treatment in the state to 91 and over 64,000 under surveillance.

"Appointment has been given to 276 doctors, who were in the rank list of the PSC. The doctors were appointed to carry out the preventive measures and plans prepared by the health department," Vijayan said.

State health minister K K Shailaja said the appointments were made after conducting counselling through video conferencing.

"We will also appoint other paramedical staff," she said in a release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Now more than ever is a time to reflect on memories. On how we were living our life and whats most important. Many of us are currently learning to live with less due to the impact of the coronavirus, and missing our day-to-day life.

For me, its really forced me to look back on times with my friends and amazing memories that we will always hold, especially with not being able to see them at the moment. Everything going on in the world has shown me just how important those memories are and how experiences are what truly makes life worth living. I was thinking about one of my favorite memories with two of my friends in the best city to have a girls' trip, Paris.

Checking In

When I traveled to Paris, my girlfriends and I were fortunate enough to have a place to stay -- my friend's mom was currently working there and had an apartment a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower. However, if that wasnt the case I had my eye on the stunning Amour hotels, where art and fashion meet. The Hotel Grand Amour particularly caught my attention with its pink, girly vibe, perfect for a girlfriends' getaway.

Activities

Visiting the Eiffel Tower is crucial for your first time in the city, and making the effort to actually climb it, and taking in stunning views of the entire city of Paris, should absolutely be top priority. Ill admit I wanted to take the lazy way out and ride the elevator to the top instead of climbing the 704 steps to the second floor of the tower thats open to the public. One of the girls that I visited Paris with is a spin instructor and with her encouragement, I challenged myself to make the climb; it made the view at the top that much sweeter knowing I had earned it. Later in the evening, we were looking for a cafe to have dinner and stumbled upon dancing lessons near the Eiffel Tower. My friends and I had a blast learning some new dance moves with the best view in the world.

The popular Love Lock Bridge doesnt have to just be for couples. Friends can lock in their love and throw away the key, too! We noticed once we were there that some even take it as far as getting locks engraved, but you can buy one there for cheap and write on it. We did, writing our names on the lock and clicked it shut onto the Pont de Arts Bridge before tossing the key into the water.

There are so many stunning historical sites to see in Paris. While you have your popular destinations -- from the Louvre museum, the grand Palace of Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe -- taking a sunset river cruise on the Seine for an hour is an amazing way to see some exteriors of the sites quickly like La Conciergerie, Notre Dame cathedral, Musee dOrsay, and more. You can bond, relax, and chat.

In my opinion, you should never go to another country without some kind of a travel plan. Youll want to know some of the activities that you really want to do or things you want to see ahead of time, but don't forget to keep your eyes open for unexpected moments. You have to have those moments where you grab crepes from a cart for an impromptu picnic, sip wine at a hole-in-the-wall cafe, or stop by the river to watch someone perform magic tricks to those passing by. Those are truly some of the best times!

Dining

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In Paris, you always need to leave room for dessert (or, just have it first)! Whether youre sharing macarons at Pierre Herme or Laduree or indulging in a huge pastry at Angelina Chocolate and Treats, you and your girls will need to plan on splurging with a delicious cup of coffee and plenty of treats to split.

George V Cafe is a great lunch spot with a generous portion of foie gras and jam. If youre craving a huge raw seafood platter or some very tasty duck confit, you can split a few dishes at LAlsace. They have everything from the familiar oysters, prawns, and clams to the lesser known cockles, whelks, winkles.

If youre looking for somewhere truly special to have dinner, check out La Causerie. Everything was amazing and memorable. The star of the meal was definitely the Parisian cabbage gnocchi. It was so soft and pillowy, with amazing flavor. The snails cooked in Burgundy wine with parsley butter were earthy with a hearty chew and great flavor from the parsley and the potent wine.

In America, youre often kind of rushed at restaurants that want the tables turned over. In Europe, I noticed you can take your time and bond over the food. The staff spaces the arrival of each dish, letting you enjoy each one fully and giving you time to discuss it before getting the next course. We actually spent so long at one cafe, sipping wine and sharing a cheese plate that when we left we noticed that it was 1 a.m.! We were able to catch the very last light show at the Eiffel Tower before they black out the tower, so all you see are the sparkles filling in the tower in the night sky. Its a magical thing!

Jessica Kelly is a food and travel writer from Buffalo. Follow her on Instagram @adventures.are.waiting
By PTI

BEIJING: China reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities were confirmed from the COVID-19, health officials said on Tuesday.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of Monday.

This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday.

The NHC said, 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad taking the number of overseas cases to 427.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Also on Monday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

The total COVID-19 cases in Beijing climbed to 522 with eight deaths prompting local governments of Beijing as well as Shanghai to announce that all overseas arrivals will be subjected to nucleic acid tests to ensure proper detection.

Of the 74 newly imported cases, 31 were reported in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, nine in Shanghai, five in Fujian, four in Tianjin, three in Jiangsu, two in Zhejiang and Sichuan respectively, and one in Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong and Chongqing respectively, the NHC said.

Beijing is already diverting all international flights to different cities where the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days before arriving in the city.

ALSO READ: China ready to provide assistance to control coronavirus spread in India

The NHC said 132 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Coronavirus epicentre Wuhan has reported one confirmed case after a gap of five days prompting officials to begin to ease restrictions.

Wuhan also reported seven new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the city and Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital to 3,160.

The province also saw 444 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Monday.

Among the 4,200 patients being treated in hospital, 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, the local health commission said.

By the end of Monday, 356 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, which has restricted the entry of foreigners into the city.

Also a total of 25 confirmed cases were reported in Macao and 195 in Taiwan including two deaths, state-run Xinhua news agency reporrted.

After days of decline in coronavirus cases, China on Monday said that COVID-19 has effectively been "stemmed" in the country and it started easing severe restrictions imposed on Wuhan's 11 million people who were under lockdown since January 23.

The authorities began relaxing restrictions in Wuhan as it reported no new case for the fifth consecutive day on Monday.

Significantly, the Central Leading Group (CLP), headed by Premier Li Keqiang which is coordinating efforts to contain the virus since January 23, said the virus has been curtailed in the country as well as in Wuhan.

"The meeting noted that the spread of the virus nationwide, particularly in the epicentre of Wuhan, has been effectively stemmed," an official statement said on Monday.

The meeting, however, warned that the risks for sporadic infections and localised outbreaks have not gone away.

With the pandemic rampaging across the world, the situation remains complex and challenging.

"Wuhan city and Hubei province should stay focused on medical treatment and community-level containment as the two key priorities.

They should continue to treat the severe cases, promptly admit new cases, and advance epidemiological investigations," the meeting said.

In Wuhan, officials said people are allowed to go back to work while restrictions on the public transport are gradually being eased.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan with over 56 million people were under lockdown since January 23.

The vicious virus broke out in city, reportedly at a live animal market in December last year and became virulent inflicting thousands of people in the city and province catching the government off guard.

As the country saw a surge in imported infections, the Chinese government announced that all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities from Monday.

International passengers flying to Beijing will instead land at airports in 12 cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenyang as their first points of entry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.

On Monday, China said international travellers should "think twice" about choosing Beijing for flight transfer in view of the restrictions.

Starting from Monday, all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities, Liu Haitao, an official with China's National Immigration Administration said.

Passengers would go through entry procedures and quarantine measures at the designated cities' airports before they continue their flights to Beijing, Liu said, urging travellers to reserve enough time for their next flights to make sure that they do not miss their outbound flights.
(Newser)  Facing a challenge from a man sentenced to death for killing four people, the US Supreme Court responded Monday by upholding one of the country's strictest laws on insanity pleas. James Kahlerwho claimed he was suffering from depression when he killed his two daughters, their mother, and their great-grandmother in 2009was blocked from pleading insanity at his Kansas trial, as a 1996 state law prevents a person from claiming they didn't know their acts were wrong due to mental illness. "A state rule about criminal liability ... violates due process only if it 'offends some principal of justice so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people, as to be ranked as fundamental,'" Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a 6-3 decision, per Courthouse News. But "no insanity rule in this country's heritage or history was ever so settled." This ruling upheld the Kansas Supreme Court's finding that "due process does not mandate that a State adopt a particular insanity test."

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Kagan noted "Kansas takes account of mental health at both trial and sentencing. It has just not adopted the particular insanity defense Kahler would like." A discussion "about how far, and in what ways, mental illness should excuse criminal conduct" is welcome "as new medical knowledge emerges and as legal and moral norms evolve." But "it is a project for state governance, not constitutional law." Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer dissented. Breyer wrote that Kansas "has eliminated the core of a defense that has existed for centuries," per the New York Times. In other decisions shared on the court's websitea change amid the COVID-19 pandemicthe court sided with North Carolina in a copyright fight, as well as favored Comcast in sending a racial discrimination lawsuit back to a lower court, per USA Today. (Arguments are now postponed.)
Police have praised a bystander for his bravery in chasing down a woman who had allegedly stabbed a seven-year-old girl to death in a park.

The child was attacked in front of her parents while she was out in Queen's Park in Bolton 'enjoying the spring sun' with her family on Mother's Day.

The seven-year-old sustained 'horrendous injuries' - believed to be to her neck - and died a short time later despite the 'best efforts' of her family and paramedics.

Pictured: Police parked at a cordoned-off entrance to Queen's Park, Bolton where a seven-year-old girl died on Sunday after being stabbed

A 30-year-old woman was detained by a member of the public until officers from Greater Manchester police arrived and was later held under the Mental Health Act.

The woman was initially arrested on suspicion of murder, but police said at the time they were investigation a history of mental illness.

Police said the suspect is not known to the family of the seven-year-old.

The force insisted the criminal investigation is ongoing and it will work with the Crown Prosecution Service to consider the evidence and seek charges if it is appropriate.

The tragic youngster's distraught family has been informed of the decision.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said: 'The woman arrested at the scene of the attack on the little girl in Bolton has now been detained under the Mental Health Act.

An Air Ambulance arrives at Queen's Park in Bolton after a seven-year-old girl was stabbed

'We have informed the family of the woman's detention.

'They are understandably distraught over what happened yesterday and we will continue to support them with family liaison officers in the coming months.

'It is hard to describe how terrible this incident was, the attack happened in front of the parents of this little girl who had taken her out yesterday afternoon to enjoy the spring sun and play in the park.

'Having seen this horrendous attack, a member of the public bravely chased after the woman and detained her until police arrived and arrested her.

'I would like to thank him for his actions which enabled us to quickly arrest her and prevent anything else from happening.

'Several officers who attended the park were very young in service in the police, some with only weeks on independent police patrol.

'They and all the officers who went to the scene are incredibly upset over what has happened and all of us have this little girl and her family in our thoughts.

'I want to stress that this is not an end to the criminal investigation, we will consider the evidence and consult with the Crown Prosecution Service and if appropriate we will be seeking criminal charges.'

Witness Kelly Roscoe said on Facebook: 'Me and Lee have just taken Ava for some fresh air in Queen's Park and have just witnessed a little girl being given CPR with two adults stood covered in blood.

'Police, ambulance and helicopters everywhere covering the park!!!'

All entrances to the park were taped off and families were told to leave the area as forensic officers carried out investigations at the scene

Kyra Coop said she watched two police officers 'running as fast as they could' across the park, before another child told her a girl had been stabbed.

'We were sat on the benches near the railings, close to the big car park and the kids were playing when we saw two police officers running across the park as fast as they could,' she said.

'Then we saw the big [air] ambulance hovering over and landing. You know when you see that it is something serious.

'Then a girl ran over and said a little girl had been stabbed. The police started coming round and asking everyone to leave, and that's what we did. It left us really shaken up. We had to reassure the kids as they were really upset.'

Another witness, Paula Whylie, said she had watched an Air Ambulance land in the park from a nearby hospice room.

'It's all taped off now,' she added. 'If what I'm reading is right we are living in a sad, sad world.'

Others described 'at least ten' police cars descending on the park, with 'both main entrances' closed and the rest 'cordoned off'.

The park had been busy with families enjoying the weekend sunshine despite Government advice to avoid public gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Officers are asking witnesses to come forward.
EU to begin accession talks with Albania and N. Macedonia Unanimous decision, dates not yet set

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MARCH 24 - EU ministers on Tuesday agreed to the beginning of accession talks for Albania and North Macedonia. The agreement was reached unanimously by all 27 member states in a video conference. The date for the opening of talks have not yet been set. The historic decision came after three postponements in two years and resistance from France and the Netherlands. The decision was reportedly reached in light of the progress achieved by both Albania and North Macedonia in reforms requested by the EU in fundamental rights, rule of law, justice and neighbourhood relations. As Montenegro started in 2012 and Serbia in 2014, there are now four Western Balkan nations involved in accession talks with the EU. (ANSAmed).




Swiss-Irish food group Aryzta has said it expects the coronavirus to have a material effect on its performance this year, as it reduces staff to help cut costs.

While trading in its most recent three month period has been in line with market guidance up to 15 March, conditions and prospects have since deteriorated, it said in a trading update.

The Kevin Toland-headed group said it is now clear that COVID-19 will have a material impact on its performance in financial year 2020.

We cannot reasonably gauge what consequences will result from the situation as neither the duration nor the depth of this issue can be fully assessed at this point in time, Aryzta said.

Aryzta said it has full business continuity plans in place and active where necessary to maintain service levels and to meet its customers expectations.

In Europe, its quick service restaurant  which accounts for 10pc of its European revenue  and foodservice have been strongly impacted by a significantly reduced footfall following government related restrictions.

Retail is performing well in the market, with a small uplift coming from this channel.

A similar pattern is now visible in the major states of the US, the company said.

Elsewhere, in the rest of the world, the food service channel, particularly in South East Asia is being strongly impacted, the statement from Aryzta added.

The company said it is taking decisive action to maximise its cash, reduce costs and maintain a strong liquidity position.

Among the cost saving measures it is implementing is a reduction in the working hours and workforce in the most impacted countries.

The company, which makes the burger buns for McDonalds, did not provide detail on the number of staff being let go.

However, two of its smaller plants in Europe had been closed and there is an ongoing evaluation of further shuttering of plants and lines.

The company has no material debt maturities over the coming 18-month period.
The authentic looking email from the World Health Organization isn't real at all but rather clever spam meant to steal personal information.

Callers claiming to be Medicaid and Medicare representatives are offering so-called free COVID-19 tests  as long as you pay with a credit card for shipping.

And then there's the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking for donations, except it's not the CDC, but a fake website.

Corporate security and consumer officials say these recent examples to exploit the pandemic are just the beginning of a tsunami of fraud.

"Two ingredients of a good scam are fear and confusion, and we have both of those right now," said Adam Garber, consumer watchdog at U.S. PIRG, a federation of public interest research groups. "So, it's a playground for people who want to take advantage of others."

IBM last week discovered a particularly malicious email spam campaign that mimics the World Health Organization. But that's where it ends. "It is remarkable how threat actors play with the fears and hopes of their potential victims," IBM's internal security team said in an alert. "Speaking of prevention drugs and cures in an email that is spoofed to appear directly from the Director of the WHO, in this current situation is expected to be highly successful."

The company's alert said victims' computers are infected and "face the loss of critical personal information. This can have even more damaging consequences once their financial information is stolen and exposed."

According to an analysis by IBM's X-Force, a security research team within IBM Security, the number one country where the coronavirus spam emails are coming from is Vietnam. That's followed by the United States, China, India and Russia.

The spike from Vietnam followed a fake email campaign over the weekend that asked for contributions to a fake WHO bitcoin wallet.

"Criminals don't care about geographic borders. When you have an established population that's good with technology, you are going to have technological criminals as well," said Charles Henderson, global managing partner for IBM who heads X-Force Red, an autonomous team of veteran hackers in the company's internal security unit. The group discovers vulnerabilities for IBM clients.
[March 24, 2020] Brunei taking steps to improve the unified national telecom network

Sydney, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Brunei Darussalam outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Brunei-Darussalam-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Brunei is a small and wealthy nation in South East Asia, with a population of about 430,000. Telecommunications infrastructure and services throughout the country are of a generally high standard, bolstered by a high GDP per capita which has allowed for considerable investment in networks and services. In BuddeComms Asian Telecoms Maturity Index, which measures the relative maturity of the telecoms industry in all of the 34 countries in Asia, Brunei is ranked 10th with a Telecoms Maturity Index score of 55.4 (out of 100). In 2019 Bruneis telecom infrastructure was regrouped under a single entity, the Unified National Networks (UNN). The networks of the three telcos (Telekom Brunei, Datastream Technology, and Progresif Cellular), all owned by Darussalam Asset, were incorporated within UNN and each now provides retail services with equal access to the national network, which became a subsidiary of Darussalam Asset. The Brunei International Gateway (BIG) also came under UNNs umbrella. During the last five years the number of mobile subscribers has increased steadily, though growth has slowed in response to higher penetration. Growth during the next few years will be supported by lower pricing for end-users expected to result from the UNN, as well as the launch of 5G services in 2021. These developments will also boost the mobile broadband sector. Key developments UNN created to provide a national telecom infrastructure;

All three telcos granted global licenses.

5G services anticipated in 2021;

TelBru rebrands as Imagine, launches mobile services;

Number Portability services are launched;

Brunei gains access to telecom services via the Kacific-1 satellite;

Report update includes the regulators market data for 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments. Companies mentioned in this report Imagine (Telekom Brunei/TelBru); DSTCom; B-Mobile; Progresif (Progresif Cellular); Darussalam Assets Table of Contents Key Statistics

Regional Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market Market analysis

Regulatory environment Regulatory authority Telecom Sector Liberalisation Privatisation Regulatory developments

Mobile market Mobile statistics Mobile broadband statistics

Fixed-line broadband market Broadband statistics National Broadband Blueprint Brunei International Gateway (BIG) High Speed Broadband (HSBB) Wi-Fi

Fixed network operators Imagine (Telekom Brunei/TelBru) DST Group Progressif (Progresif Cellular/B-Mobile)

Telecommunications infrastructure National telecom network The UNN Public payphones International Infrastructure Trans-Borneo Optical Cable Network Submarine cable networks Satellite networks Data centres Smart infrastructure

Digital Economy e-Services E-Commerce E-Government BruCERT ICT Rural Outreach Program (iROP)

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities  Brunei  2020 (e)

Table 2  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 3  Change in the number of mobile subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 4  Change in the share of mobile subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 5  Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Table 6  Change in the market share of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Table 7  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2010  2024

Table 8  Change in handset and USB dongle mobile broadband penetration - 2012 - 2019

Table 9  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 10  Growth in international internet bandwidth  2009 - 2017

Table 11  Change in the number of fixed lines and teledensity  2009  2024

Table 12  Historic - DSTCom mobile subscribers  1999  2009

Table 13  Historic - Progresif - mobile subscribers  2005  2009

Table 14  Historic - Mobile subscribers by operator  2005  2009

Table 15  Historic - Share of mobile market share by subscribers  2005  2009

Table 16  Historic - International internet bandwidth  1999 - 2009 List of Charts Chart 1  Asian Telecoms Maturity Index by Market Category

Chart 2  Asian Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 3  Telecoms Maturity Index  South East Asia

Chart 4  Mobile, mobile broadband and fixed broadband penetration  2019; 2024

Chart 5  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 6  Change in the number of mobile subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Chart 7  Change in the share of mobile subscribers by operator  2005  2019

Chart 8  Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 9  Change in the market share of prepaid and contract subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 10  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2010  2024

Chart 11  Change in handset and USB dongle mobile broadband penetration - 2012 - 2019

Chart 12  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 13  Change in the number of fixed lines and teledensity  2009  2024

Chart 14  Mobile subscriber and mobile broadband penetration rates in countries benefitting from the Kacific-1 satellite List of Exhibits Exhibit 1  Key market characteristics by market segment

Exhibit 2  South East Asia - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Exhibit 3  Major submarine cables with landing points in Brunei Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Brunei-Darussalam-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Nicolas Bombourg [email protected] Within Australia (02) 8076 7665 Outside Australia +44 207 097 1241

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Srinagar, March 24 : After two more persons tested positive on Tuesday for COVID-19 taking the tally to seven, the authorities in the Kashmir Valley asked people not to panic.

One of the two locals who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday in Srinagar had travel history abroad while the other was in direct contact with people who came to India from abroad.

Authorities had advised people not to panic in light of this development as adequate precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of the residents in Srinagar city and other parts of the union territory.

"People are advised to strictly observe the restrictions and stay home so that the spread of the virus is checked and the number of affected persons is kept at the lowest", officials said.

A resident of Natipora uptown locality of Srinagar city, who tested positive, had travelled to Srinagar from Saudi Arabia in the same flight on March 16 in which the woman who tested positive earlier had travelled.

The other infected patient, belonging to the Hyderpora locality of Srinagar, had been part of an Islamic preaching group that included others from Indonesia and Malaysia.

It is feared that the one local who tested positive and belonged to the Hyderpora locality could have come into contact with many others after he arrived back home.

With two more cases testing positive, the number of such cases in the valley has risen to three while the total number in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to seven.
With coronavirus cases rapidly increasing in the southern state, Kerala crossed the 100-mark with 14 new cases being reported on Tuesday, taking the total number of people undergoing treatment to 105.

A health worker was among those infected by the virus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting.

The Chief Minister said the situation in the northernmost Kasaragod district was worrisome as six more positive cases were detected.

Six cases were reported from Kasaragod, three from Kozhikode, one each from Malappuram, Palakkad, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts, he said.

At least 72,460 people were under observation besides 467 in isolation wards of various hospitals, the chief minister said.

Even though the lockdown was imposed from Monday midnight, people were not cooperating and many were seen moving around in their private vehicles, he said.

Vijayan asked people not to undertake any travel unless in case of emergency.

"Today is the first day of lockdown in the state. This is a first in the state. We need to understand the seriousness of the matter.

But many people were wandering around unnecessarily... it seems like people are not interested in following the directions. Many ventured out today," he said.

Those who come out in their private vehicles should submit an affidavit on the purpose of travel and other details.

"The permission for private vehicles are for emergency purposes only. People are considering it as an opportunity.

We have decided to gather the details of such vehicles, the name and address of the driver, the purpose of travel, destination and time of return in an affidavit format," he said.

Those who give false information will be caught and legal action will be taken, he added.

Vijayan also warned traders who "exploit the situation" and increase prices of essential articles and said regular inspections will take place and violators booked.

The Left leader said the state government will take care of the destitute people and the local self-governments (LSG) would play a vital role in tackling the pandemic.

"At some places there are many who don't have own place to sleep. Some rest in front of shops or on the street.

Such people will be identified by the LSGs and necessary steps will be taken to provide them accommodation and food," he said.

With the possibility of more cases surfacing, the state government has issued directions to legislators in the state to identify the buildings or houses which could be used as isolation wards in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, prohibitory orders have been issued in at least seven districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Pathnamthitta and Ernakulam.

At least 402 cases have been registered in Kerala on Tuesday against those who violated the lockdown.

The highest of 123 cases were registered in registered in Thiruvananthapuram district followed by Kollam 70 and Ernakulam 69, sources said.

Four patients who tested positive had been treated and discharged earlier-- three from Wuhan and one from Kannur.

Thrissur district has the most number of people under observation, 10,908, followed by Malappuram with 9,898.

The worst hit Kasaragod district with 45 positive COVID-19 cases has 2,736 people under observation of which 85 are in isolation wards.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In order to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, many countries around the world have moved to a complete lockdown situation. Amidst this, the Central European country has closed its borders to foreign citizens and shut down schools. However, this does not stop Hungarians who have decided to help the elderly and vulnerable, in the trying times.

A person named Milan Varga, who had been saving for more than three years, to open his small pizzeria, reportedly told the media that finally he has opened it in Budapest, on 16th March. However, there were no customers, as the streets were empty, due to the coronavirus outbreak, as per reports. Varga had lots of ingredients stocked up, so he decided to change his plans and joined a number of Hungarians who are responding to the crisis with acts of kindness. He is now delivering free pizzas to the elderly who have to self-isolate in their homes.

Free pizzas

The boy reportedly told the media that if he cannot sell pizzas then he can at least help those in need by giving them free pizzas if they voluntarily put themselves into quarantine, and so, he is trying to look after them and make sure they stay at home. Varga is now delivering half of his daily pizza output free, as per reports.

READ: White House, Media Team Up For Virus Public Service Campaign

Apart from this, members of the Facebook group Budapest Airbnb community for the health workers, which now has more than 1,200 members, have been offering their flats to nurses and other healthcare workers who have chosen to self-isolate to protect their families. Budapest had more than 10,000 Airbnb flats before the crisis hit, however, the business collapsed overnight as tourists disappeared, as per reports.

Viktoria Hojer-Szabo, who owns three Airbnb flats in Budapest, reportedly told that those who can help the ones who are doing the actual work, should help with action, money, with kind words, as per reports. A nurse from Budapests central hospital treating coronavirus patients lives in one of her flats. So far 43 healthcare workers have moved into vacant Airbnb flats, as per reports.

On Lake Balaton, which is Hungarys main summer holiday destination, Gergely Toth, manager of the Sunshine hotel in the town of Siofok, has offered hotel rooms to Hungarians who have returned from work abroad and have had to go into two-week quarantine.

READ: Balkans Fights Virus Amid Lack Of Doctors, Medical Supplies

In addition to this, more and more Hungarians have decided to help the elderly and vulnerable, as well as healthcare workers who will bear the brunt of the crisis. The coronavirus pandemic continues to spread fear among people. In the past few weeks, countries around the world have moved to a complete lockdown situation, where people are being advised to stay indoors as much as possible to contain the contagion. This has forced people to distance themselves socially, as per reports.

READ: White House, Media Team Up For Virus Public Service Campaign

READ: Trump: Act To Marshal Private Sector Against Virus
By PTI

NEW DELHI: As people continue to venture out despite lockdown, the Centre has advised state governments and union territory administrations to impose curfew wherever necessary in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday.

A top functionary of the central government has called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been conveyed that public gatherings could lead to an escalation of the prevailing situation as so far nearly 500 positive cases have been reported from different parts of the country.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.

The move came as 32 states and union territories announced complete lockdown to deal with the pandemic.

Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

The states and UTs which have imposed lockdown in all districts include Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland.

The others include Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Daman Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka and Assam.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, meanwhile, has written a letter to State Chief Secretaries, urging them to monitor the situation round the clock.

Gauba said additional restrictions, if necessary, may be imposed and all current restrictions must be enforced strongly.

All violations should be met with legal action, the cabinet secretary told the states and UTs.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also held a video conference with DGPs of all states and asked them to strictly implement the lockdown and take action against those who violate it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced strictly as he noted that many people were not following the measures seriously.

"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi on Monday.

According to the data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases.

The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, the Health Ministry said.

Seven deaths were earlier reported from Maharashtra (two), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab.

Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

The number of active cases at 446 saw an increase of 22 from last night's figure, it said.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31.
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Thinking about using the coronavirus as an angle to push shoppers to buy your beauty products or natural hand sanitizer? What about repositioning apparel as WFH style or insisting theres no better time to invest in luxury pajamas or blasting out images of Chrissy Teigen in self-quarantine, just to make sure everyone knows what brand her robe is and where they can buy it? Maybe just reminding people that they can get all the fashion they want online and delivered while theyre stuck at home?

For the sake of consumers now going through unprecedented global events started by a true pandemic, not to mention the future reputation of the brand you operate or represent, dont do it. And stop doing it if youre among the scores of brands already essentially crop-dusting shoppers, editors and the public at large with product promotions, dubious claims and all of the things we can and should be buying online while social distancing.

More from WWD

When people and companies start capitalizing on an opportunity like this, for the at-home shopper, it reeks of opportunism and strikes the wrong tone, said Ellen Niven, whos worked for many years in branding communications and cofounded the firm NivenBreen. People know they can shop online.

Yes, retailers and brands across the beauty, wellness and fashion space are facing widespread store closures and sales declines that are only expected to worsen, at least in the short term. But marketing experts agree that using the mass attention on COVID-19, or the coronavirus, as a marketing hook is, at best, unseemly. At worst it will actually harm a brand  even one with years of good marketing practices behind it.

Story continues

People looking right now for real information, like what do I do if I get sick, not well, since Im working from home I should buy new pajamas, Niven added. Pushing that is dead wrong.

It is OK for many companies to just be quiet right now and emphasize communication with employees, and individual, directly affected customers rather than mass outreach, she said.

The sheer number of brands e-mailing, often repeatedly, is also working against every one thats decided to do so. Inboxes are flooded with a mix of messages. Some are even signed by company chief executive officers and leadership, trying to seem empathetic, typically in bland, unaffecting terms. Some try to do that while mentioning how important it is to keep supporting business at a time like this (i.e. shop and spend money). Ultimately, its very likely for naught. Not least given that millions of people are already facing layoffs and an economic recession, at least in the U.S., is almost a certainty at this point.

It does start to feel not genuine, and like [theyre] taking advantage of the situation, said Cecilia Gates, ceo of Gates Creative, a creative agency. Its a time to step back. Everyone obviously is scared of what this is going to do to the economy, and consumers are holding purse strings tight right now, but we have to ride out these next few weeks and then take stock.

According to Gates, social selling is a better idea than push marketing for the time being, and getting creative on social media is likely the best way for brands to stay engaged with their communities and potentially generate sales.

I dont think you can do any push marketing right now, Gates said. As people are trying to stay connected, its all through social channels. Thats a way brands can still get out there, but in a more genuine way. Gates added that with budgets suddenly limited by coronavirus shutdowns, social marketing is going to become even more important.

Niven agreed that social media is the best bet for brands and companies to stay in touch with consumers and fans. Still, she does not recommend the blatant calls to shop and buy that have been rife over the last week or so. The same week companies and political leaders the world over told employees  those that could anyway  to work from home. Companies and people in service industries meanwhile, are taking stock of how likely their business is to survive at all.

Social media is a place where people and designers can be more personal, Niven said. A meaningful, personal message can lift spirits, for example Pierpaolo Piccioli standing strong for Italy. Personal connections are better at these times than corporate speak, which almost always reads as commercial.

Piccioli, the Italian creative director of Valentino, posted to Instagram a week ago an image of himself at home in Nettuno, Italy, surrounded by his sketch materials. His personal caption reads: Home. This country has overcome the toughest moments with pride, creativity and optimism. And so it will, once again. There is a time for moving and a time for staying still. Even at home our imagination can lead us anywhere. Such a serious situation will not stop us from dreaming. Our will is strong, our duty is to resist and we will keep on dreaming, harder than ever and we will rise stronger than ever.

He did not mention fashion, Valentino, or even the coronavirus by name, nor did he say what anyone should be doing during a time that no one knows quite how to deal with. Its been liked many thousands of more times than his typical posts, which tend to be focused on Valentino designs and related events.

Marketing is about understanding the consumer mind-set, Gates added, noting that when people are anxious it doesnt give them confidence to purchase.

Vic Drabicky, founder and ceo of strategy and branding agency January Digital, admitted that the coronavirus puts brands and companies in a difficult spot. They do need to keep in touch with consumers, to a degree. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no one right way, but there are hundreds of wrong ways to do it.

One good rule of thumb: Always err on the side of humanity.

Far too often, we think our businesses are far more important than they actually are, Drabicky said. While our respective businesses do play an important role in some of our lives, they typically arent that important to greater humanity. If your first thought is about the broader picture, that sentiment will trickle down and ensure your brand is acting appropriately.

Still, people deal with stress and anxiety in different ways. Retail therapy is as real as comfort eating. There are people, right now, buying non-essentials online, maybe even paying $450 for pajamas, as suggested by British Vogue last week.

For some, splurging on a non-essential purchase provides a much-needed break from the stress and anxiety they feel, Drabicky said. So while non-essential purchases might not be the most important thing, they still play a role in many peoples lives.

[Its not] a bad thing for brands to send tips and tricks for how to use their products, Gates said, or if youre stuck at home, use a hair mask. But itd be great if theyd be like, heres how you make your own hair mask  so its not just like, buy this product.'

But make no mistake, a coronavirus-themed anything is not the way to go. If you are running a Coronavirus Sale,' Drabicky said, you are doing it wrong.

Even the growing numbers of brands sending out e-mails for ways to pass the time, with their brand or not, walk a fine line between helpful and profiteering.

An example of the former is Great Jones, an online-only shop of branded cookery. The brand last week posted to Instagram that it was extending the hours of a program it started last year: a text hotline, Potline, for recipes and cooking advice. Again, the company did not mention the coronavirus, push its product or offer a discount code. And again, the post received thousands of likes compared to the more typical few hundred its posts get.

On the other end seems to be WelleCo, the beauty supplement company cofounded by model Elle Macpherson. For the last week  as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases soars in the West  the company has done nothing but promote on social and in e-mails its Super Elixir, leading with the products purported immune support and complex benefits. A 300 g sachet of which costs $80. In an e-mail sent as A note from Elle, Macpherson is quoted saying: In a time like this, we begin to appreciate more than ever the importance of our health and well-being As a trusted friend and formulator of WelleCos Super Elixir Greens, Dr. Simone Laubscher helped create our Super Booster Immune System Support with Kakadu Plum to help boost our system to stimulate a healthy immune response. The note goes on to promote and explain the purported benefits of both products, in the context of warding off illness, but without mentioning coronavirus by name.

There are scores of brands doing things similar to WelleCo and all are running the risk of turning off consumers, possibly for good.

Typically, people arent upset with brands pitching products in general, Drabicky said. But the second a brand crosses the invisible barrier by marketing themselves to trying to take advantage of a situation, its very hard to turn back.

Consumers can have a long memory, too.

We tend to remember the strongest link between two things and to forget details, said Erik Gordon, professor of marketing and business at the University of Michigan. If a brand links itself to the pandemic, that link may lead to an unconscious aversion to the brand, even if the details of the link are that the brand claimed it was doing something positive.

Beauty and wellness brands have been all over the map in terms of their marketing strategies in the past week alone. There was LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuittons decision to scrap luxury perfume production and make hand sanitizer  seen as a good call all around and one subsequently followed by LOreal and Coty. But there is also Los Angeles-based The Creme Shop, which last week promoted free N95 Face Masks with purchase of a sheet mask. The company later said it would also donate masks to hospitals.

Also on the questionable end, a brand called Save(urpretty)face pitched editors a cell phone filter with antimicrobial silver ions that keep your iPhone screen germ-free. And skin-care brand Recess sent out a public relations pitch patting itself on the back for not price gouging Bacteria Fighting Face Wipes, which contain benzalkonium chloride  something the brand claims can kill the flu virus, which experts contend may not be as effective as alcohol. The Centers for Disease Control recommends hand washing and hand sanitizing products contain at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective.

The Recess brand pitch read: While the big companies are price gouging, we want you to have what you need to take care of yourself and your family so we are cutting the price of our Bacteria Fighting Wipes for the duration of this public health issue (while supplies last). The price on the face wipes was lowered from $26 to $20.

Gordon noted that certain claims could be dangerous and illegal, especially if they claim to stop the spread of viruses without evidence. Some companies have already been officially warned for making such claims.

The Federal Trade Commission and Food & Drug Administration on March 9 issued warning letters to seven companies that were allegedly selling products that made deceptive or unfounded claims about treating COVID-19: Vital Silver; Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd.; N-ergetics; GuruNanda LLCl; Vivify Holistic Clinical; Herbal Amy LLC, and The Jim Bakker Show.

If a purely human approach and taking a step back from promotion doesnt seem right for a brand, what kind of marketing can work in a situation thats new for everyone and could go on for several weeks if not months?

Some fashion brands and designers are already shifting production to medical face masks and soon hospital gowns, while other companies like Alibaba, Apple, Nike, The Estee Lauder Cos., Facebook and many Italian fashion brands are donating millions of dollars and millions of masks and other medical supplies needed by hospital workers facing a critical shortage. While these efforts are not being pitched explicitly as marketing, doing something with a humanitarian bent certainly can create a positive halo effect for a brand. Facebook, having dealt with little but bad press for more than two years over its mishandling of user data, has even created a grant program for small businesses forced to close over coronavirus measures and the company said more efforts are in the works. For better or worse, companies are presented with an opportunity to generate a positive message and feeling around their business, if the moves strike consumers as genuine and not generated by self-interest.

Gates said that asking consumers directly what they want to see from a brand is fair game. Its a tactic that has so far been taken up by Rebecca Minkoff and Curie, the indie natural deodorant brand. On Monday, Minkoff made an Instagram post asking followers to let her know the best way for the brand to communicate. At Curie, the brand scrapped its social media calendar and asked customers what they wanted to see on social media. They want some entertainment and distraction. Theres enough corona content, said founder Sarah Moret.

Some p.r. firms took a similar approach, including NisonCo, and Juliette Levy PR, which both sent notes to editors acknowledging the widespread shift in circumstances and soliciting feedback on how editors would prefer to work for the time being.

That type of empathetic approach is something Gates recommends.

Successful brands will take into account what the mind-set is and what everyones feeling, Gates said. The brands that act like nothing has happened and continue to move forward  people wont connect with that brand.

Drabicky suggested brands can keep messaging around what they are doing, specifically, to help customers and their employees. Like extended return windows, increased online customer service (aiding both workers and consumers) and possibly even a promotion where a decent percentage of purchases go directly to furloughed store workers.

Something that shows you truly care about something greater than just your business  that resonates with consumers, Drabicky said.

For Niven, whos advising a number of brands right now, she said there can also be an emphasis on looking forward for brands in their messaging and outreach. That does not mean discount codes for mid-May, when social distancing mandates may be lifted, or other end of coronavirus-themed pushes. Rather, simple positive messages around events or happenings that are being rescheduled.

The phrase were using a lot is prudent but positive, Niven said. People want to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

For More, See:

Crisis Management Amid COVID-19: What Must Be Done

How People Editor in Chief Produces the U.S. Biggest Weekly Magazine From Home

Chinese Fashion Industry Leaders Offer Advice to Get Through Lockdown

WATCH: Can Fashion Influencers Be Sustainable?

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A man visiting a pharmacy in Italy. (La Presse/SIPA USA/PA Images)

A health expert has hit out at comparisons between the UK and Italys death rates from coronavirus, claiming they are not useful.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, University of Oxford, said the media was guilty of over interpretation of a single days numbers of deaths.

He described recent large daily increases as very worrying but not a surprise and said the numbers are too small and there are too few data points to make a direct comparison with Italy.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, as of Tuesday evening there have been a total of 6,820 confirmed deaths in Italy compared to 422 deaths in the UK.

A man wearing a face mask in London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown. (PA)

The over interpretation of a single days numbers of deaths that we saw on Saturday whereby people used the figures to claim we will be in the same situation as Italy in two weeks is not useful as the numbers are too small and there are too few data points, Professor Naismith said.

We use trends because we know there are margins of error in any single day. What is important to study the trend, not to live on the emotional rollercoaster of daily updates.

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

In both Italy and the UK, until recently, the growth in number of cases and deaths appeared to follow the same 1.3 exponential growth and this has been true almost everywhere else.

The way exponentials work is that it does not much matter about sampling in testing, you see the same rate of growth unless you keep changing your sampling method.

The figures on the death rate in Italy, do not necessarily prove that there has been a sudden or continuing wholesale break down of their health services.

There is a tragedy in Italy and the strain on their hospitals and staff all too obvious. The growth in the number of deaths and cases have followed a very similar pattern from the outset.

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So far, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 382,000 people worldwide, with at least 16,500 deaths.

In Italy, Spain and France, the pandemic is pushing national health systems to their breaking points.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country.

Officials said Monday the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier, offering some glimmer of hope.

The risks remain for doctors, nurses and others on the frontlines; Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the coronavirus die.
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Two men have been jailed for four years each for the violent street robbery of a victim who they had followed after spotting his Rolex watch.

Nathan Benson (22) and Harry Walsh (19) had earlier seen the victim in a Dublin city centre nightclub and had commented on him wearing the Rolex watch. During the attack the men pulled the watch, valued at 7,500, from the victim's wrist.

Benson of Woodfield, Scholarstown Road, Knocklyon, Dublin and Walsh of Woodfield, Knocklyon pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery on Wellington Quay, on October 22, 2017.

Judge Melanie Greally sentenced both Benson and Walsh to five years in prison with the final 12 months suspended.

She said the robbery was extremely violent and vicious as the victim was targeted and kicked and punched to the head on the ground. She noted that the man was left with physical injuries and the assault had a lasting psychological impact on him.

She noted that Benson was a young man with a long history of violent offending many of which were related to his drug addiction. She accepted that he was raised by his grandfather who did his best to be a stablising influence on him.

Judge Greally said she was also taking into account Benson's struggles with drug addiction and his mental health.

She described Walsh's large number of previous convictions, many of which involved extreme violence as very concerning.

Judge Greally noted that a probation report outlined that Walsh gravitated towards a very negative peer group who engaged in a cycle of violence involving retaliation towards incidences of violence that had been directed towards the group.

She noted however, that Walsh has ceased his violent conduct since his remand in custody and excepted that he is now an enhanced prisoner who works in the prison bakery.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 10:06AM

Are you curious about how writer-director Rian Johnson developed the script for murder whodunnit film Knives Out? Well, now you have the chance to read the complete screenplay on his website. Johnson has a history of sharing finished scripts publicly. With the film out on home video, Johnson seems to think it best to release it now. And for fans of the film looking for something to do while you stay at home, this might prove to be an entertaining read.

Source: ScreenRant
Srinagar, March 24 : With another positive coronavirus case surfacing in Kashmir on Tuesday, the number of cases in the Valley stands at four now, though one of those infected has recovered.

"#JammuAndKashmir. Another positive case in Kashmir division. Patient, from Bandipora, with history of travel outside J&K but no history of travel abroad. Contact tracing on. @diprjk@HealthMedicalE1," J&K government spokespereon Rohit Kansal tweeted.

Meanwhile, Srinagar DC Shahid Choudhary, quoting SKIIMS Director, said in a tweet that the first coronavirus positive case has been successfully treated.

"Srinagar's first COVID-19 positive case successfully treated: Director SKIIMS. Let's A#BreakTheChain," He tweeted The first positive case of COVID-19 in Kashmir Valley was reported on March 17 when a woman from Khanyar in downtown Srinagar, who had a travel history of Saudi Arabia, tested positive for the dreaded virus.

She has since been undergoing treatment at SKIMS Srinagar.
The federal government has refused to confirm the health status of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, after he reportedly tested positive to COVID-19.

The information minister, Lai Mohammed, did not, however, deny that Mr Kyari had tested positive when he was asked by journalists on Tuesday.

We dont mention names in carrying out this responsibility. Its a global practice so you dont expect us to mention any name to you, he told State House correspondents.

Mr Mohammed was part of the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus that inspected Mr Kyaris office within the Presidential Villa on Tuesday,

The task force, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, arrived at the Villa around 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Mr Mustapha and other members of the task force, comprising ministers and health experts, spent about 10 minutes inspecting the office.

SGF Boss Mustapha

They were approached by journalists on their way out of the office but they declined comments, saying Nigerians should await their usual press briefing.

However, in response to repeated questions on Mr Kyaris coronavirus status, Mr Mohammed passively made his comment.

Kyaris Diagnosis

Thisday newspaper early Tuesday reported that Mr Kyari tested positive to COVID-19.

Since then, the presidency and health officials have chosen to keep mum despite several requests by PREMIUM TIMES on the matter.

Mr Kyari is believed to have been infected when he travelled to Germany between March 7 and 14 on an official function.

He was only confirmed positive on Monday, Thisday reports.

On Tuesday, neither Mr Mohammed nor any of the task force officials denied the report.

After Mr Mohammeds response to the State House reporters, Mr Mustapha advised journalists to imbibe the culture of wearing face masks to protect themselves from the disease.

Nigerias Information minister, Lai Mohammed.

You people should start wearing face mask please. I can see that you are not taking this thing serious. Wear face masks please. It is not a joke, he said.

Nigeria has recorded 42 cases of COVID-19 including one death.

The disease has caused the death of over 15,000 people globally.
FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor said Tuesday his agency would utilize the Defense Production Act for the first time as the administration rushes to get medical equipment on line for a crush of coronavirus victims.

Gaynor dropped that the administration would make use of the law, enacted for wartime use, in a morning CNN interview, where he urged Americans to continue social distancing but said his team was working hard on logistics.

'So we're going to use it, we're going to use it when we need it and we're going to use it today,' he said of the law.

'We're going to use it for about 60,000 test kits and so really we're going to use the allocation portion of the DPA,' Gaynor told CNN. He said the administration had 'many different levers and options in that. And we want to be thoughtful and meaningful on how we do it again for the best result.'

FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor said Tuesday that the administration was using the Defense Production Act to get medical equipment

However, he did not specify which firms the administration would be using the law with, and precisely what production the administration had ordered.

Minutes before Gaynor's appearance, President Trump tweeted: 'The Defense Production Act is in full force, but havent had to use it because no one has said NO! Millions of masks coming as back up to States.'

Gaynor mentioned there were 'some test kits we need to get our hands on.' The virus has spread for weeks as the administration struggled to make coronavirus testing available.

'Second thing is insert language into these mass contracts we have for 500 million masks, DPA doing that today. We want to be thoughtful about not upsetting the balance, making sure we can get it out to the market and the federal government not consume it all,' Gaynor said. So we're going to use it, we're going to use it when we need it and we're going to use it today.'

Trump during his Sunday press briefing revealed his hesitation in using the act to coerce companies into action. He has rattled off firms who have called the White House and pledged voluntary efforts to meet crushing hospital demands for equipment.

'The Defense Production Act is in full force, but havent had to use it because no one has said NO!' Trump tweeted Tuesday

National Guards are seen inside the Jacob Javits Center at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The Javits Convention Center is being turned into a hospital to help fight coronavirus cases as part of New York state request for assistance to the federal government for four field hospital sites and aid from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Medical equipment was loaded in before Governor Andrew Cuomo's press conference at Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, New York, USA, 23 March 2020. The state of New York is building out the convention hall as a temporary hospital housing thousands of beds needed to treat victims of the COVID-19 coronavirus

Medical equipment is seen inside the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the site will be partially converted into a hospital for patients affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). FEMA says it will use the DPA today for the production of test kits

'The fact that I signed it, it's in effect,' Trump said. 'But you know, we're a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela, ask them how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.'

The law does no nationalize industry. Instead it can require firms to accept and fulfill contracts and prioritize production of 'scarce and critical material.' It also can use 'allocation authority' to be first in line to buy goods from a firm.

'We have the threat' of using the act, Trump said.

'Nobody would know where to start,' he added. 'If I call companies and say, 'You build ventilators,' they don't even know what a ventilator is.'
Separated From Peers And Teachers, Students More Prone to Drop Out

Shuttered schools across the country, amid the coronavirus crisis, have turned to online learning to help students keep up with their coursework. But experts worry that their physical absence will take another toll: dropping out.

Little is known about how previous epidemic-related closures affected students long-term school trajectories; most studies have focused on shorter-term effects rather than dropout rates, which may show up months or years later. But significant research finds absenteeism increases the likelihood students will eventually disengage and drop out of school, and schoolwide closures for other reasonssuch as natural disastershave also been found to lower academic progress and graduation rates.

School has two parts; it has experience and instruction, said Sandy Addis, associate director of the National Dropout Prevention Center. Right now, we have a hodgepodge of virtual learning systems in schools, trying to address the instruction side. The experience side of school is almost totally on hold.

Teachers at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, outside Minneapolis, have a plan to counter that. Before shutting down March 13 in response to a potential case of COVID-19, they and staff members met one last time in personkeeping six feet apartto brainstorm ways to keep their students connected.

The idea is to try to find ways that, once a week at the minimum, youre doing some sort of face-to-face where the students can hear you talking and they can respond to you in conversation, said Anne Beaton, an Advanced Placement teacher and coordinator of a program that creates teams of teachers and staff to support students.

Plus, Were going to really prompt the students to be reaching out to their classmates, because we also know that there are certain kids who dont get the same amount of connection when theyre not in the physical space of school.

Lengthy School Closures a Costly Endeavor

Closing schools can be one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of infectious diseases. But for COVID-19, research suggests school and public-health leaders will have to weigh those potential benefits against the costs of keeping childrens parents home, too.

kids, said Joshua Epstein, an epidemiology professor at New York Universitys school of global public health.

cost the U.S. economy some $50 billion, or nearly a quarter of 1 percent of the gross domestic product, according to a new analysis by Epstein and Ross Hammond, an associate professor of public health and social policy at Washington University in St. Louis and the Brookings Institution.

The economic pain would fall hardest on poor and working=class families, the researchers noted. Not only are they in minimum-wage construction, retail, and other fields unable to telecommute and less likely to have flexible leave policies, but their children are more likely to use school meals, campus wellness centers, and other school-based supports.

One thing you dont want to do is have the parents have no paid leave and they have to go to workand so the kids go home and stay with their grandparents, Epstein said.

Thats your most vulnerable group. ... If theres a way to offer people paid leave or relieve that pressure or find a way to avoid sending the kids home to elderly people, that would be very useful.

In prior outbreaks of pandemic influenza, children were especially vulnerable to catching and spreading the disease, so closing schools helped slow the contagion and delay its peak, giving medical practitioners time to catch up. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so far has found closing schools for less than four weeks has not been effective at either limiting the spread of the new coronavirus or hospitalizations related to COVID-19. If children do not turn out to be the main vectors for the disease, Epstein said, then closing schools may even hurt the effort to slow outbreaks.

One of the most affected sectors is health-care workers, because its predominantly women, many with school-age kids, he said. Many of them are low- and middle-income. ... Its not the kind of job you can do over the phone. And so those are real losses to the health-care workforce.

Even Supreme Court Justices Take Back Seat to COVID-19

Because of coronavirus concerns, the U.S. Supreme Court has postponed arguments about religious bias in schools that had been scheduled for next week.

The court had planned to hear one hour of argument on April 1 about whether religious schools are exempt from employment-discrimination claims brought by lay teachers. At issue are two consolidated cases from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles about whether the so-called ministerial exception to employment-discrimination laws for churches and religious schools applies to claims brought by two Catholic school teachers. The teachers involved each taught 5th grade, including daily religious instruction for their students.

The ministerial-exception doctrine says church and religious school employers are exempt from anti-discrimination laws for employees who are deemed to be ministers of the faith.

One teacher alleged that age discrimination motivated her ouster, while the other sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, claiming she was fired after informing administrators that she had breast cancer and would have to take time off for surgery and chemotherapy.

Educators have also been awaiting decisions in other cases of interest, including those involving a Montana tax-credit program for donations to private school scholarships; cases about whether federal civil rights laws cover gay and transgender employees; and a case about whether President Donald Trumps administration properly rescinded the immigration program known as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Several justices are at an age for which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended precautions to avoid the coronavirus. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just turned 87, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer is 81.

The courts announcement noted that the postponement of arguments was not unprecedented. In 1918, the court pushed back arguments for a month because of the flu pandemic, and arguments in 1793 and 1798 were postponed because of outbreaks of yellow fever.
India's capital, New Delhi, was nearly deserted Tuesday, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday, ordering 1.3 billion people to stay in their homes for three weeks in the worlds biggest curfew aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

If we dont handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family, will go backward by 21 years, Modi said in a nationally televised address.

The lockdown went into effect at midnight, shutting down flights, trains, schools, houses of worship and nearly all businesses nationwide in an effort to reduce transmission of the virus that has infected more than 400,000 people in nearly every country in the world.

India has counted slightly more than 500 infections, but epidemiologists believe that many more cases of the coronavirus have gone unrecorded because of insufficient testing and the mass migration of laborers within the country.

As the pandemic takes off across the developing world, the World Health Organization said this week that it was crucial for India to mobilize its people against the coronavirus.

The future of this pandemic, to a great extent, will be determined by what happens in very large, densely populated countries, said Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHOs Health Emergencies Program. So its really important that India continues to take aggressive action.

Railway officials walk through a deserted station platform in Prayagraj, India, on Tuesday. (Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press)

Much of the country was already observing partial lockdowns  Modi had called for a daylong citizens curfew on Sunday to show support for medical workers  but the announcement on Tuesday came well after most shops had closed for the day and lacked details. Many Indians were caught off-guard as lines formed outside grocery stores and social media lit up with questions over how people would get food, cash and other necessities.

The Home Ministry eventually clarified that grocery stores, butchers, banks, pharmacies and other essential businesses would remain open, although online deliveries of goods would be encouraged. But Modi did not say how he planned to help Indias vast numbers of working poor  day laborers, construction crews, street vendors  who could no longer work and were at immediate risk of hunger and illness.

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Modi's announcement "left a gaping hole, tweeted P. Chidambaram, a former finance minister. Who is going to provide cash to the poor that they need for the next 21 days?

The lockdown came even though Indian health officials, defying the views of international experts, have denied that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was not being transmitted within the community. For weeks they defended an extremely limited testing regime that until recently included only recent international travelers and their immediate contacts.

As of last week, India had tested only 9.2 people per million, one of the lowest rates in the world.

Despite reporting its first coronavirus case Jan. 30, the Indian government did not create stockpiles and continued to export medical equipment. As India says it will expand testing, Modi pledged $2 billion for health infrastructure and equipment for frontline medical workers.

But with global disruptions to supply chains and countries worldwide racing to secure medical supplies in the pandemic, experts said India is facing crucial shortages of ventilators, testing kits, and masks, gowns and other protective equipment for health workers.

Public health experts believe the attempt to quarantine a deadly virus wont work without an effective mitigation strategy.

This complete lockdown might reduce the transmission significantly in the short run, said Dr. Yogesh Jain, a community doctor and founder of the Peoples Health Movement, a public health advocacy group in rural Chhattisgarh. It will surely bounce back with a vengeance if this is the predominant thing we do, without other public health interventions like expanding testing, isolating and treating.

People gather at a pharmacy to buy supplies in Mumbai, India, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday. (Indranil Mukherjee / AFP/Getty Images)

At a government hospital in the northern city of Meerut, medical staff members said their supplies of surgical masks have dwindled since the epidemic began. Some were wearing the same masks for multiple days and had begun asking patients to buy them from local shops, at soaring prices.

The hospital had no N95 masks, the higher-quality masks designed to offer better protection for health workers, and medical staffers were being forced to treat suspected COVID-19 patients without recommended equipment such as facial shields.

Only patients with recent travel to badly affected countries, or with severe breathing problems, were being tested for COVID-19, probably concealing many more infections, doctors said.

We are living in blissful ignorance, said one doctor at the hospital, who requested anonymity to protect her job. The hospital only began testing for COVID-19 this week.

When wider sections of people start getting affected, we will see a spike in hospitalization. And it will be too late.

The government has issued notices to private hospitals to make intensive care beds and ventilators available, cancel nonessential surgeries and ensure treatment for patients suspected of having COVID-19.

But by the time those guidelines were issued last week, panic had set in for many Indians. One man who believed he was infected committed suicide at a hospital; 167 people who were being monitored for infections went missing, and many people who were under quarantine reportedly ran away from filthy isolation wards hastily erected by the government.

Rise Against Hunger India, a charity, said the shutdowns would erase the livelihoods of low-income workers who are now under the threat of dying from hunger. The group said it planned to supply 1.2 million meals to these groups in the coming months.

In Mumbai, a seaside metropolis of more than 18 million people, the governments orders to practice social distancing were impossible in the citys densely populated slums, said Marina Joseph, associate director of YUVA, a charity that works with the urban poor.

In one small room, three generations are living, Joseph said. If the virus is not contained, Mumbai is a volcano waiting to erupt.

Times staff writer Bengali reported from Singapore and special correspondents Krishnan and Parth M.N. from Goa, India, and Mumbai, respectively.
What to Do When You Feel Depleted

By: Maggie Meadows Cooper

I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. - Ruth 1:21

I dont know about you, but there are many mornings I get up, read scripture, shower while jamming to a mix of worship/80s/90s/country music, get all dolled up, and walk out the door full of optimism and gratitude, only to return to my bed hours later feeling defeated, exhausted, and done. Ive given my heart, time, energy, and patience to my work, children, home, and husband, and a lot of times my tanks are absolutely left with not a drop to spare by the time my head hits the pillow.

In Ruth 1, Naomi left Bethlehem for Moab with her husband and two sons by her side. Around ten years later, she returned to the land of her people a widow and childless. She was heartbroken, bitter, and tells us in verse 21 that the Lord brought her home empty.

While I havent lost my husband or children (by Gods grace), I can empathize with Naomi feeling empty, meaning she felt she had no value or purpose. At the end of those hard days, Im left wondering how in the world, why in the world, the Lord would use me. By that time, any fruit I have left hanging is most definitely rotten. There usually isnt an ounce of salt left and my light is well- hidden from sight.

This world will take and take until you have nothing more to give, and we will all find ourselves in those places of emptiness. The challenge is what we do to try and fill the void though. Will we seek the Lord and wait patiently for His plan? Or will we look to other people or things of this world for a temporary fix?

My sweet friends, If you have ever left a place full, only to return empty, with a void in your heart, here is a list of verses to help encourage you, lift your spirits, and turn your focus to being filled by the Lord alone:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. - Romans 15:13





Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You dont need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. - Colossians 2:9-10

Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10

He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:17

Do you know the beautiful part about emptiness? When you have nothing left, there is nothing left to do but be refilled. And the only place, the only person, who can fill you in a life-giving way is Jesus. Dont lean on your own strength, dont search for the temporary highs of this world, and dont look for another earthly person to fill the void, my sweet friends. Just look to Jesus.

Maggie Meadows Cooper is a wife, mother, educator, author, and blogger with a longing for women to grow a heart for Jesus and others. She is the author of the childrens book Bumper, helping others to see that the heart is what counts most. She blogs at The Little Moments about what the Lord is teaching her in everyday life and contributes to Blogs by Christian Women, Devotional Diva, She Disciples, and Connecting Ministries. An educator with a M. Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Auburn University (War Eagle!), she has eighteen years experience teaching and currently serves as a Parent Coordinator in the Opelika City Schools. She loves all things chocolate, real Coca-Cola, and leading the FBCO Teen Moms group. She lives with her husband, three children, and two rambunctious dogs in Opelika, Alabama.

For More Great Resources for Women, Visit iBelieve's Faith Channel.





Listen to Our FREE New Parenting Podcast! Christian Parent/Crazy World with Catherine Segars is now available on LifeAudio.com. You can listen to the first episode below:
Doppler Ultrasound Market Overview

Global Doppler ultrasound market is growing pervasively, mainly due to the rapidly increasing cancer cases worldwide. The improving economy is proving to be a significant growth driver for the market, increasing the purchasing power and per capita healthcare expenses. Moreover, dominant risk factors responsible for the development of cancer cells and tumors are escalating the market growth to furthered height by creating a massive demand for diagnostics.

Undoubtedly, technological advancements in medical science have improved the outlook for cancer diagnostics. According to Market Research Future (MRFR), the global Doppler ultrasound market is expected to create a valuation of USD 2,800 MN by 2025, growing continually 7.95 % CAGR during the forecast period (2019-2025). Also, mounting incidences of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are increasing the use of Doppler ultrasound for early detection of the disease.

Get a FREE Sample Copy of Report with Complete TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8361

Additionally, the rising mergers & acquisitions by prominent players in the market are increasing the size of the Doppler ultrasound market, allowing the companies to enter the new market with innovative technologies. Also, pregnancies that take place at a later age, alongside the increasing awareness about improved gynecological care for pregnant women, drive a huge share of the Doppler ultrasound market. Moreover, increasing per capita healthcare expenditures and population substantiates market growth.

Furthermore, the rising awareness among people about the benefits of early diagnosis that can help in starting the treatments at an earlier stage contributes to the growth of the market. On the other hand, stringent government regulations pertaining to the regulatory approvals are expected to restrict market growth during the anticipated period. Nevertheless, the growing adoption rate of the Doppler ultrasound process for early diagnosis in the rising numbers of diagnostic centers & hospitals would support the doppler ultrasound market growth throughout the review period.

Global Doppler Ultrasound Market  Segments

The analysis has been segmented into four main dynamics to widen the scope of understanding,

By Product: Trolley Based and Handheld.

By Application: Radiology, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Cardiology, and others.

By End-User: Hospitals & Clinics, Diagnostic Centers, Ambulatory Settings, and others.

By Regions: Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Rest-of-the-World.

Global Doppler Ultrasound Market  Geographical Analysis

North America dominates the global Doppler Ultrasound market. The largest market share attributes to the emergence of technologically advanced ultrasound devices, and the presence of top players such as GE Healthcare, Analogic Corporation, Philips Healthcare resides in the region. Besides, factors such as the increasing prevalence of breast cancer and prostate cancer fuel the growth of the regional market. The market growth is hugely supported by the US and Canada markets. Additionally, technological advances, coupled with the increasing healthcare expenditure, support the regional market growth. The North American Doppler ultrasound market is estimated to create a substantial revenue pocket during the assessment period.

Europe stands second in the global Doppler ultrasound market, heading with the increased use of ultrasound in the clinical applications. Also, the ongoing clinical research projects in the field of ultrasound are projected to boost the growth of the regional market. The European Doppler ultrasound market is expected to grow at modest CAGR during the review period.

The Asia Pacific region is promising substantial growth opportunities for the Doppler ultrasound market owing to the increasing number of cancer patients in the region. Besides, rising government support to drive R&D activities required to advance Doppler ultrasound equipment drives the regional market growth. Also, growing per capita, healthcare expenses foster the growth of the regional market. The APAC Doppler ultrasound is predicted to register a significant growth rate during the anticipated period.

Global Doppler Ultrasound Market  Competitive Landscape

Fiercely competitive, the Doppler ultrasound market appears well-established with the presence of several noteworthy players. Considering the potential of the market to gain traction, witnessing growing adoption, functionality, and technological convergences, manufacturers, are collaborating with large hospitals and third-party payers so as to achieve a large market share. They also employ a variety of distributions channels to increase the exposure of their products to end-users. Rebates have been applied by pharmaceutical companies to entice insurance companies and other end-users to purchase their products.

Doppler Ultrasound Market Major Players:

Players leading the global Doppler ultrasound market include Canon Medical Systems (Japan), General Electric Company (US), Koninklijke Philips NV (Netherlands), Toshiba Corporation (Japan), Analogic Corporation (US), Siemens Healthcare Private Limited (Germany), Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Japan), Esaote SPA (Italy), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (South Korea), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), and Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd (China), among others.

Doppler Ultrasound Industry/ Innovation/Related News:

March 05, 2020 - Uscom Ltd. (Australia), a medical device manufacturer, announced that it has boosted its manufacturing capacity and restructured its China operation after seeing the revenue down by about a third during the first half of the financial year. Uscoms original product is USCOM 1A, a non-invasive hemodynamic monitor that measures cardiovascular function using Doppler ultrasound.

The company reported revenue of USD 960,000 in sales of its range of non-invasive devices by mid-December. Uscom restructured its China subsidiary as its companys first commission to handle first imports of its devices direct into China. In 2019 Uscom boosted manufacturing capacity in Europe and Australia to ensure the supply of its BP+ blood pressure monitor and SpiroSonic digital ultrasonic spirometers for pulmonary function testing.

Get More Information on Doppler Ultrasound Market Research Report  Global Forecast till 2025 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/doppler-ultrasound-market-8361

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.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

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Wolf Kahn, a landscape painter who applied a vibrant, adventurous palette to studies of tangled forests and fog-shrouded mornings, quiet brooks and solitary barns, died on March 15 at his home in Manhattan. He was 92.

Diana Urbaska, his longtime studio manager, said the cause was congestive heart failure.

Mr. Kahn, who divided his time between New York and Brattleboro, Vt., was part of a family of artists. His mother-in-law, who died in 1971, was the painter Alice Trumbull Mason, and his wife was Emily Mason, whose abstract paintings made striking use of color.

Ms. Mason, whom he married in 1957, died on Dec. 10.

Mr. Kahn, who emigrated from Germany as a child, studied with the influential artist and teacher Hans Hofmann, who had himself emigrated from Germany, and in 1952 he was among several former Hofmann students who organized the Hansa Gallery, a cooperative named for their teacher. Mr. Kahn had his first solo show there in 1953, a collection of indoor and outdoor scenes, and made a strong impression.
COVID-19 is a ruthless creeper, a thief stealing health by stealth across land and mountains, across oceans and islands to fell humans, forcing us to retreat and keep our distance even as we live in an overcrowded world.

For all that, the virus has not conquered the human spirit.

Not only are people (who can afford digital connectivity) socializing with each other  our family is having a Skype dinner with another family Friday  they are also turning to pre-digital, historical mass communications methods voicing the language of the oppressed.

This means sounds of clapping and clanging are bursting around the world in defiance of panic and fear.

The mass clapping expresses solidarity with health officials, the front line of our defence. The clanging traverses the annals of history taking the form of banging on pots and pans, also known as cacerolazo in Spanish  the traditional sound of protest against government. Some folks took to both sounds to express appreciation but in at least one nation that hodge-podge changed from defiance against the virus to jubilation at the unity it brought forth, and led to a potentially disastrous outcome.

Cacerolazos are related to protest movements around the world. In 2012, when Quebec students were protesting tuition hikes, the province responded by introducing the controversial Bill 78, a law that clamped down on protests. The corresponding protests only grew louder and spread across the country.

English Canadians who called them the casseroles used this form of collective action when they joined the Quebec students. The kitchenware protests were inspired by Chilean resistance against Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s, who decreed any gatherings of more than four people as illegal.

In sounds that brought joy to all those who heard it, folks in Vancouvers west end have been stepping on their balconies and rooftops and sidewalks at 7 p.m. since March 21  a day after British Columbia announced its 10th death from COVID-19  to applaud health-care workers as well as essential workers putting themselves at risk to enable distancing for the rest of society. Similar scenes are unfolding in France and Italy.

In sounds that expressed anger, millions of Brazilians  including those who voted for their president  yelled Fora Bolsonaro (Bolsonaro Out) in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro last week as people honked cars, beat drums and banged kitchen utensils on their balconies.

Brazil has more than 500 cases of COVID-19, but President Jair Bolsonaro has been the nations denier-in-chief, denouncing measures taken by Brazilian states such as shutting down airports as hysteria and announcing plans to host a small birthday party for himself. He also drew the peoples ire after mingling with his supporters on the streets when they were protesting against the judiciary  this after 12 people who travelled with him to the U.S. tested positive for the virus.

The same day  March 18  that anger was echoed in Spain, Europes second-worst hit country, after Italy. Spaniards who had been coming to their balconies to applaud front-line workers now took to pounding pots and pans to protest a speech by their King Felipe VI.

Swiss prosecutors say Felipes father, the former King Juan Carlos I, allegedly received more than $200 million (Canadian) in kickbacks from Saudi Arabia in 2008. The people want that money to be put into the struggling health-care system. Felipe had earlier renounced his future personal inheritance from his father.

Over in India, where confirmed cases now exceed 400, hundreds of millions largely complied with a one-day Janata Curfew, or a Peoples Curfew imposed by the central government. Normally crowded streets looked eerily deserted and some states announced week-long lockdowns. (Imagine if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had harnessed this power to stop anti-Muslim riots. He was silent then.)

Modi then proposed that people gather on balconies and rooftops to salute doctors for five minutes at 5 p.m. The people dutifully complied with his wishes, and the silence was replaced by a clamor. Of course, boisterousness being what it is, five minutes extended to 30 minutes, which would be fine except that the mood got so jubilant that people broke the curfew, spilled out on the streets and opened shops even as cacophonous crowds lit fireworks as they mingled with each other, social distancing be damned.

The ones who rushed out from their middle-class homes deserve censure. But the poor families that are crammed, half a dozen or more, into matchbox-size flats? I dont blame them for coming out for air.

While social distancing is tough anywhere in the world, it is least onerous on stable nuclear families in detached homes. It is utterly senseless for the homeless, for the slum dwellers and even for working-class families that subsist on daily wages with no social safety nets.

In India its not the poor who travelled abroad and imported the virus. Yet, they are at risk because of actions of wealthier people, however unintended. Between the curfew and longer lockdowns, the options for them boil down to dying of hunger now or possibly dying of illness later. I know what Id choose in their place. To hell with a blasted virus.
AS the number of those confirmed to have contracted Covid 19 infection reaches 12 in Tanzania and is fast spreading like veld fire across the world, the government has strengthened the fight against the pandemic.

On Sunday, President John Magufuli issued new measures aimed at curbing the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Among the new measures include strengthening the national committee responsible for the fight against the virus.

The committee is led by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu.

Other new measures include 14-day self-quarantine for travellers who arrive from most affected countries, and the government Chemist Laboratory Authority (GCLA) needs to be strengthened and equipped with high-tech machines to ensure competent operations.

Another new measure is to ensure all attendants at the countrys entry points are supplied with inspection machines and protective gear.

Moreover, the government has suspended all foreign travel permits for its officials anticipating to travel to any coronavirus affected country.

President Magufulis decision to announce these measures is indicative of the seriousness Tanzania has with regard to the fight against coronavirus and so every Tanzanian must play his/her role well to contain the deadly disease.

However, Tanzanians are also reminded to remain calm and avoid unnecessary panic during this time when the whole world is fighting against the disease.

Yes, panicking wont help us fight against the deadly virus. Instead, it will just lead us to extreme poverty and collapse of the economy.

As the Head of State said, each person must adhere to the guidelines stipulated by the responsible authorities regarding the virus.

This will help members of the public continue with socioeconomic activities for the development of the nation.

Globally, there is no doubt that the coronavirus outbreak is a human tragedy and has a growing impact on the global economy.

On airline business alone, the potent combination of trip cancellations and country-specific restrictions on international flights has had a staggering impact on the $880bn global airline industry.

Nearly all countries have some type of travel advisory in place, with many encouraging people to avoid non-essential travel even before COVID-19 was officially considered a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The earliest impacts of these were felt in February, as flight capacity in and out of China dropped sharply around the Lunar New Year.

The countrys sharpest year-over-year drop was recorded on February 17, 2020, with a 71 per cent drop in flights compared to the same date in 2019.

Tanzania is not spared from these economic challenges. However, still the country is in a position to win this battle.

As the President said, we need not to panic, but must work hard and observe medical guidelines.
The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC), in a letter to CM Arvind Kejriwal, has offered to provide Sarai of Majnu Ka Tila Sahib as a quarantine facility. Majinder Singh Sirsa, president of DSGMC, assured Kejriwal that the gurudwara committee will provide full support to the government to fight coronavirus.

Sirsa wrote, "In this hour of need, we stand by the government and support them in all their preventive measures and decision as responsible institutions". The Gurudwara committee has also offered to provide "langar" (meal) for poor and destitute in the national capital.

Also read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: Death toll increases to 11; US applauds janta curfew

The letter comes after Kejriwal asked Delhi residents to cooperate with the government in containing the pandemic in the national capital. Delhi will remain under lockdown from March 23 to March 31. During this period, no one apart from those involved with essential services are supposed to venture out of their homes.

Kejriwal stated, "Poor people are the most affected by this lockdown. We have taken whatever measures needed to prevent scarcity of food, but if you still find anyone struggling for food, do help them. We need to fight this battle together".

Delhi has reported total 30 positive cases for coronavirus till now. Among the 30 cases, 23 are foreigners and seven are the family members of the affected individuals.

Also read: Govt to offer free treatment of coronavirus under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY scheme

Also read: Coronavirus update: Shaheen Bagh protest site cleared by Delhi Police
Marijuana: Uncertain Medicine In many states, marijuana is now considered medicine. But it does not arrive at the dispensary in standardized formulations and doses, and its effects on an individual can be difficult to predict. For starters, there is the way you consume the drug. When smoked, cannabis takes effect within minutes. When eaten, it can take over an hour for the effects to set in, and they may last much longer. Now, marijuana businesses and users commonly distinguish between two types of cannabis plants and hybrids of the two: cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. Physically the plants are quite different. Cannabis sativa has thin, lanky stems and narrow leaves. Cannabis indica is a stocky, smaller plant with stubby leaves. And many users report that the plants deliver distinct highs as well. Sativa strains are said to produce a high that is energetic, euphoric and cerebral. Indica delivers what some users describe as a body buzz, which may help medical patients manage pain. Scientists are not quite sure of what to make of this distinction and the anecdotal evidence that supports it. After all, research into cannabis is still in its infancy, in part because federal restrictions have held it back for decades. Experts say that THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, induces the high. But THC alone could not explain the difference between a stimulating and a sedative high. One hypothesis is that the varying effects result from the interaction of THC with other chemical compounds in the plant. This is known as the entourage effect. Of course, each users genetic profile also influences her reaction to cannabis and THC. In that way, marijuana is no different than two other substances Americans use every day: caffeine and alcohol.
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH) share price has dived 47% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 40% drop over twelve months.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for Bank of Hawaii

How Does Bank of Hawaii's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Bank of Hawaii has a P/E ratio of 8.47. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (8.3) for companies in the banks industry is roughly the same as Bank of Hawaii's P/E.

NYSE:BOH Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 24th 2020

Bank of Hawaii's P/E tells us that market participants think its prospects are roughly in line with its industry. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. Checking factors such as director buying and selling. could help you form your own view on if that will happen.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Bank of Hawaii's earnings per share grew by 6.3% in the last twelve months. And earnings per share have improved by 8.5% annually, over the last five years.

Story continues

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

Bank of Hawaii's Balance Sheet

Bank of Hawaii's net debt is 7.7% of its market cap. So it doesn't have as many options as it would with net cash, but its debt would not have much of an impact on its P/E ratio.

The Bottom Line On Bank of Hawaii's P/E Ratio

Bank of Hawaii trades on a P/E ratio of 8.5, which is below the US market average of 11.5. The company hasn't stretched its balance sheet, and earnings are improving. The P/E ratio implies the market is cautious about longer term prospects. Given Bank of Hawaii's P/E ratio has declined from 16.0 to 8.5 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

But note: Bank of Hawaii may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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.
State-run Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Tuesday announced financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to Indian Red Cross Society to combat the spread of deadly coronavirus.

The financial aid provided will be used for distribution of masks and sanitizers to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus, PFC said in a statement.

"PFC will provide financial assistance of Rs 50,00,000 to Indian Red Cross Society in Rajasthan," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kolkata, March 24 : Locked at home amid the lockdown in West Bengal due to the coronavirus pandemic, BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday said he never thought his city would wear a deserted look with virtually no one on the streets.

"Never thought would see my city like this .. stay safe .. this will change soon for the better ...love and affection to all .." Ganguly said in a tweet with few pictures of some of the city's iconic landmarks wearing an empty look.

People stayed indoors while police personnel hauled up those on the streets as a complete lockdown began in large parts of West Bengal, including the whole of Kolkata and eight districts continued to combat the spread of novel coronavirus infection.

The lockdown, christened 'complete safety restrictions', covers all municipal and district towns besides some rural areas in other parts of the state and started from from 5 p.m. on Monday. The lockdown is set to continue till Friday midnight.

On Tuesday, two more persons were detected coronavirus positive in West Bengal, taking the count of such cases in the eastern state to nine. So far, one of the patients in the state has succumbed to the disease.

Ganguly had earlier said that he can't recall when he was last free at 5 pm in the evening.

"Amids all the corona virus scare .. happy to sit in the lounge at 5pm .. free... can't remember when I did last .." Ganguly had said in an Instagram post with a selfie.

The BCCI has asked its employees to work from home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far had 511 cases with 10 deaths.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
For Qantas, Australias largest airline, the last few years have been plentiful as a Dan Bilzerian Instagram post. And were not just talking influencers  in terms of cash, Qantas went from reporting a record full-year profit in 2018 to record revenue (and strong profit) in 2019.

Virgin Australia, meanwhile, reported strong revenue and passenger growth in its subsidiary Tigerair and made solid steps to get Virgin Australia back to the point where it can make a profit. Virgin Australia, like Qantas, has benefited and been afforded the luxury of experimentation thanks to a steadily growing economy.

That was until 2020.

With the Coronavirus now officially classed as a pandemic, and flights being slashed both domestically and abroad, and travellers all over cancelling trips as fast as you can say yeah nah both Qantas and Virgin Australia are staring down some very rough times.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Qantas (@qantas) on Feb 27, 2020 at 2:22pm PST

Senior staff at both firms have taken temporary salary haircuts, but still, many lower-level staff look like being laid off (if they havent already been). Both firms have also given generous frequent flyer extensions for the next year and made their flight change/cancellation policies more flexible.

This situation is playing out all over the world, with an opinion piece in the New York Times, entitled, Dont feel sorry for the airlines, inspiring DMARGE to consider: should Australians feel sorry for our airlines? While ours havent taken the piss like American Airlines, the carrier the NYT piece uses to make its case, the suggestion made at the end of the piece, that bail outs should only be given under certain conditions (like, dont reduce the seat pitch any further) is a tasty one.

But, in an Australian context, is it legit?

First: context. How do airlines take the piss? According to the aforementioned New York Times Op Ed: they selfishly mismanage funds in the good times. Instead of improving their product, they compete in a zero-sum game to make seats tighter and to buy back their own stock, knowing that they (like all of us) exist in a boom and bust cycle, but believing they are too important to the economy to fail (or that if they dont spend money in the now to compete with everyone else theyll be left behind, or lose their edge).

American epitomises this, In 2014, having reduced competition through mergers and raised billions of dollars in new baggage-fee revenue, American began reaching stunning levels of financial success. In 2015, it posted a $7.6 billion profit  compared, for example, to profits of about $500 million in 2007 and less than $250 million in 2006. It would continue to earn billions in profit annually for the rest of the decade. I dont think were ever going to lose money again, the companys chief executive, Doug Parker, said in 2017, (NYT).

There are plenty of things American could have done with all that money. It could have stored up its cash reserves for a future crisis, knowing that airlines regularly cycle through booms and busts. It might have tried to decisively settle its continuing contract disputes with pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. It might have invested heavily in better service quality to try to repair its longstanding reputation as the worst of the major carriers.

Instead, American blew most of its cash on a stock buyback spree. From 2014 to 2020, in an attempt to increase its earnings per share, American spent more than $15 billion buying back its own stock. It managed, despite the risk of the proverbial rainy day, to shrink its cash reserves. At the same time it was blowing cash on buybacks, American also began to borrow heavily to finance the purchase of new planes and the retrofitting of old planes to pack in more seats. As early as 2017 analysts warned of a risk of default should the economy deteriorate, but American kept borrowing. It has now accumulated a debt of nearly $30 billion, nearly five times the companys current market value, (NYT).

At no time during its years of plenty did American improve how it treats its customers. Change fees went up to $200 for domestic flights and to $750 for international. Its widely despised baggage fees were hiked to $30 and $40 for first and second bags. These higher fees yielded billions of dollars, yet did not help the airline improve its on-time arrivals, reduce tarmac delays or prevent involuntary bumping. Instead, Americans main innovations were the removal of screens from its planes, the reduction of bathroom and seat sizes and the introduction of a basic economy class that initially included a ban on carry-on luggage, the NYT piece continued.

So: are Qantas and Virgin Australia guilty of the same sins? Not quite. While they have both engaged in certain types of buy-back schemes (see: here and here), neither were to the same extent as Americans. Plus: both Qantas and Virgin Australia have invested in innovation that makes for a better customer experience (even if much of that went into their international flights) in both their jets and lounges.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Virgin Australia (@virginaustralia) on Feb 23, 2020 at 5:00pm PST

Also  compromises on space, which we have seen in Tigerair and Jetstar, mean cheaper seats, which study after study has shown is what most people care about most.

What about bail outs? When it comes to American, The New York Times reports: American Airlines has not yet asked for a bailout  at least not in so many words. Yet after a recent meeting with airline leadership, Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said that certain sectors of the economy, airlines coming to mind might require assistance. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that the airlines, including American, would be on the top of the list for federal loan relief.

The Australian government finds itself in a similar position, with its two dominant national carriers providing crucial infrastructure for the rest of the economy. They also know that competition is a vital part of any market, and that the two airlines keep each other on their toes, providing Australian domestic travellers with two respective premium (and budget, in the form of Jetstar and Tigerair) options.

On that note: The Federal Government announced a $715 million support package for the aviation sector last week, waiving many fees and charges for airlines during the current downturn.

How this will be divvied up has proved controversial. According to the ABC, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Qantas staff during a conference call they should lobby their local MPs to ensure any Commonwealth support to the airline industry was offered across the board, and not just to one company alone.

It followed comments on Sky News where he said the Federal Government could not pick winners and losers when it came to propping up airlines, and governments should not be in the business of supporting companies that had been badly managed', (ABC).

According to the ABC, Virgin Australia boss Paul Scurrah described these comments as very disappointing in an email to staff.

I am in daily discussions with Government to ensure we get the support we need to get through this and have been advocating on behalf of Virgin Australia Group and the industry as a whole, Mr Scurrah wrote.

I have today written a letter to Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC, to investigate public commentary and an industry-wide campaign that is designed to ensure a lessening of competition in the aviation sector.

Read Next
(Natural News) The natural sugar molecule, D-ribose, can improve heart function and blood circulation, according to a recent study published in the European Journal of Heart Failure. A team of researchers from Germany and the U.S. assessed the effects of oral D-ribose supplementation in individuals with chronic coronary artery disease and chronic and congestive heart failure (CHF) and found that D-ribose can boost cardiac function. Therefore, D-ribose supplementation can potentially be used as an alternative treatment for chronic coronary artery disease and CHF.

What is D-ribose?

D-ribose is a naturally occurring simple sugar found in the bodys ribonucleic acid (RNA), a macromolecule that plays an essential role in protein synthesis. D-ribose can also be found in different types of foods, such as proteins, grains, fungi, fruits and vegetables. D-ribose is an important component of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which supplies energy to cells.

Like D-ribose, ATP is vital to cellular metabolism. As an energy molecule, ATP ensures that cellular functions, such as muscle contraction, cell division, protein synthesis and respiration, run smoothly. In particular, ATP plays an important role in maintaining good cardiovascular function. However, body functions and organ health can be compromised if there is a shortage of ATP, which can occur as a result of inflammation, infection or cell damage caused by free radicals. (Related: Researchers identify 3 antioxidants that help minimize inflammation in heart failure patients.)

According to Heyder Omran, lead author of the study, insufficient levels of ATP can affect cardiac function and increase the risk of chronic coronary artery disease and CHF. Animal studies have also shown that a shortage of oxygen in the blood, which is caused by low levels of ATP, can impair cardiac function and blood circulation. Such cardiovascular complications may prove fatal in the long run. Some common symptoms of chronic coronary heart disease include difficulty breathing, chronic chest pain and exercise intolerance.

However, D-ribose has been shown to renew depleted ATP levels and strengthen the heart by stimulating cardiac function. A study published in the International Journal of Cardiology also revealed that D-ribose supplementation can improve the exercise capacity of individuals with CHF. As a result, D-ribose can improve potentially life-threatening symptoms of chronic coronary artery disease and CHF.

D-ribose improves cardiac function

To determine the effects of oral D-ribose supplementation on cardiac function, the German-American team conducted a randomized, double-blind study involving 15 adults with chronic coronary artery disease and CHF. The study consisted of two treatment periods, each spanning three weeks, with a washout period of one week in-between. The researchers randomly assigned the participants to either the oral D-ribose supplement group or the placebo group.

After each treatment period, the researchers assessed the participants cardiac function, quality of life and functional capacity. They found that D-ribose supplementation greatly improved the participants heart rate, cardiac function and quality of life. Moreover, D-ribose supplementation enabled the participants to last longer on the treadmill before they experienced moderate discomfort and chest pain. Meanwhile, the placebo failed to generate significant changes in the participants cardiac functions or quality of life.

The findings prove that D-ribose provides beneficial effects to individuals with chronic coronary artery disease and CHF by improving their cardiac function, quality of life and exercise capacity. The study may aid experts in developing long-term treatments for at-risk individuals using D-ribose.

ReverseHeartDisease.news has more stories on cardiovascular health and natural cures for heart disease.

Sources include:

OnlineLibrary.wiley.com

NaturalHealth365.com

InternationalJournalOfCardiology.com
Originally designed to meet the demands of the U.S. military, the 85K Air Link has been optimized for heavy vocational commercial applications. Links 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension has been optimized for select heavy vocational axles and will now deliver Links legendary ride quality at the highest capacity for any air spring suspension in North America.  Neil Mardell

Link Mfg., Ltd., the leader in specialty-engineered suspensions, announced that its 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension is now commercially available for select makes and models. Originally designed to meet the demands of the U.S. military, the 85K Air Link has been optimized for heavy vocational commercial applications and was revealed to the industry for the first time in booth S61807 at CONEXPO  CON/AGG 2020.

As North Americas highest-capacity air spring suspension, Links 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension is designed with large, high-volume, low-frequency air springs that enable occupants to experience a consistently smooth and comfortable ride whether their vehicle is under load or empty. Dual height-control valves ensure that proper ride height and vehicle leveling are maintained, thus maximizing roll stability regardless of the weight and balance of a vehicles cargo.

Links revolutionary air-over-walking-beam technology was patented close to 30 years ago and was originally designed to cope with extreme payloads and the rigors of harsh off-highway defense applications. Vastly superior to heavy-duty leaf spring, rubber block walking beam, two-spring six-rod and trailing arm suspensions, the 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension provides a smooth, comfortable, uncompromising ride.

Links 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension has been optimized for select heavy vocational axles and will now deliver Links legendary ride quality at the highest capacity for any air spring suspension in North America, said Neil Mardell, manager  defense programs and heavy vocational products for Link. Not only is our 85K the highest-capacity tandem air spring suspension around, but because of its air-over-walking-beam design, its also one of the most resilient, able to continue functioning even if a loss of an air spring were to occur.

The systems ability to equally distribute weight, its high roll stability and its tractive superiority make operating on challenging off-highway terrain safer, more comfortable and ultimately more controlled. Like all Air Link suspensions, the 85K is 100 percent off-highway rated, designed to not only survive but thrive in punishing off-highway environments, and once wheel alignment is set on an Air Link, no future adjustments are required.

With three times more roll stability than any other vocational air-ride suspension, the Air Link rides four times smoother than a conventional spring pack and 10 times smoother than a rubber block suspension, said Mardell. The Air Link also offers users all the advantages of a combined air spring and walking beam suspension without all the downsides of more primitive steel or rubber walking beam suspensions.

All Air Link suspensions are treated with Links exclusive Link-KOAT migratory self-healing metal treatment. Link-KOAT provides unparalleled corrosion resistance and rust protection, even when surfaces are exposed to excessive abrasion, harsh chemicals and other severe-duty environmental factors. The 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension includes an extended three-year warranty.

Our 85K has been engineered to seamlessly interface with tier-one online installation processes, said Mardell. The Air Link 85K has served its time in the military and is ready to do super-heavy duty in the commercial sector.

To access high-resolution images of the 85K Air Link Tandem Drive Chassis Suspension, please visit: https://www.linkmfg.com/news/2020/links-85k-air-link-tandem-drive-air-suspension-released-to-fill-super-heavy-duty-niche

-END-

About Link Mfg., Ltd.

Link develops and manufactures a variety of suspension systems specially engineered to address the unique needs of commercial vehicles and equipment. Link is driven to outperform as the worldwide leader in heavy-duty truck cab air suspensions marketed under the brand name Cabmate. U.S.-based Link Manufacturing is an ISO 14001: 2015 (EMS) certified company whose primary products include cab, chassis and auxiliary suspensions. Canadian-based Link Suspensions of Canada is an ISO 9001 certified company whose primary products include heavy vocational and off-highway chassis suspensions. Link also makes specialty products such as tire pressure equalization systems, ramps and other products designed to enhance the productivity of commercial vehicles. For more information, visit https://www.linkmfg.com.

Link and Air Link are registered trademarks of Link Mfg., Ltd.
A family watching prime minister Boris Johnson's announcement of stricter measures to try to curb coronavirus (AFP via Getty Images)

A cabinet minister has said the UKs coronavirus outbreak is frightening, it was reported, as Boris Johnson faced questions over his new measures to tackle its spread.

On Monday evening, BBC Newsnight quoted an anonymous minister as saying: "We are as well placed as we can be but we are sailing into a storm. Its all a bit frightening.

It came after the prime minister took the unprecedented step of telling the country to remain at home to tackle the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

Johnson told the public they must only leave their homes for four reasons, including to shop for basic necessities and to perform one form of exercise a day.

Prime minister Boris Johnson told the public to stay at home. (PA Images via Getty Images)

They can also leave home for any medical need or travel to work if absolutely necessary.

He also banned public gatherings of more than two people and ordered the closure of non-essential shops.

The PM has been criticised for his confusing message on coronavirus in the past few weeks, and there has been a demand for greater clarity on his new measures.

Jeremy Corbyn said: There now needs to be clear guidance to employers and workers about which workplaces should close  and the government must close the loopholes to give security to all workers, including the self-employed, as well as renters and mortgage holders.

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

Labour MP David Lammy said: I fully support the prime minister introducing an enforced lockdown. I only wish he had done so sooner.

Global cases of coronavirus (PA)

Johnson has repeatedly delivered mixed messages during the coronavirus outbreak.

At the beginning of this month, he said he had no problems shaking hands with people during a hospital visit, and continued to tell the public to simply wash their hands.

Watch the video below

Two days before Mothers Day, he said he hoped to be able to see his mother that day, before eventually ruling it out and advising others to stay at home.

Story continues

On Sunday, Johnson said he wanted people to be able to go to parks and enjoy themselves, but on Monday night he finally told the British public to stay at home.

He said the new measures will be under constant review and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks if the evidence allows it.

Read more: Tributes paid to teacher who died after contracting coronavirus

On Tuesday, Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said there is a huge amount of clarification needed.

He said clear outlines are needed on a range of issues such as the definition of a vulnerable person and what counts as exercise.

Former Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Peter Fahy called for more clarity on the government's measures. (PA Images via Getty Images)

He told BBC Breakfast: There is no way really that the police can enforce this using powers.

It has got to be because the public hugely support it, that there is peer pressure and there is continuing clarification from government about the message.

"If you compare us to Italy, we have about half the number of police officers that they have. Our police officers are already very stretched.

There is no way that this can be achieved through enforcement alone. It will have to be that the public hugely accept it and the government continues to issue clarification and reinforces the message."
The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 23 announced that Washington was cutting $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan because apparently the rival leaders in the country were unable to form an inclusive government. Secretary Pompeo in a statement released on Monday said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah have been unable to agree on an inclusive government that can meet the challenges of governance, peace, and security, and provide for the health and welfare of Afghan citizens.

Read: Donald Trump Says Taliban Could 'possibly' Seize Power In Afghanistan After US Leaves

"The United States is disappointed in them and what their conduct means for Afghanistan and our shared interests. Their failure has harmed U.S.-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonors those Afghan, Americans, and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure in the struggle to build a new future for this country," Pompeo said in the press release.

"Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests, effective immediately, the U.S. government will initiate a review of the scope of our cooperation with Afghanistan. Among other steps, we are today announcing a responsible adjustment to our spending in Afghanistan and immediately reducing assistance by $1 billion this year. We are prepared to reduce by another $1 billion in 2021," Pompeo added.

Read: Afghan Peace Deal: Ashraf Ghani Agrees To Release 1,500 Taliban Prisoners To Initiate Talk

The Peace Deal

The United States and the Taliban signed the peace deal after 18 months of negotiations and 20 years of war. The deal which was signed in the presence of leaders from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan would see the gradual withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan under a timeline of 14 months. The deal also requires the Taliban to guarantee that their territory will not be used as a launchpad that would threaten the security of the United States and its allies.

The deal was signed by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on February 29, 2020 with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a witness. As per reports, more than 1,00,000 Afghan citizens have lost their lives or wounded since 2009, when the United Nations Assistance Mission began documenting casualties. There have been nearly 4,000 coalition deaths in the war in Afghanistan, of which 2,500 soldiers belonged to the US Army.

Read: US Envoy Says Afghanistan Held First Prisoner Exchange Talks With Taliban

Read: Pakistan Against India's Security Role In Afghanistan On The Backdrop Of US-Taliban Deal
James Borton

For now, the arrival of participatory citizen science is proving helpful to vulnerable areas across Vietnam and signals an expansion of the democratisation of scientific information. This collaboration of scientists and volunteers broadens the scope of research and enhances the compilation of scientific data.

The approaches range from community-based monitoring to internet-driven crowdsourcing through photo documentation and data collection.

From the iridescent green rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to Hanois silt-filled iron oxide-rich Red River, citizen scientists draw on their own community experiences and upload readily available science apps from their smartphones.

Scientists are quick to point out that Vietnams weak environmental enforcement measures have brought about a litany of damages, including mass deforestation caused by massive illegal logging; rapidly worsening air pollution due to a growing number of motorbikes; untreated wastewater being released, and industrialisation polluting rivers and streams.

As a result, provincial governments recognise the need for local communities to be empowered with skillsets for data gathering of environmental challenges.

For decades farmers and fishers have warned authorities that an environmental crisis was unfolding along the 2,700-mile Mekong, which runs through six countries providing fish, irrigation, and drinking water to an estimated 60 million people.

Three years ago, as an environmental security reporter and nonresident research fellow at the Stimson Center, I met Nguyen Minh Quang, a geography lecturer at Can Tho University, where together we engaged in researching the impact of industrialisation on Can Thos river systems. Out of this research experience, we formed the Mekong Environment Forum, a platform and non-governmental organisation (NGO), to educate and empower local farmers with more access to environmental information and science data tools.

Our training, directed at student volunteers, farmers, and women community organisers, continues to offer access and knowledge to platforms like iNaturalist, Fieldscope, and Marine Debris Tracker, enabling newly-trained citizen scientists to join community-wide conservation and sustainability practices by uploading data and qualitative observations.

While citizen scientists in the Mekong Delta cannot stand up against the dam building policy planners, overfishing, and sand mining, an increasing number of volunteers, many of them students at Can Tho University, are giving a voice to the Mekong River and to many farmers in the delta.

There are other environment-focused NGOs that provide a foundation for grassroots environmentalism and education. Some of these include People and Nature Reconciliation, or Pan Nature, a conservation and protection NGO; the Center for Water Resources and Development, or WARECOD, which supports sustainable water use and gender equality in access to resources; and Green Innovation and Development, or Green ID, which promotes sustainable development.

Cambodias recent pressure on China to release more water from its 11 upper Mekong dams to aid its downstream neighbours has helped, as has Phnom Penhs decision not to develop new hydropower dams.

Stimson Center research analyst Courtney Weatherby hailed the move. The postponement of any further (dam) movement on the Sambor and Stung Treng projects is certainly a victory for environmental actors and a laudable decision to limit further domestic impacts on the flow of fish, water, and sediment between the Mekong and the Tonle Sap and Delta, said Weatherby.

The situation in the region remains dire because of the duration of the present drought. For generations, rice farmers have harvested their rice paddies on the Lower Mekong Rivers thousands of tributaries to water their crops.

However, an array of problems  from rising sea levels to industrial pollution and saltwater intrusion  are converging to threaten their traditional livelihoods.

Can Tho Universitys Tran Thi Diem Can agreed that the situation was perilous. Both the drought issue and salinity issue are continuing to affect human life in the five provinces of the Mekong Delta, said Can. People cannot cope with the problem at the present because disasters are quicker to devastate than before.

There is an increasing number of local people suffering from crop losses due to lack of water, especially durian farmers in Tien Giang, vegetable farmers in Ben Tre, and fruit and rice farmers. The big question for those embracing this rising citizen science tide is whether it can actually lead to policy changes, encourage smart rice farming, or merely allow for the environments deterioration to be documented in greater detail.

* James Borton is a non-resident fellow at the Centre of Sea and Islands Studies at Vietnam University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
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(Kitco News) - Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) announced Tuesday it is suspending operations at Casa Berardi until April 13, 2020 to comply with the Government of Quebecs COVID-19 orders.

Casa Berardi, which produced 134,409 gold ounces in 2019, will have limited operations.

The Government of Quebec ordered the mining industry to reduce to minimum operations as part of the fight against the COVID-19 virus, so we are suspending our Casa Berardi operations, said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Heclas President and CEO. We do not have a case of COVID-19, so we are disappointed for our workers and their families, our suppliers and other stakeholders that we have had to take this action. We look forward to Casa Berardi resuming normal operations as soon as possible.

Hecala Mining said it estimates that production and cost will be reviewed with the first quarter earnings release.

Also impacted from the Quebec government's order is Agnico Eagle. The company said it is ensuring it complies with the Government of Quebec to close all non-essential businesses relating to COVID-19.

The company has not made an announcement yet regarding a suspension.

"Any impact to operations or production guidance, which may include the suspension of mining activities at the company's operations in the Abitibi region of Quebec (the LaRonde Complex, the Goldex mine and the Canadian Malartic mine (50%)) and moving to care and maintenance until April 13, 2020, will be provided to the market in due course," said Agnico Eagle in a statement.

Newmont Corporations Eleonore mine is already on care and maintenance. Osisko Gold Royalties, which has a 2.0 to 3.5% net smelter return royalty at Eleonore, only said it is withdrawing guidance.
On a day police removed protesters against the amended Citizenship Act at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, agitators at the Bengal version of the Shaheen Bagh here at Park Circus on Tuesday agreed to the state government's request and decided that only a batch of seven will contiue the stir till the coronavirus crisis ends.

About 50 women protesters have been holding protest together at the Park Circus which will now come down to seven on a rotational basis in conformity with the state governmen's lockdown notification on coronavirus that not more than seven persons shall assemble together as part of the social distancing drill against COVID-19.

The demonstration on the lines of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi began at Park Circus Maidan on January 7 with 60 women protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Burqa clad protesters chanting "azadi" have been continuing with the agitation.

"We were requested by the government to stop gathering of protesters and carry demonstration in smaller numbers on a rotational basis. This has been allowed by the government," said Asmat Jamil, one of the organisers of the dharna.

The seven people will sit at a safe distance from each other taking every precaution required, she said.

"We are fighting for our rights. The coronavirus outbreak is causing havoc across the world," Jamil said.

The Park Circus anti-CAA protesters had continued with their agitation ignoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for "janata curfew" against the deadly virus on Sunday last.

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha welcomed the move, but said the protest should be called off now as the country is facing an "emergency medical situation and this not a time for politics".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was released on Tuesday after being under detention for over 7 months, hit out at the Centre stating that he wants to speak about the situation in the Valley but has realised that they are fighting a "war of life and death".

Omar was among the several political leaders who had been put under house arrest after the Central government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In February, he was slapped with the Public Safety Act (PSA). After being released from the detention centre, Omar here told media: "Jammu and Kashmir as a state was divided into two union territories. People have faced hardships for months, children could not go to school, shopkeepers could not earn. Several major sectors too faced hardships and people were restricted to their houses."

"I thought I would speak a lot about the situation, but today I realised we are fighting a war of life and death," he added.

Demanding the release of other detainees, including People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, he said: "All those people who were detained in state and outside should be released. I urge the government to end the communication gap. Mehbooba Mufti and all other political and non-political leaders should be released at this time."

He further commented on COVID-19 pandemic and said that all people must follow government orders to fight coronavirus.

"We must follow government orders to fight Coronavirus," he said.

The Conference leader was seen sporting a long white beard as he walked out of the detention in Srinagar today.The detention of Abdullah under the Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked earlier in the day.Omar Abdullah's father Farooq Abdullah was released from detention earlier this month, while Mufti is still under detention.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ranchi, March 24 : One person running a betel shop ('paan' shop) was arrested for violating the lockdown orders in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Tuesday.

According to the police, Ranjeet Kumar was running his betel shop at Nawabganj road in Hzaribagh district on Tuesday. First an FIR was lodged against him and later he was arrested. He was released after he paid a fine. In Dhanbad district, two shop owners were detained by the police for violating the lockdown.

As many as six FIRs have been lodged in Ranchi against shopowners for violating the lockdown rules.

In Jharkhand police have started taking measures to effectively ensure lockdown in the state in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The commuters are being checked and asked to return to their homes. Section 144 has been imposed in the state.

Heavy rush is seen at vegetable shops and for gas cylinders. Ranchi is facing a shortage of gas cylinders.

The Ranchi distrsict administration has said that banks will remain open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. after which they will be sanitised everyday.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has taken the shortage of gas cylinders seriously and ordered the district administration to look into the matter. The Chief Minster has also directed to take suitable action against those indulging in black marketeering. He has also directed officials to enforce the lockdown effectively.

Jharkahnd has till now not registered any coronavirus positive case.
24.03.2020 LISTEN

When will science provide the evidence for the zoonosis hypothesis of SARS-CoV2?

That is open.

This way one has to understand question 8 from a publication of March 16, 2020, cf.

Yuen et al., SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: The most important research questions., Cell Biosci. 2020 Mar 16;10:40, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32190290

The jury is still out as to what animals might serve as reservoir and intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2. Although Huanan seafood wholesale market was suggested as the original source of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, there is evidence for the involvement of other wild animal markets in Wuhan. In addition, the possibility for a human superspreader in the Huanan market has not been excluded. Further investigations are required to shed light on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

The zoonosis hypothesis is crucial because it is supposed to provide the reason for an increased death rate in contrast to classic corona viruses that are since long time present in the human body.

However, the majority of those infected with SARS-CoV2 show mild or no symptoms. Numbers given in the literature, range from 80% up to 93%.

How does this work when the pathogen is new to the entire world population? What protects these people from the new pathogen?

"Further investigations are required."

How long is that supposed to take? On what basis have decisions been made here?

The conditions in Germany now defy description. VW, BMW, Daimler closed, automotive supplier in short-time work, temporary staff laid-off, small businesses closed, hotels and restaurants closed, schools closed, Lufthansa down, car rental closed, the first went bankrupt. Minijobs gone, people without income. The list gets longer every day. And in other countries it is the same.

And science retreats to the laboratory? How long is this supposed to take?

Are the assumptions that are currently presented still ethical science? Shouldnt such questions not better have been clarified before switching off the world?

Virology seems to have lost all standards.

b) How does the situation in Italy really look like?

These age specific effects are supposed to be the result of a brandnew infectious agent of zoonotic origin? With a mortality that is almost exclusively restricted to people with preexisting conditions? Cf.

ISS, Characteristics of COVID-19 patients dying in Italy Report based on available data on March 20th, 2020, Mar 20, 2020, https://www.epicentro.iss.it/coronavirus/bollettino/Report-COVID-2019_20_marzo_eng.pdf

The present report describes characteristics of 3200 COVID-19 patients dying in Italy* (*COVID-19 related deaths presented in this report are those occurring in patients who test positive for SARSCoV-2 RT by PCR, independently from pre-existing diseases.)

Mean age of patients dying for COVID-2019 infection was 78.5.

Women dying for COVID-2019 infection had an older age than men (median age women 82 - median age men 79).

Data on diseases were based on chart review and was available on 481/3200 patients dying in-hospital (15.0% of the sample). Mean number of diseases was 2.7 (median 2, SD 1.6). Overall, 1.2% of the people presented with no comorbidities, 23.5% with a single comorbidity, 26.6% with 2, and 48.6% with 3 or more, cf.

To date (March the 20th), 36 of 3200 (1.1%) COVID-19 positive patients under the age of 50 have died. In particular, 9 of these were younger than 40 years, 8 men and 1 woman (age range between 31 and 39 years). For 2 patients under the age of 40 years, no clinical information is available; the remaining 7 had serious pre-existing pathologies (cardiovascular, renal, psychiatric pathologies, diabetes, obesity).

The actual situation in Spain does not look very different, cf.

Telemadrid, Perfil por edad del coronavirus en Espana: el 67% de los fallecidos tienen mas de 80 ano, 22 marzo 2020, http://www.telemadrid.es/coronavirus-covid-19/Perfil-edad-coronavirus-Espana-fallecidos-0-2215578436--20200322040212.html

De esta manera vemos, que el el 87,57% de las personas fallecidas en Espana, hasta el momento tenia una edad mayor a los 70 anos. Mientras que el 70% de los ingresados en la UCI tenian mas de 60 anos.

Are these the signs of an alone(!) dangerous infectious agent?

It's just like Dr. Wodarg says that if you hadn't measured it, nobody would have noticed this proportion in relation to the average annual numbers. But the virologists scream virus and the world is put into an artificial coma.

Now we are waiting to see whether overall mortality will increase in 2020 and whether there will be an extra contribution. Everything else is completely irrelevant. Despite all the assumptions and promises made by the virologists, it is only then that one can say with certainty whether there has been an additional death factor. The statisticians can then try to separate the stress, panic and weeks of sitting around inside.
But many still face hurdles returning to pre-coronavirus outbreak levels, and risk deeper troubles ahead.

Shenzhen, China  For weeks, Wang Yang had been using an old electric bicycle that has seen better days to deliver food from her family restaurant  specialising in Northeast Chinese cuisine with items such as dumplings, smoked roast tofu strips, roast chicken, and a sauerkraut and pork rice noodle dish  around her neighbourhood.

In normal times Wang would have been behind the counter at her restaurant or bringing these and many other dishes to the often-packed five tables in her small, family-run restaurant in Shenzhen, the megacity of about 20 million people just north of Hong Kong.

But these are not normal times. The coronavirus outbreak in China kept her restaurant, and an untold number of others across the country, closed for dine-in customers since the Lunar New Year in late January and subsequent lockdowns to prevent the COVID-19 coronavirus from spreading more widely.

We are open for dine-in customers now, Wang said following weeks of uncertainty. It is slow, but at least we are open.

Currently, dine-in restaurants are not allowed to open in any area in China that has not been declared by authorities a low-risk zone for virus transmission.

And while more restaurants are slowly reopening as restrictions ease, getting customers to return in their usual numbers will prove difficult until the crisis is fully over.

According to the China Hotel Association Research Institute, 60 percent of chain and franchise restaurants are fully operating, but overall rates for all restaurants were hovering around 30 percent in mid-March, according to a March 13 report from state-run Xinhua news agency.

Bankruptcy risk

Those forced closures are putting many small and medium-sized restaurants that are not supported by massive national or international corporate chains at risk of bankruptcy, particularly if restrictions progress further into March or longer.

S&P Global China forecast a significant decrease in sales revenue for restaurants in China for January and February in a report released on February 19, estimating that sales revenue for the entire first quarter could be up to 55 percent lower than the same period last year.

Some localities in provinces like Anhui, Jiangxi and Jiangsu have gone as far as ordering officials to eat out and pay for at least 100 yuan worth of food in an attempt to give people the confidence to eat out again.

Uberfood, a smaller high-end Western restaurant in the city of Wuxi, Jiangsu province that has been running since 2007, has yet to open months after China imposed travel restrictions to curb the coronavirus outbreak. [Michael Standaert/Al Jazeera]

One of the restaurants teetering on bankruptcy is a 28-year-old noodle restaurant not far from Wangs, with a once-steady flow from a loyal customer base.

We just reopened a couple of days ago, Ms Su, in her 50s, who co-owns the operation with her husband, told Al Jazeera, on the condition that her full name and that of her restaurant not be used. There arent as many customers as before but at least we can open for business now, and that is a relief, because now that we can make money again, our financial situation will slowly get back to normal.

Once given approval for opening dine-in services, restaurants have to go through complicated health procedures such as issuing masks to employees every four hours, conducting frequent temperature checks, ensuring safe distances between tables, and for clearing all customers from restaurants every two hours for full disinfection at some locations.

Those conditions are proving onerous for many stand-alone restaurants.

That really only works in a fast-food environment where there is a quick turnover of guests, said Sally Spika, who co-owns and operates the still-closed Uberfood, a smaller high-end Western restaurant in the city of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, which she has run with her husband Ralf, a Michelin-starred chef, since 2007.

The situation were in now is basically we think were bankrupt, Spika told Al Jazeera. Life will just not get back to normal for us and unless we can find a solution, the business is finished.

While Spika said some restaurants have begun to open in other parts of Wuxi, she was not hopeful that customers would return in the numbers needed right away.

I think its going to take a while for people to start relaxing, Spika said. You cant tell people, be afraid, wear a mask, dont talk to people, dont socialise, for six weeks of complete paranoia and then just wave a wand and say everythings fine now, strip off to a T-shirt and start hugging your friends again.

Economic pressure

The failure of restaurants like these could drive up unemployment and add to the countrys economic pain.

Chinas official unemployment figures rose to 6.2 percent in February, up from 5.3 percent a year before, National Bureau of Statistics data released on March 16 show. The figures, however, do not take into account the full extent of job losses for the 300 million or so migrant workers, many of whom are not on official contracts or only work on informal labour contracts, particularly at small and medium-sized restaurants across the country.

According to a statement from the China National Bureau of Statistics released in January, the catering industry generated 1.8 trillion yuan in 2019, accounting for 6.3 percent of the economy.

 Basically we think were bankrupt, Sally Spika, co-owner and operator of high-end Western restaurant Uberfood in a Chinese city, told Al Jazeera [Michael Standaert/Al Jazeera]

While some restaurants may be better prepared to hold out, each day of delay adds significant pressure.

We had been closed for over two months now and still dont know when we can fully resume all of our business, Ms Chen, who also did not want her full name used, told Al Jazeera.

Weve been allowed to reopen one outlet and things are more normal now there, with dine-in available. But we can only allow a few groups at a time.

Chen, 44, who specialises in snacks and Cantonese dim sum (steamed or fried dumplings and other small finger food), has two outlets and employs a total of 20 people, some whose jobs are in limbo as much as her own operations.

By the end of 2019, more than 26 million people were employed by the hotel and catering industry, according to data from the State Council, with approximately 60 percent of that number, or 15.5 million, from the catering side, Jacky Wong of consultancy firm Deloitte China told Al Jazeera.

The estimated number of people working in smaller household businesses including small restaurants, bars and cafes that do not make it into the official statistics, is closer to around 200 million, according to government data.

Both chain restaurants and private non-franchised restaurants are exposed to risks, said Deloittes Wong.

But he added that he has not seen many bankruptcies reported and he believes the catering industry is proving to be flexible by tapping into the online, delivery and takeaway businesses.

Even with those options, some, such as dim sum specialist Chen, are finding it hard to make ends meet.

We still need to pay our employees and our rent, Chen said. Right now their monthly salaries [for those not working yet] have been reduced to 80 percent but were still paying full rent.

For foreign restaurant operators like Spika and Rob  owner of a pizza restaurant that opened in Chengdu, Sichuan, in December just before the outbreak  another huge hurdle is sourcing foreign ingredients through disrupted international supply chains.

Spikas biggest problem is finding quality meats, fresh and sustainably sourced fish, and organic produce.

For Rob, a 39-year-old United States citizen who did not want his full name used since he thought it may affect his reopening, that means flour, bacon, pepperoni and cheese.

Just to get supplies is a nightmare, Rob told Al Jazeera.

Additional research and reporting assistance provided by Zhong Yunfan.
THE LORD'S Prayer will be invoked like never before in a single moment when people across the Diocese of Limerick will join as one with others across the world in a global Our Father on Wednesday at 11am.

Bishop Brendan Leahy will gather with Church of Ireland Bishop of the Diocese of Limerick, Kenneth Kearon, at the Redemptorist Church to dedicate the Lords Prayer in response to Pope Francis call.

Though Bishops Leahy and Kearon - who have asked that the latest Government notice today on physical distancing is adhered to - will be on their own in the Church, the moment of prayer will be carried live on the Redemptorist Church webcam https://www.redemptoristslimerick.ie/web-%20cam/

Pope Francis has asked that the heads of the churches and the leaders of every Christian community, together with all Christians of the various confessions, gather to recite the same time the prayer that Jesus, Our Lord, taught us  the Our Father at midday, Rome time, 11am here.

An hour later, Bishop Leahy will then join with bishops and priests from all over Ireland in consecrating the people of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for strength and protection from Covid-19.

Bishop Leahy said: "Pope Francis call for us all to come together as Christians across the globe to say the Lords Prayer tomorrow reflects the unprecedented crisis we are faced with from the coronavirus and the need to invoke prayer.

"The beauty of this initiative is its simplicity. Wherever we are, either individually or as a family at home, we can take a moment at 11 oclock on Wednesday to say this Our Father prayer either aloud or in the silence of our heart.

"And it will be great to think were part of a worldwide chorus of prayer, at that moment reaching God together. And it will remind us we all have one Father and we are all children of the one God so sisters and brothers to one another. It will be a time to decide again to redouble our efforts to do all we can to follow guidelines and stop the coronavirus growing."

Bishop Leahy will also lead midday prayers from the Redemptorist Church as a special Novena since St Patricks Day concludes. The faithful is invited to join from their home, again via webcam, to participate in this Act of Consecration during these unprecedented and worrying days for us all, Bishop Leahy said.
He reportedly returned from Egypt about 10 days ago.

A prosecutor from Odesa, Ukraine, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

He reportedly returned from Egypt about 10 days ago, local media reported citing own sources, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

"There have been no symptoms at the beginning, but his body temperature went up the other day. He was taken to Kyiv, where he was hospitalized. A rapid test has confirmed COVID-19," the media said.

Read alsoHealth Minister Yemets: Ukraine enters second phase of war on coronavirus

On Monday, March 23, deep cleanings were done in the local prosecutor's office; self-isolation was recommended to all those who were in contact with him.

Odesa's Deputy Mayor Pavlo Vugelman partly dismissed the report. "In fact, the prosecutor who tested positive for the coronavirus has not been to Odesa for long. He has not been and is not in contact with any resident of Odesa. And today he has been placed into self-quarantine in another city. This information comes from a reliable source  from the patient's relative," Vugelman said.

According to him, the local COVID-19 response team continues working in Odesa 24/7, while doctors, police officers and emergency service workers are supplied with all necessary things.
Senator Rick Scott Takes on China

The last few decades of policies coming out of Washington have not solved the problem of Communist China. Weve merely altered the battlefield.

So said Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, who took office in January 2019. Scott, who had been Floridas governor for the previous eight years, spoke at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

Over the last year, Scott has become one of the most consistent voices in the Senate calling out China on a litany of misdeeds.

Backing up his rhetoric, however, Scott has also introduced and supported a body of legislation which is targeted at reducing Americas engagement with China.

Blocking Drone Purchases

A major piece of that legislation is the American Security Drone Act of 2019, introduced last September. The Act would ban the federal government from buying drones from any entity subject to influence or control by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China or the Communist Party of the Peoples Republic of China, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Currently, the United States military and other federal agencies buy Chinese-manufactured drones from DJI Technology, a privately-owned Chinese company based in Shenzhen, China.

Shenzhen, often dubbed Chinas Silicon Valley, is also home to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant that has been banned from selling its 5G and other systems in the United States and among many of its allies. National security concerns have been raised that the capability of those systems can act as back doors to help the Chinese regime spy on America.

Scotts Drone Act bill has had its effect on DJIs efforts to keep its U.S. government and U.S. military customers.

Congressional lobbying reports show that the Chinese drone manufacturer engages in million-dollar lobbying activities on Capitol Hill. A significant part of that lobbying effort has gone to trying to counter the impact of Scotts legislation, which is co-sponsored by his Republican Florida colleague, Senator Marco Rubio.

A review of official lobbying disclosures filed with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives shows that from 2018 to 2019, DJI reported expenditures of $1,240,000 on legal and lobbying services to advance its interests with the United States government.

The firms providing those services include top names such as Akin Gump, as well as BGR Government Affairs, and K&L Gates.

American lawyers and lobbyists with those and other firms reported that they helped the Chinese company with trade issues and legislation related to the prohibition on operation or procurement of foreign-made UAS unmanned aerial systems inthe John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, a 2019 3rd quarter report said.

Blocking Huawei and Tear Gas to Hong Kong

Scotts legislative initiatives to block Chinese influence in America also include a bill to prohibit intelligence sharing with countries that install 5G equipment from Huawei.

Not content to challenge Huawei only on its reach into third-country markets, Scott also introduced legislation to stop American companies from selling key component parts to Huawei.

At the same time, Scott has also focused on Hong Kong, particularly with respect to its pro-Beijing governments response to protests that overwhelmed the city throughout the second half of 2019.

After a trip to the former British colony last fall, Scott supported the legislation that would ultimately lead to a ban on U.S. sales of crowd control equipment to the Hong Kong police.

Scott sent a letter to the American company that manufactured and sold the tear gas used against Hong Kong citizens in protests sparked by an extradition bill that could have seen political and religious dissidents sent to China for trial.

In a letter to the president of NonLethal Technologies, Inc., based in Homer City, Penn., Scott said the sales were equivalent to supporting efforts of the Chinese leader to harm ordinary citizens and peaceful protesters. He asked for a meeting with the companys president, urging the company to put human rights above profits.

Ultimately, Scott won his point.

In late November 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law not only The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, but S.2710, An Act to Prohibit the Commercial Export of Covered Munitions Items to the Hong Kong Police Force.

That law successfully stopped the tear gas exports that were coming out of Pennsylvania.

American Interests

I fought successfully to get the Peace Corps out of Communist China, Scott said.

The Peace Corps announced in February that it was ending its program in China. Scott had been advocating for that outcome, asking, Why are we there?

Scotts rationale, he said, is that Peace Corps activities in China brought no advantage to the United States.

Peace Corps officials told him that they were only teaching English, he said, but were not advancing American ideas or values.

Scott is also a leading critic of Beijings human rights abuses and repression in Xinjiang province, where the Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs have been forced into extrajudicial training and education camps designed to break down and then rebuild camp inmates into model Chinese citizens.

I believe we ought to standfor human rights. We believe every individuals life is important. And so even though the Uyghurs dont live in the United States, their lives are just as important as all of ours.

Turning to his own state, Scott sees Chinese influence in the drug trade.

We only have five international mail centers. And theres so much mail that comes in through China, we cant check every package.

Every day theyre finding illegal drugs coming in from China. Every day. This is all intentional, Scott said.

He added that the Miami mail center is only the fourth busiest of the five, implying that mail coming through the three busier international mail centers probably contains far more Chinese fentanyl than is found in Miami.


Restrictions have limited impact on Lake operations

Brisbane, Mar 24, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Lithium explorer and developer Lake Resources NL ( ASX:LKE ) ( FRA:LK1 ) ( OTCMKTS:LLKKF ) has announced that the impact is limited on the operations of Lake's subsidiaries due to the new restrictions on travel and movements set out recently by the government in Argentina. On 20 Mar 2020, due to a potential health crisis created by COVID-19, the Argentine government released social isolation guidelines (Decreto Ndeg 297/2020), which includes the restriction of movement of people and goods until 31 March 2020, with a number of exemptions, such as fuel and supplies.Lake's focus has been on progressing of lithium brine samples from Lake's Kachi Lithium Brine Project in Argentina using its U.S. technology partner Lilac Solutions' direct extraction ion exchange pilot plant module in Oakland, California. Lilac will process the brine to produce high-purity lithium chloride for conversion to battery-grade lithium carbonate for prospective off-takers. COVID-19 restrictions may delay this delay this process.Argentina has previously announced incentives to support the lithium sector and the oil & gas sector via presidential commentary on 1 March and 3 March 2020. It is the company's intention to follow up on the possibilities available to assist in future financing for construction.About Lake Resources NL

Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising clean, direct extraction technology for the development of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project, as well as three other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects are in a prime location within the Lithium Triangle, where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at the lowest cost.



This method will enable Lake Resources to be an efficient, responsibly-sourced, environmentally friendly and cost competitive supplier of high-purity lithium, which is readily scalable, and in demand from Tier 1 electric vehicle makers and battery makers.
Ravalli County was holding steady with just one confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of Tuesday afternoon.

That was an encouraging fact for the countys public health officer, Carol Calderwood.

Right now, were at a point  maybe the only point  that we can make a difference with our social actions, Calderwood said.

The good news about the confirmed case is that it was acquired outside the county.

Calderwood wants to see it stay that way.

If we find a case thats been community-acquired, then we know its here, she said. Thats a whole different beast. Unless we havent tested the right people, were pretty confident that its not here with person-to-person spread in the county yet.

If we keep it to the point where its only cases coming in from the outside, we have more control, Calderwood said.

The county was also fortunate that its first case was a young woman in good health surrounded by family and friends who were willing to do their part in keeping the virus contained.

Shes doing well, Calderwood said. Shes resting at home in isolation.  She is not very sick. There wasnt a lot of fever. We were fortunate to have a great first case with an extremely compliant group and a very healthy person.

It allowed us to get all of our systems in place, she said.

Under guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local public health officials can use one of two methods  symptoms or test-based  to determine when a person can be released from isolation. As a precaution, Calderwood said the county will use both.

Calderwood believes there will be more COVID-19 cases in Ravalli County brought in from people who have traveled recently. She hopes that people will be cautious and pay attention to any signs of the illness.

People should do a self-quarantine if they have any symptoms, she said.

The Ravalli County COVID-19 Incident Management Team will be talking about the potential of following Missoula Countys lead in requiring people to self-quarantine for 14 days if they travel from an area where the virus is being spread locally. If people arrive from overseas, the team asks that they call public health.

As of Monday, Ravalli County health providers have tested more than 50 people for COVID-19.

Most of those tests are being performed outdoors near Marcus Daly Memorial Hospitals emergency room. The medical staff performing the tests are wearing personal protective equipment.

Calderwood said the tests were moved outdoors to preclude indoor clinic space from potentially being contaminated. Under CDC guidelines, once a mask is removed from a patient to perform the test, the door to that room must remain closed for 207 minutes before it can be used again.

We found that we were having to shut down hospital clinic spaces, so we moved the test outdoors, she said.

The incident command team  which Calderwood leads  plans to hire a new operations person who will serve as a liaison to local businesses and volunteer coordinator.

Up to this point, weve been focused on public health, testing, quarantine and surveillance, Calderwood said. We want to do what we can to help local businesses and the community bridge the problems they are facing.

Calderwood said its important that people dont let their guard down and continue to use social spacing. At a minimum, people should maintain a distance of 6 feet at any gathering, even when they are outdoors. For now, the CDC said gatherings should be limited to less than 10 people.

To quote another medical advisor.  In order for all of the physical/social distancing to work, we have to all do it together. We have to all do it everywhere and we have to do it right now, she said. No age group is exempt. A gathering is a gathering whether you are at the beach, in the woods, or at the store.

This is no time to be selfish, Calderwood said. When you return from a get-together, you are increasing the risk to your siblings, parents and grandparents.

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Jeff Blain, a father, grandfather, US Army veteran, and career educator who taught in Colorado, Idaho, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Armenia, where his wife was killed in a tragic hiking accident, has published his latest book What Man Has Doneto Man: a sobering reminder that along with the sublime heights of human achievement go the seemingly unfathomable extremes of human capacity for evil.

Blain writes, The Twentieth Century is lauded as the time period when more technological and scientific advances and breakthroughs were accomplished than all other centuries combined.

Probably the most notable progress was in transportation when in the early years, Kitty Hawk marked the first flight which became the jet airplane allowing for global travel and Apollo 11 being our crowning achievement. Henry Ford developed assembly line production of the Model T which led to the horseless carriage, now the driverless carriage.

Transistors gave us the Second Industrial Revolution and are today used everywhere. Computers are known as mans greatest invention. Health was enhanced with the introduction of penicillin and polio vaccines. On the social scene, we witnessed the start, at least, of civil and womens rights. And who can ever forget the impact of the chocolate chip cookie?

However, equally etched into the annals of history are events like the war to end all wars, the Great Depression, and Vietnam War. What you are about to read will make these pale in comparison. You see, man created in that same span of time the greatest environmental disaster of modern history, the worst short-term atrocity ever committed, developed the sickest place on earth, and celebrated the most outstanding year for the destruction of humans.

Read, remember, and make certain to pass on to posterity what man has done to man.

Published by Page Publishing, Jeff Blains engrossing book is a disquieting reminder of the deadly mistakes and heinous atrocities of which mankind has been capable not only throughout history, but in our all-too-recent past.

Readers who wish to experience this cautionary tale can purchase What Man Has Doneto Man 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 late Eddie Fitzpatrick

The death has occurred of Edward (Eddie) Fitzpatrick (Wolfe Tone Street and formerly of Ossory Park, Kilkenny) 22nd March 2020, unexpectedly, at his home, Edward (Eddie), sadly missed by his sisters Bessie and Caroline (Scotland), nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces, extended family and friends. Funeral Arrangements Later

The late Paddy Lacey, Freshford and Dublin

The death has occurred of Patrick (Paddy) Lacey, Killester Ave., Killester, Dublin and formerly Barna, Freshford.

Paddy passed away peacefully after a short illness in Beaumont Hospital surrounded by his loving family. Sadly missed by his loving wife Kitty, daughter Audrey, son Ken, sister Nelly, son-in-law Dan, daughter-in-law Dawn, granddaughter Heather, brother-in-law Jimmy. Paddy will be sadly missed by his family, relatives, neighbours, and many friends. Paddy's burial will take place in St. Lachtain's Cemetery Freshford on Wednesday.

Due to Government guidelines regarding public gatherings and to protect our most vulnerable family members and friends, a private funeral with family and close friends will take place. We will look forward to meeting everyone at a memorial service for Paddy at a later date where we will honour his life. Please feel free to leave a message in the condolence book at the bottom of this page. The family thank you for your help and co-operation, understanding and support at this difficult time.

The late George Livings Mullinavat

The death has occurred of George Livings, Farthings Green, Bigwood, Mullinavat, Kilkenny, X91 YN29. Former employee of ABP Ferrybank, deeply regretted by his loving wife Eilish (nee McDonald), brother Paul, sisters Anne and Patricia, uncle Jack, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

A private Funeral will take place due to government advice regarding public gatherings. Those who would like to attend the funeral but cannot due to the current restrictions, can leave a personal message in the 'condolence' section below. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

The late Mary Mullally Castlecomer

The death has occurred of Mary Mullally (nee Leech) Forest Cottage, Ardra, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny. Suddenly at St Lukes General Hospital, Kilkenny. Mary predeceased by her husband Michael and son Colin. She will be sadly missed by her loving family, daughter Kathleen, sons Michael, Jerry & Richard, her grandchildren John, Tony, Caroline, Michelle, Kevin, Jessica, Alan and Laura, her great-grandchildren Kyle, Ryan, Chloe, Sean, Megan and Aine, sisters Alice (Carlow), Teresa (Offaly), Frances (Scotland) and Lil (Australia), son-in-law, daughters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Marys funeral will arrive at The Church of The Immaculate Conception, Castlecomer on Tuesday, 24th March, for 11 o'clock Requiem Mass. Burial will take place afterwards in Crosshill Cemetery.

As per the current government directive on public gatherings and with the support of Marys family, we ask that people do not handshake and maintain HSE Guidelines on Social Distancing.

There will not be a condolence book in the church and those who wishing to leave a message for the family can do so in the condolences section below.

The late Kitty Roche Kilmacow

The death has occurred of Kitty Roche (nee Grant), Skeard, Kilmacow, Kilkenny / Waterford. Wife of the late Jack and sister of the late Stasia (Kinsella). Deeply regretted by her loving daughters Mary (McCarthy) and Ann (O'Carroll), brothers Jimmy and Paddy, sons-in-law Roy and Gerry, granddaughter Ellen, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends.

Funeral Mass on Wednesday at 11am at St.Senan's Church, Kilmacow followed by burial after in adjoining cemetery. Due to government advice, mass is restricted to family, relatives and close friends. Those who would like to attend the funeral but cannot, can leave a personal message in the 'condolence' section below.

The late Mary Ryan Goresbridge

The death has occurred of Mary Ryan (nee Myers), Tallaght, Dublin and late of Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny), March 21st, 2020 peacefully at Tallaght Hospital. Beloved wife of Ned and dear mother of John. She will be sadly missed by her heartbroken, husband, son, daughter-in-law Suzanne, relatives and friends.

A private family funeral will take place due to Government advice regarding public gatherings. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave your personal message in the section below Condolences. All enquiries to Fanagans Funeral Directors, Tallaght Village  01 451 6701.

The late Mary Kelleher Kerry and Kilkenny

The death has occurred of Mary Kelleher (nee Murphy), Scarteen Park, Kenmare, Kerry and originally Graiguenamanagh, Kilkenny on the 22nd of March, 2020. She passed away peacefully at University Hospital Kerry and in the presence of her loving family. Mary (nee Murphy) (formerly of Grainguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny). Beloved wife of Pat, loving mother of Theresa, Nicholas, Tricia, Niall, the late Jerry and his partner the late Elizabeth (Liz). Sadly missed by her loving husband, sons, daughters, grandchildren Ryan, Eimear, Roisin, Loughlan, Roghan and Blathin, brother Joe, sisters Ann, Judy and Rene, sons-in-law Paul and Alan, daughter-in-law Jennifer, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, kind neighbours and good friends.

May She Rest In Peace

In accordance with H.S.E guidelines and in the interest of public health, a private family funeral will take place.

Mary's family would like you to join them for her requiem mass via live stream on www.kenmareparish.com MASS (live streaming) on Wednesday March 25th at 2.00pm from Holy Cross Church, Kenmare with burial afterwards in Holy Cross New Cemetery, Kenmare.

Please use the online condolence book below as an option to offer your sympathies.

A memorial Mass will be arranged at a later date.

Mary's family would like to thank you for your support and consideration at this difficult time.
Hytera's intelligent manufacturing center in Shenzhen has enabled it to maintain production despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The flexibility built into the center has also allowed Hytera to manufacture disposable face masks to help offset the global shortage caused by the virus.

Hytera Communications, a leading global provider of private professional communications solutions, has been able to keep its manufacturing systems working normally despite the threat posed to global supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its investment in intelligent manufacturing and supply chain solutions.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005461/en/

Hytera's intelligent manufacturing center stays business as usual (Photo: Business Wire)

The key to this capability is Hytera's intelligent manufacturing center in Shenzhen, China, which boasts high levels of smart manufacturing technology and automation.

The intelligent manufacturing solutions provide a flexible and agile manufacturing and supply chain system. Intelligent manufacturing and management systems, automated dispensing, assembly and functional testing are designed to guarantee production precision and high levels of efficiency. This is augmented by an automated packaging system and the ability to remotely monitor products.

At the heart of Hytera's intelligent manufacturing system is the flexible production line, which utilizes a manufacturing execution system to streamline the entire production process through real-time information. The production line is so flexible that it can be reorganized to manufacture many different products, ensuring a fast response to changing markets and customer demands.

Hytera began adopting intelligent manufacturing solutions at the Shenzhen center back in 2013, in order to meet the demanding manufacturing criteria, including customization, delivery cycles and product reliability, of high-quality professional mobile communications devices, such as two-way radios.

The company now has more than ten smart production lines. In 2019, Hytera made a major breakthrough in its development of intelligent manufacturing and at the start of this year its intelligent manufacturing processes officially reached the Industry 4.0 stage. In the next five years, one of Hytera's main goals is to upgrade all its manufacturing processes to meet 'smart' manufacturing standards.

The Hytera Smart Factory in Shenzhen also incorporates intelligent warehousing and logistics systems. An important part of the global supply chain is the Hytera manufacturing center in Zaragoza, Spain, which focuses on providing customized solutions designed to meet the specific needs of its European and American customers.

The flexibility of Hytera's intelligent manufacturing processes has also enabled the company to switch some production lines to the manufacture of disposable face masks to help combat the global shortage caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Production of face masks began in early February and has been rapidly ramped up to achieve mass production levels. Hytera's disposable face masks are already available in the market around the world.

Hytera's response to the COVID-19 outbreak has gone farther. The company immediately set up a national emergency support team and got in contact with health committees, prevention and control departments, medical institutions, and non-profit organizations throughout China to help coordinate all aspects of support, including equipment donations, communications support, and field services. The company has also donated more than 3,000 communication devices nationwide, helping fulfill its corporate social responsibilities.

The development of the intelligent manufacturing system is one of the main outcomes of Hytera's strategy of continuous investment in research and development. The company invests 15% of its annual revenue in R&D and has 2,342 patents filed globally. Around 40% of its staff headcount are R&D engineers, of whom 80% hold a master's or doctor's degree.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005461/en/

Contacts:

Shaowa Cai

Shaowa.cai@hytera.com














Even as PM Modi announced a lockdown for 21 days and assured essential services will remain open, panic buying of grocery/milk was reported across the country.

















We have been trying our best to serve the customers based on the understanding that we come under essential services.

 bigbasket (@bigbasket_com) March 24, 2020

Dont panic is the message from the central and state governments on the availability of food items amidst the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. However, the ground reality seemed different with multiple complaints of people being unable to access food and milk supply.On one hand, while grocery delivery platforms like BigBasket and Grofers have been unable to deliver products due to authorities restricting their operations, individual customers are also being stopped from stepping out to buy essentials.

On March 23, minutes after the Maharashtra government took a decision to impose curfew in the state, a viral message began circulating on messaging platform WhatsApp which detailed timing restrictions for supply of goods like milk and vegetable/grocery stores.

Mumbai Police released a statement clarifying that this message was fake and that no such restrictions have been imposed.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took to Twitter to clarify once again on March 24 evening to clarify that the government has not stopped transport carrying essential services. He added that individuals could dial '100' in case their essential services-related vehicle was being stopped by the police.

Thackeray added that while he is in cognizance of citizen complaints about being restricted from going out to buy essentials, he reiterated that individuals also need to be more mindful of the gravity of the Coronavirus situation.

The Maharashtra chief minister also advised the authorities to not stop citizens from stepping out for buying essentials while clarifying that unnecessary travel must be avoided.



CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray addressing the State https://t.co/JkPane8MVt

 CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) March 24, 2020

"Don't panic. We have an adequate supply of foodgrains," he added.

Moneycontrol spoke to several milk dairy owners who said that they would open their milk supply stores only for two hours (6am-8am) from March 25 onwards. While these owners were not able to produce any official document mandating this move, the dairy firms have noticed a rise in panic.

Customers who would otherwise only buy a litre of milk have started buying seven to eight litres in anticipation of short supply. We have adequate milk supply but have been told by our other dealers that shops can be only open for two hours from March 25, till further notice, said a dairy owner in Sion.

A similar situation was seen among individuals stepping out to buy water and essential fruits and vegetables.



Vehicles engaged in transportation of essential commodities like food, medical supplies & equipment may please put a placard on windshield to minimise inconvenience at toll nakas & within the city. All staff engaged in above must carry valid ID #CautionIsEssential #FightCorona pic.twitter.com/3nKCuOefIL  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) March 24, 2020



Multiple persons confirmed to Moneycontrol that they were either stopped by the authorities or the stores were shut.

If rice and grains are essential commodities, why have shopkeepers shutting stores by 11am? How do we stock up on essentials when stores are either shut or others are buying in bulk, said Andheri resident Manisha Gupta.

Both the central and state governments have insisted that there is no restriction on the movement of vehicles for the distribution of groceries, vegetables, and milk. However, store owners and vegetable dealers have reported that they are not being allowed to get their stock.

When my warehouse access is restricted, how do I procure my daily vegetables to sell in the market, asked Arunvel Sekhar who has multiple sub-dealers selling products in Chembur, Sion, Matunga and Ghatkopar areas of Mumbai.

Sekhar added that he has decided not to open his vegetable shops from March 25 onwards due to the fear of harassment of the police.

Another Dadar resident Vikram Sable told Moneycontrol that his fruit supply has been curtailed because his vendors vehicle was apprehended by a police.

My medical conditions make it necessary for me to consume certain fruits on a daily basis. I have not been able to get any fruits from March 23 as my fruit vendors truck was prohibited from plying. How will the authorities enable supply for us senior citizens, he added.

Sable has also ordered grocery online, not knowing that it is highly unlikely that the products will be delivered.

The situation looked the same in other states where a lockdown has been imposed. Kolkata-resident Rohit Sinha sought an explanation as to why he was manhandled by the police when he was merely out to buy groceries.

When the authorities said we can go out to buy daily essentials, why was I manhandled, he said. While Sinha is looking to file an official complaint once the COVID-19 situation improves, but is wondering how to get the food grains and vegetables for the week.

Fake News Alert!

Don't pay attention to such unsubstantiated messages. Do not forward them. Spreading rumours to create panic is a punishable offense. pic.twitter.com/USTDW4ViRT  Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) March 24, 2020

In Delhi too, a similar situation is being reported. While Delhi Police clarified through a series of tweets on March 24 that food stores, bakeries, logistics for essential services are open, individuals told Moneycontrol that shops were shut.

I decided not to hoard but now the shops are shut. What do we do about food then? Online restaurant delivery (again an essential service as per authorities) is also not being permitted, said Delhi-resident Ashutosh Aditya.

Places like Bengaluru were no better with grocery and milk stores voluntarily deciding to shut shop and online delivery being curtailed.

Richard Parkar, an electronic city resident in Bengaluru complained that delivery of water has also been curtailed to his area.

Without water what do I do? There is no point in going to a store to buy water because all shops are closed, he said.

Meanwhile, grocery delivery platform Grofers CEO Albinder Dhindsa took to Twitter to state that their warehouse in Faridabad was closed by local law enforcement today.



Our @grofers warehouse in Faridabad was closed by local law enforcement today.While we understand they are doing their duty, essential items will be denied to 20,000+ households in Faridabad and Delhi every day. We need help in sorting this out. @Mcf_Faridabad @ArvindKejriwal  Albinder Dhindsa (@albinder) March 24, 2020

While we understand they are doing their duty, essential items will be denied to 20,000 plus households in Faridabad and Delhi every day, he added.

Competitor BigBasket is also facing a similar plight. Multiple orders have been auto-cancelled over the past few days on one hand while customers have been sent a message that services are unavailable.

BigBasket also took to Twitter to state that the platform has been trying our best to serve the customers based on the understanding that we come under essential services.

However, in light of recent development with multiple statements coming in, we are awaiting clarifications from the authorities basis which we will be able to determine how soon can we get back to serving you. We are grateful for your patience, said the grocery platform.

With 470 reported positive cases of COVID-19 in India, it is likely that the shutdown across the country will continue for the next few weeks.

Currently, supply of essential commodities like water, milk, vegetables and food grains is curtailed across India. Further clarifications from local police and state governments across the country is awaited on how supply of these goods will be ensured in the next few days.
Visakhapatnam, March 24 : Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday reported three more coronavirus positive cases from Visakhapatnam district, taking the number of such cases in the state to 10.

Following a review meeting on the situation on Tuesday, State Health Minister Alla Nani said that necessary measures are being taken to control the spread of the COVID-19.

Speaking to the media, the minister emphasised that the people's participation in corona control is very crucial and requested the public to practice social distancing. He also stressed that people should remain at home and strictly follow government orders in this regard.

While stating that the persons returning from abroad are required to report voluntarily for COVID19 clearances, the minister warned that legal action would be taken if the regulations are not followed. On Monday, a youth returning from London to Visakhapatnam had tested positive, taking the total to seven COVID-cases in Andhra Pradesh.

The state government has imposed a virtual curfew till March 31 in line with the Indian government's moves to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Nani said that 20 committees have been appointed to control the corona. Taking a pot-shot at former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu,the minister said such people should refrain from resorting to scare mongering leading to fear among the people.
Hood Celebrityy Release New Single In Hopes of Making Fans Dance and Release Stress Just For A Moment During These Rough Times





Over the past few weeks the world as we knew it has changed. Forcing families and friends to share quality time in new creative ways and force our creatives to think of ways they can uplift and engage with their fans. Chart topping recording artist Hood Celebrityy seems to have found a way to connect with nearly half a million with her new single Run Di Road, released on Friday March 20,2020. Staying true to her Caribbean roots Hood Celebrityy triggers nostalgia from her youthful days.





Leaving the island of Jamaica at age 12, Hood Celebrityy never lost touch with her roots and it is evident in her new release, Run Di Road, which pays homage to Jamaican duo Chaka Demus & Pliers Murder She Wrote. The first time I heard the rhythm was a long time ago. I was very young, but the song stuck with me and had a big impact on my energy every time it was played, says Hood Celebrityy. For Hood Celebrityy this is the same energy and impact she wanted to share with her fans during this world pandemic.





 During this global pandemic I am not skeptical about releasing new music, but I do worry about what type of music to put out during this time where the world is so negative. I feel this record is perfect and could change the temperature, make people just dance and have a bit of fun, even if its for a moment says Hood Celebrityy.








Bill Purdue waterproofs basements for a living, but he's spent the past few days in his buddy's Washington, Indiana, auto trim and upholstery shop cutting rectangles of cotton fabric that his friend sews into face masks.

Fashion designer Briana Danyele left Italy last month to return to her mother's Greer, South Carolina, home, and in recent days turned the living room into a mini sewing factory making masks that she embroiders with the slogan "We Got This!"

They're among scores of Americans answering pleas from hospitals, doctors and nurses so desperate for personal protective equipment amid the viral pandemic that some have turned to the public, saying do-it-yourself face masks are better than nothing. And for those sitting at home worrying as the virus strains hospitals and the economy teeters, sewing masks makes them feel less helpless.

"Whatever it takes to get the job done, that's what I want to do," said Purdue, 57, whose daughter works at the women's hospital in Evansville, Indiana. He responded to a Facebook post last week from Deaconess Health System in Evansville, which asked the public for help.

For most people, the new virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority recover.

But the virus is spreading at a rapid rate, and starting to max out the health care system in several cities.

Deaconess spokeswoman Pam Hight said the hospital system assessed its supplies and realized that "if this keeps going and gets as bad as it has in other cities, we would have a shortage." Like many hospitals, they're advising volunteers to use tightly woven 100-percent cotton and elastic straps, and posted a how-to video.
Over 600 districts have been placed under lockdown in an effort to stop the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) that has afflicted nearly 500 across the nation. The Centre has grounded commercial airlines, stopped passenger trains and nudged state governments to severely curtail movement of people except to maintain the supply line of essential commodities services.

By Tuesday morning, the number of Covid-19 cases had increased to 492 and initial test reports from states indicated that this number would rise further. Like the UK-returned 23-year-old woman in Manipur, believed to be the first Covid-19 case in the north-east.

A total of 451 Indians and 41 foreigners have tested positive to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, in confirmatory tests, according to data provided by the Union Health Ministry that has been attempting to prevent, or delay the disease moving to the community transmission stage.

Top central government officials who have been tracking restrictions imposed in the country said 560 districts in 32 states had been placed under complete lockdown apart from 58 more in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. The centrally administered island Lakshadweep has banned movement of passenger ships from the mainland. In all, the restrictions cover 619 districts.

In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal suggested that the government might have been able to get the situation under control. The biggest challenge now is to not let the situation go out of control, we need your support, Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter.

In neighbouring Gurgaon, Police Commissioner Muhammad Akil asked people in the city to restrict their movements. If we think that we are not getting full cooperation, we will be forced to invoke Section 144 and impose curfew, the citys top police officer.

Maharashtra, which has reported the most Covid-19 cases at 101, has already ordered a statewide curfew to force people to stay indoors. Punjab, which has recorded 21 cases and one death, had been among the first to stop public transport in the state and then, impose a curfew that came into force from Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had yesterday signalled his displeasure at people not staying at home, will deliver his second televised address to the nation. In a tweet that made the announcement, PM Modi said he would speak on some vital issues relating to coronavirus.
DOHA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet Taliban officials in Doha on Monday on his way back from a one-day trip to Afghanistan as part of efforts to salvage a historic deal signed with the insurgent group in February.

"Secretary Pompeo is going to meet with Taliban officials in Doha including Mullah Baradar, Taliban's chief negotiator, to press the Taliban to continue to comply with the agreement signed last month," said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Participation in the 2020 Census is off to a solid start with more than one-fifth of the Massachusetts population counted, but Secretary of State William Galvin and advocates urged residents to fill out the questionnaire if they havent already.

About 22.3% of Massachusetts households have responded, higher than the national response rate of 21%, according to figures released by Galvins office Monday afternoon. And 20.9% of Massachusetts households have responded online, also higher than the nationwide figure of 17.8%.

Massachusetts has at least 6.9 million residents, though some suggest the population is higher because some communities, especially immigrants, are typically undercounted.

Galvin said a full count is needed in Massachusetts.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we in Massachusetts get our fair share of the federal dollars that go to public health programs and hospitals, Galvin said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. Responding to your census right now is one way that you can contribute to that effort.

Unable to hold trainings or open up computer labs, 2020 Census advocates plan to launch a phone bank Wednesday to encourage residents to participate in the count.

The phone calls will come as people across the state will be home, working remotely, taking care of their children or otherwise avoiding crowds outside.

We are focused on ensuring that people living in the lowest-response Census tracts get an extra reminder from a trusted messenger who can share why getting counted in the 2020 census is so important to being seen and heard in the next 10 years, said Beth Huang, director of the Massachusetts Voter Table.

The U.S. Census is the federal governments effort to count every person living in the country every 10 years.

Dozens of nonprofits across Massachusetts had set up Questionnaire Assistance Centers before the coming spring: meeting rooms, publicly accessible computer labs and other spaces with internet access where people can complete their 2020 Census online and get help from trained workers.

Then the coronavirus outbreak spread to the United States, shutting down schools, libraries, sporting events and many businesses. As of Monday, the United States had more than 43,000 and 513 deaths. At least nine people in Massachusetts have died from COVID-19-related illness.

The U.S. Census Bureau suspended field operations until at least April 1 as a result of the coronavirus.

Huang said the phone bank will replace the work that would have been done through the 100 questionnaire centers.

So far, Huang says the lowest response rates are coming from places that have historically been undercounted, primarily working-class neighborhoods inhabited by people of color, immigrants and older residents. In one tract in the Forest Park section of Springfield, about 9.4% of residents had responded to the 2020 Census, according to the 2020 Census Hard To Count application developed by the City University of New Yorks Mapping Service. Other parts of the city have seen response rates of at least 15%.

Some parts of Holyoke, Worcester, Lawrence, Chelsea, Brockton and Bostons Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods also had response rates in the single digits.

Census takers typically would visit homes around this time of year, and would return to homes that havent responded sometime between May and July. Whether that happens this year depends on when the coronavirus-related restrictions lift at several state and federal agencies.

Typically, the Census Bureau delivers the official counts to the president and Congress, according to the agencys website. States receive redistricting counts in March 2021.

The 2020 Census can be done online or by phone in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Mandarin and several other languages. There are also separate phone numbers available in English and Spanish for residents of Puerto Rico.

Sign up for free text messages about important updates on coronavirus in Massachusetts

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Once upon a time, there was a very clear definition of venture capital. It was used to fund many of the largest technology companies you know, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, which received funding from venture capital firms by the names of Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital. These firms put in millions of dollars in supergiant rounds for a percentage of equity and got up to 1,000 times returns with an IPO that occurred in less than 10 years. If these venture capitalists (commonly called VCs) got lucky, they would have one, two or three of these moonshot successes in their fund portfolio. This would then give them the return on investment they needed to fall in line with their investors expectations. Thats it. That is how VC evolved until today, when the startup explosion.

The startup explosion in the last decade changed the trajectory of venture capital. Although big, successful deals in companies like Airbnb, Lyft and Uber still happened, there was a major increase in the number of startups being created around the U.S. and the world. In particular, there was a huge influx of startups in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Thats where the majority of risk-taking VCs were, after all.

Often in the last decade, you could try to raise funding as a startup founder anywhere else and run into risk-averse investors who were yet to understand the open-eyed model of venture capital. These investors wanted to see more revenue and startup investments heavily derisked in order to understand and evaluate them. It used to feel like as soon as you left California and went east, your investment terms gradually got worse from New York to London to Europe. In many places, it was nearly impossible to raise any funding at all with the same model that worked in Silicon Valley. Thats why it has the reputation it does today.

The heyday of venture capital

Silicon Valley is still known for innovation, but San Francisco has become the hotbed of startups and venture capitalists.Many VCs kept their offices or homes in Silicon Valley cornerstones on Sandhill Road in Menlo Park or Palo Alto or Mountain View but opened up hip new offices in the city to show face to the changing tide. Twitter, Uber, and Lyft decided to keep their offices in the city instead of moving to the valley like Facebook and Google. Coupled with the increase of startups moving to San Francisco from around the world, the spike in technology jobs, and a huge swath of new VC funds entering the fray, the model, and the city, started to change.

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Startups now could get funding more easily. The supply of capital was high. There were a plethora of new investors, including accelerators, incubators, angels, angel networks, dumb money, old money and more VCs than you could count. In many ways, this accelerated new technology services and products. It also started the rise of San Francisco becoming a cost-prohibitive place for many people and businesses, including many startup founders. But startup founders, being the entrepreneurs they are, found a way, whether that was funding or couch surfing.

There was such a huge increase in funding mechanisms for startups, in fact, that many companies got funding that might not have otherwise. Diligence on startups in Northern California at this time was not intense like it still was in markets nearby on the East Coast or Southern California. Usually, just a pitch deck, a well-explained plan, novel technology, experienced founders, or a signaling investor could raise a $1 million seed round. No problem.

The first evolution

Amid all the startup world hullabaloo, the venture capital model started to take on different faces. AngelList and FundersClub saw the structure of a venture fund as an opportunity. A fund is made up of investors with a general partner who raises the money and does the due diligence on the startups in order for an investment to be made. Angel networks had already formed around this structure without forming VC funds, so it made natural entrepreneurial sense to simplify the fund creation process. These were the first online equity-based fundraising platforms.

At the time, raising funding for a private company publicly still had its legal restrictions. Without the right permit, it was illegal to fundraise online for equity. Kickstarter made its way around that by calling the investment donations and rewarding donors with gifts, but no equity traded hands. AngelList called their first online investment vehicle appropriately Invest Online. Then later, Syndicates. Syndicates exploded in number as the startup world had for venture funds and tech companies.

This was a huge breakthrough, and democratization of startup investing occurred. Almost anyone could not only invest,but form a syndicate of investors that looked to them to bring interesting deals. The FCC still required accreditation by investors, but enforcement online was a different story.

In 2019, AngelList reached nearly $1.8 billion in assets under management, which is on par with most major VC funds. The venture capital scene would never be the same. Even though AngelList and other equity crowdfunding platforms improved on the fluidity of the model, the model was still mostly the same  an investor needs a big exit in order to return their fund. This left the door open to new styles of funding startups, and not just different size funds like Nano or Micro VCs. The excitement in startups was still rising, and so was the funding.

At the same time, many startup founders had been sucked in and chewed up in the traditional venture capital model. If their company wasnt on a trajectory of rocketship growth, often founders were forgotten by their investors. Their VCs had to focus on the top 1 percent of the portfolio that they needed to scale and bring the multiples for their fund. The startup that was pushed to scale so fast it broke was left behind. Thus began a revolt.

The revolution begins

The revolt began slowly and quietly. It started with startup founders who had moved to San Francisco and become disenchanted or disenfranchised, leaving the city or becoming tired of the traditional VC model. Many of these entrepreneurs had raised early-stage funding and burned out on growing at a rate that is extremely hard to maintain. Often the push to grow the company that fast would kill the company outright.

Some founders started different types of businesses in the Bay Area or back in their home city or country. Some built investment models to support their homegrown founder friends. Some looked to cryptocurrency and ICOs. Some might even have started revenue-stable lifestyle businesses, a type of business not favored in San Francisco until more recently. Venture capital had become a stamp of approval. Your funding amount was your success. How could it be any other way?

Founder friendly was starting to be heard on the streets of San Francisco more. Y-Combinator and 500 Startups launched new convertible notes for early-stage investing called the SAFE and KISS respectively to give better terms to founders. Stripe built Stripe Atlas to help founders with the legal and financial requirements of starting a business. Financial institutions that had built their profits in different ways decided to be more helpful to the lucrative startup scene. So it began.

Many founders who wanted to still build successful tech companies in and outside of San Francisco demanded new terms, or flat-out avoided traditional venture capital. They wanted to build healthy revenues naturally. They wanted to maintain ownership and not give up 20-25 percent of their company for a seed round. They wanted acquisition optionality and to not be forced to only sell or IPO at a $1 billion valuation. They wanted flexibility and fairness most of all.

Then the stories of companies doing this started to become public. Tuft and Needle was a big one. It had considered venture capital but ended up building a smart, profitable business that sold for around $450 million with the founders still owning most of the company. Buffer was another sweetheart of the no- or low-funding company crowd who grew to 82 employees, is profitable and serves 75,000 customers. Countless other startups started to take notice, and so did the investors.

The funders become the innovators

The culmination of this pushback from founders was to create more solutions for the 99 percent of entrepreneurs. The unicorn outliers were too rare of a case study. There was a missed opportunity here.

One of the first innovators on the venture capital model was Indie.vc. Known by its burning unicorn image, Indie.vc has tested multiple versions of its fund with three different investment models. Currently, it's a 12-month program that supports entrepreneurs on a path to profitability. It invests between $100,000 and $1 million and always takes an equity stake. In addition, it takes a percentage of gross revenue. Indie.vc Founder Bryce Roberts calls their model Permissionless Entrepreneurship.

Another early innovator with a similar model is Earnest Capital, which created the Shared Earning Agreement. Also, called an SEA or SEAL (for cuteness' sake), a venture investor model built upon a combination of equity and annual cash payments.

Shared Earnings is equity-like, explains Earnest Capital founder Tyler Tringa, and only a percentage of profits (technically Founder Earnings) is paid to the investor after everybody, including the founders, are compensated.

In between Earnest Capital and Indie.vc you have TinySeed, which describes itself as the first startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers. The program is a 1-year, remote accelerator with 10-15 companies going through it at the same time. It based its terms on how Rand Fishkin raised venture capital for his company SparkToro: a 10 to 12 percent equity stake with a cut of dividends. For that, TinySeed invests $120,000 for the first founder and $60,000 per additional founder.

Alternative VC models are even expanding internationally, where these models are needed the most, with one of the first examples being Pick & Shovel Ventures in Australia, which sets an up-front multiple with the founder and takes 5 percent of monthly recurring revenue (MRR) after a 12-month holiday period. The founder then pays back the venture funding either through revenue or an exit.

Its all about optionality, explains Pick & Shovel Ventures Founder Matt Allen. "Our business model works for profitable companies, companies that choose to raise and companies that exit early and create a windfall for the founders. I really want the founder to do what they feel is right and will support them in all aspects of that.

The thought behind these new forms of venture capital is that they can attract revenue-generating startups with interesting technology or a novel product with founders who want to continue thoughtfully growing their company while maintaining ownership.

That doesnt mean the company wont be a $1 billion unicorn in Silicon Valleys eyes, but it does mean that their investors venture capital model doesnt require them to be in order to make a return on investment thats favorable to all involved. Its still an experiment.

Another experiment is AI-backed investment firms like CircleUp. CircleUp uses proprietary algorithms to evaluate and identify consumer startups to which it should offer equity investments and working capital loans, typically to companies with $1 million to $15 million in revenue.

Corl is another example that uses an artificially-intelligent platform to finance businesses in the digital economy and shares in their future revenue. Their pitch is a no-brainer: 30 percent of businesses don't have the assets necessary for debt financing and 98 percent don't meet the venture requirements for equity financing. This has led to a $3 trillion global funding deficit. The model they use is RBF or revenue-based financing.

Revenue-based financing firms have also sprinted onto the scene in order to give other non-dilutive alternatives to startups. Most of these firms focus on earning commissions on revenues, so the startups they fund need to have a minimum level of annual revenue somewhere between $100,000 and $10,000,000. Not surprisingly, this is often ARR, or annual recurring revenue, that comes via predictable-revenue SaaS businesses. Although this suits a portion of the underserved startup scene, it doesnt address the majority of it and is one of many solutions a founder can choose from.

The future is flexible

In all senses of the word, alternative venture capital is flourishing. 2020 will be a year of major expansion. New methods and models are already launching in startup ecosystems across the globe in the footsteps of the first movers. These new founder-investor relationships seem to already be in a more empathetic, stable and healthy place than they often were before.

As the model continues to evolve, the important thing to remember is that businesses can be built in many different ways. A founders appetite for scaling culture can vary widely from high-growth blitzscaling to lifestyle living to slow-build big business. Its up to the founder and investor to strike a deal that supports the true mentality, cultural values and mission for both.
As elected prosecutors, protecting public safety is our job. But we also believe that jail and prison should be reserved only for those for whom there is no other safe alternative. That is why we have joined the growing calls  including from four other elected DAs  to reform New York's parole system, which incarcerates far too many people for noncriminal "technical" violations like missing meetings with a parole officer or failing a drug test.

The purpose of parole supervision is to help people successfully return to society after serving time in prison, which makes all of us safer. But today parole too often functions as a set of trip wires that end up sending men and women back to jail and prison on the basis of conduct for which neither of us, as prosecutors, would seek incarceration.

Putting people back in jail or prison for noncriminal conduct is often counterproductive. It complicates the already-difficult process of returning from incarceration and can wipe out any progress a paroled person has made toward re-establishing housing, employment, education, family bonds and support networks. That sort of destabilization can lead to further crime, making us less safe.

New York is an outlier when it comes to parole, imprisoning people for technical violations at almost twice the national average. Each year, nearly 8,000 New Yorkers are returned to prison for these noncriminal parole violations, a number that is second only to Illinois, making up almost 40 percent of annual state prison admissions. People on parole are six times more likely to be sent back to prison for a technical violation than for a sentence on a new criminal charge.

Unlike in a criminal case, where an accused person goes before a judge who decides whether pretrial incarceration is justified, people accused of a parole violation are immediately taken to the local jail, where they can be incarcerated for weeks or months before being seen by the administrative parole judge who determines whether to send them back to prison.

This is all massively expensive. County taxpayers pay the cost of incarcerating people who are accused of parole violations in local jails until these accusations are resolved, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Just over the past five years, the number of people held at county cost for state technical parole violations in jails outside New York City increased by 35 percent.

Those who are sent to state prison ultimately cost the state more than $300 million each year, according a criminal justice commission chaired by former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. This is money that could be much better spent helping people succeed rather than locking them up.

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Nor can this degree of parole incarceration be justified by the real need to prevent crime and keep people safe. A task force of prominent judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys from the New York State Bar Association found "there is little or no evidence that the current revocation process for persons accused of technical parole violations in New York actually enhances public safety or reduces recidivism as intended."

The Less Is More Act, sponsored by state Sen. Brian Benjamin, D-Manhattan, and Assembly member Walter Mosely, D-Brooklyn, would reframe parole to increase public safety and avoid unnecessary incarceration for technical violations. The bill would provide good time credits to people on parole, encouraging positive behavior. These credits would also help reduce the number of people on parole and lower parole officer caseloads  which are way too high  allowing officers to focus their attention and resources on the people who require the most help and supervision. By requiring people accused of a parole violation to be taken before a judge before they are jailed  just as in a criminal case  the bill would provide important due process protections. By limiting the incarceration that can be imposed for parole violations, it would prevent people from being needlessly uprooted from their lives for noncriminal behavior.

These types of reform work. They have been successfully implemented across the country, including in places as diverse as Louisiana, Alaska, Arizona and South Carolina. These states have seen drops in crime, costs and parole caseloads. Now it's time to ensure that Less Is More enacted into law in Albany.
BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 23, 2020 / Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PIRS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biotherapeutics through its proprietary Anticalin technology platform for respiratory, cancer, and other diseases, today announced an update on its strategic immuno-oncology collaboration with Servier, originally established in 2017. After conducting an extensive portfolio review, Servier has decided to focus on continued and accelerated development of the two most advanced programs, including PRS-344/S095012, and to discontinue development of the two earlier-stage programs in the collaboration.

Pieris and Servier will continue the development of PRS-344/S095012, a 4-1BB/PD-L1 bispecific and the lead program in the collaboration. Pieris holds exclusive commercialization rights for PRS-344/S095012 in the United States and will receive royalties on ex-U.S. sales for this program. The companies will also prioritize the development of PRS-352, a preclinical-stage program addressing undisclosed targets, and for which Servier has worldwide rights. Pieris is working to complete the non-GLP preclinical work for that program and expects to hand it over to Servier this year for IND-enabling activities. Pieris will retain all rights to the discontinued programs and will consider development and strategic options with regard to those programs upon reviewing the data generated as part of the collaboration.

"We are very pleased with the collaboration with Pieris. Over the past three years, significant progress has been made in the research programs of two drug candidates," said Patrick Therasse, Head of Servier Research and Development Oncology. "We believe that focusing our joint efforts on the later-stage bispecific programs will drive the greatest value in the collaboration, and we are enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing PRS-344/S095012, the most advanced of these two programs, into the clinic soon. Immuno-oncology is one of the two major axes of Servier's oncology research in order to develop promising innovative and effective treatments for cancer patients."

Story continues

"Our collaboration with Servier remains a highly productive and valuable one, and we believe that concentrating our efforts towards the development of the more advanced programs will allow us to focus our immuno-oncology pipeline with the added benefit of using our capital more efficiently," said Stephen S. Yoder, President and Chief Executive Office of Pieris. "Additionally, we have generated promising clinical data in our proprietary 4-1BB-based program, PRS-343, in parallel, and we look forward to leveraging that know-how in the development of PRS-344/S095012 and PRS-352 with Servier."

About Pieris Pharmaceuticals:

Pieris is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that discovers and develops Anticalin protein-based drugs to target validated disease pathways in a unique and transformative way. Our pipeline includes inhalable Anticalin proteins to treat respiratory diseases and immuno-oncology multi-specifics tailored for the tumor microenvironment. Proprietary to Pieris, Anticalin proteins are a novel class of therapeutics validated in the clinic and by partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies. Anticalin is a registered trademark of Pieris. For more information, visit www.pieris.com.

About Servier

Servier is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a non-profit foundation, with its headquarters in France (Suresnes). With a strong international presence in 149 countries and a total revenue of 4.6 billion euros in 2019, Servier employs 22,000 people worldwide. Entirely independent, the Group invests on average 25% of its total revenue (excluding generics) every year in research and development and uses all its profits for its development. Corporate growth is driven by Servier's constant search for innovation in five areas of excellence: cardiovascular, immune-inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and diabetes, as well as by its activities in high-quality generic drugs. Servier also offers eHealth solutions beyond drug development. More information: www.servier.com

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the expected timing and potential outcomes of the reporting by the Company of key clinical data from its lead programs, including PRS-344 and PRS-343, references to novel technologies and methods and our business and product development plans, including the advancement of our proprietary and co-development programs into and through the clinic and the expected timing for reporting data or making IND filings related to our programs, including PRS-344 and PRS-352 and the expected timing of the initiation of the next stage of PRS-344's development. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to continue to pursue our business and product development plans; the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies and operating as a development stage company; our ability to develop, complete clinical trials for, obtain approvals for and commercialize any of our product candidates, including our ability to recruit and enroll patients in our studies; our ability to address the requests of the FDA; competition in the industry in which we operate; delays or disruptions due to the coronavirus; and market conditions. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factor disclosure set forth in the reports and other documents we file with the SEC available at www.sec.gov, including without limitation the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Pieris Investor Relations Contact:

Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Maria Kelman Director of Investor Relations +1 857 362 9635 kelman@pieris.com

Servier Press Contacts:

Sonia Marques: presse@servier.com - Tel. +33 (0)1 55 72 40 21 / + 33 (0) 7 84 28 76 13

Jean-Clement Vergeau: presse@servier.com - Tel. +33 (0)1 55 46 16 / +33 6 79 56 75 96

SOURCE: Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/582088/Pieris-Pharmaceuticals-Provides-Update-on-Servier-Collaboration




Michael Gove was forced to apologise this morning after telling separated parents their children cannot travel between their homes during the coronavirus lockdown - because they are allowed to.

What is the guidance on the movement of children? The rules on whether children of separated or divorced parents can visit them were clearly laid out last night. As Boris ordered the UK's entire population to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, the Government issued guidance to deal with this very issue, one which will worry parents across the UK. It says: 'Where parents do not live in the same household, children under 18 can be moved between their parents homes.' Advertisement

The Cabinet Office Minister appeared on GMB after Boris Johnson's momentous decision last night to bring in the most stringent peacetime restrictions on the UK's way of life.

The Prime Minister ordered all but essential workers to remain at home and cease all non-essential travel to combat the spread of the virus, which has so far killed 335 Britons.

But questioned by Susannah Reid Mr Gove told GMBs audience, which includes a high number of anxious mothers and fathers, that youngsters would not be allowed out of one parent's home to go to the other, if they lives apart.

He said: 'Children should stay in the household they are currently in, we should not have children moving between households.

'I know this is incredibly difficult, this is a time of - an emotionally fraught time and a difficult one.

uestioned by Susannah Reid Mr Gove told GMBs audience, which includes a high number of anxious mothers and fathers, that youngsters would not be allowed out of one parent's home to go to the other, if they lives apart.

'Wherever possible, if there can be contact through social media or non-physical contact then that should carry on.'

But this caused an uproar, as official advice issued by the Government last night said that under-18s are among those allowed out of homes if they need to go to their other parent.

Mr Gove swiftly took to Twitter after his interview to say: 'I wasnt clear enough earlier, apologies.

'To confirm - while children should not normally be moving between households, we recognise that this may be necessary when children who are under 18 move between separated parents.

'This is permissible and has been made clear in the guidance.'

Ms Reid's GMB co-host Piers Morgan was among those who attacked mr Give, tweeting: 'We need urgent clarity from the Govt. about Michael Goves announcement on GMB re children moving between separated parents homes as it directly contradicts current Govt. advice post-speech last night.'

Britain's 66million people are today beginning a new life in coronavirus lockdown after Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'.

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease, which has claimed 335 lives.

In a grim address to the nation from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: 'Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses', adding: 'I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home'.

He said any 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.

People must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is 'absolutely' unavoidable. Going out for exercise will be allowed once a day, but parks will be patrolled to make sure there is no abuse of the rules.

Police will have powers to fine those who do not fall into line, and disperse any public gatherings, in measures to curb movement only seen during the Second World War. Historians have claimed you have to go back to 1666 to find when people were last forced to stay at home en masse, when Britons had to stay at home for 40 days to halt the spread of the Great Plague.
NSW Police Minister David Elliott (pictured) said people could be tracked by their phones

The NSW government is considering using people's phones to make sure they are self-isolating.

Police Minister David Elliott said officers were looking into using geolocation data to ensure the people were complying with the strict social distancing rules.

'I've already had preliminary discussions about monitoring people's mobile phones,' he said on Sunrise.

'The message has got to be clear that this is serious, you have to take responsibility for your own actions and if you don't, the police have got the powers to monitor you.'

Australians are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers if they they believe someone who's arrived from overseas isn't self-isolating.

The number of Australian cases have soared to 1,887 with seven dead as of Tuesday.

Tourists wear face masks as they use their mobile phones on March 17, 2020

Anyone arriving from overseas, or interstate, will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

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

On Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the shutdown of pubs, clubs, gyms and other businesses.

Supermarkets, petrol stations, pharmacies and home delivery services would stay open during the shutdown.

The prime minister has imposed further travel restrictions, placing a ban on all non-essential travel.

Mr Morrison said Australians would still be able to travel for work-related activities, but said people who had interstate trips planned for the upcoming school holidays should cancel them.

Even within states, people should scrap travel which isn't part of their standard routine, Mr Morrison said.

Tasmania, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland have entirely closed their borders in response to the COVID-19 threat, forcing anybody who returns to enter a mandatory 14 day self isolation period.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease which spreads rapidly.

In a televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister said it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.

The Prime Minister, who had also addressed the nation last week, said the lockdown has drawn a "lakshman rekha" in every home and people should stay indoors for their own protection and for that of their families.

Noting that the Centre has on Tuesday allocated Rs 15000 crore for treatment of coronavirus patients and to strengthen health infrastructure, he said testing facilities, personal protective equipment, isolation beds, ICU beds, ventilators, and other necessary material will be ramped up.

Addressing the nation on battling the COVID-19 menace. #IndiaFightsCorona https://t.co/jKyFMOQO5a  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2020

The Prime Minister said the country will have to bear the economic cost of lockdown but saving the life of every citizen is his priority and priority of central and state governments as also local administrations.

Noting that the virus spreads like fire, he said if care is not taken for 21 days, the country, a family can go behind by 21 years.

Modi said people are seeing how the global pandemic has made even the most resourceful countries helpless.

"The result that has come after studying the cases for two months, which experts are also saying, is that social distancing is the only effective option. There is no other way. If the spread of coronavirus is to be stopped, its cycle of spread is to be broken," he said.

He said some people have the mistaken belief that social distancing is only for the sick. "This thinking is not right. It is for every citizen, every family, every member of the family," Modi said.

"Carelessness of a few people, their wrong thinking, can put you, your children, your parents, your friends and the country in great difficulty," he said.

He said for the past two days, the lockdown has been declared in several parts of the country and states should take it seriously.

"From 12 tonight, there will be lockdown in the entire country. To save the country, to save every citizen, a ban, a complete ban is being imposed against come out of homes. Every state, Union territory, district, village, locality, is being locked down," he said.

Modi said it is curfew in a way.

"It will stricter than Janta curfew. My request is that stay where you are in the country. Seeing the situation of the country, the lockdown will be applicable for 21 days. The next 21 days are very important. If we go by health experts, at least 21 days are vital to breaking the cycle of coronavirus spread," he added.

Modi repeatedly urged people to stay at home. "Do one thing - stay at home. Today's decision of countrywide lockdown has drawn "lakshman rekha" at the door of every home," he said.

Modi said people should remember that sometimes a person with coronavirus appears absolutely healthy. "Hence exercise precaution, stay at home," he said.

He said it took 67 days for one lakh persons to be affected, 11 days for figure to reach two lakhs and only four days for the figure to reach three lakhs. "The disease spreads very fast," he said.

He said this is the reason that when it started spreading in China, USA, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Iran, the situation became uncontrollable.

"What is the solution? The ray of hope is the experience from those countries who could control it to some extent. We should also think that we have only one way and that is not to come out of houses, whatever happens," he said.

"India is today at a stage that our actions will determine how we are able to reduce the impact of the global pandemic. It is time to strengthen our resolve. This is moment of patience and discipline. When the country is under lockdown, we have to implement our resolve, our word. Twenty-one day lockdown is a long period but it is important for your protection and of your family," he said.

He urged people to think of foot soldiers including doctors, nurses, pathologists, sanitation staff who are providing services.

He said central and state governments were working with speed to see that people are not inconvenienced in their daily lives.

Modi said he had urged states to give priority to health care services only.

He urged people to stay away from rumours and not take medicine without prescription from doctor.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that every Indian will follow the instructions of district administration.

He noted that people had fulfilled their responsibility for success of Janata Curfew on March 22.

"To save India, to save every Indian, there will be a complete ban on people from stepping outside their houses from 12 midnight today," he said.

"Lockdown is being imposed on every state, union territory, district, village, mohalla and street," he added.

The lockdown will be like "curfew" and more stringent than the 'janata curfew', which the country had observed on Sunday, he said, adding it will have an economic cost but saving people's lives is of the paramount interest to his government.

A lockdown in most of the country was already in place till March 31, and Modi's announcement extended it everywhere and for two more weeks after this month.

Modi folded his hands a few times to emphasise his request to citizens to adhere to his call, saying it is applicable to everyone from the prime minister to a citizen in a village.

Even countries like Italy, France and the US with world class infrastructure have been left helpless due to the spread of the disease despite their relentless efforts, he said, emphasising the gravity of the situation.

Some people suffer from this wrong mindset that only infected persons need to follow social distancing, he said, warning that such a view can endanger lives of others and their families.

"If we don't handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family will go backward by 21 years," he said.

There will be a complete bar on people from stepping outsides their homes, he said and even folded his hands to emphasize his request to citizens to adhere to the call.

Experts and the experience of countries fighting the deadly virus make it clear that the social distancing is the only way to combat the disease, he asserted.
To support Houston restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic, Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is recommending some of his favorite spots to get food to go or by delivery.

Houston culinary scene: Houston restaurants shift to curbside pickup to protect diners, workers amid coronavirus pandemic

On March 16, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner ordered all bars and clubs countywide to close for 15 days.

The Center for Disease Control recommended on March 15 that events with more than 50 people should not take place over the next eight weeks.

Alison Cook: Houston cant afford to lose its restaurants

Many restaurant owners have turned to curbside food pickup and delivery to keep the lights on while also protecting public health.

See above for McCullers' recommendations.

@marcydeluna
MoneyTips

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Generally, you won't need to produce your Social Security card, and it's not recommended that you carry such an important document with you at all times  but could you produce your Social Security card if you had to? There are a few occasions where you may need to present your actual Social Security card, such as proof of identification for a new employer.

If you can't find your Social Security card, don't worry  you can order a replacement card from the Social Security Administration (SSA). You will need to provide a suitable form of identification such as a U.S. driver's license, a U.S. passport, or a suitable state non-driver identification card. If Social Security has no record of your citizenship status and you are using identification other than a valid U.S. passport, you will need to provide a birth certificate.

If you are missing one of the documents listed above and can't acquire a suitable replacement within ten working days, the SSA may accept alternate identification such as a U.S. Military ID card, employee ID card, school ID card, or health insurance card. Contact your local SSA office if you are unsure about suitable identification.

All identification documents must be non-expired originals or certified copies from the original issuing agency. Photocopies or notarized documents are not allowed.

After you've collected the necessary documents, download the Social Security card application form from the SSA website. Fill out the application and either take the application and supporting documents to your local Social Security office or mail them to the correct Social Security Center that handles your area. Use the Social Security Office Locator for more details.

Once your application is fully approved, your replacement Social Security card should show up in the mail within ten business days.

Note that the Social Security Administration replaces your card free of charge. There's no reason to pay third parties a fee to acquire your replacement Social Security card for you.

In 42 states and the District of Columbia, you can apply for a replacement card online by setting up an account at the my Social Security website as long as you are a U.S. citizen, you are at least 18 years old, you have a valid U.S. mailing address, and your replacement card does not incorporate a name change or any other change. In Delaware and Wisconsin, you also need to have a driver's license to use this service.

You are limited to ten replacement cards over your lifetime, and are limited to three in any one year. However, replacement cards due to a name change don't count toward the limit, and other exceptions such as immigration status changes may not count toward your limit either.

Most people will get nowhere near these limits  and if you simply keep it with all your other important papers in a protected place such as a lockbox or safe, you'll never have to worry about ordering a replacement card at all. Instead, focus on the more important task of keeping your Social Security number out of the hands of identity thieves.

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Originally Posted at: https://www.moneytips.com/how-to-get-a-new-social-security-card

How To Get Your Child A Social Security Number

The End To "File And Suspend"?

Appealing Social Security Decisions Online
Donald Trump said today he wants the US "opened up and just raring to go by Easter" (April 12) despite warnings from health officials that it may take months to contain coronavirus.

The self-proclaimed wartime president is now going AWOL from the fight against what he refers to as the "invisible enemy" because he can't bully what he cannot see.

On the same day of Trump's dangerous magical thinking, the World Health Organization warned that it is seeing a "very large acceleration" in COVID-19 in the US. WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told reporters that the US has the potential to become the epicenter of the pandemic.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has won kudos for his calm but tough love leadership during the crisis, said the rate of infection is now spreading more rapidly than expected in the Empire State.

He warned that the apex of the disease could very well occur around the same time that Trump is promising to open up the country. Rather than opening up, New York State may be closing up even tighter.

Cuomo said the New York State would need 140K hospital beds to house COVID-19 patients. There are currently 53K hospital beds in the state.

He chided the Trump administration for boasting about the amount of medical supplies that it dispatched to New York.

You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators, Cuomo said. What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000 ventilators? Youre missing the magnitude of the problem, and the problem is defined by the magnitude. Trump can't see the COVID-19 forest because his is fixated on the re-election tree.

Master showman Trump resents playing second fiddle to COVID-19 so he downplays its impact.

Following up on his March 23 nonsense that the cure may be worse to the pandemic, Trump once again compared deaths from coronavirus, which hit a record 129 today, to auto accidents, which kill 37K Americans a year.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who appears to be in Trump's doghouse for his knack of speaking truth to power, said earlier this month that the president's comparison of COVID-19 to car crashes is a "false equivalency."

Dr. Trump also distanced himself from the calls by medical experts for self-distancing to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Somehow, the word got out that this is the thing we are supposed to be doing, he told a Fox News town hall meeting.

Apparently unaware of self-distancing practices during the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, Trump said that the country had never done a thing like this before. But we had to do it. Its been very painful for our country and very destabilizing,

Since Trump never admits responsibility for his actions, it's certain he will eventually deny his vow to open up the country by Easter.

Will Fox also deny its culpability in providing Trump a two-hour platform, which basically was a campaign pitch, to allow him to spread dangerous fake news about COVID-19?

Fox's audience skews to older people, who are more likely to die from COVID-19 than their children. Has it no shame for airing Trump's dangerous rants?

If Trump opens up America too soon, how many citizens of Fox Nation will die? Will Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch take responsiblity for those deaths?
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:45:03|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Tuesday said the mainland has been sharing the coronavirus outbreak information with Taiwan all along, dismissing the "covering-up" slander drummed up by certain Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials.

The mainland has sent Taiwan 101 notifications as of Tuesday including the information about its sharing of virus genome sequences with the World Health Organization, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, adding that the mainland has acted in a highly responsible manner for the sake of the health and well-being of the people in Taiwan, but the DPP had not told the truth.

Zhu asked the DPP officials to immediately stop spreading "political virus," saying that the use of the epidemic to stir up cross-Strait confrontations at a time when the outbreak in Taiwan is picking up is shameless and disgusting.
French scientists at the Neel Institute have produced a graphene patch that records the condition of chronic wounds, such as ulcers suffered by the elderly or those with diabetes, at any time. The data can be sent from home to the hospital via mobile phone, facilitating a rapid response to possible infections.

Chronic or hard-to-heal wounds, those that do not heal after six weeks, place a significant economic burden on health systems around the world, costing around $30 billion annually. They lead to half-a-million amputations per year globally. In the US alone, more than 6.5 million people suffer from such wounds.

The costs and incidence of chronic wounds are increasing due to the growing number of older people, among whom pressure ulcers and leg ulcers are more common, and the increase in people with diabetes, who are more prone to foot ulcers.

Faced with this problem and considering that proper assessment of these wounds is not within the reach of caregivers with the relevant expertise, French scientists have developed a new graphene patch that allows them to be monitored remotely.

The conductivity of the Graphene electrode varies according to the physicochemical changes in the wound, so we have produced films of this material on a polymer (a plastic) and integrated them into a bandage that can record biological parameters by direct contact with the wound bed." Vincent Bouchiat of Grapheal, a spin-off from France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

A smart, connected dressing

The graphene dressing is ultra-flexible, adapts easily to any part of the body, and has tiny wireless electronics (with lightweight, fully flexible electrodes) that transfer the data to a mobile application. Then, using a telemedicine software and medical technologies in the cloud, the information can reach the hospital to be monitored and evaluated by a specialist.

Medical and nursing staff can remotely monitor how wounds are healing with this system, receiving alerts on any infection that may arise, which helps to prevent complications.

"This can improve and individualize the treatment of chronic wounds that require long-term care," says Bouchiat, who emphasizes: "In particular, it provides an early detection of infections, allowing a hospital solution at home."

Stimulating healing

The incorporation of graphene into skin patches of these types not only does not interfere with wound healing, but in fact can actually promotes it, actively stimulating this process, as demonstrated by the pre-clinical studies that have already been conducted.

The first human trials are about to begin. This medical device has been classified as class II-b (such as condoms or insulin pens, for example) and requires the European mark of conformity. Its launch is planned for 2023.

The creators of the patch had intended to present it in February, along with other projects of the major European initiative known as the Graphene Flagship, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which was canceled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In this context, the researchers point out that this new graphene device will be able to help monitor the chronic wounds of isolated people, such as those who have now been forced into this situation by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Physicians and other medical professionals around the globe are treating patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19. They were handling a lot of patients experiencing the same symptoms until they noticed a pattern.

Patients who are experiencing these symptoms cannot be easily told if they are indeed positive with the disease, or they just have ordinary flu.

At the beginning of the manifestation of the said virus, the patient will experience slight coughing, headache, body ache, and low-grade fever; it can be interpreted as ordinary flu. That is why a lot of patients diagnosed with the virus are already in their worst stage, making it difficult for them to recover, especially if they have a low immune system, which can then lead to death.

Once the physician notices these symptoms in a patient, the patient is automatically endorsed to be on close monitoring until the symptoms subside. And if not, then his/her symptoms are the indications of him/her having Coronavirus and will be subjected to extreme monitoring and treatment.

READ: How Do You Know if You're a COVID-19 Asymptomatic Patient?

The symptoms that the patients experience are usually in the span of one to two weeks and will be under observation until he/she recovers. Dr. Joshua Denson, who treated roughly 20 people, has observed these symptoms, and he called the manifestation stage "a slow burn". Other physicians who also handled patients with COVID-19 supported this statement as they noticed the same thing.



Dr. Ken Lyn-Kew said that at this stage, it looks like the human body is determining if it can beat the virus or not. He is a pulmonologist in the critical care department at National Jewish Health, a hospital located in Denver, Colorado.

But this virus cannot be underestimated because sometimes the patient will feel better, and it seems like he/she is recovering until his/her immune system degenerates.

ALSO READ: California Company's Test Provides COVID-19 Results In Less Than an Hour

The doctor added to the statement that this is her observation with patients who get a lot worse. They will start to feel okay until all of a sudden, and they will feel a lot worse with feeling very fatigued, having a lot of shorter breaths, and having chest pain.

Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious disease expert and a professor of medicine in the Wake Forest School of Medicine located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, supports this statement.

He also has patients who will feel great. It is as if they never got sick a while ago; then, a few hours had passed, they will feel very ill with high fever and severe fatigue, worsening coughs, and shortness of breaths.

READ MORE: Jeff Bezos Gives Valuable Lesson About Maintaining Business During COVID-19 Pandemic

A lot more people have noticed these symptoms that are mistakenly identified as ordinary flu. And that is the most dangerous part of this Coronavirus. It is traitorous, even ordinary people have seen these symptoms but disregards it because of this misinterpretation.

That is why the Health Organization created test kits to determine the presence of the virus inside the body before it starts manifesting so that the hospital can treat them immediately and prevent further loss of lives.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has announced on Tuesday that, this evening, the Interior Minister will present a military ordinance with restrictions on movement during the day, with people still being allowed to go to work or go out to purchase the necessary goods or for medical reasons.

"If, until the issuance of the ordinance which is to be presented this evening by the Interior Minister and the team with the MAI [the Interior Ministry], the interdiction to leave the house was valid between 22:00hrs and 06:00hrs in the morning, after the issuance of the military ordinance, we impose this restriction between 06:00hrs and 22:00hrs. Basically, the citizens will be able to get out of their homes in order to go to work, to purchase necessary goods for everyday life - food, medicines and other products. They will have the possibility to leave their home for urgent medical examinations, which cannot be solved by telemedicine and require the citizen to go to the family doctor or to a hospital, in case there are more serious health issues. Also, it will be allowed to move around the house to exercise, to walk the pets. Basically, there will be limitations on the movement of citizens throughout the day," Orban explained at the Victoria Governmental Palace
The military is ready to provide assistance "as and when required" in Northern Ireland

The military is ready to provide assistance "as and when required" in Northern Ireland.

It follows reports of increased activity at several Ministry of Defence (MoD) bases here as the coronavirus crisis escalates.

It is understood that tents and temporary buildings that could be used as field hospitals have been installed at some sites.

Sources said any assistance from the MoD over the coming days and weeks would be part of a scheme known as military aid to the civil authorities (MACA).

This refers to the operational deployment of the Army to support civilian authorities, government and the community.

An MoD spokesman said: The MoD remains prepared to offer assistance as and when it is required.

There are well developed protocols under which the military can provide assistance to the civil authorities (MACA), for example in the current ongoing provision of EOD capabilities (bomb disposal) and specialist search.

All requests for MACA are considered on merit and this remains extant.

A source said it was inevitable the military would become involved if the situation deteriorated.

They added: The thing about the military is that it is very good at looking at contingencies.

For every possible contingency there will be a folder somewhere.

It is called war-gaming - think of the worst possible thing that can happen and a strategy will have been developed to deal with it.

That is what the military is good at and it is what has been done nationally with Cobra and the government.

They added that while they have to prepare for worst case scenarios, there was also a duty not to unnecessarily panic people.

Last week it emerged the Chief of the Defence Staff has told the armed forces to plan for a six-month coronavirus operation.

In a letter to senior officers, General Sir Nick Carter has said the armed forces should treat the military response to the pandemic as a six-month operational tour.

General Carter said in the note: The indications are that this disease will spike around late May and early June.

We are to be prepared for our collective posture to be on an operational footing by mid-April, recognising that this could endure for six months or so.

The Prime Minister has previously said there are long-established plans for the Army to backfill in emergencies.

Government sources have played down suggestions that the military would play a wider role.
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Linkedin Sujit Bharti (The Jakarta Post) New Delhi  Tue, March 24, 2020 11:04 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0c37f 3 Opinion India,cooperation,COVID-19,pandemic,South-Asia Free

That an extraordinary situation warrants an extraordinary response is not merely a cliche. COVID-19 is the living example of this dictum. Every country is fighting its own battle to save the lives of its respective citizens, but the global pandemic cannot be disentangled from the global interdependence that has developed over the past decades.

If the world benefits from the movement of people, ideas, capital and technology, then it is imperative that we fight back against this disease with vigor. The danger of infection prevents us from making physical contact, but technology has empowered us with virtual and social networks.

SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation) countries  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka  came together on March 15, two days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a Virtual SAARC Emergency meeting on COVID-19 to discuss and coordinate a regional response to the deadly outbreak.

It was heartening to see that in addition to Prime Minister Modi himself, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa participated in the video conference on such short notice. Due to the preoccupation of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, his special assistant on health, Zafar Mirza, attended the meeting.

SAARC, one of the most densely populated regions in the world, home to one fifth of humanity, has so far registered cases on the scale of three figures. Countries in the region face significant challenges in terms of access to overstretched healthcare facilities. Open borders in several sectors allow movement of people for pilgrimage, employment and fraternal ties, and closing the border is not an option because people, especially in border areas, would face difficulty obtaining basic goods.

Besides the global economic challenges, many countries face unique crises, like the Maldives economic dependence on tourism. Closer cooperation can help the region mitigate the severity of the impact.

The meeting brought forward new ideas embedded in the spirit of cooperation. President Ashraf Ghanis proposal for a common telemedicine framework has the potential to bring sophisticated care to the remotest parts of the region. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih proposed closer cooperation between countries respective health emergency agencies as well as the formulation of an economic relief package and a long-term recovery plan for the region.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recommended the establishment of a SAARC ministerial-level group to share best practices and coordinate regional efforts to combat COVID-19. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed the continuation of the dialogue at a technical level through video conferences between health ministers and secretaries of the region. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that the collective wisdom and efforts of all the SAARC nations could help devise a robust and effective strategy to deal with the pandemic.

Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said the pandemic would affect smaller and vulnerable economies disproportionately. Zafar Mirza proposed that the SAARC Secretariat be given the mandate to establish a working group of national authorities for health information, data exchange and coordination in real time.

Being the largest member of SAARC, India has time and again emerged as the first responder in times of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic is not an exception. For dealing with this crisis, Indias guiding mantra has been collaboration, not confusion; preparation, not panic.

According to Prime Minister Modi, policymakers should not underestimate the problem but also avoid knee-jerk reactions. In this spirit, India has proposed a COVID-19 Emergency Fund (CEF) to meet the cost of immediate action and has offered an initial contribution of US$10 million. A rapid response team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment, are on standby to assist neighboring countries.

Online training for emergency response teams, which India recently used to increase its own capacity in remote areas, can be used by neighboring countries as well. Using its strength of information technology, India has offered to share the Integrated Disease Surveillance Network for contact tracing and the management of the pandemic.

If even the worlds most developed countries can be humbled by the extent of the crisis and the paucity of resources, we can imagine what could happen in developing countries, which even under normal circumstances face a resource crunch in multiple areas.

It cannot be said definitely what will happen in the future, but India has left no stone unturned in taking proactive steps through a graded response mechanism at home. At the same time it has not shied away from doing what it can to support its neighbors and other countries in need in trying times.

India sent a rapid response team of experts to Male within hours of the countrys request for help along with sophisticated equipment for testing and screening people. Indian authorities also brought back foreign nationals trapped in areas vulnerable to COVID-19 from various countries including from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives.

Welcoming common understanding, a common strategy and assuring its partners that specific requests will be replied to, Prime Minister Modi has requested the nomination of an expert from each partner for further cooperation and has said that we have to fight this battle together, and we have to win it together. Our neighborhood collaboration should be a model for the world.

***

Diplomat at India's Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed are personal.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Missoula County Public Schools were nearly empty on Monday with the exception of families and students trickling in and out to gather their belongings, grab-and-go lunches and loaner laptops.

The district opened all its schools for a single day Monday so that students and families could retrieve items left behind when the state-mandated shutdown was imposed. Schools across the district handed out laptops on a first-come, first-served basis for students who lack the technology at home.

The laptops are one step the district is taking to shift to online learning as it waits to hear if Gov. Steve Bullocks closure of public K-12 schools will extend beyond Friday, March 27.

Students at Lowell Elementary School are also getting access to internet, thanks to the support of a neighborhood organization.

We are going to be providing internet to families, hopefully starting on Friday for those who don't have it, said Sam Duncan of the North Missoula Community Development Corporation.

Duncan said the organization will provide hotspots for families who lack internet access through a grant from Walmart. They are working with Lowell staff to survey families and identify the need.

This week, teachers across the district are working on developing online learning programs should the school closure be extended. Superintendent Rob Watson told the Missoulian last week that the district is working on finding ways to ensure all students can access online learning.

That's another hurdle that were trying to work through right now, Watson said last week.

Duncan said the community support and in-place support systems give Lowell the ability to offer resources that go "above and beyond some other schools in the district. They said they hope those support systems can provide a framework as families adjust to change.

This school are already attended by a lot of kids who have limited access to resources on a good day so in this time, when the stress for them is really turned up, having your neighborhood turn out for you can make you feel like you're not alone, Duncan said.

In the Family Resource Center room at Lowell, staff packed new backpacks with school supplies and the refurbished laptops to hand to families on Monday, in addition to a list of resources for families to find food, medical care and other basic needs.

Lowell principal Barbara Frank said families can also stop by the schools market, a satellite location for the Missoula Food Bank, on Wednesdays to pick up boxes of food.

Frank said she attributes the schools readiness to help families with an array of resources to a community group started at the school this fall to ensure support for the many low-income students the school serves.

Because we already had that group working on things for Lowell, it was really easy to pull that group of community members back together, Frank said.

The district announced Monday that families at all schools and across Missoula will have access to meals in a variety of ways. Prepacked lunches and breakfasts are available for any youth under 18 regardless of their income status, including private school or home-schooled students, or students from other school districts.

Throughout school closures, Chief Charlo, Franklin, Lowell and Russell schools will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday for meal pick-up, which will include lunch and breakfast for the next day.

Meals will also be delivered on all elementary school bus routes between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The district is using the PK5 bus routes because there are more stops, in more neighborhoods; however, any youth under 18 will be able to get food at the stops. The district is asking each family to send only one person (who can be an adult) to pick up the meals at the sites or bus stops, and practice maintaining a 6-foot distance from others waiting in line for meals.

The district also rolled out a new communication schedule on Monday.

District-level communications will come out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by 3 p.m. School-level communications will come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays by 3 p.m.

According to the districts website, all staff will be checking and responding to emails and phone calls as they are able this week. The district advised families to be aware that returned phone calls may come from a number that says No Caller ID, Unknown, or Blocked because staff will not be using school phones to return calls.

The district also directed families who have not been receiving emails to check junk and spam folders, log into mcpsmt.parentlink.net to check delivery preferences, and check updates at www.mcpsmt.org/covid-19

Additionally, the district has provided a list of activities and lessons for students and families to use this week while teachers develop the new curriculum.

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Government workers walk out of Jianghan Fangcang temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients, which is being shut down, in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, March 09, 2020. As the number of patients drops, the city has begun closing the temporary hospitals built to treat patients with the coronavirus.

In the last few weeks, COVID-19 has spread to well over 100 countries in a global pandemic that has killed more than 11,000 people. Countries from Italy to the United States and Iran are struggling to contain the virus, with large cities shutting down schools and public places, or issuing stay-home orders.

The virus first emerged in the city in late December and has killed more than 2,500 people there. That means Wuhan alone accounted for nearly 80% of the country's total deaths of more than 3,200.

Hubei province said Tuesday that travel restrictions on the capital city of Wuhan will be removed starting April 8, which would end a lockdown that began on Jan. 23.

Two months after Chinese authorities locked down the city at the center of the country's coronavirus outbreak, the end is in sight.

New confirmed virus cases in China have dwindled in the last several days, with nearly all now attributed to travelers returning from overseas.

Travel restrictions for the rest of Hubei province will be lifted starting Wednesday, while schools will remain closed until further notice, according to an online announcement.

In another sign that the virus appears to be under control in China, Shanghai announced Monday that beginning Tuesday, the city's emergency response level to the coronavirus will be lowered by a notch  down from the most severe level. Zhejiang, the third-largest province by exports, also lowered its emergency response level on Tuesday by one notch.

There are at least three levels of emergency response in China. At least 24 other provinces or regions in China are at levels of two or less severe, Morgan Stanley analysis showed Tuesday, indicating that risk levels in much of the country are coming down.

However, both Wuhan and the national capital city of Beijing remain at level one  the highest emergency response level. The Chinese government is also concerned about more cases coming from overseas, and a resurgence of the disease within the country.

"The risks for sporadic infections and localized outbreaks have not gone away," according to an official English-language press release regarding a meeting Monday of China's leading group on responding to COVID-19.

"With the pandemic rampaging across the world, the situation remains complex and challenging," the statement said. "There is every need to maintain cool-headedness and not (be caught) off guard."

Premier Li Keqiang, the country's second-in-command, chaired the meeting that emphasized that provinces should "restore normal economic and social order" if the spread of the virus has remained low for many consecutive days, according to the release.

Regions of the country at level three or less severe as of Tuesday account for 32% of national GDP, according to Morgan Stanley.
U.S. Rep. John Katko is hopeful that Congress will pass legislation that gives the economy a boost during the coronavirus outbreak.

Katko, R-Camillus, provided an update on congressional negotiations during a telephone town hall Monday evening. The White House and Senate are trying to finalize a $2 trillion stimulus bill.

There are several provisions Katko wants to see in the final measure. He supports aid for hospitals, funding for COVID-19 tests and vaccine development and help for state governments.

Direct payments to workers, grants and loans for small businesses, funding to expand unemployment insurance and aid for public transit systems could also be in the final bill.

While the coronavirus outbreak is a major public health crisis, it's also having a negative effect on the economy. The stock market continues to decline, employers are cutting jobs and some businesses are closing due to the pandemic.

"We understand that if people are out of work for a substantial period of time, it's going to have a gigantic effect on the economy," Katko said. "We're trying to do everything we can and come across with as best a package as we can."

Katko believes that Congress has been working in a bipartisan manner during the outbreak. He noted that there was support from both parties for two other coronavirus-related bills.

As negotiations continue, Katko said he's had conversations with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand  a Democrat and one of New York's U.S. senators.

"It's not about party with us," he said. "It's about getting things done."

After his update, Katko took questions for the remainder of the telephone town hall. He was joined by Dr. Robert Corona, CEO of Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, and Food Bank of Central New York Executive Director Karen Belcher.

One caller from Manlius asked about a proposal that could allow small business owners to receive loans from the federal government. If small businesses retain employees, the loans would be forgiven.

Katko was careful to note that it's not finalized yet, but he supports that provision.

"I think it would be a huge plus for small businesses," he said.

There were some medical questions that Corona answered. One was submitted by Melissa from King Ferry in Cayuga County. She asked if she should worry about contracting COVID-19 from the mail.

While there was concern about packages sent from China early in the outbreak, Corona said he hasn't heard of anyone catching the coronavirus from shipments.

"I don't think you should be afraid of it," he said. "There are signs that show the virus can survive on surfaces. Depending upon the porousness of the surface, the virus can last for a few days. But I'm pretty sure the (U.S. Postal Service) is taking precautions."

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hubei are gearing up to ease a lockdown on tens of millions of people, as one more case of COVID-19 is reported by health officials.



Residents of Hubei, of which worst-hit Wuhan is the capital, will be allowed to travel from midnight local time, after two months of lockdown.



However, the lockdown won't be lifted until in Wuhan, where more than 2,500 people have died, with hundreds more deaths reported in Hubei.



An Wuhan resident surnamed Chen said preparations are already under way.



"We are all getting ready to go back to work soon," Chen said. "When I went out I saw that the subway trains and the shuttle bus services are all operating."



"I think it's part of the preparations to end the lockdown."



Not everyone is convinced that the danger from COVID-19 is past, however.



Online comments have repeatedly questioned the authorities' refusal to publish the number of patients who have tested positive or relapsed after being discharged from hospital, or to give information on the number of asymptomatic spreaders of the virus.



A source close to the government who gave only a surnamed Zhu said the concerns are justified.



"It is actually the case that asymptomatic spreaders aren't being counted as confirmed cases," Zhu said. "They initially described them as recovered, then as recovering."



"But they were never counted among the new cases."



Relapses recorded

Zhu's account is backed up by official guidelines, which require more than just a positive test for the coronavirus to make a confirmed case diagnosis.



The scientific journal Nature reported earlier this month, citing health experts in Wuhan, that asymptomatic individuals who test positive for the virus can turn out to be "super-spreaders."



Zhu also said hospitals in Wuhan are now seeing a ongoing positive tests or relapses in people previously asymptomatic or discharged as "recovering."



"Most hospitals won't take them, and the designated hospitals say they have to get the approval of the command center in their local neighborhood committee before they can be admitted," he said.



Publicly available figures have shown that around 14 percent among previously discharged patients in Wuhan remain positive for the virus, while figures from the Hubei Provincial People's Hospital showed a rate of more than 20 percent.



Individual hospitals have reported positive tests of around 44 percent of those previously discharged.



Zhu said the decision to lift restrictions and declare victory over the virus is primarily a political one.



"They have to tell everyone to rest assured and go back to work ... that can't not happen, even if it means some people are going to die," he said.



"The news has, of course, leaked online, and that's why the Wuhan cyberspace administration has ordered all posts on the matter to be deleted," Zhu said.



Low chance of repeat infection?

Zhong Nanshan, top epidemiologist and coronavirus epidemic adviser to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said that large numbers of patients have tested positive for the coronavirus after being discharged from hospital, but dismissed concerns that they remain highly infectious.



"These patients have already produced IgG antibodies, which have a strong neutralizing and killing effect on the coronavirus." Zhong said in comments reported by Caixin.



"For most of these patients, the chance of repeat infection is very small," he said. "Only a few have not gone on to make a full recovery because their immune system is weak, and for them, the risk of reinfection can't be ruled out."



Repeated calls to the Wuhan Epidemic Prevention Command Center rang unanswered during office hours on .



There were also stringent quarantine measures applied to travelers from Hubei -- who like all Chinese nationals have their hometowns displayed on their ID cards -- by authorities in other parts of the country.



It was unclear whether those restrictions would also be lifted.



The authorities have already begun allowing some 120,000 migrant workers who had come home to Hubei for Lunar New Year and become stranded there to leave to return to their jobs in manufacturing hubs like Guangdong and Zhejiang.



In Beijing, the municipal government ordered parts of the Great Wall to reopen, as some restaurants also reopened but with social distancing requirements in place and tables spaced more widely apart.



Anyone arriving in the Chinese capital from overseas will be forced to undergo 14 days as well as a test for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.



Shenzhen reopens businesses

The order came after the city announced 31 newly imported coronavirus cases: 14 from Spain; 12 from the U.K.; two from the U.S.; and one each from Mexico, Norway and Greece.



Of those 15 were students, and two were children. Some were Chinese nationals returning home, the municipal government said in a statement on its website.



In the southern city of Shenzhen, the epidemic prevention control center permitted the reopening of businesses and venues including beauty salons, laundries, repair shops, libraries and parks, as well as lifting restrictions on delivery personnel entering residential compounds.



A Shenzhen resident surnamed Yan said not many people were venturing out on , however, and the authorities were issuing vouchers to encourage them to start shopping again.



"The Luohu district authorities issued 50 million consumer vouchers , mainly for food and beverages," Yan told RFA. "The purpose of the vouchers is to revitalize the restaurant and catering industry. They are trying to stimulate consumption."



Migrant workers stranded elsewhere in China were still arriving on in Shenzhen, where factories have yet to return to normal production.



A business owner who answered the phone at a hotpot restaurant in downtown Shenzhen said it had been open for business for two days now, but was requiring customers to wear a mask and submit to a body temperature check.



"Yes, we're open -- are you coming right now?" he said. "You can book, or you can just come right over."



"You must wear a mask when you come here, and when you go into the room to have your temperature checked," he said.



"Of course you won't need to wear it when you eat, but the customers are all eating in private rooms."



An employee at a karaoke venue had a similar message.



"You need to wear a mask and get your temperature checked," the employee said.



Wuhan was placed under lockdown with no travel in or out of the city on Jan. 23, with restrictions extended to surrounding Hubei province in the days that followed.



The travel ban came as hundreds of millions of people took to trains, planes and roads to make it home in time for the Lunar New Year holiday.



Reported by Ma Lap-hak, Pan Jiaqing, Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service.
How much depends on where they live. That disparity reflects not only the worlds differing safety nets, but also what governments are doing right now to stem the crisis.

Denmark, for example, has promised to cover 75 percent to 90 percent of salaries if businesses do not lay off their employees  an effort to avoid paying for the disruptions caused by mass unemployment. Britain and South Korea, among other countries, are taking a similar line.

But in the U.S., where health care is not guaranteed, many workers could be left far more vulnerable  even if Congress eventually passes a proposed $2 trillion relief bill.

Quotable: I dont know what Im going to do, said Jose Luis Candia, a father of three who lost his two jobs busing tables at high-end Manhattan restaurants. Oh my God.

Related: The crisis has exposed the economic fragility of ride-hailing drivers, food delivery couriers and other gig economy workers in Europe and the U.S.
Al-Monitor contributor and economic analyst Bijan Khajehpour highlighted corruption as a major reason why the Iranian government was so slow in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic during an exclusive webinar today with Al-Monitor President Andrew Parasiliti.

If I were in charge of Iran, I would clear corruption as the No. 1 national security threat in Iran, said Khajehpour. If you go back to the question of why was Iran so slow in responding to the crisis, part of it was certainly this because the professionals, the technocrats who would have understood the dimensions of this crisis, were not in the right place. And if they were there, they were completely demotivated because of corruption and mismanagement.

Still, he sounded a cautiously optimistic note on the Iranian economys ability to recover from the double threats of coronavirus and crippling US sanctions, noting that 50% of the Iranian economy is service-based despite the collapse of the petroleum sector.

He added that Irans $5 billion request for an International Monetary Fund loan to help cope with the COVID-19 pandemic could present the United States with an opportunity to show tangible support. He suggested that the United States could offer to support the loan in exchange for the release of wrongfully detained American prisoners, which would show to the Iranian hard-liners that there is still an upside in relationships with Western countries.

Iran has not applied for a loan in more than 60 years, so this is something that could help Iran in the current situation, he said.

European Union High Representative Josep Borrell announced Monday that the European Union would support Irans IMF loan request, but a State Department spokesperson declined to state a position on the issue in response to an Al-Monitor query.
(TNS)  Wisconsin utility regulators awarded $24 million in grants Thursday to help bring high-speed internet service to underserved communities.The grants -- which will support 72 projects by 44 companies, municipal and tribal governments -- more than doubles the amount of money the state has awarded over the past seven years for broadband expansion.The funding was authorized in the two-year budget passed in 2019, which included another $24 million in grants for 2021.According to the grant requests, the projects will extend high-speed internet to as many as 3,182 businesses and 46,537 homes, most of which do not currently have service available.The largest single grant, $2.25 million, went to US Internet, which intends to extend fiber optic service to 2,620 locations in Winnebago County. CenturyLink received $1.67 million for projects in La Crosse and Vilas counties and an upgrade for the Tomah VA Medical Center.The Public Service Commission selected the projects from more than 143 applications requesting a total of more than $50 million.Commissioners acknowledged there is still unmet demand in a state where more than half a million people do not have access to high-speed internet, defined as download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps).By the sheer number of applications we received, weve still got a long ways to go, said PSC Chair Rebecca Valcq.According to a 2019 report by the Federal Communications Commission, broadband deployment in Wisconsin lags the national average. About 8.7 percent of the population lacks access, compared with 6.5 percent nationally. In rural communities, which account for the bulk of underserved areas, nearly 28 percent of residents lack access to service from at least one provider.Upgrading or bypassing older telephone lines to provide broadband service is expensive.Its cost-effective to build in cities where there are lots of customers situated close together. But in many rural areas, providers have decided there arent enough customers to pay for the upgrades, according to a report from the PSCs broadband office.Prior to Thursdays action, the PSC had awarded 138 broadband expansion grants for a total of $20.1 million.Commissioners expressed frustration with the lack of information about what services are actually available at any particular address.In the beginning it was easy to know where there wasnt coverage, said Commissioner Ellen Nowak. I want to spend these resources exactly where they need to be done. This has a whole lot more art than science.Valcq said economic growth is hindered when businesses cant make informed decisions about where to locate.This is exactly what happens when you chip away at regulations, Valcq said. We have no ability to force them to give us granular data.
Teresa Mlawer, one of the most recognized and respected people in the Hispanic publishing industry in the U.S., died March 21 due to cancer. She was 75.

Teresa was an entrepreneur, editor, translator, writer, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, and a tireless worker. During the years I worked with her I found that she was the person who taught many of us about the Spanish-language book industry and was not shy about calling us out when missteps were taken. Teresa's soft-spoken voice and impeccable professionalism made you listen, she never minced words, and always encouraged and expected you to do better.

Teresa was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the U.S. in 1962. As noted on her website, Teresa started in a clerical position at Macmillan, and rose to become sales manager for Latin America. From there she moved to vice president at Regents Publishing (a division of Simon & Schuster). In 1976 she was named president of Lectorum Publications, the oldest and largest distributor of Spanish language books in the U.S. which was acquired by Scholastic in 1996 and then bought by Alex Correa and his brother and partner, Luis Fernando in 2009.

While heading Lectorum, Teresa launched a successful publishing program of Spanish and bilingual books for children. As noted on Teresa's website, she negotiated the rights and published the Spanish editions of books written by such esteemed authors as Dr. Seuss, P.D. Eastman, Marc Brown, Ian Falconer, Patricia Polacco, and others. Many of these books were translated by Teresa for the U.S. Hispanic market.

After leaving Lectorum, Teresa launched Teresa Mlawer Publishing Services to provide personal consulting and guidance to companies wishing to enter the Hispanic publishing market. Teresas extensive knowledge of childrens and YA publishing industry made her a frequent presenter at global industry conferences and events.

Yanitzia Canetti, a Cuban-born author, translator, and editor residing in Boston, offered this remembrance of Teresa. I met Teresa in the early 1990s, at a CABE (California Association for Bilingual Education) conference in San Diego. Before that first meeting we had spoken on the phone and worked together on the translation of a book, Amelia Bedelia, published by HarperCollins. Immediately a deep empathy connected us beyond just the fact that we were both Cuban, we worked in the publishing industry, and we were passionate about books. From that day on, we collaborated together on numerous projects and strengthened a bond so deep that I began to feel like she was my mother.

Jose Ignacio Echeverria, president of Grupo Iberoamericano de Editores, from Mexico City, shared this memory: My first meeting with Teresa was in 1986 and it was a rather rigid meeting. Teresa was courteous but cold, which was the opposite of what I expected from a person of Cuban origin. Time passed and we became very good friends. We had much in common; we were both migrants, refugees, and had an immense passion for childrens books. I wish I could live through it again. Goodbye, Teresa, I will miss you very much.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Used masks thrown into the garbage bins has left sanitary workers in-charge of segregating domestic waste anxious. With the rest of the state gearing up for a lockdown starting from Tuesday in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, about 17,000 odd sanitary workers in the city are now worried about their safety.

A large number of city residents are using masks now and the used ones are thrown out, sometimes wrapped in paper bags or covers. Many of us come into contact with them knowingly or unknowingly, said Iqbal (name changed),a contract sanitary worker from Manali.

According to a WHO advisory, masks should be removed from behind without touching the front portion and should immediately be discarded in a closed bin following which hands should be cleaned. When asked if Iqbal knew how to safely dispose of his own mask and the ones dumped in the waste, he said he was not aware of any particular procedure. The masks, along with the other waste, are usually taken away in open bins in their tricycles.

Although many people now stay at home due to the curfew, the number of people segregating the sanitary waste or any waste for that matter, has not increased so far, he added.

While sanitary workers of some zones were seen working with masks and gloves, workers were found collecting waste without masks and gloves in Tondiarpet and Egmore on Tuesday. Sanitary workers of Zone 15 (Sholinganallur) said that apart from distributing gloves and masks, a meeting was held where they were briefed by officials as to what procedures need to be followed to stay safe during these times.

They told us to wash our hands at the division offices and maintain one-metre distance while collecting waste. Even when signing the attendance, no two people use the same pen, said Lakshmi K, of zone 15.

However, a large number of them fail to wash hands while on duty if there is unavailability of public taps and wait till they get to office, said P Srinivasalu, general secretary of the Red Flag Union of conservancy workers under the city corporation.

Exempt old and high-risk sanitary workers from duty

While sanitary workers are ready to step up to the crisis and serve the city as they have always done, those with acute respiratory trouble and those above 50 should be exempted from work while being remunerated, said Srinivasalu.

There are around 580 people who are around 60 years old, due for retirement, still in the workforce.

We have once spoken to corporation officials about but we realise that they are busy with the Corona crisis. So, we want to give them time before approaching them again, he said.

When contacted, a senior official of the city corporation said that 100 buses have been arranged to transport sanitary workers to their places of work from important points in their zones from Wednesday.

While there have not been discussions to exempt senior workers right now, we will ensure that they are given work that is easy to do and is not risky, the official said.
Washington, March 24 (IANS) Amid the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic in the US, a Sikh family based in the state of Indiana have made masks in an effort to help the public and first responders in the fight against the deadly disease, a media report said.

After learning about the shortage of masks across the US via media reports, Gurinder Singh Khalsa called up his doctor friends and asked if he could contribute by making masks at home and packaged in sanitary conditions, said the American Bazaar report on Monday.

Once he got the green signal, Khalsa, his wife Gagandeep Kaur and rest of his family got busy making more than 500 emergency masks packed with double layers of thick cotton fabric.

"Based on online research and advice from public health practitioners, we have started stitching these general-purpose emergency masks," the American Bazaar quoted Khalsa as saying in the report

He wants to give these masks first to the city officials, first responders, police and first departments who are doing a great job in the service of the city residents, according to the report.

Khalsa believes that his emergency mask program would allow persons who cannot access the N-95 and medical masks to obtain reusable and washable masks for community use, it added.

He emphasized that these masks produced and packed in a safe environment were essentially intended for those who must leave their homes with some protection.

In an advisory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fabric masks can be used by healthcare workers when nothing else was available.

The family also intends to extend the benefit of their initiative to those who may be experiencing financial pinch during these times, said the American Bazaar report.

"We also hope to offer employment to those who are in need of employment," he said by taking in at least 100 people in a month for making emergency masks.

"We will be providing a chance of working at home or work at our safe location."

According to the latest update by the Washington-based John Hopkins University, the US has so far reported 46,450 coronavirus cases, with 590 deaths.

--IANS

ksk/
Maharashtra Public Health



Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday asked private practitioners in the state not to close their outpatient departments (OPDs) during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a live video telecast on Facebook, the minister said OPDs of private hospitals and dispensaries are exempt from the curfew that has been imposed in the state as a precautionary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It has come to my notice that some private practitioners have closed their OPDs, which is not expected from them. OPDs are exempt from the curfew and private practitioners should keep their dispensaries open," Tope said.

He also appealed to people from rural areas to not ostracise those returning to villages from Mumbai or Pune.

"They had gone to cities like Mumbai or Pune for better opportunities. They should not be seen with suspicion. If they are unwell, they should be taken to a hospital for treatment, but ostracising them is inhuman," he said.

People should not lose their humanity in such situations, he added.

At least 107 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Federal Bureau of Prisons has moved Amish Bishop Sam Mullet from a halfway house into his own home to finish serving the rest of a sentence for his role in a series of beard-cutting attacks.

An official from the bureaus Residential Reentry Management Branch wrote in a declaration Monday that Mullet, 74, is eligible to participate in a pilot program that will allow him to remain on house arrest in his home in the village of Bergholz until Jan. 18, when he finishes serving his sentence.

Mullet, who made the request to move because of the coronavirus threat, moved from a halfway house in Youngstown to his home on Monday, his federal public defender Ed Bryan said.

The official wrote the declaration to respond to a request Mullet made to U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland to let him out of federal custody early. The bishop argued the judge should grant his request because his age and underlying health conditions made him susceptible to falling seriously ill as a result of the coronavirus. Mullet underwent triple bypass surgery in 2017.

Polster wrote Monday that he did not have to rule on Mullets request in light of the prison bureaus decision.

Mullet led a breakaway sect of an Amish community made up of 18 families in Bergholz, about 100 miles southeast of Cleveland. They were convicted of several crimes in September 2012 for carrying out five nighttime raids in 2011.

Members of the community rousted five victims out of bed and chopped off their beards and hair with horse mane shears and battery-powered clippers. The attackers documented the attacks with a disposable camera.

Mens beards and womens hair have spiritual significance to the Amish.

Prosecutors said the attacks were carried out at the behest of Mullet against the bishops enemies and brought hate-crime and obstruction charges against 16 members of the Amish community.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the hate-crime convictions, citing faulty jury instructions. Polster re-sentenced all of them to shorter sentences in March 2015  with Mullets sentence being reduced from 15 years to 10 years, nine months in federal prison.

Mullet is the only defendant who remains in custody.

Read more:

Amish bishop Sam Mullet, who orchestrated beard-cutting attacks in Ohio, wants out of halfway house because of coronavirus

Amish bishop Sam Mullets move to overturn sentence for beard and hair-cutting attacks rejected

Judge reduces sentences for Amish beard cuttings

Sam Mullet, Amish bishop who orchestrated beard-cutting attacks, asks judge to overturn his sentence

Federal appeals court overturns Amish beard-cutting convictions, citing erroneous jury instructions
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted on Sunday that parents continue to send their children to school.

But on Monday, former Bachelor star Rachael Gouvignon, who is also a teacher, called for all schools to be shut down to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Perth-based Rachael, 35, said the states and territories should follow the example set by Victoria, which shut down schools on Tuesday.

'I'm worried': Bachelor star and teacher Rachael Gouvignon (pictured) has called for all schools to be closed to limit the spread of coronavirus

'As a teacher myself, to keep students 1.5 metres away from each other is almost impossible,' Rachael wrote on Instagram, referencing the government's advice on social distancing.

'The advice from the PM was that schools were not to close because children were not at high risk of contracting COVID-19.'

She then quoted Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, who said on Monday that there was not yet 'evidence of major transmission among schools in children'.

But Rachael noted: 'I'm worried about the safety of myself and the hundreds of people I am in close contact with within the school grounds.'

Her view: Perth-based Rachael, 35, said the states and territories should follow the example set by Victoria, which shut down schools on Tuesday. She told her Instagram followers it was 'almost impossible' to enforce social distancing among school children

There have been mixed messages from state and federal governments about whether schools should remain open.

Scott Morrison said schools should remain open but Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews shut down schools in his state on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged parents to keep their children at home despite schools in her state remaining open.

Does she have a point? 'As a teacher myself, to keep students 1.5 metres away from each other is almost impossible,' Rachael said

In Western Australia, where Rachael works as a teacher, schools remain open as of Tuesday.

Rachael is best known for starring on Richie Strahan's season of The Bachelor in 2016. She later appeared on Bachelor in Paradise in 2018.

As of Tuesday morning, there are 1,886 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including seven deaths.
Boris Johnson's Cabinet heeded his own advice today as ministers 'dialled in' to the top level discussion because of the coronavirus threat.

The Prime Minister and the Health Secretary Matt Hancock were the only two politicians in the room in No 10 this morning, Downing Street confirmed.

It came after last night's decision to place the UK in lockdown and avoid gathering as much as possible.

The rest of his top team used the Zoom conferencing app to join the discussion. The only other people in the room were Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Witty and Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the virtually assembled Cabinet that the Comprehensive Spending Review that was planned for July had been postponed.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'The Prime Minister said it was vital that the public followed the instructions issued by the Government on the need to stay at home.

The rest of his top team used the Zoom conferencing app to join the discussion

Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) was the only minister to join Boris Johnson in person for an update from Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty (right)

How Cabinet meetings normally look, with ministers crowded around a table in No 10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak, who lives in No 11 Downing Street, was among those who used a conferencing app to dial in to the meeting, before heading tot he Commons (pictured)

'The PM said that by staying at home, people would protect our NHS and save lives.

'The Chancellor confirmed to Cabinet that the Comprehensive Spending Review will be delayed so that Government remains focused on responding to the public health and economic emergency.

'Further details of when the Comprehensive Spending Review will be held will be set out in due course.'

The Chancellor later told MPs it would not be possible to protect every job and save every business during the coronavirus outbreak.

He told the Commons: 'There will be challenging times ahead and despite the significant economic interventions that we have put in place, we will not be able to protect every single job or save every single business.

'But I am confident that the measures we have put in place will provide support to millions of people and businesses, and ensure we do get through this, we get through it together and emerge on the other side both stronger and more united.'
By Trend

The period of state border closure between Azerbaijan and Georgia has been extended until April 20, Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

The decision to close borders between the two countries was made March 13 in order to ensure the security and health of citizens of both countries against coronavirus pandemic.



The Cabinet of Ministers said that a transit corridor has been provided for cargo transportation.
COVID-19 Closes Second Verizon Contact Center

While the contact center serves on the front lines of customer service, your agents are also serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. South Korea illustrated an extreme example recently, and moving here to the states, Verizon (News - Alert) is doing its best to avoid the same fate.

A week ago, Verizon suspended operations at its Elgin, South Carolina contact center, this week the Wilmington, North Carolina closed its doors after another Verizon employee tested positive for COVID-19.

We can confirm that an individual who works at a Verizon facility in Wilmington has tested positive for the coronavirus, says Kate Jay, South Area Communications Manager for Verizon. We immediately closed the facility for deep cleaning, notified any individuals that were in close contact and continued to serve our customers by routing calls to other call centers as well as to our home based agents who are able to answer calls from their homes. In order to increase social distancing to flatten the curve of the pandemic, were working to ensure more of our call center reps have work from home capabilities.

The telecom company urged its current team members working from home to continue to do so.

The choice to closed doors was an easy one for Verizon, and other call centers should follow suit  but do so in a proactive manner. The model is moving the contact center to the cloud, empowering agents with the same capability safe at home as they would in the office and hunker down until the coronavirus dust settles.

In your contact center in the coud?

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Chinese companies have come up with a creative way of sharing eployees to optimize human resources during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Chinese companies have come up with a creative way to optimize human resources during the COVID-19 epidemic. Called "employee sharing," the method lets businesses temporarily hire employees from companies that have yet to resume operations or are only partially operating due to the outbreak.



A deliveryman collects frozen food at a store of Hema Fresh in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, on Jan. 27, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The initiative was first launched by online supermarket Hema Fresh in early February to meet its increasing demand for workers delivering daily necessities to customers. The method has since been popularized and used by many companies and manufactures to ease the workforce crunch and place workers where they are most needed.

As people in China prepare for a full return to work and school, mask makers are bracing for another surge in domestic demand. To prepare for this, many factories have expanded production, and some firms have pivoted to manufacturing the mask machines. Hua'erte Technology Company, a Hunan-based maker of food and pharmaceutical equipment in Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, is one of them.

"Our company used to manufacture food and pharmaceutical equipment, so it's not a big deal to switch the production line to be compatible with manufacturing mask machines," manager Sheng Zhenhua said. Within seven days, Sheng and his team designed a production line that meets the standard for producing face mask machines.

On March 9, Sheng's new factory opened, and orders poured in. Though mask machines are ready, the difficulty in finding workers prevented him from responding to overwhelming demand.

After learning about Hua'erte's worker shortage, Qiu Xiongwen, chairman of the labor union in Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, contacted another company in the development zone, Ruizhi Automotive Parts. These two companies soon signed an agreement on sharing employees. A team of 43 skilled technicians was then quickly formed and started their work in Sheng's factory on March 13.
New Delhi, March 24 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal here on Tuesday announced payment of Rs 5,000 to all the daily wagers in the national capital to deal with the situation due to coronavirus.

"All daily wage workers will be paid Rs 5,000 to deal with the situation," said Kejriwal.

Addressing the media through video link, Kejriwal urged people to respect doctors, nurses, pilots and flight attendants and not discriminate against them as there had been reports that they were not allowed to enter their houses by the people or landlords.

All constructions, shops and restaurants in Delhi have been shut to prevent spread of coronavirus.

The Chief Minister said no new case had been reported in Delhi in the past 40 hours. "Of the 30 patients, 23 are under treatment. While one person died, others have been cured. We have to understand that the fight is very long. Any moment, the number can increase," he said.

Stating that even the developed nations are not able to deal with Covid-19, Kejriwal said, "we need to be very careful. Tomorrow, lockdown was announced. Now there is a curfew in Delhi. We are taking strict steps to save your lives. I am happy to see that people are taking steps to help each other. This is real nationalism." He said despite curfew and lockdown situation, no one should die due to hunger in Delhi. "We are serving lunch and dinner in the night shelters across the city. We will not just increase the number of shelters, but also make separate arrangements for food distribution. We all should pledge that no one will sleep without food." He also named a number of people who have decided to not take or postpone the house rents from tenants and to provide food to the people around them.

Expressing happiness over people helping each other, he said he felt sad to know that those involved in coronavirus fights were being discriminated.

"I feel sad to know that pilots, doctors and nurses are being pushed out of their houses because they are dealing with coronavirus patients. We need to change the mentality. If they are having the infection, they will be treated. But when they are healthy, there should not be any mistreatment or discrimination," the Delhi Chief Minister said.

"A five-doctor team has been formed to assess the situation, if community transfer has started in Delhi. They will submit the report in 24-hour," Kejriwal said.


At a council meeting today the mayor and councillors unanimously agreed to consult with the public on a draft Annual Plan budget that would see a 7.6 per cent average rates rise for the year starting July 1.

Three weeks ago, the council had voted to consult on a draft budget with $244 million in capital expenditure with a 12.6 per cent average rates rise. This budget had been aimed at building infrastructure to help our city grow while starting to address councils debt levels.



Mayor Tenby Powell says the world had changed during the past three weeks, and the councils top priority now was to help the people of Tauranga through the developing crisis.



The current circumstances are unprecedented, and our focus must be on our community before all else.



It is also extremely important that we communicate and consult with our community about this new plan before we make a firm decision.



Under the new proposal, the owner of a $650,000 median-valued home would pay an extra $2.28 a week in rates.



The owner of a $1.07 million median-valued commercial property would pay an extra $12.13 a week in rates.



During the meeting councillor Steve Morris said he still feels the rates rise is too high and he hopes the 7.6 per cent proposal is a ceiling rather than a floor.

He wants the public to know this is not the final figure but still a proposal and the final figure will be decided in June.

We are not there yet.

Councillor Dawn Kiddie agreed saying, she wants people in the community to know this is still a proposed rates rise and would not support any resolution as definite because of the unknown factors the lockdown will place on the rate payers and businesses.

Among other resolutions, the council decided:



 to remove a debt management levy that made up a significant portion of the earlier rates increase proposal



 to reduce the commercial differential from the earlier-proposed 1.3 to 1.2. This means that owners of commercial properties would pay $1.20 for every $1 of general rates paid by owners of residential homes of the same value



 to propose a Uniform Annual General Charge of 10%. This is lower than the 15% included in the Long-term Plan 2018-28, and is intended to reduce the rating burden on lower-valued commercial and residential properties



With coronavirus in mind, the council also approved a clause that would allow flexibility to consider other options for the commercial differential and UAGC before the final annual plan is adopted in June.



Public consultation had been scheduled to begin tomorrow, but is likely to be delayed for a short time.



The council will also consult on user fees, the draft Development Contributions Policy and a change to its Revenue and Financing policy.

All council and committee meetings have been suspended except for the Civil Defence Committee and the Emergency Committee that was activated today.
Bexar County leaders approved a plan Tuesday to give $5.25 million in loans and grants to small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the public to comply with a Stay Home Work Safe order in effect through April 9.

At this point were focused on education, and not enforcement, Larry Roberson, civil division chief with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, told county commissioners.

The county order, effective at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, applies to suburban and unincorporated areas and complements a similar order issued by the city of San Antonio.

Commissioners, bracing for an impact to health care systems, discussed logistical concerns related to the local response. They also overrode a staff recommendation on food service at the Bexar County Jail, siding with Commissioner Tommy Calverts appeal to negotiate and contract with a veteran-owned San Antonio business to strengthen local food distribution channels in the pandemics wake.

Roberson, who worked with San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia to draft the companion stay-at-home emergency orders, said the county is coordinating with the city to field questions about the restrictions, which require residents to stay at home, except for exempt activities essential to maintaining personal health and welfare, and that of others.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County residents ordered to stay home amid COVID-19 concerns

Our goal is not to completely shut down the city, but to minimize (public health) risk, Roberson said.

Authorities hope the new orders, similar to those in Dallas, Houston, Austin, El Paso and other cities across the United States, will prevent hospitals and health care workers from being overwhelmed.

Under the restrictions, people can no longer congregate in any size groups and will be required to maintain a distance of at least six feet from others when walking, hiking, running or biking under exempt outdoor activity. Golf is OK, playing basketball with six other guys from the neighborhood is not.

The orders follow weeks of health advisories, voluntary measures and gradually tightening restrictions. Most people who already are in compliance will see little change, officials said.

For Tuesdays meeting, seating in the gallery was limited and spaced apart, in accordance with recommended public health social distancing standards. County commissioners sat at desks on the floor of the Double-Height Courtroom, rather than at the dais, to maintain the required separation.

Officials said the countys largest departments, aside from the Bexar County Sheriffs Office, has about 50 percent of employees working from home. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff noted some of San Antonios major employers have about 70 percent of their employees working at home.

Its amazing to me what the private sector has already done, Wolff said. I think theyre quite frankly a few steps ahead of the government.

But its up to the citizens to help with this, he said. We do have some ability for fines and even jail terms if it gets too bad with people, but, by and large, its going to take all of us working together.

The penalty for violating the emergency orders is a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

Wolff said the main concern is saving lives and protecting human health.

Texas Department of State Health Services Region 8, which includes San Antonio and encompasses 28 counties in South Texas, has several hundred isolation rooms and no more than 500 ventilators, he said.

If we can stop a spike, theyll be able to handle it. But it we cant stop a spikethen weve really got a big problem, Wolff added.

In related action, commissioners approved an agreement with LiftFund, a 26-year-old nonprofit based in San Antonio, to provide grants and interest-free loans for the next four years to businesses hurt by the pandemic.

The $5 million Bexar County COVID-19 Loan Program will provide loans up to $25,000 to small businesses, which can defer principal payments for up to four months. A separate $250,000 program will offer one-time, $5,000 economic development grants for micro businesses with five or fewer employees.

We already know theres people hurting out there. There are people that already have had to lay off employees, from all sizes. Restaurants, hair salons, you name it, said Commissioner Justin Rodriguez, who guided the programs creation.

Calvert said the county needs to focus more right now on the public health response to COVID-19 than the economy. He said he hoped to see specific numbers on testing kits and ICU beds available in future staff updates, and he supports a robust public communications campaign that includes Spanish-language materials.

I havent heard about how many masks are we donating to our hospital folks, our health care workers. Thats very important. They are freaking out  for valid reasons, Calvert said.

Bexar County Emergency Management Coordinator Kyle Coleman said his office has cleared warehouse space for donated equipment and expects to have National Guard to manage it, but they wont be in place for about a week. The office is working with other local and statewide emergency managers to deal with safety, equipment, communications, testing and surge capacity, including a plan to set up portable or makeshift hospitals, if needed, he said.

University Health System began testing Tuesday, augmenting up to 250 tests taken daily at a drive-thru site at Freeman Coliseum that has two lanes operating, with a capacity of up to 12 lanes, Coleman said.

Seth Mitchell, Wolffs special assistant on COVID-19, said the countys 26 suburban mayors are being very cooperative, and have requested briefings every other day. He asked for commissioners guidance on resources and on setting the tone for our response and doing something else, because were going to get through this.

So maybe we need to also start thinking about long-range recovery, Mitchell said.

People with questions about the stay-at-home orders can visit the citys coronavirus page, which has an interactive question-and-answer feature and a self-screen link to help determine whether they should be tested. The Metro Health COVID-19 hotline is 210-207-5779.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio restaurants now selling groceries

Issues surrounding the contract to serve food to inmates and deputies at the jail had already been brewing before the pandemic.

The county currently has a month-to-month contract with Aramark that runs through July, and budgets about $4.2 million annually for the service. County staff, after weighing proposals from four companies, recommended Florida-based Trinity Services Group, which provides food at corrections facilities nationwide, including 12 in Texas.

But Calvert raised concerns about the companys track record issues in other states, including reports of hunger strikes, riots, fines and complaints about sanitation. He supported a proposal by Selrico, a local company whose president, Rick Aleman, vowed to renovate the jails food service facility, which Aleman said is outdated as everyone well knows.

Other commissioners noted Selricos presence in Bexar County, providing food to seniors. Calvert said the most important thing was maintaining a supply line of food that will help the county work through the pandemic and any future catastrophes.

Supply chain is going to be a big problem with disruptions in trucking, disruptions you know, with orders to shelter in place, he said.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
The two most common forms of ransomware attack were phishing emails and breaching poorly secured remote desktop protocol (RDP), Beazley said. RDP enables employees to access their work computers or the companys primary server from home.

With the convenience of enabling employees to work from home, using RDP can make IT systems more susceptible to attack without the right security measures in place, said Katherine Keefe, global head of BBR Services. The coronavirus has forced many more employees to work from home, and in this pressured environment it is very important that companies take the right steps to reduce the vulnerability of their IT infrastructure. Always ensure employees can access their computer using a virtual private network with multi-factor authentication. It is important to whitelist IP addresses that are allowed to connect via RDP, and make sure that unique credentials for remote access are in place - particularly for third parties.

In 2019 and 2020, BBR Services saw an increase in attacks reported by policyholders whose systems were breached by cyberattacks against their IT managed-service providers. In some cases, the attacks halted the operations of hundreds of customers downstream from the IT provider, Beazley said.

BBR Services handles thousands of breaches every year, and our data demonstrates how ransomware has developed into a more serious and complex threat over the past four years, Keefe said. Early on, ransomware was typically used to encrypt data as leverage for a ransom demand. However, more recently, attackers have been using ransomware variants in tandem with banking Trojans such as Trickbot and Emotet. This two-pronged attack leaves organizations not only with the debilitating impact of its critical systems and data being encrypted, but with the added risk of the data being accessed or stolen.

Although these attacks can be damaging and complex, some of the most effective preventative measures are relatively simple, she said. More than ever, organizations need to ensure their IT security measures are a top priority and up-to-date, that they have access to authoritative, experienced risk management advice, and, importantly, that employees are trained and alert to the potential threats.
National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci talks to reporters about the Trump administration's response to the global coronavirus outbreak outside the White House on March 12, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Corrupt Media Wages Coronavirus War for Democrat Partners

Progressive attempt to oust Trump comes disguised as journalism

Commentary

Democrats had little hope for the 2020 election while it was about the economy. Now that the election is about President Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus, Democrats see hope and opportunity.

Lest voters punish them, congressional Democrats must maintain an appearance of bipartisanship regarding combating the virus.

No problem: Leave the attacks on Trump to their media wing, some governors of non-critical states, and Hillary Clinton.

Since Trump was elected, Democrats and their media and government-bureaucrat partners have refused to recognize his legitimacy and have tried to destroy his presidency. They created the phony Russia-collusion narrative and impeached Trump based entirely on their opinion, not on evidence or the Constitution. Theres no reason to believe the rage and hate they harbor and have generated will disappear because of the coronavirus threat to us all.

While mostly accepting that Trump is now acting decisively, Democrat-media spin claims the crisis is much worse than it would have been had Trump acted sooner. Hindsight is 100 percent accurate; its easy to criticize after the fact. What to do today is never that clear.

Would these critics have acted differently? The Obama administrations handling of the H1N1 swine flu crisis and the medias lack of criticism indicates otherwise. Then-President Barack Obama declared a national emergency six months after the outbreak. Four months later, the death toll reached 17,000. H1N1 didnt provoke the same panic as the coronavirus.

Unveiled Motives

A difference could be desperation to defeat Trump.

Its a distraction tactic  racist  hes doing it [to distract from] his LIES and INCOMPETENCE. Trump uses radicalized language and stereotypes to placate supporters and, at worst, holds racist and xenophobic views. The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis.

These quotes are tweets from Chinas Xinhua News, CNN political reporter and Editor-at-Large Chris Cillizza, and Clinton, respectively. They all refer to Trump calling what originated in China the China virus instead of coronavirusidentity politics on steroids.

Two days before the Xinhua tweet, Hudson Institute Chinese Strategy Director Michael Pillsbury told Fox News host Sean Hannity, In recent days, the Chinese have placed a new bet. They want Joe Biden to become president.  But now this idea that President Trump has botchedwords the Chinese are usingthe handling of the virus, this is being spread all over the world by China.

The Chinese regime, progressive media, and Democrats are indistinguishable on this.

The Biden Connection

Had Chinas officials dealt forthrightly with the virus, they could have prevented its rapid spread throughout the world and given other countries a chance to prepare. Instead, as typical totalitarians, they attempted to suppress it. China will pay a high price for this with Trump.

Since they know Joe Biden wellhaving given $1.5 billion to an investment fund of which his son Hunter was a director after a Biden visit to Chinaapparently the Chinese leadership sees an opportunity and is willing to risk trying to help elect him.

Clinton and other former Obama officials have a huge personal stake in a Biden victory. As president, Biden would end the Durham investigation and any related prosecutions, claiming Trump had ordered them for political purposes.

Like other media Trump refers to as fake news, CNN masquerades as a news organization but is really a political action committee. They have been openly biased and completely committed to destroying Trumps presidency and to defeating him in 2020.

The Truth About Trumps Response

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told Fox News host Mark Levin on March 22, The coordinated response [to the virus] has been  impressive.  I cant imagine that, under any circumstances, that anybody could be doing more.

Levin commented that the opposition party and the press have said Trump doesnt follow science. Fauci replied that when he has said for scientific reasons, we really should do this, Trump has always said, Lets do it. Whenever Trump has suggested something Fauci said wasnt advisable from a scientific viewpoint, Trump has never overruled me.

The early shut-off of travel from China, which Fauci said was timely to avoid the viruss peak effects, showed Trump didnt ignore the coronavirus in the beginning. Democrats and their media partners called it racist. They have promoted fear and panic as their best chance to defeat Trump in the election.

Trump embodies the American exceptionalism that Democrats and their media partners reject and will destroy if we let them. The positive, can-do, free-enterprise, and principles-based society our founders created will propel us, under Trumps leadership, to conquer the coronavirus.

Nobody could have anticipated what Fauci called a very serious situation the potentially involves everyone in the world. We shouldnt fall prey to politically motivated actions; instead, we should look at performance and results.

Steve Hecht is editor at large of the Impunity Observer.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The designers of the virtual reality program used by Purdue University Global for its Feb. 27 commencement will host an online informational session for school administrators who want to learn more about the process.

The session is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Friday (March 27). It will feature Patti Pelletier, director of the learning and leadership community for Purdue Global, and George Takahashi, lead visualization scientist for Information at Purdues (ITaP) Research Computing Envision Center on the Purdue University West Lafayette campus.

We have received many inquiries on how to conduct a virtual graduation from universities across the country, Pelletier said. These institutions are preparing to deliver their typical graduation ceremonies in a virtual format. We believe we can help our colleagues in higher education with a live event highlighting our virtual graduation process. We also will have a panel discussion and provide everyone with resources to take with them.

To participate, click on this link.

At its most recent commencement ceremonies on Feb. 27 in Los Angeles, 75-plus of the more than 400 Purdue Global graduates participated virtually thanks to a first-of-its-kind pilot program that featured a 360-degree camera and individual headsets.

About Purdue University Global

Purdue University Global is the extreme personalization online university, providing students the competitive edge to advance in their chosen careers. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations  no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves more than 31,000 students (as of January 2020), most of whom earn their degree online. It also operates several regional locations nationwide. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue Universitys flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest, Indiana, as well as serving close to 6,000 science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, please visit PurdueGlobal.edu.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Tom Schott, 765-494-9318, tschott@purdue.edu

Sources: Patti Pelletier, ppelletier@purdueglobal.edu

George Takahashi, gtakahas@purdue.edu
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Sadiq Khan faces mounting fury over crammed London transport that is risking lives tonight as a Cabinet minister swiped that there is 'no good reason' Tube services have been slashed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock delivered a stinging rebuke to the London Mayor saying the underground system should be running 'in full' so essential workers do not have to be close together.

The jibe came after another day of chaotic scenes in the capital where 'health hazard' carriages were rammed despite the unprecedented shutdown of British society.

Five hundred British Transport Police officers will be on the rail network this evening to remind passengers that only those making essential journeys for work should be using the Tube and trains.

Mr Khan has blamed commuters for flouting a ban on 'all non-essential travel' and urged people to avoid rush hour 'to save lives' - claiming he does not have enough staff to return services to normal.

Mr Hancock went on the attack as he was asked at a Downing Street press conference this evening why NHS staff and other key workers were being forced to put themselves at risk on crowded transport.

He said: 'When it comes to the Tube, the first and the best answer is that Transport for London should have the Tube running in full so that people travelling on the tube are spaced out and can be further apart - obeying the two-metre rule wherever possible.

'And there is no good reason in the information that I've seen that the current levels of tube provision should be as low as they are. We should have more tube trains running.'

Earlier, commuters packed in like sardines hit back at the Mayor, who runs the capital's public transport network, with one victim claiming it was about saving money, tweeting: 'Using the pandemic to save a few pennies. Nice work helping the people you claim to represent'. Another Londoner wrote: 'Utter disgrace. We need professional leadership at this time'.

A busy Jubilee line eastbound train carriage, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus

Tube trains were packed again today despite the Government's unprecedented lockdown that started just hours earlier to save lives and take pressure off the NHS

Health Secretary Matt Hancock delivered a stinging rebuke to the London Mayor tonight saying the underground system should be running 'in full' so essential workers do not have to be close together

NHS sonographer Nicola Smith tweeted: 'This is my tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now I'm risking my health just on the journey in?!

London Mayor Sadiq Khan today blamed commuters for flouting a ban on 'all non-essential travel' and said they must avoid rush hour 'to save lives'

Packed London Underground tube train and platforms this morning as commuters still use public transport despite Boris Johnson's message to stay at home

Workers at building site on Hanover Square in Central London today amid conflicting advice about whether they should be working and a lack of support for the self employed

Sharing a horrifying picture of a packed Tube train this morning, NHS sonographer Nicola Smith tweeted: 'I love my job, but now I'm risking my health just on the journey in?! @SadiqKhan put the tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or @BorisJohnson start policing who's getting on. Help me!'. After completing her journey to the Imperial College NHS Trust in west London, she said: 'I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.'

And there is continuing confusion over who qualifies as a key worker, especially among London's army of builders, meaning most had no choice but to ride the busy trains to work and run the terrifying risk of catching coronavirus, which has claimed 422 lives so far in the UK.

Boris Johnson also raised concerns about cutbacks in London Underground services with the capital's Mayor in a call this afternoon and is said to have asked him to put on more trains. His Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister raised with the mayor the issue of reduced services on the tube and its impact on people trying to get to work'.

British Transport Police has said its officers will stop non-essential workers travelling on the Tube. A spokesman said the force would 'ensure that only those making essential journeys for work are using the Tube and rail network', adding: 'Our officers will be on hand to support rail operators if people are clearly disregarding the advice'.

Hours after the PM said almost all Britons should should stay at home in the most draconian shutdown in modern history, people were nose-to-nose on the Tube, trains and buses despite being told to be two metres apart to avoid exposure to the killer virus.

To stem the terrifying number of deaths, gatherings of more than two people are now banned and people must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is 'absolutely' unavoidable. Going out for exercise is allowed once a day as long as people stay two metres apart to stop the NHS collapsing under the strain of new cases.

But transport union TSSA today called for police to be deployed to make sure only key workers are getting on trains amid claims Tube staff could walk out unless ID checks start immediately because of 'dangerous' conditions at London stations.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'Sadly, the situation on the London Underground has not improved. We urgently need British Transport Police and other officers at major stations across London's transport network to ensure only those with a valid reason to travel are doing so in this emergency'.

Mr Khan's office hit back at Mr Hancock's claim there was 'no good reason' not to have more frequent services on the Underground tonight.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor said: 'This is simply not true.

'The Mayor has told ministers countless times over recent days that TfL simply cannot safely run a full service because of the levels of staff sickness and self-isolation.

'Nearly a third of staff are already absent - there aren't enough drivers and control staff to do it.

'The Government must act urgently to get more people staying at home rather than going to work unnecessarily - that means taking the difficult decisions they are refusing to take to ban non-essential construction work and provide proper financial support to freelancers, the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts to stay at home.'

Mr Khan has demanded that employers enable their staff to work from home 'unless it's absolutely necessary' and avoid rush hour if they can't, adding: 'Ignoring these rules means more lives lost. Some of the people on the Tube yesterday and today are not essential workers, I can tell you that'.

But there is ongoing confusion caused by Boris Johnson's long list of key workers - with many packed on to trains appearing to be labourers legitimately heading to building sites in London after housing secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted last night: 'If you are working on site, you can continue to do so.'

As Britain's 66million people are today beginning a new life in coronavirus lockdown, it has emerged:

Police Federation believe it is 'not realistic' for officers to enforce stringent coronavirus lockdown rules such as once daily exercise and 'essential shopping'. Chairman John Apter says forces will have to ignore some crimes;

FTSE 100 in London opens up four per cent as investors reacted positively to PM's three week curb on freedom of movement;

Supermarket websites crash and delivery slots are booked solid for weeks as lockdown begins;

There are one million Britons abroad who have been told to come home now as air routes disintegrate - but many can't get on flights or afford sky-high fares;

The Army has moved in as soldiers offload supplies to frontline doctors at hospitals today;

Fewer school staff may be 'willing or able' to work to care for key workers' children in the absence of clear advice on how to stay safe in schools, headteachers have said;

Italy's daily death toll falls for a second consecutive day - in glimmer of hope for Britain - after country's national lockdown appears to start working after two weeks;

This CCTV on the westbound Jubilee Line showed just how busy platforms are as workers kept commuting

The PM has said only key workers whose jobs are crucial to fighting coronavirus must go to work but 'vague' definitions and reduced train services has led to packed trains

Travellers on the Jubilee Line were in eachother's faces and armpits despite being warned to stay two metres apart

Robert Tay, from Romford, took a picture of a packed London bus with people stood on the bottom and top decks this morning and said: '@BorisJohnson @TfL @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan Are you seriously telling me this is a bus full of 'key workers'?'

The Mayor of London told Good Morning Britain today that construction workers should not continue working except for essential public health reasons, such as in an NHS facility.

He said: 'My message is don't use public transport unless you really really have to go to work, you work in the NHS, you work in food supply, you work for the police - if you really have to go to work, don't use rush hour, it's really important'.

Transport union TSSA has called for police to be deployed at major train stations in London - including London Underground, London Overground and mainline railway stations - to ensure only passengers who are 'providing vital services' are travelling.

Has Italy turned the tide on coronavirus? Daily death toll falls for SECOND consecutive day as disease claims 602 new victims Italy's death toll from coronavirus has surpassed China, but there is evidence that the steep rise is starting to taper off two weeks after draconian lockdown measures were put in place Italy may have started to turn the tide on coronavirus as the data showed the death toll has fallen for the second consecutive day to 602 victims, offering a glimmer of hope the national lockdown is working. The country remains the world's worst-affected by the coronavirus - with 6,078 people killed by the disease in total and confirmed infections at more than 60,000. But a drop in the rate of deaths and new infections between Saturday and Sunday night has indicated that the curve is finally starting to flatten out, two weeks after the entire country was placed into lockdown. Today, the trend continued, with the total number of confirmed cases rose to 63,927 from a previous 59,138, an increase of 8 per cent, the lowest rise in percentage terms since the contagion came to light in mid-February. Authorities in Rome reported that 602 died today - a staggering figures but significantly lower than the 651 on Sunday, and 793 who died on Saturday. Health official, Silvio Brusaferro, resisted being too optimistic, saying that the improvements registered Monday were due to actions taken at the beginning of the month, not in recent days. 'We need more consecutive results to confirm the trend, to be more certain that we are in a favorable situation.' he said. Advertisement

Aslef union organiser Finn Brennan wrote: 'Getting lots of reports of early trains being full on the Underground. If the Government doesn't shut construction sites and pay self employment, people will die'.

Robert Tay, from Romford, took a picture of a packed London bus this morning and said: '@BorisJohnson @TfL @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan Are you seriously telling me this is a bus full of 'key workers'?'

Chris Kaye-York filmed scores of people rushing through a London Tube station's ticket barriers and said: 'Still? Really? Get a grip'.

Sadiq Khan said today that 20 per cent of Transport for London staff are now off work because they are either unwell or self-isolating, and said: 'It is simply not possible for us to increase train and bus services'. He added: 'I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now. Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it's absolutely necessary. Ignoring these rules means more lives lost'.

Concerned passengers have shared the shocking images of carriages as cramped as in a normal rush hour and many called for ministers and London Mayor Khan to act.

Platforms were also crowded and there were long queues, with similar scenes on many rail and bus services.

Transport bosses accused commuters of putting lives at risk by ignoring government advice against all but essential travel.

But passengers said the drastically reduced timetable was to blame, causing overcrowding that makes it more likely the virus will spread. Many said they had no choice but to travel as they had to work.

Fred Scott, a commuter on the Hammersmith and City line, wrote on Twitter: 'On a 6.40 train from Upton Park going to Hammersmith. If one person on here has the virus then that will affect others, who will take that elsewhere. Lockdown needed.'

Fin Brennan, of the Aslef train drivers' union, said: 'This is endangering the health of the vital workers who have to use the system.

'I'm being sent pictures of crush-loaded platforms at some Jubilee line platforms this morning. Drivers and other frontline staff are furious.'

One Tory MP told the Mail: 'This is exactly the reason why we will have to take additional powers to force people to stay home... It exposes a complete contradiction in the Government's approach. On the one hand, people are being told to avoid all travel, on the other hand they have no choice but to go into work as normal as their offices are still open.'

Labour transport spokesman Andy McDonald said the images were alarming, adding: 'The Government must help keep transport workers and the public safe by urgently extending financial assistance to the self-employed and other workers so nobody risks losing their income by staying at home, and make it clear that workers in all non-key sectors of the economy must not travel to work.'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would speak to Mr Khan about increasing the frequency of trains on the London Underground, where 40 stations have been closed by TfL and some main routes have trains running only once every 18 minutes.

Rail services which had been slashed by up to 50 per cent, with some axed, may be partly restored as ministers fear the reduced service is worsening the spread of the virus.

The Government had said the changes would discourage unnecessary journeys, allowing key workers to commute safely.

But in a U-turn yesterday, Mr Shapps said he was 'concerned' by the images of crowded trains and added: 'We are working with train operators to introduce a small number of trains for key workers to have space to be safe.'

There are growing calls for police to be deployed at all main underground and overground stations to make sure only key workers are getting on trains (BTP officers pictured in Bristol today)

Sadiq Khan has been criticised for not laying on more trains - but Mayor of London says they don't have enough staff because of coronavirus

Packed platforms and trains in London were a common scene again today on Britain's first day of a three-week lockdown

Signs reminding people to

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade arrive in a military lorry to deliver a consignment to St Thomas' hospital, which sits across the Thames from Parliament in South London

Soldiers were unloading masks for NHS staff as the Army were called in to fight the tackle the problem

What major world cities have the lowest proportion of people moving around compared to normal? TWO WEEKS AGO (W/ending Mar 15) Milan 9% Rome 16% Seoul 42% Madrid 46% Seattle 47% Tokyo 48% Monaco 51% Copenhagen 54% Paris 57% San Francisco 57% Rhine-Ruhr 60% Barcelona 61% Hamburg 64% Boston 64% Hong Kong 65% Washington DC 66% New York City 67% Amsterdam 68% Vienna 69% Berlin 69% Philadelphia 70% Brussels 71% Los Angeles 71% Stockholm 73% Chicago 78% Singapore 82% Vancouver 83% L ondon 83% Toronto 84% Lyon 86% Lisbon 87% Manchester 89% Montreal 91% Birmingham 91% Sydney 93% Istanbul 93% Mexico City 95% Melbourne 97% Moscow 98% St. Petersburg 101% Sao Paulo 104% PAST WEEK (W/ending Mar 21) Milan 4% Madrid 5% Barcelona 6% Rome 6% Vienna 7% Paris 9% Copenhagen 11% Lyon 11% Amsterdam 12% San Francisco 12% Monaco 13% Brussels 14% New York City 15% Boston 16% Washington DC 16% Chicago 17% Hamburg 20% Lisbon 20% Seattle 20% Berlin 21% Istanbul 21% Rhine-Ruhr 22% Los Angeles 22% Philadelphia 23% Montreal 30% Sao Paulo 33% Toronto 34% Tokyo 35% Stockholm 36% London 36% Vancouver 37% Seoul 40% Manchester 41% Birmingham 44% Mexico City 45% Melbourne 55% Sydney 56% Hong Kong 56% Moscow 68% Singapore 72% St. Petersburg 79% YESTERDAY (Mar 23) Milan 4%

Barcelona 5%

Madrid 5%

Lyon 5%

Paris 5%

Monaco 5%

Vienna 6%

Rome 6%

Amsterdam 7%

Brussels 8%

New York City 8%

San Francisco 8%

Chicago 9%

Washington DC 9%

Copenhagen 10%

Boston 10%

Istanbul 11%

Sao Paulo 13%

Berlin 13%

Lisbon 14%

Seattle 14%

Hamburg 15%

Los Angeles 16%

Rhine-Ruhr 17%

Philadelphia 17%

Montreal 18%

Tokyo 18%

Toronto 23%

Vancouver 24%

London 25%

Manchester 28%

Sydney 28%

Mexico City 30%

Birmingham 31%

Melbourne 33%

Stockholm 35%

Seoul 36%

Moscow 56%

Singapore 61%

St. Petersburg 73%

Hong Kong n/a Data from Citymapper Mobility Index Advertisement

Confusion as shop and office workers are told to stay home amid coronavirus lockdown but builders and delivery drivers can carry on The government has come under pressure to urgently clarify who it counts as a 'key worker' after Britons woke up in a state of lockdown confusion. Last night in his historic address to the nation, Boris Johnson ordered the public to stay at home unless travelling to work was 'absolutely necessary'. It was wrapped into an emergency package of draconian measures to keep people indoors to stem the tide of coronavirus infection, which threatens to overwhelm the NHS. But the wriggle room left by the Prime Minister over exactly who was allowed to travel was seized upon by many workers who continued to commute to their jobs this morning. Construction workers were seen operating in close proximity, causing head-scratching over why they were continuing to work while most of the country was forced to hunker down at home. Responding to claims that details of the lockdown were 'murky', Michael Gove, the minister for the cabinet office, said: 'It is the case that construction should continue on sites. 'People should obviously exercise sensitivity and common sense and follow social distancing measures. But construction sites carried out in the open air can continue'. And Nicola Sturgeon and Sadiq Khan fanned further confusion when they advised construction workers to stay at home. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it has closed its construction sites, show homes and sale sites due to coronavirus. The company said it has a 'large order-book and quality long-term landbank' which provides it with increased resilience. It said UK operations have 'only been meaningfully impacted in very recent days' while its smaller Spanish operations have been disrupted by a nationwide shutdown. Earlier on Tuesday, competitor Redrow said its sites remain open with 'strict precautions in place including enhanced levels of cleaning, additional hygiene facilities and social distancing'. Advertisement

The Department for Transport is identifying those lines that need more trains. It said: 'We are aware of some instances of overcrowding on certain train services this morning, and are working with operators regarding capacity on specific lines as needed to make sure there is space to be safe.'

C2C, which runs commuter services between Essex and London, is thought to have been identified as a line in need of increased capacity.

Passenger watchdog Transport Focus said: 'The Government should continue to review what measures are needed to make sure social distancing on trains services is safe.'

The RMT union said: 'We know that many people who are not traditionally employed, whether they are self-employed, on zero-hour contracts or in the gig economy, feel they have no choice but to go to work because of their financial situation. We therefore call on the Government to do far more to help these workers.'

Vernon Everitt of TfL said: 'To save lives, everyone must follow the Government and Mayor's instructions to stay at home and only travel if absolutely essential. Only critical workers should be using public transport, and no one else.'

The Prime Minister's shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease.

In a grim address to the nation from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: 'Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses', adding: 'I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home'.

He said any 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.

People must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is 'absolutely' unavoidable. Going out for exercise will be allowed once a day, but parks will be patrolled to make sure there is no abuse of the rules.

Police will have powers to fine those who do not fall into line, and disperse any public gatherings, in measures to curb movement only seen during the Second World War. Historians have claimed you have to go back to 1666 to find when people were last forced to stay at home en masse, when Britons had to stay at home for 40 days to halt the spread of the Great Plague.

The PM was finally forced into the draconian move amid fury that many people are still flouting 'social distancing' guidance, with parks and Tube trains in London - regarded as the engine of the UK outbreak - still busy despite repeated pleas.

'Though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all - the time has now come for us all to do more,' Mr Johnson said.

'From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home.

'Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.'

London's commuters continue to keep going to work after a huge number of the workforce were designated key workers by the PM

Bristol Temple Meads train station as empty of rush-hour commuters and travelers at 8am the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

Eerie empty streets of Birmingham city centre, as a few workers venture out as the UK entered a three-week lockdown

A picture shows an empty children's play area on Llandaff Fields in Cardiff, as community facilities like these were also closed off

Waitrose in Kensington is open with people queuing at a safe distance outside - but online deliveries have gone through the roof

Police chief warns that crimes will have to be ignored as officers scramble to enforce draconian new coronavirus lockdown Police officers will have to ignore some crime in order to tackle Britain's coronavirus lockdown, Boris Johnson was warned today as officers warned that under-staffed forces will struggle to enforce draconian new movement rules. Police Federation of England and Wales chairman John Apter said officers would have to make touch decisions about law and order as they were called upon to keep people at home as much as possible. Fines of up to 1,000 are planned for those who flout rules announced by the Prime Minister last night putting strict limits on when people are able to leave the house, and banning gatherings of more than two people. But senior figures have warned that the stringent measures, similar to those already in place in Italy, will be 'challenging' with forces across the UK having far fewer officers to call upon than authorities in Rome - with shortages of up to 20,000 officers. Mr Apter told the BBC today: It's going to be really tough and what we have to get across to the public is that as far as policing is concerned it is not business as usual. 'The normal things my colleagues, officers, would normally go to, we need to decide what it is we cannot go to any more. 'Because dealing with this partial lock-down is going to put incredible amounts of pressure on my colleagues - and they are up for this.' Advertisement

Millions of people will receive a text from the Government today urging them to stay at home.

Ministers have agreed a deal with phone operators to send the alert carrying Boris Johnson's warning to every mobile in the country

The government's Cobra emergency committee met at 5pm and signed off the extraordinary new restrictions - similar to those which have already been imposed across the rest of Europe.

They will last for three weeks initially - but the government's own experts have suggested the situation could take up to a year to resolve.

The stringent limits, which came after weeks of mounting pressure for the PM to escalate the response, were welcomed across the political spectrum - in itself a sign of the unprecedented times the country is enduring. However, police officers cautioned that their task would be 'challenging'.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the rules on who was allowed to travel to work was too loose, suggesting construction employees might feel they were not covered by the ban.

Mr Johnson spelled out just four reasons why Britons can leave their houses.

They are:

shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible;

one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person;

travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Who should still be going to work? London Mayor warns government's rules are too LOOSE London Mayor Sadiq Kahn has warned that the government risks undermining its coronavirus lockdown by allowing too many people to go to work. Boris Johnson left some wriggle room in his announcement this evening, merely saying that people should only travel to work if it was 'absolutely necessary'. The government laid out who was counted as a 'key worker' and still permitted to send their children to schools last week. But Mr Khan said the definition was too wide, and many would be confused about who was allowed to leave the house. He said the Welsh and Scottish First Ministers agreed with him. 'The only people that should be leaving home are those that are essential to look after us,' he told the BBC. He added: 'In my view the only construction workers that should be working are those that are needed for safety.' Advertisement

He said the government will be acting in three key ways to 'ensure compliance'.

closing all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores, and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;

stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with;

stopping all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

Stressing that 'no Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this', Mr Johnson invoked the wartime spirit by saying he wanted to 'enlist' everyone into the battle against coronavirus.

'Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses,' he warned.

'And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.'

Boris Johnson plunged the UK into coronavirus lockdown last night - ordering the closure of all shops selling non-essential goods as well as playgrounds and churches

In his historic speech, delivered from behind a desk in Downing Street, Mr Johnson spelled out the reasons people could go outside.

And he added: 'That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

'You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

'You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

'You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

'If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.'

Underlining the soul-searching that had gone into the announcement, Mr Johnson said: 'No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.

'I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to people's lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.

'And that's why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.

'And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

'But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

'And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.'

He added: 'I know that as they have in the past so many times.

'The people of this country will rise to that challenge.

'And we will come through it stronger than ever.

'We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.'

A backlash has been mounting against Mr Johnson's 'relaxed' style, with warnings of a 'full-scale mutiny' among Cabinet if the lockdown was not extended, and Labour claiming his 'mixed messages will cost lives'.

Earlier, Downing Street dodged questions about the prospect of a revolt, and said it was looking at evidence to decide whether social distancing must be enforced. 'If our analysis is that people haven't stopped their interaction then we will take further measures,' the PM's spokesman said.

Labour's official position has shifted to insist it is time to introduce harsher 'compliance measures'.

Jeremy Corbyn said this evening: 'The Prime Minister is right to call for people to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.

'This is the right response to the coronavirus pandemic, and one we have been calling for.

'There now needs to be clear guidance to employers and workers about which workplaces should close  and the Government must close the loopholes to give security to all workers, including the self-employed, as well as renters and mortgage holders.

'We welcome these moves and will be working to ensure everybody has the protection and security they need.'

Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: 'Measures to ensure social distancing have so far not had the necessary effect.

'These new measures are sensible, based on scientific evidence and give people clarity on the exact steps they must take to stop the rapid transmission of this disease.

'The majority of people are already making real sacrifices to save lives and we urge everyone to follow the advice that is designed to keep us all safe.

'We are working with the government and other agencies to consider how these new rules can be most effectively enforced.'

However, the chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation warned that the PM was putting officers in a difficult position, and there were 'mixed messages'.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said he was already seeing 'large amounts of sickness' among officers across London.

Coronavirus lockdown: Who can still go out and why?

Boris Johnson last night imposed an unprecedented lockdown on the UK and told everyone they 'must stay at home' to slow the spread of coronavirus as he set out just four instances when people can go outside.

Describing the crisis as a national emergency, he ordered families to stay in their homes except in special circumstances.

All 'non-essential' shops will be closed and public gatherings of more than two people banned.

Mr Johnson said the measures will be 'under constant review' and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks' time if the evidence allows.

He said that 'no prime minister wants to enact measures like this' but the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the 'very limited purposes' were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well,' he added.

What are the four reasons that Britons can leave their homes?

shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible;

one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;

any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person;

travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are six feet (two metres) apart from anyone outside of your household.

What stores will close? And what are the exceptions that will stay open?

Restaurants - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway that can remain open

Cafes, including workplace canteens - exceptions are food delivery and takeaway can remain operational. Cafes or canteens at hospitals, care homes or schools; prison and military canteens; services providing food or drink to the homeless.

Public houses

Bars and nightclubs, including bars in hotels or members' clubs

Hair, beauty and nail salons, including piercing and tattoo parlours

Massage parlours

All retail with notable exceptions - Supermarkets and other food shops, health shops, pharmacies including nondispensing pharmacies, petrol stations, bicycle shops, home and hardware shops, laundrettes and dry cleaners, bicycle shops, garages, car rentals, pet shops, corner shops, newsagents, post offices, and banks.

Outdoor and indoor markets - exceptions are market stalls which offer essential retail, such as grocery and food.

Auction houses

Car showrooms

Hotels, hostels, BnBs, campsites and boarding houses - exceptions are where people live in these as interim abodes whilst their primary residence is unavailable they may continue to do so. Key workers can continue to stay in hotels or similar where required.

Caravan parks/sites for commercial uses - exceptions are where people live permanently in caravan parks or are staying in caravan parks as interim abodes where their primary residence is not available, they may continue to do so.

Libraries

Community centres, youth centres and similar - Facilities may remain open for the purpose of hosting essential voluntary or public services, such as food banks or homeless services. We will do everything to support vulnerable people who are without a network of friends and families.

Places of worship for services - exceptions are for funerals following the social distancing guidance; places of worship should remain open for solitary prayer. Live streaming of a service without audience would be permissible.

Cinemas, theatres and concert halls - Live streaming of a performance by a small group could be permissible with social distancing observed.

Museums and galleries

Bingo halls, casinos and betting shops

Spas

Skating rinks

Fitness studios, gyms, swimming pools or other indoor leisure centres

Arcades, bowling alleys, soft play centres and similar

Enclosed spaces in parks, including playgrounds, sports courts and pitches, and outdoor gyms or similar

Who are the key workers?

Health and social care -

Doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers; producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare -

Nursery and teaching staff , social workers and specialist education professionals who must remain active to keep schools running.

Key public services -

Those running of the j ustice system, religious staff, charity workers, undertakers, journalists and public service broadcasters.

Local/national government -

'Only those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits'.

Food and other vital goods -

Those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of key goods like hygienic and veterinary medicines.

National security -

Police and support staff, MoD workers, the armed forces, fire and rescue services, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles.

Transport -

Workers on air, water, road, and rail passenger modes, as well as air, water, road, and rail freight transport modes.

Utilities, communication and financial services -

Staff needed for financial services like banks and stock markets; workers in the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors, the postal service, sewerage and telecoms.

How long will the new restrictions last?

The government's Cobra emergency committee met at 5pm yesterday and signed off the extraordinary new restrictions - similar to those which have already been imposed across the rest of Europe.

They will last for three weeks initially - but the government's own experts have suggested the situation could take up to a year to resolve.

What enforcement action will there be?

In his address to the nation Mr Johnson said if people do not follow the new rules officers 'will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings'.

Police will be able to fine people 30 if they ignore the rules and these on-the-spot fines will be 'ramped up' if there is widespread flouting, the government has said.

Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor businesses compliance with the regulations, with police support if necessary.

Businesses and premises that breach them will be subject to prohibition notices, and potentially unlimited fines.

What social events can go ahead?

All social events are also being stopped including weddings, baptisms and other religious ceremonies but funerals will still be allowed to go ahead, attended by immediate family only.

The government is banning public gatherings of more than two people, what are the exceptions?

where the gathering is of a group of people who live together - this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home.

where the gathering is essential for work purposes - but workers should be trying to minimise all meetings and other gatherings in the workplace.

Are you still allowed to get a takeaway?

Government guidance says people can still access their local takeaway, this includes delivery drivers. But people are not allowed to consume any food or drinks on the premises.

Venues offering takeaway or delivery services must not include alcoholic beverages in this list if their license does not already permit.

Boris Johnson's address to the nation in full Good Evening. The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help. And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have. Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses. And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger. To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well. So it's vital to slow the spread of the disease because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHS's ability to cope - and save more lives. And that's why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic. And though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all - the time has now come for us all to do more. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home. Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households. That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes: Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible. One form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household; Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person. And travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home. That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home. You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home. You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can. If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings. To ensure compliance with the Government's instruction to stay at home, we will immediately: Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship. We will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with. And we'll stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals. Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed. No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this. I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to people's lives, to their businesses and to their jobs. And that's why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business. And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to. But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost. And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through. Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the service. With the time you buy  by simply staying at home - we are increasing our stocks of equipment. We are accelerating our search for treatments. We are pioneering work on a vaccine. And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer. I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus. Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline. But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted. Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together. To halt the spread of this disease. To protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives. And I know that as they have in the past so many times. The people of this country will rise to that challenge. And we will come through it stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together. And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives. Thank you. Advertisement

Deserted Britain on day one of coronavirus lockdown: Streets and roads are empty, shops and offices are closed as nation self-isolates... but STILL they queue up at supermarkets at the crack of dawn

Britain entered its first day of coronavirus lockdown today as people were ordered to stay at home and only leave the house for basic food shopping, exercise once a day and essential travel to and from work.

Eerie photographs showed city centres in the likes of London, Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Birmingham were almost completely empty with much of the UK workforce now setting up their office at home.

But queues again formed early this morning outside supermarkets across the country as shoppers observed the social distancing rules of standing two metres - or more than six feet - apart while waiting to get into stores.

Virtually all shops are now closing in a dramatic escalation of the lockdown, with only supermarkets, pharmacies, specialist food shops, petrol stations, corner shop newsagents, hardware stores and pet shops staying open.

It comes as military vehicles crossed a near-empty Westminster Bridge this morning after delivering a much-needed batch of protective face masks to frontline NHS nurses and doctors battling the pandemic.

The =concourse surrounding Bristol Temple Meads train station is empty of rush-hour commuters and travelers at 8am today

Empty streets in Liverpool city centre this morning after the country wakes up to tight new restrictions on movement

An empty Princes Street in Edinburgh - one of the city's main shopping routes - this morning as the UK goes into lockdown

Soldiers from the Army's 101 Logistic Brigade dropped off the medical masks at St Thomas' Hospital in London, following warnings that many doctors feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' because of the lack of proper protection.

Nursing leaders had called upon Mr Johnson to intervene over the lack of protective clothing for NHS staff, telling him that many of those doctors and nurses putting their lives on the line are coming out of retirement.

The Army is now helping deliver protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and suits round the clock to hospitals  but many staff have raised concerns that there will not be enough to go around all their colleagues.

The Royal College of Nursing said that not only are frontline staff deeply concerned about contracting the virus themselves, they are anxious about passing it on to the very vulnerable patients in other wards.

Military sources have revealed that 460 personnel are being mobilised over the next few days to help deliver the personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals.

The eerie empty streets of Birmingham city centre this morning, as a few workers venture out amid the lockdown

There are currently 50 members of the military tasked with getting vital kit to the NHS but there are plans to increase this by nine fold over the course of this week.

The Army have sent dozens of military planners to distribution centres across the UK to help coordinate the operation and their main hub will be in Liverpool.

A Defence source said: 'There is a massive hole in the capability to do this. The NHS haven't got ability to coordinate it so we are sending more army personnel to support that planning.

'We are talking about huge amounts of kit. They just don't have the numbers, it is about getting skilled planners to help logistics.'

Over the weekend the Doctors' Association, a grassroots organisation, warned that doctors were being made to feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' and 'cannon fodder'.

People queue today at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Colton, on the outskirts of Leeds, after the UK was put into lockdown

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said yesterday: 'I am determined to ensure that the right kit gets to the right hospital, the right ambulance service, the right doctors' surgery, right across the country.

'There have been challenges and I can see that. We're on it and trying to solve all the problems.'

Mr Johnson has placed the UK on lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, threatening police fines for anyone who ignores new measures including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.

The Prime Minister detailed a short list of reasons why individuals can leave their homes as he ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials items yesterday evening.

He ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities 'as infrequently as possible' and to perform one form of exercise a day.

People stand two metres apart as they wait for a Sainsbury's supermarket to open in South West London this morning

Or they could seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if 'absolutely necessary', he said in a televised address from within Downing Street.

'That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home,' he said. 'You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

'If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.'

To ensure people follow the rules, Mr Johnson ordered the immediate closure of non-essential stores including those selling electronics and clothing.

All public gatherings of more than two people - other than those they live with - will be barred, the PM said. Other premises being shuttered are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship.

Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after soldiers delivered medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London today

The delivery by the 101 Logistic Brigade today came after Boris Johnson announced strict lockdown measures for Britain

And, while parks will remain open for exercise, all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped. Funerals, however, can continue.

Hotels and campsites will now join pubs, cafes and restaurants in being closed to slow the disease's spread. Government officials said fines will start at 30, but warned they would escalate.

Mr Johnson said the measures will be 'under constant review' and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks' time if the evidence allows.

He said that 'no prime minister wants to enact measures like this' as he reminded the public of the support programme to aid ailing businesses and struggling individuals.

But he said the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the 'very limited purposes' were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London today

The Army is helping deliver protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and suits round the clock to hospitals today

Many staff at NHS hospitals today have raised concerns that there will not be enough to go around all their colleagues

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' Hospital in London this morning

'To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well,' he added.

Mr Johnson had been facing widespread calls to impose tough restrictions on the nation amid concerns people are ignoring social distancing advice.

Online supermarkets immediately appeared to buckle under the strain after the announcement with crashes occurring on the Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda websites.

There are currently 50 members of the military tasked with getting vital kit to the NHS, including those at St Thomas' today

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade arrive in a military lorry to deliver the batch of medical masks to St Thomas' today

In an earlier escalation of advice, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told citizens travelling overseas to return to the UK using commercial routes that are still running.

Meanwhile, MPs were debating emergency legislation that could see airports shut and police having the powers to force people with virus symptoms to isolate.

Over the weekend, crowds of people were witnessed visiting open spaces across many parts of the UK, at times flouting official social distancing advice.

There were growing fears that Britain is on a similar trajectory to Italy - scene of the world's worst outbreak - where the death toll passed 5,000 over the weekend.

The Italian government was one of a number of European countries to announce new or extended restrictions - with Germany banning public gatherings of more than two people not from the same household.
Bosses of The Simpsons have revealed they want the Duchess of Sussex to appear in the show after quitting royal life.

The programme's showrunner and executive producer Al Jean discussed the prospect of the cameo in an interview with the Radio Times, and said Meghan Markle, 38, should 'give him a call' about the idea.

He revealed: 'Weve talked about Harry and Meghan. I hear she wants to do voiceover work. So if theyre reading this, give us a call.'

In January, shortly after the couple announced they were renouncing their royal duties, it was reported that Meghan has signed a voiceover deal with Disney in return for a donation to an elephant charity.

The Simpsons's show bosses have revealed they'd like Meghan Markle, 38, to do some voiceover work with them after the Duchess steps back from royal life (pictured during her tour of Australia in 2018)

He said the team would like the Duchess of Sussex to 'give them a call' in an interview with the Radio Times (pictured: A Simpsons version of Meghan in front of Buckingham Palace)

The Duchess recorded the voiceover before the royal couple left for their six-week break to Canada to celebrate Christmas.

Video has also emerged of Prince Harry, 35, highlighting his wifes interest in voiceover work to a Disney boss at the Lion King premiere last year.

The signing was in return for a donation to Elephants Without Borders, an organisation dedicated to conserving wildlife and helps protect the animals from poaching, according to The Times.

Producers have also admitted that they would reconsider how they cast the voice role of Indian store owner Apu if they were starting the show, now 30 years old, again.

The Simpsons showrunners said they had not contacted Meghan Markle about the opportunity, but joked they hoped she contacted them (pictured: Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa Simpson)

Actor Hank Azaria recently revealed he will no longer voice the character, following years of controversy and accusations of racism levelled at the show.

Showrunner Jean, who has been with The Simpsons since its creation in 1989, said: 'If we were casting the character now, wed cast someone who was ethnically correct to play Apu.

'The way we always wrote him, though, was as a hardworking, thoughtful family man who was smarter than everyone else in Springfield.

'The majority of the jokes were about Springfield not appreciating what a gem he is. So were proud of him.'

Pictured: Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, as they arrived at this year's Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9

The actress who voices Lisa also revealed how she wants climate campaigner Greta Thunberg to do a voice role.

Lisa was an environmental campaigner on the show long before Greta shot to fame with her school strike for climate movement.

The full interview with the Simpsons' showrunners is available in this week's Radio Times magazine (pictured)

Yeardley Smith, who has voiced Lisa since 1987, said: 'Itd be great if Greta plays herself - shed be passing through Springfield and find that she has so much in common with Lisa.

'But the heartbreaker would be when Greta moved on to her next stop and Lisa would be with all those people in the town who wish shed just keep her trap shut. Shed have to carry the torch for the rest of time on her own.'

Sir Paul McCartney famously made a guest appearance in an episode in which Lisa stopped eating meat but on the condition that she would remain vegetarian.

Jean said: 'Every time I see him, he always checks and hes always surrounded by nine or ten lawyers, so its quite frightening!'

The full interview is in Radio Times magazine, out now.
SMITHTOWN, N.Y., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Brookside Multicare Nursing Center, Suffolk County and Long Island's leader in Post-Acute care, today announced the launch of a new state-of-the-art adult Vent Care Unit catering to both long and short-term patients in need of respiratory assistance.

Ventilators support breathing. Though mainly used in hospitals, long-term and short-term care centers provide a safe alternative and support for patients who need help easing the work of breathing. Patients with a disease, condition, or other factors that have impaired their breathing, may especially have to rely on a ventilator in the long-term. Brookside Multicare Nursing Center, serving the Suffolk County and Long Island area, offers high-quality ventilator care services for patients with chronic respiratory problems. This may be a short term solution until a patient is able to breathe on their own or it may be support for chronic diseases and long-term respiratory failure that are irreversible. In these circumstances, Brookside's new Vent Unit will provide compassionate care and ventilator monitoring to ensure that residents enjoy maximum quality of life.

Brookside's team of highly qualified pulmonary care specialists provide services that include administration of oxygen, management of mechanical ventilators, administering drugs to the lungs, monitoring cardiopulmonary systems, measuring lung function and weaning.

"We believe in the highest level of treatment and that includes the technology and hardware as well as the staff and team we put together," said Eric Mendel, CEO, Optima Care.

Brookside is a 353-bed facility and they specialize in elite-level care with genuine compassion.

In addition to the Vent Unit, Brookside also offers both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care units, 24-hour nursing care, stroke rehabilitation, as well as a pediatric program with extended and long term options. The multicare center offers a number of options to those in the Suffolk County and Long Island areas.

For more information please visit www.brooksidemulticare.com

About Brookside Multicare Nursing Center

Perched atop a hill, overlooking 24 acres of scenic landscape, Brookside Multicare Nursing Center is located just an hour's drive from New York City, in the heart of beautiful Smithtown, Long Island.

Our newly-renovated, 353-bed facility offers spacious private and semi-private rooms, several outdoor patios and dining areas to provide our residents with a comfortable setting within which to recover and live forward. What sets us at Brookside Multicare Nursing Center apart is our ability to combine elite-level care with genuine compassion.

Following a philosophy of people, not just patients, we strive to serve all residents and their families in the most dignified and supportive manner.

Media Contact:

Optima Care

[email protected]

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- BYD, a Chinese leading NEV manufacturer, handed over 300 all-electric taxies to Changsha municipal government on March 21, as part of efforts to popularize the concept of green commuting.

All of vehicles delivered recently are the BYD e5 BEVs, which will be operated by two taxi subsidiaries of YongTong Motor. Besides, the delivery will continue with the number expected to total 2,000 units by the end of 2020.



Photo source: BYD CV)



Reportedly, the BYD e5 BEVs have been deployed in Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang and Shanxi to serve as carriers of taxi and ride-hailing mobility services.

What BYD did is in tune with the suggestions Changsha issued in 2014 on NEV promotion and application. According to the document, local authority would prioritize the NEV popularization in such public service sectors as buses, special-purpose vehicles (taxies, sanitation vehicles, postal cars and logistics vehicles), as well as government vehicles.

Moreover, the latest BEV delivery came shortly after Changsha government put forward the policy to subsidize new car purchase.

From March 11 to June 30, consumers who buy from designated dealers the vehicles manufactured by such OEMs as SAIC Volkswagen's Changsha plant, Changsha BYD, GAC Mitsubishi, GAC FCA and Leopaard, and get license plates in Changsha, will enjoy subsidy worth 3% of a bar vehicle's pricebare vehicle refers to a status in which the product just leaves the factory without any non-standard facilities installedwith the value of up to RMB3,000 per car, according to the Changsha City Development and Reform Commission, the government said.
Soldiers arrive at the Amavir Retirement Home in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain, where they will carry out disinfecting tasks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Getty Images)

Spanish soldiers dispatched to fight the coronavirus outbreak by disinfecting elderly care facilities found the bodies of several residents left in their beds, resulting in a nationwide investigation of such facilities, officials said.

Spanish authorities said there had been widespread reports of mistreatment and poor conditions at facilities, which caused the government during the weekend to order the army to start disinfecting them.

"The army, on some visits, has seen the elderly absolutely abandoned, when not dead, in their beds," Defense Minister Margarita Robles said in an interview Monday with the television program Telecinco.

Spains top prosecutor announced an investigation into the alarming situation of such facilities around the country, but authorities did not say how many bodies had been found. Media reports estimated dozens of cases.

The investigation comes after a week of news reports about deaths and infections at facilities in Madrid. Local officials said the Ice Palace ice rink in Madrid was being used as a temporary morgue to help address the number of deaths.

The granddaughter of a resident at the Monte Hermoso facility who had tested positive for the coronavirus and died Friday said the family believes there were other deaths there.

They are letting them die, said Paula Panera, whose grandmother Isabel Costales died.

Monte Hermoso officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last week, the Defensor del Paciente, an elder care watchdog association, filed a complaint to a Madrid court asking for an investigation of Monte Hermoso. The group also requested that the attorney general investigate all such facilities around the country.

This situation cannot be tolerated in a democratic country, Carmen Flores, the associations president, said in a phone interview.

The health ministry said Wednesday the country had counted hundreds more deaths tied to the coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases reached more than 49,500, with more than 3,600 deaths, officials said.

Story continues

In Madrid, officials have created a makeshift hospital in a convention center to help with overcrowding. Hotels have also opened their rooms to hold less severely sick patients.

The Spanish government enforced a countrywide quarantine March 16 to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Residents are allowed to leave their homes only for necessities, including grocery shopping and going to the pharmacy.

Bernhard is a special correspondent.
Hiking is one of few activities that, for the time being, San Franciscans can still enjoy during the current coronavirus shut down (though Mayor Breed emphasized the importance yesterday of avoiding any gatherings, and threatened to shut the city's parks if this ruling isn't followed).

One of the most dramatic (and steep) hikes in the city is right in the middle of San Francisco, helmed by a 100-foot towering cross that looms over the city and has its own fascinating history.

Alongside Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, Rincon Hill, Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro, Mount Davidson is one of the famed Seven Hills of San Francisco  those named at the time of the founding of the city.

Starting from the Miraloma Park neighborhood, if you trek halfway up the steep path on the eastern side of Mount Davidson you'll catch a glimpse between the trees of a concrete crucifix. Only when you get to the top can its magnitude be fully realized. The giant concrete cross is in its fifth iteration, with all previous wooden versions burned into the soil through protest and arson.

An Easter service is performed at the site most years, the first occurring in the '20s. The cross sits in a plot of land now owned by The Council of Armenian American Organizations of Northern California, who purchased it from the city in 1997. Since changing hands, a yearly commemoration of the Armenian Genocide also occurs at the cross on April 24, where a bronze plaque memorializes those horrific events during and after World War I.

ALSO: This absurdly beautiful Bay Area hike will help you take a break from coronavirus

The first 40-foot cross was erected at the crest of the park by the dean of Grace Cathedral in 1923, a second replaced it a year later and was promptly burned down by arsonists. The third version of the landmark was much larger, and similar to today's structure in size but also made of wood. It lasted three years before suffering the same ashy fate. Undeterred, stucco was used to build the next cross by the city in 1929, only to be burnt down in 1931.

The current structure, which is still standing after nearly 90 years, was built in 1934 and commemorated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt illuminating the cross via telegraph from the White House a week before Easter that year. For many years, CBS broadcast the annual Easter sunrise services.

A short walk west from the cross site leads to a clearing where an iconic eucalyptus tree fell in a windstorm in 2013. The tree itself had its own strange history: Planted after the Gold Rush by Leland Stanford, the California Governor, the non-native eucalyptus marked the boundary between the two owners of Mount Davidson (Adolph Sutro and Stanford). In recent years native plant advocates saw the tree as unwanted, with one protestor reportedly removing the bark from the base of the tree, so it would slowly die.

The view from the site of the doomed tree is astounding, reaching past Twin Peaks and over the eastern half of San Francisco and the bay beyond. At a height of 928 feet, hikers look across Downtown from the highest natural point in the city, almost on a level with the tip of the Salesforce Tower.

The cross's somewhat foreboding structure provides the backdrop to a scene in Don Siegel's 1971 grisly crime thriller "Dirty Harry." Clint Eastwood's Detective Harry Callahan and Scorpio (a character loosely based on the Zodiac Killer) shoot it out at the base of the cross.

So long as social distancing guidance is adhered to, this hidden San Francisco landmark and its majestic views can provide a peaceful escape right now.

Check out the slideshow above to see the cross and the view at San Francisco's crest.
Webmail.nbu.edu.sa 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 20 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the webmail.nbu homepage on Twitter + the total number of webmail.nbu followers (if webmail.nbu has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the webmail.nbu homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if webmail.nbu has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the webmail.nbu homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the webmail.nbu homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the webmail.nbu homepage on Delicious.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Outlook Web App DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS outlook web app, outlook web, web app, outlook, browser, computer, cookies



The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title 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 description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/7.5 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2

Operative System running on the server. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Character set and language of the site. The language of webmail.nbu.edu.sa as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for webmail.nbu.edu.sa 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 type of Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. 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.

Twitter account link

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WASHINGTON  Tempers flared Monday as Washington strained to respond to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, with Congress arguing over a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package and an impatient President Trump musing openly about letting the 15-day shutdown expire.

As the U.S. braces for an onslaught of sick Americans, and millions are forced indoors to avert a spike that risks overwhelming hospitals, the most ambitious federal intervention in modern times is testing whether Washington can swiftly halt the pandemic on the home front. By evening, it appeared there would be no further votes Monday, and talks would push into the night.

Its time to get with the program, time to pass historic relief, angry Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said as he opened the chamber after a nonstop weekend session that failed to produce a deal. This is a national emergency.

Fuming, McConnell warned Democrats  pointedly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco  to quit stalling on political games, as he described Democratic efforts to steer more of the aid toward public health and workers.

Trump, who has largely been hands off from the negotiations, weighed in late Monday from the White House briefing room, declaring that Congress should vote for the Senate bill as written, dismissing any Democratic proposal.

It must go quickly, Trump said. This is not the time for political agendas.

The president also sounded a note of frustration about the unprecedented modern-day effort to halt the viruss march by essentially shutting down public activities in ways that now threaten the U.S. economy.

Even though Trumps administration recommended Americans curtail activities starting a week ago, the president said: We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. At the end of the 15-day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go.

Lets go to work, he said. This country was not built to be shut down. This is not a county that was built for this.

Trump said that he may soon allow parts of the nations economy, in regions less badly hit by the virus, to begin reopening, contradicting the advice of medical and public health experts across the country, if not the globe, to hunker down even more firmly.

Pelosi assailed Trumps idea and fluctuating response to the crisis.

Hes a notion-monger, just tossing out things that have no relationship to a well coordinated, science-based, government-wide response to this, Pelosi said on a health-care conference call. Thank God for the governors who are taking the lead in their state. Thank God for some of the people in the administration who speak truth to power.

The White House team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin worked on Capitol Hill for a fourth straight day of talks as negotiators narrowed on a bipartisan accord.

In the nearly empty building, the virus continued to strike close. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who announced he tested positive for coronavirus, is now among five senators under self-quarantine. Several other lawmakers have cycled in and out of isolation. And the husband of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is in a hospital with pneumonia after testing positive, she said Monday.

With a wary population watching and waiting, Washington labored under the size and scope of a rescue package  larger than the 2008 bank bailout and 2009 recovery act combined.

Democrats are holding out as they argue the package is tilted toward corporations and should do more to help suddenly jobless workers and health care providers with dire needs.

In particular, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants constraints on the largely Republican-led effort to provide $500 billion for corporations. Democrats call that a slush fund.

Yet, he said, Were very close to reaching a deal. Even so, another attempt to move the package forward snagged, blocked as Democrats refused to quit negotiating.

Democrats won one concession  to provide four months of expanded unemployment benefits, rather than just three as proposed, according to an official granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. The jobless pay also would extend to self-employed and gig workers.

But Republicans complained Democrats were holding out for more labor protections for workers, wanting assurances that corporations taking federal aid will commit to retaining their employees.

Pelosi came out with the House Democrats own sweeping $2.5 trillion bill, which would provide $1,500 directly to the public and $200 billion to the states, as governors are pleading for aid. She urged Senate negotiators to move closer to the values in it.

Trump has balked at using his authority under the recently invoked Defense Protection Act to compel the private sector to manufacture needed medical supplies like masks and ventilators, even as he encourages them to spur production.

We are a country not based on nationalizing our business, said Trump, who has repeatedly railed against socialism overseas and among Democrats.

From his home, Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden criticized Trump for stopping short of using the full force of emergency federal authority .

Trump keeps saying hes a wartime president, Biden said in an online address. Well, start acting like one.

On the economic front, the Federal Reserve announced Monday it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments as well as extend its bond-buying programs as part of a series of sweeping steps to support the flow of credit through an economy ravaged by the viral outbreak.

Central to the emerging rescue package is as much as $350 billion for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home. The package also proposes a one-time rebate of about $1,200 per person, or $3,000 for a family of four, as well as extended unemployment benefits.

Hospitals would get about $110 billion for the expected influx of sick patients, said Mnuchin. But Democrats are pushing for more health-care dollars for the front-line hospitals and workers.

The urgency to act is mounting, as jobless claims skyrocket and financial markets are eager for signs that Washington can soften the blow of the health-care crisis and what experts say is a looming recession.

Lisa Mascaro, Andrew Taylor and Jill Colvin are Associated Press writers.
Three days after a 41-year-old woman with no foreign travel history tested positive for Sars-Cov-2, caused by the Covid-19 (coronavirus), two more similar cases were reported in the city on Tuesday.

A man aged 46 admitted at Sahyadri Pune and another 52-year-old who is critical and admitted at another private hospital, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. The duo has no foreign travel history and tested positive for Sars-Cov-2 infection. Currently, there are 19 positive patients in Pune and 12 in Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations.

The city reported three cases on Tuesday. One is a male aged 46 and admitted at Sahyadri hospital while another aged 52 male is admitted at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and is on ventilator and stated to be critical, said Dr Sanjeev Wavare, assistant chief health officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

He said, The 52-year-old Thane-based patient was admitted at the private hospital on Monday and on Tuesday his report turned to be positive. He is on ventilator now. He also has a medical history of diabetes and hypertension. There is no foreign travel history and so we are unaware of the source of transmission. We are tracing his contacts to get more information.

The patient admitted at Sahyadri Hospital is yet another case where the source of transmission is not clear. The 46-year-old man worked at a toll booth on Ahmednagar road. Dr Sunil Rao, group medical director of Sahyadri hospitals, confirmed that a Covid-19 positive case is admitted at the hospital. Rao said, The patient was initially admitted at a private hospital in Wagholi after he met with an accident. The doctors treating there observed that the patient complained about breathlessness and was not showing any improvement. The patient was brought to Sahyadri on Monday and, suspecting his condition, we sent his swab samples which turned out to be positive. We are treating the patient as per the guidelines of the central government and currently he is stable.

The third patient is admitted at Naidu Hospital and he had returned from London, the official said.

Meanwhile, Pimpri-Chinchwad which has earlier showed an exponential rise in number of cases has not reported any case since the past three days.

Out of the 19 in Pune city, 16 are admitted at Naidu while three are admitted at private hospitals and the trio are possible cases of community transmission as they have not recorded any case of foreign travel or reportedly come in direct contact with any positive patient.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday discussed the evolving situation in the region arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a telephonic conversation, the two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Both the leaders exchanged Navroz greetings, noting that the festival symbolises the shared heritage and cultural linkages between the two countries.

"The leaders discussed the evolving situation in the region, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation," the statement said.

On Monday, Modi thanked President Ghani for his contribution to the coronavirus emergency fund.

"Thank you Afghanistan, for contributing USD 1 million to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund in solidarity with our South Asian neighbourhood. Tashakkur President Ashraf Ghani," the prime minister had tweeted.

Besides Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal have contributed to the fund.

Addressing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders and representatives on March 15, Modi had proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MEDFORD, Ore.  Medford Police believe that there may be more victims of a man arrested last week on rape and sexual assault charges, the agency said on Tuesday.

Officers arrested 24-year-old Alejandro Alcala-Arroyo on Friday, accusing him in the rape and sexual assault of two juvenile girls.

"Each juvenile independently reported being brought to 'the woods' by Alcala-Arroyo where each were sexually assaulted," Medford Police said. "Each female believed the perpetrators name to be 'Alejandro Alcala.'"

Medford Police is still investigating the two cases, and says that it has reason to believe that there are more victims in the community.

MPD is requesting anyone with information regarding Alcala-Arroyo call Medford Police Department Detective Diane Sandler (541-774-2247) or Medford Police Department Cultural Outreach Coordinator Lilia Caballero (541-840-1295), reference case #20-4494.

Alcala-Arroyo remains in the Jackson County Jail on charges of Rape in the First Degree, three counts of Sex Abuse in the First Degree, Rape in the Second Degree, and Attempted Rape in the First Degree. His bail has been set at $250,000.

The agency included the following statement in Spanish:



El 30 de marzo, 2020 fue arrestado Alejandro Alcala-Arroyo (24 anos) por cargos de ataque sexual a dos jovencitas menores de edad. Los dos casos son independientemente separados uno del otro. Las jovenes reportaron que Alcala-Arroyo las llevo al bosque y las ataco sexualmente. Cada una de ellas cree que el que las ataco se llama Alejandro Alcala. El Departamento de Policia de Medford continua investigando estos crimenes y creemos que posiblemente existan mas victimas en la comunidad. Por lo tanto, la policia le pide al publico si alguien tiene informacion sobre Alejandro Alcala-Arroyo comunicarse con la detective Diane Sandler al 541-774-2247 o con Lilia Caballero al 541-840-1295, Coordinadora de Asuntos Culturales del Departamento de Policia de Medford.
China's President Feeling The Pressure From Dissent in Own Party

2020-03-23 -- President Xi Jinping is under growing political pressure from within the ranks of the ruling Chinese Communist Party over his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

An open letter circulating online since last week calls for an emergency, expanded meeting of the Politburo to discuss "Xi's issues" and to decide if he should step down from his leadership of party, government and military.

The letter says Xi's handling of the coronavirus epidemic should be discussed, but also the trade war with the U.S. and his fueling of mistrust of China in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The letter was shared to WeChat by Chen Ping, founder of Hong Kong-based broadcaster SunTV, according to Deutsche Welle and Radio Taiwan International.

Chen wrote in a WeChat post: "I saw it in a WeChat group, and I felt that it was moderate and rational, so I reposted it."

"But I don't know who wrote it," he said. "A lot of other people reposted this anonymous letter online."

Former Tsinghua University politics lecturer Wu Qiang said the letter comes soon after the disappearance and presumed detention of social media star and property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang.

Ren is currently incommunicado, believed detained, after an article critical of the government's response to the emergence of the coronavirus in Wuhan appeared online.

Health authorities in China are reporting no new infections in the central city of Wuhan where the COVID-19 epidemic first emerged, but local residents have said they fear there could be a resurgence of new cases amid an ongoing official cover-up.

Princelings diverging?

Wu said there is also growing discontent over Xi's rule among the second-generation "princeling" faction in the ruling party which includes some prominent offspring of veteran Communist Party heroes and revolutionary leaders.

"More and more princelings are diverging further and further away from Xi Jinping," Wu said. "The divergence is caused by the disappearance of Ren Zhiqiang."

"Naturally, Ren's disappearance has to do with the earlier ... open letter," he said. "It is indicative of a growing sense of disappointment among the princeling faction that is getting harder and harder to hide."

"It goes along with a sense of fellow feeling [over Ren's disappearance], which is now developing into open criticism," Wu said.

The article attributed to Ren was titled "The lives of the people are ruined by the virus and a seriously sick system."

While it didn't mention President Xi, it took aim at decisions made under his direct command, including the decision to go ahead with a mass Lunar New Year banquet for thousands of people in Wuhan, that resulted in a huge cluster of COVID-19 cases in the weeks that followed.

"The emperor is holding up a piece of cloth, trying to cover up the fact that he is wearing no clothes at all, although his ambition to be a strong leader is naked enough," the article quipped.

A Hong Kong-based academic surnamed Li said he wasn't optimistic that the open letter would spark any change at the top.

"For one thing, it's being circulated anonymously, and on the other, nobody within the current power structure has come out to endorse it," Li said.

Propaganda offensive

Instead, Beijing has gone on the offensive with a wave of propaganda about its handling of the coronavirus epidemic.

"The Chinese Communist Party has unleashed a wave of propaganda boasting about the advantages of the [Chinese political] system," he said. "Further brainwashing of population should ease some of the pressure they are under from public opinion."

China's leaders have been known to hold expanded meetings of the Politburo at times of national crisis, when retired politicians have been allowed to attend.

Such meetings have been held at key moments in Communist Party history, including one in December 1966 that paved the way for the 10 years of political turmoil and violence known as the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

In 1980, late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping presided over another expanded Politburo meeting, heralding more than three decades of economic reform.

A similar meeting paved the way for the ouster of late premier Zhao Ziyang in the wake of the 1989 student-led mass movement on Tiananmen Square.

The open letter posted by Chen Ping calls for a similarly expanded Politburo meeting in the spirit of the 1980 meeting.

The anonymous letter is the latest in a string of high-profile criticisms of Xi.

China's state security police are currently investigating detained dissident Xu Zhiyong for subversion after he called in an open letter for Xi to resign.

Xu is currently being held incommunicado in "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), where he can be held without contact with family or a lawyer for up to six months.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. 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 March 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.

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White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday projected that the total economic stimulus to be enacted by the federal government will reach $6 trillion.

Of the total, $4 trillion will come in the form of liquidity from the Federal Reserve, while the remaining $2 trillion will be part of proposed phase-three legislation from Congress. If the total assistance does reach $6 trillion, that would equal about 30 percent of U.S. GDP.

The phase-three legislation will be the single largest Main Street assistance program in the history of the United States, Kudlow said at a press conference Tuesday evening.

Were heading for a rough period, but its only going to be weeks, we think. Weeks [or] months, but its not going to be years, thats for sure, Kudlow added.

Lawmakers have not agreed on a final stimulus package as of Tuesday evening, despite optimism earlier in the day from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that a deal was within reach. Senate Democrats twice voted to deny cloture to debate the stimulus on the Senate floor, moves that received harsh criticism from Republicans.

Anticipation of a deal on the stimulus drove a stock market surge on Tuesday that saw the largest one-day gain for the Dow since 1933. Meanwhile, President Trump said he hoped the U.S. would be able to relax coronavirus containment measures by Easter (April 12).

Were opening up this incredible country. Because we have to do that. Id love to have it open by Easter, Trump said during a virtual Fox News town hall event.

Later on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that while it might be possible to relax containment in some areas of the country, those decisions would be made according to data at the time.

You can look at a date [to ease restrictions] but youve really got to be flexible, Fauci told reporters.

More from National Review
Beauty salons, nail salons, tattoo parlors, massage parlors and similar businesses in the beauty service industry should stop operating, Douglas Countys health director reiterated Tuesday.

On Friday, Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour, in a directed health order, said venues that cannot perform their function without a 6-foot distance between individuals should cease operations.

The order states, If a minimum social distance of six feet between attendees cannot be maintained in the venue or a subdivision thereof, the gathering is prohibited.

Given the nature of the beauty industry, Pour said in a press release Tuesday, It is not possible for most needed services to be performed, and because of that these operations should cease.

The Friday order also prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people in Douglas County.

Health Department spokesman Phil Rooney said people in the beauty industry had asked for clarification of the order.

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Only five states conduct their elections primarily through mail-in balloting. An additional one-third require voters to have a reason, such as illness or travel, meaning laws would need to be changed to allow wider use. The rest allow voting by mail for those who ask for it, but even in many of those states, rules requiring ballots to be requested in person or enforcing strict signature-matching regimens serve as barriers to participation.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Fr. Pauly Padayatty was later released on bail. Police arrested other people who participated in rallies and processions in temples and mosques. Card. Gracias celebrates online and makes new arrangements for funerals and confessions.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A Catholic priest was arrested yesterday by the Kerala police for celebrating mass, despite the strict provisions issued by the authorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in India. Later Fr. Pauly Padayatty, from the diocese of Irinjalakkuda, publicly apologized and was released on bail.

The state of Kerala has ordered the closure of the places of worship but has not prohibited religious services, which can only be celebrated in the presence of the sacristan. For its part, the Episcopal Council of Kerala has issued a circular asking parishes to avoid large gatherings for mass. The rites are allowed, provided that the safety distance is respected and less than 50 people participate. In particular, the bishops ask children and the elderly not to leave the house and watch the mass online.

Padayatty, 58, is the parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Koodapuzha. A priest from his diocese said that a family asked him to celebrate the funeral of a relative. The priest asked to respect the allowed limit of participants, but then in the end more than 100 people showed up. Therefore, the police arrested him for the high concentration of faithful and reported 50 other people.

In India, the number of reported coronavirus cases is 492 and with nine deaths. In other areas of Kerala the police have blocked religious gatherings in temples and mosques: in Kannur police filed a complaint against a temple and five mosques; in Malayinkeezhu they arrested 28 people who participated in a procession in a Hindu temple. However, on social media, images of crowded meetings abound, especially of Hindu politicians.

Card. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI), suspended all masses, meetings with the clergy, priestly ordinations as well as the Chrism mass. He is celebrating mass online every morning at 7.30am. Yesterday the cardinal released a video message to the priests of his territory, inviting them to take "wise and prudent behavior for our people".

He asks priests not to expose themselves to the risk of contagion and stay home for the next two weeks, which will be the most crucial in terms of spreading the virus. He asks to minimize the staff of the parishes, and at the same time not to reduce the wages. Then he sets directives for funerals and confessions: for the first, he blocks the masses in memory of the deceased and invites to celebrate funeral rituals at the cemetery and with very few people, with prior notice from the authorities. For the latter, he warns that there are no conditions; however, general absolutions can be conceived for coronavirus patients and remote catechesis on the need for repentance for the remission of sins.
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As lawmakers hurry to finalize a legislative package responding to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is urging them to ensure a greater number of cities are eligible for federal resources. Under the legislation introduced in the House, only cities with populations of 500,000 or more are eligible for direct assistance. This high and arbitrary number would leave the vast majority of cities and residents unable to access this needed funding.

In response, Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the USCM, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. It reads in part:

"We were very pleased to see that the 3rd supplemental package put forward in the House of Representatives would appropriate $200 billion for 'Temporary Fiscal Relief for States and Cities.' This funding is desperately needed as cities work to save lives and shore up the local economies that drive our nation. However, we are greatly concerned that under this proposal, the cutoff for local governments to receive direct assistance is set at a population of 500,000 or more. The Conference has steadfastly advocated that Congress use the CDBG allocation structure which directly provides funds to every city over 50,000 in population. We urge that this structure be used for the new stabilization program. At a time when every city is working on the front lines to address the COVID-19 crisis, our organization strongly recommends that the House bill be adjusted to use the CDBG allocation structure."

This letter follows one from more than 300 mayors from across the country calling on Congress to make $250 billion available for cities to help fight the pandemic and protect local communities from the economic fallout.

About the United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors

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Manipur on Tuesday recorded the state and the northeast regions first Covid-19 case after a woman student who returned from London last week tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

Test conducted on the throat and nasal swabs of the student at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) at Imphal in Manipur showed that she was positive for Sars-Cov-2 infection.

The first coronavirus case has been confirmed in Manipur. The patient is a 23-year-old lady who was studying in the UK and returned to Imphal on an Air Asia flight on March 21, Manipur health minister L Jayantakumar Singh said while speaking to HT.

The patient showed signs of illness on March 22, a day after she arrived in Manipur. Her samples were collected on Monday and the results announced early on Tuesday morning.

The minister said that the patients younger brother, who is studying in the US and had returned to the state last week, is also suffering from fever and has other symptoms of Covid-19. His test results are awaited.

Both of them are kept at isolation wards in JNIMS. Till now the condition of the girl is fine but she has symptoms like sneezing and fever. Otherwise, she is fine and healthy and nothing to be worried about, Singh said.

He said passengers who were on the same flight as the patient have been contacted, listed out and questioned about their travel history.

Everything that is needed to be done as per procedure has been done by the state government. Till now we have tested 22 cases including the confirmed patient and her brother and only one result has come positive, added Singh.

There are 471 Covid-19 patients across India and the respiratory illness has killed nine people so far, the Centre has said.

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Parliament passed 12 bills during the curtailed budget session with Lok Sabha passing 15 bills and Rajya Sabha 13. During the session, 19 bills were introduced in the two Houses (18 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha).

The two Houses were adjourned sine die on Monday after completion of the budgetary process including passage of the Finance Bill. The second part of the session was curtailed in view of the threat of the spread of coronavirus. The budget session began on January 31 and the first part of the session ended on February 11 while the second part of the session commenced on ...
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The European Union (EU) donated 13 armoured vehicles to Niger on Tuesday to "build the capacity" of Nigerien contingents engaged in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel
A high-ranking New Jersey judge has been censured over his behavior in court that included comments to a woman that she should send nude pictures of herself to Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

State Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas has agreed to step down from his position as Middlesex County's assignment judge, the top position in the office, the state Supreme Court said Monday. He will continue to serve on the bench in civil cases.

In a filing last month, a state advisory committee on judicial conduct recommended Rivas be censured. The panel found Rivas demonstrated a lack of self-control during a January 2019 dispute involving the girlfriend of a married man and the man's wife. The girlfriend was seeking to have the wife return explicit photos of herself that she feared would be shared on social media.

Rivas called the man despicable and a knucklehead and told all three he was just dying to whack one of you," according to the panel.

Rivas also told the girlfriend that the only person she should be sending the pictures to was Hefner, who would pay you $100,000 for the use of them.

Rivas has apologized and has indicated he is seeking counseling. In an answer to the panel's initial report last year, he said he felt the woman was trying to undermine the court system by making a false claim, but admitted his language and demeanor were inappropriate.

Rivas will be replaced as assignment judge by state Superior Court Judge Michael Toto, who has served in Middlesex County for 14 years and has been the presiding judge in the criminal division since 2017.
Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Sunnova, the Houston-based residential seller of solar-power systems, called on Congress to include the solar industry in plans to help the energy industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company criticized the Senate's proposed spending package that would provide billions of dollars in loans for the oil and gas industry but ignores the solar energy industry, which has become one of the fastest growing sources of power in the United States. Solar accounted for 40 percent of new electric generation capacity last year, according to industry trade group Solar Energy Industries Association.
National Police in Marbella have arrested a man considered by the authorities to be one of Spain's largest heroin distributors. Three others, who had allegedly travelled to the Costa del Sol to organise a shipment, were also arrested during the operation. Twenty-seven kilos of the drug, ready for sale, were seized.

Drugs squad officers had been on the trail of this individual for some time. A Turkish national, he had established a significant distribution network based in Malaga. From there he distributed heroin to different parts of Spain with Seville, Madrid and Galicia his main markets.

After several days of surveillance, police tracked a van rented in Galicia to Marbella where it was spotted involved in a pick-up. After driving through the town, it stopped at a shopping centre car park where its occupants tried to conceal the contents of the bags just picked up inside the van. It was at this point that the men were arrested and the drugs, ready for market, were seized.

A few days later, police arrested the Turkish national who had supplied the drugs. A search of his home in Marbella uncovered more than 45,000 euros in cash and other items.
An infertile killer claims she was framed over the brutal murder of an intellectually-impaired mother, whose children she wanted to call her own.

Christine Lyons is serving a maximum 30-year jail term over the murder of 39-year-old Samantha Kelly in regional Victoria in 2016.

Lyons was found to be the key architect of the plot, also involving her then-partner Peter Arthur and former lover, Ronald Lyons.

Christine Lyons is serving a maximum 30-year jail term over the murder of 39-year-old Samantha Kelly in regional Victoria in 2016

Ms Lyons' husband Peter Arthur killed Samantha Kelly (pictured) - who was living in a bungalow out the back of their house - by bashing her head in with a hammer

Both Christine and Ronald Lyons, who are unrelated, want Victoria's Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions.

They say Arthur lied about their involvement in the murder to secure a lesser sentence for himself.

Christine Lyons was convicted off Arthur's evidence but he made 'dramatic' changes to his story, the woman's barrister Christopher Carr told appeal judges on Tuesday.

Arthur blamed his shifting story on flashbacks and denied this was a bid to soften his own punishment, the barrister added.

(It was a) bare-faced lie designed by him to bolster his credibility,' Mr Carr said.

Arthur pleaded guilty to murder. He was initially jailed for 16 years but this was later increased to 22 years on appeal.

Ronald Lyons was jailed for 12 years for attempted murder and assisting an offender, and ordered to serve nine years before being eligible for release on parole

Christine Lyons was jailed in 2018 for at least 23 years for attempted murder and murder.

Ronald Lyons was jailed for 12 years for attempted murder and assisting an offender, and ordered to serve nine years before being eligible for release on parole.

The trio had been living together at Bendigo, with Ms Kelly residing in a bungalow at the back of the property.

Christine Lyons desperately wanted children but had undergone a hysterectomy.

A Supreme Court jury found she sought to send Ms Kelly on a 'permanent holiday' and take custody of her children, aged between 11 months and six years.

Christine and Ronald Lyons fed the woman a cocktail of sedatives, beta-blockers, anti-nausea tablets, analgesics and antihistamines.

Ms Kelly survived and Christine Lyons directed Arthur try a different method.

Arthur then bludgeoned Ms Kelly to death with a hammer and Ronald Lyons helped dispose of the body.

The trio told police Ms Kelly had left and no longer wanted to look after her children.

Prosecutors asked the court to uphold Christine and Ronald Lyons' convictions.

The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision.
Khamenei's Lies About the Wuhan Virus Put Lives at Risk

Press Statement

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

March 23, 2020



Supreme Leader Khamenei's fabrications regarding the Wuhan Virus are dangerous and they put Iranians and people around the world at greater risk. Facts matter. Here are a few the Iranian regime would like to keep from the world:

Fact: In February, Iran's chief terror airline, Mahan Air, ran at least 55 flights between Tehran and China, further infecting the Iranian people. At least five foreign countries' first cases of coronavirus were directly imported from Iran, putting millions more lives at risk.

Fact: The Iranian regime ignored repeated warnings from its own health officials, and denied its first death from the coronavirus for at least nine days. The regime continues to lie to the Iranian people and the world about the number of cases and deaths, which are unfortunately far higher than the regime admits.

Fact: As Iranian regime officials ask for more funds, it is important to note that since 2012, Iran has spent over $16 billion on terror abroad, and used sanctions relief from the JCPOA to fill up its proxies' coffers. Regime officials stole over a billion Euros intended for medical supplies, and continue to hoard desperately needed masks, gloves, and other medical equipment for sale on the black market.

Fact: U.S. sanctions do not target imports of food, medicine and medical equipment, or other humanitarian goods. Iranian documents show their health companies have been able to import testing kits without obstacle from U.S. sanctions since January.

Fact: The United States has offered over $100 million in medical assistance to foreign countries, including to the Iranian people, and our scientists are working tirelessly to develop a vaccine. Khamenei rejected this offer because he works tirelessly to concoct conspiracy theories and prioritizes ideology over the Iranian people.

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Today

A mix of clouds and sun. Not as harsh by the afternoon.

Tonight

Partly cloudy.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy and not as cold. There might be a passing rain or snow shower, mainly north or west.
ELKO  A man with a lengthy criminal history including car theft was booked into Elko County Jail Monday on robbery charges in a February carjacking at the hospital parking lot.

David A. Thompson, 36, of Reno was arrested in Mountain Home, Idaho, on a felony warrant for robbery enhanced with a deadly weapon, robbery, coercion with force or threat of force, assault with a deadly weapon, and grand larceny of an auto.

Elko Police Department officers were called to Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital on the morning of Feb. 27 after a woman reported her car had been stolen at knifepoint.

The woman said she was parking her Toyota Camry in the hospitals back parking lot and when she got out a man approached her and told her to give him her keys or he would stab her.

She told police she threw her keys at the man and ran into the hospital. When officers arrived she provided a description of the man and her vehicle to police.

Police interviewed a witness who said she honked her horn when she saw what was happening.

A hospital security guard told police Thompson had been treated in the emergency room and was released earlier that morning.

Police said the victim was able to identify Thompson from a photo lineup.

He and the stolen car were located later that day in Mountain Home, where he was arrested.

Thompsons bail was listed at $110,000.

According to Elko Daily Free Press files, Thompson was also arrested for car theft in Wells in December 2012. A man called to report he was following his car that had been stolen. By the time troopers arrived on the scene on U.S. Highway 93 just north of Wells, the man had stopped Thompson, gotten him out of his car and had him lying on the ground, according to an NHP sergeant. Thompson reportedly admitted to stealing two other vehicles in Wells earlier in the day.

Thompson was an Elko resident at the time and had been arrested on drug trafficking charges the prior month.

He was arrested again in April 2013 in Elko on three warrants and for destroying evidence, possession of a controlled substance, and obstructing a police officer. At that time he listed his residence as Carlin.

Then, in January 2017, Thompson was spotted at an Elko casino. He reportedly fled as police attempted to apprehend him on outstanding warrants. Police found him nearby, and also found 15 grams of heroin and a small quantity of methamphetamine.

At that time, Thompson listed his residence as Salt Lake City. Police discovered that his ID card contained his photo but someone elses name. They also confiscated stolen credit cards from Thompson.

He pleaded guilty in October 2017 to trafficking in a Schedule I controlled substance and was sentenced to five years in prison, with eligibility for parole after two years.

This weeks felony arrests:

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Ethiopianinspiration.com scored 41 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

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By Dong Sun-hwa







Actor Song Joong-ki has stopped filming his crime thriller "Bogota" in the capital city of Colombia due to the coronavirus pandemic.







Song and some crew members returned to Korea on Tuesday morning. Other actors including Lee Hee-joon and staff came back on Sunday.







The South American country closed its land and sea borders on March 16 to stem the virus and has only allowed restricted air travel. As of Monday, it had 210 confirmed cases of virus and one death.







All cast and crew are reportedly showing no signs of illness. But they are still expected to put themselves into self-quarantine, as the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recommends overseas travelers isolate themselves for two weeks after returning to Korea.







It is unknown when the filming will resume in Bogota. Since the movie is the story of Korean men who immigrate to Colombia, it practically has no scenes to film in Korea.







Song debuted in the movie "A Frozen Flower" (2008) and has appeared in numerous hit TV series including "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" (2010). He married actress Song Hye-kyo in 2017 after co-starring in the drama "Descendants of the Sun" (2016), but the pair divorced last year.


Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

Death squads in Colombia are taking advantage of coronavirus lockdowns to murder rural activists, local NGOs have warned.

Related: 'Staggering number' of human rights activists killed in Colombia, UN reports

When cities across the country introduced local quarantine measures last week, three social leaders were killed, and as the country prepares to impose a national lockdown on Wednesday, activists have warned that more murders will follow.

Marco Rivadeneira, a high-profile activist, was murdered in the southern Putumayo province, Angel Ovidio Quintero was shot dead in the western Antioquia region, and Ivo Humberto Bracamonte was killed on the eastern border with Venezuela.

Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for activists and community leaders, who often fall foul of armed groups fighting for territory.

Since a historic peace deal was implemented in early 2017 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a leftist rebel group, 271 activists have been killed. Now, with the government focused on the pandemic, activists say they are even more at risk.

Ive been getting more death threats since everyone started talking about coronavirus, said Carlos Paez, a land rights activist in a cattle-ranching region near the northern border with Panama. One message said that they know who I am  and that now is the time to take me out.

Some of the armed groups are dissident Farc fighters who refused to hand in their guns; others belong to smaller rebel armies and rightwing paramilitary militias.

Whatever their purported ideology, all make their money in drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion rackets, and all view social social leaders as an obstacle to those lucrative economies.

And as the government focuses its resources on stemming the coronavirus outbreak  which has now claimed three lives in Colombia amid 277 confirmed cases  normal security protocols have been thrown into disarray.

Story continues

They are playing with our lives because they know that our bodyguards, the police and the justice system are going to be even less effective they usually are, said Paez. Its horrible. Im scared for my life.

Colombias war with Farc and other armed groups has claimed at least 260,000 lives and forced 7 million people from their homes. Now, with much of the country confined indoors ahead of a 19-day nationwide quarantine that begins on Wednesday, non-state actors are operating more brazenly.

Activists fear that a nationwide quarantine  to be imposed on Wednesday  has put them in a deadly bind. Moving around puts them at risk of infection, but staying in one place makes them sitting targets.

We are being killed, like always, said Hector Marino Carabali, a rights activist in Cauca, who usually travels in an armoured car with a security detail provided by the government. The government has taken drastic measures to fight the virus, but done nothing to protect us now or to tell us about how we can do our work. Curfews and lockdowns always affect the most vulnerable.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights last week reported that armed groups were continuing to commit brutal human rights abuses in Choco, the province where Paez leads a community. Three people were beheaded, with one executed in front of their village, and a pregnant woman was murdered.

Related: Colombians hear grim echo of decades-long war in mayoral contender's murder

A coalition of local NGOs and over 100 rural communities called for a ceasefire among armed groups during the outbreak. The emergency situation deserves our focus as a country and as a society to take on this challenge, the communique read.

Many leaders and watchdogs have accused president Ivan Duque of not doing enough to quell the bloodshed. They are not optimistic that will change as the virus spreads.

Unfortunately, all critical issues in Colombia are being surpassed by the coronavirus health crisis, said Gimena Sanchez, Andes director at the Washington Office on Latin America, a thinktank. Coronavirus gives the Duque government more elements to excuse themselves from properly protecting social leaders and investigating cases of killings.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed concern over the introduction of new measures against spreading panic and "fake news" regarding the coronavirus outbreak in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, and the head of the Vienna-based organization's mission to Bosnia, Kathleen Kavalec, said in a joint statement on March 23 that imposing censorship and limitations to freedom of expression was not the best response to concerns about the spread of "fake news" about the virus.

The warning comes after the government of Bosnia's predominantly Serb-populated entity, Republika Srpska, on March 19 introduced fines and other punitive measures for spreading "fake news" in the media and on social networks, causing panic.

The measures are due to last for the duration of the state of emergency declared over the pandemic, which has infected at least 153 people in Bosnia and killed two.

Authorities in Bosnia's northern district of Brcko have also introduced a prohibition related to reporting "fake news," while the interior minister of the Bosniak-Croat Federation, Aljosa Campara, called for similar measures, according to media reports.

"I fully understand the aim of tackling the dissemination of false information which creates panic and disorder during this health crisis," Desir said in the joint statement.

But Desir added that "the concerned legislation should not impede the free work of journalists or their ability to report on the pandemic and to provide information necessary to the public."

"The press is an indispensable ally in the provision of important information to citizens and in the fight against 'fake news,'" the OSCE representative said.

Kavalec called on the Bosnian authorities to "communicate frequently with its citizens so that reliable information is provided to them about the measures taken, the rights and obligations of persons and businesses, and how to behave during these challenging times."

"Censorship and limiting freedom of expression are not helpful and can undermine trust in institutions," she added.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service
The talks involved supplies of medical equipment and medications.

Chief of the Presidents Office, Andriy Yermak, discussed with the ambassadors of the Group of Seven and the European Union issues of assistance to Ukraine in the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

The press service of the head of state says the meeting focused on the latest developments around the globe regarding the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the epidemiological situation in Ukraine.

"The interlocutors praised the efforts of the President and the Government of Ukraine in the context of measures taken to counter the spread of coronavirus in our country. In this regard, a number of issues of practical assistance to Ukraine from the Group of Seven and the EU on the provision of relevant medical equipment and medicines were discussed," the statement says.

Read alsoPM Shmyhal doesn't support national emergency over coronavirus

The chief of the President's Office noted that the head of state holds telephone conversations with world leaders almost daily, discussing mutual support amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"The participants in the meeting agreed on the need to consolidate efforts of the international community to overcome the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for the global economy," the report said.

It is also noted that the head of the Presidential Office briefed interlocutors on the security situation in Donbas and the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group, held in Minsk on March 11.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  Many Palestinians are living in a state of anxiety, fearing that their relatives detained in Israeli prisons could become infected with the coronavirus in the absence of the necessary health care and preventive measures.

On March 20, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) imposed a precautionary quarantine on a group of prisoners in Megiddo Prison, said Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Prisoners Affairs Commission. He told Al-Monitor the prisoners had been in contact with an investigator who had tested positive.

Palestinian concerns have increased due to conflicting news from prisons. On March 19, the Palestinian Prisoners Club and the Hamas-run Prisoners Information Center announced that four prisoners in Megiddo Prison had been infected with the virus, based on what prisoners had reported. However, the IPS denied such claims, saying the four prisoners had been isolated as a precaution but had not shown any symptoms.

On March 24, prisoners at several Israeli prisons have sent their breakfast back and closed some sections of the prisons in refusal of IPS policies, which they claim take advantage of the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 and rob them of their rights, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club. These policies include removing more than 140 items from the prisons canteens, such as cleaning materials and many detergents such as soap and shampoo, which Abu Bakr noted can help prevent the spread of the virus.

The prisoners protest steps began on the morning of March 20, when some also sent their breakfasts back to protest the IPS policies.

The protest steps will continue in the coming days and may reach a hunger strike, he added, pointing out that the IPS started sterilizing some prison sections after the prisoners sent their breakfasts back.

Although there have been no casualties among the prisoners yet, the possibility of the virus infecting them remains high, since they are exposed to military investigators, doctors and Israeli prisoners who may have been in contact with an infected person in Israel, where more than 1,656 cases had been recorded as of March 24. In addition, the virus could spread quickly given inadequate health care and preventive measures in prisons, as well as direct contact due to overcrowding.

Since the virus surfaced Feb. 20 in Israel, Palestinians have increased their demands for prisoners to be released, especially the sick and elderly. On March 19, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to release the prisoners and said he would hold it fully responsible for their safety. Just days before, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also had issued an appeal.

Shtayyeh said in a post on his official Facebook page that the government will address the International Committee of the Red Cross and call on it to work on releasing prisoners and ensuring the safety of those in the occupations prisons, and making sure that the IPS respects public safety measures to protect our prisoners, especially in terms of limiting prison overcrowding.

The preoccupation with the virus in the Palestinian territories and Israel has been evident in the calm that has prevailed in recent weeks. But that could easily change should a prisoner get infected. Threats have surfaced, as Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said March 19 it would also hold Israel fully responsible for the lives and safety of prisoners.

The leadership of the resistance is in permanent session to assess the situation and consult on appropriate measures regarding this dangerous development that affects the health of our prisoners, al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida said on his Telegram account.

There are more than 6,000 male and female inmates in Israeli prisons; some are elderly. According to the Prisoners Affairs Commission, there are more than 700 male and female sick prisoners, 170 of whom are in critical condition, including 25 patients with cancer and 17 prisoners who almost permanently stay in the Ramla Prison hospital. Meanwhile, dozens suffer from movement disabilities, paralysis, hepatitis C, kidney failure, heart diseases and other illnesses, making them more vulnerable to the virus.

With 60 total COVID-19 cases recorded in the West Bank as of March 24, rumors are inflaming concerns among Palestinians.

On March 9, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior in Ramallah announced the start of a campaign to combat misinformation about the coronavirus, which is causing panic among citizens; as a result, security forces have arrested and prosecuted a number of people for supposedly spreading rumors.

Palestinian police spokesman Louay Erzikat told Al-Monitor, The police Cyber Crime Unit and the General Investigation Department have been assigned to follow up on rumors on social media, pointing out that the police had arrested 25 citizens, and other security agencies such as the Palestinian Preventive Security and the intelligence services had arrested dozens.

He said the arrests are carried out according to legal principles; after a 24-hour hold by police or security services, citizens are referred to the public prosecutor's office that asks the court to detain them for several days so their cases can be investigated before their trials begin.

He explained that Palestinian laws punish those who publish fake news to one month to one year in prison, with a fine of 50 Jordanian dinars to 200 dinars ($70 to $282).

Erzikat added that high-ranking officials in the government and the PA have given instructions to vigorously pursue the sources of rumors, given the panic and concerns they have caused among citizens.

In conjunction with the efforts of the Interior Ministry, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate announced March 9 it is cooperating with the Palestinian Observatory for Verification and Media Professionalism (Kashif) in monitoring fake news and exposing those who spread rumors that mislead the public.
Nearly 40 health centers in Massachusetts will share in $2,579,075 earmarked by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Massachusetts recipients may use the funds to address screening and testing needs, acquire medical supplies and boost their telehealth capacity.

Six of the 38 recipients are located in Western Massachusetts: Caring Health Center of Springfield, $64,651; city of Springfield, $53,362; Holyoke Health Center, $64,873; Community Health Center of Franklin County, $55,541; Community Health Programs of Great Barrington, $68,043; and Hilltown Community Health of Worthington, $56,708.

Two Worcester-based providers, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center and Family Health Center, received a total of $155,589.

Funds come from the $8.3 billion in emergency funding allotted in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, which was approved by Congress earlier this month.

The new grants were releasing today are a rapid injection of resources secured by President Trump from Congress in the supplemental funding bill, building on the strong investments HHS has made in health centers over the years, said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

For a full list of recipients, visit bphc.hrsa.gov/emergency-response/coronavirus-covid19-FY2020-awards
The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has recommended the mass testing of people for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the surest way to pick out possible cases early.

To be able to do that effectively, the institute, which is at the forefront of testing for the COVID-19, called for a lockdown on human movement as a proactive solution to the escalation of the community spread of the COVID-19.

Consequently, it called for a total shutdown of the biggest public bus system in the country, trotro, as a critical measure because that system was a major conduit for accelerating the community spread, as it was difficult to

even reduce numbers on board the buses for social (physical) distancing.

Exclusive interview

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview, the Director of the NMIMR, Professor Abraham Annan, said such measures were necessary to avoid contact between those who had been exposed and those who were naive to the virus, so that they could be separated through mass testing to achieve the appropriate outcomes.

Lockdown

When asked if Ghana had reached the stage for a human lockdown to stop a community spread, he said: In a way, if we are very proactive, then it is yes. But we seem to be a bit more careful and watchful, other than that it is the way to go now.

When it comes to the unfolding situations, we may have to increase testing, so that we can understand the situation among the public to inform national decisions on who to quarantine and so forth, Prof. Annan noted.

He added that sometimes there could even be some sections of the population that had not been exposed to the virus which could be locked down to protect them, saying sections which were dangerously exposed, with high level of infections, could also be locked down to protect those not exposed.

And, then, in such a situation, one can use testing to pick positives as early as possible, so that they are quarantined. It is important that we do that, he said.

Mass testing capacity

Prof. Annan said the country could also expand its capacity to meet the demands of mass testing, taking into consideration the type of testing methods adopted.

He said the two leading institutions with the capacity to test for the COVID-19, the NMIMR and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research into Tropical Medicine (KCCR), were using top-level testing, which was actually confirmatory tests, without screening.

He said since confirmatory testing cost about $10 dollars or more per test, it would be advisable to adopt the rapid testing kit system, which would cost up to $6.

So what we need to do is very cleverly and strategically adopt some of the rapid testing for mass screening, he said.

NMIMRs capacity

Prof. Annan explained that the NMIMR alone had the capacity to conduct 1,000 confirmatory tests a day and, therefore, with the KCCR's capacity, which is currently unknown, on board, Ghana should be able to do mass testing within an appreciably short period.

We can also expand the testing capacity, but can only do that on purpose, with the governments involvement, because we would need to buy some more reagents and testing kits, which requires a lot of money, he said.

He said so far the government had been very forthcoming and positive in its posture to end further importation and community spread of the COVID-19 and was ready to release money for necessary actions.

National situation

As of yesterday, the country had tested 315 cases, out of which 27 had been confirmed as positive for the COVID-19, with two passing on.

Four of the cases were acquired locally, while the 20 were imported cases.

Seventeen of the people infected are Ghanaians, while the remaining seven are from Norway, Lebanon, China, France and the UK.

A total of 575 contacts had been traced as of yesterday, and only one had developed symptoms and tested positive for the disease.

All the remaining 23 are responding to treatment in isolation centres, with eight of them being attended to in their homes.

---graphic.com.gh
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Nearly a week after the Ohio Health Director banned non-essential surgeries and medical procedures during the coronavirus crisis, it remains unclear whether abortion procedures are permissible.

The issue has become a political hot potato as Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Attorney General David Yost seem to have conflicting views on whose role it is to settle the issue.

When Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton was asked Monday about abortions at the states daily coronavirus news conference, DeWine interjected and said the issue was being addressed by lawyers and Yosts office.

Earlier, Yosts office said whether clinics are in violation of Actons order will be decided by the health department and, if so, the attorney general would then take legal action.

Surgeon General: Delay elective medical, dental procedures to help us fight coronavirus

Coronavirus canceled her chemotherapy: Should cancer patients still go to appointments?

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine addresses members of the media during a press conference updating the public on COVID-19 on March 12, 2020 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

Last week, Yosts office sent letters to three abortion clinics and a Cincinnati urologists office that said the state had received complaints about the clinics; reiterated Actons order; and warned that it would take appropriate measures if the clinics failed to comply.

Dr. Actons order outlined what nonessential surgeries were. Complaints were forwarded (from the department of health) but our office has not received any violations, said Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for Yost.

When asked about abortions on Monday, DeWine said Actons state order laid out criteria for non-essential surgeries. DeWine said the four criteria are fact based.

Those requirements are:

Threat to the patients life if surgery or procedure is not performed;

Threat of permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system;

Risk of metastasis or progression of staging; or

Risk of rapidly worsening to severe symptoms (time sensitive).

The order does not list specific procedures or surgeries. The order does state that the hospital and outpatient surgery or procedure provider should establish guidelines to ensure the principles outlined (in the order) are followed.

Story continues

At Actons request, Yost last week sent letters to abortion clinics in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, ordering them to follow Actons directive. The health director asked Yost to intervene after receiving complaints that the clinics remained open, but the attorney generals office has yet to receive any orders from the state health department to take legal action against the clinics.

This is now an enforcement issue, health department spokeswoman Melanie Amato said.

According to Yosts office, the health department will investigate to determine if the clinics are performing non-essential surgeries or procedures. If they are, Acton can ask the attorney general to take legal action against them.

Amato, the health department spokeswoman, said in a statement, the Ohio Department of Health has been made aware of allegations that some health care providers appear to have violated the order on performing non-elective procedures. When ODH is made aware of allegations that medical facilities are not being complied with ODHs order, ODH is asking the Ohio Attorney Generals Office to issue cease and desist orders. These orders have started going out.

Planned Parenthood officials: 'Abortion is an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure'

One of the clinics, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, which operates the Cincinnati clinic, said it would remain open to provide essential services, including surgical abortions, in compliance with Actons order.

Abortion is an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure as medical experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology have recognized,  said a joint statement from Iris E. Harvey and Kersha Deibel, respectively presidents and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region.

It is unclear whether Acton will consider all abortions non-essential or just some procedures, and whether she will investigate the complaints on a case-by-case basis or collectively. In her order, effective last Wednesday, Acton said the ban was necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and preserve personal protective equipment for medical personnel treating those who become ill.

McCorkle, Yosts spokeswoman, said whether the attorney general takes any legal action depends on the outcome of the health departments investigations.

This is not an abortion issue. A letter was also sent to a urology group that was allegedly performing elective surgeries, McCorkle said in an email. As our client, if Dr. Actons office determines that her order was violated by any surgical facility in Ohio, they can refer it to our office to pursue legal action on behalf of the Ohio Department of Health.

Follow reporter Catherine Candisky on Twitter: @ccandisky

Should kids go on playdates? Are playgrounds safe? Here's what pediatricians are saying

NASA astronauts rely on five 'Expeditionary Behaviors' to handle isolation: Here's their advice amid coronavirus outbreak.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Is an abortion an elective, non-essential procedure? Unclear in Ohio
Three Dubai-returned travellers



were apprehended for allegedly fleeing quarantine facilities in the western suburbs here on Tuesday, police said.

The trio was nabbed from Wadala in south-central Mumbai, after the police received information that the travellers had fled their mandatory 14-day quarantine, an official said.

The travellers, who are residents of Jharkhand, had returned from Dubai last week and after the initial screening at Mumbai airport, they were stamped and taken to quarantine facilities in Sakinaka, Andheri and Goregaon, he said.

However, the trio left the facilities without informing the authorities and went to live with their friend in Wadala, he added.

Some alert residents spotted the three men and informed the police, following which they were taken to an isolation facility in Powai, the official said.

A case has been registered against the trio under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for disobeying prohibitory orders of the Mumbai police and state government, he added.

In a similar incident, a couple was booked for defying orders of home quarantine in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, an official said.

The couple from Sanpada, who had returned from Dubai, was stamped at the airport and advised to remain under home quarantine, he said.

However, the duo was spotted roaming outside their home, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB said it has shuttered thousands of stores across the globe and may drastically reduce its staff, as the company struggles to adapt to the new world order created by the spread of the coronavirus.

H&M said its response to the crisis is likely to affect tens of thousands of employees in all parts of the business across the globe, in a statement on Monday.

The company has already temporarily closed all stores in several of its biggest markets including Germany and the U.S. Over the weekend, it announced it was shutting all its stores in the U.K. The development has forced the board to withdraw planned dividend payments. With the latest steps, H&M said that 3,441 of its 5,062 stores worldwide are now closed. The crisis is expected to have a significant negative impact on sales so far in March, it said. H&M is reviewing all parts of its operations in an attempt to curb costs, including talks on temporary layoffs in a number of markets, with those measures likely to be extended. The retailer said it may also need to permanently fire employees if the situation doesnt improve.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 23, 2020 / Mawson Resources Limited ("Mawson" or the "Company") (TSX:MAW)(Frankfurt:MXR)(OTCPINK:MWSNF) is pleased to announce that further to its news release of January 29, 2020, the Company has executed multifaceted agreements with Nagambie Resources Limited (NAG) ("Nagambie"), which holds tenements in the central Victorian goldfields of Australia. Closing, including issuance of all shares and payments, will take place in the near term.Key points:Mawson has subscribed for 50.0 million ordinary shares or a 10% shareholding in Nagambie, which will provide Mawson with a right of first refusal to take up or match proposals being considered over a competitive 3,600 square kilometre tenement package;Mawson will acquire 100% of the Clonbinane project, for consideration of A$500,000 cash and the issuance of 1.0 million shares of Mawson. Clonbinane is a shallow orogenic (or epizonal) Fosterville-style deposit located 56 kilometres north of Melbourne. Clonbinane is developed over 11 kilometres and has been historically drill tested over 800 metre of strike, down to a maximum depth of 80 metres. Selected drill results with a 0.5 g/t gold lower cut include 17 metres at 7.0 g/t gold from 66 metres (VCRC022);Mawson will have the right to earn up to a 70% joint venture interest in each of Nagambie's Redcastle and Doctor's Gully gold properties located in Victoria, Australia by expending A$1M over a 5-year period into each project. Redcastle and Doctor's Gully are both shallow orogenic (or epizonal) Fosterville-style historic high-grade mineral fields.Mr. Hudson, Chairman and CEO, states: "Our Finnish drilling continues to produce impressive results and provides a solid base for the Company, while the new Australian acquisition offers an incredible optionality to three new Fosterville-style gold projects and the right of first refusal over 3,600 square kilometres. This is the largest continuous land package in one of the most exciting global gold provinces. Mawson is now well placed to continue to grow its strategic and diversified gold portfolio in two safe, Tier 1 jurisdictions." Strategic 10% equity investment into NagambieMawson has entered into a subscription agreement with Nagambie dated March 24, 2020 (AEDT-time zone), under which Mawson has subscribed for 50.0 million ordinary shares of Nagambie (the "Nagambie Shares"), which represent a 10.0% shareholding in Nagambie. As a result, Mawson has become a new insider of Nagambie, pursuant to Australian Stock Exchange policies. As consideration for the acquisition of the Nagambie Shares, Nagambie has received 8.5 million common shares of Mawson (the "Mawson Private Placement Shares"), which represent approximately 4.7% of the total issued Mawson Shares (after including the 1.0 million Mawson Acquisition Shares from the Clonbinane Acquisition, as defined below). The Mawson Private Placement Shares are subject to a statutory four month hold period and voluntary trading restrictions to be released from such restriction in four equal tranches (being 2,125,000 Mawson Private Placement Shares per tranche).Mawson has also secured a right of first refusal to take up or match proposals being considered over a competitive 3,600 square kilometre tenement package held by Nagambie (Figure 1). This package includes the Nagambie Gold Mine and provides Mawson with a pipeline of potential new projects. In addition, Mawson has a pre-emptive right on future issuances of Nagambie Shares to avoid dilution.Acquisition of 100% of Nagambie's Clonbinane TenementsMawson has entered into an acquisition agreement dated March 24, 2020 with Nagambie pursuant to which Mawson has acquired 100% of the shares in Clonbinane Goldfield Pty Ltd (the "Clonbinane Acquisition"), a 100% subsidiary of Nagambie and the holder of 62 square kilometres of mineral tenements at Clonbinane, for consideration to Nagambie of A$500,000 cash and the issuance of 1.0 million shares of Mawson (the "Mawson Acquisition Shares"). Mawson will also pay Nagambie A$28,000 to replace environmental bonds. The Mawson Private Placement Shares are subject to a statutory four month hold period and to voluntary trading restrictions to be released from such restriction in four equal tranches (being 2,125,000 Mawson Private Placement Shares per tranche).Clonbinane is a shallow orogenic (or epizonal) Fosterville-style deposit located 56 kilometres north of Melbourne. Small scale mining has been undertaken in the project area since the 1880s with total production being reported as 41,000oz gold at a grade of 33 g/t gold. Gold mineralization is hosted within, or proximal to, dykes with mineralization continuing along structures that extend into the sedimentary country rock. The diorite dyke and historic working trend continues for 11 kilometres and remains undrilled (Figure 2).Two small drill campaigns have tested the Clonbinane mineralized system to 40-100 metres vertical depth over an 800 metre strike. In 1986, Ausminde Pty Ltd and Ausminde Holdings Pty Ltd (collectively "Ausminde") were granted mineral tenure at Clonbinane. Ausminde's completed soil and rock chip sampling and undertook RC drilling in 1993 (29 RC drill holes). Beadell Resources Limited subsequently drilled at Clonbinane in 2008 (30 RC holes with 7 diamond drill tails). Drilling results from both these programs greater than 5g/t gold are shown in Table 1. None of the drill data has been independently verified at this time. Compilation of available data and 3D geologic modeling are in progress. The true thickness of the mineralized intervals is not known at this stage. Selected drill results with a 0.5g/t gold lower cut from these two drill programs at Clonbinane included:17 metres at 7.0 g/t gold and 0.8% antimony from 66 metres (VCRC022),38 metres at 2.8 g/t from 15 metres (VCRC011),27 metres at 3.7 g/t gold and 0.46% antimony from 3 metres (CRC013),2 metres at 42.5 g/t gold and 1.0% antimony from 70 metres (VCRC022),10 metres at 7.0 g/t gold from 42 metres (VCRC011), and5 metres at 11.2 g/t gold and 0.78% antimony from 67 metres (VCRC007).Clonbinane is open at depth and along strike and is considered a high value exploration project with affinity to the Fosterville Mine (Figures 3-5). Mawson will compile all historic mining and exploration data into a 3D model, and look to apply large scale, deeper seeking geophysical methods to identify large mineral systems below 40-100 metres depth.Option and Joint
A Limerick meals on wheels service, which was operating on a shoestring due to financial pressures from Covid-19, is to close on April 5 unless it receives further emergency funding.

The organisers of the service, St Munchins Community Centre, in Kileely, serves 200 meals a day to elderly and vulnerable clients across Limerick and parts of Clare but was planning for to deliver 1,000 meals a day due to increased demand.

A spokesperson for the community centre today tweeted: We'll have to shut our doors from the 5th April 2020 as we financially arent able to keep going.

As news broke this morning that we'll have to shut our doors from the 5th April 2020 as we financially arent able to keep going.

We are a social enterprise, we depend on our enterprises in the centre as income to keep our doors open, but we've had to close those the enterprises.  St. Munchin's Community Centre - Kileely, Limerick (@StMunchinsCC) March 24, 2020

We are a social enterprise, we depend on our enterprises in the centre as income to keep our doors open, but we've had to close those the enterprises, they further explained.

Last week manager of the community centre Linda Ledger said she had reduce her staff from 26 to 10, after closing the centres hair salon, beauticians, florist, and rent a room service.

Ledger said she also closed the community centres cafe as it was too difficult to control social distancing protocols.

A spokesperson for the centre today tweeted: We've had to let more staff go that weren't the core staff of Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels will be stopped on the 5th April unless we get the funding to keep going because right now we dont have enough funding.

Please know this decision was not taken lightly.

A GoFundMe account set up to keep the service running had received over 5,000 of its 8,000 target.

The spokesperson thanked all those who had donated the emergency funds which will keep us open for the next 2 weeks.

Thank u to our staff for being patient with us. Thank u to the businesses who've donated & Thank u to our manager Linda Ledger for pushing through all the battles to keep us open for as long as possible.

The community centre cafe is a meeting point for hundreds of local elderly people who are now cocooned in their homes, missing their grandchildren, and in need of support more than ever, Ledger said.

We have been inundated with a lot of new people, a lot of nurses, and a people that have come out of hospital. We are trying to feed them, she added.

A friendly phonecall service which aims to prevent those locked in at home, becoming miserable and depressed and isolated has been extended.

Some get a friendly call every morning to tel them whats on for their dinner. They might have Alzheimers, or theyre just lonesome, so they get a phone call everyday, said Ledger.

The local elderly population are really struggling; they need toilet rolls, soap, milk, bread.

Ledger and her skeletal crew have employed a novel way of supplying a fresh supply of milk, by freezing it in ice pockets.

Eighty-five-year-old Marie Fitzgerald, who uses the meals on wheels service said she and others would be lost if it closes.

Marie Fitzgerald. Pic: Press 22

Fitzgerald, from Keane Street, Killalee, said: Im not joking you, you wouldn't get a meal like it in a hotel, for four euros fifty cent. I get it everyday, except Sunday.

The staff are brilliant, they are so courteous.

Delivery staff also provide human interaction with elderly clients who might not see anyone from one end of the week to another, added Fitzgerald.

Closing the service would be desperate for very old person that relies on it.

Well be lost without it.

People go to the centre to have their dinner, and to sit down and chat with others.

Fitzgerald, who has 11 grandchildren, also explained how the meals on wheels service was more important now than ever as grandparents were effectively cut off from family members observing social distancing and self-isolation.

She is keeping herself occupied with knitting, sewing, and reading, doing puzzles and word searches.

Ledger and her skeletal staff are still getting ready for a worst case scenario of clients being locked-in for months, or, if this does escalate and there is a complete lock-down.

The government are asking anybody over 70 to have no interaction, even with their grandkids, and its very hard. Most don't have smart phones so they cant FaceTime anyway. They are feeling loneliness and isolation.

We cant ask the elderly to cocoon for months on end, and then abandon them. The government need to come in behind services like ours, she said.

Donations to the meals on wheels service can be delivered to the centre or made online.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
As the area goes into lockdown, it is clear that it has not come a moment too soon, with a local retirement village as well as medical centre, pharmacy and college all having close calls with people who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Last week, Evelyn Page retirement village in Orewa had a guest staying with one of its residents who tested positive for the virus.

Ryman Healthcare spokesperson David King says the man was a close family member of one of the villages independent residents and stayed with her. The guest and his wife had come to New Zealand from the UK and had been in NZ since early February, well before any restrictions were introduced for people flying in.

While at the village, he did not visit the care centre and had minimal contact with the other village residents.

The village resident is in isolation, out of the village, while the guest with Covid-19, and his spouse, left the village on March 21 and is recovering in isolation.

That same day, village manager Jill Clark sent an update to residents assuring them that the Ministry of Health had confirmed that the risk of transmission is very low.

Public Health has advised us that other residents and staff are not considered close or casual contacts meaning the chance of them becoming ill with Covid-19 is minimal, the letter said.

Meanwhile, Silverdale Medical Centre closed on Saturday, March 21 to do a deep medical clean of the facility after having a confirmed Covid-19 case enter the clinic.

In a letter to its patients and staff outlining the incident, the centre said that the patient was masked and the Medical Officer of Health feels there is no significant concern of in-clinic transmission.

The clinic re-opened on March 22.

The incident highlighted the importance of the procedures put in place to prevent the virus from spreading, including phone triage with a physician for those considered at risk, and in-car assessments. Anyone who suspects they could have Covid-19 should phone ahead and not enter a medical centre or pharmacy.

The nearest community Coronavirus Testing Facility is at Shore Care, Smales Farm on the North Shore.

Manly Unichem pharmacy also reports that people who were supposed to be in isolation or who had had a consult in their car with the doctor still came into the pharmacy, putting pharmacy staff and patients at risk. This resulted in changes to the way the pharmacy operates (see story Services change as community digs in for isolation long haul)

College has close call

The first local case, made public by Hibiscus Matters on March 18, was when a Whangaparaoa College staff member was put in self-isolation after their partner tested positive for Covid-19.

College principal James Thomas says that the person with Covid-19 is making good progress towards recovery. The staff member whose partner has the virus continues to self-isolate and is well, with none of the symptoms of coronavirus.

As a result, the Auckland Regional Public Health Service has assured us that there is no risk of community transmission in this case, Mr Thomas says. We will continue to meet and exceed the directives of the Ministries of Health and Education.
After years of Russia, Russia, Russia and a few months of Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine we now have another bunch of foreigners interfering in our presidential election. The difference is the Opposition Media welcomes this interference because of the damage it may do to President Trumps re-election.

While Russian interference was invisible and the results negligible, Chinese interference - while also invisible - has very tangible results.

The natural, catchy term for this interference would be the Chinese flu. Its not entirely precise, but it hits the bullseye on the origin of the disease. Unfortunately, the Speech Police has managed to persuade itself that the most populous nation on earth is inhabited solely by minorities.

That makes any reference to China that contains even the slightest intimation of disease automatically racist. So were stuck with coronavirus for the duration of the epidemic.

The geographic origin of the disease is immaterial to the left. As far as theyre concerned the coronavirus is a godsend. Dead Americans and an economy on life support are a small price to pay for the left and its media stenographers, if it beats Trump in November.

U.S. deaths and economic upheaval arent the fault of some bat-eating folks in China. The fault belongs to Trump, as far as the OpMedia is concerned. The playbook will be the same one used in the aftermath of Puerto Ricos Hurricane Maria.

Trump was blamed for power outages, supply snafus, destroyed homes, damp tortillas and deaths that occurred weeks after the hurricane.

Three years later, it turns out hurricane aid failures werent Trumps fault after all. Puerto Rican relief officials are indicted for corruption and its discovered other incompetent Puerto Ricans managed to misplace warehouses full of relief supplies. But the damage to Trumps reputation is already done.

Which was the goal all along.

Currently the focus of the lefts wrath is on the lack of coronavirus test kits. Until Trump acted, any disease testing kit had to receive approval from the FDA before it could be used in the field. That meant there were only federal testing kits when the coronavirus hit, because no one else wanted to jump through FDA hoops on the off chance there might be a disease to test in the future.

The U.S. was dependent on a sole-source provider, the CDC, who manufactured a faulty test. It was another in a long line of government healthcare failures. Trump pointed out this fact and ordered an expedited approval process.

In gratitude the OpMedia has accused Trump of lying and personally blamed him for the shortage of test kits.

A story in the rabidly anti-Trump Daily Mail makes my point. Leftist stenographer Emily Goodin writes, Donald Trump doubles down on discredited claim OBAMA is to blame for lack of coronavirus testing kits. Note the all-caps OBAMA. That means criticizing The One is heresy and totally out of bounds for decent people.

Emily mentions the test controversy twice the first time a claim that has been debunked and the second time, an accusation that has been shown not to be true.

She doesnt even bother to inform readers who was doing the debunking. Not so much as a single, lying anonymous source. Were just supposed to take Emilys word for it.

There is a problem with that. In the same March 6th issue theres another story that proves Trump was right all along.

This concerns a North Carolina company that has produced a coronavirus test that is already being used in China, helping officials there to diagnose more patients, faster. The test is also being used in South Korea, Japan and Italy.

So if it works, why isnt the test available here? But the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the test under the emergency measure it announced Saturday.

Proving there was an Obama-era rule change that Trump had to alter. Even the CDC was hamstrung by the Obama micromanagement. Rather than devise a new test, the CDC opted to fix the faulty test. That would be faster, because even when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention itself developed a test, it had to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration before distributing it.

Its not Trumps fault we cant test for coronavirus like we should and dont have nearly enough tests. The delay and consequent response missteps are due solely to the dead hand of Obama functionaries micromanagement and control-freakism.

Thats not an explanation youll get from the left, which is busy burying the truth beside coronavirus victims. If the OpMedia has its way, youll learn what really happened regarding the coronavirus test kit shortage, sometime during Gropey Joe Bidens first term.

Michael Shannon is a commentator and public relations consultant and the author of A Conservative Christians Guidebook for Living in Secular Times. He can be reached at mandate.mmpr@gmail.com. Distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
[March 24, 2020] Tech-driven Accounting & Financial Consulting Services to Help Brands During Crisis

Boston Financial Advisory Group offers technologically advanced solutions for Annual Audits

Company has dedicated back-office for Tax return preparation

Company's services can be used from the most remote locations sitting at home BENGALURU, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In times of a crisis at an international level, not only does it become important for a company/brand to look after its employees' wellbeing but also manage its resources and finances well. Certain crisis can set off a financial contagion in a world economy with very different vulnerabilities. Take for example the recent crisis that took place due to COVID-19 pandemic. It is too early to confidently predict the course of the economic downturn facing us, a recession is certain. Compared to the financial crisis that took place in the US in 2008, this one has resulted in shutting down the world's major economies and shutdown may continue for a longer time. As per the AICPA Economic Outlook Survey, CPAs (Certified Public Accountant) in the US are concerned about an expected global fallout from the recent outbreak. Their outlook on the U.S. economy had risen in months prior to the pandemic. However, their responses in the final week of the survey, after a decline in the stock market due to the recent crisis were much more pessimistic. 21% of CPA business executives reported a slight impact. Those affected (collectively 28%) said they had seen some combination of supply chain interruptions, factory shutdowns in China or other affected regions, and decreased sales to China or other markets CPAs. With the recent lockdown in US and other countries, along with chances of an expected recession, it is going to be a tough and tesing time for CPAs. Since audit firms require human intervention and CPAs visit clients' offices to work on the client's financial audits, they might not be able perform at their best during this lockdown. Similarly, compilation & review, Tax return preparation are time-bound, though the dates have been extended, meeting the deadlines is going to be difficult. However, some companies may not be affected, particularly if they are adopting a mix of telecommunication, technology & the Internet. Communications between the client's staff and the CPA firms can be done via video conferences or over emails/apps/cloud.



Companies like Boston Financial Advisory Group have been implementing technology-oriented solutions in unison with financial accounting, consulting, and advisory services enabling BFAG to take over their client's financial processes and engineer them to ensure accuracy and minimum human intervention. With constant 247 secure online access and 1000+ years of experience, BFAG has tools to easily ensure data updation, obtain real-time management information with minimal effort and manual intervention. Sameer Paddalwar, the CEO, Boston Financial Advisory Group says, "The aspect which makes us standout is our preparedness in handling situations like this. Implementing efficient technologies in our mainstream processes has allowed us to create an amalgamation of reliable staff and state-of-the-art technology. This amalgamation provides us with the resources, required for us to handle your routine financial activities in an effective manner with minimum human intervention which is all the more necessary in these times of social distancing."

He further adds, "Most of our clients have experienced savings in terms of staff costs, infra costs, not to mention the time and effort involved in hiring and retaining experienced staff." Procedure followed by BFAG: Tax Return Preparation - Upload client documents through out of box application Compliance-in-Box (CiB) for secured file transfer protocol and Tax preparation workflow. Connect with a team of experienced tax professionals and CPAs and, get the tax return prepared. One can verify and file from anywhere, even from the comforts of their home .

Upload client documents through out of box application Compliance-in-Box (CiB) for secured file transfer protocol and Tax preparation workflow. Connect with a team of experienced tax professionals and CPAs and, get the tax return prepared. One can verify and file from anywhere, even from the comforts of their home Compilation & Review - Strong team of CPA's, experienced Accountants will do the compilation & review to aid in tax return preparation. The E-Audit functionality in Compliance iNbox has features such as preparer and reviewer, log management, file management, completion of activity that helps CPA's, their Staff and Client Management to be on same page.

Strong team of CPA's, experienced Accountants will do the compilation & review to aid in tax return preparation. The E-Audit functionality in Compliance iNbox has features such as preparer and reviewer, log management, file management, completion of activity that helps CPA's, their Staff and Client Management to be on same page. Accounting / Bookkeeping - BFAG's experienced team of Staff Accountants will do accounting based on information provided. About BFAG: Incorporated on 16th November 2009, Boston Financial Advisory Group Private Limited specializes in the niche of financial accounting, consulting, and advisory services. With a mix of technology and experienced staff, it has been the trusted financial accounting, consulting partner for companies across the globe. The company comprises of highly accomplished CAs, CPA's, corporate counsellors, and legal professionals who are well-trained and highly accomplished to understand the client's financial needs and facilitate people with grade-level accounting, reporting, compliance, tax preparation and financial advisory services. Website: https://bostonfagroup.com/ Manjula Nairr

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+91-9158755455

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FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland

By Nichola Groom

(Reuters) - Oil and gas lease sales offered by the Trump administration in three Western states on Tuesday drew few bids as a crash in energy prices tamped down interest among drillers.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received bids on just 40% of the 193,584 acres (78,300 hectares) offered for leasing via online auctions in Wyoming, Nevada and Montana, bringing in total high bids of about $3.3 million, according to results on online marketplace EnergyNet.

Wyoming, which held the largest sale of 105 parcels covering 118,292 acres (47,871 hectares), accounted for 99% of the bid total. Wyoming is the top U.S. state for gas production on federal lands and the second-biggest for oil production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Yet even there, bidding was sparse. Parcels covering just 72,000 acres received bids,and 40% of that acreage sold for the minimum price of $2 an acre. The average price of $46 an acre was less than half the average price which exceeded $100 per acre in a federal lease sales held in Wyoming last year.

In Nevada, BLM received bids on less than 2% of the 70,110 acres (28,372 hectares) offered, in a sale that brought in less than $2,500 total. In Montana, eight parcels covering 5,180 acres (2,100 hectares) received an average price per acre of about $5.

Drilling on federal lands is a crucial part of President Donald Trump's "energy dominance" agenda to maximize domestic production of fossil fuels.

But the industry is in crisis as countries including the United States take unprecedented steps to contain the coronavirus pandemic that has curbed demand for products such as gasoline and jet fuel.

U.S. oil prices have dropped roughly half since the middle of February to about $24 a barrel.

Taxpayer advocacy groups had urged the Trump administration to delay the sales to ensure better return to federal coffers.

"In this environment, it is impossible for the American taxpayer to expect anywhere near a fair return on oil and gas leases," Taxpayers for Common Sense and Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship said in a joint statement last week.

Story continues

In a statement, BLM spokesman Derrick Henry said the agency was not postponing lease sales.

"Using an all-of-the-above approach to energy development, we are helping to meet our nation's growing energy needs by facilitating development and letting free market forces work," he said. "Oil and gas lease sales and royalties continue to propel America's economy and support good-paying energy sector jobs," he added.

BLM will offer another 20 parcels on 18,960 acres (7,670 hectares) in Colorado on Thursday.

Last week, the United States held an auction for oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico that generated the lowest total of high bids for any domestic offshore auction since 2016. Earlier this month, BLM held a lease sale in Utah that received mostly minimum bids of $2 an acre.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney, Sandra Maler and David Gregorio)
Rejection: Plans for the hotel off Dublins Capel Street have been turned down

Plans for a new hotel in the Markets area of Dublin's north inner city by one of Northern Ireland's leading hotel groups have been rejected.

An Bord Pleanala has reversed a decision of Dublin City Council to grant planning permission for the development of a 62-bedroom hotel on a 0.2 hectare site that includes the former Boland's bakery and biscuit factory off Capel Street. Cathedral Leisure, which is part of Beannchor, had originally sought to develop a 96-bedroom hotel on the site.

In the face of considerable third-party objections as well as concerns from council planners, Cathedral Leisure reduced the size of the scheme to a 62-bedroom hotel, while reducing the proposed height from 28 to 15 metres.

The company, which is led by businessman Bill Wolsey, had planned to make Dublin the second location for a Bullitt Hotel after it launched the brand in Belfast in 2016.

In its ruling, An Bord Pleanala acknowledged that Cathedral had revised and improved the layout of the proposed ground floor and mezzanine floor of the hotel in the former bakery building, which reduced the amount of fabric which would be removed from the protected structure.

However, it said the overall revised proposal was of "poor design" and did not constitute "an adequate response to the context and opportunity of this urban site". The board said it had rejected the recommendation of its own planning inspector to approve the project for that reason. The council's decision to grant planning permission had been appealed by a number of parties including Creekvale, which is seeking to develop a 278-bedroom hotel in a nearby location on the site of the existing Begley's Fruit Market on Arran Street East.

Creekvale, whose own plans have been the subject of a formal objection to Dublin City Council by Cathedral Leisure, claimed its rival's scheme would have a detrimental impact on the proposed development.

The company claimed the proximity of the Cathedral Leisure hotel would unreasonably restrict the redevelopment potential of the Begley's site, as well as creating a fire safety issue if both projects went ahead.

A large number of local residents as well as owners and tenants of adjoining premises on Capel Street, Little Mary Street, Meetinghouse Lane and Arran Street East also made submissions.

Dublin City Council had claimed that Cathedral Leisure's proposed four-star hotel would represent significant investment in a key under-utilised site that would help to realise the local authority's objective of protecting the vitality of the city centre.

Council planners said the project would have regenerated historic buildings, reutilised a dilapidated area and opened up a backland site with "high-end and innovative new visitor accommodation and publicly accessible spaces". The proposal has also received the backing of Failte Ireland.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 24, 2020 | 12:45 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY

Two men have been arrested in connection to a burglary earlier this year in Marshall County.

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says 28-year-old Kenneth Fornof and 39-year-old William Patrick Sells, both of Paducah, were arrested and charged with the February 24th burglary at Lake Life Powersports and Marine in Benton. Detectives said both men were also linked to burglaries in McCracken County and Lyon County.

Fornof and Sells face burglary, theft by unlawful taking, and criminal mischief charges in Marshall County, and burglary and theft by unlawful taking charges in McCracken County. Fornoff also faces trafficking in a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charges in Graves County.

Charges are pending for both subjects in Lyon County.
Chennai, March 24 : With the number of coronavirus infected persons touching 15, Tamil Nadu on Tuesday evening entered into the lockdown mode till March 31.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed across the state and borders have been closed for inter-state traffic in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Even before the clampdown, life in the state started slowing down with roads having limited traffic, largely absent public transport and many shops downing their shutters.

There were crowds in grocery and vegetable shops despite the government assurances that transport of vegetables and essential items will be allowed as usual.

In the state Assembly, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami announced free supplies of ration, cash assistance of Rs 1,000 and several other measures involving an outlay of Rs 3,280 crore for the benefit of the poor to tide over their livelihood problems owing to the lockdown.

The welfare measures include cash assistance of Rs 1,000 for all those families with ration cards eligible to get free supply of rice, oil, sugar, lentils in April. Ration card holders who missed buying in March can buy their quota in April; free supply of 15 kg rice, 1 kg each of cooking oil and lentils for construction and unorganised sector workers from other states identified by the District Collector or welfare boards of the concerned unorganised sector, continued supply of subsidised food at Amma Canteens, setting up of kitchens for supply of food for destitutes across the state, registered pavement vendors will be paid an additional Rs 1,000 as cash assistance in addition to the Rs 1,000 paid through public distribution system and two days special wages for those who had worked under the MNREGA.

Lauding the tireless services of doctors, nurses and others in attending to the patients suffering from coronavirus, Palaniswami also announced one month special pay for them.

Earlier Palaniswami had announced a series of measures in the Assembly to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state. He said barring the transport of essential items, public and private transport including auto-rickshaws, taxis would not be allowed to operate.

He said barring essential government departments -- police, fire service, public health, prisons, district administration, healthcare, judiciary, local administration -- others will remain closed.

He said in the case of the private sector, employees should be asked to work from home barring medical staff and hospitals.

In respect of manufacturing units, those producing essential items and export units can work with limited number of staff and in the case of realty sector, construction activities are to be stopped barring essential buildings.

Eateries can sell only packed food while Amma Canteens - the government owned subsidised canteens - will function as usual, Palaniswmai said.

Palaniswami said a sum of Rs.60 crore was earlier allocated for preventing the spread of coronavirus in the state and now an additional sum of Rs.500 crore has been sanctioned for the purpose.
The New York-based company that brews Corona beer has spent the last couple of months dismissing widespread, unfounded claims on social media that the coronavirus has something to do with the alcoholic beverage.

On Monday, Constellation Brands was trying to measure its next steps after Mexican voters overwhelmingly voted against the company's billion dollar brewery that was scheduled to open in 2021.

The Mexican government said it will not move forward in granting the operating permits for the $1.5billion plant, which is two-thirds built, after it was soundly rejected in a weekend referendum.

'The federal government is going to get in touch with the company to seek out options for making up the damages,' said Diana Alvarez, the assistant interior secretary.

New York-based Constellation Brands, which brews Corona beer, might not be able to celebrate its 2021 opening of a partially-built $1.5 billion plant after residents in Mexicali voted against it in weekend referendum. Opponents claim the plant would have taken 20 billion liters of water out of an already over-exploited aquifer

Government officials said 76 per cent voted against the plant in the Mexicali area, with 23 per cent in favor, after a total of almost 36,781 votes were cast this past weekend

Local business groups business groups criticized the referendum, claiming less than 5 per cent of eligible voters in the Mexicali area turned out due to concerns of the coronavirus outbreak

The government said 76 per cent voted against the plant in the Mexicali area, with 23 per cent in favor, after a total of almost 36,781 votes were cast.

A coalition of groups that oppose the plant cheered the result, calling it 'a historic precedent in the defense of the right to water.' They claimed the plant would have taken 20 billion liters of water out of an already over-exploited aquifer.

The company, which is based in Victor, a city located three hours away from Toronto, had said the plant would be very water-efficient and would use only a tiny fraction of the water that is used every year in the area for agriculture.

Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported Constellation Brands would consider moving the its project to another country if it could not overcome the latest hurdles in Mexico.

Constellation Brands, which also owns Negra Modelo and Pacifico beers, saw its stock prices drop by 8 per cent

Business leaders in Mexico are worried that the referendum that shut down a New York brewery company's $1.5 billion plant will drive away other foreign investors after 76 per cent of the residents in the Mexicali area voted against the project

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made a point of trying to promote development in Mexico's impoverished but water-abundant south, but that is far from the United States, Corona's biggest export market.

Lopez Obrador, who opposed the Mexicali site, was looking forward to working with the brewery company in locating another site.

But business groups slammed the referendum, saying very few people voted: less than 5% of eligible voters in the Mexicali area turned out, possibly because of concerns over coronavirus.

Business chambers said the decision will hurt investor confidence in Mexico.

'A handful of people can't decide investments of billions of dollars,' the Mexican Employers Federation said in a statement. 'The results of the referendum are bad for the beer company and damaging to the country's economy, but they will be even worse for the residents of Mexicali, who will see the jobs and development they had evaporate.'

Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported the Victor,N.Y.-based company would consider moving its latest Mexico project to another country

Alvarez said 'of course we care a lot about investment, we are not against foreign investment, and we certainly not are going to oppose job creation, but we have to take people's opinion into account and take care of our natural resources.'

'We are going to seek out ways to make it easier for them (Constellation), if they want to, to put the plant somewhere else, in regions where there is water, ' Alvarez said.

Constellation Brands, which also owns Negra Modelo and Pacifico beers, saw its stock prices drop by 8 per cent.
The authorities in China have announced an end to travel curbs in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the provincial capital, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. This, as governments around the world continue to tighten lockdowns affecting 1.7 billion people in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

Hubei province, in central China, where the Covid-19 coronavirus emerged late last year, will allow healthy residents to leave the province from midnight, officials said, two months after they were ordered to stay indoors.

"We are celebrating today," a local doctor told the French news agency, AFP.

"Every day, we saw the number of seriously ill patients decreasing, the situation improving, people being discharged from the hospital. The doctors and nurses are becoming more and more relaxed as the days go by. I am very happy!"

Hubei will lift outbound travel restrictions on Wednesday in all areas except the provincial capital Wuhan, local authorities, quoted by Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

According to the daily briefing of Chinas National Health Commission, 78 cases of confirmed infections were reported on 23 March in the whole of China, one of them in Wuhan. Seven deaths were also reported, all in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.

Wuhan will delay the lifting of outbound travel restrictions until 8 April, two weeks after the rest of the province.

Exodus

Meanwhile, an exodus of medical personnel has started as the total number of cases declines.

On 23 March, Xinhua reports that a total of 669 members of medical assistance teams from Chongqing Municipality returned home after finishing their task in fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in Xiaogan, a district of Hubei Province.

Last week, Wuhan authorities closed two temporary hospitals that had been built in a matter of days in early February, creating 2,000 beds for the then-exploding numbers of new cases.

In a video that has been watched over 14 million times, health workers, filmed leaving a white building, are seen taking off their face masks.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world is now in lockdown, with some 1,7 billion people affected. France, the UK and the Netherlands have announced stricter implementation of lockdown regulations, while authorities in the US, Africa and Latin America are struggling to cope with increasing numbers of cases.
An international law and governance analyst, Kwame Mfodwo is warning that Ghana risks extreme starvation should it lock down completely as a result of the rise in the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the country.

Mr. Mfodwo is strongly convinced that it will be disastrous for the government to heed to calls for a shutdown and fail to institute well-thought-through mechanisms that will offer respite to its average income earning citizens in the long term.

He said although a possible lockdown is bound to happen given the nature of the pandemic, Ghana is ill-prepared for such a moment in the short term because of its current economic situation.

Speaking to Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Citi TV last night [Wednesday], Kwame Mfodwo said, only a contextualized, well-guided lockdown that hinges on robust systems will save Ghanas situation from getting worse.

[A lockdown] is inevitable. The key issue is that we have to allow a lockdown that is defined and matches our context. I will say that, yes, well actually go in for a lockdown. But as we sit here now, we cant go into lockdown now in our current state because we cant maintain it for more than three days or a week because people dont have food and they will starve. But lets be frank, we need a long term to say one month, six weeks, three months of a lockdown but we cant actually do that immediately. But we can do a short term thing which we will then roll and improve on else it will not be sustainable.

For example, people live in compound houses and share facilities, what does lockdown mean to them? A single problem facing us is that, people survive on a daily basis so if we are going to lock them down, they are going to starve unless you have a proper set of back up measures which the government has to think about. No one is going to be able to store food for the next six weeks because weve got electricity and water problems. The government also has to work out a way of finding some form of income support, he added.

An effective lockdown according to the government analyst requires an extremely wide range of measures to support people.

He, therefore, admonished the government to come out with a comprehensive programme to address all aspects of lockdown before such a decision is announced.

Already, pressure is mounting on the government to urgently lock down the country as a means of escalating the countrys response to curbing the spread of the virus.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Bureau of Public Safety have both demanded that the government considers a total lockdown if necessary to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Cases of the novel coronavirus in Ghana have hit 27 while the death toll has increased to 2 as of Monday, March 23, 2020.

A total of 521 suspected patients, according to the Ghana Health Service, were tested for COVID-19 by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

In respect of contact tracing, a total of 598 contacts have been identified and are being tracked, according to the Service.

Economic arguments

While many other economic and health analysts predict tougher times ahead, the government says, it will rely on a mix of funds from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and withdrawals from the Stabilisation Fund to finance the budgetary gap expected to be created by the fiscal impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

For instance, Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Ken Thompson has said a prolonged economic crisis looms following the outbreak of the virus in Ghana.

He has among other things, proposed a stimulus package, saying that the government must ensure that Ghana's economic fortunes do not recede but bring relief to the citizenry during and after the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Minority in Parliament wants government to rely on reserves at the Central Bank to implement pro-poor measures to support individuals and firms that will be worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The measures the Minority is proposing include rent subsidies and freezes, deferral of tax payments and a stimulus package for businesses.

Despite these concerns, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the government is taking steps to handle any adverse impacts the global outbreak of coronavirus could have on the country's economic fortunes.

He was hopeful that Ghana will take advantage of the pandemic, position itself as a self-reliant country and bring to an end the assistance it receives from other foreign countries.

But, Former President John Dramani Mahama had criticized the government for failing to address the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on Ghana's economy.

The NDC flagbearer accused the government of doing little to cushion Ghana from a plunge in economic activities as a result of COVID-19 adding that the government must release its plan on how to keep the economy afloat.

---citinewsroom
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to nicknames.

While they call each other by their full names in public per royal protocol (its why royal fans will never hear Prince William, Duke of Cambridge refer to his wife as Kate instead of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during interviews or speeches) they can relax behind closed doors and use nicknames. Ahead, find out what Meghan and Harry call each other.

They call each other M and H

People reported in Feb. 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex call each other by the simple and cute nicknames of M and H. A source told the publication about the nicknames and said Meghan and Harry are besotted and very sweet with each other just as they were when they got married on May 19, 2018, at St. Georges Chapel inside Windsor Castle.



Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in South Africa on Oct. 2, 2019 | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

While neither Meghan nor Harry have confirmed the M nickname, the Duchess of Sussex has said she does indeed call Harry H.



Meghan Markle shared her nickname for Prince Harry is H in Oct. 2019

The report from People wasnt the first time we got a taste of Meghan and Harrys nicknames for each other. During their documentary, Meghan and Harry: An African Journey, which aired in Oct. 2019 following their royal tour of Africa, we learned a lot abotu the royal couple including that the Duchess of Sussex called Harry H.

In a one-on-one interview with journalist Tom Bradby, Meghan famously admitted to being not OK in the midst of intense media scrutiny but she also revealed her nickname for Harry.

Heres what she told Bradby:

I have said for a long time to H  thats what I call him  Its not enough to just survive something. Thats not the point of life. You have got to thrive. You have got to feel happy.



She has another nickname for Prince Harry

H isnt the only nickname Meghan has for Harry. While posing with the cast of Hamilton for photos following a special performance of the hit musical, the Duchess of Sussex let it slip a private name she has for the Duke of Sussex.

Thinking she mightve been in the way of a photographer, Meghan asked Harry, Can you see, my love? causing a round of aws to erupt from the cast members who caught the sweet exchange. Meghan responded with an Oh! while Harry laughed, clearly blushing.

We dont know for certain whether or not Harry calls Meghan my love but he certainly could given their affinity for nicknames.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have nicknames for their son

Now a family of three, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have taken to giving their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, nicknames of his own. The young royal who will celebrate his first birthday on May 6, 2020, has been called various cute pet names by his adoring parents.

In the caption of a Halloween Instagram post in Oct. 2019, Harry and Meghan referred to Archie as their little pumpkin. During the familys royal tour of Africa, the Duchess of Sussex called Archie bubba and in another instance, Harry called him his little boy.

Even though Meghan and Harry have stepped down as senior royals, were hoping they keep sharing nicknames they have for each other and Archie.
Tony Britt of Oxford exits the cockpit of a Chinook at Boeing in Ridley Park, which produces five Chinooks and three V-22 Ospreys each month. Read more

Boeing Co., which said Monday it will idle the rest of its civilian jet airliner plants in the Seattle area for the next two weeks, is keeping production lines running for its Osprey vertical-takeoff craft and Chinook helicopters in Ridley Park, Delaware County, the company said.

To be sure, all staff among the Ridley Park plants 4,600-plus workers who can work from home will telecommute until further notice, Boeing said in a statement Monday. About a third of employees work the assembly lines. Others include engineers, administrative workers, sales and marketing personnel.

Boeing employs 70,000 in the Seattle area. The company had hoped to avoid layoffs when it closed its Renton, Wash., plants in January amid collapsing sales for its 737 Max jet airliners, whose control system was implicated in two lethal crashes in the last year and a half. Besides in Ridley Park, Boeing is also keeping open its jet aircraft works in South Carolina, which employ about 6,800 making 787 jet airliners.

Though the company borrowed an additional $14 billion on top of its previous large debt load last month, Boeing has about $10 billion of cash still on hand. It has also suspended its $4.6 billion yearly shareholders dividend and should stay solvent long enough to qualify for expected federal assistance once a corporate aid package passes Congress, Standard & Poors analyst Christopher DeNicolo reported to clients.

Two other Philadelphia-area helicopter factories that sell to both the government and civilian users have also remained open, with non-production workers operating from home.

In Northeast Philadelphia, Leonardo Helicopters  like Boeing classified a critical defense infrastructure" plant by the U.S. government and the state  also remains open, though more than half the 600 staff members are working from home, and extra cleaning measures, emergency sick leave, and travel restrictions have been imposed, spokeswoman Margaret Rogalski said Monday.

Similar conditions are in force at Lockheed Martins Sikorsky helicopter factory in Coatesville, according to spokeswoman Callie Ferrari in a statement last week. That plant employs about 450. The company has about 5,000 workers at its military systems offices in King of Prussia, Moorestown, and other area locations.

In Delaware, a factory complex shut last week due to coronavirus reopened Monday. The Bloom Energy fuel cell factories in the Newark area, subsidized by state residents through a tax on their utility bills, were shut last week to safeguard our employees and to investigate a potential employee exposure to COVID-19 offsite, spokeswoman Natalia Blank said.

After a thorough cleaning, she added, we reopened the plant [Monday] morning.

Other employers, including Wawa convenience stores, have also had to close for cleaning before reopening.
His spokesperson says the Ministry is "working around the clock", while the minister is "working to tackle the coronavirus epidemic".

Minister of Health of Ukraine Ilya Yemets does not intend to resign, his spokesman Artem Dekhtiarenko told 1+1 TV channel.

"We are responsible for the position of the minister and the ministry itself. We spoke with the Minister yesterday  and the minister's position is that he came to power to implement health care reform, to help Ukraine tackle the coronavirus epidemic; and we work almost around the clock, working hard to achieve these goals... Minister of Health Ilya Yemets is not going to resign," the spokesperson stressed.

Read alsoUkraine's Health Minister Yemets said to be going to resign  lawmakers

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 23, a number of Ukrainian legislators claimed that the health minister intended to resign.
In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, a team of astronomers in Italy proposes that heavy seeds of supermassive black holes formed via the migration and merging of stellar compact remnants (neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes) in early-type galaxies.

Black holes are objects so dense that not even light can escape their gravity, although powerful jets of light and energy can be emitted from a black holes vicinity as gas and stars are sucked into it.

Small black holes result from the collapse of individual stars. But the centers of most galaxies are occupied by supermassive black holes that contain mass ranging from one million to 10 billion solar masses.

The growth of supermassive black holes occurs in the central regions of galaxies, progenitors of the current elliptical galaxies, which had very high gas content and in which the stellar formation was extremely intense, said SISSA astronomers Lumen Boco, Andrea Lapi and Luigi Danese.

The biggest stars live a short time and very quickly evolve into stellar black holes, as large as several scores of solar masses; they are small, but many form in these galaxies.

The dense gas that surrounds them has a very powerful definitive effect of dynamic friction and causes them to migrate very quickly to the centre of the galaxy. The majority of the numerous black holes that reach the central regions merge, creating the supermassive black hole seed.

According to classical theories, a supermassive black hole grows mainly by sucking in vast amounts of matter. During the initial phases of its development, when the mass of the black hole is small, the growth is very slow.

To the extent that, according to the calculations, to reach the mass observed, billions of times that of the Sun, a very long time would be required, even greater than the age of the young Universe. Our study, however, showed that things could go much faster than that, the astronomers said.

The researchers show that the process of dynamic migration and fusion of stellar compact remnants can build up central black hole masses of the order of between 10,000 and one million solar masses within some 10 million years.

At this point, the growth of the central black hole according to the aforementioned direct accretion of gas, envisaged by the standard theory, will become very fast, because the quantity of gas it will succeed in attracting and absorbing will become immense, and predominant on the process we propose, they said.

Nevertheless, precisely the fact of starting from such a big seed as envisaged by our mechanism speeds up the global growth of the supermassive black hole and allows its formation, also in the early Universe.

In short, in light of this theory, we can state that 800 million years after the Big Bang the supermassive black holes could already populate the cosmos.

_____

L. Boco et al. 2020. Growth of Supermassive Black Hole Seeds in ETG Star-forming Progenitors: Multiple Merging of Stellar Compact Remnants via Gaseous Dynamical Friction and Gravitational-wave Emission. ApJ 891, 94; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab7446
New York: Stocks posted one of their best days ever on Tuesday, a sign of investor belief that Congress has no alternative than to pass a $US2 trillion ($3.4 trillion) rescue of a US economy that is on life support.

The massive stimulus is designed to be a lifeline to Americans and their employers until the coronavirus is brought under control and the country returns to some semblance of normalcy. The Federal Reserve signalled the gravity of the situation Monday when, in an unprecedented move, said it would spend whatever it takes to preserve the US financial system.

Wall Street surged higher on Tuesday on rising hopes Washington would approve a $US2 trillion rescue package. Credit:AP

Markets starved for good news shot upward Tuesday on faith that the stimulus would pass. The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 2000 points, or 11 per cent, and was back above the 20,000 mark. According to Reuters, it was the Dow's biggest one-day percentage gain since 1933. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 9 per cent. The Nasdaq composite jumped 8 per cent.

It sets up the Australian sharemarket for strong gains on Wednesday, with futures at 7.10am AEDT pointing to a jump of 287 points, or 6.1 per cent, at the open. On Tuesday, the ASX rose 4.2 per cent.
Yesterday, it was reported that the Lucknow police had launched a search for one of Kanika Kapoor's Mumbai-based enterpreneur friend Ojas Desai, as he was the only one out of 260 people, who Kanika interacted with, that they could not track.

Medical officer (CMO) Dr. Narendra Agarwal had told IANS that they could not trace him since they didn't have his exact address in Mumbai. Reports stated that Ojas was present with Kanika at Hotel Taj in Lucknow and had left the city on March 16.

Now, as per a report in Republic World, Kanika's 'untraceable' friend has been found. Ojas is under home quarantine in Mumbai after testing negative for COVID-19.

In his medical report by Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, apart from his name Ojas Desai, age 41, his date of admission and discharge has been mentioned as 22 March. Points like 'close contact with COVID positive patient', 'asymptomatic' and 'negative' for COVID-19 have been mentioned in the report. Ojas has been suggested 'strict home quarantine' for 14 days.

Besides the 'quarantined' stamp till 04/04/2020, he has also been asked to visit again if any symptoms appear.

Meanwhile, Kanika Kapoor is currently undergoing treatment in quarantine at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow. Her second test for COVID-19 also came out positive after her family raised concern over the first report.

Coronavirus Positive Kanika Kapoor's Friend Goes Missing, Lucknow Police Launches Search" title=" Coronavirus Positive Kanika Kapoor's Friend Goes Missing, Lucknow Police Launches Search" /> Coronavirus Positive Kanika Kapoor's Friend Goes Missing, Lucknow Police Launches Search

Exclusive: Singer Shweta Pandit Has THIS To Say About Kanika Kapoor And Choosing To Stay In Italy
Actress Shruti Haasan, who returned to Mumbai 10 days ago from London, revealed that all the members of her immediate family are isolating in different houses. While mother Sarika is in Mumbai itself, Kamal and Akshara Haasan have been quarantining in Chennai.

Talking to Mumbai Mirror, she said, I am used to being by myself. The difficult part is not having the option to go out and the looming fear of what all of this means for us. People have started taking it seriously in the last few days. Thankfully, by the time I returned, the shoots were also getting cancelled. My entire family has self-isolated. Mum (actress Sarika) is in Mumbai as well but in another apartment, Dad (Kamal Haasan) and Akshara (sister) are in Chennai but in separate houses. All of us had different travelling schedules and it didnt make sense for us to isolate together. Thats the decision I feel people should make.

Talking about what she is doing in isolation, Shruti said, I read this quote, If you cant spend time with yourself, it means you are not good company. Someone I spoke to today mentioned that they had to meet a friend once in a while. Another person, on the social media, was talking about socialdistancing but with five other people around. It doesnt work like that. These are educated people who are expected to be more responsible. I have no one at home with me, not even my domestic help. Its just me and Clara, my cat.

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[March 24, 2020] First curated search platform, TruKno, launches for $185B cybersecurity industry

DENVER, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TruKno, a Denver-based startup focused on improving the way cybersecurity professionals find and leverage critical information and experts, today announced the launch of the first search platform built from the ground up for the cybersecurity industry.

TruKno combines access to niche experts with the latest attack vectors, breach data, mitigation practices, innovative solutions and associated vendors to equip cybersecurity professionals with the necessary information to contend with the constantly changing threat landscape. The robust TruKno search platform currently includes more than 20,000 items and more content is added daily. Cybersecurity has become a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse between hackers seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and cybersecurity professionals working to mitigate known and unknown risks to networks, said Manish Kapoor, founder and CEO of TruKno. In cybersecurity, finding the right information at the right time is crucial, but the fragmented nature of the industry makes being able to actually pinpoint and utilize that information an enormous challenge  with devastating consequences for failure. Our search platform consolidates all consequential components to give users the most thorough understanding of any given threat. Previously, there was no platform that truly integrated all relevant cyber information in one plce, said James Carder, chief security officer at LogRhythm. TruKno is delivering real value to the cyber community by consolidating and curating vital threat intelligence and aligning it to specific solutions, solution providers and niche experts.



Developed by Kapoor, a seasoned technology industry professional with more than 20 years of experience in field sales, business development and product management, TruKno was created to provide context surrounding top cybersecurity threats. Kapoors background includes more than 10 years at Cisco Systems, helping various global service providers launch new, managed/cloud/hosted cybersecurity services. He earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and a masters in business management from Harvard University. Current search engine results are too general and have become skewed by SEO manipulation, paid advertising and changing algorithms. As such, traditional information-sourcing methods are inefficient, Kapoor continued. That is why we believe the future of search is curated. Curated search both excludes low-value content and brings specific content to light that might not have otherwise shown up in generic search results.

TruKno will be hosting daily informational webinars over the next several days. To register, or for more information about TruKnos curated search platform for cybersecurity, please visit www.TruKno.com. About TruKno

TruKno is the first curated search platform built from the ground up for the cybersecurity industry. Based in Denver, TruKno provides a better, faster way for industry professionals to identify and comprehend top cyber threats, consolidating all related information, including the latest breaches, mitigation practices, innovative solutions, associated vendors and access to niche experts. TruKno empowers cybersecurity experts to share knowledge and highlight their personal experience, strengthening the cybersecurity community. For more information, visit www.TruKno.com. Melissa Christensen

MAPRagency

[email protected]

970.363.4652 (direct) A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7b16fffc-8f4a-4c21-871a-54c96c1466f2

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Citing the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration on Monday moved to postpone all court hearings for the thousands of asylum-seekers it has returned to Mexico.

The Justice Department said hearings for migrants in the so-called "Remain in Mexico" program that were initially slated to take place before April 22 would be postponed. A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Justice Department branch that oversees the nation's immigration courts, said the decision will ensure asylum-seekers in the program can have their "day in court," while safeguarding the health of migrants, officials and U.S. citizens.

Though the spokesperson said the "Remain in Mexico" policy was not being "canceled," Monday's move will partially paralyze the centerpiece of the Trump administration's restrictive asylum policies designed to discourage migration to the U.S. southern border. Under the policy, known officially as the Migrant Protections Protocols, or MPP, U.S. border officials have returned more than 60,000 Latin American migrants to northern Mexico, requiring them to wait there as their asylum cases are adjudicated.

In its statement, the Justice Department spokesperson said asylum-seekers in Mexico who are scheduled to appear before an immigration judge in the U.S. through April 22 should report to U.S. border officials on their previously scheduled court dates to get new government documents and a new hearing date.

US Immigration Border Enforcement

In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, photo people seeking asylum in the United States wait at the border crossing bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border from San Diego. Elliot Spagat / AP

Monday's move comes days after the Trump administration invoked sweeping immigration restriction powers in public health law to allow officials to rapidly turn away migrants who cross both the northern and southern borders without authorization. The restrictions, which the administration said were necessary because of the pandemic, bar the entry of migrants without proper documents, even at ports of entry.

Story continues

Though officials did not clarify whether asylum-seekers in the MPP policy would be allowed inside the U.S. to attend their hearings in light of the new measures, immigration attorneys reported Monday morning that migrants in the program were denied entry. Customs and Border Protection officials did not say whether they will continue to return asylum-seekers to Mexico as part of the MPP program.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department cancelled all hearings for immigrants who were not detained because of the coronavirus outbreak. But the department has come under withering criticism for refusing to close most courts or delay hearings for immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, despite a flurry of calls do so by judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

Richard Newman, an immigration attorney with the non-profit San Antonio Region Justice For Our Neighbors, said Monday's announcement was a good move from a public health perspective. He said he and other lawyers who are representing asylum-seekers in the MPP program had been dreading telling their clients they would not go to court with them or visit them in Mexico, fearing community transmission of the coronavirus.

"If one of us lawyers has COVID-19 and we walk over and talk to our clients, the entire refugee camp will get it," Newman said. "It had put us in this impossible position of trying to protect ourselves, protect our communities and protect the refugee community."

"I'm thankful that EOIR made that decision so it doesn't make the immigration lawyers look like bad guys," he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order that U.S. border officials are using to justify the entry restrictions implemented over the weekend cited assessments by medical experts who said an outbreak of the coronavirus inside the encampments and shelters for asylum-seekers returned to Mexico by the U.S. is "inevitable."

Though well-aware of the public health considerations, Newman noted that migrants he represents are disheartened that they won't be able to make their case to win U.S. asylum in front of a judge anytime soon. He noted that while waiting months for their hearings, many asylum-seekers have been living in squalid conditions inside camps and shelters located in crime-ridden Mexican borders cities like Matamoros, Tamaulipas, a state the U.S government warns Americans not to visit because of rampant violence.

"These people are broken-hearted," Newman told CBS News. "They are stuck in a horrible situation in Mexico."

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How do doctors and hospitals decide who gets potentially lifesaving treatment and who doesnt?

A lot of thought has been given to just such a predicament, well before critical shortages from the coronavirus pandemic.

It would be irresponsible at this point not to get ready to make tragic decisions about who lives and who dies, said Dr. Matthew Wynia, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado.

Facing this dilemma recently  who gets a ventilator or a hospital bed  Italian doctors sought ethical counsel and were told to consider an approach that draws on utilitarian principles.

In laymans terms, a utilitarian approach would maximize overall health by directing care toward those most likely to benefit the most from it. If you had only one ventilator, it would go to someone more likely to survive instead of someone deemed unlikely to do so. It would not go to whichever patient was first admitted, and it would not be assigned via a lottery system. (If there are ties within classes of people, then a lottery  choosing at random  is what ethicists recommend.)
No one has been infected by coronavirus (Covid-19) through newspapers or packages with scientific research showing the virus does not survive on porous surfaces. The particular sterility of newsprint makes newspapers safe, the worlds top scientists and researchers have said.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the worlds most-cited research journal, on the varying stability of the coronavirus on different surfaces found that the lowest transmission possibilities were through copper because of its atomic makeup and cardboard because of its porous texture. The transmission was highest through aerosols and higher through plastic and stainless steel, the study found.

The coronavirus loses half its potency every 66 minutes and is only one-eighth as infectious three hours after landing on a surface, and has 2% potency after six hours, researchers found.

It lasts longest on smooth, non-porous surfaces , and can stay live on plastic and stainless steel with steadily lowering potency for two to three days. The virus does not last on cardboard after 24 hours, and lasts even less on newsprint, which is far more porous than cardboard.

Experts have dismissed the misinformation that newsprint can cause Covid-19 across continents. Newspapers are pretty sterile because of the way they are printed and the process they have been through. Traditionally, people have eaten fish and chips out of them for that very reason. So all of the ink and the print makes them actually quite sterile...., Prof George Lomonossoff, a project leader in the Department of Chemistry at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, told BBC.

Leading experts, including from apex health research and public health organisations, as well government centres tasked with tracking and containing infections in India, have also dismissed misinformation regarding newspapers as potential carriers of Covid-19, saying it has no scientific basis.

National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) director Dr Sujeet K Singh said it is untrue that newspapers can be a source of Covid-19 infection. There is no evidence to suggest that. If it was happening, we would have said so to stop the infection. What we know about the virus, for sure, right now is that it spreads largely through droplets and fomites [infected surfaces], not newspapers, said Singh.

The NCDC (Delhi) and Punes National Institute of Virology are two premier labs that have been testing samples for Covid-19 since the first two cases from Delhi and Hyderabad were reported on March 2.

Dr BK Tripathi, a medicine professor at Delhis Safdarjung Hospital, where 14 Covid-19 and 50 suspected cases are in an isolation ward, echoed Singh, saying that claims of newspapers being able to transmit the infection is misinformation. Towels, doorknobs, handles, plastic objects are known as fomites... But all [other[ articles we use in our daily lives will not transmit the infection. Newspapers do not transmit the infection, said Tripathi.

Tripathi underlined the virus cannot survive in the open air for more than four to five hours. In closed humid areas, the virus can survive for days as is the case with doorknobs, car keys etc. There is no recommendation to stop reading or getting newspapers. They [newspapers] are providing very important information, he said.

Nivedita Gupta, a senior scientist with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)s epidemiology division, said they have no evidence to suggest the virus can be spread through newspapers or items like milk packets. I do not think we should stop getting these things..., said Gupta, whose organisation is tasked with tracking and documenting Covid-19 cases.

Dr Amit Singh, an associate professor with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research at Bengalurus Indian Institute of Science, cited a 2011 study on the 2009 H1N1 virus outbreak and added that a virus does not survive on porous surfaces like paper, cloth or tissue, but stays up to 48 hours on surfaces like steel, plastic, glass, aluminium etc. This is simply because the protein envelope of a virus disintegrates easily in dry, porous surfaces. The viruses may last only for about four hours on such surfaces. This is based on evidence from the H1N1 flu epidemic.

The World Health Organization, in the myth busters section on its website, addresses the question on whether it is safe to receive a package. Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.

Dr T Jacob John, an emeritus professor at Vellores Christian Medical College, said newspapers are not the probable source of any infection. A few human hands touch newspapers before they reach our homes. If one of these people are infected, there is a chance that some viruses may be deposited on the paper. But they will not jump out of the paper at you. They do not survive in the air. You do not need to stop newspapers. All you need to do is wash your hands after reading them and that is something you should be doing anyway, said John, who is also a former head of the ICMRs Centre for Advanced Research in Virology.

Dr Dilip Mavlankar, the director of Gandhinagars Indian Institute of Public Health, said there are no infections reported because of newspapers. I think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination. What are the chances that somebody will cough on your newspaper? If people are very concerned, they can keep newspapers out in the sun for an hour. The virus would not survive in the open in the heat, he said.

Dr Gupta said the survival of a virus depends on many factors like the type of surface, temperature, and humidity, among others. Now, in the Indian context, we do not have data on how long the virus may survive on different kinds of surfaces because there is no rampant community transmission. So far, in all cases, people were infected either when they travelled abroad or when they came in contact with a Covid-19 positive person.
Farmers who are heavily reliant on subsidies need to make changes to improve farm profitability or consider drastic enterprise changes, a Teagasc advisor has warned.

Teagasc farm management specialist James McDonnell said tough conversations need to be had on some farms.

Citing data from Teagasc's National Farm Survey, he said current models of farming are eating into EU subsidies on thousands of beef and sheep farms.

"In 2018 the average subsidy payments made up 74pc of the family farm income of the average farm," he said.

"Drilling deeper, the figures are more concerning for cattle and sheep farms, where the payments were up to 158pc of income.

"Every farmer should have a look (at these figures) and compare with their own business.

"If the figures are similar to your farm and repeat year on year, then I would suggest some tough conversations need to be had with your advisor to implement change."

Mr McDonnell suggested that farmers in this position should look at a review of their farm business model and discuss it with their farm advisor.

"Are there simple changes that can be made to improve farm profit, or should you be considering a more drastic enterprise change?

"Forestry, land leasing, organic farming, solar panels, partnering with a neighbour and contract rearing are just some of the options that other farmers have embraced.

"There's a lot of risk in farming now. If you change enterprise, there is a risk, but if you keep doing what you are doing there is also risk," he said.

Mr McDonnell also highlighted concerns over the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which is being negotiated at present.

"We must rely on our politicians to get a good outcome for Ireland. It won't be easy due to budgetary pressures. That's a risk outside the farm gate, but with obvious implications for the business inside the farm gate," he said.

He stressed that it is essential that farmers review 2020 spending plans, even at this early stage in the year.

"Review your farm plan, farm finances, or plan a change. You may need a farm visit and if so make an appointment for a future date. It could be your most important business meeting of 2020," he said.
BOGOTA, March 24 (Reuters) - Colombian mining companies, including coal producers Cerrejon and Drummond , will reduce operations to slow the spread of coronavirus, the sector's guild said on Tuesday.

Some 15,000 workers directly employed in the industry will stop working, as will 18,000 indirect workers, the Colombian Mining Association (ACM) said in a statement.

The Andean country will enter a nationwide 19-day quarantine late on Tuesday aimed at preventing further spread of coronavirus, which has killed more than 15,300 people worldwide. Colombia has 306 confirmed infections and three deaths attributable to COVID-19.

Coal miner Drummond will temporarily reduce mining operations in the Cesar province, it said in a statement.

A contingency team will largely live on-site to avoid workers entering and leaving, Drummond said, adding the team

will be protected by the highest standards of bio-safety.

"These workers will make sure we continue to meet environmental standards, that deterioration of the mine, equipment and infrastructure is avoided and that obligations for exporting coal are met," the company said.

Colombia is the world's fifth-biggest coal exporter and the fossil fuel is its second-largest generator of foreign currency after oil.

Cerrejon, which is owned equally by BHP Group , Anglo American and Glencore , will also reduce its operations in the country's La Guajira province.

The company, which exported 26.3 million tonnes of coal in 2019, began the staggered reduction of its operations on Monday night, it said in a statement.

As with Drummond, a contingency team will ensure compliance with environmental rules, care for equipment and infrastructure, and make sure export obligations are met, Cerrejon said.

Neither company provided figures on their activity reductions.

Earlier in March members of Cerrejon unions Sintracarbon and Sintracerrejon voted for strike action over a dispute linked to pay and benefits. The union has not yet set a date for the strike to begin.

A 2013 strike at Cerrejon lasted 32 days.

Cerrejon also controls a 150-kilometer (90-mile) rail line and a seaport which receives ships that can carry up to 180,000 tonnes of cargo.

Coal prices fell to an average of $51.40 per tonne last year, down from $82.50 per tonne in 2018, according to government.

(Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
A statewide curfew was declared in Manipur on Tuesday after a 23-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.

The state was on Monday evening placed under a lockdown till March 31, however, people were still venturing out, they said.

The curfew was imposed to further check the movement of people in the wake of the first COVID-19 case in the northeastern region being reported from the state, they said.

It will remain in force till further orders, they said.

Certain essential services have been exempted from the purview of the curfew, the officials said, urging the public to stay indoors.

The woman, who tested positive, recently returned from the UK.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 09:12:39|Editor: huaxia

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File picture shows Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

The coronavirus disease is currently erupting at different places around the world, and facts have shown once again that mankind is a community that shares weal and woe, and that all countries must unite and work together to jointly cope with the epidemic, said Chinese President Xi Jinping.



BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday night that China supports Egypt's epidemic prevention and control efforts and stands ready to jointly fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Xi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The coronavirus disease is currently erupting at different places around the world, said Xi, adding that facts have shown once again that mankind is a community that shares weal and woe, and that all countries must unite and work together to jointly cope with the epidemic.

China, he said, will work with other countries to step up international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control, jointly address common threats and challenges, and safeguard global public health security based on the notion of a community with a shared future for mankind.

After COVID-19 broke out in China, the Egyptian side has expressed its support for China's fight against the epidemic, demonstrating the profound friendship between the two countries that always stand together through thick and thin, as well as the high level of their comprehensive strategic partnership, said Xi.

Photo taken on March 1, 2020 shows Saladin Citadel in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt lit up three famous historical sites in the country in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of solidarity in combating the novel coronavirus. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

Noting that the North African country is also facing the urgent task of battling the epidemic, he said China is willing to share epidemic-related information, experience on prevention and treatment, and outcomes of medical research with Egypt and provide it with medical supplies to support its prevention and control efforts and jointly beat the disease.

The Chinese president added that he believes the traditional friendship between China and Egypt will be deepened through the joint fight against the epidemic.

China attaches great importance to the development of its relations with Egypt, and is willing to join hands with the Egyptian side to deepen their practical cooperation in various fields, and build their relationship into a pilot model of a China-Arab as well as a China-Africa community with a shared future.

For his part, Sisi noted that China's fight against COVID-19 has achieved positive progress, which has once again demonstrated the strength of Xi's wise leadership and the solidarity of the great Chinese people.

File picture shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressing the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development in Aswan, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

The Egyptian side always firmly believes that China will prevail over the epidemic and will grow ever stronger, he added.

Egypt, he said, is grateful for China's support and help, and is confident that through the joint fight against the disease, the friendship between the two countries will be further cemented.

Stressing that Egypt and China are special and friendly partners, Sisi said he attaches great importance to the bilateral ties and stands ready to work with China to boost their practical cooperation of mutual benefit in various fields and enhance communication and coordination in international affairs. 
No Americans are blaming the federal government for the coronavirus epidemic, but they do expect it to deal with the resulting chaos in a responsible way. Thats not happening now in Washington.

The most important thing the Senate could do is approve the House bailout plan without adding in any corporate goodies. The House plan should not be viewed as untouchable, and any logical revisions in the Senate would be welcome. But for the most part, the House bill sensibly focused on helping average people, not politically connected businesses  many of which made considerable profits beforehand  get through this crisis.

For example, Democrats in Congress want to make sure that airlines would be prohibited from buying back stock or issuing dividends under the bailout package. When a corporation buys back its own shares, that temporarily boosts its stock price (usually producing bonuses for its CEO and top executives) but does little for long-term corporate health. The House bill would also require any airline receiving this aid to place limits on CEO salaries for 10 years.

Many Democrats  and more than a few Republicans  want to make sure that this relief package doesnt copy the mistakes of the 2008 bailout, which was viewed by many as too friendly to banks and other segments of the financial industry instead of average workers.

Yet the Senate was snarled Monday on this measure at a time when Main Street and Wall Street want to see proactive leadership. The president should be an obvious source of that guidance, but sadly Donald Trump has been falling short.

He downplayed the severity of the virus from the start and keeps expressing undue optimism that a solution is just around the corner. Trump even disagrees with his own medical experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nations top experts on infectious disease.

Dr. Fauci said he would never call the coronavirus the Chinese virus as the president does routinely now. Dr. Fauci also scoffs at anecdotal reports that chloroquine, a medicine designed to fight malaria, could be a game changer in this battle, as Trump claims.

Fauci said of his dispute with Trump, I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Lets try and get it corrected for the next time.

It shouldnt come to that. Politicians should listen to scientists in this crisis instead of acting like they know more than them. Senators should focus on getting an aid package completed as soon as possible instead of dithering. The American people want action, not politics as usual. Even Republican governors like Greg Abbott in Texas are pleading with the federal government to provide more testing kits and ventilators.

The squabbling needs to end, and Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz need to be part of the solution. Every day Congress delays makes this ordeal even worse.
A Manitoban stuck in Peru due to the COVID-19 outbreak says she feels powerless and is waiting on federal government assistance she says has so far been slow to come.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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A Manitoban stuck in Peru due to the COVID-19 outbreak says she feels "powerless" and is waiting on federal government assistance she says has so far been slow to come.

Lorraine Grenier, from St. Leon, near Treherne, said she and her husband, Allen, have been in Peru since March 5. They were originally scheduled to return on March 16, but COVID-19-related flight cancellations and border closures mean they have been trapped in the South American country.

Lorraine and Allen Grenier. (Submitted)

Part of the issue, Lorraine said, has been a lack of information coming from the federal governments official channels in Peru. After a hike in Cusco, Peru, on March 15 the couple received word from hotel workers that the border would be closed, but nothing from the Canadian Embassy.

She said the countrys border closed on March 16 at 11:59 p.m., but the Registry of Canadians Abroad didnt tell travellers in the country to leave until almost 4 p.m. on that day. By that time, Lorraine and her husbands flight the next day had been cancelled.

The same day, she said the couple sent an email to the embassy asking for help, but only received general information and tips on how to stay healthy. The two have been stuck in their hotel in Perus capital, Lima, since.

"Its a moving target in terms of information and very tight-lipped, we dont feel we have a reliable avenue to get information on which to make decisions," Lorraine said.

"Before leaving we checked travel advisories and saw no restrictions on our destinations, there were zero cases, so even if we fast-forward right now and have the luxury of hindsight there was zero cases in Peru. South America was not on a watch, only European countries.

"We made sure we were diligent, we really tried to do our due diligence, but by the time the government told us to leave there were already closed borders, and I know that would be out of their control, but the delay since a week is whats most concerning."

The couple is now doing all their cooking in the hotel room and doing their best to get by, using a panini maker and eating vitamins. She said they walk to the Canadian embassy two or three times a day trying to get information, but often have to explain to Peruvian police officers their predicament as the country is largely quarantined.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday morning that three flights would be leaving Peru this week to fly Canadians back home. Lorraine said that is a positive step, but there are more than 2,600 Canadians in the country who want to get back, and they wont all be able to make it on the planes.

"I understand this is complicated and without precedent, and that our nation has a lot of things to consider, but I guess Ive never felt feeling so unsupported, disconnected  to give me an email on the day of to tell me to live and then say I chose to come here, thats not really productive information," she said.

Lorraine said her husband farms at home and now the delay in getting back has thrown that operation into jeopardy.

Global Affairs Canada did not respond to a request for more information on the Canadians stuck in Peru by press time on Monday.

The Sun requested to speak to Portage-Lisgar Conservative MP Candice Bergen, who is Lorraine and Allens MP, about the issue, but was directed to Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman Conservative MP James Bezan. He said the federal government doing its best to get the approximately 500,000 Canadians abroad back to Canada.

"Try to understand the incredible volumes that the government is dealing with, this is unprecedented.  Its a challenge both logistically and emotionally that Canada has never had to deal with, or anyone else in the world for that matter," she said.

If commercial airlines cant get people back, he said the federal government should use Canadian Forces airplanes to repatriate citizens.

Premier Brian Pallister said in a Monday afternoon press conference the provincial government is leaving it up the federal government to coordinate repatriation efforts.

Canadians abroad should go to travel.gc.ca/travelling/registration to sign up for future travel notifications.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked President Donald Trump on Monday to issue a major disaster declaration and provide Texas with direct federal aid to address shortages of supplies related to the unfolding coronavirus crisis.

In a letter to the president, Abbott said the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.

It was Abbotts most direct plea for federal aid yet, coming a day after he sounded the alarm on Texas shortage of testing supplies and protective equipment for health care workers.

Yet, Abbott has steered well clear of complaining about how Trump has handled the coronavirus crisis, as Democratic governors in Illinois and New York have called on the president directly to do more. Instead, the Republican governor has been more careful to direct his frustration at the federal government.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The problem is the lack of availability of testing resources, Abbott said Sunday. The federal government is aware of both our demand as well as the inadequate supply, and they are working aggressively to ramp up the supplies they are providing.

So far, Abbotts more careful criticism of the federal government hasnt helped increase the states testing capabilities. As of Monday morning, Illinois, Washington, and New York were all testing more people per capita than Texas. And Trump approved a major disaster declaration for New York on Friday, despite clashing with Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeatedly over coronavirus-related issues.

Last Wednesday, Abbott projected testing would be up to 20,000 per week by the end of the week. But while testing numbers rose as drive-thru locations began to spring up, still only about 10,000 Texans had been tested as of 8 p.m. Sunday  8,480 by private labs and 1,575 by public labs.

That places Texas, the second-largest state, at the bottom of the top five states doing the most testing. By Monday, New York had tested 78,289, Washington had tested 30,875, California had tested 26,400 and Florida had tested 13,094, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

We are testing to the full extent to testing capabilities at this time, Abbott said Sunday.

For the latest: Map of coronavirus cases across Texas

Meanwhile, Trump has also declared major disasters in California and Washington, unlocking Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for emergency aid, crisis counseling, legal services and nutrition assistance. The declaration also covers unemployment benefits, a critical area in Texas where mass layoffs might quickly drain the state fund that pays those claims.

Texas unemployment insurance program also does not cover independent contractors and self-employed workers, meaning those Texans would only receive benefits if Trump declares a major disaster.

In his letter to Trump on Monday, Abbott said Texas also faces shortages of protective and medical equipment, testing supplies, hospital beds and a healthy and adequate cadre of medical personnel.

Texas receives more disaster declarations than any other state in the nation and is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent four major disasters, of which the last is Tropical Storm Imelda, Abbott wrote. The constant bombardment of disasters places Texas at an economic disadvantage to combat the spread of this pandemic.

For subscribers: Sen. Cruz calls on Trump to address medical supply shortages by invoking Defense Production Act

Sunday, Abbott said Texas has the money to buy protective and testing equipment, but the supplies are not available for us to be able to purchase.

Cuomo said the problem with supplies is that states are competing with one another and driving up the price. Rather than the federal government procuring the equipment to distribute, it has been left to states to fight each other for masks and testing equipment.

So we find a mask manufacturer, Im trying to contract with them, Californias trying to contract with them, Texas is trying to contract with them. Masks that we paid 85 cents for, were now paying $7, Cuomo said over the weekend.

Monday, Cuomo again expressed his frustration during his daily morning briefing.

This is not the way to do it, he said. Im competing with other states. Im bidding up other states on prices.

Abbott noted in his letter to Trump that Texas faces $21 million in costs related to the states coronavirus response, and an additional $30 million in purchase orders, as of Saturday.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also expressed concern over the equipment shortages in the latest episode of his podcast, calling on Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act and force private manufacturers to make ventilators and other medical equipment.

Trump

and the governors

Trump has been critical of governors who have shifted blame onto him. Sunday, he slammed Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and a very small group of other governors, including Cuomo, for blaming his administration for their own shortcomings.

Pritzker has been among those criticizing Trumps role. After Trump slammed him on Twitter, Pritzker responded with his own tweet.

You should be leading a national response instead of throwing tantrums from the back seat, he added. Where were the tests when we needed them? Wheres the PPE? Get off Twitter & do your job.

And early on, Trump went after Cuomo, saying on Twitter last Monday: Cuomo of New York has to do more. 

A short time later, Cuomo responded: I have to do more? No  YOU have to do something! Youre supposed to be the President.

By contrast, Trump on Sunday had nothing but praise for Abbott.

Hes a great governor, and he knows what hes doing, Trump said when asked by the Dallas Morning News what he thought about Texas not instituting a statewide shelter-in-place order like Illinois, New York and California. I have total confidence in Gov. Greg Abbott.

Erin Douglas and Taylor Goldenstein contributed to this report.

jasper.scherer@chron.com; jeremy.wallace@chron.com
The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a fresh set of guidelines for the lockdown period till March 31.

In its new notice, the Yogi Adityanath led government has stated that any person moving out of the districts where lockdown has been imposed or entering the district will now have to take permission from the local authorities.

"Before giving entry at the border of the districts, medical examination will be conducted. The emergency cases will only be allowed to enter the districts."

"The data of all the private hospitals will be acquired by the government soon and 200 isolation centres will be made in the state soon."

The movement of all those who have been designated as part of the essential services will not be stopped. This includes vegetable vendors and milk suppliers.

Grocery shops will be allowed to open from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

In India, 446 people have fallen prey to COVID-19 out which 36 have been cured, informed Health Ministry.

So far, nine people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- During his first state-of-the-city address in February 2019, Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan told of taking office in January 2018 and experiencing an informational technology meltdown.

City Halls (computer) firewall had been breached, the password did not work, the installer could not be identified or found, and we soon learned that the citys IT had been handled on an ad hoc, a la carte basis, with no apparent planning or care, or consistency, or dedicated IT person or company," Brennan stated in his address.

He added that, on that first day, City Hall had no working server or meaningful backing up or archiving.

More than two years since taking office and after having since used the services of two IT firms -- which he said have not been able to satisfactorily handle the job -- Brennan is still looking for answers.

To help find those answers, Brennan has assembled a new Technology Advisory Commission, which met for the first time via an online Zoom meeting on Monday (March 23) evening, chaired by Councilwoman Susan Pardee.

The committee had been established more than a year ago, but hadnt met in some time. New members, with credentials in information technology and other backgrounds, were recruited.

Members include residents Andrew Grau, who works in cyber security; attorney Steve Dlott; Christine Hudak, who has worked with hospital information systems for more than 35 years and is director of the health informatics program at Kent State University; Jiang Qian, a trained theoretical physicist whose interests include servers; Steve Washington, a lawyer who has started companies and who has interest in Smart Cities technology; and Tex Troxell, the CEO of LIFTR, a firm that allows marketers to test ads before launching them. The committee also includes John Carroll Universitys Jim Burke, the only non-resident, but a man who has worked in the city for 35 years.

Brennan explained to committee members that when he became mayor, he inherited an IT service provider from the previous administration and, while that firm worked out for a while, he soon found out that we were having issues with networking, issues with security, issues with wi-fi and issues with the quality of service.

A switch was made in 2019 to another company, Concord IT Solutions, which, Brennan said, was not forthwith with us when it came to its certification for handling sensitive police information. Brennan said there were other issues with the company, including getting email credentials set up for interns and the company not permitting a firefighter who was handling some IT matters to continue on in that role.

After parting ways with Concord, Brennan said he sought advice from other mayors as to who he should choose and began working with Bailey IT Solutions. He was exclusively working for a short while with a Bailey representative who then, unexpectedly, left the firm, leading Brennan to speak with the head of the company as to what might next happen regarding the citys IT needs. It is because of the current uncertainty with the Bailey partnership that Mondays meeting was held.

Brennan is also looking for an IT firm because there will soon be a need to get a certified firm to handle police matters.

The police department has a sergeant who has done IT for many years, Brennan said. Sgt. Brian Lombardo has done very well with IT, but we still have to consider succession because he is close to retirement.

Troxell suggested, and other committee members agreed, that rather than just choose another IT firm to serve University Heights, it would be wise to audit the entire city system. Troxell suggested that a third party -- not Bailey -- conduct the audit.

When Pardee asked how much such an audit might cost, Burke said: Im going to guess $50,000. Theres probably a lot of issues we dont even know exist.

As its first undertaking, each committee member will make suggestions, by April 6, as to who should conduct the audit. The committee was also tasked by that date to help Brennan form a request for qualifications so that bids for the audit work can be taken.

In another order of business at the committees first meeting, it selected Troxell, who also volunteers as a computer science teacher at Cleveland Heights High School, to serve as its chairman.

Read more from the Sun Press.
JOHNSTON  Iowa has its first death related to the novel coronavirus.

The state announced Tuesday evening that the virus-related death was a Dubuque County resident whose age was between 61 and 80 years old.

No other details were released.

Our hearts are heavy with the first loss of an Iowan to COVID-19. The thoughts and prayers of our state are with the family during this difficult time, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement. I continue to urge all Iowans to protect their health and the health of others, especially older individuals and those with chronic health conditions who are most at risk. We all have a role to play in limiting the spread of this virus.

Nineteen new cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Iowa on Tuesday, state officials said.

That brings the total confirmed cases in Iowa to 124 in 30 different counties, according to state data.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the time of the governors daily press conference and before the state learned of the first death, 17 patients were hospitalized in Iowa as a result of the virus, up from seven just a day earlier; 10 patients had been discharged and are recovering, state officials said.

More than 2,400 tests have been conducted at the state hygienic lab or at private labs since they started reporting, according to state data.

Economy

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she shares President Donald Trumps desire to re-open American businesses as soon as possible.

Unlike the president, Reynolds said she will not make predictions or put timelines on such actions.

Trump said Tuesday during a Fox News interview that he wants the countrys economy re-opened by Easter, and that he may soon loosen federal guidelines for social distancing. Health care experts have warned that would be too soon and could enable the virus to spread more rapidly.

During her daily news conference later Tuesday from the State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Reynolds said she hopes businesses and schools in Iowa will soon be open again. But when asked how long that may take, unlike the president, Reynolds declined to offer a timeline.

As Ive said all along, Im going to continue to make decisions based on the data, utilizing the expertise that I have in the Department of Public Health, working alongside the (federal) CDC, taking a look at what other states are doing, really walking through some of the metrics (the state is tracking), working with communities across that state, and well take a look at what makes sense for us to either extend or start to bring some of those sectors back online.

Reynolds and her public health department officials continued to ask Iowans to stay in their homes as much as possible, work from home when able, stay in their homes when feeling sick, contact their doctors if they feel they should be tested for the coronavirus, and practice social distancing while in public.

Reynolds said the state is recommending those strategies because health experts say they will help minimize the virus spread, which could help the state get to a place where businesses and schools can open again.

But Reynolds made no predictions or promises as to how long that will take.

Im not prepared at this time to say a date because all along the decisions are so fluid, Reynolds said. I want to get business back to normal as quickly as I can, too. I think we all have that shared goal. I just want to make sure that Im protecting Iowans and Im making the decisions on the right data points.

Data

The state public health department examines myriad data when determining what mitigation strategies to recommend to the governor, deputy director Sarah Reisetter reiterated Tuesday. That data informs, for example, whether the department recommends closing schools and businesses, which it has, or whether to order Iowans to stay in their homes except for essential needs, which it has not.

Reisetter said the department considers the percent of an areas population that is 65 or older, the percent of cases that requires hospitalizations, the rate of infection per 100,000 Iowans over the past 14 days, the number of outbreaks in settings like long-term care facilities, and information from other states and local public health officials.

Think of this as a dial and not a switch, Reisetter said. We will recommend turning the dial up and down over time. Thats how we will slow the spread of the virus in our state in order to prevent overwhelming our health care system and to protect our health care workers and our vulnerable populations.

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One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Snack Empire Holdings Limited (HKG:1843).

Our data shows Snack Empire Holdings has a return on equity of 77% for the last year. One way to conceptualize this, is that for each HK$1 of shareholders' equity it has, the company made HK$0.77 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Snack Empire Holdings

How Do You Calculate ROE?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

Or for Snack Empire Holdings:

77% = S$3.9m  S$5.1m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. You can calculate shareholders' equity by subtracting the company's total liabilities from its total assets.

What Does ROE Mean?

ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.

Does Snack Empire Holdings Have A Good Return On Equity?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Snack Empire Holdings has a better ROE than the average (8.0%) in the Hospitality industry.

SEHK:1843 Past Revenue and Net Income, March 23rd 2020

That's what I like to see. We think a high ROE, alone, is usually enough to justify further research into a company. For example, I often check if insiders have been buying shares.

Story continues

How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?

Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.

Snack Empire Holdings's Debt And Its 77% ROE

Snack Empire Holdings has a debt to equity ratio of 0.49, which is far from excessive. Its ROE is very impressive, and given only modest debt, this suggests the business is high quality. Judicious use of debt to improve returns can certainly be a good thing, although it does elevate risk slightly and reduce future optionality.

The Key Takeaway

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. You can see how the company has grow in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

But note: Snack Empire Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.
As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Acadiana slowly rises, community spread of the deadly virus has been confirmed.

A physician at one Lafayette hospital confirmed community spread of the virus, Jamie Angelle, communications director for Lafayette Consolidated Government, said at a press conference Monday.

Community spread means several people who are infected aren't sure how or where they became infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In Lafayette Parish, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals as of noon Monday reported nine coronavirus cases, up from six Sunday.

Elsewhere in Acadiana, 10 cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday, including three each in Iberia and St. Landry parishes, two in Evangeline Parish, and one each in Acadia and St. Mary parishes. Iberia Parish had the only rise, by one case.

Nearly 1,000 people have visited the drive-thru screening site at the Cajundome since it opened March 18, Angelle said, with 447 of them tested for COVID-19. Thats with strict criteria in place regarding who is tested because test kits are limited.

At the screening site, were seeing the sicker of the sick, Angelle said.

The Centers for Disease Control is expected to ease testing criteria, which is expected to increase the numbers tested. Many of the 447 tested at the Cajundome are awaiting results.

Lafayette Parish officials stressed Monday the importance of non-essential workers staying home per the governors orders.

On Sunday, Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered as of Monday evening many businesses to close their doors for several weeks.

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The intent is to slow down the spread and stop the spread of this extremely contagious virus, Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory said during a press conference Monday. We are in a very, very serious situation, but together as a community we will get through this.

Sheriff Mark Garber encouraged people to report it when they see others not adhering to the governor's stay-at-home order. Deputes will respond, he said, but won't show up with guns blazing.

"We're going to appeal to people to have common sense and reasoning," Sheriff Mark Garber said. "The purpose for which we're closing businesses and conducting social distancing is to protect the very oldest and the youngest and the most vulnerable."

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Louisiana increased between Sunday and noon Monday by 335, from 837 to 1,172, with 14 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 34. There have been no deaths in Acadiana.

Louisiana reported its first case of coronavirus on March 9, with the first death reported March 14 in Orleans Parish. Acadiana's first two cases were reported March 18 in Lafayette Parish.

Some of the rise in cases is because Louisiana in the past week ramped up testing as more test kits became available.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, which had been updating the number of COVID-19 cases twice a day, starting Monday will only release them once a day, at noon.

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll out "emergency welfare measures" for the construction sector workers.

Referring to the "extraordinary circumstance" due to COVID-19, Gandhi in a letter to Prime Minister Modi on Monday requested him "to consider advising the State Building and Other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures, particularly wage support, to the construction workers who are in distress."

"We are in the midst of the worst global pandemic. This has necessitated stringent measures for containment and management of COVID-19 transmission. These measures have led to widespread economic disruptions that had a debilitating impact on the informal sector," Gandhi has added in the letter.

The Congress president said that several countries around the world, most notably Canada, have announced wage subsidy measures as a part of their COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

In the letter, Gandhi has mentioned that over the last week, lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have left for their hometowns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn.

"As the second-largest employer in India, over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a precarious future. Many are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihood due to the stringent lockdown measures," he said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country has reached 482.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The humanitarian and altruistic dimensions of the events could make them the stuff of movie scenes. The crew of the MS Braemar, owned by the British Fred Olsen cruise line, spent several days sailing the Caribbean with passengers aboard showing symptoms of coronavirus infection. Despite diplomatic efforts by the UK government, the ship was refused entry by several ports in the region. Cuba said yes and offered a safe port in the face of adversity, reported Enrique Moreno Gimeranez in the Cuban daily Granma. In Cuba itself, as of 19 March, 16 people tested positive for Covid-19, among them a young Cuban woman returning from Italy and four tourists.



Gestures of solidarity and outreach to patients suffering from lethal diseases is the norm in Cuba. International solidarity is part of our identity, writes Gimeranez. It has written memorable chapters in our history.



Because internationalism is a major tenet of Cuban socialism, which regards the right to health as a human right, this is no idle talk. To date, 28,268 members of Cubas medical brigades serve in 61 countries. Ghanaian-American physician Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye, who was granted a scholarship to study in Cuba, where education is free at all levels, estimates that there are currently more Cuban than indigenous doctors working in Africa, reports Alan Mcleod in the progressive US journal Mintpress.



For over 56 years, an army of more than 400,00 healthcare workers have provided medical services in 164 nations. Women and men from the Caribbean island have faced Ebola in Africa, blindness in Latin America and the Caribbean with Operation Miracle, and Cholera in Haiti. Twenty-six Cuban brigades  from the Henry Reeves International Contingent of Doctors Specialised in Disasters and Major Epidemics  were granted the Dr Lee Jong-Wook Public Health Award by the World Health Organisation (WHO).



The islands contribution to the struggle against the pandemic is of crucial importance because of the Cuban antiviral drug Interferon Alpha 2b, which is used to combat the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and C and Respiratory Papillomatosis, in addition to other life-threatening diseases. The drug prevents aggravation and complications in patients reaching the stage that ultimately can result in death, Mcleod quotes Cuban biotech specialist Dr Luis Herrera Martinez as saying. While the drug isnt a cure or a vaccine, its antiviral function boosts the patients immune system and hence supports recovery.



Interferon is manufactured in Cuba and has been produced in China since 2003 at the Jilin Changheber Plant in partnership with the Cuban pharmaceutical industry. The Chinese Health Commission has selected our drug among those used in the fight against coronaviruses, tweeted Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. It has had positive effects on the lives of hundreds of Chinese, reported Granma.



China aside, Cuban Interferon is also sought in Spain where it has been successfully used in the treatment of patients, in conjunction with two other drugs used for HIV infections.



There is also increased demand for Interferon in Mexico, especially after it was estimated that the drug cured more than 1,500 patients worldwide. And the WHO selected Interferon, among others, as a choice drug to combat the Covid-19 disease.



Cuba is providing medical cooperation today in 37 countries reporting Covid-19, reported Prensa Latina on 21 March. On the same day, Cuba responded to Italys request to assist the country beleaguered with the highest rate of infections in Europe by sending a team of 52 health workers, among them 50 specialists in epidemiology, to Lombardy, the Italian city most affected by the pandemic. Some of the physicians had experience combating Ebola in Africa.



Over the last few days, Cuba has sent medical brigades to Nicaragua, Venezuela, Surinam and Grenada  among other nations  to assist in the struggle against the coronavirus. There is a national feeling of wanting to cooperate, said Dr Jorge Juan Delgado Bustillo, director of the Central Unit of Medical Cooperation. We receive messages from volunteers willing to go anywhere to help in this worlds health situation, he commented.



Cuba is also at the forefront of attempts to create a new vaccine against Covid-19, reported Prensa Latina.



Dr Gerardo Guillen, director of the countrys Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre, said that the centre has worked on particles similar to the coronavirus and which greatly enhance the immune systems functioning, to halt the dissemination of the Covid-19 disease.



Another call for Cuban help was voiced by French parliamentary leader Andre Chassaigne who requested his government join other countries call for assistance. And in a letter to the Cuban minister of health, the President of the Democratic and Republican Left Olivier Veran, explained that Cuba has specialised drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases, highlighting Interferons success in slowing down the pandemics spread in China.



In reference to the United States economic sanctions against the island, Veran dismissed the US stand as illegal. The blockade that the US enforces against Cuba, in defiance of international law, cannot in any way affect Franco-Cuban collaboration on health, he wrote.



Cuba also stands at the forefront of the battle against other lethal viral epidemics, says physician Helen Yaffe writing in Counterpunch. In 1981, Cuba was struck by an epidemic of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. As a result of the infection, half a million patients are hospitalised each year. By 1986, the Cuban Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology had developed a recombinant Interferon that has cured thousands of Cubans since then.



And in 1990, a Cuban research team successfully produced the first vaccine against the deadly Meningitis B virus. Cubas vaccine was awarded a UN Gold Medal for global innovation. The islands vaccine was called Cubas meningitis miracle, recalls Yaffe.



The WHO declared Cuba the first country to have eliminated the transmission of HIV from mother to child, a landmark in the response to HIV globally.



In spite of and despite of the 60-year-old US blockade that has cost the Cuban economy an estimated $750 billion, and has been consistently condemned by majority votes at the UN General Assembly, Cuba has prevailed.



According to a 2019 Bloomberg international health study based on life expectancy, access to drinking water, eating habits and the efficiency of the healthcare system, Cuba ranked 30th while the worlds sole superpower, the United States, ranked 35th, trailing Estonia, Chile and Costa Rica.



All these achievements stand as clear evidence that Cuba has realised Fidel Castros early revolutionary dream of creating a fully independent nation where justice prevails.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Lucy Turnbull has announced her resignation from leading the Greater Sydney Commission.

Mrs Turnbull was appointed as the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the commission in 2015 and was reappointed in September 2018.

She left the position on Tuesday 'for personal reasons'.

Lucy Turnbull (pictured right with her husband, Malcolm) was appointed as the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission in 2015 and was reappointed in September 2018

Mrs Turnbull oversaw the development and release of the Greater Sydney Region Plan and the development and release of five associated District Plans

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian released a statement commending Mrs Turnbull 'for her leadership and vision'.

'Greater Sydney is well on its way to becoming a thriving metropolis of three cities and I thank Lucy for her outstanding service and leadership,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'Lucy brought an enormous amount of passion to this incredibly important project and I am certain her legacy will live on in the communities and residents of Greater Sydney.'

She also established local open spaces, walkability to promote health and community, and a female-friendly focus on improving access to services. She resigned from the position for 'personal reasons'

The CEO of the Greater Sydney Commission, Dr Sarah Hill, said Mrs Turnbull 'has been an inspiring leader for our organisation over the past four and a half years'.

'The Commission could not have had a more committed and passionate advocate for Greater Sydney as our inaugural Chief Commissioner.

'Her hard work rightly now deserves to be rewarded with more personal time for Lucy and her family and other opportunities the NSW Government will be announcing.'

Mr Geoff Roberts, the Commission's Deputy Chief Commissioner, has been appointed to the now vacant position from April 1, 2020, until March 2021.

The Premier said this arrangement 'will ensure strong continuity of leadership for the Commission.'
Trump admin. urges Venezuela to release 5 Americans wrongfully detained

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Amid a global coronavirus scare, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo has called on the dictatorial Venezuela regime, which has been accused of crimes against humanity, to release five American citizens who were wrongfully detained on charges of corruption over two years ago and are in the countrys infamous Helicoide prison.

With the Maduro regime now acknowledging that COVID-19 cases are appearing in Venezuela, we are extremely concerned about the risk for the five U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident from Citgo who are currently languishing in the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas, Pompeo said in a statement.

These Americans in detention have weakened immune systems due to cumulative health problems and face a grave health risk if they become infected.

There are 70 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Venezuela, according to John Hopkins University. Worldwide, there are over 300,000 confirmed cases in 184 countries, areas or territories, with a death toll of over 13,000.

The courts have canceled 18 hearings and the six accused, including the U.S. resident, have spent more than two years in jail without an ounce of evidence being brought against them, Pompeo said, urging that it is time to release them on humanitarian grounds.

The six, including the top executive of Citgo, a Texas-based subsidiary of Venezuelas PDVSA, a state-owned natural gas and oil company, were arrested in November 2017, three months after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan regime, under the pretense of an anti-corruption probe, according to The Epoch Times.

After the arrest, President Nicolas Maduro said that former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavezs cousin was taking over as the new president of Citgo, according to the Times.

The sanctions prohibited dealings with the Venezuelan government or its state oil company to prevent the strengthening of the dictatorship of President Maduro.

In May 2018, the Trump administration secured the release of Joshua Holt, a former Mormon missionary from Utah who had been imprisoned in Venezuela since June 2016 on false charges of espionage.

Holt was released after negotiations with Washington to avoid stricter U.S. sanctions.

We hope that this gesture is read by those factions that promote aggression against Venezuela, Venezuela Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez was quoted as saying at the time.

Last week, Trump secured the release of Lebanese-American Amer Fakhoury from prison in Lebanon.

Today we are bringing home another American citizen, big thing, very big, Trump said at the beginning of a coronavirus task force briefing, according to FOX 40.

Fakhoury was accused of kidnapping, torture and murder of prisoners during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
SILVER SPRING, Md., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took action to increase U.S. supplies to support the U.S. response to COVID-19 by providing instructions to manufacturers importing personal protective equipment and other devices.

One of FDA's priorities in combating the COVID-19 pandemic is facilitating access to critical personal protective equipment (PPE) and devices. We are engaging with importers and others involved in the import trade community during this pandemic to facilitate the entry of needed products, including PPE, into the U.S. These instructions to importers clarify the types of PPE that can be imported without engaging with FDA. They also include information about the type of information importers can submit to facilitate their entries. We have adjusted our import screening to further expedite imports of legitimate products and are continually monitoring our import systems to prevent and mitigate any potential issues.

The FDA established a special email inbox, [email protected], for industry representatives to quickly communicate with the agency and address questions or concerns.

The agency is providing maximum flexibility to those seeking to bring PPE into the U.S. and are ready and available to engage with importers to minimize disruptions during the importing process.

Many companies are stepping up across America to help with manufacturing critical and life-saving medical supplies to strengthen the U.S. response. To support their efforts, we are setting up additional avenues of communication to FDA so they can contact us with any questions or concerns around the clock.

Additional Resources:

Media Contact: Stephanie Caccomo, 301-348-1956

Consumer Inquiries: Email or 888-INFO-FDA

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, released after eight months of detention on Tuesday, became an instant toast of twitterati with one of his tweets recording almost 52,000 likes within hours.

Omar received a warm response on Twitter when he posted a picture of himself sporting a grey beard leaving Hari Niwas Palace where he was kept by the authorities during the period.

"232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. It's a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019," said Omar's first tweet after his release which received over 4,384 retweets and about 26,400 likes from socialmedia users.

His subsequent photograph post-lunch his parents captioned "Had lunch with my mum & dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I can't remember a better meal even though I've been in a bit of a daze & don't remember what I ate " received 4,813 retweets and over 44,700 likes.

Omar who turned 50 on March 10 this year also tweeted, "On a lighter note if anyone wants tips on surviving quarantine or a lock down I have months of experience at my disposal, perhaps a blog is in order."



This tweet received an overwhelming 8,932 retweets and 52,000 likes by the time story was being written and numbers kept increasing even as limitations of Internet were there in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

After eight-month-long detention since August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories, Omar offered all help to authorities to fight coronavirus.

"We face the fight of our lives over the next few weeks & months as we come to terms & work to defeat COVID-19. I will do everything in my individual capacity to help the authorities overcome this challenge & I appeal to all of you to do the same," he tweeted receiving about 10000 likes.

Omar thanked his legal team of Kapil Sibal, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Reyaz Shariq for taking the fight against his "unjust PSA detention" to the Supreme Court.

He also thanked his "baby sister Sara" for filing the petition to have him freed.

The order revoking the PSA against him was issued by Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra. Abdullah was booked under the stringent act on February 5, hours before his six-month custody under preventive detention was to end.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A person on Penn States University Park campus has tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced Tuesday.

No details of the case were released, including whether the person was a student or staff member on campus. The university community was notified of the case through a text alert sent Tuesday afternoon.

The university said protocols have been in place for identifying, testing and isolating potential cases in accordance with established health and safety practices.

It is important to note that the great majority of the University Park campus community is working and learning remotely, the university said in a statement. The well-being of our community is our first priority.

The university said it is up to state health officials to share more information on the case.

Of course, we wish all members of the community a full recovery should they test positive for COVID-19, the university said.

Penn State has implemented several measures to try to slow the spread of coronavirus, including guidelines for self-quarantining, remote learning and telecommuting and canceling events.

The school had these suggestions for anyone who may be sick on campus, per the CDC guidelines:

Anyone who feels sick should seek medical advice by first calling ahead to your doctor or an emergency room. Medical professionals are in the best position to recommend whether further action is needed.

Students: University Health Services will only see patients with a scheduled appointment and will not be accepting walk-ins. Students experiencing upper respiratory infection or flu-like illness will need to call the UHS Advice Nurse line at 814-863-4463 prior to having an appointment scheduled. Students at Commonwealth Campuses should contact their on-campus health services office

Faculty/staff: Call your primary care provider.

State College officials have reported seven cases of coronavirus throughout the county as of Tuesday morning. It is unclear if the Penn State case is among the seven reported by the county.

Read more on PennLive:
In an effort to suppress COVID-19, all Oklahoma hospital locations for Hillcrest HealthCare System, Ascension St. John and Saint Francis Health System now are banning visitors except for child patients and for patients in labor and delivery, according to a news release Friday night.

One hospital visitor is allowed to accompany a child or labor and delivery patient to an appointment, delivery and postpartum hospital care. This person must be over the age of 18.

High-level critical care, palliative care, hospice and adult patients requiring assistance from a guardian or caregiver will be addressed on a case-by-case basis regarding visitation.

All three health systems are requesting that visitors with a fever, who may be sick or experiencing flu-like symptoms, not visit the hospital unless they are seeking medical treatment.

The Hillcrest HealthCare System hospitals are Bailey Medical Center, Hillcrest Hospital Claremore, Hillcrest Hospital Cushing, Hillcrest Hospital Henryetta, Hillcrest Medical Center, Hillcrest Hospital South, Hillcrest Hospital Pryor and Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital.

The Ascension St. John hospitals are Ascension St. John Medical Center, Ascension St. John Jane Phillips in Bartlesville, Ascension St. John Broken Arrow, Ascension St. John Owasso, Ascension St. John Sapulpa and Ascension St. John Nowata.
A young nurse arrived back at her car after a long night shift during the coronavirus pandemic to find she had a parking ticket.

Jessica Mullan, 28, left the Women and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, on Monday after finishing an overnight shift.

But when the exhausted mother-of-two arrived back at her car in the early hours of the morning, she realised she'd been hit with a parking ticket for $69.

Jessica Mullan, 28, left the Women and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, on Monday after finishing an overnight shift

Ms Mullan shared a photo of the ticket with popular Instagram page, S**t Adelaide.

'With everything that is going on.. finished my night shift to come to a parking ticket. You have got to be f***ing kidding me,' she wrote.

Instagram users were quick to share their thoughts.

'Disgraceful!' one angry user wrote.

'Lost for words. Proof that all they care about is money,' another said.

But when the exhausted mother-of-two arrived back at her car in the early hours of the morning, she realised she'd been hit with a parking ticket for $69

But just hours after the post was shared, Ms Mullen realised her fine had been paid by a local photographer Sohaib Irshad.

She reposted the fine with the word 'Paid' written in large letters over the top of the image.

'She didn't ask, we didn't ask,' S**t Adelaide wrote in an updated post.

'A local photographer has paid the parking fine issued to a nurse with no strings attached - not all heroes wear a capes.'

The page administrators encouraged others to 'pay it forward' and help others in times of crisis.

South Australian cases of COVID-19 have hit 134 with 34 new cases reported on Monday.
KOLKATA: An IndiGo Airline staffer and her mother were allegedly harassed by their neighbours in Kolkata over suspicion that the former had contracted the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 infection, which has so far killed at least 10 people across the country.

According to Zee Media reports, Amrita Saha, an Indigo cabin crew member from Kolkata, had alleged in a video that went viral claiming that she had mother were being harassed by their neighbours over suspicion being affected by the virus.

Two days back, Amritas mother was harassed by her neighbours who said that her daughter might be affected by the coronavirus as she works for a private airline as a cabin crew and travels abroad.

On Monday, when her mother went to a grocery store, she was denied groceries and her neighbours threatened that she will be dragged to the hospital.

When Amrita arrived at her home in the evening on Monday after discharging her duties, a large number of people gathered outside her house and threatened her.

Even the Kolkata Police officials also refused to help the two women.

Police came forward to help them only after a video showing Amrita pleading for healp while moving in a cab went viral on Twitter.



Police reached her house on Tuesday morning and assured them of all possible help.

The Kolkata Police said that they will also carry out an awareness programs in the area to educate people and not to harass those involved with essential services.

Meanwhile, two more persons were detected coronavirus positive in West Bengal, taking the count of such cases in the eastern state to nine. So far, one of the patients in the state has succumbed to the disease.

According to the ID Hospital, Beliaghata, swab samples of both new patients tested positive at the virology lab of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases on Monday night.

However, an official said, the samples have been sent for second confirmatory test. The results are expected by the evening. Both of them, kept in isolation at the ID Hospital, have recent history of foreign travel. While one of them returned from London, another had visited Egypt.

Earlier, seven persons tested positive for the deadly infection, one of whom died on Monday night.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm on Tuesday and discuss key aspects of the Covid-19 disease that has killed nine and infected 492 people in India, he announced on Twitter.

This is the second time in a week when he will address the country on the fast-spreading disease with flu-like symptoms that has infected 377,400 people across the world and killed over 16,500.

I will share some important things with the countrymen regarding the global outbreak of coronavirus outbreak. Today, 24 March I will address the country at 8 pm, his tweet read.

                  , 24   8     



Will address the nation at 8 PM today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2020

Also Watch | PM Modi proposes janta curfew: Watch full speech

In a television address last Thursday, Modi highlighted the threat posed by the Sars-Cov-2 virus  which causes the disease, appealed to people to practise social distancing and work from home, and asked Indians to take a pledge to keep themselves and others in the society safe.

He apprised the nation of an emergency task force to mitigate the economic challenges stemming from the crisis and requested citizens to observe a Janata curfew (peoples curfew) while laying stress on the concepts of determination and restraint in his 30-minute address.

The Janta Curfew was in place for 14 hours on Sunday - from 7 am to 9 pm. And, as advised by the Prime Minister, people stayed off the roads and public places during this period.

During and after that peoples curfew on Sunday, India announced unprecedented restrictions, including travel curbs, to stop the infection. As many as 32 states and Union Territories, including Delhi, are under complete lockdown.

On Monday, Modi appealed to state governments to ensure the adherence to the unprecedented measures announced in several parts of the country, saying that many people are still not taking the situation seriously. And then, again on Twitter, Modi said he called upon industry leaders to continue following the work-from-home order as much as possible.
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Ni Komang Erviani and Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 15:40 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d229ea 1 National coronavirus,#coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,inmates,#Inmates,prison,#prison,correctional-facility,COVID-19-bali,COVID-19-Jakarta Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodos call to practice social distancing to slow down the spread of COVID-19 is practically impossible to implement in the countrys overcrowded correctional facilities, making them particularly vulnerable to the illness.

As the number of inmates has outstripped the capacity of penitentiaries in almost all of Indonesias provinces, correctional authorities are scrambling to lower the risk of infection inside prisons, mostly by limiting prison visits.

Kerobokan mens penitentiary in Bali, for example, has decided to ban all visitors until March 31 to protect inmates and staff as the novel coronavirus spreads outside. It holds 1,670 inmates, including 76 foreigners from 29 countries, far above its capacity of 352 prisoners.

Read also: COVID-19: Nearly 2,000 foreigners seek to stay in Bali as home countries close borders

Unfortunately, its impossible for us to implement social distancing inside the prison as we dont have the facilities to do so. Thats why we are focusing on preventing infection from outside and sterilizing the prison and all prisoners, Kerobokan prison warden Yulius Sahruzah told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

We have 1,670 people inside. That is too many. It is too risky even if a single inmate is ever infected.

As of Monday, Bali had recorded six COVID-19 cases and two deaths, a British woman and a French man.

Family members and relatives of Kerobokan inmates can now only contact their loved ones through video calls provided by prison authorities.

Infrared body temperature scanners and hand sanitizers are provided in the jail, particularly for the prison guards to prevent them from bringing the virus to the penitentiary from outside. Authorities regularly spray disinfectant in the facility and have temporarily suspended empowerment programs for inmates involving religious communities and non-governmental organizations.

A man sprays disinfectant at Kerobokan prison in Bali on Thursday. (Courtesy of /Kerobokan prison)

In Tanjung Gusta penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra, a two-week lockdown is in effect. It began on Monday.

Tanjung Gusta warden Frans Elias Nico said that only lawyers were allowed to visit their clients during the period. The prison also offers a video calling facility for family members to contact inmates.

Lily, a Medan resident whose husband is serving a prison term in Tanjung Gusta, expressed her disappointment about not being able to visit her husband on his birthday later this week.

But she agreed that the lockdown was necessary given the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its sad that I cannot visit my husband in the penitentiary because of the lockdown. But its all right since I can video call, Lily said.

Read also: Forget 'mudik' this year, govt tells people as Idul Fitri moves closer

There have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases inside prisons so far. But legal and human rights activists have been quick to warn the government that failing to act could expose the prison population to the coronavirus, particularly given the massive levels of overcrowding in Indonesian jails.

The countrys correctional facilities are notorious for holding inmates above their capacities. Indonesia has 524 penitentiaries and detention centers that, as of March 23, hold a total of 268,967 inmates, more than double the total capacity of 131,931 inmates, according data from the Law and Human Rights Ministry. Understaffing has also been a longstanding issue plaguing correctional facilities across the country, with Jakarta having only 806 guards to monitor more than 18,000 inmates. Bali and North Sumatra have 300 and 1,257 guards respectively, far lower than the number of inmates held in the two provinces.

Law and Human Rights Ministry acting corrections director general Nugraha has instructed correctional facilities across Indonesia to adopt precautionary measures that he said were essential to prevent local transmission from occurring inside prisons: temperature checks for visitors and guards and the regular disinfection of jails.

No inmates have been detected as [COVID-19] ODP [people under surveillance] or PDP [patients under treatment], Corrections Directorate General spokesperson Rika Aprianti said on Monday.

ODP is the governments official term for people who have traveled recently in infected regions or have come in contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases but have not shown any symptoms. The PDP status is given to those already showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and already under medical care but whose statuses need confirmation with testing.

As of Monday, Indonesia had recorded 579 confirmed cases and 49 deaths. About 61 percent of positive cases were found in Jakarta, making the capital the epicenter of the pandemic in Indonesia.

Read also: Readiness of Greater Jakarta hospitals key in mitigating spread of COVID-19

Yet Rika said the inmates risk of contracting the disease remained low as their contact with the outside world had been limited even before the pandemic, brushing off concerns that social distancing was hard to implement in the overcrowded facilities.

According to Rika, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has ordered the Corrections Directorate General to prepare at least one jail cell as a coronavirus isolation ward in each province to prepare for possible infections inside correctional facilities.

Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) researcher Genoveva Alicia urged the government to consider releasing select inmates, particularly those in line for parole or at the end of their prison terms.

There should be an assessment [to explore possibilities for the release of inmates], but such a measure should be done quickly. [Those] in line for parole should be accelerated, Genoveva said.

She also cautioned the wardens to enact the visitor restriction policy carefully, saying that such a measure could lead to prison riots as inmates often relied on their family members to obtain basic necessities.

The outbreak, which has infected at least 367,000 people worldwide and has claimed at least 16,000 lives, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, has prompted authorities worldwide to take drastic measures in prisons. The Iranian government temporarily freed 85,000 prisoners in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19 among its prison population, while United States President Donald Trump said he was considering issuing an executive order to release some prisoners, according to Reuters.
A New Jersey judge has been officially censured and offered to step down from his position as an assignment judge in Middlesex County after telling a woman suing her lover's wife that she should send naked photos of herself to Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

The New Jersey Supreme Court announced on Monday that it has accepted the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct to censure Middlesex County Assignment Judge Alberto Rivas for conduct in violation of judicial canons.

Rivas will continue serving on the bench as a judge in the civil division.

Middlesex County Assignment Judge Alberto Rivas has been officially censured for his handling of a revenge porn case last year

Superior Court Judge Michael Toto, 62, a criminal presiding judge in Middlesex County, has been chosen to replace Rivas as assigning judge.

Rivas previously apologized for his conduct and indicated he was seeking counseling.

'I regret the comments I made during the proceeding,' Rivas said in a statement released by court officials. 'I felt the court was being manipulated, but I let my feelings about the case influence my language, tone and demeanor, all of which were inappropriate.'

Superior Court Judge Michael Toto, 62 (pictured), a criminal presiding judge in Middlesex, has been chosen to replace Rivas as assigning judge

In February, the disciplinary panel found Rivas 'demonstrated a lack of self-control' during a January 2019 dispute involving the girlfriend of a married man, and his wife. The girlfriend was seeking to have the wife return explicit photos of herself that she feared would be shared on social media.

The committee also concluded that the jurist exhibited 'repeated displays of discourtesy' to all three people in the love triangle and 'went above and beyond the appropriate bounds.'

Rivas raised doubts about the girlfriend's claim and felt the woman was trying to embarrass the wife. He called the man 'despicable' and 'a knucklehead' and told all three he was 'just dying to whack one of you.'

Rivas also told the girlfriend that the only person she should be sending the pictures to was Hefner, who 'would pay you $100,000 for the use of them.'

Hefner died in 2017 at the age of 91 after suffering complications from an infection.

Rivas was highly skeptical of the mistress' account, and accused her of manufacturing a 'complete fabrication' to damage the wife's reputation.

Rivas told a woman suing her lover's wife that she should sell her nude photos to the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (pictured) for $100,000

Rivas (left with retired judge Harriet E. Derman) later apologized for his 'inappropriate' conduct and said he was seeking counseling

Rivas blasted the mistress in court after she claimed not to know where the wife worked.

'Baloney. That's not true. If you're screwing him - let's be frank now, because I should not be wasting judicial resources on this kind of malarkey. If you have been screwing him for these years, there's no question that you know where she works. That's how affairs work. This is not someone you just met,' the judge said at the hearing, according to court documents.

Rivas also questioned why the wife did not divorce the husband, who works as a corrections officer.

'I would suggest divorce, and take half his pension. That's an option you have, having sat in Family Court,' Rivas told her. 'You can take his pension.'

Rivas said in a response to the complaint that his comments were not borne from 'family, social, political, financial or other relationships or interests.'

He said he was responding to a 'bad faith' allegation from the mistress and not bias or prejudice.

The panels report also noted that Rivas was privately reprimanded in 2013 and 2014 for his previous conduct in court.
New Delhi, March 24 : Two interlocutors appointed by the Supreme Court to hold talks with the Shaheen Bagh protesters on Tuesday asked the latter as well as authorities not to do anything that escalated matters in view of the coronavirus scare in India.

The interlocutors appealed after Delhi police on Tuesday morning cleared the spot where the protesters had been holding their 101-day-long dharna in Shaheen Bagh in Jamia Nagar area, dubbed the 'heart of anti-CAA protests in India'.

Police claimed the site had to be cleared of the protesters following the coronavirus outbreak and curfew imposed across Delhi to stop its spread.

On February 17, Senior advocate Sanjay Hedge and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran were appointed interlocutors by a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph to urge the protesters to vacate the public road at Shaheen Bagh and find an alternative spot to continue their protest.

"A grave pandemic is threatening the country and it must receive priority in terms of everyone's attention. We request the administration and the protestors to now not do anything that will exacerbate the underlying tensions that culminated in the street protests," the two interlocutor said in statement.

"As Supreme Court appointed interlocutors, we had submitted two reports to the court, detailing our efforts and the situation prevailing then," said the interlocutors while urging everybody to see the issue not as a question of win or lose.

They emphasized that the process of interlocution has reinforced many invaluable lessons, including the need for continued dialogue at all times.

"We believe that the Supreme Court-mandated interlocution kept Shaheen Bagh protests peaceful even while violence erupted in other parts of Delhi. Some rigours of the blockade were relaxed by the protesters, clearing some peripheral roads. Today, the few remaining Shaheen Bagh protestors have been finally dispersed peacefully with minimal force," added the interlocutors.

According to the police, no force was used during the process; however, several protesters, who refused to leave the venue despite continuous persuasion, had to be taken into preventive detention.

Deputy Commissioner of Police R.P. Meena said: "Police requested them to vacate the place but they refused. So, police cleared the area and detained a few protesters." The Delhi Police said all protest sites in Jaffrabad, Jamia and Turkman Gate have been cleared and some persons detained at these places.

The agitation at Shaheen Bagh began on December 15, 2019 after police action in Jamia Millia Islamia wherein police force was used against anti-CAA protesters, injuring many students.

According to Shaheen Bagh residents, police reached the protest site around 6.45 am on Tuesday and asked the protesters to vacate the site.

"We were following precautions for protection against COVID-19; only five of us were sitting on protest but they (Delhi police) did not allow us to protest. They have removed us forcibly," one of the women protesters said.

Another area resident Shahrukh said: "They came out of nowhere and since it was early morning only a few protesters were present at the site. Now when the spot has been cleared they have deployed heavy force." Though heavy police force was deployed to stop protesters from reassembling, the road connecting Noida to Delhi is still not opened for public because of the ongoing curfew.

According to officials in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), the civic body will now clean up the site and try to repair the damage there to public property. The Public Works Department will also take up the repair and cleaning process.
McDonalds and Nandos Shut Down All Their UK Restaurants, Even for Takeout

McDonalds and Nandos will close all their restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting Monday, including for takeout, to help limit the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The Epoch Times 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.

Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonalds UK and Ireland, said in a statement Sunday that the decision had been taken because it was increasingly difficult to maintain safe social distancing while operating busy takeaway and drive thru restaurants.

The UK government has advised against all non-essential social contact and is urging people to keep a distance of at least two meters if they need to leave their homes.

On Friday, it ordered all pubs, bars, and restaurants to close but said they could continue offering food and drink to go.

Nandos said in a statement that eat in, takeaway, and delivery for customers will all stop until further notice.

Both chains said food from restaurants will be distributed to those most in need.

McDonalds employs 135,000 people across more than 1,350 restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 86 percent of which were run by franchisees as of March 2019.

A spokesperson for McDonalds said Monday that employees of company-owned restaurants would be paid for their scheduled hours until April 5. The spokesperson added that franchisees set their own pay and conditions for their employees.

We are working closely with our franchisees during this challenging time and have shared our company guidance on pay for those employees who need to self-isolate or who contract coronavirus, the spokesperson said.

McDonalds said it will ensure that employees who are eligible can fully benefit from the support packages announced by the UK and Irish governments.

The company closed dining areas at its stores in the United States last week and urged franchisees to do the same. In several states, restaurants have been forced to do takeaway only.

Nandos has over 400 company-owned restaurants across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The company did not respond to requests for comment on whether it will continue to pay staff salaries while restaurants are closed, or whether it will approach the government for help paying wages.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.

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JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- During these unprecedented and unpredictable times, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service reminds taxpayers they can file with a trusted Tax Pro without stepping into an office. Though the deadline to make tax payments and file 2019 federal income taxes was extended until July 15, 2020, taxpayers can still file with the IRS now and have been encouraged to do so if they expect a refund.

"At Jackson Hewitt, the health and wellbeing of our clients, Tax Pros, and communities is of the utmost importance and we are cooperating with actions taken by government officials to stop the spread of COVID-19," said Alan D. Ferber, CEO of Jackson Hewitt. "We also know that many taxpayers could really use their refund money, especially Americans who find themselves without work or unable to pay bills. We hope Jackson Hewitt's ways to file are one small way we can help."

Jackson Hewitt Tax Pro From Home is a new service this year that allows clients to upload all necessary tax documents online and a skilled Tax Pro will review all documents, connect with the client to answer any questions, complete the tax preparation, and file the tax return  all without the client ever coming to an office. Once Jackson Hewitt has everything needed, the return will be ready for review within 24 hours, or it's free  guaranteed. In addition to this 24-hour guarantee1, taxpayers who choose Jackson Hewitt Tax Pro From Home also receive the Lifetime Accuracy Guarantee2 and Guaranteed Biggest Refund or $1003 that comes with tax returns filed with Jackson Hewitt.

For clients in areas still being served by local businesses, Jackson Hewitt Tax Pros are practicing social distancing, have increased cleaning practices outlined by local and national health officials, and are moving to "appointment only" so walk-ins don't create idle time or gatherings in a lobby. The company also strongly encourages all clients to take advantage of its Document Drop-off service. Clients can visit jacksonhewitt.com to get a personalized checklist of needed documents, drop them off at an office, and can then finish their return from home.

MyJH allows clients to upload tax documents to their MyJH account from home, work with their trusted Tax Pro, have their return prepared, and come in quickly to sign when the return is ready.

"During this difficult and ever-changing time, we know we are all in this together and we continue to serve our clients, get them their much-needed refunds while following the guidance of our local and national health officials," Ferber added.

To learn more about Jackson Hewitt Tax Pro From Home, visit www.jacksonhewitt.com/file-from-home.

About Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. is an innovator in the tax industry, with a mission to provide its hard-working clients access to simple, low-cost solutions to manage their taxes and tax refunds. Jackson Hewitt is devoted to helping clients get ahead and stands behind its work with its Guaranteed Biggest Refund or $100 and Lifetime Accuracy guarantees. Clients can choose to file at one of Jackson Hewitt's nearly 6,000 franchised and company-owned locations, including 3,000 in Walmart stores and online. Jackson Hewitt makes it easy and convenient for clients to file their taxes. For more information about products, services, and offers, or to locate a Jackson Hewitt office, visit www.jacksonhewitt.com or call 1 (800) 234-1040.

24 Hours, Guaranteed1

Services may vary by state. 24 hour period begins after completed Tax Interview with JH Tax Pro and submission of all necessary tax docs and supporting info. If eligible, refund of paid tax prep fee will be automatically refunded to credit/debit card within 72 hours, or on prepaid card if necessary (e.g. Assisted Refund clients). Other terms apply. See Guarantee Terms at jacksonhewitt.com.

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With our Lifetime Accuracy Guarantee, if there is an error preparing your return, your local office will reimburse you for penalties and interest. You must notify us within 30 days of receiving initial notice from a taxing authority and provide necessary documents and/or assistance. Terms and conditions apply. Visit jacksonhewitt.com for details.

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FEDERAL RETURNS ONLY. If you are entitled to a larger refund, we'll refund the tax preparation fees paid to us for that filed return (other product and service fees excluded) and give you an additional $100. Same tax facts must apply. You must file an amended return with another paid tax preparation company and/or online provider by April 15, 2020 and submit your claim no later than October 14, 2020 with proof that the IRS accepted the positions taken on the amended return. Terms and conditions apply. Visit jacksonhewitt.com for details.

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More than a dozen warships and submarines are today deployed on front-line operations from the snow-capped mountains of South Georgia to the humid tropics of South-east Asia, keeping the UK safe and the sea lanes open for trade to flow.

More than a dozen warships and submarines are today deployed on front-line operations from the snow-capped mountains of South Georgia to the humid tropics of South-east Asia, keeping the UK safe and the sea lanes open for trade to flow.

Royal Navy stands ready to help (Picture source: British Royal Navy)

At home Royal Navy and Royal Marines Reservists are being put on standby as part of the militarys response to the Coronavirus, while Royal Navy surgeons, GPs, nurses and medical specialists are already working side-by-side with their NHS colleagues in hospitals across the country  especially Derriford in Plymouth and Queen Alexandra in Portsmouth  to treat and look after those affected.

In these uncertain times, the men and women of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary  supported by their families, civilians and industry partners  are continuing to perform their regular duties:

Frigate HMS Argyll is steaming across the Mediterranean to take over from destroyer HMS Defender patrolling the Gulf and Indian Ocean; the latter returned to Portsmouth on Friday.

Argyll is due to be away for up to seven months, taking her place alongside five other Royal Navy warships  frigate HMS Montrose and minehunters Ledbury, Blyth, Shoreham and Brocklesby  plus their support and command ship RFA Cardigan Bay operating from Bahrain; well over 1,000 sailors and Royal Marines are committed to the UKs Middle East mission.

New patrol ships HMS Forth and Medway continue their long-term missions  Forth reassuring Falkland Islanders and Britons in the South Atlantic, Medway doing the same for British and Commonwealth citizens in the Caribbean, as well as supporting the international fight against drug trafficking and remaining ready to provide humanitarian aid wherever it is needed.

Minehunter HMS Grimsby and frigate HMS Sutherland are supporting NATOs work on patrol in the waters of northern Europe.

Survey ships HMS Scott and Enterprise are deployed to the Atlantic and Far East gathering data about the worlds oceans so we better understand them.

In home waters, frigates HMS Richmond and Lancaster are carrying out their post-refit trials and training.

And, as there has been continuously for the past 51 years, a Royal Navy submarine from Clyde Naval Base is carrying out the No.1 mission of UK defence: a nuclear deterrent patrol. It is safeguarded in its mission by, among others, Merlin helicopters from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall and Royal Marines of 43 Commando at the submarines home.

Meanwhile, at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, 42 men and women completed their ten-week conversion from civilian to sailor, passing out on Friday; today they move on to begin their specialist training as chefs, seamen, warfare or logistical experts, engineers, divers, medics and the like.

And at Lympstone in Devon, Britains newest green berets passed out and became fully-fledged Royal Marine Commandos after completing 32 weeks of the most gruelling and demanding basic training by any military personnel on the globe. Due to the virus situation, families watched the men of 284 Troops Kings Squad parade via the internet.

HMS Vanguard (Picture source: British Royal Navy)
[March 24, 2020] Anomali Offers Open Source Threat Intelligence to Fight COVID-19-themed Cyber Attacks

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the growing threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19)-themed cyberattacks, Anomali , a leader in intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions, today publicly released over 6,000 open source Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) that were collected, curated, and validated by Anomali researchers. In addition, Anomali has also released a related Threat Bulletin providing a narrative description of the attacks being seen. This actionable threat intelligence, which identifies COVID-19-related threats and the malicious actors looking to capitalize on the pandemic, is available now for organizations to immediately feed into their cybersecurity technologies to rapidly and proactively block the identified threats.

For Anomali customers - the Anomali COVID-19 Campaign Threat Model and COVID-19 Threat Bulletin are automatically available for use by organizations with access to Anomali ThreatStreamincluding all of Anomalis enterprise clients and over 2,000 organizations participating in threat intelligence-sharing communities powered by Anomali.

- the Anomali COVID-19 Campaign Threat Model and COVID-19 Threat Bulletin are automatically available for use by organizations with access to Anomali ThreatStreamincluding all of Anomalis enterprise clients and over 2,000 organizations participating in threat intelligence-sharing communities powered by Anomali. For other organizations - Anomali have made static versions of this threat intelligence available for download at www.anomali.com/covid19 . Anomali researchers found 6,200 Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) and at least 15 distinct campaigns associated with 11 threat actors or groups distributing 39 different malware families using 80 varius MITRE ATT&CK techniques. Given the spike in malicious activity related to COVID-19, combined with governments and businesses enforcing social distancing and remote work, we assess the threat presented by COVID-19-related phishing campaigns against public and private enterprises will continue to rise. This graphic provides a chronology of COVID-19-related cyber activity .



Anomali recognizes this pandemic as a particularly stressful time for cybersecurity experts already burdened with the fears we are all facing. With that in mind, we want to ensure the widest dissemination of this vital threat intelligence, regardless of whether organizations are our current clients, said Hugh Njemanze, CEO of Anomali. For more information on the COVID-19 threat intelligence provided by Anomali, please check out our blog .

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anomali

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anomali/

Blog: https://www.anomali.com/blog About Anomali Anomali delivers intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions. Our solutions include Anomali ThreatStream, Anomali Match, and Anomali Lens. Private enterprises and public organizations use Anomali to harness threat data, information, and intelligence to make effective cybersecurity decisions and detect and respond to threats. Anomali customers include more than 2,300 global organizations, many of the Global 2000 and Fortune 500, and large government and defense organizations around the world. Founded in 2013, it is backed by leading venture firms including GV, Paladin Capital Group, Institutional Venture Partners, and General Catalyst. Learn more at www.anomali.com Anomali Media Contact:

Melissa Neumann

408-666-1946

[email protected]

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AUSTIN  Gov. Greg Abbott has moved to halt abortions in the state, an effort his office says will free up critical medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statewide order Sunday, Abbott postponed all elective surgeries as a means to conserve medical supplies needed by hospitals to combat the spread of COVID-19. Under the directive, which lasts until April 21, hospitals cant perform surgeries unless the patient faces an immediate risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death, as determined by the patients physician.

Attorney General Ken Paxtons office confirmed in a statement Monday that the prohibition applies to any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

The office said failure to comply could result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time.

For subscribers: Gov. Greg Abbott makes most urgent plea for federal help yet

We must work together as Texans to stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that our health care professionals and facilities have all the resources they need to fight the virus at this time, Paxton said.

In 2017, the most recent year of available state data, there were about 52,000 abortions performed in Texas.

The order follows a similar decision on Friday by Ohios attorney general and has sparked a fierce backlash from abortion proponents.

Reproductive health care is essential health care, the Texas Freedom Network said in a statement. There are many reasons women decide to have an abortion in the already limited time window state law allows, and a delay means denying them the constitutional right to make those decisions in a safe, timely manner with the help of their doctors.

Officials in Washington state and Massachusetts, where abortion rights are more widely protected, have said similar orders halting elective surgeries do not apply to abortions.

Its still unclear how Texas providers will respond. Some providers had already postponed surgical abortions by Monday, but were still performing medication abortions, believing that they were not included in the order. Advocates also questioned whether the attorney generals directive, which came in a press release, is legally binding.

In a joint statement, the CEOs of three Texas Planned Parenthood affiliates said they were reviewing the order to ensure compliance. It performs the bulk of the states abortions.

The priority of all Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas is the health and safety of our patients and staff, and ensuring that Texans can access essential health care, including abortion, said Ken Lambrecht of the Greater Texas affiliate, Melaney A. Linton of Gulf Coast and Jeffrey Hons of South Texas in the statement.

Abortion rights advocates said the decision will unfairly target women who already face hurdles to getting healthcare, including women of color and those working low-wage jobs without benefits.

There is certainly a strain on the healthcare system right now, added Abigail Aiken, assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Texas who studies reproductive health. But the vast majority of abortions are not done in hospitals, nor are hospitals involved in any part of the care pathway.

Anti-abortion advocates meanwhile praised the move.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A week-long nationwide lockdown began in Nepal on Tuesday to stem the spread of fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic which has killed nearly 17,000 people and infected 3.8 lakh others globally.

On the first day of the restrictions, markets remained closed and roads wore a deserted look barring the vehicles of security personnel and medical facilities.

A meeting of the high-level committee for the prevention and control of COVID-19 led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel took the decision on Monday, hours after a second coronavirus case was confirmed in Kathmandu.

Following the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nepal government enforced lockdown to contain the possible spread of coronavirus.

Nepal has so far tested two positive patients. The government has asked people to remain inside homes. However, medicine shops and gas stations have been allowed to operate.

Those violating the lockdown will be fined Rs 1,000 or one month imprisonment or both.

The government on Tuesday decided to allow Nepalese nationals returning from India through land-route till Tuesday evening. However, they need to remain in quarantine for 14 days.

The government has already closed its borders with India and China for a week starting Monday.

Police in Mahottari district of Province 2 have confiscated 48 two-wheelers for lockdown-related violations.

They have also arrested 52 people from Kathmandu for gathering enemas.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths from the coronavirus cases stood at 16,961 across the world, according to multiple reports.

More than 386,350 declared cases have been registered in 175 countries and territories since the pandemic first emerged in China in December.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Azunyere Chima

A 23-year-old secondary school teacher in Ogun State, Azunyere Chima, has been arrested by the men of the Ogun State Police Command, for forcefully having unlawful carnal knowledge of his 14-year-old student.

According to Nigerian Tribune, a statement by the State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, revealed that the suspect was arrested following a report by the father of the victim at Ibafo Divisional headquarters.

Nigerian Tribune reports that the randy teacher was alleged to have lured the girl into his apartment on the pretence that he wanted to assist her with school work.

The statement read: The 23yr old randy teacher was apprehended following a report by the father of the victim, who reported at Ibafo divisional headquarters, that his daughter was lured to the house of the suspect who happened to be her art teacher under the pretence that he wanted to help her on her practical work.

On getting to his house, the suspect dragged her into his room, overpowered and forcefully had sex with her, as a result of which the victim was bleeding seriously from her private part.

Upon the report, the DPO Ibafo, SP Abiodun Ayinde, detailed his detectives to the residence of the suspect at No.2 Unity close, Aseese where he was promptly arrested.

He has since made a confessional statement to the police, while the victim has been taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
British army intervenes to forestall collapse of NHS

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 3:19 PM

After days of speculation the British army has finally been deployed to help combat the deadly COVID-19 disease, albeit in a limited capacity, at least for the time being.

It is understood that the army's role is currently limited to the delivery of protective medical equipment to frontline National Health Service (NHS) staff engaged in the fight against COVID-19.

According to Sky News, hospital trusts have been told to expect deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, safety glasses, gloves, aprons and protective suits "around the clock".

The army has been tasked to intervene in order to strengthen the health service's supply chain after NHS staff warned they lack correct and adequate equipment to protect themselves in coronavirus-related clinical settings.

According to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, army trucks will deliver equipment to "all who need it".

Speaking to Sky News earlier today, Hancock claimed a "PPE shipment" was delivered to "every hospital" over the weekend.

It is not clear if he was referring to every hospital in the UK or hospitals in England and Wales only.

Moreover, it is not clear at this stage if the army's intervention is part of Operation Broadshare, a wide-ranging military plan to intervene in the coronavirus outbreak with a view to ensuring public safety and national security.

But in a sign the British military is planning to intervene more deeply in the crisis, it is being reported the army has told soldiers that commands issued over the messaging platform Whatsapp are now "legally binding".

The mounting reports and speculation centered on a significant military intervention speak to the hidden depths of the coronavirus crisis in the UK, with the British establishment increasingly fearful of a breakdown of social order.

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- Ghana's Balance of Trade has increased from $378 million in February 2019 to $780 million in February 2020

- This is as a result of a decline in imports as well as an increase in prices of traditional commodities like gold, oil and cocoa

- Its $10 billion Gross International Reserve as of February 2020 is also an increase from $6.3 million a year before

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Ghana recorded a surplus of $780 million in its Balance of Trade in February 2020, YEN.com.gh has learned.

This represents 1.1% of the total value of all goods and services produced in the country.

The current figure is an increase from the $378 million recorded in February 2019, which was 0.6% of the then Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

READ ALSO: Bank of Ghana extends deadline for minimum capital for mobile money operators to December 2020

The Bank of Ghana explained that the growth in the balance is the result of a decline in Ghanas imports for the period under review.

Per a report by citibusinessnews.com, Ghana also enjoyed an upsurge in prices of commodities such as gold and cocoa.

In February 2020, Ghana earned $2.76 billion dollars from the export of cocoa, gold, oil and other traditional commodities, representing an increase from the $2.67 billion dollars recorded in 2019.

In February 2020, Ghana also spent $1.98 billion to import oil and non-oil commodities, and this was lesser than the $2.29 billion used in the same period a year ago.

Presently, Ghanas Gross International Reserve, which is a measure of the countrys ability to afford, given that all top streams of income are not affected, stood at $10 billion in February 2020.

This can cover 4.8 months of import cover and represents an increase from the $6.3 billion recorded a year ago, and could cover 3.2 months of import cover.

In other news, commercial banks in Ghana ended the year 2019 with a cumulative profit after tax of GHC3.3 billion.

This represents a strong growth of 38% of the 2018 profit recorded, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) announced.

The central bank indicated that the increase in profit was a result of increases in both net interest income as well as fee and commission income surging past the increase in operating expenses.

The results led to increased profitability indicators such as the after-tax Return on Equity (ROE) and before-tax Return on Assets (ROA)

READ ALSO: Ghana's cedi and 5 other currencies emerge as the best in Africa

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Crater Lake National Park and several other national park sites across the Pacific Northwest have temporarily closed to the public, responding to the coronavirus outbreak that has spread across the U.S.

The national park made the announcement Tuesday morning, as other parks announced closures of their own. Park officials said rangers will remain at Crater Lake to enforce the closure and protect the park. There will be no access into the park, though Oregon 62 on the southern end will remain open to traffic.

The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners at Crater Lake National Park is our number one priority, park officials said in a news release.

Other park closures in Oregon include the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and John Day Fossil Beds. In Washington, Olympic and North Cascades national parks closed campgrounds and facilities, as well as some trailheads and access roads.

National parks around the country followed suit Tuesday, from Yellowstone to the Great Smoky Mountains.

The closures come less than a week after the National Park Service announced it was waiving all entrance fees during the coronavirus outbreak, encouraging people to continue visiting park sites as a way to get out of the house and relax with nature.

Our vast public lands that are overseen by the Department offer special outdoor experiences to recreate, embrace nature and implement some social distancing, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said in a news release at the time.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have continued to increase since then, forcing several states to issue stay-at-home orders, including Oregon and Washington.

The park service has so far made no announcement about the sweeping closures.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media at the Javits Convention Center, which is being turned into a hospital to help fight CCP virus cases, in New York City on March 24, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

New York Reports Another Surge in COVID-19 Cases, Two to Three Weeks From Apex: Governor

New York state is 14 to 21 days from the peak of COVID-19 infections, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on March 24, as he asked the Trump administration to give the state all 20,000 ventilators in the national stockpile.

Officials previously predicted the peak would hit on May 1.

State officials had projected a need for 110,000 hospital beds, but the rate of COVID-19 infection is increasing, prompting officials to raise the projected curvethe projected rise, peak, and fall.

New projections show New York may need 140,000 beds, Cuomo said.

The apex of this pandemic is higher and sooner than we thought. We believe we are 14 to 21 days away from this apex, he told reporters in New York City.

We are scaling hospital capacity as fast as humanly possible. I will turn this state upside down to get the hospital beds we need.

Cuomo pleaded with the federal government to give up the 20,000 ventilators in reserve to the state.

Four hundred ventilators from the federal government arrived in New York City on March 24 but Cuomo dismissed the number, telling reporters: Four hundred ventilators? I need 30,000 ventilators.

Parts are machined at Twin City Die Castings, an employee-owned company making aluminum and magnesium parts for ventilator compressors and housings, in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2014. (Twin City Die Castings Co/Handout via Reuters)

Youre missing the magnitude of the problem, and the problem is defined by the magnitude, he said.

President Donald Trump pushed back in a virtual town hall in Washington, noting that the government sent some ventilators to the state.

They couldve had 15,000 or 16,000, if they had ordered them in 2015, Trump said. They cant blame us.

Four thousand additional ventilators were being sent to the state over the next 24 hours, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said later in the day. The ventilators were coming as a result of discussions between Cuomos office, Zeldin, and incoming White House Chief of Staff Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

Surge in Infections

New York reported another surge in infections, with 4,790 new cases, including 2,599 in New York City. The state now has 25,665 confirmed cases, the bulk of whichmore than 14,900are in the city.

Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties each have more than 1,800 confirmed cases, with each seeing an increase of 422 or more overnight.

What happened to New York is going to wind up happening to California and Washington state and Illinois. Its just a matter of time, Cuomo said.

Deploy the resources. Deploy the ventilators here in New York for our apex. Once were past that critical point, deploy the ventilators to other parts of the country where theyre needed.

New York would be responsible for transporting the ventilators to anywhere in the country the Trump administration wants, the governor said.

People line up to get a test at Elmhurst Hospital due to the CCP virus outbreak in Queens, New York, on March 24, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

He also called on Trump to use the Defense Production Act to force companies to produce ventilators to help meet the 30,000 figure that state officials are projecting.

Some companies are stepping forward and shifting their manufacturing facilities to the production of ventilators, Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told reporters on March 23. They include Ford, General Electric, and 3M.

The administration asked governors to survey all outpatient surgical centers and hospital operating rooms for surgical ventilators, which can be easily be converted to ventilators for people with COVID-19 because of a decision the Food and Drug Administration made recently. There are tens of thousands of surgical ventilators across the nation, according to Pence.

Thats in addition to what we have in the National Stockpile, the ventilators that we have in the marketplace today, as well as extraordinary efforts by American industry to step up and join us in manufacturing more ventilators for the American people, Pence said.

The White House didnt immediately return questions about whether the administration will send additional ventilators to New York.
No procession in Rome to mark 76th anniversary of massacre.

With Italy in lockdown due to the Coronavirus emergency, no public events are permitted, including the annual procession to mark the anniversary of the Fosse Ardeatine massacre in 1944, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

This year, to commemorate the 335 people killed by the then occupying Nazi forces on this day 76 years ago, Romans are being asked to light a candle and sing the anti-fascist song Bella Ciao - "the universal song of the Resistance" - from their balconies at 18.00.

The call, issued by 50 different organisations including partisan associations, comes with the message: "Rome cannot forget a wound that will never be healed."

The mass killing at Fosse Ardeatine, a former quarry in the Appia Antica area, was in retaliation for a partisan attack on a column of marching German policemen the day before on Via Rasella, near Piazza Barberini in central Rome.

The Nazis decided that ten Italians should be executed for each German, an order soon authorised by Hitler who stipulated that it be carried out within 24 hours.

The Italian president normally attends an annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Fosse Ardeatine mausoleum, however this too will not take place this year, due to the Coronavirus lockdown.
Conservationists have warned that endangered species including Africas mountain gorilla are at risk of contracting coronavirus.

The Virunga National Park in Congo, which is currently home to around one third of the worlds mountain gorillas, has taken the decision to ban all visitors until June 1.

It cited advice from scientific experts indicating that primates, including mountain gorillas, are likely susceptible to complications arising from the COVID-19 virus.

Primates are prone to many of the same respiratory illnesses that afflict humans.



Even a common cold is enough to kill a gorilla, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, which is one of the reasons why tourists tracking the animals are not normally permitted to get too close.

And Virunga National Parks decision has been welcomed by conservationists in the region.

Paula Kahumbu, chief executive of the Kenya-based conservation group WildlifeDirect, said that every possible effort must be made to protect mountain gorillas because there are so few left in the wild.

She added: We know that gorillas are very sensitive to human diseases.

If anyone has a cold or a flu they are not allowed to go and see the gorillas.

With coronavirus having such a long time of no symptoms in some cases, it means that we could actually put those gorillas at risk.

But existing protective measures may not be enough to protect them.

Ugandan conservationist Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka warned that the rule on keeping a safe distance from gorillas was broken almost every time a group of tourists visited.

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Malayalam actor Prithviraj Sukumaran revealed that he and his team are still filming for Aadujeevitham. The actor shared that the team is currently in Jordan amid the coronavirus outbreak. He even added that the team is also taking necessary precaution as they continue shooting.

ALSO READ | Prithviraj Sukumaran Opens Up About Directing A Movie Starring Rajinikanth

Prithviraj Sukumaran continues shooting for Aadujeevitham

Prithviraj Sukumaran recently took to social media to share with his fans that he is currently filming for his upcoming film in Jordan. He shared that due to certain circumstances, this seemed like the only viable option for the team. Prithviraj Sukumaran also added, There are no international flights operating in and out of Jordan at the moment and said that this is the best option available at the moment.

ALSO READ | A Rajinikanth Movie Was Turned Down By Prithviraj Sukumaran For THIS Reason

Prithviraj Sukumaran also informed his fans that the entire team of Aadujeevitham has undergone medical check-ups after consulting healthcare authorities. He added that the officials have given the team a go-ahead for the shoot as the location is isolated from the public. He also revealed that two of his co-actors from the film have been put on quarantine.

Check out Prithviraj Sukumarans update here:

ALSO READ | Prithviraj Sukumaran: On His Birthday, Here Are The Actor's Best Films

Prithviraj Sukumaran also added in the announcement These are tough times. Times we need to think and act collectively. He even went on to say, As the world faces one of the greatest challenges of modern times, social distancing and self-hygiene is the only way we can contain this pandemic. Prithviraj also thanked all of his fans who were concerned about his well-being and safety.

Aadujeevitham is based on Benyamins 2008 novel by the same name. The book focuses on the life of an abused migrant worker in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the most-anticipated Malayalam films of 2020. Aadujeevitham will also mark the return of AR Rahman to Malayalam films. His last Malayalam film was Sangeeth Sivans 1992 film, Yoddha.

ALSO READ | Malayalam Actor Sathar Passes Away, Prithviraj Sukumaran Pays Respects

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
I have never received so many calls on my personal phone from people who need to hear not only that help is on the way but a voice of reassurance saying, You know what? We are going to make it through this together,  Alsobrooks said. The government is working around the clock to deliver services and supplies. But many people are anxious and frightened, and we also have to tend to them, one person at a time, as we see them.
Ohio:An Indian-origin physician has been indicted in the US's Ohio state for sex trafficking and illegally distributing a controlled substance.

A federal grand jury in Toledo returned the two-count indictment, according to which Manish Raj Gupta, 49, a plastic surgeon, from August to September of 2016 used force, threats of force, fraud and coercion to compel a woman, to engage in commercial sex by drugging her without her consent or knowledge.

He also allegedly committed sexual acts on her while she was unconscious which he recorded. The court records also stated Gupta often travelled to Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Detroit for medical conferences and hire escorts in centrally located hotels.
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Bangladeshs government will release imprisoned former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia for six months on the condition that she stays at home and does not leave the country, the law minister said Tuesday.

Anisul Huq said Zia, 74, is being released on humanitarian grounds considering her age.

Zia, the countrys opposition leader, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in two corruption cases. Her Bangladesh Nationalist Party says the cases were politically motivated. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Zias archrival, denies the allegation.

Zias party says she is seriously ill with ailments including respiratory problems and arthritis. She is currently being treated in a prison cell at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka.

The government has decided to release her after staying her sentences,  showing its generosity because of her age and on humanitarian grounds, Huq said. She will receive her remaining treatment at home.

He said the Ministry of Home Affairs will issue a notification for her release. It was not immediately clear exactly when she would be freed.

In February, the High Court rejected an appeal by Zia seeking her release for medical treatment in the United Kingdom for chronic arthritis.

Zia was convicted in February 2018 on charges of misusing her power by embezzling some $250,000 in donations meant for an orphanage trust. She was later convicted in another corruption case.

Zia and Hasina are both part of political dynasties. Zia is the widow of Ziaur Rahman, a general-turned-president who was assassinated in 1981. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the countrys first president and independence leader, who was assassinated in 1975.

Bangladesh gained independence through a nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971.
A state report on Destination Medical Center progress isnt expected to be delayed by COVID-19.

Members of the DMC Corp. executive committee are set to meet through a videoconference at 9:30 a.m. Thursday to approve a report to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The report, which is due April 1, will outline the amount of private investment made last year by Mayo Clinic and within the DMC district.

So far, documented private investment through 2019 has totaled $690.5 million since June 30, 2013.

The amount of private investment beyond the first $200,000 dictates how much of the $585 million in allocated state funds are released each year.

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With concerns about holding a state board meeting during a time of officially declared statewide peacetime emergency, DMCC Board Chairman R.T. Rybak called for Thursdays change to meeting practices.

As a result, Olmsted County Commissioner Jim Bier, who is the DMMC board treasurer, will be physically present at the DMC Economic Development Agency offices, 195 S. Broadway Ave., while other members will be attending by electronic means from remote locations.

In addition to Rybak, participants will be Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, who is the DMCC boards vice chairwoman, and board Secretary Paul Williams.

The public will be able to view the meeting through online videoconfernece at https://zoom.us/j/671019039 or listen as a teleconference by calling 312-626-6799 and using the code 671019039#.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A federal judge has determined the University of Michigans former sexual misconduct policy was unconstitutional, ordering that a student accused of sexual misconduct is entitled to a live hearing with the opportunity to cross-examine his accuser.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow on Monday, March 23, granted summary judgment in favor of a UM student identified as John Doe who filed a due process lawsuit claiming the universitys 2018 Policy and Procedures on Student Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct was unconstitutional. The judge found UMs 2019 interim policy was also unconstitutional for allowing the student to be suspended before a hearing could be held.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2018, alleges a female student raised a complaint against Doe with UMs Office of Institutional Equity on March 12, 2018, four months after her claim that he had sex with her in his residence hall room without consent.

Doe claims the sex was consensual. The lawsuit alleges the university put a hold on his official transcript and degree, despite no findings being made against him. In June 2018, Tarnow ordered his transcript be released immediately, pending the resolution of the case. Does attorney Deborah Gordon said he has since re-enrolled in classes at UM.

Tarnows order states that UM may proceed with its disciplinary proceedings against Doe, who is entitled to a live hearing, in-person or via video communication, with the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and his accuser.

There is no dispute between the parties that Defendants 2018 Policy denied Plaintiff a right to a hearing, Tarnows order states. Defendants adjudication of the allegations against him without process ... immediately collides with the requirements of the Constitution. Accordingly, Plaintiffs injury - being withheld a hearing - is actual and not hypothetical.

... The Universitys Interim Policy should be similarly clear in order to dispel confusion and hold their administration accountable to provide a fair process in every case. An accused students rights must be guaranteed - not left open for interpretation.

Tarnows order also ruled UM administrators named in the lawsuit did not have qualified immunity shielding them from personal liability on Does due process claim. Tarnow found that qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions, "unless their conduct violates a clearly established statutory or constitutional right of which a reasonable person in the officials position would have known.

Tarnow stated a previous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals further emphasized that deciding the plaintiffs fate without a hearing and cross-examination was a disturbing ... denial of due process.

Because the Individual Defendants violated this ruling and Plaintiffs clearly established constitutional rights, the Court finds that they are not entitled to qualified immunity, the order states.

UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the university is reviewing the courts order and evaluating next steps. Gordon could not be reached for comment.

The order from Tarnow did, however, dismiss Does lawsuit claim that UM violated Title IX by discriminating against him on the basis of gender. The order states Doe failed to show a plausible inference of intentional gender discrimination.

While Tarnow stated that a hard look at UMs response system might reveal favor toward survivors over the accused, this does not equate to gender bias because sexual-assault victims can be both male and female."

There is no indication that if the genders were reversed, the responsibility would follow," the order states. "Short of allegations that indicate that the University treats female and male students differently solely, because of their gender, Plaintiff has not shown enough to prove plausible gender bias.

The university announced it was revising its policies in October 2018, in light of a ruling from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals against UM in a separate lawsuit, mandating that a public university must give accused students an in-person hearing in which they or their adviser can cross-examine the accuser and witnesses.

In the wake of that lawsuit, UM argued a new interim sexual misconduct investigations policy that took effect Jan. 9, 2019, made Does due process claims moot. Tarnows order pointed to the universitys continued defending of the challenged policy, however, comparing its approach to when UM changed a challenged definition in its Bias Response Team initiative after a lawsuit was filed against the university.

Tarnow pointed to UM President Mark Schlissels public declaration that The Sixth Circuit (Court) got it wrong in defending how the university previously adjudicated sexual misconduct cases.

The University, therefore, has failed to meet its burden of proving that the challenged policy will not be re-enacted, Tarnows order states.

The university has since released a draft umbrella policy for addressing sexual and gender-based misconduct that would apply to students, faculty, staff and third parties on each of UMs three campuses.

Despite UM arguing its interim policy complies with current case law, Tarnow found that the policy allows UM to impose serious interim sanctions without a hearing. Tarnow also noted UMs sanctions can be imposed after a complaint is filed, but before any determination of responsibility has been made.

Tarnows order states that UM may not include suspension as an available interim measure against an accused student.

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University of Michigan ends Bias Response Team in free speech lawsuit settlement

Lawsuit claims UMich is biased against males accused of sexual assault
On its emergence in Wuhan, China, the novel Coronavirus outbreak sounded like a science fiction movie, but as it spread to 147 countries  soon to be declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO)  it turned out, tragically, to be all too real. With Iran, and then Italy the hardest hit, and Europe seeing the highest mortality rate, procedures to stem the contagion have varied, with many European cities and US states instating complete lockdown.



England, France, the Netherlands and other European countries took the initiative to shut down schools and universities, banning public gatherings and public transport and, of course, museums, galleries, cinemas, theatres and other venues. Google Arts and Culture, the online platform through which Google has partnered with over 1200 leading museums around the world, responded by stacking up its interactive experiences with comprehensive virtual tours of such venues as the British Museum, showing artefacts through the ages starting from BC 2,000,000.



Such tours have since been offered by institutions all over the world: the Guggenheim in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Musee dOrsay in Paris, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea, Berlins Pergamon Museum (home of such relics as the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Pergamon Altar), Amsterdams Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, Florences Uffizi Gallery, the MASP in Sao Paulo and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The Metropolitan Opera in New York too offers a daily streaming through its website featuring such classics as Carmen, La Boheme and La Traviata.



Starting this month, the Egyptian authorities have taken measures to control the spread of the virus, cancelling gatherings and closing venues. The decision took place during the ninth Luxor African Film Festival, where screenings were discontinued and the closing ceremony cancelled, while juries had to see the movies in their hotel rooms.



The same fate befell the fourth Cairo Cinema Days at Zawya Art House, headed by filmmaker-producer Marianne Khoury, which was to take place in 4-30 March but was discontinued on 14 March. Zawya pioneered social-distancing alternatives by managing to provide filmmaker Hady Zaccaks 104 Wrinkles for free through the Vimeo platform. Khourys own Dhilal (Shadows, 2010) was next on the virtual programme, starting on 24 March. For its part the global online film platform Mubi, supported by Creative Europe Media and co-founded by the European Union, offered a three-month subscription for one dollar.



After the Cairo Opera House too closed, Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem launched an initiative named Al-Thaqafa Bein Edek (Culture in your hands), providing online events to replace the Operas activities, with shows like Swan Lake, Carmen, The Nutcracker and Zorba the Greek, Arab Music Festival concerts by, among others, Omar Khairat, and stage plays like the Art House for Theatres Qahwa Saada (Black Coffee) as well as film screenings provided online.



The rock band Masar Egbari too gave an online concert. The phenomenal Disco Misr duo (DJ mixers of oriental sounds with funky disco beats) also gave a live-streamed concert entitled Wahshny wel Corona Hayeshnui (I Miss You But Corona Is Holding Me Back), hash-tagging it #stay_home. It was seen by nearly 5,000 viewers. Room Art Space and Cafe are hosting live-streamed concerts daily at 10pm.



For bookworms, the original Arabic texts of all NYU Abu Dhabi Library of Arabic Literature publication are available as free PDFs. Al-Rabei Publications is also offering readers the opportunity to read its publications for free through Rufoof application for 14 days.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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In PennLives Facebook Live event Monday on the coronavirus, Dr. Nirmal Joshi, chief medical office for Mount Nittany Health in State College, joined PennLive Opinion Editor Joyce Davis to discuss with readers five new facts about the coronavirus and how it is impacting our community.

Today, we'll speak to Dr. Nirmal Joshi, chief medical officer for Mt. Nittany. He can shed insight onto the mounting cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. And he'll talk about the possible drugs being considered to fight it. Posted by PennLive.com on Monday, March 23, 2020

COVID-9 is a novel coronavirus, meaning there is not a lot of research or history on how it behaves, how those infected can be treated or how it can be wiped off the face of the earth. Doctors are making new discoveries each week as they get reports from around the world and collate data from those who have been infected and have survived.

Here are the five new things to think about with COVID-19:

There may be a connection between the virus and two of our senses:

Jo Sheppard, who has participated in many PennLive Reader Panels, asked Dr. Joshi about reports some people who get sick experience a reduced sense of smell and taste. The answer is  Yes. Dr. Joshi says there is a lot of data that has emerged in the last 48 hours indicating anecdotally that people who developed symptoms of the coronavirus reported lack of taste and smell. The data has not been thoroughly researched, but if corroborated, it could be a way to detect infection.

Diarrhea and stomach discomfort may be associated with the coronavirus

The main symptom of COVID-19 are fever, shortness of breath and coughing. But Dr. Joshi says doctors are now discovered gastro-intestinal issues such as diarrhea may accompany the major symptoms. This data is just emerging, he says, but there are certain types of gastro-intestinal issues that may a precursor to more serious symptoms of the disease.

Shoppers grab disinfectant wipes for their carts as they enter the Karns Foods store at Paxton Square for the 7 a.m. opening. Karns Foods, including the store at Paxton Square, has a dedicated senior shopping hour during the first opening hour from 7-8 a.m. daily starting today, during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, March 19, 2020. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Just spraying disinfectant is not enough

Some people think they can spray this virus away. Spray disinfectants are better than nothing, but they arent a substitute for actually cleaning and disinfecting with something like bleach, Dr. Joshi warns.

Sprays will not actually remove the virus from surfaces like wiping down with a disinfectant. Not all disinfectants are equal, and The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a list of approved disinfectants that are effective against the coronavirus, many usually available at supermarkets and convenience stories  when people are hoarding.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using disposal gloves to regularly clean and disinfect tables, doorknobs, light switches, remotes, hard-back. Chairs, as well as counters, sinks and toilets  any hard surfaces that might hold the virus.

FILE - In this Friday, March 20, 2020 photo, a Philadelphia Medical Reserve Corps volunteer, left, directs cars at the city's COVID-19 coronavirus testing site in South Philadelphia, the first city-run drive-through location for coronavirus testing. At the time of opening on Friday, it was only for people with symptoms who are over 50 and healthcare workers with symptoms. (Tim Tai/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)AP

Doctors are now getting test results within days, and that could improve this week

Only a few weeks ago, it was taking as many as nine days for doctors to get results from coronavirus testing. Now, they usually can get results in two days. Dr. Joshi says more academic medical centers are starting to do their own testing. And there is one company bringing to market a rapid test that promises to get results even quicker that two days possibly as quick as with a flu test, which can be as little as 15 minutes. Were supposed to get more information on when and where this test will be available this week.

People wear masks as they line up to enter a pharmacy, in Rome, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)AP

Genetics and culture are key factors in how the coronavirus affects people

Its very likely genetics and culture have a direct impact on how the coronavirus spreads and how seriously it affects communities. Thats why its hard to say the coronavirus will impact the United States the same way it has devastated Italy or China or Iran. There are many diseases that strike specific genetic groups and that may be more severe within specific races. But culture also is an important factor, as is government. Authoritarian governments can order people to stay inside, and they have to obey.

In the United States, its not so easy. Gov. Tom Wolf was faced with a court challenge to his order that non-essential businesses close to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. At least the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

PennLive is hosting daily Facebook Live chats during the coronavirus crisis to help answer questions from our readers and provide timely information.

Quality local journalism has never been more important. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Non-essential businesses lock their doors as KC area's stay-at-home order goes into effect KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Thousands of people all around the metro are being ordered to stay home beginning Tuesday morning. The efforts to combat coronavirus will effectively close dozens of types of businesses, but there are many exceptions to the rule.

Businesses all over the metrounder the new mandate . . . Here's a glimpse at the differences and the local work scene right now:
By Gina Lee

Investing.com - Asian markets rallied Tuesday morning in Asia after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced unprecedented measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

As COVID-19 continues to force global shutdowns and threaten a global recession, the Fed announced an open-ended asset purchase program on Monday. The Fed pledged to purchase assets under quantitative easing measures without limit. Other measures include maintaining credit flow for business and a first dabble into corporate bonds.

The coronavirus pandemic is causing tremendous hardship across the United States and around the world. Our nations first priority is to care for those afflicted and to limit the further spread of the virus, the Fed said in a statement.

 Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and private sectors to limit the losses to jobs and incomes and to promote a swift recovery once the disruptions abate.

South Koreas KOSPI led the gains as it rose 6.93% by 11 PM ET (3 AM GMT). Next door, Japans Nikkei 225 gained 6.66%.

The ASX 200 recouped some of its losses yesterday with a 2.51% gain. The countrys parliament passed an A$80 billion ($46.24 billion) stimulus package yesterday at a special sitting.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was up 4.07%. Chinas Shanghai Composite was up 1.88% while Shenzhen Component was up 1.66%.

Fed policy is shifting into a higher gear to try to help support the economy which looks like it is in freefall at the moment, Chris Rupkey, Chief Finacial Economist at MUFG Union Bank, told CNBC.

The central bank is shifting from being not just the lender of last resort, but now it is the buyer of last resort. Dont ask how much they will buy, this is truly QE infinity.

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ELSAH  Principia College students have redefined the meaning of Spring Break, as their plans of palm trees and beaches dissolved into such things as sewing machines and cookbooks when the college sent them home because of the pandemic.

The Pilot, the college newspaper, checked in with 12 students to see what break has held for them at home.

Prius low-rider

In a 23-hour-long journey across nine states, in his sisters super-packed Prius that transformed into a low-rider with the weight, senior Sam Hills, drove sophomore Rachel McLeod-Warrick and her older brother, senior Matthew, back to Cape Cod, Massachusetts last weekend.

Since being home, Rachel says she has devoted her time to chilly, daily walks on the beach, and on a yummier note, baking [her] way through the Great British Baking Show cookbook. Her top pick so far has been the pistachio cookies she made for St. Patricks Day.

Along with prepping for remote classes to start March 30, Rachel is familiarizing herself with the bird species on the Cape for her ornithology class and is excited to be able to stay and study here during the bird migration season.

Cookie baking live-stream

On the opposite coast, in Carmel, California, junior Kip Wadsworth, is spending his Spring Break in lockdown at his home. Kip went back and forth on how he would travel home, but decided it would be better to drive the 32 hours back to Carmel from Elsah, with his cousin, Jackson Williams, a sophomore. It took them three days and two nights.

During his time at home, he has begun livestreaming his cooking skills on his Instagram story (@general_kipnobi), as well as taking care of his eight frogs, one dog and one cat.

Due to Californias shelter in place mandate, Kip has been surrounded by his family.

Like Rachel, Kip is also in ornithology class and is looking forward to his study and refamiliarizing himself with the bird species in his hometown and surrounding area.

Kip explains how hes been coping. The seeming hysteria of the virus can be daunting and scary, says Kip. But you have to keep your thought above it. Its like an angry sea and you have to keep your boat afloat. He adds that he holds steadfast to Mrs. Eddys idea of being clad in the panoply of Love.

Shuttered Santa Fe

Sophomore, Boone Steele, decided to follow through on his planned Spring Break in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his girlfriend Kali Wilson and friend, sophomore, Jacob Saenz. While there were no nerves about the trip prior to leaving, he says, when they arrived, everything was closed, and the group quickly ran out of things to do.

The metaphysical idea that Boone has been working with comes from his favorite page of Science and Health (p. 66). He reminds himself that trials are proof of Gods care and that this is just another trial that we are fully equipped for.

Making scrunchies for Howard

Junior Rachael Ostheim of Moore, South Carolina, is settling back in at home. During this time, she has been finding things she can be doing at home, such as sewing and crocheting. She has started a beautiful throw blanket and has two more balls of yarn to finish it. She also has begun sewing scrunchies for all the women in Howard from fabric that she has found.

Since being at home, Rachael was able to celebrate her 21st birthday with a dinner out with her family.

Amarillo or bust  bust won

Plans to drive down with sophomore, Clark Davidson, to his home in Amarillo, Texas fell through for Olivia Denson, a sophomore, because she decided it was best to stay in St. Louis. Clark stayed with her for just over a week before heading home.

Olivia made the decision to stay in St. Louis so she could be with her sister and family.

Olivia says she has been working with the metaphysical idea that we can spread Love and all of Gods qualities and spread healing. She adds, the fear is diminished by Gods Love that we give to others and ourselves and that by reminding ourselves what the Truth is, then we are automatically going to be blessing everyone else in our community and our family and the world.

Home in the Bahamas

Senior, Aurora Muller, is feeling grateful to be at home in the Bahamas, surrounded by her family and feeling of their unconditional love. While Spring Break changed from the beach time to house time, she says I feel like I am now in the right mindset to do what is required of me regarding my academics.

It would seem idyllic to be able to spend a vacation break in the Bahamas. But the circumstances of this school years breaks for Bahamian Aurora Muller have not been good. During Christmas vacation, she went home to her island nation that had been devastated by Hurricane Dorian in September. Now she has gone home under the cloud of a global catastrophe.

She is feeling grateful to be at home in the Bahamas, surrounded by her family and feeling of their unconditional love. And it has allowed the feeling of loneliness I feel on campus, to diminish.

Aurora has been thinking a lot on the metaphysical aspects of this trial, and notes that we are all Gods children. We are a family, every continent. My belief is that we love each other and stop giving this nothing attention. That will take its power away and we can see the world for what it is, Gods perfect kingdom. She says she is standing strong with the idea that everything is right in Gods kingdom, something we can all declare for ourselves and the world.

Lying low on a high mountain

And at the top of the world in the Rockies, sophomore Jake Smith has been exercising his social distancing skills at home on a mountain in Golden, Colorado. He says that trying to get to town has been a bit unimaginable beside the necessity of grocery shopping. So he has been lying low with his family, playing with his dog, listening to podcasts, and playing video games.

One concern Jake expresses about remote classes that start March 30 is the lack of knowledge surrounding the learning management platform, Canvas, and the worry about how professors will be able to navigate the technological world of remote schooling.
The Great American Take-Out is happening today as a way to support our restaurant industry across the country, and our Michigans Best team of John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman, along with Eric Hultgren from MLive Media Group, got together, virtually, to discuss it, and the state of the industry during this coronavirus outbreak.

Its been a roller coaster of a ride for many in the industry over the last few weeks, with changes being announced every few days. Just yesterday, Michigan Governor Whitmer announced a Stay Home, Stay Safe mandate for residents to shelter in place for the next three weeks, after announcing the closure of all restaurants for dine-in options last week.

Many restaurants are remaining open, for now, and offering take-out options, with curbside pick-ups and delivery being added at some.

This Tuesday, the grassroots effort to encourage ordering some to-go food from your favorite spots is being promoted. We heartily encourage everyone who can, and who feels comfortable doing so, to dial up your favorite, locally owned restaurants and get some delicious food to take home with you.

We understand that not everyone feels comfortable going out to get food, but for those of you who do, please share your photos of what you ordered with us. Well be sharing these bright spots with you on MLive.com tomorrow.

Please tag #mibest and #TheGreatAmericanTakeout on Social Media.

@mlivemibest on Twitter

@mlivemibest on Instagram

Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail.

John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo.

Or you can send us photos and video via email:

gonzo@mlive.com

asherma2@mlive.com

Remember: If you are sending us your photos or videos, please make sure that you are the one who took it, and understand that posting it here will give MLive permission to use it as courtesy art online, in print, and to share it on our social media pages.

Learn more at thegreatamericantakeout.com.

Weve put together some lists of some of Michigans Best Burgers that are currently available for take-out. Please call to confirm that they are still serving before you head out. While our burger search was delayed by the virus, well still have more stories coming over the next few weeks.

The Best Burger Takeout List

10 great burgers to enjoy while enduring the coronavirus outbreak in Michigans Northern Lower Peninsula

A look at Lansings Top 10 take-out burgers

Tasty take-out from some of Michigans Best Burger spots in the U.P.

Time for take-out Ann Arbor! 8 of Michigans Best Burgers to try

12 great burgers for take-out in the Jackson area

10 great burgers in Grand Rapids to pick up while enduring the coronavirus outbreak

Where you can still get some of Michigans Best Burgers in Flint

Some of Michigans Best Burgers in Muskegon and the lakeshore are available for take-out

Its Take-Out time! 11 burgers not to miss in the Kalamazoo area

90-plus burgers you can enjoy in Michigan right now
JERUSALEM  Israel appeared on the verge of a constitutional crisis Tuesday as top members of Benjamin Netanyahus Likud urged their party colleagues and parliament speaker to defy a Supreme Court order to let lawmakers hold a vote for his successor.

After suspending parliamentary activities last week, citing procedural issues and restrictions on large gatherings due to the spread of the coronavirus, Yuli Edelstein on Monday dismissed the courts call to explain his delay in convening the Israeli Knesset, or parliament.

It sparked an unprecedented judicial rebuttal, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut ordering him to hold a vote by Wednesday and ruling that the continued refusal to allow the vote in the Knesset plenum on the election of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process.

Even after that, at least two Likud Cabinet ministers, including Netanyahus surrogate interim justice minister, called on Edelstein to defy the order, deeming it a judicial coup against Israels elected officials. Cabinet Minister Yariv Levin led the charge, accusing the court of trampling the principle of separation of powers. He said it was creating anarchy and acting as if it owned the country.

Edelstein did not release any comment Tuesday on how he would proceed.

Netanyahu has yet to comment but others in the party, while equally lambasting the high court, called on Edelstein to respect its ruling to avoid a full-fledged constitutional crisis at such a sensitive time.

The developments marked the apex of an ever-deepening standoff between Netanyahus opponents and supporters in the wake of the countrys third inconclusive election in less than a year and against the backdrop of a series of emergency executive measures enacted to quell the spread of the new virus.

The opposition Blue and White party, backed by a slim majority in the newly elected Knesset, said the countrys legislature must continue to function at such a critical time to provide oversight of the government. The party accuses Netanyahu and his caretaker government of carrying out undemocratic measures amid the crisis, and using it as cover to cling to power.

We cannot allow Israeli democracy to be trampled upon. Not on my watch, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz posted on Facebook.

With the country in near-shutdown mode, Netanyahu has already managed to postpone his own pending criminal trial on serious corruption charges and authorize unprecedented electronic surveillance of Israeli citizens.

Even amid the health scare, Israelis have taken to the streets to protest what they consider an assault on Israeli democracy.

Aron Heller is an Associated Press writer.
Burma Arakan Army Attacks Myanmar Military Training School in Rakhine

Minbya Township. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy

Sittwe, Rakhine State The Arakan Army (AA) launched attacks on an advanced military training school in Minbya Township, Rakhine State, on Monday morning.

Both sides suffered casualties in the fighting at the site near Kanni Village in Minbya, according to Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun of the militarys True News Information Team.

The AA carried out a surprise attack on the training school in Kanni Village. The fighting ended around 11 am. We could control the situation. We also suffered some casualties. The AA also lost troops and weapons, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy.

The training school is beside the Yangon-Sittwe road between Minbya and Myebon townships.

We heard a lot of gunfire at around 6 am on Monday. And we saw attacks and helicopters in the noon, Ko Ann Thar Gyi from Minbya told The Irrawaddy.

AA information officer Khaing Thukha confirmed the AAs attack but said he had no detailed information.

According to the Myawady Daily, the mouthpiece of Myanmars military, around 300 AA fighters attacked the school from five directions, and the military found 15 bodies of AA fighters as well as guns from the scene after the fighting.

Most of the dead bodies, according to the photos published online by the Myawady Daily, were not in uniforms, but tracksuits.

Since clashes broke out between Myanmars military and the AA in northern Rakhine, more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
The Suspect, Bishop Jingi Mayo

Former Executive Secretary of Adamawa State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Bishop Jingi Mayo has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for diverting N69m meant for the board.

Jingi who was the executive secretary of the board between 2016 and 2017, was handed the prison sentence after being arraigned before a Adamawa State High Court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The money the cleric diverted, was meant for the operation committees of the 2016 Christian Pilgrims operation to Israel.

Jingi was handed the prison sentence without an option of fine by Justice Nathan Musa on Monday March 23, after being found guilty of diverting government money and making false statement to the officer of the Commission.
Berlin, March 24 : Germany has approved a massive and unprecedented financial aid package of 156 billion euro ($166.5 bn), the largest in the country since the Second World War, to offset the socio-economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The stimulus package is designed to ease the burden on hospitals and clinics and supply financial aid to save jobs and companies that have been affected by the pandemic, reports Efe news.

"The corona pandemic is changing our whole lives," said Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor, said on Monday while explaining why the government was taking "the necessary and correct" step of unveiling such an enormous economic aid package.

"We will do everything we can to prevent this crisis from endangering the health care of our citizens or the economic processes in this country." German authorities fear a severe recession due to the crisis, with the decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expected to be "at least as high" as in 2008/2009, Minister of Economy Peter Altmeier warned while announcing a bailout fund of up to 600 billion euros for larger companies.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, meanwhile, said that hospitals and clinics requiring additional staff, beds and equipment would receive financial support.

"If you need more beds, if you need more staff and equipment to treat coronavirus patients, you will be compensated financially," Spahn said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the cabinet meeting from her home office, where she has been in quarantine since Sunday after coming into contact with a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus.

"She is simply in home office, as are many other people who have had to place themselves in self-isolation at home," Scholz told reporters.

"She is active: we had the cabinet meeting together this morning." The Minister added that he would speak in Merkel's stead in the Bundestag lower house of parliament session on Wednesday.

Despite Merkel being forced into preventative isolation, Germany is "seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off slightly", said Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, on Monday, although he cautioned that a fuller picture would only be available from Wednesday.

Wieler said he was optimistic that social distancing measures taken last week and over the weekend, including the closure of schools and bans on all public gatherings, had helped to limit the virus's spread.

Germany has recorded 115 deaths out of more than 26,220 cases of the coronavirus, making it the fifth-worst affected country by number of infections, behind Spain (over 35,156), the US (46,371), China (81,545), where the virus originated, and Italy, which is now the epicentre of the pandemic with 63,927 cases and 6,077 deaths on Monday, according to John Hopkins University.

The COVID-19 disease has killed 16,557 people worldwide out of 381,499 confirmed cases. A total of 101,794 people have recovered.
The Bergen County Jail is on lockdown after an ICE detainee at the jail tested positive for the coronavirus Monday in what a civil rights group said was the first confirmed case of the virus among the federal immigration detainees.

A 31-year-old Mexican national at the jail in Hackensack tested positive for the virus, said Derek Sands, a spokesman for the Bergen County Sheriffs Office, which manages the jail. The federal immigration detainee, whose name was not released, was sent to Hackensack University Medical Center after showing symptoms of the virus Monday. The person tested positive Monday night.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the unidentified person was the only detainee to test positive for the coronavirus at the jail, according to a statement. The person has been brought back to Bergen County Jail and is under quarantine, the statement said.

I think its just a wakeup call to everybody who cares about the health and safety of our communities. Of people in detention. Of people working the detention centers and their families," Farrin Anello, senior staff attorney ACLU of New Jersey said. I think its a wake-up call to take action quickly before its too late to release people and insure they can live safely without getting sick and without dying from this avoidable cause.

Calls to an ICE spokesman were not immediately returned. The agency released a statement confirming the case on its website.

The individual has been quarantined and is receiving care. Consistent with CDC guidelines, those who have come in contact with the individual have been cohorted and are being monitored for symptoms. ICE is suspending intake at the facility until further information is available," the ICE statement said.

The wife of a South American man who is also a federal immigration detainee at the Bergen County Jail said that jails are petri dishes of disease. The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect herself and her husband.

Its a ticking time bomb of illness, she said.

The announcement of the infected detainee comes the week after a Bergen County corrections officer who works at the jail tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting seven other officers he had contact with to self-quarantine. The corrections officer, whose name was not released, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, said Sands.

When the officer tested positive for the coronavirus, Sheriff Anthony Cureton assured that the confines of the jail was a safer environment for detainees.

The fact of the matter is, inmates and detainees are less likely to contract COVID-19 than the general public since the jail is a self-contained environment, Cureton said in a statement.

But the wife of the South American man, who has asthma and is more vulnerable to the coronavirus, said containing the spread of a virus inside of a jail next to impossible.

The idea that anyone could keep it from spreading within a jail in a humane way is ridiculous, she said. The only way to do it is to put somebody in solitary confinement. And the idea of putting someone with the virus in solitary confinement is awful.

The infected corrections officer went to his doctor after having symptoms and was tested there, said Sands. He was told to self-quarantine for 14 days. Although showing no symptoms, seven other corrections officers who had contact with the man who tested positive were also made to self-quarantine.

Advocates for inmates and detainees have expressed fears that outbreaks within the confines of a jail would be impossible to contain in often cramped and unsanitary facilities.

ICE has an abysmal track record protecting the health of detainees, had said Deyanira Aldana, community organizer for Make the Road New Jersey, an immigration rights organization.

The county jail has added safeguards like distributing hand sanitizer and soap and cleaning the facility with bleach cleaner, along with a rotational out-of-cell schedule to promote social-distancing, said Cureton. Additionally, inmates are screened to see if they had visited a county impacted by the virus, he said.

The wife of the South American man said people inside detention centers are already being affected.

When someones inside, it affects them. It affects their whole family. It affects their whole community. Its a ripple effect, she said.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
Burma Myanmar to Quarantine Arrivals from All Countries Over COVID-19

Travelers arrive at Yangon International Airport on March 18. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGONThe Myanmar government has ordered mandatory quarantines in government facilities for all travelers, except diplomats and UN officials, arriving from any country as Myanmar has confirmed its first cases of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Tuesday that the temporary restrictions will take affect for all travelers starting Wednesday. MOFA said that all arrivalsboth Myanmar nationals and foreigners from any countrywill be subject to a 14-day government facility quarantine on their arrival in Myanmar.

In addition, foreign nationals, including diplomats and UN officials, travelling to Myanmar are required to present a medical certificate showing they tested negative for COVID-19, issued no more than 72 hours prior to the date of travel, before boarding any flights bound for Myanmar.

Diplomats and UN officials arriving in Myanmar will be subject to home quarantine for 14 days.

MOFA said the ministry ordered the precautionary restrictions as the government is obliged to take precautionary measures to limit the risk that travelers may pose to citizens in Myanmar.

Myanmar confirmed on Monday that two people in the country have tested positive for COVID-19, one in Chin State and one in Yangon Region. The patients are a 36-year-old man who arrived from the US and a 26-year-old man who returned from the UK, both Myanmar citizens.

The government is preparing hospitals, stadiums, apartments and mediation centers across Myanmar to serve as quarantine centers for people who are arriving from foreign countries.

Myanmar has now quarantined about 273 people at hospitals across the country: 126 people in South Okkalapa Hospital and 54 people in Waibargi Hospital in Yangon, 67 people in Kandawnadi Hospital in Mandalay and 26 people at hospitals in other regions and states.

Before Tuesdays announcement, MOFA had declared last week that all incoming travelers arriving from 14 countriesItaly, Iran, France, Spain, Germany, the United States, Switzerland, the UK, Netherland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Belgiummust be quarantined for 14 days at government facilities. Under the prior restrictions, Myanmar nationals who had been in high-risk areas such as Chinas Hubei Province and South Koreas Daegu and Gyeongbuk Region in the past 14 days were subject to a 14-day quarantine in government facilities.

The Myanmar government has also temporarily suspended all visas-on-arrival and e-visas until April 30.
As Republicans and Democrats forged ahead toward a deal on a massive economic stimulus proposal to combat the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, details of the developing proposal have started to emerge.

Senate Democrats struck down the bill in a procedural vote on Monday amid a gulf over what both parties wanted to include in it. But they made progress by Tuesday morning, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the sides were at "the 2-yard line." Even so, senators did not reach an agreement by 5:30 p.m. ET.

Here are some of the expected components of the plan, expected to cost roughly $2 trillion, according to comments from congressional leaders and aides, Trump administration officials and a draft of the bill as of 2:30 p.m. ET, compiled by NBC News and CNBC:

Cash payments of up to $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for married couples and $500 per child, reduced if an individual makes more than $75,000 or a couple makes more than $150,000

A $350 billion fund for small businesses to mitigate layoffs and support payroll

$500 billion available to the Treasury Department to make loans, loan guarantees and investments to or in industries damaged by the pandemic

Requires that recipients of loans do not buy back stock during the time the loan is outstanding, and that executives or employees who made more than $425,000 in 2019 do not get a raise for the next two years

Requires group health plans and insurance providers to cover without cost-sharing any coronavirus preventive services

An employee retention tax credit

$240 billion in health-care relief

$75 billion in aid for hospitals

$20 billion for health care for veterans

$20 billion for emergency public transportation relief

$10 billion for airport relief

$4.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

$50 billion in relief to airlines in the form of loans or grants, and another $8 billion for cargo carriers

$17 billion in relief for unspecified "businesses critical to maintaining national security"

Strengthened unemployment insurance, which could potentially add $600 per week for up to four months on top of what a state would give beneficiaries.

Congress has rushed to approve a relief plan as the coronvirus pandemic overwhelms health-care resources, wreaks havoc on the U.S. economy and forces widespread layoffs.

Compounding the urgency, multiple lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus, also known as the COVID-19 virus, forcing others to quarantine and consider the prospect of voting remotely.

As lawmakers hash out a deal, President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning ramped up pressure on them to pass an agreement and provide economic relief. In a tweet, he said "the longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!"

Donald Trump tweet

The coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, has spread to dozens of countries, with more than 387,382 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 16,767 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 46,500 cases in the United States and at least 590 deaths, according to the latest tallies.

 CNBC's Kayla Tausche contributed to this report
The Culinary Director of a notable restaurant in Mumbai has tested positive for COVID-19. The Culinary Director who tested positive in New York on March 18 had travelled back to the United States from Mumbai on March 8. An official statement issued by the company confirming the positive case added that it has informed the Health department of Mumbai and has also been reaching out to people who had interacted with the director during his visit to India.

Had attended a party with 200 people

The chef had attended the notable restaurant's fifth-anniversary celebrations on March 1 where about 200 people were present and had also attended the opening of a sweet shop in the Byculla area of Mumbai. Reports have stated that the restaurant has reached out to all the guests who had visited the party on March 1. The culinary director had landed in India on February 19 before returning back to the States on March 8.

READ | FM Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Relief Measures For The Common Man Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, 519 positive cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) with Maharashtra reporting the highest at 107. Ten deaths have been reported to 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 and shut down over 75 districts across the nation.

READ | Bar Council Of India Writes To PM Modi, CMs Of States; Seeks Financial Help For Lawyers

India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. The government is monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories with Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Delhi, Kerala, Jammu - Kashmir declaring the disease an epidemic shutting down all educational institutions, monuments, parks, gyms, swimming pools, pubs and banning large gatherings.

READ | Chief Secretary Writes To All States; Seeks Earmarking Of Hospitals Dedicated To COVID-19

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: PM To Address Nation At 8 PM; COVID-19 Confirmations Cross 500
At time of writing the share price of ReadCloud Ltd [ASX:RCL] is up 10.94%, trading at 35.5 cents. Meanwhile the ASX 200 [XJO] has also gained, up 2.07% to 4,640.2 points.

The ReadCloud share price has avoided a major sell-off and is up 42% in a 12-month period, but is still a ways off its July high:

Source: tradingview.com

ReadCloud does e-learning solutions for Australian secondary schools  so the increased interest today is understandable as Australia comes to grips with COVID-19. We take a look at their most recent financials and the ReadCloud outlook going forward.

The Coronavirus Portfolio: The two-pronged plan to help you deal with the financial implications of COVID-19. Download your free report.

RCL share price bounces on rare good day for ASX

After an awful month for the ASX, the ReadCloud share price gained on a day when some investors may be thinking the bleeding has stopped.

I have a feeling there will be more dips and rips from here on out.

With Victorian schools shut from Tuesday, parents, teachers, and students will have to adapt to new ways of learning as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.

ReadCloud sources content from publishers, releases this content via interactive e-books, allowing students and teachers access to the Australian school curriculum.

As of 23 March, they had 100,000 users on their platform.

Investors clearly think this number will swell in the months ahead, based on the surge in the ReadCloud share price today.

But are they positioned to capitalise on this emerging e-education trend?

ReadClouds financials and outlook for their share price

In their latest financial report for the half-year ended 31 December 2019, ReadClouds revenue was up 34.8% to $3.15 million.

However, their loss for this period was also up 17.3% to $1.1 million.

You can see strong growth in schools and users below:

Source: newswire

With cash and cash equivalents of $2.84 million against a market cap of $31 million, this would usually be a potential point of concern.

However, the company notes that their revenues typically increase in the second half of each year.

If they can keep their costs down and scale up effectively in this crisis, there may be an opportunity for the company to turn a profit in their next results.

Consequently, the outlook for the ReadCloud share price could be more positive as a result of this rapidly evolving situation.

If you would like to get the names of three potential solutions stocks in this coronavirus crisis, be sure to read our in-depth report on the types of assets that could shine during this trying period.

You can download that for free, here.

Regards,

Lachlann Tierney,

For Money Morning
No sooner did the Union shipping ministry lay down protocol for vessels calling on the Indian ports to combat COVID-19, importers, especially for the cement industry, are already staring at a cost escalation on account of 14-day quarantine period. India imports limestone in large quantities from the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Qatar and Oman, where the voyage is about three to four days. Now, the vessels will have to wait for 10 odd days extra before berthing here.

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In partnership with an organization marshaling a national reserve of nurses, Connecticut has launched a CT Responds website to recruit volunteers to help medical providers during the coronavirus outbreak  whether or not they have experience in the health sector.

Connecticut has more than 20 chapters of the Medical Reserve Corps through which nursing professionals list availability to volunteer during times of need. The organization pressed members into service last year to assist in nearly 450 emergencies, including the wildfires that devastated California communities.

On Tuesday in Hartford, Gov. Ned Lamont said 900 medical industry retirees have offered their services since the public emergency he declared March 10 to deal with escalating transmission of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. A third of them are already at work in hospitals and other settings.

To boost the Medical Reserve Corps numbers in Connecticut further, the state Department of Public Health has created a website called CTResponds.ct.gov. DPH aims to maintain a registry of skills and credentials available within Connecticut, among both medical professionals and those from non-medical backgrounds, as specific needs arise in hospitals and communities.

Of the 179,000 people in the nationwide ranks of the Medical Reserve Corps entering this year, about four in 10 did not have medical backgrounds, offering instead varying expertise in administration and other organizational needs.

Stephanie McGuire, who coordinates Medical Reserve Corps activities in Connecticut, referred a query to the state Joint Information Center dealing with coronavirus response, which did not respond immediately about how may volunteers the corps has dispatched since Lamonts emergency order. New York Citys chapters of the Medical Reserve Corps had more than 9,000 members at last report.

Only last December, the Connecticut chapters of the Medical Reserve Corps completed an initial strategic plan to govern the organization going forward, with assistance from the Leadership Greater Hartford nonprofit and three dozen advisors. That includes health professionals from every corner of Connecticut including Bridgeport, New Haven, Fairfield, Milford, Stratford, Wallingford and Torrington.

The plan included several action items, such as steps to raise awareness of its existence through varying outreach and promotional materials, as well as the creation of a statewide database to track training, capabilities and other information.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Belying their slimy natures, the sticky patches of bacteria called biofilms often form intricate, starburst-like patterns as they grow. Now, researchers at Princeton University have combined expertise in molecular biology, mechanical engineering and mathematical modeling to unravel the physical processes underlying these curious crinkles.

"At a certain point, patterns appear: stripes, zigzags and rings," said co-author Ned Wingreen, the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences and a professor of molecular biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. "It's been one of those things that has personally always puzzled me."

The study, published Mar. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps illuminate how bacteria grow in diverse environments, and could also aid investigations into the physical forces that govern growth and morphing of human tissues.

"This adds to a body of work coming from a mechanical perspective that says what we're seeing is the playing out of physical laws," said Wingreen. "It will help us understand to what extent some of these patterns influence the biofilm properties that are important biologically and medically."

The work is the latest to stem from a collaboration among four faculty members investigating biofilms from multiple perspectives. Along with Wingreen, the team includes Andrej Kosmrlj, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Howard Stone, the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology. They previously worked together to develop a method for peeling biofilms off surfaces.

In this study, the researchers analyzed biofilm formation of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is widespread in watery environments and can cause the disease cholera when ingested by humans. On a soft substrate, the biofilms initially grow as a flat layer but later become wrinkled, with radial and zigzag patterns of peaks and valleys. The study showed that these patterns depend on the relative softness or stiffness of the biofilm's substrate, which the researchers manipulated by varying the concentration of agar, a seaweed-derived substance commonly used to fill Petri dishes.

On a stiffer substrate, wrinkles first appear at a biofilm's center and propagate outward, while on a softer substrate wrinkles begin to form at the edges and propagate toward the center. In both cases, biofilms end up with zigzag wrinkle patterns at their centers and a more ordered pattern of radial stripes at their outer edges.

This process is driven by a nexus of influences, including each bacterium's uptake of nutrients from the substrate, which leads to uneven growth as nutrients are depleted in the biofilm's center. The bacteria produce new extracellular matrix components as they grow and they also produce molecules that make the bacteria stick to each other and to the substrate.

"This is a very complicated process involving growth and mechanics," said lead author Chenyi Fei, a graduate student in the Lewis-Sigler Institute. "To understand it, we built what we call a chemo-mechanical model. We take into account the nutrients and the nonuniform growth of the biofilm, and how those features translate into the mechanical forces or stresses that accumulate."

The model allowed the researchers to predict which regions of the biofilm would experience maximum stress at particular points in time, and thus to predict where wrinkles would form. The predictions corresponded well with experimental measurements of three-dimensional shapes of actual biofilms, said Fei, whose graduate work is co-advised by Wingreen and Bassler.

"Chenyi cleverly integrated a lot of different mechanisms that are normally studied separately," said Kosmrlj.

A key aspect of the model is its adoption of classic engineering analyses of mechanical instabilities, which have previously been applied to such problems as the buckling of railroad tracks in extreme temperatures. A similar type of instability causes soft materials like biofilms to form wrinkles.

"In the previous century, mechanical instabilities were being studied with a focus on trying to prevent failure mechanisms in structures," said co-author Sheng Mao, a former postdoctoral researcher at Princeton who is now an assistant professor at Peking University. "But in a new wave of studies, we are trying to exploit these mechanical instabilities to make tunable structures for various purposes," such as soft materials being developed to treat injuries and diseases through tissue engineering.

In addition to advancing knowledge of how growing cells interact with soft substrates, the researchers plan to build on their findings to further investigate bacterial life cycles, including the dispersal stage in which some bacterial cells detach from a biofilm, exit the structure, and colonize new areas.

Bacteria such as V. cholerae "are opportunists," said Wingreen. "They come in, grab some territory, expand, eat everything they can, and then leave. But this last aspect, dispersal, is understudied, and the physics and mechanics of dispersal are going to offer some interesting challenges."

###

In addition to Wingreen, Kosmrlj, Stone, Bassler, Fei and Mao, other study co-authors were Jing Yan, a former postdoctoral researcher who is now an assistant professor at Yale University; and Ricard Alert, a postdoctoral fellow in Princeton's Center for Theoretical Science.

This work was supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, including an NSF award to the Princeton Center for Complex Materials.
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Linkedin Pablo J. Acosta Garcia (The Jakarta Post) -  Tue, March 24, 2020 11:30 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0de62 3 Opinion Papua,palm-plantation,forest Free

This article is part of a series to commemorate International Day of Forests on March 21.

Promising revenues from the palm oil industry has lured Indonesia, Southeast Asias largest economy, to sacrifice its forest areas for oil palm plantations across the country.

Latest data shows Indonesia turns around 242,857 hectares of forest per year into oil palm plantations since 1990. This is approximately four times the size of Jakarta, the capital city.

Forests in Indonesias easternmost island Papua, account for a third of the countrys total forest areas, or around 30 million hectares

Forest clearing for oil palm plantations has begun in Papua to take advantage of the booming palm oil industry.

However, our research finds that the government would benefit more if they maintain forest areas in Papua rather than turn them into oil palm plantations.

Our calculation shows that Indonesian government can gain $3,795.44 per hectare per year in economic benefits for keeping its forest areas, compared to only $2,153 per hectare per year when the forests turn into oil palm plantations.

How nature brings more economic benefits

Oil palm plantations may improve peoples standards of living in remote areas.

In Papua, we find that oil palm plantation has improved infrastructure, improved peoples life expectancy (health) and their access to education.

Local people also can get entrepreneurial skills from palm oil companies.

Our study in Papua finds that each family has the chance to hone their trading skills from selling oil palm crops to companies during harvest time. These companies distribute four hectares of land and financial aid for each family to set up a palm plantation.

However, such benefits are less than what the forest can offer.

Our research finds forest can bring economic benefits in the forms of food, water, wood and medicine supply.

We calculate these economic benefits by calculating the values of each forests commodities from interviews with local people.

From the interviews, we find that each person can get at least Rp2 million (US$125) per month in economic benefits from accessing wood, food, water and medicine in the forest.

Adding to the calculation are benefits from the forest for the ecosystem. One example is the values on how much the forest can contribute to slowing down climate change.

Another priceless thing is the forests biodiversity richness and its abundant genetic resources.

Half of the native species in Papua will disappear forever if they cut down the forests. If they are lost, we will never be able to recover them.

Aside from assessing the economic aspect, we also evaluate the environmental aspects of land use.

For assessing the environmental aspects of oil palm plantations, we also take into account whether the areas being used meet the high European standards.

The European standards only recognise palm oil products from marginal areas with intensive agriculture activities. Therefore, oil palm plantations located in forests and peatlands do not count. This explains why the values of forests are much higher than the benefits offered by the plantations.

Suggestions

The palm oil industry is not really a problem as it can provide economic benefits.

One of its derivative products like biodiesel can promote greenhouse emission reduction and energy dependency.

However, the government should conduct comparative environmental and economic assessments on losses and benefits that people gain from both forests and oil palm plantations.

New oil palm plantations should not be set up if all assessments, economic, environmental and social assessments, are not feasible.

---

Pablo J. Acosta Garcia, PhD Student of Bioenergy, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Uluru and the Kakadu National Park will be closed because of coronavirus.

The two tourist hotspots in the Northern Territory will be shut from Thursday at 5pm.

They will remain closed for at least two weeks.

Uluru and the Kakadu National Park will be closed because of coronavirus

Tourists and non-essential visitors will be banned from entering the two national parks.

Residents, park staff and essential workers will still be allowed access.

National Parks director Dr James Findlay told the NT News that the health of locals and visitors to the parks was his priority.

These decisions have been made in consultation with key stakeholders for each site including traditional owners represented by the joint Boards of Management, Central Land Council, Northern Land Councils, and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community Council, and we will continue to work together,' Dr Findlay said.

'Longer term options for these sites will be assessed over the next fortnight as we continue to monitor the advice of medical authorities and the government.'

As of Tuesday evening, 2,044 people have been infected with coronavirus in Australia, including six in the Northern Territory.
Srinagar, March 24 : Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Tuesday welcomed the release of party vice president Omar Abdullah from detention of over seven months, and sought release of all political detainees and others languishing in jails inside and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Party president Farooq Abdullah while expressing happiness over the revocation of the PSA detention of Omar Abdullah said, "I am glad to see him out from the detention, which has lasted for around eight months. Total redemption of the situation is not possible until all political detainees and others are not released at once. I express my gratitude to those people, politicians, parliamentarians, who have all along have been seeking his release." NC senior leader from Jammu Devender Singh Rana welcomed Omar Abdullah's release and said it was a step in the right direction.

"It is a defining moment that will go a long way in further strengthening democracy and initiating genuine political activities in Jammu and Kashmir", Rana said in a statement issued from Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here.

Meanwhile party's MPs Muhammad Akbar lone and Hasnain Masoodi have also welcomed the release of Party's vice president.

The party leadership has asked for immediate release of party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is also detained under the PSA.

The party has demanded the release of all political leaders, who are under house detention, including provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani, Chowdhary Ramzaan, Mohammad Shafi Uri, A. R. Rather, Aga Syed Ruhullah, Shameema Firdous and others.
Within five years from the day the FTA takes effect, Vietnam pledges to consider European credit institutions proposals to allow them to hold up to 49 percent of shares in two Vietnamese joint stock banks.

On February 12, 2020, the EU Parliament approved the FTA between the EU and Vietnam  EVFTA. The agreement will take effect after obtaining ratification by the Vietnams National Assembly, slated for May 2020, and approval from the EC.





Under the agreement, European banks would have opportunities to hold up to 49 percent of shares in two Vietnamese banks, except the big four - BIDV, VietinBank, Vietcombank and Agribank, where the state holds controlling stake.



Vietnamese banks are still undergoing restructuring, and therefore, their demand for finding foreign strategic shareholders and foreign capital is very high. In such conditions, EVFTA will bring more opportunities to Vietnamese banks to seek foreign partners.

Vietnamese banks are still undergoing restructuring, and therefore, their demand for finding foreign strategic shareholders and foreign capital is very high. In such conditions, EVFTA will bring more opportunities to Vietnamese banks to seek foreign partners.

Foreign capital has flowed to the Vietnams banking sector in the last few years. However, the capital is mostly from Asia, especially Japan, South Korea and some Southeast Asian countries. Only a few European names can be found in the list of banks foreign strategic shareholders.

French BNP Paribas invested in OCB in 2007, but left in early 2018. Societe Generale was once the strategic shareholder of SeABank in 2008, but withdrew its capital in early 2019.



Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellsfchaf was a strategic shareholder of Habubank in 2007, but since Habubank merged with SHB, the German banks ownership ratio in the new bank has dropped to below 5 percent.



Therefore, analysts hope that EVFTA will create a new European investment wave into Vietnams banks.



Under the EVFTA, the 49 percent ownership ratio is only applied to two banks. However, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon commented that if things go smoothly, state management agencies may consider opening the banking sector more widely by allowing European investors to hold up to 49 percent of shares in more than two banks, or lifting the foreign ownership ratio limits in the remaining banks.



Currently, the ownership ratio that one foreign strategic shareholder can have in one Vietnamese bank must not be higher than 20 percent of chartered capital of the bank, while the total foreign ownership ratio in one bank must not be higher than 30 percent.



Experts said that with EVFTA, Vietnams banks not only can attract capital from the EU, but they will also have the opportunities to increase their presence in the EU.



At present, only a few Vietnams banks have networks in Europe. VietinBank opened a branch in Germany in 2011. BIDV has representative offices in Russia and the Czech Republic. Vietcombank has offices in France and Russia.

Kim Chi

Electronics, seafood and garment industries to benefit the most from EVFTA Vietnam is the second country in Southeast Asia, following Singapore, that has signed an FTA with the EU.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has called for people to switch off lights and unnecessary electric devices on March 28 as a way to participate in the international Earth Hour Campaign.

Earth Hour 2020 aims to conserve the world's biological diversity, ensure that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, encourage to recycle rubbish and protect wildlife. Vietnam also hopes to co-operate with international organisations to deal with climate change.

Ministries and departments were asked to raise public awareness about the event and problems to protect the environment. The ministry also asked agencies to follow protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure public safety. Each agency and organisations are called to turn off all unnecessary electric devices from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on March 28.



According to the ministry, climate change has brought extreme changes in weather such as more severe flooding and drought. In turn, natural resources like underground water are badly affected.



Statistics from the UNICEF in 2019 showed that nearly one-third of the worlds population lacked clean water. The 2020 World Water Development Report entitled Water and Climate Change focused on tackling the challenges of climate change and opportunities offered by improved water management.



"Climate change is happening every day and causing severe damages like the saline intrusion in Vietnam. It shows that water resource is the hardest hit, badly affecting the people, economy and environment," the ministry states in their report.



Vietnam has many storms, flooding along with shared rivers with other countries. There are efforts in improving state management and collecting and sharing data about rain and water sources for monitoring and forecasting natural disasters.

However, they have had many challenges in meteorological observations and forecasting during climate changes. The weather is becoming more extreme and natural disasters are occurring more frequently.



In order to respond better to climate change and limit the damages, Vietnam must find solutions for sustainable water resources which requires co-operation from all ministries and authorities. The public has been asked to not waste water. Dtinews
A group of 20 House Democrats led by Representative Ro Khanna of California released a letter on Monday calling for a nationwide shelter-in-place order to stem the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

To effectively slow COVID-19s spread, we must issue a shelter-in-place order for the entire country lasting at least two weeks, excepting only travel for essential services like grocery stores and health care providers, the letter reads. There is no doubt that an action of this magnitude will temporarily disrupt daily lives and cause short-term economic pain, but it will help prevent an extended outbreak and response that could plunge us deep into a long-lasting recession

The letter represents one of the first calls by elected officials for nationwide measures to stem the outbreak. President Trump has resisted issuing national quarantine orders, saying on Monday that the U.S. is not built to be shut down. State governments have imposed various restrictions on public gatherings and businesses based on the level of outbreak in their jurisdictions.

A state-by-state, locality-by-locality approach is not enough, the letter signatories wrote. Without action, the U.S. could end up like Italy, Spain, or worse.

Meanwhile, other elected officials are voicing support for plans to return workers to their jobs while maintaining social-distancing and other measures to counter the coronavirus. Representative Mike Gallagher (R., Wisc.) published an op-ed in the Wisconsin State Journal on Tuesday calling for Wisconsin residents to work while implementing strategic quarantines of vulnerable individuals.

Wisconsin must therefore adapt best practices and guidance from national experts to meet the needs of our state, recognizing that what works for Manhattan and Los Angeles may be different than what works for Milwaukee and Madison, Gallagher wrote.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York on Tuesday also floated the possibility of healthy, younger individuals returning to work once the coronavirus outbreak recedes in the state.

Story continues

You can have an economic startup strategy consistent with the public health strategy, Cuomo said at a press conference Its smart, its complicated, its sophisticated, but thats what government is supposed to do.

More from National Review
White House officials have urged people who have left New York City amid the outbreak to self-quarantine for 14 days after their departure, owing to the widespread rate of infection in the metro area.

New York has more cases than any other state. Even so, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the state is expecting a height of coronavirus infections to come in two to three weeks.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he plans to expand his already far-reaching executive order mandating a 14-day self-quarantine or isolation period for travelers coming to Florida from airports in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Video above: New York convention center becoming an overflow hospital

DeSantis said he will sign an additional order to make his original mandate apply retroactively to anyone who has traveled to Florida from those states in the last three weeks.

"Now is the time to take care of yourself, stay away from crowds, stay at home as much as you can and do the right things for yourself and your community," DeSantis, a Republican, said.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, referenced DeSantis' order at a news conference later Tuesday while urging everyone who has left the New York area to self-quarantine for 14 days, wherever they are.

"To everyone who has left New York over the last few days, because of the rate of the number of cases, you may have been exposed before you left New York and I think like Gov. DeSantis has put out today, everybody who was in New York should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days to ensure that the virus doesn't spread to others," she said.

"No matter where they have gone whether it's Florida or North Carolina or out to the far reaches of Long Island," Birx added.

DeSantis said that members of the Florida National Guard were at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Tuesday, providing information to travelers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in compliance with the executive order he issued Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Walls have been the norm for settlements since the earliest Neolithic days. Farmers have things, such as food and valuable implements. Other people want those things and are sometimes inclined to take them. Walls provide security so that people can live with some degree of peace. Throughout history, everywhere towns and cities, and even nations, have built walls to keep out the riff-raff. Why? Well, walls work!

Walls come in many sizes and materials: stone, steel, bricks and wood. They come in many sizes, from protecting a small settlement to protecting an entire territory. Hadrians Wall, Offas Dyke and the Great Wall of China show us the effectiveness of long walls in the preservation of a nation. Trumps wall promises similar utility.

Walls are a powerful force multiplier  provided they are adequately garrisoned. There are a multitude of examples in history where a small defending force has defeated a massive besieging army through the power of walls. But walls must not have open ends that can be flanked. The Maginot line is a sad example.

Protective walls dont have to be material. They can be cultural, political or economic in nature. Ancient Sparta had no walls of stone. The Spartans relied on the reputation of their warriors. Reputation was their wall. The very name Sparta was enough to deter invasion.

After the Second World War, the United States built treaty walls  NATO in Europe protecting against the Soviet Union and SEATO in the western Pacific shielding East Asia against communist China. These treaty organizations not only provided enhanced military protection, they also economically enriched all the participants.

For their time, these abstract walls were a great benefit. But then the Soviet Union fell apart and communist China seemingly liberalized. It now seems that the time for these defensive walls has passed  at least in their original form. Such alliances will likely continue, but not in their old military role. In todays topsy-turvy world their mission must change. New abstract walls of protection must, and will, emerge for we have now encountered a true black swan  Donald Rumsfelds unknown unknown, in the coronavirus crisis.

Our post-Cold War strategy was a natural extension of the great success we had after the Second World War in turning former enemies into prosperous friends and allies, and in demolishing the Soviet empire. The Cold War success bred a baked-in optimism into our foreign policy. An optimism that remained until very recently even though it has been severely tested in Vietnam and the Middle East.

Because of this strategic optimism we, quite mistakenly, thought that this same policy could civilize China. This has proved to be a major mistake. Despite its having grafted-on the European Marxist pathology, China remains China. This ancient empire has an inherent sense of superiority that derives from four thousand years of uniquely continuous Chinese culture.

China also has highly intelligent leadership that intensely studies the United States to discover, and manipulate, our weaknesses. It has been remarkably successful in that manipulation. Chinese strategy has been to swallow vital portions of our industrial economy through a policy of massive domestic industrial subsidies, dumping products below cost with the government making up the loss, punitive tariffs, bribery, spying and theft of our proprietary technology  in essence, by cheating.

China now has a stranglehold on many of those elements that are vital to Americas survival. Our vulnerability to China was made possible by Chinas bamboozling and bribing Americas obtuse globalist corporate and government leaders.

But all is not lost. The COVID-19 China virus pandemic changes everything. Through its behavior during this crisis China has revealed itself to be not a friend but a hostile adversary. In so doing, it has made visible the serious flaws in our post-Cold War national strategy.

The COVID virus pandemic, painful though it now is, has had the beneficial effect of jolting us awake to the real danger that China poses to our long-term survival. We are now alert to the fact that China has flanked our economic protective barriers and captured vital portions of our industry.

The wakeup call in our relations came in the form of Chinas threat to cut off pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. If they were to carry out this threat it would be an act of war. The future would become very problematic at that point.

But such an event is unlikely. Chinas threat to embargo pharmaceuticals was probably just a probe to see what our reaction would be. Fortunately, President Trump publicly ignored the threat and thereby neutralized it. Nevertheless, the threat exposed the truth of our more general vulnerability - not just to China. The truth of our vulnerability can no longer remain hidden. We must build strong new walls.

In 1800, the new United States was an agricultural backwater. By mid-century we were already substantially industrialized  and we were the worlds leader in invention. Despite the terrible destruction of the Civil War, and the Long Depression of the 1870s, by 1890, we led the world in energy consumption and therefore in heavy industry and agriculture. How did we do this? We did it mainly through protective tariffs. And, there were no business or investment income taxes. The government also fostered the building of railroads, canals and shipping. And, it encouraged the importation of superior technology. In effect, we built economic walls to protect and encourage the rapid growth of our economy. These walls had the interesting additional property that they attracted massive amounts of foreign investment in our industry and agriculture.

Sounds a bit like China, doesnt it? Actually not. One difference is the United States believes in the rule of law and the rule of respect. Another difference is that in China, the communist government effectively owns all domestic businesses, while political party leaders control investment and reap the rewards. Moreover, the Chinese government is willing to do anything in its power to win  no rules. In the long run, the Chinese model is a loser because free enterprise is a far more effective engine of creation.

By todays globalist standards, our nineteenth century protectionist policy was pure heresy. It violated the ideas of Adam Smith and David Ricardo that maximum wealth results from pure free trade and local competitive advantage.

Well, theories are nice, but they often dont work out in practice. Nations can, and do, engage in cutthroat competition rather than friendly cooperation. Practical men see these disconnects between theory and practice and jury-rig solutions that do work. Americas old high tariff walls, combined with no investment tax, was just such a solution  and it worked an economic miracle! It is time to revive, and appropriately adapt, those old practical walls and incentives.

Our new economic strategy must bring our critical industries back to the territorial United States. Fortunately, the United States is a continental nation. We have within our borders almost all the natural resources necessary for a modern economy. Those very few items which can only be found abroad we can stockpile against contingency.

We know we can do this because we have done it before  both in the nineteenth century and much more recently. A decade ago we were entirely dependent on Middle Eastern oil. The consequences of war and lost treasure we all know. Today, through the free enterprise invention of fracking, we are energy independent and can be free of the Middle East if we so desire. Good lesson.

History is switching the world into a new mode. The COVID virus marks the end of the post-Cold War era and the beginning of a new age. Build the walls, America, and you will be free and ascendant for a very long time to come.

Image credit: Wikipedia // public domain
Phillips ran inside the house, and officers heard the sound of shots before finding him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside, according to the statement. He was pronounced dead at a hospital the next day, the statement said.
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LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has rendered a ruling that is harmful to the civil rights of millions of Americans. This is a very bad day for our country. We will continue our fight by going to Congress and the presidential candidates to revise the statute to overcome this decision by the United States Supreme Court, which significantly diminishes our civil rights."

Byron Allen

Founder/Chairman/CEO

Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group

SOURCE Entertainment Studios, Inc.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  A man strapped to a restraint chair and pummeled by Cuyahoga County Jail officers is suing the county and several current and former jail officials.

Terrance Debose sued Cuyahoga County, former warden Eric Ivey, former jail director Ken Mills, former sheriff Clifford Pinkney and the two officers who pleaded guilty to the beating Nicholas Evans and Timothy Dugan.

Civil rights attorney Paul Cristallo filed the lawsuit Monday on Deboses behalf. Cristallo called the beating of his client, who has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, abhorrent.

Those suffering with mental health conditions, such as Mr. Debose,

The criminal case against Evans and Dugan was one of several prosecuted by the Ohio Attorney Generals Office. Ivey pleaded guilty in a separate incident, and Mills faces several charges that accuse him of purposefully making the jail unsafe. Mills pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Deboses lawsuit is also one of several inmates who filed lawsuits in recent years after a string of inmate deaths in the summer of 2018.

The March 22, 2019 beating took on even more significance because of the brutality depicted in the video and because it happened months after a scathing U.S. Marshals Service report that detailed inhumane treatment of inmates, sparking investigations by the FBI and state attorney general.

Debose at the time was jailed on charges of cocaine possession and tampering with evidence. His initial bond was $2,500, and a grand jury later indicted him on charges of aggravated burglary, felonious assault and theft.

Jail officials knew of Deboses mental illness when they booked him into jail, the lawsuit says. Debose suffered a mental-health breakdown, took off his clothes, covered himself with toothpaste and flooded his cell, according to the lawsuit.

Officers strapped him to a restraint chair so he couldnt move his arms legs or head. Debose hurled insults at the officers, who wheeled him into a small, isolated room.

Evans turned off his body camera and punched Debose six times. Dugan hit Debose twice.

Evan pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault and tampering with evidence and Dugan to attempted abduction and misdemeanor assault. Evans was sentenced in February to nine months in prison and Dugan to 10 days in the Geauga County Jail.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Judge sentences Cuyahoga County Jail corporal to prison for turning off body camera, pummeling restrained inmate

Cuyahoga County Jail officers plead guilty to unleashing beating on mentally ill man strapped to chair

Video shows Cuyahoga County Jail officer pummel mentally-ill inmate after turning off body camera
U.S. trade officials removed tariffs on the Apple Watch, the latest Apple device to avoid the United States-China trade war that had once looked like a dire threat to the Cupertino companys business.

The U.S. trade representatives office said in a letter Friday that it had granted Apples request that the Apple Watch, which is assembled in China, be exempt from tariffs. Apple had argued that it had not found a way to make the watch outside China to meet American demand for the device over the next year.
Californians are adjusting to strict new controls to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But with outdoor exercise an allowed activity, Malin Akerman left her home to walk her dog on Monday.

The Billions star was spotted with her dog at Griffith Park in Los Angeles on Monday.

But, she wasn't the only one looking to avoid a case of cabin fever by going out for some exercise.

Unleashed: Malin Akerman went on on a walk with her dog along a trail loaded with hikes in Los Angeles on Monday

Turns out the 27 Dresses actress took her stroll with her pet pooch along a trail loaded with other hikers.

Just one day earlier Akerman took to Instagram to urge people to help feed those in need during this health crisis through @feedingamerica.

'Please #donate to this worthy organization,' she captioned a picture of herself with other volunteers.

'They are doing their best to feed those in need at this difficult time @feedingamerica'

California's Safer At Home order requires all non-essential businesses, like malls, museums, retail stores and offices to close.

People are allowed to leave their homes for essential activities like grocery store shopping, doctor visits and walks in their neighborhoods, but they are urged to keep at least six feet away from others.

During the announcement of the order, Mayor Eric Garcetti said residents are 'entering a new way of living in Los Angeles.'

'This is not shelter-in-place like a school shooting. This is stay at home because you're safer at home,' he added.

'This is not a request. This is an order.'

Some of the other tips from health officials during this COVID-19 crisis include: frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer, cover coughs and sneezes, clean high-touch surfaces regularly, and avoid shaking hands.
Boris Johnson has imposed an unprecedented three-week nationwide lockdown across the UK in an attempt to bring a halt to the coronavirus outbreak.

All British households have been told to stay at home except for a strictly limited set of reasons  with police having powers to enforce the instructions with fines.

Shops selling non-essential goods have been ordered to close, along with libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

Weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies are being stopped, but funerals will go ahead. And all public gatherings of more than two people  except for members of the same household  are banned.

From Monday evening, people will only be allowed to leave their homes for:

- Shopping for basic necessities as infrequently as possible;

- One exercise outing a day  for example a run, walk or cycle;

- Medical needs or caring for a vulnerable person;

- Travelling to and from work, but only if this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

The new measures came after the UK death toll reached 335, with a further 46 dying in England, and after foreign secretary Dominic Raab told all Britons overseas to come home now.

The rules mean the UK is following countries like Italy, Spain and France with stringent restrictions on day-to-day life to suppress the virus, after weeks in which Britain has maintained a lighter-touch approach based on voluntary rather than mandatory actions.

Mr Johnsons decision to step up action, agreed at a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall, came amid widespread concern over large numbers of people congregating at parks, beaches and outdoor markets over the weekend.

The draconian moves were backed by the opposition parties, Jeremy Corbyn arguing the response was one we have been calling for.

"The prime minister is right to call for people to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives, the Labour leader said.

Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: Many people will be anxious about the steps the government has taken, but it is the right decision to restrict our normal way of life to tackle this crisis.

However, he added: There are legitimate questions as to whether this step should have been taken sooner and how well the advice of experts is being communicated with the public.

And Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, expressed concern that banning public transport except for 'key workers' had come before a package to help the UKs army of self-employed.

That expected help  to recognise freelancers and gig economy workers are not being compensated for being told to stay at home  is now not expected before Wednesday at the earliest.

They really should have moved on increasing support for self-employed, Mr Burnham warned.

People are going to find it very hard to down tools and live off statutory sick pay. Failure to provide help risks undermining the new policy.

Acknowledging that many more people will die in the crisis, Mr Johnson said that the measures will be reviewed in three weeks time, when they will be relaxed if the evidence shows we are able to.

In a televised address to the nation recorded in 10 Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: In this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.

Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together, to halt the spread of this disease, to protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

And I know that, as they have in the past so many times, the people of this country will rise to that challenge.

And we will come through it stronger than ever.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.

Concern was sparked by evidence of Britons at shops and parks failing to observe distancing guidance (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) (Getty)

Mr Johnson described coronavirus as the biggest threat this country has faced for decades.

He warned: Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope, because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.

And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.

To put it simply  if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it, meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

So its vital to slow the spread of the disease.

Because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHSs ability to cope  and save more lives.

Speaking alongside a Union flag, Mr Johnson thanked Britons who have complied with advice to stay at home where possible and to maintain social distancing when outside.

But he said: The time has now come for us all to do more.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction  you must stay at home.

Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

And he added: You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

If you dont follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

Mr Johnson said: No prime minister wants to enact measures like this.

I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to peoples lives, to their businesses and to their jobs ...

But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through. Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7,500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.

With the time you buy  by simply staying at home  we are increasing our stocks of equipment, we are accelerating our search for treatments, we are pioneering work on a vaccine.

And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.
OCH Registered Nurse Kathleen Hilbun (left) and Registered Respiratory Therapist Michael Gibson show one of the COVID-19 tests at the drive-through testing site Monday morning
People line up to get a test at Elmhurst Hospital due to CCP virus outbreak. in Queens, New York, United States on March 24, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

FEMA Chief: White House to Use Defense Production Act to Procure Test Kits

President Donald Trump will use the Defense Production Act, which he initiated last week, to procure test kits, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

So, just a little while ago my team came in, and were actually going to use the DPA for first time today, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN. The move would allow them to gain access to about 60,000 test kits, and language from the act would be used in contracts for the federal governments order of 500 million protective masks, he added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), among others, has urged Trump in recent days to use his new powers to create more respirators, ventilators, masks, and other protective items amid the CCP virus pandemic.

The Epoch Times 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.

Under the 1950 Korea War-era law, federal agencies can completely control the entire supply chain and force companies to manufacture needed items and take over the distribution and allocation of those supplies.

But Gaynor told CNN that the Trump administration wanted to be thoughtful about not upsetting the balance, while ensuring that we can get it out to the market and the federal government not consume it all.

A patient assisted by medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city, as he gets off an ambulance in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province, China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

My current focus has been and will continue be to make sure we get critical supplies to those places around the country that need it the most. New York, New York City, Washington state, and Los Angeles and Californiathat is where we are focused. And we continue to focus on that throughout the day today and until we solve that supply problem, Gaynor said.

Gaynors remarks came as the number of global CCP virus cases reached near 400,000 on Tuesday while cases in the United States reached more than 45,000, according to Johns Hopkins Researchers. The pandemic has triggered state, federal, and local lockdowns, banning social gatherings and restricting travel to slow the spread of the virus.

Some companies, meanwhile, said they have already started making medical supplies amid shortages.

Bill Ford, the head of Ford Motor Company, said this week that his company is looking to make medical supplies including ventilators and respirators.

Were doing it on our own, Ford told NBC News Today. Obviously the White House has put a call out for companies to help, but frankly we were doing this, getting all this in motion before that.
The house of representatives has passed a bill requiring the federal government to refund to companies 50% of the income tax paid on e...





The house of representatives has passed a bill requiring the federal government to refund to companies 50% of the income tax paid on employee salaries.





The emergency economic stimulus bill introduced and passed during Tuesdays plenary session, was sponsored by all the principal officers.





However, it would need to be passed by the senate and sent to the president for assent to become law.





According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to protect employees and caution the economic implication of the pandemic for companies registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2004.

The bill states that eligible companies would be those do not retrench their staff from March 1 till December 31, 2020.





It added that such employers shall during the period be entitled to 50% income tax rebate on the total of the actual amount due or paid as pay as you earn (PAYE) tax under the personal income tax act cap C8 LFN 2004 (as amended).





It also seeks to suspend import duties on medical equipment and drugs required for the treatment and management of the Covid19, for a period of three months, starting from the end of March.





The bill also provides for deferment of all mortgage payments for a period of 180 days effective from March 1, 2020.





The deferment is applicable to residential mortgages obtained by individual contributors to the national housing fund





Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker, said the bill is temporary and is meant to expire in December.





We can review the bill before the expiration date if, in the next few months, there is no need for it and we were able to beat the virus, he added.





As at Tuesday afternoon, Nigeria had 42 cases of the coronavirus across five states and the federal capital territory.




Photo credit: Netflix

From Cosmopolitan

Lately, it feels like every show has us thinking, What the f*ck did I just watch? In this series, we will break down exactly what happened in all those wild, mind-bendy, and just plain strange series...in a way thats much easier to understand than the actual thing.

THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR NETFLIXS FREUD.



After I read the description for Netflixs Freud, I knew I was in for something...interesting. The drama follows a young Sigmund Freud in Vienna as he works to solve a string of murders. Obviously, Freud is much more well known for creating psychoanalysis than he is for his murder-solving skills, so this fictional show had me intrigued.

Full disclosure, I didnt watch the whole first season. I did, however, watch enough to tell you whether its worth dipping your toes into. Here are some things to consider....

It combines a murder mystery with some witchy stuff.

Obviously, crime shows are popular for a reason, but this one pairs that drama with a whole psychological element that feels pretty fresh. In the first episode alone, Freud is hypnotizing people and attends a seance with a psychic. Theres a lot happening but in a way that sets it apart from your typical serial killer drama.

The guy who plays Freud is...kinda hot?

I hate to be the person to do this, but the guy who portrays the young psychiatrist is fairly good-looking. Lets do some comparisons. Heres the actual Freud in his younger years:

Photo credit: Imagno - Getty Images

And heres the guy who plays him:

Photo credit: Netflix

Not only is the resemblance pretty good, but if youre into beards, youre very much in luck. Im not saying thats the sole reason to watch the show, but its not not a reason to watch it.

There are definitely some gritty aspects.

In the first episode alone, audiences see Freud doing cocaine more than once. Apparently, thats pretty true to who he actually was. We do know that in his private life, he was heavily into cocaine, director Marvin Kren told Variety. So...be prepared for that.

Story continues

Photo credit: Netflix

Its going to be pretty dark.

First, its about murder, but Freud is also dealing with a lot of other stuff that makes this a less-than-joyful watch. He is generally rejected by his contemporaries in the show, which provides a lot of the tension, and the character is fighting rising antisemitism in Austria. Its a lot! And with everything going on in the world right now, you might not want to dive into a really serious drama about murder and psychology. But if youre looking for a distraction, it could be just what you need.

The verdict...

Definitely give this one a shot. Its pretty weird but in a way that might work for you.

You Might Also Like
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RAPID CITY, S.D., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black Hills Corp. (BKH) today announced an update regarding the actions it is taking in response to COVID-19 and the related impacts on the companys business. The company is executing its business continuity plan and remains focused on prioritizing the health and safety of its customers, employees, business partners and communities.



Black Hills continues to monitor its operations and believes the fundamentals of its utility-focused business remain sound. Operations and delivery of energy to its 1.3 million customers have not been materially impacted. To date, Black Hills has not experienced significant reductions in sales volumes across its business and is closely monitoring potential impacts due to the states and the nations COVID-19 pandemic responses.

The company continues to maintain adequate liquidity to operate its businesses and fund its capital program. The company is shifting its short-term funding from its commercial paper program to its $750 million revolving credit facility, which expires July 30, 2023. The credit facility has two one-year renewal options and contains an accordion feature that allows Black Hills to increase total commitments up to $1 billion under certain conditions.

Black Hills is well positioned to execute its financing strategy and recently completed a $100 million equity issuance as part of its plan for 2020. The company previously announced plans to issue at least $300 million of long-term debt this year to term out short-term debt. The company does not have any material long-term debt maturities until late 2023.

The company is monitoring supply chains and large capital projects. Supply chains are so far operating normally with limited impact to availability of supplies and materials. Recent conversations with suppliers and contractors indicate no significant changes to schedules for delivery of parts and components and contractors.

Story continues

The companys pension plan was approximately 85% funded at year-end 2019 and has remained near this funded status throughout the ongoing market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Hills has substantially de-risked its pension plan assets with nearly 70% of the portfolio invested in long-dated bonds. As a result, we do not anticipate additional funding requirements beyond planned contributions for the year.

Recognizing the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Hills is continually monitoring its business and will adjust as necessary to safely and effectively serve customers and communities and keep employees safe and well.

Black Hills Corporation

Black Hills Corp. (BKH) is a customer-focused, growth-oriented utility company with a tradition of improving life with energy and a vision to be the energy partner of choice. Based in Rapid City, South Dakota, the company serves 1.28 million natural gas and electric utility customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Investor Relations

Jerome E. Nichols

605-721-1171

jerome.nichols@blackhillscorp.com

24-Hour Media Relations Line

888-242-3969

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statement

This news release includes forward-looking statements as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. We make these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward looking statements. This includes our expectations about the timing and completion of our bond issuance, continuity of supply chain, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions which we believe are reasonable based on current expectations and projections about future events and industry conditions and trends affecting our business. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that, among other things, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, the risk factors described in Item 1A of Part I of our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, and other reports that we file with the SEC from time to time.

New factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements emerge from time-to-time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such factors, or the extent to which any such factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statement. We assume no obligation to update publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
A man currently in custody charged with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee declined to leave his prison cell yesterday for a video link hearing because of "his concerns over the general Covid-19 situation".

Paul McIntyre (52) from Kinnego Park in Londonderry denies murdering Ms McKee during disturbances in the Creggan on the night of April 18 of last year.

He also denies possessing a firearm and being a member of a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA, on the same date.

When his case was mentioned at the Magistrates Court in Derry yesterday, defence barrister Eoghan Devlin told District Judge Nigel Broderick that an email had been sent to the governor of Maghaberry Prison last weekend asking that the defendant be excused from appearing in the video booth in the prison.

Mr Devlin said McIntyre was being voluntarily confined to his cell.

It is at his own request to remain in his cell because of the general Covid-19 situation, he said. The defence barrister said committal papers in the case would be served on the defendants legal representatives on Wednesday of this week.

A preliminary enquiry date has been fixed for April 2 with a review date on March 27.

Ms McKee (29) was shot dead by a dissident republican gunman during street disorder in the Creggan area last April.
Tributes have been paid to a 72-year-old priest who is among at least 60 ministers who have died in Italy after contracting Covid-19, according to reports.

Father Giuseppe Berardelli, the main priest in the town of Casnigo, died last week in Lovere, Bergamo - one of the worst-hit cities in Italys ongoing coronavirus crisis.

He was a simple, straightforward person, with a great kindness and helpfulness towards everyone, believers and non-believers, Giuseppe Imberti, the mayor of Casnigo, said in a statement, according to the Italian news website Araberara.

Although there was no funeral for the priest, residents of the town reportedly applauded from their balconies as his coffin was taken for burial.

Clara Poli, the mayor of Fiorano, where Father Berardelli had been a parish priest, said he was a great person who was fond of his motorbike, Araberara reported.

I remember him on his old Guzzi motorbike, he loved his motorbike, and when he was seen passing by he was always cheerful and full of enthusiasm, he gave peace and joy to our communities, the mayor said.

At least 60 priests have died due to Covid-19 in Italy as of Tuesday morning, according to the London-based Catholic Herald newspaper.

Pope Francis led a prayer on Tuesday for doctors and priests who have died during the pandemic.

I thank God for the heroic example they give us in caring for the sick, the pope said.

Italy has become the country with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, surpassing China - where the virus was first identified.

More than 6,000 people in Italy have died from the disease, as of Tuesday morning, and the country has been under lockdown since 9 March. Italy has more than 63,000 cases of coronavirus.

It has become the epicentre of the worlds Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected more than 160 countries and killed more than 16,000 people.

Italy recorded 602 additional deaths on Monday, its lowest daily increase since Thursday, in a potential sign that the countrys strict measures could be starting to have an effect on the outbreak.

Update: A previous version of this story included a claim that the priest Giuseppe Berardelli gave up his respirator for a younger patient, based on local media reports.

Following publication, this claim has been denied and we have removed reference to it from the story.
Pune based Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed a indigenous coronavirus testing kit which has been approved for commerical use by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Pune based Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed a indigenous coronavirus testing kit which has been approved for commerical use by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The kits have reportedly been developed in a record time of six weeks and will reduce the cost of testing to a fourth of the current cost.

We can produce 1 to 1.5 lakh tests in a week, we are trying to increase our production for the public. These kits cost 1/4th the price that the imported kits are being sold for: Ranjit Desai, Scientist at Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd https://t.co/46tCLZRjUl pic.twitter.com/CX6ATqdQGR  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

The molecular diagnostic company, which received statutory approvals late on Monday from authorities, can manufacture over 15,000 testing kits per day from its facility at Lonavala in Pune district and the same will be ramped up to 25,000 kits per day, its co-founder Shrikant Patole told PTI.

Citing the experience in South Korea, the World Health Organisation (WHO)has been stressing on the importance of tests to fight the pandemic, which has so far claimed nine lives in India. "We have a simple message to all countries  test, test, test. All countries should be able to test all suspected cases, they cannot fight this pandemic blindfolded," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

Though around 500 people have been tested positive for the virus in India so far, experts are bracing for a sharp increase fearing it may have spread across and also point out to a low level of testing in the country. As of 21 March, India had tested only 14,811 people and had one of the lowest testing rates in the world.

With the newly-developed kits ''Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR , said Patole the company would be able to shorten the test time to 2.5 hours as against the prevalent 6-8 hours because its team has created a solution that does both the screening and confirmation jobs simultaneously.

Its team of 25 scientists started working on the solution six weeks ago, fearing that the crisis may eventually hit India, he said, adding that the company had started as a trading firm in 2012 and diversified into research in 2016.

The test for COVID-19 will also pick up positive cases among asymptomatic patients, Patole said, adding that the approvals from the National Institute of Virology(NIV), ICMR and Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) were received after a test sampling on patients at Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital which is the nodal location for treating coronavirus cases.

Earlier the ICMR had issued written guidelines which mandated that only diagnostic kits that have been approved by the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) or certified by the European Union (EU) be allowed to offer commercial tests for detecting SARS CoV-2. However, ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava on Monday said this was no longer a requirement and even those approved by the NIV would be eligible for approval, said a report in The Hindu.

Patole explained that till now, India has been using kits prepared by the state-run National Institute of Virology (NIV), also based in Pune, but it was the fears over the increase in numbers which made private sector interventions in manufacturing necessary.

The testing kits done by NIV are costing up to Rs 4,500 per sample if we include both screening and confirmation, Patole said, claiming that Mylabs is confident of selling the kits at a fourth of that cost.

He said allowing private labs to conduct tests is essential given the potential threats. Patole also said that its kit can work within the infrastructure for testing available with Indian diagnostic labs, and does not require any new machinery. The company is in the process of creating similar test kits for HIV, hepatitis-B and also tuberculosis.

A team of four founders and investors have invested over Rs 25 crore in the company till now and there are no external investors, Patole said. The company is looking to rope in investors, he added.

Earlier in the day, the ICMR had said that 118 govt laboratories were included in the ICMR network of testing, with a capacity to test 12,000 samples a day. 22 private laboratory chains, with about 15,500 collection centres, have also registered with ICMR till today, reported ANI.

With inputs from agencies
Cairo Opera Complex

Gezira Exhibition Grounds, Zamalek

Salah Taher gallery

Tel 02 2739 0132/0144

The Nucleus of Art forum of oil painting from Saudi Arabia (28 March- 4 April).

Music Library (Ziad Bakir) gallery

Acrylic and aquarelle paintings by Nadia Al-Sharqawi and Magdy Khaled

(28 March- 4 April).

Ceramic and Traditional Handicrafts Centre

1 Al-Imam St, behind Amr bin Al-Aas Mosque, Al-Fustat, Old Cairo, Tel 02 2364 3103

A permanent exhibition of the centres ceramic, brass, jewellery and khayameya products.

Al-Ghouri Caravansary

Imam Mohamed Abdou St, off Al-Muaaz St with Al-Azhar, Tel 02 2514 7475

Permanent exhibition of the handicraft centres products, including pottery, brass artworks and jewellery.

Khan Almaghraby

18 Al-Mansour Mohamed St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 3349/01000 694940

Inspired Landscape, paintings by Mohamed Shaker (17 March- 2 April).

Magdoub Design Studio

21 Ismail Mohamed St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2737 0778

Spirits group exhibition of sculpture which is an initiative by Magdoub Design Studio, is focusing on the interesting presence of young Egyptian Sculptresses, after many decades of absence from this unique art genre, although excelling in oil painting and other kinds of visual art. Its the third edition of Spirits exhibition, this year the artists are presenting art pieces using different materials such as bronze, marble and wood. For the time being, you can view the sculpted pieces on the studio Facebook [email protected] (15 March- 9 April).

Almashrabia

80 Mohieddin Abul Ezz St, infront of the Shooting Club Gate 3, Dokki, Tel 02 3335 7507

Paintings by Hussein Dihon and jewellery by Ehsan Nada (closing 31 March).

Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art

10 and 15 Mahmoud Bassiouny St, Downtown, Tel 02 25784494

Dawestashy - A Focus on the Early Work, exhibition by Esmat Dawestashy

is reflecting on his accomplishments, it is an opportune time to revisit an intense collaboration that took place in the nineties with the renowned artist, in celebration of the impact and role he has had in shaping the Egyptian Contemporary Art movement (closing 31 March).

Mevlevi Dervish Architectural Complex

31 Al Suyuffeya St, Al Helmeya, Cairo, visitors are welcomed by appointments so contact the manager Mr. Salah Ramadan 0100 8716067

Samaa Khana, Restorations and Restorers, an exhibition of the activities of the working sites for the restoration and recovery of the monuments.

TAM.Gallery

Km 28,Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, Abu Rawash, Giza-Egypt, 0100 0773860

Positive Space originally planned as a physical exhibition, it quickly evolved into an online collaborative project with 83 contemporary Egyptian artists, presenting over 300 works which will be going live on Friday 27 March.

The title Positive Space initially referred to the nature of black and white artwork; composed of layered positive and negative spaces. Now, TAM hopes it provides the art lovers with a real positive space for reflection, enjoyment, wonder, inspiration and calm.The gallery invites you to explore the two extremes,

two opposites that give meaning to each other when intertwined. Along the spectrum from black to white lives an abundance of questions, possibilities, surprises and countless emotions.

Zamalek Art gallery

11 Brazil St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 1240

Venue I

Sketches by Farghali Abdel-Hafiz (closing 4 April).

Venue II

Birds Dreams,paintings by Khaled Sorour (closing 4 April).

ALEXANDRIA

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Chatby, Alexandria 21526, Tel (03) 4839999

Archeological Museum

A permanent exhibition on the results of the Archaeological Mission of the University of Turin in Nelson Island

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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An airport in Ecuador physically blocked its runway to prevent an incoming plane from landing.

Footage taken via helicopter shows trucks strategically parked the entire length of the runway at Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil to ensure an Iberia Airlines flight from Spain couldnt touch down.

The aircraft was empty save the crew, and was arriving to pick up stranded Spanish citizens.

It eventually managed to land in Ecuadors capital city, Quito, where it boarded 170 passengers for the return journey to Spain.

Cynthia Viteri, the mayor of Guayaquil, said she supported the decision of local authorities to stop the plane from landing amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Viteri has tested positive for Covid-19 herself.

However, Ecuadors Ministry of Transport and Public Works denounced the blocking of the runway.

The EU has requested that Ecuador provide guarantees of security in the use of the airports of Quito and Guayaquil for the arrival of empty flights and the exit of European citizens, reports Reuters.

It comes after Spain declared a state of emergency on 14 March, banning people from all but essential outings.

Originally due to last 15 days, authorities are now requesting it be extended until 11 April as the death toll soared to more than 1,700.

We are at war, said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the outbreak.

The Spanish government also announced that, from midnight on 22 March, most foreign nationals would be barred from entering the country for 30 days.

This does not apply to Spanish citizens currently stuck abroad
Communications and Social Media Officer, Copenhagen, Denmark

Organization: World Health Organization (WHO)

Country: Denmark

City: Copenhagen, Denmark

Office: WHO ROE Copenhagen

Grade: P-4

Closing date: Friday, 10 April 2020

Communications and Social Media Officer

( 2001354 )

Grade : P4

Contractual Arrangement : Fixed-term appointment

Contract duration : 2 years

Job Posting: Mar 19, 2020, 5:20:08 PM

All Member States of WHO in the European Region share the common value of the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental human right.All of WHOs actions are based on this and rooted in the underlying value of equity as described in the General Programme of Work. The 13th General Programme of Work defines the mission of WHO as one to promote health, to keep the world safe, and to protect the vulnerable. The GPW calls for heightened accountability, prioritizing impact and outcome at country level, and to improve the lives of three billion people, through universal health coverage, through addressing health emergencies, and promoting healthier populations.WHOs mandate revolves around six core functions: (i) providing leadership on global health matters; (ii) shaping the health research agenda; (iii) setting norms and standards; (iv) articulating evidence-based policy options; (v) providing technical support to countries; and (vi) monitoring and assessing health trends.The European Region (EURO) of WHO is made up of 53 countries, with over 880 million people. The diversity of people and health situations requires, on the demand side, a solid understanding of the emerging socio-economic, epidemiologic and demographic patterns and trends at both aggregate as well as national and sub-national levels, with due sensitivity to disadvantaged populations and vulnerable segments of the society. On the supply side, it is equally crucial to have a solid understanding of the commonalities and divergences of the health systems, the circumstances and political economy under which they have evolved and operate and, more specifically, how these bear upon the way the health system stewardship function of health ministries is carried out. The Office of the Regional Director (RDO) has the overall responsibility for planning, execution and evaluation of WHO programmes at the regional and country level and in strengthening the alignment and joint work across the three levels of the organization.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Contribute with relevant expertise to develop, plan, coordinate and implement the Regional Directors (RD) communication across multiple media channels, including management of social media content and visibility ensuring its full clarity and high effectiveness as well as alignment with the EURO corporate communication strategy. S/he will advise the Regional Director on the development and promotion of innovative communication methods. The incumbent will work under the leadership, strategic and managerial oversight of the Regional Director. S/he is expected to regularly discuss activity plans and issues encountered when preparing speeches and public presentations during regular and ad hoc meetings with the Regional Director. Whilst expected to promote innovative ways of working, the incumbent is also expected to exercise sound judgment in providing advice to the Regional Director. S/he will actively contribute to improving the delivery of speeches and presentations.Key duties: To provide effective, clear, well-informed formulations of statements on the objectives and activities of the Organization in the form of speeches, policy statements, journal articles and op-eds, book prefaces and chapters, messages to staff, and presentations. To plan, coordinate and implement the RDs communication across multiple media channels, including management of social media content and visibility. More specifically, the incumbent performs the following duties:

Gather necessary evidence, expert advice, policy documents and scientific materials in close consultation with technical units and scientific media to draft speeches, speech notes, presentations for the Regional Director to be delivered at various high-level international fora;

Manage the editing process and finalize RDs communication across all media channels, including incorporating feedback and edits from the RD, technical units and the communications team;

Research and analyse collected material and evidence to prepare speeches and presentations on broader health policy related issues;

Develop policy and technical speeches, briefings, and other documents for the Office of the RD and for use by of the senior management team;

Contribute by expert advice to the overall efforts towards improving the quality and impact of corporate policy and technicalmessages;

Provide sound advice in speech delivery; monitors audience response and feedback to ensure that messages emanating from WHO are understood, as well as for future use and as a means of advising senior management;

Manage the RDs social media presence, including development of tweets and posts for RD social media channels, and managing Facebook Live events, working in close alignment with the social media lead for EURO;

Formulate scripts for video messages for the RD, intended for external audiences, and vlogs for internal communication purposes, in close collaboration with relevant technical units;

Prepare talking points for the RD for interviews, events, etc., in collaboration with EURO media lead and relevant technical units;

Ensure a strategic link with WHO policies and priorities while drafting speeches, presentations, speech notes and other communication materials;

Perform other related responsibilities as required, at the discretion of the RD, including: --> Ad hoc support to the senior management in speech writing;

-> Ad hoc assistance to the Directors of Divisions within the WHO European Office on their speeches;

-> Develops an appropriate mechanism for RDO to promote more effectively key statements among WHO/EURO technical units, GDOs and WHO Country Offices.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Advanced university degree (Masters level) in communications, public health, journalism, public relations, political or social sciences or another field of relevance to the tasks of this role.

Tags global health health emergencies health policy health systems journalism political economy public relations social sciences universal health coverage

Desirable: Additional degree in any of the above areas.

Experience

Essential: At least seven years of combined national and international experience in communications, or speech writing, in the area of health, political or social sciences, public relations or a related field.

Desirable: Demonstrated relevant experience within the WHO, the UN or any agency or institution active in the field of public health. Experience managing the social media agenda of senior level officials/management.

Skills

Demonstrated knowledge in communication strategies and methodologies with a focus on social media. Demonstrated knowledge of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork

Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

Communication

Producing results

Driving the Organizations Position in Health Leadership

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Excellent knowledge of English.

Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French,Russian,German

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 73,516 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 3786 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

A written test may be used as a form of screening.

In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

For information on WHOs operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

WHOs workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.

WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.

Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
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PR powerhouse Roxy Jacenko was forced into a 14-day quarantine after a brief trip to New Zealand, last week.

And now, the 39-year-old publicist has issued a warning about the seriousness of social distancing and self-isolation.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the blonde entrepreneur encouraged her followers to take the threat of the pandemic seriously.

'It's not a vacation' PR queen Roxy Jacenko, 39, (pictured) has spoken about the importance of taking 'social distancing' measures seriously in a clip she shared to Instagram on Tuesday after flying home to Sydney from New Zealand

'Hi everyone, well this is just a message to really encourage you to stop and think at the moment,' Roxy began in the clip.

'While it doesn't seem real at this time, it seems like a bit of a vacation.

Warning: 'The importance of really isolating and making sure you stay a safe distance away [is crucial]' Roxy told her followers on Instagram

'The importance of really isolating and making sure you stay a safe distance away [is crucial].'

Roxy revealed she would be putting herself into quarantine on Saturday, after she flew back from a quick trip to New Zealand.

The blonde beauty shared an eerie clip of herself arriving back at a deserted Sydney Airport, while walking through the arrivals terminal.

Scary: 'Sydney International Airport right now. Scary,' Roxy shared a clip from Sydney Airport on Saturday, after she was forced to flee New Zealand before increased border restrictions

'Sydney International Airport right now. Scary,' she captioned the bizarre clip.

Roxy flew to New Zealand the weekend before last, prior to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern introducing tough new restrictions on arrivals.

Last Thursday, New Zealand completely closed its borders to non-citizens or permanent residents - with Australia following suit on Friday.

Crossfire: Roxy flew to New Zealand the week weekend before last, prior to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern introducing restrictions on arrivals.

Roxy shared a picture of an idyllic throwback photo of a lake in Queenstown on Saturday, saying she was glad to be back in Sydney.

'Such an incredible spot, but happy to be home,' she captioned the holiday post.

As of March 24, Australia's cases of Coronavirus continue to surge with 1,886 diagnosed cases along with seven deaths.
All viruses evolve over time, accumulating mutations as they replicate imperfectly inside a hosts cells in tremendous numbers and then spread through a population, with some of those mutations persisting through natural selection. The new coronavirus has proofreading machinery, however, and that reduces the error rate and the pace of mutation. It looks pretty much the same everywhere it has appeared, the scientists say, and there is no evidence that some strains are deadlier than others.
Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister

Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation'

Coronavirus: 42 booked in Odisha's Berhampur for defying lockdown

India

oi-PTI

Berhampur, Mar 24: Police have booked 42 persons in Berhampur city in Odishas Ganjam district for defying the lockdown imposed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday.

At least four cases have been registered in this connection in three police stations, said sub-divisional police officer BP Pati.

While two cases were registered in Goshaninuagaon police station against 30 people, one case each was registered in Bada Bazar and Town police stations against eight and four persons, respectively, he said.

Explained: Why you could be booked under Section 188 IPC if found flouting lockdown

The government has advised the people not to venture out unnecessarily during the lockdown and maintain social distancing.

We have booked the persons who violated the orders and went out without any essential work, he said

Meanwhile, police intensified the drive against the movements of all types of vehicles, including two-wheelers.

They warned of stringent action, including the arrest of those who violate the lockdown order.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 14:09 [IST]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Over 160,000 Filipinos have expressed support for the Change.org online petition urging the government to expand its coronavirus testing efforts.

The petition started by a group named Mass Testing Now PH last week is calling on authorities to implement mandatory mass testing nationwide and mobilize resources so local governments units could set up their own testing centers.

The petition, which was translated in other Philippine languages, also suggested other COVID-19 outbreak responses including allocating discretionary funds to aid the embattled health care system of the country.

On March 16, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to test every suspected case to prevent more infections and slow the spread of the respiratory illness.

However, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Tuesday that while there are more test kits coming to the country, there are still not enough COVID-19 testing labs and medical personnel to operate these.

Kahit marami tayong testing kits, ine-extend po natin ang ating kapasidad ng mga laboratoryo para maging sufficient po at makumpleto ang proseso at makapag-test pa tayo nang mas marami, said Vergeire, who is also the Department of Health spokesperson.

[Translation: Even if we have a lot of test kits, we are still extending the capacity of our laboratories to be sufficient and complete so that more can be tested.]

She added that even if the DOH rolls out mass testing, it does not mean that everyone will get tested as those who show symptoms would still be prioritized.

Since last week, COVID-19 testing in the Philippines has been restricted to people showing severe symptoms for the disease and individuals with mild symptoms but have weak immune system or high-risk pregnancy due to lack of test kits and limited testing centers.

But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said earlier in the day the DOH is looking to revise its testing protocol so people who show even mild COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, could also be tested after the government increased its testing capacity. This is to give them an accurate data on the rate of infection in virus-hit communities, Duque added.

Last week, DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said there is no need for mass testing yet, but the government is ready to conduct mass tests when the need arises.

DOH confirmed on Tuesday the COVID-19 cases in the country had jumped to 552, with the death toll at 35 and recoveries at 20. Health authorities said the sudden spike in cases in the past few days could be considered as an 'artificial rise' because the figures include cases with delayed test results. Duque said cases are also bound to increase as the government expands its testing efforts. Five government laboratories can now test COVID-19 samples.

Health authorities said the sudden spike in cases in the past few days could be considered as an 'artificial rise' because the figures include cases with delayed test results. Duque said cases are also bound to increase as the government expands its testing efforts.

Five government laboratories can now test COVID-19 samples.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was detained last August ahead of the Centres move to scrap withdraw erstwhile states special status, will be released. A Jammu and Kashmir administration spokesman said on Tuesday that orders to release Omar Abdullah, who has been confined to a government accommodation, was issued.

Omar Abdullah, who turned 50 this month, has been in detention for a little over seven months.

The government ordered his release on Tuesday, days after his father Farooq Abdullah was freed. A third former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, is still in detention.

The National Conference leader was detained on August 4 midnight before the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmirs special status and divided the state into two union territories.

On August 5, the Centre nullified Article 370, divided the state into two Union Territories and imposed restrictions in the Kashmir valley. He was initially detained under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that empowers an executive magistrate to order a person to execute bonds for keeping the peace. Just before his detention was to expire in February 2020, the government invoked the Public Safety Act to hold him. This law empowers authorities to hold any person for two more years.

Omar Abdullahs sister, Sara Abdullah Pilot, had approached the Supreme Court soon after, arguing that his detention was unconstitutional. A two-judge bench of the top court, which had asked the government in February to explain Omar Abdullahs detention, last week cautioned the government that it would take up the petition on merits on the next date of hearing if the state did not release him.
New Delhi, March 24 : The Centre on Tuesday prohibited the export of sanitisers and all types of ventilators, including any artificial respiratory apparatus due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Earlier, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had put ventilators under the prohibited category on March 19. However, the notification to this effect was further expanded.

"It widens the ambit of products under the prohibited category and will prevent any scope of export of these items by any other classification," the ministry said in a statement.

"The government has also prohibited the export of all sanitisers," the statement said.
Hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers are out of work because of coronavirus-related business shutdowns and slowdowns.

A total of 108,710 unemployment insurance claims were filed in Michigan last week compared to a normal average of around 5,000 claims, according to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Michigan reported its first two coronavirus COVID-19 cases on March 10. Since then, many businesses have temporarily closed or reduced their hours, especially after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the closing of businesses such as fitness centers and day spas, and limited bars and restaurants to take-out or delivery service only.

On Monday, March 23, Whitmer ordered remaining non-essential businesses to close to the public and have employees work at home, starting Tuesday, March 24. That order, no doubt, will lead to another surge of unemployment claims.

Below are some tips on getting unemployment benefits in Michigan.

Who qualifies?

Benefits are available to workers who have been temporarily laid off or lost their job through no fault of their own, and who have earned wages in Michigan over the past 18 months, and/or who passed the earnings test.

The earnings test is someone who with at least $3,589 in wages during one of the four quarters of 2019, had earnings in at least two quarters, and their total wages for the year were at least 1.5 times the wages of the highest-earning quarter.

If youre unsure whether you meet that standard, go ahead and file an unemployment claim, said Tony Paris, an employment lawyer with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, a nonprofit based in Detroit.

There is no cost to file, no harm to file," he said. When in doubt, file.

Incidentally, non-citizens qualify for benefits if they have a Social Security number and legal status.

Expanded qualifications

In response to the coronavirus crisis, Whitmer has expanded the unemployment insurance program to include:

Sick workers: Workers who are sick, quarantined, or immunocompromised and who do not have access to paid family and medical leave or are laid off.

Workers caring for children out of school or ill family members: Workers who have an unanticipated family care responsibility, including those who have childcare responsibilities due to school closures, or those who are forced to care for loved ones who become ill and who do not have access to paid family and medical leave or are laid off

First responders: Individuals working in the public health community who become ill or are quarantined due to exposure to COVID-19 and who do not have access to paid family and medical leave or are laid off.

Who doesnt qualify

In addition to people who didnt work in Michigan long enough or earn enough, unemployment benefits are not available to those who are self-employed, including contractors, freelancers and small business owners

Whitmer and her administration are trying to address that, said a press release from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

The State is seeking solutions for self-employed workers and independent contractors who traditionally do not have access to unemployment insurance," the press release said. The governor has requested that President Trump issue a Major Disaster Declaration so that Individual Assistance and Disaster Unemployment Assistance through FEMA may be made available to additional Michiganders affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to apply

Because of coronavirus, Michigan Works! offices are closed to walk-in business and people must make an appointment for a visit.

People filing an unemployment claim can do so online, although so many people are filing claims that the system has been overwhelmed. (Click here to start the online application.) People also can call (866) 500-0017 to file a claim.

Try your best to put up with delays in the system," which are considerable right now, Paris said.

Michigan system for filing unemployment claims overwhelmed, but keep trying, state says

During the coronavirus crisis, workers have 28 days to file a claim from the time they stopped working. Thats an extension from the normal 14-day deadline.

Overview of available benefits

Your weekly unemployment benefit is calculated based on your earnings. Currently, the maximum benefit is $362 per week.

As a result of the coronavirus crisis, Whitmer has expanded the number of weeks that people can receive unemployment from 20 weeks to 26 weeks.

Requirement to look for work has been waived

Typically, those receiving unemployment must prove they are available and looking for other work. That requirement has been waived during the coronavirus crisis.

If your claim is denied

Once your claim is processed, you will be notified if you qualify for benefits.

Because a computer is making that initial determination, you may be unfairly denied, Paris said. In that case, its important to file an appeal.

Dont take no for an answer, Paris said, adding his organization offers free help to people who have been denied unemployment benefits.

Check your email

Once you file a claim and become certified, its important to stay abreast of notifications from the state Unemployment Insurance Agency, Paris said. Thats especially true if you were initially denied benefits -- if you win your appeal, you can collect back pay, but only if you stay certified.

Too often, people ignore their two-week re-certification notices or they dont see the notices because they end up in a spam folder, Paris said, adding, Please check your email. We dont always trust those notices are going out properly."

If you qualify for benefits, take them

For people who are losing their jobs right because of coronavirus, unemployment benefits are there for this exact kind of reason, Paris said. They are the most important social safety net for working people. You are entitled to this because you had wages, because youve been part of the working economy.

Click here on more information about filing for unemployment benefits in Michigan.

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

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.




Traffic at border posts was restricted yesterday as new rules by Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia were being formulated and border officers were awaiting instructions.





At Kariba and Chirundu, vendors have been allowed to criss-cross the border using special passes, but now Zambia, which had confirmed cases shortly before Zimbabwe, ordered a weekend closure to allow a thorough cleaning and upgrade of washing facilities.





Vendors from both countries cross the borders to sell their wares including fruits, bread, fish and groceries, among others every day





Zambia has restricted mass public gatherings including conferences and meetings until further notice while bars and night clubs have been ordered to reduce opening time to a maximum of two hours.





Failure to implement the measures will result in licences being revoked.





At Forbes Border Post outside Mutare, yesterday, Zimbabwe was still allowing traffic in and out, but Mozambican officials were limiting traffic into their country to trucks and Malawians in transit.





Other people were still barred as Mozambican officials waited for clearance. Zimbabwe will be allowing cargo from today, but only returning residents will be able to enter the country.





Last week, Mozambican authorities prevented 10 Zimbabweans from entering the country through Machipanda Border Post as they had violated quarantine rules put in place to fight the spread of Covid-19.





Zimbabwean Ambassador to Mozambique, Ambassador Douglas Nyikayaramba confirmed the development and said: For the previous 10 days, the group had been in South Africa, in regions with confirmed cases of Covid-19.





That meant they should have spent 14 days in quarantine in Zimbabwe before entering Mozambique. Because they did not comply with the quarantine time, they were returned to Zimbabwe.





The 53 people in Mashonaland East under surveillance after they came into the country recently have not yet shown any symptoms of coronavirus, provincial medical director Dr Simukai Zizhou has said.





He said 34 out of 53 were in Marondera. This is contrary to messages circulate on social media that put the number at 61 people. Dr Zizhou urged communities to follow verified news sources to avoid unnecessary panic.





He said they were going to intensify surveillance to detect any potential cases early and limit further spread.





In Mash East, we are vulnerable mainly because of Nyamapanda Border Post, we are going to prioritise monitoring at those entry points. The setting up of an isolation camp at Nyamapanda border is at advanced stage, he said.





Dr Zizhou said the province is targeting zero positive cases and is engaging local authorities to disseminate information to communities.




Coronavirus update: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced nationwide lockdown in the wake of increasing cases of novel corona till 21 days i.e., three weeks. The nationwide lockdown will be in effect from midnight to save every Indian, he said. The 21-day lockdown period is to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Earlier today, the central government on Tuesday prohibited the export of ventilators, sanitisers, and other ICU equipment with immediate effect in the wake of increasing novel coronavirus cases in India. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total number of positive coronavirus cases has risen to 519 (including 39 discharged people and 9 deaths).

Also Read: PM Modi Speech Live Updates: Prime Minister's second address on coronavirus to begin at 8PM

Out of these six cases, five are from Mumbai and one is from Nagar. The states of Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Odisha, Sikkim have entered their lockdown phase as the country battles COVID-19 pandemic. The central government had annonced a complete lockdown in 75 districts across the country on Sunday. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in the country has increased to 482, as stated by ICMR at 10am on Tuesday. As cases increase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that he will address the nation at 8pm.This is the second address to the nation in less than a week by the Prime Minister. He will speak about coronavirus, the measures taken and things that are important to keep in mind amid the outbreak. To make matters easier for coronavirus patients, the government has announced that it will now include COVID-19 treatment under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme. The first case in Northeast has also been reported. The patient, a citizen of Manipur had returned from the UK. Back in Wuhan that is the epicentre of the entire coronavirus pandemic, the authorities have lifted outbound travel restrictions on its citizens. Wuhan will allow outbound travel from April 8, while the other cities of Hubei province will allow it from March 25.

Also read: First Made-in-India COVID-19 test kit by Mylab gets commercial approval

Also: PM Modi's address to nation on coronavirus; where and when to watch live stream

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Chloroquine demand skyrockets after ICMR recommendation

Follow the latest developments on the pandemic on the coronavirus live updates here:

10.45 pm: The right thing to do is for every citizen to support the lockdown whatever may be the hardships; I am certain the PM understands the urgency of announcing a financial package, tweets former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Listened carefully to Prime Ministers address. Left me with a mix of emotions relief, vindication, frustration, disappointment, worry, fear etc. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

The lockdown is late, but better late than never. Those who mocked the idea of a lockdown will do the country a great favour by remaining silent for 21 days. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

PMs announcement left a gaping hole. Who is going to provide cash to the poor that they need for the next 21 days? P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

Why does it take 4 days and more to work out the promised financial package? We have enough talent to finalise the package in 4 hours. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

What is the meaning of Rs 15,000 crore announced by PM? Let me repeat government needs to find Rs 5 lakh crore over the next 4-6 months to manage the economic consequences. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

The right thing to do is for every citizen to support the lockdown whatever may be the hardships. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

I am certain the PM understands the urgency of announcing a financial package and putting cash in the pockets of the poor, daily workers, agricultural workers, self-employed etc. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

Once the package is announced, there are other pressing sectoral problems that have to be addressed. For example, how are the farmers going to harvest their crop beginning April 1? P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) March 24, 2020

9.19 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for offences and penalties during the 21-day complete lockdown in India.

Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for offences and penalties during the 21-day countrywide lockdown. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/wo7TKR80eA ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.13 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs releases guidelines, list of essentials ahead of 21-day lockdown

Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for the 21-day lockdown, list of essential services that will remain open. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/hwRgWEM88z ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.12 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs issues order for 21-day lockdown.

Ministry of Home Affairs order for the 21-day countrywide lockdown. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/Hz1KDfYHIA ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9.00 pm: Coronavirus latest news: Six more tested positive in Punjab

Six more people tested positive for COVID-19 on Punjab. With this the total number of confirmed cases to 29 in the state, according to the officials.

8.54 pm: Coronavirus India: Cabinet Secretary takes high-level meeting to impose nation-wide lockdown

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday convened a high-level meeting with top DG and Chief Secretaries of states and UTs to ensure nation-wide lockdown in the country. They will also discuss several issues such as essential supply, medical stores etc.

8.53 pm: Here are few other highlights from PM Modi's COVID-19 address

If we don't handle these 21 days well, then our country, your family will go backwards by 21 years

I have full faith that we will emerge victorious from this challenge

I have requested all states that health services should be first priority in this situation

Requested all states that health services should be first priority

Social distancing is the only way to combat novel coronavirus. Social distancing not only for infected people but for every citizen including the Prime Minister.

A coronavirus-infected initially appears to be normal and healthy, doesn't show any symptoms. So, be precautious and stay at home.

Centre has allocated of ?15,000 crore to strengthen health infrastructure to combat COVID-19 pandemic

Showing a poster, PM Modi said corona means 'Koi Road Par Na Nikle' (No one should come out roads)

8.43 pm: Don't believe rumours and superstitions, says PM Modi

Don't believe in rumours and superstitions, don't take any medicines without consulting doctors, says PM Modi.

8.42 pm: PM Modi tells India to think of corona warriors

PM Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday asked every Indian to think of the welfare of several essential service staff at the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. . "Think of those doctors, those nurses, the para-medical staff, pathologists who are working day and night in order to save lives. Pray for those who are working nonstop to keep your neighbourhoods and the society sanitized. Think of the mediapersons who are working in life-threatening situations to bring you accurate news 24/7," he said.

8.35 pm: PM Modi announces Rs 15,000 crore stimulus to fight against COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Tuesday that the central government has approved Rs 15,000 crore-stimulus to strengthen the health infrastructure of India. "To strengthen the health infrastructure of the country, the central government has made a provision of Rs 15,000 crores today," he said. "This includes testing facilities related to coronavirus, personal protective equipment, isolation beds, ICU beds and ventilators. The number of other necessary equipment will be increased rapidly," he added.

8.31 pm: India at a decisive stage in fight against coronavirus, says PM Modi

"India today is at the stage where our actions today will decide how much we can reduce the impact of this major disaster. This time is to strengthen our resolve again and again," said PM Modi.

8.27 pm: Pm Modi explains the need for a national lockdown

"It took 67 days for the first lakh people to be infected from coronavirus. It only took 11 days for the next 1 lakh to be infected. Even more scary is the fact that it took only four days for the figure to rise to 3 lakhs," said PM Modi.

8.26 pm: An infected person may not always show symptoms: PM Modi

"You have to remember that many times a person infected with coronavirus may seem to be healthy in the beginning. It is not known if he is infected or not. So take precaution and stay in your homes," said PM Modi.

8.24 pm: Coronavirus news in India: Please stay at home, appeals PM Modi

"Just do one thing, stay at home! Today's decision of countrywide lockdown has drawn a Lakshman Rekha around the door of your house," said PM Modi on national lockdown.

8.22 pm: Coronavirus in India: Lockdown will have economic cost but will save lives, says PM Modi

"Certainly, the country will have to bear the economic cost of this lockdown. But every government's priority is to save the life of every Indian at this time," PM Modi said.

8.20: Every state, district, village in India under lockdown from midnight, says PM Modi.

8.15 pm: If next 21 days are not controlled, nation will go 21 years behind: PM Modi

8.11 pm: PM Modi announces complete lockdown in the nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced nationwide lockdown in the wake of increasing cases of novel corona till 21 days i.e., three weeks. The nationwide lockdown will be in effect from midnight to save every Indian, he said. The 21-day lockdown period is to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

8.05 pm: PM Modi thanks citizens for Janta Curfew success

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday thanked every citizen who made the March 22 Janta Curfew successful. "People of India proved that we can unite when there's a calamity. you all deserve appreciation for the success of Janta Curfew," PM Modi said during his 8 pm address.

8.00 pm: PM Modi starts his address to the nation on COVID-19

7:55 pm: PM Modi to address the nation shortly on coronavirus

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation shortly on issues relating to coronavirus.

7:40 pm: Eight new coronavirus cases confirmed in Karnataka, tally goes up to 41

Karnataka health department on Tuesday said that eight new confirmed cases of coronavirus has been detected in Karnataka, which took tally to 41. Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa has warned that stringent action will be taken against those who do not follow law and come out onto streets unnecessarily in violation of steps enforced by government to control COVID-19 spread.

7:30 pm: 232 FIRs registered, 111 people arrested for violating curfew in Punjab

As many as 232 FIRs have been registered and 111 people have been arrested for violating the curfew imposed in Punjab to contain coronavirus outbreak, Panjab government reportedly said.

7:25 pm: Total coronavirus positive cases spike to 519

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total number of positive coronavirus cases has risen to 519 (including 39 discharged people and 9 deaths).

7:20 pm: Indian Railways to pay all contractual, outsourced staff

Ministry of Railways has decided to treat contract and outsourced employees 'on duty' during the period of suspension of Passengers services in Indian Railways. To ensure that employees are not retrenched due to suspension of services/lockdown, Ministry of Railways has issued necessary instructions to Zonal Railways.

7:10 pm: 'Don't travel unnecessarily', urges Maharashtra CM Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday sought peoples' cooperation to contain the spread of coronavirus in the State. "Do not travel unnecessarily. Don't strain our resources. If possible don't step out. We will come out of this successfully, we need your co-operation," says Thackeray.

He also asked Police to be gentle with people, who are moving out for essentials. "If people are moving out for essentials, be gentle with them and ask them not to move out without any reason. I am asking police that we are not stopping people from living, just changing the lifestyle a bit," he added.

7:00 pm: 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed till 2021 due to coronavirus outbreak

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Tuesday agreed to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until 2021, amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is "accelerating". There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

6.45 pm: Coronavirus news in India: AIIMS Doctors write to Amit Shah over being ostracised by neighbours

The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has written to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting action against the eviction of healthcare professionals from their homes and provision of transport facility as well.

Delhi: Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has written to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting appropriate action against the eviction of healthcare professionals from their homes and provision of transport facility. #COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/n7G7P1kEHl - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

6.34 pm: Coronavirus in India: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi donates 1 month salary to PM's National Relief Fund

Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Tuesday that he has donated his one month salary to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to "strengthen the fight against COVID-19". "I have decided to donate my 1 month salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to strengthen the fight against #COVID19. I appeal to people serving in coal and mining sectors to come forward and support our nation in combating this pandemic by donating generously," he tweeted.

I have decided to donate my 1 month salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to strengthen the fight against #COVID19. I appeal to people serving in coal and mining sectors to come forward and support our nation in combating this pandemic by donating generously. - Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) March 24, 2020

6.20 pm: Coronavirus Noida news: No entry to all parks till April 15

The authorities have banned the entry to all parks in Gautam Buddha Nagar beginning March 24 till April 15. Only the concerned workers will be allowed to enter.

6.13 pm: Coronavirus update in India: States should impose full lockdown; partial lockdown won't work, says Health Ministry

The Health Ministry said in a press conference on Tuesday, that partial shutdown won't work and that the states should implement full lockdown in preventing the further spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.

6.02 pm: Coronavirus Delhi news: Construction workers to get Rs 5,000, announces CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that the construction workers will be given Rs 5,000 by the Delhi government as their livelihood has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

5.59 pm: Coronavirus in India: West Delhi police gives details of lockdown violations

The West Delhi Police on Tuesday said that it has made a total of 77 arrests/FIRs, detained 674 and seized 66 vehicles for violating lockdown imposed by the central government in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 77 people have been arrested & FIRs registered against them, 674 people have been detained & 66 vehicles seized for violating #lockdown in West Delhi: Delhi Police #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/VK1pduXJDg - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

5.53 pm: Have the capacity to carry out nearly 12,000 lab tests, says ICMR chief

"Today we have the capacity to conduct around 12,000 lab tests. For the last few days, on average, we are conducting 1,200-1,300 lab tests on a daily basis,"The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) chief Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday.

5.46 pm: Coronavirus Delhi news: CM Kejriwal urges landlords to give 2-3 months' concession to tenants who cant pay rent

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the landlords to give 2-3 months' concession to tenants who are not in condition to pay rent.

#WATCH: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says,"There are many daily wage earners in Delhi who stay at rented homes. If some tenants are not in a condition to pay their rents to landlords, they can be given some concession for 2-3 months." #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/JmkXNODdU3 - ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

5.35 pm: Govt bans export of ventilators, sanitisers, other ICU equipment

The central government on Tuesday prohibited the export of ventilators, sanitisers, and other ICU equipment with immediate effect in the wake of increasing novel coronavirus cases in India.

5.26 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Mumbai Police finds unique way to keep people indoors

The Mumbai Police on Tuesday took to Twitter uniquely persuade people to say indoors in order to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus in the city.

5.23 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Maharashtra, Telangana legislative council bypolls postponed

The legislative council bypolls in Maharashtra and Telangana have been postponed in the wake of increasing cases of COVID-19 in the states.

5.18 pm: Coronavirus in India: Priyanka Gandhi asks UP Congress district committee members to inform each other about health through WhatsApp

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday wrote a letter to the district committee of Uttar Pradesh Congress and asked the members to inform about their health on WhatsApp. She also instructed the party workers to spread correct information about the novel coronavirus to the infected people in the state and their respective families through calls and WhatsApp.

5.14 pm: Coronavirus news in India: Rajya Sabha secretariat to remain closed till March 27

The Rajya Sabha secretariat will remain closed till March 27 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

5.10 pm: Coronavirus update in India: Rahul Gandhi urges people to united against COVID-19

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote a letter in which he appealed to people to stand united against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

5.03 pm: Coronavirus J&K news: Govt seals borders

The National Highway connecting J&K with Punjab has been sealed permanently at Lakhanpur. People entering the union territory from this highway will be quarantined in Kathua.

4.55 pm: Coronavirus cases in India: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discusses COVID-19 situation with his Chinese counterpart

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar on Tuesday held discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as he reviewed the current situation. S Jaishankar said, "Global challenges require global cooperation".

Discussed with State Councilor and FM Wang Yi of #China our working together in combating #COVID19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming #G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation. - Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 24, 2020

4.46 pm: Coronavirus in India: Total COVID-19 positive cases reach 29 in Punjab

The total number of novel coronavirus positive cases have reached 29 in the state of Punjab, informed Health Minister Balbir Singh Siddhu on Tuesday. The state has sought an additional Rs 150 million from the central government to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

4.35 pm: Coronavirus Maharashtra news: Six new COVID-19 positive cases confirmed; total tally at 107

The number of novel coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra have climbed to 107 after six fresh cases were confirmed in the state. Out of these six cases, five are from Mumbai and one is from Nagar.

4.30 pm: COVID-19 lockdown Day 2: Cops ensure people follow rules

As the country enters its day 2 of lockdown, UP cops are ensuring that people follow the rules strictly. The roads at Yamuna express way are barricaded. Police is checking passenger cars and ambulances. People who are neither a part of essential services nor emergency services are being turned away.

4.15 pm: Coronavirus updates: Centre asks state govts to deploy fiscal resources for medical facilities

The Central government has asked all state government to deploy fiscal resources for creating additional medical facilities such as hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards etc to combat novel coronavirus pandemic.

Central government asks all State Governments to deploy fiscal resources for establishing additional medical facilities - hospitals, clinical labs, isolation wards, expanding & upgrading existing facilities - to combat #COVID19. @PMOIndia @HMOIndia - Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) March 24, 2020

4.00 pm: Lockdown in Karnataka: Indira canteens to be closed

The Karnataka government has decided to close the Indira canteens as a precautionary step to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus. The state government runs Indira Canteen which is a food subsidisation programme.

3.45 pm: Coronavirus Himachal Pradesh news: State govt imposes state-wide curfew

The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday imposed a state-wide curfew in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. One patient had died in the state on Monday.

3.30 pm: Waiver on minimum balance requirement fee will remain for three months, says the FM.

3.14 pm: PM himself monitoring the situation; sub-groups of industrialists, MPs under economic task force are already giving their inputs; economic package will be announced soon, says the FM.

3.11 pm: With respect to commerce activities, for procedural and eligibility point of view, extension of timeline will be given, but there shall be not an extension or modification for scheme guidelines, says the FM.

3.10 pm: We will reduce bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers, says the FM.

3.10 pm: There shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee, says the FM.

3.10 pm: Debit card holders to withdraw cash from any bank ATM for free for next three months, says FM.

3.07 pm: Verification of documents and grant of NOC for quarantine will be relaxed from 7 days to 3 days, says the FM.

3.07 pm: Rebooking of quarantine cubicles for cancelled consignments in aquatic quarantine facilities with additional booking charges will be allowed, says the FM

3.06 pm: Delay up to 1 month in arrival of consignments will be condoned, says the FM.

3.05 pm: Sanitary import permits for shrimp brood stock and any other aquaculture which were to expire betweeen March 1 and April 15, are all now being extended by 3 months, says the FM.

3.00 pm: Threshold for insolvency under IBC raised from Rs 1 lakh to RS 1 crore to protect MSMEs, says the FM. If the situation continues beyond April 30 sections 7, 9 and 10 of IBC for six months to prevent companies from being forced into insolvency, says the FM.

2.58 pm: Deadline for investing 15 per cent of debentures maturing during a particular year into specificied instruments extended to June 30.

2.56 pm: Directors who do not comply with the minimum residency requirement will not be hold in violation, says the FM.

2.55 pm: Newly incorporated companies given additional 6 months for declaration of commencement of business.

2.48 pm: For 2019-20, if independent directors have not been able to hold a single meeting, it will not be seen as a violation, says the Finance Minister.

2.48 pm: Requirement of holding board meetings has been relaxed for 60 days for two quarters, says the FM.

2.47 pm: Moratorium on MA-21 registry from April 1, 2020, says the FM.

2.45 pm: Customs clearance will operate 24X7 up to June 30 as an essential service, said FM Sitharaman.

2.38 pm: Last date to apply for compensation scheme has been extended to June 30, 2020.

2.38 pm: Companies with less than Rs 5 crore turnover, no interest, late fee or penalty will be charged, says the FM. Bigger companies will only have to pay interest at 9 per cent, she added.

2.37 pm: Last date for filing March, April and May GST returns and compensation returns has been extended to June 30, 2020, says FM Sitharaman.

2.31 pm: Due dates for issue of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of returns, return statements, applications, reports, and any other documents and any compliance by the taxpayers, including investment and savings instruments for rollover benefit of capital gains under Income-tax Act, Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act, STT law, CTT law, Vivad Se Vishwas law, and others, where the time limit was expiring on March 20, 2020, shall now be extended to June 30, 2020, said the FM.

2:30 pm: Vivad se Vishwas has been extended to June 30, no 10 per cent addtional charge at all, says FM Sitharaman.

2.30pm: Aadhaar-PAN linking extended to June 30, asys FM Nirmala Sitharaman

2.30 pm: No extension, but on delayed deposit of TDS only reduced interest of 9 per cent will be charged till June 30, said the FM.

2.26 pm: For delayed payments made till June 30, interest rate reduced from 12 to 9 per cent, said the FM.

2:26 pm: For financial year 2018-19, the last date for income tax returns will be June 30, 2020, announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while addressing the media via video conferencing.

2.26 pm: Very close to coming out with economic package to deal with coronavirus crisis, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

2:05 pm: 12 coronavirus patients in Mumbai get cured

At Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, 12 patients have recovered from COVID-19, as per media report.

2:00 pm: FM Nirmala Sitharaman to hold press conference shortly

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday. In this press conference, she may announce conomic measures to overcome Covid-19 impact.

"Even as we are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon) I will address the media at 2pm today, specifically on statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Via video conference," she informed on Twitter.

2:00 pm: Indian Railways to manufacture protective gear

In a bid to control the spread of novel coronavirus infection, Indian Railways is planning to develop personal protective equipment (PPE) on a large scale after procuring raw materials. It is also mulling to manufacture ventilators and train its medical staff to add to overall capability in order to fight the COVID 19 outbreak, as per an IE report.

1:50 pm: Govt asks states to transfer funds to construction workers via DBT mode

Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has reportedly asked States to transfer funds to construction workers via DBT mode. Over 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with construction welfare boards.

1:45 pm: Tamil Nadu govt to give one month's extra salary to health department workers

Health Department workers like doctors, nurses and all those who attend to coronavirus patients will be given one month's extra salary, said Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami in state assembly on Tuesday.

1:40 pm: Reliance Ind sets up India's first dedicated COVID 19 hospital in Mumbai

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has set up India's first dedicated COVID 19 hospital in Mumbai. 101 positive COVID 19 cases have been reported in Maharashtra, so far.

1:38 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with print media heads through video conferencing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with print media heads through video conferencing, over #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/89wRUlCTvz ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

1:35 pm: Bhopal Memorial Hospital declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital

Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal Memorial Hospital has been made dedicated COVID19 hospital.

1:30 pm: Jammu Government Medical College declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital

Government Medical College, Jammu has been declared as dedicated COVID19 hospital for Jammu Province, to be readied by 25th March evening, says Principal Secretary Planning Jammu & Kashmir Rohit Kansal.

1:25 pm: Goa announces complete lockdown from midnight March 24

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said there will be complete lockdown in Goa from midnight today till March 31.

1:15 pm: Two coronavirus patients in Ladakh get cured

Two patients who tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh have been completely cured. Following this, total number of positive cases in Ladakh now stands at 11.

1:00 pm: Actor Rajinikanth donates Rs 50 lakhs to film employees federation of South India union workers

Actor Rajinikanth has donated Rs 50 lakhs to Film Employees Federation of South India Union workers who are facing shutdown due to coronavirus outbreak.

12:55pm: Health Minister says 1.8 lakh people under surveillance

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that National Centre for Disease Control is monitoring potential coronavirus cases. Over 1,87,000 people are under surveillance and around 8,000 are housed in various isolation facilities.

12:49pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold pres conference at 2pm

FM Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference at 2pm on Tuesday. She will address statutory and regulatory compliance matters at the press conference. PM Narendra Modi will also address the nation at 8pm tonight.

Even as we are readying an economic package to help us through the Corona lockdown (on priority, to be announced soon) I will address the media at 2pm today, specifically on statutory and regulatory compliance matters. Via video conference. @FinMinIndia @PIB_India @ANI @PTI_News Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 24, 2020

12:42pm: Death toll increases to 11

Another person has succumbed to coronavirus. The death toll has reached 11. The latest victim, a 65-year-old patient from Maharashtra had travel history to UAE.

12:34pm: J&K to turn hospitals into sanatorium for patients

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to turn hospitals into sanatorium for coronavirus patients. SKIMS Medical College, BCD Hospital Srinagar, JLNM Hospital, and Police Hospital, Srinagar have been transformed for isolation purposes.

12:34pm: Ranchi Police cracks down on lockdown violators

Ranchi Police has cracked down on people who have violated the lockdown. It has also taken action against shops that were selling products other than essential items.

12:30pm: Five people cured in last 24 hours: CM Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that there have been no new cases in Delhi for the last 24 hours and that 5 people have been cured of coronavirus during that time.

12:20pm: US applauds India for janta curfew

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) in the US has applauded India for the janta curfew observed on Sunday. It said it was heartwarming to see people unite despite isolation.

Inspiring to see people across #India coming together despite being physically apart to applaud workers on the frontlines combatting #COVID19 #JantaCurfew AGW https://t.co/F6OmN4CZEj State_SCA (@State_SCA) March 23, 2020

12:10pm: Visakhapatnam under lockdown

Andhra Pradesh government has annoucned complete lockdown at Visakhapatnam. The state has reported six COVID-19 cases.

12:00pm: Sonia Gandhi writes to PM Modi to help migrant workers

Sonia Gandhi has written to PM Modi seeking help for migrant workers who are bound to lose their jobs amid the stringent lockdown. She said that around 44 million workers face uncertain future and that their livelihoods are at stake.

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi writes to PM Modi on COVID-19. The letter states, "I request you to consider advising the State Building&Other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures, particularity wage support to construction workers." pic.twitter.com/CdE1d4NXCz ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

11:50am: Election Commission of India (ECI) has deferred the Rajya Sabha Elections.

11:45am: Govt to include coronavirus in Ayushman Bharat

Governement will include treatment of coronavirus under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme. All beneficiaries will be included as per the existing norms.

11:40am: Air India aks employees to work from home

As the country goes under lockdown, Air India has asked its employees to work from home. The airline has said that a roster of employees will be drawn up for essential services.

Air India (AI): Departmental Heads/General Managers may draw up a roster of employees who are required to render essential emergency services within each dept till 31.03 to reduce attendance in office to the basic required numbers to meet the operational requirements. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/Yw0YSRhWsr ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

11:30am: Coronavirus cases increase to 482 in India: ICMR

11:05am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8pm today.

10:50am: Wuhan to lift travel restrictions

Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic has decided to lift the travel restrictions it had imposed on the citizens. While restrictions will be lifted by April 8, other cities in Hubei province would lift them by March 25.

#BREAKING #Wuhan to lift outbound travel restrictions starting April 8; other cities in #Hubei Province to resume transport services from March 25, local authorities said on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/SDK3axGAy9 CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) March 24, 2020

10:46am: Indian armed forces evacuate 1,186 people from foreign countries

The Indian armed forces have cleared 1,186 people from foreign countries. This also includes medical staff. Around 796 people are under quarantine. There are two positive cases while two have symptoms.

10:40am: Two more cases have been reported in Gujarat. Total cases 33.

10:30am: Locals gather at Shaheen Bagh

Despite a complete lockdown, locals have gathered at the Shaheen Bagh protest site. The site was cleared by the Delhi Police due to the lockdown. Along with Shaheen Bagh other protest sites such as Hauz Rani, Jafrabad were also cleared.

Delhi: Locals gather near the anti-CAA protest site in Shaheen Bagh which was cleared by police today morning, amid complete lockdown in the national capital to prevent the spread of #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/lkOkcbPcIN ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

10:15am: The Mumbai Police has ordered specific timings for essential items

The Mumbai Police Commissioner has ordered the following timings for esential items:

Milk -- 6am to 8am

Newspapers -- Upto 7am

Vegetables, kirana, medical shops -- 8am to 11am

10:10am: Protest site at Hauz Rani cleared

Along with Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi Police has also cleared the Hauz Rani protest site. Section 144 has been imposed in Delhi and there is complete lockdown due to coronavirus.

10:00am: Delhi Metro closed till March 31

Amid the strict lockdown, Delhi Metro has shut its services till March 31. Noida Metro has also announced the shutting of its operations till March 31.

Delhi Metro rail service closed till March 31 as the national capital is placed under complete lockdown pic.twitter.com/xurkXIrEqH ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:50am: All immigration posts closed

The government has shut down all immigration posts. All 107 immigration check posts including at airports, sea ports, land ports, rail ports and river ports have been shut down by the government. However, vehicles and carriers with essential goods have been exempted from the restriction.

9:40am: Another 8 cases reported in Maharashtra

The state government announced that 8 more cases were reported in Maharashtra, taking the toll to 97. One cases each in Kalyan Dombivli, Mumbai, Thane, Khandala and a family of four from Islampur Sangli have been tested positive. They all had travel history outside India.

9:37am: 30 UTs, states, 548 districts under lockdown

Adding to the initial list, Indian government has announced lockdown in 548 districts across 30 states and union territories.

Important Announcement : 30 States/UTs announce complete lockdown in the entire state/UT covering 548 districts #Covid_19india #CoronaUpdatesInIndi#Covid19India pic.twitter.com/iNWq6wVrzh PIB India (@PIB_India) March 23, 2020

9:33am: Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Committee offers space for quarantine

The committee lauded CM Kejriwal in his efforts to curb coronavirus. In a statement the committe said that it will offer DSGMC Sarai of Gurudwara Majnu ka Tilla Sahib as quarantine facility, with provision for langar for the poor and needy.

9:27am: Delhi Police Commissioner appeals to people to stay at home

"Appeal to people to stay at home. No movement or gathering of people is allowed, prohibitory orders issued in this regard.People associated with essential services exempted.Strict action to be taken against those who defy orders," said Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava.

9:25am: Kashmiri students protest in Bengaluru due to lockdown

A group of Kashmiri students protested in Bengaluru airport over cancellation of domestic airlines. The students said that they were supposed to go to Kashmir but were now stranded due to the lockdown.

9:15am: People come out despite lockdown

Despite lockdown, people across the nation have been seen coming out to the streets. Joggers were spotted in Nagpur even as the city is under lockdown. On Monday, the Prime Minister also lamented that people were not following restrictions as they should be and urged people to remain indoors. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also asked people to stay indoors and said that people should not think that they can't contract coronavirus.

Maharashtra: People come out for morning walk in Nagpur, even after Maharashtra government has announced a statewide curfew, in wake of #CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/8TbMBLcdH0 ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:11am: Religious places shut down

As Delhi undergoes a complete lockdown, religious places have also been shut. Visuals from an empty Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.

Delhi: Hanuman Temple near Connaught Place remains closed as complete lockdown has been imposed in the national capital, in wake of #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/rrP1UKClWz ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

9:10am: Nepal under lockdown from 6am today.

9:05am: First case in Manipur reported

Manipur has reported its first coronavirus case. The patient is a 23-year-old from Imphal West. The patient had returned from the UK and is now under treatment in JNIMS.

9:00am: Security has been tightened at Shaheen Bagh

As protesters refused to clear the site, the Delhi Police had to use force. Section 144 has been imposed in Delhi that prohibits gatherings of more than four people. Some protesters have been detained as well.

DCP South East:People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Protest site has been cleared.Some protestors have been detained https://t.co/lVgXzL9WD6 pic.twitter.com/0uBdwGHKMw ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

8:50am: People stock up in Punjab

As the state announces lockdown, people in Amritsar rush to the grocery shops to stock up on essential goods. Meanwhile, they all feel such a step is required to flatten the coronavirus curve.
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Linkedin Markus Makur and Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) East Nusa Tenggara  Tue, March 24, 2020 15:12 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d1ec23 1 News COVID-19,Komodo-Island,sikka-regency,East-Nusa-Tenggara,coronavirus,travel,destination Free

In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration has decided to close its offices and tourist spots.

NTT Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat has shut down provincial administration offices and sent all of his subordinates home. According to a gubernatorial circular issued on March 21, all of the province's employees are to work from home from March 24 to March 31.

They are also not allowed to leave their homes except to buy staple food items and daily needs, medicine, or to get medical checkups.

All communication instruments to ease communication between leaders and subordinates should always be turned on, according to the letter.

[All employees] should avoid mass, large gatherings and help prevent such gatherings from happening, Viktor added in the circular.

Read also: National parks, wildlife reserves closed amid COVID-19 outbreak

NTT, specifically Sikka regency, has been hit hard by dengue fever, which has killed dozens and sent thousands of people to hospitals.

The province is also vulnerable to COVID-19 as tourism is its main industry.

NTT Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat has issued instructions to close tourist destinations in NTT to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, Marius Jelamu, the province's public relations bureau head, told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday.

Other than tourist sites, all festivals have been postponed until further notice.

Below is a list of tourist spots that have been shut down across NTT:

West Manggarai regency: Komodo National Park and tourism area outside the park. Manggarai regency: Wae Rebo traditional village, Liang Bua Cave, Lodok rice field in Cancar and other destinations. East Manggarai regency: All tourist spots in the south and north side of the regency. Ngada regency: Bena traditional village, 17 islands of Riung and other destinations. Nagekeo regency: All tourist spots in the south and north side of the regency. Ende regency: Kelimutu National Park and other destinations. Sikka regency: All tourist spots in the south and north side of the regency. East Flores: Semana Santa celebration and other destinations. Lembata regency: Traditional whale capturing areas and other destinations. (gis/kes)
In his first remarks after his release from detention after seven months, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asked the government to restore mobile data connectivity in the state so that the people could be made aware of the precautions to be taken to avoid coronavirus disease. Abdullah, who turned 50 earlier this month, also asked the government to release the other political prisoners in the state irrespective of their political ideology.

Omar Abdullahs release from detention came hours after the Jammu and Kashmir revoked orders to detain him under the Public Safety Act on Tuesday morning.

Watch: Omar Abdullah walks out of detention after 7 months, PSA revoked

Abdullah, who spent more than seven months at a government guest house Hariniwas which was declared as sub jail, was released after a medical checkup. The National Conference leader headed straight to his residence at Gupkar which had been sealed by the police.

Omar Abdullah drove his vehicle from Hariniwas to his home in Srinagars posh locality, also briefly to journalists on his release. The former chief minister told reporters that he would speak on the scrapping of Article 370 at some point but for now, the immediate priority was to fight coronavirus disease.

He asked people to take the precautions to avoid contracting this disease. Were fighting a battle of life and death, Omar Abdullah said, still sporting a long pepper and white beard. The former chief minister, who had been active on social media before his detention, tweeted a photograph of the release orders with his photograph, sitting in the drivers seat of his vehicle.

232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. Its a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019, he said. A few minutes later, he tweeted again.

Had lunch with my mum & dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I cant remember a better meal even though Ive been in a bit of a daze & dont remember what I ate, he tweeted.

Omar Abdullah was picked up by security forces hours before the Centre moved Parliament to scrap Article 370, divided the state into two Union Territories and imposed restrictions in the Kashmir valley.

Omar was initially detained under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that empowers an executive magistrate to order a person to execute bonds for keeping the peace. Just before his detention was to expire in February 2020, the government invoked the Public Safety Act to hold him. This law empowers authorities to hold any person for two more years.

The governments decision to invoke the stringent law prompted Omar Abdullahs sister, Sara Abdullah Pilot, to move the Supreme Court in February, arguing that his detention was unconstitutional. A two-judge bench of the top court, which had asked the government in February to explain Omar Abdullahs detention, last week cautioned the government that it would take up the petition on merits on the next date of hearing if the state did not release him.

Omar Abdullahs father and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who was also detained along with his son, had been released on March 13.

The National Conference called Omar Abdullahs release a good step and nudged the government to release other political prisoners as well.

Now without wasting any time, the government should release other prisoners and shift the prisoners who are in different jails in the country and detained before August 5 as we are passing through testing times,NC MP, Husnain Masoodi told Hindustan Times.

After seven months of detention, Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah was released on March 13.

Farooq Abdullah had then visited Omar Abdullah at the sub jail along with his wife Molly Abdullah and daughter, Safia Abdullah.
KIRTLAND, Ohio  A worker at Lakeland Community College has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The school in Lake County released a statement confirming the worker had tested positive at the Cleveland Clinic. At least 442 people have tested positive in Ohio, with at least eight cases in Lake County.

We appreciate that this employee notified the college of this information, the statement says. When a person is informed that they have the virus, they are instructed by healthcare professionals to self-report to those they may have had contact with over a certain period of time.

The employee was last on the campus on March 16 and began feeling ill that day, according to the statement. Its unclear how many people the worker came into contact with, but the school says the worker primarily stayed in the H building.

Students were on spring break at the time and have not returned to the campus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The school is recommending anyone that came into contact with the worker to self-quarantine, which could include all employees in the H building.

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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 19:35 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d35a50 1 Business Kadin,chamber-of-commerce-and-industry,Indonesia,charity,donation,COVID-19,coronavirus Free

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has collected more than Rp 300 billion (US$18.3 million) from its members for healthcare equipment and aid for healthcare professionals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are giving the donations in the form of goods such as surgical masks, food and drink and protective clothing, Kadin chairman Rosan Roeslani said during a joint teleconference with the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry.

The donations, which were initially targeted to reach Rp 500 billion, have been channeled directly to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the COVID-19 fast-response team, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the Health Ministry.

Medium and large enterprises under Kadin are also channeling their donations through state-owned enterprises.

Read also: Were all in this together: Companies join hands to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic

Rosan said the businesses were also donating 5,000 rapid test kits and 2,000 items of protective clothing through the Pertamina Bina Medika-Indonesia Healthcare Corporation (Pertamedika-IHC), which was designed to be the holding company for state hospitals.

The businesses had also donated 10,000 surgical masks to flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to provide pilots and flight attendants with adequate protection in the air, Sinar Mas Group managing director Sulistiyono said during the teleconference.

The collaboration between private businesses and SOEs also extends to the procurement of medical supplies as Sulistiyono said that businesses were partnering up with Garuda to help bring the necessary supplies to the country.

Sulistiyono also lauded the government for assisting the private sector with the donations by relaxing import requirements for the donated healthcare equipment.

We really thank the government for relaxing import bureaucracy and taxation to help us bring these supplies to Indonesia, he said.

Read also: Gojek bosses give up 25% of annual salary for drivers, partners as COVID-19 deals blow

The Finance Ministry has pledged support for businesses importing medical equipment and medicine needed to handle the pandemic, including eliminating import duties for medicines and COVID-19 testing devices.

SOE Minister Erick Thohir said partnership was crucial in helping the country to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Along with the private sector, we can fight this virus with mutual cooperation, he said.
FILE PHOTO: A 5G sign is pictured at Huawei's booth at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published a lengthy document on Tuesday calling on localities to accelerate 5G network buildouts and applications to minimize the impact of the coronavirus.

The directive comes as China continues its aggressive 5G network expansion, which was disrupted when the coronavirus outbreak halted construction of base stations in February and fibreoptic factories ceased production.

In one part of the 18-point directive, the agency urged local authorities to construct 5G smart medical systems and "optimize and promote the application of 5G in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic".

The directive also asks authorities to develop 5G applications in virtual reality for the industrial and related car sectors.

Beijing has long considered building 5G should be a strategic priority, following its comparatively late establishment of 3G networks.

The MIIT said the country has installed 130,000 base stations in 2019.

Analysts expect that figure will increase to more than 600,000 this year as investment continues despite the coronavirus disruption.

Speaking in an earnings call last week, China Mobile chairman Yang Jie said the carrier would build 250,000 base stations this year and dedicate 100 billion yuan ($14.13 billion) to 5G investment.

Throughout the period of coronavirus slowdown, many local governments in China have made commitments to 5G-related projects.

In March alone, the provincial governments of Guangdong, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hebei and Fujian all set targets to build tens of thousands of 5G base stations by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; editing by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)
(TNS)  Many colleges are resuming classes online amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the transition from in-person courses to online isnt an easy one for many students and faculty. One Rice University-based organization is looking to help.Rices OpenStax , a nonprofit education technology initiative that offers educational services and around 40 free textbooks online, is allowing students and faculty to access many materials and services without cost through the end of the semester.The organization  founded by a Rice professor who hoped that reducing the cost of textbooks would stop students from dropping out  began waiving subscription fees for its educational services about two weeks ago when classes began more rapidly moving online, said OpenStax managing editor Daniel Williamson.Online services from OpenStax include a tutoring program that allows faculty to assign homework and quizzes, which costs $10 per semester per person, and Rover, a platform that allows students to show their work problems and get step-by-step feedback, which costs $22, Williamson said.The OpenStax textbooks, peer-reviewed by professors, are available in digital PDF versions and cheaper $30 print editions. Its supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation.Were trying to do our best to at least make sure theres no price tag attached to the transition. Williamson said, and the need for such a support system is already evident.More than 3 million students across the country are using OpenStax this semester, including more than 370,000 from Texas and 90,164 from the greater Houston area. More than 7,600 institutions use the system. The company has saved students about $900 million since publishing its first textbook in 2012, according to its data. 2017 study by market research firm Wakefield Research found that 85 percent of the college and university students in the United States who were surveyed had either waited to buy course materials until after the first day of class or did not purchase the necessary materials  a 5 percent jump from the research companys 2016 study.Nearly all the students said the cost was the reason for not buying their books and half admitted their grades suffered as a result, according to the study.Within the past week alone, we have definitely seen a huge shift, Williamson said. This rapid shift to digital learning or social distance learning has exposed a lot of inequities in our higher ed system.Coronavirus focing higher education institutions to go online for coursework has helped OpenStax officials identify which colleges and students have experience or plans in place when it comes to online learning  and which ones dont.More than 30,000 students and more than 500 faculty have signed up for OpenStax accounts in the past five days, giving them access to its services, downloadable PDF versions of books, as well as useful note-taking and highlighting features, Williamson said. The OpenStax team of 85 have also been actively working to address the growing needs of faculty.Theyve posted a blog about quickly transitioning to online learning, which has been read by thousands of professors, many of whom have asked for more information, Williamson said. The initiative also hosted a webinar that maxed out with more than 400 attendees, and OpenStax is offering one-on-one support sessions for faculty members seeking assistance and aiming to get their courses online.One of the most important things to dive into is how faculty are really concerned that they are keeping the approaches equitable, Williamson said, which has been OpenStaxs focus since its inception  to improve access and learning for everyone.Many students are returning home, but might have poor internet connection, which makes live-streaming a class or proctoring exams difficult, Williams said.How do we make sure students have the resources and tools that they need, if they are coming from a (more) disadvantaged background than (their) more resourced peers? Williams said. Thats going to be a big challenge, even coming from a K-12 space.For students, the concern has been keeping the costs of an online education down. The costs of textbooks are known to be a deterrent.If youre asked to buy a textbook, this could [be] the difference between you succeeding and dropping out of college, Williamson said.
Water is not easy to find in my neighborhood so thats why Im making the most of it now and each time I find water, said one passerby, Roselaure Laurent, 17, who took the opportunity to wash her hands at one Scout station. This is the first time I washed my hands today.
He's been enjoying some downtime with his family ever since California was plunged into a lockdown last week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And Simon Cowell appeared in great spirits as he stocked up on some essential groceries in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon.

The Britain's Got Talent judge, 60, continued to display his recent weight loss - which saw him shed nearly two stone last year - as he kept comfy in a pale blue sweatshirt, teamed with white cropped bottoms.

Cheery: Simon Cowell appeared in great spirits as he stocked up on some essential groceries in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon amid the coronavirus pandemic

Looking effortlessly cool, the music mogul strolled across the car park in a pair of brown loafers during his casual outing.

The X Factor panelist - who shares son Eric, six, with long-term girlfriend Lauren Silverman - rounded off his off-duty appearance with stylish black shades.

Simon's shopping trip came after new legislation in the state warned residents to 'stay at home' in a bid to tackle the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis that has swept the globe.

Slimmed down: The Britain's Got Talent judge, 60, continued to display his recent weight loss - which saw him shed nearly two stone last year - as he kept comfy in a pale blue sweatshirt

Relaxed: Looking effortlessly cool, the music mogul strolled across the car park in a pair of brown loafers during his casual outing

California's governor on Thursday issued an unprecedented statewide 'stay at home order' directing the state's 40 million residents to hunker down in their homes for the foreseeable future in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Governor Gavin Newsom's directive marks the largest and most sweeping government clampdown yet in the worsening public health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, which he predicted could infect more than half the state within eight weeks.

'We are confident the people of California will abide by it, they will meet this moment,' Newsom, a Democrat in his first term as governor of the nation's most populous state, said at a late-afternoon news briefing from the state capital in Sacramento.

Happy shopper: The media personality pushed his purchases along in a green trolley as he headed back to his car

All in the details: The X Factor panelist - who shares son Eric, six, with long-term girlfriend Lauren Silverman - rounded off his off-duty appearance with stylish black shades

'They'll step up as they have over the last number of weeks to protect themselves, to protect their families and to protect the broader community in this great state and the world we reside in.'

Coronavirus was classed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month, leading countries such as Italy, Spain and the UK to implement nationwide lockdowns.

Social distancing, advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), involves maintaining at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who coughs or sneezes, as the small liquid droplets sprayed could contain the virus.

The measure also includes staying at home if you have a cough or fever even if you have not travelled and 'cocooning' elderly people suspected of being more vulnerable to the infection.

The live shows for Simon's programme Britain's Got Talent have been postponed following new government guidelines amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

An official statement from ITV read: 'We have been working with the brilliant production teams at Thames and Syco to find a way of making the live finals work, which were due to be broadcast at the end of May...

'However, in light of the latest government health guidelines and in line with our priority of safeguarding the wellbeing of everyone involved in our programmes, production of the live shows cannot go ahead as planned...

'The live finals will therefore be broadcast later in the year.'
Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot has challenged the President and other senior government officials to take pay cuts in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a letter addressed to the Head of State, Mr Aukot said the funds should then be used to cushion low-income earners against the financial implications of the coronavirus.

Officials who should take a pay cut include the deputy president, Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, chief administrative secretaries, governors and their deputies, county executives and heads of parastatals, he said.

In times like this, leaders ought to sacrifice for the welfare of the majority poor, Dr Aukot said.

The Thirdway party leader also faulted the government for forcing people to work from home, saying it is detrimental to the economy.

called for better approaches, such as renegotiating loan repayment terms and suspending infrastructure projects.
President Donald Trump's efforts to combat the coronavirus have been strong enough, say 61 per cent of American registered voters, according to a new poll.

The Hill-HarrisX survey also found that 39 per cent of voters somewhat or strongly disagree with how Trump is tackling the deadly outbreak of the infection, also known as COVID-19.

The poll results come as Trump says he may decide to scale back some of the government mandates made to slow and contain the spread of the deadly flu-like virus due to concerns of how much they have had negative impacts on the economy.

A Hill-HarrisX survey found that 61 per cent of American registered voters believe President Donald Trump's efforts to combat the coronavirus have been strong enough

The new poll also found that 39 per cent of voters somewhat or strongly disagree with how Trump is tackling the deadly outbreak of the infection, also known as COVID-19

The poll results come as Trump says he may decide to scale back some of the government mandates made to slow and contain the spread of the virus due to concerns of how much they have had negative impacts on the US economy

Trump says he may pull back some of the restrictions over the next week or two, The Washington Post reports.

The move, however, would clash with health officials who are warning the worst of the pandemic has not yet hit the U.S.

It would be premature for Americans to stop social distancing and other practices to protect against exposure from the infection, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other members of the president's coronavirus task force, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations, the Post reports.

Trump said Monday night at a news conference that the damage of the virus on the economy could become worse than the threat of the virus spreading further.

Under a plan he is considering, Trump says he may allow areas with low numbers of positive cases of the infection to resume normal routines. Big-hit areas, including New York City, would remain under restrictions.

'America will again  and soon  be open for business,' he said. 'Very soon, a lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. A lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.'

There are close to 42,000 confirmed cases in the US of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 576 known deaths.

The US has more than 46,000 cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 586 known deaths across the country

How the number of new coronavirus infections in the U.S. has escalated over time

How the number of deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. has escalated over time

Trump left it up to each state how they choose to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, prompting governors to issue local lockdowns which have impacted residents and non-essential businesses and services.

States that have issued shelter-in place orders, so far, are California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

The economic impacts, so far, are still unfolding.

Trump left it up to each state how they choose to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. A medical student in Mississippi shows a woman passing through a coronavirus drive through testing lab how to properly tilt her head to obtain a specimen

In Florida, National Guard members have set up tents for coronavirus testing

But thousands of lay offs have begun and it has become clear already from several industries across the U.S., especially from companies that provide hospitality, travel and dining services, that a recovery is far off.

The polling results signaling a majority of American support the measures the president has taken thus far may indicate more of a rallying of support for what the president has already done.

Karlyn Bowman, public opinion analyst and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says the survey result could be reflecting a 'rally-round effect'.

'(Citizens) tend to rally around their presidents in time(s) of national emergency, and it's something we've observed in many situations,' Bowman told The Hill.

'We're seeing strong agreement in many polls that the Trump administration is taking strong measures,' she explained.

Bowman also noted that the polling also reflected partisan reactions to the Republican president's response to the virus.

The polling, which was done March 14 and 15, found 88 per cent of Republican voters agreed that Trump was taking strong enough measures to combat coronavirus, along with 57 per cent of independents. Only 41 percent of Democratic voters felt the same.

While voter majorities favor the president's efforts to combat the virus, he remains pressured to enact the Defense Production Act, which provides for the mass production of equipment needed to combat the infection.

That would include manufacturing face masks, ventilators, and tests to address shortages that are predicted will worsen.

The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online among 2,001 registered voters between March 14-15. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaks during a news conference on the ongoing situation with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Government Buildings in Dublin, Ireland March 24, 2020. Steve Humphreys/Pool via REUTERS

A raft of new restrictions on how we go about our daily lives has been announced as the battle against Covid-19 is stepped up.

The measures are part of the Governments on-going plan to limit the impact of the deadly virus on workers and employers with more stringent social distancing rules.

The measures in brief include:

Physical distancing restrictions remain in place;

People should stay home as much as possible, work from home if they can, and only leave home to go to work if there is no alternative;

Only go to the shops for essential supplies, for medical or dental appointments, to care for others or to take physical exercise;

Social events or gatherings involving more than 4 people that have not already been cancelled should be cancelled;

Non-essential indoor visits to other peoples homes should be avoided. Social gatherings of individuals outdoors should be no more than 4, unless from the same household.

No unnecessary travel should take place within the country or overseas.

All theatres, gyms, hairdressers, casinos and bingo halls are to close.

Mr Varadkar thanked the public for listening to the advice on physical distancing and hand washing so far.

He said "it's too early to know for sure but we do believe it's making a difference.

"However we do believe we need to do more."

He said he was asking people "to stay at home if at all possible."

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People should only leave the house to go to the shops for essential supplies, for medical or dental appointments, to care for others or to take physical exercise, the Taoiseach said.

Non-essential indoor visits to other peoples homes should be avoided.

No unnecessary travel is to be taken within the country or overseas, the Taoiseach said.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has recommended that all non- essential retail outlets will close to members of the public.

They compiled an indicative list of essential retailers that can stay open but must implement social distancing.

It include shops and wholesalers that supply food, beverages, newspapers and cleaning products.

Pharmacies, opticians and other retailers selling medical goods can remain open.

Petrol stations and outlets for home heating oil as well as garages that repair cars and motorcycles can also stay open.

Shops that sell food and medication for pets and laundries and dry-cleaners can remain in operation.

Banks, Post Offices and Credit Unions and hardware stores including farm suppliers are permitted as are office and electrical goods suppliers and mobile phone shops.

All of these outlets must implement social distancing measures.

This includes ensuring adequate distancing between customers and shop workers and only letting people into the store in small groups and ensure spaces are not crowded.

"These are unprecedented actions to an unprecedented time," Varadkar said.

"We're in this in for the long haul, and this could go on for weeks."

There will be increased patrols by park rangers and the gardai to make sure physical distancing is being practiced in public areas.

Mr Varadkar said new powers will only be used when necessary.

Mr Varadkar said that Ireland recently commemorated the centenary of the 1916 Rising and the men and women that won Ireland's independence.

He said he never believed we would be called upon to match their courage or example but we are now working as a country to respond to this emergency.

He said: "Our greatest generation is not in the past" and added "better times are yet to come".

Mr Varadkar was asked what he would say to people who are afraid.

He replied: "I think we're all a little bit afraid.

"It's perfectly natural and normal to be a little bit afraid. We can all see today what's happening in Italy - only two or three hours flight from here and that frightens us all."

He said Ireland does have a "slight advantage" that it's further away from the centre of the outbreak and this has allowed time to put in place a "comprehensive strategy".

He said it will "minimise the number or people who are affected and maximise the number of people who survive Covid-19".

Mr Varadkar said it's a strategy that's worked in places like South Korea and Singapore which have had lower numbers of deaths than some European countries.

"That's the model that we're following but we really need people to work with us."

He urged the public to "get behind our health service" and help them protect people.

He said doctors can save hundreds of people in hospitals but the general public can save thousands of people "if we follow the advice public health experts are giving us".

Emergency welfare payment for workers who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis will increase to 350 per week.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said coronavirus is a "crisis unlike any other in our lifetime" and it has placed otherwise viable businesses in jeopardy.

Mr Donohoe said there is a need for the State to respond at a time of great risk and it's why the government is today announcing "unprecedented measures".

And in a significant new move the Government will also pay 70pc of employee wages up to 410 per week for businesses who are willing to meet the remainder of their staffs weekly payment.

Last week, the Government introduced the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment which was initially set at 203 per week.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

However, the Cabinet today agreed to significantly increase the payment for those who are out of work due the Governments demand that businesses close during the crisis.

The payment, which is available to employees and self-employed workers who are down income because of the coronavirus, will now increase to 350 per week.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty confirmed the increased Covid payments will be made from Friday.

Mr Donohoe said the wage subsidy can be paid to employers from Friday if emergency legislation passes the Oireachtas this week.

There will also be enhanced protections for people facing difficulties with their mortgages, rent or utility bills.

The Finance Minister estimated that the measures will cost 3.7bn for a 12-week period but this will vary depending on the length of the crisis.

He said: "we must act now to avoid an even greater economic challenge in the future".

Mr Donohoe said the measures will required a significant increase in State borrowing but said the country entered the emergency from a "position of strength".

Business Minister Heather Humphreys said that she has met with the major supermarkets and had discussions about their supply chains.

She said they "continue to ensure me we have a strong pipeline of products for our citizens".

The early days of the crisis was marked by panic buying, despite repeated reassurance from government and retailers that stock-piling was not necessary.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was asked about the slow pace of government formation talks.

He said the focus has to be on the Covid-19 crisis.

He mentioned that he will be taking part in a European Council meeting by video link later this week.

Mr Varadkar said: "to the extent we can find time we are finding time."

He said he expects more talks between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail tomorrow.

But he said: "the priority has to be Covid-19 and I don't think people would expect anything less."

Meanwhile, the school and college shutdown is being extended until Monday April 20 at the earliest, but no decision has been taken in relation to the State written exams in June.

The Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle exams are still scheduled to go ahead as normal, but that could change, depending on the spread of Covid-19 in the community.

In the worst case scenario, schools would not return until end of August/ September, more than five months after closing their doors on March 12.

The extended shutdown leaves little time for post-primary schools, which wrap up by the end of May anyway, to resume in a meaningful way in the current academic year.

The primary school year continues to the end of June, so that offers more latitude for a resumption of classes at the countrys 3,000 primary schools, if circumstances allow.

While the orals and practicals, which were due to start his week, have been cancelled, running the written exams is now the top priority of the Department of Education.

However, if it is too problematic to run all the exams, the Leaving Cert will get priority.

Some 126,000 students are entered for the June exams  61,053 due to sit the Leaving Cert and 65,190 at Junior Cycle level.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the extension as part of a wider package of measures to restrict the spread of the virus.

The Government is also to introduce emergency legislation to allow retired soldiers re-join the Defence Forces.

The new laws have been in the pipe line for a number of months but are now being fast-tracked as part of the Governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Defence Forces are preparing for a great role in the States response to the national health crisis and the legislation will clear the path for retired soldiers to return to service.

Defence Minister Paul Kehoe brought an amendment to the Defence Act to Cabinet today ahead of the Dail holding an emergency sitting on Thursday.

The new measures in Ireland come after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told families in the UK, including Northern Ireland, to stay at home except when shopping for basic necessities and to perform one type of exercise a day.

Last night, Johnson ordered the UK public to stay at home to halt the spread of coronavirus, imposing curbs on everyday life without precedent in peacetime.

Irish Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said yesterday that his officials are engaging with their colleagues in Northern Ireland multiple times a day.

The disease does not recognise any border. We need to ensure that the measures we deploy are as coherent and consistent as they can be. We are converging in our approaches to that.

The measures they are considering in Northern Ireland are measures we will also give consideration to in an ongoing basis, he added.

Asked to comment on the current number of cases, which rose to 1,125 yesterday, after another jump of 219 new people diagnosed with the virus, he said the Republic remains in the early stages of the infection relative to how it may progress.
[March 24, 2020] HPC-AI Advisory Council and National Supercomputing Centre Singapore Announce 3rd APAC HPC-AI Competition

SINGAPORE, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) and the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore today announced the launch of the 2020 APAC HPC-AI Competition. Continuing the success of the previous competitions, the 3rd Annual 2020 APAC HPC-AI competition expects to host multiple teams from across the APAC region. The student teams will compete against international teams to produce solutions and applications in the High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains. Co-organized by the HPC-AI Advisory Council and NSCC, the competition is sponsored by Mellanox, NVIDIA, AMD and WekaIO. The competition will be open to student APAC teams and will continue through until October 19, 2020. The Singapore Advanced Research and Education Network (SingAREN) will be joining as a supporting organization for the competition in 2020. AI is a pillar of today's technological world, offering solutions that enable better and more accurate decisions based on the massive amounts of data being collected. AI encompasses a wide-range of trends and use cases that apply to nearly every industry today - from security, finance, and image and language recognition, to self-driving cars and smart cities. HPC enables universities, research laboratories and commercial vendors to develop the products and services of tomorrow - from safer cars and airplanes, to accurate weather and storm prediction, to finding new cures, and much more. Since HPC and AI applications share the same underlying technologies and infrastructures, new developments in HPC are immediately being adopted for AI, and vice versa. HPC and AI supercomputers are the essential tools that are needed to conduct research, enable scientific discoveries, design new products, and develop self-learning software algorithms. The APAC HPC-AI competition promotes the latest HPC and AI technologies to the universities and research centers and trains the students with the latest HPC and AI technologies to help bridge the gap between universities/research institutes and industries. The competition trains the undergraduate and graduate students to practice on the newest HPC and AI platforms, and provides the key ingredients and industry tools to optimize the production applications. The final competition results will be announced at and during the Supercomputing Conference 2020 (SC20) in Atlanta, USA in November 2020 with the award ceremony set to take place at the SupercomputingAsia 2021 (SCA21) conference in Singapore, which is scheduled for March 2021. During the 1st and 2nd APAC HPC-AI competition, the AI challenge focused on performing image recognition model training. The competition teams had demonstrated excellent techniques to reach the maximum performance in the distributed training system. AI Challenge In this 3r APAC HPC-AI competition, the challenge will move from image recognition to language recognition. Natural Language Processing (NLP) helps program a computer to understand human nature language instead of traditionally used programming language. This is one of the most challenging projects of AI today and has attracted worldwide efforts for increased optimization. Published by researchers at Google AI Language, Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) is a key technical innovation of a language training model. TensorFlow + BERTLarge were chosen for the 2020 HPC-AI competition.



HPC Challenge The 1st HPC-AI competition also focused on the optimization of Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) for mesoscale numerical weather prediction. The 2nd HPC-AI competition then focused on optimizing SPH With Inter-dependent Fine-grained Tasking (SWIFT) for astrophysics and cosmology research. Both applications' performance was significantly improved and received positive feedback from the industry. The HPC-related challenge this year will be directed towards the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO), which is a state-of-the-art modelling framework for research activities and forecasting services in ocean and climate sciences that is broadly used in many national oceanic and environment prediction centers.

"We are pleased to work with NSCC Singapore again to offer this incredible opportunity for students around APAC to contribute to the development of the core knowledge and critical skills for the region's new generation of HPC and AI researchers, scientists and professionals. We look forward to welcoming the incoming teams and wish all of the entries good luck," said Gilad Shainer, Chairman of the HPC-AI Advisory Council. "The confluence between HPC and AI is growing more and more each day. Preparing the next generation of scientists who are trained to leverage combined HPC and AI aspects in future research ensures the growth of a multi-disciplinary research community that is able to adapt to the world's increasingly complex global issues such as the environment, technology development and even epidemiology. In particular, we hope that the HPC-AI training established among our young aspiring programmers can help us tackle global threats such as COVID-19 and accelerate an improved response to future pandemics," said Professor Tan Tin Wee, Chief Executive, National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore. For more information on the 3rd APAC HPC-AI competition, please visit the HPC-AI Advisory Council website:

http://hpcadvisorycouncil.com/events/2020/APAC-AI-HPC/ About HPC-AI Advisory Council Founded in 2008, The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) is a for community benefit organization with over 400 members committed to bridge the gap between high-performance computing and artificial intelligence use and its potential, bringing the beneficial capabilities of HPC and AI to new users for better research, education, innovation and product manufacturing, and brings users the expertise needed to operate HPC and AI systems, provide application designers with the tools needed to enable parallel computing, and to strengthen the qualification and integration of HPC and AI system products. For more information, please visit: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com About National Supercomputing Centre Singapore The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore was established in 2015 and manages Singapore's first national petascale facility with available high performance computing (HPC) resources. As a National Research Infrastructure we support the HPC research needs of the public and private sectors, including research institutes, institutes of higher learning, government agencies and companies. With the support of its stakeholders, including Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), National Environment Agency (NEA) and Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS), and funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), NSCC catalyses national research and development initiatives, attracts industrial research collaborations and enhances Singapore's research capabilities. For more information, please visit https://www.nscc.sg/ About SingAREN SingAREN (Singapore Advanced Research and Education Network) is Singapore's national research and education network. It is the sole provider of local and international networks and services dedicated for serving the Research and Education community in Singapore. SingAREN's members consist of the Institutions of Higher Learning, Research Organizations, Government and network industry players. SingAREN facilitates high-speed transfers of large datasets across international boundaries for scientific research and enables advanced network technology demonstrations through its resilient international links and high-speed fiber network. SingAREN Open Exchange (SOE) interconnects Singapore's research and education community to the Research and Education Networks (RENs) in other countries in Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S.A. For more information, visit www.singaren.net.sg. SOURCE HPC-AI

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Almost 3,000 children across Northern Ireland are waiting to receive an autism assessment, figures from the Department of Health have revealed.

As of December 31, 2,996 children in Northern Ireland were waiting for an autism assessment by the various Health and Social Care Trusts here, according to the figures.

The Belfast health trust had 1,1017 children waiting for an autism assessment, while the Northern and Western trusts had 922 and 866 respectively.

The Southern trust had 132 children waiting, with the South Eastern Trust having 59.

Statistics from the Department of Health last year show that Northern Ireland has the highest autism prevalence rates in the UK, with one in 30 school age children here diagnosed with the condition.

The latest figures came to light after a question to Health Minister Robin Swann from Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, Ms Bradshaw called on the health service here to do more in proactively prioritising the needs of children with autism.

First of all, there are the waiting lists in general, the South Belfast MLA said.

Yet again, we have another frightening number of people awaiting vital assessments, all while being unsure what it will mean for them.

This reinforces the need to get on with transformation so that we have more effective interventions earlier, which would likely include swifter autism assessment.

Secondly, it has a significant impact on peoples lives well beyond the health service - for example, what choices should parents make concerning education, when they are unsure if their child has autism, or to what extent.

Ultimately what is needed is an overall system of government which is more responsive to the needs of children with autism, rather than which waits for parents to have to knock every door down just to get an assessment.

The rise in the number of children in Northern Ireland waiting for such an assessment was branded beyond unacceptable by the charity Autism NI.

Chief executive Kerry Boyd said: The waiting times have continued to spike in Northern Ireland and this is clear from the figures.

This inevitably causes parents great stress, as this time is often filled with worry and uncertainty. Many parents or carers are waiting up to two years to receive a diagnosis of autism for their child.

This is in direct contradiction to the childrens care pathway which states that all children should be assessed within a 13-week period.

Early intervention in autism is key to a child having the best outcomes in life.

Autism NI therefore calls on the Department of Health to ensure that the Autism (NI) Act 2011 and associated Autism Strategy is implemented fully and the subsequent action plans are fulfilled as promised.

The Department of Health was unable to provide a comment by the time of publication.
The actor Shia LaBeouf, of "Transformers," has transformed into a new home owner. He's purchased a brand-new build in Pasadena, CA, for $5,475,000, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The property sold in 2016 for $1,282,500, and whatever structure was on the site at the time is now a distant memory. This new home from Premier General Contractors hit the market last year for $6,205,000. The listing dropped in price last month to $5,798,000, and sold in early March for just a tad under the asking price.

Built from the ground up, the completely new space is designed to evoke Pasadena's 20th-century Mediterranean architecture, and fits right in with many other homes in the area.

The result is a graceful design with arched windows, beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, and wrought-iron details. It's also stuffed with a wealth of modern amenities.

Shia LaBeouf's brand-new home realtor.com

Living room with beamed ceiling realtor.com

Dining room realtor.com

Open kitchen realtor.com

Family room realtor.com

Master suite with private balcony realtor.com

Outdoor living and dining realtor.com

Spanning 4,137 square feet, the four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom layout features formal living and dining rooms. An open kitchen with a large center island and bar seating adjoins a casual eating space. The adjacent family room features a fireplace and flows to a patio outside.

On the second floorwhich can be accessed either by stairs or by an elevatorthe master suite opens to a private balcony. It also features a large bath with a free-standing tub, as well as a walk-in closet.

The layout provides extensive indoor-outdoor space, with a whopping 2,200 square feet of terraces.

Outside, landscaped grounds offer an outdoor kitchen, large dining and lounging area, as well as a grassy yard, sited on a lot with sycamore and oak treetop vistas.

According to the listing details, the house sits in one of "the city's premier neighborhoods," adjacent to Caltech and the grounds of the Huntington Library.

The actor, performance artist, and filmmaker is known for his starring roles in the Transformers franchise and in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Recently, LaBeouf, 33, wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed film Honey Boy.

William Podley with Deasy Penner Podley held the listing.

__________

Watch: Colin Farrell Sells His English Country Estate in the Hollywood Hills for $1.3M

__________

The post Shia LaBeouf Scores Brand-New Pasadena Home for $5.5M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Oceangoing ships are performing very differently amid the crisis, depending on which cargo they carry. The same holds true in America's river transport system. Consequences of this year's two black swans  coronavirus and the oil price war  vary widely depending on whether a barge is carrying petrochemicals, crude oil, crops or coal.

Tank-barges

The largest tank-barge owner, Houston-based Kirby Corp. (NYSE: KEX), held a special conference call on Monday to address the current market upheaval. The primary cargoes tank-barges carry are liquids for the petrochemical sector, much more so than crude oil  and the petrochemical business is now driving the market higher.

According to Kirby CEO David Grzebinski, "Our utilization levels have been in the 95% range in recent weeks. This morning we were 97% utilized, which frankly is as busy as I've ever seen it.

"Our customers [petrochemical plants and refineries] want to make sure their supply chains are in good shape. The ramifications of having to shut down a plant due to not having supplies are huge. Barging is just a small cost in [comparison to] that.

"Make no mistake though: If the U.S. economy goes into recession  and we may be already there  they [plant owners] will probably cut down their volumes," Grzebinski acknowledged.

He believes petrochemical shippers will first pare throughput in less efficient plants in Europe before doing so in the U.S. Construction on major new plants, such as Shell's in Pennsylvania, has been halted due to coronavirus concerns. "My view is that once they start construction, they'll complete the plants, but they're going to be postponed," he said. "The ones that are still looking for permits will be delayed until the world economy settles out."

He conceded that plunging oil prices will decrease the amount of crude oil transported on the rivers, but asserted that the barge sector was in a better position to handle this than the last time it happened, in 2015.

Story continues

"In 2015, we had 550 barges moving crude and 260-270 new barges coming to the market. When we got to the bottom in the market in 2018, there were about 130 barges moving crude," he said, noting that all the excess barges redeployed from crude took years to be absorbed in noncrude markets.

"We're at a different starting point this time. There are about 300 barges in the crude market and about 130 to be delivered this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was only 50-75 [after deliveries are pushed back]," said Grzebinski, noting that if 150 barges ultimately ended up being redeployed out of the crude trade in the current cycle, it would only add about 4% in capacity to the noncrude tank-barge fleet.

Going forward, if petrochemical tank-barge demand declines due to a U.S. recession, he said Kirby's margins can be protected in the short term by time-charter coverage, and beyond that, by reducing costs through the reduction of its chartered-in towboat fleet  the same strategy it used to protect margins during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Dry-cargo barges

Market conditions for dry-cargo barges were more challenging than for tank-barges even before recent events. The coronavirus and the oil price war intensify those pressures.

American Commercial Lines (ACL), the country's second-largest owner of drycargo barges, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Feb. 7. In a court filing explaining why it needed bankruptcy protection, it cited fallout from the U.S.-China trade war, among other reasons.

"The imposition of tariffs by China on U.S. soybean imports and continuing trade tensions between the U.S. and China have resulted in a decrease in demand for U.S.-produced soybeans, resulting in a direct decrease in demand for ACL's services," it said.

The Phase One trade agreement between the U.S. and China was signed on Jan. 15, offering hope of increased agricultural sales, but the coronavirus may have dashed such hopes, both by lowering China's economic ability to make purchases and by re-escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.

"Developments across the globe since the agreement was signed in mid-January, from the coronavirus outbreak to the falling oil price, have made it even less likely that China and the U.S. will be able to live up to their commitments and thereby help boost demand for the shipping industry," said Peter Sand, chief economist of shipping association BIMCO, who doesn't expect progress until "the dust has settled around coronavirus disruptions."

ACL's bankruptcy filing also pointed to declines in domestic coal shipments spurring redeployment of barge capacity from coal to other cargoes, creating barge overcapacity for those other markets, leading to "a decline in freight rates ACL was able to charge." The Port of South Louisiana reported a 48% drop in coal volumes in full-year 2019 versus 2018, with overall barge calls down 14%.

The Saudi Arabia-induced collapse in the price of crude oil, now down to $20-$25 per barrel, is yet another negative for coal used for power generation, as lower crude pricing pushes down pricing of natural gas, which competes with coal. The economic fallout from coronavirus will also reduce demand for coal used for steel production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects U.S. coal production to decline by another 17% in 2020, to its lowest level in 50 years. More FreightWaves/American Shipper articles by Greg Miller

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Linkedin Galuh Wandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 14:46 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d1de37 3 Opinion human-rights-abuse,human-rights,human-rights-violations,Soeharto,New-Order,Paniai,Papua,aceh Free

In recent weeks, we have been captured by the singular narrative of our survival against COVID-19. It is a time of introspection, a time to look at difficult facts and examine lessons from the past. International Day for the Right to Truth and Dignity of Victims falls on March 24 a day to remember the truth about mass human rights violations- -- who were the victims, what were their root causes, how did the violations become so massive and how did we as a society deal with them.

It is also an opportunity to reflect on how those lessons from the past can assist us in dealing with the major challenges we face today. You cannot solve a problem or try to heal without courageously facing the objective truth. The distortion of facts can only serve to make the problem worse in the long run.

Our experience of mass violations in Asia have shown the link between health and human rights: how situations of mass violations highlight dire social, economic and health impacts. Examples include the great famines in China (1948), Timor Leste (1978-1979), the hundreds of deaths from malaria among the political prisoners imprisoned on Buru Island (1968-1978) and the death by starvation and disease in the killing fields of Cambodia (1975-1979.) They also include, the continuing threat of disease among refugees and the internally displaced living in camps in Nduga in Papua, to the 1 million Rohingya refugees from Rakhine in Coxs Bazaar, Bangladesh.

Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate for Economic Science (1998), has written about how the lack of democracy  indicated by poor policy-making and enforcement -- can be an enabling factor to famine, such as those referred to above.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly decided that March 24 was a day to commemorate the right to truth and the dignity of victims of gross human rights violations. The day marks the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, a defender of the poor who dared to speak out against the death squads linked to the military junta at the time.

Today is also an important day for Indonesia, as we contemplate our unaccounted past. More than two decades into our reformasi, we still do not know how many people perished during the killings of 1965-1966, and how many more died due to disease and starvation in the camps and prisons across Indonesia.

There is no official reckoning about how we as a society allowed these mass killings to take place. What were the policies and omissions that were allowed to form, so that mass incarceration and killings could take place with impunity?

During the 34 years of Soehartos rule, school children were made to watch a film that depicted a particular version of those events. I remember, as a sixth grader, going on a school trip to various museums and sites to witness this well-rehearsed untruth. Scholars were not allowed to research these events and books were banned. Unfortunately, this was not the only bloody chapter.

From the farthest corners of the country, from Papua to Aceh, violence was used as a tool to suppress any dissent, and cover up crimes, theft and mass violations. Our history is filled with unspoken heroes, people who stood up for their conscience and were brutally silenced.

After the fall of Soeharto in 1998, some victims began to speak about what happened to them. But the official response has been a deafening silence. With the retracting of the truth commission law, there has been no official policy to deal with this difficult truth. Indonesia passed a law to establish a truth commission in 2004, but the law was annulled two years later without being implemented.

In the meantime, a local truth commission in Aceh, established under the Helsinki Peace Agreement, has collected more than 3,000 statements, and conducted public hearings for hundreds of survivors. In Papua, under another special autonomy law, the promise for a truth commission has lingered and largely been abandoned.

Last week, the Attorney General returned to the National Human Rights Commission the dossier on the 2014 Paniai killings. The old adage that history will be repeated rings true in this situation.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has his hands full with the present pandemic. In these times of uncertainty, we must pay special attention to the most vulnerableamong them the thousands of elderly survivors of human rights violations. We must remember that during those dark times the state neglected its primary duty to protect them. Many of the victims live in extreme poverty and still experience the impact of social stigmatization.

International law provides that states have a legal duty to try to repair the damage done to those innocent victims; we need to remember and fulfill that duty. Of course, we need to think of new ways to collect and archive stories from our past, with the use of new online technology combined with time-tested grassroots approaches.

We need to reach out to those who have been marginalized. This is also necessary for social and moral healing, to build a more just, moral and compassionate society.

Today our lives and work are filled with new, urgent priorities. However, it is important that on the international day of the right to truth we remember that the truth needs to be uncovered, shared, discussed and used as a base of good policy decisions. This has always been true and is true today as we struggle to protect the most vulnerable in a rapidly changing context.

The distortion of the truth inevitably leads to a failure to protect those in need. Our time is short. There are lessons from our past that hold the key to our common survival.

***

Director of Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR). She is also an adviser to the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  The Department of Health said Tuesday it is eyeing to change anew its rules on who should be tested for coronavirus disease amid criticisms that limited testing may leave COVID-19 cases undetected in the country.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told CNN Philippines that DOH may ease their guidelines because the country now has more testing facilities and test kits, including the ones from China, which could test 100,000 patient samples.

Duque added the kits have already passed the standards of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa.

We might have to include people even with mild symptoms to get a more an accurate reflection of the rate of infection that is happening in certain communities where COVID-19 in spreading, Duque said.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 are cough, shortness of breath and fever.

Under the revised guidelines issued by DOH last week, only those with severe symptoms of the viral disease, such as difficulty in breathing and prolonged cough and fever will be tested.

Elderly people, pregnant women and immunocompromised persons or those with weakened immune system will also be tested even if they show only mild symptoms. That's because they are groups that are at higher risk of infection or have a higher percentage of fatalities.

Prior to these protocols, only people who have been exposed to a person diagnosed with COVID-19 or have recently visited countries with cases of local transmission were tested.

The RITM earlier served as the only confirmatory testing laboratory for COVID-19 in the Philippines, conducting tests on 300 nasal and throat swabs a day. Now, its capacity has gone up to 600 tests with the arrival of new testing supplies last weekend.

But the national reference laboratory for emerging infectious diseases is now joined by the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Benguet, and San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.

Also, Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City is being asked to comply expeditiously with the accreditation standards, Duque said.

Other private laboratories in Metro Manila will also be assessed if they could be COVID-19 testing areas, he added.

The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus disease in the Philippines has gone up to 462 on Monday, with 33 deaths and 18 recoveries.
[March 23, 2020] InvestCloud Appoints Balthazar to Lead Singapore Expansion

FinTech firm appoints Taryn Balthazar to lead presence in Singapore as demand for digital wealth management solutions increases across APAC SINGAPORE, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global digital wealth management solutions provider, InvestCloud, has announced Taryn Balthazar as EVP, Head of Distribution Asia Pacific and Australia as the firm looks to scale up its presence and delivery capabilities in APAC. InvestCloud's Singapore appointment is a major step in the firm's drive to build local teams across key markets throughout South East Asia. The move is designed to support product delivery and development of closer relationships with key clients and partners across the region. Having led the delivery of the largest robo-advice and digital self-select investing project for InvestCloud in the U.S., Balthazar will now spearhead InvestCloud's growing Asia business. Balthazar will be joined by InvestCloud specialists from its headquarters in California to build the Singapore office. "I'm excited about this opportunity to help drive growth for InvestCloud in Asia," said Taryn Balthazar, "I've spent a lot of time across the Asia-Pacific region working with clients, including one of the largest wealth managers in Australia, and am looking forward to delivering our digital capabilities to firms throughout the region."



InvestCloud, which supports more than $2tn of assets for over 700 clients, supplies digital solutions pre-integrated into the cloud to companies operating across the entire investment management value chain around the world. John Wise, co-founder and CEO at InvestCloud commented: "I'm delighted that Taryn will be heading up our Singapore office. Her tremendous experience in delivering digital solutions to many of our leading clients, including the largest banks in the U.S., will serve our clients in the Asia Pacific market well. In addition to the team joining her from our California office, Taryn will be joined by local talent consisting of staff from my former company, Netik."

According to a recent Aite* report, the Asia Pacific financial services market has experienced prolonged above-global-average growth, creating opportunities for wealth management firms that traditionally focused on North America and Europe. Successful financial services firms will be those who offer nimble digital strategies that improve customer experience while increasing productivity for their firms. InvestCloud's ability to deliver beautifully designed client engagement experiences and intuitive, efficient, operations solutions has been proven across its client base that includes some of the industry's household names. Sources

*Aite's Top 25 Global Wealth Management Firms Market Monitor, October 16th, 2019 About InvestCloud Inc.

InvestCloud is a global company specializing in digital platforms that enable the development of financial solutions, pre-integrated into the Cloud. The company offers on-demand client experiences and intuitive operations solutions using an ever-expanding library of modular apps, resulting in powerful products. Headquartered in Los Angeles with additional offices in New York, Toronto and London, InvestCloud supports more than $2 trillion in assets across 700+ diverse clients  from some of the biggest banks in the world, wealth managers, institutional investors and institutional asset managers to family offices, asset services companies and financial platforms. For more information, visit www.investcloud.com. SOURCE InvestCloud

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Astronomers and sky enthusiasts are patiently waiting for the recently discovered comet to grace the sky next month when the comet is at its brightest.

ATLAS, the newly discovered comet is expected to appear in our night skies as one of the brightest comets since Hale-Bopp in 1997.

The comet, nicknamed in the owner of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope. The comet is officially known as C/2019 Y4 and was first spotted in late December 2019. As of mid-late March, it has a magnitude brightness of an eighth-magnitude star. The brightness is not visible yet but within reach of medium-sized telescopes in dark skies.

As the comet nears our solar system and moves to the sun, it becomes brighter. According to Karl Battams of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., the comet is releasing a huge amount of frozen gases which makes it brighten so fast.

ATLAS has brightened to that of an eight-magnitude star since its discovery on December 28, 2019. To measure the object's brightness, apparent magnitude is used. The lower the magnitude reading, the brighter the object appears. Thus, the brightest objects have negative magnitude reading.

ATLAS may not be visible to the naked eye, but medium-sized telescopes should be able to spot the new comet in the dark skies. By May, as the newly discovered comet comes closer to the sun, ATLAS may brighten to visible magnitude +1 to -5.

AS the comet moves towards the sun, frozen volatiles are vaporized on the comet's crust which explains the formation of a glowing coma of gas around the nucleus. The solar wind stretches this into a tail, with some extending for millions of miles from the comet's head.

There are cases in which comets do not vaporize frozen volatiles. Some others, weakened by repeated flybys of the sun, break up and fade away. While ATLAS will brighten the earth by a comfortable 72 million miles on May 23, it is expected that its trajectory will only be 23 million miles of the sun by May 31. Battams doubt if ATLAS will survive such a close encounter. He deems that the comet is over-achieving, and will not be surprised if it will disintegrate before reaching the sun.

But for the stargazing fans, it is not the end of the world. The new comet appears to share an identical 6,000 orbit with the Great Comet of 1844, raising the speculations that the new comet might be a part of the Great Comet.

Comet ATLAS is in a "favorable position for northern latitudes and will appear more than halfway up in the north-northwest sky after nightfall". One should be able to shot it with a telescope through April by looking in the constellation Camelopardalis the Giraffe.

On May 23, it is expected that Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) will be closest to Earth on May 23. Its perihelion, or the closest distance to the sun, will occur on May 31.

ATLAS is expected to be at 23,517,819 miles (37,848,261 km) from the sun, a distance relatively closer to the sun than Mercury's elliptical orbit (about 36 million miles or 57.9 million km on average).
AUSTIN, Texas and LONDON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eventus Systems, Inc., a multi-award winning global trade surveillance and market risk software platform provider, announced today that Roger Chandler has joined the firm in London as Senior Sales Engineer, Europe. The move builds on the company's already successful position helping firms address UK and European exchange rules and regulatory requirements.

Chandler has extensive capital markets sales, service and management experience at major fintech providers, working closely with global banks and brokerage firms across asset classes, including equities, futures and options. Reporting to Scott Schroeder, Eventus Global Head of Sales, Chandler is responsible for servicing existing clients as well as forging new relationships.

Last month, Eventus announced completion of a $10.5 million Series A funding round enabling Eventus to grow its staff globally, along with enhancing its technology and fueling further growth. This is the third key hire since that announcement. Eric Einfalt recently joined as Chief Strategy Officer and David Mitchell as Regional Sales Executive, North America, both out of Chicago.

Schroeder said: "Roger has an outstanding mix of technical expertise, management and sales experience, and in-depth knowledge of the asset classes we cover. He understands our clients' businesses as well as the critical role we can play for firms grappling with regulatory regimes such as MiFID II and our ability to provide robust, efficient solutions. Roger will play a significant role in our effort to grow our presence and client base in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region."

Chandler said: "I've been truly impressed by Eventus' ability to make huge strides in just five years in business. The team's deep knowledge, integrity and agility to move quickly on behalf of clients are proving particularly important in today's challenging environment of major market volatility."

Most recently, Chandler was Technology Sales Manager for Bloomberg LP out of London, responsible for enterprise technical sales for global multi-asset sell-side clients in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Before joining Bloomberg in 2018, he spent nearly 11 years at technology vendor Fidessa PLC in London, initially as Service Delivery Manager working with futures and options clients and prospects, then as Project Manager Team Lead and ultimately as Global Account Director. In that role, he was responsible for major sell-side firms and brokers across asset classes and helped clients adapt to MiFID II rules.

Chandler began his career at Trading Technologies (TT) in London in 2002 as Head of EU Support, where he worked alongside fellow employees Schroeder and Eventus CEO Travis Schwab. In 2005, TT named him Director of EU Technical Services, with staff in London, Frankfurt and Paris.

About Eventus Systems

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, and serving clients globally, Eventus Systems, Inc. offers one of the leading global trade surveillance and market risk platforms. Available as a cloud-based or real-time enterprise on-premise solution, the Validus platform provides sophisticated market surveillance and financial risk capabilities, enabling clients to solve some of the most pressing regulatory challenges. Validus combines multiple technology stacks including artificial intelligence (AI) to generate the optimum number of actionable alerts across equities, equity options, futures, foreign exchange (FX), fixed income and digital asset markets. Clients include Tier 1 banks, brokerages and futures commission merchants (FCMs), proprietary trading firms, exchanges, corporates and buy-side firms. Eventus has earned four major global recognitions in the past year for its Validus platform, including an FOW International Award for best Market Surveillance product, a Risk Technology Award for Market Surveillance Product of the Year and a Best Trade Surveillance Solution award from A-Team's RegTech Insight Awards. The firm also was one of only 19 U.S. companies to earn a spot on the global RegTech 100 list for 2020, the second consecutive year it made the list. Visit www.eventussystems.com. Follow Eventus Systems on LinkedIn and on Twitter @EventusSystems.

SOURCE Eventus Systems
More than half of the nations population could contract COVID-19 within months if a lackadaisical approach to the virus from Australians continued, a forecaster specialising in infectious diseases has warned.

Dr Joel Miller from La Trobe University told News Corp that it was not unreasonable to suggest the current rate of infection could lead to 15 million people being infected within four months if attempts to control coronavirus were simply ignored.

Over the weekend, thousands of Australians cared little for Scott Morrisons new social distancing restrictions and packed into cafes, bars and restaurants while Bondi Beach was swamped by locals and tourists soaking up the last of the summer sun.

Local councils forced the closure Sydneys eastern suburbs beaches while Mr Morrison move to close down non-essential hospitality establishments.

Dr Miller said Australians needed to understand the threat of exponential growth in infection to ensure such restrictions were respected.

By the time Italy had implemented its most stringent lockdown on March 11, the countrys death toll had risen to 827.

That number continues to rise and currently sits at 6,077, however within the last few days, there has been a decrease in the daily total as is the case for the number of confirmed cases which is currently at 63,927.

This nearly two-week lag for the draconian measures to have the desired effect is due to the delayed onset of symptoms which can take up to two weeks for some people carrying the disease.

People outside a licensed venue before Mr Morrison's new restrictions came into effect on Monday. Source: AAP

Experts are hoping Australias new restrictions will enable Australias rapidly growing cases (currently 1,682) to decelerate within three weeks, however Mr Morrisons measures arent as strict as other nations badly hit by coronavirus.

Dr Miller said it was too early to say if measures implemented on Australia will curtail the viruss spread.

Its definitely going to make a difference. Is it going to be enough to prevent the disease spreading? We dont have hard enough data, he said.

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WHO says global pandemic is accelerating

The World Health Organisation said there are now 300,000 confirmed cases worldwide. The first 100,000 were reported in the first 67 days of the virus, the second 100,000 cases came 11 days later and the next 100,000 cases just four days after that, the global health body said.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were also "alarming" reports of health workers getting sick.

He said he would be contacting the G20 heads of state to solve the global shortage of protective gear for health workers.

"More than 300,000 cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, from almost every country in the world," he told a press briefing in Geneva in Monday.

"The pandemic is accelerating ... but we're not prisoners to statistics. We're not helpless bystanders.

"We can change the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Tedros said asking people to stay home and other physical distancing measures were important to slow the coronavirus, but stressed they were defensive measures.

"To win, we need to attack the coronavirus with aggressive and targeted tactics - testing every suspected COVID-19 case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact," he said.

He acknowledged that measures put in place to slow the spread of the virus may have unintended consequences by exacerbating shortages of essential protective gear.

"I will be addressing heads of state from the G20 countries," he vowed.

"I will be asking them to work together to increase production, avoid export bans and ensure equity of distribution on the basis of need."

With AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
Amid fears the coronavirus outbreak soon could ravage Afghanistan, the Trump administration is threatening to shut off US aid as talks towards a power-sharing pact sputter.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Kabul for meetings on Monday, making clear that the White House is prepared to slash $1bn in assistance funding this year and next unless the two sides can broker a deal.

President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, former national chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, have been in peace talks for weeks. But Mr Ghani alleges the changes Mr Abdullah wants would violate the country's constitution and his rival said Mr Pompeo's visit was most fruitless.

According to Associated Press, Mr Pompeo told reporters that he hopes the two Afghan leaders "will get their act together and we won't have to" turn off the funding.

"But we're prepared to do that," he said as the Trump administration tries to use what leverage it has over Kabul.

The threat comes after over 100,000 Afghans earlier this year returned from Iran, where there are 24,811 cases of coronavirus. There are worries inside Afghanistan that its 42 confirmed cases could balloon into a national crisis.

For his part, Mr Ghani downplayed the potential loss of the US aid.

"I can assure you that the reduction of the U.S. assistance would not have a direct impact on the system," he said in a speech.
The city authorities are developing several plans to counter both the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on the economy.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko says the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv may see UAH 1 billion (US$35.6 million) in loss over the crisis related to counteracting the coronavirus.

Read alsoMayor Klitschko: 24 confirmed coronavirus cases in Kyiv

"We're getting ready [for the crisis]. We are making all the required calculations to pass this period with minimal losses. Preliminary estimates show that the capital may suffer losses worth up to UAH 1 billion. I don't rule out that the figure may be higher if the situation aggravates," he said on a Ukrainian TV channel, as reported by the city administration's press service on March 24.

According to Klitschko, the city authorities are developing several plans to counter both the spread of the coronavirus and the economic consequences associated with the fight against it.

"We have three scenarios. I hope the worst-case scenario will not happen. The crisis has already hit Kyiv's budget. But as mayor I will do my best to implement all the infrastructure projects planned for this year  in particular, the construction of bridges and [road] junctions," he said.

Klitschko also added that two headquarters had been set in Kyiv: one is developing and implementing a strategy to combat COVID-19, while the other is exploring ways to minimize municipal budget losses and those of businesses operating in Kyiv.
Although Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and her family are some of the most famous people in the world, they still keep a lot of their private life away from the public eye. As such, not much is known about them behind closed doors, especially the children.

However, the Duchess of Cambridge recently revealed an interesting fact about one of her kids: Prince Louis. She shared with fans that he has a favorite song, and its a classic that many people do know. Read on below to find out what Prince Louis favorite song is and what other things we know about him.

Prince Louis is Kate Middletons youngest child

Prince Louis was born in April 2018, and he is the youngest child of Kate Middleton and her husband, Prince William. Prince Louis has two older siblings: Prince George (b. 2013) and Princess Charlotte (b. 2015).

Fans have been able to see Prince George and Princess Charlotte many times in the past several years. However, Prince Louis has largely been kept out of the spotlight given his age. He has been spotted at a number of public events and in some photos released by the royal family, but he often stays at home with nannies while his parents and siblings go out.

In any case, Prince Louis is currently fifth in line to the throne, so it is expected that he will not live in the spotlight as much compared to his older siblings, especially Prince George.

Kate Middleton reveals that Prince Louis favorite song is Happy Birthday

Kate Middleton | Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Prince Louis will turn two this year, and it looks like he is already starting to form his music taste. At a charity event earlier this month, Middleton learned that a couple of attendees were celebrating their birthday. The duchess, then, joked that she should sing Happy Birthday to them before sharing that it is one of Prince Louis favorite songs. Middleton also revealed that her son could not attend the event because he was already tucked up in bed.

Kate Middleton also once revealed what Prince Louis first phrase was

Another fun fact about Prince Louis concerns his first phrase. When Middleton appeared on the BBC1 Christmas program, A Mary Berry Christmas, back in December, she shared that Prince Louis first phrase included Mary Berrys name.

One of Louiss first words was Mary,' Middleton told Berry. Because right at his height are all my cooking books on the kitchen bookshelf. And children are really fascinated by faces, and your faces are all over your cooking books, and he would say, Thats Mary Berry . . . so he would definitely recognise you if he saw you today.

Will Prince Louis be close to his cousin Archie?

Theres no doubt that people everywhere will be more and more fascinated by Prince Louis as he grows up. One thing that a lot of fans will be looking out for is his relationship with his cousin, Archie, who is the son of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Archie was born about a year after Prince Louis, so the two of them are very close in age. As such, onlookers are wondering whether they will become close or not as they get older. Since they are both further down the succession line, Prince Louis and Archie will be allowed to live away from the spotlight, so that could help them forge a bond with each other.

However, some people are also worried that they might not become close since they do not seem to spend a lot of time with each other. Prince Harry and Meghan are now living in Canada with occasional trips back to the U.K., so Archie and Prince Louis already have distance in the way. Additionally, it is believed that there is tension between Prince William and Prince Harry, which could cause their children to not become close.

Ultimately, Prince Louis is still very young, and it is hard to predict how his life will play out. We will just have to continue following the young prince as he grows up.
Big Number: 7,000+, the number of people using Torontos shelter system on a nightly basis during the COVID-19 crisis. About 35 per cent are refugees and asylum claimants, while 23 per cent are people who have been homeless for longer than six months.

These pandemic times have a way of revealing the places where Torontos status quo is broken.

Take, for example, Torontos shelter system. Imagine you were in dire straits right now  broke in the GTA with no place to stay. Since its really hard to heed all that stay home advice when you dont have a home, your best option might be to try to find space in one of Torontos jam-packed homeless shelters or drop-in sites, where youd likely sleep in close conditions with dozens of others.

Sounds cruel, right? But the truth is that it was always cruel. COVID-19 just makes the cruelty harder to ignore.

Given the shelter system is almost always close to 100 per cent full, Toronto has been lucky so far to avoid a shelter outbreak. There has been just one identified case of COVID-19 to date among the homeless population. Shelter workers have put in place safeguards and commandeered temporary space to create some social distancing and hopefully prevent spread of the virus.

These workers are heroes  this column is not a knock against them.

But it is a knock against a system that could have been improved  and made more resilient to things like this pandemic  long before anyone even knew what COVID-19 was.

The solutions to Torontos shelter problem are found in the numbers. According to the citys counts, about 7,000 people stay in shelters and respite sites each night. Its a daunting figure, but look deeper and obvious strategies start to reveal themselves.

Of that group, about 2,500 people using the shelter system in Toronto are asylum claimants and refugees. This should widely be regarded as a national disgrace. Canada should not be meeting its moral obligation to welcome people fleeing violence and persecution by pointing those same people toward homeless shelters.

Mayor John Tory has been asking the federal government for system changes that would more quickly find housing for refugees and claimants, but those changes keep getting put off in favour of Ottawa sending cheques to Toronto to offset the cost of the status quo.

Address that problem, and the shelter population could drop by more than a third.

But dont stop there. Shelter staff estimate that around 23 per cent of people in Toronto shelters have been homeless for more than six months. This population has higher rates of addiction or mental health issues, and needs support to move out of the shelter system into housing.

The best thing Toronto could do is provide that. Move this group into whats termed supportive housing  deeply subsidized housing with access to social services and healthcare. Not only is this more effective, its also cheaper. The average shelter bed costs Toronto $110 each day, versus $63 a day for supportive housing.

Combine getting this group into permanent supportive housing with an actual plan for housing refugees and asylum claimants and were looking at potentially halving the nightly shelter population, creating all kinds of room for social distancing.

Last month, Toronto council approved an aggressive plan to construct 1,800 units of supportive housing a year for 10 years, but the plan still needs provincial and federal support for the full build-out.

To speed things up, the city should take a look at Vancouvers experience building modular housing. These prefab, movable housing units can be built relatively quickly and offer extra flexibility. Vancouver filled more than 600 units in 18 months, and 94 per cent of tenants have stayed in housing. Think of all the parking lots and vacant lands Toronto could have turned into housing  and how much safer that housing would have been for vulnerable people these days.

Its not a question of understanding the need. Toronto council routinely votes to reiterate the citys goal to ensure shelters are never more than 90 per cent full  a goal they have never hit. Whats long been missing, however, is an understanding of the urgency. COVID-19 should lay bare why this is not a problem that can wait.
(PHOTO: Getty Images)

We all know we probably shouldnt be spending so much time on our smartphones and computers, but it is just so easy to lose time following funny memes and videos, or tracking down every little thing about whats happening with COVID-19 around the world.

And while we are all going to be relying on our digital devices even more, now that we are taking up #stayhome and social distancing, we should also be aware that sometimes too much of a good thing is just too much. This is even more true when it comes to our children.

A recent study released by the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, literally entitled: Mental Health Concerns in the Digital Age, found detrimental impacts on adults, adolescents, and children from continual connectivity.

According to the report, ... negative consequences from technology overuse impact an individual behaviorally, affectively, and cognitively. So what we all worried was true, has been proven so.

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Are you addicted to your digital devices?

I consider myself addicted to my phone, explains Athena Khan, a mother in her late 30s. Though I have a habit of browsing fashion brand's websites, and taking screenshots of things I might buy, I consider myself addicted to social media. I am even on my phone in my bed before sleeping and usually in the mornings.

Khan says it is both a good and bad, but overall thinks her addiction is more bad than good. The only good thing is I can be aware of what's happening around the world in an informal way. And it gives me a kind of company when I am a bit alone, so far away from my parents, siblings, and friends who live in Pakistan.

I'm rather addicted to social media because life is rather boring as a stay home mom, explains Kiki-Nuria Tjai, also in her late 30s. One of my pastimes to kaypoh on people on social media.

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[But] I also have several online businesses hence social media is a must visit every morning and night to monitor business growth, followers, promotions, etc.

Khan and Tjai are not alone. Yvonne Poh, hopes shes not addicted but she thinks she could be.

I hope I don't fall into the categorisation of being addicted to technology but I find myself being very uncomfortable if I go somewhere without my phone or if my phone's battery were to go below 50%, explains the working mother of three.

Social media can be quite addictive and feeds one's inner narcissist. Humans are wired to admire beautiful things and Instagram fits the bill perfectly, says Poh.

Mindlessly scrolling through Instagram can be very addictive. I'm not personally affected by the content I see on Instagram as I tend to think it's mostly contrived; but I can see how it may affect someone's self esteem or pander to someone's feelings of inadequacy.

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

Too much digital media can be bad for you

The issues of low self-esteem, inadequacy, and insecurity that are often engendered by social media, are central to some of the mental health issues connected to being dependent on our digital devices.

The study reported that: Consequences of attachment to technology include lowered social skills, self-motivation, emotional intelligence, and empathy and increased conflict with others, ADHD, and depression in younger populations.

And also, that: Mental health concerns increase with societys reduced social interactions resulting from increased technological use and dependence on social media for communication.

However there is hope that certain interventions can be made to stop dependence on digital devices from turning into a major mental health concern. The study stated that: Advantageous counseling interventions and treatment options are discussed as methods to reduce effects of technology abuse and isolation from the real world and help clients find a balance in connectivity.

Khan admits that being on her phone, particularly using too much social media has sometimes affected her mental health.

Just three nights ago I had a problem sleeping because of reading about the ignorance shown by Pakistani people over women's rights and the opposition to [a recent] women's march there, explains Khan.

So, [using] social media makes me depressed on occasion and affects my mental health in quite a negative way.

How to manage your use of digital devices

Before your use of digital devices becomes a problem, you need to work out what is balanced usage for you, and the lifestyle you lead.

I'm spending a lot of time online at work and after working hours, [so] I'm now consciously trying to engage in other activities offline. Starting with putting my phone away from the dinner table when I'm having dinner, and setting quiet time from 10pm-7am on my phone (where notifications are muted), says Poh.

Khan says that while she feels she lacks a bit of willpower when it comes to staying away from her digital devices, she is trying to set some boundaries for herself.

I make an effort to put my phone away and call my kids for hugs and cuddles. And I avoid my phone when I am helping my kids with their homework. I don't use social media around guests, or when out with family friends, or at someone's house, says Khan.

I guess instead of trying to manage the time [I spend on my mobile], I try to set a limit for certain situations when I allow myself to use my mobile. I think I am on my phone the most when I am at home.

I spend about seven to eight hours on my mobile daily for work and people stalking, says Tjai. I think its a little too much so I am trying to cut down on watching nonsense stories if I can.

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

What about your kids and digital devices?

If your children are school age there is no way you can avoid them having to use digital devices since most schools expect their students to either work on a laptop or tablet, or have classes that need these devices. We are all also used to being able to contact our children at any time of the day, so most kids have their own mobile phones.

Tjai says her three-year-old daughter has her own tablet that is used to help teach her the alphabet, or give her activities to do like singing and dancing. However, Tjai admits that she also uses the device to tame her daughter when needed.

I [use the tablet] to keep her still at mealtimes, or keep her tame while we are outside. The [tablet] can be a lifesaver at times; when they are cranky sometimes nothing else works.

Poh also allows her children to use various digital devices, however she does monitor the amount of time they spend on them.

I believe that it's good to get my kids accustomed to technology and devices as they will be the digital natives of the future, explains Poh. But they must recognise that it's only a tool as a means to an end and not be enslaved by it.

Currently, I'm letting my kids have 30 minutes of screen time (tablet or TV) every night. And they have to earn more screen time if they want it - by reading books or helping out around the house.

I'm worried about them getting hooked and prioritising screen time over other activities.

Dont panic! Digital devices can be good too!

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we really cant do without our digital devices. We need to get information quickly, we need to entertain ourselves if we are stuck at home, and we need them to order in if we are quarantined.

Social media is a good platform during this COVID-19 period. Users get the latest updates about what's happening around the world. It was so different during SARS in 2003 when there was no social media, so there was not as much news and information on things like virus updates, explains Tjai.

Khan agrees that being able to stay in touch with her family members overseas during the period of uncertainty has helped her from feeling too isolated or depressed.

SINGAPORE

For information about the Covid19 outbreak in Singapore go to https://www.gov.sg/features/covid-19.

If you are struggling with thoughts or feelings about suicide, contact SOS on 1800 221 4444 (24hrs). If you have concerns about mental health issues, contact Emergency Helpline (IMH) on 6389 2222 (24hrs). For more information and help dealing with mental health issues, go to www.healthhub.sg/findhelp_servicesformentalhealthsupport.

MALAYSIA

For information about the Covid19 outbreak in Malaysia go to http://www.moh.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/2019-ncov-wuhan.

If you are struggling with thoughts or feelings about suicide, contact Lifeline on (+603) 4265 7995 (24hrs). If you have concerns about mental health issues, contact the Malaysian Mental Health Association on (+603) 7782 5499. For more information and help dealing with mental health issues, contact the Befrienders on (+603) 79568144 or (+603) 7956 8145; or go to www.befrienders.org.my.

PHILIPPINES

For information about the Covid19 outbreak in the Philippines go to https://www.doh.gov.ph/2019-nCoV.

If you are struggling with thoughts or feelings about suicide, contact Lifeline on (02) 8969191 or 0917 854 9191. If you have concerns about mental health issues, contact the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) Crisis Hotline on 0917 899 8727 (USAP) and 989 8727 (USAP). For more information and help dealing with mental health issues, go to the National Center for Mental Health at ncmh.gov.ph.
Tech companies are using artificial intelligence and other tools to comb through coronavirus data to track cases and find transmission hotspots.

Why it matters: Finding patterns in otherwise discrete data points could help make sense of where and how the virus is spreading in the U.S., and could aid in allocating the country's limited testing and treatment capabilities.

Driving the news: IBM, through its Weather Company subsidiary, is planning to launch an incident map as soon as Wednesday that tracks confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths at the county level.

The company is reviewing various forms of coronavirus information on county and state websites using AI, including its Watson natural language processing that turns text into machine-friendly data.

The project checks the sites for updates every 15 minutes and aggregates them into its map, which can be found on the Weather Channel mobile app or the weather.com website. (IBM owns the digital assets affiliated with the Weather Channel and supplies the network with its weather data.)

"We've spent 30 years keeping people safe  that's been our mission through severe weather," Sheri Bachstein, global head of IBM's The Weather Company, told Axios. "And so we feel like we are really uniquely positioned to do this during this type of a crisis. We have the capabilities to provide data at a more local level."

The big picture: The map ties in with a tech industry push, much of it relying on AI, to marshal data to assess where the coronavirus may already be and where it might be headed.

IBM is separately using the data that powers its map alongside other information to create an interactive dashboard for researchers. It will also provide a trends chart showing whether the number of cases is accelerating, flattening or declining.

And the company is leading the industry side of a public-private partnership the Trump administration announced Sunday aimed at giving COVID-19 researchers access to supercomputing resources to aid their work. Other companies involved in the project include Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Google subsidiary Kaggle, an online community of data scientists, opened a competition last week to use data to forecast the number of cases and fatalities that will be confirmed between March 25 and April 22 in a number of regions around the world, with one subset dedicated to California.

The primary goal is to identify factors that appear to affect the transmission rate of COVID-19, Kaggle CEO Anthony Goldbloom told Axios.

"Does controlling for temperature or humidity improve forecasts? What is the impact of policy actions like school closures, cancelling large gatherings, self isolation policies?" Goldbloom said in an email. "Our hope is that the community can find helpful relationships that are used as an input to healthcare and policy decisions."

Separately, Kaggle is hosting an effort coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to make academic literature on COVID-19 and related pathogens available in a machine-readable format, and called on AI experts to use the data to help answer key questions about the virus.

SparkBeyond, a startup that provides AI-driven data analysis tools to businesses, gathered publicly available data on infections and patient routes in Italy to create a heat map predicting the risk of contracting the virus in certain locations, CEO Sagie Davidovich told Axios.

The company, which is working on a U.S. map, used AI to draw insights from the data  like proximity to a gas station correlating with viral spread.

Kinsa Health has long made data from its internet-connected thermometers available online, which is proving useful in tracking the coronavirus in real time.

Yes, but: Even with sophisticated analytical tools at the ready, there remain big holes in the data that's available in the U.S., as testing remains very limited and the amount of information that's available to the public varies by state.
Delores DeVaul, MyLegacy Realty, LLC

Delores DeVaul spent 20 years moving from place to place as a military wife. She and her family made their home in Mississippi, Berlin, England, Ohio and Maryland. When her husband retired from the Air Force in 2003, they moved to Cibolo. She had thought about becoming a home appraiser before the move but decided to get her real estate license instead. My parents always owned a home and they had investment rental property, so I was always interested in real estate.

DeVaul became an agent in 2004 and attained her brokers license in 2008. Her plan was to not only sell houses but to be a property manager as well. Soon after becoming a broker DeVaul opened MyLegacy Realty, LLC in Schertz. MyLegacy turned into a family business several years ago when her two sons became licensed agents. She said most of her clients are looking for new houses, but the market for existing homes remains strong.
 Flash

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday evening a series of measures that aim to restrict social contact in the United Kingdom, so as to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Johnson made the announcement during a TV address to the nation. "From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction: you must stay at home," said the prime minister.

Starting from Monday night, people in Britain will only be allowed to leave their homes for "very limited purposes", including shopping for basic necessities, for any medical need, for one form of exercise a day, and to travel to and from work when necessary, said Johnson.

Police have powers to enforce the rules, including fines and dispersing gatherings, according to Johnson.

Meanwhile, all shops selling non-essential goods, such as clothing and electronic stores, are ordered to close, and places like libraries, playgrounds, and outdoor gyms will be closed.

All social events are banned and even gatherings of more than two people in public, except for people one lives with, are banned as well.

The tougher new measures will be in place for at least three weeks from Monday evening, according to the government.

The announcement came after the prime minister warned Sunday that the government will have to go further if people do not follow its advice.

"I believe the great majority of scientists will say the same, these measures are certainly appropriate and sensible and it was high time that they are taken by the government," said Prof. Sylvia Richardson, director of MRC Biostatistics Unit at University of Cambridge.

"Whether they are effective will depend on compliance and the prime minister's message needs to be reinforced by a daily communication exercise targeting the general public as well as special groups like young people," said Richardson.

The government has been stepping up its measures in recent weeks. It was only on March 20 when it announced that cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants, etc. must close.

But during the weekend, large groups of people were seen in some parks and tourist spots, prompting concerns that many people might be ignoring government's advice of avoiding social contact.

This happened despite the fact that COVID-19 cases have been rising quickly in the country.

As of Monday morning, there had been 6,650 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK, an increase of 967 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care. A total of 335 COVID-19 patients had died, the figures showed.

"Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won't be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses," said Johnson.

Earlier on Monday, Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised its residents traveling abroad to return home now, if commercial flights are still available.

Aside from these measures, the government is also giving more funding support to research on vaccines and other treatments.

Six coronavirus research projects will be the first to benefit from a share of 20 million pounds (23 million U.S. dollars) in government investment, according to a statement from the government.

Two of these projects will carry out pre-clinical and clinical vaccine trials, as well as supporting researchers to develop manufacturing processes to produce a vaccine at a million-dose scale.

"In the midst of a global health emergency, the UK is using all its extensive research expertise to quickly develop new vaccines to target this international threat," said Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock.
The Phoenix Hill Sports Park in the capital of Southwest Chinas Sichuan province hosted the 2021 Chinese FA Cup final as its inaugural event Sunday. Covering an area of 128,000 square meters, the park consists of two world-class sports venues, a retail and hotel complex, and a public plaza. It will be one of the venues of the 31st Summer World University Games

Jan 12, 2022 05:45 PM
Bangladesh on Tuesday initiated a process to "conditionally" release jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia for six months amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Law Minister Anisul Huq told PTI.

The 74-year-old opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief is serving a 17-year prison term in two graft cases since February 8, 2018.

"The decision has been taken on humanitarian ground," Huq said.

He said the decision was taken in line with Prime Minister Shekh Hasina's directives and considering the age of the former prime minister.

"...Zia will be released for a period of six months and she must stay in her own house," the minister said.

He declined to elaborate immediately but officials familiar with the process said the home ministry would take subsequent steps for the former premier's temporary release under a criminal procedure code (CRPC).

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said his office would take steps for the release of Zia, who is being treated for old-age complications at the prison cell of a state-run specialized hospital, "as soon as" they receive the file from the law ministry.

Home ministry officials, however, said the law ministry proposal reached them by now while they were now exhausting the legal procedures to be approved "finally by the prime minister".

The development came a day after Zia's family sought her release in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"This is a decision we welcome," BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters in brief comments at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University premises here.

"I thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," Zia's younger sister Selima Islam said.

Zia served thrice as the premier since 1991. Her party suffered a miserable defeat in the 2018 elections bagging only six seats in 300-seat parliament.

Her conviction on "moral turpitude" charges debarred her from contesting the polls.

She was sent to jail in February 2018 by a local court on charges of embezzling foreign donations meant for an orphanage, named after her slain husband and president Ziaur Rehman, during her premiership between 2001 and 2006



Rehman, a military ruler-turned-politician, was the founder of the BNP.

She was convicted in another corruption case later the same year, though her party claims both cases are politically motivated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Perceived Roles of Hinduism and Islam Reversed

On January 26, Republic Day, 2020, while protests simmered against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens throughout India, a dozen North American cities also witnessed historic protests. Indian Embassies have been witness to protests in the past. But this time it was different.

In Washington D.C., 800 Indian Americans, many of whom had driven hours from neighbouring states, assembled at the lawns on the south side of the White House. Marching towards the Embassy, they were supported by police who stopped traffic at junctions to let the kilometre-long march pass. When they reached the Embassy they were met by twenty to thirty supporters of the CAA/NRC. Protestors report that the pro-CAA/NRC rally appeared to be assembled by the Embassy as part of its duty towards the government. The disparity in numbers seemed to suggest that the Sangh Parivars juggernaut, on the roll since Narendra Modi came to power first time in 2014, might be losing steam in its most prosperous diaspora. In Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York and San Francisco, protests were held outside the Indian Consulates, with Chicago claiming the largest attendance of 3000-4000.

The spirit of the protests was remarkable. Creative placards and slogans were used by the protestors. They sang the national anthem and Sare Jahan se Achcha.. Dalit rights activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan said, The CAA is an integral part of the Modi Governments strategy of creating a stateless Muslim population, that can be profiled, treated as second class citizens, and imprisoned in massive detention centres already being built in India. She further added, This project may start with Muslims but all caste oppressed communities are at risk as we are the communities in the crosshairs of Hindu nationalists, advocating, The time to stop genocide is before it starts. If one were to ignore the location, one could imagine that the protests seemed to be taking place in India; the political speeches being made seemed grounded in Dalit and Muslim experience as well as authentically representing the angst of middle-class Hindus who felt that the Sangh Parivar does not speak for their understanding of Hinduism.

Back in India Shaheen Bagh is multiplying. There are more than two dozen ongoing protests in Delhi. In addition, small groups of Muslim women hold night-time candle light demons-trations between two protest sites and youth raise Azadi slogans. The mood is celebratory. The atmosphere is remniscent of Durga Puja where every locality vies with the other in setting up their pandal. There are tents set up wherever a group of Muslim women have organised themselves to come out on streets. Photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad can be seen in almost every protest site indicating that people treat this movement as a second freedom struggle to free this country from forces which are bent upon taking away their freedom. The Khureji site also has a portrait of Rohith Vemula, drawing inspiration from more recent icons whove sacrificed their lives fighting against forces which are a threat to democracy. The more elightened protests like the one at Chandbagh displays pictures of Fatima Shaikh and Savitribai Phule, two women who involved themselves in grassroots education of downtrodden communities for their empo-werment.

But the real force of the movement is women who stay put at protest sites until late in the night or early morning. They are determined to see the struggle through. Children can be seen sleeping covered by blankets and quilts next to their mothers. Reversing common practices, such as keeping women behind curtains in Jamat-e-Islami meetings, or not letting them speak when men are present, women are in the lead and men are playing the supporting role. Young, educated women are in control of conducting the proceedings and men are standing on the side. Nobody would have imagined that India would see such a dramatic empowerment of Muslim women so soon. And it is empowerment in the real sense as each of the women coming to the protest, unlike traditional political meetings where common citizens are there just to swell numbers, can explain why they are there. They are raising slogans, singing songs and sometimes also making speeches. Our democracy and Constituion, which at one point were under the danger of being eclipsed by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo, now seem to be in safe hands. The difference is now people dont expect the leaders to protect them; the people have come together to protect democracy and the Constituion from the leaders.

As the Bhartiya Janata Party or its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, become more desperate with a defeat staring them in the Delhi elections immeditely after being displaced from power in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the leaders, including a Central Minister, are raising slogans which have unleashed gun-wielding young men on streets who are trying to sabotage what has been a very disciplined struggle against the CAA-NRC so far or create a situation which can polarise the votes in the BJPs favour at the last moment.

It is Indias misfortune that for the first time after independence an organisation has captured political power which ideologically believes in violence and is inciting people to promote itself politically. The irony is that the Hindutva line and the Western world constructs Islam as an agressive religion. Hindus like to perceive their religion as a messenger of peace to the world. But currently Hindutva is all fire and brimstone whereas Muslim women have become the countrys apostles of peace.

The non-violent anti-CAA-NRC movements are not going to disappear in spite of the best efforts, including that of dialogue, by the government. The ever-enlarging protests are going to go on until either the CAA-NRC go or the government itself goes.

Sandeep Pandey, a Magsaysay Awardee, is with the Socialist Party (India).
The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, has tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Thisday newspaper reports, citing presidential sources.

There is no official confirmation yet, but officials including a presidential aide did not deny the report.

PREMIUM TIMES has since learnt that Mr Kyaris close associates including the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babagana Kingibe, will be tested following Mr Kyaris situation.

THISDAY on Tuesday morning reported the results of alleged tests conducted for both Mr Buhari and Mr Kyari by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with the former allegedly testing negative while the latter tested positive.

Mr Kyari was for many years on the editorial board of THISDAY newspaper.

Sources at the state house also confided in PREMIUM TIMES that though Mr Kyari has tested positive, he is not troubled.

Yes, he tested positive. He is at home but in high spirit, a source at the presidency said.

The source added that leading the close associates of Mr Kyari to get tested on Tuesday is Mr Kingibe, who is described by many as the political mentor of the chief of staff.

Many are currently on self-isolation but those billed to be tested by NCDC this morning will be led by the former SGF who is closer to him among all, the source added.

Officials at the presidential villa confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Kyari was not in the office on Monday and was yet to come to work on Tuesday, as at the time of this report.

Efforts to get official confirmation on Mr Kyaris situation were unsuccessful Monday and Tuesday.

Abba Kyari (3rd left) during his visit to Germany for a meeting with Siemens officials

Femi Adesina, Mr Buharis spokesperson, did not deny the report but declined comment on the matter. He referred all enquiries to the health minister, Osagie Ehanire.

Mr Ehanires spokesperson, Enefaa Bob-Manuel, said she has not been briefed by the minister.

I have no information on that yet. My Miniter has not given any information on that, she said in response to our enquiry.

Also, the NCDC, which has been leading the governments action on the disease, said it could not confirm Mr Kyaris case as it has a policy of not naming COVID-19 victims.

Please, NCDC has not provided personal information on any case, and will not provide information on a case by case basis, an NCDC spokesperson wrote in a text message in response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, quoting the agencys head, Chikwe Ihekweazu.

The NCDC late last night, however, confirmed a new case of coronavirus in Abuja, bringing the total number of detected cases in the Nigerian capital to seven.

Nigeria, as of the time of this report, has confirmed 40 cases of the disease, majority (28) in Lagos.

Masari, IGP may be tested too

Mr Kyari travelled to Germany on March 7 and returned about a week later.

He is suspected to have contracted the disease in Germany, which has thousands of cases of the disease and has banned public gatherings, limiting such to a maximum of two people.

Prominent Nigerians who have had engagements with the chief of staff since his return to Nigeria include Governors Bello Masari and Yahaya Bello of Katsina and Kogi states respectively; and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, among others.

The chief of staff, who was in Europe alongside the power minister, Saleh Mamman, returned to the country on March 14.

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The duo had travelled to Germany to meet with officials of Siemens AG in pursuit of the deal recently signed between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the energy company towards improving electricity supply in the country.

Mr Kyari had not been in isolation since his return but rather had been partaking in other official functions until he was tested.

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On his arrival to the country, Mr Kyari attended the wedding ceremony of Hassan Adamu, son of the inspector general of police, Mohammed Adamu, which held in Abuja on March 14, the same day he arrived in the country.

On March 17, Mr Kyari also led a presidential delegation to commiserate with Mr Bello on the demise of his mother.

Meanwhile, the spokespersons to Governor Masari, Abdu Labaran respectively, did not answer calls made to their telephone lines, while messages sent were also not replied.

EDITORS NOTE: There was initial suggestion in this story that Mr Kyari also met a leading businessman recently but a spokesperson to the billionaire later reached out to this paper to say his boss did not meet the chief of staff recently. The article has been updated to reflect that as well as the response of the health ministers spokesperson.
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Breaking research in AACC's The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine shows that the fentanyl in epidurals can pass on to babies during labor. While the infants in this study did not experience adverse effects from this fentanyl transfer, this information is crucial to ensuring that new mothers don't get falsely accused of fentanyl abuse, which can have dire social repercussions for mother and child.

From 1992 to 2012, the proportion of pregnant women admitted to substance abuse treatment facilities who reported a history of prescription opioid abuse increased from 2% to 28%. This alarming rise has led to a parallel increase in hospitals drug testing mothers and their newborns for opioids, which helps ensure that babies exposed to opioids in utero get prompt treatment for withdrawal symptoms. While some hospitals only drug test mothers and newborns if they suspect the mother of drug abuse, a number of hospitals have begun to test all mothers and babies to prevent discrimination against women from disadvantaged demographics. As these universal drug screening programs become more common, it is critical that laboratory professionals and clinicians have the information they need to interpret drug test results correctly. False positives can have serious consequencesparticularly in states like Alabama, where drug use during pregnancy is criminalized and mothers can lose custody of their children and get sent to prison because of it.

Since fentanyl is usually included in epidurals, a team of researchers led by Athena K. Petrides, PhD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, set out to determine whether getting an epidural during labor impacts urine drug test results in newborns. To do this, the researchers performed drug testing on 96 urine samples from newborns whose mothers had no history of fentanyl drug abuse, and 82 of whom had received fentanyl epidurals during labor. One-third of the babies whose mothers received fentanyl epidurals (24 infants total) tested positive for the drug, while all 14 newborns whose mothers did not receive fentanyl epidurals tested negative.

Among the women who received fentanyl epidurals, the researchers found that the likelihood of fentanyl passing on to their babies correlated with the duration and cumulative dose of the epidural. Mothers who received fentanyl for less than 5 hours at a cumulative dose of <100 g did not have children who tested positive for fentanyl. In contrast, mothers treated for more than 10 hours with a cumulative dose of >100 g had children with positive fentanyl tests.

"The most important clinical implication of these findings is that a positive neonatal urine fentanyl test result cannot and should not be used to identify fentanyl drug abuse in mothers who receive fentanyl-containing labor analgesia," said Petrides. "Clinicians should interpret positive neonatal fentanyl results in the context of medications administered during labor and delivery. Fentanyl testing on other specimen types, such as meconium and/or cord tissue, should be considered when evaluating prolonged fetal exposure during gestation."

About AACC

Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, AACC brings together more than 50,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, AACC has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.aacc.org .

Launched by AACC in 2016, The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine ( jalm.org ) is an international, peer-reviewed publication showcasing the applied research in clinical laboratory science that is driving innovation forward in healthcare.

Christine DeLong

AACC

Senior Manager, Communications & PR

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AACC

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Linkedin Nathan Layne (Reuters) Wilton, Connecticut  Tue, March 24, 2020 11:04 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0c995 2 World US,inmates,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health Free

New Jersey said on Monday it plans to temporarily release low-risk inmates serving county jail sentences to limit the spread of the coronavirus, following similar moves by some cities and counties in the United States.

The announcement followed an order on Sunday night by New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to suspend or commute sentences imposed for probation violations and municipal court convictions.

The order will free up to 1,000 inmates, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said. State Attorney General Gurbir Singh Grewal told a news conference they would be released no later than Tuesday morning.

As a career prosecutor, Grewal said he "took no pleasure" in releasing inmates but that the move was warranted by the seriousness of the health risk. He also pointed to the infections that had taken hold in New York City jails.

"We know and we've seen across the river that jails can be incubators for disease, so we have to take bold and drastic steps," Grewal said, adding inmates would be under stay-at-home orders and complete their sentences once the crisis was over.

Jails and prisons are scrambling to safeguard a captive population that includes many people with underlying medical problems.

The United States has more people behind bars than any other nation, 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 US Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Last week New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the release of 40 inmates from Rikers Island jail in light of the pandemic, and on Sunday said 23 more would be released.

Other cities and counties across the United States are considering or have enacted similar policies.

Last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the county had taken steps since late February to reduce its jail's population by 617 inmates. This was done by releasing inmates with less than 30 days on their sentences and by changing bail policies used to determine which arrestees would get a citation versus being booked into custody, he said.

While many state prisons have taken steps to limit the spread of the virus such as banning visitors, they generally require a court order to release inmates. Federal prisons face similar restrictions, although President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would consider an executive order to release "totally nonviolent prisoners" from those facilities.

An official with the union representing federal prison workers called on Attorney General William Barr to temporarily stop the movement of all prisoners between facilities until the virus can be contained.
Linda Lusardi has praised the 'amazing' National Health Service after being cared for by medical staff following her coronavirus diagnosis last week as her husband Sam Kane revealed she 'still has a long way to go'.

The former glamour model, 61, revealed that she keeps bursting into tears over the care she was shown by NHS staff while 'at death's door' with COVID-19.

Both Linda and her husband Sam, 51, were hospitalised on Friday after developing COVID-19 symptoms earlier in the week.

Grateful: Linda Lusardi has praised the 'amazing' National Health Service after being cared for by medical staff following her coronavirus diagnosis last week (pictured June 2018)

After Sam revealed she had 'turned a corner' with the virus on Monday evening, Linda took to Twitter to thank the NHS and her followers.

She said: 'Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. My @samkane1968 went home from hospital today to carry on recovering.

We both tested positive with the virus. I still have a way to go yet The NHS staff have been amazing Their kindness keeps making me cry. Love to you all.'

Together: Both Linda and her husband Sam Kane, 51, were hospitalised on Friday after developing COVID-19 symptoms earlier in the week (pictured in 2012)

She said: 'Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. My @samkane1968 went home from hospital today to carry on recovering'

Stronger: As Linda recuperates in hospital, Sam gave fans an update on her condition on Tuesday

As Linda recuperates in hospital, Sam gave fans an update on her condition on Tuesday.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: 'Shes getting stronger by the day. Still aways to go but all in the right direction. Thanks angel. Stay safe.'

To another fan, Sam added: 'Poor girl has been to hell and back. Shes making small steps but shes recovering. Shes still away from being right but Im sure out of the woods now." and said to someone else: All on the right path thank God. Xx'

Tough: Sam added that Linda has 'been to hell and back' but is now recovering

On Monday, Sam confirmed Linda had been 'taken to death's door after developing coronavirus symptoms.

Sam, 51, posted on Facebook, begging the public to take the self isolation and self distancing rules seriously as he said: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug. Ive watched this take my girl to deaths door.'

Sam wrote on Monday: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug. Ive watched this take my girl to deaths door.'

Hospitalised: After Sam revealed she had 'turned a corner' with the virus on Monday evening, Linda took to Twitter to thank the NHS and her followers

'Ive felt it take me there. Its a cruel, vile, remorseless, relentless, dark sickness. It was like three hands. One thats strangling you. One pushing your face down as it does. The other one ripping your heart out of your chest and it just doesnt stop... for days'.

'Youre totally helpless and in its grasp. Its nothing like flu,' he continued before pleading with those not adhering to government rules to stop going out.

'Please stop going out. Passing this around will mean it just takes longer till were back to normal. Please stay safe people. Two weeks away from anyone else outside your family should see this gone. Its that simple. Please stay in.'

Update: Sam posted on Facebook, begging the public to take the self isolation and self distancing rules seriously as he said: 'I cant stress enough that this is not just a flu bug

The day before Sam confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19, telling his Facebook followers that he had no idea where the couple had contracted the virus.

'Well. Its official. I am positive for CoronaVirus. I dont know if Im happy or gutted. Probably a bit of both. I hope its a one time thing coz I dont want this again,' the former actor wrote.

He added that Linda hadn't received her results yet, but he was 'certain' she had the virus.

'I dont know Lindas result yet but regardless of the test, Im certain that she has it too. Were told a lot of tests taken come back negative as the testing process is so sensitive. They tell me that tests, in a lot of cases, are false negatives. Kinda and I both had text book symptoms. God knows where we got it. But we did.

'Cruel': Its a cruel, vile, remorseless, relentless, dark sickness,' Linda's husband wrote of the illness which has seen them both hospitalised

'The NHS staff have been beyond incredible. The work and care they are giving at the front line with so little resources is astounding. Theyre fearless. The debt of gratitude I owe them for getting my girl back to a sense of normality will be owed for the rest of my life.'

'Please take care of yourselves. Isolating is the only way now. This has to be stopped and only we can do it. Take care of yourselves. Stay safe. Xxx'

Earlier in the day Sam wrote that he had good news for Mother's Day, telling his friends: Linda, I believe has turned a corner today. Thank God. Shes not out of the woods just yet but she appears, to my untrained eyes to have gotten over the worst.'

Positive: The day before Sam confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19, telling his Facebook followers that he had no idea where the couple had contracted the virus

Feeling better: Earlier in the day Sam wrote that he had good news for Mother's Day, telling his friends: Linda, I believe has turned a corner today'

'She is feeling a little better. She is eating and drinking. Functioning slowly but well. Her vitals were all normal last night. She had an uncomfortable night but its been better than most nights lately. Thank God.'

'Thank you so much for your love and support. I honestly dont know where wed be without it. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you. This is the best Mothers Day Gift we could have hoped for. God bless you all. Please stay safe. Xxx'

On Friday Sam posted to confirm that he and his wife had been hospitalised after showing symptoms and were about to be tested.

'Very ill': Sam Kane posted on Facebook on Friday afternoon that the couple had been hospitalised and would be tested for the virus 'very soon'

'To all who know us. Linda and I have been taken to hospital and will be tested for Covid 19 at some point very soon,' Sam wrote on Facebook.

'We are both stable but very ill. Thank you for all of your messages of support. Could I please ask that you hold off from any messaging at this time.'

'Your concern means the world to us. Prayers and positivity in abundance please if you have time. Thank you all. Stay safe. Xxx'

Update: Linda took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to reveal that the couple had symptoms writing: 'Sam and I have had COVID-19 symptoms and are in isolation'

Linda took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to reveal that the couple had symptoms writing: 'I want to thank you all for your good wishes. Sam and I have had COVID-19 symptoms and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else.

'We are taking it one-day-at-a-time, thats all we can do. But let me tell you weve never felt this ill, EVER!

'I wouldnt wish this on anyone. So stay safe everyone and follow the advice of the experts - please take care of yourselves, loved ones and each other xx'

Unwell: The former Page 3 girl suggested she was positive on Wednesday evening while responding to a fan request for a celebrity video message, ironically to a relative under quarantine in Spain

On Wednesday, the former Page 3 girl, 61, revealed she was struggling with coronavirus symptoms as recorded cases of the highly contagious virus continue to rise across the United Kingdom.

She revealed she had symptoms while responding to a fan request for a celebrity video message, ironically to a relative under quarantine in Spain. Replying to the fan, Linda wrote: 'Sorry Kerry. I am extremely ill with Corona at the moment.'

Wishing her well, one follower commented: 'Sending you all our love and hope you feel better soon love you very much.'

While another wrote: 'Get well soon Linda take care and rest up.'

Happy family: Linda married former Brookside and Emmerdale actor Samuel Kane in 1998; the couple are parents to two children - daughter Lucy, 24, and son Jack, 21

Reaching out to the star, a third added: 'Wishing you a very speedy recovery.'

Linda married former Brookside and Emmerdale actor Samuel Kane in 1998; the couple are parents to two children - daughter Lucy, 24, and son Jack, 21.

She shared images of herself enjoying a night out with her oldest child and her actor boyfriend Jack Rowan, best known for his roles in Peaky Blinders and controversial new drama Noughts and Crosses, as recently as March 6.

Reaching out: Linda's post led to a wave of good will messages from followers on Wednesday

Contact: She shared images of herself enjoying a night out with her oldest child Lucy and her daughter's actor boyfriend Jack Rowan, best known for his role in Peaky Blinders, as recently as March 6

Linda joins a whole host of stars who have confirmed they have been tested positive for COVID-19.

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first Hollywood couple to reveal they had been tested positive for the novel coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia.

The Forrest Gump actor and his wife, both 63, announced the positive test results last week on Instagram urging the public to 'take care'.

Taken ill: The news comes a week after Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the novel coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia

Brave: Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into self isolation

Hanks revealed they had experienced symptoms including the common cold, body aches and chills before they decided to get tested.

Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into self isolation.

The Luther star, 47, had attended the WE Day UK Charity event and concert in London last Tuesday March 3 with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She announced she tested positive for the virus last week and gone into self quarantine.

Bond girl Olga Kurylenko revealed on Wednesday she's 'feeling better' three days after announcing she had tested positive for coronavirus.

The Quantum Of Solace star took to Instagram on Wednesday to give her 615K followers an update on her health, sharing that her 'fever has gone' just one day after she was refused a hospital bed with a temperature of 102F (38.9C).
[March 24, 2020] Delta Risk Announces Enhanced Integration with VMware Carbon Black

Delta Risk, a leading provider of SOC-as-a-Service and security services, announced today that it has expanded its partnership with VMware Carbon Black, a leader in cloud-delivered, next-generation endpoint security. The partnership includes fully integrated managed detection, response, threat hunting, and monitoring capabilities via Delta Risk's ActiveEye security platform for customers using VMware Carbon Black solutions, providing improved endpoint visibility for organizations of all sizes. "Delta Risk has made significant enhancements this year leveraging VMware Carbon Black Cloud Solutions, including Endpoint Standard and Enterprise EDR, to keep clients safe from cyber threats," said Victor Baez, Senior Director of WW Channel for VMware Carbon Black. "They've enabled many of our incident response (IR) partners and managed service providers (MSPs) to provide 24x7 post-breach monitoring in conjunction with dozens of IR monitoring engagements in the last 90 days alone, all of which are now being managed and monitored continuously through ActiveEye." Delta Risk's ActiveEye integration with VMware Carbon Black includes: Detection and Response functionality that uses analytics, orchestration, and automatin to prioritize threats;

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to report back to the executive team and board of directors on security program progress, co-managed with Delta Risk customers through the ActiveEye portal and tracked consistently with their team;

Single view and access to data/reports across the various security controls, with a focus on a "customer first" experience; and

Deep knowledge and understanding across the Carbon Black platform for ease of onboarding and continued adoption.



Delta Risk provides Managed Detection and Response for VMware Carbon Black's entire suite of next-generation endpoint protection solutions, including VMware Carbon Black Cloud, VMware Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint Standard, VMware Carbon Black Cloud Enterprise EDR, VMware Carbon Black Cloud Audit and Remediation, VMware Carbon Black Cloud Managed Detection, VMware Carbon Black App Control, and VMware Carbon Black EDR.

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GREENWICH  With movie theaters closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Greenwich International Film Festival is changing up its plans for this year.

The festival, which is in its fifth year, had been scheduled to start April 30. But with bans on large crowds, the festival was forced to pivot to what its founders are calling a virtual film festival experience.

Out of concern for public safety and the well-being of our community of supporters, filmmakers, staff and health care professionals, we have moved the Greenwich International Film Festival to an online experience, Executive Director Ginger Stickel said.

Instead of hosting major screenings, the festival will stream movies online from May 1 to May 3. Ticket holders will be able to access  from the comfort of their own homes  narrative and documentary films from eight countries, exclusive interviews with film talent and short films made by Connecticut residents.

We remain committed to providing an effective platform for filmmakers to showcase their films, as well as to supporting them with cash awards. Our team has worked incredibly hard to launch the inaugural virtual festival and we cant wait to share it with audience members, both near and far, Stickel said.

The decision came on the heels of the postponement of the annual Greenwich Town Party, which is delaying the daylong music festival from late May to an unannounced date in August.

The film festival, like other events, had no choice after Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency, Stickel said. The decision was made with the full support of the festivals board, she said.

A total of 10 documentary films, eight narrative films and 10 films in the Connecticut Shorts competition will be streamed online. The films encompass the festivals theme for 2020 of knowledge is power.

There is nothing like a great film to inspire you and give you some hope that this will all turn around very soon, said festival co-founder Colleen deVeer, director of programming.

For highlights, she cited Medicating Normal, a documentary about the long-term impact of psychiatric medications that offer short-term relief; Music Got Me Here, a documentary about how musical therapy helped a young man after a snowboarding accident; Team Marco, a family-friendly narrative film about a grandfather showing a young boy what family connection is really about; and High Tide, a thriller about a woman who gets involved with a contractor working on her house.

This is going to be a fun experiment for us and maybe something we will continue throughout the years to come, deVeer said. While it is always great to experience the physical festival each year, (this) is our way of being socially responsible in 2020.

Organizers also plan to hold more screenings, discussion panels and its annual Changemaker Gala in the fall.

Those events have been a major part of the festivals allure in past years. Past programs have featured actor John Turturro, Oscar-winning writer and director James Ivory and more. The gala, which honors people for their philanthropy and social impact work, has previously honored actors Ashley Judd, Renee Zellweger, Eva Longoria Baston and Harry Belafonte.

No date was announced for those events, but Stickel expressed confidence that plans would come together.

We are currently working with (event hosts) Betteridge, L'Escale and our honorees to come up with a new date for the Changemaker Gala, Stickel said. We will also be hosting other important events such as The Spotlight On the Environment in partnership with the Nature Conservancy and Avon Theater, as well as special screenings for our VIP supporters and the community at large.

Ticket holders can watch the films at any time during the three-day window in May and vote on the JP Morgan Chase Audience Award. The festival will hand out the Best Connecticut Shorts Award and the Best Social Impact Film Award. For ticket information, visit www.greenwichfilm.org/.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:01:13|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on March 23, 2020 shows a general view of the House of Commons in London, Britain. A new emergency bill to give the British government great powers to fight Coronavirus was approved by lawmakers Monday night. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/Handout via Xinhua)

LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A new emergency bill to give the British government great powers to fight coronavirus was approved by lawmakers Monday night.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that the virus is the most serious public health emergency the world has faced in a century.

"To defeat it, we are proposing extraordinary measures of a kind never seen before in peacetime. Our goal is to protect life and to protect every part of the National Health Service (NHS)," he said.

Hancock added that the bill jointly agreed with the governments of Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland "gives us the power to fight the virus with everything that we have."

The bill was raced through the Commons in a single day to ensure it gets onto the statute book within days.

By a unanimous vote, MPs from all political parties voted to back the Coronavirus Bill which will stay in place for two years, with a review every six months.

Hancock said: "Measures are significant departures from the way we normally do things, but they are strictly temporary. I think that they are proportionate to the threat we face, and they will be activated only on the basis of the best possible scientific evidence."

Measures set out in the 329-page Coronavirus Bill give police new powers to shut down events and order people to go home using sweeping powers over British life not seen since the Second World War.

Police, public health and immigration officers will be given powers to detain people refusing to follow health guidance, while police and public will get powers to enforce sensible public health restrictions.

Fines of up to 1,000 pounds (1,155 U.S. dollars) will be handed to people failing to comply with the rules laid out in the new law.

Events and gatherings will also be prohibited or restricted if the public health situation deems it necessary for the control of coronavirus.

The new bill also allows for the emergency registration of health and social care professionals, including nurses, midwives, paramedics and social workers, many of them currently retired.

Hancock told MPs that by Monday night 7,500 clinicians, including some medically-qualified MPs, had so far answered the call to return to work.
Imagine an Internet where the law required every message sent to be read by government-approved scanning software. Companies that handle such messages wouldnt be allowed to securely encrypt them, or theyd lose legal protections that allow them to operate.

TAKE ACTION

STOP THE GRAHAM-BLUMENTHAL ATTACK ON ENCRYPTION

Thats what the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed and hopes to pass into law. The so-called EARN IT bill, sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), will strip Section 230 protections away from any website that doesnt follow a list of best practices, meaning those sites can be sued into bankruptcy. The best practices list will be created by a government commission, headed by Attorney General Barr, who has made it very clear he would like to ban encryption, and guarantee law enforcement legal access to any digital message.

The EARN IT bill had its first hearing today, and its supporters strategy is clear. Because they didnt put the word encryption in the bill, theyre going to insist it doesnt affect encryption.

This bill says nothing about encryption, co-sponsor Sen. Blumenthal said at todays hearing. Have you found a word in this bill about encryption? he asked one witness.

Its true that the bills authors avoided using that word. But they did propose legislation that enables an all-out assault on encryption. It would create a 19-person commission thats completely controlled by the Attorney General and law enforcement agencies. And, at the hearing, a Vice-President at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) made it clear [PDF] what he wants the best practices to be. NCMEC believes online services should be made to screen their messages for material that NCMEC considers abusive; use screening technology approved by NCMEC and law enforcement; report what they find in the messages to NCMEC; and be held legally responsible for the content of messages sent by others.

You cant have an Internet where messages are screened en masse, and also have end-to-end encryption any more than you can create backdoors that can only be used by the good guys. The two are mutually exclusive. Concepts like client-side scanning arent a clever route around this; such scanning is just another way to break end-to-end encryption. Either the message remains private to everyone but its recipients, or its available to others.

The 19-person draft commission isnt any better than the 15-person commission envisioned in an early draft of the bill. Its completely dominated by law enforcement and allied groups like NCMEC. Not only will those groups have a majority of votes on the commission, but the bill gives Attorney General Barr the power to veto or approve the list of best practices. Even if other commission members do disagree with law enforcement, Barrs veto power will put him in a position to strongarm them.

The Commission wont be a body that seriously considers policy; it will be a vehicle for creating a law enforcement wish list. Barr has made clear, over and over again, that breaking encryption is at the top of that wish list. Once its broken, authoritarian regimes around the world will rejoice, as they have the ability to add their own types of mandatory scanning, not just for child sexual abuse material but for self-expression that those governments want to suppress.

The privacy and security of all users will suffer if U.S. law enforcement is able to achieve its dream of breaking encryption. Senators should reject the EARN IT bill.
New Delhi: Coronavirus cases crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

As 32 states and union territories announced complete lockdown till March 31 to deal with the pandemic, authorities are taking a serious view of people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely crucial to contain the spread of the viral infection.

With the coronavirus lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Sitharaman told reporters an announcement on the package would be made sooner than later.

Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

States like Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday decided to expand the lockdown to cover the entire state.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis. The western state has accounted for 101 of the total 492 cases followed by Kerala(91).

The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further.

The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated on Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals. Cases of a few more persons having tested positive for the infection were reported during the day.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic in unprecedented steps till March 31.

A top functionary of the central government called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been conveyed that public gatherings could lead to escalation of the prevailing situation.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.

In Kerala, the latest state to order a lockdown, buses went off the roads and shops, barring those selling essentials, remained shut but violations were galore, prompting police to book culprits.

Autorickshaws and private vehicles, including two-wheelers, were seen plying at several places disregarding instructions that people should not venture out without any valid reason.

At some places in Haryana, police had a tough time to persuade people who were out for non-essential work and sent them back to their homes.

In Bhiwani, at a check barrier, police had to deal with number of two-wheeler riders many of them who were out on roads for non-essential work.

We are persuading them and sending them back to their homes, said a police personnel on duty at a check barrier.

In Delhi, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the status of containment and management of COVID-19 in the country and emphasised on the quality and sturdiness of the community surveillance and contact tracing.

As on date, cumulatively 1,87,904 persons are under surveillance, and around 35,073 have completed 28 days observation period as on day, an official statement said. Vardhan visited the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Control Room and the Testing Laboratories, and reviewed the current status there with the senior officials.

He also interacted with the National Health Mission(NHM) MDs and senior surveillance officers of the states/UTs through a video conference.

You all form our frontline warriors, who through supporting people with correct, timely and vital information, are rendering yeoman service to the nation."

I salute the scientists who work with the testing procedures, and put themselves at risk in their line of duty."

Reviewing the status of containment and management of COVID-19 with the NHM MDs, Vardhan emphasised on the quality and sturdiness of the community surveillance and contact tracing.

It is the need of the hour that all the people who are either in home or facility quarantine, need to maintain strict vigil, and practice the laid down protocols of social distancing, and personal hygiene. Special care needs to be taken of the elderly, pregnant women and small children," he added.
Numerous sub-Saharan countries acted to stem the spread of coronavirus on Monday, with South Africa announcing a soldier-patrolled lockdown and Senegal and Ivory Coast each declaring a state of emergency.

The pandemic had been slow to spread in Africa compared to the Middle East and Europe, but in recent days the number of deaths and infections have increased, sparking concerns about the continent's vulnerability to contagious diseases.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government had "decided to enforce a nationwide lockdown for 21 days" from midnight Thursday to "avoid a human catastrophe".

There have been more than 400 coronavirus cases in Africa's most developed economy -- the highest in sub-Saharan Africa -- with the number multiplying six-fold in just eight days.

Ramaphosa said the numbers could spiral given that South Africa has "a large number of people with suppressed immunity because of high HIV and TB and high levels of poverty and malnutrition."

"This is a decisive measure to save millions of South Africans from infection," he said. "Without decisive action, the number of people infected will rapidly increase... to hundreds of thousands."

Ramaphosa said the army would patrol the streets along with the police to ensure the ban is respected.

'The situation is critical'

More African countries are expected to announce tough confinement measures after sealing their borders and closing public places.

Senegal declared a state of emergency as well as a dusk-to-dawn curfew starting on Tuesday.

"I say this to you with solemnity -- the situation is critical. The speed of the progress of the disease requires us to raise the level of the response," Senegalese President Macky Sall said late Monday, calling the pandemic a "true world war".

Fellow West African nation Ivory Coast ordered a similar curfew, as well as progressive confinements measures based on the geographic spread of the virus.

The muezzin at the Katindo mosque in Goma, northeastern DR Congo, called for prayers in a deserted house of worship on Sunday after the authorities appealed for social distancing. By ALEXIS HUGUET (AFP)

In the centre of the continent, DR Congo locked down its second city Lubumbashi for 48 hours on Monday and deployed security forces. Streets were deserted and stores were closed, an AFP journalist said.

The move came after two people with coronavirus arrived on Sunday on a flight from the capital Kinshasa.

The DRC has recorded 30 cases of coronavirus since March 10, two of them fatalities.

Rising cases

Africa hasn't yet suffered the kind of terrifying rise in virus cases seen elsewhere.

Children in the notorious Nairobia slum of Kibera learn how to wash hands to help prevent coronavirus. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

The reason for this is unclear, but many African countries have used the precious time to impose travel restrictions, close schools and appeal for social distancing.

However, those numbers are now rising significantly.

According to a toll compiled by AFP, the number of known cases across the continent -- including North Africa -- stood at more than 1,600 on Monday, of which some 50 have been fatal.

The first detected case south of the Sahara was announced in the Nigerian city of Lagos on February 28, and the first death was reported in the Sahel state of Burkina Faso last Wednesday.

That was followed by fatalities in Gabon, the DRC and Mauritius.

On Monday, three more countries were added to this list: Nigeria -- the most populous country in Africa -- as well as The Gambia in western Africa, and Zimbabwe in the south.

All three deaths were of individuals who had arrived after making extensive trips abroad.

Peril for Africa

Ghana on Monday closed schools and universities and suspended public events, while in Burkina Faso a security source said the authorities "were thinking more and more about total confinement of the population for two or three weeks".

Rwanda late Saturday barred all "non-essential" movement, Gabon imposed a night curfew, while the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius began a 14-day lockdown on Friday.

Health experts have sounded loud and repeated warnings about Africa's vulnerability to coronavirus.

A nurse walks past one of the few working ambulances in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town of the Zimbabwean capital Harare. By Jekesai NJIKIZANA (AFP)

Crowded shantytowns, poor sanitation and decrepit health infrastructure offer ideal opportunities for the lethal microbe.

"The system itself is overstretched and inadequate to deal with a coronavirus epidemic," Zimbabwean doctor Norman Matara told AFP last week.

But lockdowns too can have a catastrophic effect in countries where there is little or no social safety net to help people buy food or pay their bills.

"In reality, partial or total confinement could have disastrous effects for the African continent," Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala said on her Facebook page.
What would explain the difference?

What the experts think is that this virus was circulating in the city for much longer than we thought, and it spread before we put in place these social distancing measures. We are starting to see the ramifications of that now, days and weeks after the virus spread, because it takes time for symptoms to show up.

Does New Yorks experience offer any lesson?

I think the most important lesson for the general public is to take this seriously, because the number of cases can escalate extremely quickly, and it will catch you off guard.

A headlong race to find a remedy

With a vaccine still at least a year away, researchers have been hunting for existing drugs that might be useful in treating Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. They see some potential in 69 compounds, including some already in use for other diseases that might be repurposed quickly.

But even with only limited, anecdotal evidence that the drugs do any good, President Trump has already lauded some of them as possible game-changers, including the malaria drug chloroquine and an experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir. Clinical trials have begun, but scientists have yet to report any results, let alone get the drugs approved for use.

The publicity has prompted some doctors to start hoarding some of the drugs by writing prescriptions for themselves and their relatives. In response, state pharmacy boards are issuing emergency rules for how the drugs can be dispensed.

Gilead, the maker of remdesivir, is limiting distribution in the face of overwhelming demand. The company ended its compassionate use program, which allowed use of remdesivir in certain cases that had no other approved treatment options.
Mumbai, March 24 (IANS) A 65-year-old man who arrived here from the UAE via Ahmedabad passed away due to COVID-19 late on Monday night, while the number of positive cases shot up to 107 in the state with 10 new cases surfacing on Tuesday, officials said here.

Spelling cheers on the eve of Gudi Padva -- the Maharashtrian New Year which falls on Wednesday -- eight COVID-19 cases admitted to various Mumbai hospitals have been fully cured and discharged, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai health official Daksha Shah announced.

She said that among the patients under treatment at Kasturba Hospital, 12 persons who were COVID-19 positive have turned negative of which eight were going home.

The latest coronavirus casualty took the death toll due to the disease in Mumbai to four in the past one week. Another 94 suspected cases are admitted to various city hospitals, according to the MCGM.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in an address to the state, urged people not to resort to shunning people who come from abroad and asked people to cooperate with the government by remaining indoors.

The government also issued ordered to doctors to open clinis and medical shops across the state as Out Patient Departments in some hospitals have been shut down.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, state Congress President and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and Health Minister Rajesh Tope appealed to the people to celebrate Gudi Padva indoors by exercising all precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thackeray also lauded Mumbai Police for the seizure of 2.50 million masks worth Rs 15 crore, while the state government has ordered a crackdown against hoarding and blackmarketeering of essential commodities.

The MCGM said that the latest victim who died late on Monday was admitted to the Kasturba Hospital in a critical condition on Monday with fever, cough and breathlessness.

He had a history of foreign travel, arriving from UAE to Ahmedabad on March 15 and then to Mumbai on March 20, plus complaints of high blood pressure coupled with uncontrolled diabetes to which he succumbed late last night after a few hours of treatment.

On the first day of the total lockout imposed in Maharashtra, there were many instances of people flouting orders with the police resorting to corrective action and booking 112 persons for violating the laws in Mumbai.

The new coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra detected since last night include three from Pune and one from Satara. The suspected cases include people with a history of recent foreign travel to Peru, UAE and Saudi Arabia. A total of 418 people with history of foreign travel are in quarantine in Mumbai.

The three earlier victims included a 68-year-old Fillipino and two other men, both aged 63.

--IANS

qn/arm
Even as the world battles the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan, in absolute denial has claimed that the virus will 'not kill' people. Misinforming the people of the country, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting, in a public address, said that the virus is 'only dangerous, but not deadly'

"People should not be scared, and they should believe that this virus will not kill you even if you contract it and you will be alive. This is dangerous for sure, but not deadly," the Pakistani leader said in a video shared by a netizen. In what may seem as an irresponsible statement by the Pakistan government comes even after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the Coronavirus pandemic is "accelerating" with over 300,000 confirmed cases.

There are many coronavirus quacks but this one beats everyone else. "Coronavirus jaanleva nahin khatarnak hai," Firdous Ashiq Awan.



Coronavirus death toll today: 16,313

pic.twitter.com/RtykCpQiBu  Naila Inayat   (@nailainayat) March 23, 2020

READ| 6 Pakistan officials suspended for taking selfie with Coronavirus-infected colleague

The brazen misinformation by the Pakistan government comes even as the country itself has recorded 6 deaths and has 878 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, the global death number stands at 16,510 on Tuesday morning.

The coronavirus pandemic could lead to economic losses of nearly Rs 1.3 trillion in various sectors across Pakistan, international media reported. According to reports, the aforementioned losses will be incurred on account of the drop in the GDP growth because of reduction in the services sector, including airline business and others, Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) loss, the massive decline in imports, exports, reduction in remittances, and disruption in food supplies.

Imran Khan Refuses Complete Lockdown

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 22 ruled out complete lockdown in the country, saying it will create chaos and urged people to self-quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Addressing the nation as cases of the novel coronavirus surged across the country, Imran Khan reiterated that lockdown will create chaos as more than 25% of people were living below the poverty line and their lives will be shattered. He said the situation in Pakistan does not call for a lockdown yet.

Let me first tell you what a complete lockdown is. It means imposing a curfew and locking people in their homes, said Imran Khan. We cannot afford complete lockdown as it will create massive unrest, he said, adding that the situation in the country is not as bad as in Italy or France. If the condition was similar to that of Italy, I would have imposed a lockdown, he said.

READ| ABSURD: Pakistan Guv turns quack, says 'hot water' prevents lung damage by Coronavirus

(With PTI inputs)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's car exports to Russia increased by 23.9 percent over first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $96 million, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

The total value of Turkey's car exports to Russia exceeded $51.3 million in February 2020, which is 15.3 percent more compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

The value of Turkey's car exports to the world market amounted to just over $4.9 billion from January through February 2020, having grown by 1 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 16.7 percent of Turkey's total exports during the reporting period of 2020.

The value of Turkey's total car exports exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2020, which is 0.9 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 17.2 percent of Turkey's total exports in February 2020.

Turkey's export of cars from February 2019 through February 2020 amounted to over $30.6 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Two special Air India planes will on Wednesday carry foreign tourists stranded in different parts of the country for mandatory quarantine at an Indian Army facility in Jodhpur as international flight operations remain suspended till March 29, the national carrier has said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Air India has operated multiple special flights, evacuating Indian nationals stranded in places such as Wuhan in China and Rome in Italy, the two countries most hit by the virus.

"As you know these are testing times with even the aviation sector locked down but we as a national airline have special role to play in operating charter/rescue flights," a senior official of the airline said in a message to crew members.

"We are operating two Airbus flights tomorrow March 25 early morning to Jodhpur taking international passengers for quarantine, return sector will be ferry (empty)," he said.

Hazmat Suits and PPE (personal protective equipment) would be provided to all operating crew, the official said.

The message was for only those crew members of the national carrier who are currently not under quarantine.

According to a source privy to the development, the Indian Army has kept a 500-bed facility in Jodhpur on standby to quarantine the foreign tourists arriving through the two special flights.

"We seek volunteers for operating these two special charter Airbus flights tomorrow. Please WhatsApp your name and employee Id If you would like to be a part of this mission," the message noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Published March 23, 2020

At ULM, we continue to comply with guidelines from the University of Louisiana System, as well as the state of Louisiana. ULM's top priority is the health and safety of its students, faculty, and staff.

The move-out guidance from Residential Life is still in place. Students are strongly encouraged to move out of their residence hall completely, no belongings should be left in the room, by Sunday, March 29. Please limit the number of people that come to campus when moving out of residence halls. Students who move out by March 29 will receive a 25% refund on their Spring housing and meal plan.

Only students with permission from Residential Life may remain in the residence halls. Students remaining in on-campus housing will receive a separate, more detailed email from Residential Life soon. For questions regarding residential life, please email reslife@ulm.edu.

The deadline to apply for off-campus housing for fall 2020 is April 1. You can e-mail your application and supporting documentation to auxiliary@ulm.edu

The bookstore is closed until April 6th. They will continue to accept orders online. Textbook return is not until May 8th  should you have any questions you can contact Stacey Cordell at cordell@ulm.edu.

Also, please remember to practice social distancing with at least 6 feet between individuals, covering coughs and sneezes, and diligently disinfecting "high touch" surfaces.

ULM is working to keep you informed of recent developments with COVID-19, and will update you as information is available. Please continue to monitor ulm.edu/coronavirus.

#staysafewarhawks
WASHINGTON  The federal government is sending over a new shipment of respirators, masks, gloves and other protective equipment requested by New Jersey to cope with the coronavirus, though it still falls short of what the state needs, according to Gov. Phil Murphys office.

The announcement came after Murphy spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday morning.

The order is the same amount the state already received earlier this month from the strategic national stockpile, including 84,578 respirators, 201,479 masks, and 31,280 surgical gowns.

Just had a call with @POTUS, thanking him for his support and urgently requesting:

Personal protective equipment

Direct cash assistance for states

@FEMA support for four pop-up field hospitals



Were doing everything we can in New Jersey, but we still need federal support.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 23, 2020

Governor Murphy is grateful to the federal government for their additional allocation of personal protective equipment so that our health care workers can properly and safely treat patients with COVID-19," Murphy spokeswoman Alexandra Altman said.

New Jersey had originally sought 2.9 million respirators, 864,000 masks and 864,000 gowns, plus thousands of gloves, face shields and coveralls.

Murphy said during a television interview Tuesday hes grateful the state received a second installment.

But we need more," the governor said on ABCs Nightline.

Murphy made an earlier plea for more equipment on Thursday during a video conference call with Trump, top administration officials and other governors.

"We still are going to need a big slug-out of the strategic stockpile, he told the president.

The governor said Monday that the state was turning over every stone to get more equipment. And Newark-based Prudential Financial gave 153,000 face masks and respirators that it had put away after 9/11 to protect employees.

Goldman Sachs Group and Home Depot also have sent masks to the state.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Ted Sherman contributed to this report.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





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.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says that the Cabinet of Ministers will decide on the ban on blackouts for the population.

"A government meeting is underway today, during which a number of important decisions will be made. In particular, the ban on blackouts for the population," Zelensky said in a video address on Monday, the press service of the head of state reports.

According to him, the government will approve amendments to the legislation that will allow Ukrposhta to deliver medicines.

The president emphasized that the NBU, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy were given a task to calculate a loan holiday program for business by the end of the week. "The issue of paying benefits to the people who have been laid off because of quarantine should also be resolved," Zelensky noted.

As reported, the national lockdown was introduced in Ukraine until April 3 to counteract the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus infection. In particular, educational establishments and all shops except groceries, pharmacies, gas stations and banks were closed. The operation of subways in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro was suspended. The work of city transport is restricted. The intercity and interregional road, rail and air passenger transportation was stopped. In addition, the foreigners are banned from entering Ukraine and the international passenger services are suspended. The mass events in the country are banned.

As of the morning of March 24, Ukraine confirmed 84 coronavirus cases, including three lethal ones. One patient recovered and was discharged from a hospital.

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The emergency situation regime has been declared in Lviv city and region over to the coronavirus outbreak.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote about this on his Facebook page.

"The emergency situation regime has been introduced in Lviv and the region from 00.00 on March 24. The relevant decision was approved by the Regional Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations. The main question: will enterprises work tomorrow [March 24]? The answer: they will operate! Nobody has approved a decision on their closure, he wrote.

Sadovyi also added that "more details will be released later".

On March 12, Ukraine introduced quarantine for three weeks, as well a package of anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The emergency situation regime has already been declared in the city of Kyiv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Ternopil and Cherkasy region

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Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to postpone the SSC examinations, scheduled from March 31, for two weeks.

Education minister A Suresh announced that a fresh schedule would be announced on March 31, depending on the situation then.

The announcement came as major relief to lakhs of students and their parents against the backdrop of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Just on Sunday, when chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced a statewide lockdown, he had asserted that the exams would be held as per schedule because a delay would affect the careers of students.

When it was it was brought to his notice that the High Court had ordered postponement of SSC exams in Telangana, the chief minister avoided a reply. He reportedly adopted a wait-and-watch mode on Monday too when the issue came up for discussion again.

With the Supreme Court allowing advocates to file petitions online and file cases through letter petitions, some parents and organisations moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking a postponement.

A High Court advocate, Tandava Rajesh, who filed that petition said, More than six lakh students below 15 years of age sit for the examinations at 3000 centres and some 40,000 government staff are directly involved in conducting them. Plus, a minimum of six lakh parents or an even higher number would be escorting their children to the examination centres. Going ahead with the exams in the face of a lockdown and a coronavirus threat would have been untenable.

Sources said the chief minister was briefed about the cases being filed in the High Court and the possibility of judicial intervention.

The government itself declared a lockdown and warned people against coming out of their houses. It would have been difficult for us to defend the decision in case the High court had intervened, a senior official in the Education Department said.
Laura Dern has been using her platform to raise awareness of the coronavirus pandemic.

And the mother-of-two is practicing what she preaches as she and Ellery demonstrate social distancing.

She was spotted keeping her distance Monday as they visited some friends in Beverly Hills.

Out and about: Laura Dern was spotted keeping her distance Monday as she and son Ellery visited some friends in Beverly Hills

The 53-year-old stayed in the driver's seat next to her son, 18, as their friends came outside to chat with them outside of the car.

Their outing comes the day after Dern wished her pal Reese Witherspoon a happy birthday.

But Dern made an exception for her Big Little Lies co-star, as she was spotted getting out of her car to visit the birthday girl.

She donned a puffy cream jacket with a tartan top and black pants as she crossed a street in Los Angeles.

Staying safe: The 53-year-old stayed in the driver's seat next to her son, 18, as their friends came outside to chat with them outside of the car

Birthday wishes: Their outing comes the day after Dern wished her pal Reese Witherspoon a happy birthday

Making an exception: But Dern made an exception for her Big Little Lies co-star, as she was spotted getting out of her car to visit the birthday girl. She donned a puffy cream jacket with a tartan top and black pants as she crossed a street in Los Angeles

Taking a dip: The Marriage Story star also took to Instagram with a video of herself and mother Diane Ladd wishing Witherspoon a happy birthday with a synchronized swim

Social distancing: It came two days after Dern and Witherspoon practiced social distancing, posting photos from a hike, in which they kept a few feet between them

The Marriage Story star also took to Instagram with a video of herself and mother Diane Ladd wishing Witherspoon a happy birthday.

The mother/daughter duo performed a synchronized swim routine while singing Happy Birthday.

It came two days after Dern and Witherspoon practiced social distancing, posting photos from a hike, in which they kept a few feet between them.

She wrote in the caption: 'So blessed to have friends to distantly walk through this with. And nature!'

Dern later took to Instagram Monday as she read the children's book Iggy Peck Architect for Save with Stories, an organization helping children during quarantine.
The trade groups representing hospitals, doctors and nurses called on the public today to stay at home to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Why it matters: Several states have issued similar directions  shuttering businesses, encouraging telework, closing schools and urging residents to stay isolated as much as possible. Health care providers are advocating for these measures because they want to stunt the spread of this disease and avoid the medical calamities that have unfolded in places like Iran and Italy.
This photo taken in March of last year shows planes from various airlines in storage at a "Boneyard" facility beside the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif. Some of the planes will be returned to service while others will be dismantled and scrapped at the facility. California with its dry desert climate is a perfect place to store surplus aircraft. (Mark Ralston AFP/Getty Images)

With demand for air travel in a nosedive, U.S. airlines are taking hundreds of commercial planes out of service and parking them in remote desert airports, with the hope that the aircraft will be back in the air shortly.

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed so many planes out of service that the business of storing aircraft is taking off, with some remote airports parking more and more planes on seldom-used runways and taxiways.

"There is no doubt, we are extremely busy," said Lisa Skeels, director of corporate initiatives for ComAv, an aircraft maintenance and storage firm at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.

Because of the steep drop in demand for air travel and flight restrictions to international destinations, Delta and American Airlines, two of the world's largest carriers, have announced plans to ground more than 1,000 planes combined. Southwest Airlines said it parked two dozen 737-700 planes over the weekend.

The need to store idle planes is one of several challenges facing the nation's airline industry, which had only recently been reporting record profits and had invested heavily in new routes, spacious new airport lounges and more fuel-efficient planes.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. airlines have cut capacity by more than 1.4 million seats, or 6%, in the last week alone, according to OAG, an airline data company.

Some of the nation's busiest airports have become ghost towns, with foot traffic at Los Angeles International Airport dropping 38% in the second week of March compared with the same period a year earlier, according to data analytics company Placer.

Some airlines, including low-cost carrier Spirit, are trying to drum up business by offering one-way tickets for as little as $18 a seat, plus fees.

Major airlines reportedly are drafting plans for a potential shutdown of virtually all passenger flights because of falling demand and coronavirus outbreaks among air traffic control employees, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources.

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A spokesman for American Airlines said, "We do not have any plans to shut down," and a Delta Air Lines representative declined to comment on the Journal story.

Big U.S. carriers have announced plans to slash domestic flights by 30% and international flights by 75%, and some of the aircraft serving those routes may never return to service.

Airlines are likely to retire their older, less-efficient planes first, according to industry experts. Delta Air Lines has told investors that it was planning to accelerate the retirement of its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-88s and MD-90s, which came into service in the 1980s.

The biggest aircraft storage operations are in desert facilities in places such as Victorville, Roswell, N.M., and Tucson, where humidity is low and the runways and taxiways are long enough to accommodate any size of commercial plane.

Although airport operators say the business of aircraft storage is surging now, they don't expect to reach capacity anytime soon.

"We still have a lot of room," said Scott Stark, director of the Roswell International Air Center. The 5,000-acre facility, located about six miles south of the city of Roswell, can accommodate about 800 planes but is currently storing about 275.

Stark said the air center has an additional 200-acre paved area, which is normally unused, that can also be used to park planes, as long as the pilots are careful "not to park on the soft spots" in the aging pavement.

Tulsa International Airport has been able to close a seldom-used runway to fit about 50 American Airlines planes without affecting regular operations, said Andrew Pierini, marketing director for the airport.

The airport has space for many more planes  the exact number depends on the size of the planes  and has reached out to other airlines that may need to ground aircraft, he said.

At the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, ComAv, the aircraft maintenance and storage company, operates a 240-acre facility with enough space to store more than 500 planes, plus hangars that can be used to maintain several more.

ComAv is now storing about 275 planes and can hold an additional 200 planes, Skeels said. ComAv has been inundated with requests for its aircraft storage services but Skeels said she can't divulge the names of the airlines seeking the services or the number of planes they may want to store.

The coronavirus outbreak is only the latest crisis to boost demand for aircraft storage facilities.

Hundreds of Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded after the crashes of Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019. A combined 346 people died in the crashes.

Boeing had reported more than 5,000 orders for the plane but delivered fewer than 400 aircraft, most of which have been stored at remote airfields until aviation regulators determine that the plane is safe to fly again.

Southwest Airlines has parked more than 30 of its 737 Max planes at the Southern California Logistics Airport. United Airlines has about a dozen 737 Max jets stored at Phoenix Goodyear Airport, west of Phoenix. American Airlines has about two dozen 737 Max planes stored at Tulsa International Airport and at the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico.

Grounding a 130,000-pound plane involves more than just a big stretch of pavement.

Aircraft storage facilities typically charge a base rate simply for parking a plane. The biggest expense is the cost of the aircraft services to keep the plane maintained and ready to return to operation.

At Tulsa International Airport, the standard parking rate for an aircraft is 40 cents per thousand pounds a day. That means that a Boeing 777-300ER that weighs roughly 370,000 pounds would cost around $150 a day to store.

In addition to the cost of parking, a facility may charge maintenance costs that begin at about $2,000 per plane a month, depending on the services required, according to published reports.

A commercial passenger plane can't sit indefinitely on a desert tarmac if the airline hopes to quickly return the aircraft to service, said Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.

"It's a lot more involved," he said. "It's a lot more than simply parking your car on a lot when you go on a trip."

The amount and type of maintenance that must be done to an idle plane depends on how soon the airline hopes to return the aircraft to operation, Harteveldt said.

An aircraft's avionics, hydraulics, electronics and other operating systems must be regularly checked and tested. Maintenance manuals typically spell out how often such services must be performed.

If a plane is going to be stored for several months, the aircraft will be put into an "airplane coma," which involves draining or replacing all liquids and sealing the doors and the engines, Harteveldt said.

The question for the airline industry is how long to park the unused planes.

If the industry expects the coronavirus outbreak to affect travel for several months, then the grounded planes may undergo the more intensive idling process. But if travel demand is expected to return within weeks, the grounded planes can simply get routine maintenance so they can be ready to fly shortly.

Harteveldt said he doesn't know how soon grounded planes will fly again.

"No one has perfect 20-20 vision into the future," he said.
The NSW government is preparing for the early release of some of the state's 13,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus pandemic, among a raft of emergency changes to the justice system.

Laws rushed through State Parliament on Tuesday allow the state's Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin to make orders permitting prisoners to be released early on parole. The commissioner will need to be satisfied it is "reasonably necessary" because of the risk the COVID-19 pandemic poses to public health or to the good order and security of prisons.

The emergency legislation would allow for the early release of some of the state's prisoners. Credit:Andrew Meares

The prisoner must belong to a particular "class of inmates" prescribed by regulations, and the class may be defined by reference to factors such as age, health or vulnerability, or type of offence.

Some prisoners will be ineligible for early release, including those serving a life sentence or any sentence for murder, a serious sex offence or a terrorism offence.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

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Zain Bahrain, a leading telecoms operator in the kingdom, has implemented a series of precautionary measures to protect both its customers and employees during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

These actions are taken as part of national efforts to ensure peoples safety and support the government guidelines in these uniquely challenging circumstances.

To safeguard the health and wellbeing of Zain employees, Zain Bahrain has established internal committees to ensure all necessary measures are taken to protect against COVID-19 inside Zains headquarter building and branches. These include performing fundamental preventive sanitisation activities, assigning a dedicated nurse 24/7 at the headquarters for the whole week to check employees and visitors temperature on arrival; postponing all training and business missions abroad, and circulated instructions and Stay Safe advice from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation.

Zain Bahrain has also implemented a smart working system where the majority of employees are working from home remotely in accordance with the business continuity plan and replacing large face to face meetings with virtual meeting instead. Further to the above, the company has urged all pregnant females, mothers, employees with critical health cases and employees above 60 years old to work from home.

In addition, Zain Bahrain was the first telecom company to offer free access to online educational platforms to students in Bahrain, where data will not be deducted from their monthly home broadband packages. This initiative comes in line with Zains continuous efforts to support the local community and to facilitate access to distance learning programmes initiated as a result of nationwide closure of educational premises in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Duncan Howard, Zain Bahrain CEO, commented: Zain Bahrain want their employees and customers to feel reassured during this unprecedented situation, therefore we have implemented many support measures in response to Covid-19. We are also proud to support the community and fully support the many proactive preventative actions in the fight against coronavirus that Bahrain has taken.

He added: Zain Bahrain has increased sanitisation activities in our headquarters and our Retail branches. All Zain technicians visiting customers in their homes have been provided with hand sanitizer, masks and gloves to use where appropriate. We also have developed many digital channels such as Zain App; E-shop and Z-bot for customers to interact with us digitally to manage their account from the comfort of their own home. We fully understand the importance of continuing to be the reliable network that our customers depend on every day. - TradeArabia News Service
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 18:26:45|Editor: yhy

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LUSAKA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's cabinet has approved a contingency plan and a budget aimed at enhancing the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The contingency plan is an urgent instrument for action by all stakeholders if the country was to contain the pandemic.

Dora Siliya, Chief Government Spokesperson said President Edgar Lungu has also directed the Council of Ministers to sit and propose other measures that will help protect the lives of citizens against the pandemic.

She said in a statement released after a cabinet meeting held on Monday that the cabinet was seriously concerned with the pandemic and feels it was necessary for the country to have the capacity to combat its spread.

The government spokesperson added that the government has instituted a multisectoral, coordinated and responsive action comprising various stakeholders in order to protect the lives of citizens.

According to her, the government has since appealed to citizens to maintain maximum hygiene and avoid gatherings in public places and not to panic.

And in a post on his Facebook page, the Zambian leader called on stakeholders to support the innovative plan by ensuring its effective implementation so that Zambia could succeed in protecting human life.

He said the contingency plan does not mark the end of the government's initiatives and has directed the Council of Ministers to continue proposing sound initiatives, strategies and measures to protect the citizens.

The Zambian leader urged citizens not to panic as health experts were working vigorously to effectively address the situation.

Zambia has so far recorded three COVID-19 cases.
In His Arms: an enlightening autobiography that details the harrowing circumstances that led the author to seek Gods guidance and partake in His love that strengthened her to surpass lifes hardships. In His Arms is the creation of published author Myrna Callison, an ardent and prayerful follower of God.

Callison shares, My book is inspirational, educational, and basically about how our Lord has been helping me. Guam is a very unique island in the Pacific. We moved a lot in the military, but He helped us survive a 250-miles-an-hour typhoon. Losing our baby, Theresa, was very devastating; however, our Lord was there with us. Back in Virginia, when Dad became sick and was gone, He also helped me get through that and has since then been there to help me raise six children. I went and had a seizure, totaling a station wagon, which He also helped me pull through. I was fortunate at the time to have Willie, who was old enough to drive. Our Lord has helped me get better. He has saved me through some drastic car accidents. A lot of other interesting things have occurred! Many miracles occurred.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Myrna Callisons new book testifies to the magnificence of God in blessing the sorrowful with rejuvenating love and miracles that beckon them toward the light of eternal contentment and happiness.

This book will surely elevate the readers understanding and gratitude toward God for His unbound benevolence that dispels hurt and instills wisdom and worship in their hearts and minds.

View the synopsis of In His Arms on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase In His Arms at traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about In His Arms, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Parity.org is proud to recognize the numerous health companies that have signed the ParityPledge, a public commitment to interview at least one qualified woman for every open role, vice president and above, including the C-suite and Board. The ParityPledge is an initiative of Parity.org , a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization focused on bringing gender equality to the highest levels of business.

Major health companies and hospital systems including Atrium Health (formerly Carolinas HealthCare), Henry Ford Health System, and athenahealth have signed the pledge to support the advancement of women in healthcare. Health companies now comprise 20% of the organizations that have signed the pledge from all industries.

"The healthcare industry has never been more important than it is now," said Cathrin Stickney, Parity.org founder and CEO. "These companies have shown remarkable leadership in not only caring for patients and employees in this difficult time, but also in ensuring a future of equality. We are thankful for these companies that are driving change in the health industry."

"We value our involvement with Parity.org and the great work they're doing to ensure equal opportunity for women in the health industry," commented Fran Lawler, athenahealth's Chief Human Resource Officer. "Here at athenahealth, we have a vibrant Women's Leadership Forum that provides programming and opportunities to empower a gender-diverse workforce and support women in the workplace. We wouldn't be where we are today without the diversity, collective spirit, and contributions of all of our dynamic employees."

"As the largest employer in the Charlotte area with women accounting for 80% of our total employees, signing the ParityPledge is an incredible opportunity to showcase Atrium Health's continued promise towards the professional advancement of women in healthcare," said Rasu Shrestha, MD, MBA, chief strategy officer and executive vice president of Atrium Health. "With this pledge, we further our commitment to diversity and inclusion through patient care and supporting the many women who make Atrium Health a recognized employer."

Organizations in any industry wanting to take the ParityPledge or learn more about how to get involved with Parity.org should visit www.Parity.org .

About Parity.org

Parity.org is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap at the highest ranks of business leadership. You can follow Parity.org on Facebook , LinkedIn Twitter , and Instagram .

ParityPledge is a trademark of Parity.org.

SOURCE Parity.org
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  The Tippecanoe County Health Department notified Purdue that a West Lafayette student has tested positive for the coronavirus. According to a statement from Purdue, on Monday afternoon the campus was alerted by the TCHD. The student currently is in Marion County.

As we reported Monday, Purdue Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head Dimitrios Peroulis sent an email out to faculty saying an undergraduate student of theirs was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The university is in the process of investigating the students relevant personal contacts and will reach out to them directly.

Tippecanoe County has three confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Indiana has a total of 365 with 12 deaths as of Tuesday.
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
Benjamin Abella, 49, and Ursina Teitelbaum, 50, of Ardmore, are married doctors who work at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Like many Jews, the couple and their three teenage children will be celebrating a scaled-down Passover this year because of the coronavirus. Also pictured is Ruby Alice, the family's goldendoodle. Read more

It is Jewish custom for families to invite relatives, friends, and even strangers into their homes for Passover Seders, ritual meals that link present and past, children and elders, during the eight-day holiday that begins April 8.

But like so many things Americans normally count on, that cannot happen during the uneasy time of the coronavirus.

Its a very big deal for us that the epidemic is occurring now, said Benjamin Abella, 49, of Ardmore, an emergency doctor at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who has been fighting the disease daily. Passover is one of the most deeply cherished Jewish events. But well be lacking in-person connections with people this year.

Its one thing to be compelled to shelter in place on a typical Wednesday with a scuttled schedule and a disrupted work life. Its quite another to have to forgo the fellowship of dear ones who gather according to revered custom to commemorate the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

To feel like we cant easily access one another is incredibly jarring and painful for people, said Rabbi Eric Yanoff, 44, of Adath Israel Synagogue in Lower Merion, where Abella and his wife, Ursina Teitelbaum, 50, an oncologist at Penn, are part of the congregation.

This is going to be an emotional, extraordinary, and, yes, difficult Passover.

A big one

The holiday has always enjoyed a high level of observance, said Laura Frank, a spokesperson for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit that helps the Jewish community.

This is a big one," said Frank, who added that typically, celebrants hold one or two nights of Seders. "But its not meant for people to flock to the synagogue, like at Rosh Hashanah. Its meant to be held at home, where you welcome others.

That will have a different feel this year for Jennie Nemroff, 55, of Wynnewood, a nurse and admissions counselor at Friends Central School, a Quaker school in Lower Merion.

In the past, Nemroff and her husband have hosted as many as two dozen people for their home Seder. But without a crowd this year, the family will have to initiate new ways to be together.

Like many planning Passover, shell try video chatting with family, including her three grown children. What I envision is all of us talking remotely with our respective boxes of matzo, she said. That will ease the sting.

Unfortunately, not everyone can take advantage of Zoom or Skype to link up during Passover.

Many traditional Jews will not use tech on a holiday, Yanoff said. Others simply arent computer savvy. Its not clear how theyll deal with empty chairs at the table, he added.

Im confident, though, Yanoff added, that most Jews will work really hard to do something.

For his part, Abraham Gafni, 80, a former Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge and an emeritus professor at Villanova Universitys Widger School of Law, said hes willing to try a virtual Seder.

Itll be an attempt to create bonding, he said. But its not the same as interacting at a table. This will be the first time in my lifetime that families will not be getting together."

Fill a void

Because shopping has been fraught and preparing kosher meals wont be easy for socially isolated people already dealing with kids and a new way to live, businesses like Betty the Caterer are stepping up to fill a void.

Normally, Betty the Caterer provides food for big events  weddings, galas, or bar and bat mitzvahs, said Jeff Kalinsky, director of operations for the 70-year-old North Philadelphia company.

But in light of the coronavirus, Kalinskys crew is scaling meals down to smaller sizes, so people can celebrate in the intimate family groups that will be expected this year.

I figured Id do 100 meals, and I started taking orders last Tuesday, Kalinsky said. But by Thursday, wed hit 1,000 orders, and I had to cut it off.

His plan is to deliver the $8 meals to the parking lots of synagogues where people can pick up their orders without leaving their cars.

Thank God, weve never seen anything like this before, Kalinsky said. And hopefully, it never again will be.

10 plagues

As is the Jewish tradition, Seders are not just meals, but religious intellectual salons, with emphasis on steeping youngsters in old values while at the same time encouraging them to question everything they hear.

Beyond that, said Abella, the emergency doctor, deep in the cultural DNA of Judaism is the practice of turning any group event into a time of wrestling with current topics.

Connecting ancient stories and teachings with present-day events is expected. Thus, predicted Yanoff, Seder tables next month will reverberate with stories of the so-called 10 plagues, the last of which was a severe punishment from God to the Egyptians for enslaving the Israelites.

On the night before the final plague, the stories go, God instructed the Israelites to shelter in their homes so he could strike down every first-born Egyptian, Yanoff said.

Gosh, Abella surmised, talk about relevant. At Passover Seders all over the world, the immediacy of this coronavirus plague is not going to be lost on anybody.

For Alan Sheinberg, 74, of Holland, Bucks County, his Seder will likely not buzz with the varied opinions of a family gathering this year. Unable to attend the meal at his daughters house, as is his custom, Sheinberg and his wife will huddle and tell the story of the Israelites.

At the end of the Seder, Sheinberg said, youre supposed to say to everyone, Next year in Jerusalem, a wish for all Jews to be together in the holy city.

But this time, Sheinberg said, my wife and I will say, Next year, lets all be together again.
A bunch of new Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite images have surfaced, along with the phones specs, and price tag. All of this information appeared on the HDBlog.it.

This is not the first time were seeing this phone, as Roland Quandt shared several images earlier this month. The interesting thing is, however, is that Mr. Quandts images shown a phone with a display camera hole, while these images show a phone with a display notch.

Were not sure which ones are more accurate, but these Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite images are newer, so lets assume they are legit. These are seemingly-official images that you can see in the gallery below this article.

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The Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite images suggest a design similar to the Moto G8 Power, to a degree

This phone basically looks like the Moto G8 Power with one less camera and no display hole, but its inferior in terms of specs. The phone seems to be made out of polycarbonate (plastic), but we cant confirm that just yet. Well find out when the phone launches.

The device includes three cameras on the back, which are vertically-aligned, Those cameras are placed in the top-left corner of the phones back side. Motorolas logo is included on the back as well.

That logo may actually double as a fingerprint scanner. It is not flush with the phones back, and it definitely looks like a fingerprint scanner. Were only guessing, though, as such info has not been shared.

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The phone includes a chin below the display, though its bezels are fairly thin. Its power / lock, volume up, and volume down buttons can be found on the right.

It will include a 6.5-inch HD+ display, and a 5,000mAh battery

Now, as per the source, the device will feature a 6.5-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) display. It will be fueled by the MediaTek Helio P35 64-bit octa-core processor.

The Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite will pack in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, claims the source. A 5,000mAh battery will also be a part of the package, and will support 10W Turbocharge wired charging.

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On the back, well get three cameras, the first two will be 16 and 8 megapixels, while the last will either be 8 or 2, the source is not sure at this point. So, well have to wait and see.

As far as the front-facing camera is concerned, we dont have any information just yet. The source also notes that the phone will not include an NFC chip.

The Motorola Moto G8 Power Lite will be a budget phone, that much is obvious. Therefore, it will have a budget phone price tag. The phone is said to cost 189.99 in Italy, so that will probably be its price tag elsewhere in Europe as well.
(Natural News) As America continues to wage war against the coronavirus pandemic, which has since infected over 26,000 people and caused around 340 deaths as of this writing, healthcare workers are saying theyre running low on protective gear  putting themselves (and the people they treat) in peril.

Reports by ProPublica and the New York Times provide a harrowing glimpse of the dangers that doctors and nurses face. In Massachusetts, which has over 500 COVID-19 cases, health workers in Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital are washing and reusing single-use face shields to extend their limited supplies.

In California, which is home to over 1,400 cases, emergency room (ER) doctors have resorted to storing dirty masks in plastic containers for later use, and intensive-care nurses in Illinois have been told to make single-use masks last for five days.

A pediatrician in Washington state, meanwhile, has been spraying her mask with alcohol after each use just to make her small stock last.

The situation is terrible, really terrible, Dr. Niran Al-Agba, the pediatrician, said in an interview with the New York Times. I dont know if weve ever had to go to work and fear for our lives in the same way.

Al-Agba added that she has been conducting car visits to patients who have a cough or a fever. The patient pulls up to the side of the office, and Dr. Al-Agba approaches the vehicle, wearing goggles, a mask, gloves and a hazmat suit.

Last week, doctors at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan were informed that they only had a weeks worth of respirator masks.

In a survey by NBC News, doctors report trying everything, from buying on online platforms such as eBay to visiting hardware stores, just to obtain masks for use.

To address the national shortage, editors at JAMA are asking best practice guidelines on reusing PPE, as well as novel materials for use.

We seek creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE, the editors wrote. We are interested in suggestions, recommendations, and potential actions from individuals who have relevant experience, especially from physicians, other health care professionals, and administrators in hospitals and other clinical settings.

Masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) protect healthcare workers from infections, reducing the chances of touching, being exposed to, and spreading germs. For fighting the coronavirus, however, front line workers need a huge supply of masks, especially since they have direct contact with the patients and should change them regularly. The World Health Organizations guidelines call for surgical masks to cover their mouths and noses, but some hospitals require N95 masks, which can block out much smaller particles than surgical masks do.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in response, loosened its guidelines for protective gear, reports ProPublica. When no masks are available, the agency suggests using homemade masks as a last resort.

Healthcare workers beg #GetMePPE

Amid dwindling supplies, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are taking to social media to plead for additional PPE. The hashtag #GetMePPE, first tweeted by Dr. Esther Choo, an ER doctor at Oregon Health & Science University, blew up this week as healthcare workers across the country responding, each showing pictures of the supplies they have left, sharing their stories on how theyre forced to be creative in reusing their supplies, and asking the public to donate masks and other medical equipment.

FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS Share a pic of the PPE you're in that you need to stay safe Tag your congresspeople and @VP Use the hashtag #GetMePPE  Esther Choo (@choo_ek) March 17, 2020

I mean, some people were showing how theyre on day five of using equipment that we normally would use once and then discard. People were showing how they were kind of MacGyvering equipment together or purchasing their own equipment, Choo tells Fox12 Oregon. People were messaging me and also posting about how they stopped at Home Depot on their way to the hospital. I mean, I dont think I ever would have imagined a time where we would stop by a hardware store on the way to the hospital in order to be properly equipped.

I found two boxes on my doorstep this morning. Thank you whoever you are. This independent doctor is forever grateful. #GetMePPE #ppeisnotoptional pic.twitter.com/sJybfAeEJC  Niran Al-Agba MD (@silverdalepeds) March 17, 2020

To cope with the shortage, many doctors like Dr. Al-Agba rely on community donations. She recently tweeted how an anonymous donor left two boxes of masks at her doorstep.

I will make them last, she says. Were really improvising here.

Other doctors, however, arent as lucky: In California, an ER doctor reports that her hospital has already started treating COVID-19 cases, even as their supplies are running out.

Dr. Vidya Ramanathan, a pediatrician working in a Michigan hospital, says that the need is dire  the hospital she works for reports that there arent enough sanitizer wipes to clean face shields and that their masks are running dangerously low. Currently, the hospital has set up tents outside the building to triage patients, a process that allows the hospital to extend its diminishing supply of PPE.

Lack of PPE imperils front-liners

As healthcare workers grapple with treating patients without proper protective gear, they also risk becoming victims themselves, or worse, infecting their patients.

This is precisely what happened to Dr. John Gavin, an ER doctor in Amite, Louisiana, who tested positive for COVID-19 after working without proper protective equipment for nine days. Speaking to ProPublica, he says that at the time, Hood Memorial Hospital, where he was working, only provided paper masks during his shift and that no gowns or N95 respirator masks were given to protect from particles and liquids.

No, no, we didnt have any of that, he said. They offered us paper face masks, thats it.

To make matters worse, there was a period of time before Gavin exhibited symptoms that water in Amite was shut off, forcing him and his colleagues to wash using hand sanitizers.

Unfortunately, Dr. Gavins story is becoming all too common these days, as ERs across America strain to keep the virus from spreading  no small task, as researchers say that the novel coronavirus has an R0 value of up to 7.5, that is, a person infected with COVID-19 can potentially infect seven people.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, at least two ER doctors who have tested positive for COVID-19 are in critical condition.

In Indiana, another ER doctor tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. According to Methodist Hospitals, where he last worked between March 14 and March 16, the physician is now in isolation.

Its very anxiety-provoking for an emergency physician, explains Dr. C. Ryan Keay, an ER doctor in Everett, where the first COVID-19 case was confirmed. In the back of everyones mind is, Could I be taking this home to my family?

What if I get sick?

Learn more about the coronavirus pandemic at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

LiveScience.com

StatNews.com

ProPublica.org

NBCNews.com

NYTimes.com 1

NYTimes.com 2

NWITimes.com

WSJ.com

MedlinePlus.gov

CDC.gov
Hungarian police officers gesture while the Hungarian-Austrian border is closed, as the Covid-19 continues, near Nickelsdorf, Austria, March 18, 2020. Photo by Reuters.

The Hungarian government confirmed a local Vietnamese citizen had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as one of seven new infections last Saturday.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary said the identity of the patient had not been revealed as the Hungarian governments policy was to keep personal information of all patients private, Voice of Vietnam reported.

All those in close contact with the patient have been quarantined by the Hungarian government, the embassy said.

Hungary has reported 167 infections as of Tuesday, with eight fatalities.

With Europe becoming the center of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government of Hungary closed its borders to all foreigners over Covid-19 concerns from March 16 while all non-essential business and large events were canceled to prevent the spread of the virus.

Around 5,000 Vietnamese live in Hungary, mainly in capital Budapest.

On Sunday, Vietnam also suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers in an unprecedented move.

The country has recorded 107 new infections since March 6, with 106 still under treatment and one having recovered last week. 16 other patients were discharged last month after treatment. Among the active cases was a 20-year-old overseas student in Hungary who landed at Noi Bai Airport on March 18 and confirmed positive for Covid-19 last Saturday. He is being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the capitals Dong Anh District.

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 16,500 people, spreading to 195 countries and territories.
Gino D'Acampo feared his life was in danger. (Studio Ramsay/ITV)

Gino D'Acampo feared he would die during a racing incident that took place during the filming of American Road Trip for ITV.

The upcoming programme, which also features Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix, saw the trio take part in a desert dune buggy challenge.

In an interview with Radio Times, D'Acampo shared: We did the Baja 400. I had a really big accident. I cut Gordon to win and lost control, and went straight into the van. I was going 70 or 80mph and I thought, Im going to die."

Read more: Britains Got Talent live shows postponed until later in the year

He added: "The thing that scared me most was my fuel tank burst, I had petrol all over me.

The TV chef ended up covered in petrol after the smash. (Studio Ramsay/ITV)

Fifteen seconds later Gordon smashed his buggy into the wall of the racetrack. So only Fred was left. But it was fun until I crashed.

The TV chef explained he was left in "total shock" and took 24 hours off from filming while Ramsay suffered whiplash.

Meanwhile, Sirieix didn't realise that his co-star had crashed the vehicle as he believed he had merely just parked it instead.

The trio took part in a dune buggy race for their new series. (Studio Ramsay/ITV)

Their new series, Gordon, Gino and Fred: American Road Trip sees the trio get back into their RV once more for a journey around Mexico and the US.

The debut instalment of the new four-part run is set to kick off on Thursday 2 April at 9pm.

The first season of the programme saw the men travel to their respective European homeland, Scotland, Italy and France. The series received a nomination for Television Feature at the Baftas in 2019, although lost out to Who Do You Think You Are?.

Meanwhile, theres been some happy news for First Dates Sirieix as he recently got engaged to his girlfriend.
The jury have failed to reach verdicts in the trial of three Dublin men accused of raping a woman in a car.

The three Dublin men, who are now in their early 20s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping a woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5, 2016.

The trial heard that three men were all teenagers when they drove the then 18-year-old woman to Dollymount Strand were they are alleged to have raped her one after the other. The defendants say that the woman consented to all sexual activity and had initiated sex.

On day 29 of the trial, the jury indicated that they were unable to reach a verdict on any count after deliberating for five and a half hours.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he wished to express his gratitude on behalf of the judiciary and the people of Ireland to the jury for their service.

Mr Justice Owens said that these have been exceptional circumstances due to the events of the past few weeks and that he would exempt the jury from future service for longer than would normally happen in a trial like this. He exempted them from jury service for a period of 15 years.

He remanded the three men on continuing bail and adjourned the matter to June 15 next.

During the trial, the woman testified that on the night of the alleged rapes she met the defendants, who she didn't know, in an internet cafe in the city centre. She said they told her they were going for a drive and would bring her back to where she was.

She said she did not want to go at first, but agreed to go for a walk and got into the car with the three men. She said that the car ended up in the middle of nowhere and was out at the sea.

The woman said the men then raped her. She said she felt horrible, shocked and disgusted. She said her door had a child lock on it and she could not get out of the car the whole time she was there.

She said she was told that another person was going to pick her up and bring her home. She said the car headed off very quickly.

Another car arrived containing three different men then arrived and she was raped by two of the men in this car, the woman told the trial. She said that these men all got back into their car afterwards, laughed and drove away, leaving her in the middle of nowhere.

None of the men who arrived in the second car are before the court.

Giving evidence during the trial, one of the accused men said that the complainant was trying to ruin his life, that he has never disrespected a woman and never would.

Ms Lawlor put it to the man that he never thought a homeless woman who was addicted to tablets would follow this case through. He rejected this suggestion, said nothing happened to the woman and that she was treated with nothing but respect by himself and his two gentlemen friends.

He accepted that he put her number in his phone alongside the word slut.




Press Release

Nokia delivers record 5G capacity gains via software upgrade

Lab test used Sprint 5G with E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and MU-MIMO to deliver huge network capacity gains

Vastly increases network capacity delivering up to four times the capacity

Operators to benefit as demand for 5G services set to double by 2022, according to Statista1

24 March 2020

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that it hit a milestone in the delivery of enhanced 5G capacity via a software upgrade on Nokia's commercial AirScale solution. The lab test delivered approximately 3Gbps total downlink cell throughout and was performed using Sprint 5G with a software upgrade of E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and Multi-User-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) - the first time this has been achieved. When the service is made commercially available, it will allow operators to vastly increase their network capacity via a software update without having to invest in additional spectrum.

The test, which utilized Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum as well as commercial devices such as hotspots, leveraged Massive MIMO to achieve 16 layers of MU-MIMO to deliver up to four times the total downlink cell throughput. Typically MIMO consists of 2 layers of network capacity. Massive MIMO, which was invented by Nokia Bell Labs, considerably multiplies the capacity of a wireless connection without requiring additional spectrum. Nokia's AirScale Dual Mode Massive MIMO for 5G and LTE solution was used to deliver multi-gigabit cell downlink throughput. The service uses existing hardware but requires an upgrade to the software in the base station which can be performed remotely. This means that operators will be able to offer enhanced services without any requirement for site visits to change hardware or transport.

EN-DC allows devices to add throughput to LTE and 5G networks - resulting in higher user throughput. Typically, operators use two radios for LTE and 5G, however, for this test Nokia used a single AirScale unit. Nokia and Sprint have launched 5G service in areas of four cities in the U.S, which are New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Phoenix.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia, commented: "This is the latest achievement from our long-standing relationship with Sprint. The demand for 4G and 5G mobile data continues to rise exponentially and this impacts network capacity. This test is an important milestone as it will help operators to vastly increase capacity now and in the future, helping to deliver excellent customer experiences while keeping costs to a minimum."

Resources:

Webpage: 5G (https://www.nokia.com/networks/5g/)

(https://www.nokia.com/networks/5g/) YouTube: Sprint and Nokia launch 5G in New York, LA, Washington DC and Phoenix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqiz0EwP6W8)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqiz0EwP6W8) Web page: Nokia AirScale (https://www.nokia.com/networks/solutions/airscale-radio-access/)

Notes to Editors:

1.) https://www.statista.com/statistics/271405/global-mobile-data-traffic-forecast/

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

Media Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone: +358 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com




A British tourist has pleaded for help after travel lockdowns stranded her in Fiji in the South Pacific.

Chloe Hyland, 27, from Surrey, said she had spent thousands on flights in a bid to get back to the UK, but that with other countries such as Australia and New Zealand shutting their borders, she was unable to get a connecting one.

It comes as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told British tourists to get home within 48 hours while you still can or face being stranded overseas. He warned that the Government would not be able to guarantee flights to get citizens home after that.

Ms Hyland, a marketing manager, travelled to Nadi island in Fiji last Wednesday having previously been in New Zealand and Australia. Her flight home on March 28 was cancelled after the national carrier Fiji Airways suspended 95 per cent of its service.

She thought she would be able to fly to London via Brisbane and Abu Dhabi today but was told at the last-minute the flight would not be leaving.

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

She said: Got checked in, through security and into departures when they called my name and told me I cant go. Abu Dhabi shut their borders and cancelled the flights.

So far Fiji has confirmed three cases of coronavirus. The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential international travel and advises British visitors to Fiji to prepare to leave as soon as possible.

Fiji Airwayss remaining international flight was to Singapore, which closed its borders to short-term arrivals and travellers in transit from midnight on Monday.

Two other regional hubs, Australia and New Zealand, also closed their borders to arrivals and transit.

A man wearing a protective face mask in Kingsford Smith International Airport / REUTERS

Ms Hyland  who said that going to Fiji was the biggest mistake of my life  said she feared her hostel would follow the countrys empty resorts and close, potentially leaving her on the streets. She called on the Foreign Office to help her and other Britons to get home.

She said: I just dont want to be forgotten. In a desperate post to friends online, she said: This is an urgent plea. Contact anyone you know who might be able to make a difference to sending repatriation to us, please!

New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, have all restricted/closed borders and its impossible to find flights with a route home to the UK.

"I have spent thousands on flights which I havent been able to board due to so many changes to transiting rules globally. I know the world is in tatters at the moment but I am here away from my family and friends, scared, stranded and feeling very desperate and really just want to be home.

If there is anything you can do to help the British High Commission realise we need them, please do it and more.

British travellers stuck in New Zealand and Australia have also told how they feel stranded, with more than 1,000 people registering for help through an online database.

Lara Suleyman, from Kent, who started the list yesterday, said: Ive heard from doctors who are keen to get back to the NHS to help out their colleagues, tourists facing eviction from their hotel rooms, as well as pretty unwell cancer patients who are running low on their medicine and cant get through to the UK Consulate.

Louis Verkaik, 19, told the BBC he had been travelling alone on a gap year and had managed to get one of the last flights from New Zealand to Australia.

The check in area at Sydney International Airport / Getty Images

He said: Ive sent an email stating that the British Government should send over an emergency flight for people such as myself stuck. I dont have enough money to sustain myself for very long.

The UK High Commissioner in Australia, Vicki Treadell, said officials were speaking with airlines to find workable solutions.

In Vietnam, Briton Jake Anderson, 23, and three friends, all 22, said they had been threatened with arrest if they tried to leave their hotel because of coronavirus concerns, meaning they missed their flight home.

Meanwhile, Argentina has offered to help Falkland Islands residents with fresh food, medicine and Covid-19 tests if required, as well humanitarian flights.
From a jaguar on the loose to an elaborate hoax involving burning underwear, the Olympic torch relay has had its fair share of mishaps.

As Japan downscales the 2020 relay due to concerns over the new coronavirus, AFP looks back at some of the trials and tribulations of the event, first run ahead of the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

- Flaming underpants -



====================== Probably the most memorable stunt surrounding the torch relay came in 1956 when an Australian student named Barry Larkin fooled crowds with a homemade torch topped by burning underpants.

Larkin managed to get his torch -- a wooden chair leg crowned with a metal pudding container holding the fiery underwear -- up the stairs of Sydney's Town Hall and deliver it to city mayor Pat Hills, cheered on by tens of thousands.

The university student even arranged his own fake motorcycle escort but when he started to run out from the crowd, he found himself flanked by genuine police outriders as the crowd closed in around him.

The mayor sensed nothing wrong as he took the flame from Larkin, giving the first part of his prepared remarks before realising something was amiss.

- Jaguar on the run -



=====================A 17-year-old jaguar named Juma was lined up for photos as the torch passed through the Amazon in northern Brazil during the relay for the Rio Olympics in 2016.

But Juma escaped its handlers and four tranquilliser darts fired at the animal failed to slow it down.

After it threatened a vet, soldiers opened fire on the jaguar -- in danger of extinction and the symbol of the Amazon -- and shot it dead.

- Fried doves -



===============



The climax of the relay -- the lighting of the Olympic cauldron -- has provided some unforgettable moments such as Mohammad Ali trembling to light it as he suffered from Parkinson's disease and an archer firing a flame into it in Barcelona.

But things have not always gone smoothly. The most grisly blunder came in Seoul in 1988 when dozens of doves released earlier in the opening ceremony alighted on the cauldron.

When the flame was lit, several of the birds were incinerated to the horror of watching spectators.

Legendary Australian athlete Cathy Freeman was also left hanging at the Sydney opening ceremony when a platform supposed to rise after the lighting of the flame got stuck for around three minutes.

"We've got a slight technical hitch. Nothing that can't be fixed," said one reassuring voice in her earpiece. "F---, f---, f---, f---," screamed another.

- Protests aplenty -



====================



The torch relay has been the target of several protests, most notably during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics as demonstrators took China to task over its Tibet policy.

Protests started even when the flame was lit in ancient Olympia and dogged the relay throughout its journey to China, notably as it passed through London, Paris and San Francisco.

In Japan, monks at an ancient Buddhist temple pulled out of hosting a torch ceremony because of the Chinese crackdown in Tibet.

The relay ahead of Sydney 2000 also suffered from isolated protests. One spectator wrestled it out of the hands of former world surfing champion Tom Carroll as he travelled along the New South Wales south coast and tried to hurl it into Kiama harbour before being wrestled to the ground.

A high-school student also tried to put out the torch with a fire extinguisher.

- Lighting hiccups -



====================



Although the Olympic flame is supposed to be eternal, problems with the lighting mechanism have caused it to go out several times.

In 2012, officials had to hastily relight the flame from a stand-by "mother flame" when it vanished from the side of Paralympic badminton star David Follett's wheelchair in blustery weather in southwest England.

Olympic torches made by a well-known Russian missile manufacturer for the Sochi Winter Games in 2014 were dogged with problems, going out several times and discretely relit by secret service officers.

- Inauspicious start -



======================



The Olympic torch has been into space, deep underwater and even scaled Mount Everest.

As the Olympic museum website puts it: "Over the last 80 years, the Olympic torch has been carried by hundreds of thousands of people and travelled on every imaginable form of transport, though mostly by foot."



The flame made its first appearance in modern times at Amsterdam 1928.

But the first relay took place in Berlin 1936, forever known for the heroics of sprinter Jesse Owens but also tainted by its hosting by Nazi Germany.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: As the State stepped into the first day of the nine-day lockdown, Telangana recorded six new cases of Covid-19. This has taken the total number of cases to 33. The new cases recorded on Monday also include a third case of local transmission, wherein a 23-year-old male tested positive in Karimnagar after coming in contact with the Covid positive Indonesians.

Of the six new patients, four of them are under the age of 25, from areas including Gachibowli, Somajiguda and Balkampet. The travel history of five of the patients include London, New York, Sri Lanka and France. According to the government bulletin, all the patients are in a stable condition.

State Health Minister Eatala Rajender said, People have to take home quarantine seriously, especially passengers who have recently returned from international destinations. Please inform government authorities on helpline numbers, if you know of any relative or neighbour who might me flouting rules of quarantine, or may be suspected of Covid-19. We have put in place 6,000 surveillance teams to track such people across the State. The government will take strict action and file charges if people are found to be breaking quarantine rules. He added, The government will also plan something for people who may lose livelihood and business in the State due to lockdown and want to leave for their villages during this period, as all district and State borders are locked.

Express impact

Goverment expands Covid helpline services

Hyderabad: Following the report by The New Indian Express about all Covid-19 helpline numbers not connecting through the day, Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Monday said he will be adding 40 more lines to the existing 20 lines to make sure that people can access information about Coronavirus smoothly and without delay
Couples who do not live together should either stay apart during the coronavirus lockdown or test the strength of their relationship by moving in with each other, deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries has said.

Dr Harries comments ended confusion over whether courting couples risk a 30 fine if they venture out to meet one another during the three-week period during which Boris Johnson has told all Britons to stay at home.

The penalty for going out without good reason is due to come into force from Thursday  with significantly higher fines likely to be introduced if there are persistent breaches.

Asked at a virtual press conference taking place via video link in Downing Street whether couples who live apart can meet up during the lockdown, and if they do whether they can be physically affectionate towards one another, Dr Harries joked that she had better tread carefully if she was going to start a new career in relationship counselling.

But she was very clear in laying down the law: The principle is that we want people to stay in their household units primarily. The reason for that is because if you have an infection you are very close with your family members, so your risk of exposure to the virus is pretty similar usually across the family. We almost expect another member of the family to get that unless theyre applying very, very stringent precautions.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

So if two individuals  two halves of a couple  are currently in separate households, then ideally they should stay in those households.

The alternative might be that for quite a significant period going forward they should just test the strength of their relationship and decide whether one wishes to be permanently resident in another household.

The issue here is that we do not want to have people switching in and out of households. It would defeat the purpose of the reduction in social interactions and would allow transmission of disease.

So perhaps test really carefully your strength of feeling and stay with the household either together or apart, but keep it that way while we go forward because otherwise we will not all be working towards achieving our outcome.

Standing alongside her, health secretary Matt Hancock signalled his approval: There you go  make the choice and stick with it.

New instructions issued by Mr Johnson require everyone to stay at home apart from for once-daily exercise sessions, essential shopping expeditions, medical care or work which cannot be done from home. While outside, all Britons have been told to keep at least two metres away from anyone who is not part of their household.

Powers for police to impose 30 fines and to break up any group of more than two people will be in place on Thursday, with the threat of a criminal conviction for failure to pay.

The PMs spokesperson declined to comment on a report that punishments could reach a whopping 1,000, but warned: We will keep this under review and can increase it significantly if necessary in order to ensure public compliance.

Asked how the rules would be enforced, he said: As is usual the police will use their own discretion in their use of the powers and will do whatever is appropriate.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a $1 billion cut in U.S. aid to Afghanistan on Monday (March 24)

after he failed to convince Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political foe Abdullah Abdullah to end a feud that's jeopardized a U.S.-led peace effort.

Pompeo said in a statement that the United States is prepared to cut 2021 assistance by the same amount and is conducting "a review of all of our programs and projects to identify additional reductions, and reconsider our pledges to future donor conferences for Afghanistan''.

The statement came as he flew home from a fruitless day-long effort in Kabul to end competing claims to the presidency by Ghani and Abdullah and win their agreement to form "an inclusive government."

Pompeo declined to detail how the $1 billion in aid cuts would be apportioned or whether he set a deadline to settle their dispute.

But he indicated that the aid cut could be canceled if they came to an agreement.
A freeway sign urging people to wash their hands to avoid the coronavirus is seen along the 101 Freeway in Ventura County. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

A total of 39 coronavirus cases, including four hospital employees, have been confirmed in Ventura County as of Tuesday morning, according to the countys public health department.

Three physicians and one administrator at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura tested positive for the virus, according to a hospital representative.

Each of the employees is doing fine and being quarantined at home, representative Michael Ellingson said Tuesday. No other details regarding the employees were made public. The transmission method in the infections is unknown.

There is currently only one patient with COVID-19 being treated at the hospital, Ellingson said. That patient's condition is unknown at this time.

In response to the recent discovery of the cases, Ellingson said that the hospital is investigatng to make sure that no other employees or patients contracted the virus as well.

Our infection control team always conducts a thorough investigation to identify who may have had contact and we go through the [patient] history, he said.

So far, the county has reported one death of a person their 70s who had underlying health conditions, according to the countys incident information website . No other details were made public. COVID-19 has killed seven people in L.A. County thus far.

As of Tuesday, a total of 680 tests have been conducted in Ventura County, according to county public information officer Ashley Bautista. By Sunday, the state of California had conducted 26,400 tests.

Health officials initially tallied 41 confirmed cases in the county Tuesday, but two of those who tested positive live in Santa Barbara County while their tests were processed in Ventura County.

The first Ventura County case was reported March 6, that of a person who had sailed on the Grand Princess cruise ship, which returned to San Francisco on Feb. 21, according to state officials.

Due to the rise in cases, the county's public health department issued a  Stay Well at Home  emergency order through April 20, much like the orders imposed throughout the state. The department has been posting video messages from local doctors on their Facebook page to encourage people to stay at home.

Story continues

The Ventura County Sheriffs Office also sent out an emergency alert Monday afternoon to cellphones in the area to remind people to self-isolate and practice social distancing when outside their homes for essential services only, public information officer Eric Buschow said Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office responded to sporadic complaints over the weekend that local businesses not considered essential were still operating despite the emergency order, Bushow said. However, the department didnt issue any citations, which they consider to be a last resort, he added.

Its just taking the time to educate [local businesses] and making sure they understand" the orders, Bushow said. "Everybody seems to be handling this really well, better than someone would anticipate."

For the record:

2:23 PM, Mar. 25, 2020: An earlier version of this article and the headline noted there were 41 cases of COVID-19 in Ventura County. There are 39 cases. Health officials initially tallied 41 cases on Tuesday, but two of those who tested positive live in Santa Barbara County while their tests were processed in Ventura County.


Nine inmates fled the minimum-security unit of the women's prison in Pierre on Monday night, hours after it was announced that a detainee in the same unit tested positive for coronavirus.

One of those inmates  who's awaiting COVID-19 test results and has symptoms of the virus  was arrested in Rapid City and booked into the Pennington County Jail, according to a Rapid City Police Department e-mail that warns of a "possible COVID-19 exposure."

The police officer most involved in the arrest is self-quarantining at home while waiting for the woman's test results, according to police spokesman Brendyn Medina.

The Department of Corrections sent a press release Tuesday morning announcing the escape but only said eight inmates walked away. The Journal later learned that a ninth woman had escaped and was booked into the local jail.

Gov. Kristi Noem confirmed to the Journal during a Tuesday morning press conference that a ninth inmate had escaped and was detained. She also said that all nine women were from the same minimum-security unit as the inmate who tested positive for COVID-19, but she doesn't know if they had any interaction with her.

The women left the minimum-security unit at 8:43 p.m. through an exterior door, according to the DOC news release.

"Womens prison staff began escape procedures and law enforcement was notified," the news release says. "The South Dakota Highway Patrol aircraft was used to assist ground operations in its search for the inmates."

This is a "very serious situation," Kim Malsam-Rysdon, secretary of the Department of Health, said of the escape.

Malsam-Rysdon also said the detained woman was tested for COVID-19 and the DOH is awaiting the results.

Noem did not confirm where the detained woman was held but the email obtained by the Journal says the woman was booked into the Pennington County Jail after being arrested in Rapid City early Tuesday morning. The jail website says she was booked at 2:07 a.m. Tuesday, charged with second-degree escape by a prisoner and is being held for the Hughes County Sheriff's Office where Pierre is located.

Malsam-Rysdon said the inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 "continues to do well" and is being held in isolation. She said DOH and DOC staff are caring for her by following guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control. The secretary said at a Monday press conference that everyone who came into contact with her is also being isolated, and that the DOH is investigating how the woman contracted the virus.

Maggie Seidel, spokeswoman for Gov. Kristi Noem, told the Journal that she can't share where the inmate worked before the DOC temporarily barred low-security inmates from going to their outside work assignments. But she said the DOH notifies everyone who comes into close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. Seidel also said she can't say where the woman is being isolated, or how many fellow inmates and staffers are being isolated due to having close contact with her.

RCPD email

The Rapid City Police Department email warns of a "possible COVID-19 exposure."

A sergeant wrote that a Highway Patrol sergeant called him Monday night to let him know about the prison escape and give him details on the woman who fled to Rapid City.

The sergeant said he passed the information to a police officer who observed the woman walking into her mother's home in Rapid City. This happened at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, Assistant Police Chief Don Hedrick told the Journal.

The sergeant said he and others surrounded the home and told the woman to come out. The woman jumped out a back window and the sergeant arrested her.

"She immediately told me she was sick, but I didnt think much of it," the sergeant wrote.

He said the police officer handcuffed the woman while a second officer transported her to the jail. The sergeant said he also asked the first officer to interview the woman about the other escapees.

Officers have been wearing gloves each time they respond to an incident in case they end up having contact with anyone, Hedrick told the Journal. But the police department was unaware that the woman had possibly been exposed to COVID-19 when she was arrested and booked into jail.

The sergeant wrote he then spoke with a dispatcher who said the DOC said the woman had been tested and in isolation for possibly having COVID-19, but the results had not yet come back. The sergeant then spoke with an agent from the Division of Criminal Investigations who said while the woman was in the same prison block as the inmate who tested positive, she wasn't identified as someone who needed to be tested or placed in isolation.

"So I received some inconsistent statements," the sergeant wrote.

After learning this new information, the sergeant wrote, he called the officer who was interviewing the woman. The sergeant said he could hear the woman "hacking" in the background. The officer said the woman wasn't doing well and the sergeant told him to put on a mask and contact the jail.

The sergeant said the officer later told him that the woman was wheezing and had a 103-degree temperature.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

This incident serves as a clear reminder that we, as police officers, are in Critical Infrastructure Positions and must be ready to stand and serve, no matter the circumstance, said Police Chief Karl Jegeris. We are well aware of the current health situation affecting the world and have an obligation to our community to be ready to hold offenders in our city accountable while doing everything we can to mitigate the risk of exposure to our staff.

Helene Duhamel, spokeswoman for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and a state senator, said the detained escapee will be transferred from the jail to the DOC but couldn't say when due to security concerns.

She said the office will not comment on whether jail staff knew of the woman's possible exposure to COVID-19, where she is being held within the jail, how many employees came into contact with the woman, or whether any staff members are being quarantined.

"We are not going to make any comments about any specific inmates or staffs health condition," Duhamel said.

Other escapees

The eight women the DOC said ran away are Philomene Boneshirt, 25; Jordan Wakeman, 27; Sylvia Red Leaf, 25; Alice Richards, 32; Kayla Lamont, 28; Carly Schoneman, 23; Pamela Miller, 28; and Kelsey Flute, 30.

Flute, Wakeman and Miller were taken into custody on the Crow Creek Reservation on Tuesday and the state is working with the tribe to return them to state custody, the DOC announced Tuesday afternoon.

The escapees are serving sentences ranging from seven months to nearly 13 years (with five suspended).

Seven of the women are serving time for drug possession convictions while one is imprisoned for her third conviction of driving while intoxicated. Some of the women were also convicted of simple assault, eluding, second-degree robbery and failure to appear.

The detained woman was convicted of forgery and attempted drug distribution, according to the DOC website.

The Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident. Women who are caught may be charged with second-degree escape for leaving a non-secure correctional facility without permission. The Class 5 felony is punishable by up to five years in prison.

 Contact Arielle Zionts at arielle.zionts@rapidcityjournal.com.

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New Delhi: Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla issued directions saying anyone found violating the containment measures will be punishable by jail terms of up to two years under the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In an order, Bhalla listed essential services and people who are exempt from the restrictions imposed. Any person violating these containment measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code, the order said.

Under the IPCs Section 188, people found flouting the lockdown may face jail terms up to six months or fine up to Rs 1,000 or both.

The Sections 51 to 60 of the NDMA deal with obstructing government servants in performing their duties, making false claims while seeking any relief, misappropriation of money or goods, creating false alarm, or government servants failing to follow the guidelines, companies violating the orders.

Under the NDMA, a person refusing to abide by the directions of the government can be jailed for one year in first instance and up to two years in the second offence. For spreading rumours, the law provides for jail term of up to a year or fine of Rs 1,000 or both.

The law also provides for taking action against government officials and corporates for failing to comply with government directions. The Centre has also authorised the district magistrates to implement the lockdown orders.

Former Uttar Pradesh police chief Prakash Singh said these provisions are deterrents because they give powers to police to tell people that they have to go indoors and follow government directions else action will be taken against them. Police wont be interested in arresting hundreds of thousands of people.

LN Rao, a retired Delhi police officer, said the law says that if anyone violates any government notification, then police have discretion to arrest or warn that person. A person is eligible to get bail from the police station for this violation but such notifications should not be violated, particularly in a situation like this...
A number of 103 medical staff in Romania are diagnosed with COVID-19, the Health Ministry informed on Tuesday.

The staff in question is composed of 43 medics (23 in Suceava), 45 nurses (30 in Suceava), 14 orderlies (13 in Suceava) and one janitor.

"According to the data reported to the National Institute for Public Health in the territory, presently, a number of 103 medical staff are diagnosed with COVID-19, as follows: 43 medics (23 in Suceava), 45 nurses (30 in Suceava), 14 orderlies (13 in Suceava) and one janitor," the quoted source mentions.
Community Research Collaboratives are partnerships among community members and researchers, sometimes joined by educational institutions. These partners work together to advance equity and justice by jointly creating new knowledge, policies, and practices that promote change in educational systems and society.

Community Research Collaboratives, a policy memo released today by the National Education Policy Center, describes this approach to research and engagement. The report explains that these Collaboratives are an existing field of work, but the field is currently under-recognized by academic researchers, philanthropists, and educational policymakers and practitioners.

The authors delineate the Collaborative approach with help from interviews with leaders in two funding organizations and two networks supporting research partnerships. Using the resulting criteria, they identified seven existing collaboratives to learn from as subjects of this research. Subsequent interviews with 12 participants across these collaboratives yielded the following four core features of Community Research Collaboratives:



their commitment to systemic transformation,

their challenge to current knowledge structures as they prioritize community goals,

their understanding of research as a developmental process, and

their attention to effective collaboration.

The new policy memo fleshes out these ideas and provides detailed snapshots of some of the representative Collaboratives to illustrate how the core features are manifested in practice. The analysis is intended to highlight the unique attributes of Community Research Collaboratives, to boost their visibility in education, and to encourage funding support for this growing field.

Find Community Research Collaboratives, by Adam York, Siomara Valladares, Michelle Renee Valladares, Jon Snyder, and Matthew Garcia, at:

http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/crc

This policy memo was made possible in part by funding from the Education Justice Network, Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation.

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: https://nepc.colorado.edu
Six prison inmates are still on the loose in Washington state after 14 escaped from prison.

The escape happened at around 7pm on Monday evening, with the prisoners using a table to break through a fire door and leave the facility.

Yakima County Sheriff Robert Udell posted a video on Facebook explaining the situation to those in the area, while referencing the measures in place to help tackle coronavirus.

They decided they were going to break down the door and leave, he said. Despite the governors shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, apparently they didnt want to do that so they are out and about.

The sheriff added that we need your help to get these guys back in custody. Because we dont know what theyre going to be doing when we havent got eyes on them.

Help us get these back in the Yakima County Jail, where theyll be safe.

The city of Yakima Facebook page posted a warning on its feed, informing residents of the situation on Monday evening.

ALERT! Several prisoners have escaped from the Yakima County Jail in Downtown Yakima. Residents in the northeast and southeast areas of Yakima should call 9-1-1 to report any suspicious activity. Those residents should also stay indoors, it read.

On Monday, Washington governor Jay Inslee issued a stay-at-home order, lasting for at least two weeks.

Mr Inslee said to residents in a video on Facebook that the less time you spend out in public, the more lives we can save, before adding that this order is enforceable by law and can be enforced.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, the death toll in Washington related to Covid-19 has reached at least 87.

The sheriffs office released the names of the six prisoners in a facebook post, along with pictures of them.

It listed them as: 34-year-old Tyrone Adam Mulvaney from Moses Lake, WA, 26-year-old Andrew Derrick Wolfley from Union Gap, WA, 27-year-old Neftali Serrano from Yakima, WA, 31-year-old Fernando Gustavo Casteneda-Sandoval from Yakima, WA, 28-year-old Hugo Alejandro Amezcua-Hernandez from Yakima, WA, 27-year-old Miguel Angel Chavez-Amezcua from Moses Lake, WA.

It added that if anyone has information on where we can find these 6 escapees, please call the Yakima County Sheriffs Office at (509)574-2500 and press 0 or 911.
Two more deaths related to the coronavirus were reported by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Monday, bringing the state's total number of deaths to five.

Meanwhile, 103 new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, were reported Monday, which brought the state's total to 298 cases in 34 counties.

Of the two new deaths, one patient was an elderly person from Clarendon County with underlying health conditions. The second patient was an elderly person from Kershaw County, the state's hotbed of the COVID-19 outbreak, who also had underlying health conditions, DHEC officials said.

There were 17 new cases in Charleston County reported, 14 in Richland County, 12 in Greenville County, 10 in Kershaw County and seven in Beaufort County, DHEC officials said Monday. Additionally, there were five new cases each in Anderson, Horry, Lexington and Orangeburg counties; three each in Clarendon and York counties; and two each in Berkeley, Darlington, Florence, Lancaster and Georgetown counties. One new case has been reported in Chester, Dorchester, Fairfield, Lee, Oconee, Spartanburg and Sumter counties.

Gov. Henry McMaster encouraged South Carolina residents to take social distancing seriously. On Monday, he directed all law enforcement officers in the state to prohibit or disperse any people gathering in groups of three or more, unless authorized in a person's home, if a gathering could pose a threat to public health. It does not apply to businesses, he said. The order already exists in state law whenever a state of emergency is declared.

"South Carolina is making great progress," McMaster said. He said the state is not issuing a shelter in place order, but all plans and contingencies are on the table.

"This is a good time to stay home if you can," McMaster said. "We must all assume that we have the virus, and we must assume that everyone we're talking to has the virus."

As of Monday, 2,239 people had been tested for the virus in South Carolina by the state's lab, with 2,012 testing negative. The state lab completes about 200-300 tests a day, DHEC officials said.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare confirmed three new cases of coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of cases for the hospital system to 13. Of those patients, 10 have been asked to self-quarantine at home, two were admitted to the hospital and are in isolation, and one has died, officials said.

Fort Jackson has confirmed two positive cases of COVID-19. One is a soldier in training with the 3rd battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment and the other is an officer attending the Adjutant General Basic Officer Leader Course, officials said. Both are in isolation and will not return to duty until medically cleared, officials said.

Fort Jackson is trying to identify other soldiers who may have been exposed. It is the Armys largest training base through which over 45,000 recruits pass each year  meaning exposure to other soldiers is highly possible.

In addition, an employee at Boeings North Charleston campus has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the company said on Monday.

There are at least 32 known Boeing employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the company as a whole. The majority of the cases are in Washington state, and this is the first confirmed case for a Boeing worker in South Carolina, spokeswoman Libba Holland said.

The crisis is inspiring some in the area to try and help healthcare workers and others on the front lines.

Jun Li, a Mount Pleasant resident, said she and other members of the local Chinese community have raised money to buy 1,200 N95 respirator masks from China.

Li said she and others have been concerned that smaller hospitals in the area as well as first responders don't have the purchasing power of larger institutions and they wanted to do something to help bolster supplies of the masks  a critical part of personal protective equipment that can help prevent exposure to the virus.

So far, the group of concerned residents is planning to donate the masks to the police department, East Cooper Medical Center and Roper St. Francis Healthcare, she said, adding that she's been in contact with each of those institutions and updating them on the progress.

"This is truly heartbreaking for me and for all of us," Li said. "We're trying to do everything we can. We hope our action will encourage more people to do something for our community."

Li said she plans to place the order for masks on Tuesday and that they should arrive in the U.S. by next Friday.

Charleston-area law enforcement have said that so far most restaurants and bars have responded well to restrictions imposed against serving foods other than to-go items. The Charleston Police Department said it had issued just one citation, to Queology, a downtown barbecue restaurant, on Sunday.

"As long as we don't have a recurrence of that problem, we're not looking to hammer that business," Police Chief Luther Reynolds said. "It's our intent to convey what the law is. There were people in a restaurant environment that were drinking and eating."

After officers came in, the patrons dispersed and the restaurant shut down dine-in services.

"We're finding a very high level of compliance," he said. "Most people are complying voluntarily at great expense to themselves and their employees. We don't want adversarial contact. We're all in this together."

Reynolds said he sympathizes with the struggles that restaurants and bars are experiencing. Violating the city ordinance, that was passed after the governor's statewide mandates on limiting public gatherings, is punishable by a $500 fine, up to 30 days in jail or both.

Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order over the weekend allowing restaurants to serve wine and beer with their take-out service.

The state's school districts were given permission on Monday by the U.S. Department of Education to suspend standardized tests, including SC READY, SC PASS and end-of-course examinations, according to Superintendent Molly Spearman.

"The suspension of South Carolinas student assessments will allow educators to focus on meeting the needs of students and relieve undue anxiety faced by parents and students," Spearman said in a news release.

Charleston County students will likely not return to school by April 13 as planned, district Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said on Monday. Officials still await confirmation from Spearman and McMaster.

We do not anticipate school being extended a long time into the summer, but perhaps we could start a little earlier next fall, Postlewait said.

After concerns that prison and jail populations are particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus, many detention centers are releasing low-level offenders. Some 64 inmates were released from the Hill-Finklea Detention Center over the past week, Berkeley County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jeremy Baker said.

The Sheriff's Office worked with solicitors to identify inmates whose cases could be sped up in the system or inmates who could have their bonds reconsidered. The detention center had around 300 inmates on Monday, Baker said.

Jenna Schiferl, Thomas Novelly and Emily Williams contributed to this report.
Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to announce welfare measures for informal sector employees, especially construction workers. The letter addresses coronavirus outbreak's widespread economic impact on the sector.

Gandhi said that several countries like Canada had already announced wage subsidy measures as part of their COVID-19 Economic Response Plan."I request you to consider advising the State Building and Other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures," said Gandhi.

Lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have already left for their home towns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn, she wrote. She added over 44 million construction workers were facing an uncertain future as they have no work. As per Gandhi, many are stranded in cities and are not able to earn their livelihoods.

Gandhi wrote that The Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 provides for welfare measures for workers. According to Gandhi, the Act provides for the constitution of welfare boards that will manage a welfare fund. "It is reported that the welfare boards collected Cess amounting to Rs 49,688,07 crore till March 31, 2019. However, only an amount of Rs 19,379.992 crores had been spent," she added.

Several states in the countries have been put under lockdown as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus. According to the orders, only essential services are being allowed to function resulting in construction workers being out of work.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country were 446 as of 9:00 am on March 24. Globally, the number has climbed to over 3,81,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including around 16,000 deaths.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: 30 states, UTs under lockdown; Shaheen Bagh cleared by Delhi Police

Also Read: Coronavirus update: PM Modi to address nation at 8pm today
African finance ministers have called for a $100 billion stimulus package, including a suspension of debt service payments, to help the continent combat deadly coronavirus.

Some $44 billion would come from not servicing debt and they would also tap existing facilities in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank (AfDB) and other regional institutions.

The ministers held a virtual conference on Thursday to discuss how to deal with the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on African nations, a statement by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said on Monday.

It did not specify which countries participated in the meeting.

Africa is facing the combined shock of coronavirus, which threatens to strain under-funded health systems, as well as a sharp drop in revenues due to plunging oil and commodities prices.

Africa needs an immediate emergency economic stimulus to the tune of $100 billion, the statement said.

The proposed interest payment waiver would include not only interest payments on public debt but also on sovereign bonds. It would save governments an estimated $44 billion this year, and would possibly need to be extended to the medium term, it added.

(A waiver) would provide immediate fiscal space and liquidity to the governments in their efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said.

For fragile states, the ministers agreed that waiving repayment of both principal and interest should be considered.

Though African nations currently count only a fraction of global coronavirus cases, experts worry that their cash-strapped and under-equipped healthcare systems make them ill prepared to tackled large-scale outbreaks.

Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa's debt has ballooned to nearly 60% of GDP over the past decade, meaning many government must devote significant resources to debt service.

 Reuters
A total of 16 positive coronavirus cases have been reported in Haryana so far, the state health department said on Tuesday.

"A total of 16 positive coronavirus cases are reported in the state so far. 10 cases are reported from Gurugram, two cases from Panipat and one each in Faridabad, Palwal and Sonepat," the Health Department of Haryana said in a media bulletin.

'A total of 405 samples have been tested out of which 326 were found negative while 16 were found positive. Results of 65 samples are still awaited," the bulletin said.

It stated that a total of 8,675 people were put on surveillance out of which 617 have completed surveillance period of 28 days. While 8,058 others are currently under surveillance. As many as 92 people are currently hospitalised.

The media bulletin also highlighted about the state government preparedness to combat coronavirus outbreak.

"State helpline number 8558893911 (Panchkula, Gurugram and Faridabad districts), 1075 (remaining districts) and 108 have been launched which are available for 24*7 days. Two labs, one each at PGIMS, Rohtak and BPS Khanpur Kalan, have been designated for testing of COVID-19. All quarantined and isolated likely to be coronavirus patients are stamped on hand," it said.

"In the state, there are 370 isolation wards with the capacity of 3,177 beds and quarantine facility with 2,544 rooms/dormitories with an accommodation capacity of 10,959 people. All government/government-aided/private medical colleges in the state have been asked to reserve at least 25 per cent of the beds and create exclusive COVID-19 hospitals. Total 2,510 beds in various medical colleges are being reserved for COVID-19," the department said.

Due to surge in the number of coronavirus cases, various surgeries and OPD facilities have been suspended till March 31.

"Elective surgeries including dental procedures are postponed till March 31. OPD of Dermatology (Skin) Eye, Orthopedics, Surgery, Physiotherapy, Psychiatry and Dental are suspended till March 31. Only OPD of Gynecology, Pediatrics, Medicine/Chest etc. is to be continued," the department added.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday had announced complete lockdown in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Big Tech Is Now On The Offensive Against The Coronavirus

Silicon Valley are now facing the question as to whether or not they should use all of the consumer data that they have in an attempt to fight the pandemic. Tech companies such as Apple and even the federal government are shifting their approach to try and fight the coronavirus. Trump and the White House are now calling upon tech companies to see if they can lend a hand. Various companies are now in talks with the government as to whether or not they may need to leverage their reach.

Tech Giants

Tech entrepreneurs such as Tej Kohli have invested millions in the tech industry and it is great to see them really put the work in to help those who need it the most. Now is the time for tech giants to get back into the good graces of the public. The industry as a whole has taken a beating but if the companies can step up in a time of a national emergency then this would mean fantastic things for the future. The problem is that the best tool that they have is the one thing that customers are worried about. The American people dont want their data being shared and if the companies do release it then they may end up losing far more than just their trust.

The Big Companies

When you look at Google, Amazon, Twitter and even Apple , you will soon see that they hold FitBit data and this could be a dream for a public health researcher. They are able to find out where we are, what we are buying, who we are spending time with and so much more. With information like that, you could easily change the face of public health and this could mean great things for the future.

Coronavirus in the US

If you look at all of the things that are happening in the US right now as well as the digital signals that are being put out, you can then figure out when outbreaks are most likely to occur. You can then also deploy testing and eventually, vaccines as well. Its important to know that they could eventually go on to target school closures, and they could also get a much better idea of the mortality rate. This would allow health researchers the chance to find out if the virus is actively spreading or if it is just the tip of the iceberg.

Silicon Valley

When you look at the last couple of years, you will soon see that Silicon Valley have been trying to dig themselves out of a hole. Facebook made data available to various researchers, only to find that it is actually being sold for political manipulation. Tech companies and experts have stated that they are worried about their Big Brother image and this is certainly going to cause issues for those who are already concerned about the impact of data and the way that it is handled.

By Boris Dzhingarov

 2020 Copyright Boris Dzhingarov - All Rights Reserved



Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




March 24, 2020



Idaho State University appears in U.S. News and World Report rankings

POCATELLO - U.S. News and World Report ranks the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmcy program No. 59 in the nation.

The countrys pharmacy schools are ranked periodically as part of the U.S. News ranking system that studies a number of health-related education programs. This section of rankings is based solely on the responses from peer surveys.

In a statement explaining its methodologies, U.S. News says, To gather the peer assessment data, U.S. News asked deans, program directors and senior faculty to judge the academic quality of programs in their field on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding).

A school's rank reflects the number of schools that sit above it; if three schools are tied at first, the next school will be ranked fourth, rather than second. Tied schools are listed alphabetically. Considering the number of tied schools that are each represented as an additional ranking slot, it can be said that Idaho State University actually ranks at no. 20 in the nation. There are nearly 150 pharmacy schools in the nation.

The new ranking comes as students who are currently enjoying their spring break will return to class next week via distance-based instruction, amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

When administrators of the College of Pharmacy learned of the quickly spreading coronavirus, they immediately went to work implementing their infectious disease academic continuation plan to ensure students remained on course to on time graduation. Since distance-learning technology is used every day to provide asynchronous teaching between the Colleges three campus locations, the framework was already in place to move to a virtual classroom. Students and faculty in Pocatello, Idaho, Meridian, Idaho and Anchorage, Alaska were accustomed to this method of instruction and were able to make the transition in just 48 hours.

This year the College of Pharmacy celebrates 100 years as the only pharmacy education program in Idaho, having championed a spirit of innovation and resourcefulness throughout the century. The current coronavirus pandemic is not the first challenge that College faculty, staff and students have faced.

Because of the diligent work of College of Pharmacy faculty and administration over the years, Idaho now boasts some of the most progressive pharmacy practice laws in the country. With recent changes that significantly expand prescriptive authority, pharmacists in Idaho can now test for and prescribe medications for a number of common ailments, such as influenza and strep throat.

The College of Pharmacy enjoys active support and collaboration with the Idaho legislature, with lawmakers who are committed to the successful future of the industry and its research efforts. In 2017 through 2019, major changes were made to pharmacy practice laws in Idaho. Multiple laws were modified and updated in order to protect and better help patients access therapies.

These changes for pharmacists also mean changes for pharmacy students as they complete their education.

As pharmacists, we have the obligation to care for our patients in a holistic, informed manner, said Walter Fitzgerald, dean for the College of Pharmacy. For a century, our curriculum and clinical practice experiences for students have adapted to meet the changing needs of patients. Our students learn, that by taking a persons complete health and wellness into account, they are in a unique position as pharmacists to improve the health and quality of life for so many people.

For more information on the U.S. News and World Report rankings, visit https://www.usnews.com/best-gr aduate-schools/top-health-scho ols/pharmacy-rankings .

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(Newser)  Hundreds of people gathered in an airport parking garage on Sunday to welcome 1,500 missionaries home from the Philippines, often with hugs. Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Salt Lake International Airport and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have asked that they not do it again. The coronavirus outbreak in the Philippines is the reason the missionaries are returning now, WSTU reports. "This is irresponsible," Romney wrote. Herbert called the gathering dangerous, and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said that the homecoming was unacceptable and that "we must do better to save lives." An airport spokeswoman said: "I certainly understand that everyone's excited to see their loved one and to greet them and to welcome them home. But you know were in a different world right now with the pandemic."

story continues below

The big welcomes are a tradition at the airport. More missionaries are due back soon, and families have been told to alter the tradition for now, per the AP. The church posted guidelines saying all returning missionaries should isolate for 14 days, whether they've been self-isolating or not. "Parents or guardians should go to the airport alone," the statement says. The airport had asked that only one or two people meet each missionary Sunday, though the spokeswoman said many people ignored the request. The people in the garage were standing close together, despite the social distancing mandate. A church spokesman said it had asked families to take one car to the airport and stay in it. That didn't happen, either. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
[March 24, 2020] Colorado SaaS Company Offers Free Video Messaging Software for Teachers Impacted by Closures from COVID-19

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help schools affected by COVID-19, BombBomb, a video software company in Colorado Springs, CO, has announced that its software is now completely free for teachers. BombBomb enables users to record and send video messages through email, text, and other communications like Schoology, Google Classroom, Infinite Campus, and more. With BombBomb's software, teachers will be able to give feedback and guidance to their students face-to-face, even when they can't be there in person. Helping educators is especially important to BombBomb President and Co-Founder, Darin Dawson. Both his mother and mother-in-law are former teachers, and his wife is currently a school counselor. When Dawson was informed that schools would be closed and teachers were being asked to work remotely, he knew BombBomb's software could help. "Few people are more critical to our future than teachers. In this time of uncertainty,our goal is to enable our educators to continue to provide inspiration and guidance to their students despite having to teach remotely," says Dawson.



Along with free access to its product, BombBomb is also offering complimentary training to help educators get started with video messaging software. Dawson continues, "Remote teaching is going to be new for a lot of teachers. It's something many of them haven't had to do before. Because of this, we wanted to empower these teachers and help them feel comfortable with this new challenge through training and education." Offering this service to teachers will help BombBomb work towards a deeper goal, rehumanizing the planet. Dawson explains, "We believe that humans have intrinsic value. We are better when we can communicate face-to-face. Our team at BombBomb is so excited to be able to help teachers rehumanize their communication through video."

To learn more about how teachers can use BombBomb visit BombBomb.com/education. About BombBomb

BombBomb makes it easy to get face-to-face when you can't be there in person, through simple, personal video. Its software is used by over 50,000 customers around the world, and the company was ranked #665 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S. BombBomb was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Learn more at BombBomb.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/colorado-saas-company-offers-free-video-messaging-software-for-teachers-impacted-by-closures-from-covid-19-301029218.html SOURCE BombBomb

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People who test positive for Covid-19 may struggle to get life insurance, mortgage protection and serious illness cover.

Insurers say they will postpone covering someone who has tested positive for the virus until they have fully recovered.

And they added that they would not cover people who had recently returned from an affected area or if they had contracted the illness, until full recovery was made. The issue relates to new policies.

Experts said this could have the effect of denying many people the option of getting life and mortgage protection cover.

However, insurers have insisted there will be no issue for those with existing life policies when it comes to paying claims as a result of death from the virus.

Some 40,000 people are awaiting test results as they fear they have the virus.

"If you are taking out a life policy there may be delays getting cover, or there will be no cover available if you have a positive result," mortgage broker Michael Dowling said.

He said anyone in the process of taking out a mortgage at the moment needed to be aware of the approach of life insurance companies to Covid-19.

He said the Consumer Credit Act 1995 required all borrowers with a mortgage to have life cover equal to the loan amount and term.

Life insurer Zurich has sent a note to brokers saying it has no new underwriting restrictions.

But it said: "If a client discloses that they have recently returned from an affected area or if they have contracted the illness, then underwriting may be postponed until a full recovery is made."

New Ireland Life told brokers: "If an applicant has tested positive for Covid-19, or is awaiting test results for Covid-19, a final decision on an application for cover will be postponed until the applicant has either fully recovered or the result of the test is confirmed as negative."

Mr Dowling said all life insurance companies were set to take the same approach.

Financial adviser Karl Deeter questioned the move by the life insurers.

"Irish people are often under-covered, but if the thing they fear now isn't covered, or cover is being postponed until people recover, then there is less reason to take out cover," he said.

Insurers will not cover Covid-19 on serious illness policies. They say it is not a defined illness on these policies.

Zurich said it was standard industry practice that insurers awaited the results of any medical tests before cases were fully underwritten.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has identified one additional presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Bay County resulting in two total cases in the county, according to a press release from the Bay County Health Department. The new case involves an adult female.

The Bay County Health Department is identifying and contacting the close contacts of this individual, assessing for risk and determining management of those exposed.

COVID-19 causes a respiratory illness ranging from a mild cold-like illness to severe pneumonia. Studies of the virus suggest that more than 80% of people diagnosed with COVID-19 encounter mild symptoms and recover quickly. However, the people who are most likely to have severe disease and complications from COVID-19 are older individuals (over 60 years old) and those with other medical conditions such as heart and lung disease or diabetes.This is especially important as Bay County has the highest percentage of persons over the age of 60 (26%) in the state of Michigan, according to the release.

Earlier Monday morning, Governor Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-21, which directs all Michigan business and operations to temporarily suspend in-person operations that are not necessary to sustain or protect life. The Stay Home, Stay Safe Executive Order becomes effective at 12:01 a.m on Tuesday, March 24. The Bay County Health Department strongly encourages Bay County residents to adhere to the Stay Home, Stay Sage Executive Order.

In order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, follow these recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control:

1. Wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer.

2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.

3. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

4. Avoid handshakes.

5. Avoid contact with people who are sick.

6. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces.

7. IF YOU ARE SICK, STAY HOME.

If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your health care provider for medical advice.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled on Monday a sweeping counterproposal to Senate Republicans' $1.8 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

Why it matters: House Democrats' legislation  which comes with a $2.5 trillion price tag  comes after negotiations between Capitol Hill leaders and the White House broke down over the weekend, culminating in two failed procedural votes that have left the Senate Republicans' bill in limbo.

The state of play: Democrats, who have asserted that the Senate GOP bill is a corporate slush fund that doesn't do enough to help American workers, are hoping that the release of this bill will give them more leverage in negotiations with Republicans.

But Republicans have accused Democrats of playing politics during a national crisis by stalling action on their bill, calling this latest measure a "Democratic wish list"  as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell characterized it.

The "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act":

Increases the amount of money being offered to individuals to $1,500, and up to $7,500 for a family of five. The same GOP income thresholds in the GOP bill would apply  $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples, but the benefit would be available to anyone with an individual taxpayer identification number, retirees and unemployed individuals.

to $1,500, and up to $7,500 for a family of five. The same GOP income thresholds in the GOP bill would apply  $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples, but the benefit would be available to anyone with an individual taxpayer identification number, retirees and unemployed individuals. Waives $10,000 in federal student loan payments.

payments. Dedicate $4 billion in grant funding to help states with upcoming elections and nationally mandates 15 days of early voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail, including mailing a ballot to all registered voters in an emergency.

to help states with upcoming elections and nationally mandates 15 days of early voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail, including mailing a ballot to all registered voters in an emergency. Includes a section that would cancel several executive orders and presidential memorandums that Democrats argue have weakened public sector unions' ability to engage in collective bargaining.

several executive orders and presidential memorandums that Democrats argue have weakened public sector unions' ability to engage in collective bargaining. Creates new carbon offset guidelines for airlines, with a long-term goal of reducing jet fuel emissions by 50% by 2050.

with a long-term goal of reducing jet fuel emissions by 50% by 2050. Allocates $150 billion to support hospitals, local health centers and government-funded medical programs, with an additional $80 billion in low-interest loans to hospitals.

local health centers and government-funded medical programs, with an additional $80 billion in low-interest loans to hospitals. Eliminates cost-sharing for coronavirus treatments and vaccines for all patients, including the uninsured.

for coronavirus treatments and vaccines for all patients, including the uninsured. Addresses broader health care concerns that Democrats have pushed for months, including increasing subsidies on the individual market and creating new incentives for states to expand Medicaid.

that Democrats have pushed for months, including increasing subsidies on the individual market and creating new incentives for states to expand Medicaid. Provides child care assistance to health care workers and emergency personnel.

to health care workers and emergency personnel. Would temporarily provide $600 per week to unemployed workers affected by the coronavirus. Self-employed workers, Americans whose contracts were canceled, and new entrants to the job market would also be eligible.

workers affected by the coronavirus. Self-employed workers, Americans whose contracts were canceled, and new entrants to the job market would also be eligible. Expands paid sick leave and family medical leave, as well as gives more money to food-safety benefits.

and family medical leave, as well as gives more money to food-safety benefits. Provides $500 billion in grants and interest-free loans to small businesses.

and interest-free loans to small businesses. Creates a $200 billion stabilization fund for states and $15 billion for local governments through the Community Development Block Grant program. The legislation also authorizes the Federal Reserve to purchase state and local government bonds.

for states and $15 billion for local governments through the Community Development Block Grant program. The legislation also authorizes the Federal Reserve to purchase state and local government bonds. Pumps nearly $60 billion into schools and universities , with $50 billion directly provided to states for school funding and nearly $10 billion to higher education institutions.

, with $50 billion directly provided to states for school funding and nearly $10 billion to higher education institutions. Dedicates $20 billion to reimbursing the U.S. Postal Service for lost revenue, and forgives USPS debt.

for lost revenue, and forgives USPS debt. Requires companies receiving federal assistance during coronavirus to institute a $15 minimum wage.

What's next: Discussions between McConnell, Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will continue over the next few days. Both sides are confident they will ultimately reach an agreement given the dire need to deliver this aid as soon as possible.

Read the bill ... and compare it to McConnell's.

Go deeper: Procedural vote on coronavirus stimulus fails for 2nd time in 24 hours

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional details from the 1,119-page bill.
ROME, March 23 (Reuters) - Metalworkers unions in Italy's northern Lombardy region said on Monday they would strike to protect the health of their members because a government decree temporarily shutting many businesses due to coronavirus contained too many loopholes and exceptions.

The three main unions, FIOM, FIM and UILM, said in a statement that the list of companies that can continue working "has been excessively extended, covering areas of dubious importance" and allowing firms "excessive discretion" in applying for exemptions.

Lombardy is the Italian region worst hit by the epidemic, which killed 5,476 people nationwide up to Sunday.

The unions said they would announce the details of their strike in coming days. The government decree, signed on Sunday, says all but "essential" businesses must close until April 3, and sets out a long list of sectors deemed essential.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones, editing by Giulia Segreti)
Greetings from Australia, the Commonwealth of confusion. Video of angry shoppers brawling over toilet rolls in Sydney supermarket aisles was broadcast around the world. Closely followed by footage of massed crowds cheerfully breaking disease control laws by clustering on Bondi beach.

If a picture could tell a thousand words: Bondi Beach being closed after beachgoers ignored social distancing rules. Credit:Steven Siewert

One is a picture of a panicked Australia terrified of the consequences of the virus, the other of a recklessly indifferent Australia that just doesn't care. Should we be terrified, or should we be indifferent?

At the same time, Australia's states and territories are splintering off in different directions. First, Tasmania shut its borders to the rest of the country. Then the Northern Territory does the same, followed by South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.

Different states announced different rules for quarantining foreign shipping. Then, on the weekend, Victoria broke away from everyone else and announced that its schools would be closed from Tuesday. Other states are keeping their schools open, but with attendance at the discretion of parents. When the Commonwealth looks so confused, is it any wonder that the people are, too?
By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/03/23

The crew for the upcoming South Korean film "Bogota: City of the Lost" has been forcibly returned to South Korea after their entry into the country of Colombia was denied. This makes "Bogota: City of the Lost" the latest in a long line of films with a production status now on hold in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. The news followed a ban by Colombia on all foreign travelers into the country following the introduction of COVID-19 into South America on March 16th. The movie is set to star Song Joong-ki in the leading role.

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"Bogota: City of the Lost" is not the only major movie to be affected in such a way. "Kidnapped", which was to be a team-up between major stars Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon as well as "Kingdom" director Kim Seong-hun was going to start production in late March but the movie takes place at least partially in Lebanon. It is unknown when production may be able to get started.

These new production roadblocks echo previous bans that have resulted in halts in the production of "The Roundup" as well as "The Point Men", which were to have location shooting in Vietnam and Jordan respectively. Domestic film production has also slowed down due to the difficulty of locating proper film locations, and how safety precautions now cause shoots to take far longer than in normal circumstances.

Written by William Schwartz
Pak PM's aide rules out countrywide lockdown, assures of availability of daily items

Pakistan on Tuesday expressed the hope that the government, with the cooperation of the people, will soon get be able to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and, to this effect, strict measures are being taken gradually.

Special assistant to Prime Minister on health, Dr Zafar Mirza, said that no countrywide lockdown is being observed and the availability of all daily use items are assured.

He said that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), as the frontline organisation, is taking swift action on the proposals and advice of the ministry of health to ensure the availability of all necessary medicines and medical equipment.

The special assistant thanked all the Pakistanis living in the country and abroad for their generous offer for donations and said that in this regard a person will be appointed soon for firsthand information.

Dr Zafar Mirza also said that the government is chalking out national-level programmes, which include training of 5,000 medical professionals and a national volunteer programme, for effectively handling such cases in future.

Giving updates of Covid-19 cases across the country, the minister said that currently there were 892 confirmed cases, with an increase of 89 cases during the last 24 hours. There are about 7,736 suspected cases, with 1,265 new ones being reported in the last 24 years.

He said that the number of coronavirus patients in Balochistan was 110, Sindh 399, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 38, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 1, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 80, Punjab 259, and Islamabad 15.

He also said that out of the total confirmed cases, the ratio of women and men was 37 and 63 per cent respectively.

Currently, a total of 4,788 persons have been kept in quarantine across the country, he added.
Meeting of Ministers for European Affairs, Tuesday 24 March

Press release

Meeting of Ministers for European Affairs, Tuesday 24 March

Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, T.D., joined her EU Ministerial colleagues today, by videoconference, for a meeting of Ministers for European Affairs.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis facing all EU Member States as they work together to overcome this challenge.

After the meeting, Minister McEntee said:

These are very difficult days for us all, a crisis the likes of which has never been encountered on such a global scale before. I would like to express Irelands appreciation for the solidarity and support which has been demonstrated by all EU Partners & Institutions as we attempt to muster our resources to overcome this pandemic.

I reaffirmed the clear role which I and other of my EU colleagues believe we as European Affairs Ministers can play in communicating the important efforts and practical cooperation being undertaken at both EU and national level to tackle this unprecedented crisis.

I also took the opportunity today to offer Irelands sympathy to the Croatian EU Presidency, following the injuries and damage suffered during Sundays earthquake near Zagreb.

During the meeting, Ministers discussed the issue of EU enlargement and Member States endorsed the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. This is in light of the progress that both countries have achieved on reforms and the fulfilment of the conditions set unanimously by the Council in June 2018.

In addition, Member States approved the Commission Communication on "Enhancing the accession process - A credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans". The measures set out in the Commission Communication are aimed at reinvigorating the accession process by increasing its dynamism and credibility, while also making it subject to stronger political steering.

On the issue of enlargement, Minister McEntee said:

I am pleased to have reached agreement with my European colleagues on opening EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. Both countries have continued to deliver on their reform commitments, and a positive decision is fully deserved and, indeed, overdue. Such a decision will reinforce the European perspective of the Western Balkans region, and sends a positive signal at what is an extremely difficult time for us all, as we confront the very serious challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ENDS

Press Office

24 March 2020



Notes for Editors

Accession negotiations

Albania - In June 2014, Albania was awarded candidate status by the EU. Four years later, in April 2018, the European Commission issued an unconditional recommendation to open accession negotiations with Albania, and reiterated the recommendation to open accession talks in the Enlargement Package adopted in May 2019 and in its recent progress report on the country.

North Macedonia  In December 2005, North Macedonia was awarded candidate status by the EU. Since October 2009, the Commission has recommended to open accession negotiations with the country, with the recommendation made conditional in 2015 on substantial progress in the implementation of the "Urgent Reform Priorities". In light of the progress achieved, the Commission made an unconditional recommendation to open accession negotiations in April 2018, and reiterated the recommendation to open accession talks in the Enlargement Package adopted in May 2019 and in its recent progress report on the country.

Commission Communication on enhancing the accession process

The Communication was published on 5 February and sets out a revised enlargement methodology which is built around four main principles:

Credibility: Candidate countries need to deliver on the reforms they promised, and EU needs to deliver when they do.

Candidate countries need to deliver on the reforms they promised, and EU needs to deliver when they do. Stronger political steer: Engaging with the candidates at top level through regular summits and ministerial meetings. Member States will be involved more strongly and have better opportunities to monitor and review the process.

Engaging with the candidates at top level through regular summits and ministerial meetings. Member States will be involved more strongly and have better opportunities to monitor and review the process. A more dynamic process: Clustering chapters will allow for more thorough political discussions on thematic areas and to identify opportunities for early alignment and integration into EU policies. The cluster on fundamentals (rule of law, economic criteria and public administration reform) will take a central role and sufficient progress will need to be achieved before other clusters can be opened.

Clustering chapters will allow for more thorough political discussions on thematic areas and to identify opportunities for early alignment and integration into EU policies. The cluster on fundamentals (rule of law, economic criteria and public administration reform) will take a central role and sufficient progress will need to be achieved before other clusters can be opened. Predictability for both sides: Defining more clearly the conditions for candidate countries. Providing them with clear incentives if key reforms successfully implemented and more decisive measures sanctioning any serious or prolonged stagnation or backsliding on reforms.

 Previous Item | Next Item 
Human rights conditions in Venezuela continued to worsen under the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro, according to the 2019 State Department Human Rights Report.

During the last two years, Maduro has moved decisively to consolidate his power. His term ended on January 10, 2019, but Maduro tried to stay in power by claiming victory in the 2018 presidential election, which was widely condemned as neither free nor fair. On January 23, 2019, Juan Guaido, as president of the National Assembly, assumed the role of interim president as provided for under the constitution. But Maduro, with the backing of hundreds of Cuban security force members, refused to cede control to Guaido.

Maduros power grab has resulted in significant human rights abuses committed every day against Venezuelans, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They include extra extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detentions.

For more than 800 days, the former Maduro regime has held six CITGO employees - five of whom are U.S. citizens and one of whom is a U.S. legal permanent resident - without due process. Eighteen hearings have been cancelled, suggesting that these six men are actually political prisoners.

Maduros regime has been particularly harsh in its treatment of Guaido supporters. A case in point is that of opposition leader Elwin Mendoza. In February 2019, he was brought before a military tribunal simply because he called for desperately needed humanitarian aid deliveries to Venezuela. Maduros thugs, said Secretary Pompeo, locked up [Mendoza]. Neither his family nor a doctor could visit. And one month later he had died at the age of 34.

Others caught in Maduros crackdown include Guaidos chief of staff, Roberto Marrero. He was arrested in March 2019 in his home and charged falsely with conspiracy, treason, and weapons smuggling.If convicted on these trumped up charges, Marrero faces up to 30 years in prison.

The 2019 Human Rights Report honors those whove paid the ultimate sacrifice for fighting for human freedom and dignity. Its a service to those punished for their beliefs and to those who continue the fight, said Secretary Pompeo:

We pray for a day when Cubans, Venezuelans, Chinese and Iranians, and all peoples can speak and assemble freely without fear of their own governments.

The human rights report, he added, is a sign of Americas continued belief in the peoples of the world to respect and uphold fundamental rights for every one of their citizens.
The Nigerian military has confirmed the attack on troops that led to the death of many soldiers in Gorgi, a village in Yobe State.

The military delayed comment on the attack until PREMIUM TIMES and other newspapers published reports about it.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that about 50 soldiers lost their lives after Boko Haram staged a deadly ambush on a moving convoy of troops around Alagarno in Yobe State.

Confirming the development at a press briefing, Coordinator of Directorate of Defence Media Operations (DDMO), John Enenche, blamed the massacre of soldiers on locals around the area. He said the locals leaked intelligence on the movement of troops to the Boko Haram.

Mr Enenche, a major general, said the slain troops were on their way back from Alagarno after a successful military operation when suspected local informants allegedly leaked movements of Nigerian troops to Boko Haram.

The generals statement at the press conference was circulated by PRNigeria, a public relations firm close to the Nigerian security agencies.

Mr Enenche said the terrorists used the information provided by their local collaborators to stage an ambush and shot at military logistics trucks conveying fuel and ammunition.

He said the attack on the trucks caused massive explosions that led to the death of 47 gallant troops of the Nigerian military.

Mr Enenche said the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole were on clearance and fighting patrol operation to Gorgi between March 21 and, 23, which was successfully done.

However during a consolidation operation, they were ambushed by elements of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT),, he said.

Sadly, the Nigerian military suffered some casualties in the unfortunate attack.

However the Air Component of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE scrambled immediately and provided Close Air Support to the ground troops.

While the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform as well as the fighter jets engaged the Boko Haram Terrorists immobilizing killing some of the terrorists and immobilizing a gun truck. Some others who attempted to withdraw were also mopped up by the jets in follow-on attacks.

The Defence Headquarters commiserate with the families of our fallen gallant heroes who paid the supreme price in the course of defending our fatherland.

We assure Nigerians that the Armed forces and other security agencies in furtherance of the objective of restoring peace and security in the North East and other parts of the country will continue to sustain the offensive against the enemies of our nation.

He said an earlier video had shown a gathering of Boko Haram terrorists and their locations before they were bombarded and totally obliterated by the air component of the operation lafiya dole.
BENICIA (BCN)

Benicia City Manager Lorie Tinfow signed an order Sunday that stays evictions for non-payment of rent in the city due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The order does not relieve tenants of liability for unpaid rent but places a moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent due to coronavirus impacts. The order includes provisions for eviction notices and no-fault evictions.

Under the order, tenants are responsible for letting their landlord know that they are unable to pay some or all of the rent due to the coronavirus. Payment will then be due within 60 days of May 31 or when the city's order expires, whichever is later.

Tinfow, who also is the city's Director of Emergency Services, signed the order in accordance with the California Emergency Services Act and the Benicia Municipal Code.

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.
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/24/2020 -- According to the "Medical Animation Market" report, the main contributing factors of the Global Medical Animation Market are increasing sales strategies, revenue generation, valuable growth anticipation, and cost structure study. Businesses can achieve key statistics on the market status of regional and global manufacturers along with precious guidance and direction to drive the business towards growth and success. It also provides the analysis of the global market share, segmentation, revenue growth estimation and geographic regions of the market. The research work, market insights and analysis is carried out thoroughly in this Medical Animation Market report that brings the marketplace clearly into the center of attention.



Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-medical-animation-market



The major players covered in the medical animation market report are INFUSE MEDIA GROUP, LLC., Hybrid Medical Animation, Ghost Productions, Inc., Scientific Animations Inc., INVIVO Communications Inc., Random42 Scientific Communication, AXS Studio, Visible Body, Animated Biomedical Productions, XVIVO Scientific Animation, Blausen Medical, Trinsic Animation, Understand.com, LLC., Medmovie.com, Polygon Animation Ltd., Trinity Animation, Syntropy, STATICS & SPARKLE, Vee Create among other domestic and global players. Market share data is available for Global, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America separately. DBMR analysts understand competitive strengths and provide competitive analysis for each competitor separately.



Market Analysis and Insights of Global Medical Animation Market



The medical animation market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account for USD 917.82 million by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 20.4% in the above-mentioned forecast period. Increasing usage of medical animation in the marketing of the pharmaceutical products is expected to create opportunity for the market.



Medical animation is type of a small educational film which usually consist information on surgical and physiological topic. These animations are usually made with the help of the 3D computer graphics.



Increasing adoption of medical animation by life science & medical device companies is expected to enhance the market growth. Some of the other factors such as growth in the pharmaceutical & medical device industry, rising usage of smartphones & tablets, increasing aging population, rising number of surgeries and growing demand for advanced techniques is anticipated to drive the market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027.



Some of the factors such as high cost of the medical animation services and lack of certified medical animators will also hamper the growth of this market.



This medical animation market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localised market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on Data Bridge Market Research medical animation market contact us for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.



Global Medical Animation Market Scope and Market Size



By Type (3D Animation, 2D Animation, Real Time Imaging (4D Animation), Flash Animation),



By Therapeutic Area (Oncology, Cardiology, Cosmeceuticals/Plastic Surgery, Dental, Others),



By Application (Drug Mechanism of Action (MOA) and Approval, Patient Education, Surgical Training and Planning, Cellular and Molecular Studies, Others),



By End-Users (Life Science Companies, Medical Device Manufacturers, Hospitals, Surgical Centers, and Clinics, Academic Institutes, Others),



By Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherland, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia- Pacific, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East & Africa), Market Trends and Forecast to 2027



Inquiry Before Buying @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-medical-animation-market



Medical Animation Market Country Level Analysis



The medical animation market is analyzed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, type, therapeutic area, application and end-users as referenced above.



The countries covered in the medical animation market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.



North America dominates the medical animation market in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. This is due to increasing healthcare spending, presence of various pharmaceutical company and increasing number of surgeries in the country.



The country section of the medical animation market report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in regulation in the market domestically that impacts the current and future trends of the market. Data points such as consumption volumes, production sites and volumes, import export analysis, price trend analysis, cost of raw materials, down-stream and upstream value chain analysis are some of the major pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.



Healthcare Infrastructure Growth Installed Base and New Technology Penetration



Medical animation market also provides you with detailed market analysis for every country growth in healthcare expenditure for capital equipment's, installed base of different kind of products for medical animation market, impact of technology using life line curves and changes in healthcare regulatory scenarios and their impact on the medical animation market. The data is available for historic period 2010 to 2018.



Competitive Landscape and Medical Animation Market Share Analysis



The medical animation market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies' focus related to the medical animation market.



Table of Contents



1. Introduction



2. Market Segmentation



3. Market Overview



4. Executive Summary



5. Premium Insights



6. Global, By Component



7. Product Type



8. Delivery



9. Industry Type



10. Geography



10.1. Overview

10.2. North America

10.3. Europe

10.4. Asia-Pacific

10.5. South America

10.6. Middle East & Africa



11. Company Landscape



12. Company Profiles



13. Related Reports



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Two persons with recent international travel history are among five new coronavirus positive cases reported in Gujarat, taking the state-wide count of the infection to 35 on Tuesday, a top government official said.

Out of these fresh five cases, three are of local transmission - two in Gandhinagar and one in Rajkot - while one patientfrom Rajkot and one from Surat has history of travelling abroad, including Saudi Arabia, recently, the official said.

With this, Ahmedabad has reported 13 coronavirus cases till now, followed by Vadodara, Surat and Gandhinagar (6 each), Rajkot (3) and Kutch (1), he said.

The state health department has also carried out intensive surveillance of 30 lakh people in districts with positive cases, and intends to cover the entire state in coming two weeks as part of preventive measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus, Chief Secretary Anil Mukim said.

All ministers in Gujarat have decided to donate one month's salary in the CM Relief Fund to help fight the pandemic.

Any donor, corporate house or individual, wanting to contribute towards the anti-coronavirus fight may do so by making donations to the CM Relief Fund, he said.

"Out of new 110 samples received today, we tested 97 cases, out of which two are positive while 93 are negative (other results pending). Both the positive cases are from Rajkot, with one having history of travelling abroad, and another of local transmission," Mukim said.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has risen from 33, as reported in the morning, to 35 now, the state's top bureaucrat said.

Mukim said the health department has carried out surveillance of affected districts and covered around 30 lakh people till nows.

"In the coming two weeks, we will cover the entire state," the Chief Secretary said.

It was also decided at a review meeting, attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, that all ministers will contribute one month's salary to the CM Relief Fund, he said.

For individual or company desirous of making contribution towards the coronavirus relief, they can do so in the CM Relief Fund. This was also decided at the review meeting," Mukim told reporters.

Outpatient departments (OPDs) of government hospitals will continue to function as usual, and private hospitals have also been requested to run their own such facilities regularly, and free of cost if possible, he said.

Gujarat is the first state to start a state-wide survey to deal with the coronavirus, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi claimed earlier.

The Gujarat government on Monday night announced a lockdown across the state till March 31 to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Till date, 11,108 people have been placed under 14-day quarantine, out of which 10,850 are under home isolation, 34 in private hospitals and 224 in government facilities, Ravi said.

As many as 21 FIRs have been filed so far against people breaking the quarantine protocol, she said.

Gujarat is the first state which is carrying out surveillance of areas where people have returned from abroad, as well as their neighbours and contacts, using Integrated Disease Surveillance Platform (IDSP), Ravi said.

"The survey also covers people who have reported severe acute respiratory infection, high breathlessness or high fever, and ailments that could be suspected (coronavirus) cases," she said.

The government is in the process of setting up special hospitals in four cities to deal with coronavirus patients, the Principal Secretary.

These hospitals will be in Ahmedabad (1,200 beds), Surat (500 beds), Vadodara (250 beds) and Rajkot (250 beds).

State government-run hospitals have isolation wards with 1,583 beds, while private hospitals in Gujarat in have 635 such beds to deal with coronavirus cases, she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RUSEV OFFERS TO HELP, GARGANO COMMENTS ON BEING CALLED OUT BY TRIPLE H AND MORE

With so many of the WWE staff sitting at home due to WWE's greatly reduced production and touring being shut down, Rusev posted the following offer, noting that he's earmarked $20,000 to assist them:

In Bulgaria we say  Its not a lot but its from the heart I pledge 20,000$ to any of my WWE extended family that are sitting at home without income. WE cant do it without yall. Production, security, etc. LOVE YALL.  Miro (@RusevBUL) March 24, 2020

Johnny Gargano tweeted the following:

I'm not worried about any repercussions from Hunter on Wednesday..



1) He saw how things really went down.



2) He knows what's best for business (NXT can't live without a Heart and Soul. That's just science.)



3) He ?'s me.



4) We go WAAAY back!



Everything is fiiinne, ya goofs. https://t.co/mlLXrGIOal pic.twitter.com/nnk8x1RmgK  Johnny Gargano (@JohnnyGargano) March 24, 2020

Shane Thorne commented on his Raw debut last night:

Atleast we won the crowd over...#RAW  Shane Thorne (@ShaneThorneWWE) March 24, 2020

Asuka posted the following:

The Big Show Show will debut 4/6 on Netflix:

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
The bill aimed at formulating



independent legislation for the working of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and also extends the tenure of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for five years, which was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, was referred to the joint select committee.

The assembly also passed several bills including the budget, supplementary estimates, appropriation bill among others, before it was adjourned sine die by Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri.

Soon after the passage of the finance bill, as Revenue Minister R Ashoka on behalf of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa tabled the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Bill, 2020 and moved it for the consideration of House, several ruling BJP members opposed it, stating that they need to study it in detail.

Pointing out that most of them had not even got the copy of the bill and opposition Congress and JD(S) members too were not present in the House, BJP MLAs said "we need to take the opinion of opposition members too on this important bill, so the bill be referred to joint select committee."



The Congress on Tuesday boycotted the session accusing government of not heeding the oppositions views and tabling and passingthe bills, despite its reservations.

The JD(S) too walked out as the Chair did not agree to the partys demand of allowing them to raise an issue before Chief Minister's reply on the budget.

The Speaker said he has received letter from several Congress legislators asking the bill to be referred to the committee.

Ashoka and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy then said the government was fine with the bill being referred to joint select committee.

"We are open minded on this."



Following this the Speaker announced that the bill will be referred to the joint select committee.

The bill in its statement of objectives and reasons states that Bengaluru, which is a major centre of economic activity with a large and growing population with 714 sqkm area is under the jurisdiction of BBMP, which has been established and governed under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.

It stated that the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act is inadequate in administrative and structural matters to govern Bengaluru as it provides limited flexibility and is a common legislation catering to nine smaller municipal corporations.

It said there is an urgent need to formulate an independent legislation for the working of BBMP for the purpose of improving decentralization, integration of public participation at various levels of municipal governance and ensuring effective decision making by municipal authorities.

Among various things, the bill proposes for Mayor and Deputy Mayor to hold office for a period of five years, increasing it from current one-year.

The Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2020 aimed at reducing the term of the offices of presidents and vice-presidents of gram panchayats, taluk panchayats, and zilla panchayats from five years to 30 months, was also passed by the assembly.

Also passed was Karnataka Regulation of Stone Crushers(Amendment) Bill, 2020,among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As public health officials struggle to contain the spread of the coronavirus, determining whether a person has a fever is now a high-stakes matter, and using temperature guns to screen people has become a visible strategy for detecting possible cases. Any infectious disease  one of the cardinal signs of infection is raised body temperature, says Waleed Javaid, the director of infection prevention and control for the Mount Sinai Downtown Network. But theres a catch: That means you know the body temperature before you raised it.

Body temperature varies considerably both among and within people, based on weight, height, physical activity, the weather, clothing. Older people tend to be cooler than younger people. A recent review suggests women might tend to be slightly warmer than men. Temperature also fluctuates with the sleep-wake cycle. Of course, public health officials cant know each persons usual thermal patterns, so their advice is based on population averages. Yet those numbers arent consistent, either, and most refer to oral temperature, which is considered more accurate than an infrared scan of the forehead. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers above 100 to be a flu-related fever. The National Institutes of Health says an adult with a temperature above 99 probably has a fever, depending on the time of day. Before the current pandemic, hospitals would generally assess fever and act upon it differently in response to individual patients and diagnoses; schools have had various thresholds to determine when parents should keep their children home. Perhaps the most well-known benchmark is 98.6 degrees, which many people, including physicians and public health agencies, consider to be a baseline. All of us think back to our mothers taking our temperature and saying: Its 98.6. Youre going to school, says Dr. Julie Parsonnet, an infectious-diseases specialist at Stanford University.

That number dates to 1851, when a German physician named Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich began taking what he purported were millions of temperature readings from 25,000 patients in Leipzig. Their average, he announced, was the Celsius equivalent of 98.6. That figure, which he defined as normal, has persisted, despite numerous more recent studies that put the average closer to 97.88 or lower. A 1992 study in JAMA suggested that the discrepancy could be explained by Wunderlichs primitive thermometer or other external variables. But Parsonnet wondered if our average body temperature might have decreased. Initially, she couldnt find records going back far enough to find out. Then in 2018, the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging received an update: medical records of veterans of the Union Army taken from 1862 until 1940 that contained 83,900 temperature readings. Parsonnet and colleagues analyzed the data according to the veterans birth decades and found that average body temperature steadily decreased by about .02 degree Celsius per decade; veterans born more recently were cooler. These data were compared with data collected between 1971 and 75 and between 2007 and 17. Over all, a similar pattern emerged: The average temperature of men born between 1800 and 1997 decreased by about .03 degree per birth decade. (Women born between 1890 and 1997 had a .029 per decade decrease but werent represented in the Union Army data.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

Trend:

The flight on route Baku-Warsaw is scheduled for March 27 to evacuate Polish citizens, Trend reports referring to the Polish embassy in Azerbaijan.

The Polish government is organizing support for Polish citizens and foreigners that are coming to Poland on the terms applicable for Polish citizens, i.e.:

- spouses of Polish citizens,

- children of Polish citizens,

- people with a Pole's Card,

- people who have the right of permanent or temporary residence in Poland or a work permit,

- diplomats,

- foreigners who operate a means of transport for the carriage of goods.

Tickets are available on: www.lot.com
OTTAWANo, the city of Toronto is not using mass surveillance to track the spread of COVID-19.

But should it be?

The coronavirus crisis is prompting a debate about civil liberties in a time of pandemic. Countries around the world  some democratic, others not  have either put in place or are considering tools of mass surveillance to track infected citizens and to notify those who came in contact with them.

The methods vary but the goal is the same: to slow the spread of COVID-19 and enforce bans on public gatherings as governments urge citizens to practise social distancing.

There was briefly some concern that it was already happening in Toronto. On Monday, the website The Logic reported that Mayor John Tory told a TechTO audience that the cellphone companies had given us all the data ... pinging off their network on the weekend so we could see where citizens were still congregating.

On Tuesday, Tory told the Star he had misspoken.

I made it sound like it was happening, not knowing it wasnt happening, he said, adding that he had raised the idea casually but hadnt spent time considering it deeply or putting it in use.

The city of Toronto will not be using cellphone location data, nor does it have such data, to determine where people are not practising physical distancing, city spokesperson Brad Ross added in a written statement.

But Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have left open the door to more invasive surveillance techniques in order to enforce their requests for Canadians to stay at home to slow the pandemics spread.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trudeau said tracking citizens by their cellular traffic is not something we are looking at now, but reiterated that all options are on the table in federal efforts to combat COVID-19.

I think we recognize that in an emergency situation we need to take certain steps that wouldnt be taken in non-emergency situations, Trudeau said when asked about telecommunications surveillance.

Civil liberties advocates have raised questions about the efficacy of cellphone tracking to slow the pandemic, and the potential costs of giving security and law enforcement agencies that kind of power.

Its really important not to indulge in knee-jerk reactions against leveraging data technology to surveil disease, but we need to be realistic about where more data collection  actually supports accountable decision making, and where it will hurt human rights and more fundamentally human dignity, said Brenda McPhail, the director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Associations privacy, law and surveillance project.

There are a lot of ways that data-driven surveillance can cross that line between necessary and helpful to disproportionate  Is it untargeted? Is it indiscriminate? Is it inappropriately constrained?

Whether mass surveillance is an effective tool in slowing the spread of COVID-19 is also a complicated question, said Christopher Parsons of the University of Torontos Citizen Lab.

Law enforcement agencies are already able to track cellphone traffic in a given area by a process known as tower dumps. Thats when an agency requests data for all the traffic that crossed a specific cellular tower or group of towers.

But Parsons, who researches surveillance technology and methods, said hes unaware of any existing systems that can be used for Canada-wide mass cellphone surveillance.

Any (lawful interception) system thats currently been set up for law enforcement use, I suspect  would not scale to the population level immediately, Parsons told the Star on Tuesday.

So there are going to be some limitations in scaling all of this up, to say nothing of the fact that  most services and technologies of this nature havent been tested at this scale, so all sorts of wonderful problems could crop up should the Government of Canada compel telecommunications to start doing that, he said.

If the goal is to discourage large gatherings or notify people they may have come into contact with someone who has contracted COVID-19, there may be more efficient, proven and low-tech ways government can do that.

Some countries in which mass surveillance is used appear to have had early success in using it to slow the viruss spread.

China, the epicentre of COVID-19, resorted to cellphone tracking to restrict citizen movements.

Singapore put in place extensive testing, as well as surveillance and quarantine measures that employed closed-circuit television and contact-tracing teams, the Financial Times reported . The city-states government also released an app called TraceTogether, which uses Bluetooth technology to measure peoples distance from each other and length of contact, then transmits that data to health officials.

South Korea, Israel, Italy, and some U.S. states have taken what would normally be considered extreme steps to analyze and limit citizens movements, the New York Times reported.

The debate appears to be a philosophical one in Canada for the moment. Bell Canada and Rogers Communications told the Star that they have not transferred subscriber information to governments, and Telus Communications has told other media the same.

We havent been asked by any governments for this kind of support, Bell spokesperson Nathan Gibson said in a brief written statement.

But (Bell) would consider it if it helps in the fight against COVID-19 while respecting privacy laws.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A prison break Monday in Yakima, Wash., has sparked a manhunt for six inmates, amid coronavirus (COVID-19) fears inside the facility, according to multiple reports.

More than half of the 14 prisoners who escaped have been recaptured, and have indicated they acted out of fear, saying they were upset after the governors press conference regarding the statewide order to shelter in place," KAPP-TV reported.

The prisoners reportedly used a table to bust through an emergency fire door, then hopped a fence surrounding the facility.

Meanwhile, in New York City, officials had released 75 prisoners from city jails, as of Monday morning, and was considering the release of 200 more inmates as the coronavirus spreads, including some prisoners who are nearing the end of their sentences, Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week in an interview with 1010Wins.

RELATED COVERAGE:

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Ireland is set to escape the possibility of snow, although temperatures will drop again at the weekend.

While there is a slight chance of wintry showers over northern Ulster at the weekend, Ireland - especially along the east coast - will be blessed with mostly dry and spring-like weather for the next few days.

Today will be dry in most areas, while eastern and southern counties can expect some sunny spells and daytime highs of between 10C and 14C.

However, there will be some patchy drizzle in Atlantic coastal areas.

Tomorrow will remain dry with similar daytime highs in most areas, although it will be cooler in the west and north-west with some drizzle.

Warm

Thursday will start off dry and mild but clouds and drizzle will move in before temperatures drop to between 8C and 11C by Friday, with a chance of wintry showers in the north and north-west on Friday and Saturday.

However, forecaster Liz Walsh said it's unlikely Ireland will see any wintry showers.

The exception may be the high ground in north Ulster as a system is expected to move into northern Scotland by the weekend.

Otherwise, "the overall signal is relatively dry as a high pressure system moves in", she told the Herald.

"The next few days will be dry and warm but after Thursday, temperatures will begin to drop," she added.

The weekend will see a return to colder weather, although it will be bright with some sunny spells.
Citywide

AIDS/LifeCycle cyclist John Pacheco. (Source: AIDS/LifeCycle)

AIDS/LifeCycle will not return this year due to COVID-19 concerns, halting the annual fundraiser for HIV/AIDS service providers for the first time since it began in 2002.

The cancellation, which came in an announcement last week, has been emotionally devastating, according to several sources who spoke to Hoodline. It may also be a major blow to fundraising efforts for HIV/AIDS services  the event brought in $16.8 million in 2019, $16.6 million in 2018, and $15.4 million in 2017.

Our hearts are all broken, Tracy Evans, ride director for AIDS/LifeCycle, told Hoodline by phone. Were looking forward to getting back to having the seven days we all know and love.

Those days were slated to take place May 31 to June 6, with thousands of participants signed up to ride or assist those embarking on the 545-mile trek from Daly City to Los Angeles.

The event is as much a fundraiser as it is a community-oriented party, with rest stops along the route for everyone to connect, rejuvenate, camp, and dance.

Were a moving city, said Erick Lopez, captain of Rest Stop 4, the last spot riders stop at every day before setting up camp for the night. Lopezs stop in particular is known for its commitment to costumes and themes. Sometimes we call it our own mini Disneyland, he said.

Lopez is a longtime bartender of The Edge in Castro. He said the death of well-known drag queen Cookie Dough in 2015 inspired him to step up his community involvement.

Of the cancellation, he noted, I dont think it's quite hit me yet. Im making sure everybody around me is okay first. Once I do that, I know its going to hit me all at once.

Others feel similarly shocked.

Im totally freaked out about what this is going to mean, said John Pacheco, a San Francisco-based participant who has been involved with the fundraiser for seven years. He expressed some anxiety about how local HIV/AIDS services could be affected without the significant money AIDS/LifeCycle raises.

Story continues

Is it the case that people in the community are going to suffer more than they otherwise would? he asked.

The answer is unclear, Evans said.

I wish we had a crystal ball, she said. Right now, we continue to move forward, and with that, our need to stay committed to the mission and fundraising is as important as ever.

That means fundraising wont stop. Right now, the organization has raised about $6 million, and participants pages will remain open for more donations during the 2020 season. AIDS/LifeCycle planned a virtual town hall for Monday, March 23 at 5 p.m., including a planned Q&A for concerned members to voice their concerns.

Many participants are mourning the cancellation of the event.

New rider Eric Kampling, who grew up in Wichita, Kansas, said the event helped him overcome the stigma against HIV and learn more about the LGBTQ+ community generally.

I feel like the stigmas around HIV kept me closeted longer than I would have liked to be, he said, adding, Ive experienced the harm HIV stigma has had on the gay community, I feel thats going to happen for Chinese people.

This would have been Kamplings second year riding, he said, noting he cried almost every day during LifeCycle last year.

It was not common to be told Im a hero or that Im doing something really important, he said. The support that came out and people that came to cheer on the riders  they were so loving.

Jeremiah Mayfield planned to ride for the first time this year to support HIV-positive friends and as a milestone for his 40th birthday. Like others, he was devastated by the news.

Just kinda crushed. I was so looking forward to doing it, he said.

Mayfield had already raised the majority of his $5,000 goal, reaching $4,800, when the news came that the event was canceled.

Theres just this disappointment that all these people put in money for the charity. The disappointment of letting those people down, Mayfield said.

Evans, an Oakland resident and participant in the event for four years, hopes everyone remains positive, and said he believes that AIDS/LifeCycle 2021 will be the best.

The event is so much bigger than the sum of the parts. Our connections  were working on how we can all get reconnected in different ways.

As for services and how they might be affected: they divvy up proceeds raised between the Los Angeles LGBT Center and SF AIDS Foundation. SF AIDS Foundation senior marketing director Andrew Hattori told Hoodline the organization will find a way.

SF AIDS Foundation is a 38-year-old organization. Its history has not always been smooth. But it always found a way to continue its services, he said.

In the wake of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders and ensuing closures, the foundation has closed its location on 1035 Market St. and stopped operating its mobile testing unit. Hours have changed at its 470 Castro St. location, which is no longer seeing walk-ins.

For an entire list of changes at Strut and related services provided by the SF AIDS Foundation, visit its COVID-19 page.
A 24-year-old student who



returned from the UK and went to meet his friend in Maharashtra's Thane district has been booked for violating the mandatory home quarantine advisory in view of the coronavirus crisis, a police official said on Tuesday.

The police took action against the student after civic authorities did not find him at his residence at NRI Complex in Seawoods area of Navi Mumbai on Monday, an official said.

The student came back from the UK some days back. Despite being advised by the civic authorities to remain in home quarantine, he went to meet his friend at Dombivali in neighbouring Thane, he said.

As there could be a possibility of spread of the viral infection, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (NMMC) health centre lodged a complaint at the NRI Police Station, he said.

The police subsequently registered an offence against the student under IPC Sections 269(negligent act likely to spread infectious diseases dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, he said.

The NMMC officials have also informed about the students act to Thane Police and Kalyan-Dombivali civic authorities, he said.

The student has now been kept at a quarantine facility in Thane, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major pre-dawn swoop, the Mumbai police on Monday seized 25 lakh masks valued between Rs 14 to 15 crore. This is one of the biggest seizures of masks in India in terms of numbers and value.

Three truckloads of masks were seized from Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district.

"This is a big seizure," Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told reporters.

Follow live updates of coronavirus cases in India here

The operations were overseen by Mumbai Police Chief Param Bir Singh and the was conducted by a team led by Senior Inspector Mahesh Desai of Unit-9 of Crime Branch-CID.

Four persons have been arrested, police officials said. "While four persons have been arrested, the police are on the lookout for two absconders," said Deshmukh.

"The masks were being hoarded by the gang and were intended for sale in the black market. The seizure includes over 3.5 lakh N-49 masks, plus others of different varieties, Deshmukh said.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

According to him, because of the outbreak of COVID-19, there was a shortage of masks and the seizure would ease the problems somewhat. The seizure came after a tip-off received by Singh last week.

Desai, who posed as a decoy customer, sealed a deal and finally managed to bust the gang by raiding locations in Mumbai and Thane.

The four accused have been remanded to police custody till March 27.

The state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently banned the sale of the N95 respirators without prescriptions after the government received complaints of hoarding and panic-buying by the people.

Widening the scope of investigations, the police is also probing whether the masks were to be exported out through air cargo.
Samuel Wazizi alias Halla Ya Matter Samuel Wazizi

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) Monday, March 23, 2020 issued a statement urging Government authorities to show proof of journalist Samuel Ajiekah Abuwes existence eight months after he was arrested in Buea.

The journalist, popularly known as Halla Ya Matta or Samuel Wazizi, works for Buea-based independent TV station, Chillen Muzik and Television (CMTV). His lawyer, Barrister Ewule Lyonga Edward says he was arrested on August 2 and was initially held at the Muea police station.

A statement posted on CMTVs Facebook page on August 6 says Wazizi was picked up at 11:00 a.m. August 2 by elements of the Muea Police Station who claimed that he was being invited by their boss to get information about a certain pidgin news.

According to the CMTV statement, the police said Wazizi was detained in connection to the Anglophone armed conflict of which investigation is still going, and the police refused to allow his colleagues to see him in detention, read a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ.

Eight months after the journalists arrest, a statement from the organisation run by Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor aka Agbor Balla said CHRDA expresses with great dissatisfaction the treatment given to journalists in particular and the way freedom of expression/opinion is suppressed in Cameroon. We reiterate and remind the Cameroon government of its obligation to uphold and respect national and international norms protecting freedom of expression and the rights of journalists.

The arrest and detention of Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe accompanied by undue litigation processes is in violation of the national and international standards protecting journalists rights; it also illustrates injustice in the country and silence of the international community in promoting the protection of freedom of expression in Cameroon.

CHRDA says it is concerned about the living and health conditions of Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe and as such asked that he should be granted access to his lawyers, family and loved ones immediately.

The Government authorities should also release all journalist and human rights defenders illegally arrested and detained in detention centers around the country, CHRDA said. Both parties to the conflict in the English Speaking Regions of the country should exercise restraint and cease from violating human rights and the rule of law.

Excerpts of the CHRDA Statement

Freedom of expression is worsening in Cameroon as many journalists are illegally arrested and tag with acts of terrorism. In the English-Speaking Regions of the country, such illegal arrest and detention have been normalized while journalists and human rights defenders/activists continue to pay the price. These acts of human rights violation are increasing at a time when the international community needs to join stakeholders at the national level to promote and protect the rights of journalists and human rights defenders in Cameroons English-Speaking Regions

Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe popularly known as Samuel Wazizi is a journalist with Buea based Chillen Music and Television (CMTV) in Cameroon, He was accused of having links with separatist fighters, later arrested and detained in August 2019. He has been incarcerated incommunicado since his arrest in August 2019, his whereabouts is unknown to his lawyers including family members and friends. His marred litigation process has also been going on at the Fako High Court of Law in Buea without his physical appearance (trial in absentia).

Circumstances surrounding his arrest and detention remain unclear in the eyes of the law. It is worthy to note he was first arrested by the Muea police authorities, with complaints from the authorities in the said police station, they said that they were going to transfer Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe to the judicial police division in Buea southwest Region. Nevertheless, the journalist was later seized from the Muea Police authorities and detained by Commander of the 21st Motorized Infantry Battalion.

CPJ Condemnation

Authorities must stop trying to force journalists like Samuel Wazizi to toe the government line about the separatist conflict in Cameroon by harassing and intimidating them through illegal detentions and flagrant violations of the rule of law, said Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa program coordinator.

The fact that Wazizi is being detained by the military, which has no jurisdiction to investigate terrorism-related charges, also raises serious questions about due process and the journalists safety. He must be released immediately with no condition.

Wazizi was denied bail because police said his case related to potential charges under the anti-terrorism law, Ewule told CPJ. He was informed on August 6 that Wazizi would be handed over to the judicial police, the competent authority to investigate, but instead his client was transferred the next day to the militarys 21st Motorized Infantry Battalion in Buea, Ewule said. Wazizi has since been held without access to a lawyer or family, Ewule told CPJ.

In the Habeas Corpus application, which was reviewed by CPJ, Ewule said Wazizi had denied all the allegations and believed he was being detained in connection with his critical views he expressed during the pidgin English news program on CMTV which is strictly connected to the practice of his profession as a journalist, and this I strongly believe as a fact.
This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

The coronavirus is a fast-spreading global crisis. Misinformation and rumors about the pandemic are a serious problem that could affect response efforts around the world. What are Facebook and other social media platforms doing to combat this and how can we be informed citizens of the internet?

Join us Wednesday at 4 p.m. Eastern for an online conversation about how platforms are confronting viral disinformation in the wake of the coronavirus. Well hear from two legal experts and Facebooks head of security on the efforts to address misinformation about the pandemic, and whether these efforts might alter how users, the platforms themselves, and society think about online free speech.

RSVP on the New America website to receive a reminder, or access the conversation here.



Hosts:



Jennifer Daskal

Professor and faculty director, Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law

Danielle Citron

Professor, Boston University School of Law

MacArthur fellow & author of Hate Crimes In Cyberspace

Nathaniel Gleicher

Head of security policy, Facebook

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
A total of 422 people who tested positive for coronavirus have now died in the UK and more than 8,000 have tested positive.

As of 9am on Tuesday, 8,077 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 422 people have died - a rise of 1,427 cases and 87 deaths since the same time on Monday.

More than 90,000 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK, 82,359 of which came back negative.

NHS England said 83 of the 87 new deaths in the UK happened in England, bringing the total number of deaths there to 386.

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

Patients were aged between 33 and 103 years old and all were in vulnerable groups including those with underlying conditions.

According to NHS England, 21 of the deaths were reported at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust in Harrow.

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A further seven died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

Four died at each of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The latest figures were announced as the country enters its first day of lockdown after Boris Johnson announced people should only leave their homes for four reasons.

People can leave their homes to shop for essentials, for one form of exercise per day, for medical need or to provide care to a vulnerable person and travelling to and from essential work.

It comes as the Health Secretary said home is now the front line in the fight against coronavirus.

Listen to today's episode of The Leader podcast:

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Matt Hancock urged everyone to come together to reduce the number of people in the UK who will die from the spread of Covid-19.

But he issued a stark warning, saying stricter measures introduced by the Prime Minister on Monday were not advice but rules that must be followed.

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Mr Hancock told MPs in the Commons: The spread of coronavirus is rapidly accelerating across the world and in the UK.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday stated that in the last 24 hours, no new cases of the deadly Coronavirus have been detected in the national capital. Taking to Twitter, he further said that five people have been discharged after taking the treatment.

He further wrote in Hindi, "Don't be happy right now. The biggest challenge right now is to not let the situation go out of control. Your cooperation is needed in this."

Delhi under lockdown

Delhi government, on Sunday, ordered a lockdown and imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on Monday midnight till March 31. The order issued by the Delhi police stated that there was a likelihood of community transmission of COVID-19. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava promulgated the order for maintaining public safety in the national capital.

Read: Delhi Police Commissioner warns of strict action against offenders during COVID-19 crisis

The Coronavirus Crisis

In India, over 500 confirmed cases of the virus have been reported. Along with it, ten deaths have been reported till now. Out of all the states, Maharashtra has crossed a total of 100 positive cases becoming the highest number of cases detected in the country. Numerous states have announced lockdowns till at least March 31, suspending all public transport services and non-essential services. The state governments were advised to issue appropriate orders to allow only essential services to operate in the 75 districts which have reported confirmed cases or casualties related to COVID 19.

Read: COVID-19: Mumbai Police Commissioner urges to stay away from rumours; shares fake list

Meanwhile, presently, there are around 382,057 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of around 16,568 people. Meanwhile, around 102,501 have reportedly been recovered. The hardest-hit region, after China, is Italy, Iran and South Korea, where the number of cases is rising by the hour.

Read: Amid COVID-19 crisis, Delhi CM Kejriwal appeals to landlords to take rents in installments

Read: Coronavirus LIVE Updates: All domestic airlines shut, 30 states & UTs under lockdown
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday required anyone flying from New York and New Jersey to be in a 14-day self-quarantine upon arrival in the Sunshine State, a move he said was aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus in his state.

Thats the only way we can be sure that the virus is not going to be reintroduced in the state of Florida and spread, DeSantis said in a televised briefing.

In the executive order released Monday night, DeSantis said there was an increase in individuals fleeing to Florida from states where shelter-in-place measures were put in place, including the New York tri-state area. Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have told residents to stay home and ordered sweeping closures to combat the contagious virus.

I hereby direct all persons whose point of departure originates from outside the State of Florida in an area with substantial community spread, to include the New York Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey and New York), and entering the State of Florida through airports to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days from the time of entry into the State of Florida or the duration of the persons presence in the State of Florida, whichever is shorter, DeSantis said in the order.

Anyone who violates the governors directive could face no more than 60 days in jail and an up to $500 fine, according to the order, which takes effect Tuesday.

#BREAKING: @GovRonDeSantis issues executive order to self quarantine anyone travel to Florida from New York / New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/PfqMZZZReB  WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) March 23, 2020

Despite recommendations from public health officials and moves by other governors, DeSantis said he would not order people to stay home in Florida.

If you look at Floridas situation right now, this is not a virus thats impacting every corner of the state, DeSantis said.

Scenes of crowded beaches in Florida brought concerns that partying Spring Breakers could spread the virus around the country when they return home.

Florida has 1,227 cases of the coronavirus, including 1,147 residents, according to the states health department. In New Jersey, officials on Monday reported 2,844 positive cases of the coronavirus.

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.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
UK goes into lockdown as Boris Johnson announces strict new measures to fight COVID-19

Boris Johnson announced strict new measures to battle COVID-19 in a televised address on Monday. Courtesy: Twitter/@BorisJohnson

The United Kingdom has gone into lockdown with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing strict new measures on Monday to battle the spread of the coronavirus.

In a televised statement, Johnson said that the UK was facing a "moment of national emergency".

He added that staying at home is necessary to protect the NHS, save lives and tackle the biggest threat the country has faced for decades.

"To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well," he said.

The new measures come in the wake of people defying instructions to practice safe distancing and flooding beaches, parks and other public spaces over the weekend.

So what do the new measures entail:

People can only leave their homes to shop for basic necessities like food and medicine and shopping trips should be as infrequent as possible. People should use food delivery services as much as possible

People can only leave their houses for one form of exercise once a day, which is to be done either alone or only with people they live with

People can leave their houses for a medical need or to provide care to a vulnerable person

People can travel to and from work but only where absolutely essential and where work cannot be done from home

People should keep a 2 metre distance between themselves and anyone they do not live with

People should not meet friends nor any family members who do not live in the house

All shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship to be closed. Parks to remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

All gatherings of more than two people in public places to be stopped

All social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals to be stopped

Johnson also announced that the police will have the powers to enforce these rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

I know that the coming weeks will be testing for our frontline police officers. I will do everything I can to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep themselves and the public safe.



Their selflessness, compassion and commitment inspires us all every single day.  Priti Patel #StayHomeSaveLives (@patel4witham) March 23, 2020

Businesses that will not close include supermarkets, petrol stations, post offices and banks. Hotels, hostels, campsites and caravan parks will close except where key workers need to stay there, or if other people staying in these places are unable to return to their primary residence.

The Prime Minister is right to call for people to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives. pic.twitter.com/Bio9dKqj5A  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 23, 2020

Community centres can stay open only for the purpose of "hosting essential voluntary or public services"

As of Monday the UK had over 6500 cases of COVID-19 with more than 300 deaths.
A kindergarten teacher who's worked in education for 20 years is having a strange end to her career.

"I thought, 'Is this really happening?' Jean Witt told "Good Morning America of her reaction to her school's being temporarily closed. "I wondered what my sweet friends would think about not seeing their teacher and their friends."

So when she was allowed access to her classroom, "I grabbed books, crayons, scissors, math manipulatives, etc. and decided I would deliver it all."

MORE: Coronavirus school closings: 8 ways to keep the peace while kids are home

And deliver she did. Not just educational supplies, but air hugs and blown kisses to every student's door.

"Their little lives have suddenly and drastically changed," Witt said. "We may not have a chance to be together again this school year! I wanted to see my precious students and tell them how much I love them."

She contacted each family ahead of time to let them know of her plan and then sent a video just before heading to each home. Her daughter, Nicole, caught the precious interactions on a video that was then shared with the families so the kids could see one another.

MORE:I gave birth during the coronavirus outbreak and everything changed

Witt, who teaches at Aspen Creek school in Broomfield, Colorado, told "GMA" she misses her classroom and the little voices that fill it.

"I worry about my students feeling lonely without their friends," she said. "My students' families will keep learning going, and I will too through online learning. But, that's not what's best for my kids. They need our classroom community and their daily school routine. Suddenly losing a teacher is a loss."

Especially when that teacher is someone like Jean Witt.

"My students still need me," she told "GMA." "When school was in session, I was with them seven hours per day. I laughed with them, listened to them, dried their tears, bandaged their boo-boos, and told them that I loved them. And, I taught them. My students love to learn. I had to see my precious friends, they need to know that I still love them."

'My students still need me': Kindergarten teacher pays each kid a visit originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Some of New South Wales' 13,000 prisoners are set to be released early to protect them against coronavirus.

The new legislation will allow the state's Corrective Services Commissioner to release prisoners on early parole, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the 'extraordinary measures' were to protect low risk and vulnerable offenders.

New legislation will allow the Corrective Services Commissioner to grant early parole to low-risk inmates in New South Wales amid the coronavirus crisis (file image)

Prisoners who are serving a severe sentence will not be eligible for early release (file image)

Prisoners will only be released if it is deemed as 'reasonably necessary' either because of the risk to public health or the risk to the good order of prisons.

The legislation is expected to be introduced in Parliament today and will apply to a particular 'class of inmates'.

The prisoners considered for release may be regulated by their age, 'health or vulnerability', the offence they committed or the period of time remaining before their sentence expires.

Inmates who will not be eligible include those who are serving a sentence for murder, a serious sex offence, a terrorism offence or anyone who is serving a life sentence.

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 Commissioner would also be required to examine a range of factors before granting any early releases.

This includes the risks to community safety and considering whether the inmate has been convicted of a domestic violence offence in the past.

The early parole conditions may also be revoked.

The Attorney-General said that any inmates who were released would be 'subject to strict parole conditions, as well as any other requirements the Commissioner considers appropriate, including home detention, pre-approved schedule of movements and electronic monitoring'.

The Corrective Services Commissioner may also 'prohibit or otherwise restrict' people from entering or visiting prisons if it is determined 'reasonably necessary' on health grounds.

Latest figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research placed the state's prison population at 13,635 and showed an increase of 3.6 per cent last year.
Carlo Ancelotti surprised an Everton fan with motor neurone disease while Jose Mourinho helped deliver care packages as Premier League managers joined in the battle against the coronavirus crisis.

The English top flight has been suspended until at least April 30 due to the pandemic but clubs and managers are pitching in to help vulnerable, isolated people.

Everton manager Ancelotti joined his club's "Blue Family" community campaign, making a phonecall to Mark Cruise, a 52-year-old Everton fan diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year.

In a video posted on Everton's Twitter feed, Ancelotti initially caught the disbelieving supporter by surprise.

"Hi Mark, how are you? I'm Carlo," Ancelotti, 60, said.

"Who is it?", Cruise replied.

"I'm the manager of Everton. I know that you are a fan of Everton," said Ancelotti before Cruise responded: "I'm a big fan of you Mr Ancelotti, you are a top fella."



The Italian chatted with Cruise about his favourite Everton games, insisting that he should address him as "Carlo", not "Mr Ancelotti".

"Usually in Italy, Mr is a man of great importance. I'm not so important, I'm just a manager," joked the boss.

He revealed his fears for friends and his sister in Italy, which has been hit hard by the virus.

Tottenham boss Mourinho has been working with Age UK and community group Love Your Doorstep to deliver vital supplies such as food and medication to those in need.

"I came to give some support to Age UK, Enfield and Love Your Doorstep, Enfield, to help people in our club's local community," said the 57-year-old, who was photographed packing up supplies wearing a face mask and gloves.

"It is a difficult time for everyone right now, particularly among the elderly, so I want to offer my assistance in any way I can."



Tottenham's London rivals Arsenal have pledged ?100,000 ($117,000) to local charities fighting the virus. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for the virus earlier this month but has now recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ministry of National Defense will ensure, at the request of the Minister of the Interior, the guard of some assets whose protection is provided by the Gendarmerie, personnel and means for public order and the support of the activities of the Romanian Border Police at the border crossing points (BCPs), Interior Minister Marcel Vela announced on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of National Defense assures, at the request of the Minister of the Interior: a. The guard of some assets whose protection is currently provided by the Romanian Gendarmerie; b. Personnel and logistical means for supporting public order activities; c. Personnel and logistical means for supporting the activities of the Romanian Border Police at the state border crossing points," Vela said, in a press statement.
United Nations encourage people on plastic awareness

The statement suggests ways for families to raise children's awareness of plastic pollution as schools close in many countries.

The UN on Monday encouraged families across the world to increase their children's awareness on plastic pollution with five fun activities as many practice social distancing during the global coronavirus pandemic.

"TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT PLASTIC POLLUTION"

As many countries have closed schools to hinder the spread of coronavirus, the UN in a statement called for people to raise awareness by teaching their children about plastic pollution, with global plastic production estimated to reach one billion tons annually by 2050.

Warning that 8 million tons of plastic waste entered the oceans every year, the statement said: "There are many more ways that you can teach children at home about plastic pollution and its impacts."

It recommended making a musical instrument out of plastic rubbish, sorting contents in cupboards by the materials they are made of, having a plastic-free spa day, making a boat out of plastic waste and putting on a fashion show of clothes made out of rubbish as five "exciting activities" that can be done with children.
The UK government has announced a raft of loans, grants, tax relief and wage support to help businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic.

There's 330bn of government-backed loans under two programmes including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, as well as 20bn of tax breaks. Added to that there Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to cover some wage costs and thereby, hopefully, prevent firms laying people off.

With three separate announcements from chancellor Rishi Sunak in a matter of days it can be difficult to know exactly what's available to who. Here is a run-down of the government help that's been announced so far.

Wages - 'the coronavirus job retention scheme'

The government will reimburse employers for 80 per cent of the wages of any employees that they pay through the pay as you earn (PAYE) system if those employees are temporarily not working - what the government calls 'furloughed'.

The maximum payment from the government will be 2,500 per month. This will be paid for an initial three months and will be extended if necessary.

Payments will be backdated to begin on 1 March, opening up the possibility that employers could bring back staff they have recently laid off and put them on furlough. Employers do not have to pay back the money and they can choose to top up wage payments above the government-funded 80 per cent.

Payments will be calculated based on tte amount each furloughed employee earned in February. That is simple for people who have a regular salary but for those whose hours change it could mean they get more or less than their average monthly pay.

Are zero-hours contract workers covered?

The coronavirus job retention scheme is available for any worker who is on the PAYE system so this will include many on zero-hours contracts.

Rishi Sunak promised last week that detailed guidance would be published soon.

He said: Zero hours covers a variety of situations, but it may well be you are on a PAYE scheme and have a set of regular earnings and it will be covered depending on your particular circumstance.

If you are on PAYE, the government's payment towards your wages should be 80 per cent of what you earned in February.

Self-employed workers are not covered. Details of new support for workers in this category is expected this week. This article will be updated if and when new support is announced.

How does a company apply for this money?

Companies must apply via a new portal on the HMRC website which is not yet up and running. Employers need to log in to designate employees who will temporarily not have work as furloughed workers. For more information, check with HMRC.

How long will it take?

Grants will be paid through HMRC in the next few weeks, the government has said. HMRC says it is working to urgently set up a system to allow it to reimburse employers.

That may leave companies struggling with cash flow in the meantime. Companies in this position can apply for a loan under a 330bn scheme announced by the government earlier last week (see below).

Potential problems

Employers can choose whether or not to take up the scheme. At present there is no requirement to retain staff and put them on furlough if an employer does not think they are needed. They may choose to offload people in any case.

At present an employer must make a binary choice between keeping somebody employed (and paying all of their wages) or putting them on furlough with the state covering 80 per cent of those costs.

Employers could find they need a staff member to work, say, half of their hours during the outbreak but can't afford to pay them for those hours. In that case they may have to choose between furloughing the worker (meaning they can't work), trying to find the money to pay all of their wages, or making them redundant.

The new system is being set up rapidly and demand will be high. HMRC has set up a dedicated helpline but there are reports of waits averaging around an hour. The government has said it will hire an additional 2,000 staff to help with the changes.

Loans

Businesses with a turnover up to 45m can borrow up to 5m for a maximum term of six years under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

The loan scheme opens on 23 March via 40 participating lenders. Businesses requiring shorter-term finance through the Covid-19 outbreak can access overdrafts and invoice finance for a maximum of three years through the scheme.

They can apply via any participating lender and the government will cover up to 80 per cent of the bank's losses on the loans. The loans are interest-free for the first twelve months. Businesses are advised to apply online where possible as demand for loans is likely to be high.

Large firms can apply for what the chancellor called low cost, easily accessible commercial paper, or corporate bonds. These are provided by a lending facility with the Bank of England.

Some businesses may find they are too large for the SME loan scheme, but not eligible for the large company scheme either because they do not have a credit rating from a ratings agency that allows them to issue publicly-traded debt. The government will be under pressure to adjust the rules to help those stuck in the middle.

Statutory Sick Pay during the coronavirus pandemic

For businesses with fewer than 250 employees on 28 February, the government will refund the cost of providing 14 days of Statutory Sick Pay per employee. SSP is 94.25 per week.

Employees will not need to provide a doctors' note if they are off work because they may have coronavirus. If evidence is required by an employer, those with symptoms of coronavirus can get an isolation note from NHS 111 online and those who live with someone that has symptoms can get a note from the NHS website. This system will be up and running once the relevant legislation has been passed.

VAT deferral

Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for all businesses can be deferred for three months from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020. If youre self-employed, income tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021.

This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period. Taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.

Business rates

Retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England will not have to pay business rates for a year starting from April 2020. That includes all shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, cinemas and live music venues, hotels and guesthouses (among other businesses).

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will also be able to apply for a cash grant of up to 25,000 per property. Businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of 15,000 and under will receive a grant of 10,000. Those with a property that has a rateable value of between 15,000 and 51,000 will receive a grant of 25,000.

Firms in any sector that are in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief will receive a grant of 10,000.

How do I find out more information?

A dedicated helpline has been set up to help businesses and self-employed individuals in financial distress and with outstanding tax liabilities receive support with their tax affairs. Through this, businesses may be able to agree a bespoke Time to Pay arrangement.

If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to Covid-19, call HMRCs helpline on 0800 0159 559.
THE African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (AfCHPR) has suspended the 56th ordinary session whose proceedings kicked off on March 2, 2020 in Arusha City due to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

According to a statement issued by the continental court yesterday, the proceedings were scheduled to end on March 27, 2020.

The President of the African Court, Justice Sylvain Ore, said the measure was necessary to prevent any risk of contracting COVID-19 by the Judges and members of staff.

The Court has decided to act decisively in the interest of health and safety of all Judges, staff and residents of Arusha and beyond, he stressed in the statement.

Among other emergency measures taken by the Court, he said, was to decongest the Court by ordering all non-essential staff to work from home and key departments with limited staff to carry out their duties on a shift-basis until further notice.

The President of the Court has urged the staff to take precautionary measures during this difficult period by ensuring that they adhere to all hygienic conditions, including use of sterilisers, frequently wash their hands and abstain from crowded places, among other things.

The Court is composed of 11 Judges, nationals of member states of the African Union elected in their individual capacity.

The Court meets four times a year for ordinary sessions and may hold extra-ordinary sessions, as well when needs arise.

Meanwhile, the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) has warned importers, traders, manufacturers and dealers in antiseptic, facemasks, gloves that price fixing, creating artificial shortages, refusing to sell such products during the coronavirus crisis.

In a warning statement issued on March 19, 2020, FCC Director General, Dr John Mduma, said there had been complaints on the scarcity and overpricing of the products.

FCC has investigated and noted that the complaints are valid and reminds importers, traders, manufacturers and dealers that the FCA prohibits unfair trading practices such as overpricing and the like, reads part the FCC warning.

Traders conduct constitutes an offence under the Fair Competition Act 2003 (FCA), in particular Section 9 of the Act.

Under the FCA, offences under the Act can result in compliance orders being issued and, or hefty penalties imposed up to 10 per cent of the entities turnover.

Such penalties can be imposed up to 6 years from the commissioning of the offence and past experience has shown that the FCC does not shy away from taking stern action.

Section 9(I) states that a person shall not make or give effect to an agreement if the object, effect or likely effect of the agreement is: (a) price fixing between competitors; (b) a collective boycott by competitors; or (c) collusive bidding or tendering.

The Subsection (2)(a) indicates that price fixing between competitors means to fix, restrict or control the prices, tariffs, surcharges or other charges for, or the terms or conditions upon which, a party to an agreement supplies or acquires, or offers to supply or acquire, goods or services, in competition with any other party to the agreement.

While (2)(b) collective boycott by competitors means: to prevent a party to an agreement from supplying goods or services to particular persons, or acquiring goods or services from particular persons, in competition with any other party to the agreement.

Whereas (2)(c) output restrictions between competitors means to prevent, restrict or control the production by a party to an agreement of goods or services to be supplied in competition with any other party to the agreement.
Do you know a lot about passing lanes and cruising lanes? If you do not have much knowledge on the different lanes that you will have access to while driving in your vehicle, there are some driving tips that you need to know. When you are provided with the right tips, you can drive safely and possibly avoid getting into an accident with other motorists. Thomas J. Henry Law provides you with some of the useful tips to know before you head out on the highway.

The passing lane on a highway is the lane that is all the way to the left. If you are planning to drive at the speed limit and you would like to pass motorists who are driving a bit slowly, you should stick to the left lane.

If you do not feel comfortable with driving at such a fast rate of speed, stick to a different lane to avoid a collision that would likely require assistance from a Texas car accident attorney. The vehicles in the passing lane are often moving quickly. The faster speeds could put you at risk of getting in an accident while you are driving on the highway.

The Cruising Lane

Unlike the passing lane, the cruising lane is a lane that allows you to move at a pace that is more comfortable for you. When there are speed limits of around 75 miles per hour, you may prefer to take it slower.

There is nothing wrong with being cautious about your speed. After all, speeding is one of the leading causes of accidents. The accidents caused by speeding often lead to injuries and lawsuits followed by a Texas personal injury attorney. If you prefer driving at a slower pace, the right lane is the cruising lane. It is the lane that you should stick with while driving.

How to Keep Yourself Safe on the Highway

If you would like to keep yourself much safer while driving on the highway, you should always drive in the right lane. If you plan to move quickly, drive in the left lane. If you plan to move slowly, stay in the right lane. You should avoid switching lanes too often.

If you are weaving in and out of traffic to get into different lanes, you could get into an accident with another vehicle that is trying to drive through one of those lanes. When you absolutely need to switch lanes, use a turn signal to make other motorists aware of what you are planning to do. Make sure to pay attention to what is going on around you. Avoid any possible distractions that could cause you to lose control of the wheel and get in an accident.

Injured in an Accident on the Highway? Thomas J. Henry Can Help

Were you injured while driving on the highway? You may have been involved in an accident. If so, a Texas accident attorney can assist you with the legal process involved, which may include suing the other motorist for negligence. At Thomas J. Henry Law, we are fully committed to helping our clients. We want to make sure you are compensated fairly based on the severity of your accident. If you want to consult with our legal team, call us today at 866-517-5659.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday became the first Parliament body in the history of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to digitally vote on a law. President of Parliament MP Rolando Brison (UP) chaired the historic meeting on Monday which focused on an amendment to the UTS shares sales initiative law which he initiated last year.

With all MPs adhering to social distancing directives in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, Parliament meetings will now be held via video/remote conferencing until further notice. Each MP, complete with personalized backdrops, participated in the meeting from his or her location from home or a private office.

The law amendment voted on unanimously by Parliament, allows the adjustment of the maximum price of the shares sale which in turn allows Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion to collect the second half of the payment from the sales. The first half was already received by St. Maarten late last year. Irion was also present on the remote conference from his location in the Government Administration Building.

MP Brison said with the law passing, government will be able to collect millions of guilders from the remainder of the sale of UTS shares. The timing of this could not be better, as government needs every guilder it can get to drive us through the tough times that are undoubtedly ahead. Minister Irion indicated the payment would go directly into the liquidity which is already being used for (Covid 19) recovery.
Over the past few months, Canadian physicians have been watching the global spread of COVID-19 with growing unease, knowing its potential to wreak havoc on our already stretched health care system. As the crisis has intensified through March, so too has the flow of information.

Every day were sharing research, public health guidelines and practical tips. Were also trying to bolster each others emotional reserves for the coming mayhem. Were preparing to go to war.

Yet, were hearing from colleagues across Canada that our battle armour is running low. Personal protective equipment (PPE) like gowns, masks, sanitizer and face shields are in short supply globally and without these critical items health workers are highly susceptible to infection.

We know from data in other countries that were already at high risk in this fight  20 per cent of Italys health workers have been infected thus far. Frontline health workers are quite literally on the front lines, facing down a virus that is both very contagious and has a high risk of serious illness.

Why are PPE supplies so short? Demand has skyrocketed worldwide, while at the same time the economic toll of COVID-19 has disrupted the global supply chain, most notably in China, where much PPE is manufactured. Additionally, the panic caused by the spread of COVID-19 has led to hoarding of PPE amongst the general public.

Were even hearing reports of people stealing masks, N95 respirators, gloves and sanitizer from hospitals and clinics. Imagine if we were heading into the usual type of war and just as our soldiers were hitting the front lines, civilians started raiding military stores of bulletproof vests.

If the front lines cannot hold firm against the viral onslaught, the risks to the rest of society are massive. A single health worker infected by COVID-19 can infect multiple colleagues, leading to exponential spread within our medical institutions. We also endanger the safety of our most vulnerable patients who have the highest risk of dying from this virus.

Not only do we pose an infectious threat to our patients, if the health workforce goes down, who will be left to meet the health needs of our society? Canadians will continue to have medical issues unrelated to COVID-19, and we need a stable health workforce to provide care to everyone. Adequate supply of PPE isnt simply a matter of worker safety, its about the safety of us all.

What must be done to reverse the catastrophic shortage of PPE? Prime Minister Trudeau has put a call out to manufacturers to increase production of PPE and has said he is not ruling out a wartime measure known as the Defence Production Act that would force companies to manufacture supplies. However, with current measures in place the government has secured only 75 per cent of the needed number of masks, and that is assuming hoarding and stealing will not continue to strip supply.

There is no justifiable reason for not immediately invoking the Defence Production Act. This rarely used law allows the government to compel production of items deemed to be defence supplies, and there is no better description of PPE than a critical defence against the COVID-19 enemy.

In addition to adopting war measures, we can also reissue PPE that was stockpiled for SARS but has expired unused. While expired equipment isnt ideal, its certainly better than nothing, and its light years ahead of CDC advice to American health workers to use bandanas when masks arent available. Another option is to explore PPE reusability, something many health workers have been experimenting with on their own.

We need research on the most effective methods to sterilize PPE so we dont have to keep throwing this precious resource away. The government must also call for private citizens and companies to donate PPE and deliver a strong message to the public not to steal these vital supplies.

Outside of our governments painfully slow response to PPE shortages, many small scale efforts are underway. Experiments are being done with 3D printing to see if face shields and masks can be produced quickly and cheaply. Engineers are reaching out to health workers to see what can be rigged up to provide protection.

The owner of a distillery in Beamsville, Ont., recently began making sanitizer and disinfectant, which he donated to essential service workers in his community. All of these efforts could be amplified with larger scale public funding and organization.

Health workers fighting on the front lines of this war are desperately trying to call attention to the looming crisis. Last Wednesday, Dr. Melissa Yuan-Innes, an emergency physician in Ottawa, wrote a petition calling on the Canadian government to prioritize replenishing PPE stores.

In the first 24 hours, her petition garnered over 12,000 signatures, and as of this writing its past 70,000. That COVID-19 is a global war should be clear by now. We need nothing less than an all-out military response to this grave threat.
There are plenty of episodes of leftists endorsing the killing of their political opponents out there, but here's one that stands out:

Christine Pelosi, a political strategist and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is under fire over a tweet that appears to endorse the 2017 assault of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after the lawmaker revealed he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Here it is:

"Rand Paul's neighbor was right," Christine Pelosi reacted Sunday evening.

The context of the sick tweet, according to Fox News, was someone stating that Sen. Mitt Romney, upon hearing of Paul's illness, decided to self-quarantine after hearing about Paul's misfortune in order to protect his wife, who has a medical condition that leaves her especially vulnerable.

Instead of cheering Romney, which would have been a reasonable person's response, she decided to go low, lower than a dirt bug or beetle grub, by bringing up the violent 2017 assault on Paul by a hate-crazed neighbor, whose attack left Paul with five broken ribs and the loss of part of his lung  in order to cheer the criminal. And this, right at the time when Paul is now afflicted by the coronavirus.

Normal people wish anyone with the coronavirus, even political opponents, well. Pelosi Junior wishes Paul nothing but attempted murder and violence, such is the hate in her heart. She's some kind of ghoul.

Is this a reflection on House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who just blocked a congressional coronavirus aid package that includes $1,200 checks to average Americans, and $100 million to hospitals unless Congress enacts the green new deal alongside it? It sure sounds like it. Christine, by the way, is in politics herself as a strategist and very close to her mother. This is what gets taught in the Pelosi household.

Fox reports that she is "under fire" for this, but there is no evidence she is sorry for such gratuitous nastiness on her Twitter feed. She's not the least bit perturbed. Her Twitter feed is a good proxy for Democrat-think on these matters  phony claims about the aid package really being a big business bailout, which it is not, and assorted yellings about Trump.

There's also this murder-think on Rand Paul, signaling that there is some sick thinking going around in top Democrat circles, with all the other talking points. Don't ever let these people talk about "love," "civility," or their being "devout Catholics" for the cameras.

Image credit: Twitter screen shot, via Fox News.
Essie Davis as Phryne Fisher in "Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears," now streaming on Acorn TV. (Acorn TV)

One of the central functions of television journalists  editors, critics and reporters alike  is to sift through the seemingly infinite options now available to viewers through broadcast, cable, streaming and video-on-demand options. And as silly as it may sound, that function is more important than ever, thanks to the inauspicious confluence of a global pandemic and "peak TV."

So while we've already collected recommendations for what to binge while in isolation and children's TV that will keep your kids happy (and you sane), among other helpful guides, the TV team here at The Times has decided to launch this weekly recommendation engine  one based on what we're watching ourselves. Think of it as your work-from-home watercooler, where we bring the watercooler to you.

George Wakeman, left, and Martin Freeman in "Breeders" on FX. (Miya Mizuno / FX)

"Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears"



Available on: Acorn TV



Essie Davis returns (after five years, a gap that will not be apparent to American viewers) in a feature-length adventure as the glamorous Melbourne detective  Miss Marple crossed with Auntie Mame, with the emphasis very much on the latter. With the action set in 1929 London and British-controlled Palestine, the mood is "Indiana Jones" (there are a jewel, a curse, a tomb), and though the special effects are something short of big-budget, it is charming withal, a TV B-picture with a modicum of sense, a little sex and as much suspense as many of us can presently handle.  Robert Lloyd

"Breeders"



Available on: FX, Hulu



American sitcoms about parenting, even the supposedly "honest" ones, tend to put an optimistic gloss on the exhausting reality of life with small children. So for shows that are more unflinching about the horrors of parenthood, it's usually best to look abroad. "Breeders" follows Paul and Ally (Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard), London parents just barely clinging to sanity  especially Paul, who frequently erupts in anger at their two young children. In tone and setting  upper middle-class London  "Breeders" is reminiscent of "Catastrophe," but it makes kids a focal point rather than a distraction. Co-created by "Veep" writer Simon Blackwell, "Breeders" isn't afraid to go to dark places: In the pilot episode, Ally becomes briefly convinced Paul has brutally murdered their kids, which is funnier than it sounds. I swear.  Meredith Blake

Story continues

Tom Colicchio, the demanding head judge of "Top Chef," with host/fellow judge Padma Lakshmi. (David Moir / Bravo)

"The Outer Limits"



Available on: Hulu, Amazon Prime



The stay-at-home order offers another opportunity to lobby for the discovery  or rediscovery  of The Outer Limits, a 1960s anthology drama that was a mix of horror and science fiction. Though The Twilight Zone has always been regarded as the standard in the weird anthology genre, The Outer Limits offered up unique monsters, cool special effects and innovative stories about technology and human nature that still have resonance in the present. Also, theres something strangely comforting and fresh about watching a compelling show filmed in glorious black and white.  Greg Braxton

"Sons of Anarchy"



Available on: Hulu



Seven seasons. Ninety-two episodes. Dozens of outlaw bikers doing bad, bad things that are so good to watch in this Harley-riding family tragedy. Katey Sagal is in her element as Gemma, leather-clad matriarch of the Central California motorcycle club. Her son, Jax (Charlie Hunnam), is destined to repeat his late fathers life of crime if he doesnt leave the gang life, and their fictional town of Charming. The story arc is superb. The machismo levels are wonderfully absurd. And their face masks are bandannas. How cool is that?  Lorraine Ali

"Top Chef"



Available on: Bravo, Hulu



Inspired by the long-running reality franchise's new "All Stars" season  currently airing Thursdays on Bravo  I've been bingeing past seasons of TV's best cooking competition, starting with its Louisville-set 16th season. (I am just now realizing that I accidentally skipped Season 15, but no matter: "Top Chef" is as adaptable as its frazzled contestants.) Especially now, cooped up in my apartment with a full pantry and no plans, its deft balance of down-home and haute cuisine remains far more attainable than most anything on "Chef's Table," and each season's familiar rhythms are a form of reassurance. Never get arrogant about Restaurant Wars is wisdom for our time.  Matt Brennan
It's in area under Chinese occupation for 60 years: MEA on China constructing bridge across Pangong lake

No signs of talks on LAC, but Chinese psy ops in full swing

We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief

China reports 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections

International

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Beijing, Mar 24: China reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities were confirmed from the COVID-19, health officials said on Tuesday.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of Monday. This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday.

The NHC said, 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad taking the number of overseas cases to 427.

Also on Monday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

No COVID-19 cases reported in China for third day

The total COVID-19 cases in Beijing climbed to 522 with eight deaths prompting local governments of Beijing as well as Shanghai to announce that all overseas arrivals will be subjected to nucleic acid tests to ensure proper detection.

Of the 74 newly imported cases, 31 were reported in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, nine in Shanghai, five in Fujian, four in Tianjin, three in Jiangsu, two in Zhejiang and Sichuan respectively, and one in Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong and Chongqing respectively, the NHC said.

Beijing is already diverting all international flights to different cities where the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days before arriving in the city.

The NHC said 132 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Coronavirus epicentre Wuhan has reported one confirmed case after a gap of five days prompting officials to begin to ease restrictions.

Wuhan also reported seven new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the city and Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital to 3,160.

The province also saw 444 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Monday. Among the 4,200 patients being treated in hospital, 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, the local health commission said.

By the end of Monday, 356 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, which has restricted the entry of foreigners into the city. Also a total of 25 confirmed cases were reported in Macao and 195 in Taiwan including two deaths, state-run Xinhua news agency reporrted.

China to hold video conference on coronavirus; Indian to participate

After days of decline in coronavirus cases, China on Monday said that COVID-19 has effectively been "stemmed" in the country and it started easing severe restrictions imposed on Wuhan's 11 million people who were under lockdown since January 23.

The authorities began relaxing restrictions in Wuhan as it reported no new case for the fifth consecutive day on Monday.

Significantly, the Central Leading Group (CLP), headed by Premier Li Keqiang which is coordinating efforts to contain the virus since January 23, said the virus has been curtailed in the country as well as in Wuhan.

"The meeting noted that the spread of the virus nationwide, particularly in the epicentre of Wuhan, has been effectively stemmed," an official statement said on Monday.

The meeting, however, warned that the risks for sporadic infections and localised outbreaks have not gone away. With the pandemic rampaging across the world, the situation remains complex and challenging.

"Wuhan city and Hubei province should stay focused on medical treatment and community-level containment as the two key priorities. They should continue to treat the severe cases, promptly admit new cases, and advance epidemiological investigations," the meeting said.

In Wuhan, officials said people are allowed to go back to work while restrictions on the public transport are gradually being eased.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan with over 56 million people were under lockdown since January 23. The vicious virus broke out in city, reportedly at a live animal market in December last year and became virulent inflicting thousands of people in the city and province catching the government off guard.

As the country saw a surge in imported infections, the Chinese government announced that all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities from Monday.

International passengers flying to Beijing will instead land at airports in 12 cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenyang as their first points of entry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.

On Monday, China said international travellers should "think twice" about choosing Beijing for flight transfer in view of the restrictions.

Starting from Monday, all international flights scheduled to arrive in Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities, Liu Haitao, an official with China's National Immigration Administration said.

Passengers would go through entry procedures and quarantine measures at the designated cities' airports before they continue their flights to Beijing, Liu said, urging travellers to reserve enough time for their next flights to make sure that they do not miss their outbound flights.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 12:02 [IST]
Pluralism in Danger: Northern Iraq

Iraq is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 there were around 1.5 million Christians in the country. The number has dropped precipitously to only 250,000 today.[1] While war and conflict have been a part of Iraqi life for almost two decades, certain groups have suffered disproportionally. The post-2003 insurgency, ISIS, and Iranian proxies have made the survival of Iraq's Christian community an open question. The ongoing exodus of Christians has serious implications for Iraq.

According to Harvard University's Pluralism Project, pluralism has four main points: energetic engagement with diversity, the active seeking of understanding across lines of differences, the encounter of commitments, and dialogue.[2] The Pluralism Project's robust definition of the term underlines why it is so important. Indeed, Iraq's ambassador to the United States said as much when he stated that Iraq is "not Iraq without its minorities."[3]

Former Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, lays out the difficulties of nation building with disparate minority groups. In his landmark 2001 essay, Van der Stoel says that Minorities will not forever tolerate a situation where their national identities are considered second rate. So, as we have witnessed in the past century, we either find ways of facilitating the peaceful break-up of States, or we have to try to keep multi-ethnic States together It is more often the case that such schisms cause violent conflict."[4]

Iraq appears to be incapable of either a peaceful break-up or solidifying in the face of ongoing violence. The result is that Iraq's pluralistic federal experiment is failing. For Assyrian Christians, the government's shortcomings were made obvious when ISIS was approaching the Nineveh plains. The Kurdish peshmerga was tasked by Baghdad with defending the area. However, they fled before the fighting even began and local Christians were forced to evacuate.[5] It took over two years for the Iraqi military to recapture the Nineveh Plains.[6]

The harsh reality that their historical homeland was abandoned without a fight was the final nail in the coffin for Iraq's Christian population. Even though return is now technically possible, few have opted to. Additionally, when the remaining Assyrian Christians were asked if they would leave, given the choice, most admitted that they would.[7] Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog, sums up their situation well; "although ISIS has lost territory in Iraq, their ideology remains and has influenced society."[8] As long as these persecution drivers remain in Iraq, whether from former ISIS members or Iranian proxies, Christians will continue to leave in droves.

In the face of ongoing conflict, groups have risen to protect and assist Christians in northern Iraq. The Nineveh Plain Protection Unit (NPU) was established after the 2014 invasion of the Islamic State by local ethnicities.[9] The group places an emphasis on minorities forming their own defensive units to protect their homelands, in contrast to the ill-fated peshmerga defense of 2014. The government of Iraq officially recognized the NPU's status as part of their Nineveh Liberation Operation Command in 2016.[10] In a similar fashion, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has become heavily involved in northern Iraq, providing more than $350 million in support of reconstruction efforts.[11]

Will these efforts stem the mass exodus? According to Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil in Iraqi-Kurdistan, the future is bleak.[12] He says that "we may be facing our end in the land of our ancestors. We acknowledge this. In our end, the entire world faces a moment of truth." Only time will tell if his haunting words are true. If minorities continue to leave, Iraq's pluralistic federal form of governance will be seen as unable to provide basic protections. The Iraqi government, with the assistance of the United States, must do more to ensure that one of the most ancient communities in the Middle East can survive and thrive for another millennium.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48333923

[2] http://pluralism.org/what-is-pluralism/

[3] https://warontherocks.com/2018/03/the-long-road-back-for-iraqs-minorities/

[4] https://www.osce.org/hcnm/42340?download=true

[5] https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/iraqi-christians-nineveh-plain/589819/

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/iraq/

[9] https://ninevehplaindefensefund.org/about-npu/

[10] Ibid.

[11] https://www.usaid.gov/iraq/genocide-recovery-and-persecution-response

[12] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48333923

Benjamin Harbaugh is a former intern in the Office of International Religious Freedom at the Department of State and a graduate student at The American University in Washington D.C. where he currently studies U.S. foreign policy and security. He is passionate about supporting vulnerable communities around the globe and has worked alongside the persecuted Church in countries such as Cuba, Russia, Vietnam, and more. Engaged in the relationship between government action and religious freedom, Ben believes in the importance of U.S. involvement for Christians around the world. When he isn't studying, Ben enjoys long-distance running and traveling with his wife.
Firmus Energy is to cut its gas tariffs by 12% in the greater Belfast network area

Firmus Energy is to cut its gas tariffs by 12% in the greater Belfast network area.

This follows on from an earlier price drop in October last year of 8.77%.

The price drop applies to customers bills from April 16.

The firm said its 50,000 greater Belfast customers will now pay almost 20% less for their natural gas compared to last summer.

Earlier this month Firmus announced a 21% drop in tariffs for its customers in the so-called Ten Towns network.

Michael Scott, managing director of Firmus Energy, said: We are pleased to be able to drop our natural gas prices again. This is good news for customers in the greater Belfast network area and is particularly welcome in these unprecedented times.

Firmus Energy is committed to providing customers with the best possible prices and customers can expect to receive confirmation of this via letter in the next few days.

Earlier this month SSE Airtricity, Northern Irelands largest provider of natural gas, said it was going to reduce its regulated prices by 18.7%, from April 1.

That price cut would save a typical household customer 107.73 a year.

Firmus Energy, from its base in Antrim, supplies natural gas to more than 98,000 customer here, with 48,000 in its Ten Towns Network and 50,000 in greater Belfast.

The Ten Towns area consists of towns including Antrim, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge and Coleraine.
A shopper wearing a protective face mask has been arrested in dramatic scenes at a Woolworths supermarket.

Police were called to the shop in Bankstown, in Sydney's west, last Thursday morning over a disturbance between the customer and a staff member.

A bystander captured video of the incident, showing the disgruntled woman, 54, refusing to hold out her arms to be handcuffed by police.

A police officer was forced to say, 'Put your hands out!' while the defiant woman resisted arrest outside the store.

'You're resisting arrest. Do you understand that? I told you five times, just listen,' the officer said.

The hysterical woman, who was holding shopping bags, then responded: 'I didn't do anything wrong,' while clasping her hands together against her chest to avoid being cuffed.

A bystander captured video of the incident at Bankstown Woolworths last Thursday

The police officer asked the woman to put her hands out several more times while shocked onlookers began to gather.

A New South Wales Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the customer was repeatedly asked to leave the store by staff and police.

'She refused, and the 54-year-old woman was arrested and taken to Gordon Police Station,' the spokeswoman said.

'She was spoken to about her behaviour at the store and released.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Woolworths for comment.

Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of coronavirus at the beginning of March has seen stores stripped of essentials such as toilet paper, pasta and tinned and other dried food.

Some shoppers have even become embroiled in ugly confrontations over the limited stock, particularly toilet paper.

On March 6, three women were filmed in a shocking fist fight over toilet paper at a Woolworths supermarket.

The bizarre brawl is understood to have taken place in Chullora, 15km west of Sydney's CBD, when Australia's coronavirus panic began to set in.

Hysterical screaming broke out as the trio battled in the aisles, with the incident seemingly stemming from a mother and daughter stockpiling toilet paper.

The fight began when a third woman tried to take one of the precious packets from the trolley, sparking mayhem.

A day later, video went viral of an elderly woman slapping another shopper across the face as they scrap over the last packet of toilet paper in a Melbourne Coles.

The younger woman appears to have a huge stash of toilet paper already.

Stark photos showed empty shelves and jam packed trolleys as shoppers flocked to supermarkets and cleared the shelves.

Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of coronavirus at the beginning of March has seen stores stripped of essentials such as toilet paper, pasta and tinned and other dried food

Panic buying has resulted in supermarkets left stripped of toilet paper, pasta, rice and frozen food, as well as tinned and other dried goods

Timeline of Australian panic buying March 1 - Panic buying of toilet paper starts, with supermarket shelves around the country getting cleared out of loo roll as coronavirus fears ramp up March 4 - Coles introduces a four-pack limit on toilet paper. March 6 - Three women are filmed in a shocking fist fight over toilet paper at a Woolworths in Chullora, 15km west of Sydney's CBD. March 7 - Video goes viral of an elderly woman slapping another shopper across the face as they scrap over the last packet of toilet paper in a Melbourne Coles. March 13 - Woolworths introduces a one-packet limit on paper towels and napkins. March 17 - Woolworths and Coles introduce a dedicated shopping hour for the elderly and disabled to stock up without being overwhelmed by the panic buying chaos within some stores. March 18 - Woolworths says customers will only be able to purchase two items from any single category from most packaged products, with the exception of some fresh foods. March 18 - Scott Morrison demands Australians stop hoarding food and other essential supplies in impassioned press conference. March 24 - Coles announces it is allowing emergency service workers - including nurses and police officers - to shop during its dedicated 'community hour'. Advertisement

Last week Scott Morrison urged Australians to stop hoarding food and other essential supplies, as fights between anxious customers broke out at supermarkets around the country.

The Prime Minister said the panic-buying chaos sweeping grocery stores has been one of the 'most disappointing things' he has seen in 'Australian behaviour' in response to this crisis.

'Stop hoarding. I can't be more blunt about it. Stop it,' Mr Morrison said as he addressed the nation on Wednesday.

'That is not who we are as a people. It is not necessary. It is not something that people should be doing.'

Supermarkets have been forced to introduce buying limits on items due to the surge in demand for goods.

Coles customers are limited to buying just one pack of toilet paper and two packets of pasta, flour, rice, paper towels, hand sanitizer and other essentials.

Woolworths is also enforcing buying limits of one packet of toilet paper, baby wipes and rice per shopper.
Other portions of the study reinforced the finding that time changes the perceived value of ordinary actions, with an added exploration of the ordinary versus extraordinary. For example, students not only underestimated their future curiosity about reading written summaries of recent conversations; but those who rated their conversations as ordinary also more greatly underestimated both curiosity and interest. And while perceptions of so-called extraordinary events (Valentines Day, in Dr. Zhangs study) held constant, seemingly unremarkable events came to be perceived as more remarkable over time.

We think about reflection as something that is beneficial in the present moment, Dr. Zhang explained, but it can also be helpful in the future  and may help other people, too.

Paying attention to mundanities, said Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, can help us hold onto what is important. One example he shared with The Times is an anecdote about his grandfathers. One hadnt left any personal record of his life: We lost everything. But the other had captured ephemeral moments through short notes  One or two sentences every few days for 50 years. That, he says, became connective tissue.

These reflections offer a way to make sense of the ways were tethered to the world around us but, as Dr. Zhangs study shows, what we think we value can shift over time. After keeping my journal for several years, Mr. McKeown said, I started rereading them. One of the things that really surprised me was how many of the entries didnt seem important anymore. I was writing down things I was thankful for that  almost by definition  should have been things that mattered. But most of them didnt. As the years had gone by, things that had seemed ordinary became extraordinary.
Press Release

23 March 2020

The U.S. construction pipeline is now in its ninth consecutive year of growth and should continue to remain strong through 2020 and the early part of the new decade.

Advertisements

This lodging development cycle for the hotel industry has resulted in the announcement of 102 new brands since 2015, some new builds, others conversion brands. Twenty-six of these brands are established international brands that have announced U.S. growth plans. Many of the other brands are a result of the major franchise companies expanding their development offerings to meet the desire of travelers for a more "unique" place to stay, while remaining competitive in the ever-changing travel market. In fact, of the 102 newly announced brands, 32% are boutique, collection, extended-stay, lifestyle or soft brands.

The chain scale with the fastest rate of growth for newly announced brands is the midscale chain scale. With 510 projects/48,732 rooms, newly announced brands in the midscale chain scale account for 54% of the chain scale's total development (new construction and conversion) pipeline projects in the U.S. The economy chain scale has the greatest number of rooms from newly announced brands in the development pipeline with 97,865 rooms. The luxury, upper-upscale, upscale and upper-midscale, respectively together, comprise 307 projects/43,131 rooms of the total U.S. development pipeline.

The three largest hotel franchise companies in the U.S., Marriott International, Hilton and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) have launched a combined nine new brands since 2015. Other companies such as Best Western Hotel & Resorts top the new brand announcement list with 10 new brands, Accor has nine and Hyatt Hotels has introduced seven.

Newly announced brand growth is expected to continue well into this decade as these brands begin to gain traction and development begins or continues.
As the world scrambles together, collectively attempting to restrain the spread of Coronavirus, major CEOs and business leaders from around the world have taken up quite the task. Not only do they shoulder the responsibility of ensuring a mass-scale conversion from office operations to work-from-home - they've done so while the globe experiences major economic challenges, especially in the construction, air transport and chemical industries sectors.

Fortunately, the mile-high club has overseen some major initiatives in recent days, stepping forward to put their massive resources to use - saving both billions of dollars and thousands of lives in the process, whether it's through direct medical aid, donation funds or fast-track research plans to help combat the virus. Here are some of the biggest ones we've seen the business world make in recent days and weeks.

Amazon

 Reuters

The world's richest himself, Jeff Bezos, recently made his way to the White House to announce a pretty substantial undertaking. In order to meet skyrocketing delivery demands during the outbreak, the Amazon boss has committed to hiring 100,000 new employees at revised, higher wages - providing much-needed work, considering that the UN has predicted 24 crore lost jobs in the wake of the virus.

Along with pooling in resources to the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to create and deliver COVID-19 test kits, Amazon has also helped local businesses near its Seattle HQ who have suffered losses during the lockdown. Looking to prioritise essential goods such as medical gear, daily staples and baby supplies, the e-commerce giant has also initiated a supply revamp to ensure shortages are minimised.

Apple

 Reuters

Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook released information surrounding the Californian tech giant's plans to help aid the world during the coronavirus crisis. In a Twitter address, Cook announced a pledge to donate 2 million masks to help protect medical professionals in shortage-struck areas, while its ongoing fundraiser shot past the $15 million mark.

Apple is continuing to boost its donations by announcing a new initiative - for each dollar their employees contribute, the company will chip in two.

Microsoft

 Reuters

Microsoft head honcho Satya Nadella first reached out to his employees via an open letter that the CEO later published on LinkedIn. In it, he addresses the challenges faced by Microsoft's employees, while highlighting initiatives that seemed geared towards giving the world's researchers a fighting chance against COVID-19. Meanwhile, co-founder Bill Gates donated a $100 million commitment towards treatment and research of the virus.

The first major collaborative project with Microsoft was undertaken alongside the famed Johns Hopkins University - the leading medical institution joined hands with Microsoft to create the most accurate possible Coronavirus case tracker. In addition to this, Microsoft has also partnered with other universities around the world, forming a concentrated, updated database of nearly 30,000 scholarly publications revolving around the virus itself.

Facebook

 Reuters

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook's services are facing 'big surges' in usage as the coronavirus forces millions around the world to stay home, describing it as 'well beyond' the main annual spike usually seen on New Year's Eve - with the social network replacing news outlets for millions of users, the company has decided to implement a new feature.

By introducing a special 'coronavirus info centre', it helps to combat misinformation during these trying times. In addition, the CEO has ordered a donation of the company's stock of face masks - 725,000 units making their way to medical staff in need on the front lines.

Mahindra Group

 Reuters

Indian business royalty Anand Mahindra already has quite the fan following. The 64-year old tycoon has developed a strong following on social media over the years for his jokes, wit and occasional donations and charity work. As COVID-19 further progressed through this week, Mahindra truly put his money where his mouth is - announcing a fund to help support self-employed and small business owners, backed by 100% of his own salary.

A lesson to learn for many of the leaders on this list, to be sure. Mahindra's fervent focus on eradicating the virus doesn't just show up on his paycheck - after propounding the 'stage-3' status of India's coronavirus threat, he raised concerns surrounding the need for temporary hospitals and ventilators. Mahindra aims to aid both these efforts by offering his Club Mahindra resorts to the government and simultaneously developing plans to manufacture ventilator units in Mahindra's factories.

Alibaba

 Reuters

One of the earliest business leaders to step forth and make a point about combating coronavirus, Alibaba founder and second-richest man in China, Jack Ma, made his intentions clear with a massive $14 million going directly to fund vaccine research. A whopping half-million testing kits, one million face masks and several thousand protective suits were also donated to medical workers around the world, ranging from the United States to South Africa and even minor countries in Southeast Asia.

"The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country," Ma said in a recent statement. Delivering fast is not easy, but we'll get it done!

Xiaomi India

 Reuters

Lakhs of N95 masks will be donated across State governments such as Karnataka, Punjab and Delhi government, government hospitals and state police starting this week, Xiaomi India MD Manu Jain said earlier this week.

The Chinese mobile giant has sold over 100 million phones in the country since it arrived five years ago, and has little intention to stop. While keeping operations running by introducing a 'phone home delivery' for buyers, social distancing at retail outlets and vastly upgraded sanitisation in factories, it continues to support Indian government hospitals by donating important gear such as protective suits for doctors.

Zara

 Reuters

One of the worst-hit sectors in the economy is unsurprisingly fashion - not a lot to dress up for when in quarantine. Spain-based fast fashion brand Zara shut down 4,000 stores worldwide, while parent company Inditex decided to help out the anti-viral effort by donating over 300,000 masks this week, with more on the way. In the meantime, Zara's manufacturing network is being adjusted to meet Spain's needs for hospital gowns - a growing need as the case count rises past 35,000.

It also said it would make available to Spain its vast logistics and supplier network, especially in China, to meet Spain's emergency needs of both medical and textile materials such as protective masks, gloves, goggles and caps.
Islamabad: Corona virus is wreaking havoc in Pakistan. So far, 799 cases have been found positive and 6 people have died. On this matter, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan. He said that the people here are not alert even after taking such a severe form of this deadly virus and they are coming in and out of fearless herds. People should take care and lockdown themselves.

Akhtar further said that in this case we need to learn from India. There is a curfew, people have locked themselves out of their own free will. Countries like Bangladesh and Rwanda are also doing well on this dangerous disease. But there is no fear among the people of Pakistan. Four people are sitting here on a motorcycle each. People are going to celebrate picnic on the mountains.

The Rawalpindi Express said that the Punjab (Pakistan province) government should impose curfew to control the situation here. The restaurants here are opening till 1010 pm. People are going to each other's house for dinner. Akhtar appealed to the people to understand the fragility of the time and to stop the best interaction for two weeks so that the virus could be neutralized.

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A n NHS intensive care doctor said she will struggle to get into work as coronavirus cases spike in London after her bike was stolen from outside her house.

Laura Pujol, 31, got home on Tuesday to find the bicycle had been taken from the buildings secure car park overnight.

The medic and mother-of-one told the Standard she will now need to walk from her flat in Battersea to the west London hospital where she works.

Ill need to set off 30 minutes earlier to get there on time, which means I wont be able to take my baby to nursery, she said.

That means my partner  who is also a doctor at a south London hospital  and I will have to pay a nanny to take her.

Ms Pujol said a number of her colleagues had also had bikes snatched over the past few weeks.

One of the things that concerns me is it means people arent self-isolating and staying at home if theyre out stealing bikes, she stressed.

The 31-year-old said she had informed her building manager of the theft and he was checking CCTV to find the culprit.

She is also in the process of lodging a formal report with the police.

Despite the incident, the NHS worker said she and her colleagues had been overwhelmed by public support.

When you look at all the backing were getting, its amazing. It makes a big difference to know people appreciate what we do, she said.

The doctor, originally from Spain, said her friends working in hospitals abroad werent all so lucky.
Bhopal, March 24 : In order to provide better treatment to patients infected with coronavirus, the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) in Madhya Pradesh has been turned into a state-level COVID-19 treatment institute.

Principal Secretary of Health Department Pallavi Jain Govil issued an order on Monday night stating that the novel coronavirus disease has been declared an infectious disease in the state under Section 51 of the Madhya Pradesh Public Health Act, 1949.

The BMHRC is a super specialty health institute. It has been marked as a state level COVID-19 treatment institute and patients suffering from coronavirus will only be treated at this hospital, the order said.

The BMHRC was opened in 1998 to give free care to the survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
New York, March 24 : if you are in awe with Narcos and their dazzling yet dangerous escapades cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, love his hippos too as those animals may help counteract a legacy of extinctions, say researchers.

When Escobar was shot dead in 1993, the four hippos he brought to his private zoo in Colombia were left behind in a pond on his ranch.

Since then, their numbers have grown to an estimated 80-100, and the giant herbivores have made their way into the country's rivers.

Scientists and the public alike have viewed Escobar's hippos as invasive pests that by no rights should run wild on the South American continent.

However, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by an international group of researchers challenges this view.

Through a worldwide analysis comparing the ecological traits of introduced herbivores like Escobar's hippos to those of the past, they reveal that such introductions restore many important traits that have been lost for thousands of years.

"While we found that some introduced herbivores are perfect ecological matches for extinct ones, in others cases the introduced species represents a mix of traits seen in extinct species," said study co-author John Rowan from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

"While hippos don't perfectly replace any one extinct species, they restore parts of important ecologies across several species," Rowan added.

While human impacts have caused the extinction of several large mammals over the last 100,000 years, humans have since introduced numerous species, inadvertently rewilding many parts of the world such as South America, where giant llamas once roamed, and North America, where the flat-headed peccary could once be found from New York to California.

The authors note that what most conservation biologists and ecologists think of as the modern 'natural' world is very different than it was for the last 45 million years.

Even recently, rhino-sized wombat-relatives called diprotodons, tank-like armored glyptodons and two-story tall sloths ruled the world.

These giant herbivores began their evolutionary rise not long after the demise of the dinosaurs, but were abruptly driven extinct beginning around 100,000 years ago, most likely due to hunting and other pressures from our Late Pleistocene ancestors.

The researchers found that by introducing species across the world, humans restored lost ecological traits to many ecosystems; making the world more similar to the pre-extinction Late Pleistocene and counteracting a legacy of extinctions.

When looking beyond the past few hundred years - to a time before widespread human caused pre-historic extinctions - introduced herbivores make the world more similar to the pre-extinction past, bringing with them broader biodiversity benefits, the authors wrote.
NEW YORK  Terrence McNally, one of Americas great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and the musicals Ragtime and Kiss of the Spider Woman, has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 81.

McNally died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, according to representative Matt Polk. McNally was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic inflammatory lung disease.

His plays and musicals explored how people connect  or fail to. With wit and thoughtfulness, he tackled the strains in families, war, and relationships and probed the spark and costs of creativity. He was an openly gay writer who wrote about homophobia, love and AIDS.

I like to work with people who are a lot more talented and smarter than me, who make fewer mistakes than I do, and who can call me out when I do something lazy, he told LA Stage Times in 2013. A lot of people stop learning in life, and thats their tragedy.

McNallys Lips Together, Teeth Apart, about two married couples who spend a weekend on Fire Island, was a landmark play about AIDS. His play The Ritz became one of the first plays with unapologetic gay characters to reach a mainstream audience.

McNally also explored gay themes in the book for the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, for which he won his first Tony Award. His play Love! Valour! Compassion! earned him another Tony Award for its portrayal of eight gay men facing issues of fidelity, love and happiness.

Theater changes hearts, that secret place where we all truly live, he said at the 2019 Tony Awards, where he accepted a lifetime achievement award. The world needs artists more than ever to remind us what truth and beauty and kindness really are.

F. Murray Abraham, the Oscar-winner who appeared on Broadway in The Ritz said of McNally: His plays are a pleasure to do, but what he says is important, too. And hes like a fountain he keeps on writing and writing and writing.

Tributes pored in online from Broadway figures, including from fellow playwrights Paula Vogel, who called McNally the soul of kindness and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who called McNally a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly. Actor Conrad Ricamora describe McNally as the most kind, brilliant person to work with and talk show host James Corden tweeted: He was an absolute gentleman and his commitment to the theater was unwavering. He will be missed by so many of us.

Composer Tom Kitt, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Next to Normal, told The Associated Press he considers McNally irreplaceable.

Terrence was an extraordinary man and a brilliant artist, Kitt said. Hes a true giant in our art form, and he will be missed and we are lucky that we had him and had his art for as long as we did.

In 2018 McNally was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He won four Tonys and an Emmy. New York University gave him an honorary doctorate in 2019.

Andrew D. Hamilton, president of New York University, told the crowd that day that McNally put a unique stamp on American drama by probing the urgent need for connection that resonates at the core of human experience.

Some of his Broadway musical adaptations include The Full Monty, adapted from the British film and scored by David Yazbek; Catch Me if You Can, based on the Steven Spielberg film, and scored by composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman; and Ragtime, the musical based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, which won four Tony Awards. In 2017, his musical reworking of the film Anastasia landed on Broadway.

Yazbek, in tribute to his collaborator, tweeted it was honor to know you and doubly to work with you. We will all miss you but thank you for leaving so much great work. Multiple Tony-winner Audra McDonald tweeted to McNally: The world is not nearly as sweet of a place without you in it. My heart is breaking yet again.

McNallys 2014 Broadway play Mothers and Sons  revisiting McNallys 1990 TV movie Andres Mother, which won him an Emmy Award  explores the relationship between a mother and her dead sons former gay partner. His Its Only a Play was a valentine to theater-making. His The Visit was a meditation on revenge.

Brian Stokes Mitchel, who starred in Ragtime, said McNallys curiosity was ever-present. He had a wit and he always was engaged in the conversation and always seemed to want to do the right thing, he told The AP. That curiosity, I think, is one of the hallmarks of great artist and Terrence certainly had that on top of his enormous, enormous heart.

McNally was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, listening to radio broadcasts of The Green Hornet and the Metropolitan Opera. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1960 with a degree in English.

McNally was at the Actors Studio when he was hired by novelist John Steinbeck to be a tutor and guardian to his sons. One of McNallys earliest theater attempts was writing the book for a musical adaptation of Steinbecks East of Eden which was called Heres Where I Belong and lasted only a single performance on Broadway in 1968.

McNallys first Broadway play And Things That Go Bump in the Night didnt fare much better in 1965. His absurdist, symbolic melodrama about good and evil confounded critics. Newsday called it ugly, perverted, tasteless. It closed in less than three weeks. He was 24.

He rebounded with the 1969 off-Broadway hit Next, a two-character comedy about a reluctant draftee reporting for an Army physical. A string of successes followed, including Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? (1971), The Tubs (1974), Bad Habits (1974) and The Ritz (1975), a farce set in a gay bathhouse that ran more than a year on Broadway and became McNallys first produced screenplay.

His breakout, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, about a romance between a waitress and short order cook, was later adapted into a film starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. It was revived on Broadway in 2019 starring Audra McDonald.

He collaborated three times with legendary composer John Kander and lyricist Freb Ebb  on The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Visit. Chita Rivera starred in all three.

A huge part of me is gone, Rivera said in a statement. But then its not. Terrence wouldnt like that. He helped to make me who I am as a person. He is the epitome of love and friendship. Only God knows how much I will miss him.

His love of opera informed his works Golden Age, The Lisbon Traviata and Master Class, which explored the life of opera diva Maria Callas. He also contributed to opera as a librettist  The Food of Love in 1999 with music by Robert Beaser, Dead Man Walking in 2000 with music by Jake Heggie, and 2015s Great Scott with Heggie.

McNally sometimes was controversial, especially with his play Corpus Christi, which depicts a modern-day Jesus as a homosexual. The Manhattan Theater Club, the first company to consider staging it, received death threats and temporarily canceled the production before enjoying a successful run.

When picking up his Ragtime Tony Award, McNally thanked the theater community for its outcry. You came together when I was in trouble. It was a time of oppression. You came together overnight. Our voices were heard, and we won. Holding his Tony high, he said, So this is for freedom. Thank you.

McNally and his partner, Thomas Kirdahy, married in Vermont in 2003, and again in Washington, D.C., in 2010.

Kirdahy was a college roommate of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, who on Tuesday called McNally someone who epitomizes so much about this city and wrote some of the greatest plays in recent memory, but also someone who worked so hard for a better New York City and a better America for all of us.

___

Associated Press reporters Jennifer Peltz and John Carucci contributed to this story.

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
The coronavirus-relief package proposed by House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) is 1,432 pages long. Many of those pages have nothing whatsoever to do with abating the pandemic that has ground our nation to a halt, nor with aiding industries forced to lay off workers due to frozen demand. Instead, the package spends a shocking amount of ink on the arcane ideological projects of the most progressive members of Pelosis caucus.

Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.) told fellow his fellow House Democrats last week that COVID-19, which has killed more than 17,000 people around the world and is threatening to leave the country in financial ruin, represented a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.

Pelosi and her caucus apparently took note, as the latest proposal from House Democrats reflects a deliberate attempt to restructure everything from corporate boardrooms to the diversity of businesses supply-chains. Here is a sampling of the bills most egregious provisions.

* * *

Diversity Initiatives

Amending FIRREA to Protect Financial Institutions Operated by Women

Section 308 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 instructs the Treasury secretary to consult with the chairman of the FDICs board of directors to preserve the number of minority depository institutions owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. That vague category has, according to the FDIC, historically included banks and other financial institutions owned by African Americans, American Indians, and members of other minority groups. Pelosis bill would expand Section 308 to cover banks and financial institutions in which at least half of outstanding shares are held by one or more women, or whose board of directors are majority-female. Given that women make up the statistical majority of the American population, its strange that House Democrats would seek to expand a law designed to support minority depository institutions to include them. Its even stranger that theyd seek to do so in a bill ostensibly designed to provide relief to Americans facing a global pandemic.

Story continues

Establishment of a Minority Bank Deposit Program, Federal Diversity Reporting Requirements

This section obliges the head of each federal department or agency to develop and implement standards and procedures to ensure, to the maximum extent possible as permitted by law, the use of minority banks and minority credit unions to serve the financial needs of each such department or agency. It would also require all federal departments and agencies to submit an annual report to Congress detailing the extent of their use of financial institutions owned by racial minorities and women. Whatever the merits of this idea, it, like the above proposed changes to Section 308 of FIRREA, does not belong in a coronavirus-relief package.

Diversity Reporting Requirements for Businesses Receiving Federal Aid

All publicly traded corporations receiving federal aid would, under the Pelosi proposal, be required to file quarterly disclosures to the SEC detailing their demographic composition, including data on diversity (including racial and gender composition) and any policies and audits related to diversity.

All companies, publicly traded and privately held alike, that receive federal aid related to COVID-19 would be required to release a report no later than one year after the disbursement of funds disclosing the demographics of their employees, and including breakdowns by seniority and managerial status. They would also be required to report the demographic breakdowns of their supply chains, disclose data on the diversity of their corporate boards, and issue a pay equity report that disaggregates compensation data by race and gender. And any corporation that receives Federal aid related to COVID19 must maintain officials and budget dedicated to diversity and inclusion initiatives for no less than 5 years after disbursement of funds.

What the number of Hispanics in a given aid recipients supply chain or the presence of inclusion initiatives have to do with propping up the pandemic-battered economy remains unclear.

Restructuring Corporate Boards

Aid Recipients Must Allow Labor to Appoint One-Third of Corporate Board Members

All companies that receive federal aid related to COVID-19 would be required, under the House proposal, to appoint at least one-third of their board members through a one-employee-one-vote election process. In other words, if companies accept aid from the federal government at a moment when, because of a completely unforeseeable global catastrophe, demand has cratered in response to a lethal pandemic, the House bill would force them to completely upend their boards of directors to no conceivable end other than the fulfillment of a longstanding progressive wish.

Requiring States to Allow Same-Day Voter Registration

Amending the Help America Vote Act to Require States to Accommodate Same-Day Registrants

The Help America Vote Act was signed by President Bush in 2002. It helped to modernize the nations voting infrastructure by calling for the creation of computerized voter-registration rolls at the state level, constructing federal accessibility guidelines to accommodate voters with disabilities, and setting up the Electoral Assistance Commission to certify state voting systems. Pelosis coronavirus-relief bill, which ostensibly is intended to provide relief to businesses and individuals affected, directly or otherwise, by the coronavirus, inexplicably seeks to amend the Help America Vote Act, and, in so doing, upend state election protocols by requiring states to allow same-day voter registration. Twenty-nine states do not allow such registration. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia do. It is not clear that this divide need be resolved at all, much less that it ought to be resolved at the federal level. And it is completely unclear why such a provision has any place in an emergency economic-stimulus package.

Immigration

Prohibiting Institutions of Higher Learning from Disclosing the Immigration Status of Students

In a portion of the bill addressing the contingency protocols for the administration of the 2020 U.S. Census, the House bill includes a section on institutions of higher learning. The bill proscribes colleges and universities from disclosing any information to the Bureau on the immigration or citizenship status of any individual enrolled there. What this has to do with the coronavirus crisis, no one knows.

Deinstitutionalization

Reauthorization of Money Follows the Person

The House Bill extends the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program in Medicaid. A darling of deinstitutionalization exponents in Congress, MFP is a federal program designed to incentivize states to move the elderly and persons with intellectual disabilities out of institutions, such as Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) and nursing homes and into community settings, such as group homes. The program is controversial, because despite its presentation as a voluntary initiative, it incentivizes states to close institutions that those with the most profound disabilities rely upon through an enhanced federal-matching arrangement. In Wisconsin, for instance, state officials began identifying ICF-MR facilities to be downsized or closed and created a bureaucratic morass to promote alternatives to ICF-MR facilities. Twenty-eight such facilities have been closed in the state since the start of the program, and more than 900 individuals they served have been relocated. When such closures are pushed from the state level on down  when state-run ICFs are closed or private ICFs are coaxed to convert their facilities into community-based settings with the guarantee of federal funds  individuals with disabilities and their families are left with little choice but to move.

The renewal of Money Follows the Person deserves to be debated properly. It should not be smuggled into an emergency appropriations bill of this sort.

Environmental Regulations

Grant Program for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Title VII of the House bill is devoted entirely to environmental protections. The titles opening section calls for the institution of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development Program. The Transportation secretary would be given the power to disburse grant monies based upon the potential greenhouse gases emitted from an applicants project and the potential the project has in reducing United States greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel. Two hundred million dollars would be appropriated annually to the grant program. The programs relevance to the global pandemic is left unaddressed.

Mandatory Carbon Offsets for Airlines

Every airline receiving federal aid would be required to fully offset [its] annual carbon emissions [from] domestic flights beginning in 2025. Airlines would also be required to submit an annual report detailing their fealty to a binding commitment to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the domestic flights of such air carrier in every calendar year, beginning with 2021, on a path consistent with a 25 percent reduction in the aviation sectors emissions from 2019 levels by 2035, and a 50 percent reduction in the sectors emissions from 2019 levels by 2050. These are radical proposals that would never pass the current Congress, but House Democrats are intent on leveraging a global pandemic to sneak them across the finish line.

* * *

All emergency bills are going to have pork, of course. And yes, the coronavirus-relief package that ultimately makes it to President Trumps desk isnt likely to include many of the above proposals. But it remains astounding that House Democrats would, at a moment of perhaps-unprecedented national crisis, propose an emergency-spending bill full of progressive projects unrelated to COVID-19, projects that they knew were a non-starter with their colleagues across the aisle, and thus likely to slow down a process in which time was of the essence. The New York Times editorial board wailed yesterday that the urgency of the moment does not justify the egregious misuse of public resources. Someone should tell Nancy Pelosi the news.

More from National Review
The greater Houston region has a higher hospitalization rate for those who tested positive for the novel coronavirus than New York, where the brunt of the nations cases and deaths have been recorded, and Wuhan  the Chinese city where the illness originated.

In the seven counties with known COVID-19 infections  Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston, Brazoria, Liberty and Chambers  26% of patients from March 4 through Sunday wound up hospitalized rather than being sent home to quarantine, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of data. The diagnoses are based on the testing of people who are symptomatic with coughing, a fever or shortness of breath.

During the same nearly three-week period in Harris County, health officials reported that 15 out of 51 people had been hospitalized.

Due to a shortage of test kits and protective medical equipment, many counties in the area have limited testing to only the sickest patients, and such patients are more likely to require hospitalization than cases confirmed in a wider net of testing. The first drive-thru testing sites opened in Harris County last week and at least 1,750 people have since been tested.

Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of the Harris County Public Health, said the high hospitalization rate is likely an artifact of the delay in local testing and the lengths it took to determine the extent of the community spread.

We didnt have a way to get people tested, Shah said. What we ended up doing was having them go to the hospital and then asking them if they could hospitalize them until the test came back.

Many patients, he said, were told to stay put so they did not get prematurely back into the community.

Each county agency except for Harris County  where government leaders are considering a shelter-in-place order  has been self-reporting hospitalizations for individual cases.

In an email, Harris County Public District spokeswoman Martha Marquez on Monday provided the numbers as compiled through their epidemiologists. The hospitalizations were of men and women whose ages range from 20 to 90, including the man from a Tomball area nursing home who died last week after contracting the rapidly-spreading illness. As of Monday afternoon, he remains the regions lone death.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday shared the statewide hospitalization rate at 15 percent but that number has since decreased by two points. Thousands of miles away, in Chinas Hubei province where the capital Wuhan is located, an estimated 20 percent of confirmed coronavirus patients required hospitalization, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month.

In Texas, the Department of State Health Services is tracking the number of people needing hospital care, but only those hospitalized at the time the state was notified of their positive test results, spokeswoman Lara Anton said.

The state rate measures to nearly 20 percent, with the agency having already looked over 287 cases since March 4. More than 60 cases are still awaiting review, Anton continued.

Stephanie Lamm contributed.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
We must address immediate financial challenges and, as importantly, plan for long-term impacts to ensure the viability of our organization during this crucial year, LaPierre said in the memo describing the pay cuts and proposed layoffs. Unfortunately, these changes will necessitate the elimination of certain positions on either a temporary or, in some cases, permanent basis.
" " The ability to smell the world around us is one of those things we take for granted most of the time. Anosmia, or the lack of ability to detect smells, can be a temporary or permanent condition. John Slater/Getty Images

Have you ever been sick and attempted to take comfort in your favorite foods, before realizing the sad truth: There's no point, because you can't taste them? Same goes with smell  you might not even be congested, but sometimes a sickness can just render you unable to smell even perfume right out of the bottle. This condition is called anosmia  otherwise known as "smell blindness"  and doctors think it might be a key to diagnosing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in people who aren't displaying other symptoms.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, a lot has been made of the fever and dry cough, the headaches and muscle aches associated with the illness. But as more cases crop up, one thing doctors all over the world  not to mention the Covid-stricken citizens of the Twitterverse  have noticed is that this coronavirus completely obliterates many patients' sense of smell, even if they aren't experiencing other symptoms. According to the New York Times, of 2,000 patients testing positive for coronavirus in South Korea, a third reported anosmia, whereas German doctors have communicated that, out of a group of 100 coronavirus patients, a full two-thirds of them experienced anosmia.

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Anosmia (and its close associate ageusia, the complete loss of the tongue's ability to taste, and dysgeusia, the distortion of the sense of taste) is a common symptom in upper respiratory viruses. There are other causes for anosmia, too: Some people are mysteriously born without the ability to smell, and it's also normal for the olfactory system to go on the fritz as we age. Anosmia can be associated with head injuries or sinus conditions like rhinitis, nasal polyps and bacterial infections, but the reason for the loss of smell can vary depending on the root cause. For instance, a head injury can sever olfactory nerve fibers that act as pathways for smell information to get to the brain, whereas swelling in the sinuses from something like a bacterial infection or polyps can actually block the way of molecules carrying scent to the olfactory receptor cells. In the case of COVID-19 (and other, lesser bugs), the virus damages the smell receptor cells in the nose that help us detect odors, rendering the sense of smell very weak or completely useless, depending on the extent of damage.

Those who have anosmia also report a weakening of the ability to taste, which is normal. Although smell and taste are separate senses  our smell receptors are located high up in our nasal cavity and our taste receptors are found on our tongue  they are very closely tied. Our taste buds are pretty sturdy while our smell receptors are relatively delicate, but a lot of what we're experiencing when something has a distinctive flavor is the smell of the food rather than the taste. For instance, we can taste that mangos, bananas and raspberries are all sweet, but their distinctive flavors are the function of the smell of each fruit rather than anything our taste buds are picking up. When we lose our delicate smell receptors to an attacking virus, it's a bummer for a while, but our sense of smell almost always recovers.

According to a press release issued by the American Academy of Otolaryngology on March 22, 2020, anosmia and dysgeusia seem to be significant symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, even in those for whom no other symptoms are present. This means that, if in the course of the coming weeks, you notice your morning coffee tasting flat or smelling unimpressive, it might be time to self-quarantine.

Now That's Smelly Our smell receptor cells are replaced every 30 to 90 days.
FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the "Loonie", is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock market churned out a record gain on Tuesday as hopes rose that global stimulus measures will ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with the index rebounding from an eight-year low the previous day.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up nearly 12% at 12,571.08, its biggest gain going back to July 1979, based on Refinitiv Eikon data.

On Monday, the TSX hit its lowest intraday level since October 2011 at 11,172.73. Since peaking in February, the index has tumbled 30%.

"I understand why clients and investors want to liquidate the portfolio... because the speed and velocity of the moves are frightening," said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services. "At the end of the day though, I am quite certain we will recover probably all of this within a year."

Stocks on Wall Street also posted strong gains on Tuesday as Democrats and Republicans said they were close to a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus bill aimed at providing financial aid to Americans out of work and help for distressed industries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he wanted flexibility to enact future spending measures as the House of Commons convened to pass a C$27 billion emergency cash injection to soften the financial blow of the coronavirus outbreak.

The heavily weighted financial services sector rose more than 13%, while the materials group was up 12.5%. It was led by a gain of nearly 42% for base and precious metals producer First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

The price of gold soared $74 to about $1,626 an ounce, while the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, settled 2.8% higher.

Oil has been pressured in recent weeks by the sharply lower demand due to the virus and a price war between producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Suncor Energy Inc cut its 2020 production outlook and suspended share repurchases for the year following the decline in crude oil prices and because of the economic impact of the virus outbreak. Still, its shares rallied 13%.

Story continues

The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1% to 1.4492 per U.S. dollar, or 69.00 U.S. cents. The currency, which last Thursday hit a four-year low at 1.4669, traded in a range of 1.4375 to 1.4532.

Canadian government bond yields rose across the curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The 10-year was up 5 basis points at 0.868%.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bernadette Baum and Dan Grebler)




The Air Canada flight departed from Air Group No. 8 of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) at 3:40 p.m. (local time) and is expected to arrive in Toronto at 00:20 on Wednesday.

It is a Boeing 777, with capacity for 40 seats in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 336 in economy class.

Among the first group are people who had previously purchased their airline tickets, but who due to the emergency decreed in Peru were unable to embark on time to return home.

Following the established protocols and once gathered at the Canadian Embassy the foreign citizens underwent a medical check-up at the aforementioned headquarters located in the Peruvian capital city.

Air Canada reported that it will operate two other special flights between Toronto and Lima scheduled for March 26 and 27 also in a 400-seat Boeing 777 aircraft.

These special flights will allow the repatriation of Canadians and Peruvians who have residence in Canada , in collaboration with the Governments of Peru and Canada, and Air Canada as carrier. This is possible thanks to the permits to fly from Peru, since its borders and airspace are currently closed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis in the global aviation industry that is already having a significant impact on the air transport industry, travelers, shippers, and the economy.

Air Canada noted that its priority is to allow Canadians, who are abroad (in this case in Peru), to return to the North American country.



This is a message for Canadians in Peru ???????? pic.twitter.com/Eh5fp3dgUp  Ralph Jansen (@AmbJansenCAN) March 24, 2020

(END) NDP/LIT/MVB

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At the request of the Peruvian Embassy in Canada , 400 Canadian citizens who had been stranded in Peruvian territory after a national emergency was decreed by the Government to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19)  left on a special flight on Tuesday.Publicado: 24/3/2020
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's car exports to China decreased by 20.2 percent over first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $17 million, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

The total value of Turkey's car exports to China exceeded $2.3 million in February 2020, which is 38 percent less compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

The value of Turkey's car exports to the world market amounted to just over $4.9 billion from January through February 2020, having grown by 1 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 16.7 percent of Turkey's total exports during the reporting period of 2020.

The value of Turkey's total car exports exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2020, which is 0.9 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 17.2 percent of Turkey's total exports in February 2020.

Turkey's export of cars from February 2019 through February 2020 amounted to over $30.6 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: All ration card holders are entitled to Rs 1000 as relief and free ration - rice, dal, sugar and cooking oil for the month of April, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced in the assembly on Tuesday.

To avoid crowding at ration shops, the relief is to be provided by a token system on an allotted day and time. Those who may want to give up this relief, may register in the concerned website or app.

Those who may have failed to get their rations for the month of March may get them with the rations for April, the Minister said.

FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE

Daily wagers, agricultural labourers, auto and taxi drivers, construction workers, street vendors, senior citizens and other organised sectors stand to be the most affected as section 144 is to be imposed in the State, the Minister said, adding that a total relief package of Rs 3280 crores has been set aside.

Construction workers and auto drivers will be given a special relief of Rs 1000 each along with 15 kilograms of rice, 1 kilogram of dal and one kilogram of cooking oil.

Migrant construction workers those in other unorganised sectors will be identified by district collectors and labour department and will be entitled to 15 kilograms of rice, 1 kilo of dal and 1 kilogram of cooking oil.

ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu lockdown: Find out what all will be available, what will not

Amma Unavagam will continue serving. For serving food for economically backward sections, district collectors have been asked to set up community kitchens.

Food for senior citizens who had been having food at Anganwadi centres, will be delivered to their homes.

Registered street vendors are to get additional relief of Rs 1000. MGNREGS workers who had worked in the month of March, would be given a two-day salary bonus.
The "Boy Meets Girl" mentoring programs hosted their inaugural youth gala recently at The Premiere in Orangeburg.

The theme for the night was "An Enchanting Moment in Time." The gala was a joint effort to celebrate the academic achievements of the girls and boys in both mentoring programs, Girlz R.U.L.E. and Boys 2 Men.

Founded by Rachelle M. Estrill and 7-year-old Gabrielle Estrill, Girlz R.U.L.E. is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering mentorship, leadership development and empowerment programs to promote self-esteem, combat bullying and embrace the uniqueness of girls and young women ages 5-17.

Girlz R.U.L.E. strives to ensure that the girls are provided with information to make wise health choices and increase self-awareness to develop self-worth and value. The organization foresees a world where girls become confident women whot are better prepared to embrace and address life-changing challenges.

Rachelle Estrill said she has noticed much growth within the girls group.

"We are Girlz that R.U.L.E. -- Radiate Unique Levels of Excellence! A girl with a mind, woman with attitude and a lady with class," she said.

Founded by Robert Alexander, Boys 2 Men caters to the progression and success of adolescent teenage boys.

Alexander said, "From an adolescent to an adult, I noticed the vital necessity of influential and positive role models in a young man's life. There is a need for positive mentoring and guidance as it has become more noticeable in my role as an educator. I created Boys 2 Men to give young men the gateway in creating lifetime memories.

We place great effort into uplifting our young men and have set a standard to expose them to elite and inspirational experiences," he said.

Boys 2 Men has proven to be a successful endeavor as it continues to grow in participants and support from the community.

Its mission is to strengthen family and student relationships and has proven to be a strong support unit for the future leaders of tomorrow. Community service, volunteerism and mentoring are major parts of the organization.

Rachelle Jamerson-Holmes, owner of Thee Matriarch Bed & Breakfast, served as mistress of ceremonies.

Dance group Higher Heights performed to an excerpt of Cynthia Erivo's "Stand Up from the original movie and soundtrack of Harriet. They also performed to "Be Lifted" by Micah Stampley.

Higher Heights Dance Company LLC, founded by Nichelle Cole, is a versatile group that learns different styles of dance: Ballet, hip-hop, jazz, African and praise dance.

Orangeburg native Kevin A. Rasberry was the keynote speaker. Rasberry spoke to audience members about decisions and consequences within life.

"You have to select the right group of people to be around and work hard to be whatever you want to be," he said.

A business educator and author, Rasberry has been a mentor for more than 24 years. He said the event was a success and that mentorship is indeed effective.

"It is imperative for some kids and important to all children. Friday evening was an absolute success," he said.

Raleigh Wright, 10, was named the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year. At the tender age of 9, Wright started Raleigh Pops LLC after telling her mother her vision. She saved her allowance for six months to purchase supplies to start her business while earning A's and B's.

With the success of the business, she has been featured at many events. Raleigh Pops LLC has catered parties and events, and Wright has been able to help and interact with her community by giving back. Last summer, she hosted a cupcake decorating class with the Boys and Girls Club.

She is an active member of the High Steppin Cloggers, Girl Scouts Troop 471, Lady Stringers Cheerleading Squad and Girlz R.U.L.E. She enjoys acting, playing volleyball and listening to music, Her motto is, "Always remember little girls with goals become women with visions."

Wright's mother Matisse Lee, assistant athletic director at Claflin University, accompanied her at the event and said her daughter was unaware that she had been selected to be this year's award recipient.

"She was surprised and I am so proud of her. She has always been a go-getter -- she has always been one who dreams and imagines what some may think is impossible, and I don't want anyone to ever take that away from her, Lee said.

She said that she fully supports programs like Girlz R.U.L.E. and Boys 2 Men because they benefit the children and the parents.

"The leaders of the programs have a vision and followed their hearts to brighten our children's futures. Programs like this are doing just that giving the children opportunities to grow and become successful. We must show our children how to be elegant in our world," she said.

Contact the writer: shakora.purple@gmail.com.

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The sister of a Newtownards man who was the third person from Northern Ireland to die from Covid-19 has warned that the virus will kill many others unless people act properly.

Billy Allan (67) passed away in the early hours of Monday morning in a hospital in the greater Belfast area having been admitted with a suspected chest infection last Friday.

Mr Allan had suffered from underlying heart and lung problems.

His heartbroken sister Joan Fulton (60) told UTV News of her familys added pain at not being able to say a proper goodbye to him in hospital or be at his graveside when he is laid to rest tomorrow.

Fighting back tears, she said: That number had a face and its the face of my brother. My brother Billy is person number three who lost his life yesterday morning at 3 oclock to this virus.

Why am I sharing this? Because this is the hardest journey Ive ever been on.

I listen to the media talk about numbers. I listened to the Health Minister sending his condolences. That is really fine but it's not enough.

This virus is ripping families apart. When my brother left his house on Friday night we thought he had a chest infection and he went into hospital. Our family didnt know that we wouldnt be seeing Billy again.

Paying tribute to the medics who cared for her brother in his final days, Joan said: The doctors and nurses who looked after Billy are my heroes forever because they were there for him.

Billy had his own mobile phone and while he was still able to talk, the family was able to communicate.

He was told on Saturday that he wasnt going to make it.

We couldnt be with Billy. We couldnt say goodbye. We couldnt be there.

Joan said the funeral restrictions imposed during the coronavirus crisis mean her family wont be able to lay Billy to rest in the normal way tomorrow.

We cant even be together to bury Billy. Billy came back into Newtownards today with strangers and we arent able to be with him. "He will lie in the back room (of the undertakers) until tomorrow (Wednesday) for burial. We cant stand at his grave to bring closure to this.

Joan also spoke directly to those not heeding the newly imposed coronavirus lockdown rules.

Stop thinking about you but think about others. This disease will kill many if we dont act properly. Stay at home. Thats the simple message.
The federal government has refused to confirm the health status of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, after he reportedly tested positive to COVID-19.

The information minister, Lai Mohammed, did not, however, deny that Mr Kyari had tested positive when he was asked by journalists on Tuesday.

We dont mention names in carrying out this responsibility. Its a global practice so you dont expect us to mention any name to you, he told State House correspondents.

Mr Mohammed was part of the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus that inspected Mr Kyaris office within the Presidential Villa on Tuesday,

The task force, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, arrived at the Villa around 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Mr Mustapha and other members of the task force, comprising ministers and health experts, spent about 10 minutes inspecting the office.

They were approached by journalists on their way out of the office but they declined comments, saying Nigerians should await their usual press briefing.

However, in response to repeated questions on Mr Kyaris coronavirus status, Mr Mohammed passively made his comment.

Kyaris Diagnosis

Thisday newspaper early Tuesday reported that Mr Buhari tested positive to COVID-19.

Since then, the presidency and health officials have chosen to keep mum despite several requests by PREMIUM TIMES on the matter.

Mr Kyari is believed to have been infected when he travelled to Germany between March 7 and 14 on an official function.

He was only confirmed positive on Monday, Thisday reports.

On Tuesday, neither Mr Mohammed nor any of the task force officials denied the report.

After Mr Mohammeds response to the State House reporters, Mr Mustapha advised journalists to imbibe the culture of wearing face masks to protect themselves from the disease.

You people should start wearing face mask please. I can see that you are not taking this thing serious. Wear face masks please. It is not a joke, he said.

Nigeria has recorded 42 cases of COVID-19 including one death.

The disease has caused the death of over 15,000 people globally.
Afghanistans health minister has cited estimates suggesting most of Afghanistans estimated 32 million population might contract the coronavirus over the next five months.

According to the WHO [World Health Organization] estimates, some 16 million people might show varying degrees of the coronavirus infection, Ferozuddin Feroz told journalists on March 24.

He said some 80 percent, or at least 25 million people, might contract the coronavirus, with many showing the symptoms of COVID-19, the potentially fatal disease caused by a novel coronavirus infection.

Feroz added that without necessary precautions the pandemic that has already killed more than 17,000 people globally could kill some 110,000 Afghans.

God willing, we can avoid such scenarios, if we can establish cooperation and we all unite in fighting the coronavirus, he said.

Authorities have already registered 72 coronavirus cases across Afghanistan while the country recorded its first fatality from COVID-19 over the weekend. But the country has conducted fewer tests and has so far imposed fewer restrictions despite sharing a long porous border with Iran, where the disease has killed nearly 2,000 people.

In recent weeks, the return of tens of thousands of Afghans from Iran has raised fears about the possible spread of the pandemic, which has the potential to quickly overwhelm the countrys weak healthcare system.

The western province of Herat, a major gateway from neighboring Iran, has so far registered the most cases. On March 24, authorities registered 32 new coronavirus cases in Herat.

But Feroz said there still will be no lockdown in the province or in its capital, also called Herat, which is a major city. The situation in Herat is very serious, and orders to restrict the movement of people will be implemented, he said.

Afghanistan has closed all educational institutions and reduced office hours, and the authorities have imposed a nominal ban on large gatherings.

If there are still Buzkashi matches and people continue to go to [large] gatherings and weddings are still going on, then such factors will take us toward the [alarming] predictions, Feroz noted. Buzkashi is a popular Afghan sport in which horseman compete over placing a goat carcass in a goal. Its matches have attracted thousands in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, NATO said four of its service members in Afghanistan had tested positive for coronavirus.

The service members were newly arrived in country and were in a precautionary screening facility when they became symptomatic, were moved to isolation, and were tested, a statement by the alliances Resolute Support Missions said on March 24.

NATO said some 1,500 service members, most of whom have recently arrived or returned from holidays, are currently in screening facilities because of precautionary measures.

 With reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan
As Alabama braces for an expected surge in COVID-19 cases, its hospitals are competing with hospitals across the country in a medical arms race to acquire equipment needed to fight the deadly virus that threatens to exhaust in a matter of days what has already been stored.

And Alabama has only itself to lean on.

"As you know, states have been told we are on our own in terms of finding this equipment," Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer, said Monday. "So everyone is competing with each other trying to find sources that can provide those materials."

The scramble to secure masks, gowns, goggles, respirators and other equipment considered absolute necessities to treat patients stricken with the novel coronavirus that originated in China has even led Alabama to, well, China.

David Spillers, CEO of Huntsville Hospital, said his hospital has taken what might seem as a most unorthodox step to get some COVID-19 ammo.

"We're not getting extra unless we go outside our typical supply chain and go direct to a vendor or somebody in China," he said Monday. "Believe it or not, they still manufacture a lot of stuff there. That's where it comes from. We've reached out and taken that chance to do that and hopefully it will get here on a boat."

Its a jarring reality that led governors across the country to speak out in protest and concern over the policy of President Donald Trump, who has said he is leaving it up to the states to fend for themselves while the federal government will be there should you fail in a Twitter message on Saturday.

.@JBPritzker, Governor of Illinois, and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News @CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldnt be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings. We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2020

But just as states have long competed in the economic marketplace  jostling to win this giant automaker plant promising thousands of jobs or that convention filling thousands of rooms at hotels and tables at restaurants  the fight now is for who can be the best to take care of its people amid the spread of a virus without a cure.

Its a scramble, a competition, unlike any Dr. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said he has seen. Then again, the COVID-19 threat is unlike any he has seen as well.

Williamson served as Alabama's health officer for 23 years before joining the hospital association.

We went through our share of disasters, he said in an interview with AL.com Monday. Admittedly, we never went through anything like this. But that was never the approach during my time. The H1N1 (virus in 2009) being the best example, the feds had resources and they allocated them to states.

The COVID-19 crisis, though, is so unique that Williamson said maybe precedent cases dont apply.

"It may be, in fairness, it is simply such a large challenge that there is no other way to do that," he said. "And how big a challenge is that going to be? I simply dont know."

It is the unknown that is perhaps the scariest aspect for health officials. Spillers, for example, said his hospital system is well stocked at this moment. But all planning is based on an anticipated spike of cases that require hospitalization.

That's why Spillers said the Huntsville Hospital System  which includes medical facilities throughout north Alabama  has worked to trim its inpatient load to clear bed space and preserve resources. So far, he said the hospital has been able to free up about 350 beds through discharging patients.

Its perhaps not unlike staring at the horizon, watching the storm clouds grow darker and more menacing. As of Monday, the Huntsville Hospital System had admitted only three COVID-19 patients, Spillers said.

"All of our work right now is to acquire and store as much supplies as possible, we're doing that to prepare for an influx of inpatients if and when they come," he said.

Williamson said there are methods by which hospitals can seek needed equipment even as he describes the process as "imperfect."

One avenue is shared resources among hospitals. Spillers said that Huntsville Hospital has loaned respirators to East Alabama Medical Center for its inpatient COVID-19 cases.

"But that's obviously not a long-term solution because folks are going to need those ventilators back as their issues rise," Williamson said.

Another avenue is through traditional supply chains that hospitals rely upon on an everyday basis  not just during a pandemic.

"That's not going to be enough is my guess," Williamson said.

Still another avenue is to request equipment from the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal reserve that works to fill needs across the country. Williamson said a shipment last week provided hospitals some N95 masks and other personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and that another request had already been submitted for more respirators.

The state of Alabama asked for 200 ventilators, Williamson said. Depending on how bad the epidemic gets, we may need not 200 but we need 2,000. If we need 2,000 ventilators, that may be more than we can ever get out of the Strategic National Stockpile and we have to find another source.

Finally, there is the open marketplace.

"The states are now having to go out and compete against each other on the marketplace to try to find increasingly scarce resources," Williamson said.

He also commended Gov. Kay Ivey for creating a task force who work to identify sources of equipment and then allocating it to the hospitals. Iveys office deferred comment on the equipment competition to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

When ADPH has PPE resources available, we utilize either the Alabama Incident Management System (AIMS) or an automated program, ReadyOps, to collect the needs from medical facilities, said Arrol Sheehan, spokesperson for the ADPH. "The available resources are then allocated based upon the request received.

These are then distributed via UPS or the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) distribution network with county emergency management agencies.

With necessity being the mother of invention, a new avenue is emerging for securing hospital equipment: The community the hospital serves.

Hospitals have not been reluctant to seek out equipment from local businesses, Williamson said. Athens-Limestone Hospital said it was urgently appealing to the community for help in a Sunday Facebook post. The Huntsville Hospital Foundation has received pledges of more than $52,000 toward a $150,000 goal for an emergency assistance fund.

The webpage said the money will "support the growing and rapidly changing needs of our hospitals and staff who are on the front lines, at ground-zero of this crisis."

"There was something on social media about Huntsville Hospital asking people to donate supplies," Spillers said. "And somehow, that got twisted into a bad thing."

In fact, hospital requests to the community underscore the tenuous situation of being prepared for that surge of patients.

"We have an adequate amount of supplies today," Spillers said. "What we are worried about is a week or 10 days from now, if we have a huge influx of patients, and the concern is that the supply chain that is feeding us supplies today somehow gets cut off because everybody in the country has a huge spike.

"We're more than willing to accept N95 masks, gowns, goggles, what people have that they are not going to use, put them in our stockpile in the event that we need them and in the event that our supply line does get cut off for some reason or supplies become short."

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle lauded the grass-roots support.

"At this point, we are very fortunate to have this community that almost overruns you with people wanting to help," he said.

That help stretches across the state, perhaps best epitomized by groups banding together to sew masks for healthcare workers in the case of a shortage or to preserve the stockpile. Still, Harris, the state health officer, dismissed the homemade masks as not effective despite the heartfelt effort put into making them.

Nevertheless, Harris urged the community to keep working.

"We would certainly encourage those in the private sector who have access to (equipment) to think about donating that to your hospital to protect your healthcare providers," he said.

And, in fact, Ivey said in a Twitter message Monday that an anonymous donation of 100,000 masks/PPEs had been made to the state.

A donor (who wishes to remain anonymous) has donated 100,000 masks/ PPEs to our state. We are working to provide resources to our healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of #COVID19 It truly takes a team effort as we seek to flatten the curve! #alpolitics  Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) March 23, 2020

In sum, though, Williamson said of the community supply line of donated equipment: "That's not a long-term solution."

And thats the enormity of fighting COVID-19, a crisis that has seen the number of cases in Alabama almost double since Friday despite limited testing, more than 500 people have died nationwide and more than 16,500 people worldwide.

Were not where we would like to be, I can assure you, Williamson said of equipment. "However, at least there is a path to get things. Its not as smooth as we would like.

As imperfect as the systems are with the knowledge of the demand is almost always going to exceed the supply, we at least have a process in place to try to meet that need. How successful we will be is unclear but we at least have a process in place to try to meet that need.

So if there is a competition to get medical equipment, it begs the question: Is Alabama winning?

Theres not simply a yes or no answer. Logic would dictate that areas of the country hit hardest so far -- such as Seattle and New York -- would get an outsized supply of equipment, Williamson said.

On the other hand, he said, you can also make the argument that they are in the throes of their outbreak now. We know, barring some miracle, were going to deal with that same thing over the next few weeks. We need more than our fair share right now to be positioned to deal with the tsunami when it hits us.
BCX, one of South Africas leading ICT companies, has extended its Network offering to include two additional security solutions, namely Cisco Umbrella and Cisco Stealthwatch.

BCX has an established Managed Security practice offering using Ciscos security infrastructure, including firewall services, as well as Ciscos SD-WAN and Meraki.

The addition of Umbrella and Stealthwatch to our extensive product suite will allow BCX to provide an integrated security solution to our customers, said Carel Booysen, Executive, Data Networks Portfolio Manager at BCX.

Disruptive trends such as public cloud adoption and digital transformation are presenting great opportunities for businesses to modernise, while improving their operational efficiencies, reducing costs and enhancing customer experiences. With digital transformation comes great risk, explained Booysen, CIOs and CTOs are under greater pressure from unscrupulous hackers to future proof their networks.

According to the Global Cyber Security company, Kaspersky Lab, Malware attacks in South Africa have increased by 22% in the first quarter of 2019. Thats a significant increase, said Booysen, it is a global phenomenon and requires solutions that provides immediate, real-time answers.

BCX has expanded its Managed Security offering to include Cisco Umbrella and Cisco Stealthwatch for this purpose.

Cisco Umbrella is a cloud security platform that provides a first line of defence against any internet threat.

The solution aids businesses to automatically identify malicious activity in real-time. It uses the Domain Name System (DNS) as its main mechanism to get traffic to the cloud platform and block requests from malicious domains, IPs and URLs before the users connection is established. The M2M capability allows it to analyse and automatically identify unusual activity before it reaches the network or end points.

Umbrella combines multiple security functions into a single solution, so you can enrich your incident response data and easily extend protection to devices and locations anywhere. Because Umbrella is delivered from the cloud, it is the easiest way to protect your users everywhere in minutes.

Cisco Stealthwatch is a state-of-the-art real-time security analytics solution that provides visibility, detection and incident mitigation functionality to enable a cyber safe network, says Booysen.

According to Garsen Naidu, Cisco South Africa Country Manager: Stealthwatch is a Cisco product that gives the CIO or CTO a view of who is on the network and what they are doing using telemetry from the customers network infrastructure. It also uses behavioural analytics to identify abnormalities in the network and alerts decision makers to these changes providing them with a quicker response time to possible threats.

Stealthwatch is also capable of integration into automated response systems that can shut down affected devices anywhere to contain the threat, further preventing any destruction to the network.

BCX is a Cisco Gold Partner and was awarded the 2019 Cisco Global Service Provider EMEAR managed Network Service Provider of the year, as well as the 2019 MEA Cisco Managed Service Partner of the year award.
The last time the American Educational Research Association cancelled its annual research meeting, its members countries were embroiled in World War II. This time, it was the unrelenting spread of the new coronavirus.

Late Monday night, AERA Executive Director Felice Levine and President Vanessa Siddle Walker announced the group would cancel its plan to hold its annual research conference virtually . The latest announcement comes only a few weeks after it said it would change its in-person conference scheduled for next month in San Francisco, a community hit particularly hard by the virus, to a virtual event. .

Last week, the smaller Association for Education Finance and Policy held a virtual meeting in lieu of its planned in-person meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, but in a letter to AERAs members, Levine said the situation on the ground quite literally has changed in ways unimaginable on March 5, 2020, when the AERA Council decided to cancel holding a place-based meeting.'

The group reached out to more than 1,500 members and planned speakers, many of whom now found themselves barred from entering the country, caring for sick loved ones or quarantined for their own exposures, caring for children home from closed schools or trying to teach virtual classes, or otherwise coping with the rapidly changing national and local responses to the pandemic.

We cannot in good conscience ask more of our stakeholders, our friends, our members, when lifes demands continue to compound in such powerful kinds of ways, Siddle Walker said in a video statement.

The groups suggested that it may provide online courses or chats in the future, but offered no specifics for now.
The Hair and Beauty Industry Confederation Ireland has written a letter to the Taoiseach, calling for more government aid amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the latest CSO figures, the industry employs roughly 25,800 people in Ireland in 9,286 salons nationwide.

The organisation said it feels that they have been left behind by the government and they are asking for wider support, as well as clearer instructions on closures.

Currently, the government has not ordered hairdressers and beauty salons to close, although most have shut voluntarily due to the inability to follow social distancing guidelines.

The letter calls for financial grant payments, a reduction in employers' PRSI contributions, a freeze on commercial rents and rates and a reduction of the VAT rate to 9%.

They also want the reinstatement of the Statutory Redundancy Rebate, a review of the apprenticeship payment model, and a one-month wage support grant to salons who rehire staff after the pandemic is over.

Margaret O'Rourke Doherty, CEO of the Hair and Beauty Industry Confederation Ireland, says that so far, the government has not provided clarity on closures. "This has left a lot of businesses to make their own decision, which puts them in a very difficult position.

"Businesses want to be socially responsible, but there is pressure coming from clients who still want to come in and get their hair done, their nails done and get waxed, as crazy as it sounds.

"[Last week], the Taoiseach said it would be counter-productive to close salons, only for people to interact in the same way at home. Just to be very clear, staff won't be able to comply with social distancing at a salon or [by doing treatments] at home."

She also said business interruption insurance is unlikely to cover the cost of Covid-19 closures, and that people should be aware they must inform their insurance providers if their salon is unoccupied for 30 days. "Their policy will be rendered null and void if they do not inform their insurers of this."

David Campbell, President of the Irish Hairdressers Federation, was another signatory of the letter.

He says the hairdressing industry has been hit three times in the space of a few months, and the government needs to step in to ensure its survival.

"The VAT rate was pushed up from 9% to 13.5% in this sector. Two months later, the apprenticeship rates were abolished. This meant an 8-10% wage percentage increase.

"So in the space of three months, hairdressers faced a 10-15% increase in costs.

"Now with Covid-19, we are wondering how will we survive? Especially the smaller salons. Their cash flow from week to week is very important."

Mr Campbell says so far, the government measures to help businesses are only starting to be put into action, and the government has only called out industries such as hotels, pubs, restaurants and cafes. "Hairdressers would employ just as many people as these industries.

"It is a scary situation. If a salon can't afford to pay rent, they will have to negotiate with their landlord. We would hope that all landlords would say 'no problem', but sadly that is not the reality.

"Then we have rates and water charges, and the water charges are estimated yearly, and are not done as you go.

"We've basically been steamrolled over with everything. It's been very difficult for hairdressers to make ends meet. We've basically just been ignored."

He says once the pandemic eases, people should support their local salon.

"This doesn't mean asking your hairdresser to come to your house [during this crisis]. When the salons open back up, go in and support them, they are part of the community."
Air Traffic Control Tower

An air traffic control tower.

Rafael Cordero/Getty

Numerous Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers have tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the temporary closure of facilities for cleaning.

Eleven sites across the country, including at major airports in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas, have been temporarily closed for cleaning, affected flight operations.

Some facilities have been closed for multiple days leaving inbound and departing aircraft left to their own devices for taxi, take-off, and landing.

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Video: Three Coronavirus Patients Share Their Stories

The Federal Aviation Administration released a map indicating that 11 air traffic control facilities operated by the body across the US have had personnel test positive for COVID-19, contributing to airport closures and flight delays while cleaning efforts commence.

Chicago's Midway Airport was the first to effectively close after an air traffic controller assigned to the airport's air traffic control tower tested positive for the virus.

Other major airports affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus include John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York and Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. Most incidents outside Las Vegas have been restricted to the east of the Mississippi River with New York being the most affected region.

Facilities with COVID-19-positive technicians have had to shut down for cleanings, closing down vital airspace and restricting access to major airports for extended periods. Aircraft continuing to operate to some airports without backup facilities during the closures have had to communicate directly with each other for separation.

Here's the full list of the FAA air traffic control sites affected by COVID-19.

Midway Airport





Midway International Airport in Chicago.

Thomas Barrat/shutterstock

The air traffic control tower at Chicago's Midway International Airport on Tuesday became the first FAA facility to be closed due to a technician testing positive for COVID-19. The temporary closure effectively ceased air traffic at the airport while the facility could be cleaned.

Story continues

Inbound flights were either held at their origins or diverted to airports as far as Milwaukee and St. Louis. The airport is a base for Southwest Airlines and is Chicago's second-largest passenger airport following nearby O'Hare International Airport.

Las Vegas Airport





chara_stagram / Shutterstock.com

The control tower at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport closed on Wednesday after a controller tested positive for COVID-19. The facility remains closed as cleaning efforts continue and with no temporary facility in place, aircraft have been left to their own devices for taxi, take-off, and landing clearances as the airspace has reverted to uncontrolled status.

Departures and arrivals at the airport have been reduced to account for the reduced air traffic control services available.

Air Force One Las Vegas





Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire/Getty

The Las Vegas Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility temporarily closed on Wednesday after an air traffic controller tested positive for COVID-19. Controllers at the facility handle air traffic into Las Vegas area airports including McCarran International, North Las Vegas Airport, and Henderson Executive Airport.

JFK Airport





Mark Lennihan/AP

The air traffic control tower at JFK Airport was temporarily closed as a technician had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Air traffic controllers at New York's primary gateway and one of 13 US government-approved entry airports for US citizens entering the country from Europe or who had been to mainland China were forced to relocate to a temporary facility.

Flight delays were limited to the early morning as controllers moved from the airport's iconic control tower to an undisclosed backup facility somewhere on airport property.

Indianapolis Airport





EQRoy / Shutterstock.com

The Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center on the grounds of Indianapolis International Airport was closed overnight following a positive test for COVID-19 was reported from an air traffic controller assigned to the facility. The FAA temporarily closed the facility for cleaning, affecting the entirety of Indianapolis Center's airspace which includes parts of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Illinois, and Kentucky.

Wilmington's New Castle Airport Delaware





New Castle Airport

An air traffic controller working in the control tower at Wilmington New Castle Airport tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. The airport serves Delaware's largest city and is primarily used for private and general aviation having lost most of its commercial service.

Frontier Airlines is planning to return to the airport in May with seasonal service to Orlando.

LaGuardia Airport





Adrees Latif/Reuters

The control tower at New York's LaGuardia Airport, the busiest non-international airport in the tri-state area, was closed overnight on Saturday after an air traffic controller tested positive for COVID-19.

The impact on the airport's operation was minimal as restrictions limit the number of flights that can utilize LaGuardia overnight, with mainly early morning flights affected.

Air traffic control





Hyoung Chang/The Denver PostGetty

The New York Air Route Traffic Control Center on the grounds of Long Island's MacArthur Airport was temporarily closed after a controller tested positive for COVID-19.

The affected airspace restricted flights into New York area airports, with aircraft having to take longer routes in order to avoid closed sectors, as well as Oceanic airspace which stretches from New York past Bermuda and services flights heading to the Caribbean, Europe, South America, and Africa.

Republic Airport





Bruce Bennett/Getty

An air traffic controller who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday prompted the shutdown of Farmingdale Republic Airport's control tower on Sunday for a two-week period.

The Long Island airport, primarily catering to general aviation and business jet traffic will remain open under uncontrolled conditions leaving aircraft to communicate directly with each other when on the ground and in the proximity of the airport in the air.

Leesburg Executive Airport





Ricky Carioti/The The Washington Post/Getty

An air traffic controller at a Washington, DC area airport tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the closest reported case at an airport to the nation's capital and one of the most restricted airspace areas in the world.

Located just upriver from the capital, Leesburg Executive acts as one of the few private and general aviation-only airports serving Washington.

Peoria International Airport





Jeff Haynes/Reuters

An air traffic controller assigned to the air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport in Illinois tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

The Central Illinois airport sees service from four airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Air, as well as private and general aviation and aircraft.

Business Insider
By PTI

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 100 transit passengers from India, who were stranded in Malaysia due to the travel restrictions imposed by the Indian government in view of the coronavirus pandemic, left for home on Monday, officials here said.

The Indians were earlier taken to different hostels and hotels in close coordination with local NGOs and community organisations, the Indian High Commission here said.

The High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur coordinated the safe return of 113 transit passengers stuck at Kuala Lumpur airports due to travel restrictions.

The Indian mission tweeted pictures of the Indians with a caption "Homebound and relieved!" The transit passengers were stranded due to the travel restrictions imposed by the government back home in response to the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

"All Indian nationals in Malaysia urged to respect the movement restrictions.

Pl stay safe, stay healthy," the High Commission tweeted on Sunday.

On Saturday, it said, "Hundreds of Indians stranded in Malaysia waiting at KLIA2 taken to different hostels, hotels etc. by @hcikl in close coordination with local NGOs and community organisations."

India has reported 415 coronavirus cases, the health ministry officials said, adding that the death toll stands at seven.
Local members of Congress are urging the government to consider retrofitting old hospitals and facilities in upstate New York for coronavirus patients.

Congressman Anthony Brindisi and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, asking him to deploy resources to their districts to utilize facilities that could support coronavirus patients that need to be hospitalized.

Read the full letter below:

Secretary Esper,

Our nation is at a critical point in the national response to the coronavirus pandemic. We know that the Department of Defense is working closely with other Departments and public health officials to respond to this crisis. We are particularly concerned with the shortage of hospital beds, certain medical supplies and personal protective equipment, and facilities to accommodate patients.

We appreciate your commitment to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to New York in short order to assess the situation and see how the Department of Defense can help address this pandemic. We strongly encourage you to consider Upstate New York when deploying these resources, including communities across New Yorks 21st and 22nd districts.

As you know, Governor Cuomo has called on the Army Corps of Engineers to retrofit state buildings in an effort to increase the number of hospital beds. We support this effort and would also like to encourage you to consider retrofitting old hospital facilities that are no longer operating but could serve a large number of patients and accelerate our countrys response. We are proud of the response our Upstate New York community has provided so far in the face of this unprecedented situation, and I know our communities stand ready to further support the Department and other agencies with the response effort.

We are very interested to hear the Departments plan for the deployment of the Army Corps of Engineers to Upstate New York, and encourage you to keep Upstate and rural communities in mind when making deployment decisions in the near future. Our communities, along with the rest of the state, will certainly be in need of assistance as we continue to address this public health crisis.

Thank you for your service and leadership, and if you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Connor Jeffers (Rep. Brindisi) at Connor.Jeffers@mail.house.gov or Marek Laco (Rep. Stefanik) at Marek.Laco@mail.house.gov.
EUGENE, Ore.  Congressman Peter DeFazio is weighing in on the effort to get a coronavirus relief package through congress.

President Donald Trumps administration has been working with congress to pass a roughly $2 trillion economic package, which would include direct payments to taxpayers. But those efforts stalled due to objections from Democrats Monday over accountability and process.

DeFazio, a Democrat, said he opposed the package and will oppose anything that looks similar to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) of 2008, which was seen as a bailout for big businesses on Wall Street.

We want to target aid to the workers. The people who make the corporations great. The people who make the businesses great, DeFazio said.

DeFazio also said he agrees with Gov. Kate Browns stay at home order issued Monday.

He warned the order may be necessary until Oregon increases its coronavirus testing ability and increases its medical supply.

Oregon's running out of masks, DeFazio said. We've been waiting now. We've had a shipment en route supposedly from the so-called national stockpile for ten days. Weve gotten ten percent of what we needed and fifteen percent has been somewhere for ten days, DeFazio said.

DeFazio also warned that people need to stay at home as much as possible, even if it hurts small businesses in the short-term.

If people prematurely have returned to daily life.. for a little while it might help the economy, until a whole bunch of people get sick and the hospitals are overwhelmed, DeFazio said.

As of Tuesday morning, top negotiators signaled that a bipartisan deal on a stimulus package to respond to the coronavirus crisis is imminent with all signs pointing to an agreement being locked in and approved by both chambers of Congress later in the day.
CRDB Bank has become the first financial institution to donate money to fight against novel coronavirus in the country.

The bank yesterday donated 30m/- to Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) to assist combating the pandemic where the country has registered 12 cases so far.

CRDB Managing Director Abdulmajid Nsekela said the donation goes direct for special awareness campaign to stop the further spread of virus.

He said various institutions should join hands with the government and medics to educate the public on preventing measures that will limit further spread and sweep away the deadly virus.

The MAT campaign is TunawezaKujikinga loosely translating to we can protect ourselves against the virus.

CRBD has already taken various measures to protect its staff and customers including putting hand sanitiser at our offices and ATMs, Mr Nsekela said.

The Bank boss thanked the ministry of health and MAT for working closely with them on educating staff on measures supposed to be taken to prevent the virus spread.

MAT President Dr Elisha Osati promised that the 30m/- will be directed to the intended purpose for educating public health workers starting from primary health services in identifying corona victims and timely measures to be taken.

Our responsibility is to make sure that doctors, nurses and all health workers are well educated on how to fight this disease. If we are able to achieve this, it will help us to further spread this knowledge to many citizens and thus completely prevent the disease causes by Coronavirus, Dr Osati said while calling for others to imitate CRDB gesture.

Dr Osati said the education exercise has begun in Dar es Salaam and is conducted jointly with Tanzania Medical Student Association (TAMSA).

The soft ceremony of handing over 30m/- to MAT was accompanied by a proper hand-washing exercise demonstration led by Mr Nsekela, Dr Osati and MAT Secretary General Dr Lilian Mnabwiru.

Proper handwashing remains number one tip for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

However, it must be done properly and with soap and water and the next best option is to use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
T he Church of England has ordered all of its churches to close to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu - the two most senior clerics - told priests in a letter on Tuesday that they were bringing in the new measures to comply with the Government lockdown announced on Monday - which banned public gatherings of two or more people.

The church had previously ended most in-person services but churches remained open for private prayer and some community groups.

All church funerals and weddings have now been cancelled, as well as most baptisms.

All Church of England churches are to close / Getty Images

The archbishops asked priests to be as creative as person with their livestreamed services - which they must now lead from home.

They said: We are all having to get used to being the Church differently.

It is not easy. However, our belonging to Christ has never been measured by the number of people in church on a Sunday morning (though we long for the day when this way of knowing Christ can return) but by the service we offer to others.

Therefore, and despite these very harrowing restrictions, please do all that you can to minister to your people safely, especially to the sick, the vulnerable and the poor.

Archbishop of York John Sentamu / REUTERS

The archbishops told priests that the Church of England must set an example for people unsure about the new lockdown measures.

They added: We must also do all that we can to provide resources and support for those who are isolated, fearful and vulnerable.

But we have to do this from our homes.

Some churches have also doubled up as food banks and this may continue despite the new measures, the archbishops said.
The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the world has disrupted almost everyones regular life. Television celebrities being no different have been coming up with videos sharing their 'new routines during the self-quarantine.

Bigg Boss 12 fame Karanvir Bohra has made a request to the menfolk in his latest Instagram post. The actor shared a picture of himself cleaning the house with a broom. The cute photo also features his twin daughters, Bella and Vienna in the backdrop. He wrote that men should support their wives by helping them with household chores.

Karanvir said, Leading by example, cleaning and feeding babies. When @bombaysunshine does other chores, I share the work load during these times of #quarantine #day6#inbound P.S.....This pic may seem funny, but it's the fact, with schools shut, and with no hired help for a lot of people during these times, it would be great if an the men help the women out at home (sic). Check out the post below:

For the uninitiated, Karanvir Bohra tied the knot with wife Teejay Sidhu in 2006. The actor was last seen on the small screens in a cameo appearance on Naagin 3.

ALSO READ: Sapna Choudhary Gets Teary-eyed; Hina Khan, Kapil Sharma & Others Cheer Coronavirus Fighters

ALSO READ: Kanika Kapoor Coronavirus Controversy: MSK's Indeep Bakshi Says The Singer Went To Hospital Herself
Uttar Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting via conference with health officials in the state over the COVID-19 situation on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued a fresh set of guidelines for the lockdown period till March 31.

In its new notice, the Adityanath government has stated that any person moving out of the districts where lockdown has been imposed or entering the district will now have to take permission from the local authorities.

According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases reached 482.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bakery and patisserie chain Paul UK has temporarily closed all 37 of its shops in London and Oxford.

Like many bakery and cafe operators, the business had remained open during the coronavirus pandemic, offering a takeaway-only service.

But, also like many of the major operators, it has now closed all its shops following last nights (23 March) announcement of stricter measures by the government to encourage social distancing.

We have temporarily closed the doors of all of our stores as of today. Our number one priority is the safety of our teams and customers, and we believe this is the best thing to do to help support social distancing, said Paul UK CEO Mark Hilton.

The business has not closed its central bakery in Acton, West London, which will continue to operate The Bread Market retail outlet.

Our Bread Market remains open, but we have taken steps to ensure queues dont congregate, marking out lines to denote the acceptable two metres social distancing, added Hilton.

Paul will also continue to donate unsold bread and freshly baked bread pudding to charity The Felix Project, which distributes surplus fresh food to those in need.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah showed no sign Tuesday of ending their bitter feud, even after it cost the impoverished nation $1 billion in US aid -- with yet more on the line.

The massive cut was announced Monday after an exasperated US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kabul in a bid to resolve the standoff that has seen Abdullah proclaim himself president despite Ghani officially winning last year's controversial poll.

Pompeo, who lashed out at the their "failure" to come to an agreement, said the US would immediately cut $1 billion and was "prepared" to pull another $1 billion in 2021, with further cuts possible after that.

The US and the Taliban signed a landmark deal last month that was supposed to pave the way for talks between the Afghan leadership and the insurgents, but with Kabul unable to agree who is in government, the talks have stalled.

With a GDP of only about $20 billion, the cuts represent a devastating blow to Afghanistan's donor-dependent economy and could hardly come at a worse time -- with coronavirus spreading across the country and Taliban attacks on the increase.

Ghani appeared in a televised address on Tuesday to reassure Afghans that "the US reduction in aid will have no direct impact on our key sectors", adding that his government would try to satisfy the US "through talks and negotiations".

But he also blamed Abdullah, who he said despite being offered "an important role" and cabinet representation has demanded changes to the constitution, which Ghani does not have the power to make.

Ghani did not specify the proposed changes, but likely it would be to allow Abdullah to serve another term as chief executive or become prime minister.

Abdullah also released a statement saying that while Pompeo's trip had created an opportunity to resolve the crisis, "unfortunately it was not utilised properly".

Pompeo later flew on to Doha and met with three Taliban leaders including Mullah Baradar, a formerly imprisoned insurgent who has become their chief negotiator.

Under last month's US-Taliban deal, Washington and its foreign allies will withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by April 2021. Washington has given little indication it will stray from that timeline even as the Taliban have stepped up attacks on Afghan forces.

Abdullah and Ghani's rift goes back to at least 2014, when Ghani bested his rival in elections that saw allegations of mass fraud. The same thing happened in September's polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Newsfrom Japan

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan will soon expand its entry ban related to the novel coronavirus crisis to cover travelers from 18 European countries and Iran, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

The move comes after the foreign ministry raised its travel alert for these countries to Level 3, the second highest on its four-tier warning system, advising people to cancel trips.

The 18 European countries are Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, among others. They also include Italy, Spain and Switzerland, which have partially been subject to the entry ban.

Japan has already been refusing the entry of individuals arriving from China and South Korea.

"Japan imposes its entry ban on travelers from countries for which it has issued a Level 3 travel alert," Motegi said at a press conference. "We don't make an exception unless there are special circumstances."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act in the Obama administration, outlined a proposal in The New York Times Tuesday for fighting the coronavirus  a battle he says we are currently losing.

Emanuel recognizes theres reason to worry about the economic cost of the current approach, but we must keep in mind the millions of deaths that could occur in the next year if we fail to flatten the curve of infections as quickly as possible.

[T]he economy cannot be fixed without solving the pandemic, Emanuel says. Only after the virus is contained can we reopen restaurants, bars, gyms and stores; allow people to travel, attend conferences and visit museums; and persuade them to buy cars and houses.

To get to that point, Emanuel calls for a seven to 14-day period of mobilization to confront the pandemic. If the United States intervenes immediately on the scale that China did, our death toll could be under 100,000, he says. Within three to four months we might be able to begin a return to more normal lives.

Heres Emanuels plan:

President Trump should immediately issue a shelter-in-place order for the whole country, closing all schools and non-essential businesses. The policy could be lifted gradually over two or three months. The federal government should take over all testing for the virus, with the aim of analyzing the entire population on an on-going basis. Coordinate production of medical equipment at the federal level, paid for by Congress on a cost-plus basis, similar to defense contractors. Publicly-funded assistance for hospitals, with a national overseer to manage care, equipment and personnel. Grants to businesses to maintain payrolls, and use of the unemployed to help combat the pandemic, with tasks such as contact tracing and disinfecting public spaces.

In the end, the country needs to mobilize as it has rarely done before, Emanuel says. If successful, in two to three months the country can begin to return to normal, stores can reopen, people can work, and the United States will have a rapid, V-shaped economic recovery. But if the country fails to act quickly and decisively, he warns, the U.S. will follow Italys course or, worse, that of Iran, and recovery may take a decade or more with extraordinary levels of death and dislocation.

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The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is playing a crucial role supporting NATO, its Allied and Partner nations in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NSPA has provided strategic airlift capabilities and managed key relief acquisition and transport for urgent medical supplies and equipment. In addition, NSPA has provided rapidly accessible infrastructure to augment national medical capabilities and it has engaged in innovative projects in support of health workers.
Image: Shome Basu

With the lockdown due to coronavirus extended to at least 20 states and Union Territories of India, state governments are acting with a sense of urgency to strictly enforce the restrictions on the movement of people by deploying police on streets, sealing borders and booking violators.

Police booked 42 people in Odishas Berhampur city on March 24 for defying the lockdown imposed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. As many as 255 people were arrested in Kolkata on March 23 for violating the restrictions imposed in the metropolis. Similar cases have been reported from Kashmir, Rajasthan, Manipur and other states or Union Territories (UTs), where people were booked for violating lockdown norms in the past two days.

Coronavirus LIVE updates

As the lockdown will continue till March 31, here are the legal provisions that may be invoked to punish the violators during this period:

For violating Section 144

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

Several states and UTs have imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which makes the assembly of four or more people becomes unlawful. This is to restrict large groups of people from coming out.

In such a situation, violators can be booked and the maximum punishment for such an act is three years, according to a report in The Times of India.

For violating lockdown

As cases of the coronavirus infection surged in the country, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning the gathering of people. Anyone seen loitering around on streets despite strict restrictions can be booked under Section 270 of IPC, which applies for a "malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life".

A violator can be jailed for up to two years or could be fined or both, without bail, said the TOI report citing Mysore superintendent of police, CB Rishyanath.

For violating quarantine restrictions

The government is sending those, who are testing positive for the novel coronavirus or area-suspected case to quarantine facilities. People who violate quarantine restrictions can be booked under IPC Section 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) for a non-cognizable offence, said the report citing the Karnataka governments order.

Those who violate the quarantine rule can be imprisoned for six months or can be made to pay a fine, the report suggested.

Also read | India may see 1.3 million coronavirus cases by mid-May: Report

For violating curfew

As people continue to venture out despite lockdown, the Centre has advised state governments and union territory administrations to impose curfew wherever necessary in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials told news agency PTI. A few states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

A curfew means an individual cannot leave the home without prior police permission. Violation of curfew can lead to the immediate detention of the violator by the police.
USP has announced a new partnership with Wingcopter, a German aircraft manufacturer, to develop new types of delivery drones. The two companies will work together to certify Wingcopter's existing aircraft for use in commercial delivery flights in the US. They say certification is the first step toward developing drones that can complete a variety of delivery jobs.

According to UPS, a couple of factors attracted it to Wingcopter's drones. The first one was technological. Wingcopter's drones feature a tilt-rotor mechanism that allows them to switch between multi-copter and fixed-wing flight modes. Thanks to this capability, they're able to vertically take off and land in tight spaces and then fly quickly and quietly to their next destination. The latter ability also makes them better suited to flying over populated areas like cities than traditional multi-copter drones. The second factor was that the company's drones have already completed deliveries under challenging circumstances. As one example, one of Wingcopter's aircraft was able to deliver insulin to a remote Irish village in the North Sea that is frequently inaccessible thanks to bad weather.

At the moment, UPS has mostly trialed drones to transport medical samples and prescriptions. The company's ultimate goal here is to develop aircraft that would allow it to shuttle items to companies in a variety of different industries. It may be a while yet before we see Wingcopter's aircraft delivering parcels to consumers in US and other parts of the world, but this is still a significant milestone for both companies.
Doctors' body says healthcare workers being harassed by homeowners, landlords

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Delhi police commissioner S.N. Shrivastava to ensure security of doctors who are facing harassment in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The home ministry's came house after doctors and nurses at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital said they were being harassed for treating coronavirus patients, claiming that coronavirus could be transmitted through them.

The home minister asked the police commissioner to take immediate action to stop any such incidents, an official of the ministry said.

In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of AIIMS said that their colleagues who are involved in taking care of the Covid-19 cases are being asked to vacate their rented houses while some have been forcefully evicted from their residence by the landlords and house owners.

The association urged the home minister to take appropriate action against the eviction of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from their houses.

The harassment reports come after citizens across the country, on the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday came out on their balconies to celebrate the efforts of essential service personnel in the fight against coronavirus.

The letter added that many doctors are now stranded on streets with their luggage, with nowhere to go.
This is going to be one of those historical cases [where] were not going to know what the best call was probably for some time, he said. History will be very wise when we look back on it.
The UK's strict three-week lockdown announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to control the spread of the deadly coronavirus remains in question with the country's underground trains seen packed during the rush hour on Tuesday as people continue using the limited services in operation.

Johnson on Monday enforced the strictest curbs on movement of people for at least three weeks as the death toll from Covid-19 in the country rose to 335.

In a televised address to the nation, Johnson issued the central message of: you must stay home and gave police powers to enforce the order.

However, there are concerns around the clarity of the message and police forces around the country said they had been inundated with calls asking what was still allowed.

Transport Secretary Gant Shapps in a tweet on Monday advised people to stay at home if possible.

"Concerning to see images of packed trains this a.m. The advice is clear: STAY HOME if possible. That is the way to SAVE LIVES," he said.

"We are working with train operators to introduce a small number of trains for KEY WORKERS to have space to be safe," he added.

The government has said that those in construction can go to work on a site as long as they adhere to the social distancing advice of not being within 2-metres of someone who is not in your household.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who controls some of the UK capital's biggest construction projects as the head of Transport for London, said he wanted to shut construction sites as part of the lockdown.

I've expressed my concerns to the Prime Minister directly. In my view, the only construction workers that should be working are those that we need for safety. I think that this is a time to understand the scale of the challenge we are facing, he said.

The mobile networks in the country have been deployed to send out the government's text messages to all customers with details of the new shutdown measures in an effort for greater clarity on the lockdown.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said enforcing the new restrictions would be "a real, real challenge", as there was already "large amounts of sickness" among officers across London.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a tweet that the next few weeks would be "testing" for police but she was working to ensure they are fully resourced.

I will do everything I can to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep themselves and the public safe. Their selflessness, compassion and commitment inspires us all every single day, the Indian-origin minister said.

Meanwhile, emergency legislation introducing new tough measures to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and giving the police additional powers will go before the House of Lords on Tuesday after passing the House of Commons on Monday.

Speaking from Downing Street on Monday, Johnson said that while no prime minister wants to make demands of limiting movements but the situation is such that a clamp down on people's movement and crackdown on any gatherings of more than two people was inevitable.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can, he said.

The UK prime minister announced the immediate closure of shops selling non-essential goods and said people will only be allowed to leave their home to shop for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible ; one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household; any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together. And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS [National Health Service] and save lives, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 24 : Directing states and Union Territories to ensure operational continuity of telecom services, DoT Secretary Anshu Prakash, here on Tuesday, told them that they be allowed to work without interruption.

In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of states and the advisors to UT administrations, Prakash said there had been instances when the local authorities asked telecom services personnel, their network operation and call centres to shut in view of the restrictions.

Noting that telecom infrastructure is critical for communication, internet, e-commerce and facilitating work-from-home during the restriction, he said, "It's necessary that instructions reach the field level to permit personnel maintaining and providing telecom services to continue their work without interruption." "You are requested to designate a nodal Officer and share his coordinates, including name and telephone numbers, with us. They can be contacted by any of the telecom service/internet service providers and telecom licensees in the event of any difficulty," he said.

Telecom infrastructure included telephone exchanges, and mobile switching, network operations, transmission, data and call centres, telecom tower sites and warehouses where maintenance spares were stored, it said.

States and UTs are under lockdown to control spread of coronavirus pandemic. People have been advised to stay indoors and desist from moving out if there is no emergency or necessity.

But people engaged in essential services are exempted from such restrictions.
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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said it will take "a few years" for the company to get its balance sheet back to the levels it was at before the 737 Max crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, but he balked at the government taking an equity stake in the company in exchange for aid.

The Chicago-based airplane manufacturer is seeking $60 billion in government aid for itself and its suppliers as the industry faces the fallout from the outbreak.

Lawmakers are closing in on a deal for a massive stimulus package, which is expected to provide aid to industries including Boeing's airline customers and potentially the company and its suppliers.

"The simpler, the shorter term in nature, the better," Calhoun said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

While lawmakers as of Tuesday evening were still working out the details of the plan, Calhoun on Tuesday told Fox Business Network that he opposed the government taking an equity stake in the company in exchange for aid.

"All we want is to make sure the credit markets are open for business," he said. If the government requires an equity stake, "we just look at all the other options and we got plenty of them."

Boeing has $15 billion in liquidity, and Calhoun expressed confidence that the company will make it through the crisis but said credit markets need to be open.

The company is burning a lot of that cash by continuing to pay its suppliers and employees without much revenue as its 737 Max is still grounded and airlines are now deferring orders since the virus has brought global travel to a near standstill.

"If there is no government support and the credit markets don't reopen, it will be fairly quick, but we can still make it to the other side," Calhoun said when asked what the company's cash burn rate is. "Now if this goes on for eight months, probably not."

The aviation industry are "at the point of the spear" of the virus and its impact, Calhoun said. Government aid would "keep our industry and people warm so when the recovery comes we're ready to go."

Boeing has shut down production at its Seattle-area facilities, which make up the majority of its aircraft manufacturing, amid cases of the virus in the area with several cases among Boeing workers.

The company is a major defense contractor and said that the U.S. Department of Defense is working on accelerating payments, Calhoun said.

The company last week announced that it would suspend its dividend and said that Calhoun would forgo his pay, measures other companies have taken to save cash, while they wait for government aid.
The Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria announced a lockdown in the broad swath of territory under its control today, just hours after the Syrian government confirmed its first case of the coronavirus.

The autonomous administration has declared a two-week curfew. It said in a statement this could be extended in case of necessity and the public interest. The administration said no cases of COVID-19 had been detected in the northeast so far. The area lying east of the Euphrates bordering Turkey to the north and Iraq to the east is home to between 4 million to 5 million people, among them hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians and Islamic State prisoners.

The real number of coronavirus cases in Syria is widely believed to far higher because of its proximity to Iran, which is among the worst affected countries worldwide. The Kurdish-led administration has sealed all its borders save for humanitarian and coalition deliveries and set up additional checkpoints to monitor peoples movements.

Mazlum Kobane, the commander in chief of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which provides security for the area, appealed in a video posted on his Twitter account for people to abide by the new rules and called medical staff our new leaders.

We must adopt these decisions and unite in implementing them, and because our capabilities are few, we must take the necessary preventive measures that are important to protects ourselves, our families, and our friends, the militia leader, who is also known as Mazloum Abdi, said.

Videos posted by the Hawar News agency showed rows of shuttered shops and empty roads in the SDF-controlled zone today.

There is 100% compliance with the curfew, said a Kobane aide, speaking not for attribution.

The co-chair of the administrations health authority, Raperin Hassan, told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview, Our means are truly very limited. We have only two normal size hospitals with 200 beds each and they arent fully in service, seven ventilators, and no [COVID-19] testing kits. We urgently need help.

Hassan's colleagues had reached out to the World Health Organization. They havent been cooperative and we dont know why, she said. They told us they would send us kits for each suspected case we report.

She said the administration had also contacted the US-led coalition and the central government in Damascus for assistance. We havent heard back from any of them. We are basically on our own in this, she said.

The coalition did not respond to Al-Monitors request for comment.

The UN and relief agencies have aired worries that the pandemic could be particularly devastating in Syria, where a decade of war has wrecked infrastructure, including hospitals, which are frequently targeted by regime and Russian warplanes in Sunni rebel-held areas, most notably the northwestern province of Idlib.

The central government in Damascus placed a ban on public transportation Sunday after a 20-year-old woman was identified as a carrier of COVID-19. Schools, parks and restaurants have been shuttered, moves that were mimicked by the Kurdish-led administration in the northeast. The autonomous administration has not, however, announced a prisoner amnesty to relieve congestion nor has it halted conscription. Damascus did both and has taken the additional measure of shutting down bakeries as well, Reuters reported.

Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor at Frances Lyon II University with deep knowledge of Syria, said the regimes claims that its hospitals are equipped to deal with the coronavirus are all false. Balanche told Al-Monitor in emailed comments, Moreover, its impossible to quarantine people as it's been done in Europe or in China. People have to queue for bread, for gas, and other products. Hence, people cannot be distanced from each other.

Balanche added that while the Kurdish run region had taken preventive measures following the example of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, where a curfew has been in place since March 12, it will be difficult to sustain. The pauperization of the population forces people to work, he noted.

Matters have been made worse by Turkeys cutting off of water yet again for the Alok pumping station in Ras al-Ain, one of two border towns it seized from the SDF in October. Turkey has repeatedly halted the flow of water to SDF-controlled Hasakah, which is home to over 400,000 people, including tens of thousands of internally displaced persons and the notorious al-Hol camp where jihadi women and children are being held.

Sozdar Ahmed, the co-chair of the water authority in Hasakah, told Hawar News on Sunday, Since yesterday, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries cut off water to the people of the city of Hasakah and its environs. It is assumed that the Russian state was the guarantor of supplying the city with water, but they did not play their role well.

Ahmed was referring to Russias role in mediating between Turkey and the SDF over Alok.

Turkey is demanding that the SDF provide electricity to areas under its occupation and is using water as a bargaining chip.

A spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirmed the water had been cut. Danielle Moylan told Al-Monitor in emailed comments, We understand that the water supply from Alok station  a source of clean water for nearly half a million people in north east Syria  has again been interrupted. The UN and humanitarian partners are advocating to parties to ensure that this critically important water source flows again to ensure the health and wellbeing of families living in the area.

Hassan, the health co-chair, said an abiding worry was the likely impact of the water cuts, particularly on al-Hol. A lot of the people there are living in poor sanitary conditions, making them even more vulnerable than most. The other concern is the potential for violence in the camp. Its a really bad situation, said Hassan.
What will happen to the young designers, like those featured on the shows, who are just starting out in business? Can they survive? Will street wear and athleisure, up-and-coming sectors every designer needed to master at the time of filming, continue to be in demand after weve all been working at home and wearing nothing else for eight weeks? The future is a foggy miasma.

But for a snapshot of the fashion world that was  its aspirations, appeal and pressures  they are actually pretty good.

As the next generation of fashion reality TV, they also reflect an evolution in the industry. Its not that they mess with the formula entirely. They all have the usual flamboyant man/fashion plate woman pair of hosts; a panel of three to five expert judges; one dressmaking challenge per show; heart-clenching stories of children left at home and parents who went without so would-be designers could follow their dream.

Even so, they have partly redesigned it.

They are a lot more millennial; the Project Runway hosts are Karlie Kloss (27) and Christian Siriano (34), and Next in Fashion features Alexa Chung and Tan France (both 36). They are notably more diverse, both in contestants and models, than previous fashion shows.

They are more global, with designers from Asia, Europe and across the United States. They are less about creating bitchy characters that play into hackneyed fashion stereotypes and more about a kind of group recognition that success in fashion is hard and requires team players. (Not that they dont still have the characters, like Angelo on Next in Fashion, who likes to dress entirely in leopard print, and Esther of Making the Cut, a black-clad wraith who even swims with her stacks of gold bangles on.) And they all include a core element of e-commerce.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join an extraordinary virtual G20 leaders summit on March 26 to discuss a coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic ramifications, two people familiar with developments said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, the current president of the G20, called for the virtual summit last week. Though there has been no formal announcement from Riyadh, a person familiar with planning for the summit confirmed it will be held in the evening on Thursday.

The leaders summit will be preceded by a virtual meeting on March 25 of the G20 Sherpas or personal representatives of heads of governments of the member states. Indias Sherpa is former commerce minister Suresh Prabhu.

Ahead of the summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted on Tuesday that she spoken on the phone with Modi about preparations for the meeting, supply chains affected by the coronavirus as well as about production capacities for crucial pharmaceuticals.

The G20 includes the European Union and major economies such as China, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the US. India is set to assume the G20 presidency in 2022.

The G20 leaders summit will be held at a time when the world community is grappling with the rapid spread of infections and deaths caused by Covid-19 in as many as 168 countries. According to statistics from the World Health Organisation, there were 332,930 confirmed cases and 14,510 deaths as of Monday.

Preparations for the virtual summit have also figured in PM Modis recent phone conversations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

According to a statement from Saudi Arabia, the G20 leaders are expected to put forward a coordinated set of policies to protect people and safeguard the global economy. The G20 will act with global bodies to alleviate the impact of the pandemic and the virtual summit will build on efforts by G20 finance ministers, central bank governors and senior officials to develop the precise requirements and actions needed.

The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors held a virtual meeting on Monday and discussed the impact of the pandemic on the global economy and preparations for the virtual leaders summit.

Saudi finance minister Mohammed Aljadaan stressed the need to step up the G20s joint efforts and act decisively and in a coordinated manner to people and businesses, safeguard the stability of the global economy and financial markets, restore confidence and prevent deep and prolonged negative economic impacts.

He highlighted that since the last meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in February, the global economy outlook has significantly deteriorated and that the evolution and global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the global economy [against] the backdrop of disruption in elements of both supply and demand.

The finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to closely monitor the evolution of the pandemic, including its impact on markets and economic conditions and take further actions to support the economy during and after this phase, according to an official statement.

They also agreed to develop a joint G20 action plan, which will outline the individual and collective actions the grouping will take to respond to the pandemic. They also discussed ways to step up coordinated efforts by bilateral and multilateral creditors to address the risks of debt vulnerabilities, especially in low-income countries.

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Senator Bernie Sanderss (I., Vt.) presidential campaign on Tuesday announced that Sanders would participate in an April debate with former vice president Joe Biden, if it is held.

The Democratic National Committee had planned to hold a debate on an unspecified date in April, but the committee has not yet announced a site or broadcaster for the debate.

Senator Sanders is still running for president, Mike Casca, communications director for the Sanders campaign, told the New York Times. If there is a debate in April, he plans to be there.

Sanders has refused to drop out of the presidential race despite Bidens delegate lead of 1,214-910. The Sanders campaign suffered successive defeats to Biden beginning on Super Tuesday, and the former vice president has ridden a wave of support from moderates and older voters to take the delegate-rich states of Michigan and Florida, winning Texas by a slimmer margin.

When asked by a CNN reporter last week about his insistence on remaining in the race, Sanders hit back at the reporter.

Im dealing with a fucking global crisis. You know, were dealing with, Sanders said, referring to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Right now Im trying to do my best to make sure that we dont have an economic meltdown and that people dont die. Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?

The pandemic has also thrown election logistics into disarray, as numerous states have chosen to delay their presidential primaries to June and mandated voting by mail only, to avoid large gatherings at polling stations.

More from National Review
A day after residents of the Mexican border city of Mexicali voted by a wide margin to reject the completion of a $1 billion brewery under construction by alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), management has stated that it still wants to invest in Mexico and is open to meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss how to proceed, according to Reuters.

Voters in the desert city are concerned that Constellation's plant will deplete already-scarce water supplies. According to Alfonso Cortez Lara, a water expert at the College of the Northern Border who was quoted in U.K. newspaper The Guardian, the brewery would have consumed more water than all other industrial users in Mexicali combined -- 25% of the municipality's reserves at peak use.

The manufacturer, however, has denied that its operations will significantly impact water availability. Reuters reported Monday that less than 5% of residents out of a population of 1 million voted in the referendum. However, though groups opposed to the brewery has been pushing for a plebiscite for two years, the vote itself was only announced two weeks ago. Pro-business groups panned the way the referendum was conducted as both disorganized and designed to promote a negative result.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Constellation Brands vowed that it would keep working with local authorities, community members, and government officials in Mexicali to try to advance the project, but would also be exploring options elsewhere in Mexico.

"In the meantime," stated CEO Bill Newlands, "it's important to note that we have ample capacity, based on current growth forecasts and production capabilities at our Nava brewery and soon to be completed expansion in Obregon, to continue fueling the growth of our beer business in the medium-term."

Constellation Brands says it is eager to engage all stakeholders, as the Mexicali plant is key to the company's long-term production needs. Its Mexican beer portfolio, which includes top-selling brands such as Corona, Modelo, and Pacifico Claro, continues to function as its core growth engine. Even as sales in its wines and spirits business declined by nearly 10% last quarter, Constellation's larger beer segment achieved year-over-year sales growth of roughly 8%, allowing total company revenue to advance by 1%.
The Chadian army clashed with elements of Boko Haram on Monday in Bouma, a locality on Lake Chad.

According to corroborated sources, the clashes lasted several hours before the army managed to repel the attackers.

The assailants arrived at the early hours of Monday, in motor boats and attacked by surprise Chadian forces, who retaliated. But at dawn, the fighting intensified, forcing the Chadian soldiers to call for reinforcements. But the jihadists resisted.

In mid-afternoon, the Chadian forces finally regained the upper hand and forced the enemy to retreat. There was some breakage. Both civilians and soldiers, said an officer contacted by RFI.

Until the end of the day, combing and casualty evacuation operations were in progress. The General Staff of the Armed Forces indicated that it did not yet have a balance sheet because the sweep had not yet been completed.
US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) condemned the use of "nasty language" against the Asian American citizens, amid allegations that Trump's use of the term "Chinese virus" has resulted in a backlash from the American public.

This comes at the backdrop of reports that the said community is being targetted with racial slurs because of the Asian origin of the novel coronavirus.

"Nasty language is being used against Asian American citizens. They are great American citizens. And I do not want that," said Trump during a coronavirus task force press brief.

Earlier in the day, Trump had tweeted the same saying that Asian American community must be protected against any racial discrimination.

"It is very important that we protect our Asian American community in the US and all around the They are amazing people. And the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together," he said.

Commenting on the travel ban imposed on certain countries, he said: "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We are not going to let the cure be worse than the problem. At the end of the 15-day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go."

He added: "And essentially, we are referring to the timing of the opening, essentially, the opening of our country. Because we have it pretty well shut-down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One continent has not yet confirmed a case of the novel coronavirus. It's a place of barren ice, where the all-consuming cold and darkness of winter is fast approaching.

Over the past few months, some 4,000 people from around the world have watched from Antarctica as the coronavirus pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, swept around the globe, reaching all but its southernmost reaches.

"You'd better stay there, you're safer there," Alberto Della Rovere, leader of the 35th Italian expedition to Antarctica, said his colleagues at home told him via WhatsApp.

For now, they appear to be right. Even in normal times, only a limited number of people are allowed in and out of Antarctica, with medical workers screening for signs of influenza and other illnesses before arrival.

"Right now, this, Antarctica, is the safest place in the world," Della Rovere said. "There are no outside contacts and we're far away from any settlement."

On social media, residents of various Antarctic stations have acknowledged their strange status. "I think it is safe to say that McMurdo Station, Antarctica, had the largest St. Patrick's Party in the world in 2020," wrote one person stationed there.

A U.S. contractor at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station posted a photograph of boxes and boxes of toilet paper. "Don't worry about us," he wrote.

People stationed in Antarctica might be unlikely to catch the virus, but they would be at great risk if they did. While most bases would be able to handle a single case of a serious respiratory infection, they would struggle to contain one that spreads as rapidly as the coronavirus. And there's no way to guarantee that it won't eventually spread to ends of the Earth.

"No continent is immune, including Antarctica," said Jeff Ayton, chief medical officer at the Australian Antarctic Division.

More News Maps show explosion of COVID-19 cases around the world

Twenty-eight countries have research stations on Antarctica. The largest is McMurdo Station, a U.S. research base on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, which can support more than 1,000 residents, most of whom stay for a season or two to conduct or support scientific research.

The population of the continent is highest during the Antarctic summer, from October to February. During winter, during which the continent falls under darkness and temperatures plummet, many stations close and others stay open with skeleton staffs.

In these winter months, the isolation could be a blessing. The harsh conditions make travel in and out extremely difficult, reducing the risk that someone could introduce the virus.

"There's no better quarantine and isolation than Neumayer Station," said Tim Heitland, the medical coordinator for Germany's Antarctica program, of the station where he served as doctor and base commander in 2017.

Most stations have at least one doctor during winter. "The biggest challenge was me biting on a frozen gummy bear and breaking off a piece of my tooth," Heitland said of his winter stint.

As the coronavirus spreads exponentially in the rest of the world, health problems on Antarctic bases remain mostly mundane. "It's very much business as usual here," said Mike Brian, station leader at Britain's Rothera Research base. The use of hand sanitizer has gone up, he said.

"We have one doctor here at the base, and she's been giving us vials -- of the kind generally employed for scientific tests -- that she has been filling with hand sanitizing gel," Della Rovere said.

While the risk may seem remote for now, keeping the continent from getting its first coronavirus case is a priority for countries with bases there.

"I've been involved in the Antarctic activities since 1988, and in my personal recollection, I can't think of anything that's had this global, challenging nature about it," said Michelle Rogan-Finnemore, the executive secretary of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, or COMNAP.

The association, formed in 1988, offers coordination between the various national Antarctic programs. It has taken a prominent role in advising governments and sharing best practices during the coronavirus pandemic, publishing a confidential guidance on March 16.

Given the close quarters and isolation on stations, infectious diseases are always a matter of concern. "It would really be a bad thing to get influenza virus, that would really make life not easy," Heitland said, "or if you had a serious case of diarrhea on a station - then you'd need to stock up on toilet paper."

"It's akin to living on the moon or on the way to Mars. We can't get these people out," said Ayton. "We can't do a medical evacuation from our Australians stations for up to nine months" of the year.

Australia and Germany confirmed they had respirators at their stations, but the British and American Antarctic programs would not answer questions about respirators in interviews. Rogan-Finnemore said that COMNAP had advised national governments to make sure they had enough oxygen to treat a respiratory infection like covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Medical officers in Antarctica have plenty of reasons to worry.

"If you have an infectious agent in a remote site with austere medical facilities, it will overwhelm a single doctor," Ayton said. "We don't have additional nurses or other trained health-care professionals."

While many countries closed their stations for winter before the outbreak reached its current intensity, McMurdo is only just finishing its summer season. Planes are still landing and taking off from the airstrip.

Mike England, a press officer for the National Science Foundation, said most of the flights were departures, but some people were arriving as well.

Those entering Antarctica would do so only after undergoing "isolation and testing protocols being overseen by our medical advisers," he said. While newcomers are screened for covid-19 symptoms, they are not being tested, he said.

But variations in practices between stations have raised alarms. "Anywhere there is a point of entry into the continent from a [national] program where there are high case rates, whether it is the United States, or France or Italy, or wherever, you can't guarantee it," Ayton said.

So far, however, the closest exposure to the coronavirus anyone in Antarctica appears to have had is reading about it from afar. The stations are isolated, but satellite phones and the Internet make it easy to stay up to date with the chaos unfolding back home.

"There's a huge spectrum across the people I've spoken to," said Brian of the atmosphere on Britain's Rothera base. "Some people are of the opinion that they would like to be home soon to be with friends and family, [while] other people are of the opinion they'd kind of like to sit it out here."

Italy's Della Rovere said that while his colleagues had joked that they should stay in Antarctica, no one took that seriously. "Those who have family, those who have children, are quite worried," he said.

The Italian summer expedition, which Della Rovere leads, is now making its way back to Italy.

The group are traveling on a South Korean vessel to New Zealand, where they have been granted an exemption from mandatory quarantines for visitors. They will not arrive in New Zealand until April 9, and it is not clear how they will get back to Italy, as their flights have been canceled.

Heitland, who has spent 14 months at Neumayer Station but is now working from home in Bremerhaven, Germany, because of the outbreak, said spending a winter in Antarctica changes the way you come think about what we now know as mutual responsibility.

"You learn what really is important in life," he said. "You really get to know that it's not all about consuming things, having the newest whatever. It's way more about being a good team, communicating, and taking care of each other."
Netflix has confirmed its exclusive release of a Korean film Time to Hunt, written and directed by Yoon Sung-hyun.Time to Hunt is a suspenseful non-stop chase film about four friends who are hunted by an unknown man, while they carry out a dangerous plan to get a fresh start in life. It was invited to the 70th Berlin International Film Festival for a special gala screening, which is the first time for a Korean film to be featured as such.Time to Hunt is one of the most highly anticipated Korean films of 2020, and marks the return to the screen of Yoon Sung-hyun, winner for Best New Director at the the 32nd Blue Dragon Awards for Bleak Night. The film also brings together the hottest actors of the Korean film industry, including Lee Je-hoon (Architecture 101, Signal), Ahn Jae-hong (Be Melodramatic, Reply 1988), Choi Woo-shik (Okja, Parasite), Park Jeong-min (Svaha: The Sixth Finger, Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet) and Park Hae-soo (Prison Playbook, Persona).Time to Hunt, produced by Sidus, will premiere worldwide on April 10, only on Netflix.
Southeast Texas first drive-thru coronavirus testing site is set to open at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Jack Brooks Regional Airport.

The sample-collection site, a joint effort by Jefferson, Jasper, Hardin, Newton and Orange counties, opens even as more public and private buildings across the region announced closures Sunday and Monday due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 strain. Those counties last week launched a joint hotline to streamline the screening and testing process.

Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel, seeming to take the public-facing lead of the coalition after Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick began self-quarantining this weekend, said the group has enough test kits to run this site for a couple days, but that more kits have been promised.

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said about 300 kits have been ordered and that 150 were expected to be delivered Monday evening.

Related: PA clinic closes after positive coronavirus test

Last week, Branick said the counties were going to continue looking into opportunities to obtain more kits, whether that means getting more from the state or purchasing them from private providers.

LaTasha Mayon, assistant director of Port Arthurs Public Health Department, said the relatively small number of test kits means that only people who have called the hotline number, 409-550-2536, been screened and assigned a unique number and an appointment time will be allowed into the process.

A police officer will be posted at the first check-in stop to turn away people who are not able to verify that they were sent to the drive-thru clinic.

Having five counties  and potentially a sixth, with Tyler County looking into joining the group  participate in the coalition allows the number of test kits and personal protective equipment to be stretched across the area.

Related: Map: Coronavirus cases across the US

The collection station will operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., unless the group gets a plethora of test kits and determines more hours are needed at this site.

No fewer than six practitioners will be on-site at all times, Mayon said, and they expect to do between 20 and 25 tests each day.

Residents who check in with the posted police officer will advance to a second station. There, they will show their ID, have their temperature taken and answer additional questions about the symptoms theyre experiencing. Testing will be conducted at a third and final station.

Related: Rural health care at risk in big outbreak

Port Arthur Public Health Director Judith Smith said the practitioner will insert a swab into the individuals nose with a little pressure. That takes about three seconds. She said the test isnt painful, but it may be uncomfortable.

The swab will be packaged and sent off for testing, a process thats expected to take up to a week.

McDaniel said there are plans in place to open other sites, but hes not yet ready to say where those could be. The number of confirmed cases will help guide those decisions.

At this time, Jefferson County has confirmed six cases  all of which are located in the city of Beaumont. Beaumont doubled the number of positive test cases on Monday. Four of the six confirmed cases are travel-related and all individuals are quarantined at home.

Related: At least two Beaumont pharmacies are mixing, selling their own hand sanitizer

Hardin County has two cases, Orange County has one, and Jasper, Newton and Tyler counties have not reported any positive tests.

After outlining the process for the media, officials answered questions and clarified information thats been disseminated over the past few days and provisions included in various emergency orders.

Davilyn Walston, spokeswoman for the local U.S. Attorneys Office, gave more information about the potential infection of Branicks wife after some people on social media expressed concern that she went to an emergency room after others have been explicitly told to refrain from doing so.

Walston said Branick and his wife reported her symptoms to the emergency room, at which point she was asked to come in for a test, in part because Branick has so much contact with other emergency response officials.

Related: SE Texas entrepreneurs adapt to pandemic

He has since self-quarantined. he is not currently expected to be tested for the virus unless his wifes results come back positive, Walston said.

Branick announced the self-quarantine in a Facebook post Sunday morning, at which point he also expanded on plans to further limit activities around the county, closing nail salons, tattoo parlors and other businesses as well as closing the courthouse to members of the public without an appointment.

A few other cities and counties followed suit on Monday. For example, both Beaumont and Port Arthur closed their city halls to the public.

McDaniel said Branick is feeling just fine and is setting the example for staying home as to not infect other people.

Beaumont Police Department spokeswoman Carol Riley encouraged people to watch the city of Beaumonts Facebook page for more information about cases and precautions being taken.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

However, she said, theres only so much information the city can give and still comply with public health law.

We dont want to turn this into, more of like a vigilante research-type situation, she said.

What remains unclear, and what officials hope increased testing will shine a light on, is Southeast Texas risk of community spread.

Several Beaumont news releases announcing a positive case have claimed there is very little evidence of community spread or otherwise stated that the immediate risk for Beaumont residents remains low.

But Riley acknowledged that the city doesnt know who every city resident has been around and when.

Related: School goes online a week after district closures

We cant step out there and tell you youre not at that risk, she said, emphasizing the need for hand washing and social distancing.

Dr. Cecil Walkes, with the Jefferson County Public Health Authority, said that, at least for the county, the investigation into who an individual has been around doesnt begin until after the test results come back positive. So its unclear at that time how many people an infected individual may have been around.

He said the biggest concern when considering community spread is not necessarily the positive cases that come back, but people who are walking around in the community, asymptomatic but still contagious.

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Grover said the coordinated action steps identified in the pandemic plan allow the district to identify the risks of a pandemic all the way from a low Level 1 risk, to a high Level 4 risk.

She added the plan also includes preparation, communication, reporting of illnesses, sanitation and cleaning, continuation of academic learning, school dismissal and closure, compensation of staff, and the opening of schools at the direction of CDHS.

Grover said that on Monday, the district began operating in its continuation of student learning action plan, with e-learning. GIPS students were able to get the devices and materials they need to carry out online learning using Zoom or hangout meets.

As schools are closed due to the coronavirus, Grover said she wants parents to know that students grades are frozen until further notice. If students need to improve their current grades, they should reach out to their teachers to develop an alternative learning plan to allow them to improve their grades.
From Caracas to Tehran, officials are calling on the Trump administration to ease crippling economic sanctions they contend are contributing to the growing death toll caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The idea has gained support from prominent leftists in the U.S., including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who say throwing a financial lifeline to some of the United States fiercest critics is worth it if lives can be saved.

Its absolutely unconscionable to keep sanctions on at this moment, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said in an interview. The only moral, sane and legal thing to do is stop the madness that is crippling other countries health systems.

But almost in the same breath, the same officials in Iran have rejected U.S. offers of aid  a sign to critics that scapegoating and pride, not U.S. policies, are causing immense harm.

American companies have been blocked from doing business with Iran and Venezuela for almost two years, after the Trump administration unilaterally pulled out of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers and launched a campaign seeking to oust Venezuelas socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, for allegedly committing fraud in his 2018 re-election.

The escalating restrictions have drastically reduced oil revenue in both countries and led to tensions that, in the case of Iran, culminated in a January drone strike that killed a top Iranian general.

U.S. officials have brushed aside the criticism, saying that the sanctions allow the delivery of food and medicine. But most experts say shipments dont materialise as Western companies are leery of doing business with either of the two governments.

In most cases, compliance by banks makes it virtually impossible to do business, said Jason Poblete, a sanctions lawyer in Washington who has represented American citizens held in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.

Iran has reported more than 1,810 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, the fourth-highest national total in the world, and its government argues U.S. sanctions have exacerbated the outbreak. It has been supported by China and Russia in calling for sanctions to be lifted. The European Unions top foreign policy chief on Monday called on the U.S. to make clear its sanctions dont target humanitarian aid.

Even amid this pandemic, the U.S. government has vengefully refused to lift its unlawful and collective punishment, making it virtually impossible for us to even buy medicine, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a video statement.

He also published on Twitter a list of the supplies that Iran urgently needs, including 172 million masks and 1,000 ventilators.

Viruses dont discriminate. Nor should humankind, he wrote.

U.S. officials say providing sanctions relief to Iran would only fund corruption and terrorist activities, not reach people in need. They point out that Venezuelas medical system has been in a free fall for years and shortages predate the sanctions.

Far from pulling back, the Trump administration has been expanding its maximum pressure campaign on Iran, finding time in the middle of the virus frenzy to blacklist five companies based in China, Hong Kong and South Africa that it says are facilitating trade with Irans petrochemical industry.

This is a sort of tired regime talking point, saying that the sanctions are impacting their ability to deliver assistance for their people, said Brian Hook, the State Departments representative for Iran. If the regime is sincere about looking for resources to help the Iranian people, they could start by giving back some of the tens of billions of dollars they have stolen from the Iranian people.

Kenneth Roth, the head of New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has issued scathing reports on abuses in Iran and Venezuela, said the international community should come together to help every country, even those under sanctions, gain access to needed medical supplies.

The U.S. government should clearly state that no one will be penalized for financing or supplying humanitarian aid in this time of a public-health crisis, he told The Associated Press.

The virus spread in Iran was exacerbated by days of denial from the government about its severity amid the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and attempts to boost turnout for February parliamentary elections. Hard-liners in its Shiite theocracy, meanwhile, have stormed shrines closed due to the virus as the public largely ignores guidance from health officials to stay home.

In Venezuela, the impact has been less severe  only 77 confirmed cases and no deaths. But its health care system was already in shambles like the rest of the economy, with as many 70% of hospitals reporting electricity and water shortages, so even a small disease outbreak can trigger major havoc.

Together the two countries control around 30% of the worlds petroleum reserves, so they are expected to be among the hardest hit from a halving of crude prices this month that reflects forecasts for a global recession.

Underscoring the economic fragility, both have gone hat in hand to the International Monetary Fund seeking billions in emergency loans.

Irans request, its first since 1962, underscores how overwhelmed what was considered one of the Middle Easts best medical systems has become, even as authorities so far have refused to impose nationwide  or even citywide  quarantines in the nation of 80 million people.

Maduro, who only a month ago was railing against the IMF as a tool of U.S. imperialism, also sought help from the international lending body. But his request was rejected in less than 10 hours, with the IMF saying there is no clarity among its 189 members whether he or Juan Guaido, the U.S.-backed head of Venezuelas opposition-dominated Congress, is the countrys lawful leader.

Those calling for sanctions relief say the political fight needs to be put aside to prevent even more people crossing into neighbouring Colombia and joining the almost 5 million Venezuelans who have fled the economic calamity in recent years,

Even if you agree with the rationale for sanctions, it makes little sense to pile on in the middle of a global pandemic, said Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who opposes Maduro and recently launched Oil For Venezuela, a U.S.-based group lobbying for greater assistance to the most vulnerable.

There is precedent for suspending U.S. sanctions in times of crisis. In 2003, President George W. Bush temporarily did so after an earthquake near the Iranian city of Bam killed thousands. The move cleared the way for U.S. military planes to land in Iran for the first time since the 1979 revolution, delivering aid.

Instead of easing sanctions, the U.S. has been offering aid to Iran. But those offers were angrily rejected Sunday by Irans supreme leader, who took the opportunity to air an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus was made by America. A similar theory was propagated by Maduro last month.

Who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.

Despite Venezuelan attempts to reach out to the Trump administration, no such aid offers have been made to Maduro, according to a senior U.S. official. Instead, all assistance is being channelled through Guaido and a plan to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be revealed in the coming days as well as additional sanctions on Maduros inner circle, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss future actions.

Despite the campaigns against the sanctions, Iranians and Venezuelans also increasingly blame their own governments failures for their dire situation.

Anger with Irans government has led to sporadic protests, such as when Iranian authorities denied for days they had shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board.

In Venezuela, the economy has been cratering for years due to bad policies, mismanagement and corruption. The country has seen a steep rise in malaria cases amid a resurgence of long-eliminated preventable diseases. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there have been reports of scattered looting across the country as food and gasoline grow scarce.

Venezuela is facing two tragedies: one caused by the coronavirus and the other by Maduro, Julio Borges, an exiled lawmaker who is serving as Guaidos foreign policy coordinator, said in an interview.

Maduro claims hes the victim of U.S. sanctions, but in reality, hes the one who has destroyed our health system. Now its up to us to rescue Venezuela from these two evils.
Airplane manufacturer and defense giant Boeing announced Monday a two-week suspension of operations at its Puget Sound, Washington-area plants. The announcement was made the day after the death from COVID-19 of a worker at its Everett facility. There are about 70,000 Boeing employees in the area, with the Everett plant employing over 30,000 of those.

No information at this time is available about the worker other than that he is a 58-year-old flight line inspector. His family posted news of his death on social media.

According to the Seattle Times, A senior Boeing executive, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the decision to shut down was not triggered directly by the death of a Boeing Everett worker on Sunday, but was based on the rate of increase of the coronavirus cases in the broader Seattle community as well as inside the plant.

Boeing logo [Credit: Flickr.com, sota]

Boeings press release, containing the usual platitudes, described the closures as being taken to ensure the well-being of employees, their families and the local community. It promised that additional deep cleaning will take place and a rigorous criteria for a return to work established.

A growing section of corporate America and its paid mouthpieces in the media are pushing for a swift end to business closures and reduced economic activityregardless of the potential cost of hundreds of thousands or more deaths. I think people would be very pleasantly surprised if [the Boeing shutdown] was just two weeks, Ken Herbert, industry analyst with the bank Canaccord Genuity, told the Seattle Times.

Also on Monday, Boeing confirmed the first COVID-19 case at its South Carolina plant. Boeing employs more than 6,800 people at that facility. Other than a thorough cleaning of the work area, Boeing did not address the possibility of closing that plant.

The shutdown, planned to be completed by Wednesday, will come three weeks after a worker at the Everett 777 plant was sent home with flu-like symptoms. Five days later, March 9, Boeing confirmed the first worker in its plants to have contracted the coronavirus. It is unknown if the worker sent home and the confirmed case were the same. By March 12 the company had confirmed five cases at its Everett facility, stating that they were in quarantine and receiving medical care. As of Saturday, 29 COVID-19 cases at Boeings Puget Sound facilities had been confirmed, with over 1,000 workers self-quarantined.

Washington state had been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the US until overtaken by New York last week. Despite this, the state did not move to close non-essential business and implement a stay-at-home order until just Monday, following earlier shutdowns in California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The center of Washingtons outbreak, which began in Februarya Kirkland nursing homehad infected 115 of its residents and employees and killed an estimated 33 residents as of Friday. Federal nursing-home regulators charged the home yesterday with failing to respond quickly, thereby placing residents in imminent danger. It still remains the largest single point of infection and mortality in the state, and perhaps the country.

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee praised Boeing for its belated decision to close its facilities, which has been endangering workers, their families and the wider population for weeks. I spoke with Boeing Commercial CEO Stan Deal early this morning. I applaud Boeings decision to implement an orderly shutdown and continue to pay its workers during this difficult time.

In 2013, Inslee oversaw the largest tax cut in United States history for Boeing, $8.7 billion. At the same time, along with Boeing and the corporate media, he sought to blackmail the 33,000 machinists who built Boeings planes into extending their contract to 2024 and accepting deep concessions, and threatened to move jobs to other states if they did not. The demands, initially rejected by a two-to-one vote, were accepted when the International Association of Machinists (IAM) pushed through a re-vote while making clear they would not lead any fight against the concessions.

The IAM has been complicit with Boeing in curbing the machinists anger over continuing production under conditions where the coronavirus has obviously not been contained. Previously opposing any closures, Local 751 insisted, If we demand that operations be shut down, we have no way of knowing how long a shutdown will last and how much pay members will receive. Turning 180 degrees without explanation, Local 751 posted Monday on its Facebook site, ...we support this action and hope this will reduce the rate of infection within our membership at work and in the community at large.

Workers responded to this with anger, with one writing Nice to see you guys finally support us AFTER we lost a union brother and not a second before.

Workers have been demanding the plants closure as the only effective way to limit and stop the spread of COVID-19. In an interview with KOMO 4-TV news, a machinist stated, I dont want to see people go without money or lose their job. But, in the benefit of elderly or people who would get really sick or potentially die from this disease, or virus, yeah, I think it would be of the benefit of everyone to shut it down.

He added, Morale is pretty low. People are pretty upset with the lack of information, lack of cleaning supplies, lack of PPE [personal protective equipment].

Workers have been increasingly calling for the plants to shut down in recent weeks, decrying the absence of adequate cleaning supplies and overstretched cleaning staff.

There is no one cleaning or disinfecting high touch areas, no hand sanitizer left, no way to work six feet apart, one told the Seattle Weekly.

Weve run out of disinfectant wipes, respirators and hand sanitizer. So weve been told to use the alcohol that we normally only use to clean the plane, another said.

The impact of the coronavirus on the aviation industry as a whole has compounded Boeings already severe crisis surrounding its deadly 737 Max 8 aircraft. Two of the jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and forcing the grounding of its new plane worldwide.

In the midst of widespread layoffs and shutdowns in air travel, a jobs massacre and new attacks on Boeing workers is in the offing. Wall Street responded to the shutdown by boosting Boeings sagging stock, down a jaw-dropping 70 percent over the last few weeks and 18 percent last Wednesday. On Monday, the stock price bucked the overall market decline, rising 11 percent.

Responding to this ongoing crisis, Boeing has lobbied hard for a large part of the Trump administrations bailout for banks and corporations. It has requested $60 billion, to which President Trump has responded obligingly, saying recently, Yes, I think we have to protect Boeing. We have to absolutely help Boeing. Obviously when the airlines arent doing well then Boeing is not going to be doing well. So well be helping Boeing.
TANZANIA has heavily invested in weather monitoring and forecasting, including procuring of three modern weather radars and setting up of weather and climate monitoring systems, Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Eng. Isack Kamwelwe has said.

The minister said the government would continue supporting the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) to improve national observation network and improve availability of weather and climate data and accuracy of forecasts.

According to the minister, the radars will be installed in Mtwara, Mbeya and Kigoma regions by the end of 2020.

Mr Kamwelwe made the revelation in his statement, as Tanzania joined the rest of the world to mark World Meteorological Day (WMD).

However, unlike in the previous years where the day was commemorated at national level by convening stakeholders in various activities, this time, due to Covid-19 threat in the country, the ministry and TMA decided to only issue their statements regarding the day.

According to the minister, the government continues enhancing the capacity of TMA to monitor and forecast weather and climate for national informed decision-making in various sectors of the economy.

Tanzania as a member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) joins other 192 member states and the worldwide meteorological community to celebrate WMD.

This day also highlights the significant contribution that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) TMA make to the wellbeing of society, human safety and protection of properties through early warnings of expected hazardous weather and climate conditions.

To ensure TMA carries out its mandate effectively for the benefit of the socioeconomic wellbeing of the nation, the government continues building the capacity of TMA to enhance weather forecasting, monitor climate for further evidence of climate change and variability, he said.

In a statement, TMA Director General, Dr Agnes Kijazi, said to emphasise the importance of climate information in planning and decision-making of socioeconomic activities, the celebration of WMD focuses on relevant theme.

This years theme is Climate and Water which aligns with the theme of World Water Day 2020, which focuses on climate change and water, she said.

According to Dr Kijazi, in view of climate projections, frequency and severity of climate and weather-related risks and disasters is likely to increase impacting key sectors such as water, energy, transportation and agriculture.

In the area of equipment, TMA continues replacing mercury with non-mercury instruments in all its meteorological observing stations all over the country in line with the Minamata Convention, which burns the use of mercury by the end of this year, she said.
Hyderabad: Two deaths at diferent hospitals in Hyderbad Monday night have raised concerns of a possible link to the Covid-19 virus. Both patients has no recent foreign travel history, and so were not tested for the coronavirus in Hyderabad.

A 30-year-old woman died of pneumonia of unknown origin at Apollo hospital on Monday night.

This patient had no travel history and no contact with any travellers from Covid-19 affected countries. Due to this reason her samples were not collected at Gandhi Hospital when she went there with symptoms of cough and cold.

She developed severe breathlessness and had a continuous cough on Monday afternoon and was admitted in Apollo Hospitals. Doctors in the emergency ward insisted she be transferred to Gandhi Hospital but her family members were not sure due to their earlier experience.

Stabilisation was difficult as the patient's respiratory distress exposed healthcare workers. Only two doctors and one nurse could attend to the patient. Lung failure was observed by late evening and the patient passed away at night.

The second death was of a 60-year-old with history of domestic travel to Kolkata. Upon return, the person suffered from severe cough, cold and fever, and was taken to Gandhi Hospital. But samples were not taken there as there was record of contact with a person who had been to a coronavirus-affected country.

On Monday the patient developed severe respiratory distress and was rushed to hospital where an X ray was taken. The patient died due to suffocation at hospital.

Telangana health officials have been alerted to the two cases and are engaged in contact tracing of both cases.

A student, Anirudh Kokala, whose family has rented out their place to one of the two bereaved families, has appealed to health officials to carry out contact tracing and testing all of them.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked China for the protective equipment and medical supplies, and asked the Chinese government to provide Ukraine with additional assistance to counter the spread of coronavirus.

Zelensky said this during a meeting with Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Ukraine Fan Xianrong on Tuesday, the presidents press service reports.

"Volodymyr Zelensky thanked China for the medical equipment and noted the personal involvement of the Chinese ambassador in this issue. The president asked the Chinese government to provide additional assistance to Ukraine, since test systems, medical equipment and medicines are still needed," the report reads.

Zelensky noted the efforts of the Chinese authorities to stabilize the spread of coronavirus.

He also emphasized Ukraines interest in examining the Chinese experience in combating this disease and establishing information exchange with Chinese medical specialists.

As reported, on March 23, a military aircraft delivered a batch of coronavirus test kits to the Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) from Chinese Guangzhou. In particular, the aircraft delivered two types of test kits: for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and 250 thousand tests for rapid diagnostics. The delivered cargo also included medical masks of various degrees of protection, disinfectants, ventilators and other means necessary to combat the spread of COVID-19.

ish
As an epidemic raged across Europe, a picturesque German village in the mountainous south of Bavaria decided to do something about it.

Having already lost 80 of their own to the plague, the villagers of Oberammergau pledged to perform the Passion of Jesus Christhis suffering, death, and resurrectionevery tenth year, so that no one else might die.

So goes the historical legend of the origins of the Oberammergau Passion Play, an almost four-century-old tradition that takes place once every 10 years.

The year of the pledge was 1633, not 2020. The PestGerman for plaguewas the so-called Black Death, not the COVID-19 pandemic.

But, in an ironic twist, the 42nd Oberammergau seasonset to run May 16 to October 4, 2020was postponed last week due to measures taken by local government authorities in response to the new coronavirus outbreak.

Oberammergau expected to host between 500,000 and 750,000 peoplemany of them pilgrimsfor the 2020 performances.

Image: Oberammergau Passion Play

In a statement, organizers said, the health of our guests and contributors is a top priority for us, so those responsible have decided to postpone the premiere of the Passion Play. The new premiere will be May 16, 2022.

The postponement is the latest in a string of challenges facing religious festivals, pilgrimages, and events across the globe this year. It is sure to have major impacts on the village of Oberammergau, the economy that surrounds the plays, and pilgrims planning to attend.

We are in limbo, said Cindy Friedrich, a 59-year-old from Apache Junction, Arizona, who was going to travel to Germany with 35 people from her church. We are waiting to see what we will do, but we know God is with us, he will not leave us nor forsake us. Hes the one in control.

Robert Moore, a pastor who was going to make the trip from Leipzig, Germany, said that while he and his wife are not surprised or heartbroken to not experience the Passion Play this year, they do feel the losseconomically and spirituallyfor the area of Oberammergau.

Indeed, some 2,000 of the villages 5,400 residents either perform on stage or play a supporting role behind the scenes. The rest are part of a network of shops, restaurants, and hotels that accommodate the thousands of pilgrims and attendees that descend on the village decennially.

Image: Florian Wagner / Oberammergau Passion Play

To say the plays are important to the villages identityand economyis an understatement, said Jake Krengel, a local tour operator based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 30 minutes south of Oberammergau.

In Germany, traditions arent just something in the past, they live on today and are foundational to local, rural communities like this, said Krengel. The zeal they have for the production shows in Oberammergau the regard they have for this 400-year-old tradition.

Krengel shared how preliminaries for the play begin over a year in advance, with Die Pesta play about the original promise to act out Jesus Passiontaking place the summer before the big Passion Play. Preparations continue around-the-calendar year, with men of the village growing their beards out from Ash Wednesday in order to show off authentic whiskers for the premiere in May.

Then, for almost five months, five days a week, performances are held in an open-air, 4,700-capacity theater. Performances are five hours long, with a three-hour intermission for dinner in between two acts. Ticket holders are not only expected to enjoy the passion of the play itself, but the hospitality of the local community and its hotels, shops, and restaurants.

Image: Oberammergau Passion Play

Krengel, who co-owns a travel company called Bavaria and Beyond, was offering three different tours to participants from across the globe. He said news of the postponement was just devastating.

Currently, the organizers are offering two options for those with tickets or packages. Either they can convert their reservations to 2022 or cancel and receive a full refund.

Krengel is working day-in and day-out with guests, many of whom were planning once-in-a-lifetime trips.

Such was the case for Delisle Doherty, a 69-year-old evangelical from Katy, Texas, who was looking forward to how the Passion Play would help bring the Bible to life for him and his wife.

Having gone to Israel in 2017 and seen passion plays performed in North Dakota, Doherty hoped a pilgrimage to Oberammergau would take our spiritual life to the next level, he said.

Recalling the faith of those who promised to put on the play in the face of plague, Doherty said, just being in the areas where there is such history and understanding the story and the things these people went throughto me, its priceless.

Doherty is disappointed the plays are postponed, but he hopes to make it in 2022. Still, Doherty, Friedrich, and other pilgrims recognize that because of the financial ramifications of the global crisis, or due to the age of some pilgrims, a trip in 2022 might not be possible.

In the meantime, Doherty is trying to put things in perspective. In the end, theres a lot more important things in life, he said, so youve got to put your faith into this: its not just about the virus, the play; its about Gods plans and how he is at work through this.

No matter how much of a blessing it would have been to see the Passion Play with other Christians, Friedrich said, God wants us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our neighborhoods right now, so that people are not scared and know they have someone to cling to in the midst of so many uncertainties.

Doherty concurred. As important as the Passion Play was to him spiritually, he said, theres other things that I can be doing right now, to spiritually care for others in the midst of the crisis.

Image: Oberammergau Passion Play

Passion Play organizers are trying to keep things in perspective too. In their statement, they noted that previous plays have been postponed and canceled in the past.

All passion plays were banned in Bavaria in 1770, only to resume again in 1780. Both World Wars also brought upheaval to the tradition. The performance was postponed to 1922 in the wake of the First World War, and the play was canceled in 1940 but resumed in 1950 under the oversight of the American Occupation Authorities. The Passion Play has also faced accusations of anti-Semitism, despite efforts at reform led by Christian Stuckl, a native of Oberammergau who is directing the play for the fourth time.

Stuckl said that his re-imagined version, told through a pageant of living pictures, aimed to portray Jesus as relevant to todays world. Like with many things in Oberammergau these days, whether the COVID-19 pandemic might impact this portrayal of Jesus relevance is uncertain.

One thing, however, is beyond doubt, said the organizers. The Passion Play goes back to a vow from 1633, they said, Oberammergauers will continue fulfilling this vow.

Planning for 2022, they said, is already underway.
HAMDEN  Quinnipiac University has postponed its commencement ceremonies in light of the coronavirus pandemic, President Judy Olian announced the Tuesday to the university community.

The decision was based on the uncertainty of the coronavirus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to limit public gatherings and travel, she said.

Olian said Quinnipiac intends to hold in-person ceremonies for this years graduating class in the future, but there are too many uncertainties about the coronavirus to decide what the new dates will be yet.

That said, I want to provide you with clarity about our commitment to still hold an in-person event, at a time when uncertainty has ruled much of your daily lives, she said, assuring families would have adequate notice for travel. Whether it has to be summer or fall, I want nothing more than to see each one of you and your families back at Quinnipiac.

Olian promised the university would provide more information in the coming weeks about official degree conferrals so that graduates have the necessary transcripts to go on to graduate school or the workforce.

Thank you for the continued strength, determination and resilience you have shown these past couple of weeks, Olian said. The inspiring and heartfelt emails, social media posts and stories I have observed have left me in awe of the power and connectedness of our Bobcat family.

Olian said she looked forward to the new date when they celebrate the universitys graduates.

The remainder of the universitys semester is being held online and campus housing has been closed in response to coronavirus concerns.

mdignan@hearstmediact.com
Italian army soldiers patrol streets after being deployed to the region of Lombardy to enforce the lockdown against the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Milan, Italy, March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo

As the coronavirus crisis intensifies, more calls have been made for Ireland to go into lockdown, but how have other countries introduced and enforced similar measures?

One-in-five people - around 1.7bn are now under lockdown, as almost 400,000 cases of Covid-19 and almost 20,000 deaths have been registered worldwide.

Here's what have been implemented by other countries and how they plan to enforce them:

Britain and Northern Ireland

Expand Close Screen grab of Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressing the nation from 10 Downing Street, London, as he placed the UK on lockdown / Facebook

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Whatsapp Screen grab of Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressing the nation from 10 Downing Street, London, as he placed the UK on lockdown





Across the Irish sea, the UK Prime Ministers stance on Covid-19 has taken a sudden hardened turn. Only twenty-three days after Boris Johnson remarked offhandedly that coronavirus is likely to spread a bit more, he finally declared a lockdown yesterday, as the UKs death toll as a result of the virus rose to 335.

Mr Johnson had previously said herd immunity would be the UKs approach to Covid-19, new measure were put in place to try to stop the spread.

All shops selling non-essential items are to close, along with libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship.

Residents are only allowed out to collect vital food and medicines, to exercise once per day, to attend medical appointments or to travel to essential places of work if they cannot work from home.

Gatherings of more than two people not from the same household will be banned - weddings and baptisms will be banned but funerals will be allowed.

While punishments for breaching the rules have not yet been announced, Mr Johnson said that the police will be enforcing the lockdown.

China

Expand Close People wearing face masks walk through a rapeseed farm used to produce canola oil in Chinas central Jiangxi province. It borders Hubei province, the epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP / Facebook

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Whatsapp People wearing face masks walk through a rapeseed farm used to produce canola oil in Chinas central Jiangxi province. It borders Hubei province, the epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP





Lockdown in China is believed to be the most stringent observed across the world. It has, however, reaped positive outcomes. Much of Hubei province - in which Wuhan is situation, where the virus originated - came out of lockdown today, having began on 23 January with the death toll at 17.

China has now reported over 80,000 cases and 3,277 deaths, but today, only around 80 new cases were registered, all of which being people who flew from other countries.

While the true extent of the lockdown in China is not fully reported, it is thought that severe punishments were handed out to anyone breaking isolation rules.

Italy

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Fine of more than 200 and up to three months in prison for being outside without justification. In Lombardy, the fines are up to 5,000. Requirement to fill in a form before going out. All non-essential businesses and schools closed.

France:

Fine of 135 for being outside without an essential reason. Fine of up to 3,700 and six months in jail for repeat offenders. Requirement to fill in form before going out. All non-essential shops closed. Curfews imposed in several towns.

More than 100,000 police officers are enforcing the measures.

Spain:

Expand Close A sign that reads in spanish: "Thank you #IstayAtHome" hangs on the facade of the Madrid city hall, Spain, on Sunday March 22, 2020. (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A sign that reads in spanish: "Thank you #IstayAtHome" hangs on the facade of the Madrid city hall, Spain, on Sunday March 22, 2020. (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue)

Fine of 100 for being outside without justification and up to a year in jail and a fine of 30,000 for disobeying or resisting an order by police officers to return home. All non-essential businesses and schools closed. Several towns quarantined.

Austria:

Fine of up to 3,600 for being outside without justification. All non-essential businesses and schools closed. Retail outlets that open despite the ban face fines of up to 30,000.

Several US states have introduced restrictions, with tens of millions of people ordered to stay at home.

California, USA:

Fines up to $5,000 for leaving home w/o justification All businesses except for food shops, takeaways, launderettes, chemists, banks and government institutions closed. Schools expected to remain shut until the summer.

Germany:

Expand Close German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a media statement on the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 22, 2020. Michel Kappeler/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo / Facebook

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Whatsapp German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a media statement on the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 22, 2020. Michel Kappeler/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Public gatherings of more than two people banned with offenders to face fines yet to be fixed. Schools and non-essential businesses closed.

Australia:

Pubs, clubs, gyms and restaurants closed. Non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people banned. Schools open.

New Zealand:

All non- essential businesses and schools closed. People instructed to stay a home. Public transport is only available to those working in key services.

Belgium:

All non-essential shops have been closed and residents have been told to remain at home until at least 5 April. Walking and exercise are allowed, but a safe distance must be maintained. All social gatherings are banned.
But neither Trump nor many of his allies appear to care that much about the human toll. Or at least theyve convinced themselves that an extended lockdown is more harmful than anything the virus can do. Trump, The Washington Post reports, is fixated on the plummeting stock market, is chafing at the idea of the country remaining closed until the summer and growing tired of talking only about the coronavirus. Key officials within the administration  like Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury  are pushing the president to get the economy back on track. The president is right. The cure cant be worse than the disease, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on Fox News on Monday. And were going to have to make some difficult trade-offs.

I suppose it is possible that when Trump and Kudlow say this, they are thinking of service employees and blue-collar workers, of people who live from paycheck to paycheck. But their mutual fixation on the stock market  Trumps shift from apathy to attention came in the wake of a breathtaking sell-off  makes this unlikely. The trade-off here isnt lives for prosperity  again, coronavirus will dampen economic activity with or without social distancing  its lives for shareholder value.

Theres another issue as well. The only way to sustain an economy in lockdown is unconditional government support for individuals, families and communities. Its social democracy, if only for a while. And that amount of redistribution  from top to bottom, from creditors to debtors  is unacceptable to the president and his allies. Remember that the Trump administration is still trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and end food assistance for 700,000 Americans.

Marxists have a turn of phrase that dates back to the late 19th century: Socialism or barbarism. It comes from the German journalist and philosopher Karl Kautsky, who in 1892 wrote, As things stand today capitalist civilization cannot continue; we must either move forward into socialism or fall back into barbarism.

Two decades later, in a 1915 pamphlet, The Crisis in German Social Democracy, the Polish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg recapitulated the idea, attributing it to Karl Marxs lifelong friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels. Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, she wrote while a generation of European men marched to their doom in the First World War, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.

You dont have to be a revolutionary socialist to understand the sentiment. In the face of disaster, the only path forward is solidarity and mutual concern. Reject it, and all thats left is a cold and selfish disregard for human life.

America will again  and soon  be open for business, the president said on Monday. Very soon, a lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. A lot sooner.

In other words, Trump will sacrifice Americans to coronavirus if it will save the market and his prospects for re-election. Which is to say that given the choice between solidarity and barbarism, Trump will choose barbarism. Well see, in November, if the rest of the country follows suit.

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 here's our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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San Antonio's rich history is tied to its buildings as much as the events that occurred here. The area has structures that date as far back as the early 1700s.

The City of San Antonio's Office of Historic Preservation helped us track down some of the oldest structures in the area.

The OHP researched the oldest and most prominent structures dating back to the construction of the missions in the early 1700s.

Many of the structures we found were old homes of noteworthy Texans and others were structures with various ties to the missions scattered throughout the area.
All mining operations at the site, which produces zircon, rutile, and titanium slag, will be halted at midnight local time on March 26, for 21 days.

"In line with the [South African] presidents directive, Rio Tinto will make arrangements for the furnaces to be put on care and maintenance in...
A woman who smashed a cocktail glass into a teachers face during a drunken bar assault has been spared jail so she can attend rehab.

Courtney Goodwin, 22, left the victim suffering partial blindness in her right eye and needing emergency surgery after the unprovoked attack at the Be At One bar in Richmond.

Kingston crown court heard Goodwin was heavily intoxicated and had been refused service at the bar when she turned to stealing other customers drinks on November 3, 2018.

The victim, who was with two friends, was attacked during an altercation on the dancefloor when Goodwin bumped into their party.

Judge John Lodge sentenced Goodwin yesterday to 22 months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered her to undergo six months of an intensive alcohol rehabilitation course.

He also banned her for the next year from all pubs and clubs where alcohol is served, as well as from drinking in a restaurant, with regular reviews of her progress being sent to the court. CPS prosecutor Rahena Choudhury said: This was a nasty and random attack on a woman who was simply enjoying her night out.

Goodwins actions have left her victim with significant life-changing injuries from which she is still recovering.

I hope this prosecution acts as a deterrent and provides the victim with the closure that she needs.

The victim, who spoke to the Standard after the attack, said she was very scared and feared she would lose her sight permanently.

She pushed me, I pushed her back and then she swung her arm with the glass into my face, she said, describing the attack.

Part of it smashed into my right eye. I just remember feeling blood everywhere. Goodwin, from Twickenham, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful wounding.
Additional reporting by Digital Desk staff

Schools across Ireland will not reopen after Friday.

Education Minister Joe McHugh says that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that.

He added he hoped to have confirmation today or tomorrow of the extension of the school closures.

School closures in Northern Ireland are set to run into the summer.

Educational institutions, including schools and creches were closed almost two weeks ago after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was advised by top medical officers that it would be essential in limiting the spread of Coronavirus.

Minister McHugh has stated that the main focus of his department is having the state exams sit as normal in the June 3-23 period.

Last week it was announced the 2020 Leaving Cert and Junior Cert oral and practical examinations had been cancelled, and all students who had been due to take the tests would be awarded full marks for that portion of the module.

Minister McHugh says his commitment is to ensure any further exams happen as normal.

My commitment to the students and for the students who are maybe having their breakfast this morning and maybe getting ready to study and really, really putting in such an effort, my commitment to them, and the Departments commitment is, we want to make those exams happen," he said.

Obviously we are going to be influenced and directed by the health experts.

We dont know where we are going to be in terms of the peak of this virus.

I think we owe it those young people who are studying and putting in the effort to see this through to try to have these exams this year.

"When I say this year I mean the dates that are defined for this year.

Thats what we are working towards.

Minister for Health Simon Harris speaking to the media on his way into Government Buildings. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The Health Minister says further restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19 will be announced this afternoon.

The National Public Health Emergency team met this morning and has made a series of recommendations.

Cabinet Ministers are meeting now to discuss the advice, which is likely to impact on travel and social activity.

Speaking on the way into Government Buildings, Minister Simon Harris says there will also be an update on existing measures, including schools.

"There will be an update on all of the existing measures in place and, indeed, any new recommendations from the National Public Health Emergency team," he said.

"It's very important that today is seen in the context of the massive national effort that is underway, the huge sacrifices that the Irish people are making in trying to do the right thing, in trying to keep their family, their community and their country safe.

"What Government wants to do with our public health doctors is support that effort."

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Reuters

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Monday pulled its first-quarter revenue forecast, citing the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its ad sales, but said the pandemic had boosted user engagement on the microblogging platform.

The outbreak has made social media services such as Twitter vital for a broader population than usually, as people look to stay abreast of the latest news from authorities and keep in touch with friends virtually.

But many advertisers have pulled marketing budgets to save costs because of the virus-related uncertainty, and others are hesitant to advertise alongside coronavirus discussions for fear of associating their brands with the sensitive topic.

"The COVID-19 impact began in Asia, and as it unfolded into a global pandemic, it has impacted Twitter's advertising revenue globally more significantly in the last few weeks," Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal said in a statement.

There are positive signs for the internet giants, though.

Hyundai, Toyota and GM were among automakers who started to run online ads last week directly or indirectly mentioning how they were adjusting practices because of the coronavirus, according to commercials seen by Reuters.

Twitter said total monetizable daily active users (mDAU) jumped 23% to 164 million quarter-to-date, driven by the conversation around COVID-19, as well as ongoing product improvements.

The company said on Monday it expects first-quarter revenue to be down slightly on a year-over-year basis.

It had earlier estimated first-quarter revenue to be between $825 million (714.72 million) and $885 million, an 8.6% rise from a year earlier at the midpoint.

Twitter said it also expects to incur an operating loss in the first quarter.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Paresh Dave in San Franscisco; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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STAMFORD  A Bronx, New York man, who police say illegally took money from four city immigrants and promised to either put them on the list for affordable housing or move them up to the top of the Section 8 housing list, was arrested Monday after he turned himself over to police.

Daniel Camejo, 51, of Herkimer Place, was charged with second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny and was released after posting a $50,000 court-appearance bond. Police say the loss to the complainants is $14,000.

Camejos attorney, Joseph Colarusso, said his client surrendered himself in order to face the charges against him.

We look forward to resolving this matter where all parties will be made whole, Colarusso said.

The arrest comes nearly five months after police arrested a Stamford woman, who police say allegedly helped Camejo find victims in Stamford and steal their money.

Juana Medina-Deayala, 58, was charged with second-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny and tampering with a witness on Oct. 29. She was released after posting a $75,000 court-appearance bond. She has made not guilty pleas to the charges and her case is still pending at the Stamford courthouse.

The financial crimes investigator on the case, Heather Bozentko, said she believes Camejo is the mastermind of the unfortunate con.

He is definitely the leader and (Medina-Deayala) was more of the co-conspirator, Botzentko said. It is terrible to take advantage of those seeking help  especially in his own community.

According to Camejos five-page arrest affidavit, in August 2019 seven people told police they had been scammed by Camejo, who they said they paid between $2,500 and $3,000 to either get them into the Housing Choice Voucher Program or get them closer to the top of the Section 8 housing list, which can take years to do.

Police immediately went to New Neighbors, a nonprofit housing developer on Progress Drive where Camejo claimed to work. They were told he had been working there as a property manager for less than a year, but two weeks earlier, he was fired for performance issues, the affidavit said.

New Neighbors CEO William Healy said while Camejo would have access to the Section 8 applications, he had no way to make any changes to the waiting list itself, which has been full for well over a year, the affidavit said.

To prove his point, the police had Healy run the names of those complaining against Camejo and found that none of them were in Section 8 housing and neither did they have any applications to get into rent-subsidized housing pending, the affidavit said. Medina-Deayalas name, however, did turn up as a Section 8 resident of Friendship House on Perry Street, where she had lived for many years.

Bozentko said she tried several times to scheduled an interviews with Camejo. He did not show up for any of them, but Bozentko was told Colarusso was representing Camejo.

Sgt. Steven Perrotta said police have heard of Section 8 scams like these for years, but until this time have not been able to get anyone to file a complaint. When Medina-Deayala was arrested, Perrotta said he hoped it would spur other victims to come forward.

Bozentko said one other person did come forward, who may be added to the case against Camejo and Medina-Deayala.

Camejo is next scheduled to appear in court April 6 for arraignment and may make pleas to his charges at that time.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
Chennai, March 24 : Lauding the tireless services of doctors, nurses and others in attending to the patients suffering from Coronavirus, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Tuesday announced one month special pay for them.

Announcing this in the Assembly, Palaniswami said the doctors, nurses and other professional staff are working with dedication day and night without fearing for their lives.

Palaniswami said the medical staff working in the isolation wards where Coronavirus infected patients are being treated will be paid a month's salary as special pay in recognition of their dedication.
(Natural News) Experts are warning that hundreds of millions of people around the globe could eventually catch COVID-19, and if that actually happens, millions of people are going to die. Globally, less than 10,000 people have died during this pandemic so far, and the level of fear we are witnessing is off the charts. The entire western world is shutting down and people are freaking out like we have never been before. So what is going to happen if the global death toll soon gets 100 times higher? According to the CDC, in a worst-case scenario more than 200 million people could become infected in the United States alone

(Article by Michael Snyder republished from EndOfTheAmericanDream.com)

According to The New York Times, a closed-door meeting was held last month among CDC officials and dozens of epidemic experts from around the world. One of the CDCs leading epidemiologists presented four scenarios  named A, B, C and D  to show possible ways the virus could spread throughout the US population. The federal health agency projects that in the worst-case scenario, between 160 million and 214 million people would be sickened.

Do you think that our society is equipped to handle a crisis of that magnitude?

I certainly dont.

Hopefully the measures that are now being taken will slow the spread of this virus. Because if that does not happen, researchers at Imperial College London are projecting that 2.2 million Americans could die

The report is also influencing planning by the Trump administration. Deborah Birx, who serves as the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, cited the British analysis at a news conference Monday, saying her response team was especially focused on the reports conclusion that an entire household should self-quarantine for 14 days if one of its members is stricken by the virus. The Imperial College London group reported that if nothing was done by governments and individuals and the pandemic remained uncontrolled, 510,000 would die in Britain and 2.2?million in the United States over the course of the outbreak.

I really dont understand why some people out there still refuse to take this pandemic seriously.

Now that this outbreak is completely out of control, it wont be too long before COVID-19 is virtually everywhere.

According to a new study that was just conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, this virus can remain in the air for hours and it can remain on surfaces for days

The highly contagious novel coronavirus that has exploded into a global pandemic can remain viable and infectious in droplets in the air for hours and on surfaces up to days, according to a new study that should offer guidance to help people avoid contracting the respiratory illness called COVID-19.

So once this virus has spread to every community in the United States, there wont be any public places that are safe.

It could be on the next surface that you touch, the next hand that you shake or in the next gulp of air that you breathe in.

According to the researchers, COVID-19 could still actually be detected on plastic and steel surfaces after three days

On plastic and stainless steel, viable virus could be detected after three days. On cardboard, the virus was not viable after 24 hours. On copper, it took 4 hours for the virus to become inactivated. In terms of half-life, the research team found that it takes about 66 minutes for half the virus particles to lose function if they are in an aerosol droplet. That means that after another hour and six minutes, three quarters of the virus particles will be essentially inactivated but 25% will still be viable.

Some people that get this virus only experience minor symptoms the entire time, and that is definitely good news.

But many others have been hit extremely hard. Some survivors experienced blinding pain for weeks, and many felt like they were constantly being suffocated.

And even if you survive after going through all that, there is a good chance that your lungs could be permanently damaged for the rest of your life. In fact, one Belgian doctor says that the lung damage that he has been witnessing is nothing short of terrifying

A Belgian doctor working to battle the coronavirus says hes treated several seriously ill young patients  and their lung scans were nothing short of terrifying, according to reports. Dr. Ignace Demeyer, who works at a hospital in Aalst, said an increasing number of people between the ages of 30 and 50 have presented with severe symptoms, despite having blank medical records that show no underlying conditions that would make them high-risk, the Brussels Times reported.

So please stay at home as much as possible in the coming days.

You do not want this virus.

Just like other countries, it appears that our medical system will soon be overwhelmed. Already, hospitals across America are setting up tents and bringing doctors out of retirement in order to get ready for the expected surge in patients.

But if this virus starts spreading as wildly as it has in Italy, it wont be nearly enough. Just check out what is currently taking place in one northern Italian city

Funeral services are overwhelmed in Bergamo, the northern Italian city hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, with a crematorium operating 24 hours a day, The Washington Post reported on Monday. There is now a waiting list for burials there, and coffins of the deceased awaiting services have overflowed two hospital morgues and a cemetery morgue, The Post reported.

Many would like to believe that the same thing wont happen here, but the truth is that the United States is on the exact same trajectory as Italy.

We have maintained a pace that is approximately 10 days behind what is happening over there, and we had better hope that the measures that are being implemented now will alter this trend.

Back on March 5th, Mike Adams of Natural News released a model that projected that this virus will cause more than 2 million deaths in the U.S. by July 4th.

Instead of being too pessimistic, so far the actual numbers are exceeding the projections of his model by as much as 25 percent

Remember the original pandemic projection model we released on March 5th? That model, with details shown below, projected 2.1 million deaths in the United States by July 4th if aggressive steps werent taken to achieve strong social isolation (i.e. halting all domestic air travel, blocking public transport, etc.). Fortunately for us all, President Trump and local mayors and governors have all taken various forms of action since that day, helping achieve some measure of social isolation. That means the original projection of 2.1 millions deaths is now obsolete, and that President Trump, through his actions, has probably saved many hundreds of thousands of lives. However, were not out of the woods yet. And the number of fatalities being reported right now across America is actually exceeding my original projections by as much as 25%.

Personally, I think that we will see a complete and total national lockdown before the death toll gets to 100,000.

And a complete and total national lockdown would definitely change the trajectory of these numbers.

But for a moment, lets consider what would happen if the model that Mike Adams released on March 5th continues to be accurate

By April 4th, 2020, if no travel restrictions are put in place:

8,645 actively infected and transmitting on this day

580 cumulative dead since day one, with 58 deaths on this day

5,432 cumulative recovered since day one

By May 4th, 2020, if no travel restrictions are put in place:

122,529 actively infected and transmitting on this day

10,432 cumulative dead since day one, with 910 deaths on this day

85,332 cumulative recovered since day one

By June 4th, 2020, if no travel restrictions are put in place:

1.7 million actively infected and transmitting on this day

153,000 cumulative dead since day one, with 12,960 deaths on this day

1.2 million cumulative recovered since day one

By July 4th, 2020, if no travel restrictions are put in place:

24.3 million actively infected and transmitting on this day

2.16 million cumulative dead since day one, with 183,000 deaths on this day

17.1 million cumulative recovered since day one

I dont know if I have the words to describe the extreme fear and chaos that we would see if this many Americans really did end up dying in the months ahead.

We are talking about the potential for a societal collapse of epic proportions.

So let us pray for mercy, because right now we desperately need it.

Read more at: EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Nearly 70 drugs and experimental compounds may be effective in treating the coronavirus, a team of researchers reported Sunday night.

Some of the medications are already used to treat other diseases, and repurposing them to treat COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, maybe faster than trying to invent a new anti-viral from scratch, the scientists said.

The list of drug candidates appeared in a study published on bioRxiv website. The researchers have submitted the paper to a journal for publication.

To come up with the list, hundreds of researchers embarked on an unusual study of the genes of the coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2.

To infect a lung cell, the coronavirus must insert its genes, co-opting the cells own genetic machinery. The cell begins to produce viral proteins, which are used to produce millions of new viruses.

Each of those viral proteins must be able to latch onto the necessary human proteins for the process to work.

In the new study, the scientists investigated 26 of the coronavirus 29 genes, which direct production of the viral proteins. Researchers found 332 human proteins targeted by the coronavirus.

Some viral proteins seemed to target just one human protein; other viral proteins are capable of targeting a dozen human cellular proteins.

Researchers sought drugs that also latch onto the human proteins that the coronavirus seems to need to enter and replicate in human cells. The team eventually identified 24 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat such seemingly unrelated diseases as cancer, Parkinsons disease and hypertension.

On the list were such unexpected candidates as haloperidol, used to treat schizophrenia, and metformin, taken by people with Type 2 diabetes.

Investigators also found candidates among compounds that are now in clinical trials or that are the subject of early research. Intriguingly, some of the possible treatments are drugs used to attack parasites.

And the list includes antibiotics that kill bacteria by gumming up the cellular machinery they use to build proteins. But some of those drugs also attach to human proteins. The new study raises the possibility that this side effect might turn out to be an anti-viral treatment.

One drug on the list, chloroquine, kills the single-celled parasite that causes malaria. Scientists have long known that it can also attach to a human cellular protein called the sigma-1 receptor. And that receptor is also the target of the virus.

Chloroquine has been much in the news this past week, thanks to speculation about its use against the coronavirus  some of which was repeated by President Donald Trump at a news briefing at the White House on Friday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, followed the presidents remarks with a warning that there was only anecdotal evidence that chloroquine might work.

Also read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Hydroxychloroquine trials offer glimmer of hope, but experts warn drug is no magic bullet

Only well-run trials could establish whether chloroquine was safe and effective against the coronavirus, Fauci said.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced it would begin a trial on chloroquine, among other drugs.

And Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York announced that the state had obtained a large amount of chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin to start its own drug trial.

Nevan Krogan, a biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the new study, warned that chloroquine might have many toxic side effects, because the drug appears to target many human cellular proteins.

You need to be careful, he said. We need more data at every level.

Krogans collaborators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Pasteur Institute in Paris have started testing 22 of the other compounds on the list against live coronavirus grown in their laboratories.

On Sunday night, they were still awaiting the first results.

Carl Zimmer. c.2020 The New York Times Company
Show-Me Double Shut Down

People in Missouri's biggest cities ordered to stay home ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Residents of Missouri's biggest cities have been ordered to stay home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, which sickened nearly 130 people statewide, including at least five people linked to a suburban St. Louis preschool. The shelter-in-place order in St.

Kansas City Biz Endures

We're Open Kansas City: To give KC businesses chance to connect KANSAS CITY, Mo. - KSHB-TV 41 Action News is proud to launch a new public service campaign called, "We're Open Kansas City," to support local business owners and their workers. Many states across the country have limited the operations of businesses and restaurants in the effort of trying to slow the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Northland Slap Fight Cont'd

Judge: Clay County violated records law in handling request from reporter for The Star Clay County committed two violations of a Missouri transparency law when it frustrated an effort by The Kansas City Star to learn how much taxpayers spent on outside lawyers, a judge ruled Monday.

KCMO Mayor Q Clarifies

Mayor Quinton Lucas discusses Kansas City 'stay home' order A "stay home" order goes into effect in Kansas City at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, despite many residents still have questions about all the rules. Mayor Quinton Lucas spoke with KCTV5 News to share the questions he is hearing most often.

Pluralistic Playboy Playmates Reveal Diversity Benefits

As Playboy axes Playmate Of The Year to celebrate 'diversity', we ask if it's the end of an era IT'S been a highlight for 60 years but Playboy has axed its Playmate Of The Year award for top pin-up - in the interests of inclusivity. Instead, the men's mag will celebrate all 12 of its monthly Playmates, and a spokesman said: "The point of this change was to not exclude anyone."

Criticism Of Prez Trump Concern For American Economy

Trump's push to shorten the coronavirus shutdown proves the captain is flying blind | David Smith Due to social distancing, there were only two dozen or so reporters in the White House press briefing room on Monday, making it feel like a flight with numerous empty seats and lots of legroom.

Iran Out Of Snark

Pompeo and Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei trade jabs over COVID-19, rumors and aid Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out Monday at Iran, accusing the country of spreading dangerous rumors about COVID-19, including a conspiracy theory manufactured in China that the novel coronavirus behind the global pandemic was man-made by the United States.

Speaker Pelosi Alternative

Why Nancy Pelosi proposed her own $2.5 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill As the Senate is embroiled in contentious negotiations for its third $1.8 trillion coronavirus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just unveiled a $2.5 trillion bill of her own. Introducing the "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act" on Monday afternoon, Pelosi outlined a number of Democratic priorities that are not in the current Republican Senate bill.

China Emerges

China to lift lockdown on Wuhan, ground zero of coronavirus pandemic China has announced it will lift the lockdown on Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, on April 8, marking a significant milestone in its battle against the deadly outbreak.

Kansas City BBQ Salvation

BBQ institution delivers meals to Kansas City health care workers A Kansas City barbecue institution is doing its part to support health care workers in Kansas City during the COVID-19 outbreak.Jack Stack Barbecue posted on its Facebook page late Sunday night that it is preparing 745 boxed lunches that will be sent out to medical staff throughout Kansas City on Monday.The picture showed a large conference room with rows of tables overflowing with box lunches."Huge thanks to Trey McDonald and B.J.

Local Servers Unite

KC Hospitality Support Initiative Launches to Help Feed Out-of-Work Industry Employees Chef Clark Grant and his wife, Lindsey Grant, a bar manager, were working in Kansas City's hospitality industry when they found themselves furloughed from their restaurants due to the the COVID-19 crisis.

Soggy Tuesday Ahead

Foggy morning with heavy rain arriving tonight and Tuesday morning KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Share in our weather experience on the weather blog. Click on the blog at the top of the page for more information. For a full list of weather alerts, click here.

We start this morning with another glimpse at pop culture, community news and info from across the nation and around the world . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
(Photo : NASA, ESA and J. Olmsted (STScI)) The quasar tsunamis come from quasars and rip through its host galaxy. (Photo : ESA/Hubble, NASA, I. Stephens) The LHA 120-N 150 is located at the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula.

NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope has yet again captured two amazing events from space: the birth of massive stars and an image of quasar tsunamis that are "ripping through galaxies."

A Stellar Scene

The first image is that of LHA 120-N 150--a rather uninspiring name for a spectacular region in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula, the biggest known stellar nursery in the local universe, which is located at over 160,000 light-years away from a dwarf galaxy that orbits us, known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.

But, what's spectacular about LHA 120-N 150?

The photo featured a bright pink cloud in the center and surrounded by dozens of brighter, massive stars, which, according to NASA, is the "perfect laboratory to study the origins of massive stars."

Experts from NASA also wrote that theoretical models of the formation of massive stars suggest they were made from clusters of stars, but through observations, they were able to deduce that up to 10% of these massive stars were also formed in isolation.

Through the Help of the Hubble Space Telescope

Astronomers wish to learn whether the isolated stars that consist of the pink cloud and surround it were indeed formed alone, and they wish to do it with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope.

However, it can be a daunting task since young massive stars appear similar to dense clumps of dust, and LHA 120-N 150 has several dozen, which could either be stellar objects or perhaps just clumps of dust.

Nevertheless, astronomers at NASA will continue with their investigation.

Based on a report by MailOnline, the Tarantula Nebula is also known as NGC 2070 or the 30 Doradus and has a measure of 1000 light-years across. It's aptly named as the formation of bright patches that resemble that of a tarantula.

Read Also: Space Controversy: It's Helio-Crescent Not Heliosphere; Astronomers Reveal Earth Lives in a Huge Croissant Bubble

Intense Quasar Tsunamis

Meanwhile, astronomers were able to spot quasar tsunamis with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope.

While the first event captured the birth of stars, the quasar tsunamis disrupt their formation.

In a post by NASA, a team of experts was able to discover and witness the "most energetic outflows" in the universe.

These outflows come from quasars, which are extremely remote celestial objects that emit substantial amounts of energy that rip throughout its host galaxy and push material away from its center.

"No other phenomena carries more mechanical energy. Over the lifetime of 10 million years, these outflows produce a million times more energy than a gamma-ray burst," Nahum Arav, principal investigator from Virginia Tech, explained.

A Galaxy-Wide Event

The large amounts of energy can create new stars, but outflows rip through the galaxy and disrupt their formation.

According to FOX News, astronomers studied 13 different quasar outflows by measuring the speed of the gas, which is incredibly accelerated through quasar wind. They were able to do this by looking at the glowing gas and checking the spectral "fingerprints" of light.

They were able to discover the most powerful quasar tsunami as well as the outflow that accelerates much faster than the others through Hubble's ultraviolet observations.

Read Also: NASA Detects Six Asteroids Approaching Earth This Week, Here's When They'll Pass Us

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  As the number of Nigerians with confirmed cases of Coronavirus rose to 40, including the two discharged and one death, the Federal Government said it may deploy troops of the Nigerian military and the Police for contact tracing in cases where persons suspected to have contracted the virus did not voluntarily show up for testing
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Shares of BT Group plc (BT_A.L, BT) and Computacenter plc (CCC.L) were gaining in the morning trading in London after the companies announced Tuesday that they have entered exclusive negotiations for the sale of BT's domestic operations in France to Computacenter. The transaction is subject to consultations with works councils over a minimum period of two months. The deal will then be subject to regulatory approval, with completion expected to take place by the end of 2020. BT's domestic operations in France include management and maintenance of IT and network infrastructure, as well as networking and related professional services. In the year ended in March 2019, the business generated total revenue of about 104 million pounds. BT said the planned divestment is part of its ongoing transformation of its Global unit, while Computacenter expects the acquisition would strengthen its existing business in France. BT and Computacenter also intend to enter into a partnership agreement in France, ensuring continuity for existing customers and future growth opportunities. In London, BT shares were trading at 123.58 pence, up 4.92 percent, and Computacenter shares were trading at 1,111 pence, up 4.61 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
An official at a Ridgefield assisted living facility confirmed Tuesday a second resident has died after testing positive for the coronavirus.

As of Tuesday, 16 people at Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossings, have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

We are heartbroken to confirm that on March 23, 2019, a beloved member and resident of our community at Ridgefield Crossings passed away, said Bob Moran, senior vice president of operations at Benchmark Senior Living, in a letter to residents families obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media.

It was unclear from the statement where the person died.

We extend our thoughts and deepest sympathies to the residents family, and we remain committed to helping our residents and associates through another tragic loss, Moran said.

After staff from Danbury Hospital began testing residents for the disease Monday, the facility learned of 16 additional COVID-19 cases, Moran said.

Those residents have not exhibited any symptoms and are being closely monitored and cared for by our trained staff, he said.

The number respresents more than 11 percent of the 140 residents at Ridgefield Crossings.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi confirmed a second Ridgefield resident had died during his Monday night livestream about the virus. Health Director Ed Briggs said the second person to die was in their 80s.

On Wednesday, March 18, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the first death in the state, an 88-year-old man who had been living at Ridgefield Crossings.

A spokesperson for Ridgefield Crossings said the man was taken to the hospital March 13 where he tested positive for the disease. He remained at the hospital until he died, the spokesperson said.

Moran said staff at Ridgefield Crossings are being required to wear protective gear. Staff are having their temperatures taken daily and enhancing cleaning measures.

Group activities have also been cancelled to prevent interactions between residents, Moran said.
The proportion decrease of consumer interest that U.S. restaurants have experienced during the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing. Preference for take-out and delivery options have doubled and consumer interest in grocery stores has shot up 102 percent. ( The Hill  March 20, 2020)
The University of Tampa in Florida has announced that at five of its students, who were celebrating spring break, have contracted coronavirus.

The university shared the news in a statement on its Twitter account.

UT has been notified that five UT students, travelling together and with other UT students during Spring Break, have tested positive for Covid-19, they wrote.

We sincerely wish our students, and any others who may be affected, a full and rapid recovery.

The university, like many others across the country, moved all of its teaching online this month, but residence halls will be open for the remainder of the spring semester.

Young people partying in large groups for spring break have received criticism online over the last few weeks for ignoring the governments recommendation of social distancing measures.

However, some have blamed the governor of Florida for refusing to take more drastic measures to prevent huge gatherings on the states beaches.

A video report by CBS News showed the carefree attitude of some spring breakers towards the outbreak in Miami Florida.

If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, Im not going to let it stop me from partying, one party-goer said.

"Ive been waiting, weve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while. About two months weve had this trip planned, two, three months, and were just out here having a good time.

Another person said that the pandemic was being blown way out of proportion.

Over 332,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded worldwide while the death toll surpassed 14,500, according to the World Health Organisation.

The west coast beach has remained open during spring break alongside other Tampa Bay beaches as the number of coronavirus cases continue rise across the state.

There have currently been 1171 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the state of Florida and 14 deaths according to the government website.
That apparently didnt sit well with the plaintiffs, who filed another emergency motion March 16 citing the irreparable injury it would suffer if the judge does not hold a hearing and immediately put a stop to the infringing unicorns and the knock-off elves, Seeger wrote in his order. Never mind that the chief judge that very day had ordered a halt to all nonessential civil litigation due to the threat of COVID-19.
HONG KONG, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will ban the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights starting from Wednesday to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Monday.

For the 14 days since 12:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Hong Kong will deny the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights, as well as those who have been to overseas in the past 14 days and arriving in Hong Kong through the mainland, Macao SAR and the Taiwan region, Lam said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

During the period, transfer services at the Hong Kong International Airport will be suspended.

Hong Kong will maintain the compulsory quarantine arrangements on inbound travelers from the mainland. Meanwhile, all the travelers entering Hong Kong through Macao SAR and the Taiwan region, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents, will undergo the same 14-day compulsory quarantine, Lam said.

The measures, which come amid a remarkable increase of imported infections of the COVID-19 recently in Hong Kong, aim to prevent more imported cases and to block the chain of transmission of the virus, said the chief executive.

Lam said the government will also amend the law to forbid liquor license holders to sell alcohol, involving around 8,600 bars, restaurants and clubs.

This measure aims to reduce social contacts and gathering, as consumers in the bars are exposed to high risk of infections, and some confirmed COVID-19 patients have been to bars and weddings, she said.

Last week, Lam announced to shut some government-run public services including museums, libraries and wetland parks from Monday in a bid to reduce social contacts. As for some private recreation clubs which provide playgrounds, dressing rooms and other recreation facilities, Lam appealed to them to shut down these facilities as well at the press conference.

Lam urged all people under compulsory quarantine to follow the quarantine order. She noted that the police had inspected five people who left their dwellings without permission earlier, and 36 more who broke quarantine order in recent days.

Lam thanked medical workers for their efforts for the past two months to prevent the disease from spreading. "For those who break the quarantine order that may result in community transmission, do you think your action is worth those frontline workers' efforts?" Lam asked.

Lam again appealed to all members of the public to follow epidemic-prevention rules and orders. "As long as we stay united, Hong Kong will win the battle against the epidemic."

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported on Sunday afternoon 44 additional COVID-19 cases confirmed during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong to 317.
Los Angeles Unified is the states largest school district and the vast majority of its 400,000-plus students are poor, non-white and/or not completely fluent in English.

It is, in other words, precisely what former Gov. Jerry Brown had in mind when he and the Legislature overhauled school districts finances, giving them more money to close the stubborn achievement gap that has long separated disadvantaged students from their more privileged, English-speaking classmates.

However, in enacting the Local Control Funding Formula seven years ago, Brown also insisted that the money flow with very few strings attached, saying he trusted local educators and school boards to spend it effectively. He called it subsidiarity.

That hands-off attitude didnt sit well with education reformers and civil rights advocates who worried that the extra money wouldnt be concentrated on high-needs students and Los Angeles Unified, because of its size and makeup, was a major arena for the conflicts over LCFF.

Dan Walters: Bond issue rejection could be a signal The defeat of a $15 billion school bond issue and other recent rejections of new taxes could signal a new attitude by voters on spending and taxes, columnist Dan Walters says.

At one point, critics persuaded the state Department of Education that LAUSD had diverted hundreds of millions of LCFF dollars away from the targeted kids, but the state then allowed it to simply change the coding on the disputed funds to make them legal.

The district has also been undergoing institutional turmoil over the last decade  hyper-political battles over school board elections, pitting the teachers union against charter school advocates, and a revolving door of superintendents.

Brown has departed from the governorship and LCFF has been in place long enough for some scholarly examination of how its really working. Last week, a research team headed by Bruce Fuller, a veteran education analyst at UC-Berkeley, released a report on how the program has affected LAUSDs high-schoolers.

The district did not fare well.

Dan Walters: Finally, a school data system emerging California has been a laggard in tracing how students progress through its educational systems but Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing for a new data system that would do that, columnist Dan Walters says.

During the first five years of LCFF, declining enrollment and a surge of state funds  more than $1 billion a year  increased the districts per-pupil spending from $8,657 a year to $11,231, and much of it found its way into LA Unifieds high schools.

Most heartening, kids learning on average improved measurably in high schools, Bruce Fuller said in a statement as the report was published. But somewhat greater progress was made by students from better-off homes or schools in middle-class areas. The new funding appeared to bring far less benefit to the most disadvantaged groups.

One factor in LCFFs failure to substantially close the achievement gap, the researchers found, is that while its new funds allowed the district to hire more teachers, schools with the highest proportions of at-risk kids tended to get the least experienced teachers.

Dan Walters: Newsoms spending more, saving less In his second budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom is spending more and saving less - an approach that the Legislature's budget expert says could leave the state less able to stave off a recession's impacts, columnist Dan Walters says.

Despite Sacramentos best intentions, this surge in school funding failed to budge such wide inequities in which kids benefit most from L.A. schools, Fuller said in his statement. Going forward, the state might ensure that funding gains reach intended students, and that principals become mindful of how fresh resources are distributed within their schools.

The findings did not please Michael Kirst, the Stanford University professor who persuaded Brown to sponsor LCFF and served as president of the state school board during its implementation.

Kirst, who participated in Fullers webinar on the study, complained that it didnt include all factors affecting LA Unifieds education record and argued that LCFF needs more time to prove its worth.

We need to stay the course, Kirst advised.

Browns successor, Gavin Newsom, appears to take a more hands-on approach and has, among other things, proposed a system to catalog education outcomes in detail, which will provide a more complete database for determining whether LCFF is a success or an expensive failure.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

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A man has been charged with murder two months after the death of Melbourne mother Maud Steenbeek, who was killed by an alleged intruder while she was on a video call in her home.

Xochil O'Neill, 28, was arrested shortly after the alleged murder at the Heidelberg West home on Liberty Parade on January 28.

Maud Steenbeck who was found dead in her Heidelberg West home following an alleged home invasion.

Ms Steenbeek had been on a video call with an overseas relative when she was allegedly attacked.

The woman's son found the alleged intruder inside and restrained him. Mr O'Neill was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Who is John Galt? In 1957 Ayn Rand published her final novel, Atlas Shrugged. This magnum opus describing her philosophy of objectivism sought to call attention to the danger of socialism and communism and demonstrate the virtues of freedom and capitalism. Rand came to America from Russia following the 1917 communist revolution led by Lenin, which destroyed the social norms.

Who is John Galt? He is the leader of the resistance to the statists of a dystopian United States. Galt has created the intellectual and emotional genesis for unravelling the suffocating government. He has secretly organized leaders of the private corporate society that recognize the power, poor decisions, and destruction caused by incompetent government officials. They seek to withhold their expertise in a strike hoping to crash the power and control of government bureaucrats and their regulations. Rand describes how easily private entities can be coopted by corrupt government officials as they try to maintain their businesses.

Who is John Galt? He has designed a motor that can function from static electricity. Ayn Rand based her characters upon individuals she observed. Perhaps Nikola Tesla was one such model, with his motor design and Tesla Coil. Tesla rejected the rigidity of the Edison labs which stifled his innovations.

Why would government officials prevent innovation? One reason is depicted in this book: control of the populace through government power and prevention of individuality. Hank Rearden (perhaps like Andrew Carnegie) is a steel magnate who has developed a new and lighter steel which will make others obsolete. His alloy is rejected by government regulators. Dagny Taggert (perhaps like Cornelius Vanderbilt) runs the family railroad which uses Rearden metal to build her John Galt line which is condemned by regulators. Rand admired creative, innovative entrepreneurs as opposed to mediocrities.

John Galt is captured by officials and tortured until rescued by his supporters. Galts threat to their power cannot be tolerated by the officials. In China, the communist government refused to acknowledge the danger of the coronavirus. They silenced doctors that tried to warn the world, lied about the virus infectivity (human to human), and refused USA CDC professional help. The Chinese government allowed the whistleblower to die. They are the end result of accumulated power by politicos.

John Galt is not perfect, but he takes a stand. Donald Trump is not either. Trump tried to calm the hysteria that the media helped whip up. As he lost control of the narrative, he adapted to the realities and changed the focus to ramp up the national response. Flexibility is his strong suit. Political acumen is another quality that he possesses. His poll numbers have increased due to his handling of this crisis.

Will the coming recession or depression lessen Trumps re-electoral prospects? He has determined that the health of Americans must come first. John Galt decided his life paled when compared to the health of the nation. His movement must continue if he was lost. Trump has created a movement that must be sustained whether he wins re-election or not. Trumps leadership on this crisis will be judged in November. Despite this tumult, he will prevail.

In January Trump halted air travel between the U.S. and China. He was excoriated as a racist for this action. This may have been the most important tactic in reducing infectivity. He soon declared a national health emergency. Early on he tried to allay fears by downplaying the seriousness at the time. The press now attacks him for that effort, as sending mixed messages. By mid-February the narrative from the press became alarmist. Parents started withholding their children from school and public events. As March approached, it was apparent that panic was overtaking the nation. Stores found it difficult to stock shelves adequately. This encouraged more fear.

The past three weeks have moved a warp speed. The governors have great control over health care within the states. Since ObamaCare was passed, the financial pressures upon our private health-care system have been enormous. Scarcity of resources can be managed by reduced services and facilities or by increasing the price for these services. As the government takes greater control over our healthcare it places additional pressures to reduce costs (it must pay through taxes). Hence there are now insufficient beds and IC units (with ventilators) to care for the coming COVID-19 burden. This is not Trumps fault, but the governors that limited operating costs.

Use of the Defense Production Act of 1950 nationalizes industries. Trump (as Galt) prefers to allow voluntary private efforts to be utilized first. If problems arise then the White House can use the DPA to effect change. The press and opposition do not see this since they prefer a statist approach. While for three years the press called Trump a dictator, now they want him to be more dictatorial. There is no getting it right in their eyes.

Governing is a balancing act. Trump became wealthy by innovation. He had some failures along the way and had to shed gambling hotels when there was a downturn in the economy. If one approach fails, then another must be tried. The media questions his judgement and statements regarding the use of masks and trials of medications because they are not flexible or creative. They are the mediocrities that Rand warned about. Mobilizing the federal resources does not mean instantaneous production.

It takes time to move from a normal economy to one geared for warfare. The ability to shift factories from alcoholic beverage production to hand sanitizer may seem easy, but it requires regulatory changes that the White House quickly arranged. So much for governmental control. The same issue concerns building ventilators which is technologically different from automobile production. Again, the White House will facilitate the change.

Trump has desired to devolve centralized power from federal authority to states and localities. During this endeavor he has giving governors freedom to manage their states as suits their circumstances. The federal government functions in a supportive role. When FEMA is activated the agency again supports the localities. The conflict between Democrats and Republicans over the third legislative piece demonstrates this difference where Democrats seek greater influence over economic segments. Eventually a compromise will be reached.

Who is John Galt? My daughter suggested that Donald Trump is John Galt. Donald J. Trump faces a news media that falsely depicts him and American Society, much in the way John Galt was pitted against the anti-capitalist regime in Rands manifesto. Just as Galt rose up with the help of ingenious business owners, Trump will do the same to overcome this epidemic. Partnerships with the private sector will give us a positive outcome. In the end he will succeed in reversing the influence of the left, the media, and socialist leadership within the Democratic party. Trump is a determined man.
London Heathrow will be stepping up its cargo capabilities as it calls on more airlines and freight companies to maximise the use of the hub airports quieter schedule so that the aviation industry can play its part in the economic and social fight against COVID-19, a report said.

Airfreight will keep vital supply lines open and help to get time-critical and temperature-sensitive goods, such as medical supplies and food across the UK as the country pulls together to battle this pandemic, said a report in eTurboNews.

Logistics companies have already begun playing a key role in this fight, by importing COVID-19 testing kits via Heathrow, in preparation for increased demand. Next week, Heathrows cargo movements are forecast to increase by 53 per cent, as more airlines and freighters use the available capacity to transport goods which will assist in the fight against coronavirus. This figure is set to increase further as the airport scales up its cargo operation.

Pharmaceutical products are one of Heathrows top imports, with the airport handling 41 per cent of the UKs pharmaceutical imports (by value). In 2019, over 12,000 tonnes of medical supplies such as medicines, vaccines, sanitizers, syringes, and respirators travelled through Heathrow, the report said.

Heathrow is also taking a number of steps to assist the airline industry during this challenging time. These steps include supporting slot alleviation  a relaxation of the rules requiring airlines to use their slots to keep them, offering free parking to aircraft grounded as a result of COVID-19 and bringing forward growth incentive payments which have helped to increase cash flow for airlines during a challenging time for the sector, it said.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said: This is an unprecedented time for the international community, with COVID-19 requiring us all to work together, adapt and adopt extraordinary measures to quell the spread of this virus. For the first time in a decade, our airport has additional capacity in its schedule, a capacity which weve begun to see used to help push vital supplies across the globe to help support frontline teams in the battle against this pandemic."

We stand ready to support the country through this crisis. Our intention is to remain open at all times to serve those passenger flights that will continue to operate. And as the UKs biggest port, we will temporarily increase the number of dedicated cargo flights. These will bring in vital supplies of food and medical equipment to help Britain weather this storm, he said.
Amid indiscriminate shelling by the Syrian government and its allies in northern Syria, many of those who worked in the medical field, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses, fled the country at a time when their areas were in dire need of medical attention. This has prompted a number of women to fill the medical void by forming medical points and field hospitals in Idlib and its countryside and in Aleppos western countryside.

Alia al-Ahmad, a nurse at the Idlib National Hospital, never expected to work in the medical field. In the past, I could not bear to see injuries and blood, but things changed after witnessing the regimes daily violence against civilians. I decided to be courageous because I felt I had a responsibility, she told Al-Monitor.

Ahmad said she and her colleagues are working to develop their expertise in the areas of internal and external medicine, physical therapy and labwork by participating in medical training and workshops set up by medical organizations, such as the Independent Doctors Association, in Aleppos western countryside through an internal education system in the hospitals where they work.

The important role of women in the medical field appeared in light of the shelling, the ongoing battles and the absence of sufficient numbers of medical staff in hospitals, which prevented all patients from being treated in a timely, urgent manner. While three wounded people are treated, a fourth injured person will be left to die in the absence of quick treatment.

Abdel Karim Yassin, head of the primary health care department in the Free Aleppo Health Directorate in Aleppo, told Al-Monitor that womens work in the medical field at the beginning of the revolution was on a smaller scale, specifically between 2014 and 2015, and then steadily increased, so the number of female workers in the medical field doubled, whether they were doctors or nurses, community health workers, nutritionists or psychological support workers.

He said women's roles in the medical field are as significant as that of men; most workers in the nursing field were able to succeed and do all the work entrusted to them to the fullest extent, as well as with regard to the nutrition sector through monitoring cases of malnutrition among children and pregnant women.

Yassin said women also recently entered the psychological support domain and were better [equipped] than men when it came to the ability to deal with displaced women and to listen to the issues they faced during their recent displacements." Women also excelled at "providing treatment and solutions," said Yassin, noting that womens participation in the medical field has helped fill the gap and contributed to improving medical services.

Not only did Syrian women enter the medical field, but they also threw themselves into the Syrian Civil Defense and were able to help save the lives of civilians, as female volunteers took on the task of saving women and children from bombing sites and evacuated them to safe places while accompanying male volunteers who assisted injured men.

Director of the media office in the Syrian Civil Defense in Idlib province Ahmed Sheikho told Al-Monitor there are 264 female volunteers in 33 centers in Idlib province alone who are working to provide the families of the area with medical relief, psychological support and awareness services.

He said female volunteers are chosen after taking exams, and those who have diplomas from medical institutes or certificates from medical courses are selected.

These volunteers provide multiple services inside the fixed centers, including measuring blood pressure and blood sugar levels, giving ultrasound scans for pregnant women, weight control, dressing wounds and burns, giving sessions to adults and children on the proper use of inhalers, installing serums, first aid response, and providing community and health awareness for children and mothers.

Sheikho said the most difficult issue facing the civil defense volunteers was the systematic bombing campaigns directly targeting the fixed centers and the teams while working; these bombings have killed a number of volunteers who were performing their humanitarian work and seriously injured others.

Salwa al-Qadi, a civil defense volunteer from the city of Jisr al-Shughour, told Al-Monitor why she joined the civil defense: When the warplanes targeted our home and our roof fell over our heads, my family and I would have died had it not been for the civil defenses immediate response. [The volunteers] were operating with primitive means under the bombing of the warplanes that target the same place again when the civil defense teams arrived.

She added, They risked their lives trying to help me and my family from inevitable death. My gratefulness pushed me to volunteer just so I can feel worthy thanks to the important humanitarian work we do when saving the lives of innocent people.

Qadi underwent extensive courses in medical relief, nursing and first aid at Bab al-Hawa Hospital; she admitted she initially faced criticism from her conservative community because this type of work was new for women, but she overcame it with patience and persistence.

The medical sector in Syria suffers under miserable conditions amid severe bombing and direct targeting of health care facilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported back in March 2018 that years of war in Syria have destroyed the health care system, so more than half of the public hospitals and other health care centers are closed or are not working at full capacity. WHO noted that 3.11 million people are in need of medical care, 3 million of whom live with chronic diseases, serious injuries and disabilities.

In spite of the war and targeting of medical facilities, Syrian women working in the medical and civil defense fields are alleviating the pain of the injured and filling the massive gap of human resources in this vital sector. They carry out their humanitarian work in the most challenging, difficult conditions.
An amazing image of our nearest celestial neighbour - the Moon - shows it surrounded by clouds making it appear like the ringed gas giant Saturn.

It was taken by photographer Francisco Sojuel after a six mile hike to the base camp of volcano Acetenango in Guatemala.

This stunning image has captured a new perspective of the Moon and was taken just before sunrise during its slight crescent phase.

In the picture clouds are forming around the Moon as it is lit up by the Sun.

Scroll down for video

The moon disguised as Saturn as clouds form rings around it, above the base camp of volcano Acatenango, Guatemala

Around it on the clear night are so stars shining above the mountains and lights below from small Guatemalan towns.

Mr Sojuel, who lives in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, said it was an amazing moment.

'This is one of the most beautiful moments that I have managed to capture with the camera,' he said.

'You can express different feelings when looking at the photograph.'

NASA shared the stunning image on its Astronomy Picture of the Day website - where it hosts images from around the world showing our universe.

'Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon,' the space agency wrote.

'The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible by reflected Earthlight known as ashen glow.

This stunning image has captured a new perspective of the moon - making it appear like its distant neighbour Saturn

'The Sun directly illuminates the brightly lit lunar crescent from the bottom, which means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken before sunrise,' according to NASA.

Sojuel said it was a unique moment presented to him by the universe and is very happy at the amazing feedback he's received from people who see the photo.

'It also makes you wake up your imagination because it seems like another planet and makes you question how the moon and that thin cloud managed to align itself.'
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Corrosion Monitoring market worldwide is projected to grow by US$175.3 Million, driven by a compounded growth of 8.7%. Corrosion Coupons, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 8.6%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$136.9 Million by the year 2025, Corrosion Coupons will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798265/?utm_source=PRN

- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 7.3% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$6 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$5.2 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Corrosion Coupons will reach a market size of US$5.7 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 12.8% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$49.5 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Bac Corrosion Control Ltd.

Cosasco Systems, Inc

Icorr Technologies

Intertek Group PLC

Korosi Specindo

Pyramid Technical Services Pvt. Ltd.

Rysco Corrosion Services Inc.

SGS SA









Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798265/?utm_source=PRN



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Global Competitor Market Shares

Corrosion Monitoring Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide

(in %): 2019 & 2025

Corrosion Monitoring Systems Crucial to Extending Service Life

of Critical Industrial Equipment and Assets

Challenge of Ageing Infrastructure in Process Manufacturing

Industries Highlights Pressing Need for Corrosion Monitoring

An Overview of Corrosion Monitoring Techniques





2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Rising Corrosion Costs in Oil and Gas Production Industries

Augments Demand for Corrosion Monitoring Solutions

Stable Growth in Global Oil Production Bodes Well for Market

Expansion: Global Crude Oil and Liquid Fuels Production (In

Million Barrels per Day) for the Years 2018, 2018, 2020, &

2021

Rising Shale Gas Exploration Activities Provides Further Growth

Opportunities: Global Commercial Shale Gas Production (In

Billion Cubic Feet per Day) for the Years 2020 and 2040

Increasing Need for Corrosion Mitigation in Modern Day

Refineries Fuels Market Prospects

Sustained Global Demand for Transportation Fuels Amplifies

Refining Throughput, Creating Lucrative Growth Opportunities

in the Market: Transportation Sector Fuel Consumption (in

quadrillion Btu) by Type for the Years 2020, 2025, 2030 &

2040

Growing Use of Reinforced Concrete in Modern Structures

Presents Lucrative Growth Opportunities

Emerging Preference for Non-intrusive Corrosion Monitoring

Technologies

Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Corrosion Monitoring in

Hazardous Industrial Environments

Technological Advancements and Innovations Vital to Future

Market Growth

Wider Deployment of IoT Drives Opportunities for Development of

Intelligent Sensing Solutions

Next Generation Predictive Corrosion Management Solutions





4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Table 1: Corrosion Monitoring Global Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Corrosion Monitoring Global Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Corrosion Coupons (Type Technique) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Corrosion Coupons (Type Technique) Historic Market

Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Corrosion Coupons (Type Technique) Market Share

Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 7: Electrical resistance (Type Technique) Potential

Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Electrical resistance (Type Technique) Historic Market

Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Electrical resistance (Type Technique) Market Sales

Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Linear Polarization Resistance (Type Technique)

Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to

2025

Table 11: Linear Polarization Resistance (Type Technique)

Region Wise Breakdown of Global Historic Demand in US$

Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Linear Polarization Resistance (Type Technique)

Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009

VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Galvanic (Type Technique) World Market Estimates and

Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 14: Galvanic (Type Technique) Market Historic Review by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017

Table 15: Galvanic (Type Technique) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (Type Technique)

World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025

Table 17: Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (Type Technique)

Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand:

2009 to 2017

Table 18: Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (Type Technique)

Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009

VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: Oil & Gas (End-Use Industry) Sales Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2018

through 2025

Table 20: Oil & Gas (End-Use Industry) Analysis of Historic

Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to

2017

Table 21: Oil & Gas (End-Use Industry) Global Market Share

Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 22: Chemical (End-Use Industry) Global Opportunity

Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 23: Chemical (End-Use Industry) Historic Sales Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 24: Chemical (End-Use Industry) Percentage Share

Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 25: Manufacturing (End-Use Industry) Worldwide Sales in

US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 26: Manufacturing (End-Use Industry) Historic Demand

Patterns in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 27: Manufacturing (End-Use Industry) Market Share Shift

across Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Corrosion Monitoring Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 &

2025

Market Analytics

Table 28: United States Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the United States by

Type Technique: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 30: United States Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 31: United States Corrosion Monitoring Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Demand Patterns in the

United States by End-Use Industry in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 33: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown in the

United States by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 34: Canadian Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Canadian Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Review

by Type Technique in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 36: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Canada: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Type Technique for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 37: Canadian Corrosion Monitoring Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to

2025

Table 38: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Canada: Summarization

of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry

for 2009-2017

Table 39: Canadian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 40: Japanese Market for Corrosion Monitoring: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type

Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 41: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period

2009-2017

Table 42: Japanese Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 43: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Corrosion

Monitoring in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 44: Japanese Corrosion Monitoring Market in US$ Thousand

by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 45: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift in Japan by

End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 46: Chinese Corrosion Monitoring Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 47: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Analysis in

China in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 48: Chinese Corrosion Monitoring Market by Type

Technique: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 49: Chinese Demand for Corrosion Monitoring in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 50: Corrosion Monitoring Market Review in China in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 51: Chinese Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Corrosion Monitoring Market: Competitor Market Share

Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 52: European Corrosion Monitoring Market Demand Scenario

in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 53: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Europe: A Historic

Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 54: European Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 55: European Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018-2025

Table 56: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Europe in US$ Thousand

by Type Technique: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 57: European Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 58: European Corrosion Monitoring Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 59: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Europe: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 60: European Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 61: Corrosion Monitoring Market in France by Type

Technique: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 62: French Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 63: French Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis by

Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 64: Corrosion Monitoring Quantitative Demand Analysis in

France in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 65: French Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Review in

US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 66: French Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use Industry for 2009, 2019, and

2025

GERMANY

Table 67: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 68: German Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 69: German Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown by

Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 70: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Germany: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 71: German Corrosion Monitoring Market in Retrospect in

US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 72: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

Germany by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 73: Italian Corrosion Monitoring Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 74: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Analysis in

Italy in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 75: Italian Corrosion Monitoring Market by Type

Technique: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 76: Italian Demand for Corrosion Monitoring in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 77: Corrosion Monitoring Market Review in Italy in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 78: Italian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 79: United Kingdom Market for Corrosion Monitoring:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type

Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 80: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 81: United Kingdom Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 82: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Corrosion Monitoring in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018

to 2025

Table 83: United Kingdom Corrosion Monitoring Market in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 84: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift in the United

Kingdom by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 85: Spanish Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 86: Spanish Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Review

by Type Technique in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 87: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Spain: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Type Technique for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 88: Spanish Corrosion Monitoring Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to

2025

Table 89: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Spain: Summarization

of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry

for 2009-2017

Table 90: Spanish Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis by

End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 91: Russian Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 92: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Russia by Type

Technique: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 93: Russian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 94: Russian Corrosion Monitoring Latent Demand Forecasts

in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 95: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Demand Patterns in

Russia by End-Use Industry in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 96: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown in Russia

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 97: Rest of Europe Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018-2025

Table 98: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Thousand by Type Technique: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 99: Rest of Europe Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 100: Rest of Europe Corrosion Monitoring Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry:

2018-2025

Table 101: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry for the Period 2009-2017

Table 102: Rest of Europe Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 103: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 104: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Asia-Pacific:

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 105: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 106: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Asia-Pacific by Type

Technique: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 107: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 108: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 109: Corrosion Monitoring Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 110: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 111: Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use Industry for 2009,

2019, and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 112: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Australia: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type

Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 113: Australian Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 114: Australian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 115: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Australia: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry for the Period 2018-2025

Table 116: Australian Corrosion Monitoring Market in Retrospect

in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 117: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

Australia by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 118: Indian Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 119: Indian Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Review

by Type Technique in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 120: Corrosion Monitoring Market in India: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Type Technique for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 121: Indian Corrosion Monitoring Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to

2025

Table 122: Corrosion Monitoring Market in India: Summarization

of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry

for 2009-2017

Table 123: Indian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis by

End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 124: Corrosion Monitoring Market in South Korea: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type

Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 125: South Korean Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 126: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

South Korea by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 127: Corrosion Monitoring Market in South Korea: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry for the Period 2018-2025

Table 128: South Korean Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 129: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

South Korea by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 130: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Corrosion

Monitoring: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$

Thousand by Type Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 131: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 132: Rest of Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market

Share Analysis by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 133: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Corrosion Monitoring in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry:

2018 to 2025

Table 134: Rest of Asia-Pacific Corrosion Monitoring Market in

US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 135: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift in Rest of

Asia-Pacific by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 136: Latin American Corrosion Monitoring Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025

Table 137: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Latin America in US$

Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 138: Latin American Corrosion Monitoring Market

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 139: Latin American Corrosion Monitoring Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period

2018-2025

Table 140: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Analysis in

Latin America in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 141: Latin American Corrosion Monitoring Market by Type

Technique: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 142: Latin American Demand for Corrosion Monitoring in

US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 143: Corrosion Monitoring Market Review in Latin America

in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 144: Latin American Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 145: Argentinean Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018-2025

Table 146: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Argentina in US$

Thousand by Type Technique: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 147: Argentinean Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Argentinean Corrosion Monitoring Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 149: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Argentina:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry for the Period 2009-2017

Table 150: Argentinean Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 151: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Brazil by Type

Technique: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 152: Brazilian Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 153: Brazilian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 154: Corrosion Monitoring Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Brazil in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 155: Brazilian Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Review in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 156: Brazilian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use Industry for 2009,

2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 157: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 158: Mexican Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 159: Mexican Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 160: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Mexico: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 161: Mexican Corrosion Monitoring Market in Retrospect in

US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 162: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

Mexico by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 163: Rest of Latin America Corrosion Monitoring Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type Technique:

2018 to 2025

Table 164: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Latin America

by Type Technique: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for

2009-2017

Table 165: Rest of Latin America Corrosion Monitoring Market

Share Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 166: Rest of Latin America Corrosion Monitoring Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to

2025

Table 167: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Demand Patterns in

Rest of Latin America by End-Use Industry in US$ Thousand for

2009-2017

Table 168: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown in Rest

of Latin America by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 169: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 170: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 171: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 172: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018

to 2025

Table 173: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market

by Type Technique in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017

Table 174: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type Technique for 2009,

2019, and 2025

Table 175: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 176: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by

End-Use Industry for 2009-2017

Table 177: The Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Analysis by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 178: Iranian Market for Corrosion Monitoring: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type

Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 179: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period

2009-2017

Table 180: Iranian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 181: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Corrosion

Monitoring in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 182: Iranian Corrosion Monitoring Market in US$ Thousand

by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 183: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Shift in Iran by

End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 184: Israeli Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018-2025

Table 185: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Israel in US$

Thousand by Type Technique: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 186: Israeli Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 187: Israeli Corrosion Monitoring Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018-2025

Table 188: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Israel: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 189: Israeli Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Analysis

by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 190: Saudi Arabian Corrosion Monitoring Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type Technique for the Period

2018-2025

Table 191: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Market Analysis in

Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 192: Saudi Arabian Corrosion Monitoring Market by Type

Technique: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 193: Saudi Arabian Demand for Corrosion Monitoring in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 194: Corrosion Monitoring Market Review in Saudi Arabia

in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 195: Saudi Arabian Corrosion Monitoring Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 196: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the United Arab

Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Thousand by Type Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 197: United Arab Emirates Corrosion Monitoring Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 198: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

United Arab Emirates by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 199: Corrosion Monitoring Market in the United Arab

Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Thousand by End-Use Industry for the Period 2018-2025

Table 200: United Arab Emirates Corrosion Monitoring Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 201: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

United Arab Emirates by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 202: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Middle East:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by

Type Technique for the Period 2018-2025

Table 203: Rest of Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2009-2017

Table 204: Rest of Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market

Share Breakdown by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 205: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Rest of Middle East:

Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by End-Use

Industry for the Period 2018-2025

Table 206: Rest of Middle East Corrosion Monitoring Market in

Retrospect in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2009-2017

Table 207: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Distribution in

Rest of Middle East by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AFRICA

Table 208: African Corrosion Monitoring Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Thousand by Type Technique: 2018 to 2025

Table 209: Corrosion Monitoring Market in Africa by Type

Technique: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 210: African Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown

by Type Technique: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 211: African Corrosion Monitoring Latent Demand Forecasts

in US$ Thousand by End-Use Industry: 2018 to 2025

Table 212: Corrosion Monitoring Historic Demand Patterns in

Africa by End-Use Industry in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017

Table 213: Corrosion Monitoring Market Share Breakdown in

Africa by End-Use Industry: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





IV. COMPETITION



BAC CORROSION CONTROL LTD.

COSASCO SYSTEMS

ICORR TECHNOLOGIES

INTERTEK GROUP PLC

KOROSI SPECINDO

PYRAMID TECHNICAL SERVICES PVT. LTD.

RYSCO CORROSION SERVICES INC.

SGS SA

V. CURATED RESEARCH

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With supermarkets closed and a nationwide curfew in effect, Jordan will launch a doorstep delivery service to feed its millions of citizens ordered to stay indoors.

Beginning Tuesday, residents will be delivered basic supplies, such as bread, water and medicine. Municipalities, water companies and large businesses that normally deliver to local businesses will be making the deliveries, said Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaile.

Jordanian authorities announced today that what was initially meant to be a three-day round-the-clock curfew would be extended indefinitely.

"The curfew will remain in place until further notice and you must stay at home and refrain from violating the precautionary instructions," Adaile told a news conference.

As of today, the country of 10 million people had reported 127 cases of coronavirus with zero fatalities. More than 5,000 people are currently quarantined at five- and four-star hotels near the Dead Sea and in Amman.

Under the emergency regulations, curfew violators can be jailed for up to a year. Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mukhles Mufleh said today that security forces had so far dealt with 880 curfew violations, according to the Jordan Times.

The nationwide curfew is among the most extreme measures taken by any country to combat the coronavirus, which is responsible for more than 16,300 deaths globally. Last week, King Abdullah II approved an emergency decree granting the government sweeping powers that Human Rights Watch warned could curtail basic rights.

Jordanian authorities should stick by their commitment not to abridge basic rights under the state of emergency, Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. The test of every nation is how it treats its citizens in times of crisis.

In addition to the nationwide curfew, Jordan has sealed its borders, halted all flights to and from its airports and banned travel between provinces. Authorities have converted 34 hotels to be used as quarantine centers for anyone who entered the country before the borders were closed.

This story contains reporting from Agence France-Presse.
MEXICO CITY - Mexicos government has formally requested the extradition of the former head of the state-owned oil company from Spain, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Emilio Lozoya, former head of Pemex, was arrested in February in southern Spain. Mexico had been pursuing Lozoya through Europe for months over allegations of approving an illegal contract while he was at Pemex.

Lozoya has always denied taking bribes.

A Spanish court ruled last month that Lozoya posed a flight risk and would remain jailed while his extradition case was heard. When he was arrested in the southeastern Spanish port of Malaga, Lozoya had a drivers license bearing his photograph but a different name, according to the court statement.

Lozoya was the director of Pemex between 2012 and 2016, during the administration of former President Enrique Pena Nieto. He was also a key figure in Pena Nietos presidential campaign.
Here are common questions and answers on how coronavirus has impacted Canadas immigration policies over the past week

Coronavirus and Canada immigration 2020: What you need to know

Coronavirus and Canada immigration 2020: What you need to know Here are common questions and answers on how coronavirus has impacted Canadas immigration policies over the past week

Coronavirus and Canada immigration 2020: What you need to know Here are common questions and answers on how coronavirus has impacted Canadas immigration policies over the past week

Coronavirus and Canada immigration 2020: What you need to know Here are common questions and answers on how coronavirus has impacted Canadas immigration policies over the past week Mohanad Moetaz Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canadas immigration policies and procedures have undergone daily changes over the past week as Canada seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).



One of Canadas major measures has been to implement travel restrictions between March 18 and June 30, however Canada is still exempting certain permanent and temporary residents from the restrictions so that they can enter the country.

CIC News has compiled the following frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers to help you understand the changes:

Can I still submit an Express Entry profile and my permanent residence application?

Yes, to both questions.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to hold Express Entry draws.

In addition, provinces continue to hold draws as well through the Provincial Nominee Program.

IRCC is still processing permanent residence applications. It is processing completed applications as per its normal procedures and providing individuals who are unable to submit completed applications with an additional 90 days if such individuals have experienced delays obtaining documents due to coronavirus-related disruptions.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Who can come to Canada?

IRCC has confirmed that the following individuals are among those who can still come to Canada between now and June 30. IRCC has asked that exempted individuals continue to monitor the federal governments website before they book their return travel to Canada:

Canadian citizens

Permanent residents

Immediate family of Canadian citizens and permanent residents

Permanent resident applicants who had been approved for permanent residence prior to March 16 and who had not yet travelled to Canada

Temporary foreign workers

International students who held a valid study permit or had been approved for one as of March 18

Transiting passengers

What is the definition of immediate family?

According to IRCC, immediate family means:

Spouse or common-law partner

Dependent child

Grandchild

Parent or step-parent

Guardian or tutor

What are Canadas land travel restrictions?

Canada and the U.S. have mutually agreed to stop non-essential traffic between the two countries. Canadians visiting the U.S. would still be allowed to return home.

Can I flagpole?

Do not travel to the Canada-U.S. border to update your immigration status until further notice has been provided by the federal government. The federal government has stated that travelling to the border for immigration purposes to update permanent residence, temporary residence, or visitor status (also known as flagpoling), is deemed non-essential travel. Those in Canada on a temporary basis can apply online on IRCCs website to update their status.

What are Canadas land travel exemptions?

All essential travel between Canada and the U.S. will continue, ensuring supply chains of food and life-saving medicines resume.

Can I still apply for temporary residence?

Yes. IRCC will continue to accept and process new applications for temporary residence. However, you will not be able to travel to Canada until the travel restrictions have been lifted.

Does the coronavirus pandemic impact IRCCs processing times?

There may be delays in processing times due to service disruptions and restrictions.

What do I do if my temporary status as a visitor, worker or student is about to expire?

If you are currently in Canada, you are able to apply to extend your status online. You will be allowed to remain in Canada until a decision is made on your new application. You should not travel to a port of entry to apply.

Will I still be able to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) if my course of study is being delivered online?

If your course is being delivered online due to the coronavirus pandemic, this will not affect your eligibility to the PGWP Program, and you may still apply.

What is the impact on refugees and asylum seekers?

Canada relies on the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other organizations to identify refugees that need to be resettled. Last week, the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced the temporary suspension of resettlement travel for refugees. These organizations may make alternative arrangements for refugees in transit.

Canada continues to accept asylum claimants in Canada, except those who wish to make an asylum claim at the US-Canada border. The two countries announced that irregular migrants attempting to cross the border will also be returned.

Do you have more questions on coronavirus and Canada immigration?

Check out our FAQ page
Republican senator Ted Cruz is calling on president Donald Trump to use emergency measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Cruz has urged Mr Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) in order to help solve medical supply shortages.

Last Friday, Mr Cruz wrote to Alex Azar, the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary urging him to use the significant powers of the Defense Production Act.

The DPA is a federal law that confers upon the president a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in the interest of national defence, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.

The act gives the president authority over various categories, including priorities and allocations, which forces industry to give the government priority on orders and Expansion of Productive Capacity and Supply, which gives the president authority to expand production of critical supplies or goods.

Those are not the only two authorities enabled by the act, but are the ones that are most likely to be used during the coronavirus pandemic, with supplies of masks, ventilators and other critical goods low.

Oh his podcast Verdict, Mr Cruz said that there should be enough equipment available for every person who contracts the virus.

Ted Cruz taking questions in Washington (Andrew Canellero-Reynolds AFP)

I dont want to see doctors having to make a choice of who gets to live and who has to die because they dont have the equipment to save their lives, he said.

Mr Cruz explained that hes concerned that the longer Mr Trump waits to invoke the act, the harder it will be to have enough equipment in time, saying: You cant build a ventilator overnight.

And if we wake up two weeks from now and instead of 11,000 cases, weve got 200,000 cases or a million cases, it might be too late then.

Mr Cruz added: Everyone recognises this is a public health threat, he said. We need to do everything on the front end to make sure were not forced into an impossible situation on the back end.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 42,817 people have tested positive in the US. The death toll has passed the 500 mark, with more than 100 deaths in one day for the first time.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as part of the battle to contain the spread of the contagion.
But thats me. As Trumps MAGA (Make America Great Again) and KAG (Keep America Great) supporters often say, thats just Trump being Trump. When his supporters praise how he tells the truth, they arent talking about his reporting skills. Theyre talking about how, compared with politicians who weigh their words like lead bricks, he sounds refreshingly unfiltered. He loves to talk to any available microphone and release his inner Trump as if he has forgotten that the rest of us can hear him.
Footage has been released of a man wandering around a service station hours after a man and woman were attacked in their bed.

The couple were asleep at a home in Gladesville, in Sydney's northern suburbs, at 8.25am on Monday when they woke to find a man beside their bed.

The man then grabbed a guitar that was in the room and hit the 36-year-old man over the head with it.

Police have released CCTV footage of a man at a service station shortly after the assault took place.

Footage has been released of a man wandering around a service station hours after a man and woman were attacked in their bed

Investigators believe he can insist with their inquries.

He is wearing a black cap and t-shirt paired with black trousers in the footage.

He is seen looking over products - even going to grab a sandwich from a box a staff member is still unpacking.

Police are still searching for the intruder who fled the couple's apartment after the assault.

The 36-year-old was left with critical head injuries and was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital.

He underwent emergency surgery and is still in intensive care.

The 31-year-old woman was uninjured during the ordeal.

Police have also released images of a man they wish to speak to.

The man has been described as between 30 and 35 years of age with light brown hair and a long beard.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Thiruvananthapuram: With coronavirus cases rapidly increasing in the southern state, Kerala crossed the 100-mark with 14 new cases being reported on Tuesday, taking the total number of people undergoing treatment to 105.

A health worker was among those infected by the virus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after a

COVID-19 review meeting.

The chief minister said the situation in the northernmost Kasaragod district was worrisome as six more positive cases were detected.

Six cases were reported from Kasaragod, three from Kozhikode, one each from Malappuram, Palakkad, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts, he said.

At least 72,460 people were under observation besides 467 in isolation wards of various hospitals, the chief minister said.

Even though the lockdown was imposed from Monday midnight, people were not cooperating and many were seen moving around in their private vehicles, he said. Vijayan asked people not to undertake any travel unless in case of emergency.

"Today is the first day of lockdown in the state. This is a first in the state. We need to understand the seriousness of the matter. But many people were wandering around unnecessarily... it seems like people are not interested in following the directions. Many ventured out today," he said.

Those who come out in their private vehicles should submit an affidavit on the purpose of travel and other details.

"The permission for private vehicles are for emergency purposes only. People are considering it as an opportunity.

We have decided to gather the details of such vehicles, the name and address of the driver, the purpose of

travel, destination and time of return in an affidavit format," he said.

Those who give false information will be caught and legal action will be taken, he added. Vijayan also warned traders who "exploit the situation" and increase prices of essential articles and said regular inspections will take place and violators booked.

The CM said the state government will take care of the destitute people and the local self-governments (LSG) would play a vital role in tackling the pandemic.

"At some places there are many who don't have own place to sleep. Some rest in front of shops or on the street. Such people will be identified by the LSGs and necessary steps will be taken to provide them accommodation

and food," he said.

With the possibility of more cases surfacing, the state government has issued directions to legislators in the state to identify the buildings or houses which could be used as isolation wards in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, prohibitory orders have been issued in at least seven districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Pathnamthitta and Ernakulam.

At least 402 cases have been registered in Kerala on Tuesday against those who violated the lockdown.

The highest of 123 cases were registered in registered in Thiruvananthapuram district followed by Kollam 70 and

Ernakulam 69, sources said.

Four patients who tested positive had been treated and discharged earlier -- three from Wuhan and one from Kannur.

Thrissur district has the most number of people under observation, 10,908, followed by Malappuram with 9,898.

The worst-hit Kasaragod district with 45 positive COVID-19 cases has 2,736 people under observation of which 85

are in isolation wards.
In the 2019 fiscal year, the specialty chemicals Group ALTANA held its ground in a challenging market environment and at the same time set the course for further growth. Sales amounted to  2,249 million and were thus nearly 3 percent below the level of the previous year, which was still characterized by a strong first half in economic terms. The main reasons for this were the continuing sluggish demand in key industrial sectors, especially the automotive industry, and the general economic slowdown, especially in China. Adjusted for acquisition and exchange-rate effects, sales decreased by 4 percent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by 3 percent to  416 million. At 18.5 percent, the EBITDA margin was roughly at the previous years level despite further increases in expenditure, particularly for research and development and digitization, and thus within the long-term target range of 18 to 20 percent.

The ALTANA Group increased its research and development expenses by 7 percent. With a share of sales of also 7 percent, ALTANA continues to invest above-average amounts in innovations and new technologies, for example in the future digital printing market. For instance, ALTANAs internal startup ACTEGA Metal Print is about to launch a technology that achieves decorative metallic effects with considerably less material, costs, and production time than the processes that have been commonly used thus far. The up-and-coming printer manufacturer dp polar, in which ALTANA has held a stake since 2017, brought the first 3D printing system with a rotating printing platform onto the market in 2019 using the specialty chemicals Groups material development knowhow. The system enables highly precise components to be produced up to 20 times faster.

We invested heavily in promising growth projects in order to remain on course for sustained success. Even in a challenging market environment, we succeeded in achieving our long-term profitability targets, said Martin Babilas, CEO of ALTANA AG. We therefore once again demonstrated our high innovative and financial strength.

Business divisions: ACTEGA benefits from consumer-related industries

The sales of the largest division, BYK, fell by 2 percent to  1,041 million. Particularly the acquisition of the U.S. Paul N. Gardner Company had a positive effect. Adjusted for acquisition and exchange-rate effects, sales were 4 percent down on the strong level of the previous year.

The effect pigment specialist ECKART achieved sales of  356 million, representing a 7 percent decrease. The discontinuation of trading with white pigments in China contributed to this development. Adjusted for this special effect and exchange-rate effects, sales declined by 6 percent.

ELANTAS, the supplier of electrical insulation materials, recorded sales of  495 million, 2 percent below the previous years figure (4 percent in operating terms). The acquisition of the wire enamel business of Hubergroup India, which was completed in December 2019, will help to strengthen ELANTAS in the growth market India starting in 2020.

ACTEGA continued to grow in the 2019 fiscal year. Due to the persistently strong demand for coating and packaging solutions from consumer-related customer industries, the division increased its sales by 1 percent to  358 million. Adjusted for positive exchange-rate effects, sales were slightly above the previous years level.

Stable development in Europe, high investments in the future

The ALTANA Groups sales continued to be evenly distributed worldwide, but there were regional differences in the 2019 fiscal year. Europe, which still is the region with the highest sales, reached  858 million and remained stable overall with a slight decrease of 2 percent. Sales in Asia fell by 5 percent to  732 million. Adjusted for positive exchange-rate effects, the operating sales decline was 6 percent. Operating sales in America were down 5 percent. Due to positive acquisition and exchange-rate effects ALTANA almost reached the previous years level, with only a slight decline of 1 percent to  621 million.

In 2019, ALTANA pushed ahead with the expansion of its sites and production capacities in all regions of the world. In April, the Group opened a new integrated BYK site in Shanghai. In June, a new ACTEGA innovation center began operations in Grevenbroich (Germany), and in December, ACTEGA opened a new integrated site in the Brazilian city of Aracariguama. ALTANA is currently significantly expanding BYK's U.S. site in Gonzales and ACTEGAs site in Bremen. Expansion projects are also underway in Deventer in the Netherlands and Tongling in China. At the Groups headquarters in Wesel, ALTANA opened a new state-of-the-art building that offers the Groups IT and digital experts an innovative working environment.

Digitization multiplies spectrum of tailor-made solutions

ALTANA is investing heavily in digitization. In the first half of the year, for example, two new e-commerce platforms at BYK and ACTEGA went online. In the next three years, the specialty chemicals group plans to spend almost  40 million on this future-oriented area.  15 million alone will be invested in a so-called High Throughput Screening facility at the companys headquarters in Wesel. It will enable product tests to be carried out with enormous speed and efficiency at the highest level of quality. As a result, customers can be offered tailor-made solutions even faster.

As of December 31, 2019, ALTANA had 6,476 employees worldwide, 48 more than at the end of 2018. One in six employees is active in research and development.

Outlook

In its planning for the 2020 fiscal year, ALTANA had assumed there would be slightly stronger global economic growth in the second half of the year. In this environment, the Group had expected operating sales growth in the low single-digit percentage range and further growth through the acquisitions already completed. In such a scenario, the EBITDA margin would have been in the lower third of the long-term target range of 18 to 20 percent. However, the further course of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on demand, production, and supply processes cannot be assessed at present. Although ALTANA achieved slight sales and earnings growth in the first months of the current year, the coronavirus pandemic will have a significant impact on the sales development and earnings situation in the coming months.

Regardless of the business development, the ALTANA Group is sticking to its goal of achieving climate neutrality in its direct sphere of influence by 2025. In the current fiscal year, the companys entire power supply will already be converted to renewable energies.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The New Mexico Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt on most evictions in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order was issued Tuesday  a week and a half after advocates, attorneys, the mayor of Albuquerque and others began sending letters to the states highest court urging it to suspend eviction trials. However, it applies only to evictions due to non-payment of rent, although the missed rent doesnt have to be a direct consequence of the coronavirus and associated closures, according to a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Individual judges will still hear and decide a case  conducted remotely  but they will not issue an eviction order.

New Mexicans are struggling financially as workplaces close because of the public health emergency, Chief Justice Judith Nakamura explained in a news release. The Courts order will provide temporary relief for families and individuals facing the possibility of losing their housing at a time when the governor and public health officials have ordered New Mexicans to remain at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Camille Baca, a spokeswoman for Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, said landlord-tenant cases will continue to be heard, but they will be via telephone or video conference.

In cases of non-payment of rent, the Court will stop all evictions so long as tenants show up to court (via phone or video) and can provide proof of their inability to pay, Baca wrote in a statement. If tenants dont phone or video in for the restitution hearings or provide proof, the Court can still evict.

Property managers and associations reached by the Journal Tuesday said they were still trying to figure out exactly what the order will mean for their businesses, while advocates say it doesnt go far enough to stop evictions during the crisis.

Alan LaSeck, executive director of the Apartment Association of New Mexico, said the group works with thousands of households and employees.

We are very sensitive to the needs of companies and residents during the COVID-19 crisis, LaSeck wrote in a statement. We support our local, state and national governments as they work diligently to address this unprecedented crisis.

Jack Corder, president of the Albuquerque chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, said each property manager and owner is different, but most are grappling themselves with how to adjust to the new reality.

Some look to that rent to make their mortgage payments, some of them have money set aside so they can go 30 to 60 days without having any rent come in, Corder said. Im sure most property owners would not want to have a good tenant evicted unnecessarily.

He pointed out that property managers are paid when tenants pay rent, and the public health crisis has already resulted in reduced hours for management staff in the area.

Im sure we will see some (property management companies) close because, with no money coming in, they cant afford to stay open, Corder said. Im sure well see owners where if they cant make the mortgage payments, the houses may go into foreclosure.

However, New Mexico Legal Aid, an organization that provides free legal assistance in civil proceedings and had been advocating for a complete stay of evictions during the health crisis, said the order does not go far enough to keep tenants safe and in homes.

We have a problem with people who are poor or elderly or have cognitive disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries being asked to appear at these hearings, said Thomas Prettyman, the managing attorney for NM Legal Aid. They are not going to be able to appear by Google hangouts.

NM Supreme Court order halting evictions during COVID-19 pandemic by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd
The threat of economic collapse continues to haunt the nations largest industries, including Wyomings leading coal sector. Last week, along with airline and hospitality industries, coal advocates turned to the federal government for help.

In a letter addressed to President Donald Trump and congressional leadership, the National Mining Association urged federal officials Wednesday to relieve coal companies of obligatory royalties and other fees, in order to maintain healthy cash flow and keep coal mines running. Coal supplies roughly a quarter of the nations electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.

When energy companies extract minerals from public land in Wyoming, they must pay royalties to the federal government. About half these funds flow back to the state. But the coal group has asked federal regulators to temporarily relax or suspend these royalty payments. They also requested an expansion of credit availability and a 50 percent reduction in payments for the Abandoned Mine Land Fund.

As you know, every industry is looking for immediate steps that can keep Americans employed and help industries weather the storm, Conor Bernstein, a spokesman for the National Mining Association, said in a statement to the Star-Tribune. Obviously cash flow is a significant challenge. Even before the recent crisis, the coal industry was struggling to stabilize after years of disabling public policies impairing coal demand and production.

Bernstein said the proposed measures would protect 116,000 coal miners and 289,000 employees indirectly working to support mining operations across the country.

Executive Director of the Wyoming Mining Association Travis Deti affirmed local support for the national groups efforts. Deti said he was not requesting similar relief on a state level.

The only thing we have (asked) of the state is to keep mines open, Deti said in an email.

Wyoming leads the nation in coal production. Coal companies employ over 4,600 workers in the state.

Others in the Equality State are not so convinced the relief is worth it. That includes the Powder River Basin Resource Council, a group representing landowners. The organizations leaders and members expressed concern over coal companies extracting minerals on public land at little to no cost, if the federal government extended waivers for royalties and fees. Whats more, critics of the government assistance worried the loss of minerals payments could imperil funding for future mine site cleanup.

This is so obvious it shouldnt have to be said: Coal companies need to be paying American taxpayers for the public coal they mine and sell, Bob LeResche, a Powder River Basin Resource Council board member from Clearmont, said in a statement. Congress has a duty to ensure state and federal taxpayers get the full value for our minerals. Cutting royalties would not increase the demand for coal. It would only further hurt states like Wyoming, which are already struggling from revenue lost from shrinking coal markets.

The group called on the Trump administration to reject the request Friday.

More transitions ahead

Demand for coal has precipitously fallen in the past year, with inexpensive natural gas and renewable energy sources overtaking the market. The loss of customers has placed the coal firms operating 16 mines throughout Wyoming in a financially vulnerable position, even before the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S.

Powder River Basin coal production fell nearly 14 percent in the last quarter of 2019 when compared to the same period the year before, according to data published by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. Thats the lowest production totals for the region in over two decades. Since 2015, six coal companies with operations in Wyoming have filed for bankruptcy.

In the midst of this decline, other groups have their eyes on how the downturn in coal could affect the sectors workers and families. The Just Transition Fund  a philanthropic initiative looking to diversify the economies of coal-dependent communities across the U.S.  joined several other groups in sending a letter to Congress on Monday. Their message asked lawmakers to invest in rural health care for mining communities, support small businesses and expand broadband connectivity, among other demands.

The pain felt in coal communities during this unprecedented crisis will be exacted on those who are already in turmoil, threatening to make a bad situation much worse, Executive Director Heidi Binko said in a statement.

The families in coal country are especially vulnerable right now, she said. American coal communities helped power our countries for decades and supported our country when we needed it most. Now they deserve our support when they need it most.

Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports

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WASHINGTON  The Trump administration said late Tuesday it was able to secure additional coronavirus test kits without wielding its powers under the Defense Production Act, despite announcing earlier that it planned to use the law for the first time to obtain the materials.

At the last minute, we were able to procure the test kits from the private market without evoking the DPA, said Lizzie Litzow, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Earlier Tuesday, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN his team planned to "use the DPA for the first time to obtain about 60,000 coronavirus test kits to help health care workers confront a widespread shortage of medical supplies amid the unfolding crisis.

"There's some test kits we need to get our hands on," he said, adding that the administration would also insert "DPA language" into mass contracts for 500 million masks.

The Korean War-era law allows President Donald Trump to address the shortage of medical supplies by directing private companies to expedite the production of medical equipment. Trump invoked the DPA last week but has resisted calls from governors and other officials to put it into practice as the administration scrambles to expand coronavirus testing across the country.

"We're going to use it, we're going to use it when we need it, and we're going to use it today," Gaynor said, adding that administration would "use the allocation portion of the law.

President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Washington.

Wartime powers: Trump invokes wartime authority of Defense Production Act to speed coronavirus aid. What is it?

Kelly Magsamen, an expert on national security, said it appeared the administration had been planning to use "a very technical, narrow piece of the law.

Invoking the laws allocation provision allows the federal government to put companies on notice that they should set aside supplies that will be needed to fulfill a coming order, said Magsamen, a scholar at the Center for American Progress who worked has worked in the Obama and Bush administrations.

Story continues

Other provisions in the law, if invoked, would require private manufacturers to fill orders from the government before any others and would even allow companies to receive financial and other assistance to help fill government demands. But Gaynor did not say whether those provisions would be invoked.

The president weighed in on using the law Tuesday morning, tweeting that the DPA was "in full force, but haven't had to use it because no one has said NO! Millions of masks coming back up to States."

Trump has argued he doesn't need to enforce the law because companies are volunteering to manufacture supplies and he is against the idea nationalizing U.S. businesses.

Trump used the Defense Production Act last summer to direct the Defense Department to develop and buy equipment to increase the production of metals used in electronics to offset an effort by China to restrict exports.

But, it has been a long time since (the law) has been used for public health purposes, said Doug Jacobson, an international trade attorney in Washington.

Travel ban: Former CDC director: China travel ban 'made a difference' but US didn't prepare enough for COVID-19

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: FEMA got test kits at 'last minute' without wartime law
African nations have ordered curfews and lockdowns in response to the growing coronavirus epidemic, raising fears of turmoil for low-income workers and cash-strapped governments across the continent. Cases have risen across the world's poorest continent over the past week to a total of 2,137 and 62 deaths, according to an AFP tally, prompting countries to enact strict counter measures. South Africa, the continent's most developed economy -- which at 554 cases has Africa's largest outbreak -- on Monday announced a nationwide lockdown. "Without decisive action, the number of people infected will rapidly increase... to hundreds of thousands," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the time. There are fears that weak health infrastructure in Africa will leave the continent particularly exposed to an outbreak on the scale of virus-stricken Europe. Other countries are following suit with similar measures. More are expected to be announced in the coming days. On Monday, Senegal and Ivory Coast both declared states of emergency and ordered night-time curfews. Ivory Coast on Tuesday said it had recorded 73 coronavirus cases and would lock areas down progressively, depending on how the virus spreads. Senegal has recorded 86 coronavirus cases, its health ministry said on Tuesday. - Ivory Coast PM in self-isolation - In a sign of coronavirus' increasing reach, Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly said on Twitter on Tuesday that he was in a self-isolation after coming into contact with a positive case. As the virus spreads, there are also fears that poor and debt-saddled countries will be unable to provide an adequate response. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday asked G20 leaders for $150 billion in emergency funding to deal with the coronavirus, saying it "poses an existential threat" to the economies of African countries. He added that creditors should partly write off national debt for low-income countries. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's parliament on Tuesday that there would be a European financial aid package for poor countries fighting the virus. "I'm thinking in particular about Africa," he said. The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa announced that it was allocating $100 million to help sub-Saharan Africa deal with the crisis. -'How do we pay the rent?'- Adopting lockdowns and social distancing measures in poor African nations is also generating economic worries at the local level. Homes are often overcrowded, and workers in the informal economy cannot self-isolate at home without abandoning their livelihoods. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, admitted these difficulties in a briefing with reporters last week. She said such measures were "quite a challenge" and that the WHO was working on other approaches such as making hand sanitisers more widely available. Locals are increasingly concerned as containment measures bite. "They're closing down the stalls, the restaurants, but how are we supposed to feed our families?" asked Nemy Fery, who runs a street-food stall in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city. He added that he would try selling takeaway meals -- and look for another job. There are similar concerns in Muslim-majority Senegal, where the authorities were already struggling last week to enforce a ban on praying in mosques. Sabah Amar, who works in a souvenir shop, said Senegalese people "will die of hunger" before they succumb to coronavirus. Several people interviewed by AFP in Dakar nonetheless said they supported the government's coronavirus measures. "I prefer that everything closes. We're not selling anything anyway," said Amar. "Otherwise we're all going to die." In the north of the continent, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on Tuesday announced a two-week night-time curfew. And in the east, cases have doubled in Rwanda, to 36, while South Sudan has closed its air and land borders, except for food and fuel supplies. - Rising cases - Niger announced its first coronavirus fatality on Tuesday, as did the archipelago nation of Cape Verde after a 62-year-old British tourist died. Cameroon also recorded its first death -- a man who had contracted the disease in Italy and tested positive on March 14, according to Health Minister Manachi Manaouda. Four people have died in Burkina Faso, which is West Africa's worst-hit country with 115 confirmed cases. Countries that have announced strict containment measures are turning to the army to enforce them. Military patrols in Senegal will ensure people respect the dusk-to-dawn curfew, for example. South Africa's president has also said the army will enforce his country's lockdown. Nombulelo Tyokolo, 41, a domestic worker in Cape Town, who shares a one-bedroom shack with her son, told AFP she was worried about how the lockdown will work. "I am scared, worried and panicking about 21 days indoors," she said. "We have to fetch water outside and go outside to the toilets. God have mercy." South Africa, the continent's most developed economy -- which at 554 cases has Africa's largest outbreak -- has announced a nationwide lockdown Africans fear that they'll die of hunger before the virus gets them Secondary school students wash their hands before returning home in Rwanda It's an 'existential threat' to struggling African countries Many African countries have poor health infrastructure
Donald Trump has called for the protection of Asian Americans despite being accused of fuelling racism by referring to Covid-19 as the Chinese virus.

In comments at the White House that echoed remarks he made minutes earlier on Twitter, the president said the nations Asian American community was in no way responsible for the spreading of the virus.

Indeed, he said, they, as with other communities, were helping combat its the spread.

Its important Americans stay united in purpose, he said. Its very important we protect our Asian American community, within the US and around the world.

The president spoke amid reports that members of the community had reported an increase in racist abuse and attacks as part of a backlash at the Asian origins of Covid-19, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Yet, the president has also been accused of helping to encourage such attacks by his continued reference to the disease as the Chinese coronavirus.

Last week, he was asked why he used the phrase and if his comments were racist.

Mr Trump replied: Because it comes from China, its not racist at all. It comes from China..I want to be accurate.
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Crystal Cox/Business Insider

The landscape of dating and sex has been changed for many people in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Social distancing measures make typical dinner dates and bar meetups impossible.

Some people are also having to navigate living and spending prolonged periods of time with their partners for the first time as city-wide lockdowns go into effect.

Insider compiled a guide to sex, love, and dating during the coronavirus pandemic.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The landscape of dating, love, and sex as many of us know it has been dramatically altered by the coronavirus pandemic and the need to maintain physical distance from others.

Even singles who have shunned dating apps in the past are now forced to look online to meet people, unable to rely on conversations with strangers in crowded bars. In-person first dates out have turned into FaceTime sessions as restaurants, bars, and concert venues shutter.

Insider has put together a guide to approaching dating, sex, and love during the coronavirus pandemic  from navigating your existing relationships to developing new ones.

Consider quarantining with your partner  but only if you have good communication habits.

Queer couple

BraunS/Getty Images

Many couples are having to grapple with the question of whether to temporarily move in together during a self-quarantine.

This is a hard decision, especially if you haven't spent long periods of time together before.

A general rule of thumb is if you have poor communication with your partner or can't be entirely honest about your feelings with them, it's better to quarantine separately.

"As is always true in healthy relationships and making decisions, communication is key," Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown, a New York City-based relationship therapist, told Insider. "It may sound exciting and fun at first, but it's important to communicate about the fun and the not-so-fun parts of, essentially, living together."

Story continues

Early on in a relationship, you may not yet be equipped to handle the strain of a high-pressure situation like a quarantine. If that's the case, you can stay in touch virtually.

"This is a crisis in the US and the world that is leading to heightened anxiety along with other strong emotions," Robinson-Brown said. "If individuals are not equipped to have difficult conversations or hold space for each other's emotions, it will be quite difficult to quarantine together."

You and your partner can be sexually intimate if neither of you has symptoms.

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Crystal Cox/Business Insider

If you do decide to quarantine with your significant other (or others), the question of whether it's safe to be sexually intimate may come up.

Experts say it's generally safe if you and your partner want to have sex during the coronavirus pandemic  but only if neither of you has symptoms.

"I think the biggest thing is if you're sick, avoid other people, and that's just a general rule of thumb," infectious disease expert Dr. Saskia Popescu previously told Insider.

There's currently no evidence that the coronavirus can be sexually transmitted. If you and your partner are healthy and regularly washing your hands and disinfecting your house while practicing social distancing, you should be ok to have sex.

Phone sex can be a great alternative to meeting up with people.

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Crystal Cox/Business Insider

If you're worried about whether your partner or a potential hook up has been exposed to coronavirus and you'd rather play it say, you can always opt for phone sex.

Calling partners or dates and having phone sex can be a great way to explore your desires while also staying safe and preventing the spread of the virus.

"Phone sex is a good time to actually talk to your partners about what they want sexually or what they fantasize about," phone sex operator Stephanie Cathcart told Refinery29.

If you're more of a visual person, video sex over FaceTime or Zoom is also an option.

FaceTime dates and Zoom meetups are useful tools to get to know people in lieu of cocktails or dinner.

Using computer

Westend61/Getty Images

Singles may have to re-think the way they date without being able to meet in person, and Insider's Julia Naftulin reported people are already turning to FaceTime dates and other alternatives to meet potential romantic interests.

While unconventional for those of us accustomed to in-person first dates in bars or restaurants, meeting people online on dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Lex could still help establish more of a connection with someone before scheduling a video date.

If you do want to meet up with people, make sure to exercise caution and ask what your sexual partner's quarantine situation has been like.

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Crystal Cox/Insider

If you absolutely want to meet up to have sex with someone in person, New York City  which was considered the coronavirus epicenter in the United States  released guidelines on how to it in the safest way possible.

"Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls," the city's health officials said in new guidelines published Monday. They also suggested that New Yorkers "wear a face covering or mask" during sex, per a recent Harvard study that found masks to be a workable solution for couples who don't live together.

Orgies were also discouraged by the guidelines, which stated: "If two is company then three (or more) is definitely a crowd."

In addition to sticking to just one or two sexual partners who live outside of your home, making sure you know how they have been interacting with other people and what precautions they have been taking to protect themselves from COVID-19 is key.

For polyamorous or non-monogamous people living with one partner but not with others, setting boundaries about how you spend time together is important.

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Shutterstock

Dating during the coronavirus pandemic is especially difficult if you have multiple partners to care for.

Rachel Wright, a New York City-based relationship expert who is polyamorous, previously told she is changing the way she dates to stop the spread of the coronavirus and has noticed concerns from her non-monogamous clients about how social distancing will impact their love lives.

"It's no question that social distancing and polyamory are very challenging to pair together," Wright told Insider. "Setting up in person first dates are on-hold for me because I'm committed to stopping the spread of this and doing whatever I can to help."

Another potential issue is figuring out what to do if you live with one partner and not with another.

"One of the biggest challenges in all of this is having multiple partners but being in quarantine with one of them," Wright said. "It's new territory to maintain these relationships without any physical contact and while in the same apartment and living space, constantly, as the partner you live with."

Wright said establishing boundaries with the partner you live with is important in order to stave off jealousy. Be clear about what time and days you want to chat with your other partner or partners who don't live with you.

Read the original article on Insider
Kano: At least 70 Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush on their convoy by jihadist fighters in the restive northeast of the country, military and security sources said Tuesday.

Two military officers told that Islamist insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy guns at a truck carrying troops as it travelled near Gorgi village in Borno state on Monday.

"It was a huge loss, at least 70 soldiers have perished in the ambush," one of the officers said.

"The terrorists specifically targeted a truck loaded with soldiers with RPGs and incinerated the vehicle, killing all on board," a second officer said.

"So far 70 bodies have been recovered but the toll is certainly more than that as rescue operation is still underway."

Several soldiers were injured and some others taken captive by the jihadists, the two officers said.

A spokesman for the Nigerian army told AFP that he was unable to comment on the reported attack.

The convoy had left regional capital Maiduguri on its way to launch an offensive on a camp belonging to jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group in the area, a member of a government-backed militia fighting the insurgents told AFP.

The Islamic State West Africa Province faction split from Boko Haram insurgents in 2016 and has focused on attacking troops, raiding bases and laying ambush on military convoys.

The group has been accused of increasing attacks on civilians and taking hostages at bogus checkpoints on main roads in the region.

The decade-long conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced 1.8 million in the northeast of Nigeria.

Fighting has also spilt over the border into neighbouring countries, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.
Two more people in Kashmir, who had arrived from New Delhi and Saudi Arabia recently, tested positive for deadly COVID 19, taking the toll in Jammu and Kashmir to 6.

#COVID19 #JammuAndKashmir 2 more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Full details regarding the second being ascertained (sic), J&K government spokesman Rohit Kansal tweeted.

Reports suggest one of them is a resident of uptown Natipora and had returned from Saudi Arabia on March 16 in the same flight (443-Air India) which was boarded by the 67-year-old woman, from old city Khanyar, who tested positive on March 17. The other person is said to be a resident of posh Hyderpora (Uptown), aged around 65-years, who had returned from New Delhi recently after being part of a Tablighi Jamaat attended by people from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Read: Coronavirus: Two Districts In Kashmir Valley Cancel Gazetted Holidays Of Govt Employees

Stricter restrictions on movement imposed

On Monday, the duo was moved to a separate isolation facility at Chest Disease hospital, which has since been converted into a COVID hospital along with two other hospitalsSKIMS Bemina and JLNM Rainawari. Three cases have been tested positive in the Jammu region while in Ladakh Union Territory, 13 persons have tested positive for the deadly virus so far. In view of instances of non-cooperation and violations of restrictions from the general public reported from across the district on Monday, the District Magistrate Srinagar Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary has ordered stricter restrictions on movement in the district.

Read: Farooq Abdullah Donates Rs. 1 Crore To Combat COVID-19 Outbreak In Jammu & Kashmir

The decision to impose stricter restrictions has been taken after taking into account feedback obtained from security agencies and reports of executive magistrates and considering appeals from healthcare professionals and members of the general public of the district, an official press release said. The order states that till further mechanism is been put in place for the movement of all notified essential services, the exemption on movement shall apply only to officials of healthcare (including doctors, paramedics, and ambulance operators), fire and emergency services, power, water, food and civil supplies and public works departments, officials on duty at quarantine centers and those associated with measures for containment of the spread of coronavirus infection, those engaged in the transportation of medicines and essential commodities and equipment like ration, petrol, diesel, and LPG, and print and electronic media persons.

Read: 'They Misused It': India Slams Pak For Raising Kashmir Issue During SAARC Video-conference
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:21:07|Editor: zh

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BERLIN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy to Germany is coordinating more medical supplies to Germany's district of Heinsberg, which was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, in response to its appeal for help, according to a spokesperson of the embassy.

A message posted on the website of the embassy on Monday said the embassy has got into contact with Heinsberg district authorities and has kept communication on providing more medical protective materials.

"Public health crisis is a common challenge for all human beings. Solidarity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon (to tackle the crisis)," said the spokesperson, adding China is willing to work together with Germany to combat the coronavirus.

In recent days, Chinese and German health authorities through video conferences have shared information and experience in epidemic prevention, patient treatment and vaccination research.

Some Chinese-funded enterprises and the Chinese community in Germany also actively donated goods and materials, while some Chinese overseas medical students also joined in the anti-epidemic efforts in Germany, according to the spokesperson.

The district of Heinsberg, with a population of some 255,000, has registered over 1,000 coronavirus infections and 21 deaths.
24.03.2020 LISTEN

Friday, 20th March 2020 at exactly 7:45 PM, I addressed my community members through our Central Mosques PA system on the various precautionary and preventive measures against the COVID19 pandemic, the Presidential directives, Agona West Municipal Taskforce, some myths about the disease, symptoms, and signs.

The feedback has been phenomenal and I encourage all my colleagues particularly all elected Assembly Members to play a pivotal role in these difficult times.

I educated my people on Agona West Municipal Assemblys Taskforce to ensure compliance with the necessary protocols and Presidential directives and gave them the contact numbers (0244877208, 0243810247, 0247616726) circulated by the Agona West Coronavirus Disease Information and Resource Center In case of suspected cases.

We also interacted on some of the preventive measures including; frequent hand washing under running water, social distancing, avoiding handshakes, frequent use of alcohol Based sanitizers, covering one's mouth and nose whiles coughing and sneezing respectively and disposing of the tissue paper.

Typically among the respiratory symptoms of the pandemic includes difficulty in breaking, running nose, sore throats, fever, coughing.

I also took the opportunity to debunk certain myths regarding COVID19 which arent scientifically proven and without any solid basis. Among the false myths includes that;

*1. Blacks are immune to the pandemic*

*2. Excessive alcohol intake prevents you from getting the disease*

*3. Smoking (Cigarettes and or Marijuana etc) helps fight the viruses*

*4. The youths cannot be affected by the virus due to their strong immune systems*

All the above myths are not true and the need to unambiguously communicate that to our people is crucial at this moment because theres a lot of misinformation out there and the only way to cure sincere ignorance is with relevant, accurate and timely information.

In a nutshell, we succeeded in educating our people, to allay their fears not to panic but to be optimistic, cooperative whiles adhering to the various standard protocols by the WHO and the various experts and professionals and to CONSTANTLY pray for Agonaman, Ghana, Africa, and the World as we collective battle to win the war against COVID19.

#SafeHands

#StopTheSpread

ABDUL-WAHAB M. AFRICA ZION,

ASSEMBLY MEMBER,

OLD ZONGO.
Concerns about the virus have injected uncertainty, schedule changes and strategic shifts into the campaign. The pandemic has also forced organizers of upcoming debates to think about how  and whether  to proceed. The last debate, the only one in which Biden and Sanders faced off one-on-one, was held without an audience.
Pope: Confess sins directly to God if no priests available during virus pandemic

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Pope Francis is saying that general absolution of sin  confessing directly to God as opposed to through a priest  applies during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

A Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, including confession, called the Apostolic Penitentiary, issued a notice Friday, stating that though absolution of sin is the usual means through which sins are forgiven by a priest, in times of "grave necessity," such as now with the ongoing spread of the virus, other solutions are needed, according to Catholic Herald (UK). Confession is considered a sacrament in the Catholic Church.

What qualifies as "grave necessity" has generally been determined by local bishops, the outlet noted; yet in the 1980s and 90s, Rome has urged adherence to stricter definitions.

This Apostolic Penitentiary holds that, especially in places most impacted by the pandemic contagion and until the phenomenon subsides, there are cases of grave necessity thus yielding the conditions for general absolution, the notice reads.

In a Mass celebrated Friday that was livestreamed from Rome, Pope Francis said people who cannot manage to go to confession as a result of being locked down because of the coronavirus or another serious issue, can confess directly to God.

This is the right time, the opportune moment. An act of contrition done well, and our souls will become white like the snow, the pope said.

Return to your father who is waiting for you, he continued. "The God of tenderness will heal us; He will heal us of the many, many wounds of life and the many ugly things we have done. Each of us has our own!

In Roman Catholicism, believers are required to confess their sins to a priest in order to be absolved from sin but official teaching allows for exceptions for specific circumstances.

Francis elaborated Friday: Do what the Catechism (of the Catholic Church) says. It is very clear: If you cannot find a priest to confess to, speak directly with God, your Father, and tell Him the truth. Say, Lord, I did this, this, this. Forgive me, and ask for pardon with all your heart.

As the catechism teaches, he said, you can draw near to Gods forgiveness without having a priest at hand. Think about it. This is the moment.

Although some Protestant evangelicals practice the discipline of confessing sin to one another  as is instructed in James 5:16  it is often done so in a less formalized manner and is often not understood as a sacramental rite. A key theological objection of the Protestant Reformation centered around the abuse of the sacrament, namely that the Roman Catholic Church was using the confessional as a means to control the masses. The Reformers contended that it is unnecessary to confess sin through a human intermediary in order to receive forgiveness from or have access to God.

The New International Version of James 5:16 reads: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

Italy is among the nations that are most seriously affected by the coronavirus pandemic with hundreds of deaths being reported daily, occurring mainly among the elderly, many of whom were already suffering from comorbid conditions. The nation has been on lockdown since March 10.
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Berlin/Bruxelles/Overseas 24 March 2020 - In the light of Covid-19, better known as the Corona Virus, the electric Hand Dryer Association (eHA) highly recommends the best and most intensive hand hygiene routine as possible. Wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. Then dry them thoroughly too - but don`t use your cloths! These days it is very important to decelerate 
The idea of getting to travel while "doing good" seems like the best of both worlds. The trend of volunteer tourism, or "voluntourism" emerged out of the ecotourism boom in the '90s.

While voluntourists laud voluntourism programs for the valuable experiences they have, some criticize many aspects of volunteer tourism.

Issues Associated With Voluntourism

Image credit: Virginia State Parks/Flickr.com

Voluntourists often have very limited ability to alleviate systemic problems, and the short-term support they provide is widely varying in effectiveness and quality.

No matter how much voluntourists want to help people or how hard they're willing to work, they are often not in a position where they are able to make systemic changes. It is hard for them to do anything significant to alleviate poverty or provide support for vulnerable children.

Many voluntourists are high school, college, or university students. While their desire to help people is admirable, they often do not have the skills that are relevant to the specific needs of the peoples they visit.

For example, there are programs that send med-school hopefuls to remote villages who do not have access to dental care. While these voluntourists go to these villages with the best intentions, what these remote people need are real dentists for long-term care, not a revolving door of people without medical training.

Voluntourists can also inadvertently perpetuate patronizing unhelpful ideas to peoples in need. While wanting to help is admirable, voluntourism perpetuates an idea of a "needy" or "third-world" country as in need of saving by the West. An American teenager flying over to Africa to try and eliminate hunger is just as ineffective as a Kenyan teenager coming to the U.S. to solve gun violence.

Many voluntourism companies have a religious aspect. While religion can be a powerful motivator for helping others, some of these groups focus more on spreading their beliefs than providing help.

In order to volunteer abroad ethically and effectively, consider the following when planning your trip:

Consider Your Skills

Teach students skills that you are best at. Image credit: Tim Kelley/Flickr.com

What industries do you have training in? What kind of experience do you have? What would you be good at doing?

If you are a teacher, you could spend a year at a school in a place with low literacy rates.

If you work in construction, you could help rebuild homes in a country damaged by flooding.

If you are a receptionist, you could do office work at a charity providing relief somewhere abroad.

If you like to sew, you could join a nonprofit making mosquito nets for malaria-affected regions.

These are just many examples of how almost anyone could find something they can do to help within their skill range.

Plan For Long Term

The most effective help will be consistent. Consider setting aside a few months or even a year to make a lasting impact.

Spending a longer amount of time means you will be more fully immersed in the culture, giving you an authentic and unforgettable experience you will cherish for the rest of your life.

Get To Know The Community

Spend as much time as you can learning about the community you are volunteering in and spending time with people. Enjoy the valuable experience of meeting new people and sharing in their culture.

Find out what locals are doing to work on problems in the community. See what kind of resources and assistance they may need, and offer help if you're able.

Think About The Impact Of Your Trip

Will your help make an impact on the root of a problem? Avoid work that focuses on the symptoms of a systemic issue and ignores the causes of the problem.

Have fun!
Bexar Countys criminal district courts have suspended all regularly scheduled dockets until May 8 as the COVID-19 crisis continues.

Only cases deemed essential will be heard by a presiding judge, to be assigned weekly, along with an alternate.

Late Friday, Criminal Administrative Judge Ron Rangel issued a memo to the other district court judges based on the third emergency order issued by the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, prohibiting non-essential proceedings in person, contrary to local, state or national directives.

On Monday, Rangels directive to temporarily go to a one-judge system for all the criminal courts went into effect.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar civil district courts limit schedules to essential matters

We are set to be in this status, including jury suspension, until May 8, Rangel said Monday. The county has not sent out any jury summons since before the suspension occurred. We wont send out any more jury summons until the public can be satisfied that they are effective.

Rangel, who presides over the 379th state District Court, will be the first of the judges to hear the essential cases. He said proceedings for the jail cases went well Monday.

Cases are being resolved, and inmates are either released from custody through probation or transferred to TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice), or a program, something that resolves an inmates case to get them out of their current status, Rangel said.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

He said the presiding judge could hear five jail cases in the morning; another five early afternoon; and pick up another five through videoconferencing. Rangel said if more cases need to be heard, the alternate presiding judge can step in, and through the use of technology, could hear up to 25 cases.

Judge Cynthia Marie Chapa, civil presiding judge, said orders remain in effect to hear essential matters only.

That include suits involving protective orders; child removals and protections; enforcement actions where a respondent is incarcerated; suits or hearings involving jurisdictional deadlines that cannot be waived or continued; and temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions.

She urged lawyers and the public to be patient as they attempt to keep up with changes prompted by the coronavirus.

Judge John Longoria, county courts-at-law administrative judge, said the misdemeanor judges have reset their dockets and will not hold trials until the orders change. Nevertheless, they are doing some business remotely.

We are going to try to stay active, he said.

The countys website has a COVID-19 page that explains all the orders for the specific entities.

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863
AUSTIN, Texas  Texas lieutenant governor said Monday night that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of the global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the Centers for Disease Control says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will take care of ourselves.

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the comments while appearing on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight. Patrick, 69, went on the program after President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he wanted the country getting back to business in weeks, not months.

Lets get back to work. Lets get back to living. Lets be smart about it, Patrick said. And those of us who are 70 plus, well take care of ourselves. But dont sacrifice the country.

Asked about Patricks comments, the AARP pointed to a statement released Tuesday that did not mention him or his remarks but urged Texans and especially vulnerable older people to follow CDC guidance.

Its clear that coronavirus is spreading rapidly here and has devastating, even deadly, impacts no matter age, gender, party affiliation or any other characteristic. Policymakers must act now to lessen the severity and death toll of this pandemic, said Tina Tran, AARPs state director in Texas.

Patrick went on to suggest on the show that there were lots of grandparents like him and that he doesnt want the whole country to be sacrificed. His remarks were met with a swift backlash on social media, and on Tuesday, Patrick issued a statement that did not address older Americans but did say that if Trump decides more time is needed, he trusts the presidents judgement.

Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction  staying home from work and isolating themselves  the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.

Patrick is a firebrand conservative and former talk radio show host who was elected to office in 2014. He was the Texas chairman of Trumps presidential campaign in 2016 and has pushed the Texas Senate that he oversees further to the right.

Texas has had more than 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths related to the virus. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has resisted calling a stay-at-home order for all of Texas, but local officials in Dallas and San Antonio have issued such orders.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
By Marine Strauss

BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters) - After visiting about 20 chronically ill patients in a day, Hajar Atila, a Belgian home nurse, leaves her clothes in her garage and takes a shower before stepping into her home and cuddling her children.

The precautions, which also include a high-temperature wash for her work outfit each day, are to minimise the risk of spreading the coronavirus to her family.

Belgium has reported nearly 4,300 infections and 122 deaths as the disease spreads around Europe.

With hospitals discharging patients who would normally be hospitalised to free up beds for coronavirus patients, the country's 32,000 home nurses are coming under increasing pressure.

Atila, who manages Infirmiere Nursante, a home nursing care company employing 8 people in Brussels, said the new normal is juggling protective equipment shortages and contamination risks with calls to pharmacies and runs to supermarkets for the patients isolated at home.

"We are afraid for our families, for our patients, we are afraid of precipitating their death because they are fragile, sometimes in palliative care," Atila, 30, told Reuters.

"It's not just about showering our patients. It's doing insulin injections, sometimes dialysis, sometimes chemotherapy, antibiotic therapy. Sometimes, we are the only visit in the day of an elderly person," she said.

Most of the people she cares for are elderly, making them most vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus, and some have no family to visit them.

Because of high exposure to coronavirus and the lack of adequate protection, health professionals account for four percent of confirmed cases of the coronavirus Belgium, a spokesman for the health ministry told reporters on Tuesday.

Faced with equipment shortages, a federation of hospitals and care homes for Belgium's regions of Brussels and Wallonia, known as Santhea, called for private donations.

"The first emergency is the personal protective equipment: protective gowns, protective glasses, overshoes and of course masks," said Valerie Victoor of Santhea.

Story continues

Some are heeding the call.

Audrey Jacques, an artist and stylist who has been stuck at home since Belgium introduced a virtual lockdown on March 18, has spent time producing homemade masks.

"It is our job. If we can help we are also here for that, it keeps us busy and helps those around us," Jacques said. (Reporting by Marine Strauss; Editing by Gabriela Baczynska and Mike Collett-White)
Protesters against foreign fishermen entering Irish ports have lifted their blockade.

But they say they will only keep it lifted if measures are put in place to test fishermen arriving in the harbour.

And it is understood there are discussions underway for the erection of an exclusion zone on the pier where foreign fishermen may be subjected to a health check.

Details of what might be put in place have yet to be finalised and it is not clear at this stage which government department will be directly involved.

There were protests at two ports on Monday against Spanish fishermen who tried to land their catches in Dingle and Castletownbere.

Around 30 drove vehicles onto the pier at Dingle and prevented two French-registered ships from landing.

Another group of protesters did the same at Castletownbere when it emerged that is where the two boats decided to head to instead.

They also blocked a lorry from arriving to collect the fish at the port.

Protestors also kept up the blockade in Dingle overnight but they lifted it at 9am following discussions with the harbour master.

On Monday, the Department of Health said there are no entry restrictions to Ireland at present.

Entry screening at ports and airports is not recommended by the World Health Organisation or the EUs disease control agency.

They also said temperature screening alone, at exit or entry, is not an effective way to stop international spread.

And they added: Anyone coming into Ireland, apart from Northern Ireland, will be required to either restrict their movements on arrival for 14 days.

This includes Irish residents.

Essential supply chain services such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff are exempt.

Patrick Murphy, Irish South and West fish producers Organisation, said he raised this issue about foreign access to port with the authorities last week.

But he said that as a result of little or no action being taken about local concerns fear has overtaken compassion and conflict is the result.

And he said: The irony is we are (warned to) isolate and keep our distance and act in our neighbours interest to stop the spread of this killer virus to our most vulnerable in our society.

These coastal communities were not listened to and sadly have decided to act themselves in their belief they are doing right by their old and sick.

He added: However we must remember Spanish people depend on this fish and have the right to catch the shared resource of fish stocks that inhabit our waters.

I feel all conflict can be resolved through communication and a lot of understanding but we need this to be put in place immediately.

We are all rightly concerned not only for our future but our present and this is a time for leadership and mediation to address the concerns of these frightened communities.
[March 24, 2020] BESTEK is Introducing a Powerful Smart Toothbrush With a UV Sanitizer

ONTARIO, Calif., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading consumer electronics brand BESTEK is launching its latest innovation: the M-Care Electric Toothbrush & UV Sanitizer. This FDA-certified, travel sonic toothbrush with a UV sanitizer station maintains teeth healthily while keeping the germs at bay. With a strong vibrational frequency of up to 31,000 strokes per minute, the product efficiently removes plaque, protects teeth and promotes oral health. Protecting Users From Bacteria and Viruses Toothbrushes can easily incubate bacteria, fungi, and viruses if not cleaned properly. Which is why BESTEK made it a priority to pair this high-quality product with a special UV sanitizer charging station. It keeps the toothbrush clean and can help strengthen an immune system by using UV light that is proven to kill 99% of all germs. Effective and Hygienic This health-protecting toothbrush is compact, functional and can be used at home or while traveling. "Our new electric toothbrush is unique because of its ultra-slim wireless charging travel case and the UV sanitizer charging station," explains company spokesperson Grace Sheng, the marketing director of BESTEK. "You can take M-Care with you on all your trips for optimal oral hygiene and fresh breath. The UV light is the most effective way to sanitize your brush," she adds. Smart and Stylish M-Care has an IP67 waterproof rating so it can be safely washed without any concerns. It's also smart and contains a special timer that makes sure the whole mouth is properly taken care of. It pauses every 30 seconds so that the user will know to focus on a different area. An automatic b>hot air dryer keeps the toothbrush dry for extra antibacterial protection.



The toothbrush comes in a convenient all-in-one travel case, which protects it from dust, no matter whether the case is placed flat or upright. The battery lasts for 21 days on standby and a single charge will be enough for an impressive 50 brushes. The BESTEK M-Care Electric Toothbrush works in three modes that fit all the user's needs: standard for a classic clean, soft for sensitive teeth and whitening when they need a powerful brush. It comes in two colors and a 24-month warranty with the possibility of adding another six months.

It is now available on Indiegogo for pre-orders with the price starting at $39:https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/5d6ced65#/. About BESTEK Founded in 2007, BESTEK has a global infrastructure with warehouses in the U.S., Japan, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Since its inception, the company has applied for more than 400 patents to drive the research and production of innovative products, mainly in the car inverter, travel charger and power strip markets. BESTEK's products can be found in Home Depot, Lowe's, and Menards; also on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart marketplaces, where it has achieved a stellar reputation. For sample requests and additional product information, please contact [email protected]. More information about the M-Care Electric Toothbrush:https://m-care-electric-toothbrush.bestekdirect.com/. Media Contact

Lucie Simikova, [email protected] Related Images bestek-electric-toothbrush.png

BESTEK electric toothbrush

A lady using an electric toothbrush Related Links Press Kit BESTEK video View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bestek-is-introducing-a-powerful-smart-toothbrush-with-a-uv-sanitizer-301028678.html SOURCE BESTEK

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Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish climate activist, announced on Tuesday that she and her father, Svante, had symptoms of Covid-19 and that while hers were mild, it was extremely likely that she had contracted the virus. She used the announcement to urge young people to stay at home, even if they dont feel sick, to protect those who are more vulnerable.

Many (especially young people) might not notice any symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms, she said on Instagram, where she has 10 million followers. Then they dont know they have the virus and can pass it on to people in risk groups.

We who dont belong to a risk group have an enormous responsibility, our actions can be the difference between life and death for many others, she said.

Ms. Thunberg spoke to European Union lawmakers at a meeting in Brussels in early March. In an effort to protect her mother and her sister at home in Stockholm, Ms. Thunberg said she and her father, who accompanies her on her travels, had isolated themselves in a separate apartment.
Carnival Australia chief executive Ann Sherry. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:

These are difficult days for the cruise industry.

And thats before you consider the Ruby Princess which docked in Sydney last Thursday and unleashed a flood of coronavirus-infected travellers on our shores. All up 133 people on board have been diagnosed (to date) with Covid-19, with one of them dying in RPA Hospital on Tuesday.

So what luck that punters who were prepared to fork out a small fortune will get to hear from Carnival Australias executive chairman Ann Sherry in coming months. The topic? How is the Cruising Sector Responding to our Challenges.

Princess Cruises  which operates the Ruby Princess  is owned by Carnival. Sherry, a former Westpac executive, is lined up to talk at the members-only Trans-Tasman Business Circle.
Rhodes University

On Monday, 23 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on further measures that the National Coronavirus Command Council had decide on to reduce the overall number of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections and to delay the spread of infection over a longer period. He pointed out that, given the rate of transmission and spread of the virus, a swift and extraordinary action is required if we are to prevent a human catastrophe of enormous proportions in our country.

He said that the National Coronavirus Command Council had decided to impose a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from midnight on 26 March 2020 to 16 April 2020 in an effort to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

We fully support President Ramaphosa on the measures he has taken to reduce the rate of transmission and spread of the virus and commend him for the strong and decisive leadership he has provided our nation in these challenging and unprecedented times.

We hereby advise all Rhodes University staff and students to abide by the conditions of the nationwide lockdown by staying at home, avoiding public places and cancelling all social and cultural activities. We must do this, not so much out of fear of law enforcement agencies, but out of civic duty and care for the safety, wellbeing and health of our fellow citizens. We should do so in order to avert a human catastrophe. We should do so to save millions of South Africans from infection and save the lives of thousands of people, as the President stated.

What does LOCKDOWN mean for me? Fast facts for all staff

What the LOCKDOWN is

The LOCKDOWN is a critical stage in the national effort to flatten the rising curve in the growth of Coronavirus COVID-19 infections in the country.

is a critical stage in the national effort to flatten the rising curve in the growth of Coronavirus COVID-19 infections in the country. It is about limiting average daily contact between people, including at the workplace.

It is about individual discipline and responsibility to self-isolate.

The University has accordingly suspended all affected contact operations and encourages all staff to observe the national guidelines by limiting contact.

What the LOCKDOWN is not

The LOCKDOWN is not a holiday.

is not a holiday. The LOCKDOWN is not an opportunity to travel or to visit friends and to socialise.

is not an opportunity to travel or to visit friends and to socialise. The LOCKDOWN is not a 21-day solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will all need to use this period to ready ourselves for a different style of post-lockdown academic programme.

What is affected by the LOCKDOWN?

All on-campus operations are affected. Representations will be made through Universities South Africa (USAf) for the accreditation of designated functions also known as Critical Functions. These are:

Healthcare Centre.

Information and Communication Technology services.

Finance and Payroll.

Campus Protection services.

Defined research projects (including animal, insect and plant experiments that HAVE to continue, forms of biological laboratory stock that HAS to be kept alive during the lockdown period, including cell cultures and the monitoring of fridge and freezer stocks).

Specific communication services and staff.

Educational technology specialists.

Emergency maintenance staff (including technical services staff in departments who might need to see to specialised equipment).

What are the applicable conditions to the functions listed above?

In all exempted cases, social distancing and health standards MUST be strictly observed.

What is the implication of this situation on staff leave?

Clarity in this regard will be provided in due course in line with the national position to be communicated by the Ministry of Employment and Labour.

How will plans for alternative modalities and platforms to Teaching & Learning be pursued during the LOCKDOWN period?

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic and Students Affairs (DVC: A&SA) will facilitate ongoing discussions around the activation and implementation of alternative teaching and learning platforms.

Discussions on the zero-rating of access to the ac.za domain is being taken up at national level.



How will research continuity be affected by the LOCKDOWN?

Online mechanisms for supervision engagements and Centre for Postgraduate Studies workshops are in place.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation (DVC: R&I) will be constantly on hand to resolve bottlenecks to continued productivity.

All online Library information resources will be available for access during this time.

What will happen where statutory/other reports are due?

Where funders reports are required, DVC: R&I will seek to negotiate for flexibility in the application of deadlines that cannot be met.

USAf will be engaging the Department of Higher Education and Training to negotiate flexibility in the application of regulations regarding statutory reports.

Are there still students at Residences?

There are 12 undergraduate students on campus who were granted approval to stay.

There are 53 postgraduates students, comprising 27 South Africans, and 26 international students.

The students will be advised to leave.

Embassies or Consulates will be informed and asked to assist all international students.

Institution to Government collaboration: What role might Rhodes University contribute?

Rhodes University will fully cooperate with and actively support all government efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

A joint action plan between the University and the Province is being finalised following a meeting of stakeholders yesterday.

The University appreciates the fact that no intervention is without disadvantages. All interventions are evaluated based on the Universitys commitment to the national cause and based on an assessment of their pros and cons.

The President called on organisations that are able to continue their operations remotely to do so. Our University is one of those.

This is our University, and we all need to do what we can as a University community so that when the lockdown is over and the coronavirus defeated, we have a healthy institution to return to. All staff who can work remotely are strongly encouraged to do so. This is important to ensure that our University remains ready for the post-coronavirus era.

Source: Communications

Please help us to raise funds so that we can give all our students a chance to access online teaching and learning. Covid-19 has disrupted our students' education. Don't let the digital divide put their future at risk. Visit www.ru.ac.za/rucoronavirusgateway to donate
The Hart City Council accepted bids for the sale of pickups at its March 9 meeting at City Hall. Alex Carrascos bid of $2,010 for the 2010 Ford F150 pickup was accepted, as well as his $1,010 bid for the 1994 Chevrolet utility pickup. Wayne Etrhidges bid of $2,550 for the 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche was accepted. Adrian Rosas, City Administrator, said there were 13 bids for the pickups.

In other business, the Council accepted the proposal by Brandt Engineers of Amarillo regarding the seal-coating project of City streets for this year. Brandt recommended a bid of $55,107.50 by G and G Operators, Ltd, of Dumas. Streets that will receive a single course penetration treatment using Type B, Grade 4 Aggregate are Third Street from Avenue A to Avenue G, as well as Avenue C from Fourth Street to First Street, and Avenue D from Second Street to Third Street. The company has 90 calendar days to complete the construction.
As the coronavirus crisis continues apace, life as we know it is a much-changed beast. The rhythms of daily life and routine we took for granted are upended, and that means a hold on many enjoyable things, from big parties to cinema trips.

For a number of Irish men and women, it also means the interruption of some very high-maintenance beauty regimes. Salons, barbers and beauty hotspots are closing their premises temporarily in a bid to flatten the curve.

Some people have taken to social media to vent their own beauty-related issues. Novelist Marian Keyes has been busy removing her own Shellac manicure with a wily homemade concoction, while luxury facials are on ice, pricey manicures won't be maintained, and if you're conscientious enough to get regular waxes well, you probably already know how uncomfortable regrowth is.

Here, we've devised a survival guide to address some beauty-related woes.

HAIR

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Most hairdressers have a client base currently enquiring about fringe maintenance, colour upkeep and what to do about highlights for the foreseeable.

Celebrity hairdresser Dylan Bradshaw, whose South William Street salon is currently closed, has made the same suggestions to his clients.

"Use this time to give your hair a rest," he notes. "Women usually put their hair through murder between blowdrying and heat styling. All those products that are in your bathroom, like masks and hair treatments, put them to use. We don't really need to worry about how we look if we are staying at home, so put your hair on a journey of health for the next while."

Those who are still clocking in to work via Google hangout and Zoom may feel worried about their hair colour, especially if they've refreshed it regularly.

Video of the Day

Though it's tempting to reach for an at-home dye kit, Dylan advises caution.

"There's a reason box dyes are so cheap," he notes. "If you go and do a box-dye, be aware that it could have serious consequences for the condition of your hair for the rest of your hair days. Besides, it's unpredictable - you may not end up with the exact colour that's on the box."

Instead, use gap filler products, like root re-growth sprays and touch-up palettes.

There are plenty of at-home treatments you can use to improve the condition of your hair.

"Coconut oil is a good treatment, but a nightmare to get out of your hair, so only use a tiny bit," advises Dylan. "Egg whites are also a good way to get protein into your hair."

With regards to maintaining a fringe during social isolation: "Don't go on YouTube, don't look up tutorials on how to cut your hair, and don't get out the nail scissors," says Dylan. "Just scrape it to the side."

Resist the temptation, too, to call your hairdresser to see if she'll do you an out-of-hours favour: "Not only will you destroy businesses in the long term, but you'll also be potentially carrying viruses back and forth," Dylan notes.

HANDS

Siobhan Tobin is a beauty tutor who runs Nail It Today Education in Bray, and has seen a lot of people have beauty appointments cancelled in recent days.

She notes that several people have Shellac, gel or acrylic manicures and pedicures that, in the usual run of things, get maintained regularly. But in the current climate, Siobhan notes that manicures should be removed so that people can effectively wash their hands.

"After a week or two, the colour, which is essentially a shell loosely connected to the nail, lifts, and you'll often have debris or dirt under there," she explains. "If the [nails] have been left long enough, they may be prone to infection. Women need to be directed to remove these gel, Shellac and acrylic nails at home.

"The usual technique to remove gel nails is to file them down, and then acrylic nails can be removed with acetone," she adds. "You can buy pure acetone from a chemist like Boots, or use a nail varnish remover with acetone in it.

"No matter whether you have an acrylic or Shellac manicure, the top layer is not a 'soak off' layer, and you will have to buff the top layer," Siobhan explains.

"Use a coarse, 100-grit file. With a Shellac manicure, buff the surface until it's matte, then take the acetone, and then put that onto cotton wool and place against the nail. Wrap them in tinfoil and leave for 15 minutes. Be sure to remove one at a time.

"Keep nails short - again this is more than a cosmetic thing, it's a health thing," Siobhan adds. "File your nails from the side into the centre to avoid damage, and file toenails straight across. We just need to go back to basics for a while."

Of course, stringent hand washing has left many of us with mitts that have seen better, more moisturised days. "Dermatitis can occur because of constant hand washing," says Siobhan. "It's what's ahead for most of us." A cream like E45 is a good place to start to keep hands moisturised.

BROWS

If you're used to getting your brows threaded or shaped professionally, there's no harm in a little upkeep in the coming weeks. "The hair should be gripped with the tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pulled in the direction of growth, while stretching the skin with the other hand," advises Siobhan. "Only remove hairs as they re-grow, rather than reshaping, and don't tweeze above the brow."

HAIR REMOVAL

If you've been particularly disciplined with your body hair removal, you can expect a little re-growth in the coming weeks and days.

With regards to waxed areas, Siobhan advises: "Don't shave the area. Yet, it may feel itchy or irritated, but that's commonly experienced.

"Now is not the time to be experimenting with wax kits. A lot of people are happy to use wax strips on their upper lip, but a safer alternative for the time being is a cream like Immac."

DIY TREATMENTS

Your kitchen already has some handy DIY products in it. Take a leaf out of Hollywood's book: Catherine Zeta-Jones is reportedly a fan of honey face masks, and keeps her smile bright by brushing her teeth with strawberries.

Jessica Biel is said to mix a couple of teaspoons of sugar in with her cleanser to use as an exfoliating scrub. Demi Moore also uses her kitchen as a beauty emporium, reportedly using castor oil as a hair conditioning treatment.

Julia Roberts has also noted publicly that soaking her hands in a bowl of olive oil does wonders for her hands. Emma Stone, too, allegedly swears by grapeseed oil as a daily body moisturiser.
The number of COVID-19 cases around the globe continues to explode with 372,563 cases and 16,381 deaths in 168 countries as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University which is tracking the spread.

Italy has seen the most deaths, reporting 6,077. China has reported 3,153, Spain 2,207, Iran 1,812, France 860, the United States 573, the United Kingdom 335, and Netherlands 213.

You can see the spread of the pneumonia-like virus in the maps above from Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. The maps are regularly updated with data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

ALSO: Over 1.5 billion globally told to stay home to avoid virus

In Italy, the hardest-hit country of all, declines in both new cases and deaths for a second consecutive day provided a faint glimmer of hope, though it is too soon to say whether the crisis is leveling off.

Italian officials said Monday that the virus had claimed over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier. All told, the outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country, and pushed the health system to the breaking point.

The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected, accounting for roughly 12% of the country's total cases.

British health workers pleaded for more gear, saying they felt like cannon fodder. In France, doctors scrounged masks from construction workers and factory floors.

The Dutch government has tightened its measures aimed at reining in the spread of the coronavirus, including banning all gatherings until June 1.

Canada's most populous province is ordering the closure of all non-essential businesses.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the order will be effective at midnight Tuesday and will be in place for at least 14 days.

India took the extraordinary step of shutting down the nation's vast rail system, which has long been the lifeblood of the country of 1.3 billion people.

Turkey's health minister says the country will begin the mass production of respirators for domestic use and to export to countries in need.

Fahrettin Koca said the government will also employ 32,000 more health workers across Turkey to fight the virus. A number of health personnel had contracted the virus, Koca said, adding that the exact figure would be released at a later date.

The way U.S. officials respond to the severe pressure on hospitals  and people's willingness to keep their distance from others  will prove critical in coming days, public health experts said.

Actions taken right now will have a huge impact on the course of this epidemic in the U.S., said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington. Its an important moment."

The crisis continued to ease in China. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged late last year, said it is allowing residents limited movement as its lockdown is gradually relaxed. China is now sending planeloads of protective gear and doctors to Europe.

The U.S. is completely wasting the precious time that China has won for the world, said Geng Shuang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-disease expert, promised that medical supplies are about to start pouring in and will be clearly directed to those hot spots that need it most.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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.
The Government is to increase the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support payment for people who have been laid-off due to the virus from 203 to 350.

The payment will also apply to the self-employed affected by the virus.

However, people who are already unemployed due to reasons other than Covid-19 will remain on the usual Jobseekers' Benefit of 203.

The cabinet has also approved an emergency wage subsidy scheme under which the Government will pay 70% of a workers salary up to a cap of 410 per week net - equivalent to the after tax income of a worker on around 38,000.

Workers earning between 38,000 and 76,000 will be entitled to assistance capped at 350, while workers earning above 76,000 will be excluded from the scheme.

The scheme costing an estimated 3.7 billion will initially run for 12 weeks, and employers will be free to top-up the government's element of the salary.

The scheme is targeted at companies hit by the collapse of economic activity triggered by Covid-19 - and employers seeking to avail of it would have to demonstrate a reduction in income of at least 25%, along with cash flow difficulties.
Speech recognition systems are deep-rooted with bias toward people of color, a new study reveals.

Stanford researchers found these technologies from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft make twice as many errors when interpreting language from black people than words spoken by whites.

The team fed systems with nearly 2,000 speech samples from 115 individuals, 42 whites and 73 blacks, and found the average error rate for whites was 19 percent and 35 percent for blacks.

Apple was found to perform the worst out of the group with a 45 percent error rate for black speakers and 23 percent for white speakers.

Those involved with the study believed the inaccuracies are due to data sets used to train the systems are designed predominately by white people.

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Stanford researchers found AI-powered voice recognition technologies from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft make twice as many errors when interpreting language from black people than words spoken by whites

Stanford University released the study Monday, which used recordings of black speech from the Corpus of Regional African American Language, and samples from white people came for Voices of California, which are recorded interviews of residents in different parts of California.

'Automated speech recognition (ASR) systems are now used in a variety of applications to convert spoken language to text, from virtual assistants, to closed captioning, to hands-free computing,' wrote the study's authors.

'Our results point to hurdles faced by African Americans in using increasingly widespread tools driven by speech recognition technology.'

The study showed Microsoft's system was most accurate, with a 15 percent error rate for white speakers and 27 percent for black speakers.

The team fed the systems with nearly 2,000 speech samples from 115 individuals, 42 whites and 73 blacks, and found the average error rate for whites was 19 percent and 35 percent for blacks

And Apple's technology was found to perform the worst, with a 45 percent error rate for black speakers and 23 percent for white speakers.

Lead author of the study, Allison Koenecke, said: 'But one should expect that U.S.-based companies would build products that serve all Americans.'

'Right now, it seems that they're not doing that for a whole segment of the population.'

Koenecke and her team suggest the errors from all five of the tech giants are due to the systems being trained on data of the English language as spoke by white Americans.

'A more equitable approach would be to include databases that reflect a greater diversity of the accents and dialects of other English speakers,' the researchers shared in a statement.

Sharad Goel, a professor of computational engineering at Stanford who oversaw the work, said the study highlights the need to audit new technologies such as speech recognition for hidden biases that may exclude people who are already marginalized.

Such audits would need to be done by independent external experts, and would require a lot of time and work, but they are important to make sure that this technology is inclusive.

'We can't count on companies to regulate themselves,' Goel said.

'That's not what they're set up to do.'

'I can imagine that some might voluntarily commit to independent audits if there's enough public pressure.'

'But it may also be necessary for government agencies to impose more oversight. People have a right to know how well the technology that affects their lives really works.'
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Yes Bank Crisis: A Breach of Trust or a Trust in Breach

by Sanjoy De, Atanu Sengupta and Niladri De

Introduction

I have no doubt that this habit of secretly burying the precious metals, and thus withdrawing them from circulation, is the principal cause of their apparent scarcity in Hindoustan.

Travels in the Mogul Empire (AD 1656-1668) by Francois BernierA revised and improved edition based upon Irving Brocks translation by Archibald Constable and Company.

Long ago in the Moghul era during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb, French traveller Francois Bernier visited India. He was surprised that a country rich in opulence suffering from the habit of investment. People of wealth buried their wealth under the ground. Wealth was not circulated. It went off the circulation system of the country. As a result the country lost the opportunity to use its vast wealth for invest-ment. Later the British siphoned this wealth for Industrial Revolution in England. The moot cause for this misfortune is the lack of belief in a sound financial system. The recent crisis of Yes Bank brings us back to this dark period of our country.

The RBI has superseded Yes Bank. It will take one month to come up with a revival package. During this month, there is a cap of Rs 50,000 for deposit withdrawal. However, there are some exceptions to this limit in events such as marriages, payments for education-related purpose. SBI and LIC are likely to inject capital or take over the ailing bank.

However, the crisis of Yes Bank has shaken the confidence of the people on the banking system. Though the case of banking failure is not new to India, the crisis of Yes Bank is unique in many ways. In fact, the crisis has happened at a time when the economy is tanking with the GDP growth rate of 4.5 per cent and the scar of corona virus likely to dissipate the global economic growth rate.

Depositors Plight

The depositors worry about the safety of their money seemed to show no signs of ebbing down in recent times. First, came the ordeals to the depositors due to demonetisation, promulgated on November 8, 2016. The serpentine queues of the customers in front of the bank branches and ATMs all through the country are still fresh in our memory. (Sengupta and De, 2016) Again, last year saw several bewildered depositors scurrying to visit the branches of the troubled Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) to withdraw their deposits.1

The country is witnessing a sense of deja vu as Yes Bank account holders are visiting the branches and ATM counters restlessly. Most of the ATMs are not dispensing cash at all. This has caused a situation when people are facing difficulties in making their scheduled payments and deductions such as payments of rents, fees, utility bills, SIPs and EMIs. The online banking facilities collapsed completely, sending panic waves to the customers. It is to be noted that the Yes Bank, which was founded 16 years ago and whose forte is corporate banking and syndicated loan, is one of the most technology-friendly banks in the country. The bank is responsible for UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions for different third-party apps. The bank also serves the role of payment service providers for many business entities such as PVR, Udaan, Cleartrip, Swiggy and Redbus. In the area of digital payments, this high-tech private bank enjoys a commanding position.

As the crisis emanated, the National Pay-ments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees the countrys digital transactions, issued sanctions on Yes Bank. Over 34 lakhs debit and credit card users of the bank have been made idle. Even transactions through NEFT/IMPS have been deactivated. This complete blockade of the digital routes has compelled the customers to crowd at the bank branches and ATMs.

Writing is on the Wall

Though the crisis has come to the fore in recent days, a look at some of the financial parameters shows that the warning bell had been ringing for quite some time. Unbridled expansion spree, particularly the meteoric growth of loans coupled with mounting NPAs, has put a huge strain on the banks profitability.

Over the period 2014-2019, deposit generation of Yes Bank grew by 206.8 per cent. During the same time period, deposit generation of all private banks, public sector banks, foreign banks and all scheduled commercial banks increased by 136.9 per cent, 28.8 per cent, 65.1 per cent and 51 per cent respectively.

Over the period 2014-2019, bank advance skyrocketed at a compounded annual growth rate of 34.1 per cent. (Annual Financial Report of Yes Bank) The growth of loan disbursal has been more prominent in the last couple of years. The period (2017-2019) saw Yes Bank loan growing at a stupendous rate of 82.6 per cent. Over the same period (2017-2019), advance disbursed by the private sector banks as a wholeboth old and new-age private sector banksincreased by less than 50 per cent. Advance of all public sector banks and foreign banks grew by 6.6 per cent and 19.3 per cent respectively. For all the scheduled commercial banks together, advance increased by 19.6 per cent. If we consider the time-span (2014-2019), we see that the advance of Yes Bank scaled up by 334.1 per cent, while that of all private sector banks registered an increase of 147.8 per cent. During the same time period, loan growth rates of all public sector banks, foreign banks and all scheduled commercial banks were 162 per cent, 36 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

However, what is indeed worrisome is the strong surge in net NPAs of Yes Bank. In 2019, the amount of NPAs was 172 times of the amount of NPAs in 2014. In the comparable time-period, NPAs of all the private sector banks, public sector banks and all the scheduled commercial banks were 7.6 times, 2.2 times and 2.5 times respectively. NPAs of the foreign banks declined by over 35 per cent during this period.

The growing NPAs have begun to put tremendous pressure on the net profit of the bank. Net profit of the bank, which was experiencing growth during the period 2014-2018, suddenly nosedived around 60 per cent between 2018 and 2019, whereas the profi-tability of all the scheduled commercial banks declined by 27.9 per cent.

In fact, the alarming situation of Yes Bank can be better explained with the help of some selected ratios indicating various aspects of bank performance such as management efficiency, profitability, productivity and asset quality. Increasingly higher credit-deposit ratio over the period 2014-2019, and a rising trend in (credit+investment)/deposit and the ratio of advance to deposit adjusted to cost of funds, show huge pressure on the banks available resources. Next, if we shift our gaze to the profitability parameters, we see that there is distinct evidence of a declining trend in NIM, return on assets and return on equity, giving enough indication of eroding profitability.

Now, if we see the productivity aspects, we find that there has been a rising trend in the business generated by the employees, whereas profit generated per employee is showing a falling trend. In other words, business generated by an employee has not actually been translated into banks own profit. In fact, the rising trend in net NPAs to net advance clearly indicates that the incremental business generated by the employees has not actually been conducive for the bank and of course its general depositors. Perhaps, unusually large loan disbursals were made to already stressed corporate clients. There are reports on how NBFCs were diverting large funds via shell companies to crony corporate groups who were struggling to repay loans.

Conclusion

The sad story has probably no solution. In debunking the belief of big depositors like Jagannath Temple of Puri, Somanth Temple of Gujarat, Haryana State Government, Life Insurance Company of India, the bank has intimated a deep crisis in an already fragile economy. But before blaming the bank, we must look at the opportunities that opened up for such Ponzi scheme by our system. The laxity of the government, the ostrich-like behaviour of the RBI, the near blindness of all the law providing and ensuring authorities have made this fraud successful. In fact our politicians cutting across party lines have immensely benefited from this so-called bank. This has helped to thrive such fishing in troubled waters. Unless this is cleared, the grip of crony capitalism on our economy cannot be loosened.

Reference

Sengupta, Atanu, and De, Sanjoy, 2017, DemonetisationDemon or a Bitter Pill?, Mainstream Weekly, 55(34): 15-17.

Footnotes

PMC went bust in September 2019 due to the fraud perpetrated by the management of the bank. It lent a substantial part of its deposit to a dubious real estate company through a number of shell companies.

Dr Sanjoy De is an Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Shyampur Siddheswari Mahavidyalaya, University of Calcutta. His e-mail is: sanjoyde2000[at]gmail.com

Dr Atanu Sengupta is a Professor, Department of Economics, Burdwan University, Burdwan, West Bengal, His e-mail is: sengupta_atanu[at]yahoo.com

Dr Niladri De is an Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Narasinha Dutta College, University of Calcutta. His e-mail is: niladride1[at]gmail.com
[March 24, 2020] Thirdwayv Completes Its Advisory Board with Addition of Five Leaders from the IoT, Security, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industries Thirdwayv, a leading provider of end-to-end connectivity and security solutions for IoT applications, today announced it has completed the formation of its Advisory Board with the appointment of five executives from a cross section of industries and disciplines that are fueling the next major wave of connected medical solutions and other safety-critical products and services. The five industry veterans who have joined Dr. Aiman Abdel-Malek, the Thirdwayv Advisory Board's executive chairman, include David C. Klonoff, M.D., who is founder of the Diabetes Technology Society that was key in driving the development of digital diabetes systems globally. He is the medical director at a prominent diabetes research institute, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. He also was principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials of diabetes drugs and devices and lead investigator in the first randomized controlled multicenter trial of an outpatient artificial pancreas product. Dr. Klonoff coined the term diabetes technology and has received repeated recognition for his work in this area from organizations including the FDA, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Centre and Madras Diabetes Research Foundation of Chennai, India. He has spoken before the European Parliament and U.S. Congressional Diabetes Caucus, participated in the White House Health and Cybersecurity Roundtable, and served on 56 grant review panels plus agencies in nine foreign countries, among other industry contributions. Thirdayv's other new Advisory Board members also have made valuable contributions to the industry based on their own respective areas of expertise: David Kleidermacher: As Google's vice president of engineering, head of Android (News - Alert) security and privacy, Kleidermacher is dedicated to the vision of a trustworthy, scalable IoT, including mobile devices, connected embedded systems and cloud infrastructure. He is an authority on embedded systems security, captured in the book he published on the subject, and is a frequent speaker at industry events. He was previously chief security officer at BlackBerry (News - Alert).

As Google's vice president of engineering, head of Android (News - Alert) security and privacy, Kleidermacher is dedicated to the vision of a trustworthy, scalable IoT, including mobile devices, connected embedded systems and cloud infrastructure. He is an authority on embedded systems security, captured in the book he published on the subject, and is a frequent speaker at industry events. He was previously chief security officer at BlackBerry (News - Alert). Raafat Fahim, Ph.D.: The former president and CEO of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Fahim has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and bioetechnology industry experience including developing, manufacturing, licensing and launching vaccine technologies. He is a leading authority on vaccines and currently is the president of REFF Consulting. He consults with Gates Foundation, large Pharma companies, biotechnology firms and startups on strategic planning, chemistry manufacturing and control, and quality operations.

The former president and CEO of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Fahim has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and bioetechnology industry experience including developing, manufacturing, licensing and launching vaccine technologies. He is a leading authority on vaccines and currently is the president of REFF Consulting. He consults with Gates Foundation, large Pharma companies, biotechnology firms and startups on strategic planning, chemistry manufacturing and control, and quality operations. Mr. Michael L. Levitz: Most recently chief financial officer and senior vice president at Insulet Corporation, Levitz was instrumental in driving improvements in the company's financial strategy, planning and execution in a rapid-growth environment. Prior to Insulet, as chief financial officer of Analogic Corporation, he played a key role in strategic and operational change helping deliver significant value creation. Levitz has spent most of his career in high-growth, publicly-traded medical technology organizations, including Cytyc Corporation and Hologic, Inc.

Most recently chief financial officer and senior vice president at Insulet Corporation, Levitz was instrumental in driving improvements in the company's financial strategy, planning and execution in a rapid-growth environment. Prior to Insulet, as chief financial officer of Analogic Corporation, he played a key role in strategic and operational change helping deliver significant value creation. Levitz has spent most of his career in high-growth, publicly-traded medical technology organizations, including Cytyc Corporation and Hologic, Inc. Yoshi Noguchi: As president and CEO of InterBusiness Corporation, Noguchi serves on the boards of technology firms in the U.S. and Japan where he advises on topics ranging from growth strategy formulation to strategic partnering and funding initiatives. He has been CEO of two successful startups, the managing partner of the technology practice of an executive search firm, and a sales executive for large data storage companies. "In addition to offering extensive expertise in financial strategy and business development, our new Advisory Board members include leading innovators in highly specialized fields such as pharmaceutical quality assurance and diabetes treatment that are rapidly adopting IoT technology," said James Kamke, chief executive officer, Thirdwayv. "Along with Dr. Abdel-Malek, they will provide the guidance we need to scale our business and meet growing customer demand that has quickly accelerated following the incorporation of our products into a commercialized medical device that has been cleared by the FDA." About Thirdwayv Thirdwayv helps its customers create secure wireless IoT products and services for applications in healthcare, automotive, process automation and critical infrastructure. The company's connectivity solutions collect and analyze critical sensor data to enrich end-user experiences and support advanced business operation. For more details, please visit the Thirdwayv website at http://www.thirdwayv.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005153/en/

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The health, sport and leisure group will be providing the public with regular workouts

DAVID Lloyd Clubs have announced that they will be launching virtual workouts and activities to help boost the nations spirits at home.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed new measures on Monday evening, in a bid to crack down on the spread of the coronavirus.

With the need for people to remain in their homes, fitness company David Lloyd Clubs - who have a gym on Monks Lane, Newbury - have set up a new initiative to provide the public with workouts and other assistance.

A press release from the club, read: We all know its important to stay fit, healthy and positive in these difficult times, but it will be hard if you are spending long periods of time at home.

With gyms across the UK now temporarily closed, David Lloyd Clubs, the UKs largest health, fitness and well-being group is launching David Lloyd Clubs@Home, offering a virtual wide range of workouts, advice and activities for every level and age.

The classes will be rolled out over the next few days and weeks, and will be accompanied by expert wellbeing advice and information, and fun activities to help younger ones to keep entertained at home in the weeks ahead.

A wide range of specially created on demand classes are being developed that can be used at home at any time of the day. Classes range from HIIT and weight-bearing classes through to yoga, Pilates and mindfulness and there will be bespoke content for all ages and levels, including children, families and older people and available in a range of languages.

Initially available through the David Lloyd Clubs members app, the health club group plans to offer a selection of the on demand workouts to non-members shortly through social media and the website.

Available immediately and to everyone via the blog, David Lloyd Clubs has created a virtual hub offering simple workouts from David Lloyd Clubs team of experts including exercises using everyday household props including sofas, tinned cans and even laundry detergent boxes.

Also featured are simple stretching moves that can be done at home, a 21-day yoga challenge, plus advice for runners, from experts to those looking to start jogging for the first time. The hub will be constantly evolving as follow the link here https://blog.davidlloyd.co.uk/category/at-home-workouts/

With schools closed, it is a challenge to keep kids active and entertained at home. David Lloyd Clubs will soon be launching an online family activity programme from experts from its kids clubs DL Kids offering everything from superhero workout circuits and dance moves to arts and crafts.

More information can be found at www.davidlloyd.co.uk , and new content will be added to the programme on a continual basis as it is created.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:22 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d30936 1 National Bekasi,rapid-testing,delay,bekasi-tunda-rapid-test,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,virus-corona Free

The administration in Bekasi, West Java, has delayed its plan to conduct rapid testing for COVID-19, which was set to be held on Tuesday, as the test kits have yet to arrive

Initially, the Bekasi administration was to conduct the rapid testing at the Patriot Candrabaga Stadium in South Bekasi on Tuesday.

"Were still waiting for the test kits and the testing methods, Deputy Bekasi Mayor Tri Adhianto said in a video post on his Instagram account, @mastriadhianto, on Monday.

"We continuously evaluate the mechanism for conducting the tests effectively, and to avoid the possibility of having a mass gathering, he added.

After Jakarta was named the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, Bekasi, a satellite city of the capital, had stepped up its efforts to detect the spread of the disease by holding mass rapid testing for its residents.

Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed 107 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily increase to date, bringing the total number of cases to 686. Seven more people died bringing the total number of deaths to 55.

West Java, the second-hardest hit province across the country, recorded 59 confirmed cases with nine deaths as of Monday, with 16 confirmed cases in Bekasi.

The planned rapid test was expected to involve blood tests. West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said on Sunday that his administration had decided to go first with Bekasi because of the high number of confirmed cases there.

Read also: Want to take a rapid test in West Java? Know which category you belong to

Both the central government and regional governments have instructed the public to stay away from mass gathering to avoid possible contraction of the virus.

The Bekasi administration, therefore, is trying to find the best way to perform the massive rapid testing without exposing its residents to COVID-19.

The deputy mayor advised residents to register themselves for the rapid testing at the Bekasi Health Agency.

"Do not come [to the stadium on Tuesday]. For those interested [in taking the test], please register at the health agency," said Adhianto. "Stay healthy, exercise and pray." (dfr)
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the countrys apex biomedical research body, on Monday approved 10 more private laboratories including Dr Lal PathLabs, Dr Dangs Lab and Indraprastha Apollo Delhi in Delhi to test for the coronavirus disease, taking to 16 the number of private facilities that can begin collecting samples whenever they are ready.

ICMR, however, did not expand its criteria for people to be able to take the test, with only those with travel history and symptoms and people in direct contact with positive cases eligible to have their samples taken.

Several experts have raised concerns over tests not being carried out aggressively or randomly enough, saying that a ramped up approach could stop a silent spread of the highly contagious pathogen. South Korea, for instance, has set up drive-through tests, where samples are collected within minutes and people get their reports the next day.

Also Watch | Please, please, please...: Watch recovered Coronavirus patients message

Also read| Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown over coronavirus

Other than the three labs in the Capital, two Tamil Nadu-based labs  Department of Clinical Virology, CMC, Vellore, and Department of Laboratory Services, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai  Mumbai-based SRL Limited, Haryana-based Strand Life Sciences and SRL Limited, Gujarat-based Supratech Micropath Laboratory & Research Institute and Apollo Hyderabad in Telangana were approved to carry out tests. Six other private labs were approved by ICMR on Sunday.

Our experts are looking at the lab requests and giving approvals in batches. As of today, 12 private labs have been approved that will increase the collection and testing capacity. These 12 lab chains put together have about 15,000 collection centres across India, ICMR director general Dr Balram Bhargava said earlier in the day before four more labs were cleared for testing.

All these labs have fulfilled ICMR conditions mandatory for private facilities to collect samples and test them. The conditions include National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories accreditation with real time Polymerase Chain Reaction testing for RNA virus and presence of all testing material, except the structure of the virus that ICMR will share. Real time reporting of the cases to the government has to be carried out through local surveillance units.

Also read| Covid-19: What you need to know today

We have been given approval for testing, and we will totally be following the ICMR guidelines; only those with prescription issued by a qualified doctor will be tested, said Dr Naveen Dang, founder, Dr Dangs Lab, Delhi.

Close to 60 private laboratories had approached ICMR for registration since the organisation issued guidelines for private labs intending to test for Covid-19. It is mandatory for private laboratories to register with ICMR to be able to conduct the test for the new disease, which has killed at least 15,000 people globally.

ICMR is also in the process of fast-tracking approvals for commercial testing kits.

Also read: In some cheer, 100,000 Covid-19 infected patients recover across the world

Our nodal laboratory in National Institute of Virology in Pune is looking at the quality of kits, and has already approved two kits by Indian manufacturers. Apart from FDA- and European CE-approved kits, ICMR-certified kits will also be eligible to be used for testing in labs across India, said Dr Bhargava.

There are about 116 government laboratories that ICMR has earmarked for Covid-19 testing, including 72 of ICMRs own viral research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDLs). Thirty-one of the government laboratories have so far been approved for both preliminary and confirmatory testing across India.

Indiscriminate testing is not the solution; the solution lies in isolation to break the transmission cycle, which is why lockdown is a pertinent step, Bhargava said. Since mid-January, India has tested 18,500 samples.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 15:46:14|Editor: huaxia

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KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies have stepped up efforts to help fight COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia with fresh donations of medical supplies.

China Communications Construction Company, the main contractor of Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, donated an assortment of medical supplies to aid Malaysia on Tuesday in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The supplies include face masks and medical goggles. Test kits will be arriving in Malaysia, said Bai Yinzhan, managing director of China Communications Construction (ECRL).

"We have received support from the government and all walks of life in Malaysia as we are undertaking the ECRL project," he said. "We should try our best to help when Malaysia and its people are facing the epidemic."

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said the embassy had called on Chinese companies based in Malaysia to provide help to Malaysia, their host country.

"I am happy to say that the Chinese companies based here in Malaysia are already mobilized, lots of help are on the way. The Chinese government's assistance is also underway," he said, adding that a video conference call between Chinese and Malaysian public health experts is scheduled for later this week to share the experience on fighting COVID-19.

Malaysia's Health Ministry Secretary-General Chen Chaw Min, who received the medical supplies on behalf of his ministry, expressed appreciation for the assistance rendered by the Chinese side.

"This desperate situation where many countries have faced this COVID-19 outbreak, so many items are needed and the number of cases has increased and their uses have increased," he said.

As of Monday, a total of 14 individuals have died of the COVID-19 in Malaysia, with the total cases of the COVID-19 in the country standing at 1,518.
Press release

24 March 2020

European digital services group SQLI presents its full-year results as approved at the Board of Directors meeting on 17 March 2020 chaired by Philippe Donche-Gay. The statutory auditors have conducted their review of the full-year financial statements. The certification report will be issued upon completion of the requisite procedures for publication of the 2019 Universal Registration Document.

m - IFRS 2018 2019 Change TURNOVER 232.0 238.7 +3% EBITDA[1] 14.1 15.1 +7% 6.1% 6.3% +0.2 pp RECURRING EBIT 12.2 13.2 +8% 5.3% 5.5% +0.2 pp EBIT 8.0 9.7 +21% 3.4% 4.1% +0.7 pp NET INCOME 3.1 4.7 +52%



EBIT UP 21% AND NET INCOME UP 52%

At 238.7m,[2], yearly sales rose 2.9% (up 2.5% at constant exchange rates), due to double-digit growth in Commerce & Experience (up 11.3%). The European digital agency business now accounts for 43% of consolidated turnover versus 40% in 2018. Boosted by this shift in the business mix, combined with the initial benefits generated by the focus on streamlining organisation and processes in the French digital services business, Digital & Technology, EBITDA rose 7% to 15.1m and recurring EBIT rose 8% to 13.2m. The recurring EBIT margin came to 5.5% of turnover, up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Meanwhile, in line with its roadmap, SQLI significantly reduced non-recurring result[3], down 17% in 2019 and halved in 2 years to 3.5m. EBIT came to 9.7m, up 21% year-on-year. Measures implemented in 2019 to streamline operations are expected to generate recurring savings of more than 1m on a full-year basis.

After factoring in net cost of debt, down 17% year-on-year to 2.2m, and tax expense (3.3m versus 2.0m in 2018), net income rose 52% to 4.7m.

HEALTHY BALANCE SHEET

At 31 December 2019, SQLI's cash balance stood at 20.1m, underpinned by an unused factoring reserve. Net debt excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities[4] totalled 14.5m and amounted to 0.96 times EBITDA and 15% of shareholders' equity (94.7m).

EXPANSION OF COMMERCE & EXPERIENCE IN THE UK

The Group's determination to play a unifying role in the European digital agency market, in accordance with the ONE FORCE 2022 strategic plan, is reflected in its acquisition, early March 2020, of Redbox Digital, an agency based in the UK and Dubai specialising in e-commerce and employing 80 people.

This new, instantly accretive acquisition enables SQLI to enhance its portfolio of key accounts (including AXA Insurance, Nahdi Medical, Nespresso, Fortnum & Mason and Universal Music Group) and thus become one of the 10 "Global Elite Partners" of Adobe/Magento, the world's leading e-commerce platform.

In 2019 Redbox posted sales of 7.3m, growth of around 10% and a double-digit recurring EBIT margin. SQLI acquired 60% of Redbox's share capital and has an option on the balance held by the management team, which remains fully committed to the Group's business strategy and vision.

TRENDS AND OUTLOOK

FY 2020 is the first year of the ONE FORCE 2022 plan which, backed by the growth of its two core divisions and the ramp-up of resources in its Digital Services Centres, should enable the Group to embark on a strong upward growth trajectory. SQLI thus forecasts consolidated turnover of over 280m by 2022 and recurring EBIT in excess of 22m by the same year.

The Group remains highly vigilant in the face of developments in the health crisis and its economic consequences. In the short term, a business continuity plan has been successfully implemented, including widespread use of teleworking in order to protect employees and ensure they can continue to perform their assignments. However, containment measures are starting to have a noticeable impact on business volumes, particularly in France. The Group has therefore implemented daily monitoring of its employment rate and an action plan, particularly in response to the exceptional measures implemented by the public authorities, to safeguard its cash.

Given daily developments in the situation, SQLI plans to provide an initial review of the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on its business when it publishes its Q1 2020 turnover. At this stage, in view of the significant slowdown in business, the Group confirms its medium-term ambitions but is not providing any quantified guidance for the 2020 financial year.

SQLI will publish Q1 2020 turnover on 28 April 2020 after close of trading.

Receive SQLI financial news free of charge by email by signing on at: www.actusnews.com

About SQLI: Founded in 1990, SQLI is an international digital services group, combining the best technologies and methods to create user focused applications and services and e-Commerce solutions that enhance the customer experience.

Its unique positioning as a trade, technology and skill transformation specialist, combined with the production capacity of its digital services centres, enable SQLI Group to help European key accounts increase their sales, reputation and internal performance over the long term.

SQLI's 2,400 employees are spread over 32 agencies in 13 countries: France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, South Africa and Morocco. SQLI posted turnover of 232 million in 2018 and has been listed on Euronext Paris (SQI) since July 21, 2000.

https://www.sqli.com

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Investor Relations

Olivier Stephan - +33 (0)1 85 64 20 20 - ostephan@sqli.com

Jerome Fabreguettes-Leib - +33 (0)1 53 67 36 78 - jfl@actus.fr

Financial Press Relations

Nicolas Bouchez - +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74 - nbouchez@actus.fr

[1]EBITDA = Recurring EBIT + net depreciation, amortisation and provision charges (excl. IFRS 16)

[2] 239.2m pre-audit estimate announced on 6 February 2020

[3] Non-recurring operating income and expenses

[4] Lease liabilities of 29.5 million maturing in more than one year and 7.8m maturing within one year

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A medical staffer shows tablets containing chloroquine, a drug that has shown signs of effectiveness against the virus that causes COVID-19, in Marseille, France, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images)

Scientists Find 69 Drugs and Compounds Potentially Effective Against COVID-19

Researchers have identified dozens of drugs and compounds, some experimental and others already approved by health authorities, that may be effective in combating the CCP virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and spark a global pandemic.

In a preprint study not yet peer-reviewed, published on March 22 on bioRxiv, the research team indicated it found hundreds of high confidence interactions between SARS-CoV-2 virus proteins and druggable human proteins.

Nearly 70 substances, including both drugs in clinical trials and those already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as preclinical compounds, have the potential to impact the virus, the team found.

Among these, we identify 66 druggable human proteins or host factors targeted by 69 existing FDA-approved drugs, drugs in clinical trials and/or preclinical compounds, that we are currently evaluating for efficacy in live SARS-CoV-2 infection assays, the team wrote.

The fact that the human proteins, or host factors, are impacted by existing drugs and experimental compounds makes it more likely to identify effective molecular targets that potential antiviral therapeutics based on these drugs or compounds could hit.

The identification of host dependency factors mediating virus infection may provide key insights into effective molecular targets for developing broadly acting antiviral therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 and other deadly coronavirus strains, the researchers concluded.

The list includes chloroquine, which kills a parasite that causes malaria. The drug can also interact with a human protein called the sigma-1 receptor, the same one the CCP virus attacks.

3D print of a spike protein of SARS-CoV-2which The Epoch Times refers to as the CCP virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19in front of a 3D print of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle. The spike protein (foreground) enables the virus to enter and infect human cells. On the virus model, the virus surface (blue) is covered with spike proteins (red) that enable the virus to enter and infect human cells. (Courtesy of NIAID/RML)

Chloroquine

President Donald Trump has referred to chloroquine optimistically in terms of potential effectiveness against the virus.

Chloroquine, or hydroxychloroquine, is approved by the FDA for treatment of malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis, but not for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

Last week, the FDA approved chloroquine and remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19 under the compassionate use framework.

This lets doctors use experimental treatments or medications that have been approved for other ailments to treat COVID-19 patients. Under this model, medical practitioners are required to share all patient info regarding administration of and response to the drug, thereby helping inform ongoing trials and regulatory initiatives.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the drugs potential effectiveness against the virus was based anecdotal evidence and that clinical trials were needed to bear out the hypothesis.

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, told CBS News that the study that looked at chloroquine involved around 20 patients, and only six cases saw benefit.

And the benefit that they showed was that they decrease the amount of virus in their noses when you did nasal swabs in those patients, Gottlieb said. So it could very well be that the drug is reducing viral shedding, but having no impact on the clinical course of those patients. So the data on that is very preliminary.

Still, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that the state had obtained a large quantity of chloroquine and would be proceeding with trial use of the drug.

Speaking at a briefing at New York Citys Javits Center on Tuesday, Cuomo said COVID-19 was spreading in the region like a bullet train.

New York is the canary in the coal mine, New York is happening first, what is happening to New York will happen to California and Illinois, it is just a matter of time, Cuomo said.

He also said New York would be experimenting with splitting ventilators, of which the state needs at least 30,000 more, and which for some patients will make the difference between life and death.

We havent flattened the curve, he said. The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought. That is a bad combination of facts.
Dhaka, March 24 : Due to the increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, the Bangladeshi government has declared a public holiday from March 26 to April 4, while the army will be deployed to assist authorities in the fight against the pandemic.

Bangladeshi Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam made the announcement at a press conference in Dhaka on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Army would be deployed to assist local administration as all the government and the private offices in the country will be closed from March 26 to April 4." He said the shutdown will not affect emergency services such as law enforcement agencies and hospitals.

Public transport will operate on a limited scale but markets will stay open as usual, Islam added.

People have been asked not to leave their homes, except to collect emergency supplies and daily essentials.

The citizens have also been asked to practice social distancing.

Regarding banking, he said services have been limited and the central Bangladesh Bank will give necessary directives.

The decisions were taken after Bangladesh health authorities on Monday reported another COVID-19 death, taking the country's death toll to three, while te number of infections rose to 33.
People concerned about becoming seriously ill due to the coronavirus should begin planning for how the disease might affect them, a top medic has said.

Professor Dominic Wilkinson, a consultant neonatologist and Oxford University ethics professor, said that it was "crucial" families had an open and honest conversation about how the outbreak could impact those most at risk.

He also stressed the importance of planning for those who are middle-aged and otherwise healthy so they could manage their expectations around healthcare provision from an NHS already working "above its normal capacity".

Writing in the academic bulletin The Conversation, Professor Wilkinson said: "These conversations are to support our families and the doctors looking after us.

"They are crucial for people who are at higher risk of becoming unwell with the virus, for example, those who have a chronic illness or are older.

"They are also relevant for those who are middle-aged and otherwise healthy since the simple fact is that some of us will become life-threateningly ill."

Professor Wilkinson added that while NHS staff would ensure that every patient is cared for, some treatments may not be available or in short supply.

He added: "In the face of this crisis, doctors and nurses and healthcare teams in the NHS should and will do their utmost. Every patient will be cared for.

"But some treatments may have no chance of helping, they may be highly burdensome, unpleasant and invasive. Or even if they could be helpful, they simply may not be available."

The NHS now has access to 8,175 ventilators, including 691 from private hospitals and a handful from the Ministry of Defence.

However, it is estimated this number may not be enough and the government will decide in the coming days on how to plug the gap.

Professor Wilkinson adds: "These are intensely worrying times. It is hard to know what lies ahead for any of us. We should definitely hope for the best, but it is also important to have some conversations with our families now - so that we may all plan for the worst. Just in case."

It came as a health service chief warned that testing NHS staff for Covid-19 is now one of the "biggest issues that needs resolution".

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospital trust bosses had told the organisation they need to test staff.

NHS staff who test negative for Covid-19 are able to return to work more quickly and workers themselves have called for an increase in testing.

Mr Hopson tweeted: "It's striking how many trust CEOs are telling us today that staff testing is vital and they feel that it's now one of the biggest issues that needs resolution if they are to properly support staff in the way they want to, and they believe is appropriate.

"Trusts are losing a lot of staff due to numbers in vulnerable groups (e.g. pregnancy and over 70) and those with household cases having to self-isolate.

"This is having a significant impact on trusts' ability to provide the right quality of care at the front line."

Additional reporting by agencies
Kerala has said there are 95 Covid-19 patients so far as the government clamped a state-wide lockdown until the end of March to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Kasaragod in north Kerala has the highest number of Sars-Cov-2 infected among the 28 new cases reported on Monday. Twenty-five among the 28 people had returned from Dubai and three others are secondary infections, officials have said.

We are going through a difficult situation. We have to face it united. The government is on the forefront in the battle against the enemy. All will have to obey its directive in letter and spirit, Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

The number of people under observation also rose sharply to 64,320 and out of these 63,937 were in homes and 383 in hospitals. At least 2987 people have tested negative and results of more than 500 are awaited.

Three people have been cured and were sent home last month.

Here is the latest from the state:

1. Amid a complete lockdown in Kerala, essential services are working but police are discouraging travellers

2. There is a curfew-like situation in worst-hit Kasargode which reported 19 cases

3. Section 144 has been imposed on certain areas of Malappuram and Ernakulam districts

4. The former member of Parliament NK Premajam was booked for throwing tantrums on health workers

5. An air traveller was booked at the international airport in Kochi for arguing with staff

6. Three people were booked in Wayanad for hiding their travel history and checked in a home-stay

7. Food minister P Thilothaman has said the state has essentials in stock for three months

8. The state has increased the number of beds and sought the help of private hospitals. It has also recruited medical staff for the long haul

9. The is a demand for hydroxychloroquine tablets, which are used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria, but experts have warned not to take them without advice

10. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked doctors to stop consulting in private clinics and reach out to patients only through phones
Governors across the nation on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's new accelerated timeline for reopening the U.S. economy, as they continued to impose more restrictions on travel and public life in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The dismissal of Trump's mid-April timeframe for a national reopening came from Republicans and Democrats, from leaders struggling to manage hot spots of the outbreak and those still bracing for the worst.

In Maryland, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, the head of the National Governors Association, expressed bewilderment at the White House, calling the messaging confusing and running on a schedule made of some 'imaginary clock.'

The governors' reaction revealed a striking disconnect between Trump and the state leaders closer to the front lines of a crisis that threatens to overwhelm U.S. hospitals and claim thousands of lives.

Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, the head of the National Governors Association, expressed bewilderment at the White House, calling the messaging confusing and running on a schedule made of some 'imaginary clock.'

In New York, Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said: ' 'If you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy, then it's no contest.'

Donald Trump is eager to get the U.S. back to work as the crisis takes a political toll and the economy, which had been the cornerstone of his re-election bid, begins to wobble.

In most cases, it's state leaders - not the federal government - who are responsible for both imposing and lifting the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions intended to stop the contagion.

Trump's optimism appears to reflect his desire to limit the economic damage from the outbreak.

The president is eager to get the U.S. back to work as the crisis takes a political toll and the economy, which had been the cornerstone of his re-election bid, begins to wobble.

He tweeted that people 'will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM!'

But governors suggested that view had little connection to the reality they're facing.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and Trump are 'clearly operating under a different set of assumptions.'

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the infection rate was doubling every three days and pleaded for more federal help as the number of cases in the state surpassed 20,000.

'If you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy, then it's no contest. No American is going to say accelerate the economy at the cost of human life,' Cuomo told reporters Tuesday. 'Job one has to be save lives. That has to be the priority.'

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Trump was 'not taking into account the true damage that this will do to our country if we see truly millions of people die.'

A fellow Democratic governor, Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, told WWMT-TV/Sinclair Broadcast Group that Trump's 'off-the-cuff statements are really going to undermine our ability to protect people.'

As soon as next week, Trump wants to take another look at recommendations about business closures and self-isolation, and said Tuesday the country could reopened by Easter Sunday - less than a month away. 'Our people want to return to work,' Trump tweeted.

Even some of Trumps usual allies are continuing move ahead with tighter controls on travel, commerce and mobility, despite the president's words.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed stay-at-home orders that continued to spread through the biggest cities.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said public health needed to come first, and South Dakota Gov. Krisiti Noem is stressing limiting business activity, not relaxing them.

More criticism: Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer told WWMT-TV/Sinclair Broadcast Group that Trump's 'off-the-cuff statements are really going to undermine our ability to protect people.' Gavin Newsom, of California, said he and Trump operate under 'different assumptions'

Texas' lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, 69, suggested he would rather die than see the economy destroyed for his grandchildren due to the coronavirus crisis in a shocking interview Monday night. The Republican firebrand, who was elected in 2014, pictured in June 2019

'This situation is not going to be over in a week,' said Noem, whose state has more than two dozen cases. '... We have another eight weeks until we see our peak infection rate.'

The U.S. is now more than a week into an unprecedented effort to encourage all Americans to drastically scale back their public activities.

The orders closing schools, restaurants and businesses have largely come from a patchwork of local and state governments - with areas hit hardest imposing the most restrictions, while other communities are still weighing tighter rules.

That means the White House is eyeing ways to ease the advisories while some areas are still ramping up their responses.

Among the few statehouse leaders to publicly endorse Trump's view was Texas' lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, 69, who on Monday suggested that people his age and older can 'take care of ourselves ' as the nation gets back to work.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people over 65 are at higher risk for the disease.

Friction between Trump and the governors has been steady throughout the crisis.

The president said last week that states should be doing more to obtain their own critically needed supplies and while insisting that the federal government was not a shipping clerk.

States, meanwhile, have been pressing the government to help procure necessary protective and breathing equipment.

'Some of the messaging coming out of the administration doesn't match,' Hogan, the Maryland governor, told CNN.

'We don't think that we're going to be in any way ready to be out of this in five or six days or so, or whenever this 15 days is up from the time that they started this imaginary clock.'

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Worldwide, more than 375,000 cases have been reported, and while most people recover in weeks, more than 16,000 have died from the virus.
Kansas City Small Biz Help Deets Via Mayor Quinton Lucas

Mayor Lucas to Propose Small Business Emergency Relief Fund March 23, 2020 ~ 2:14 p.m. Budget amendment would create $500,000 Fund to support small, local businesses struggling amid COVID-19 health crisis KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas today announced that he will introduce an amendment to the proposed Kansas City Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Budget to create a $500,000 Small Business Emergency Relief Fund to provide small-sum grants to small, local businesses who are struggling amid the COVID-19 health crisis.

More Info On Northland Case

Platte County has first confirmed COVID-19 case PLATTE COUNTY, MO (KCTV) - Health officials in Platte County said they now have the county's first confirmed case of the coronavirus. The notice was posted to the Platte County Health Department website Monday. County officials said this was a laboratory confirmed case.

Golden Ghetto Needs Supplies

Johnson County asks for donations of cloth masks for health care workers during COVID-19 outbreak Johnson County is asking for donations of cloth masks to build the supply of personal protective equipment for local health care workers."COVID-19 is continuing to put a strain on the health care system," said Dan Robeson, deputy director of Johnson County Emergency Management.

JoCo Tragedy Tribute

Remembering Dennis Wilson, Johnson County's first coronavirus death KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A retired biology teacher and superintendent who dedicated his life to educating children was the first person to die in Johnson County due to the coronavirus. Dennis Wilson died Saturday, five days after testing positive for COVID-19. "I am doing my best.

The Dotte Closes Up Shop

Legends Outlets temporarily closing starting Tuesday in response to executive order KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Legends Outlets shopping center will be temporarily closing starting Tuesday, March 24, in response to the Wyandotte County executive order mandating that all non-essential businesses are to close in order to slow the spread of coronavirus COVID-19. The company said they will continue to monitor all communications from the CDC, [...]

Kansas Shutting Down

These Kansas Counties Are Ordering Residents To Stay Home LAWRENCE, Kansas - Six Kansas counties are ordering residents to stay home unless they're buying groceries, getting health care or carrying out other essential tasks. The orders apply in Wyandotte, Johnson, Leavenworth, Douglas, Miami and Doniphan counties. Gov. Laura Kelly said she's not ready to issue her own statewide shelter-in-place order, but that could change.

Missouri Con Catches COVID-19

Missouri Department of Corrections announces offender test positive for COVID-19 JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KCTV) - The Missouri Department of Corrections announced Monday that an offender has tested positive for the coronavirus. This is the first reported case of COVID-19 among the Missouri Department of Corrections offenders and there are no reported cases among staff.

Kansas Accommodation

Kansas closes all DMV locations, Missouri grants 60-day extension for expiring licenses All 116 driver's license offices in Kansas will be closed for the next two weeks because of the COVID-19 outbreak. On the other side of the state line, the Missouri Department of Revenue has implemented automatic extensions for expiring driver's licenses and motor vehicle registrations.The Kansas Department of Revenue said several government services are available online without having the visit the office.

Local Pet Place Adjusts

Wayside Waifs closes to public, KC Pet Project consolidated operations continue KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Wayside Waifs is closing its doors to all pet adoptions during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, which goes into effect at midnight Tuesday, but the KC Pet Project will remain open. "We will remain open as an essential city service," the KC Pet Project said in a statement, "and the work that we've been doing here has been incredible."

KC Family Ties Tested

Unable to visit mom in hospice, metro man worries virus will keep them apart until its too late KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt our everyday lives, and for people with loved ones in hospice care, the uncertainty is especially hard. Walter Davis said he would do anything to see his 65-year-old mother, Brenda Davis. "I can't even explain how traumatic it is," he said.

Helping The Local Old School Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Age of Coronavirus: Agencies Scramble to Serve Seniors Staffers at the Don Bosco Senior Center delivered the bad news on a Friday, as their guests were polishing off a lunch of catfish, coleslaw and sauteed spinach. Due to precautions necessitated by the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the center in Kansas City's Columbus Park neighborhood was closing its doors for the foreseeable future.

Kansas City Booze Inspiration

Local breweries partnering to support each other in "Together We Can" event For more information on KC Bier Co, click here. For more information on the "Together We Can" recurring event, click here. Participating breweries include Diametric Brewing Company, Crane Brewing Company, Grains & Taps Brewery and Taproom, East Forty Brewing, Fringe Beerworks, 3 Trails Brewing, Smoke Brewing Company, Apex Aleworks, and Wind Shift Brewing.

This campy and iconic pic of hottieinspires us to remember that healthcare workers are on the front lines as the coronavirus worsens in the USA. Accordingly, here's ato keep us up-to-date . . .Developing . . .
Watching Donald Trumps press appearances Monday and Tuesday has been like watching a movie where a serial killer taunts the police with clever riddles about his next probable victim and they are helpless to stop himif the killers message were Im going to stab Tom on Wednesday at the park, at lunchtime, and also the killer ran the police force.

In this case, Trump is proudly broadcasting various plans that health care experts warn would lead to tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of needless deaths if enacted. His latest notion, first announced during a coronavirus task force press conference on Monday and then elaborated upon during a Fox News town hall event on Tuesday, is to open the economy by ending mass public lockdowns, even as the tide of coronavirus cases is forecast to soon overwhelm our hospital systems and possibly cause the sort of medical shortages and unrelenting mass death seen in Italy.

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On Tuesday during that Fox News event, Trump said, I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter. (Easter falls on April 12 this year.)

The president went on to explain that he felt that the Dow was helped by the fact that he was talking about opening relatively soon.

The stock market had rallied before Trumps press event on Tuesday, on news that Senate negotiators were close to a deal to pump about $2 trillion in stimulus into the badly damaged economy. But Trump attributed the spike to his talk of opening the economy.

I think that [legislation] maybe had even less of an impact than the fact that were opening up this incredible country, because we have to do that, he said. (The Dow actually dropped a bit during the presidents hourlong Fox News appearance after having risen for much of the rest of the day.)

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Trump also speculated that the coronavirus would be less deadly than experts have described.

When you add all of the people, the millions of people, that have it that get better, were substantially under 1 percent, he guessed, of the mortality rate for the coronavirus.

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When they came to my office, dont forget, they were saying 3 percent, 4 percent, 5 percent, theres a very big difference, he said of the medical advice he had received and was now ignoring. No, we have to put our country back to work.

Because testing shortages have made it impossible to check the entire population of infected people for the virus, its unclear what the actual death rate is for COVID-19. The rate of mortality in confirmed cases, though, has been as high as 9.5 percent in Italy and 4.3 percent in France. Part of what appears to be leading to these death rates is the disease spreading much more quickly than the hospital systems can keep up, due to a combination of lax policing of social distancing and shortages of medical supplies.

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Part of Trumps proposal appears to be to end social distancing and send people back to work in large numbers, which would make new infections multiply. That plan is rejected not only by public health professionals but also notably by otherwise stalwartly Trump-supporting Republicans such as Sen. Tom Cotton, Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. In the words of DeWine, When people are dying and people dont feel safe, the economy is not going to come back. With front-line governors like DeWine having to make the decision that would open the economies in their given states, it fortunately seems unlikely that most states will go along with Trumps plan at the expense of the lives of their states citizens.

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What about the second part of the coronavirus puzzle, thoughthe medical supply shortages? The other thing Trump did on Tuesday was pick a fight with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after Cuomo had all but begged the federal government for help acquiring badly needed ventilators for the epicenter of the American outbreak.

Cuomo said during his press conference on Tuesday that his states cases were doubling every three days and that at this rate of growth, caseloads would peak in two to three weeks. He said his state has procured about 7,000 ventilatorsthe equipment that will soon be needed to keep coronavirus patients from dying en masseand that it currently has a shortfall of about 30,000 from its anticipated need.

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There is no other way for us to get these ventilators. Weve tried everything else. The only way that we can obtain these ventilators is from the federal government. Period, Cuomo said, exhorting Trump to order factories to start building the equipment through the Defense Production Act. Only the federal government has that power. And not to exercise that power is inexplicable to me, he added. I do not for the life of me understand the reluctance to use the federal Defense Production Act.

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But after being lobbied by the Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests in recent days, Trump has steadfastly refused to place ventilator orders using the DPA.

Cuomo also called on the federal government to release its strategic stockpile of ventilators to New York. How can we be in a situation where you have New Yorkers possibly dying because you cant get a ventilator, but a federal agency saying, Im going to leave the ventilators in the stockpile. I mean, have we really come to that point? Cuomo said.

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Prior to Trump speaking, Vice President Mike Pence said that the federal government would be sending New York 2,000 ventilators from its strategic supply of 20,000 on Tuesday and 2,000 more on Monday, but its unclear whether those were included in the 7,000 Cuomo said his state has been able to procure, and it is well short of the 30,000 he says the state needs in the next two weeks.

Trump, who is the only person in the country right now who can order that this lifesaving equipment be manufactured near the scale needed, addressed Cuomos exhortations during his Fox News appearance by taunting the governor, suggesting aid for New York state was a personal favor Trump was doing for Cuomo and citing an article from a conspiracy theorypeddling website that blamed Cuomo for failing to build a greater strategic stockpile for the state five years ago. Heres what the president said:

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I watched Gov. Cuomo and he was very nice. Were building him hospitals, were building him medical centers, and he was complaining aboutwere doing probably more for him, definitely more for him, than anybody else and he was talking about the ventilators, but he should have ordered the ventilators. And he had a choice, he had a chance, because right here, I just got this out, that he refused to order 15,000 ventilators, Ill show this to Bill [Hemmer], take a look at that, Bill. This says, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected buying 16,000 ventilators in 2015 for the pandemic, for a pandemic, established death panels and a lottery instead. So he had a chance to buy, in 2016, 16,000 ventilators at a very low price and he turned it down. Im not blaming him or anything else. But he shouldnt be talking about us. Hes supposed to be buying his own ventilators. Were going to help, but if you think about Gov. Cuomo, were building him four hospitals, were building him four medical centers, were working very, very hard for the people of New York, were working along with him, and then I watched him on the show, complaining. And he had 16,000 ventilators that he could have had for a great price and he didnt buy them.

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Trump continued his remarks around Cuomo later in the event:

But you know, its a two-way street. They have to treat us well, also. They cant say, Oh, gee, we should get this. We should get that. Were doing a great job like in New York where were building, as I said, four hospitals. Were literally building hospitals and medical centers. And then I hear that theres a problem with ventilators. Well, we sent them ventilators and they could have had [15,000] or 16,000. All they had to do is order them two years ago but they decided not to do it. They cant blame us for that.

So Trumps current plan to protect the nation from the coronavirus pandemic involves: (1) opening the economy against the advice of medical professionals, political allies, and many of the nations governors in a way that would cause the disease to spread and cases to explode and hospitals to be overwhelmed; (2) blaming equipment shortages on the governors after refusing to take the actions necessary to make up the shortfalls. And in all of this, his top priority remains the only thing its ever beeninsisting, in the midst of an economic and public health disaster, that they have to treat us well. Whats a little more American carnage next to the need to protect the presidential ego?
In Retrospect: News from the Jan. 13, 1922 and Jan. 12, 1972 Souderton Independent
(Natural News) Life in the normally bustling and overcrowded cities in India have simmered down dramatically as the second-most populous country in the world scrambles to handle the growing coronavirus outbreak within its borders. Rather than roaming about the streets, many people opted to stay home, slowing down traffic and reducing the size and scale of many gatherings throughout the country.

As of this writing, India has reported a total of 275 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including four deaths. According to a report by India Today, the states of Maharashtra and Kerala had the most number of cases: 53 and 40, respectively. However, public health experts claim that this low count is likely the result of under-reporting of symptoms as well as the limited overall testing in the country.

India establishes improved methods to prevent coronavirus

In response to the growing threat of the outbreak, Indias central government has established stringent methods to prevent its further spread. A report by the Economic Times said that India recently extended its travel restrictions on arriving international passengers to individuals residing in the United Kingdom, Turkey and the rest of Europe until the end of March. (Related: WHO: Europe now the EPICENTER of the coronavirus pandemic.)

Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European free trade association, Turkey and the United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from March 18, 2020. No airline shall board passengers from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on March 18, 2020, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure. Both these instructions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31, 2020, and will be reviewed subsequently.

In addition to the flight restrictions, authorities in several states across the country have started using GPS and hand stamps to track people who are suspected to have COVID-19. Some people arriving at the airports of Maharashtra and southern Karnataka have been given stamps of indelible ink that included the date that a person must remain under home quarantine, said a report by Al Jazeera.

We found people who were stamped and were traveling. They had signed a self-declaration that they will not travel because they could be carriers of coronavirus, Archana Valzade, undersecretary in Maharashtras health department, said. It is their duty as well to stop the infection. Stamping is essential and very useful to reduce the spread.

Thousands held in appalling conditions in Pakistan

In the neighboring country of Pakistan, thousands of people are being kept in close quarters without proper facilities in a coronavirus quarantine camp, according to a report by The Guardian. The camp, located in the town of Taftan, was reportedly built to stop the spread of coronavirus infections from Iran, which is currently suffering from one of the worst outbreaks of the disease worldwide?having recorded as of press time, 19,644 COVID-19 cases and 1,433 coronavirus-related deaths. However, inhabitants are claiming the camp is far from sanitary, saying that it was the dirtiest place [theyve] ever stayed in.

These were the hardest days and nights of my life, Mohammed Bakir, who was at the camp for two weeks, said. We were treated like animals. There were no facilities but also no humanity and everything was in disarray. They were not prepared; there was nothing for us to sleep in except for some dilapidated tents.

According to health practitioners stationed at the coronavirus camps, many people, even those with tell-tale symptoms, were not even tested nor isolated and that there was a severe shortage of health personnel and medical facilities. Some health practitioners even had to shoulder the cost of the needed medicine.

Neither the quarantining service nor the testing procedure was satisfactory at all, said a doctor, who asked to remain anonymous. In the first 20 days, many people had symptoms, but there was no testing at all. We had no testing facilities for three weeks. One child was sent to [a] hospital in Quetta, and he tested positive. But there was no isolation or testing for anyone else.

Although the number of cases in Iran has skyrocketed over the past few weeks, Pakistan only shut its borders with neighboring countries less than a week ago, as announced by its Prime Minister, who has also ordered the closing of all of the countrys educational facilities for the next three weeks.

Despite these strict guidelines, however, The Guardian reported that the border between Pakistan and Iran was still porous. On Tuesday, about a hundred pilgrims coming in from Iran managed to cross into the Pakistani province of Balochistan by simply bribing the guards.

Pakistan has been notoriously bad at containing disease outbreaks and is one of two countries worldwide that failed to eliminate the poliovirus. The governments fear of the virus was exhibited just last month as they refused to evacuate hundreds of Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan, China  ground zero of the worldwide pandemic.

Sources include:

BBC.com

IndiaToday.in

EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com

TheGuardian.com 1

TheGuardian.com 2

Worldometers.info

NBCNews.com

AA.com.tr
The group Move Oregons Border for a Greater Idaho is hoping Gov. Kate Browns statewide stay-at-home order wont derail for long its newly launched signature-gathering effort in Josephine County. On March 12, the county gave its approval to circulate a petition backed by the group.

Chief petitioner Mike McCarter, a retired La Pine resident, says every day counts in the effort to get on the November ballot. The people of eastern, central and southern Oregon cant afford to be governed by a state that shows no regard for our livelihoods, he said in a statement this week.

The small volunteer movement wants large swaths of Oregon to switch allegiance to Idaho. (Its also targeting a few counties in northern California.) Along with Josephine County, Douglas and Umatilla counties have also approved petitions.

McCarter, the groups president, says Oregons response to the coronavirus pandemic is a stark example of how Oregonians like him are being short-changed by the state.

Move Oregon's Border is unlikely to achieve its goal, but its numbers are growing. (GreaterIdaho.org)

The governors handling of the coronavirus crisis is driving deeper the wedge between rural Oregon and northwestern Oregon, he said. Unlike the urban elite, not all of us can afford to be without work for the next 9 months.

The groups Facebook page challenges the governors social-distancing measures, arguing that Browns authority even in an emergency doesnt extend to literally outlawing dating and socializing (within 6 feet of another person).

Move Oregons Border wants lower taxes, less government regulation and more attention paid to the concerns and economic needs of rural residents. Its supporters believe Idaho offers the solution.

The group is seeking to have 22 of Oregons 36 counties vote on the question, Should the county commissioners advocate for the Idaho border to be relocated to make this county a county of Idaho? Such a vote, advocates say, potentially will showcase enough popular support that it would force the Oregon Legislature and ultimately the U.S. Congress to allow the dramatic change.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little expressed support for the greater Idaho movement last month, telling Fox News: Theyre looking at Idaho fondly because of our regulatory atmosphere, our values. It doesnt surprise me one bit.

Move Oregons Border is unlikely to achieve its goal, considering the many political hurdles it would have to clear, but its message is resonating in parts of Oregon. Hundreds of people, including Douglas County Republican Central Committee chairwoman Valynn Currie, attended a March 7 Greater Idaho rally in Roseburg.

To secure a place on the November ballot in Douglas County, 2,955 valid signatures are needed. In Josephine County, its 2,429 signatures and in Umatilla, 1,447.

You can read the petitions for the three counties at the Greater Idaho website.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo on Monday 23rd March 2020 met with the party's COVID-19 Response Team in Accra.



The inaugural meeting discussed the NDC's proposals submitted through the Speaker of Parliament and also discussed immediate actions the Team considers critical to the management of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.



Mr. Ofosu Ampofo expressed the party's confidence in the capacity of the Team to help in the management of the pandemic, reminding them that they must quickly hit the ground running.



The COVID-19 Response team is made up of health professionals and technical experts who have been tasked by the Flagbearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, to lead the partys public advocacy and sensitization on COVID-19.



They are also to provide support to the government, upon request, in the fight against the pandemic.



The information available indicates that Ghana's COVID-19 cases have jumped to 27; after three new cases were recorded by 20:28GMT on Monday, March 23rd.



Out of the 27 cases, two deaths have been confirmed. This was affirmed via the official Twitter handle of the Disease Surveillance Department of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).



According to the Ghana Health Service, the number of active cases is 25, with "all the 25 confirmed cases receiving treatment in isolation".



A statement on the GHS website indicated that "as of 23rd March 2020, [14:00 GMT] a total of 521 suspected cases have been tested for COVID-19 by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).



"Among the confirmed cases, twenty are of Ghanaian nationality, the majority of whom returned home from affected countries. Seven are of other nationals namely: Norway, Lebanon, China, France, UK."



In respect of contact tracing, a total of 598 contacts have been identified and are being tracked.



One of the contacts developed symptoms and has been confirmed positive.



Nineteen people have completed the 14 days of mandatory follow up.





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.

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Power lines have ignited several of California's largest wildfires. (Los Angeles Times)

Its not the government takeover that many Californians were hoping for in light of the massive utility-sparked fires in recent years and the bungled "public safety power shutoffs" last fall. But the deal that Gov. Gavin Newsom struck with Pacific Gas & Electric last week to let the states largest and most dangerous utility exit out of bankruptcy will bring some badly needed new oversight  and possibly new ownership.

If approved by a bankruptcy judge by June 30, the deal will allow PG&E to continue operating, but only under an unprecedented level of government oversight and regulation. Among other things, the utility will have to overhaul its board of directors to meet new government mandates (for example, half of the board's members will have to be California residents, and some seats must be filled by safety or management experts). New board members will be subject to gubernatorial approval.

In addition, shareholders wont be paid dividends for three years and the Public Utilities Commission will have more power to step in to preempt problems with the utility's management, rather than just the power to fine the company after it does something wrong.

And if PG&E fails to hold up its side of the bargain or exit bankruptcy by the June 30 deadline? Under the deal with Newsom, the utility will have to sell its operation to a nonprofit entity for a price determined by a formula spelled out in the agreement. Think of it as the takeover trigger pointed at the utility's head.

It's too bad that these measures are necessary, but PG&E has a shameful history of putting profit ahead of investment in safety and reliability measures  and a track record of deadly, disastrous results, including a gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010 that killed eight people and the Camp fire sparked by a power line in 2018 that killed 85 people and nearly wiped out the foothill community of Paradise. (The company announced separately Monday that it had pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with that fire.) The utility is now in bankruptcy because of billions of dollars in liabilities stemming from previous massive wildfires.

Ideally, PG&E's deal with Newsom marks the beginning of the end of this sad saga. In these difficult times, the last thing Californians need to worry about is whether their power company can keep the lights on without setting more wildfires.
Member of the Parliament of Ukraine Andrii Derkach (independent MP) invited former US Vice President Joseph Biden to Ukrainian court to answer questions related to Burisma Gas Company.

As Derkach wrote on his Facebook page, Burisma defends in court the honor and dignity of one of the leaders of the US Democratic Party, former US Vice President Joe Biden.

Once again: the company of the runaway minister (from the time of the presidency of Viktor  IF-U) Yanukovych defends the dignity of an American politician  a candidate for the highest state post in the States ... it makes sense to interrogate the participants of this high-profile international democorruption scandal. Therefore, Biden and his son Hunter (one of Burisma top managers) were summoned to court" Derkach wrote, disclosing the scan copy of the statement.

According to the MP, there are many questions to Biden.

I invite Joseph to personally talk about how he took $900 thousand for the services provided. I think we will hear a lot of interesting things about what kind of services it was. How Biden pressured Ukraine, manipulating $1 billion in United States loan guarantees. How he got Shokin fired. What other amounts have been received. What was so important that his son Hunter did for the company that he received millions. There are many questions" Derkach wrote.

He also assumed that the Bidens will not fly to Ukraine.

Therefore, I suggest interrogating them in a videoconference mode. I think that for one of the key candidates for the presidency of the United States from the Democratic Party, it should be a matter of honor to personally give explanations to the court about his actions. Democorruption must be investigated. Even if it is led by top US politicians" Derkach summed up.

Earlier, Derkach, referring to files of the investigation in a number of criminal proceedings, claimed that former US Vice President Joe Biden received $900 thousand for lobbying activities from the Burisma Group oil and gas company. At a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on October 9, 2019, the Member of the Parliament disclosed these documents, stressing that the criminal proceedings describe the mechanism for receiving money by Joe Biden.
While most farm export items met with difficulties in the first months of the year, rice exports unexpectedly soared as the world increased its reserves.

The US Department of Agricultures January report showed that rice output in many countries will decrease in the 2019-2020 crop.





China and India are expected to see big rice output decreases by 1.8 million tons to 146.7 million tons and 1.4 million tons to 115 million tons, respectively, because of the growing area decrease.



They are the two biggest rice producers in the world, which provide more than half of the global output.

While most farm export items met with difficulties in the first months of the year, rice exports unexpectedly soared as the world increased its reserves.

The rice output of the US is also expected to decrease by 1.2 million tons because of the low exploitation area in the south.



Global consumption is predicted to reach a record of 493.8 million tons, a modest decrease of 0.2 million tons compared with Novembers report, but 1 percent higher than one year ago. Global reserves will be at a record of 177.8 million tons in the 2019-2020 season, up by 4.6 million tons from a year ago.



Vietnam is among a few countries with advantages in rice production and export, and it can increase export volume at competitive prices.



The latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) found that the rice export in the first two months of 2020 reached 890,000 tons, an increase of 27 percent compared with the same period last year, worth $410 million, up by 32.6 percent.



Vietnams 5 percent broken rice price soared to $380 per ton, a record high since December 2018. Vietnam has very little 5 percent IR 50404 to sell, while the rice has increased by $30-40 percent in price.



The price has also escalated in the domestic market. Exporters have collected wet rice at the fields at VND4,400-5,400 per kilogram, or VND300-500 per kilogram higher than earlier this crop.



Vo Tong Xuan, a respected rice export expert, believes that Vietnam will enjoy a bumper year this year with big export amount and good prices.



In general, rice production depends heavily on weather conditions. Thailand, the second biggest rice exporter, is suffering because of drought. The rice output of the country is predicted to fall by 2 million tons. The Philippines and Indonesia lack rice and have had to import big volumes from Vietnam.



Drought and saline intrusion are also occurring in Vietnam, but only 28,000 hectares of rice have been hit.



According to Xuan, as Covid-19 has been escalating, the demand from other countries, especially China, will increase, which is an opportunity for Vietnam to boost exports.

Chi Mai

Rice fields abandoned as Binh Dinh suffers severe drought Hundreds of hectares of rice fields in Binh Thuan Commune, Binh Dinh Province are being abandoned due to serious drought.
A Syrian youth wearing protective gloves and mask poses for a picture after a lecture provided by staff from Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) to raise awareness about the novel coronavirus epidemic at a camp for the displaced in Kafr Lusin village, on the border with Turkey in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, on March 23, 2020. (Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images)

War-Torn Syria Braces for Lockdown After First CCP Virus Case

DAMASCUSSyrians rushed to stock up on food and fuel March 23 amid fears that authorities would resort to even stricter measures after reporting the first CCP virus infection in the country, where the health care system has been decimated by nearly a decade of civil war.

The arrival of the global pandemic in Syria as well as the Gaza Strip has raised concerns it could run rampant in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Middle East. War-torn Libya and Yemen, which have yet to report any cases, are also a source of concern.

The worst outbreak in the Middle East is unfolding in Iran, where authorities reported another 127 deaths on March 23, bringing the total number of reported fatalities to 1,812 amid more than 23,000 confirmed cases. Iran has faced widespread criticism for not imposing stricter quarantine measures early on.

Lines formed outside grocery stores, banks, and gas stations across the Syrian capital, Damascus, as people braced for wider closures. The government has already closed restaurants, cafes, and other businesses, and has halted public transportation.

The citys Hamidiyeh souk, a network of covered markets running through the Old City, was deserted after the government ordered all shops closed on March 22.

Authorities closed border crossings with Lebanon and Jordan, and Damascus International Airport was closed to commercial traffic after a final flight arrived from Moscow. State-run newspapers issued their last print edition and will only be available online.

Countries across the Middle East have already ramped up restrictions on daily life in an effort to contain the global pandemic. Many have sealed their borders and canceled flights.

The United Arab Emirates, home to the worlds busiest international airport, said it was suspending all passenger and transit flights for two weeks. Dubais airport is a vital hub connecting Western nations with Asian countries and Australia.

Around 350,000 people have been infected worldwide, and more than 15,000 have died. More than 100,000 people have recovered.

Syria has close ties to Iran, which is a key ally of the government in the civil war, and Shiite pilgrims frequently travel between the two countries. Syrias Health Ministry said a 20-year-old woman tested positive after arriving from another country, without elaborating.

Syrias health care system has been ravaged by nearly a decade of war that has displaced millions of people and created rampant poverty. Hospitals and clinics across the country have been destroyed or damaged. The government is also under heavy international sanctions linked to its conduct during the war.

Gaza, where two people tested positive after returning from Pakistan, has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since 2007, when the Islamic terrorist group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces.

The coastal territory is home to more than 2 million people but only has around 60 ventilators. All but 15 are already in use, according to Abdelnasser Soboh, director of the World Health Organizations Gaza office.

Yemen, where conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels has been going on since 2015, is already home to one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. Millions depend on food aid, and the country has suffered a series of cholera outbreaks in recent years.

Altaf Musani, the WHO representative in Yemen, said the entire health care system in the nation of 29 million people is operating at less than half its capacity. Officials are deeply alarmed by the possibility of an outbreak, which would be catastrophic for Yemen, he said.

In eastern Libya, authorities will impose a round-the-clock curfew on March 25 that will last one week. The government there is allied with Khalifa Hifter, a military commander whose forces control much of the country and are battling rivals in the capital, Tripoli.

The eastern administration has already imposed a nightly curfew and closed mosques, educational facilities, and shops. It has banned large gatherings and suspended public transportation.

In Iraq, authorities have begun using a loudspeaker system for the first time since the 1990 Gulf War to urge citizens to stay home and avoid large gatherings. Iraqs Health Ministry has reported 23 fatalities among 266 confirmed cases.

Neighboring Jordan used air raid sirens on March 21 to announce the start of a curfew. The government said it would begin delivering essential goods to citizens on March 24, working through municipalities, water distributors and large companies. Pharmacies, bakeries, and gas stations will reopen, but without direct contact with customers.

Jordan has reported 112 cases.

In Egypt, tens of thousands of people working in the major tourist destinations of Luxor, Hurghada, and Sharm el-Sheikh, along with 300 families in the Nile Delta, have been ordered into a 14-day quarantine.

In Cairo, workers have been disinfecting exhibits in the famed Egyptian Museum, including the gilded mask of King Tutankhamun, better known as King Tut. Authorities have temporarily closed all museums and tourist sites, including the pyramids at Giza.

State-run television, meanwhile, reported that a second senior military officer has died from the virus in as many days after taking part in disinfecting efforts around the city. On March 23, Parliament suspended activities for two weeks, speaker Ali Abdel-Al said. Egypt has reported around 330 cases and 16 deaths.

Sudan, which is still reeling from the revolt that toppled President Omar al-Bashir last year, announced a nightly curfew starting March 24. It also has a fragile health care system and has reported two CCP virus cases, one of whom died.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
Entire Haryana went under lockdown on Tuesday, a day after the state government issued the order to help check the spread of coronavirus.

The state government had earlier ordered lockdown in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panchkula districts till March 31 but later decided to extend the measure to entire Haryana.

However, all essential and emergency services are exempted, officials said.

At some places, police had a tough time persuading people who were out for non-essential work and sending them back to their houses.

In Bhiwani, at a check barrier, the police had to deal with a number of two-wheeler riders many of them who were out on roads for non-essential work.

"We are persuading them and sending them back to their homes," said a police personnel on duty at one such check barrier in Bhiwani.

In Jind, Rewari, Sirsa and Rohtak as well, policemen were seen persuading and even warning people who were out for non-essential work.

There were a couple of instances where the police made a group of youngsters do sit-ups because they defied the lockdown order and they warned them not to repeat the offence.

Police personnel and administration officials could be seen appealing to people at many places across the state to stay indoors.

An elderly resident in Panchkula said that if people continue to flout lockdown measures then imposing curfew will be the only option left with the government.

"It seems some people still do not understand that the entire world, including India, is going through a phase of public health emergency and these people adopt a casual approach. The government should impose curfew like in neighbouring Punjab and UT Chandigarh before things go out of control," he said.

Haryana's ADGP (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk posted a series of tweets to explain to people what a lockdown means.

"It is a situation where because of a public health emergency all public and private offices/shops/ establishments are closed by law (except those exempted) and restrictions are imposed on movement of people," Virk said in one such tweet.

On public queries if they can come out to purchase essential items, Virk in another tweet, said, "If urgent may go to buy essentials to a shop in your locality either alone or at most be accompanied by one family member after following the social distancing norms."



He also said that lockdown has been ordered by the government under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and those not obeying the lockdown order are liable to be arrested and prosecuted under relevant provisions of law.

During the lockdown, all commercial establishments, shops and factories will remain closed, except those dealing in essential commodities like food, grocery, medicines, the officials said.

Other essential services such as water supply, sanitation and electricity supply are also exempted from the lockdown, the officials said.

Public transport services, including taxis and autorickshaws, will be off the roads in the state, they said.

"We will ensure that the lockdown is strictly enforced, though essential and emergency services will be maintained," state Home Minister Anil Vij said earlier in the day.

State borders will remain sealed during the lockdown period and inter-state bus services suspended.

Section 144 of the CrPC which prohibits the assembly of five or more people has been imposed in the state. Those violating the lockdown will invite punishment under the law, Vij warned while appealing to people to cooperate with the government.

So far, 14 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A doctor in Tetouan will be brought before justice for usurping the quality of gynaecologist and for failing to self-isolate after he was in contact with a coronavirus infected person on board a plane, the health ministry said in a statement.

A probe by the health ministry showed that the doctor pretended to be a gynecologist wherein he was a generalist.

The probe also blamed the regional health official for failing to instruct the doctor to stay home for 14 days at least to make sure he was coronavirus-free.

The doctor went on with business as usual at a private clinic, receiving patients including pregnant women. The case spread fear in Tetouan where many people denounced the lack of professionalism by the doctor.

Morocco took strict measures against the spread of the virus imposing a quarantine across the country and asking non-essential businesses to close.

Coronavirus cases reached 143 cases including four deaths as the country watches closely the health conditions of 2117 contact cases.
In times of crises past, worried Americans have turned to their president for comfort. The commander-in-chief has, on occasion, served as a point of key information, unity and calm.

But today, an unfortunate confluence of a deadly pandemic and an anti-science White House has meant that job has fallen to another man.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become perhaps the most visible face of the US governments response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The unassuming immunologist has been a constant presence at press briefings about the virus alongside Donald Trump, a man with whom he shares virtually no attributes. The 79-year-olds calm, accessible and evidence-based explanations of the science behind the pandemic have stood in stark contrast to Mr Trumps scattered approach.

He can often be seen looming behind the president with a stony face during nationally televised briefings to the nation, barely concealing his discomfort when Mr Trump veers off-script. He has on more than one occasion stepped in to correct the presidents remarks. For his efforts, he has earned the nickname of explainer-in-chief.

He doesnt get rattled because hes standing next to the president. I dont know anyone else who would be able to do that so comfortably, says Dr John Gallin, a close friend of Dr Faucis for more than 40 years.

He just looks at things very objectively and says in a very calm way: No, this is what you need to do.

Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Show all 20 1 /20 Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Top: Nabi Younes market, Mosul Bottom: Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Grand Mosque, Mecca Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Nabi Younes market, Mosul Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Basra Grand Mosque, Iraq Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Charles Bridge, Prague Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Taj Mahal hotel, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Dubai Mall, UAE Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Gateway of India, Mumbai Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Beirut March, Lebanon Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Cairo University, Egypt Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Victoria Memorial, India Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Amman Citadel, Jordan Reuters Before and after photos show impact of coronavirus around the world Sidon, Lebanon Reuters

Dr Gallin, a leading researcher at the National Institutes for Health, first met Dr Fauci in 1972 when they were colleagues at Cornell Medical School. He says his friend has a unique set of qualities that make him uniquely qualified to steer the country through the current crisis.

Hes the kind of person you would want to have as your doctor. He would always remain calm, even in the most incredibly complex and some would say scary clinical situations. He knew a lot and knew how to use his knowledge to deliver outstanding care. And I think thats what hes broadcasting today to the American public, he adds.

That calmness under pressure is not the only thing that has caught the publics attention. Monitoring the doctors reactions to Mr Trumps briefings on the coronavirus has become something of a national sport, in lieu of the regular pastimes. Last week presented a literal facepalm moment, when Dr Fauci covered his eyes as the president joked about the deep state during a coronavirus briefing.

As the number of confirmed cases of the virus continues to rise across the US, there are signs that the contrast between the two mens styles may be causing tension. Dr Fauci has been absent from press conferences for the past two days, following a number of awkward on-stage moments with the notoriously prideful president.

 Top US health expert Dr Fauci buries head in hands after Trump refers to State Department as 'Deep state department'

In an interview released by Science magazine on Sunday, Dr Fauci hinted for the first time publicly about the difficulties he has faced in coordinating the White Houses response to the coronavirus.

I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down, he said, referring to Mr Trumps suggestion that China was delayed in informing the world of the coronavirus.

OK, he said it. Let's try and get it corrected for the next time.

He also said he disagreed with the presidents use of the phrase Chinese virus to describe Covid-19, and responded with a coy no comment when asked about his televised facepalm.

In another interview with the New York Times, also published Sunday, he was even more blunt.

Ive been telling the president things he doesnt want to hear, he said. I have publicly had to say something different with what he states... Its a risky business. But thats my style."

Dr Faucis comments reveal the unique challenge he faces: To save lives, he has to present clear and useful information to the American public; meanwhile, his boss  the president of the United States  repeatedly undermines that same effort.

Thankfully, this is not Dr Faucis first rodeo. The New York natives career spans six presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump. He has been in the same job since 1984, and has overseen federal responses to numerous health crises and epidemics  including SARS, the 2009 swine flu pandemic, MERS and Ebola.

For decades, he has been at the forefront of the fight against AIDS and was a leading architect of George W Bushs Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, one of the biggest global health initiatives in history.

 Coronavirus: Video emerges from 1988 of George HW Bush calling top health official who has contradicted Trump a 'hero'.mp4

He got his first job in the medical field when he was just a boy, delivering prescriptions on his bicycle to customers of the pharmacy owned by his parents in Brooklyn, New York.

He went on to become a brilliant student, graduating top of his class at Cornell Medical College. During the Vietnam War he was called up in the doctor draft, and served at the National Institutes of Health.

He specialised in immunodeficiencies, and today is regarded as the nations leading expert on infectious diseases.

But while his experience and credentials have placed him well to deal with a global pandemic, dealing with the current occupant of the White House is another thing entirely.

Mr Trump has overseen one of the most anti-science administrations since scientists began tracking that sort of thing. He has personally questioned the scientific consensus on climate change and vaccines, and has in recent days promoted an untested drug for the treatment of the coronavirus.

"HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," Mr Trump said in a series of tweets on Saturday. "Hopefully they will BOTH be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST," he continued.

(The Washington Post via Getty Images) (The Washington Post via Getty Im)

When asked about whether the drug would be effective in treating the coronavirus in a follow-up briefing, Dr Fauci responded bluntly: "The answer is no, and the evidence that you're talking about ... is anecdotal evidence.

That did not deter Mr Trump, however, who followed Dr Faucis advice by promoting the drug again.

The question that presents itself now, as the coronavirus crisis deepens in the US, is how long Dr Fauci can walk the line of being effective in his job and challenging the president. His success in doing so could have profound implications in the coming months.

Mr Trump has in recent days signaled that the shutdown currently in place across the US to slow the spread of the coronavirus may end sooner than experts recommend. The president has repeatedly tied his reelection prospects to the fate of the US economy, which is being severely damaged by the shutdown.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, Mr. Trump tweeted on Sunday. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

Dr Fauci has said repeatedly that it will be several weeks to a few months before life can return to normal. The risk of ignoring that advice is that the virus continues to spread uncontrollably, is the loss of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of lives.
Co-owner of ill-fated Kemerovo mall extradited from Poland  prosecutors

 TASS, Danil Aykin

18:06 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  A co-owner of Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) shopping mall that became a site of deadly fire killing 60 people in March 2018 has been extradited from Poland, a statement published on Tuesday on the official website of the Russian Prosecutor Generals Office reads.

Russias Prosecutor Generals Office has agreed with the Polish authorities the extradition of a co-owner of Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) shopping mall that became a site of deadly fire killing 60 people in March 2018, a statement on the bodys official website reads on Tuesday.

Vyacheslav Vishnevsky, ex-CEO of the Kemerovo confectionary complex and co-owner of the burnt mall, left Russia in 2016. He was arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list. He was charged with giving a bribe and arrested in absentia in relation to the investigation into the mall fire case.

In March 2019, he was arrested in Poland; Russias Prosecutor Generals Office demanded his extradition, the press-release reads.

According to investigators, in 2013-2014, Vishnevsky through an intermediary gave a 7-million-ruble bribe ($106,000) to the regional construction inspections chief Tanzilia Komkova, her son Eduard and CEO of ISK Resource company Nikita Cherednichenko. The bribe was allegedly designated for help in favor of Vishnevsky. Komkova, her son and Cherednichenko have been put in detention.

In total, there are 15 defendants in the case over the deadly fire. Depending on their alleged role, they are charged with negligent homicide, fire safety breach resulted in multiple deaths, provision of substandard services and negligence.




ZURICH (Reuters) - Food giant Nestle <NESN.S> told employees to prepare for difficult times ahead and make all the necessary efforts to supply customers with the food and beverages they need, Chief Executive Mark Schneider said in a memorandum seen by Reuters.

"This is the moment for extra effort, for going the extra mile," Schneider said in a message to staff, distributed internally on Friday.

"Please get ready for the storm to hit  because hit it will," Schneider added.

Known for packaged products like Maggi soups, KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe instant coffee, Nestle has over 290,000 employees around the world.

It banned international travel for business purposes at the end of February and said it had taken additional safety measures in factories, offices and distribution centers.

In his message, Schneider addressed frontline employees and factory workers in particular, saying their commitment and discipline were critical to maintain business continuity.

He said it was important to secure supplies, manufacturing and logistics and, in areas not yet affected, build inventories of critical supplies and products.

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz, editing by John Revill)
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 22:33 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d3d891 1 World COVID-19,cruise-ship,Costa-Luminosa,Italy,France Free

The Indonesian Embassy in Rome has confirmed that at least 60 Indonesian crew members of the virus-hit Costa Luminosa cruise ship are now being quarantined aboard the vessel docked at Italys port of Savona.

Yes, they are still in Savona. The passengers and crew are not allowed to disembark yet as they must be quarantined and be observed for 14 days from their arrival on Saturday, Indonesian Ambassador to Italy Esti Andayani told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Costa Luminosa, an Italian cruise ship, departed for Savona, Italy, from the French port of Marseille on Friday after 36 of its passengers had tested positive for COVID-19. The infected passengers were tested by the French health authorities when the ship made a stop in Marseille, Reuters reports.

However, a Marseille area official told the news agency that he could not comment on how many of those infected had disembarked and how many were still on the ship.

On Thursday and Friday, 639 of the Costa Luminosa's 1,421 passengers disembarked in Marseille.

The Indonesian Embassy in France said on Friday that the 60 Indonesian crew members were in a healthy condition and had been told by authorities to stay inside their rooms.

The Costa Luminosa, operated by Italys Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, had left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 5 on a cruise destined for Venice, Italy.

But days later it had to disembark two passengers in Puerto Rico who were later diagnosed with the coronavirus. It also unloaded four sick passengers on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, Reuters reports.

International cruises have proven to be fertile ground for the spread of COVID-19. Before the Costa Luminosa, other international cruise ships  with dozens of Indonesian crew members on board -- had been banned from disembarking passengers in several countries including the Diamond Princess, World Dream, Westerdam and Grand Princess cruises.

At least nine out of 78 Indonesian crew members aboard the Diamond Princess were infected, and all have now recovered.
Protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Delhis Shaheen Bagh were removed and some detained on Tuesday, more than 100 days after they started the agitation, amid a lockdown in the national capital over the coronavirus outbreak.

Police said they have taken all the tents and billboards agitators had put up in Shaheen Bagh, which has been placed under heavy security.

Shaheen Bagh has been cleared. We requested them to vacate the road. They continued to ignore the request, RP Meena, deputy commissioner of police Southeast Delhi, said.

Also read: As 90,000 NRIs return home, Punjab seeks funds to build Covid-19 isolation wards

As of now six women and three men have been detained, Meena said.

Watch: Amid coronavirus lockdown, police clear out anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh

Prakash Devi, one of the women protesters, said the police came on Monday night and asked them to clear the venue.

At around 3am, there was a heavy mobilisation of police personnel. They locked some of the lanes. At around 5:30-6am, police came and forcibly evicted us, Prakash Devi, one of the women protesters, said.

We were protesting in shifts. I was not protesting there when police came. Police have also taken some women and have detained them, she said.

Also read: Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown

The national capital has been under lockdown since Monday but a handful of women protesters continued to sit at the agitation site blocking Road No 13 A in south-east Delhis Shaheen Bagh.

Also read: Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown over coronavirus

All except five of the protesters had withdrawn from the site on Sunday but had left behind their slippers to lend solidarity to the fight against Covid-19 disease and as a symbolic gesture of their agitation as well.

Protesters at Shaheen Bagh were being requested by different sections to call off the agitation due to the growing threat over Sars-Cov-2.

Many had cited that they were waiting for a Supreme Court hearing in the matter, which was scheduled to take place on Monday. However, due to the partial shutdown of the top court, no hearing was held on Monday.

Delhi, which has reported 30 cases of Covid-19 so far, have intensified the already unprecedented restrictions meant to tackle the coronavirus disease outbreak. Out of the 30 patients, one is a foreigner, five have been cured and one died.

Click here for complete coverage of coronavirus

Delhi Police have said people entering Delhi from any of its borders will require special curfew passes.

The move was among several issued by police commissioner SN Shrivastava, who said the enforcement of prohibitory order under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not up to the mark on the first day of the nine-day isolation of the city.

Section 144 prohibits the assembly of four or more persons at one location.

People not employed in essential services, which are exempted from the lockdown, tried to cross the borders or move around the city on Monday. At the borders, people were stopped and asked to return home.
Petty, whose last known address was in the 13500 block of South Brandon Street in Chicago, was arrested Saturday after Hinsdale police responded to a call about 10 p.m. for a subject entering a home on the 200 block of Washington Street. A short time earlier, a resident in the 100 block of Lincoln Street reported someone ringing their doorbell and then covering up the doorbell camera. The resident also reported seeing someone peering through a window, prosecutors said.
M edical researchers are racing to develop 3D-printed ventilator parts and masks to help plug the national equipment shortage.

Teams at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are looking for tech start-ups and fellow academics who can spare software and scanning experts to bring their ideas to life at pace. They also need resin printers and models using thermoplastic filaments to create prototypes.

They hope to be able to rapidly develop ventilators and run off face shields for medical staff.

Dr Aram Saeed, from UEAs School of Pharmacy, said: We need shortcuts to speed up the process of designing and developing ventilator parts, and we hope to connect with other universities and expertise around the globe.

"Right now we need help with software, hardware, medical product design, and product testing. We may also need support from engineering sectors for flow sensors, pneumatic units and data processing monitors.

UEAs medical school is also building a portable coronavirus test kit that displays results on a smartphone in 50 minutes using a throat swab.

An Italian engineering start-up has used 3D printers to help equip a hospital in Chiari, Lombardy, which has been particularly badly hit.

Last week the Government appealed to manufacturers in the UK to help produce 20,000 ventilators in as little as a fortnight. Some 7,000 extra machines have been added to the countrys original stock of 5,000 since the crisis began.
A furious Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday threatened to impose round-the-clock curfew, bring in the army and issue shoot-at-sight orders, if the people continue to violate the lockdown orders.

The chief minister held a high-level review meeting in the evening following reports of six more positive cases for Sars-Cov-2 virus, taking the overall positive cases in the state to 39.

There was widespread violation of lockdown restrictions in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

The meeting took place shortly before Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation announced a countrywide lockdown for three weeks from Tuesday midnight. The Centre also invoked the Disaster management Act to enforce the lockdown

According to the latest official bulletin released by the Telangana medical and health department, a 49-year old man, resident of Kokapet in Rangareddy with travel history from London reported positive for coronavirus. The second patient is a 39-yr old woman from Chandanagar in Ranga Reddy district with travel history from Germany.

Follow coronavirus live updates here.

And the third patient is a 61-yr old housewife from Begumpet in Hyderabad with travel history from Saudi Arabia. All of them are undergoing treatment in the hospital and their condition is stable, the bulletin said.

Speaking to the media after the review meeting, KCR, as Rao is better known, regretted that many people were not taking the lockdown seriously. See what has happened in the US? When the people did not take the lockdown seriously, the US government had to hand over the entire country to the Army. I request the people of Telangana not to give scope for such a situation. Please dont force the government to impose 24-hour curfew and issue shoot-at-sight orders, he said.

He announced that there would be a virtual curfew in the entire state from 7 pm to 6 am every night. If people have any emergency situation, they can dial 100 and the government would extend all help, he said.

The chief minister also warned the traders against raising prices of essential commodities by taking advantage of the lockdown. We shall cancel their licences and invoke preventive detention act to prosecute them, he said.

He also called upon all the elected representatives to enforce the lockdown.

In Andhra Pradesh, there was one fresh case of Sars-Cov-2 virus on Tuesday  that of a 25-year old man who came from London to Srikalahasti in Chittoor district via Chennai on March 19. He was admitted to Ruia Hospital in Tirupati, where he tested positive.

An official bulletin by AP government said so far, 76 samples had been tested in the state of which 61 were negative and results of 14 other samples were pending.

In all, 14907 people returned from abroad since March 1 and of them, 13290 are in home isolation and 84 are still in hospital quarantine, the bulletin said.

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[March 24, 2020] Zendesk Announces Partnership with Tata Consultancy Services

Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) today announced a strategic alliance with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to provide world-class, enterprise grade CRM solutions for large Enterprises. The partnership combines Zendesk's powerful support, sales and engagement software solutions together with TCS' deep contextual knowledge and experience in digital transformation. Together, Zendesk and TCS will collaborate and more efficiently solve companies' increasingly complex technological requirements and provide powerful CRM custom solutions and integrations. "We are excited to work with TCS to better support the needs of enterprise companies," said Ricardo Moreno, Vice President of Worldwide Partners, Zendesk. "With the combination of TCS' long-standing history of providing information technology (IT) services, consulting and business solutions to many of the world's largest businesses in their transformation journey and our service-first CRM offerings, we look forward to helping companies foster a transparent, responsive and empowered customer experience." In 2020, it is predicted that customer experience will surpass both price and quality of product as a brand's key differentiator. As part of this alliance, global companies will benefit from TCS' technology expertise and Zendesk's support, sales, and engagement software to meet customers' rapidly evolving demands and transform their experience. This includes:



Alignment between TCS' industry leading consulting, implementation and optimization services with Zendesk's CRM product portfolio.

Access to TCS' deep expertise across industries including financial services, manufacturing, retail, and more. "TCS leverages its domain knowledge and deep customer relationships to contextualize its comprehensive suite of CRM/CX offerings to create bespoke solutions that provide a superior customer experience and create competitive differentiation," said Akhilesh Tiwari, Global Head, Enterprise Application Services at TCS. "Our partnership with Zendesk brings together the best capabilities of both organizations to help businesses fast-track their digital transformation journeys." Today's partnership announcement with TCS comes on the heels of Zendesk's recent Support Suite, Sales Suite and Sunshine announcements. These service-first CRM solutions enable service and sales teams to instantly connect with their customers and have natural conversations across all touchpoints.

This partnership will be announced at Zendesk's virtual event, Relater, March 24 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. To view the announcements, keynotes and other Zendesk updates please visit: zendesk.com/relater More information can be found on the Zendesk Partner Marketplace here. About Zendesk Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds support, sales, and customer engagement software designed to foster better customer relationships. From large enterprises to startups, we believe that powerful, innovative customer experiences should be within reach for every company, no matter the size, industry or ambition. Zendesk serves more than 150,000 customers across hundreds of industries in over 30 languages. Zendesk is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates offices worldwide. Learn more at www.zendesk.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005125/en/

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At least one person has died and all lanes of southbound state Highway 17 in unincorporated Santa Clara County just south of Los Gatos are currently blocked due to a multiple-vehicle traffic collision early Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said the collision was first reported at 2:55 a.m. just south of the South Santa Cruz Avenue on-ramp to southbound Highway 17.
Banks are likely to face



significant defaults in payment and miss internal targets as more and more states announce lockdowns in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, senior officials of a number of lenders said on Tuesday.

Bankers are also expecting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to come out with a forbearance package so that accounts are not classified as NPAs for the next few years.

"There should be some forbearance on account of cash flow mismatch. There will be many defaults in the MSME, retail and related sectors," a senior United Bank of India official told PTI.

"We are expecting the RBI to come out with such a package so that accounts are not categorised as NPAs for at least the next two years," he said.

Prior to the virus outbreak, the state-run lender, which is set to be merged with Punjab National Bank (PNB), was in profits.

"We wanted to close the financial year with a business figure of Rs 2.18 lakh crore. But because of this development, there will be a shortfall," the official said.

On UBI's realisation from the resolution process through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), he said the bank's exposure to Bhushan Power was Rs 800 crore.

"But going by the current trends, that amount is not immediately forthcoming and it is a big blow to the bank," he added.

An official of city-based UCO Bank said that due to the virus scare, pace of work in all its branches has taken a major hit.

"This is a very tough quarter. Some recoveries are typically realised in the last few days of the March quarter. That will be impacted," he said.

For UCO Bank, cases admitted before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) total to Rs 15,811 crore, out of which the bank has realised around Rs 3,000 crore, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Joseph OConnor. Europa, $26 (400p) ISBN 978-1-60945-593-4

OConnors high-spirited latest (after The Star of the Sea) puts ample flesh on the bones of the little-known story of the theatrical menage involving celebrity actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, and Irvings business manager, Bram Stoker. Composed (like Dracula) in epistolary style from diary entries, letters, recording transcripts, and the like, the narrative follows Stoker as he moves with his family from Dublin to London in 1879 to help Irving establish his Lyceum Theatre. Over the next quarter century the two indulge in a frequently bitter love/hate relationshipIrving drives Stoker mercilessly and cruelly taunts him for his literary ambitions. Via commentary from Terry on Dracula, OConnors narrative suggests that Stoker likely channeled the personality of Irving and the drama of their contretemps into his tale of the imperious vampire scourge. OConnors characters are magnificently realized and colorfully depicted by the virtues that define them: Irvings egotism, Terrys feminism, Stokers stoicism, andfor the brief time he appearsOscar Wildes witticisms. The repartee OConnor imagines between them is priceless, in particular when they refer to each other by their nicknames (Chief for Irving, Auntie for Stoker), and he fills the tale with numerous rib nudges that readers of Dracula will recognize. This novel blows the dust off its Victorian trappings and brings them to scintillating life. (May)
In a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus disease, the Senate has suspended its plenary sessions for two weeks.

The announcement was made by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday.

The announcement followed a closed-door session which lasted over an hour.

Mr Lawan said while the plenary remains adjourned, lawmakers will be available to attend to important national issues.

The Senate further resolves to adjourn sitting for two weeks from today due to the pandemic of coronavirus ravaging the entire world and therefore the Senate resumes on the 7th of April. However, the Senate will be on hand in case there is an urgent issue that requires its attention.

As at now, the only way out of the pandemic is for the population to observe the recommended measures advised by the NCDC. The federal government should devote special funds to fight the COVID-19 threatening Nigeria, he said.

Mr Lawan also called on the federal government to give financial and other resource assistance to the states in the fight against the virus.

The Senate committees on health and primary healthcare and communicable diseases will continue to discuss with the health ministry and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, he said.

This announcement comes days after the Senate suspended all public hearings and excursions to the National Assembly indefinitely.

Mr Lawan also announced that the gallery of the chamber will remain closed to visitors until further notice.

Prior to the adjournment, the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, announced the death of Cross River senator, Rose Oko, who died on Monday night after a protracted illness.

Mr Yahaya prayed that his colleagues observe a minute silence in honour of the late lawmaker and suspend all activities  which was adopted.

Nigeria recorded its first death from the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak on Monday.

So far, Nigeria has a total of 40 confirmed cases including one death.
(Newser)  Former Scottish leader Alex Salmond was acquitted Monday of a series of sexual offenses, including one of attempted rape. An Edinburgh jury deliberated for more than five hours before returning not guilty verdicts on 12 charges and returned a not proven verdict on a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape, the AP reports. Three verdicts were available to the jurors, who had started their deliberations on Friday afternoon following the one-day trialguilty, not guilty, and not proven. The latter two are considered acquittals under Scottish law. Salmond, 65, had denied all 13 alleged offenses and had claimed in court that some of the charges were "deliberate fabrications for a political purpose."

story continues below

The nine women who brought the charges forward either worked for the Scottish government or within Salmonds Scottish National Party at the time the offenses were alleged to have taken place. The allegations spanned a period between June 2008 and Nov. 2014. The accusations ranged from Salmond stroking a civil servants hair to trying to rape a former Scottish government official in the leaders official residence in Edinburgh. After leaving the High Court, Salmond thanked his family and friends for standing by him and said "certain evidence" that wasn't presented in court will one day "see the light." Salmond led the pro-independence SNP for 20 years and headed Scotlands semi-autonomous government as its first minister from 2007 to 2014.

(Read more Scotland stories.)
The Japan share market finished higher for second straight session on Tuesday, 24 March 2020, as investors continued hunting recently battered shares on the back of yen depreciation aginst greenback and after global authorities ramped up stimulus measures to combat the economic impact of the global coronavirus outbreak. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 995.34 points, or 5.89%, to 17,883.12. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 29.83 points, or 2.31%, at 1,321.84.

Total 29 issues of the 33 industry category of Topix index inclined into positive territory, with Mining, Real Estate, Oil & Coal Products, Marine Transportation, Glass & Ceramics Products, and Securities & Commodities Futures issues being notable gainers.

Investors were encouraged after the U. S. Federal Reserve announced an open-ended asset purchase program on Monday, while Germany is set to unveil major stimulus measures as the death toll from the virus rises throughout Europe.

The Fed said it would purchase Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning, showing the central bank is willing to go far beyond the $700 billion in new purchases announced last week.

The region was also up on hopes that US lawmakers will bridge their differences and pass a US$1.8 trillion economic support package.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Nikkei Manufacturing Contracts To 44.8 In March- Japan's manufacturing sector continued to contract, and at a faster pace, with a preliminary manufacturing PMI score of 44.8, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Tuesday. That's down from 47.8 in February, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services PMI from Jibun Bank was even more troubling as it plummeted all the way down to 32.7 in March from 46.8 in February, reflecting the chaos created by the global COVID-19 pandemic. That dragged the composite PMI down to 35.8 from 47.0 a month earlier.

CURRENCY: The U. S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 101.699 after seeing an earlier high of 102.213. The Japanese yen traded at 110.25 per dollar after touching an earlier low of 111.28.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba Group Holding , staff are furious over demands they submit health reports daily and other coronavirus-prevention steps seen as too invasive, highlighting a long-running culture clash with management from China. Since February, Singapore-based Lazada has asked all employees to answer detailed questions seven days a week about their health and where they have been lately, according to five people with direct knowledge of the matter. While the e-commerce firm describes the health reports as not mandatory, employees receive frequent ...
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Many retailers now shuttered by Gov. Andrew Cuomos executive order in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have made it easier for consumers to make returns and get refunds -- by extending their return window until stores open again.

You can wait as long as you need, the website for American Eagle Outfitters says. There is no time limit to provide a full refund, charge back to a credit card, make an exchange, or issue an AE Gift Card."

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

Others, including several others in the Staten Island Mall, New Springville, have offered similar proposals.

Heres a list of retailers weve found that have adjusted their policies:

Apple

Apple will accept returns for most products for up to 14 days after they reopen stores, according to the companys website.

Trade-in devices will not be accepted, but a gift card will be offered with the same value as the device.

American Eagle

American Eagle will not accept returns or exchanges by mail for items purchased in a store, but there is no time limit on a full refund, the store website says. Customers should hold on to receipts, and make the transaction once stores reopen.

Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy

Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy have extended their return windows to July 1 for all purchases made between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to a statement.

This policy is also in effect for its other brands, Athleta and Hill City.

Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble says on its website that it will be flexible about its 30-day return policy. While we have had to close some of our stores, and modify our hours for stores that are still open, we are prepared to offer flexibility for our 30-day return policy once our stores return to normal operations, the website says.

H&M

As we continue to monitor the developments of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we have waived the return shipping fee for any purchases made in the next 30 days, the retailer says on its website.

HomeGoods, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx

The discount retailer will allow customers to make in-store returns within 30 days of its stores reopening. Online returns can be made within 40 days of its website reopening, according to a statement.

The same goes for Home Sense and Sierra, which are owned by Marshalls parent company, The TJX Companies.

J. Crew

J. Crew is extending its return period to 60 days for all orders made since March 1, according to its website.

This includes online, by phone or in-store orders.

Macys

Macys is extending its return policy by 30 days, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Its typical return policy is within 90 days of purchase  by both mail and in stores  although select items are excluded.

Sephora

The popular beauty retailer will accept in-store returns, with a receipt, within 30 days of stores reopening, Sephora said in a statement. To qualify, purchases must have been made between Feb. 16 and March 16.

As for online orders, the 30-day return policy has increased to 60 days, the statement says.

Victorias Secret

Victorias Secret has extended its return policy for 30 more days, according to its website.

Merchandise returns within 120 days of purchase with the original receipt will be refunded to the original form of payment, the company said. After 120 days, merchandise may be refunded in the form of a merchandise card.

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Agreement on the electoral system reached, contentious issues remain

By Malkhaz Matsaberidze

As a result of the efforts of international partners, the Georgian Dream and the United Opposition have recently reached an agreement on the electoral system. The 2020 parliamentary elections will be held in a mixed system, but the number of majoritarian MPs has declined sharply.The formula of consent is as follows: 120 are elected by proportional system and 30 are elected by majoritarian system. Parliament should reflect on the agreed change in the electoral system in the constitution, which needs several months and the support of 113 lawmakers.Despite the agreement, the disputed problems still remain - that is the topic of political prisoners and the issue of majoritarian constituencies.The debate over the electoral system has a long history. In the post-Soviet Georgia, a mixed electoral system was established from the outset. It was argued that in this case the pros and cons of majoritarian and proportional electoral systems would balance each other. However, it turned out that the majoritarian part of the electoral system was extremely favorable to the political force in power- in majoritarian constituencies, government candidates were easily defeated by opposition candidates. Therefore, the opposition has long been calling for a proportional electoral system. The opposition used to demand this from the ruling National Movement at the time as well, and today the National Movement itself, along with other opposition parties is demanding it.Mikheil Saakashvili's National Movement did not give up majoritarian constituencies while in power. 2008 After the plebiscite, when the number of MPs was reduced to 150, the proportional and majoritarian MPs were split equally - 75/75, and then slightly changed - 77 proportional and 73 majoritarian.This system was in place during the 2012 and 2016 parliamentary elections, with the system intended to hold the 2020 elections, despite opposition demands for a proportional system.On the night of June 20, 2019, a large-scale protest by the Russian lawmaker Gavrilov appeared in the Georgian parliament. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the Georgian Dream coalition, said the 2020 parliamentary elections would be conducted by a proportional system to quell the protest.But the unexpected thing happened - according to the official version, Ivanishvili's in his own party rebelled and the constitutional amendment to move to a proportional election was thwarted. The opposition has described the ruling ruling party as a trick and a deception.Opposition parties (32 political parties) united around the demand for a proportional system of elections (32 political entities) and it is noteworthy that they were able to maintain this unity. However, several months of clashes between the United Opposition and the authorities over the electoral system have begun. The opposition demanded a proportional electoral system, while the Georgian Dream claimed that there would be no changes to the constitution regarding the electoral system. At the same time, repression against opposition representatives intensified, and several individuals were either imprisoned or persecuted.In this situation, nothing could have changed if not for the activity of Western partners. Due to their efforts, the meetings between the Georgian Dream and the United Opposition were resumed. At the same time, rain of letters from congressmen and parliamentarians from the US and the European Union has been addressed to the Georgian authorities. As a result, negotiations resumed and the Georgian Dream became tired and new offers emerged: 100 proportional and 50 majoritarians; 110/40 and lastly 120/30. It was in this ratio that the agreement was reached on March 8th. At the same time, a 1% electoral threshold and 40% barrier was established- a party needs more than 40% support to form a government.After the March 8th agreement, the issue of political prisoners became controversial. Opposition officials said after the meeting that the agreement provides for the release of those whom they regard as political prisoners. Authorities say there are no political prisoners and nothing is said in the text of the agreement. Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze held a special briefing. The case involves several people arrested after June 20 (Tamliani, I. Okruashvili, G. Ugulava, G. Rurua). The case involves several people arrested after June 20 (Tamliani, I. Okruashvili, G. Ugulava, G. Rurua). Some experts do not advocate the release of these people by the authorities because it means recognising political prisoners, while others advise them to release them because they will not have a major impact on the electoral process and their imprisonment will further damage the image of the government.The agreement reached on March 8th also concerns the size of majoritarian constituencies. Because of the reduction of majoritarian constituencies, to put it simply, one and a half of the existing constituencies must be formed. 15% deviation is allowed in the number of voters in the constituencies. The only exceptions are the regions with high mountains and ethnic minorities. The opposition fears that the Georgian Dream will seek to neutralise the majoritarian constituencies where opposition candidates are traditionally strong. According to the ex-Speaker of Parliament Kobakhidze, majoritarian constituencies are expected to be distributed as follows: 7 majoritarian constituencies will be allocated in Tbilisi, 3 in Samegrelo, Guria - 1, Adjara - 3, Racha - Lechkhumi - Svaneti - 1, Imereti - 4, Kakheti - 3, Shida Kartli - 2, Kvemo Kartli - 3, Samtskhe - Javakheti - 2 and Mtskheta - Mtianeti - 1. The opposition did not consider sufficient the allocation of 7 majoritarian constituencies in Tbilisi and considered it necessary to create 9 constituencies according to the number of voters. The EU-mediated ambassador also reached an agreement here on March 11, and the number of Tbilisi's majoritarians has increased to 8, presumably at the expense of the reduction of majoritarian seats for Kakheti.Majoritarian constituencies hold other challenges for the opposition. They need to be able to have a single candidate for the government, which will not be an easy task and may call into question the unity of the opposition. For example, leader of the Law and Justice party, Tako Charkviani, said he would not support the nomination of pro-Russian candidates, such as Nino Burjanadze's majoritarian candidate.Some temptations for the opposition are linked to the 1% threshold. It is so low that some of the smaller parties may be thinking of running independently, which the government may support. Such a statement has already been made by the leader of Free Georgia Kakha Kukava. The newly created "Lelo" is going to make a separate speech.If the agreement is reflected in the constitution (according to Mamuka Mdinaradze, rebellious majoritarians support a new electoral model), the electoral system will be fairer, the elections will be more competitive and the chances of the opposition will increase, but the change in the electoral system will not change the composition of election commissions. The administrative resources and finances that mobilize the advantage of the Georgian Dream, given the past election experience, are enormous.An agreement on the electoral system does not mean that the tension around the elections will be reduced and the opposition is guaranteed a victory. The leaders of the Georgian Dream say they will win again in the upcoming parliamentary elections and will run the government alone.
So a short-term surge is already baked in. "I think the steps announced by the Prime Minister and the premiers will dampen this down. I would expect to see the curve flatten in the next couple of weeks, see it start to come down," he says. Governments have said that they aim to "flatten the curve", meaning to slow the rate of new infections, by controlling gatherings, closing non-essential businesses and ordering social distancing. "That will mean a lot more people will survive because they will have access to ventilators and proper clinical care over the next 12 to 18 months" in the intensive care wards of the hospital system while awaiting the arrival of a vaccine. Professor Doherty cites the example of the effectiveness of such measures in US state of Washington. It was the site of the first big outbreak of COVID-19 in America.

But after Governor Jay Inslee imposed the same social controls as the Morrison government has announced, plus closing the schools, some 10 days ago, the outbreak appears to have been brought in check: "They expected a big surge in cases, but nothing came." Doherty has been pleased with the intensification of testing in Australia in recent days. "It's now a matter of time, of numbers and of human behaviour", says Doherty, patron of the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne. Professor Doherty, who trained as a vet, is involved in strategy and advice on the research effort, including the search for a vaccine.

On government support for urgent new research, he says: "Federal and state governments are doing pretty much everything asked of them to drive this research, clinical and diagnostic effort forward." The Doherty Institute, one of the world's research leaders and the first lab outside China to decode the COVID-19's structure and distribute the data to labs worldwide, has received federal and state funding for research and "a lot of money" from private donors and philanthropists, he says. Important donors include the Chinese Australian community, the Ramsay Foundation, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma of Alibaba who gave $US3.2 million, and an anonymous donor who gave $1 million. "We are moving faster on this than on anything in human history. One vaccine in the US is already on trial, it's already gone into people's arms, and the University of Queensland vaccine is being progressed here and with CSIRO," he said. "Batches are being made by CSIRO now on a scale that will allow us to move rapidly to animal trials and then human trials." Indeed, says Professor Doherty, "it's already in animals and is progressing well".

The US and Australian vaccines "are two completely different technologies, very new, and there are many more being trialled around the world." New ideas are being offered every day, he says. Loading Testing of any new vaccines is needed, even though it will slow the process, says Doherty. "There's some concern that if we don't tailor this right, you might make it worse in some conditions, so there has to be careful testing." Expert opinion commonly specifies a 12 to 18-month wait for an effective vaccine to be widely available. "I'm hopeful that we in the global community could be quicker, but that might just be my optimism." Other urgent clinical work is needed, not just a vaccine, he says. For example, "we need a rapid antibody test for people who've had the virus and recovered".
MADISON  Wisconsin's Safer at Home order will go into effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

It is to remain in effect until at least 8 a.m. Friday, April 24.

I know the COVID-19 outbreak has been difficult and has disrupted the lives of people across our state. Issuing a Safer at Home order isnt something I thought wed have to do and its not something I take lightly, but heres the bottom line: folks need to start taking this seriously, Gov. Tony Evers said in a Tuesday statement.

Each and every one of us has to do our part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 so we can flatten the curve to ensure our doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers have the opportunity to do their important work. Lets all do our part and work together, the governor said .

If social distancing and Safer at Home are not followed, thus making it easier for the virus to spread unchecked, Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said that data models show 22,000 Wisconsinites would have COVID-19 by April 8.

That many cases at one time would put a strain on, and possibly overwhelm, health care providers, state officials said.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard, an infectious disease expert with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Tuesday that as many as 20% of those who have COVID-19 are being hospitalized in the state; an increase up from Westergaard's prior 10% estimate, which he shared Monday.

Wisconsin has fewer than 11,100 hospital beds in total, according to the American Hospital Directory. So, if about 2,000 people needed to be hospitalized from COVID-19 alone, many if not most hospitals in the state would be overwhelmed with that many new patients at once.

Racine County's two primary hospitals, Ascension All Saints Hospital in Racine and Aurora Medical Center in Burlington, have 263 and 55 beds, respectively.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, the state had 457 confirmed cases, including five in Racine County, a number that had remained stable for a couple of days.

Changes

Under Evers' order, all nonessential travel, with few exceptions, has been banned. All nonessential businesses have been ordered to close, with employees still able to work from home when possible.

The order said that "Individuals do not need special permission to leave their homes, but they must comply with this order as to when it is permissible to leave home."

Wisconsin residents are still allowed to leave their home to perform "tasks essential to maintain health and safety," which includes getting food or other supplies, picking up medicine or seeing a doctor. They can also leave home to care for family members "or other vulnerable persons" in other homes.

Most parks across the state will remain open, but all physical playgrounds are to be closed. Fees have been waived at all state parks and trails, including the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in westernKenosha County.

Flatten the curve

To avoid further spreading the novel coronavirus, which had killed five people in Wisconsin as of Tuesday, the public is advised to do the following:

Avoid social gatherings with people of all ages (including playdates and sleepovers, parties, large family dinners, visitors in your home, non-essential workers in your house);

Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water;

Covering coughs and sneezes;

Avoiding touching one's face; and

Staying home.

Changed plans

Evers has been criticized by state Republican leaders for saying Monday that he would issue "Stay at Home" the next day, with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, saying that the governor had acted quickly and without consulting the Legislature before making the order.

On Friday, the governor had said he didn't want to make the order, but has now changed his mind. On Tuesday, Evers said: Late last week, I said I didnt think wed need to go to a Safer at Home order. That was something I didnt think we needed to do, and its not something I wanted to do. But I have said, all along in this process, that this is a fluid process that I would listen to the science and public health experts to make the best decision possible for the people of this state.

But State Rep. Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, on Tuesday again applauded the state decision to issue the "Safer at Home" emergency order. In a statement, she said: "Theres no way around it, the weeks ahead will be a difficult time for all of us as we self-isolate with our households and wait out the COVID-19 storm. But in the face of COVID-19, we all must sacrifice together, so we can protect our vulnerable neighbors and essential workers who cant stay home."

General exceptions

Wisconsinites are ordered to stay at home or at a place of residence, with the following exceptions:

Those whose homes are unsafe (or become unsafe) as the result of domestic violence are both permitted and urged to leave their home.

It is allowed to go outside to walk pets or to get exercise, while still maintaining 6 feet of distance between yourself and others. However, Individuals may not engage in team or contact sports such as by way of example and without limitation, basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, or football, as these activities do not comply with Social Distancing Requirements.

To take care of others, such as family members or friends in other households.

To pick up medical supplies/medication

To seek emergency services/seeing a doctor or behavior health care professional; although the order advised that Individuals should rely on telehealth options whenever feasible.

To acquire necessary supplies and services, which include food/groceries, gasoline, propane, pet supply, sanitary/sanitation products

To go to work, but only if that work is considered Essential Business or Operations

Work and business exceptions

Following are listed the private business operations that are considered to be essential:

Stores that sell groceries and/or medicine, including food banks, food pantries, convenience stores and produce stands, as well as sellers of alcoholic beverages. However, these locations must close all seating intended for consuming food and close any self-service operations, such as buffets and salad bars and beverage stations.

Restaurants are still permitted to offer takeout and delivery service; customers may only enter establishments to pick up their orders and pay for it

Bars are still permitted to allow takeout, but cannot offer delivery

Wineries may still deliver wine if they have wine shippers permits

Child care facilities may remain open, but the children of health care staff should be prioritized, followed by the children of other essential workers

Transportation of food and beverage

Production of food and beverage

Agriculture

Charitable and social services organizations can remain open

Funerals, weddings and other religious entities may remain active, but must limit gatherings to no more than 10 people

Media  including newspapers, television and radio outlets  may remain active

Gas stations and other businesses needed for transportation can remain open

Banks and other financial institutions

Hardware and supplies stores

Critical trades  including but not limited to plumbers, electricians, carpenters, laborers, sheet metal, iron workers, masonry, pipe trades, fabricators, finishers, exterminators, pesticide application, cleaning and janitorial staff for commercial and governmental properties, security staff, operating engineers, HVAC, painting, moving and relocation services, forestry and arborists

Post offices and other shipping/delivery/logistics services

Laundromats, dry cleaners, etc.

Businesses that provide products that allow others to work from home

Health care and public health

Human services

Essential infrastructure

Any business or worker included on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) list related to Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers

Suppliers for essential government functions

Transportation, including airlines, taxies, transportation network providers (i.e. Uber and Lyft), vehicle rental services, etc.

Home-based care and services, such as those for seniors or those with disabilities

Professional services, including attorneys, insurers, real estate and accountants; although they are still advised to use virtual meetings and work remotely

Hotels and motels may remain open, but must close swimming pools and exercise facilities, and must prohibit guests from congregating in lobbies or other common areas

Educational staff may continue to work for purposes of facilitating distancing learning and, at higher educational institutions, may continue performing critical research

For advice as to whether an operation should be considered an essential function, consult the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation at wedc.org/essentialbusiness

Travel exceptions

Travel that is considered essential includes:

Any travel related to other essential operations, as included in the governors order

Travel to care for others, such as the elderly, children and other vulnerable persons.

Travel to and from educational institutions, but only for the purposes of retrieving materials related to distance learning, receiving meals, or any other related services.

Traveling to return to a place of residence

Travel as required by law enforcement or a court order, such as transporting children so as to abide by a custody agreement

Governmental work exceptions

Following are listed the governmental operations that are considered to be essential:

Police/Law enforcement

Firefighters

Emergency medical services

First responder training academies

Building inspectors

Emergency management personnel

Emergency dispatchers

Court personnel, jurors and grand jurors

Corrections personnel

Hazardous materials responders

Child Protection and child welfare personnel

Housing and shelter personnel

National Guard and military

Others who work for or support the above operations

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BEIJING, March 23 (Reuters) -

* China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (CPECC) has won a $203.5 million engineering contract to treat sour gas at Majnoon oilfield in Iraq

* The project, due to be completed within 29 months, aims to build sour gas treatment facility with daily capacity of 4.39 million cubic metres, according to a statement issued by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent company of CPECC, on Monday

* Iraq's Majnoon oilfield, operated by state-run Basra Oil Co, is now producing around 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) and plans to boost output to 450,000 bpd in 2021. (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh)
Silver linings amid the coronavirus crisis are hard to come by right now for the travel industry  but they havent disappeared altogether.

Analysts have revealed that travellers are showing signs of confidence for January 2021 and the end of the year.

There has been a 229 per cent year-over-year increase in global flight bookings made in the past 14 days to the UK for January 2021 and a 171 per cent increase for bookings to Spain.

Analysts have revealed that travellers are showing signs of confidence for January 2021 and the end of the year

Even Italy is showing an upward trend for January of next year.

The number-crunching comes courtesy of digital travel marketing solutions firm Sojern, which presented a range of findings in a blog post.

It explains that when it looked at flight searches made in the past 14 days, its the Middle Eastern, Western and Eastern European, and North American travellers who appear keener to reinstate their travel plans as soon as they can and are showing interest in travelling to the UK towards the end of the year.

It continued: Eastern and Western Europe show a very early increase in year-over-year travel intent for January 2021, with an above-average year-over-year increase of 144 per cent and 85 per cent (up from eight per cent and nine per cent last week) respectively compared to the same time last year.

Travellers from Asia are more pessimistic about future travel to the UK, the data shows.

There has been a 229 per cent year-over-year increase in global flight bookings made in the past 14 days to the UK for January 2021

Sojerns explanation for the upturns is that it could be a result of some airlines announcing their winter timetables early and also releasing a more flexible cancellation and booking policy'. This may have led to an increase in consumer confidence for booking trips for a date when it's felt the pandemic could be in the recovery phase, the firm says.

Right now, though, the picture is bleak.

Sojern says: Analysing consumers travel plans gives some sense of the gravity of the situation and it will come as no surprise that global flight bookings to Europe have declined drastically, with Italy seeing almost a 94 per cent year-over-year decline in flight bookings last week. This is to be expected given the travel restrictions currently in place as a result of the ongoing pandemic. The UK showed a 63 per cent decline in year-over-year flight bookings last week, down from 37 per cent the previous week.

Chris Blaine, VP of EMEA at Sojern, said: The covid-19 outbreak clearly presents a significant threat to the travel industry as a whole and it is unlike anything I have previously witnessed.

However, this isnt going to last forever. The industry will recover, but it will take time. Travel marketers need to be prepared and ready for this recovery and while there is likely to be plenty of pent-up demand, travellers will also be initially very cautious. We are likely to see domestic tourism recover first and long-haul following later. Its important to base your strategies on real-time consumer behaviour, which will inevitably follow the path to recovery.
SAN FRANCISCO  As the coronavirus spread around the world and people everywhere were ordered to stay home, phone calls over Facebooks apps more than doubled. In many countries, messaging on Instagram and Facebook soared by over 50 percent, while group calls in Italy jumped by more than 1,000 percent. And hungry for information, people clicked repeatedly on virus news stories shown by the social network.

Inside Facebook, that meant the pressure was on.

Were just trying to keep the lights on over here, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, said in an interview last week.

As airlines, hotels, restaurants and other companies struggle to stay afloat during the pandemic, Facebook is also laboring to cope with the fallout. But unlike those other businesses, the Silicon Valley giant is being strained by the coronavirus in a different way: Its usage is going through the roof.

Skyrocketing traffic and a crush of new users are now stressing Facebooks systems just as its 45,000 employees are dealing with working remotely for the first time. The company is also trying to keep its users data secure while employees who sift through posts to moderate content do so from home. At the same time, Facebook has added to its workload by promising to do more to limit virus misinformation.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- On Monday morning, the National Weather Service predicted Syracuse would get 0.6 inches of snow.

The final tally was 6.4 inches -- more than 10 times the forecast.

It was quite a surprise even for us, said Mike Kistner, a meteorologist in the weather services Binghamton office, which does forecasts for the Southern Tier and Central New York.

Monday turned out to be the second-snowiest March 23 on record for Syracuse, just behind the 7.8 inches that fell in 1950. One spot in Saratoga County got 9 inches, also about 6 inches more than forecast.

Where did all that snow come from?

First, Kistner notes, spring storms are notoriously difficult to predict. When its 20 degrees in January, you can be sure any precipitation will fall as snow. But when temperatures hover around freezing, like they did on Monday, surprises happen.

Springtime systems are some of the toughest and trickiest. Theyre the ones that give us headaches, he said. Is the snow going to stick? Is the sun angle strong enough to melt it on paved surfaces? Its always a tricky beast."

The beast tricked forecasters Monday. When that heavy snow band tracked closer to Central New York than predicted, it brought along its own environment that guaranteed snow, not rain, would fall.

When you have an intense snow band, it does what we call dynamic cooling: It cools the whole column of the air and brings it down to the surface," Kistner explained. Temperatures were about 2 to 3 degrees cooler than what was forecast.

That temperature difference made all the difference. Mondays high was 38, almost exactly what was forecast, but that came before dawn. After that, temperatures dropped to freezing and stayed there; from 2 p.m. through midnight, hourly readings were an unvarying 32 degrees.

On their computer screens at the Binghamton Regional Airport, meteorologists could see from the radar that snow was falling heavier than anticipated. At 2:32 p.m., they issued a special weather statement, a short-term alert often used for quickly changing conditions like fog or thunderstorms.

Fourteen minutes later, they upped the alert to a winter weather advisory, warning of another 2 to 4 inches of wet, slippery snow for the rest of the day. Meteorologists also issued a more serious alert, a winter storm warning, for northern Oneida County, where higher elevations led to lower temperatures.

We saw it develop and it continued to widen in scope and intensity, Kistner said. "You saw some pretty god snowfall amounts."

The snow was heavy, too. Mondays snowfall contained 0.88 inches of water, which made for snow-to-liquid ratio of about 7 to 1. A fluffy lake effect snowfall can have a ratio of 20 to 1 or higher.

READ MORE

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Cruise ships have become particular hotbeds for coronavirus, with a number of liners being doomed by fatal outbreaks

There are no tests onboard so the extent of the outbreak is not known

All 1,243 guests have been told to isolate in their rooms and, of the 586 crew members, non-essential staff are also in quarantine

It is yet to gain permission to enter the Panama Canal to get to Florida

It was due to dock in Chile but was left at sea when it was refused permission

The Zandaam plans to dock in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on March 30

A cruise ship with 42 people onboard experiencing 'flu-like symptoms' is now headed for Florida as all 1,243 guests are told to isolate in their rooms.

Thirteen guests and 29 crew members have fallen ill on board Holland America's Zaandam, in the latest outbreak to hit a cruise liner packed full of holidaymakers.

The liner set sail on a two-week voyage from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7 - 10 days before the company canceled all voyages over fears of an outbreak - and was due to arrive in Chile on March 21.

The Zandaam is now on route to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale to dock March 30, after being stranded at sea when other ports turned it away amid fears it contains coronavirus patients.

Thirteen guests and 29 crew members have fallen ill on board Holland America's Zaandam (pictured), in the latest outbreak to hit a cruise liner packed full of holidaymakers

The extent of the possible outbreak is not known as there are no tests onboard, meaning sick people have simply been isolated and their close contacts told to quarantine.

All 1,243 passengers have been told to stay in their rooms.

Of the 586 crew members, those not essential to running the ship are also in quarantine and essential staff are self-isolating when not working.

'Since it is flu season, and COVID-19 testing is not available on board, it is difficult to determine the cause of these elevated cases at this time,' the company said in a statement.

'The safety and well-being of our guests and crew is one of our highest priorities.'

The liner set sail on a two-week voyage from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7 and was due to arrive in Chile on March 21. It is now off Valparaiso, Chile, and heading to Fort Lauderdale

The Zandaam is on route to Port Everglades (above) in Fort Lauderdale to dock March 30, after being stranded at sea when it was granted and then refused permission to disembark in Chile

The ship had been granted permission to dock in Punta Arenas in Chile but when it arrived on March 14, permission was refused and passengers were prevented from leaving.

It stopped in Valparaiso, Chile, to take on more provisions and fuel but people were ordered to stay on board.

Passengers on board the ship have told of their concern at being imprisoned on board the ship.

Chris Joiner told CBC he had asked the Canadian embassy in Chile for help, saying: 'Get us the hell off this ship.'

Toronto resident Michael Kasprow said he's worried about his elderly mother and her friend, both in their 80s, who are stuck onboard and are at greater risk if they contract the disease.

'We've seen what it can do on a cruise ship, and I just feel like they're sitting ducks,' he told CBC.

Another couple spoke of their fears that, even once they dock, they may be stranded away from home due to escalating travel restrictions and flight bans.

'How will we get home from a port with flights diminishing by the day?' said Norma Kirkham, 63, from Victoria, Canada. 'Where will we stay? Will [Holland America] still be looking after us?'

Concerns are further mounting as it emerged the ship is yet to gain permission to enter the Panama Canal, the route it needs to pass through to get to Fort Lauderdale.

Port Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy also told South Florida Sun Sentinel that is was 'too early' to say if passengers would be allowed off the ship at Port Everglades.

'The ship is still pretty far away, so it is too early to determine,' she said.

She said the decision would be made by the Unified Command currently in charge at the port, as well as the CDC, Customs and Border Patrol, the Florida Department of Health, the US Coast Guard, the Broward Sheriff's Office and the county's port authority.

The Zandaam is the latest in a string of cruise ships stuck at sea after being turned away by nations' ports desperate to protect their own residents from the deadly virus.

Passengers on board the cruise line's Maasdam ship have been turned away from Hawaii despite no one reporting symptoms of coronavirus.

In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 706 people tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama. At least seven people have died after they were taken to hospital from the doomed vessel

Cruise ships have become particular hotbeds for the virus, with a number of liners being doomed by fatal outbreaks.

In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 706 people tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama.

At least seven people have died after they were taken to hospital from the doomed vessel.

Passengers were confined to their cabins during the lockdown but several countries eventually lost patience with Japan and airlifted their citizens home.

The Grand Princess ship was struck by an outbreak, when two passengers and 19 crew members tested positive for coronavirus in early March

Japan was widely criticised for its handling of the ship, with one disease expert saying the quarantine was 'completely inadequate' after viewing the conditions on board.

Japan had initially impounded the ship after a passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong in January subsequently tested positive.

Weeks later another Caribbean Princess ship was struck by an outbreak, when two passengers and 19 crew members on the Grand Princess cruise ship tested positive for coronavirus in early March.

The ship docked in Oakland, California, on March 9 with 3,500 on board and people were repatriated and sent to army bases for quarantine.

The number of confirmed US cases from the ship has since risen to 28.

The first passengers from the Grand Princess have begun leaving their 14-day quarantine and returning home.

Travelers on board the Braemar arrive in Heathrow March 19. This came after 28 people self-isolated on the ship after either testing positive for the coronavirus or displaying flu-like symptoms

Across the pond, 680 mostly British passengers were repatriated from Havana to Heathrow last week after they were stuck onboard a cruise ship.

Cuba allowed MS Braemar, operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, to dock in its waters after several Caribbean island nations - including Commonwealth states Barbados and the Bahamas - declined UK requests.

This came after 28 people self-isolated on the ship after either testing positive for the coronavirus or displaying flu-like symptoms.
H ealth minister Nadine Dorries received a warm welcome as she returned to the House of Commons after recovering from coronavirus.

MPs from both sides of the chamber cheered as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire entered the Commons on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Dorries self-isolated at home during her illness, which also saw her 84-year-old mother infected.

After beginning her quarantine period on March 6, she told social media followers she had lost "100 per cent of" her senses of taste and smell as a "weird" side effect of the disease.

Nadine Dorries is back to work after recovering from Covid-19 / PA

The 62-year-old, who was the first MP to test positive for the virus, previously wrote in the Sunday Times that discovering she had tested positive for Covid-19 was like iced water trickling down my spine.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock rounded off his ministerial statement on Tuesday afternoon - in which he updated MPs on the governments efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic - by making reference to her return.

The final point Id like to make Madame Deputy Speaker is that the minister for mental health and patient safety is sitting next to me and close to me and thats because she has recovered," he said.

And all the evidence is you cant catch this twice, at least in quick succession, and so thats OK. So I welcome her back to her place.
By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States should lift sanctions if it wants to help Iran to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, adding that Iran had no intention of accepting Washington's offer of humanitarian assistance.

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States should lift sanctions if it wants to help Iran to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, adding that Iran had no intention of accepting Washington's offer of humanitarian assistance.

Iran is the Middle Eastern nation worst hit by coronavirus, with over 1,800 deaths and 23,049 infected people. One person is dying from the virus every 10 minutes, according to the health ministry.

"American leaders are lying ... If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions .... Then we can deal with the coronavirus outbreak," Rouhani said in a televised speech.

Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to its longtime foe. But the country's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday rejected the offer.

Tension between the two countries has been running high since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump exited Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.

Iranian authorities have blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering its efforts to curb the outbreak and Rouhani has urged Americans to call on their government to lift sanctions as Iran fights the coronavirus.

"U.S. is NOT listening, impeding global fight against #COVID19. The ONLY remedy: DEFY U.S. mass punishment. MORAL & PRAGMATIC imperative," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday.

But the United States has sent Iran a blunt message: the spread of the virus will not save it from U.S. sanctions that are choking off its oil revenues and isolating its economy.

"You have blocked Iran's oil exports, you have stopped Iran's banking transactions ... Your help offer is the biggest lie in the history," Rouhani said.

Although police said millions of people have defied advice to avoid traveling for the Persian new year holidays, Rouhani praised Iranians for avoiding public places during the holidays. Iran's new year started on Friday.

Even those who traveled stayed at homes of their relatives, Rouhani said.

On Sunday, the government ordered shopping centres to close in Tehran, where only pharmacies and shops that provided essential goods remain open.

Iran's Army has been ordered to set up a hospital with 2,000 beds in Tehran "within two days for the treatment of the coronavirus patients", the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

The outbreak has infected a number of senior officials, politicians, clerics, members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and dozens of lawmakers in Iran. At least a dozen of them have died from the coronavirus.

"The lawmakers have been infected because they travelled to their towns and were in close contact with people ahead of the parliamentary election on February 21," Parliament speaker Ali Larijani told state TV.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Larry King)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
In his Oval Office address on March 11, President Trump intoned that familiar phrase amidst a set of most unfamiliar circumstances.

Its a phrase that we often hear from our elected leaders in times of great peril when, from our unity, we summon the strength of our resolve. In this young century we have faced the horrors of terrorism, a slew of natural disasters, a massive recession and now a global pandemic that has changed everything in a matter of days.

Were all in this together is true not only in the face of crisis; as Americans we are unified not by the exceptional circumstances but by the everyday circumstances and institutions that shape our lives. We pay local, state and Federal taxes that fund a wide array of public services. These services represent investments in our fellow citizens, including K-12/higher education, public health insurance and safety net programs, roads and other infrastructure, scientific research, public safety and military spending.

Just as we pay taxes that fund public services received by others, our individual behaviors can have positive and negative effects on the world around us. When I volunteer in my community, I make the world better. When I text and drive on my way to work I make it worse.

We are all in this together because we collectively finance the activities of government and our individual actions affect our neighbors. Recognizing that we are always all in this together is essential for understanding public policy and the difficult choices we must make as a society.

In 2012, my colleague Michael Morrisey and I co-authored a report that laid out the pure economic case for Medicaid expansion in Alabama under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Released over a year ahead of a potential January 2014 implementation date, our study concluded that expansion would reduce the states uninsured population by approximately 225,000, while yielding over $900M in tax revenues in excess of the states share of the costs during the first seven years (2014-2020). This potential windfall was the product of the generous funding structure, with the Federal government covering 100% of the costs in 2014 to 2016, which gradually declined to 90% in 2020 and beyond.

Despite the prospect of a dramatic reduction in the uninsured population, billions of dollars of new economic activity and a huge boost to state and local budgets, then-Governor Robert Bentley was vehemently opposed to expansion and the issue was never discussed on the floor of the Alabama Legislature.

Throughout the Obama Presidency, the absence of a veto-proof majority in Congress led battles against the ACA to be waged within the courts and the states. In Alabama this opposition to expansion was driven by reflexive ideological opposition, where a steadfast belief in limited government trumped the states collective self-interest.

And therein lies the obvious conflict between the statement that we are all in this together and an ideological view suggesting that government is more commonly part of the problem than the solution. Alabama politicians believe in limited government, except when they demand FEMA funding after a hurricane or tornado hits, Department of Education funding that has supported the development of a nationally recognized Pre-K program, or NIH funding that has made the University of Alabama at Birmingham a leading research institution in the world.

The 2016 Presidential election opened the door to legislative challenges to the ACA. In 2017, we all watched a series of failed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which were punctuated by the late Senator John McCain thumbs-down. That single moment was symbolic of the ACAs survival.

The events of 2017 provided a greater sense of certainty regarding the near-term prospects for the ACA. As a result, 2018 saw a flurry of additional state actions to expand Medicaid. Virginia and Maine expanded through legislative action, while voters in Utah, Idaho and Nebraska approved referenda to expand Medicaid in the 2018 midterm elections. When given a chance, voters in three conservative leaning states voted to expand Medicaid.

In January 2019, in the face of these political developments, I released a new report that presented the updated economic case for expansion. Despite having missed out on the period of more generous Federal support, the report concluded that at the long-term federal match rate of 90%, the cost savings to other state health programs and tax revenue generated by expansion would offset all but approximately $25M of the states annual cost of expansion.

Collectively, the evidence in my report, along with the survival of the ACA, expansions in other states, and concerns about the large number of hospital closures in Alabama has changed the narrative. In 2019, I met with many well-intentioned, reasonable Alabama Republicans, whose opposition is no longer rooted in ideology but in the practical issues of how the state would finance its share of the up-front cost of expansion. To address the changing nature of the opposition, Alabama Senator Doug Jones introduced legislation in 2019 that would have granted the hold-out states 3 years of the full Federal match if they elected to expand.

With major sectors of the US economy now in turmoil as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal government must use aggressive fiscal policy to minimize the depth and duration of the looming recession. As part of this effort, I strongly recommend that the Federal government offer Alabama, along with other states that choose to expand their Medicaid programs, a 100% Federal match from April 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021. This period of support would give these hold-out states the initial funding that has been used as a rationale to resist expansion.

The incomplete take-up of Medicaid expansion is the unquestioned Achilles heel of President Obama signature legislative accomplishment. Given the Federal government currently spends over $1.6T on Medicare, Medicaid/CHIP, marketplace subsidies and the tax deduction for employer sponsored insurance coverage, it is shameful that millions of poor Americans living in non-expansion states have been left out in the cold.

We are currently facing an unprecedented situation, which highlights the ever-present reality that our personal health is inextricably linked to the health and well-being of our fellow citizens. Failure to manage mental health conditions contributes to the unacceptable level of gun violence in American society. Substance abuse disorders threaten the health of populations from cradle to grave, from neonatal abstinence syndrome to the rising rate of suicide among older adults. Poor treatment of communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted conditions, puts entire populations at risk. Once the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic ends, we will face a new set of challenges related to the economic disruption and the impact on health and well-being.

We are all in THIS together. This is the time for Congress, President Trump and the Alabama legislature to take bold action, recognizing that this statement is true not just today, but always.

Dr. Becker is a health economist and Associate Professor at the UAB School of Public Health. All of his views are his own, and do not represent the position of UAB.
The coronavirus news never seems to stop.

Here are some of the biggest stories from this weekend:

Im Going To Keep Pushing: Anthony Fauci Talks Navigating Politics In Rare Interview

From ScienceMag.org: Anthony Fauci, who to many watching the now-regular White House press briefings on the pandemic has become the scientific voice of reason about how to respond to the new coronavirus, runs from place to place in normal times and works long hours.

Now, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has even less time to sleep and travels at warp speed, typically racing daily from his office north of Washington, D.C., to his home in the capital, and then to the White House to gather with the Coronavirus Task Force in the Situation Room.

Read the full interview here.

Benzinga is covering every angle of how the coronavirus affects the financial world. For daily updates, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.

Rand Paul Tests Positive For Covid-19, Fueling Anxiety In The Capitol

From The New York Times: Senate Republicans were struggling to salvage a more than $1 trillion economic rescue package to respond to the coronavirus crisis when they got the message on Sunday afternoon: One of their own had been walking around the Capitol with Covid-19 for days as they debated how best to confront the rapidly spreading pandemic.

Senator Rand Paul had tested positive for the coronavirus, Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, told fellow Republicans over lunch. It was the news that lawmakers had been dreading for weeks as they went about their travel- and handshake-heavy routines while the disease circulated around the country.

Read the full story here.

Federal Reserve Vows 'Unlimited' Stimulus To Halt Coronavirus Recession

From CBS News:

In its boldest effort yet to protect the U.S. economy from the novel coronavirus, the Federal Reserve said Monday it will buy as much government debt as it deems necessary and will also begin lending to small businesses as well as large businesses and to local governments to help them weather the crisis.

Story continues

The Fed's announcement removes any dollar limits from its plans to support the flow of credit through an economy that has been ravaged by the novel coronavirus outbreak. The central bank's all-out push has now gone beyond even the extraordinary drive it made to rescue the economy from the 2008 financial crisis.

Read the full story here.

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Konnect Africa, a subsidiary of satellite operator Eutelsat Communications, along with educational platform Schoolap and financial messaging network Flash Services, is planning to bring high-speed internet connectivity to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) schools.

The three groups have announced a Memorandum of Understanding to connect several thousand schools across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the internet as part of the Schoolap project. The project aims to provide schools with high-speed internet connectivity, giving them access to a digital platform of officially recognized educational content and high-quality teaching materials.

The first stage of the project aims to connect 3,600 private schools over the next 12 months, leveraging Konnect Africa's satellite capacity and technical expertise, notably in terms of installation.

Each school will subscribe to a Home Unlimited or plus package, giving it access to a high-speed internet service. At a later stage, it is planned to roll the project out to several tens of thousands more schools.

Konnect Africa has been operating for over a year in the DRC. Currently operating with limited capacity, Konnect Africa says it will see its in-orbit resources increase tenfold with the entry into service of the Eutelsat Konnect satellite in the autumn of 2020. With a total capacity of 75 Gbps, Eutelsat Konnect will be able to provide speeds of up to 100 Mbps with total or partial coverage of 40 African countries.
Despite the new work, social, and business restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar insisted the country is not in a lockdown.

Mr Varadkar said gardai would encourage groups to disperse on the streets and move on and that authorities have been empowered to do this through emergency legislation passed by the Dail last week.

This would prevent overcrowding in some public places, such as parks, as had been witnessed last weekend.

What we will now have is a much stronger garda presence, park ranger presence, to make sure that doesnt happen, said the Taoiseach.

Despite the further clampdown on people going to work, on socialising, and on businesses, Mr Varadkar insisted it is not a lockdown.

I wouldnt use the term lockdown, and thats for very good reasons, he said. Ive come to learn over the past week or two that lockdown seems to mean very different things to different people, and in different countries, and therefore can cause confusion, and we need clarity, rather than confusion.

I saw, for example, even though [British prime minister Boris Johnson] didnt use the term, the changes announced in the UK as being a lockdown in the UK. Yet when you look at the detail of whats being asked in the UK, people can still vote to work, go to the shops, the bank, the post office, even B&Q or the pet food store, go for a run, meet with another person outside.

So that in my mind isnt a total lockdown

And I had heard that Italy was in a total lockdown and yet I found out a few days ago that there were still factories and construction sites open. So I think its a term that actually causes more confusion than clarity and therefore is one that I wouldnt use and dont intend to use in future.
The Queensland border will close to people not travelling for work, medical appointments or carrying freight.

They will be asked not to make the journey as the state government closes the border from midnight on Wednesday to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Border travel will be policed in an RBT-style with officers to determine who needs to cross.

Officials are working with airlines to ensure passengers know what will happen when they arrive in Queensland before they board flights.

Travelling from Tweed to Coolangatta for work is allowed.

People return home from International Countries as well as people trying to fly back to Queensland as boarders close for people due to the Coronavirus outbreak

'People should stay in their own state, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday.

'As far as possible, they should be staying in their suburbs and as much as possible staying at home.'

The decision comes after Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, and Northern Territory close their borders for non-essential travel.

Travelling to work, to the supermarket, the pharmacy and the petrol station is classed as essential.

Travel for all other purposes is highly discouraged.

A $4 billion package has also been announced to cover the states additional health needs and relieve financial pressure on households and businesses.

It includes $1.2 billion to immediately double Queenslands intensive care capacity, triple its emergency department capacity and provide more paramedics.

'People should stay in their own state, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday

It will also be used to expand fever clinics on demand and rapidly deploy hundreds of hospital beds if and when they are needed.

Community testing and contact tracing will be extended.

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 money will also boost the 13 HEALTH phone service and continue non-urgent elective surgeries where possible.

Households will receive a $200 rebate on their electricity bill to take in the extra power and water usage while people are asked stay home.

Another $300 million will go towards reducing the cost of living for households and further funding for payroll tax relief for businesses.

'These are tough times but unfortunately they are going to get tougher,' Treasurer Jackie Trad said.

'But when we come out the other side, and we will, we need for our industries and we need for our businesses to get through this trough period.'

People return home from International Countries as well as people trying to fly back to Queensland as boarders close for people due to the Coronavirus outbreak

It is expected 51,000 Queenslanders were impacted by Mondays decision to shut down non-essential activities.

That figure will rise as further restrictions on movement are announced.

Small, medium and impacted large businesses will get back payroll tax paid over the last two months within the next week.

There will be no payroll tax liability for small and medium businesses for the next three months, followed by a deferral for the rest of the year.

It will also be deferred for the rest of the year for large businesses.

A $500 million program will also be established to help workers who have lost their jobs fill employment shortages in sectors like healthcare, cleaning and agriculture.

Planning is underway to address potential patient overflow at the states hospitals, with an announcement expected later in the week.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Over the last few days, the police have scaled up its visibly on the street in connection with the measures taken by the government of Sint Maarten to fight the expansion of the Covid 19 virus. Police are aware that expanding the patrol units on the streets will give the public of St. Maarten a feeling of safety and security in these troubling times.

In bettering the service to the public, officers were given various work assignments, such as monitoring of the traffic situation and maintaining public order.

A special assignment was also given to enforce the rule, that all non-essential companies must remain closed in connection measure implemented by the president of the E.O.C. to protect the health of the general public.

Over the last few days, it has become apparent that several companies, that are designated as non-essential did not comply with the established rules and are remaining open in violations of the law.

During several controls carried out yesterday March 23rd, 2020, the police were forced to issue fines to several businesses who did not comply with the rules to stay closed.

We are asking the owners of the non-essential businesses to comply with the measures laid down in the law by the competent authority.

The police force of Sint Maarten is hereby making it abundantly clear, that businesses who are in violation of the rules and regulations will be reprimanded to the fullest extent of the law.

KPSM Press Release.
Korea's exports increased this month despite the disruption to global trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Korea Customs Service said on Monday exports amounted to US$30.7 billion in the first 20 days of March, up 10 percent on-year.

Exports to major trading partners mostly increased -- by 33.6 percent to Hong Kong, 30.5 percent to Japan, 27.2 percent to the U.S., 18.3 percent to the Middle East, 13.5 percent to the EU, 12.1 percent to Vietnam and 4.9 percent to China.

Shipments of mobile communications devices grew 26.6 percent, followed by semiconductors with 20.3 percent, cars with 13.7 percent and petrochemical products with 11.4 percent. But ships and display panels plummeted 49.6 percent and 16.7 percent.

Imports rose 5.9 percent to $29.1 billion during the period. They grew 11.2 percent from China, 9.4 percent from Vietnam, 7.6 percent from the E.U., 2.4 percent from Japan and 1.3 percent from the U.S.

The figures were not as bad as expected, as the outbreak has had a severely disruptive impact on both the demand and supply sides. However, export-dependent Korea is likely to be one of the biggest victims of the coronavirus if the pandemic continues to rage across the world.
Ayesha Tabassum By

Express News Service

Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is adding a new dimension to Hindi cinema with her narratives.

From her debut Nil Battey Sannata (2016) and her second film Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) to her latest release, Panga, the director has offered unique stories about small-town India with a focus on the evolving Indian woman.

Her recent short film, Ghar Ki Murgi, starring Sakshi Tanwar, which dropped on SonyLIV, on the occasion of International Womens Day, explored the idea of homemakers taking a break from their routine life of managing home and family.

Character analysis

Its stories like these, which look at simple yet significant things in life, that speak to Tiwari. Though female roles are played up, the filmmaker refrains from calling her films women-centric. My protagonists are women but the film is presented from different points of view. We should stop labelling films as female-centric. We dont name other films as male-centric, asserts Tiwari. The uniqueness of her movies lies in the treatment of the characters. Although most of these represent small-town people, Tiwari makes them aspirational.

Whether it was Bitti and her father in Bareilly Ki Barfi, or Prashant Shrivastava, former Kabaddi champ Jayas husband in Panga, the directors characters, like in most of her films, were inspirational. You will find such people everywhere in society. What we do on-screen is we stay true to the small-town essence of such people. Cinema is the voice of the voiceless and it is a mode of change. It takes the audience into a world where everyday characters like Prashanth and Pritam Vidrohi (Bareilly Ki Barfi) exist and the point is to make these characters both aspirational and inspirational, offers Tiwari.

Keeping it precise

Her background in advertising is perhaps the reason the filmmaker is so focused and clear about what she wants to convey through her stories. Having worked on leading ad campaigns for nearly two decades, Tiwari has evolved as a filmmaker with an eye for detail. My outlook towards direction and filmmaking is defined because of my experience in advertising. Although working on 60-second videos is completely different from working on a film, I could say that advertising has taught me objectivity and discipline. I never lose focus of the goal, explains the director who is married to filmmaker Nitesh Tiwary.

In fact, Nitesh scripted and wrote dialogues for Ashwinys first two films, and he has also scripted the short film Ghar Ki Murgi. Talking about working as a couple, she says, For us, work is life and life is work, and an idea can come from anywhere. But yes, after children and having spent so many years together, we are quite comfortable with each other and dont really talk about work unless its required.

Between films, Ashwiny spends her time reading, practising yoga, watching web series or painting. The avid reader has picked up many books on psychology because its a subject thats kept her hooked at the moment.

Meanwhile, Tiwari has been busy with her next project  a film on Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy. Its too early to talk about it. But its not a biopic. It will be more like a life story about both of them. They are stalwarts. This project is more than a film for me. It will take time and I need to be very careful and true to what I write, she signs off.
French design houses Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga will shift their attentions from high fashion to producing surgical face masks to aid the global coronavirus assault, their parent company Kering said.

The French workshops of Kerings houses Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent are preparing to manufacture masks while complying with the strictest health protection measures for their staff members, Kering said in a statement posted on its website.

Production will get underway as soon as the manufacturing process and materials have been approved by the relevant authorities, it said.

Kering also said it would purchase three million masks from China and import them for the French health services.

Another Kering company, Gucci, has committed to donating 1.1 million masks and 55,000 protective medical gowns to aid Italys fight against the coronavirus, the statement said.

Kering recently said it expected to lose several hundred million euros in the first quarter of 2020 because of the global pandemic, with hundreds of millions of people worldwide in home confinement.

Its French rival LVMH has for its part launched into the production of sanitising hand gel for hospitals at three perfume and cosmetics factories in France.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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The autonomous/driverless car market was valued at USD 24.10 billion in 2019 and is expected to project a CAGR of 18.06%, during the forecast period, 2020-2025.



NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877798/?utm_source=PRN



- Autonomous cars use technologies like RADAR, LIDAR, GPS, and computer vision, in order to sense their environment. Advanced control systems that are integrated into the car can interpret the sensory inputs to detect the signboards or to avoid the collision.

- Although, Level 4 and Level 5 (as scaled by SAE) autonomous cars are unlikely to reach wide acceptance, by 2030, there would be a rapid growth for Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous cars, which have advanced driver assistance systems, like collision detection, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. Fully autonomous cars are not going to reach a wide customer base, unless, they are secure from cyber-attacks. If such concerns are addressed, the autonomous car market is estimated to reach USD 60 billion, by 2030.

- Major automaker companies, technology giants and specialist start-ups have invested more than USD 50 billion over the past five years, in order to develop autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, with 70% of the money coming from other than the automotive industry. At the same time, public authorities see that AVs offer huge potential economic and social benefits.

Key Market Trends

Demand for Safe and Efficient Traveling Options



Connectivity is a fastest growing feature that is being adopted by the car market, currently. It is expected to generate approximately USD 1 trillion by the end of 2030.



A connected car provides a driver, several smart options and benefits, along with internet access. The benefits include safety alerts, automatic crash notifications, and enhanced engine controls.



This is made possible through the Internet of Things (IoT), which refers to the connectivity of multiple devices through internet.



- Driverless cars utilize this connectivity when updating their algorithms based on user data. These autonomous vehicles require an enormous quantity of data collecting and processing.

- Thus, through IoT, the driverless car shares information about the road (which has already been mapped out)

- The information includes the actual path, traffic, and methods to navigate around any obstacles.

- The entire data is shared between IoT connected cars and is uploaded wirelessly to a cloud system, to be analyzed and put to use for improving automation.



There are many applications that enable owners to interact with the vehicle even from a certain distance. Even though all these features look attractive, automotive manufacturers face challenges with regard to providing security for these features, owing to the increasing rate of cyber-attacks. This attention to cybersecurity drives the market for automotive cybersecurity, worldwide.



A typical car communication system involves vital enhancements, including sensors that manage a driver's health (C2D), efficiency features of car-to-home (C2H), traffic patterns of car-to-car (C2C), and communications between cars-to-passengers (C2P).



Connected car and vehicle infotainment system features are at the forefront, enhancing the need for increasingly complex software-driven functionality.



Semi-Autonomous Vehicles Dominating the Market



Following the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International automated driving standards, cars with level 1 to level 3 automation features have been considered under the market segment of semi-autonomous cars.



- Level 1 automation (also known as Driver Assistance) has been available on cars for several years, handling driving modes like steering or throttle and brake, but never both. The level 1 cars must need driver attention to take over those functions if called upon by the vehicle. Some of the features seen in the level 1 cars are parking assistance, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping assistance.

- Level 2 automation (also known as Partial Assistance) has a suite of driver assistance technologies including Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer with lane change, which enables automatic steering on undivided roads but with speed limitations

- Level 3 automation is referred to as conditional automation. In Level 3 automation, the autonomous cars driving system performs all the dynamic driving tasks with the expectation that the human driver will respond appropriately to a request to intervene.



North America and Europe covered more than half of the global semi-autonomous cars market in 2018 and likely to continue to increase their market share, during the forecast period, owing to the increasing launch of semi-autonomous car models and increasing development towards vehicle semi-autonomous systems among players in automotive industry.



Competitive Landscape

Many players from the hardware to software firms in the automotive industry started focusing on entering into the growing trend of autonomous driving technology. Thus, partnerships, collaborations, and investments toward the development of autonomous vehicles increased significantly in the automotive industry over the past three years (i.e., 2015-2017). They are likely to continue to grow during the forecast period, primarily owing to the increasing support from governments and private sectors across several countries, to promote autonomous driving vehicle technology.



Mando Corporation, one of the largest Tier 1 Korean original equipment manufacturers, obtained a test-drive license of the autonomous driving vehicles in California, the United States, in October 2018. It is one of the first Korean companies to receive the permission. The company aims at developing platforms for fully self-driving vehicles with level four autonomy. It also intends to put its safety equipment on autonomous driving cars effectively in the coming years.



In October 2018, General Motors (GM) and Cruise announced that they joined forces with Honda to pursue large scale deployment of autonomous vehicle technology. Honda may contribute approximately USD 2 billion over 12 years to develop a purpose-built autonomous vehicle for Cruise. In addition to the recently announced Softbank investments, this transaction brings the post-money valuation of Cruise to USD 14.6 billion.



Daimler, which ranks third position in the level four autonomous vehicle market after Waymo and GM, partnered with two major players namely Robert Bosch GmbH and Nvidia Corporation, to develop level four and level five autonomous cars during the forecast period.

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These nine artists lost their lives on or near the battlefield as they tried to record the realities of war for faraway audiences.

James R. ONeill

During the American Civil War, Irish-born James R. ONeill, who at one time or another made his living as an actor, comedian, or landscape artist, worked for Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper as an artist-correspondent in the wars Western theaterespecially Oklahoma, southern Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansassending reports, cartoons, and the occasional sketch to the home office in New York City. Even before entering the fray, ONeill had been painting scenes of the war copied from engravings he had seen in Leslies for a panopticon (a large panorama) that was first exhibited in October 1861. The only sketch that bore his signatureof a Union cavalry charge at Honey Springs, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), on July 17, 1863was published in Leslies some five weeks after the battle.

In early October 1863, ONeill found himself near Fort Baxter, a small Union post in Kansas, as he traveled with a Union detachment accompanying Major General James G. Blunt. On October 6, a band of Quantrills Raiders under the command of William T. Bloody Bill Anderson attacked the fort, but its defenders repulsed the Confederate guerrillas. Moving out into the prairie, Andersons forces, disguised as Federal soldiers, found Blunts detachment and virtually wiped it out, summarily executing and scalping those they captured, including ONeill. He is the only artist known to have been killed during the Civil War.

Frank Vizetelly

Frank Vizetelly, a veteran pictorial journalist of the American Civil War and the Austro-Prussian War, traveled to northeastern Africa in 1883 for The Graphic, a London weekly illustrated newspaper, to cover the war in Sudan against Mahdists in that country who were attempting to overthrow Anglo-Egyptian rule.

In November, an Anglo-Egyptian force of more than 10,000 men under Colonel William Hicks was led into an ambush by treacherous native guides and completely defeated. The Europeans were either slaughtered or subsequently massacred by the victorious Mahdi, though it was rumored that Vizetelly had somehow survived. Subsequent military intelligence confirmed tales of a lone white mana captured British artistliving in the Mahdis camp. British authorities searched high and low for him, even seeking the aid of a priest who had been in Khartoum, but the leads were false: The prisoner turned out to be a German scientist. As late as June 1887 people thought Vizetelly might still be alive, and one person claimed to have seen him in Khartoum. Authorities circulated photographs in hopes of finding him but later concluded that the various sightings were mistaken.

Vizetellys fate remains unknown.

Vassili Vereschchagin

When Vassili Vereschchagin arrived at Port Arthur, China, in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War, Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov invited the famous artist to join him aboard his battleship, Petropavlovsk, the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Pacific, to observe a series of naval exercises and maneuvers. In his final letter to his wife on March 30, Vereschchagin noted that he had been on the ship and was eager to see battle. Japanese ships they had sighted had sunk two Russian ships near Port Arthur. Makarov discouraged the artist from staying on board, but Vereschchagin insisted. With six other ships, the Petropavlovsk headed out to sea and soon engaged the Japanese. After a brief fight, the latter headed farther out to sea to draw the Russians toward a much larger Japanese fleet. Realizing his predicament, Makarov ordered his ships back to Port Arthur, but 2 miles offshore the Petropavlovsk hit a mine, igniting its ammunition hold and setting off a much larger explosion. Vereschchagin, who was standing near Makarov, continued sketching. A third explosion sank the ship, and its 700-man crewalong with Vereschchaginperished. Miraculously, Vereschchagins last work, a picture of a council of war presided over by Makarov, was recovered almost undamaged.

Eric Ravilious

When World War II broke out in September 1939, Eric Ravilious volunteered to be a part-time air spotter with Britains Royal Observer Corps, but the day before Christmas he was notified that he had been accepted by the War Artists Advisory Committee. At 36 he was already an established artist, having designed murals and exhibited many paintings and watercolors. Two months later Ravilious, now an honorary captain in the Royal Marines, was stationed at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, sketching the military activities of the Admiralty. In May 1940 he was on board HMS Highlander, a British destroyer, covering the Battles of Narvik and the Allies subsequent evacuation of Norway. Over the next few months he traveled around Britain, recording various military scenes. In August 1942 he flew to the Royal Air Force station at Kaldadarnes, in Reykjavik, Iceland, and the following month went on a mission to search for a missing plane. Three Lockheeds were sent out to search for the missing aircraft; his failed to return to the base. Ravilious and the planes four-man crew were never found.

McClelland Barclay

Although McClelland Barclay, who was commissioned in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1938, was 50 years old when the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was immediately called up for active duty. An established artist who had created recruiting posters for the navy, developed camouflage patterns, and designed the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, he immediately sought a position as an official artist, arguing that he could memorialize the human element of warthe sweat and blood and courage our boys expend every time they face the enemy. He was rejected for the position, however, possibly because of his age.

Barclay went on to see action in both the Atlantic and the Pacific on various ships, including the USS Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Honolulu, and Maryland, all the while sketching soldiers, sailors, and marines and taking photographs. From late 1942 until June 1943, he mailed many of his pictures to a friend in the United States. In July of that year Barclay, by then a lieutenant commander, was serving aboard the USS LST-342 in operations off Solomon Island when the Japanese submarine Ro-106 torpedoed the tank landing ship. It broke in two, and the aft end sank, taking most of the crew with it, including Barclay, whose body was never recovered.

Lucien Labaudt

Born in Paris in 1880, Lucien Labaudt came to America in his youth and was largely self taught as an artist. In 1910 he settled in San Francisco, where he painted a number of large murals. In the early spring of 1943, he was selected for the War Department Art Program and was assigned to cover U.S. military operations in China, but when Congress canceled the program that summer, Labaudts contract, like those of other artists, was picked up by Life magazine. The magazine sent him to India to paint war scenes, and he arrived there in November 1943 after a two-month voyage. The following month Life asked that he travel to China to cover the guerrilla war against the Japanese, which promised to be a rigorous assignment for the 65-year-old artist. Flying from India to China on December 12, 1943, he and 12 others were killed when their American plane crashed at dusk while trying to land in Assam near the Burma border.

Albert Richards

Albert Richards, who was born in 1919 in Liverpool, England, served as a British war artist beginning in December 1943, when he enrolled for six months; hed previously been called up for war service and had enlisted with the Royal Engineers in 1940. A few months after receiving his commission with the War Artists Advisory Committee, he was given the honorary rank of captain. In 1944, after training as a paratrooper, he dropped into Normandy with the 9th Parachute Battalion of the 6th Airborne Division on D-Day near Sword Beach and fought in the Battle of Merville Battery. To record the invasion, Barclay brought along a sketchbook and pencils in his heavy military kit, and he later used his sketches to create a series of fine watercolors, including one depicting the taking of Pegasus Bridge in the early hours of D-Day. Several months later, near the Dutch-German border, he recorded the burial of victims of the massacre at Bande. On March 5, 1945, while still in Belgium, Barclay set off to paint a night attack by the Allies, but his jeep hit a landmine and he was killed. At age 25, he was the youngest of the three official British war artists who were killed in World War II.

Thomas Hennell

Like Eric Ravilious and Albert Richards, Thomas Hennell served in World War II under the auspices of the War Artists Advisory Committee, which originally commissioned him to record scenes from the home front. Following Raviliouss disappearance in Iceland, Hennell was sent there in 1943, but he returned to Britain in mid-1944 to record maritime activity in and around Portsmouth in preparation for the D-Day invasion. After the Normandy landings he was embedded with the Canadian First Army in northern France and subsequently with the Royal Navy, sketching the Allied advance into the Low Countries. With the war in Europe winding down in the spring of 1945, he was sent to Burma to cover the Japanese retreat, and he later traveled to India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Singapore, where he witnessed its capture and surrender. Hennell then went to Indonesia. In November 1945 he was captured on the island of Java by nationalist guerrillas, who presumably killed him.

Gregor Duncan

By the time he was drafted into the Army Air Corps on July 9, 1942, Gregor Duncan had built a successful career in New York City as a cartoonist and illustrator, working for such major publications as Colliers, Cosmopolitan, the Literary Digest, Readers Digest, and the daily newspaper PM. Near the end of 1943, Duncan joined the staff of Stars and Stripes and headed with six other newspapermen to the Mediterranean theater, where he drew comic strips, field studies, maps, and re-creations of battle scenes. In March 1944 he was sent to Naples, Italy, where he met the legendary cartoonist Bill Mauldin. Mauldin quickly took Duncan under his wing, driving him around Naples in his specially assigned Willys Jeep and even taking Duncan to see his wife, a Red Cross volunteer stationed there.

A week later Duncan and another staff sergeant, Jack Raymond, left for the Anzio beachhead to make some sketches. On the way there, near the just-occupied town of Cori, a shell from a German 88 landed in front of their jeep. Raymond was thrown from the vehicle and suffered only minor injuries; Duncan, who was driving, was fatally wounded by shrapnel from the shell. He was 34.

Gregor Duncan, one of the finest and most promising artists Ive ever known, was killed at Anzio while making sketches for Stars and Stripes, Mauldin would write in The Brass Ring, his 1972 memoir. Its a pretty tough kick in the stomach when you realize what people like Greg could have done if they had lived. Its one of the costs of war we dont often consider.

Peter Harrington is the curator of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection at Brown University.

This article appears in the Spring 2020 issue (Vol. 32, No. 3) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: War List | Fallen Artists

Want to have the lavishly illustrated, premium-quality print edition of MHQ delivered directly to you four times a year? Subscribe now at special savings!
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 15:35 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d220dc 1 Lifestyle online-shopping,grocery,COVID-19,coronavirus,shopping Free

Since the announcement of the first cases of the deadly COVID-19 in Indonesia by President Joko Jokowi Widodo on March 2, people have been stockpiling supplies for self-quarantine at home.

As the number of cases continues to increase, some have started to shop for groceries online to avoid the potential of catching the highly contagious virus from other shoppers at the supermarket.

However, you cannot be too cautious when having your package of groceries delivered to your doorstep as you still can get the virus from your courier or from the surface of the packages, although the chances are small.

Below is the list of steps to make your online grocery shopping even more safe from the lethal disease.

Use contactless delivery

When you order your groceries, chat with your courier to have the items delivered to your doorstep or somewhere nearby.

If you still wish to meet the courier face-to-face, keep a safe distance from them. The World Health Organization advises that we maintain at least 1-meter distance from one another, especially from those who are coughing or sneezing.

Ask the courier to put down the package, and then pick the package when the courier has backed off.

Sounds like an illegal drugs transaction in action movies? It does, but it is the safest way to protect yourself as well as the courier.

Read also: GoFood, GrabFood provide contactless food delivery amid COVID-19 spread

Use electronic payment and tipping

Electronic transactions enable minimum physical interaction between you and the courier. Also, you can reduce the chances of touching cash bills and change that are covered with invisible germs.

Most online grocery shopping apps prefer the use of cashless transactions anyway, and usually cashless transactions have more discount options.

Wash packages and fresh produce thoroughly

Current studies say that it is very unlikely you will get the disease from food; however, your groceries and their packaging may have traces of other peoples hands when they are picked and packed. It is advisable to wash the boxes and bags that come with the groceries with soap and water and dry them before storing.

Paper and cardboard boxes cannot be washed; however, studies have found that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 cannot survive on cardboard surfaces longer than 24 hours.

It is also advisable to wash fruit and vegetables with water and liquid soap designed for washing fresh produce.

Also, dont forget to wash your hands after you store the groceries. (gis/kes)
TORONTO, Monday, March 23, 2020 - Many of us are spending a lot of time looking at our hands lately and we think we know them pretty well. But research from York University's Centre for Vision Research shows the way our brains perceive our hands is inaccurate.

In a new study, the Centre's director Laurence Harris, a Psychology professor in York's Faculty of Health, and graduate student Sarah D'Amour, found the brain's representation of the back of hands changes depending on the orientation in which they are held.

The study, published the journal, Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE) today, looked at how accurate healthy individuals are at judging the size of the back and the palm of their hand and how perception of hand size might be affected when viewing the hand in familiar or unfamiliar perspectives.

Using a novel technique that revealed the indivduals' implicit representation of their hands in the brain, researchers found the perceived width is different when the hand is held upright compared to when it is held sideways, but only for the back of the hand. There was no variation seen in perception for the palm.

In the study of 40 participants, researchers used two sequentially presented actual size photos of the hand, one distorted, one not. The distorted photo was adjusted until it was equally like the person's internal representation as the undistorted photo. The internal representation of their hand was then taken as the point midway between these two photos.

What's surprising, says Harris, is that the perceived length of the back and palm of the hand are different from each other. The length of the back of the hand is overestimated even though palm length is perceived accurately.

"These findings are particularly surprising in view of the accuracy shown in positioning the hands when doing complex and precision actions, such as playing the piano or typing on a computer keyboard," said Harris.

There has been extensive research on various aspects of perception and action such as touch, haptics, motor skills, reaching, grasping, pointing, tool use, position sense, and size perception. This is why understanding the complete picture of how the hand is represented in the brain is key, says D'Amour. All these sensory processes and tasks require knowledge about how the brain represents the hand and therefore can be impacted by any size or shape distortions that may occur.

"We see the backs of our hands far more than our palms - and yet it is the backs of our hands that are inaccurately represented in the brain," says D'Amour.

The life-long experiences of directly interacting with and seeing the hands from multiple different viewpoints may result in greater flexibility and plasticity in how the brain represents and perceives the hand, the researchers add.

"These findings imply that the brain's representation of the body is not built up entirely from vision and may not even involve vision at all - even for body parts that are regularly seen," says Harris. "These findings may be extended toward helping people who have extremely distorted perceptions of their own body - misperceptions that cannot apparently be easily overcome by vision."

###

View release online here.

York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university - our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:

Anjum Nayyar, York University Media Relations, cell 437-242-1547, anayyar@yorku.ca
The toll of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, which killed as many as one million people in the 1980s, is feared to pale in comparison to that of the coronavirus epidemic: Iranian researchers have estimated that the outbreak, which has already killed more than 1,500 people in the country, will peak around late May and could result in 3.5 million deaths.

Iranians are yet again caught between their governments mismanagement and financial strangulation by American sanctions. Tehran failed to respond to the crisis quickly. As the virus spread, Iranians, already angry with the government for shooting down a passenger airliner in January and trying to cover it up, were incensed by the slow response and political games.

At the same time, the American sanctions and falling oil prices have severely weakened the Iranian economy. An impoverished Iran needs financial and medical resources  from food and medicine to cash transfers  to carry out an effective nationwide quarantine and other measures to curb the outbreak.

Iran cant afford to halt its economy and enforce a complete lockdown. Tehran has sought to shore up the financial security of its poorest families through cash transfers over the past week but faces a huge budget deficit. Pirouz Hanachi, the mayor of Tehran, explained that a quarantine was nearly impossible to enforce because the government would be unable to financially support people unable to work.
On Monday evening, Philadelphia 76ers ownership announced plans to cut their staff payroll among full-time workers by 20 percent.

The decision didnt go over well on Twitter, predictably, and the fallout began almost immediately. Fans clamored for staff to be paid on social media, and Sixers star Joel Embiid announced he would pay $500,000 for coronavirus relief, adding that he would offer assistance for Sixers employees based on who was affected by the reductions in salary.

The Sixers are owned by a private equity group that includes Josh Harris, whose net worth is reportedly $3.7 billion. That fact became important because, as ESPNs Adrian Wojnarowski noted on Tuesday, no owner likes to see his net worth trending on Twitter after making a decision to cut salaries. Wojnarowski said other teams around the league were monitoring the blowback Philadelphia encountered. Shortly afterward, Wojnarowski reported that the Sixers were rolling back the cuts.

Our commitment has been to do our best to keep all our employees working through this very difficult situation, Harris said in a written statement. As part of an effort to do that we asked salaried employees to take a temporary 20% pay cut while preserving everyones full benefits -- and keeping our 1500 hourly workers paid throughout the regular season. After listening to our staff and players, its clear that was the wrong decision. We have reversed it and will be paying those employees their full salaries. This is an extraordinary tim in our world - unlike any most of us have ever lived through before - and ordinary business decisions are not enough to meet the moment. To our staff and fans, I apologize for getting this wrong.

Related content:

- Marcus Smart was the only Celtic who tested positive for coronavirus

- Karalis: Five hurdles the NBA needs to clear

- Kyrie Irving announces donations to coronavirus relief
New York, March 24 : Internal controls are emerging in the US with New York City becoming the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic and Florida became the first state to require people coming from there to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Monday that anyone flying in from the city and surrounding areas will face criminal penalties if they do not self-quarantine.

"I would reckon, given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it who is positive for Covid-19," he said.

New York State has recorded 20,884 cases of Covid-19, while Florida has 1,227.

The self-quarantine requirement "is the only we can be sure the virus isn't going to be reintroduced to the state of Florida,a he said.

The regulation imposed internally for the first time is similar to the 14-day self-quarantine that people coming back from 28 European countries and China, South Korea and Iran have been instructed to observe, but without criminal penalty.

So far the restrictions imposed by DeSantis do not apply to people who drive in from the New York area.

With its warmer climate, Florida is a favourite retirement spot for people from the colder northern states and 20 per cent of its population is over 65 - the age group most susceptible to Covid-19 - compared to 16 per cent nationally.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Attorney General David Yost has ordered the closure of two Ohio abortion facilities, including the one health director Dr. Amy Acton helped get licensed. Yost received complaints after they remained open after being ordered to close.

Yost ordered Women's Med Center in Dayton and Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati Surgery Center to stop non-essential services, after neither complied with orders from Acton. Yost contacted them Saturday, March 21, 2020. According to the Columbus Dispatch, he said:

Non-essential surgical procedures are those that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of the patient. If you or your facility do not immediately stop performing non-essential or elective surgical abortions in compliance with the [health director's order], the Department of Health will take all appropriate measures.

Dr. Acton helped obtain the license for "Women's Med Center" when Martin Haskell, a notorious late-term abortionist, was unable to meet the state requirements. When the name of the center was altered from "Women's Med Center of Dayton," the license was approved after a four-year battle in court.

Dr. Acton and her family worked as Obama-supporters who raised funds for Planned Parenthood. The pro-life Governor, Mike DeWine, apparently did not know about Dr. Acton's past, or no background investigation was done on her.

The National Abortion Federation (NAF) argues that abortion is "part of the continuum of pregnancy care." Patrina Mosley, the Family Research Council's director of life, culture, and women's advocacy, disagreed in a statement to Breitbart News:

Abortion is not healthcare. Keeping the doors open to kill in the middle of a pandemic shows you exactly who the abortion industry is and have always been: a tool of eugenics.

"The nation's largest abortion supplier, Planned Parenthood, founded by the renowned eugenicist, Margaret Sanger, is a billion-dollar business," Mosley said. "Do you think they are going to stand by now and not get paid? It's important to understand that abortion is a business  not health care."

Susan Daniels has been an Ohio-licensed private investigator for twenty-seven years. She uncovered Barack Obama's phony social security number in 2009.

Image: Nogwater via Flickr (cropped).
Illicit drugs are now being detected at a much greater rate than alcohol in drivers and motorcyclists who were killed or injured on Australian roads.

Drugs contribute to about one in five road fatalities in NSW, and increased drug use by drivers is a trend across the world as the rate of drink driving has fallen.

The increased rate of drug use by motorists was a cause for concern, which requires increased testing and more drug counselling services, says road safety expert Dr Matthew Baldock.

Some states have suspended roadside drug and alcohol testing by police.

New research by Dr Baldock in Traffic Injury Prevention journal finds 15 per cent of those admitted to hospital in South Australia following a road crash tested positive for illicit drugs. They were tested for ecstasy (MDMA), cannabis and methamphetamine, often called ice.
Volkswagen AG plans short-time working for about 80,000 employees in Germany after the coronavirus pandemic forced the carmaker to idle its sprawling European factory network.

Businesses large and small face a disruption that goes far beyond the level of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Lower Saxony economy minister and VW supervisory board member Bernd Althusmann said in a speech Tuesday in Hanover.

The situation poses an unprecedented challenge in the history of the German state, he said. The worlds largest automaker has its global headquarters in Lower Saxony and is by far the largest employer in the region.

The industrial giant, which employs about 670,000 people worldwide across the group, last week announced it will stop production in Europe. Factories in other regions including South America have also halted operations since then, while VWs operations in its largest market China are gradually ramping up output again after the shutdown.

Under German short-time working rules the state pays part of the reduced salaries for workers. The program was key after the financial crisis to resume operations swiftly when markets bounced back. Althusmann expects the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak will be felt for a long time.

Read more about:
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday pleaded with the states 4.6 million residents to heed his new stay-at-home order and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary, as officials fear an ongoing surge in new coronavirus cases are on track to overwhelming the states health care systems.

In a prime-time address aired on TV stations throughout the state, Edwards asked people to act as if they have the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and remain intensely focused on slowing its spread.

The governor warned that while Louisiana has confirmed cases of the virus in 41 parishes, the virus is present in every part of the state, undetected in many places.

Dont go out unless you absolutely have to, Edwards said during the town hall, hosted by Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

Its a major adjustment. But it is necessary. We need to make this adjustment now so we can get to the other side of this.

The address came as a statewide stay-at-home order directing people to stay inside unless running essential errands, like getting food, medicine or getting exercise, among other things, went into effect Monday evening.

Louisiana is one of several states around the country to issue similar mandates, ordering residents to stay home unless doing a limited number of tasks.

The state has already issued a host of restrictions in recent days to limit face-to-face interactions. Still, officials wont know for at least another week whether the measures are working to slow the spread, said Dr. Alex Billioux, assistant secretary with the states Office of Public Health, who was one of several state officials and other leaders on the roundtable.

What were really finding out is the level of coronavirus that was already in our state, Billioux said of the testing so far.

Restaurants are still allowed to serve delivery, drive-through and take out, but bars, K-12 schools, casinos, gyms and many other businesses were ordered to close. The moves to shutter businesses, aimed at slowing the rapid rise in coronavirus cases in the state, has led to a dramatic surge in unemployment claims and food stamp applications.

Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

The restrictions already in place before Mondays order went into effect have rocked Louisianas economy.

By Saturday, 71,000 people had applied for unemployment benefits, said Ava Dejoie, head of the Louisiana Workforce Commission. In a normal week, 1,400 to 1,500 people apply. The maximum benefit is $247 a week.

As of Monday, Louisiana had confirmed 1,172 positive cases of the new coronavirus, and at least 34 had died. Nearly 6,000 people had been tested, the states health department reported.

Edwards said his heart goes out to people losing their jobs, but described the efforts as vital to ensuring the virus doesnt continue to spread, especially to elderly and sick who are at risk of severe illness or death.

He also said he was not suspending rent payments or other bills, but noted he has suspended evictions and foreclosures.

+2 During coronavirus closures, just over half of Louisiana school districts offering online classes Just 39 of 69 public school districts in Louisiana are offering "distance learning" during the closure of classrooms because of the coronaviru

Without drastic steps to limit its spread as well as boosting the amount of hospital beds, masks, ventilators and other health care equipment, Edwards and others fear the virus is on track to overwhelm the states health systems. He noted Monday that the state does not have all the protective gear for medical workers that it will likely need as the virus continues to spread.

He also said the state is working to surge patients into health care facilities and is identifying other facilities that may be needed to house those who contract the virus, though he did not have specifics on where those would be.

Nobody knows how long this is going to last but we do know right now Louisianas trajectory threatens our ability to deliver care, Edwards said.
A second coronavirus outbreak in China is 'highly likely' and 'even inevitable' as the pandemic escalates, China's state newspaper has warned.

Loopholes in the health screening process and inadequate quarantine measures for people arriving from abroad are the main factors for the looming new crisis, according to state-run Global Times.

The stark warning comes as former epicentre Hubei Province, apart from its capital Wuhan, is set to lift travel restrictions tonight after being locked down for two months.

It also comes as Wuhan has registered its first native infection, a doctor, after reporting zero cases for five consecutive days.

China is facing a looming new coronavirus outbreak, China's state-run newspaper Global Times has warned. Pictured, residents cheer as members of a medical assistance team from Chongqing depart after helping with the locals in Xiaogan city, China's central Hubei province

A high proportion of asymptomatic cases  people who carry the virus but show no symptoms  is another contributing factor to the potential outbreak, said Global Times in an article published yesterday.

One-in-three positive coronavirus tests are from 'silent carriers' who show no symptoms, according to classified Chinese government data viewed by South China Morning Post.

Even though the number of daily cases has dropped to zero in Wuhan, where the epidemic emerged in December, the city is not counting in asymptomatic infections, sparking public fears that they can be a ticking time bomb.

Faced with public pressure, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission yesterday released a statement, saying all asymptomatic cases would need to be isolated in quarantine camps for 14 days.

These silent carriers would be identified when officials screen the close contacts of confirmed patients and investigate cluster infections, according to the document.

The stark warning comes as former epicentre Hubei Province, apart from its capital Wuhan, is set to lift travel restrictions after a two-month lock down. Pictured, staff members line up at attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan on March 24

A second wave outbreak in China is probably inevitable until we have a vaccine or effective treatments or prophylaxis, Larry William Chang, a US-based infectious diseases expert, told the Global Times.

'But with intensive testing, contact tracing, and isolation, I think the extent of the wave can be managed,' he said.

China has so far reported more than 350 'imported cases' detected among new arrivals from other countries as overseas Chinese flock to return to their homeland after the epicentre shifted from Hubei to Europe.

The UK is now the worst offender for sending cases to the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Out of the 107 'imported cases' reported by Beijing, more than a third were detected among people travelling from Britain, followed by those coming from Spain and Italy, authorities revealed.

China reports first case of local transmission from an imported case China has strengthened health checks at airports after the first case of local transmission from an imported case emerged. Pictured, police officers wearing protective suits check information of inbound passengers in Shanghai on March 20 Doctors in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong, have diagnosed a coronavirus patient who fell ill after having close contact with a person entering China from Turkey. This is the first coronavirus case in the country with a direct link to an imported case. The Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission called it 'a case related to an imported case' in a statement on Sunday. The 54-year-old man, known by his surname Jin, experienced muscle pain and a lack of strength on March 17. He was hospitalised on March 20 with a slight fever and tested positive the next day. Mr Jin was a close contact with another confirmed case, 34-year-old Ms Lin, who stayed in Istanbul from January 22 to March 8 on a business trip. Ms Lin flew back to Guangzhou on March 9 via Bangkok. She did not show any symptoms upon entering the country and stayed at home most of the time afterwards. She was diagnosed on March 21 after the city's infectious disease authority gave her a test. People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's Communist Party, warned of the emergence of Mr Jin's case. In explaining its significance, the newspaper quoted health experts from Guangzhou and said: 'Cases related to imported cases are the second-generation cases brought in from abroad. It means the close contacts of [the imported cases] have been transmitted and fallen ill.' Advertisement

China's top coronavirus experts yesterday said she was 'very worried' about a possible second outbreak.

Epidemiologist and Professor Li Lanjuan, 73, told state newspaper People's Daily in Wuhan: 'The mission in Wuhan has not been accomplished, and there are still many critical patients. Furthermore, I think the current situation in our country is very tough.

'[I am] very worried that imported cases could trigger another large-scale epidemic in our country.

'Can we make every effort to guard our country and prevent another epidemic from happening? This is a tough challenge.'

Professor Li Lanjuan (pictured), a member of Beijing's expert team on the virus, said she was 'very worried that imported cases could trigger another large-scale epidemic in our country'

China's National Health Commission today reported seven new deaths and 78 new cases, including 74 imported infections and one native case in Wuhan.

While the daily tally in Hong Kong soared by 356 and four more people there died of the disease yesterday.

Worldwide, more than 16,500 people have been killed by the contagion and over 384,400 people have been infected.
A doctor in Mumbai has shut his clinic for an indefinite period after an Italy returnee who came to him for medical advice later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Dr Abdul Khalique, who runs a clinic in Kalina area of Santa Cruz in the metropolis, told PTI the man reached Mumbai on March 18 and came to his clinic the next day.

"I asked him to get himself checked in Kasturba Hospital. His report returned negative, and he came to my clinic again on March 20 and March 21 complaining of cold. cough and body pain," the doctor said.

"His ill health continued and he got himself tested and he was found to be infected with the novel coronavirus. I got a call from the BMC today inquiring about this patient. I have now shut my clinic, but am worried thinking about whether he has spread the virus to people he met in the last few days," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday welcomed a flight from China to Budapest bringing medical supplies to combat the coronavirus.

Orban said the shipment included over three million masks, 100,000 test kits and 86 ventilators.

Hungary has 187 confirmed cases of the new virus and nine deaths.

While the government is recommending people to stay at home as much as possible, no mandatory curfews have been announced.

Orban is seeking an indefinite extension to the state of emergency declared on 11 March due to the coronavirus, which allows the government to rule by decree.

The proposal, expected to be approved next Tuesday in Parliament by government-party lawmakers, also sets prison terms of up to five years for those convicted of spreading false information about the epidemic, and of up to eight years for those judged to have interfered with efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The new coronavirus has infected more than 387,000 people and killed over 16,500 globally.

It causes mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but severe symptoms are more likely among the elderly and those with existing health problems.

More than 101,000 people have recovered so far, mostly in China.
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President Donald Trump suggested that the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 600 lives in the United States, justifies his immigration policies, and IS WHY WE NEED BORDERS.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED BORDERS!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

But as many critics pointed out, viruses know no borders.

Human compassion is the only proven strategy against this global problem. If we have learned something from this crisis, it's that borders are useless: walls don't stop viruses.  Alejandro Gaviria (@agaviriau) March 24, 2020

Yes, let's make the viruses show some sort of identification before they cross over. Great idea, Mr. President. You're such a genius.  Stacie (@h8Wankmaggot45) March 23, 2020

There is already community spread of the coronavirus within the United States and the virus is affecting countries around the world. This is why we need to approach this as a global effort rather than racist nationalism and xenophobia. Were all in this together.  Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 23, 2020

OHare airport with international travelers going through customs. Six hour lines, no masks, no gloves, no tests, no quarantines. Viruses dont know borders. pic.twitter.com/bDcnJsJldH  jen pal (@jennyrachelpal) March 23, 2020

Viruses dont use Passports.  Rob Anderson for Louisiana (@RobAnderson2018) March 23, 2020

The president has had to contend with a mounting crisis as news emerged that his administration had been warned about a likely pandemic as early as January and February, but failed to take serious action. The warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies underscore a dire reality: That the virus would have spread with or without the tightened border controls the president suggested. (The president has made tightened border security and immigration control a cornerstone of his policy since his time as a candidate on the campaign trail.)

One in three Americans has been ordered to stay home as United States health officials warn that the worst is still ahead of us. With the exponential spread, the number of cases and deaths is expected to explode in the coming week, likely determining the direction the White House will take.

I want America to understand: This week, its going to get bad, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said during an appearance on NBC. We really, really need everyone to stay at home.  There are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously.

There are more than 46,000 coronavirus cases nationwide, though that number is likely to be significantly higher due to a testing shortage.
Theresa Masterman has been trying to get her husband out of Tucson and back home to Kelowna, British Columbia, for days now, but the lack of tests for the coronavirus is making it impossible.

Jack Masterman, 89, fell at their Tucson home and was taken to Tucson Medical Center on March 14 after developing pneumonia. Theres been a bed waiting for him at a skilled nursing rehabilitation center near their home in Canada for four days now, but Theresa Masterman cant get him there because either the air ambulance company or the facility in British Columbia  or both  want a negative test first.

Since her husband does not have any virus symptoms, hes not a testing priority in the U.S. Theresa Masterman is worried about losing the bed back home and shes distraught about not being able to visit him since TMC imposed its no-visitor rule.

I feel that we are being held hostage, she said. Youd think theyd do it for inpatient.

She says shes been getting mixed messages about whats needed for this to work. Shes called everywhere she can think of in Canada to see if she could get a test sent down, but nothing has materialized.

I havent seen him in five days, she said. Its just horrible.

And once they are home, she cant see him for another 14 days while shes in quarantine.

A commercial flight is out of the question, she said, because while her husband is stable enough to travel, hes too weak to stand on his own.
MEXICO CITY - Unidentified gunmen shot to death a lawyer and activist who defended a rural tract against development near the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, Mexicos National Human Rights Commission said Tuesday.

The governmental commission issued a statement condemning the killing of Isaac Medardo Herrera on Monday night.

His neighbourhood activist group in Jiutepec, Morelos posted a statement saying the killers knocked on the door of Herreras home and shot him, before fleeing.

Herrera had led a fight over at least four years to stop plans to build a housing development on the Los Venados tract, an environmentally sensitive woodland area in Jiutepec, just south of Cuernavaca. The development was halted and the area was supposed to be used as a nature reserve.

The commission said at least one other activist has been killed in Mexico so far in 2020.

The Mexican Center for Environmental Rights reported that 15 land defenders were killed in Mexico in 2019. Morelos, the state where Jiutepec is located, was the third most dangerous for environmental activists in 2019.

The states semi-tropical climate and abundant water, added to its close proximity to Mexico City, have made it the subject of heavy pressure from developers eager to build homes and vacation properties there.
Note: This is an incident of self-medication where the person involved lost his life. Please do not self-medicate; consult a doctor if you suspect you have symptoms.

According to a CNN report, a man from Phoenix, Arizona was found dead and his wife in a critical condition after they self-medicated with chloroquine phosphate to prevent getting infected with coronavirus.

The possible use of choroquine has been recommended by US President Donald Trump to treat the virus but self-medicating is absolutely not the way to do it.

Chloroquine is an anti-malarial drug which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. However, the FDA has not yet approved the medication to treat the novel pandemic coronavirus.

Twitter

Hospital system Banner Health released a statement which said that chloroquine and other medications should not be used by people to treat the virus on their own. Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director said, "Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus. But self-medicating is not the way to do so."

The reports also suggested that it is still unknown as to how the couple came in the possession of the medication and which hospital treated them. Banner Health's statement also included the fact that both the man and woman started experiencing immediate effects of the medicine within 30 minutes of ingesting it.

Twitter (Image for representational purposes only)

A few days ago, President Trump had tweeted about the medication being a possible measure to treat coronavirus. However, health officials curtly pointed out that they need to do thorough studies to conclude the same. Dr. Anthony Fauci, USA's top infectious disease expert said, "I have said I'm not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work."

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents).....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020

Dr Daniel Brooks also added, "The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health."

In India, the use of hydroxychloroquine has been majorly recommended for high-risk patients as well as asymptomatic health care workers who are treating infected people and exposing themselves to the virus. Family members of COVID-19 confirmed cases are also recommended to use the drug to prevent catching the infection. However, President of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bhargava has especially emphasised on the fact that the medication is to be prescribed by a medical officer only.



Mohw.gov

Consulting a medical expert is the ONLY way to go about this.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-24 12:04:02

Flavors and fragrances innovator implements IP management system to streamline patent and trademark management processes and enhance collaboration

BOSTON, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anaqua, the leading provider of innovation and intellectual property management solutions, today announced that the world leader in flavors, fragrances, and aroma ingredients, Takasago International Corporation, has selected ANAQUA software and services to enhance the efficiency of its global IP management.

Established in Japan in 1920, Takasago has an extensive international IP portfolio of patents and trademarks covering all aspects of flavors, fragrances, and aroma ingredients. Through the agreement, Takasago leverages ANAQUA software and services globally. The ANAQUA platform serves as Takasagos centralized IP management system, bringing critical support for and greater efficiency to the companys innovation life-cycle management. With ANAQUA, Takasago can enhance its patent and trademark management and monetization, simplify contract management, improve internal and outside counsel collaboration, support patent annuity and trademark renewal payment services, as well as better forecast and manage IP financials.

We are excited to be working closely with Takasago to provide them with an integrated IP management system that will support and enhance their global innovation and operational excellence, said Bob Romeo, CEO of Anaqua. Anaqua is honored to welcome Takasago to our client community. Their joining reflects our continued growth as a global IP management provider and our industry expertise in the APAC region.

About Anaqua

Anaqua is a premium provider of integrated, end-to-end innovation and intellectual property (IP) management solutions, serving more than 50% of the top 25 U.S. patent filers, more than 50% of the top 25 global brands, and a growing number of the most prestigious, forward-looking law firms. The companys global operations are headquartered in Boston, with offices across Europe and Asia. Anaquas IP platform is used by nearly one million IP executives, attorneys, paralegals, administrators, and innovators globally. Its solution suite merges best practice workflows with big data analytics and tech-enabled services to create one intelligent environment designed to inform IP strategy, enable IP decision-making, and streamline IP operations. For additional information, please visit anaqua.com.

About Takasago

Takasago International Corporation is a leading company in the flavors, fragrances, and aroma ingredients industry established in 1920. For more information visit takasago.com.

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DENVER  Health officials are ordering residents in an around the exclusive resort community of Aspen to stay at home as much as possible and telling visitors to leave.

Under the order issued Monday night, Pitkin County residents can only leave home for essential tasks such as grocery shopping, getting medical treatment and outdoor exercise. Liquor stores and marijuana shops will remain open but non-essential retail stores and construction sites must close. Officials said they are trying to slow the spread of the virus in a region that has been hit hard and prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed.

Colorado health officials warned last week that the coronvirus has spread extensively in mountain resort communities and urged anyone who lives in or recently visited Eagle, Summit, Pitkin or Gunnison counties to limit contact with other people to reduce the spread of the virus.

As of Tuesday, Colorado had more than 900 cases of the virus and 11 people have died, according to the state health department.

The Pitkin County order directs visitors to return home immediately by the fastest and safest available means.

Vacation home owners are exempted but were strongly encouraged to leave. County manager Jon Peacock told The Aspen Times that those leaving have been asked to self-quarantine after they arrive home.

The county hopes to soon begin community-wide testing using a new virus test developed by a Colorado-based company, Aytu Bioscience Inc.

The test requires a finger-prick blood samples which can be analyzed at testing sites and does not require health care workers to wear as much protective equipment or use swabs as are required with other tests, Peacock said. The company said Monday that it expects to deliver its first shipment of 100,000 tests in the United States this week.
(Natural News) The novel coronavirus?a global pandemic currently ravaging most parts of the world?has been spreading among vulnerable elderly as the number of infection cases rises in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities throughout the United States. This finding follows a deadly coronavirus outbreak that ravaged a nursing home in the Seattle area.

The infectious disease spread among the inhabitants of the Life Care Center in Kirkland which left 35 people?many of whom are residents?dead. Federal health officials claim that staff members who were working while sick at the long-term care facility contributed to the spread of COVID-19 not only in the aforementioned facility but also in other facilities in the Seattle area.

They need the money. They dont have sick leave. They dont recognize their symptoms. They deny their symptoms, said Jeff Duchin, public health officer for Seattle and King County. Nobody was thinking about COVID-19 at this point.

Elderly in nursing homes at risk of coronavirus

Experts and health officials claim that they expect to see many more coronavirus cases arise from various elder-care facilities throughout the United States. This is despite of the stringent countermeasures done by both the industry and the federal nursing-home regulators to prevent the further spread of the virus.

Nursing homes have essentially become islands of isolation as they curtail all but the most essential visits from family members and friends in an attempt to prevent their residents from contracting the dreaded coronavirus.

As of this writing, there are 19,744 cases of COVID-19 in the United States.

COVID-19 is a flu-like disease caused by a member of the coronavirus family that is closely related to the SARS and MERS viruses, both of which have caused outbreaks in the past. The disease is caused by a virus designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. COVID, on the other hand, is short for coronavirus disease. (Related: U.S. State Dept. Issues Level 4 health advisory urging all Americans to avoid international travel: Is a global coronavirus LOCKDOWN coming?)

Those with confirmed cases reported having symptoms such as coughing, fever and shortness of breath. However, severe cases of COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia and death. Experts claim that these effects are especially serious in older people and those suffering from underlying health conditions. In addition, many nursing homes have residents within close proximity of each other and of the staff, making it much more likely for a major outbreak to occur.

Just this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that a widespread coronavirus outbreak was found at a nursing home in Illinois; in a suburb just southwest of the bustling city of Chicago. After a case was identified within the past weekend, a total of 45 new infections were discovered at the Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, affecting both residents and staff. According to the Chicago Tribune, federal inspection records revealed that many of Illinois nursing home facilities have been among the worst in the nation for the measure of patient protection or following the rules to contain infections.

Long-term-care residents are our most vulnerable population and at the greatest risk of severe illness, Ngozi Ezike, Illinoiss public health director, said.

Nursing homes in Florida were also hit with scores of cases as 19 long-term care facilities harbored residents who tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to Mary Mayhew, Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, the facilities in question are currently isolating the individuals who have tested positive for the virus to give them the appropriate care and to prevent further spread among the other residents.

Our immediate thoughts are with their loved ones at this time. At this point, it is unknown how or when these residents potentially contracted the virus, Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) spokeswoman Kristen Knapp stated. FHCA and our members have been and will continue to be vigilant in taking all appropriate measures to safeguard our residents.

In Oregon, the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home in Lebanon discovered 14 new coronavirus cases on Monday. Thirteen of the infected were residents while the remaining one was an employee. The Oregonian reported that the veterans home housed 150 residents, many of whom are older than 70 and about one-third are over 90. Each of the residents and staff was tested for the virus at the behest of the Oregon Health Authority. Later, the Department of Veterans Affairs said that all the residents have been cleared by the testing.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

ChannelNewsAsia.com

Kiro7.com

NYTimes.com

Worldometer.info

Khou.com

CDC.gov

ChicagoTribune.com

MySunCoast.com

OregonLive.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:24:30|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that China stands ready to provide assistance within its capacity for Brazil's battle against COVID-19 and help contain the global spread of the coronavirus disease.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere sympathies and firm support to the Brazilian government and people over their fight against COVID-19.

Noting that the disease has recently broken out in many parts around the world and been spreading rapidly, Xi said the top priority now is for countries to strengthen cooperation.

Upholding the notion of a community with a shared future for mankind, and with an open, transparent and responsible attitude, China has been releasing epidemic information in a timely manner, said Xi.

China, he added, has also been sharing prevention, control and treatment experience with the World Health Organization and the international community without reservation, and doing its best to provide assistance for other parties.

Xi said he follows the outbreak in Brazil closely, and hopes that Brazil will arrest the epidemic's spread as soon as possible.

Noting that China and Latin American and Caribbean countries held a video conference on epidemic prevention and control on Tuesday, Xi said China is ready to provide assistance within its capacity for Brazil and contribute to curbing the global spread of the disease.

Xi stressed that the international community has already arrived at a consensus that China made enormous sacrifices in the fight against COVID-19 and bought precious time for the world.

As comprehensive strategic partners, he said, China and Brazil need to maintain strategic focus, support each other on their respective core interests and major concerns, and jointly send to the international community a message of solidarity and a positive signal that they are in the COVID-19 battle together.

Meanwhile, the two countries should push forward practical cooperation in various fields, enhance communication and coordination within such multilateral frameworks as G20 and BRICS, and jointly safeguard and advance their comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi added.

The Chinese president said he is confident that China and Brazil will certainly beat the disease hand in hand and lift their all-round cooperation to higher levels.
CARROLLTON  An ordinance to allow video gaming at convenience stores in Carrollton is poised to be voted on next month.

During the March 12 meeting of Carrollton City Council, a draft ordinance to allow gambling in the citys convenience stores had its second reading to get feedback from the city council.

Carrollton Police Chief Terry Gross, who worked on crafting the draft ordinance along with City Attorney William Strang and Mayor Joseph Montanez, said most of the feedback the ordinance received was administrative in nature. For example, it was suggested that the definition of a convenience store be at the top of the ordinance so business owners can read that definition to know if their store qualifies before reading further.

The draft ordinance defines convenience stores as, a small-size retail business and gas station establishment. The required license permits convenience stores to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption in the gaming areas. No outside alcohol will be allowed in the gaming area and alcohol cannot be consumed anywhere else on the premises.

The Scott County Times reported that Mark Shade, owner of Carrollton convenience store Bucks Crossing, approached the city with a request to put gaming in his business. Gross said the path to crafting the ordinance started when he met with Strang to look at the possibilities for gaming at convenience stores.

Gross said the ordinance had to be designed to meet the citys standards and the rules of the Illinois Gaming Board and Illinois Liquor Control Act. He asked other communities to provide resources that he could study to see what has been put into law in other municipalities and got a good response, he said.

The resulting draft ordinance takes bits and pieces from other municipalities and is fashioned to fit Carrollton, Gross said.

We took what would work for the city of Carrollton and put together a rough draft, he said.

Two pieces of the ordinance that Gross said were important for him include a provision that makes the gaming area a separate entity from the store with a unique address and requires the gaming area to have an ID scanner  so only people who are over 21 can enter  and a video camera.

The second provision mandates that people using the gaming facility can only consume one alcoholic beverage an hour. This provision is in place because Gross did not (want the gaming areas) to be another bar.

The annual license would cost $550 and a $450 fee would be added for a Sunday license, according to the draft ordinance.

The ordinance is scheduled to be voted on during the next city council meeting. That meeting now is scheduled for April 9, but the date may be subject to change because of concerns over COVID-19, Gross said.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government on Wednesday banned export of anti-malarial drug hydroxycloroquine, with immediate effect to ensure sufficient availability of the medicine in the domestic market.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava had on Monday recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating healthcare workers handling suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases and also the asymptomatic household contacts of the lab-confirmed cases.

The treatment protocol recommended by the ICMR-constituted National Task Force for COVID-19 has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for restricted use in emergency situations.

In a notification issued on Wednesday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of the commerce ministry which deals with export and import-related matters, said, "The export of hydroxycloroquine and formulations made from hydroxycloroquine is prohibited with immediate effect".

It, however, said the government will allow export of the medicine on humanitarian grounds on case-to-case basis on the Ministry of External Affairs' recommendation.

Export will also be permitted from the special economic zones/export oriented units and in cases where the outbound shipment is made to fulfil export obligation under any advance authorisation license issued on or before the date of this notification, which is March 25, 2020.

It added, "Export will be allowed in case of shipments where irrevocable letter of credit has been issued before the date of this notification or in case where full advance payment has been received by the exporter in India against specific shipment, subject to submission of documentary evidence."



According to some reports, demand for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, a related compound, have jumped after US President Donald Trump said that these salts were effective in treating COVID-19. People are panic buying this medicine.

Over the last few weeks, India has banned exports of host of medical devices including sanitisers, all types of ventilators and surgical masks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bandsintown Adds Free Fast Track Access For Musicians To Monetize Live Streams On Amazons Twitch

Bandsintown has added free fast track access to streaming platform Twitchs monetization tools for musicians unable to perform live during the coronavirus shutdown.

Artists registered with Bandsintown For Artists who have more than 2,000 Trackers (followers) on Bandsintown Concerts are now eligible to be fast-tracked to monetize their live performances streamed on Twitch via tips  called Bits on Twitch  and paid fan subscriptions.

Prior to this new partnership, musicians had to prove they had a substantial live stream following over a month-long period before monetization was an option. Soundcloud added Twitch access, but only for creators who pay for a monthly Artist subscription.

Bandsintowns fast track Twitch monetization service is 100% free.

Musicians and their bands have been hit hard, so we are proud to offer them this new revenue opportunity, said Fabrice Sergent, Bandsintown Managing Partner. Like all Bandsintown For Artists services, the ability to directly message fans, alert them when artists go live and now, to benefit from fast-tracking Twitch monetization will be 100% free. We are all in this together.

Twitch continues to be a great place for artists to perform and connect with their fans live, said Mike Olson, Twitch VP, Head of Music said in a statement. Were excited to partner with Bandsintown to provide artists not only the best live streaming experience, but an opportunity for our community to support them with monetization tools that arent offered elsewhere.

Much Needed Revenue & More Free Tools For Artists

Emerging artists are suffering from the ban on live events since live music-related revenue can account for 80%  100% of their income.

Bandsintown already provides its 530,000 registered artists with the ability to reach the 55 million fans registered on the platform at no cost and is rolling out new and improved free tools for artists almost weekly.

This week Bandsintown also announced a WATCH LIVE feature to help artists schedule live events on their favorite live streaming platforms and promote them to their fans.

Last week more than 84,500 unique viewers tuned in to the launch of the Bandsintown LIVE channel on Twitch for a live performance from South Africa by pioneering DJ and producer Black Coffee.

Disclosure: While independently published, Hypebot is owned by Bandsintown

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Noted Islamic scholar and leading theologian, Maulana Shaikh Khalil-ur-Rahman Sajjad Nomani on Tuesday urged the Muslim community to refrain from attending congregational prayers in mosques till the (COVID-19) pandemic recedes.

The scholar's appeal is the first categorical announcement by a top Muslim cleric to the faithful to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Nomani, considered the tallest cleric of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, is also an official spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

He said that he was issuing this appeal only after conferring with leading Islamic jurists and theologians.

After due deliberations, we have come to the decision that while Azan' (Islamic call to prayer) in all mosques should continue as mandated in Islam, but all congregational prayers should be limited to three-four persons who are the keepers of each mosque and reside inside these mosques as caretakers, the scholar said.

He said according to the letter and spirit of Islamic teachings, it was absolutely in order if Muslims offered prayers at home in the company of their family members.

Maulana Nomani who divides his time between Raigaad in Maharashtra and Lucknow told PTI over telephone that the Muslim community should come forward and play its due role in helping the country in this hour of crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The supply chain for medical equipment relies heavily on factories overseas  mostly in China and Taiwan  increasingly commandeered by governments for domestic use. And shortages of the fabric and other raw materials used to make masks are beginning to be a problem. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued bleak guidance for hospitals facing shortages, including using homemade masks. The Deaconess Health System in Indiana recently asked the public to sew and donate masks that meet CDC protocols, as did Providence hospitals in Washington state.
By John Chalmers

BRUSSELS, March 23 (Reuters) - As the contagion from the coronavirus pandemic wrecks the global economy, Western policymakers are struggling to find a consensus on how best to contain the crisis as financial markets crumble.

While governments have agreed to ditch decades of fiscal orthodoxy to flood their economies with cash, arguments over how the vast sums of money should be spent are stalling measures to prevent a global recession becoming a debilitating slump.

The U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled a major expansion of its lending programmes on Monday, ramping up efforts to shield the world's largest economy after party politicking stymied efforts to get a $1 trillion plus rescue package through the U.S. Senate on Sunday.

Across Europe, policymakers have deployed a raft of measures, collectively pledging hundreds of billions of euros to cut taxes and extend unemployment benefits as businesses shut their doors and lay off thousands of people.

The European Union's executive, for example, has expedited reviews of state aid schemes in a record two to three days to provide liquidity to small- and medium-sized businesses across the 27-country bloc.

The European Commission will present a tool for the euro zone's bailout fund - the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - which has 410 billion euros ($438 billion) of idle lending muscle. That could unlock unlimited purchases of sovereign debt by the European Central Bank.

But the idea of issuing EU eurobonds  debt backed by all members states  to raise more cash is still too much to stomach for some richer countries and hopes for a breakthrough at a virtual gathering of EU finance ministers on Monday are slim.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose country is struggling with Europe's second-worst outbreak of the COVID-19 disease after Italy, says much more is needed.

"We are at war," he said on Sunday, calling on Europe to launch a massive, coordinated public investment programme akin to the post World War Two Marshall Plan.

Story continues

However, diplomats say Germany and the Netherlands, which have large budget surpluses and falling debt levels, are wary of pooling risk with weaker EU economies, some still emerging from the fallout from the financial crisis nearly a decade earlier.

"Swift implementation is of the essence, given the lingering level of stress in the markets," AXA Group Chief Economist Gilles Moec said.

'OVER THE CLIFF'

In Washington, there is similar wrangling over how exactly "helicopter bailouts" should be spent even as some central bankers call for massive state support with no strings attached just to keep the U.S. economy on life support.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard told Reuters that governments should match any lost wages and lost business, no questions asked.

In the week before last, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surged by the most since 2012 to a 2-1/2-year high as companies in service sectors laid off workers.

Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York, said the data provided confirmation, if it was needed, that the economy had already "fallen over the cliff".

In D.C., the Senate was working to overcome differences on a coronavirus rescue package. Democrats are holding out for more money to help state and local governments and hospitals, while Republicans want quick action to give financial markets a sign of encouragement.

Eurasia U.S. Director Todd Mariano said the politicking over giveaways is likely to delay the bill by only a day or two.

"The daily freezing of economic activity due to the pandemic's spread will subsume those concerns for now in the face of the overriding need to protect the U.S. economy," he said. "Another expected day of market downturn and turbulence will probably help underscore that need." (Editing by David Clarke and Carmel Crimmins)
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- National Spine and Pain Centers (NSPC), the nation's leading network of chronic pain relief centers, today announced that it is making telemedicine immediately available to its affiliated providers and their patients seeking treatment of chronic pain. With more than 70 locations and 750 health professionals facilitating nearly a million patient visits a year, NSPC's implementation of telemedicine may be one of the largest and most rapid deployments of the technology to date.

The launch of telemedicine by NSPC is a direct response to the Trump Administration's recent announcement of expanded Medicare coverage for the service. "By quickly deploying telemedicine, not only are we providing an essential service to those suffering with chronic pain, we are also helping to ensure these patients don't end up in overburdened Emergency Rooms, where the risk of contracting coronavirus will surely be higher," says NSPC's Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Wisor, MD.

It has been estimated that the prevalence of chronic pain may be as high as 40% of the U.S. population. What's more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic pain has been linked to numerous physical and mental conditions, results in lost productivity, and contributes to high health care costs. Indeed, newly published research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that in 2016 Americans spent an estimated $380 billion on lower back and neck pain, joint and limb pain, and other musculoskeletal disorders.

For both existing and new patients, the deployment of telemedicine provides remote access to affiliated pain management physicians in 10 states, including: Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. "In many ways, the COVID-19 crisis has simply accelerated the future of medicine, and specifically the practice of pain management," says NSPC's Chief Medical Officer, Peter Staats, MD. "So, while it's difficult to find a silver lining in this situation, telemedicine is something that provides a valuable added benefit to patients. I suspect the expansion of its utilization will be one of the positive legacies that emerges in the wake of the coronavirus," concluded Dr. Staats.

About National Spine and Pain Centers:

For more than 30 years, NSPC affiliated providers have been pioneers in the relief of chronic and acute pain through minimally invasive procedures and leading-edge clinical research. Today, with more than 70 locations and 750 health professionals facilitating nearly a million patient visits a year, NSPC's network continues to be the healthcare brand more people trust for access to pain relief providers than any other. NSPC's stated mission is to end needless human pain and suffering by facilitating world-class care. For more information, visit www.TreatingPain.com.

Medical services are provided by independently operated physician practices that are branded as National Spine and Pain Centers.

SOURCE National Spine and Pain Centers

Related Links

http://www.TreatingPain.com


The 21-day national lockdown announced on Tuesday has thrown into doubt the 2021 Census and updating of the National Population Register (NPR) that was scheduled to begin on April 1, with officials saying a final call is yet to be taken on the exercise.

The first phase of Census 2021  the house listing phase  and the updating of NPR database was to start in New Delhi area, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and in Meghalaya from April 1. The process was to also to be carried out in other states in a phased manner, as per the convenience of and as notified by states and completed by September 30.

It is an emergency situation and we will wait and watch on how to proceed. No final decision has been taken, said a senior government official on condition of anonymity. The Union home ministry, however, did not officially clarify.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)  that functions under the Union Home Ministry  will be issuing necessary guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a statement of the ministry said.

Indias fight against Covid-19 was so far being led by the Union health ministry in coordination with other arms of the government. By invoking the Disaster Management Act 2005 the government has consolidated the efforts under the NDMA.
President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) issued an executive order to prohibit hoarding and price gouging of medical supplies in the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 400 lives in the country.

"The order will prohibit the hoarding of vital medical equipment and supplies, such as hand sanitizers, face masks, and personal protective equipment," Trump said at the coronavirus task force briefing.

"We will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit," he added.

Adding to what Trump said US Attorney General William Barr added that Department of Justice has seen evidence of hoarding and price gouging on medical resources which were authorized under the Defense Production Act.

Commenting on the executive order, Barr said, "I want to stress that we are not talking about consumers stockpiling supplies for their own needs. We are talking about people hoarding goods and materials on an industrial scale for the purpose of manipulating the market and deriving windfall profits."

Talking on the worsening situation in the country due to COVID-19, he said: "Certainly this is going to be bad." "We are trying to make it much much less bad. Obviously the numbers are going to increase with time and then they're going to decrease," he added.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a tweet had made the announcement through the microblogging site Twitter.

"President @realDonaldTrump just signed an EO to prevent hoarding & price gouging of supplies needed in our war against the #Coronavirus. This sends a strong message - we will not let those hoarding vital supplies & price gougers to harm the health of America in this hour of need," Stephanie Grisham wrote on Twitter.

So far, more than 40,000 people have been tested positive in the US, while over 400 have died because of the lethal virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Key equity indices came off the day's low as buying emerged as lower level in mid-morning trade. Indices witnessed a bout of volatility as uncertainty regarding implications of Coronavirus outbreak loomed. The Nifty ascended toward 7800 level. Pharma stocks surged on strong buying support.

At 11:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 490.28 points or 1.89% at 26,471.52. The Nifty 50 index rose 129.1 points or 1.7% at 7,739.35.

The broader market was mixed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.93%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 655 shares rose and 1204 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was positive with 33 stocks advancing and 17 stocks declining.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 15.22% to 82.9475.

India Lockdown:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has put the state under curfew to ensure compliance with lockdown restrictions amid the COVID-19 crisis. Essential services such as grocery, milk, medical shops, etc. will remain open.

All places of worship will be closed. All forms of public transport will not be operational. Furthermore, all the district borders within the state will be sealed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index jumped 3.68% to 6,669.20, reversing yesterday's 7.5% slump.

Aurobindo Pharma (up 7.91%), Cipla (up 5.68%), Biocon (up 5.05%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (up 5.02%), Divi's Laboratories (up 3.96%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 3.72%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.57%), Lupin (up 1.23%), Piramal Enterprises (up 1.22%) and Cadila Healthcare (up 0.96%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Jubilant Foodworks in a regulatory filing after market hours yesterday announced that it has suspended dine-in facility across all Domino's Pizza restaurants. The company said this is in view of the emergent situation due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The company further said that it will mitigate the impact and promote the takeaway and delivery channels but there will be an adverse impact on the revenue of the company. Shares of Jubilant Foodworks were up 0.13% at Rs 1289.95.

Shares Spicejet and Indigo fell by 4.79% to 5% after India suspended all domestic flights, effective midnight 24 March 2020, to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives across the world. In a statement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said: The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease operations with effective from the mid night 23.59 IST hours on 24 March 2020. Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 2359 hours on 24 March 2020. The restrictions shall not apply to solely cargo carrying flights.

Global Markets:

Asian markets were trading sharply higher after the US Federal Reserve launched unlimited bond buying and other fresh steps and the US Congress appeared closer to a deal on a massive stimulus package to boost the world's largest economy hammered by the coronavirus.

In US, stocks booked sharp losses on Monday as the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation overshadowed the Federal Reserve's pledge to buy unlimited bonds and bolster emergency lending facilities to support the flow of credit into the economy.

The central bank's unscheduled announcement comes as investors remain unhappy with a lack of government action to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For the past one week, 32-year-old Shraddha Kejriwal who runs a merchandising business in Pune has been waking up with nightmares. "I am unable to deal with this idea of an uncertain future," she said. Shraddha battles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is immunocompromised too.

The spread of the deadly novel coronavirus that has now forced large parts of the country to go under lockdown, she said, has taken a big toll on her mental health.

Coronavirus outbreak in India (file photo)

Maharashtra, where Shraddha lives, has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in India including two deaths. To control the spread of the highly contagious disease which has affected over 3.4 lakh people worldwide, the Maharashtra government has imposed a curfew till March 31 during which only essential services will be allowed to function. Section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits the gathering of five or more people at public places, has been enforced .

"The Indian business was already in a tough time and now with this pandemic, I'm not just scared about my health, I am scared about the future," Shraddha said. Last week, when Pune started to shut down educational institutes and offices, she said, "It felt like the world is collapsing." Soon, she had to close the store as customers stopped visiting. The online business has also suffered after orders have dwindled. "We have to pay salaries, rent, and there are so many other expenses  but with no income and the uncertainty of how long all this is going to last, I have lost all sleep," Shraddha said.

While the outbreak has led to philosophical questions about survival, humanity and the future, the changes and the chaos that it is bringing in the lives of Indians are hard to cope with. It's slightly more difficult than washing hands.

Over 90 million Indians, or 7.5 per cent of the countrys population of 1.3 billion, suffer from some form of mental disorder, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of them do not get any help. The findings of a countrywide 2015-2016 study by Indias National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS)  an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  revealed that nearly 150 million Indians needed active intervention while fewer than 30 million were getting it.

The outbreak has led scientists, doctors, public health officials and the governments across the world scrambling for a cure but the question that is often ignored is already staring at us: how will India cope with the mental health crisis?

Everyone is Anxious: Sleepless Nights, Worries

On March 19, a 23-year-old suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus died after he jumped off the seventh floor of Delhis Safdarjung Hospital. The family complained that the doctors did not counsel the man who had just returned from Sydney with his mother. The Health Ministry issued a statement that read, "Patient reached around 9 pm and was taken to the seventh floor for admission and evaluation. When doctors reached the room, he wasnt inside. At the same time, another doctor observed a body around 9.15 pm.

Ruchita Chandrashekar, a trauma therapist, said that the coronavirus lockdown can amplify symptoms of depression and anxiety. "It also increases risk factors," she said. "People who have to remain quarantined in toxic home environments might be experiencing trauma triggers as well." Chandrashekar, who focuses on the LGBT community, said that the existing cases have been displaying signs of relapse for depression and experiencing heightened symptoms of anxiety.

"All of last week and even now, clients in therapy have reported experiencing panic attacks, exhaustion, anxiety-induced headaches, difficulty in sleeping and overall a heightened sense of anxiety in the light of COVID-19," said Sonali Gupta, a Mumbai-based therapist and a consulting psychologist who has a book coming out, titled, 'ANXIETY: Overcoming it to live without fear'.

For Shraddha, it's the uncertainty that has left her anxious. However, with the outbreak of the pandemic and imposed lockdown measures, the worries are many: "Am I washing my hands enough? Will I pass the virus to my grandparents? Should I move back with my parents? How safe is my job? How will I pay next month's rent? How can I live alone, with my own thoughts?"

A 30-year-old retail banker in Ahmedabad, Tapasree, squeezes a drop of sanitiser on her palm after every customer's turn at the counter. She gets up to wash her hands multiple times. "I am almost obsessing over this handwashing," she said, explaining the reason behind it. "I work in a retail bank and that means meeting 200 customers daily, on an average."

When she goes home, she video-calls her husband, who is in Mumbai, 500 kilometres away. Tapasree couldn't go back to Mumbai because her "transfer is on halt" and quitting isn't an option. She has been anxious. Her mother, who lives in Kolkata, had to cancel her ticket to Ahmedabad as India continued reporting more and more coronavirus cases. Her husband was supposed to meet her over the weekend, but they didn't want to risk it. "I am scared and anxious," she said.

Every fifth Indian suffers from an anxiety disorder.

A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry showed that the contribution of mental disorders to the total disease burden has doubled between 1990 and 2017. Depression and anxiety disorders, the most common mental disorders in India, the study revealed, are prevalent across the country. But it is relatively higher in the southern states and in women. Depression is the highest in older adults, which has significant implications for the ageing population of India.

The WHO had earlier predicted that by 2020, roughly 20 per cent of the Indian population will suffer from mental illnesses. That means, today, more than 200 million Indians may have mental illnesses. The caregivers for India's mental health crisis include 9,000 psychiatrists. That is one doctor for every 100,000 people. Assuming, as studies show, that the desired number of psychiatrists is three for every 100,000 people, India has a shortage of 18,000 mental health doctors. The WHO prediction, however, was before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Self Isolation: How Even?

Ritesh Singh, 30, a software engineer based out of Pune, has moved back to his parent's house for a sense of calm. However, Aditi Sharma, 26, copy editor at a publishing house in Mumbai, is unable to go back home to Lucknow because travelling is "extremely risky". She has been working from home, out of her rented apartment, alone. It seemed relaxing to Aditi initially but not anymore.

News18 graphic on self isolation or social distancing

In any case, no domestic commercial airlines shall fly with effect from the midnight of March 24 for a week. The Indian Railways has cancelled all its passenger trains as well. This would, however, mean longer periods of social isolation for people living alone, in most cases, away from home and family.

Aakriti Joanna, who runs an online counselling platform 'Kaha Mind', said that the work-from-home situation under a lockdown will mean creating new rules and routines. "A lot of the information on the pandemic that we've been receiving from social media and news outlets has been negative and this can also cause one's mental health to really spiral," she said. Aakriti said that more people are now reaching out to her through her online platform to figure out ways and methods to cope during this time.

Trauma therapist Ruchita said this long period of self-isolation is affecting people who already have existing mental health concerns. "Mild and managed symptoms are transitioning to moderate and severe," she said. Her therapy sessions are now more dedicated towards safety planning and symptom management. The ones who used to book one session every week, now book two.

Ruchita said being cooped up inside homes, many are resorting to the available coping skills. Some of which aren't the healthiest. She listed them: "Resorting to older patterns of eating habits where they sought comfort in foods rich in sugar and salt because access to other coping strategies involves outside home activities, and sleeping more than usual. They are overwhelmed by the news updates and worried about their loved ones, especially the ones who live far away."

While Ruchita's therapy is exclusively online, 'Kaha Mind' that offered therapy sessions both online, as well as offline, has moved all sessions to videos and call, considering the safety of therapy-seekers.

However, Sonali pointed out, that for many who live with families, videos or calls aren't easy. "They feel they don't have the privacy," she said.

Bengaluru-based Lakshmi Sharath suffers from anxiety and has been in therapy for the past year. The travel blogger who recently discovered that she has endometriosis was just learning to overcome the pain and get on with life. "The last few months have been difficult. The current crisis has made it worse," she said. Three weeks ago, she moved to Chennai to take care of her mother. She did a session with her therapist in Bengaluru over Skype. A few days ago, she had a mild attack. Still cooped up inside her mother's home, Lakshmi is struggling to find a slot in her therapist's very busy schedule.

With schools and colleges closed, some of Ruchita's younger patients who have not informed their family that they are seeking clinical services, often get interrupted by parents during their session. "A parent will step into their room and ask who they are talking to, and they have to lie and say it's a friend. Then the parent will ask the name of the friend and the patient has to come up with an excuse or keep requesting the parent to not disturb them for a while," she narrated. She said that while this causes some disruptions during the session, it is completely "understandable and unavoidable".

"Accept that this is unusual, and we're all in this together. You are not alone," Aakriti said, listing out coping mechanisms for people dealing with anxiety. "Reach out. If you want to speak to a therapist online, then do that. If you want to schedule regular calls with friends, do that. Despite the social distancing that's essential, do not isolate yourself emotionally," she said. "Give journaling a try, cook, paint." But most importantly, she said, "take care of yourself". "Eat well, hydrate, and practise some breathing exercise. Check in with one another. That friend who lives by themselves, an elderly couple, your family," she added.

In a Twitter thread, Ruchita has listed out warning signs for anxiety and how to deal with it.

Sonali emphasised on maintaining a schedule for those working from home. "Have fixed meal times, take a bath in the first half, choose to work office hours," she said.

The Cost of Mental Health

A 26-year-old journalist in Delhi said that the last couple of months got so difficult for his mental health that he had to take leave from work. "First, it was the Delhi riots. And now this," he said. Last week, his organisation asked him to quit.

Aakriti said people who are at the forefront of understanding, managing and reporting the global health crisis that has led to 15,000 deaths across the world are more vulnerable to mental health issues. She also pointed out that entrepreneurs  small and big  are likely to be affected too. "A lot of industries are facing a complete drop in demand. Business owners and employees are worried about how this will affect their markets and jobs," she said. The therapist added that it might look bleak "but we've got to be there for one another". "It's important to be empathetic now more than ever," she said.

But India has not shown much enthusiasm for bearing the cost of mental health. Not before, and perhaps not when there's a major looming health crisis to battle with already.

In the financial year 2019, the budget allocated to the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) was brought down to Rs 40 crore from Rs 50 crore in the previous financial year. This is 0.06 per cent of the country's health budget of Rs 62,398 crore. The funds actually spent were much lower  only about Rs 5 crore each during the years. The previous budget did not increase the allocation of mental healthcare.

While MHCA (Mental Healthcare Act) guarantees every affected person access to mental healthcare, and treatment from services run or funded by the government has been hailed as a major step towards destigmatising mental health disorders, the resources for it aren't available. According to a study by the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, the conservative annual estimated cost on the government to implement the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 would be Rs 94,073 crore. However, the actual current spending is not even a fraction of the figure.

A medical journal in January reckoned that India had 2.3 ICU beds per 100,000 people. Amid a growing health crisis, the numbers paint a gloomy future. With the public healthcare system in a shambles, many are looking at the government measures with suspicion, in turn, creating complications for health authorities. The biggest of the trouble is fleeing from quarantine facilities. In all of this, mental health takes a side note but sits there quietly, and sometimes not so quietly.

"It's the feeling of helplessness. The situation is so out of control," said Shraddha. The disinfectants and the sanitisers may keep the infection at bay, but it's not doing anything to change the feeling of uncertainty.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday called for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in land dealings in and around the Amaravati capital region during the Telugu Desam Party regime.

An order to this effect was issued by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government on Monday.

The government has decided to entrust to CBI the cases of irregularities committed by persons officiating in the erstwhile government of Andhra Pradesh while designating the new capital for the state, the order said.

The government sent a reference and the report of the cabinet sub-committee to the department of personnel and training under the Centre, with a request for CBI to take up the investigation.

The in-principle consent of the Government of Andhra Pradesh under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 has been conveyed, the order said.

An official statement from the chief ministers office said the government decided to entrust the case to the CBI owing to the high-profile nature of the accused involved and the need to carry out the investigation in the inter-state and international areas.

The Jagan Reddy government had constituted a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) on February 21 to probe the alleged irregularities and insider trading in Amaravati during the Naidu regime.

The SIT, led by deputy inspector general (DIG) of Intelligence Dr Kolli Raghuram Reddy, was notified as a police station with state-wide jurisdiction with powers to summon anybody for questioning under relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

The SIT was asked to probe the alleged irregularities, corruption, nepotism and pilferage of funds in the land pooling and other issues related to the Amaravati capital region. But even before the SIT completed its probe, the government decided to entrust the probe to the central agency.

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As schools close because of the coronavirus outbreak, educators in specialized subjects are dealing with the difficulty of moving their classes online.

College classes in the sciences and arts often use laboratory work, performances or even travel to teach students important lessons.

Some of these classes require special equipment or the ability to gather in a group. For example, what does an engineering lab course look like online? How does a musical group practice?

Challenges

VOA Learning English spoke to educators across the United States recently. Some described the difficulty of moving classes online in economic or technical terms.

Tom Luer is a music professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He noted that his school has many students who do not have some kinds of technology or special equipment at their homes.

Lectures, reading assignments and class discussions are not too difficult to deal with, Luer explained. But, some kinds of lessons and performances are more difficult to do.

Other educators were less concerned about technical problems and were more concerned about the overall goals for their classes.

Aaron Sakulich is an engineering professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Massachusetts. He was going to lead a group of students on a project-based class in Armenia.

The students, each working with local non-profit organizations, were going to help develop solutions to problems facing their partners in Armenia. The students had spent months preparing for the project.

The trip was canceled. But the project-based class is continuing online.

For now, Sakulich has worked hard to find possible US-based partners to work with. He hopes students can still do interviews and research using apps such as Zoom.

My primary concern has been how to keep the students motivated, Sakulich said.

Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University and Coursera's Inaugural Innovation Instructor.

Oakley believes that the main goal for teachers is to transfer their skills. In other words, teachers used to working in a class will have to test their teaching skills in a new way.

Oakley strongly supports online education. But, she said that high-level, specialized kinds of study, such as lab work in engineering, is not easy to move online. She was quick to add that there is no simple answer for how to teach specialized subjects.



Opportunities

Although there are many problems, educators also see opportunities or bright spots in the sudden move to online education.

Luer, at Cal Poly Pomona, looks forward to trying new teaching methods.

He wants to use different computer applications to work with his music students. For example, one app, Acapella, lets musicians in different places record different parts of a piece of music. Then, the app helps students put the different parts together, to create a single music track.

Even if students do not have computers or special recording equipment, they can still record simple sound files on their phones.

Oakley noted the importance of creativity in the move to online education.

In the field of engineering, she said, some of the best lab-based courses that she has seen teach important scientific ideas rather than specific lab work.

"Instead of perhaps going into some of the nuances of that particular lab, they will go into the nuances of what good science actually involves. And if you are doing good research, what does that involve? How can good research become bad research? And how can you avoid that? These are very important topics, but they are often not covered in lab courses."

Moving forward

Matt Otto has been involved in online education for more than 10 years.

Otto is a music professor at the University of Kansas. He believes that schools and educators will be able to find a way forward within a month or so. Most teachers are problem solvers  that's what teaching is, he said.

Otto said that online education cannot always recreate the exact social environment of a college campus. He noted, however, that he has seen many online students have great success.

People who think its not a good method of teaching, he said, maybe havent done it. Because Ive seen the outcomes.

One student, Xose Miguelez, studied online with Otto over a period of six years.

One of my other students [Miguelez] from Spain went from being a hobbyist to being not only a professional, but hes got a position in a university and got the jazz album of the year in Spain this last year, in 2019.

Otto said that he has seen other students succeed while studying online. I think that is a testament to how effective online teaching is, he said.

Im John Russell.

John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section

Difficulties, Opportunities Moving Classes Online Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

practice  v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

lecture  n. a talk or speech given to a group of people to teach them about a particular subject

motivate  v. to give (someone) a reason for doing something

opportunity  n. a chance to do something

track  n. : a song on a record, CD, etc.

nuance  n. a very small difference in color, tone, meaning, etc.

outcome - n. something that happens as a result of an activity or process

hobbyist  n. an activity that a person does for pleasure when not working

effective  adj. producing a result that is wanted : having an intended effect
An atheist man who asked his Christian roommate not to pray for him has sparked a debate over whether it's appropriate to pray for someone who doesn't share the same religion.

The anonymous man, believed to be from America, took to Reddit arguing that prayer annoys him because he doesn't want his accomplishments and happiness to be associated with God.

He claimed to respect his roommate's religion, but added that he doesn't want to be included in any of his addresses to the Lord.

The post racked up more than 200 comments, with many people divided over whether the roommate was indeed 'forcing' their religion onto the man.

Reddit users debated if it's appropriate to pray for someone who doesn't share the same religion (file image)

An atheist man, believed to be from America, asked if it's unreasonable to stop his roommate from praying for him

Explaining the situation, the man explained that he had believed in Christianity until the age of seven.

'My roommate is a Christian and usually isn't one of the annoying ones so we get along. However, he told me the other day that he prays for the people he cares about and I asked him if that includes me,' he recalled.

'He said he prays for me and this kind of annoys me. I get it, he has his own coping mechanism, cool. But I don't want him to think that my accomplishments and happiness are because he so generous to pray for me to his sky daddy.

'I told him to stop and he says he respects my "religion" (he used that word directly) but I have to respect his faith and expression. Which I do - I'm not telling him not to pray, I'm just telling him to leave me specifically out of it.'

Many responses argued that the roommate isn't forcing his religion on him, but simply showing that he cares.

One person wrote: 'A little bit YTA [You're the a*****e]. He's in no way forcing his religion on you. What he prays about is of no concern to you and if you were going to be this bothered by it, you probably should have minded your business and not asked.

'I hate to say it but you sound very insecure if you're so aggressively concerned that one person might think your accomplishments have something to do with their prayers. But I honestly don't think your roommate is thinking that hard about it. If you don't believe in it and think prayers hold no value, it shouldn't make a difference to you whether or not your roommate has you in mind when he prays.'

A stream of responses blasted the man as they argued that the roommate isn't forcing religion onto him by praying

Another said: 'YTA - just like he can't tell you who or what to worship, you can't tell him who he can and cannot pray for. Chances are he's been doing it for quite a while and it didn't bother you till you asked.'

But others said they understand why the man may feel uncomfortable and claimed he's entitled to ask his roommate to stop praying for him.

One wrote: 'Interesting that I seem to be in the minority here but NTA [not the a*****e] - if it makes you uncomfortable then he's doing it for himself, not you.

'It's like when guys compliment women in a work situation and when asked to stop they say that they mean't well - if it's not welcomed, it's no longer a nice thing. To be fair you can't really enforce it, but solidarity for this internet stranger - he sounds like a sanctimonious a**.'

'NTA. It is incredibly rude to pray for someone who's asked you not to and I'm saying that as a religious person,' commented another.

A third added: 'NAH, I know most people would disagree but OP just wants him to stop. I don't understand though, he just politely asked him to stop, you may not think it's any of his business but the roommate is praying about HIM.

'It's his business if he's included even it's via prayer, sure it's kind of rude but as long as he's polite they can come to an understanding that OP simply dislikes his roommate praying for/about him'.
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With ridership plummeting because of coronavirus restrictions, a coalition of the nations largest commuter systems  including Metro-North  is demanding $25 billion from the federal government to help make up losses.

The coalition told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that job shutdowns and work-at-home rules have eroded revenue and dramatically reduced bus, subway and rail passengers.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a national disaster and it requires a national solution, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Pat Foye said in a letter signed by nine other transportation agencies and sent to congressional leaders.

We are coming together to urgently request that the federal relief package includes at least $25 billion of dedicated support for public transportation agencies, the coalition said. Federal aid must be directed to areas of the country that have had significant financial impacts and where essential workers rely most heavily on public transit.

The coalition includes transportation authorities in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Oakland, California, Newark and Washington D.C.

Foye a week ago announced Metro-North ridership was down 90 percent since social distancing and work-at-home rules were imposed to slow the spread of the virus and asked for $4 billion in federal relief money.

The MTA noted that ridership was down 60 percent on New York subways; 49 percent on buses; and 67 percent on the Long Island Rail Road, the nations largest commuter railway.

The coalition noted that its transportation services are crucial to the overall economy and must survive the revenue slowdown.

The looming financial catastrophe is clear, the coalition said.

While emergency personnel need our infrastructure to do their jobs, overall ridership on our systems has plummeted every day  dropping as much as 90 percent in some cases, they said.

Combined with falling tax revenues and dramatically increased cleaning costs, this collapse of revenue has resulted in immediate and enormous funding gaps, the coalition added.

The group pegged its losses at tens of billions of dollars, noting that money can never be recouped and [has] a compounding impact on our ability to borrow.

Jim Gildea, chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, said hes hoping federal funding will be approved.

I am cautiously optimistic that they will be given the appropriate consideration for funding as they obviously took a big hit with the pandemic crisis, Gildea said.

I believe that once we get past this as a region and country that ridership numbers will rebound and we will be a wiser, safer and cleaner country, Gildea said.

However, we will always need to publicly transport people once all businesses that are closed are allowed to reopen, Gildea added.

The coalition called previous congressional proposals to help their industry stop-gap measures and stressed that scaling back service isnt enough to stay in the black. They also dismissed using critical state-of-good-repair investments weve fought long and hard for to cover the shortfalls.

Congress was near an agreement on a reported $2 trillion bailout and aid package Tuesday. Its unclear whether and to what degree help for commuter ttansit systems is part of that.

We need comprehensive, permanent solutions that put public transportation first. Congress must act swiftly to provide real relief in real time; the financial health of the country depends on it, the coalition noted.

bcummings@ctpost.com
They are the three words we all suspected were coming.

Stay at home.

Thats the word from Philadelphia officials. On Sunday they one-upped Gov. Tom Wolfs call for all non-life-sustainable businesses to close their doors by simply telling people not to leave their house, aside from perhaps a trip to the grocery store, pharmacy or maybe a walk.

If they do go out, they are mandated to practice our new mantra, social distancing, keeping 6 feet between them and the next person.

The same holds true next door in both New Jersey and Delaware. N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy went so far as to tell people from out of state who own homes at the Jersey shore not to cross the bridge. In Delaware, Gov. John Carney even closed the popular beaches in Rehoboth. Their stay-at-home order kicks in Tuesday.

Not to be outdone, Wolf did likewise Monday afternoon, issuing a stay-at-home edict for the suburban Philadelphia counties, including Delaware County. The rule will be in effect for two weeks. At the same time, the governor also announced he was extending his order closing all K-12 schools, which was due to expire at the end of the week, for another two weeks.

All of this is being done in a last-ditch effort to get our arms around the ferocious coronavirus outbreak and the COVID-19 illness that comes with it.

On Monday, Pennsylvania announced state health officials had recorded another 165 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 644 in 34 counties. Delaware County now has 54 cases of coronavirus. The death toll has risen to six, including the first in Montgomery County, a 72-year-old Abington man.

Across the nation, the numbers are even more daunting. More than 350,000 cases of coronavirus infections have been recorded. The death toll is now approaching 500. Nearly a quarter of the country is now under stay-at-home restrictions.

That would include the City of Brotherly Love, but sans the handshake, hugs or high-five.

The citys edict was fairly stark: Gone are any public or private gathering of any people outside a single household. You can go for a walk, but you cant walk into a restaurant to place an order. You have to order online and pick it up.

Gov. Wolf, after causing something of a firestorm Thursday night with his edict closing all non-life-sustaining businesses, hinted he might soon be issuing similar stay-at-home order. It didnt take long. He announced his new crackdown Monday afternoon.

As it is, after a bit of a reprieve over the weekend  and after his office was inundated with complaints, questions and even a lawsuit or two  the state started enforcing his ban at 8 a.m. Monday. State police and other local and state agencies are empowered to issue citations and possible fines for businesses found to be in violation of Wolfs order.

I want to be honest with you, and what we face, Wolf said Sunday night. What we are trying to do here is buy time  We cannot overload our health system. If we arent successful, the consequences are going to be even more dire than the consequences that we are facing now.

Mayor Kenney decided not to wait.

Perhaps just as troubling as the mayors reasoning for ratcheting up the pressure to get people to stay at home was why he decided to take extreme action: People were simply ignoring all the other pleas.

Kenney noted he continued to see large family gatherings in parks and playgrounds, and far too many people not practicing social distancing.

The mayor said he wanted to ramp up the level of concern so people will get it in their heads that this is a serious epidemic and they need to stay home.

It carries echoes of the scenes in Miami Beach, where throngs are spring breakers continue to converge and openly flout requests not to gather in public.

One public health official after another has described the same scenario. Our only hope to mitigate the spread of the virus, thus flattening the curve and preventing a sudden avalanche of people getting sick at the same time that would cripple the nations health care system, is to practice what they have been preaching.

Were all washing our hands, covering our mouths when we cough, sneezing into our elbow, and sanitizing like mad.

It hasnt been enough. We need to do more.

We need to stay home.

When we do venture out, we need to practice safe social distancing, keeping six feet of space between us and the next person.

Weve long since sailed past the point where those who shun these orders can be ignored.

Its time to be apart of the solution  not part of the problem.
I know theres been conversation at the federal level about, well, theres this drug for malaria. We dont know that, so please do not go out there and just because you heard something on television or social media, do not do that. You will end up hurting yourself, Lightfoot said. We will let you know, as soon as we are aware, thats theres a sanctioned, federally approved drug that can actually help with coronavirus, but for now just make sure you do what weve been advising for many weeks. If youre sick, stay home.
Bhopal, March 24 : Coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh spread to hitherto untouched areas with Shivpuri and Gwalior districts reporting two positive cases and raising the total to nine on Tuesday, said health officials.

Earlier, six COVID-19 cases were reported from Jabalpur, while a woman was found positive for the viral infection in Bhopal by Sunday.

On Tuesday, a 36-year-old man was tested positive for the coronavirus in Gwalior. A 30-year-old man was found infected in Shivpuri.

The virus-afflicted Gwalior patient returned home last week from Khajuraho in Chhattarpur district, and possibly might have come in contact foreign visitors, said informed sources.

The COVID-19 patient from Shivpuri worked in Dubai. He returned home on March 18, an official said. The condition of all coronavirus patients in the state was stable, officials said.

In a related development, the Madhya Pradesh government, through an order, reserved the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to treat COVID-19 patients.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As Uttarakhand entered second day of its lockdown in view of coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has warned of strict action against those who venture out without valid reason.

"Essential shops" will now remain open only from 7 am to 10 am and no vehicle, except emergency services like ambulance will be allowed on roads after 10 am.

"Today the lockdown will be strictly imposed as per the order of Chief Minister. We will take strict action against the voilators of the lockdown. Shops of essential commodities will remain open from 7 am to 10 am. No vehicle will be allowed to run on roads except emergency services after 10 am in the state," said Shekhar Suyal, Circle officer of Dehradun Police.

Sweta Choubey, SP City Dehradun, said that the police is strictly following the lockdown and taking action against the violators under sections 151 and 188 under the Indian Penal Code.

She said strict action is also being taken against rumor mongers.

Meanwhile, the state government has decided to take over control of all private hospitals with 100 or more beds and reserve 25 per cent of these for COVID-19 patients.

"The Trivendra Singh Rawat government has decided to reserve 25 percent of beds in these private medical facilities for suspected COVID-19 patients," a statement by the government said.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of cases worldwide has surpassed 3,30,000, while the number of deaths has exceeded 14,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 50 Nigerians soldiers were killed Monday in a deadly ambush by suspected Boko Haram gunmen near Goneri, a village in Yobe State, multiple security sources have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The attack, perhaps the deadliest by the terror group in recent times, wiped out an artillery unit of the army, the sources said.

A reliable security source familiar with the incident said the troops were on a special operation called Operation Ayiso Tamonuma when they were attacked.

The source said amongst those who paid the supreme sacrifice were two majors of the Nigeria Army and an Airforce flight lieutenant.

The source said troops on Operation Ayiso Tamonuma had commenced advancing into Alagarno general area on Sunday before running into the first ambush by Boko Haram terrorists on the second day.

The source said no soldier was killed in the first attack, but few of the troopers were injured.

The troops were able to fight back and got out of the ambush situation and then harboured near a place called Gorge on 22nd March 2020, one source said.

The official said the troops came under yet another attack on Monday after they had reorganised to proceed to advance towards Alagarno.

They commenced movement from harbour area ahead of Gorge on Monday and the Boko Haram terrorists came to stage yet another attack from the rear of the troops convoy hitting their Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher(MBRL) and Sinotruck otherwise called yellow-bucket that was fully loaded with soldiers, the source said.

The Boko Haram terrorist utilised their rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) firepower and other support weapons on the vehicles which inflicted heavy casualties on the troops, wiping out the entire artillery troop, he revealed.

The source who pleaded anonymity said full details of the casualties could not be immediately ascertained at the time of speaking to PREMIUM TIMES.

However, according to our contacts, it was confirmed that at least over 50 soldiers were killed and some of the KIA are burnt beyond recognition, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES has withheld some details of the attack as a mark of respect for the fallen soldiers, and to allow the authorities officially to communicate with their families.

The source said some of the soldiers who survived with injuries were evacuated to hospitals in Damaturu and Maiduguri for treatment.

For now, the detailed list of the casualties can only be ascertained after the entire troops have returned to Goniri, the source said.

Another source, a soldier in Damaturu, Yobe State capital, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on phone confirmed the attack but could not give further details.

READ ALSO:

A senior army officer also told PREMIUM TIMES that the Yobe attack was really huge setback.

I lost a friend among the officers that died on Monday, he said.

The military authority has not responded to inquiries by PREMIUM TIMES.

Sagir Musa, colonel, and acting director army public relations did respond to the message sent to him.
As UAE authorities urge the public to adhere to social distancing guidelines and take precautionary measures to combat the spread of Covid-19, renters are making decisions about their next rental home from their digital devices, thus leading the countrys latest innovative proptech startup to reassure landlords that they can continue to list their properties.

Urban, a mobile/web application that brings the entire rental journey online, has recorded an 87 per cent leap in daily active users across its platforms over a period of 10 days from March 8, marking a significant shift in behaviour from renters.

In the March 8 to 21 period, Urban said it had experienced a 60 per cent surge in daily active users.

In response to social distancing and quarantine measures aimed at combating the spread of Covid-19, renters are now choosing to search for and secure homes online, with the company noting a 92 per cent rise in the number of offers submitted for listed properties on its app in the week to March 19.

In response, Urban is encouraging landlords to list their properties, as despite the cautious environment cause by coronavirus, renters are still on the hunt for homes and embracing new ways in which to view and rent them.

With users able to view virtual tours of every listing, visit homes using their phone to open digital locks, submit paperwork and pay rent online, Urban is providing renters with a compelling and safe way to find their new home during this challenging time, said a senior official.

"As authorities in the UAE admirably continue to combat Covid-19, landlords and renters are being forced to adapt to this new reality. People are looking to rent, but rightly concerned that viewing properties will mean contravening social distancing guidelines," remarked Rashid Al Ghurair, its CEO and founder.

"Landlords are worried that the virus will dampen rental demand. This is where Urban comes in," he stated.

"Ours is a platform that connects landlords to tenants online, ensuring that renters can views quality homes through virtual tours and independently conduct viewings, while landlords can find quality tenants hunting for new homes," he added.

General Manager Tala Nsouli said: "Urban is built on tenant-centric values and empowers renters and landlords throughout the rental journey. As renters try to navigate the current Covid-19 environment, Urban helps them find their new home entirely online from the comfort of their own homes."

"Landlords need to adapt to this digital-first environment and consider innovative ways to market their properties," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Rex Kim, a Portland based investment consultant, has been hired as the states chief investment officer, a position overseeing investment of the states public pension fund, common school fund and local governments short term fund. He will start the job heading up the states investment division in early April.

Kim was a member of the Oregon Investment Council, the citizens panel that oversees investment of those assets, and has spent 25 years in asset management and investment consulting roles. He replaces John Skjervem, who resigned after seven years in the job to take a position with a private asset management firm in California.

Rex is everything we are looking for in a CIO: smart, thoughtful, calm, and an industry leader, Treasurer Tobias Read said in a news release. His background as an Oregon Investment Council member provides him a unique experience and familiarity with our team and our investment beliefs, and hell bring welcome continuity to our investment approach. Im thrilled that hes taking on this important role.

The position is one of the best paid in state government. Kims base salary will be $431,700, with the potential for bonuses based on the performance of the fund and other factors. Last year, Skjervem was paid a total of $529,587.

Since 2016, Kim has worked as a senior consultant for the Multnomah Group, where he advises organizations on their retirement plans. Previously, he held positions in research and portfolio management at various Portland investment firms. He had also previously worked in trading.

His arrival in the top investment job at Treasury coincides with a tumultuous time for the pension funds investment portfolio. It has lost billions of dollars in value during the coronavirus crisis, exacerbating the retirement systems $25 billion deficit.

Its unlikely, however, that Treasurys investment managers will be making any big changes in the short term. The divisions asset allocation has already undergone significant changes during Skjervems tenure. The aim in part was to de-risk and lessen the volatility of the portfolio at times of market stress. It remains to be seen how Oregon weathers the storm relative to other large pension funds.

-- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Trump has increasingly minimized and pushed aside many of the top public health and scientific experts in his administration, instead relying on advice from economic advisers and outside voices in the business community who are urging him to prioritize the nations economy above all else. On Tuesday, Trump told Fox News he hoped to have the country reopened by Easter on April 12  a timeline at direct odds with the recommendations of experts such as Fauci, who had said previously that social distancing measures would probably need to remain for at least several weeks.
Northern Arizona University announced a number of changes to the dining services used by students living on campus on Monday.

Although the university transitioned to all online classes, plenty of students who are still living on campus rely on the dining services.

Among the changes include the closure of all businesses that serve food inside academic buildings.

Food courts such as The Hot Spot and The Dub Dining hall are being closed between meal periods so they can be fully cleaned between each meal. Buffets within food courts have been converted to prepackaged food to eliminate shared serving utensils.

Some seating areas have also been roped off and tables and chairs have been physically removed from retail dining operations to eliminate the dine-in option for customers and to increase space between diners to at least 6 feet.

Tables and chairs in residential dining areas are limited to four diners maximum with signage instructing that tables shall not be moved.

Dining Services cleaning staff are converting from sanitizer-based cleaning solutions to disinfectant-based solutions that are CDC approved to be effective against the coronavirus.

The 1899 Bar & Grill already closed the dining room on March 17, and transitioned to a pick-up or robot delivery model. Starship delivery robots are sanitized and disinfected overnight and also via individual robot wipedown prior to food being loaded into the chassis.

At the entrance of food courts, payment stations have been re-oriented so that students and staff can swipe their own ID card over the proximity reader to make payment and cashiers have been instructed to handle cash with gloves and then wash hands and change gloves immediately afterward.

In a short address to students released on social media on Monday, NAU President Rita Cheng also encouraged students transitioning to online classes to be resilient, keep their goals in mind, but also to have fun while practicing social distancing.

If there was ever a time to get creative it is now, dont lose sight of the fact that we are a family, we are all in this together and we are here to support each other, Cheng said.

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She welcomed her daughter Anaya seven months ago.

And Alesha Dixon brought some light relief on Tuesday, as she shared an adorable snap of her little girl smiling amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Greatest Dancer host, 41, sweetly called Anaya her 'sunshine baby' as she posted the image of the youngster wearing a colourful yellow dress.

Adorable! Alesha Dixon brought some light relief on Tuesday, as she shared an adorable snap of her little girl smiling amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic

Alesha's followers and celebrity pals including Rochelle Humes were quick to comment on the lovely pictures, as she posted 'Woah [heart eye emojis].

The post comes after it was revealed that Alesha's role as a Britain's Got Talent judge is on hold amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

ITV bosses have postponed Britain's Got Talent's live shows following new government guidelines amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

An official statement from ITV read: 'We have been working with the brilliant production teams at Thames and Syco to find a way of making the live finals work, which were due to be broadcast at the end of May...

Cute! The Greatest Dancer host, 41, sweetly called Anaya her 'sunshine baby' as she posted the image of the youngster wearing a colourful yellow dress

'However, in light of the latest government health guidelines and in line with our priority of safeguarding the wellbeing of everyone involved in our programmes, production of the live shows cannot go ahead as planned...

'The live finals will therefore be broadcast later in the year.'

Earlier reports claimed show bosses are hoping for a September air date, but 'have no idea when the live shows will take place' but will still air the audition rounds, which were filmed across the country in January and February.

Bless: Alesha's followers and celebrity pals including Rochelle Humes were quick to comment on the lovely pictures, as she posted 'Woah [heart eye emojis]

The spread of Covid-19 has forced the television industry to take drastic measures as the deadly virus continues to wreak havoc around the world.

The first trailer for the new season of Britain's Got Talent was released on Saturday, revealing that the show will return in April.

Which UK shows have stopped filming? EastEnders Line Of Duty Peaky Blinders Doctors Casualty Holby City River City Pobol y Cwm Hollyoaks Vera Call The Midwife The Only Way Is Essex Lorraine Loose Women Emmerdale Coronation Street Advertisement

Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams are back for the 14th season, as they made a brief appearance in the trailer alongside co-hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, in a statement last week, ITV revealed that they intend to 'try and make the live shows work' for BGT, after postponing The Voice's live semi-final and final.

In a statement, the channel explained: 'The Voice UK knockouts, which are pre-recorded, will continue to be broadcast this weekend and the Britain's Got Talent audition shows are due to be broadcast in the next few weeks as planned.'

'We have, however, taken the difficult decision to postpone until later this year The Voice UK's live semi final and final, which were due on air on the 28th March and 4th April, and are working to replace them in the schedule with some bespoke Voice specials.

'We are also working with our production colleagues to see how we can make the BGT live shows work in an ever changing situation and we will update on this in due course.'

Hopeful: An official statement from ITV read: 'We have been working with the brilliant production teams at Thames and Syco to find a way of making the live finals work, which were due to be broadcast at the end of May'
An abortion clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Officials in Texas and Ohio are taking steps aimed at banning most abortions during this phase of the coronavirus outbreak (Tony Dejak/AP)

The governor and attorney general of Texas are moving to ban most abortions in the state during the coronavirus outbreak, declaring they do not qualify as essential surgeries.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Monday the order issued over the weekend by Governor Greg Abbott barred any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

Failure to comply with the order can result in penalties of up to $1,000 (860) or 180 days of jail time, Paxton said.

No one is exempt from the governors executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers, Mr Paxton said.

Those who violate the governors order will be met with the full force of the law.

The issue also has flared in Ohio, where abortion clinics received letters on Friday from Republican attorney general Dave Yost ordering them to cease all non-essential surgical abortions.

If abortion is a 'choice' then abortion is an elective procedureMark Harrington, Created Equal

Mr Yost wrote that the procedures violate a March 17 order issued by the state health director.

However, representatives of Ohio clinics said that they were in compliance with the health directors order and planned to continue providing abortions.

Amid the moves by Ohio and Texas, a coalition of anti-abortion groups urged its allies across the nation to ask governors to ban most abortions on the grounds they were not essential.

If abortion is a choice then abortion is an elective procedure, said Mark Harrington, president of the anti-abortion group Created Equal.

Abortion is time-sensitive, essential health careKatherine Hancock Ragsdale, National Abortion Federation

Abortion-rights leaders nationwide decried the tactic, saying it was an affront to women grappling with difficult decisions amid the disruptions of the pandemic.

Abortion is time-sensitive, essential health care, said Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the National Abortion Federation. Women deserve better than a craven exploitation of a health care crisis in furtherance of an anti-abortion agenda.

In Ohio, abortion clinics planned to remain in operation.

There were no immediate reports of other states planning to target abortion clinics with restrictions related to COVID-19, even in Republican-governed states that have been active in passing anti-abortion legislation in recent years.
Congressional Democrats apparently count on the media to conceal the reason for the failure of the relief package on the floor of the Senate this week. The absurdly irrelevant provisions that Dems seek to incorporate to further the progressive takeover of the United States are meant to remain a deep secret. The current crisis  its not meant to go to waste, in the usual reckoning of the thought leaders of the Democratic Party.

David Harsanyi gives some idea of the pain in the plan, Pelosi style, in his New York Post column on the bill. Andrew Stiles narrows the focus in the Free Beacon column Pelosis Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Mentions Diversity 32 Times. Subhead: 1,100-page bill would force all corporations receiving aid to fund inclusion initiatives for at least 5 years.

The relentless Rachel Bovard has gone to the text in an illuminating series of tweets (below, please forgive the inadvertent repetition). Analyze this.

It also bails out the postal service. pic.twitter.com/cy9GYoK7zj  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

Same day voter registration, a long-time Dem wishlist item, very relevant to addressing those businesses and working families about to go under from #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/KizGbEYq9O  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

We can agree or disagree about the value of collective bargaining for federal employees but can we all agree that it doesn't belong in a relief bill DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE WITH #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/bswhj4dMeG  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

You know what families who can't work and are struggling to make rent really care about? Being able to look up greenhouse gas emissions from the flights they can't afford to book. pic.twitter.com/klGOhE8uOM  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

I mean. Again. Worthy goal? Perhaps. We can debate it. But why are we establishing all these new programs when what we really need is to PASS A BILL TO HELP PEOPLE WHO CANNOT WORK. pic.twitter.com/Awv3Thjc8h  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020
Southern Charm's Kathryn Dennis has been seen for the first time since it emerged that her ex Thomas Ravenel is expecting a child with another woman.

The reality star posted a smiling photo with her daughter Kensie to social media in honor of the schoolgirl's sixth birthday on Tuesday.

Captioned 'Lil stunna turns 6 tomorrow say whaaaa,' the throwback image showed Kathryn and Kensie cuddled up on a boat in Charleston, taken before they entered quarantine.

Birthday wishes: Kathryn Dennis posted a tribute to daughter Kensie on her sixth birthday on Tuesday, sharing a throwback of the two pre-quarantine; it came four days after it was revealed her ex was expecting another child

On Instagram Stories, the mother of two showed how she was entertaining her children, giving her birthday 'princess' a home manicure, and letting younger brother Saint, four, play dress up in her pink boots.

The trio are quarantining together, with Kathryn previously musing on Instagram: 'Day (?) of being quarantined and sorry y'all but that word sounds like we're in the hunger games. Are we? Eek. Anyways. Thank God for these babies.

'Always remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The light at the end is always lit. Don't forget that it's there.'

On Instagram Stories, the mother of two showed how she was entertaining her children, giving her birthday 'princess' a home manicure, and letting younger brother Saint, four, play dress up in her pink boots.

Nail time: Little Kensie gets her nails done by her mum on her birthday

Tuesday's happy family scenes come four days after DailyMail.com revealed exclusively that disgraced reality star Ravenel would be welcoming his third child in June

Four months after settling his long running custody battle with 28-year-old Dennis, the 57-year-old former South Carolina treasurer is expecting a child Heather Mascoe, 38, a registered nurse and mother-of-two, a source exclusively claimed to DailyMail.com.

Even by the chaotic standards of reality TV, Ravenel's personal life has always been controversial.

Now Mascoe who has been in an on-off relationship with Ravenel since last summer, is just three months away from giving birth to his child, according to the close source who asked not to be named.

Mommy's boy: Younger brother Saint, four, plays dress up in her pink boots

Day with mom: The family are quarantining together during the coronavirus outbreak

Ravenel is doing everything he can to keep the pregnancy and the child's imminent arrival under wraps, the insider claimed.

The source claimed: 'Thomas is doing everything he can to keep a lid on this. He's told Heather not to go out and even people who know are afraid to say anything because Thomas is so aggressive when he is crossed.'

They added: 'Kathryn knows, she was told by her attorney.'

DailyMail.com contacted Ravenel for comment.

The Southern Charm star, 57, has had an on-off relationship with Mascoe (pictured) since last summer and is trying to keep the pregnancy under wraps, the source claimed

The former South Carolina Treasurer also has two children by his ex Kathryn (pictured together), finally settling their long running custody battle four months ago

Ravenel's turbulent relationship with Dennis, mother of two of his children, has been much documented.

But, in recent months the pair, who have hauled each other through the courts of Charleston and public opinion alike, appeared to have put their differences behind them attending events together and speaking optimistically of co-parenting.

In common with all of his romantic liaisons, Ravenel's relationship with Mascoe has been drenched in drama from the start, the source claimed.

Mascoe also has two children, a son and a daughter aged 12 and 13, by well-known Charleston restaurateur Leo Chiagkouris, 60.

And it seems that Ravenel may have met his match in the litigious restaurateur whose split from Mascoe was every bit as acrimonious as Ravenel's from Dennis.

More recently Chiagkouris has made his disapproval of his ex's relationship with Ravenel clear. Last August, on learning that Ravenel had spent the night with his former partner while their children slept under the same roof, a furious Chiagkouris draped a huge banner (pictured) from the front of his Charleston home. It featured Ravenel's most recent mugshot under the words, 'Keep This Guy Out Of Your House While Minors Are Sleeping!!'

Mascoe was arrested in 2014 when Chiagkouris accused her of fraudulently running up bills on his credit card. The charges were subsequently dropped, and the case dismissed.

More recently Chiagkouris has made his disapproval of his ex's relationship with Ravenel clear.

Last August, on learning that Ravenel had spent the night with his former partner while their children slept under the same roof, a furious Chiagkouris draped a huge banner from the front of his Charleston home.

It featured Ravenel's most recent mugshot under the words, 'Keep This Guy Out Of Your House While Minors Are Sleeping!!'

The banner read, 'THOMAS RAVENEL was booked of 2nd Degree, Assault and Battery to a former nanny on January 25, 2015.'

It also noted the historic drug charge that saw Ravenel spend time in prison and lose his position as South Carolina treasurer stating, 'THOMAS RAVENEL was also indicted on Federal Cocaine Charges on June 2007.'

At the same time Chiagkouris launched an online petition against Ravenel with the same plea.

Ravenel pleaded guilty to third degree assault and battery of his former nanny Dawn Ledwell, last September. He escaped jail time by agreeing to pay a $500 penalty.

Mascoe has two children, a son and a daughter aged 12 and 13, by well-known Charleston restaurateur Chiagkouris, 60

Ledwell had originally accused the Southern Charm alumnus of attempting to rape her at his home in downtown Charleston after returning home catastrophically drunk one night in January 2015.

The original charge of aggravated rape was never prosecuted but swiftly dropped to misdemeanor second degree assault and battery and lowered yet further when he admitted in court to having attempted to 'kiss her in a rough manner,' and that he was wrong.

A civil case brought by Ledwell was similarly settled when, along with other terms, Ravenel agreed to make a substantial charitable contribution in her name to an organization supporting victims of sexual assault.

It was the second of two highly publicized allegations of sexual assault leveled against Ravenel last year.

Ravenel was also accused of paying $200,000 'hush money' to Tinder date Debra Perkins in December 2015 following her claims at having been assaulted at his hands.
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Harnessing Marine Energy at All Scales, From a Village Microgrid to a Vast Tidal Inlet

NREL Leads Pioneering Alaska Projects

March 24, 2020

The nations largest yet least densely populated state, Alaska is a land of superlatives and contradictions. For centuries, its remote communities, rugged terrain, extreme weather, natural wonders, and abundant wildlife have sparked the imaginations of intrepid explorers from around the world.

Expedition leaders in days gone by hitched huskies to their sleds to traverse the frozen terrain. Now, a new type of pioneer is harnessing a much different type of powerfrom oceans and riversto bring reliable clean energy to far-flung communities across Alaska and beyond.

Levi Kilcher and Bob Lewis prepare to launch the StableWing ocean-turbulence measurement platform in the Western Passage of Maine. Photo by Levi Kilcher, NREL

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers are working with industry, tribal, government, and national laboratory partners to more effectively harness Alaskas vast marine energy resources. NREL-led assessments are helping the remote tribal village of Igiugig identify self-sustaining microgrid options, while the teams resource characterization work in Cook Inlet has the potential to deliver power to the grid for distribution across the state. The NREL study Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Site Identification and Ranking helped identify sites for these projects.

Although those appear to be two very different undertakings, both require high-quality data and sophisticated modeling for marine energy device and project developers to succeed.

Rural Alaskan energy prices (red, orange, yellow dots) and marine energy resources (green, blue). Figure by Levi Kilcher, NREL

Thats where we step in, said NREL Senior Scientist Levi Kilcher, who is helming both of the projects and grew up on Cook Inlets shoreline. Our assessments inform the development of more reliable and affordable marine energy technologies. Were helping identify short-term solutions that meet the needs of Alaskas rural communities, and were delivering public data needed to design the large-scale marine energy projects of the future.

Tapping the Nations Greatest Tidal Power Resources

More than 30% of U.S. tidal power can be found in Cook Inlet, which covers approximately 180 miles of south-central Alaska. This offers enough energy to power 18 million homeswell beyond the number of houses in the entire state. Extending to Anchorage, the inlet offers immediate proximity to the states largest population centers, as well as to the Railbelt power grid, which covers 65% of the Alaska population.

At the same time, the very landscape of the area poses challenges. The rivers that flow into Cook Inlet are fed by glaciers and present unique risks to marine power technology. Glacial sediments in Cook Inlet waters can wear on the seals and bearings of tidal turbines, turbulence at the most promising tidal sites is so energetic that its shaking motion could damage the turbines, and submerged icebergs laden with gravel and sand could collide with and damage turbines. NRELs data on turbulence and submerged icebergs is providing developers with the information needed to design devices and systems robust enough to last for decades.

NRELs state-of-the-art resource measurement methods, paired with high-resolution resource modeling at collaborating Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Sandia National Laboratories, are helping reveal exactly where marine energy projects could prove most viable. Resolution of new wave models is 10 times greater than that of previous models, providing a level of fidelity that makes it possible to accurately identify areas with the greatest potential, as well as possible challenges.

The characterization and modeling work were doing lays the groundwork for industry to design and develop systems capable of efficiently extracting marine energy resources and delivering power these communitiesand the nationneed, Kilcher said.

NREL is partnering with PNNL, Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC), and Terrasond Limited on the Department of Energy (DOE)-funded Cook Inlet project, building on earlier tidal studies conducted by these partners and the University of Washington in Washington States Puget Sound and the Western Passage of Maine. In related work by NREL and its partners, researchers plan for wave models to eventually cover the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the territorial waters surrounding the United States. Data from these models are being made available online via NRELs Marine Energy Atlas.

Developing a Microgrid in a Remote Tribal Village

The 69 residents of Igiugig live more than 40 miles from the next village in southwestern Alaska. This Yup'ik tribal community is not connected to the electrical grid and currently relies on a collection of diesel generators as its primary power source.

NREL is working with the Igiugig Village Council (IVC), the State of Alaska, and other local partners on this DOE-sponsored project to explore the potential for a renewable energy microgrid to provide greater self-sufficiency and a lighter environmental footprint, while serving as a testbed for technologies and honoring cultural values. The team is examining opportunities and challenges for high-penetration renewable energy generation scenarios, collecting data to better understand energy loads, and helping identify a vision for the next 10 to 20 years.

The nearby Kvichak River presents a unique energy resource, steadier and more reliable than ocean marine, wind, or solar sources. In a separate yet related project, NREL is supporting the IVC and ORPC in system validation of a turbine that is deployed and sending energy to Igiugig's grid daily. After confirming system and component compatibility and evaluating the microgrid configuration, the team hopes to establish the first long-term system of its kind in this location.

While the river has the potential to provide reliable baseload power, its connection to the Bristol Bay Salmon Runthe largest wild sockeye salmon run in the worldmeans that the community is intent on making sure that the fish stay clear of the turbine. Previous investigations have demonstrated that fish can safely co-exist with marine installations.

The community is considering a range of energy options, including building energy efficiency measures and wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and biomass boilers. Preliminary investigations by researchers at NREL and the University of Alaska Fairbanks suggest that a diverse mix of renewable energy sources could provide as much 70% of Igiugigs energy needs without large increases in their energy prices.

The microgrid project grew out of the 2018 Alaska National Lab Day Summit, which brought together leaders from the state of Alaska, DOE, and NREL to better understand how the government can more effectively mobilize research to help communities in rural Alaska. If these projects are successful, the methodologies and technologies could be valuable to other rural communities around the world.

Looking Forward, While Learning from the Past

Motivated in large part by earlier groundbreaking successes in characterization of turbulence to improve wind turbine design, NREL oceanographers, engineers, and data scientists are measuring resource details vital to engineering and designing the next generation of marine energy devices. Kilchers team is applying lessons from these previous breakthroughs to their activities in Cook Inlet, Igiugig, and beyond.

Renewable energy is the future, and Alaskas vast marine resources have the potential to play a huge role there," Kilcher said. "Its amazing to be involved in laying the groundwork for clean, reliable energy projectsand the jobs that go with themin my home state."

Learn more about NRELs water power research.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant



on Tuesday said the state will have a 100 per cent lockdown from Tuesday midnight till March 31 in view of the coronavirus crisis.

Collectors of both North Goa and South Goa districts will issue curfew orders in the state till March 31, he said.

Sawant said there is not a single coronavirus case in the state, but that does not mean fear of infection is not there.

"Coronavirus infection has not been reported as it may not have been transmitted to any person. That is why we need to take utmost precaution. I request everyone to stay indoors and abide by the instructions of the government, he said.

Sawant said from Tuesday midnight, there would be total lockdown in the state with the exception of essential services like pharmacies and hospitals.

Police have been given powers under the Epidemic Act to take stringent action against the violators, he said.

There are a few pharmaceutical companies which are allowed to function are banned from allowing employees from Maharashtra and Karnataka to work.

The state has shut down all transport facilities, but nationalised banks with ATMs are permitted to function.

Separate transport arrangements have been made for staff of various hospitals to ferry them to their workplace.

"The staff of electricity and water departments will be on duty," Sawant said.

"Everyone should support the hundred per cent lockdown. If we abide by it till March 31, we will be safe, the chief minister said.

"In case any information has to be given about COVID-19, the Chief Minister's Office is working 24*7. We have formed a team of 12 people. All the things would be monitored, he added.

Around 500 people have been home quarantined in the state, Sawant said, adding that if anyone of them is found moving out, then he/she will be kept in government-run facilities.

About essential commodities, he said the collection centres of Goa Dairy will be open.

The government is thinking about supply of essential commodities. In next two days, the plan would be worked out how to supply essential commodities, he said.

As far as the homeless are concerned, they will be kept in shelter homes under the disaster management scheme, he said.

The state is allowingvehicles with cattle feed, medicines and essential services through its borders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread and claim lives around the world, doctors, nurses and medical assistants are working round the clock to treat the patients. Their hard work and sacrifice are now being honoured by authorities around the globe. A video is doing rounds on the internet that was captured in the supermarket in Northern Ireland which shows people praising and applauding the health workers and welcoming them with flowers as they entered the store.

READ: Bangladeshi Restaurant In UK Provides Elderly With Free Food Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

Tesco greets NHS staff

Through the video, it can be seen NHS staff entering a Tesco supermarket in Belfast, that opened on Sunday, March 22 so that health workers could buy supplies without the presence of other members of the public. Tesco staff members gathered near the entrance of the store and heartily welcomed the health workers with a huge round of applause. In the video, it can be seen some people even handed out flowers and bouquets.

READ: 'The Way Ahead Is Hard, Many Lives Will Be Lost', Says UK PM Boris Johnson

The 50 seconds video was originally shared on Facebook by Michaela Osborne and it has managed to garner 13K views with 2.9K comments and 33K shares. Health workers around the world are working overtime to treat COVID-19 patients, as per reports.

A user wrote, " A huge thank you to you and all your colleagues for serving the nation". Another wrote, "Fantastic well-done tesco". Another commented, "Wonderful gestureWe as nurses, doctors and allied health professionals in the nhs rarely have appreciation.Thank you Tesco.Thank you everyone in the fight against Covid-19.Please stay home!!"

4000 nurses and 500 doctors decided to come out of retirement to assist those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in UK, as per international media reports.

READ: UK Goes Into Three-week Lockdown To Tackle Coronavirus Spread

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday, March 22, said that the number of deaths and infections in the UK were continuously rising adding that they cannot disguise or sugarcoat the threat' of novel coronavirus COVID-19. He also said the current situation in the country was similar to what was in Italy two or three weeks ago. This comes as the UK reported 6,650 cases of infections and 335 deaths.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Bihar Locks Down Urban Areas Till March 31
With three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported, the number of coronavirus cases in Telangana now stands at 36 as per the status update released at noon on Tuesday, by Telangana's director of public health and family welfare. The authorities are Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad: Hyderabad streets bear a deserted look during complete lockdown in the country in a bid to curtail the spread of coronavirus, in Hyderabad on March 23, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, March 24 : With three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported, the number of coronavirus cases in Telangana now stands at 36 as per the status update released at noon on Tuesday, by Telangana's director of public health and family welfare. The authorities are now exploring the possibility of conducting a fever surveillance exercise across the state.

According to state authorities, the three new COVID-19 cases identified in Telangana have travel histories to the United Kingdom, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Telangana's COVID-19 patient no 34 has been identified as a 49-year-old male, married, resident of Kokapet, Rangareddy with travel history to London.

Patient no 35 has been identified as a 39-year-old, female, married, resident of Chandanagar, Rangareddy with travel history to Germany. Patient is stable and admitted in a designated hospital.

Patient no 36 is a 61-year-old, female, housewife, resident of Begumpet, Hyderabad with travel history to Saudi Arabia.

All the three COVID-19 patients have been admitted to the designated hospital for necessary treatment. The medical condition of all the three patients is reported to be stable.

Meanwhile, the state government is strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and containment measures against the possible spread of the disease.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, on Tuesday, convened an emergency meeting of senior bureaucrats and police officials to review the sitution following statewide lockdown till March 31.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
President Donald Trump speaks at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House in Washington, on March 23, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump Signs Order to Prevent Hoarding, Price Gouging of Critical Supplies

President Donald Trump on March 23 signed an executive order to prevent the price gouging and hoarding of critical supplies needed to combat the CCP virus outbreak.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement of the outbreak in Wuhan allowed the virus to spread across China and fan a global pandemic.

We have some people hoarding. We want to prevent price gouging and critical resources are going to be protected in every form, Trump said at a press conference on Monday.

The White House said that the president is authorized under the Defense Production Act to prohibit the hoarding of needed resources.

President @realDonaldTrump just signed an EO to prevent hoarding & price gouging of supplies needed in our war against the #Coronavirus. This sends a strong message  we will not let those hoarding vital supplies & price gougers to harm the health of America in this hour of need. pic.twitter.com/eksxQOVKNM  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) March 23, 2020

This sends a strong message, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham wrote on Twitter. We will not let those hoarding vital supplies & price gougers to harm the health of America in this hour of need.

Attorney General William Barr emphasized that individuals who stockpile essential supplies will not be the target of the presidential action, but those who hoard items to sell with hiked up prices are, and may be subject to investigation.

If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house, this is not something you have to worry about, but if you are sitting on a warehouse with surgical masks, youll be hearing a knock on your door, he said.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has now been granted the authority to determine which items are prohibited for sale in unnecessary quantities above the fair market value in light of the new hoarding rules.

The HHS will work with the Department of Justice to enforce the measure where hoarding may be impeding the supply of health and medical resources that are needed to combat the spread of the virus, the White House said. The items have not yet been designated.

The measure aims to ensure that hospitals, first-responders, and doctors have sufficient supplies of critical medical equipment, including personal protective equipment and sanitizing and disinfecting products.

By limiting access to these critical resources, those who engage in hoarding and price gouging could put both our medical workers and the health of the American people at risk, the White House said. All Americans must come together to help one another during this time and help combat the outbreak.

The New York attorney general office told The Epoch Times last week that it had received dozens of complaints about price gouging for masks, hand sanitizers, and disinfectant sprays.

The executive order comes after Trump on March 15 urged Americans not to stockpile groceries and other supplies as he assured that grocers would remain open and that the supply chain remained healthy.

You dont have to buy so much, Trump said at a White House briefing. Take it easy. Just relax.

According to official government data collated by Johns Hopkins University, as of Monday night, there were 46,371 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United States and 585 deaths.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 23, 2020 / Ms. Sherry Li, Chairman of Board of Thompson Education Center was invited by Steve Stivers, Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, to go to the National Congressional Committee's Fall Convention Dinner held in Washington DC. Numerous other Congressmen and leaders joined the event, including Alex Monney, Jack Bergman, Warren Davidson, Lee Zeldin, Mike Gallagher, Tom Emmer, John Moonlenaar, and Paul Mitchell.

Chairman Steve Stivers, Ms. Li, and other Congressmen discussed topics including the national financial policy, infrastructure, budget and education issues. They voiced on supporting the development of the economy, encouraging businesses to invest in infrastructure projects and creating jobs. Ms. Sherry Li joined the breakfast which was held in the Harvard Club of New York in support of U.S. Senator of Southern California, Lindsey Graham. Ms. Li and Senator Graham discussed the needs for stronger policies to promote the approval of U.S. Construction Project, in order to accelerate the creation of jobs for the country.

On the same day, to support the chairman New York State's Republican, Ed Cox, and his recommended candidates of New York City's Mayor, Nicole Malliotakis and Comptroller, Michel Faulkner, Sherry Li met with them and conducted talks. Congressman John Katko and State Senator John DeFrancisco also attended the meeting. In discussing how to motivate investment, develop economy and create jobs, Sherry Li had conversation with congressman, the senator and many other politicians.

At noon, the Impacto Business and Economy Symposium invited Thompson Education Center and Sherry Li and was held at the Union League Club in New York City and started with an opening by the CEO of Impacto Latino, Gail M. Smith. Many small businesses' chairmen, CEOs and commissioners came from various states and attended this event and discussed the topics of Economy and Business, expressing on how to accelerate the creation of jobs. During this Symposium, Sherry Li has also met with Linda McMahon, the administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Sherry Li is committed to promoting the development of economy and the creation of jobs, and Thompson Education Center puts every effort into connecting the education, culture, communication, and business opportunities between China and United States. In addition, Thompson Education Center project will help create many jobs and stimulate the local economy. Numerous jobs will be created throughout each phase of the entire project, such as real estate agents, professors, instructors, and workers, etc. Thompson Education Center is about to be completed in the Town of Thompson. The project will build a high-end education community in Sullivan County, New York and has received very strong support from local governments, institutions, small businesses, as well as residents.

Thompson Education Center - Dedicated to Education, Communications, and Business Opportunities: http://thompsoneducationcenterinitiatives.com/

Thompson Education Center and Sherry Li Appreciated by Catskill Regional Medical Center Foundation: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-sherry-li-004500936.html

Thompson Education Center and Sherry Li Invited to the Opening Ceremony of North America-China Dragon Business Association: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-sherry-li-034000392.html

Contact Information:

Thompson Education Center

Sherry Li

212-845-9519

ccoanys@yahoo.com

SOURCE: Thompson Education Center

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/582187/Sherry-Li-Representing-the-Thompson-Education-Center-Joined-Congressmen-and-Leaders-in-DC-and-NY
Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister

Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation'

100s booked across India for violating lockdown norms

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: Scores of people have been booked for violating lockdown norms and ignoring warnings. A lockdown has been imposed in 30 states to break the coronavirus chain.

In Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the police circulated images of the violators on the social media. The images carried a message that these people were against the society and would not stay at home. The police confiscated vehicles of people found violating norms.

The police have also put up barricades and even checked people whether they were out with a genuine reason. In many states, people were allowed to visit markets to buy essential goods.

In Punjab public address systems were used to ensure that people got the message that they needed to be indoors. In Maharashtra 31 cases were filed against violators. At Kalyan a group of youngsters were made to do sit ins for coming on bikes and violating norms.

Coronavirus: Difference between curfew and lockdown, explained

The Mumbai police is also getting feedback on the social media with many tweeting images of violators.

In UP at least 200 cases were lodged against 1,000 people for violating norms. A lockdown had been announced in UP on Sunday.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 7:41 [IST]
By Michael Kimmelman: A day at the fair in Red Fort in New Delhi, March 19, 2020. The present global calamity has made scarcity the necessary condition of humanitys survival. The present emptiness, a public health necessity, can conjure up dystopia, not progress, but, promisingly, it also suggests that, by heeding the experts and staying apart, we have not yet lost the capacity to come together for the common good. They also remind us that beauty requires human interaction. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)

A subway station in Munich, Germany, March 21, 2020. (Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times)

The Eiffel Tower and the Seine seen from the metro in Paris, March 21, 2020. (Andrea Mantovani/The New York Times)

An empty street during rush hour in the city of London, March 18, 2020. (Andrew Testa/The New York Times)

The Sydney Opera house at sunset, a time when tourists usually flock for photos, seen March 20, 2020. (Matthew Abbott/The New York Times)

Times Square in New York City was mostly devoid of people on Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)

Shikara owners wait at the Dal Lake for customers March 17, 2020. The six month tourist season sustains them for the year. The present global calamity has made scarcity the necessary condition of humanitys survival. (Atul Loke/The New York Times)

Alexanderplatz, a large public square in the center of Berlin, March 15, 2020. (Emile Ducke/The New York Times)

Pianist Lukas Geniusas and cello Alexandre Bouzlov performs on a stage at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall while preparing for an online broadcast, during a rehearsal in Moscow, Russia, Saturday March 21, 2020. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

The nearly empty Oculus in New York, on Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Victor J. Blue/The New York Times)

The counter Americana Diner which is open and serving takeout orders in West Orange, N.J., on Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Bryan Anselm/The New York Times)

An empty cloverleaf tells the story of a city on lockdown in Bogota, March 20, 2020. (Federico Rios/The New York Times)

At Palazzo Marino in Milan, headquarters of the municipality of the city, chairs are placed outdoors and at a safe distance before a meeting, March 20, 2020. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times)

A nearly empty restaurant once popular among tourists for the panoramic view of downtown Yangon, Myanmar, March 19, 2020. (Minzayar Oo/The New York Times)

The Painted Ladies, a group of Victorian and Edwardian houses in San Francisco's Alamo Square Park, a popular tourist destination in San Francisco, March 19, 2020. (Rozette Rago/The New York Times

A man walks in a popular square in downtown Caracas, March 17, 2020. (Adriana Loureiro Fernandez/The New York Times)

A security guard walks through the empty Prambanan temple complex March 20, 2020. (Ulet Ifansasti /The New York Times)

Pigeons had Las Ramblas to themselves in Barcelona, March 19, 2020. (Maria Contreras Coll/The New York Times)

The Place de la Concorde in Paris during the morning rush hour, March 18, 2020. (Andrea Mantovani/The New York Times)

General view of Tsim She Tsui in Hong Kong, March, 19, 2020. (Lam Yik Fei/The New York Times)

A lone man having dinner in a closed bar in a neighborhood of Beijing with a usually lively nightlife, Feb. 12, 2020. (Gilles Sabrie/The New York Times)

Empty bar tables on Bangkok's Pub Street usually teeming with tourists visiting Angkor Wat, March 18, 2020. (Adam Dean/The New York Times)

Few people took part in the latest cinema sessions in Sao Paulo, March 16, 2020. (Victor Moriyama/The New York Times)

Living quarters are lit up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday, March 19, 2020, where many people are staying home because of the coronavirus. (Victor Moriyama/The New York Times)

A man is sitting in an empty bus statin the eve before Persian New Year during the outbreak of coronavirus in Tehran, Iran, March 19, 2020.(Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times)

People walk through Dongdaemun Design Plaza in the city center of Seoul, South Korea on March 20, 2020. (Woohae Cho/The New York Times)

An unchanging ocean, a barely recognizable beach in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, March 18, 2020. (Philip Cheung/The New York Times)

U.S. Park Police and their dogs stand on duty at a nearly empty Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Alyssa Schukar/The New York Times)

The international terminal of Haneda Airport in Tokyo, March 18, 2020. (Noriko Hayashi/The New York Times)

A closed hotdog stand nestled under a closed Space Needle and Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, March 14, 2020. (Grant Hindsley/The New York Times)

A view of Piazza di Spagna from the Spanish Steps in Rome, on March 21, 2020. (Alessandro Penso/The New York Times)

No standees, and few seat takers in a usually heavily crowded train in Islamabad, March 18, 2020. (Saiyna Bashir/The New York Times) c.2020 The New York Times Company
Trump initially played down the impact of the outbreak but has since changed his tune. On the first day of the poll, he declared a national emergency , freeing up financial resources to assist Americans affected by the health and economic crisis.

The most recent Gallup poll was conducted from March 13 to 22, around the time Trump began responding more seriously to the coronavirus, which has roiled markets and infected hundreds of thousands of people globally.

This is the second time Trump has received a 49% approval rating in a Gallup poll. The first time was in a February poll conducted at the time of his impeachment trial .

Earlier this month, Trump's approval rating was at 44%, according to Gallup. The 5-point boost comes amid the president's near daily participation in coronavirus task force briefings and series of moves to combat the pandemic in the United States.

In the latest Gallup poll , released Tuesday, Trump's approval rating hit 49%, matching his best performance in the poll.

During an election year, any bump could have significant ramifications.

Crises are often the ticket to higher approval ratings for politicians, and President Donald Trump , it appears, is no exception.

Since then, he has pledged to waive all interest on federal student loans as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the economy. But a week after his promise, borrowers said they were still being charged interest.

And last week, following mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers, Trump said he would put the Korean War-era Defense Production Act "into gear" to mobilize private business resources to fight the coronavirus. The act enables the government to compel businesses to manufacture supplies needed during a crisis, such as medical masks, ventilators, gloves and testing swabs.

But he has not taken much advantage of that wartime power. The administration first used it on Tuesday to gain access to 60,000 coronavirus test kits, according to Politico. Several governors, mayors and police and fire departments have been begging Trump to use the act to increase production of protective gear for first responders.

The Trump administration's coronavirus task force on March 16 released guidelines that urged Americans for a two-week period to avoid going to restaurants or bars or attending social gatherings of more than 10 individuals, and recommended most employees work from home.

But Trump has in the last few days indicated that he would like to loosen those measures to restart the crashing economy by Easter, despite the virus' acceleration.

Trump gets good marks in the Gallup poll for his handling of the crisis.

Sixty percent of Americans indicated they approve of the way the president is steering the country in response to the pandemic, while 38% said they disapprove.

Nearly all Republicans surveyed in the poll, 94%, said they approved of his response, while 60% of independents and 27% of Democrats said the same, according to Gallup.

The poll, which had a margin of error of 4 percentage points, comes on the heels of other public surveys that have shown Trump's popularity creeping upward recently.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted between March 18 and 19 found that 55% of people approve of the way Trump is handling the outbreak.

On March 25, Trump matched his highest approval rating on Real Clear Politics, with 46.3% of respondents saying they approved of the job he was doing overall.

Still, Trump is not enjoying the kind of boost that other presidents have received during disasters. The president's approval rating has consistently hovered below 50% in national polls throughout his term.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted between March 11 and 13 found that only 45% of people approved of the way Trump was handling the outbreak, while 51% did not.

Following 9/11, a catastrophe that galvanized the nation in similar fashion to the current crisis, former President George Bush's approval rating skyrocketed in the days after, hovering between 86% and 90%.

Trump is managing the pandemic amid the backdrop of the 2020 election. It's all but certain that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the Democratic challenger. Sen. Bernie Sanders has yet to drop out of the race, but Biden is the leader by far among pledged delegates.

Trump lags in the race against Biden, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average. Biden has 50.9% of support, compared with Trump's 43.9%.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 00:43:21|Editor: zyl

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A man has his temperature checked by a security worker before entering a conference hall in Kampala, Uganda, on March 24, 2020. Uganda has so far registered nine cases of COVID-19. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

KAMPALA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday said the country may record more cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) after eight suspected cases turned positive.

Museveni in a televised national address said the eight Ugandans who came into the country from Dubai between March 20 and 22 were cleared to leave Entebbe International Airport after the initial tests turned out negative.

They traveled to different parts in the central region where they interacted with the public. When the second results came out, all the eight were traced and now are undergoing treatment.

Museveni said the surveillance team was now tracing the people who came into contact with the eight confirmed cases.

"All the patients have been identified. But they had mixed with people. The surveillance team will trace the people they came in contact and test them," said Museveni.

The ministry of health late on Monday had said six of the eight were intercepted at the airport while the other two were got from their places of self-quarantine.

The president said that there are more samples that are being tested but for now the country has 9 registered cases.

He said the index case, which was confirmed on March 21, was greatly improving, noting that his temperature has gone down and the appetite was improving.

He reassured the public that cases that turn out positive can be treated and therefore people should not go into hiding.

"The people who escaped and tried to hide are endangering themselves and endangering others unnecessarily. There is a possibility that even if you are infected, you can be treated," said Museveni.

The president noted that COVID-19 is not as dangerous as Ebola which has a mortality rate of 67 percent. COVID-19, according to the ministry of health.

Museveni noted that closing of schools, worship centers, and banning of public gatherings is critical in limiting the spread of the disease.

He said if Entebbe International Airport had been closed earlier, the cases would not have come to Uganda but a lot of consultations had to be done in line with international law.

"All the cases are from Dubai. If we had closed the airport two days before, maybe these people wouldn't have come. But we had to do consultations," said Museveni.

Museveni warned that he would suspend public transport if the disease continues to spread. He said government is discussing replacing public transport with bicycles in the city in a bid to limit public interactions.

"Let's see how far these people who left the airport went plus their associates. If we see more problems we shall suspend public transport and promote bicycles," said Museveni.

He urged the public to abide by the guidelines issued by government in efforts to fight COVID-19. He noted that personal hygiene and social distance were critical to the fight.

"We shall manage it. We are already handling the treatment. We have got these people who are being treated now. Some of them are responding," said Museveni.

The president warned all those hiking food prices as a result of the COVID-19, noting that they risk losing their trading licenses.
Armed Forces Insurance "Our members should expect the continuation of exceptional leadership with a seamless transition. And as always, outstanding service focused on the best interests of our members.

Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) announced today that Arlen Briggs, currently AFIs Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer, will succeed Kurt Seelbach as President and Chief Executive Officer effective March 15, 2020.

Seelbach has served with distinction for the past 12 years as AFIs President and CEO and will be retiring from a rewarding 40+ year career in the insurance industry in 2020. As part of the planned succession process, Seelbach will continue to serve in an executive advisory role until he retires in mid-July, 2020.

"As military members, we all know the value of great leadership and how important it is to the mission. Armed Forces Insurance is no different in this regard," said LtGen Stanley Clarke, (USAF retired), chairman, Armed Forces Insurance. We will miss Kurts calm presence and skilled leadership and I thank him for his numerous contributions to AFI. I cant think of a better professional to step into Kurts shoes and take the helm of AFI. Our members should expect the continuation of exceptional leadership with a seamless transition. And as always, outstanding service focused on the best interests of our members.

Since joining Armed Forces Insurance in 2008, its been my great pleasure to lead a company so rich in serving our military servicemen and women," said Kurt Seelbach, President and CEO of Armed Forces Insurance. Arlen Briggs is the ideal candidate to continue the AFI legacy of Our Mission is You.

Having worked in the insurance industry for several years with Zurich Insurance Group, Briggs joined AFI in 1994 as the Assistant Vice President, Finance and Accounting. During his career at AFI, he helped form Armed Forces Insurance Agency (AFIA) and Armed Forces Insurance Foundation, a not-for-profit educational foundation serving our Nations military families. Briggs currently sits on the Board of Directors for AFIA, he has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2010, Chief Risk Officer since 2012 and as AFIs Executive Vice President since 2017. Over his career, Briggs has been a champion for AFIs members and the military community.

Since 1887, Armed Forces Insurance has continued the promise to protect those who protect our Nation, said Arlen Briggs, Executive Vice President and CFO/CRO. I consider it an honor to be a part of such a distinguished organization and I look forward to working with the outstanding executive leadership team we have in place to serve our members and provide unique insurance solutions to our Nations military families.

Mr. Briggs currently serves as the President and a member of the Board of Directors for the Kansas Association of Property Casualty Insurance Companies, sits on the Audit Committee for the Kansas Insurance Guaranty Association, serves on the Board of Directors for Armed Forces Insurance Educational Foundation, serves on the Board of Directors for the Saint Lukes Cushing Foundation and serves as a trustee for multiple private charitable trusts that support local area youth and local organizations.

Concurrent with the announcement of the CEO transition, Armed Forces Insurance will conduct a search to replace Arlen Briggs as CFO.

ABOUT Armed Forces Insurance (AFI): Armed Forces Insurance is the insurance company of choice for current and retired members of the uniformed services, their children, and Department of Defense civilians. Founded in 1887 by military leaders with a single mission: to protect the property of those who protect our nation, providing premium quality, competitively priced property and casualty insurance to military professionals throughout the Armed Forces. We know our members have unique circumstances and insurance needs, and we offer a level of personalized service that is unequaled in the industry-because OUR MISSION IS YOU - and your peace of mind. The company also furthers our strong commitment to give back to military and local communities through important programs and sponsorships, including the ESPN Great American Patriot Award presented at the Armed Forces Bowl, the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year Award, the Vetrepreneur of the Year Award, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and the Military Warriors Support Foundation. In early 2015, AFI established the Armed Forces Insurance Foundation to assist in educating the military community on a wide array of key personal financial topics to help them succeed. For more information, visit the website at http://www.afi.org or call 1-800-495-8234, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Jammu, March 24 : : The Administrative Council of Jammu and Kashmir held an emergency meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Lt. Governor, G.C. Murmu and decided on a number of welfare measures, particularly for the most vulnerable sections and the unorganised sector, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a significant decision, the meeting decided on immediate release of one month's wages in respect of all daily wagers so that they do not face any difficulty due to the current situation, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown starting Tuesday midnight in an attempt to prevent the spread of the dreaded virus.

The Finance Department has been asked to take requisite measures in this regard.

The Administrative Council also decided that two months' advance ration viz. for April and May be issued to all ration card holders. It was also decided that one month's ration for mid-day meals would also be distributed in advance amongst the parents of eligible children.

In another important development, the Directorate of School Education, Jammu, issued a statement on Tuesday saying the Private Schools Coordination Committee has approached the concerned authorities with the request to extend their cooperation with the civil administration in its efforts to cope with the alarming situation which has arisen due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The Committee has offered private school campuses for setting up quarantine/isolation centres along with manpower and other resources for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the Administrative Council noted that slum dwellers, other urban poor and destitutes were among the most affected by the present situation. In view of the difficulties being faced by them, it was decided that ration packets be immediately distributed among them.

The Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir and all the Deputy Commissioners were asked to work out detailed modalities in this regard and take action on a war footing.

It may be recalled that the government had already ordered releases of Rs 40 crore to the districts as an emergency measure besides releasing funds to the municipal bodies, PHE department and other relevant bodies.

The Administrative Council noted that the funds to the DCs have already been released. The Divisional Commissioners were directed to ensure that these resources were expeditiously and effectively utilised in COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

The Administrative Council also appreciated the contribution of the frontline medical staff, the sanitation and other staff as well other essential staff who were working tirelessly despite the difficult circumstances.
To the Editor:

Dear fellow residents of Torrington: The coronavirus (or COVID-19) is now in the midst of a community spread across the United States and here in Connecticut. As of March 16, there were 41 confirmed cases, with four in Litchfield County. Unfortunately, testing is still limited to people who have been exposed to confirmed carriers of COVID-19, and the virus is even more contagious than the normal flu.

Our community is, of course, visibly concerned with this, given the steady shuttering of businesses and emptying of grocery stores. We are especially concerned with the vulnerable and working people of our town. Many people are suddenly out of work for the foreseeable future. Many of the elderly, immunocompromised and otherwise vulnerable are now unable to venture out without hazard. The simple steps of handwashing or social distancing are good starts, but not enough.

So we propose that:

Every street in town pools contact information among its residents, whether email or phone. Those who are elderly, disabled, sick or have any chronic conditions (including diabetes and obesity) that leave them vulnerable to the disease should be especially noted.

There is organized and safe grocery and pharmaceutical delivery for these vulnerable people, pending consent from town officials.

A collective fund is set up for the furloughed and newly unemployed.

We strongly believe that these steps can mitigate the economic and social damage that may be coming in the next weeks and months, as well as lessen the potential burden on the health care system. Rather than succumb to individual panic, we can, by working together as neighbors, friends and relatives, all be less exposed to any potential dangers and can rest easy that we have each other's support.

Jennifer Bailey, Jacob Delvanthal, Samantha Ducatelli, Emily Gardner, Arthur Raymond, Benita Roy, Tyler Sciortino, Torrington
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Loop Insights Inc. ( TSX.V:MTRX) (the "Company" or "Loop") maintains a positive outlook for the year ahead. Retailers are already working to rebuild their businesses during these unprecedented times, and Loop is here to assist them. Loop is focused on bringing new technologies and tools to brick and mortar retail helping global businesses recover and create new profitable strategies.A message from Loop's CEO, Rob Anson:The Covid-19 crisis has shaken the market unlike we've ever seen. During this time, Loop's team is working remotely and fully operational. We have created a strong educational strategy, for our customers, that includes regular delivery of press releases, blogs, social media content, videos, and podcasts. Over the next months, expect to see consistent, engaging updates from Loop with a steady news flow on company progress.Since the start of 2020, our team has worked tirelessly to complete the commercialization of our solution stack and the introduction of new disruptive technologies and licensing models. With the product being commercialized, by Q2 2020, Loop will benefit from an operational cost reduction of roughly 40%. Additionally, now with a lean and agile team, we are shifting focus on leveraging partnerships, building our client base, and ultimately increasing sales and revenue.Loop's latest product milestones have attracted interest and opened up conversations with companies in Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, and Mexico. We are exploring several strategic partnerships that will help achieve global scale. Our revenue model consists of licensing and re-seller distribution agreements, which is designed to grow exponentially as we close deals with large-scale venues, operators and umbrella companies. This ongoing revenue stream adds long-term value to our shareholders.As I am extremely confident that Loop will continue to flourish during 2020, I will look to bolster my personal position with continued open market buying. I would also like to advise past participants in previous equity raises that we are in the process of finalizing the repricing of associated warrants.Loop's ability to enhance customer engagement and build new line revenue opportunities is what brick and mortar retailers need coming out of this market volatility. During this time of crisis, Loop has remained focused on leveraging partnerships, increasing education around our solution stack, reducing our burn rate, and implementing revenue streams. Stay tuned for more announcements to come.More About Loop: Loop Insights Inc. ( TSX.V: MTRX) is a Vancouver-based technology company that has developed a unique proprietary platform that combines the power of IoT and AI to level the playing eld between brick and mortar retailers and their online competition. Loop gives brands and retailers the ability to connect their physical and digital assets, regardless of hardware or IT networks, thus enabling rapid deployment and global scale. Retailers and brands benet from making real-time, data-driven decisions that help them curate unique personalized customer experiences in stores.For More Information, Please Contact:LOOP Insights Inc.Soy Garipoglu, Manager, IRT: 778-990-8985E: ir@ loopinsights.ca CHF Capital MarketsCathy Hume, CEOT: 416-868-1079 x 231E: cathy@ chfir.com LOOP Website: www.loopinsights.ai Facebook: @LoopInsightsTwitter: @LoopInsightsLinkedIn: @LoopInsightsForward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Loop's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Loop believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, Loop does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of Loop should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that Loop will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's 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.SOURCE: Loop Insights Inc.
Six more persons including three woman tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 18.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar tweeted about three new cases late in the night which include two who have a travel history overseas.

Earlier in the day, three cases were reported.

"#coronaupdate: 3 new cases for #covid19 in Chennai. 65 year Male, return from New Zealand admitted at private hospital, 55 year female Saidapet at Kilpauk Medical College and 25 year old Male return from London admitted at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital," Baskar said in his latest tweet.

All the patients are in isolation and under treatment, he said.

Earlier in the day, he tweeted about two women and a 74-year old man who travelled to foreign countries testing positive.

"All 3 traveled abroad.74 Y M return from USA at #Stanley (hospital),52 Y F return from USA at #Stanley,25 Y F return from Swiss (Switzerland)at #KMC," the minister had said in a tweet.

With the new patients, the total number of positive cases of the virus in the state reached 18, including a 45 year-old man who was earlier discharged following recovery.

So far, 2,09,163 passengers have been screened with 15,298 under follow up, the minister said, apparently referring to home quarantine.

As many as 743 samples have been sent for tests with results of 608 of them returning negative and 120 awaited.

Stressing on staying at home to stem the virus spread, the minister called for people's cooperation.

"#StayAtHomeSaveLives:Kindly cooperate in our fight against #corona. Stay at home to prevent the spread of disease. Pls share the awareness messages to friends and family. Lets take care of each other," he said in another tweet.

Vijaya Baskar announced that a 350-bed isolation ward at a city government hospital will be ready by Wednesday.

Further, the city-based Apollo Hospitals has informed the government about its preparedness to treat coronavirus patients at a 100-bed facility.

The Centre has also approved a COVID19 testing lab at Apollo, he added.

In Coimbatore, 382 people with symptoms of fever and cold are under observation in their homes.

Health department officials were monitoring them at regular intervals, Collector K Rajamani said.

Similarly, the department was screening all foreigners arriving in the city and the district residents returning from abroad at the airport, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday proposed to host a conference of the SAARC health ministers' to discuss a joint strategy to tackle the deadly coronavirus that has killed nearly 15,000 people worldwide.

He made the proposal during a telephone conversation with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen.

The Foreign Office said that the two ministers discussed the challenges faced by regional countries in the face of rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and exchanged ideas on ways to combat the threat.

Qureshi underscored that Pakistan considered the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) an important platform for regional cooperation.

"Reaffirming Pakistan's abiding commitment to the SAARC process, he reiterated Pakistan's readiness to host the SAARC Health Ministers' conference to enhance cooperation among member countries and development partners in health sector with particular focus on COVID-19," the FO said.

He also proposed that a video conference could be organized first in view of the prevailing situation.

Appreciating Pakistan's offer, Momen conveyed Bangladesh's readiness to participate in the video conference, according to FO.

Discussing the need to share resources, it was underlined that SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund should be placed under the Secretary General of SAARC and the modalities for its utilization should be finalized through consultations at the earliest.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India 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 USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000 and Bangladesh pledged USD 1.5 million to the fund. Sri Lanka on Monday pledged to contribute USD 5 million to the fund.

Pakistan is now the only country left to declare its contribution to the fund.

Qureshi also suggested that the SAARC should evaluate and coordinate on the economic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 and experts from the member countries should commence work in this regard immediately.

He underscored the need for debt restructuring by developed countries and the international financial institutions so that the available resources could be utilized to deal with the unprecedented global health emergency.

Agreeing with the proposal, Foreign Minister Momen underscored the need to raise the issue at the G-77 forum, said FO.

Qureshi also said that Iran was faced with serious challenges due to COVID-19, which were further aggravated due to the continuing economic sanctions against it.

He emphasized the need for immediate lifting of those sanctions, enabling Iranian authorities to utilize their resources for saving precious human lives.

Qureshi assured his Bangladeshi counterpart that all Bangladeshi citizens in Pakistan were being looked after by the Government of Pakistan as its own people.

The two Foreign Ministers stressed the need for joint efforts to address the situation. They agreed to work closely to realize collective endeavours for common benefit.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
States Urge Court to Allow Religious Student Clubs to Select Leaders Who Share Their Beliefs

Fifteen states, led by their attorneys general, are voicing support for a Christian club at the University of Iowa (UIowa) that was denied funding because it wants to only have Christian students as leaders.

At the center of the issue is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a registered student organization at UIowa. In 2018, InterVarsity was was told by UIowa that its requirement that leaders must share the Christian faith went against the universitys anti-discrimination policy. As a result, InterVarsity was de-registered, meaning that it would no longer receive funds from the universitys mandatory fees paid by all students, or have a reserved meeting place on campus. Meanwhile, other secular student groups requiring members to subscribe to their respective missions maintained their status during the same school year.

InterVarsity filed a First Amendment lawsuit against UIowa, alleging the public university discriminated the club based on religious beliefs. In September 2019, a district judge ruled (pdf) in favor of the Christian club, saying that UIowa administrators should either revise the policy or personally repay for damages theyve done by violating the groups constitutional rights. The decision was appealed.

In a joint brief (pdf) led by Nebraska Attorney General Douglas J. Peterson, 15 state attorneys general argued that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should uphold the lower court ruling. The supporting states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Utah in addition to Nebraska.

The 15 states argued in the brief that the UIowa not only failed to cite any federal civil rights laws that forbid public universities from allowing religious student groups to select leaders who share their beliefs, but also tried to avoid the key issue of selectively enforcing policies.

Although written school policies forbid student groups from discriminating based on religion, sex, creed, or political views, the defendants have allowed many groups to discriminate on those grounds, the states argued, noting that UIowa has approved the LGBT-friendly Christian group Love Works, even though it requires leaders must agree with the groups view on sexuality. This alone is enough to establish a constitutional violation.

If these officials can target religious groups like InterVarsity for disfavored treatment, nothing prevents a different university from similarly singling out an LGBT organization, environmental group, gun-rights association, or countless others, the states warned the 8th Circuit. The rights of all groups on campusno matter their views or beliefsrise and fall together.

The 8th Circuit ruled in 2017 against Iowa State University in a case involving a pro-cannabis student club, whose trademark licensing requests were denied because the design featured marijuana leaf. The Court said the university violated the groups First Amendment rights because the denial was motivated by viewpoint discrimination.
An employee counts Vietnamese banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Tu.

Corporate bond issuance value in February fell 44 percent from January as the coronavirus pandemic interfered with companies financial plans.

The value of bond issuance on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) fell 44 percent to VND6.8 trillion ($292 million) in February, although January had less working days due to the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday (Tet) .

Real estate companies accounted for the largest value of bonds issued at 40.5 percent of the total, followed by stock brokerages and banks.

In the first two months, 39 companies on the HNX bourse issued VND18.7 trillion ($803 million) worth of bonds with maturity terms of two to five years.

Top brokerage SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) said that the plummeting bond value reflects the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic on companies financial plans.

Private investors only bought 26 percent of the issuance value, showing greater interest in other assets with greater security, it said in a note.

Several stock brokerages have anticipated that the corporate bonds market will see slow growth this year after doing well last year.

Investors are questioning the capacity of bond issuers after the Ministry of Finance warned that some companies were offering the unusually high coupon rates of 15-20 percent a year, compared to the market average of 10-11 percent.

The finance ministry last month proposed to make regulations for corporate bond issuances more stringent to protect investors, after some companies made issuances worth 50 times and 100 times their equity.

The State Bank of Vietnam has also ordered commercial banks to stop buying bonds to restructure their debts.

The value of corporate bond issuances increased by 25 percent from 2018 to VND280 trillion ($12 billion) last year, according to the SSI.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order on March 23 requiring all hospitals in the state to increase their capacity by 50 percent, as the state reported more than 5,000 new cases.

Cuomo said hospitals should try to increase capacity by 100 percent but that some hospitals wouldnt be able to.

I dont think its unreasonable to say, try to reach a 100 percent increase, but you must reach a 50 percent increase, Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany.

Hospitals can accomplish the mandatory increase by finding more beds and using more rooms, he said.

The order comes ahead of the expected continuation of an increase in patients who have contracted the CCP virus. The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

New York currently has 53,000 hospital beds. Projections of cases show the state will need 110,000 beds, Cuomo said.

New York has 3,000 beds in intensive care units, while projections show the state will need between 18,000 and 37,000 ICU beds.

Once hospitals increase capacity, theyll face staffing shortages. Officials have reached out to retired health care professionals across the state, as well as medical and nursing schools. Theyve received 30,000 responses to date.

Cuomo also planned to issue an executive order mandating that all nurses enlist in the virus response while the states Department of Family Services reached out to health insurers and asked doctors and nurses on staff to start working in hospitals.

This is about saving lives, he said.

New Cases

Early on March 23, the state reported an increase of 5,707 cases overnight, including 3,260 new cases in New York City, bringing the state total to 20,875.

Westchester County reported an increase of 1,201 cases, and Nassau County reported 542 new cases.

More than 25 percent of the 78,289 people who have been tested in the state have tested positive.

New York City, the epicenter of the virus in the United States, has 12,305 cases.

Of the cases in the state, 13 percent of patients, or 2,635, are hospitalized, and 24 percent of those patients, or 621, are in ICUs.

Officials are working on gathering data on how to essentially restart the economy, Cuomo said.

Strategies could include isolating the vulnerable and allowing healthy, younger people to go back to work.

The survival rate for people who have been infected worldwide is around 98 percent, the governor noted.

From The Epoch Times
If that is used to help people struggling from the coronavirus outbreak (i.e. employees, rather than investors), then that could go a long way toward keeping the US economy afloat in the midst of the pandemic.

Blue chip American firms such as Facebook, CVS, Walmart, JPMorgan Chase and Kroger are among several that have already announced bonuses for some of their workers.

"It's unprecedented. So Corporate America stimulus makes sense on a case-by-case basis," said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist with Brown Brothers Harriman.

Much of the stimulus could come from the tech industry. After all, Apple, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Cisco, and Oracle had nearly half of the cash -- about $638 billion of it -- that Moody's cited in its report.

Companies (like Apple) that still have a lot of cash sitting overseas should easily be able to bring much of that money back to the United States following tax law changes in 2017 that lowered the tax rate for repatriating offshore assets.
Swab: All across the world, countries are ramping up testing sites for the virus, like this one in a tent in Berlins Reinickendorf district in Germany. Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

What is needed to control this pandemic?

A vaccine would be our greatest weapon against the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping across the world.

No vaccine currently exists, because this is a new virus.

The global scientific community is locked in a race to develop one but experts at the World Health Organisation say it will take 12 to 18 months.

The number of diagnosed cases of Covid-19 worldwide topped 350,000 yesterday. With that figure expected to soar in the coming weeks, the predicted timeline for the development of a vaccine is concerning.

But there are a few important things to consider.

Why will it take so long?

Dr Maire Connolly, Adjunct Professor of Global Health and Development in Discipline of Bacteriology, School of Medicine at NUI Galway, explains: "People need to understand that the development of a vaccine is a hugely complex endeavour, primarily to ensure the safety of each vaccine.

"Vaccines have got to work and be safe. Initial studies have to be carried out on animal models before they are tested on people in clinical trials.

"And it is a brand new virus. It is quite similar to Sars Cov-1 that occurred in 2003 but the vaccine developed took 20 months to be ready for testing in humans."

The outbreak was under control at this point so the vaccine was not used.

"We were very lucky during Sars because people were not infectious until they were six days into the illness, which made it so much easier to identify people, isolate them and identify contacts.

"That outbreak was stopped at about 8,000 cases and 800 dead. Some of this work can be built on but Sars Cov-2 is still a new virus."

Professor Connolly drew a comparison with the annual flu vaccine, which is adapted every year to counter different emerging strains.

"With the flu vaccine, we already have a model we build on. Every year, the strains of flu change, but we already have the vaccine platform and you can adapt it. That's why the pandemic vaccine was developed in record time in 2009.

"Whereas here we have a brand new virus."

What can we do now?

Professor Connolly said there were measures we could take until a vaccine is rolled out.

"This virus will circulate until a high proportion of the population become immune to it so the priority is that inevitability.

"What really is crucial is to reinforce the message to people that we can control this disease by self- protection and prevention of transmission of infection to others while we wait for the development of a vaccine."

What has been done already?

In terms of important research, Australian scientists have mapped the immune responses from one of the first coronavirus patients.

This is a vital step in developing a vaccine and treatment.

While most people infected experience only mild symptoms, up to 20pc of patients will develop severe or critical illness.

Scientists at Australia's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity examined the blood results from a woman in her 40s who returned from Wuhan to Australia.

They discovered that a person's immune response to coronavirus acts in the same way as the flu.

As researchers monitored her immune response, they were able to accurately predict when she would recover.

The findings helped scientists understand why some patients develop mild symptoms and recover while others develop more serious respiratory problems.

The first human trial on a vaccine began in the US last week, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced.

Scientists will first test whether the vaccine is safe and later programmes will determine how well it works.

The trial was "launched in record speed", Dr Anthony Fauci, the institute's director, said in a statement.

The rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, and it was possible because researchers were able to use what they already knew about related coronaviruses such as Sars and Mers. However, if the vaccine is proved safe and effective against the virus, it will still take at least a year to roll out.

China has also approved the start of a vaccine clinical trial that has been developed by researchers led by a biowarfare expert Chen Wei of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Wuhan.

She said: "We are a community of shared future for mankind, and the vaccine is one of the most powerful scientific and technological weapons to end the novel coronavirus epidemic."
DUBLIN-BASED Stobart Air, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional service, is to begin temporary layoffs as it suspends its flights between Ireland and the UK from March 28 until further notice.

The company employs more than 400 people.

It will continue to operate two subsidised routes it flies between Dublin and Kerry, and Dublin and Donegal. They are public service obligation routes backed by EU funds. However, it is likely that the two routes are now operating with near-zero load factors.

Stobart Air said all services between Ireland and the UK will continue to operate up to the end of today (March 24).

From tomorrow to March 28, services between Ireland and the UK will be reduced to just limited services between Dublin and Glasgow, and Dublin and Edinburgh.

All affected passengers are being notified by email and advised of their options.

"We have been engaging with our staff, their representatives and wider suppliers over recent days as we explored difficult but necessary measures to retain jobs such as voluntary unpaid leave and reduced working hours, while reducing the cost base," the airline said.

It added: "Now, given the decision to suspend international services, temporary layoffs will be required.

"Consultation with staff and employee representative groups to make the difficult but necessary arrangements are under way.

"These measures are being implemented to protect the business against the current commercial reality and position us for the future."

Airlines have seen passenger traffic slump on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic. Carriers have been grounding fleets across the world in response to the effects of the crisis.

But Stobart Air, whose CEO is Andy Jolly, has also found itself in difficulty due to wider issues in Connect Airways, the group it is part of. Connect Airways 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 last month. Accountancy firm EY was appointed administrator.

The Irish Independent revealed last week that Connect Airways is also in administration under EY.

This means that EY now controls 49pc of Stobart Air. The remaining 51pc of Stobart Air is owned by its staff.

The UK's Stobart Group is on the hook for tens of millions of euro worth of liabilities given in relation to a number of aircraft leases Stobart Air has.
Anglican bishops' conference that banned same-sex spouses postponed over coronavirus concerns

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A major conference for bishops of the Anglican Communion that garnered headlines for not inviting same-sex spouses has been postponed over concerns about the coronavirus.

The Lambeth Conference, which was originally scheduled to be held at Canterbury in the United Kingdom in July and August, has been postponed until summer 2021.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Communion, announced the rescheduling in a video message posted to the Conference website on Monday.

Welby stated that he believed that the place of a bishop at a time of difficulty is the place of a shepherd when the wolf is attacking the flock.

It is to be with them, to be alongside them, to love them, to suffer with them, he said. Because of the coronavirus, travel around the world is deeply restricted and the amount of time that we will face these limitations is unknown.

For these reasons, so that we may be good shepherds as bishops in the Anglican world and encourage the Church to be there for Gods suffering world, we have decided to reschedule and postpone the conference.

Welby stressed that they are absolutely not canceling, adding that when we come together, it will be in a world reshaped by what is going on at the moment.

It is ever more important that we meet to pray, to study the Scriptures, to hear the Word of God, to comfort, to gain a fresh vision of what it is to be Gods church for Gods world, he continued.

Let us remember that as we come together and share our wisdom, we will need to hear from the Spirit through each other, to think and ponder and study, to worship and pray.

The first Lambeth Conference was held in 1867 and lasted four days with 76 bishops from across the global Anglican Communion in attendance. It has been held roughly once every 10 years.

The conference originally scheduled for this summer garnered controversy when it was announced that same-sex spouses were not invited to the gathering.

Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, explained last year that while all bishops received official invitations, same-sex spouses are not invited to the conference.

Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be  we are recognizing that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend, wrote Idowu-Fearon at the time.

But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communions position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman. That is the position as set out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

Idowu-Fearon added that he believed that in light of the church resolution it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the conference.

The decision was criticized by many in the global church body, namely those in more theologically liberal churches in developed countries.

The Right Rev. Mary Glasspool of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, a married lesbian bishop, planned to lead a service in July at a church in Canterbury partly to protest the decision.

The LGBT+ community in the U.K. and other places might not understand that they are invited to celebrate at the Christian table, Glasspool told The Guardian in a recent interview. We need to make it known that everyone is included  all are invited to this particular celebration.
Partnership helps P&C insurers quickly and confidently underwrite cyber insurance coverage with industry-leading security ratings

Boston, March 24, 2020announced today that it has expanded its Partner Ecosystem program through a new relationship with BitSight, the world's leading provider of security ratings. Used by brokers, insurers, reinsurers, and modelers throughout the world to evaluate, price, and model cyber risk, BitSight Security Ratings are now available to joint customers in the Duck Creek Platform.

"BitSight Security Ratings provide critical information to help P&C insurers around the world underwrite cyber insurance and model risk," said Samit Shah, Director of Insurance Programs & Partnerships at BitSight. "We are focused on bringing efficient underwriting workflow to our customers, and integrating our service with the Duck Creek Platformwas a natural fit for us."

Unlike existing security assessment tools that examine a company's policies or conduct periodic scans, BitSight continuously measures security performance based on evidence of compromised systems, diligence, user behavior, and data breaches to provide an objective, evidence-based measure of performance. This data-driven, outside-in approach requires no information from the rated entity. With BitSight Security Ratings, insurance organizations can augment questionnaire-based assessment towards a continuous-outcome-based model that is both effective and efficient.

"Cyber security represents a growing threat to businesses of all sizes, and protecting them with appropriate coverage is only becoming more difficult as the types and scope of cyber threats expand," said Elizabeth Del Ferro, Vice President, Partner GTM at Duck Creek Technologies. "Security Ratings are a fantastic value-add for carriers, and Duck Creek is thrilled to welcome BitSight into our rapidly-growing partner ecosystem."

An Anywhere Enabled Integrationnow available on the Duck Creek Content Exchangeallows insurers to make requests to the BitSight service to retrieve an overall rating and industry comparison, as well as information on individual risk vectors, their grades, and their industry comparison grades. Using this data, carriers can assess the cyber risk of an applicant organization during the underwriting process and price the policy appropriately.

About BitSight:

BitSight transforms how organizations manage cyber risk. The BitSight Security Ratings Platform applies sophisticated algorithms, producing daily security ratings that range from 250 to 900, to help organizations manage their own security performance; mitigate third party risk; underwrite cyber insurance policies; conduct financial diligence; and assess aggregate risk. With over 2,100 global customers and the largest ecosystem of users and information, BitSight is the Standard in Security Ratings. For more information, please visit www.bitsight.com, read the BitSight blogor follow @BitSight on Twitter.

About Duck Creek Technologies:

Duck Creek Technologies is a leading provider of core system solutions to the P&C and General insurance industry. By accessing Duck Creek OnDemand, the company's enterprise Software-as-a-Service solution, insurance carriers are able to navigate uncertainty and capture market opportunities faster than their competitors. Duck Creek's functionally-rich solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. For more information, visit www.duckcreek.com.

Media Contact:

Paul Rechichi

Racepoint Global

617-624-3295

prechichi@racepointglobal.com
The Delhi Police cleared Shaheen Bagh of protesters on Tuesday. Since mid-December, those opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a possible National Register of Citizens congregated at Shaheen Bagh  an otherwise inconspicuous corner in south Delhi. Shaheen Bagh was distinctive  the protest was led by Muslim women; it became a model for movements elsewhere in the country; it ended up becoming the longest, and arguably, one of the most successful occupy movements globally in terms of drawing attention to its cause; and it established the fact that a large segment of society was uncomfortable with the governments law.

But Shaheen Bagh lost the plot. This newspaper had appealed to the protesters to withdraw the movement soon after the Delhi elections  and adopt other modes of struggle. The protest had made its point. And like any other civil society movement, it needed to judge when the dividends had begun diminishing. The protest was only deepening the communal divide after a point; it was causing inconvenience to a large segment of Delhis residents; and it had become a potential site of violence.

The protesters decided to continue. That was their prerogative. But they exhibited great irresponsibility when they continued even after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), and the governments clear advisory to maintain social distancing and avoid large crowds. Shaheen Bagh protesters, at this time of a national crisis, should have, on their own, called off the movement  for their own well-being, and for society at large. While most protesters had left the site, some women remained, violating government protocols. Eventually, the Delhi Police had to step in. In the process, protesters ceded their moral high ground, came across as insular, and lost the support and sympathy they had earned. Shaheen Bagh will go down as a lesson in how a movement should be waged  but also a lesson in when a movement needs to end.
Official confirmation won't come for months but the queues outside Centrelink offices tell the story: we're in for a shattering economic downturn.

For Australia it will be the first recession since the early 1990s. But three decades of continuous growth has transformed the national economy since then.

Illustration: Simon Letch Credit:

One important change that gets little attention is how the regional economic picture has become more complex.

Powerful forces including the rise of knowledge-intensive service industries, the mining construction boom (and bust), the changing nature of manufacturing and the growing importance of health and aged services have affected cities and regions differently.
A 45-year-old civilian was injured in heavy overnight mortar shelling by Pakistan Rangers along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Tuesday. Bodh Raj suffered splinter injuries when a mortar shell exploded near his house in Manyari area of Hiranagar sector in the early hours of the day. He was shifted to sub-district hospital Hiranagar and discharged after treatment, the officials said. The shelling and firing from across the border in Manyari and adjoining villages started at 9.35 pm on Monday and continued through the night, prompting strong and effective retaliation by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel guarding the border, they said.

Civilian injured in Pak shelling

A woman, Rekha Rani also fell unconscious and several houses were damaged due to heavy shelling by Pakistan, which created panic among the border residents who were forced to spend the night in underground bunkers, they said. The shelling ended around5 am, the officials said, adding that the casualties suffered by Pakistan was not known immediately. Pakistan has intensified shelling in Manyari and adjoining villages of Hiranagar sector over the last week to stall some construction work being undertaken by the BSF to strengthen the counter-infiltration grid, the officials said.

Meanwhile, a defence spokesperson said Pakistan also initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with Mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Poonch district on Monday evening. "The firing and shelling started around 8.15 pm and lasted for several hours," the spokesman said, adding that the Indian army retaliated befittingly. There was no report of any damage on our side, the spokesperson further said.

Image credits: PTI
Nearly one in five Scotland Yard officers and staff in London are said to be unavailable for work because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 19 per cent of police, civilian and community support officers have said they cannot work, being either off sick or self-isolating due to the outbreak.

The Metropolitan Police Federation claimed that as of yesterday, 2,100 of the Met's 31,000 officers were off, including a high-ranking policeman.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick (left) patrols Old Bond Street in London today

However there were no figures on absence available for civilian or community support officers, reported the Evening Standard.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said police would enforce tougher restrictions on movements and warned those ignoring them would be fined.

People flouting the new lockdown rules will be slapped with an initial 30 fine and could end up in court if they do not pay.

Officers will have powers to disperse gatherings under a ban on meetings of more than two people apart from those who live together.

Two mounted police officers ride their horses across the iconic Abbey Road crossing in North London as a Highways Maintenance refresh the markings on a very quiet day in the capital

But Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the 'large amounts of sickness' among officers would make enforcement of this difficult.

He told Sky News: 'It will be very, very challenging and very, very difficult for us with what's put in front of us.

'But we don't actually know what is being put in front of us yet and we're going to be asked to disperse crowds, it's going to be a real, real challenge.

'We will be dealing with it, but I'm not sure we will have the resources to be able to see it through.'

Mounted police patrol around Old Bond Street in London today amid the coronvirus lockdown

He said the Army could step in and support police if numbers fall due to illness or self-isolation.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation, said 'large amounts of sickness' among officers will make enforcement hard

Police will have powers to disperse gatherings after Mr Johnson announced a ban on meetings of more than two people aside from those who live together.

Asked if major crime is no longer a priority, Mr Marsh said that although officers will police the same way 'up to a certain degree', the coronavirus crisis had 'taken over everything'.

'This is the biggest thing that's ever happened in my lifetime and anyone's lifetime, really, and we need to get on top of it,' he told Sky News.

Regulations will be made by Thursday at the latest to allow police to issue fines under the 1984 Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act for England and Wales.

The emergency legislation going through the House of Commons will provide equivalent powers to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The "Europe Asia Pacific Kraft Papers Market Outlook and Projections, 2019-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The kraft paper market in Europe was valued at USD 24.56 billion in the year 2018 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 3.54% over the forecast period., 2019-2027.

Kraft Paper is produced by using a specified method of paper production from chemical pulp in the kraft process. The pulp that arises from the kraft process is robust and strong as compared to other modes of pulping processes deployed. Kraft papers are solid and sturdy enough, as compared to the paper obtained from other pulping processes. Pulping through kraft process leads to removal of a large amount of lignin that is present originally in the wood. Kraft paper finds its use in various applications both industrially and commercially. The kraft paper market in Europe was valued at USD 24.56 billion in the year 2018 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 3.54% over the forecast period., i.e. 2019-2027, owing to high demand for kraft papers from across several nations in the world as well as the advantage that they offer in terms of sustainability and safety. Additionally, ongoing advancements in the packaging industry in the region is also anticipated to contribute towards the growth of the market in the region during the forecast period. According to the statistics by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), exports of paper board in Europe increased from 6825 thousand tons in the year 2005 to 7503 thousand tons in the year 2017.

The kraft paper market in Asia Pacific was valued at USD 25.37 billion in the year 2018 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 4.02% during the forecast period. Factors such as increasing demand for kraft papers in electrical, construction and food beverages end user industries, followed by rising adoption of kraft paper in the region are anticipated to promote towards the growth of the market in the region. According to the statistics by CEPI, exports of paper board in Asia Pacific region increased from 4742 thousand tons in the year 2005 to 5518 thousand tons in the year 2017.

The kraft paper market is comprised of various segments such as product type, application, end user and region. The product type segment is further sub-divided into medium corrugate, kraft liner, chipboard and others. Out of these, chipboard segment is predicted to register a CAGR of around 4.35% in the European market over the forecast period, owing to its offering of better protection as well as being sturdy that reduces the chances of damage caused to the product. On the other hand, the market in Asia Pacific region is predicted to register a CAGR of 5.13% over the forecast period, owing to growing need for increased quality in packaging FMCG products coupled with the growth of the manufacturing sector in the region.

Key Topics Covered:

Europe And Asia Pacific Kraft Paper Market

Part 1 Market Definition And Research Methodology

Market And Solution Definition

Research Objective

Part 2 Research Methodology

Part 3 Executive Summary

Part 4 Policies Standards

Part 5 Production Data By Country

Part 6 Import Quantity By Country

Part 7 Europe Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Market Overview Market Size And Forecast (2018-2027)

Market Segmentation By:

Product Type

Application

End-User

By Country

U.K. Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Market Overview Market Size And Forecast (2018-2027)

Company Analysis

Market Segmentation By:

Product Type

Application

End-User

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Assessment Of Leading Companies

Germany Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

France Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Italy Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Spain Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Rest Of Europe Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Part 8 Asia Pacific Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Indonesia Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

South Korea Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

China Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

India Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Malaysia Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Vietnam Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Australia Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Philippines Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Rest Of Asia Pacific Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Part 9 Africa Pacific Kraft Paper Market (Usd Billion Million Tons)

Part 10 Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles Of Top Players

Mondi

Segezha Group

Stora Enso

Nordic Paper

Natron-Hayat

Smurfit Kappa

Daio Paper Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x62saz

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005304/en/

Contacts:

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Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

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By Trend

Georgian citizens will be brought back to Georgia from different European countries gradually, Davit Zalkaliani, Georgian Foreign Minister said, Trend reports referring to Georgian media.

"Since returnees will have to undergo a 14 day-long mandatory quarantine upon their arrival in Georgia, the country needs to have appropriate infrastructure on the ground," Zalkaliani said.

According to the minister, over the past two weeks, 3,000 citizens have returned to the country with the help of the government. Georgia was one of the first states that brought back its citizens from China.

Zalkaliani said a charter flight will be carried out from Berlin soon to bring Georgian citizens back to Georgia.

Since February 26, 2020, Georgia has had 54 confirmed cases of the coronavirus; eight individuals have recovered.

As of now, 3,254 people are under quarantine in Georgia, with 233 others in hospitals.

On March 21, Georgia declared a state of emergency until April 21 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

As of today, over 381,500 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 16,500. Meanwhile, over 101,800 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
A hot potato: Its long been the case that Samsung has released two versions of its flagship handsets: one with the latest Snapdragon chip for the US and a few select markets, and the other with its Exynos SoC for the rest of the world. But some people arent happy with this setup and have started a petition demanding Samsung drop the in-house processor from its phones.

The petition, which has been signed by over 21,000 people, states: Phones with Exynos SoC chips [sic] are shown to perform slower, have less battery life, use inferior camera sensors and processing, overheat and throttle faster, amongst other issues.

The petition does have a point. Notebookcheck writes that the Exynos 990 found in the Galaxy S20 phones delivers a peak performance to power ratio of 13.0/W, whereas the Snapdragon 865 from the US version of the handsets comes in at 19.6/W. Even last years Snapdragon 855 beats the current Exynos 990, boasting a ratio of around 15/W.

Other benchmarks show the Snapdragon performing better than the Exynos. Samsungs chip lags behind in AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3DMark, and AITUTU tests, though it did beat Qualcomms SoC in PCMark. We should also note, this is not a new development. When we reviewed the Galaxy S9+ back in 2018, the duality of SoC equipment was there and we called it "an Exynos fail."

Image credit: Beebom

The petition also notes that Samsung uses its own-brand camera sensors, but it uses parts from Sony in the US versions.

If the company wont use Snapdragon chips in all its phones, the petition calls for transparency about the differences between the two SoCs, or that it prices the Exynos version of the handsets lower than the Snapdragon alternatives.

Will Samsung listen to the petitions demands? Its highly unlikely, especially as its Exynos chipset division has surpassed Apple as the third-largest supplier in the smartphone industry.

Image credit: DANIEL CONSTANTE via Shutterstock
Some educators and experts have suggested shortening the summer holiday and designing more holidays within a year.

Hanois Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung has requested the local education and training department to build a plan to re-design the academic year. The plan will be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and other relevant ministries for consideration.





According to Chung, in many other countries, there are four semesters and two holiday periods in winter and summer.



In Vietnam, an academic year comprises two semesters and students only have one long holiday in summer which lasts three months.

Some educators and experts have suggested shortening the summer holiday and designing more holidays within a year.

He suggested redesigning the academic year and setting many short holidays instead of one long holiday. Students should be allowed to have a 35-day summer holiday, one-month Tet holiday and 2 week holiday for each of the first and second semesters. If so, they will still have 3 months of holidays in total.



Vu Thu Huong, an independent education expert, commented that she can see many strong points in the plan suggested by Chung.



First, parents will not be able to ask their children to go to extra classes after school hours, because the holidays are short. If so, the extra classes movement, which is considered a burning issue, will stop.



Educators say that this deprives students of free time to play.



Second, the study time will be shortened, which eases the pressure on students. And students will have more time for practical experience, which can satisfy the requirements of the new general education program.



Do Thi Dung, a teacher of Duong Lieu Secondary School in Hanoi, also thinks that one academic year with two semesters and many short holidays is more reasonable that one long holiday in summer.



The summer holiday is too long, while there is no holiday between semesters, she commented.



However, even the educators who advocate the one academic year with many holidays model also think that it is necessary to consider thoroughly before applying it.



Huong warned that the change of the academic year structure will lead to many other big changes, especially in curriculum, teaching plans and secondary school and high school finals.



It would be better to have two major holidays  winter and summer. One week for spring and autumn holidays would be enough, she said.



Meanwhile, Dung warned that it will take students and teachers time to gear up again after every holiday.



Students are always slack after the Tet holiday which lasts 7-10 days and they only regain their concentration two weeks after study is resumed, she said.

Mai Lan

Take advantage of e-learning to improve education Duong Thang Long, deputy principal of the Hanoi Open University, talks about e-learning.
During a global pandemic, all is certainly not calm. But things are a little bit brighter in some neighborhoods, thanks to a growing movement that has families stringing Christmas lights, blowing up holiday inflatables and building spirit-lifting snowmen to help bring some much-needed cheer during the coronavirus crisis.

Like the popular hashtag #CoronaKindness, the idea has taken off on social media and online neighborhood groups, with people sharing their displays alongside hashtags like #LightsForLife, #ChristmasInMarch and #ChristmasLights. The brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, which just announced that it will be producing hand sanitizer, got into the spirit by turning on an elaborate display at its St. Louis headquarters.

Weve been inspired by Americans decorating their homes with holiday lights in the spirit of togetherness, the company said in a statement. We are proud to join in and turn the holiday lights on every night at our house.
There are 36 others who are symptomatic of the disease and are currently under isolation

Hyderabad: Telangana on Tuesday announced a further four cases of Covid19 in the state, including the States third secondary infection.

The state health department said that a 64-year-old woman, a resident of Manikonda in Hyderabad, tested positive for the disease.

The woman, designated Patient no 37, is a member of the family of Patient no 25 a 34-year-old man who had returned to the city from Sweden on March 14. He was declared Covid19 positive on March 22.

The other three patients all had a history of recent international travel.

Another woman past 60 years, identified by the department as a 61-year-old who recently returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia and testes positive is a resident of Begumpet.

The two other patients are a 49 -year-old male and a resident of Kokapet in Ranga Reddy district, had recently returned from London, and a 39-year-old woman, a resident of Chandanagar in the same district, returned from a trip to Germany.

All four patients are stable and are being treated at a government hospital, the department said.

There are 36 others who are symptomatic of the disease and are currently under isolation and observation while tests results on 28 others are awaited, the department said.
MANISTEE  In an annual report to city council, the city's police chief said the City of Manistee has seen more criminal sexual conduct (CSC) investigations, more overdose reversal drug usage by first responders and there have been fewer fire runs.

Tim Kozal, public safety director, updated council on statistics and accomplishments from last year compared with 2018.

Overall, Kozal said there was an increase in the number of criminal sexual conduct (CSC) investigations, and he emphasized that those investigations take more time to complete than some other types of investigations.

He said there were 33 CSC case investigations in 2019 and 19 investigations in 2018.

Just one day would be possibly up at the child advocacy center with the interview. Its a very long and involved process. Making follow ups, getting the initial interviews, it takes a while, he said. Also, when you get into victims and testing, youre talking about waiting on stuff to come back from the lab, doing search warrants, analyzing phones, trying to corroborate.  They are very sensitive cases and were very sensitive to that in the police department.

Kozal said the department is also down one officer compared to normal and another is considered on light duty.

So, weve been handling the same amount of calls, and short one or two officers, and the same amount of complaints, Kozal said.

Mayor Roger Zielinski said it is also important to keep in mind that if you take a look at what is required now by our court system and what work has to be done to get a case to court, it takes a lot of time to do the paperwork if you will.

Kozal said another recent use of the departments time was the investigation of more than 100 vehicle break ins over the summer.

That took an (enormous) amount of time because the amount of evidence we recovered, to try and get it back to all the victims, Kozal said. A lot of these investigations do take a lot of time.

For the fire department, Kozal said there were 21 fire runs in 2018 and eight last year.

EMS runs were up slightly from 841 calls in 2018 and then 874 last year.

Kozal said there were 8,713 dispatched complaints in 2018 and 8,483 in 2019.

There were 264 vehicle accidents reported for 2018 and that number increased to 303 accidents last year.

WORK WITH SCHOOLS

Kozal took the time at the meeting to touch on the ongoing investigation of harassment at Manistee High School. He said there were more than 20 interviews conducted in that case.

In an email Monday, Kozal said that at this time it is still open. We are waiting to get data back.

A previous email from Kozal released March 11 stated that On March 6, 2020, the Manistee Police Department was contacted by Manistee Area Public Schools. Manistee Area Public Schools received an anonymous tip from Michigans statewide OK2Say (student safety initiative) program regarding cyber harassment allegations potentially involving students of the district.

The news release said, Individuals associated with this alleged harassment have been identified and are currently being investigated.

Kozal said he had enjoyed what he called the School Lunch Initiative where the department worked with local schools to periodically serve lunch for students.

He said more than a year ago, he also worked with Manistee Area Schools with tabletop exercises.

I would go in and I would have a PowerPoint of scenarios that would happen within the school, he said. And what I would try to do is with the teachers and administrators in the room task them with making decisions (saying)you have three minutes to make a decision. In a lot of these scenarios what I would do is I would make it that Im not available or law enforcement is not available, were on a house fire, because we want them to make the decision.

He said this helps schools to reference their policies, evacuation plans and other things already set in place.

(This way) they can make those decisions and feel confident if we ever have an incident at our schools, Kozal explained. What we did a couple months ago, we actually had the school safety advisory committee come in, and I actually did one of those tabletop scenarios with them so those parents that were there were involved and they were able to interact with the administration and listen to the thought process of decision making.

He said this practice of tabletop scenario training has expanded throughout the county between the Manistee County Sheriffs Department and other school districts.
The number of coronavirus cases in New York state has risen to 20,000, amounting to five per cent of all worldwide cases of the disease.

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 increased by 5,700 to 20,875 across the US state on Monday.

New York is now an epicentre of the outbreak that has so far infected over 46,000 people in the US, where testing is being stepped up and the virus is spreading rapidly.

New York City remains the worst hit area, with 12,305 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Monday. An average of 16,000 tests for coronavirus are now being carried out every day.

As of yesterday, about 25 per cent of all the testing nationwide is being produced right here, said Andrew Cuomo on Monday.

As Governor Cuomo announced the latest statistics for the spread of Covid-19, he stressed the need to increase statewide hospital capacity.

That trajectory is going up  the wave is still going up, he said. We have a lot of work to do to get that rate down and get the hospital capacity up.

In New York, 157 people have died and 2,653 remain hospitalised  the latter representing 13 per cent of the states total.

According to Mr Cuomo, approximately one quarter of those coronavirus patients in hospital are currently receiving intensive care.

New York health officials anticipate needing up to 113,000 hospital beds to cope with the spread of Covid-19. At present, there are 53,000 available. More than 15,000 more intensive care units are also estimated to be required.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed White House assistance on Monday night as 400 ventilators from the national stockpile arrived in the city.

He said: Our need is in the thousands, but its a race against time and this will buy us critical days.

Mr De Blasio confirmed that extra hospital capacity would become available this week at the Javits Centre and Coler Speciality Hospital on Roosevelt Island.
Man's dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past.

Nicolai Ostrovsky, How the Steel Was Tempered

Before dawn breaks, Wuhan is still and fast asleep. But at one laboratory of the General Hospital of the Central Military Region, a slightly weary man reviews his last coronavirus test result, and solemnly signs his name on the test report.

His name is Jiang Tao, a virologist currently leading a team of military medical experts in Wuhan in charge of nucleic acid tests for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

As an experienced virus fighter who has been to Africa four times to help fight the Ebola virus, Jiang felt duty bound to go to the front line and take up the most difficult of posts after the coronavirus swept the country.

A challenging mission

Jiang Tao handles a sample in a glovebox. (Photo/81.cn)

A nucleic acid test is one of the most important methods used to identify cases of coronavirus infection.

Jiang joined the battle shortly after the outbreak began in the city of Wuhan, leading his team to set up a nucleic acid testing platform overnight in a makeshift lab.

Jiangs team was asked to make test results available in 24 hours. But his team made great efforts to shorten the time and produce results even faster. The team is now able to complete over 90 tests in one hour, and can carry out over 500 tests per day.

Behind each and every sample tube, which seems cold and lifeless, are the lives of patients. The sooner the results come out, the better for the patients, Jiang said.

Jiang Tao (R) deals with nucleic acid samples. (Photo/81.cn)

The nucleic acid test is a tedious task fraught with unknown risks, and every step must be carried out carefully.

He clearly remembers the time when he was sent to Africa to combat Ebola. Due to irregular sampling standards in local hospitals, sharp objects like needles and broken glass were sometimes mixed up with samples in the sample package, putting the medics at risk of becoming infected if the objects pierced their gloves.

And there are even greater risks than that. During the transportation of throat swab samples, rides on bumpy roads could cause sealing nuts to loosen and the virus to leak, greatly increasing their risk of infection.

Because of all these risks, Jiang always repeatedly tells his colleagues before each test to protect themselves and pay attention to sharp objects as they receive and handle samples.

"My job affects human life. No mistakes are allowed, Jiang said.

Overseas veteran

As an expert in respiratory diseases, Jiang Tao has taken part in many battles against epidemics. Jiang once helped with the development of the SARS vaccine, and established a monitoring and warning system for acute respiratory infectious diseases.

Jiangs contribution is not limited to China. He has also been to Liberia, Sierra Leone and other virus-hit African countries to assist with epidemic prevention and control efforts.

When Jiang was young, he had a feeling that viruses, though tiny and inanimate, might not be easy to control completely, prompting him to switch his career from industrial microbiology to a relatively unpopular domain -- infectious diseases.

Since 2003, he has spent about 200 days per year in the laboratory, and is now accustomed to the state of hypoxia and the marks left on his face due to long periods of time wearing a mask.

Jiang Tao (C) and his colleagues give a thumbs up. (Photo/81.cn)

With more and more infectious diseases threatening people's lives and health in recent years, Jiang felt the pressure on him mounting. He wanted to do his utmost to upgrade the technology and to improve the prevention and control system against diseases.

Jiang is fearless in the face of diseases, but is always concerned about his wife and son.

"After we got married, he was sent to Liberia. I was pregnant when he left and our son was four months old when he came back, Jiang's wife Sun Ying recalled. As a result, she named her son Fei Fei (meaning Africa in Chinese) to remember this experience.

Jiang has promised his family that when the epidemic is over, he will take them to Wuhan to see the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and Yellow Crane Tower and tell them about his experience fighting against the epidemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:25:22|Editor: xuxin

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CANBERRA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Australians were told to stay at home unless it is necessary to go out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday night.

He said at the press conference that people should only go out for the "basics".

Further restrictions are also going to be put on indoor and outdoor gatherings.

Starting from Wednesday, Australians will also be banned from overseas travels, said Morrison, adding only the essential and necessary travels could be exempted.

More businesses and venues will be closed, including beauty, tanning and nail salons, galleries, museums, amusement parks, play centers, health clubs, fitness centers, swimming pools, as well as real estate auctions.

"Hairdressers and barber shops will continue to be able to provide those services but it is very important that they strictly manage the social distancing and limitations of the number of people in their premise. So that's four square meters per person. And on top of that, to restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premises to no more than 30 minutes and preferably less," he said.

Weddings will be limited to five people while funerals to ten observing the rules of social distancing, according to the PM.

"Barbecues of lots of friends or even family, extended family coming together to celebrate one year old birthday parties and all these sorts of things, we can't do those things now," he said.

However, he noted that the medical expert advice on schools has not changed. "It is safe to send your children to school." But some local governments have already allowed students to stay at home.

In a letter to parents, Katy Haire, Director-General of the Education Directorate in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), said "from Tuesday 24 March 2020 all ACT Public Schools are going pupil-free until the school holidays, due to begin on Friday 10 April 2020."

"ACT schools will remain open to students who absolutely need to attend," she said.

As of 3:00 p.m. local time Tuesday, there have been 2,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, 427 more from 24 hours ago, according to the Health Department of the Australian government.
In clips released for the first time since the April Jones investigation, the five-year-old's killer, Mark Bridger, can be heard lying to the police during an interview.

April Jones, five, was killed by Bridger in October 2012 after he abducted her in his car in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales.

Never-before-heard recording of the child killer's interviews with the police will b e broadcast in tonight's April Jones: The Interrogation Tapes at 9pm on Channel 5.

Mark Bridger was interviewed by police following April's disappearance, and initially claimed he had run the child over while she was riding her bicycle with a friend, and that he did not remember disposing of her body because he was drunk.

In a chilling recording aired on tonight's show, Bridger can be heard crying as he blatantly lies to the police about April's fate.

April Jones, five, was killed by Mark Bridger on 1 October 2012 after he abducted her in his car in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales (pictured: April). Recordings of the killer's interview with the police are released for the first time ever in Channel 5's April Jones: The Interrogation tapes tonight at 9pm

DC Alice Thomas, one of the police investigators that conducted the interview can be heard saying in one clip: 'It's been a tough day,' to which the suspected killer agreed.

'Obviously she hasn't been found yet,' he said, his voice breaking. 'If I really, honestly knew where she was, I would tell you.'

In his first statement to the police, Bridger claimed he ran April over while she was riding her bike.

'I don't know where she is,' Bridger said. 'Yesterday I came down to see my daughter's teacher.

'She had a parents evening and I parked up opposite my girlfriend's house, which I believe is not far away from April's parents house.

'Stupid, I had a few to drink and there were two girls on their bikes.'

'I remember the dark-headed girl came behind the car. I looked to see where the other girl was and couldn't see this other little girl, and the next minute the bike was there.'

Mark Bridger, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 after he was found guilty of abducting and killing April, lied to police, telling them he had accidentally hit her with his car

Going on with his story, Bridger became increasingly emotional as he continued with the lie.

'I started the car up. As I went to pull away... There wasn't a thud, I cant understand,' he said.

'The car rose up, I walked around and underneath the front of the car is how I noticed April.'

'She was only little, so I picked her up put her across my seat and put on on the passenger seat, tried to feel her pulse and there was nothing.'

The search for April (pictured) was the largest search for a missing person in the UK, and lasted until April 22 2013

He then explained how he tried to give the youngster before driving away, in search for medical assistance.

'I'd obviously crushed her little body,' he said, crying.

We only have your version of events, we only have your word that you run her over and you killed her,' DC Thomas said.

'I can promise you that she's not alive,' he answered. 'I can't change my story, it's what happened that night.

'Mark, we don't want her to suffer anymore,' DC Thomas then said.

Bridger went on to say he'd been thinking about April's mother and father for 'hours' in his cell.

He could later be heard saying, 'I killed their daughter,' therefore admitting responsibility for April's death.

But police officers in the interrogation room admitted they grew suspicious of Bridger early on during his interview.

DS Andy John, who was senior investigating officer at the time, said: 'There was these tear-drops that were dropping onto the paper, almost the size of a 10p piece, and then he'd look up at you, and there was nothing, no indication that he had been crying at all.'

Blood splatter that was confirmed to belong to April was found in Bridger's bathroom during the police investigation (pictured: Bridger's house)

As the investigation into April's disappearance progressed, police started to doubt Bridger's version, due to the fact his car showed no sign of having experienced a collision, and the absence of blood in the car.

Crucially, Bridger's version differed from April's seven year old friend, who had been out playing with her, and saw the five-year-old girl willingly hop into a car.

'What you're telling us didn't quite happen,' DC Alice Thomas, who was in the interview room, can be heard telling Bridger in the recording.

'It happened exactly as I'm telling you,' a defensive Bridger answered.

Bridger claimed he saw no blood on him nor April at the time of the suspected collision. But search of Bridger's house also finds that splatters of blood could be seen in his bathroom, which later prove to be April's, further raising suspicion.

The show reveals how forensic psychologist Dr Joe Sullivan, who worked on the Madeleine McCann case, was asked to join the investigation a day after April's abduction.

'My role is to give officers insight into how offenders of this nature think and how they process information and how they respond to certain types of questions,' he explained on the show, discussing the case for the first time ever.

After drawing a psychological profile of Bridger, Dr Sullivan concluded he showed several psychopathic traits, and was unlikely to show empathy or guilt.

'This is a man who's not going to respond to an appeal to his better nature,' he said.

Eventually, police found violent images of child abuse on Bridger's computer, which raised suspicions that he might have abducted April for a sexual motive.

Further into the episode, DC Thomas and DS John confront Bridger about the child pornography found on his computer, and ask him whether he has sexually assault April.

But Bridger still wouldn't admit he assaulted and killed the five-year-old, saying: 'I did not sexually assault April.'

Bridger initially told police he ran April (pictured) over with his car and drove away with the unconscious child in his vehicle

'I have stuck by my story, and I'm still sticking to my story that April was crushed under the wheel of my car,' he added.

April's disappearance, on Monday 1 October 2012, led to the largest missing person search in UK police history, which even had then Prime Minister David Cameron pleading for witness to come forward.

Police forces, rescue teams and volunteers search relentlessly for the young child, and the search officially stopped on April 22 2013.

Bridger was initially suspected by police because he and his vehicle matched a witness' description.

He was charged with child abduction, murder, and attempting to pervert the course of justice on October 6 2012, five days after April's disappearance.

After a five-week trial it took the jury just four hours to decide father of six Bridger was a fantasist, obsessed with child murder and child pornography, who had lured disabled April into his car, before killing her.

He has always refused to reveal what he did with her body, but it is believed he burned her in his fire and dumped some of her remains in a river close to his home.

Bridger was sentenced on 30 May 2013, to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released.

April Jones: The Interrogation Tapes airs tonight atr 9pm on Channel 5.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray on Tuesday night announced creation of a WhatsApp chatbox to enable citizens to get coronavirus-related information.

The WhatsApp chatbox is 912026127394, Thackeray said.

He appealed to international travellers to disclose their recent travel history and not hide it.

The chief minister asked people to cooperate with the state administration in effectively tackling the coronavirus crisis.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID- 19 cases (107) among states so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai, March 24 : In a major swoop, Mumbai Police have seized three truckloads of 2.50 million masks worth Rs 15 crore hoarded illegally and busted a four-member gang, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Tuesday.

"The masks were being hoarded by the gang and were intended for sale in the black market. The seizure includes over 325,000 N-49 masks, plus others of different varieties," Deshmukh told mediapersons.

He said that at the height of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Maharashtra is facing a massive shortage of all types of masks and this seizure is expected to ease the problems somewhat.

The seizure came after a tip-off received by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh last week on a gang hoarding the heavy-demand masks for exorbitant prices.

Accordingly, a trap was set up by Senior Inspector of Police (Crime) Mahesh Desai who posed as a customer and finally managed to bust the gang by raiding locations in Mumbai and Thane.

While four persons have been arrested, the police are on the lookout for two absconders, said Deshmukh.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Akbar Pathan said the four accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded to police custody till March 27.

Since one consignment was found near the Mumbai Airport Cargo Complex and another in a warehouse in Bhiwandi, Pathan said the investigations will focus on whether attempts were underway to export the masks to other seriously affected countries where they are in huge demand.

It may be recalled that recently the Maharashtra Food & Drugs Administration had banned the sale of the N-49 masks without medical prescription after people resorted to panic buying leading to an artificial shortage.

So far, Maharashtra has recorded 107 COVID-19 positive cases besides four deaths including a 68-year-old Fillipino.
T he Mayor of London has warned "more lives will be lost" unless the public stops "all non-essential travel" during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sadiq Khan took to social media to warn the public to listen to the government and stay at home unless they are a key worker or need to travel for urgent reasons.

It came as travellers reported packed carriages on the London Underground, one day after Boris Johnson ordered the nation to only leave their homes in specific circumstances .

A Tube driver also spoke out against non-essential journeys and said he will be forced to self-isolate to protect his family if the overcrowding continues.

Commuters pack on to a train in London amid the coronavirus epidemic / Richard Gray

Mr Khan said on Twitter: I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now.

Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it's absolutely necessary.

Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.

Transport for London - which is chaired by Mr Khan - has been criticised for running fewer trains than normal, which Londoners say is forcing commuters to squeeze into to carriages and defy social distancing rules.

TfL has suspended the Circle line and Waterloo & City line, and reduced frequencies on other parts of the Tube network. Bus services have also been cut.

Mr Khan added: "Growing numbers of TfL staff are off sick or self-isolating: we cannot run more services than we currently are.

If you have to go to work, please dont travel at rush hour - go at different times to keep contact to a minimum.

Responding to the comments one user said: You need to do more. The pictures of the crowded tubes are heartbreaking.

"You know that is a serious health issue and you know that this situation is risking those peoples healths and many others. Do it now."

Another added: Put the service level back to normal. People who NEED to use the tube are squashed in too closely on reduced service. It's not working.

One user said: There are humans driving these trains risking their lives. The reduction in service is because there are sick isolating members of staff unable to come to work!!

"The problem lies with the enforcement not being strong enough of who can travel. Should be key workers only."

Nurse Julia Harris, who commutes to work at Imperial College NHS Trust, said she had left earlier and changed her route in a bid to avoid crowds but still found services busy.

She said: Seats on the train all had at least one person so people needed to stand, and the District line was busy as well. I still dont think things have improved as a large amount of people are commuting early in the morning.

It is concerning because I have to come to work. The choice isnt there and my commute is quite long. I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.

Ms Harris said the reduction in TfL services meant you now have more people waiting and piling onto the Tubes and trains.

The issue is key workers arent just health professionals  I think we under-estimated how many people are needed to keep things running.

Nicola Smith, who works at a central London hospital, said she was risking my health to commute by Tube because it was so busy.

She called on TfL to increase services or the Prime Minister to start policing whos getting on.

Nurse Danielle Tiplady posted on Twitter: Being on the Tube is making me feel uneasy. It is too busy (and) there is no space for social distancing.

Tube driver Richard Gray has been operating trains for the last two years and said he was furious at the number of people who were still hell-bent on using public transport.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: "I am angry and furious. I have been coming to work to be part of the key work team for London, but to see it this packed is very frustrating.

"At work we are all sitting two metres apart, but to get into the job it is so crowded. I live with my dad and have parents that have underlying health conditions - if this continues I will have to shield myself from this to protect them and other drivers will have to do the same, meaning the service will be reduced further."

The 42-year-old said Mr Johnson needs to do more to enforce social distancing.

"I know some of the people on the Tube are key workers, but there are lots of builders and office workers that don't need to be there," he added. "The prime minister needs to go further with locking it down."

Finn Brennan, district organiser for train drivers union Aslef, said: Getting lots of reports of early trains being full on the Underground.
Work to Promote Census Continues at WSU

March 24, 2020

OGDEN, Utah  A national emergency underscores the critical importance of knowing the community, so while COVID-19 has changed many things, it has not altered Weber State Universitys effort to make sure #WildcatsCount in the 2020 Census.

Each individual who is counted brings the community approximately $1,000 in federal assistance per person, per year. The federal government will use the 2020 Census data to distribute $675 billion dollars in funding to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads and other resources. The census also provides data that lawmakers, government agencies, business owners and others use to provide daily services, products and support for the community.

Groups traditionally undercounted are college-aged students and young children. Weber State can reach both groups, as many students are parents of young children and the university hosts a childrens school and charter kindergarten.

Thats one reason Weber State made the census a priority in 2020 with messages of support from WSU President Brad Mortensen and Student Body President Bret Alexander going out to the campus community.

With a student body of nearly 30,000 students, Wildcats have the chance to bring more than $300,000 to the state of Utah every year for 10 years.

I know there is a lot of uncertainty right now, but one thing is certain -- your place in history," Alexander said. The best and easiest part is the versatility to respond to the census on many platforms. I am beyond impressed with Wildcats who have already participated, but will be even more impressed when all Wildcats do. Fill some of your free time with a quick and easy, constitutionally required survey!

Because university classes currently are being taught online, Weber State is using online resources and social media to remind everyone of the importance of the census. Information, including video messages from students and a link to the census form are available at: weber.edu/2020census.

An invitation to participate online, by phone or by mail, will be sent to all homes in the United States by April 1. This is the first time an online response option will be available, making it easy to complete. The form is available at my2020census.gov.

The census is a civic responsibility mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Weber State University created a Complete Count Committee to ensure the entire WSU population understands the importance of the census and feels empowered to complete it, according to Teresa Martinez, committee chair.

We created the #WildcatsCount campaign, which provides specific WSU media, to help our WSU community not only see themselves as individuals who do count, but also see they can take their experience completing the census and encourage others to complete it, too, Martinez said.

The census tracks the current population within the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The results also determine the number of congressional seats from each state, as well as how legislative and school districts will be drawn.

The United States started counting its people in 1790 and hasnt missed a decade since then, said Leah Murray, political science professor. We use this data to know where and who our people are, and we use this history as part of our country's memory. Theres never been a more important year to understand our nation and help our communities. Every person needs to be counted.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
The gorse fire started by arsonists on Berish Viewpoint near Newry

The gorse fire started by arsonists on Berish Viewpoint near Newry

Arsonists who started a huge gorse fire near Newry have been slammed for recklessly endangering the lives of firemen at a time when emergency services are under pressure.

The blaze at Bernish Viewpoint is believed to have been deliberate.

Firefighters from Newry and Warrenpoint were called to the incident on McDermott Mountain on Sunday afternoon.

Crews remained at the scene for over six hours until the fire, which covered 30 hectares of moorland and gorse, had been fully extinguished using specialist equipment and techniques.

Flames and billowing smoke dominated the skyline.

Among those who witnessed the drama was Justin McNulty, an SDLP MLA for Newry and South Armagh, who said those responsible need to think seriously about their actions.

He said: I saw this fire myself and it was a sad sight to watch members of the fire service having to be on the mountain for four or five hours because of someones deliberate actions.

We are in the middle of an extreme crisis that is only going to get worse and our emergency services will be needed like never before.

Reckless acts like this put unnecessary strain on the resources of our emergency services and people who think this is funny or a bit of craic need to think seriously about what they are doing.

Sinn Fein MLA for the area Liz Kimmins also condemned those responsible.

She added: This large gorse fire placed a strain on the emergency services at a time when they are already under intense pressure.

Those responsible for this gorse fire showed complete and utter disregard for public safety. That is particularly concerning at this time when public safety concerns should be paramount.

This is a disgrace and those who have started this gorse fire should be ashamed of themselves.

Not only do these reckless actions put lives at risk, but they are also diverting the vital resources of the emergency services at this crucial time.

Last year the Fire Service dealt with over 3,000 gorse fires, with the cost running to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Oil prices jumped by 4 percent early on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve launched on Monday extensive new measures to support the economy as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.

But prices slid later in the morning.

At 9:34 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, WTI Crude was up 3.98 percent on the day at $24.41, and Brent Crude was trading above the $30 a barrel mark, at $30.47, up by 3.86 percent.

By 11:11 a.m, WTI had fallen to $23.32, down 0.17% over Monday.

On Monday, the Federal Reserve on Monday said it was committed to using its full range of tools to support households, businesses, and the U.S. economy overall in this challenging time.

The Fed is establishing facilities to support credit to companies, including by buying on the secondary market a) corporate bonds issued by investment-grade U.S. companies, and b) facilities to ease the flow of credit to consumers, businesses, and municipalities.

The Fed's 'unlimited' bond buying plan has caused markets to rally, but analysts remain cautious as several other attempts to prop up the market have not resulted in a sustainable recovery.

The oil market found some support yesterday and this has continued this morning, following the US Fed taking further action to cushion the economic fallout from the Covid-19 virus, ING strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said on Tuesday.

Oil prices received some additional support thanks to growing speculation that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are talking about some form of cooperation to support oil prices.

A U.S.-Saudi coalition is one of the ideas floating around, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Monday, after reports started suggesting that an alliance may be in the works. Related: API Asks Trump For Help

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that at the appropriate time, Ill get involved in the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton spoke with OPECs Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo on Friday and tweeted that we all agree an international deal must get done to ensure economic stability as we recover from COVID-19. He was kind enough to invite me to the next OPEC meeting in June.

Meanwhile growing noise around a potential US-Saudi oil alliance has only provided further support to the market. For now, though, an alliance between the two does seem like a pipe-dream, ING strategists said.

Other analysts, including Eugen Weinberg at Commerzbank, told Reuters on Tuesday that It is highly questionable whether the good mood will continue on the oil market, given the double supply and demand shock.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
" " Equine therapy provides a horse-human connection to people with mental, physical and psychological disabilities that enhances the quality and productivity of their lives. simonkr/Getty Images

Ever wonder how a horse could help you cope with grief, trauma and emotional pain? Turns out, horses possess an evolutionary advantage that enables them to pick up on our most subtle emotions, while at the same time not being judgmental and even uncovering emotional blind spots. That means they are the ideal tool for teaching people how to deal with everything from a life-ending diagnosis and physical death of a loved one to miscarriage, divorce and much more.

"As a prey animal, horses don't rely on vocalization to communicate, because using sound would give away their position to a predator," says Gail Carruthers. An equine-guided learning teacher, she founded and owns Skye Blue Acres, a 187-year-old farm in Puslinch, Ontario, Canada where she operates a non-clinical Equine Learning Center  called the Equine Intelligence Agency  that helps clients manage grief and major life losses.

"Horses instead have developed a sophisticated silent method of communication that is built upon sensing the energy (or chi) by using their body language, stance and position," Carruthers explains in an email interview." A mere twitch of an ear, rise of a shoulder or a shift in the hips is enough to convey life-sustaining information to the entire herd simply by being able to detect the ripple of energy."

How does this come in handy at Skye Blue Acres and other similar equine-guided learning centers? Open spaces, natural landscape and horse teachers allow individuals to access and engage their emotional, feeling, sensing, non-verbal and intuitive right brain. That, in turn, helps them regain self-awareness and insights into their own personal understanding and emotional expressions of grief and loss.

"In my work, horses have been observed to reflect back to a client an uncanny and accurate reflection of their inner emotional map, and to zero in on emotional states that neither the client or a trained facilitator has previously detected," says Carruthers. "Emotions that have long been held within the body, and are essentially stuck and unable to move forward, are now being released."

"I think equine therapy is especially effective as it pertains to grief and loss, because grief is a relational experience," says Lissa Corcoran, founder and executive director of Atlanta-based Flying Change Equine Therapy, which also helps clients process grief and loss, in an email interview. "We are missing a connection with someone we love, so a new relationship with a horse can soothe that ache."

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So, How Exactly Can Horses Help Your Mental Health?

Horses are extremely sensitive to human emotions, mirroring feelings and providing feedback. Equine learning/therapy offers people the chance to interact with horses via exercises such as coaxing them to come, picking up and cleaning their feet, or walking them through an obstacle course. An equine therapist then observes how a person interacts with the horse, and that helps shed light on issues that need to be worked through.

According to Spring Reins of Life, a New Jersey-based program that combines the skills of mental-health professionals and the guided assistance of horses to promote psychological healing, emotional well-being and personal growth, horses can provide a safe and neutral environment to process grief. In their herd, the groups website says, we are heard and allowed to just be present with the emotions we are experiencing without any judgment. Interacting with the horses naturally elicits an opportunity to bond. It, therefore, provides opportunities to reconnect the parts of ourselves that shut down after a loss.

Interacting with horses can naturally bring about feelings of wellness, empowerment, peace and confidence, the website continues. For many, this is just the space needed that will allow the healing and adjusting to life without your loved one to take place. Finding a presence of peace and acceptance from the horses provides an outlet to seek out realistic solutions to problems posed by life without your loved one, and finally to deal with and accept the reality of your situation.

Carruthers adds that many unrecognized emotions that might have been ignored or even forgotten from past situations can become prominent when a person passes away. "While the loved one was alive, resentment, anger and the inability to forgive could have been managed," she says. "But once a person passes away, the opportunity to find resolution is over, and people can feel profound guilt and or anger from past unresolved situations.

"Horses are built to feel this energy, mirror it back and provide a safe container for the grieving individual to release the emotion," she adds. "The release can be a simple acknowledgment of that anger, or even a response of forgiveness as the anger is expressed, and mourning can start to heal the emotional pain."

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Is Equine Therapy Scientifically Proven?

Dr. Hallie Sheade, a licensed professional counselor and founder of Texas-based Equine Connection Counseling, explains in an article titled "Brains, Relationships, and Horses" that a horse's mirror neurons might provide an answer as to why the animal is able to reflect a client's inner world back to them so accurately. According to Sheade, whose organization provides equine-assisted counseling for military service members and their families, mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that helps recognize and empathize with emotions in other living things. This enables us to feel sad when we see someone cry, embarrassed when we see someone humiliated or happy when we see someone smile and laugh.

Some believe that horses have substantially more mirror neurons than humans, which makes them experts at understanding nonverbal communication, writes Sheade. In fact, these mirror neurons enable horses to empathize even more than people. While horses share a similar limbic system (the region of the brain responsible for feelings and emotions) to humans, they also have a smaller neocortex (the area of the brain responsible for thinking and analytical thought) than humans. This limited analytical capacity is what endears horses to people; horses render no judgment to our stories and we have their undivided attention when we're in their presence.

The result? A horse's reliance on a highly sensitive limbic system, combined with a refined system of nonverbal communication, has set them up to be remarkable teachers for humans struggling with grief and major life losses like divorce. Horses also are astute in reading the energy in their environment, and human emotions are just another source of energy to be noticed and responded to. When horses interact with humans, they act like a biofeedback mechanism in their ability to detect a person's emotional state.

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Is Horse Therapy Better Than Other Interventions?

Although every type of therapy is valuable in its own unique way, each one might not be suitable to treat every disorder or client. Traditional approaches, such as talk therapy, are effective for certain individuals. At the same time, some clients might not respond well to any of the traditional talk therapies.

Equine therapy is an experiential psychotherapy that has done well not only in assisting typical clients, but also with clients that have had trouble with traditional modes of therapy. It offers a different experience by bringing people outdoors, into a non-threatening and inviting atmosphere, and offering them a chance to use all senses while learning and processing through emotional challenges.

"At Skye Blue Acres, we not only teach the leading research on grief that helps to put the experience into normal human terms, but we couple it with a program," says Carruthers. "The horses allow people to identify blocks of their grief, where they need support, how to recognize grief, and how their own choices, mindsets, attitudes and biases are framing and compounding their grief. The program allows them to build resiliency skills to help them manage the process through education and experiential learning through their own unique circumstances."

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How Much Does Equine Therapy Typically Cost?

"Equine assisted psychotherapy is often more expensive than traditional talk therapy, but usually requires fewer sessions to reach the treatment goals," says Corcoran. "I've seen individual therapy priced between $125 and $300 per hour."

The fees for equine-therapy services will vary by location. Because equine therapy is only more recently growing in popularity and gaining traction as an effective treatment for mental health and even substance abuse, keep in mind that this service may not be covered by insurance benefits, so you should contact your insurance company and local equine-therapy facility to discuss the details in advance

At Skye Blue, meanwhile, Carruthers charges $180 for individual 90-minute sessions.

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How Do People Respond to This Type of Therapy?

It depends on the type of session in which the client participates. At Skye Blue, Carruthers offers both individual sessions and six-week programs. "The outcomes are client-centric," she says, "meaning the outcomes will vary for each participant, because their own journey is personal and unique."

Some examples of outcomes, she adds, include a deep sense of support that helps identify a specific next step needed in the healing journey, as well as resolutions of feeling at peace with the altered framework of a new life without their loved one. Development of a mindfulness practice also enables the client to stay present in the more difficult moments of their grief, rather than ignoring or numbing the emotion. In other words, they have learned to stay present enough to process it.

"As for how people respond," says Carruthers, "I have had clients reach out months after just one session to tell me how profoundly the session had changed their lives."

"Through Flying Change," Corcoran adds, "we have seen clients of all ages and backgrounds motivated by the guidance, acceptance and love of a horse to grow into happier, healthier, more peaceful and more loving people."

Now That's Interesting Horses can sense and feel minute energy vibrations that ripple out to the herd from subtle body movements. This sensitivity, combined with the billions of additional mirror neurons in their brains, makes horses a perfect biofeedback mechanism.

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Originally Published: Mar 24, 2020
Pompeo Accuses Iran of Importing Coronavirus to 'At Least 5 Countries'

Sputnik News

16:30 GMT 23.03.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The government of Iran has transmitted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to at least five countries, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Monday.

"Fact: In February, Iran's chief terror airline, Mahan Air, ran at least 55 flights between Tehran and China, further infecting the Iranian people. At least five foreign countries' first cases of coronavirus were directly imported from Iran, putting millions more lives at risk", the statement said.

Pompeo also accused the Iranian government of lying about the real number of cases of COVID-19 infection and deaths in the country as well as of using scarce resources to finance terrorism.

"As Iranian regime officials ask for more funds, it is important to note that since 2012, Iran has spent over $16 billion on terror abroad, and used sanctions relief from the JCPOA to fill up its proxies' coffers", Pompeo said. "Regime officials stole over a billion Euros intended for medical supplies, and continue to hoard desperately needed masks, gloves, and other medical equipment for sale on the black market".

Pompeo pointed out in the statement that US sanctions against Iran do not apply to imports of humanitarian goods.

"Iranian documents show their health companies have been able to import testing kits without obstacle from US sanctions since January", Pompeo said. "The United States has offered over $100 million in medical assistance to foreign countries, including to the Iranian people, and our scientists are working tirelessly to develop a vaccine. Khamenei rejected this offer because he works tirelessly to concoct conspiracy theories and prioritises ideology over the Iranian people".

In statements published last Monday, both Russia and China urged the United States to ease sanctions on Iran in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier in March, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said US sanctions against Iran have cost the Islamic Republic $200 billion over the last two years and are also hindering efforts to prevent deaths caused by COVID-19.

Last week, Pompeo announced new sanctions against three Iranian individuals connected with the country's petrochemical industry. Pompeo reiterated that the United States will continue to fully enforce all its sanctions placed on Iran.

 Sputnik

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Nobel laureate and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari has contracted coronavirus, his office said today.

The 82-year-old was awarded the Peace Prize in 2008 for his career over three decades mediating peace deals to conflicts around the world, including Indonesia, Kosovo and Namibia.

The former UN diplomat, who went on to serve in Finland's highest office between 1994 and 2000, was confirmed to have caught the virus on Monday, the Finnish president's Office said in a statement.

Nobel laureate and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari (pictured) has contracted coronavirus, his office said today

'President Ahtisaari is doing well given the circumstances,' it said.

On Saturday, Ahtisaari's 83-year-old wife Eeva also tested positive for the infection.

Finnish health authorities have confirmed 700 cases of COVID-19, and one death, although not all suspected infections are being tested.

Finnish health authorities have confirmed 700 cases of COVID-19, and one death, although not all suspected infections are being tested. Pictured: a person wearing protective clothes takes samples from people arriving in their cars at a testing drive-in station in Espoo, Finland

Officials have said the real number of people with the virus could be 30 times higher.

Schools in Finland are shut to children over the age of 10, and the country's borders have been closed to all visitors who are not residents or citizens.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday that further restrictions on movement would be announced imminently.
Shocking pictures show builders sitting side-by-side at a staff canteen as they are forced to work as normal despite the Coronavirus threat while their bosses hole up at home.

Photographs and video taken at the 9bn Battersea Power Station luxury development show hundreds of labourers gathering on-site in groups.

Further pictures show builders taking packed trains to work, sitting cheek by jowl with others before spending the day in close proximity with each other.

Builders sit in the staff canteen at the Battersea Power Station development in London

The canteen has now been 'temporarily' closed by the company that runs it after it was questioned by MailOnline

Pictures taken by builders on their way to work show packed carriages amid the Covid-19 risk

Labourers told MailOnline that while office staff have been working remotely for more than a week, labourers are still being forced to turn up or face the sack.

About 4,000 builders work at the huge development, which is divided into several sections.

The photographs were taken in the area run by Mace Group, an international consultancy and construction business.

After MailOnline questioned the company, it decided to 'temporarily' close the staff canteen.

Its mad that we have to carry on as normal while everyone at the office sits at home, one of the builders, who did not want to be named, said.

The health and safety people are always keen that we wear hard hats, but they dont seem to care about us catching Coronavirus.

Ninety per cent of us are self-employed and were not being looked after. Either we turn up to work or we get the sack.

In London, there are only builders walking about in the morning now. Its like nobody cares about us.

Its clearly dangerous. I cant work it out. There are at least 200 people in that canteen. If one person gets it, God knows how many it will spread to.

Every person there will go back to their family. Thats 200 families who are also being put in danger.

Theres no point some sectors going into lockdown while others are business as usual.

The canteen proved a high risk environment for builders at the Battersea Power Station site

Builders were seen at work as normal regardless of the national lockdown and the virus threat

Builders, mostly self employed, were seen hard at work as if the lockdown was not in place

Most builders are self employed so cannot afford to take time off work as they may not get paid

A spokesman for Mace Group said: 'The health, safety and wellbeing of the people that work on our construction sites is always our top priority, and we have introduced a number of strictly enforced measures in order to ensure that people are able to work safely and in-line with the Governments guidelines about social distancing.

'Construction sites in the UK provide economic support for millions of hard-working people across the UK, many of who are self-employed and rely on project work to provide an income for themselves and their families.

'As such, it is vital that  as long as we can do so responsibly and in-line with Government and industry guidance  sites are able to continue to operate for as long as possible.

'Rules have been in place at Battersea Power Station requiring that everyone using communal areas like the canteen should maintain at least two meters distance from one another.

'This guidance was not being followed, and so we have temporarily closed the canteens and are reviewing our arrangements to ensure that people can continue to work on the project safely and we are able to maintain a healthy environment.'

It comes as the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, considers further measures to support self-employed workers in response to mounting pressure from business groups.

An unprecedented package of support for employees  including support for up to 80 per cent of wages  has already been announced, but questions remain about Britains five million self-employed workforce.

About 2.7million people are employed directly or indirectly by the construction industry, raising fears that the sector will be hit hard if no further measures are introduced.

The Battersea Power Station development, which is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors, has been hit by setbacks repeatedly in recent years.

Since the project commenced in 2013, costs have spiralled. Senior executives resigned, the labour force shrunk due to Brexit, English Heritage insisted on stringent conservation demands, and London land prime values fell.

The first phases main contractor, Carillion, went into compulsory liquidation in January 2018, adding to the pressure on the project.

Average studio flats in the completed development are expected to start at 510,000.
Montgomery County Public Health District confirmed four more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the countys total to 23.

However, the MCPHD also reported that Case 4, a woman in her 40s who lives in northwest Montgomery County, has made a full recovery.

The new cases include a man in his 30s, who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home. He has recently traveled to New York; a woman in her 60s, who lives in northeast Montgomery County. She is hospitalized and had no recent travel; a woman in her 30s, who resides in northeast Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home with her only travel being to Houston; and a man in his 50s, who lives southwest Montgomery County who recently traveled to France, Germany and Spain.

MCPHD reported it has been notified of 224 negative and 23 positive test results of county residents with results pending for another 128 residents.

Here are updates on Montgomery Countys current cases:

Case 1: A man in his 40s, who lives in northwest Montgomery County, is still hospitalized. He remains in critical condition, but is stable and showing some improvement. He was believed to have become infected with the virus as a result of community spread.

Case 2: A woman in her 40s who lives in southeast Montgomery County. She remains in a hospital in Harris County in critical condition. Her only travel was to New Orleans.

Case 3: A man in his 40s who lives in northwest Montgomery County. He is at home, recovering well. His only travel was to Florida.

Case 4: A woman in her 40s who lives in northwest Montgomery County. She remains at home, doing well. Her case is connected to Case 3.

More Information Keep clean Wash hands often for 20 seconds and encourage others to do the same. If no soap and water are available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue away. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Disinfect surfaces, buttons, handles, knobs, and other places touched often. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. For more information, please see www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus. See More Collapse

Case 5: A man in his 50s who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home. The man had recently traveled to California.

Case 6: A man in his 40s who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home. The man had recently traveled to California.

Case 7: A woman in her 60s who lives in northwest Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home. She has no recent travel history and no known contact with other patients.

Case 8: A woman in her 40s who lives in southeast Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home. She had recently traveled to Germany.

Case 9: A man in his 50s who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is hospitalized in critical but stable condition. His travel history is under investigation.

Case 10: A woman in her 50s who lives in southeast Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home. She attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo March 8.

Case 11: A man in his 90s who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is currently hospitalized and has no recent travel history.

Case 12: A man in his 50s who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home and recently traveled to Brazil.

Case 13: A woman in her 30s who lives in northwest Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home. She has no recent travel history.

Case 14: A woman in her 40s who resides in southwest Montgomery County. Her case is connected to a Smith County where she recently traveled. She at currently at home in isolation.

Case 15: A man in his 40s who has been in northeast Montgomery County for a work-related purpose. He is currently in isolation at his residence. His only recent travel is to Houston.

Case 16: A female teenager, 13-19 years old, who lives in southeast Montgomery County. She is in isolation at her home. She has recently traveled to New Orleans.

Case 17: A woman in her 20s, who lives in northwest Montgomery County. She is in isolation at her home. This is believed to be a case of community spread because she was in close contact with a suspected case.

Case 18: A man in his 50s, who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at his home. He has recently traveled to Chicago.

Case 19: A man in his 50s, who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at his home. He has recently traveled to California.

Case 20: A man in his 30s, who lives in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home. He has recently traveled to New York.

Case 21: A woman in her 60s, who lives in northeast Montgomery County. She is hospitalized. No recent travel.

Case 22: A woman in her 30s, who lives in northeast Montgomery County. She is in isolation at home. The only recent travel is to Houston.

Case 23: A man in his 50s, who resides in southwest Montgomery County. He is in isolation at home. He has recently traveled to France, Germany and Spain.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
The doctors voice was filled with distress.

Dr. Suraj Saggar didnt have much time to talk. At times, he even sounded almost out of breath. Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck is under siege from the coronavirus, and he needed to get back to his patients.

But first, he had a desperate message he needed to send.

They need help.

It looks likes a war zone, said Saggar, Holy Names chief of infectious disease.

The hospital is in such dire need, it took the unprecedented step of pleading to the public for donations to buy critical supplies.

Holy Name is filling with COVID-19 patients. Supplies are running low. Doctors and nurses  already at risk of exposure  could be put in further danger if they run out of protective equipment, while some already have gotten sick, medical workers said.

The Bergen County hospital  located at the epicenter of New Jerseys coronavirus outbreak  is on the brink, nearing its capacity and supply stock. And its not alone in this deepening crisis as hospitals throughout the state face diminishing supplies and equipment.

Holy Name is running out of ventilators. The facility is down to only a four-day supply of respirators. Its stock of protective gloves and eye shields are dwindling. And disposable gowns are already gone.

"Everything is running low, Saggar said, speaking rapidly as a clamor of background noise carried over the phone line  the cacophony of doctors and nurses rushing around him, tending to patients.

Dr. Suraj Saggar inside the ICU of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.Photo by Jeff Rhode

The shortage of supplies puts health care workers at risk. The protective equipment is the only line of defense for them. Each infection means one less medical professional is available to care for the soaring number of COVID-19 patients, threatening the states already overburdened health care system.

New Jersey recorded 935 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, giving it 2,844 confirmed infections. There were also seven more deaths, raising the total to 27.

The escalating number of cases only taxes medical facilities, their supplies and their staff.

The biggest fear among many might be over the shortage of ventilators, the life-saving breathing machines that have become vital with the coronavirus attacking patients lungs.

Holy Name has only 10 ventilators  out of a total of 34  remaining with 85 patients in the hospital, according to a spokeswoman for Holy Name.

Christoudias, who chairs the New Jersey Doctor-Patient Alliance, said Holy Name is in the worst shape of the hospitals hes seen, but The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood is very close behind them.

We are almost at capacity like that scene from Italy where people are making choices whether people live or die, Christoudias said of available ventilators. We are almost there. Were not even out of the first inning on this thing, and we are almost there.

Despite the crisis, the way Holy Name has handled the challenges is impressive and should be a role model for other hospitals, Christoudias said. It is persevering despite the rush of patients.

The Valley Hospital issued its own public appeal over the weekend for donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to be dropped off at its front door. The plea on Facebook and Twitter asked for unused N95 respirators, surgical masks, face shields, goggles, isolation gowns and latex-free gloves.

The Valley Hospital did not return a request for comment.

The anguish at Holy Name only intensifies with each passing day as more patients arrive.

Patients who are coming in are high acuity  very sick, Saggar said. And they are progressing to respiratory failure.

Names are written on protective masks so they may be used again if safely possible, due to a nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment, in Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Horrendous situation

The toll is starting to wear on hospital staff.

Doctors in Bergen County are stressed, and nurses are suffering under the strain as supplies shrink and patients struggle, Christoudias said.

Its pretty horrendous, he said. What really pains me the most is to see the nurses anguish. They feel like they have nowhere to turn.

Hospitals are using thousands of masks and other supplies each day. They protect medical workers from respiratory droplets that spray out from coughs or sneezes and spread the contagious coronavirus.

Competition for equipment has ramped up as every state is vying to purchase them.

So hospitals have been forced to get creative, making do with what little they have remaining.

Health care workers are reusing gear and coming up with ad hoc ways to stretch supplies as far as they can.

Right now were using the same mask throughout the day, Saggar said. Everyone is using one mask and pair of goggles.

Saggar said workers are using safety pins to secure a plastic bag on the inside of their scrubs, where they store N-95 respirators before reusing them again. They apply bleach to clean them. If entering a room with a patient, theyll place a surgical mask over the respirator to provide some extra protection.

Some hospitals have resorted to disinfecting masks with ultraviolet light for reuse, according to news reports.

Christoudias said he is supplying masks he had previously purchased to health care workers.

I bought three cases of 3M N95 masks from an industrial warehouse in January," he said of the masks that filter out 95% of particles. The first reports of the coronavirus emergence in China were published in January in the United States. They got here last week. And its all gone. Im giving away the last two boxes now.

He has been handing them out at North Jersey hospitals. But some on the front lines have already been infected.

They literally cry" Christoudias said of giving away the masks. "This one doctor who is at Valley Hospital just texted me today. I gave her three boxes on Friday. She said, One box is gone. So is four of our doctors.

"Im like, What do you mean? She said, Four of our doctors are sick. Theyre dealing with COVID symptoms.

A medical worker at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck during the first few days of the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Its unclear how many health care workers in the state may have contracted COVID-19. The New Jersey Department of Health was unable to provide figures.

If we dont keep our health care workers protected, we have nobody, said Debbie White, president of Health Professionals & Allied Employees.

Holy Name has received so many patients, Saggar has lost count.

I have to be honest, there are so many at this point, he said, his voice dropping.

From the beginning, health care officials greatest fear has been a surge of patients flooding emergency rooms at once, overrunning facilities and leaving a shortage of critical care beds, equipment and supplies. These fears, raised more than a month ago by some experts, seem to be coming true.

And officials expect the outbreak in New Jersey to get much worse in the coming days and weeks.

We have to make sure we are protecting our first-line responders  the ones who are taking care of these very sick patients," Saggar said.

Human cost

The resources they need are rapidly dwindling.

The issue is so pressing, Gov. Phil Murphy spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday about the states need for protective equipment, he said during his daily coronavirus media briefing.

Equipment remains more vital than hospital space, Dr. Daniel Varga, chief physician at Hackensack Meridian Health, said Monday.

Were trying to get them the stuff that they need to really manage what theyre seeing every day, he said. But the big issue is going to be materiel  Well find space. Its really more the supply chain and the human cost.

Holy Name is in a precarious position with only three ventilators remaining but several COVID-19 patients, Christoudias said.

Any one of them could crash and need one of them immediately, he said. So if today, if three of them crash, anyone else who crashes could end up dying short of breath in the hallway.

The state has nearly 2,000 critical care beds in hospitals, but only 1,700 ventilators, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday during the governors briefing.

Not all of them are in use at this time, she said. We do believe for every critical care bed there should be a one to one ratio  ventilator to critical care bed. So, looking at our inventory and full number of beds, we have a deficit of about 300."

The state has requested 400 more, she said.

But ventilators are only as good as the caregivers who use them. If they dont have protective gear to keep them healthy, a medical staffing shortage could be next.

"We can have all the ventilators in the world and then no caregiver, White said.

Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck during the first few days of the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo by Jeff Rhode

Cracking ice

Hospitals have been transformed as if its wartime.

Tents have been set up in parking lots. Unused rooms and wings are being utilized. Retired nurses, school nurses and even nursing school students have been called on to help.

Saggar said Holy Name is holding the line  barely. Its as if everyone is beginning to hear the cracking of the ice beneath their feet.

He said the hospital is in crisis mode."

A month ago, no one thought hospitals would be issuing pleas to the public, begging for donations and supplies.

We hope that they will see whats happening here, Saggar said. We know its going to keep spreading.

What happens if doctors and nurses run out of respirators? Other gear?

It would be devastating ... They are going to be at risk, he said.

And amid the supply crisis, workers are pressing on like soldiers in battle. They are under unimaginable stress, Saggar said.

Everyone is exhausted, he said. Theres anxiety in everyone. Theres sorrow.

And the worst may be yet to come.

Its unclear whether Holy Name and other facilities that are already overwhelmed can handle a surge of patients.

We cant let it get to that point," Saggar said, angst in his voice. Were not at that point  were ahead  but its literally a race. We have to stay ahead.

But medical workers are paying a steep price to fight this battle.

Their emotions fluctuate daily, according to Saggar.

Everyone feels like they have a calling. But it would be false to say there isnt a level of anxiety and concern for everyones well being, he said. If we had enough PPE, we can take care (of patients). But when you combine (that)  it adds a level of anxiety and dread and depression, and it makes an already difficult situation that much worse.

Saggar added: And its not just PPE. Its critical care staff, ICU beds, hospital beds, ventilators  We literally built extra ICUs in the hospitals. Its unprecedented.

Anyone seeking to donate to Holy Name should visit HelpHolyName.org.

For more information on how to donate to The Valley Hospital, visit ValleyHospitalFoundation.org.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ.

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An Irish couple stranded in a hostel in Australia say they have spent nearly 5,000 on flights homes only to have them both cancelled.

Colm Cahill (aged 25) and his girlfriend Andrea Treacy are currently in a hostel in Melbourne and say they are not the only Irish in the same predicament.

They have been working and traveling in the country since last October but were monitoring the Covid-19 situation in recent weeks.

On St Patricks Day they realised it was time to make a move when friends messaged from all over the world to say their cities were in lockdown.

Colm said: All the messages were lockdown, lockdown and I walked through Melbourne and people were partying like there was no tomorrow and pubs were full.

We said it was time to go home, there are too many people here living life to the full and not listening to the guidelines given by the government.

They booked flights last week and at the same time got notice that their work places were closing. We said we are about to lose our jobs, we are ready to go home.

The first airline they booked with cost 800 each and they relaxed believing they would be home this week.

Within hours the airline cancelled the flight and said they would instead provide a travel voucher "when it was feasible".

Colm, from Birr, said a lot of panic set in and some people paid large sums for flight.

With his girlfriend Andrea, from Rathdowney, Co. Laois, he decided to wait a little while and looked at the option of renting a house.

He said: We viewed houses but because of the situation everybody was looking for a six-month lease, deposit and rent up front and that is expensive when we are not working.

They also risked losing their deposit if they did succeed in getting a flight home.

They booked another flight at a cost of 1600 each, We went to sleep and woke up six hours later to an email to say the flight the cancelled.

Believing they were not the only ones in this predicament he set up a Facebook group for the Irish trying to get home and within an hour had been contacted by hundreds of people.

Most people who responded to a poll he ran said they were in either Melbourne or Sydney and many of the Irish are on working holiday visas.

Colm and Andrea can afford to stay in the hostel for a while longer but are trying to get assistance from the Irish embassy and their TDs to get them home.

In his letter to the Embassy Colm said: with the current global situation I understand everybody is vulnerable and in need. The situation for Irish visa holders in Australia has gotten extreme."

He described how flights are being cancelled every hour and their experience is "no sign of refunds for the foreseeable future".

We are stranded in a hostel having both recently lost our jobs.

He said the advice is to book a flight as soon as possible but "flights are currently going for 10000 dollars a piece".

"Airlines are taking money for essentially cancelled flights and then issuing flight vouchers. Most airlines have shut offices and unplugged phones."

Colm says that some of the Irish making contact via the Facebook page are people commenting that their visas have or are soon to run out, that the last of their money has gone on flights that were cancelled and some that are calling out for a couch before they are stranded on streets.

He said one woman said she had spent 4,000 on a flight that was cancelled, another had spent 3,000 borrowed from families for a third flight after two others were cancelled and her third booking was cancelled this morning.

He said it is also stressful for his family in Ireland.

They are concerned obviously and relieved to hear we booked a flight, so it was hard telling them it got cancelled. It was even harder the second time.

A lot of our relatives and extended family have been in touch either directly to us or through them to offer support so that obviously means a lot, we're lucky to have that.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has been asked to comment.

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By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 21, 2020 | 02:12 PM | WESTERN KENTUCKY





The regular cold and flu season has already impacted the nation's blood supply, and with a growing number of COVID-19 cases the number of people giving blood has dropped, and could decrease further.







Anthony Tinnin, American Red Cross organizer for western Kentucky, said our local area is suffering from a severe blood shortage.

He said the nation as a whole has lost over 100,000 blood donations due to school and business closures.







"The CDC and FDA have both declared that blood drives are essential activities," Tinnin continued, "Just as our grocery stores or pharmacies have to stay open, blood drives must still stay open."







He also said there is currently no evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted by blood transfusion, and that there are no reported cases of a virus being transmitted from a transfusion.





You can donate at the Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive Paducah:



3/24/2020: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.



3/26/2020: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m.



3/27/2020: 8:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.



3/28/2020: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.

3/29/2020: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.



3/30/2020: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m.



3/31/2020: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.







With the current social distancing guidelines in place, Tinnin is asking everyone to set appointments rather than dropping in.





Donors can also save up to 15 minutes at the blood drive by completing a RapidPass. With RapidPass, donors complete the pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of donation, from a mobile device or computer. Follow the instructions at the link below, or use the Red Cross Blood Donor App.











The Red Cross has implemented new blood donation restrictions out of an abundance of caution. Anyone falling under the following guidelines are asked to hold off their donation for 28 days:



 Travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as Italy, Iran, and South Korea.

 Diagnosis of COVID-19, or contact with a person who has, or is suspected to have the virus.

To donate blood, individuals need to bring a blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification that are required at check-in. Individuals who are seventeen years of age in most states (sixteen with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors eighteen years of age and younger also must meet certain height and weight requirements.

The American Red Cross is urging healthy individuals to give blood or platelets after the coronavirus scare has left them with a severe shortage.
Police officers are shaving their beards so masks fit better. Firefighters may use raincoats for protection if gown supplies get low. But for those who have to handcuff suspects or administer CPR, social distancing isnt an option.

Though the pandemic has sickened hundreds of thousands across the globe and brought life in Harris County to a shuddering halt, police, paramedics and firefighters still must report to duty.

And while departments are trying to keep their employees from contracting COVID-19, or spreading it, there is only so much they can do.

For Harris County Sheriffs Deputy Troy Vaughn, it started with a dry cough. He shrugged it off. It was allergy season. He never got sick. But the cough worsened, followed by headaches and a sapping fever.

On Saturday, he learned he had the new coronavirus.

I dont know who I got it from, the 30-year-old patrol deputy said. Its the first time Ive been down. It scared me.

Though first responders can catch the illness off-duty, they certainly risk catching it at work, where residents might call for help because of an unrelated safety or medical crisis, not knowing they are infected.

Its definitely trying times for our deputies, and everyone in our community, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. They come into contact with lots of people and still have to do their jobs.

As coronavirus spreads across the country, first responders are getting sick. In one northern California fire department, 13 came down with the illness. So did 46 firefighters in New York City.

Three other Harris County sheriffs office employees are infected, as are three Houston police officers and a Patton Village officer. At least 34 Houston firefighters are quarantined as of Tuesday afternoon, officials said. More than 200 others are self-monitoring after possible exposure.

An additional 190 Houston Police officers and civilian employees are also quarantined, largely as a precaution because of travel, Chief Art Acevedo said.

Pray and wait: Patton Village officer fights coronavirus

Those numbers will only go up. Todd Harrison, president of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, emailed Harris County deputies to encourage them to keep a bag packed in case they need to quarantine.

Remember everyone else can observe social distancing, he wrote, we unfortunately cant.

Departments face equipment shortages and the struggle to keep their employees healthy as they respond to thousands of daily calls.

Dispatchers are asking 911 callers if they have flu-like symptoms or have had contact with anyone suspected of having the virus. First responders say its critical for members of the public to say if theyve been feeling ill.

Our patients are not realizing that if you dont tell me, I cant treat you the right way or protect myself, one quarantined firefighter said. Im worried I exposed (other people) as well.

Agencies are making big and small changes. The Houston Police Department  which recently decided to allow officers to have beards  ordered them to shave so that protective masks fit better. Officers are supposed to avoid changing in and out of their uniforms at home, so they dont infect family members. Stations moved roll call outside, and more officers are taking reports by phone to try to reduce contact with the public.

In Harris County, jailers are screening inmates more closely when they arrive for booking. Gonzalez has also urged judges to let people out of jail where possible to try to avoid an outbreak behind bars. He has taken other steps to reduce the number of arrests.

The first 50: What we can learn from the first people diagnosed with COVID-19

And at the Houston Fire Department, firefighters are wearing masks and gowns to respond to possible COVID-19 calls, in addition to the gloves and goggles they use on any medical call, Chief Sam Pena said. He has ordered stations to send the fewest people possible to medical calls to try to reduce exposure and preserve gear.

His firefighters respond to about 1,000 calls a day, he said. At one of the busiest stations, a supervisor said they are cleaning their space after every call. Firefighters who treat COVID-19 patients but are wearing the appropriate gear are considered low-risk, he said, and can continue working.

Firefighting is a job that is already inherently dangerous, dealing with unknown risk all the time, said Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association. He called the virus another layer of potential danger.

It requires firefighters to be hyper vigilant, he said.

In the city of Stafford, west of Houston, three firefighters and two paramedics responded to a call March 3 for a man who turned out to be the regions first to test positive for coronavirus. Firefighters there are now taking their own temperatures with thermometers in their EMS bags when they arrive to work, and paramedics are cleaning ambulances after each trip.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for first responders March 10, recommending that medical responders assess patients from 6 feet away if they have signs of respiratory infection and limiting contact with patients until they are wearing facemasks.

Law enforcement officers are supposed to clean their duty belt and wash their uniforms if they have close contact with a coronavirus patient.

Recovering: First identified coronavirus patient in Houston area is released from hospital

Even with precautions in place, local chiefs and sheriffs say they are worried about maintaining precious stockpiles of protective gear.

Pena said that while HFDs shelves are currently stocked, he is looking into other options if supplies begin to run low. Among them: using impervious rain-coats in place of gowns, or modifying firefighters breathing apparatus to use instead of single-use N95 masks.

Worried chiefs nationwide this week called on President Donald Trump to ramp up production of masks and other protective gear and take other steps to help avert a looming crisis.

Every first responder agency in the nation has, is, and will continue to face staff shortages, unsustainable overtime costs, and strains on equipment, wrote Acevedo  who is president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association  in the March 22 letter.

The added safeguards arent foolproof, however.

This has hit home: Texas first coronavirus-related death was a 97-year-old Bay City funeral home director

On Thursday, HFD firefighters went to a northwest Houston home for a third time after an elderly man called. His wife had fallen twice earlier that day and he sought help from firefighters.

The couple had not disclosed having any COVID-19 symptoms, a firefighter familiar with the call said. On this third trip, the man told them he was having trouble breathing and had felt ill for several days.

That was when Station 4s firefighters realized theyd unknowingly been exposed to COVID-19, sending eight into quarantine.

When someones shooting at you, you know where bad stuff is, a quarantined firefighter said. With this, you cant see it. Its like the enemy is unknown.

The firefighters learned Saturday that the woman tested positive. Theyre waiting to hear about her husbands test results.

One of them is showing symptoms.

st.john.smith@chron.com

emily.foxhall@chron.com
 Flash

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate global cease-fire in face of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives (against the coronavirus)," he said in a virtual press encounter.

He asked warring parties to pull back from hostilities, put aside mistrust and animosity, and silence the guns.

A global cease-fire is crucial to help create corridors for life-saving aid, to open precious windows for diplomacy, and to bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, he said.

"Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties in some parts (of the world) to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more: end the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world," he said. "It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere, now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever."

COVID-19 is a common enemy to the world. The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all relentlessly, said Guterres.

Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world. The most vulnerable -- women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced -- pay the highest price. They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19, he said.

"Let's not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed. Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted. Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable," he noted. "The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war."

Guterres said he has directed his special representatives to engage with local governments "to create a global dynamic" in order for all countries to put pressure on all warring parties to stop fighting.

"My special envoys will be now working with the parties to the conflict to try to make sure that this global appeal is not only listened to but leads to concrete action, leads to a pause in fighting, creating the conditions for the response to COVID-19 to be much more effective."

He noted that war-ravaged areas are those where the capacity of response is very limited. "If the fighting goes on, we might have an absolutely devastating spreading of the epidemic."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration have been working hard to have a plan in order to create conditions in facilities housing refugees and displaced people to prevent the arrival of the virus and to create the capacity to respond and to mitigate the impact inside those facilities, he said.

Guterres asked the international community to fully support those measures.

He reaffirmed the world body's determination to lead.

This is the moment in which the United Nations must be active. The UN must fully assume its responsibilities, first doing what it has to do: peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, support to the different bodies of the international community, the Security Council, the General Assembly, he said.

At the same time, the United Nations must be able to address the concerns of the peoples of the world and appeal for a massive mobilization and for a massive pressure on governments to suppress the disease and to address the dramatic economic and social impacts.

Guterres called for stronger coordination among member states. "I think it is clear that we need much stronger coordination, coordination in suppression of the disease, coordination in making sure that not only the developed countries can respond effectively to the disease but that there is massive support to the developing world (in order) not to let the disease spread like wildfire in the developing world."

He also stressed the need for "a huge package" to respond to the economic and social consequences.

Such a package should not be aimed at the financial center, like in the 2008 financial crisis. The package needs to keep households, businesses and societies afloat in these very difficult circumstances, he said.

"We need to mobilize in our funds to allow the developing countries themselves to be able to have an adequate economic and social response to the crisis and then the need to make sure that, when we recover, we recover in a more sustainable and a more inclusive economy."

Guterres said he has just sent a letter to leaders of the Group of 20 largest economies in the world. Before the letter, he had already spoken with several of them.

The UN chief said he intended to be in a virtual conference with all of them this week.

"And we can only do it if we do it together, if we do in a coordinated way, if we do it with intense solidarity and cooperation. And that is the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself."
People around the world, in the middle of a health crisis, are sharing their random acts of kindness to help lift the spirits of friends, neighbors, and strangers.

With news of COVID-19 updates, warnings, and concerns running through our daily feed 24/7, it's nice to see people stepping up and doing random acts of kindness during this time of need.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: More cases reported as Harris County prepares shelter-in-place order

Folks near and far are helping each other. Whether it's a phone call to check up on a friend, buying groceries for an elderly neighbor or donating food to your local health care workers, many are stepping up to the plate and knocking a home run out of the kindness park in this trying time.

Caroline Molloy shared in a twitter post: "I commented on our local community app that I hadn't been able to get any fresh veg or eggs in the local area for a week, and my neighbors kindly left me a present small acts of kindness make all the difference."

Asking someone if they are okay, leaving a note at the neighbors to see if they need something while you run to the store, sharing a supportive smile as you pass strangers on the street, these are all ways folks across America are showering acts of kindness on each other during these unprecedented times.

Even kids are getting into the spirit of kindness by doing nice things for their parents, siblings, and neighbors -- such as leaving inspiring notes and writing encouraging messages on the sidewalk with chalk.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS: Faced with coronavirus restrictions, these 18 iconic Houston restaurants need your support

Jesse on Twitter shared a post about what her child's teacher is encouraging them to do.: "Update from my 11 year olds morning zoom meeting with his class. Their teacher gave them a list of random acts of kindness to help their parents and is asking each of them to chose a few and tell the class what theyre gonna do."

What encouraging random acts of kindness have you seen around town?

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The coronavirus pandemic sweeping across borders, sickening and killing people in nearly every country, and sending the world economy into a downward spiral, is a global challenge unlike any other in our lifetimes, they write. Perhaps more than any major news event in modern history, this moment underscores the urgent importance of both probing, accurate, on-the-ground reporting from the centers of the pandemic and of sharing the information, insights and lessons that reporting reveals as widely as possible.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a statewide stay-at-home order yesterday morning, as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread rapidly throughout the state. The three-week lockdown lasts until April 13 and took effect at midnight last night. The order, according to a press release, requires Michiganders to remain in their homes unless they are part of a critical infrastructure workforce, engaged in an outdoor activity, or performing tasks necessary to the health and safety of themselves or their family, like going to the hospital or grocery store.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer [Credit: AP Photo/David Eggert]

The announcement means that thirteen out of 50 US states have announced lockdowns in response to the pandemic. While Texas has yet to issue a statewide lockdown, the cities of Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have issued their own orders.

The shutdown in Michigan comes after a rapid rise in confirmed cases throughout the state, from zero only two weeks ago to 1,328 cases and 15 deaths as of this writing. However, given the lack of testing and the atrocious level of social infrastructure in the stateespecially in Detroit, the poorest large city in Americait is certain that the real total is many times higher.

Whitmers order was long overdue. She has previously placed a ban only on large gatherings of more than 250 people, which exempted auto factories and other industrial sites employing thousands of workers. Michigan schools did not even close until March 16.

The main factor in the delay was the overwhelming opposition of the major corporations doing business in the state to such an order, fearful of the impact it could have on their bottom line. As late as last Saturday, the heads of both the state and Detroit chambers of commerce issued statements advising the governor not to declare a lockdown. We cannot risk a disruption in the supply chain or a break in the distribution cycle. In addition, many businesses have non-interruptible operations and those operations need to be protected as we move forward, Michigan chamber CEO Rich Studley argued.

Indifferent to the deaths and human suffering it would cause, there are growing calls from the corporate press, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, to restart production in industries as soon as possible in order to avoid denting the profits and share values of corporate America. President Trump, whose central preoccupation has been with the impact of the pandemic on the stock market, is reportedly mulling a lifting of restrictions to restore normal economic activity, a move which would expose untold numbers to infection and death.

These sentiments were echoed in the latest piece by the right-wing Detroit News commentator Nolan Finley, who declared that the coronavirus cure is worse than the disease and argued that Before too much longer, we have to end the lockdown, even if the COVID-19 risk is not eradicated.

The auto industry, which in spite of decades of plant closures is still centered in southeast Michigan, remained operating normally for weeks, even as the virus began to spread through the plants. Two weeks ago, the first case in an auto plant was confirmed at Fiat Chryslers Kokomo Transmission Plant in Indiana. However, Fiat Chrysler refused to close this facility, which is a critical choke point in its North American supply chain, and the auto companies worked with the United Auto Workers to combine lies and threats to force workers to remain on the job. This was upended last week only by a wildcat strike wave which broke out in Detroit-area Fiat Chrysler plants and began rapidly to spread outward, forcing the companies to suddenly reverse course and announce a temporary closure of plants across North America, although Mexican workers remain on the job.

The strikes were blacked out in the corporate media. The press is now engaged in full cover-up mode, re-writing history to present the UAW as having spearheaded the shutdowns. Such a lying account was published in the industry publication Automotive News, and retweeted by the UAWs official Twitter page, attributing the shutdowns to days of backroom talks between union bureaucrats and auto executives.

While the lockdown is necessary from a public health standpoint, as with similar orders around the world there can be no doubt that it will be accompanied by repressive measures including the use of Trumps declaration of a national emergency and the Defense Production Act to force workers back into the infected factories.

The automakers, which are currently scheduled to restart production no sooner than March 30, a full two weeks before Whitmers order expires, have not yet indicated whether they plan to remain closed in Michigan through April 13.

The governors order contains a key exception to allow workers in critical infrastructure sectors, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, to remain on the job during the pandemic. This is a broad designation, which is managed by the Departments Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), focused ostensibly on securing American industry against attack by foreign adversaries. It has little or nothing to do with fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to healthcare, power generation and sectors necessary for sustaining human life, critical infrastructure also includes the broad category of critical manufacturing, which includes steel, aluminum and other metallurgical industries, electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing, shipbuildingand the auto and auto parts industries.

In an official guidance released on March 16, the Trump administration declared that workers in critical infrastructure industries have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule. The use of this designation is already being deployed in an attempt to keep tens of millions of manufacturing workers on the job. Electric vehicle maker Tesla attempted unsuccessfully, to keep its massive Fremont, California plant operating normally during a lockdown in Northern California. John Deere has also announced its intent to remain open under the DHS guidelines. Management at Fords Kansas City Assembly and Fiat Chryslers Belvidere Assembly plants have also sent letters to their workforce declaring their facilities are exempt from local shutdown orders.

For those workers who will remain on the job, Whitmers order leaves largely to the discretion of private business what concrete actions they will take to mitigate the spread of disease. One of the major factors behind last weeks wildcats in the auto industry was the lack of even basic protections for autoworkers, who were not provided with masks, gloves, sanitizer or even hot water in some cases.

One autoworker in Toledo described the conditions in the plant to the World Socialist Web Site. In parts of the plant there is no soap, no hot water. Weve brought up these issues for eight years and more. There was the Bird Flu, MERS, SARS.

Workers cough and spit on the line and in a 10-hour day, there are 39,100 interactions that can contaminate a vehicle on the line. This is especially on the final stages of production. At the front of the line, the vehicle is baked in furnaces, which would presumably kill off any virus. But by the end, there are hundreds of workers on each shift having thousands of interactions with the vehicles.

Workers are fed up with this. It started in Kokomo where there were at least two workers who tested positive. Its happening at Whirlpool, at AK Steel and other companies.

[Vice President] Pence can get the results of his COVID-19 tests back in 45 minutes. My friend took six days to get his results, and thats if you can even get a test. Everything is being done for the elites, for the stock market, for the airlines. Its going to the billionaire families, not the $1,000 families. Half the workforce at our plant are temporary part-time employees who are not even getting $40,000 a year. We need to get bailed out, not Bill Gates who could shell out a few billion without even noticing it. We want the billions for our families, for medical equipment and other things to fight this.
Sales, Digital, Processing Products; FAM, QLMS, Mr. Cooper Changes; Appraisal and VVOE Clarity

While in captivity it is important to have discipline. Independent mortgage banks exercised discipline and had a great 4th quarter, profit-wise, but that was so then. (Costs were $7,500 per loan.) Looking at the present, many are beginning to ask an ugly question: Does the worldwide economic harm, spiraling out of control, outweigh the potential casualties of the coronavirus? Fortunately the Federal Reserve and Agencies are providing support, but given that non-QM and jumbo loan production is reeling, and the servicing market, especially for Ginnie Mae loans, was dealt a blow yesterday, can government-backed FHA/VA lending be far behind? How much pain can small or mid-sized independent mortgage bankers absorb, given EPOs, margin calls, renegotiations, and now angst in servicing/market-driven valuations? Will the government step in to save non-bank, large servicers, like Mr. Cooper? More below on new developments. Sorry about the length of the commentary today  theres a lot going on.



Lender Products, Services, and Training

With so many borrowers employment being negatively affected by COVID-19 this is the time to remind lenders to make government insuring a priority. Once the borrower goes 30 days late then the loan cant be insured forever. As a leading correspondent investor in Government loans, TMS has provided some reliable and practical best practices for lenders to ensure their FHA loans are sellable. Read more on TMS blog.

Looking for ways to stay engaged with prospective borrowers during this unprecedented time? Consider joining Optimal Blue as they host a highly informative webinar, Engage & Convert Borrowers with Robust Social Media Automation, on Thursday, April 2nd at 2:00 PM CT. During this webinar, attendees will learn about Optimal Blues social media engagement solution, current functionalities such as robust publishing, reviews, and compliance automation, as well as several innovations that will take the solution to a whole new level and will be announced for the very first time on this webinar. Most importantly, attendees will discover the social media techniques and best practices that successful Optimal Blue clients have already deployed to engage with prospective borrowers and convert them into new mortgage customers. Register now.

Day 1 of the MAXOUT 2020 Unconference presented by Maxwell and National MI is in the books and Day 2 & 3 boast some great sessions to attend. As a reminder, MAXOUT 2020 is a 100% Free, 100% Online Unconference, giving away great prizes to those that attend. As a reminder, Ill be concluding the conference with my closing Keynote titled, 2020: CoVID19, Low Rates, Recession? tomorrow morning. Check out the entire agenda and register for your sessions.

Join Golden State Finance Authority for an in-depth look at the new GSFA OpenDoors down payment assistance program! OpenDoors is a game-changer when it comes to helping homebuyers in California purchase a primary residence with little-to-no money out of pocket. The GSFA OpenDoors Program features homebuyer assistance up to 7% of the loan amount, FICO requirements as low as 620, flexible DTI requirements and enhanced pricing. FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional Loan financing is available. Plus, GSFA delegates the loan process to the Participating Lender so no additional compliance review from GSFA is necessary, making the process simple and easy for both borrower and Lender. Ready to start closing more loans?? Join us for a Lender Training Webinar and view program guidelines here. You dont want to miss out on this EXCITING new Program!

With a lot of vendors sending their teams home, lenders might be worried about processing slowdown because of the potential higher turn times. Fortunately, Informative Research has digital tools that make it easier for clients to get things done without relying on a service team. With Informative Researchs Action Center, processors can instantly 1) remove a duplicate flag on a credit report and 2) check the status of rescore and supplement orders. And now theyve added two more features: 3) Fix typos and 4) order/view a TriMerge credit report in a different report format. Clients can do all of these things automatically without waiting. Keep an eye out for more updates with even more functionality coming to the Action Center later this year! To learn more, just click here or call 800-473-4633.

Digital transformation can sound overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. Join Bob Meara (Celent), Eric Somers (BMO Harris Bank), and Alden Seabolt (Blend) for CBA's webinar "Leveraging Digital Transformation to Nail Customer Acquisition." They'll demystify what it means to transform your organization with strategies that support seamless customer onboarding experiences. Sign up for free with the promo code Blend0407.

HomeBinder (new Encompass plug-in) gives Originators a way to ensure they aren't forgotten post close. Join the growing number of mortgage originators giving HomeBinder to their clients. Show borrowers how to care for their greatest asset. Give them a reason to remember you with a branded complete home management suite of tools. The relationship doesn't end with a closed loan for you or Agents you work with. Dont get forgotten by your mutual clients. Co-brand and share the wealth! Call 800-377-6915 or email support@homebinder.com. Visit https://www.partners.homebinder.com/lenders to learn more. If you are interested in a 3-minute demo video, click here!

Given the devastating impact on businesses throughout the country, and the financing pullback by lenders needed to ensure these merchants have the necessary capital to ride out the disruption caused by the Coronavirus, World Business Lenders has launched a COVID-19 RELIEF LOAN PROGRAM where it offers financing up to $2,000,000 to businesses impacted by the pandemic. The Program effectively loosens underwriting guidelines with respect to cash flow requirements so businesses shut down by the government or taking responsible action to limit the spread of the disease can still qualify despite little or no cash flow. All loans are secured with adequate equity in virtually any form of real estate. The two-year COVID-19 Relief Loan Program is intended to give a struggling business the capital necessary to weather the economic storm by providing (1) a COVID-19 Shut-Down Period no payments due for the first 3-months, (2) a Recovery Period  interest only payments for the next 9 months while the business is restored to a normal state, and (3) a Pay-Back Period  where the loan begins to amortize during the next year. Contact Phil Grossfield.



CV 19-Driven Updates

Quicken Loans Mortgage Services sent to its brokers:  For most of your clients, the mortgage process will continue to move forward, but closings and appraisals in certain U.S. areas will be affected. Several U.S. locations have adopted mandatory shelter-in-place orders. If you are originating a loan in one of these areas, here's how the mortgage process is being affected: All new registrations and floating pipeline loans will not be able to lock until "Ready for Final Signoff Pending" status. The timeline for shelter-in-place orders remains uncertain. However, we will continue to accept registrations and loan applications and will complete loans that are currently in process. You can view the most current list of affected U.S. areas here.

Mr. Cooper? It will temporarily suspend participation in the GNMA Co-issue space (and) will continue to monitor the market volatility closely, and remains committed long-term to the Ginnie Mae Co-issue space. Mr. Cooper will honor & fund all currently accepted pools & at this time will not be accepting new pools. (Of course it hopes to re-engage in the future.)

How about the large non-bank servicers with varying degrees of capital to back varying sizes of servicing portfolios? Mr. Cooper, the nations third largest residential servicer, made a public plea Monday calling on policy makers in Washington to pass legislation to provide federally backed lines of credit to mortgage companies that upstream payments to MBS holders. When customers dont pay us, we still must forward the customers payment to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae so they can forward the funds to the bondholders, writes Mr. Cooper CEO Jay Bray.

Inside Mortgage Finance reported, In a new analysis, Mr. Cooper argues that if 25% of homeowners are unable to make their mortgage payments our industry will need $40 billion in the first three months to make the payments on the customers behalf. We are asking for legislation to provide a liquidity facility to mortgage companies. IMF notes that, at last check, Mr. Cooper serviced $643.5 billion in home mortgages, giving it a market share of 5.8%.

loanDepot and other wholesalers are reported to be drafting similar policies, not allowing refinance locks prior to final approval.

Pingora Transaction Management released, In the face of the unprecedented challenge of responding to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and the additional volatility this has caused in the market, as of March 23, 2020, we will be suspending all new MSR purchase commitments through FNMA SMP pursuant to Section 13 of the FNMA SMP Addendum/Agreement. Additionally, Lakeview Loan Servicing will be taking the necessary steps to terminate the existing Purchase Agreement pursuant to Section 11.1(e) of the underlying purchase agreement, effective 4/22/20. While we are terminating the purchase agreement, it is our preference to mutually agree to amend the existing agreement for a suspension period while we await some level of market stability as newly created MSRs have become increasingly difficult to value. As always, check with your rep for specific details and plans going forward.

Given the market disruption due to COVID-19 and the extreme volatility caused in both the mortgage and MSR markets, RoundPoint is suspending all co-issue MSR purchases effective immediately. Our hope would be to reenter the market in the future, and will continue to monitor the liquidity and valuation of the asset in an attempt to do so.

This move has industry experts wondering, since Lakeview was about the only buyer of GNMAs, how long before the AmeriHome, Penny Mac, and Freedom stop buying whole loan service released? Or, to take another step, how long with lenders be excited about originating FHA & VA (the fodder for Ginnie Mae securities) product if there is no market for the servicing?

Finance of America told brokers of its, Temporary Suspension of the following products: Apex, Flex, HBX and Reveal. All loan activities under Apex, Flex and HBX products, including loan fundings, have been ceased. Only those wholesale loans in our pipeline that have final loan docs signed and dated on or before 3/23/2020 or NDC loans purchased on or before 3/23/2020 will be accepted. Reveal products - no new application or locks are being accepted. Loans currently locked must close within the lock period. No extensions will be permitted.

FAM also cut manufactured home lending. FAM will no longer accept applications for loans on Manufactured Homes. Only those wholesale loans in our pipeline that have final loan docs signed and dated on or before 3/23/2020 or NDC loans purchased on or before 3/23/2020 will be accepted. All other loans currently in the pipeline will be suspended until further notice.



Appraisal (and VVOE) News

Yesterday the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide alternative flexibilities to satisfy appraisal requirements and employment verification requirements through May 17, 2020 the Enterprises will leverage appraisal alternatives to reduce the need for appraisers to inspect the interior of a home for eligible mortgages. In addition, in the event lenders cannot obtain verbal verification of the borrower's employment before loan closing, the Enterprises will allow lenders to obtain verification via an e-mail from the employer, a recent year-to-date paystub from the borrower, or a bank statement showing a recent payroll deposit. Lenders should continue to utilize sound underwriting judgment to ensure these alternatives are appropriate to the borrower's circumstances Other actions include a suspension of foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days and offering forbearance for borrowers facing hardship due to coronavirus.

Critics suggested that the FHFA took a short view instead of setting safe and sound standards in how to do things. AMCs can adjust (except if the FHFA pushes Waivers) but many lenders will probably still want full appraisals with interior inspections.

Fannie Mae issued Lender Letter LL-2020-03 providing reminders and temporary guidance on these loan origination policies: verbal verification of employment; continuity of income; notes, electronic records, and signatures; title insurance; and seller/servicer business continuity and submission of financial statements. And issued Lender Letter LL-2020-04 providing temporary guidance on appraisal requirements and completion reports, including allowing exterior-only and desktop appraisals for many transactions.

Freddie Mac sent out Bulletin 2020-5 that provides operational, credit and collateral requirements related to COVID-19. In it are updates on temporary guidance related to Freddies credit underwriting requirements, temporary guidance related to Freddies property valuation requirements, expansion of Freddies automated collateral evaluation eligibility, an extension to the deadline for certain annual reporting requirements, as well as reminders on the use of Electronic Records and Signatures, title insurance, and Seller/Servicer business continuity plan requirements and information about Freddie Macs business continuity plan.

PennyMac notified correspondents of its new VVOE and appraisal guidelines.

Last week loanDepot Wholesale sent this out to clients Effective immediately, we are not accepting new loan submissions for properties located in the following Bay Area Counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and San Mateo, with the following exception: Properties with a property inspection waiver (PIW) and written documentation that a notary can be retained for doc signing at the Borrowers shelter in place location. These submissions will also require a 60-day lock.

Of course mandated self-quarantine may cause delays. Appraisers and homeowners who have or have not been in contact with COVID-19 are under self-quarantine. California, and other states, issued a mandatory self-quarantine for members of the community who are age 65 and older. Please be aware that this will impact many appraisers who will no longer be able to complete inspections, either because of their age or the age of one or more residents living at the property to be inspected. We will communicate issues as they arise and reassign orders as quickly as possible. In response to the spread of COVID-19 cases in the state of California, a legal order has been issued prohibiting non-essential business for the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, and the City of Berkeley which has its own public health division. Unfortunately, all appraisal orders that have not yet been inspected will temporarily be placed ON HOLD.

Property Science ceased appraisals in all shelter in place counties until April 7th and that most lenders they work with are following. Others indicated their AMC will still perform appraisals so long as borrower is willing but require 60 lock on conventional loans. So not only are the county recorders an issue, but there are issues with appraisers either not able to physically appraise homes in shelter areas, but appraisers refusing to go inside homes for health fearsthe best of times, in the worst of timesnone of this feels very good.

So, AXIS took that as a challenge and set a goal to define and establish a uniform set of inspection protocols in tandem with our lender-partners and general healthcare initiatives. This set of protocols is designed to protect both the appraiser and the customer, and instill best practices into inspections in this new environment. Here are some things you should know beforehand that have shaped how were addressing appraising today:

It started last week when 6 Bay Area Counties in California issued Health Orders. From there its grown to include numerous other Counties and a burgeoning list of Executive Directives and Proclamations from Mayors of Big Cities to State Governors. (A list of all current Orders, Directives and Proclamations can be found here. One may also contact us with questions, feedback, or additional information).

We have reviewed everything published to date and, after consultation with our Corporate Counsel and other industry sources, that a reasonable interpretation can be made that the professional services provided by AXIS and the appraisers we engage qualify as Essential Business services that support banking and related financial institutions. While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been silent until this Monday, their release greenlighted the use of alternation appraisal products (Drive-by and Desktop appraisals utilizing the 1004 form but with a modified scope of work). It is noteworthy to point out that under Appraisal Preferences in that release, the #1 Report type listed in every case is a full appraisal  which requires an interior inspection. Its also important to note that both FHA and the VA continue to support and require appraiser-provided appraisals that include full interior inspections.

The following will be observed by all parties to an inspection. The lender will contact the borrower and/or homeowner prior to the appraiser scheduling the inspection appointment to determine that no one in the household has knowingly been exposed to COVID 19 nor is anyone in the house currently sick. The appraiser will re-confirm that there has been no change in the health of the occupant (or person providing access to the property) upon scheduling the inspection and prior to entering the property. Confirmation must be documented within the order. To minimize face to face interaction, the appraiser will conduct a phone interview with the inspection contact prior to visiting the site. Appraisers may request a list of improvements that homeowners have made to their home, the plat survey, and/or tax bill if applicable. These documents provide support for legal descriptions, dimensions, easements, and measurements included in the appraisal report. The homeowner will, if present, maintain social distancing as much as possible while the inspection takes place. The appraiser should always wear gloves and mask at all times while inspecting a home and endeavor not to touch any surfaces, door handles or light switches. Goggles are also recommended.

Hand washing (or use of a hand sanitizer) before and after each inspection is a prerequisite  but not at the subject property! The homeowner will agree to turn on all lights in the home and see that all interior doors are open for easy access to every room. Although the CDC has not published protocols outside healthcare settings, a baseline of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)used during inspections may ease concerns and may provide a level of mutual protections. PPE considerations include gloves, masks, eye protection, hygienic shoe covers, and a supply of hand sanitizer. Any questions or concerns at a property, simply stop and call AXIS.

We believe appraising is a not-so-small and essential part of the lending equation  and appreciate the enhanced partnership our lender-clients have placed in us. As an aside, one of the more sobering results of the last several days has been the universal gratitude every homeowner has expressed for our appraisers being willing to come out. We captured some of the comments here. Its been a very humbling and uplifting experience.

Mikes note finished with, We hope more lenders encourage the GSEs, other investors and the industrys regulators to be creative and offer to accept exterior appraisals with interior photos by homeowners as a temporary alternative to help those folks who are too unsettled by the thought of a stranger in their home for an interior inspection to take place. While we believe these challenges may be with us for longer than many expect, when this pandemic threat eventually abates, we hope these lessons and experiences will have added in a positive way to the strength of our industry. Thank you, Mike!



Capital Markets

Mortgage rates? U.S. Treasury yields were pressured lower to begin the week, including the 10-year closing yesterday -17 bps to 0.76 percent. Though, as I have explained recently, lower Treasury yields arent necessarily translating to lower mortgage rates. We saw monetary and fiscal authorities in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Germany active, but in the U.S., Congress failed to reach agreement on a spending plan, which helped cause the rate decline/bond rally. The Federal Reserve announced readiness to buy an unlimited amount of Treasuries and MBS, with nearly $700 billion in asset purchases planned for this week alone. The Fed will also establish a secondary market corporate credit facility, which will be able to purchase investment grade corporate bonds and U.S.-listed ETFs with exposure to investment grade corporate debt. (The first FedTrade operations of the day saw the Desk purchase $15.7 billion in the morning and then in the afternoon $30.2 billion MBS purchases.)

Todays economic calendar is already underway with the Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing survey for February (-12.8, region-level -35.1). Later today brings Redbook same store sales for the week ending March 21, preliminary March Markit manufacturing and services PMIs, Richmond Fed manufacturing and services for March, and the headline release of the day: February New Home Sales. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better by .250 and the 10-year yielding .83 percent.

Jobs

Zoral Group Inc., an international leader and innovator in the AI/ML/Digital Products/RPA/Big Data space, is seeking a National Sales Director for its Enterprise Business Development. Looking for a true hunter with banking and financial service industry knowledge and extensive contact database, plus demonstrated prior success selling lending solutions. Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics is a plus. This is a great opportunity to work with a fintech software company with over 15 years of experience and a broad global client base and help them broaden their reach in the US Market. Location agnostic, but will require some travel to attend industry conferences as well as visit client locations. 1099 Preferred. To learn more or to submit your resume, please contact Peter Sandler, SVP.
The government had asked a Noida-based med-tech startup AgVa Healthcare to manufacture 5,000 ventilators by April 15 to help hospitals handle the sudden increase of patients as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) wreaks havoc across the nation.

AgVa Healthcare founder Diwakar Vaish speaking to Business Today said, "We have been supplying ventilators to AIIMS, Safdarjung and our entire workforce is working around the clock to supply as many ventilators as we can."

"We're facing difficulties in terms of availability of raw material. Mostly coming from China. Import and export have taken a hit. That's why it's taking time. But as asked by the government, we'll be able to supply 5,000 by April 15," Vaish added.

Vaish had also consulted with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on how these ventilators can be deployed. MoHFW has suggested a few changes to suit the needs of coronavirus patients.

The company, which has built the most economical ventilator, is all set to ramp up production to manufacture 12,000 units every month, from its current capacity of 150, reports Money Today. Currently, there are around 600 such ventilators deployed across India and AgVa Healthcare is aiming to deploy around 20,000 of them as soon as possible. AgVa ventilator's base model costs around Rs 1.5 lakh.

Vaish had developed AgVa ventilator in association with AIIMS, New Delhi, and is waiting for a United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval but, is adhering to the ISO 13485 standards for medical equipment.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: India to produce hazmat suits locally as global suppliers say no

Also Read: Free coronavirus treatment under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Indian Oil ties up with Paytm to avoid cash transactions
Dr. Anthony Fauci may not be the best person to have President Trump's ear. Among other things, the time we gained after Trump closed the border to China was squandered by the CDC. ABC News reports:

[A] former senior federal health official nominated to his post by President Trump, alleges that the delays in testing occurred because leaders at the Centers for Disease Control "lied" to the president, and to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, about the center's ability to produce the kits.

A couple of weeks ago, after the roll-out of testing kept stalling, Fauci admitted there was a "glitch" in the system. "Glitch" seemed an understatement and a breezy way to describe what occurred in the face of the looming threat that landed on our shores.

Later, the word "problem" was used to describe the massive failure of the CDC to deliver the goods in a timely fashion when every day counted.

CDC has acknowledged that its initial stab at mass production of the test kits encountered "a problem," and that federal deployment of safe testing equipment lagged as a result.

It's also disconcerting to hear that we were engaged in an "initial stab" at something this critical and time-sensitive.

Trump was spot on shutting down all flights from China when he did. But then Americans waited and waited for tests while Fauci kept making promises that didn't materialize until the spread of the virus was already well underway.

Recently, Fauci downplayed the importance of testing somewhat when stating that it doesn't change what we all need to be doing right now with respect to social distancing and other infection control measures.

While our behaviors are one of the few things we've got in our arsenal to beat this virus, it seems odd (and perhaps convenient) that Fauci would downplay the importance of widespread testing  particularly in light of the fact that countries that have been most successful with containment implemented widespread testing as part of their multi-pronged approach to reduce infection.

So what did Singapore do, and why have such measures not been put into practice here?

Perhaps most critically, Singapore, like other Asian countries that have been ahead of the curve, learned from prior pandemics and built necessary infrastructure. In the case of Singapore, those in charge built isolation hospitals and passed legislation to address readiness for a future pandemic. So, when the coronavirus hit, they were prepared.

Among other things, they immediately conducted widespread testing, putting those who tested positive (1%) into isolation hospitals. Those who had close contact with these patients were put in home quarantine with strict supervision and steep penalties for those who broke it. As a result of these actions, life for everyone else went on without major changes or interruptions.

As of this writing, the country has had no lockdowns, and the number of cases has remained extremely low. However, the Singaporeans, along with other Asian countries, are now experiencing a second wave of infections with an uptick in cases this month. (The idea of waves of infections was briefly noted by Dr. Birx during the Monday press conference where she explained that there are typically three waves  a topic for another blog post, perhaps.)

Granted, Singapore differs vastly from the United States, yet there are surely lessons to be learned. One among them is that perhaps it's convenient for the CDC to downplay the need to do massive testing since we don't have enough tests to implement that.

It also seems completely absurd that if someone becomes infected and he doesn't require hospitalization, he would remain at home with healthy individuals and no masks to protect them. Again, it seems awfully convenient for Americans to be told that masks don't help since there aren't even enough to meet the needs of health care providers.

All in all, it's hard not to feel uneasy about how all of this is unfolding. I'm not convinced that Trump is being given the best advice. Nor am I convinced that American's are being given all the resources we need to be safe in this perilous time.

We're sailing toward Italy, as Singapore fades into the distance.

Hat tip: Legal Insurrection.
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A Vietnamese-French playwright is bringing her love of traditional Vietnamese theater to Paris with her performance of a classic Vietnamese epic poem, in which she undertakes the dual role of writer and lead actor.

Don ca tai tu, southern Vietnams traditional musical art, is in actress and playwright Tran Thi Truc Tiens blood.

It is an art form she has been around her whole life, having grown up in the heart of Vietnams southern region  the Mekong Delta.

Though she was just ten years old when her family immigrated to France 36 years ago, her passion for don ca tai tu and its classics, particularly the classic song-poem Luc Van Tien, never faded.

Tien, now a professional actress and playwright, first brought her love of don ca tai tu to life in 2019 with a performance of Luc Van Tien at a Paris theater.

With a first foray into bringing traditional Vietnamese performance art to Paris under her belt, Tiens next goal is to tackle a theatrical adaptation of Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu)  the most notable work of one of Vietnams greatest poets, Nguyen Du.

Her take on the epic poem is currently scheduled to hit the stage at Theatre Saint-Leon in Paris on March 29.

So far, half of the 500 or so available tickets for the performance have been sold.

Artist Tran Thi Truc Tien performs onstage in this supplied photo.

Grandpas notebook

Tien spent her childhood enchanted by her grandfathers renditions of classic Vietnamese poetry recited alongside the twang of a don kim, a two-stringed Vietnamese instrument.

The more he sang classic poems like Truyen Kieu and Luc Van Tien, the more Tiens love for traditional Vietnamese artistry grew.

In 1984, at ten years old, Tien and her parents migrated to France. In 1993, she made her first return to Vietnam to visit her grandfather's grave.

During that trip she found a gift from her grandfather  a notebook filled with musical arrangements designed for don ca tai tu.

Even today, with decades of experience learning don ca tai tu from some of Vietnams most well-known performers, that notebook still serves as the inspiration for her performances in Paris.

Artist Tran Thi Truc Tien performs onstage in this supplied photo.

From Luc Van Tien to Truyen Kieu

In addition to her stagecraft, Tien is a mother of two and works as a communications consultant. With so many responsibilities, much of her vocal practice is done while driving to work.

Her first music album Da (Night), a compilation of her ten favorite don ca tai tu tracks, was debuted in 2017. She released a second album, Thuong (Love), the following year to showcase her renditions of well-known Vietnamese folktales.

Her live musical performance of the 19th-century epic poem Luc Van Tien by Nguyen Dinh Chieu received acclaim from a mostly French audience and served as her motivation to write a theatrical adaptation of Truyen Kieu.

Many older people told me, you need to do Truyen Kieu. They said they wished to see Truyen Kieu performed onstage in the same way I did Luc Van Tien. Thats why I'm committed to this project despite countless obstacles, Tien said.

The 'Luc Van Tien' musical performed onstage in Paris, France in 2019 in this supplied photo

Nguyen Dus re-awakening in Paris

After four years of scriptwriting, recording, and traveling back and forth between Vietnam and France to consult don ca tai tu veterans, Tien and her troupe, Coi Nguon, are finally ready to show off their work onstage.

Her adaptation of Truyen Kieu highlights the sounds of traditional Vietnamese musical instruments played with the influence of Western sounds.

The plot itself will be Western-influenced as well, with the story set in 2020 Paris where Nguyen Du has an unconventional encounter with a Vietnamese woman.

The play is narrated by Nguyen Du and the female lead in both French and Vietnamese to help guide audiences through the story.

Even with Tiens modern update,' the play will still hold the majority of its original charm.

The original poem was already brilliant. I only needed to add a few ornamental fillers to ensure the rhythm, the same way others did before me, Tien humbly said.

Artist Tran Thi Truc Tien performs a part of her 'Truyen Kieu' musical in this supplied video.

Devotion to the old sounds of Vietnam

Though not formally trained, Tien shows an intense amount of dedication to the art of southern Vietnams don ca tai tu. Despite leaving Vietnam at a very young age, she still retains her southern Vietnamese dialect, said Dr. Tran Quang Hai, an ethnomusicologist based in France.

I commend her devotion to upholding the legacy of traditional Vietnamese music through the adaptations of Luc Van Tien and Truyen Kieu and her ability to infuse traditional Vietnamese music with Western influences, he added.

Her Coi Nguon troupe has already established its reputation and is attracting young talents to form a dynamic collective."

"This is my first time joining one of Tiens projects, said artist Le Tu, who will play a braveheart general in Tiens rendition of Truyen Kieu.

I am humbled and excited to have the opportunity to perform don ca tai tu abroad and promote my culture in France. I look up to Tien for her work ethic, he added.

Tien is always eager to learn and has a firm grasp on rhythm. Her voice is equal to that of any professionals.

Artist Tran Thi Truc Tien plays the don kim, a traditional Vietnamese two-stringed musical instrument, in this supplied photo.

To understand and love Vietnamese

Despite her childhood memories of Truyen Kieu read by her grandfather, it remains a challenge for Tien to fully understand the work. For her, Truyen Kieu is mainly an opportunity to showcase the elegance of the Vietnamese language.

Tien currently teaches the Vietnamese language to French children of Vietnamese origin. Her current curriculum is based on Truyen Kieu. The more she reads, the more she understands and feels a sense of attachment to Vietnams language and culture.

No matter how many times I re-read Truyen Kieu, it never fails to point me toward a new perspective," Tien said.

"Even though I was worried about whether the novel coronavirus disease [COVID-19] epidemic would affect my upcoming play, I felt like I was able to gain some clarity after thinking about Kims [the protagonists promised husband in Truyen Kieu] words to Thuy Kieu during their reunion, Thank heaven we are here today/To see the sun through parting fog and clouds.

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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:59 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d32ab1 1 Business coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,emergency-hospital,Wisma-Atlet-Kemayoran,SOEMinistry,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia Free

The State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry plans to transform existing buildings in a number of regions into hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients  following the recent transformation of the athletes village in Jakarta.

"What we did in Jakarta is going to be duplicated in some other provinces," Arya Sinulingga, an aide to SOE Minister Erick Thohir, said on Tuesday.

He added that among the regions were Bandung in West Java, Semarang in Central Java and Surabaya in East Java.

The ministry was also likely to cooperate with the Religious Affairs Ministry to transform some haj dormitories in some regions into COVID-19 hospitals, he said.

Read also: COVID-19: Inadequate medical supplies take toll on lives of Indonesian medical workers

The SOE Ministry, with the help of the Public Works and Housing Ministry, managed to convert four apartment towers of Wisma Atlet Kemayoran in Central Jakarta into a hospital to meet the potentially increasing demand for wards in the coming days.

The facility, previously used to house athletes during the 2018 Asian Games, will be able to accommodate up to 22,000 COVID-19 patients.

Scientists have warned that Indonesia could have tens of thousands of cases by April if the authorities fail to take drastic measures to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Based on their calculations, Indonesia could be grappling with up to 71,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of April.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia tripled within a week, jumping from 172 positive diagnoses on March 17 to 686 on Tuesday. The number of deaths stood at 55, as the disease had apparently spread to at least 22 of the country's 34 provinces.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/24/2020 -- A new research report is published by HTF Market Intelligence on 'Payments Landscape in South Africa: Opportunities and Risks to 2022' with 73 pages.



Request a sample report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1592432-payments-landscape-in-south-africa-1



Summary

GlobalData's "Payments Landscape in South Africa: Opportunities and Risks to 2022", report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the South African cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cash, cards, credit transfers, direct debit, and cheques during the review-period (2014-18e).



The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2018e-22f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.



The report brings together GlobalData's research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.



This report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the South African cards and payments industry, including -

- Current and forecast values for each market in the South African cards and payments industry, including debit, credit, and charge cards.

- Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash, cards, credit transfers, direct debit, and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.

- E-commerce market analysis.

- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the South African cards and payments industry.

- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit, and charge cards.



Companies Mentioned in the Report

ABSA, Standard Bank, Capitec Bank, FNB, Nedbank, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club



Read Detailed Table of Content @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1592432-payments-landscape-in-south-africa-1



Scope

- Banks in South Africa are adopting new models to increase the country's banked population. First National Bank (FNB) has announced a mobile-only bank called Bank Zero, which it intends to launch in 2019. The bank will be based on a low-cost model, and intends to charge no fees for card payments in South Africa. Mobile-only bank TymeDigital was launched in November 2018, while South African financial institution Discovery plans to launch mobile-only Discovery Bank in March 2019.

- To capitalize on the lucrative payments market, international scheme providers are partnering with domestic merchant acquirers to enable card acceptance. Most recently, in July 2018 UnionPay International partnered with Standard Bank to enable Chinese card holders traveling to South Africa to make payments through Standard Bank's payment infrastructure. Previously, in July 2016 the scheme provider agreed a similar partnership with Absa. Meanwhile, to expand mobile payment acceptance, payment services provider Peach Payments partnered with Ant Financial Services to add support for Alipay in South Africa from June 2017. The partnership allows Chinese tourists in South Africa to pay with the Alipay app at authorized retailers.

- To push mobile payment adoption, payment services providers in South Africa are adopting QR codes as a convenient and low-cost mobile payment method. In July 2018, Mastercard partnered with fintech company Entersekt to enable interoperable QR payments. The collaboration enables Nedbank customers to make QR payments to merchants that accept Pay@, SnapScan, Zapper, or Masterpass. All of these services operate through the Nedbank Money app Scan-to-Pay feature. This integration allows Nedbank Money users to save their card information in a single app and make payments at over 100,000 retail stores and 800 billers in South Africa.



Reasons to buy

- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the South African cards and payments industry and each market within it.

- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the South African cards and payments industry.

- Assess the competitive dynamics in the South African cards and payments industry.

- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in South Africa.

- Gain insights into key regulations governing the South African cards and payments industry.



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Story Highlights Approval rating up five percentage points from prior poll

60% approve of president's response to COVID-19

Job approval higher among independents, Democrats

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump may be enjoying a small rally in public support as the nation faces the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults, up from 44% earlier this month, approve of the job Trump is doing as president. Trump also had 49% job approval ratings -- the best of his presidency -- in late January and early February around the time of the Senate impeachment trial that resulted in his acquittal.

Independents' and Democrats' approval of Trump's performance has increased slightly since earlier this month, tying as the best he has registered to date among each group. The president's approval rating among Republicans was already above 90%, and remains so -- but is not currently his highest on record (94% in late January).

Change in President Trump's Job Approval Rating, by Party % Approve March 2-13 , 2020 March 13-22 , 2020 Change % % pct. pts. U.S. adults 44 49 +5 Republicans 91 92 +1 Independents 35 43 +8 Democrats 7 13 +6 Gallup

Trump's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic may be behind his higher overall approval rating. Americans give the president generally positive reviews for his handling of the situation, with 60% approving and 38% disapproving. Ninety-four percent of Republicans, 60% of independents and 27% of Democrats approve of his response.

The Trump administration has received some criticism for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic -- including that the president downplayed the threat, at least up until his nationally televised address on March 11. On March 16, Trump acknowledged the seriousness of the situation by urging people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and to have workers and students stay home if possible. The administration has had daily press conferences since then to update the nation on what the federal government is doing to address the situation.

A Trump 'Rally'?

Two aspects of Trump's latest approval rating suggest a presidential approval rally effect. His rating shows a fairly sudden increase, and that increase is seen among both independents and Democrats -- both highly unusual for Trump in particular.

Historically, presidential job approval has increased when the nation is under threat. Every president from Franklin Roosevelt through George W. Bush saw their approval rating surge at least 10 points after a significant national event of this kind. Bush's 35-point increase after 9/11 is the most notable rally effect on record.

During these rallies, independents and supporters of the opposing party to the president typically show heightened support for the commander in chief.

Significant rally effects appear to be a relic of the past as political polarization in presidential approval ratings has reached new levels. Presidential approval ratings today are characterized by consistent, exceedingly low approval ratings from opponents of the president's party. As a result, neither Barack Obama nor Trump saw rally effects as big as those of their predecessors, because their usual opponents were reluctant to approve of them regardless of what was happening in the country.

At most, Obama's approval rating rose by seven points after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. (He had a smaller five-point rally in support after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.)

Seven points is also the largest short-term increase in approval for Trump. His approval rating increased from 37% to 44% in February 2019 after the federal government shutdown ended and Trump touted U.S. economic gains in his State of the Union address. Trump's job approval rating increased six points in April 2019 after special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump campaign ties with Russia officially concluded; at that time, Attorney General William Barr largely cleared the president of wrongdoing. Trump's job approval rating also increased five points earlier this year when it was clear he would be acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial.

Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
Briefing With Senior State Department Officials On COVID-19: Updates on Health Impact and Assistance for American Citizens Abroad

Special Briefing

Office of the Spokesperson

March 23, 2020



MODERATOR ONE: Okay, at the end of the opening remarks, if you want to ask a question, please send me a text message at [redacted] and I will add you to the queue. With that, I'll turn it over to [Moderator Two].

MODERATOR TWO: Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining the call today. This week we're going to set up a series of briefings from different State Department officials to make you aware of all the different things the department is doing in response to this ongoing pandemic. Today's briefing will be on background. Attribution will be to senior State Department officials. We're going to start with some remarks first  from our first briefer, who is [Senior State Department Official One], and he'll be followed by [Senior State Department Official Two], and then we'll have time for some questions at the end. We'll need to cap it no more than 30 minutes total, okay?

So with that, I'll turn it over to [Senior State Department Official One].

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Good afternoon, everybody. [Senior State Department Official One] here. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global challenge, one that has affected a great number of Americans abroad. Here at the Department of State, we're rising to meet that challenge. We're working around the clock to bring U.S. citizens who are stranded overseas back home. Our consular officers posted overseas and our local  their local employee colleagues have been working night and day to help Americans get on flights. And, as [Moderator Two] just said, there's a 24-7 task force here in Washington supporting that effort.

Though we stood up the task force last week, this was not our first effort to bring Americans home in response to this pandemic. We evacuated over 800 people from Wuhan and over 300 from the Diamond Princess in Japan. In date  in total to date, we have brought home more than 5,000 Americans from 17 countries, and we're bringing home thousands more in the coming days and weeks. This is truly an unprecedented effort to bring Americans from every region of the world in these rapidly changing conditions on the ground.

We urge all Americans traveling overseas at any time, but particularly now, to enroll in our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov. This is how embassies communicate important health and safety information to U.S. citizens in real time. If you are not involved  excuse me, enrolled  you may be missing the most up-to-date information from the embassy during this crisis.

And I would like to just relate a little bit of a brief exchange I had with one of our ambassadors just an hour ago in one of the regions that is not yet heavily affected by the crisis. The ambassador asked me what advice we should  he should be giving U.S. citizens, and I said you should do something along the lines of, "Consider whether you are ready to ride out an undetermined period of time where you are now, or do you want to go to the United States to wait out events? If it's the latter, do so now," and that last bit all caps. That is our advice to people: Avail themselves of commercial opportunities probably still exist. Enroll in STEP so that if we have to help you get on subsequent flights or subsequent means of transportation, we can do so.

And I think with that I will turn this over to [Senior State Department Official Two] and be ready to answer your questions. Thank you very much.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you, [Senior State Department Official One]. This is [Senior State Department Official Two]. The bureau remains first and foremost focused on our 75,000-person workforce in over 220 locations around the world and is working very closely with our consular colleagues and folks at post to assist American citizens overseas, whether they are stranded and looking for a ride home or find themselves infected with coronavirus. We are part of a broader interagency effort, and any movement of American citizens or chief of mission personnel during a pandemic outbreak is complex and requires the partnership of HHS, DHS, and others, and I'll leave it there pending your questions.

MODERATOR TWO: Okay. Let's take a few questions, then.

MODERATOR ONE: Okay, the first question is from Matt Lee.

QUESTION: Hi there. Thank you all for doing this. Can I just ask, do you have an updated total of the number of State Department employees who have tested positive? And when you say that thousands more Americans are coming home in the coming weeks, this  this is due to your efforts in  or organizing charter flights or get  and such or something  or they're just coming back on their own? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I'll let [Senior State Department Official Two] answer the first question and I'll take the second. [Senior State Department Official One] out.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: So the domestic numbers are easier to quantify just based on communications with posts abroad. Obviously, this is a rapidly evolving situation, especially in the overseas environment. I can tell you we're still at single digits here in the United States with cases  one each, two each, three each in Washington; Houston; Boston; New York; Quantico, Virginia; and Seattle. So the numbers themselves are  overseas are still double-digit. We're looking at less than 30 scattered over 220 posts around the world, and it remains a challenge. Obviously, the  this type of outbreak, had we known earlier what the epidemiology was and had some of that data, perhaps we would have a better feel for how this was going to move across our overseas posts. But we are keeping pace with it. And again, the number at this point is less than 30. Over.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, hi, [Senior State Department Official One] here. We are encouraging people to, as I said at the top, to avail themselves of commercial means while they still exist. That is the case in a number of parts of the world, but that window is closing fast. So what we are doing after that is we are using a variety of different means. For example, out of Central America we had some U.S. military DOD craft, aircraft return who have carried some folks back on a space-available basis. So for example, out of Honduras I think the number was 90 sometime late last week or over the weekend. We're also facilitating through the Economic Bureau, we're helping private charters go into places. So some mission groups have asked for our help in getting the necessary permissions for their privately chartered aircraft to go in.

We are using in some cases  and I expect this will be happening in an expanded fashion as we go out from here  we're using what's called the K Fund. It's a special fund authorized by Congress to allow us to meet unexpected emergencies. We have organized a number of flights already on the K Fund, K Fund charters, and there are going to be more of those starting today, in fact.

And I think with that, I'll stop, if that answers the question. We're  let me  I'm sorry, I'll take that back. We're tracking some 13,500 U.S. citizens abroad who are seeking assistance in being repatriated. And with that, I'll stop. Thank you.

MODERATOR ONE: The next question is from Nike, Voice of America.

QUESTION: Thank you very much for this call. You mentioned there's 13,500 Americans. Is that the estimated number of Americans stranded abroad? And do you have a breakdown of the numbers in different geographic areas? And finally, how many Americans have enrolled in STEP? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Nike, very good question. I don't have the exact numbers for you, but let me say this: We estimate there are some 10 million U.S. citizens living abroad. Mexico alone has a million to a million and a half U.S. citizens living there. But that is not the entire universe of people who would be seeking to return to the United States. A vast, vast majority of those people are resident in those countries; they're at home in those countries. The people who are seeking our assistance at the moment are what we might consider the expats, or tourists who are overseas temporarily. They're the ones whose homes are here in the United States, in other words trying to come home to ride out this crisis.

So we're not looking at a total would-be evacuee population of 10-plus million. It's much, much smaller than that. As I said, we have so far seen 13,500 or so thousand U.S. citizens who have requested some form of assistance and registered with us seeking some form of assistance in returning home.

I'm sorry, the question as to total enrollees in STEP, we're going to have to get back to you on that. I don't have that number at my fingertips. Over.

MODERATOR ONE: The next question is from Arshad Mohammed, Reuters.

QUESTION: Thanks for doing this. Two things. First, for the Senior Official One, can you respond to Senator Menendez's letter yesterday in which he calls for the administration to invoke authorities within the Civil Reserve Air Fleet readiness program to facilitate chartering these flights to get people back, and in which he also calls for the military or the Department of Defense to make military aircraft available.

And then secondly, for Senior Official Two, as I'm sure you're aware, the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Ambassador Marks self-quarantined on Thursday at least four days after she returned to South Africa from the United States after having spent time among other things on a U.S. Naval vessel. Why did she self-quarantine on Thursday? Was there something that happened between Monday and Thursday that caused her to do that, some kind of exposure? And if not, why didn't she self-quarantine immediately upon return to South Africa? Or indeed, why did she return to South Africa in the first place if she had a potential exposure? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you, Arshad. With regard to MilAir, with regard to using those assets, we are in conversations with the Department of Defense through what is called the ExecSec  ExecSec process. They are one of the options that we might find ourselves calling on down the road. At the moment, though, we are finding that  excuse me  that laying on charters via the K Fund, via other mechanisms we have here in the State Department is an efficient way to do this.

As I said, we are also helping private carriers increase the number of flights they have. So, for example, going into Peru, our Economic Bureau is facilitating conversation amongst the U.S. Government agencies involved in providing this end of the regulatory approval while our embassy in Lima is working with the Peruvian authorities on getting the necessary regulatory approvals down there. And so we're able to increase the capacity that way. This is a  whole-of-government is a cliche. This is more of a whole-of-possibility effort to get people out, and so no option is foreclosed at (inaudible) and  out.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Hi, [Senior State Department Official Two] (inaudible).

MODERATOR ONE: The next question is from Carol Morello.

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks for doing this. Can you tell me 

QUESTION: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What about the question that I had regarding Ambassador Marks and why she did not self-isolate prior to Thursday? I'd like an answer, please.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: All right. This is [Senior State Department Official Two]. I can't speak on an individual case, but I can give you from a policy perspective and sort of the way we're addressing the disparate self-quarantine and isolation requirements in over 220 locations around the world. First, we're not tracking any specific exposure to any specific individual at the ambassadorial level, but I can tell you when any traveler from the State Department returns to a host nation, we respect  to the extent that we can we respect their requirements. It's the right thing to do, and I think we would expect their diplomats to do the same when they come to the United States.

MODERATOR TWO: Next question.

QUESTION: When it comes to the number of State Department employees in consulates and embassies abroad, can you tell us how many authorized departures there have actually been so far, and have you developed any contingency plan for personnel if the situation worsens?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We missed the end of the question, I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Have you  do you have any sort of contingency plan, like an exit strategy, for embassy personnel if the situation worsens where any of them are in countries where borders are closed and there are no flights? Are you making plans on how to evacuate staff if that becomes necessary?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yes, and we have done so already in some places where air travel has become more complicated. When we do that, if we have to charter an aircraft to bring out what we call chief of mission personnel and there's additional space available on those flights, we will make those additional seats available to private U.S. citizens seeking to depart those countries. So this is an ongoing dynamic situation as the virus spreads and more and more posts go on authorized or ordered departure, yes, we are taking account of this. We are bringing those officers back to the United States, and in a great many cases, certainly I know in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, we're putting those people to work here assisting the task force, as we mentioned earlier, or otherwise assisting in dealing with this worldwide crisis. Over.

QUESTION: And do you have numbers on authorized departures and ordered departures? How many people have taken you up on it so far?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We'll have to take that question and get back to you. I don't have those numbers at my fingertips. I apologize.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR ONE: Next question is from Christina Ruffini.

QUESTION: Hi, guys. Can you say how many K Fund charters there have been, and does that include the medical students stuck in Peru? I know there's been a lot of claims that there is a flight ready to go pick them up and they're waiting on getting some red tape cleared from the State Department.

And then what should we be telling people who are reaching out to us, quite frankly, stuck in other countries, and saying they're not getting any response? Should they contact the embassy, contact the airline? And should we be telling them that they  there will be a way to get them home one way or another at some point, or can you not guarantee that for every country around the world at this point? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. With regard to the people in Peru, maybe I could ask you to elucidate a little bit on the question of red tape. I think I know what you're referring to, but I want to make sure I'm responding to your question.

QUESTION: The medical students  there's been a  I believe at the university or a private company that says they have a plane that could go pick them up, and they're saying that they are waiting and waiting to get the correct clearance and they're waiting on the State Department. Is that something that's being worked through?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, I don't know the particulars of the case, but this is what I referred to earlier. The State Department, the Economic Bureau here, is working, I mean, round the clock assisting with putting together the FAA, CBP, et cetera, TSA regulatory approvals on this end, and whatever the regulatory approvals are on the other end. We are  we in the State Department are facilitating the communications, so it might be that we haven't fully achieved that yet. I have heard my colleagues in the Economic Bureau say that, at least at this end, the U.S. end, everybody is lashed up and ready to move very quickly and is moving quickly. In some cases, it's at the other end. In this case, maybe in Peru we don't yet necessarily have all the necessary Peruvian authorization.

We need to be aware of the fact that the Peruvian capacity for handling these flights is very limited. They've been  due to COVID infections in their civil airport in Lima, they've had to close that airport and they're operating out of the military (inaudible), the other side of the airport, which has much, much, much less in the way of capacity, so they are able to process far fewer flights through. I don't know the particulars of this case, but that could explain it, that the Peruvians have not yet granted authority.

You asked about people who have not had contact with the department. I hope that they have enrolled in STEP, and I sincerely hope that they've heard back through what we call a MASCOT message. The messages get pushed out to STEP enrollees. As a test of the system, I enrolled myself in STEP last night saying I was in Peru and would be for the next 10 days, and I've already received two messages from the embassy. So if you're hearing otherwise, it would be good to know.

Thank you. Over.

MODERATOR TWO: [Senior State Department Official One], could you also touch on the additional call line?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Oh, I'm sorry. You're absolutely right. And dang, give me a moment. I need to look up the number. I don't have it right in front of me. I will. No, look at this. Yes, I do. I keep working off the same notes.

Okay, we've got a call center up and running. Let me give you that number. It is 888-407-4747, 888-407-4747. That's for calls from within the United States. If somebody is calling from overseas, they can call commercial to 202-501-4444, 202-501-4444.

QUESTION: And sorry. Could you just sort of flesh this out what the message is to people overseas? Are you confident that there will be a way for everyone who wants to come home to come home at some point, or can you not make that promise quite yet?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, we are hearing about people who are in very remote locations in very remote parts of the world. It's complicated. I mean, again, going back to the case of Peru, we are tracking a number of people who are in Iquitos. The only way in and out of Iquitos is by air. We are working with the Peruvians to try to get permission  and the Peruvians have shut down internal air travel. We're trying to get permission to move those people by air to Lima so we can bring them out.

I've heard about individual people in remote areas in Peru, in Samoa, in Banda  in Aceh in Indonesia. So I am hesitant to give a guarantee we can move every single person. We are moving very large numbers of people and we will continue this effort. Over.

MODERATOR TWO: Yes. To reiterate the point from the beginning of the call, this is an unprecedented effort. These are historic times, and the department is rising to the challenge. Safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad is our first priority, and we will continue to work 24/7 on the task that we've been given for the American people.

Next question.

MODERATOR ONE: Next question is from Francesco.

QUESTION: Hi, thank you for doing this. Two questions. I just wanted to clarify. You mentioned 5,000 people already repatriated. Those are people who were brought home with charters or DOD flights by the  organized by the State Department? Is that correct?

And then when you mentioned 13,500, what was this figure exactly about?

And then one other thing. The President yesterday talked about the case of a young woman that was brought back, but he wouldn't elaborate. Do you have more details about that woman who was horribly treated and then brought back to the U.S.? Thank you.

MODERATOR TWO: We have nothing to provide on that last point, and I'll hand it back to our briefers for the other questions.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you. Yes, that  I cited some 5,700 people have been brought back. The vast  the great majority of those were coming back through State charters  State Department chartered aircraft. Some 800  800-plus out of Wuhan, China back on  in late January, 300-plus out of Yokohama, Japan, approximately 1,200 came out of Morocco last week. We've had other  we had other people come out of Central America recently. We're looking at now 16 or so flights in the next five days, and we've got, at this point, about 1,600 passengers  over 1,600 passengers identified for those flights. There's room for more.

That 13,500 number I gave, those are the people who have reached out to our posts in all parts of the world, saying they're interested in our assistance. So what we do when we have space on a flight coming out, we reach out to those people and say we have space, a plane leaving at X hour on Y day, if you're interested, let us know. We are then prioritizing amongst those people, taking account of, really, vulnerability. If we have somebody who is 70 years old with an underlying condition such as diabetes or heart disease, that person is going to get a higher priority on one of those flights than the hale and hearty 20-year-old.

You asked about  I hope I've answered your questions. If not, please remind me I haven't done so. Over.

QUESTION: You have. Thank you.

MODERATOR ONE: Next question is Tracy Wilkinson.

QUESTION: Hi, yes, thank you. A couple things. Just following up on Francesco, the 13,500, how many countries do they represent? The K Fund flight  I guess you sort of answered that in saying that you've got 16 flights over the next two days  those are all charter flights, correct?

And to [Senior State Department Official Two], I wanted to ask: You mentioned testing State Department people overseas. Have you run into the same shortages of tests and problems that the United States is experiencing? Thank you.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, I'm sorry. I can't tell you exactly what countries are involved in that number of 13.5 I gave you, but they are worldwide. I'm sure that there are countries somewhere 

QUESTION: A number of countries, a number? A number of countries 

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I'll have to get you the  I'll have to get you the number of countries.

QUESTION: Okay, okay.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: It's probably  it's not every single country worldwide. It's certainly every single region of the world, but specific number of countries I do not have.

K Fund  you asked about the K Fund and chartering. Yeah, we're scheduling  those are chartered planes  those K Fund charter planes  over the next, whatever, some five days or so. In some other cases, we're  they're DOD back halls. We're also working with the Department of Homeland Security. They're flying planes into Central America and they are prepared to bring folks back on those aircraft. So it's a variety of different U.S. Government aircraft. Over.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: And [Senior State Department Official Two]. With regard to testing, there are essentially three scenarios overseas. In the first scenario, it's in a very modern country  UK, France, and so forth, and we rely on testing on the host nation medical infrastructure, and we've not had problems where we've needed testing  getting testing for chief of mission personnel.

At the other end of the spectrum are places that don't have testing, and those  there is no deployable test that we can put in our embassies overseas. And so in those countries where there is no host nation testing, if we have a case that we're following, which to date we're not, the intent is to care for them as  assume that they have coronavirus and treat them accordingly. Provide care in place, and medically evacuate them when we otherwise would for someone who had a bacterial pneumonia or a bad case of influenza.

And there are cases in the middle  or places in the middle where there is host nation testing available, but to subject the individual to the test may trigger an interaction with a host nation government where there's a movement by a host nation to forego Vienna protections and place the person in institutional quarantine. While we've not faced that problem, we have plans for that problem, and the plan on that, quite frankly, is to medically evacuate them then, and at that time, bring them back to the States and put them in an appropriate facility.

We're working with industry right now. We anticipate and hope that there will be emergencies authorization of another testing platform that we will be able to deploy to our embassies overseas in the coming week or two.

QUESTION: Could I follow up on one thing that [Senior State Department Official One] said, please? You said flights that Homeland Security is sending down to parts of Latin America would bring American  these would be deportation flights, so flights that are deporting migrants would then bring stranded Americans back? Is that correct?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: DHS, ICE ERO has indicated a willingness to use those planes for that purpose, yes.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR TWO: We have time for 

MODERATOR ONE: John Hudson is the next questioner. I'm sorry, [Moderator Two]. How many questions?

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR ONE: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: I was wondering if you guys have heard any complaints about the website and that people insert information and they don't end up hearing back. It sounds like you've tested it out yourself, but I wonder if there is an effort to address that issue at all that some people are having.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, excuse me. Yes, we recognize it's an issue. What we've found  a colleague of mine tried to do what I did, tried to register for a trip to Peru, didn't quite get the data put in correct, and therefore didn't hear anything back and thought, "Oh my God, the system doesn't work." So sometimes it's a question of operator error. Other times it is  it can be a question of the system getting overloaded. I mean, here we are asking through this unprecedented effort to get people to register through STEP. There's going to be some latency issues, but we are trying to address those. Just in the last 24 hours, the Bureau of Consular Affairs has doubled our  the  I'm not a computer guy  doubled the capacity of the system to process cases by bringing up another server center to handle this. So we hope this addresses the latency and other issues we had seen. Over.

QUESTION: And do you guys feel like you have the capacity in general to deal with this global crisis? There's obviously been some complaints on the Hill from lawmakers that feel like it really has been a scramble. How have you guys responded to that?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: It has been a lot of hard work, and it is going to be a lot of hard work going forward, but yes, we are dealing with this. Yeah, we are devoting all of our resources to this.

For example, we have instructed posts worldwide, all posts worldwide, to suspend routine visa services. So those posts in China or Mexico or wherever they are where we have hundreds of officers doing visa services and we have thousands of locally employed staff assisting in doing those visa services, we are largely shutting down those routine visa services so we can devote all of that officer and locally employed staff time to American citizen services.

The officers who are coming home  the consular officers who are coming home on authorized or ordered departure we are in large part putting to work doing what we call ACS work, American Citizen Services work. We have a number of them working on the task force now, and we will have  probably have more by the end of the day and more by the end of tomorrow. So we are devoting all available resources to addressing this crisis. Over.

MODERATOR ONE: [Moderator Two], do we have time for one more question?

MODERATOR TWO: Briefers, do you have time for one more?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Sure.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Sure.

MODERATOR ONE: Okay, last question is from Jennifer Hansler, CNN.

QUESTION: Hi there, thanks for doing the call. I was wondering if you could elaborate a little further on those (inaudible) cases, how many are contractors versus staffers, how many are locally employed staff versus Foreign Service officers?

Then, how many folks are actually working on the repatriation task force? And what message do you have to Americans who are really scared, they feel like they're not being heard right now?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: So Jennifer, I missed a key part of your first question.

QUESTION: Can you break down the numbers a little more on the State Department cases of positive coronavirus, how many are locally employed staffers versus Foreign Service officers? And then, domestically, are there any contractors, or are these all staff?

MODERATOR TWO: We'll have to take that question and get back to you with the exact numbers on that breakout.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: How many  is the question how many people are on the task force? I think with each passing minute it's more. It's a little bit hard to say only because we have a certain number of people working in a task force room, but of course, we're trying to be socially distant these days, so we have people sort of dispersed across the Washington area and elsewhere who are working task force issues. But they're also working their daytime jobs, so it's a little bit difficult to say specifically that we've got X number of people.

I can put it this way: As the head of the task force, I can call on any resources within the Bureau of Consular Affairs to address task force issues, and we have a very, very large workforce. We're some 14,000 worldwide. We are also able to pull in representatives from the regional bureaus, from other functional bureaus. I mentioned already the Economic Bureau. Diplomatic Security is in there. Bureau of Legislative Affairs is in there. Our colleagues from Global Public Affairs are in the room. I know I'm leaving some out, but it is a very large group, some of whom are physically present in the task force room, the vast, vast majority of whom are not. They are working in a dispersed fashion. Over.

QUESTION: And then, any message to Americans abroad who are scared and feel like they're not being heard?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Ah, thank you very much, yes. Thank you for keeping me on message. Yeah, the message  I'm going to go back to what I said in the beginning. If you are a U.S. citizen and you are abroad at the moment, take a look at your circumstances; determine whether this is a place where you would be willing to hunker down for an indeterminate period of time as airspace and borders, et cetera, close down.

Now, if you're at home in central Mexico and that's where you live, fine. But if you are somewhere where you think no, this is not where I would want to be over the long haul, take advantage of existing commercial opportunities and get out now. If the borders have closed  or actually, even before the borders close, people should register with us, make contact with the U.S. embassy or consulate in their area, and then listen carefully for instructions and advice from that embassy or consulate.

When the time comes, assuming the time comes to try to organize a repatriation flight, the only way we're going to be able to find somebody is if they've registered with us in STEP and provided in pretty detailed information about who they are, how to get in touch with them, et cetera. That's how we build the manifest for these flights.

And just by  (inaudible) literally now, the latest message from Embassy Lima just popped up on my phone because I registered as living in Lima. So the system is working. A health alert came out at 13:38 from Embassy Lima. And then with that, I will stop. Over.

MODERATOR TWO: All right, thanks, everyone, for joining today.

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Spanish and French trawlers were forced to abandon attempts to unload their fish catch at a Kerry port after protests by locals over Covid-19 concerns.

All Irish fishing ports are now expected to close to foreign fishing fleets because of local protests over virus concerns.

The three vessels steamed from Dingle in Kerry to Castletownbere in west Cork last night in a desperate bid to unload their catch. But Castletownbere fishermen and locals vowed to mirror the protests of their Kerry neighbours and block any landings.

One Castletownbere fisherman said Spanish and French trawler skippers would be provided with whatever fuel and food they required to steam back to their home ports pending an end to the coronavirus crisis across Europe.

"If Irish fishermen cannot go to sea and are under strict social-distancing controls because of this virus, then why are Spanish and French fishermen allowed to land their catch and walk around ports for hours on end?

"There appears to be no effort to self-isolate or observe social-distancing controls despite the fact there are concerns some of these crews have travelled from France and Spain over recent weeks."

During peak fishing operations, Castletownbere's population increases by 25pc because of foreign fishermen in port. In Kerry, Robert Brosnan said the Dingle protest was not solely mounted by fishermen but represented "a cross-community demonstration" based on genuine health concerns.

"This is a cross-community issue - people are worried about their health and have not been given answers to the questions they raised about this," he said.

The protest followed complaints from local fishermen about the lack of assurances over how foreign fishing crews were complying with Covid-19 controls.

One Spanish trawler and two French vessels entered Dingle Bay yesterday morning to await high tide to unload their catch.

However, 25 Kerry-based fishermen and concerned locals gathered on the pier and said they would protest over any attempt to unload.

One Kerry fisherman said they had raised repeated concerns about the crews of foreign fishing vessels not adhering to strict social-distancing protocols.

Further, they said they had sought assurances that none of the crews had travelled in recent times through Covid-19-hit areas of France and Spain - some of the world's worst virus blackspots.

Kerry fishermen said they mounted their protest having notified both the Dingle harbour master and the Health Service Executive (HSE) of their concerns. Gardai monitored the situation but did not have to intervene.
WASHINGTON  As President Donald Trump suggests the response to the coronavirus may be going too far, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is urging his administration go further.

Cruz  who has emerged as one of the most vocal members of Congress on the dangers the virus poses  wants the administration to tell private manufacturers to begin making ventilators, warning the nation could soon face a shortage.

I don't want to see doctors having to make a choice of who gets to live and who has to die because they don't have the equipment to save their lives, Cruz said on his podcast, Verdict.

You can't build a ventilator overnight, he said. And if we wake up two weeks from now and instead of 11,000 cases, we've got 200,000 cases or a million cases, it might be too late then.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The first senator to quarantine himself earlier this month, Cruz has joined many Democrats in urging the Trump administration to invoke the Defense Production Act and force manufacturers to start making ventilators and other medical gear.

Cruzs calls come as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made his most urgent plea to the federal government for help yet, warning that Texas is short on both testing equipment and personal protection supplies for doctors and nurses, joining governors in other states, including New York, in calling for more from the federal government.

It puts Cruz at odds with the president, who has said using the act to force production would be nationalizing our business.

On Monday, the president said his administration would use the act to go after people hoarding supplies  but not to compel companies to make them. And he signaled he might soon back off some of the aggressive coronavirus containment measures in an effort to save the economy.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, Trump tweeted. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

For subscribers: Tracking coronavirus: Interactive maps, charts show spread of COVID-19 across Houston, rest of Texas

While Congress haggles over a nearly $2 trillion stimulus package to boost the economy, Cruz has called for a focus on health care: Pushing for the federal government to focus on expanding testing, producing medical supplies, bolstering hospitals and working on finding a cure for the disease that had killed nine in Texas and infected at least 777 as of Monday afternoon.

Everyone recognizes this is a public health threat, Cruz said on his podcast. We need to do everything on the front end to make sure we're not forced into an impossible situation on the back end.

Cruz on Friday wrote to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, urging him to use the significant powers of the Defense Production Act, a law stemming from the Korean War that allows the federal government to require private industry to make material deemed necessary for national defense.

Several Democrats have been urging the same, including Texas U.S. Reps. Colin Allred of Dallas, Veronica Escobar of El Paso, Sylvia Garcia and Al Green of Houston and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, who signed a March 13 letter calling for Trump to use the act to begin the mass production of supplies.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, has also called for it, saying last week, there is no time to waste, we need to protect Americans now.

For subscribers: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott makes most urgent plea yet for federal help

But the administration has been hesitant to do so.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the heads of major corporations have lobbied the administration against using the act, saying it could prove counterproductive, imposing red tape on companies precisely when they need flexibility to deal with closed borders and shuttered factories.

Trump invoked the act in an executive order he issued on March 18, which directed Azar to determine  proper nationwide priorities and allocation of all health and medical resources, including controlling the distribution of such materials (including applicable services) in the civilian market.

But his administration has so far done little more than urge manufacturers to help out, something U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands, called for, as well.

In a time of public crisis, it falls on all of us to do our part to support the nation, Brady wrote in a newsletter to constituents. Right now, President Trump is calling on all manufacturers across the nation to help produce critical equipment to combat the coronavirus. We need more life-saving ventilators, respirators, and personal protective equipment for our healthcare professionals  and manufacturers in Texas can help us achieve this.

For subscribers: Why Gov. Abbott lags behind cities and other states in coronavirus response

Bradys office says his call to action has received hundreds of responses from individuals and companies alike who want to help.

Cruz has pushed for stronger action, saying the country needs to do more now to brace for the expected surge in cases and hospitalizations, and  like Trump and many of his colleagues  likening the efforts to contain the coronavirus to a war.

It's how we won World War II, Cruz said. Remember World War II for us started with Pearl Harbor, started with a kamikaze attack, a surprise attack that took out a vast percentage of our Naval fleet. And we leaned in and rebuilt and it was the power of this economy that enabled us to win World War II. We can mobilize that same economic power.

This post contains material from the New York Times.
Charities doing Trojan community work have always relied on an Irish public never found wanting when it came to generous donations, but the Covid-19 crisis has laid bare just how it can all evaporate in an instant.

With families and householders struggling under the strain of the pandemic, charities whose grasp extends into every facet of Irish life are fighting for their very existence.

One of the biggest annual fundraisers for cancer support groups and charities in Cork is now off. Cork's 96FM & C103 confirmed its 13th Giving for Living Radiothon, planned to take place at the end of May, has been cancelled.

The event has raised over 5.1m over the last 12 years with proceeds being distributed each year between five local charity partners - the Mercy Hospital Foundation; the CUH Charity; Marymount Hospice; Cork ARC Cancer Support House and Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Last year's event alone raised 440,451.

Kieran McGeary, the group station director of Corks 96FM & C103, said they pulled the plug reluctantly but there was no other option.

"A massive part of the fundraising effort each year is group coffee mornings. These clearly arent possible at the moment," he said.

Cope Foundation, which supports over 2,500 children and adults with an intellectual disability and/or autism in 69 locations all over Cork, is severely under the cosh.

Already 34m-plus in the hole annually for supporting its services, its fundraising drive has been curtailed.

A virtual coffee morning on Tuesday saw the community respond by donating 4 for each cuppa raised, but it will be a temporary respite.

Chief executive Sean Abbott said: Our annual Flowers of Hope campaign, due to take place this month, has been cancelled, resulting in a loss of almost 40,000 in fundraising income  this is a huge knock to us.

The Marie Keating Foundation has been forced to cancel all of its upcoming fundraisers, which has had an immediate impact on the cancer charitys income.

As a result, it is making an urgent appeal for the publics help as it faces an unprecedented situation with fundraising being curtailed and services stretched.

The cancer charity receives no government funding and relies heavily on its own - and third-party - events and campaigns to fund its lifesaving cancer prevention, awareness and support services.

Director of Fundraising Linda Keating said: The Marie Keating Foundation is so reliant on our main source of income, namely our own events and the public getting behind us with fun runs, bake sales, sponsored cycles etc, that for all of these to be cancelled immediately with little notice is potentially devastating for us. We really do need the publics help to help us continue to offer help to those we support who are now more vulnerable than ever.

As part of the collective effort to halt the spread of Covid-19, a number of the Marie Keating Foundation nurses have been redeployed to work in the HSE in contact tracing and on helplines.

The Foundation is also adapting many of its face-to-face support services into online or webinar format to ensure that vulnerable patients do not feel alone during this challenging time.

We took the difficult decision to suspend our monthly Positive Living patient support group meetings for women living with metastatic breast cancer, but this is a group that badly needs advice and support particularly during this time of uncertainty and isolation. Our nurses are continuing to hold these meetings with members online and are in daily communication with the group via messaging services. What is crucial is that our services continue to operate, offering help to those who rely on it now more than ever. Our team and nurses are here, and we are open to help anyone who needs it. To do this we do need the publics help, said Director of Nursing, Helen Forristal.

In Limerick, despite an heroic attempt to stem the tidal wave that engulfed their services, St Munchin's Community Centre announced it would have to close its doors from April 5 due to lack of finances.

Relying on monies from its onsite hair salon, cafe, florist and others, its financial gap was too much to bridge -- meaning its Meals on Wheels operation will cease on April 5.

Despite the blow, it vowed to fight on until then.

"If you are elderly, sick or self-isolating, please get in touch to have dinners delivered to your door...Each day there are more and more calls to the centre for the demand of meals, so realistically we cant put a number on it as it changes daily. Before the coronavirus, we were delivering about 200 dinners daily but that has risen immensely," it said on its Facebook page.

A GoFundMe campaign will see all donations go towards sustaining the meal drive (gf.me/u/xrajfz)

St Francis Hospice in Dublin has begun a donations appeal for its specialist palliative care service because so many of their community-based fundraising activities have been cancelled.

It costs 17.8m per year to provide St. Francis Hospices services in North Dublin and its environs. 11.9m is funded by the Health Service Executive and the remaining 5.9m needs to be garnered from fundraising, largely from the local community.

Actor and campaign spokesperson Brendan Gleeson said: The vital care necessary for some of the most vulnerable and precious people within our society must continue. I know this from my own experience of St. Francis Hospice. This place has helped to carry so many of us and our families. Now it is up to all of us, if we can, to help carry them.

Donations online can be made at www.sfh.ie, he said.

Last week, national association of charities body The Wheel said that a combination of surging demand and collapse of normal fundraising income means that charities need public support right now to an unprecedented extent.

Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel -- which represents over 1,700 charities, community and voluntary organisations, and social enterprises countrywide -- called on the Government to put a comprehensive plan in place to support the vital work of charities through this extremely difficult time.

According to The Wheels figures, the Irish Cancer Society is down a projected 4m having cancelled Daffodil Day; and Pieta House, which supports mental health and anti-suicide measures, is down up to 6m due to the postponement of their Darkness to Light fundraiser.
JERSEYVILLE  In a quiet ceremony Friday, Fr. Marty Smith of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Grafton and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Jerseyville celebrated Mass without a congregation.

Over the weekend, he was joined by priests throughout the Diocese of Springfield holding similar ceremonies without parishioners. Many of the churches are now offering livestream Masses because of COVID-19 concerns.

Since March 18, all Masses in the diocese have been closed to the public in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Priests have been offering private Masses, with their personal Mass intentions being offered for the people.

I ask our local church to embrace this spiritual sacrifice together, with the intention of an end to the spread of the coronavirus, for the healing of those afflicted by it, and for strength for those who are providing care for the afflicted, said Bishop Thomas John Paprocki. I also pray that this fast from the Eucharistic will draw us closer to our Lord and cultivate a hunger and new appreciation for the Blessed Sacrament.

A number of Catholic churches now offer livestream services. St. Mary in Alton uses Facebook to share a daily Mass at 9 a.m., as well as a rosary at 5:30 p.m.

St. John the Evangelist in Carrollton uses Facebook to offer a rosary online at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The church livestreaks daily Mass at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday, as well as a 5 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass and an 8 a.m. Sunday Mass.

In Jerseyville, Holy Ghost Church livestreams Mass on YouTube at 8:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday, as well as at 8 a.m. on Sunday. St. Francis Xavier in Jerseyville uses YouTube to share a daily Mass at 9:30 a.m. and a 10:15 a.m. service on Sunday.

Holy Angels in Wood River uses Facebook to share Mass at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and a Sunday Mass at 10:30 a.m. And St. Paul Catholic Church in Highland uses Facebook for its 10 a.m. Sunday Mass.
Two men are being sought in Sydneys southwest for allegedly stealing toilet paper from a number of supermarkets.

The pair went to supermarkets in Granville, Auburn, Bass Hill and Lidcombe, and accessed restricted storage areas on Sunday between 7pm and 8.30pm.

Police said the two appeared to be targeting toilet paper and allege they stole multiple packs from the Granville and Auburn stores, however, left empty handed from the stores in Bass Hill and Lidcombe.

Detective Chief Inspector Shane Woolbank told reporters they were all Woolworths supermarkets.

Its further alleged that one of the men threatened an employee at the Auburn store with a knife.

Police wish to speak with these two men pictured at an Auburn shopping centre. Source: NSW Police

Police have released images and video of two men they say mat be able to help with their inquiries.

They said one of the men is depicted as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 185-190cm tall, aged in his 30s, with a solid build. He has tattoos on his arms and was wearing a grey, collared shirt with long blue track pants.

The other is described as being 175-180cm tall with a slim build, aged between 30-35, and at the time was wearing black Adidas pants and a camouflaged hooded jumper.

These two men might be able to help police with their enquiries. Source: NSW Police

Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott urged anyone with information to come forward.

"I support any measures taken by police to protect our communities from this sort of disgraceful criminal activity, " he said.

"The people of NSW will not tolerate criminal behaviour at any time let alone during this crisis.

"People need to grow up and look out for our most vulnerable.

Det Insp Woolbank said this sort of behaviour is not going to be tolerated.

To me its astonishing that somebody would deliberately target supermarkets knowing the situation were in and try and steal toilet paper, he said.

He added those responsible were stealing toilet paper out of the hands of the vulnerable and the people who need it.

Det Insp Woolbank said police were taking the matter seriously and had established a taskforce to find the two men.

Story continues

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the online reporting page.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

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 Flash

The Health Ministry of Libya's UN-backed government said Monday that China has offered to train Libyan doctors to tackle any possible coronavirus infections.

"The Ministry of Health of the Government of National Accord, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has received an offer by its counterpart in China to hold an international training program to introduce experts in Libya to the protocols used by China in diagnosing and treating cases of the novel coronavirus," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The training program, which will be conducted using distance training techniques, offers introduction of the methods adopted by China in dealing with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, along with ways to deal with the obstruction of the respiratory passages (of patients) during the infection stage," said the statement.

A team of Chinese experts who have taken part in the epidemic fight in China will run the training program, which will also provide an introduction to acute cases, it said.

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj last week declared a state of emergency and mobilization against possible coronavirus infections in the country.

Noting no infections have been detected in Libya, Serraj said his country has allocated half a billion dinars (360 million U.S. dollars) to take protective measures against any possible infections.

On Monday, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala told a press conference here that Libya has officially requested technical help from China against the virus.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- In just a couple of weeks, the landscape of the University of Michigan campus has drastically changed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the first seven days COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was confirmed to have hit the state, University of Michigan students went from life as they knew it to suddenly cutting their year short.

It's left the campus a haunting echo of what it normally is.

Below is a photo essay of life on campus in a little bit over a weeks time in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Students began packing up after University of Michigan announced classes would be done remotely and in alternative formats.

Since then the number of cases in Michigan has passed 1,000 and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued a statewide executive order for people to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Don't Edit

Nicole Hester

Students walk through the University of Michigan Campus on Thursday, March 12, 2020, the day University of Michigan announced it was canceling spring 2020 commencement ceremonies.

On this day, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and Whitmer banned gatherings of more than 250 people.

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Nicole Hester

A man runs through the University of Michigan campus Sunday March 22, 2020.

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Nicole Hester

Students walk through the University of Michigan campus on Thursday, March 12, 2020, the day University of Michigan announced it was canceling its spring 2020 commencement ceremonies.

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Nicole Hester

A man wearing a mask walks the University of Michigan campus on Thursday March 19, 2020.

On this day two more deaths due to coronavirus were reported in Michigan, and the case number increased from 80 to 334. The previous day the Michigan National Guard was called up to help transport medical supplies.

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Nicole Hester

Students study together at the Michigan Union on the University of Michigan Campus on Thursday, March 12, 2020, the day after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus to be a pandemic.

The day before, all of Michigan's 15 public universities announced they will move to online classes and encourage their students to return home.

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Nicole Hester

After many students moved home due to the coronavirus outbreak, University of Michigan is left less crowded on Tuesday, March, 17, 2020.

On this day, the number of cases in Michigan goes from from 54 to 65 while the U.S. number goes from 4,226 to 5,736.

Don't Edit

Nicole Hester

Students study together on campus at the University of Michigan on Thursday, March 12, 2020.

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Nicole Hester

After many students moved home due to the coronavirus outbreak, the University of Michigan is left less crowded Tuesday, March, 17, 2020.

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Nicole Hester

A flyer saying "Congratulations on your achievement" is strewn on the ground as University of Michigan students pop champagne and spray Lysol while taking senior portraits after coronavirus disrupts the semester and has students packing for home on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

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Nicole Hester

A pair of blue latex gloves on the ground on the University of Michigan campus on Thursday March 19, 2020.

The previous day the Michigan National Guard was called to help transport medical supplies, such as gloves, gowns and face shields.

Don't Edit

Nicole Hester

Students walk through the University of Michigan campus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.

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Nicole Hester

Most Michigan residents are required to stay in their homes under an executive order issued by Whitmer on Monday, March 23, 2020, to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

As of this day, there are 1,328 cases of COVID-19 in Michigan and 15 deaths related to it.
Typically, when I write this column, its about something familiar, like children or my husband, my parents and once, a beloved dog. But today I come to you, putting words down that describe things Ive never experienced before. Things weve only heard about in movies and books: empty food shelves, scared people and a pandemic. It would be hard, right now, to write about anything else.

I dont need to recount more about our world right now, because we all know. We are all scared. What I will write about is how Im finding comfort in these shaky times. There is comfort in my family, which has convened under our roof. Lucy is home, her semester in Spain cut short. Zoe came home for spring break and is awaiting word on whether Siena College will reopen this spring. And Elliot is working on high school classes from home (this is not, I remind him, a vacation). We have a house guest named Quinn, a friend from Lucys college who will camp with us for a few weeks.

Since there isnt much else to do, we eat. We eat a lot. I made an Irish soda bread, then made another when everyone complained about not having their fair share. One night, instead of making dinner, I baked a cake, just because.

Ive been cooking food that uses pantry staples and will go a long way. With everyone present in the kitchen, I wagged my finger and told them how there would be no wasted food. We would eat leftovers before cooking up something new. Its the way we should always eat but dont because we are spoiled, arent we? This week I roasted a chicken, and we ate the leftovers in tacos and I used the carcass to make a big pot of stock for soup. Being conscientious about what we eat feels like the right thing to do.

At dinner we talk about all the news weve heard since we sat and ate together the night before. Then, we try to talk about other things. One night, Zoe and Elliot had a staring contest, and when we laughed, it felt kind of normal. Looking at the faces of the people I love most, I can almost forget whats going on outside of our kitchen. Almost.

One of the dishes I made recently is a version of an Indian takeout favorite: chicken biryani. Biryani is a layered dish, made with lamb, chicken or vegetables. If you look at a recipe for traditional biryani, theres enough ingredients to make your head spin, and many recipes take hours upon hours to prepare. This is a much simplified version but still is full of flavor. The chicken is marinated in a spiced yogurt mixture, then rice is laid over the chicken, and topped with caramelized onions and dried fruit. As long as the basic formula of layering marinated protein, rice, fruit and onion is followed, theres plenty of room to make this recipe suit your tastes - and your pantry. Switch the chicken to chickpeas and cauliflower, use any kind of long grain white rice, and substitute raisins, figs or currants for the apricots. The scent of these warm spices simmering away in the oven is reason enough to make it. Its soothing indeed.

Another comforting dish we ate recently is a tamale pie, which is a layered-up version of tacos. You can make this dish yours in any creative way you like. I end up doing half for meat eaters and half for the vegetarians, some parts with olives and some without. Its all very fussy but since this time together feels special, I aim to please. The recipe here calls for making your own salsa from a can of chopped tomatoes and a few simple ingredients. Canned tomatoes are a good way to get actual tomato flavor when the real, home-grown variety is still a pretty long way off. I used black beans here but you could substitute pintos. You could add shredded pork or chicken and add a layer of frozen corn or roasted red peppers (or both!). A layer of sauteed onions and green peppers would be right at home, snuggled between the cheese and beans. Even the cheese is flexible: use cheddar or Monterey jack. I think stretchy mozzarella would work with the spiced filling and cornbread topping. I think you probably get the idea: warm filling, melty cheese, crumbly cornbread top. Everyone makes it their own with hot sauce and avocado.

I saved the best for last here: peanut butter waffles, a peanut butter-lovers dream. There are so many things that set us apart in this house, but we are united in our love of peanut butter and all things peanut butter. Chocolate-peanut butter is the most requested birthday cake flavor, theres always peanut butter ice cream in the freezer, and peanut noodles are a number-one dinner. So peanut butter in waffles? Yes, yes, yes. The funny thing about these waffles is trying to figure out just when to eat them. Waffles are breakfast food but these are indulgent. So, dessert? I think midafternoon with a cup of tea sounds about right. You can also change up this recipe, and if you have ice cream, slide a scoop between the waffle and the chocolate. Ive also poured a healthy glug of booze into the chocolate when its for grown-ups. You could choose coffee liqueur or rum or even bourbon. And now that Im thinking about it, why not have peanut butter waffles with chocolate sauce for breakfast? At this point, what have we got to lose?

What else am I doing to stay sane during this crisis? First, Im limiting the news. Sure, I want to be informed but listening to or watching the news for hours is only anxiety-causing. So I read the newspaper in the morning, check headlines at lunch, and do it again in the evening. In my car, Im listening to a book on tape. And, Im exercising. We can still go out to walk the dog, take a hike or just sit outside. A glass of wine and music at the end of the day helps, too.

More Information A note from Caroline: Thank you to everyone who wrote to me about my error in leaving out the sweet potato from the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili. I really do appreciate each and every email I get. See More Collapse

The best I can figure is that we have to get through this together and taking care of the people we love, along with neighbors, co-workers and even strangers, is the only way to do it.

Chicken Biryani

Serves 6

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 large onion, peeled and sliced thin

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 garlic cloves

 onion, chopped

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 heaping teaspoon turmeric

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 heaping teaspoon cumin

 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

14.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cups basmati or other long grain white rice

1 bay leaf

5  cups chicken broth, water, or a combination (use low sodium if canned broth)

 cup dried apricots (or other dried fruit), chopped

1 large handful fresh cilantro

Plain yogurt, for serving

In a large dutch oven or pot with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons butter over a medium low flame. Cook the sliced onion with a pinch of salt, stirring, until browned, about 20 minutes. Spoon out and set aside.

While the onion cooks, rinse the rice well in a colander (this step prevents the rice from being sticky so dont skip it), then prepare the marinade.

Place the yogurt, garlic, half the onion, ginger, spices and salt in a food processor and puree until smooth. It will be a thick paste. Scrape out and combine with the chicken in a glass bowl, coating it well. Set aside (this can be done up to 1 day ahead but if it only sits for a short while, dont worry, itll still be good).

Put the Dutch oven back on medium-low heat and add the remaining butter. Place the chicken thighs into the pot and cook for a few minutes, turning to cook on both sides. Stay close and turn the heat down if it starts to burn. Arrange the chicken into a single layer, layer on the chickpeas and then the rice, gently smoothing the top. Press the bay leaf into the rice, then top with the onions and apricots. Pour the chicken broth over all and cover. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes more.

Remove the lid, garnish with cilantro and serve with the yogurt.

Black Bean Tamale Pie

Serves 8

For the sauce (see note):

14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

 red onion

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or less, to taste)

Juice of 1 lime, or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Handful fresh cilantro

For the crust:

2 cups cornmeal

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1  cups milk or water

1 egg

For the pie:

2 14-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups sauteed greens (kale, spinach or chard)

 cup green olives, chopped

 cup jarred mild pepper rings

2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

Chopped green onion, avocado and hot sauce, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make the sauce: combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to a chunky salsa. Set aside.

Assemble the dough for the crust: whisk together the cornmeal with the salt and baking powder. Stir in the milk or water and egg. Mix until the batter is pretty smooth. A few lumps are okay. Set aside.

Prepare the pie: In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, layer the beans, half the salsa, greens, olives, pepper rings, remaining sauce and cheese. Top with the batter and smooth out.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and the sauce is bubbling around the edges. Allow to cool a bit, then garnish with green onion and serve with slices of avocado and hot sauce to taste.

Note: substitute a 16-ounce jar of your favorite salsa for the homemade version, if you like.

Peanut Butter Waffles with Chocolate Sauce and Bananas

Serves 5

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, your choice)

1 egg

1 cup milk

Sliced bananas, for serving

Chocolate sauce, recipe follows

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Microwave the butter in a glass dish in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir the peanut butter into the melted butter and mix until smooth. Combine the butter and peanut butter mixture, egg and milk with the flour mixture, and stir until well combined. A few lumps are okay. Allow the batter to sit for a few minutes and then add a splash or two more milk if its very thick.

Heat a waffle iron and add scoops of the batter (sized according to manufacturer's instructions), being careful to not overfill. Cook until golden brown and crisp. Serve with sliced bananas and the chocolate drizzled over top.

No waffle iron? This recipe makes peanut butter pancakes, too.

For the chocolate sauce:

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 cup half and half

Pinch salt
In the coming months, the decisions world leaders make  and their ability to communicate them effectively  could determine whether millions live or die, and whether the global economy stays afloat.

What to watch: Nations are judging their leaders on a daily basis. They may ultimately be revered or reviled based on the decisions they make now. Some may emerge with new powers that last well beyond the outbreak.

The big picture: The battle against the coronavirus has effectively been every nation for itself.

Thats just how President Trump likes it  few expect him to play the global leadership role that past U.S. presidents have assumed in international crises.

Even in Europe, now the focal point of the pandemic, individual countries are charting their own paths.

For Germany's Angela Merkel , this is the gravest test in a career full of them  prompting her first emergency national address in 14 years as chancellor.

, this is the gravest test in a career full of them  prompting her first emergency national address in 14 years as chancellor. For other leaders, the test comes far earlier, and it could define their tenures.

Italy's Giuseppe Conte was until recently viewed by many as an accidental prime minister who could fall within months. Now tasked with combating the worlds deadliest outbreak, he was the first EU leader to quarantine his citizens  and he's seen the public largely rally around the government and tune out the far-right.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson quickly abandoned his less draconian approach after cases rose dramatically and models suggested hundreds of thousands could die. He announced strict new rules tonight after being criticized in the media as indecisive.

quickly abandoned his less draconian approach after cases rose dramatically and models suggested hundreds of thousands could die. He announced strict new rules tonight after being criticized in the media as indecisive. President Emmanuel Macron declared that France was now at war, and he's seen an unprecedented spike in approval ratings this month (from 38% to 51%) as he ordered a nationwide lockdown.

The first lockdowns came in China, but those drastic steps followed a slow initial response in which President Xi Jinping was shielded from public scrutiny.

Believing its now past the worst, though, China is positioning itself (and Xi) as a global leader.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to avoid a crisis on the scale of China's or Europe's.

Modi ordered a trial run of a national lockdown on Sunday. He's urging Indians to stay home when possible, knowing the countrys health care capacity lags far behind its population of 1.3 billion.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan initially attempted to tamp down concern about the virus. Hes now asking citizens to self-quarantine, but he says he needs to balance the threat of contagion with those of poverty and hunger, which lockdowns will only exacerbate.

In Africa, several leaders have closed their borders and banned mass gatherings despite having few documented cases.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national disaster in the face of the continents largest outbreak.

Some of Africas more autocratic leaders may sense a chance to entrench themselves, delay elections, and outlaw street protests on public safety grounds, says Judd Devermont of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Russia's Vladimir Putin recently insisted the situation there was generally under control, while attempting to boost turnout in a constitutional referendum through which he could retain power until 2036.

Moscow has been accused of spreading disinformation in the West around the virus, while at home it has surprisingly few confirmed cases.

In Indonesia, the worlds fourth-most-populous country, President Joko Widodo has admitted he initially suppressed information on the spread of the disease to avoid public panic.

Those who moved quickly, such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now look prescient. Even those who initially downplayed the threat, like the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, have stepped up their rhetoric and policy responses.

One exception is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Hes shaking hands, taking selfies and warning against hysteria  even after members of his inner circle fell ill.

Hes shaking hands, taking selfies and warning against hysteria  even after members of his inner circle fell ill. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is also still holding public rallies and encouraging supporters to hug. His job, he says, is to keep peoples spirits up.

No one could accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of downplaying this crisis. Instead, he's been accused of using it to cling to power and delay his corruption trial.

Netanyahu has taken emergency measures  including allowing the government to monitor cellphones to track the spread of the virus  without parliamentary oversight.

Israel is not alone. China has used apps to bar people exposed to the virus from leaving their homes. Russia says it will soon roll out a system to track infected people and notify those exposed to them.

South Korea and Taiwan, two democracies that have been praised for their responses to the outbreak, have also used location tracking. Singapore has a particularly high-tech approach.

The big picture: Muscular government actions, from travel bans to quarantines, have thus far proved popular among populations looking for protection, Anne Applebaum writes in The Atlantic.

Even as Hungarys government moved to give Prime Minister Viktor Orban dictatorial powers  for an indefinite period of time, she notes, the opposition feared appearing unpatriotic by objecting.

What to watch: Historian Yuval Harari warns in the FT that governments won't willingly give back the powers they've gained once this crisis is over.

"Many short-term emergency measures will become a fixture of life. That is the nature of emergencies."
It is Not China, but the Western World that should be Defined as the Real Sick Man

By Andre Vltchek

March 24, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Not long ago, the Wall Street Journal insulted China, calling it the Real Sick Man of Asia. China retaliated, and then the U.S. counter-retaliated. Emotions have been running high, journalists got deported.

Suddenly, various Chinese officials expressed publicly what many in both China and Russia have been, for weeks, articulating in sotto voce: that it was perhaps the U.S. military establishment, which brought the new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) to Wuhan, in order to harm China and bring the world back, through complex backroads, under the Wests control.

Suddenly, the world feels very uncomfortable. The way it is governed is clearly perverse. People do not always know why, they just feel frightened, prickly and insecure. Actually, they always have, during the last few decades, but this is somehow becoming too much.

Countries do not trust each other. People do not trust each other. People do not trust their governments. Capitalism is despised, but nations have been robbed of alternatives.

I work all over the world, and I observe all this. What I see, I do not like.

Increasingly, I am fearful that what has been set in motion by Washington and London, may not end well. That a tragedy is waiting right around the corner.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

For many years I have been warning that imperialism is murdering tens of millions of people, annually. Predominantly Western imperialism, but also its offshoots in some places where the elites learned from their former colonialist master how to brutalize conquered territories, such as Jakarta, New Delhi, or Tel Aviv.

Genocides and modern-day slavery have become the vilest reflections of modernity. Not the only ones, of course, but the vilest.

I recently wrote for this magazine (NEO), that I have never seen the world so fragmented.

Travel, Internet, Social Media  they all were supposed to improve the world, and to bring people closer to each other. They did not. I see confusion and disinformation all around me. People travel but do not see or understand. They stare at computer screens for hours each day, as they used to stare at the television screens, but they do not have any clue how the world functions.

People used to come to us, philosophers, for advice. We used to interact. Not anymore. And look at philosophy itself: it has been reduced to a dry, controlled university discipline by the regime. Before, to be a philosopher used to be identical with being a thinker. Now, pathetically, a philosopher is an individual with a university degree in philosophy, which is issued by some college that is part of the establishment.

And anyway, now almost each and every individual, at least in the West, believes that he or she is a philosopher; self-absorbed, posing and posting on social media, using selfies, with grotesquely boosted egos.

Something has gone wrong. Almost everything has. Humanity is facing tremendous danger. Why? Because it does not understand itself. Its dreams have been reduced to some low, pathetic, sad ambitions. Its lofty ideals that were formed over long centuries have been belittled by the Western nihilist narrative.

And then, a new coronavirus hit.

Do not underestimate the coronavirus! It may have the mortality rate of an ordinary flu, but it is much more dangerous than that. Its danger is predominately psychological and philosophical, much more than medical.

It arrived, unexpectedly, and illustrated to the world, that there is no global unity, no solidarity, anymore.

Countries are acting and reacting in extremely brutal ways. It is frightening. It all feels like some of the bad, second-rate horror films produced by Hollywood.

Governments are pointing fingers at each other, irrationally. Airlines are lying, robbing customers, while claiming that they are protecting them.

I recently escaped from Hong Kong, after Korean Air unceremoniously cancelled flights to China, doing nothing to re-route stranded passengers. I flew for 5 days to South America, home, through several Asian airports, by the most bizarre routes, north and south and north again, then via Amsterdam and Suriname, zig-zagging through Brazilian cities, before reaching Chile. Peculiarly, at one point along the way, I ended up in Seoul, where I was earlier told I was not supposed to be to begin with, experiencing the proverbial South Korean racism on my skin, and going through outrageous humiliation and interrogation after uttering, at the gate before departing for Amsterdam, that North Koreans definitely treat people with much more respect and dignity than Seoul.

I will write much more about this, in the near future, but this is not supposed to be the main topic of this essay.

What is essential is that the logic itself has collapsed. The behavior of many countries has become irrational, if the rationale is supposed to be synonymous with the advancement of humanity and improvement of the lives of human beings. Now things make sense only when seen from the point of view of the desire to control and usurp, plunder and humiliate.

And the coronavirus?

Is the United States trying to take advantage of the situation, to monopolize the cure, and to save its economy and currency, at the expense of billions worldwide?

On March 15, 2020, The Sun reported:

Donald Trump aides offered huge sums to a German company in a bid to grab the coronavirus vaccine for Americans only.

One day later, on 16 March, 2020, the Mail Online, amplified the story:

German officials are trying to stop the Trump administration from luring German biopharmeceutical company CureVac to the US to get its experimental coronavirus vaccines exclusively for Americans.

President Donald Trump has offered funds to lure the company CureVac to the US. The German government has made counter-offers to make the company stay, according to a report in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

An unidentified German government source told the paper Trump is trying to secure the scientists work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States  but only for the United States.

The behavior of the Empire could easily make one sicker than the coronavirus would itself.

The United States occupies and antagonizes countries and then it punishes them when they try to protect themselves. Israel does the same. And so, do Indonesia, India, and NATO as a block. Turkey is turning into a maniac. Iran, Venezuela and others are screaming, brutalized for absolutely no reason by sanctions and embargoes. Russia is being constantly smeared, just for helping injured nations, in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

I watch all this and I wonder: how much further can all this go? Is all this banditry and idiocy going to go on from now on, and forever accepted as a normalcy?

But back to the coronavirus. It is all connected to what I mentioned above, isnt it? Billions of people are now being stripped of their rights and will, pushed around, and fully controlled, everything justified by a disease with the mortality rate of an ordinary flu? And do people notice that the victims are now being treated like criminals, something that would have been unimaginable just a couple of decades ago.

China, infected by the U.S. or not, is being continuously insulted, isolated and smeared. Western anti-Chinese propaganda kicked in, almost from the start of the epidemy. How ugly; how monstrous!

Western propagandists are alert, waiting, monitoring the world. Like piranhas, they attack with lightning speed, whenever blood is spilt, or a piece of flesh gets exposed.

When disaster strikes, they take full advantage of the weaknesses of their opponent. They go for the kill. And there is nothing human in their behavior. It is a calculating strike against the victim. It is the surgical swing of a scalpel, designed to kill, in the most terrifying way.

China reacted in totally the opposite way: when Italy got infected, Chinese medics offered their help. They flew to Italy with medicine and equipment.

And China is not alone. Whenever disasters strike, anywhere in the world, Cuban doctors and rescue commandos take off, as long as they are allowed to travel and help.

Venezuela, too. It used to supply cheap fuel, even to needy people who happened to be citizens of its arch-tormentor  the United States.

And Russia, in whatever form (as the biggest Soviet Republic, or as the Russian Federation), it has been helping dozens and dozens of decimated nations: by treating their sick, educating their students, building infrastructure, spreading culture through books and music, all in local languages.

Russia does not talk much: it just does, performs, helps. And so do China, Cuba and others.

I want to see the world united. I want to experience humanity embarking on a beautiful project: improving the planet, searching, together, for an egalitarian system, with no misery, no incurable illnesses, no depravity.

But I am not naive. I see what the West and its extreme capitalism and imperialism are doing to the world.

And I am convinced that only the classic isms are capable of evoking compassion and solidarity in the people. Propagandists in Washington and London tell you the opposite; they will lie to you that Communism and socialism are dead, or at least totally outdated. Do not trust them; you know that their goals have nothing to do with improving life on our planet. Whatever you hear from them, trust the opposite.

Right now, our human race is like a sick, very sick person. Not because of the coronavirus, but because of the response to the coronavirus.

China is not at all the real sick man of Asia. No matter how it happened, China got infected, but then it rose to its feet, fought with great determination and courage, and began obliterating the disease. Chinese doctors, Chinese people in general, are now celebrating. They are ecstatic. They are winning, their first hospitals dedicated to the coronavirus patients are now closing down in Wuhan. Their system is clearly victorious, created for the people.

Almost simultaneously, China has started to help other countries.

Actually, China and its people are behaving like human beings are supposed to behave. And, if that is called sick, then what is healthy?

Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Five of his latest books are  China Belt and Road Initiative: Connecting Countries, Saving Millions of Lives ,  China and Ecological Cavillation  with John B. Cobb, Jr., Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism , a revolutionary novel Aurora and a bestselling work of political non-fiction:  Exposing Lies Of The Empire . View his other books here . Watch Rwanda Gambit , his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky On Western Terrorism . Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter . His Patreon " Source "
Forced to impose curfew in larger interest: Punjab CM

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Chandigarh, Mar 24: Hours after announcing a curfew in Punjab to combat coronavirus, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said he was forced to take the extreme measure in the "larger interest" of the state.

Appealing to the people to voluntarily adhere to the curfew imposed to tackle the prevailing "war-like situation", Singh also warned of strict action against the violators.

The Punjab government on Monday clamped a curfew to fight coronavirus, making it the first state to take the drastic measure after finding that many people were ignoring the state-wide lockdown ordered by it.

100s booked across India for violating lockdown norms

In a video message addressing the people of Punjab, the chief minister said he was forced to take the stringent step "in the larger interest of the state, and in the interest of all of you", as he had received reports that people were moving around normally in towns, mohallas and cities defying the lockdown that took into effect on Monday morning.

He appealed to the people for their cooperation and said the violation of the lockdown by them was "unacceptable" and it was the responsibility of his government, and his duty as its head, to "save Punjab".

Making it clear that the curfew would be continuous, spanning 24 hours a day, the chief minister, in a statement here, said only those with emergent needs would be allowed to go out, after taking due permission from their respective Deputy Commissioners. The mobile numbers of DCs would be shared with the public.

Difficult decisions need to be taken in difficult times, Singh said, adding it had become necessary to impose and enforce curfew to "survive these tough times".

"Please listen to me, and bear with me," he appealed to the people, emphasising that "We must work shoulder to shoulder to fend off the crisis we are all facing".

Coronavirus: Difference between curfew and lockdown, explained

"We must save our state, our people; we have children, families," the chief minister said, adding that as a small state, it was all the more reason for Punjab to take all possible steps "to preserve our population and ensure that everyone lives happily for years to come."

Punjab reported 21 positive coronavirus cases till Monday morning.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 8:35 [IST]
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Gov. Kate Brown says residents have been flocking to beaches, trail and parks instead of practicing social distancing.



By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

PORTLAND  Gov. Kate Brown ordered Oregonians to stay home Monday and banned all non-essential gatherings and travel to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus after crowds of people descended on the state's beach towns and hiking trails over the weekend despite pleas to stay home.

The crowds prompted several coastal towns to order non-residents out and shut down hotels and short-term rentals. More than two dozen mayors of cities in the Portland metropolitan area also petitioned Brown over the weekend to take stricter action on social distancing.





. . .
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.

This as-told-to essay, from Roberta Zaninoni, a 31-year-old living in Val Seriana, Bergamo, has been transcribed and edited for clarity by Greta Privitera.

When they say only old people die, I go mad. One of those old men who died was my father. His name was Giuseppe Zaninoni, a 72-year-old who was in excellent health until three weeks ago. When this damned epidemic started, I never thought that I would be among those children who cry alone, locked in their houses, from the loss of a parent. But so it is. I am from Val Seriana, in the province of Bergamo, one of the cities most affected by COVID-19 in Italy. My life and that of my family changed suddenly. It was a Saturday, I remember it well, my brother called me and told me that dad had a bit of the flu, nothing serious. Sure, the coronavirus was already around, but he was fine, so much so that he wanted to go out for a little ride around the house. Fortunately we told him not to go anywhere. We werent worried that something bad might happen to him, we still didnt have a sense of how vicious the virus was here.

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On Sunday my dad started to feel a little worse. By Monday evening my brother and my fathers partner decided to take him to the hospital, against his will. I was in Albania, and still am, I cannot come back because of the lock down. On the phone, they had reassured me, his fever didnt hit 100, he had a little cough and his throat was dry, he felt weak, but seemed OK. They admitted him at the hospital in Alzano Lombardo. The moment he walked through the door of the emergency room our family ended. We spoke on Tuesday, even though he was on a respirator, then his phone died and we never heard his voice again. He had forgotten the charger at home. From that moment we only spoke to the doctors, the only link between the families and the patients. On Wednesday they told us that the situation had worsened but that my dad was still quite well and that he sent his greetings. We were still positive that he would make it. The first time I thought about death was Thursday morning, when we learned the saturation of oxygen in his blood was low, I knew he let himself go.

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Doctors are heroes, but in this emergency they dont always manage to do their job the right way, there are too many sick people, there are not enough beds, respirators, or masks. I have a feeling that they cant do things the way they want. In a normal situation, my father would have lived. He was never intubated, who knows why, perhaps there was no room for him. On Friday his condition became critical. We asked the doctors to pass him our messages, my brother told him: Man up, dad. and I said, your daughter Roberta and your granddaughter Vittoria love you endlessly. The doctor on the phone told me that dad smiled and tears dripped down his eyes. Two hours later another doctor from a new shift called me: Im sorry, your dad has passed.

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I started to cry and I didnt believe it, I asked him, Doctor, are you sure? Are you sure hes my dad? I asked him to go check that it really is Giuseppe Zaninoni. It couldnt be true. My dad died alone, lucid, he knew what was going on. He died suffocated by a virus that devastated his lungs.

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I wish the doctors would send me a picture of you. I know, it may seem like a macabre request, but I needed to see it to make peace with the idea that it had really happened, to believe it. I would have prayed on that photo. And now Im here, alone with this immense pain, locked in a house hundreds of miles away from my family. I cant hug my brother, who is destroyed. No funeral, no goodbye, if not in a few weeks or months, who knows. We are alone, in a solitude that I have never known.

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Every morning I turn on my cell phone and see dozens of messages from friends telling me that they have lost their mom, uncle, grandfather. I get angry because I think: if politicians had moved faster, if they had closed everything before, now my father would be alive. If people had stopped taking walks, if factories had closed, maybe I wouldnt have experienced all of this. Did my father die to save a countrys economy?

In our deserted Bergamo, we only hear the sound of ambulances and death bells. Nobody has flash mobs on their balconies, here we mourn. The price we are paying is too high.

Giuseppe Zaninoni was a strong man. He should have lived.
MARCH 23, 2020  Editors note: The following message was sent via email today from President Taylor Eighmy to all students, faculty and staff:

The past week was a big transition for all of you as we all embraced our new reality as an online learning institution with a primarily telecommuting workforce. I thank you all, once again, for your determination and resilience as we face these new challenges and opportunities together as a community.

Todays Stay Home, Work Safe Orders issued by San Antonio and Bexar County require that we pivot just a bit more into the next phase of our operational plan. Our current approach is already quite close to what is now required moving forward.

Our city and county officials recognize that UTSA, as a higher education institution, will need to continue critical services and operations to support our on-campus residents and our important research missionespecially in regards to advancing research that serves the national interest during a pandemic. We have worked closely with them to designate personnel with essential functions who must have continued campus access to perform their work.

While online instruction continues, this next phase necessarily involves scaling down additional campus services, locking most campus spaces and moving even more employees to telecommuting status. I know this next set of adjustments will require more juggling and abrupt changes for some of you, but our current extraordinary circumstances require new levels of nimbleness to keep our community safe. Our fundamental obligation is to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading in our community and overwhelming our local hospitals.

This new phase of operations involves the following steps to ensure the health and safety of the entire Roadrunner community.

Campus Services and Facilities

With few exceptions, remaining campus services will be virtualized to the extent possible, and most campus facilities will be locked-down.

Essential and critical facilities, public safety and other limited campus operations will continue.





will continue. Limited Housing and Residential Life support will continue to serve those students living in university-owned housing who have been granted an exception to remain in the residence halls.





support will continue to serve those students living in university-owned housing who have been granted an exception to remain in the residence halls. Students scheduled to move out of university-owned housing this week will still be allowed to do so. This is an important step to ensure that we reduce the number of students living in the halls as soon as possible. Students will depart according to the designated move-out schedule designed to ensure social distancing and the health and safety of all. Students who prefer to reschedule their move-out or make alternate arrangements may do so by emailing studenthousing@utsa.edu.





this week will still be allowed to do so. This is an important step to ensure that we reduce the number of students living in the halls as soon as possible. Students will depart according to the designated move-out schedule designed to ensure social distancing and the health and safety of all. Students who prefer to reschedule their move-out or make alternate arrangements may do so by emailing studenthousing@utsa.edu. Student Health Services, Counseling & Mental Health Services and Student Disability Services offices will remain open only for those students remaining in on-campus housing. Telephone and virtual consultations are available for all other students remotely.





and offices will remain open only for those students remaining in on-campus housing. Telephone and virtual consultations are available for all other students remotely. Roadrunner Cafe will remain open only to on-campus residents for take-away meals.





will remain open only to on-campus residents for take-away meals. For the time being, the Roadrunner Pantry on the Main Campus will remain open for students facing food insecurity. We will work with our local officials to evaluate alternative locations and a plan for continued operation.





will remain open for students facing food insecurity. We will work with our local officials to evaluate alternative locations and a plan for continued operation. The John Peace Library and Downtown Library buildings will close, although library resources and chat assistance will continue to be available online. Students needing internet access can reach out to the Tech Cafe.





and buildings will close, although library resources and chat assistance will continue to be available online. Students needing internet access can reach out to the Tech Cafe. Essential and critical research operations will continue, and designated research facilities will remain accessible. Researchers may contact Associate Vice President for Research Integrity Michelle Stevenson at 210-668-3313 or stevenson@utsa.edu with any questions.

Escalating our Telecommuting Plan

Starting tomorrow, all employees are required to work from home except for a very limited group identified as critical and essential to maintaining campus operations. These include designated employees within facilities, public safety and a limited number of other campus operational units. Supervisors have contacted employees within these designated groups regarding work schedules. All other employees should refer to the messages sent last week to staff and faculty containing detailed information on telecommuting.

Please view my video message to the community regarding these latest developments. And, as always, refer to our coronavirus website for answers to frequently asked questions.

Thank you for your willingness to do your part for the well-being of our Roadrunners, San Antonio community, state and country. I have faith that our guiding principlesto sustain the health of our community and the academic success of our studentswill pull us through these challenging times.

#UTSATogether
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren



Singh on Tuesday urged people not to discriminate against anyone who tests positive for COVID-19.

In a video address, he said "there is no need for stigmatization for none of them had indulged in immoral activities or done something that is socially unacceptable".

The chief minister requested people with recent travel history to a foreign country to voluntarily share details with the government authorities and seek medical help.

"On the contrary, if individuals hide their travel history or condition, the possibility of affecting others would always be there," Singh said, adding that sincerity and cooperation would help people tide over the crisis.

Expressing disappointment over the fact that several people ventured out defying the 'complete lockdown' order and indulged in group activities, the CM said, "Some people ignored the rules, forcing the government to declare curfew in the state."



He, however, clarified there would no restriction on the movement of individuals who need to buy essential items.

A statewide curfew was imposed on Manipur on Tuesday morning after a 23-year-old woman tested positive for COVID- 19, officials said.

The woman, a resident of Thangmeiband Lourung Purel Leikai area in Imphal West district, had recently returned from the UK, a statement issued by Health Services Director K Rajo Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General view of WeWork Weihai Road flagship is seen on April 12, 2018 in Shanghai, China. World's leading co-working space company WeWork will acquire China-based rival naked Hub for 400 million U.S. dollars. (Photo by Jackal Pan/Visual China Group via Getty Images)

Struggling office space company WeWork sent a memo on Tuesday to some of its employees with a new offer: $100 per day to come in to work.

WeWork extended its offer to its U.S. and Canada "community employees," the people who act as the "face of WeWork," according to a LinkedIn job post. They perform tasks such as handling mail for WeWork tenants and covering the front desk.

In New York, where WeWork is headquartered, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered all nonessential businesses to keep 100% of their workforce at home in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. WeWork's claim is that keeping certain offices running qualifies as essential because of the critical work some tenants are doing.

WeWork lists the following "member quotes" in the memo, which was obtained by CNBC:

"We are a financial services company so we need to be able to access our office throughout this coronavirus issue. Please do not close or shut us out. We have 130 clients whose financial lives depend on us." "We provide support to Hospitals, Clinics, and Food Banks in the terms of personnel. We provide essential personnel like nurses and medical assistants and other licensed healthcare professionals to keep their business in operation." "Our company is working with Health Care companies, hospitals and delivery companies involved in combating COVID-19 and as such our business is essential and needs to remain supported and able to access WeWork locations throughout the country during this time."

While hospitals, clinics and food banks are clearly essential services, WeWork's role in providing office space to support them is murkier ground. Offering to pay employees $100 a day to put themselves in harm's way and potentially risk the lives of others gets into moral hazard territory, even if jobs up the supply chain are valuable.

It's just the latest questionable decision from management at WeWork, which was in trouble well before COVID-19 became a global health and economic crisis. The company failed to go public last year and was forced to accept an emergency bailout from SoftBank, causing a shift in leadership and the ouster of co-founder Adam Neumann.

But WeWork isn't alone in weighing extreme efforts to flatten the curve around virus hospitalizations versus economic growth.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants the U.S. economy to "open" back up by Easter Sunday, April 12, despite expert warnings about the deadly threat of the coronavirus. Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, suggested that older people would be willing to die to protect the economy.

"If that is the exchange, I'm all in," Patrick told Fox News.

tweet

A WeWork spokesperson didn't immediately comment on the moral implications of the company's memo.

WATCH: SoftBank backs away from part of planned WeWork bailout
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Mubashir Hasan: A man who yearned for Peace through Empowerment of People (...)

TRIBUTE

Dr Mubashir Hasan, founder and the guiding spirit of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy, is no more. The subcontinent has lost a great crusader for the rights of the poor and peace between India and Pakistan. Since 1990, India has been facing a mass revolt in Kashmir for Aazadi which was spearheaded by local militants. In order to suppress the move-ment, the Indian Government had saturated the Valley with military and paramilitary forces, empowering them to use maximum force against the people. The Pakistan Government had initially responded by aiding the Kashmiri militants and then facilitating non-Kashmiri jihadi groups to infiltrate the Valley. As violence spiralled, India accused Pakistan of conducting a proxy war and Pakistan blamed India of mass killing of Kashmiri Muslims. By 1993, the relations between India and Pakistan had reached its nadir, jingoistic sabre-rattling was the language of cross-border communication, and diplomatic channels of exchanges atrophied. The spectre of war loomed large on the horizon of India and Pakistan.

It was at this critical juncture that Dr Mubashir Hasan and a group of his friends took the initiative to come to India to appeal to Indian political leaders, academics and civil society actors to initiate a people-to-people dialogue for peace. He said, when the govern-ments do not talk to each other, it was necessary for the people to take the initiative to begin a cross-border dialogue for peace. He had argued that we should not let a handful of military-civil bureaucrats and politicians decide the destiny of a billion plus people of the subconti-nent. People needed to intervene immediately to stop this madness from spreading.

The visit of Dr Hasan to India in 1994 led to the formation of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). He was the main spirit behind the initiative. It was a totally unique idea at a time when even exchange of newspapers between the two countries was blocked. It would be completely different from the track-two dialogue forums which were essentially statist and elitist. The proposal was a bold interventiona joint India-Pakistan forum involving ordinary people. It was characteristic of Dr Hasan who always believed in the power of the people whether as a founder of Pakistan Peoples Party and as Finance Minister in Zulfiqar Ali Bhuttos government. Indeed when Bhutto was challenged by the Pakistan National Alliance after his election of 1977, Dr Mubashir Hasan publicly advised him to mobilise the peasantry and the working class in his fight against the Right-wing parties who had outfitted them-selves in religious robes. Bhutto declined his advice.

The Forum was inspired by the same faith in peoples power. From 1994 onwards the PIPFPD met regularly, holding massive conven-tions in both countries, despite attacks by the Right-wing media on both sides and suspicion of state agencies. In 1994-95, when the situation in Kashmir was extremely volatile, the PIPFPD at its Delhi and Lahore joint conventions, attended by hundreds of Indian and Pakistani civil society actors, adopted a resolution on Kashmir calling on Pakistan to end its material support to the militancy and asking India to withdraw its Army from civilian areas and end the human rights abuses there. The PIPFPD called on the two governments to recognise that Kashmir was not merely a territorial dispute between the two states, but concerned the aspirations and lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Line-of Control. It called for establishing cross-LoC contacts and for involving the people of all regions of J &K to search for a peaceful democratic solution of the dispute.

The PIPFPD has all along held that war and attempts to create war hysteria should be outlawed and the process of de-nuclearisation and reversal of the arms race should be started. In 1994 the PIPFPD had pointed out the need for curbing religious intolerance as these tendencies create social strife, undermine democracy and increase the persecution and oppression of disadvantaged sections of society.

Over the past three decades, the PIPFPD has held several large conventions in major cities in both countries. Participants included representa-tives of the human rights movement, workers organisations, peasant movement, womens movements, environment movement, cultural workers, professionals, academics, scientists and former civil servants and soldiers of India and Pakistan. It brought together persons well known for their commitment to peace, equity and social justice, communal amity, democracy and peoples solidarity in the sub-continent. The PIPFPD played an important role in creating a cross-border peace constituency. The steadfast commitment and guidance of such a tall figure as Dr Hasan was crucial in navigating the PIPFPD during the difficult moments in Pakistan- India relations.

Most recently, after the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February 2019 and Indian air strikes deep inside Pakistans territory, members of the PIPFPD from both sides of the border strongly condemned the violation of the Line of Control by India. They called upon the governments of India and Pakistan to initiate meaningful dialogue involving the Kashmiri leadership from both sides to resolve the political dispute. The PIPFPD in a statement released from Lahore and New Delhi said, We note with seriousness and strongly condemn the Indian air strikes and bombing in settled districts of Pakistan beyond the Line of Control. We demand both governments of India and Pakistan to show restraint and avoid any war-like situation. We further demand immediate measures from both sides to de-escalate the situation and de-militarise borders by withdrawing troops to the peace-time level.

Mubashir Hasan continued to remain active even after he was confined to bed by severe lung infection and asthma. After the Indian Government enacted the Citizenship Amend-ment Act, he issued a joint statement with 14 other South Asian intellectuals which said, If the New Delhi authorities were seeking security for religious minorities in the three selected countries, they should have engaged in a sustained diplomatic effort. We believe that, with its action, the Government of India has made religious minorities in the three countries more vulnerable than before.

Dr Hasan held that the ruling elites of India and Pakistan were mere clones of their colonial predecessor, and their main objective was to remain in power by denying the real aspirations of their citizens.The PIPFPD was guided by Mubashir Hasans view that the only hope for the subcontinent lay in the awakening of the people and assertion of their sovereign rights. As his lifelong friend and comrade I. A. Rehman wrote, Even during the last days of his life, when he could barely speak, he would ask his friends, when the people will rise to shake off this oppressive system.

Dr Mubashir Hasan is survived by his wife, Dr Zeenat Hasan, and a large number of friends, admirers and disciples in India and Pakistan.

Today, when the two countries have stopped issuing visa, and anyone who talks of peace is being called an enemy agent, Mubashir Hasans bold step to visit India in the teeth of opposition and threats, beckons us to follow his lead. Mubashir Hasan is no more. His spirit and vision remains with us. It is now the task of the peace activists of the subcontinent to fulfil his dream.

A film-maker, Tapan Bose is the Co-Chairperson of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) from the Indian side.
From left, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Anthony Fauci and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, attend President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force briefing in the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Washington.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."

Anthony Fauci, the US's top expert on infectious disease, on Sunday said he'd never use this phrase to describe the virus.

Critics say the president has only begun referring to the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus" to distract from his own failures in response to the pandemic.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious disease, on Sunday he would never refer to the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."

As President Donald Trump has sought to rewrite the history of his early response to the coronavirus pandemic, he's shifted to calling it the "Chinese virus." This has been widely decried as racist and a transparent attempt to distract from the Trump administration's failures and delayed reaction surrounding the pandemic.

Fauci was asked about this in an interview with Science Insider, and he said "no" when asked if would ever refer to coronavirus as the "novel coronavirus."

Question: You have not said China virus. [Trump frequently calls the cause of the spreading illness known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a "China virus" or a "Chinese virus."]

Fauci: Ever.

Question: And you never will, will you?

Fauci: No.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged against referring to the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus," particularly as Asian Americans have reported instances of discrimination and public harassment as the virus spreads in the US.

Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, earlier this month said it is "absolutely wrong and inappropriate" to call COVID-19 the "Chinese coronavirus."

Moreover, the CDC's website states: "People in the U.S. may be worried or anxious about friends and relatives who are living in or visiting areas where COVID-19 is spreading. Some people are worried about the disease. Fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma, for example, towards Chinese or other Asian Americans or people who were in quarantine...Stigma hurts everyone by creating more fear or anger towards ordinary people instead of the disease that is causing the problem."

Story continues

COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, originated in Wuhan, China. The Chinese government has been broadly criticized for suppressing information on the spread of the virus, particularly early on. But it's also taken measures that have seemingly been successful in slowing the rate of new infections.

In January, Trump praised China's response to the novel coronavirus, but he's shifted to blaming China for the global spread while referring to it as the "Chinese virus."

Trump on January 24:

Trump on March 19:

Meanwhile, Fauci, a public health hero who's led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for over 30 years, has emerged as one of the most trusted voices in the US amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But as coronavirus has spread acrosss the US, Fauci has had to walk a very fine line between keeping the public informed and calm, and not angering a president with a history of lashing out at aides and officials who are seen as undermining him.

With that said, Trump has a tendency to embellish or spread outright false information, which can be dangerous during a pandemic. On more than one occasion, Fauci has stepped up and contradicted or corrected statements made by the president.

Addressing the difficulty of this in the Science Insider interview, Fauci said: "I 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."

When Fauci didn't appear at one of the White House's daily press briefings on the coronavirus response last week, it raised alarm bells that he'd been sidelined for being too honest and embarrassing a president with an aversion to facts.

In a separate interview with the New York Times, published on Saturday, Fauci said his straightforward style of talking is a "risky business."

"I say it the way it is, and if he's gonna get pissed off, he's gonna get pissed off. Thankfully, he is not. Interestingly," Fauci said, referring to Trump.

"I don't want to embarrass him," Fauci added. "I don't want to act like a tough guy, like I stood up to the president. I just want to get the facts out. And instead of saying, 'You're wrong,' all you need to do is continually talk about what the data are and what the evidence is."

Fauci said Trump "gets that" and "takes it in a good way," calling him a "smart guy."

Read the original article on Business Insider
UMass Memorial Health Care is now instituting universal masking," requiring all staff working on a campus or in a facility that provides direct patient care to wear a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

Starting 7 a.m. Tuesday, all staff will receive a face mask when entering their campus or facility. Caregivers will be required to wear a face mask at all times during their shift, the health care system said in a statement.

The requirement is for both clinical and nonclinical staff in direct patient care areas, according to UMass Memorial.

We believe that universal masking is the best approach in this stage of the pandemic and its evolving epidemiology," said Dr. Eric Dickson, the president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care. We are doing this to help protect our caregivers, their patients and the families our caregivers leave at home every day.

The hospital system has taken other measures in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. UMass Memorial has announced visitor restrictions and has started drive-up testing for certain patients who need a coronavirus test.

Those of us who have chosen to work in health care have done so knowing that there would be times like this that call for us to put ourselves at risk so that we can help others, Dickson said. "I cant express how grateful I am for the kind of selfless commitment that our people are demonstrating. At this time in our history, without a doubt, caregivers are our most precious resource, and I intend to do everything I can to help protect them through this crisis.

As of last Thursday, there were 110 UMass Memorial Health Care employees on quarantine. Though, zero employees had tested positive for coronavirus at that time.

In Massachusetts, nine people have died from COVID-19 and at least 777 people have tested positive for the illness, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Related Content:
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said Monday it is shutting down production for two weeks at its aircraft manufacturing plants in northwest Washington to protect the health of employees and their families as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the U.S.

Assembly lines will gradually reduce work levels through Wednesday and then close for 14 days, during which time the company will conduct deep cleaning and establish rigorous criteria for return to work.

2020 was already shaping up as a difficult year for Boeing, which stopped production of the troubled 737 MAX production line in January while waiting for safety regulators to approve its return to service following two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. Boeing has designed software fixes for the anti-stall system blamed for contributing to the accidents by pitching the nose sharply downward and is correcting other safety issues found in subsequent audits. Company officials had indicated they expected to get the green light to proceed by early summer.

The aerospace manufacturing industry, including Boeing, is seeking $60 billion from the federal government as part of a $1.6 trillion emergency economic package for businesses and workers. But a deal fell apart Sunday night over differences on what types of conditions should be placed on large corporations for aid.

Boeing's production delay means it will take longer for airlines to receive scheduled deliveries, but with the aviation market cratering because of COVID-19, lack of capacity will be the least of airlines' concerns once the spread is contained and economic activity resumes. Experts forecast travel demand will return slowly and that it could take a couple of years for airlines to get back to last year's traffic level.

Boeing employs nearly 66,000 people in Washington, where it makes the 737, 747-8 and 747-8 freighters, the 767 and 767 freighter, the 777, and the 787. The shutdown will also push back development of the 777X, the next-generation of the wide-body plane that Boeing intended to start delivering next year. Suppliers will also be hurt by Boeing's decision because Boeing will not accept any shipments during the shutdown.

Story continues

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) aviation arm, which manufactures engines, said it will cut its U.S. workforce by 10%. GE also said that there will be a temporary lack of work impacting about 50% of its U.S. maintenance, repair and overhaul employees for 90 days.

The aerospace giant's announcement made no mention of its Charleston, South Carolina, plant, where the 787 Dreamliner is also produced.

Boeing said employees in Everett and Renton will receive pay for the initial 10 working days of the suspension  double the company policy, which will provide coverage for the two-week period. Other employees will continue to work from home.

The company said it will restart production in an orderly fashion when the suspension is lifted. Critical distribution of parts to support airline, government and maintenance shop customers will continue.

"We continue to work closely with public health officials, and we're in contact with our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders who are affected by this temporary suspension. We regret the difficulty this will cause them, as well as our employees, but it's vital to maintain health and safety for all those who support our products and services, and to assist in the national effort to combat the spread of COVID-19," Boeing CEO David Calhoun said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Boeing's European rival Airbus, resumed partial production at plants in France and Spain after a four-day pause to sterilize equipment and develop efficient work protocols while practicing social distancing. The manufacturer said work stations will only reopen if they comply with new hygiene standards and safety measures, which are being implemented at all sites without full interruption.

Boeing sharply lagged Airbus in deliveries and orders last year due to the MAX crisis and is likely to lose even more ground this year.

In February, the Airbus assembly line in Tianjin, China, reopened following a temporary production stoppage related to mass quarantines in that country. Airbus said the plant is operating at normal levels now.

Airbus said it is canceling a planned dividend payment and lining up $16 billion in new credit to help keep its doors open.

Over the weekend, Airbus used an A330-800 test plane to transport about 2 million protective masks from Tianjin back to Europe to help protect people in France and Spain. Additional flights are planned to take place in the coming days, Airbus said.

Major truck and auto manufacturers are also temporarily closing plants because of the health risk associated with the coronavirus.

In related news, Canadian airline Transat A.T. announced it has temporarily laid off 3,600 people, about 70% of its workforce, in Canada due to the lack of business. Last week, the company said it was shutting down flight operations through the end of April.

Air Canada is laying off 3,600 flight attendants and 1,549 flight attendants at low-cost subsidiary Rouge, about 60% of its cabin crews, according to a post from the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The layoffs are effective until April 30, at the earliest. Air Canada is suspending most international and U.S. flights at the end of the month.

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
BANGKOK - Thailands prime minister says his government has agreed to declare a state of emergency to implement stricter measures to control the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said his Cabinet agreed Tuesday at its weekly meeting to put a one-month state of emergency into effect on Thursday. It will give the government enforcement powers not normally available to it.

Powers available to the government under the law governing public administration in emergency situations include implementing curfews, censoring the media, dispersing gatherings and allowing deployment of military forces for enforcement.

Prayuth in a brief televised address urged the public to remain calm and warned people against the improper use of social media and hoarding, saying there would now be stricter enforcement against violators.
A screen captured from "AR Deoksugung" / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Deoksu Palace, one of the royal palaces of 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, in the heart of Seoul, will be available for a handy visit through an augmented reality (AR) service.



The Deoksugung Palace Management Office and SK Telecom co-developed "AR Deoksugung," the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) announced Tuesday.



The service is part of SK Telecom's "Jump AR" app which provides realistic and immersive content to explore the 12 palace buildings and the grounds covering over 61,200 square meters. The palace is best known for its mix of Korean traditional and Western architecture, reflecting the wave of modernization that hit Korea in the late 19th century.



"AR Deoksugung" consists of three programs. "AR Map" allows users to take a look around three-dimensional recreations of the palace. Viewers can tour around the palace along recommended routes and read descriptions of each structure.



"AR Photo Zone" is for those who actually visit the palace. Currently, the royal palace in downtown Seoul is open to the public, except for indoor facilities including Seokjojeon Hall and Jungmyeongjeon Hall.



When visitors turn their application on in front of each the four main builings  Daehanmun Gate, Junghwajeon Hall, Seokeodang Hall and Seokjojeon Hall, animals such as a cat and a panda will appear on screen along with the building allowing visitors to take pictures with them.



"AR Previous Life" is a photo filter service which has options such as king, queen and royal guard of the Joseon Kingdom.



However, the application is currently undergoing testing and is available only for Android. The CHA said it will update the iOS application as soon as possible. English content for foreigners will be updated around the end of March.



"During the test run, we will try to improve technical problems and assess the content through historical research to make better AR content using cultural heritage," the CHA said in a statement.


All versions of Microsoft Windows, including the latest Windows 10, have been found to have a security vulnerability, the company confirmed recently. Despite marking the vulnerability as a critical, Microsoft does not seem to have any solution for it at the moment.

Previously undisclosed, the security flaw was recently highlighted by Microsoft, also confirming that cyber attackers are already aware of the vulnerability and are taking undue advantage of it.

In an advisory posted by Microsoft on Monday, the security flaw persists in the way the Windows OS renders fonts. In order to exploit the bug, an attacker would try to trick the Windows user into opening a malicious document. Once opened, the document will allow the attacker to run a malware on the system remotely.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

The flaw has been marked Critical by Microsoft as of now, which shows that the bug has the highest severity rating as per the companys standards. Microsoft also acknowledged that hackers were using the bug for limited, targeted attacks. The limit, however, was not revealed by the company.



The advisory posted by Microsoft offers a temporary workaround for the affected Windows users. To all the others, it tends to serve as a warning, at least until a patch for the same is released. You can check out these mitigation options based on the version of your Windows here.

A Work-From-Home Nightmare

In these troubled times with most regions being under lockdown due to the Coronavirus, Work-From-Home is in full swing. A bug like this can prove to be more dangerous than ever before.

Representative Image

As not every Windows user would have the knowhow of the mitigation options for the bug or how to execute them, precautions mentioned by Microsoft might not be followed by everyone. Any infected device resulting from such lack of precautions would also increase the downtime, rendering a Windows user helpless in continuing with his/ her work at home.



Microsoft is expected to come up with a solution for the bug by April 14. Till then, Windows users are advised to be on the lookout for any such cyber attack around the bug and follow the guidelines shared by Microsoft.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Thirteen nonprofits in northern New Mexico are among the first recipients of money from the Santa Fe Community Foundations COVID-19 Response Fund, set up to help nonprofits with operational disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Also, the first 10 grants from the Albuquerque Community Foundation and United Way Emergency were announced by the Emergency Action Fund.

Bill Smith, president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, said 150 donors have contributed $56,000 since the fund was opened March 15. He said $52,500 of that amount is ready to be released to nonprofits in Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel and Santa Fe counties.

What were trying to do is, first and foremost, address food and health issues, Smith said, adding that money raised would be distributed in phases and to groups that provide different kinds of services. Income security might be next, to address unemployment and small-business stabilization. In the longer term, we may look at how we can use resources to rebuild.

Smith said the foundation plans to keep the response fund active as long as the pandemic is affecting families.

We envision this fund being utilized until the crisis is over and we have no more food to give out, he said.

The first beneficiaries are Barrios Unidos, Espanola Pathways Shelter, The Food Depot, Interfaith Community Shelter, La Familia Medical Center, Las Cumbres Community Services, Luciente, Moving Arts Espanola, Northern Youth Project, Reunity Resources, San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen, Santa Fe Indian Center and United Way of Santa Fe County.

Smith said the community foundation has been working closely with Santa Fes Thornburg Foundation, as well as its counterpart organizations in Albuquerque, Taos and Las Cruces Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico.

Meanwhile, 10 nonprofits suffering financial hardship due to COVID-19 will receive $5,000 each, according to a news release from the Emergency Action Fund.

The funds will benefit the Albuquerque Center for Hope and Recovery, Boys and Girls Club of Central New Mexico, Endorphin Power Co., FUSION, La Plazita Institute, New Mexico Caregivers Coalition, Share Your Care Adult Day Services Centers, St. Felix Pantry, The Street Food Institute and the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
"The need for one ethanol product basically coincided with the natural decline, in large part, of the market for our core ethanol products, says co-owner Jordan Cotton of Cotton & Reed, a rum producer in Washington, D.C. I think pretty much anybody around the country with a distillery had the same bright idea right at the same time."

The federal waiver, issued March 18, will remain in effect until at least June 30.

About 300 distillers are producing hand sanitizer, according to Chris Swonger, president and chief executive of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States trade group. That includes many of the biggest names in the industry, such as Pernod Ricard and Bacardi, but also small-batch distillers in almost every state.

"Everybody is pivoting to help the community, he says.

Many made the switch even before the government formally waived production restrictions.

"We had already been doing it a couple of days, Cotton says. TTB was being really supportive and flexible by saying, We know everybody's already doing it. We're going to let you do it under your permits for the next couple months.'"

Sanitizer for essential services

Some distilleries, such as Eight Oaks in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania; Ugly Dog in Chelsea, Michigan; and Catoctin Creek in Purcellville, Virginia, are donating their sanitizer to essential services such as hospitals, senior living facilities and first responders and soliciting public contributions to support the effort.

Most of Cotton & Reed's supply is going to fire and EMT stations in the District of Columbia and to organizations providing groceries and other help to service-industry workers who have lost jobs to the pandemic.

The distiller also is handing out small bottles at its retail shop  where customers can make purchases through a sidewalk-facing window to maintain social distancing, Cotton says.

For other companies, the switch is a means for both community service and economic survival. With a business model that relies on people going out and socializing, many of these craft distillers are being crushed by the coronavirus slowdown, Swonger says.

Karrikin Spirits Co., a distiller, brewery and restaurant in Cincinnati, will sell its sanitizer to institutions and agencies providing essential services, including fire departments, hospitals, nursing homes and police.

That's allowing the company to maintain health insurance for its workers, who were laid off en masse after Ohio ordered restaurants and bars to close, and to rehire some for sanitizer production and distribution, marketing director Matt Groves says.
WICHITA, Kan., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following Boeing's announcement to temporarily suspend production at its Washington state facilities, Spirit AeroSystems [NYSE: SPR] will also suspend Boeing work performed at our facilities in Wichita, Kansas, and in Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma. This action will begin Wednesday, March 25, and last 14 calendar days, until April 8. Spirit will continue to support 787 work for Boeing's Charleston, South Carolina, facility as needed.

We will continue to pay employees who are sent home during this two-week period due to the suspension of Boeing work.

Spirit will use the time to further deep clean and sanitize work spaces and facilities as we continue to take precautions to protect the health and safety of our team. Our focus is on a safe and orderly restart of operations.

When production does resume on our Boeing programs, we will align our costs and workforce to the new level of production set by Boeing. This could potentially include additional workforce actions.

Operations in support of our defense customers, Airbus, aftermarket and MRO, third party fabrication work, other non-Boeing work, and other growth programs will continue. Those employees should expect to work their regular schedules.

Spirit continues to monitor ongoing events as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and will take precautions and make adjustments to its operations as needed for the safety of our team.

On the web: www.spiritaero.com

On Twitter: @SpiritAero

About Spirit AeroSystems Inc.

Spirit AeroSystems designs and builds aerostructures for both commercial and defense customers. With headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Malaysia. The company's core products include fuselages, pylons, nacelles and wing components for the world's premier aircraft. Spirit AeroSystems focuses on affordable, innovative composite and aluminum manufacturing solutions to support customers around the globe. More information is available at www.SpiritAero.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that may involve many risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "forecast," "intend," "may," "might," "objective," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would," and other similar words, or phrases, or the negative thereof, unless the context requires otherwise. These statements reflect management's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. Our actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such forward-looking statements and that should be considered in evaluating our outlook include, without limitation, the timing and conditions surrounding the return to service of the 737 MAX and any related impacts on our production rate; our reliance on Boeing for a significant portion of our revenues; our ability to execute our growth strategy, including our ability to timely complete and integrate our announced Asco and Bombardier acquisitions; our ability to accurately estimate and manage performance, cost, and revenue under our contracts; demand for our products and services and the effect of economic or geopolitical conditions, or other events, such as pandemics, in the industries and markets in which we operate in the U.S. and globally; our ability to manage our liquidity, borrow additional funds or refinance debt; and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors are not exhaustive and it is not possible for us to predict all factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. These factors speak only as of the date hereof, and new factors may emerge or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could impact our business. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation to, publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Spirit AeroSystems

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AKA Group and Tan Thanh Furniture raised the offered purchase prices continuously to scramble for the design of a chair. The final price was 10 times higher than the starting price.

The fierce scramble between the two enterprises took place within the framework of the Hoa Mai Furniture Design Competition organized by the Handicraft and Woodworking Association of HCM City (Hawa) on March 12.





This was the first time in the last 17 years that enterprises in the wooden furniture industry had an opportunity to attend an auction of products designed by prize winners. The competition is reserved for students majoring in applied design and interior decoration.



Tan Thanh Furniture finally obtained the right to own the design of the chair which won second prize at VND42 million, much higher than the starting price of VND4 million.



The designer of the chair, Quach Minh Quan, said this was the first time he had joined the playing field.

Most wooden furniture manufacturers make products according to designs provided to them and ordered by importers.

What surprised the third-year student of the interior design faculty at the Ton Duc Thang University was the fact the enterprises wanted to use his design to commercialize products. They paid a price which was 10 times higher than the starting price.



Explaining his decision to spend a big amount to buy the design, Pham Chan Quang, director of Tan Thanh Furniture, said the chair has a simple design but has sophistication and elegance. Quang believes that the products made with the design will fit many different markets thanks to the aesthetics.



For many years, Tan Thanh has been making furniture products outsourced by partners, but it still doesnt have products designed by themselves.



Besides the design, Tan Thanh also bought four other designs at the auction.



With the designs, we will introduce our exclusive products to international clients. This will increase the value of products, he said.



Quang hopes that the products will be available in the market in Q4.



Besides Tan Thanh, other furniture manufacturers such as AA Corporation, Truong Thanh Corporation, AKA Group, Chan Chinh and Hanpdpick also bought designs at the auction.



Analysts said that most wooden furniture manufacturers make products according to designs provided to them and ordered by importers. The presence of over 20 manufacturers at the auction was unprecedented.



This shows that furniture manufactures have become aware of the need to shift from doing outsourcing to making products of their own.



In 2019, Vietnam exported $10.5 billion worth of wooden products.

Kim Chi

Vietnam wooden furniture manufacturers worried, despite more orders Vietnamese wooden furniture manufacturers face a shortage of workers, modern technology and money to upgrade technology.
The city and the (police) department as a whole is going through a difficult period and this neighborhood, which is one of the more challenged communities within the city as we see it, needs all the help they can get, said Harrison district Lt. Jason Brown, one of the officers who helped pack things up.
At least 34 individuals who have connections to an Arkansas church have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and that number could climb higher as more testing is completed.

Donald Shipp, a deacon at First Assembly of God in Greers Ferry, Ark., told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that all 34 attended a Kids Crusade event March 6-8. Among the infected are pastor Mark Palenske and his wife, Dena.

The event was held prior to the CDCs guidance to limit mass gatherings.

It clearly made its way through a special weekend of childrens ministry at our church, Palenske wrote in a Facebook post.

COVID-19, he added, is highly contagious.

The intensity of this virus has been underestimated by so many, and I continue to ask that each of you take it very seriously, he wrote. An act of wisdom and restraint on your part can be the blessing that preserves the health of someone else.

Vice President Mike Pence has said the coronavirus is three times as contagious as the flu. Its also 10 times deadlier than the flu, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the Coronavirus Task Force.

Danyelle McNeill, an Arkansas Department of Health spokeswoman, said Monday there were connections to travel with the outbreak at the church.

Palenske said he and his wife had not traveled outside the state.

Gracie Campbell, a member of the church, said the outbreak was a result of bad timing. She and her husband are awaiting results of their tests.

I'm sure there are plenty of people walking around exposed [to the virus] and don't even know it, and other people that don't care, Campbell told the newspaper. That's the sad thing. There are people that don't even believe that it is a virus, and that's ridiculous.

Palenske said the symptoms for him and his wife began with a headache followed by intense body aches and lethargy. They also dealt with waves of chills, sweating and nausea. The couple immediately self-quarantined, he wrote.

He urged members to pray for local medical personnel who are working long shifts.

They are trying their very best and we are indebted to their diligence and their compassionate service, Palenske wrote.

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Photo courtesy: Greers Ferry First Assembly of God Church Facebook Page

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Pankaj Jaiswal and Rajeev Mullick

LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh has not seen any Covid-19 death, but has reported three suicides over virus scare in different parts of the state in the last three days.

While 34 people have tested positive in the state  one person each in Bareilly, Hapur, and Kanpur killed themselves reportedly suspecting that they had contracted the deadly infection.

India reported its first coronavirus scare suicide on Wednesday when a 35-year-old man, who had returned from Sydney on Wednesday and moved to Safdarajung Hospital Delhi on suspicion of being infected with coronavirus, allegedly ended his life. He had jumped off the hospital building in the night, said the Delhi police.

But what is worrisome in UP about the three suicides is that neither of these persons had any foreign travel history nor did any authority consider them Covid-19 suspects.

A 26-year-old man allegedly committed suicide in a village of Kanpurs Sachendi on Tuesday apprehending that he had contracted coronavirus infection, after his return from a vacation in Madhya Pradesh, said police..

He was found hanging in his room on the second floor of the house, said Pradyumn Singh SP (Kanpur rural). The deceased was a a post graduate in education stream and was teaching children at his house in Binor village.

On Sunday morning, a 30-year-old barber in Pilakhua town in Hapur slit his throat with his razor, suspecting himself as a case of coronavirus, said police. He reportedly left a suicide note citing Covid-19 as a reason for his extreme step.

Investigating teams are examining his suicide note. Station house officer (SHO) of Pilakhua, Mahaveer Singh, said that it appeared he killed himself in the wee hours. The police reported the matter to the health officials. The health department reached the house, sanitized it, and collected samples of the family and the victim and sent them for lab test.

The victim had complained of fever and had approached doctors in Modinagar for treatment. After that, he also developed a sore throat.

He returned home on Saturday night, asked me to sleep in another room with the children, said the deceaseds wife who found him dead in the morning.

In the Bareilly incident, a youth jumped before a freight train at the Bareilly railway station on Sunday. His identity could not be established, but an eyewitness -- a railway employee -- reported to police that the youth had been sitting at the station and was repeatedly mumbling that he was a corona victim and would not survive.

He was sitting on a bench at the platform and looked upset. He took out money from his pocket and gave it to a beggar and then moved towards the track. Before we could realize, he jumped before a goods train, said the railway employee.

Over-reaction or under-reaction not needed

It is easy to succumb to fear in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability of coronavirus pandemic. These three individuals may have committed suicide in apprehension of Covid-19. Still, what we need to understand that UP has not reported any corona death. Younger people have recovered in weeks even if they tested positive for coronavirus, said Dr Manini Srivastava, assisstant professor, psychology at Lucknow University.

One should not panic. Over-reaction or under-reaction is not the need of the hour. We need to be vigilant and take necessary precautions and rule out factors that create anxiety, she said.

Dont hesitate in seeking help. At the same time, self-isolation doesnt mean we stop connecting. We can stay at home and still connect via the Internet, added Srivastava.

Stay safe, stay positive and follow the advisories that government and its health agencies are issuing, she emphasized.
Dirtiest cities (population of over 10 lakh) | Number 5: North Delhi, Delhi

The US has praised as "inspiring" India's 'Janata curfew', which was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check the coronavirus spread in the country and laud the efforts of essential service providers during this period.

"Inspiring to see people across India coming together despite being physically apart to applaud workers on the frontlines combatting COVID-19," Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said in a tweet on Monday.

Wells said this while retweeting a video posted by India's Press Information Bureau, wherein a group of Indians clapped and cheered the work being done by India's first responders to the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Modi on Thursday last urged the citizens to express their gratitude towards those who have been at the forefront of combating coronavirus, and extending essential services.

The prime minister had asked the people to clap hands, beat plates or ring bells to express their gratitude.

"A small token of appreciation to the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, government officials, members of the armed forces and police, disaster management officials and every kind of person who cares for others," the PIB India tweet said.

Meanwhile, India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Monday held a video conference call with representatives of Indian companies in the United States over the coronavirus outbreak.

"Interacted with representatives of Indian companies over videoconference and discussed issues of concern to them," Sandhu said in a tweet.

"Indian companies are doing a commendable job in supporting local communities in various parts of the United States in these difficult times," he said.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, has claimed over 15,000 lives and infected 340,000 people across the world.

Over 1.5 billion people have been asked to stay at home as governments across the world tackle the World Health Organisation recognised 'pandemic'.
Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/24/2020 -- Silver & Silver, leading Social Security Disability attorneys in the Philadelphia area, have been monitoring the news regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and how it impacts recipients of Social Security Disability benefits. In response to the global pandemic, the United States Social Security Administration recently announced that it would be closing all public offices indefinitely in an effort to protect workers and benefits recipients from the spread of the virus.



The lawyers at Silver & Silver understand how much additional stress and uncertainty the pandemic has caused people who depend on their Social Security Disability benefits to live. Until the outbreak subsides and life returns to normal, the firm is advising anyone who needs help resolving issues with their Social Security benefits to seek service either online or over the phone.



The Social Security Administration offers an online portal at https://www.ssa.gov/onlineservices/, where citizens can apply for disability, retirement, or Medicare benefits, request a replacement Social Security card, print out a benefits verification form, or check the status of an application or appeal.



For business that cannot be handled online, a second possible course of action is to call the national Social Security hotline at 1-800-772-1213. Citizens can wait on the line to speak with a representative between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. from Monday through Friday, or they can utilize the hotline's 24-hour automated system to get the answers they need in a more timely manner.



Finally, citizens can try calling their local field office. Contact information for all Social Security offices can be found by searching the administration's online directory.



Individuals who have an upcoming in-person appointment should receive a phone call from a Social Security representative at the time of their appointment. The Social Security Administration has advised that these calls will come from a private, not a federal, phone line.



Philadelphia area residents grappling with Social Security issues that cannot be resolved through any of these channels may be able to pursue legal action to get the benefits they need. These individuals are encouraged to call Silver & Silver today and consult with the top Social Security lawyers in Montgomery County, PA, and the surrounding area.



About Silver & Silver

For over forty years, the legal team at Silver & Silver has been representing clients in Philadelphia and the greater Delaware Valley region. Our attorneys focus mainly on disability and personal injury cases, as well as workers' compensation and employment litigation. They work closely with doctors, physical therapists, accountants, life care planners, and other experts to help win your case.



To learn more, visit http://www.silverandsilver.com/ today.
Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin speaks during an online press conference via YouTube on Monday. Courtesy of Celltrion



By Nam Hyun-woo



Celltrion and Samsung BioLogics are expected to team up for the future production of any treatment developed to treat the COVID-19 pandemic.



Celltrion has a sizeable manufacturing capacity for products at 190,000 liters, but the company appears to be reaching out to Samsung BioLogics, its chief rival here and the world's largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO), which has a 360,000-liter capacity. This is in a pre-emptive bid to be able to meet the massive demand expected for any treatment for the coronavirus that is affecting the entire world.



During an online press conference via YouTube, Monday, Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said the company was in talks with "the largest CMO" over securing emergency manufacturing capacity to produce an antiviral treatment for COVID-19, which is currently under development.



"After checking our inventory level of other biosimilar products and global logistics, we will allocate the capacity for COVID-19 treatment," Seo said. "In case our production capability is not enough, we are currently in discussions with the largest CMO over additional production."



According to Seo, Celltrion plans to launch clinical studies for its antiviral COVID-19 treatment in July, and later produce 1 million doses per month for global distribution. Since this would impinge on Celltrion's production of other drugs, Seo said he was pondering over the right balance between the coronavirus treatment and other drugs.



Celltrion said it had "an open stance" over selecting a CMO, but did not elaborate as the possible treatment is still under development. The company currently assigns manufacturing to a number of global CMOs, including Lonza of Switzerland, whose manufacturing capability is the world No. 3 at 280,000 liters.





Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han speaks during the company's annual general meeting in Incheon, March 20. Courtesy of Samsung BioLogics
E very mobile user in the UK will receive the same text alert from the government urging them to stay at home for the first time.

Mobile networks worked with the government to send out the warning message for its customers to comply with the new coronavirus lockdown measures.

The message reads: "CORONAVIRUS ALERT: New rules in force now: you must stay at home.

"More info and exemptions at gov.uk/coronavirus. Stay at home Protect the NHS. Save lives."

The government trialled an emergency alert system in 2014 but it was never put into practice.

The lack of an emergency alert system means some customers will receive the message later in the day while others have already received the text.

Instead the government has had to work with operators to send messages directly to phone users, as has already happened in countries such as South Korea and the Netherlands.

The trials run by the Cabinet Office were carried out with three of the UK's biggest mobile network operators testing three different technical approaches.

They experimented with sending a text message to all handsets in a defined area and using location-based SMS messaging to target numbers in a specific area.

The news comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a televised address to the nation on Monday evening announcing strict new stay at home measures.

Mr Johnson said people will now only be allowed to leave their homes for very limited purposes and that police will have the power to enforce the latest restrictions.
At this moment, as youre holed up at home, the best canned tomatoes are the ones youll grab from your cabinet to make dinner.

A 28-ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes is one of the most versatile players in the cupboard. Canned tomatoes deliver velvety, bright pasta sauce in the dead of winter and perk up soups like minestrone. They bring earthiness to ribollita and play supporting player in a tikka masala. And the vibrant red of a canned tomato always pleases, be it the star of shakshuka or baked ziti.

But all canned tomatoes are not created equal, as editors and reporters from NYT Cooking and Wirecutter, a product recommendation site owned by The New York Times Company, discovered at a tasting held last month, weeks before coronavirus brought American life to a standstill.
Getty Images

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has warned the public about the troubling situation in the state, as he reveals coronavirus cases are accelerating at a faster rate and doubling every three days.

Weve exhausted every option available to us, the governor said on Tuesday during his daily press briefing.

To combat the spread of the virus, New York state has ordered all nonessential workers to stay at home. It also shut its restaurants, bars, gyms, and other community spaces. Schools were closed in the state to prevent students from spreading the novel virus among each other and their families.

Despite all these restrictions, the state is still seeing a sharp increase in cases.

The rate of new infections is doubling about every three days, he said. We havent flattened the curve. And the curve is actually increasing.

The state initially estimated it could need 110,000 hospital beds, but now there is a need for 140,000 beds given how quickly the pandemic is accelerating. As of now, the state only has about 53,000 beds available. New York also needs an estimated 40,000 ICU beds.

Those are troubling and astronomical numbers, Mr Cuomo said. The apex of the virus is anticipated to hit in 14 to 21 days, he added.

The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought. That is bad facts.

Ventilators are also needed in the state to properly treat the patients who end up in the ICU beds. FEMA is sending 400 ventilators to New York to help that need, but the state requires an additional 30,000.

You are missing the magnitude of the problem when the problem is defined by the magnitude, the governor said about receiving only hundreds of ventilators when thousands are needed.

Mr Cuomo took a grimmer and sharper tone about New Yorks current situation when speaking on Tuesday. This included imploring Donald Trump to use the Defence Production Act to produce necessary ventilators for the country. The president signed the act but has yet to use it despite a growing need for necessary health equipment, like ventilators and masks.

Story continues

Act like its a war, the governor said, adding: You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die unless you send more ventilators.

Testing ramped up across the state to determine where the spread is happening, with 12,000 people tested on Monday. In total, New York has tested more than 90,000 people, which is significantly more than any other state.

The state now has 25,655 confirmed cases, which makes up over 6 per cent of total cases globally.

While New York is taking the brunt of the coronavirus cases as of late, Mr Cuomo warned more states will soon experience a similar situation.

We are just a test case. Thats how the nation should look at it. Look at us today. Where we are today, you will be in three weeks or four weeks... We are your future, he said. Im not asking you to help New York to help New York. Im asking you to help New York to help yourselves.

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New Delhi, March : Raman Gangakhedkar, senior scientist at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), on Tuesday warned against using a drug called hydroxychloroquine against coronavirus without medical prescription.

Speaking to the media at a press conference, Gangakhedkar said, "Do not go for COVID-19 test just on suspicion or consume hydroxychloroquine medicine without a doctor's prescription because the medicine has its side effects. Observe social distancing even at home with your family member's." Gangakhedkar also said that although the ICMR approved to give hydroxychloroquine in some cases but it was still at ean xperimental level.

"The empiric use of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of SARS-Cov-2 infection is recommended only for asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases," he said.

Gangakhedkar added that the ICMR would not recommend the medicine for children below 15 years and elderly people above 60 years of age as it had many side effects on kidney and heart.

"There is sufficient access to testing so there is no need to panic. It is not just government's responsibility to keep you healthy but you will have to be responsible for your own health. Therefore, follow all the instructions of social distancing given by the government," said the doctor.

There are now 118 government laboratories included in the ICMR network for COVID19 testing. The network has capacity to test 12,000 samples a day.

"On an average we have been testing at least 1,350 samples per day," Gangakhedkar informed the media.

Besides this, 22 private laboratory chains with about 15,500 collection centres have been registered with the ICMR till today for conducting tests for novel coronavirus, Gangakhedkar said.

According to the mathematical model of transmission of COVID-19, if social distancing is followed sincerely, the threat of coronavirus transmission could be reduced by 62 to 90 per cent in a week, Gangakhedkar said.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, was also present at the press conference. He said the ministry has asked states to make dedicated COVID-19 hospitals.

"As per the information we've received so far, work has started at the state level in Gujarat, Assam, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir,"- Agarwal said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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Eddy County has provided several updates regarding changes in operation as of today.

The Eddy County Motor Vehicle Department announced Monday that it will be assisting customers by appointment only. At this time, only five people will be allowed in the lobby area. Others are asked to wait outside the door until allowed to enter by an MVD employee.

The registered owner or applicant in need of transaction will be the only individual allowed into the office. Family members should be left at home.

Anyone needing to make an appointment should call 746-1323 for business such as title transfers, Real ID/drivers license or Standard ID/drivers license transactions, exams, and VIN inspections. Bring and have documents ready, such as insurance cards on paper forms, proof of residency, or whatever documents are requested during the phone conversation. Anyone who does not have the needed documents will have to reschedule their appointment.

Road tests are being suspended at this time until further notice.



The Eddy County Clerks Office and Artesia sub-office have announced they will be closed to the public effective immediately.

My staff is here manning the phones and fulfilling copy requests and email documents paid by credit card, said County Clerk Robin Van Natta. Our index records are online back to 1980 for research purposes. I am working with our vendor to make the old index books available as well.

If you are coming from out of town, we ask that you conduct your business online or over the phone. We will make you an hour appointment if you meet criteria acceptable to public health directives. Please be aware of the issues we are facing in providing service while keeping staff safe and healthy.

Information on specific activities requiring clerks office assistance includes:

 Real estate, land records, document filing, and related activity: Recording can be done by mailing documents to 325 W. Main St., Carlsbad, N.M., 88220. Call the clerks office if special attention is needed, and staff will work to provide documents of record. Over-the-counter service is suspended until further notice. Anyone operating a business has the option to eFile with one of the countys eFiling partners: Simplifile, CSC Indigo, EPN, and Indecomm.

 Marriage licenses: Marriage licenses will be issued by appointment only. Individuals will be required to answer a few questions, and if they meet the criteria within public health directives, an appointment will be scheduled. If the situation is not an emergency and can wait, it will wait.

 Elections: Voters with a valid New Mexico drivers license can register/update or check their voter registration information online. Anyone needing a voter registration form or application to vote absentee may call 575-885-3383 and have the forms mailed.

I would encourage you to follow the governors stay-home directive in order to keep you and your families safe and healthy, said Van Natta. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.



The Eddy County Road Department announces it will be closed to the public effective today. The department will remain open for business but encourages residents to conduct all business via email or telephone with appropriate personnel.

Contact information includes:

 Roe Day, permitting manager: 575-689-7331, [email protected]

 South Road Department: 575-885-4835, [email protected]

 North Road Department: 746-9540, [email protected]



The county says it is also working to clarify all aspects of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams stay-at-home public health order as quickly as possible.

Its vitally important to stress that, even in a stay-at-home order, essential utilities and services will still be provided and people will still be allowed to go out for groceries and other supplies, said Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway. Residents are still allowed to go outdoors. Restaurants may remain open for delivery and carry-out, according to the state.

Given the guidelines issued in the order, service provided to the citizens of the county are considered essential services, said County Manager Allen Davis. Several are noted specifically, and others are inferred in the order. As such, I ask county employees to continue to do their assigned job in a manner that will minimize contact and interaction with the public as directed by the state order.

To accomplish this, we will control public access to workplaces and limit the number of people in those workplaces. I will continue to work with the elected officials and Eddy County department heads to define specific measures and get them put in place. Working together and watching out for one another, we can and will work through this tough situation.
Two bikie members were seen brawling over the remaining pack of chicken as they rushed to stockpile on goods at a New Zealand supermarket.

The ugly scenes unfolded at a Pak'n Save in Napier, in the North Island, on Tuesday as the country moves to a near-complete lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Police were called to the grocery store around 11.30am after members of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power gangs reportedly got into a fight in the middle of the grocery store.

Scroll down for video

Ugly scenes unfolded at a Pak'n Save in Napier, in the North Island, on Tuesday as shoppers rushed to panic buy. Pictured: Customers panic buying at a local Pak'n Save

Shoppers have been rushing to their local supermarkets to stockpile on goods as New Zealand heads towards a near-complete lockdown

The fight was broken up once officers arrived, and there were no injuries or arrests reported, according to the NZ Herald.

One shopper took to social media to criticise the rowdy customers over their behaviour.

'At Pak'n Save trying to get some food to stock up as we all are and the gangs want to start fighting over the last bag of f***ing chicken,' the person said.

'Everyone is trying to get food, everyone is worried, everyone is stressed, that does not mean we need to act like animals.'

Panic buying has been seen at supermarkets around the world with anxious shoppers clearing out shelves in fear of a prolonged lockdown.

New Zealand is heading towards a near-full lockdown as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern aims to seize on a 'window of opportunity' to contain coronavirus in the country.

Ms Ardern's announcement came as New Zealand confirmed a jump of 36 positive tests for the virus in the 24 hours since Sunday, including the first two cases of community transmission.

New Zealand has recorded 102 cases, but so far no deaths, of COVID-19.

By comparison, Australia has recorded more than 2,000 cases.
Thirty-four year old Nitin Naresh, founder of a little known two-year-old magazine for start-ups and entrepreneurs Inventiva created a storm by publishing an article titled 'Narendra Modi Likely To Declare A Emergency In India Under Article 360'.

The piece prophesying 'Article 360 states that if the President is satisfied that a situation has arisen whereby the financial stability or the credit of India or any part thereof is threatened, the President may declare a state of financial emergency' went viral on social media until the Press Information Bureau denying any such possibility.

@PIBFactCheck tweeted that "Please be advised that the story is malicious and fake and that there is no such plan."

Well aware of the scramble he caused, Naresh, a graduate from Meerut's Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, however, says, "it is a circumstantial opinion based article. Based on the current circumstances I am making a case that it is 'likely' to happen. It doesn't mean it will happen."

ALSO READ: $20 trillion lawsuit against China! US group says coronavirus is bioweapon

In the piece he makes an argument that Prime Minister Modi is "likely" to impose Article 360 in the country, saying India is seeing the worst financial crisis in its 72 years of history.

He says he has been getting calls for spreading fake news and even threats that they will file police complaint against him in the Crime Branch.

But why did he write without any basis? "I am a deep thinker and observe things at a very deep level and I have a rebellious nature."

The main motive behind the article, he says, was to prepare the country. "My main agenda behind publishing this article is that the country should be prepared because when demonetisation was declared in 2016 people were not ready. Everything changed in a minute after that announcement. It created so many problems, many even died. It became such a big scam itself. The move whose aim was to curb black money became its 'jan data' itself."

ALSO READ: First Made-in-India COVID-19 test kit by Mylab gets commercial approval

Calling the Prime Ministre Modi 'Khatro ke Khiladi', he said, there are several reasons that are indicating that the current government cannot run the country without declaring financial emergency. He shares the series of government's announcements that backs his argument. For instance, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that spending of CSR funds for COVID-19 is eligible CSR funding. As per law, CSR funding is not tax deductible. He says, "it means that even in this epidemic situation, the government wants to protect its own taxes and doesn't want to give it up." She also announced, in times of slowdown and reduced consumption, raising the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 8 per litre each as Parliament passed the Finance Bill, 2020. "If entire India is under lockdown and transportation is shut, this announcement is likely to lead to more job losses and put extra burden on the public, he says.

The third announcement that triggered the article was by RBI on purchasing government securities to boost liquidity. "All of these initiatives points that government is completely bankrupt and without imposing financial assistance they cannot run the country," he says.

There are more article to follow. His next article will be 'Slowdown to Lockdown' that will be about the slowing economy of 2019 and then the current crisis of 2020 of Covid 19.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: PM Modi announces 21-day nationwide lockdown
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:32:44|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 51 cases of COVID-19 have been reported within the United Nations (UN) system across the world as of Tuesday, and the physical presence of the staff at the UN Headquarters in New York City is very small, according to a UN spokesman.

"I know of no other UN senior official, boss, or agency head who has the virus (except David Beasley)," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a press briefing via video-link.

Talking about the conditions of David Beasley, executive director of the UN World Food Programme and former U.S. South Carolina governor who recently tested positive for the coronavirus, the spokesman said he does not have an update on him, "but last we heard, he was doing well and working from his home in South Carolina."

As for the physical presence of the staff at the UN headquarters, the spokesman said that "the swipes (through the security turnstiles) today, as of 11 a.m., was about 130, and that is down from 11,000 the last day that we had at the UN without any restrictions."

According to Dujarric, the UN chief is "reducing his time in the building. He's working partly from home and partly from the building."

"The UN is following the restrictions put in place by New York State. All non-essential personnel are tasked to work from home. There are, obviously, some essential personnel that need to stay in the building, notably those technicians who enable us to have these briefings or these virtual press conferences," he said.
Medical staff wearing protective suits check documents as they wait for people with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus at a testing facility in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The coronavirus epidemic shifted increasingly westward toward the Middle East, Europe, and the United States on Tuesday, with governments taking emergency steps to ease shortages of masks and other supplies for front-line doctors and nurses. Read more

President Donald Trump has made clear that hes itching to lift the coronavirus restrictions that have locked down the economy. And to do it by Easter.

His angst is understandable, and not just because the stock market crash endangers his election prospects. The collapsing economy and soaring unemployment are terrifying even to those lucky enough to still be receiving salaries.

As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week: We have to start to plan the pivot back to economic functionality. You cant stop the economy forever.

So where to look for a road map back to a working economic system without fueling an even greater virus outbreak? The obvious answer is South Korea  the one sizable democracy that has flattened the coronavirus curve without shutting down its economy or resorting to Chinese-style lockdowns.

 READ MORE: Trump should take a lesson from South Korea and test now | Trudy Rubin

Yet the two keys to Seouls success are things the White House is still way behind the curve on: : massive testing and ensuring that the health system gets everything it needs.

Testing is central, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the BBC, because it leads to early detection, minimizes further spread, and it quickly treats those found with the virus. Testing can reveal those with mild or no symptoms who are carriers and require them to self-quarantine, thus preventing spread.

South Korean officials, chastened by the countrys bad experience in 2015 with the MERS virus, pressed companies to develop test kits in late January, as soon as China released the genetic code of the virus. The tests were distributed by the hundreds of thousands by early February. Government officials opened hundreds of testing centers, including drive-thru stations and walk-in centers, where health workers administered throat swabs.

As for health workers who test, the South Korean government ensured that they had everything they needed. The government intervened to prevent profiteering and asked companies to supply equipment at a certain price, said economist Suchan Chae, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (and UPenn PhD). Hospitals and medical providers have no problem getting masks.

Since the Seoul government moved quickly on containing the disease, they did not require companies to shut down, Chae told me by phone from Seoul. Many big companies switched to remote work, and many small companies decreased activities because of the slowdown, but they were not forced to do so.

Restaurants could stay open, but asked customers to sit at a safe distance, Chae added as he headed to his institutes cafeteria, where diners sit side by side, avoiding face-to-face contact.

Now that new cases have sharply declined, South Koreas economy can rev back up while the country keeps testing to avoid a resurgence. Schools are supposed to reopen April 6.

If Korea did it, surely the United States, with all its resources, can find the right strategy, Chae suggested. You would think so  until you look at Trumps response so far.

After banning travelers from China on Jan. 31, Trump downplayed the virus and wasted crucial weeks when he could have facilitated testing.

Playing catch-up, the administration claimed Tuesday that the U.S. has now tested more than 300,000 people over the last eight days, nearly equal to the total number done by South Korea. Even if that figure is accurate (and Im waiting for the data), its still six times less per capita than the Koreans have done. Moreover, with medical workers short on masks, gowns, swabs and lab components, testing becomes tougher.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus death of Chinese whistle-blower should sober Beijing and us | Trudy Rubin

Inexplicably, the president steadfastly refuses to use the Defense Production Act to mobilize U.S. companies to produce what is needed, telling governors to fend for themselves. He touts vague voluntary pledges by companies while first responders go without protection.

Meantime, Cuomo  whose fact-filled briefings stand in stark comparison to Trumps chaotic stage shows  has has to scour the world for health equipment. I need 30,000 ventilators, Cuomo told CNN, and FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] is sending 400.

So much for the South Korean model.

Yet, if we want younger people to return to the workforce, along with the healthy and those who have recovered, and to do it without sparking future outbreaks, we need to test massively across the country. And we need well-equipped health workers and easier procedures.

We have got to double down and triple down on testing, says Democratic Rep. Max Rose, from hard-hit New York City. We have to ID nonsymptomatic carriers. Thats the only way well be able to [revive] this economy.

Ironically, the president called South Korean President Moon Jae-in this week to inquire about buying medical equipment. Would that he had asked advice about the South Korean model  which would require him to enable states and cities to test big, right now.
Representative Image

Six in 10 people infected with the coronavirus may reportedly be asymptomatic  which means they do not yet display symptoms of the disease and are hence unaware they have it.

Several studies on the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have substantiated this finding, making scientists push for stringent social distancing measures, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported.

The spread, termed as community transmission, has given proof that many infected people have not had contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19 but have still caught the virus, as per an article in the science journal Nature.

Head researcher Wu Tangchun, a public health expert at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, said at least 59 percent of infected individuals moved around without being tested and potentially infecting others. This also explains how the virus spread at such a large scale, he added.

This research used latest data of compiled clinical information from 26,000 laboratories which reported to the Wuhan health commission and raises questions on a February report by the World Health Organisation-China joint mission which noted that 'the proportion of truly asymptomatic infections is unclear but appears to be relatively rare and does not appear to be a major driver of transmission'.

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

This differs from unreported cases as a majority of the countries have so far carried out tests for those showing symptoms. For example, Wuhan had as many as 37,000 asymptomatic people, who were under the radar, research showed.

Further supporting the findings, Iceland  which has tested more inhabitants than most countries, has found that half of those who tested positive were asymptomatic, the report added.

As many as 18 percent people from the 700 who tested positive aboard the Diamond Princess were also asymptomatic. Among the 565 Japanese nationals evacuated from Wuhan in February, 31 percent never developed symptoms but tested positive.
The isolation is, of course, even more profound for those who are infected with, or are being evaluated for, coronavirus. I took care of one such patient who was intubated when he started coughing up blood on the general medical floor. He was alone in his room, on FaceTime with his daughter, when it started. So that is the last image she has of her father  on a shaky computer screen, blood staining his hospital gown. I offer her updates over the phone, but the truth is that I am not sure when she will be able to see him again.

Or even if she will be able to see him. The devastating image of the lonely deaths of coronavirus patients in Italy hangs over us all. Talking with one of the nurse practitioners in our hospitals new Covid-19 I.C.U. one recent night, I asked what worried her most. Patients dying alone, she replied quickly.

A doctor next to her nodded in sad agreement. On a recent shift, he had intubated an elderly husband and wife, both of whom had severe respiratory failure from coronavirus. Their daughter asked if she could come in to see them. Though we will make exceptions for many end-of-life visits, in this case, he had to say no  they all lived together, the daughter had a fever herself, and as a result could risk infecting other hospitalized patients. Which means that if her parents die of this, they will do so in separate sterile hospital rooms, far from anyone who loves them.

So its up to us, the health care workers who are seeing these patients at the front lines, to find ways to maintain connection, to balance our fear with tenderness. This wont be easy. I think of myself as the kind of doctor who sits at a bedside, who holds a hand, who explains what is going on slowly and gently even to my intubated patients because I cant know what they will remember. I want to be the doctor who is always willing to spend a few extra minutes despite being stressed or rushed.

But that is not the kind of doctor I have been for the past few weeks. Because I dont want to spend a moment longer in a Covid-19 patients room than I have to. Even with a mask firmly in place, even with a gown and eye protection, I do not want to share the same air. So I do what I need to do and then I leave. I dont take the time to reassure, to explain, surely not to hold a hand. Truth is, I am scared.
(Photo : REUTERS/Andreas Gebert) A medical employee presents a smear taken at a special corona test center for public service employees such as police officers, nurses and firefighters during a media presentation as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Munich, Germany, March 23, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Christian Hartmann) French rescue team wearing protective suits carry a patient on a stretcher from Mulhouse hospital before being loaded into a helicopter as France faces an aggressive progression of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), March 23, 2020.

A new, persistent, tickly cough and temperature measuring above 37C--These, according to NHS guidance, are the two tell-tale signs and symptoms of COVID-19. But, because of the wide variety of cases explodes across the world, patients themselves are reporting exceptional signs altogether.

According to them, it may vary from sore eyes to slight tiredness. For most, the cough and fever crop up to their infection, once they've unknowingly infected others.

Dr. Edward Wright, virologist and senior microbiology professor at the University of Sussex, told DailyMail that five to ten cases might be undetected because their symptoms might be atypical, or they could have none at all.'

ALSO READ: New Study Found One in Three COVID-19 Positives are 'Silent Carriers': Guess Which Country Has Them Most

How do you know if you have it?

Government advice could advise that the signs and symptoms are smooth to detect. Based on studies, at least 82% of sufferers will see a new, persistent cough, and 98% could have a temperature above 37 degrees.

Yet, sufferers themselves have defined a wide range of early symptoms, easily mistaken for 'jet lag,' the effects of an 'intensive gym workout' or being 'generally run down.'

Lidia Puerta, a 26-year-old former scholar at Imperial College London who is eight months pregnant, defined the early as 'just exhaustion.'

Since then, Lidia, who is from Spain, says she has been 'absolutely asymptomatic.' She said she felt tired and was able to sleep well.

Lidia sought medical help because she was 'over-cautious' given she's from a high-risk area and being eight months pregnant. She told DailyMail she wouldn't have rushed to do the test if she wasn't pregnant.

London-based GP Clare Gerada, who tested positive for the virus on Friday, Mar. 13, clearly felt jet lag at first.

Gerada's initial symptoms had been so mild, and she went to work on Monday, Mar. 23. It was 48 hours after the first warning signs that things took things for granted.

Gerada, who's the previous chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said her cough was dry, itchy, and painful. Despite this, she managed to treat herself at home with paracetamol.

ALSO READ: Using Ibuprofen and Other Household Drugs Make Coronavirus Worse, Warns French Minister

One 43-year-old patient, who does not want to be named for fear it could jeopardize his job, likened his initial signs to an extensive exercise regime.

The meant tell-tale cough came almost a week after the original complaints.

So are we looking out for the wrong signs?

Dr. Wright said cough and fever are "dependable signs" of this unique virus.

He explained coronaviruses usually result in a fever and high temperature, which are the physical signs that the immune system is kicking in and attacking the virus.

"It's only once the virus replicates, slightly further into the infection, that it can cause damage to the upper respiratory tract, which can result in cough and soreness," Wright said.

He said the immune system would be more alert to different items if the person is "young and healthy." Hence, they would be more likely to experience more significant fever-like symptoms faster.

However, scientists haven't figured out why some feel signs quicker than others yet. Hence Wright pushes for community testing for people that don't have symptoms for experts to spot for possible cases before they develop symptoms and are infectious.

ALSO READ: New Scientifc Warning: Coronavirus Will Be More Dangerous Than Seasonal Flu and Will Remain Forever!

Last week, American researchers claimed a few patients were reporting 'nausea or diarrhea' - despite many symptom-checkers that have been posted indicating this becomes rare.

Do people need to take severe precautions with even the slightest sniffle?

So do people need to people with even the slightest sniffle take serious precautions? Definitely, says Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology at Nottingham University.

Ball pointed out emerging data suggesting that in as much as 70% of the infection cases will present with symptoms similar to a common cold.

"[Assuming] one can easily transmit the virus wouldn't be unreasonable," explained Ball.

Wright agreed with Ball's statement, saying coronaviruses generally cause cold-like symptoms along with runny noses and muscle aches.

'With this particular type of coronavirus, Wright said cough and fever appear to be mainly common, but you don't always get those.

The motive why otherwise healthy individuals come to be so desperately sick from this virus is currently unknown, according to Dr. Wright.

He said scientists don't have a clear picture of why some people may also have mild disease and others severe. The condition has something to do with genetics, but Wright explained coronavirus could replicate more rapidly, killing extra cells.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Mizoram government has constituted a committee to find out the possibility for setting up a virology laboratory to test samples of suspected coronavirus patients, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Headed by state Health Secretary H Lalengmawia, the committee consists of 10 members, the official said.

Dr Gracy Laldinmawii, an assistant professor in the Microbiology department of Zoram Medical College (ZMC) has been appointed as the member secretary of the committee.

The official said that the state government is making massive effort to set up a coronavirus testing laboratory at the ZMC.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress has asked the state government to stock adequate personal protective equipment for officials and medical teams as it has been done in Meghalaya.

The party also asked the state government to provide adequate protective masks, hand gloves and sanitizers to volunteers across the state as they have been entrusted to maintain round-the-clock vigil during the partial statewide lockdown.

It also demanded relief measures for daily wage workers as they are on the verge of facing food shortage due to the partial lockdown.

The leader of main opposition Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM), Lalduhoma, asked the state government to set up a 24x7 duty to assess the situation and deal with any matter related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Lalduhoma alleged that around 438 non-tribals (outsiders) have entered the state by flights between March 9 and 18 and are moving around the state.

I appeal to the state government to pursue the non- tribals and place them under home quarantine because most of them came to Mizoram from coronavirus affected states, Lalduhoma said.

Meanwhile, state Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai has prohibited strike and agitation by any group or an individual associated with the supply of essential commodities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EUGENE, Ore. -- Police are seeking information in connection with a shots fired call on Sunday.

Police responded to the 1400 block of W. 12th Avenue after midnight. They said multiple shots were fired into a home. No one was injured.

If you have information, call 541-682-5111 and reference case 20-05244.
[March 24, 2020] MIT Sloan group releases tools and recommendations to prevent health system collapse

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, states should focus on preventing the spread of COVID-19 at high-risk sites, such as nursing homes, and in high-risk localities, the COVID-19 Policy Alliancea group of experts brought together by two professors at the MIT Sloan School of Managementsaid in a presentation released today. The Alliance also put online a set of data analytic tools to enable states to identify the highest risk facilities and localitiesthose with clusters of individuals over 65 or with relevant health issues. The Alliance analysis indicates that one of the factors possibly leading to the high fatality rate in Italy was that sick people from areas with concentrations of high-risk individuals overwhelmed hospitals, creating a domino effect that led to skyrocketing death rates. The Alliance has developed tools to identify institutions and counties in every state in the U.S. that have the same characteristics as the points in Italy that put its health care system into a tailspin. For example, the data tools not only show where nursing homes are and how many people reside in them, but show which nursing homes have had the most problems previously with infections. For counties, the tools show not only areas with high numbers of elderly, but also those with high numbers of individuals of all ages suffering from diabetes, obesity and other conditions that create COVID-19 risk



A 15-minute webinar describing the Alliance's tools and recommendations for U.S. federal, state and local policymakers is here. The webinar expands on a slide deck that lays out the analysis and guidance. The COVID-19 Policy Alliance was launched on March 11 by Professors Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Retsef Levi, the J. Spencer Standish Professor of Operations Management. They pulled together a team of experts from across MIT and elsewhere to analyze the available data on the pandemic. The tools will be updated as more data and analysis are available.

Levi said, "We want to help states make data-based decisions that can save lives. Focusing on the sites and areas that are most likely to lead hospitals to crash is key." Johnson said, "Hospitals are a critical line of defense in the ongoing battle against COVID-19. We must focus now on preventing our world-renowned hospital systems from collapsing." About the MIT Sloan School of Management

The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu. For further information, contact: Paul Denning

Director of Media Relations, MIT Sloan

617-253-0576

[email protected] Simon Johnson

Professor, MIT Sloan

[email protected] For media inquiries: COVID-19 Policy Alliance Media Team, [email protected] For research and partnership inquiries: COVID-19 Policy Alliance, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mit-sloan-group-releases-tools-and-recommendations-to-prevent-health-system-collapse-301029027.html SOURCE MIT Sloan School of Management

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During this time, regular board meetings may continue to take place electronically and wont require members to be present physically in order to have a quorum, though meetings must still be simulcast for the public to see. Starting Wednesday, the number of public participation slots is 15, about one-quarter of the usual number. Each speaker still gets two minutes. Speakers can register to call in until 5 p.m. Tuesday as long as there are open spots, and others can submit written comments to the board by emailing boe@cps.edu or by mail.
Kerala on Monday announced a state-wide lockdown until the end of March after it reported 28 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 95 in the state so far.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation in the state is serious and the government will do everything possible to come out of this.

He said the 28 fresh cases were detected on Monday taking the total number of affected to 95including the four patients discharged earlier.

Highlights The maximum number of affected at 19 was in Kasaragod Out of the 28 cases detected, 25 returned from Dubai and three others are secondary infections No public transport vehicles will be allowed but cargo carriers can run. All essential services will operate and private vehicles will also be allowed.

We are going through a difficult situation. We have to face it united. The government is on the forefront in the battle against the enemy. All will have to obey its directive in letter and spirit, he said.

The maximum number of affected at 19 was in Kasaragod in north Kerala. Out of the 28 cases detected, 25 returned from Dubai and three others are secondary infections, officials said.

The number of people under observation also rose sharply to 64,320 and out of these 63,937 were in homes and 383 in hospitals. At least 2987 were tested negative and more than 500 results are awaited.

Also read: Hundreds booked for breach as India toughens lockdown over coronavirus

Last month, three patients were discharged after they tested negative and another was discharged in Kannur in north Kerala on Monday. They had returned from China.

Under the strict measures enforced by the government, no public transport vehicles will be allowed but cargo carriers can run. Similarly, all essential services will operate and private vehicles will also be allowed.

Crowding of people will not be allowed anywhere and if necessary district collectors can clamp Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The chief minister said people who are found outside their home will be arrested in the worst-affected Kasaragod. He said restaurant can work but they will be allowed only home delivery.

The government has also decided to arrange accommodation for health workers near their hospitals. Migrant workers, who were stranded without work in the state, will be provided free food and accommodation facilities.

Kerala is home to at least 30 lakh migrant workers from north-east and north.

As the situation turned serious, the government also decided to recruit more health personnel and arrange more beds in hospitals. Similarly, it has also roped in private hospitals.

Also read: 5 things you shouldnt search about coronavirus

Kerala was the first to report Covid-19 cases in the country in January after three medical students returned from Chinas Wuhan, where the virus broke out first.

All three were later discharged and the state was keeping a strict vigil but as people started flocking from other countries including the Gulf and Europe the number rose steadily.

Kerala has a huge expatriate population with around 28 lakh and 70% of them are in the Middle East. The density of population is also quite high in the state at 860 persons per sq/km.

India has reported 471 Covid-19 cases and nine deaths so far.

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Police have warned they could be inundated with calls over breaches of Boris Johnson's coronavirus lockdown rules.

On Monday, the Prime Minister said tougher restrictions on people's movements during the crisis would be enforced by police and warned those ignoring them would be fined.

Officers will have powers to disperse gatherings under a ban on meetings of more than two people apart from those who live together.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister issued a clear instruction on behalf of the Government on the actions the public are required to take to help prevent the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.

'As with existing laws, the overwhelming majority of the public can be expected to follow the rules without any need for enforcement action.

Police patrol London Bridge Station today after Boris Johnson announced that Britons can only leave their homes for essential reasons or may be fined

'We would expect that compliance to begin immediately.'

The punishment would be a fixed penalty notice initially set at 30 but 'we will keep this under review and can increase it significantly if it is necessary to ensure public compliance'.

'You would expect the police's focus to be dispersal of groups,' the Prime Minister's spokesman said.

Failure to pay a penalty notice could be subject to criminal proceedings and a conviction, he added.

Regulations will be made by Thursday at the latest to allow police to issue fines under the 1984 Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act for England and Wales.

The emergency legislation going through the House of Commons will provide equivalent powers to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Earlier, Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, told BBC Breakfast there was 'a huge amount of clarification needed' on the rules.

Police chiefs warned of phone lines being inundated with calls after Mr Johnson's statement, with questions about what movements are still permitted.

West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson said the force is 'already receiving many calls on potential breaches of these arrangements' and said the public could ring 101 with information about large-scale breaches.

On Monday, Boris Johnson said tougher restrictions on people's movements during the crisis would be enforced by police and warned those ignoring them would be fined

Asked how social distancing rules would be enforced by police, Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Ultimately, if people do refuse to abide by the rules then we will need to enforce them.'

However, he said the legislation has not been enacted yet.

The NPCC later said officers would not be deployed on patrol specifically to police social distancing rules but will 'remain patrolling their communities as always'.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents officers in London, told Sky News the new measures will be a 'real challenge' and 'very difficult'.

He added: 'We will be dealing with it, but I'm not sure we will have the resources to be able to see it through.'

John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, had previously told the PA news agency he 'cannot imagine' how officers would police social distancing, adding: 'I just cannot rationally think how that would work.'
The human cost of sealing off a province of tens of millions of people for two months may not become clear for months or even years. While experts have praised Chinas stringent lockdowns for containing the virus, the measures also came at a great price to peoples livelihoods and personal liberties.

In a sign of how the outbreak  and the governments early attempts to conceal it  has eroded public trust, the apparent absence of new infections in Wuhan was not met with universal celebration. Instead, many worried that the government had failed to disclose or discover a much larger number of infections than the 81,171 cases to date.

While China on Thursday reported zero new locally transmitted infections for the first time, users on Chinese social media the next day circulated photographs of notices from certain Wuhan neighborhoods which appeared to announce newly detected cases.

The outcry and confusion were such that the Wuhan government released a statement on its official social media account on Sunday to rebut the assertions that the authorities were hiding new cases. Some of the cases cited in the photos had already been counted and reported earlier, the government said. Another patient who had tested positive was asymptomatic, and so would be monitored but not count as a confirmed case until he showed symptoms, the statement said.

Chinese officials count only patients with both symptoms and a positive test in their official tally of confirmed cases. The approach is at odds with the World Health Organizations guidance that all people who test positive should be considered confirmed cases regardless of whether they show symptoms.
As the effects of the novel coronavirus continue to ripple around the globe, institutions and individuals are implementing various forms of social distancing protocols and remote work arrangements. And as self- or government-imposed quarantines become necessary, technology is evolving alongside newfound needs.A remarkable event recently took place in China. Local authorities and drone companies accelerated their drone delivery pilot programs as the health crisis peaked. In the past month, according to preliminary reports , drone operators made thousands of drone flights in affected regions, totaling 11 tons of parcel and medical deliveries. The roundtrip flights not only helped prevent virus spread but also provided a glimpse into the global race to commercialize on-demand parcel and medical supply deliveries via drone.As if on cue last month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to certify drone service , clearing a path for some package deliveries by companies like Amazon. The benefits for this type of service are increasingly obvious, yet current federal plans may create undue animosity between the drone industry, state governments and their residents.Consider a case from the summer of 2015, in which a polarizing scenario involving guns, privacy and technology unfolded at William Merediths Kentucky residence. As he, his friends, and family were grilling in his backyard, Merediths young daughter alerted him to a small drone flying over the neighborhood, which wasnt the first drone sighting near his house. Annoyed, he retrieved his shotgun from his home, and when the drone crossed his property line, he shot it out of the sky.The drones owner, a neighbor, called the police upon discovering his destroyed drone. Meredith was then arrested and charged under local law for firing a gun in a populated area. At the highly publicized trial in state court, the judge dismissed the charges with a brief statement that Meredith was justified in shooting because of the invasion of privacy.The core dispute is one that many Americans have wondered as drones go mainstream: Where does my property line end and drone airspace begin? As drone technology advances and regular flight paths sprout up, local authorities and residents will need to have more input over drone operations if the industry is to thrive.Theres great potential for drones to provide new services and skilled jobs. Investors have devoted a few billion dollars to commercial drone companies in the past decade . Most of that activity is based in the United States, yet tens of thousands of postal and medical deliveries via drone have been completed in countries as geographically and politically diverse as Switzerland, Rwanda, Iceland, and China.Closer to home, utilities, cellular operators, and railroads use drones for inspections. The next drone opportunity is securing a sliver of the $30 billion home delivery market . Consumers want same-day grocery deliveries and Amazon Prime packages, and courier companies are looking to drones to make delivery faster, cheaper, and  by taking five-ton delivery vehicles off the roads  better for the environment. Ground traffic congestion would also benefit. Companies like Walmart, Amazon, Uber, and Walgreens are all investing in U.S. drone delivery services as the sector rapidly matures.Some airspace regulation maximalists within the FAA and industry believe  as a top drone official at the FAA opined in 2014  that drones expand the FAAs regulatory reach all the way down to the tips of grass in backyards, private woodlands, and farm fields all across the country.That view represents a massive expansion of federal authority at tension with Supreme Court rulings and common law principles of property ownership. To counteract simmering resistance from state lawmakers and city officials, federal lawmakers and a state law commission have proposed to formalize landowners air rights, generally up to 200 feet above the ground. Tech firms and drone companies oppose those efforts at their peril. Though few landowners are rash enough to shoot drones flying overhead, many Americans dont want drone operations and policy to be determined by firms and regulators in Washington, D.C.As with automobiles and telecommunications, federal and state roles for drones should be complementary. Federal agencies, for instance, certify the designs and safety features of automobiles and mobile networks, but states and cities determine local issues like vehicle noise restrictions and cell tower placement. When the technology is safe enough, residents and local officials will want to determine where drone routes are placed.Cities own or control the airspace above public roads, and these aerial corridors could serve as a natural route for drone highways. Leasing out these rights of way would give cities passive income for the use of the routes  and importantly, it would also avoid the thorny eminent domain questions by keeping most drones out of backyards.Drone services have a bright future, enabling commerce and responding to crises. Countries around the globe are already embracing them to save lives, increase crop yields, and deliver goods. Drone airspace use is not like traditional aviation, and the current stalemate over its management benefits no one.The sooner states and cities recognize their proper role, the better.
British Prime Minster Boris Johnson has ordered the closure of most retail stores and banned gatherings for three weeks in a stepped-up response to slow the new coronavirus.

The measures Johnson announced in a televised address to the nation last night are more closely aligned with sweeping actions taken in France, Spain and Italy but mark a departure from the British government's previously more relaxed approach to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.

Britain has already closed schools, bars and restaurants and urged people to stay at home. But while many followed the instructions, some did not.

The approach has led to confusion and caused alarm to public officials worried about the ever-escalating numbers of cases.

There were growing calls for the government to impose tighter restrictions with more rigorous enforcement.

Johnson said that he was giving "the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home".

He offered a list of limited purposes for which leaving home would be allowed, including essential shopping, medical appointments and one form of exercise a day.

Busiest

Johnson had come under mounting pressure to introduce tougher measures in response to the virus pandemic, including an Italy-style nationwide lockdown, after many people were seen out in public over the weekend not properly observing the government's social distancing recommendations.

Officials at Snowdonia National Park in Wales, which had its "busiest visitor weekend in living memory", had urged the government to be more explicit with its social distancing advice.

They said all the main parking lots would be closed and that they are "exploring options to close down the most popular mountains and sites if the situation continues".

Responding to the visibly high use of parks and the London Underground during the virus pandemic, London mayor Sadiq Khan implored people to stay at home unless they "absolutely need to" move about the city.

British health secretary Matt Hancock expressed frustration as well. He said the government would consider locking down the country if the public kept disregarding calls to stop mingling in groups.

Hancock described those not heeding official recommendations to stay two metres apart from others as "very selfish".

The UK had the 10th highest number of virus cases in the world, 5,903, and the sixth-highest number of virus-related deaths as of yesterday, according to tallies from Johns Hopkins University. British government figures showed 54 more people with the virus had died since Sunday, bringing the country's total to 335.

New infections are increasing at an exponential rate, raising concern the country will be on a trajectory like Italy's in a week or two if containment efforts are not successful.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. More than 100,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.

But in the UK, photos of people enjoying the sunny weekend outdoors and of London Underground trains packed with individuals afraid of losing jobs prompted the British government to act with more severe measures.
The shortage of supplies for front-line health workers is so severe in her district that Rep. Elissa Slotkin has started texting sewing patterns of DIY face masks to embroidery companies. In between, shes calling nonstop the governor's staff, hospitals and state leaders to seek help for her constituents from the coronavirus pandemic. And shes doing it all from her familys farm in Holly, Mich.

The military would call this discovery learning, said the freshman Democrat and former CIA analyst, who said she is spending as much as 13 or 14 hours a day on the phone. Slotkin has also held as many digital events as possible, including a virtual summit for 200 small-business owners, a conference call with 300 bankers and a teletown hall that drew 6,000 people.

As the outbreak threatens to overwhelm the nation, more than 400 House members are working to combat a mammoth crisis almost entirely from their living rooms  sometimes enduring the same daily indignities, like botched conference calls, that millions of other Americans are experiencing while working from home.

A lot of us are doing very different jobs than we did two weeks ago, Slotkin added in an interview.

Members of the House have spent the past 12 days mostly hunkered down around coffee tables and countertops as they grapple with the mounting caseloads of coronavirus in their districts and the rapidly deteriorating economy. That includes most of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership team, which drafted a 1,443-page rescue package remotely in just a matter of days.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin leaves a House Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday.

Our dining room table is now kind of command central, said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who has spent the recess holding teleconference after teleconference, including one with Sen. Tina Smith, a fellow Minnesota Democrat, that drew thousands of attendees.

The experience, according to lawmakers and aides, has been more than just replacing Congress ritual of in-person meetings with conference calls. Its a radical shift for a governing body built on face-to-face interactions, particularly for senior members who are accustomed to being surrounded by staff and followed around the Capitol by reporters.

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And its an enormous challenge, technologically, for an institution thats largely stuck in the 20th century. Members are still handed pagers after theyre sworn in, and most staff arent trained in secure video-conferencing, let alone how to conduct a thousand-person teletown hall.

Rep. Max Rose  a platoon leader in Afghanistan before he came to Congress last year  has turned his home in New York City into a one-man war room amid the epicenter of the national outbreak. On Staten Island alone, where Rose lives, the number of cases soared to 935 on Tuesday.

Over the past week, the freshman Democrat helped secure New York Citys first testing site in his district and pushed the White House and state officials to speed up procedural steps, such as approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

We are building the plane as we fly it, Rose said.

Last week, Rose went out and visited the testing site, where he and others have been helping recruit former or retired health care workers to sign up for shifts. Hes also stepped up public outreach, dialing in to a local Fox station as he sought to reassure his district: Now were at war with a virus, not an army, he told the anchor.

The fight has gotten particularly close to home for several members who have been quarantined after possible exposure. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who ended his quarantine over the weekend, has been taking part in a stream of conference calls local TV appearances and even co-teaching an online class at a local university.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) used a videoconferencing system to appear on CNN while quarantining at home, discussing his failed attempt to get a test from the House physicians office to learn whether he had the virus. Beyer has shown no symptoms of the virus and will hold a virtual town hall on Tuesday.

It doesnt all go off without a hitch: On a Friday teleconference call with the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairwoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.), had to adapt on the fly when she was told other speakers werent on the call.

But its a particularly important task for first-term lawmakers, who are overseeing resources and communication for their districts as they make their first attempts at reelection  particularly now that the response to the virus is likely to dominate their campaigns.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) took a virtual tour of the Virginia Commonwealth University hospital system and spoke with administrators via video call. Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), a pediatrician, announced a Facebook Live event in which she and her young son will take questions from kids about the coronavirus outbreak. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) hosted a virtual storytime on Instagram in which she and her stepdaughter read The Story of Coretta Scott King.

Its unclear when the House will return to Washington.

Pelosi and her leadership team have said members wont be called back until there is a fully negotiated stimulus package ready for a vote, though there is also hope that the House would be able to pass a bipartisan Senate deal by unanimous consent. That would spare lawmakers from having to cram into the House chamber this week for a roll call vote to deliver relief to the public.

Dozens of lawmakers in both chambers  including nearly 70 House Democrats  have also called on House and Senate leadership to consider remote voting at a time when the nations public health experts have discouraged gatherings of more than 20 people.

But other lawmakers, including Slotkin and members of leadership, have warned that such a dramatic change to congressional rules would be unlikely, if not impossible, in such a short time frame. That means lawmakers will eventually have to return to the House  with some, like Rose, already vowing to drive instead of taking the usual train or flight.

Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat, said the forced isolation was strangely accommodating for his job at this moment, which consists of a lot of phone calls but zero hours of fundraising or lengthy flights to Washington.

Theres a silver lining in this, he said. Its fair to say Im communicating with more constituents, more broadly and more deeply, right now, than Ive been able to in a year and a half in Congress.

What is harder  Phillips said, after taking part in several days of nonstop calls with his colleagues  is legislating from afar.

Deliberating is damn hard when 435 members are spread out in every nook and cranny in the country, he said.


External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles on the coronavirus pandemic.

In a telephonic conversation, Jaishankar assured Fontelles of India's "fullest support" in the return of EU citizens from India.

The Chinese foreign minister said China is confident that India can handle and win the battle against COVID-19.

"During a phone call with EAM Dr. Jaishankar today, State Councilor and FM Wang Yi expressed sympathy and solidarity with India in the fight against COVID-19. China is ready to share our experience, provide assistance within our capacity and open its channel for procurement to India." Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong tweeted after Jaishankar and Wang Yi's telephonic conversation.

Wang Yi also told Jaishankar that China and India should support each other and jointly safeguard global public health, according to the Chinese Ambassador to India.

"Jaishankar thanked China for its sympathy message and assistance of medical materials to India," he noted.

Wang Yi said it is detrimental to international cooperation to label the virus and stigmatise China. He hoped that India would oppose such "narrow mindset".

US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly calling the novel coronavirus as a "Chinese virus".

According to the Chinese ambassador, Jaishankar agreed not to label the virus and called for a "strong signal of solidarity" from the international community.

After the meeting, Jaishankar said on Twitter, "Discussed with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China our working together in combating COVID-19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation."



In another post, he added, "Reviewed the COVID-19 situation with EU HRVP Josep Borrell Fontelles today. Exchanged views on our respective challenges. Assured him of our fullest support in the return of EU citizens from India."



Coronavirus cases in the country crossed the 500-mark and one more death was reported from the infection on Tuesday, taking the toll to 10.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh health and family welfare department on Monday confirmed the seventh positive case of coronavirus in the state.

In the health bulletin, it is informed that a 25-yearold man from Visakhapatnam district who had returned from the UK has tested positive for COVID-19.

He travelled from Birmingham to Delhi on March 17, and on the same day reached Vizag. At the airport, he was advised home quarantine. On March 19, he was observed with fever symptoms.

On March 21 he went to a private hospital and was later admitted at GGH. His sample was collected there. On Monday evening, he was tested positive for COVID-19.

Lockdown has been imposed in Andhra Pradesh till March 31 in the backdrop of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Arlene Foster has welcomed Boris Johnson's announcement of draconian new restrictions on everyday life in a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

The Prime Minister placed the UK on lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, threatening police fines for anyone who ignores new measures including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.

Backing the measures, the First Minister tweeted: "We need to follow this advice to save lives and protect our hospitals. People should stay in unless it's essential to go out.

"It won't be easy but it's for the best."

Johnson detailed a short list of reasons why individuals can leave their homes as he ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials.

He ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities "as infrequently as possible" and to perform one form of exercise a day.

Or they could seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if "absolutely necessary", he said in a televised address.

"That's all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home," he said.

"You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say 'no'. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

"If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings."

To ensure people follow the rules, Mr Johnson ordered the immediate closure of non-essential stores including those selling electronics and clothing.

All public gatherings of more than two people - other than those you live with - will be barred, the PM said.

Other premises being shuttered are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship. And while parks will remain open for exercise, all social events including weddings and baptisms will be stopped. Funerals, however, can continue.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the move would disrupt people's lives, businesses and jobs.

"I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review," he said.

"We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

"But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost."

He said that "no Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this" as he reminded the public of the support programme to aid ailing businesses and struggling individuals.

But he said the drastic new measures allowing people to only leave home for the "very limited purposes" were necessary to slow the spread of the disease.

"To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well," he added.

Mr Johnson had been facing widespread calls to impose tough restrictions on the nation amid concerns people are ignoring social distancing advice.

His call came after the UK death toll hit 335 and British citizens travelling abroad were told to return home "while you still can".

Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said the Prime Minister had "called it right".

"We fully endorse his call for people to stay at home and to obey these restrictions - it is the only way we can reduce the pressure on the NHS and to save lives," he said.

But he admitted: "This will be very tough on non-food retailers and their staff as they close their doors. We are working with the Executive to establish the Covid-19 grant support scheme, further rate relief and other measures to support local independent retailers in the next few months."

In an earlier escalation of advice, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told citizens travelling overseas to return to the UK using commercial routes that are still running.

"If you are on holiday abroad the time to come home is now while you still can," he said.

Foreign Office staff were working to help citizens get back where routes have been halted due to the growing crisis.

Meanwhile, MPs were debating emergency legislation that could see airports shut and police having the powers to force people with virus symptoms to isolate.

And, elsewhere, WHO general director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said the pandemic is "accelerating" as he urged nations to impose more stringent measures than social distancing advice.

"To win, we need to attack the coronavirus with aggressive and targeted tactics - testing every suspected Covid-19 case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact," he said.

Over the weekend crowds of people were witnessed visiting open spaces across many parts of the UK, at times flouting official social distancing advice.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock had earlier called those who disregarded the advice "very selfish" as he discussed measures to support NHS workers.

He told BBC Radio 4 that he hoped testing of medical staff for Covid-19 would take place "as soon as possible".

And he said the Government has confirmed that all major hospitals have received deliveries of personal protective equipment needed by front line staff and that a hotline has been set up for NHS workers to ring if there are shortages in their area.

Mr Hancock also said that 12,000 ventilators are now available after last week's appeal by the PM, up from 5,000 that the NHS had access to previously.

The severe measures came as Wendy Jacobs, a head teacher at Roose Primary School in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, died after testing positive for coronavirus.

There were growing fears that Britain is on a similar trajectory to Italy - scene of the world's worst outbreak - where the death toll passed 5,000 over the weekend.

The Italian Government was one of a number of European countries to announce new or extended restrictions, with Germany banning public gatherings of more than two people not from the same household.
Scottish Arable Farm of the Year finalist has been selected to be the first AHDB Strategic Cereal Farm for arable growers in Scotland.

Farm manager David Aglen, of Balbirnie Home Farms in Fife, has been appointed the first host farmer for the project in Scotland.

The farm will improve its arable productivity through the formal testing and demonstration of innovative practices on a field or farm scale.

Key areas of focus include regenerative agricultural practices, plant and soil health and carbon offsetting on the 1,300 hectares mixed farming operation.

Each Strategic Farm runs for six years to allow independent research to be tested across a full rotation.

A number of different organisations have come together to form a steering group that will work with Balbirnie Home farms to oversee the demonstrations and drive the strategic farm towards achieving the objectives agreed at the start of the project.

These include Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Land and Estates, NFU Scotland, Scottish Agronomy, LEAF, the James Hutton Institute and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Five local farmers are also members of the steering group.

Balbirnie Home Farms, a mixed farming and sporting estate, aims to improve its economic and environmental resilience, according to owner Johnnie Balfour.

We have identified a list of key themes that we want to explore which will be revealed at the launch event in the summer," he said.

"Trials will then be planned on the back of the discussions and ideas generated at the launch by the attendees.

"Drawing on the expertise offered by the steering group will prove invaluable in realising our ambitions.

AHDBs Strategic Farms promote the uptake of knowledge and provide a platform for farmers to explore new ideas that can have an impact on their business.

They are part of the levy board's wider Farm Excellence Platform, which aims to inspire the industry to improve performance and succeed through knowledge exchange.

AHDB currently works with a Strategic Dairy Farm, Hill of Covington in Lanarkshire and a Strategic Potato Farm, Milton of Mathers in Angus.
An Offaly man has set up a Facebook group to connect thousands of Irish people stranded in Australia as a result of the current coronavirus crisis.

Birr man Colm Cahill travelled to Australia in October last year but given the current global situation, he and his partner have been trying to get flights back to Ireland.

"The situation for Irish visa holders in Australia has gotten extreme," he said.

"Flights are being cancelled by the hour. In the past week, myself and my partner spent close to 5,000 on two separate flights that were cancelled. No sign of refunds for the foreseeable future.

"We are stranded in a hostel having both recently lost our jobs. We have been in touch with the Irish embassy and passed on our details. While that gives some sense of comfort; the advice is 'book a flight asap'.

"Flights are currently going for 10,000 dollars apiece. Airlines are taking money for essentially cancelled flights and then issuing flight vouchers. Most airlines have shut offices and unplugged phones," he added.

With that in mind, Colm set up a Facebook page called 'Get Us Home From Australia (Ireland)' to connect people and share advice. The group is also contacting politicians and government institutions to try and get help with their planned journeys home.

"We created polls asking what visa people are on and where in Australia they are situated. Over 200 people joined in an hour. It has been used to update info, help people source AIB card readers and give info on flights people are due to get," he said.

"It might not be much but it's a small comfort to some. There are people commenting that their visas have or are soon to run out, that the last of their money has gone on flights that were cancelled and some that are calling out for a couch before they are stranded on streets," Colm explained.

"To rent a house now you are looking at a months rent and a month or two deposit. That's not feasible for most at the moment.

"I can't finish this without mentioning how responsive and helpful TDs all over the country have been as well as the Irish consulate.

"I know there isn't much anyone can do but any bit of publicity or pressure feels like it goes a long way," he concluded.
The UK is under lockdown today after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the British people in a televised statement on Monday evening only to leave their homes for very limited purposes.

As in France, people will be allowed to leave their homes to buy food or for medical needs.

Johnson ordered the immediate closure of shops selling non-essential goods and announced a ban on public gatherings of more than 2 people.

Police and local authorities will have powers to disperse gatherings, including through fines.

People will be allowed to leave their homes to exercise but only alone or with household members. Gyms must close as well as all non-essential services such as hair salons. Petrol stations and post offices and banks will remain open. Parks are to remain open for exercise but could be closed if people do not follow physical distancing rules.

Police want more clarity

The police have received numerous calls from members of the public unsure about what they can and can't do. Police chiefs have asked the government to be more specific.

The lockdown is to last for at least 3 weeks, and the restrictions imposed will be under continuous review.

The new measures were introduced amid fears people were disregarding the government's social distancing advice. At the weekend, crowds of people were seen at parks and on beaches and other public spaces in Britain.

Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said the country faced a "moment of national emergency", its biggest threat for decades.

Some 335 people have died after infection with the virus in the UK.
The three men then fled the area with the residents 2016 Honda Civic, which was parked nearby. The car was recovered the following day in Chicago, police said.
Doctors at Delhis Lok Nayak hospital, where six patients infected with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are admitted, have asked the hospital to form a separate block that would include all wards and diagnostics related to the Covid-19 treatment, so that other patients visiting the hospital are safeguarded from any possible exposure to the virus.

They have also demanded discontinuation of general out-patient clinics and diagnostic services.

We suggest that such isolation or quarantine can be done in one block like the entire MAIDS (Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences), new medicine block or the entire orthopaedics block, and these should be declared as corona-treating units with different floors managing various categories of patients, the teachers association of the Maulana Azad Medical College that is linked to the Lok Nayak hospital said in a letter dated March 23.

The Lok Nayak hospital near Delhi Gate has a 34-bed isolation ward for suspected patients and 11 isolated rooms for Covid-19 positive patients. It is one of the 27 hospitals with isolation facilities in the national capital.

Till now, people who are suspected Covid-19 patients are first triaged (order and site of treatment is decided) on the ground floor of the hospitals emergency building and then moved to the Covid-19 isolation ward on the sixth floor of the same building.

Often, patients being diagnosed or treated for Covid-19 have to be taken through the out-patient clinics and the pharmacy department to the X-ray unit in another building, which is common for general patients as well.

Such movements of Covid-19 patients, doctors say, could expose others to the high-contagious infection.

If the test is positive, the confirmed patient is shifted to an isolation room in another block across a third building in the campus. For this too, the Covid-19 patient has to cross out-patient clinics as well as the in-patient wards, according to doctors. Similarly, for using a ventilator, a Covid-19 patient will have to be brought back to the emergency building.

Moving Covid-19 patients from building to building will put the general patients at risk, a senior doctor from the hospital said on condition of anonymity.

Another ward being prepared by the hospital to treat more Covid-19 patients is in the orthopaedic block, which will be located in a fourth building.

While the 2000-bed hospital has cut OPD registration timings by two hours, the clinics continue to function. The hospital has also stopped all elective non-emergency surgeries to reduce the crowd.

Yes, the facilities are fragmented, there is no doubt about that. But the government of India has declared us a Covid-19 hospital and we are doing the best with what we have. We are taking every precaution to ensure that the infection is controlled. We have cut down the OPD, but I am not willing to shut it completely because where will the poor patients go otherwise? We are also reminding people to maintain distance and wash their hands before touching their eyes, nose, or mouth regularly through announcements, said Dr Kishore Singh, medical director of the Lok Nayak hospital.

Apart from the fragmented facilities, the doctors are also concerned about personal protective equipment (PPE) being provided to health care workers. There is a shortage of PPE in the hospital. The doctors working in these isolation wards were not being given PPE and the supply that has now come have stitches coming loose and pores in the fabric. We are knowingly subjecting our people to the infection, the doctor cited above said.

Experts agree that a single facility dedicated to treating infected patients is better than the piecemeal approach.

Of course, moving the patient around across the hospital increases the chances of them giving the infection to others in the hospital. To effectively manage the Covid-19 patients, either the hospitals should discharge their other patients or use vacant facilities  like AIIMS will be using its Jhajjar cancer centre that is not yet fully operational  to treat Covid-19 patients, said Dr MC Mishra, former director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has been welcomed by the Islamic State group as divine retribution. But the coronavirus may also hit its members and leadership, changing the terrorist group in profound ways

The spread of Covid-19 across the world, including the Middle East, has raised the question as to the impact of this pandemic on the fight against terrorism and on the Islamic State (IS) group in particular. Since governments everywhere are preoccupied with combating coronavirus and its economic and social repercussions, intelligence agencies and security forces have been asked to perform important functions and to gird themselves for potential unrest and rising crime rates due to recession, layoffs and economic straits. This has inevitably led to a relative decline in the security and intelligence focus on IS which could create an opening for that organisation to reenergise itself, especially in Syria and Iraq. So, how will coronavirus affect ISs structure and activities?

When Covid-19 first struck in January 2020, the IS newspaper Naba rejoiced, proclaiming the virus a divine war against heretics and the enemies of IS. The virus was Gods wrath against the jahili societies in the world, it wrote, using the term for pre-Islamic societies. IS social media accounts called on people to repent and flee into the embrace of the organisation in order to avoid the contagion.

As the disease spreads and its victims mount in view of the lack of a medical remedy yet, many people might be susceptible to such fanatical religious notions. Indeed, we already see a proliferation of videoclips and tweets portraying the virus as a form of divine. Such attitudes could herald a boon for ISs recruitment drives.

As Covid-19 struck Iraq and other countries in the region, IS offered a directive to its members. Beneath the headline Islamic directives for handling epidemics, edition 225 of Naba wrote: One must believe that diseases do not spread by themselves but by the command of God Almighty. One must take precautions to prevent and ward off diseases. One should cover the mouth when yawning and sneezing. One should wash ones hands before putting them in the food bowl. One should put ones faith in God and seek his protection against disease. One should not introduce the healthy into an infected area or let those infected out. One should cover the pot and secure the waterskin tightly.

This seven-point directive, issued only two weeks after the proclamation that the contagion was aimed at sinful and pagan societies, suggests that some of ISs members themselves may have been afflicted. This, in turn, means that they are not isolated from their geographic and demographic environments wherever they are operating. In fact, there may be considerable contact between these members and local communities in parts of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya or elsewhere where IS and its affiliates are most active. Hence the need for the directive.

Coronaviruss impact on IS and its affiliates has varied according to their geographical location and organisational structure. The branches in the Sahel and Sahara in Africa differ from their counterparts elsewhere in terms of contact with local inhabitants. The cells in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, East Asia and the Caucasus interact more closely with their local environments than the groups in the Sahel and Sahara and West and Central Africa where they largely operate in desert areas away from heavily populated areas. This is undoubtedly what spared IS affiliates in Africa from the Ebola virus epidemic in 2017. Clearly then, when studying the impact of Covid-19 on IS, it makes sense to divide the terrorist organisation into two categories: the branches in West and Central Africa, and those in Southwest, Central and Southern Asia.

In the latter category, the viruss potential impact on IS members may turn out to be even higher than it is among the local populations in which they mingle, because they tend to avoid hospitals for fear of detection and arrest. This may also explain the speed with which IS command released the abovementioned seven-point directive. More significant is the shift in diagnosis of the virus as a manifestation of the wrath of God against heretic societies to a more general divinely ordained affliction. Perhaps this came in recognition of the probability that the spread of coronavirus could severely damage the organisations structure and capacities as it takes out highly trained fighters.

IS members remote from population centres in West and Central Africa, a factor which spared them from the Ebola outbreak, are much less at risk of infection, not least because Covid-19 has not yet spread significantly to those environs, according to WHO figures. This situation could stimulate a surge in the influence of IS affiliates in the Sahel and Sahara and Central Africa which could work to reorder the organisational structure of IS as a whole, giving greater weight to the African branches over the Middle Eastern/Asian ones.

Perhaps an indication of this is to be seen in the spike in IS operations in the Sahel Sahara and Central Africa, the most recent of which was the terrorist attack that killed and wounded 25 soldiers of the Niger Army on 19 March and another attack targeting the Nigerian army in the Borno region in Nigeria the same day. The previous day, IS claimed responsibility for an attack against French forces and Malian security personnel near Hagana, Mali. Since the beginning of March, IS-affiliated groups in Africa have carried out 31 terrorist attacks in West Africa, Somalia and Central Africa, resulting in an estimated 184 casualties.

IS has made it clear that it plans to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to carry out  and exhort followers to carry out  attacks against European countries. Beneath the headline, The Crusaders worst nightmare in the last edition of Naba (edition 226), the terrorist organisation noted the reduction in Western security agencies attention to the fight against IS due to the current preoccupation with the fight against coronavirus. It said that this was an opportunity for its operatives to carry out operations along the lines of the deadly attacks against Paris, London and Brussels. This explicit incitement to terrorist violence, which identifies potential target areas, should raise the level of alert in Europe in particular, but elsewhere as well.

Although the spread of coronavirus is likely have a debilitating effect on ISs capacities, especially in its focal areas in the Middle East, the pandemic could also serve the organisations recruitment efforts in view of many peoples tendency towards religious fanaticism in times of crisis. Certainly, too, the organisation is determined to exploit this opportunity to stimulate terrorist activity and rebuild its profile. In many ways, it may be possible to use a pre-corona IS versus a post-corona IS matrix to analyse the current evolution of this terrorist organisation.

The writer is an expert on terrorism at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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AMSTERDAM, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Norgine B.V. ("Norgine") announces the acquisition of Azanta A/S, a specialty biopharmaceutical company operating within women's healthcare, addiction medicine and oncology. Azanta becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norgine.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8707251-norgine-acquires-azanta/

As a result of the transaction, Norgine acquires Azanta's portfolio of products, including Angusta for labour induction and Nimorazole, a hypoxic radiosensitizer for the treatment of head and neck cancer patients undergoing primary radiotherapy. Angusta was approved in Q1 2017 in the Nordics, and in Q4 2017 in France and 10 CEE countries. Regulatory approval for the rest of Europe is expected to be filed in H1 2020. Nimorazole has EMA orphan drug status and is ready for Phase III stage development.

Azanta A/S is headquartered in Denmark with pharmaceutical sales subsidiaries in the other Nordic countries and in France. Norgine has a direct presence in 12 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand and has a strong track-record of successfully bringing products to market across Europe. Norgine also has a strong global network of partnerships in non-Norgine markets. Norgine's European experience, fully integrated infrastructure and exceptional partnership approach enables it to quickly apply creative solutions to bring life-changing medicines to patients that they may not otherwise be able to access.

This acquisition further strengthens Norgine's position as a leading European specialist pharmaceutical company.

Peter Stein, CEO of Norgine, says: "Our commitment to transforming people's lives drives everything we do and we are very proud to welcome the Azanta team and their portfolio of specialty products to Norgine. This transaction will enable us to strengthen our business in Europe and ultimately to help more patients."

About Norgine





Norgine is a leading European specialist pharmaceutical company that has been bringing transformative medicines to patients for over a century. Our commitment to transforming people's lives drives everything we do and our European experience, fully integrated infrastructure and exceptional partnership approach enables us to quickly apply creative solutions to bring life-changing medicines to patients that they may not otherwise be able to access. Norgine is proud to have helped 22 million patients around the world in 2019 and generated more than 419 million in net product sales, a growth of 6% over 2018.

Norgine has a direct presence in 12 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand. We also have a strong global network of partnerships in non-Norgine markets. We are a flexible and fully integrated pharmaceutical business, with manufacturing (Hengoed, Wales and Dreux, France), third party supply networks and significant product development capabilities, in addition to our sales and marketing infrastructure. This enables us to acquire, develop and commercialise specialist and innovative products that make a real difference to the lives of patients around the world.

In 2012, Norgine established Norgine Ventures, a complementary business which supports innovative healthcare companies through the provision of debt-like financing in Europe and the US. For more information, please visit

www.norgine.com

Follow us @norgine

About Azanta A/S





Azanta A/S is a privately-owned specialty pharma company primarily operating within oncology, women's health and addiction medicine. Azanta A/S currently markets (or makes available under special authorisation) a portfolio of specialty pharmaceutical products, including Nimorazole, a hypoxic radiosensitizer for the treatment of head and neck cancer patients undergoing primary radiotherapy and Angusta for labour induction.

Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137159/PeterStein.mp4

Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137160/Norgine.mp4

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/597589/Norgine_Logo.jpg
Britain, Germany and Italy are evaluating powerful and invasive tools for what epidemiologists call contact-tracing, the mapping of personal interactions that could spread the virus. These apps would use real-time phone data to pinpoint virus carriers and people they might have infected.

That worries privacy advocates, who fear such ubiquitous surveillance could be abused without careful oversight, with potentially dire consequences for civil liberties.

These are testing times, but they do not call for untested new technologies, a group of mostly British activists said in an open letter Monday to the countrys National Health Service. The letter noted that such measures put human right at risk and may not work.

The new tools would mark a substantial departure from existing European disease-surveillance efforts, which have focused on tracking peoples movements with aggregated phone location data designed not to identify individuals. Italian police also began mobilizing drones on Monday to enforce restrictions on citizens movements.

But there is a powerful argument in favour of more powerful digital tools, even if they shred privacy: They have been used by several of the Asian governments most successful at containing the pandemic locally, including in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.

Last week, Israel took the most invasive step yet by charging its Shin Bet domestic security agency with using smartphone location-tracking to track not just the movements of virus carriers, but their movements for the prior two weeks, using historical data to identify possible transmission.

So far, theres no indication the U.S. government plans to track identifiable individuals for disease surveillance. A spokesperson for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said it was not currently working on such an app. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The White House has reached out to Big Tech companies for help in the worst pandemic in a century, but Google and Facebook both told the AP they are not sharing peoples location data with governments.

A Google spokesperson said the company was exploring ways to use aggregated location information against COVID-19, but added that the location data Google normally gathers from phone users isnt accurate enough for contact tracing.

An AT&T spokesperson said the company was not sharing real-time location tracking with U.S. government virus-trackers. Sprint declined to comment and Verizon did not immediately respond to a query.

On Friday, 15 U.S. public interest groups wrote congressional leaders to insist that the government collect only personal data, including location data that is necessary and proportionate to the need to protect public health. Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts expressed like concerns.

Contact-tracing apps being considered by European governments would, like Israels effort, go well beyond what those governments are currently getting from wireless carriers to identifying hot spots of disease and human concentration.

Authorities at the epicentre of Italys outbreak have been using the data to highlight where people are ignoring stay-at-home orders. Data collected for Italian officials in the hard-hit northern state of Lombardy, for instance, apparently does not allow them to identify individuals. But regional officials did know that human movement was down to 30 per cent over the weekend.

While legal safeguards exist in most democracies to protect digital privacy, the danger of the coronavirus could quickly compel policymakers to ignore them.

On Friday, the European Unions Data Protection Authority cautiously endorsed putting privacy on pause during this public health emergency, saying the 28-nation blocs data protection rules do not hinder measures taken to combat the pandemic. Individual states can override them with emergency legislation as long as it constitutes a necessary, appropriate and proportional measure within a democratic society.
The developing coronavirus pandemic situation continues to send ripples of uncertainty throughout the American landscape, certainly including financial institutions. Fortunately for credit unions, however, we have a near century-long history of providing stability, security and safety to our members when it comes to their financial needs. Through depression and war, the credit union movement has served its members with both pride and admiration for working-class families and individuals.

Your credit union is doubtless seeing a rise in member fear and trepidation as the coronavirus situation continues to evolve. Given our history, we have a unique opportunity to continue serving as a bulwark against scaremongering and misinformation and as a beacon of hope for people when they need it most. Your members now look to you for reassurance about their finances in the midst of a financial and social scenario seemingly unthinkable a few short weeks ago. How can you best do this? By sticking to the credit union industrys history of offering the previously mentioned three key communication points for members. The overall member experience during this time of the coronavirus will define how many people regard their financial institutions for years to come. Now is your credit unions time to shine when it comes to reinforcing these three important member experience elements.

Stability

Credit unions have served as a vital part of the American economy for a century and will be here in the centuries to come. Reinforce with your members that regardless of the tidal wave of crises they may feel are bearing down on them now, your credit union has been there to serve them, is there to serve them and will be there to serve them. In a time of crisis, the human psyche is soothed by stability.

Security

Members want and need to know their funds are both secure and accessible when they need them. Reinforce with your members that NCUA insurance on deposits is still solidly in place and will continue to be so. This is not a bleak time requiring a run on financial institutions and emptied-out vaults. Now is the time for members to know more powerfully than ever that their credit union is a safe place for their hard-earned financial security. In a time of crisis, the human psyche is stabilized by security.

Safety

Since its founding, the American ideal when faced with adversity has been one of tackling it head-on. When there is an enemy to fight or a fight to be won, Americans have shown time and again their unwavering commitment to charge that hill, take that beach, and fight until the fight is won. However, an unseen enemy like a virus is different. Now instead of charging an enemy head-on as a group of determined united countrymen, citizens are asked to fight in a different way; by self-quarantine, enhanced hygiene and phrases now firmly entrenched in the lexicon like flattening the curve and social distancing. Your members need your credit union now more than ever. Reinforce with your members the many ways they can interact with your credit union digitally, such as your website or app. Also, let them know  with an omni-channel communications approach  everything you are doing to make the branch environment as healthy as possible, including such efforts as deep-cleaning, hand sanitizer at every workstation and expanded drive-through hours (if this is something your credit union is pursuing). Your members must know their credit union is a safe place for them to visit. In a time of crisis, the human psyche is reassured by a calming message of safety.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve, often in ways seemingly unpredictable and, at times, frightening. The best way to conquer this enemy is through unity, common sense and courage. For decades, credit unions have provided exactly these attributes in a financial institution, earning the trust of generation after generation of Americans. The way our credit unions respond to the current fight will, in many ways, impact how current and future members regard us for years to come. The member experience must be reinforced, not neglected, during this trial.

The current crisis we face now will prove no different. As we emerge from the other side, the American socioeconomic and financial landscape will certainly look different but we will survive. By communicating critical aspects of this, including stability, security and safety, your credit union can firmly entrench itself as the hero in the narrative of its members financial lives. Now is the time not for panic but for positivity, not for defeat but for determination, not for chaos but for community. Working together with your members, your credit union can and will win this fight.
Virginia Sharma has stepped down at Director of Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn India. She announced her exit on LinkedIn. She has been associated with the company for almost 6 years. Sharma confirmed in her post that she has moved into a new role which she will announce in May.

Sharma said, This decision was largely driven by the strength of the business I have been part of over the last four years. LinkedIn India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and our Marketing Solutions business is overachieving across segments. I am incredibly proud of and grateful to the team we have built during this time  people who are some of the best digital sales and marketing professionals in the industry, and I leave the business in great shape and in great hands.

Virginia Sharma is a global business leader with more than 2 decades of experience in marketing. She started her career at IBM where she was associated for 15 years before she quit as Vice President, Marketing, Systems and Technology Group. She joined LinkedIn in June 2014 to lead their marketing team across APAC region.

She is the first Indian leader to become a Marketing Academy Fellow delivered by McKinsey and Co.

Sharma is based out of Gurgaon and is an alumnus of Indian School of Business, Stern School of Business, University of Virginia, and Georgetown University.
On Wednesday night, in front of an audience of a thousand people, a drag performer from London named Crayola the Queen took requests from her audience about how she should do her makeup. Fans saw her apply contour with a carrot and do her eyebrows with a spoon. After nearly two hours of requests, she then performed an hour-long cabaret set, singing numbers like Lady Gagas The Edge of Glory and Vanessa Carltons A Thousand Miles. She didnt do all this in a packed bar or theaterin London there isnt an open bar or theater she could do it in, thanks to the spread of coronavirus and the ensuing self isolation requirements. Instead, Crayola did it all from the comfort of her living room, live streaming it from her phone to a thousand eager viewers online. Welcome to drag in the era of coronavirus.

I actually cancelled my own gigs, Crayola says over the phone from her London flat. The government in the U.K. hadn't mandated anything yet, but I was seeing what was happening around the world, and I knew what my responsibility was to society: to distance myself.

Crayola is referring to the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic, which has spread across the world over the past few months. But as people are told to practice social distancing and self-isolation to help curb the viruss spread, many individuals who dont have the privilege to be able to work from home have quickly found themselves either without a job or a means to make money. Many of those affected include service industry professionals like bartenders, servers, bar managers, andas a result of closuresdrag queens.

Thankfully, drag is still in the middle of a renaissance. RuPauls Drag Race, VH1s Emmy-winning reality show, is airing its 12th season, and has helped the art form filter into the mainstream. Now, more and more people are coming into contact with drag than ever before, which has done wonders for those in the drag community. But drag as a profession is reliant on performance and interactionwhere other entertainers like musicians and actors have streams and residuals to help them stay afloat in turbulent times, queens and kings need in-person gigs, bookings, tips to make money. With bars and clubs closed, what do they do?

Story continues

I immediately sprung into action, created a little graphic on my phone, and made an announcement that I was going live on Instagram Crayola says. Shed already been doing live makeup videos, so knew how to command an audience via stream, but quickly found a way to hybridize what youd see in a club with what youd expect to see on Instagram. I blended it with how I would actually run a cabaret show, but tried to keep it more focused, chatty, and interactive.

During the show, Crayola asked her viewers and fans to tip her via her PayPal account. After hosting a number of follow-up shows, she managed to nearly reclaim the money shed lost from her canceled bookings.

Live streaming seems to be the easiest way for queens to connect with (paying) fans while monetizing their art. Cash Monet is a drag performer from San Francisco who also teaches dance classes. When her bookings got cancelled, she too turned to live streaming. As an arts performer and a maker, I love drag and going out, but I've always tried to make other things, she says. I've made stuff for YouTube. I've been a video game streamer in drag.I have skills that I can apply to right now. 

Along with her roommates (the drag queens God's Little Princess and Mary Vice) Cash Monet launched Trish TV, a sort of TV network: the three artists each host their own show throughout the week that plays to one of their strengths (Cash Monets is a dance tutorial), with a joint show on Fridays.

The thing about streamingand this really falls into the category of how drag works in barsis that you can't do copyrighted music on Instagram or YouTube, she explains. In essence: whats the actual bread and butter of a live drag show becomes increasingly, legally knotty when translating an in-person performance to a digital one. Doing a drag number will get taken down if the music gets flagged, Monet adds. We all have to think about ways of entertaining an audience for an hour, but also not confusing them.

Like Crayolas shows, the live streams are all free, and audiences are encouraged to tip via PayPal or Venmo. But with so much uncertainty economically worldwide right now, getting people to part with their cash is proving to be harder than in days past. We live in a three-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, says Cash Monet. We have been getting around $20-$50 a day in tips, but that's definitely not enough to cover rent this month.

Other drag performers are looking at revenue opportunities beyond live streams. Just May, a drag queen from London, has been losing nearly three bookings each day for the last week, so theyve started side hustling. I make and style wigs on the side, and will be doing online wig tutorials to show the process. We know how to make a coin, even if the coin isn't there.

Instead of doing gigs, I am focusing on my YouTube instead, says Maxxx Pleasure, a drag king who performs in Brooklyn. I've been thinking about digital drag a lot, really. Even before the coronavirus happened, drag was already inching into the digital realm. This just pushed it full speed ahead.

Though the Drag Race queens have been given a significant leg up with their time on the showlarger fan bases, pre-built platforms like DragCon, and overall brand-name familiaritythey arent immune to the financial blowback from the coronavirus crisis, either. Many say they, too, are feeling opportunities shrivel.

Nina West, who competed on Season 11, says her touring took the most immediate hit. I've lost all my gigs through the end of March for sure, but it's most likely going to be longer than that, she says. For all intents and purposes, I am unemployed.

To cope, Nina recently launched Story Time with Nina West, an all-ages Instagram Live series in which she reads her favourite childrens stories. Shes also writing new material for when things go back to normal, and says shes bringing back her podcast, Drag Cast, with Skype interviews instead of in-person recording.

The life that we knew is no longer. That's scary, but we should also acknowledge that as a reality, she says. Queer spaces across the globe are going to close because of this. The world is going to look different when we all come out of this. We have to be prepared to fight for what we believe in, stick together, and hopefully unify..

Jinkx Monsoon, who won Season 5, agrees that the closure of queer spaces is one of the hardest pandemic realities to stomach. All these bars have shut down, so that means that GoGo dancers, bartenders, servers, and drag queens have all been immediately affected, she says. One of the things that is making it particularly difficult on the LGBTQ community is that gay bars are oftentimes safe places for queer people to find employment, based on their locale or region. It can be extra difficult for queer people to find safe and reliable employment, be they trans or living in an area where being queer is not necessarily safe.

Jinkx says one of her main concerns right now is those performers who dont have the Drag Race bump to help them be heard above the tidal wave of digital noise. There are so many queens who live hand to mouth, local performers working every night of the week to support themselves, she says. Even though it's a small contribution, I've been sharing the Venmo profiles or PayPal accounts or Etsy stores or OnlyFans of people who have messaged me, to hopefully get them viewed by a larger audience.

Supporting your favorite drag artist on Instagram is a really important thing, Maxxx adds. In addition to actual money, social media interaction, likes, and follower numbers are all really important when you serve as your own PR person.

Despite its fissures, the queer community does have a beautiful history of solidarity during times of intense difficulty. That togetherness is visible in the way that drag performers all over the world are joining forces to keep the art alive, like last weekends Digital Drag: An Online Drag Show, a streaming event led, organized, and hosted by the queen Biqtch Puddin. The show broadcast worldwide on Friday night, and featured a host of queens, kings, and performers from all corners of the globeincluding Alaska Thunderfuck, a Drag Race winner and arguably one of the biggest queens the show has ever produced.

I dont want to get too much into it because it'll make me emotional, but collective spaces where queer people can physically go and be around each other is how we've survived through really hard times, and how we continue to thrive in a society where we're shit on a lot of the time, she says. The loss of that, even for a few months, is something that I already feel. But just imagine it'll be when those places reopen their doors: I'm looking forward to those parties.

Alaska and other Drag Race queens have since been booked for an upcoming series of paid, streamed events called Digital Drag Fest, which will donate half of its merchandise proceeds to GLAAD. Its just a testament to drags resilience, and ability to adapt to change, even in deeply uncertain times. Drag queens, Alaska adds, Girl, you can't keep them down.

You can find Crayola the Queen on Instagram here.

You can find Cash Monet on Instagram here.

You can find Maxxx Pleasure on Instagram here.

You can find Just May on Instagram here.

You can find Nina West on Instagram here.

You can find Jinkx Monsoon on Instagram here.

You can find Alaska on Instagram here.

Originally Appeared on GQ
The wave of oil industry spending cuts continues, with the majors now announcing significant reductions to spending as oil remains stuck in the $20s. Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday that it would cut spending by 20 percent, or about $5 billion, and also suspend its share buyback plan. French oil giant Total SA and Norways Equinor announced similar moves.

ExxonMobil and Chevron have suggested they too would be axing their budgets, with Exxon under particular pressure. Goldman Sachs estimates that Chevron needs $50 per barrel in order to cover spending and its dividend. ExxonMobil, on the other hand, needs something like $70.

The majors are relatively more insulated from the downturn than small and medium-sized shale drillers because they have downstream refining and petrochemical assets that have typically performed somewhat better than upstream units when prices fall. Refineries, for instance, spend less on oil during the downturn, and low prices also translate into a boost in sales of refined products.

But the majors do not have that cushion this time around. We are in the midst of a historic meltdown  a supply crisis and a demand event with no precedent. Estimates vary, but oil consumption could be off by 10 million barrels per day (mb/d), or more. It doesnt matter how cheap crude is, if people are not driving, flying or consuming anything aside from the bare essentials, there is no demand boost from low prices.

On Monday, Exxon announced that it was cutting production at its Baton Rouge refinery, the companys second largest in the U.S., because poor demand has filled up storage tanks. Exxon also cut 1,800 contractors from the site. In another example, a major closely-watched petrochemical project in Appalachia may not go forward as the market sours.

The first round of spending cuts from the oil industry is now visible, but a second round is beginning, according to a report from Goldman Sachs.

Related: Canada Braces For Oil Cuts As Storage Nears Limit



We see US oil production falling almost 1.4 mn bpd over five quarters post 2Q20 based on reduced drilling (i.e., before considering shut-ins of existing wells that are likely to be needed) with covered company capex down 35% [year-on-year] in 2020, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note.

However, budget revisions are not over. The slide in spending, drilling and ultimately in output could deepen as capex cuts grow more pronounced. There is no sugar coating it, U.S. oilfield activity will collapse with oil prices well below $30 WTI, Raymond James said on Monday. The initial round of cuts put spending at about 45 percent below 2019 levels, the bank said. However, the declines will be far more dramatic than these initial cuts and we stress that these announcements skew towards larger cap, better hedged and capitalized operators.

Total U.S. capex is likely to fall in excess of 65% with a WTI price persisting in the $20s, the investment bank concluded.

Rystad Energy put out a similar estimate on Monday. E&Ps are likely to cut project sanctioning by up to $131 billion, or about 68% year-on-year, according to the Oslo-based firm. Upstream players will have to take a close look at their cost levels and investment plans to counter the financial impact of lower prices and demand. Companies have already started reducing their annual capital spending for 2020, says Audun Martinsen, Rystad Energys Head of Energy Service Research.

It's anybodys guess how low WTI and Brent go. But more than a few analysts have pointed to the potential for storage to max out as a reason why prices have more room to fall. [N]o one can exactly be sure that production will be shut-in fast enough to not overwhelm our ability to store oil, JBC Energy said in a note. The firm pointed to refineries cutting processing because they are running out of storage, such as Exxons Baton Rouge. In such an environment, it is as possible for Brent prices to briefly go to $10 per barrel as it was back in 1986 or 1998, JBC concluded.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Washington, D.C., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An appeals court in Sanaa yesterday upheld a death sentence against Hamed bin Haydara, a Bahai imprisoned since 2013. The Baha'i International Community is decrying the verdict as "religiously motivated."

After a series of trials spanning four years, Mr. Haydara was sentenced to public execution in 2018. The same court verdict also called for the dissolution of Baha'i institutions and the confiscation of any assets belonging to Mr. Haydara. An appeals process then began, dragging on over the course of 18 hearings.

The Bahai International Community unequivocally condemns the death sentence against Mr. Haydara, said Ms. Diane Alai, Representative of the Bahai International Community to the United Nations in Geneva. At a time when the international community is battling a global health crisis, it is incomprehensible that the authorities in Sanaa have upheld a death sentence against an innocent individual solely because of his beliefs instead of focusing on safeguarding the population, including Bahais.

Mr. Haydara was arrested at his place of work in December 2013. His case has been notable for a lack of due process since his arrest. Not only did he spend months in prison without a hearing, he suffered torture including beatings, electrocutions, and psychological abuse. Mr. Haydara was repeatedly denied treatment for medical conditions that developed as a result of the torture he experienced. He was also forced to sign documents while blindfolded, and, for several months, was denied visitors, including his wife and daughters. Furthermore, he was prevented from attending the lower court hearing when his sentence was issued.

The Bahai International Community is utterly dismayed at this outrageous verdict and it calls on the court and the Houthi authorities to take immediate action to overturn this unjust sentence, said Ms. Alai.

Since 2017, Houthi authorities have targeted and prosecuted over twenty members of the Bahai community in Yemen, including members of the Bahai administration. Mr. Haydara is one of six Bahais currently imprisoned in Sanaa for their beliefs.

Bani Dugal

+1 (914) 329-3020

bdugal@bic.org


The government of Canada offered the promise of evacuation today to two thousand Canadians stranded in Guatemala. But many of those Canadians say they're becoming more and more alarmed as time passes without word on when they'll be allowed to leave.

The Central American nation imposed a sweeping border and airport closure on March 16, stopping all flights in and out. Hilda Rossi, a Guatemalan-born humanitarian aid worker who has lived in Canada for more than 50 years, was due to return to Canada on March 18 and now finds herself stranded.

"It's like being in a prison," she said, describing the strict lockdown in the country. She is staying with her 87-year-old sister in Colonia Primero de Julio, a suburb of Guatemala's capital. "I am really desperate to get home."

Meds run out

Oakville resident Rossi is president and founder of the aid organization Canadian Central American Relief Effort, which has worked for several years in Guatemala's impoverished Merendon mountains.

She said she is relieved that a group of 18 Canadian and American volunteers who came to work in the country this year have been able to get out. But Rossi, who is 73, has no idea when she will be leaving herself.

She takes thyroid medication, which has run out, and she has an 82-year-old husband waiting for her at home.

She said the Canadian Embassy gave her two suggestions. The first was that she take a bus to the Mexican border and then try to get a second bus to Mexico City. The second option was a much shorter bus trip (14 hours) to Belize, but went through a particularly dangerous corner of Central America.

Rossi said that, given her health, she did not feel able to do either.

'Largest repatriation effort ... in peacetime'

A total of 1,998 Canadians have registered with the embassy in Guatemala, and there are almost equally large contingents in Honduras and El Salvador.

Submitted by Melody Johnson

Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that some will soon be coming home.

Story continues

"We've also helped secure an Air Canada flight from Spain, as well as Air Transat flights, including two from Honduras, and one each from El Salvador and Guatemala. If you're a Canadian abroad, register with the government now so we can send you updates and contact you.

"You need to do this if you haven't done it already."

Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told CBC News this morning that his department had fielded 10,000 calls and 14,000 emails in the previous 48 hours, adding that this was "probably the largest repatriation effort in Canada's history in peacetime."

"This scale and the complexity that we're facing has never been seen before," said Champagne. "This is a book yet to be written because no one has ever seen anything like that, where you have all these things at the same time, and you're trying to bring people back to Canada."

Stranded with a sick baby

Shy-Anne Hickey and her boyfriend of nine years Yan Durand left Montreal on February 24 for a month-long backpacking trip in Guatemala. They brought with them their 8-month-old baby daughter Aly-Rose.

"Little did we know our trip would spin into a nightmare three days before our departure back home to Canada," she told CBC News, saying the couple "were in a state of panic" after the country's government decreed the closure of the border and also banned all public transportation.

"We contacted Delta airlines, who at that time cancelled our flight home. They couldn't help, except tell us that in 21 business days we will get an email with a partial refund.

"We contacted our travel insurance, who referred us to the Canadian Embassy. They couldn't help either. The SOS email they keep talking about on all the news channels responded with an automated email due to high volume."

Submitted by Shy-Anne Hickey

The couple was able to persuade the host of an Airbnb property where they had stayed to allow them to return. That meant a trip by Uber to the village of San Pedro la Laguna, in violation of the country's ban on transporting tourists.

Hickey said she was appalled to see a police roadblock at the entrance to the village.

"Looking down at my daughter, who was sound asleep in my arms, for the first time in my life I was scared of what could happen."

On village lockdown

Their Uber driver was able to talk his way through the blockade, and now the couple are in a village where there is a 4 pm to 4 am curfew, with 30-day jail terms for those who violate it. The ban on intercity travel remains in place, making it unclear how the three Canadians would even reach the airport in Guatemala City.

"We are terrified that one of us will get sick, even with all the precautions and isolation. Medical services are very limited in this part of the country. Our daughter was hospitalized various times due to lung issues, so we are terrified. We just want to get back to Canada."

Hickey said that the baby girl is now sick.

Her sister Lacey Hickey, who is also her neighbour in Bois-Des-Fillion, Quebec, said the family is desperate. They tried to book seats on a flight last week at a cost of $6,000, but were told it was full.

"We've asked her if money could help, but she says no, money is not the problem," said Lacey.

Moises Castillo/The Associated Press

Shy-Anne Hickey said she is now full of regrets and doubts.

"I'm sitting here in my bed, tears rolling down my cheek, looking at my eight-month daughter, who doesn't have a clue.

"How did I not know to protect you more? How did I not know to go home earlier? How did the president of Guatemala not let us leave and bring you to safety ...

"Since March 16th, I feel like a prisoner of my own decisions. It is rare to find food. Markets are closed. Groceries stores are empty  We are living off rice, eggs, pasta and bread."

More people than seats

Although Guatemala has approved one evacuation flight, neither Air Transat nor any other airline in the world has a plane that could accommodate even half of the Canadians looking to return.

Moises Castillo/The Associated Press

Air Transat's largest Airbus A330s can only handle 363 passengers.

If those are used for the three Central American evacuations, the flights already authorized by the three local governments could bring out only 1,452 of the 5,264 Canadians who are present in the three countries and who have registered with the Canadian Embassy.

The Central American governments would have to approve about a dozen more flights to be able to bring out all Canadians who have registered with the embassy.

Today, Champagne acknowledged that it will be difficult to get everyone out.

"It's almost like a chess game. Every time that something is closed we need to find a way to bring our people [home] and that's what we're doing on a 24-hour, seven days basis," he said.

About one million Canadians have made it back to the country since borders began to close around the world  approximately half of them from the United States.

"But we have to admit that there will be Canadians who won't be able to come back home and we'll do our utmost to support them wherever they might be," said Champagne.

Both the Rossi and the Hickey families say they remain unclear about the basic facts of the repatriation flights  when they are, how they will know if they have seats, and how they are supposed to get to an airport that is officially closed in the middle of a transportation freeze.
Two heading to Cancun with drugs arrested in Campeche

20 de Noviembre, Campeche  Elements of the Mexican Army detained two people and seized two suitcases after they were found transporting marijuana.

The seizure and arrests took place on a public transport bus in the community of 20 de Noviembre in the state of Campeche. Authorities say the bus had departed Villahermosa, Tabasco and was destined for the city of Cancun.

Trained dogs were responsible for the detection of the drugs inside the suitcases in luggage compartment of the bus. Upon investigation, army personnel discovered two suitcases with 20 packages of marijuana, which totaled 19 kilograms.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend

About 122 people have died of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran over the past day, said Kiyanush Jahanpur, spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Trend reports citing Ministry.

The official said that 1,762 people were infected with coronavirus in the past day.

Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 24,800 people have been infected, 1,934 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 8,900 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 Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
One of the last arrows in the quiver in the fight against dangerous bacteria is the reserve antibiotic daptomycin. It is used primarily when conventional drugs fail due to resistant bacteria. Although the antibiotic was developed around 30 years ago, its exact mode of action was previously unclear. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now deciphered the puzzle: Daptomycin blocks the integration of important building blocks into the cell wall of the pathogens, thereby killing the bacteria. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

When it comes to bacterial infections, antibiotics are the medical weapons of choice -- but they are becoming increasingly blunt. The number of resistances is increasing, which is why many antibiotics are no longer effective against the dangerous pathogens. Some of these active substances are intended for particularly severe infections with resistant bacteria. One example is daptomycin, which was launched in the USA in 2003 and in Germany in 2006. It is used for the treatment of infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and resistant enterococci.

"Although daptomycin was discovered around 30 years ago, the exact mode of action remained elusive until now," explains Prof. Dr. Tanja Schneider from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). There were different theories on how this antibiotic attacks and kills bacteria. One of them was that daptomycin perforates the bacterial envelope and leads to a potassium efflux that ends with the death of the bacterium. "Nobody understood how daptomycin actually works," says Dr. Anna Muller, one of the lead authors from Prof. Schneider's research group.

The interdisciplinary team from the fields of medicine, pharmacology and physical chemistry used a wide variety of scientific methods to discover the antibiotic's mode of action. The researchers first labelled daptomycin with a fluorescent dye that glows green. This enabled them to follow exactly where the antibiotic docks to the staphylococcal cells under the high-resolution microscope. "Daptomycin binds to the bacteria in regions where the new cell wall is just being synthesized," said Dr. Fabian Grein, another lead author and colleague of Prof. Schneider.

Like in a construction kit, the bacterial cell wall is assembled from numerous building blocks. Further analyses carried out by the researchers on staphylococci and synthetically produced bacterial walls showed that two of these building blocks in particular are hugely important for the effect of daptomycin: the central cell wall building block "lipid II" and the membrane lipid phosphatidylglycerol (PG). "The combination of lipid II and PG together is the Achilles' heel of the bacteria," says Schneider. This is exactly where daptomycin comes into play: The antibiotic captures these important building blocks and blocks the further construction of the cell wall. As a result, the bacterial cell wall becomes unstable resulting in the outflow of various ions, including potassium. "The outflow of ions is not the actual killing mechanism of daptomycin, as originally thought, but a consequence of bacterial cell death," concludes Schneider.

"We were able to show how daptomycin really works and to which molecular target structures it docks," comments Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kubitscheck from the Department of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Bonn. This is an important prerequisite for the further optimization of daptomycin. Since new active substances cannot be developed to the desired extent to fight antibiotic resistance, researchers are focusing on combination therapies using different active substances. "The strategy is to target already resistant bacteria with differently acting weapons," says Prof. Schneider. However, this would only work if the mode of action and targets of the antibiotics are known.

The study was conducted in the Transregional Collaborative Research Center TRR261 "Antibiotic CellMap -- Cellular Mechanisms of Antibiotic Action and Production" located at the Universities of Bonn and Tubingen and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The German Center for Infection Research is also involved. "It was only through this transdisciplinary cooperation that we were able to take the decisive step forward and solve a puzzle that science has been mulling over for 30 years," says Schneider.
Both the BBC & CNN have reported on global shortages, with many hand sanitizer brands out of stock. According to Radiant Insights, Inc. the hand sanitizer market is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2024 owing to rising consumer awareness towards hand hygiene and well-being.

As a protective measure against the coronavirus, the World Health Organization advises to, among other things, "wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use hand cleaner if your hands are not visibly dirty."

"Our hand sanitizer is scent free so many hospitals or organizations and customers don't have to worry about perfumes or scented oils. The active ingredients kill 99.99% of the germs." says Apothecary Naturals CEO Brad Kersch. "In response to surging interest in natural wellness products worldwide, this product is yet another of our innovations designed to promote health and wellness with a focus on natural ingredients. "



The proprietary blend contains:

Benzalkonium Chloride is an antimicrobial agent. It works by killing microorganisms and inhibiting their future growth, and for this reason is often used as an ingredient in antibacterial hand wipes and antiseptic creams. It is also an alternative to alcohol.

Aloe has potent antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties that help inhibit the growth of certain bacteria that can cause infections in humans.

Tea Tree oil - makes an ideal natural hand sanitizer. Studies have shown that it kills several common bacteria and viruses responsible for causing illness, including E. coli, and pneumonia.

An Australian company with a similar base ingredient has been fast-tracked tested to be 99.99% effective against the COVID-19 virus in Australia. Geyser makes no claims of this but uses the same base ingredients in its products.

"Antiseptic Hand Cleanser is your best friend," says Kuldip Gill, Head of R&D. "People are looking for the most effective, convenient solution to stay clean and be healthy. Plant-powered products are not just good for human health, they are also good for the health of our planet."

The product will come in four sizes 10ml personal use, 60ml personal use, 150ml foam family pump version, and a 250ml refill. he products will be available direct to consumer through the website www.apothecarynaturals.ca and at leading retailers across Canada.

About Geyser Brands

Geyser Brands Inc. develops consumer product brands in the health and wellness sector that use hemp and CBD as a value-added ingredient. These involve next-generation formulas that focus on the mix of cannabinoids for specific conditions such as insomnia, anxiety and pain.

Proprietary delivery technologies include all natural nano-technology, slow-release mechanisms and non-molecule degrading baking processes. In anticipation of coming edibles legislation, and with its Health Canada approved Licensed Production Facility, Geyser Brands has 15,000 square feet in two GMP facilities in Vancouver, BC.

For more information, visit Geyser Brands' website at www.geyserbrands.com .

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Andreas Thatcher"

____________________________________

Andreas Thatcher

Director and CEO

[email protected]

Neither the 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 contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements or information. Forwardlooking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forwardlooking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the marijuana industry in general such as operational risks in growing; competition; incorrect assessment of the value and potential benefits of various transactions; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; failure to obtain required regulatory and other approvals and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws and government regulations. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forwardlooking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information relating to Geyser is available at www.sedar.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.

SOURCE Geyser Brands Inc.

Related Links

http://www.geyserbrands.com/


Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2020 -- Global Beauty Application Market Report from Advance Market Analytics (AMA) covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market. The market size section gives the electronic equipment market revenues, covering both the historic growth of the market and forecasting the future. Drivers and restraints looks at the external factors supporting and controlling the growth of the market. Market segmentations break down the key sub sectors which make up the market. The regional breakdowns section gives the size of the market geographically.



Evaluate your competitors and understand the business environment, gauge the potential success of your product or service to fulfil ongoing need of addressable Beauty Application Market. Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/114428-global-beauty-application-market



This is an age wherein smartphones and technology are at every turn, shaping the society and hence having a vital impact on the global economy. It is only then suitable that the beauty industry to take its own creative twist on the technology. The industry is now coming up with such kind of applications that assist the customers to shop wisely, watch tutorials online, try on the products virtually, and furthermore allows to edit their own beautiful pictures. Beauty application is specifically designed for the girls & the Photo editor would thereafter help in the creation of a photo with perfection. Applying makeup stickers to the simple photos so as to get a stunning look resembling a real professional makeup artist is one of the main features provided by these applications. If one wants to look more beautiful then with the use of these beauty applications this can be made possible. Beauty Application is a kind of mobile software application that is related to beauty and all the beauty contents in recent years. The related content is all regarding the cosmetics analysis, makeup shows, skin quality tests, color tests and many more.



Major Players in This Report Include,

L'Oreal S.A.(France), The Glam App LLC (United States), Lightricks (Israel), Beautylish (United States), Sephora (United States), Meitu (China), LakUnime (India), GLAMSQUAD, Inc. (United States), Premier Logic, LLC. (United States) and Perfect Corp. (Taiwan).



Market Drivers

- Improvement in the Lifestyles of the Individuals has Majorly Affected the Beauty Application Market

- Growing Consciousness among the Customers Regarding the Usage of Beauty Products

Market Trend

- The Growing Trend Among the Youth for Having a Perfect Look And Looking, Beautiful Will Help the Market Grow

Restraints

- Averse Effect of the Beauty Products on Skin

Opportunities

- Rising Technological Advancements will Boost the Market for the Beauty Applications

Challenges

- Unawareness Regarding the Beauty Applications in the Developing Regions

- Difficulty in Analyzing the Right Products and the Right Amount of Makeup That Could Suit the Skin Tone



Global to This Report Global Beauty Application Market Report offers a detailed overview of this market and discusses the dominant factors affecting the growth of the market. The impact of Porter's five armies on the market over the next few years has been discussed for a long time in this study. We will also forecast global market size and market outlook over the next few years.

Types of Products, Applications and Global Beauty Application Market Report Geographical Scope taken as the Main Parameter for Market Analysis. This Research Report Conducts an assessment of the industry chain supporting this market. It also provides accurate information on various aspects of this market, such as production capacity, available production capacity utilization, industrial policies affecting the manufacturing chain and market growth.



Enquire for customization in Report @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/114428-global-beauty-application-market



In this research study, the prime factors that are impelling the growth of the Global Beauty Application market report have been studied thoroughly in a bid to estimate the overall value and the size of this market by the end of the forecast period. The impact of the driving forces, limitations, challenges, and opportunities has been examined extensively. The key trends that manage the interest of the customers have also been interpreted accurately for the benefit of the readers.

This report also analyzes the regulatory framework of the Global Markets Global Beauty Application Market Report to inform stakeholders about the various norms, regulations, this can have an impact. It also collects in-depth information from the detailed primary and secondary research techniques analyzed using the most efficient analysis tools. Based on the statistics gained from this systematic study, market research provides estimates for market participants and readers.

The Global Beauty Application market study is being classified by Type, Applications and major geographies with country level break-up that includes South America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America), Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Europe (Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Rest of Europe), MEA (Middle East, Africa), North America (United States, Canada, Mexico).



Type (Cloud-Based, On-Premise), Application (Individual, Commercial), Subscription Type (Free, Paid (Monthly, Annually)), Platform Type (Android, IOS)



The report concludes with in-depth details on the business operations and financial structure of leading vendors in the Global Beauty Application market report, Overview of Key trends in the past and present are in reports that are reported to be beneficial for companies looking for venture businesses in this market. Information about the various marketing channels and well-known distributors in this market was also provided here. This study serves as a rich guide for established players and new players in this market.



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Table of Contents

Global Beauty Application Market Research Report

Chapter 1 Global Beauty Application Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Productions, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supplies (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Productions, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Global Beauty Application Market Forecast



This report also analyzes the regulatory framework of the Global Markets Global Beauty Application Market Report to inform stakeholders about the various norms, regulations, this can have an impact. It also collects in-depth information from the detailed primary and secondary research techniques analyzed using the most efficient analysis tools. Based on the statistics gained from this systematic study, market research provides estimates for market participants and readers.
BEIRUT  The camp school is only a tent  cold and cramped, its floor covered by a rug whose intricate pattern is hard to make out under the crowd of kneeling students. The walls are plastic sheets. There are no desks, no chairs, no toilet, hardly any books.

But there is a whiteboard. A teacher has written a series of addition problems: 687 + 536. 450 + 276. 265 + 603. Little girls in pigtails and teenagers in headscarves bend their heads in concentration, scrawling sums on borrowed notebook paper.

The school, in a camp for displaced people in northwestern Syria, serves about 60 students, boys and girls, ages 4 through 14. Most are among the nearly 1 million people, more than half of them children, who have fled toward the Turkish border over the past three months.

They are running for their lives to escape Syrian government forces and their Russian allies, who are storming through Idlib province, the last refuge of antigovernment forces, in a campaign to reclaim it after nine years of civil war.

Northwestern Syria has been in a state beyond emergency for so long that most children cannot remember what normal life is supposed to be like. Shelter, food, medicine, warmth  there is not nearly enough of any of it in Idlib, where a cease-fire has done little to bring people home.

Yet aid workers have kept going, trying to deliver tents, water, food and fuel. Doctors and nurses have continued to provide care. And inside the cold tent in the camp for the displaced outside the small village of Bhora, four teachers offer all they can: a few hours of instruction, a flicker of normalcy.

Their school is called Return School. Were hoping to be back home soon, said Qassem al-Ahmad, 30, a teacher at the school, explaining the name in a phone interview.

Merely attending school can be a hardship. In the camp, many parents need their children to collect wood to burn or to earn extra income by doing odd jobs. Families frequently leave the camp in search of better shelter, perpetually rootless in a situation in which nobody can say what places are safe, or how long safety will last.

Aid groups say about a quarter of the displaced are surviving on one meal a day.

Inside, the teachers pair the students who cannot read or write with more advanced ones, hoping some learning will rub off. Age no longer corresponds to level. Some of the fourth graders are 14 years old.

Vivian Yee and Hwaida Saad are New York Times writers.
[March 24, 2020] Hyperlink InfoSystem, World's Popular App Development Company to Operate for Their Clients Remotely due to COVID 19

NEW YORK and DUBAI, UAE, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the whole world has collapsed. Many companies have stopped their work to resist the Coronavirus spread. This may also lead to losses but employees health is also important, as without them no company will run. Hence keeping this in mind, some companies have given leaves to their employees and some companies have offered the option to work from home. Hyperlink InfoSystem, one of the leading app development companies is known for its commitment. In recent times, the company has completed 3,200+ mobile apps and 1,600+ Websites for global clients. Everyone knows that to fulfill the client's commitment, employees are an important resource & part of the process thus Hyperlink InfoSystem is always prioritizing for their employees' benefits and comfort. Hence the company decided to operate remotely due to COVID-19 and has taken all necessary precautions to ensure that there will be no interruption to the services by considering tha the clients may also have business commitments or critical project timelines to manage.



The company CEO Mr. Harnil Oza says, "The Show must go on, I have focused on clients' commitments and project timeline as well as employees' health and comfort. Therefore I have decided to allow all employees to work from home and deliver the services to the clients without missing any timelines. I wish our clients and all employees stay healthy during these tough times." Hyperlink InfoSystem, top mobile app development company has started its journey from the year 2011 and currently, they have expanded their offices in UK,UAE and USA due to their demand for services requirement and commitments attitude. Due to the COVID19, the team of Hyperlink InfoSystem will operate remotely and offer services without lacking on time to conclude the projects. If anyone needs IT services, they can surely contact the company and the team will get back to them soon.

About Hyperlink InfoSystem: Hyperlink InfoSystem is an established & popular top web & mobile app development company based in New York, USA with its development center in India. The company's talented team of 250+ developers offer world-class services in the areas of Mobile app & Web Development, Blockchain Development, AR & VR App Development, Game App Development, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Salesforce & much more. Since 2011, the company has successfully built 3,200+ mobile apps for more than 2,300 clients around the world. Contact Details:

Hyperlink InfoSystem

Harnil Oza

+1-805-744-1224

[email protected] New York Address:

One World Trade Center,

285 Fulton Street suite 8500,

New York, NY 10007, United States California Address:

607 Arcadia Terrace Unit 201

Sunnyvale, CA 94085

United States View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyperlink-infosystem-worlds-popular-app-development-company-to-operate-for-their-clients-remotely-due-to-covid-19-301028998.html SOURCE Hyperlink Infosystem

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Illinois officials on Tuesday announced four more deaths related to the new coronavirus and 250 new cases, bringing the states death toll to 16 and the total number of cases since the start of the outbreak to 1,535.

The latests deaths reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health were a Chicago resident in his 50s, two Cook County residents in their 60s and a DuPage County resident in her 90s. Grundy County is now reporting a case. The number of affected counties stands at 32.

Also on Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at his daily news briefing that the states hospitals would have run out of beds a week from now if Illinois stay-at-home order were not in place.

Illinois hospitals would have needed more than 2,500 more non-intensive care unit beds and 800 more intensive care beds than they currently have, he said. In two weeks, the governor said those numbers would have risen by an additional 28,000 non-intensive care beds and 9,400 intensive care beds. Pritzker said he was offering the numbers to help Illinois residents understand the gravity of the situation and why hes ordered most people to stay home.

Meanwhile, authorities say the U.S.  which has nearly 50,000 infections and more than 600 deaths as of Tuesday  is on track to eventually overtake Chinas nearly 82,000 infections, but how soon that happens depends on how seriously Americans take the state-at-home restrictions.

Here are the latest updates Tuesday on the coronavirus in the Chicago area and Illinois:

6:50 p.m.: 6 CPD members have now tested positive for coronavirus

The number of Chicago Police Department members who have tested positive for COVID-19 now stands at six, including two who are hospitalized in good condition, department officials said Tuesday.

Interim Supt. Charlie Beck announced the cases, which included two new cases, at a Tuesday press conference to update the public on how the department is responding to the coronavirus crisis.

Beck said no arrests or citations have issued since the stay-at-home order went into effect and that calls for service have dropped by some 30 percent. There have been fewer pedestrian and vehicle stops, Beck said.

All of this, Beck remarked, tells him that residents are following the order to remain at home.

Weve seen significant evidence that Chicago is staying home, Beck said.

Later Tuesday , department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said a 48-year-old woman had been charged with felony aggravated assault of a police officer after she allegedly told officers she had the coronavirus and then proceeded to spit and cough on them.

The incident happened at 8:20 p.m. Monday in the 1000 block of North Springfield Avenue as officers responded to a call of shots fired. Annie Sweeney

6:09 p.m.: Expert answers COVID-19 questions in weekly webinar

As part of a weekly, hourlong webinar focused on COVID-19, the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine hosted Dr. Robert Murphy to provide insight into the virus and its effects.

In his presentation, Blunting the impact of COVID-19, Murphy, executive director of the Institute and a professor of infectious diseases, talked about decreasing the number of deaths. He discussed the mortality rate of coronavirus, its impact on the healthcare system and what measures we can take to lessen its consequences. Find out what we learned. Grace Wong

5:36 p.m.: The face of Chicagos fight against a pandemic, Dr. Allison Arwady, remains accessible in difficult times

In a demanding job during an unprecedented time, Dr. Allison Arwady has become the voice of reason, empathy and insight for many in Chicago, fielding questions from a concerned public in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Arwady, 43, commissioner at the Chicago Department of Public Health, also has become a daily presence in the lives of local residents. In regular Facebook Live segments she calls Ask Dr. Arwady, she patiently and thoroughly answers questions on everything from basics about the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to good social distancing practices and cleaning tips, while dispelling myths and misconceptions.

She also addresses the press often, explaining the spread of the virus in the city and what the public can do to protect against it. Read more here. Kate Thayer

5:07 p.m.: Hearings start on releasing some youths from Cook County juvenile detention

With efforts to release inmates from Cook County Jail during the coronavirus threat underway, county officials this week have ramped up their efforts to address a younger at-risk population: detained juveniles.

Peter Parry, a deputy Cook County public defender, confirmed to the Tribune that hearings started this week for 100 of the roughly 150 youth who have been named in juvenile petitions and are currently being detained at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Read more here. Annie Sweeney and Megan Crepeau

5:06 p.m.: One of Chicagos biggest hotels to shut down as coronavirus upends the industry with closures, job losses

The artsy 21c Museum Hotel made its River North debut in February. A little over a month later, the 297-room property has gone dark.

One of the largest hotels in the city will soon follow suit. The 1,544-room Hilton Chicago is notifying guests that it will suspend operations as of Friday, Hilton spokeswoman Laura Ford said.

Like a growing number of hotels, the properties will be closed indefinitely as the new coronavirus continues to cripple the industry and spark massive job losses and cutbacks that are affecting employees in every department, from housekeeping to the c-suite. Read more here. Lori Rackl

4:49 p.m.: Emergency day care centers stay open in Illinois, but only for children of essential workers

As part of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home executive order, the nearly 10,000 licensed day care centers in Illinois were told to temporarily close on Saturday in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus.

But hundreds of day care centers remained open as of Tuesday after applying for an emergency license to serve the children of designated essential workers  everyone from healthcare providers to pizza makers  during the statewide quarantine. Read more here. Robert Channick

4:21 p.m.: Aurora resident dies of COVID-19, marking the citys first coronavirus death

An Aurora man in his 90s has died of complications related to COVID-19, city officials said Tuesday, marking the first known death of an Aurora resident due to the virus.

The man, who died Monday afternoon, had been diagnosed two days prior. City officials confirmed the situation with the Kane County Health Department, city spokesman Clayton Muhammad said. Read more here. Sarah Freishtat

4:16 p.m.: Judge wont let spat over unicorns horn in during coronavirus crisis

There is much to be anxious about amid the rapidly unfolding coronavirus emergency  but counterfeit unicorn drawings are not on that list.

At least not according to a recent order by a federal judge in Chicago who blasted an art-licensing agency for insisting on an immediate hearing on its request for a temporary restraining order, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has all but shuttered the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

The ill-timed request by Art Ask Agency, a Spanish company that licenses life-like portrayals of fantasy subjects such as elves and unicorns, came in its lawsuit alleging unnamed companies in China were illegally copying its designs.

Included in the complaint were examples of what was at stake: a jigsaw puzzle of a woman embracing the head of a unicorn on a beach; phone cases featuring glowing, airbrushed elfin creatures; and a hand purse with a large purple heart filled with the interlocking heads of two amorous-looking unicorns, U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger wrote.

Noting the real emergency of the ongoing pandemic, Seeger delayed the hearing until next month to protect the health and safety of our community. Read more here. Jason Meisner

4:10 p.m.: Jewel-Osco, Whole Foods put sneeze guards between customers and checkout clerks

Some grocery stores and pharmacies are taking extra steps to enforce social distancing protocols while remaining open for business during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jewel-Osco has begun installing plexiglass barriers at cash registers, service desks and other places customers and employees interact, the company said Tuesday.

Stores are also posting signs and playing messages over in-store speakers encouraging shoppers to stand six feet, or two cart lengths, apart from one another, and placing tape on the floor near check-out aisles, pharmacies and customer service desks to indicate the recommended distance.

We recognize that we provide an essential service to our communities and we are doing everything we can to provide a safe, secure and comfortable shopping space for our valued customers and our associates, Mike Withers, Jewel-Osco president, said in a news release.

Whole Foods is also rolling out the sneeze guard barriers at checkout in all stores, spokeswoman Rebeka Mora said in an email.

Both grocery stores say they have also closed self-service areas like soup and salad bars and stepped up cleaning procedures in stores. Lauren Zumbach

4 p.m.: Family of Will County man who died from coronavirus: Realize this is real and very serious

When Luis Juarez went to the hospital, his family thought he had pneumonia and, like before, he would be fine. He wouldnt be.

On March 15, the family was told the 54-year-old Juarez had been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to his son. He died three days later. A death certificate from the funeral home, provided by the family, said he died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, the coronavirus.

I feel a sense of guilt because we often try to undermine what is happening by ignoring it and thinking that it wont happen to us," said Juarezs son, 29. But it did. I still cant believe it. Read more here. Laura Rodriguez Presa

3:30 p.m. Local college student was stranded in Ecuador for several days; now shes calling more help for others who are stuck abroad

College student Kasia Enriquez is back in her Park Ridge home after being stranded in Ecuador for several days last week with another student on her study abroad program.

Enriquez, 21, and her classmate were flown back to the U.S. after Lewis & Clark College in Portland partnered with other schools to charter an airplane for them. The flight also picked up students in Ecuador from Boston University and the University of Miami who were having trouble finding a way home because of the countrys newly enacted travel restrictions.

Thousands of Americans stuck abroad and facing border closures because of COVID-19 have asked the U.S. Department of State for help evacuating, according to news reports. Read more here. Elyssa Cherney

2:56 p.m.: MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island will reopen to house coronavirus patients

The former MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island will be used for isolation and quarantining of people whove been exposed to or tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Chicago Department of Housing. Read more here. Mike Nolan

2:44 p.m.: Midway control tower reopens

Midway Airports air traffic control tower, which had been closed for cleaning when three employees tested positive for the new coronavirus last week, has reopened.

The employees tested positive on March 17, according to a Federal Aviation Administration website.

The airport remained open while the tower was shut down for cleaning, but with limited operations. Flights, which can be controlled from an alternate air traffic control facility, were initially being allowed to take off one at a time.

The FAA did not address questions about whether other employees at Midway had been tested or asked to self-quarantine.

Only 80 of the 220 Southwest Airlines flights that would normally be scheduled to depart Midway Tuesday are operating, a spokesman said in an email. Some cancellations were due to the towers closure, while others were canceled because of the decline in travel demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Southwest said it expects to cancel about 1,000 of its 4,000 daily flights across all U.S. airports through March 27, after which it will cancel 1,500 flights through mid-April. Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

2:35 p.m.: Officials announce 4 more deaths and 250 new COVID-19 cases

Officials announced 250 new cases of the new coronavirus in Illinois on Tuesday, and four additional deaths. The additional cases bring the states total to 1,535 since the outbreak began.

The latests deaths reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday were a Chicago resident in his 50s, two Cook County residents in their 60s, and a DuPage County resident in her 90s. Grundy County is now reporting a case, bringing the number of affected counties to 32.

Illinois COVID-19 testing capacity is nearly 2,000 tests per day now, and drive-through coronavirus testing began on Sunday and Monday in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday during his 16th daily coronavirus briefing.

Federal sites and private testing are going on in addition to what the state is doing at its three labs. Even with the rapid expansion of testing, Pritzker said Illinois needs tens of thousands more tests to provide a full picture of coronavirus cases exist within the state.

Testing helps demonstrate the actual reach of COVID-19 and informs us how we can potentially isolate the outbreak, Pritzker said.

The state has been taking a multi-faceted approach to increasing hospital bed capacity, setting up triage units and centers, Pritzker said.

In a worst case scenario surge, the state would turn existing hospitals into almost entirely COVID-19 response hospitals, Pritzker said, and many other patients would be moved to other outfitted locations, including closed hospitals that could temporarily reopen.

I want to be 100% clear about what will drive my decision making in the weeks ahead: science, Pritzker said. I understand how difficult it is to see the economy slow down and watch friends and neighbors laid off from jobs. Those concerns keep me up at night, too. But I will say again, you cant have a livelihood without a life.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike called the new statewide case count sobering, as it is every day.

This disease has affected every group in our society, Ezike said. Jamie Munks

2:32 p.m.: Lightfoot says pulling back on coronavirus precautions does not make sense at all

Responding to President Donald Trumps suggestions that widespread anti-coronavirus measures are not worth the economic toll to the country, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said easing efforts to fight the disease wouldnt be smart and public health should remain the priority.

Lightfoot also criticized Trump for spreading disinformation about COVID-19.

As a practical matter, Lightfoot said, Trump cant end the city or states stay at home orders.

The CDC gives out guidance. They dont give out mandates. The federal government hasnt given out any specific mandate either. When and how conditions on the ground in Chicago and across the state happen is going to be dependent on us, not him, Lightfoot said. I dont think its wise given what were seeing. It clearly seems most areas in the country (are) continuing to see an upward trajectory in the number of confirmed cases so pulling back now, in my view for Chicago, does not make sense at all.

She added: Keep in mind, even though it seems like dog years, the stay at home order was just issued last Friday.

Lightfoot also ripped Trump as an unreliable leader, saying he makes statements that are flat out wrong.

The things were hearing on a daily basis coming from the president are unreliable and, frankly, scary because there are people who still credit him as a reliable source of information, Lightfoot said. Were not doing that here in Chicago.

Asked about Trump saying that restarting the economy needs to take precedent over stay at home orders and business closures because continuing shutdowns will lead to an increase in suicides, Lightfoot said, You cant see us shaking our heads but thats kind of the response.

Its unfortunate that we have a leader with such a large platform every day who is not careful about their messaging. Daily, as youve seen the cycle, somebody has to come behind him and clean up the mess, Lightfoot said. The problem is, people hear what the president says and they dont hear the facts. Its really, really damaging to our country.

The economy is important, Lightfoot added, but our first responsibility is to make sure we dont lose lives and were keeping people safe.

Lightfoot also said Chicago isnt in as dire a situation as New York City.

Were not in the same place by a longshot as New York by any means, Lightfoot said. Gregory Pratt

2:25 p.m.: Cook County employee tests positive for coronavirus

A Cook County employee who works on the 11th floor at 118 N. Clark Street has tested positive for coronavirus, Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a letter to county officials and employees.

The employee, who Preckwinkle did not name, hasnt been in the building since March 17, according to her letter.

The room where the employee works will be deep cleaned and disinfected, as will elevators, washrooms and other common areas, Preckwinkle said.

Staff who worked closely with the positive employee are being notified of their potential exposure, Preckwinkle said. Gregory Pratt

1:26 p.m.: Illinois manufacturers race to produce health care supplies

Illinois manufacturers are revamping production to make face masks, thermometers and more as the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic escalates.

Companies are heeding a call from Gov. J.B. Pritzker to help supplement dwindling supplies of equipment that could protect health care and other front-line workers from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and aid in the treatment of those already infected. Read more here. Ally Marotti, Abdel Jimenez, Steve Johnson

1:22 p.m.: Coronavirus pandemic produces the inevitable for Chicago: Malort hand sanitizer

Malort, as any good Chicagoan knows, already tastes a bit like hand sanitizer. And now the coronavirus pandemic has willed it into existence. Yes  Malort hand sanitizer is here. Read more here. Josh Noel

12:50 p.m.: Lightfoot warns against misinformation about so-called cures: Be careful. Theres no cure for coronavirus

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the citys public health department are warning against supposed miracle cures for coronavirus, including one touted by President Donald Trump.

Lightfoot appeared on public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwadys daily Ask the Doc Internet show on Tuesday, where they fielded a citizens question asking whether inhaling steam can kill COVID-19.

Inhaling steam does nothing to protect you from coronavirus, Arwady said. It does nothing to treat, in case you had inhaled coronavirus, and it has major potential to damage your mucus membranes, your lungs.

Lightfoot added: Folks, be careful. Theres no cure for coronavirus. Read more here. Gregory Pratt

12:42 p.m.: First round of Chicago-area coronavirus response grants to nonprofits announced

Organizers of a fund set up in response to the coronavirus pandemic announced Tuesday it has earmarked more than $3.5 million in grants it will give out to some 42 nonprofits in the Chicago area.

The Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund was set up through a partnership between the city, the Chicago Community Trust and United Way of Metro Chicago and it has raised more than $13.5 million since its March 17 launch, according to a news release. In its first wave, $3.5 million will provide grant support to 42 local nonprofits that represent a mix of broad reach organizations that have experience working with the most vulnerable communities.

The first round of funding prioritized support to nonprofit organizations that provide community safety nets, such as emergency food and supplies, mortgage and utility assistance, as well as direct financial assistance due to recent job loss as a result of COVID-19, according to the release.

Nonprofits in the first round include: Alliance to End Homelessness, American Red Cross, Childrens First Fund, Cradles to Crayons, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Inner City Muslim Action Network, Lawndale Christian Health Center, Jewish Federation, Puerto Rican Agenda, Resident Association of Greater Englewood, Salvation Army, and the Resurrection Project - Lift Up.

We have been moved by the generosity of donors large and small that have come together to protect our most vulnerable neighbors, Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust and an expert in disease control and emergency response said in the news release. Through our collective action, we have been able to respond rapidly and provide valuable resources to those working on the frontlines to keep our neighbors fed, housed and cared for.

Donations can be made to the fund here. Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

12:42 p.m.: Activists call for housing, healthcare, wage reforms to address inequality exacerbated by virus outbreak

In another move from progressive groups in Chicago to draw attention to how they say the coronavirus pandemic shows city policies continue to harm people who are already struggling, housing advocates are demanding the Chicago Housing Authority allow homeless people to self-isolate in thousands of vacant units.

While applauding Mayor Lori Lightfoot for making a thousand hotel rooms available to people who have the virus or think theyve been exposed to it, The Chicago Housing Initiative said the empty CHA units should be used as well. Read more here. John Byrne

12:12 p.m.: Forget bourbon and gin  in the era of coronavirus, distilleries (and even some breweries) go all in on hand sanitizer

When its first bottles of hand sanitizer left Koval distillery Monday afternoon, a pivot unimaginable even a month ago became complete: from high-end spirits producer to global health crisis warrior.

Whiskey-filled oak barrels continue to age in Kovals 46,000-square-foot Ravenswood facility, but the 12-year-old distillery has transformed itself in a matter of days into, of all things, a hand sanitizer manufacturer.

As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates, Koval is one of at least four distilleries in the Chicago area, and dozens nationally, to begin hand sanitizer production in a bid not only to be an upright corporate citizen, but perhaps to carve a new revenue stream that keeps a struggling business afloat. Read more here. Josh Noel

12:08 p.m.: Empty windows, boarded-up storefronts dot Magnificent Mile during coronavirus shutdown

Stores, like shoppers, got ready to hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic. Several shops on Michigan Avenue and nearby retail high streets have boarded up or emptied store windows.

Its both a matter of preventing vandalism or theft and getting merchandise to places shoppers can purchase it while stores are shuttered.

Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order will remain in effect through at least April 7, which means no one will be visiting stores deemed nonessential for at least two weeks. Retailers that emptied stores are likely moving products to distribution centers where online shoppers can purchase them in the meantime, said Robert Moraca, vice president for loss prevention at the National Retail Federation.

I think some might be looking in their crystal balls and saying its going to a month or six weeks, he said. Nobody knows.

Some still had merchandise on display. But the Disney store and MCM Worldwide walled off storefronts with plywood. So did luxury shoe and handbag boutique Jimmy Choo, on nearby Oak Street, leaving a gap only for a sign with the shops illuminated name above the entrance.

Others, like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, left windows that usually display merchandise uncovered and illuminated but conspicuously empty. Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

12:05 p.m.: Nurse says she was fired by Northwestern Memorial Hospital after warning co-workers that face masks being used were not the safest

A nurse is suing Northwestern Memorial Hospital, claiming she was fired after warning fellow employees the masks provided by the hospital would not properly protect them against the coronavirus.

Lauri Mazurkiewicz alleges that Northwestern required staff to wear a type of mask less safe and less effective than the N95 model of face masks. In fact, she claims, staff were specifically not allowed to wear the N95 mask on hospital grounds.

Mazurkiewicz said she raised concerns when the hospital began treating patients for the coronavirus this month and she was exposed to people diagnosed with the highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease.

Mazurkiewicz said she sent an email to about 50 fellow employees last Wednesday, warning them that the N95 face masks were safer and more effective than masks provided by the hospital. The next day, Mazurkiewicz said she wore an N95 mask to the hospital and was fired.

The hospital said it would have no comment on the lawsuit except to say we take these matters seriously and we are currently reviewing the complaint. Read more here. Sophie Sherry

11:36 a.m.: Niles man taunts police officer, now you have the corona after coughing, police say

A Niles man arrested on a DUI charge earlier this month is accused of repeatedly coughing on a Niles police officer and taunting the officer, telling him he now had coronavirus.

Grzegorz T. Kuprowski, 52, was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer among other charges in connection with the March 14 incident, Niles police said. Read more here. Jennifer Johnson

11:24 a.m.: Cook County ramps up efforts to release detained juveniles from detention center

With efforts to release inmates from Cook County Jail under way, Cook County officials have ramped up their efforts to address a younger at-risk population: detained juveniles.

Peter Parry, deputy public defender for countrywide operations, confirmed to the Tribune that hearings have been scheduled this week for 100 of the roughly 150 youth who have been named in juvenile petitions and are currently being detained at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Those hearings could lead to early releases.

Parry said there is concern not only about the spread of the virus but the increased isolation for the youth, with school and visits canceled.

Private attorneys are also bringing requests on behalf of individual clients. Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement that her office was reviewing the cases.

As part of our ongoing efforts to reduce the in-custody population and protect public health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cook County States Attorneys Office is urgently reviewing juvenile detention cases brought to us by the Public Defender and private attorneys, the statement read.

Cook County youths are ordered held in detention only after it has been determined that they pose an urgent risk to themselves or others.

No cases of COVID-19 have been reported inside the juvenile center. Two detainees at Cook County Jail as well as a jail guard have tested positive, officials said.

The pandemic has touched off great concern from advocates and officials alike about the potential of a widespread outbreak inside prisons and jails, which are confined spaces that make social distancing a challenge, if not impossible. Concerns over access to soap and sanitizers have also been raised.

So far Cook County officials have identified more than 100 adult inmates at the jail for potential early release, with a focus on those who do not pose a threat to public safety but have health issues, those who are older or those being held on bonds that they cant afford. Hearings for those detainees were continuing this week.

The issues around juvenile detention include not only worries of the spread of the virus, but concerns over growing isolation of young people inside the West Side facility, where visits from parents have been canceled and school has also been cancelled, per the governors order to close all Illinois schools.

All youth have instructional packets from the Chicago Public Schools. Medical and mental health services continue to be provided and staff was trying to provide programming to the youth via video.

Time for phone calls had been increased, and cleaning and sanitation supplies have been made available, officials said. Recreational time also is still being allowed. Annie Sweeney and Megan Crepeau

10:45 a.m.: How much did you pay for hand sanitizer? Illinois consumers file 700 coronavirus price gouging complaints.

Illinois consumers have filed more than 700 price gouging complaints accusing stores of raising prices on household goods during the rush to stock up because of the new coronavirus.

The city of Chicago received 175 price gouging complaints between March 1 and Monday. The state received 526 complaints during the same period.

Most of the complaints filed with the city involved toilet paper and hand sanitizer, but a few also cited price increases on food and beverage products, said Isaac Reichman, a spokesman for the citys Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department. Read more here. Abdel Jimenez

10:40 a.m.: Buying online is no shortcut to getting items hard to find on shelves. Theyre not going to have any more success getting toilet paper than you are.

Think youre going to find online the frozen vegetables and toilet paper you cant find in stores? Think delivery is going to be quick? Think again.

Grocery stores arent just battling to stock shelves in stores. They also are swamped with online shoppers who are placing more orders and buying more. The average order at grocery delivery service Instacart is up 20% so far in March compared with the same period in February, the company said.

Grocery chains say theyre doing their best to keep up with the surge, including hiring more workers, but still warn shoppers could face longer-than-expected lead times or issues with out-of-stock items. Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

10:33 a.m.: Mundelein mayor announces COVID-19 diagnosis

Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz announced Monday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, making him the first local official in the northern suburbs to disclose a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Lentz addressed the issue while presiding remotely over a village board meeting that was conducted entirely online. Reading from a statement, Lentz also confirmed his wife has tested positive for the virus. Read more here. James T. Norman

10:28 a.m.: Lightfoot, suburban mayors want to ensure jail detainees are symptom-free before release

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and suburban mayors are urging county officials to ensure jail detainees do not show symptoms of COVID-19 for a certain length of time before they are released early, as authorities ramp up efforts to reduce the jail population amid the public health crisis.

Public health considerations post-release are also relevant in this time of crisis, and must inform the individualized release determinations, a letter from Lightfoot and other leaders stated. It was sent to Presiding Judge LeRoy Martin Jr., who on Monday signed off on a plan to increase the courts capacity for expedited bail hearings.

The letter was signed by Lightfoot along with the heads of organizations that represent mayors in suburban Cook County.

Two jail detainees and a correctional officer have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.

The letter also asked whether detainees would be screened for symptoms prior to release and given information on release about how to protect themselves against the virus.

Sheriffs officials have said they are testing and treating detainees who show symptoms of the disease, and on Monday Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli said in court she is working with advocates to help educate released detainees about the virus.

The letter also expressed great concerns that certain detainees would be homeless upon release and hoped they would be connected with appropriate social services organizations. Megan Crepeau

10:05 a.m.: 2 staff members at Lovell Federal Health Care Center test positive for COVID-19

Two staff members at North Chicago-based Lovell Federal Health Care Center tested positive over the weekend for the novel coronavirus, according to the U.S. Navy.

One of the staff members, who tested positive Sunday, works at the main Lovell hospital while the other, an active duty member of the Navy who tested positive Saturday, works at the Lovell clinic at the Navys Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, according to a news release.

The two staff members are currently at home in isolation in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to mitigate further risk of transmission to other patients and staff, according to the release.

The Lovell Federal Health Care Center was established in 2010 as a partnership between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, integrating both departments medical care into a single facility. Its staff treats active duty military, their family members, military retirees, veterans and the nearly 40,000 who transition through the Great Lakes training command each year.

An attempt to reach a Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Tuesday morning was unsuccessful.Emily K. Coleman

9:40 a.m. Chicago Public Schools proposes $75 million set-aside to deal with coronavirus impact

The Chicago Board of Education is due to vote Wednesday  in its first-ever remotely held meeting  on a $75 million measure to fund its coronavirus response through June 30.

The funds will support efforts ranging from facilities needs to emergency workers. Find out more about how the money would be spent here. Hannah Leone

9:30 a.m.: Manager at Willowbrook nursing home with 46 coronavirus cases denies claims of shortages

The top official at a Willowbrook nursing home with 46 cases of coronavirus on Monday denied a claim of shortages of staff and supplies, saying efforts have been successful so far to prevent further spread of the disease.

Chateau Nursing & Rehabilitation Center did not have any more cases of the virus discovered since last week, health officials reported Monday. The 33 patients and 13 staff members who had tested positive for the virus were kept in isolation, and six residents had been taken to hospitals.

The claim of shortages at the home was raised by a nurse who worked there.

Tonya Davis, a certified nursing assistant who had worked at the home through an agency for about a year, told the Tribune that she quit recently because of the lack of protective gear and appropriate cleaning supplies.

She was tested on March 15 and found to be negative, she said, but wasnt given sufficient protective gear.

They didnt (give) me anything, really, she said. Just gloves. My face mask, I got at another facility. Read more here. John Keilman, Robert McCoppin and Joe Mahr

6:50 a.m.: City offers transportation discounts, including credits for unused CTA passes and free cabs for the disabled

The city announced on Tuesday a variety of financial breaks on transportation, including discounted Divvy memberships, credits for unused CTA passes and free cab rides for passengers with disabilities, to help residents cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

To help residents who dont need their CTA passes because theyre staying home, the transit agency is offering a prorated credit for any unused days on active 7- and 30-day passes, the city said. Customers with active Ventra passes can receive a prorated credit for any remaining days, based on when the pass was last used, the city said.

All prorated credits will transfer automatically to a cardholders Ventra account, to be used to buy a pass later, or to pay for CTA trips on a pay-as-you-go basis, the city said. Read more here. Mary Wisniewski

5:58 a.m. Illinois settles into stay-at-home as neighboring states take patchwork of approaches

As Illinois settles into its first full week under a stay-at-home order, neighboring states are taking different approaches to the coronavirus. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers order went into effect early Tuesday, while Indiana Gov. Eric Holcombs order is effective at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has ordered schools and what are considered nonessential businesses to close and limited gatherings to 10 people, but has not gone the further step of ordering people to stay home. And Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has not yet ordered people to stay home, even as mayors in Johnson County, of Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty, urged their residents to stay home. Associated Press

Monday, March 23

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates in the Chicago area and Illinois from Monday:

Sunday, March 22

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates in the Chicago area and Illinois from Sunday:

Saturday, March 21
All MLAs of Haryana will donate their one month's salary to the Haryana COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who had on Monday announced setting up of this fund to mitigate the hardship of those affected by the coronavirus outbreak, had made an initial contribution of Rs 5 lakh from his personal savings.

On the CM's appeal to all, the MLAs decided to donate their salary.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Assembly, said all the 31 legislators of his party have decided to donate their salary for the month.

"In coming days, we are ready to help in whatever way we can and offer our support to the government," he said.

The parliamentarians of ruling BJP from Haryana including Sanjay Bhatia, Brijendra Singh and Arvind Sharma have also decided to make contribution towards the fund.

Earlier, Khattar had said that All India Services Officers will be contributing 20 per cent of their salary to the fund as an initial contribution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Increase in incidences of irritable bowel syndrome and growth in the geriatric population across the globe have boosted the growth of the global bowel management systems market

PORTLAND, Oregon, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Bowel Management Systems Market by Product (Colostomy Bags, Irrigation System, Nerve Modulation Devices, and Accessories), Patient Type (Adult and Pediatric), and End User (Homecare, Hospitals, and Ambulatory Surgery Centers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026". According to the report, the global Bowel Management Systems Industry was pegged at $2.51 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $3.59 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2019 to 2026.

Chief reasons for market fluctuations

Increase in incidences of irritable bowel syndrome and growth in the geriatric population across the globe have boosted the growth of the global bowel management systems market. However, the dearth of trained professionals hampers the market. On the contrary, rise in growth opportunities in emerging economies would further supplement the market growth.

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Colostomy bags segment dominated the market

By product, the colostomy bags segment held the largest share in 2018, accounting for more than two-fifths of the market, owing to increased usage in hospitals, clinics, and even home care for the management of fecal inconsistency in adults. However, the accessories segment is projected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

Home care segment to portray the highest CAGR by 2026

The home care segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 5.6% from 2019 to 2026, due to surge in adoption of bowel management systems in home care settings, requirement for device replacement on regular intervals, and increase in prevalence of chronic disorders. However, the hospitals segment held the largest share in 2018, accounting for nearly half of the market. This is due to the fact that the majority of the hospitals provide coverage for different bowel management procedures along with other requirements.

Adult demographic holds the largest share

The adult segment held the largest share in 2018, contributing to nearly two-thirds of the market. Moreover, the segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period. This is attributed to the fact that elderly people are more prone to fecal inconsistency as compared to pediatrics.

North America held the largest share

The market across North America held the lion's share in 2018, contributing to more than two-fifths of the total revenue, due to considerable increase in the geriatric population in the region. However, the market across Asia-Pacific is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period. This is due to increase in demand for healthcare infrastructure, rise in the number of hospitals in emerging countries, the developing R&D sector, rise in healthcare reforms, and technological advancements in the field of healthcare.

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Major market players

Coloplast

3M

Medtronic

CR Bard (BD)

B. Braun

Axonics Modulation technologies

Cogentix Medical

Convatec

Hollister

Wellspect Healthcare

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 23:27:03|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China will take further steps to boost the country's international air freight capacity to stabilize supply chains, the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Tuesday.

Premier Li Keqiang stressed that development of an international logistics and delivery services system must be accelerated to uphold the smooth running of the industrial chain.

With the air passenger services dwindling worldwide due to the outbreak, the volumes of cargo carried by passenger planes have plummeted and shipping costs has risen significantly, said Li.

In the course of the outbreak response, the weak links in our air transport capacity have been exposed. "We must facilitate both international and domestic air transport services, and keep up our international air freight capacity to avert potential shocks to the supply chains and facilitate the restart of business operation," he said.

The Tuesday meeting urged effective measures to increase the country's international air freight capacity and ensure unimpeded shipments. This will both help bolster the Chinese economy and sharpen China's competitive edge in international logistics services.

The meeting called for stronger international collaboration to keep international express delivery and other air freight services running smoothly. Policy support will be provided to international cargo flights during the outbreak. Airfreight carriers will be supported in expanding their fleets by bringing in more cargo jets through lease or purchase.

The role of the market will be fully harnessed and all airfreight companies of different ownerships will receive equal support. The merger and reorganization of airfreight and logistics firms will be encouraged, and express delivery companies will be supported in expanding air services and overseas operations.

"We must plan ahead and harness the initiative of logistics firms in developing an international air transport network," Li said.

The meeting urged strengthening networks of air cargo hubs. Restrictions on peak hour slots for cargo flights will be lifted at airports with strong cargo handling capacity.

International hub airports in regions with proper conditions such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Chengdu and Chongqing will provide 24/7 customs clearance services and improve the efficiency of security checks and clearance processes.

"The manufacturing sector has been the first to resume operation, and experience has been gained in this process. The major challenge is about the clogged supply chains," said Li.

To date, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises have yet to resume full-capacity production, and this has affected the entire industrial chain. It is thus critical that all the support policies for smaller firms be promptly and fully delivered, he said.

The meeting required to harmonize the standards of air freight services, simplify the documentation requirements on freight services, and promote paperless handling procedures. Platforms for logistics information sharing will be developed to serve airliners, post services and express delivery companies, as well as freight stations.

Existing airports will be modernized and better equipped with cold-chain and parcel sorting facilities, and new airports mainly serving freight needs will be developed, said the meeting.
Red Hat Accelerates AI/ML Workflows and Delivery of AI-Powered Intelligent Applications with Red Hat OpenShift

Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today highlighted that more organizations are using Red Hat OpenShift as the foundation for building artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) data science workflows and AI-powered intelligent applications. OpenShift helps to provide agility, flexibility, portability and scalability across the hybrid cloud, from cloud infrastructure to edge computing deployments, a necessity for developing and deploying ML models and intelligent applications into production more quickly and without vendor lock-in.

As a production-proven enterprise container and Kubernetes platform, OpenShift delivers integrated DevOps capabilities for independent software vendors (ISVs) via Kubernetes Operators and NVIDIA (News - Alert) GPU-powered infrastructure platforms. This combination can help organizations simplify the deployment and lifecycle management of AI/ML toolchains as well as support hybrid cloud infrastructure. With these enhancements, data scientists and software developers are empowered to better collaborate and innovate in the hybrid cloud rather than simply manage infrastructure resource requests.

Customer and ecosystem interest in AI/ML

The customer momentum seen by Red Hat (News - Alert) validates the AI/ML findings from the recent 2020 Red Hat Global Customer Tech Outlook report. The report surveyed 876 Red Hat customers on their top IT priorities and found that 30% of respondents plan on using AI/ML over the next 12 months, ranking AI/ML as the top emerging technology workload consideration for companies surveyed in 2020.

For example, Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG) supports the day-to-day operations of KBank, one of Thailand's largest commercial banks, and also provides technology developer and partner services for fintech firms across Thailand. To support the doubling of KBank's user base, KBTG developed K PLUS AI-Driven Experience (KADE) to help analyze customer behavior and deliver a more personalized experience and also launched UCenter, a unified notification feed system, built and deployed on Red Hat OpenShift. Other customer cases of AI/ML solutions on Red Hat OpenShift include Boston Children's Hospital and more.

Along with these customers using OpenShift to accelerate AI/ML workflows and deliver AI-powered intelligent applications, AI/ML ISV partners including CognitiveScale, Dotscience, NVIDIA and Seldon have recently developed OpenShift integrations via certified Kubernetes Operators. OpenShift is also powering IBM Cloud Paks to help customers accelerate their journey to the cloud and transform business operations in support of new workloads, including AI/ML/DL.

Additionally, to streamline the adoption of AI-enabled infrastructure in the enterprise datacenters, Red Hat has collaborated with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and NVIDIA on a new Accelerated (News - Alert) AI Reference Architecture, which offers design and deployment guidelines to help mutual customers bring AI-based applications to production more quickly.

Driving open AI innovation

Red Hat continues to be an active contributor to the Kubeflow open source community project, which focuses on simplifying ML workflows for Kubernetes while enhancing workload portability and scalability. Kubeflow can now run on OpenShift as documented here, and a Kubeflow Kubernetes Operator is in development to help simplify the deployment and lifecycle management of Kubeflow on OpenShift.

Additionally, Red Hat leads the Open Data Hub community project to provide a blueprint for building an AI-as-a-Service platform with Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat Ceph Storage and more. Open Data Hub v0.5.1 is now available and includes tools like JuyterHub 3.0.7, Apache Spark Operator 1.0.5 for managing spark clusters on OpenShift and the Apache Superset data exploration and visualization tool.







To learn more about how Red Hat is helping organizations globally accelerate AI/ML workflows and deliver AI-powered intelligent applications, please visit www.openshift.com/ai-ml.

To experience Red Hat's open source solutions that fuel many emerging workloads, including AI/ML/DL, join the online presentations at NVIDIA's GTC Digital event. Red Hat's experts will showcase how scalable software infrastructure from Red Hat can be deployed in a range of scenarios, from virtualized environments in corporate datacenters to massive-scale services on public clouds.

Supporting Quotes

Ashesh Badani, senior vice president, Cloud Platforms, Red Hat

"AI/ML represents a top emerging workload for Red Hat OpenShift across hybrid cloud and multicloud deployments for both our customers and for our partners supporting these global organizations. By applying DevOps to AI/ML on the industry's most comprehensive enterprise Kubernetes platform, IT organizations want to pair the agility and flexibility of industry best practices with the promise and power of intelligent workloads. We're pleased to help support these initiatives through our extensive partner ecosystem's use of Certified Kubernetes Operators."

Matt Sanchez, chief technology officer, CognitiveScale

"Combining the power of CognitiveScale Certifai platform and Red Hat OpenShift via Kubernetes Operators integration enables our mutual customers to accelerate AI/ML workflows across hybrid and multi cloud deployments. This can result in faster delivery of intelligent applications and more simplified IT operations."

Luke Marsden, founder and chief executive officer, Dotscience

"AI projects often fail due to differences between software DevOps and MLOps. As projects scale up, lack of control can result in chaos and pain. The Dotscience operator for OpenShift helps AI projects to deliver business value faster and reduces risk with specialized MLOps tooling across the build, deploy & monitor lifecycle."

Thanussak Thanyasiri, senior delivery manager, Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG)

"The UCenter project has proven that Red Hat can fully support our ambitions. Being able to scale without compromising availability and security is critical to our ambitious growth targets, and Red Hat gives us that capability. We have identified five additional applications and use cases, such as threat detection, where we are confident that Red Hat can also add value. We are delighted with the service provided by Red Hat, particularly its local technical expertise, so we look forward to deepening our relationship."

Justin Boitano, general manager, enterprise and edge computing, NVIDIA

"Deeper integration between Red Hat OpenShift and NVIDIA's GPU Operator accelerates the deployment of AI solutions for our customers. The combination of these technologies makes it easier for IT organizations to access and scale GPU-powered, hybrid-cloud infrastructure."

Alex Housley, founder and chief executive officer, Seldon

"Seldon's integrations with Red Hat OpenShift via Kubernetes Operators helps organizations speed up deployment of machine learning models across the hybrid cloud, providing faster roll-outs of AI-powered digital services."

Supporting Resources

AI/ML on OpenShift Explainer Video, webpage

Red Hat blog on hardware acceleration on OpenShift with NVIDIA GPU operator

Red Hat blog on how to deploy Kubeflow on OpenShift

Open Data Hub 0.5.1 release blog

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About Red Hat, Inc.

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Dr. Fauci's critique resonated with Mr. Trumps allies as well as his detractors. Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary who during his tenure instituted Skype seats to allow smaller outlets without a Washington-based correspondent to ask questions during his briefings, said the idea still made sense.

Mr. Spicer, who attended a briefing last week in his new role as a host on the conservative site Newsmax and was called on by Mr. Trump, said safety should be a massive factor for the current format.

David Axelrod, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama, said accurate briefings during a crisis like the pandemic were critical. But he said the current state of play at the White House failed not only in accuracy but in optics.

Not only is it unhealthy for the people in the room, Mr. Axelrod said, it sends a mixed message to the American people. Even if the briefings were held in the East or State Rooms, where people could be spaced, it would be better.

Aides said Mr. Trump viewed the iconic room, with its blue seats and imposing White House seal behind the podium, as his best stage, one that gives him an imprimatur that cannot be replicated by any of his Democratic presidential opponents or governors like Andrew Cuomo of New York.

Mr. Cuomo has received high marks for an informative and emotional daily briefing he has been delivering from the State Capitol in Albany, which the president has closely watched and studied.

Some Trump advisers have struggled to find a good slot for the timing of the presidents briefings. Their preference would be to hold them earlier in the day, but Mr. Trump prefers getting closer to prime-time hours, and Mr. Cuomos briefings already dominate the mornings.
Mitt Romney has tested negative for the coronavirus, the senator announced on Twitter from isolation in his Utah home.

Romney hired a private jet to fly him to his home state after learning he had been exposed to Sen. Rand Paul, who tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he will be observing a two week quarantine despite his negative test results.

'Thankfully Ive tested negative for COVID-19. Nevertheless, guidance from my physician, consistent with the CDC guidelines, requires me to remain in quarantine as the test does not rule out the onset of symptoms during the 14-day period,' Romney wrote.

Romney, a multi-millionaire former presidential candidate, gave a ride to to fellow Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who also had been exposed to Paul, who announced the results of his test on Sunday.

'If I were to get COVID-19 or if Mike were to get it, we would certainly want to be in a place where we have our own physicians and our own hospital,' Romney told the Salt Lake Tribune. 'If I'm in Washington, D.C., I don't have a relationship with physicians there. And I don't even know which hospital you go to,' he explained.

Republican Senator from Utah Mitt Romney flew home to Utah on a private jet after being exposed to Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who tested positive for the coronavirus

Romney will remain in isolation for 14-days despite the good news on his test

Both senators wore in-demand specialized N95 masks on the journey, and remained six feet apart, Romney said. The pilot was informed was informed about the exposure.

Romney spoke from his Utah home. His wife Ann, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been staying elsewhere to avoid infection.

The Senate GOP majority has dropped to 48 votes due to virus-related quarantines, eve as the chamber moves a head on a bailout of well over $1 trillion. Romney is making calls on it, but will miss a vote expected Tuesday.

'It's very frustrating not to be there in the room where it happens, as they say,' Romney told the paper. 'But I am doing my best to influence thinking and action, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle.'

Romney wore a specialized N95 gas mask en route. He was accompanied by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah

Romney was joined by Republican Senator from Utah Mike Lee on the private plane back to Utah

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced Sunday he tested positive for the coronavirus. He reportedly used the Senate gym that day

The senators were dealing with the impact of the virus as Americans around the country were contending with the outbreak

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., right, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, have lunch at a Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 20, 2020. Paul tested positive for the coronavirus

He blasted Democrats for adding wish list items in negotiations, after being attacked by fellow Republicans to vote for an impeachment article against President Trump on abuse of power.

'I have been connecting with Democrats whom I respect and basically saying, 'Are you guys nuts? Have you lost your mind? Do you not understand? This is not a time to go through your liberal wish list. This is a time to get money to small businesses and to the people who are hurting,'' Romney said.

Romney has family nearby who have been assisting him during his recommended 14-day quarantine. He said his daughter-in-law brought brought him food and his son Josh did a Costco run for him.

Paul has come under fire for attending a Senate luncheon and mingling with colleagues while awaiting the results of his in-demand test. He said he did not experience symptoms and got the test due to undergoing travel and a past injury to his lung.
KeithBinns/iStock(NEW YORK) -- A new phase of the novel coronavirus has started. Cities shut down, workers sent home, schools canceled and so much uncertainty with the economy. There are more questions than answers right now, and the United States seems to be one of the last to feel the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.



In Italy, the death toll has now surpassed that of China for the most in the world. ABC News' Megan Williams has been checking in with Cheri Preston, reporting for ABC News Radios "Perspective" podcast, and sharing what its like in one of the hardest hit countries.



"What's happening now is the government is saying that not enough people are staying in. So they have fined about 53,000 people since the beginning of the lockdown," Williams explains.



Officials are saying the U.S. is about 10 to 15 days behind Italy, so what can Americans learn from what Italy has experienced so far?



The numbers arent coming down enough and that may be due to the lack of "social distancing." While Williams says it looks like many residents in Rome are following the rules of staying inside, other parts of Italy are not.



The Italian government has now threatened to ban all outdoor exercise if people dont start following the rules closely. Right now, people can go out to exercise -- like run or walk within their neighborhood -- while continuing to comply with social distancing.



A new measure has also been added: a questionnaire that locals fill out, signing and sharing whether or not they have been exposed to the virus.



There is also a continuing concern for those who take multiple trips outdoors daily.



"I think what they're talking about is people going shopping several times a day. They don't want that. They want people to go stock up and not go for a few days," Williams explained.



Williams said from her perspective, anxiety levels in Italy appear to be lower than the U.S.



"I think it's very hard to wrap your mind around it initially. It's not that people have any more answers here, but I think what's happening is people are settling in to the day to day routine," she explained.



Isolation, hospitals working under emergency conditions around the clock and concerns for the economic future are all a part of a new normal for most of Italy.



Schools with the initial reopen date of April 3 are realizing that goal is unlikely. Citizens are recognizing theyre in it for the long haul.



While the number of cases continues to rise, the actual percentage increase is going down. However, the government is saying its still not enough.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg's and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff's "Stay Home,Work Safe Order" has been met with a flurry of questions. The order was handed down Monday and begins at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.

San Antonio's Deputy City Attorney Liz Provencio and Civil Division Chief of the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney's Office Larry L. Oberson took questions from residents during an event that was live streamed beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Aaron Paul and wife Lauren welcome Architectural Digest to Idaho, where the critically acclaimed actor and his family live in a custom wood and stone paradise. Conceived and executed from scratch in tandem with interior designer Jake Arnold and Pearson Design Group, the Paul residence intentionally evokes childhood memories for the Idaho native.

Check out Pauls home (and those great views of the river) in the video Inside Aaron Pauls rustic riverside home and then check out prior celebrity home tours below.

Chelsea Handler takes you on tour of her Los Angeles home

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Stranger Things star David Harbour takes you on a tour of his NYC loft

Explore other recent videos from our content partners at Conde Nast.

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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
BMS Group, the independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced its Spanish subsidiary, BMS Iberia, has acquired Jurado Mata, the Granada-based Spanish specialist insurance broker.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1990, Jurado Mata has provided a range of affinity, commercial and personal lines solutions to a range of Spanish clients. BMS has acquired Jurado Mata in full, with staff and infrastructure transferring into BMS Iberia.

Juan Mata, CEO of Jurado Mata, will also join BMS Iberias board of directors once the integration is complete.

BMS Iberia is the Spanish subsidiary of BMS Group and the keystone entity for BMS European operations. The acquisition will strengthen BMS Iberias presence in southern Spain and BMS Iberia is expected to become one of the top affinity brokers in the country, said BMS in a statement.

Jurado Mata is an excellent specialist broker with a fantastic market reputation and a great match for BMS Iberia, BMSs main European platform, said Fernando Claro, CEO of BMS Iberia.

Jurado Mata clients will benefit from BMS global reach and BMS is set to solidify its leading affinity position in Spain through Jurado Matas networks, added Claro.

We have seen a significant increase in demand for specialized advisory services in the insurance market. With BMSs extensive insurance sector experience and global platform, as well as Jurado Matas local resources, we are well placed to meet this growing demand, commented Juan Antonio Mata, president of Jurado Mata.

We are confident that, together, we have the scale and capabilities to drive the next stage of our growth both inside Spain and further afield, and Im therefore excited to work with Fernando, all of BMS Iberia and the BMS head office team in London, he added.

Source: BMS

Topics Mergers Agencies
The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim, based in Tarzana, California, has launched a fresh new user-friendly website that offers clients the chance to learn more about firms services in just a few clicks. The new site has been developed and designed by LAD Solutions, a Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency.

The site aims to provide potential and existing clients who have legal questions with the answers and information they need regarding car accident cases, wrongful death, slip and falls and all other personal injury matters. The home page provides information about their no fee unless they win services along with recent cases, awards, and client satisfaction ratings. It also provides information about the firm's founder, Ramtin Sadighim, Esq.

With a modern theme and fresh appeal, the site allows clients to seamlessly navigate the site to learn about the firm's specialties and service locations. The new and improved website offers simple navigation and informative, engaging content on each page. The site also offers up-to-date client testimonials, recent settlement information, and frequently asked questions for clients' who are considering seeking legal representation.

As more consumers turn to the internet for legal advice, The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim wanted to deliver a site that provides consumers with the important information that they need to make informed choices about their legal options in Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as, throughout the surrounding communities. With a strong focus on customer experience, the new website is designed primarily to inform and educate clients.

The visually appealing, interactive site is designed for use on any device including desktop and mobile devices, allowing potential clients to start a conversation with the firm from anywhere. With the ability to request a free consultation via phone or by using the websites contact form, consumers can now get in touch with The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim quickly and easily.

To view the new website and learn more about the services offered by The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim, visit caliaccidentattorney.com.

About The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim: Founded by Ramtin Sadighim, Esq.,The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim is a personal injury law firm that specializes in car accident cases, wrongful death, slip and falls and all other personal injury matters. Based in Tarzana, California, the firm represents clients in Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as throughout the surrounding communities. The firm helps clients in obtaining fair and full compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other damages. Their services include a free initial consultation and no-fee representation unless they are able to obtain financial recovery on behalf of the client. For more information about The Law Offices of Ramtin Sadighim, visit caliaccidentattorney.com.


Former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth has challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to enforce a lockdown in Kenya as the country grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic.

People should be confined to households, isolation and to quarantine. We can no longer withhold when we see what is happening in Europe where the cycle is ahead of us, Kenneth said on Monday, adding that the lockdown should last between two to four weeks to ensure the safety of Kenyans.

While noting that the Health Ministry has made efforts to contain the virus, Kenneth also criticised some senior govt officials who have not done their part, leading to potential community spread of the virus.

The former presidential candidate slammed a section of the clergy and Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi for failing to observe Covid-19 safety guidelines.

We have seen how people we expect to be responsible, like the deputy governor of Kilifi and some members of the clergy behaving very irresponsibly, refusing to take self-quarantine and not social distancing, Kenneth said.

He said this poses a great danger to Kenya, especially when the two-week incubation period lapses.

Peter Kenneth further argued that all the countries who have been affected the pandemic first addressed the safety of people, then looked at economic stimulus packages.
New Delhi, March 24 : Amid the total lockdown in many states and increase in novel coronavirus positive cases in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he will address the nation again at 8 pm on Tuesday.

"Will address the nation at 8pm today on the vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19," Modi said in a tweet.

On Tuesday, India's total coronavirus positive cases rose to 446, with nine deaths across the country, 36 cases of cured patients.

The Prime Minister had addressed the nation on Thursday night as well and appealed for Janata Curfew between 7 am and 9 pm on Sunday.

Modi had also talked about the steps taken by the government to combat Covid-19.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
An American woman has reported suffering very different symptoms to other people who have contracted Covid-19.

Julia Buscaglia tested positive for coronavirus, but shared in a Twitter thread the unusual symptoms she suffered with, including hearing loss.

The 20-year-old said she decided to share her symptoms because its important to tell everyone my experience.

Ms Buscaglia contracted coronavirus while out in Italy, but only had a fever that matched the reported symptoms of flu  fever, tiredness, and dry cough.

She tweeted that she saw a doctor in Italy who told her she had a cold, adding: I proceeded with my day. At this point, I had begun to lose hearing in my left ear, I figured it was congestion. Still I had NO cough.

The day before she left Italy she still didnt have a cough and tweeted that, I still couldnt hear, and at this point I lost all ability to taste and smell, yet I did not have a runny nose or cough. I had a headache constantly during the day which I just treated with Tylenol. I left the next morning to return to America.

Ms Buscaglia said that she was was not checked for Covid-19 at the airport when she flew home from Italy on 4 March.

This is the day I look back on and get scared. I flew home, and not a single person asked where I had been. Not even at customs. They didnt blink an eye at me. I had layovers in LARGE cities. Again, there was no doubt in my mind that I didnt have the virus, she tweeted.

She says her hearing returned and she suffered from a wet cough before ten days later testing positive for coronavirus.

On the day of the results Ms Buscaglia says she had NO symptoms, a slight remaining cough, but nothing of concern I thought.

She feels better now, but Ms Buscaglia warned others from continuing to go on spring break and other pre-organised trips.

I know many of you have spring breaks, trips, work, and activities planned. But I want you to understand many individuals my age are not showing symptoms. I know we joke and laugh about not having this virus. But this is not a joke anymore. Please cancel your trips, she said.

The 20-year-old added: To those of you in the same situation as me, I wish you all a speedy recovery and to stay healthy. Drink fluids and wash your hands. Please remember, just because you are not showing symptoms does NOT mean you do not have it.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 43, 214 people have tested positive in the US. The death toll has reached at least 533.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as part of the battle to contain the spread of the contagion.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24) The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), a wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is now recommending unilateral ceasefire in response to the United Nations' call for global truce so all states can focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NDFP Negotiating Panel requested the NDFP National Council and the CPP to issue a unilateral ceasefire beginning from 12am of March 26 until 11:59pm of April 15.

This recommendation to suspend military offensives against the reactionary armed forces of the GRP would allow the revolutionary movement particularly its revolutionary health committees in the guerrilla zones, and in rural and urban communities, to focus their full attention to fight the spread of Covid-19 in the country, and to further protect and safeguard the peoples health and welfare, said NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili in statement on Tuesday night.

The NDFP represents rebels in peace talks with the government, aimed at ending the five-decade insurgency of the CPP and its armed wing, New People's Army.

Despite the ceasefire, NDFP said that it will still be on guard against military attacks.

Even while respecting and following the unilateral ceasefire order, the New Peoples Army and the peoples militia must be alert and act in self-defense against any offensive by hostile forces, said Agcaoili.

Earlier, CPP founder and NDFP chief political consultant Joma Sison also recommended a ceasefire.

Sison said a truce will enable the country "to gain more time and opportunity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to look after the health and over-all welfare of the people in both urban and rural areas."

He stressed that armed communist rebels will be ready to act in self-defense if government forces attack.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier declared a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP-NPA effective March 19 to April 15. This was after he placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine  deploying the police and military to restrict people's movement  to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Sison earlier said the move was "premature, if not insincere and false" and that there's "no clear basis" for the NDFP to reciprocate it.

Malacanang said Sison's latest statement is a "positive development," adding that it hopes the CPP-NPA would make good on their word.

"At this crucial time, the Filipino people deserve and need a safe and peaceful environment where there is unimpeded movement of health workers, medical supplies, food and other needs and services, in view of the current state of calamity and public health emergency. We therefore welcome the cooperation of all, including those in the Left, to realize our goal of absolute peace during these times," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons to focus on fighting the coronavirus disease.

Worldwide, COVID-19 has killed more than 17,200 people, mostly in Italy, although the outbreak began in Wuhan, China in December last year. Over 390,000 people have been infected, according to the Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 global tracker.

The Philippines now has 552 confirmed OVID-19 cases. Of this number, 35 have died while 20 have recovered.

CNN Philippines' Digital Producer Eimor Santos and Mult-Platform News Writer Vince Ferreras contributed to this report
President Klaus Iohannis will hold a meeting to evaluate and present the measures regarding the management of the COVID-19 epidemic at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, and the Minister of Health, Victor Costache, informs the Presidential Administration.

At the end of the meeting, President Iohannis will make a press statement.

Also, from 14:00 hrs, the president will attend a video conference with the hospital managers, with the Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, the Interior Minister, Marcel Vela, the Minister of Health, Victor Costache, the Minister of National Defense, Nicolae Ciuca, and with the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communications, Lucian Bode.
These are unprecedented times. Our lives as we know them have been upended: the comforts of routine squarely thrown out of the window and replaced with a combination of anxiety and dread.

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 is a black swan that no one saw coming (though we should have been better equipped) and has unleashed a health crisis the world has not seen in a hundred years, as well as a labor crisis, an economic crisis, a credit crisis and a liquidity crisis.

"Everything we have written about in the last five years is now happening at the same bloody time!" TS Lombard Macro Analyst Dario Perkins tweeted in disbelief.

Financial markets, central banks and policymakers have been working as if on fast-forward mode the last couple of weeks. As new Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told the press last week after another round of surprise monetary easing: the Bank of England has only ever had four inter-meeting policy decisions  two of them in the last week alone.

Globally, central banks have been furiously cutting rates to record lows, expanding balance sheets and swap lines, and offering more generous funding terms to banks.

Governments have also started coming out with sizable COVID-19 response packages. This has prompted analysts and market watchers around the world to comment that policymakers do seem intent on doing "whatever it takes"  three words epitomized by the former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi at the peak of the 2012 sovereign debt crisis.

Those three words have become an adjective ascribed to most of the initiatives that have been presented in the last fortnight. Even Germany has abolished its iron clad dedication to a "schwarze Null"  or balanced  budget and has unleashed a massive stimulus plan which will see its deficit rise to almost 5% of gross domestic product, according to Unicredit. That's Germany doing "whatever it takes".

Market participants should remember, though, that Draghi didn't just utter the phrase. In fact, what he said was: "within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it take to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough."

The second part of this statement is just as important as the first. Why? Because markets DID believe him. They believed the ECB would be true to their word and would step in to intervene and avoid fragmentation in the market. So it worked.

The key pillar here was: trust.

The stakes this time around are much higher. People's lives and livelihoods are at risk. The ILO last week estimated that up to 25 million jobs could be lost globally as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, not to count the number of businesses that will go under without a lifeline in the form of guarantees, interest-free loans or tax relief.

The world will eventually get through this pandemic, but now is the time we need to be able to trust policymakers to, well, I'm going to say it again, do whatever it takes to minimize the human and economic loss. We have to believe that their actions will be enough.
By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY (Reuters) - As airlines idle thousands of aircraft for which there are no passengers, they are hitting an unprecedented problem: finding a place to park them.

Taxiways, maintenance hangars and even runways at major airports are being transformed into giant parking lots for more than 2,500 airliners, the biggest of which takes up about as much room as an eight-story building with a footprint 3/4 the size of an American football field.

The number of planes in storage has doubled to more than 5,000 since the start of the year, according to Cirium data, with more expected to be parked in the coming weeks as carriers like Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd proceed with further announced cuts to flight schedules.

In Frankfurt, Germany's biggest airport is a ghost town of silent airliners. Its northwest landing runway, including taxiways and bridges, has been converted to an aircraft parking lot for Lufthansa, Condor and other airlines. Lufthansa brand Swiss has rented parking spots at a military airport close to Zurich.

Similar crowds of planes are parked at other major airports, including Hong Kong, Seoul, Berlin and Vienna as well as traditional desert parking lots in Victorville, California, and Marana, Arizona, according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

In Manila, some Philippines Airlines jets are parked in the Lufthansa Technik Philippines hangar, an airline official said.

Even some smaller airports have been converted to parking lots. Avalon Airport west of Melbourne expects to take 50 planes from Qantas and its low-cost offshoot, Jetstar, according to the airport's chief executive, Justin Giddings.

"It is sad for everyone, the whole industry," he told Reuters of the groundings, which have led Qantas to put 20,000 staff members on leave.

Qantas is sending 30 engineers to Avalon help maintain the planes so they can re-enter service in three to seven days when demand returns, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. The carrier is also parking about 100 other aircraft at major airports around Australia and its five ageing 747s at a desert storage facility in Alice Springs, the source said.

Story continues

Qantas declined to comment.

Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) in Alice Springs is also home to SilkAir and Fiji Airways 737 MAX jets as part of a year-long global grounding that has placed further pressure on the ability to find spots to put other jets.

"Things are extremely busy," APAS managing director Tom Vincent said. "There are further aircraft deliveries this week and into the coming weeks."

Some airports, such as Melbourne and Brisbane, said they are providing parking for free. Brisbane Airport said that some international airlines had expressed interest in using its facilities, which can house up to 101 planes, but that no deals had yet been reached. Qantas and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd will use some of the Brisbane spots.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, one of the first and hardest hit by the coronavirus, has been using remote bays, taxiways and other operational areas at Hong Kong International Airport.

In the United States, United Airlines Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc said they are parking planes at maintenance facilities for now, while Delta Air Lines Inc said it was still looking into the issue.

FlightRadar24 data showed Delta had moved a dozen planes to Marana in mid-March and even more to Victorville over the last week.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana on Tuesday welcomed the release of former chief minister Omar Abdullah after nearly eight months of detention, describing it a "step in the right direction".

"It is a defining moment that will go a long way in further strengthening democracy and initiating genuine political activities in Jammu and Kashmir," Rana said in a statement here.

The National Conference (NC) vice president was released after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), slapped on him in February, were revoked.

He spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year.

Rana expressed hope that Abdullah's release would lead to the release of all other political leaders against whom there are no criminal charges.

"This is imperative for generating an atmosphere of trust and creating conducive conditions to resume healthy political discourse in the larger interest of the people," he said.

He said the NC has always been a strong votary of democracy and secularism, which he described as the cherished agenda of party founder, Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and political philosophy of the party that stands guarantee to steering Jammu and Kashmir to peace and prosperity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Now it is Congresss turn. Whatever legislation comes out of the current round of negotiations, it should be focused on providing short-run support for businesses and individuals during this difficult but temporary period. The most important actions that Congress can take are those that keep business and individuals solvent so that when the crisis period ends, economic structures will be in place to begin a quick recovery. What does that mean? For starters, it means not being overly specific about where the money should be spent.

One lesson of the 2008 financial crisis is that it is difficult to anticipate where future disruptions will occur, and therefore where money will be needed. Instead, Congress needs to authorize funds that can be used by the administration as the need arises. Carte blanche authority is admittedly dangerous; funds can be misused. But the downside of a strictly targeted approach is worse. We can identify some of the problem areas right now  for example, airlines  but it is presumptuous to believe that we know which industries will suffer and will need help, even in the near future.

A case in point: In 2008, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, as the name implies, was initially pitched as a program to buy up toxic assets. But it quickly became obvious that financial firms did not want to sell assets that would force them to mark-to-market and reduce the stated value of their portfolios. Nor was there enough money in the TARP to buy up a large enough fraction of outstanding troubled assets. (The White House agency that I headed at the time, the Council of Economic Advisers, estimated that there were over $3 trillion in toxic assets, or almost 10 time the size of the first tranche of the TARP.)

When attempts to buy up toxic assets proved unsuccessful, the TARP had to be repositioned quickly to purchase preferred shares in financial firms. That was the right approach because it gave the financial sector the capital it needed to withstand the shocks that were to come. Fortunately, flexibility written into the TARP legislation allowed that shift to occur.

Well need similar flexibility now. In the coming weeks, resources are likely to be needed by large sectors of the economy. Some of this may be a result of the legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives that, among other things, creates a mandate requiring small firms to provide paid sick leave to workers. In return, businesses will be eligible for a refundable tax credit. But even successful small businesses, stressed by declines in activity, might be out of business by the time they collect their tax credits despite the best efforts by Treasury to get the payments out quickly.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020 (11:54 am) - Score 4,160

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today responded to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis by, among other things, confirming that theyre suspending all existing consultation deadlines and may need to allow for delays in the implementation of new obligations.

Naturally it was never going to be business as usual on the regulatory front, particularly with most of the United Kingdom now being told to self-isolate until the spread of COVID-19 can be stopped. As a result various consultations and future work plans, such as the on-going efforts to encourage investment toward full fibre (FTTP) broadband networks and the Governments plan to regulate internet content (Online Harms), will have to be delayed.

Ofcom set out a rough time-scale for all of this in January 2020, when they opened a consultation on their proposed Plan of Work for 2020/21 (here), but the regulator acknowledges that this plan will now have to be changed. As a result of this a revised version of their plan that takes account of the coronavirus crisis will now be published at the end of April 2020.

The obvious caveat here is that we dont yet know exactly how long the current situation will continue or how bad it might get. Over the coming weeks we will continue to engage with our stakeholders, and with Government, so that we can understand the best way to take these areas of work forward, and to ensure that we remain abreast of any new issues, said Ofcoms statement.

Our approach to regulation through this period The priority for our sectors through the coming months is to maintain support for consumers and businesses. We recognise that our planned work programme will need to be adapted and rescheduled so that our stakeholders can focus their time and effort on business-critical matters. We are also ready to adapt our regulatory approach during this period. Ofcom consulted on our proposed Plan of Work for 2020/21 in January. We will publish a revised version at the end of April that takes account of the coronavirus crisis and provide a revised timetable for our work. However, we can confirm in advance that: With immediate effect, we are suspending all existing consultation deadlines and information requests and putting on hold new consultations, decisions and information requests.

We understand that the implementation of new obligations may need to be delayed. Specifically, we are discussing with Government the implementation deadlines of the European Electronic Communications Code.

At the same time, we need to ensure markets operate with integrity, and measures to ensure fairness for customers remain important. Accuracy in broadcasting is essential, and we will expedite any standards enforcement cases involving potentially harmful broadcast content relating to the coronavirus. We will take a pragmatic approach to enforcement during this time. Compliance with regulatory obligations continues to be important. However, we recognise that the impact of the coronavirus means that it will not always be possible to meet these obligations. In such circumstances, industry should take decisions that support critical services, vulnerable people and those who are relying on communications services. We will support those decisions where they are in the interests of consumers and businesses.

At this stage its not yet clear if the current situation will also impact the imminent 5G spectrum auction. See Ofcoms full statement.
Photo credit: Walter Bibikow - Getty Images

From Town & Country

Although the two small islands are separated by only 27 miles of Caribbean sea and both are high-end, beach-ringed sanctuaries for East Coasters, Anguilla and St. Barth could not be more different. Anguilla is where billionaires go to get their beach bum on; St. Barth is where they go in high season to flaunt their mega yachts.

Each has its aficionados, who sometimes deign a day trip to their neighbor (about 40 minutes by boat), while remaining set in their affinity. But on the weekend of March 13start of college and private school spring break and high season par excellencethe most devoted among them, those who had not cancelled hotel and villa reservations despite intensifying Coronavirus uncertainties, found themselves in the same boat: desperately trying to figure out how to flee paradise and get back home.

Its eerie when something is so beautiful you think surely its the safest place to be, but then suddenly youre told its not, said New York-based jewelry designer and philanthropist Brooke Garber Neidich, who has been coming to St. Bart's for 35 years and arrived on March 14 to check on the progress on a house she and her husband are building on the islands Baie des Flamands, next to LVMHs newly expanded Cheval Blanc St. Bart's hotel. Neidich and her husband were among the fortunate.

We came by charter," she added. "We figured, well, [if things go south], we can always turn around and leaveand we did! she said.



Photo credit: Juan Camilo Bernal - Getty Images

But for others things would get rougher by the day. On March 12, before most spring breakers had arrived, St. Maarten banned flights and passengers from Germany from landing at its Princess Juliana International Airport. SXM, as its called for short, is a hub, along with San Juans Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU), for visitors to Anguilla and St. Barth. From there, they board connecting flights on smaller aircraft operated by the likes of Seabourne, Tradewinds Aviation, or Winair, or, if headed to Anguilla, they board a ferry from a dock near SXM.

Story continues

By Saturday, March 14, St. Maarten announced it was banning all flights from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, effective Tuesday the 17. A day later, on March 15, France announced a lockdown. What ensued was pure chaos.

Anguilla: "Many of us are stranded"

St. Maarten said the airport would remain open so people could get off, said a Westchester-based Anguilla homeowner whod arrived on the island on Friday the 13th on JetBlue and had a return flight booked with them. But airlines promptly cancelled all flights both ways, including mine. While the hotels are mostly empty, there are people in villas, and quite a few private jets. But many of us are stranded. There was to my knowledge no get yourselves home order from the State Department until most countries had closed their borders and all remaining flights were fullor wildly overbooked.

On Anguilla, the homeowner continued, tourists and expats with houses have sorted into two groups, those who are getting out via various meansDelta or United via SXM, charter to Puerto Ricos SJU, etceteraand those who decided its safer here.

There are no COVID-19 cases diagnosed on Anguilla as yet and everyone with symptoms is being assiduously quarantined. Everyone assumes its here nonetheless, another frequent visitor said, but it has been impressive to see how the island has coped. There have been regular, clear announcements from the health department, premier, and governor, all with consistent facts and advice. Locals are concerned but calmthey have been through so much, what with the destruction of Hurricane Irma [which struck in 2017]. They have set up a service to shop for seniors. And some take-out places give you an appointment time for your pick up, so there are never more than two people shopping at once. Restaurants are open but distancing table. Not everyone is observing protocols, but more do so every day.

Photo credit: SeanPavonePhoto - Getty Images

However, SXM Airport, my friend from Westchester said, was bedlamshed made two ferry trips there from Anguilla to catch flights on which shed re-booked herself but about whose cancellations she had not been notified.

Delta and Winair reps kept trying to pawn me off on each other. And there were no signs of Seabourne or JetBlue staff in the terminal. I looked because I would have liked to strangle one. I realize this is an unprecedented situation, but none of the airlines has covered itself with glory," she said.

"I am fit, well-off, have a place to stay back on Anguilla, had just a carry on, and can speak up for myself. If any of those had been different, I would have been far worse off. If the airlines want a $50 billion bailout, they will need to prove themselves competent to spend it. And they must have an obligation of care toward passengers, as in the E.U.

St. Barth: "The island is almost completely shut down"

On St. Barth, Olivia Junieres was not going anywhereshe lives there and owns a consultancy/concierge company on the island, the O Agency. When I spoke to her last week, she said she had seen from her office window one Tradewinds flight from Puerto Rico landing earlier in the day on St. Barth's notoriously perilous (and picturesque) tiny airstrip.

But otherwise, the island is almost completely shut down. Our Bucket Regatta, which marks the high season for us and happens this week, was cancelled. Its the source of much of the annual income for many local businesses. The hotels are now closed through April 1, as are the restaurants and all but essential services. But Im fairly certain that another 15- to 30-day quarantine will be announced soon. (St. Bart's to date has three confirmed coronavirus cases.)



Photo credit: Studio Borlenghi/ALeA - Getty Images

Richard Mishaan, an interior designer based in New York, had rented a villa for his stay and arrived on St. Bart's via St. Maarten on March 14. At SXM, we saw an Air France plane that was sealed and grounded; there were five Germans aboard and they were being isolated, I was told. Once on St. Bart's, we had dinner with friends at Mayas (the popular see-and-be-seen spot on Gustavia harbor) and woke on Sunday to the news that the St. Maarten airport is closed to all incoming flights. That started to make us very uncomfortable. I was able to get flights to get back home the following day through Puerto Rico, but other friends had to wait until Wednesday, and some until Thursday. In San Juan, national guardsmen were taking peoples temperature at random. And the immigration officer told us that they had locked down the flights after ours.

The Local Impact

Anguilla closed its port to passengers on midnight Friday, March 20, although cargo will continue coming in, if on a reduced schedule. French citizens on St. Barth and all other French Caribbean territories (there were still a few on Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin, Junieres told me) had to return home by last night, Sunday, March 22.

Photo credit: RICARDO ARDUENGO - Getty Images

Neidich, back in New York, is self-quarantining from her two-year-old grandson. He doesnt understand social distancing, she said, laughing. But I was at dinner with nine people at Tamarind [another popular St. Bart's spot] on Sunday. We sat at a round table. We didnt hug or kiss, but we were not 6 feet apart.

There is wide concern about the local St. Barth economy. The major hotels make money here through Aprilthat is now largely ruined," Junieres said. "Normally, they stay open through the summer as well, to accommodate the mainly French clientele that arrives here between July 15 and August 15whoever is not going to St. Tropez, or Greece, or Ibiza that year. They are able to stay open then because of the money they made in the early spring and the real money they start making again in November. Their not opening in the summer will affect restaurants and other businesses here.

"And this, she sighed, was going to be our first normal winter and spring since 2016. [Irma wreaked devastation in 2017.] But I believe the owner crowd will be back as soon as soon as they can. They are having work done on their houses.



My friend from Anguilla returned home on the last flight out on Friday night from St. Maarten, on United to Newark, New Jersey. If one more person on the plane talked about the last choppers getting out of Saigon in 1975, I would have coughed on them," she said. "Everyone at the ferry or airport had a story about canceled flights, crazy itineraries (one family with a bunch of kids was flying to St. Kitts and just hoping for an onward flight), and lack of communication from airlines and the U.S. government.

As for the COVID-19 situation on Anguilla, still no positive diagnoses, she said. "But there are concerns about Anguillans who came home last week, including 24 students, who were told to self-isolate and are not. But as one local told me, everyone knows who they are and runs away from them.

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While it would be nice to say that this really will be behind us in two weeks, thats really not what the data tells us, Northam, who is a physician, continued. The data tells us that this will be with us for at least two to three months and perhaps even longer. So again, while our intentions are to get back to normal, I think we have to be realistic.
Beloved ORU grounds manager, Pentecostal minister is first coronavirus death in Oklahoma

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The Rev. Merle Dry, a beloved grounds manager at Oral Roberts University and Pentecostal minister, became the first casualty of the deadly coronavirus in Oklahoma last Wednesday. He was 55.

Drys death was announced Wednesday night by Metro Pentecostal Church, led by Don Martin, in Tulsa where he served.

It is with great sadness that I have to announce our dear Bro Merle Dry made his journey from earth to glory at 8:01pm. Sis Dry and family are under quarantine and cannot receive guests. Please text her instead of calling. Thanks to everyone for your prayers. We need the hand of God to guide us. He was so loved by the Metro Pentecostal Church. Details of his funeral will be forthcoming, a statement on the churchs Facebook page said.

The statement also sought to clarify what it termed misinformation regarding Drys health explaining that as far as the church knew, Dry had no underlying illness prior to his death from the coronavirus.

Merle Dry was in good health as far as we all knew. He was fighting a cold and then he contracted the coronavirus. He was diagnosed on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He was unable to breathe, the church continued, noting that the pastor was a member of the Cherokee Nation.

Because of his cold, Dry had not been attending church and leaders are taking all precautions to allow the virus to die out in the area he would have been in, the church added.

Dry was described as an authentic person who loved people.

In announcing his death, Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart called it a tragedy.

This is a tragedy for our community. In these unprecedented times, everyone feels the weight of this loss. COVID-19 has impacted our community on a monumental level, but today I ask you to take a moment to pause and recognize that a family has lost their loved one. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, Dart said in a statement cited by NewsOn6.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt also offered prayers for Drys family.

I am deeply saddened to learn of Oklahomas first death from COVID-19. Sarah and I send our sincere condolences and ask Oklahomans to join us in praying for his family and loved ones, Stitt said. My highest priority is the safety and well-being of every Oklahoman and I will deploy every resource available to protect the health of all of our families, friends, and neighbors.

Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation also urged citizens to be safe as he offered prayers for Drys family.

For months, we watched this virus from afar, and now with the passing of a Cherokee Nation citizen in Tulsa County, we hope people understand this has now hit home and is a very real pandemic that can affect anyone of us. We ask that everyone take real safety precautions and on behalf of the Cherokee Nation, our thoughts and prayers are with the Dry family at this time and we are so very sorry for this tragic loss, he said.

Dry leaves behind his wife Carrie; son, Jesse, 22; and daughter, Pamela, 17.
Greece's overcrowded migrant camps should be evacuated because social distancing is near impossible and therefore poses a deadly risk, it has been warned.

The head of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, warned the 42,000 migrants packed into facilities built for 6,000 people could risk 'many deaths'.

In a letter addressed to the EU's commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, Aguilar urged 'immediate action' to avoid rapid spread of Covid-19.

The civil liberties committee also demanded from the EU a coordinated health plan for asylum-seekers from member states - and additional funding for hospitals.

A migrant in Lesbos dragging a cart of supplies across a rickety bridge with children in tow

Aguilar is a Spanish politician who has sat on the European Parliament since 2009.

Greece has so far detected no infections among the inhabitants of its migrant camps.

Greece currently has migrant camps on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos.

The country has registered 695 cases of Covid-19 and 17 deaths related to the virus to date.

A child migrant stands in her family's shelter in Lesbos surrounded by rusted and discarded objects

'One of the main issues to be addressed to avoid the quick and wide spread of COVID-19 on the Greek islands is the urgent preventive evacuation of the overcrowded camps,' said Aguilar.

'If the EU fails to take immediate action, the situation on the Greek islands will become unmanageable with the risk of many deaths,' he added.

Aguilar's warning comes as the French government's top official for Paris announced a similar evacuation plan in the region last week.

French police began moving 'several hundred' migrants from the Aubervilliers camp just north of Paris this morning.

Police officers in Greece in face masks escorting migrants and refugees arriving on the shores

French officials said the camp's occupants, believed to be up to 600 people, would be moved to limit Covid-19 potentially spreading to homeless people in the capital.

They added the migrants would be transported by buses to gyms and hotels in Paris, as well as to a nearby suburb.

Migrants will receive medical check-ups to determine if any show Covid-19 symptoms, according to French officials.

Prefect Michel Cadot said that some 500 beds were also being made available to Paris' homeless.

The France Terre d'Asile aid group said the Aubervilliers camp was one of dozens which sprang up around the capital since the migrant crisis began in 2015.

The new measures are part of a nationwide attempt in France to curtail the Covid-19 outbreak from spreading.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has ordered people to stay at home to reduce the pressure currently exerted on hospitals.
Citibank Korea's Director at Retail Banking Division Kim Ji-kang / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

US bank lowers equity allocation amid market turbulence



By Anna J. Park



Citibank Korea has been focusing on providing innovative digital banking and differentiated wealth management strategies to clients since it started streamlining operations by closing about 80 percent of its regional branches in 2017.



Currently, the bank operates eight Wealth Management Centers  four in Seoul, one in Bundang, and the rest in provincial locations, providing various model portfolios and effective team-based advice to clients.



The wealth management centers have shown resilient growth in the number of new clients, investment and deposit volumes over the past couple of years. In addition, the bank's medium-risk Moderate Model Portfolio produced a 17 percent return, while the high-risk Aggressive Model Portfolio posted a 20 percent return in 2019.



During a recent interview, head of the Retail Banking Division Kim Ji-kang discussed the factors that led to the lender's success and impressive wealth management model portfolio results, and what distinguishes them from those offered by other banks.



As a graduate of Korea University and NYU's Stern School of Business, Kim joined Citibank Korea in 2005 and has been leading the wealth management division since early 2018.



"First is our global network. This may seem like less of a differentiator as many local banks also offer products invested on a global scale. However, the true value of our global network stands out when we dive deeper into the holistic processes related to developing our product and asset allocation strategies," Kim said.



"As an example, to onboard a new investment product, there are multiple layers of due diligence, involving both local and global expertise, ensuring the products that we offer are aligned with our market view and the respective investment themes. The rigor, breadth, and the talent behind our investment strategies are attributes that cannot be easily replicated," he continued.



According to him, Citibank Korea's wealth management advice is based on reports and insights from the bank headquarters' Global Investment Committee, chaired by the most senior investment strategists and chief economists, supported by 14 committee members with professional experience spanning 45 years.



"The committee publishes our Investment Strategy Reports, prepared by four distinctive teams specializing in each geographic region. In addition to geographic coverage, the committee is responsible for industry and sector analyses, assessment of geopolitical issues, and ultimately our asset allocation strategies," Kim explained.





Citibank Korea Retail Banking Division Director Kim Ji-kang speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Two additional drive-thru coronavirus testing centers are opening in New Jersey, with one already open in Middlesex County and another being set up in Ocean County, officials said.

The Middlsex County center opened in Monroe Tuesday morning through MyInstaDoc. Preregistration is required and appointments are available, Monroe Township officials said.

Its not clear how many tests will be administered per day. MyInstaDoc described availability as limited, but said tests would be restocked frequently.

Testing will be available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Only those with symptoms are eligible for testing at the Monroe site. Patients will be examined in their cars or in a tent outside the clinic, its website says.

The Ocean County College testing center is still in the process of being set up, spokeswoman Donna Flynn said. An opening date cannot be established until test kits have been received and a scheduling system is in place, she said.

There are a number of pieces still being worked out on this. We are moving as expeditiously as possible on this, said Flynn.

Ocean County College is located in Toms River. It will be the third  or possible fourth  county college to host testing, joining Bergen Community College and the County College of Morris. Camden County is also in the process of setting one up at its college in Gloucester Township but cant open until it gets testing kits, freeholders have said.

So far, there are two state-run testing cents in New Jersey: PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, and the Bergen Community College location. Both have faced intense demands for kits, and neither has had the testing capacity to stay open a full day.

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.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday set up a COVID relief fund to be utilised for the welfare of people in distress due to coronavirus.

He asked people to "donate generously".

According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office, the COVID Relief Fund account would enable people to make contributions digitally through various payment gateways facilitating quick and easy transfer.

The chief minister also called upon the people to work towards helping their Punjabi fellows.

He said the people's contribution to the fund would be a welfare step for the poor and the under-privileged during the lockdown period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jared Soares/Getty

When Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. announced on Monday that he was reopening the schools residence halls to students amid the coronavirus pandemic, he implied that he had received the blessing of officials in Lynchburg, Virginia, to do so.

They thanked us for making that decision, Falwell told the Liberty University News Service, describing a call to move classes online but also, in his words, to get his students back as soon as we canthe ones who want to come back.

In fact, Lynchburg city manager Bonnie Svrcek says that while she did thank Falwell for moving to online classrooms, she was led to believe that the school was also abandoning plans to invite students back into residence halls following spring break. Neither she nor Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy said they signed off on Falwells decision to re-open Libertys dorms.

On Tuesday, Svrcek told The Daily Beast that Falwell was not totally transparent with her or Tweedy during an exchange on March 16 in which, according to Svrcek, Falwell told the two leaders that his school would move to an online platform.

He added that some food services would remain open for on-campus international students who have not gone home and some lab classes and the school of aviation will continue, Svrcek told The Daily Beast. The mayor and I thanked him for this shift that we believed meant that students would be told to not come back to campus with a few exceptions.

Jerry Falwell Jr. Suggests to Fox & Friends That North Korea Created the Coronavirus

That Falwell chose to go forward without the blessing of the city officials wasnt surprising. He is perhaps Donald Trumps most unapologetic ally in evangelical circles, and the president himself is eager for schools, businesses, and public establishments to reopen and get the country past its coronavirus-induced economic slump.

But for some students at Liberty, the notion that they will now be coming back from various parts of the country to mix and mingle in one shared campus was less than appealing, and yet another sign that their college president was putting loyalty to Trump over other considerations.

Story continues

It seems like [Falwell] wants everything to be open pretty quickly, following Trump. I saw this morning that [Trump] wants businesses to reopen, said one Liberty senior, who asked to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation by Liberty administrators. Jerry literally follows anything that Trump says.

Falwell has consistently downplayed the severity of the coronavirus crisis, even suggesting that nationwide efforts to control its spread represent a plot to undermine the Trump presidency. Last week, however, he did move the school to online classes while keeping it open for students who wished to return to campus or who, in the cases of some international students, simply had nowhere else to go.

Student: Jerry Falwell Jr. Axed Anti-Trump Story from Liberty Universitys School Newspaper

Svrcek said that she had implored Falwell to keep students away until the public health crisis abated. And, initially, it looked like the school would stay open but would encourage students not to return. While students are currently allowed to return to live in the residence halls, we are encouraging you to consider staying home, Libertys office of residential life wrote in a March 17 campus-wide email.

But three days later, the office walked back that pronouncement. The intent of encouraging students to consider remaining at home was to simply advise students to think carefully about their choice and discuss the matter with their parents, the school wrote, according to the emails, which were obtained by The Daily Beast. It was not an endorsement or recommendation of that particular course of action.

Its that vagueness towards the threat posed by the coronavirus that has some students frustrated and concerned. Its the constant overemphasis of the effectiveness of the universitys mitigation measures and a constant downplaying of the dangers posed by this virus, said Liberty senior Calum Best in an interview with The Daily Beast. I don't envy [Falwells] decision, its a tough one to make and ultimately hes going to be criticized no matter what he does. But he can work through that decision without being misleading.

Libertys plan currently is to reopen the schools dormitories to incoming students, but classes and other campus gatherings will be held online or canceled altogether. Nonetheless, experts told The Daily Beast that clustering students in on-campus housing poses extreme and unnecessary risks and will almost surely lead to more cases of the virus among the student body.

If Liberty University reopens, people will die, said Dr. Max Cooper, an emergency room doctor at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Pennsylvania who served in the U.S. Navy and is now leading his areas Emergency COVID-19 Task Force. To say nothing of the many educators and university support staff whose age and mortality likely skews older and higher. Its imperative that Liberty and other universities stay closed."

Lawrence Gostin, who directs the ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and the World Health Organizations Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, called Libertys decision to reopen utterly irresponsible.

Some faculty at Liberty, which just last year received a federal research grant from the National Institutes of Health, have gone further than to downplay the dangers of the virus. One professor even suggested that students disregard state government measures designed to limit the virus spread.

There is no evidence that quarantine works, just ask Italy or Spain right now about that, Liberty University history professor Benjamin Esswein told his class on Tuesday morning, according to a copy of digital classroom chat logs obtained by The Daily Beast. The statement came in response to a student who said she wouldnt be able to complete an assignment requiring her to visit a museum due to the mandated closure of non-essential businesses in both Virginia and her home state. Were not even supposed to leave our houses, she said.

Asked whether students could visit a virtual museum to satisfy the requirement, Esswein denied the request. Be safe about it, but remaining active is the best way to fight off the virus, you should try to go to a park or other area that might have a free-standing exhibit, Esswein told his class. You should leave your house, its unhealthy to stay inside for the rest of the semester.

Esswein did not return a request for comment. But shown a copy of that exchange, Gostin scoffed. The discussion just isn't fact-based, he said. Quarantines do work and for every student that is infected, he or she will infect two others, and so forth. The rise in cases could be exponential.

Thats to say nothing of the faculty and staff who could be exposed to the virus and then return to their off-campus homes, potentially exposing individuals who never even set foot on campus, noted Dr. Adrian Hyzler, the chief medical officer for Healix International, which provides medical information to organizations whose clients travel internationally. Hyzler called Falwells decision to reopen the school nuts.

We have seen how gatherings to people at conventions, prisons, religious meetings, and teaching facilities can be breeding grounds for transmission and this could well become another of those epicenters, said Hyzler.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A ll KFC restaurants in the UK and Ireland will close by Wednesday as fears mount over coronavirus.

The fried chicken chain will begin closing stores on Monday evening, it said in a statement on Twitter.

KFC said it would try to prevent its food from going to waste by giving it to charity partners around the UK and Ireland.

A KFC spokesperson told the Standard: "Our team have done an incredible job in such tricky and uncertain circumstances. In all of our KFC restaurants, up and down the UK & Ireland, our team's jobs will be waiting for them when we reopen.

"All of our franchise partners are committed to doing all they can  with support from both the UK and Irish Governments  to protect their teams typical earnings as much as possible.

The news comes after recent announcements by several other fast food outlets including Greggs, McDonald's, Subway and Nando's that they would be closing temporarily.

Greggs, the UK's largest bakery chain, said it had been doing everything we can to keep our shops open and everyone safe, but it has become clear that to help us all maintain social distance we need to go further in a letter from CEO Roger Whiteside.

All Greggs staff will be kept on full contract rates for the time being, although the company warned it would review this in future.

McDonald's said it would close its restaurants in the UK by the end of Monday, with 135,000 workers affected.

It said its directly-employed staff would be paid in full pay for their scheduled hours until April 5.

Subway restaurants closed on Monday evening, while Nando's shut its doors on Sunday.

Costa, Primark, Pizza Express and John Lewis are among other high street favourites closing temporarily due to coronavirus.

The British Government ordered pubs and restaurants to close to the public on Friday evening - but said they could continue providing takeaways.
SAN DIEGO, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) (the "Company"), the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States that launched the world's first-ever cannabis-derived nutraceutical products, brands and supply chain, announced today that its investment company AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AXIM) ("AXIM Biotech" or "AXIM") has completed the acquisition of leading oncology research and development company Sapphire Biotech, Inc. ("Sapphire").

In January of this year, AXIM announced that the Company signed a binding term sheet to acquire Sapphire. As part of the acquisition, AXIM has acquired 100 percent of the capital stock of Sapphire and will operate Sapphire as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Sapphire will continue to be led by Catalina Valencia as Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Valencia has stewarded Sapphire in the development of its unique patent-pending pipeline.

"Sapphire Biotech has already proven itself to have great potential in just the one year since its founding. We look forward to bringing them into our family of companies and helping them further their efforts in the field of oncology," said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. "It is very exciting to announce that Sapphire Biotech has both a diagnostic application as well as a promising oncology treatment in their arsenal. This acquisition marks a transformation of AXIM while aligning with the therapeutic cannabinoid analog space."

Sapphire has licensed a leading compound called SBI-183, which inhibits and suppresses invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. The company recently announced that it now holds exclusive license rights to SBI-183 and intends to study the compound's ability to treat cancer. In February, Sapphire signed a Sponsored Research Agreement with a leading cancer research organization to conduct preclinical studies to develop a metastatic cancer inhibitor using the licensed SBI-183 compound.

"Sapphire Biotech's research team is making impressive progress in the field of oncology, which is one of the main reasons we were attracted to the company," said John W. Huemoeller II, Chief Executive Officer of AXIM Biotech. "At the end of the day, we want to help as many people as we can. Through this acquisition, we expect to be able to bring treatments to market for the millions of people battling cancer even more quickly."

In addition to its upcoming research on cancer-treating compounds, Sapphire is also developing a novel line of diagnostics for early cancer detection, response to treatment and recurrence monitoring. One of Sapphire's diagnostic tools is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial for its potential to diagnose pancreatic cancer.

AXIM chose to acquire Sapphire because of its focus on cancer therapeutics for inhibiting cancer growth and metastasis, its diagnostics line, and a world-renowned research team. Through this acquisition, AXIM not only gains Sapphire's already existing patent-pending portfolio of technologies but also now has the ability to develop new in-house proprietary molecules and potential treatments for numerous diseases.

For more information about AXIM, please visit www.aximbiotech.com .

For more information about Sapphire Biotech, please visit www.sapphirebiotech.com .

About AXIM Biotechnologies

Founded in 2014, AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. (AXIM) is a world leader in the research and development of plant and laboratory-derived cannabinoid and oncological therapeutics. AXIM's proprietary research intends to find new ways to diagnose and treat cancer as well as other conditions, such as the intense side effects of chemotherapy, through innovative pharmaceutical delivery systems, cannabinoid-based active pharmaceutical ingredients, and novel therapeutics.

Currently, Sapphire Biotech, Inc.'s diagnostic tool is being used to study the company's enzyme biomarker to detect pancreatic cancer earlier than circulating tumor cells. Learn more here . For more information, please visit www.AXIMBiotech.com .

About Medical Marijuana, Inc.

We are a company of firsts . Medical Marijuana, Inc. ( MJNA ) is a cannabis company with three distinct business units in the non-psychoactive cannabinoid space: a global portfolio of cannabinoid-based nutraceutical brands led by Kannaway and HempMeds ; a pioneer in sourcing the highest-quality legal non-psychoactive cannabis products derived from industrial hemp; and a cannabinoid-based clinical research and botanical drug development sector led by its pharmaceutical investment companies and partners including AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. and Kannalife, Inc . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was named a top CBD producer by CNBC . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was also the first company to receive historic import permits for CBD products from the governments of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Paraguay and is a leader in the development of international markets. The company's flagship product Real Scientific Hemp Oil has been used in several successful clinical studies throughout Mexico and Brazil to understand its safety and efficacy.

Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s headquarters is in San Diego, California, and additional information is available at OTCMarkets.com or by visiting www.medicalmarijuanainc.com . To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s corporate video, click here .

Shareholders and consumers are also encouraged to buy CBD oil and other products at Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s shop.

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined 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. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein.

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

LEGAL DISCLOSURE

Medical Marijuana, Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act.

CONTACT:

Public Relations Contact:

Andrew Hard

Chief Executive Officer

CMW Media

P. 858-264-6600

[email protected]

www.cmwmedia.com

Investor Relations Contact:

P. (858) 283-4016

[email protected]

SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com


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.

The coronavirus pandemic is leaving many people in the Capital Region with coughs and fevers wondering what may be causing their illness  and what they should do about it.

The short answers: Its probably not the coronavirus, but it could be. And as for what to do: Stay home.

Yes, everyone is staying home right now, but people with any symptoms should be especially cautious. Dont go grocery shopping, dont run down the street for milk, dont duck out to fill the gas tank. Also, as much as possible people who arent feeling well should keep their distance from everyone else in their household, even if that means someone has to sleep on the couch.

Symptoms of COVID-19  the illness caused by the new coronavirus  can be difficult if not impossible to distinguish from influenza, or even a really bad cold or allergies.

Todd Trumbull

The main symptoms are fever and cough, and shortness of breath as the illness progresses. People with COVID-19 tend to not have the upper respiratory complaints  such as runny nose and sinus congestion  or gastrointestinal issues that often come along with influenza. That said, there have been cases of COVID-19 where patients had all of those symptoms.

Its hard for even experts to diagnose someone by an absence of symptoms. And testing kits to confirm a COVID-19 diagnosis are in short supply. That means most people who are sick right now have no way of knowing for sure whats wrong with them.

The good news is that for the vast majority of people, it doesnt matter. There is no specific treatment for coronavirus infection. So the advice is going to be the same no matter the source of infection: rest, drink fluids, take a fever suppressant as needed and stay away from others.

Things get a bit more complicated for some groups. Older people and those with underlying health problems will want to check in with their doctors at the onset of symptoms and watch carefully for complications since they are at higher risk of serious illness. If they end up hospitalized, they may get tested for the coronavirus.

Also, anyone who has recently traveled overseas, especially to areas with known coronavirus outbreaks, or who has been in contact with someone diagnosed with the virus should immediately contact a health care provider if they have symptoms.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Another group that should be especially cautious: people who work with individuals in at-risk categories. Health care workers  and in particular people who work in long-term-care facilities with older, fragile patients  should stay home as soon as they start feeling unwell and not return to work until all of their symptoms have subsided and theyre given the OK to come back, public health officials say.

This group of workers may be able to get tested for the coronavirus depending on where they live and the availability of tests in their area. They should ask their doctor about testing, which will help them know when they can safely return to work. Also, if they test positive then others in the health care setting, including patients, may also need to be screened for infection.

Everyone in the Bay Area is advised to practice rigorous social distancing for now. But not everyone can work from home, and some people cant afford to miss any more work than absolutely necessary.

Its not entirely clear when people are no longer infectious with the coronavirus  scientists are still figuring that out. But for people who have been sick and need to return to a job where theyll be around others, they should be fine after a day (or two) of no symptoms. They should still avoid touching others or standing or sitting too close, and wash their hands frequently.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com
Bob Owen /Staff photographer

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Judge Nelson Wolff shared details of a new Stay Home, Work Safe order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in San Antonio and Bexar County during at a 6 p.m. news conference Monday. It orders San Antonians to stay home unless they are making essential trips or exercising.

The announcement comes a day after Gov. Greg Abbott said shelter in place-like decisions were up to local officials. In such orders, which have already been implemented in other U.S. cities, essential businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies remain open. San Antonio's order is similar.
Two Alabama elementary-school teachers have gone the extra mile  about 50 miles, in fact  to help their homebound students keep up with their reading and writing and arithmetic during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Merideth Lett and Hollie Nelson, who teach at Huntington Place Elementary School in Northport, drove around Tuscaloosa County this past Thursday delivering care bags to all 25 of their fourth-grade students.

The teachers gave each student a recyclable grocery bag filled with math and reading workbooks, writing notebooks and mindfulness lessons, as well as Post-it Notes, highlighters, pencils, crayons, snacks, photos of their fellow students and personal notes from the teachers.

Huntington Place Elementary School was closed for spring break last week, and like other schools around the state, it will be closed at least through April 3 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We have just bonded with these students and their parents like never before, Lett said in an interview with AL.com today. There was just a lot of uncertainty about what to do and how to maintain instruction, so Hollie and I decided that we would do these bags together.

The teachers provided the school supplies and snacks, and the grocery bags were donated by Publix. Five Points Baptist Church in Northport also contributed a $200 Walmart gift card, which the teachers used to buy groceries for four of the students whose families are food insecure.

Since delivering the care bags, Lett said she and Nelson have received text messages and photos from many of their students parents thanking them for their efforts.

It meant the world to them, she said. Our county is quite large, so some of our students live far out. . . .

One of the things we kept hearing from the students that we got to see was, I cannot believe my teacher is at my house. I didnt know teachers ever came to your house.

This particular class, which also includes some special-needs students, means the world to their teachers, too.

Lett is a fourth-grade teacher, and Nelson is a special-education teacher, and the two friends teamed up to teach this years fourth graders at Huntington Place Elementary School.

This is my 21st year teaching, and I love it. Otherwise, I wouldnt continue to do it, Lett said. But this group of students and their parents, this is the most rewarding, best year Ive ever had. The growth that weve seen is just so rewarding.

It was such a blessing to both of us to be able to put these (bags) together to help these parents, to help our students, and just to let them know that we care, she added. It blessed our hearts so much to see their little faces -- the ones we got to see -- and to see how happy they were.
All members of the Assam



Assembly on Tuesday unanimously announced to contribute their one months salary to support the government in fighting the novel coronavirus crisis in the state.

During a discussion on the preparedness of the state government to fight a possible outbreak of COVID-19 in Assam, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said all Congress members will donate one month's salary for the cause.

After this, leaders of all parties the BJP, AIUDF, AGP and the BPF -- announced similar contributions to a government fund.

"This is a very good gesture and a step in solidarity. All of us took a historical decision to fight unitedly. I thank all of you for contributing one month's salary," Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami said.

He also appealed to the Assembly staff to take similar steps if they wish.

"We from the House, appeal to the people to follow all the instructions by the Health Department in this situation. We appreciate all the medical staff for their fight against the coronavirus. We also mourn all those died due to COVID-19 and wish a speedy recovery of the affected ones," Goswami said.

The nine-day Budget Session, which began on March 2, was adjourned sine die on Tuesday instead of March 30 in the wake of the coronavirus situation.

"We are ending the session sine die due to unavoidable circumstances," the Speaker announced.

Assam is placed under full lockdown from 6 pm on Tuesday till midnight on March 31 to combat the impact of deadly novel CoronaVirus in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Danai Gurira announced that she would be leaving The Walking Dead, fans were devastated. Her character, the deadly katana-wielding Michonne grew to be a fan favorite over the course of eight seasons. Its hard to imagine what The Walking Dead will be like without her. Fans loved Michonne for more than just her excellent sword-wielding skills and fierce fighting moves. She was, without a doubt, one of the strongest characters in the face of a seemingly hopeless apocalypse, never surrendering her fight and drive for survival. In honor of one of our favorite characters and as a final farewell, weve compiled a list of Michonnes best moments from her mysterious first appearance to her poetically perfect final exit from the world of the survivors.

Read on for a trip down memory lane of Michonnes most savage, most fierce, and overall best moments on The Walking Dead.

Danai Gurira | AMC

10. Michonne saves Andrea

When creating a countdown of a characters best moments, it seems only right to start off with their very first appearance on The Walking Dead especially when you have an entrance as intense and mysterious as Michonne.

Fans didnt get to know Michonne until Season 3, but she made her first shocking appearance right at the end of Season 2. The survivors were scattered after a colossal herd of walkers overran Hershels farm. Andrea was separated from the rest of the group and presumed dead. However, she merely got lost while being chased by a group of walkers. Unable to run anymore, Andrea collapses from exhaustion and right when she might have met a very gruesome end, a quick slash eliminates the walkers. Andrea stares up in fear and curiosity at her savior: a hooded figure with two chained walkers at her side.

Fans of the The Walking Dead comic book series knew exactly who the show was introducing and couldnt contain their excitement. Other fans were just as eager to learn more about this mysterious stranger who would soon become a fan favorite.

Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln | AMC

9. Michonnes relationship with Rick

Love is hard to find in a zombie apocalypse, so when Rick and Michonne held hands and kissed for the very first time in Season 6 Episode 10 The Next World, it was a moment that felt absolutely right and absolutely needed amongst the horrors of surviving hordes of walkers and rival groups. When Rick and Michonne became Richonne, their relationship was truly a marriage made in heaven with both characters being seasoned and scarred by the world around them in a way both characters could empathize with. Their romance took a long time to blossom since the pair met in Season 3 as the two learned to trust and depend on one another, evolving from partners in survival to partners in love. Plus, theyre pretty great at disposing of walkers together. Can you say power couple?

Chandler Riggs and Danai Gurira | AMC

8. Michonne bonds with Carl

Michonne and Carl had a rocky start at first. Carl didnt exactly trust Michonne right from the beginning and after all, can you really blame a kid being raised in the apocalypse for being a little skeptical of new people?

The two finally get the chance to get to know one another on a supply run in Season 3 Episode 12 Clear. Rick, Carl, and Michonne travel to find weapons and ammunition for the upcoming battle against The Governor. However, things dont go according to plan and the group gets separated, leaving Carl and Michonne together much to Carls anger. However, he quickly learns that Michonne isnt so bad after all when she risks her life to venture inside a cafe full of walkers to retrieve a picture of Carl with his parents. She also retrieves a cat sculpture just because its beautiful, allowing Carl to see a different side of her.

From then on, Carl and Michonne become best friends and almost develop a sort of mother-son bond. Their relationship is definitely one of the most heartwarming aspects of the show.

Danai Gurira | AMC Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

7. Michonne takes down a room full of walkers

After watching Michonne absolutely obliterate every walker in her path, theres no doubt that she can hold her own against a herd of walkers. Still, its always exciting to see the katana-wielding warrior in her element especially in her final episode.

Michonne has always had the ability to walk into dangerous situations with a clear, calm head and sharp instincts, so when Virgil takes her somewhere chock full of vicious walkers, we definitely arent afraid for her. She orders Virgil to hide and quickly tears apart the living dead within a few minutes, showing shes definitely not someone to be trifled with. Yet, Virgil still tries to trifle with Michonne by both drugging and attempting to kidnap her. To no ones surprise, Michonne wins in the end, escaping and actually sparing Virgil.

Danai Gurira | AMC

6. Michonne kills an entire herd of walkers

After the prison is demolished and overrun by walkers in Season 4 Episode 8 Too Far Gone, the survivors are separated and forced to run in opposite directions, with none of them knowing whether or not their fellow family of survivors made it out. Michonne is especially devastated by this and degenerates back into her former self: a cold, hardened survivor.

In Season 4 Episode 9 After, she wanders through the woods, chains up two walkers, and begins her journey alone once again. After walking amongst the dead for some time and seeing a walker that resembled her a little too much, Michonne snaps. She takes down the entire herd along with her new pet walkers in a fit of frustration, pain, and heartbreak. Aside from being another awesome action sequence, this is such a definitive moment for Michonne. She realizes that she has found a purpose in surviving the apocalypse and no longer wants to be part of the walking dead on Earth.

After slaughtering an entire herd with her own two hands, she discovers a trail of footprints (that actually belong to Rick and Carl) and follows them, refusing to be a lone survivor with nothing to live for again.

5. Michonne gets creative

The war between Ricks group and the Saviors escalates in Season 7. On the drive back to Alexandria, the group encounters a huge roadblock of cars and walkers created by the Saviors. Not one to give up without some ingenuity, Michonne and Rick team up by tethering a tripwire across two cars. Then, the duo drove side by side, literally tearing through a path of walkers in a pretty horrifically gruesome (yet awesome) sequence. After clearing the initial horde, the power couple takes care of the rest of the walkers with some glorious melee action and dynamite. The scene just goes to show that even without her famous katana blade, Michonne is still a lethal weapon all on her own.

Danai Gurira | AMC

4. Michonne takes down the Governors men wounded

Its one thing to fight off a handful of gun-toting men on your own with nothing but a sword. Its another thing entirely to do it with a bullet wound.

From the moment Andrea and Michonne arrived at the Governors settlement, Woodbury, Michonne knew something wasnt right. From the sight of military trucks with bullet holes and a collection of unsavory characters, Woodbury clearly isnt the best place to be in Michonnes mind. So, she tries to leave peacefully, but the Governor didnt exactly want such a dangerous woman running free so he sends Merle and a few of his henchmen to eliminate her. Big mistake.

First, Michonne leaves the henchmen with a bloody warning: the words Go Back spelled out with walker parts. Still, they continue to pursue her and are slain within minutes. Merle manages to shoot Michonne in the thigh, but not even a bullet wound could keep her down. Michonne fights off both Merle and a walker before making her way to Ricks prison without any additional scratches and baby formula. All in a good days work for our favorite katana-slashing walker slayer.

David Morrissey and Danai Gurira | AMC

3. Michonne kills the Governor

Seriously, has there ever been a more despicable character in The Walking Dead than the Governor? He tortured several of our favorite survivors, including Michonne, killed Hershel, and is just overall a dangerously insane character to come across during the apocalypse. Thats why it is just oh-so rewarding when every survivor gets a swing at the Governor during the climactic battle at the prison before Michonne plunges her katana right through his chest.

In a moment where every fan definitely screamed, Yeah! at their television sets, Michonne took down one of the most evil forces the survivors have had to face. The scene, simultaneously brutal and cathartic for viewers, allowed Michonne to save Rick from certain death and avenge the many fallen friends and survivors who died at the Governors demented hands in what is absolutely one of the most powerful instances of good triumphing over evil in the show.

Danai Gurira | AMC

2. Michonne takes her place as leader after Ricks death

Loss is a recurring theme in The Walking Dead. After all, as a wise man named Hershel once said, You step outside, you risk your life. Every one of the survivors has experienced some sort of heart wrenching loss whether at the hands of bloodthirsty walkers or vicious rival survivors. When Michonne believes that she has just witnessed Ricks death, fans hearts broke. At this point, almost everyone Michonne has loved deeply has died, but just as expected from such a strong character, the loss doesnt destroy her. Instead, Michonne steps up and becomes the leader of Alexandria in Ricks place. In Season 9 Episode 6 Who Are You Now?, the series reveals that it has been six years since Ricks supposed demise and since then, Michonne has risen into the role of a leader.

From a hardened, traumatized survivor to the leader of an entire settlement, Michonne has grown tremendously over the course of the series, making a farewell all the more bittersweet.

Danai Gurira | AMC

1. Michonne ventures into the unknown

Wearing her famous hooded cloak with two chained walkers in tow, Michonne makes her exit from the world of The Walking Dead. First, her arc finally comes full circle. On her journey, she comes across a small group of people who have been separated from their group by walkers. In a fierce Michonne fashion, she cuts down the walkers and offers her assistance to the group in a bittersweet nod to how she met Andrea and introduced herself to fans in the very beginning.

The Walking Deads farewell and homage to Michonne is both bittersweet and perfect for her unstoppable character. Now, all fans can hope for is a potential spin-off series where we can follow Michonnes adventures even further. AMC, were looking at you.

Read more: The Walking Dead: Why Is Lauren Cohan Returning to the Show?
In a matter of days, the Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy will sail from San Diego and dock in the port of Los Angeles to help lift the burden from local medical treatment facilities that need to focus their resources on patients affected by the coronavirus pandemic, a Navy official said today.

In a matter of days, the Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy will sail from San Diego and dock in the port of Los Angeles to help lift the burden from local medical treatment facilities that need to focus their resources on patients affected by the coronavirus pandemic, a Navy official said today.

The USNS Mercy moors to the pier at Naval Base San Diego (Picture source: US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Zach Kreitzer)

Navy Rear Adm. Timothy H. Weber, commander of the Naval Medical Corps Pacific and director of the Medical Service Corps, spoke with reporters at the Pentagon by telephone to update them on the Mercy's plans. He was joined by Navy Capt. (Dr.) John R. Rotruck, the ship's commanding officer.

More than 800 medical professionals, assembled over the last few days, will embark on the Mercy, the admiral said. The doctors, nurses, corpsmen, other medical professionals and mariners will help communities hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

The Mercy normally handles combat casualty care, and its crew will not treat patients with the coronavirus, the admiral said. The ship and its staff will offer a broad range of medical and surgical support, with the exceptions of obstetrics and pediatrics.

Nearly 60 of the medical staff members are military reservists, Weber said. "We are honored to answer the call in a time of need," he added.

"Today is a big day for the Mercy, Navy medicine and our national response to the coronavirus," Rotruck said. He noted that Los Angeles has seen some of the greatest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to date.

"We will be ready on arrival to support [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and state and local efforts to protect the health of the American people in this whole-of-government approach directed by the president of the United States," the captain said.

"We are not treating COVID-19 patients, and we are taking proactive measures to ensure anyone coming aboard is properly screened," Rotruck said. The Mercy has infectious disease prevention measures that will be followed just as any hospital ashore would, he added.

"We will be bringing relief to where we are needed most," the captain said. The Navy's hospital ships are uniquely outfitted, for humanitarian and disaster relief, and those serving on the ships are highly skilled and highly trained, he added.
In brief: As the Covid-19 pandemic sets in, healthcare workers on the front lines are facing massive shortages of protective gear such as N95 face masks and gloves, thanks to a panic stricken public buying such items up. Suppliers have had trouble meeting demand, and the Covid-19 pandemic has plagued logistics and supply chains as well, leaving hospitals with little to nothing in the interim. Companies have begun stepping in to help, with Intel being the latest.

Intel announced that it would source and donate one million items of personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the Covid-19 outbreak and massive shortages that global healthcare workers are facing.

We will donate masks, gloves, face shields and other gear that we have sourced from our factory stock and emergency supplies, and well continue to look for additional sources of personal protective equipment that we can source and donate as quickly as possible to meet our commitment of more than a million items, said Todd Brady, Intel's director of Global Public Affairs.

This includes Intel looting its own supply of PPE in its factories across Israel, Arizona, Oregon and New Mexico. The Santa Clara chipmaker already pledged a $1 million donation to the International Red Cross to support global relief efforts regarding Covid-19. Intel stated that it will continue to work with local health authorities to determine where its future donations will be of the most use.

Recently, Razer announced it would alter some if its production lines to manufacture and donate up to one million face masks, with the first batch going to local healthcare workers in Singapore.

Image credit: Sherry Yates Young
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  The World Health Organization's representative in the Philippines says homemade face masks and other personal protective gear may be acceptable as a "stopgap measure" but they don't assure 100 percent defense against the coronavirus.

Because of a shortage of masks, both here and globally, people are now turning to do-it-yourself kits, says Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO representative in the Philippines.

"The issue with that is they they are not 100 percent protective but they will provide some degree of protection," Abeyasinghe said on Tuesday's briefing by Laging Handa, the government's COVID-19 crisis communications center.

Abeyasinghe said the WHO "does not encourage this, but this is a stop-gap measure" while the global shortage is being addressed.

He added, "In the crcumstances, any protection is better than no protection."

Netizens have been sharing their efforts at creating face masks and other equipment at home, given that most of these have become scarce in the market.

READ: A doctor is 3D printing face masks to help meet the desperate need for protective gear

Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato de la Pena recently announced that his agency's Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI), together with the government of Taytay town in Rizal and other private groups, will produce face masks that can be recycled for up to 50 times.
Calculating contagion: Researchers examine social aspect of pathogen spread

Modeling epidemics: Leah Shaw is an associate professor in William & Marys Department of Mathematics. Her research focuses on modeling the dynamics of biological populations, including the spread of epidemics. Photo by Joseph McClain Photo - of - Hide Caption

If Leah Shaw gets any time to herself during this period of social distancing, she plans to run a simulation  on social distancing.

Shaw is an associate professor in William & Marys Department of Mathematics. Her research focuses on modeling the dynamics of biological populations, including the spread of epidemics.

Heres the simulation, Shaw said. Lets say you implement social distancing. Youll see all these connections outside households go down, but the connections inside will go up. So, we could ask how much that affects disease spread.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines social distancing, as it applies to COVID-19, as "remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible."

The strategy is a numbers game. The fewer interactions between people, the lower the chances of the disease spreading. Mathematical models have been used to understand the spread of infectious diseases since the time of Bernoulli. But the 17th century epidemic models are not all that relevant today, Shaw said.

In those models, the population was considered homogeneously mixed, Shaw said. Every individual had an equal chance to contact any other individual in the population. Those models werent realistic even at the time they were developed, but theyre simpler, so they were the starting point. Once you start putting models on a social network, instead of assuming they're well-mixed, the individuals are now different. My connections aren't the same as your connections.

Shaw studies the problem of disease spread by using computational tools developed for mathematical biology and statistical physics. Her research uses simple models (what researchers call toy models) that contain a few aspects of reality, but are pared down compared to all the variables involved in real-world epidemic spread.

One problem with modeling the social aspects of transmission is they depend on people's behavior, which is very difficult to predict, Shaw said. In any modeling you do, you have to make assumptions or else you don't have a model. But the validity of the output is probably only as good as the assumptions that went into the model.

Her models account for community response, what she calls an adaptive social network. When an epidemic spreads in a population, she explained, people may adaptively change the structure of their social-contact network to reduce risk of infection.

In other words, certain individuals may choose to self-quarantine and socially distance themselves from others to prevent the spread of disease. Shaws research has shown social distancing could fundamentally alter community structure, even after the initial outbreak has subsided.

The idea behind adaptive behavioral epidemiology is that groups and individuals respond to the knowledge of a disease threat by changing their habits to avoid interactions with those who are contagious, Shaw wrote in a paper co-authored with Ira Schwartz of the Naval Research Laboratory. Network-based models take this adaptive behavior into account by allowing the network to rewire its connections.

There is a key assumption built into Shaws models: people will do the right thing and self-quarantine after exposure. That may be easier said than done, especially in the case of a pandemic that crosses cultures.

Its natural for human beings to want to be near one another, but the proximity and frequency of social interaction varies between societies says Joanna Schug, associate professor in William & Marys Department of Psychological Sciences.

My research suggests that, in some countries, people are much more likely to come into contact with strangers or form relationships with new people, Schug said. In other countries, people tend to be more embedded in their existing social networks.

The scientific term is relational mobility. It describes how individuals interact and develop relationships in different societies. Cultures in which people tend to mix readily are said to have high relational mobility. Schug was part of a research team that found relational mobility was lower in societies that practiced settled, subsistence lifestyles, such as rice farming.

Schugs team also found similar low relational mobility in societies that had stronger ecological and historical threats, such as a harsh geoclimate, poverty or a history of pathogens.

What was amazing about this study is we were able to predict outcomes in terms of peoples relationships using this social ecological concept, Schug said. She explained that behaviors exhibited by each culture were adaptive to their specific social environments.

Schug is not collecting data on the spread of COVID-19, but she says it could be valuable for researchers to examine relational mobility.

My research has shown that in some countries, people are much more likely to come into contact with strangers and form relationships with new people, Schug said. In other countries, people tend to be more embedded in their existing social networks.

She says this could be a reason why countries like Singapore, South Korea and China, which are low on the relational mobility scale, were quick to adopt extreme social distancing measures and limit spread. Meanwhile, in high relational mobility places like Italy and the U.S., the virus is showing an exponential growth in transmission.

To be clear, this is a hard thing to tell because not enough people are getting tested to see the true spread of the virus, Schug said. But it begs the question, what are these countries doing differently? I think cultural practices might have an impact, so we really should be thinking about the different social norms that we have.

In the 1950s and 60s, an anthropologist named Edward T Hall developed proxemics, the study of the human use of space within the context of culture, Schug explained. He argued that human perception of space is molded and patterned by society.

His research compared people in different countries and how close they are when they interact with each other, Schug said.

For example, Hall found that the interaction distance for people from some countries was extremely, almost uncomfortably, close compared to his own American interaction distance.

While much of that original research is now dated, more recent research still shows that people in different countries often prefer different distances when interacting with friends and strangers, Schug said.

Schug cited a newer study from an international team of researchers that found people in some countries, like Hungary, tend to keep a larger distance away from strangers and acquaintances, while in countries like Argentina, people prefer to interact with others at a much closer distance.

As someone who models the spread of pathogens, Shaw says social distancing works because it reduces the effective strength of links between individuals and that ultimately lowers the rate of transmission. There is one caveat  and its a big one. For social distancing to be effective, individuals and groups have to have enough reliable information to adapt their behavior.

Shaw and Yunhan Long, a Ph.D. graduate from the universitys Department of Applied Science, compared sources of information spread within a network.

We found that the awareness raised by mass media was more effective than that from person-to-person communication because of how broadly it was dispersed, Shaw said. In our model, if awareness is only transmitted person-to-person, the population can fragment into a group that is aware and has successfully protected itself, and a group that is completely unaware while the disease spreads within it.

Shaw and Longs results indicated that awareness can play a significant role in minimizing disease spread. That is, social distancing works when people know the infections status within their society.

There are two important numbers in understanding how disease spreads, Shaw explained. There's the transmission rate and the infectious period. The infectious period is a characteristic of the disease itself. That's not something people can control. That's biological. The transmission rate, though, has both biological and social aspects.

The biological factors are things like the length of time the virus will survive on surfaces, Shaw said. The transmission rate also depends on how much person-to-person contact there is. More contact means more transmission.

What people are trying to do with social distancing is control the one thing that we can control, the social aspect of the transmission rate, Shaw said.
All major fast food restaurants in the UK will have closed their doors by tomorrow amid the coronavirus crisis.

There were huge queues for McDonald's across the country last night with customers desperate for one last Big Mac before all restaurants shut up shop at 7pm.

Despite vowing to keep kitchens open for Drive-Thrus and Deliveroo, Burger King today announced it is closing too.

KFC has begun shutting restaurants around the UK and said all of them will have closed by tomorrow.

Dominos will continue to deliver but will no longer allow customers to pick up their pizza's in store.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all non-essential shops and food outlets to close as part of a nationwide lockdown yesterday.

Britons are now only allowed out of their homes to buy food, collect medical supplies and exercise once a day after 422 people died and 8,077 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Despite vowing to keep kitchens open for Drive-Thrus and Deliveroo, Burger King today announced it is closing amid the coronavirus ourtbreak

KFC has begun shutting restaurants around the UK and said all of them will have closed by tomorrow

Dominos will continue to deliver but will no longer allow customer's to pick up their pizza's in store

On Saturday, Burger King tweeted to remind customers it was 'still open at many drive-thru and delivery locations'.

But today a social media spokesman for the burger chain said: 'To all WHOPPER fans.

'In what we can only call unprecedented times, it is with a heavy heart that we have decided to temporarily close all BURGER KING UK restaurants.

'It's not something we want to do, but it is the right thing to do right now.

'We are following all advice by the Government and Public Health England as the situation develops and want to play our part at this time.'

The chain thanked all staff for their hard work in 'recent challenging weeks' and vowed to be back as soon as possible.

Despite the draconian measures, UK restaurants are allowed to stay open for takeaway only.

But for many popular High Street chains, the numbers queuing soon became too large to remain safely in keeping with Government guidelines.

Following Mr Johnson's lockdown announcement last night, KFC said it was closing most restaurants immediately.

A statement read: 'We've decided, together with our franchise partners, to begin closing our restaurants to help protect the wellbeing and safety of our teams and of our guests.

'We're committed to doing this in the right way and are focused on closing responsibly - to prepare our restaurant teams, help our suppliers and minimise food waste.

'Restaurants will begin closing from now. They will all close by Wednesday 25th March until further notice.

'It's not a decision we've taken lightly, but it's in the best interests of both our incredible teams and all the fans that love our chicken.'

Domino's Pizza will no longer allow customers to pick up their food from today.

A spokesman said in a statement: 'Our top priority is the safety of our colleagues and our customers, so we have made the decision to stop in-store collections and move to delivery only starting on Tuesday, 24 March, to reduce the number of people visiting our stores.

'We will continue contact free delivery and take payments online and over the phone only in order to limit physical contact with our drivers and riders.'

Other fast food favourites, including Nandos, Greggs and Pizza Hut immediately closed their doors after the PM ordered the closure of pubs, cafes and restaurants on Friday.

A drive-thru Burger King and KFC are pictured together before store closures today

Just one more Big Mac! Fast-food fans queue at McDonald's drive-thrus for a final meal before burger giant closes all UK branches amid coronavirus shutdown

By Terri-Ann Williams for MailOnline

Fast-food fans lined up for their final fix yesterday evening before McDonald's closed its doors amid the coronavirus shutdown.

The chain, famous for the Big Mac, shut its branches up and down the UK at 7pm last night.

Enormous queues snaked around the block in the UK yesterday afternoon as hungry drive-through customers made one final pilgrimage to the Golden Arches for the foreseeable future.

McDonald's announced on Sunday that it had made the 'difficult decision' to temporarily shut down their restaurants from Monday, March 23 as Covid-19 fears escalate.

Fast food chains Greggs, KFC and Nando's have followed suit and also announced the closures of their restaurants.

Desperate customers wait for their last McDonald's meal for the foreseeable future at Castleford, West Yorkshire, yesterday

Customers on Tyneside made one final pilgrimage to the golden arches before the fast food firm becomes the latest coronavirus casualty yesterday

Massive queues form at the McDonald's restaurant in Byker, Newcastle. The chain closed nationwide at 7pm yesterday

Pictured: Customers queue outside Stockton's McDonald's as the restaurant prepared to close yesterday

McHurry! Cars queue to get into the McDonald's in Swaythling, Southampton, following the news that the fast food chain closed stores at 7pm on Monday
There are a total of about 250 buses  government and private  coming in to Maharashtra's Latur everyday from Mumbai and Pune. A government bus has a capacity of seating 60, while private buses can accommodate up to 150 passengers. Even if one goes by the conservative estimate of 60 people per bus, it means 15,000 people per day are travelling in a jam packed vehicle.

Commotion erupted in one of the villages in Maharashtra's Latur district on Monday morning. A young daily wage worker had returned home a week ago from Pimpri Chinchwad, for the statetwide shutdown meant he had no work. After having returned, he had been coughing and suffering from flu. People around him tried to convince him to go to the doctor, but he did not.

"He even refused to tell the doctor his travel history, or who he had come in contact with," said Madhav Pitle a local journalist who met the youth at his village. "He was extremely scared. Finally, he told me his roommate in Pimpri Chinchwad had been tested positive for COVID-19."

The police had to be called in who forced him into an ambulance and took him to Latur town, where the government medical college is sampling suspected patients of coronavirus across the district and sending the samples for testing.

However, the youth had already travelled nearly 400 kilometres from Pimpri Chinchwad - in the outskirts of Pune - to Latur in a jam-packed bus with over 100 passengers. "He did not have the luxury of staying where he was," Pitle said and added, "Can you blame him when educated people across the country are not following social distancing?"

In Maharashtra, over 100 positive cases have been reported so far. To enforce social distancing, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced sealing of state borders, among other restrictions, and shutting down of commercial establishments till 31 March. A gathering of more than five people is now prohibited in Maharashtra and a person can only step out of their homes for "essential services". More importantly, even intra-state travel is now banned, which means, a person cannot travel between two districts in Maharashtra. It is aimed to contain the spread of virus into rural Maharashtra, where health infrastructure is in abysmal condition.

However, hundreds of thousands of labourers have been leaving Mumbai and Pune for their villages because gradual shutdown of operations beginning second week of March has meant they no longer have work now, and will have to struggle to make their ends meet.

For about a week since 15 March, local reporters in Latur said that buses leaving from Mumbai and Pune were full to capacity. There are a total of about 250 buses  government and private  coming in to Latur everyday from Mumbai and Pune. A government bus has a capacity of seating 60, while private buses can accommodate up to 150 passengers. Even if one goes by the conservative estimate of 60 people per bus, it means 15,000 people per day are travelling in a jam packed vehicle. Over a period of five to six days, at least a lakh people have travelled to Latur from two major cities of Maharashtra. This is, of course, not including railways and shared taxis.

Interaction with local activists and journalists indicate that Latur is not an anomaly.

Farmers and labourers across the agrarian region of Marathwada  under which Latur falls  have been returning to their villages. With eight districts in the region, it is safe to say about 6-8 lakh people would have returned to Marathwada from Mumbai and Pune in a week  the two major cities which make for the bulk of the positive cases of coronavirus in the state.

The daily wage labourer from Latur is only one of those few lakh people.

The homecoming for the workers, however, has not been happy in several areas of Marathwada. Doctors said the sudden influx of people has brought with it fear and panic. A doctor in one of Latur's talukas requested anonymity and said that some of the returning labourers are not being allowed by villagers fearing they have contracted coronavirus. "We have been getting incessant calls from sarpanchs of different villages. They are asking us to inspect people who have just returned from the cities," the doctor said.

The situation has added more burden on the collapsing health infrastructure in rural Maharashtra. The doctor further added that his primary health care centre, along with five sub-centres, is supposed to cover for over 40,000 people. "We only have six beds, we need more health workers, paramedical staff and even doctors. In the past week, the number of people coming in to get checked has exploded," the doctor further added.

However, the doctors in rural Maharashtra do not have proper protective gear and are at risk themselves. "We are using masks and gloves that we have had for all these years," the doctor said.

Over the past week, the doctor said, they have inspected 300 people daily, and they are referring them to the government medical college in Latur town if they show symptoms of coronavirus. "Since we cannot check everyone at the clinic, we have deployed Asha workers in the villages. There is one worker for 800-1000 people," he said.

The Asha and Anganwadi workers are even more vulnerable as they are going door-to-door without hand sanitizers and protective gears. The doctor said they were using an old cloth to stitch masks for the Asha workers.

Shubha Shamim, vice-president of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) and Maharashtra State General Secretary of Anganwadi Karmachari Sanghatana said that the 65,000 Asha workers and over 2 lakh Anganwadi workers in Maharashtra should have never been asked to do this job. "Normally, you do not even consider them government servants," she said and added, "They have no social security, and most of the workers are single women. If anything happens to them, who will look after their families?"

Shamim was quick to point that it was unfair to deploy Asha workers for this task when the government staff who normally enjoy benefits of being a "government staff" should be asked to do this job. "Government servants who draw a salary of Rs 60,000 and above are sitting safely at home while an Anganwadi or ASHA worker who barely makes Rs 2,000 a month are being thrown into danger," she said.

With one isolation bed per 84,000 people, one doctor per 11,600 citizens, and one hospital bed per 1,826 Indians, the paucity of resources is visible across India. In rural Maharashtra, things are worse. According to 2014 data, government hospitals have 11,302 beds in rural Maharashtra for a population of over 6 crore. By a rough estimate, we have one bed for over 5,300 people. Making things more difficult for the doctors, people are afraid to share their travel history.

The labourers afraid to coming forward with details of their travels are also facing a pandemic for the first time. They are not just afraid of being tested positive for COVID-19, but also the economic cost it would exact.

Social scientist and activist Jean Dreze wrote in The Hindu that the states should come up with initial measures that could include advance payment of pensions, enhanced PDS rations, immediate payment of MGNREGA wage arrears, and expanded distribution of take-home rations at schools and Anganwadis.

Migrant workers, street vendors, contract workers, almost everyone in the informal sector  the bulk of the workforce  is being hit by this economic tsunami, he wrote.

The article further noted, The average household in, say, Canada or Italy can take a lockdown in its stride (for some time at least), but the staying power of the Indian poor is virtually nil.

Chandrakant Mehtre, who works as a driver in Pune, said he is clueless about the future. Mehtre, who has a farm in Laturs Deoni taluka, said, I was asked to go home on 21 March. I do not even know if it is a paid leave or an unpaid leave. I worked in Pune and sent money back home. I cannot afford to stay idle for long."
WRITE a letter and make some nursing home resident smile. This is the simple concept behind Comfort Words, a national initiative from Nursing Homes Ireland which they hope will help support their 30,000 residents.

Tadhg Daly, the chief executive of Nursing Homes said this Monday lunchtime, he believes children can fulfil an important role in promoting positivity amongst residents.

Were asking them to write to residents in our nursing homes to connect with these special people and bring a smile to their faces, he said. We want children who know residents in their local nursing homes and also those who dont know the people living in them to participate."

Mr Daly urged children to be mindful of the importance of hygiene in preparing the letters, urging children and their parents to wash their hands prior to preparing. He also suggested that letters could be emailed to nursing homes.

It was, Mr Daly continued, an opportunity for children who know people in their nursing homes to tell them how much they mean to them and how important they are to them. Children who dont know anyone in a nursing home can write a letter for all the residents, telling of their appreciation for older people and encouraging them to remain positive during Covid-19," he said.

We believe letters to individual and collective residents will bring great comfort and pleasure to people in our nursing homes. Comfort Words can demonstrate the power of inter-generational solidarity during these extraordinary times, Mr Daly concluded.

A listing of nursing homes is available to download from the Nursing Homes Ireland website.

Comfort Words does not have to be unique to older people in nursing homes and can also be replicated for older people living in the community, he added. We would also encourage people to utilise the free postcards being provided by An Post for connection with residents in nursing homes.
Enterprise Nation's Emma Jones shares her tips for small businesses on how to best to weather the coronavirus storm

Small business founders could be forgiven for diving back under the covers, says Enterprise Nation's Emma Jones.

But while we shouldnt underestimate the collateral damage the coronavirus will inflict on our economy, if we keep on reinforcing the doom and gloom, and regurgitating the hypothetical impact, theres every chance the outcome will only be intensified.

Instead, there are some really helpful initiatives and resources out there that can offer practical support - like how to delay tax payments, pre-sell meals, events and overnight stays and garner the support of your local community behind your local businesses.

We're also seeing broad collaboration, resources sharing and more consideration being given to supporting other small firms in the same boat.

Here are some practical things small firms can do now:

Delay tax payments

Call the HMRC helpline to discuss delaying tax payments to help with cash flow. 0800 0159559

Challenge extended payment terms

Contact the Small Business Commissioners office for help if large firms to are asking you to accept extended payment arrangements.

Debt support

Firms will face increasing pressures and juggling payments, something that most face on a daily basis, is going to be intensified. The Business Debtline offers support and guidance around this.

Pre-sell future events and meals out Restaurants, cafes, pubs, hotels, events and any business that hosts people have been very badly affected. But you could encourage your customers - especially regulars - to buy now and support you in return for something in the future. Set up a Pay it Forward campaign to pre-book meals, a room for the night or a ticket to an event for example, now, based on a promise to deliver in the future. This is ideal for high street bars and restaurants affected by the hospitality ban. A joint initiative by Crowdfunder and Enterprise Nation.

Loans

The temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which has launched today, will give businesses access to bank lending, overdrafts and other finance solutions to help them through the COVID-19 crisis.

The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80 per cent on each loan to give them confidence in continuing to provide finance to small and medium sized firms.

Note that the borrower always remains 100 per cent liable for the debt. CBILS is operated by the British Business Bank (BBB), loans and other types of finance will be available via the BBBs official partners.

Sick pay

Small and medium-sized businesses will be able to reclaim a refund on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for employees affected by coronavirus.

This requires new legislation to be introduced and current systems are not set up to facilitate employer refunds for SSP. The government said it 'will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible'.

The eligibility criteria for the scheme will be as follows:

This refund will cover up to two weeks SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19

Employers with fewer than 250 employees (as of 28 February 2020) will be eligible

Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19

Employers should maintain records of staff absences, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note

The eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of Statutory Sick Pay for self-isolators comes into force

SMEs will be able to reclaim a refund on Statutory Sick Pay for employees affected by Covid-19

Job retention

All UK employers will be able to access grants to cover some of their employees salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will reimburse 80 per cent of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of 2,500 per month.

Benefits for the self-employed

Self-employed people are likely to not be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay, so the government is making it easier for them make a claim for Universal Credit or Contributory Employment and Support Allowance:

For the duration of the outbreak, the Universal Credit minimum income floor has been suspended to ensuring self-employed claimants receive support

The self-employed can now access in full Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees (94.25 a week)

People will be able to claim Universal Credit and access advance payments upfront without the current requirement to attend a Jobcentre if they are advised to self-isolate.

Contributory Employment and Support Allowance will be payable. at a rate of 73.10 a week if you are over 25, for eligible people affected by COVID-19 or self-isolating in line with advice from day one of sickness, rather than day eight.

Business rates relief

To help High Street businesses in England, all retail, leisure and hospitality business will no business rates in 2020-21. Businesses do no need to take any action. It will apply to the next council tax bill in April 2020.

Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs should be directed to the relevant local authority.

Grants for business rates paying businesses

The government will a provide a 10,000 grant to retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with a rateable value under 15,000.

Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with a rateable value between 15,001 and 51,000 can access a 25,000 grant.

Host events online

Where there is an app, there is a way. Once things have settled into a routine, its inevitable that well be wanting to take part in events  even if were tuning in from home.

Great technology for this include Go To Webinar or Go To Live, Facebook Live, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and for those on Instagram theres IGTV.

Support from the banks

Head across to the British Business Bank, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) will replace the Enterprise Finance Guarantee. Loans through CBILS will be increased from a maximum of 1.2million to 5million.

No interest will be payable for six months and the scheme will launch next week, quicker than it was previously thought.

Apply for temporary government support

For information on sick pay and business rates relief head to the Gov.uk website or have a look on Enterprise Nations website for its guide to support, helpfully updated regularly.

Emergency templated work policies

Open data sharing has seen firms share their newly-created policies with other firms. Like this Work From Home Policy template from Seedlegals.

More helpful information and support is emerging every day. As being in lock-down becomes normalised I expect we will see more, not less innovation, some of which may have a positive, lasting legacy.
O n the morning of March 24, 1958, Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis Draft Board and joined the army. He was the biggest musician on the planet, but after two years of active service, he would return a very different man  and find the world a very different place.

Before he released a string of hit singles, scandalised the nation with those gyrating hips and rose to become the King of Rock N Roll, Presley had enrolled with the US Selective Service System. That was in 1953, and Presley could scarcely have imagined how much would have changed by the time the military decided to call him up.

Many Americans mourned the loss of their greatest entertainer, and some in the armed forces even tried to soften the blow, offering him a number of cushy roles away from the usual toil. But Presley refused, uninterested in the prospect of spending his military service performing for other troops. He wanted to become a normal GI.

Thats what happened  almost. His famously coiffed hair was given an army trim (Hair today, gone tomorrow, Presley quipped as the barber snipped his sideburns) but was spared the full buzzcut. When he was shipped out to a base in Frankfurt, hordes of young fans tried to scale the walls to catch a glimpse.

His time with the army was a mild success, seeing him rise to the rank of sergeant, but it was shaped by tragedy. Just months after he joined, in August 1958, his beloved mother Gladys died. Presley was allowed to head back to the States for her funeral. You know how much I lived my whole life just for you, he reportedly cried out during the service.

It was also the period in which he began to slide into the depths of substance abuse. He would lead his Army pals on wild drinking trips, and discovered a taste for amphetamines. Presley was amazed by the supposed strength and energy they gave him, but his habit quickly grew unhealthy. It was something he never would be able to shake.

While all this was going on abroad, Presleys inexorable manager Colonel Tom Parker continued to release the singles that had been stockpiled before his service. But it did little to divert the tide of American music, which was moving away from Presleys brand of rock n roll, and preparing itself for the British Invasion.

When he did finally come home, a little less than two years after he left, Presley released the number one single Stuck On You, but by then it was too late. The culture of which Elvis had once been the leader had now left him behind, and there was little he could do to reclaim his throne. As time passed, he became something of a recluse, muddling his way into an underwhelming film career and quitting live music for seven years. He would, of course, have his famous comeback in 1968, but things never were the same.
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On the basis of report- titled segments and sub-segment of the market are highlighted below:

Global Refrigerator Truck Market By Application/End-User (Value and Volume from 2019 to 2025) : Meat & Sea Food, Fruits & Vegetables, Dairy & Others



Market By Type (Value and Volume from 2019 to 2025) : , Single Temperature Type & Multi-Temperature Type



Global Refrigerator Truck Market by Key Players: Thermo King, Carrier Transicold, MHI, Zanotti, Kingtec, Hubbard & Tata Motors

Geographically, this report is segmented into some key Regions, with manufacture, depletion, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Refrigerator Truck in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering China, USA, Europe, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia & South America and its Share (%) and CAGR for the forecasted period 2019 to 2025.



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Key poles of the TOC:

Chapter 1 Global Refrigerator Truck Market Business Overview

Chapter 2 Major Breakdown by Type [, Single Temperature Type & Multi-Temperature Type]

Chapter 3 Major Application Wise Breakdown (Revenue & Volume)

Chapter 4 Manufacture Market Breakdown

Chapter 5 Sales & Estimates Market Study

Chapter 6 Key Manufacturers Production and Sales Market Comparison Breakdown

..

Chapter 8 Manufacturers, Deals and Closings Market Evaluation & Aggressiveness

Chapter 9 Key Companies Breakdown by Overall Market Size & Revenue by Type

..

Chapter 11 Business / Industry Chain (Value & Supply Chain Analysis)

Chapter 12 Conclusions & Appendix



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An NJ Transit police officer stationed in Trenton is the latest agency employee to test positive for the coronavirus.

I can confirm a New Jersey Transit police officer assigned to the Trenton Transit Center is a presumptive positive for COVID-19, said Nancy Snyder, an agency spokeswoman. The officers last date worked was March 19.

All potentially affected areas in Trenton Transit Center facility have undergone an enhanced cleaning and disinfection regimen, Snyder said.

The officer would be the agencys fourth confirmed case of coronavirus after agency officials confirmed three workers, including a frontline employee, had tested positive last week.

In that case, the agency notified the engineers union early Thursday about a conductor who tested positive and was sent home with symptoms Tuesday, according to James P. Brown, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers NJ Transit Local.

An employee at the agencys Newark headquarters was asked to work remotely after the person came in contact with an individual who tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on March 19.

A locomotive engineer self-quarantined himself on March 12 after union officials said his wife was in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

The news comes as Gov. Phil Murphy said the state has at least 2,844 coronavirus cases with 27 deaths as officials announced 935 new positive tests at a Monday press briefing.

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The family of a 60-year-old pastor who has become Malaysia's first death from COVID-19 say they are at peace in spite of their loss.

David Cheng, pastor Emmanuel Baptist Church, in Kuching, was diagnosed with coronavirus after being admitted to Sarawak General Hospital with a fever, cough and breathing difficulties last week, Channel News Asia reports.

He was transferred to intensive care after his condition deteriorated but he couldn't be saved and passed away on Tuesday. Cheng was suffering from diabetes and hypertension prior to contracting coronavirus, his family said.

His son Anders said he would be cremated.

He has asked for prayers for his mother and sister, who have also tested positive, as well as for his own health as he awaits the results of his test.

"Give us some time to grieve but fret not, we are still at peace. Death has no sting," he said.

"My dad is in a place where there is no more pain, sickness, grief, sorrows or worries, and he's in a better place than all of us. So with that, we are putting on our garments of praise and still rejoicing through this storm."

He continued: "As of now, I'm concerned more for my mom and sis and pray that their immunity will clear it without any further complications.

"Pray with me for my health too that I won't be tested positive and my sister and mom will be ok, (and that) we will come out stronger."

Coronavirus cases in Malaysia have surpassed 1,000, with three recorded deaths.

Emmanuel Baptist Church was one of four possible coronavirus clusters identified in the north-western state of Sarawak. The other three are the Good News Fellowship Church, a fundraising dinner for the Democratic Action Party on March 7, and an activity day at SMK St Joseph school on March 13.

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah has urged anyone who attended these gatherings to be tested.

"I would like to appeal to those who had attended all these gatherings or those who have close contacts with those who have attended the gatherings, to immediately go to the nearest government hospitals for necessary health screening," he said.

"It is very important to you and everyone else."

Republish with permission from Christian Today
Wife: You remember how in season one of The Walking Dead, it was all about the zombies?

Me: Yeeeeahh?

Wife: Well, tell me who was everyone scared of in every other season after that?

Me: Who?

Wife: Other humans, thats who!

This was the enlightening conversation my wife and I had while in lockdown yesterday.

I was busy telling her how it was the long-term political and economic effects I was more scared of, rather than the temporary nature of the virus, when she came out with this corker.

It encapsulates the situation perfectly.

Is the virus something to worry about?

Of course it is.

But like Rick Grimes and crew got to grips with the zombies in season one of The Walking Dead, well work our way through this too.

After that though

Its pretty plain to see how woefully unprepared governments  as well as big businesses  have been for such an outbreak.

But this is unprecedented theyll stammer in response.

No, it isnt.

Bill Gates was warning about the huge risks of such a global pandemic here in a Ted talk way back in 2015.

Even a pleb like me could imagine the possibility of it

In this free report, Money Morning analyst Lachlann Tierney reveals two assets set to benefit as the corona crisis worsens. Click here to claim your copy today.

I wrote in a Christmas note to our Alliance members in December when asked to make a big prediction for 2020:

I did have an idea that a massive global flu pandemic is long overdue for 2020. And, as an investment angle, you could look into certain biotech and vaccine related companies. But its a somewhat grim notion for a Christmas holiday piece!

(Editors note: In the note I eventually settled on the idea that bitcoin would become a central bank asset as my big prediction for 2020. Not such a crazy notion now, it would seem, in a world of QE infinity)

The short answer is, this event was entirely predictable. Our authorities and political class have no excuses.

And as Ill show you in a moment, its happened numerous times before!

But what I really want to show you today, is just how fast the market can bounce back.

Right now, people are forgetting the resilience of humanity.

Were approaching a peak of panic.

Notwithstanding the this time is different argument and the potential economic damage brought on us by poorly thought out responses to the crisis (remember, after season one, its the humans you should be scared of!), history tells us that if you have a strategy in such times, you can make great long-term returns.

Some people even turn into legends

The wisdom of John Templeton

Before I get into some really interesting charts on how previous epidemics and markets have reacted over time, I first want to very briefly tell you a story about investment legend John Templeton.

Because its understanding the psyche of people like this that will give you the courage to think differently yourself.

Sir John Templeton was above all an optimist and a contrarian. He thought for himself and didnt let the emotions of the market sway his decisions.

He once advised:

Tell your readers to use it or lose it. If you dont use your muscles, they get weak. If you dont use your mind it begins to fail.

Its a point Id encourage you to take

He also had this pertinent piece of advice:

Dont panic. The time to sell is before the crash, not after.

Given many people are probably regretting not getting out of the market sooner, this is a timely piece of wisdom. Sometimes you just have to ride it out.

But if you want to get to the next level of investing, you have to have the courage and wisdom to do what Templeton did.

And that was to think for himself; to be willing to go against the herd.

Take this famous example

Templeton played one of his biggest trades ever on the outbreak of the Second World War. It was a time when everyone else was panicking. Naturally enough I suppose

But as the John Templeton Foundation reports, Templeton saw opportunity in the fear:

He took the strategy of buy low, sell high to an extreme, picking nations, industries, and companies hitting rock-bottom, what he called points of maximum pessimism. When war began in Europe in 1939, he borrowed money to buy 100 shares each in 104 companies selling at one dollar per share or less, including 34 companies that were in bankruptcy. Only four turned out to be worthless, and he turned large profits on the others.

I want to finish with a few charts of previous pandemics and the behaviour of the market. Theyll be provided without much comment.

I think youll be able to see whats going on easily enough

Markets, flus, and fear

Like I said, weve had these types of health pandemics in the past. Though this one is probably more widespread than others, its definitely less deadly than some too.

Take a look at these examples. The left-hand chart shows the total cases for each virus, and the right-hand chart is the S&P 500 Index. The red lines show the pre-peak cases and the green lines the post-peak.



Source: Of Dollars and Data [Click to open in a new window]



Source: Of Dollars and Data [Click to open in a new window]



Source: Of Dollars and Data [Click to open in a new window]

You can see that the Spanish Flu of 191819 probably had the longest lasting effect on the economy when compared to the two modern outbreaks which recovered fairly fast.

Maybe this time is more like that time?

No one knows for sure yet

The Coronavirus Portfolio The two-pronged plan to help you deal with the financial implications of COVID-19. Download your free report.

No need to rush, but start thinking

To be clear, Im not saying today is the time to dive head first into markets.

Im not saying this wont get worse before it gets better. It almost certainly will from a health perspective, both here and in the US (though theres signs countries in Asia and even Italy are getting this under control).

Picking a market bottom is nigh on impossible.

But heres the thing

Things will get better.

And if we can avoid the worst economic consequences, the markets will be ready to rebound at some point.

Now is the time to think, strategise, and have your plan ready. Im sure thats what John Templeton would be doing

Good investing,

Ryan Dinse,

Editor, Money Morning
There have been 319 cases in Queensland so far

The Queensland chief health officer said graduates should take their places

Dr Jeannette Young said teachers over 60 shouldn't go to schoool

Elderly teachers should not be going to school as the coronavirus crisis worsens, experts say.

Teachers above the age of 60 have been told to avoid classrooms and limit their interaction with children, according to Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young.

The advice comes following warnings that elderly people are the most at-risk age group of developing severe symptoms of COVID-19.

'For anyone who's over the age of 60, with one or more chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or lung disease ... shouldn't be coming into contact with ... children or anyone else,' Dr Young told the ABC.

'Our younger teachers  and we know we have a lot of them, because they've been coming through, graduating  they're the ones who should be on the frontline.

According to the The Queensland College of Teachers (QCT), about 18,300 teachers are over 60.

The organisation said there had been an increase of elderly teachers following health advice by not going to work.

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said teachers with health concerns are being supported

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said teachers with health concerns are being supported.

'We have ensured that schools have the appropriate measures in place to keep teachers and staff safe, including introducing measures to ensure social distancing, like the cancellation of assemblies and staggered lunch breaks,' she said.

It comes as confusion surrounds whether schools are closed following a state border lockdown on Monday.

But the Queensland Government said classes would continue until the end of the term in two weeks.

There have been 319 COVID-19 cases in Queensland so far.
Britains online super-market delivery system appears close to collapse.

A Daily Mail survey found no delivery slots available from any of the mainstream stores to addresses across the UK.

Families and the elderly could not place orders with the biggest stores  Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose and Ocado.

All said they had no delivery slots on their forward booking systems.

A Daily Mail survey found no delivery slots available from Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose and Ocado (stock image)

Before the coronavirus chaos, internet ordering and home deliveries only made up 7 per cent of Britains grocery market. Pictured: Asda had no delivery slots through to April

Boris Johnson suggested this week that locked-down Britons should arrange food deliveries to cope with home quarantine. But the evidence suggests this system is collapsing under the weight of demand.

Before the coronavirus chaos, internet ordering and home deliveries only made up 7 per cent of Britains grocery market.

As a result, supermarkets do not have the drivers and vehicles to increase capacity significantly without major outside help from, for example, the military.

Supermarkets do not have the drivers and vehicles to increase capacity significantly without major outside help from, for example, the military. Pictured: Tesco also had no slots

Waitrose said no slots could be booked as they were trying to 'meet demand'

Boris Johnson last night put the UK into a state of lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus

Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe promised to prioritise the elderly and vulnerable for online orders and deliveries. As a result, it appears to be refusing to allow existing or new customers to place any orders.

Thousands of people went on social media to complain they cannot register for this service.

Pauline Dimmock tweeted: I have elderly in-laws  80 and 85  housebound and apparently a priority!

No delivery slots for 4 weeks. Sainsburys have always delivered to them and have identified that they are vulnerable but still no delivery slots.

Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe promised to prioritise the elderly and vulnerable for online orders and deliveries. As a result, it appears to be refusing to allow existing or new customers to place any orders

Families and the elderly could not place orders with the biggest stores  including Tesco (stock image)

Michael Webb wrote: This is a serious problem. Im in lockdown as sole carer for 92-year-old. Supermarket home delivery services have just fallen over. Asda had no delivery slots on its forward booking system through to April 14, after which it does not offer any slots. The same applied to Tesco until April 13.

The Waitrose website reported it had no slots, while customers logging on to Ocado were given a waiting time of four hours.

Some stores have stepped up click and collect services, with pick-up points in car parks. Morrisons is recruiting 3,500 people for its online shopping and delivery service, and is setting up a call centre to take orders from those who do not shop online.

Sainsburys apologised for the delays, and Asda said unprecedented demand meant it was struggling to get products to customers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  About a week ago, Ohio stopped reporting negative test results for COVID-19, making it one of only a handful of states to do so.

Why?

Officials with Gov. Mike DeWines office said Monday they decided to stop sharing the negative test results publicly because they felt doing so gave a misleading, incomplete picture.

Because state law doesnt require hospitals and other privately-owned facilities to share their negative results, the state only has the numbers from its in-house tests. The state made the decision to stop reporting negative results around the same time hospitals and other private labs began ramping up their testing capacity, meaning the state numbers likely would be dramatically underreporting in-state testing.

Asked Monday why the state had stopped reporting negative tests, Dr. Amy Acton, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, said the DeWine administration is working to improve reporting.

Were only getting positives reported to us, she said. That is a question that the Ohio Hospital Association, myself and others are wrangling. Because we also would like to know how many people are actually being tested in Ohio.

We will make every bit of data available as we have it, but how this is playing out between the private and public sector is just not something we have a handle on in this state as of yet, she added.

The lack of negative test numbers muddies attempts to evaluate Ohios overall coronavirus picture. Researchers could use negative test results, for example, to determine whether any eventual increased positive tests are a sign of an intensifying outbreak, or just an increase in the volume of testing.

I think a lot of time people dont realize the importance of negative results, Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told The Washington Post.

Ohio could soon begin getting better data. The Ohio Hospital Association, which represents more than 200 Ohio hospitals, is trying to finish an online portal through which members can report their data to the state.

Participation in the system would be voluntary, so theres no guarantee reporting will be comprehensive.

But John Palmer, an OHA spokesman, said members understand why reporting the data is important. Getting the system set up has been challenging as hospitals have been dealing with other aspects of responding to the crisis, he said.

I think there is a good sense from our members that they want to participate and submit that data, Palmer said. I know its something theyre tracking at their own facilities. Its just a matter of reporting it out. You always run into that when you try to centralize reporting on one form or portal, and theyre all on different systems.

Ohio last reported negative test results on March 15, when it reported 140 people had tested negative. As of Monday afternoon, 442 Ohioans had tested positive for COVID-19 in 46 counties, with 104 hospitalizations and six deaths, the state health department reported.

While the total number of private tests being performed in Ohio is unknown, officials at the Cleveland Clinic, one provider thats performing COVID-19 testing, said last week they were testing 500 people a day with plans to ramp up to 1,000 a day.

CovidTracking.com, a website that aggregates and posts state-by-state COVID-19 testing results, rates Ohios data quality a D, among the lowest in the country, citing the lack of negative test results. Other states that have either stopped reporting negative tests or report them infrequently include Maryland, which last reported them on March 12, Delaware, which last reported them on March 13 and Michigan, which last reported them on March 20.

Other states lack access to private data like Ohio, but still have been reporting negative test results from government labs. That includes Arizona and Colorado, according to CovidTracking.com

Cleveland.com has requested Ohios negative test results reported by state labs.

Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said state law doesnt require private labs to report negative test results for COVID-19 and other diseases including Zika, measles and influenza.

We were able to post the number of negatives on our website when this first started because of the low amount of cases and the fact that ODH lab was the only lab testing at that time. As the outbreak grew, so did testing across the state, she said.

Questions over why Ohio stopped reporting its negative test results have led to speculation in social media and elsewhere that theyre intentionally distorting the results. A recently passed federal law providing coronavirus funding to the states requires states to report real-time testing results by local and state health departments as a condition of receiving that aid.

Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the governors office, said Ohio is fully compliant with federal reporting requirements. He also said the information the state reports at its daily COVID-19 updates is the same information it provides to the CDC.

I understand why people would want to do that statistical analysis, but I think [Acton] has been very clear about where we are with testing and what its being used for, he said.

Ohio officials have raised other concerns about the limitations on their own data, warning that what they show is just the tip of the iceberg. Theyve said public reporting on positive cases is definitive, but the rest is likely undercounted.

These numbers are pouring in to us. Im hearing of cases that are happening at the local level that have not yet been reported to the state, Acton said Sunday.

Read other recent Statehouse / coronavirus coverage:

Heres the Ohio Houses unusual system of voting during the coronavirus outbreak

When will Ohio end its stay-at-home order and other coronavirus restrictions?

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will freeze state government hiring, seek big spending cuts amid coronavirus crisis

Six in Ohio now dead from coronavirus: Department of Health update for Monday, March 23

Ohio lawmakers favor rescheduling primary election earlier than June 2, House Republican says
Lucknow, March 24 : Almost eight months after 11 Gond tribals were massacred in Sonbhadra district over a land dispute, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved action against 21 people, including government officials, who had been found guilty in fraudulent land transfer in Umbha and Sapahi villages that led to the July 17 massacre.

The Chief Minister also ordered departmental action against 21 other officials and employees, on Monday, including then District Magistrate Ankit Agarwal, then Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vijay Prakash Tiwari, Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies Vijay Kumar Agarwal, then ASP Arun Dikshit and then Deputy Superintendents of Police Rahul Mishra, Abhishek Singh and Gopal Krishna Singh, for negligence and dereliction of duty.

Yogi also ordered that Rs 1,09,90,026, along with interest, be recovered from Asha Mishra, wife of retired IAS Prabhat Mishra, and her daughter Vineeta. This is the amount for which the two had sold the disputed land to the village head Yagya Dutt.

Permission has also been granted to file chargesheet on the basis of FIR filed in the case.

It may be recalled that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up in August 2019, less than a month after the village head Yagya Dutt and his aides opened indiscriminate fire on Gond tribals, killing 11 and injuring 21 others.

The SIT had submitted its 350-page report to government on February 19 and held 16 government officials responsible for illegally transferring the disputed land to a society.

The SIT found that the gram sabha land had been in possession of the tribal families since pre-Independence and was later fraudulently transferred to a society.

Subsequently, the land was transferred multiple-times to various societies and individuals and finally, in the name of the two accused.

Yagya Dutt and his henchmen were arrested after the massacre, while five cops were fined one month's salary in January.

A committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary (revenue) Renuka Kumar, was set up in August 2019 to probe Krishi Sahkari Committees and had found that around 6,602-acre land worth Rs 660 crore had been illegally occupied by at least seven cooperative societies in Sonbhadra and Mirzapur.
Doctors and nurses pleaded for supplies such as masks and ventilators that are critical in their battle to treat a surging number of coronavirus patients, while governments on Tuesday continued to roll out measures that have put more than one-fifth of the world's population under some form of lockdown.

High in the Himalayan mountains, Nepal became the latest country to compel its citizens to stay at home, joining large parts of Europe, Southeast Asia and the entire West Coast of the United States.

By shuttering businesses, clearing streets and keeping people away from one another, authorities hope they can slow the spread of the pandemic and keep their health care systems from becoming overwhelmed.

In Britain, which on Monday imposed its most draconian peacetime restrictions on businesses and gatherings, health workers begged for more gear, saying they felt like cannon fodder. In France, doctors scrounged masks from construction workers and factory floors.

There's a wild race to get surgical masks, Franois Blanchecott, a biologist on the front lines of testing, told France Inter radio. We're asking mayors' offices, industries, any enterprises that might have a store of masks.

The race to find equipment came as the World Health Organization warned that the outbreak was accelerating and called on countries to take strong, coordinated action.

We are not helpless bystanders, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.

Stocks continued to fall on Wall Street even after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis, while partisan divisions stalled efforts to pass a colossal aid package in Congress. Asian stock markets reacted more positively Tuesday, with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea posting significant gains.

The move toward lockdowns has been influenced by the apparent success of such measures in China, where the virus was first found late last year in the city of Wuhan.

China barred people from leaving or entering the city on Jan. 23 and in succeeding days expanded what at the time were unprecedented measures to most of Hubei province and its tens of millions of residents.

On Tuesday, after more than a week in which the government said the vast majority of new virus cases were imported from abroad rather than community spread, authorities said the restrictions in Hubei would end and people who were cleared would be able to leave the province after midnight.

Authorities said Wuhan will remain locked down until April 8.

The scramble to marshal public health and political resources intensified in New York, where a statewide lockdown took effect Monday amid worries the city of 8.4 million is becoming one of the world's biggest hot spots. More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and almost 100 have died.

The mayor warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor announced plans to convert a New York City convention center into a hospital.

This is going to get much worse before it gets better, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

In Italy, declines in both new cases and deaths for a second consecutive day provided a faint glimmer of hope. Officials said Monday that the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country, and pushed the health system to the breaking point there and in Spain.

The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Over 100,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the virus the biggest threat this country has faced for decades as he ordered people to stay home and directed shops that don't sell essential goods to shut down. He warned that police would be authorized to break up public gatherings of more than two people.

In the U.S., President Donald Trump said he believes the American economy, which has been virtually shut down, could be reopened in weeks, not months.

Amid complaints of hospitals running low on masks, gloves and other critical gear, Trump signed an executive order making it a crime to stockpile supplies needed by medical workers. Attorney General William Barr said investigators will go after those hoarding goods on an industrial scale and price gouging.

China is now sending planeloads of protective gear and doctors to Europe, as the crisis continues to ease there.

On Capitol Hill, a nearly $2 trillion plan that would prop up businesses and send checks to American households has stalled. Democrats argued that it was tilted toward corporations rather than workers and health care providers.

Meanwhile, industries big and small kept shutting down. Boeing announced it was suspending production in the Seattle area, where it has two mammoth aircraft plants employing about 42,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
upixa/iStock(NEW YORK) --Faced with more critically ill COVID-19 patients than equipment to treat them, New York hospitals are mapping out how they can ration care and equipment in order to save the greatest number of patients possible.

In the last two days, internal memos from a chairman of surgery at New York Presbyterian, one of the citys largest hospital systems, raised alarms that the estimated crush of coronavirus patients within the next month would require 700 to 934 intensive-care beds, well beyond the current capacity.



Faced with more critically ill COVID-19 patients than equipment to treat them, New York hospitals are mapping out how they can ration care and equipment in order to save the greatest number of patients possible.



In the last two days, internal memos from a chairman of surgery at New York Presbyterian, one of the citys largest hospital systems, raised alarms that the estimated crush of coronavirus patients within the next month would require 700 to 934 intensive-care beds, well beyond the current capacity.



The Queens branch of New York Presbyterian is actively putting together a committee to help make such critical-care determinations in an emergency, so individual doctors would know what to do at the moment it matters most. According to emails reviewed by ABC News, that hospital has already convened an ethics committee to address the triage of ventilators." In laymans terms, that is a process that dictates how medical staff would decide which patients are assigned ventilators in the event the number of patients needing those breathing machines surpasses the number available in the hospital.



Ethics committees are not new, though few hospitals have fully functioning panels. For those committees that are in place, the types of decisions now being contemplated are almost unheard of because the questions are so rare in developed countries like the US. The whole notion of making life-or-death decisions based solely on available medical equipment is a type of thinking more common to a combat zone than a big-city medical center in urban America.



Ventilators, also known as artificial breathing machines, are considered to be the most effective way to treat patients in respiratory failure from a critical case of COVID-19 because there is no known cure for the illness.



New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly said his states current number of 6,000 ventilators is inadequate to handle the surge of patients caused by the pandemic that is now sweeping through his state. Cuomo has said repeatedly New York will need for 30,000 more.



New York Presbyterian declined repeated requests for comment, first referring questions to the New York state Department of Health and then to the hospital trade group, the Greater New York Hospitals Association.



The conversations are happening, said Brian Conway, spokesman for the organization, which represents New York Presbyterian and other medical centers in New York City. We are awaiting some kind of state guidance.



The Health Department declined to comment. Two people briefed on the discussions told ABC News that officials are working to draft emergency protocols for hospitals, realizing that the disease is moving so quickly that it might only be days before emergency rooms are swamped. At the same time, large groups of hospitals are also consulting with medical ethicists to figure out how to set priorities that would allow them to make near-impossible choices between patients suffering the same disease but with dramatically different chances of survival, based on age, medical histories and underlying conditions.



According to those policies, patients likely to die would be given pain-control treatment so staff do not use vital equipment that would better be deployed to treat patients with stronger chances of survival.



Across the country, top health officials and hospital representatives in Washington state gathered on a call last week to discuss the same wrenching matter: when to invoke crisis standards of care, the a medical term for the rationing care and equipment.



Cassie Sauer, executive vice president of the Washington State Hospitals Association, told ABC News that details are still being decided, but basic factors to be included in their algorithm will be age and underlying health conditions. Sauer also said the policy would likely consider prioritizing the treatment of police, first responders and medical workers because saving their lives makes it more likely that others could be saved in the crisis.



"I understand it's scaring the public, Sauer told ABC News. The public should be scared. The public should be demanding action to keep this from happening."



Dr. Scott Halpern, professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has been working with leading bioethicists to prepare a policy that would be put in place at hospitals across the nation. That document is expected to be distributed early this week.



Priority is assigned to those most likely to be saved, and most likely to live longer, said Halpern.



The scenarios envisioned by people like Sauder and Halpern are familiar to very few practitioners in the U.S, health care system, according to Dr. Dan Hanfling, an emergency disaster responder and physician who wrote a medical paper widely considered the standard for crisis care in disaster.



Hanfling cited the 2010 Haiti earthquake as being one of the worst disasters and one that ethicists point to when considering the worst types of choices in medicine.



The most important thing, he said, is for health care systems to have plans in place before they are amid the chaos of a disaster.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Ruth V. Bennett, 98, formerly of Elkins Park, a former Philadelphia school board member and civic volunteer, died Friday, March 20, of complications from dementia at her apartment in Voorhees.

Mrs. Bennett was born Ruth Levin in Philadelphia and grew up over her parents dress shop in the 1920s. She graduated from the citys public schools, but did not attend college. That fact fueled her passion for public education and her focus on higher education as the key to advancement, said her son, Jonathan D. Bennett.

She told her two granddaughters, You can do anything the boys can do. Girls education is where it is, her son said. She believed in excellence and competence, and thats what she tried to instill. I really think that helped them.

In the late 1960s, she was appointed by Mayor Richardson Dilworth to the Philadelphia Board of Education, where she advocated for students. She served through the early 1970s.

She felt the path forward was quality education, her son said. She always felt that it would solve the problem of employment and upward mobility.

Mrs. Bennett chaired a study by the Citizens Committee on Public Education, which chronicled the governance history of the Philadelphia public schools from 1802 through 1974. She also served on the Pennsylvania Citizens Commission on Basic Education.

Her high profile resulted in her appointment by President Richard M. Nixon to the White House Conference on Education in 1970.

She felt honored by the whole thing, she was thrilled, her son said. She was in the White House and got to talk to Pat Nixon.

She received many awards for her contributions to education, including the 1970 Samuel S. Fels Award.

Mrs. Bennett served the Jewish community of Philadelphia in many capacities. She was a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Community Relations Council, and served on both the national executive council and the Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee, and on the executive committee of the Federation of Jewish Agencies Womens Council.

She was one of the early organizers of the Klein Branch of Jewish Ys and Centers in Northeast Philadelphia and served as its vice president. When she got involved, there wasnt a building there, her son said. She was on the community relations side, getting approvals and speaking to elected officials.

Mrs. Bennett was appointed to the Pennsylvania Trial Court Nominating Commission, which recommended judicial candidates.

She was a community relations consultant for Comcast Corp. during its early days in Philadelphia, and a member of the board of directors of the League of Women Voters, her son said.

From 1942 to 1948, she worked as a supervisor in a naval messaging center in Philadelphia, coding and decoding messages both during and after World War II. She held a high-level security clearance.

Mrs. Bennett married Benjamin S. Bennett, an accountant, in 1948. They raised two children in Northeast Philadelphia. He died in 2003. A daughter, Sarah Bennett Thompson, died in 2004.

In retirement, starting in 1987, Mrs. Bennett moved to Naples, Fla. She enjoyed collecting shells, exercising, reading, playing Scrabble, and bridge, and entertaining friends and family.

In addition to her son, she is survived by three grandchildren.

Services are private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Simon Wiesenthal Center via http://www.wiesenthal.com/ or the American Jewish Committee via www.ajc.org.
Several guests who attended a private function at a restaurant in a popular holiday destination have tested positive for coronavirus.

People who attended a 50th birthday at Sails in Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast, on March 14 have been ordered to self-isolate after 'several' of the guests were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Peter and Michelle Wright, the owners of a local butchery in Warwick, were the first guests from the dinner party who publicly confirmed they were carriers.

While the couple self-isolated as soon as they spoke with Queensland Health, they said they've faced a barrage of abuse from the community.

Peter (pictured) and Michelle Wright, the owners of a local butchery in Warwick, were the first guests from the dinner party who publicly confirmed they were carriers

'We had no control over it, we were exposed through no fault of mine, it's just how it is,' Mr Wright told Sunshine Coast Daily. 'We'll be lucky if we survive this.'

A spokesman for Sails said they were informed some of the guests had visited multiple locations and businesses - possibly while infected.

'A number of people... attended an exclusive-hire private function at the restaurant in mid-March... and have since tested positive for COVID-19.

'While the source of the infection has not been confirmed, as a precautionary measure, Sails immediately implemented all Queensland Health protocols and notified staff with direct exposure to guests.'

The spokesman said the function was not open to the general public, but that anybody who did attend should consult medical professionals if they develop any symptoms.

Symptoms for coronavirus include a fever, runny nose and dry cough.

Sails, in Noosa (pictured) released a statement claiming they were informed some of the guests had visited multiple locations and businesses - possibly while infected

Sails temporarily closed their doors on Monday along with many other hospitality businesses, which were forced to cease trading under Prime Minister Scott Morrison's stage one lockdown laws.

Bars, pubs, restaurants, cafes, gyms and cinemas, as well as places of worship and other places of gathering, will be closed for an estimated six months as Australia attempts to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Wright said he never would have suspected he had coronavirus based on his symptoms, which were minor.

He said he had a 'bit of a sniffly nose and headache' but the symptoms went away with panadol. He attributed general aches and pains to his work, and never experienced any high temperatures.

The couple closed their butcher shop for a minimum of two weeks and all 20 staff are in self isolation to ensure they don't pass the illness on to any of their customers.

No staff have showed any symptoms of carrying the illness.

Coronavirus has spread to every country in the globe, infecting at least 374,000 people - including 1,886 cases in Australia as of Tuesday morning.
As the new coronavirus spreads, doctors are seeing a pattern emerge in the way people are responding to the disease.

People at first will experience mild symptoms like a light cough or headache. After a week, those symptoms can escalate to a trip to the emergency room.

One ICU doctor said that COVID-19 patients "were doing okay, but at the five- to seven-day mark they got worse and then developed respiratory arrest in its true form."

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As the novel coronavirus spreads, doctors are seeing a pattern in the way their patients are responding to the disease.

People who get sick tend to first suffer minor ailments, like headaches, light coughs, and a slight fever for around a week. But it's usually only at the end of the second week that they will either start improving, or suddenly decline, and for those who do get worse, it can quickly escalate to a trip to the emergency room.

For those who end up in the intensive care unit (ICU), there is a similar kind of delay in the way patients display symptoms and relapse after receiving treatments.

Michelle N. Gong, the director of critical care research at Montefiore Medical Center, said in a Q&A with the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday that COVID-19 patients have often seemed to be "doing okay, but at the five- to seven-day mark they got worse and then developed respiratory arrest in its true form."

It's a quick onset, she said, "that can be very abrupt."

Many people who get the coronavirus feel fine for a week, then 'crash'

Critical care physician Dr. Joshua Denson told NBC News that, based on the 15-20 patients with coronavirus he has treated, he would describe the first phase of illness as "a slow burn."

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Christopher Ohl also told NBC that he's seen patients saying they think they're getting better, and "then within 20 to 24 hours, they've got fevers, severe fatigue, worsening cough and shortness of breath. Then they get hospitalized."

Story continues

The CDC warns there is plenty of evidence, both published by researchers and anecdotal, that many patients see a "clinical deterioration during the second week of illness."

A study published in The Lancet in January found more than half of patients developed shortness of breath after already being ill for a week.

"It's known as the second-week crash," Donald G. McNeil Jr, a science and health reporter for The New York Times, said on The Daily podcast. "And some people crash even after they thought they were starting to get better."

Patients in hospital seem to get better before they get worse

A respiratory therapist told ProPublica that his "patients will be on minimal support, on a little bit of oxygen, and then all of a sudden, they go into complete respiratory arrest, shut down and can't breathe at all."

This sudden decline is most likely to happen for the most at-risk patients; the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

With COVID-19 patients, unlike people with pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a disease where fluid builds up in the lungs, respiratory failure does not occur within the first few days of hospitalization. Gong added that there is a very high proportion of cardiac arrest in coronavirus patients, which may have to do with underlying conditions. "But, again, it's sudden, it's not yet predictable as to who will get it and who will not," she said.

Gong warned doctors not to use chloroquine, an immunosuppressive drug that can fight malaria, on their coronavirus patients. She understands that physicians may be desperate for a cure, but says it can cause more harm than good when used on coronavirus patients, given the medical establishment still doesn't know how it will react with coronavirus. Plus it could deprive patients who need the drug of their medicine.

"I still feel like we haven't seen the full extent," one internal medicine doctor previously told Business Insider. "It's like leaning over the edge of a cliff."

Business Insider
It looks like Addis Ababa wants to waste time before reaching an agreement on its controversial Renaissance Dam

Almost a month after walking out of US-brokered tripartite negotiations, Addis Ababa is working on another proposal for an agreement it said it will deliver to Egypt and Sudan soon.

We wont subscribe to an agreement just because the US and the World Bank came forward with it. We need to take time and sort out sticking points, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew told AP last week.

Asked when the negotiations would resume, Andargachew said in another interview with The Reporter Ethiopia that the Ethiopian side does not believe the negotiations have stopped. Therefore, after Ethiopia finishes the discussions it is conducting internally and when the Egyptians fully recognise that Ethiopia has the right to use its water resources, the negotiations will resume without any third party involved, he said.

This is not new for Ethiopia, according to Mohamed Hegazi, former deputy to Egypts foreign minister. It has repeatedly adopted the strategy of playing for time, negotiating for concessions and withdrawing at the last minute. Hegazi described this step as another delaying tactic.

It had previously suggested that South Africa mediate to resolve the differences. Then, it called last week for holding a summit for the Nile Basin countries to resolve the dam issue. Finally, now it claims that it is working on its own proposal; more time wasting and a manifestation of lack of seriousness, bad intention and willingness to spoil whatever is reached in Washington, Hegazi said.

A final agreement on the filling and operation of the dam was supposed to be signed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Washington at the end of last month. While Ethiopia refused to attend that round of talks, Egypt initialed the agreement. Sudan preferred to wait until Ethiopia signs the accord.

As a result, the tripartite negotiations that started in November last year in Washington came to a halt. In the meantime, the dam is more than 70 per cent built.

Ethiopia wants to fill the dam within three years, allowing it to generate power for domestic consumption and export. Since the filling of the dam will reduce flows downstream, Cairo wants the process extended to as long as 15 years to minimise the reduction in flow to Egypt during the fill.

According to a former diplomat who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, it was very important that Egyptian diplomacy use the time to explain to the world the impact of the latest developments on Egypt and the region.

Now, explained the diplomat, Egypt is using all diplomatic means to break the present deadlock in the negotiations. The US should also push for signing the agreement that was reached after four months of discussions between the technical teams of the three countries, he said.

Hegazi agreed that the Washington agreement should be the basis for resolving the present situation. Whatever Ethiopia needs to put on the table should be presented in Washington. If not, the international community should carry out its responsibility and move to contain the situation that could harm Egypt and the whole region, he said.

March witnessed several diplomatic initiatives on the part of Egypt to clarify to the world the present situation concerning the stalled tripartite negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri delivered messages from President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to the leaders of Burundi, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger.

Shoukris tour included South Africa, the current president of the African Union as well as some Nile Basin countries in the hope that they will be able to convince Ethiopia to sign the final agreement on the filling and operations of the dam, the diplomat said.

The tour came a few days after his two-legged European tour that included Belgium and France.

Shoukri called on the EU to urge Ethiopia to sign the agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD in order to preserve security and stability in the Horn of Africa.

Shortly before his European tour, Shoukri visited several Arab countries to update them on the current situation.

During his tours, Shoukri also sought to explain what happened during negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan that started in March 2015 after the signing of the Agreement on Declaration of Principles as well as the consequences and repercussions that may result from any unilateral Ethiopian decision to fill the GERD without signing the agreement with Egypt and Sudan.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, headed by Assistant Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Abu Bakr Hefni visited Somalia and Djibouti last week to brief their leaders about the latest development on the Renaissance Dam.

Another delegation headed by Assistant Minister for Arab Affairs Yasser Othman visited Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania for the same purpose.

Last week, President Al-Sisi discussed the dam with Deputy Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo during his two-day visit Cairo.

Dagalo said Khartoum will be a mediator between Egypt and Ethiopia in the hope of bridging their differences. No more details were disclosed.

The US and the World Bank were brought into the dam talks after Al-Sisi last year called on the international community to help find a solution to the long-running dispute.

Several rounds of talks were held in the presence of officials from the US Treasury Department and the World Bank as observers.

The US had set mid-January as the deadline for reaching an agreement.

The deadline was later extended to the end of February, but in the last round of talks Addis Ababa failed to attend.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Ore. pastor prays at home as wife of 38 years battles coronavirus at hospital

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As 23 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Oregon on Saturday, bringing the total to 137 confirmed cases in the state, the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Oregon was home and praying for his wife of 38 years who is seriously ill due to the infection.

I havent seen my wife since Sunday, Jerry Miranda, pastor of Salem Tabernacle Church, told Salem Reporter. I havent been able to talk to her. Weve been married 38 years.

The 58-year-old pastor started the church with his wife Teresa, 56, about 30 years ago. The couple has four grown-up children in the Salem area. Teresa is an instructional assistant at a school but would always be with Miranda for worship service or other church activities.

Once they took her behind the wall, I didnt get to see her again, recalled the pastor, who is not allowed to visit her in the hospital. But hes praying at home and church members are showing support.

There are people coming in every day, every day praying, he was quoted as saying. Ive gotten calls from around the world.

Pastor Miranda remains positive. Its something new to all of us and obviously life will never be the same after this, he said. I do believe well come out of this and we will have learned a great lesson  how precious life can be and dont take things for granted.

The Oregon Health Authority announced Saturday that the number of confirmed cases had risen to 137 with four deaths, according to Statesman Journal. The first death was reported in Marion County Friday, raising the deaths in Oregon from three to four.

Marion County Health and Human Services continues to take necessary, carefully considered steps to slow down the spread of the disease and to protect those at greatest risk, Marion County officials said in a statement. Our top priority continues to be protecting the health of our community.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those who have been affected by COVID-19, Marion County Commissioner Colm Willis said. It is critical that individuals and organizations take action to slow the spread of coronavirus and follow the guidance and recommendations from health care professionals.

Last week, an Episcopal priest who was the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Washington, D.C., was reported to be doing well while recovering in the hospital, his church said.

The Rev. Tim Cole, the rector at Christ Church Georgetown, garnered headlines earlier this month by becoming the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the District of Columbia. In a message sent out to the congregation on Sunday, the staff at Christ Church reported that Cole was still hospitalized but he said that he was fever free and feeling pretty good.

The church also noted that other members of their congregation with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are resting at home and continuing to improve.

As of early Sunday, there were over 300,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 184 countries, areas or territories, with a death toll of over 13,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the United States, the number of confirmed cases jumped to more than 26,000 with more than 340 deaths.
DANBURY  Homeless individuals may move into dorm rooms at Western Connecticut State University as shelters face staff and space shortages due to the coronavirus.

Details are still being worked out, so for now clients will stay at the Danbury War Memorial, which closed last week due to the virus. Crews in hazmat suits cleaned the facility Tuesday morning.

Right now, we just want all the logistics set up and to get a roof over their heads, Mayor Mark Boughton said.

The citys shelter on New Street is housing a few homeless individuals who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, while other shelters have closed, he said.

This is part of a statewide effort to assist the homeless, who the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned are at high risk for the virus.

The state is working on housing these individuals in dormitories at Western, Eastern, Southern and Central state universities, in addition to University of Connecticut, said the spokesman for the state Department of Housing.

Students were forced to move out of residence halls earlier this month as campuses closed and classes switched to online for the semester due to the virus.

Western has been preparing Fairfield Hall, a 108-bed residence hall on the Midtown campus, to be used by the public. Colleges could also be used to house patients or health-care professionals.

The university does not yet know if the dorm would be used for both purposes or how soon people would move in, spokesman Paul Steinmetz said.

An additional $735,000 was allocated from the state housing department to get individuals into permanent housing, while funding was provided for 100 hotel rooms to serve 200 elderly homeless.

Three people in Danbury received vouchers Monday to stay in a hotel because there were not enough beds in the city, Boughton said.

During a 2019 survey, 114 homeless individuals were counted in Danbury on a single night in January. The city has aimed to bring that number down by pursuing turning a city-owned building into apartments for the homeless.

In the meantime, Boughton hopes individuals could go into the dorms within days.

Dorothy Day Hospitality House, a non-profit with 16 beds, closed about two weeks ago, while its overflow shelter at the First Congregational Church closed Monday.

The non-profit has been serving grab-and-go meals in the afternoon, in lieu of its normal sit-down lunch, and plans to reopen once the outbreak dies down, said Joe Simons, a volunteer with Dorothy Day.

But it was not safe for clients to stay at the shelter on Spring Street, he said.

Our shelter is very, very small, particularly the common areas, Simons said. We just felt it was not an appropriate environment. We couldnt get the appropriate social distancing for both guests and volunteers.

He estimated more than half of the shelters volunteers are over 60, putting them at risk for the virus.

Weve encouraged them, as everyone has encouraged them, to say home and not to volunteer, Simons said. They feel bad about it, but a lot of people have stepped up by making sandwiches and bringing donations.

The city has struggle to staff its shelter, too, Boughton said. Some have been unable to because they need to watch their children, while others are in quarantine because they have been exposed to the virus, he said. Others declined because they fear being exposed, he said.

Its put real pressure on our staffing, said Boughton, adding the state may send staff to help.

Staff staying at the city shelter have been given protective equipment, while the roughly two to three clients in quarantine are in a segregated room, Boughton said. He believed the guests are not showing symptoms of the virus and may be awaiting test results.

Before going to the War Memorial or dorm rooms, the clients would be screened for the virus, he said.

If they are showing any kind of symptoms (that) meet the criteria of COVID-19 in any way, they will be quarantined and tested, Boughton said. Then, the rest will be housed in that facility until the duration of this event is over.

Roughly 60 to 80 people can be housed, but that number has fluctuated, he said. The facility will be open during the evenings, and clients will not be required to shelter in place there during the day, Boughton said.

He urged surrounding communities to consider opening at least a temporary shelter during the outbreak.

Its very difficult and unfair for communities around us that have vastly greater resources to push this off on the city of Danbury, Boughton said.

About 40 percent of homeless individuals in the city are not from Danbury, he said.

Simons said clients have followed recommendations, such as social distancing, and understood the challenges facing the shelters.

The guests have been remarkably resilient through all of this because the services that are available to them are changing daily, he said. But for the most part, theyve dealt with it. I think most of them understand how serious this is.
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Radio listeners in the Portland area and beyond have heard Rebecca Marshall delivering the news on KXL radio for decades. But Friday marked Marshalls farewell to KXL, known as FM News 101 KXL, and to radio broadcasting. Marshall is starting a new job at the American Red Cross as a regional disaster program officer.

As she writes in an email message, in the new position, Marshall will oversee volunteers and staff. When theres no pandemic, Marshall adds -- referring to the coronavirus outbreak -- or wildfires or other disasters, we help establish partnerships with schools and government for initiatives including the Pillowcase Project, which helps teach children how to prepare for emergencies.

It was just time for me to try something new (Ive been in radio all my life), writes Marshall, who had been co-host of the KXL morning news show. Plus, sleeping in will be a welcome change.

The new job will keep her in Portland, Marshall writes, but shell also travel around Oregon and Southwest Washington to other Red Cross offices.

Marshall was at KXL for 20 years as an anchor, and spent the past 16 years as anchor and news director.

News of her departure from KXL prompted appreciative posts on Marshalls Facebook page, including one from Marshalls KXL colleague, Pat Boyle, who wrote: Best of luck Rebecca Marshall on your next adventure with the Red Cross! Youve been our fearless newsroom leader!

Best of luck Rebecca Marshall on your next adventure with the Red Cross! Youve been our fearless newsroom leader! Posted by Pat Boyle on Friday, March 20, 2020

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
New Delhi, March 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Tuesday asked the print media to act as a link between the government and the people to create awareness and in providing continuous feedback in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

"Act as a link between the government and the people and provide continuous feedback, at both national and regional levels," the Prime Minister told the print media representatives.

Modi, while interacting through video link with over 20 journalists and other members of the print media from across the country, asked them to spread Covid-19 awareness through newspapers.

Newspapers carried tremendous credibility so it was "imperative" that awareness about coronavirus be spread through articles published in local pages, the Prime Minister said.

He stressed the need to inform people about coronavirus testing centres and "who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested and follow home isolation protocols".

"This information should be shared in newspapers and web portals of the paper," the Prime Minister said. He was interacting with the print media, a day after his similar interaction with the selected electronic media outlets.

Information about location and availability of essential items during lockdown should also be shared in the regional pages.

Stressing the importance of social distancing, Modi asked the print media to generate awareness about it, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of coronavirus spread, through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries.

Stating that it's imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people, the Prime Minister said, "It was important to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour mongering".

"The citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of Covid-19," Modi said and lauded the media for playing "praise-worthy role" in disseminating information to every nook and cranny of the nation.

Journalists from 14 locations, comprising both national and regional media representing 11 languages, interacted with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister thanked the participants for the feedback and reminded them of the social responsibility towards the less privileged. It was critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard our national security, he added.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare thanked journalists for helping prevent the panic through sharing information about proactive, pre-emptive and graded response of the government. The official urged the print media to prevent the spread of misinformation in this hour of crisis.

The mediapersons said they would work on the Prime Minister's suggestions to publish inspiring and positive stories.

The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the I&B Secretary also participated in the interaction.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 04:57:51|Editor: yan

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HARARE, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe on Tuesday received a consignment of commodities to help in the fight against COVID-19 from China's Jack Ma, as the country recorded its third case of coronavirus.

The items are part of a donation that was made by co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, to African countries. The donation was made through the African Union.

The consignment includes 20,000 laboratory diagnostic test kits, 100,000 medical face masks and 1,000 protective suits and face shields.

"The ministry (of health) is very grateful to the Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundation for their generosity and contribution to the National COVID-19 response and will ensure equitable distribution of this consignment so that they get to where there is the greatest need," said the ministry of health in a statement.

The ministry said the country on Tuesday recorded its third coronavirus case following the death on Monday of a 30-year-old son of a local business man who had recently returned from the United States.

"As of today (Monday) the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the country is now three. Today the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory tested a total of 15 specimens, the majority from contacts of the deceased case. One male tested positive for COVID-19, more details to be provided later," the ministry said.

The country has so far closed its borders to all traffic except for returning residents and cargo, as well as banning public gatherings and limiting visits to hospitals and informal markets as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
An art exhibition on collective anxiety and how online technology and communications feed it seems more relevant than ever today amid the global fears due to the coronavirus outbreak and the extensive information available.

"Art in the Age of Anxiety" is based on the premise that todays connectedness is unprecedented in terms of mobility and access to technology. The exhibition, curated by Sharjah Art Foundation's senior curator Omar Kholeif, brings together more than 60 works spanning sculpture, prints, video, virtual reality, robotics and algorithmic programs by more than 30 international artists. They all deal with the dominant sentiment of the coronavirus-prone world of today: collective anxiety.

But just like many art events that have been canceled or postponed due to precautionary measures against the outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19, the new exhibition, which was to be opened at the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was also postponed.

We seem to be living in an age of anxiety now more than ever, Kholeif, who is also the SAF director of collections, told Al-Monitor. At this moment, the thought of catching influenza streams across an RSS feed and within days [it has created] global chaos, which now halts events, gatherings and global unions."

We are constantly scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and our messages trying to discern if something has shifted in our universe, Kholeif said, noting that people want to exit the age of anxiety, but at the same time we are on edge because of the attention-grabbing design of our devices that push us to look for the next bad thing to happen.

The exhibition, which reflects Kholeifs 10-year research on technology-driven anxiety, shows different artists' take on how everyday devices, technologies and digital networks have altered the collective consciousness.

The post-digital condition is investigated across a range of media by contemporary practitioners including Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Cory Arcangel, Wafaa Bilal, Cao Fei, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Joshua Nathanson, Trevor Paglen, Siebren Versteeg, UVA, Guan Xiao and YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES.

The immersive exhibition includes portraits referencing Facebooks facial recognition system, installations representing virtual dystopian cities and giant screens transforming newspaper headlines into abstract paintings. Jenna Sutela's Nimiia Cetii (2018) exploring consciousness and Lynn Hershman Leesons Shadow Stalker (2019), which looks at predictive policing, identity theft and the dangers of data mining, is also part of the selection.

In the particular context of Sharjah and the UAE  a hub for technological research  the curator wanted to push the boundaries of exhibition design and worked with architect Todd Reisz to create a physical maze of corridors and experiences that would fully immerse the viewer.

I chose the works and worked collaboratively with Todd to create a scenography that would allow visitors to understand and feel their complicity in this digital realm, he said.

In setting up the show, Kholeif also considered the fact that Sharjah has been a trade route and a site of continuous migration since the 1700s. I draw a correlation between that and the very concept of communication technologies. The internet is the network of all networks after all, he said. It is about the movement and migration of information, people and ideas  so that idea feels particularly relevant.

Kholeif is aware of the impact the shows he puts together have on the local art scene in Sharjah, the UAE and the art world in general. [SAF] President Hoor al-Qasimi has tasked me with an incredibly rich, challenging and exciting job  the responsibility to shape and tell a global history of art from a non-Western perspective, as well as helping shape one of the preeminent collections of international art in the region, he said.

Since its beginning, the foundation, as well as the Sharjah Biennial, have juggled freedom and control, socio-political denunciation and care not to cross red lines. It did not always manage to maintain this balance. During the 2011 event, Sheikh Sultan fired the programs curator Jack Persekian for the public outrage caused over an art installation by Mustapha Benfodil.

Benfodil's installation consisted of 23 mannequins wearing T-shirts and some graffiti painted on the walls of a courtyard. The text of the graffiti and the T-shirt slogans were sexually explicit and anti-authoritarian. It was considered inappropriate, given the location where the work was installed: a public space close to a mosque.

Certain topics need to be approached in a different way in the Arab world versus the West. There are definite limits to what can be said, but if approached differently anything is up for debate, Atteqa Ali, associate professor of art history and curatorial practices at Zayed University in Dubai, told Al-Monitor. Artists here have to negotiate a line between what is acceptable and not.

Alis research is focused on the use of historical references in art to reflect on current social and political events, and in her field she still feels that SAF is supportive of artists and researchers. In addition, the foundation actively tries to engage the local community through educational programs and commissioning artists that develop projects with the community, she added.

And there are indeed many projects SAF is conjuring up, despite the global uncertainty. These include growing the collection through strategic acquisitions anchored around the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, casting a new lens on the global history of art. Also planned are touring shows across the globe, raising the profile of art from these regions.

The goal with the collection is to think holistically about the whole Emirate of Sharjah and the diverse audiences we serve and creating activations across multiple sites. So look out for more things happening across Sharjah soon, Kholeif concluded.
Australia's real estate market has effectively been frozen after auctions and open house inspections were banned as part of the country's coronavirus response.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced new restrictions after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday night, with an emphasis on stopping large gatherings.

Auctions and open houses were covered by the new measures in place from midnight on Wednesday, along with personal services such as beauty therapy, waxing and tattoo and massage parlours.

'In the retail space, auction houses, gathering together in auction rooms, that can no longer continue,' Mr Morrison said.

Auctions and open house inspections have been cancelled in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus (stock image)

'Real estate auctions and in particular open house inspections, that cannot continue.

'We're trying to limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmission of that virus.'

Mr Morrison did not specify how long the bans would remain in place, with the changes likely to impact the housing market.

Auction clearance rates were already declining last weekend, with property analysts predicting housing prices could fall 20 per cent as a result of the pandemic.

Weddings will be restricted to the couple, celebrant and two witnesses only, while funerals can only have a maximum of 10 mourners.

Food courts in shopping centres will join cafes and restaurants in only being able to provide takeaway.

Businesses being ordered to join pubs, gyms and cinemas in closing their doors include nail salons, all kinds of fitness and wellness centres, yoga studios, barre and spin classes, indoor and outdoor play centres, swimming pools, amusement parks and arcades.

Hairdressers and barbers can stay open but must stick by social distancing rules and ensure each client is out the door in less than 30 minutes.

Health-related personal services, such as physiotherapy, will also be allowed to keep running.

Outdoor boot camps and personal training will be limited to a maximum of 10 people per session.

AUSTRALIA'S 'STAGE TWO' COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS The government is looking to limit interactions between groups, particularly any event or gathering with 10 or more people. The new restrictions, from 11.59pm on March 25, mean: BUSINESS * Food courts in shopping centres will only be available for takeaway food. No sitting. * Auction houses will shut. Auctions and open house inspections are banned. * Outdoor and indoor markets are banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories. * Personal services such as beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours (but not physiotherapy) are banned. * Hairdressers and barbers can continue but must strictly manage social distancing * Amusement parks and arcades, and indoor and outdoor play centres must close. * Boot camps and personal training must be limited to 10 people and enforce social distancing. * Social sports such as large groups of people playing soccer in a park are banned. * Galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSLs and swimming pools must close. SOCIAL DISTANCING * Weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple the celebrant and two witnesses, no more than five people. * Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people - but with some exceptions granted by states and territories. SCHOOLS * It is safe to send children to school up to the end of the term. * But some pupil-free days will be needed to plan distance learning. * Schools will reopen after the term break with a mix of distance learning and in-school learning for all "essential workers". * PM to meet with teachers and other sector representatives about keeping schools open and protecting staff. ESSENTIAL WORKERS * Everyone who still has a job is an essential worker. TRAVEL * The official "do no travel" warning is now an outright ban on overseas travel, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel. EXPORTS * New offence of profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to such things as medical supplies and masks. Advertisement

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced further restrictions for gatherings amid the coronavirus

The majority of community facilities will also close, including libraries, galleries, halls, community centres and RSL clubs.

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

Outdoor and indoor markets are banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories.

State governments will also be policing large social gatherings in public spaces and in people's houses.

'Going out for the basics, going out for exercise, perhaps with your partner or family members provided it's a small group, that's fine,' Mr Morrison said.

'Barbecues of lots of friends or even ... extended family coming together to celebrate one-year-old birthday parties and all these sorts of things - we can't do those things now.

'If you're gathering together in a group, say 10 people, outside together in a group, that's not ok.'

A patient has his temperature tested by a doctor at a coronavirus testing facility

Schools will remain open to allow people to keep working, with the prime minister saying anyone who had a job was an 'essential worker'.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said Australians need to avoid unnecessary interactions.

'We are very worried about the rate of rise of the number of coronavirus cases in Australia, particularly over the last few days,' Prof Murphy said on Tuesday night.

'It is a very, very steep growth and it is very concerning.'

'We have to change the way we interact, as human beings, in our society, for quite a long time. This virus will be with us for some time,' he said.

Mr Murphy was particularly concerned about travellers returning from overseas with the virus.and also stressed the importance of social distancing to prevent community transmission.

'These measures are really draconian,' Prof Murphy said.

'But if we're going to control community transmission, we have to stop the capacity of this virus from spreading from person to person. And I have said many times, it is a long haul.'
As a high-risk group for coronavirus, elderly people face fears of getting sick with COVID-19, which could be fatal for them. Although some have succumbed to death, there are still people over 80 years old who win the battle against this deadly disease.

Geneva Wood, a 90-year-old woman from Washington state, survived coronavirus. Her daughter Cami Neidigh shares how her mother fought to recover from her near-death experience.

Wood is one of the residents in The Life Care Center in Kirkland, which is considered as a center of the outbreak in Washington. She has been living at the senior-living facility since suffering a stroke in January. She was about to go home from the facility when she suddenly caught coronavirus. Her family was in a panic after knowing that she tested positive for COVID-19 because of her condition. Apart from old age, Wood has lost her ability to walk, talk, and move her right arm.

The old woman was brought to Harborview Medical Center on March 5 after having fever, cough, and shortness of breath, which are all symptoms of coronavirus.

Wood's family in panic

"My heart sank when I heard that she had tested positive. I was so sure she would be OK. She had fought so hard to come back from the stroke, how could it be possible that a virus was going to take her out?" Cami, one of Wood's children told Fox News.

Cami added that Wood never quits no matter what adversities she faces in life. Although she is stubborn at times due to old age, Wood's family is confident that she can survive coronavirus. For days, Wood can only see her family through a glass window, which worries since they are not allowed to go near her to avoid the spread of the virus.

Cami and the rest of the family members knew that Wood could pull herself again despite her condition. She shared that Wood is a survivor and is always determined like how she managed a broken hip. However, their high hopes diminished when Wood was brought to isolation. Knowing that she is alone breaks the heart of her children and grandchildren.

Like most people, there's a possibility that Wood would give up, especially that her family is not on her side. There were days when the family was told to visit the hospital after the doctors see that Wood might pass away anytime soon.

Also read: 103-Year-Old Iranian Woman Survives Coronavirus

But visiting Wood means merely seeing her at the window. Cami relates that it is so heartbreaking and brutal "to be so close and not be able to reach out and touch her." She added that "it tears" her heart out as they reach for her arm on the other side of the wall.

A surprising detour

While everyone, including Wood, was just waiting for her last breath, a surprising shift made everyone happy. Although doctors might not be able to explain, there's a possibility that her great improvement could be credited to the presence of her loved ones.

Wood was crying one day and was asking for her children, urging the medical staff to let them go to her room while wearing protective gear. Cami said that they were given a chance to "touch her hand, rub her arm, and talk slowly" to comfort her. Seeing her mother and given a chance to touch her despite wearing gloves is a "gift."

On March 22, Wood was clear of coronavirus. Her family was so happy that Wood was finally allowed to go into a room without wearing a mask. She can now speak to her family and accept hugs. Cami said that she will be discharged soon and will be quarantined with her family members.

Cami hopes that the story of Wood will give a ray of hope not just to old people or to those who get COVID-19, but to the whole world which is facing this pandemic. She added that the virus is not a death sentence. Instead, it is a wake-up call for everyone to be positive while giving guidance to those who are since.

"If anyone's going to give the middle finger to a killer virus, it's her," Cami said about her mother's recovery.

The story of Wood surviving her near-death experience from coronavirus reminds us that there is still hope. Although the number of cases and deaths continue to rise, this will soon come to an end. Wood's resilience and her family's love has helped her recover from this brutal disease. So, if you know somebody who is suffering from COVID-19, share this story to them so they'll grab hold to a ray of hope that nothing is impossible with God's help.

Related article: American Woman Recovers by Treating Her Coronavirus at Home

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
STRASBOURG, France - The eastern French border city of Mulhouse was fought over by France and Germany across two centuries, but the horrors of the new coronavirus cluster tearing through this community of 110,000 is inspiring unusual solidarity.

While many countries have shut their borders to stem the march of the pandemic  even some nations within the borderless European Union are instituting ID checks  three German states have opened their hospitals to patients from eastern France. Hospitals in bordering Switzerland have done the same.

The Grand Est region is now the epicenter of the outbreak in France, which has buried the third most virus victims in Europe, after Italy and Spain. The crisis there can be traced largely to a dayslong evangelical church gathering in Mulhouse attended by hundreds of people at the end of February.

In a sign of the devastating toll, the local newspaper in Mulhouse has had to add extra obituary pages as the deaths from the coronavirus increase  as has been done in some areas of Italy. In France, only the area around Paris had confirmed more cases than Grand Est as of Sunday, but the capital region has a population more than twice the size.

Every day we have eight to 12 people who arrive. We dont know what to do, said Dr. Patrick Vogt, a general practitioner at the hospital in Mulhouse who recalled a shift just two weeks ago answering the citys emergency hotline when call after call came in for respiratory problems.

In Germany, the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg have offered spare hospitals beds to treat French patients.

The spokesman of Baden-Wuerttemberg states health ministry said the state would naturally try to help our French neighbours, and authorities have asked all hospitals with free capacity to take in French patients requiring ventilators.

While Germany has many more confirmed virus cases than France, it has a much smaller number of deaths: 123, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, compared to Frances 1,100.

Todays scenes in and around Mulhouse are sadly reminiscent of the bloodiest moments in the border regions turbulent history. It was the stomping ground for armies in the 19th-century Franco-Prussian war and a site of intense battles during the 20th centurys two world wars, which included bitter territorial disputes over the Alsace region, now part of whats called the Grand Est. The city was the site of Frances World War I opening attack against Germany in 1914s Battle of Mulhouse, while bloody battles and burning villages tore it apart again during World War II as German and U.S. forces fought each other.

The countries are again fighting an enemy, the new coronavirus  but this time together. Regional health officials say that Grand Est is approximately one week ahead of the rest of France in terms of infection rates. As of Monday, according to French government data, the region had recorded over 4,900 cases in an area with around 5.5 million people. In contrast, the area around Frances capital of Paris, home to more than 12 million, had nearly 6,800 confirmed virus infections.

The analysis serves as a warning for France, where the population of 67 million people already is locked down, that the worst could be yet to come.

In addition to the help offered from abroad, Mulhouse has drawn the focus of French President Emmanuel Macron, who ordered a field hospital built to help tend to the sick.

Dozens of soldiers put up the temporary medical facility, which has equipment designed to make surgery possible in combat zones retrofitted to treat people with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Authorities readied the five tents, each with six beds, to start taking patients this week. About 100 military health personnel  anesthetists, nurses and nursing assistants  were assigned to operate the field hospital.

In an unprecedented move during peacetime, the French army has also started evacuating critical coronavirus patients from the countrys east.

On Tuesday, Frances defence minister announced another military airlift of patients hospitalized in Mulhouse. The first of several took place last week.

The epidemic is in full swing. The virus continues to spread. The patients keeping coming in serious condition, said Vogt, the doctor in Mulhouse. So far, there are no signs of hope.

___

Adamson reported from Leeds, England. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.

-

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
A day after lockdown began in Telangana to contain the spread of coronavirus, police started strict enforcement of the restrictions on the movement of people on Tuesday, urging them to refrain from non-emergency outings and resorting to mild caning at some places.

As many people hit the streets disregarding the advice to remain indoors, police put up barricades on several roads here and other places in the state and 'counselled' and sent back home those who came out without valid reasons.

People rushed to procure vegetables and other essential commodities and also made purchases for the Ugadi (Telugu New Year) festival falling on Wednesday.

channels showed footage of violators of lockdown being made to do sit ups as punishment in the presence of a woman police official near here.

Additional DGP (law and order) Jitender said the situation in the state was totally peaceful.

The police strictly enforced the lockdown, declared till March 31 under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and took action, including 'mild' caning, against violators at some places and seized vehicles, officials said.

Police conducted checks at all toll plazas located at the inter-state borders where hundreds of vehicles were stranded after being denied permission to enter.

However, as announced earlier, vehicles carrying essential goods were allowed, official sources said.

Police Commissioners of Cyberabad and Rachakonda here personally monitored the situation and checked a few vehicles and passed appropriate instructions.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat told PTI that around 200 vehicles were seized on Monday for violations.

Police also warned that vehicles of those people, who venture on to streets without a valid reason and supporting documents, would be seized.

Any congregation of more than five persons in public places is prohibited as per the Government Order notifying the lockdown in the state where the number of COVID-19 cases stood at 36.

Residents shall stay at home and come out only for permitted activities while strictly observing social distancing norms. In any case, not more than one person will be permitted, excluding the person driving the vehicle, the GO stated.

Responding to the state governments call for lockdown, people in some of the villages in Telangana voluntarily isolated themselves by putting up barricades and fences.

They also put up placards saying that no one should enter their village.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There are already 38 cases of infection in the region, including a man who has successfully recovered

Open source

13 more cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in the Chernivtsi region. Natalia Husak, the Deputy Head of Chernivtsi regional state administration, reported this on the air of 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

There are already 38 cases of infection in the region, including a man who has successfully recovered.

Meanwhile, as of 10:00 am, on March 24, there are 84 laboratory-confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Ukraine. Such statistics were provided by Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry.

Thus, over the past 24 hours, 11 new cases have been recorded.

As we reported earlier, Ukraine's Ministry of Health encourages people to fight against the "panic virus".

"Due to a three-week quarantine in Ukraine that is introduced in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the population is beginning to feel panic. But you should remember that the 'panic virus' is more terrible than a coronavirus infection. Take care of your mental and physical health," the statement on Ministry's Telegram channel said.
The House of Representatives adjourned plenary for two weeks on Tuesday.

House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila announced this after the House held its plenary.

Mr Gbajabiamila said the decision was imperative in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak battling the world.

He said the adjournment is not a holiday but a decision necessary to observe social distancing and isolation guidelines that have proven to be effective in preventing secondary transmission of the COVID-19 disease.

The Senate took the same decision on Tuesday.

Mr Gbajabiamila also said the leadership of the House will continue to observe developments and respond as the circumstances demand.

If it becomes necessary, we may reconvene to act on emergency legislation and possible amendment of the Appropriation Act, 2020.

The Speaker said no member of the House may travel out of the country during this time, adding that all the activities of the House have been suspended for the duration, whether those activities are scheduled to occur within the National Assembly or outside of it.

Members are enjoined to show faithful leadership by restricting all nonessential movements and observing self-isolation and social distancing according to the guidelines of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), he noted.

Mr Gbajabiamila urged the federal government to establish emergency care and isolation centres in every state of the federation, in order be in good stead for a possible surge in recorded cases in the country.

So far, Nigeria has a total of 42 confirmed cases including one death.

The ministry of health was also urged to take urgent action to establish an emergency corps of medical professionals who will be deployed to manage these ad-hoc emergency care centres across the country as the need arises.

While the Speaker praised all the health workers in the country and assured them of the resources they need to work effectively, he specifically praised Amarachi Allison, a doctor in Ogun State.

He said her intervention helped to identify the index case.

Her actions saved lives, he said. She has honoured herself, her profession and her family and we are eternally grateful. When all of this is over, this House shall not forget and we will make sure too that our nation does not forget.
It's America's motto, and it's time to dust it off and put it back to use.

Let's start with Albert Einstein: "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind."

Computer models projecting COVID-19 doomsday scenarios are accurate science in the sense of real software integrating assumptions and math and probabilities to predict outcomes. But devoid of God and hope, they are lame, and they leave us lame.

Religious projections of end times, or of this-is-God's-punishment-and-we-deserve-it, or of who-cares-it's-all-about-the-afterlife, have the danger of being blind to what can and should be done to help ourselves and others get through this promptly and effectively.

In a nation of 330 million people, there may not be a large number who would be in perfect alignment as to exactly what words they would use to describe what they believe God to be and to do in circumstances like these, much less what it means to trust God. But America's motto has never required such uniformity of doctrine. It is more simple and profound, based on "self-evident truths":

There is a Creator; He is the source of inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Such a Creator is good, and the expectancy of that which He creates is for good, not evil. God-endowed inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness imply that humanity has a God-given birthright of dominion, not subjection.

Therefore: Americans will not accept evil as fate or destiny; and they will not long sit still and let human authorities take the place of God and order them to sit fearfully in the corner until further notice from such authorities. For centuries, the concept of human authorities has also been known as the "rule of men." Two thousand years ago, Paul issued a warning on this point: "Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2: 5)

So what will a dusted off motto of "In God We Trust" mean for today?

The most materially minded among us will be forever aggravated, exasperated, even terrified of the idea of trusting anything but what they can see, hear, touch, or taste. This virus is freaking serious, they say, and there's no time for you idiot people of faith. Can't you see we're all gonna die unless government takes everything over and orders it all to go away?

Millennial David Hogg is the poster child, proudly tweeting, "F--- a National day of prayer, we need immediate comprehensive [government] action."

But the more spiritually minded among us will draw on and foster a sense of humility and individual grace that will both calm fears and open up individual steps in individual lives that will move the country toward improvement and ultimately resolution of this challenge.

Americans as a whole will pray and trust God that this, too, shall pass, and freedom shall endure to enable Americans to adapt and learn from it, but with a sense that the paralysis and panic associated with this episode will be overcome, not that it will become the new normal.

It's not as if humanity has never faced a plague (though COVID-19 isn't anything close to a plague). It's not as if humanity has never faced seemingly hopeless situations. And the American founders were not babes in the woods on these topics.

In fact, a little known anecdote of American history involves the contest to determine what the "great seal of the United States of America" ought to be. Ben Franklin's choice: a depiction of Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea, with God's pillar of fire in the cloud to guide them.

We can't know today every detail of Franklin's thinking regarding this design. But it's safe to say the design called to remember one of history's most hopeless situations, where deliverance came not from experts. Deliverance came from trusting God, and leaders having the courage to move forward with the expectation of good overcoming evil.

Time for more of the same in America today. In God We Trust.

Eric Georgatos and wife Debbie operate the America, Can We Talk? media platform, with four-day-a-week video podcasting by Debbie and weekly written commentary, all centered on the importance and value of preserving America as founded.
[March 24, 2020]

Corona Virus Tracker Released by FX Empire

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FXEmpire.com, a leading financial news portal, has just unveiled a new section dedicated to the coronavirus pandemic updates, statistics and news.

The portal will embed a widget across all of its pages, tracking the spread of the pandemic, and will make this widget available free of charge to other websites for the purpose of informing the public.

The coronavirus continues to grip, not only the global financial markets, but also the news wires globally. FXEmpire.com will deliver up-to-date statistics and thelatest news on the spread of the virus globally.







This will include and not be limited to: country total cases, recovery rates, mortality rates and more.

The statistics are particularly important for the months ahead, as the global financial markets gauges which governments had succeeded to contain the spread of the virus more successfully and how their deficit and GDP were affected. This in turn would significantly affect the equity, commodity, FX and debt markets.

Understanding how governments and central banks look to deliver support is undoubtedly essential. A combination of containment and fiscal and monetary policy are key to reading the markets these days and FXEmpire.com will provide a one-stop-shop portal to give readers a full picture of the progress towards the containment of the virus.

For enquiries please contact:

Alexander Amdor

[email protected]

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corona-virus-tracker-released-by-fx-empire-301028900.html

SOURCE FXEmpire.com
Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus days after returning from a...

Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus days after returning from an official trip to Germany.





He ran the test on Saturday based on medical advice, although he was not exhibiting any symptoms.





The result came back on Monday positive and he has gone into isolation even though the symptoms are yet to manifest.





Following his result, Buhari was also advised to run a test but he was negative, Aso Rock sources revealed

Alongside Sale Mamman, minister of power, Buharis chief of staff had attended a meeting in Germany with officials of Siemens to discuss issues relating to the Nigerian power sector.





A letter Kyari wrote to the leadership of the national assembly on how federal lawmakers returning from overseas trips were allegedly evading screening had gone viral earlier on Monday.





Nigeria currently has 40 cases of coronavirus.





NE had reported about the anxiety at the presidential villa in Abuja over the self-isolation of Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi.





The governor went into self-isolation after shaking hands with Mohammed Atiku, one of the sons of Nigerias former vice-president, who tested positive for the virus.





The presidency is yet to comment on the COVID-19 status of Kyari and health authorities have also not spoken about it.





But on Monday night, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed a coronavirus case in Abuja.





It is unclear if is the case of Kyari that the NCDC reported in the bulletin.




The spreading Covid-19 pandemic that has made 100 million Americans stay at home will have a "catastrophic short-term impact" on the U.S. economy, a renowned U.S. expert said on Monday.

"We could see a 30 percent contraction in the economy in the second quarter. The length of the recovery will depend both on the progress of the virus, and on whether many businesses are driven into bankruptcy over the next few months," Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Xinhua via email.

The U.S. economy is driven mostly by consumer spending for goods, restaurants, conventions, hotels, gyms, sporting events, concerts etc., "much of this has been shut down," said Alden.

The outbreak is "equally damaging" for the world economy, he said. "Despite warnings, the world was not well-prepared for this. And we will all pay a high price."

"With few exceptions, Japan, South Korea, perhaps China if it keeps containing the virus," all the major economies are relying on the strategy of shutting down their economies to prevent the spread of the virus, Alden said.

"This will have ripple effects across the world, and will be especially damaging for emerging economies that rely on export markets in the advanced countries. It is quite possible that this will tip over into an emerging markets financial crisis," he said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Monday a plan to purchase U.S. treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities with no limit to help markets function more efficiently amid coronavirus uncertainty.

The Fed is "doing everything within its ability" to shore up the economy and stave off deeper financial problems, Alden said.

"It has behaved with an appropriate urgency that comes from learning the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis -- that there is far more danger in under-reacting than in over-reacting," he said.

It is "encouraging" to see the Congress is discussing a large economic stimulus package, "which is desperately needed," he said.

"But the Senate at the moment has its priorities backwards, focusing far more on bailouts for large companies -- which are best able to weather this storm-- and less on far more urgent needs, including expanded unemployment insurance, guaranteeing sick leave for workers, ensuring that health care workers have the tools they need to stay safe, and getting money quickly into the hands of Americans who need it," he said.

A total of 573 people have died from novel coronavirus in the United States, where there are 41,511 confirmed cases, by 3:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (1930 GMT) on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

By Wednesday, when all 12 current state orders take effect, more than 126.8 million people, or 39 percent of the U.S. population, will be officially urged to stay home, reported CNN on Monday.
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Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blamed the spread of coronavirus in Louisiana on one or two people weakening their immune systems at Mardi Gras.

Kennedy said on Fox News, Were a hot spot. It started in New Orleans. Its moving into the rest of the state. I think it has a lot to do with Mardi Gras. I think our friends in China were worried about their image more than the worlds health and sat on the news about this virus for longer than they should have. We held Mardi Gras. People flew in from all over the world. We were in close quarters. One or two had too much to drink and lowered their immune system. They diminished their immune systems and we got a problem.

Video:

"We had Mardi Gras. People flew in from all over the world. We were in close quarters. One of two had too much to drink and lowered their immune systems"  @SenJohnKennedy on why coronavirus is spreading in Louisiana pic.twitter.com/qHfPrarejx  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2020

It is good that Sen. Kennedy is admitting that there is a problem. The bad news is that the problem didnt come from one or two people drinking too much and weakening their immune systems.

Kennedy is spouting illogical nonsense to comply with the Trump party line that the coronavirus is no big deal. The federal government had ample warning about the virus. Trump ignored warnings for months. The states are having to do this on their own because the federal response has been a failure.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
The coronavirus has spread around the world. (Getty)

The coronavirus pandemic has become a global health crisis.

According to latest statistics from the CDC, 162 countries have recorded confirmed cases of the virus and, increasingly, many of these countries are taking extreme measures which has resulted, in one estimate at least, in a billion people being asked to stay at home.

The starting statistic, which has been worked out by the AFP news agency, signifies just how big an issue coronavirus has become. It means around one-fifth of people on our planet have been told not to venture outside unless absolutely necessary.

In the UK, Boris Johnson has announced an Italy-style lockdown to fight the outbreak with gatherings of more than two people banned.

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

Police will enforce the new restrictions, including by issuing fines and dispersing gatherings. Almost all shops are required to shut and draconian measures on when people can leave have been implemented.

The PM made the move after the UKs coronavirus death toll jumped by 54 people in one day, bringing the total to 335.

Other nations, most notably China and Italy, have implemented lockdowns of varying severity. Here is a breakdown of the measures other countries have taken.

China

Workers disinfect a subway train in preparation for the restoration of public transport in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (AP)

China locked down Wuhan, where COVID-19 is thought to have originated, on 23 January.

In what was the most extreme lockdown so far, public transport was suspended and cars were banned from the roads.

Home visits were barred by management of residential blocks, apart from people providing help for the elderly or disabled.

Read more: Piers Morgan's slams 'selfish parents' for sending kids to school amid pandemic

Most shops were closed; only pharmacies and supermarkets remained open and people were only allowed to leave their homes to get essential supplies or medicine.

Story continues

On Monday, China reported no new local cases of coronavirus, but confirmed another 39 infections brought in from overseas, two months after taking the dramatic steps to lock down some 56 million people in Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei.

Italy

Italian soldiers patrol the square facing Duomo gothic cathedral in Milan, Italy, on Sunday. (AP)

The country at the centre of the crisis in Europe exceeded Chinas death toll last week despite having fewer confirmed infections and a far smaller population.

Italy's death toll is now at 6,077, with the number of cases at 63,927.

Its government has banned any movement inside the country and closed all non-essential businesses as it desperately seeks to stem the virus spread.

All gatherings have been banned and all museums and cultural venues are closed, as are nightclubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres.

Police squads in Rome are checking documents and fining those outside without a valid excuse.

Spain

Police officers stand on a closed road near Igualada, Spain, on 13 March. (AP)

The total number of cases in Spain is 33,089. Some 2,206 have died and 3,355 have recovered.

Spaniards are beginning their second week of confinement as worry spreads over the possible collapse of the countrys healthcare system amid an influx of COVID-19 patients requiring assisted respiration.

Read more: Apples Siri and Google Assistant now help if you ask, Do I have coronavirus?

The Spanish government is seeking parliaments approval to extend the state emergency for two more weeks until April 11, but harsher measures such as halting overall industrial production have been ruled out.

France

Parisians applaud the caregivers and police for their work last Wednesday. (AP)

France's lockdown began on 17 March.

People are barred from leaving home except to buy food or essentials, but they have to carry a special document, certifying why they are outside, to show to police.

France closed all bars, restaurants and non-essential shops last Saturday.

Creches, schools and universities were all closed from 16 March.

United States

Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the federal government has activated the National Guard to assist New York, California and Washington, three of the states hit hardest by coronavirus.

Residents of California have been told to shelter-in-place to curb its spread.

The order does not confine people to their homes but recommends they stay inside unless they are getting essential items.

Read more: How many coronavirus cases are there in your area?

Meanwhile, all non-essential businesses in New York have shut down, as the city is considered the country's coronavirus epicentre.

Restaurants and bars have all shut but can deliver to homes. New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned residents that those who defy the "stay at home" order could receive civil fines.

New Zealand

People must stay home and all non-essential businesses and activities cease when the lockdown begins on Wednesday night.

The decision came as health officials announced another 36 confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 102. Most were tied to travel overseas, but crucially, two of the cases could not be traced and officials believe they are evidence of a local outbreak.

New Zealand, which has a population of five million, already has closed its borders to all but citizens and residents.

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said enough is enough, go home and stay home.

Mr Trudeau said staying at home is a duty and the government will enforce it if necessary.

He said images of people out enjoying the sunshine in large groups is extremely concerning.

He made the comments outside his residence while in self-isolation after his wife tested positive for the virus.

Poland

Polish police said they have carried out inspections of nearly 80,000 people subjected to forced quarantine because of the coronavirus pandemic and found 318 cases of people violating the quarantine.

The Polish government has enacted increasingly firm measures in order to slow the spread of Covid-19. Last week the government increased penalties for quarantine non-compliance. The authorities also extended an initial two-week closure of all schools in the country for an additional two weeks, lasting through Easter.

Additionally, they introduced a phone app to track those in home quarantine.

Pakistan

Authorities in southern Pakistan have begun a two-week complete lockdown, as the number of positive coronavirus tests jumped to 799 across the country.

Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister in the southern Sindh province, has imposed a ban on the movement of people, saying the measure was aimed at saving lives.

However, Prime Minister Imran Khan has avoided a nationwide lockdown, but he urged people to stay at homes voluntarily.
The countrys most overcrowded prisons have seen a dramatic turnaround in capacity after 200 inmates were released early as part of emergency measures to ease overcrowding and prevent a Covid-19 outbreak.

Two weeks ago, five prisons  Limerick male and female prisons, Cork, Mountjoy female (Dochas), and Midlands  were all at or above official capacity.

But following Irish Prison Service (IPS) proposals authorised by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, capacity in all of them, bar Limerick male, are now down to below official capacity.

Mr Flanagan said last week that prisons were high risk and that the releases were essential to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 and if there are any cases to ensure there is space for isolation.

It comes as the IPS took moves yesterday to further restrict visits to prisoners  from a maximum of a two-person visit once a week to a one-person visit per week of 15 minutes, No children are permitted to visit.

IPS figures on the daily prison population show the total number in custody has fallen from 4,195 on March 9 to 3,947 on March 23.

The number of people on temporary release has risen from 349 to 552, a jump of 58%.

Authorities have stressed not all people on temporary release were freed under Covid-19 measures.

The total prison system is now at 91% capacity, compared to 98% two weeks ago. A breakdown over the two weeks shows the biggest reductions have been in the most overcrowded prisons. These include:

Limerick female, where the number of prisoners in custody is down from 37 to 26, with 28 people now on temporary release, compared to 20 (up 40%). This means its capacity is now at 93%, compared to 132%;

Limerick male, where custody numbers have been cut from 231 to 216, with 52 people on temporary release, compared to 31 (up 61%). Its capacity is now at 103%, compared to 110%;

Cork Prison, where custody numbers are down from 313 to 278, with 100 people on temporary release, compared to 74 (up 35%). Its capacity is now at 94%, compared to 106%;

Dochas, where custody numbers have dropped from 149 to 125, with 83 people now on temporary release, compared to 58 (up 43%). Its capacity is now at 86%, compared to 102%;

Midlands Prison, where custody numbers have been cut from 879 to 857, with temporary release numbers up from 29 to 51, up 76%.

Prison numbers have also been cut significantly at Wheatfield, from 544 to 498 (capacity 89% to 82%) and Castlerea, from 331 to 302 (capacity 98% to 89%).
(Photo : Screenshot from: Pexels Official Website)

As New York becomes the epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic, drug trials will now be starting in the state to test coronavirus or COVID-19 treatments.





Read Also: Nurse Reusing and Sharing Face Masks Amid COVID-19 Epidemic: Piers Morgan Rants on Gov't During a Debate with Matt Hancock on Good Morning Britain





This was after President Trump's statement

President Donald Trump has said that the FDA or the Food and Drug Administration has already approved one of the drugs that are involved in the clinical trials for the state of New York.

According to Forbes, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stated during a Sunday press briefing that they have now acquired 10,000 doses of Zithromax, 70,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine and 750,000 doses of chloroquine.

The main drug that was approved by the FDA for clinical trials was Chloroquine, which is an anti-malaria drug, A brand-name antibiotic called Zithromax was included, and another one named hydroxychloroquine that is used for lupus and arthritis. These drugs are all considered as potential treatments for coronavirus.

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents).....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020

Other Doctors have said that the drugs are purely anecdotal

Cuomo has also said that President Trump was pretty much optimistic that these drugs could work while the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that "It was not done in a controlled clinical trial. So you really can't make any definitive statement about it." Adding that the drug is basically just anecdotal.

Trump has also claimed that he had the chance to speak with Gov. Cuomo about the drug chloroquine preceding the DFA's green light for clinical trials. He said that Cuomo wanted to be the first one in testing all these treatments.

According to a French study that the President had promoted, it says that they have found some evidence earlier on that when combining hydroxychloroquine and Zithromax could be a very effective treatment for COVID-19 though, these results have not yet proven if the pair can actually treat it.

Dr. Stephen Hahn, a Food and Drug Administration commissioner had said that they might have the right drug but hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine might not actually be in the appropriate amount of dosage form as of the moment and it might do more harm than good.

WATCH: "The federal government should nationalize medical supply acquisition," says NY Gov. Cuomo. "We are competing against other states. ... Price gouging is a tremendous problem and it's only getting worse. There are masks that we were paying $.85 for, we're now paying $7." pic.twitter.com/1fkxq4zMKZ  MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 22, 2020

It was reported by the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on March 9 that Plaquenil which is another version of hydroxychloroquine helped kill the coronavirus in some laboratory experiments. This was first approved in 1995 to help treat malaria and used in patients with arthritis and lupus.

Scientists are now working and doing their best to search for an actual effective treatment for COVID-19, one that currently does not exist. The first clinical trial already began on Monday in Seattle after the first person to register in the trial had received the vaccine.

Some other additional treatments are now in different stages and phases of research, commercial release, and testing.

The list is updated here.





Read Also: Experiencing a Sniffle, Jet Lag and Heavy Legs? You Might Have Coronavirus Without You Knowing It!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
WASHINGTON - Thieves steal surgical masks. A clinic sells fake COVID-19 tests. Hate groups encourage sick members to infect law enforcement officers. Imposters pose as public health officials. Con artists peddle fake cures and financial scams.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, so too do the crimes related to it  transgressions that capitalize on fear, panic and the urge to lay blame, and add to the burden on law enforcement agencies trying to protect vulnerable citizens.

It is really disheartening in a time like this that someone would take advantage of the community and take them in a time of need, Tucson, Arizona, Police Sgt. Pete Dugan said.

Everyday life has essentially stopped in many countries in a bid to slow the virus, and some crimes have been declining. But reports of virus-related fraud are on the rise, along with concerns about hate crimes.

U.S. President Donald Trump and others have taken to calling the virus the Chinese coronavirus, even as scientists say the disease has nothing to do with Asian ethnicity. But the president dismissed the idea that his comments could fuel hate crimes.

Its not racist at all, Trump has said.

In Los Angeles, a 16-year-old boy of Asian descent said other students bullied him and accused him of carrying the virus. In New York, a man on the subway sprayed an Asian passenger with Febreze and verbally abused him. State Attorney General Letitia James set up a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes in the countrys outbreak epicenter.

The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups, blames the virus for elevating racist and anti-Semitic messages, including suggesting that Jews are somehow responsible for the pandemic. Some hate groups have suggested tainting doorknobs or other surfaces with the virus so FBI and police officers fall ill.

If any of you get this, I expect you to spend as much time as possible with our enemies, one wrote.

Hundreds of masks have been stolen in Portland, Oregon, amid shortages for health care workers. A Missouri man who was coughing told two store clerks he had a high fever. He was arrested after police said he threatened to give the employees coronavirus. People in Pennsylvania and Illinois were accused of similar crimes. Texas prosecutors brought charges against someone who falsely claimed on social media to have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a memo issued Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen told prosecutors they could charge people who threaten to spread the new coronavirus under U.S. terrorism statutes because the Justice Department considers it a biological agent under the law. In such cases, suspects could be charged with a number of offences, including possessing or developing a biological agent as a weapon, he said.

Threats or attempt to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans will not be tolerated, Rosen wrote in the memo to U.S. attorneys across the country and the heads of all Justice Department agencies, including the FBI.

Meanwhile, police in Bowie, Maryland, are investigating reports of a man wearing an orange vest and blue surgical mask who approached people at two homes claiming to be inspecting for coronavirus. He actually entered one home before a resident confronted him. A similar scam was sweeping through Germany.

The World Health Organization and other authorities are also working to debunk spurious claims about possible cures. They include false assertions that silver, bleach, and garlic could protect against the coronavirus, or that bananas prevent it.

In Uganda, the parliament speaker endorsed a businessman who said he had discovered a chemical that instantly kills the virus. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga announced that the businessman had offered to produce the treatment in Uganda and it would go on the market shortly.

Kadagas comments were widely mocked because the product is actually a disinfectant, according to the Ugandan firm that will produce the chemical, not to be ingested.

New York officials recently ordered the Jim Bakker television show to stop marketing colloidal silver products. Trump himself falsely suggested a drug typically used to treat malaria patients had been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the coronavirus.

Fraudsters purport to collect contaminated banknotes in South Africa. And police busted a clinic selling false testing kits in Kenya.

The United Kingdoms National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has received more than 100 reports of virus-related scams, with losses totalling more than $1.1 million (970,000 pounds).

We have already seen fraudsters using the COVID-19 pandemic to scam people looking to buy medical supplies online ... and targeting people who may be vulnerable or increasingly isolated at home, Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Economic Crime Center in the U.K., said in a statement.

In the U.S., the Justice Department created a central fraud hotline (1-866-720-5721 or disaster@leo.gov) and has ordered U.S. attorneys to appoint special coronavirus fraud co-ordinators.

Meanwhile, marketing schemers have quickly pivoted to offering senior care packages that include hand sanitizer or even a purported vaccine, which doesnt exist. Some falsely claim that Trump has ordered that seniors get tested.

Its all a trick to get personal information that can be used to bill federal and state health programs, health officials said.

Its a straight-up ruse to get your Medicare number or your Social Security number under the guise of having a test kit or a sanitary kit sent to you, Christian Schrank, assistant inspector general for investigations at Health and Human Services.

The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 350,000 people and left more than 15,000 people dead. For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The World Health Organization says criminals are increasingly posing as WHO officials in calls and phishing emails to swipe information or money. The United Nations also set up a website to help prevent fraud.

But the warning came too late for an 83-year-old woman in Mannheim, Germany, who was convinced by scammers to hand over a five-figure sum, claiming it was for a relative who had fallen ill. Police, who would not give an exact figure on the stolen euros, said the woman was told that a driver would pick up the money from outside her front door, to avoid possible infection.

By the time she got suspicious, the money was gone.

___

Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda. Associated Press writers Frank Jordans in Berlin and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington also contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania is about to join the host of other states that decided to delay their primary election in response to the coronavirus.

The primary was set to be held on April 28 but due to a myriad of concerns that have arisen since the COVID-19 outbreak, a negotiated agreement between Gov. Tom Wolf, the House and Senate has led to a decision to push it back to June 2.

The House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday on a measure that would not only postpone the primary by five weeks but among other election-related changes, allow for the consolidation of polling places.

The Senate is expected to consider the bill once it is sent over from the House and it could reach the governors desk before the end of the week.

Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-Philadelphia, explained the delay was necessary given the concerns about the large number of senior citizens who work the polls on election days. That is the segment of the population at higher risk for severe illness from the coronavirus. Additionally, many of the states polling places are at senior centers, nursing homes and schools, which have become reluctant about hosting a polling place.

Pennsylvania must be realistic regarding the impact of the virus on the April 28 primary, Boyle said.

The additional time will allow county officials more time to make a contingency plan for voting, he said.

The consolidation of polling places provision allows the polls to be located elsewhere within the same county and not necessarily in an election district immediately adjacent to where they were located. It also removes the requirement for court approval of polling place changes.

The bill also opens up the locations where a polling place can be located to include places where alcoholic beverages are served although not in the same room where those beverages are dispensed. Access to polling places in those locations, however, must not require voters to pass through the room where alcoholic beverages are served.

At least 15 days before the election, the county board of elections must post the location of the poling places at their office and on the countys website.

Another change included in the bill is it allows elections officials to begin processing mail-in and absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day, instead of waiting until 8 p.m. that day as currently required.

Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming County, who proposed the amendment making these changes, said the proposal had the backing of the states county commissioners and election officials.

Keystone Votes, a nonpartisan coalition comprising 43 civil rights, civil liberties, and government reform groups, also endorsed the plan.

Maintaining the right to vote has never been as important as it is now in this time of crisis, said Ray Murphy, state coordinator for Keystone Votes. We are encouraged that during this time of crisis, Gov. Tom Wolf, his administration, and members of the General Assembly are putting aside partisanship to keep Pennsylvanians healthy while ensuring the safety, security, accessibility, and integrity of our election process.

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.
State-owned commuter line operator PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) has reverted to normal operations after its decision to reduce the number of trips and operating hours to encourage social distancing backfired on Monday.

Photos on social media showed packed train cars on Monday morning, despite Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan's plea for corporations to close down their offices for the next 14 days in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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(@FahadShabbir)

The Brazilian authorities have decided to close the land border with Uruguay amid the COVID-19 outbreak, media reported

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2020) The Brazilian authorities have decided to close the land border with Uruguay amid the COVID-19 outbreak, media reported.

According to the UOL news portal, the measure was taken on Sunday and will be in effect for 30 days with the possibility of being prolonged. The border with Uruguay is the last section of the land border with neighboring countries closed by Brazil as part of its fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Per the new measures, citizens of Uruguay are prohibited from entering the Brazilian territory, except for the indigenous peoples of Brazil, Uruguayans whose children are Brazilians living in Brazil, foreigners permanently living in Brazil and representatives of missions of international organizations that have received permission from the government. The restrictions will also not affect cargo traffic and will not impede the implementation of humanitarian work and the transit of residents of border regions.

According to media reports, a failure to comply with these measures could result in deportation, or administrative or criminal liability.

On Thursday, the Brazilian authorities in light of the spread of coronavirus decided to temporarily restrict entry for foreign citizens arriving from several Latin American border countries. The 15-day measure applies to people entering from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname. Last week, the Brazilian authorities also decided to partially close the border with Venezuela.

Over the past 24 hours, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 318, reaching 1,546. Meanwhile, the number of fatal cases has reached 25. In Uruguay, there have been 158 confirmed coronavirus cases.
New language created to bring the Gospel to millions of deaf, blind people worldwide

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Wycliffe Associates has released a new translation of the New Testament in a new concept-based language that deaf and blind people across the globe can begin learning in less than a week.

The new notation is called SUN (Symbolic Universal Notation) and it is a symbolic representation of the words in Scripture developed by Wycliffe Associates, a prominent Bible translation organization, over the course of the last four years. SUN aims to provide a pathway to Christ for millions of deaf and blind people who have no other way of effectively communicating with the world.

This is the first that I have seen or heard of anything like this in Bible translation, SUN Program Director Lori Jenkins told The Christian Post. Basically, what we have done is taken the New Testament and broken it down into the main concepts of each of the verses and each of the chapters. For each concept, we have created a symbol.

The SUN New Testament, which was finished last year, was publicly announced during a late February dedication ceremony in Orlando.

So far, Jenkins said, Wycliffe Associates has printed copies of the SUN New Testament that can be read by deaf people. It is working on producing a 3D version that can be read by those who are both deaf and blind.

According to Wycliffe Associates, SUN has the potential to reach about 56 million people with the Gospel who may not otherwise be able to access it. SUN was developed by a former volunteer named Emily Wang, who was inspired after finding out that over 600,000 people worldwide are both deaf and blind.

Wycliffe Associates estimates that there are 70 million people in the world who are born deaf and about 80 percent of them cant communicate in their local sign language.

Only about 20 percent of the deaf population of the world has access to education, Jenkins said. So the question is, How do you provide a Bible for those that have no education at all? And this is the problem that SUN answers.

Wang aimed to create a system that could be read both visually and through touch. As a Chinese-American, she was inspired by the symbols in the Mandarin language and came up with symbols that could be understood universally.

Through a team of 400 online volunteers across the United States who created symbols to represent the precepts found in Scripture, the production of the SUN New Testament took about 1.5 years.

The translation is sourced from the Unlocked Literal Bible. Dr. John Luton, a Bible translation consultant with Wycliffe Associates, reviewed the translations Gospel of Luke.



This is one of the best translations I have ever worked on, Luton said in a statement.

In order to read the SUN New Testament, users must learn the 100 core symbols and also learn how the symbols can be combined to convey additional meaning.

For those that are deaf, we're teaching them to read basically by sight, Jenkins said. We can have them reading within three to five days. We've had many people within three days basically start reading Mark 1. And the question that they have asked is How can I know this Jesus? How can I have this Jesus in my heart? We've been able to lead many people to Christ through this.

Jenkins said that SUN has been tested in nine different countries. Additionally, there has been exposure to SUN in about 16 different countries.

Basically the idea is we get people together who are going to be working with those that are deaf and those that are deaf and blind. They are the people that we teach, Jenkins explained. So we go into a country, we teach this group of people how to teach SUN to the deaf and the deaf and blind. And it's up to them to take it and spread it throughout the country.

According to Wycliffe Associates, SUN is easier to learn than braille, which can take years to master. SUN is a concept-based approach that does not rely on words or letter systems.

You already know the concept. It is just learning to associate a symbol with the concept, Jenkins detailed. We are seeing deaf people who have never learned a national sign language, they are coming to these workshops where people are teaching them SUN and teaching them national sign langauge at the same time.

So they are really learning two languages at once. What we are seeing is we are seeing their world open up and we are seeing them being able to communicate with more people around them as well as being able to have access to Gods Word in a format they already understand.

According to Jenkins, the goal is to take SUN to 40 new countries in 2020. However, she said that the goal could be impacted by travel complications caused by the coronavirus.

We are also seeing other organizations that are taking a look at this and saying, Hey we could use this in this way when we are teaching these children over here, she relayed. It has the potential to reach so many different places and different people. Its not just for the deaf and deaf and blind, you can also think about kids with autism and anybody who cant communicate on their own. This has the potential to reach them.

Wycliffe is currently working on a SUN version of the Old Testament. According to Jenkins, the translation will require the creation of additional symbols to reflect concepts found in the Old Testament, which is about twice the size of the New Testament.

I don't know how much larger our symbol base is going to grow to, Jenkins said. I dont know if it will double or not. But it might be pretty close to doubling in size.
Vinhomes Industrial Park Investment is Vingroup's foray into industrial park development

On February 27, Vingroup Ventures was renamed to Vinhomes Industrial Park Investment, changing its main business line from supporting startups and education to industrial real estate development to create a new growth motivation for the company and the group.

The company will have three operation pillars, namely residential, office, and industrial park property.

Vinhomes entering the development of industrial parks also contributes to creating favourable conditions for the worlds leading auxiliary equipment providers to establish their first manufacturing facilities in Vietnam and then build out an ecosystem for domestic automobile manufacturing, aligning with Vingroups overall target of developing the industrial sector.

Industrial parks in major cities and provinces have been rapidly occupied in the context of surging demand. The average occupancy rates of industrial parks in major northern and southern cities and provinces were over 92 and 80 per cent, respectively, at the end of 2019. When there is limited vacant land, developers of existing industrial parks tend to switch to ready-built factories, which are more time and cost-efficient for tenants who prefer a speedy setup.

Over the last two years, significant growth of ready-built factory supplies was observed in major industrial parks in Vietnam. As of 2019, the southern region of Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An, welcomed about 380,000 square metres of ready-built factory grounds, up 18.9 per cent on-year. Meanwhile, new supply in the northern region, including Hanoi, Haiphong, and the provinces of Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen was 321,000sq.m, up 25.2 per cent on-year.
EDWARDSVILLE  An ordinance updating countywide regulations for body art businesses was approved at last weeks Madison County Board meeting.

There had been some question regarding whether it was formally voted on as part of a consent agenda. Madison County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza on Tuesday said that, after listening to the audio recording of the meeting, the topic was included and approved.

The ordinance updates previous ordinances to comply with new state statutes and will mean few changes, according to County Board Ray Wesley, R-Godfrey, who chairs the Health Department Committee. The original ordinance was passed in 2002, then amended in 2006 and 2009.

Part of the confusion was that the ordinance was set to be approved by the Madison County Board of Health. The full county board acts as the Board of Health which normally is convened separately after county board business is concluded. However, because COVID-19 concerns streamlined the March 18 meeting and recommendations limiting public meetings, that was not done.

Instead, most of the county boards actions were included in a consent agenda motion by board member Mike Walters, R-Godfrey, with one vote taken for all of the items.

The board also approved a number of law enforcement and emergency preparedness items:

 The annual Code Red weather warning service contract with Florida-based Onsolve LLC for the Madison County Emergency Management Agency at $56,250.

 Renewal of the annual New World Computer Aided Dispatch maintenance contract with Tyler Technologies Inc. of Dallas with the Emergency Telephone System Board for $176,469.54.

 Purchase Smart Start mobile breath alcohol testing devices and a four-year service agreement with SMART Start LLC of Texas for Madison County Probation and Court Services at $42,458 for the devices and $22,152 for the service contract.

 Purchase of 55 portable radios and a jail repeater system for the Madison County Sheriffs Office with Motorola Solutions Inc., for $200,611.27.

 Purchase equipment for 10 police vehicles and one passenger wagon for the sheriffs department at a cost of $44,120.

 Purchase a Ford 150 pickup truck replacement vehicle for the Madison County Coroners Office for $31,971.
If youve spent the last week, or however long, in quarantine, theres a chance you may be struggling with what exactly to wear everyday.

After all, with e-mails, Slack and the occasional Zoom call, what are you getting dressed for?

Perhaps you only have your aged pyjamas and tracksuits and your ropey t-shirts which were white once upon a time and are now more of a discernible (and debatable) dishwater grey.

If thats the case, and youre feeling devoid of sartorial WFH inspiration, and bored of your friend's ephemeral stories on the 'gram, theres help in the form of a handful of influencers who are documenting their WFH looks.

These are the accounts to follow if your feed needs a bit of WFH TLC.

1. Monikh Dale

Followers: 144,000

Why follow? Monikh's WFH looks are so effortless you'll be clamouring to buy all of the pieces she's been sporting on her feed. If ever you needed encouraging to trade your tragic trackies in for a chic kitchen table-appropriate, Dale's your girl.

USP: And once she's had her wicked way with your fashion sense, you'll find yourself lusting after her swoon-worthy interiors.

2. Sabina Socol

Followers: 415, 000

Why follow? If there's anybody to show you around a comfortable, yet ever-so-chic ensemble, it's Romanian-born, French-bred journalist Sabina Socol. What she doesn't know about perfectly-fitted denim and cropped cardigans just isn't worth knowing.

USP: In a time where the future is so uncertain, and our next getaway is barely visible in the distance, indulging in the snippets of Paris which Sabina regularly shares is like a little slice of WFH heaven.

3. Matilda Djerf

Followers: 839,000

Why follow? Swedish Matilda's feed is usually full-to-the-brim of her meticulously styled ensembles and her gravity-defying 'do, which would give Farrah Fawcett a run for her money. But in these precarious times, she's now inviting her followers into her new flat in Stockholm, where she has been modelling various homely ensembles which even the laziest dressers could rustle up to WFH.

USP: The recipes. Oh, the recipes. And her deliciously fluffy dog, Maverick. Both will leave you wanting to be her neighbour.

4. Emili Sindlev

Followers: 387,000

Why follow? Quarantine has caused a myriad of influencers to start chronicling their home workouts in their outrageously chic workout gear. Warning: there is a very strong chance that you will leave a stalk of Sindlev's Instagram wanting to throw all of your current gym gear in the bin.

USP: Even if home workouts aren't your thing, Copenhagen-based Sindlev's archive of rainbow-coloured outfits is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

5. Leandra Medine

Followers: 954, 000

Why follow? While stocks of toilet roll at your local supermarket may be depleting, Man Repeller founder Leandra Medine's comedic content shows no signs of going anywhere. Her Instagram currently comprises her chronicling her WFH life (with two young twins) and it's pure gold. In amongst the coronavirus-induced chaos, she manages to style the chicest of outfits. You'll be left wondering how exactly she does it all.

USP: Medine knows her way around a funny meme which, even if her clothes don't inspire you, her content will make you belly laugh.

6. Louise Chen

Followers: 17,900

Why follow? DJ and founder of Girls Girls Girls parties, Louise Chen, is using her Instagram to showcase how to do a baggy t-shirt a la WFH. Her knowledge of classic throwback tunes will have you craving a lunchtime boogy around your living room too.

USP: Chen rubs shoulders with the coolest of the cool so once we're all safely out of quarantine, her feed will be peppered with the most exclusive parties and the slickest guests.

7. Parysatis Peymani

Followers: 42, 000

Why follow? Half French half Iranian fashion and beauty influencer Parysatis is now based in Paris, so her WFH content takes on a more nonchalantly-styled stance. But her love of a 90's slip is one which will soon rub off on you after enough stalking.
T he Cabinet today reaffirmed that building sites will remain open for the time being as MPs were told that a support package for self-employed people was being delayed by complications.

One Government source said that allowing the construction workers, who are the biggest single group of self-employed, to earn money was the best way of helping families facing a dramatic loss of income.

The decision left Boris Johnsons Government at odds with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who publicly confirmed this morning that he clashed with the PM in yesterdays Cobra by calling for building sites to close.

Mr Khan argued that construction workers created the biggest early morning pressure on public transport in the capital, which should be reserved for essential workers.

Construction workers fear catching coronavirus on building sites

Speaking in the Commons after Cabinet, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the Treasury was working towards a "deliverable and fair" support package for strivers who lose all their income through sickness or self-isolation.

But he told MPs it was "incredibly complicated" to design a system that would target cash at families who were victims of the coronavirus epidemic without wasting billions on people who may not being made worse off.

"There are genuine practical and principled reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous scheme to the one that we have for employed workers, he said.

But... rest assured that we absolutely understand the situation that many self-employed people face and are determined to find a way to support them," he told the Commons.

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Waterloo station looking empty PA Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

His assurance failed to convince opposition MPs who accused ministers of dragging their feet.

A Whitehall source said the problems of delivering aid to the self-employed were far greater than with people who are on the books of employers.

Tax and National Insurance records were not a good guide because they did not distinguish between people who would lose money due to Covid-19, such as domestic builders, and people who might be better off, such as eBay traders enjoying increased demand from housebound shoppers.

Simply being listed as self-employed did not identify those facing hardship and others might have a full time job but would lose side-earnings, such as after dinner speaking.

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The State cannot be in the business of providing support to people who do not need it, said the source. If we do not target help where it matters, it would be unfair and would cost a great deal of money.

Government officials reject accusations that people would be left with only 90 welfare to live on, pointing out that those with families could claim additional benefits typically worth up to 1,500 or 2,000 per month.

Rachel Reeves, Labour chairwoman of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, called on ministers to extend the income protection scheme unveiled for regular workers to cover the self-employed and to increase the rate of statutory sick pay.

She said: "The Chancellor's package last week to support businesses and employees was welcome.

30 fine for people ignoring new coronavirus lockdown measures and could rise 'significantly'

"But with self-employed and freelancers still not covered by support - even as many of their businesses are now subject to lockdown - there is a worrying gap in the Government's strategy to protect these livelihoods which urgently needs to be put right."

Unite union boss Len McCluskey said: "The millions of self-employed and insecure workers across the country will dread being sent home because it means that they will have no wage.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it was a "complex issue" but understood the need to act as soon as possible.

"We do appreciate the urgency of the situation and officials are working at pace to find a well-targeted support package," the spokesman said.

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Mr Sunak said the Treasury had been looking at the issue of self-employed workers in intense detail.

He told the Commons: There are genuine practical and principle reasons why it is incredibly complicated to design an analogous scheme to the one we have for employed workers. But he can rest assured that we absolutely understand the situation that many self-employed people face at the moment as a result of what is happening and are determined to find a way to support them. We need to be confident that can be done in a way that is deliverable and is fair to the vast majority of the British work force.

Labour MP Wes Streeting demanded reassurance that an announcement will be made very shortly".

Mr Sunak responded: "We would hope to have something to say very shortly. In terms of something being implemented, that will take longer."
Instagram is launching a new feature to help connect friends and family while people are encouraged to stay home due to coronavirus concerns.

The new feature, called Co-Watching, allows users to view Instagram posts with friends over video chat.

When available there will be a video chat icon in the Direct inbox section or in an existing Direct messaging thread. Once started, users can tap the photo icon in the bottom left. Then friends and family can view saved, liked and suggested photos or videos together.

This is just one of the latest updates since coronavirus fears have kept more people at home.

Since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency in January, weve taken steps to help people access accurate information, stay safe, and stay connected, Instagram said in a blog post.

It also created a shared story users can add to by using the Stay Home sticker, is launching a donation sticker in more countries to help people find nonprofits to support, is removing inaccurate or unverified COVID-19 information and is including more educational resources in Instagrams search option.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced in January it will remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities.

This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods  like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus  or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available, Facebook said.

The social media site is also partnering with The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to launch a $1 million grant program to increase its fact-checking capacity during this time.

But the company came under scrutiny earlier this month when Facebook users noticed that their posts about coronavirus that included links from legitimate news sites were being marked as spam.

Facebook said it was part of a bug in its anti-spam system.

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Viewers blasted Dancing with the Stars on Sunday after the contestants ignored social distancing restrictions designed to limit the spread of coronavirus.

And rumours are swirling that Channel 10 plans to wrap up the competition a week earlier than scheduled as a safety measure for the cast and crew.

The live semi-finals are slated to air this Sunday, but reliable sources tell Daily Mail Australia the finals may also take place on the same night.

Sashaying away? Rumours are swirling that Channel 10 plans to wrap up Dancing with the Stars a week earlier than scheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: hosts Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller

It comes after Twitter users accused the contestants of having a blase attitude in the face of a global health crisis during Sunday night's episode.

'@DancingOn10, I didn't realise that being a celebrity was an antidote for the coronavirus,' one person tweeted, referencing the close proximity of the dancers.

'Where is all the social distancing between the judges, the non-dancing contestants and hosts? You should be leading by example, if we are going to reduce the workload of our ICUs.'

Careless: Viewers blasted Dancing with the Stars on Sunday after the contestants ignored social distancing restrictions designed to limit the spread of coronavirus

While DWTS is no longer being filmed in front of a live audience, the show's format forces its celebrity competitors to physically interact with their dance partners.

Meanwhile, viewers also noticed the show's judges were seated closer together than the recommended six-foot distance.

At one stage, hosts Amanda Keller and Grant Denyer joked about social distancing by pulling out a tape measure to inspect the distance between them.

'I didn't realise that being a celebrity was an antidote for the coronavirus': Fans expressed outrage on Twitter, with several claiming the show was setting a bad example

Ironically, Sunday's episode was interrupted by an emergency press conference from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

'On the weekend, what we saw was a disregard of those social distancing practices,' Mr Morrison said, referring to the hordes of people seen at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

'This sent a very clear message to premiers, chief ministers and myself that the social distancing practices are not being observed as well as they should be.'

Too close for comfort: Ironically, Sunday's episode was interrupted by an emergency press conference from Prime Minister Scott Morrison

However, other fans thought Dancing with the Stars was exactly what people needed in a time of fear and uncertainty.

'Please let us have our sanity back; we would like to not think about coronavirus for TWO SECONDS. Just two seconds,' tweeted one viewer.

Another added: 'They better not DARE take #DWTSau from me next week. It's slim pickins' for joy round these parts.'

'Don't take it away from me': However, other fans thought Dancing with the Stars was exactly what people needed in a time of fear and uncertainty

The show's producers have taken steps to protect the cast and crew after contestant Christian Wilkins' coronavirus scare last week.

The 24-year-old socialite was tested for COVID-19 after his father, Weekend Today host Richard Wilkins, tested positive on March 15.

Christian's test later proved to be negative, but he was forced to self-isolate in a hotel with dance partner Lily Cornish for several days.

All staff members and participants have been told to self-monitor for symptoms.
Stassi Schroeder is making the most of her time at home during the coronavirus shutdowns as she adds finishing touches to her Hollywood Hills property.

The 31-year-old Vanderpump Rules star moved into the $1.7 million home, which sprawls 2,900 sq ft, with fiance Beau Clark in January.

Since then, she's documented the 'chic as f***' updates she's made and on Tuesday showed off the freshly painted rooms in her beautiful 1920s Mediterranean style home.

'So frickin' chic': Stassi Schroeder gave fans an update on her home renovations on Tuesday after moving into the 1.7 million home with fiance Beau Clark in January

Updated: The Vanderpump Rules star showed off her stunning living room with fresh paint and artwork

'Since we are all forced to be home right now I guess I'll do a little house update, as people have been asking' Stassi said in the first of several Instagram Story clips.

'We finally got the painting done,' she added, while filming Beau, 39, installing a sconce.

'Look how gorge and clean it looks,' Stassi pointed out proudly, before letting her followers know she used Behr paint in Swiss Coffee for the walls and Whisper White for the trim.

'So frickin' chic, I'm so into this right now.' she said, 'home renovation lifts the spirits, right?'.

In progress: Beau was busy fitting a sconce while Stassi filmed their progress

Ad: The Bravo beauty said they painted the walls Swiss Coffee and the trim Whisper White from Behr paints

Fresh look: They repainted the framed of the doors and windows a glossy black

Chic storage: The reality star snapped a pic of some freshly painted shelving

Before: The paint and window frames were different when the couple moved in. They also stained the floors a dark brown

The Bravo beauty shared a collection of photos to show the newly updated living room, some shelving and the freshly painted staircase.

She captioned the album: 'Trying to find the little things to be thankful for during this time. I'd imagine a lot of us are using the time to clean, organize, decorate, etc. So wanted to share a house update for anyone wanting inspo.'

The couple moved into the four bedroom home in January and started renovations the following month.

Stassi announced her engagement to casting agent Beau in July 2019 after two years of dating.

They planned to wed in Italy this October, however it's likely it will be postponed due to the pandemic crisis. Beau has family in Italy that are currently under quarantine.

Looking good: Earlier this month Stassi showed the progress made on the staircase with a fresh lick of paint
A raft of new restrictions on how we go about our daily lives will be announced today as the battle against Covid-19 is stepped up.

Outdoor activities are expected to be further curtailed while limits will be applied to public transport and some non-essential businesses, like restaurants.

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Two more people have died from coronavirus in Ireland and another 219 cases have been confirmed, the Department of Health said yesterday. This brings the number of cases to 1,125. So far six people have died from coronavirus here.

The Irish Independent understands the Government is hesitant to move into full lockdown mode  but the moment has come for tougher measures. Last night UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told families in the UK, including Northern Ireland, to stay at home except when shopping for basic necessities and to perform one type of exercise a day.

Sources said all of the measures announced by Mr Johnson were already down to be assessed at a crunch meeting of our National Public Health Emergency Team this morning. The countrys top medics will then make recommendations to a special Cabinet meeting. Senior sources said it will be a significant day.

The existing closure of schools, which is due to end on March 29, will be extended until at least the Easter holidays.

The NPHET will also look at whether hotels, non-grocery shops and other businesses can stay open and enforce social distancing rules.

The continued use of outdoor recreational areas such as public parks and playgrounds will also come under scrutiny.

They will look at what is happening in other EU countries, they will study the data and everything will be led by the opinion of doctors, said a Government source.

The process has been complicated by the fact that Northern Ireland has now overtaken the Republic in terms of restrictions.

A source said: This impacts what happens here. Our decisions are our own to make - but its important that the whole island be as aligned as possible.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with other party leaders yesterday to discuss the crisis and left them with the impression that he will not rush into a total lockdown.

Sources at the meeting said they did not believe a lockdown is imminent and that discussions focussed on clarifying public health advice and more accurately defining what is an essential and non-essential business.

There was a discussion on the need for more restrictions and also whether a lockdown was necessary and what a lockdown actually meant, a source said.

The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan told attendees that health officials are continuously monitoring the need for increasing restrictions and will make recommendations when needed with further measures set to be outlined after a meeting of the NPHET on today.

A Government spokesman said the Cabinet would consider any updated advice from NPHET on the restricting the publics movement and social distancing.

In some cases there clearly is a need to reinforce the message of maintaining an adequate distance, especially for public places, he said.

Questioned on why the Republic was not taking more drastic restrictive action at this stage, Dr Holohan has consistently said that measures such as lockdowns imposed by other countries were based on where they were in the spread of the disease.

In response to questions yesterday on whether the NPHET will consider closing non-essential services at its meeting today, he said it is always part of the menu of discussion.

That has been on our agenda from the long list of potential measures that we could take.

We have chosen the set that were recommended to government 10 days or so and if we need to do more we will make those recommendations that may or may not be among them.

Dr Holohan said his officials are engaging with their colleagues in Northern Ireland multiple times a day.

The disease does not recognise any border. We need to ensure that the measures we deploy are as coherent and consistent as they can be. We are converging in our approaches to that.

The measures they are considering in Northern Ireland are measures we will also give consideration to in an ongoing basis, he added.

Asked to comment on the current number of cases, which rose to 1,125 yesterday, after another jump of 219 new people diagnosed with the virus, he said the Republic remains in the early stages of the infection relative to how it may progress.

The expert group will consider whether to extend existing measures such as school and pub closures along with social distancing rules beyond March 29.
As Montanas bout with the global COVID-19 outbreak ramps up, bare grocery store shelves have joined tense press conference broadcasts, school closures, and restaurant shutdowns as new-normal indicators of the pandemics fallout in Montanans day-to-day lives.

But even as toilet-paper-hoarding memes flood Facebook feeds, store managers and other food system experts say that, at least for the time being, understocked shelves are a result of unanticipated consumer demand  not disruption of the production of food or household essentials.

In the short-term, its really more of a distribution and food environment issue, said Selena Ahmed, a sustainable food systems professor at Montana State University. What were seeing in the grocery store is not a reflection of the entire food system.

The issue, Ahmed and others said this week, is that the steady flow of news about the outbreak pushed Montanans to stock up on household essentials, outstripping the volumes stores were prepared to meet. New stories about shortages and images of empty shelves shared on social media sent even more people to stores, exacerbating the situation.

It really depends on the publics perception of whats going on, and how long its going to go on for.

Jeff Reiter, who owns Cut Bank Big Sky Foods in north-central Montana, said hes doing everything he can to keep bread, toilet paper, and other goods in stock for his customers. But the reality is that there isnt much store managers can do beyond pushing their usual distribution center or casting around for new suppliers.

Were waiting for a truck tomorrow, and whats going to be on that truck is a roll of the dice, Reiter said Wednesday.

In Bozeman, at the Town and Country Foods store adjacent to the MSU campus on 11th Avenue, manager Eric Drake said he had been expecting a slow week as students and faculty left town for spring break. Instead, several days of coronavirus news saw the university switching to online classes and customers hunkering down and preparing to cook at home.

In response, Drake said, the store has tried to limit customer purchases to two of any particular item for most supplies, and has also reduced its advertising. Even so, he expects it will likely take weeks for the store to get caught up.

It really depends on the publics perception of whats going on, and how long its going to go on for, he said.

One step up the supply chain, Randy Linberg, who runs Bozeman-based Quality Foods Distributing, said hes also in a scramble to adapt. Complicating his efforts, he said, is the fact that hes been working from home-quarantine after returning from a trip to California and deciding to self-isolate.

Lindberg, whose organic products-focused company serves both restaurants and grocery stores, said his restaurant customers have been hit hard by Gallatin Countys March 16 order shutting down dine-in food service. Thats left him with a surplus of fresh produce intended for restaurant kitchens, though with grocers selling more hes been able to redirect much of that product to them.

Were seeing extraordinary demand, he said, adding that hes been putting out urgent orders to his own suppliers. People still need to eat.

In eastern Montana, David Picchioni of Picchionis IGA in Forsyth said hes seen days of record demand.

I would bet that we sell more toilet paper this week than we did last year, he said. A toilet paper shipment that arrived Wednesday morning was gone by 10 a.m., he added, even though the store limited customers to one pack each.

Ive never experienced that Black Friday mentality, said Picchioni, who comes from a family that has been in the grocery business in Roundup for nearly a century.

In recent days, hes seen customers come from as far away as North Dakota, he added.

Sales would be even better if we had half the stuff they were looking for, he said.

What were seeing in the grocery store is not a reflection of the entire food system.

As stores and customers navigate food shortages, MSU professor Ahmed said shes most concerned about lower-income households and elders who dont necessarily have the ability to stock up on food, people in lower-income rural and tribal communities in particular. Shes also worried about hourly workers in the food-service sector who are losing their paychecks as anti-coronavirus measures shutter their workplaces.

If the coronavirus outbreak lasts long enough, she said, the concern becomes whether it begins to disrupt food production as illness or public health measures get in the way of planting or harvesting crops. For example, she said, shes concerned about measures that restrict the movement of migrant farmworkers.

Access to fertilizer and other agricultural inputs is also a concern. After President Trump announced the closure of the U.S.-Canadian border to non-essential travel Wednesday, for example, the Billings Gazette reported that Montana ag leaders have been working with federal agencies and the states congressional delegation to ensure that Montana farmers can import nitrogen from a major supplier in Alberta.

In the long run, Ahmed said, its highly processed foods with globalized manufacturing chains that are more likely to be disrupted than crops that are grown and processed closer to home. Even a product like canned tomatoes, she said, has multiple ingredients, each with their own supply chains ripe for interruption: the tomatoes themselves, any spices added by the manufacturer, and the cans in which theyre packaged.

In contrast, she said, lentils grown with local manure are a less vulnerable product.

You have a lot more control, she said.
Teams sent to disinfect nursing homes found elderly residents abandoned, and others dead in their beds.

Madrid, Spain  Spains state prosecutor has launched an investigation after soldiers deployed to help fight the coronavirus outbreak found elderly patients abandoned or dead in retirement homes.

Margarita Robles, the Spanish defence minister, on Tuesday said troops who had been sent to sanitise rest homes had on Monday found the corpses of elderly people, and other residents left to their own fates.

Prosecutors will decide if there are charges of negligence to be answered to.

The investigation comes as reports showed the pathogen was spreading across a wider geographical area in Spain than in Italy where it is mainly concentrated in three regions.

After China and Italy, Spain has the highest number of cases of coronavirus with 39,673, health authorities said on Tuesday.





The virus has now killed 2,694 people in the country. On Tuesday, Spain announced the highest increase in deaths in a 24-hour period, with 514 more people losing their lives  an increase of 19 percent on the day before.

In an interview with Telecinco, a Spanish television channel, Robles said: We are going to be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences.

The army, during certain visits, found some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds.

The Spanish army and navy have been asked to help disinfect retirement homes across Spain.

Dozens of deaths have been recorded at residential homes across the country.

In Madrid, mortuaries are so full that authorities have been forced to store bodies in an ice rink.

When I heard this news from the minister I was horrified, Ignacio Fernandez-Cid, president of the Federation of Residential Home Companies, told Al Jazeera.

We have been told that the funeral services are so overloaded that they may not be able to come to collect bodies straight away, so the best thing to do if a person is in a room on their own is to leave their body in the bed to avoid the risk of contamination. It may be the case that this has happened.

Luis Seoanes 89-year-old father, also named Luis, is in hospital in Madrid, suffering from coronavirus.





His father had been staying at the Monte Hermoso residential home, where 20 elderly people died from the virus last week.

My father may die at any time. He is very frail. There have been so many people who died in the home where he was staying. It does not surprise me that they are leaving bodies. This is out of control, he told Al Jazeera.

Salvador Illa, the health minister, said retirement homes were an absolute priority for the government.

We will exercise the most intensive monitoring of these centres, he said in a statement.

Under the governments coronavirus guidelines, health workers have been instructed to leave bodies in place until the arrival of a doctor.

However, with many hospitals overwhelmed by cases, these delays can be lengthy.

Meanwhile, epidemiologists said the number of cases had doubled in the past three days in Spain, a phenomenon not seen in China or Italy.

About 80 percent of all cases in Italy have been recorded in three regions, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, while in Spain the pathogen has spread from the main focus in Madrid, La Rioja and the Basque Country to three other regions.

Analysis also showed that the number of cases in Madrid may soon exceed that of Lombardy, one of the three regions in northern Italy which has the most cases.

Pere Godoy, president of the Spanish Epidemiology Society, told El Pais newspaper: I think it was a mistake to allow the large geographical dispersion that took place in the days prior to the introduction of isolation, something that could have facilitated the dispersion of the virus.
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As the coronavirus outbreak gripped the U.S., consumers rushed to stock up on hand sanitizer, among many other items. In the first week of March, sales of hand sanitizer ballooned more than 470 percent, according to the data measurement firm Nielsen, spurring egregious examples of price gouging (a single bottle of Purell listed on Amazon for more than $100) and hoarding (a third-party seller bought thousands of bottles with the aim of reselling them all for a significant profit).

Against this backdrop, earlier this month a trial quietly wrapped up in federal court between the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency governing over-the-counter products like hand sanitizer, and a small California hand sanitizer manufacturer, Innovative BioDefense, which makes a product called Zylast.

If the FDA prevails, Innovative BioDefense claims it will go out of businessat a time when millions of people are searching for hand sanitizer to protect themselves from coronavirus and many are finding that stores are sold out. Indeed, to minimize shortages, the FDA on Thursday issued new, more flexible guidance on the manufacture of hand sanitizer that permits more companies to start making the product.

Its the most remarkable coincidence I've seen in my life, says Kirby Behre, an attorney representing Innovative BioDefense, of the trials timing with the coronavirus outbreak. A final ruling is pending.

The case, filed in June 2018 and which also involves Innovative BioDefenses direct-to-consumer partner Zylast Direct, boils down to a legal question over labeling.

The FDA alleges Innovative BioDefense made statements in marketing materials, including descriptions on the companys website and in ads, that Zylast was effective against pathogens like Ebola, norovirus, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA).

Under FDA regulations, the company cannot make pathogen-specific claims about Zylast products without having gone through the agency's formal drug-approval process. After sending the company a formal warning letter about making such claims back in 2015, Innovative BioDefense nevertheless continued to make the violative statements, the FDA alleges.

Story continues

U.S. District Judge David Carter, who is overseeing the case, found in an earlier ruling that Zylasts marketing claims indeed violated federal law. But he has yet to issue a decision on the FDAs request for an injunction, a court order that could, in part, require Innovative BioDefense to stop production until changes are made, potentially conduct a full recall of products, and hire a compliance manager to ensure the company abides by the governments labeling standards.

But whether Innovative BioDefense should be required to undergo additional compliance measures isnt the only thing the judge has to consider. The case also raises questions about fairness regarding how the FDA oversees hand sanitizer labeling claims industrywide.

Over the course of the trial, which began in December and stretched into early March, Innovative BioDefense claimed it did, in fact, quickly respond to the FDAs concerns by removing pathogen-specific statements. The company also claims the FDA enforcement action came in response to an aggressive, years-long lobbying campaign from industry leader GOJO, maker of Purell.

Innovative BioDefense alleges the FDA unfairly singled out the company, when other hand sanitizer manufacturers make similar pathogen-specific claims. Indeed, Innovative BioDefenses attorney forced an FDA official who testified in December to concede that GOJO made the same kind of claims about Purell in marketing materials that Innovative BioDefense is accused ofand Innovative BioDefense alleges in court papers that GOJO has been doing so for the past 15 years without any action taken by the FDA.

The admission forced the FDA, in January, to issue a formal warning to GOJO about its product claims, some of which CR found in marketing materials for Purell as recently as last week. When CR asked about these marketing materials, GOJO did not respond to the question, and reiterated the companys statement issued in response to the FDAs action at the time.

Given the prevalence of pathogen-specific statements in the hand sanitizer industry, and the confusion within the FDA regarding what statements are permissible, the FDA must clarify its regulations for the industry, Innovative BioDefense wrote in a March 10 court filing. (A GOJO spokesperson says the company wont comment on litigation its not involved in. In response to a list of questions sent by CR, an FDA spokesperson says the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation.)

This account is based on hundreds of pages of court records and FDA documents obtained and reviewed by Consumer Reports.

Health authorities say that though washing your hands vigorously for 20 seconds with soap and water is a key defense against coronavirus, hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol is an effective backup. Though Innovative BioDefense says its sales represent a fraction of the total hand sanitizer market, Zylast, which is 76 percent alcohol, seems to be the kind of product being recommended to consumers right now.

People must be able to get affordable hand sanitizer that could help kill the coronavirus. The court, prosecutors, and manufacturers should make sure that this case leads to consumers having more access to effective hand sanitizernot less, says Chuck Bell, programs director for Consumer Reports' advocacy division.

Were in the middle of a pandemic, so now more than ever, people must be able to trust companies marketing," Bell says. "Those making health claims always have a duty to be honest with the public, but that responsibility becomes even more serious during a crisis. Its critically important for the Justice Department and the FDA to take strong enforcement action against any company when its claims arent backed up by the science.

Labeling Lingo

The complicated backstory between Innovative BioDefense and the FDA first became public in 2015. That year, the agency issued the company a warning letter for making claims that Zylast can prevent disease without having gone through the FDAs formal drug-approval process.

The FDA has labeling regulations for countless products, and the one specific to healthcare antiseptic products, like hand sanitizer, dates to 1994. It allows hand sanitizer product labels or marketing materials to make claims about reducing germs on skin. But the rule does not permit a hand sanitizer available to consumers to make additional claims that it can prevent an infection or is effective at killing any specific pathogen, the FDA said in a March court filing.

Its rare for the agency to file a lawsuit against a company, says Laura MacCleery, policy director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. (and a former CR advocate). Mostly, FDA issues warning letters, she says. The amount of litigation that it pursues is quite modest.

Labeling regulations are meant to protect consumers and ensure that products are what they claim to be, she adds. In the moment that were in, claims that provide a false sense of security to people ... if there isnt any science behind that, thats affirmatively dangerous.

The FDA took a similar line when it initiated its suit against Innovative BioDefense in 2018. At the time, then-Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., said in a press release, Were concerned that people potentially exposed to pathogens may use these products with a false sense of safety.

Banned From Amazon

But the FDAs lawsuit, when it came in June 2018, took Innovative BioDefense by surprise, the company said in court.

It claimed it removed pathogen-specific statements, including every violative point cited in the FDAs warning letter, and then tried to contact the agency more than a dozen times to discuss the situation further. But the FDA never responded, the company claimed.

"The clients were shocked, because they thought they had resolved everything because they had removed the statements that the FDA complained about, says attorney Behre. Innovative BioDefense also argued the three-year lag between the warning letter and when the FDA filed its suit had harmed its ability to mount a defense. It pointed out in a filing after the trial that FDA compliance officer Raymond Brullo had testified he couldnt recall particulars about the case because so much time had passed, even though he was the agencys point person for Innovative BioDefense.

The FDA, in turn, accused Innovative BioDefense of having been non-responsive as well. The FDA said it sent a letter in August 2015 explaining that the companys responses to the warning were insufficient but never heard back from it. The FDA referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice in June 2016 for the permanent injunction, the agency said in a filing. And, contrary to what the company alleges, the FDA said there were communications between both sides for a resolution outside of court from June 2017 into early 2018. In that timespan, the agency said it found that the company continued to make pathogen-specific claims about its products, so it filed the lawsuit in June 2018.

Things immediately took a bad turn for Innovative BioDefense. About a month later, court records say, Amazon sent a representative of Zylast Direct a letter stating that it believed Zylast carried prohibited claims and banned the products from being sold on the site.

Sales dropped drastically as a result, court records show: Approximately half of Innovative BioDefenses total sales are made by Zylast Direct, which sold 70 percent of its product through Amazon.

Singled Out?

The FDAs effort unfairly targeted Innovative BioDefense, the company said, adding that it believes the agency was unduly influenced by [Purell manufacturer] GOJO Industries to unfairly target Defendants for enforcement.

Court records claim that GOJO contacted the FDA about Innovative BioDefenses Zylast products in November 2013, arguing the pathogen-specific claims being made were illegal. The agency initially decided against taking enforcement action at that time. But GOJO continued to repeatedly push the FDA to target Zylast for enforcement action, Innovative BioDefense claims.

But at trial, an FDA employee admitted the agency was aware that hand sanitizer manufacturers, in the marketing of products, routinely make pathogen-specific claims, according to a filing from Innovative BioDefense. That includes GOJO. In fact, Innovative BioDefense alleges, the FDA was aware that GOJO made pathogen-specific statements as far back as 2005.

At a Dec. 18 hearing, attorney Behre pulled up a recent blog post from the GOJO website about Purell that mentions it can combat MRSA, according to a court transcript. Behre asked the FDA employee whether the language was violative, because it appeared on a webpage that has a link to direct readers to buy a GOJO product. The employee said it was.

The admission prompted Judge Carter to pepper the FDA employee with questions.

Why can GOJO do it, and IBD cant? Carter asked. The employee said she wasnt saying GOJO could make statements to that effect. Carter continued: Whens the warning letter going out? The employee testified as soon as they draft it and the FDA clears it.

Sure enough, a month later, the FDA issued a formal warning letter to GOJO, saying it made numerous health claims. The claims cited by the FDA were strikingly similar to those made by Innovative BioDefense: that Purell products can prevent the spread of the flu bug, Ebola, MRSA, norovirus, and even reduce absenteeism among students. Your PURELL Healthcare Advanced Hand Sanitizer products do not comply with the relevant [regulation], the agency wrote, citing in part, that GOJO made even general statements to suggest the products are effective in preventing the spread of infection.

CR found that as of last week GOJO still had some material online that appears to mirror that language. In one posting, for example, the company said Purell is the brand that hospitals trust most to prevent infection. (When CR rechecked the language after sending questions to GOJO, the language had changed.)

GOJOs spokesperson declined to comment on the posting found by CR. But the spokesperson says in a statement that the company took immediate action in response to the FDA warning letter. Updates to relevant websites and online content are underway and GOJO is taking steps to prevent a recurrence, the statement adds.

The FDA told the court earlier this month that GOJO said it would conduct a comprehensive review of its websites and social media within 90 days and remove similar statements.

The FDA alleged that the conduct by GOJO and Innovative BioDefense is not comparable, and it says the agency has discretion in deciding how to enforce the law.

Innovative BioDefense, though, countered that competitors, including GOJO, continue to make violative statements, and therefore feels its being singled out for enforcement.

The targeting of Defendants was arbitrary, the company claims, and the Government had no rational basis for treating Defendants differently than its competitors.

What's Next?

A ruling on the governments request for an injunction may be delayed because California courts, along with many other businesses, are closed as the state battles the coronavirus.

In February, the FDA spelled out to the judge what it believes Innovative BioDefense should do before it can sell any of its products again, including that it: stop production until corrections are made; hire an expert who would review the defendants labeling and affirm that it's in compliance; remove any remaining pathogen-specific claims; hire an independent compliance officer to verify label compliance once production resumes; and pay all costs of the FDAs future supervision, inspections, investigations, reviews, and more.

The evidence has made clear that IBD now teeters on the edge of insolvency; imposing expensive and unnecessary steps such as these will push the company over the edge, Innovative BioDefense alleges.

Its unclear how much revenue the company generates today. Court testimony suggests it had about $500,000 in sales annually around the time the warning letter was issued. The company says the proposed response isnt commensurate because it has consistently demonstrated efforts to comply with the Governments wishes by amending and removing statements from their websites.

Putting the labeling issues aside, experts say the product might be useful during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Zylasts formulation is consistent with the preferred hand sanitizer formulations for use in healthcare settings as specified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says Michael Hochman, M.D., director of the Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, who spoke with CR specifically about hand sanitizers and not the ongoing case.

In any event, the best option to fight coronavirus if youre concerned you touched something that might be contaminated is to wash your hands.

"Hand sanitizers are good in a pinch, says Paul Roepe, professor of chemistry and co-director of the Center for Infectious Disease at Georgetown University. But theyre no panacea."

See CRs Guide to the Coronavirus for more on how to prevent the spread of the virus and protect yourself during the ongoing pandemic.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Viroqua Area Schools held an informational meeting March 13 about the operational referendum that will be on the April 7 ballot.

The referendum will ask voters to exceed the revenue limits by $550,000 per year for five years, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year and ending with the 2024-2025 school year, for non-recurring purposes.

Mike Brendel, director of business services, and District Administrator Dr. Kehl Arnson gave the presentation at the high school/middle school library.

Arnson said school taxes are going down, even with the referendum. He said the referendum is very different from the failed referendum in November 2018. He said the referendum in 2018 was large and there were a lot of projects that were more expensive and had a higher impact on taxes. The current referendum, he said, shows the anticipated needs of the district in five years.

Brendel said in Wisconsin, current law limits the annual amount of revenue each school district can raise, with is called the revenue limit or revenue cap. If a school wants to spend more money than what is allowed under their revenue cap they must go to the local property tax owners and ask for permission to increase local taxes.

Brendel said there are three types of referendum questions: 1. Questions to issue debt (like in the failed $36 million November 2018 referendum); 2. Questions to increase the revenue cap for a certain amount of time (non-recurring) (like the referendums held in the district for the last 15 years; doing it on a five-year basis); 3. Questions to increase the revenue cap on an on-going basis (recurring).

Brendel said a referendum to issue debt is generally used for major construction projects. A district levies the principal and interest on approved debt outside of the revenue limits. Taxes levied can only be used to pay approved debt. Brendel said VAS successfully passed referendums to issue debt in 1994 to build the elementary school and in 2004 to remodel the high school/middle school building.

Brendel said VAS failed referendums to issue debt in 1998, 1999 (twice), 2000 and 2018.

He said a referendum to exceed the revenue limit  nonrecurring  is used to provide additional revenues to main programs and on-going maintenance needs; the annual amount is approved for a defined period of time. VAS passed referendums to exceed the revenue limit in 2004, 2010 and 2015. The current five-year referendum expires at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Brendel said the expiring referendum to exceed the revenue limits  $350,000 per year  covered instructional, transportation, and building and facility maintenance needs.

Instructional needs included technology: Computer labs, Chromebook carts, classroom tablets, and wiring; elementary and middle school English language arts curriculum materials.

Transportation included five new school buses and a large van.

Building and facility maintenance included roof replacements at the middle and high school and Bigley Pool; middle school lockers; bus garage parking lot improvements; asphalt and concrete repairs and replacement throughout the district; boiler, electrical switchgear, clocks, and phone system replacements; and middle and high school safety and accessibility improvements.

Brendel said if the operational referendum does pass, the projected mill rate will decrease. He said the board approved the 2019-2020 budget with a total tax levy of $5,326,525 and a mill rate of $8.73. If the referendum is approved, the proposed tax levy in 2020-2021 is projected to be $5,099,239 and a mill rate of $8.36, a decrease of 37 cents.

Brendel said tax levy amounts are estimated based on projected equalization aid; mill rates are calculated using the 2019-2020 equalized valuation with 0% increase for future years.

Brendel said he has been asked what would happen to the mill rate if the referendum would fail. He said the mill rate would go down from $8.73 to $7.63.

Brendel said non-recurring referendums have worked in Viroqua for the past 15 years.

Arnson said the district did a postmortem survey following the failed $36 million referendum in November 2018. He said there referendum was big and the school board approved holding the referendum a week before the flooding. It was not good timing.

Arnson said a community survey completed during the spring of 2019 showed that 74% of the respondents wanted the district to maintain facilities and it was a priority.

Arnson said a lot of the maintenance included in the upcoming April referendum would have been part of the failed 2018 referendum. We are going to stick with community advice and go with a smaller referendum.

Brendel said the referendum addresses instructional, transportation, and building and facility maintenance needs. He said discussions were held with building heads, maintenance and transportation to see what the needs would be for five years.

Instructional includes technology: Computer infrastructure improvements; career and technology education equipment; band uniforms and major instrument purchase.

Transportation includes bus purchasing.

Building and facility maintenance includes elementary school: HVAC, plumbing, flooring and painting; middle and high school: Elevator replacements, building envelope repairs, heating controls upgrades; Better Futures: Roof, HVAC, carpet and concrete replacement; Bigley Pool: Boiler, circulating pumps, heat exchanger, and A/C compressor replacement; asphalt and concrete repairs and replacement throughout the district; maintenance equipment replacement; safety and accessibility improvements.

Arnson said the tax rate will decrease next year, even with the $550,000 referendum to exceed the revenue limit included. He said the referendum would continue to address building and infrastructure needs and help keep technology current for students.

Arnson said the district will continue to assess its needs and its discussion with the community for a possible capital projects (issue debt) referendum in the next two to three years. He said the district would take community feedback and focus on smaller and high-impact items.

More information about the referendum can be found at www.viroquaareaschools.com. Questions may be directed to Arnson at 608-637-1181 or karnson@viroquablackhawk.org, or Brendel at 608-637-1184 or mbrendel@virqouablackhawk.org.

Angela Cina can be reached at angie.cina@lee.net.

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The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has urged its players and officials to "keep a positive frame of mind" and "stay home" to contribute in the fight against the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a nationwide lockdown.

The coronavirus outbreak has claimed 16,000 lives worldwide, while infecting close to 4,00,000. India has reported nine deaths and nearly 500 positive cases so far.

"As the world combats COVID-19 and its unprecedented fallouts, confinement and quarantine are the only ways to pull a plug on the spread," BAI secretary Ajay Singhania said in a release.

"We, at Badminton Association of India, are deeply concerned with the wellbeing of all players, technical officials and the innumerable badminton fans out there. For your own safety and your loved ones, as well as the community at large, we urge you to stay at home.

The Badminton World Federation has suspended all tournaments till April 12 due to the pandemic, which has brought the whole world to a standstill with countries shutting down borders and going into lockdown mode.

In India, 32 states and union territories have been put in lockdown. Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have declared curfews.

"While the entire country is on a lockdown mode and flight services, interstate trains and buses have been asked to shut down too and states are now enforcing curfew, as responsible citizens, we should follow it too," Singhania said.

"Keep a positive frame of mind. We are all in this together. Stay at home. Stay safe," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday proposed to host a conference of the SAARC health ministers' to discuss a joint strategy to tackle the deadly coronavirus that has killed nearly 15,000 people worldwide.

He made the proposal during a telephone conversation with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen.

The Foreign Office said that the two ministers discussed the challenges faced by regional countries in the face of rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and exchanged ideas on ways to combat the threat.

Qureshi underscored that Pakistan considered the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) an important platform for regional cooperation.

"Reaffirming Pakistan's abiding commitment to the SAARC process, he reiterated Pakistan's readiness to host the SAARC Health Ministers' conference to enhance cooperation among member countries and development partners in health sector with particular focus on COVID-19," the FO said.

He also proposed that a video conference could be organized first in view of the prevailing situation.

Appreciating Pakistan's offer, Momen conveyed Bangladesh's readiness to participate in the video conference, according to FO.

Discussing the need to share resources, it was underlined that SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund should be placed under the Secretary-General of SAARC and the modalities for its utilization should be finalized through consultations at the earliest.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India 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 USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000 and Bangladesh pledged USD 1.5 million to the fund.

Sri Lanka on Monday pledged to contribute USD 5 million to the fund.

Pakistan is now the only country left to declare its contribution to the fund.

Qureshi also suggested that the SAARC should evaluate and coordinate on the economic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 and experts from the member countries should commence work in this regard immediately.

He underscored the need for debt restructuring by developed countries and the international financial institutions so that the available resources could be utilized to deal with the unprecedented global health emergency.

Agreeing with the proposal, Foreign Minister Momen underscored the need to raise the issue at the G-77 forum, said FO.

Qureshi also said that Iran was faced with serious challenges due to COVID-19, which were further aggravated due to the continuing economic sanctions against it.

He emphasized the need for immediate lifting of those sanctions, enabling Iranian authorities to utilize their resources for saving precious human lives.

Qureshi assured his Bangladeshi counterpart that all Bangladeshi citizens in Pakistan were being looked after by the Government of Pakistan as its own people.

The two Foreign Ministers stressed the need for joint efforts to address the situation.

They agreed to work closely to realize collective endeavours for common benefit.

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.
MILLWOOD, Va., March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Project HOPE has teamed up with global superstar Ricky Martin and the groundbreaking fundraising platform CharityStars for the #HelpfromHome campaign, which is raising funds to support healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States and in at-risk countries.

"Since the outbreak began in January, our response teams have been working to provide protective gear and other support to the health workers who are tirelessly working to treat patients and stop the spread of this virus," said Rabih Torbay, President and CEO of Project HOPE. "We're proud to have teamed up with Ricky Martin and CharityStars to raise funds for our worldwide coronavirus response effort. Healthcare workers are risking their lives to save lives every day, and they need our support now more than ever."

"Our healthcare professionals are extremely vulnerable right now. They do not have enough gloves, gowns, or protective masks at hospitals, urgent care or doctors' offices. This is unacceptable," said Ricky Martin. "I knew in my heart I had to find a way to help them, and teaming up with Project HOPE and CharityStars will allow me, along with everyone else, to contribute and help these medical workers worldwide. All of our lives may depend on them, and their lives may depend on us."

"Our platform has helped raise nearly $1.5 million to date to help the coronavirus response in Italy, and we are glad to be expanding this effort to help doctors and nurses worldwide," said Domenico Gravagno, CEO & Co-founder of CharityStars. "This partnership with Ricky Martin and Project HOPE will help vulnerable healthcare workers and save countless lives, and we are proud to be a part of it."

To join the #HelpfromHome campaign, visit charitystars.com/helpfromhome. Every donation, minus a maximum 2 percent credit card transaction fee, will go directly to Project HOPE's coronavirus response effort.

Project HOPE has been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic since the outbreak began, when Project HOPE's team on the ground in China began providing critical support and equipment to frontline health workers treating patients and working to contain the virus. To date, Project HOPE has delivered nearly 5 million facemasks as well as isolation gowns, protective coveralls, exam gloves, and other protective gear to hospitals that have screened and treated thousands of patients in China. Project HOPE is now working to provide personal protective gear to health workers in the United States and around the world.

As the virus spread and became a global pandemic, Project HOPE began preparing to provide vital training and other support for health workers in high-risk countries like North Macedonia, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Colombia. In Puerto Rico  which is still reeling in the wake of Hurricane Maria as well as the earthquakes earlier this year  Project HOPE is working with partners on the ground to support response efforts where health facilities remain stretched.

For more information on Project HOPE's response to the coronavirus outbreak, visit www.projecthope.org.

Contact:

Rebecca Gustafson

Project HOPE

+1-202-602-8312

[email protected]

SOURCE Project HOPE

Related Links

www.projecthope.org


HYUNDAI EXPANDS SAFETY OFFICE, REFLECTING THE GROWING IMPORTANCE THE COMPANY IS PLACING ON AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY

Steve Gehring Joins Hyundai as Executive Director of North American Safety Regulations and Policy

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 24, 2020  Hyundai Motor North America has named Steve Gehring as its new executive director of North American Safety Regulations and Policy. Steve will be based at Hyundais Washington, D.C. office and will be responsible for executing Hyundais vehicle safety strategy in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In addition, he will focus on Hyundais work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other vehicle safety policy groups and stakeholders. He started in this role on March 23 and reports to Hyundai Motor North America Chief Safety Officer Brian Latouf.

Regulatory and safety matters are complex, so we are fortunate to have Steve join our team to provide guidance and expertise in these areas, said Latouf. Keeping our customers safe is of the utmost importance and with his three decades of experience and proven abilities in vehicle policy and regulation, we are confident that Hyundai will continue to be a leader in transportation safety.

Gehring comes to Hyundai with 30 years of automotive industry experience, most recently with the Association of Global Automakers and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. This experience involved developing and implementing the trade groups policy and regulatory positions on safety and autonomous vehicles. Prior to Global Automakers, he was director of Safety Public Policy at General Motors in Washington, D.C. Gehring holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Kettering University.

Hyundai Motor America

At Hyundai Motor America, we believe everyone deserves better. From the way we design and build our cars to the way we treat the people who drive them, making things better is at the heart of everything we do. Hyundais technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to create a better experience for customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and nearly half of those sold in the U.S. are built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea
March 24, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The Trump Department of Justice has asked Congress to craft legislation allowing chief judges to indefinitely hold people without trial and suspend other constitutionally-protected rights during coronavirus and other emergencies, according to a report by Politicos Betsy Woodruff Swan.

While the asks from the Department of Justice will likely not come to fruition with a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, they demonstrate how much this White House has a frightening disregard for rights enumerated in the Constitution.

The DOJ has requested Congress allow any chief judge of a district court to pause court proceedings whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation, according to draft language obtained by Politico. This would be applicable to any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil processes and proceedings. They justify this by saying currently judges can pause judicial proceedings in an emergency but that new legislation would allow them to apply it in a consistent manner.

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But the Constitution grants citizens habeas corpus which gives arrestees the right to appear in front of a judge and ask to be released before trial. Enacting legislation like the DOJ wants would essentially suspend habeas corpus indefinitely until the emergency ended. Further, DOJ asked Congress to suspend the statute of limitations on criminal investigations and civil proceedings during the emergency until a year after it ended.

Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told Politico the measure was terrifying, saying, Not only would it be a violation of [habeas corpus], but it says affecting pre-arrest. So that means you could be arrested and never brought before a judge until they decide that the emergency or the civil disobedience is over. I find it absolutely terrifying. Especially in a time of emergency, we should be very careful about granting new powers to the government.

That is something that should not happen in a democracy, he added.

DOJ also asked Congress to amend the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to have defendants appear at a hearing via videoconference instead of in-person with the defendants consent, although in a draft obtained by Politico, the sections about requiring consent were crossed out. But its not just Americans rights the DOJ w

ants to violate. They also asked Congress to pass a law saying that immigrants who test positive for COVID-19 cannot qualify as asylum seekers.

As coronavirus spreads through the country, activists are calling on politicians in office to release prisoners and immigrants held in detention centers, both of which can be a hotbed of virus activity with so many people in close quarters and limited or non-existent supplies of soap, sanitizer, and protective equipment. Some states have already begun to do so. But with this, the Trump administration is taking steps to hold more people in prisons for an undetermined amount of time  showing their priority is not saving lives but giving themselves more power.

" Source "
*Updated 3/27. The State Department announced March 26 that it would authorize temporary waivers for in-person interviews for eligible H-2A visa applicants, to help the department keep processing H-2A visa applications as much as possible.

SALEM, Ohio  The U.S. Department of State announced it is suspending routine visa services at all U.S. embassies and consulates, as of March 20. The American Farm Bureau Federation has expressed concerns about how that will affect farms, since many farms hire workers through the H-2A program.

Visas

The decision to halt visa application processing in Mexico will restrict the number of immigrant workers being allowed to enter the country. Under the new restrictions, American farmers will not have access to all of the skilled immigrant labor needed at a critical time in the planting season, Zippy Duvall, the farm bureaus president, said in a March 17 statement.

A spokesperson said the state department plans to keep processing H-2A cases, but needs to modify procedures due to social distancing guidelines. Some returning H-2A workers qualify for interview waivers, and the department plans to prioritize processing for these workers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Labor announced a partnership, March 19, to identify domestic and foreign workers who may be able to transfer to other agricultural employers to help fill workforce needs, as some workers might be delayed by travel restrictions or visa processing limitations.

Essential

Ohio issued a stay at home order, March 22. The order includes definitions of which businesses are essential and non-essential. Agriculture and farming businesses are included as essential businesses.

Pennsylvania ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses to close, March 19. Agriculture was listed as a life-sustaining business. As agricultural businesses and farms keep operating, farm workers and farms are facing specific challenges.

The difference between a farm and some other workplaces is that most work cannot be performed remotely, Gustavo Schuenemann and Jeffrey Workman said in an Ohio State Extension fact sheet, March 19.

Schuenemann and Workman noted that people who are only in contact with other people at their house or farm are less likely to be exposed to the virus, and said all farms should add stricter protocols for outside visitors. They also reiterated the importance of social distancing, sanitation and avoiding contact with people who are sick.
I grew up in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, in a time of great political and economic upheaval. The Mugabe regimes forced reclamation of farmland led to food shortages across the country. The inflation rate skyrocketed. People began carting wheelbarrows of cash for their weekly groceries shop  only to be greeted with barren aisles, stripped of the bare necessities.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in 2008. Credit:AP

The empty supermarket shelves Ive seen in Melbourne over the past two weeks reminded me of my childhood. Toilet paper wasnt the object of rations, but bread was  one loaf per person. There was a wheat shortage, and demand far outweighed supply. The ZANU-PF government put measures in place to stagnate bread costs, but supermarkets exploited a loophole by adding cinnamon to the dough mix and selling loaves of "cake".

In Zimbabwe, the shortages were largely disconnected from the actions of the average person: a wheat crisis, international sanctions, political strategy. In Australia, the  temporary  shortages are caused by the panicked purchases of individuals. It is too simple to write off the stockpilers as selfish; they are likely scared. In a time of uncertainty, control over how many packets of penne and rolls of toilet paper you have at home can provide a salve. But it is temporary. One of many valuable things I learnt in my childhood was the need for community action in times of crisis.

In Zimbabwe, informal bartering became the norm. Milk was traded for maize. Car pools were common, and favours were repaid with valuable ForEx. Power cuts and water cuts were frequent, but if you were desperate for a hot shower and didnt want to miss the Will & Grace series finale, someone with a generator would invite you over  just bring some bread rolls and cheese, if you can spare it.
EDWARDSVILLE  The coronavirus pandemic has left no facet of life untouched, even when it is time for loved ones to commemorate the end of a family members life.

According to the Illinois Funeral Directors Association (IFDA), all gatherings of 10 or more should be canceled or only conducted with a limit of 10 or fewer people.

That total includes funeral home employees, said Thomas Saska, owner of Saska Funeral Homes in Edwardsville and Granite City.

Families have been getting very picky, he said Thursday, describing a recent service that was originally going to include family members from both coasts. However, once they learned of the new group restrictions, they decided against coming.

He said before another recent service, he instructed three staff members not to come to work so it was just himself and a helper, with the family comprising the remainder of the 10-person total.

Its not what I want to do; its what I have to do, he said.

Brandon Rodney of Weber & Rodney Funeral Home in Edwardsville said many families have either postponed memorial services to a later date or have chosen to have a small private service due to the restrictions on the size of gatherings.

Yes, burials are taking place. Families are limited to 10 or less people, he said. The families who have had recent deaths during this crisis have been extremely understanding and cooperative. Our priority is the safety of the families we serve as well as our community.

The IFDA said viewings should only be conducted on bodies that have been embalmed and should only be permissive with 10 or fewer people. Graveside services should be private and conducted with 10 or fewer people. This information is subject to change per recommendations by the federal government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

More Information Some funeral homes are taking additional measures such as:  Encourage people who are ill or who are part of an at-risk population (e.g., the elderly, immune-compromised, etc.) to stay home  Reminding families how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as by staying home if you are sick, social distancing, and covering coughs and sneezes  Keep soap dispensers filled in public (and employee) restrooms. The CDC has several informational flyers on handwashing you can post in public and staff restrooms  Offer alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol to guests (and employees)  Scaling back direct contact with families and guests (e.g., handshakes, hugs, etc.)  Keeping the front door open (weather permitting) or ensuring a staff person is always available to open a door during visitations and services to prevent people from touching the doorknob  Offering free or reduced cost webcasting With limited supplies of disinfectants and protective gear in many areas, the National Concrete Burial Vault Association recommends that funeral homes immediately discontinue the use of the following items, and any other similar items, due to inability to easily disinfect them and to enable social distancing:  Lap blankets  Water cooler service  Chairs and chair covers  Tent sidewalls See More Collapse

Last week, the IFDA said cemetery personnel will be discouraged from handshaking and any unnecessary physical contact to minimize the potential transmission of germs and viruses until the pandemic conditions are under control.

Per the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), CDC guidance states, There is currently no known risk associated with being in the same room at a funeral or visitation service with the body of someone who died of COVID-19. However, the CDC also notes, People should consider not touching the body of someone who has died of COVID-19.

Saska said the longest he has stored a body on-site was for five weeks, about four years ago.

If we start doing that, its going to get crowded here, he said.

Last Sunday, the CDC issued new guidance for mass gatherings recommending that for the next eight weeks (until May 10), organizers cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.

The following day, the CDC mentioned that funerals can still take place under the 50-person limit. For funerals taking place, they suggested limiting attendance to select family and livestreaming the service for those who cannot attend; services could also be recorded and the video shared with whomever the family deems appropriate. They further advised that those who are ill and are at-risk (e.g., elderly, immune-compromised) should be encouraged to stay home. Funeral homes should also urge attendees to follow recommended healthy habits such as social distancing, hand hygiene, covering cough and sneezes, etc.

Saska said he has used people to livestream previous funerals but now, the cameraman and helper would constitute two of the 10 people permitted in the building at any one time.

Ultimately, funeral homes have to determine how they will best balance the important guidance they are receiving from federal, state and local public health officials with the needs of their families.

Reach Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735.
Binita Jaiswal By

Express News Service

As the Tamil Nadu government has announced lockdown from Tuesday, the auto and textile manufacturing industries have come to halt in the state. The state is a major hub of auto manufacturers and taking note of the grave situation, majority of cars and two-wheeler companies have decided to suspend their operations in their plants to check the spread of Coronavirus.

The major companies that have halted their operations include TVS, Hyundai, Royal Enfield, Yamaha, Nissan, Ford, Renault.

The manufacturing units of the companies are located in and around Chennai. TVS Motor said that it has decided to halt all manufacturing operations in India and Indonesia till further notice. However, all concerned employees have already been provided with work from home facility. The company said well-being of employees is paramount for it and immediate focus is to ensure the safety of employees and their families.

TVS Motor has assured that it will protect jobs and salaries in the wake of pandemic. The company also assured that, they would work closely with their dealers and suppliers and extend all support to them in the face of this unexpected difficulty. Royal Enfield has suspended all operations globally, starting March 23 till March 31.

This includes the companys manufacturing facilities across Tiruvottiyur, Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal in Chennai, technical centres across Chennai and at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire in the UK, said the company. Nissan has decided to stop operations at its manufacturing plant at Oragadam, Chennai from March 24, 2020 until further notice.

While Yamaha Motor has suspended its manufacturing operations in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad (Haryana) till March 31, 2020.
Prisoners regarded as vulnerable to the new coronavirus and low risk to society in Australia's most populous state would be eligible for early parole under emergency legislation being introduced to the New South Wales Parliament.

It is unclear how many of the state's 14,000 prisoners could walk free under the legislation proposed by New South Wales Attorney General Mark Speakman. The emergency legislation includes a raft of reforms that Speakman said will provide public authorities with the powers they need to respond appropriately to this once-in-a-century crisis.

The threat posed by COVID-19 is rapidly evolving, and the needs of families, businesses, workers and governments are changing every day, Speakman said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States handed over its base near a disused train station in Qaim, along the Iraqi-Syrian border, to Iraqi security forces March 17, almost 2 years after the international coalition helped Iraqi forces retake the city from the Islamic State (IS).

The city has long been seen as key to influence in this strategic area, with Iranian-backed militias in control just across the border in the Syrian city of Albu Kamal south of the Euphrates River and US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in control of Syria's Deir ez-Zor region north of it.

The border, flanked by a vast desert and wadis long used by insurgents as a hideout and traversed by shepherds that have been used both by them and against them, is considered hard to control.

The city itself has been relatively calm for years and subject to occasional attacks only. Residents continue to be wary of the Shiite-led, non-local Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), but have over the years largely become resigned to their presence.

The head sheikh of one of the largest tribes in the area, Sheikh Rabah al-Karbouly, told Al-Monitor that the coalition forces that withdrew had not actually been operating in Qaim.

They stayed on the base, especially after the military operation in Baghouz [across the border in Syria in early 2019]," he said in a March 22 WhatsApp conversation, adding that the role of the coalition forces had been mainly limited to air support for Iraqi forces.

Karbouly noted, however, The effect of this withdrawal, I think, will be the expansion of militias at the expense of the [official] Iraqi security forces.

Many of the government-incorporated PMU, as well as Iranian-linked armed groups linked to them, operate near Qaim, including the US-designated terrorist organization Kataib Hezbollah. A few Kataib Hezbollah units have been formally incorporated into the government-salaried PMU, but most of it remains out of state control.

The Karbouly sheikh told Al-Monitor that though he believes IS has been significantly weakened, he and his children continue to receive threats from them and he must be very careful about his movements and appearing in public.

He noted that though there had been the issue of the PMU arbitrarily arresting local men just after the liberation of the city from IS, tribal leaders had played a major role in getting many released and that the PMU were very responsive to their requests.

Karbouly added, however, that the local population is still unhappy about alleged seizure of land in the area by the PMU, the balance of power in their sharing of checkpoints with other Iraqi security forces and ongoing smuggling.

Al-Monitor had interviewed Karbouly in his Qaim diwan the night before a Jan. 8 Iranian attack on the Ain al-Asad base in western Anbar in January, when Iranian and Iran-linked media proclaimed that over a hundred foreign troops had been killed in the act of retaliation for the US earlier assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani as he was leaving the Baghdad airport.

None of Al-Monitors local sources confirmed a single death in the attack on the base, however, and it later emerged that the forces had been forewarned and thus able to prevent casualties.

This reporter had interviewed PMU chief for western Anbar Qassim Musleh twice in recent years in the shrines complex in Karbala, where he also holds the position of deputy security chief.

In one interview, Musleh said that an elite Danish special forces unit in Qaim had left in 2018 after pressure from the nonlocal PMU. The unit commander told Al-Monitor in an interview at Ain al-Asad that the decision had been due to other considerations.

The unit had trained a local PMU, the Aaly al-Furat Brigade. The brigade works closely with the Iraqi army and not with the Shiite-led PMU, whose commanders are from southern and central Iraq.

Musleh had stressed that the army was too weak to protect the city from IS and claimed Qaim had been the last city in Iraq to be taken from IS  though Rawa, further east, was actually the last.

The operation for Rawa, on the northern banks of the Euphrates, required trucking vehicles west to Qaim and bringing them across a damaged bridge  which was, on Al-Monitors last visit in January, finally being repaired  and then back eastward across the Roumana desert.

This Al-Monitor reporter was the only Western journalist to accompany the Iraqi forces on both the operation to liberate Qaim and the subsequent one to retake Rawa in late 2017.

Although some sectors of the PMU claimed the March withdrawal from Qaim by the United States was also due to pressure from them, the coalition said it had been planned prior to the surge in Iran-US tension in early January.

Col. Myles B. Caggins III, spokesman for the anti-IS mission, told Al-Monitor, "[The coalition] does not need to be at Qaim any longer because the Iraqi security forces are successfully preventing Daesh [IS] resurgence in western Anbar province."

He added that one year after the battle of Baghouz, we do not need an artillery firing position at Qaim and that we have repositioned some artillery assets to eastern Syria where we are partnered with the SDF to defeat ISIS [IS] remnants.

On pulling out of some of the other Iraqi bases still hosting US troops, Caggins noted, We are coordinating closely with the government of Iraq to transfer Q-West and K1 base to the Ministry of Defense in the weeks ahead.

Al-Monitor discussed the possible effects of the US move with several local security sources who cannot be named for security reasons. The conversations were held via WhatsApp due to the difficulty to access Qaim in this period. This reporter had previously met them during multiple trips to the area over the past two years.

One noted that there are concerns among locals and local security forces about the US withdrawal, adding "[The PMU are not a direct threat to us but many of the population and local merchants have not returned because of their fear of militias.

Shiite-led armed groups in the Sunni province have tried to strengthen relations with the tribes but the tribes are very afraid of them, he said, noting that he was referring mainly to Kataib Hezbollah.

Kataib Hezbollah is a militia that does not answer to anyone else and still has a heavy presence in the area alongside the Iran-linked Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Saraya al-Khorasani, he added.

The local security officer said he believes more airstrikes will likely be carried out on the militias after the withdrawal.
(Natural News) At a Pentagon press briefing on March 19, chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Joseph Lengyel said the National Guard will likely be deployed strategically in the United States to help solve problems associated with the coronavirus and the economic fallout from the massive shutdowns.

Its hard to tell what the exact requirement will be, but Im expecting tens of thousands to be used inside the states as this grows, said General Joseph Lengyel. He did not see a need for the troops to be federalized and was not aware of any plan to federalize them; however, just three days later, President Trump did move forward with a plan to federalize the National Guard in three states, indicating a sense of urgency by the President. Trump is considering similar action concerning other states.

Trump federalizes National Guard in three states to help governors

For now, National Guard troops will be deployed to New York, California, and Washington as the situation becomes dire in certain cities. At least 7,300 troops have been enlisted at this time. The Title 32 activation of National Guard troops is usually funded 75 percent by the federal government and 25 percent by the states, but Trump has ordered the federal government to pick up the entire tab as states struggle.

The troops will not be used to enforce quarantines or shelter-in-place orders issued by the governors. Instead, the troops will help guard shipments, unload food and medical supplies, and respond to societal upheaval under the directive of local law enforcement. Another 30,000 National Guard troops remain at the U.S. Central Command and the Indo-Pacific Command, but they are reserved for national security purposes.

Even though the National Guard has been federalized, the troops will remain under the control of the governors at this time. The troops could be instructed to perform various tasks, depending on what each governor wants to accomplish. General Joseph Lengyel said he has been in contact with the governors and none of them have talked about quarantine operations. The troops are not expected to come into direct contact with infected patients but directives could change if the severity of the crisis grows. Even though supplies are low, the troops will be outfitted with masks and protective equipment if the situation arises.

According to mathematical models, rapid exponential spread of this respiratory virus will continue, as it gains easy entry into the populations cells and multiplies rapidly in the bodies of the malnourished and immune-compromised.

The current fallout opens the door to future abuses of power

Many around the country are concerned that abuses of power will occur if the National Guard is deployed. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, officers went door-to-door to forcibly relocate people and confiscate their firearms. In the future, a vaccine could be mandated. Even though it will be a false sense of security and carry its own set of health risks, the vaccine could be required in order for people to travel, work and participate in society. Just as social distancing and widespread closures have been used in theory to abate the sickness, vaccines will be viewed as the next best option to protect the weak and immune-compromised.

Even with all the closures, sanitizing, and social distancing measures, the spread of respiratory illness continues, outpacing the exponential spread of mathematical models that were once viewed as a worst-case scenario. No doubt, by the time a vaccine is fast tracked, many will beg for it and others will be pressured by their peers and forced by their governments to take it.

Sources include:

News.Trust.org

Military.com

USLawShield.com

NaturalNews.com

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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 07:40 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206cff22f 1 Business direct-cash-assistance,coronavirus,COVID-19,stimulus,charity,CSR,economists,poverty Free

Economists have called on the government and businesses to roll out additional stimuli aimed at providing social safety nets, as several communities and workers are expected to feel the pinch of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.



According to senior economist Vivi Alatas, low-income households, warung owners and bicycle vendors are the most vulnerable to the effects of the outbreak, adding that there were several ways the government could help them.



What can the government do? First, with direct cash transfers, as Indonesia already has the experience of disbursing cash and could do it fast enough, Vivi said via her Twitter account.



The government could also encourage more people to sign up for BPJS Kesehatan [Health Care and Social Security Agency] such as by giving incentives or discounts for several months so they can pay the premium for third-class services.



The former World Bank economist also called on the government to provide several other stimuli, including stepping up the non-cash food assistance program, freeing electricity bills for 450 volt-ampere (VA) households and 900 VA as well as removing taxes for micro, small and medium businesses.

Read also: What we can do to help those financially hit by COVID-19: Economist's take

The government must look at the options based on the possibility and the availability of funds.



Vivi also called on employers to allow their employees to work from home as well as provide holiday bonuses immediately without having to wait for Idul Fitri or Christmas.

Companies should also focus on innovation to boost skills [] and roll out massive corporate social responsibility programs to help vulnerable communities.



The government will reallocate Rp 62.3 trillion (US$3.9 billion) from the 2020 budget to carry out the Presidents instructions for tackling COVID-19, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Friday.



The allocated sum is a significant increase from the previous estimate of Rp 27 trillion  on top of the Rp 120 trillion stimulus packages  as the government prepares for worst-case scenarios, including the possibility of zero percent economic growth, ministers said.

Separately, Bank Central Asia (BCA) economist David Sumual urged the government to raise the threshold for non-taxable income, something done during the 2008 financial crisis.



This will be more effective to strengthen purchasing power, particularly for low-income households," he told The Jakarta Post.

Read also: Economics of partial lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus

Bank Permata economist Josua Pardede told the Post that the government may need far more funds to anticipate increasing COVID-19 cases and the outbreaks economic impacts on workers.



With the planned stimulus, coupled with a projected 2.5 percent budget deficit, the government still has room of Rp 52 trillion to Rp 69 trillion if they need to take more drastic measures, Josua said.

The government should also prioritize the healthcare system and checks for low-income households, he added.

A group of researchers at the SMERU Research Institute said the government would also need to provide incentives for micro and small businesses, in addition to having integrated data to effectively target the underprivileged.

"Financing access must be expanded and the burden of paying loans must be reduced for micro and small businesses by extending their payment deadlines until the situation improves," the researchers said in a statement made available to the Post.

Read also: OJK relaxes debt payment, loan quality assessments amid COVID-19 pandemic

They added that the government must ensure the availability of goods on the supply side, including raw materials, to protect micro and small businesses from the impacts of the disease.

"The government must also expand fiscal incentives for micro and small businesses that operate in sectors such as transportation, services and trade.

The government has enough room to lower fuel prices following a decline in oil prices caused by tensions between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the SMERU researchers wrote.

The governments baseline scenario has been for Indonesias GDP to grow more than 4 percent this year, Sri Mulyani said.

Under the assumption that the pandemic would last six months, global trade would slump by 30 percent and the country would go into lockdown, economic growth could fall to between zero and 2.5 percent, she added.

Read also: Jokowi calls for focus on healthcare, safety net as economists push for flexible budget



Sri Mulyani asked ministries to delay any large spending to allow more room for fiscal intervention in light of uncertainties surrounding the pandemic this year.



"This will give us fiscal space for health care and protect the public and businesspeople.

As of Monday, Indonesia has reported 579 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 49 deaths. Thirty people who contracted the virus have recovered. Globally, the pneumonia-like illness has infected over 308,000 people and claimed at least 13,000 lives.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- City Council on Monday approved much of a package of incentives that would invest up to $100 million to anchor Sherwin-Williams Co. to a new downtown headquarters and keep thousands of jobs in the city.

The package, a mix of tax breaks and grants, provides financial help toward construction of a $300-million headquarters, the promise of money for bringing in new jobs and years of tax relief for the corporation.

In exchange, Cleveland would retain more than 3,100 jobs with the potential for more, fill a parking lot at the west end of Public Square with a headquarters befitting a Fortune 500 company and secure the Sherwin-Williams' presence in Cleveland for generations.

The package wont be final until it is signed by Mayor Frank Jackson. An outside law firm hired by the city negotiated with Sherwin-Williams on behalf of the mayor. The mayor is likely to sign it quickly.

The package includes:

Thirty years of tax-increment financing that would allow the company to use money it would have paid in property taxes on the improvements to finance the project. The first of two ordinances required to establish the TIF was approved. The other piece will follow at a subsequent meeting. The TIF would not affect Cleveland school taxes. It is expected to provide Sherwin-Williams with about $2 million to $2.5 million a year -- $60 million to $75 million over the life of the TIF.

A construction grant of up to $13.5 million to be used toward construction of the headquarters complex at the west end of Public Square, including site work, foundations and construction. Money for the grant will be drawn from the citys economic development grant funds

Up to $11.5 million over 15 years in a job-creation grant based on 50% of the income taxes that would be collected on newly created jobs in the city.

Councilman Mike Polensek voted against the construction grant and the job creation grant, saying there are businesses in town hurting from the impact of the coronavirus and that the city shouldnt be rewarding a giant corporation now.

The 3,100 jobs the company presently has in the city generate more than $8.7 million annually in income taxes for the city. The company has pledged to keep those jobs in Cleveland for at least a decade.

It expects a net gain of 140 jobs downtown. The job-creation grant, though, is an incentive for the company to add more.

Those 140 jobs, with an annual payroll of more than $12.5 million, would lead to an annual grant of nearly $157,000 a year for job creation -- a total of more than $2.3 million over 15 years  as a result of new income taxes, according to the Jackson administration. Thats far below the $11.5 million cap on what the company could get.

Previous coverage:

Cleveland City Council introduces $100M package of incentives for Sherwin-Williams new downtown headquarters

When did Cleveland become confident it could land Sherwin-Williams new headquarters? Mayor Frank Jackson reveals the moment

Clevelands $100M proposed incentives for Sherwin-Williams rely on basic development tools, but on a grand scale

An economic development think tank, Policy Matters Ohio, had encouraged the city to delay its approval.

As the COVID-19 crisis is forcing employers to lay off workers, the city of Cleveland will lose a large portion of its main source of revenue, the payroll tax, Policy Matters Zach Schiller said in a statement. The prospect of an economic downturn makes it unwise for City Council to approve the incentives at this time. State policymakers should also think twice about supporting the deal, and in particular subsidizing the move of the companys research facilities from Warrensville Heights and Cleveland to Brecksville.

Cuyahoga County approved $14 million in incentives for the project earlier this month. A package negotiated by JobsOhio on behalf of the state has not yet been made public. Jackson has said the JobsOhio package will be the largest piece of all the government incentives.

The deal formally secures Sherwin-Williams in the city for at least a decade. But when Sherwin-Williams announced in September it would conduct a search for a new headquarters, the company said its intention was to find a site that would be its home for the next century.

The company has been based in Cleveland since its founding in 1866.

Clevelands economy will benefit from the jobs that will be associated with construction. Sherwin-Williams has agreed to make good faith efforts to get its construction teams to hire Clevelanders for the project.

The project will provide the Cleveland school district a boost of about $4 million a year in real estate taxes.

Jacksons Economic Development Director David Ebersole recently told City Council members the package is a good investment for Clevelands future.

If you look at it, we expect to get $2.50 to $3 for every $1 we invest [through the incentives], Ebersole said. If you throw in Cleveland schools, you can add another dollar to that.

More from Cleveland City Hall

Cleveland budget targets 1.84B in spending, Mayor Frank Jackson says its built to weather a recession

Coronavirus prompted Cleveland, Cuyahoga and Summit counties, communities to restrict services, but adjustments are being made

Clevelands government isnt shutting down, although access to services is limited; finding workarounds the challenge
Idaho mother Lori Vallow believed that her two children, seven-year-old JJ and 17-year-old Tylee, were possessed by evil spirits and had become 'zombies,' according documents recently filed in court in a relative's custody case.

The first husband of Vallow's niece, Melani Boudreaux Pawlowski, alleges in the records that Lori and her new husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell, espoused some unconventional beliefs about people turning into zombies and requiring help to rid of demons possessing them.

Vallow has been charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, contempt of court and willful disobedience of court process or order.

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A court filing claims Lori Vallow believed her two children, seven-year-old JJ and 17-year-old Tylee, were possessed by evil spirits and had become 'zombies'

The FBI released this photo of the family at Yellowstone National Park on September 8 and has asked anyone with information about that day to come forward. Video from the family's trip has been turned out to Vallow's defense as part of discovery

Vallow's daughter was last seen on September 8 during a family trip to Yellowstone National Park. Her younger brother was last seen leaving school on September 23.

The mother was extradited earlier this month from Hawaii to Idaho, where she remains in jail on $1million bail. She is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 7.

As East Idaho News first reported last week, in court documents filed by Brandon Boudreaux, the former husband of Lori Vallow's niece, Melani, as part of a legal battle over the custody of their four young children, claims that his ex-wife knows where JJ and Tylee are, was part of her aunt's religious group, and played a role in an attempt on his life.

The revelations come from what Melani's second husband, Ian Pawlowski, told his lawyers. The filing does not specify how Boudreaux obtained the documents, but the website reported, citing unnamed sources, that it came from Pawlowski's computer.

According to the court records, Pawlowski has revealed that just days into his relationship with Melani, she discussed with him some of her unusual religious beliefs, which ran the gamut from teleportation to 'dark and light portals' and 'dark translated humans' who were the followers of Satan, Lucifer and Cain.

Ian Pawlowski, the new husband of Lori Vallow's niece, Melani (pictured together, left), allegedly told investigators that his wife told him she feared that her first husband, Brandon Boudreaux (pictured together, right), had been possessed by a demon

The conversation also covered the subject of zombies, which Melani allegedly explained were 'human bodies that have had their original spirits forced out of them' and possessed either by a demon, or a worm or slug.

Pawlowski wrote that at first he tried to keep an open mind about Melani's beliefs, some of which she said she had learned from her aunt Lori and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell.

Pawlowski stated that when he first met Lori and her new husband in person, he did not get a bad impression of them, but it struck him that some of their ideas about religion felt like they were 'ripped straight out of a Dungeons & Dragons manual.'

According to Pawlowski, Melani told him she feared that her first husband, Brandon, had been possessed by a demon, and that she had been told by Daybell and Lori that her children, Tylee and JJ, also had been possessed and had become zombies.

'She shared concerns that shes been told Brandon needed to die and that may indicate that Tylee and JJ needed to die as well,' Ian allegedly wrote. 'She told me she was worried that [her brother Alex Cox] may have had to "take care" of the kids.

'She explained that [Cox] had great faith and never wavered in his trust in the Lord. No task would be too difficult or too great for him.'

The timeline of the mysterious deaths and disappearance in Vallow's immediate family

Cox, who was suspected of firing a shot at Brandon Boudreaux and narrowly missing him outside his home in Arizona in October, died under mysterious circumstances in December 2019, six months after he gunned down Lori's estranged fourth husband, Charles Vallow, during an argument. The brother claimed self-defense.

In another court document filed in February, Brandon Boudreaux stated: 'Melani is involved in a cult where numerous members, adults and children alike have been being killed off like flies.'

According to the filing, Melani's current husband, Pawlowski, whom she married on November 30, had told law enforcement that she 'says sometimes [her] children are full of light and then just like that they go dark'.

Melani Boudreaux Pawlowski has vehemently denied through her attorney her ex-husband's claims.

'Mrs. Pawlowski has cooperated with law enforcement, including meeting for hours with the FBI on three separate days. As she told the FBI, Melani does not know the whereabouts of the missing children of her aunt, Lori Vallow,' her lawyer Robert Jarvis said in a press release.

Weeks after her fourth husband Charles Vallow's death at the hands of her brother, Lori moved her children from Arizona to Idaho, where her soon-to-be husband Chad lived with his then-wife Tammy.

Tammy was found dead under mysterious circumstances on October 19.

The 49-year-old's death was initially ruled as natural causes but an investigation was opened after police learned about Chad's quick marriage to Lori while searching for her kids.

Tammy's body was exhumed on December 11 and the results of her autopsy have not yet been released.

In November, Vallow and Daybell fled to Hawaii, where she was arrested in February. Her husband is not facing any charges.
Ronald Reagan will always be remembered for his famous statement that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help".

In normal times, that sentiment remains as true now as when it was first uttered in the 1980s.

But, as we have seen in the last few weeks, these are far from normal times. In fact, as English sociologist Frank Furedi pointed out, this is a "disaster without precedence".

From the early reports of a mysterious virus causing deaths in China, we have now gone into a worldwide lockdown and while many of us may have felt an initial degree of safety at the fact that Covid-19 seemed a rather distant problem, we are now beginning to see the full scale of the catastrophe that is on our doorstep.

Even a week ago, the general consensus was that this was a killer for the elderly, while anyone else who was infected would merely feel rotten for a few days. That, as we now know, is very far from the case.

Children and animals, who were believed to be relatively immune, have now started to contract the virus and the fact that former League of Ireland player 28-year-old Lee Duffy has gone public about contracting the virus is a stark reminder that nobody, absolutely nobody, is safe.

Which brings me back to Reagan's famous line. There is little doubt that both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have been appallingly sluggish in their responses to the outbreak.

It's true that UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has introduced measures to lessen the hardship that will undoubtedly be suffered by millions of Britons who have lost and will lose their jobs. But there is an undeniable sense that the Tories are swinging into action both too little and way too late.

Even as Johnson admits that his country is now in the full grip of a pandemic, the sight of packed Tube carriages is enough to send a chill down the hardiest of spines.

Similarly, Donald Trump's initially flippant response has now been replaced by a greater sense of urgency, but US medical experts spent last weekend warning people that the damage had already been done.

There is an air of barely suppressed panic coming from the powers that be as they realise that what they assumed was just a bad flu is actually a hell of a lot worse than they previously suspected.

Here in Ireland, for once, it looks as if the Government is doing the best it can be expected to do. Last week's advice to close the pubs and non-essential operations may have come as a shock to a country gearing up for the St Patrick's Day festivities, but we all know it was the right call to make.

We have also entered the rather unusual arena of being grateful that we have a government which seemed prepared to move quickly while other administrations dithered.

We're an island nation and have a better chance of containing the outbreak but that can only be done if we stick together - and that is where the main problems will arise.

A time of crisis needs not also be a time of panic, but even the steadiest hand will admit that a small dose of panic is a good way of concentrating the mind and most people have grasped the enormity of the situation.

But - and this is the big 'but' - we're only into the first week of the national shutdown and if we are to be realistic about the situation, things aren't going to improve any time between now and the summer. It's a rare day that any Irish person will give out about a spell of fine weather, but the reports of large crowds gathering in public parks and beaches over the last few days are the last thing the country needs.

Such congregations have led to some people calling for a French-style removal of civil liberties and, thankfully, Leo Varadkar has so far resisted that authoritarian impulse.

Instead, he spoke yesterday of how we're applying the relatively successful South Korean model of self-isolation and common sense and that, hopefully, will be enough to get us through this emergency which is now quite literally a matter of life and death.

But while the Government's promises to offer assistance to those in financial peril are to be welcomed, there are broader societal issues at play as well.

For one thing, there has been a deepening divide in the generation gap.

To many young people, Covid-19 is still deemed an old person's ailment and, as US actress Vanessa Hudgens discovered to her cost last week, arguing that young people should be allowed to move around freely because they are less likely to fall ill is still a strong belief amongst many millennials.

But that empathy gap works both ways and one episode of 'Liveline' last week exposed those fault lines. When one young lad went on the show to complain about the oral exams for the Leaving being cancelled, he was subjected to a volley of sneering abuse from older people.

As weirdly funny as the exchange was, it was also a cause for concern.

The brutal reality is that, by the time this crisis ends, there's a good chance that we will all know someone who has contracted the virus. If it mutates further, we will all know someone who has died from it.

At times like this, we either pull together or we fall apart and the intergenerational bickering that has been present in the last few days is something that needs to stop.

As we now know, the best thing we can do is simply listen to the advice and start thinking about others before ourselves.

We're an infuriating little country at times, but it's important to remember that we're also a kind people and kindness is what will get us through this turbulent period.

So, stay away from large public gatherings, keep yourself as isolated as possible and, most crucially, keep an eye on any elderly neighbours or relations.

The sheer enormity of what we face is only now becoming clear, but we all have a role to play - look out for your neighbours, don't clear the shelves from your local supermarket and pay attention to what the experts are saying.

We might not like what we hear, and we're in for a few months of inconvenience and hardship.

But we can beat this invisible killer if we all try to do the right thing.
The spread of the coronavirus epidemic is slowly crippling Mexico's tourism industry as two thirds of hotel rooms are vacant as young American travelers and other vacationers have been forced to cancel their vacation plans in recent days.

The country's sunkissed beaches in the Quintana Roo have been spotted largely empty during the peak 'spring break' season that usually lures tens of thousand of young Americans.

Hotel occupancy in the state home to popular Caribbean beach getaways, including Cancun and Playa del Carmen, is now below 60 per cent when just a few days ago it was 85 per cent, state Tourism Minister Marisol Venegas told Reuters in a phone interview.

As of Sunday, the state had welcomed 80,000 visitors after 332,000 had flocked to one of the world's top tourist destinations.

Even more cancellations are expected in the days ahead, dealing a blow to an industry that accounts for 8 per cent of the Mexican economy.

'Since nearly all of the [spring breakers] come from the American market, they'll abide by the orders the U.S. government has made and because of that a reduction is a given,' said Vanegas.

The state of Quintana Roo has seen a dramatic drop in hotel occupancy rates due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Two thirds of hotel rooms remain empty in Quintana Roo, home to the Caribbean resort cities of Cancun, Riviera Maya, Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen

Two tourists relax on a nearly deserted beach in Cancun. The resort city's economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus global pandemic, which has caused many restaurant and bars to shut down their operations

Cancun's Boulevard Kukulkan is home to the vibrant Caribbean resort city's restaurants, bars and nightclubs, including Elevate, whose doors are closed due to quarantine to avoid the spread of the coronavirus

Most years, hotel reservations made during the mid-March to mid-April season reach close to full occupancy.

During February's Quintana Roo Investment Summit 2020, Mexico Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco Marques estimated that the country was projected to bring in earnings of $26.7 billion this year as it was set to welcome about 46.2 million international visitors.

A small fraction of that expected amount would be generated by the teen and college-age revelers' spending, accounting for total revenue of between $50 million and $60 million, according to data from a state hotel association and the tourism ministry.

The economic downfall cause by the deadly virus could directly impact the industry's 4.4 million workers.

On a larger scale, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that at least 50 million industry could be out of work.

Many hope the expected pain is only short term and that a full recovery will follow.

According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, businesses and hotels in Cancun and Riviera Maya have sent some of their workers home.

On Saturday, Xcaret Group announced the temporary closure of eight parks it operates in Cancun and Riviera Maya, which cater to at least 9,000 visitors a day. In doing so, close to 9,000 employees were being receiving pay to their time off.

Over the past week, usually-packed beaches, bars and clubs slowly emptied out as U.S. authorities issued a ban on non-essential travel to Mexico, including for tourist trips across the U.S.-Mexico land borders.

A ban on tourist flights has not yet been ordered.

Cancun International Airport, Venegas said, continues to open to international visitors seeking to leave Mexico and at the same time the small amount that is defying the travel measures that have been imposed by health authorities globally.

Some local governments in Mexico have also ordered new health-minded rules to minimize the risk of new infections.

Limits have been placed on the number of people that can use public transportation in an effort to promote social distancing in Cancun, which is the top foreign destination for American tourists, outside of cruises.

Local officials are also considering the possibility of shutting down the city's vibrant club scene where famous European DJs often preside over jam-packed venues.

Despite being open for service, Cancun International Airport has turned into a makeshift shelter for Argentine tourists who can't return home because the South American nation's borders remain close

Quintana Roo reported 80,000 visitors Sunday, a week after 320,000 flocked to the Caribbean state's resort cities which have reported a drop in spring break visitors, especially teens and college students from the United States

An executive with U.S.-based STS Travel, an agency that specializes in spring break packages for young Americans, told Reuters via email that the company has witnessed a total stop of activity.

'All operations have been shut down for days and we have been working to get everyone home safe. All future trips have been canceled for the foreseeable future,' wrote Jacob Jacobsen, STS Travel's vice president for sales.

Despite its tropical appeal and relative proximity, the allure of Spring Break in Mexico had already been waning.

A decade ago, around 250,000 young U.S. vacationers flocked to destinations mostly clustered around Mexico's Caribbean and Pacific coasts.

Recent years have seen only around 20,000, as many have opted to head to U.S. beaches in Florida and California while still others have favored other foreign vacation spots like the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Mexico's tourism board projected to bring in $24.6 billion in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic started to affect the country's economy

The average 'spring breaker' spends about $600 during a one-week stay, according to data from the Quintana Roo tourism ministry, while the average, older tourist in Mexico coughs up around $1,600 per week.

A potential wave of cancellations from the latter group is the top worry going forward, as confirmed coronavirus infections now exceed 330,000 world-wide and more testing appears almost certain to drive the tally sharply higher.

Industry leaders like Vanegas are far from convinced that effective containment strategies can save the industry's near-term prospects.

'We think that the prevention strategy will be able to flatten the [infection rate] curve, but we know it's going to get worse,' said Vanegas. 'We're not thinking that there will be tourism, not even if we promote it.'

The pandemic's impact on the industry is equally if not more worrying to its workforce, more than 44,000 in Quintana Roo alone, where half of the local economy is fueled by tourists.

Some form of government assistance for workers directly hit by the coronavirus' economic fallout is being considered, Vanegas said, but so far no specific plans have been unveiled.

Mauro Medina, who rents parasailing equipment to tourists in Cancun, could only offer lukewarm words of hope that disaster can be averted even as his slumping head and shoulders appeared to betray a dimmer view.

'We depend on this work,' he said.
Indian Gold April futures reversed early morning gains on March 24 which turned red and fell more than 2 percent despite positive trend seen in the international spot market.

Gold prices jumped on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve announced unprecedented measures to support an economy that is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time, the Fed will back purchases of corporate bonds, backstop direct loans to companies and will "soon" roll out a program to get credit to small and medium-sized businesses, said a Reuters report.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), April gold contracts were trading lower by Rs 288, or 0.70 percent, at Rs 40,875 per 10 gram at 09:20 hours.

Experts feel that Yellow metal is likely to remain volatile in the near-term, and could find support near Rs 40,440 per 10 gm, but it still remains a buy on dips strategy.

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Gold and silver prices gained on Monday after US Federal Reserve announced a fresh QE program to support the economy. Bullions also get support from downbeat Chinese C.B. leading index Data and lower than expected European consumer confidence data.

For India Gold, fall in rupee support prices. Looking at the volatility in global financial markets and QE announcements by global Central Banks both the precious metals remain in focus, Manoj Jain, Director, IndiaNivesh Commodities, told Moneycontrol.

Gold has support at $1533 per troy ounce and resistance at $1584-1600. Silver is having support at $13 per troy ounce and resistance at $13.80 if prices sustain above $13.80 could extend the rally towards $14.40 per troy ounce, he said.

Jain further added that at MCX, Gold prices breached 41000 levels. It has a crucial resistance at 41330 and if prices sustain above these levels then it could extend the rally towards 41700-42100. The support is placed around 40,440.

Trading strategy:

Expert: Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency), LKP Securities

On the daily chart, Gold prices rose on Tuesday, following a near 4 percent jump in the previous session after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced unprecedented measures to support an economy that is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

Major moving average 20, 50, 100-Days EMA are suggesting profit booking can come from higher levels as the markets try to cover margin globally on the back of heavy weakness in the equities.

Overall, the trend remains positive till the time 39500 holds on a closing basis but volatile sessions will be seen.

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.
In his Facebook post, superstar Mohanlal has called for a combined effort in the fight against the deadly COVID 19 virus.

He says that both the Prime Minister and Kerala Chief Minister have asked us to thank the medical fraternity for their honest efforts.

When we clap it becomes a prayer and the strength of the prayer may be good enough to kill the COVID 19 virus. What is left for us other than hope? writes the hero.
Wearing a stethoscope, he feels nothing less than a soldier. A resident doctor of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), he is part of the team of doctors fighting the coronavirus from the frontline.

The doctor, who wishes not to be named, is one of the first contacts for positive patients. He accompanies suspected cases to the communicable diseases (CD) ward for taking samples, the most risky part of the job, where chances of infection is the highest.

Yes, we feel anxious, our families are afraid, but once you wear that stethoscope,put on that mask and enter the ward, you feel nothing less than a soldier! he says, with a spark in his eye.

He has worked for 12 hours without a break in the CD ward and is now preparing for his next shift. The hospital is providing us with the best possible resources. Initially, we used to screen suspected cases at the screening centres without any personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, but now the administration has provided those too, he adds in a non-complaining tone.

But he also thinks that doctors working in the emergency should be provided with N-95 masks, because you never know who is infected, so at least doctors should be protected. For if your soldier falls sick, how will you win the war?

In the first week of February, the PGIMER administration had constituted a Corona Action Committee. Initially, the committee used to meet once a week, but after the first confirmed case was reported, meetings are now held daily.

A senior doctor, wishing not to be named, says: Our day starts at 8am and there are no fixed timings of returning home. To minimize infection, we have constituted a single team that is in direct contact with the patients. In case a team member falls ill, he or she will be replaced by another.

We are preparing for a war, which I hope never starts, he says, adding, Fear is both ways. The patient is afraid and so are the doctor and staff dealing with them. But we cant let this fear overpower us.

President of the PGI Association of Resident Doctors Dr Uttam Thakur says his phone has been buzzing repeatedly with texts from doctors wishing to volunteer to serve corona patients. One text reads: I know we have a shortage of N-95 masks, but even if I dont get masks, I am ready to serve!

GMSH-16: Leading from front for the last 10 years

Dr Honey Sawhney at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital in Sector 16 (GMSH-16) has been dealing with flu outbreaks for the last 10 years, and has learnt his lessons right from the H1N1 outbreak of 2009.

On Friday night, he received a call at 11:30pm informing that the report of a patient had come back positive. He rushed to the hospital and stopped a few meters away from the patient. He was not wearing any mask or PPE suit. He couldnt break the news right away to the young man, and at midnight too.

Instead, he cordoned off the passage, asked his staff to not let anyone near

the patient and posted security guards on the slips. He guided the patient to the isolation ward and asked him to rest up.

The next morning, he stood behind the glass partition and broke the news to him. He was quiet and enquired about his family, and I assured him that they were well taken care of, says Dr Sawhney, adding that the patient was stable and they were planning to provide cable TV in his room.

He is provided with regular meals, which are kept at a stool placed near him.The stool and the room are disinfected thrice a day, the doctor says.

Currently, there are eight suspected cases admitted in the GMSH-16 and one confirmed case. Talking about the preparations, he says: Total 27 beds are already ready and a male-surgical ward with 27 beds has been disinfected today. So we have 54 beds.

Dr Sawhney said that the main challenge was dealing with the anxiety of patients or people who have flu-like symptoms. Even during the H1N1 outbreak, everyone wanted to get tested, which is not possible, he says. In Chandigarh, there are so many VVIPs, and its a task to answer everyones queries. So, dealing with peoples anxiety is the first challenge.

There was so much rush at screening centres, they had to open a second one.

At screening centres, we have to segregate patients very carefully. They are screened for symptoms and suspects are sent to the main screening centre, where they are further examined. Then the actual suspects are escorted to the isolation ward, he explains.

Taking a sample is the most crucial part, where there is great risk of exposure

to infection. So, we ensure that the person who escorts the suspects wears a proper PPE suit. Patient is taken to the isolation ward, where the sample is taken. The doctor then exits from another room, where they remove the PPE suit and throw it in the autoclave (a machine that uses steam under pressure to kill harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores on items that are placed inside a pressure vessel), says Dr Sawhney.

Amid the crisis, there are no fixed working hours, and the doctors are in the hospital till 11:30pm or 12am, and 24x7 on call. Family life is obviously affected. Though supportive, they sometimes ask me if I am aware that I have a family as well, he says.

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NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to media inquiries, Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney representing plaintiff Linda Fairstein in her defamation lawsuit against defendants Netflix, Ava DuVernay, and Attica Locke, confirmed that Ms. Fairstein's defamation lawsuit has not been dismissed and is moving forward.

"There appears to be confusion in some quarters that Ms. Fairstein's defamation lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on March 18, 2020, was adjudicated and dismissed. That is incorrect. An unrelated lawsuit, filed against Netflix and Ms. DuVernay by a different and unrelated plaintiff in the fall of 2019, was dismissed by a federal district court in Illinois."

SOURCE Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP
DETROIT  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke directly to young people on Monday as she announced an executive order requiring people to stay home to avoid spreading novel coronavirus.

"Young people, I'm talking to you now," Whitmer said. "You're not immune from this. You can get this virus. ... You can carry this without even knowing it and be unknowingly exposing others to it.

"There's been this misperception that if you're young, ... you're not susceptible to COVID-19. The fact of the matter is in America, we are seeing severe consequences in our younger people in ways that they haven't seen it in other parts of the world."

Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers Democratic response to the president's State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020 in East Lansing.

She speculated that vaping might be a contributing factor. Of the people in Michigan with confirmed cases of the virus, 41% are ages 20-49, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Despite a spate of vaping-related lung injuries nationally in 2019, the habit is popular among young people.

"I've talked to more than one physician who has observed, and perhaps there's too little science to know precisely if this is what's going on, but vaping is a lot more popular in the United States than it is elsewhere," Whitmer said. "And that ... compromises your respiratory system and makes you more susceptible to respiratory illness."

Surgeon General: Quit smoking and you may add a decade to your life, but don't vape

What doctors say about a possible link between vaping and coronavirus

Dr. Samuel Allen, a pulmonologist at Beaumont Health, told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that it's too soon to say what role vaping is playing in the global coronavirus pandemic, which, as of Tuesday morning, had infected nearly 400,000 people and killed at least 17,400, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Global Case Tracker.

"There's really no scientific evidence that links the two," he said. "First of all, it's because vaping itself is relatively still in its infancy. So is it plausible as a kind of an interesting observation? Yeah. But as far as a scientific link, there's none."

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But, Allen said, a person who has lung injury from vaping probably would be more likely to be severely sickened by COVID-19 than someone without vaping-related lung injury, just as a cigarette smoker, someone with chronic lung disease, diabetes, immune suppression or heart disease would.

Dr. Meilan Han, a pulmonary specialist at Michigan Medicine and professor at the University of Michigan, said that while most of the research about the novel coronavirus suggests older people are more likely to be hospitalized and die of the disease, "we certainly do know that there are young people in the United States that clearly are experiencing severe disease and are on ventilators.

"And so people have been hypothesizing as to what some of the risk factors might be. We don't have a lot of published data from the U.S., so we're looking to the little bits of published data that are coming out of China.

"What they're seeing is that one of the risk factors ... does appear to be smoking."

One report suggests that smokers have a 14-times higher risk of severe illness with a COVID-19 infection than nonsmokers, she said.

"We don't have a lot of data on vaping right now, but there is reason to potentially hypothesize that things that cause lung inflammation like smoking, like vaping might increase the risk for more severe disease," she said.

Dr. Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan, said any connection to vaping and the rate of young people with severe disease from COVID-19 is speculation.

"There's vaping," he said. "Young people have gotten sick. Maybe it's vaping, but we don't have a link. What we would want from an epidemiologic standpoint is to have the histories of those who became sick and see whether they vaped. But there's no data that I know of, so it's pure speculation."

Follow health reporter Kristen Jordan Shamus on Twitter @kristenshamus.

Coronavirus: Texas' lieutenant governor suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy

Should kids go on playdates? Are playgrounds safe? Here's what pediatricians are saying

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Vaping illness, coronavirus: What doctors say after Whitmer's comment
The Huntington Beach Pier has been closed by the city. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Officials up and down the California coast  including in Orange County  are moving to restrict parking access to their parks and beaches in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Orange County took the plunge Tuesday, following an order by Gov. Gavin Newsom to close parking lots at Californias state parks. Newsom ordered the "soft closure" on Monday night, after large crowds descended on public parks over the weekend.

"I think we need to take action today," County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said Tuesday during the board's meeting, where members took their usual seats on the dais while a number of seats were kept open to prevent those in the audience from sitting too close to one another. "We've got to protect the public. Weve got a public health crisis out there."

The directive from Orange County Executive Officer Frank Kim will shutter county-owned parking lots at all trails, parks and beaches under OC Parks jurisdiction, effective immediately.

"OC Parks is working on it now," county spokeswoman Molly Nichelson said around midday.

Affected locations include Aliso, Capistrano and Salt Creek beaches, as well as Irvine Regional Park, Talbert Regional Park in Costa Mesa and Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley.

While those spaces themselves will remain open, Orange County officials said they hoped closing the parking lots would keep residents  or out-of-town visitors  from crowding together.

"I would not want to discourage residents from getting out and getting fresh air," said Supervisor Doug Chaffee.

Other counties and cities along the coast have taken similar action following a weekend that saw popular beaches packed despite calls for people to stay home as much as possible and maintain at least a six-foot buffer around themselves when they go outside.

All parks and open spaces in Sonoma County are closed indefinitely, public health officials announced this week.

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The closure includes city, county, state and federal parkland and recreational lands operated by private groups and nonprofits, according to a news release.

Laguna Beach closed all city beaches and their adjacent parks in response to the coronavirus outbreak. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Closing parks is a difficult decision, but it is the right decision at this time, Sundari Mase, the countys interim health officer, said in a statement. Allowing crowded conditions in parks is not in our best interest during this health crisis. The best action we can take is to stay close to home and limit our outdoor time to our yards and neighborhoods."

People are now encouraged to walk around their neighborhood, garden, take bike rides and play or exercise in their own yards. If visitors continue to park near and walk into the county's regional park, rangers will work with local law enforcement to restrict off-site parking.

We know that spending time outside is essential to our health, but too many people using the parks makes social distancing difficult, said Susan Gorin, chairwoman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. We all need to follow the health order and stick close to home for our outdoor activities. If we change our actions now, we slow the spread of this disease sooner than later.

Prior to Orange County's action, individual cities in the county had taken it upon themselves to implement such restrictions.

Huntington Beachs iconic pier and all city beach parking lots closed Tuesday. In neighboring Newport Beach, all beachfront parking lots and both piers will close beginning Wednesday.

In Laguna Beach, the City Council closed city beaches Monday night and ordered trail access to county wilderness parks blocked.

Parking lots at Venice Beach are closed too, as are beach parking lots in Santa Monica and Malibu. Lots also are closed at beaches operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.

In Long Beach, parking lots at city-owned parks and beaches will be closed through April 19, officials said Tuesday. The citys Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier also will be inaccessible during that time.

We are taking this next step because there are too many people ignoring social distancing while visiting our trails and beaches, Mayor Robert Garcia wrote in a public message. You can still ride your bicycle, walk your dog or go for a run, but were encouraging folks to avoid any type of gathering and to avoid groups of people. This is a health crisis and we must act now.

Long Beachs latest public health order prohibits all indoor and outdoor public and private gatherings and events. Previously, gatherings of fewer than 10 people had been allowed, with some restrictions.

Others have gone a step further. Beaches, playgrounds, city parks and athletic courts in Seal Beach were ordered closed by City Manager Jill Ingram.

San Diegos beaches, boardwalks and parks are officially closed, as are beaches in Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad and Solana Beach.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu called for the closure of Runyon Canyon Park and Lake Hollywood Park on weekends.

Making this request pains me greatly. I grew up in a two-bedroom apartment off the 101 Freeway, and our citys parks were my only access to outdoor space, Ryu said of his recommendation to Michael Shull, the general manager of the citys Department of Recreation and Parks. I dont make this recommendation easily, but closing Runyon Canyon Park on weekends, when we have seen the highest volume of visitors, should follow to keep everyone safe.

Such restrictions aren't limited to coastal areas, either. Officials in La Quinta in Riverside County on Tuesday closed local skate parks, dog parks, children's playgrounds and outdoor recreational courts.

The San Diego Union-Tribune and City News Service contributed to this report.
Kevin Hart is embracing the changes that life in lockdown is bringing his ways.

The actor and comedian, 40, uploaded a selfie video to his Instagram Story on Tuesday, in which he admires his slightly greyer appearance.

Im not gonna lie to yall, Im kind of rolling with the grey hair, the father-of-three says to the camera. Im feeling it.

The Ride Along star stands in a grey hoodie, in front of what looks to be his living room at home.

Harts beard is longer than usual, and the salt-and-pepper look is apparent in both his facial hair and atop his head.

'I'm feeling it!': Kevin Hart revealed he is embracing his grey hair while sharing an Instagram story on Tuesday while on lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic

I aint never not been working for this long, so I aint never had a chance to let it grow like this, Kevin remarks.

Im rolling  grey hair in the beard, grey hair up top, on the side the actor says, as he observes himself from all angles.

Well, f--- it then! F--- it then, the would-be Oscars host exclaims.

Giving you forward, distinguished gentleman out here, man. Embrace it. Dont run from it, embrace it! he concludes, before laughing heartily.

'Distinguished gentleman': It seems the comedian is a fan of his new salt and pepper look

In another post to his Instagram account, Kevin continued the self-love, using the hashtag #greyhairdontcare in the caption.

Hart, whose last film in theaters was the hit sequel Jumanji: The Next Level, had a staggering eight projects in various levels of production before the coronavirus pandemic hit, effectively stalling everything.

One of those projects, action remake The Man From Toronto, was set to costar Jason Statham, but Statham backed out at the last minute due to a disagreement with the studio over the rating for the film.

Instead, Woody Harrelson has stepped in to star opposite Hart in the movie.
Donald Trump, in sharp defiance of his public health team, declared victory on Tuesday over the coronavirus even as the number of confirmed US cases and deaths continue to rise.

His administrations goal is to ease the guidelines and open things up to very large sections of our country as we near the end of our historic battle with the invisible enemy, the president said. Its been going a while time, but we win. We win.

He has targeted Easter, 12 April, as his date for declaring the United States open for business. But, later in a shorter briefing than usual, a senior  and widely respected  member of his public health team said he had privately urged his boss to remain flexible as Mr Trump acknowledged his goal is not based on medical science or data about the virus outbreak. Senior congressional Democrats and experts panned his plans and called on him to listen to scientific experts, although the always-defiant president again and again flashed his penchant to follow his own instincts as he makes a major gamble about his re-election chances.

Should his declaration of victory and plan to reopen at least part of the country pan out, he will be able to take Air Force One to campaign rallies in key swing states and say his hunches defeated a pandemic, making him uniquely suited for a second term. But should the outbreak become more widespread, as experts warn, his judgement will be severely damaged in a manner that could prove a death knell among the key voting blocs that are expected to decide the 2020 election.

The we win moment in the White House briefing room conjured memories of then-President George W Bushs premature declaration of victory in the 2003 Iraq conflict, when he addressed the nation from a US Navy ship with a banner proclaiming Mission Accomplished behind him.

During his daily White House Covid-19 briefing, Mr Trump said his coronavirus task force is crafting a sophisticated plan to guide the eventual reopening of the economy.

Yet, he and his team also appeared to hedge on the timing and scope of an Easter grand reopening quite a bit.

Our decision will be based on hard facts ... for the opening, he said, claiming his final decision will be made based on the health of the American people.

He later said maybe well do sections of the country, saying he and his team are still discussing a final plan. And he acknowledged his Easter goal is based on the holiday being a beautiful time rather than any scientific data or medical advice. He would not say the two doctors behind him had said an Easter reopening is medically sound. The president said he will be taking advice from them, but he made clear the final decision would be his own.

Mr Fauci said Mr Trumps advisers had just told him in the Oval Office to remain flexible when it comes to the Easter target. The country is a big country and there are areas of the country ... that we need to know more about the entrants there, he said. If you find over a period of time there are areas that are very different than other parts of the country, saying the administration would be looking at the data to decide whether certain parts of the country could be reopened.

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But Mr Trump pointed to areas of the Farm Belt and states out west. Notably, those places have far less dense populations than New York City and its surrounding area.

The president claimed a very, very powerful victory over the virus as he praised Deborah Birx, a State Department official, for being perhaps the best infectious disease expert in the world  as his top infectious disease official, the widely popular Anthony Fauci, making his briefing room return, looked on behind him.

Meantime, Ms Birx called on anyone who has travelled from New York to other locations recently should self-isolate for 14 days.

We are focused on New York, said vice president Mike Pence, citing that areas high rate of infection. We have to deal with the New York metropolitan area as a high-risk area.

The president declared the US is seeing a light at the end of a tunnel, but one expert said his Easter goal really is about salvaging what typically is a big day at his various American resorts and golf clubs.

What POTUS means is Trump-branded properties do very brisk business for Easter lunch and I want to take advantage of that, tweeted Aki Peritz of American University.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharply pushed back on Mr Trumps contention that all or some of the country could be back to normal in just a few weeks.

Well there doesnt have to be a contradiction there. Our economy will thrive when our people are well and able to go back to work in groups and collaborate on the enthusiasms that they have in their entrepreneurial spirits or in the workplace that they thrive, and our children can go back to school, the California Democrat told CNN. But central to all of that is stopping the spread of ... the coronavirus.

We have the best minds in the country, 24/7, all hands on deck trying to find a path here. And that is what will be the light at the end of the tunnel, Ms Pelosi said. What the president is suggesting is that that light at the end of the tunnel could be a train coming at us if people are out and about in a way that spreads the disease further.
Public health agencies across Canada  including Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia  are shifting their COVID-19 testing to sick health-care and other frontline workers who are more likely to have come into contact with the virus, and people with severe symptoms who are hospitalized.

The message to everyone else with mild symptoms is they will likely not be tested. Stay at home, get better and keep away from other people. If your symptoms get dramatically worse  chest pain, shortness of breath, extreme lethargy  then its time to go to emergency.

In Toronto, Canadas largest city, the new protocol was put in place last Friday. Doctors say that is the case across Ontario, though officials with the provincial health ministry would not confirm the new protocol Monday.

People who do not fit the protocol and are turned away by testing centres have complained to public health officials (and the media) about the fairness of the system.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Michael Gardam (who is also chief-of-staff at Humber River Hospital) agrees with the protocol. He is a veteran of other outbreaks in Canada, including SARS (2002-04).

Ontario has clearly adopted a strategy of, if we socially distance everybody, and if we isolate everyone who has travelled and we isolate people who have symptoms then a lot of those people dont need to be tested because they are going to be off the grid anyway and hopefully they wont transmit to anybody, Gardam told the Star.

As for the testing of health-care workers (at least 26 have the virus in Ontario as of Monday including 13 in Toronto) Gardam says there is a very good reason for that being a priority.

Testing the health-care workers makes sense not because we are so special, says Gardam. We are testing the health-care workers because we need to make sure we have capacity in the health-care system to care for the public. If a health-care worker with symptoms tests negative, they can get back on the job that much more quickly, Gardam said.

Among the provinces publicly acknowledging this new protocol are Alberta and British Columbia, both provinces that, like Ontario, have had a high number of cases. Quebec officials said their strategy could change, but for now they are prioritizing tests for people returning from travel.

On Monday, the Alberta government announced it was falling in line with the new protocol that minimizes tests for members of the general public with mild symptoms. They will prioritize the following individuals: people hospitalized with respiratory illness; health-care workers with respiratory symptoms; residents of long-term-care homes; and people returning from travelling abroad between March 8 and March 12, before self-isolation protocols were in place.

Anyone with symptoms who does not fit any of these categories should stay home and self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days from the start of their symptoms, or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer, said a release from the Alberta health ministry.

British Columbias Centre For Disease Control has come out with a similar directive for testing  patients sick in hospital suspected of having the disease; health-care workers, residents of long-term-care facilities and those who are part of an investigation of a cluster or outbreak.

Others with mild symptoms, or returning travellers are to be managed at home, the B.C. centre said in its release.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.s Provincial Health Officer, said Monday in her daily briefing that it is incredibly important people take social distancing seriously. She also sounded a warning about health-care workers, backing up the need to test those on the frontlines.

We know that people in the community are transmitting it to each other and that is leading to the outbreaks we have been seeing in long-term-care homes, in hospitals, said Henry. It means that health-care workers are getting infected. Theyre getting infected in the community and then bringing it into work, in some cases, or transmitting it between each other and between their families.

And in Ontario, where the Star has looked at the past 15 days of testing data, the percentage growth of positive tests (out of total tests completed) continues, a possible sign health officials are increasing tests on people more likely to be sick, due to previous contacts they have had and other factors.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Gardam said those numbers are driven by our testing capacity and who we are actually swabbing for (COVID-19).

As of Monday, 2.5 per cent of all completed tests in Ontario were positive, confirming the person had the virus. That percentage has been steadily creeping up over the past 15 days.

But Dr. Gardam sounded a cautionary note: We know that the numbers we are reporting are not the real numbers.

He and other disease experts estimate the actual number of cases in Canada is as many as 10 to 50 times the reported number because so many people, due to the protocol and lack of testing capacity in the system, are not being tested.

As of Monday evening, there were 2,055 confirmed cases in Canada, with 24 deaths. The hardest hit provinces are Quebec (628), Ontario (503), B.C. (472) and Alberta (301).

To prevent an exponential spread of the disease, Dr. Gardam said people must do everything they can not to spread it further in the community.

I think that strategy does make sense. If people have mild symptoms, and there is no treatment for this, then your number one priority is to have that person not spread to someone else. Thats where the isolation comes in. Whether you test them positive or not you are still going to isolate them.

Compared to SARS, which was primarily a disease passed on in hospitals, COVID-19 moves through the community. It also has a longer incubation period, and people can shed the virus to others in the incubation stage before symptoms show, during symptoms and after. Dr. Gardam said it could last as long as four weeks in some people.

Everything with this coronavirus is longer. The incubation period is longer. How long you are sick for is a bit longer. How long you shed the virus is longer as well, said Dr. Gardam.

Governments in Canada are encouraging the public to use an online testing link to see if their symptoms match the virus. The federal government recently released one, available at https://ca.thrive.health/covid19/en.

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No data was lost or networks disabled, but officials say the attack on March 15 was an attempt to slow the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' response to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.The attack comes as officials at all levels of government are scrambling to respond to the rapidly spreading virus, according toreporter Lucas Ropek.While it is unclear where the attack came from, it apparently resulted in no data breach and did not compromise the overall operations of the agency, according to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. The attack was not a hack, but was likely an attempted distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) that sought to overload the agency's systems.According to the, lawmakers and experts are calling on the Trump administration to take bold action to reduce the threat of a cyberdisruption from adversaries.Since the outbreak began, unidentified hackers launched what appears to have been an unsuccessful attack aimed at disrupting computer networks at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A different problem happened with the spread of misleading claims that President Trump planned to impose a nationwide lockdown over text message, encrypted apps and social media platforms.There are actors out there in cyberspace that think were vulnerable, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who co-chaired the recent Cyber Solarium Commission on the future of U.S. cybersecurity, toldreporter Joseph Marks. At a minimum, we need to impose costs on whoever did this. We dont want the signal to be that now is a good time to take advantage of the U.S.As the pandemic spreads, cyber experts have grown more concerned that the U.S. is vulnerable to digital attacks from foreign adversaries such as Russia and China. They are also concerned that rogue attackers could try to digitally disrupt medical care or food supplies.An online voting blockchain-based app, which has been used in more than 50 elections to cast more than 80,000 votes, has a number of security flaws, according to a recent audit . The app, from Voatz, contains security flaws that could allow hackers to change or discard votes, say experts from the security consulting firm Trail of Bits.Their assessment of the voting apps internal programming validated earlier concerns raised by researchers from MIT, according toreporter Andrew Westrope. Voatz paid Trail of Bits to conduct the white box assessment, which involved looking inside its programming and code as opposed to only testing it from the outside.So far, the company has piloted its app with select groups of voters in the state of West Virginia; the city of Denver; Utah County, Utah; and both Jackson and Umatilla counties in Oregon.
New Delhi, March 25 : The Delhi government's Health Department has issued a detailed standard operating procedure in the wake of the statewide lockdown, followed by nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Government employees engaged in providing essential services or activities will be allowed "unhindered movement in and out of Delhi", on production of their official Identity Card, said the order.

"Those employees of Government/Autonomous Bodies/PSUs of GNCTD, who are requisitioned for providing essential services shall be allowed unhindered movement in and out of Delhi on production of a pass to be issued by the offices of the DMs concerned/ Divisional Commissioner/HoDs or any gazetted officer authorized by the HoDs in the prescribed format as per Annexure -II," it read.

Outsourced and contractual employees engaged by Government Departments will be allowed to move in providing essential services on production of a pass to be issued, by the offices of District Magistrates, Divisional Commissioner or their department head.

Meanwhile, all the health care personnel who are private employees (private doctors/para-medical staff/lab technicians etc.) will also be allowed free movement on production of their employer ID cards. Self-employed doctors/healthcare personnel will be allowed movement in and out of Delhi on production of official I-Card issued by their regulatory body or a related government organisation.

But what about the private sector employees involved in providing essential services? "Private personnel who are engaged in providing essential services shall be allowed to move in and out of Delhi on production of a pass to be issued, by the offices of District Magistrates concerned /Divisional Commissioner/ District Deputy Commissioners of Police concerned/ HoDs concerned or any Gazetted Officer(s) authorised by HoDs, in the prescribed format as per Annexure-II," reads the government order.

Private vehicles for the persons involved in all above mentioned categories have to obtain passes issued by the District Magistrates or Divisional Commissioner or their HoDs.

But does that men general public of Delhi can't move at all? They are advised not to move out of their homes unless absolutely essential and use of vehicles should be curtailed to bare minimum, insists the government. However, movement out of homes should only be made for procurement of essential services or commodities or medical emergency only.

Meanwhile, what should bring some cheer, those Delhi residents stranded outside Delhi for some reason, will be allowed to enter Delhi on production of any valid ID or residence proof showing their residential address in Delhi.

Those coming from outside can apply for an e-pass through WhatsApp to authorized mobile numbers or email ID ddma,delhi@nic.in giving their particulars along with relevant documents. "Such an e-pass shall also be received on the same WhatsApp number or email of the applicant," says the Delhi government order.

Meanwhile, a 24/7 Control Room has been set up at the Office of Divisional Commissioner in Delhi and also at all the offices of District Magistrates of Delhi. An ACP rank officer will be available at all Control Rooms at all times to ensure proper liaison with the offices of District Magistrates on real time basis.

Lastly, the order says, "An officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police and a revenue official of appropriate seniority shall be available round the clock at the inter-state border check posts at all entry points of Delhi, who will facilitate the seamless movement of vehicles engaged in transportation of essential goods/services/commodities as well as personnel engaged in providing essential services."
President Donald Trump with (from L) Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General William Barr, response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx, and Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, speaking during the daily briefing on the CCP virus at the White House in Washington on March 23, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Our Country Wasnt Built to Be Shut Down, Trump Tells Americans

President Donald Trump on Monday reassured Americans that life would eventually return to normal, in remarks at a press conference amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has threatened the livelihoods of Americans across the country.

More than a dozen U.S. states have issued stay at home orders in efforts to curb the spread of the highly infectious and potentially deadly respiratory disease.

I want Americans to know that we will get through this challenge, the president said. The hardship will end, it will end soon normal life will return and our economy will rebound very very strongly. But right now in the midst of this great national trial Americans must remain united in purpose and focus on victory.

Trump told reporters that his administration will monitor the situation and use public health data to recommend new protocols to allow local economies to cautiously resume their activity at the appropriate time.

We also have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the OKmeaning the OK to get going, to get back, lets go to work, Trump said. Our country wasnt built to be shut down.

This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down, he added.

Later in the press conference, Trump hinted that states facing relatively lower infection rates, like Nebraska, Idaho, and Iowa, may have a chance to have restrictions eased up on businesses, while other states facing higher COVID-19 cases such as New York may face restrictions for longer.

America will again and soon be open for business, very soon, a lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting, Trump said. Lots sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. Were not gonna let the cure be worse than the problem.

Trump said that his administration will assess regulations surrounding business activity after the 15-day period of recommended social distancing measures (pdf) it had carved out starting mid-March.

At the end of the 15-day period well make a decision as to which way we want to go, where we want to go, the timing. And essentially were referring to the timing of the opening. Essentially the opening of our country, he said. Because we have it pretty well shut down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.

Stay at home orders have been issued over the past week in multiple U.S. states, affecting more than one in three U.S. residents, in efforts to curb the spread of the CCP virus that causes COVID-19. The states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, West Virginia, and Washington.

Residents are recommended to remain at home unless they need to leave for essential activities. Non-essential businesses have also been ordered closed. Each state has slight variations as to what qualifies as essential, but generally the list encompasses grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and basic health services.

The president said that critical supplies are on the way, with FEMA sending 8 million N95 respirator masks and 13.3 million surgical masks across the country, with a focus on areas with the greatest need.

Weve shipped 73 palettes of personal protective equipment to NYC and 36 palettes to the state of Washington, Trump said. In the past 96 hours FEMAs also received donations of approximately 6.5 million masks, were having millions and millions of masks made as we speak.

Trump urged Congress to focus solely and squarely on the needs of the American people and avoid playing any more partisan games.

We are going to save American workers and were going to save them quickly, Trump said, later adding: This was a medical problem, were not going to let it turn into a long-lasting financial problem. Started out as a purely medical problem and its not going to go beyond that. Were just not going to allow that to happen.

Congress passed an $8.3 billion emergency CCP virus spending package (pdf) in early March that Trump signed into law on March 6. The legislation enables funding to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 and other prevention measures.

Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, enabling up to $50 billion in disaster relief funds to be provided to state and local governments to respond to the CCP virus pandemic.

The president on March 18 signed off on the Houses emergency aid packagethe second such aid package in Marchthat provides paid sick and family leave for a number of Americans, free COVID-19 testing, and boost unemployment insurance.

On the same day, Trump said he was invoking the Defense Production Act to directly order firms to produce critical goods in response to the outbreak, allowing for the hastening of production of medical supplies like ventilators, masks, and test kits. Trump also directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to suspend evictions.

The Epoch Times 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.

Read More Editorial: Giving the Right Name to the Virus Causing a Worldwide Pandemic

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
What Im hearing the most is people saying that in these moments of anxiety and uncertainty, we need our church, we need our faith, he said. This is when we need God to tell us everything is OK. But then we have to close the church and that makes it hard. As Catholics, people are used to receiving the Eucharist and we are unable to do that.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon today said the county acquired 60 ventilators to be on hand when desperately ill patients with COVID-19 need help breathing.

Where did he get them? None of your business.

Same with coronavirus test kits.

While other Upstate counties have run so low on test kits that they only test healthcare workers and the most severe cases for COVID-19, Onondaga County continues to test everyone with symptoms who seeks a test. The county has enough test kits to last through mid-week at least, McMahon said.

Where did they come from? Hes not saying.

The equipment needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic is in short supply. McMahon does not want to invite more competition for fear it could drive up prices.

Were not going to give away our supply chains right now because it is that competitive, McMahon said.

For now, the war against coronavirus is being fought county by county, each county fending for itself. The same is true for states. Gov. Andrew Cuomo today said New York must bid for vital equipment against other states, driving up the price for everyone.

This is not the way to do it, Cuomo said. This is ad hoc. Im competing with other states. Im bidding up other states on the prices.

Cuomo said the federal government should invoke the federal Defense Production Act to require manufacturers to supply equipment to fight the pandemic.

Asked whether New York counties are working together or competing during this health crisis, McMahon said the responsibility has been left to local leaders to supply their communities with test kits and other materials.

Everybody to a degree has a responsibility to your community to try and get a supply chain, he said. Other communities have run out of tests.  Weve never had that challenge yet.
Yemeni attacks will continue as long as Saudi-led aggression, siege continue: Army spox

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 6:05 PM

The spokesman for Yemen's Armed Forces says Yemeni army troops and allied fighters from Popular Committees will continue their retaliatory attacks as long as the Saudi-led coalition persists with its military aggression and blockade on the Arab country.

"As long as the siege and war against Yemen persist, army operations against the invaders would continue," Brigadier General Yahya Saree said at a press conference in the capital Sana'a on Monday afternoon.

He added, "Yemen was once considered weak, but it is now completely different from what it used to be five years ago. Yemen is much stronger at present."

"Yemeni armed forces were subjected to conspiracies and attempts aimed at its dismantlement. However, the forces managed to withstand the brutal attacks of aggressors over the past years and score victories," Saree noted.

The senior Yemeni military figure then pointed to the popular support for Yemeni army operations, saying, "Many countries had predicted that we would fail; on the contrary we did neither fall short nor surrendered."

Saree went on to say that the Saudi-led military alliance has conducted 257,882 airstrikes against targets across Yemen ever since it began its onslaught more than five years ago.

"The high number of the air raids attests to the fact that they have failed to bring us to our knees. Yemen is among the countries with large numbers of airstrikes. The criminal record of the Saudi-led coalition will be a dark page in the history of humankind, and some world leaders will pay dearly for the blood of Yemenis," he commented.

Saree highlighted that Yemeni army soldiers and their allies have carried out 5,278 retaliatory attacks against designated strategic targets inside Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region, of which 1,686 offensives were mounted in 2019 alone.

"Over the past five years, Yemeni forces also managed to thwart 5,426 attacks by Saudi-led coalition forces and their mercenaries. Yemeni missile units fired 1,067 ballistic missiles at various positions belonging to the Saudi-led alliance either inside or outside Yemen, of which 410 projectiles hit critical military sites deep inside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," he said.

Saree stressed that Yemeni armed forces have tested new air defense missile systems, which will be showcased in the near future, stating that Borkan (Volcano), Qaher, Badr, Quds-1, Nikal, Qassem and Zulfiqar missile systems have already been unveiled.

"Yemeni drone units have conducted more than 160 operations since last year, of which 37 were reconnaissance missions. The units carried out 94 strikes against enemy targets inside Yemen, and 66 ones inside Saudi Arabia," the spokesman for Yemen's Armed Forces pointed out.

He added, "Yemeni air defense forces have intercepted and shot down 371 Saudi-led military aircraft, of which 53 were either fighter jets or Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and the rest were reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles."

Saree said Yemeni forces have performed 29 naval operations against Saudi-led warships, gunboats as well as frigates.

"Additionally, more than 8,487 Saudi-led tanks, armored vehicles, armored personnel carriers, vehicles, cannons and cranes have been destroyed over the past five years. Over 10,000 Saudi conscripts and officers have either been killed or wounded at the same time. A total of 1,240 Emirati soldiers and officers have either been killed or wounded as well," he said.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crushing 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 nearly 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 the war on Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition has been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll from its bombing campaign.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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Few Australians have died in the coronavirus pandemic because most cases are young, healthy people who will survive, experts claim.

Australia has only suffered eight deaths from Covid-19, all of whom were elderly including the latest victim, 70-year-old Ruby Princess passenger who died Tuesday.

So far there are 2,146 infected people in Australia, giving the country a death rate of just 0.37 per cent - lower even than Germany.

Not only are very few people in Australia dying, less than 20 patients are in intensive care with the rest recovering at home or in a standard ward.

Bridget Wilkins, 29, caught coronavirus overseas before returning to Australia but said it felt like just a flu. She is among the vast majority of Australia's cases that are young people who caught it overseas and will survive - keeping the country's death rate very low

Ms Wilkins was diagnosed after flying back from London to her hometown Brisbane, via Singapore, for a friend's wedding

Why some countries like Australia and Germany have very low death rates compared to others like Italy (9.51 per cent) and Iran (7.86 per cent) is not well understood.

University of NSW Associate Professor James Wood said a big factor could be that most cases were travellers returning from overseas.

'Our current age-distribution of cases is skewed younger than a number of other settings,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'This reflects the fact that a large fraction of all cases have been acquired overseas in travellers, who on average tend to be younger and healthier adults.'

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

Bridget Wilkins, 29, is among those who caught coronavirus overseas before returning to Australia but said it felt like just a flu.

Bianca D'Silva, from Melbourne, caught coronavirus overseas and spent her 21st birthday in hospital, and has recovered.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week that 80 per cent of Australia's cases were acquired overseas, and on Tuesday it was still well over half.

Another reason for both Australia and Germany's very low coronavirus death rate is widespread testing gives a more accurate picture of the virus' severity.

About 149,000 people in Australia have been tested - 558 tests per 100,000 people - about the same as South Korea and far higher than Britain's 117, and the U.S. at 22.

'We've been testing a lot  so we've probably found a high proportion of all cases,' Dr Wood said.

'Unlike say Italy, where pretty much only moderate to severe cases are being found, we're finding a lot of the mild and even asymptomatic ones.'

Australia's deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly also made this point on Q&A on Monday night.

'Italy mainly tested the top of the pyramid, the very serious cases that came into hospital. That's what their first 1,000 were,' he said.

CORONAVIRUS DEATH RATES COMPARED - MARCH 24 COUNTRY DEATHS DEATH RATE AUSTRALIA

CHINA

ITALY

UNITED STATES

SPAIN

GERMANY

IRAN

FRANCE

SOUTH KOREA

SWITZERLAND

UNITED KINGDOM 8

3,277

6,077

583

2,311

119

1,812

860

124

120

335 0.37

4.04

9.51

1.26

6.58

0.41

7.86

4.33

1.37

1.36

5.04 Source: BNO News

Bianca D'Silva, from Melbourne, caught coronavirus overseas and spent her 21st birthday in hospital, but has recovered

This wedding in Stanwell Tops, NSW, led to 39 guests becoming infected - all of whom are better or are recovering - likely after a guest caught it overseas

James Kwan, a 78-year-old retired travel agent, was the first Australian to die after he got sick on a cruise off Japan in February

'Our first 1,000 were mainly community cases, mostly involved with travel from overseas. We've only had 20 people through this whole period that have been in intensive care.'

Australia also has a world-class health system that gives patients a better shot at surviving than elsewhere.

Only 20 people have ended up in ICU since coronavirus hit Australia, far less than the country's more than the 2,000 available beds.

However, Dr Wood cautioned that more than half the country's cases were diagnosed in the past week and some of those would become serious.

He said because patients get more sick about a week in, the next couple of weeks would be a big test of how many are likely to have serious and lethal cases.

'We've got a good health system and maybe better prepared than some others but it's not clear yet whether more cases will threaten to provide our ability to provide good care. At the moment we're not anywhere near capacity,' he said.

The majority of Australia's foreign coronavirus cases came from people returning from Europe and the Americas

Few Australians have died in the coronavirus pandemic because most cases are young, healthy people who will survive (a couple are pictured at Sydney Airport on Tuesday)

Dr Wood said as the current rush of cases, and those to come, developed, the death rate could rise as it spread beyond overseas cases.

All eight of Australia's deaths were aged over 70, at least three came off cruise ships, and another was infected by a friend who returned from overseas.

Local transmission was more likely to infect older Australians and those less able to fight off the disease due to underlying health conditions.

'I would expect the mortality rate overall to be about one per cent overall in Australian cases with proper treatment, with almost all deaths in people more than 60 years of age,' Dr Wood said.
The publishers of three major American newspapers have written an open letter asking China to reverse its recent decision to expel many of their correspondents working in the country.

The letter posted online Tuesday referred to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saying the expulsions threaten access to information at a time when it is needed most. It was signed by the publishers of The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

This move made in retaliation for recent expulsions by the United States government is one that we would protest under any circumstances," they wrote. But it is uniquely damaging and reckless as the world continues the struggle to control this disease, a struggle that will require the free flow of reliable and information."



China said last week that most Americans working for the three publications would have to surrender their press cards within 10 days. The move followed a Trump administration decision to limit the number of visas for Chinese working for China's major state media in the U.S.

The US, in announcing the visa limit, cited increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment and intimidation of American and other foreign journalists working in China.

Chinese media including the official Xinhua Agency and the international arm of state broadcaster CCTV are now restricted to a total of 100 visas. Collectively, they employed about 160 Chinese in the U.S., meaning about 60 would have to leave.

The Chinese action applies to Americans whose credentials are due to expire by the end of the year. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said at least 13 journalists would be affected. They are effectively expelled because their visas are tied to their press cards.

The media is collateral damage in a diplomatic dispute between the Chinese and U.S. governments, threatening to deprive the world of critical information at a perilous moment, the letter from the newspaper publishers said. The coronavirus pandemic started in China and has spread to most of the rest of the world.

The publishers urged the Chinese government to reverse the expulsions and ease what they called a growing crackdown on independent organizations in China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pacific Gas and Electric pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2018 Camp fire, reports Los Angeles Times. The utility cut a deal with prosecutors to avoid further criminal penalties, "an outcome that disappointed some utility watchdogs."

From the article:

Last year, Pacific Gas & Electric admitted in federal court that its equipment probably caused several wildfires in Northern and Central California, even while it undertook the controversial step of conducting preventative power shutdowns during high-wind events in high-risk fire areas.

"We cannot change the devastation or ever forget the loss of life that occurred. All of us at PG&E deeply regret this tragedy and the company's part in it," PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said in a statement. "We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident."
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington  Tue, March 24, 2020 07:00 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206cfd4c9 2 Entertainment DJ,music,Instagram,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Just because there's a pandemic going on, doesn't mean the party has to stop. And one DJ has kept it going -- for 10 hours at a time.

The coronavirus has upended daily lives, with thousands of deaths around the world. Many people are staying at home in an effort to stem the rapid-fire spread.

Celebrity DJ D-Nice has begun hosting virtual dance parties on his Instagram Live channel in an effort to lift spirits as people self-isolate over coronavirus concerns.

Many of his A-list friends -- including Rihanna, Common and John Legend -- have made guest appearances thanks to Instagram Live's split feature, which lets two people appear in a split-screen.

On Wednesday, D-Nice posted on Instagram that he would be hosting "Home School," a "social distancing dance party."

Read also: Italians sing out from balconies during coronavirus lockdown

He set up his turntables in his kitchen and invited his 950,000 followers to tune in and dance along.

What followed was a nine-hour long party that featured guest appearances from celebrities such as LL Cool J, Mary J Blige, Naomi Campbell and Lena Waithe.

"I can't believe that I started the Home School social distancing dance party just four days ago and it's become a place for us to virtually dance together and stay connected," D-Nice wrote in an Instagram post Thursday.

"From my kitchen, I'm able to send positive vibrations to each of you."

D-Nice, who first entered the music scene in the 1980s as a member of the Bronx hip-hop group BDP, has begun hosting nightly dance parties in his kitchen, officially dubbed "Club Quarantine."

More than 100,000 people tuned in for his Saturday celebration, which lasted for 10 hours and had appearances from former first lady Michelle Obama, presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, and musician Diddy -- who also sent the DJ a bottle of Ciroc vodka, in which Diddy owns a stake, during the set.

The party also included a shoutout to healthcare workers battling the coronavirus.

"Homeschool is a thing!" D-Nice said in a Saturday post. "This has been a great way to keep our spirits high."

Chasten Buttigieg, who is married to former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, agreed.

"Thanks for the dance party last night @djdnice," Chasten tweeted Sunday morning.

"Pajamas acceptable, nobody to judge my dance moves, all the snacks I preferred -- honestly we should do this more often."

D-Nice seems only too happy to oblige: class resumes Sunday night.
U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 23, 2020. Trump said the U.S. economy cant remain slowed for too long to fight coronavirus, declaring the country was not built to be shut down. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The past decade has seen a pronounced rise in the everyday use of terms related to interpersonal abuse and psychiatric well-being. Notable moments include the introduction of self-care to the popular lexicon, the propagation of the term gaslighting to describe the actions of politicians and critical discussions around popular media, and the now-constant debates about whether or not the most powerful people and corporations in the world are feminist have blurred the line between the societal and the personal. There are some good things about this development, like a normalization of concepts with which marginalized people have long been familiar  but theres a problem with it, too.

At a moment in our national history when the COVID-19 pandemic and our collapsing, inadequate health infrastructure make prioritizing the welfare of the many more crucial than ever, this type of linguistic crossover encourages a hyper-individualistic viewpoint where optics and immediate emotional reactions take unjustified precedence over the long-term needs of the most vulnerable among us.

One prevalent trend traceable directly to this phenomenon is the belief that social change should not cause discomfort. As exemplified by author and columnist Sady Doyles above tweet, this viewpoint holds that anger and rudeness in the context of political causes mean that the proponents of those causes are insincere in their commitments. The idea that a push for major structural change in a nation of 327 million, where few Americans have even the most meager measure of financial security, should be polite is contemptible. Its a viewpoint which prioritizes the comfort of the proportionately powerful and secure over the survival of the vulnerable and debt-ridden. Doyles fixation on nice behavior is indicative of a much wider system of belief among the moneyed elite, who prize civility and manners above public welfare.



In a March 2020 tweet, author Lacy M. Johnson compared Bill de Blasios call for former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren to endorse rival Bernie Sanders to her own experience being pressured for sex in high school. There is a profoundly solipsistic element at work in such applications of feminist and therapeutic language, a weaponization of victimhood and gendered suffering to support the primacy of the middle and upper-middle classes. Johnsons experience with sexual pressuring in high school was surely difficult for her, as it is for many women, but how does it relate to the work of civil servants and their obligations to uphold the stated ideas by which they attract voters and maintain a political camp? Even if such political pressure does bring up painful memories for an individual, isnt that a personal issue without material bearing on electoral processes which affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people?

Story continues

This fixation on relating personally to non-personal issues is by no means limited to social media. In a widely publicized 2014 paper titled Drone Disorientations: How Unmanned Weapons Queer the Experience of Killing in War, then-PhD candidate Cara Daggett argues that drones are genderqueer bodies and that committing murder via drone disorients the murderer in a way analogous to experiences of queer identity. The paper, which won the prestigious Enloe award, is a farrago of imperialist apologia wrapped in pseudo-feminist jargon, a nightmarish vision of feminism as a mode of thought and behavior reduced to whether or not a person feels comfortable performing an act of state-sanctioned murder. Journalist Matthew Yglesiass infamous 2013 Slate article titled Different Places Have Different Safety Rules and Thats Okay, a defense of the lax safety regulations which led to the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh, similarly repurposes academic arguments about moral relativism to contend that exploitative garment factories are a public good.

Its not much of a stretch to draw a line from such grimly cynical deployments of the language of well-being and feminism to the modern cults of personality surrounding women politicians, no matter their histories of carceral, racist, and imperialist violence. If your understanding of feminism centers around the admission of women into the halls of imperial power, then the mere presence of women is in itself a victory. If you transpose ideas of abuse within the context of domestic relationships onto parasocial relationships with men in politics, then Bernie Sanders raising his voice when he discusses the grievous wealth inequality and predatory insurance industry practices in America becomes a personal transgression of your boundaries.

What does it matter if a woman holds supreme authority if the very act of attaining such an office is immoral on a massive global scale? What does it say about feminism if what its public figureheads celebrate is women getting a chance to order drone strikes or torture Mexican and South American children in detention? What does the word abusive mean if we invoke it whenever a politician we dont like is loud on television? The idea that these concepts meant to define entire systems of behavior and social change can be applied meaningfully to fleeting interactions between strangers, or between public figures and their audiences, is laughable, a self-involved misapprehension of everything central to radical thought.



Its a mindset which has wormed its way into every corner of American life. While the 2008 election of Barack Obama certainly signaled a shift in cultural attitudes toward blackness, the Obama presidency itself was largely of a piece with the Clinton and Bush regimes. Guantanamo Bay remained open, our wars in the Middle East continued and metastasized to Africa, and mass deportations of Mexican and South American immigrants were commonplace. Was president Obamas blackness in the context of the violence perpetuated at home and abroad under his regime any more important than Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warrens womanhood would be if, once in power, they ignored the blights of prison slave labor and war profiteering?

The personal is political is an ubiquitous rallying cry stemming from the second-wave feminism of the late 1960s, an assertion that women and other oppressed minorities personal actions can carry the weight and generational pain of the political systems behind them. To reduce that pained cry for recognition to a matter of hurt feelings and a demand that the oppressed treat their oppressors with deference when asking for change is an insult not just to the minorities who have fought bitterly for every inch theyve gained but to women who face real violence in their homes, the queer people murdered abroad by drone warfare and American occupying forces, the people of color shot in the streets of Americas cities every day.

Approaching the worlds suffering as a purely personal matter isnt just selfish, myopic, and destructive; it transforms feminisms attempts to lay the bricks of a better world into the mythologized and self-indulgent violence of a death cult.







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Empty shelves that usually contain meat products are seen in a store following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, U.S., March 16, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

North American meat processors said on Monday they would pay extra money to farmers and slaughterhouse workers as the companies scramble to meet surging demand from consumers unnerved by the spread of the new coronavirus.

Companies like Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc want to ensure their slaughterhouses remain supplied with cattle to chop into beef and employees to perform the sometimes grueling work.

Their products are in high demand as shoppers have emptied grocery stores of meat to fill their refrigerators and freezers during a time of social distancing to help contain the highly contagious respiratory virus.

Tyson said it would pay farmers a onetime premium on cattle slaughtered this week after facing objections over the companys soaring profits.

This is an unprecedented time and the intent of our response is to show our support in an effort to help our supply partners weather this extraordinary situation, Tyson said.

Tyson declined to disclose the size of the payments. They are $5 per cwt (100 pounds) for live cattle and $7.94 per cwt for dressed cattle, according to cattle producers.

They help but theyre not going to make whole the losses were taking, said Lee Reichmuth, a Nebraska cattle producer and board member for the United States Cattlemens Association.

Margins for U.S. beef processors like Tyson hit a record high of about $580 per head of cattle on Monday, up from about $170 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.

Margins climbed as prices for cuts of beef that companies ship to wholesale buyers jumped about 20% in the past two weeks. April live cattle LCJ0 futures prices fell about 7% over the same period as traders worried that the virus could shut slaughterhouses.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a tweet that the agency was monitoring agricultural markets. He tagged just two commodities in his post - #cattle and #beef.

We are paying special attention to the difference in prices from the farm gate to the grocery shelf, Perdue wrote.

U.S. beef processors increased their slaughter last week to an estimated 653,000 cattle from 633,000 a week earlier and 636,000 a year earlier, according to the USDA.

Cargill will pay U.S. and Canadian slaughterhouse workers a premium of $2 an hour until May 3, with a bonus of $500 to those who complete weekly shifts over a period of eight consecutive weeks, according to the company.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc (MFI.TO) and Hormel Foods Corp (HRL.N) also said they were giving employees temporary pay increases or bonuses.
Architecture and planning expert Orla Hegarty has called on the construction industry to hand over to the HSE any personal protective equipment (PPE) they have.

It was a waste of PPE to give them to construction workers when they are needed by the HSE she told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show.

Its time to close the building sites. People are being put at risk, she added.

The issue here is money.

Ms Hegarty acknowledged that some sites are important such as utilities.

The director general of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Tom Parlon said he was inclined to leave the decision about closing down building sites to the experts.

So far the construction industry has followed public health advice to the tee with regard to social distancing, introducing measures such as staggered starting times for workers, he said.

The construction industry was critical for the country, he said. With many projects currently being undertaken to help the fight against the coronavirus such as the building of testing centres and modular pods.

This massive build had happened so quickly because of the lack of red tape and rigmarole.

Mr Parlon said that is any building site that was not safe then it should not be allowed to operate. The issue for the government was one of proportionate decision making, he said.

Meanwhile, a trade union is calling for all construction sites to close immediately.

Unite the Union says social-distancing is not possible during the Covid-19 emergency.

It claims 150,000 construction workers are in danger of getting the coronavirus and bringing it back to their families.

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NEW YORK - A former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump was denied early release from a three-year prison sentence Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress.

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III said it seemed Michael Cohens request for release to home confinement after serving 10 months in prison appears to be just another effort to inject himself into the news cycle.

The judge noted that Cohen raised the danger of getting the coronavirus in prison as the latest reason why he believed he was entitled to a reduced sentence.

He also rejected the request on other grounds, including that the defence lawyers were making a request that only prosecutors were entitled to make.

Pauley noted that Cohen attempted to co-operate with prosecutors after his December 2018 sentencing in Manhattan federal court in the hopes that he could earn a reduced sentence.

But he said prosecutors believe he made false statements about facts in his sessions with prosecutors.

Unable to articulate how he advanced any investigation or prosecution, Cohen and his surrogates make extravagant allegations that the Department of Justice  from the Attorney General down to line prosecutors  acted in bad faith. Those ad hominem attacks lack any substance and do not trigger the right to remedy or a hearing before this Court, Judge Pauley wrote.

The judge said it was not for him to second-guess the prosecutors decision that Cohens false statements and efforts to minimize his crimes justified a decision not to recommend a reduced sentence for Cohen.

In asking for early release, Cohens lawyers said their client was the victim of a continuing campaign of character assassination by prosecutors.

They claimed the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the breadth, scope and relevance of over 170 hours of testimony he gave to nine government agencies.

Cohen, 53, is housed at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, after pleading guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, among other charges. He began serving his sentence last May.

Cohen maintains he deserves early release for telling investigators about the presidents misdeeds.

In court papers, prosecutors say Cohen has offered no evidence that he provided them with substantial assistance of the kind that warrants a significant reduction in sentence. And they say Congressional testimony does not earn a reduction either.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018, abandoning his longtime position of loyalty to Trump. He later met with federal and state prosecutors in New York and with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, telling them he had lied to Congress to protect Trump.

Prior to Cohens sentence, Muellers team of investigators described his help to their probe, but prosecutors in Manhattan made it clear that Cohen wanted to help them only on his terms, unwilling to submit to the demands that he reveal all of his crimes and co-operate fully and honestly.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday welcomed the release of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and demanded immediate release of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and other political detenues.

I am extremely happy that ultimately Omar has been released after nearly eight months of detention. This detention was totally undemocratic and uncalled for, Azad said in a statement issued here.

National Conference vice-president Abdullah was released after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), slapped on him in February, were revoked. He spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year.

I urge the Government of India to immediately release Mehbooba Mufti and hundreds of other political detainees in and outside Jammu and Kashmir, especially in view of the coronavirus crisis, Azad said.

The Congress leader said it is high time that the government realises its mistake and restores the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.

The government must also give back the exclusive rights on lands and services and the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as before August 2019, he said.

Welcoming the release of former Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief spokesperson RAvinder Sharma reiterated the demand for the release of all mainstream leaders and political activists under detention besides lifting of unwarranted and undemocratic curbs and restoration of 4G mobile internet services.

It (release of Omar) was expected in view of the observations of the apex court and the consistent pressure of the opposition parties against such illegal and undemocratic measures against political opponents.

The congress being the frontline democratic political force in the country,always maintained that prolonged detention of all mainstream leaders and political activists is totally unlawful and undemocratic and they should be freed sooner than later, he said in a statement.

He said it was a welcome step that the government has finally released NC president Farooq Abdullah and now his son Omar after prolonged detention but the government is unnecessarily delaying the release of other mainstream leaders and activists including, former Chief Minister Mehbooba, besides continued restrictions on several Congress leaders.

He said the prolonged detention and restrictions on top opposition leaders including former chief ministers and others, coupled with the disbanding and downgrading of the state, has sent a wrong message in the entire society.

The restoration of 4G services is the need of the hour so that the fight against coronavirus is more effective and the students and youth are able to carry on their academic activities in these difficult times, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Recently, both houses of Congress voted on a bipartisan basis on a r esolution directing President Donald Trump to end any U.S. military hostilities against Iran unless there is a congressional declaration of war for such.

We should congratulate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Charles Schumer, Rep. Antonio Delgado and Rep. Paul Tonko for voting for this important resolution. Early in the year, we were all frightened that the Trump administration might go to war with Iran. This resolution is a clear statement that Congress realizes how foolish and dangerous that would be. Now, Congress is considering passage of the even stronger No War Against Iran Act. This bill would prohibit the use of federal funds for military force against Iran unless Congress has either declared or authorized war against Iran.
With multiple businesses temporarily closing their doors to slow the spread of coronavirus, Michigan Works! is encouraging people to be proactive, file for unemployment and take advantage of the career resources it provides.

"We urge anyone who's needing assistance to call," said Kristen Wenzel, chief operations officer at Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works!

Wenzel and the administrative staff have seen an uptick in unemployment claims in all counties; a specific number will not be available until May. In response to this increase, as well as to protect the health of clients and staff, Michigan Works! has closed its service centers but will still be available by email and phone.

As an alternative, it is providing virtual services including video workshops, webinars, webchat during regular business hours and email during non-business hours. Wenzel explained all of these features will be available until the coronavirus threat is contained.

"We encourage people to reach out to our staff and request assistance. None of these technical enhancements are intended to replace the in-person, one-on-one experience our staff provides," Wenzel said.

Wenzel also encouraged individuals to reach out to Michigan Works! as soon as they receive a layoff notification, explaining that employers are still hiring and Michigan Works! can help people find temporary employment or guide them to a new career avenue.

"Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works! is doing everything we can to make sure staff are equipped to handle the demand for our services," Wenzel stated. "Wherever necessary, we're adjusting our staffing models so that we have the right number of staff where the demand is greatest."

Unemployment claims can be filed at michigan.gov/UIA or by calling 1-866-500-0017.

The Michigan Works! Midland office, located at 1409 Washington St., can be reached at 989-631-3073. For more information about Michigan Works!, visit michiganworks.org or email info@michiganworks.org.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Charlottesville City Schools has handed out 5,050 meals to 2,525 students.

The Charlottesville and Albemarle school divisions are looking for ways to increase access to their free meal services while schools are closed.

In the first four days of the service, which started March 16, Charlottesville handed out 5,050 meals and Albemarle gave out 5,200. Nearly 2,000 Charlottesville students and 4,200 Albemarle County students currently qualify for free or reduced-priced breakfast and lunch.

In Charlottesville, 2,525 students showed up to receive a meal and 2,600 did so in Albemarle.

Last week was the first in what now will be a months-long closure of public and private schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Volunteers in Charlottesville are helping to hand out meals Mondays and Wednesdays via five bus routes, as well as at six locations throughout the city, and children can pick up meals for multiple days.

Albemarle County is providing breakfasts and lunches from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the parking lots of six schools: Albemarle, Monticello and Western Albemarle High schools; Sutherland and Walton Middle schools; and Woodbrook Elementary School.

Any child 18 and younger can receive a free meal, which includes milk, fruit and a warm or fresh item.

To find a site handing out free meals, text FOOD or COMIDA to 877-877.

The Albemarle school division plans to announce details this week about expanding access to the meal program to ensure that none of our families are left out, schools Superintendent Matt Haas said Monday.

Those who qualify for free or reduced-priced meals in Albemarle but cannot access the current sites should call (434) 295-0566.

Charlottesville adjusted its plans for meal delivery last week, adding the five bus routes. This week, the division is allowing students to take home multiple days worth of food. An adult doesnt need to be present for a child to receive a meal.

Charlottesvilles current bus routes are listed at charlottesvilleschools.org/food.

Schools are providing meals through federal school lunch programs and have to follow federal requirements to receive reimbursement.

The Legal Aid Justice Center is encouraging school districts to think outside the box when it comes to expanding access to meal programs.

Make sure you are giving food to people who need it, said Mario Salas, at attorney with the centers JustChildren Program.

Sales said Legal Aid has been talking with the Virginia Department of Education about its guidance to school systems on meals programs.

The message is to distribute the food and worry about access first and reimbursement later, Sales said.

Last week, VDOEs Office of School Nutrition Programs released a set of recommended best practices such as adjusting meal service times to meet students needs and delivering meals directly to families.

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The last of five men sentenced over their role in one of Australia's largest drug importations has been ordered to serve 16 years' jail.

Between them the five men received a total of 79 years for their roles in attempting to import two tonnes of ice and ecstasy worth around $1 billion that was intercepted by police in a container containing household goods from Germany in November 2014.

Mehmet Ozgen has been sentenced to 16 years' jail over his role in one of Australia's largest ever drugs busts.

Mehmet Ozgen, who was 23 at the time of the bust and is now 30, will serve at least 10 years of a 16-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.

At a sentencing hearing in February, Judge John Pickering said: "I don't think you can underplay the significance of Ozgen's role."
With religious observances canceled or curtailed due to the coronavirus, Passover services ordinarily observed in temples and synagogues as a way to mark the eight-day Jewish holiday that begins on April 8 have also been suspended.

According to Mendy Mirocznik, president of the Staten Island Council of Jewish Organizations (COJO), family Seders will go on as usual, hosted in individual homes.

The celebration feast will still go on but we are not encouraging big family dinners, but rather small family get-togethers with immediate family, he said. The services will remain closed unless a miracle happens  and not until everyone is safe.

Mirocznik adds though Seder observances will will go on as usual, he emphasizes they should be on a smaller scale.

We can pray with our own families. Of course its better in the temple, but it can be a mitzvah  positive things we can do and pray together as a family as opposed to going to a synagogue.

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INTERESTING PASSOVER CUSTOMS AND RITUALS

The Jewish holiday that commemorates the Exodus, or the flight of the Israelites from Egypt into the desert, is traditionally a highly-anticipated celebratory feast, or Pesach.

The Seder meal is observed on the first and second nights of the Jewish holiday and ends on the seventh and eighth nights. According to the Haggadah, the Jewish text that sets the order for the Seder, Passover is a time for rededication to the idea of liberation.

During the Seder, the eldest man reads from the Haggadah  that reads from right to left.

Customarily, matzo is hidden from children at some point during the evening  the child who finds the matzo receives a reward. "Why is this night different from all other nights?" is the question asked by the youngest child.

Guests share in matzo (flourless bread) because when fleeing Egypt, the Israelites couldnt wait for the bread to rise, so they ate it flat), with sliced potatoes, chopped apples and walnuts and hard-boiled eggs passed around the table, before the feast begins.

Participants drink four cups of wine and sample food placed in six compartments on the Passover Seder Plate: Maror (bitter herbs), grated white horseradish symbolizing the bitter lot of the enslaved Israelites; karpas (vegetable), dipped in saltwater; charoset, chopped apples, walnuts and cinnamon moistened with wine and formed into a paste; zeroa (a meat bone), symbolic of the arm of God; baytza, hard-boiled egg symbolic of the festival sacrifice brought in temple times, and chazeret, a vegetable  that takes on the same meaning as the maror.

And in traditional households, its customary to reserve special dishes used only during the Passover festival.

VIRTUAL SERVICES

Mirocznik adds virtual services can be viewed online so as to not to interrupt the Passover holiday.

We do group services online as much as we can," he said. However, Orthodox Jewish people cant go online. Through Zoom we do conferencing as well. Computer technology with conference meetings and calls allows us to not interrupt our lives as much as possible and we can continue normalcy at this time," he said.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROJECT

Mirocznik also explained that COJO is coordinating a food distribution project with all of the synagogues on Staten Island to assist those in need on Wednesday, outside Young Israel of Staten Island at 835 Forest Hill Rd., in Willowbrook.

We are pre-packaging . . . and will have volunteers on board preparing packages with gloves and masks. A car will be provided at Young Israel to deliver the food to those in need. Weve been doing this for 45 years. And this year everything will take place outside. Volunteers will bring food to your car. We need to take extra precaution this year."

Coronavirus: Senate passes paid-leave bill for all New Yorkers

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The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Monday, said that 179 persons had contact with the Italian who brought the first case of coronavirus to Nigeria.

The minister, who said this while briefing newsmen update on the virus, said although new cases being recorded were that of Nigerians who were returning from countries with high burden of the virus, Nigeria could head the way of China and Italy if those who had contacted the virus already were not fished out and treated.

He said, In less than 48 hours, the Italian who came to Nigeria (index case) was identified. The contacts we found for him were 179. They were all traced and monitored. Out of the 179, one was positive and put in isolation with the Italian. Both were cured and discharged.

If other cases had not come to Nigeria, that would have been the end of COVID19 in Nigeria. But other cases came in that were not part of the first one. That is why we are saying that you do not compare what we have now with what we have in China or Italy. If we do not act fast, we could be heading in something dangerous like that (in China and Italy). They now transmit among themselves.

We have to get those who have been infected now. If we dont, it may be a serious burden in the system. I am sure some are hiding, they will not report for whatever reason. Nobody will be arrested or asked to pay anything. Those who are returning now are Nigerians. With the closure of our airports, we will reduce inflow of new cases and deal with the ones we already have.
Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnams lawmaking National Assembly is willing to support and create favorable conditions for the government to effectively implement countermeasures against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said during the opening of the NA Standing Committees 43rd session in Hanoi on Monday.

Society

-- Eleven COVID-19 patients in Vietnam are now in a worse health condition, three of whom are in a very serious state, the Ministry of Health said on Monday, adding that 18 patients have tested negative for the virus for the first time since receiving treatment.

-- The Ministry of Transport has asked all airlines to stop transporting overseas Vietnamese to Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City from March 23 to 31 to prevent crowding at quarantine facilities in the metropolis.

-- Authorities in Hanoi have quarantined 64 people who arrived in the capital from abroad since March 7 after they have had such symptoms as fever and coughing.

-- Members of the Peoples Council in the southern province of Binh Phuoc on Monday donated VND3 billion (US$128,700) to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam.

-- One person went missing and two others were in a critical condition after an oil tanker caught fire in the southern province of Dong Nai on Monday evening.

-- The Vietnamese naval force has supplied a total of five million cubic meters of fresh water to residents in the Mekong Delta, where drought and saline intrusion have been extremely serious in the past few months.

Business

-- Trung Nam Group is expected to commence the construction of a VND14 trillion ($601 million) solar power plant in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan in the second quarter of 2020. The project will be Southeast Asias largest solar power plant with the capacity of 450 megawatts.

World News

-- The novel coronavirus has infected nearly 378,500 and killed more than 16,400 people globally as of Tuesday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics. Over 101,600 cases have recovered.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Latin America

Mexican medical workers protest lack of supplies, protocol for Covid-19 cases

Protests by doctors, nurses and interns broke out last week at hospitals in Mexico as the number of coronavirus cases grew. The common theme was the woeful lack of supplies to treat patients and protect the workers from infection.

At the Mexican Social Security Institutes (IMSS) Zone 27 General Hospital in Tlatelolco, a suburb of Mexico City, doctors, nurses and personnel blockaded a main street on March 19 and chanted, We want materials!

The protesting workers denounced shortages of gloves, N95 face masks, alcohol-based gel, disposable gowns, test strips, protective eyewear and aspiration catheters. A nurse told reporters, We are not refusing to work, we just want the supplies so that we dont infect ourselves and take that infection home to our families. After talking with protesters, IMSS officials promised to monitor the amount of supplies and guarantee that they would be sufficient.

The next morning, nurses protested in front of the Zone 1 General Regional Hospital in Mexico City to demand that all supplies be covered, since they dont give a face mask for every shift, in the best of cases, and we lack antibacterial gel and gloves, in the words of one nurse. They also demanded to have a definite protocol on how to treat those admitted with symptoms of COVID-19.

After talks during the day, the IMSS announced that it would train staff in a Strategic Contingency Plan for Attention to COVID-19. The IMSS added that there were as yet no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the hospital and that there were sufficient supplies, and that it would maintain strict vigilance of supplies.

Personnel at the Zone 46 General Regional Hospital in Guadalajara, Jalisco declared that they would work under protest following the death of a 74-year-old man who had recently visited California, USA and had been admitted for symptoms of arterial hypertension. At least ten workers as well as family members had had contact with the patient, and they were then isolated.

The protesting workers complained of lack of soap, gloves, masks and other equipment and supplies, and demanded that the administration pay for testing of personnel and not take reprisals against them for their protest. They also criticized the lack of support by their union.

Mexican university workers vote for date of strike over medical and other benefits

Members of the University of Sonora Workers Syndicate (Steus) in the city of Hermosillo voted March 19 on the date of a planned strike. The membership voted 1,184 in favor of April 30 as opposed to 257 for May 14. An assembly the day before had been planned but was canceled due to concerns about COVID-19.

The vote was held at a university building where ten persons at a time were given antibacterial gel before going to voting booths. The strike will be held to demand improvements in working conditions, medical services and savings funds for union employees.

At present, the savings fund for unionized workers is 2,900,000 pesos (US$119,000) while that of trusted employees, i.e., nonunion workers, stands at 22,000,000 pesos (US$900,275).

Grain receivers in Argentina strike over government work order

The Grain Receivers Union (Urgara) announced March 20 that its members, who classify grain for export out of Argentinas ports, would stop working until March 25, or until the national government clarifies the interpretation, extension and application of the Necessity and Urgency Decree (DNU) drawn up in response to the pandemic.

The union claimed that its activity was not essential and was not subject to work orders that exclude it from isolation in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The agricultural export business sector alleged that the stoppage put 2.2 million tons of grain to be loaded onto 18 ships at risk, since a protocol had already been drawn up and agreed to, and demanded that the Labor Ministry declare obligatory conciliation or binding arbitration, which would entail workers returning to work.

Urgara accused the chamber of making erroneous, malicious and improper interpretations of article 6 of the DNU  that establishes exceptions to the isolation measure and that everything permits us to conclude that our activity is not essential The Labor Ministry ordered obligatory conciliation that day. In the strategic Santa Fe province, workers have resisted returning to work in defiance of the order.

United States

Contract extension suspends strike by Alaska hospital workers

The union representing 200 health care workers at the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center, located off the southern coast of Alaska, agreed March 17 to call off a strike scheduled for March 20 after hospital management altered its concessions contract.

The Alaska Medical Employees Association, which represents nurses, physical therapists, janitors, cooks and other hospital workers, negotiated fruitlessly for a year with management over demands to slash sick days and on February 1 voted to authorize a strike after a 96 percent rejection vote.

With the advent of the coronavirus threat and backed by substantial community support, workers made the case that they had to retain their sick days in order not to report to work and possibly infect patients and co-workers. Non-union hospital management staff, who already had the cut in sick pay imposed, are alleged to be reporting to work sick.

In the latest proposal, Providence agreed to extend the existing contract, including sick leave, for a period of six months while offering a two percent across-the-board wage increase and annual merit increase and bonus pay. The union has said it will at some future date put the contract to a vote of the membership.

Hospital CEO Gina Bishop arrogantly continued her vacation off of Kodiak Island as the strike neared and despite Alaska declaring a state of emergency and a March 2 travel ban on all Providence workers leaving the island. Providence management threatened legal action against the union and sought a presidential declaration to bar the strike. The hospital was also prepared to fly in strikebreakers from California.

Canada

Alberta nurses refuse to work without N95 protective masks

Community nurses in three Edmonton assessment clinics are refusing to perform coronavirus testing on patients unless they are provided with N95 respirator face masks. Currently, the nurses have been issued with lower standard surgical masks.

The provincial governments Alberta Health Services has insisted that the surgical masks are sufficient for COVID-19 testing and cite the recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Canada Health Agency. The nurses, however, assert that many other professional agencies such as the U.S. and European Centers for Disease Control and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions should be used when supplies of the superior equipment are stable.

Emergency medical technicians in the province who enter premises in their communities currently operate with the N95 masks. The Alberta Health Services has stated that it currently has an adequate supply of the N95 masks but wants to maintain that supply. The safety of medical staff is paramount if the ravages of the coronavirus are to be mitigated.

Despite numerous studies showing the necessity for preparing for a pandemic scenario, governments in Canada and internationally have shown themselves to be woefully ill-prepared to address the challenges presented by the crisis.
Lawrence Bacow, the president of Harvard University, told students and faculty that he tested positive for the CCP virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

Bacow said in a letter to the school community that his wife, Adele, also tested positive for the new illness.

We started experiencing symptoms on Sundayfirst coughs then fevers, chills, and muscle achesand contacted our doctors on Monday. We were tested yesterday and just received the results a few minutes ago. We wanted to share this news with all of you as soon as possible, he wrote.

Neither Bacow nor his wife know how they contracted the virus; both patients limited contact with others starting March 14. Anyone who had contact in the past two weeks with the Bacows should contact health authorities or their doctor.

Both Bacow and his wife are self-isolating at home and focusing on getting healthy.

This virus can lay anyone low. We all need to be vigilant and keep following guidelines to limit our contact with others. Your swift actions over the past few weeksto respond to the needs of our community, to fulfill our teaching mission, and to pursue research that will save liveshave moved me deeply and made me extraordinarily grateful and proud, he wrote.

I hope to see as few of you in our situation as possible, and I urge you to continue following the guidance of public health experts and the advice and orders of our government officials.

Bacow, 69, is the 29th president of Harvard, joining the school after serving as president of Tufts University. He and his wife met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on March 20, 2019. The new virus started in China in late 2019 and is still infecting people in the country.

As of March 24, Massachusetts, where Harvard is located, had 1,159 confirmed cases, including 99 from a Biogen conference and people who came into contact with attendees. Eleven persons in the state have died from COVID-19.

Cases across the United States topped 51,000 on March 24, with a mortality rate of around 1.3 percent. The bulk of the cases are in New York state, which saw a surge of more than 4,500 overnight.

The virus is believed to primarily pass from person to person through respiratory droplets released when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Touching contaminated surfaces and then touching ones face can also lead to the illness.

Experts recommend that people avoid crowds, frequently wash hands, and regularly clean objects and surfaces.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

From The Epoch Times
New Jersey plans to cancel its annual standardized testing for students as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a dramatic impact on the states education system.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the decision Tuesday after several other states had already canceled their exams. Standardized testing is required by federal law, but President Donald Trumps administration said last week it will grant waivers to any state that cant test students because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Murphy said New Jersey will apply for that waiver and expects it to be granted.

With students at home and not in their regular classrooms, it is simply not feasible for us to be able to move forward with testing in any meaningful way, Murphy said at Rutgers-Newark during his daily coronavirus briefing.

The governor required all New Jersey schools to close for at least two weeks beginning March 18, and students have been doing worksheets or online assignments from home.

Murphy said mandatory social distancing measures could last months, which means its possible schools will still be closed on April 20 when exams were scheduled to begin.

Folks should expect that schools will be closed for a meaningful time here, the governor said Tuesday.

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, formerly known as PARCC exams, are computerized, so it wouldnt be possible to test students from home, said Mike Yaple, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

The states largest teachers union said it would be unfair to test students, even if they are back in their classrooms. Theres nothing to be gained from students who have missed so much time with their teachers sitting for a test, said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association.

That is completely wishful thinking that you would get useful data out of testing students on materials they havent even had the opportunity to be taught, he said.

State law requires students to pass a high school exit exam before they graduate, but Murphy said the cancelation of standardized test wont stand in the way of students earning a diploma.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A Ghanaian returnee is all praise for the Government of Ghana following Kotoka Airport Covid-19 arrangements.



Identified only as Shirley, the lady in shared video on Facebook, details her arrival in Accra Saturday night (March 21, 2020) via KLM and how she together with all other passengers were taken into mandatory quarantine per government directives on the COVID-19 virus.



According to her, they were told the Government has put in place a mandatory quarantine for all passengers arriving from outside.



Shirley said she was impressed with the directives put in place by the government.



Right now, we are in a hotel and I must say that I am impressed with the arrangement that has been put in place, its not convenient for anyone. You get into your country and you want to go home.



She explained that the situation was well managed, proper measures were put in place to make sure that they were safe.



You are screened at the Airport and they pick your bags, and they have the Ghana Armed Forces buses that pick all the bags, you wait for a cargo truck while the Ghana Armed Forces buses pick all the passengers, you wait with your bags then its put into the cargo track, once they have all the passengers from that particular airline, you are then called or moved into the hotel.



She added that sooner or later, they will be tested and results will be released.







Source: Daily Graphic









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(Bloomberg) --

Companies in India are scrambling to ensure that the millions who staff the back offices of Wall Street banks and take on work outsourced by firms from airlines to insurers can keep going as the nation mandates increased work from home amid a spike in coronavirus cases.

UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and other global giants are working with industry trade group Nasscom to ensure Indian states classify such work as essential services so staff can continue to work from offices if required.

Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and other Indian firms that employ more than four million people in tech hubs such as Bengaluru, are also requesting that their clients relax non-disclosure and other privacy rules so that employees who must stay at home during the lockdown can still do their jobs.

Moving millions of desktops to employees homes, configuring software to allow for slower bandwidth and ensuring cybersecurity - its a mind-boggling physical and logistical exercise that our companies are in the midst of right now, Keshav Murugesh, chairman of Nasscom, said in a phone interview.

The move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose a lockdown Sunday across most of India poses a significant challenge for banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. as well as Indias $181 billion outsourcing industry that handles everything from trade settlements to airline reservations for British Airways.

Nasscom is asking state governments to grant special exemptions for their industry to ensure some workers can go to the office, where they have access to essential databases and reliable high-speed internet -- which most workers lack at home. While many states, including Karnataka, where Bengaluru is based, and Mumbais state of Maharashtra have already granted data centers special status, its not across the board.

Employee safety is paramount but we are also focused on keeping operations running without stoppages, Murugesh said.

Story continues

Privacy Concerns

Privacy is also an issue, with the prospect of millions of workers processing sensitive data from home. Outsourced work from the worlds largest banks, insurers, airlines and retailers are governed by strict non-disclosure agreements. Many companies dont allow employees to even carry their phones in the workplace for fear of compromising clients confidentiality clauses, and restrict access to certain areas to only those working on the project.

Indias data centers are vital for many global finance firms. Barclays Plc has more than 20,000 staff in Indias back offices, tending to all tech solutions globally. Deutsche Bank employs 10,000, while JPMorgan has about three times that many. Barclays has significantly reduced the number of staff working from its Indian offices, while most Deutsche Bank staff are also working from home, according to bank statements.

UBS says about 90% of its 6,000 employees in India are working from home. The Swiss bank has drawn up a list of 600 essential staff who can go to the office and will be offered meals, and transport in cars regularly cleaned with sanitizer, according to people familiar with the banks plans.

Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy, or TCS, has ordered 85% of its global staff to work from home, including the vast majority of its Indian employees, people familiar said.

As part of the business continuity in this critical situation, we have enabled work from home for large number of TCS associates, the company said in a statement, adding its teams are on war footing, to ensure smooth operations.

Bengaluru-based Infosys didnt immediately respond to questions on the prevailing situation with clients and employees. Wipro Ltd. said its customers have been supportive of approving work from home arrangements.

Cases Spike

The coronavirus contagion that has arrived in Indias big cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi is prompting a complete rethink on how work is executed, as experts warn that the densely-populated country of 1.3 billion people with limited health-care infrastructure could soon be hit by an avalanche of cases.

The recent spike prompted the Modi government to recommend sweeping lockdowns and transportation curbs. All passenger and commuter trains were suspended until at least March 31. By Monday, the country had reported 415 cases, including seven deaths. Many states began implementing curfew-like restrictions -- barring more than five people from assembling in public.

Indian stocks rose Tuesday in a volatile session, following a record fall on Monday triggered by the lockdown. The S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 2.7% as of 11:41 a.m. in Mumbai, erasing an earlier loss of as much as 1.3%.

State Approval

Indias federal structure of governance has thrown up its own share of complications for companies. While the central government can advise regional governments to classify information technology and back office work as essential services allowing them to be exempt from lockdowns, only regional governments can amend the rules to allow such an exemption.

Outsourced work such as the back-end of stock markets, airline bookings and medical insurance claims that cant afford a split-second latency will need to be carried out from offices that already have the necessary infrastructure. Confidentiality concerns around work such as drug development and regulatory needs will also require employees to work from offices.Both the central government and many state governments Karnataka and Maharashtra have been extremely helpful in declaring our industry as essential services, said Nasscoms Murugesh, who is also the group chief executive officer of WNS Global Services.Most IT services and back office services companies based in India have already received the required approvals to work from home, said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Nasscom. The remainder should be hearing from their clients in the next couple of days, she said.

(Updates stocks in 16th paragraph)

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Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is pushing back at President Donald Trump's move away from social distancing measures being used to slow the spread of the coronavirus  warning that changes will lead thousands to die without economic gains.

Her public rebuke, issued on Twitter without mentioning Trump's name, comes after Trump this week has shown his frustration with health measures that are grinding the U.S. economy to a halt, in a disruptive and possibly belated effort to try to contain the damage.

'There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do whats necessary to stop the virus,' wrote Cheney, a Republican leader and Wyoming House member who is the daughter for former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rep. Liz Cheney is warning there won't be a functioning economy if the nation does not first confront the coronavirus

Her father, 79, had a heart transplant, and presumably is at risk from the virus, as are other older Americans with heart and lung conditions.

Cheney retweeted severe warnings by Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Trump ally who also has observed there won't be a functioning economy if COVID-19 rages uncontrolled.

'Theres a strong and understandable desire to return to better times and a functioning economy,' Gottlieb wrote in a thread. 'But it should not be lost on anyone that there's no such thing as a functioning economy and society so long as covid-19 continues to spread uncontrolled in our biggest cities.'

He continued: 'The only way to return to a stable economy and restore our liberty, is to end epidemic spread of covid-19. We need a massive effort to offset the hardship of these efforts, and the public health costs they impose, as there are more than economic costs to the measures we're taking.'

'But there's no functioning healthcare with hospitals overwhelmed, no return to work with people terrified of a virus raging uncontrolled. There are two ways to end this. Let a vast swath of people catch covid which is unthinkable, or break the epidemic. We must choose the latter.'

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb urged that the nation consider measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney tweeted after President Trump issued a call to get Americans back to work and said the cure cannot be worse than the disease

'There's no such thing as a functioning economy' if the spread of the disease is not stopped, he wrote

First responders from IU Health Bloomington hospital pick up a woman at the corner of 1st St and S. Walnut St who was sitting slumped over, and was saying she was having trouble breathing, and other COVID-19/Coronavirus symptoms in Bloomington, Ind.

President Trump says he is eager to reopen the U.S. economy and has chafed at the health measures

Cheney's father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, 79, had a heart transplant,

Gottlieb warned on CNBC: 'This is going to be a long fight. I think we need to keep this going several more weeks. But there is an end to this.' He said with lock-downs and other measures, the virus can peak in countries like Italy in about 30 days. The nation is about halfway through a 15-day program proscribed by the administration.

Trump has appeared to follow advice from Gottlieb, who left the administration a year ago, at times during the crisis. But on Tuesday, his tweets made clear he has grown frustrated with the health measures amid steep drops in the financial markets.

'Our people want to return to work,' the president wrote on Twitter.

'They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!,' he argued.

The tweet reflected a change in tone at Monday's White House briefing, which in turn followed earlier urgings that Americans follow strict guidelines and stay home while avoiding large groups.

'America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,' Trump said at the briefing Monday. 'A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.'
At least 46 states and the District of Columbia in the United States have completely closed schools due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting 54.5 million students. While the closures are necessary to slow the spread of the deadly disease, students are suffering from the loss of social interaction and access to counselors, nurses and a consistent food supply.

Some 22 million low-income students receive free or reduced cost breakfasts, lunches and in some cases dinners during the school year through a federal program run by the US Department of Agriculture. The school meals are the second largest federal antihunger program behind the governments food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

A recent survey of directors of meal programs by the School Nutrition Association indicates that over 90 percent are concerned about students missing meals during the school closures. They are also concerned about the financial impact on their meal programs, which depend on cafeteria sales. Government reimbursements for the recorded number of students will be more difficult to collect during the closures.

Striking Oklahoma teachers in 2018

Due to the school closures and lockdown orders, the three largest districts in the USNew York City, Los Angeles and Chicagoalong with urban and rural districts across the country have been forced to improvise using whatever resources are available to distribute meals as well as learning packets.

In New York City, with 1.1 million students, parents are being directed to 400 centers where they can pick up three meals from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Roughly three-quarters of New Yorks students qualify for free or reduced price school breakfasts and lunches.

A public school educator from the New York City borough of Queens told the World Socialist Web Site, Some schools havent even been able to figure out how to contact a significant percentage of the kids, never mind support those who are in real need, with their parents quarantined and losing their jobs.

They had their training of teachers last week that provided just one more example of the unpreparedness and really the backward character of the educational system in terms of tech. They have been focusing so much on assessing teachers based on an unrealistic standard, downsizing in every area and forcing principals to rate low that they didnt bother training people to bring them up to current levels of tech proficiency. Now they say they are going to distribute 300,000 laptops.

Why wasnt there funding for that before? Theyve left teachers, schools, kids and families in overcrowded, run-down buildings, cramming 34 kids in a room.

Districts are implementing e-learning programs that are chaotic and unprepared. Students will struggle to receive the online instruction because of the impact of social inequality, including access to computers and an internet connection. Where there are restrictions against social gathering, students will not be able to go to libraries or fast food restaurants to access a Wi-Fi network. In addition, students with special needs will not be able to get instruction from trained special education teachers.

A teacher in Kingston, about 100 miles north of New York City, said there is a lack of ChromeBooks to continue coordinated educational programs, and younger students are not being prioritized. Her class is primarily immigrants, and she has been actively speaking with struggling parents, some of whom are not citizens and/or single, who have to continue working, making it very difficult to find childcare and prioritize their childs education.

The Trump administration and the Democratic Party have been focused on propping up the stock market and giant corporations with trillions of dollars, leaving teachers, parents and children to scramble with scarce resources. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) abruptly cancelled an online briefing with school superintendents, leading the head of the School Superintendents Association to say superintendents are feeling total confusion" over conflicting statements from the administration.

This is not simply a matter of confusion, however. Plans are already being made to exploit the crisis in order to implement even deeper cuts to public education, while diverting more public resources to for-profit charter schools, public-private partnerships, e-learning businesses and other privatization schemes.

The 2008-09 crisis led to a sharp reduction in federal and state funding and the loss of 351,000 jobs in education by mid-2012 while student attendance rose by 1,419,000. According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, some of the jobs have been restored, but there is still a deficit of 135,000 school employees compared to 2008. The Obama administration used the financial crisis to goad cash-strapped school districts to lift the cap on charter schools and impose merit pay and punitive teacher accountability schemes, which punished teachers for educational problems caused by higher levels of poverty and decades of austerity.

Last week, Education Week published an article titled, Districts Brace for Crash in State K-12 Revenue Due to Coronavirus, which detailed plans being made to cut school district funding, particularly for districts with low property values and tax revenues that are least able to afford it. School districts should brace for a precipitous drop in state K-12 aid next year because of the coronaviruss widespread impact on the economyand they should start preparing now, funding experts warn, the article states.

One school funding consultant told Education Week, For districts, this is going to be a double whammy. Theres uncertainty on the revenue side as far as how much state aid districts are going to get  and, on the expense side, weve got to figure out how to respond to this new world. Districts need to begin planning for a new reality.

State governments have already begun slash spending and renege on pay raises promised to teachers after the wave of strikes over the last two years by more than 700,000 educators demanding wage increases and the restoration of state school spending to pre-2008 levels.

Last week, the Kentucky state Senate passed a budget bill that will withhold $1.3 billion from teacher pension funding unless the unions agree to cut retirement benefits for newly hired teachers. Protesting teachers were not allowed in the capitol because of coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings.

In Tennessee last week, Republican Governor Bill Lee cut in half the amount of money he wants to set aside for teacher pay raises and then got rid of a $250 million proposal to provide mental health services in schools. He instead set aside that money in the states emergency fund, Education Week reported.

Marylands legislature, which raced to approve legislation this week before adjourning its session early, added a clause to an ambitious school funding overhaul that would pull all new funding in the case of a recession, the publication said. In Wisconsin a plan to spend more on special education was shelved.

Districts are also incurring large unexpected costs by delivering meals to students, setting up makeshift child-care centers, and purchasing distance learning materials for students, the article notes. In addition, costs are expected to rise next year when students, many emotionally traumatized and behind academically, return to school.

Any substitute teacher or transportation savings districts might gain by shaving off weeks or months off the school year will be outstripped by new intervention and counseling costs, experts warn, the article notes. States are going to take a massive hit, predicted Marguerite Roza, a Georgetown University school finance expert. School districts will be fine through the end of the school year. But next year is going to be a come-to-Jesus moment.

Like they did after the global financial crash in 2008, the teacher unions will collaborate in the new and far deeper attacks on teachers and public education that are coming. That is why educators and all sections of workers have to take up a struggle against the plans of the corporate and financial elite to exploit the crisis to funnel even more money into their bank accounts and instead take up the fight for a program that defends the interests of the working class.

In its statement How to Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Program for the Working Class, the Socialist Equality Party calls for free and universal testing, immediate and cost-free treatment for all those infected, an emergency program to expand the healthcare infrastructure, the immediate closure of all schools, nonessential plants and workplaces, with full income for workers affected. We urge all educators who agree with this program to join the Socialist Equality Party and take up the fight for socialism.
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan and Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Medan/East Manggarai  Tue, March 24, 2020 06:30 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206cfc258 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,North-Sumatra,doctors,nurses,pandemic,hospital,East-Nusa-Tenggara Free

Regional hospitals across the nation are bracing for a surge in COVID-19 patients as they face a shortage of doctors and nurses with expertise in respiratory illnesses.

As the number of COVID-19 patients continues to rise - reaching 579 on Monday - the need for medical staff has also grown.

In North Sumatra, the province's COVID-19 rapid-response team has trained non-pulmonologist doctors and nurses to cover the shortage of medical staff handling COVID-19 patients in the province.

Team leader Riadil Akhir Lubis said that the trainers included doctors who helped observe Indonesians repatriated from Wuhan in China - the virus's initial epicenter - during their quarantine period in Natuna, Riau Islands.

"The first phase resulted in 60 trained doctors and nurses. After this, more doctors and nurses will be trained, this will go on continuously since there is a lack medical personnel for COVID-19 in North Sumatra," Riadil said on Monday.

The trained doctors and nurses will also be given a COVID-19 handbook in the hope they will soon be ready to anticipate the increasing number of COVID-19 patients.

North Sumatra Health Agency head Alwi Mujahit Hasibuan said that in choosing the doctors and nurses who would receive the training, the rapid-response team referred to the recommendations given by several doctors' and nurses' associations.

Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) only has four pulmonologists to cover COVID-19 patients across 23 regencies and cities.

The four doctors, who are currently resident in Kupang, are expected to be mobile and ready to treat COVID-19 patients anywhere around the region.

NTT administration spokesperson Marius Jelamu said that Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat had rented an airplane to help transport the doctors across the province.

"The administration has also ordered 15,000 masks, personal protective equipment and disinfectant from Jakarta. It is expected to arrive within two or three days," Marius Jelamu told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said the administration had been coordinating closely with the COVID-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta regarding medical equipment and staff.

As of Monday afternoon, Indonesia had recorded 579 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, with 49 deaths. (trn)
Indians proved that they can observe a lockdown, if Sundays 'janata curfew' was a case in point. With 80 districts going into lockdown, the scene on Monday in those places was not much different than the previous day, with only grocery shops, pharmacies and ATMs open. City roads were silent, colony lanes filled with birdsong, and life was unusually peaceful.

But what was also evident on Sunday was the way Indians undermine their own cause. Prime minister Narendra Modi had people to, at 5 pm, clap their hands or bang their pots and pans. It was later rationalized as support for healthcare workers in the trenches against the Covid-19  except those in the trenches are without supplies, uniforms, masks or weapons to fight the microbial enemy. Urban India came out and clapped or banged energetically  there are plenty of videos of it on social media. But they came together as crowds to party, dance or even climb on one anothers shoulders  a mockery of the social distancing that the PM had specifically called for. Is it their fault? After all, thanking doctors, nurses and hospital staff seemed the last thing on urban Indias mind; it was merely following the Great Leaders orders (and also, it cost nothing). Urban India, inspired by community feeling, wanted to party (there is a video of one lady jumping up and down in a way that would make the PM blush, banging on a shiny pan, shrieking Go Corona go). No wonder the PM on Monday tweeted that people werent taking the curfew seriously enough. How can he blame them  these are the same people who believe that noise drives microbes out of infected bodies. Money and education are no barriers to superstition in India  film stars and industrialists were also standing around, banging pots and pans.

Was this yet another excuse to reshape India into an obedient population to follow the Great Leaders orders as he tries to reshape the nation from the ground up? After all, he spoke for 30 minutes on the curfew (his 8 pm addresses to the nation now are something to apprehend rather than look forward to). He did not announce what his government would do for the economy  whether it is the existential crisis that our banks will face or the break in employment and daily wages the poor will have to suffer. He did not address the shortfall in masks or testing equipment for Covid-19, at a time when questions are being raised about the lack of US Drug Administration standards in the available test kits, or the fact that a Gujarat-based firm with no prior experience was given the first chance at manufacturing test kits. The curfew seemed less a panacea than an opportunity, like the Ganesha milk-drinking hoax of 1995, to gauge the extent of support in the population. And having again satiated himself on his narcissism, the Great Leader left it to the States to handle the messy details of the lockdown and healthcare.
As the government is encouraging people to be aware of their health status, scammers found this as an opportunity to rob their money. Those people who were exposed to other people who are infected with the virus must report themselves to the nearest hospital for them to be monitored and analyzed. And for those who are not sure of their health, there are free tests offered by the health officials to determine the presence of the virus in someone's body.

The United States is on red alert, and it only got worse because of these scammers. They used robocalls to spread false information about Coronavirus and offered free test kits along with their health insurance. Authorities found these fraudulent actions, and authorities are finding clues and evidence to disclose where this scam came from.

The Cable News Network's KFile has gathered and investigated all the evidence regarding this matter. They listened and reviewed the data from these coronavirus robocalls using the protection app NoMoRobo. And they have found around more than sixty (60) different phone numbers claiming that they have free coronavirus test kits and that they also have health insurance together with these kits.

READ: COVID-19 Fact Check: Debunking Misleading Claims

NoMoRobo is an application used to block all fraudulent calls, annoying advertisements, telemarketers, spam texts, and phone scammers. With this application, the owner of a telephone number will no longer receive text messages and calls offering things and promo to them.

There is also another robocall that they gathered. This time, the scam artists used the voice of President Donald Trump and ordered the callers to sign a petition banning the flights that are coming from China. They found out that these calls are not connected with the President. But the thing about this one is that they are not asking the people to raise money to support Trump, but instead, they are asking money to fund more robocalls.

But this Coronavirus robocall is very threatening for countless reasons. According to Aaron Foss, the founder, and creator of NomoRobo, because of all the information coming from different sectors of the government, it is tough to identify what to believe and whatnot. In addition to his statement, he also said that in this situation today, many people are in their homes, and they are all very much able to accept calls and be convinced by their offers and disclose their bank information.

CHECK THIS OUT: Facts About 'Favilavir': The First Approved Coronavirus Drug

So the authorities sought to help the consumers by informing them that if it is an unknown number calling, then it is better not to accept the call at all. If they do, they can block the number using the system in their phone or better yet report the number to the Federal Trade Communication.

So what is a robocall? A robocall is an illegal way of selling or offering whatsoever to the receiver unless the FTC has written permission from the consumer to call them that way. A legit call will only inform the consumer about information like their appointments, flights, school delays, and a call from a health provider informing the consumer to pick up their doctor's prescription.
Coronavirus strikes pastor, wife and over 30 others at Ark. church

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An Arkansas pastor who was recently struck with the deadly coronavirus along with his wife, Dena, and more than 30 others connected to his church is now warning others not to underestimate how dangerous the virus is and treat it with wisdom and restraint.

There was very little in my training for the ministry that covered the full measure of what our church family has dealt with in the past few weeks, pastor Mark Palenske of Greers Ferry First Assembly in Cleburne County said in a statement on Facebook Sunday.

The intensity of this virus has been underestimated by so many, and I continue to ask that each of you take it very seriously. An act of wisdom and restraint on your part can be the blessing that preserves the health of someone else.

The church didnt immediately respond to calls from The Christian Post for comment, but Donald Shipp, a deacon of the church, told The Arkansas Democrat Gazette on Monday that at least 34 people connected with the church have tested positive for the virus and several others are still awaiting results. All of them attended a childrens event held at the church from March 5-8.

Of those who tested positive for the virus, 31 are on staff at the church or are members, Shipp said. The others are two evangelists who led the childrens event and a child who was visiting.

As of Tuesday, Arkansas had 218 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. The state also confirmed a 91-year-old man as their first death from the disease.

Palenske warned on his Facebook page that the virus is highly contagious and his wife got so sick she had to be hospitalized along with several other members of their church.

First of all, we cannot pinpoint where the virus came from. Even though we were the original positives, there are people who have been sick longer than we have. It clearly made its way through a special weekend of childrens ministry at our church. Even before positive results were returned, we had already followed medical advice and canceled services, he said.

We were convinced that whether it was COVID-19 or another virus, we assumed that no one wanted what we were dealing with and sought to confine ourselves. I need to let you know that we did not travel out of the state of Arkansas. This virus is highly contagious and it is no respecter of persons.

He continued: "It seemingly picks its victim at random, so its best to remain very vigilant in hygiene protocols to the very best of your abilities. I would request that you spend some time in prayer for our medical personnel. They are dealing with hourly changes and yesterdays plans are obviously not suitable for the circumstances. They are trying their very best and we are indebted to their diligence and their compassionate service, he said.

Palenske explained that he and his church got access to testing for the coronavirus thanks to a local doctor who had a very small number of commercial tests.

Our symptoms began with a headache followed by intense body aches and lethargy. Beyond that we have had to deal with waves of chills, sweating and nausea. Dena had a very scary morning a few days ago, which included a seizure of sorts and required hospitalization.  She is much better and we are both back at our house, he said.

He further noted that one of the key things that factored into their recovery was to stay hydrated.

It sounds so simple but it takes great focus as you deal with the above symptoms. Tylenol has been a great friend during all of this and doctors have advised against ibuprofen or Motrin, he said.

Palenske noted that while some people might not take the social distancing advice seriously, for the sake of others they should try to practice it to keep infections low.

I would love to have you take this medical threat more seriously. Maybe you assumed that it couldnt happen to you, just like I did. Please adhere to the social instructions that you are receiving locally and nationally. We must keep the affected population to as low a number as possible. Our singular act of stubborn independence can have far reaching effects on someone elses life, he said. Respect and compassion for the people around us must dominate our self-discipline.

Over 49,700 people in the U.S. are now infected with the new coronavirus and 600 have died as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins. Nearly 407,400 cases have been reported globally and more than 18,200 people have died.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 03:24:34|Editor: huaxia

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A man wearing a face mask rides a bike in Rome, Italy, March 22, 2020.(Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

The coronavirus pandemic had claimed 6,077 lives in locked down Italy by Monday, with the cumulative number of confirmed cases reaching 63,927.



ROME, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic had claimed 6,077 lives in locked down Italy by Monday, with the cumulative number of confirmed cases reaching 63,927, according to new figures released by the Civil Protection Department.

The death toll had increased by 601 from 5,476 recorded by Sunday, Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli told a late afternoon press conference.

The number of recoveries had also increased, with 408 more people cured by Monday, reaching a total of 7,432.

People wait in line outside a supermarket in Bologna, Italy, March 21, 2020.(Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

Some 3,780 new active coronavirus infections were registered on Monday, bringing the total active cases to 50,418 since the pandemic first broke out in the northern regions of the country on Feb. 21.

Borelli, who also serves as extraordinary commissioner in this emergency, explained that 68 people -- 28 of them COVID-19 patients -- have so far been moved from Lombardy to other hospitals across the country in order to provide some relief to the most affected region.

"Germany has also taken in two patients, and it is ready to accommodate a total of eight," Borrelli told reporters.

"I also want to highlight the solidarity showed by several other countries, which are helping us in this emergency, and especially the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, France, and Germany, all of which have provided staff and means against the epidemic," he stressed.

Carabinieri members are on duty in Ostia, Rome, Italy, March 21, 2020. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

Among the most affected regions were Lombardy (currently counting 18,910 active cases), Emilia Romagna (7,220), Veneto (4,986), Piedmont (4,529), Marche (2,358) and Tuscany (2,301), Borelli said.
Women have been serving the United States military for generations, sewing uniforms during the Revolutionary War and nursing the wounded during World War II. They have flown fighter jets, commanded warships and more recently fought in combat on the front lines.

But they have never been required to register for a military draft.

That could soon change. Under a new recommendation to Congress by a national commission, all Americans ages 18 to 25  not just young men as currently required  would have to register with the government in case of a military draft.

The recommendation, part of a report that will be released to Congress on Wednesday, represents the final stage in a divisive debate that has been simmering for decades: Should the United States have a military draft, and should it include women?

The biggest piece of opposition was, we are not going to draft our mother and daughters, our sisters and aunts to fight in hand-to-hand combat, said Dr. Joseph Heck, chairman of the commission, which held dozens of public meetings and considered more than 4,000 public comments over the past two years.
[March 24, 2020] Giatec's SmartRock AI Assistant, Roxi, to Validate Maturity Calibrations OTTAWA, Ontario, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Giatec, world leader in concrete testing technologies, has announced that their artificial intelligence program, Roxi, has been trained with the ability to detect possible errors in concrete maturity calibrations and mix proportions. Roxi was the first AI program created for concrete testing. It was developed in conjunction with Montreal Institute of Learning Algorithms, Mila, Quebec's World-Renowned Artificial Intelligence Institute. With the help of Mila and Giatec's team of AI experts, Roxi provides new insights into concrete curing by using machine learning algorithms. With this latest update, Roxi can uncover human error that may occur when concrete mixes are set up for maturity calibration, offering suggestions to correct calibration data. This includes the ability to analyze concrete mix proportions such as specified strength, slump, and air content. "My team and I are excited to be working with Giatec, a company that has a revolutionary approach to leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve real-world problems in the construction industry," says Frederic Laurin, Director of Partnerships at Mila. Roxi was built for Giatec's award-winning SmartRock wireless concrete sensor. Through these sensors, currently being used in over 6,000 construction projects worldwide, Roxihas access to millions of data points. As the first truly wireless sensor introduced to the market in 2015, SmartRock is the leading concrete maturity sensor for accurate monitoring of concrete curing and hardening. Unlike time-consuming and error-prone break tests, or cumbersome wired sensors, Giatec's patented maturity sensor uses a highly accurate ASTM-approved testing method. This has translated into faster, safer, and more economical concrete construction. Training Roxi for mix calibration verification was done with the help of mix data provided by; Stoneway Concrete, Central Concrete (a U.S. Concrete company), Maschmeyer Concrete Company of Florida, Hilltop Concrete, and Tomlinson. "We are very happy to have collaborated with Giatec in the development of the first-ever concrete testing AI assistant. Now, we can assure our contractors that their data is verified because our team can easily and confidently calibrate our concrete mixes for maturity," says Patrick Frawley, Director of Quality Assurance at Central Concrete. ABOUT GIATEC

Giatec Scientific Inc. is a global company revolutionizing the construction industry by bringing smart testing technologies and real-time data collection to the forefront of every jobsite. Giatec's suite of hardware & software products has leveraged advanced technologies such as; Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT), including; wireless concrete sensors, mobile apps, and advanced non-destructive technologies (NDT) to drive innovation throughout concrete's lifecycle. For more information visit www.giatec.ca. Giatec wants to acknowledge the generous support it received from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) in the development of the Roxi AI program. MEDIA CONTACT

Dobrila Moogk, Vice President, Marketing

Tel: +1 (877) 497-6278 ext. 9280

[email protected] Related Images giatec-roxi-artificial.png

Giatec Roxi Artificial Intelligence Program Related Links SmartRock Roxi View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/giatecs-smartrock-ai-assistant-roxi-to-validate-maturity-calibrations-301028555.html SOURCE Giatec Scientific Inc.

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An international team of scientists studying lifespans of wild mammals have found that, just like humans, females tend to live significantly longer than their male counterparts.

The researchers looked at the lifespans of 101 different species, from sheep to elephants, and found that females lived an average of 18% longer than males for more than 60% of the species studies. In humans, females tend to live around 7.8% longer.

The study, led by scientists at University Lyon 1 and published in the prestigious journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found this was not due to the sexes aging at different rates but that females had an average lower risk of mortality in adulthood than males.

It was unclear from the data as to why females survive longer than males, however the authors suggest that it could be due to complex interactions between the local environmental conditions and sex-specific costs of reproduction.

Professor Tamas Szekely, from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, was one of the authors of the study. He said: 'We've known for a long time that women generally live longer than men, but were surprised to find that the differences in lifespan between the sexes was even more pronounced in wild mammals than in humans.

"This could be either because females are naturally able to live longer, or that female mortality drops compared with males.

"For example, lionesses live at least 50% longer in the wild than male lions. We previously thought this was mostly due to sexual selection - because males fight with each other to overtake a pride and thus have access to females, however our data do not support this. Therefore there must be other, more complex factors at play.

"Female lions live together in a pride, where sisters, mothers and daughters hunt together and look after each other, whereas adult male lions often live alone or with their brother and therefore don't have the same support network.

"Another possible explanation for the sex difference is that female survival increases when males provide some or all of the parental care. This is also true in birds. Giving birth and caring for young becomes a significant health cost for females and so this cost is reduced if both parents work together to bring up their offspring."

The researchers plan to compare the data on wild animals with that of captive zoo animals, which do not have to deal with predators or competition for food or mates. This will allow them to measure the extent to which biological differences between the sexes have an effect on life expectancy.

"By affecting males and females differently, harsh environmental conditions such as a high prevalence in pathogens, is likely to cause sex-differences in lifespan.

"Comparing the sex gap in lifespan and aging across several populations of the same species is definitely full of promises," said Jean-Francois Lemaitre from the National Centre for Scientific Research (University Lyon 1, France) and coordinator of this study.

###

The research, supported by the Royal Society and the French National Research Agency (CNRS), was a collaboration between scientists from France, the UK, Finland, USA, New Zealand, Hungary and Germany.
Rand Paul has defended himself from criticism over failing to self-isolate while awaiting Covid-19 test results, as members of Congress who had contact with the senator went into quarantine after his tests came back positive.

The Kentucky Republican addressed those who want to criticise me for lack of quarantine in a statement on Monday, saying: Realise that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol.

The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined, the senator continued.

He added: It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested.

His comments came after fellow senators reportedly condemned Mr Paul for continuing to use Senate facilities after taking a test for Covid-19, including Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who called the move absolutely irresponsible and wrote in a tweet: You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus.

After it was reported Mr Paul had taken a coronavirus test, he was seen at the Senate gym swimming in the pool on the same day he later said he received his positive results.

His office said in a statement he left the Senate immediately upon learning of his diagnosis and had zero contact with anyone [and] went into quarantine.

However, Utah Republicans Mike Lee and Mitt Romney have since released statements confirming the two senators went into self-quarantine after having direct contact with Mr Paul.

The senator also received backlash from health experts like Ezekiel Emanuel, senior fellow at the left-leaning Centre for American Progress, who described the failure to self-isolate as a lack of leadership in an interview with MSNBC.

Multiple times Rand Paul has sort of violated his basic oath of being a physician, that he should model good, healthy behaviours, the doctor said.

In his statement, Mr Paul also called for more expansive testing surrounding the novel virus after the US faced significant hurdles in distributing kits across the country, saying: The broader the testing and the less finger-pointing we have, the better.

The senator noted he didnt fit the criteria for testing or quarantine but ultimately decided to get tested for coronavirus due to his extensive travel and underlying health conditions. A portion of Mr Pauls lung was removed last year following his assault by a neighbour two years prior.

He also said that he remains asymptomatic for Covid-19 despite having tested positive for the virus, which has infected at least 35,000 Americans as of Monday.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Cities have been timing traffic lights for years so that drivers can catch as many green lights as possible to cut down on commuting time. The idea is also to save gas and cut emissions by reducing idle time at red lights.

Now automakers and app developers are using software to try to perfect the idea by calculating the ideal speed to catch a green light and telling drivers how long before a red light turns to green.

Consumer Reports wanted to see how well these app-based systems work, so we tested them in real time in New York City, White Plains, N.Y., and Salt Lake City. We found they didnt always provide accurate information.

These systems were sometimes accurate, but sometimes remarkably wrong, says Kelly Funkhouser, head of connected and automated vehicles at CR. They sometimes said the light was green when it was actually red, and vice versa.

Those results show the limitations of using software to predict when traffic lights will change. Thats mainly because todays vehicles and traffic lights arent yet equipped to communicate directly with each other. The apps instead use sophisticated algorithms, historical data, and information from local traffic control centers to predict whether a light will be red or green. But they arent sophisticated enough to help drivers sail through a sea of green lights, CR found.

Drivers who want a smoother commute may be better off ignoring apps and following some tried-and-true strategies, such as paying attention to traffic flow, obeying speed limits, and avoiding hard braking and acceleration.

Its much easier to just pay attention to the road, Funkhouser says, and not get distracted by the unreliable information on the dashboard.

How It Works

Traffic light prediction software doesnt connect directly to traffic lights. Instead, third parties collect traffic light data from local government agencies, analyze it to predict when lights will change, then send that information to drivers over a 4G cellular network. Its all meant to happen in real time as you drive down the road.

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The information shows up on a drivers dashboard or smartphone display as a recommended speed to keep in order to make the next green light. (Its never more than the speed limit.) It also shows a countdown timer that tells the driver how long they have before a light changes to red or green.

Currently, these systems are available only in certain areas where local government agencies have agreed to share traffic light data with third parties. And even in those cities it isnt active at every intersection.

CR tested two systems: Audis Traffic Light Information (TLI), which is built into certain 2017 and newer Audi vehicles equipped with Audi Connect (it covers more than 10,000 intersections in more than 30 cities), and a stand-alone smartphone app called EnLighten (it covers about 12,000 intersections in the U.S., although the company tells CR it plans a major expansion soon).

What We Saw

We tested EnLighten using Android and iPhones in Salt Lake City, UT, and TLI in 2019 Audi Q8 and Q3 SUVs in New York City and White Plans, NY in January and last summer. We fixed cameras inside vehicle interiors that could record the apps display screen, the vehicles speedometer, and the traffic lights from the windshield. We also put a time stamp on the video so we could check the accuracy of any countdown timers. Then we reviewed the videos.

Our testers found that both systems were inaccurate in much the same way. Each would occasionally predict that a light would turn red long before it changed or would display no information at all. When our testers were stopped at red lights, sometimes the countdown timers changed their estimates multiple times or didnt show an estimate at all. Sometimes the red-light timer would complete its countdown, but the light would remain red for much longer.

CR found that predictions were more accurate in places where lights operate on fixed intervals and most intersections have two streets converging at right angles, as opposed to areas where streets have a more complex design.

What Went Wrong

Anticipating how traffic lights run can be tricky, Funkhouser says. Because lights dont communicate directly with cars, any unexpected changea pedestrian requesting a walk light, a car in a turn lane triggering a green arrowcan throw off a prediction.

Any given intersection might already have 10 or 20 potential light phases, or timing sequences, she says. Adding these unexpected changes just makes it that much more difficult to predict when the light is going to change.

According to Pom Malhotra, director of connected services at Audi of America, TLI will display signal information only if the car is 95 percent confident in a prediction. If predictions for specific lights are frequently incorrect, they will no longer be displayed, Malhotra says. This in part explains why we occasionally encountered lights with a no-light-change prediction generated by the app. Additionally, TLI analyzes whether the driver has a turn signal on, how fast the car is traveling, and how close the car is to an intersection in order to make a more accurate prediction.

Connected Signals, the company behind EnLighten, told CR that it's planning an update that will drastically expand coverage to many more major roadways. The company says the update will also be able to predict the state of multiple lights on a single road as opposed to just the next signal, so drivers will know what speed to travel to catch multiple green lights in a row. (CR will test this update as soon as it becomes available.)

Ultimately, Malhotra says that services like TLI can help drivers, but theyre no substitute for paying attention. Were not offering a safety service, he says. You have to liken it to a routing algorithm in a navigation system. It helps you, it gives you convenience, it gives you some confidence, but at the end of the day you are ultimately responsible.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Mindfulness meditation can help reduce anxiety, depression and pain. It's worth a try. (Nadya Lukic / Getty Images)

Paying attention to whats happening in the moment is difficult in the age of COVID-19, but it can also help us cope during an unsettling time.

Are you worried about tomorrow? Just try to focus on today, says Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. Most of the time, our minds are locked in the past and future, Winston explains. "Mindfulness puts you in the moment. Most people are OK in the here and now. If you can put yourself in the present, you can handle difficult thinking.

As people become more anxious as they self-quarantine at home, Winston recommends mindfulness meditation, a practice that has been proven to alleviate stress, depression and insomnia, as a way to cope.

People often feel discouraged when they first give meditation a try, Winston says, because their mind goes in a million directions.

That's exactly what is supposed to happen.

Keep trying.

Thats part of the process, Winston says. Especially now when there is so much to worry about. Youre not doing anything wrong. Come back to the present moment. Or try to meditate for five minutes. Your practice will only get stronger over time.

Try to avoid what Winston calls "worst-case scenario" forward thinking and focus on what's happening now. Using a train metaphor, Winston illustrates the ways in which our thinking can help us: The moment that we realize that weve been lost in worry, it is possible to get off the train. If you realize that you are on the train, its important to know that you can get off. As you practice mindfulness, you dont even have to get on the train in the first place. You can stay on the platform and let those scary thoughts go.

Whether you get on the worry train or not, Winston recommends using the STOP acronym, a well known mindfulness tool, to help calm yourself:

S: Stop. When you notice that you are feeling anxious and you need a moment: stop.

T: Take a breath. If you find yourself worrying about the future, bring yourself back to the present. Take a breath, pause, feel your feet on the ground.

Story continues

O: Observe what is happening inside yourself. Does your stomach hurt? Is your heart racing? Ask yourself, How am I right now? Bring yourself back to the moment.

P: Proceed with more awareness of yourself and what will help you. Connecting with a friend, or having some daily quiet time outdoors, can help.

When under duress, we can get overwhelmed and regress. The key to staying grounded during difficult times, Winston says, is to be kind to ourselves. Dont be hard on yourself for eating lots of chocolate or 'feeling needy' and calling your friends, she says. With so much unknown, its scary. Were not going to be at our best.

Nigel Sampson, owner of Whole Body Method Pilates and Certification Studio in Los Angeles, agrees. Everyone needs to practice a little more kindness, awareness and compassion, says Sampson who also works as a healer. We have to be as present as possible to navigate this moment in time. Its like a new world. In a way, we get to be better people

Sampson offers these simple meditation techniques as a way to stay healthy right now:

Breathe



Take a moment every day to do some slow, deep breathing. We tend to breathe a lot more shallow when we become fearful, Sampson says. "We have to use all the tools that we took for granted because we were so busy running our lives. We have to breathe deeper; more slowly and reset the nervous system."

Nature



Being in nature is one of the most grounding elements that we have. "Nature has its own intelligence and its own rhythm," Sampson says. "You can sense that the Earth is still supporting you. Go out and spend moments in nature. Brush your hands down a tree. Listen to the birds. Put your hands in water. Make nature a part of you."

Movement



Movement is grounding because Your body is a like an antenna," Sampson says. "When it doesnt go anywhere, the body shuts down. That results in depression, sadness, isolation. It's important to shake the body up. "

Shaking



Stand up and shake your arms, legs and feet for a minute or two. You will feel a little bit calmer, lighter and happier. You may even smile and giggle. Sampson suggests doing this in the morning and before you go to bed. It will release all the energy that has been stagnant all day and you can let it go and start fresh. Its like taking an internal shower. You wouldnt go a week without a shower. So dont go a week without shaking. 

Visualization



You can create anything in your mind. Imagine yourself walking in a forest. Often when you feel fearful, your sensations shut down, Sampson says. Open yourself up to sensations by the practice of conscious visualization, which is just seeing something pleasant. Imagine the sounds of nature, the feel of running water, the smell of lemon verbena. All of these sensations will bring you back to a better state."

Although Sampson is a believer in the benefits of mindfulness meditation, he acknowledges these techniques won't solve the grave financial hardships many are experiencing due to the coronavirus. But they can help put your mind in a better state to tackle the worries that come with the fast-moving pandemic.

Meditation can put you in a state where it can help you make better decisions, he says. It might help you feel a little less hopeless. In the end, its all about the state you are in and how that state can empower you. Once you do these techniques, you might have some empowering ideas and a sense of possibility.

Online resources that offer help with anxiety

Ten Percent Happier

In an effort to help alleviate anxiety, stress and fear, this popular meditation app is offering a free coronavirus sanity guide online. Every day at noon, host Dan Harris, who famously had a panic attack while reading the news on Good Morning America," offers a live sanity break with leading meditation teachers from around the country. The guided meditations are all posted on YouTube so you can watch them anytime you're feeling anxious: tenpercent.com

Headspace

If you've been wanting to try meditation but haven't had the time, this subscription-based app offers a free 10-day introduction course that guides you through the basics of meditation and mindfulness. $12.99 per month or $69.99 for a year, which includes access to a full library of courses spanning mindful eating to parenting, as well as a daily meditation, sleep sounds and bedtime exercises. headspace.com

InsightLA

The Los Angeles mindfulness training group offers a variety of classes, including guided meditations, on Zoom. A donation of $5 to $30 is suggested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. insightla.org

Calm

The mindfulness and meditation app is offering a page of resources with free mindfulness tools to offer support during the coronavirus pandemic. Content includes breathing exercises and journaling prompts to help you stay grounded. Like Headspace, the Calm app provides a basic course in meditation for free, with more advanced meditations requiring a subscription starting at $14.99 per month. A seven-day free trial is currently available. calm.com

UCLA Mindful App

Studio-recorded guided meditations and free weekly podcasts led by Diana Winston, a former Buddhist nun and one of the nations best known teachers of mindfulness meditation. Six week online classes are also available. Guided meditations are offered in English and Spanish. uclahealth.org

Whole Body Method

The Los Angeles studio is offering free Instagram live classes on @wholebodymethod as well as Zoom in-home private classes. wholebodymethod.com

Insight Timer

Insight Timer features more than 30,000 free guided meditations on more than 200 topics, including sleep, anxiety, stress and kids (there are upgrades that require a purchase). A yearly subscription is $60, with a 30-day free trial available. insighttimer.com




DUBLIN and TAMPA, Florida, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Avectas, a cell engineering technology business and Vycellix, Inc. an immuno-discovery cell & gene therapy company, today announced that the companies have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop proprietary approaches for cell-based immunotherapeutic products.

The companies will collaborate on the delivery of Vycellix's novel RNA immunomodulator VY-M using Avectas' cell engineering platform, Solupore. The collaboration will address current limitations for cell-based therapies, in particular with respect to the need to accelerate the manufacturing process, reduce the cost of manufacture, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

"We are delighted to partner with Vycellix and join forces in the development of novel cell-based products," says Michael Maguire, PhD, CEO of Avectas. "We believe Solupore will play a critical role in the manufacture of cell-based therapies and will support a path towards effective patient outcomes."

According to Vycellix's President, Douglas Calder, "Solupore represents a new paradigm for delivery of transgenes, and our initial studies will evaluate Solupore to deliver our new product candidate, VY-M, to T cells and NK cells. We expect to accelerate the expansion-time of T cells and NK cells by decreasing the non-dividing lag time, resulting in much shorter "vein-to-vein" delivery-time to patients." The studies will be conducted at Avectas' Dublin-based facility and at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Both Avectas and Vycellix are collaborative partners within NextGenNK, a newly established competence center for development of next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies based at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. It is envisioned that Avectas and Vycellix will further expand their collaboration within the NextGenNK constellation.

"We are excited to see the NextGenNK competence center catalysing interactions among its industrial partners to advance NK cell-based immunotherapies," says Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, MD PhD, Director of the NextGenNK competence center. "The present collaboration may pave the way for similar collaborations among NextGenNK partners."

In February 2020, Avectas announced that it had entered an agreement with the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) based in Toronto, Canada to accelerate the translation of Avectas' non-viral cell engineering platform (Solupore) into the clinic.

About Avectas:

Avectas is a cell engineering technology business developing a unique delivery platform to enable the ex-vivo manufacture of our partners' gene-modified cell therapy products, which will retain high in-vivo functionality. Our vision is to be a leading non-viral cell engineering technology provider, integrated into manufacturing processes for multiple autologous and allogeneic therapies, commercialized through development and license agreements. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.avectas.com

About Vycellix:

Vycellix, Inc. is a private, immuno-discovery, life science company at the forefront of innovation in the development of cell & gene-based therapies targeting indications in, but not limited to, hematology/oncology, autoimmunity/chronic inflammatory diseases, and organ/tissue transplantation.

The Company's platforms were all initially discovered by scientists at the world-renowned Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden. KI is globally recognized for its Nobel Assembly, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.vycellix.com

SOURCE Avectas; Vycellix

Related Links

http://www.avectas.com


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Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari, is reportedly sick days after returning from aa foreign trip.

According to Sahara Reporters, the Chief of Staff had been down with sickness since returning from a trip to Germany and Egypt, this has been causing panic that he may be down with the dreaded Coronavirus.

Also Read: COVID-19: Nigeria Could Be Heading To Something Dangerous Like In China, Italy  FG Warns

Though coughing severely, Kyari is said to have been attending meetings including with Buhari, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council.
A total of 63,927 coronavirus cases have been assessed in Italy since the pandemic broke out in its northern regions on February 21, the Civil Protection Department managing the COVID-19 emergency has said, adding that 601 fatalities were also registered on Monday, with the death toll reaching 6,077.

The number of total infections grew by 4,789, or 8 per cent from 59,138 cases recorded on Sunday. The daily fatality figure dropped from Sunday's 651 and Saturday's 793, the department said, Xinhua reported.



Although still upward, the figures showed the daily rise in both the number of people testing positive and the number of deaths has been less marked for the second day in a row, Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli told a press conference late Monday afternoon.



Health authorities, however, warned that it was still too early to confirm a decreasing trend in the ongoing pandemic.





"The more we have consecutive (downward) measurements, the more confident we can be," Silvio Brusaferro, president of Italy's National Health Institute (ISS), said at the press conference alongside Borrelli.



"I am looking carefully and favorably at such numbers, but I do not want yet to commit myself to saying whether this is a trend or not," he stressed, adding that this week would be crucial for evaluating the trends.



As in the previous days, the ISS chief also warned that a crucial goal for national authorities and the health system remain to be avoiding the dynamics of strong circulation of the virus seen in the northern regions "reproduced in the South."



Still on daily data, Borrelli said recoveries also kept increasing, with 408 more people added, bringing the total to 7,432.



"Of the 50,418 people who are positive, some 26,522 are currently under home isolation -- being asymptomatic or with light symptoms -- another 3,204 are in intensive care, and all the other hospitalized in ordinary wards," he specified.



Considering all statistics, the total number of assessed cases Italy reached 63,927.



Borrelli also said that Italy was benefitting from the solidarity of several countries in its fight against the COVID-19, and especially thanked "the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, France, and Germany, all of which have provided us with additional staff and means against the epidemic."



Among countries that have sent medical materials and experts were also Cuba and Venezuela.



The most affected regions remained northern Lombardy (18,910 positive cases), Emilia Romagna (7,220), Veneto (4,986), and Piedmont (4,529), plus central Marche (2,358) and Tuscany (2,301), data showed.



Lombardy's regional authorities also reported slight positive signals on Monday, yet sounding cautious as well.



"We count 28,761 positive people today, with a daily increase of 1,555 cases, while the previous daily rise in infections was of 1,691," Lombardy's Welfare Councillor Giulio Gallera told a press conference broadcast live on social media and TV networks from Milan.



"Another beautiful signal concerns the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized (in ordinary wards), which is now 9,266, against 9,439 in the previous day... it is the first time," Gallera stressed.



Echoing the warning from Brusaferro, Gallera said it was still too early to claim the pandemic was really slowing down, and he strongly appealed to people to keep respecting all restrictions implemented since a national lockdown went into effect on March 10.



Health Minister Roberto Speranza said the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) approved the testing of the antiviral drug known as Avigan against the COVID-19, local media reported.
This article originally appeared on the Riverhead Patch

RIVERHEAD, NY  In the face of coronavirus, small business owners are facing economic challenges and new restrictions that have either led to outright closures or the ability to only serve takeout or delivery orders.

But across the East End and on Long Island, there is an army of caring business owners and community members who have banded together and decided to focus on giving back, rather than giving in to despair.

Wendy's Deli in Mattituck made the day a lot brighter for emergency room staff at Peconic Bay Medical Center. / Courtesy Alexis Breest.

Wendy Zuhoski, owner of Wendy's Deli in Mattituck, has long been known for her efforts to lend a hand to those in the community finding themselves tackling tough times. She's organized scores of fundraisers over the years and is always ready to help.



When Zuhoski saw a post about the staff at local hospitals needing food, she sprang into action. On Monday, she delivered lunch to the emergency room staff at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

"I knew we needed to jump right on that. It's not about us making a bunch of sandwiches and sending them down there. It's not about that at all," she said. "We appreciate each and every one of the hospital employees working through all of this. These are tough times. We can't imagine the hours you are putting in and the conditions you are working under. Please know how appreciated you are."

Zuhoski also brought food to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport Monday night and is headed to San Simeon By the Sound in Greenport on Tuesday.

When asked how she was able to give back so freely when all small businesses have been hit hard, Zuhoski said: "So many of these workers are customers of ours. They are going through very tough times and we are here to help them out."

And she's not alone in her efforts: Zuhoski said she's had people asking all day how they could take part in the effort.

"Everyone wants to help," she said. "It's amazing how many of you have reached out to us to see what you can do to help. Thank you  we couldn't do what we do without you. From other business owners to family to friends to customers to people we don't even know. It started at 5 a.m. this morning with people giving us money to pay it forward, people stopping by with donations, people offering to deliver donations, people dropping off baked goods to add to donations  it's never-ending, and we really appreciate each and every one of you."

Story continues

Other business owners have offered funds, or offered to roll up their sleeves and cook.

"This is what it's all about. This is us. I love to see the good in people. It sure does shine lately," Zuhoski said. "We will get through this."





(Courtesy Peggy Kneski of the Riverhead Flower Shop)

Bouquets of love for seniors

When Peggy Kneski, owner of the Riverhead Flower Shop on East Main Street, learned she had to close Sunday night because her businesses was deemed "non-essential," she gave back in a big way.

"This is what teamwork, family, small business loyalty looks like," she wrote on Facebook. "During this difficult time we are sending out 150 fresh flower vase arrangements" one for every resident at the Acadia Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation  "who is unable to have family and friends visit" due to coronavirus concerns.

With the store's own stock of product and "a generous supply" offered from J. Merullo Imports in Syosset, Kneski said: "We were able to achieve our goal. Our hope is to let the residents know that we love them, care about them and will not forget about them. We're hoping to calm their fears just a bit."





Every day, Patch will focus on community members making a difference to help others in need. If you want to share a story of giving, email Lisa.Finn@patch.com.


People are now going to start evaluating what this all means to them personally, Wright noted, stressing that the onus is on governments to assuage these fears and answer these needs.

This might prove challenging considering the numbers: while 68% of respondents approve of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus performance during this crisis, and an average of 74% say that political leaders across Canada are doing well, 87% stand behind their local health workers.

Politicians are pretty low on the trust list, whereas physicians are going to be much higher, according to Melanee Thomas, a political scientist with the University of Calgary. I would expect perceptions of [medical officials] leadership to be through the roof.

With looming insolvency remaining a threat to approximately 48% of Canadians per MNP LTD figures, delinquencies might see a notable increase in the next few months if the coronavirus continues to ravage the economy, Scott Terrio of Hoyes, Michalos & Associates stated.

Moreover, even though the federal government has already pledged over $565 billion dollars in helping rejuvenate the financial system, Canadian households are likely to face cash flow issues, RBC Economics analysts warned.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach have agreed to put off the Tokyo 2020 games for one year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.



The move, unprecedented in peacetime, was requested "taking into consideration the current circumstances," Abe said, noting that all parties want a secure and safe environment for the athletes and crowds.



The Olympics, which have been held every four years since 1948, is to date the highest-profile event affected by the virus, which has killed more nearly 19,000 and infected over 422,000 people, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try and slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

Here's a roundup of other coronavirus developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.

Iran

Iran, one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the coronavirus, has rejected an offer from a Geneva-based medical charity to set up a 50-bed inflatable hospital in the central city of Isfahan to deal with the epidemic.

The total number of people diagnosed with the disease increased by 1,762 during the previous 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on March 24, raising the total figure to 24,811.

The ministry also announced 122 new deaths from the virus, putting the official toll at 1,934.

"We are surprised to learn that the deployment of our treatment unit is canceled," Michel-Olivier Lacharite, who is in charge of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) crisis-response team, said in a statement on March 24.

Lacharite said the organization had been ready to set up the unit at the end of the week after being given prior approval from the authorities.

Alireza Vahabzadeh, adviser to Iran's health minister, tweeted that "it is not necessary for now for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and their presence is ruled out."

Vahabzadeh cited Iran's "national mobilization against the virus and the full use of the medical capacity of the armed forces" as the reasons for the refusal.

On March 22, MSF said it was sending a 50-bed inflatable hospital and an emergency team to Isfahan to treat patients critically ill with COVID-19.

An MSF team comprised of nine emergency and intensive-care unit doctors and logisticians was to run the unit to be set up in the compound of the citys Amin hospital, the organization said.

The announcement stirred opposition from Iranian hard-liners, who alleged that MSF staff would serve as "spies."

Iranian officials have previously rejected the United States' offer of humanitarian assistance, saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the epidemic.

Iran has been under crippling U.S. sanctions in connection with its nuclear and missile program.

On March 24, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran to be "urgently reevaluated" to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse.

"At this crucial time, both for global public-health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended," Bachelet said.

More than 50 Iranian medics have died since the first coronavirus case was detected in the country five weeks ago, according to her office.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani on March 24 announced that about half of all government employees were staying at home in a bid to slow the coronavirus outbreak.

Rohani also said the temporary release of prisoners will be extended until the end of the current Iranian month of Farvardin, about April 18.

Iranian authorities say they have temporarily released tens of thousands of prisoners because of the epidemic.

Russia

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has warned President Vladimir Putin that the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Russia is likely to rise sharply in the days ahead as health officials dramatically increase the number of tests they are carrying out.

Sobyanin, who heads a coronavirus task force at Russia's State Council, told Putin on March 24 that the number of tests performed in Moscow will increase from about 3,000 a day to 13,000 per day by the end of this week.

"The problem is that the volume of testing is very low and no one has a clear picture" of the situation in Russia and the world, Sobyanin told Putin.

"The picture that is unfolding is serious," he said, warning that the number of infected people in Russia was "significantly" higher than official figures.

Russia has registered 495 cases of the coronavirus and maintains that there have not been any deaths from the disease in the country.

One patient with coronavirus died in a Russian hospital, but the authorities are not counting the woman's death as part of its coronavirus toll -- saying she died from a blood clot.

However, a global database maintained by Johns Hopkins University is including that patient in its coronavirus death toll.

Some experts say Russia's relatively low number of confirmed coronavirus infections could be attributed to its slow pace of screening.

Until recently, just one lab in Novosibirsk was analyzing tests from all over Russia.

Russia is now taking steps to open new labs and increase the number of tests being carried out for coronavirus.

Putin, meanwhile, visited a Moscow hospital for coronavirus patients on March 24 -- donning a yellow hazmat suit with a protective mask within an area where patients were being treated.

During his visit to a hospital in the Moscow suburb of Kommunarka, Putin praised doctors for their efforts in treating infected patients, saying they were working "like clockwork, a well-oiled machine."

"I could see how well the seriously ill patients are being cared for with three specialists working on one patient at once," Putin said in comments published on the Kremlin website.

Armenia

Armenia has ordered nearly all people in the country to remain at home except to buy food, receive medical care, or to exercise, with only "vitally" necessary workers allowed to go to their jobs as the government steps up measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision announced on March 24 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian came hours after a government task force ordered a partial closure of virtually all state agencies, allowing only a limited number of employees to show up for work.

Armenia, a South Caucasus country of just under 3 million people, has reported 249 coronavirus cases, a rise of 14 over the past 24 hours.

Pashinian said in a nationally televised address that one of the persons infected, a 77-year-old man, was in "extremely grave" condition and that four others were in "grave" condition.

The prime minister added that 868 Armenians remained in quarantine and more than 2,400 others were in self-isolation.

At least 37 people were released from a two-week quarantine on March 24 after testing negative for the virus.

In his address, Pashinian said that the lockdown "means the work of thousands of enterprises will be halted and only vitally necessary entities will be allowed to operate."

He said the measures would be in effect "for at least a week."

"Our fellow citizens taking to the streets will have to clearly explain where they are going and those explanations must fit into the logic of people's vital movements," Pashinian warned.

He said that only people over the age of 65 would be allowed to go shopping between 10 a.m. and noon each day.

As part of the measures, the government earlier ordered the temporary closure of all cafes and restaurants as well as most businesses in the country.

Pashinian urged Armenians to, if possible, use online services provided by state and private entities.

He also stressed that food stores, pharmacies, and bank offices will remain open and that no restrictions will be placed on agricultural work.

"We are overcoming coronavirus step by step...rest assured that we will defeat this evil," Pashinian said.

The government on March 16 declared a one-month state of emergency to slow the spread of the disease.

It had previously closed its border with Iran -- one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the virus -- and Georgia.

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Kyrgyzstan has imposed a state of emergency in the capital and several other cities and regions to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the country's presidential service announced on March 24.



"President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has signed decrees to enact a state of emergency in the cities of Bishkek, Osh, and Jalal-Abad, as well as the Nookat and Kara-Suu districts of the Osh region and the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region. The decrees have been sent to parliament," it said.

The decrees were immediately sent to parliament, which unanimously approved them in an emergency session.

Kyrgyzstan's Security Council first recommended the state of emergency on March 22, and the government subsequently imposed some restrictions and took some measures such as placing checkpoints in every region and city.

In the southern district of Nookat, regional officials already declared a local state of emergency on March 21 after three coronavirus cases were reported there.



Under the state of emergency which, after parliament's approval, will come into force on March 25 and will last until April 15, a curfew will be enacted and measures to maintain public order and security at strategic facilities will be stepped up, the statement said.



The decree bans artistic, sports, and other mass events as well as strikes, rallies, meetings, street marches, demonstrations, and pickets.

In line with the presidential decree declaring a state of emergency, the government said all internal flights will be suspended in Kyrgyzstan from March 25.

Exceptions will be made for special flights upon agreement with the country's headquarters for coronavirus actions, according to Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov.

Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry reported 26 more confirmed cases on March 23, bringing the total number to 42.

Tajikistan, which has not reported any coronavirus cases so far, decided to close its border with Kyrgyzstan starting on March 24 "until the situation stabilizes," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The decision does not apply to Tajik citizens returning to their home country, foreigners departing from Tajikistan, drivers of goods vehicles, diplomats and their families, and members of government delegations.

In neighboring Uzbekistan, the capital, Tashkent, went into lockdown on March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.



Uzbekistan has 50 confirmed coronavirus cases, all but one in Tashkent, a city of more than 2.5 million.



Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and has already shut down public transit in the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working.

Pakistan

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the media in Pakistan should temporarily close their bureaus to lower health risks after three TV journalists working in the field tested positive for the coronavirus.

"You cannot rule out the possibility that the three journalists who have tested positive for COVID-19 caught it while reporting in the field," Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk, said in a statement on March 23, a day after it emerged that two journalists with News 24 HD TV and one with AbbTakk TV had tested positive.

The journalists are based in Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab.

"We ask all of the country's media executives and owners to put their reporters' health first and not send large numbers of them into the field," Bastard said. "Everything must be put in place so that they can work from home and avoid any potential source of infection."

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has passed 950, with seven deaths.

Romania

President Klaus Iohannis has said that Romania will deploy the military to help impose a "total quarantine" to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak amid a spike in the number of confirmed cases.



Romania declared a state of emergency on March 16, but the number of cases has continued to rise sharply as many people have been ignoring the government's recommendations to remain indoors.



On March 24, authorities reported 186 more infections -- the highest day-to-day increase so far -- and one more death, bringing the total to 762 confirmed cases and eight fatalities.



Iohannis said in a live televised address that starting from March 25, people will only be allowed to leave home to buy food or medicine, to go to work, or for emergencies. Those over 65 will be completely banned from leaving their homes.



Those who have been placed in self-quarantine will be monitored electronically, Iohannis said. He did not elaborate.



Iohannis said previous recommendations will become mandatory and the army will be deployed to help police the streets.



"The restrictions, dear Romanians, will come into force from tomorrow," Iohannis said.

Moldova

Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has imposed further freedom-of-movement restrictions, banning people from visiting parks and other recreation sites in an effort to stem the spread ofthe coronavirus.



"Starting from March 24, city residents are prohibited from visiting parks and other public zones where people gather. This measure is tough, but is necessary for containing the coronavirus. The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry will be responsible for enforcing these measures," Chicu told a session of the emergency situations commission late on March 23.



Additional measures include shutting down public transportation, outdoor food markets, mail delivery, and the closing of all commercial shops except for grocery stores and pharmacies.



Residents were instructed to stay at home and can only leave for work or to shop for food.



Moldova reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23, bringing the total number of infections to 109.



A national emergency is in place until May 15.

Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says there is no need yet to declare a national state of emergency even as a leading health official announced 10 more cases of coronavirus.



"At the moment, there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine. A state of emergency is introduced when there are extreme events. Today, the development of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared to many European countries," Shmyhal told local television late on March 23.



He added that measures the government is currently taking are ample for the time being, though the situation may change in the coming weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus.



Chief Medical Officer Viktor Lyashko said on March 23 that preliminary tests showed 10 more people have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.



Confirmation of their tests is expected on March 24 and could raise the number of confirmed cases to 83. Three deaths have been recorded linked to the virus.



According to the Interior Ministry, more than 72,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad, including from some of the hardest-hit European countries, since a nationwide quarantine was imposed from March 12 to April 3.



Among those diagnosed with the coronavirus are several members of parliament, including Ruslan Horbenko, a member of the ruling party.



Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the heads of church confessions to conduct prayer services online and without the presence of people at places of worship.



"I thank those church leaders who understand the danger and conduct divine service online, without people. I am sure other leaders will join these forced measures. After all, today people really need faith, but they equally need basic security," he said.

Since March 17, all aviation, rail, and bus services with foreign countries and within the country have been shut down. Shopping centers, cafes, restaurants, gyms, and other nonessential facilities have been shuttered. Only grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and banks are still open.



The previous day, Kyiv further closed public transportation, allowing only critical personnel to take buses, trolleybuses, and trams. Subway systems were closed in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro on March 17.



Several cities, including Kyiv, have declared states of emergency.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian, Kyrgyz, Moldovan, Romanian, Tajik, Ukrainian, and Uzbek services, Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, IRNA, TASS, Interfax, Digi24.ro, G4media.ro, and Hotnews.ro
Boris Johnson's sombre television address last night marked a moment in this nations life which all who watched it are likely to remember for as long as they live.

In what amounts to a dramatic escalation, the measures he unveiled surpass many of the restrictions introduced in the dark days of World War II.

The whole country is effectively quarantined during the coronavirus pandemic, and we are for the most part confined to our homes.

At times, his natural desire to safeguard our liberties has collided with the advice he has proffered, leaving many of us confused, and unsure as to what we were being asked to do

We may leave to shop for basics in a diminishing number of shops allowed to stay open. We can exercise outside once a day by ourselves or with people we are living with. Only essential travel is permitted.

The police will enforce these measures. Needless to say, a fair number of ambiguities remain.

But it is clear that these extraordinary new restrictions  which I welcome with a heavy heart  are an unprecedented infringement of our personal liberties.

Only a few days ago, the Prime Minister plainly regarded such restraints with abhorrence.

He did not come into politics to limit the freedoms of the British people. To the depths of his soul, he believes that liberty and Britishness have been forged together by our history, and that if at all possible the State shouldnt barge around in our lives.

He has lived his own life according to these lights, prizing his freedom to do whatever he pleases within the law. When his father Stanley said last week that he would visit the pub if he wanted to, the familiar Johnson family gene was on show.

Boriss innate horror of authority revealed itself when a journalist at Sunday afternoons No 10 press conference suggested that the police might be more proactive. He looked momentarily shocked.

In his mental picture of Merrie England, it is not the role of the police to boss us around. This largely explains why the PM has consistently been behind the curve in recent days.

He asked us not to go to pubs and restaurants. Most complied, but some ignored his plea. Such establishments were legally shut down some days later after numb-skulled people had continued to party.

The Government also dithered over closing schools, with its advisers producing various arguments as to why it was inadvisable to do so. Then, last Thursday, children were at last told to stay away.

It seemed as though every significant new measure had to be wrung from the Prime Minister, and came too late. Precious time was being squandered in the battle to curb the spread of the contagion.

Again and again, he has apologised during these press conferences for asking us to adopt new forms of behaviour.

He has frequently reiterated his regret, which Im sure is genuine, that he should be recommending measures which may seem coercive.

He did not come into politics to limit the freedoms of the British people. To the depths of his soul, he believes that liberty and Britishness have been forged together by our history, and that if at all possible the State shouldnt barge around in our lives

At times, his natural desire to safeguard our liberties has collided with the advice he has proffered, leaving many of us confused, and unsure as to what we were being asked to do.

For example, last Friday he said that he hoped to see his elderly mother on Mothers Day, which is what any loving son would hope to do. Yet the Government advice soon made clear that such visits were undesirable.

On Sunday, the freedom-loving Boris stated of course I want people to be able to go out in the parks and open spaces and enjoy themselves before observing that even if you think you are personally invulnerable, there are plenty of people you can infect, and whose lives will be put at risk. So what has changed?

A Prime Minister who weeks ago seemed unchallengeable has come under pressure from within the Cabinet. In particular, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove are said to have been pushing for more decisive measures.

But it must have become clear even to our freedom-loving PM that exhortation by itself would not succeed in making everyone behave responsibly and with due regard for their fellow citizens.

A significant minority of people were not prepared to play ball. Over the weekend, there were countless cases of crowds flocking to the seaside, and to wide open spaces such as Snowdonia.

Social distancing may have been sometimes observed, but the evidence of lots of photos is that it often wasnt. Others were not to blame for failing to observe official guidance.

There have been pictures of people crammed together in tube trains in London  the nations coronavirus hotspot  almost inevitably spreading the disease. So a lockdown became inevitable if we are to have any chance of avoiding the tragic fate of Italy, which, as Mr Johnson pointed out in a newspaper article over the weekend, is only two weeks ahead of where we are.

Even so, although the measures announced last night were undoubtedly very radical, they still do not match in severity those adopted by some European countries.

We are not yet quite in the position of the French and Italians, who are required to download a form which they must fill in before leaving their homes so that they can satisfy the authorities.

One cant helping thinking that, just as previous measures have had to be tightened up following their announcement, so last nights provisions may not be the last word so far as the terms of the lockdown are concerned.

Moreover, there are other areas in which the Government needs to show greater clarity and more concentration of purpose.

Why have flights from countries ravaged by coronavirus been allowed to land in the UK? Why isnt there more testing for the disease, which the PM has said is vital?

The key question now is how people will respond to this extraordinary lockdown. Will free-born Britons cavil at the kind of undeniably coercive restrictions which we like to think are more acceptable to countries on the Continent with a history of authoritarian government?

I believe most people will grin and bear it  just as our grandparents put up with privations such as rationing during World War II.

They will know that what Boris announced last night will be strictly temporary. Some will grumble, of course, and a few will disobey.

And Im also sure that most of us will also recognise that Boris Johnson is a lover of liberty who did not introduce these measures lightly, and will not maintain them a second longer than is necessary.

Over the past few days, as captain of our menaced ship, the Prime Minister has drawn an increasing amount of criticism  not only from those who dont like him but also from among his own ranks.

Is he up to the task? Is he the man for the hour? Has he caught the mood of the nation? Is he too laid-back and relaxed?

These are the questions that are being asked up and down the land. There is no definitive answer to them yet.

Mr Johnson is a lifeenhancer who may not have been intended by the divinities who fashioned him to preside over a siege economy or introduce constraints on our freedoms. But such are the immense challenges of the hour.

Boris is the Prime Minister weve got. Last night, there was reason at last to believe that he may be the one we need.
Graham Keeley

Graham Keeley is a freelance journalist who has covered Spain for the past 16 years for a series of newspapers including The Times, The Independent an... more d Sunday Times. In that time, he has reported on how Spaniards survived the deep economic crisis, the Catalan independence drive and the rise of the far-right party Vox.
The Calcutta High Court administration has communicated to all courts in the state a letter by the West Bengal government seeking liberal consideration of bail prayers of undertrial inmates so as to reduce the population in correctional homes in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

State Advocate General Kishore Dutta wrote to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court with reference to a suo moto case registered by the Supreme Court in connection with risks and prevention of the coronavirus inside correctional homes.

"On a direction by Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan, we have forwarded the communication to the judges of the high court and all subordinate courts in the state," Calcutta High Court Registrar General Rai Chattopadhyay said.

In the letter, the advocate general requested Chief Justice Radhakrishnan to "issue appropriate administrative directions to all the judges in West Bengal, including the judges of the high court, to consider liberally granting bail to under trial inmates with a view to reduce the correctional home population considering the present Novel Corona Virus scare".

The Supreme Court on Monday directed all states and union territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to seven-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The top court said overcrowding of prisons is a matter of serious concern, particularly in the present context.

In regard to the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, it has become imperative to ensure that the spread of coronavirus within the prisons is controlled, the apex court said.

Most of the lawyers in different courts of the state are not appearing for hearings, following a resolution by the West Bengal Bar Council not to participate in judicial proceedings till March 31.

The Bar Council has said that considering a notification by the Calcutta High Court registrar general that only urgent matters would be listed for hearings before it as well as in its circuit benches and subordinate courts in the state till March 25, it has decided to extend its non- participation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Secretary of State for European Affairs Iulia Matei participated on Tuesday in the informal meeting of ministers and secretaries of state for European Affairs from EU member states, which took place in a videoconference system, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs in a release sent to AGERPRES.

The meeting was devoted to discussing the enlargement policy and the decisions on opening the negotiations on Albania's and the Republic of North Macedonia's accession to the EU, following the updated progress reports presented by the European Commission for the two candidate states, on March 2, 2020, and the commitment of the member states, assumed under the Conclusions to the European Council meeting, to resume the topic before the Zagreb Summit of May 2020, the source shows.In her intervention, the Romanian Secretary of State hailed the mobilisation of all member states, in the current difficult context, for generating some positive results for the two candidate states, based on the outstanding progress made in the interior reform processes. The Romanian official underscored that it is important that the EU prove the capacity to adopt strategic decisions and act in unity and solidarity, as a trustworthy partner for the candidates that fulfill their commitments.The Romanian official saluted the consensus reached on the decision regarding the opening of the accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, a goal consistently pursued and promoted by Romania, both as a priority of its mandate as EU Council Presidency holder, in the first semester of 2019, and after concluding this mandate, as a member endorsing the enlargement process.Opening the negotiation process is an important stage during the accession, which will require the continuation of the sustained efforts made by the candidates to advance in this process, with the final objective of joining the European Union. In line with Romania's principle and consistent approach, in the context of the discussions on the revision of the accession process methodology, the Romanian official showed that Romania remains involved in making sure that the modifications brought come to the aid of making more efficient and speeding up the accession processes and will allow a real increase in pace when the candidates meet the set requirements and achieve sustainable reforms, MAE points out.In this sense, the Romanian Secretary of State hailed the European Commission's intention to immediately initiate the preparation of its proposals on the framework-documents of negotiation with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia and pleaded for a further constructive approach from all member states, so that the first Intergovernmental Conferences with the two candidate states can be organised as soon as possible, before the end of this year.
OFX Daily Market News





Posted by OFX



AUD  Australian Dollar

The Australian dollar struggled to find momentum through trade on Monday, bouncing between 0.5704 and 0.5820 as markets continue to grapple with the spreading coronavirus pandemic. The AUD maintained a relatively tight range when compared with recent volatility and moves across equity markets as central bank efforts to alleviate concerns surrounding the glut of bonds flooding the market have helped offset wider price swings. It is becoming increasingly difficult for investors to ignore the unrelenting advance of the COVID-19 virus and the corresponding economic impact. Despite record levels of fiscal stimulus, markets are reluctant to buy back into risk assets in the face of ongoing uncertainty, weighing on the Australian dollar and suppressing short-term upside.

The AUD did find some support in the face of a broader USD sell off as the Fed announced new measures to backstop the economic slowdown. Opening this morning at 0.5808 US cents, attentions remain squarely affixed on the unfolding pandemic. Watch supports at last weeks lows at 0.5510 with resistance on moves approaching 0.5950/0.60.

Key Movers

The US dollar fell through trade on Monday after the Fed announced unprecedented monetary policy stimulus measures designed to sure up the domestic economy and cushion the impact of the looming recession. The Federal reserve announced new programs wherein it will lend against student loans, credit cards and small businesses, while supporting larger employers in maintaining as much of the domestic workforce as possible. The Fed will also expand its purchase of mortgage backed securities to help normalise market function, doing everything it can to help guide the economy through this unmatched period of uncertainty.

While broader markets remain reluctant to buy back into risk assets we expect haven plays will remain popular through the short and medium term. That said we would expect the record levels of central bank and government stimulus to bite at some point. As congress passes a 2 trillion dollar stimulus package we anticipate confidence among investors will improve, perhaps weighing on the USD and fostering a correction of the recent overshoot.

Story continues

Sterlings meteoric collapse continued through trade on Monday as investors dropped the currency amid coronavirus concerns. The Pound slipped back below 1.15 and edged nearer last weeks low of 1.1413. Investors are reluctant to hold onto the GBP as current account concerns and fears Britains approach to dealing with the coronavirus outbreak will mean a prolonged and disjointed disruption to economic performance. With recent moves primarily across short positions there is still scope for a deeper depreciation as normal market function resumes and investors begin assessing net long balances. Watch support at 35 year lows with a break potentially signaling another run on pound.

Expected Ranges

AUD/USD: 0.5510  0.5980 

AUD/EUR: 0.5280  0.5510 

GBP/AUD: 1.9480  2.0320 

AUD/NZD: 1.0080  1.0240 

AUD/CAD: 0.8080  0.8510 

,



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The post Aussie ticks higher as Fed employs unprecedented measures appeared first on .
Pollution has dropped in major US cities as America shuts down to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Satellite images show nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations from 10 March to 22 March, 2020 compared to the same period last year.

NO2, represented by the colour density on the maps, is shown to be in remarkably lower concentrations this month over New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Houston.

The analyses of NO2 emissions were provided to The Independent by Descartes Labs, a geospatial analysis group. The images, using the European Space Agencys Sentinel-5P satellite data, represent weighted mean NO2 concentrations.

Millions of Americans have been ordered to stay home in the hope of slowing the Covid-19 outbreak. There has been a surge in recent days, leading to 43,500 confirmed cases and 541 deaths.

The 40m residents of California were ordered to stay home last week after increasing restrictions on movement and non-essential businesses being ordered to close.

Governor Andrew Cuomo told New York residents to stay home and ordered the close of all non-essential businesses on Sunday.

Chicago, which also has noticeably lower levels of NO2, and the rest of the state of Illinois is under a stay-at-home order, beginning this week.

The US and Canada have closed their borders to non-essential travel.

Nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere in part come from cars, trucks, buses and power plants, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The air pollutant forms when fossil fuels like coal, oil, gas or diesel are burned at high temperatures. Along with other nitrogen oxides, NO2 contributes to particle pollution in the air.

It can cause a range of health issues, according to the American Lung Association, including increased inflammation of airways; cough and wheezing and reduced lung function. The group also points to new research which warns NO2 to be the likely cause of asthma in children.

Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, told CNN: This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event. I am not surprised because many cities nationwide have taken measures to minimize the spread of the virus.
On Saturday, protests erupted in 13 prisons across Colombia, prompted by panic over the desperate conditions facing inmates in the face of the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic. In Bogotas La Modelo prison, the protests were violently suppressed by security forces, resulting in the deaths of 23 inmates, with a further 83 sustaining injuries and 32 requiring immediate hospitalization. Seven prison guards were also injured in the melee, two critically. The incidents came less than a day after a nationwide quarantine was announced by the President Ivan Duque.

On the day of the riots, families of prisoners gathered in crowds outside of La Modelo prison to protest and seek information, aware that some inmates were being killed inside. A presidential decree issued on March 12 banned family visitations to prisoners. No information was released by the authorities until the next day, when Colombias Minister of Justice Margarita Cabello released a video address to the public.

Cabello offered few details aside from the number of dead and wounded, simply describing the events as a massive and criminal escape attempt, adding with approval that no one had managed to get out. She denied outright that the riots were related to the pandemic extending throughout the country, ignoring prisoners demands, which included placing elderly and immunocompromised inmates into isolation, and access to basic information about testing for the virus. Instead, she baldly stated that there was no sanitation problem in the prisons and therefore no health problem that would have caused the escape plan and these riots.

In reality, the imminent dangers facing inmates both before and during the coronavirus pandemic are well known to the state and the broader public. These dangers include severe overcrowding, with prisons operating at 50 percent above capacity nationally, as well as a lack of access to food, clothing and basic hygiene items. Alarm at these conditions and the lack of safety measures implemented in the face of the spreading virus has been urgently raised for weeks by an array of organizations, including the prison guards union, social advocacy groups and researchers throughout the country, with little to no effect on the actions of the government.

The National Imprisonment Movement (MNC), an advocacy organization comprised of current inmates, those previously incarcerated and retired prison guards, released a devastating communique on March 16, five days before the country-wide prison protests. The statement outlined the failure of Duques government to follow through with promises to ramp up sanitation measures and provide prisoners with basic supplies.

The MNC charged that, far from any increase in sanitation, internal conditions remain in a state of collapse due to tuberculosis, flu, diarrheain this moment [prisoners] do not have access to masks, antibacterial soap, powdered soap, [disinfectants] or bleach to wash the grounds, halls, cellsin other words, the capacity of the state hardly reaches beyond suspending our right to receive visitors, increasing our confinement The MNC proposed measures to be immediately implemented by president Duque, including increasing conditional and administrative release of inmates.

A devastating portrait of conditions facing inmates during this crisis was also provided by Libardo Ariza, professor and researcher at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, in an article appearing in the Colombian news outlet El Espectador on March 22. Ariza stated that inmates in Colombia depend on family to supply the majority of their food, clothing and sanitary products. He explained that the governments March 12 ban on family visits has effectively cut off a lifeline for inmates and is generating higher levels of violence and panic.

Inmates at El Buen Pastor, a womens prison in Bogota, told the news outlet that INPEC, Colombias government agency responsible for incarceration, has never been able to provide the basic hygiene needs we have, and as women its worse. One inmate went on to describe how, as at other prisons, female inmates must get basic hygiene items from the outside, stating, Theyre telling us that the key is to wash our hands with soap, but we dont have any. The way to get soap is [from the outside].

Other inmates at the prison attested to the dire situation relating to the lack of food, which will likely make inmates more susceptible to the coronavirus. One stated, Breakfast on Wednesday was boiled potatoes. No one eats well here and they dont even give us vitamin C. Another added, Many people are weak and depressed. We accept theyre not allowing family to enter, but give us food. Weve cried in hunger.

El Espectador also reported that, as a measure to prepare for the spread of COVID-19, INPEC has separated children, including infants still breastfeeding, from their mothers in a section of the womens prison. The cruel measure, which is slated to last until April 20, leaves small children in the care of whichever family member is available to take care of them, a destabilizing and hazardous situation given that most family members work full-time and there is no system in place allowing mothers to send breast milk outside of the prison.

Like their counterparts in Italy who launched a countrywide uprising in 27 prisons on March 9, inmates in Colombia were only able to draw international attention to their dire circumstances by launching direct, coordinated actions. The crowded, filthy and subhuman conditions, ignored for the most part in the mainstream press, are standard in prisons around the world, making them likely centers for the spread of the coronavirus.

Preventing such an outcome requires urgent measures including an immediate and drastic reduction in crowding, the provision of proper sanitation and nutrition, and systematic testing and quarantine for those who may already have contracted the virus. To date, no such measures have been taken by governments in any of the countries currently facing the existential threat of the pandemic.
By early morning, both sites had reached their daily testing capacity of between 70 and 100 vehicles, which police officials said is limited by the number of personnel administering the tests and the time it takes them, not by the number of tests available.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Jasper's is laying off 172 employees across Oregon amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The changes are affecting 24 employees across the company's Eugene locations, 20 in Springfield, 11 in Roseburg, six in Cottage Grove and five in Albany.

Company officials said Gov. Kate Brown's order banning dining in at restaurants and bars has had an impact on operations. They said the layoffs are temporary.

It is not known at what time employees can return to their jobs. The best estimate is April 15, they said.
A man casts his vote during the Florida primary election in Miami, Florida, on March 17, 2020. Eva Marie uzcategui | AFP | Getty Images

As the coronavirus spreads rapidly across the U.S., measures to contain the deadly pathogen are playing unprecedented havoc with the 2020 election and disrupting the process of selecting the Democratic nominee. Several states and territories have postponed their 2020 presidential primaries in response to the coronavirus outbreak that has roiled markets and prompted several governors to impose statewide lockdowns. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the last competitor and apparent nominee after Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he was dropping out of the race. To get ahead of the outbreak, state and local officials are taking drastic steps, in some cases shutting most retail and asking residents to stay home. "Social distancing" has become the norm, as people are asked to keep at least six feet apart to decrease the risk of transmitting the virus. The fear that in-person voting could spread the virus has prompted state officials and election commissioners to consider alternatives for conducting their elections. Here are the states and territories that have so far postponed their primary dates:

Puerto Rico

Though not a U.S. state, Puerto Rico has voting power in the presidential primary. The territory has decided to postpone its Democratic presidential primary indefinitely. Originally, Puerto Rico had postponed its Democratic primary from March 29 to April 26. Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced signed a bill into law on March 22 to postpone the primary. Puerto Rico has 51 delegates.

Ohio

Officials in Ohio set April 28 as the new date for the state's presidential primary after originally eyeing June 2. Officials also launched a public service announcement encouraging Ohio residents to vote by mail. Gov. Mike DeWine was originally blocked by the courts from postponing the primary on March 17, the original date. But right before the primary, the state's health department intervened, issuing an order at the last minute to close the polls due to health concerns brought on by the outbreak. Ohio has 136 delegates.

Delaware

The state has postponed its primary to June 2, Gov. John Carney announced. It was originally planned for April 28. "We moved Delaware's presidential primary to June 2, 2020," Carney tweeted. "Delawareans have a basic, fundamental right to vote. Today's order will preserve that right." Tweet Delaware has 21 delegates.

Indiana

Indiana will have its 2020 primary on June 2, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced. It was originally planned for May 5. "My view on that fast-approaching primary election is it needed to be pushed back in order to again ensure the safety of our county employees, the poll workers, and the voters themselves," Holcomb said in a briefing. The state has 82 delegates.

Maryland

The state is postponing its primary to June 2, Gov. Larry Hogan announced. The original date was April 28. "I have two main priorities: keeping Marylanders safe and protecting their constitutional right to vote," Hogan said at a press conference announcing the postponement. Hogan said he didn't want to "put Marylanders at risk, especially the poll workers and the election judges, most of whom are retirees and in the most vulnerable population." Maryland has 96 delegates.

Pennsylvania

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania voted to postpone the state's primary from April 28 to June 2. Both chambers of the Republican-controlled state legislature voted in favor of postponing the primary, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill. The state has 186 delegates.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island moved its 2020 primary to June 2 from the originally planned April 28, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced. The Rhode Island Board of Elections voted to postpone the state's primary from April 28 to June 2, the board's deputy director of elections, Miguel Nunez, told CNBC. But the decision had been "pending the governor signing an emergency order," Nunez said. "I am following the advice of the Board of Elections, and will sign an executive order to do this," Raimondo said in a tweet. Tweet Rhode Island has 26 delegates.

Georgia

The state was supposed to hold its primary election on March 24 but has postponed twice. The election will now be held on June 9. It was originally delayed to May 19, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Democratic Committee told CNBC in March. "I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen in less-than-ideal circumstances," Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. "This postponement allows us to provide additional protection and safety resources to county election officials, poll workers and voters." Georgia has 105 delegates.

West Virginia

West Virginia postponed its primary to June 9 from the originally planned May 12. The state was unlikely to postpone its primary, Mike Queen, deputy chief of staff and communications director for the secretary of state's office, said to CNBC. The state was urging its 1.2 million voters to fill out absentee ballots, but had taken precautions for anyone planning to vote in person. West Virginia has 28 delegates.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a release that in-person voting is suspended until June 9. The original voting date was April 7. "As municipalities are consolidating polling locations, and absent legislative or court action, I cannot in good conscience stand by and do nothing," Evers said in a release from his office. "The bottom line is that I have an obligation to keep people safe, and that's why I signed this executive order." He called for a special legislative session just days before the state's original primary date to cancel the in-person portion of voting. He said the state aims to shift to an all-mail voting system for the primary with a deadline of May 26 to get ballots in. But the effort got shut down. Wisconsin has 84 delegates.

Kentucky

The state will move its nominating contest to June 23 from the originally planned May 19, Secretary of State Michael Adams announced. He said he made the decision with Gov. Andy Beshear during what he called "unprecedented times." "My hope is that this delay will allow us to have a normal election," Adams said in a video posted to Twitter. Tweet Kentucky has 54 delegates.

New York

The New York State Board of Elections on Monday canceled its Democratic presidential primary, scheduled for June 23, after striking off Sen. Bernie Sanders' name from the ballot. "I think it's time for us to recognize that the presidential contest is over," Commissioner Doug Kellner explained during a livestream announcing the decision. Despite dropping out of the race, Sanders urged his followers to vote for him in the remaining primaries in order to pick up delegates and influence the party platform at the Democratic National Convention, which is slated for August. Originally, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announce the state would move its presidential primary from April 28 to June 23 to ensure that people don't congregate in large crowds. "I don't think it's wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location to vote, a lot of people touching one doorknob, a lot of people touching one pen," Cuomo said in a press conference. "So we are going to delay that." Cuomo also announced that all "New Yorkers will be able to vote absentee on the June 23rd primaries." Tweet New York has 274 delegates.

New Jersey

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the state's primary will be moved from June 2 to July 7. "Our democracy cannot be a casualty of COVID-19," Murphy said in a tweet. "We want to ensure that every voter can vote without endangering their health or safety." Tweet The state has 126 delegates.

Louisiana

The state postponed its presidential primary twice, making the new voting date July 11. Louisiana was the first state to postpone its presidential primary, rescheduling it the first time to June 20 from the originally planned April 4. "We want to protect the health and safety of all Louisianans by doing our part to prevent the spread of this highly infectious disease," Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin told reporters. The state has 54 delegates.

Connecticut

Connecticut has moved its 2020 primary to Aug. 11, the second time its 2020 presidential nominating contest was delayed. It was originally delayed to June 2 from the originally planned April 28, Gov. Ned Lamont announced. "In coordination with other states and our Secretary of the State, and in an effort to carry out Democracy while keeping public health a top priority, I have decided to move our presidential primary to June 2nd," Lamont tweeted. Tweet Connecticut has 60 delegates.

Other state actions
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 23:58:41|Editor: yan

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RIGA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- With COVID-19 continuing to spread across the globe, the Latvian economy is likely to contract this year, but this will be a single-digit reduction, Bank of Latvia Governor Martins Kazaks said in an interview with public radio Tuesday.

Kazaks described the current developments in the world as an "unprecedented" global crisis, but noted that the Latvian economy is now much stronger and more resilient to shocks than during the financial crisis of 2008.

"The spread of the virus is fast. We are not in the epicenter, but the impact will be negative. This year, the economy will be in the negative territory, there will be a recession," Kazaks said, adding that the most realistic scenario for the Latvian economy is a single-digit recession with a hope that a recovery will follow in the second half of 2020.

"If growth does not resume in the second half of the year, the slump will be bigger," Kazaks said. "Economically, we are much more resilient now. Back then (in 2008) we had huge problems with debts. Now we are fairly good prepared for various turns. Today's crisis is not requiring a consolidation of budget expenditures. This time, we can afford to spend," he said.

He predicted that the effects of the crisis will be felt in all sectors of the economy. "Economic activity will slow down in many areas. In others it will come to standstill for a while. Those with smaller income will suffer more," Kazaks said.
Richard A. Serafini, Esq. The new website does a great job illustrating my expertise in the criminal justice and civil enforcement systems with explanations of the law and is reflective of my creative strategies and procedures in protecting ones rights.

Serafini Law Office, LLC, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, law firm specializing in representing those who have been accused of white collar federal or state crimes or those who seek representation before governmental and self-regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a new website at RSerafiniLaw.com.

The new website paints a clear picture of what I do, said Richard A. Serafini, Esq. By breaking down the website into the two major categories  Regulatory Law and Criminal Law  it details all the areas of law that comprise our practice.

Dubbed The Sherlock Holmes of White-Collar Criminal Law by Law.com, Serafini is a former federal prosecutor who spent 10 years as a senior prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice. He was a fraud and organized crime prosecutor, serving in both the Fraud Section and as a Strike Force attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of Justice in Washington, DC. In these positions, Serafini represented the United States in the largest and most complex cases in federal courts throughout the country.

Before joining the DOJ Serafini served as a supervisor in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he supervised attorneys assigned to two branches of enforcement. As the new website illustrates, Serafini now represents those who might be under scrutiny by the very offices he served or supervised.

It helps my clients to know that my extensive background within these organizations gives them an advantage they would not otherwise have, Serafini added. I think the new Website does an excellent job of showing that experience and how advantageous it is for my clients that I understand the nuances of these organizations and the strategies they use in their prosecutions and investigations.

RSerafiniLaw.com highlights areas of Criminal Law on which Serafini focuses. They range from White Collar Crime and RICO/Racketeering to Money Laundering and Securities Fraud. Each section gives a detailed explanation of the potential offenses and the likely ramifications flowing from those charges.

In addition to the various pages that focus on such topics as Drug Crimes, Computer Crimes and Business Crimes, the new website also features an FAQ, Case Studies showing examples of cases that Serafini participated in as a defense attorney, prosecutor, or representative before a regulatory board, a press kit for those members of the press who wish to interview Serafini, videos of his previous television appearances on networks like CNN and MSNBC, and a monthly blog in which the former government representative  thoroughly accomplished in all aspects of federal practice and trial work  provides a unique perspective on such topical discussions as The Reach of Federal Conspiracy Laws, Ponzi Schemes, and Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The blog postings are indicative of Serafinis vast experience practicing before the federal courts of the United States as he has handled federal court cases in Florida, New York, the District of Columbia, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Nevada, and California. He has also handled a select number of complex state cases and has represented clients before administrative agencies such as the SEC and before securities and industry arbitration panels.

Serafini has 40 years of experience practicing law encompassing both private practice and public representation. He has been in the private practice of law in South Florida since 2001. After spending 11 years with large firms, in 2012 Serafini began Serafini Law Office, LLC. Before moving into private practice, he served as a senior litigator in the Criminal Division of the DOJ where he specialized in fraud and organized crime prosecution.

The new website does a great job illustrating my expertise in the criminal justice and civil enforcement systems with explanations of the law and is reflective of my creative strategies and procedures in protecting ones rights, said Serafini.

Id like to think that once a potential client reads the information on the website that person knows having me representing him or her provides an advantage against the governments or self-regulatory bodys unlimited resources.

To learn more about the services provided by Serafini Law Office, LLC, and Richard A. Serafini, Esq., visit the new website at http://www.RSerafiniLaw.com
The novel coronavirus that is spreading across Connecticut has unemployment claims soaring and local small businesses closing for an indeterminate period of time, but municipal officials still must ensure local budgets for the next fiscal year are adopted.

Over the weekend, Gov. Ned Lamont waived a rule  to ease the burden of passing municipal budgets  by eliminating a requirement that the public vote to approve the annual budget in the roughly two-thirds of municipalities that do so. Earlier than that, he had extended budget deadlines by 30 days for municipalities.

In his full executive order Lamont said municipalities must take all reasonable steps to publicize the draft municipal budget for said fiscal year and to receive public comment thereon, including but not limited to publishing draft budgets on the website and providing an email address or other means for the public to submit timely comments on the proposed budget.

In Middletown, the city charter requires the Common Council adopt a budget by April 1.

Although the governor extended all municipal deadlines by one month, Mayor Ben Florsheim doesnt believe Middletown will need the extra time. Were more or less ready to go, he said.

Hes been speaking with council members on ways to make sure residents can have their say before officials adopt the FY 2020-21 spending package.

I would still like to make it as much a public process as we can. It doesnt really change much for me as far as wanting to have public input into the budget. It will obviously take a little bit of a different shape than we were imagining it in the initial phases, but there will still be interest. People will maybe be more engaged now than they would otherwise be, Florsheim said.

Lamonts extension is more relevant for those towns that send the budget to referendum or a town-wide vote, he explained. If we wanted to take that loophole, we probably could under the executive order. More public input is better for the budget, so well be trying to think of creative ways to make that happen with the push-back deadline, and even with all the changes were going through.

In Portland, he Board of Selectmen have canceled this weeks scheduled budget discussions as they try to come to grips with a new order from the governor that is, to some, unsettling.

This is a huge change in local municipal government, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said in a weekend email she sent following the governors decision.

Selectmen were scheduled to begin their discussions in earnest on Tuesday evening during a workshop.

The shaping of the budget is scheduled for the nights of March 31 and April 1.

The town is scheduled to adopt the budget on April 8. The budget was scheduled to go to a public hearing on May 4 to be followed by a referendum vote on May 11.

In a Monday email to the selectmen, Bransfield said she was canceling the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions.

Bransfield said she took the action Given the Governors Executive Order over this past weekend concerning municipal budget adoption.

We need to review the Executive Order and its instructions, she said, adding, We will re-schedule our meetings appropriately.

The selectmen were able to hold their required budget public hearing last week by linking into the Zoom app, which enabled residents to view the meeting on their home computers.

In her weekend email, Bransfield said she also intends to continue to use the Zoom system to broadcast the meetings to residents.

In the Northwest part of the state, Barkhamsted First Selectman Don Stein said the 2020-21 budget could be presented virtually, using an app called Zoom that allows people to log in to participate.

My interpretation (based on the governors executive order) is that we dont have to take a public vote, Stein said. The Board of Finance is going to consider how they want to move forward, and the Board of Selectmen will decide how they want to move forward ... the selectmen will probably vote, instead of having a town meeting.

But public input is important, Stein said.

I want to get as much public input as possible, he said. Zoom is an app that does virtual meetings, and Ive used it for a coupld of short meetings, just to try it out. Its a remarkably good app for meetings.

Were working on having online access for people, Stein said. People can log in on Zoom, and the host of the meeting can take comments from people. Zoom also allows ups to post the recordings of the meetings. Thats consistent with state requirements. We will allow our meetings to be as interactive as possible. People can just dial in and do a conference call, too.

Stein has posted information on the town website, where residents can also find many links on the coronavirus.

Earlier this month, Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone said that all board and commission meetings will be conducted by phone or online, and public meetings will be accessible to the public in the near future.

Our goal is to protect the rights of the public who wish to attend electronically and have the ability to see documents being discussed by boards and commissions, the mayor said in a statement.

Monday, the mayor was meeting with department heads and could not be reached for further comment.

Winsted Mayor Candy Perez said her town is making the necessary changes to its municipal schedules to cope with the coronavirus.

Some people are working from home, and we have one public works driver per truck instead of two, she said. Town manager Bob Geiger is handling things on an as-needed bases. Were keeping track of our central services, while trying to keep everyone healthy.

Regarding the governors executive order on municipal budgets, Perez said the boards of finance, education and selectmen are still working it out.

We wont use the executive order allowing the Board of Selectmen to decide alone on the budget  thats a last resort for us, she said. We want to have our budget in place for July 1.

Winsteds budgets are posted online.

Perez also said in a release that the town manager and finance director are measuring various economic scenarios and state and federal government responses that may impact the budget in the short and long term.

As meetings are closed to in-person attendance due to COVID19, Staff Members, the Mayor, and BOS are working to become experienced in video conferencing to connect remotely with the community, she said in the statement.

Our regular Board of Selectmen meetings and the budget meetings will use video conferencing as long as Covid 19 restrictions remain in place. We will use our regular Channel 194 and add live streaming through YouTube to broadcast to the public. Phone numbers and an email will be set up to receive public comment during these meetings.

Along the shoreline, Guilford First Selectman Matthew Hoey said the town has yet to make a definitive decision as to what it will do with its budget. Were going to meet as a Board of Selectmen to decide that at our regular, standing meeting on Monday, April 6. Its possible a decision will be made at that point.

Guilford votes on its budget by machine ballot, so at the annual Town Meeting, all we do is vote to run it to machine ballot, Hoey said. At this point, the boards of education, selectmen and have all approved budgets, he said.

Orange First Selectman James Zeolo also said that town has not made a decision on how it will proceed.

Madison First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons and Branford First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove did not immediately return calls for comment. Branford has a Representative Town Meeting form of government.

The board of educations in Branford and East Haven already have approved and forwarded their budgets to their respective towns.

East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora said he was not entirely sure how Lamonts executive order will affect the town, which has a Town Council form of government., with the mayor presenting a budget that the Board of Finance, which then reviews it before passing it on to the Town Council for final review and approval.

Were working through those details now, Carfora said Monday. Were going to sit down tomorrow in a conference call and see what we need to do. Probably tomorrow afternoon Ill have some better answers for you.

North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda pushed out the original budget schedule an extra 30 days, as allowed by the governor, to have a document approved in June, but Freda said even then, hell likely deliver his budget presentation virtually.

Right now, this could change, what were planning is probably having a Board of Finance meeting teleconference, toward the end of April, and Ill present it in public on live TV, because theres a provision for it, Freda said.

Freda is planning to present a tax rate decrease in next fiscal years budget.

The town will provide the budget document online and if the pandemic continues to worsen, the final vote will be done by a Board of Selectman teleconference, not by the usual referendum, he said.

The meeting would be televised, but would show only Freda on a conference call with the two other members  William Piper and Sally Buemi.

The governors executive order allows us this flexibility and is designed to support the public health and safety aspect of this, Freda said.

In New Haven, voters do not vote to approve the budget; the final say rests with the Board of Alders.

The board is required to hold two public hearings on the budget  the first after the mayor submits his budget proposal to the alders and the second before the budgets approval. On March 11, the aldermanic Finance Committee held a public hearing at James Hillhouse High School, where three members of the public asked questions. Another finance committee meeting is scheduled for March 30.

Gary Doyens, a budget watchdog in New Haven, said he believes the hearings can go on with social distancing practices in mind.

At the first hearing, which I attended, three spoke  a number of other taxpayers were there and most of the city staff stood at the back of the room. Maintaining a social distance is not difficult and could be easily accomplished with a microphone and a podium. It could also be accomplished with live technology, he said.

He said that anything that diminishes the public voice sets a bad precedent, health crisis notwithstanding.

Written testimony has far less impact, is by nature, a less passionate media and doesnt provide an opportunity for alders to ask questions. It also robs the taxpayer of his or her limited ability to personally confront those who rule us with direct appeals, advice and advocacy, he said.

During New Havens Mayor Justin Elickers first year submitting a budget, Doyens said he believes the mayor is reacting in a necessary way to decisions made during the last administration  such as the refinancing of debt  but he still has criticisms he hopes to voice.

Dennis Serfilippi, a civic-minded former alder candidate for Ward 25, said he believes there are a lot of moving parts and pieces to New Havens budget, which sets it apart from smaller towns that dont require as much discussion around their budgets.

Middletown Press Managing Editor Cassandra Day, reporters Emily Olson, Clare Dignan, Mark Zaretsky, Pam McLouglin and Jeff Mill contributed to this story.
Day labourers are the hardest hit. Some 3,042 food bags have been distributed to parishes and communities. Some 10,080,912 pesos (US8,000) have been raised. Gift certificates and food vouchers have been given to more than 5 million people. For Caritas Manilas executive secretary, the social impact of the emergency should not be overlooked.

Manila (AsiaNews)  Fear, but above all hunger are the main consequences of the coronavirus outbreak among the poor in Metro Manila, placed under a government lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this according to Fr Anton C. T. Pascual (picture 2), who spoke to AsiaNews about the ongoing crisis.

In the National Capital Region (NRC), millions of people live below the poverty line, said the clergyman who is the executive secretary of Caritas Manila. Manila's lockdown has hit day labourers. For this reason, in the context of the ongoing health crisis, it is essential to solve the food problem.

To this end, Caritas Manilas Project Damayan (Compassion) calls for prayers and donations to support its efforts. Donations of goods and money are used to prepare Ligtas Covid 19 medical kits with items meant to reduce the risk of contracting virus (cost: 2,000 pesos or US) and the Caritas Manna Food Bag (cost 700 pesos or US) for the poorest under lockdown.

As of last night, 10,080,912 pesos (US8,000) have been raised and 3,042 food bags distributed to parishes and communities.

Caritas Manila is also behind another important initiative, in partnership with the business community and local authorities. As of yesterday, some of the most important national companies put together 1.5 billion pesos (US million) for gift certificates and food vouchers for the poor of Metro Manila and surrounding areas.

The companies that joined the plan want the Church to hand out 1,000-peso coupons (US) to one million poor families. This means that about 5 million people will benefit. The sum will allow each poor urban family to be provided with food for five to seven days.

Handing out gift certificates requires a lot of effort on the part of Caritas Manila volunteers. Due to the government's restrictive measures, we are forced to go home to home, respecting the safety distance. But Families can go to the nearest supermarket to redeem the voucher. At present, this is the best we can do in the shortest time possible.

Despite fears and uncertainties, poor Filipinos keep their faith in God steadfast, said the clergyman. I had proof of this during my talks with many street vendors, drivers, workers, shop assistants.

All of us, volunteers and Church people, are called to speak with them and be bearers of hope that we will overcome this virus. At the same time, we must insist on raising awareness in communities about social distancing and basic sanitation.

Unfortunately, many people seem unwilling to accept the precautions adopted by the archdiocese to fight the spread of the virus. Many want churches to be open; they want the Mass. At the moment, our Masses are limited to the Internet, radio and television. This is hard, because they want to receive the Communion, Fr Pascual explained.

We are waiting for the government to do its part to feed the people. The private sector and the Church have to do their part, but the problem of hunger will be felt more in the next few days.

The government is at a loss, like in other countries. Its main concern seems to be the management of the health side of the crisis. But the social side cannot be overlooked. Hunger is a real problem, and we are all called to work together for the good of the people. (PF)

(Photo credit: Caritas Manila).
On Sunday , Catholic church leader, Pope Francis called Christians world wide to unite and pray altogether on Wednesday as an act of solidarity and to ask God to stop the coronavirus pandemic that the world is facing.

According to Vatican News, the pontiff has asked the world to remain united and to express closeness towards the people ho at the moment are lonely and tired after he offered a prayer service to a virtual audience.

Italy is one of the countries that have received the hardest hit of the virus, it is also home to the city-state of Vatican, the holy city of the catholic church. In Italy alone, more than 59, 000 have been infected and at least 5,470 has died due to the virus that has infected more than 336,000 and causing at least 14,641 deaths globally.

Moreover, the Pope proposed to all Christian to collectively lift their voices together towards Heaven and pray for the betterment of those who are suffering from the coronavirus crisis that has taken over the world.

We want to respond to the virus pandemic with the universality of prayer, compassion and tenderness. Let us stay united. I invite all Christians to direct their voices together toward Heaven, reciting the Our Father on Wednesday, 25 March, at noon. #PrayTogether  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 22, 2020

Read also: Vatican Confirms First Coronavirus Case, Pope Francis Health a Primary Concern

Feast of the Annunciation

Wednesday marks the feast of Annunciation, and to celebrate the pope has invited heads of churches and leaders of Christian communities, together with all of those who believe in Christ to come together and recite at the same time the prayer that Jesus has taught, "Our Father."

The Annunciation of Mary is the day that the angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mother of God and told her that she was to conceive a son, Jesus through the power of the holy spirit. Thus the Pope found it just to hold the prayer at the same time it was known that the Savior of the world would be born to a human mother.

Pope also prayed for everyone asking the Lord to listen to the united prayer of the disciples who are preparing themselves to celebrate the victory of the Risen Christ.

Pope asks everyone to take this time to appreciate the basics of life

In the past few weeks, the Pope has been praying fervently for the relief. He also encouraged humanity to take this crisis as an opportunity to re-learn the appreciation for the basics of life and the ways in which everyone on Earth is is interconnected

Furthermore, the pope also said that on Friday he will bestow a special "Urbi et Orbi" blessing, which is only normally done during Easter and Christmas. The blessing "to the city of Rome and to the world" will be delivered before the Blessed sacrament in front of the St. Peter's Basilica.

It can be recalled that the 83-year-old pontiff also had a coronavirus-scare during the early stages of the pandemic when he had to cancel previous appearances after suffering through a cold which scared the whole Catholic community. However, it was confirmed that the Pope did not have coronavirus and only had a common cold.

The Pope has also been celebrating masses through LED screens after the virus broke out in Italy and most of the religious sites were closed from the public.

Related news: Italy Imposes Lockdown on 16 Million People as Coronavirus Cases Surge

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The AI (artificial intelligence) market is growing at an astounding rate. IDC predicts it will exceed $79 billion by 2022 and Gartner concurs, stating that by 2020, AI will be one of the top five investment priorities for more than 30 per cent of the worlds CIOs, writes Matthew Kibby, Vice-President, Services, Africa & Middle East at Sage.

If we were to strip away artificial intelligence (AI) from the world as we know it today, Im not convinced humans would know how to cope with work and life, he says.

Lets consider some likely scenarios.

Without AI, thered be no Waze or Google Maps to show us where to go. There would be no Siri or Alexa to handle our Google searches or schedule a meeting with the CIO. Do you know that Boeing 777 pilots only actually fly the plane for seven minutes, with much of the rest being done by AI technology? Imagine what this scenario would mean for them.

There would be no marketing automation. No clever sales tools pulling customers in. No process automation or business insights. No analytics to predict future outlooks.

No chatbots answering simple  and frequent  customer queries.

AI already does a lot of the thinking for us. Its been telling us what to do for years and we listen to it because we know its right. We could argue this makes us lazy, but the fact remains that AI has also liberated us from lifes mundane tasks, giving us more time to create, to think deeply about business and societal problems, and to solve them in new and exciting ways  or eliminate them entirely.

ITS ONLY THE BEGINNING

Today, were only at the narrow intelligence stage. What happens when we start nearing general intelligence? Or super intelligence?

For now, were still smarter than the machines. They give us data and we decide what to do with it. We tell them what to look for, what to stop looking for, and how to recognise what is important in the future. However, the goal with general AI  the next step in AI evolution  is to successfully mimic the human brain so machines dont need us to tell them what to do. What should we expect when that happens?

NOT SO EASY

Before we answer that question, think about the human brain for a moment. It processes data rapidly but also applies intuition, creativity, and empathy when making decisions. Machines cant  and may never  emulate human emotion, which is why AI will always need human intelligence for support. We created AI, after all.

Theres no doubt the smart techies among us will also create Artificial Neural Networks that can think and act like humans. Once that happens, machines will analyse complex, real-time data and decide what to do for themselves. We may have no choice but to accept their decisions, unless we want to spend decades analysing data that AI processed in seconds.

We can no longer deny the immense benefits AI offers human life today. In the amount of time it takes Waze to calculate a route, AI algorithms will predict natural disasters so response teams can act faster and more effectively to minimise impact. AI will analyse your familys medical history to create a personalised treatment plan and improve your chances of recovery after your smartwatch told you to see your doctor because you were at risk of a heart attack.

NO AI WITHOUT HUMANS

The fact of the matter is that theres not much point to AI if there arent humans making things happen: emergency teams saving lives, doctors monitoring patients vitals and treatment responses, and visionary business leaders using AI to transform industries.

AI has given human intelligence room to breathe and expand, to maximise its potential. In todays fast-paced business landscape, cloud computing, Software-as-a-Service, and process automation reduce the admin burden and provide insights and visibility needed to cut through complexity and remain competitive. AI transforms how enterprises manage their people, processes, and operations to offer enhanced customer service, boost productivity, and propel their businesses forward by using innovative technology.

Human intelligence and AI are complementary, symbiotic, inseparable. They need to coexist to light our paths to a more enabled future. Machines may become smarter than us, but isnt that a good thing? When we know exactly what to do, we can move much faster and ensure outstanding results. Thats what weve been trying to achieve for decades. -- Tradearabia News Service
Turkey Pledges to Neutralise Militants Impeding Joint Patrols in Idlib - Russian Military

Sputnik News

08:53 GMT 23.03.2020(updated 09:36 GMT 23.03.2020)

The statement comes as Russia and Turkey conducted a second joint patrol of the M4 Aleppo-Latakia highway in the Idlib Province of northwestern Syria.

Turkey has vowed to neutralise radical elements that impede the Russian-Turkish joint patrols in Syria's Idlib, the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria reported on Monday.

According to the statement, the measure, which Ankara pledged to undertake soon, will concern the M4 Aleppo-Latakia highway in a safety corridor, created to ensure traffic along a route running six kilometres north and south of the highway.

The centre added that the latest joint patrol took place earlier in the day on a shortened route due to safety concerns.

On 5 March, the Russian and Turkish presidents held negotiations on the spiralling tensions in the Syrian province of Idlib. Following the meeting, the two sides adopted a joint document, reaffirming their commitment to the Astana format and announcing the introduction of a ceasefire regime. The parties agreed to jointly patrol the crucial M4 highway.

The armed conflict between the Syrian government and opposition groups, including terrorists, began in 2011. By 2016, terrorist forces had been significantly subdued, while the government and opposition concluded a ceasefire, with Russia, Iran, and Turkey acting as its guarantors. Notwithstanding the recent escalation in the country's northern sections, the return of refugees to de-escalated areas and the restoration of peaceful life remain a priority in Syria.

The situation heated up after a conflict between Syrian forces and the Turkish military erupted in the wake of a strike by the Syrian Army against Tahrir al-Sham* militants in Idlib that killed up to 36 Turkish soldiers deployed next to the terrorists. In retaliation, Turkey attacked the Syrian military, claiming that its strikes "neutralised" around 300 Syrian servicemen and destroyed multiple military vehicles.

*Jabhat al-Nusra (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or al-Qaeda in Syria) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia

A Sputnik

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The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) held a teleconference on March 23 to discuss a project on forming a network of air quality monitoring stations in Vietnam.

Smog covers Hanoi on March 17

The event heard that in recent years, air quality monitoring has begun to attract attention, helping authorities detect environmental problems and work out appropriate solutions at an early date.

However, monitoring activities have yet to meet the demand for data since the number, scale and density of stations are still modest and they are arranged unevenly, making them unable to reflect the air environment in a sufficient and timely manner.

While the application of modern monitoring technologies remains sluggish, the operation of automatic stations has encountered many difficulties, participants in the meeting said.

Experts pointed out an urgent need to increase automatic monitoring stations and maintain their operations to provide sufficient, timely and precise data about air quality for authorities; improve the air quality warning and forecasting capacity; and promote Vietnams integration into regional and global environmental monitoring activities.

Minister Tran Hong Ha said the building of a modern and synchronous automatic monitoring network from the central to grassroots levels to specify sources and risks of pollution will be an important stride in environmental monitoring.

Effective monitoring of pollution sources will help with the issuance of plans for air pollution prevention and control, he noted.

Ha added aside from meeting technical standards, those stations should be situated at places under less impact from pollution sources so as to have stable and typical indexes representing the air quality of each locality./.VNA

Hanoi to build 70 more air monitoring stations this year Hanoi will complete a system of 81 air quality monitoring stations by the end of this year, said Director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Trong Dong on February 5.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island maintained the highest rate of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday, with the total number of positive patients on the borough surpassing 900.

Based on positive tests, which officials have stressed does not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus, 200 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have tested positive, based on 2018 Census data projections and Tuesday mornings data from the citys Health Department.

Meanwhile, there have been at least 18 coronavirus-related deaths at Staten Island hospitals as of Tuesday morning.

*** CLICK HERE FOR A STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN OF CASES IN NEW YORK ***

Queens saw a stark rise in cases from Monday, with confirmed coronavirus tests now reaching 4,364 in the borough, and now has confirmed cases for 191.5 of every 100,000 residents  the second highest rate in the city.

Manhattan has the next-highest rate of positive cases, with 177.3 residents per 100,000 testing positive and 2,887 total cases.

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus reached 4,237 in Brooklyn, which has the fourth-highest rate of positive cases at 164 residents per 100,000.

The Bronx has the lowest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases at 162.6 residents per 100,000 testing positive for the virus. The borough has 2,328 total cases.

There were 953 confirmed cases on Staten Island, which accounts for 6% of the citys total cases, according to New York City Department of Health data posted at 9:45 a.m. Staten Island accounts for approximately 5.7% of the citys population, according to 2018 Census projections.

CASES AT STATEN ISLAND HOSPITALS

There are 112 confirmed patients hospitalized in the boroughs two hospital systems and 18 fatalities.

Staten Island University Hospitals system (SIUH) has seen 14 deaths, and four have died at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), according to hospital spokesmen.

Christian Preston, an SIUH spokesman, said 67 individuals are currently hospitalized at the systems campus in Ocean Breeze, with an additional 17 hospitalized in Princes Bay.

Alex Lutz, a spokesman for RUMC, said that 28 individuals are hospitalized at the West Brighton hospital, including five in the Intensive Care Unit. We have had 4 patients pass away and we extend our deepest sympathies to their families, he said.

EPICENTER OF THE CORONAVIRUS

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak in New York is spreading faster than expected, and the state has the highest number of total cases in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with over 20,000 cases more than the second-highest state.

Staten Island, compared to the rest of the country, has more confirmed coronavirus cases than 41 states.

Officials have said, however, that New Yorks quickly-accelerating testing capacity is contributing to the exceptionally high number of confirmed cases.

Moving forward, however, who the tests are administered to is likely to change for commercial labs. Vice President Mike Pence said on Sunday the country will be caught up on a backlog of tests by the middle of next week, but added that the Trump administration is directing commercial labs to prioritize people who are in the hospital for coronavirus tests" in the effort to get the results of that as quickly as possible for every American.

The shift in test procedures to the most affected residents could shift the rate at which the amount of confirmed cases increase, but there is currently no indication that the state-run drive-through testing on Staten Island has slowed thus far.

Previously, Cuomo has said that the expected highpoint of the outbreak could require as many as 110,000 hospital beds across the state. On Tuesday, he upped that number to 140,000, the Advance/SILive.com reported.

Theyre nowhere near the number of beds that were going to need," he said. "I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need.

***

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SALT LAKE CITY, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Last Tuesday, March 17, Brad Bonham, CEO of Walker Edison, sent out a letter outlining what the Utah based eCommerce furniture company was doing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In it was a call for nominations for those whose budgets were tight, but in need of a desk to successfully work and teach their kids remotely.

Since Tuesday, the post has been shared hundreds of times and the company has been flooded with email responses from across the nation. As a result, Walker Edison donated over 500 desks to individuals and families!

Bonham commented, "Extending a hand to those that need is at the very core of what we do at Walker Edison. Please join us during this difficult time in lifting others by helping those in need. Let's stay positive, safe, and healthy as we confront this as a worldwide family. We will survive this, together."

About Walker Edison:

Established in 2006, Walker Edison quickly became a leading partner and a drop-ship solution for the biggest names in e-commerce. We are a data centric organization that is committed to deliver more than just innovative furniture - we are committed to help our customers Live Outside the Box. Walker Edison is a global organization with operations in Brazil, Asia, the UK and Germany. To learn more visit walkeredison.com.

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SpendEdge, a leading provider of procurement market intelligence solutions, has announced the completion of their latest success story on streamlining the procurement and sourcing process for an oil and gas company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005539/en/

Project background

The company wanted to develop a robust resource deployment model to boost the productivity of their internal operations. The key objectives of the engagement are mentioned below.

Objective 1: The company wanted to achieve superior competence and effectiveness through a standardized process.

The company wanted to achieve superior competence and effectiveness through a standardized process. Objective 2: They also wanted to centralize their sourcing and procurement processes across the supply chain.

They also wanted to centralize their sourcing and procurement processes across the supply chain. Interested in gaining comprehensive insights? Request a free demo to gain actionable insights to conduct sourcing analysis.

"Companies in the oil and gas industry must leverage the use of sourcing analysis solutions to streamline their procurement and sourcing process across the supply chain to sustain their foothold in the industry," says a procurement expert from SpendEdge.

Key findings and solutions offered

In collaboration with SpendEdge, the client an oil and gas company - developed a standardized and centralized procurement and sourcing process. The solution offered helped them to:

Reduce their maverick spend.

Achieve significant cost savings across the supply chain.

Are you looking for insights to improve your procurement process? Request a free proposal to access our customized solutions today!

Outcome: To cater to the specific requirements of the client, the experts at SpendEdge tailored an integrated research methodology, which included primary and secondary research coupled with qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. They identified the low and best cost country sourcing locations for their procurement and sourcing process. The solution offered further helped them to leverage opportunities for superior sourcing.

To access the complete case study on how we helped an oil and gas company to streamline the sourcing process, read the complete case study here!

You may also like:

Global Oil and Gas Storage Market Procurement Intelligence Report

Supply Chain Analysis Helps an Oil and Gas Industry Client Streamline the Procure to Pay Process

Sourcing and Procurement Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To gain more information, https://www.spendedge.com/get-more-info

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005539/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 984 7340

UK: +44 148 459 9299

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (CSE:CMC)(OTCQB:CWSFF) ("CIELO"/"Company") announces that Renewable U Medicine Hat Inc. ("Renewable U Medicine Hat") has informed CIELO that it has secured an agreement in principle to purchase 80 acres of land in Cypress County, Alberta, which is near Dunmore, approximately 3 kilometers southeast of Medicine Hat. Renewable U Medicine Hat has also advised CIELO that it has the funding in place to close the contemplated Purchase and Sale Agreement, which will be subject to a number of closing conditions that are anticipated to be satisfied on or before July 1, 2020.Renewable U Medicine Hat is the company with which CIELO has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU")(see February 26, 2019 Press Release) to fund all aspects of building and placing on production a joint venture facility in, or within, 50 kilometers of Medicine Hat ("JV Facility"). The JV Facility is being designed and engineered to initially convert up to 8 tonnes per hour of multiple waste feedstocks (about 65,000 tonnes/year) into 4,000 liters an hour 32.7 Million liters/year of renewable fuels that can be blended into conventional highway transportation, marine and aviation/jet fuels. It is contemplated that the JV Facility will operate 341 days a year and cost approximately $50 million to build and commission. During construction, CIELO expects to employ approximately 50 - 70 people and, once on production, CIELO expects that the JV Facility will employ approximately 25 full-time employees.The 80-acre parcel of land is located directly east of Canadian Pacific Railway's ("CP") Dunmore Rail Yard and is optimally located between the TransCanada #1 Highway and CP's main line. This location will provide Cielo with the flexibility to bring in various waste feedstocks and ship the renewable fuel end-products out by rail and or by ground transportation.Don Allan, President and CEO of CIELO, stated "Renewable U Medicine Hat, after scoping out multiple locations, presented us the land in Cypress County, which is perfectly located and ideal for future expansion opportunities. We are extremely excited to see our partners show their conviction and belief in CIELO by initiating this significant investment. This will allow CIELO to move forward with the applicable regulators and local residents to apprise them of our plans to build a green facility to convert waste into renewable fuels." Renewable U Medicine Hat's Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Jackson, stated, "We are extremely pleased to have found a location that is situated within Cypress County where local investors and partners reside that share our vision of creating a world class facility!"On Friday, March 27, 2020 at 11 AM EST (9 AM MST), Cielo's President & CEO, Don Allan, will be providing an update on the Company's current operations and anticipated upcoming milestones. Management will be available to answer questions following the presentation on the webinar platform. To ask a question, you will need to be logged into the GoToWebinar platform or by emailing your question(s) beforehand to RBMilestone@ cielows.com Date: Friday, March 27, 2020Time: 11 AM EST / 9 AM MSTRegister: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5572786030699110156 On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company.Cielo Waste Management Corp.Don Allan, President / CEO / DirectorInvestor ContactsRB Milestone Group, LLCTrevor Brucato, Managing DirectorNew York, NY & Stamford, CTtbrucato@ rbmilestone.com About CIELO Waste Solutions Corp.CIELO Waste Solutions Corp. is a publicly traded company with its shares listed to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CMC", as well as OTC Markets Group, on the OTCQB, under the symbol "CWSFF". CIELO is a waste to renewable energy company with a game changing technology engineered to help solve the world's garbage crisis. CIELO's technology transforms landfill garbage into renewable high-grade diesel and aviation jet fuel. CIELO's proven and patent-pending technology is currently being deployed in the Company's Aldersyde, Alberta Renewable Diesel Facility, where wood waste is currently being converted into renewable fuels.CIELO is headquartered in Alberta, Canada with plans to build and operate green facilities across North America as well as globally.CIELO has already begun expanding its footprint by signing multiple Memorandums of Understanding pursuant to which third parties are in negotiation with CIELO to build, at no cost to CIELO, Joint Venture Renewable Diesel Facilities in Grande Prairie, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, Alberta as well as in Nova Scotia. Each JV Facility is projected to cost approximately $50 million to build, commission and place on production. CIELO will be the general contractor and operator of all the proposed JV Facilities. The feedstock that will be used in the Company's green facilities is the world's most available and inexpensive feedstock - garbage; including household, commercial/ construction/demolition garbage, used tires, railway ties and telephone poles as well as all types of plastic that currently cannot be recycled.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking StatementsThis news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.Forward looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Cielo is making forward looking statements relat
The Punjab government on Tuesday directed the district commissioners to ensure door-to-door delivery of essential commodities during coronavirus lockdown.

"District commissioners in Punjab has been asked to ensure door-to-door delivery of essential commodities, such as groceries, milk, fruits and vegetables, through pre-identified hawkers and distributors, wherever possible," Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Office said.

As part of the curfew management systems, cart vendors will be designated to deliver milk, bread, biscuits and eggs to homes every morning by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) or Sector Magistrate.

The government said that over 94,000 NRIs and foreign returnees entered into Punjab in recent days.

"Most of the NRIs and foreign returnees have been tracked and around 30,000 people have been placed under isolation. All-out efforts are being made to trace the remaining," the Chief Minister's Office said.

Till Tuesday, a total of 29 cases of coronavirus has been reported in the state and one death.

Singh on March 23 announced a "full curfew" in the state "with no relaxations" in a bid to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Born on March 24, 1951, fashion designer Thomas Jacob Hilfiger started his career by co-founding a chain of fashion stores called Peoples Place in New York in the 1970s. He went on to launch the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985.

After spending a short time in college, Hilfiger started his first shop in downtown Elmira.

At first, Hilfiger and a friend would drive to New York to buy clothes for the store, but he soon began sketching his own designs.

Peoples Place went bankrupt in 1977 and Hilfiger joined commerce classes to understand the business aspect of the fashion industry.

He soon moved to New York City and set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979.

During this period, Hilfiger spent time in India to learn more about the trade and soon founded the company 20th Century Survival in 1981 and then Click Point in 1982.

In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani with the intent of launching a mens sportswear line. Murjani helped him with the necessary investment to launch his own line, while later Hilfiger oversaw the designs of the Coca-Cola clothing line for the businessman.

Hilfiger finally founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985 and launched big with a billboard campaign that was designed by George Lois.

The company became public in 1992 and in 1995 he licensed Pepe Jeans in the USA. It was around this time that he published his first book All American: A Style Book.

Many of Hilfigers works are influenced by music genres and the brand itself has sponsored several music events since inception.

In 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the company to Apax Partners and in March 2010, it was bought by Phillips-Van Heusen, the owner of the Calvin Klein brand.

On November 1, 2016, Hilfigers memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business was published. The book was co-written with Peter Knobler.

The recipient of recognitions by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Harvard Foundation and UNESCO, Hilfiger is also known for his charity work through the Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation.

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Some Canadian organizations are asking the federal government to focus any bailout of the oil industry on workers and families, not corporations.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pickup truck passes a mining shovel filling a haul truck at an oilsands mine near Fort McMurray, Alta., in this July 9, 2008 file photo. A million Canadians are asking the federal government to focus any bailout of the oil industry on workers and families, not corporations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Some Canadian organizations are asking the federal government to focus any bailout of the oil industry on workers and families, not corporations.

The request comes in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, released Tuesday morning and signed by environmental organizations, faith and labour groups that the signatories say represent about 1.3 million people.

"Giving billions of dollars to failing oil and gas companies will not help workers and only prolongs our reliance on fossil fuels," the letter says.

It comes in response to a media report that Ottawa is developing a multibillion-dollar bailout package for an industry buffeted by record low prices for its product.

Published reports have said industry executives want a program that would purchase distressed assets, suspend federal carbon and income taxes, and provide no-interest loans and loan guarantees.

But Rev. Cheri Di Novo of Toronto's Trinity St. Paul's United Church said that's poor policy.

"If you pour money into the wealthiest people in the country and the biggest corporations, it doesn't trickle down to the workers," said Di Novo, a former Ontario New Democrat politician.

"It tends to stay at the top."

Any oilpatch bailout is likely to be one of the biggest federal spending programs in recent memory, said Julia Levin of Environmental Defence.

She said such spending should be aligned with other federal priorities, such as helping workers transition from the fossil fuels industry and fighting climate change.

"They can use this opportunity to actually put in place the kinds of investments that are aligned with the commitments they've made."

The letter calls for immediate income support for oil and gas workers, including increased access to unemployment insurance. It also suggests money for retraining workers for what it calls "emerging low-carbon sectors like energy efficiency, technology, health care and renewable energy."

As well, it asks for money to hire workers to clean oil and gas wells left abandoned by energy companies no longer able to pay for them.

That money, it says, "should also be tied to regulatory change in Alberta to ensure the province puts in place a polluter-pays program so the public is not left with these liabilities in the future."

Robin Edger of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment rejected the argument that bailing out companies would bail out their employees.

"Why don't we just cut out the middleman? If our concern is the workers, we should just support the workers directly," Edger said.

"We have oil and gas wells that need to be cleaned up. We have industries with real futures that we need workers to be trained into."

Di Novo pointed out that massive bailouts of the auto industry didn't help in the long term.

"Clearly, giving all that money to (General Motors)  and I was in government when they did it  did not save those workers' jobs," she said. "As soon as the company could make more profit by moving their operation somewhere else, they did."

In 2009, the federal government spent $13.7 billion to bail out auto manufacturers. Much of that loan was never repaid and nearly 2,700 jobs will be lost in Oshawa, Ont., alone.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2020.

 Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960
China demolishes church, removes crosses as Christians worship at home

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The Chinese communist government continued its campaign against Christianity during the country's coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown.

On March 13, a church in Guoyang County, Anhui Province saw its cross removed by authorities. A video shared by the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness documented the moment when the crane removed the red cross from the church's rooftop.

A Christian with the surname Chen told persecution watchdog group China Aid that this church usually has 40 churchgoers attending its services. Authorities used the lockdown as an opportunity to remove the church's cross.

Bob Fu from China Aid also shared a video showing the demolished Xiangbaishu Church in Yixing city, Jiangsu province on March 11.

Religious persecution continues even in the midst of #WuhanVirus, Fu captioned the video. Xiangbaishu Church in Yixing city, Jiangsu province was destroyed by #CCP govt. Cross is our Glory.

Religious persecution continues even in the midst of #WuhanVirus March 11 Xiangbaishu Church in Yixing city, Jiangsu province was destroyed by #CCP govt. Cross is our Glory??????????????,?3.11?????.??????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/wp35ZexYIu  Bob Fu??? (@BobFu4China) March 15, 2020

Another church in Huaishang district of the city of Bengbu, Anhui province also had its cross removed at the beginning of March, according to International Christian Concern. Ms. Yao, a local Christian, said the removal was led by the head of the local United Front Department, a Communist Party organ employed to govern religious affairs.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China, most of the churches across the country, both underground or state-approved, are able to meet online as of now.

However, in Chinas Shandong province, two state-run Christian organizations, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council released a statement ordering all online preaching be ceased and churches that gather in secret be rooted out, reports China Aid.

In addition, it posits officials should guide Christians in other ways, with the caveat of not gathering together!

For the past 20 years, China has been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for religious freedom violations.

Under President Xi Jinping, the government has destroyed numerous churches and removed their steeples and crosses, reflecting the Communist Party's concerns about the growing number of Christians in the country.

More than 60 million Christians live in China, at least half of whom worship in unregistered, or illegal underground churches.

China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to persecution of Christians on Open Doors USAs World Watch List. In addition to Christians, the communist government continues to persecute and monitor members of various religious minorities, including the detention of over 1 million Uighur and other Muslims in western China over the last three years. In 2018, the government banned the online sale of Bibles.

Recently, Fu warned that over the last two years, Xis war on religion has reached its worst in 40 years. He accused the president of turning faith into a tool for the indoctrination of Communist ideology.

For example, all religious leaders must pledge to obey the Communist Partys ideology in their pulpit before they can be allowed to practice their religion, Fu said. Additionally, millions of Chinese Christian children have been forced to renounce their faith by signing a Communist Party prepared document.

Clearly the aim is to exterminate any independent faiths, he said, referencing not only the Christian faith, but the faith of Muslims, Buddhists, and others.

This is a very, very serious signal, he said.

Fu encouraged the international community to pay attention to the truth and spread true information about faith communities and persecution on social media.

He also stressed that faith communities must unite and speak with one voice and for each other.

That is a powerful message, Fu said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the plight of construction workers after the country-wide lockdown over coronavirus, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce emergency measures, including wage support to those in distress.

In a letter to the prime minister, Gandhi said that over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a "precarious" future as many of them are stranded in cities and are deprived of livelihood due to the lockdown.

In a separate letter to the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, the Congress chief urged them to ensure urgent wage support to construction workers who are now deprived of work due to the restrictions.

She said that the country is in the midst of the worst global pandemic and this has necessitated stringent measures for containment and management of the COVID-19 transmission. "These measures have led to widespread economic disruptions that had a debilitating impact on the informal sector," she said in her letter to Modi.

Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday.

FOLLOW LIVE COVERAGE OF COVID-19

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31, to check the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The Congress president said that over the last year, lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have left for their home towns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn. "As the second largest employer in India, over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a precarious future. Many are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihoods due to the stringent lock down measures," Gandhi told the PM.

The Congress chief said several countries around the world, most notably Canada, have announced wage subsidy measures as part of COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. "Considering the extraordinary circumstance, I request you to consider advising the State Building and other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency measures, particularly wage support to the construction workers who are in distress," Gandhi urged the prime minister.

She said the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 provides for various welfare measures for workers.

The Act also provides for constitution of state welfare boards and the constitution of welfare fund, she said, noting that it is reported that the welfare boards collected cess amounting to Rs 49,688 crore till March 31, 2019. She said only an amount of Rs 19,379 crore had been spent.

In her letter to Congress chief ministers, she commended their tireless efforts towards responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This public health emergency has triggered a severe economic downturn that threatens the livelihoods of millions, she noted.

"The construction sector is still reeling under the twin blow of demonetisation and GST, and slowdown triggered by COVID-19 is likely to further deepen the crisis. While lakhs of migrant workers fled large cities over the last week due to panic and stoppage of work, many are left stranded due to stringent lockdown measures and closure of public transport. Given their dependence of daily wages, it is important to provide urgent wage support to construction workers who have been deprived of work," she wrote to the CMs.

"At this juncture, it is critical to ensure that workers are given the benefits they are entitled to under various statutory provisions," she said.

ALSO READ| Coronavirus: Sonia Gandhi urges people not to panic, pitches for relief package

State Welfare Boards set up under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 have a large pool of unutilised funds collected through the levy of Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess, she told the Congress chief ministers.

"Given that a significant amount of cess lies unutilised, the State Welfare Boards may consider providing wage support to their registered beneficiaries," Gandhi told the chief ministers.

She said that several countries around the world, most notably Canada has announced wage subsidy measures as part of its COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. "In light of the extraordinary circumstance, I urge you to advise the State Welfare Boards to take necessary action at the earliest. Kindly keep me informed of progress in this matter," she told the CMs.

Gandhi wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy.
Constituent service is a relatively unsexy aspect of being a state lawmaker. There are no big speeches in support of legislation with your name on it. Instead, you are working behind the scenes figuring out how to use what leverage you have for the benefit of someone whos simply in need. There are a lot more of those types of people as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, especially at its epicenter in New York City.

Infections are spreading. Hospitals are running out of supplies. People are dying. Employers and employees alike are facing tough times. This is especially true in Central Brooklyn, where there are now more than 3,000 confirmed cases. Elected officials are scrambling to figure out what they can do to help address their part of a crisis that has now reached nearly every area of the state.

City & State spoke with state Sen. Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn on Monday to hear how elected officials are helping the health care system cope with an inflow of cases, ongoing legislative efforts and how this all ties into the state budget process. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

So how does a state lawmaker get involved in responding to the pandemic when you are outside the state Capitol?

Under normal circumstances, I am shaking many hands a day, I'm having many in-person meetings, I've gone to many in-person events, with crowds of all sizes. That is the normal course of business for me. That, of course, has ceased, and we haven't been able to do that. And so my job has shifted to making many more phone calls  I say that as a person who is not a phone person  Zoom conferences, and emails. I've been on the phone with folks in the mayor's office and the governor's office and talking to my senior centers, talking to the major facilities. We've been in contact with the district attorney's office and police precincts. I went on a radio station that mostly serves Caribbean folks in my district to explain what has been going on and what the government is doing to try to help.

What about on the economic side for constituents?

I think there are still some things that we can think through as we go through through this crisis. I think now there's a really strong case for us to say that internet providers are in fact utilities, and they should be governed as such. That is one thing that we can look to try to put into our statutes. Students are at home now because school is closed. Remote learning is only possible if you have access to the internet. And we know that there is a digital divide amongst some of our poor friends and neighbors.

Once a 90-day moratorium on evictions and foreclosures expires, theres going to be a serious effort from debt collectors. From property owners, from utility companies to collect what they cannot have collected during the crisis. And while I think people should get what they are owed, these sorts of situations always lend themselves to predatory actions. There are explicit things that we can do in the space of debt collection that will allow folks to not be immediately devastated by some of these attempts to collect.

You are the chair of the state Senate Elections Committee. What else needs to be done to ensure people can vote safely in the upcoming months?

To the extent that we can move to a no-excuse absentee system, that's really helpful. The problem that we face is that the New York state Constitution doesn't allow us to do that statutorily. We have to amend the Constitution in the process. So we are midway through that process right now. (Per the state Constitution, lawmakers have to pass the amendment once more in 2020 before it could go on the ballot in 2021.) We also have to consider preparations for these elections.

It takes a lot for that to happen in every poll site, in every county throughout the state of New York. A good number of board of elections workers are in the vulnerable population. We have to think about how we protect them as well and how we give the boards enough time to prepare, given that there will be reduced working staffs.
A UNHCR staff member in the Islamic Republic of Iran receives an airlift of some 4.4 tonnes of much-needed medical aid, including supplies to support the COVID-19 response.  UNHCR/Hamid Yazdanpanah

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, airlifted today (23 March) some 4.4 tonnes of much-needed medical aid items, including supplies to support the COVID-19 response in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Airbus A330-200 arrived at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran from Frankfurt at 17.40 (CET) delivering masks, gloves and essential medicines to help address critical shortages in Irans health care system. Further flights are scheduled in the coming weeks to transport additional aid-items, medicine and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

There are close to one million refugees in Iran who have access to the same health services as the host community and are covered under the national health response. However, hospitals and health centres are struggling to cope with the sharply increasing number of individuals needing urgent help.

These aid items are a vital lifeline for improving health care in Iran, benefiting refugees and their hosts, said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Iran. We stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and are fully mobilized to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable, amongst them refugees, he added.

The virus has now spread to all 31 provinces of Iran. Refugees, most of whom live side by side with host communities in villages, towns and cities, are at the same risk of catching the COVID-19 as Iranians.

Already during the early stages of the epidemic, UNHCR, in coordination with the Government of Iran, distributed basic hygiene items such as soap and disposable paper towels to some 7,500 refugee families living in refugee settlements across the country. Aid items have also been made available to Government and NGO partners who are also engaged in the provision of assistance to refugees.

UNHCR continues to work closely with Irans Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, UN agencies including the World Health Organization, and national and international NGO partners to raise awareness of key prevention measures amongst refugees and host communities.

We are thankful to our donors, particularly the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), who have rapidly rallied around Iran and UN agencies in this crucial moment, said Freijsen.

Globally, UNHCR is urgently seeking an initial US$33 million to boost preparedness, prevention and response activities to address the immediate public health needs of refugees and host communities prompted by the spread of COVID-19 around the world. In Iran, UNHCR is seeking US$9.5 million for its COVID-19 emergency measures and for its support to the national health care system to which refugees have access.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
| 2020-03-24 14:14:46|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on March 21, 2020 shows the interior view of the IFEMA Exhibition center in Madrid, Spain. Sunday saw the first patients arrive at the field hospital which has been set up at the IFEMA exhibition center in Madrid by members of the Spanish military's Emergency Response Unit. The field hospital will eventually have space for 5,500 beds and also an intensive care unit. (EFE/Handout via Xinhua)
The total number of recorded Coronavirus cases around the world has reached 381,761, with over 16,558 deaths due to the disease which doesn't have a vaccine.

In India itself, as the recorded number of Cov-19 cases inches close to 500, over 11 states and 80 districts have ordered a complete lockdown with several states also issuing a curfew. Indians, like many around the world, are being forced to stay at home.

Indians, however, are not very good at sitting at home. There's a popular running joke that Indians are the world's most avid travellers, and have definitely visited even the remotest parts of the world on a 4-day 3-night package through a travel agency.

So, if you're Indian, and wondering where you could go during this weekend, two Indians have created a website that tells you what places are safe to visit this weekend.

Developed by two software developers from Delhi, the website has become an instant hit.

Over 300k have visited the website, well, partly because, Indians will always be Indians.

~300K people in a single day of launching our website . I think now might be the right time for me to start microblogging. We know it is a simple frivolous one visit page but taking inspiration from @shl we'll disclose all the metrics so that you can learn whatever you can. pic.twitter.com/DpLdC4CCMt  Vamsi Rao (@VamsiRao7) March 23, 2020

Here's how you can visit the website. On the website, you can manually choose a location on the search bar and hit enter, and they'll tell you whether you can safely visit that location right now, or not.

Safe places to visit during this Corona pandemic #COVID19 , https://t.co/sc5sgCSkkR  Vamsi Rao (@VamsiRao7) March 22, 2020

If you can't due to slow net or other reasons, here's a summary: STAY AT HOME.

No, really. Your travel plans can wait. Your health can't. If you go out, you risk catching the infection yourself, as well as infecting others. No to mention, most tourist places are shut to prevent this exact thing!

Even doctors told us that we need to be indoors for a lot longer than a day to prevent India from succumbing completely to this disease. Do your part, stay at home.
Donald Trump claims he is targeting the Easter holiday on 12 April to issue an order that would end  rhetorically, at least  America's coronavirus shutdown so churches are "packed" from coast to coast.

"I think Easter Sunday and you'll have packed churches all over our country, I think it would be a beautiful time. And it's just about the timeline I think is right," he said in an interview with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer, even though his own public health officials have warned the outbreak might spread, leading to hundreds of thousands of infected Americans by year's end.

Mr Trump, whose conservative political base is, in part, composed of millions of conservative Christians, called the religious holiday a "special" day for him personally. Mr Trump has not talked extensively about his religious beliefs since taking office.

During a Fox News town hall earlier in the day from the White House, the president said a prolonged economic slowdown because of a coronavirus lockdown would "destroy" the United States and its economy. He claimed there would be thousands of suicides because people would be sequestered in their homes and possibly unemployed.

In Mr Trump's mind, Americans would continue "social distancing" and vigorous hand-washing once back at work. During the interview with Fox, he said specifically that Americans who work in restaurants are eager to clock in again.

And during the town hall, Vice President Mike Pence said Mr Trump has requested his coronavirus task force bring him a set of options for how to implement a national re-opening next month. Mr Pence, who heads that group, told Mr Hemmer the task force is drawing up a set of options to soon present to the president.

Mr Trump also said he does not regret referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus," a term some called racially charged and said sparked racism in the United States.

"I don't regret it, but they said we did it. They said it came through our soldiers," he said of some Chinese officials claiming the US military brought the super bug into their country.

"They lost thousands of people. They've been through hell," Mr Trump said, indicating he no longer wants to "make a big deal" of the flap.
Ukraine has 97 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection, Deputy Health Minister - Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko has said.

Over the past day, we recorded 11 new coronavirus cases, including 10 cases in Kyiv region and a case in Ternopil region. At the same time, 13 new cases were confirmed in Chernivtsi region today. These are mainly people who were in contact with the previous 25 cases confirmed in Chernivtsi region. Therefore, our dynamics is growing; we have 84 cases of coronavirus disease according to the data of the previous day, as well as 13 cases confirmed today, so there are currently 97 cases, Liashko said at a briefing on March 24, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that hygiene and quarantine requirements must be observed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

ish
MILWAUKEE  Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has asked that the upcoming April 7 election process be changed to mail-in ballots only.

In a letter dated Monday to Gov. Tony Evers, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, Barrett spells out his concerns about the upcoming election proceeding as is currently anticipated.

Having monitored the situation we are experiencing in Milwaukee, I now believe that neither in-person absentee voting nor in-person voting on April 7 is a feasible or safe for our workers or residents, Barrett wrote.

With 457 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Tuesday, Milwaukee County has been the heaviest hit, with 219 confirmed cases in the county alone.

Election staff concerns

Barrett asked that Evers modify the election procedure and conduct it entirely through mail ballots, citing concerns about City of Milwaukee Elections Commission staffing during the time.

Barrett said the Elections Commission in Milwaukee cannot maintain sufficient staffing to operate three in-person absentee or early voting locations because the Elections Commission is losing staff daily due to growing concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic and local and state stay at home orders.

On Tuesday, Evers issued a Safer At Home order, effective at 8 a.m. Wednesday, which closed nonessential businesses and asked that people remain in their homes unless visiting the grocery store, pharmacy and other essential businesses.

Barrett himself released a stay-at-home order for the City of Milwaukee Monday that mirrors Evers order.

As we see more personnel, including longtime dependable workers, choose to stay away from polling sites where many people normally congregate, we need to focus our energy on retaining and attaining people to handle absentee ballots, Barrett wrote.

Barrett said that the Elections Commission in Milwaukee has already been forced to relocate 15 of its voting sites, and needs to address 10 more sites. They would also need sanitation and disinfecting supplies to prepare those sites.

Barrett said that he recognizes the challenges a mail-in election could present, and that it likely could not be completed by April 7.

This is very real, Barrett said. In good conscience, I would not ask one of my loved ones to sit in a room for hours greeting dozens of people during this pandemic. I cant expect citizens of my city to do that either.

In the letter, Barrett also spelled out concerns about absentee ballots, which cannot legally be counted until election day. With so many people requesting absentee ballets, Barrett said the City of Milwaukee could see as many as 130,000 absentee ballots, compared to the 62,000 in the 2016 presidential election. He said a significantly longer processing period is needed before April 7.

Timing is of the essence, Barrett wrote. Every day spent preparing for in-person voting is a lost opportunity for municipalities to retool their election systems and regain traction with meeting the already heavy demands for absentee ballots.

Timing is of the essence. Every day spent preparing for in-person voting is a lost opportunity for municipalities to retool their election systems and regain traction with meeting the already heavy demands for absentee ballots.  City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett

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Linkedin Nina Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 16:12 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d275d1 1 National COVID-19,patients,lockdown,quarantine,physical-distancing,ineffective-social-distancing,social-distancing,Jokowi,doni-monardo,BNPB,jaga-jarak Free

Greater Jakarta, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, has remained open to visitors and continued to export the virus across the country, with new provinces reporting cases every day.

By Tuesday, the country had confirmed the spread of local transmissions to 24 of its 34 provinces and an upward trend in the number of confirmed cases outside Jakarta. In comparison, the Health Ministry reported confirmed cases in just eight provinces a week earlier on March 16.

On Monday, the ministry recorded that local transmissions were occurring in Jakarta province, Tangerang regency and Tangerang municipality in Banten province, and in Bekasi regency, Bekasi municipality and Depok in West Java. Outside Greater Jakarta, Surakarta in Central Java as well as Malang regency and Surabaya in East Java have also recorded local transmission.

Tuesday's reported figure of 686 cases included 226 cases outside the capital.

Cities from Sumatra to Papua are now reporting that their first confirmed cases had a history of recent travel to Greater Jakarta. South Sumatra and West Nusa Tenggara reported their first cases on Tuesday while the provinces North Maluku and Jambi reported first cases on Monday, with the majority of cases having traveled recently to Greater Jakarta.

On Tuesday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo reiterated his stance against imposing a nationwide lockdown, despite the increasing number of cities that are reporting cases of local transmission.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has called on the capital's residents to refrain from traveling outside Jakarta, but the call remains a mere suggestion since the city's borders are still open.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Agus Wibowo pointed to "a lack of discipline" among Jakartans as the primary cause of the high number of regionally imported cases from the capital.

[Jakarta's] residents lack discipline in adhering to the [physical] distancing and stay at home policies. If every resident practiced these with discipline, the number of cases spreading outside Greater Jakarta could be reduced, even without a lockdown, Agus told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The government must take stricter action to ensure that all residents [in Greater Jakarta] practice [physical] distancing," he stressed. "They need to educate more residents about this too, because it seems that many people are still unaware of the goal and importance of social distancing.

11 regions with imported cases from Jakarta:

1. Surakarta, Central Java

This relatively small city in Central Java reported its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 13, a 59-year-old and a 60-year-old who developed cough and fever after attending an Islamic law seminar on riba (usury) in Bogor, West Java, on Feb. 25-28.

2. Yogyakarta

Three out of the five confirmed cases in the special province have a travel history to Greater Jakarta. Yogyakarta provincial spokesperson Berty Murtiningsih said that one case had recently traveled to Jakarta, another had attended the riba seminar in Bogor, and the third had recently returned from Tangerang, Banten.

A still from a 2017 TV news footage show the empty halls of the isolation ward at Dr. Sardjito Central General Hospital in Yogyakarta. (Antara/Andreas Fitri Atmoko)

3. Medan, North Sumatra

The provincial capital on Monday recorded the death of a businessman, identified as AGI, whose test results came back positive for COVID-19 after his death. It was the city's second recorded death from COVID-19.

One of the businessman's friends told the Post that AGI had visited Jakarta last week. "Not long after he returned from Jakarta, AGI was admitted to a hospital and he passed away today," the friend said on Monday.

4. Tebo, Jambi

The province's first confirmed case is believed to be a senior official in Tebo regency. Oktavienni, the director of Sultan Thaha Saifudin Regional General Hospital in Tebo, said that the patient had developed symptoms are returning from a recent tour to Jakarta and Bali.

Jambi Health Agency head Ida Yuliati said the administration was monitoring 64 students and five teachers from SMA 1 Jambi senior high school who had recently returned from a field trip to several areas across Java.

5. Batam, Riau Islands

The city, located in the archipelagic province that is Indonesia's closest point to Singapore, has recorded the death of a patient who contracted the disease while attending a seminar in Bogor held by the Protestant Churches of Western Indonesia (GPIB) at the end of February. Batam Health Agency head Didi Kusmardjadi said that the 51-year-old woman was admitted to a local hospital on March 14 and died eight days later.

6. Samarinda, Tenggarong and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan

One resident in the provincial capital of Samarinda tested positive for COVID-19, followed by two confirmed cases in Balikpapan and Tenggarong three days later. All three cases had attended the riba seminar in Bogor in late February.

7. Blitar and Surabaya, East Java

On Monday, the birthplace of Indonesia's first president reported the regency's first case, a 38-year-old midwife identified as AY who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Bogor. AY is the daughter-in-law of Blitar regency secretary Totok Subihandono, who also heads the Blitar COVID-19 task force.

"The patient, who has tested positive for COVID-19, is [one of our own]," Blitar Regent Rijanto told a press briefing on Monday. "She accompanied her husband, who works in Bogor."

Sources in Surabaya also confirmed that several cases in the provincial capital became symptomatic after traveling to Jakarta, particularly after coming into close contact with Transportation Minister Budi Karya.

8. Bali

The resort island announced on Monday a Romanian couple that had tested positive for the virus and one local confirmed case that was imported from Jakarta. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Bali to six, including two deaths.

Bali COVID 19 task force chairman Dewa Made Indra said that the Balinese man tested positive for COVID 19 after returning from Jakarta.

The man had never gone overseas. He had just returned from a business trip outside Bali, to Jakarta, said Dewa, adding that all cases in Bali to date were imported cases.

9. Ambon, Maluku

The provincial capital reported its first confirmed case on Sunday, a recent migrant from Bekasi, West Java. Maluku provincial secretary Kasrul Selang said that the man had been placed under surveillance at Dr. Haulussy Regional General Hospital in Ambon upon his arrival from Bekasi, and had been showing improvements before his test results came back positive.

10. Merauke, Papua

The first confirmed case in the regency is reportedly an imported case from Greater Jakarta, a 46-year-old man who attended the riba seminar in Bogor in late February. According to kompas.com, the man arrived in Merauke on March 4 from Makassar, South Sulawesi, via Jayapura, Papua.

11. Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara

The West Nusa Tenggara administration announced on Tuesday that the province had a confirmed COVID-19 patient, a 50-year-old woman from Lombok island.

Governor Zulkieflimansyah said the patient likely got the virus from outside the province, considering she had traveled to Jakarta within the last 14 days.

"She went to Jakarta to attend an international conference and met with several ambassadors from other countries," Zulkieflimansyah said.

She began getting treatment on March 17, he said.

---

Apriadi Gunawan (Medan), Fadli (Batam), Jon Afrizal (Jambi), Ni Komang Erviani (Denpasar), N. Adri (Balikpapan), Asip Hasani (Blitar), Belseran Christ (Ambon) and Panca Nugraha (Mataram) contributed to this story.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") is pleased to report that the Company is diligent and is following all recommendations from Health Canada sources as Canada deals with COVID-19.

The Company's business operations, which is currently comprised of on-line sales of 4 products that offer protection to consumers from electromagnetic radiation is exceptionally robust. Sales are continuing without disruption as our supply chain for manufacturing has next to no limitation, and is running smoothly. In this regard, the Company is pleased to report record monthly sales from December 2019 up to March 23rd 2020, when compared to the same months in the previous year, with the month of March already having all time record sales with 8 more days remaining. Additionally, Aires has strong inventory on hand to meet the consumer demand the Company is experiencing. It is noteworthy that these record sales have occurred organically. The Green Space Worldwide Inc. performance marketing campaign is expected to commence in mid-April 2020, which is expected to bolster sales even further.

Furthermore, Aires is also pleased to report that the development of its new online e-commerce platform is on schedule and budget as is the Company's new 5G product offering.

"I would like to convey to all stakeholders that we are acting prudently with all the recommendations from Health Canada regarding COVID-19. We are complying completely. We also have the benefit of being a Company that is not a traditional brick and mortar store, but rather an on-line e-commerce platform that runs 24 hours a day, 365 day of the year. That said, our exposure to the current situation is somewhat limited in this regard" commented Dimitry Serov, President and CEO. "I would also like to remind our stakeholders that the Aires offering provides consumers a product for people who seek protection from the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. During these unprecedented times, people are increasingly concerned about their health and well-being which is only adding to this organic increase in record sales. Lastly, a further testament to our business model is the recent insider buying of Aires shares".

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires is an Ontario based technology company that is focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative technology solutions to allow consumers to safely engage with electronic products of the 21st century. The Company is currently engaged in the business of production, distribution and sales of products intended to protect persons from the harmful effects of electromagnetic emissions, which is produced from electronic devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, tablets and electric cars to name a few. The Company has developed a technology that restructures and transforms electromagnetic field haze into a more biologically-compatible form to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. The Company's current principal products are the Shield Pro, Aires Defender Pro and Aires Guardian.

For more information please visit: www.airestech.com

On behalf of the board of directors

Dimitry Serov, President & Chief Executive Officer

Email: dimitry@airestech.com

Phone: (905) 482-4667

Investor Relations:

Samina Deen, Head of Partnerships

Email: samina@airestech.com

Phone: (416) 320-1634

wifi@airestech.com

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53700
Opinion Article

24 March 2020

As the COVID-19 crisis grows in the US and elsewhere outside China, hotels and restaurants are among the businesses hardest hit. In select markets like Seattle and San Francisco, hotels are reporting single digit occupancies and crushed ADRs. Many hotels do not have the cash flow to keep their doors open. The major hotel companies are talking of furloughs for tens of thousands of hotel employees and many properties are looking at closure or skeleton team maintenance operations.

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This is a time for those with troubled hotel assets to "get back to the basics". Here is our time-tested list of Do's and Don't's for distressed hotels and other special assets closely intertwined with operating businesses. There is a wealth of such materials available at HotelLawyer.com.

Here is our updated take on the 8 Dos and Don'ts for distressed hotels. If you just got a notice that your hotel asset is about to lay off staff and close, jump to #4 in the list below and then circle back.

1. Prevention.

Prevention is the first step in a well-planned approach to troubled hotel loans. Proper underwriting, documentation and provisions for access to information may help a lender facing a troubled loan. In the event the loan does get into trouble, the lender will be in a stronger position to protect its interests. Prevention includes careful underwriting of the collateral and the borrower. In underwriting the borrower, the lender should obviously look to the usual credit report and financial statements, but should often go beyond them to get a better feel for the borrower's reputation, character, fortitude, expertise, consistency and creativity. The lender should ask: Has this borrower built or managed this kind of project before? Are the market and feasibility studies realistic? Are the projections consistent with these factors and do they provide adequately for a "worst case scenario"? Even on non-recourse loans, personal guarantees with "bad boy" carve-outs help assure borrow cooperation when things turn bad.

Once the credit decision has been made, the transaction should be fully and carefully documented with prevention in mind. Use the checklist approach to be sure nothing is overlooked. (JMBM's Global Hospitality Group uses our proprietary HIT List - acronym for "Hospitality Investment Task" list.) Be sure all desired title and liability insurance is in place, with endorsements to cover the lender's interests. Particularly with construction loans, negotiate all necessary controls for the project - to cover both the ordinary course of building and the possibility of default. A lender will never have a better opportunity to protect its interests than the period before it has disbursed the loan proceeds.

2. Monitoring and early warning.

Information control is paramount. A lender must carefully monitor its loans until they are paid off. All documents and information needs to be gathered in one centralized place for security, analysis and continuous monitoring. Early warning systems should be established to alert the lender to problems with the borrower, the collateral, or the project's feasibility. Is the property considering closing or layoffs? Is the construction or marketing of the project being delayed? Is the property being wasted? Are materials disappearing from the job site? Have the demographics and economics of the market changed adversely? If trouble signs appear, the special asset group should be consulted at an early stage, even if the project stays in the hands of the loan servicing department.

Many institutions have been "bitten" by their good faith efforts in a workout situation. The pre-workout agreement is designed to minimize these risks.

3. Use a Special Assets Group for troubled assets.

The CMBS world figured this out and locked it down with special servicing. But other lenders should remember that, whatever the name and acronym, a specialized group should be used for handling troubled assets. A specialized division for working on troubled assets (for convenience we will refer to this group as a specialized asset group or "SAG") brings greater objectivity in dealing with troubled loan issues, thereby minimizing the peril of an approach drawn from past dealings with the borrower that may be either too sympathetic or too harsh and raise lender liability issues.

The SAG should also bring (or will develop) specialized expertise in handling the unique problems of troubled assets. It should be provided with expedited access to senior management for policy decisions and allocation of resources. It should also have authority to implement crucial procedures and policies such as settling customer complaints, bringing in special counsel, hiring consultants, executing pre-workout documents and documenting negotiations to avoid liability for unsuccessful workouts. Bringing the SAG into the situation also provides notice to the borrower that the lender is serious about collecting the debt and that this is not "business as usual."

4. Comprehensive Situation Analysis - information update.

The Special Asset Group with its experienced, detached personnel, should gather, analyze and summarize all relevant information on the loan, the borrower, the collateral and relevant documentation and history; update the borrower's financial statements, tax returns, litigation history and credit rating. In addition to gathering all loan documents, promissory notes, guaranties, evidences of advances, notices, a complete written history of the loan should be prepared. When the history is compiled, care should be taken to protect as much as possible from discovery so that any candid descriptions of problems and proposed solutions to such problems will not be a part of the evidence at trial, should you choose litigation. This can be done by engaging outside counsel or involving the bank's in-house legal department. Loan service personnel should be interviewed, and waiver and estoppel issues must be evaluated. Consider interviewing witnesses with counsel present, to protect sensitive information obtained from disclosure later on if litigation is filed. The impact of conversations, correspondence, and course of conduct must be given careful consideration. Appraisals, projections and feasibility studies should be updated as necessary. (See Hotel Law Blog, October 30, 2008: "The Comprehensive Situation Analysis."

Two final cautions on information updates. First, the update of collateral information should include a physical inspection of the premises. Walk the project! Don't settle for a "drive-by" or the borrower's guided tour. The physical inspection may suggest problems to be dealt with or new approaches to the project.

Second, the information, documents and summaries gathered by the Special Assets Group should be reviewed by counsel experienced in troubled loan matters and lender liability. This review should analyze the validity of the notes, security interests, guaranties and other important documents with an eye toward identifying defects that might be cured or curable. From this review lenders should also be able to determine the potential of any borrower defenses or counter claims. Counsel should find out from the lender if there are any potential tort or strict liability claims that may go along with any transfers of ownership in real property, such as an apartment owner's duty to pay for tenant injuries or a landowner's duty to pay the costs of cleaning up contaminated property.

5. Evaluate the information and alternatives.

All the gathered information needs to be evaluated by appropriate business and legal personnel. Fully armed with this information and evaluation, the lender can then assess whether to do nothing, commence a workout or restructure of the loan, seek a receiver, initiate foreclosure or initiate involuntary bankruptcy proceedings.

6. Pre-workout agreement.

Before commencing workout negotiations, a pre-workout agreement should be executed. Such an agreement offers the advantage of protecting the lender from liability from claims arising from the workout process itself. Many institutions have been "bitten" by their good faith efforts in a workout situation. They report that desperate debtors or their unscrupulous representatives have either misunderstood statements made in workout negotiations, or intentionally misrepresented positions taken. Whatever the motivation or cause of the problems, these institutions find themselves the victim of claims that oral agreements, representations, or waivers made in the course of a workout entitle the borrower to rights or damages never contemplated by the lender upon entering workout negotiations. The pre-workout agreement is designed to minimize these risks.

The pre-workout agreement typically recites that the parties are about the commence workout negotiations and that the agreement is a material inducement for the lender to participate. Loan documents can be attached as exhibits and acknowledged to be legally binding on the parties. It is usually agreed that the loan documents continue in full force, unless modified in the specific manner permitted by the pre- workout agreement. Sometimes, egregious problems which exist in the lender's loan documentation can be corrected in a pre-workout agreement, when the borrower is usually in a very cooperative mood. The confirmation of the loan document's binding effect, recital of loan history and acknowledgment of defaults may greatly simplify collection efforts later if the negotiations fail or the workout falls apart. Consider inserting a confidentiality provision in the pre- workout agreement, to try to prevent the borrower from using the media to increase its negotiating leverage, especially if the borrower is in a business that may attract media attention.

The key provision of the pre-workout agreement recites that discussions and negotiations between the parties may be lengthy and complex, however, no discussions or oral agreement have any effect whatsoever unless all parties execute a written agreement. This critical provision helps prevent a party from claiming a binding agreement was reached on certain issues in the absence of satisfactory resolution of all disputes in the workout process.

The pre-workout agreement should provide that only amendments in writing have any effect, state that the pre-workout agreement is the entire agreement of the parties on the subject matter, specify the governing law and provide for attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in the event of any dispute. The agreement should also provide that no negotiations or other acts taken in the workout process constitute any waivers by the lender of its rights except to the extent specifically identified in writing. The pre-workout agreement should also confirm that the attorneys' fees to be incurred by the lender in the workout will be reimbursed by the borrower.

The most controversial issues on pre-workout agreements usually involve whether to include a mandatory arbitration provision for any disputes concerning the credit (with corresponding waiver of jury trial and court process) and any release provisions. Some lenders say they would rather proceed with the "main event" if they cannot obtain an arbitration provision and release for any action up to that date. Others would rather engage in the workout process to cure defects in the loan documentation in exchange for concessions to the borrower and are less concerned with the benefits of arbitration or waivers.

7. Document the transaction completely

It goes without saying that once negotiations have resulted in a restructuring or workout, all aspects of the agreement should be thoroughly and fully documented promptly.

8. Develop a "Game Plan" and stick to it!

Once an alternative course of action has been selected, the lender should develop a game plan or blueprint for executing its course of action. There may be valid reasons to wait until specified events have occurred or time periods have elapsed. However, in general, once the course of action has been decided, delay is ill-advised. The most successful lenders are those who stick with their game plan, except as changed circumstances may warrant.

What does it all mean?

Understanding fundamentals allows you to put together a strategic game plan that allows players to move around the court, pass the ball and take shots, as well as defend their position. Whether you are a Lender or Borrower, you will want to make sure everyone on your team knows the "8 Dos and Don'ts" of handling troubled hotel mortgage loans before they play for your team.
A Brampton councillor is asking the province to eliminate the barriers faced by foreign-trained doctors to practise in Ontario so they can help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an open letter sent to Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliot, Ward 7 Coun. Charmaine Williams said that red tape and artificial barriers in place prevent international medical graduates from practising, even when many of them are qualified to do so.

We need more doctors now, said Williams, in an interview. Ontario and Canada have thousands of foreign-trained doctors who have been denied the right to practise medicine here.

Williams estimates that cutting the red tape, and in particular boosting residency positions, could add more than a thousand doctors in the province.

Critics and advocates have long complained about the competitive and difficult process for foreign doctors to be certified in Ontario. While the majority of doctors successfully pass the required exams to get certified, the majority are unable to land a residency position  a required step in obtaining a license to practice in Ontario.

In 2019, the Canadian Residency Matching Service, which is responsible for matching students to residency positions throughout Canada, reported that out of 1,758 international medical graduates, 1,360 went unmatched. Only 326 residency positions were available for foreign-trained professionals in the first round.

That is a complete waste of talent that we need now, and as the pandemic ramps up in Ontario, said Williams, who has started a petition at moredoctorsnow.ca to raise awareness of her campaign.

In her letter sent Monday, Williams said the province should move as quickly as possible to flatten the curve, and also increase our capacity.

In her letter, she asks that the province consider eliminating barriers, including: the cost of the examination process, which can add up to thousands of dollars and the lack of hospital residencies.

Were calling doctors and nurses out of retirement, why arent we calling foreign-trained doctors who are just waiting? she said.

Citing recent statistics from the World Bank and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Williams said that Italy has 4.1 doctors per 1,000 people, while Canada has only 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people.

Dr. Sohail Gandhi, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said his organization has long advocated for additional numbers of physicians in Ontario and has been working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) to find a solution that would allow for the rapid deployment of new physicians into our health care system.

In direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the CPSO said it has taken steps to expedite licensing processes in an effort to get more physicians to the front lines. It said it will issue a short duration certificate. This allows for physicians licensed elsewhere in Canada to work in Ontario for 30 days under the close supervision of a Ontario licensed practitioner.

It has also taken steps to expedite the ability to issue a six-month restricted certificate to a final year medical resident who is unable to sit for the qualifying exams due to the pandemic.

This is an evolving situation and the CPSO continues to work closely with our partners at the Ministry of Health and the OMA to ensure that we are providing the support and resources necessary to expand access to safe and appropriate care for Ontarians, said a spokesman with the College.

Khalil Lakho, with the Association of International Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, a non-profit that lobbies for foreign-trained doctors, said many foreign-trained doctor are feeling restless as they watch the pandemic unfold around the world.

The situation is really alarming, said Lakho, the director of the Canadian Ultrasound Institute and Research Centre in Mississauga. And here are people who are trained and qualified to help but simply cant because they cant get residencies, he said.

He says the association supports Williamss efforts.

Lakho said he has heard from many who are going back home to fight the pandemic, instead of wasting their skills in Canada. Some people are going as volunteers, others are going on behalf of organizations to help the local health care system, said Lakho. So why not here?

The Ministry of Health was not able to confirm on Tuesday if it had seen Williamss letter.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 12:59:15|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian dailies on Monday urged unity and social responsibility to confront the COVID-19 pandemic that is spreading across Latin America.

Newspapers banded together to deliver the same message on their front pages -- "Together we will defeat the virus: United by information and responsibility," as part of a civic-minded campaign launched by the National Newspaper Association (ANJ).

"In dramatic situations like the one we are going through, accurate and contextualized information is an even more essential asset," said Marcelo Rech, president of the ANJ.

"This measure shows the unity of Brazilian newspapers around a common cause: serving the population with quality journalism to tackle and overcome the pandemic," Rech added.

The Brazilian Health Ministry reported that the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose from 1,546 to 1,891, and the number of fatal victims climbed from 25 to 34.

In Peru, where 395 people have tested positive for COVID-19, Health Minister Victor Zamora urged the 130 members of Congress to hold sessions online, rather than gather in person, to minimize the spread.

"You can session at home and on the computer," said Zamora, calling on lawmakers to adopt the same measures of social distancing as the general public.

The government has imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. till March 30 to restrict mobility of and contact among the population.

Bolivian Interior Minister Arturo Murillo warned the government could declare a state of siege and suspend constitutional guarantees unless the public complies fully with virus containment measures.

"If we need a national state of siege, we'll do it for the health of everyone," Murillo told a press conference in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, complaining that residents in some parts were flouting the call to quarantine.

Bolivia, which has 27 confirmed cases, has postponed general elections to May 3 due to the health emergency.

Its Supreme Electoral Court said Monday there was agreement among the political parties on the need to set a new date to elect a new president, vice president and 350 lawmakers.

In Cuba, the caseload has reached 40 after five new patients tested positive, including three Cubans, a French man and a Russian who both arrived from France.

Two of the newly-infected Cubans arrived from Spain, and the third had contact with four Canadian tourists who also tested positive.

Colombia reported its third fatality from the virus and an increase in the total number of COVID-19 patients from 235 to 277.

The latest fatal victim was an elderly man, 88, whose family said "he came in frequent contact with different European tourists at a cafeteria," the Health Ministry said.

Argentina tabled the economic impact of the pandemic at an online emergency meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs.

Economy Minister Martin Guzman called for greater "global coordination and cooperation efforts" to ensure social stability as the epidemic idles production and consumption, leading to job losses.

Guzman proposed governments take into account certain key principles, starting with prioritizing healthcare.

"The second principle is that we should protect those who are left in a vulnerable situation ... we must take decisive action to avoid social collapse," he said, recommending cash transfers, job protection and expanding unemployment insurance.

Meanwhile, the Argentine Health Ministry confirmed the country's first case of locally-transmitted COVID-19, and a total caseload of 266, with four fatalities.

Ecuador reported a total of 981 cases, with 18 fatalities; Panama reported 313 cases with five fatalities; Costa Rica, 158 cases with two fatalities; and the Dominican Republic, 245 cases with three deaths.
The U.S. government is delaying all court hearings for asylum-seeking migrants in Mexico due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the news Tuesday, declaring the decision was effectively immediately.

'Due to circumstances resulting from COVID-19, all Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) master calendar and merit hearings presently scheduled through April 22 will be rescheduled,' the Department said in a statement.

They government emphasized that the hearings were merely postponed, and not cancelled.

In a bid to slash asylum claims, the administration of President Trump launched an initiative in January 2019 that has forced more than 57,000 non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings.

The U.S. government is delaying all court hearings for asylum-seeking migrants in Mexico due to the coronavirus outbreak. People are seen waiting in line for a meal at a migrant encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, which is crowded with 2,000 people hoping to be admitted to the US

Some immigration lawyers have welcomed the move, claiming it could help stop the spread of coronavirus in migrant camps in the north of Mexico.

'If one of us lawyers has COVID-19 and we walk over and talk to our clients, the entire refugee camp will get it,' lawyer Richard Newman told CBS.

'It had put us in this impossible position of trying to protect ourselves, protect our communities and protect the refugee community.'

'I'm thankful that [the government] made that decision so it doesn't make the immigration lawyers look like bad guys,' he added.

However, there is growing concern on the Mexican side of the border that the number of migrants stranded there will now balloon, and shelters are already at capacity.

'We have 300 people in the shelter and we can no longer take it. We have been a week without the United States asking for people and if they don't ask, we are going to be overcrowded,' Hector Joaquin Silva, director of the Senda de Reynosa shelter, which borders McAllen, Texas, told The Associated Press Monday.

Asylum seekers wearing masks enter a door while attending a mandatory immigration court hearing on Monday, March 16, 2020, in El Paso, Texas. They are not suspected of carrying coronavirus. The US government is has now halted all court hearings for asylum seekers through April 22nd

In a bid to slash asylum claims, the administration of President Trump launched an initiative in January 2019 that has forced more than 57,000 non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings

Meanwhile, on Friday, the U.S. government further clamped down on border crossings.

The government declared it would turn away all illegal border crossers on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try and halt the spread of COVID-19. The ruling applies to both the northern and southern borders.

Mark Morgan, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, stated on Fox News: 'We're not going to take you into our custody, We don't know anything about you. You have no documents, we're not going to take you into our facilities and expose you to CBP personnel and the American people as well as immigrants'.

The Mexican government has since stated that it is not prepared to keep all migrants who are turned away at the southern border due to ballooning numbers - which has caused mass confusion

The Mexican government has since stated that it is not prepared to keep all migrants who are turned away at the southern border due to ballooning numbers - which has caused mass confusion.

'If people who are not Mexican or Central American are returned to us, Mexico would not accept them,' Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Friday. 'The United States will take care of that.'

The majority of people crossing the border are from Central America, but not all. For example, there were nearly 1,200 Chinese who arrived between January and February this year, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

However, Moran, the acting head of the CBP, says illegal migrant crossings have dropped by about half in recent days, due to the pandemic.

A Customs and Border Patrol police officer talks to a driver near the U.S.- Mexico border Monday

Meanwhile, in the U.S., immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. requesting the immediate release of migrant families from detention facilities over concerns of inadequate care and an environment ripe for an outbreak. They say the country's three detention centers where families are held - Berks in Pennsylvania, and Karnes and Dilley in Texas - have failed to take adequate measures to protect families from COVID-19.

Immigration enforcement has wide latitude on when to release migrants. Earlier this year, Homeland Security officials said they would detain families as long as possible in an effort to discourage migrants from crossing the border. Most families are held 20 days.

'The families who are detained in these detention centers facilities have no criminal history and do not pose any threat whatsoever to public safety and are not a flight risk - they all came to the United States to seek asylum and are actively pursuing the right to remain in the United States,' the advocacy groups wrote.

ICE has said it is working to contain any spread of the virus in its detention facilities.

Last week, the organization said it will limit most arrests until the coronavirus outbreak is contained.
The daughter of a woman who died after contracting coronavirus said she was determined her mother would not be a statistic as she pleaded with people to follow advice on preventing the spread of the virus.

Ruth Burke (82) was the first woman in Northern Ireland to die of the virus.

Her daughter Brenda said her mother suffered underlying health difficulties over the years and the virus was the last straw.

Ms Burke passed away in Antrim Area Hospital on Monday night. Brenda said it was heartbreaking not to be able to be by her mother's side.

I dont want my mother to be a statistic, she was a strong person, she told the BBC.

In an emotional Facebook post she appealed to people to wise up and take the necessary precautions and look after others and not to panic buy.

She said they loved their mother deeply and would miss her very much. She thanked those that had cared for her over the years.

To those of you out there who are being so selfish and gathering in crowds wise up... how selfish can you be?

Now we are not going to get to see mum for a celebration of her life. We are not going to have that opportunity... that day will come.

We could not be with her when she passed. We are not going to get to see her in her coffin. But I know we did all that when it mattered and that was when mummy was alive.

She added: As a family we held together and we kept our mum save as best we could until we could not keep her safe no more.

This is a time when we need to think of others.

If you value life you will stay in and do as you have been asked, because my mum may be the fourth ... but the sad reality is she wont be the last.

Health authorities have so far not commented on the death.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill offered her condolences to Ruth Burke's family.

"We have an ability as a people to do something right now that would minimise the number of people that will be sitting today like Brenda and her family, having lost a loved one," she said.

"We can do that, we can stop the spread of the virus by taking action, by being responsible, by taking the public health advice."

It comes as Northern Irelands First Minister Arlene Fosters said she believes the UK lockdown will go on past its initial three week period.

People must remain at home except for shopping for basic necessities, exercise, any medical need and travelling to and from essential work, Boris Johnson said, with police enforcing the move.

Shops selling non-essential items were told to shut, and gatherings in public of more than two people who do not live together are banned.

He said the measures would be reviewed in three weeks time.

On Monday a third person in Northern Ireland died after contracting the disease with 148 of those tested having tested positive.

Health Minister Robin Swann has already warned that 15,000 people could die in the region if steps are not taken to limit the spread of Covid-19.
A global health expert, Professor Anthony Costello, has said he hopes Ireland will show Europe how a response to Covid-19 should be coordinated.

I fear that London is going to be like Italy and Wuhan, he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.
The city police have registered a case and are investigating the identity of the man who allegedly spat on a woman from Manipur and heckled her in an incident of race discrimination linked with the global coronavirus outbreak.

Police said the incident took place on Sunday night in north-west Delhis Vijay Nagar, near Mukherjee Nagar, where an unidentified man on a scooter spat on the woman and shouted Corona before fleeing.

Police said that the incident took place when the 25-year-old woman was walking on a dark stretch in her neighbourhood. She was alone at the time of the incident, and could not see the mans face or the registration number of the scooter he was riding, they added.

At around midnight on Sunday, a Twitter user posted two photographs of the woman (her face not visible) with spittle on her T-shirt and details of the alleged incident. The tweet was widely circulated, and the incident drew sharp criticism. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Monday: Am shocked to read this. Delhi Police must find the culprit and take strict action. We need to be united as a nation, especially in our fight against Covid-19.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya said a case under Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC was registered.

We are trying to nab the man as early as possible, Arya said.

BJP Nagaland president Temjen Imna Along on Monday appealed to the partys presidents across states to ensure racial profiling does not take place.

I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow BJP presidents to use your good offices to create awareness about the diversity of our people, he wrote.

In a March 21 circular, the Union ministry of home affairs wrote to the chief secretaries of states asking them to ensure law enforcement agencies be sensitised.
"This recognition from Flexera is a huge honor," said Dax Powers, North American Software Lifecycle Management (SLM) Sales Director. "It is validation of the hard work both organizations put into this partnership. Together, we offer industry-leading solutions for our customers, and provide them the complete visibility and control across the complex ecosystem of on-premises, cloud, and hybrid workloads."

Flexera honors and awards the partner who demonstrates the most significant ability to provide exceptional delivery, customer acquisition, advanced training, customer satisfaction, and innovation. This award marks the fourth consecutive win for SoftwareONE, including Emerging Partner of the Year (2016) and three-time Partner of the Year (2019, 2018, 2017).

Cindy Grogan, Vice President of Global Alliances at Flexera, said, "It's an honor to recognize SoftwareONE as Flexera's Partner of the Year in North America. They have continuously shown a razor-sharp focus on exceeding customer needs and providing high-quality solutions to complex business challenges. Congratulations to SoftwareONE."

Together, SoftwareONE and Flexera have delivered wins for hundreds of customers across nearly every industry. SoftwareONE currently has the most certified Flexera consultants in the world, with depth in both technical (implementation) and operational (managed services) solutions. SoftwareONE employs presently over 650 Software Lifecycle Management consultants, making it one of the largest practices globally.

"Flexera is the engine and SoftwareONE brings the horsepower," states Kevin Hooton, SoftwareONE's North American SLM Practice Director. "We've built a remarkable delivery team - onshore, nearshore and offshore  that continues to deliver the results our customers expect in their services partner. I could not be more proud of our global team who go the extra mile every day."

These awards solidify SoftwareONE's commitment to the Flexera partner ecosystem, and we are looking forward to continuing our work together.

Ashley Gaare, President, SoftwareONE North America, celebrated the award with a message to the organization: "Receiving an award like this from Flexera is further proof to me that we have a true partnership. One that drives and promotes success for the other, but most importantly for our mutual customers. When we come together to provide an end-to-end solution for a customer and give them the highest level of competency while knowing we both have strengths the other needs, that to me is a true partnership, and I'm very grateful we have that with Flexera."

About SoftwareONE

SoftwareONE is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, headquartered in Switzerland. With capabilities across the entire value chain, it helps companies design and implement their technology strategy, buy the right software and cloud solutions at the right price, and manage and optimize their software estate. Its offerings are connected by PyraCloud, SoftwareONE's proprietary digital platform, that provides customers with data-driven, actionable intelligence. With over 5,300 employees and sales and service delivery capabilities in 90 countries, SoftwareONE provides more than 65,000 business customers with software and cloud solutions from over 7,500 publishers. SoftwareONE's shares (SWON) are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. For more information, please visit SoftwareONE.com.

About Flexera

Flexera helps executives succeed at what once seemed impossible: getting clarity into, and full control of, their company's technology "black hole." From on-premises to the cloud, Flexera helps business leaders turn IT insights into action. With a portfolio of integrated solutions that deliver unparalleled technology insights, spend optimization and agility, Flexera helps enterprises optimize their technology footprint and realize IT's full potential to accelerate their businesses. For over 30 years, our 1,300+ team members worldwide have been passionate about helping our more than 20,000 customers fuel business success. To learn more, visit flexera.com.

For media inquiries please contact:

Heather Dahmer

Director, Marketing & Alliances

[email protected]

+1 647-217-9594

SOURCE SoftwareONE

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The three unionist parties at Stormont have welcomed alternative proposals from a victims group over how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

Innocent Victims United (IVU), the group behind the proposals, said it wants to hear from all other political groups.

Spokesman Kenny Donaldson said the IVU family of 23 partner groups is offering a fair, balanced, realistic and affordable solution.

A key proposal is for an enhanced Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) located within the PSNI and led by a new Deputy Chief Constable appointed from outside Northern Ireland to demonstrate transparency.

On March 18 the UK Government through the NIO announced its proposed roadmap for the way ahead, that paves the way to amnesty, the scrubbing away of crimes committed in the context of the Troubles, Mr Donaldson said.

We are clear, we will not do the Governments bidding. Last weeks proposals are unacceptable. Instead, we offer a sustainable solution. Now we want to engage with other political parties and the NIO in shaping the way forward.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the party would be discussing the new proposals with the Secretary of State today.

For too long legacy has been imbalanced, he said. From the release of prisoners to the on run letters, too much has been about the perpetrator rather than the victim. We will be urging him to seriously consider the IVU blueprint.

UUP justice spokesman Doug Beattie MLA also urged the Government to listen to what victims were saying. We support IVU in their opposition to any form of amnesty for Troubles era crimes, and that the Legacy Investigation Branch should be enhanced and carry out all historic investigations, he said.

TUV leader Jim Allister said practical alternatives were now on offer on behalf of innocent victims. He added: I commend IVU for their initiative and look forward to these proposals being taken seriously and the building of a unified platform to promote them.
Burma Border Gate Forced to Open as Myanmar Migrant Workers Leave Thailand Amid COVID-19

: Myanmar migrant workers queue at the second Mae Sot-Myawaddy border checkpoint in Mae Sot, Thailand, to return to Myanmar on March 24. / Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy

Mae Sot, Thailand/Myawaddy, Myanmar  Thailand and Myanmar were forced to open the second Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge after thousands of migrants workers flocked to Mae Sot to return to Myanmar on Tuesday, despite the COVID-19 restrictions.

The governments had announced closing the border on Tuesday to restrict the movement of people to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

However, nearly 2,000 migrant workers crossed the border on Tuesday since the early morning, according to U Thant Zin Aung, a state parliamentarian, who is at the border control checkpoint.

He said: Although the border checkpoints are ordered to close, there are many Myanmar citizens arriving at the Mae Sot border control checkpoint. So we have to receive them. If more returnees were there in the next days, we would accept them as our citizens are our priority.

Since Saturday approximately 17,000 migrants returned homes while many more are still traveling from their workplaces elsewhere in Thailand to the border.

Myanmar confirmed two imported COVID-19 cases on Monday night and Thailand had 827 confirmed cases as of Tuesday afternoon.

Some returned because there is no work as businesses and factories close and others had expired visas and work permits.

Some of the migrant workers interviewed by The Irrawaddy in Mae Sot on Tuesday said they were concerned about the virus but were aware of its impact and how to protect themselves and others.

Ko Win Hlaing, a factory worker, who was fired due to the reduction of work following the COVID-19 pandemic, said: When I arrive at my village, I will follow the government instructions with 14 days of home quarantine.

If I were infected, I will face it alone and will not want my family to get infected.

The government has asked returnees to follow a 14-day home quarantine, as the numbers are too high for hospitals to cope.

Upon reception, the migrants temperature is checked and each pass through a thermal scanner. The authorities in Myawaddy are arranging transport to peoples hometowns, said U Thant Zin Aung.

Kyaw Kha, Aung Thiha and Nyein Nyein contributed to this report.

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By Online Desk

Even as the world is grappling with the crisis triggered by coronavirus, which emerged from China's Wuhan, another microbe has drawn the attention of the world.

A tweet by China's Global Times newspaper said, "A person from Yunnan Province died while on his way back to Shandong Province for work on a chartered bus on Monday. He was tested positive for #hantavirus. Other 32 people on bus were tested."

With the news of a new virus-related death in China, everyone is curious to know about the hantavirus. Will it land another blow on a world already reeling from coronavirus?

What is hantavirus?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.

Infection with hantaviruses can cause Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) in Europe and Asia, where the 'old world' strain is found, and the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in the US, where the 'new world' strain is found, according to the CDC.

Is hantavirus new to India?

No. According to a The New Indian Express report, there was a hantavirus scare in Karnataka and people even succumbed to the disease in 2011.

What's the mode of transmission of hantavirus?

Cases of human hantavirus infection occur sporadically, usually in rural areas where forests, fields, and farms offer a suitable habitat for the viruss rodent hosts. Areas around the home or work where rodents may co-habit (for example, houses, barns, outbuildings, and sheds) are potential sites where people may be exposed to the virus.

The rodents shed the virus in their urine, droppings, and saliva. The virus is mainly transmitted to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus.

Symptoms

Early symptoms include fatigue, fever and muscle aches, especially in the large muscle groups - thighs, hips, back, and sometimes shoulders. These symptoms are universal along with headaches, dizziness, chills, and abdominal problems.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccine for hantavirus infection. Early identification remains the key.

In Europe and Asia, according to America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Old World" hantaviruses are found.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has this to say when it comes to treatment: "The treatment of hantavirus disease is mainly symptomatic. Maintaining the fluid balance, while avoiding over-hydration in a potentially oliguric patient is of critical importance. In case of renal insufficiency, dialysis may be required."

A more vital fact comes after this. "Because European hantaviruses do not spread from human to human, no isolation is needed," the ECDC says.

Ribavirin is the only drug used in severe hantavirus infections in Europe.

CDC talks of only two outbreaks - the latest being a Seoul virus infection in 2017 that "infected 17 people in 7 states".

Before that, in November 2012, 10 cases were reported.

These indicate that the hantavirus thankfully might not be as easily transmissible as the coronavirus.

To know more about hantavirus, click here.
The Central Government has issued orders revoking the detention of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah under the Public Safety Act, Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu and Kashmir said on Tuesday.

Abdullah was among the many political leaders who had been put under house arrest after the Central government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

"Govt issues orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah @diprjk," Kalsal tweeted.

Omar Abdullah's father Farooq Abdullah was released from detention earlier this month, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is still under detention.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thousands of Hyundai cars are parked at the carmaker's Ulsan plant. Hyundai and Kia Motors ordered its employees to return back to work as COVID-19 has incurred major setbacks in global production. Yonhap



By Kim Hyun-bin, Kim Yoo-chul



Some conglomerates are withdrawing work-from-home policies as they transition towards longer-term "emergency management" strategies to deal with the unpredictability of the global market due to the coronavirus outbreak.



Hyundai, Samsung, LG, and SK Group all had been asking employees to work from home and the companies are monitoring the situation based on guidance from health officials. The risk of the infection of even a single employee would result in the temporary closure of an entire facility or workplace.



But as the coronavirus is beginning to assert a greater impact on the global economy, some of the country's leading conglomerates, particularly Hyundai and Samsung, have shifted to a new strategy that is referred to as "emergency management" by its promoters.



On Tuesday, Hyundai Motors Group and its sister group Kia Motors said the automotive group affiliates ordered employees to return back to work despite the growing fears of the spreading coronavirus.



With higher hopes of reducing the possibility of employees' exposure to the contagious and epidemic virus, the automotive brands have recently been adopting "flexible hours" for workers who might otherwise be on the job simultaneously. But the core reason about the decision, according to Hyundai officials, is that the Hyundai Motors Group has no option but to minimize the efforts of the virus on the group's financial sheets after the group shut down its key plants in Europe, the United States and Asia for the fear of the virus.



The company expanded flexible starting hours for employees from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from the previous 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. It also eliminated mandatory daily work hours, which had been set at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Hyundai Motor Group, including its sister Kia, planned to sell more than 7 million vehicles this year; however, the spreading virus raised questions as to whether the group could achieve the ambitious sales target.



Samsung Electronics said the company is planning to expand the implementation of local coronavirus taskforce policies to its international businesses and to apply countermeasures to prepare for the "worst case scenario." Its leader vice chairman Lee Jae-yong recently visited Samsung Display's OLED panel-manufacturing plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, to encourage workers who've been working at the factory despite the virus.



Other companies, however, are still having employees work from home. SK Group, whose core affiliates are SK Telecom and SK Innovation, said the group will extend its work-from-home policy to most affiliates through the end of the month. As a separate move, SK chairman Chey Tae-won recently asked senior executives of the group affiliates to assess the situation as the group was expecting its core businesses may not return to normal over the next several months due to global supply chain disruptions and weak consumer demand for finished goods caused by the virus.



According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country has reported close to 9,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 120 deaths as of March 24.


The Covid-19 pandemic, which has been declared a National Disaster and has prompted a 21-day national shut down, is having catastrophic effects on businesses throughout South Africa and around the globe.

Governments commitment to SMMEs

Assistance from banks

If you're a Vehicle or Home Loan customer, you can be assured that we'll be reaching out to you individually with payment relief options to help ease and guide you through the financial uncertainty that you may be experiencing during this time. pic.twitter.com/QxhoYHwUlO  Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankZA) March 22, 2020

We understand that many individuals and businesses are experiencing cashflow challenges as a result of COVID-19. Nedbank is committed to working with you to find a suitable solution for your loan with us. Find out more: https://t.co/dq2Bv7Y4xc pic.twitter.com/ApdsnrV2J5  Nedbank (@Nedbank) March 23, 2020

Be proactive

Darlene Menzies, CEO of Finfind

Get the funding help your business needs today

Micro, small and medium enterprises are among the hardest hit by the crisis. Government departments have been inundated with enquiries from SMMEs, requesting help to mitigate the devastating impact the pandemic is having on their livelihoods.The Minister of Small Business Development, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, announced that Government is introducing support measures for SMMEs during this extremely difficult time.The Departments proposed Debt Relief Fund will offer qualifying SMMEs much-needed repayment relief, which will assist many business owners who are currently finding their debts unserviceable. In order for SMMEs to qualify for assistance from the fund, they will need to demonstrate a direct link of the impact, or potential impact, of Covid-19 on their businesses.Some of the banks have also started announcing lifelines that they will be extending to their SMME customers.Standard Bank was first to the party, offering a three-month payment holiday for debt repayments for qualifying business customers with an annual turnover of less than R20 million. Furthermore, the bank recently made a statement on Twitter, committing to reach out to their vehicle and home loan customers individually with payment relief options.Nedbank are encouraging their customers to get in touch with them directly. They will be offering solutions including debt repayment holidays, extended loan periods, or short-term credit extensions on a case-by-case basis. They will make further announcements regarding their relief offerings in the coming days.Darlene Menzies, CEO of Finfind, stated, Now, more than ever, it is the performance of the small business sector that will determine the fate of the countrys economy going forward. With a severely constrained fiscus and looming mass retrenchments by corporates, it is critical that the SMME sector is strongly supported through this crisis. This is essential in order to prevent large-scale liquidations of viable small and medium businesses, and the loss of thousands of jobs, adding to the already high unemployment rate.Starting and building a business is not easy, it takes tremendous perseverance and resilience. The financial challenges and cash flow pressures that business owners face each month are currently being magnified, due to the shutdown being put in place to avoid the spread of the Covid-19 virus.Menzies urged small business owners who are facing cash flow challenges, to make contact with their banks, suppliers and other creditors sooner rather than later.It is crucial that business owners proactively communicate their inability to meet payment commitments over this time, rather than taking no action. It is in the best interests of the business and the credit provider to find a workable repayment plan to address the outstanding debt.Menzies continued, In this time of uncertainty, it is important that business owners take immediate steps to ensure they have the cash flow reserves needed for the months ahead. Ironically, the best time to apply for finance is when it is least needed when business is booming. This is when lenders are more likely to approve credit facilities that are then available to the business owner for these kinds of unplanned crises. Of course, if you havent already secured the money you need to bridge you through this tough time, then the next best time to apply for finance is now before you hit the cash cliff.Finfind has included all the latest cash flow solutions available from Government and private lenders across the country, adding to its comprehensive funding database of over 600 SMME finance offerings.If you anticipate needing cash flow assistance in the coming months, you can complete Finfinds online questionnaire which will automatically match you any finance offerings that match your particular funding needs. You will also find a link to the Governments Debt Relief Fund on Finfinds home page.
Dozens of journalists in Jakarta and Bogor, West Java are under observation after being in contact with sources who have tested positive for COVID-19. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), to call on media companies, sources and government institutions to follow protocols to ensure the safety and wellbeing of journalists during the global pandemic.

Indonesian medical staff prepare a room for patients at the 2018 Asian Games athlete's village which was converted into a hospital for COVID-19 patients in Jakarta on March 23, 2020. Credit:Hafidz Mubarak/AFP

Journalists who covered the press conference of Bima Arya, the Mayor of Bogor, at his residence on March 16, are under observation after Arya was diagnosed with COVID-19. Arya had returned from a business trip to Azerbaijan and Turkey on March 15 and reportedly had a fever on his arrival in Indonesia. During the press conference Arya failed to take precautions, including wearing a surgical mask. He was tested on March 17 and on March 19 the tests confirmed that Arya had contracted COVID-19.

In another case, the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi tested positive to COVID-19 on March 14. Journalists who were in contact with Sumadi were also under observation, with some showing flu-like symptoms.

In a statement, AJI has warned media organisations and sources from various institutions to reduce the number of the face-to-face press conferences and interviews and replace them with online interviews. Journalists covering the COVID-19 pandemic are also advised to follow safety protocols, including keeping a safe distance from sources and washing their hands regularly.

AJI calls on media companies to develop safety guidelines and provide journalists with health products, such as hand sanitisers, to protect them while in the field and in their office, AJI added.

The IFJ said: Continuing to inform the public in the current health crisis can only be achieved if the safety and wellbeing of journalists is protected. IFJ urge media companies, sources and the general public to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of journalists.
With event cancellations and social distancing precautions occurring in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the supply of blood for patients in need has dwindled as less people turn out to donate. Cy-Hope and Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center are asking residents who are able to spend a few minutes away from home to help local healthcare professionals by giving blood.

Cy-Hope is hosting a blood drive with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center on Wednesday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hope Chest Resale Market, 12015 Barker Cypress Rd., Cypress.
The Centre issued a statement on Thursday stating no international flights would be allowed to land in India from March 22 onward for a period of one week. However, Air India, country's national air carrier is constantly flying to various countries to bring back Indian nationals stuck due to Coronavirus Pandemic.

The coronavirus death toll has gone up to 11,397 with more than 275,427 cases reported in over 160 countries and territories. Italy has overtaken China as the worst-hit with over over 4,000 deaths reported so far.

On Sunday, an Air India's Boeing 777 ER aircraft landed at Delhi airport carrying 263 students evacuated from Rome. The flight took off on Saturday afternoon to evacuate Indians stranded there amid the coronavirus crisis.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.The crew of @airindiain Boeing 777 led by Capt Swati Raval & Capt Raja Chauhan responded to the call of duty & displayed exemplary determination by airlifting 263 Indians, mostly students, stranded in Rome. pic.twitter.com/JfqC7kwmGG Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) March 22, 2020

While countries across the world are closing their borders and airlines are also shutting operations, Air India has proved its worth by evacuating thousands of stranded Indians, mostly from China, Iran and Italy, all of which are worst hit by COVID-19.

Last week too, Air India flew a special flight to Milan and ferried 230 stranded Indians. Interestingly, Air India, despite its heroic efforts, has been at the centre of controversies for years now. While Air India is always hounded for its loss-making business, many don't like the service of the national carrier.

Over the years, people have mocked Air India for their food, flight delays, aged flight crew and now, over the government's effort to privatize the national carrier.

Despite this, Air India, for years, has been a face for India's global rescue missions, whenever needed. Back in 1990, Air India evacuated 1.7 Lakh people from Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, in what's called the 'largest rescue mission by a civil airliner'.

Surely India has Indian Air Force that has time to time helped in evacuating citizens from disaster hit areas, and has also contributed to rescue ops during the COVID-19 crisis by sending missions to China, but IAF has its own limitations, both operational and political.

That is where Air India has proved its mettle. Ever since the whole coronavirus outbreak started, Air India has sent multiple flights to foreign land for evacuating not only Indians, but also foreign nationals on demand from friendly foreign governments.

On Feb 1, an Air India 747 flew to Wuhan, the then epicentre of Coronavirus to rescue 324 stranded Indians, one of the earliest rescue ops by any government globally. A day later, the same aircraft rescued 323 more Indians along with 7 Maldivian nationals.

No other airline in India has such vast fleet and experience to fly international routes as Air India and we can only hope that the privatization will bring the best out of Air India.

With Inputs from PTI
First off, know that you are not alone. Clinical counsellors say they are receiving more inquiries recently from people reporting higher levels of anxiety and stress due to the novel coronavirus crisis.

With death counts rising every day and stricter rules on social distancing being implemented, its completely understandable that people may feel overwhelmed, said Jennifer Hollinshead, founder of the counselling clinic, Peak Resilience.

This is an incredibly unprecedented and stressful time  and there are a lot of unknowns, she said.

But mental health is just as important as physical health right now, she added.

Many counsellors offer online sessions. For people who are self-isolating at home with no privacy, Hollinshead suggests going for a walk outside  somewhere where you can still practise social distancing  and speaking with a counsellor over the phone.

Clients can no longer attend sessions in person at her clinics downtown Vancouver office but Hollinshead says she plans to offer online group therapy sessions for free in response to this increase in demand.

Here are a few coping mechanisms Hollinshead suggests trying if you feel overwhelmed right now.

Breathe. No, seriously, breathe.

And not just any breathing  Hollinshead suggests trying square breathing.

Heres how it works.

Take a deep breath in, for a count of four, hold it, for a count of four, breathe out for a count of four, and wait for four seconds before repeating. You can try visualizing a square while doing this. Repeat four times.

When youre freaking out it sounds like breathing wont do anything, acknowledged Hollinshead, but a lot of times, that can bring your anxiety down from 9 out of 10 to even 6 out of 10 where it is more manageable to do something about.

Focus on one thing you have control over

There are many things that you cant control  how long this pandemic will last, whether people outside are practising social distancing, or when you will get your job back.

But breaking things down into tiny goals can help you get back some sense of control, said Hollinshead.

She put herself in the shoes of someone who lot their job and could no longer afford their rent.

One thing I have control over right now is spending 10 minutes doing some research. I will go to the Vancouver Rental bank website and Ill see what their process is, she said. Thats all I have to do, and then I will go for a walk.

There are so many unanswered questions right now that its unbelievably overwhelming  so coming back to in this moment right now, thinking, what do I have control over? can be somewhat helpful.

Set alarms to structure your day

This is really hard because a lot of people are just working when they feel like working and not working when they dont feel like working and its loosey goosey, said Hollinshead.

If youre not used to working from home or if youre not working at all, youll need to set a new schedule for yourself, she said.

That can mean setting alarms at the beginning and end of lunch breaks, for instance.

When your alarm goes off, stop working and go into your kitchen and make lunch, said Hollinshead. Youre allowed to watch a stupid show, youre allowed to do whatever you want because youre on lunch, said Hollinshead.

Then when your alarm goes off again, leave your kitchen and go back to work, she said.

This idea can apply to everything from limiting your intake of social media to certain parts of the day to setting time aside to apply for EI.

We really need to go into self-management mode, she said, because youre literally managing yourself.

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Mulls SDR allocation to provide liquidity to global economy

Mumbai: The International Monetary Fund on Monday said that the Coronavirus pandemic would push the world into a recession that would be as bad as or even worse than the 2008 global financial crisis and is ready to deploy all of its $1 trillion lending capacity.

During a conference call to G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors, IMF director Kristalina Georgieva said, We are replenishing the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help the poorest countries. We welcome the pledges already made and call on others to join. We stand ready to deploy all our $1 trillion lending capacity.

In her statement, the IMF director said the international lender will massively step up emergency finance as nearly 80 countries have requested its help and it is working closely with the other international financial institutions to provide a strong coordinated response.

She noted that the IMF is also considering making a Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to add liquidity to the global financial economic system as it did during the 2008 global meltdown.

The move would further supplement IMF members' foreign exchange reserves.

SDR is an interest-bearing international reserve asset that was created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement other reserve assets of member countries.

Ms Georgieva said that the IMF was considering its own swap facility. She asked G20 countries to cooperate with each other as the human costs of the pandemic are immeasurable.

In her call with G20 finance ministers, the IMF director said, First, the outlook for global growth in 2020 is negative a recession at least as bad as during the global financial crisis or worse. But we expect recovery in 2021.

To get there, it is paramount to prioritise containment and strengthen health systems everywhere.

The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be.

She said that while the advanced economies are generally in a better position to respond to the crisis, many emerging markets and low-income countries face significant challenges and are badly affected by outward capital flows, and domestic activity would be severely impacted as countries respond to the epidemic.

Investors have already removed $83 billion from emerging markets since the beginning of the crisis the largest capital outflow ever recorded.

We are particularly concerned about low-income countries in debt distress an issue on which we are working closely with the World Bank, she said, adding that the IMF is concentrating on bilateral and multilateral surveillance on this crisis and policy actions to temper its impact.

Major central banks have initiated bilateral swap lines with emerging market countries but as global liquidity crunch takes hold, the IMF need members to provide additional swap lines and would be exploring with its Executive Board and membership a possible proposal that would help facilitate a broader network of swap lines, including through an IMF-swap type facility, she said.
In a surprising admission, Irans deputy health minister said Sunday that 26,000 people infected with the coronavirus are currently hospitalized and another 26,000 had the virus who either recovered, discharged or died. That is more than double the official figure announced on the same day.

The data presented by Qassem Janbabaei show that since the novel coronavirus outbreak in Iran, 52,000 have been infected by the deadly virus, and 26,000 of them are still under treatment.

The 52,000 figure almost exactly matches Radio Fardas estimate of 51,880 infections published hours earlier and based on a detailed analysis of local media reports, announcements by provincial officials and medical universities.

The same data also show that 2,372 have so far died of the Covid-19 across Iran.

Nevertheless, the head of Iran's Health Ministry Public Relations Office, Kianoush Jahanpour, who announces the official figures said on the same day put the number of total infections at 21,638.

Meanwhile, Janbabaei admitted that the number of Covid-19 related deaths among 40-60-year-old victims has been much more than what the Islamic Republic had expected.

"Since these forty to sixty-year-old people used to spend more time outside their homes, they were more exposed to the virus," Janbabaei said without elaboration.

In the meantime, Janbabaei maintained that the Ministry of Health had prepared 40,000 beds exclusively for people who tested positive.

The Iranian new year (beginning March 22), traditionally a high season for travel has intensified concerns over the containment of the deadly virus.

At least three million residents of the capital Tehran have traveled to spend their new year holiday away from the crowded 8.8 million metropolis.

Nonetheless, the government claims the number of people's new year journeys shows a 75% drop, adding that the decrease indicates the success of the policies implemented by the government.

However, critics insist that still, the high number of travelers reflect the fact that the government's central policy to sever the chain of coronavirus contraction has failed.
In other industries, deep-pocketed companies are able to keep workers on the payroll even when theres no money coming in. Independent restaurants dont have that luxury. We dont have shareholders or the ability to bank money for a rainy day when things are good.

Heres how the economics work: 90 percent of the money that independent restaurants earn goes straight back out to pay employees, vendors and rent. This is true for mom-and-pop corner restaurants and for the fanciest places in town: Whether your server wears a flannel shirt or a fancy suit, your favorite restaurant is primarily in the business of giving a whole lot of people a paycheck.

In the past week, one of us was forced to lay off 800 workers. Another had to let 1,500 people go. A third laid off 2,000 people, including corporate office staff. Some of us are still offering takeout and delivery  and selling gift cards and swag online  but thats barely enough to keep anyone employed, given the costs of rent and insurance for sit-down restaurants. Our economic model requires people in seats.

New York restaurant people are true Gothamites: Like so many of us, they came to the city from all over the country and the world to take part in the public life of our amazing city. Theyre pros whove trained and prepared and worked their way up the restaurant ladder; they are artists and performers and coders and students working day jobs; they are family people who look to restaurants for a regular paycheck, solid hours and good benefits. Now they are struggling to feed their children, waiting in line to get unemployment benefits and desperately worried about paying their rent.

And thats not even counting the hundreds of millions of workers up and down the supply chain  from farmers and packers and laundries to importers and accountants  who depend on restaurants for their living.
Fred Baurer, medical director of the Kirkbride Center in Philadelphia, said, We dont have the ability to quarantine someone without endangering staff or other patients." 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  As drug and alcohol treatment centers in Pennsylvania continue to operate and accept new clients, theyre searching for the answer to a critical question: What happens when someone inside a facility needs to be quarantined because of the coronavirus?

Treatment centers can house anywhere from a handful of patients to more than 100. If one person contracts COVID-19, it could spread quickly, which is particularly concerning since people with substance use disorder could be at greater risk for severe complications.

But quarantining someone in a treatment facility, with dozens of other residents, is not easy. And often, its not an option to send patients away because they dont have another place to go. With some recovery houses and homeless shelters closing to new entrants, alternatives are dwindling.

We have people who do not have a home to go back to, said Paul Bacharach, president and CEO of Gateway Rehab, which owns 14 treatment facilities across Western Pennsylvania. We would never just put them on the street. Wed have to find an alternative location. But I dont think anyone has a clear answer on where that is.

As of March 23, the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs said it had no reports of COVID-19 cases within treatment facilities. But many providers say its only a matter of time.

Thats why theyre turning to public officials for help. Some are raising the idea of public quarantine spaces run by the state or county governments that could house sick individuals, while allowing treatment facilities to keep their doors open for other patients.

We dont have the ability to quarantine someone without endangering staff or other patients, said Fred Baurer, medical director of the Kirkbride Center in Philadelphia, which houses about 250 patients. Thats not what our facility is set up for, so were looking for help from public health officials.

Across the country, several local governments have set up public quarantine sites for people who are homeless, as well as those living with older adults or people with immunodeficiency disorders who are at high risk. New York City and San Francisco have bought hotel rooms for this purpose. King County in Washington, where the virus spread rapidly through a nursing home and soon to the rest of the community, has leased at least two motels and is working to construct extra hospital beds on a soccer field. The federal government is also converting military bases into quarantine sites in California, Georgia, and Texas.

At a news conference on March 23, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said that plans are underway to provide lodging for individuals who cant quarantine at home.

For safety's sake we're not announcing where those facilities are, Levine said, but they do exist and will be used when necessary.

The sites are not officially open yet, according to a statement from the Department of Human Services.

For now, addiction treatment facilities say theyre trying to decrease the risk of having a coronavirus case by barring visitors and screening any new patients for symptoms such as cough or fever. However, growing research on COVID-19 indicates that up to half of all infected people may be asymptomatic but can still be highly contagious.

Screening new patients is definitely better than not screening, Baurer said, but it would be naive to think that screening will prevent the possibility of a case from happening.

In preparation, many treatment centers are looking within their facilities for areas that could be used to quarantine patients. Erin Pressel  chief strategy and business development officer for Gaudenzia, which owns nearly 100 rehab facilities across the state  said that might mean empty rooms at their larger buildings or unused suites at smaller rowhouse facilities.

Jonathan Wolf  CEO of Pyramid Healthcare, which owns 12 residential treatment centers in Pennsylvania  said the company is setting aside some patient rooms and lounge areas as isolation pods.

However, treatment centers are not equipped like hospitals with negative pressure rooms that isolate the contaminated air from a sick individual. And even keeping certain rooms empty for quarantine could become challenging as the treatment facilities fill up.

Were seeing a steady flow of people still coming in, Pressel said.

Wolf, of Pyramid Healthcare, said he has received calls from a few hospitals that, in an attempt to make beds available for severe COVID-19 cases, are in search of other locations to transfer their patients in addiction treatment.

Pyramid is also recommending current patients stay at a facility for at least 14 days, in case they develop any symptoms of COVID-19. But as facilities try to care for existing patients longer and continue taking in new ones, staff and supplies could be stretched thin.

Wolf said many of his employees are working overtime and the company is hiring temporary staff to replace those who are sick or cant come in due to child care concerns. With most schools and daycares closed, he has asked the state to consider allowing essential medical facilities to open temporary child care centers on-site. Hospitals in Michigan were recently authorized to do this.

The state Department of Human Services said it is not allowing new licensed daycare sites to open in hospitals, drug and alcohol facilities, or mental health care facilities at this time. But it is providing exemptions to allow some centers that serve the children of health care workers and first responders to stay open.

Gaudenzia has also asked the state to provide emergency staffing grants to help facilities hire more medical personnel and maintain required patient-to-staff ratios, Pressel said.

Bacharach, of Gateway Rehab, said supplies are another big issue. While facilities typically keep some thermometers, face masks, and sanitizing supplies on hand, theyre being used much faster now than normal.

We were looking for additional thermometers, but from what we can gather, theyre back-ordered till the end of April, he said.

Despite the challenges and the accelerating spread of the coronavirus, most treatment centers said they plan to stay open.

Weve been fighting another lethal pandemic for a long time, Wolf said. An average of 130 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day. We have to be here to save lives from that epidemic as well.

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"People should stay at home as much as possible. If one needs to go out, wear a mask and maintain distance from other people," Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, said Monday.

Vietnamese and foreigners entering Vietnam are some of the most likely sources of infection, Chung said. Hanoi has recorded 39 Covid-19 cases so far, 30 of them coming in from other countries and territories, he said.

He said authorities must continue the process of identifying everyone who has entered Vietnam from March 7 onwards and are residing in Hanoi but are yet to be quarantined, so that they can be monitored and quarantined if necessary.

Hanoi confirmed its first infection late on March 6, which is also Vietnam's first case after 22 clean days. Since then, the country has recorded 107 cases, with one discharged from hospital after recovery last week.

Chung said that people who have a fever, cough or shortness of breath will need to be transferred to a hospital promptly.

Family members of people quarantined are also requested not to supply more items as the quarantine zones have provided enough already, Chung said.

As of Monday, all Covid-19 patients in Hanoi were being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh District. Less severe cases were transfered to other hospitals in the city on Tuesday morning to ease the load.

Vietnam has recorded 123 Covid-19 cases so far, 17 of whom have recovered and been discharged. Many of the remaining people in hospitals, are Vietnamese and foreigners arriving from Europe and the U.S.

The pandemic has thus far spread to 195 countries and territories, killing more than 16,500 people.
Motortion/iStock(NEW YORK) --For Jen Santamaria, a New York City woman expecting her first child, it's the unknowns of childbirth that scare her.

These aren't the typical unknowns like wondering exactly how much does labor hurt or whether I'll need to be induced. Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the unknowns include something she never imagined just weeks ago: that her husband, Jesse, would not able to be present at the birth of their child.



On Sunday, NewYork-Presbyterian hospital announced that in an effort to promote patient safety, they would not permit visitors, including birthing partners and support people for obstetric patients. "We understand that this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, but we believe that this is a necessary step to promote the safety of our new mothers and children," the hospital said on its web site.



Santamaria is planning to deliver at Mount Sinai hospital and is worried they will soon follow suit.



"I'm a wreck and just trying to hold it together and take one day at a time," Santamaria, 30 weeks pregnant and a senior communications manager at Twitter, told "Good Morning America." She said not having her husband with her during childbirth was her biggest fear.



She is not alone. One March 17, a newly-formed Facebook group called Pregnant During COVID-19 Pandemic was formed by Lynzy Coughlin, an emergency medical physician assistant. Less than a week later, membership is approaching 9,000.



"The most common concerns [among the members] at this time tend to be the uncertainty of being able to have support at the time of delivery, giving birth during a pandemic and the emotional stress that goes with keeping a newborn safe," she said. Being a pregnant healthcare worker is also a hot topic, Coughlin said.



Santamaria herself had posted a Twitter thread documenting her unease last week. "The responses were more than I could have hoped for," she said of the words of encouragement she received.



But even with the support of others, she still has many worries. One of her top concerns, she told "GMA," is what will transpire if something were to happen to Santamaria in childbirth that left her unable to make decisions for the baby.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
A day after national carrier Air India said that its crew members who flew to Italy to bring back stranded Indians during the coronavirus crisis were being ostracised by their communities, IndiGo also said that some of its employees are facing the same mistreatment due to the line of their duty.

The airlines sought support of the public in these trying times.

An IndiGo staffer shared a video on Twitter, urging people to have some humanity.

"Have some humanity people .. Listen to Amrita..crew with @IndiGo6E ,she is broken from being discriminated,for wht?? For doing her duty ?When she is gone for her job, her mother is even refused groceries in her society. This is highly unacceptable #COVIDIOTS #Covid19India," she wrote.

Have some humanity people .. Listen to Amrita..crew with @IndiGo6E ,she is broken from being discriminated,for wht?? For doing her duty ?When she is gone for her job, her mother is even refused groceries in her society.

This is highly unacceptable #COVIDIOTS #Covid19India pic.twitter.com/3p3EhYto1j  Priyanka kandpal    (@pri_kandpal) March 24, 2020

"There are some instances when our employees have been ostracised from their communities as a result of their line of duty and travel history," said an IndiGo statement.

BCCL

It noted that IndiGo employees are supporting passengers who have to travel during these days and the airline has taken every possible precaution for their crew members' protection from infection during their duties.

"We have adequate protocols for self-quarantine in place in case its required. We are in line with respect to the DGCA guidelines and all advisories/guidelines issued, and these are being followed rigorously."

#COVID

Dear fellow citizens, it is shocking that the indigo& AI crew&staff R being ostracised by their communities in different parts of the country. This is not Indian culture or behaviour. All of them had to do their duties and now are being relieved by respective airlines.   Dr.Sandhya Tiwari (@DrSandhyaTiwari) March 24, 2020

The airline noted that as the nation gave a standing ovation to the "heroes" for their fight against this pandemic on March 22, its operational crew, in all areas, play an "equally important" role to keep vital services intact.

"Our colleagues have been working selflessly to serve the country at this critical juncture. Our employees have been the front-runners in bringing our citizens back to the country and enabling them to reach their hometowns even during restricted movements. Please support our operating colleagues in such a difficult time."

On Monday, the ministry of civil aviation announced that all domestic flight operations will be suspended starting March 25 in view of the coronavirus scare. The cargo operations will continue as usual.

Earlier in the day, aviation sector regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said there are no restrictions on domestic and foreign air operators to carry out cargo operations.

All international passenger flights have already been prohibited from landing in India for a week from Sunday to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:50:41|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on March 23, 2020 shows the closed White House Visitor Center in Washington D.C., the United States. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that 313,000 coronavirus tests have been completed in the United States, and more than 41,000 tests were positive. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that 313,000 coronavirus tests have been completed in the United States, and more than 41,000 tests were positive.

During a White House press briefing, Pence said all state and hospital labs are now required to report their coronavirus test numbers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will distribute 8 million N95 masks, and that personal protective equipment for medical professionals is being shipped to "hotspots" around the country.

According to Trump, 73 pallets of personal protective equipment will be shipped to New York, and 36 pallets will be sent to Washington state -- two areas hit hard by COVID-19.

Trump said he had signed an executive order to prohibit hoarding of medical equipment and supplies used for treating and preventing coronavirus.
As of Tuesday, Cuomo (D) reported that New York had more than 25,000 cases of covid-19, about seven times more than New Jersey, which has about 3,600 cases, and more than 10 times the number of the next two most infected states, California and Washington, each of which has about 2,200 cases. The apex of New Yorks crisis will come sooner and will be higher than expected, he said. The state has only about two to three weeks before the worst-case scenario arrives. Cuomo said the state needs 30,000 ventilators before then.
Former Bachelor Tim Robards believes Australians should go back to basics when working out at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Neighbours actor explained not having access to gym equipment would help people pinpoint which foundational skills they were lacking.

'It is a good time for us to rethink and get back to absolute basics with our fitness. There is a lot you can do in your living room or backyard,' Tim told the publication.

Back to basics! Former Bachelor Tim Robards (pictured) says social distancing is the perfect time to get fit at home

Before adding: 'We should look at the basics to reassess where we have been neglecting ourselves. It is not necessarily a hindrance to not have access to barbels and things like that.

'There is so much we can still work on that is healthy for us. Learn how to do a handstand or push-up. Now is the time to build those basic foundations.'

Doing his bit to motivate Australians, the 37-year-old will offer his 12-minute ab challenge on his app The Robards Method over the next six weeks for free.

This is how you do it! Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Neighbours actor explained not having access to gym equipment would help people pinpoint which foundational skills they were lackin

In late February, Tim claimed coronavirus was 'clickbait' on an Instagram story Q&A with fans. At the time, 2500 people had died worldwide.

When asked, 'Has the coronavirus doomed us in your opinion?' Tim replied: 'So firstly, look, I will just say my heart goes out to anyone that's been affected,' he said.

'But, at the same time, we have to ask ourselves how much do we buy into the media, when it's their job to create clickbait and to create headlines and to get their ratings up.'

See the results! The 37-year-old reality star will provide his 12 minute ab challenge on his app The Robards Method for six weeks. Pictured with partner Anna Heinrich

Tim currently plays Pierce Greyson on the long-running Channel 10 drama Neighbours.

The set of the hit TV soap was shut down last week over coronavirus fears.

At the time, Channel 10 and Fremantle Media said the health and wellbeing of the cast and crew was a priority, and filming would be halted.

'Neighbours has decided to take a short break this week to ensure the production model in place can withstand any potential impact of the urgent COVID-19 situation,' a Channel 10 spokeswoman said.

As of Tuesday evening, there have been 2,146 cases of coronavirus and eight deaths.

Closed for business: Last week, the set of the hit TV soap Neighbours was shut down over coronavirus fears, a Network Ten spokeswoman confirmed. Pictured (L to R) actors Jane Allsop, Ben Turland, Tim Robards and April Rose Pengilly

Update: As of Tuesday evening, there have been 2,146 cases of coronavirus and eight deaths




A huge shout-out to actor turned politician for paying his film crew and personal staff their salaries until May as we battle Coronavirus. This is a brilliant move by Raj to stand and support his people who are daily wage earners and who will be badly hit financially as we all stay at home.

Prakash Raj took to Twitter to share with his followers his initiative and to also encourage those who can afford to do the same.

#JanathaCurfew .. what I did today .. lets give back to life .. lets stand together. #justasking pic.twitter.com/iBVW2KBSfp  Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) March 22, 2020

Prakash Raj's post read: #janathacurfew ... looked into my reserve funds. Paid advance salaries to empower all my farm .. house .. film production .foundation and Personel staff up to a month of MAY... finalized a way to give at least half salaries to daily wage workers of my three films stopped due to social distancing .. Im not done yet .. will continue to do more with what I can afford .. request each one of you who can afford to help needy around you... time to give back to life.. time to stand by one another.

These are the exact kind of gestures our country and its people need right now! Here's hoping Prakash Raj has able to inspire a plethora of other celebrities, directors, and politicians who have the means and affordability to help those in need.


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Looking for a temporary escape from reality? There's nothing like a good TV drama to do the trick.

The dramas on our list have everything your new normal of working from your couch and staying at home might be lacking at the moment: romance, mystery, intrigue, hope, and even highly choreographed musical numbers.

Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist (NBC, Hulu)

This uplifting musical has an irresistible hook: after an MRI gone awry, Zoey (Jane Levy from Suburgatory) discovers she can hear the innermost thoughts of people as classic songs and elaborate set pieces. Instead of trying to get rid of her new power, she uses it help the people she loves and find deeper connections with strangers. The show is just the right dose of humanity we need right now. And you can dance to it.

Subscribe to Hulu

Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)

Social distancing has made eavesdropping on the neighbors and partaking in town gossip a lot more difficult. But its easy to imagine Little Fires Everywhere as real life because it takes place in Shaker Heights. Did you hear Elena (Reese Witherspoon) rented her duplex to a homeless woman then hired her to be her assistant? I heard Mia (Kerry Washington) is the one who told Mirabelles birth mother where to find her.

Subscribe to Hulu

Related: How much Cleveland is in Little Fires Everywhere?

Billions (Showtime)

Use this time to catch up on perhaps the most underappreciated drama on TV before it returns for season 5 on May 3. Because what appears on the surface as a legal-corporate drama with some kinky sex stuff is actually more akin to a live-action Wile E. Coyote vs. Roadrunner cartoon. Its about a U.S. Attorney (Paul Giamatti) obsessed with taking down an wealthy and unscrupulous hedge fund manager (Damian Lewis). Throw in a great supporting cast, killer soundtrack and more meta one-liners than an episode of Family Guy and, well, get to it already!

Subscribe to Showtime

"General Hospital" airs Monday-Friday, at 2 p.m. on ABC. (ABC/Nick Agro)ABC

General Hospital (ABC, Hulu)

Soap operas are perfect background television. They dont require your undivided attention and its easy to jump in and out whenever you need to. Havent watched GH in 15 years? No problem. Many of your favorite characters are still around: Laura, Sonny, Carly, Jason, Anna, Scorpio, Elizabeth, the Quartermaines, etc., Even Nikolas recently came back from the dead, though with somebody elses face. This show has everything: mob wars, spy games, baby swaps, corporate intrigue, teen romance, cops, lawyers, journalists, and, yes, doctors even.

Subscribe to Hulu

Unbelievable (Netflix)

Sometimes, the most gripping drama comes from real life. Based on the true story behind a Pulitzer Prize-winning article, Unbelievable is an enthralling crime procedural with standout performances. Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) is a troubled teen who is brutally raped. But nobody believes her and shes forced to say she made it up. Three years later and hundreds of miles away, two detectives (played by Merritt Wever and Toni Collette) pick up the scent of a serial rapist. The race is on to find him before he strikes again. But will Marie finally get the justice and peace she desperately needs?

Subscribe to Netflix

Coming Wednesday: Top 5 docuseries to binge right now

More Stream This:

5 comedies to binge right now

5 reality shows to binge right now

5 movies to watch right now

Cord cutting 101: How to ditch cable and choose a streaming plan for you
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  The bill that would grant President Rodrigo Duterte several special powers to act on the COVID-19 pandemic is now up for his signature.

After 17 hours of deliberations, the House of Representatives adopted past 3am Tuesday Senate Bill 1418, declaring the existence of a national emergency and granting Duterte additional powers to address the outbreak.

This paved the way for the speedy passage of the bill, also known as the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act," as the Senate and House set aside holding a bicameral conference on the measure and officially ended the special session early this morning. The bill was certified as urgent by the President.

Under legislative rules, once the House and Senate have agreed to reconcile their versions of the bill, its enrolled form will be printed and will be submitted to Malacanang in order for Duterte to sign it into law.

Under the approved measure, Duterte will be given the power to reshuffle savings within the executive department in the 2020 General Appropriations Act to address the crisis and deliver aid to the affected communities.

He will also be given authority to provide an emergency subsidy to 18 million low-income households worth between 5,000 and 8,000 for a month to two months, and provide compensation of 100,000 to public and private health workers who may contract severe COVID-19 infection while in their line of duty. Health workers who may die while fighting the pandemic will be compensated 1 million.

Duterte will also have the power to "direct the operation" of any privately-owned hospitals and medical and health facilities including passenger vessels and other establishments to house health workers, assign quarantine areas, and give medical relief, provided that the owners of the enterprise will be retained, and only when the public interest requires. Those who refuse to cooperate according to his directive will be penalized.

However, the measure still states that the President may still "take over" their operations if these enterprises are no longer capable of operating "subject to the limits and safeguards enshrined in the Constitution."

Duterte may now also ensure that local government units are acting in line with the national government's policy and may impose corresponding penalties if they disobey directives on quarantine protocols.

Duterte's powers will be in full force for only three months, unless extended by Congress, or withdrawn sooner via a concurrent resolution.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea earlier assured that the President "has no intent" to abuse his special powers to address the crisis once granted full authority by both chambers.

Over 400 people in the Philippines have contracted COVID-19, with 33 fatalities to date. A total of 18 people have already recovered from the disease.
Shimla, March 24 : With the state experiencing three coronavirus cases and one death, the Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday imposed a statewide indefinite curfew to prevent its epidemic.

Earlier, it was under lockdown.

A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

The Chief Minister said district-level coordination committees, led by ministers, have been constituted for effective and better coordination in order to ensure availability of essential commodities.

He also directed the officials to ensure steps to check hoarding of essential commodities.

Himachal Pradesh on Monday saw its first coronavirus death as a 69-year-old Tibetan who recently returned from the US died, health officials said.

Tenzin Chopel died in the state-owned Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda town in Kangra district.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R.D. Dhiman said the patient was earlier undergoing treatment in a private hospital.

He was hospitalised in the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College on Monday morning. After his death, his swab samples confirmed that he was Covid-19 positive.

He reached the Delhi international airport on March 15. After spending some days in Delhi he reached McLeodganj, the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on March 21 while hiring a cab.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain met Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday to discuss measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in the national capital.

Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava also attended the high-level meeting at the LG office, an official said.

The situation emerging out of the coronavirus outbreak was discussed in the meeting, they said.

Thirty cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Delhi so far.
Conister emergency business loans are now available

Conister Bank Limiteds emergency coronavirus business loans are now available, following a rapid response to the crisis.

Last week, the independent bank announced it had set aside 10 million to provide loans to businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus and the cancellation of this years TT races.

Conister Bank is offering an interest-only repayment period of 12 months for these loans, followed by a one to five year settlement period reflecting the wishes of the business. Also, the bank will half its charges on the settlement period of the loan.

Managing Director, Douglas Grant, said: One of our greatest strengths as an independent bank is that we can act quickly to help the community in an evolving situation. With the crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus, the cancellation of the TT and cessation of nearly all flights, we recognise this is an extraordinary situation. We at Conister Bank are determined to help in any way we can to assist the community-wide effort to see the Isle of Man through this challenging time.

He added: Our staff have worked incredibly quickly to ensure these loans are available now, when local businesses need them.

To find out more about the loans, contact Conister on 694694 or apply online http://conistebank.co.im
Pakistan is the only member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) that hasnt contributed to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund for the grouping that has already received commitments worth $18.8 million.

The fund, created with an initial contribution of $10 million from India, was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference of leaders of the eight Saarc states on March 15 to forge a coordinated approach to tackling the Coronavirus outbreak.

So far, the other contributions to the fund include $1 million from Afghanistan, $1.5 million from Bangladesh, $100,000 from Bhutan, $200,000 from the Maldives, $1 million from Nepal, and $5 million from Sri Lanka.

Also Watch l Coronavirus: Pakistan minister raises J&K at SAARC meet; Gautam Gambhir slams

It [the contributions] truly reflects the deeply shared sense of determination in the participating countries to act together, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

People familiar with developments said there had been no pledge for the fund so far from Pakistan, which was the only country that wasnt represented by a head of government at the March 15 video conference.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had stayed away from the conference. Islamabad was instead represented at the video conference by its de facto health minister Zafar Mirza. The minister had also created a flutter by raising the Kashmir issue during the video conference, prompting Indian officials to say later that Pakistan had sought to politicise a humanitarian issue.

The people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that even a country such as Afghanistan, with its limited resources and budgetary constraints, had pledged $1 million.

The Pakistan governments approach to tackling the Covid-19 outbreak has been deeply criticised within the country by experts and commentators. The Pakistan Army deployed its troops and medical resources on Monday after the civilian government dithered on the issue of a lockdown.

The Covid-19 Emergency Fund has been operationalised and is being used to meet the costs of immediate actions. The requirements of urgent medical supplies and equipment in Saarc countries are being met through the fund.

The Saarc Disaster Management Centre in Gandhinagar has created a website on Covid-19 for shared use by member states. The website aims to disseminate reliable information and updates on the evolving situation in the region and best practices with the active participation of member countries.

The numbers of Covid-19 cases in all Saarc countries have been growing steadily, further reinforcing the need for all to act in fullest solidarity to address the challenge and mitigate its impact, the statement said.

A video conference of senior health professionals of Saarc states is scheduled for March 26 so that they can exchange experiences in combating the spread of Covid-19, including specific protocols dealing with screening at entry points, contact tracing, quarantine and isolation facilities.

The discussions in this conference will also focus on practical joint action on online training capsules for emergency response teams, setting up an integrated disease surveillance portal, creating a common research platform and coordination of research on controlling epidemics within South Asia.

It is Indias belief that sharing of resources, expertise, best practices and capacities in these challenging times would go a long way in bringing the countries in the Saarc region closer together, the statement said.

The March 15 video conference was the first Saarc-related initiative by India since a summit of the grouping scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2016 was called off after a terror attack on an army camp at Uri in Kashmir. Since then, India has expended more diplomatic capital in shoring up alternative groupings such as Bimstec.

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Video streaming major Netflix on Tuesday said it will reduce traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 per cent while maintaining the quality of service for users in India, as part of its efforts to help mitigate network congestion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Companies like Amazon Prime Video are also temporarily lowering bit rates - a measure of how much data is being transferred - to ease pressure on telecom network infrastructure.

Consumption of digital content has gone up manifold as people are forced to stay indoors as almost the entire country is under lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.

"Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 per cent while also maintaining the quality of our service. So consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan - whether it's Ultra-High, High or Standard Definition," Netflix VP Content Delivery Ken Florance said in an emailed statement.

He added this will provide significant relief to congested networks, and the measure will be deployed in India for the next 30 days.

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 company, which has over 167 million users globally, has already undertaken similar measures in Europe. It doesn't provide country-specific subscriber numbers.

Netflix typically has many different streams for a single title within each resolution. This action would result in removal of the highest bandwidth streams, and so, subscribers will continue to have access to the service they have paid for (Ultra-High Definition, High Definition or Standard Definition) depending on the device they use.

In India, Netflix has a significant number of subscribers on the Mobile Plan which is Standard Definition.

Netflix's rival, Amazon Prime Video on Monday had said it has begun efforts to reduce streaming bitrates in India. Bitrate usually determines the size and quality of video and audio files. Higher bitrate indicates better quality.

The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) had written to the government urging issuance of instructions to streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others to initiate measures that will ease pressure on network infrastructure, which is needed for "critical" functions at this juncture.

"We support the need for careful management of telecom services to ensure they can handle the increased internet demand with so many people now at home full-time due to COVID-19...In India, we've already begun the effort to reduce streaming bitrates whilst maintaining a quality streaming experience for our customers," an Amazon Prime Video spokesperson had said.

A Hotstar spokesperson had said said the company's video streaming is based on adaptive bitrate streaming, which ensures that it is "lean" in internet consumption. However, the company said it is "prepared to reduce the bitrate for our HD streams, should the need arise".
Just a month ago the medieval town of Shrewsbury was hit by the worst flooding it had seen in 20 years.

The River Severn rose to record levels and much of Shropshire's county town and its half-timbered buildings were cut off. Some shops shut down after footfall fell to 25 per cent of the previous year.

However, Shrewsbury is suffering once again. Like other towns and cities up and down the country, strict restrictions to curb the march of coronavirus have meant the closure of many shops and have forced residents to stay at home.

Card sales: Alison Staples of Romy Design, which sells cushions, flower pots, leather wallets and jewellery as well as handmade greetings cards, is moving online

But independent businesses are determined to not only safeguard their livelihoods but also help the community.

Many are setting up new delivery and online services, while eagerly awaiting news about promised Government help.

Ian Cornall, owner of Barkworths Seafoods in Shrewsbury Market Hall made changes to the store's delivery service, Le Fish, after customers rang to say they felt uneasy visiting the fishmonger in person.

Now, alongside cod and salmon, they can also order from other traders at stores he works with in the market and can buy meat from W. D. Butchers or Corbetts and fruit and veg from Maddocks.

They will pay the same price as if they had visited the market hall, but Ian is charged about 10 per cent less when he buys the food  the difference in price means customers do not pay for delivery.

Payments can be made over the phone and customers who are self-isolating can arrange to have goods left on their doorsteps.

About 40 per cent of Ian's orders are commercial, so he hopes the service will make up for the income lost from supplying restaurants.

Ian, 49, says: 'I think a lot of people will see eating the food they've always enjoyed as a way to maintain normality in their lives.'

Upscaling phone service: Trader Ian Cornall made changes to the store's delivery service, Le Fish, after customers rang to say they felt uneasy visiting the fishmonger in person

In the same market hall, Alison Staples runs Romy Design, which sells cushions, flower pots, leather wallets and jewellery as well as handmade greetings cards.

Alison has closed the shop due to the new restrictions but says she is 'well-stocked' with materials for making cards and gifts and is taking online orders instead.

Alison last week offered a Mother's Day card service for customers unable to leave home.

She charged the usual 2.50 for the cards, adding 70p for postage and a message.

After promoting the service on Instagram, 20 people placed orders for cards and about half a dozen bought gifts, too.

The designer has also replaced her in-store 30 macrame workshops with 20 DIY kits.

Alison, 36, says: 'I just hope the DIY kits can provide an activity for people who are stuck at home.'

Cake shop owner Brenda Docherty has had 2,000-worth of wedding orders cancelled by couples forced to postpone their big day due to the virus.

Washout: Shoppers struggle through flood waters in Shrewsbury town last month after record flooding

The Icing Tip, which also sells cake decorating supplies, saw takings drop 90 per cent during the floods.

Now it is closed due to the virus. But the grandmother is hopeful that the 5 and 7 animal cookie cutters and Easter cupcake kits she began putting together last week will be a hit with parents, now schools are closed.

Delivery is free. Brenda, 62, says: 'I am being positive about this. The weddings are being postponed but cake orders will be rebooked.'

Outside the market, the owners of Shrewsbury Taxis, Matt Young, 50, and Natalie Jameson, 42, are offering grocery, medicine and takeaway deliveries.

Their 100 drivers charge a standard cab fare for transporting click-and-collect orders.

They are also working with volunteer groups ordering food for residents who are self-isolating. And 20 per cent discounts are offered on fares for NHS workers, supermarket staff and pensioners.

While it will be struggle for many small businesses to stay afloat, experts say that rich rewards could be waiting.

Clare Bailey, founder of Future High Street Conference, says: 'This period will probably remind people how much they need their High Streets.

'Once they are allowed out, there will be people who have money to spend after saving so much by staying at home.'

f.parker@dailymail.co.uk
The system also analyzes the donor organs, determines whether they survive or not

Elite InGenius, unique diagnostic device for transplantation, which is also able to detect coronavirus Open source

Oksana Marchenko Charity Foundation donated to the Heart Institute a unique diagnostic device for transplantation, which is also able to detect coronavirus.

Unlike the express-tests, the device produced in Italy gives an accurate result, free of error. The samples are being analyzed on 12 tracks. The uniqueness of the device also lies in diagnosis before transplantations and complex operations. The system also analyzes the donor organs, determines whether they survive or not. It is noted that this is the first apparatus of its kind in Ukraine and the entire Commonwealth of Independent States.

Borys Todurov, Director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Oksana Marchenko Charity Foundation

According to the director of the suppling company Oleksiy Kovalsky, this equipment also keeps doctors safe.

"This equipment allows doctors to avoid infection. I am very grateful that there are sponsors, philanthropists who quickly, without unnecessary bureaucracy, found the opportunity and paid for this device," added Kovalsky.

As we reported earlier, Oksana Marchenko and Victor Medvedchuk handed over a batch of medications to combat coronavirus to the Zakarpattia region. All district hospitals in the region received the aid.

Patrons also bought 5 devices for artificial pulmonary ventilation, two of which shall also be delivered to the region. In total, 20 thousand masks, 350 express-tests for coronavirus, several protective suits for doctors, almost 40 thousand gloves and 500 liters of disinfection solution, as well as equipment for resuscitation were also transferred there.
Randy Ludacer likes tweaking classics. As a graphic and packaging designer, hes designed a package for coat hangers that resembles a shirt, a puzzle cube-like box that holds souvenir candies, and a pasta sauce label whose barcode wraps around a fork like spaghetti. But he had no client or market in mind when he was fooling around on the web one day and thinking about egg cartons.

Why not, he wondered, make a carton for a bakers dozen of eggs? Not that it would have any practical benefits. After all, he had no egg farms as clients. He quickly realized that supermarket shelves werent made for odd shaped cartons. Still, it would be great publicity for Beach, the New York City branding and package design firm he owns with his wife, Deborah Davis. Drawing from patent designs for existing egg cartons, he made a sketch, put it up on his design blog BoxVox, and forgot about it.

Id always been interested in polyhedrals, and it just occurred to me that you could arrange eggs differently. It was surprisingly easy to do with paper, said Ludacer.

Some 1,200 miles away, in Gretna, Nebraska, on the outskirts of Omaha, Chad Wegener was collecting eggs from the chickens he raises at Willow Valley Farms, a 40-acre spread by the Elkhorn River. One mornings harvest with his 9-year old nephew yielded 13 eggs, a bakers dozen. If only there were a carton for 13 eggs, thought Wegener, it would certainly set Willow Valley Farms apart from the crowd at Omahas farmers markets. Scouring the web for a bakers dozen egg crate, he came across Ludacers blog. A few phone calls later, and the two were in business, aiming to produce and sell the odd-shaped cartons.

From the start both were drawn to paper pulp--the rough greyish material used to make many of todays egg cartons. I wanted something that was reusable and biodegradable, that wouldnt leave the same footprint as a plastic egg carton, said Wegener, who asks his customers to bring back their empty egg cartons to re-use at his farm.

Paper is Ludacers preferred medium for packaging. For one thing, he finds its easier to print on and more earth-friendly than other packaging materials. He also finds it an easy medium to use when brainstorming.

If Im trying out a new idea, Ill just grab a piece of laser printer paper and work it out, he says. A piece of paper or Bristol board, scissors, and a knife are all it takes. We make mockups out of paper to refine the idea and make sure we are not pitching something that wont work. Its a trial and error thing.

Ludacers egg carton has three rows of cups (one row of five bracketed on each side by a row of four) creating a hexagonal egg holder. But the pair discovered that industrial egg producers cant use the innovative carton because their packing machines are set up to fill only two row egg boxes. Instead, they envision selling to small farms, which can use the carton to differentiate themselves at local markets. The pair produced several thousand cartons, and have interest from a national distributor of farm supplies and several egg farms.

Last springs floods in the Midwest slowed things down. Wegener had to evacuate his farm and animals, including heritage chickens, egg-laying ducks, and a large herd of San Clemente Island goats, a rare breed of uncertain origin that he is raising for milk and cheese.

Now Ludacer and Wegener are waiting for their trademarks on the bakers dozen package to be approved by the U.S. government. If they win approval they hope to license production to a U.S. egg carton-maker. If not, Wegener will use the 4,000 cartons they have stored at his farm and Ludacer will go back to designing paper packaging.

Ludacer says he cant help working with paper because its an integral part of his surroundings.

"Paper is so much a part of our daily lives, and there's a reason for that, he explains. It's super-versatile. Paper can be scored, folded, perforated, embossed, debossed, molded, whatever you like.

"It can convey any message and wrap anything from haute couture to homespun and biodegradable, like the vibe we're going for with our egg carton, he says.
UK rescinds guidance legalizing at-home abortions during coronavirus outbreak

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The United Kingdom government has rescinded guidance temporarily allowing in-home medical abortions during the coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, the Department of Health and Social Care published online guidance explaining that the government has approved two temporary measures in England to limit the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) and ensure continued access to early medical abortion services.

The guidance would have allowed women to take both pills required for medical abortion  mifepristone and misoprostol  in their own homes without having to go to a hospital or clinic first. It would have also given doctors the ability to prescribe patients abortion pills from their homes.

The guidance came amid pressure from abortion rights groups ahead of Prime Minister Borris Johnsons announcement of a national lockdown enforced by police on Monday.

But about five hours after it was posted on Monday night, the guidance was removed from UK.gov.

A DHSC spokesperson admitted that it was published in error.

There will be no changes to abortion regulations, the spokesperson was quoted as saying by BBC.

The spokesperson did not provide any explanation of how the error occurred.

John Smeaton, president of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said in a statement that he had called the societys lawyers Monday night to ask them to initiate immediate legal action to overturn what he called an ideology-driven change to Britains abortion laws.

Smeaton argued that it is disturbing and extraordinary that such an error could be made.

Thank God that such a dangerous move  for unborn children and their mothers  is not, after all, being enacted by the Government, Smeaton said. We warmly welcome the Governments corrected announcement. However, we will be keeping SPUCs lawyers on stand-by.



According to Right to Life UK, the rescinded guidance would have been the biggest change to [the U.K.] abortion provision since 1967 because it essentially would have allowed DIY abortions to be performed on women without a doctor present.

The pro-life organization pointed out that such a change would have happened without any public consultation, Parliamentary scrutiny or debate. Under current law, abortions can only take place in hospitals or clinical settings approved by the secretary of state.

The reversal was decried by advocates for increased abortion access, such as Clare Murphy of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. She told BBC that the decision to reverse the guidance made no sense.

BPAS joined 12 other institutions such as the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in signing a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Monday, according to The Standard.

The groups pushed for changes to the countrys abortion law to increase access at a time when doctors are self-isolating and the National Health Service is under immense pressure.

It simply makes no sense at all that as the prime minister was ordering people to stay in their homes last night, the Department of Health was overturning a decision that would have enabled tens of thousands of women to access early abortion care lawfully at home, protecting their own health, that of their families, and that of the doctors, nurses and midwives who care for them, Murphy told The Guardian.

Murphy said her organization is being contacted by women who are in desperate circumstances and are wondering what they should do.

We urge the government to reinstate this safe and sensible policy as well as amend the law to enable one healthcare professional to authorize an abortion, Murphy stressed.

Right to Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said in a statement that the policy would have placed women at risk and could have resulted in the increase of medical abortion complications. She argued the guidance would put more strain on the countrys health system.

We welcome the news that this extreme change to the law is not going ahead and that the announcement was an administrative error, Robinson said. The Department of Health and Social Care is working tirelessly at the moment so it is understandable that human errors like this are made.
A woman, a 69-year-old Muscovite, died on March 24 at a clinic in the Russian capital specializing in treatment of the coronavirus. Authorities said she died of cancer that she had been battling, not the disease that has been ravaging the world.

A week earlier, a 79-year-old woman who was in fact diagnosed with COVID-19 died at a Moscow infectious disease hospital. Authorities attributed her death to an embolism  a blood clot  rather than the coronavirus.

And as of March 24, Russias official tally of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at just 495, clustered mainly in Moscow but also scattered across at least 46 cities and regions. That put Russia, with a population of about 144 million, at a per-capita level comparable to places in Central America and southern Africa, where the coronavirus is so far almost nonexistent.

By contrast, many neighboring and nearby European nations are seeing much higher rates of confirmed cases. And then, of course, theres China, where the virus originated and with which Russia shares a 4,200-kilometer border -- a border that Moscow ordered closed weeks ago, on January 30.

The situation is on the whole under control, President Vladimir Putin said on March 18. Russia looks much better compared with other countries.

So what exactly is going on with Russias coronavirus numbers?

Is the country in fact seeing abnormally low rates of infection, despite traveling tourists and cross-border trade? Or, as a growing number of Russians theorize, is the government keeping its official tally artificially low, perhaps to prevent panic or shield the shortcomings of the country's creaky health-care system?

Or maybe its a simpler bureaucratic answer: Is it just because of how the country has been testing for the cases up until now?

Heres a look at what we know so far about Russias experience with the coronavirus.

Act Early, Act Decisively?

Russian authorities appear to have been aware of the dangers earlier than many countries.

With cases exploding in the Chinese province where the city of Wuhan is located, Russia moved to close down its massive land-and-river border with China, first to people, then to cargo.

The day after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on January 30, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced the countrys first two cases, in two regions distant from Moscow. Six days later, the first of several government-charter flights arrived in a Siberian region, carrying 144 Russian citizens evacuated from Wuhan. They were quarantined for 14 days.

Since then, Russias tally of confirmed cases has climbed, albeit at a rate noticeably slower than other countries.

In Italy, the country outside of China that has been worst hit, cases were first publicly confirmed on January 31, and then jumped exponentially beginning on February 20, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. There are more than 69,000 confirmed cases in Italy as of March 24.

In Spain, the other European country worst hit by the coronavirus, confirmed cases began jumping on March 6, and as of March 24 stood at just over 35,200.

Both countries are popular with Russian tourists, including an infectious disease specialist in the southern Russian region of Stavropol, who is now under criminal investigation for not self-isolating after returning home, and apparently infecting other doctors after continuing to give lectures and hold meetings.

That would suggest that Russians returning home from countries where the coronavirus was exploding could also be carrying the virus, and thus infecting anyone they come into contact with at similar rates.

And Russian authorities have so far not introduced severe measures like mandatory face masks or citywide lockdowns like other places have.

Testing Testing

In Russia, the bulk of the confirmed cases are located in the countrys most populous city: Moscow. Official figures, as of March 24, say 262 cases were in the Russian capital, plus an additional 35 in the region surrounding the city.

Russian authorities also report what seems to be an aggressive testing regime: nearly 166,000 nationwide. Thats comparable to testing numbers in other countries, though it dwarfs that of the United States, whose response to the coronavirus has been hampered by a lack of tests.

Still, the low rate of confirmed cases is tiny, and a statistical outlier compared with other exposed countries, experts say.

One explanation for the apparent disparity is how testing has been conducted to date. Up until recently, suspected cases were tested using a tool developed by a state-funded laboratory in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, known by its shorthand name Vektor.

But a Russian science blog called PCR News, which said it had reviewed the specific protocols of the labs test, said it only detects the virus if it is over a certain threshold in a sample, and that threshold is far higher. And it also appeared to give a higher than expected number of false positives.

This may be the answer to the question why in Russia there are so few cases of coronavirus infection. It is possible that the Vektor test reveals only the top of the pyramid, the site said. As a result, official statistics may incorrectly reflect the epidemiological situation, and the measures taken may not correspond to the real threat.

On March 23, Moscows coronavirus task force said the testing protocol would be changed and samples would no longer be sent to the Novosibirsk laboratory for a second round of testing.

Classification Semantics

In recent months, Russian authorities have reported an uptick in cases involving another respiratory illness: pneumonia. The coronavirus can cause pneumonia, but so can other more run-of-the-mill exposures.

Russias statistics agency reported last week that pneumonia cases nationwide had increased by 3 percent compared with the 2018-19 season. In Moscow, they jumped by nearly 37 percent, according to the agency, known as Rosstat.

Thats fueled skeptics doubts that health officials were undercounting, or misclassifying, likely coronavirus cases as merely pneumonia.

The Doctors Alliance, an independent trade union of medical workers, has openly accused the government of lying to the public about the figures.

The skepticism has been further deepened by the two fatalities that involved people exposed to the coronavirus yet whose deaths have been classified otherwise.

On March 19, Moscows task force coordinating the coronavirus response announced that a 79-year-old woman who had tested positive for COVID-19 died at a Moscow infectious disease hospital. The woman, who had been hospitalized a week earlier, had diabetes and other health problems and was later transferred to an infectious disease unit, where she later died.

Doctors attributed her death to the coronavirus, but authorities later attributed it to a blood clot. They also did not say how she contracted the virus in the first place.

(The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University, which monitors the spread of the virus, has continued to list one death in Russia since March 19, while the official Russian figure was zero as of March 24.)

On March 24, a 69-year-old woman died in a separate Moscow infectious disease unit. The tabloid newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported she had been hospitalized after her daughter returned from Portugal. The woman reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus initially, but city officials later said she died from cancer and that her coronavirus results were in fact negative.

That semantic protocol  if someone who has the coronavirus dies of some other health issue while hospitalized for the coronavirus  may also help explain Russias low numbers.

In the Czech Republic, by contrast, the countrys health minister on March 24 announced a second coronavirus-related death: a man in his mid-40s. The man died of widespread organ failure and also had advanced-stage cancer.

The coronavirus worsened his condition, Health Minister Adam Vojtech wrote on Twitter.

Emergency Response

Numbers aside, the Kremlin seems to be taking the threat seriously.

In addition to shutting the border with China, authorities have taken a growing number of drastic measures. Foreigners have been temporarily barred from entry into the country.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on March 23 ordered officials to develop a system to track people who have come into contact with anyone with the coronavirus, using geolocation data from cell phones.

Days earlier, Moscows top police officials said the citys surveillance cameras, using facial-recognition technology, had pinpointed more than 200 people who had broken quarantine.

I believe that overall, we have the situation with coronavirus under control, said Mishustin, who earlier announced a $4 billion fund to help limit the economic damage from the coronavirus.

Moscows mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, meanwhile, told residents over 65 and those with chronic illnesses to remain at home, and even offered small cash payments to encourage that. He also suggested the elderly leave Moscow proper, and, if they have countryside homes known as dachas, to go out to them.

At a meeting with Putin on March 24, Sobyanin signaled that Russias overall confirmed cases indeed might be artificially low.

 serious situationis unfolding, Sobyanin said. The number of people who are sick [with the coronavirus] is significantly higher in reality.

"Some regions seem not to understand. The issue is that the level of testing is very low. We dont have a real picture," Sobyanin said.

Coronavirus And The Constitution

For any country, Russia included, the coronavirus presents major political, social, and economic challenges.

For the Kremlin, theres an added reason why its a challenge beyond what other countries are facing.

On April 22, Russians are scheduled to vote on a package of amendments to the constitution, the most substantive changes to the document since its adoption 27 years ago. Weeks after the plan to amend the constitution was announced in January, Putin signaled support for another change  one that would allow him to seek reelection in 2024 and potentially remain president until 2036.

Its unclear if he will, but for most Kremlinologists trying to discern Putins intentions, the most important thing is that the April 22 vote be accepted and seen as legitimate by Russians.

The Central Election Commission has already begun advertising for the vote, with imagery evoking World War II that avoids mention of prolonging Putins tenure in the Kremlin.

But apathy has grown among Russians, particularly as the countrys economy stagnates and voters tire of Putin. If Russians are too fearful of the coronavirus to go to the polls on April 22, that will further undermine how the vote is perceived.

Though some Kremlin allies in parliament have dismissed the possibility of the vote being postponed, the newspaper Vedomosti has reported that it is actively being considered at top government levels.

Another newspaper, Kommersant, reported on March 23 that the Central Election Commission had advised regional officials to halt the printing of ballots.

According to at least one Russian scientist, the country could be facing an explosion in cases in the coming weeks, not unlike what has happened in Italy.

I have the impression for the moment that were about three weeks behind Italy, approximately, Aleksandr Chepurnov, a Novosibirsk-based virologist and Academy of Sciences medical professor, told Russian state TV on March 23. And, in principle, you should understand that most likely, we will experience the same history.
Nearing the end of March Break, a woman gets a call from her ex. He says hes going to keep the kids past his regularly scheduled access, adding: and I dont think theres much you can do because the courts arent open.

Another woman who normally exchanges her children at a police station over her fear of harassment gets an email from her ex saying, plans have changed and hell drop the kids at her home  or Ill just keep them.

These are just two real scenarios recently relayed to Lukes Place, a service for women and children in abusive relationships, amid these new times of social distancing and self-isolation.

And then, more women in abusive relationships are now self-isolating and hunkered down in the same home as their abusers, because of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of these women either havent made a plan to leave yet or are at the very early stages of thinking through that, said Pamela Cross, legal director at Lukes Place, which is based in Oshawa.

Social distancing measures like school closures or workplaces encouraging or requiring people to work from home risk creating invisible victims out of women now in a situation where the partner has relatively unlimited access to them in the private location of the home, Cross said.

I think we sort of feel like this is a bit of the calm before the storm, she said.

Amid COVID-19, domestic violence support agencies and legal clinics across the GTA are now operating mostly in virtual spaces as they brace for an increase in domestic violence and custody issues.

In the days after the prime minister told Canadians to stay home, calls to Torontos Barbara Schlifer Commemorative Clinic dropped off for a few days, then picked up again. Staff at the clinic are expecting a further increase in traffic  above its usual 50 to 60 calls per day  similar to what has happened in other countries deeper into the pandemic.

Were trying to keep the services as available as possible and actually enhancing them, said Deepa Mattoo, executive director of the legal clinic, which also offers counselling and interpreter services.

For now, emergency staff are still staffing the clinics physical space for walk-ins. Everything else is by phone and video conferencing, and staff are doing proactive check-ins with some clients to make sure theyre not isolated and alone, Mattoo said.

Crime experts say the circumstances for intimate-partner violence are heightened by social distancing measures, and organizations and all levels of government need to do everything they can to stop it, now.

That could mean raising awareness about risk factors, to providing online resources to more funding for local services. The federal government announced last week that it would provide $50 million to organizations supporting women fleeing domestic violence and sexual assault.

Felix Munger, who manages the Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention, said hes concerned both about families in which there is already a history of abuse and the pandemic is putting on new stresses, including loss of income, layoffs, anxiety about the future and alcohol abuse.

For some people in more difficult home environments, being able to go outside, to work, is a reprieve from fairly difficult, tense situations, Munger said.

Then you layer on top the instability  its a bit of a perfect storm: economic insecurity and personal insecurity with close quarters, with kids at home.

For any woman in an abusive relationship or contested custody dispute  or both  the systems they face are difficult to navigate, and now must be done virtually.

Even the courts are closed except for urgent cases.

The situation is grim for a lot of people and for us as well, Mattoo said. This is a completely new world order, to actually make yourself and your services available in a safe way for the workers and the lawyers and the counsellors and the interpreters on the team, while also making sure that the clients are getting the service is a completely new way to look at work.

The decision to suspend most court activity makes perfect sense in terms of trying to limit the spread of COVID- 19, Cross said. But for a woman whose family court case has just started, while she and her children may be out of the house, courts likely wont consider the matter urgent, she said.

So, unless and until my partner does something to harm me or the kids, or does something like not return the children from an access visit, my case has shut down. And we dont really know when those cases are going to get back on the docket, Cross said. So (theyre) left in a state of sort of limbo.

Its a dangerous situation, she said, because abuse escalates at the time of separation. Its the time period when women are at the highest risk of being killed by their partner.

Lukes Place serves an average of 100 women per week, many of whom are provided with ongoing service. In 2019, the agency served more than 880 women in total.

It operates a free legal clinic with 20 pro bono lawyers that it is continuing to operate. Wednesday was the first day the clinic went entirely virtual, using telephone and Zoom for video conferencing, Cross said.

The day went very well, said Cross. We did, however, have one client who was unable to participate in her appointment because the abuser was in the home with her. And its not safe for her to have that appointment while the abuser can hear or see what it is thats going on.

For that woman, an alternate plan is being set up.

Lukes is also working with the Law Society of Ontario and the Ontario Bar Association, and preparing resources for lawyers unfamiliar with family law to help identify red flags when a custody case is urgent as opposed to simply important, Cross said.

Were communicating jointly out across the province, just so that people know there are options that are specialized for survivors of family violence, and heres how you get them, theyre a phone call away.
Some of countrys busiest motorways and roads have seen traffic fall by more than a third in recent weeks due to the impact of Covid-19.

With huge numbers of people isolating themselves and working from home, busy commuter routes that regularly see thousands of vehicles during rush hour periods have seen major reductions.

Footfall counters have also recorded huge falls in the number of pedestrians on streets with nearly all shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars now shut.

Data from Transport Infrastructure Ireland shows that the number of vehicles on most roads has plummeted in recent days when compared to regular traffic just a few weeks previously.

The M50 motorway in Dublin, close to the Red Cow Roundabout, is one of the busiest sections of road in the country.

On Friday, February 20, the TII recorded more than 168,000 vehicles travelling in both directions on the section of the motorway between junctions seven and nine.

Last Friday, over a similar 24-hour period, the number of vehicles fell by almost a third to 113,754.

On Sunday, just 60,611 vehicles travelled that section of motorway  the quietest day of the year so far.

It was a similar situation in Cork where a traffic counter between the Jack Lynch Tunnel and Mahon recorded more than 78,000 vehicles on St Valentines Day, which fell on a Friday,

Last Friday, the number of vehicles had dropped by more than 33% to just over 52,000.

The Killarney bypass recorded 21,562 vehicles on Friday, March 6, the busiest day this year.

However, just two weeks later this figure had fallen to 14,163 a reduction of 34%.

Traffic in Limerick on the M7 near Ballysimon almost halved from the 52,363 vehicles on Friday, February 7 to less than 30,000 last Friday.

Streets in towns and cities across the country have seen similar reductions as businesses, cafes, restaurants, and pubs all shut their doors to prevent the spread of the virus.

The footfall in Dublin city centre fell by 65.8% between March 16 and March 22.

South William St recorded a reduction of 85% while Grafton St saw a reduction of 75% in its footfall.

Business group DublinTown said approximately 200,000 fewer people visited the city centre each day.

Richard Guiney, the groups chief executive said: This is an unprecedented event, starkly illustrated by the dramatic decline in city centre footfall.

St Patricks week is traditionally the beginning of the tourist season and one where its all hands on deck for many in the hospitality sector.

However, this year many businesses within the industry had their doors closed."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BIC  UPDATE ON COVID-19 IMPACTS

CLICHY  23 MARCH 2020 - In the current environment of the Covid-19 outbreak, the health and safety of BICs team members, customers, suppliers, and consumers remain an absolute priority, and the Group supports all the preventive governmental decisions implemented to fight the pandemic.

A dedicated crisis team, comprised of all key functions within the organization monitors the situation daily and has taken all the necessary measures to protect all our employees and stakeholders.

Around the world, BIC teams are working relentlessly to enable business continuity by adapting commercial activities to maintain customer service and meet consumer demand for everyday essentials such as Shavers, Lighters, and Writing Instruments. To date, four Writing Instrument factories have halted operations to comply with local government guidelines (two in India, one in Tunisia and one in Ecuador). We are staying close to national and local authorities and will support their decisions related to the ongoing organization of work.

With respects to the economic and financial risks associated with the outbreak, the Group could be potentially exposed in several ways, such as:

Disruption in BICs Global Supply Chain in the event of further factory closures, as well as the discontinuation of the activity of some of our suppliers and subcontractors,

Negative impact on Net Sales due to customers reduced activity or store closures, particularly in the Traditional and Convenience channels. BIC realizes approximately 50% of its Net Sales in the US, France, Italy, Spain, which are among the most affected countries as of today,

Impacts on the cost base with significant deterioration of fixed cost absorption.

BIC is working closely with all its business partners to leverage its integrated business model, off-line and on-line distribution, and strong balance sheet to mitigate the situation and minimize the long-term financial impact of the epidemic.

Story continues

In this context, and although it is still too early to assess the full impact of the outbreak, the 2020 outlook and market assumptions communicated on 12 February 2020 are suspended until further notice.

As of the end of last week, BIC Net Cash position was slightly above 170 million euros. The Group maintains close contact with its banking pool and has confirmed its access to liquidity with its historical financial partners if needed.

BIC will release its Q1 2020 results and provide an update of the Covid-19 impacts on the business on 23 April 2020.

ABOUT BIC

BIC is a world leader in stationery, lighters, and shavers. For more than 75 years, the Company has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication, BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide. Today, BIC products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world and feature iconic brands such as Cello, Conte, BIC FlexTM, Lucky Stationery, Made For YOUTM, Soleil, Tipp-Ex, Wite-Out and more. In 2019, BIC Net Sales were 1,949.4 million euros. The Company is listed on Euronext Paris, is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes and is recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and education. It received an A- Leadership score from CDP. For more, visit www.bicworld.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

CONTACTS

Sophie Palliez-Capian VP, Corporate Stakeholder Engagement  +33 6 87 89 33 51

sophie.palliez@bicworld.com Investor Relations Contact Press Contacts Michele Ventura +33 1 45 19 52 98

michele.ventura@bicworld.com Albane de La Tour dArtaise +33 1 45 19 51 51 Albane.DeLaTourDArtaise@bicworld.com Isabelle de Segonzac : +33 1 53 70 74 85

isegonzac@image7.fr

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This past week has been the toughest of my career, as I'm sure is true for many of you. My city, New York, is under siege by this cruel and relentless virus. Most of my restaurants are now closed, other than the few mostly serving limited takeout and delivery. Millions of people in my industry are suddenly out of work, and no one knows when -- or whether -- relief will come.

I am a chef by training, and certainly not a policy expert, but I can share insights from three unique vantage points: 1) as someone who works and lives in the economically disadvantaged neighborhood of Harlem; 2) as a small-business owner who employs and works alongside the residents of my community; and 3) as an emigre who grew up in Sweden, which taught me valuable lessons in how a government can and should care for its own.

Let's start with the first point. During this crisis, we need to be especially concerned about our nation's food-insecure population -- and think about nutrition the same way we think about health care. Food is as vital a resource as medicine. It's clear that this virus is going to have a devastating impact on urban communities like mine. We have to ensure we're not compounding that with the unnecessary deaths of our food-insecure neighbors.

For the past five years, through our Harlem EatUp! festival, we've partnered with Citymeals, which was already serving weekend, holiday and emergency meals to more than 18,000 homebound residents of Harlem and beyond, and now face a rapid increase in demand. Having joined on these meal deliveries with my friend and Citymeals board co-President Daniel Boulud, I can tell you that the recipients literally will not survive without those services.

We know the ranks of the food-insecure will grow exponentially in the weeks and months ahead. That's why we've partnered with organizations such as Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen to turn our restaurants into community kitchens.

But non-profits and restaurateurs can't do this work alone. We need federal, state and local governments to support these efforts, in the same way they're ramping up medical systems. My peers across the restaurant industry are clamoring for ways to help -- and we need federal and local guidelines as well as funding to ensure our help is delivered safely, legally and effectively. All levels of government must step up, not just with money but with strategic assistance and direction.

To the second point: As a business owner with restaurants in eight different countries, I'm in the heartbreaking position of seeing thousands of employees forced to go on unemployment across the globe. In the United States, however, the benefits are far too low and don't last nearly long enough. The American unemployment system is built to "tide you over" while you quickly find another job -- it's not designed to support you if no jobs are available because your industry no longer exists.

In this time of crisis, the federal government should immediately act to double the unemployment benefit for every affected American, extending the term from a length of varying weeks (most states offer 26 but some offer more or much less) to a standard of 200+ days (which, by the way, is what Sweden covers). Benefits should also be expanded to cover unemployed workers' health coverage, be it COBRA payments or premiums. We must begin decoupling health care from our jobs -- especially now that many of those jobs don't exist.

Finally, we now have critical industries asking low-paid workers to continue working under dangerous circumstances. Not just our heroic health workers and first responders, but also the tireless grocery workers, the restaurant workers still handling takeout and delivery, the truck drivers hauling produce and countless others in the food industry. Without these critical links, our supply chain would fall apart, and the nation's food system would collapse.

For this reason, the federal government must step in to protect our vulnerable food industry workers, by providing safety equipment, setting guidelines to ensure a safe and healthy work environment, and, most of all, by matching (i.e. doubling) wages to give our critical workers the financial support they desperately need and deserve. That family-run corner deli on my block? They don't make a lot of money, but they're a vital lifeline for our community -- and in neighborhoods like ours, their value is a hundred times what they're earning.

As you may have noticed, most of my proposed solutions call for more government action. That's partly because I grew up in Sweden, where I learned the value of a government that offers help directly to its citizens -- through smart, sustainable, sensible state-run programs -- not just indirectly through banks and corporations, or relying on charities and non-governmental organizations to step in and fill the void. I chose long ago to become a US citizen and love this country dearly. But I can't wonder how things might work if the wealthiest, most technologically advanced country in the world were a little more like Sweden.

The fact is, the same old fixes won't work this time, if they ever really did. There's no point in offering a restaurant a no-interest small-business loan when the restaurant industry may not survive in the first place. We need seismic change, and we need it right now. I know our politicians are working through the weekend to formulate another stimulus plan. Let's make sure they don't leave out the most important ingredient -- helping the people who are truly in need.

Join me in reaching out to your elected officials to demand action. You can find them here.
By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) - New Jersey said on Monday it plans to temporarily release low-risk inmates serving county jail sentences to limit the spread of the coronavirus, following similar moves by some cities and counties in the United States.

The announcement followed an order on Sunday night by New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to suspend or commute sentences imposed for probation violations and municipal court convictions.

The order will free up to 1,000 inmates, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said. State Attorney General Gurbir Singh Grewal told a news conference they would be released no later than Tuesday morning.

As a career prosecutor, Grewal said he "took no pleasure" in releasing inmates but that the move was warranted by the seriousness of the health risk. He also pointed to the infections that had taken hold in New York City jails.

"We know and we've seen across the river that jails can be incubators for disease, so we have to take bold and drastic steps," Grewal said, adding inmates would be under stay-at-home orders and complete their sentences once the crisis was over.

Jails and prisons are scrambling to safeguard a captive population that includes many people with underlying medical problems.

The United States has more people behind bars than any other nation, 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.

Last week New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the release of 40 inmates from Rikers Island jail in light of the pandemic, and on Sunday said 23 more would be released.

Other cities and counties across the United States are considering or have enacted similar policies.

Last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the county had taken steps since late February to reduce its jail's population by 617 inmates. This was done by releasing inmates with less than 30 days on their sentences and by changing bail policies used to determine which arrestees would get a citation versus being booked into custody, he said.

Story continues

While many state prisons have taken steps to limit the spread of the virus such as banning visitors, they generally require a court order to release inmates. Federal prisons face similar restrictions, although President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would consider an executive order to release "totally nonviolent prisoners" from those facilities.

An official with the union representing federal prison workers called on Attorney General William Barr to temporarily stop the movement of all prisoners between facilities until the virus can be contained.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Additional reporting by Peter Eisler, Linda So and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Ned Park, Grant Smith and Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Grant McCool, Noeleen Walder and Cynthia Osterman)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE: GFI) (NYSE: GFI) fully supports the measures and policies to curb the Covid-19 pandemic implemented by the countries in which we operate.

"The world finds itself facing an unprecedented situation - the Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments across the globe to take decisive actions to safeguard the lives of their people. Gold Fields is fully committed to first and foremost protecting the health and safety of our people and communities, and supports all governments' efforts to contain the spread of the virus," says Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland.

Full media release available on our company website: www.goldfields.com

Notes to editors

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited is a globally diversified gold producer with nine operating mines (including our Asanko Joint Venture) and projects in Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru and South Africa, with total attributable annual gold-equivalent production of approximately 2Moz. It has attributable gold Mineral Reserves of around 48.1Moz and gold Mineral Resources of around 96.6Moz. Attributable copper Mineral Reserves total 691 million pounds and Mineral Resources 4,816 million pounds. Gold Fields has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Limited, with a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Enquiries

Investors

Avishkar Nagaser

Tel: +27 11 562-9775

Mobile: +27 82 312 8692

Email : [email protected]

Thomas Mengel

Tel: +27 11 562 9849

Mobile: +27 72 493 5170

Email: [email protected]

Media

Sven Lunsche

Tel: +27 11 562-9763

Mobile: +27 83 260 9279

Email : [email protected]

SOURCE Gold Fields Limited
Veteran Afro-jazz star Manu Dibango passed away on March 24 after contracting coronavirus. The 86-year-old Cameroonian was best known for Soul Makossa, his hit from 1972. The veteran is one of the first worldwide stars to die due to COVID-19. Worldwide, more than 380,000 people have been infected and more than 16,000 have died. Over 102,000 have recovered, most of them in China.

Pioneer no more

As per reports, Dibangos music publisher, Thierry Durepaire the star died early morning on March 24 in the Paris region. The saxophonist was one of the pioneers of Afro-Jazz music with his own unique style which fused funk with traditional Cameroonian music. As per reports, back in 2009, Manu Dibango accused the king of pop Michael Jackson of borrowing one of his hooks for two songs that were part of his legendary album Thriller.

Read: Rudy Gobert Update: Jazz Star Reveals Losing Sense Of Smell And Taste In Latest Tweet

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According to reports, his funeral service will be held in strict privacy and a tribute to his memory will be held at a later date if possible.

Emmanuel NDjoke Dibango was born on December 12, 1933. He was a musician and songwriter who played the saxophone and vibraphone. As per reports, in his early life, he was a member of the seminal Congolese rumba group, African Jazz, and collaborated with many other musicians. His most famous song, Soul Makossa which was part of the album of the same name contains the lyrics "makossa", which means "(I) dance" in his native tongue.

Read: Could Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz Have Spread Coronavirus To Other NBA Teams They Played?

Read: Raptors Vs Jazz Live Streaming, Team News, Game Preview, NBA Live Telecast In India

As per reports, in 2015 he was honored with the title of Grand Temoin de la Francophonie aux Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de Rio 2016 (Special Representative of Francophonia to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games) by Michaelle Jean, the Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Read: Raptors Vs Jazz Live Streaming, Team News, Game Preview, NBA Live Telecast In India

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
All weekend, while we were hunkered down in our homes, collectively working to flatten the COVID-19 curve, doctors were sending heart-wrenching messages: We are gravely concerned that more people are going to die because current preventive measures for some Canadians are inadequate. We are particularly concerned about people living in poverty, people who are already isolated, homeless people, precariously housed and employed people, and prisoners.

Canada is not alone in facing the terrifying spectre of this virus unleashed within overcrowded and unsanitary prison conditions and upon a population already plagued by other health problems. This is why the World Health Organization has recommended release of as many prisoners as feasible in order to reduce the population and protect the most vulnerable.

One Ontario doctor has proposed we focus on: (i) preventing the admission of people to provincial correctional facilities unless keeping the person in the community poses an immediate and substantial risk to the public, and (ii) releasing people from provincial correctional facilities unless they pose a substantial risk to the public.

Doctors who serve the prison population are afraid to speak out using their own names. Although their patients are the prisoners, they perceive the correctional services as being the only body authorized to allow them to speak about their prisoner patients.

At an individual and societal level, the risks of incarceration have changed substantially with the advent of this pandemic. Major policy changes are required in response.

Of the 40,000 Canadians in prisons, too many are at particular risk due to COVID-19. In federal prisons, more than 1 in 4 prisoners are over 50, more than 1 in 7 have a respiratory illness or hypertension. Many have mental health issues.

Simply stopping personal and professional visitors to prisons is wholly inadequate. Prisons will become breeding grounds for COVID-19. Outbreaks in provincial and federal prisons will be devastating for staff and prisoners. Prisoners are kept in close quarters, often with unsanitary conditions and woefully inadequate health care.

The responses to COVID-19 in prisons so far raise serious health and human rights concerns. How is physical distancing possible in crowded jails? Physical distancing for prisoners may mean an escalation of solitary confinement, itself a human rights violation and a resource-intensive solution.

How effective is distributing hygiene information for those with dementia, language-barriers, learning or intellectual disabilities, not to mention those with significant mental health issues? How are bans on visitors and proposed lockdowns not simply variations on solitary confinement  conditions tantamount to torture?

Staff in federal prisons are already advising that they will refuse to go to work as soon as prisoners are diagnosed with COVID-19. Staff recognize that current conditions of confinement and proposed responses will result in rapid and certain spread of the disease.

Authorities should be releasing all minimum security, elderly and ill prisoners from federal prisons. Such legislative provisions as sections 29, 81, 84, and 116 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act were specifically created to move people out of prisons to address health issues, for treatment, for other personal development, for compassionate reasons, as well as for work. Sections 81 and 84 provide options that could be expanded to provide for the particular release of Indigenous prisoners but could be applied to others as well.

As the Parole Board of Canada has urged, temporary absence and work release options could be broadened, whether by legislative changes or broader interpretation of current policies and practices, to provide near immediate alleviation of current conditions. Some families and communities could immediately accommodate their loved ones. Community residential facilities and non-governmental organizations could be funded (at a fraction of the cost of incarceration), to provide additional community accommodation and support.

The public safety risk of releasing minimum security prisoners, those who are ill and those who are elderly to receive treatment and contribute to their communities is negligible. The public health risks  for all Canadians  of keeping these individuals and correctional staff in overcrowded and underprepared prisons and allowing the virus to spread further are significant and preventable.

Ontario has taken a small step: allowing those who serve sentences only on the weekends to serve sentences at home. In the United States, Europe, New Zealand and beyond, legal advocates are working to post bail and encourage release of prisoners. Canadian civil society organizations and legal experts are echoing these calls. There is an urgent need to do what is wise and right.
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Neighbourhoods at highest risk from coronavirus spread - and where older people might need the most help from their communities - have been revealed in a dramatic heat map today.

Boris Johnson has announced the most draconian lockdown in modern history to avert the killer disease burning through the country.

The PM said the aim was to stop the NHS being swamped with cases, adding to the death toll even though younger healthy people will typically only have mild symptoms.

Although scientists are still learning about the virus, age appears to be one of the main risk factors - hence why the older generation are being asked to take extra precautions.

While estimates put the mortality rate for people in their 20s at just 0.3 per cent, for those in their 70s it is over 5 per cent, and over 80 it approaches one in 10.

The interactive map of England and Wales released by the Office for National Statistics today underlines the potential danger to specific communities that have an older population.

Locals can click on the chart to find out the numbers of over-70s and over-85s in their neighbourhoods - a tool which could allow them to offer help to those isolated.

In some areas, such as East Preston in West Sussex, more than 45 per cent of the population falls into the over-70 category

It shows that in some areas, such as East Preston in West Sussex, more than 45 per cent of the population falls into the over-70 age category.

By contrast, many parts of London - regarded by experts as the engine of the UK outbreak - have very small numbers of older people.

The government has ordered families to stay in their homes unless the absolutely must go out for food supplies, medical help, brief daily exercise, or key work.

How coronavirus risk increases with age Scientists are still learning about the coronavirus and how deadly it can be. These are the current estimated mortality rates for age groups. 20s - 0.03 per cent 30s - 0.08 per cent 40s - 0.15 per cent 50s - 0.60 per cent 60s - 2.2 per cent 70s - 5.1 per cent 80-plus - 9.3 per cent Advertisement

All 'non-essential' shops will be closed and public gatherings of more than two people banned.

An estimated 1.5million people have been asked to stay at home and avoid all face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks.

Some over-70s will be in this group, while others are being told they must only leave their home if it is unavoidable.

Mr Johnson's dramatic coronavirus lockdown announcement last night was watched by 27million Britons - as a poll found 93 per cent back the measures.

The huge viewing figures make the PM's grim TV address from Downing Street one of the most watched events in UK history, exceeding the numbers for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.

Research by YouGov suggests the public were overwhelmingly happy with what they heard.

But in a potentially worrying sign for the PM, it also showed two-thirds believe the extraordinary curbs will be easy to obey.

The snap poll taken in the wake of Mr Johnson's dramatic address to the nation found 76 per cent 'strongly support' the steps.

Another 17 per cent are 'somewhat' in favour - with just four per cent voicing opposition. The remaining three per cent said they were not sure.

The curbs are set to last initially for three weeks, although the government's own experts have warned the crisis could continue for a year.

They are shutting down huge swathes of the economy, banning people from seeing their families, and cancelling normal life as we know it.

Many parts of London - regarded by experts as the engine of the UK outbreak - have small numbers of older people

Boris Johnson last night announced the most draconian lockdown in modern history to avert the killer disease burning through the country
When Odion Ighalo joined Manchester United in January, people remembered his five-month goal drought at Watford and three years in the uncompetitive Chinese Super League.

They'd forgotten he scored 20 goals in his first season in England and was among the Premier League's leading scorers in 2015-16 with 15  only Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku bagged more discounting penalties.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wasn't so dismissive of the Nigerian's pedigree though even he couldn't have imagined the impact the 30-year-old has made. From being a last-minute loan signing, United are now prepared to pay 15million to make his transfer from Shanghai Shenhua a permanent one.

Odion Ighalo has taken his chance by scoring four goals in eight appearances for Man United

Ighalo has earned high praise from Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

It's a remarkable turnaround for Ighalo, whose original brief was to come and give Anthony Martial a few minutes' rest here and there.

Instead, the boyhood United supporter has grabbed his lottery ticket with both hands. Though he hasn't started a Premier League game, he has scored four times for his new club in the cup competitions, against Brugge, Derby (twice) and LASK, the latter courtesy of a wonderful finish worthy of some of the club's greatest strikers.

Nobody is pretending Ighalo is a Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney, but he brings qualities to Solskjaer's frontline lacking in the rest of the squad, as talented as Marcus Rashford, Martial and Mason Greenwood are.

'He has a physical presence,' explains the United manger. 'You get the ball up to him and he can keep hold of it.

'It's hard to be a central defender when he's looking for you first and buys himself half a yard by his movement.

'He is a different type of striker. He is experienced and has scored goals his entire career.'

Besides his obvious attributes, Ighalo's attitude has also endeared him to Solskjaer and the United support.

He had to train alone when he first arrived from China at the start of the coronavirus outbreak so when he was called upon, he was fit enough to contribute.

Stories of his love for United as a boy growing up in Lagos watching Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke on TV didn't hurt. Whilst breaking into the Nigerian market  a country with 190million people  would definitely get the thumbs up from Ed Woodward's commercial department.

United wouldn't want to match the 300,000-a-week wages Shanghai were paying Ighalo, but they won't have to. The player is willing to take a pay cut to stay in the Premier League even though he was a success in China and second-top scorer in their own curtailed league season with 21.

Maybe Ighalo will never be a regular United starter but Solskjaer knows better than anyone you need a happy and talented squad to win multiple trophies.

Boyhood United supporter Ighalo jumps for joy during his side's 2-0 win over rivals City

Manchester United's supporters and players have already taken to the January loan signing

The Norwegian is a bona fide legend at Old Trafford despite starting only an average of 14 Premier League games a season there.

He came off the bench a total of 150 times for United, usually always making an impression, and it's a matter of historical record United would not have won the Treble with only Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke up front  they needed Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham as well.

Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea, Nani; United's glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson always relied on players who stayed hungry and professional regardless of whether they started games, sat on the bench or were occasionally left out of squads.

Ighalo joined the club in the same window as fellow fan favourite Bruno Fernandes (centre)

Ighalo appears to have the right personality to do that, in addition to having the ability to change games when called upon. He has the temperament to play for United. 'He was calm in front of goal, never nervous,' said ex-Reds defender Henning Berg who was Ighalo's manager early in his career with Norwegian club Lynn.

United's last game before the current shutdown was an emphatic 5-0 win in the Europa League against LASK.

Ighalo scored the all-important first with a piece of skilful juggling followed by a left-foot smash into the top corner.

It was a goal Erling Haaland, the young hotshot United missed out on in January, would have been proud of. And probably sealed the deal to keep Ighalo at Old Trafford beyond his current loan period.
SYRACUSE, NY  Syracuse hospitals have freed up hundreds of beds as public officials urge hospitals to make more room for coronavirus patients.

Over the past two weeks, the average daily number of patients in medical-surgical beds used for routine care at the citys three hospitals plummeted 33 percent. There were 470 people in those beds Monday, down from 704 on March 9, according to the Hospital Executive Council. That Syracuse hospital planning agency tracks the combined patient census for Upstate, St. Josephs and Crouse hospitals every day.

During the same two-week period, the number of patients in intensive care and critical care beds dropped from 110 on March 9 to 103 Monday, a decline of more than 6 percent.

Hospital emergency rooms have seen the biggest decline in patient traffic. Average daily ER visits have plunged nearly 52 percent, from 728 visits on March 9 to 351 Monday.

Ron Lagoe, the councils executive director, attributed the sharp drop in patients at city hospitals to cancellations of scheduled non-emergency surgeries and postponements of other hospital admissions. A decline in seasonal flu activity also reduced hospitalizations by about 20 percent.

Lagoe said a coronavirus testing program launched last week at the Syracuse Community Health Center probably helped prevent many ER visits.

Syracuse hospitals also have stepped up use of telemedicine which allows doctors to see patients remotely using video-conferencing technology.

Syracuse hospitals are emptying beds at a time when Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling on New York hospitals to increase their capacity by at least 50%.

We have done what we are supposed to be doing as far as freeing up capacity goes, Lagoe said. The unanswered question now is whether hospitals have emptied enough beds to accommodate a surge of coronavirus patients and when that surge will occur. Thats why we are monitoring these numbers every day, Lagoe said.

Onondaga County had 53 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Monday, up from one case a week ago. Five of the 53 were hospitalized as of Monday night.

Syracuse hospital officials have said they are prepared to add hundreds of more beds if need be by opening up unused hospital wards, converting private rooms into semi-private rooms and setting up beds at remote locations.

James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) -Revelo Resources Corp. (TSXV: RVL) ("Revelo" or the "Company") announces that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company's Special Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. (Vancouver time), will be held by way of teleconference call only. For those who wish to attend, please use the following dial-in numbers and access codes as applicable:

North America: 1-800-319-7310 (Toll Free)

International: +1 604-638-5353 (Long distances charges will apply)

Access Code: 95019#

ABOUT REVELO

Revelo is a Canadian company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: RVL). Revelo has interests in an outstanding portfolio of projects prospective for gold and copper located along proven mineral belts in one of the world's top mining jurisdictions - Chile. The Company has a vision to reward shareholders with wealth-generating mineral discoveries along Chile's prime mineral belts, through leveraged and more efficient capital deployment, exploration, discovery and monetization. For more information, please visit Revelo's website at www.reveloresources.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Michael Winn, Chairman

INVESTOR CONTACT

Timothy J Beale | President & CEO

T: +1 604 687-5544 |

info@reveloresources.com |

www.reveloresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53764
JACKSON, MI  A man who police said got into a drunken fight at a Jackson party store has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

Darka Ross pleaded guilty Monday, March 16, to one felony count each of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition by a felon, and two counts of felony firearms.

Ross, 44, had two counts of assault with intent to murder and two counts of felony firearm dismissed in a plea agreement, according to court records.

A highly-intoxicated Ross fought with another man Dec. 5, 2018, at Franks Finer Foods, 418 First St., and pulled out a handgun and shot toward the man, police said. No one was struck.

Drunk man who opened fire outside party store going to trial for attempted murder

A Jackson County sheriffs deputy saw Ross fire the weapon and, after a brief foot chase, the deputy caught Ross and held him until Jackson police officers arrived to arrest him, police said.

Ross is a felon and cannot legally possess a firearm, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. He has served prison sentences for assaulting police, larceny, felonious assault and assault with intent to rob, records show.

He is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 30, before Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson.

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A 23-year-old woman tested positive for the coronavirus in Manipur, the first confirmed case in the Northeast, a top state health department official said on Monday.

IMAGE: A deserted view of the Ema Market during the outbreak of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Imphal. Photograph: ANI Photo

The woman, a resident of Thangmeiband Lourung Purel Leikai area in Imphal West district, had recently returned from the United Kingdom, a statement issued by Health Services Director K Rajo Singh said.

She had reached Delhi from London on March 18 and taken another flight to Kolkata, where she stayed for a few days with fever and a sore throat. From there she took a flight to Imphal via Agartala on March 21, official sources said.

Her travel itinerary showed she travelled from Kolkata to Imphal with her brother on a flight with 108 other passengers.

"She had visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, complaining of nasopharyngeal problems. Test reports of her swab and blood samples confirmed she is infected with coronavirus," hospital director Th Bhimo Singh said.

Rajo Singh asked people who came in contact with the woman to inform him at 8402880191, 2411668, 8003453818 phone numbers and immediately go in self-isolation till further orders.

Police commandos cordoned off the residence of the woman and mobile units were seen instructing people to remain indoors.

Manipur has been placed under lockdown from Monday till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, JNIMS shut its Out Patients Department, barring its flu clinic, with immediate effect in view of the coronavirus outbreak, an order issued by medical superintendent T Rajen Singh said.
Hawaiian Holdings HA subsidiary Hawaiian Airlines withdrew its first-quarter 2020 and full-year guidance amid growing concerns of the coronavirus crisis.



Additionally, the airline plans to trim Neighbor Island schedule, beginning with the suspension of flights between Honolulu and Kapalua in West Maui effective Mar 25. This is in response to the quarantine order (effective Mar 26) from the Hawaii government asking travelers, who enter the state, to undergo a mandatory self-imposed quarantine of 14 days.

The carrier will, however, continue to operate a network, essential for customers traveling within the state. The usual interisland cargo services will also continue.

In the meantime, to help customers get back home, the airline will continue to operate its regular flight schedule through Mar 25. Thereafter, it will evaluate significant reductions in its domestic and international flight services. However, Hawaiian Airlines will continue to operate one daily nonstop flight between Honolulu (HNL) and Los Angeles (LAX) and its Thursday service between HNL and American Samoa (PPG) in order to provide a baseline of out-of-state access.



Shares of Hawaiian Holdings have plunged more than 68% since the beginning of February due to plummeting air-travel demand in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The industry has declined 57.6% in the period.





As the coronavirus pandemic worsens and government imposed travel bans increase, airlines are making some dramatic capacity cuts. For instance, Copa Holdings CPA has suspended all its operations effective Mar 22 through Apr 21. It became the first Latin American carrier to have enforced such a strict action against the outbreak.

Additionally, JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU will carry out a large number of flight cancelations this week and operate a schedule less than 50% its normal. The airline expects to cut flights even more in the coming month. Meanwhile, United Airlines UAL international schedule will be reduced by approximately 90% in April.



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Hawaiian Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



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Click to get this free report JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research
New Delhi: The national capital comes to a standstill with shops closed during complete lockdown imposed in 560 districts in 32 states and union territories across the country as precautionary measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, on Mac Image Source: IANS/PIB

New Delhi, March 24 : Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown starting Tuesday midnight to prevent the spread of coronavirus, people in the national capital went into a panic buying mode.

Despite the Prime Minister tweeting that there will be no shortage of essential goods amid the lockdown, shops selling such products were flooded with people.

Chemist shops too saw a rise in the numbers of customers and apart from medicines, Dettol and sanitisers were in high demand.

Radhey Shyam, a general store owner in South Delhi's Neb Sarai area, said, "We saw a massive footfall in the last half an hour with people mainly demanding milk and bread." "Cigarettes were also in high demand and we had to sell them at much higher prices because we aren't receiving fresh stock and even if we do, they are overcharged," he added.

People were also seen buying fruits and vegetables which were being sold at higher rates. For instance, a dozen of bananas were being sold for around Rs 70. The customers tried to bargain but to no avail.

While announcing the nationwide lockdown in his address to the nation on Tuesday evening, Modi said that this was an essential step to fight coronavirus decisively. He added that saving the lives of people was a priority now.

"With folded hands, I request you to stay put wherever you are," Modi said. He added that he was mindful of the economic ramifications of the decision, which he termed a smaller concern at the moment.

The Prime Minister warned that if people don't follow a complete lockdown for the coming 21 days, the nation will go back 21 years and many families will be devastated.
Evidence that the coronavirus pandemic is hammering the global economy mounted on Tuesday as business activity surveys from Australia and Japan to Western Europe showed record falls, with data for the United States expected to be just as dire.

"The coronavirus outbreak represents a major external shock to the macro outlook, akin to a large-scale natural disaster," analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note.

Activity in the 19 European Union countries that share the euro currency crumbled in March as nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease, which have shuttered shops, restaurants and offices, took hold.

IHS Markit's flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the euro zone, seen as a good gauge of economic health, plummeted to a record low of 31.4 this month from February's 51.6. That was by far the biggest one-month fall since the survey began in mid-1998 and below all forecasts in a Reuters poll which gave a median prediction of 38.8.

In France, services fell to a record low and manufacturing saw its steepest drop since the global financial crisis.

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

"Taken together, these declines suggest GDP is collapsing at an annual rate approaching double digits," IHS Markit economist Eliot Kerr said.

A PMI for the services sector in Germany, Europe's largest economy, also showed a record contraction in activity.

A sister survey showed post-Brexit Britain's economy shrinking at a record pace, faster than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

IHS Markit said the March figures suggested the euro zone economy could shrink by around 2% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2020, and the escalation of measures to contain the virus could steepen the downturn in Q2.

U.S. manufacturing and services PMI data, due later on Tuesday, are also expected to come in at multi-year lows.

After an initial outbreak in China brought the world's second-largest economy to a virtual halt last month, an ever-growing number of countries and territories have reported a spike in infections and deaths.

Entire regions have been placed on lockdown and in some places soldiers are patrolling the streets to keep consumers and workers indoors, halting services and production and breaking global supply chains.

Mirroring the emptying of supermarket shelves around the world, indebted corporates have rushed into money markets to hoard dollars, with a global shortage of dollar funding threatening to cripple firms from airlines to retailers.

PMI surveys from Japan showed the services sector shrinking at its fastest pace on record this month and factory activity contracting at its quickest in a decade.

This was consistent with a 4% contraction in the economy in 2020, Capital Economics senior economist Marcel Theliant said. The likely postponement of the Tokyo Olympics is expected to deal a heavy blow to the world's third-largest economy.

In Australia, the CBA Services PMI fell to a record low of 39.8 as restaurants, cafes and tourism were hit hard by travel bans and cancellations of events and concerts.

INFINITE STIMULUS

With most asset markets tanking, global central banks have been rolling out extraordinary measures on an almost daily basis to stop the rot.

In its latest drastic step, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Monday promised bottomless dollar funding.

For the first time, the Fed will back purchases of corporate bonds, backstop direct loans to companies and "soon" will roll out a programme to get credit to small and medium-sized businesses. It will also expand its asset purchases by "as much as needed."

The Fed last week slashed borrowing costs to zero and took other emergency steps to keep the commercial paper, U.S. Treasury debt and foreign dollar funding markets functional.

But some analysts say infinite monetary policy easing may not be enough and fiscal steps are crucial. The latest U.S. effort on that front remains stalled in the Senate as Democrats said it contained too little money for hospitals and not enough limits on funds for big business.

Finance and monetary leaders from the world's 20 largest economies agreed on Monday to develop an "action plan" to respond to the pandemic that the International Monetary Fund now expects to trigger a global recession, but offered no specifics.

"For the U.S. economy to be able to come out of the current crisis and the ongoing recession relatively unscathed, more radical policy interventions will be needed in the next few weeks," Anna Stupnytska, global head of macro and investment strategy at Fidelity International, said.

Speculation is mounting that data due on Thursday will show U.S. jobless claims rose an eye-watering 1 million last week, with forecasts ranging as high as 4 million.

Goldman Sachs warned the U.S. economy could contract by an annual rate of 24% in the second quarter, 2-1/2 times greater than the previous biggest contraction in the period after World War Two.
By Kate Kelland

LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - A key modelling study from Singapore has found that putting multiple social lockdowns in place - including school closures - will have the biggest impact on curbing COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Quarantining infected people and their family members, closing schools, and imposing workplace distancing and homeworking can all limit the spread, the study found, but a combination of all three is most effective in reducing cases.

The global number of confirmed cases passed 377,000 across 194 countries and territories as of 0200 GMT on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, with more than 16,500 reported deaths.

Singapore, which according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data had reported 455 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two deaths as of March 22, has imposed some social distancing recommendations but has not closed its schools.

Elsewhere, millions of children have seen their schools closed in the United States, across much of Europe and in many other countries as governments have imposed strict social lockdown measures to stop people meeting and mingling in groups.

Published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the study, conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), looked at a simulated Singapore setting to analyse the potential impact of social distancing policies.

It found that while less effective than the combined three-pronged approach, quarantine plus workplace measures presented the next best option for reducing COVID-19 cases, followed by quarantine plus school closure, and then quarantine only.

"The results of this study provide policy makers in Singapore and other countries with evidence to begin the implementation of enhanced outbreak control measures that could mitigate or reduce local transmission rates if deployed effectively and in a timely manner," said Alex R Cook, an associate professor at NUS who co-led the work. (Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Ed Osmond)
After months of public speculation Motorola has finally announced the launch of its ambitious Motorola Razr foldable smartphone. The announcement has predictably raised expectations among Razrs brand following. However, Motorolas new flip-smartphone already has a serious competitor and thats the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the first foldable smartphone from a major mobile brand.

So how does the new Motorola Razr stand against the older, established Galaxy Fold? Will it hold its own against the South Korean giant; will it take over the Galaxys space or be known as an also-ran? And if youre in the market for a new, swanky smartphone, read on to make an informed buying decision.

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Hardware

A cursory glance at the processor, RAM, and storage of the Motorola Razr will tell you it is not trying to compete with Samsung on the hardware front. The Razr is powered by the Snapdragon 710 processor, has a Random Access Memory of 6GB a storage capacity of 128GB. The Razrs Snapdragon 710 employs the 10nm manufacturing method, similar to the one used by Snapdragon 845. With this hardware configuration, Motorola is trying to strike a balance between battery life and performance.

Samsung Galaxy is much more in accordance with the hardware protocols that one would expect from a major brand in 2019. Galaxy Fold has the Snapdragon 855 processor, a 12GB RAM and a whopping storage of 512GB. As we have noted earlier, the Galaxy Fold does have some design issues, which might impede performance in some minor ways, but people should have no problems with normal usage.

Batteries

At 2,150mAh, the Razr has a battery that is quite small for todays smartphone usage. It sparks more than a little concern about this Razrs longevity. According to Motorola, the size of the battery is compatible with its Snapdragon 710 processor, which should allay any fears of the battery life; a more sophisticated platform would drain the battery faster. The Razr also supports Motorolas own 15W TurboPower charger.

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On the contrary, the Galaxy Fold has a 4,380mAh battery, so there are absolutely no fears about longevity. And the battery charge lasts pretty long too; one of the reviewers found that 70% of the battery was full after a nine-to-5 day

Gaming and graphics

The graphics of smartphones play a huge role in giving users and enjoyable digital casino experience. Sophisticated graphics and the right display technologies, make gaming and gambling a near-live experience. Though, the user experience also depends on the casinos software, the user-friendliness of a phones graphical interface becomes crucial.

Given the Snapdragon 855 processor, larger display screen and along with its One UI overlay, gamers and gamblers would have a better user-experience with the Galaxy Fold. On the other hand, the new Motorola Razr may not want to target this segment of customers. Speaking of gaming, if you are a looking for an online casino with great graphics then both these mobile devices are ideal. Of course, you ought to look for some good bonuses and fair wagering too. Understanding wagering can be tricky for new gamblers, so you may want to read all about it here.

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Display

Both the Galaxy Fold and Razr feature cover displays but have different uses for them. Razr has a 2.7-inch OLED cover display and is meant to be used for selfies, peeking at notifications, and skipping music. Galaxy Folds bigger 4.6-inch cover display can show all the software. Razr boasts of a main display measuring 6.2 inches along the diagonal. The phone also has a resolution of 2,142 x 876 pixels. The main display of Galaxy Fold is a bigger 7.3 inches with QXGA plus.

The hinge mechanisms of both smartphones are also different. Razr has a nostalgic flip-design, which unfolds vertically. The Galaxy Fold opens like a book. However, regardless of the hinge mechanisms, lasting performance is an issue with both phones. Samsung even postponed the launch of Galaxy fold last April due to the design defect of the hinge. Even after design improvements, Samsung has a disclaimer that says the phone will need a special level of care. To atone for this, Galaxy Folds Premier Service promises a one-time free screen replacement and 247 support.

Motorola says the display of the new Razr will endure for the median lifespan of any smartphone. The company offers 24-hour chat support and direct access to agents for 14 hours a day. Motorola further assured potential buyers that in case of failed displays, customers will be serviced within 24 hours with free advanced replacement. However, display exchange will cost $299 outside the warranty period.

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Camera

Motorola Razrs primary camera has an f/1.7 aperture and weighs in with a 16MP sensor. The interior has a second, 5MP camera with an aperture of f/2.2. The main camera is meant to be used for selfies, though you can also take them with the camera inside.

In comparison, the Galaxy Fold is full of cameras: The outer, main selfie camera has a 10MP sensor, while the two inner cameras, also for selfies, have sensors of 10MP and 8MP. On the back of the phone, there are three cameras with a 12 MP standard sensor, a 12 MP telephoto sensor, and a 16MP ultra-wide. Users have a ready-to-click camera regardless of how the phone is being otherwise used. Issues with usability are compensated by some great shots.

Software

Razr and Galaxy Fold both run on Android 9, but the software works differently in the phones. Razr uses vanilla Android with a few changes, whereas the Galaxy Fold depends on Samsungs One UI. The One UI does have greater use of colors with a bent for animations.

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Both phones are not ready for Android 10 upgrade. While Samsung has announced that Galaxy fold should be fit doe Android in foreseeable future. Samsung is also testing the One UI 2.0. Motorola on the other hand has not revealed its update plans for the Razr.

Now that you understand the Razr and Fold a bit more, you can make an informed decision. After all, what it boils down to is personal preference. Whatever you decide, we wish you good luck gaming and gambling on the move.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri this week completed a six-state African tour designed to lobby support for Egypts proposals for a way out of the impasse over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Shoukris tour took place against a backdrop of tightening travel restrictions as the world battles with the aggressive surge in Covid-19 infections.



As Shoukri was touring, his aides visited five other African states to explain Cairos position in the diplomatic fallout with Ethiopia over GERD.



It is a tough moment to try to schedule trips for the foreign minister to meet with his counterparts or with world leaders, given the world is fully consumed with the coronavirus outbreak, said an Egyptian diplomat.



The focus of most world capitals is on the battle against the pandemic. It is not just a question of getting the foreign minister to see officials, but about getting these officials to give attention to anything other than coronavirus, the diplomat said.



It is not a situation that serves Egypt in its uphill battle to lobby regional and international support to pressure Addis Ababa to work constructively with Egypt and Sudan over the filling and operation of GERD.



Last month in Washington, before the extent of Covid-19 pandemic hit home, Egypt signalled its willingness to accept the agreement negotiated with Ethiopia and Sudan and facilitated by the US and the World Bank.



Sudan withheld its acceptance while Ethiopia opted to miss the meeting that came at the end of a 12-week negotiation process sponsored by the White House.



Ethiopian officials have threatened to start the filling and operation process during this summers rainy season in the absence of any agreement with Egypt to manage the filling and operation of GERD in a way that minimises significant harm to the water needs and rights of downstream states.



It is unfortunate that we now face this coronavirus outbreak and the US is so hard hit by it, the diplomat said. He added that Shoukri was due to visit Washington for talks but now cannot make the trip.



With over 35,000 cases of Covid-19, the US is bogged down in the fight against the virus. American diplomacy is not closed, said the diplomat, but it is rejigging its priorities.



He said that a visit of the Egyptian foreign minister to the US capital, to follow up on the US promise to talk Ethiopia into signing up to the agreement, is unlikely in the foreseeable future.



The same applies to other capitals Shoukri was hoping to visit and underline the need for Ethiopia and Sudan to approve the text that was negotiated in the US capital.



GERD is not the only issue sidelined by the pandemic. A series of meetings that Egypt has been hosting in the wake of the Berlin Conference on Libya has also been suspended.



Consultations between Cairo and various Libyan groups have not been suspended fully and Egypt is following up on Libyan developments with concerned capitals. But the agenda for meetings is up in the air, for now.



The conflict in Libya has not subsided despite growing concerns over the possible unrecorded spread of Covid-19.



This week Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of Libya, and Fayez Al-Sarraj, who controls the capital and the west of the country, exchanged accusations over responsibility for the ongoing conflict. A separate battle is also ongoing between the militias of Al-Sarraj and Fathi Bashaghah, his interior minister.



The military and political meetings, agreed at the Berlin Conference in January, have for the most part been suspended. Some of the meetings had been scheduled to convene in Geneva and Rome.



Italy is suffering traumatic consequences from the coronavirus outbreak with cases nearing 65,000 and a death toll of over 6,000. Switzerland, too, is battling with infections, though the figures are less devastating than in Italy.



Meanwhile, moves sponsored by Egypt and the UAE to give Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, a final chance to lobby international support for his plans for Libya over those of Al-Sarraj, who heads a government that still has the UN recognition, have been interrupted.



Haftar had already visited some European capitals and was planning a wider campaign before it was interrupted by the pandemic.



A Cairo-based European diplomat said capitals were of course still working on Libya.



It is not like everything has been put on hold but Libya is not exactly a priority for the coming weeks, he said.



Haftar had launched a military operation to take over Tripoli almost a year ago yet he remains on the outskirts of the Libyan capital with no clear pathway to completing the takeover.



A series of ministerial level meetings on Syria involving Russia, Turkey and Iran have also been put on hold.



While Russia and Turkey are trying to contain the spread of Covid-19, Iran already has 22,000 infections recorded and 2,000 deaths.



The suspension of diplomatic meetings came against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in north Syria between the Turkish army which invaded its neighbour with the intention of quelling any support for Kurdish militant groups and the Russian-supported Syrian army which is trying to regain control over the entire country.



The recent wave of hostilities in north Syria has created a new wave of refugees with nowhere to go given that Turkey is now refusing to host them and Greece is denying them entry.



A New York-based diplomat said that the situation of Syrian refugees is disturbing.



With Covid-19 cases already recorded in Turkey and Greece refugees are increasingly at risk of infection. Thousands of Syrian refugees are packed in camps with questionable nutrition and hygiene standards and limited access to running water and sanitary services.



This is a recipe for a nightmare, the international diplomat said.



Negotiations between Turkey and the EU over the fate of Syrian refugees who have been trying to cross from Turkish territories into Europe have also lost momentum with the world scare over the pandemic.



According to the New York-based diplomat, talks will continue at some level or other but it is unlikely major decisions will be made any time soon.



On yet another front, war in Yemen continues on the ground in a country that, according to an informed UN source, has no way of knowing the extent of the coronavirus spread.



The regional archenemies  Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE  battling in Yemen are all busy with their battles against Covid-19 and the chances for Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy for Yemen, to hold necessary meetings to try and reassemble the very short-lived peace talks are extremely slim.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The Army is requisitioning testing machines from university labs as ministers race to carry out urgent coronavirus checks on NHS staff.

Soldiers from the Army's 101 Logistic Brigade have also dropped off medical masks at St Thomas' Hospital in London following warnings that doctors feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' due to the lack of proper protection.

More than 330 people have now died in the UK with more than 6,600 cases across the country - which today faces its first day of coronavirus lockdown.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is now facing increasing pressure to increase the number of checks available, telling the House of Commons he wants the country to 'get to a point where everybody who wants to get tested can get tested'.

A Government review has identified hundreds of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines in use at universities and companies that are able to detect the virus' genetic material.

Military logistic teams have begun transporting the machines to a central lab where the standardised tests can quickly be put into action, the Times reported.

The Department of Health has requested to speed up collecting the machines - and a Whitehall source has said the military was acting as 'essentially a delivery service'.

A Government review has identified hundreds of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines in use at universities and companies that are able to detect the virus' genetic material (Pictured: A polymerase chain reaction kit)

A Whitehall source has said the military was acting as 'essentially a delivery service'. Pictured: Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital on March 24

Machines in private laboratories will also be taken to an NHS processing centre within days to provide tens of thousands more tests each day.

The Government has also ordered large amounts of a finger-prick antibody test that can determine the presence of the virus.

The Prime Minister said this 'game-changer' would allow people who had fought of the coronavirus to return to work, but officials have stressed that commercial tests have to be evaluated by the NHS before they are used en masse.

Britain is carrying out roughly 5,000 tests to tell if someone has the virus - with capacity set to reach 25,000 by using NHS labs more widely.

But this would not allow NHS staff who are forced to stay home with symptoms to be tested - only hospital patients - and so the seizure of private equipment is thought to be a move towards fulfilling Mr Hancock's promise to get tests to frontline staff 'very soon'.

It is thought that the Government will be targeting hundreds of machines in order that tens of thousands more tests can be carried out daily.

The Department of Health has requested to speed up collecting the machines - and a Whitehall source has said the military was acting as 'essentially a delivery service'.

Members of the 101 Logistic Brigade deliver a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital today as Britain faces lockdown

Vials and swabs for taking samples from the back of the throat have already been requested from companies - and PhD students and lab technicians have been asked to utilise them.

The Royal College of Nursing have said that it is not just frontline NHS staff deeply concerned about contracting coronavirus themselves - they are anxious about passing it on to the very vulnerable patients in other wards.

Military sources have revealed that 460 personnel are being mobilised over the next few days to help deliver the personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals.

There are currently 50 members of the military tasked with getting vital kit to the NHS but there are plans to increase this by nine fold over the course of this week.

The Army have sent dozens of military planners to distribution centres across the UK to help coordinate the operation and their main hub will be in Liverpool.

A Defence source said: 'There is a massive hole in the capability to do this. The NHS haven't got ability to coordinate it so we are sending more army personnel to support that planning.

Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital on March 24,

'We are talking about huge amounts of kit. They just don't have the numbers, it is about getting skilled planners to help logistics.'

It comes as Boris Johnson put Britain on lockdown on Monday evening as he outlined strict new measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, ordering people to only leave the house for a few specific reasons, including:

Infrequent shopping for basic necessities such as food or medicine;

One form of exercise a day;

A medical need or to take care of the vulnerable;

To go to work, but only if that cannot be done from home.

Shops permitted to stay open include supermarkets and other food shops, health shops, pharmacies including non-dispensing pharmacies, petrol stations, bicycle shops, home and hardware shops, launderettes and dry cleaners, garages, car rentals, pet shops, corner shops, newsagents, post offices and banks.

Parks will stay open for exercise, but playgrounds and outdoor gym spaces will be closed.

Britain has now entered its first day of coronavirus lockdown as military vehicles crossed a near-empty Westminster Bridge after delivering a much-needed batch of protective face masks to frontline NHS nurses and doctors.

Soldiers from the Army's 101 Logistic Brigade dropped off the medical masks at St Thomas' Hospital in London, following warnings that many doctors feel like 'lambs to the slaughter' because of the lack of proper protection.

More than 330 people have now died in the UK with more than 6,600 cases across the country

Queues again formed early this morning outside supermarkets across the country as shoppers observed the social distancing rules of standing two metres - or more than six feet - apart while waiting to get into stores.

Nursing leaders had called upon Mr Johnson to intervene over the lack of protective clothing for NHS staff, telling him that many of those doctors and nurses putting their lives on the line are coming out of retirement.

The Army is now helping deliver protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and suits round the clock to hospitals  but many staff have raised concerns that there will not be enough to go around all their colleagues.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the promise of more tests must be paired with a 'national plan', calling for weekly tests for staff in the healthcare sector to make the risk of transmitting the virus to patients as low as possible.

He told MPs: 'We are still only testing between 5,000 and 8,000 people a day. Not just South Korea, but Germany, Australia and Austria are all testing more per head of population than us. Now is the time for a massive national mobilisation behind testing and contact tracing.'

Professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh, Eleanor Riley, said there is a shortage of specialist equipment that can run the tests and public health labs are now 'scouring research labs across the country' to find machines.

She warned that there would likely be a shortage of technical staff, but once the machines and people are made available then the scale of testing can accelerate - and warned that the antibody test would bring extra complications because it might be wrongly triggered by defences against other coronaviruses.
Cleveland area restaurants are changing their strategies after an decree by the governor eliminated in-person meals to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order that limited social gatherings to 10 or less people, prohibit eating and drinking at restaurants and bars  however, takeout and delivery orders are still allowed. The order also closed gyms and banned most people from visiting nursing homes except in near-death situations while temporarily closing schools until at least April 3.

Lubys offers to-go menu

On March 20th Lubys, which is located at the Cleveland Emergency Hospital switched to to-go and pick-up only while temporally closing down the dine in area.

To place an order, you may call 281-592-5410 extension 1145.

Per health department regulations, 10 people will be allowed in the retail line at a time. The hospital encourages to people to sanitize their hands upon entry and remain at least 6 feet from the closest person in line.

The encouraged call in order items are hamburger, cheeseburger, grilled chicken sandwich, veggie burger and chicken tenders. Lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion will be provided upon request.

Fish tales offering to-go

Fish Tales is open but offering carry out only. To call your order in dial 281-592-2110.

Fish tales is located on 1825 E Houston St, Cleveland, TX 77327.

Southside Bank new service hours

The Southside Bank has changed its lobby hours to 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

 In light of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations related to the coronavirus (COVID-19), we are taking this precaution to protect the well-being of our customers and team members. We appreciate your understanding during this time, said Southside Bank in a press release from the Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.

Drive-thru, online banking, mobile banking and ATMs will still be available.

For more information and continued updates visit southside.com/covid-19.

List of restaurants that are open in the community

Baileys BBQ: Carry out/curbside/delivery, 832-480-5126

Big Kahuna: Carry out, 281-659-2243

Casa De Pueblo: Carry out, 281-592-6900

Cleveland Donut and Deli: Carry out/Outdoor seating 832-599-7829

Dairy Queen: Drive Thru, 281-593-1922

D&M Diner: Carry out, drive thru, 281-659-0277

Drums of the Pacific: Delivery, 281-821-9800

Dominos Pizza: Carry out, 281-659-1000

Dukes BBQ: carry out, 281-432-8000

El Burrito Mexican restaurant: carry out, delivery, curb side, 281-592-1932

Fat Floyds BBQ: curb side, outdoor seating, 281-801-4906

Fish Tales: carry out, 281-592-2110

Hartz Chicken: drive thru, 281-592-1972

Jack-In-The-Box: drive thru, 281-592-9683

Joes Italian (Coldspring): carry out, 936-653-2170

La Costa Seafood & Bar: carry out, drive thru, delivery, 832-480-5358

Taqueria La Palms: carry out, 832-480-2517

Lubys Cafe: carry out, 281-592-5410 ext. 1145

Lucys Tea Shop: carry out, outdoor seating, 832-797-1310

McDonalds: carry out, curb, drive thru, 281-592-4144

Pizza-Hut Wing Street: drive thru/delivery, 281-593-1761

Pizza Kitchen (Shepherd): carry out, 832-628-3387

Pueblo Viejo Mexican: carry out/curb side, 281-432-2616

Ranch Hand Cafe, carry out/curbside: 281-592-2545

Ros, carry out: 832-480-5393

Santos Seafood: carry out, 281-592-5395

Shipley Donuts: carry out, drive thru, 832-480-5330

Sonic, drive thru: 281-592-7317

Splendora Cafe: carry out, 281-689-1650

Subway across from High School: carry out, 281-659-2500

Subway (near Walmart): carry out, 281-592-1400

Taco Bell, drive thru: 281-593-1305

The Crossing: carry out, curb service, 281-592-8606

Whataburger: drive thru, 281-592-7722

If you know of any other businesses that are still open please let our reporter Marcus Gutierrez know by emailing him at marcus.gutierrez@chron.com

marcus.gutierrez@chron.com

Twitter: @MarcG14Line
COVID-19: Shah asks Delhi Police chief to ensure security of doctors facing harassment

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava to ensure security of doctors who are facing harassment at the hands of some people in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

Shah's directive came hours after a representation was sent to him apprising him about the incidents of harassment of doctors by some landlords, claiming that coronavirus could be transmitted through the medicos.

The home minister spoke to the Delhi Police commissioner and asked him to take immediate action to stop any such incident, an official of the Home Ministry said.

In their representation, the doctors said that some of their colleagues were facing harassment at the hands of some people, particularly the landlords, asking them to vacate their rented premises.

The doctors are claiming that the harassment was meted out to them by some people alleging that coronavirus could be transmitted through them as they are treating the positive cases.
Holidaymakers face losing thousands of pounds as travel companies become overwhelmed by the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

Travellers fighting for refunds are being met with a chaotic response from airlines, hotels and tour operators.

Many are being told they won't get their money back, despite airlines cancelling flights and Government advice against all non-essential travel.

Others have been left unable to contact customer services due to high demand, while Ryanair's online refund form was down for days before being fixed.

Holidaymakers face losing thousands of pounds as travel companies become overwhelmed by the effects of the coronavirus crisis

It comes as National Trading Standards yesterday warned fraudsters were offering fake holiday refunds for customers forced to cancel their trips.

Money Mail has been inundated with emails from bitterly disappointed readers who are desperately seeking help.

Rachael Robinson, 22, says she and her partner, Ethan White, also 22, could lose 12,000 on a once-in-a-lifetime trip across Asia after STA Travel said they would not offer a refund.

The couple had saved up for a six-month trip starting in July, but their plans were left in tatters by coronavirus.

Their flights and bus tours are with Etihad and Stray Travel, both of which have been offering refunds from cancellations to customers who have booked directly.

Rachael says STA's original terms and conditions stated her tickets were refundable subject to a 250 cancellation fee, but claims the operator has since changed its policy and will now only offer store credit of equivalent value.

To make matters worse, Rachael, from Frome, Somerset, has already lost her job as a teaching assistant due to coronavirus and had planned to complete her teacher training next year, so can't defer her trip.

Out of pocket: John and Gillie Coghlan had been due to tour Amsterdam with John's band, John Coghlan's Quo, from March 13 to 16

She says: 'I have lost my job to Covid-19, I'd rather not lose 6,000, too. I have no idea what to do.'

Under the Package Travel Regulations, customers should be entitled to a full cash refund within two weeks of the cancellation becoming apparent, although you may have to wait longer given the circumstances.

STA says it has been 'overwhelmed' with enquiries and asks for patience. It adds that it can help customers re-book their trip for a later date and where this isn't possible, it will be in touch 'when things get more under control'.

Even rock stars are grappling with obstinate customer service. John Coghlan, 73, a founding member of rock band Status Quo, had been due to tour Amsterdam with his new band, John Coghlan's Quo, from March 13 to 16.

But the Dutch Government announced the closure of all live music venues the night before they were due to fly.

John's wife and the band's manager, Gillie, says she applied for a future travel voucher with British Airways, letting the band put its 444 tickets towards rescheduled flights.

But a week later, the airline said they were not eligible for a voucher, without giving any reason.

Many passengers are struggling to get a cash refund after they can no longer take their flight

The company has since told Money Mail that only bookings made for travel between March 14 and May 31 qualified for vouchers, meaning the band had missed out by a single day.

Gillie, 65, is now worried she won't get refunds for tours scheduled for April and May, with flights totalling more than 3,000.

'This is blatant profiteering,' she says. 'Of course bookings were made in advance. How would one know there was going to be a pandemic?

'This isn't a jolly for the boys, it's work. 'We'd have been happy with vouchers for future flights, but BA has just said 'no' '.

John Vessey, 73, has been refused a refund for his 381 booking at The Abbey Hotel in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, even though the Government has told everyone over 70 to stay at home.

John and his wife Marian, 72, from Seaton, Devon, had booked two nights from May 7, and had expected to pay a small administration fee for cancelling.

Instead, the hotel deducted the full 381 from his credit card. John says: 'I don't think it's right  50 would have been reasonable, but certainly not keeping everything and not providing a service.

When I asked them how they could justify it, I was just met with a wall of silence.'

The Abbey Hotel says it doesn't comment on individual cases, but adds that it would allow customers who had made non-refundable or non-amendable bookings up to April 30 to rebook for a future date up to 12 months in advance.

It says it would be continuously reviewing the eligible dates in line with Government advice.

Martyn James, of consumer complaints website Resolver, says: 'If you don't feel that the warnings about the non-refundable nature of the deposit were made clear at the time of booking, complain and take it to an alternative dispute resolution scheme or trade body if you're still unhappy.

Paradise lost: Travellers fighting for refunds are being met with a chaotic response from airlines, hotels and tour operators

'But bear in mind, if the firm can produce proof of the warnings, you're on quite shaky ground. If you are in this kind of situation and a compromise is being offered, then I'd take it.'

Lisa de Gruchy expected to lose her 200 deposit when she cancelled her October family holiday to Rhodes, Greece, on March 19.

But she was shocked to find travel agent First Choice had charged an additional 600 to her credit card without her knowledge.

Lisa, from St Helier, Jersey, says when she phoned she was told it was in the terms and conditions that a deposit of 200 per person would be charged upon cancellation.

The 42-year-old says had she known this she would have asked to rebook instead, but is yet to be told whether this is still possible.

She adds: 'We absolutely have our health and that is the most important thing but I'm horrified that they have done this.'

Mr James says: 'This is outrageous! You can't just pull a hugely expensive 200 per person charge out of the small print, this must be upfront and clear when you book.'

He recommends telling your credit card provider that you haven't authorised the payment.

First Choice says the booking was made under its 'low deposit scheme' and the total cancellation charge is 800  200 per person  as this is what the full deposit would have been.

The firms says the additional 600 is yet to be taken from the customer's account as it does not store card details, but its finance team will be in touch regarding payment.

Some firms have changed tack following Money Mail's interventions. Jan Bullivant, 70, and her husband David, 73, had booked a holiday in Alnwick, Northumberland, for May 24.

But both have underlying health conditions and are self isolating, as is advised. When they first tried to get a refund for the apartment they had booked for 550 on Booking.com, the firm refused to refund their 50 per cent deposit.

It was only after Money Mail intervened that a full refund was issued. Booking.com says: 'In this case, we have worked with the property to refund this customer in full for the deposit that was paid up front.'

Likewise Trevor Frid, 66, had initially been told he could not rebook his 230 trip with Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Roscoff.

But after Money Mail contacted the firm it agreed he was entitled to defer his booking.

m.dilworth@dailymail.co.uk
UPDATE: Another N.J. ShopRite employee tests positive for coronavirus

An employee at the ShopRite grocery store in Newark has tested positive for coronavirus, store officials confirmed.

A letter sent to employees Sunday informing them of the diagnosis indicated that all employees who had contact with the worker at the Springfield Avenue location are being asked to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

All other employees were told to monitor themselves for symptoms, including fever, cough or shortness of breath.

The letter, which was shared on social media, did not indicate if the employee had contact with store customers.

The store has undergone a deep cleaning and will remain open while following all federal health guidelines, according to ShopRite.

We wish our associate well and hope for a speedy recovery. We also thank our customers for their patience and continued support, spokesman Daniel Emmer said Tuesday.

As for whether the associate had contact with customers, federal health privacy laws prevent ShopRite from providing details that could lead to the employees identification, Emmer said, including job title, schedule or department where the staffer worked.

Newark Councilwoman LaMonica McIver reported via a Facebook post that the ShopRite employee is not a Newark resident.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has asked city residents to take extra precautions in response to the pandemic, identifying three hot zones that have seen a high number of confirmed cases, testing and quarantines. The ShopRite is located in one of those zones, where residents have been asked to shelter in place and only leave home for emergencies or essential needs.

McIver indicated that ShopRite operators are taking steps to protect employees and shoppers.

ShopRite is dedicated to ensuring that residents are safe to continue to shop for items you are in need of, she wrote. ShopRite has been sanitizing and deep cleaning every evening. New measures will be visited to ensure that we are practicing social distancing as much as possible inside the store.

A Union County ShopRite store in Springfield closed for several hours last week because of a shopper with flu-like symptoms. That shopper was taken to a hospital, but the symptoms shown didnt meet the criteria for COVID-19, police said at the time.

New Jersey has reported more than 2,800 COVID-19 infections and 27 deaths from the virus. The global death toll now exceeds 17,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

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.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The balance of non-government loans granted by credit institutions increased in February 2020 by 0.5 pct (0.3 pct in real terms) compared to January 2020, to RON 271.057 billion, informs the National Bank of Romania (BNR), in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

RON-denominated loans, with a share of 67.0 pt in the total of the non-governmental loans, increased by 0.1 pct (-0.1 pct in real terms), whereas the foreign currency-denominated loans advanced 1.3 pct when expressed in RON and 0.6 pct when expressed in EUR .

Compared to the same period of 2019, the non-governmental loans registered an increase of 7.6 pct (4.4 pct in real terms), on account of the 9.8 pct increase in RON-denominated loans (6.5 pct in real terms) and of the 3.4 pct increase in the foreign currency-denominated loans expressed in RON (when expressed in EUR, the foreign currency-denominated loans went up by 1.9 pct).

The government credit decreased in February 2020 by 3.9 pct compared to January 2020, to RON 114.698 billion. As compared to February 2019, the government credit increased by 13.4 pct (10.1 pct in real terms).

At the end of February 2020, broad money (M3) recorded a balance of 423.524 billion lei. Compared to January 2020, it increased by 1.0 pct (0.7 pct in real terms), and compared to February 2019, it (M3) went up by 10.0 pct (6.8 pct in real terms ).
On the first day of lockdowns imposed across the country to check the spread of coronavirus, hundreds of people were booked for violating the norms and issued warnings of arrest with jail terms up to a year if the violations continued. The number of states and Union territories that imposed the lockdowns increased to 28 on Monday with Punjab and Maharashtra, the worst-hit state with 71 confirmed Indian cases, imposing curfews.

In states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, police circulated pictures of violators on social media with messages such as they were against the society as they will not stay at home. Police confiscated vehicles people found violating the norms in states including Haryana and Rajasthan.

Barricades were put up across places under lockdown as police checked whether people out of their homes had genuine reasons to do so. People in most states were allowed to visit markets to buy essential goods even as most streets wore a deserted look.

Also Watch | Coronavirus | 19 states, UTs fully locked down; private labs testing now



Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and his Rajasthan counterpart, Ashok Gehlot, warned of strict action if people did not follow the government orders on the clampdown.

In Punjab, there was confusion at several places as police stopped even commercial vehicles carrying essentials. Officials said the vehicles were stopped only in cases where they did not have permissions to ply in the state.

In Punjabs Khanna, police forced the violators to do sit-ups as punishments for coming out of their homes. Police also clicked pictures of violators.

Public address systems were used across Punjab to ask people to remain indoors and warned of action if there were any violations. Officials faced a difficult time explaining that a curfew had been imposed across the state.

Ludhiana Goods Transport Association President Didar Singh said the curfew was imposed without any prior notice giving truckers no time to reach their final destinations.

In Maharashtra, the Mumbai police lodged 31 cases against violators even as a large number of people were asked to return to their homes. In Kalyans Dombivli area, police made a group of youngsters do sit-ins for coming out on bikes in violation of the lockdown. Pranaya Ashok, the Mumbai police spokesman, said awareness among people was low and they faced difficulty in enforcing the lockdown. We have repeatedly asked people through public announcements to stay at home and not to gather on the streets, he said.

Many tweeted to the Mumbai police pictures of people coming out in violation of the curfew imposed on Monday.

Police used public address systems to ask people not to come out or assemble at religious places even as most of the roads were deserted in Mumbai.

In Uttar Pradesh, over 200 cases were lodged against around 1,000 people for violating protocols across the 16 districts, where complete lockdowns was announced on Sunday.

Varsha Singh, a Lucknow resident, said she was stopped at several places when she went out to buy goods for the Navratri festival. Potatoes was being sold for 40 a kg, which was earlier available for 30. Tomatoes were for 50 per kg..., she said.

In Prayagraj, the district administration put up notices outside the homes of people, who have returned from foreign trips as a precautionary measure. There were reports of a shortage of milk and medicines from some localities. Gorakhpurs divisional commissioner, Jayant Narlikar, and additional director general of police, Dawa Sherpa, had to request people to go back home as people defied lockdown.

In Bihar, hundreds of passengers, including migrant labourers, were stranded at several railway stations including Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Nawada, and Katihar, as local trains and transport services were suspended.

Passengers could be seen arguing with railway staff, seeking accommodation as there was no transport available. We did not have lunch today. We do nt have money, said Rahul Rai, a passenger stranded at Gaya.

The Railway Board on Monday announced relaxation in the time limit prescribed for passengers to stay in retiring rooms. All station masters will be conveyed this instruction quickly for the benefit of stranded passengers, said an official.

In Rajasthan, four people were arrested in Jaipur for defying the state-wide clampdown and 111 vehicles were seized for violation of lockdown norms, which will be in force till March 31. Additional police commissioner (law and order) Ajay Pal Lamba said the four were arrested for disturbing peace. They were roaming in the city without any reason and refused to go back home, he said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Prizm News, Ohios lone statewide LGBTQ publication, is stopping publication after decreases in revenues caused by the impact of coronavirus.

Prizm was founded in October 2017 by Equitas Health, a nonprofit that funds community health centers and pharmacies geared toward LGBTQ health and HIV/AIDS treatment. The magazine, which was distributed free at more than 1,000 locations statewide, relied largely on print-based advertising, with a heavy focus on event promotion.

Equitas Health CEO Bill Hardy said in a Tuesday email to staff that with people staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, advertising dollars evaporated making its business model untenable.

As you are very aware, it is a difficult time in history to keep a print publication financially healthy, Hardy said in the email. The COVID pandemic and its impact on our delivery has made it even harder to print and distribute through business locations to a public that has been ordered by the Governor to remain at home. Therefore, we have made the very difficult decision that our February issue was our last.

Publisher Carol Zimmer Clark posted a wider news release Tuesday announcing the closure. Prizm will publish its next and final issue online before halting operations altogether.

Prizm editor Ken Schneck said about 10 staffers and freelancers will lose work as a result.

Schneck said the magazines closure is a significant loss for the LGBTQ community in Ohio. As one of the only publications in the state to cover news through an LGBTQ lens, Schneck said significant stories affecting the community will go unreported.

There is still a media bias to not cover LGBTQ issues, Shneck said. When they are, its usually about white men in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, in that order. To lose our only statewide publication that was actively raising up all the voices in our community is a huge loss. Particularly in a state that in no way has equal protection for LGBTQ Ohioans. We fundamentally lack anti-discrimination protections and now have to hope that other media highlight that.

The demise of Prizm is the latest in a string of crushing blows to alt publications both in Ohio and nationwide. Last week, Euclid Media announced five full-time staff members of Cleveland Scene were laid off due to a shrinking advertising base.

Read more cleveland.com coverage:

Does Mike DeWine have a crisis communication playbook? The psychology behind his approach

Coronavirus upends book industry: Cleveland authors face publication delays, tour cancellations and other setbacks

Cleveland Orchestra cancels season in response to coronavirus

Inside the chaos that engulfed Ohios postponed primary election
A priest wearing a face mask checks a book of funeral rites as he gives the last blessing to a deceased person, by a coffin during a funeral ceremony outside the cemetery of Bolgare, Lombardy, on March 23, 2020 during the COVID-19 new coronavirus pandemic.

Italians woke up Tuesday with a glimmer of hope as the coronavirus death toll in the country appeared to have slowed down.

The number of deaths rose by 601 on Monday, the smallest increase in four days, according to data from the Italian authorities. The number of new confirmed cases also slowed Monday. These figures have raised expectations that the worse could be over for the country with the highest number of deaths from the virus worldwide.

However, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Italy had not yet reached the "most acute phase" of the infection.

"It is early to say" when this crisis will be over, Conte told the newspaper La Stampa on Monday.

Italy has been in national lockdown since early March and it is scheduled to last until April 3. There have been 63,927 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy and 6,077 deaths, but 7,432 people have recovered from the illness.
United Nations, March 25 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the Group of 20 (G20), the largest economies of the world, to assume leadership in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to G20 leaders dated March 23, Guterres asked them to coordinate action to suppress the virus that causes COVID-19, to mitigate the social and economic impact of the pandemic, and to make sure that the global economy will recover in a more inclusive and sustainable way, Xinhua reported.

Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that a virtual G20 summit will be held on Thursday morning New York time. Guterres himself will speak at the virtual summit.

The G20 leaders have an extraordinary opportunity to step forward with a strong response package to address the various threats of COVID-19, Guterres wrote in the letter, which was released on Tuesday. "This would demonstrate solidarity with the world's people, especially the most vulnerable." COVID-19 will require a response like none before -- a "wartime" plan in times of human crisis, he said.

The first priority is to tackle the pandemic everywhere, to let people feel safe anywhere. It must be clear that the strategy is a coordinated suppression of the virus, said Guterres.

"I call on G20 leaders to establish an articulated response mechanism guided by the World Health Organization to achieve suppression together." Such a mechanism would strengthen the global response and provide countries with stronger capabilities to stop transmission. It would also help enhance scientific collaboration in the search for a vaccine and therapeutic treatment, he said.

Guterres also asked G20 leaders to help minimize the social and economic impact of COVID-19 for everyone and stimulate a faster recovery everywhere.

By the end of this year, the cost of this pandemic is likely to be measured in the trillions of US dollars. The response of G20 leaders must be decisive and commensurate. It must inject massive resources into economies, reaching double-digit percentage points in the world's gross domestic product, said Guterres.

He warned them that "business-as-usual" economic rules and policy tools will no longer apply as the virus has created unprecedented challenges.

Guterres asked G20 leaders to reaffirm their common responsibility to recover better, with more inclusive and sustainable models of development.

The world has agreed on a framework for action -- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change -- and they continue to offer a guiding light for people and the planet, he said. "We must ensure that the recovery strategy out of this crisis keeps us on track toward these longer-term objectives, building a sustainable and inclusive economy."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A street funeral procession held for a former Revolutionary Guard Commander in a township near Tehran on Monday, which brought thousands of people together despite government pleas to observe social distancing, has outraged many Iranians.

The photos posted on Iranian news websites show a massive procession in Vardavard, a township near Tehran. Many of the mourners walking behind the casket holding the body of Brigadier Hossein Assadollahi, a former Revolutionary Guard division commander, are seen in the photos not even wearing protective masks.

Despite censorship and self-censorship to avoid persecution for criticizing the Revolutionary Guard, the media drew attention to the incident by publishing photos of the procession with little comment. The photos were clearly indicative of the serious breach of public safety measures by the Guard but the only government official who has shown a reaction is Dr. Kianush Jahanpur, Spokesman of the Coronavirus Combat Taskforce.

Dr. Jahanpur who is also the Public Relations Head of the Health Ministry tweeted several photos of the procession and sarcastically noted: "This is probably a new health protocol for funerals and in relation to curbs on rallies. The pictures speak. We only can shed tears [in response]. No need for explanation!!!"

Tweet by the Coronavirus Combat Taskforce spokesman showing the procession of a former IRGC commander in Vardavard.

Fararu, a conservative news website that published some photos of the procession also noted that when all shops and offices are closed and even the doors of holy Shiite shrines have been shut to contain the coronavirus epidemic, holding a funeral ceremony on this scale was "surprising" for the want of any stronger term that could protect it from repercussions.

The Guard-affiliated news outlets refer to Brigadier General Assadollahi as a "comrade and co-fighter of Qassem Soleimani against Da'esh in Syria". According to these accounts, Assadollahi died of complications caused by the chemical injuries he sustained years ago when he was exposed to toxic chemicals used by Iraq against Iranian troops and civilians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). However, people with lung injuries from past exposure to chemical weapons are very vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The public outrage has forced the Revolutionary Guard to deny organizing the funeral procession. Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, the IRGC Spokesman, said the mourners had attended the funeral "spontaneously". "The Guard considers itself obligated to heed the measures and decisions taken by the National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce," he said.
Iran's death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 1,812 on Monday, after 127 new deaths were reported. Meanwhile, more countries in the Middle East decided to impose curfew to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Iran, the worst-hit country in the region, climbed to 23,049, up by 1,411 from a day ago. A total of 8,376 of the infected have recovered.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blasted the U.S. for obstructing the fight against novel coronavirus outbreak by maintaining anti-Iran sanctions, while urging countries across the world to defy the U.S. sanctions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the U.S. offer for help to Iran to fight the coronavirus outbreak as "one of the biggest lies in history."




Haiti - Diaspora : Several Haitians died from Covid-19 in France





The Consulate General of the Republic of Haiti in Paris has learned with great sadness of the death of certain compatriots and several cases of contamination following the spread of the epidemic of the Coronavirus Covid-19, mainly in the Paris region.



The Protestant community would be the most severely affected according to the testimonies collected. The Association of Taxi Drivers of Haiti also mourns the departure of one of its much appreciated members.



The Consulate General of Haiti in Paris offers its sincere condolences to the parents, friends and relatives, plunged in affliction and sympathized with the pain of all. It expresses his solidarity with all those who are hospitalized and all those who suffer from this epidemic and wishes them a speedy recovery.



The Consulate General of Haiti in Paris also recalls that the epidemic is only at its beginnings. According to the French health authorities, it is highly probable that it will continue to claim victims every day, pending the cessation of its spread following the measures adopted, such as confinement.



Also, the Consulate urges the Haitian community to be vigilant, responsible and show good citizenship, respecting the instructions of the French authorities and to protect themselves, in particular by staying at home and washing their hands regularly. Pending a drug against the virus, discipline is the only way to effectively fight Covid-19.



"In this difficult context of global health crisis where Haiti, in turn has just been affected, the Consulate General of Haiti in Paris has a special thought for the members of the Haitian Community of France in general and all those who are affected directly by the severity of the epidemic, in particular."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Bishop Hinder speaks about the possible impact of the COVID-19 virus on a country battered by five years of war, with no health facilities to stem the epidemic. The war is making many young people "sad and depressed; more than half are afraid of "playing outdoors".

Sana'a (AsiaNews)  After five years of a brutal civil war, there is great concern about the possible spread of the coronavirus in Yemen, which would have a devastating effect" on the country and the civilian population, this according to Bishop Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia.[*]

Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate stressed that the country has no health facilities to deal with an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, nor any prospects for peace" at present.

Whilst it is true that Yemens population is relatively young and less at risk than the peoples of Europe, which are older, the effects of the coronavirus outbreak are already felt in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. What is more, there is no institution that can counteract the effects of the virus in the country.

For the prelate, hope lies with the impact of the epidemic on the war, but since it is hard to get reliable information from the country, it is hard to see any peaceful solution on the horizon. Perhaps, the epidemic could create a new situation, offer the various parties an excuse to withdraw and work together.

The Arab nation, the poorest in the Arab Peninsula, slipped into civil war after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sana'a, in 2014. The conflict between the Saudi-backed government and rebels got worse in March 2015 when a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened militarily.

The fight between local groups has turned into a proxy war, killing so far about 90,000 people and displacing a million, in what is currently the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with around 24 million Yemenis (80 per cent of the population) in need of humanitarian assistance.

Concerns about a coronavirus outbreak are compounded by the wars psychologic impact, especially on young people. A study released today by Save the Children found that five years of war have had a devastating impact on the mental health of the population, with many children on the verge of a depression.

More than half of the 1,250 young people (13 to 17) surveyed felt very sad and depressed" and for more than one in ten said that this feeling is "permanent". The study was conducted in the southern provinces of Aden, Lahi and Taiz.

About one in five of those surveyed said they always felt "fear and sadness". About 52 per cent of respondents said they didnt feel safe when they were separated from their parents; 56 per cent felt the same when they walk outside alone. The children are "terrified" and "afraid to play outdoors".

For experts, the novel coronavirus represents a potentially devastating blow to the Arab country; for this reason, it is essential to "end the conflict.

As evidence of the problems the countrys health system faces, Medecins sans frontieres (MsF) recorded at least 40 violent incidents between 2018 and 2020 involving the MsF-supported Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz.

Our humanitarian space is threatened by the repeated violations committed by the different warring parties in Taiz, said Corinne Benazech, MsF Operations Manager in Yemen.

Yet, Every day, medical staff make courageous decisions to continue to provide healthcare despite the risks, for the benefit of Yemeni patients dependent on this care, she added.

[*] United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
A hurricane is a complex storm system that spells natural disaster. It combines tempestuous winds, torrential rains, floods, whirlwinds and whirlpools into an extremely powerful and destructive package. Developed countries are generally prepared for such events.

They have early warning systems that give them time to take the necessary precautions. They build on previous experiences to develop new and better response plans. They also have the ability to handle the aftermath with reconstruction, compensation and reforms that help avert the mistakes of previous experiences. Today, the Arab world is experiencing a storm of this sort.

In part, it is a product of nature, like the dragon storm that battered Egypt a couple of weeks ago. But a large part of it began with the so-called Arab Spring which swept Arab countries so violently and in different ways that it rendered them vulnerable to the ambitions of non-Arab regional powers.

Maybe the seeds for this weather system were planted with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, nurtured by the militarisation of the second Palestinian Intifada, fed by the US invasion of Iraq and other phenomena that culminated in that hot khamaseen called the Arab Spring that shook the foundations of the Arab state.

Fortunately, some Arab states weathered the storm. Some of these managed to recover fairly quickly while others managed to ride the crest and let the future take care of the cracks and fissures. At the same time, from the rubble and ashes, there arose awareness of the need for urgent and deep political, economic, cultural and religious reform.

Now we are facing a new storm system. It is called Covid-19 and it struck the whole world. One of its consequences was plummeting oil prices.

It struck while some Arab countries were struggling to form a new government, others were experiencing new outbreaks of political uprisings, and yet others were facing waves of foreign aggression: from the Iranian offensives in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen (and even Morocco) and the Turkish military interventions in Qatar, Syria and Libya to Israels bids to annex large chunks of occupied Palestine while pretending it will grant independence to a Palestinian state, and last but not least the Ethiopian attempt to build a dam, one of the most important purposes of which is to deprive Egypt of its historic, geographic, legal and moral right to the waters of the Nile.

All of these developments have had debilitating effects on Arab countries, on the Arab region, on the Arabs international relations and on Arab resources and energies, creating even greater pressures on the Arabs dwindling influence and prestige.

Things cannot continue this way. This is not about the type of losses that some countries can ward off with their money or power, others can avert through their connections with the East or the West, and others might be able to cope with in other ways. What we are facing is an ongoing assault. It hasnt revealed its face openly, but it can be seen in the processes of attrition, in the diversion of resources from construction and reform to battles against flagrant aggressions and infiltrations, and in the sapping of energies in endlessly protracted negotiations on matters over which agreement is actually within reach.

The balance of powers in the region is not in the Arabs favour, which is why non-Arab regional powers have been able to capitalise on our harsh circumstances in the past and are now trying to capitalise on no less harsh circumstances in the present. Although the entire Arab region is under attack, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been singled out. The former by Ethiopia via the Nile, and Turkey via Libya, and the latter by Iran via Iraq, the Gulf and Yemen, and by Turkey in Syria.

Strategically, what we are looking at is an attempt to lay siege to the basic foundations of the Arab order. The remedy to this can only be an Arab one. As readers of my columns know, I am not an ultra Arab nationalist. I do not subscribe to a notion of Arab nationalism that supersedes or ignores the particular individual interests and properties of each Arab country.

However, the countries of Europe, Asia, South America and even Africa have learned how to come together and work collectively to counter adversities precipitated by similar types of imbalances or deficiencies. Their first step toward resistance was to promote profound internal reform. Many Arab states, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Morocco, have already initiated ambitious reform projects.

But reform, however sweeping, is not sufficient in the face of the current storm system, with its gale force winds and lethal vortexes. So far, as things stand, there is only one effective mechanism for collective Arab action against the threat: the Arab Quartet made up of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain. Unfortunately, the Arab League, despite the efforts of its secretary general, is shackled by an Arab order that is feeble and beleaguered.

The Arab Quartet should not be seen as an instrument for dealing with Qatar. That problem is not nearly as important as the need to focus on other regional and international parties in order to rectify the balances of powers and to establish a regional security order to prevent further attrition to Arab rights, to their security, land and territorial integrity, territorial waters and stability. Just as reform drives alone are not enough to contain and find a cure for Covid-19, they are not enough to combat the Arab regional illness which is the product of disparities in power and the ferocity of the onslaught from some regional powers.

There are heartening experiences we can draw on. For example, the maritime border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia opened a vast horizon for bilateral cooperation in many fields, not least the project of building a Red Sea regional order extending down to the Horn of Africa. In like manner, the maritime border agreement between Egypt and Cyprus paved the way to the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum which, in addition to Egypt, includes Arab countries such as Jordan and Palestine. Of course, such experiences are also not enough. They forge the beginning of the road but do not take us to the ultimate goal.

While the world is preoccupied with the fight against Coronavirus, Iran, as hard hit as it is by this contagion, appears poised to ratchet up its designs in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Lebanon. Ethiopia is looking to Arab Gulf countries for investments while planning to monopolise control over the Nile which brings water to Egypt. Israel is fighting the virus with one hand while trying to snatch up the Jordan Valley and annex West Bank settlements with the other.

The Arab Quartet can serve as the nucleus of a Concert of Arabia, a strategic order capable of rectifying the imbalances and weaknesses that provided the openings that non-Arab powers have taken advantage of. The way forward will not be easy. But what will be more difficult is to continue as is, with each country facing the threats and contagions on its own.

*The writer is chairman of the board, CEO and director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:04:27|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday night that in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic the urgency and significance of building a community with a shared future for mankind have become even greater.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Xi pointed out that the coronavirus disease broke out with a vengeance and constitutes a big test for all countries.

At the most difficult moment in China's battle against the epidemic, the Kazakh government and society offered China strong support, recalled the Chinese president.

Noting that now Kazakhstan is witnessing a spread of the contagious illness, Xi said China highly appreciates the fact that under Tokayev's leadership, Kazakhstan has taken swift and decisive measures, which demonstrates a responsible attitude towards all the people.

As a friendly neighbor and permanent comprehensive strategic partner, China sympathizes with Kazakhstan's current situation, and will actively provide support and assistance, Xi said.

The mutual support between China and Kazakhstan, he added, reflects the high level and uniqueness of bilateral relations, and has set an example for international cooperation against the pandemic.

Viruses recognize no national borders and epidemics do not discriminate between races, Xi stressed, adding that in the battle against the current global public health crisis, the urgency and significance of building a community with a shared future for mankind have become even greater.

Only with solidarity and cooperation can the international community prevail over the pandemic and safeguard the planet, the Chinese president pointed out.

China, he said, stands ready to work with Kazakhstan and all other countries to strengthen international cooperation against the pandemic and safeguard global public health security.

The epidemic is temporary, but cooperation is everlasting, Xi said, noting that while posing challenges to bilateral cooperation, the disease also creates new opportunities.

The two countries, he suggested, should unswervingly cement political mutual trust, expand cooperation in such areas as digital economy and health care, and foster new sources of growth for bilateral relations.

Xi said he is confident that after the COVID-19 storm, China-Kazakhstan cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative will bear more fruits.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said she expects the number of coronavirus cases to continue to rise, based on recent days.

Levine provided an update on the coronavirus and its impact on the state in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

As of Tuesday morning, Pennsylvania has 851 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a jump of more than 200 from the day before. The virus has shown up in 40 of the states 67 counties. At least seven people have died.

We expect to see these numbers increase each day, Levine said.

It underscores the need for all of us to stay home, she said.

You can watch her news conference live online.

Levine said sustained community spread of the virus is being seen in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas.

We are seeing sustained community spread, particularly in the southeast, Levine said. Its also seen in Allegheny County, she said.

But she said sustained community spread is not being seen in other areas yet, which is why the state hasnt issued a stay-at-home order statewide.

On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf put seven counties under a stay-at-home order, including the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas.

Levine said some residents in nursing homes have contracted the coronavirus. She didnt identify the nursing homes but said state officials are working to support those institutions.

The health secretary was asked about President Trumps comments today that hes hoping Americans can resume working and the country can be back up and running by Easter. Levine said officials will have to make decisions based on the number of cases being reported.

There is every reason to believe this increase will continue and rise exponentially, Levine said.

Its hard to predict a month out, she said. Were going to take this day by day and week by week, Levine said.

When asked about hospital capacity, Levine said state officials are working with health care systems to ensure they have enough beds. Levine said the health department has cut red tape so hospitals can prepare for new patients.

Hospitals can expand the number of beds without getting permission from the Department of Health, Levine said.

She said non-traditional sites, including hotels, may be tapped to serve some patients.

Levine said the state is working to purchase ventilators and masks to ensure health care workers have the supplies they need. Levine urged those who are able to give blood. Around the country, blood banks have seen a drop in donations.

Monday, Wolf said schools will be closed until at least April 6. Also Monday, enforcement began in the states directive that all non-life-essential businesses close.

On Tuesday, state police said they issued 27 warnings to noncompliant companies.

Pennsylvanias first coronavirus case was reported less than three weeks ago.

Levine has said she is concerned that the rapid spread of the coronavirus could threaten the capacity of the health care system. She has urged Pennsylvanians to stay home so hospitals arent overwhelmed.

Pennsylvanias neighboring states are seeing dramatic spikes in cases. New York now has more than 25,000 cases, while New Jersey has confirmed more than 2,800 cases.

More:

Penn State commits to no staff layoffs through April 30, despite switch to remote learning because of coronavirus

Grocery stores in central Pa. continue to operate with adjusted hours, limits on some products

New York now has 25,665 cases coronavirus cases, and the number is doubling every 3 days

New York high school principal who worked with struggling students dies of coronavirus at age 36
Hong Kong to ban entry of tourists from overseas to prevent imported COVID-19 cases

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:54, March 23, 2020

HONG KONG, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will ban the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights starting from Wednesday to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Monday.

For the 14 days since 12:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Hong Kong will deny the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights, as well as those who have been to overseas in the past 14 days and arriving in Hong Kong through Chinese mainland, Macao SAR and Taiwan, Lam said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

During the period, transfer services at the Hong Kong International Airport will be suspended.

Hong Kong will maintain the compulsory quarantine arrangements on inbound travelers from Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, all the travelers entering Hong Kong through Macao and Taiwan, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents, will undergo the same 14-day compulsory quarantine, Lam said.

The measures, which came amid a remarkable increase of imported infections of COVID-19 recently in Hong Kong, aim to prevent more imported cases and to block the chain of transmission of the virus, said the chief executive.

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It also said Pompeo gave assurances that the withdrawal of U.S. forces will continue on their agreed timetable, which would reduce troops from about 14,000 to 8,600 in the next several months and then pull out most others by the end of the year. But the insurgents are continuing an aggressive battlefield campaign that has killed hundreds of Afghan security forces in the past month.
Stormonts health minister has said he would accept help from the British or Irish armies if it proved necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.

Robin Swann said he would use any tools at his disposal to help tackle the emergency.

While Mr Swann, a member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), did not rule out the need for military intervention, even raising the prospect of Ireland's Defence Forces being deployed north of the border, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill insisted soldiers were not required.

The health minister was asked about soldiers potentially having to return to the streets of Northern Ireland, during an Assembly debate on new state powers to deal with the emergency.

If we get to a stage where they can provide a service that we can't, folks, I'll use whoever's at my disposal

Folks, will I use the Army? Will I call in the Army if I have to? he said.

If we get to a stage where they can provide a service that we cant, folks, Ill use whoevers at my disposal.

Ill use whatever tool I have at my disposal to tackle this virus.

If the Irish army want to come up and help us too, when theyve it sorted down there, Id be more than happy to welcome them.

Michelle ONeill (Liam McBurney/PA)

Sinn Feins Ms ONeill was later asked about Mr Swanns comments at the daily Covid-19 press briefing at Parliament Buildings.

In terms of the British military personnel, we dont need to deploy the British military personnel, she replied.

We have a very strong civil contingency group in place, established by the executive, and it looks at all the emergency services.

We also have brilliant support networks out there across sporting fields and everything else right into the community level that are prepared to do their part, and I have no doubt that we can respond to this emergency in that way.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
It is easy to get sucked into negativity and fear, especially in the shadow of what feels like a global apocalypse.

I want to encourage you to be strong and challenge yourself to look on the bright side.

First, lets talk about Bitcoin: it was built to give us hope in times of complete global economic meltdown. So, trust in code. And for gods sake, stop obsessing and looking at the price all the time. Only hold that which you can afford. Find comfort in trust. Again, trust the code!

If you do need to sell some, dont stress. Do what you need to Satoshi would understand.

Be smart  utilise leverage. For example, look at using your Bitcoin as collateral for loan instead of liquidating.

Technology: It is now when the cracks in outdated systems are highlighted and are tearing at the seams. I encourage you to see them and instead of complaining and criticising, get excited and build. Think, How can I/we make it better? Bigger cracks mean larger opportunities. Think positive, be brave and act productively.

Now, lets talk about You: Your wellbeing. This is a great chance for you to assist your body. Since most of you now prepare your food. You have control over what you put on your plate. Thats pretty awesome. Concentrate on that. Eat clean, drink plenty of water. Use your fear to fuel you to wellbeing. Fear is fine, as long as you are aware of it and control it to benefit you.

New, Virtual Life: While many people already do work from home. For most, it is a novel concept. Enjoy it and accept responsibility for putting even more effort into getting things done. Work is a great distraction from panic. Let us be strong together and not get paralysed by a lack of ability to travel and have meetings in person.

While the value of personal contact is crucial in any business. Is it possible that it is a handicap in some ways? How much money do we spend on wining and dining in businesses? How much does travel cost? Just think about all the travel you do for your business. Especially if you are in the blockchain industry.

Story continues

A lot

I understand that we learn so much about one another when we meet in person. It took a couple of days for me to adapt to the fact that my global roadshow is paused for the next few months. This includes traveling to Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Japan, New York, Chicago, London, and Malta. All this travel was supposed to be happening throughout June. To be truthful, I experienced several moments of weakness when I felt that we are doomed. That the whole world came to holt.

Then I realised

Now we have an opportunity to utilise technology and virtual connectedness to get things done in a different way. Build more robust systems.

My call to action:

Be effective in your calls and virtual meetings. If you are a fund, challenge yourself to deploy. If you are a business, challenge yourself to create partnerships, close deals.

Its time

Its time we upgrade ourselves.
Premier John Horgan told reporters Monday that shuttering non-essential businesses during the coronavirus crisis was not an approach he preferred.

After unveiling plans for a $5-billion relief package, Horgan was asked whether he was considering an order to close non-essential businesses, a course taken by Ontario and the United Kingdom on Monday to reduce human contact and slow the spread of the disease.

"That, in my opinion, would create more confusion, rather than less," Horgan said. "Saying lockdown, saying shutdown, is very easy to do but it's difficult in reality."

Horgan said the government's efforts are focused on going sector by sector to make sure critical workers are in place in areas like health care, child care and retail as the crisis drags on.

Michael McArthur/CBC

Another focus is ensuring WorkSafeBC is looking at work sites to make sure they are safe.

"All of that requires a methodical, thoughtful, science-based approach," Horgan said. "It may well be satisfying to say we're going to shut something down but need to make sure we're doing it in a way that makes sense."

Many workers, he said, are already self-isolating and following the advice of health officials. However, he said, no options were off the table.

Ontario, U.K. shuttering businesses

In Ontario, businesses deemed non-essential will be forced to close Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. for at least 14 days to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The definition of non-essential businesses will be released Tuesday.

Premier Doug Ford said people will be able to buy food and medicine and other essential products: "the power will stay on" and telecommunications tools will continue to run.

There are no plans to close the LCBO and the Beer Store, according to a senior Ontario government source.

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Britons to stay home except to to shop for basic necessities, exercise, for a medical need, to provide care or travelling to and from work where absolutely necessary.

Story continues

The government ordered non-essential shops like clothing stores to close as well.

Speaking earlier in the day, Health Minister Adrian Dix cautioned against drawing conclusions about the strength of any jurisdiction's approach just because it claims to be under a "lockdown."

"Industry sectors that have been excluded from what's sometimes called the California lockdown represent about 65 percent of the GDP of California," he said at an earlier media availability.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C. has already moved to close many businesses, like restaurants, where people gather closely in enclosed spaces.
WASHINGTON  The once-a-decade U.S. Census will determine how billions in federal funding and congressional seats are allocated to Connecticut, but the coronavirus outbreak has delayed field operations in the count in the state and around the country.

Census Bureau officials are urging Connecticut residents to complete the census by mail, by phone or  for the first time this year  online. Every American household should now have received in its mailbox an invitations to participate" in the census, said Albert E. Fontenot, Jr., associate director for Decennial Programs for the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The current situation underscores the need for census data," said Fontenot of the coronavirus outbreak. "Census results are used to inform planning and funding for hospitals, health clinics and emergency preparedness, even school lunch programs."

Nearly, one in four Connecticut residents have already responded to the census, based on estimates by the Census Bureau on Tuesday.

But while many people can complete the census remotely, ensuring that every person in the country is counted requires many efforts in the community and even going door to door, so that so-called "hard to count populations" like college students, immigrants, children and the homeless are included.

I do [have concerns] because it does mean $11 billion to our state, said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who has been helping lead the states census response.

At the same time I know that we have very active Complete Count Committees in every community, she said, referring to local groups that raise awareness about the census. Those committee members are very embedded in their community and they will make adjustments to do whatever they need in their community.

Due to the coronavirus, the census has suspended all field operations until April 1, Fontenot said Friday. The target completion date for the census has been delayed from July 21 to Aug. 13. By law, the census must deliver a full count of the nation's citizens to the president and Congress by Dec. 31, 2020.

Plans to send census takers to community events in areas with low census response rate to encourage participation are on pause, as are operations to count college students and the homeless, said Timothy P. Olson, associate director for field operations for the U.S. Census Bureau.

For five percent of Americans on tribal lands, in rural areas and in Puerto Rico, census workers hand deliver census packets. These efforts are on pause, Olson said.

The census also employs over 500,000 people to go to the homes of individuals who do not complete the census in the first month or so, Olson said. These census takers will be dispatched later this year.

The Census Bureau is now in talks with the governors of New York and California, both which have implemented strict measures regarding business and school closures and people staying home, on how field efforts can continue as communities lock down during the epidemic.

The Census has also seen a dramatic up-tick in people applying for jobs with the U.S. Census Bureau, perhaps correlated to business closures and lay offs in many states. Olson said 8,000 people have been applying for census jobs every day recently, and more than 2.4 million people have applied.

The Census has paused all hiring and onboarding of applicants until April 1, but the bureau urges people to continue to apply for future positions.

"We are urging people to consider applying because we may need more temporary employees than originally planned for, Olson said.

The coronavirus delays and operational pauses come after the Trump administration attempted to add a citizenship question to the Census, a move that critics said would discourage undocumented immigrants from participating when the Census is intended to count all people regardless of citizenship status. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to block the administration from adding the question in 2019.

For now, the Census is adjusting its messaging and boosting its advertising to reach people where they are  in their homes and often, online.

"One of the best ways you can help your community right now and one of the best ways you can support a wide variety of public health (efforts) is by completing your 2020 census online today," said Ali Ahmad, associate director for communications for the U.S. Census Bureau.

In October, Connecticut committed half a million dollars to boost census efforts in the state and the money was matched by nonprofits and private giving.

The state receives about $10.7 billion in federal aid based on the census. The population survey also dictates political representation in Congress. Connecticut had six congressional seats but lost one after the 2000 Census.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's car exports to Uzbekistan decreased by 26.8 percent over first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $4.2 million, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

The total value of Turkey's car exports to Uzbekistan exceeded $2.2 million in February 2020, which is 31 percent less compared to February 2019, the ministry said.

The value of Turkey's car exports to the world market amounted to just over $4.9 billion from January through February 2020, having grown by 1 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 16.7 percent of Turkey's total exports during the reporting period of 2020.

The value of Turkey's total car exports exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2020, which is 0.9 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

According to the ministry, car exports accounted for 17.2 percent of Turkey's total exports in February 2020.

Turkey's export of cars from February 2019 through February 2020 amounted to over $30.6 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
By PTI

SRINAGAR: Soon after his release from nearly eight months of detention, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday called for the release of all detained people within and outside Jammu and Kashmir and appealed for the restoration of high-speed mobile internet services.

"The politics and situation of this state, what happened on August 5 (last year), I will talk about it in detail, but first, let us get rid of coronavirus, save ourselves and our families and friends. And then all those detained, be it within the state or outside it, I want the Centre to have mercy on them, bring them home and release them," Omar told reporters outside his residence.

#WATCH National Conference leader Omar Abdullah released from detention in Srinagar pic.twitter.com/uV4BWNVyLb  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

He said all the detained leaders, including PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, should be released in view of the situation arising out of the coronavirus scare. "Be it Mehbooba Mufti or my NC colleagues, or leaders from PDP or from any other party. Some do not belong to any party, but are in detention since August (last year). In these difficult times, they should be brought back to their families," he said.

Omar said that people faced many hardships after the August 5, 2019 decisions of the Centre, but the time was not ripe to talk about them as the people were fighting the war of life and death.

"The hardships that the people faced. Our children couldn't go to schools for many months, shopkeepers didn't have an earning for months. People associated with hotels, taxis, houseboat, shikara and factories had to face difficulties," he said.

"I was detained at one place, but the difficulties the people here faced, they were kept at their homes, I had thought that I will talk a lot about it, but today I realise that we are fighting a huge war - the war of life and death," he added.

"Unfortunately, we have gathered here against the government's directions. We were told that social distancing should be followed, that we should take precautions to contain the spread of this disease. However, what lesson will we give to the people when we ourselves are not ready to follow it," he said.

He said that people must follow the government orders of social distancing and precautions to fight coronavirus. "Be it Article 370 or 35A or UT or bifurcation of the state, I will talk to you in detail once the current situation passes," he added.

However, Omar appealed to the Centre to lift restrictions on the high-speed mobile internet in the Union Territory. "I humbly appeal the Centre to lift the restrictions on the communication. If nothing, at least 3G/4G be restored. We are told to take lessons on awareness about coronavirus from the internet, but what to do when nothing opens (because of low speed)," he said.

Omar took to Twitter and posted a picture of himself sporting long pepper beard. "232 days after my detention today, I finally left Hari Niwas. It's a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019," he wrote.

Had lunch with my mum & dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I cant remember a better meal even though Ive been in a bit of a daze & dont remember what I ate  pic.twitter.com/W4duuhCVjI  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 24, 2020

"Had lunch with my mum and dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I can't remember a better meal even though I've been in a bit of a daze and don't remember what I ate, " he wrote in another tweet.
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Linkedin Mohammed Al-Wafi with Shatha Yaish in Dubai (Agence France-Presse) Al Hajjah, Yemen  Tue, March 24, 2020 22:05 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d3af16 2 Health Yemen,hand-washing,coronavirus,COVID-19,health Free

Hand-washing to combat the spread of coronavirus is the order of the day, but it's an unaffordable luxury for millions in war-ravaged Yemen where clean water is dangerously scarce.

Yemen's broken healthcare system has yet to register any cases of the disease, but if the pandemic does hit, the impact will be unimaginable in a country where five years of conflict has created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Five years after a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen to support the government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, some 80 percent of the population is in need of aid.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was concerned that many Yemenis have no access to clean water or soap.

"We are extremely worried," Caroline Seguin, MSF's head of programs in Yemen, Iraq and Jordan, told AFP.

"We can recommend they wash their hands, but what if they don't have anything to wash with?"

Nearly 18 million people, including 9.2 million children, do not have regular access to safe water, according to the UN's children's agency.

And only one third of Yemen's population has access to piped water, UNICEF said.

Eleven-year-old Mohammed's family, who live in the rebel-controlled Hajja province north of the capital Sanaa, are among those for whom water does not come out of a tap.

He and his sister leave their home on the back of a donkey every morning to retrieve supplies from a murky well three kilometers from their home.

"I get the donkey ready... and then head out at 7:30 a.m., and I keep going back and forth until 10 a.m.," Mohammed told AFP.

The two children wait for their turn to fill up plastic canisters with a dirty hose.

Their family has no choice but to drink the contaminated water and use it for cooking.

Read also: COVID-19: Not all hand sanitizers work against it  heres what you should use

Cholera and disease

Yemen suffered one of its worst ever outbreaks of cholera in 2017.

"Years of under-investment in public water and sanitation systems provided the foundations for this outbreak," Bismarck Swangin, UNICEF Yemen's chief of communications, told AFP.

"The risk still remains if access to water continues to be low."

Tens of thousands of people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed since March 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the war that has pushed the country to the brink of famine.

The conflict, which shows no signs of abating, has crippled the country's healthcare system and paved the way for the spread of diseases.

Mohammed Aqil, a doctor at Al-Jaada medical center in Hajjah, said the clinic deals with around 300 patients a day.

"Most of the cases are linked to diseases transmitted by consuming water that is not safe for drinking," he told AFP.

'A disaster'

MSF said given the current situation of the healthcare system, which has all but collapsed, it would be "a disaster" if the new coronavirus reached Yemen, long the Arabian Peninsula's poorest nation.

"Frequently washing hands is the most effective way to protect against the coronavirus, but what will more than half the Yemeni people who don't have access to safe water do," the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen tweeted on Sunday.

More than 12,000 deaths have been recorded since the virus first emerged in December, according to an AFP tally, most of them in Europe.

In Sanaa, the Iran-backed Huthi insurgents who control the capital and large parts of the north have suspended school classes and flights as cases of the virus in nearby countries soar.

Meanwhile, more than 1,700 cases have been recorded across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, with four deaths -- two in the United Arab Emirates and two in Bahrain.

"We cannot overwhelm the already fragile health system in Yemen," the World Health Organization told AFP, adding that the "introduction of the disease in Yemen will overrun hospitals and health facilities".
Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice"
Sixty-four migrants from Ethiopia were found dead on Tuesday, crammed inside a freight container in the northwestern Mozambican province of Tete, a senior hospital official said.

The victims were discovered in a blue cargo container loaded on a truck. They were surrounded by survivors.

Temperatures in Tete currently hover around 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).

"A truck transporting illegal immigrants from Malawi, suspected to be Ethiopians, was stopped at the Mussacana weight bridge in Tete, and 64 people were found dead. Only 14 survived," the official, who asked not be named as he did not have the authority to speak to the media, told AFP.

"The cause of death is presumed to be asphyxiation."

A picture showed a few survivors sitting surrounded by corpses, and another showed hospital workers with white plastic aprons and blue face masks, preparing to offer first aid to survivors and offload the bodies.

The bodies were taken to a local morgue.

Provincial immigration spokesman Amelia Direito told reporters in Tete that all the 78 aboard were Ethiopian men, of whom 64 suffocated to death.

"The truck driver and his assistant (both Mozambicans) have been arrested by the police," said Direito.

She said the driver told police he had been promised 30,000 meticais (about $500, 460 euros) to transport the men.

Police have launched a manhunt for "the intermediary who facilitated the illegal entry of the Ethiopians into the country," she said.

The foreign ministry in Addis Ababa said it had "confirmed through the Ethiopian embassy in South Africa that many Ethiopians travelling inside a vehicle from Malawi to Mozambique have died".

It said it was working to establish the numbers of the dead and their identities.

"The ministry expresses deep sadness at the tragedy and extends a message of strength to the family and friends of the deceased," it said.

Mozambique is generally seen as a smuggling corridor for migrants seeking to make their way to South Africa.

South Africa -- the continent's most industrialised country -- is a magnet for poor migrants not only from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho and Zimbabwe, but even nations further afield, such as Ethiopia.

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Taliban has secret ties with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who has open access to the terrorist group's leadership, according to a media report.

The revelations were made by a Taliban terrorist who attended the Qatar peace meeting last month. The terrorist, in a letter to media, said that the ISI has been involved in every step and was the decision-maker of the Taliban's office, reported Afghanistan Times.

"Another issue I have witnessed is that members of the office were spying for ISI against each other. In return for some scholarships and Pakistani ID cards, ISI has appointed the purest people of our frontier as its spy figures," the letter read.

On February 29, the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan. The agreement will pave the way for the US to withdraw all its troops from the Asian country within 14 months.

The letter claimed that the peace deal was first supposed to be signed by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, but the ISI replaced him with Baradar as a signatory.

"Amir Khan Mottaqi, who has a great influence on the ISI, is one of the main elements of ISI and is considered as the defender of the ISI. I arrived in Qatar one day before the peace deal was signed. We were on our way to an invitation party when Mullah Baradar received a phone call. I could hear the person on the phone telling him to tell the Qatar officials to invite ISI Generals, Faiz and Hassan to the ceremony," the letter said.

"Baradar then called the office, discussing the invitation of ISI Generals. The conversation lasted until the party began, where Baradar asked the Qatari officials about the invitation of the Generals. But the Qatari officials assured him that it had not been an intelligence meeting but a political meeting and that the presence of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan Foreign Minister could attend on behalf of other officials from his country," it added.

The Afghan government has long blamed the Taliban as the proxy of the Pakistan deep state.

In 2018, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had alleged that the "centre of Taliban terrorism is in Pakistan" and demanded that authorities in the neighbouring country "show some concrete action to rid their territory of insurgents".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last week, the University of Georgia chapter of Chi Omegas executive board told its members they would have to move out of the sorority house due to the universitys pivot to online classes for the remainder of the semester.

It sucked, Chi Omega member Emma Hoffman said. Like, super bad. It would be nice to go back to a sense of normalcy, but we cant go back [to Athens] because we dont have houses.

On trend with the rest of the UGA community, fraternity and sorority members wont return to a sense of normalcy this spring. Normally, this semester brings excitement for Greek life with philanthropy events, formals and spring parties. All Greek life-related events, however, are canceled or postponed following decisions made after UGAs suspension of in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council, two separate, student-led representative bodies of some of the recognized fraternities and sororities at UGA, have canceled or postponed all events for the remainder of the semester. The Multicultural Greek Council, which represents 12 multicultural Greek organizations on campus, canceled its MGC showcase and postponed all other MGC events for the rest of the semester, according to a March 19 Instagram post.

IFC canceled all fraternity chapter meetings, social events and recruitment for the remainder of the semester, according to a letter from IFC President Brennan Cox.

The Panhellenic Council also canceled or postponed all events for the remainder of the semester, Panhellenic Council president Jennings Brooks said in a statement. Rescheduling of any event is at the discretion of the sorority.

An early move-out

Some fraternity and sorority houses are closing their doors and asking members to move out, and whether or not a house closes is up to the discretion of each chapter.

Most of the sorority houses closed during the initial two-week suspension of in-person classes and now are working through plans to close for the remainder of the semester, Brooks said in a statement.

Delta Delta Delta sorority designated March 21 and March 22 for move-outs from its house, Connie French, vice president of public relations for UGAs Tri Delta chapter, said. French said the Tri Delta national office gives instruction to each SEC Tri Delta chapter, such as how to handle and implement new COVID-19-related policies.

French said Tri Delta members moved out with one member in a hall during a two-hour time slot, and each member could have no more than two people help her in the process. Move-out policies had to be made quickly, as Tri Delta didnt have pandemic-specific policies before now.

This is unprecedented, French said. We dont have policies for this. It seems silly to have all of them, but its better to have it in writing than, you know, chaos.

French is from Washington, D.C., and she said the move-out could have been her last trip back to Athens for a while. She said the news of remote classes for the remainder of the spring semester shocked her and most members.

It kind of settled in that being away from school really stinks, French said. That was my reaction, and that was the reaction of a lot of our members.

Seniors will miss out on normal commemorative ceremonies  such as a senior night and a senior send-off gift  so Tri Deltas membership development coordinator is putting together montages and videos to commemorate seniors remotely.

Its not a substitute for doing it in person, but were trying our best to make them feel special and try to keep [the effects] as minimal as possible in this weird time, French said.

Tri Delta members are waiting to hear if they will be reimbursed for the rest of the semesters rent. The Tri Delta Housing Corporation, which is a governing body made up of alumni from the Athens and Atlanta area as well as representatives from the national office, will decide about reimbursing members rent, French said.

While Chi Omega member Emma Hoffman lamented that the rest of the semester is canceled, she praised Chi Omegas executive board for updating all members as soon as they know information.

Hoffman said the UGA chapter of Chi Omega told its members about move-out on March 19 and sent out an online form to determine a good time for members to move their belongings and check out of the house.

Chi Omega is also waiting to hear about potential reimbursement for rent or sorority dues.

Some fraternity houses are still open, IFC President Brennan Cox said. Like the sororities, each fraternity can decide to keep its house open itself.

Chi Psi is closing its doors to all but one student due to extenuating circumstances, Chi Psi adviser Doug Patterson said. Chi Psi will reimburse the remainder of rent for the semester to members who are forced to move out.

Meanwhile, Alpha Tau Omega is keeping its doors open to members who need a place to stay. President Davis Hunt said in an email that members are not required to move out of the house because we have to continue our rent payments. As of press time, members will not be reimbursed for rent if they choose to move out.

Social adjustments

In accordance with the IFC bill, all fraternity spring parties are canceled  including Sigma Alpha Epsilons annual Shower Cap. There will be no rescheduling of the event, SAE president Rolf Reynolds said in an email. All fraternity and sorority philanthropy events and formals are canceled as well.

Both IFC and Panhellenic are using this semester to discuss fall recruitment in the hope that COVID-19 does not affect the usual fall semester.

Joshua Welch, the new Greek life director, said in a statement that Greek Life Office staff members and advisers are available through email and phone voicemails to support students. Welch said hes proud of the way Greek life organizations have responded to the shift from normalcy.

I am inspired by how Greek life as a whole is handling the response to COVID-19, Welch said in a statement. Our Greek life staff will continue to work alongside students to continue the missions of their Councils and organizations while they re-envision their operations for the future.
NYC DOE building

A Brooklyn principal died from COVID-19. Dezann Romain was 36 years old.

She's the first known death of a public school staff member.

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A New York City principal died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, local news outlets reported on Monday.

Dezann Romain, principal of Brownsville's Brooklyn Democracy Academy, was 36 years old and is the first known public school staff member to die from the new coronavirus, Chalkbeat reported.

The academy is a transfer school for students who struggle in traditional high school.

"It is with profound sadness and overwhelming grief that we announce the passing of our sister, CSA member Dezann Romain, Principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy, due to complications from Coronavirus," the Council of Schools Supervisors and Administrators wrote in a statement, the New York Post reported.

Additionally, Chalkbeat reported that city officials still did not say when they found out the principal was infected and what they did to inform others at the school. New York City stopped informing school members if there was a coronavirus infection in their communities, Chalkbeat added.

Romain was described to Chalkbeat as a dedicated educator.

"She gave her entire self to that community, and it did not matter how incredibly complex a problem was," Courtney Winkfield told Chalkbeat.

Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza said the department would be there to support students and staff.

"We're all experiencing a deep sense of confusion, uncertainty, and sadness, and it's more important than ever to provide support to one another," Carranza said in a tweet.

New York has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the US. The state has reported over 23,200 cases with at least 183 deaths.

The Council of Schools Supervisors and Administrators and the New York City Department of Education did not reply to Business Insider's request for comment at the time of publication.

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Linkedin Maria Lauranti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 10:54 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0b444 3 Opinion opinions,#coronavirus,coronavirus,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,COVID-19-in-Indonesia Free

Coronavirus hits without discrimination. Yet, it is clear that vulnerable people  the poor, those with disabilities, informal workers and migrants  may not be able to survive the pandemic. These groups are facing a confluence of impacts on their health and livelihoods, such as high rates of malnutrition, food insecurity and the struggle to afford goods necessary for subsistence. They risk losing their lives and livelihoods even after the outbreak is over.

Half of the worlds population lacks access to basic health care. Therefore, any outbreak of the virus in a country with limited resources could be devastating. Transparent and proactive governments and partnership in public health care and promotion will not only minimize health impacts but also minimize the long-term economic impact of the virus. Enhancing preventive and curative measures to manage the outbreak is critical for both reasons.

The Health Ministry has prepared 362 hospitals using resources from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the police, stateowned hospitals and three private hospitals. It is urgent to enable more private health facilities and faith-based healthcare networks to assist in high-risk regions.

Healthcare equity for the poor is paramount to assure their participation in reducing the virus spread, through full coverage of services, provision of information on how they can and should access those services, transportation access and mandatory sick allowance to complement living costs during the crisis.

As of March 23, the world had 294,100 COVID-19 cases, and Indonesia had 579 cases with no sign of slowing down.

Emergency supplies of basic medical equipment are in high demand. The government should prepare not only enough hospital beds but also sufficient healthcare workers.

About 70 percent of healthcare workers globally are women. Clean running water and soap are the best protector, yet 33.4 million people in Indonesia have no access to water. In areas where it is difficult to get clean water, women spend between 1 to 3 hours collecting water for the family.

Apart from unpaid care work at home and in the community, women will be among the first to be impacted by the outbreak, as they will be bound to care for sick relatives and look after children.

Policies to enforce labor rights are equally important. Informal workers are less likely to be entitled to sick pay or to be able to work from home. Self-quarantine will drag people further into poverty.

Women are more likely to take time off of work to care for the family. Loss of income will impact the ability to fight the crisis, as the prices of food and other essentials will rise dramatically if the government does not enact measures to control the market. Micro and small enterprises may not be able to survive. Big corporations may lay off workers, leading to massive unemployment.

Decentralization of resources, access to information and clarity of coordination will ease the partnership between stakeholders to manage the crisis.

The private sector must respond to the crisis mostly with the perspective of a development actor, on top of business orientation. Religious and community leaders must enforce social distancing and good referral systems, to support people with disabilities, pregnant women, infants and the elderly. Community-based surveillance for contact monitoring and self-quarantine support must be established.

The virus will continue to hurt the economy. Contingency funds and reallocating the state budget for COVID-19 management may not be enough.

Solidarity from the global community will be tested in shouldering the risks and burdens that individual countries face.

Debt offers, while empathetic, are irrational. Poor countries will be sent into debt and further poverty. Instead of debt, aid and direct support should be offered where possible. When a country fails to manage the outbreak, it will directly affect the rest of the world. Economic architecture should really look at how to care for humanity.

This is the time when we need to see concrete action from both state and nonstate actors to leave no one behind, from local to global.

***

Country director of Oxfam

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Some two billion possible agents are going to be tested during the world's largest computer-aided screening project. Austrian project partners include the biotech start-up Innophore, the University of Graz and acib, the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology.

Once again, Styrian Coronavirus research is attracting international attention. Together with the renowned Harvard University the project which some two billion potentially effective agents against COVID-19 are going to be screened with the aid of computers has just started. The Google parent company, Alphabet contributes unlimited Google Cloud computing power to allow the simulation of such a vast number of agents for the first time in history. Vienna Scientific Cluster, a collaboration between several Austrian universities, also provides the resources of its supercomputers. "In virtual drug discovery at this scale, the biggest challenge is not only to obtain the data for these billions of compounds, but computing power. At the moment we assume that we have to perform more than 100 billion individual computations as every potential compound is being screened individually. We are delighted to receive Austrian and international support from the Vienna Scientific Cluster and Alphabet, respectively," says Christian Gruber, CEO of Innophore.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005631/en/

Comparative model of protease M(pro) of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Photo: Business Wire)

Harvard Medical School contributes promising method

The novelty in this project's approach is in the computer-aided method used to screen all the individual agents. "Virtual Flow" was developed at the Harvard Medical School and recently published in Nature, one of the leading scientific journals.

Apart from the University of Graz, acib contributes its Austrian-wide resources. "We are very pleased that biotechnology know-how from Styria is appreciated all over the world and actively contributes to fighting the Coronavirus," comments Mathias Drexler, Managing Director at acib.

Graz-based start-up Innophore had already attracted international attention in recent weeks by suggesting agents suitable for clinical studies.

Currently Innophore supports Harvard's Virtual Flow process by simulating countless potential starting points of druggable targets using its patented 3D point cloud technology. The results are filtered by artificial intelligence before feeding them into the Virtual Flow pipeline. "Even though some promising drugs have been identified already, the project we are launching still has lots of potential to find further suitable candidates. Combining the 3D point cloud technology with large scale virtual screening and vast computing power is promising and we can't wait to see what results we will achieve over the coming weeks," Prof. Arthanari from Harvard Medical School concludes.

[END]

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005631/en/

Contacts:

DI Christopher Trummer

Business Development

Innophore GmbH.

christopher.trummer@innophore.com

Tel: +43 6642456464
English Estonian

The Supervisory Board of AS Printall  the 100% subsidiary of AS Ekspress Grupp  decided to extend the mandate of Mr. Tonis Peebo as a Member of the Management Board until 27 March 2023.

The Management Board of AS Printall will continue with three members as before: Andrus Takkin (Chairman), Evali Mults and Tonis Peebo.

AS Printall is one of the most modern printing houses in the Baltics, exporting more than 60% of its production to Europe and printing most of the periodicals and advertising publications published in Estonia. The sales revenue in 2019 was EUR 25.7 million and the company employed almost 230 people.





Signe Kukin

Group CFO

AS Ekspress Grupp

+372 669 8381

signe.kukin@egrupp.ee

AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading media group in the Baltic States whose key activities include web media content production, publishing of newspapers and magazines and provision of printing services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Ekspress Grupp that launched its operations in 1989 employs 1700 people, owns leading web media portals in the Baltic States and publishes the most popular daily and weekly newspapers as well as the majority of the most popular magazines in Estonia.
The United States is trying to repatriate some 13,500 Americans stranded overseas by the coronavirus pandemic but does not believe it can reach all of them, the State Department said Monday. With much of the world imposing temporary entry restrictions and airlines slashing flights, the State Department has encouraged Americans to find their own way home while they still can. Some 13,500 US citizens have reached out to US embassies and consulates around the world "saying they're interested in our assistance," a senior State Department official said. Some 5,700 people have already been brought back -- including more than 800 out of the Chinese virus epicenter of Wuhan and 1,200 last week from Morocco as well as 300 from the Diamond Princess cruise in Japan, the official said. "We will bring home thousands more in the coming days and weeks," he said. But he added: "We're hearing about people who are in very remote locations in very remote parts of the world. It's complicated "So I'm hesitant to give a guarantee we can bring every single person." The vast majority of repatriated Americans have come back on planes chartered by the State Department, but more options are under consideration, including Defense Department aircraft, he said. The State Department said Monday that it was working to arrange transportation for Americans, at their own expense, to fly out of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso as commercial service is being suspended. But it has otherwise encouraged Americans to look at available commercial options. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has urged President Donald Trump's administration to go further by activating a reserve program that enlists commercial airliners on behalf of the Defense Department. The Civil Reserve Air Fleet has only been activated twice -- to fly troops for the 1990-91 Gulf War and again in 2003 for the Iraq invasion.
Nigerian musician, Naira Marley, is facing criticism on Twitter for posting a comment on the social media site, viewed as an attempt to cast doubt on the existence of the novel coronavirus.

Retweet if u dont believe in CoronaVirus, Marley, whose real name is Azeez Fashola, said in a Twitter post on Monday.

The post, with more than 3,000 retweets and 13,000 likes, has attracted angry reactions from Twitter users, with one person calling on the Lagos state government and the Nigerian police to arrest Mr Marley for endangering public health safety.

Confirmed cases of the virus have so far risen to 40 in Nigeria on Tuesday morning, with one death so far.

A Twitter user (@tony_divine81) said Mr Marley is one of the yeyebrities (foolish celebrities) in Nigeria, because of the comment he made on the coronavirus.

Most of the people who reacted to it, regarded Mr Marleys comment as being inappropriate.

If this is some joke, then it is one taken too far, one Twitter user (@RayNkah) said. With your platform you could do better.

Please be guided. And if you must know, #COVID19 is not an abstract concept validated by faith. It is a scientifically proven state of unwellness with life threatening consequences, the commenter added.

This is irresponsible behavior. You are putting people in danger by sending out this kind of message. Covid-19 is a serious public health crisis. You should be directing your fans to follow safety directives. This is a wrong use of your celebrity, another commenter said.

Funny enough this guy is educated but keeps serving his followers with illiterated informations and they foolishly follow him in the name of #Marlians, said yet another commenter.

Some people have called on Twitter to suspend Mr Marleys account.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, declared COVID-19 a pandemic and since then, the spread has worsened and more deaths have occurred.

The spread of the disease has also led to countries locking in millions of their citizens, closing social spaces, locking down entire regions and shutting their doors against travellers from other countries.

Nigeria has taken a number of measures to contain the spread. These include closing the borders and suspending international flights. Different states have also been releasing their preventive or containment measures, as the need arises.

Following the confirmation of 10 new cases in Edo, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday, the number of individuals who have tested positive to the novel coronavirus disease in Nigeria has risen to 40.

Of the ten (10) new cases, one (1) is in Edo State, two (3) are in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and six (6) are in Lagos State, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control said in an update on Monday night.

The case in Edo State is being treated at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital; cases in the FCT are being treated at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada; and the cases in Lagos State are being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba.

All six (6) new cases have mild to moderate symptoms and are currently receiving treatment.

Edo in South-south Nigeria is producing its first case and becoming the sixth of the countrys 36 states and FCT where cases have emerged since an unnamed Italian tested positive.

Of the 40 coronavirus cases so far confirmed, two cases have been discharged and one death has been recorded.

A breakdown of the cases by states showed that Lagos has 28, FCT- 7, Ogun- 2, Ekiti- 1, Oyo- 1 and Edo- 1.

In its Monday update, the NCDC said a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at level 3, was continuing to coordinate the national response activities.
Chase Lotfi, who with his father Al Lotfi, owns Als Charhouse in downtown La Grange and Casa Margarita restaurants in Hinsdale, LaGrange and four other locations, said they tried to operate the restaurants just with carry-out and delivery orders for a few days, but the revenue was not enough. That fact, combined with the desire to protect employees from the risk of coronavirus, convinced them to close the restaurants entirely until the COVID-19 crisis subsides.
The restaurant industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus, with the Massachusetts Restaurant Association saying the financial strain applied to workers will be unfathomable.

The latest social media trend is looking to combat that.

Using #TheGreatAmericanTakeout, restaurants and social media users are encouraging people to order takeout on Tuesday.

Bs fans, 99 Restaurants has been a New England staple for years and has worked to support communities throughout the... Posted by Boston Bruins on Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Earlier this month, Gov. Charlie Baker banned dining at all restaurants. This left many places rethinking their to-go menus.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito introduced a bill on Tuesday that would allow customers buying food from bars and restaurants to add beer and wine to their delivery orders.

But many restaurants are still unsure how they will continue to pay all their employees and ultimately survive past these bans.

This is going to drastically affect all of our employees. Were not sure the future of the business. Those are very, very real concerns," John Sullivan, the co-owner of Nathan Bills, told MassLive.

For some places, theyve already had to face layoffs and cut hours.

If its weeks, there are sacrifices I can make personally, said Alexis Kelleher, co-owner of Crust Bakeshop in Worcester. But  months of operating like this probably isnt realistic for us. Its a hard pill to swallow."

While there are talks of more long-term solutions, social media users are hoping they can help at least a little.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 07:56:56|Editor: ZD

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LISBON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa was expecting the European Union (EU) to adopt, in a short term, an EU recovery plan for member economies battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, national broadcaster Independent Television (TVI) reported online on Monday.

In an interview with TVI, Costa commended EU's economic stimulus measures and policies in response to the coronavirus crisis. The European Central Bank (ECB) on March 18 announced a new temporary asset purchase program covering private and public sector securities that has an overall envelope of 750 billion euros (807 billion U.S. dollars) to counter the novel coronavirus risks.

"I'm sure the debate at the European Council next Thursday will be very tough," Costa said. "Europe has to have a big project for mobilization and economic reconstruction after this pandemic."

He also assured Portuguese people that the country's health system will not go to the "breaking point" under mounting pressure of the COVID-19 epidemic. "In the worst case scenario, we will not lose control of the situation," he said.

Portugal recorded 2,060 confirmed cases of COVID-19 -- 460 more from Sunday, and 23 deaths, according to a bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health on Monday.
"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Rahm Emanuel (actual quotation)

"This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision." Rep. James Clyburn (actual quotation)

"Nice little country you've got here. It would be a shame if something happened to it." Congressional Democrats (fake but accurate quotation)

Over the past week, a bipartisan group of senators hammered out the details of a phase-three coronavirus stimulus bill. On Sunday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he'd had "two good meetings ... with Secretary Mnuchin ... and I'm very optimistic that we can get something done." He emphasized that it was important to "allow these businesses that are now closed to quickly re-establish themselves." He boasted about "having good bipartisan agreements."

And the bill was indeed a good enough bill, with straightforward help for people negatively affected by the coronavirus:

Then Nancy Pelosi blew into D.C. and cracked her whip, and everything changed. The narrative was no longer about saving American businesses to ensure that, after this panic is over, Americans will still have jobs. Nor was it about immediate financial relief for individuals who have already lost their livelihoods, cannot meet bills, or have rising medical costs.

Now the proposed bipartisan bill was a "corporate slush fund" that didn't help the little people. Joe Biden, woozy and mumbling, read the TelePrompter summarizing Democrats' new objections:

President Trump and Mitch McConnell are trying to put a corporate bailout ahead of families. It's simply wrong. We need to be focused on helping hardworking Americans, communities, and small businesses  not handing big corporations a blank check. pic.twitter.com/tMBZm26h3y  Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 23, 2020

A furious Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) forcefully argued through Twitter that the Democrats' new objections were lies:

Democrats torpedoed a bipartisan emergency bill that:



-Provides payroll & rent for small business

-Credit to businesses across America to keep them afloat

- Cash in Americans pockets

- unemployment benefits



They have no good reasons. Just partisanship. Call your reps NOW. pic.twitter.com/7WvBaX2wxT  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 23, 2020

We will not forget this. More businesses are closing tomorrow while you peddle this lie. You literally stopped a good bill because it *didnt have enough red tape*. You hate American businesses so much that you would sacrifice our economy out of pure contempt. #wewillnotforget https://t.co/mhDXytxZh8  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 23, 2020

Here is the text on the $500B portion of the bill:



Direct Lending Limitations: executive total compensation may not exceed $425,000; prohibition of stock buybacks during the duration of the loan; borrowers must maintain existing payroll as of March 13.



Dems are lying.  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 23, 2020

Kimberley Strassel also had substantive points to make about the Democrats' lies:

2) Pelosi's balk is naked attempt to cadge more last-minute money. She's playing politics in a crisis. Which is almost as bad as Elizabeth Warren suggesting this is a corporate "slush fund." Gov shuts down economy, and Warren blames business? Toxic.  Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) March 22, 2020

Armed with their talking points, Democrats refused to vote the bill out of committee on both Sunday and Monday, even though a "yes" vote would have allowed more negotiations. Their weird, anti-American intransigence suddenly made sense when Nancy Pelosi submitted her own 1,119-page bill in the House.

Pelosi's proposed bill is not about urgent relief to save American businesses (i.e., employers) and get immediate financial aid to Americans harmed by the country's stoppage. Instead, it's a compendium of all the things Democrats always want. In an impassioned Twitter thread, Sen. Tom Cotton included a list of twelve non-coronavirus, hard-left demands Pelosi is making before she'll release Americans' money for surviving economic hard times:

Families and businesses need help now to survive the China virus pandemic. But @SpeakerPelosi walked away from negotiations to write her own bill, full of absurd provisions completely unrelated to the crisis at hand. Heres what Speaker Pelosi is demanding while Americans suffer:  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 23, 2020

1. Corporate pay statistics by race and race statistics for all corporate boards at companies receiving assistance



2. Bailing out all current debt of postal service



3. Required early voting



4. Required same day voter registration



5. 10k bailout for student loans  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 23, 2020

6. For companies accepting assistance, 1/3 of board members must be chosen by workers



7. Provisions on official time for union collective bargaining



8. Full offset of airline emissions by 2025



9. Greenhouse gas statistics for individual flights  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 23, 2020

10. Retirement plans for community newspaper employees



11. $15 minimum wage at companies receiving assistance



12. Permanent paid leave at companies receiving assistance  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 23, 2020

The Democrats see an opportunity in this crisis.



Not to help the American people, but to hold an emergency relief bill hostage until they get their radical wish list.



How long will Arkansans and Americans across the country have to wait?  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 23, 2020

Rachel Brovard has a thread that also details the demands Democrats are making as they hold hostage America's economic survival. The screen shots give a sense of the depth of this 1,100-plus-page document. Seeing it, you can tell that Pelosi has been sitting on the bill for a long time, waiting to unleash it when the proper crisis arrived:

Pelosi's #COVID19 bill is 1,119 pages and contains provisions for "conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections" so yeah it's really very focused on the crisis at hand. pic.twitter.com/Q6axBi14lZ  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

It also bails out the postal service. pic.twitter.com/cy9GYoK7zj  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

Also, guys, let's maybe focus on restricting stock buybacks and executive compensation with taxpayer loans and save the woke-scolding for later? pic.twitter.com/6iv0TKbbwU  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

Same day voter registration, a long-time Dem wishlist item, very relevant to addressing those businesses and working families about to go under from #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/KizGbEYq9O  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

We can agree or disagree about the value of collective bargaining for federal employees but can we all agree that it doesn't belong in a relief bill DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE WITH #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/bswhj4dMeG  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

I'm just going to throw this out there: Requiring the airlines to fully offset their carbon emissions is not going to save the airlines. pic.twitter.com/WcmHuI5eQr  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

You know what families who can't work and are struggling to make rent really care about?



Being able to look up greenhouse gas emissions from the flights they can't afford to book. pic.twitter.com/klGOhE8uOM  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

I, too, care for community journalism.



But right now none of them have jobs because of #COVID19 so maybe this isn't the time to modify their retirement plans. pic.twitter.com/fK0OO9VqVQ  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

I mean. Again. Worthy goal? Perhaps. We can debate it. But why are we establishing all these new programs when what we really need is to PASS A BILL TO HELP PEOPLE WHO CANNOT WORK. pic.twitter.com/Awv3Thjc8h  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

Ah, here it is. The prohibition on stock buybacks, exec comp, & dividends for corps receiving taxpayer loans. I actually agree w/ this. But, it's a tiny provision amidst bailing out the USPS, emissions mandates on the airlines, & ensuring woke corporate boards. So here we are. pic.twitter.com/9ANF6wjUZ7  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

Annnnd....in case you thought we were done with the woke-scolding, you were wrong.



Families can't pay their mortgages and there aren't enough ventilators, but you know what we will have? Corporate budgets dedicated to diversity & inclusion initiatives! pic.twitter.com/tBuO3hrBfB  Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 23, 2020

None of these demands has anything to do with providing immediate aid during a short-term but potentially calamitous economic crisis. Instead, the Democrats are using the crisis to reshape American politics to their benefit. This is depraved.

As businesses fail and Americans go bankrupt, the Democrats think they've got Americans by the short hairs, and maybe, right now, they do. After all, Republicans do care about Americans over politics, and they may end up doing whatever it takes to keep the country running. However, elections will still happen this year when all the furor dies down. That's when the Democrats need to get the electoral drubbing they deserve, so the fruits of their mafia-like tactics can be reversed.

We'll give the last word on this topic to Ben Shapiro, who's no Trump fan:
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Ankara, Turkey  Tue, March 24, 2020 15:02 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d1df60 2 World Turkey,medicine,China,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health,infection,infectious-diseases,treatment,SARS-CoV-2 Free

Turkey's health minister said Monday that the country is using a drug sent from China on patients suffering from the novel coronavirus.

"From this morning we have brought a special drug used in China which is claimed to have resulted in improvements in intensive care patients, cutting their time in care from 11-12 days to four days," Fahrettin Koca told reporters.

He did not give more information on the drug but the anti-malarial drug chloroquine has recently been used to treat coronavirus patients in China as well as France.

Some researchers have said chloroquine shows great promise, though scientists have agreed that more trials are needed to determine if the drug is really effective and safe.

According to figures released late Monday, Turkey has officially recorded 1,529 coronavirus cases and 37 deaths.

Koca said 50,000 rapid detection kits had arrived from China on Monday and had begun to be used, with 300,000 expected by Thursday.

The minister added that the Chinese government agreed with Turkey to share information on the novel coronavirus as the two countries step up cooperation to fight against the pandemic.

While Koca did not detail where the positive cases were in Turkey, he said the virus had spread across the country.

He did say there were fewer than 10 cases in Turkey's Van province, which borders badly-hit Iran.

He also said some health workers had caught the coronavirus, without giving figures.

A further 32,000 health workers will be employed during the crisis, he told a press conference in Ankara.

Koca also said that face masks produced in Turkey "will not be exported" as the country was in need.

There had been speculation that Koca might announce a state of emergency, but he urged Turks to "announce their own state of emergency" as he insisted citizens adhere to measures already announced by Ankara.

Turkish authorities have ordered those aged 65 and above and those with chronic illnesses to stay at home, while most public spaces have been temporarily closed.
Alianza Minerals Aims At Finding Another Silvertip At Tim Project In Coeur JV

Posted by Publisher Internet

Alianza Minerals (ANZ.V) was ready for their Phase II drill program at their fully owned flagship Haldane silver project, after their Phase I drill target defining program was completed earlier during the summer of last year. The company has been busy raising additional cash for 2020 exploration, and it started out with a small financing of $250,000 at 5 cents per unit on January 30, 2020. This wasn?t really impressive, but the same financing ended up being oversubscribed unexpectedly to no less then $1.1M during February, which you don?t hear too often for tiny explorers, and provides Alianza with enough cash for Haldane for the reminder of this year.

The timing of this financing was near perfect, as the Corona virus started to wreck havoc on the world directly after this, and is on its way to paralyze the entire world economy now, as countries are shutting down the borders, and entire sectors deemed non-vital in many countries are being shut down at the moment, including mining operations in countries like Peru most recently, which declared a state of emergency. Other countries are likely to follow suit soon.

As a consequence, a recession is becoming more and more likely for this year according to many analysts, although a recession already was in the cards based on many indicators. As I believe this myself as well, I see the virus combined with the oil move of Saudi Arabia and Russia as a perfect storm type catalyst for an accelerated initiation of a recession. So far, Alianza Minerals hasn?t been hit directly by the virus, as in staff being infected, although President and CEO Jason Weber and Executive Chairman Mark Brown visited the last PDAC convention in Toronto. The share price has been another story, as hardly any stock has been immune to the latest market meltdown:

Fortunately fundamentals of the company are only improving, so the opportunity presented keeps getting better in my view. Another development illustrates this further, as the other important news of this new year so far was that Alianza Minerals managed to reel in Coeur Mining in January to do a JV on one of their properties. The option agreement relates to a Letter of Intent where a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining can earn an 80% interest in the Property by (i) funding $3.55 million in exploration over five years and (ii) making scheduled cash payments totaling $575,000 over eight years. Coeur must also fund a feasibility study and notify Alianza of its intention to develop a commercial mine on the property on or before the 8th?anniversary from the date of notification of the class 1 exploration permit.

All pictures are company material, unless stated otherwise.

All currencies are in US Dollars, unless stated otherwise.?

Management was obviously very pleased with the increased raised amount, as Jason Weber, President & CEO, commented: ?Management appreciates the support of shareholders and participants in the current financing, enabling us to significantly expand the placement. We are very much looking forward to 2020 and our first drill program in Nevada with our partner Hochschild PLC in April.?

They had no clue the additional amount was coming in, as they tried for months, but were pleasantly surprised.

This 5c round involved a full warrant, which is something I don?t really like to see for dilution reasons, but in these at the time of the raise already dire times a half warrant was too much to ask for apparently. This warrant is valid for three years and is exercisable at 10c.

Finder?s fees of 7.5% in cash and 7.5% in finder?s warrants were paid to eligible parties, amounts weren?t disclosed. Mark Brown, one of the largest shareholders, participated a bit in this offering, as can be seen here:

The proceeds of this round will be used for working capital, general expenses and exploration at the Haldane project, as stated by Jason Weber:

?With Alianza?s working capital covered for 2020 and into 2021, we are in an excellent position to build upon the upcoming drill program with Hochschild at our Horsethief Gold Project in Nevada, and advance or option out additional projects. Exploration expenditures in 2020 will exceed $1.5 million with the majority of that funded by our partners.?

Earlier on at the end of January, Alianza Minerals signed an option agreement relating to a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining, to explore the road-accessible Tim property in the southern part of Yukon. Exploration at Tim is targeting high-grade silver-lead mineralization similar to that being mined by Coeur at its Silvertip operation, located 12 kilometers south of the Property.

Coeur can earn an 80% interest in the Property by funding C$3.55 million in exploration over five years and making scheduled cash payments totaling C$575,000 over eight years. Coeur must also fund a feasibility study (FS) and notify Alianza of its intention to develop a commercial mine on the property on or before the 8th?anniversary from the date of notification of the Class 1 exploration permit.

?We are very pleased to have partnered with Coeur to advance the Tim Silver Property,? stated Jason Weber, President and CEO of Alianza Minerals. ?Tim looks to be a Silvertip analog, and the Coeur team is an obvious choice to move the project forward. It will be a great advantage to have Coeur?s geological expertise applied to the project.?

As described in earlier analysis about Alianza, it was basically decided on a coin flip whether Tim or Silvertip was to be explored and developed, because of the similar characteristics. The Silvertip analog isn?t going to be smooth sailing though. The operating high grade Silvertip Mine in British Columbia didn?t immediately turn out to be the valuable asset Coeur thought it would be, as it had to impair Silvertip massively in their Q4 financials:

?- $250.8 million impairment, and temporarily suspending mining and processing activities at Silvertip?- Reduction in carrying value to $150.0 million and temporary suspension of mining and processing activities driven by further deterioration in zinc and lead market conditions as well as processing facility-related challenges. The Company plans to (i) double its exploration investment in 2020 to potentially further expand the resource and extend the mine life, and (ii) pursue a mill expansion to improve the asset?s cost structure and its ability to deliver sustainable cash flow?

Keep in mind the Silvertip Mine was valued by Coeur at US$400M but acquired for US$250M (US$200M in direct payments and US$50M in milestone payments) from a partnership between Denham Capital and JDS Silver in September 2017. JDS Silver is closely related to JDS Energy and Mining, who did the economic studies, engineering and contracting on this project, as represented on their website:

?JDS, as the general contractor, completed the construction of the Silvertip mine located on the Yukon-British Columbia border. JDS also completed the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Project which provided the client with preliminary engineering and development plans as well as and economic information that provided an initial view of project viability and a guide for advancement of the project. Consistent with the JDS formula for value addition, the work performed identified the most practical and profitable direction for project development JDS is currently managing all aspects of the mine construction as lead EPCM provider.

JDS is also currently working on providing support for the Silvertip Project paste plant design and construction with the use of equipment from the Diavik Diamond Mine. JDS was also responsible for the teardown and demobilization of the equipment at its prior to transporting to the Silvertip site.?

JDS Silver began construction in December 2015 and began production in October 2016, which was halted in 2017 due to ramp-up issues. After the acquisition by Coeur, production efficiency was improved and commercial production restarted again at the end of 2018, but problems started to surface during 2019 as production remained below target primarily due to extended planned downtime, which was implemented to complete key projects targeting improved mill availability. It all didn?t really work out, as an impairment analysis generated the massive devaluation conclusion based on a slow ramp-up, weaker-than-forecast zinc and lead prices, and significantly higher treatment charges for zinc and lead concentrates. A new plan for increased production and resource expansion has been launched by Coeur, showing the invalidity of both resource and mine plan from earlier stages.

As the new owner of Silvertip, which has a relatively limited resource and likewise minelife, Coeur could have an interest in Tim to develop it as a backup resource, if Silvertip exploration doesn?t generate the desired resource expansion. If Tim results in an economic resource, it could at the very least serve as an extra source of ore for the Silvertip mill and processing plant. Of course the hypothetical Tim resource would need to have the same metallurgy otherwise Coeur would have to install a different flow sheet at the processing plant, increasing sustaining capex further. According to Weber the potential for likewise metallurgy is one of the reasons Coeur is keen on Tim, as they see the same units and style of mineralization so they feel the metallurgy has a good chance to likely be similar. ?

The 2020 exploration program at Tim is expected to target high-grade silver-lead-zinc Carbonate Replacement Mineralization (?CRM?), similar to that found at Coeur?s Silvertip operation. Coeur?s tentative exploration plans are in-line with those recently announced by Alianza, and will consist of detailed mapping, soil geochemical surveys and reopening old trenches, which date back to 1988.

As the Corona- or COVID-19 virus is impacting mining operations everywhere, I asked CEO Jason Weber if exploration programs for his projects would be affected. He answered the following: ?At this point in time we are proceeding with plans for our projects. The length and degree to which business and travel is limited by the virus mitigation methods enacted by the US and Canadian governments is the largest factor, but we want to be ready to start projects as soon as is safe to do so.?

Alianza Minerals already worked on the Tim project in the past, as early as 2008 in a JV with International KRL Resources, and never lost interest in it, despite silver prices crashing from US$30-45/oz levels since then. Besides this, silver got hit extremely hard the last few weeks, and is trading in the US$12/oz range now, which is a level not seen since 2009.

Unfortunately, drilling by KRL in 2008 didn?t hit any interpreted carbonate-replacement style mineralization associated with identified IP anomalies, and the property was returned to the predecessor of Alianza Minerals later that year.?

In 2013, Alianza funded a small program to complete a focused work program and re-evaluated a historical zone of silver-lead rich Carbonate Replacement Mineralization (CRM) originally exposed by mechanized trenching in 1988. Historical chip sampling across the zone returned 352 g/t silver and 9.12% lead across 4.00 metres. In addition to this exposure, similar mineralization was also reported in adjacent trenches. This zone has never been tested with drilling. Alianza resampled the central trench in 2013, returning 3.7 metres assaying 365 g/t silver and 7.5% lead from a channel sample, which was a decent sampling result.

Three series of sawn channel samples were taken across the exposure at approximately 1 m spacing between channels. Weighted average assays for each of the channel series are shown below and are interpreted to be near true width:

Drilling on the property targeted IP geophysical anomalies again, but unfortunately didn?t return any economic results. However, according to management, at least some of the holes appear to be drilled parallel to mineralization. Further mapping and soil geochemical work is required to gain a better understanding of the structural and stratigraphic setting and how that relates to both IP and soil geochemical data. Ideally, that would lead to the identification of thick receptive carbonate horizons interacting with structure to produce potentially economic CRD mineralization. With a better understanding of the geology of the nearby Silvertip Mine, mapping may allow for a reinterpretation of the geology in the context of Silvertip.

I was wondering how Tim and its sampling/IP results resembled Silvertip, how exploration progressed Silvertip from discovery into a resource, if and how this strategy could be useful (or not) for Tim, and what Alianza hopes to find when drilling Tim out further. Jason Weber stated that he is planning a tour of the Silvertip Mine and surrounding exploration targets this summer. This will help tie together the geology at Tim and the Silvertip Mine. Coeur has been very pleased with their brownfields exploration on site and believes there is excellent potential to add significantly at the Silvertip Mine and find a resource at Tim. The exact specifics of comparable geology aren?t ready to be disclosed to the public yet. ?

I am looking forward to exploration programs at Tim, and according to Weber Coeur was planning to get on site this spring. Coeur is the operator.

Until recently, the Haldane project in the Yukon has seen the most work. According to Weber, exploration programs for this project will likely consist of some additional groundwork including soil geochemistry and trenching and later drilling and this will start in the summer. Plans are still in the initial phase as the 2019 program data is still being evaluated. Besides Haldane, the company also had a JV with Hochschild in Nevada, initially involving three projects. The Horsethief property is considered the most prospective and remains active, the BP and Bellview projects were recently returned.

When I talked to Jason Weber the last time, he stated that Horsethief hosts five primary drill targets, of which four target areas are defined by surface exposures of altered carbonate rocks and one target at depth, interpreted from induced polarization (IP) and resistivity geophysical surveys. Management has been working with Hochschild?s technical team to prioritize these targets for a 2,500 metre drilling program in 2020. The original plan was to start drilling Horsethief in October/November of this year, but this plan was already deferred into Q1, 2020 as Hochschild was re-prioritizing exploration programs across the board, and now the Corona virus is kicking in, things have changed again. According to Jason, they are still targeting a spring startup but may be affected by the virus mitigation efforts. The plan is for a 3000 metre program in 10 holes starting in May. The company intends to have logistics in place to commence the program as soon as it safe to do so if startup is indeed delayed.

Conclusion

Alianza Minerals did very well to raise C$1.1M in February, much more than anticipated and right before the Corona virus outbreak, effectively crippling all money-raising efforts for most companies. Of interest is the new Coeur JV regarding the Tim project, which has all the hallmarks of a Silvertip analogy, notwithstanding the fact that Coeur has issues to optimize operations over there, not helped by a lowering silver price lately. Exploration at Tim will start at this spring. The company is also preparing step out drilling after the winter break at Haldane, and the Horsethief project is awaiting a drill program in May if conditions permit, with Alianza being the operator . So despite the Corona pandemic, Alianza doesn?t seem to be hampered a lot, and their JV partners simply continue operations and exploration programs, of course by following precautionary measures wherever applicable, as health of staff is a primary concern. Results of the various programs should start to come in around June/July, and although sentiment for anything equity-related is at a low right now, Alianza Minerals has 2 good chances of hitting economic intercepts.

I hope you will find this article interesting and useful, and will have further interest in my upcoming articles on mining. To never miss a thing, please subscribe to my free newsletter, in order to get an email notice of my new articles soon after they are published.

Disclaimer:

The author is not a registered investment advisor, and currently has a long position in this stock. Alianza Minerals is a sponsoring company. All facts are to be checked by the reader. For more information go to www.alianzaminerals.com and read the company?s profile and?official documents on?www.sedar.com, also?for important risk disclosures. This article is provided for information purposes only, and is not intended to be investment advice of any kind, and all readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence, and talk to their own licensed investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief



Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday called on his successor Shivraj Singh Chouhan and assured him of the opposition party's help for the state's development.

Chouhan was sworn in as CM on Friday night.

"I met chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. I assured him we are going to be with him for the state's development," Nath told reporters after the meeting.

Asked that the Congress had skipped the Assembly session in which Chouhan won a trust vote on Tuesday, Nath said they did not have information about the session.

"The trust vote was a formality which needed to be completed," he added.

Nath resigned as CM after 22 Congress MLAs quit the House, reducing his government to a minority.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The father of murdered Colorado boy Gannon Stauch has cited his son's killing as the reason for splitting with his wife in divorce documents, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.

Eugene 'Al' Stauch, 38, filed the papers on March 5 - three days after his estranged wife Letecia, 36, was arrested over his son's death in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In the eight-page filing, the marriage is described as 'irretrievably broken' with Stauch noting that Letecia was 'in South Carolina awaiting extradition to Colorado charged with first degree murder of [his] son'.

Stauch, a member of the Colorado National Guard, also demanded the couple's French Bulldog, Sadie, be immediately returned to him and said he had no intention of paying Letecia spousal support.

Last week, ex-teacher Letecia appeared at court in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she was formally charged with her 11-year-old stepson's murder, as well as one count of child abuse and another of tampering with a corpse.

Eugene 'Al' Stauch, 38, cited the killing of his son Gannon as the reason for splitting with his wife Letecia (pictured together) - who stands accused of murdering her stepson

Colorado boy Gannon Stauch (pictured) vanished on January 27 and last Friday human remains discovered in Florida were 'tentatively identified' as the 11-year-old's

Last week, ex-teacher Letecia appeared at court in Colorado Springs, Colorado (pictured), where she was formally charged with her 11-year-old stepson's murder, as well as one count of child abuse and another of tampering with a corpse

She did not speak during the short hearing but listened in silence as the charges were read out. The 36-year-old is due back in court in El Paso County on April 3.

Gannon vanished on January 27, and last Friday human remains discovered in Florida were 'tentatively identified' as the 11-year-old's.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said they were contacted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office in Florida last Wednesday about the remains of a boy recovered in Pace, north of Pensacola.

A preliminary examination of Gannon's body has revealed the boy was hit by a blunt object, stabbed and then shot by his killer, who police have identified as Leticia Staunch, The Sun reported. A full autopsy is now underway.

Gannon was reported missing the same day he went missing by Letecia, who claimed he had disappeared while walking to see a friend.

But days later, footage emerged from the day Gannon disappeared that showed the boy getting into her red pickup truck and being driven off by her.

Hours later, the vehicle was seen returning with Letecia behind the wheel but Gannon nowhere in sight.

The footage was captured by neighbor Roderick Drayton, 49, who showed it to a devastated Stauch before handing it to police.

Stauch, a member of the Colorado National Guard, also demanded the couple's French Bulldog, Sadie, be immediately returned to him and said he had no intention of paying Letecia spousal support in divorce documents (pictured)

Drayton told DailyMail.com that the family had appeared happy and normal prior to the 11-year-old's disappearance and said he often saw the boy playing outside.

He said: 'I never saw any sign that he was being harmed. I'd see him outside playing or with his dad in the garage but that was about it.'

He also revealed the FBI possesses further footage taken from his security cameras over the week after Gannon went missing, which he believes will now form part of the case against Letecia.

Drayton said: 'It's a lot of video that I have. The FBI has it now so I can't say what's on it. But whatever she did from that Monday on is on camera.'

The 49-year-old told DailyMail.com that he and other neighbors had initially thought Gannon had been kidnapped by a stranger and said he was shocked when he looked at his security camera footage from the day of his disappearance.

He said: 'When I saw it, it was crazy shocking. Until then, I thought he had just gone missing. The whole neighborhood is full of cameras so if he had gone missing, somebody would have seen him walking.

'But nobody [had] seen him walking so I knew something was wrong. We knew it was time to start searching.'

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said they were contacted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office in Florida last Wednesday about the remains of a boy recovered in Pace, north of Pensacola. Those remains are believed to be Gannon's (pictured)

Letecia (pictured) claimed her stepson disappeared while going to see a friend, but footage showed Gannon getting into her car and being driven off by her

TIMELINE OF GANNON STAUCH CASE: Jan. 27: Gannon Stauch is reported as a runaway; last seen by stepmother Letecia Stauch between 3.15 pm-4 pm Jan. 30: Case is upgraded to a missing and endangered childs case due to his age, need for medication, winter weather and the length of time hes been missing Jan. 31: Letecia Stauch gives interview to KKTV saying deputies had threatened to shoot her and put her 17-year-old daughter in handcuffs Feb. 4: Neighbor Roderrick Drayton shares surveillance video showing what appears to be Letecia returning home at 2.19pm without Gannon in her pickup truck; claims boy's father broke down in tears when he saw the video Feb. 5: District Attorney Dan May visits Stauchs home; Stauch family make YouTube statement to bring Gannon home Feb. 7: Searchers use submersible remotely operated vehicle with sonar to scour a pond near Stauch family's home Feb. 8: Candlelight prayer vigil is held at Lorson Ranch Feb. 11: Letecia Stauch releases statement to Fox 31 claiming Gannon was in her truck on Jan. 27 and that later left with a 'friend' Feb. 21: Ground search for Gannon is halted by investigation continues Feb 28: Planned search for Gannon is called off without explanation Mar 2 Letecia Stauch is arrested in connection to the case. Stauch was charged with murder of a child under 12 years of age by a person in a position of trust, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with a dead body. Authorities announce that they don't believe Gannon is alive, but they haven't found his body. The investigation is ongoing March 5: Letecia is extradited from South Carolina to El Paso County, Colorado March 18: Remains on a boy are found in Pace, Florida March 20: Autopsy performed on child's remains tentatively identify the deceased as Gannon Stauch Advertisement

He added: 'I had no idea it would be her. My son likes to ride around the neighborhood by himself so a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned a car was driving around the neighborhood looking like it was trying to pick up kids.

'I was thinking maybe somebody picked him up or something so I was like let me search through here and make sure no car came by and picked him up. After that, I was like hmmmm.'

The Stauch family have now moved out of the property and have moved into a new home less than three miles away, helped by members of their local church.

On Sunday, Stauch released a statement through his church, saying: 'I would like to take this opportunity to reach out to the community here in Colorado and all over the nation to express my deepest gratitude and true heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming support.

'Many of you have either requested or inquired about information from me or interaction with me throughout these past two months. As you can tell from the initial missing child report, to the arrest and charges in early March, and now the wonderful, yet gut-wrenching news that Gannon's body has been recovered, this has been a heartbreaking and absolutely devastating time period in my life.

'I am a very private person anyways, but balancing my desire to show my great appreciation and my need to cope with the continually evolving devastation has not been easy. I thank each member of the community and media that has respected my privacy and need to process everything that has happened.'

He concluded: 'To those who are loving, supportive, and peaceful, thank you a million times over and God bless you all. I will more than likely not give any public interviews or statements until the end of the case, but I thank you all in advance for respecting my approach.'

Meanwhile, police are continuing to build a case against Letecia and have filed a 20-page list of witnesses that includes workers from local gas stations, car rental agents and representatives for waste management companies.

Dave Bernal, of the Waste Management Transfer Station in Colorado Springs, was surprised to discover he was on the list and said he did not know why he was on it.

But Lucas Hale of Widefield Water and Sanitation told DailyMail.com that he did know about the witness list and added: 'I do not comment on open investigations as it is against the law.'

Others on the list, which included Leslie Hicks of School District 20 where Letecia worked, also declined to comment.
PARIS/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Business activity collapsed from Australia and Japan to Western Europe at a record pace in March, as measures to contain the coronavirus hammer the world economy, with data for the United States later on Tuesday expected to be just as dire.

The coronavirus outbreak represents a major external shock to the macro outlook, akin to a large-scale natural disaster, analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note.

Activity in the 19 countries that use the euro has crumbled as nations lock down to curb the spread of the disease, shuttering shops, restaurants and offices.

IHS Markits flash composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the euro zone, seen as a good gauge of economic health, plummeted to a record low of 31.4 in March.

That was by far the biggest one-month fall since the survey began in mid-1998 and below all forecasts in a Reuters poll which gave a median prediction of 38.8.

In France, services activity fell to a record low and manufacturing saw its steepest drop since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Taken together, these declines suggest GDP is collapsing at an annual rate approaching double digits, IHS Markit economist Eliot Kerr said.

A PMI for the services sector in Germany, Europes largest economy, showed a record contraction in activity, while sister surveys showed Britains economy shrinking at a record pace.

IHS Markit said the March figures suggested the euro zone economy was shrinking at a quarterly rate of around 2%, and the escalation of measures to contain the virus could steepen the downturn.

U.S. manufacturing and services PMI surveys are also expected to come in at multi-year lows.

After an initial outbreak in China brought the worlds second-largest economy to a virtual halt last month, an ever-growing number of countries and territories have reported a spike in infections and deaths.

Entire regions have been placed on lockdown and in some places soldiers are patrolling the streets to keep consumers and workers indoors, halting services and production and breaking global supply chains.

Mirroring the emptying of supermarket shelves around the world, indebted corporates have rushed into money markets to hoard dollars, with a global shortage of dollar funding threatening to cripple firms from airlines to retailers.

PMI surveys from Japan showed the services sector shrinking at its fastest pace on record this month and factory activity contracting at its quickest in a decade.

This was consistent with a 4% contraction in 2020, Capital Economics senior economist Marcel Theliant said. The likely postponement of the Tokyo Olympics is expected to deal a heavy blow to the worlds third-largest economy.

INFINITE STIMULUS

With most asset markets tanking, global central banks have been rolling out extraordinary measures on an almost daily basis to stop the rot.

In its latest drastic step, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Monday promised bottomless dollar funding and .

For the first time, the Fed will back purchases of corporate bonds, backstop direct loans to companies and soon will roll out a program to get credit to small and medium-sized businesses. It will also expand its asset purchases by as much as needed.

The Fed last week slashed borrowing costs to zero and took other emergency steps to keep the commercial paper, U.S. Treasury debt and foreign dollar funding markets functional.

But some analysts say infinite monetary policy easing may not be enough and fiscal steps are crucial. The latest U.S. effort on that front remains stalled in the Senate as Democrats said it contained too little money for hospitals and not enough limits on funds for big business.

Negotiators made great progress on the bipartisan $2-trillion stimulus measure on Monday, but without striking a final pact as they had hoped, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.

Mnuchin will chair a conference of G7 finance ministers and central bankers early on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Euro zone finance ministers will meanwhile discuss proposals by the European Commission to deploy the blocs bailout fund, which has 410 billion euros of unused lending power.

With the International Monetary Fund predicting a global recession, the worlds 20 largest economies agreed on Monday to develop an action plan, but without specifics.

For the U.S. economy to be able to come out of the current crisis and the ongoing recession relatively unscathed, more radical policy interventions will be needed in the next few weeks, said Anna Stupnytska, global head of macro and investment strategy at Fidelity International.

Speculation is mounting data on Thursday will show U.S. jobless claims rose an eye-watering 1 million or more last week.

Goldman Sachs warned the U.S. economy could contract by an annual rate of 24% in the second quarter, 2-1/2 times greater than the previous biggest contraction, after World War Two.
Zhao Lei, a chief physician with Wuhan Union Hospital, shared his clinical treatment experience and epidemic prevention knowledge with his counterparts in North America via a global remote video system Sunday morning.

The system was provided by WeDoctor, China's leading technology-enabled healthcare solutions platform, providing seamless online and offline healthcare services.

During the two-hour conversation, more than 60 medics from Canada and the United States participated, with a total of over 15,000 viewers.

"We urgently need to know about Wuhan's diagnosis and treatment experience, treatment plan and medication guidance in the fight against the epidemic. Dr. Zhao has given us great encouragement and help," said Zhang Huaiying, a North American medical worker who attended the online training.

Zhao has been fighting on the front line of the battle against the outbreak of the coronavirus in China. Now, as the epidemic situation in Wuhan has been brought under control, Zhao immediately began to support his counterparts and compatriots in many other countries online.

"We are very willing to help everyone to fight the epidemic with firm confidence through online communication," Zhao said.

This is not the first time Zhao has shared China's experience in fighting the coronavirus through the Internet. A few days ago, he also had a video talk with a general practitioner named Luca Varcasia from the Italian city of Sassari. On the same day, apart from their Chinese counterparts, users from nine countries including the Netherlands and India watched the live broadcast.

In the video connection, Zhao answered in detail seven questions from Luca and doctors from the departments of emergency, internal medicine and general practitioners in several Italian hospitals. "I am very worried about my city. The information shared by Dr. Zhao would be pure gold for us," Luca said.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in many countries around the world, a number of Chinese technology companies have launched online consulting platforms globally to share Chinese experience and solutions.

A bilingual global anti-epidemic platform in both Chinese and English was jointly launched by WeDoctor and the China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care (CPAM), bringing together nearly 7,000 experts from respiratory medicine, infection department, general practice and other departments of China's top-level hospitals. At the same time, a bilingual book containing knowledge on the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus pneumonia was also launched online.

Baidu Health has launched an online consultation platform Ask Doctor and also set up a special zone for global aid, gathering more than 100,000 doctors to provide services such as free diagnosis, psychological assistance and live expert broadcasts.

AliHealth, under China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, has opened an online medical consultation area for overseas Chinese. As of Monday, hundreds of thousands of overseas Chinese have logged in, and the daily consultation volume has more than tripled from last week.

The Jack Ma Foundation initiated and funded the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, to publish an online novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention manual in both Chinese and English. The manual will also be translated into Italian, Korean, Japanese and Spanish to promote multilingual global sharing.

In China's fight against the epidemic, the Internet plus healthcare platform has played an irreplaceable role. For example, the real-time platform of WeDoctor on novel coronavirus has received more than 125 million visits in China and provided more than 1.61 million medical consultation services.

China's experience in fighting against the coronavirus is being transmitted to the world more quickly and conveniently through China's Internet plus healthcare attempt.

Liang Tingbo, Party chief of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, said, "science and technology have no national boundaries, and doctors and nurses have no national boundaries either. Facing a common enemy -- the virus, our goal is the same."

At this moment, sharing resources and exchanging anti-epidemic experiences, we will have a chance to overcome this disaster, said Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
Non-profits in the Lake Houston area are continuing to serve those most in need during the coronavirus pandemic. Although some options are limited, some supplies are still beginning to run short.

Family Promise of Lake Houston, a local non-profit supporting homeless children and families, is one of the organizations that needs community assistance to serve those most in need. Families in their program stay at their office, which is a small house, during the day and then sleep in churches that offer their space from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. every night.

Related: Coronavirus live updates

Jessica Penney, Family Promise of Lake Houston executive director, said their office has been closed to visitors and volunteers and they are keeping a strict schedule for disinfecting and cleaning. Two staff members are working in the office while also managing time with their own children who are home from school. In an already troubling climate amid the risks of the coronavirus, there is currently a baby in their program that had open heart surgery about three weeks ago.

Hes under quarantine, which is challenging in a program like this, Penney said.

At this time of year, Family Promise would normally be preparing for their biggest fundraiser, Chicks and Hogs, an annual barbecue and brew off. Although they have not officially canceled the event, large events like this are on unsteady ground. Penney said they will be keeping an eye on coronavirus updates. Its not lost on Penney that the grand prize  a $15,000 travel voucher  is now an ironic gift.

Family Promise of Lake Houston is supported 100% by the local community and our fundraising efforts  we dont accept any state or federal money, Penney said. So for us, this fundraiser is about a third of our annual budget and its always, for 11 years, the last weekend of April.

Related: H-E-B stiffens product limits to 'protect the supply chain'

Normally, a local family would host dinner at the church for the families in the program, but Penney has changed this requirement to individual personal discretion because of the coronavirus. For those who can help, Penney has been asking for gift certificates to Lake Houston area restaurants. The cards should be mailed to their office so families in their program can pick up food if they dont have a dinner host as well as help businesses who are also hurting from the coronavirus. She has made a list on their website to make suggestions about where people can go.

Were helping them as the local community helps us, Penney said.

HAAM continues Meals on Wheels

Humble Area Assistant Ministries is an inter-faith organization that helps community members in dire straits by providing food, case management and basic needs. HAAM also runs the local Meals on Wheels service, which is continuing to provide seniors with frozen meals every week in addition to their hot meals. No more than 10 people can be in the HAAM offices at a time, according to executive director Millie Garrison. At this time, they are in need of baby diapers, formula, and paper goods, but cannot take any more volunteers.

They received a semi-truck worth of food before everything started shutting down, which is providing food daily at their offices through the food express. Volunteers are still delivering Meals on Wheels.

Its day-by-day, so its very fluid, Garrison said. So I think having a real flexible staff and a great team has been a blessing because its ever-changing daily. So you wake up and you do what you can do that day and try to meet the needs.

FamilyTime continues to support domestic violence victims

FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center is also finding a way to continue helping protect and assist victims of domestic violence during the coronavirus. Their volunteers have been suspended for now as they work to follow guidelines set by the CDC, Texas Council on Family Violence, Health and Human Services Commission and other government entities, according to an email sent by Interim Executive Director Lori Carroll. The annual event, "Mothers of Jewels" luncheon which was scheduled for April 23rd, has been postponed as well.

Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox

Counseling centers in Humble and Dayton will continue to have a 24-hour crisis hotline. Their counseling center hours have changed to Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m until 1 p.m. and caseworkers and legal advocates are also available to assist those who need their services by teleconference.

FamilyTime is asking for donations such as sanitizer, latex gloves, dishwashing liquid, toilet paper, Lysol spray, Clorox wipes, bottled water, bleach and rubbing alcohol for their operations, including The Door shelter.

Your support to FamilyTime always means so much, especially during challenging times like this, Carroll wrote. Please take extra safety precautions for yourselves and for your families. We are fortunate to live in this great community where we are resilient and continue to help one another.

savannah.mehrtens@chron.com
In the wake of coronavirus outbreak in India, state governments has decide to shut all places with to avoid large gatherings of people, including religious places. Here is the list of few temples amongst the prominent religious place in the country that had closed their doors for devotees as a precautionary measure to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. (Image: Reuters)

Gorakhnath temple | Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh | Temple authority had decided to close the place for devotees till March 31 amid coronavirus spread. (Image: gorakhpur.nic.in)

Siddhivinayak temple | Mumbai, Maharashtra | Temple is closed for devotees since March 16 amid coronavirus outbreak and will remain shut until further notice. (Image: AP)

Mumbadevi temple | Mumbai,| Maharashtra | Temple will remain closed for devotees as a precaution against the coronavirus spread till further notice. (Image: Wikimedia commons)

Ganga aarti | Varanasi | District administration has banned the famous Ganga aarti of Varanasi till March 31, 2020 as a measure against the coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Reuters)

ISKCON temple | Noida, Uttar Pradesh | After state government imposed Section 144 amid coronavirus spread, the temple has decided to remain closed till March 31. (Image: iskconnoida.org)

Kamakhya | Guwahati, Assam | Temple had shut its doors until further notice to prevent the spread of coronavirus outbreak. (Image: Wikipedia)

Jagannath | Puri, Odisha | Temple administration has decided to suspend entry of devotees till March 31, 2020 to avoid large gathering preventing the spread of coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Wikipedia)

Vaishno devi | Katra, Jammu | Yatra has been called off until any further notice in the wake of coronavirus threat. All the operation of buses from J&K, both incoming and outgoing are also banned. (Image: Reuters)

Sri Venkateswara temple | Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh | The state government and the temple collectively decide to close the temple till March 31 as a precautionary measure to control the coronavirus outbreak. (PTI)

Chilkur Balaji Temple | Hyderabad, Telangana | Temple will be closed for devotees till March 25, 2020 as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Wikipedia)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:53:13|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-backed Yemeni government on Tuesday accused the Houthi rebel group of seizing a United Nation's ship near the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

According to a statement released by the state-run Saba News Agency, the government said that "the UN ship, which moored near Hodeidahs strategic seaport carrying its cease-fire monitoring officers, is still seized by the Houthi rebels."

The government's statement clarified that the Houthis prevented the UN ship that's used for hosting meetings between representatives of two warring rivals from leaving Hodeidah's port.

"The UN ship was scheduled to sail at 6 a.m. local time to transfer the government's cease-fire monitoring delegation to the Red Sea port city of Mocha but the Houthis stopped it," the statement said.

General Mohammed Aida, chief of the government's cease-fire monitoring delegation held the UN mission full responsibility for ensuring the safety of his team members aboard the ship seized by Houthis, according to the statement.

Earlier this month, the Yemeni government suspended its participation in the UN-led committee tasked with overseeing the fragile cease-fire in Hodeidah in a protest against a Houthi attack.

The government's decision came after a senior military officer working with the joint UN-led cease-fire monitoring committee was shot by a Houthi sniper in Hodeidah.

In October, the United Nations started deploying cease-fire observers in Hodeidah, establishing five observation points near the military contact lines between the two warring parties.

The observation points are manned by liaison officers from both parties in accordance with the cease-fire agreement reached last year in Sweden that also called on both warring sides to move forces away from ports and parts of the strategic city.

However, sporadic exchange of gunfire and artillery shelling continued to rock the strategic port city despite the presence of the cease-fire observers.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control much of Hodeidah while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to its southeastern districts.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 24

By Azer Ahmadbayli  Trend:

Paradoxically, Iran, which has the second largest proven gas reserves in the world (32 tcm in 2018, based on BP data), exports its strategic commodity to world markets in minuscule amounts, and this has been happening for decades.

If you look at the map, you will see that Iran is surrounded by gas producing and exporting countries: Qatar, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, a consortium of Eastern Mediterranean countries. Recently, Saudi Arabia has put itself forward at the international level.

In 2018, according to the latest BP statistical review, Iran exported a tiny 12 bcm of gas. For comparison, Russia's exports amounted to 248 bcm, Qatars  125 bcm, Turkmenistans  35 bcm, and those are just closest neighbors.

Iran does not yet possess an LNG supply infrastructure, and therefore, is currently unable to access the largest markets in Asia (China, Japan, South Korea) and Europe.

Meanwhile, it is also out of the question to implement pipeline shipments to the European market in the near future, given the long-lasting sanctions regime, the general geopolitical climate around Iran, and, presumably, the lack of sufficient funds.

As a result, for Iran, it has to settle for the few regional markets that have become traditional for its gas export.

Based on preliminary figures published by the Turkish energy market regulator, in 2019, the volume of gas imports from Iran made the same as in 2018.

However, beginning from April and until the end of 2019, gas supplies from Azerbaijan exceeded those from Iran with year-end share in the Turkish gas market making 22 percent against Iran's 17 percent.

Iran, which has been consistently ranked second (after Russia) among gas suppliers to Turkey, has moved to the third position, giving way to Azerbaijan. In addition, during the year, Algeria and Qatar several times bypassed Iran by delivery volumes.

This has not been observed for at least the past ten years.

The Iraqi gas market is much more unpredictable due to the political instability prevailing in the country.

However, the very fact that supplies are dependent on a third party indicates the fragility of the situation with the export of Iranian gas to Iraq.

Iran also has agreements with Pakistan (IP pipeline project), Oman (Iran-Oman gas pipeline project) and India (MEIDP project) on the construction of export gas pipelines. But they are currently getting left on the shelf.
China on Tuesday decided to lift the three-month lockdown on more than 56 million people in the central Hubei province, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, on Wednesday amid warnings by experts of a looming second wave of the COVID-19 infections in the country due to the steady rise in "imported cases".

The prolonged lockdown of Hubei's capital Wuhan will end on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine over the city with a population of over 11 million.

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus cases were first detected in December last year on Monday reported one new confirmed case of the COVID-19 after reporting zero cases for five consecutive days.

Hubei province and Wuhan city which together have over 56 million population were kept under strict lockdown since January 23 with a ban on all movement of people and transportation.

China is embarking on a major step to open up its coronavirus epicentres just as India and the world is seriously grappling with the fast-paced spread of the disease which has become a global pandemic forcing most of the countries to go into a lockdown mode.

People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei Province, if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases, according to a circular issued by the provincial COVID-19 control headquarters, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Wuhan will take differentiated measures to promote the resumption of business operations based on the health risks of different regions to mitigate the impact on the economy, the circular said.

Other areas in Hubei will lift outbound transportation restrictions from Wednesday.

Migrant workers who hold green cards and get negative nucleic acid testing results will be sent out of the province to their workplace directly.

On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city's public transport and all outbound flights and trains, in an attempt to contain the epidemic within its territory. Similar restrictions were soon introduced in other areas in Hubei.

Local officials announced plans to gradually ease the severe measures as the virus cases dropped dramatically in recent days.

Hubei, however saw seven new deaths on Monday, all of which were in Wuhan, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 3,160.

The province still has 4,200 patients being treated in hospitals of which 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, according to China's National Health Commission.

Hubei has so far reported a total of 67,801 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 50,006 in Wuhan reflecting on the intensity with which the vicious virus, reportedly emerged from a local live animal market in the city shook the province.

On Tuesday, the NHC reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections taking their total to 427.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland has reached 81,171 by the end of Monday. This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the NHC said on Tuesday.

While the gradual opening of Hubei province will enable its over 56 million to emerge out of the strict lockdown which also effectively shielded the grim stories of their suffering, there are apprehensions highlighted in the Chinese official media about how they will be received in the rest of the country considering the stigmatisation of the areas with COVID-19 and its deadly nature of transmission.

As the virus emerged in Wuhan, several foreign countries, including India, has evacuated their nationals and subjected them to stringent quarantine procedures to ensure the virus is not spread back home.

Also as China appeared eager to reopen the country starting factories and business to make up for the lost time, Chinese experts warned of a possible second wave of the COVID-19 virus attack.

The total number of imported cases of the virus reached 427 on Tuesday as a large number of overseas Chinese especially in countries like Italy which have now emerged as the new COVID-19 epicentres arrived back home.

Loopholes in screening processes at customs and inadequate quarantine measures upon entry into the Chinese cities as well as a high proportion of asymptomatic cases are making the second wave of novel coronavirus outbreak highly likely, even inevitable, as the global pandemic continues to worsen, state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday.

Although a drop in new cases is reported on a daily basis, all new cases now are imported infections, sparking serious concerns over a looming second outbreak in China, it said.

China's epidemiologist Li Lanjuan told media here on Monday that China still faces a severe situation currently due to the surge in imported cases from other countries and regions.

"China is already facing the risk of a second outbreak as the number of imported cases already reached a small peak," Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told the Global Times.

However, various Chinese medical experts believed that a second outbreak is unlikely, considering the country's stringent measures and experiences during the past two months in combating the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Much of the markets recovery depends on how soon the domestic economic turnaround starts, delayed and hurt as it is by the Coronavirus epidemic, feels Axis Mutual Funds Head of Equity, Jinesh Gopani. He spoke to Moneycontrols Venkatasubramanian on a host of issues, including the problem of a narrowly-led rally with very few stocks participating, value opportunities in the mid-cap space and the high levels of cash held by many equity schemes of the fund house. Excerpts:

Many countries in the developed world have announced rate cuts, stimulus packages etc. But the markets seem to be ignoring such moves and continue to fall.

These rate cuts were announced when the markets were already falling. Now, investors may be panicking because such sharp rate cuts and stimulus may suggest fears of the US economy slipping into a recession. Investors may be under the fear that the strong action from the US is actually indicative of deeper problems to come in the economy. If the Covid 19 virus does not subside within the next few months, the global economy may slip into a recession in the next financial year.

Nobody has managed an epidemic of such scale and therefore there is bound to be some panic. The only way to do a stimulus now for many countries is on monetary side, which is what they have done.

With all the global fear and panic, will our (Indias) own recovery be pushed further forward?

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

Clearly, the March quarter will be a white-wash. The June quarter too may not turn out so great for us. Any recovery is likely to happen only in the September and December quarters. Much depends on how the Coronavirus problem is solved or its spread is contained.

A narrow set of stocks led the rally till recent times. Barring a handful, most other stocks continue to languish. Are we paying too much for quality and safety, and disregarding expensive valuations?

Business cycles are shortening and there is an issue of corporate governance. If you see in the last 2-3 years, the stocks that have butchered the most are those that had corporate governance issues.

Therefore, a good fund manager has to avoid such stocks and has to pick those with robust governance practices.

However, when the economy recovers, more stocks will participate in the rally. Not too many companies can grow when the GDP increases by 5 per cent. In such times, the larger and solid ones will have the wherewithal to weather tough times. However, once the economy starts growing at 6-7 per cent, many more firms will start having robust volume growth, and there will a broad-basing of rallies. But if the economic recovery takes time, and we grow at around 5 per cent, fewer stocks will participate in a market up-move and there will be a flight to quality.

Is it the right time to bottom-fish in mid and smallcaps, through the fund or even the direct route? Stocks in the segments continue to languish. Are valuations inviting now?

Normally, equity markets are representative of the economic growth in the country. The stocks that participate well in that growth will get significant flows. This is the case with stocks across the globe.

If the equity markets represent the growth and RoE (return on equity) of companies, we feel that growth as a philosophy is still better to play. With the current market fall, stocks that were expensive have corrected by 25-30 per cent and have become attractive.

Our suggestion for investors is to take a more multi-cap approach rather than going only for mid and smallcaps.

Earnings growth of the listed universe continues to disappoint for years now. At the end of every earnings season, there is disappointment of earnings missing estimates. When are we likely to witness a sustained upgrade in earnings at the index level?

India is a bottom-up stock picking destination. There is a huge opportunity for picking companies that are growing well and have good corporate governance. It is better to choose individual stocks carefully rather than chasing indices, ETFs etc. Also, given that business cycles are shortening and there is huge disruption due to the use of technology in most segments, we have to careful about just going by the output shown on excel sheets! You have to go over each company carefully, rather than going by, say, the Nifty 50s EPS (earnings per share).

Do you feel that the budget has done enough to stimulate demand?

The problem with market participants is that they expect all the suggestions made before the budget to come through. So there were unrealistic expectations that LTCG would go and that the government would give heavy stimulus etc. But the government chose the path of fiscal prudence. This was good because if we breach the fiscal limits, and if there is a downgrade in our countrys credit rating to junk status, then we would not get the foreign inflows that we are currently getting.

They already reduced corporate tax rates significantly in September.

The budget is generally a non-event for us.

You have recently increased the cash holding across equity funds  large, multi and midcap (15-17 per cent of the portfolio). Is it to insulate yourself from such falling markets, or is it a lack of investing opportunities?

Frankly, we do not like to take out money from the market and have cash. The flows into our funds were very strong. As valuations were high in many of our existing stocks and other companies as well, we chose to invest judiciously. Normally, we would like to keep only around 5 per cent as cash in our portfolio. In the last one year, we have had many events  elections, rapid fall in economic growth (7.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent), budget etc. So, we had to tread cautiously.

Given the steep 30 per cent fall in the markets within a month, should investors consider deploying lumps-sums in the market?

I would always advice taking the SIP route. May be you can take the daily or weekly SIP route. We are in an unchartered territory as far as markets are concerned. Oil prices too have crashed and the blackswan event of the Covid 19 epidemic is still spreading. So, it is better to tread cautiously.
A passenger who walked off the Ruby Princess cruise ship without any health checks or warnings by authorities is now being treated in a hospital's intensive care unit after testing positive to coronavirus.

Greg Butler, 56, and his fiancee Robin Russ were among 2,700 passengers allowed to walk off the boat in Sydney on Thursday without any medical questions asked.

The unknowing couple then travelled for six hours on public transport to their hometown of Tamworth, in northeast NSW, and spent the next four days at home before Mr Butler felt unwell with 'pins and needles', a headache and cough.

He took himself to the doctor on Monday and was diagnosed with coronavirus.

Ruby Princess cruise ship passenger Greg Butler (left) is currently in ICU in Tamworth Hospital with coronavirus. He and partner Robin Russ (right) caught a six-hour train to Tamworth after disembarking the ship at Sydney Harbour last Thursday

While on the cruise, Mr Butler posted a photo on Facebook saying 'Drinking Corona in the Crooners bar on a Princess Cruise... watch this space'

The security guard is now in Tamworth Base Hospital's ICU ward being treated for a severe case of the killer virus.

'We got home and he had a cough on Friday morning, and then he collapsed on me yesterday,' Ms Russ said.

'He's in ICU but he says it's just like having a mild flu, they expect he will be released in coming days.'

Ms Russ said both she and Mr Butler could not believe how easily they were allowed off the ship.

She said if there was even the slightest belief someone on the ship had coronavirus, they should have been locked onboard.

'We were told we could get off and go home, take public transport or whatever we wanted, it was just ridiculous,' Ms Russ said.

'We got into Sydney Harbour at 2am and then took the light rail to central and a train from there.

A relative of Mr Butler's claimed he and his partner had spent the past few days in isolation since stepping off the ship

'By the next morning the government has got onto us to tell us to self-isolate, so they clearly knew someone had it.

'We just can't understand how they let us do that, and now we're getting the blame for it.'

Ms Russ has tested negative to coronavirus, as has her elderly mother who lived with her and Mr Butler.

Because they were given no warning about the potential of having caught the virus on the ship, Mr Butler and Ms Russ said they caught the light rail from Circular Quay to Central Station, then a train to the Central Coast, before driving to Tamworth.

'We could have come into contact with anyone,' Ms Russ said.

Mr Butler is one of 133 passengers on board the ship to test positive to the virus, including a 77-year-old woman who died on Monday.

There have been 107 cases diagnosed in NSW from the Ruby Princess and 26 cases interstate

Because they were given no warning about the potential of having caught the virus on the ship, Mr Butler and Ms Russ caught the light rail from Circular Quay to Central Station, then a train to the Central Coast, before driving to Tamworth

In a post to Facebook soon after he got home, Mr Butler said it was astounding there was no quarantine checks before they left the boat.

He said all passengers were given was a handout instructing them to self-isolate once they got home.

'We weren't even looked at by anyone when we left the ship and were allowed to travel on public transport,' he wrote.

Mr Butler's diagnosis comes just days after he criticised the handling of the situation by both Ruby Princess staff and the NSW, and federal governments.

He told The Daily Telegraph he was shocked by the ease with which they were able to disembark and leave the area.

'They didn't check bags, didn't check passports we could have brought in a bag of heroin and walked right through it,' Mr Butler said.

Mr Butler (left) had previously been critical of the ability of Ruby Princess passengers to so easily leave the ship last Thursday. He is currently in a stable condition in Tamworth Hospital

Mr Butler received this letter as he disembarked the ship, but claimed not enough was done to stop sick people being released into the community

New South Wales currently has the highest number of confirmed cases in Australia, with 818 people infected. Nationally, there are 1,894 reported cases

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

At the time the ship docked last Thursday, NSW Health said 'no cases' of COVID-19 had been identified by doctors on board.

'Five people who had displayed influenza-like illness were tested in Wellington, New Zealand on 14 March, and all were negative for COVID-19.'

But in a statement released on Tuesday, NSW Health confirmed a 70-year-old woman who had been on board the Ruby Princess had died of the virus.

'This patient was one of the initial three passengers who were confirmed to be COVID-19 positive following testing of retained specimens from on-board the Ruby Princess,' a NSW Health spokesperson said.

She is the eighth person to die from coronavirus in Australia, and the seventh person in NSW.
A laboratory test on Tuesday identified the first case of coronavirus in Sweetwater County.

That case involves a Green River man in his 40s. He is self-isolating at home, authorities there said in an announcement.

"We would like for this to be our one and only case, but we are aware this likely will not be the situation, said Kristy Nielson, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County chief nursing officer. We are taking precautions to minimize the spread; we ask the community to help us with this by following the advice we are providing.

Meanwhile, the state announced an eighth case in Cheyenne, a third in Teton County and a 12th in Fremont County.

All told, there are have 34 cases identified in Wyoming.

In other news, Natrona County's second novel coronavirus patient, confirmed Monday night, likely contracted the virus after traveling internationally, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Fremont County has the cases of coronavirus of any county in Wyoming. Most have been tied to a Lander assisted-living center.

There were no immediate details about the new Fremont cases, nor the new Teton case.

Hailey Rodgers-Bloom, spokeswoman for the Casper-Natrona County Healthy Department, told media Tuesday that the new patient in the Casper area has been self-quarantining since he or she returned from their trip and that health officials don't believe there's an immediate danger of spread to the broader community.

The test for the new Natrona County patient was taken by the health department and submitted to the state lab. The sample for the county's previous patient was taken at a Wyoming Medical Center clinic.

The latest Cheyenne patient is in their 40s and has had contact with another confirmed patient, according to a city press release. Cheyenne's eight known cases are the state's second highest, surpassed by Lander's 10 patients.

As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, there have been 30 identified cases in Wyoming, although health experts say the actual number is almost certainly higher due to the dearth of tests. Rodgers-Bloom said that 70 tests from Natrona County have returned negative. Two have been positive, and 30 more are still awaiting results.

Statewide, the state lab has processed 567 tests, with the vast majority returning negative. Commercial labs have tested scores more. New data from the state Department of Health shows roughly 45 percent of the state's confirmed cases are from "contact with a known case." More than 25 percent is from domestic travel, less than 5 percent is from international travel, and 25 percent are from unknown origins.

Roughly an equal amount of patients have pre-existing health conditions or are otherwise healthy. For a fifth of Wyoming's cases, it's unclear if they had previous medical conditions. Most had fever and cough.

Cases have been identified in Campbell, Carbon, Fremont, Laramie, Natrona, Park Sheridan and Teton counties.

In an effort to slow the spread of the disease and avoid overwhelming the medical system, Gov. Mark Gordon has ordered schools closed through early April. He's also required several types of businesses that cater to the pubic to close their doors for two weeks. That includes bars, gyms and museums. Restaurants, meanwhile, can only offer takeout and delivery.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is a respiratory illness. Its symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath. Symptoms appear within two weeks. If you have contact with a person who has COVID-19, you should self-isolate for 14 days.

Natrona County residents who fear they have COVID-19 or another respiratory illness are encouraged to call Wyoming Medical Center's newest clinic, which was established specifically for this issue. The clinic will only test those patients who do not have the flu and who physicians believe may have COVID-19. The clinic, which accepts walk-ins but asks you to call ahead, can be reached at 307-233-0291. It's located at 245 S. Fenway St. in Casper.

The hospital has also launched a telehealth screening hotline. Patients who are experiencing respiratory illness symptoms such as fever, cough, nasal and chest congestion and sore throats can call the hotline, where they can speak with a registered nurse. The hotline number is 307-233-7288 and is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Patients who believe they're sick are asked not to go to the emergency room to avoid overwhelming the facility. They are asked to either call Wyoming Medical Center's clinic or the patients' normal health care providers. Only patients who are having trouble breathing should go to the ER.

The Casper-Natrona County Health Department has established a local hotline that potential patients can also call. People can also call the number for information about COVID-19. That number is 307-577-9892.

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 Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program is open and ready to assist attorneys who may be facing extra stress and pressure because of the coronavirus outbreak and related closures. TLAP is a free, confidential assistance program providing consultation, referral, intervention, and crisis counseling for lawyers, judges, bar applicants and law students who are struggling with substance abuse, stress, or emotional health issues. Judges, attorneys, and others in the legal profession may also refer colleagues to the program.

To all of our legal family, we at TLAP want to let you know that we are up and running during this difficult time of COVID-19 and understand the many complications that have arisen in the legal community, said Judge Michael Spitzer, TLAP Commission chair. Yet, we are confident that this too shall pass, and it will not only make us all stronger, it will help you, as lawyers and Judges, find new ways to serve the public.

In addition to statewide and local directives calling for social distancing, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued an Order Suspending In-Person Legal Proceedings March 13, which called for judges and lawyers to use innovative strategies to conduct necessary business.

From this, you will find new ways to conduct your businesses in this changing world," said Judge Spitzer. "We want you to know that we care about each of you, and as you love and reach out to others, we love beside you; as you hurt, we hurt with you; and as you seek stability in these times, we strive to provide hope and vision if you find yourself or another in need. We at TLAP reach out to each of you, from the Chief Justice to the 1L student and everyone in between in the legal community, and we are confident that you are survivors and will rise to the top in each of your communities. However, always know that we are available to you and anyone you feel might need assistance. Please feel free to call or email us, and remember our services are free, confidential and anonymous. We help with difficult concerns in difficult times, and we look forward to hearing from you as we navigate the weeks and months ahead as a community.

TLAP can be reached by phone or email  Toll Free: (877) 424-8527 Local: (615) 741-323; Emily Lacey, CRS, Program Manager emily.lacey@tncourts.gov; Kim Williams, CRS, Head of Office Operation kim.williams@tncourts.gov; Lindsey OConnell, LMSW, Mental Health Clinician lindsey.oconnell@tncourts.gov; and Vanessa Reinarz, LPC-MHSP, MMFT, ACTII, Mental Health Clinician vanessa.reinarz@tncourts.gov.

The Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program was established by order of the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1999. The mission and general structure of TLAP are set forth in Rule 33 of the Tennessee Supreme Court Rules. For more information, please visit: www.tlap.org
A total of 130 servicemen remain on self-isolation.

No coronavirus cases have been recorded in Ukraine's Armed Forces, says deputy chief military medic, Colonel Andriy Halushka.

"Now 130 servicemen are on the self-isolation at home," Halushka said, according to the Defense Ministry's press service.

"These are the people who have returned to Ukraine from abroad or have been in contact with those who are now undergoing observation," the official said.

As of 12:00 on March 24, not a single case of coronavirus infection has been recorded among military personnel or employees of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to Andriy Halushka, military medics received some 10,000 express tests, which will be distributed among all military medical clinical centers, garrison and mobile hospitals in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation. Regional military clinics earlier received 20,000 protective face masks.

Read alsoUkraine Health Ministry's fresh report on COVID-19: Number of confirmed cases nearing 100

"We are now also receiving special protective suits, produced in Ukraine precisely for the needs of the Armed Forces. To date, 80 suits have already been made for us, half of which have been sent to the medical units in the JFO zone. We are yet to get several more batches of this fine protective gear," he said.

All military medical facilities are operating in emergency mode, while all scheduled surgical interventions are temporarily suspended. Military hospitals are loaded below 50%. A significant part of therapeutic departments are being reorganized to treat Covid-19 patients.

In every military unit, medical isolators are being set up.

Central Military Sanatorium "Prymorsky" is designated as an observation point for the military.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:02:25|Editor: yan

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PHNOM PENH, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) announced in a press statement late on Tuesday that four more persons were tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 91.

The new patients included an American couple and two British nationals, who were aboard cruise boat Viking Cruise Journey that docked along the Mekong River in Kampong Cham City in southeast Cambodia's Kampong Cham province on March 9, the statement said.

They are among 61 passengers and crew, who have been under quarantine at a hotel in Kampong Cham City since March 10 after three British passengers were tested positive for the virus upon the boat's arrival, it added.

"Currently, the four new patients have been put in isolation rooms for treatment at the Kampong Cham provincial hospital," the statement said.

It added that 53 out of 57 passengers and crew on Tuesday were allowed to leave the hotel where they had been quarantined for 14 days after testing negative for the virus.

The Viking Cruise Journey, carrying a total of 64 passengers and crew in seven nationalities, departed Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam on March 5, traveling along the Mekong River and arrived in Kampong Cham City on March 9.
(TNS)  During the weekend, two people in Cape Cod, Mass., tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Many more people are under self-quarantine after being in close contact with either of the individuals, according to a letter to residents from town Health Director Meggan Eldredge."I understand the innate desire to know who and where the positive cases are, however this is private medical information," Eldredge wrote, noting that it would not change the precautions townspeople were already being asked to take.It is a delicate dance between protecting privacy and protecting ourselves. In addressing a measles outbreak in May, the state Department of Public Health was able to release information on exactly where infected patients had traveled so members of the public could determine for themselves whether they had been exposed and needed to seek medical attention and quarantine. It helped to contain the spread of the disease."Public health officials have a duty to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals reported to them," state Department of Public Health spokesman Omar Cabrera wrote in an email. But he went on to say that "information that could allow a person to be identified can be released when there is a public health need to alert the public."The COVID-19 pandemic may test the limits of privacy protection, legal experts said.When the public is being told that it is facing a national health emergency of unprecedented proportions, it might reasonably expect access to the information needed to protect the community. But when pressed for more information on coronavirus cases to date, town and state health officials quickly draw the curtain of federal privacy protection, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA gave greater protections to personal medical information intended to protect privacy and shield patients from unwelcome and unsolicited marketing tactics."A lot of people don't understand HIPAA. I'm not even sure I do. But often they hide behind it when they don't know what to do," said Wendy Mariner, the Edward R. Utley professor of health law at Boston University School of Public Health."You have to respect patient privacy, but you also need to use common sense with something that is a national health emergency that we haven't seen in our lifetime," said Steve Wirth, a partner at Pennsylvania-based Page Wofberg & Wirth, a national emergency medical services law firm specializing in HIPAA and patient privacy issues. Wirth predicted the coronavirus pandemic would be an unprecedented test of federal patient privacy laws.Part of the privacy concern is that people could face discrimination, isolation, even retribution if their identity were revealed. Plus, it makes it less likely that those who are infected or suspect they are will come forward for testing. It's also understandable that health care officials and municipalities are cautious given that significant fines in the millions of dollars have been levied against those who release information that violates the privacy of individuals covered under HIPAA, not to mention the negative publicity to those who violate patient privacy.Still, there is a long tradition, Mariner said, of local public health departments getting reports from physicians and nurses of a contagious disease and asking the infected person whom they came into contact with so those people can be alerted before they pass it on to someone else. Known as contact tracing, it has proved effective in limiting the spread of many diseases, including measles and sexually transmitted diseases."To me, the more information I can get, the better," said a Centerville woman who takes an immunosuppressant drug that lowers her ability to fight off diseases. Except for walks with her dog, the woman, who did not want her name used, stays in her home. Her husband runs errands, wears gloves and avoids stores where there may be a long wait time."I would say it would be beneficial," she said of knowing whether anyone in her neighborhood had tested positive for COVID-19.People often voluntarily allow the release of more information to better protect the public, but disclosure without permission is also allowed under HIPAA when there is a serious imminent threat to people who have the power and authority to address it, Wirtz said."(HIPAA) is written broadly enough to allow for disclosures as long as you act reasonably and in good faith that the disclosure is necessary and to someone who could reasonably lessen the threat," Wirth said. In general, that means the information is released only to other health agencies or organizations covered under HIPAA regulations, not to the general public, he said.Measles are the contagion champion, infecting 90% of unvaccinated people in close proximity to an infected person. Its microbes are small enough that they can remain suspended in the air for up to two hours after they've been expelled by a cough or sneeze. Tracing and containing a measles outbreak is effective because vaccination has reduced the pool of potential victims.Unfortunately, said public health experts, the delay in initiating widespread testing for COVID-19 likely ensured the horse was already out of the barn and the disease was widespread.There is no vaccine yet for COVID-19, which rapidly spread from two cases in New York City on Jan. 14 to nearly 200 new cases a day nationally by mid-February, with confirmed cases in all 50 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that caused nearly 800 deaths worldwide, the U.S. was able to contain the outbreak to eight lab cases with no deaths by initiating early widespread testing and committing 800 CDC medical experts and staff to work on it. But in the case of COVID-19, the U.S. did not initiate widespread testing because of a shortage of test kits, Mariner said. That left communities blind as the extent of the disease nullified the effectiveness of contact tracing and the need for the public to know, she said."Everyone probably has to assume that it is in their town already. The idea you need to know if someone in your town has the disease in order to protect yourself is naive," Mariner said. "We all need to be taking precautions, because people can be infected and not know it."On its website, the CDC cautions that it is still learning how the new coronavirus spreads, but it believes transmission is primarily through droplets from the mouth of an infected person that are inhaled by someone standing within 6 feet.Coronavirus microbes are heavier than measles microbes and drop out of the air quickly. A letter published in the March 17 New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, Princeton and UCLA did find that enough microbes remained in the air three hours after they had been expelled to be considered infectious, on copper for four hours, cardboard for 24 hours, plastic and stainless steel for up to two to three days.Mariner said the difficulty of containing this coronavirus is that it is often transmitted by carriers who do not show symptoms. One study by Ruiyun Li of the MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and others and published in the March 16 edition of the journal Science found that the rapid spread of COVID-19 in China was made possible by the large number of infected people exhibiting mild or no symptoms and traveling around the country before widespread travel restrictions. They estimated that 86% of infected people showed little to no symptoms and 55% of documented infections came from that group of asymptomatic people."In the past, contact tracing was used because you could find out who was infected, but without enough tests and lab space we haven't been able to do that," said Mariner, who said it has forced us to rely to a high degree on social distancing to slow the spread of the disease."It's appalling. We are very, very much behind the eight-ball," she said.
- Kris Aquino gave tricycle drivers sacks of rice in Puerto Galera

- She and her sons are currently staying there due to the lockdown imposed in Luzon

- The actress donated 25 sacks of rice to the drivers who were affected by the suspension of public transportation

- Kris also encouraged those who are blessed financially to find means to help those who are in need

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Kris Aquino and her sons are currently staying in Puerto Galera due to the lockdown in Luzon.

She donated 25 sacks of rice to the tricycle drivers of the area as her way to help them.

The actress pointed out the plight of the drivers considering that the enhanced community quarantine effectively suspended public transportation.

In Kris' post, she said that it should have been 100 sacks of rice, however, she can't withdraw a huge sum as the nearest bank where she has an account is an hour away.

She only had to make use of an ATM to derive funds.

The actress reiterated in her post that she wasn't posting it to "magpa-bida" but would like to make a point that now is the best time for those who are financially blessed to give in accordance with their capacity.

The mayor also responded to her text and was very thankful for the help that Kris gave.

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, the government faced problems when they imposed the initial community quarantine, which was elevated into the now ongoing enhanced community quarantine. It also suspended transportation causing massive problems with commuters.

The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine.

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!

Are you an avid fan of a celeb? You might want to challenge yourself and see if you can guess the voice of celebs through recordings. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV: LR) (US OTC: LUMIF) (the Company or Luminex) is pleased to release Condor Camp Zone drilling results for holes CC20-26 through CC20-28 and a Pegasus A&B exploration update. The Company has completed approximately 17,800 metres in 32 holes at the Camp Zone since the campaign began. Holes CC19-1 through CC20-28 will be included in the maiden mineral resource estimate for the Camp Zone that will be released later this month.



Given recent events and developments with COVID-19, the Company has elected to pause drilling temporarily and will continuously evaluate restarting the program. Luminex has not had any employees, contractors or community laborers test positive for COVID-19. The Company is implementing measures required by the Ecuadorian government authorities, as well as WHO recommendations in order to protect all workers on site, as well as those at its Quito and Vancouver offices.

Step-out hole CC20-28 intercepted a new higher-grade area measuring 28.1 metres true width from 419.0 to 463.0 metres grading 3.12 g/t gold and 68.2 g/t silver. The intercept included 3.6 metres true width from 421.0 to 426.7 metres grading 12.13 g/t gold and 285.8 g/t silver, the highest silver grades so far encountered at the Camp Zone. Mineralization at the Camp Zone lies on a plane that dips approximately negative 80 degrees to the northeast. The intercept in CC20-28 is located approximately 90 metres southwest of this, deeper in the footwall of the deposit. This new, higher-grade zone appears to be associated with a coalescing of the rhyolite dikes that focus mineralization along their margins. The dikes appear to coalesce to form a thicker single dike to depth and also to the southwest of the current grid of drill intercepts (Figure 2).

Holes CC20-26 and 27 were infill holes focused approximately 150 metres above the main intercept in hole CC20-28 in the area of holes CC19-04EXT, 06, 08, 24 and 25, all of which returned significant intervals that were previously reported (Figure 3). Hole CC20-27 returned 18.0 metres grading 3.24 g/t gold and 28.0 g/t silver.

The Camp Zone remains open at depth and along strike. Future drilling will continue with two drills, one focusing on expansion of the Camp zone targets at depth and one testing shallow surface targets between the Camp Zone and the known mineralization at the Soledad deposit. Soledad Bajo is the area between the Camp Zone and Soledad deposits and is a possible southeast strike extension of the Camp Zone. Soledad Bajo has the potential to significantly increase the deposit size if it connects the two deposits (Figure 1).

Table 1: Drill Hole Results

Hole Azimuth / Dip (degrees) / Depth (m) From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) True Width

(m) Gold

(g/t) Silver

(g/t) CC20-26 30/50/689 m 344.0 346.0 2.0 1.5 3.12 4.7 And 423.0 425.0 2.0 1.3 2.00 24.8 And 448.0 453.0 5.0 3.2 2.99 31.4 And 471.0 472.2 1.2 0.8 4.94 103.0 And 563.0 567.0 4.0 2.8 4.04 31.6 And 577.0 578.0 1.0 0.7 2.60 12.6 And 600.0 601.0 1.0 0.7 2.74 17.4 CC20-27 30/50/722 m 508.0 509.0 1.0 0.8 5.03 95.5 And 514.0 515.0 1.0 0.8 3.49 12.6 And 521.0 539.0 18.0 14.7 3.24 28.0 Incl. 521.0 530.0 9.0 7.3 5.31 44.8 And 596.0 597.0 1.0 0.9 5.8 37.1 CC20-28 30/55/832 m 221.0 222.0 1.0 0.6 2.26 3.6 And 300.0 302.0 2.0 1.2 2.51 6.8 And 419.0 489.0 70.0 44.5 2.26 45.2 Incl. 419.0 463.0 44.0 28.1 3.12 68.2 Incl. 421.0 426.7 5.7 3.6 12.13 289.8 And 509.0 510.0 1.0 0.6 6.05 90.6 And 534.0 535.0 1.0 0.6 2.17 10.3 And 568.0 569.0 1.0 0.6 2.33 5.2 And 631.0 632.0 1.0 0.6 2.76 11.4

Intervals calculated using a lower limit of 0.5 g/t Au with a maximum inclusion of up to four continuous metres below cut-off and the highest gold value used in the reported weighted averages is 22.7 g/t Au.



Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/43c97186-8d7b-4506-ad83-ca60af645b8b

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9932b423-0a0c-468c-a523-beb0e7bf48d0

Figure 3 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3a0d1d02-167b-4d39-8a80-2888203e3bc3

Anglo American  Pegasus A&B Earn-in Update

Pegasus A&B Highlights:

Several copper porphyry prospects were defined for follow up across Pegasus A

Anglo American has plans to drill at Pegasus A in the second half of 2020

Work at Pegasus B will focus on community engagement

In addition to the work at Condor, the Company is pleased to provide an update on its Pegasus A&B concessions that are being operated by Anglo American plc group (Anglo American). Since beginning work in September 2018, a total of approximately US$7.4 million has been spent as of December 31, 2019. The first earn-in ownership threshold of 25% occurs once US$10 million has been spent across the concessions and US$2.4 million of cash payments have been paid. US$0.8 million in cash payments remain to be paid to satisfy the 25% threshold.

Throughout 2019, Anglo American conducted early-stage exploration on the Pegasus A&B concessions (approximately 67,000 ha), completing geological field mapping and sampling, as well as an airborne supported geophysical survey, covering approximately 2,000 line-km. Most of the airborne geophysics focused on Pegasus A, where coincident magnetic and conductivity anomalies from the survey better defined the areas of interest. In addition, these results were integrated into a detailed three-dimensional structural and lithological interpretation of the claim block. Age dating and whole rock geochemistry has assisted in contextualizing the project with other productive areas of the tertiary porphyry belt. This exploration program has generated several prospects for follow-up work and potential drilling at Pegasus A.

Subject to licensing, the 2020 plan at Pegasus A includes: (1) conducting detailed geological field mapping and sampling in higher priority prospects; (2) completing ground geophysics in higher priority prospects; (3) evaluating and defining drill-ready targets; and (4) commencing diamond drilling on the highest priority targets. Anglo American is working on obtaining the relevant community consents and government licenses to drill under the Ecuadorian Scout Drilling regime.

Work at Pegasus B will primarily consist of community engagement aimed at obtaining community consents needed to conduct geological mapping and sampling.

Quality Assurance

All Luminex sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality control / quality assurance (QA/QC) protocol which includes the insertion of blind standards, blanks as well as pulp and reject duplicate samples. Logging and sampling are completed at Luminexs core handling facility located at the Condor property. Drill core is diamond sawn on site and half drill-core samples are securely transported to ALS Laboratories (ALS) sample preparation facility in Quito, Ecuador. Sample pulps are sent to ALSs lab in Lima, Peru for analysis where gold content is determined by fire assay of a 50-gram charge with ICP finish.

Silver and other elements are also determined by ICP methods. Over-limit samples assaying greater than 10 g/t gold and 100 g/t silver are re-analyzed by ALS using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Luminex is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. ALS Laboratories is independent of Luminex.

Qualified Persons

Leo Hathaway, P. Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration of Luminex and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed, verified and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release and has verified the data underlying that scientific and technical information.

About Luminex Resources

Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV:LR) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador. Luminexs inferred and indicated mineral resources are located at the Condor Gold-Copper project in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador. Luminex also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador, including the Tarqui and Pegasus projects, which are being co-developed with BHP Group plc and Anglo American respectively.

Further details are available on the Companys website at https://luminexresources.com/.

To receive future news releases please sign up at https://www.luminexresources.com/contact/contact-us/.

LUMINEX RESOURCES CORP. For further information contact: Signed: Marshall Koval Scott Hicks info@luminexresources.com Marshall Koval, CEO and Director T: +1 604 646 1899

Neither the 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 news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Camp Zone being released later this month, 2020 plans for Pegasus A&B, that future drilling will continue with two drills, one focusing on expansion of the Camp zone targets at depth and one testing shallow surface targets between the Camp Zone and the known mineralization at the Soledad deposit; and that Soledad Bajo has the potential to significantly increase the deposit size if it connects the two deposits. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; changes in laws (including regulations respecting mining concessions); and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Companys continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Its hard to blame anybody in this because theyre trying to keep the rest of their patients safe, Deggans said. But, I think at some point, if this is going to go on for months, hospitals have to develop a protocol to allow at least one visitor to be with patients that need companionship to recover and that may not be at the end of their life just yet but are close enough that its a possibility."
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) share price has dived 56% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 44% drop over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

View our latest analysis for KeyCorp

How Does KeyCorp's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 5.27 that sentiment around KeyCorp isn't particularly high. If you look at the image below, you can see KeyCorp has a lower P/E than the average (8.3) in the banks industry classification.

NYSE:KEY Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 24th 2020

This suggests that market participants think KeyCorp will underperform other companies in its industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with KeyCorp, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

KeyCorp's earnings per share fell by 5.7% in the last twelve months. But over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have increased by 9.1%.

Story continues

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

KeyCorp's Balance Sheet

KeyCorp's net debt is considerable, at 130% of its market cap. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you must keep in mind that these debt levels would usually warrant a relatively low P/E.

The Verdict On KeyCorp's P/E Ratio

KeyCorp's P/E is 5.3 which is below average (11.5) in the US market. When you consider that the company has significant debt, and didn't grow EPS last year, it isn't surprising that the market has muted expectations. Given KeyCorp's P/E ratio has declined from 12.1 to 5.3 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

You might be able to find a better buy than KeyCorp. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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.
They fell for each other on the set of the sexy psychological thriller Deep Water.

And the romance between Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas seems only to be getting stronger every day.

On Monday evening, the couple emerged from Ben's LA home to take in the air on a leisurely stroll, pausing to share a very public kiss.

So in love: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas couldn't hide their feelings for each other as they enjoyed an evening stroll in Los Angeles on Monday

True romance: The Hollywood star, 47, and the Cuban-born actress, 31, shared a tender and very public kiss

The Hollywood star, 47, and the Cuban-born actress, 31, have been holed up at Ben's Pacific Palisades mansion since returning from vacationing in Cuba and Costa Rica.

They have been inseparable for weeks after filming the Adrian Lyne movie on location in Louisiana.

The pair gazed lovingly into each other's eyes on their walk with Ana's cute white pup and even got a little playful with one another as they shared a joke.

The pair gazed lovingly into each other's eyes on their walk with Ana's cute white pup

Tactile: They even got a little playful with one another as they shared a joke

Close: Ben and Ana seemed completely at ease in each other's company

Living together: The couple have been holed up at Ben's Pacific Palisades mansion since returning from vacationing in Cuba and Costa Rica

Ana has become one of the most in demand actresses after a scene-stealing turn in Rian Johnson's hit Knives Out and landing the role of Bond girl in the upcoming No Time To Die.

A source told ET Monday that Ana and Ben 'instantly had a connection' when they first met.

'Ben and Ana are still early into their relationship, but it's been fun and exciting for both,' the source added.

In Deep Water, the Argo Oscar winner plays a wealthy husband who permits his wife, played by Ana, to have affairs in order to keep her in their marriage.

But when his wife's lovers begin mysteriously disappearing, he becomes the prime suspect.

Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, the movie is the first big screen project in 18 years from British director Lyne who made Fatal Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Indecent Proposal and Unfaithful.

Chemistry: A source told ET Monday that Ana and Ben 'instantly had a connection' when they first met. 'It's been fun and exciting for both,' the source added

Rising star: Ana has become one of the most in demand actresses after a scene-stealing turn in Rian Johnson's hit Knives Out and landing the role of Bond girl in the upcoming No Time To Die

New movie: In Deep Water, the Argo Oscar winner plays a wealthy husband who permits his wife, played by Ana, to have affairs in order to keep her in their marriage. But when his wife's lovers begin mysteriously disappearing, he becomes the prime suspect

Ben, of course, was previously married to actress Jennifer Garner.

The two split in 2015 after a decade of marriage and finalized their divorce in late 2018.

Ben and Jennifer continue to co-parent their three children - daughters Violet, 14, and Seraphina, 11, and son Samuel, eight.

On Monday, Jen was seen out for a walk on the beach in Santa Monica with her children while maintaining social distancing from others during the coronavirus crisis.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday welcomed the release of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and called for the restoration of democratic rights of people in the region.

"So happy to learn that Omar Abdullah's unconstitutional and undemocratic detention has been revoked at last. It is about time the union government restores democratic and constitutional rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well," read the tweet.

The Central government issued orders revoking the detention of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday.

Abdullah was among the many political leaders who had been put under house arrest after the Central government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar Abdullah's father Farooq Abdullah was released from detention earlier this month, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is still under detention.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Federal Government of Nigeria has directed public servants to work from home in order to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The Head of Civil Service, Yemi Esan made this known in a memo released on Monday.

Also Read: MC Oluomo Warns NURTW Members To Adhere To Guidelines In Fighting Coronavirus

According to the Memo, this directive was an effort to curtail the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

Public servants across the country from level 12 and below were asked to work while at home.

Those that remain at work have been ordered to limit the number of visitors that they receive
The Daily Beast

Scott Olson/GettyDonald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR on Tuesday after he was repeatedly called out on his baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.A video of the interview, published Wednesday morning, shows Trump becoming increasingly irritated as NPRs Steve Inskeep asks him why hes still pushing debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat.After Inskeep told the ex-president that his fraud claims have repeatedly been proven false, the reporter a
The move keeps valued employees employed and helps Albertsons Companies fill 30,000 jobs as it responds to increased store traffic due to the COVID-19 emergency.

BOISE, Idaho, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Throughout the country, businesses have been forced to close or scale back operations, furlough employees or reduce hours due to the COVID-19 crisis. Albertsons Companies is in a unique position to help and is partnering with major companies to provide part-time jobs to their employees who have been furloughed or had their hours cut.

The most valuable asset and the core of any business is people, and we are working hard with many Human Resource teams across a variety of businesses who are actively defining next steps for their employees, said President and CEO Vivek Sankaran. So many businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors are scaling back hours or temporarily closing as their customers remain home and adhere to shelter-in-place orders. We are grateful to be a resource to help fill a critical need in our own business and take care of people who want to continue working during this time of national emergency.

Supermarket companies are considered critical infrastructure according to the Federal Government and are required to operate during the crisis. To respond to that requirement, Albertsons Cos. is immediately hiring 30,000 new associates. The company fully understands and appreciates that most people will return to their previous jobs when the crisis is over, and the company and partner employers are fully supportive of the others efforts to keep people working.

Currently, Albertsons Cos. has secured partnerships with 17 companies, some of which include:

ASM Global

BJs Restaurants

G6 Hospitality

Hilton

Inspire Brands

Marriott International

MGM Resorts

Regal Cinemas

G6 Hospitality

Dedicated application sites have been established for employees from participating companies. The partner companies will provide links when they notify their employees about the opportunity for part-time employment with Albertsons Cos.

Story continues

About Albertsons Companies

Locally great and nationally strong, Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. We operate stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaws, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2019 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave $225 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans outreach. The company is currently conducting a major fundraiser to help feed families, school children and seniors in need during the COVID-19 crisis and has donated $3 million towards the cause.

Albertsons Companies

925-738-1387

teena.massingill@albertsons.com


Live fish trade plummets as coronavirus blamed for scaring customers away from Chinese restaurants

March 24,2020 | Source: MSN

The live fish trade out of Tasmania is the latest casualty for the seafood industry, as coronavirus scares customers away from Chinese restaurants.



Rock lobster and abalone exports from the island state were already under pressure from the global spread of COVID-19.



Processor and exporter Steve Crocker usually exports lobster, abalone and live fish to overseas and mainland markets.



This time of year he would usually send about 1,500 kilograms of live fish to the markets in Sydney and Melbourne each week.



He is currently sending less than 400kg.



"Our [Chinese] tourist numbers are not there anymore, and the local community are all concerned about dining in a Chinese restaurant," Mr Crocker said.



He said social media had scared people out of going to restaurants.



"It's fear factor of catching the virus in a restaurant, and it's pretty well unfounded," he said.



"It's exactly like the toilet paper scenario, it's just been blown out of all proportion and it affects so many people."



Seventy-eight fisherman are involved in the Tasmanian fishery and most are owner-operators who employ multiple deckhands.



"We sell live fish into the Sydney and Melbourne markets, it's been affected probably by 70 per cent  because no one is going out to buy fish," Shane Bevis, president of the Tasmanian Scalefish Fishermen's Association, said.



"People won't come out, they don't want to get the coronavirus, so no one is coming out to eat the healthy fish stocks."



The two main live fishery species in Tasmania that are affected are the banded morwong and the blue throated wrasse.



"The wrasse are about 70 tonne a year, the morwong are on a fixed total allowable catch of about 30 tonne a year," Mr Bevis said.



Tasmanian seafood industry products such as rock lobster and abalone were already struggling through the spread of coronavirus.



"With world economics at the moment there is real concern, if the coronavirus spread like they are suggesting, that those high value luxury items might fall off the radar of consumers," said Julian Harrington, CEO of the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council.



"But the longer this goes on, and the more the Australian public becomes exposed to the hysteria of coronavirus, people aren't going to be going to restaurants again."



Fish sales across the board are struggling in parts of Melbourne as customers turn away from restaurants and retailers.



Alvin Miao, owner of the Box Hill Fish Market, is struggling to sell all types of fish.



"We are probably dropping [in trade] around 60 to 70 per cent," he said.



Box Hill has a high population of Chinese and Asian residents.



"They are not wanting to come out shopping here anymore, to protect themselves and their family," Mr Miao said.



He also sells fish wholesale to restaurants in the area.



"[Some] restaurants have been closed for two or three weeks on Station street which is next to us," Mr Miao said.



"And some of the restaurants in the shopping centre, they are only opening for lunch and closing really early."

Theme(s): Others.
03/23/2020

By Ed Brennen

After some hunting, you find a metered parking space in downtown Lowell. But when you go to drop a few quarters in the nearest payment kiosk, the machine doesnt work. Should you find another kiosk? Should you leave a note on your dashboard and hope you dont get a ticket?



It can be a familiar dilemma for anyone who uses Lowells solar-powered parking kiosks, which were installed in 176 locations throughout the city in 2012 but have proven less than reliable in recent years.



To help city officials determine how much life is left in the kiosks before they need to be replaced, 10 graduate students from the Francis College of Engineering and one from the Kennedy College of Sciences are putting their renewable energy know-how to use by inspecting the small solar panels mounted on top of the units and compiling a detailed report for the Lowell Parking Department.



The students are all members of the Solar Energy Association (SEA), a graduate student organization that works to promote renewable energy research and community outreach opportunities. Their project is part of the universitys Service Learning in the College of Engineering (SLICE) program.



SEA President Madhukar Dadhich says the project is a win-win for the students and the city.

Photo by Ed Brennen Photo by Ed Brennen Asst. Teaching Prof. Walter Thomas, faculty advisor to the Solar Energy Association, talks to students about the inner workings of a parking kiosk during a meeting with Lowell Parking Director Terry Ryan, left.

This project gives us a chance to analyze the performance of solar panels in real-life conditions and gain practical knowledge, says Dadhich, a first-year masters student in the energy engineering program from India. Simultaneously, our report will help the Parking Department to maximize the power output from the panels and benefit from the testing results.
Coronavirus is accelerating its spread in New York, with potentially disastrous consequences, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a briefing on Tuesday in which he criticized the federal governments response as woefully insufficient.

The case count is doubling every three days, and the peak of infection in New York could come as soon as two to three weeks, Cuomo said, outrunning earlier projections and threatening to put even greater strain on the health care system than officials had feared.

We havent flattened the curve. And the curve is actually increasing, Cuomo said. The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought. That is a bad combination of facts.

Cuomo, who last week adopted a friendlier tone toward President Donald Trump, chastised the federal government, which has so far sent 400 ventilators to New York City.

You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators, Cuomo said. What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000 ventilators? Youre missing the magnitude of the problem, and the problem is defined by the magnitude.

Shortly after Cuomos comments, Vice President Mike Pence said on Fox News that the federal government had shipped 2,000 ventilators to New York on Tuesday and would send 2,000 more on Wednesday.

Cuomo, speaking at the Javits Center in Manhattan, a convention complex that the Army Corps of Engineers is turning into a 1,000-bed emergency hospital, said that the state now projects a need of up to 140,000 hospital beds to house virus patients, up from the 110,000 projected a few days ago. As of now, only 53,000 are available.

Up to 40,000 intensive-care beds could be needed.

Those are troubling and astronomical numbers, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said that New York was a harbinger for the rest of the United States.

Look at us today, he warned. Where we are today, you will be in four weeks or five weeks or six weeks. We are your future.

The governor also floated the idea of gradually letting young people and those who had recovered from the coronavirus return to the workforce.

But when he was asked at the briefing about conservative commentators who have suggested that some human lives could be sacrificed in the service of restarting the economy, Cuomo bristled. Were not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable, he said.

Other highlights from the governors briefing:

 As of Tuesday morning, New York state had 25,665 cases, with 210 deaths. The state now accounts for nearly seven per cent of global cases tallied by The New York Times.

 The state has so far procured 7,000 of the 30,000 ventilators it needs, which are in shortage as states compete with one another to buy them.

 New York has tested more than 91,000 people  by far the most of any state, Cuomo said.

 New York City has had 14,904 confirmed cases.

 More than 3,200 people are hospitalized and 750 of those patients, or 23 per cent, are in intensive care.

The New York Police Department has begun a new series of patrols to ensure that residents are practicing social distancing appropriately.

On Sunday, in the span of three hours, officers issued at least 50 warnings to restaurants, bars, supermarkets and salons, and to people who were crowding in public spaces, the department said.

We have to keep people separated, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on the Fox and Friends show on Monday morning. So our men and women of the NYPD will be out there spreading the message, telling people to break it up, move along, no lines tight together in a grocery store, no grocery stores full up.

Cuomo has banned all non-essential gatherings in the state. The governor also closed all non-essential businesses on Sunday. People have been asked to practice social distancing by keeping at least six feet away from one another in public, while businesses and other essential service providers were required to implement rules for social distancing.

The police have been frequent visitors to the crowds of customers and delivery riders forming outside the Italian restaurant Carbone in Greenwich Village.
Following an investigation that began in the San Antonio area, the Securities and Exchange Commission last week obtained an asset freeze order against a purported cryptocurrency firm that allegedly bilked millions from investors.

The SEC alleges in a lawsuit filed last week in Austin that the principals of Meta 1 Coin Trust started the fraud while living in Fredericksburg, where they sold unregistered securities and operated the scheme for over a year.

Meta 1 falsely claimed that its digital coins were backed by $1 billion in fine art and later by $2 billion in gold, the SEC says in a complaint that had initially been filed under seal.

Musician-turned-fine-art-collector Charles Trois of Fredericksburg originally alerted the SEC to Meta 1s alleged fraud.

On ExpressNews.com: Collectors obsession leads to crypto coin lawsuit and loss of lavish Hill Country estate

Trois gained fame as a guitarist in the band Soul Survivors, best known for the 1967 tune Expressway to Your Heart. The song hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Trois later reinvented himself as a painter, real estate investor, builder, architect and, perhaps most notably, a fervent collector of seemingly anything of value. He assembled his collection on a nearly 40-acre namesake estate that resembles an old-world village in the Texas Hill Country.

In a lawsuit filed early last year against Robert Dunlap, both individually and as trustee for Meta 1, Trois alleged that he agreed to sell Meta 1 18 pieces of art for $125 million.

Dunlap, though, never paid for the artwork, Trois told the San Antonio Express-News last year.

Meta 1, nevertheless, claimed ownership of the artwork, which Trois said created a cloud over the artwork and prevented him from selling it. The artwork included paintings by van Gogh, Picasso and Dali.

Trois obtained a $25.5 million judgment against Dunlap after he failed to appear in court for a hearing, but Dunlap has appealed. The matter is pending.

Trois is certainly glad to see this action has been taken because he, himself, fell victim to Robert Dunlap, said his San Antonio attorney, David Clay Snell.

A white paper that had been posted on Meta 1s website contained images of the artwork, which was removed after Dunlap was contacted by the Express-News about Trois lawsuit.

In response to the query, Dunlap emailed two documents asserting that Hearst, the newspapers parent company, was in breach of copyright trademarks regarding Meta 1 and Dunlaps name. Each document contained a blood-red thumb print next to Dunlaps signature.

The white paper said investors will be able to invest in the art market by merely purchasing the Meta 1 Coin. The increasing demands for Meta 1 coin and the trusts acquisition of more art will increase the value of each coin.

Trois said he met with a lawyer from the SECs Fort Worth regional office about Meta 1. Trois ex-wife Rebecca and others lost money, though some got their money back, Trois said.

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Meta 1 has raised about $4.4 million from at least 150 investors, the SEC says. Theres no evidence that any investor money has been used to purchase digital currency, the agency adds.

Instead, the SEC says, money was wired out of Meta 1s account to others. Dunlaps girlfriend received more than $900,000 in two separate wires. Another person the SEC is suing allegedly used investor funds to buy a $215,000 Ferrari. Dunlap spent more than $75,000 on a BMW from the account of another trust he controlled.

Dunlap has regularly appeared in web videos with David A. Schmidt, host of a program called the Sedona Connection. Schmidt is a former Washington state senator, who was found to have improperly used campaign funds. He was ordered to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, the SEC notes.

Dunlap and Schmidt, who also is a defendant, told prospective investors that Meta 1s coin could never lose value and would be climb from $22.22 or $44.44 to as much as $50,000 in less than two years following an initial public offering for the coin, the SEC says. Thats a return of as much as about 225,000 percent.

In a May 3 video posted to YouTube, Schmidt said Dunlap had met with an SEC lawyer and was told what Meta 1 was doing was legal and in line.

He (the SEC lawyer) came away so convinced and so impressed with what we were doing, he turned around and bought some coins, Schmidt said.

Dunlap later admitted to the SEC that prior to its investigation, he had never spoken with anyone at the SEC, the agency says in its complaint.

During its investigation, the SEC says the defendants each returned subpoenas with the word Fraudulent marked on every page. Dunlap appeared for testimony but refused to answer some questions and responded to others by saying they were none of the SECs business. Meta 1s website said the trust is not bound by any laws, the SEC adds.

The SEC is suing for fraud in the sale of securities and for the unregistered offering of securities. The agency wants the defendants to turn over any monies received from their illegal conduct and to pay unspecified civil penalties.

The SEC obtained a temporary restraining order against the defendants. A hearing on a preliminary injunction is scheduled for April 13.

Dunlap and Schmidt, who both reside in Boca Raton, Fla., didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
Knowing that four cases of COVID-19 have been identified at a Massachusetts treatment center housing defense attorney David Rangavizs client, who has health issues that put him at a risk for complications of the respiratory illness, an already months-long battle to release the man from incarceration turned into a hastened crusade.

Rangaviz believed his client, Glenn Christie, was being unlawfully held in the first place and first filed a motion seeking the mans release in November. He was still fighting for his client months later when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The attorneys efforts came to a swift halt on Monday, as a Suffolk Superior Court judge denied Rangavizs emergency motion to release 54-year-old Christie from incarceration or stay the execution of Christies sentence.

It does kind of show the dehumanizing effect of the criminal justice system. It never should have come to this. He should have been released a couple weeks after I filed my motion to reconsider when it was made very clear that he never willfully violated any of the conditions of his probation, Rangaviz said in a phone interview Monday.

Christie has been held at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater since being sentenced to one to two years for violating terms of his probation last April. The center as of Monday has identified COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in three inmates and one correctional officer.

Christie was convicted during a 2010 jury trial of four counts of statutory rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child and one count of disseminating material harmful to a minor. On appeal, the court dismissed one statutory rape charge, affirmed the conviction on the dissemination charge and vacated the rest of the convictions, according to court documents.

After remand, Christie in 2018 pleaded guilty on the remaining charges and was sentenced to six years in state prison, deemed served, and 10 years probation.

Christie is currently confined to a wheelchair because of spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column. He needs surgery in order to regain the ability to walk. Christie also suffers from kidney disease and hypothyroidism. Additionally, Christie is possibly facing a recurrence of thyroid cancer, according to court documents.

I suspect that hes in a quarantine, Rangaviz said in a phone interview on Monday. In a message Friday, Christie told Rangaviz that he would be checking his email all weekend. Recently, email has been the main form of frequent communication between the attorney and client. But, Rangaviz, who has been on his clients case for four or five months, has not heard from Christie, the attorney said.

Christie was found to be in violation of his probation for three reasons, according to court documents:

Christie missed a meeting with his probation officer two days after being released from an overnight stay in the hospital. He testified that he was still sick and could not go to the meeting. He called the probation office three times to report his illness on the morning of the scheduled meeting.

He was briefly suspended from sex offender treatment due to missed group meetings and a failure to pay the required fee. Christie was reinstated to the program after less than a month of suspension.

On March 16, 2019, Christies GPS monitoring device broke at no fault of his own, according to court documents. Christie tried to go get the device fixed, but was delayed by a fire that shut down the Blue Line of the MBTA. After being advised to report to court the next day to get the bracelet fixed, thats what Christie did.

Rangaviz argues that Christie did not willfully violate his probation and should not have been incarcerated again in the first place. And now knowing that his client is confined to a close-quarters facility where a contagious disease has been identified, Rangaviz is worried about the health of his client going forward.

Judge Robert Tochka on Monday denied the emergency motion, saying that he thought the release of Christie would endanger the public, according to Rangaviz. The judge did not elaborate about safety in terms of a criminal nature or in terms of the potential spread of coronavirus, the attorney said.

Rangaviz, an attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, said Monday afternoon that he found out his client had not tested positive for the illness.

On Tuesday morning, Rangaviz said he filed an emergency motion with the state Supreme Judicial Court again seeking the release of Christie.

When Mr. Christie filed his petition, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts jails or prisons. Today, there are four diagnosed cases in his particular facility, reads the new emergency moton. Mr. Christies case now checks every conceivable box: he fits into every category that many Massachusetts prosecutor and legislators, and those in other states, have called to be released. The coronavirus is in a single DOC prison: the one in which he lives. If Mr. Christie is not entitled to release by virtue of this pandemic, no one is.

Along with the emergency motion was an amicus letter, submitted by 10 public health experts in support of the motion for Christies release.

In an email with the subject line scared urgent update on Friday, Christie wrote to Rangaviz that correctional officers told the inmates there was a case of COVID-19 in the building. He wrote It is on the verge of panicking here, the attorney said.

After filing the first motion for Christies release in November, Rangaviz said the motion sat on the judges desk for months. After two months, the attorney filed a petition to a single justice of the state supreme court asking the justice to order the lower court to rule on the motion. The petition was denied. Then, the superior court judge denied the motion in a two-sentence order, Rangaviz said.

Its because of his crime of conviction, which is an awful awful crime, he gets treated like hes not human. He did his sentence, he served his time and he was put on probation. The purpose of probation is to rehabilitate. He did everything he could do while on probation to fulfill his conditions and he got a two-year sentence for it. And after three and a half months waiting to rule on a motion, it was denied in a two-sentence order," Rangaviz said.

With the motion denied, Ragnaviz is going to assess his options moving forward, he said.

For all this time until this pandemic, this has not been a request for medical parole or compassionate release. Every single day of his 11-month incarceration has been unlawful. it never should have come to this for us to be in this situation, Rangaviz said.

Federal courts are also seeing attorneys request clients be released over concerns of patients who they say are at risk of complications from coronavirus.

Roberto Vargas, who is facing federal charges in connection with Operation Throne Down, a sting that nabbed more than 60 alleged Latin Kings members, through his attorney has filed a motion for immediate release, arguing that he is at risk of contracting COVID-19 while confined because of his asthma.

The explosion of COVID cases in detention facilities should come as no surprise given the highly contagious nature of the virus, high density confinement, and poor sanitary conditions, wrote Keren Goldenberg, Vargas attorney. While his age works to his favor, Mr. Vargas has asthma which puts him at high risk of serious illness. The CDC warns that people with asthma are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 because the virus affects the respiratory tract and lead to acute respiratory disease.

In arguing for Vargas release, the attorney said that evidence shows Vargass presence at multiple Latin Kings gatherings but a very limited role in their criminal activities. Goldenberg wrote that pre-trial services has recommended his release, that Vargas does not have a criminal history, is not facing a mandatory minimum sentence, and has a suitable place to live.

Danielle C. Ompad, an infectious disease epidemiologist and associate professor of epidemiology at the New York University School of Global Public Health has written in an affidavit that the risk of transmission in correctional facilities, as well as the risk of severe cases and death from COVID-19, is high.

Correctional facilities are often crowded and people who are incarcerated (PWI) are likely unable to maintain the requisite social distance of six feet," Ompad wrote in the affidavit, dated March 20. This is especially an issue within individual cells, where bunked beds make distancing of six feet impossible. Cafeteria areas and dormitory-type sleep quarters also create challenges to social distancing depending on how these spaces are organized and the number of people in the space at any one time.

Ompad noted that correctional staff, visitors and attorneys come to and from jails and prisons from their home communities, potentially spreading the virus.

According to Ompad, client reports from nine Massachusetts correctional facilities indicated that people who are incarcerated at two facilities did not have access to soap at all and only three had access to free soap. In four facilities, people who are incarcerated did not have access to hand sanitizer.

Ompad cited Massachusetts Department of Corrections data, which indicates that 983 people who are incarcerated (11.2%) were aged 60 and over in 2019 among 8,784 total inmates. While the CDC has said that older adults are at a higher risk of complications from COVID-19, state data shows that the majority of cases in Massachusetts are of people who are younger than 50.

As of Monday afternoon, nine people in Massachusetts have died from illness related to COVID-19 and at least 777 have tested positive for the respiratory disease, according to the state department of public health.

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.

Related Content:
Dual system shocks have upended the energy market in recent weeks. The COVID-19 outbreak is grinding the global economy to a halt, which is causing energy demand to crater. At the same time, oil supplies are surging because of the collapse of OPEC's production support agreement with Russia.

These two issues have torpedoed energy stocks. Oil giant Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has tumbled more than 50% in recent weeks, while renewable energy producer NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) has plunged more than 30%. Those sell-offs likely have investors wondering which of these high-yielding energy stocks is the better buy right now. Here's a look at the case for and against buying either one.

The bull and bear case for buying Chevron

The price of crude oil has cratered more than 50% this year and was recently trading in the low $20s. That's well below the worst-case scenario most oil producers could have envisioned. And now Chevron is considering changes to its operating plan just weeks after affirming its strategy, which assumed oil would average $55 a barrel in the coming years.

It's not yet clear what Chevron will do, other than possibly reducing its capital spending plan from its current range of $19 billion-$22 billion per year through 2024. Given its strong balance sheet, the company will probably be able to continue paying its dividend, which has seen its yield rise above 9% following the plunge in its stock price over the past few weeks. While that's an attractive income stream, the company can't sustain that payout forever on the cash flows produced at $20 oil.

On one hand, Chevron's stock has massive upside from here if oil prices recover, which is certainly possible once the COVID-19 outbreak fades, and Russia and Saudi Arabia end their price war. However, if the pandemic permanently destroys oil demand and the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia doesn't stop, then Chevron's stock could have further to fall. It also might eventually need to reduce its dividend. On top of those near-term concerns, the long-term outlook for oil demand is growing more questionable as the global economy continues to transition to cleaner sources.

The bull and bear case for buying NextEra Energy Partners

NextEra Energy Partners stands to benefit from that continued pivot toward clean energy, since it focuses on generating renewable electricity and operating natural gas pipelines. However, it still has taken a beating during the energy market meltdown, despite its lack of exposure to the oil market. The sell-off has pushed the yield on the company's dividend up above 6%.

That high-yielding payout, however, seems to be on a more sustainable footing than Chevron's because NextEra Energy Partners has much less volatility in its cash flow. That's because it sells the renewable power it generates via long-term, fixed-rate contracts, while the gas pipelines it operates also produce stable fee-based income. Meanwhile, the company only pays out about 70% of its cash flow through its dividend, which provides it with a bit of a cushion.

If there is one concern with NextEra Energy Partners, it's that it doesn't have the balance sheet strength of Chevron, which has one of the highest credit ratings in the energy market. However, it does have the backing of top utility NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), which has one of the best credit profiles in the electric utility space. That relationship leads NextEra Energy Partners to believe it can grow its high-yielding dividend by 12% to 15% per year through 2024 as it acquires additional clean energy assets from its parent.

Verdict: NextEra Energy Partners is the better buy

While Chevron's stock has fallen further and it offers a higher yield, it's not yet clear what the future holds for the oil market. Crude prices could remain low for a long time, which might force Chevron to reduce its dividend.

NextEra Energy Partners, on the other hand, has minimal volatility in its cash flow thanks to the long-term, fixed-rate contracts it has in place. That puts its dividend on a much more sustainable footing. Add to that the visible upside ahead in the renewable energy sector, and NextEra Energy Partners looks like the better buy right now.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha has described Coronavirus as a disease deadlier than Boko Haram which has wrecked havoc in some North-East states in the last few months.

Boss Mustapha said this during a visit to Adamawa State to condole with the people of Garkida over a recent Boko Haram attack, which resulted in the death of some security personnel and also led to the destruction of properties worth millions.

He said;

I took the opportunity to speak to them on the current challenge that we are having with regards to COVID-19 and I said as dreaded as Boko Haram is, COVID-19 is vicious and most-dreaded (deadlier). One infection of COVID-19 can destroy a whole city, so I implore all of you to begin to speak to the people of Adamawa State and Nigerians concerning the adversity that can face us if we dont take precaution.

The SGF who insisted that Buharis government did not act late to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country, spoke on the importance of social distance and maintaining personal hygiene like washing hands and avoiding handshaking.

He added;
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in San Francisco climbed to 113 Monday, city leaders announced the city acquired 1 million masks for frontline healthcare workers, hired dozens more nurses and will open a pop-up emergency shelter for the city's homeless.

Providing an update on the city's response to COVID-19 along with other city leaders at the newly relocated Emergency Operations Center at the Moscone Center South convention center, Breed said the recently acquired personal protective gear, or PPE, from California Gov. Gavin Newsom was much needed.

"This is a problem all over the country. There have been real challenges for hospitals everywhere to get access to PPE. It is the thing we need most in order to protect, not only the people who are at the hospitals taking care of the patients, but to also make sure that our first responders have the support and equipment that they need," Breed said.

In addition to the 1 million masks from the state, Facebook has provided the city with 100,000 masks and 400,000 gloves. San Francisco-based freight forwarding service Flexport donated 60,000 masks, 34,000 gloves and 2,000 surgical gowns and 50 thermometers, through an effort coordinated by Supervisor Catherine Stefani, she said.

"So many people, not only in the private sectors but others, who have been stepping up to make sure that we have what we need as it relates to hospital beds; as it relates to personal protective equipment; as it relates to keeping people safe during this coronavirus pandemic," she said.

During her update, Breed also urged residents to comply with the citywide and statewide shelter-in-place order in light of reports of large gatherings over the weekend.

"If things continue in the way that we saw them happen over the weekend, we will have no choice to but to close our park system, to work on other mitigating suggestions that we need to do in order to ensure that people are not allowed to use these spaces," she said. "It's really the last thing that I want to do, so I want to plead to the people of our city to comply with the order."

Breed also reported a donation fund set up by the city, http://Give2sf.org, raised over $5 million. The funding will go toward supporting critical facilities and patient care, as well as local businesses and organizations in the face of COVID-19.

Salesforce and the foundations the Ann and Gordon Getty and the Hellman Foundation have all donated $1 million or more each.

Furthermore, Breed announced a $2.5 million Arts Relief Program to help working artists and arts and cultural organizations financially impacted by COVID-19. Of the funding, $1.5 million will go towards grants to individual artists, teaching artists, and arts and cultural organizations, while $1 million will go toward low-interest loans to arts and cultural organizations.

With the number of new cases in the city now triple digits, Director of Public Health Grant Colfax predicted the number will rise.

"Every community where the virus has taken hold has seen a surge in coronavirus patients who need to be hospitalized. We expect that to happen in San Francisco soon; in a week or two, or perhaps even less," he said.

Colfax said the city's hospitals we all jointly working on a "unified plan to prepare for the surge," which included decompressing the city's hospital and healthcare system as much as possible.

Additionally, the city offered more than 80 nurses jobs on-the-spot during an invite-only hiring fair over the weekend, according to Colfax.

"We will continue to need as many nurses as we can get," he said.

In response to PPE shortages for frontline health care workers and first responders, he said, "Today we have enough, however, I am very concerned that will change when we get to a surge of coronavirus patients."

Trent Rhorer, executive director of the city's Human Services Agency, which is tasked with providing shelter for the city's most vulnerable populations during the public health emergency, said more than 31 hotels have offered a total of over 8,000 rooms for people who need to quarantine but can't, although only about 320 are currently under lease.

Rhorer said the hotel rooms are intended for people who live in congregate settings like single-room occupancy hotels, homeless shelters, or hospitals and long-term care facilities. The rooms would also be used to house frontline workers.

In addition to the hotel rooms, Rhorer said the agency would open up two pop-up shelters offering care for high-risk individuals who can't self-care in order to free up space at other shelters for social distancing.

One of the pop-up shelters will be located at Moscone Center North, Rhorer said, which would be activated within the next 48 hours. The agency is assessing a site for a second pop-up shelter.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin reminded residents the city's Board of Supervisors will continue to meet, with the first-ever virtual supervisors meeting happening Tuesday. Residents can still leave public comment, with instructions and information available at http://sfbos.org.

In regards to compliance with social distancing, San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott said, "We will try to exhaust every means necessary to spread the word on social distancing before we take enforcement action."

Scott also said since the shelter order, violent crimes, property crimes and calls for service have all been dramatically reduced.

He added, "We do not have any documented hate crimes regarding COVID, but I have heard rumors in the community that might be the case but none have been reported to the community."

For more updates from the city, residents can visit www.sfdph.org, call 311 or sign up for the city's text alert service by texting COVID19SF to 888-777.

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 Punjab government has decided to impose curfew in the small town of Mohali for the containment and prevention of the spread of COVID19.

The district administration in an order, dated 24.03.2020, said, "In exercise of powers in exercise of powers conferred under Section 144 of Cr. PC hereby order that curfew was imposed in the District till further orders for the containment and prevention of the spread of COVID19."

The curfew shall be "imposed in the District till further orders. No person shall leave their homes or shall move on foot, or by vehicle or travel or stand or roam around on any road or public place (except for emergency medical aid). Further, any assembly of five or more persons shall not be allowed anywhere in the district," it added.

No fresh case of coronavirus was reported on Monday and the count of people testing positive in the district remained four.

All the affected patients are contacts of previously confirmed cases or with travel history to the UK. All of them are under hospital quarantine and their contacts are under isolation and observation, health officials said.

To make it easier for the people to buy essential items, including groceries, vegetables and medical supplies, "only one member of the family/ household shall be allowed to step out."

The order also urged people to avoid using vehicles at all costs.

Also, the police will be continuously patrolling the areas to ensure no crowding take places and the minimum distance of one meter is maintained between persons. Further, teams of SDM/ DSP shall also check frivolous and unauthorized movement of public.

However, the restrictions shall not be imposed to those tasked with law and order/ emergency and municipal services duties including executive magistrates, police personnel, military/paramilitary personnel in uniform, health, electricity, government machinery tasked with COVID19 related duties.

All vehicles/ persons in bona-fide transit (inter-state/ inter district) shall be allowed to pass but only after due verification of point of origin and destination, the order said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lord Robathan said the coronavirus wasn't as bad as the Great Plague (PA Images via Getty Images)

A Tory peer has warned against proposed emergency measures to fight coronavirus by saying: This is not the Great Plague.

Lord Robathan said the threat of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, should be kept in proportion.

He was speaking on Tuesday during a debate on the Coronavirus Bill in the House of Lords, a day after Boris Johnson told Britons to stay at home as part of stricter measures to battle the spread of the disease.

The bill, which grants ministers, councils, police, health professionals and coroners increased controls that are due to last for up to two years, has already cleared the Commons in just one sitting.

But Lord Robathan said he did not like the legislation, which he said imposed "draconian and oppressive restrictions".

Read more: One million Britons will have coronavirus by next week

Although he did not oppose the bill, he said the restrictions and the "closing down of our country" were "disproportionate".

Lord Robathan said: "This is not the Black Death, nor the Great Plague of 1665, nor the Spanish flu, nor war.

It's a very real health crisis which should be taken very seriously indeed  but should also be kept in proportion."

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

According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 396,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide, with more than 17,000 deaths and more than 103,000 recoveries.

The Great Plague from 1665 to 1666 killed an estimated 100,000 people in London, while the Black Death, the worst pandemic in history, caused the deaths of between 75 million and 200 million people.

Introducing the bill to the House of Lords, Lord Bethell, under secretary of state at the Department of Health, urged peers to back the emergency legislation and buy time for the NHS.

Story continues

Global cases of coronavirus (PA)

"This is an extraordinary bill for an extraordinary moment in the history of the country, he said.

"It gives us the legislative and regulatory toolkit we need to respond to a constantly evolving situation."

Under the bill, police would be given authority to force those infected with COVID-19 to self-isolate.

"Fundamentally, this bill is about buying time," said Lord Bethell. "Time can help us. With each day that passes, the science is getting better.

Read more: NHS workers coronavirus plea as Tubes remain packed

"Each day brings us closer to faster, more accurate testing capabilities and ultimately a vaccine."

"Each day that we can slow the rate of transmission is a small victory that will lead us to the ultimate defeat of the virus."

Watch the video below

For the opposition, Lord Falconer offered Labour's full support for the emergency powers.

"In normal times it would be utterly unacceptable," he said. "These are not normal times.

"As long as the emergency lasts and these powers are necessary, they should be available to the government."

Lord Falconer said there needed to be "immediate compliance by the public with the governments stay at home message.

He said time was too short to give full scrutiny to the bill and vowed to focus on the key issues, putting down only a small number of amendments to improve the legislation at its later stages.
Amid reports of China deploying a fleet of underwater drones in the Indian Ocean Region to monitor movements in the area, India has started keeping a strict vigil in the area, reported the Times of India.

China already has a deployment of ships in the region for hydrographic survey and oceanic research, and Indian security agencies are skeptical about the motive behind the deployment of the drones. While these are usually used to conduct surveys for commercial activities such as deep-sea mining, they can also be exploited to aid in their submarine and anti-submarine operations.

According to a recent Forbes report, China has deployed at least 12 drones called Sea Wing from their research vessel Xiangyanghong 06. The long-range gliders were launched in the IOR in December last year and taken out in February after they made more than 3,400 observations.

The data was reportedly collected for the ocean ecology research project of Chinas Ministry of Natural Resources. Though media reports suggest that oceanographic data was transmitted by the drones, such data is often used for submarine warfare operations by naval intelligence.

While the Indian Navy is yet uncertain about the authenticity of the Forbes article, they are constantly tracking Chinese research vessels. A handful of such research vessels are usually always present in different parts of the IOR. To find out the best route for submarines, these vessels gauge the salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll level of seawater by conducting marine surveys.
WASHINGTON  House Democrats on Monday responded to the coronavirus by offering billions of dollars to hard-hit states like New Jersey, funds for transit systems like NJ Transit reeling from a loss of riders, and money to help states expand vote-by-mail for Election Day.

The $2.5 trillion legislation also would include a one-time economic assistance payment of $1,500 per person. A $2 trillion Senate Republican bill would provide $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, with some poorer Americans getting less. Both plans would phase out the grant for those with higher incomes. The Democrats originally proposed a $2,000 monthly payment.

How much money would flow to New Jersey is unknown, but Gov. Phil Murphy and the governors of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania previously have said they need $100 billion, and New Jersey Transit has asked for $1.25 billion.

As the House bill was introduced, federal lawmakers from New Jersey and New York asked that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the PATH trains, Newark Airport, and the Hudson River bridges and tunnels also get stimulus funds.

The proposal came as Senate Republicans and Democrats remained deadlocked over the GOPs $2 trillion plan that included $500 billion for corporations with few restrictions on how the money could be spent. Democrats on Monday again blocked Republican efforts to debate the bill while negotiations continued between congressional leaders and the White House.

If Republicans refuse to offer good faith solutions, House Democrats will, and our just-unveiled plan offers real support to struggling Americans and real resources to our medical professionals on the front lines, said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. "If the Senate wont lead in this moment, the House will.

The House Democratic legislation would provide direct grants to airline and airport workers through their employers, $21 billion in loans to the carriers and $10 billion in airport grants, require a $15 an hour minimum wage, prevent airlines from buying back their stock, place limits on executive pay, and enact new consumer protections for passengers.

Calvin Moore, a spokesman for the pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund, said the House Democrats would rather play politics than get families and small businesses the aid they need right away.

There also is $4 billion in grants to states to help them defray the costs of expanding early voting and no-excuse absentee voting by mail, and the extra costs of requiring every state to require all ballots to be cast by mail if the coronavirus emergency continues.

One of the things we cannot postpone in America, no matter the state of the epidemic or the economy, is the date of the election, said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist. The only way to run the election safety if this is still in November is by mail.

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I think its incumbent on me as a prosecutor and chief law enforcement officer of the county to take the virus into consideration, Descano said. The results have been what youd expect. Some people who were held and you take a look at their scenario, we should let them go. But there are a number of people, a very high percentage of the people weve been seeing motions on, theyre already held, and they present a danger to the community and should be held.
North American Manufacturers of Tissue and Paper-Based Packaging Say Measures in Place to Safely Operate Production Plants "The U.S Department of Homeland Security considers forest products as an 'essential industry' that should remain operational during this pandemic."  International Paper. "We're quickly responding by expediting product that optimizes our existing inventory, increasing production, and utilizing a managed distribution process to smartly manage through this unusual period."  Georgia-Pacific. March 24, 2020 - The COVID-19 virus and the ensuing government mandated shutdowns of specific businesses, along with the urging of social distancing, has created a great deal of doubt by the public as to the future availability of products essential to everyday life. Certain personal care products such as toilet paper, tissue, diapers, etc. have been disappearing off store shelves as consumers fear manufacturing operations of these daily essentials will be shut down. The editors at PaperAge put together excerpts of statements from some of the major North American manufacturers of tissue and packaging products. The over-riding theme is that with safety measures already in place, normal production  and in some cases increased production  will more than meet heightened consumer demand. Cascades Tissue and paper-based packaging. Statement: Together with prioritising the health and wellbeing of our employees, Cascades is adhering to the guidelines provided by government officials in Canada and the United States. Given the essential nature of our packaging and hygiene products, all of our facilities continue to operate. Cascades is working closely with its customers to ensure that their product needs, and those of their customers, are fulfilled. Clearwater Paper Tissue and paperboard for packaging. Statement: The health and safety of employees is a top priority, and Clearwater Paper is closely monitoring the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation. The company is implementing a comprehensive risk mitigation plan across all facilities that includes enhanced sanitation procedures, sick leave, remote work options, travel restrictions, and visitor and meeting policies. In addition, Clearwater Paper is actively engaging with federal, state, and local government officials due to the essential and critical nature of its workforce and operations. Clearwater Paper is also experiencing a significant increase in demand for its retail tissue products and an increase in demand for paperboard used for packaging food and pharmaceutical products. The company is focused on ensuring continuous operations to serve its customers' demand for these essential goods. Clearwater Paper's facilities are currently producing as usual. Domtar Pulp, paper and personal care products such as adult incontinence products and diapers. Statement: Wed like to sincerely thank our employees for their hard work during these unprecedented times. A special gratitude goes to our colleagues at our mills and facilities for continuing to produce essential goods for pulp and #paperproducts that are in high demand due to #COVID-19. Disruptions in the availability of these goods would cause significant hardships to consumers around the globe, and we appreciate their dedication in keeping our operations stable. Georgia-Pacific Consumer products, including tissue brands Angel Soft and Quilted Northern. Statement: We're quickly responding by expediting product that optimizes our existing inventory, increasing production, and utilizing a managed distribution process to smartly manage through this unusual period. Our tissue manufacturing facilities are operating 24/7 and our employees are doing all they can to serve our customers and meet consumers' needs during this situation. Graphic Packaging International Paper-based packaging grades. Statement from Mike Doss, President & CEO: "At Graphic Packaging International, we have implemented some dramatic actions across our business to protect our employees and supply lines. While some of these may seem a bit extreme, I thought a bit of context may be helpful. "GPI supplies about 40% of all the food and beverage folding cartons and about 30% of all the paper cups in North America. While we don't often speak about it in these terms, we are critical to our country's ability to ensure food gets into homes. "Our customers are ramping up their factories and we, in turn, are more committed than ever to make sure they receive the packaging they need to provide their vital products. To that end, we are doing everything we can to keep our employees healthy and safely operate our facilities." International Paper Paper-based packaging grades. Statement: Protecting the health and safety of our employees and our contractors is our most important responsibility. We will continue to operate our mills and converting plants while practicing personal hygiene, social distancing, site cleaning and other measures recommended by the World health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The U.S Department of Homeland Security considers forest products as an "essential industry" that should remain operational during this pandemic. International Paper products are critical components of the supply chains required to produce and deliver food, pharmaceuticals, hygiene products and emergency supplies for consumers around the world. Kimberly-Clark Consumer products and tissue brands such as: (tissue) Kleenex, Cottonelle, Scott, Viva; (baby and child care) Huggies, Pull-ups; (femine care) Kotex. Statement: We want to assure consumers that we are doing our best to ensure a steady supply of product to stores, and Kimberly-Clark is working closely with our retail partners and customers to understand their current needs. We have plans in place to address the increased demand for our products to the extent possible, including accelerating production and reallocating inventory to help meet these needs. In addition, the health and safety of our people is our top priority, and Kimberly-Clark has taken extra steps to keep our people and their families safe and healthy. These measures include enhanced health and safety measures for our office, mill and distribution center operations, which were developed in line with guidance from global health authorities. We will continue to make adjustments to our plans to help ensure the continued supply of our essential products. Packaging Corporation of America Paper-based packaging grades. We at #PCA are closely monitoring Covid-19 developments and continue to take proactive measures to protect our employees and customers. We're committed to ensuring there is no interruption in service to our customers. We are following CDC guidelines as the health and safety of our employees, customers, and the extended members of the communities in which we operate continues to be our utmost priority. Procter & Gamble Consumer products and personal care brands such as: (child care) Luvs, Pampers; (tissue): Bounty, Charmin, Puffs; (feminine care): Tampax, Always, Just. Statement: To protect employees, we have implemented remote work and social distancing measures. We're reducing the density of the employee population at our sites. We're limiting travel and holding employee meetings virtually. For our manufacturing plants and distribution centers, where work from home is not an option for most of our employees, we're taking preventive measures that allow these facilities to continue to operate safely, protecting the health and safety of our employees. Just as we are committed to employee and workplace safety, we are equally committed to serving the needs of our consumers in a responsible way. During times like this, people count on the benefits and availability of our products given the cleaning, hygiene and health benefits many of them provide. Please know that we're working diligently to meet increased demand in this highly dynamic situation. "WestRock teams are working around the clock to help manufacturers deliver the paper and packing that we all need."  WestRock. WestRock Paper-based packaging grades. Statement from Steve Voorhees, CEO: "WestRock teams are working around the clock to help manufacturers deliver the paper and packing that we all need. Our first priority is always the health and safety of the WestRock team, our families and our communities. We're working hard to reduce the spread of the virus by taking precautions in all of our locations and we're implementing operating practices that keep us and our families safe and healthy." SOURCE: Company websites and social media channels
Calaveras Prevents Spread Of Two COVID-19 Cases But Preparing For More

Calaveras Public Health View Photo

San Andreas, CA  Calaveras County Health officials appear to have stopped the spread of two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Copperopolis, but looking ahead, big-picture, the county is preparing for more cases over the coming several weeks.

(Tuolumne County has had no confirmed cases to this point).

Calaveras County Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita says the investigation into the two cases in Copperopolis began on March 10. As reported earlier, it was a parent and child who tested positive, and it was contracted by the parent who works outside the county in the healthcare field. Unknowing at the time, the child, who attends Copperopolis Elementary, was in class for several days while considered infectious to others.

In response, public health disease investigators interviewed over 60 people, and they included parents of other students, teachers, school staff and other community contacts.

Dr. Kelaita says, This was important to determine if anyone was developing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 illness. Any symptomatic contacts were instructed by public health staff to isolate themselves from others in the community for at least 14 days from the onset of their symptoms to protect others from potential infection.

13 of those people received coronavirus tests because of their close contact with the infected individuals, and all of those came back negative, according to Dr. Kelaita, adding No further cases of coronavirus in connection with these two confirmed cases have occurred.

Looking ahead, at this mornings board of supervisors meeting, Dr. Kelaita admitted that he expects more confirmed cases to occur in Calaveras County, and said there are likely people currently infected locally who just dont know it yet.

He said testing remains limited due to a lack of current resources. He said he is aware of 60 tests that have occurred in the county.

The public health department is only required to hear about positive tests.

On the topic of working with local partners, Dr. Kelaita says, Public Health is working with Mark Twain Medical Center on surge capacity to expand patient care from 25 beds to 50 beds. Thats a doubling of the local hospital capacity.

They are also working to increase ICU capacity in an anticipation of increased need.

Schools are currently closed in Calaveras until April 6, but a meeting is scheduled for later today with superintendents to discuss the timeline and whether it should be extended.

He stresses, We have a long way to go here. Everyone in our community needs to cooperate with the mitigation actions of maintaining physical distancing of at least six feet between others, avoiding mass gatherings, strict handwashing, and cough etiquette. These actions are especially important for those at higher risk of complications and hospitalizations from COVID-19 infection. This includes those over 65 years old and those with chronic health conditions.

During this time of high stress, instead of fear, Dr. Kelaiata asked that residents channel it into concern and vigilance, in taking needed steps, and not anger and hostility towards others.

Governor Gavin Newsom is still directing all Californians to stay at home. 1,700 positive cases have been reported in California.
The Grand Hotel in Brighton after it was bombed in 1984

One of Margaret Thatcher's top ministers, who was seriously injured in the Brighton hotel bombing of 1984, said his priority remains looking after his wife, not reading the memories of the man who caused her injuries.

Convicted bomber Patrick Magee will be releasing his memoirs in September.

Where Grieving Begins will chronicle Magees early years in Belfast and England, his time in the IRA, and his later involvement in the peace process and reconciliation.

If you have been involved in causing injury and suffering there is an obligation, a moral imperative, to address past actions, to reappraise, to reflect and, when circumstances allow, to explain, Patrick Magee said.

But Lord Norman Tebbit, now 88, who was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in Thatchers government at the time of the bombing, said he is still not prepared to forgive Magee, despite the bombers apparent commitment to peace and reconciliation in recent years.

The bombing on October 12, 1984, ripped apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference.

Its target was the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She survived, but five other people were killed and many more injured, including Lord Tebbit and his wife, Margaret, who remains in ill health, having been paralysed since the bombing.

Patrick Magee was allowed to get away with his terrorist crimes and Ill certainly not be buying his book, nor reading it in any form, Lord Tebbit told the Belfast Telegraph. I do suspect he will be triumphant in his lauding his crimes since he has never shown any remorse.

I would of course be interested in listening if he was to come forward to apologise for his actions. He never has and I have no interest in what he has to say about his crimes.

Anthony Berry MP, Roberta Wakeham, Eric Taylor, Muriel Maclean and Jeanne Shattock were all killed in the bombing.

A committed member of the IRA for 27 years, Magee was jailed in 1986 but released under the Good Friday Agreement in 1999.

He now regularly appears in public alongside Mr Berrys daughter, Jo, discussing peace and reconciliation.

But Lord Tebbit said: He has never repented for his sins and without repentance there can be no forgiveness.

He makes a living by going around talking about these things, but hes done nothing to put any of it right.

In his book, Magee recounts the influences and events of his life, the Troubles and the peace process.

Publishers Pluto Press added: This memoir is an attempt to build a bridge to a common understanding. It is written in the belief that much is possible, even in the face of profound differences, when there is a genuine commitment to honesty, inclusion and dialogue.

It includes personal memories of Gerry Adams and other central figures in Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA.

Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson said it will have an impact on those who suffered.

No former terrorist should financially benefit as a result of telling a story of how they came to be involved in violence, said Mr Donaldson.

If the books overarching narrative is one of acceptance that there was no legitimacy or justification for the use of violence in the furtherance of or defence of a political objective, then the publication would have value.
Posted on: March 24, 2020 4:11 PM

Anglican provinces around the world have joined Churches of other denominations to suspend public worship as the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread. The death toll on Tuesday morning (24 March) stood at 14,510 people, according to the latest figures issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is working with governments around the world to limit the effects of the virus.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, called for Christians to be a radically different type of church as they announced the suspension of public worship in England. They said that this was not about shutting up shop but about adopting to a different way of worship. Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead, they wrote in a letter to clergy. Our life is going to be less characterised by attendance at church on Sunday, and more characterised by the prayer and service we offer each day.

We may not be able to pray with people in the ways that we are used to, but we can certainly pray for people. And we can certainly offer practical care and support. . . There are many very encouraging schemes happening right across our country in communities to focus on caring for the most vulnerable and do continue to play your part in those.

Then by our service, and by our love, Jesus Christ will be made known, and the hope of the gospel  a hope that can counter fear and isolation - will spread across our land.

Many other Anglican provinces have also suspended public worship in response to government requests to limit social interaction to prevent the spread of the disease.

In Uganda, the newest primate in the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, said: People have asked me, if we cant meet for worship in church on Sundays and mid-week, how will we have church? Yes, it will be hard to not meet together on Sundays, but we should be assured of Jesus words, Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

The Archbishop of South East Asia, Melter Tais, said: There is no need to panic. On the contrary, let us each draw ever nearer to God in fervent prayers, for Gods divine intervention, protection, and healing for those who are infected by the Coronavirus.

The Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit, said that Covid-19 was hitting the country at a time when it was being devastated by locusts; and called for a day of prayer last Sunday (22 March). He said: We have put in place mechanisms to mitigate the impact of the prevailing situation on matters regarding worship and other essential services that are provided by the Church such as Sunday Worship, burials and weddings.

At the time of writing, the Covid-19 virus wasnt rampant everywhere in the world, but even in such places, precautions are being taken to limit its spread. Services were continuing in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Bishop of Dunedin, Dr Steven Benford, who was a medical specialist before becoming a priest, affirmed the New Zealand Health Ministrys precautions, and warned that there may come a time when physically meeting together may not be possible.

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, Archbishop Leonard Dawea, welcomed the Solomon Islands health ministrys guidance, and told Anglicans that we must not wait for a positive cases of the virus to be reported before we start practicing these healthy habits.

He asked Anglicans to show understanding if changes had to be made to worship and liturgical practices, and added: I would like to once again appeal to all ACOM members, all Christian people and friends to support the efforts of the government authorities and other stakeholders by complying with instructions and follow public health messages issued to date. I understand that as Christians we have faith, I am asking us all to express our faith by taking full responsibility to work together with the Government, not only for our personal health but also for our families, communities and our nation of Solomon Islands.

Many provinces are arranging special services broadcast on local and national media, and streamed. online. The Anglican Communion Office will share links to these on its website: anglicancommunion.org. Staff at the Anglican Communion Office have been asked to work from home to comply with official UK government advice on Covid-19.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Gov. Andy Beshear reported Tuesday that Kentucky has surpassed 160 coronavirus cases as a few dozen new cases were diagnosed across the state in the past day.

One of the new cases stemmed from a coronavirus party," the governor said at his daily briefing. He didn't give any details about the event but he quickly denounced it.

Anyone who goes to something like this may think that they are indestructible, but its someone elses loved one that they are going to hurt," he said. We are battling for the health and even the lives of our parents and our grandparents. And dont be so callous as to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that can kill other people."

The updated statewide total included nearly 40 new cases spanning Kentucky, Beshear said.

More for you Coronavirus party thrown by UAlbany students draws ire

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

Meanwhile, Amazon temporarily closed a Kentucky warehouse after an unspecified number of workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

The online retailer said Tuesday that the Shepherdsville warehouse was undergoing additional sanitization."

We are supporting the individuals who are now in quarantine and recovering," the company said in a statement. We are following all guidelines from local officials and are taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site."

The company didn't specify how many employees have been infected with the virus.

The Bullitt County Health Department said the employees live in other counties but didn't identify the counties. A voicemail message sent to employees said three COVID-19 cases were confirmed at the warehouse, news outlets reported.

Out of an abundance of caution, and in addition to our enhanced daily deep cleaning, we are temporarily closing the Shepherdsville, Ky., site for additional sanitization," the company said.

Workers who had close contact with the infected employees were being notified in order to self-quarantine for 14 days, officials said.
Last week, a friend asked me for advice on how to get to the doctor. Shes eight months pregnant and lives in New York City, and she had an obstetric appointment the next day. She wanted to know which I thought was safer, taking the subway or a Lyft.

I told her that I thought the most important thing was for her to wash her hands as soon as she got to her doctors office, and that either was probably OK, but if she wanted to have maximum control over her environment, go for the Lyft. I thought through the intricacies of each scenario in my head: On the subway, it might be easier not to touch anything with her hands, but in a Lyft, there would be fewer people and fewer surprises. In the end, what I really wanted was just for her to feel like she could go to a prenatal appointment safely, whichever way she chose.

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My friends decision about how to get to the doctor is one small example of a larger problem that has surfaced however many days into this pandemic we are. For the most part, people have absorbed that it is critical we all do the right thing. But what is the right thing? And how long do we have to do it for?

This is a deceptively tricky question. Its a question that starts small, like my friends question, and then expands. The first-order question around this virus is obvious: How do I keep from getting it? And if I get it, how do I keep from spreading it to someones grandmother or spouse? We are all grappling with the fact that our personal health is more connected to everyone elses health than we previously realized.

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Stay at home is, for now, the agreed-upon answer. But stay at home, as we know, has costs, for each of us and for society. And its not always possible, or the best option. After I answered my friends question, I also forwarded her a recent newsletter by Emily Oster that argued that even though hospitals might be overwhelmed by highly contagious coronavirus patients, deciding to give birth at home is still not a safer optionadvice Oster stood by on Monday even after some New York hospitals announced they would no longer allow partners to be present during birth. This situation is awful, Oster added. There are no easy decisions.

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Another version of this nesting doll of conundrums was the debate over closing schools: Is closing school really the right thing, when so many children rely on their school for food and, to some extent, stability and safety (a sad reality)? Are we trading one ill for another? How do we weigh them against each other? Also, what happens if kids sent home from school, potentially pre-loaded with germs, infect the grandparents who in some cases are now taking care of them while the parents have to work? How can we be sure were not inadvertently hurting more people than we protect, when we are taking these actions to protect people?

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The same sorts of questions came up as state after state issued edicts closing bars and restaurants, and those bars and restaurants started unprecedented mass layoffs. The economic disruption that has resulted from the protective measures we are taking is enormous, and it will have its own set of devastating consequences, including lives ruined in other ways, if not by a respiratory disease. The president raised this ineloquently on Sunday night, with the economy more in mind than human lives. But the question is the same: Are we absolutely sure we are doing the right thing?

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In other words, trying to stop the spread of the virus now to avoid one set of terrible outcomes is causing another set of terrible outcomes. Rarely in ones life is it so clear that even if you make every choice perfectly, you will at most help us stay on the least-worst path.

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The reason we are taking the drastic measure of staying home is, as we all now know, because we are trying to flatten the curve. (The current ubiquity of this phrase is an incredible success story of a complex idea boiled down into simple messaging.) The effort is universally supported by public health officials and, to be clear, is one I believe we should follow. Weve been told that the price of failing to slow the spread of the virus will be a health care system so overwhelmed that many people will not be able to get treatment and mortality will shoot up to perhaps unimaginable levels, as is happening in Italy. Certainly preventing an unmitigated scenario of 2.2 million deaths is worth the price of a recession and the extra burden on struggling families.

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But even as flatten the curve has become accepted shorthand, the details remain opaque. Where are we on the curve? How flat is the right amount of flattening? Where is the line where hospitals become overwhelmed, at what speed are we moving along the x-axis, and have we lowered the number of cases enough? In other words, are we absolutely sure the dramatic actions were taking will result in less death, overall?

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Professor John P.A. Ioannidis of Stanford Universityby reputation one of the smartest people in fields ranging from epidemiology to biomedical data sciencepublished a somewhat controversial piece in Stat News last week that warned of the possibility that our best efforts might end up backfiring:

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If the health system does become overwhelmed, the majority of the extra deaths may not be due to coronavirus but to other common diseases and conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, trauma, bleeding, and the like that are not adequately treated. If the level of the epidemic does overwhelm the health system and extreme measures have only modest effectiveness, then flattening the curve may make things worse: Instead of being overwhelmed during a short, acute phase, the health system will remain overwhelmed for a more protracted period.

Ioannidis piece got some pushback by public health experts who worried that his questioning might make people less likely to follow instructions to self-isolate and stay indoors. But even his critics seem to agree that it is absolutely critical for us to have better data.

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We are currently quite lacking in data and sorely in need of it. We need to know many more things about the virus and what it does to the human body, including whom it affects and how to treat it. We need better testing to figure out how many people in the United States have it, even as the people on the front lines are realizing that they themselves have to shift their efforts away from containment approaches and toward treatment and mitigation of spread.

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We also need data on how our current approach is working and data on what the costs of this approach really are. We need to know how much our current version of social distancing, with everyone still going to the grocery store every few days, is affecting the rate of spread. We need to figure out how much people being stuck at home might lead to an uptick in domestic abuse or suicide. We need to know if more women are giving birth at home, and if more women are being forced to carry pregnancies that they dont want as their right to abortion is interrupted. We need to know how the people who are laid off from their jobs are getting food, and if they are still willing to access health care when the financial cost of doing so might be very uncertain. We are all engaged in an enormous, high-stakes nationwide experiment right now, and we need all of this data to answer the question: Are we doing the right thing?

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And still, the questions remain: How long can we really do this for? What else could we do? What should we do next?

Academic physicians Aaron Carroll and Ashish Jha have a piece in the Atlantic in which they consider the various possible scenarios in front of us. The extremes are helpfully familiaron one side, do nothing, which were already doing better than; on the other side, stay like this for the next 18 months or so, the current accepted timeline until theres a vaccine. But Carroll and Jha argue that there is a third path available, somewhere in the middle of these two strategies. They think that once we do the social distancing necessary to get the initial numbers under control (which will still take time), we can create a new type of plan, a middle road that keeps public health manageable without keeping the country completely shut down.

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This third path essentially requires us to do all the things we failed at the first time around. Here is a partial list of what it would entail: an enormous scaling up of testing, the ability to test nearly everyone regularly, the willingness of even asymptomatic carriers to self-quarantine and isolate while they are sick with the virus (and help notify and test those they have been in contact with), and, not least, an enormous expansion of the capacity of our medical system to accommodate for all of this. Theres also the investment in the creation and distribution of the vaccine, which everyone is sort of taking for granted but is far from a gimme.

We dont know how long the societal benefits of sheltering in place will outweigh the societal harms. Its maddening to wonder whom we can trust to keep track of this all, and who will be making the decisions as to what we should do next. Its worth remembering, as we watch Donald Trumps current panic over the stock market, that we are in the terrible position of having to take drastic mass-isolation action only because of his federal governments unbelievable lack of preparedness and initial inaction on containment. That laggard response has endangered us enormously. Were much worse off than countries that invested in robust testing and self-isolation right from the start, like Singapore and Taiwan, both of which managed to contain this. And still, even in the face of enormous loss of life and economic devastation, the president is pathologically unable to let anything but his own narcissism determine our centralized response.

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But the options cannot be the only two that we currently have a clear picture of. They cannot be that we either shelter in place indefinitely, without real, immediate relief from the federal government, or we just give up on mitigation and accept that the coronavirus will kill an incredible number of people. (The problem with trying to do the latter for the sake of the economy is that 2 million deaths would have a devastating effect on the economy regardless. We cant just start it up again.)

I realize that getting us to a place where we can envision Carroll and Jhas third way is like answering whether you should take the subway or a Lyft by suggesting that really, you ought to buy a car. But the answer of what we need to do is simply much larger than what we currently think we can do. The costs of the two other paths are simply too high for us not to figure this out. We cant do nothing (and thank God we are no longer doing nothing). But we cant pretend that what we are currently doing is a sustainable solution, either.
Leon is staying open to provide half price meals to NHS workers. (Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Fast food chain Leon is remaining open to serve takeaway and delivery meals to the UK public, despite strict new measures introduced to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

Leon is also giving all NHS staff a discount of 50%.

In a twitter post on Tuesday the restaurant said that it had served 13,843 takeaway and delivery meals to NHS workers in the last week alone.

Leon said it is giving all its employees the option to come into work or stay at home and that the company is assisting workers in accessing the government furlough scheme.

The scheme, announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak, plans to cover 80% of workers wages as part of the governments unprecedented package of measures, designed to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leon said that their decision to remain open is not based on financial reasons as staying open was actually costing the business more.

Read more: Overwhelmed hardship fund forced to turn away hospitality workers

The twitter post said: Meals for the NHS and homeless are set to be the vast majority of our work.

During this crisis, if we do by some strange accident make a profit all of it will be spent directly on feeding hospital teams.

Many other chain restaurants, including McDonalds, Nandos, Subway, and Pret A Manger, have closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus.
Eighty one years after the Battle of Missionary Ridge in 1863 two other exciting events became a part of the history of the Civil War site.



In a thick fog and drizzling rain on January 2, 1944 a four engine 13-24 Liberator carrying a crew of three was trying to find Lovell Field but had been circling for nearly two hours. Because of the heavy overcast the pilot miscalculated the height of the ridge and ran into power lines and trees prior to crashing into Dr. D P. Houstons limestone block house at 136 N. Crest Road which is presently occupied by the King Copler family. Prior to striking the Houston residence, the aircraft knocked columns off of the front of the neighboring Scott S. Price home.



All three crew members were killed in the crash. The Houston house was set afire after the bombers fuselage broke up and the fuel in the plane ignited. Fortunately, the Houston family escaped but their home was engulfed in flames. One airman was thrown from the plane but the other crewmen were found in the wreckage.



On September 30, 1949 seven airmen were flying from Augusta, Georgia to Spokane, Washington when one of the engines caught on fire on a B-24 bomber. Captain William Blair was the pilot and he instructed his men to bail out. According to eyewitnesses the crew parachuted into the area between McCallie Avenue and Main Street. One landed in a backyard, another got stuck in a tree, another landed on the roof of the now non-existent Ridgedale School, one glanced off a bank building, one was caught in telephones lines and the only parachuting casualty did not properly attach his parachute and he fell to his death on the grounds of the Ridgedale School leaving a six-inch deep depression in the ground.



In an act of heroism, the pilot, Captain William E. Blair, stayed with the plane and steered it away from Missionary Ridge School into an uninhabited area over the eastern entrance of the Bachman Tubes to avoid any loss of life except his own.



In recognition of his bravery and disregard for his own safety, American Legion Post 95 on Ringgold Road in East Ridge is named the William E. Blair Post to perpetuate his act of giving his life to save others 71 years ago.



* * *



Jerry Summers

(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
Several people have been killed in southern Guinea, according to local officials, in an outbreak of violence after the country's contested constitutional referendum. The number killed in Nzerekore, the West African state's second-largest city, which borders Liberia, is unclear and the circumstances are sketchy. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence in Guinea and called on all sides to immediately show restraint, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The local government has said that three people were killed in unrest there, while a local doctor and the political opposition cited a figure of 15. AFP was unable to independently confirm the figures. City residents said that clashes have taken place in the city since Sunday -- the day of the referendum on changing the constitution. Guinea's government has argued that a new constitution is needed to enshrine gender equality in the impoverished former French colony. But critics fear the real motive is to allow President Alpha Conde, 82, to run for a third spell in office later this year. At least 32 people were killed in months-long protests in the runup to Sunday's vote, according to an AFP tally. On polling day itself, 14 people were killed in the capital Conakry, according to a figure provided by the political opposition that AFP was unable to confirm independently. The government has said that six people died in Conakry on Sunday. Nzerekore residents contacted by AFP reported violent incidents between religious and ethnic communities, including attacks on churches and mosques. Authorities said one Protestant church had been burned down since Sunday, and a man was killed by unidentified individuals on the day of the vote. Mohamed Ismael Traore, the governor of the Nzerekore region, said young men from a border village came to the city "armed to the teeth with weapons of war and charms to protect themselves from bullets". A city resident who fled to the bush with her children during the attack said the assailants burned down a church, as well houses belonging to ethnic Guerze people. "They killed three innocent members of my family," she said. The total number of victims remains unclear, however. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Nzerekore doctor said he had counted 15 bodies in the hospital, including three which had been taken there on Tuesday morning. A leading member of the political opposition in Nzerekore cited the same figure. But Traore, the governor, told AFP the figure is false. "It's not true, there are not 15 bodies, there are only three in the morgue," he said. Traore added that a curfew had been imposed on Nzerekore residents on Tuesday. Protesters confront the Guinean army in the streets in Conakry on March 22, 2020, during a constitutional referendum in the country
People who flout the near-lockdown will be fined 30 from Thursday, Downing Street says  with significantly higher penalties if they continue to disobey.

The figure was revealed amid confusion over whether live-apart girlfriends or boyfriends can continue to meet-up with their partners during the crackdown.

Boris Johnsons spokesman appeared to indicate that lovers should not see each other if they live in separate homes, in order to save lives.

However, he then acknowledged confusion  even at the heart of government  given that the guidelines do allow two people to gather in public.

We are working at pace and, as people raise these issues with us, we will get clarity for them as soon as possible, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the regulations allowing the police to punish people will be in place on Thursday, with fines to start at 30  and with convictions for a failure to pay.

The spokesman declined to comment on a report that punishments could reach a whopping 1,000, but warned: We will keep this under review and can increase it significantly if necessary in order to ensure public compliance.

Asked how the lockdown would be enforced, he said: As is usual the police will use their own discretion in their use of the powers and will do whatever is appropriate.

The comments came as Downing Street also revealed there were 5,065 tests for coronavirus on Monday, far short of the daily figure of 10,000 it is aiming for this week.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

However, the spokesman insisted there was encouraging news on ventilators, saying there were now more than 10,000 on the frontline, with 5000 coming online.

He also suggested workers could not refuse their bosses instruction to come into work if they, and members of their household, were well and their job could not be done from home.

Asked whether the prime minister would be postponing his own early summer wedding, after nuptials were outlawed, the spokesman replied: I dont have anything for you in relation to dates.

On the position facing girlfriends and boyfriends living apart and wanting to meet, the spokesman said: People should look at the guidelines and use their common sense in that regard.

He then said: The rules are clear in relation to when you are out of the house, you should only do so with members of your own household, or if its for work reasons,  before promising clarification.

The spokesman also denied the government it had waited until Sunday to ask private sector firms and other institutions for support to boost testing capacity, insisting efforts had been going on for weeks.

It's no secret that we are rapidly scaling up our efforts to boost testing capacity to protect the vulnerable, to support our NHS and to save lives, he said.

Together with Public Health England and the NHS we are exploring how we can work across industry and academic sectors to establish viable options which will significantly ramp up the number of tests we can carry out.
Among those stuck were Sanjay Kumar and his father, Ashok, both daily wage laborers. They had been trying for two days to travel from Delhi to their home 420 miles away. They made it as far as Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Indias largest state, only to find that all of the trains were canceled and almost no shops were open.
TORONTO, March 24, 2020 /CNW/ - Meridian will be temporarily closing some of its branch network in a concerted effort to keep its Members and employees safe and help slow the community spread of COVID-19. The schedule for temporary closures will begin today and Members are encouraged to explore our other options for banking.

"We know that our Members depend on us for vital banking services," said Bill Maurin, President & CEO, Meridian. "As the situation is rapidly evolving, it's important to move decisively in the best interest of the community at large, with everyone's safety our top priority. We thank our employees and our Members for their patience and support during these trying times."

To determine which locations to close, a number of factors were considered including, risk; geographic concentration; Member traffic; and staffing requirements. Every effort was made to keep branches open in places where no other Meridian alternatives are available.

Employees of temporarily closed locations will be redeployed to assist with ongoing operations.

"We are confident that these steps will not only help keep our Members and employees safe, but will also help us to continue delivering the exceptional service Meridian is known for," said Maurin. "We are closely monitoring the situation and will make further decisions as required, based on the advice and counsel of public health authorities and governments."

Members are encouraged to use Meridian's branch and ABM locator, which is accessible on your mobile device or at meridiancu.ca to see what branches are temporarily closed, find the ABM closest to them, and the location and hours for branches that remain open.

We remind Members that there are plenty of easy, safe and convenient ways to bank with us.

To sign in to online banking, go to meridiancu.ca.

Our online, mobile, and ABM channels are available 24/7

Our Contact Centre is open to assist you every day from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. and can be reached at 1-866-592-2226 and one of our representatives will be happy to help you register.

About Meridian

With more than 75 years of banking history, Meridian is Ontario's largest credit union and the third largest in Canada, helping to grow the lives of more than 360,000 Members. Meridian has $23.9 billion in assets under management (as at December 31, 2019) and delivers a full range of financial services online, by phone, by mobile and through a network of 92 branches across Ontario, and business banking services in 14 locations. Meridian Members also have access to THE EXCHANGE Network, with 3,700 no-fee ABMs across Canada and 500,000 ABMs in the United States. For more information, please visit: www.meridiancu.ca, follow us on Twitter @MeridianCU or see our Facebook site.

SOURCE Meridian Credit Union

For further information: Media Contact: Teresa Pagnutti, Public Relations, Meridian, [email protected], 416-597-4444 Ext. 2667; 416-275-3816 (m)
An investor outbid several rivals to snap up a vacant shop at 521 Middleborough Road. Teska Carsons George Takis and Larry Takis said the property was knocked down for $860,000, following numerous bids from several parties at a well-attended auction. The single-level,100 sq m brick building on a 214 sq m site was offered for the first time in 38 years. An investor outbid several rivals to snap up a vacant shop at 521 Middleborough Road. Broadmeadows Vaughan Construction has sold a turn-key development at Lot 2, 17 Broadfield Road for $1416 per sq m. The 6212 sq m purpose-built manufacturing and distribution centre, which will commence construction this year, was purchased by a manufacturer of aluminium windows and doors, CBREs Daniel Eramo said. Mordialloc

Construction of the new Mordialloc Freeway is spurring interest in surrounding regions. At 273 Boundary Road four parties pushed the auction price to $2.21 million, on a yield of 6.4 per cent. The two buildings on 2229 sq m of land had three long term tenancies, Nichols Crowders Julian Vautin and Matt Nichols said. Mont Albert We are still seeing good demand for assets in the $1 million to $5 million bracket particularly in Melbournes inner east and adjoining suburbs, Gray Johnsons Matt Hoath said. The freehold of 6 Churchill Street sold at auction well in excess of the $900,00 reserve set by the vendor. It went for $1,055,000 in front of a good auction crowd. Moorabbin Just around the corner from the new Morris Moor development, 5 Lennox Street sold under the hammer for $2.4 million. Julian Vautin and Matt Nichols of Nichols Crowder said the property, with a new three-year lease, exchanged on a yield of 4.3 per cent.

Mentone A shop leased for $32,327 a year net at 47 Florence Avenue has sold for $1,038,000. Crabtrees Real Estates Chris McKenzie and Rodney King said the property, held in the same family since the 1950s, sold on a 3.11 per cent yield. Derrimut This warehouse ticks a lot of boxes, said Colliers Internationals Stephen Ryan and Charlie Woodley. In the Paramount Estate at 148 Paramount Boulevard, it sold for $5.75 million on a per sq m rate of $1775. "The food-grade warehouse has insulation in the ceiling, full drive around access, a large canopy, an east-facing yard, a separate car park for truck movements and A-grade amenities, Mr Ryan said. Moorabbin

A high-end fashion executive bought 13 Wren Road before auction for $1,045,000. The new owner plans to occupy part of the building and lease out the remainder, James Glen from Nichols Crowder says. Mount Waverley A shop leased to cafe Cannoli & Co Pty Ltd sold through CVAs John Nockles and Jarrod Moran for $2,315,000 at a yield of 3.24 per cent. The tenant had recently renewed a 5+5+5 year lease for Shop 24 in Centreway at $75,000 per annum net. Richmond A 140 sq m office/warehouse with front and rear access, unit 6 at 6 Bromham Place, sold for $870,000 on 5.75 per cent passing yield. Sold via a private campaign, it had three-year lease returning $50,000 per annum with the tenant paying all outgoings, Cushman & Wakefields Robert Colaneri and Andrew O'Connell said.

Docklands Shops 1 and 2 at 846 Bourke Street sold for $1.1 million on a net yield of 4.7 per cent. Leased to agency Nelson Alexander, the 137 sq m property sold through CVAs Jarrod Moran and Ryan Milivojac. LEASES Hawthorn Scope has expanded to 290 Burwood Road, where it has leased 528 sq m in a deal negotiated by Colliers Internationals Tom Rothel, Damien Adkins and Ash Dean. The NDIS provider will pay about $450 per sq m net to landlord Zagames.

Nunawading A showroom/warehouse at 3/14 Queen Street on the corner of Rooks Road has been leased to national retailer Instant Windscreens and Tinting for $37,000 per annum plus GST and outgoings. The building comprised a small showroom plus a high clearance warehouse and first floor office with a total building area of 430 sq m, said Gorman Commercials Dean Alexander. Hawthorn A fish and chip shop with upstairs residence has leased at 734 Glenferrie Road for $95,000 a year net on a five-year lease. Allard Sheltons Jarrod Nankin secured a new operator after it was vacated with its fitout, plant and equipment in place. Brunswick

The former French Milk Bar at 153 Weston Street has leased to hospitality operators who previously ran Dead Man Espresso in South Melbourne, Common Galaxia in Seddon and Sun Moth Canteen & Bar / Superbus Wine. Dean Alexander from Gorman Commercial said they took a five-year lease plus options at a starting rent of $65,000. New operators of the former French Milk Bar at 153 Weston Street will pay starting rent of $65,000. Clayton A recently refurbished 3296 sq m factory at 1-11 McNaughton Road was leased through Crabtrees Chris McKenzie at a rental of $265,000 per annum net. National motor vehicle parts supplier ACM Parts took a 3+3 year lease. West Meadows
Torie Fisher knows what it feels like to be appreciated.

The founder and head brewer at Backward Flag Brewing Co. in Forked River previously served two tours in Iraq and remembers how good it felt to receive something while deployed overseas, like a thank-you card from kindergarteners.

So she decided to return the favor and show those on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic some appreciation: Fisher donated 30 gift cards from the brewery to the ER nurses at Southern Ocean Medical Center on Sunday.

Right now, its probably pretty brutal for them, she told NJ Advance Media. We just wanted to make sure people knew they were appreciated for doing the things theyre doing.

Our nurses and our hospital workers are basically the front line of whats going on, she added. So it definitely shouldnt be forgotten.

The gift cardscomplete with a hand-written note addressed to the hard working heroes from Fisher and worth $10 eachare for the nurses to get a couple beers when they have the time, or once the brewerys space to sit inside reopens.

Mariah Fannan, the brewerys sales manager, thought of the idea, Fisher said, when she saw other businesses showing appreciation, like delivering pizzas.

We cant send beer, but we can send gift cards for them to have beer later, and thats really what sparked it, Fisher said of the idea.

The pair personally delivered the cards to the hospital Sunday afternoon and met with one of the grateful nurses. Fannan said the nurse was covered in scrubs from head to toe, along with a plastic visor, goggles, and a mask.

(The nurse) said something along the lines of, I wish I could hug you, but I cant touch you, she recalled.

Backward Flag Brewing Co. is a veteran- and women-owned business that opened in 2015. Fisher said she started the business while still in the military.

The brewery is open for takeout and delivery, Tuesday through Sunday, from 1 p.m. - 8 p.m. Fisher also mentioned tips are appreciated since her drivers are temporary employeesshes hired people who are currently out of work, like bartenders or kitchen employees.

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.

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By Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Punjab on Tuesday reported six more coronavirus positive cases taking the state's total to 29.

Health authorities have said that 21 of these people caught the infection from the 70-year-old who died of COVID-19 on March 18.

A granthi in the village gurudwara, the septuagenarian had come back to India after a two-week long trip to Germany and Italy. Before his death, he had performed path and distributed prasad to the devotees in the village.

A family of three - husband, wife and child - of Virk village in Phillaur town near Jalandhar, who were known to the 70-year-old, have been confirmed to be coronavirus positive.

The authorities have now sealed the village.

As many as sixteen of the 21 people the late 70-year-old infected were known to him.

Of these 14 are his family members and relatives. They are the three sons who are 45, 35 and 34 years old respectively, the daughter-in-law who is 40, his 36-year-old daughter, 17-year-old granddaughter and three little grandchildren in the age group of 5 to 10.

Another person who contracted the virus is his 68-year-old friend of Moriwala village in Hoshiarpur district. His two co-travellers to Hola-Mohalla celebrations in Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district were also tested positive. The deceased had told the authorities that he stayed at Anandpur Sahib for six days.

Around 20 lakh people visit the six-day Sikh religious Hola-Mohalla celebrations. However, only 40 lakh people participated in the festival due to the ongoing health crisis.

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With the coronavirus presence in Nebraska, the Speaker of the Legislature has recessed the body until further notice.

He will reconvene the Legislative body as needed to address the needs of the state and at a future date reconvene to complete the remaining days of this short session. Legislative offices are currently closed to the public. My office is minimally staffed and will be working from home, we will be monitoring telephone messages and emails and responding accordingly.

The situation in our state changes daily and I encourage everyone to please be patient with this situation due to its uniqueness and challenges. All are called upon to adapt in many different ways and I am asking all of us to be resilient like we had to be a year ago. We will continue to care for neighbors in different ways than we did a year ago. The words Nebraska Strong resonate again, in a different way, to be strong in health, be strong for our medical staff, and practicing CDC recommendations.

Governor Ricketts has issued guidelines limiting public gatherings to ten people according to CDC guidance. This is related to public gatherings such as bars, sporting events and worship. As you know, Governor Ricketts has been very proactive in keeping the public informed on precautionary guidelines to follow. To keep up with these updates, you can refer to the Governors website https://governor.nebraska.gov/.

Nebraska Medicine has an all-encompassing website that provides valuable information on coronavirus in our state such as healthcare facilities, school information, and self-assessment tools which can be found here https://icap.nebraskamed.com/.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is also providing current updates on the situation for individuals. It provides a What you should know section which explains who is most at risk for the virus, how to prevent contracting it, symptoms, what to do if you get sick, and frequently asked questions. This link also provides current situation reports detailing cases in the US and globally. It also has a page that provides guidance to business and employers on how they should plan, prepare and respond to a COVID-19 outbreak. Last, it provides information for schools, healthcare professionals, and for potential travelers. This website can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is providing loans and other resources to small businesses who may have been impacted financially by COVID-19. If you own a small business follow this link to see what resources may be available. https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources

Finally, the World Health Organization also has a website which provides the most current information on a global level. This site also provides all footage from press briefings discussing the COVID-19 situation. This website can be found here https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.

At this time I am praying for everyone affected by this challenge. We are empathetically here to listen to your concerns and encourage you to contact my office at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov if you have questions or need assistance.
The president of Harvard University and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus and have been in self-isolation for more than a week, the school announced today.

In a letter to students and faculty, President Lawrence Bacow, 68, said he and his wife, Adele, started experiencing symptoms including a cough, fever, chills and body aches on Sunday.

They were tested on Monday and received the positive results on Tuesday.

Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow said Tuesday he and wife Adele have tested positive for the coronavirus (pictured together in 2018)

'Neither of us knows how we contracted the virus, but the good newsif there is any to be hadis that far fewer people crossed our paths recently than is usually the case,' the president of the Ivy League school explained.

Bacow and his wife had been working from home and limiting their contact with others since March 14 as a precaution.

The states Department of Public Health will contact anyone who had recently been in contact with the couple, Bacow said.

'We will be taking the time we need to rest and recuperate during a two-week isolation at home,' Bacow said in the letter.

Harvard said 18 of its community members have tested positive for COVID-19 or are presumed to have the illness. The school shut down much of its campus March 17.

'This virus can lay anyone low,' Bacow wrote. 'I hope to see as few of you in our situation as possible, and I urge you to continue following the guidance of public health experts and the advice and orders of our government officials.'

Bacow and his wife, MIT-educated city planner Adele Fleet Bacow, have been married for nearly 45 years and have two grown sons and at least two grandchildren. Bacow became the 29th president of Harvard University on July 1, 2018, succeeding Drew Faust.

The John Harvard statue at Harvard University, a popular tourist attraction at the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sits adorned with a medical mask as students prepared to leave campus on March 14

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 50,075 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US and 628 deaths

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 50,075 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US and 628 deaths. In Massachusetts, where Harvard is located, there were 777 cases and nine fatalities.

Earlier this month, the university asked its students not to return to campus after Spring Break 'and to meet academic requirements remotely until further notice'.

Harvard officials said they will begin moving to virtual instruction for graduate and undergraduate classes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

FULL LETTER FROM HARVARD PRESIDENT ON COVID-19: Harvard President Lawrence Bacow Dear Members of the Harvard Community, Earlier today, Adele and I learned that we tested positive for COVID-19. We started experiencing symptoms on Sundayfirst coughs then fevers, chills, and muscle achesand contacted our doctors on Monday. We were tested yesterday and just received the results a few minutes ago. We wanted to share this news with all of you as soon as possible. Neither of us knows how we contracted the virus, but the good newsif there is any to be hadis that far fewer people crossed our paths recently than is usually the case. We began working from home and completely limiting our contact with others on March 14 in keeping with recommendations to adopt social distancing measures. In line with standard protocols, the Department of Public Health will be in touch with anyone with whom we have had close contact over the past fourteen days. We will be taking the time we need to rest and recuperate during a two-week isolation at home. I am blessed with a great team, and many of my colleagues will be taking on more responsibility over the next few weeks as Adele and I focus on just getting healthy. Thanks, in advance, for your good wishes. Thanks also for your understanding if I am not as responsive to email as I normally am. This virus can lay anyone low. We all need to be vigilant and keep following guidelines to limit our contact with others. Your swift actions over the past few weeksto respond to the needs of our community, to fulfill our teaching mission, and to pursue research that will save liveshave moved me deeply and made me extraordinarily grateful and proud. I hope to see as few of you in our situation as possible, and I urge you to continue following the guidance of public health experts and the advice and orders of our government officials. The world needs your courage, creativity, and intelligence to beat this viruswishing each of you good health. All the best, Larry Advertisement

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

Earlier today, Adele and I learned that we tested positive for COVID-19. We started experiencing symptoms on Sundayfirst coughs then fevers, chills, and muscle achesand contacted our doctors on Monday. We were tested yesterday and just received the results a few minutes ago. We wanted to share this news with all of you as soon as possible.

Neither of us knows how we contracted the virus, but the good newsif there is any to be hadis that far fewer people crossed our paths recently than is usually the case. We began working from home and completely limiting our contact with others on March 14 in keeping with recommendations to adopt social distancing measures. In line with standard protocols, the Department of Public Health will be in touch with anyone with whom we have had close contact over the past fourteen days.

We will be taking the time we need to rest and recuperate during a two-week isolation at home. I am blessed with a great team, and many of my colleagues will be taking on more responsibility over the next few weeks as Adele and I focus on just getting healthy. Thanks, in advance, for your good wishes. Thanks also for your understanding if I am not as responsive to email as I normally am.

This virus can lay anyone low. We all need to be vigilant and keep following guidelines to limit our contact with others. Your swift actions over the past few weeksto respond to the needs of our community, to fulfill our teaching mission, and to pursue research that will save liveshave moved me deeply and made me extraordinarily grateful and proud. I hope to see as few of you in our situation as possible, and I urge you to continue following the guidance of public health experts and the advice and orders of our government officials.

The world needs your courage, creativity, and intelligence to beat this viruswishing each of you good health.

All the best,

Larry
FILE PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore

SINGAPORE  Vulnerable members of the public will get their dedicated shopping hours at NTUC FairPrice and Dairy Farm Singapore outlets, when they can shop under safe distancing measures during this COVID-19 pandemic period.

In a media release on Tuesday (24 March), FairPrice said it will launch a Priority Shopping Hour trial from next Monday, to improve safe distancing measures for vulnerable members of the public  such as those of the Pioneer Generation, persons with disabilities and pregnant women  when they shop for daily necessities.

The trial will be held every Monday during the first hour of each stores normal operating hours. For its 24-hour outlets, the dedicated hour will be from 7am to 8am.

Similarly, Dairy Farm Singapore also put out a media release on Tuesday, saying it will introduce dedicated shopping hours for vulnerable members of the public at all its outlets (Cold Storage, Giant, Marketplace and Jasons Deli) every Tuesday and Wednesday, starting from this week.

The shopping hours will also during the first hour of trading, or 8am to 9am for its 24-hour stores.

A Cold Storage outlet under Dairy Farm Singapore. (PHOTO: Dairy Farm Singapore)

How to shop during the Priority Shopping Hour

To shop during the Priority Shopping Hour at FairPrice outlets, Pioneer Generation (PG) members need to present their PG Card. They will also enjoy additional discounts from the existing PG Discount Scheme when they shop on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Pregnant women and persons with disabilities need only to inform the FairPrice staff manning the entrance of the store of their condition to gain admission into the store during this dedicated hour.

The dedicated shopping hour for our PG members help safeguard their well-being and provide them with more time and space, said FairPrice Group chief executive officer Seah Kian Peng.

We will proactively introduce and review initiatives to better serve the needs of shoppers and protect the interest of the community during this challenging climate.

For Dairy Farm Singapore outlets, there is no need for the elderly to show proof of age.

Story continues

Precautionary measures at outlets

FairPrice said in its media release that it has various precautionary measures in place to maintain a safe and clean environment for its shoppers and staff.

These include floor markings at checkout queues to maintain social distancing, as well as in-store posters and announcements to remind customers. All food sampling will also cease until further notice.

Cleaning regimes have also been stepped up, especially for surfaces like railings, trolleys, baskets, and checkout counters. All staff and suppliers will have their temperatures taken at least twice a day, while hand sanitisers have been made available for customers to use.

For Dairy Farm Singapore, it has designated special checkout lines for the vulnerable members of the public during the normal operating hours to accommodate those who cannot shop during the dedicated hours.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Other Singapore stories:

NUS student took upskirt video of woman he tailed from MRT station to business school

Man who sexually abused daughter from when she was 6 jailed 18.5 years, fined

PCF Sparkletots teacher tests positive for COVID-19: report

COMMENT: Sports has never seemed more ridiculous than right now
On March 3, Politicos Sarah Owermohle profiled an unlikely media star for our unlikely times: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the veteran director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci had demonstrated an ability to talk frankly yet reassuringly about threats, to explain science, public health, and risk to the public in a way few can match, Owermohle notedand yet his visibility, since the coronavirus crisis began, had been subject to the vagaries of a president who wants to declare the outbreak under control. When Owermohle interviewed Fauci, rumors were circulating that the White House had moved to curb his public appearances, because his fact-based warnings about the virus were harshing Trumps vibe. Fauci denied that he had been silenced, but acknowledged the precarity of his position. You dont want to go to war with a president, he said. But you got to walk the fine balance of making sure you continue to tell the truth. White House officials reportedly saw the interview as an unwelcome distraction.

In the eons since then, we have heard plenty more from Fauci. Hes become a familiarand grimly comfortingfixture of our transformed information landscape, a capable voice of expertise at a time when such voices are both desperately needed and few and far between. The weekend before last, he appeared on all five of the major Sunday shows, a move known as the full Ginsburg (after Monica Lewinskys attorney, apparently). Trump himself has referred to Fauci as a major television star, which, coming from Trump, is either the greatest of praise or a thinly-veiled expression of jealousy (or both). If Dr. Fauci has become the explainer-in-chief of the coronavirus epidemic, it is in part because other government scientists have left a vacuum, Denise Grady, of the New York Times, reported earlier this month. When reporters call Dr. Fauci, he calls them back.

Related: Coronavirus and a Freelancers Dilemma

Still, the fine balance between Trump and the truth is also a fixture these days, and Fauci continues to have to walk it. When Trump dropped a reference to the Deep State Department during a press briefing on Friday, Fauci appeared to facepalm, and the internet noticed (Fauci later said a lozenge had lodged in his throat and he was trying to hide the fact from the cameras); during the same briefing, Fauci contradicted Trumps assertions that an anti-malaria drug could work against the coronavirus. In recent days, Fauci gave a pair of interviews which caught the eye for their candor. In one, with Maureen Dowd of the Timeswhose eventual piece was headlined, Thank God the doctor is inhe said it was understandable that people said, What the hells the matter with Fauci? because I had been walking a fine line. He added, of Trump, I say it the way it is, and if hes gonna get pissed off, hes gonna get pissed off. Thankfully, he is not. Interestingly. In the other interview, Jon Cohen, of Science magazine, presented Fauci with a false statement Trump had made about China and the coronaviruss timeline. I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, lets get real, what do you want me to do? Fauci replied. I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down.

In other interviewswith Face the Nation on CBS News this past Sunday, for instanceFauci has played down suggestions of a rift with the president. (I think theres this issue of trying to separate the two of us, he said.) Nonetheless, the Timess Maggie Haberman wrote yesterday that Trump and his aides are growing tired of Faucis public presence. For now, Haberman reported, Trump knows Fauci is seen as credible with a large section of the public and with journalists, and so he has given the doctor more leeway to contradict him than he has other officials. Still, in recent days, Fauci has become a less permanent presence at White House briefings, and his absence again yesterday caused many observersincluding journaliststo react with alarm. When asked about Faucis absence, Trump called him a good man, and said, Hell be back up soon. Trump also used the briefing to suggest that economic activity in the US should restart very soona lot sooner than [the] three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Reports circulated yesterday that Fauci, along with other government experts, has advised the president against such a gung-ho approach.

Fauci is an experienced handhes 79 years old, and has served in his current role for more than 35 of them. He has walked plenty of public-relations tightropes in the past; he was a visible face of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s while his boss, Ronald Reagan, ignored it, and he claims to have testified before Congress more than anyone else ever. But this pandemic is a new kind of crisis, and Trumpin his media obsession and loathing of shared spotlightsis a new kind of president. For now, the doctor is in. We can only hope that continues.

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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.
On Sunday, heeding Prime Minister Narendra Modis call, the nation stood united to applaud the services of those who are in the frontline of the battle against coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Those providing essential services include doctors, nurses, paramedics, and the support staff in hospitals and nursing homes across the country, who, risking their own lives, often without protective equipment, are testing patients and treating the infected. They include aviation staff who, once again, risking their lives, evacuated those who were in severely affected countries and brought them home. They include public servants, from the local police constable ensuring communities remain safe to the government official going to work every day to keep the wheels of administration rolling. They include journalists, who are out in the field and in newsrooms, bringing reliable, accurate information to readers and viewers.

This moment of national honour, led by citizens, however, does not appear to have translated into meaningful action. Instead, there appears to be a rising tide of vigilante action against precisely those who are battling Covid-19 to keep society safe. On Sunday, Air India issued a statement about how its staff was being ostracised by vigilante resident welfare associations (RWAs) and neighbours, with even the police being called, just because the airline staff had travelled and returned from abroad. On Tuesday, another airline staffer posted a heartbreaking video about how she and her mother were being harassed, only because she continued to work. This has extended to doctors and other health workers now  with residential societies and home owners asking them to vacate homes because they work with Covid-19 patients. Some have even faced the threat of physical assault.

Not only is this kind of citizen behaviour entirely unacceptable, it must invite stern government action against concerned RWAs, some of which are behaving like sovereign, authoritarian republics. There are people who are going to work selflessly so that those who stay home can remain safe. Banging plates is not enough. Show gratitude in reality.
Devon Bruce, a partner from Power Rogers & Smith, P.C.. shows examples of negligence by the auditors who failed to discover the embezzlement by Rita Crundwell for over two decades. During a press conference at his law offices in Chicago he points out a real invoice by the Illinois Dept of Transportation, left, and one of Crundwell's fake documents that doesn't even include the name and logo of the department . (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

Dixon's longtime city treasurer hid massive thefts by creating dozens of fictitious invoices for made-up capital projects, but auditors never took any of the standard steps to try to verify the work and didn't raise questions about problems with the paperwork, Dixon attorneys said Thursday.

Treasurer Rita Crundwell was able to steal nearly $54 million in city funds over more than two decades after a local bank allowed her to open a secret account in the city's name without proper documentation, the attorneys alleged.

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The details came out at a downtown Chicago news conference a day after the city announced it has settled its lawsuit against the auditors and bank for $40 million. Attorney Devon Bruce, who represented Dixon in the lawsuit, shed more light on how Crundwell's schemes went on for 22 years without detection.

Crundwell, 60, who used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and a horse-breeding operation, is serving a sentence of nearly 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of wire fraud and admitting to money laundering. She is appealing the sentence.

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Bruce placed much of the blame for Crundwell's fraud going unnoticed for so long on the accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen, which had been doing financial work for Dixon since 1988. Bruce called the national firm's actions "grossly negligent."

"When you put these (invoices) in comparison to one another the discrepancies are obvious and should have been obvious for over 20 years to Clifton," he told reporters.

To justify the payment of city funds to the secret bank account, Crundwell created almost 180 invoices over two decades to make it appear the state was billing the city for work it had done in Dixon, Bruce said. The auditors, though, failed to notice that Crundwell's phony invoices contained misspellings and were not on state letterhead, he said. He also said the auditors didn't follow standard practices and try to verify the projects by calling the state, checking with a city engineer or personally examining the projects.

For at least two decades, the same auditors reviewing Dixon's finances were also preparing Crundwell's personal tax returns, but they failed to be alarmed by the hundreds of thousands of dollars she claimed in income a year on her returns even though she had no documentation, according to Bruce.

Under questioning as part of the lawsuit, the auditors acknowledged they assumed Crundwell made the money from her horse business. Her treasurer's post paid about $80,000 a year at the time of her April 2012 arrest.

CliftonLarsonAllen has agreed to pay the bulk of the settlement  $35.15 million. Ellen Trytek, chief marketing officer for the firm, declined to comment Thursday on specific actions the firm did or did not take, but the firm conceded it shared in the "responsibility for the fact that the fraud was not detected."

"The auditors, accountants, bankers and Ms. Crundwell's supervisors  the mayor and the City Council members  all need to look carefully to determine what they could have done to detect this," Trytek said in an email.

The Sterling, Ill., accounting firm of Janis Card Associates and owner Samuel Card will pay $1 million of the settlement.

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Tom Falkenberg, attorney for the firm and its owner, said Thursday that they denied any wrongdoing.

"All parties agree that it was in the best interest of the parties, as well as the citizens of Dixon, to bring this matter to an end," he said.

Bruce also faulted Fifth Third Bank for violating banking standards by allowing Crundwell to open a city account in 1990 without proper documentation, even if employees knew she worked for the city.

The bank also accepted checks from the city's Capital Development Fund account simply made out to "Treasurer," he said.

"That could be treasurer of the petunia festival in the city of Dixon, that could be the treasure of the Lions Club in the city of Dixon," Bruce said. "That check made simply payable to 'Treasurer' should never be allowed to be negotiated."

In addition, the bank should have been monitoring the account and investigating charges to a city account for jewelry, spas and trips, Bruce said. When preparing a list of accounts for the annual audit, he said it is also the bank's responsibility to disclose all accounts. But Crundwell's secret account was not included on the reports until 2010. Even then, auditors did not question its appearance.

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"It's absolutely a red flag in the accounting industry, and they should have investigated that and they did not," Bruce said.

Fifth Third Bank, which will pay $3.85 million of the settlement, noted on Wednesday that it agreed to the terms "without any admission of liability."

mjenco@tribune.com
<! Folasade Yemi-Esan: orders civil servants. stay at home >

The Federal Government has ordered civil servants to stay at home from Tuesday, 24 March, as the battle against Coronavirus was ramped up.

Head of Service, Folasade Yemi-Esan, in a memo said all civil servants from grade level one to 12 should work from home. Lagos gave the same order on Sunday.

For the senior civil servants coming to work, she ordered them to limit visitors

The head of service said government is concerned about the welfare and safety of all public servants just as it was about other Nigerians.

All public servants are, therefore, strongly advised to follow the measures being put in place by government to curtail the spread of the pandemic, she said.

As a further step to check the spread of COVID-19, all non-essential public servants on grade level 12 and below are to work from home with effect from Tuesday 24th March, 2020 until further notice.

Earlier on Monday, the Federal Government ordered the total closure of all its land borders to halt the spread of the pandemic.

<!

after_article responsive (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

>
Eight new positive coronavirus



cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Tuesday, taking the tally to 41 in the state, the health department said.

"Till date 41 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state which includes one death and 3 discharged," the department said.

According the department bulletin, 37 positive patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and their condition is stable.

Of the 41 confirmed cases, six are transit passengers hailing from Kerala who have landed in airports and being treated in Karnataka.

Among the eight passengers confirmed on Tuesday also three men and a woman are from Kasaragod in Kerala with a history of travel to Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively.

All the four had landed in Mangaluru, where they are being treated.

The others are: two men, aged 40 and 65, from Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka with travel history to Dubai;



a 56-year-old woman, a resident of Chikkaballapura district, who is a family member and co-passenger of person who tested postive with travel history to Mecca, and a 56-year-old woman, resident of Bengaluru, a contact of another person who has tested positive for the virus,Among the 41 cases, 24 has been reported from Bengaluru, five from Dakshina Kannada, three each from Kalaburgai and Chikkaballapura, two each from Mysuru and Uttara Kannada, and one each from Kodagu and Dharwad.

All the three discharged patients are from Bengaluru, while one death was reported in Kalaburagi earlier this month, which was the country's first COVID-19 related death.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While The Neon Museum in Las Vegas experiences its temporary closure due to COVID-19 measures, it offers several ways to #NeonMuseumFromHome and stay engaged including The Neon Museum web-based app, YouTube channel, social media platform, blog and e-newsletter.

The Neon Museums free web-based app enables users to learn about select signs housed in the Boneyard outdoor exhibition space. Anyone with a computer or smartphone data plan can access the app via the website at www.neonmuseum.app and use the password NEON to access it.

Comprising photos, text and audio narration, the museums app spotlights 25 of the collections most popular artifacts and pieces from Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum. Beginning with the La Concha visitors center itself, a classic example of the roadside Googie architecture designed by pioneering African American architect Paul Revere Williams, the app also includes fun facts, history and anecdotes about the following signs: Hard Rock Cafe guitar, Golden Nugget, Moulin Rouge, Fitzgeralds, Sassy Sallys, Yucca Motel, Nevada Motel, Chief Hotel Court, Steiner Cleaners, Doc & Eddys, the Red Barn, Anderson Dairy, Green Shack, Treasure Island, Wedding Information, Aladdin, Jerrys Nugget, Stardust, Riviera, Frontier, La Concha sign and Ugly Duckling.

To watch videos of The Neon Museums signs and exhibits, including features on Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum and Strings Of Neon, the Hard Rock Cafe Guitar restoration documentary, visit the museums YouTube channel at https://bit.ly/3a8SUlK.

Users interested in learning more about the signs may access The Neon Museum blog here https://bit.ly/2UpUadt. The blog includes articles dedicated to a variety of topics, including Lost Signs of Las Vegas, How Many Signs Light Up? and Days of Luxor Past: The Neon Museums Most Enigmatic Sign.

For ongoing communication from The Neon Museum, sign up to receive e-newsletters with the latest news from The Neon Museum, go to https://bit.ly/2xX7qyN.

Finally, for daily dispatches (and timely memes) from The Neon Museum, follow The Neon Museum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and comment using #NeonMuseumFromHome.


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Linkedin Philippe Rater (Agence France-Presse) United Nations, United States  Tue, March 24, 2020 10:45 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0aeab 2 World UN-Security-Council,resolution,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health,SARS-CoV-2 Free

The UN Security Council, which has not met for 12 days due to the coronavirus outbreak, is deeply divided over a proposed declaration on the crisis and holding "virtual" meetings to vote on resolutions, diplomatic sources said Monday.

The impasse comes as world leaders struggle to respond to the pandemic, with rivals US and China engaged in a war of words as medical experts plead for unified action.

"South Africa [a non-permanent council member] rejected [the proposed declaration] first. Russia and China engaged earlier, but later on also blocked it," a source told AFP.

The draft proposal, drawn up late last week by Estonia, highlights "growing concern about the unprecedented extent of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world, which may constitute a threat to international peace and security."

It also calls for "full transparency" over the outbreak -- wording seen by some to allude to US criticism of government secrecy in China, where the virus first emerged.

"The members of the Security Council urge the member states to put more emphasis on helping the ones most exposed and vulnerable to the virus and the populations in dire humanitarian situations," the draft, seen by AFP, says.

It adds that "no country can succeed alone."

A UN Security Council declaration requires the support of all 15 members to be adopted and published.

Uncertain schedule

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday that the pandemic was clearly "accelerating" as the number of deaths surged close to 16,000, with over 350,000 declared infections.

The Security Council, chaired in March by China, has not met since March 12, with most UN staff and diplomats from the national missions working from home to avoid infection, though the New York headquarters remains open.

On Thursday it must renew the mandate of UN experts responsible for sanctions imposed on North Korea for one year and extend the peace mission in Somalia for one year.

According to diplomats, the council must also extend the peacekeepers' mission in Darfur by two months, without modifying the numbers of troops.

Originally, the Security Council was supposed to decide on a gradual withdrawal to create at the end of October a political mission in Sudan and close its peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

Council meetings on Syria and
Burma Myanmar Govt Declares Arakan Army a Terrorist Group

AA leader Major General Tun Myat Naing (second from the right) attends an ethnic armed organizations peace conference in Kachin State in July 2016. / The Irrawaddy

The Myanmar government declared the Arakan Army (AA) ethnic armed group to be a terrorist group and an unlawful association on Monday, saying the AAs actions pose risks to the public and disrupt law and order, peace and the stability of the country. The AA is currently in an active conflict with the Myanmar military in western Myanmar.

According to the order issued Monday, President U Win Myint has declared that the actions and objectives of the AA, its political wing the United League of Arakan (ULA) and affiliated groups and individuals have constituted a danger to law and order, peace and stability of the country and public peace and are unlawful under Section 15 (2) of the Unlawful Associations Act. The order was signed by Minister of Home Affairs Lieutenant General Soe Htut, who also serves as chairman of the Central Committee for Counterterrorism.

Lt-Gen Soe Htut also signed an order declaring the ULA and AA to be terrorist groups that have incited fears and threats to local people in northern Rakhine State, organized attacks against the military, police and security outposts and used local civilians as human shields.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy shortly after the announcement on Monday night that the government and the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, had included the AA in the peace process but they have kept committing violent acts.

As they keep committing foolish acts, they have been declared an unlawful association. The Tatmadaw have been urging the government to declare the group as such and now the government has. This measure should be in place, he said.

Since 2012, Myanmars various ethnic armed groups fighting for equality and self-determination have been in peace talks with the government. Half of the countrys 20-some non-state armed groups have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and are moving towards political dialogue to build a democratic federalist union.

The AA was also negotiating a bilateral ceasefire with the government but there have been no talks between the sides since February.

We have to be able to distinguish between the groups, to tell which do not want to achieve peace, and tackle this issue decisively through both legal and military actions, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun added.

The spokesman said that anyone, including local residents in Rakhine State and journalists, will be subject to prosecution if they have communicated with the group. The law is the same for everyone, he added.

The Central Committee for Counterterrorism also outlined a series of crimes that the AA has allegedly committed.

They also arrested, killed and tortured village administrators, civil service staff and innocent civilians, in addition to carrying out shootings and landmine attacks in villages, the committee said, adding that [The AA] conducted terrorist attacks on registered vessels, airplanes and motorized vehicles while based in the country and that their actions have caused serious losses of public security, lives, property, important infrastructure for the public and private sector, state-owned buildings, vehicles, equipment and materials.

Fighting between the AA and the military has intensified since November 2018, leaving nearly 130,000 people displaced in 10 townships in Rakhine State, according to figures from the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) at the end of February.

Tens of thousands more are affected by the fighting in Paletwa Township, Chin State, according to the Chin State government.

REC figures show that since February, houses have been burned in at least 18 villages in Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships, allegedly due to artillery fired by the Myanmar military.

In 2019, the AA detained a Chin parliamentarian from Paletwa for more than two months and also detained two National League for Democracy members from the partys Rakhine office and other civilians on suspicions that they were spies for the military.

The government and military also arrested and sued hundreds of locals in Rakhine, including the family members of AA chief Major General Tun Myat Naing, accusing them of affiliation with the AA and charging them under the Counterterrorism Law.

Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report.
The Trump administration is preparing to propose a $1 trillion stimulus package to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while discussions of what will be featured in his plan are still in the preliminary stages, it now appears that the president has adopted an idea that lawmakers of both parties have been pushing for: sending cash checks directly to Americans.

"We want to make sure Americans get money in their pockets quickly and small business owners have access to funds," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The White House also intends to ask Congress for additional funding for the government agencies trying to fight the pandemic.

The government has already announced that it's pushing back the April 15 tax-payment deadline by another 90 days. The Internal Revenue Service will waive interest and penalties during those three months for Americans who owe up to $1 million in taxes.

Further details

The Trump administration is also proposing to spend money propping up various domestic industries that have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19. For example, he plans to ask for around $50 billion dedicated to the airline industry, which has suffered significantly as travel worldwide has plunged. Shares of United Airlines and American Airlines have fallen by around 44% and 60%, respectively, over the past month.

So far, Congress has already passed a bill that makes $8.3 billion available for a wide range of purposes directly related to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, from supporting vaccine and treatment development to aiding state and local health departments, buying vital medical supplies, and assisting in the international efforts to contain the disease. Another bill that would expand unemployment insurance and require that COVID-19 testing be free still awaits a vote in the Senate.
Hiring qualified employees can be a struggle, especially in a tight labor market. Rather than leaving positions unfilled, more business owners have expanded their potential hire pool to include people with disabilities. In addition to gaining a qualified and hardworking person, companies are experiencing other significant benefits of hiring persons with disabilities.

Small businesses struggle to attract key talent because they often cannot compete with larger employers on wage and benefit packages. However, when they expand their hire search to include people with disabilities, they often find talented, skilled applicants that others have overlooked.

Over 16 percent of persons with disabilities have earned at least a bachelors degree, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and many of them are unable to find work due to prejudice or misunderstanding about their ability to contribute in the workplace. Hiring persons with disabilities allows you to snap up key talent and nurture their abilities to their benefit and yours.

Expand your audience and improve your work environment

When you hire people with disabilities, you demonstrate that you meet the needs of this population, which can help expand your market and revenues. The discretionary income of working-age people with disabilities is approximately $21 billion, according to a study by the American Institutes for Research.

Few companies market to this population or make a connection with it, which creates opportunities for small businesses. Hiring people with disabilities provides a strategic benefit because you increase this populations awareness of your company and the products or services you sell. Not only can you capture a piece of this discretionary income, but the family members and friends of people with disabilities will also be more likely to purchase from your business.

An example of what is possible is a story about a small business in North Carolina that received regional recognition because it only hires people with disabilities. While you want to promote your inclusive work environment, do so with tact and respect. You don't want the employees with disabilities to feel as if they are on display or were only hired to promote the business instead of performing their job duties.

Based on work done by the Sierra Group, a consulting firm focused on driving up employment for people with disabilities, there are several documented benefits to an organization as a whole when disabled individuals become part of the team. These include higher retention of existing employees, enhanced staff morale, boost in creativity and problem-solving skills and increased work ethic. In other words, the inclusion of people with disabilities encourages everyone to be their best selves.

Figure out the finances

As a small business, you may be eligible for three federal tax incentives when you hire workers who are disabled. The first is the Disabled Access Credit. This is a non-refundable tax credit that was developed to incentivize businesses to provide access to individuals with disabilities and is available only for companies that earn $1 million or less in gross receipts and have no more than 30 employees. The credit helps to offset the cost of improving access to your business by removing physical barriers, proving appropriate communication support or other equipment.

Next is the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction. This tax incentive is available to all businesses that remove architectural and transportation barriers to the mobility of persons with disabilities. Compliant businesses qualify for a $15,000-per-year tax deduction.

Finally, there is the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which is available to employers who hire people from certain targeted groups. The list of potential hires under this list goes beyond the disabled to include veterans, ex-felons, and more. The potential tax credit ranges from $1,200 to $9,600, depending on the employee hired and their length of employment.

While there are benefits of hiring people with disabilities, many owners of small companies choose not to because they are concerned about the cost of accommodating these people. However, this should not be a barrier.

A survey conducted by the US Department of Labor Job Accommodation Network (JAN) found that almost 60 percent of employers reported that there was no cost associated with the accommodations needed for their new hires. Another 36 percent of employers reported experiencing a one-time cost averaging about $500. In addition, JAN data finds that companies report an average return of $28.69 in benefits for every dollar spent in making an accommodation. These benefits are in addition to the tax credit opportunities described above.

Bottom line

Think outside the traditional hiring box to find qualified people who have a disability. You will be rewarded on every level, including gaining a valuable team member, boosting your bottom line and improving company morale.

Related:

Coronavirus May Kill Thousands of Small Businesses. Here's How to Create Jobs for Those in Need.

How Hiring People With Disabilities Will Make Your Business Stronger

The Hiring Conundrum: Experience Versus Potential



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the speed of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In response to the escalating crisis, the UK introduced its most draconian measures yet on Monday to try and curb the soaring infection rate.

Boris Johnson ordered people to only leave the house to buy groceries, exercise, for medical reasons or for necessary work.

Hours before, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared three powerful statistics as he warned that the pandemic is accelerating.

The virus has reached the majority of countries.

He explained that in the first 67 days of the outbreak, there were a total of 100,000 cases. This number then doubled over the next 11 days and tripled in the four days after that.

 At 67 days since outbreak began - 100,000 cases in total

 11 days later - 200,000 cases in total

 Four days after that - 300,000 cases in total

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

Announcing the latest plans to combat the spread, Tedros said he would be asking the G20 to ramp up production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and nurses.

We need unity among the G20 countries who have more than 80% of the global GDP, he said.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the virus was spreading faster. (AP)

If we dont prioritise protecting health workers, many people will die because the health worker who could have saved their lives is sick.

The G20 agreed on Monday to develop an "action plan" to respond to the pandemic that the International Monetary Fund now expects to trigger a global recession.

Finance officials from the 20 nations met by video conference for nearly two hours, seeking to stave off growing criticism that the world's "fire station" has been slow to respond to the worsening crisis.

Global cases of coronavirus have been increasing rapidly. (PA)

G20 leaders are due to meet for an extraordinary summit in coming days as the virus continues its rapid spread, with 392,331 people infected across the world and more than 17,100 dead.

Story continues

As of Monday, the UK death toll hit 335 and British citizens travelling abroad were told to return home while you still can.

Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials items as part of his new measures.

A woman with a medical mask carries shopping bags in Bath the day after Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (PA)

He ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities as infrequently as possible and to perform one form of exercise a day.

Or they could seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if absolutely necessary, he said in a televised address from within Downing Street.

The measures which were effective immediately from Monday night will be reviewed in 21 days and relaxed if the government thinks it is possible and safe to do so.
A husband-wife duo in Noida and a man in Greater Noida on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district to 11, officials said.

The 50-year-old man and his 47-year-old wife live in Sector 137 and do not have any foreign travel history but the husband, an auditor, had recently met a UK-based client, Health Department officials said.

The 37-year-old man in Greater Noida's Zeta 1 sector has recently returned from Africa, Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava said.

"All the three cases who tested positive on Tuesday have already been hospitalised and are under treatment. Their family members have been kept in isolation and being monitored," Bhargava told PTI.

District administration has sealed the society in Sector 137 of Noida and Sector Zeta 1 in Greater Noida for sanitisation work since the detection of the cases.

"New positive cases for coronavirus have been detected.... The society and the sector concerned have been temporarily sealed from March 24 till March 26 for sanitisation work. Entry into or exit from them will not be allowed during the period except for emergency cases," District Magistrate B N Singh said.

According to the district health department, 362 samples have been sent for test so far, of which 11 have resulted positive, 259 negative, and result for 93 was awaited by Tuesday evening.

A total of 148 people have been kept isolated at quarantine facilities -- 99 at hospitals and 49 at Gautam Buddh University, the department stated, adding that 1,717 individuals were under surveillance.

Uttar Pradesh has recorded 33 such cases, including a foreign national, while the national figure stood at 519 -- including 10 deaths -- till Tuesday evening, according to central government data.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UPDATE: Moments after the number was released state officials said it overwhelmed their call system and was interfering with emergency calls. NJ Advance Media removed the number from this story. The way to file a complaint is by submitting it through an online form on the states website.

New Jersey employers should not be forcing their workers to go to their offices if those people are able to do their jobs from home amid the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.

The governor said state officials have received numerous reports that companies were flouting his executive order that requires all businesses or non-profits in the state, whether closed or open to the public, must accommodate their workforce, wherever practicable, for telework or work-from-home arrangements."

My executive order is not a polite suggestion, Murphy said sternly Tuesday at Rutgers-Newark during his daily coronavirus press briefing.

It is an order, he added. No one, and I mean no one, who can do their job from home should be going to the office.

Murphy said hes heard some businesses have gone so far as to deem all of their employees as essential."

The number was overwhelmed with calls at 3:30 p.m. People should submit their complaints through an online form from the states website.

State officials announced Tuesday New Jersey has at least 3,675 known coronavirus cases with at least 44 known deaths throughout the state.

Murphys order to work from home is for non-essential businesses.

To the extent a business or non-profit has employees that cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements, the business or non-profit should make best efforts to reduce staff on-site to the minimal number necessary to ensure that essential operations can continue, the order reads.

Examples of employees who need to be physically present at their worksite in order to perform their duties include, but are not limited to, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, cashiers or store clerks, construction workers, utility workers, repair workers, warehouse workers, lab researchers, information technology maintenance workers, janitorial and custodial staff, and certain administrative staff.

ESSENTIAL RETAIL BUSINESSES THAT CAN STAY OPEN

Grocery stores

Farmers markets and farms that sell directly to customers

Other food stores, including retailers that offer a varied assortment of foods comparable to what exists at a grocery store

Pharmacies

Medical marijuana dispensaries

Medical supply stores

Gas stations

Convenience stores

Ancillary stores within healthcare facilities

Hardware and home improvement stores

Banks and other financial institutions

Laundromats and dry-cleaning services

Stores that principally sell supplies for children under five years

Pet stores

Liquor stores

Car dealerships, but only for auto maintenance and repair, and auto mechanics

Printing and office supply shops

Mail and delivery stores

Restaurants, though only takeout and delivery.

New Jersey went into near-lockdown mode starting Saturday night after Murphy announced he ordered its 9 million residents to stay at home except for necessary travel and mandating that all non-essential retail businesses in the state close until further notice to help battle the spread of the outbreak.

As of Tuesday morning, New Jersey had the second most coronavirus cases in the country, after neighboring New York.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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Recently, a friend of mine who had worked for two big game companies in UK, sent me a message about considering working in China and asked me for some general information of work & life condition. I was deeply touched by this message, for this action was so rare in the past with a closed and underdeveloped China, and now the trickle would become a stream and a big torrent in the near future. So here I give some Industry Info and Life Tips for those who wish to work and live in China.

The Industry

Video game is a booming industry in China. According to App Annie, in January 2020, Chinese games take 6 seats among 10 top grossing mobile titles worldwide. Alongside international giants such as Tencent, NetEase, developers of all sizes prosper in an environment made friendly by governmental supports. Many global companies open studios here, such as UBI, EA, and Virtuos. And every year, major game connections around the world are sponsored by big Chinese companies: Huawei, AdTiming, etc.

In China, the top earning games are mobile and MMO PC games, these are also the local publishers/developers mainly working with. And developers, art service providers, localization support and all types of companies here in the ecosystem making their inputs to globally released titles on all platforms: PS4, Steam, Switch and mobile.

Every year, talents around China and the world flock to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, and Xian, where most big players in the industry reside, to hunt down fortune and happiness.

Working Conditions

There are a lot of foreign people working in China now. They mostly work for global enterprises, embassies and education institutions. Most of them are from developed countries, US, Europe, Japan and Korea. And some are from Africa, India, Pakistan and Mid-East.

In game industry, from a foreign employees perspective, there are three types of companies here: global enterprises such as Sony and UBI; Small development companies run by a group of westerners, who love living in China; And local companies.

Working for the first two is pretty much the same as for any game companies in the world. And only a few big local companies could afford to hire foreign talents, for example Tencent and IGG. They are typically hired for their language skill, connections or expertise in western markets. So these people often take high positions in global marketing, localization, development, art directing.

In local companies, foreign employees would mixed use Mandarin and English.

If some could not communicate with Mandarin, the company would often lean to their preferences.

In the past, foreign people often come here with a bossy air, they view Chinese partners as lower people or simply cheap labor. Now with China becoming rich and strong, in most studios, foreign co-workers would work with Chinese people in cordial atmosphere, they listen to their ideas, and eager to learn eastern culture and wisdom from them.

In China, the working hours are from 8:30~17:30(1 hour for lunch), Monday to Friday. And below are Chinese holidays. Many important western holidays, such as Xmas, are not included by Chinese law. However, global companies could have them by their own decision.

January 1st : New years day

February: 1 week in February or late January, Spring Festival

April: 1 day in early April, Tomb Sweeping Day

May 1s: International Labor Day

June: 1 day in mid June, Dragon Boat Festive

September: 1 day in mid Sep, Middle Autumn Day

October 1st ~ 7th : National day

A career in game industry is often with high tension and overtime working, theres no exception in China too. However, foreign employees here are generally more at ease than their Chinese colleagues, due to difference in workload and financial pressure.

And in most said cities, foreign video game people regularly gather in drinking parties. For example, in Beijing theres a monthly gathering, I call it mini GDC. Business guys, developers, artists from global companies, indie studios, and a few Chinese people from local companies gather together in a beer bar, to have animated talk and enjoy free pizza and beers offered by sponsors.

Life

As we all know that living in one place is totally different from traveling there. Both would be exciting and challenging in multiple ways if you choose China. Here are some tips of living in said big cities in China.

Renting a satisfied place to stay could be a real challenge in big cities. Here are some different accommodation standards in Beijing. Around Sanlitun, one of the most busy blocks in Beijing, where most indie developers gather, the monthly rent of a 65M2 two bedrooms apartment, is about 7500 ($1070). If you wish to take 40 mins drive, the price could drop to 4200 ($600), the general condition of the apartments are as below pictures, not so upscale, and you have freedom to decorate it up.

And house rent in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen is significantly more expensive than other cities. This link is the renting house agency Lianjia, you can check the price in different cities/blocks.

Chinese food is famous for its diversity in different areas. People in north parts have noodles as staple food, enjoy light flavored cuisine, while on the contrast people in south parts have rice more often and prefer spicy and heavy taste. If you prefer western food, you can find plenty of western restaurants and buy raw materials, ingredients in big shopping centers like Metro, Carrefour, or order them on Taobao. Whats more, ordering takeout food online( Meituan app) is very common and popular among younger generations and white-collar workers. In general the price of a regular meal in restaurants is 1/4 ~ 1/3 of that in Europe.

The quality of running water is not good enough to drink directly. Its an old habit that Chinese people drink boiled water, and now more and more people have shifted to bottled water.

And many global brand commodities are more expensive in China, that you should buy them at home, they include computers, phones, electronic devices, photography gears, branded fashion and bags, leather shoes, etc. And while Chinese people are not in the habit of drinking coffee, good beans are hard to find here, you should take some with you.

And inside most big cities, there are west-towns, for example 798 art zone in Beijing, Xin Tiandi in Shanghai, and Sea World in Shenzhen, where you can find cafes, beer bars, western restaurants and art galleries all over the place. Foreigners flock there to have good time.

It can be said without exaggeration that nowadays living in China, every matter could be handled by a smart phone. Find more info in my Linked-in article.

In order to keep in touch with your family and friends back home via Facebook and WhatsApp, and read news outside of China, you definitely need to install VPN in your phone and PC.

History & Landscape

To many westerners, China is a country shrouded in mystery, an old empire of jade and dragons. Many come to Beijing to admire the Forbidden City, only to be amazed by its sheer scale and the riches of Chinese rulers of old.

And the grandeur of the landscape attracts Hollywood directors to shoot blockbusters like Star Wars and Avatar.

And the holy city of Tibetan Buddhism, is the destination of pilgrimage of Buddhists and travelers alike.

Not to say its unique history, art and culture, they are endless subjects for discussion and research.

Traveling

In general, traveling in China is very convenient.

Most big and middle size cities have their own airports. The tickets are cheap, in most time of the year, you can enjoy 20%~60% discount for most flights. Only during the Spring Festival period theres no discount.

And the bullet trains could reach every province, they usually take not too much time than the flights, with reasonable price. To get somewhere, Chinese people would first think of flights or bullet trains, and often the discounted price of flight is cheaper.

Renting cars is convenient, there are many providers and Apps. With highways running to every city and tourists attractions, its divine experience to travel by cars.

In most big and middle size cities, traffic jam is a problem, due to too many private owned cars. Commuting is much faster in Cities with subways, and now subway lines cover 36 Chinese cities, that its not likely video game people would work in a city without one.

Work & Love

Game people usually relocate to China, for her unique culture & living environment, and for the booming market. And none specifically come here hunting for love, nonetheless, they often harvest the fruit with surprise. Westerners here often date with Chinese people who speaks fluent foreign languages. In a context where very small percentage of citizens are able to handle foreign languages, these Chinese people are usually among the elites who are sunny, well educated, self-made, and knowing how to assume elegant attire and make-up.

And in Chinese peoples eyes, western women are tall, with good modeling in body and feature, versus Chinese girls are relatively flat in both; And western men are strong, squared and handsome.

My best friend Mike are the happy one among many, he have come here for a decade, delivered many good earning mobile shooter games, married his Chinese girl and now have a happy family of four.

Procedure

Obtaining a working visa in China is easy, there are many agencies in China doing this business. The bigger part of the question is on your countrys side. Generally speaking, the procedure for citizens from developed countries is easy, and more difficult for those from less developed countries. And in generally, people from developed world are welcomed to work in China.

Pandemic

Now as the coronavirus epidemic rampages in eastern Asia, its not recommended to come to China. Anyone with the plan should wait for a turn of the situation. I will give some updates. Here is my recent report about the matter.

Link:

Conclusion

Although China is not yet a developed country, in the big cities the video game people would work in, the working/living environment is comfortable and friendly, and every aspect of life is convenient. I wish the info in the article would be useful to you, and please leave comments of send me a message if you need more information. Thanks!

I will regularly bring you interesting news/stories from Chinese game industry on Instagram: @sunnypaintermedia, and Twitter: @SPmedia_China, please follow me, many thanks!


Fitch, IHS expect Korea's GDP to contract in 1st two quarters



By Lee Kyung-min



Korea is feared to slip into a recession as the fast-spreading COVID-19 outbreak becomes a global pandemic, in what economists say signals the clear end of a decade-long cyclical economic expansion that is set to pound Asia's fourth-largest economy.



The much-dreaded recession, defined by at least two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, is increasingly becoming a reality after Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki acknowledged the likelihood of such in the first quarter of 2020.



Economists say the timing of a recovery hinges on how fast the viral spread becomes contained, while no immediate upturn is expected in exports, corporate investment and consumption.



Of bigger concern is the deterioration of asset quality in the banking industry, brought on by mass defaults of low-credit rated firms under mounting pressure over liquidity shortages.



Korea suffered a recession in 2003, amid fallout from the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by the SARS coronavirus.



The economy at the time shrank 0.7 percent from quarter-on-quarter in the January to March period. The following April to June quarter saw a further 0.2 percent contraction.



Gloomier outlook



In its latest outlook, global credit ratings agency Fitch forecast that the Korean economy will contract 0.6 percent in the first quarter and 0.9 percent in the second.



IHS Markit, a London-based research firm, also expects Korea to suffer a recession with its GDP shrinking 0.9 percent in the first quarter and 0.7 percent in the second quarter.



A Bloomberg survey of 14 such agencies also reported an expected average 0.9 percent contraction in the first quarter of 2020. It added that the possibility of Korea entering a recession in the next 12 months was 33 percent, a notable jump from 18 percent in January.



The most pessimistic view came from Nomura Securities, which expects the Korean economy to contract 3.7 percent in the first quarter from the last quarter of 2019.



Seoul National University professor Kim So-young said shocks to the real economy will be amplified, which will lead to a tightening of financial conditions.



"Debt defaults by individuals will translate into a crisis in the financial sector, mostly because lenders will not be able to receive interest on their loans, a key factor that deteriorates their asset quality."



In a report Monday, S&P Global Ratings said the Korean economy alongside other countries in the Asia-Pacific region will contract in 2020.



"The average growth rate for Asia-Pacific economic growth in 2020 will be 2.7 percent," it said. "We now expect China's GDP growth rate to slow to 2.9 percent in 2020. Economies will contract in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and a newly deflationary Japan."



This is an addition to its earlier report on March 18 when it said a recession was "guaranteed."



"People flows from the U.S. and Europe will be decimated for at least two quarters, heaping more pressure on the tourism industry," it said.



Similarly, Moody's Investors Service in said a March 20 report that a "sharp contraction of the global economy  at least in the second quarter  appears imminent."



"Uncertainty will remain for at least several months as to how long it will take to contain the spread of the virus and how businesses and households will cope with the resulting financial losses," it said.



Extra budget



The higher-than-expected uncertainty is strengthening calls to draft a second supplemental budget, as the first one amounting to 11.7 trillion won ($92.3 billion) will not be enough to fight the economic fallout from the new coronavirus.



Calls will intensify from the ruling party given its earlier attempt to increase the budget by 6 trillion won were dismissed by the National Assembly budget committee, March 17.



The move will be empowered further following remarks from President Moon Jae-in who has called for additional spending.



"Measures to fight against COVID-19 may require more than one budget plan. A second, and third plan may be needed down the road if the situation drags on longer than expected," Moon said March 16.



The idea is shared by Hong who said the plan will be included in discussions on ways to expand countermeasures against fallout from the virus.



"The issue will be discussed, including ways find money for the extra budget," Hong said, March 19.




Health authorities confirmed the first two cases of the coronavirus in Gaza this weekendcitizens who had returned from Pakistan and entered Gaza via Egypt.

The arrival of the coronavirus in one of the most densely populated places on earth heralds a humanitarian catastrophe not just for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but people all over the world who face similar atrocious living conditions and a lack of healthcare.

While hundreds of Gazans have returned home in the past two weeks, just 92 people have been tested, due to lack of test kits, suggesting that the number of cases is far higher. More than 1,270 people are in quarantine in hospitals, hotels and schools after crossing into Gaza from Israel and Egypt.

Two weeks ago, Hamas, the bourgeois clerical group that controls Gaza, closed schools and sent in sanitation crews to patrol the streets and public buildings and spray disinfectant. On Friday, it ordered the shuttering of weekly street markets and wedding halls and closed its borders, saying only patients requiring urgent medical treatment outside Gaza would be allowed to cross into Egypt or Israel.



View of Gaza (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Israel said it was its closing borders with Gaza and the occupied West Bank to commercial traffic, though some patients and humanitarian staff would be allowed to cross. It has sent a derisory 200 coronavirus testing kits to Gaza. Cogat, the Israeli military body that coordinates with the Palestinian Authority, said in a breathtakingly cynical statement, Viruses and diseases have no borders, and so prevention of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Gaza [and the West Bank] are a prime Israeli interest.

This foreseeable and foreseen disaster comes after Israels 13-year-long siege that has rendered Gaza almost uninhabitable, due extreme overcrowding, collapsed infrastructure, lack of electricity and water, poor sanitary conditions and the gutting of an already limited healthcare system. There is a chronic shortage of drugs, and Gazas barely functioning hospitals have struggled to cope with the thousands of horrendous injuries and amputations inflicted on Palestinians by Israels armed forces during the weekly Great March of Return that started two years ago.

Palestinians in Gaza, living in squalid makeshift camps and slums, have no possibility of either controlling the spread of the virus or accessing medical treatment and supplies. According to Abdelnasser Soboh, director of the World Health Organizations (WHO) Gaza office, Gaza has only 62 ventilators, with all but 15 already in use, and needs at least another 100. He believes that Gazas hospitals can only handle the first 100 cases, if they come in gradually.

It is a death sentence for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Gazas nearly two million inhabitants. Israel is, as the occupier of Gaza and the West Bank, under the Hague Convention (1907) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) legally responsible for the safety and welfare of civilian residents, a responsibility Israel denies.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the West Bank, has reported 59 cases, mostly in Bethlehem, including 17 who recovered. It announced a 14-day curfew, ordering everyone except the security forces, medical staff and food sellers to stay at home and closing roads between cities, towns and villages. Bethlehem has already been under lockdown for weeks. Prisoners who had served half of their sentence for criminal offences were given a pardon and released to reduce the numbers in Palestinian jails.

Despite the severity of the situation, Israel sent just 100 testing kits for the coronavirus to Ramallah.

The situation is no less dire for Palestinians throughout the region. In Israel, where 20 percent of the population are Palestinian, health authorities have confirmed that 1,071 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, one patient has died and 18 are in serious condition.

With healthcare facilities decimated by decades of cuts and unable to cope, the caretaker government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered people not to leave their homes other than to go to work, shop for groceries or seek medical care and closed schools, universities and cultural and leisure facilities. It has banned gatherings of more than 10 people and entry to foreigners unless can prove they are able to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival.

In neighbouring Jordan, which hosts one of the largest refugee populationsfrom Palestine, Iraq and Syriaper capita in the world, some 70 percent of the 9.7 million population is of Palestinian origin, with 3.2 million Palestinians registered as refugees. There are also at least 650,000 registered Syrian refugees, more than half of whom live in the squalid camps in Za'atari, Marjeeb al-Fahood, Cyber City and Al-Azraq, with at least another one million unregistered Syrians living in the country.

Amman has confirmed that 69 people have tested positive for the virus. On Tuesday, with Jordans already feeble economy in free-fall and healthcare facilities incapable of dealing with the virus, there was rioting at a prison in Irbid where two people were killed after visits were banned, King Abdullah signed an emergency law giving the government sweeping powers.

The government announced a nationwide, round-the-clock curfew, in from Saturday, closing schools, universities, leisure centres and workplaces, except for essential services, sealing the countrys borders and banning movement except for emergencies, saying, The government will announce on Tuesday 24 March certain times when citizens will be allowed to run errands. Those requiring urgent medical treatment would have to notify security authorities. Some 400 people have already been arrested for ignoring the curfew and face up to a year in jail.

In Lebanon, 10 percent of its 6.8 million population are of Palestinian origin, with most registered as refugees. They have long been denied basic rightsnot allowed to attend public schools, work in a number of professions such as doctors and lawyers, own property or pass on inheritances.

The health authorities have reported 230 cases and four deaths in a country whose healthcare system lacks the most basic facilities. Only one hospital in the country is equipped with specialised isolation rooms compliant with international standards.

The pandemic comes amid Lebanons default on its $30 billion Eurobond and declaration that it needs its foreign currency reserves for key imports. Last week, the shaky new government of Hassan Diab, formed after protests brought down the government of Saad Hariri, announced a state of medical emergency, closing all public and private institutions except hospitals, pharmacies and bakeries, with supermarkets only open at specific times, in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The banks are closed until March 29.

On Saturday, after the government called in the army to enforce the stay at home orders, patrols drove through the streets of Beirut ordering groups of people to disperse, while army helicopters flew over other parts of the country calling out on loud speakers for those out on the streets to return home.

On Sunday, Syria, where there were 650,000 Palestinians before the nine-year proxy war to topple President Bashar al-Assad, confirmed its first case of the coronavirus. Damascus announced a ban on public transport and stepped up the lockdown introduced a few days ago that included the closure of schools, parks, restaurants and many public institutions. It has called off army conscription, issued a prisoner amnesty and ordered bakeries to close their stalls and deliver to customers at home.

A few weeks ago, a WHO spokesperson warned that Syrias fragile health systems may not have the capacity to detect and respond to the pandemic. This is particularly the case in the crowded camps for tens of thousands of displaced Syrians.

The situation is no better in the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, where in country after countryIraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Syria and Iranhealthcare systems have been ravaged by years of wars and/or sanctions, orchestrated by US imperialism. Their plight foreshadows what is to come in the poorest countries of the world, where as many as one billion people, one seventh of the worlds population, live in squalid, makeshift shacks, without proper sanitation or access to clean water, basic services and healthcare.
The private sector plays a vital role in informing the public on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as employees place considerably more trust in their employers to accurately communicate the crisis compared to government and the media, and expect frequent updates regarding coronavirus-related health and workplace policies, according to a new report by Edelman.

Edelmans COVID-19 report, a special edition of the agencys annual Trust Barometer Report, found that employers are seen as the most credible source for coronavirus-related communication: 63 percent of global respondents said theyll believe information provided to them by their employers after seeing that information repeated two times, compared to 58 percent for a government website, 56 percent for a health company website, 51 percent for traditional media and 28 percent for social media.

More respondents (13 percent) said they'll automatically assume coronavirus information provided to them by their employers is true, beating all other communications channels with the exception of government websites, which ranked as the most credible channel (14 percent).

Percent who report they believe coronavirus information from each source.

Nearly two thirds (62 percent) of respondents said they trust their employer to respond effectively and responsibly to the coronavirus outbreak, beating out the government, NGOs, the media, schools and educational institutions and private or government-run health insurance companies. In almost all of the 10 countries polledwith the exception of Germany and Canadarespondents ranked my employer as better prepared for the virus than my country.

The news media still wins in terms of overall exposure: 64 percent of respondents said they get most of their coronavirus-related updates from major news outlets. Young people (18 to 34) rely on a mix of social media (54 percent) and mainstream news (56 percent) to keep them informed of the crisis, while older people (55 and up) rank mainstream media as nearly three times more trustworthy than social media (71 percent vs. 25 percent, respectively). Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of all respondents said theyre concerned about fake news and misinformation surrounding the crisis.

The Edelman report also found that scientists and doctorsalong with WHO and CDC officials rate among the most trusted COVID-19 spokespersons, achieving trust scores ranging from 68 to 83 percent. Employer CEOs came in at 54 percent. Government officials and journalists both ranked lowest, each with under 50 percent trust.

Americans have placed high expectations on their employers to respond to the coronavirus crisis and communicate regularly what measures they're taking to ensure the health and safety of employees: 78 percent said they expect businesses to act to protect employees and local communities, 63 percent said they want daily updates on COVID-19, 57 percent want clarity on how many colleagues have contracted the virus and 53 percent want information regarding how the virus is affecting their organizations ability to operate.

A separate March survey by G&S Business Communications found that more than three-quarters (77 percent) of employed Americans think their company is doing a good job communicating with staff about COVID-19, and 40 percent say theyre very satisfied with coronavirus-related communication theyve received from their employers. More than half (55 percent) claim their company has communicated with staff regarding coronavirus policies on at least a daily basis in the last week.

Edelmans study surveyed 1,000 people in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. between March 6 and March 10.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks at a press conference about Turkeys recent actions against coronavirus pandemic, Ankara, March 23, 2020. (AA Photo)

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Turkey has increased by 293, making a grand total of 1,529. Meanwhile, the number of deaths has risen to 37, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced late on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference earlier in the evening, Koca said The Ministry of Health aims to recruit 32,000 additional workers, to enable us to combat the Coronavirus pandemic more effectively.

The Ministry will also make additional payments to its doctors, nurses and health workers over the next 3 months, to support them during this difficult time.

Furthermore, China has sent 50,000 coronavirus testing kits to Istanbul, with a further 300,000 due to be delivered next week. All testing will be undertaken for our citizens free of charge.

China has developed a new drug to combat the effects of the coronavirus, reducing recovery times from 11 days to 4. Turkey will be treating those patients most severely affected by the virus with this new drug. If successful, Turkey plans to utilise this treatment for all those affected.

Dismissing rumors of a 24-hour curfew circulating on social media, Koca said it shouldnt fall on the government to impose such a draconian measure, once again urging citizens to stay at home. Everyone can declare their own curfew without needing the government to do it for them, he said.

READ: Turkey to increase health personnel as coronavirus cases reach 1,529

Corona Caring Fethiye

Corona Caring Fethiye is a group designed to streamline helping the high risk citizens in the Fethiye area that have been impacted by the Corona-virus.

Those who are high risk are now under a curfew and unable go out to buy groceries or pick up medicines.

The group is run by David Ismail Jaime who is now the unofficial liaison with the Zabita. This is an unprecedented time and there are some teething problems with the system however, David is working with the Municipality and the Zabita to resolve those issues.

If you need assistance or you can help to provide assistance, please join and post a message on the Facebook group, message David directly or call him.

Facebook: Corona Caring Fethiye

Call or message David on: +90 545 621 9514

Turkey limits shopping, transportation over coronavirus

With the number of cases of Covid-19 and the death toll in Turkey continuing to increase, the government are taking increasingly stricter measures to curb the spread of the virus, the most recent being new measures on shopping and transportation.

The Interior Ministry issued a notice saying all public transport vehicles will only be allowed to carry half their capacity while all grocery stores, small and large, will only provide service between 09:00 and 21:00 local time.

Stores: Only a certain number of people will be allowed to shop at one time, depending on the size of the store. The specified number of people to be allowed into the store will be posted outside the entrance. Stores will not admit any more customers until a customer leaves. Shops will also remind customers waiting to maintain a distance of at least one meter away from each other.

Public Transport: All urban and intercity public transportation vehicles will only carry 50 percent of the carrying capacity stated in their public transport licence, allowing passengers to sit one empty seat apart from each other.

Law enforcement teams will make sure these measures are adhered to.

READ: Turkey limits shopping, transportation over coronavirus

Icisleri Bakanlg, 81 ile genelge gonderdi! Marketler icin karar verildi

Mugla Metropolitan Municipality stop cash payments for fares

As part of the measures being taken to curb the spread of coronavirus, from Thursday, March 26, passengers on Mugla Metropolitan Municipality public transport will no longer be able to pay their fare in cash.

Payments can only be made via Mugla Card, contactless credit and debit cards and phone application (android-NFC).

Source: Mugla Metropolitan Municipality

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital accepted as a pandemic hospital

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital in Fethiye

Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital has been accepted as a pandemic (epidemic) hospital from 20.03.2020 in line with the specific intensive care criteria specified in the announcement of the Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Health Services, number 14500235-403.99.

READ: An announcement from the Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital to the people of Fethiye

Source: Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital

Global Death Toll

The global death toll has surpassed 17,400, with 400,412 cases confirmed, according to Worldometer

Follow Fethiye Times on social media for regular updates.

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Todays featured image: Disinfecting team in Fethiye  by Lyn Ward
Elon Musk, entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been praised for delivering over 1,000 ventilators to a California hospital to help with the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

The billionaire also delivered 50,000 face masks to the Seattle home of a University of Washington physician Sunday as healthcare workers continue to grapple with the extreme lack of personal protective equipment.

Despite repeatedly downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, Musk promised last week that he would procure ventilators to help with the shortage that is predicted across the United States.

He has also said on Twitter that he could use the Tesla factory to produce more ventilators to help meet growing demand in US hospitals.

Musk's gesture came as automaker giant Ford revealed Tuesday that it expects to be able to send new ventilators to hospitals by early June. The motor company is working with GE Healthcare as it steps up to provide the vital pieces of equipment.

Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf receives a delivery of 50,000 masks from Tesla and Elon Musk

Adams Waldorf didn't even have the time to find the shipping address for the University of Washington School of Medicine and so had the speedy delivery arrive to her house on Sunday

Musk delivered the 50,000 masks to Seattle in a day, greatly helping healthcare staff

'Heroic Effort': Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has procured over 1,000 ventilators for a California hospital to meet growing demand as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the arrival of the ventilators in Los Angeles during a press conference Monday, calling Musk's work a 'heroic effort'.

'I told you a few days ago that [Musk] was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week,' Newsom said. 'They arrived in Los Angeles and Elon Musk is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real time. It's an heroic effort.'

In a tweet on Monday, Musk revealed that he purchased the ventilators from China, thanking his team for working so quickly.

'China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night & airshipped them to LA. If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!' he wrote.

'Thanks Tesla China team, China Customs Authority & LAX customs for acting so swiftly'.

Telsa CEO Elon Musk thanked his team in China for their speed in shipping the ventilators

Musk was also praised for sending 50,000 N95 surgical masks to a Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf in Seattle on Sunday just a day after she was contacted by a friend about the available masks.

A physician friend at UCLA whose brother works at Tesla called Adams Waldorf knowing that the Seattle area is in dire need of protective equipment, having been the first center of the outbreak in the United States.

'It was just so, so fast,' Adams Waldorf, who is starting s series of COVID-19-related research projects, told the Seattle Times.

'I was told: 'The truck is on the dock. They just need an address right now, no questions asked." I didnt have the address for the supply-chain manager or a phone number. So I gave them mine.'

California Governor Gavin Newsom gives an update on the coronavirus in California, and announces that Elon Musk has donated ventilators to help the treatment efforts

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is deserted as shops close and people self-isolate in efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus

Musk's donation appears to contradict his earlier statements on the virus in which he questioned whether there would even be a shortage of ventilators across the country.

He has also previously called the virus 'dumb' while saying children are 'essentially immune'. This has since been proven false with children as young as 12 being treated for the virus in the United States.

A report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimated that the US has roughly 160,000 ventilators that are ready to be used in hospitals, with a further 8,900 held in reserve.

This is well short of the 742,000 required across the US for a severe pandemic scenario, according to a 2005 pandemic plan from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Others have predicted the country could need over a million.

Musk has also suggested that he could employ his Tesla gigafactory to create more ventilators.

Tweeting in response to a follower suggesting this: 'Were working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter.'

Elon Musk says that Tesla are working on ventilators to help meet increased demands

Tesla's gigafactory, near Reno, Nevada, could be used to produce ventilators for the US, which is predicted to need over 700,000 as the virus continues to spread through the country

This would add Tesla to the list of other automotive companies, including Ford and General Motors, to use their manufacturing capabilities to produce ventilators to meet the increasing demand.

Newsom told the press that six California companies have also offered to help the effort by making medical gowns, and that he has spoken to a further 25 who want to begin 3D printing masks for healthcare workers.

On Tuesday, Ford revealed that they expect their own ventilators in hospitals by 'early June'.

'The problem is that the lines that have been in place produce hundreds or thousands. We're talking about needing hundreds of thousands,' CEO Jim Hackett said on CBS This Morning.

'So we're talking about early June, where we don't think it's a problem, but between now and June it's about ramping up.'

The motorcar company is working with GE Health in the United States and McLaren Automotive and Airbus in the United Kingdom to produce the ventilators.

The company is facing delays as they rework the assembly line to ensure workers' safety.

'A factory is all about working together on a line, so the way these teams are designing the production of this is building some assemblies in smaller groups and having them come together to be assembled, but we'll make extremely safe places,' Hackett said.

Jim Hackett, president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor stands outside the headquarters. The company is set to have ventilators available for hospitals by early June

Ford is also to start work on 'positive air pressure masks' which will repurpose the cooling system used in some of the company's car seats to help protect medical workers from getting the virus.

'Those products, in addition to the ventilators, there's actually two or three different versions of breathing apparatus that we're working on. Hundreds of thousands of the most simplest ones will be started to be produced in the next week or so,' Hackett said.

Ford are working with 3M to produce the new kind of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for healthcare workers, exploring the possibility that they could be produced in their Michigan factory.

And they will use 3D printers at its Advanced Manufacturing Center to create disposable air-filtering respirator masks, potentially creating 1,000 a month in the fist stages before ramping up production.

General Motors announced on Friday that it will also be working to held increase the production of ventilators for hospital patients, partnering with Ventec Life Systems.

Four hundred ventilators will delivered to New York City by FEMA on Tuesday

Gov. Cuomo fumed that he needs 30,000 ventilators but that only 400 have been delivered to the state of New York

On Monday the companies said that Ventec 'is now planning exponentially higher ventilator production as fast as possible'.

The United States now has the third highest confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the world, with over 46,400. California and Washington, where Musk delivered supplies, are the third and fourth hardest hit states.

STATE-WIDE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS In the most extreme measures to date, 17 states have ordered 100 percent of non-essential workforces to stay home to help curb the spread of COVID-19. CALIFORNIA Locked down: 39.5 million Deaths: 35 CONNECTICUT Locked down: 3.5 million Deaths: 10 DELAWARE Locked down: 967,000 Deaths: 0 HAWAII Locked down: 1.42 million Deaths: 0 ILLINOIS Locked down: 12.74 million Deaths: 12 INDIANA Locked down: 6.7 million Deaths: 7 LOUISIANA Locked down: 4.66 million Deaths: 35 MASSACHUSETTS Locked down: 6.9 million locked down Deaths: 9 MICHIGAN Locked down: 10 million Deaths: 15 NEVADA Locked down: 3.03 million Deaths: 4 NEW JERSEY Locked down: 8.9 million Deaths: 27 NEW YORK Locked down: 19.54 million Deaths: 183 OHIO Locked down: 11.6 million Deaths: 6 OREGON Locked down: 4.19 million Deaths: 5 PENNSYLVANIA Locked down: 12.81 million Deaths: 6 WASHINGTON Locked down: 7.5 million Deaths: 111 WEST VIRGINIA Locked down: 1.8 million Deaths: 0 Advertisement

President Donald Trump has defended the lack of ventilators claiming that 'nobody in their wildest dreams would have ever thought that we'd need tens of thousands of ventilators'.

'We have tremendous numbers of ventilators, but there's never been an instance like this where no matter what you have, it's not enough'.

In a report published by the Department of Health and Human Services 15 years ago, however, a pendemic influenza plan predicted that 'demand for inpatient and intensive-care unit (ICU) beds and assisted ventilation services could increase by more than 25%' in the case of a pandemic that caused more than 900,000 hospitalizations.

It added that 'mechanical ventilation' would be needed by 64,875.

Evidence for the coronavirus' first major outbreak in Wuhan revealed that around 2.3 percent of cases required a ventilator.

In the United States, hospitals are considering re-deploying older ventilators, which still work but had been abandoned because they dont connect to modern electronic records systems, while the U.S. Department of Defense has donated 2,000 ventilators, said Nancy Foster, vice president of the American Hospital Association.

'Hospitals are also looking into re-purposing the machines that administer anesthesia to be used as ventilators.'

In New York, it's thought that the city's 6,000 ventilators will only meet a fifth of the demand.

'No one really knows what the national need is. It really depends on how bad COVID-19 gets,' said Chris Kiple, head of portable ventilator maker Ventec Life Systems Inc, in Bothell, Washington.

'If it truly turns into a significant pandemic, were really going to have to focus on ventilator supply until we can get a vaccine to really help save lives.'

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fumed at President Trump on Tuesday for sending New York 400 ventilators from the federal stockpile of 20,000, when the state needs 30,000 to battle coronavirus.

Speaking at the Javits Center, which will become a temporary field hospital in New York City with 1,000 hospital beds, Cuomo revealed that the number of coronavirus cases across the state of New York had risen to 25,000 overnight.

He needs 30,000 ventilators to treat the wave of patients who will soon need care but FEMA has only given the state 400 from a stockpile of 20,000.

'You pick the 26,000 who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,' he said on Tuesday in an angry plea to the government to share more.

He went on to say that Trump and the government have told him they will not release the ventilators 'because companies are coming forward who want to do it.'

Trump boasted about the ventilators on Twitter, saying on Tuesday morning: 'Just got 400 ventilators to NYC!'

Cuomo said that the state was so desperate for the ventilators that they had started experimenting by having two patients share one.

'We have procured 7,000 ventilators - we need another 30,000. You cannot find them. You cannot buy them. This is a critical and desperate need.

'We're going so far as to trying an experimental procedure where we split the ventilator - you use one ventilator for two patients with two sets of tubes,' he said.
As people are bracing for a



longer stay indoors during the lockdown, many students studying in West Bengal, including foreigners, are stuck in their hostel rooms away from home, with no sign of their plight ending soon.

Institutes have been closed since March 16 over the coronavirus outbreak, and boarders of hostels of Jadavpur, Presidency and Visva-Bharati universities are spending their time completing project works, managing to get food and playing indoor games.

In Jadavpur University, 30 students are stuck in the boys' hostel with a majority of them from Nigeria, Somalia and Bangladesh, an office-bearer of Arts Faculty Students Union told PTI on Tuesday.

Of them, there are students also form Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, said Teerna, the office-bearer.

A JU official said the foreign students had come to the hostel long before the COVID-19 outbreak and they have no other place to go.

"None of the students has any reported symptoms like flu," he said.

The students from Bihar and Kashmir had to remain in the hostel as train services have been cancelled, he said.

There are 11 women, all Indians, at the female hostel, the official said.

"We are spending our time completing project work and reading books. While in normal situations, we had to be back at the hostel by 8 pm, now it is becoming an endless wait for us to go out. But with 10 other girls put up in different rooms, we are not complaining," said Nehal Mishra, one of the 11.

"Let's hope the situation will end for the better soon," she said.

Ninad Lohakare, the VP of Technology Students Gymkhana and one of the inmates of the IIT Kharagpur hostel in its campus, said many students are spending their times finishing projects online.

"We are actively working on online research projects and other study-related works. We are also playing indoor games during breaks. We are prepared for a long battle but hope normalcy will return soon," he said



At Presidency University Hindu Hostel for boys, around 20 outstation students are currently lodged as they have no other option, a varsity official said.

"The students staying at Hindu Hostel are having difficult times as they cannot go outside the building. I heard they are working on projects from hostel rooms apart from reading books," Subho Biswas, one of the total 120 boarders who had gone home vacating the hostel, said.

The newly built girls hostel at Salt Lake is, however, empty with only the warden staying there at present.

At Visva-Bharati hostel, all the Indian students have left but about 50 foreigners, most of them Bangladeshi and a few Japanese, are staying on, a spokesman of the universitys SFI unit said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We need residents to help reduce demand on our firefighters  Warning after series of deliberate fires across the region

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Mar 24th, 2020

A senior fire safety officer is calling on people to think about the consequences of their actions after crews were called to seven deliberate fires across the region overnight.

Firefighters from Holyhead were called to four deliberate fires in the open in and around Llangefni, three of which were in the Dingle at 5:56pm, 6:38pm and 7:17pm.

They were also called to a grass fire at Pen Derwydd Llangefni at 19.17.

In Wrexham firefighters were called to Plas Madoc, Wrexham at 6:41pm to deal with a deliberately set rubbish fire.

Crews were called to a rubbish fire on the A494 in Mold at 11:40pm and Firefighters from Caernarfon attended a deliberate grass fire in Talysarn at 15:50hrs.

Tim Owen, arson reduction manager said: This behaviour is completely unacceptable.

Three of these fires were set at The Dingle, Llangefni  an area which is closed to the public.

The individuals setting the fires should not have even been in the area, let alone starting deliberate fires which put extra pressure on emergency services resources which are already stretched at this time.

We need residents to help reduce demand on our firefighters.

Deliberate fires place tremendous pressure on resources, with our crews committed for a considerable length of time trying to bring them under control  which prevents them from attending genuine emergencies.

Actions like this do not help us keep our community safe.

I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to parents to tell their children to stay home and impress upon them the message that deliberate fires endanger lives.

Remember  setting fires is a criminal offence and we are actively working alongside North Wales Police to combat deliberate incidents.Anyone with information on such crimes is advised to anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or North Wales Police on 101.

Please follow Government and Local Authority advice about social distancing  we are staying here for you, please stay home for us.
Capturing a River

No man ever steps in the same river twice. Michael Kolster says this quote from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus perfectly sums up his longstanding fascination with rivers. Theyre amazing metaphors for time and change and a great subject for a photographer.

Kolster in his studio. Lewiston, Maine. Kolsters latest book, L.A. River (GFT Publishing, 2019), contains a series of images of the fifty-one-mile body of water at various stages, from its headwaters in Canoga Park through Californias biggest city to Long Beach, where it meets the Pacific Ocean. For this project, Kolster used a nineteenth-century photographic technique called the wet plate collodion process, to striking effect. Its not his first exploration of the river as a subject. Kolsters previous book, Take Me to The River: Photographs of Atlantic Rivers (George F. Thompson Publishing, 2016), chronicled four American rivers that flow into the Atlantic, as they emerge from two centuries of industrial misuse and neglect. Why the LA River? A river is an incredible embodiment of change and a great model for how we perceive change over time, said Kolster. Something is flowing through a river that will never do so again, and as a photographer I want to call attention to this. While working on Take Me to the River, Kolster says he became curious about West Coast rivers. I decided on the LA River because its such an odd example of a river. It comes out of the San Fernando Valley, where its formed out of several creeks that empty into it, through the middle of the city into a huge watershed.

Image: Michael Kolster The river was channelized by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1930s to try to control the flooding that occurs with such a huge watershed, said Kolster, which notably changed the character of the river. The result is that most of it is now encased in concrete, and many Angelenos now grow up either not being aware there was a river in their midst, just viewing it as a drainage canal, as most of the time theres just a small amount of water running through it. There is increased awareness of the river nowadays, said Kolster, with a major push for environmental regeneration getting underway over the last decade or so. The architect Frank Gehry has spearheaded efforts to revitalize the LA River, with plans for river parks and open spaces along its length. Nevertheless, the river still has major quality challenges through agricultural and various kinds of nonpoint source runoff. Part of the river also runs right along some of LAs major freeways, said Kolster. Hundreds of thousands of cars pass along it every day, which is its own kind of river.

The Appeal of the Wet Plate Wet plate is a labor intensive and lengthy process, involving up to three hundred pounds of equipment and material, and Kolster is only able to make about ten to fifteen plates per day when hes on a shoot. So, whats the appeal? He started using wet plate photography around 2011, he explained, as an indirect consequence of the rise of digital photography. I love being in a darkroom and developing my own photos, he said, but, as digital photography became ubiquitous, it got harder to access the materials I needed: Most of the manufacturers that produced the film and paper I used stopped making it or went out of business. While Kolster embraced digital photography, he also wanted the option of working chemically with photosensitive materials. This brought him to the wet plate collodion process, as its called. Invented in 1851, it involves coating a glass plate with a chemical mixture then bathing it in silver nitrate to make the plate photosensitive. You can prepare your own film, with glass instead of paper, using ordinary materials you can get anywhere. Once its prepared, the plate is exposed for up to a minute before being developed in a darkroom, or tent if youre in the field.
We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jpownall@lufkindailynews.com, or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips.
Erin is the managing editor at The Red & Black, where she has covered Greek life, student culture and local business. She is a junior journalism and English major, and also has bylines in Matador Network, Apartment Therapy and Down South House & Home.

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Measures advised by the HSE in relation to containing the Covid-19 outbreak have not only been taken to heart by all mart management teams across the country, they have in some incidences been added to and strengthened.

Marts such as Listowel and Carnew have appointed members of staff to police social distancing.

In both cases it is women who have been given the job. This is a clear case of giving the job to the right people.

There's not a cattle man I know who would dare cross a female member of a mart's staff, be they in administration, the blue card office, the canteen or now with the power to have you evicted.

At other marts auctioneers have exercised their power to stop proceedings if they are concerned that the new social distancing protocols are not being observed.

Kilkenny Mart has condoned off access to the sales ring railings, meaning that those in attendance now sit separated on the banks of individual seats, in what is effectively an amphitheatre facing the auctioneer's rostrum.

The age profile of many of those in the cattle game has been cruelly exposed, with many older clients staying away from the mart scene, across the country.

This must surely have partly influenced the decision of the Aurivo Marts group to follow the lead taken by three marts in Donegal to suspend trading until the end of the month. Aurivo controls marts at Ballymote in Sligo, Balla in Mayo and Mohill in Leitrim.

Where has all of this left the trade as regards demand and pricing? Not as badly off as you might think.

While most sales last week reported that poorer-quality stock and cull cows were reduced by 50-100/hd, the market for better quality has held steady and in some cases actually improved.

"Trade for the better animal is holding well; however, the plainer animal was back anything from 50-100/hd," said Eilish Curley of Ballinasloe.

Stephen Hannon of the Aurivo group said: "Your plainer Hereford or Angus-type bullock was back maybe 80/hd, making 1.80-190/kg, with 2/kg the exception."

Despite these falls, those buying at marts seem to be of the opinion that should Ireland and the rest of Europe get the Covid situation under control over the next number of months and restrictions on social gatherings ease, demand will resume.

In the know...

Carnew

All Covid-19 precautions were enacted here, with a member of staff appointed to supervise social distancing.

In relation to the trade David Quinn said it was "better than I expected given what's going on and the fact it was a big sale".

Better store bullocks sold well, with four 438kg Charolais making a very impressive 2.70/kg; more typical, but still a good price, were the three 517kg Limousins that averaged 2.38/kg.

Anything plain, however, was less, with David reckoning the reduction averaged out at 50/hd.

Ballymote

Manager Stephen Hannon said the decision of the Aurivo Marts group to close for 10 days from yesterday was to assess the developing Covid-19 situation.

On the prices front, nice 400-500kg continental bullock held steady last week at prices from 2.20-2.40/kg.

However, plainer or out-of-spec stock did take a hit.

"Your plainer Hereford or Angus type bullock was back maybe 80/hd at averages from 1.80-190/kg, with 2/kg the exception," he said.

Cull cows also slipped with averages back around 20c/kg, with stores averaging 1.55-1.67/kg.

Listowel

Barney O'Connell reported a steady trade as management and customers adjusted to new practices.

"We had a big sale with a good number of bigger lots but prices for the better one held very well," he said.

'Big' in this case included sixteen 563kg Angus bullocks at 1,110/hd, with ten at 549kgs making 1,100/hd.

Barney noted an increase in numbers of yearling-type stock, including nine 363kg Friesians that made 585/hd, with eight weighing 340kg averaging 340/hd.

Dowra

Patsy Smith also reported a bigger sale plus a stronger trade. Store bullocks under 500kg sold from 1.80-2.65/kg, with those in the 500-600kg category averaging 1.70-2.40/kg, while heavier lots made up to 2.35/kg.

On the weanling heifer side the 300-400kg bracket sold from 1.90-3.25/kg, while those from 400-500kg averaged 1.70-2.70/kg, with heavier lots selling from 1.70-2.40/kg.

Patsy said the trade "was surprisingly good given everything".

Kilkenny

Here too numbers were strong with George Candler reporting that prices in general held well, although poorer quality did suffer. The 600kg+ bullock sold from 1.70-2.00/kg, with the 500-600kg forward store averaging 1.60-2.40/kg.

In the 400-500kg section prices were 1.50-2.45/kg, with lighter lots selling to a top of 2.92/kg. Among the heifers beef and forward types sold from 1.70-2.25/kg, with lighter lots seeing 1.60-2.45/kg.

All new health protocols were strictly observed.

Ballinakill

Numbers here slipped somewhat, with trade in general remaining "reasonable", although anything poorer found the going tougher.

Heavy bullocks sold from 1.80-2.30/kg, with forward stores making 1.90-2.45/kg, while lighter lots averaged 1.95-2.60/kg.

Beef heifers made 1.90-2.35/kg, with stores averaging 1.95-2.50/kg. Trade for weanling bulls saw prices in the 2.00-2.75/kg range, with weanling heifers making 2.00-2.70/kg. Dry cows ranged from 1.20-1.85/kg.

Ennis

A good-sized sale, with the trade for bullocks reported as improved as the settled spell of weather left some anxious for stock. Sample prices included five 515kg Limousins at 2.63/kg and three 460kg Herefords at 2.01/kg.
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San Francisco, March 24, 2020: The Report Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Treatment Devices Market Analysis by Product (Ventricular Assist Devices, Counter Pulsation Devices, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators, Pacemakers, Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) And Segment Forecasts to 2024

The congestive heart failure (CHF) treatment devices market is expected to reach USD 32.0 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The rising burden of CVDs is one of the prime factors responsible for lucrative growth of this vertical . Sedentary lifestyles, mental stress, and junk food consumption tendencies are the key factors responsible for development of CVDs.

Favorable reimbursement policies, such as the U.S. Medicare system, are observed to be a prime growth factor for this industry. Companies now provide new product platforms, which have reimbursement coverage that benefit the patient. The reimbursement can be availed for devices, such as Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs), Implantable Cardiovascular Defibrillators (ICDs), and pacemakers, which are used to treat CHF.

The industry participants are more focused on developing high-utility products, which can deliver personalized care. These advancements are improving the accuracy and provide additional capabilities to enhance the workflow and reduce the incidence of errors.

Access Research Report of Congestive Heart Failure Treatment Devices Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/congestive-heart-failure-treatment-devices-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

The market by product is segmented into VADs, Counter Pulsation Devices, ICDs, pacemakers, and cardiac resynchronization devices. The ICD segment consisting of two types, transvenous and subcutaneous, held a lucrative share in 2015, which was followed by the pacemakers segment. This can be attributed to the fact that defibrillators and pacemakers form the primary line of treatment administered for heart failure.

On the other hand, the VAD segment is anticipated to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period due to reimbursement coverage and technological advancements in VADs.

The VAD based on the site of implantation are categorized into Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) and Right Ventricular Assist Devices (RVAD). When the LVAD and RVAD are implanted together they are termed Biventricular Assist Devices (BIVAD).

North America dominated the overall market in terms of revenue share at over 40.0% in 2015; this can be attributed to the presence of a large population base suffering from CVDs coupled with a significant geriatric population base.

Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow at a lucrative CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing demand for these products. Furthermore, the rapidly improving healthcare infrastructure in the countries, such as India and Japan, also contribute toward the growth of this region.

Some of the players in this industry are Berlin Heart Inc., Medtronic, Boston Scientific, World Heart Corporation, Biotronik, Jarvik Heart, MicroMed Cardiovascular Inc., Teleflex Inc., and St. Jude Medical.

The market participants are actively involved in the improvement of the current product portfolio, in order to sustain their market position. Additionally, drug development and their market entry in the untapped nations are expected to propel market growth.

Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/medical-devices

Grand View Research has segmented the global CHF treatment devices market on the basis of product.

Global CHF Treatment Devices Market by Product (USD Million), 2013 - 2024

Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) LVAD RVAD BiVAD

Counter Pulsation Devices

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators Transvenous ICD Subcutaneous ICD

pacemakers Implantable External

Cardiac Resynchronization therapy Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy-Defibrillators (CRT-D) Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy-Pacemakers (CRT-P)



CHF Treatment Devices Market by Region (USD Million), 2013 - 2024

North America

europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

MEA

Access Press Release of Congestive Heart Failure Treatment Devices Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-congestive-heart-failure-chf-treatment-devices-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a US 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
The original Senate legislation set out $500 billion in funding to be used in support of companies and local governments, with $75 billion earmarked for airlines and national security companies at the Treasury secretarys discretion. The remaining $425 billion was meant to be used to support Federal Reserve programs.

An ambiguity in the bills text could have allowed Mr. Mnuchin to use that money with considerable discretion, said Peter Conti-Brown, a lawyer and Fed historian at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He added that the ambiguity seemed like sloppy drafting rather than the intent.

The Republican bill alternately said the funds should be used in support of or as part of Fed programs; the latter would be much more limiting from the Treasurys standpoint.

The compromise bill updated that language, so now the funds are specifically dedicated to Fed liquidity programs or facilities. Theyre trying to do this as a Fed-Treasury partnership, Mr. Conti-Brown said, though he added that the new language went sprinting in the other direction of the earlier loophole and now left the Fed in charge.

Assuming that $425 billion is used purely to back Fed emergency lending programs, Mr. Mnuchin would have some  but not absolute  say over how the money is used.

The Treasury secretary legally must sign off on the Feds emergency lending programs. And in practice, the department has been financially backing the programs, agreeing to take the first round of losses if the interventions sour. As a result, Mr. Mnuchin will probably consult on program design, but the Fed does most of the legwork in setting up emergency lending facilities and administering them, according to lawyers who study the programs.

There are rules governing the Feds emergency lending. After the 2008 crisis, Congress insisted that the Fed must set up the programs to benefit broad groups of counterparties and not individual companies, for instance. That has been interpreted to mean that there must be five eligible participants.
Its a thrilling prospect given that volatiles  particularly water  are needed to kick-start life. Though the team cannot say which volatiles were present, there is reason to hope that water might be one of them, Dr. Domingue said.

The finding runs against the notion that Mercury is inhospitable. At such a close distance to the sun, its surface reaches a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit during its day. Then, because the planet has no atmosphere to retain the heat, its surface plummets to minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit during its night.

But a short distance below the surface, the temperatures are much cooler, even pleasant  at least for some life-forms, said Jeffrey Kargel, a co-author of the study who is also from the Planetary Science Institute.

It is possible that as long as there was water, the temperatures would be appropriate for the survival and possibly the origin of life, Dr. Kargel said. But at first, even he was not convinced.

I thought Alexis had lost it at some point, he said, referring to Dr. Rodriguez. But the more I dug into the geologic evidence and the more I thought about the chemistry and physical conditions there, the more I realized that this idea  well it might be nuts, but its not completely nuts.

Dr. Hayne, however, thinks that water is an unlikely culprit. The only scenario in which it might be possible is one where water is bound to the rocks.

So you could have transient pockets of high water activity, but I dont think this is a case where wed see massive pools of water and subsurface lakes and that sort of thing, Dr. Hayne said.
Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) has announced it is temporarily halting operations at five of its Japanese facilities beginning April 3, 2020. The shutdown is due to slumping demand as the world's economies struggle amid the fight to slow the coronavirus pandemic.

The company's Europe group had previously said that it was suspending operations in France, UK, Poland, Turkey, and the Czech Republic. Those shutdowns were in an effort to protect workers and help stem the spread of the virus. Though the company also acknowledged the short-term uncertainty of demand, as well as logistics and supply chain complications in its decision.

Economic impacts

In total, the automaker will be idling Japanese production on seven different assembly lines at five factories. The suspension of operations is meant to bring supply more in balance, as the company sees a "decline in demand overseas." All of the operation downtime will begin on April 3 and last between two and nine days, depending on location.

Approximately 36,000 vehicles will be cut from supply due to the shutdown, reducing exports of the Prius, 4Runner, and several Lexus models, according to a report from Automotive News Europe.

Toyota has not said what specific export markets it was targeting to reduce supply. However, it did note that other than the five plants in the announcement, production would continue normally elsewhere.
The novel coronavirus has plagued the world with unmatched fear, which has people not running for their lives for once but being forced to stay locked down in their respective homes. Most states in India, including the capital city, are under a lockdown as we collectively aim to keep the cases to a minimum and ensure safety of humans. In these testing times and limited medical experience which is being exposed to deal with corona, our medical warriors are doing all they can and the government is trying to put up more quarantine facilities across the country. Amidst this pandemic wave, the governing Sikh body in Delhi, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, has very kindly offered to help set up a quarantine facility at the historical Majnu Ka Tila gurudwara in North Delhi.



Coronavirus: Delhi Gurdwara Committee offers Majnu Ka Tilla Gurdwara for setting up quarantine facilities



DSGMC president @mssirsa said all 20 rooms in the inn, equipped with modern facilities, can be used for this purpose. https://t.co/TzpadLZ9LY  Amrita Bhinder (@amritabhinder) March 23, 2020

There are over 20 rooms in the sarai (inn) at the Gurudwara which can be used for patients in quarantine. The committee will also ensure that everyone will be served langar. The committee has offered full support in these trying times which is what we all need at the moment.



This is what Sikhism or Hinduism is made off . Compassionate practice  raghuram Tarekere (@ragh1960) March 23, 2020

I appreciate the initiatives taken by DGMC to serve the mankind, this is the true preaching of the religion #IndiaFightsCorona #Covid_19india #sikhism for #humanity  harprit singh kang (@harpritkang) March 23, 2020

Furthermore, the committee has also volunteered to serve food packets across the city for people who cannot manage to have a simple meal during this curfew period. It is times like these which prove that what we need is human compassion and empathy for each other. If you too feel helpless sitting at home and wish to contribute or do something, then please understand that staying home, away from humans is the best we can do currently. Also, with restaurants and food operations being shut and people being in lockdown, many stray animals who rely on morsels and food from these places might starve. If possible, please take out 5 minutes of your time and feed a stray in your nieighbourhood. The ecosystem is currently shaken up, so maybe we can do our bit.
T he boss of Wetherspoon is under fire after advising staff to go and work at supermarkets amid the coronavirus crisis.

Tim Martin said in a video to the pub chains 40,000 workers that Tesco was searching for employees now that pubs have shut. If youre offered a job if you think its a good idea, do it, he said.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on Friday that the government would step in to pay up to 80 per cent of workers wages for affected businesses.

But Wetherspoon employees claim they were told they will only be paid for hours worked before March 22, when all pubs in England were forced to shut, and have no further pay date in sight.

In the video, Mr Martin called the government proposals "great" but cited concerns that there could be some delay to the payment of any wage subsidy. He said he would therefore completely understand if workers did not want to wait around.

Wetherspoon workers were told they could work at Tesco / PA Archive/PA Images

A spokesman for the chain said there had been a "complete misinterpretation" of its message to staff and any action taken was a result of the "economic reality of the unprecedented situation".

In the video, Mr Martin tells staff: Our main aim, and my main aim, is to reopen. I know that almost all our trade now has gone to supermarkets... so weve had lots of calls from supermarkets.

"Tesco alone want 20,000 people to join them, thats half the number of people who work in our pubs. If youre offered a job at a supermarket, many of you will want to do that. 

"If you think its a good idea, do it, I can completely understand it. If youve worked for us before, I can promise you well give you first preference if you want to come back.

He added that any former workers for the pub chain would receive first priority on future applications to rejoin the company.

In an open letter, the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and Spoons Strike, a group of employees, claim staff were told they will not receive anything from the governments furlough pot until the firm receives the funds, which could be late April.

The revelation has sparked outcry online, with Twitter users branding it disgusting and disgraceful. The hashtag #boycottwetherspoons was also trending.

Rachel Reeves MP, the chair of the business select committee, said the decision was unacceptable, adding that companies may not receive government support until late April, leaving staff out of pocket until then.

Chancellor Sunak said the unprecedented scheme will cover wages of up to 2,500 a month for pubs, restaurants and other firms hit by the pandemic. However, the Treasury said the HMRC-run funds will arrive to firms within weeks, without specifying a date.

Mr Martin was slammed last week for refusing to shut his network of pubs, as thousands of revellers flouted the governments social distancing advice designed to stop the virus spread.

Wetherspoon said its communications to staff have been completely misinterpreted, but did not deny that workers face not being paid beyond this Friday.

Mr Martin said in a statement: Companies like Costa, owned by Coca Cola, and McDonalds, being owned by large multinationals, can afford to retain staff and commit to paying them, before details of the government furlough scheme are published.

However, they are in a minority in the pub and restaurant trade. Most companies, including Wetherspoon, do not have the resources, while pubs are shut, to make this commitment and need to see details of the scheme in order to retain and pay staff, as the government has sensibly requested, rather than instigating large-scale lay-offs.

That may seem stark, but thats the economic reality of the unprecedented situation in the UK today. Our aim is to ensure that all Wetherspoon staff are able to return to their roles once the pubs reopen.
Robinhood says it has strengthened its infrastructure, and is looking to strengthen its relationship with some clients after recent outages.

On Monday, the trading start-up emailed customers who said they were affected by tech glitches that caused them to miss out on a historic market day. A Robinhood spokesperson told CNBC the dollar amount would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

"We'd like to start with the apology you deserve: We're sorry for the recent outage on our platform. Your support is what helps us democratize finance for all, and we know we owe it to you to do better," the company said in an email to some Robinhood users. "An apology alone won't rebuild your trust in us. Instead, we hope our actions will."

The trading app said it was experiencing technical issues that kept it offline for nearly two full trading days earlier in March. As a result, Robinhood clients missed out on the biggest one-day point gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in history.

Robinhood was valued at $7.6 billion after a its latest funding round last year led by DST Global. Venture capital firms like New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia and Ribbit Capital are also investors. The start-up has ushered in 10 million  mostly millennial  traders by offering free equity, options and cryptocurrency trading.
Photograph: Jay Janner/AP

As Donald Trump pushed to re-open the US economy in weeks, rather than months, the lieutenant governor of Texas went on Fox News to argue that he would rather die than see public health measures damage the US economy, and that he believed lots of grandparents across the country would agree with him.

My message: lets get back to work, lets get back to living, lets be smart about it, and those of us who are 70-plus, well take care of ourselves, Lt Gov Dan Patrick, a 69-year-old Republican, told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday night.

Dont sacrifice the country, Patrick said. Dont do that.

Related: Trump's push to shorten the coronavirus shutdown proves the captain is flying blind | David Smith

Patrick said he feared that public health restrictions to prevent coronavirus could end American life as he knows it, and that he is willing to risk death to protect the economy for his grandchildren.

You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? Patrick said. And if thats the exchange, Im all in.

That doesnt make me noble or brave or anything like that, he added. I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me.

At the White Houses coronavirus briefing Monday night, the administrations coronavirus response coordinator, Dr Deborah Birx, said that emerging data from Europe suggested that 99% of the coronavirus deaths were people over age 50, and that many had pre-existing conditions. That doesnt change the need to protect the elderly, Birx said.

Tx Lt Gov Dan Patrick says grandparents would be willing to die to save the economy for their grandchildren pic.twitter.com/wC3Ngvtsbj  Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) March 24, 2020

Trump, who has raised concerns about the damage that coronavirus prevention measures are doing to the US economy, said he was eager to return for the country to return to normal as soon as possible, and suggested that an economic crisis might result in more deaths, through suicide, than a global pandemic.

Story continues

He did not answer questions from journalists about whether he would abide by the advice of public health experts if they told him next week that the government needed to keep restrictive measures in place over the longer term to prevent the spread of the virus.

Patrick, a Texas Republican, praised the presidents focus on the economy on Monday and said that it had lifted his heart.

I dont want the whole country to be sacrificed, Patrick said. Ive talked to hundreds of people  and everyone says pretty much the same thing: We cant lose our whole country. Were having an economic collapse.

Were going to be in a total collapse, recession, depression, collapse in our society if this goes on for another several months, Patrick said. As the president said, the mortality rate is so low. Do we have to shut down the entire country for this? I think we can get back to work.

Patrick said that, as someone who turns 70 next week, he was in the high-risk group, but that he was willing to give up his life for his six grandchildren.

Look, Im going to do everything I can do to live, Patrick said. But if you said, are you willing to take a chance  If I get sick, Ill go and try to get better, but if I dont, I dont.
"After the next two weeks we will need to assess whether Australians are taking the current restrictions seriously," said Professor John Dwyer, an immunologist and emeritus professor of medicine at the University of NSW. Professor Dwyer said so far Australians had been slow to implement social distancing - such as continuing to go to the beach in some places - when "a whole of community effort not seen since World War II was required". He said he was relieved to hear the government was broadening the testing for COVID-19. "If in two weeks we find there is still sloppiness and dangerous behaviour I think we will be doing exactly what they are doing in the UK and Italy." In the meantime, Professor Dwyer believed there were still some loopholes that needed to be closed.

He said the number of people in supermarkets at any one time should be restricted, so people could practice social distancing. "We dont want old people given special times to shop, we dont want old people in supermarkets at all," he said. What about the controversial issue of whether to close schools? To date, only Victoria has closed schools a week before school holidays were due to start. UNSW Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, an advisor to the World Health Organisation on COVID-19 preparedness, said there hadnt been a widespread outbreak of the virus in schools. "Children have been very safe in schools and teachers have been very safe looking after children," she said.

She said she understood the anxiety of parents, but if they wanted to pull their children out of school they needed to ensure they enforced social distancing. "If you are going to take your children out of school you need to remember you need to keep them at home and away from play dates because the logic has to flow," she said. Professor McLaws said she appreciated some teachers were also feeling anxious and if schools were kept open they needed to be included as a priority group for testing. "They are now like health care workers - on the front line - and it is important we keep their anxiety in check."

Professor McLaws said particles from the virus can be spread up to 2.5 metres away from an infected person by breathing and talking. "If you are waiting in a queue it is sensible to stand back from the person in front of you and dont talk." Professor Paul Komesaroff, from the faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University, said the UK was playing catch-up. "I guess we've had a bit of breathing space, which has allowed us to gradually increase restrictions," he said. "At this point by adapting a lot of careful planning we are reasonably comfortable with the way things are going in hospitals and elsewhere."

Professor Komesaroff said he believed it was inevitable that schools would close nationwide and "didnt disagree" with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' decision to bring forward the school holidays. However, he said he acknowledged it was a complex issue. Loading Tony Blakely, a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Melbourne, said the first question politicians needed to answer was: Are we trying to flatten the curve - manage the level of infections so the health system is not overwhelmed - or eradicate it? "We need politicians to clearly state what our end game is," Professor Blakely said. "If we are aiming to flatten the curve, the answer is no, we dont need to do more just yet," he said.
[March 24, 2020] Panini Contributes 100,000 to Local Communities in Response to COVID-19 Crisis

Panini SpA, a global leader in check truncation and secure identity solutions, has collaborated with company shareholders to contribute 100,000 to the communities where its employees live and work to help with the emergency response to COVID-19. Panini's deep connections to its local communities are based on 75 years of operation in Torino, Italy and 25 years in Dayton, Ohio. The company recognizes the tremendous burden, health crisis and impact on its local communities caused by COVID-19, and this action has been taken to directly support the need for critical care, research, social assistance, and economic support. According to Panini's CEO Michael Pratt, "Panini understands its responsibility and obligation to help our communities fight this terrible virus and provide assistance to those suffering from its devastating consequences." The company notes the contribution was made possible by the tireless efforts and dedication of Panini's global employees in combination with Panini's concerned and compassionate shareholders. "Companies have a social responsibility to be part of the solution and demonstrate leadership by contributing to the relief effort while sustaining the future economy by acting responsibly towards employees, suppliers and clients," says Pratt. "Our communities need help now." Panini's contribution has been made to the following organizations. Ospedale Amedeo di Svoia is a leading microbiology and virology laboratory, and the reference center for Piedmont - the northwestern Italian region of which Torino is the capital - for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious disease and testing for the identification and management of these diseases using highly advanced molecular biological technologies.

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri conducts research to improve people's health and well-being including studies of the functional mechanisms of living organisms, underlying causes of diseases, treatment effectiveness, preventive measures, and scientific public information campaigns.

The Dayton Foundation is a nonprofit organization helping Dayton area residents since 1921. Their COVID-19 fund was formed in collaboration with United Way of Greater Dayton to provide flexible resources to nonprofits at the frontlines of the COVID-19 response.

Kettering Medical Center Foundation improves the life of people in southwest Ohio through excellence in healthcare, research and education, and is part of a nonprofit network that includes eight hospitals, Kettering College, and over 120 outpatient facilities.



About Panini Founded in Turin, Italy, Panini has enabled clients to capitalize on shifts in the global payments processing market for seventy-five years. Panini has a rich history of technology innovation, leveraging the company's expertise in research & development. Panini's market leading solutions are based on state-of-the-art engineering resources and ISO 9001 quality certified production. Panini boasts the world's largest deployed base of check imaging systems and offers an expanding range of branch transformation solutions including intelligent capture, instant issuance, and secure identity options for reliable and user-friendly customer authentication. The company operates on a global scale and has direct subsidiaries in the United States covering North America and in Brazil covering Latin American markets.

For more information visit www.panini.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005417/en/

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GST on textiles will not be increased from 5 to 12 per cent: FM Sitharaman

It is not BJP money: Nirmala Sitharaman on IT raids on 'Samajwadi perfume' trader

Deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar extended to June 30

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 24: The government on Tuesday extended the deadline to link the Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar from March 31 to June 2020.

"The deadline to link Aadhaar to PAN card has also been extended to June 30, 2020," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while addressing media on government measures to contain spread of coronavirus.

Sitharaman said the government is "very close to announcing economic package to deal with the coronavirus pandemic".

As per the circular issued by the CBDT, employees have to quote PAN and Aadhaar details compulsorily as per the Section 206-AA of the Income Tax Act.

"Section 206AA in the Act makes furnishing of PAN or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, by the employee compulsory in case of receipt of any sum or income of amount, on which tax is deductible," the circular reads.

In case an employee fails to provide the required details, the employer is responsible to make deductions either at the tax rate on the employee's salary or 20 per cent or above.

If your income is below Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, no tax will be deducted. After several deductions, if the salary attracts approx 20 per cent tax, the TDS rate of 20 per cent will apply.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet Taliban officials in Doha on Monday on his return from a one-day trip to Afghanistan in an effort to salvage a historic deal signed with the insurgents in February for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

"Secretary Pompeo is going to meet with Taliban officials in Doha, including Mullah Baradar, Taliban's chief negotiator, to press the Taliban to continue to comply with the agreement signed last month," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

Pompeo flew to Doha, where the Taliban maintains an office, after meeting in Kabul with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah, both separately and together. Both men say they are Afghanistan's rightful leader following a disputed election in September.

Their standoff has stalled the selection of a negotiating team to represent the Afghan government in planned talks with the Taliban.

A senior State Department official, speaking before the meetings ended, said the purpose of Pompeo's visit was to try to mediate a solution between the two men.

"The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved...soon, that could affect the peace process...our agreement with the Talibs could be put at risk," the official said.

A diplomat in Kabul briefed on the meetings and two other Afghan officials said they were inconclusive.

"It did not work. Neither of the two budged," the diplomat said, speaking on condition on anonymity.

A spokesman for Ghani declined to comment, saying details of the meetings had not yet been released.

Omid Maisam, a spokesman for Abdullah, said that if there were more meetings a solution was "not impossible" and that they wanted a peaceful end to the crisis.

SKYPE CALL

The Afghan government was not a party to the U.S.-Taliban deal, signed in Doha on Feb. 29, but the agreement aimed to pave the way for the Taliban to negotiate with them.

Formal talks have not yet begun, hampered by disagreement over the release of prisoners - a condition set by the Taliban - and by the feud between Ghani and Abdullah.

The deal included a pact to withdraw foreign troops that would effectively end the United States' longest war.

U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, who has spent much of his time in Kabul since the deal was signed, made a plea to both sides last week to act quickly on the release of prisoners.

The Taliban and Afghan government spoke for more than two hours on prisoner releases on Sunday in a Skype call facilitated by the United States and Qatar, offering some hope of progress. But domestic politics have been a complicating factor.

In February, Afghanistan's Electoral Commission announced incumbent Ghani as the winner of the presidential election, but Abdullah said he and his allies had won and insisted that he would form a government.

Key sticking points in recent weeks between the two men have included Abdullah's desire to retain the role of chief executive, which he held in the previous government, and that his camp be given more ministerial roles than Ghani was offering, according to the diplomat and an aide to Abdullah.

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Carmaker Ford Motor Co on Tuesday jumped into the emergency push by major United States manufacturers to produce thousands of ventilators and respirators needed for critically ill coronavirus patients.

By joining forces with General Electrics healthcare unit and 3M Co, Ford is heeding US President Donald Trumps call for US automakers to work across sectors in producing equipment needed for the pandemic.

The rapid outbreak, which has killed more than 17,000 people globally, has strained healthcare systems around the world and led to a shortage of ventilators needed to treat patients suffering from the flu-like illness, which can lead to breathing difficulties and pneumonia in severe cases.

Weve been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs, Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett said, adding that the companys aim was to increase the supply of necessary medical equipment.

Ford and GE Healthcare will expand the production of GEs ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing caused by the pathogen, Ford said.

Separately, Ford will work with 3M to increase manufacturing capacity of its air-purifying respirators to meet a surge in demand for first responders and healthcare workers.

The company said it was exploring how it could produce these new respirators in one of its Michigan manufacturing plants and help 3M boost production tenfold. It would use fans from its Ford F150 cooled seats to make parts of the respirators, the company said.

Additionally, Ford said its US design team was starting to test transparent full-face shields for first responders, which when paired with N95 respirator masks, could be an effective way of limiting exposure to the coronavirus.

General Motors Co has also partnered with medical equipment maker Ventec and is building ventilators at its plant in Indiana.

Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV (FCA) told employees in an email that the Italian-American automaker would start converting one of its plants in China to ultimately make over one million masks a month to help combat the coronavirus outbreak. It said it will distribute them to emergency services in North America to help the fight against coronavirus.

FCA, which is also trying to help produce badly needed respirators for patients in intensive care in Italy, is one of a number of large manufacturers adapting production lines to make products in desperately short supply.

Production capacity is being installed this week and the company will start manufacturing face masks in the coming weeks with initial distribution across the United States, Canada and Mexico, it said in a statement released late on Monday.

The monthly output of one million masks will be donated to police, emergency medical staff, firefighters and workers in hospitals and health care clinics, the statement said.

The decision to begin distribution of masks in North America rather than Italy, the companys other home country, underlines the difficult balance global companies are having to maintain as they weigh where to offer help in the emergency.

Fiats position as a historic pillar of Italian industry makes the issue of where to provide help sensitive, especially as Italy is the country worst-hit by the virus so far.

Both FCA and its controlling shareholder Exor, the investment firm of Italys Agnelli family, have offered significant assistance to efforts to handle the crisis in Italy, where almost 6,000 people have died.

FCA and luxury automaker Ferrari, also controlled by Exor, are in talks with Siare, Italys biggest respirator manufacturer, to help it double production of the life-saving machines.

It said companies controlled by Exor bought 150 ventilators and other medical equipment abroad, provided vehicles for support of people in need and were in touch with Italian authorities to help them buy medical equipment and healthcare products abroad.

As part of the process, an Exor spokesman said on Tuesday that the group had made an initial purchase of 250,000 face masks in China that would be distributed in Italy and were expected to arrive by the end of this week.
The total number of COVID-19 patients in Gujarat rose to 33 with three more coronavirus positive cases reported in the state, the health department said on Tuesday.

The state has been conducting a survey through Integrated Disease Surveillance Platform (IDSP) of people with travel history to abroad, Principal Secretary (Health), Jayanti Ravi said.

Gujarat is the first state to start such a survey for coronavirus, she claimed.

Out of the three new cases found in the state, two are of local transmission in state capital Gandhinagar, while one patient reported from Surat has history of travel to Saudi Arabia.

With this, Ahmedabad has reported13 coronavirus cases, Vadodara, Surat and Gandhinagar six each, and Rajkot and Kutch one case each, the official said.

The Gujarat government on Monday night announced a lockdown across the state till March 31.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will hold high-powered committee meeting everyday to review the situationuntil the lockdown is in force, she said.

So far, around 10 lakh people have been surveyed under the IDSP, and the process continues with the help of other departments, she said.

Till date, 11,108 people have been placed under 14-day quarantine, out of which 10,850 are under home quarantine, 34 in private hospitals, and 224 in government facilities, the official said.

As many as 21 FIRs have been filed so far against those breaking the quarantine protocol, she said.

Gujarat is the first state to start the survey through IDSP of people with travel history to abroad, who returned to Gujarat from various airports, based on data provided by the central government, Ravi said.

"The survey is also being done of people who have reportedsevere acute respiratory infection, high breathlessness or high fever, and ailments that could be suspected cases," she said.

The government is also in the process of setting up special hospitals in four cities to deal with only cases of coronavirus patients. These hospitals will be in Ahmedabad (1,200 beds), Surat (500 beds), Vadodara (250 beds) and Rajkot (250 beds).

The state government hospitals have isolation wards with 1,583 beds, while private hospitals in the state have isolation wards with 635 beds to deal with coronavirus cases, she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong, March 24 : A Hong Kong police sergeant drew his gun during a stand-off with a knife-wielding robber and recovered a bag worth about HK$390,000 ($51,400) stolen from a businesswoman, a media report said on Tuesday.

According to initial investigation, the woman posted the Hermes Birkin bag for sale on the Carousell online selling platform last year, claiming the black crocodile-skin luxury bag was 99 per cent new and worth HK$399,000, he South China Morning Post said in the report.

Posing as a buyer, the gang, a trio, contacted the woman online and after she lowered the price, they agreed to meet outside an industrial building in Kwai Chung on Monday night.

The woman, who runs a trading company, went to the meet-up accompanied by her sister and a male friend, according to the police.

Superintendent Iu Wing-kan, assistant Kwai Tsing district commander (crime), said that while the trio waited for the buyer, three men dressed in black, wearing masks and brandishing metal bars rushed out and attacked the group, snatched the handbag and ran away.

Plain-clothes officers who were patrolling the area discovered the hold-up and chased after the gang.

Officers caught up with one suspect, and the 18-year-old man pulled out the knife and threatened them, the report quoted the Superintendent as saying.

Officers recovered the handbag from him and arrested him for robbery - an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The other two suspects are estimated to be about 20 years old, the South China morning Post report added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chandigarh, March 24 : In a major humanitarian gesture, the Radha Radha Soami Satsang Beas and the Sant Nirankari Mission on Tuesday offered to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh the use of their 'satsang ghars' and Nirankari Bhawans in the battle against COVID-19.

Extending a helping hand to the state government in its concerted efforts for containment of COVID-19, Radha Soami Satsang Beas head Baba Gurinder Singh called up the Chief Minister to extend his offer for use of the 'satsang ghars' located in the state.

Detailed instructions have been issued to the field units in this regard, he said.

Sant Nirankari Mission President Shri Gobind Singh, popularly known as Bhaiyaji, also extended a similar offer for utilization of Nirankari Bhawans and their facilities in the state's battle against the coronavirus.

He also offered the services of their volunteers to help out the state government in this hour of crisis.

In this regard, instructions have already been conveyed at all bhawans, he informed the Chief Minister.

Disclosing this, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said that Amarinder Singh highly appreciated the benevolent gesture of the leaders of the two organisations.

The Chief Minister thanked the two leaders for their support to the state government in this critical hour.
Indonesia turns athletes village to emergency hospital as coronavirus cases rise Indonesian Red Cross Society employee sprays disinfectant at the Kemayoran Athletes Village, to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Jakarta, Indonesia

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has turned its "Athlete's Village" built for the 2018 Asian Games into an emergency hospital with a capacity to hold more than 4,000 patients, authorities said on Sunday, as coronavirus cases and deaths in the country rose.

Four out of 10 towers in the Athlete's Village, located in the country's capital city, have been converted into a medical facility that would house more than 7,000 people, including a coronavirus task force, medical staff and up to 4,208 patients.

"The ministry of state-owned enterprises will provide supplies for the emergency hospital to handle COVID-19, be it healthcare equipment, medicine, personal protection gear and masks," the minister of state-owned enterprises, Erick Thohir, said in a statement.

On Saturday, Indonesia confirmed 81 new cases and 6 more deaths due to the virus, bringing the total number of cases to 450 and deaths to 38. Indonesia has the highest coronavirus death toll in Southeast Asia.

The governor of Jakarta declared a state of emergency in the Indonesian capital for the next two weeks over the outbreak.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has faced criticism from medical workers for a slow start to testing in an archipelago that stretches wider than the continental United States.

Depending on how the coronavirus spreads in Indonesia, authorities can convert more towers in the Athlete's Village into medical facilities, officials said.

"If all 10 towers are used, then 20,000 patients can be accommodated," a ministry of public works and housing spokesman told Reuters.

The ratio of the number of dead to the number of recorded cases in Indonesia at 8.7% is among the highest in the world  even higher than 8.3% in Italy. Medical experts say it is a likely indicator that many cases have gone undetected.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writiing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
HUDSONVILLE, MI -- Teachers and staff of Alward Elementary School in the Hudsonville School District got in their cars to spread some joy to their students during the coronavirus shutdown.

Some teachers wore costumes or put signs on their cars as they drove with a sheriffs deputy escort through the neighborhoods of their school district Monday morning, March 23.

Its been more than a week since students in Michigan have been in school due to the governors order closing K-12 buildings during the coronavirus pandemic.

I had a neighbor that was literally in tears for how excited she was, said Rebecca Hower, 23. Her brother is a fifth-grader at Alward Elementary School.

Were so thankful and blessed that we live in such an amazing community that theyre willing to do this, especially under these circumstances.

Teachers and students yelled, We miss you! to each other as the cars drove past. People in most of the cars were honking and waving out open windows. Students waiting to see their teacher pass displayed homemade signs and snowmen for them.

I havent seen him that happy since he found out he was stuck at home," Hower said of her brother.

Amanda Hawks, a fourth grade teacher, said the faculty and staff miss their kids and wanted to find a way to stay connected to them during the shutdown.

It is hard, she said of the school closure. Were used to being there for these kids and not just academically, but socially, emotionally.

Schools have been closed since March 16 under executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with an initial return to school date of April 6.

Whitmer issued an executive order on Monday that requires all Michigan residents to stay in their homes except for essential needs and for and most businesses to close. It also extends the school closure date until April 13.

Alward Elementary teachers and staff got in their cars on March 23 to wave and honk at their students from a distance. All schools have been closed since March 16 due to coronavirus (Amanda Hawk - 4th grade teacher | Courtesy Photo)

Hawks said staff initially planned to hold the parade on Wednesday, but over the weekend as the possibility of a statewide shelter in place order began to increase, they decided to hold it on Monday, getting it done just hours before Whitmer announced the new order.

We all rallied together and people were sending around mass emails last night, Whos got a dinosaur costume? Who has a Care Bear costume?" Hawks said.

Grandparents and neighbors joined the students and their parents to watch the parade, Hawks said. While the school doesnt have another event like this planned yet, she said their principal is very creative and to stay tuned.

We all knew that it would be good for the kids, but I dont think any of us realized how good it would be for us," she said. "Like my face hurt by the time we were done with it, we were all smiling so big.

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.

Complete coverage of coronavirus in Michigan.

Read all of MLives up-to-date coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Also on MLive:

Monday, March 23: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Whitmer blames Trump administration for shortage of medical equipment during coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus leaves Flint couple stranded in Peru
WALTHAM, Mass., March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Actifio, the pioneer of multi-cloud copy data management software, has named Tata Consulting Services (TCS) its Global Systems Integrator (GSI) Partner of the Year to honor the mutual success and commitment of the companies' global alliance.

Ash Ashutosh, co-founder and CEO, Actifio, said, "We are delighted to work with TCS, and our partnership over the last 18 months has assisted in the digital transformation of companies around the globe. Thanks to their outstanding work and assistance in closing major deals with a major media and communications company based in the UK and others, we have awarded TCS with our GSI Partner of the Year Award. We look forward to our continued partnership in managing and scaling cloud-based data across global enterprises and industries."

"We are happy to receive the Actifio GSI Partner of the Year Award," says Raman Venkatraman, Vice President & Global Head, HiTech BU and Alliance & Technology Unit, TCS. "Our partnership with Actifio has enabled us to successfully transform our customers into cloud-native organizations helping them increase data efficiency and improve resiliency along the way."

TCS received the award for creating a strategic practice centered on Actifio's patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology and driving the most customer value in 2019. Ramanan Thevarajan, TCS Global Head of Enterprise Infrastructure Technologies Group, Alliance & Technology Unit, and Gaurav Syal, TCS UK CBO Head, received this award.

Ravi Kollipara, Vice President and Country Manager, Actifio Technologies in India, said, "TCS is our top strategic partner in the region and a global powerhouse. With Actifio, TCS customers have the unique ability to deliver a much more efficient and cost effective offering that enables customers to rely on the cloud for their test data management, backup and disaster recovery solutions."

Actifio and TCS share the same commitment to deliver successful business outcomes to global enterprises and accelerate data-driven digital transformation initiatives in Business 4.0.

They are global strategic partners who have jointly invested in a Centre of Excellence to enable Actifio competency and offerings. Additionally, TCS also has a large team of Actifio certified consultants to deliver multi-cloud copy data management solutions to its global customers. Thanks to the Actifio partnership, TCS has been able to successfully help its customers accelerate adoption of hybrid cloud, build high-quality applications faster, improve business resiliency and more.



About Actifio:

Actifio is the pioneer of multi-cloud copy data management software. With more than 3,600 customers around the world, Actifio enables organizations to virtualize and deliver their data instantly, anywhere. An enterprise-class software platform powered by patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology, Actifio helps accelerate adoption of hybrid, public and multi-cloud strategies, build higher quality applications faster, and improve business resiliency and availability. For more, visit Actifio.com or follow @Actifio on Twitter.

Media Contact:

Carissa Ryan, CTP for Actifio

[email protected]

SOURCE Actifio
It wasnt clear whether the rally would continue into Wednesday. Stocks in Asia rose in early trading, with Tokyo and Seoul shares up more than 4 percent, but futures markets predicted a lower opening for Wall Street.

Shares of hard-hit industries likely to receive aid, such as casinos and cruise lines, soared on Tuesday. Norwegian Cruise Lines was the best performing stock in the S&P 500 on Tuesday,

jumping more than 40 percent, and MGM Resorts rose more than 30 percent. Airlines climbed, with American Airlines rising nearly 30 percent. Delta, United Airlines and Boeing were all up more than 20 percent.

The gains came even as investors were presented with more evidence of the economic toll of the outbreak. Companies, from General Motors to the Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, detailed the impact of production shutdowns on their business, and new survey of activity in Europe showed a plunge in business across the region. Also on Tuesday, Japan said the Summer Olympics in Tokyo would be postponed for a year  a blow to broadcasters and advertisers who bet big on the viewership of the games  and India said it would impose a three-week lockdown.

The jump on Tuesday was in part a rebound from a difficult stretch for stock investors. On Monday, the S&P 500 fell about 3 percent as Congress struggled to overcome differences on the aid bill and traders remained cautious about the Federal Reserves ability to cushion the economys fall. Stocks are down almost 30 percent since their peak in February.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.02, registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous close

Mumbai: Indian equity markets regained lost foothold on Tuesday after markets gave up gains in early trade due to volatility over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Indian rupee witnessed marginal recovery in early trade and appreciated by 18 paise to 76.02 against the US dollar on Tuesday tracking positive opening in domestic equities.

At around 12:10 pm, BSE Sensex was up 634.04 or 2.44 per cent at 26,615.28 while NSE Nifty was trading 153 points or 2.01 per cent higher at 7,763.25.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.02, registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee had settled at 76.20 against the greenback.

Traders said investor sentiments improved after the Reserve Bank as part of its effort to boost liquidity on Monday said it will conduct Rs 1 lakh crore of short-term variable repo auction.

The repo auctions will be conducted in two tranches. The first repo auction of Rs 50,000 crore was held on Monday.

The second tranche of Rs 50,000 crore of repo auction will be conducted on Tuesday.

However, traders said there are still concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic as well as the global economy. The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has reached over 16,000.

Meanwhile, nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday.
Pennsylvania hospitals are asking the state for a major infusion of money and other help to deal with a potential surge of people sick with the new coronavirus.

Andy Carter, the CEO of the Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania, said Tuesday the hospitals havent named a specific amount.

However, he said we know its going to be an extraordinary amount to match the size of the potential surge. He noted its possible the federal government will approve funds for the same purpose, which would reduce what the hospitals need from the state.

Carter said a coronavirus emergency response fund is needed to help hospitals with things including adding more beds, paying overtime, providing daycare for staff, creating space for patients who no longer need the hospital but cant care for themselves at home, and expanded telemedicine capabilities. He said hospitals are also asking the state for relief from some regulations to enable them to quickly prepare for a coronavirus surge.

However, when pressed by reporters during a conference call, Carter said he lacked details on things including concrete examples of what the state and hospitals have done beyond planning for a surge, and the potential gap between existing supplies of things like intensive care beds and breathing ventilators and demand.

Nor did he have an estimate of when hospitals expect a surge to hit Pennsylvania.

Carter stressed that every Pennsylvania hospital has its own plan for dealing with a surge in demand, and hospitals across the state have been working closely with the state to prepare for a surge.

He said Pennsylvanias hospitals as of Tuesday were in no dire need of supplies or resources.

For example, he estimated the statewide supply of protective equipment such as face masks would last about three weeks, although local supplies vary, and some hospitals could run out in hours or days if faced with a surge. He said Pennsylvanias most immediate need involves protective equipment.

He also said some protective equipment received from the federal government has expired and cant be used.

Carter said he had no numbers regarding ventilators or how the supply matches up against potential need.

State officials have said there are about 2,000 ventilators in Pennsylvania and they were working with the hospital association to determine how many are already being used.

One of the scariest potential scenarios involves ventilators, because the availability of a ventilatory can be the difference between whether someone with the coronavirus lives or dies. In New York, which has become ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., health officials have said 13% percent of patients need to be hospitalized, with 24% of those needing intensive care and ventilators.

About 70 people with the coronavirus in Pennsylvania have needed hospital care, according to Dr. Rachel Levine, the state secretary of health.

Carter said one of the main actions hospitals have taken so far is to cancel elective surgeries in order to conserve beds and supplies for a surge of coronavirus patients. Levine and Gov. Tom Wolf previously asked hospitals to cancel elective surgeries that dont involve an urgent medical need.

However, he said that has resulted in the loss of an important revenue stream. As a result, some hospitals might not be able to stay open through a coronavirus surge and beyond without government help.

The possible scope and sweep of this disease outbreak could exhaust and deplete both the supply resources and the financial resources, he said.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, on Tuesday said all participants at the African Magic Viewers Choice Award should embark on self-isolation due to the high risk of coronavirus infection.

Mr Abayomi said via his Twitter handle that all participants may have been exposed to coronavirus infection as one of the participants tested positive.

I hereby notify you that all participants at the African Magic viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) held on 14th March at @EkoHotels may have come in contact with one of the confirmed cases in Lagos and are most likely to have been exposed to #COVID19 Infection.

Mr Abayomi advised all attendees to observe strict self- isolation and call the toll free line; 08000corona if they notice any of the Covid-19 related symptoms.

Previous claims have been raised by celebrities, including a documentary producer, Ifeoma Chukwuogo, that a celebrity that had symptoms of the virus attended the awards.

The Ministry of Health has, however, advised all attendees to self-isolate for 14 days.

The confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria rose to 42 on Tuesday with 29 cases in Lagos, seven in Abuja, three in Ogun and one case each in Oyo, Edo and Ekiti.
Spain began its second week of total lockdown in the worst way possible on Monday. A total of 462 people died due to the coronavirus outbreak in just 24 hours. Thats the biggest daily rise seen up until today, and confirms a trend that no expert expects will change in the coming days. We are still in a phase of growth in the impact of the virus, and this will still last some time, explains Pere Godoy, president of the Spanish Epidemiology Society (SEE).

The number of deaths in Spain caused by the rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on Monday reached 2,182, meaning that Spain has taken just three days to double the 1,000 deaths that had been registered on Friday. Not even China or Italy  two of the worst-hit countries in the world during this pandemic  saw that rhythm of fatalities.

Whats more, Spain is seeing a much wider territorial spread of the epidemic compared to Italy. In both cases, around 90% of the first 100 deaths were seen in three regions. In Italy, these were Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. In Spain, the first outbreaks occurred in Madrid, the Basque Country-La Rioja (both were sites of the same outbreak) and Aragon.

In Italy, mobility was reduced more when the first outbreaks were detected Associate professor Daniel Lopez Acuna

More than 80% of the 6,000 deaths that Italy has seen continue to happen in the same three regions, a percentage that in Spain has fallen to 65%. The reason for this is that, unlike Italy  where the rest of the territories continue to see relatively low rates  in Spain there has been a rapid rise in cases in a group of regions. These are Catalonia, Castilla y Leon and Castilla-La Mancha. To a lesser extent this rise has also been seen in the Valencia region.

There is a group of regions that, without reaching the highest rates, have registered a notable increase in deaths in the last week, explains Daniel Lopez Acuna, an associate professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health and the former director of Health Action in Crisis at the World Health Organization (WHO). This is a phenomenon that didnt happen in Italy.

I think it was a mistake to allow the large geographical dispersion that took place in the days prior to the introduction of isolation Pere Godoy, president of the Spanish Epidemiology Society (SEE)

The expert believes that this was due to the fact that in Italy, mobility was reduced more when the first outbreaks were detected, while in Spain mobility was very high even during the days ahead of the declaration of the state of alarm.

While experts believe that it is still early to reach conclusions with scientific evidence, Pere Godoy also points to the moments ahead of the state of alarm. I think it was a mistake to allow the large geographical dispersion that took place in the days prior to the introduction of isolation, something that could have facilitated the dispersion of the virus.

Another factor that Lopez Acuna points to is the trickle of cases imported from Italy that definitely were in Spain in the days prior to the detection of local contagions. He continues: These were definitely more intense and disperse than those that could have happened between China and Italy, which explains the current rise observed in these regions.

Joan Ramon Villalbi, a member and ex-president of the Spanish Public Health and Health Administration Society (SESPAS), believes that the differences between Spain and Italy also have had an influence. It is likely that as a state, Spain is more integrated in the flow of circulation of persons than Italy, where there are huge differences between the north and the south, he says.

This would explain, for example, why a region with a high population level such as Sicily, which has more than five million inhabitants, has seen just three deaths from the coronavirus as of Sunday. But it doesnt explain why another area in Italy, such as Tuscany, with 3.8 million residents, has also seen a much lower impact. This has led the experts to conclude that the causes of the phenomenon are a combination of those previously mentioned.

English version by Simon Hunter.
By Express News Service

GUWAHATI: A girl in Manipur has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the first such case in the Northeast, taking India's tally to 480.



The 23-year-old was found infected with the novel coronavirus following a medical examination at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal. She is a resident of Thangmeiband Lourung Purely Leikai in Imphal.

The girl was admitted to the hospital by her father after she fell sick on Monday.

FOLLOW LIVE COVID-19 UPDATES HERE

Her name was not on the government list containing the names of 99 people who had arrived in the state in recent times from various coronavirus-affected countries and are now in house quarantine.

Travel history

The patient is a student of bio-medicine at the Bristol University in the United Kingdom and had arrived in Delhi and then in Kolkata on March 19.

On the same day, her 14-year-old brother who is under home quarantine now had arrived in Kolkata from Atlanta and stayed with her in a hotel there.

She had then taken a direct flight from Kolkata to Imphal with a stopover in Tripura capital - Agartala on March 21.

Their parents are college lecturers.



The police have cordoned off the house.
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Tuesday. March 24, and fancy San Francisco hotels are looking into a new line of business  quarantining sick residents. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Within an hour after Hayward Fire Station 7 began offering free coronavirus testing at 9 a.m. Monday  one of the first free testing sites in California with no doctors order required  firefighters had screened nearly 300 people for symptoms, collected nasal cavity samples from about 20 of them, and prepared to drive the samples to a nearby lab.

The local fire department is working with a local biotech company to provide and expedite free coronavirus testing with same or next-day results. If successful and scaled up, it could help relieve pent-up demand to get testing and results quickly, which would help infectious disease experts understand how widespread infections have become.

Read more from reporters Catherine Ho and Sarah Ravani.

FAQs: Other places where Bay Areas residents may be able to get tests.

New guests

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

In the latest sign of just how topsy-turvy our strange new world has become, some of San Franciscos fanciest hotels are competing for an unlikely clientele: residents of single-room-occupancy apartments who need to be quarantined because of exposure to the coronavirus but have no access to private kitchen facilities.

In fact, 31 hotels with a combined 8,310 rooms responded over the past few days to City Halls request for proposals to put people up during the coronavirus outbreak, agreeing to house them and provide meals for at least four months at a price cheaper than tourists and business people often pay.

The move matches the citys need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 with the need of area hotels to make up for cratering occupancy rates  but theres dispute about whether the rooms should also be used for homeless residents, Heather Knight reports.

Budget uncertainty

Randall Benton / Associated Press

In a January budget proposal of record size, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted a projected multibillion-dollar surplus and new programs to reshape homelessness services, boost wildfire prevention and provide health care for immigrant seniors living in the country illegally.

That plan has been dashed by the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak, and while the state has more than $20 billion in reserves, the governor and lawmakers are facing scaled-back wish lists and uncertainty about how bad the shock will be, Alexei Koseff reports.

From Washington: The $2 trillion legislation by Senate Republicans that was the starting point for coronavirus relief negotiations includes $58 billion for passenger and cargo airlines and $1,200 in direct cash payments for American adults who earn less than $75,000  but many of the estimated 4,000 noncitizens who work at San Francisco International Airport wouldnt get a dime. Read more.

Disaster declaration: Whats in and what was left out of the U.S. disaster aid for California.

Full coronavirus coverage

End of quarantine: Despite warnings from infectious disease experts, more than 25 of the most medically fragile Grand Princess cruise ship passengers were released to their homes over the past few days before they completed their 14-day quarantine at Travis Air Force Base, The Chronicle has learned. Plus there was also the moldy food they had been provided, former passengers say.

CalFresh options: As Californians stay home to avoid the coronavirus, many now rely on online food ordering to avoid crowds. But people who buy groceries with CalFresh, the states version of food stamps, are barred from using the benefit for online or delivered orders. The state is asking the federal government to change that.

Essential workers: Safeway has reached an agreement with a union representing Northern California workers to increase their pay, hours and sanitation.

Speedy hiring: As coronavirus threatens to overwhelm San Franciscos hospitals, the Department of Public Health hired 82 permanent nurses over the past two weeks after Mayor London Breed temporarily waived city hiring provisions.

Pass/fail: As colleges across the nation transition to online classes in response to the coronavirus pandemic, UC Berkeley is among a handful of schools moving to a pass-fail grading system. Meanwhile, Bay Area school districts could follow L.A.s lead in shuttering schools until May, Jill Tucker reports.

College sports: Cals Elijah Hicks organizes group to raise money for low-income families affected by the virus shutdown, and college hopes and scholarships are on hold for top high school athletes.

Live updates: Our continuing coverage on coronavirus in the Bay Area and around the world.

Still serving probation from San Bruno pipeline explosion.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle 2018

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will plead guilty to 85 felony counts  including 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter  because of its responsibility for the deadly 2018 Camp Fire, a monumental step that will lead to the California power providers second criminal conviction.

Reporters J.D. Morris and Lizzie Johnson write on what the plea means for the company and for wildfire victims going forward.

Around the Bay

 Former San Mateo Police Chief: Oakland mayor appoints new interim police chief.

 County Jail No. 4: S.F. supervisor seeks rapid closure of dilapidated jail.

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.

 Dream deferred: Everests coronavirus shutdown grounds Oakland climber.

 AB5: Federal judge rules freelance journalists, photographers not exempt from California contracting law.

 Already in financial trouble: CCSF chancellor placed on paid administrative leave for undisclosed reasons

Answering your questions

Since The Chronicle launched our Assignment Editor survey, weve received hundreds of questions from readers about COVID-19, as well as information about whats happening in your neighborhood. You've helped guide our coverage over the past weeks and will continue to do so. During this fast-changing event  one that involves so much of the public  our reporters and editors thank you.

Heres one of the recent questions weve received:

Are automobile accidents down with more people staying home?

With the exception of traffic being lighter than usual, its pretty much business as usual, Officer John Fransen of the Golden Gate Division of the California Highway Patrol told reporter John King on Thursday. Drivers do some crazy things.

Weve answered many of your questions in our FAQ series:

 Whats open and whats closed.

 Your food and grocery questions answered. (And our directory of restaurants offering takeout and delivery options.)

 What older people and their loved ones need to know.

 How to help.

 How long does the virus stay on surfaces?

And many more on SFChronicle.com.

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com.
While many of us shelter in place and prepare for long lockdowns, healthcare workers continue to battle on the frontlines against the novel coronavirus.

Doctors and nurses have pictured themselves covered head-to-toe in personal protective gear and with red marks on their faces after spending 12 or more hours wearing goggles in the ICU.

Many of them say they don't feel like 'heroes' but that they want people to understand the challenges they face as they treat seriously ill patients.

Across the world, more than 372,000 people have been infected with the virus and more than 16,300 people have died.

Doctors and nurses shared photos of themselves following a day of taking care of coronavirus patients (left, Italy). One of them is Dr Nicola Sgarbi, 35 (right), from Modena, Italy, who took a selfie of his face covered in red marks after wearing goggles for 13 hours in the ICU

Sherry Dong, 25, a nurse at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Maryland, shared a photo of her and her colleague in gowns, gloves and face shields (pictured)

One of the physicians on the front lines is 35-year-old Dr Nicola Sgarbi from Modena, Italy - whose country has the second-highest nub

Dr Sgarbi posted a photo on Facebook on March 13 after spending 13 hour in the ICU treating patients for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

In the photo, the doctor has his goggles lifted above his face with red marks under his eyes and on the bridge of his nose.

'I don't love selfies. Yesterday, though, I took this photo. After 13 hours in ICU after taking off all my protective devices, I took a selfie,' he wrote on Facebook.

'I am not and I don't feel like a hero. I am a normal person, who loves his job and who, now more than ever, is proud and proud to do it by giving all himself on the forefront lines together with other wonderful people (doctors, nurses, technicians, cleaners).'

The post has gone viral, with more than 240,000 likes and more than 74,000 shares.

'I mainly took the photo for two reasons. Firstly, to send it to my partner, to tell her that I had finished my shift at work and that I was on my way home, slightly bruised,' Sgarbi told CNN.

'Secondly, to show it to my 1-year-old daughter when she will have grown up. I will be telling her about this moment.'

But it's not just doctors. Nurses too have been spending several hours on the frontline.

Many of them say they don't feel like 'heroes' but that they want people to understand the challenges they face as they treat seriously ill patients. Around the world more than 372,000 people have been infected and more than 16,300 people have died. Pictured: A doctor from the Czech Republic, left, and a doctor or nurse from Italy

Registered nurse Sherry Dong, 25, works in the ICU at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

On Friday, she shared a photo on Reddit of herself and her co-worker waring disposable gowns, disposable gloves and face shields.

'Greetings from the front lines of COVID-19 at Johns Hopkins Hospital ICU!' she wrote.

By Monday evening, it received more than 2,200 comments and several Reddit 'awards'.

'Its been really exhausting and chaotic dealing with this crisis and my family started to get concerned,' she told DailyMail.com.

'I shared this photo to let them know even though despite all of this, our spirits are still strong and we are hopeful we will get through this. My family loved the photo and thought it was very uplifting so I shared it publicly.'

Dong also asked that anyone who has any protective equipment to done it to hospitals as officials fear they are close to running out and urger people to follow social distancing measures.

'We want people to know the best thing they can do to help us is to stay home, slow the spread, and flatten the curve. It will buy us time,' Dong said.

'Hospitals are at maximum capacity and we dont want to get to a point where we have to decide who gets treatment and who doesn't.'

At a White House press briefing, Dr Deborah Birx, the response coordinator on the White House coronavirus task force, discussed specimens specified by lab workers.

She said 28 percent of submitted specimens in New York City are positive in the area compared to eight to 15 percent in other areas of the country.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said he had a discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles regarding cooperation on coronavirus pandemic.

The minister assured Fontelles of India's "fullest support" in the return of EU citizens from India.

"Discussed with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China our working together in combating COVID-19. Agreed to build further on our bilateral efforts in this domain. Exchanged views on the forthcoming G20 Summit. Global challenges require global cooperation, Jaishankar tweeted.

In another post, he added, "Reviewed the COVID-19 situation with EU HRVP Josep Borrell Fontelles today. Exchanged views on our respective challenges. Assured him of our fullest support in the return of EU citizens from India."



Coronavirus cases in the country crossed the 500-mark and one more death from the infection was reported on Tuesday, taking the toll to ten.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mr. Cuomo, speaking at the Javits Center in Manhattan, which the Army Corps is retrofitting into a 1,000-bed emergency hospital, said the rate of new coronavirus infections in New York is doubling about every three days. We havent flattened the curve, he said.

The peak of infection in New York could come in as little as two to three weeks, far earlier than previously anticipated, Mr. Cuomo said. The state now projects that it may need as many as 140,000 hospital beds to house virus patients, he said, up from the 110,000 projected a few days ago. As of now, only 53,000 are available.

As of Tuesday morning, New York State had 25,665 cases, with at least 157 deaths. There were around 15,000 cases in New York City alone.

Mr. Cuomo, once considered a bit player on the national stage, is emerging as the partys most prominent voice in a time of crisis. His briefings  articulate, consistent and often tinged with empathy  have become must-see television. On Tuesday, his address was carried live on all four networks in New York and a raft of cable news stations, including CNN, MSNBC and even Fox News.

In a sign of the way Mr. Cuomo has become the face of the Democratic Party in this moment, his address even pre-empted an appearance by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on ABCs The View in New York. Mr. Biden called Mr. Cuomos briefings a lesson in leadership, and others have described them as communal therapy sessions.

The countrys second-biggest state is not on lockdown.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday continued to resist calls to issue a statewide order to keep millions of Texans in their homes as protection against the fast-moving virus, but he used strong language to encourage Texans to stay indoors. The best thing that you can do to ensure that we are not spreading Covid-19 in the state of Texas is stay home, unless you need to be out, Mr. Abbott said, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The countrys second-biggest state has been improvising its way through the crisis, influenced at times by the sheer span of Texas, by its partisan divides, by its rural-versus-urban split, by its top leaders support of Mr. Trump and by its small-government, low-regulation mythos.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has refuted reports that he met Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi who tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Saburi, who refused to self-quarantine after arriving in the country from Germany via Amsterdam on March 6, was said to be one of several government officials who met with Raila last week.

But in a statement Monday, the ODM leader said he made a low-key trip to the Coast but did not meet Mr Saburi.

Through his spokesman Dennis Onyango, Raila said he only met with Mombasa Deputy Governor Dr. William Kingi and spent the rest of the visit resting.

During the Mombasa visit, Mr. Odinga did not meet with any of the leaders of the Coastal counties or their deputies, except the Deputy Governor of Mombasa County Dr. William Kingi. He didnt meet Deputy Governor of Kilifi County, the statement reads.

Mr. Odinga appeals to the public to treat reports indicating otherwise as lies and malice. He appeals to Kenyans to treat such reports as the work of people who have failed to comprehend the magnitude of the challenge the nation is facing and instead find pleasure in abusing social media platforms to spread misinformation to cause fear and panic, a trend the State must arrest urgently.

Raila also noted that he has suspended operations at his Capitol Hill offices as well as travels outside the country.

Mr. Odinga has been operating mostly from home while transacting official business online. In addition, he has since suspended operations at his Capitol Hill offices to minimise human traffic to the office, added the statement.

As the State makes frantic and commendable efforts to secure the country, Mr. Odinga appeals to Kenyans to continue obeying directives from the Government including frequently washing their hands, staying away from crowded places including places of worship, streets and bars, staying at home and relying on factual information that the Ministry of Health is providing on a daily basis.
China Aviation Daily | Mar. 24, 2020

The COVID-19 has spread around the world, with more than 170 countries and regions reporting confirmed cases of the virus. In such a severe situation, a number of airlines began to suspend international flights, or even cancel all flights.

95-99%

- Ryanair suspends 99% of flights from March 25 except those providing essential connectivity between UK and Ireland.

- SAS cuts 99% of flights starting March 16.

- Air Mauritius has suspended 96% of flights in March.

- Cathay Pacific is to ground 96% of flights in April and May, including Cathay Dragon but excluding HK Express.

- Avianca plans to cut 95% of flights from March 23 to April 30.

- Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines plan to cancel 95% of flights until April 19.

90%

- Air France suspends 90% of flights from March 18 to May.

- Air Senegal cancels 90% of flights between March 20 and April 18.

- easyJet cuts 90% flights starting March 24.

- Fiji Air plans to ground 90% of flights from late March to May 31, except for the biweekly routes to and form Singapore.

- Finnair has grounded 90% flights until June.

- South African Airways has grounded 90% of flights until May 31.

- Air Portugal has grounded 90% of flights in April and May.

- Winair is to cancel 90% flights from March to further notice, except for five destinations.

85%

- Air Norway has grounded 85% of its flights until further notice.

- El Al has stopped 85% flights without a specific deadline, except for flights to CDG, LHR, JFK, JNB and YYZ.

- Korean Air has grounded 85% of its flights until the end of March.

80%

- Copa will ground 80% of flights in April

- IAG plans to suspend over 80% flights in April and May.

- Jetstar Pacific (Vietnam) suspended 80% of flights until further notice.

- KLM will ground 80% of its flights in April and May.

- Qantas has grounded 90% of its international routes and 60% of its domestic routes until the end of May.

- Virgin Atlantic expects to reduce 80% of its capacity by March 26, and 75% of the aircraft will be grounded. This number will increase to 85% by April.

75%

- Virgin Australia will reduce 75% of flights from March 30 to June 14, including all international flights and 50% of domestic flights.

- WestJet will suspend 75% of routes from March 23 to April 22, including all international routes and 50% of domestic routes.

- Qatar will suspend 75% of flights until further notice.

70%

- Delta will suspend 70% of flights until further notice.

- GOL will reduce flights by 60-70% until mid-June.

- LATAM will ground about 70% of flights until further notice, including 90% of international flights and 40% of domestic flights.

- Jetstar Japan reduces about 70% of flights until further notice, including all international flying.

60%

- Air Astana and FlyArystan have grounded 60% of its flights since March 18 to April 15.

- Air New Zealand plans to extend 60% of flight suspension to June 3. It has grounded 85% of international routes, 20% of domestic routes and 80% of New Zealand-Australia routes.

- Alitalia stops 60% of flights until further notice.

- United is expected to ground 60% of its flights in April. It has grounded about 85% of international routes and 42% of domestic routes.

50%-59%

- Air Tindi and Malaysia Airlines ground about 50% of flights until further notice.

- Azul, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines plan to ground about 50% of flights until the end of April.

- Loganair plans to ground about 55% of its flights until the end of May.

- Swoop has grounded 50% of its flights since March 23, including all international flights.

40%

- Aeromexico and Hawaiian Airlines plan to ground 40% of flights until the end of April.

- InterJet ground about 40% of flights until further notice.

- JetBlue is to cut capacity by about 40% in April and May.

30%-35%

- Allegiant said it would cancel 30-35% of flights in April and May.

- Icelandair suspended 30% of flights until May.

- Japan Airlines will stop about 30% of flights until March 28.

10%-25%

- Alaska Airlines will ground 15% of flights in May.

- Southwest will cut 20% of flights between April 14 and June 5.

- Spirit will suspend 20% of flights in April and 25% in May.

- SunCountry will stop capacity by 23% in April and more in May.

- Vietnam Airlines will ground 20% of flights until the end of April.

- VietJet plans to suspend 15% of flights until further notice.

- Vistara Airlines has reduced 20% flights until the end of April and grounded all international routes until the end of March.

- WizzAir will ground 20% of flights.

- GoAir suspended 10% of flights until April 15. Its international flights are all suspended with domestic flights in India.

Airlines with uncertain suspension rate

- SpiceJet has suspended its major international routes, except some routes on certain dates, such as Kolkata-Dhaka, Chennai-Colombo, Mumbai-Dubai and Delhi-Dubai.

- Saudia has grounded all international routes over the next two weeks.
Australia would be cut off from international trade in a COVID-19 lockdown, unable to import consumer goods and export commodities which underpin the national economy, unless state governments declare port operations an essential service.

Ports Australia and Australias stevedoring companies are pressing the Morrison government to address a historic anomaly in state legislation which would prohibit wharfies, marine pilots and other port employees from going to work if people were confined to our homes during an outbreak.

DP World Australia chief executive Glen Hilton told The Age each state needed to move to ensure that, at the height of the coronavirus crisis, trade can keep moving through our ports.

DP World is urgently seeking the formal designation of stevedoring and the associated freight and marine services as essential services, Mr Hilton said.

It is critical to the supply chain that trade keeps flowing through our ports, or else Australia risks further, catastrophic economic disruption.
The Pune police arrested a man and recovered items worth Rs 17.87 lakh from him, Rs 15,86,000 of that linked to house robberies, according to a statement issued by city police on Tuesday

The man, identified as Jaydya Gaikwad, was arrested on March 21 from Baner. The arrest was made by a team led by police sub-inspector Prabhakar Kapure of Samarth police station. He was remanded to police custody by a local court till Wednesday.

During his police custody, the police first found 20.5 tola (over 210 grammes) of gold jewellery, which Gaikwad had stolen from a house in Rasta peth on the intermediate night of March 17-18, said officials.

Gaiwad also confessed to have stolen from a house in Rajendranagar, Navi peth, and used the gold to take a loan from a loan provider in Baner.

The stolen gold against which he had taken a loan was found to be around 43.9 tola (over 510 grammes). The gold was seized from the loan provider. The police have found his involvement in multiple other cases, according to the statement.

The total gold recovery was found to be of 63.9 tola (over 700 grammes) worth Rs 15,86,000. The police also seized a Hyundai i10 car used in the thefts.

Thus the total recovery is estimated to be Rs 17,86,000, said police.
The finance industry groups, which together represent the banks, finance companies, servicers and mortgage investors that make up the totality of the United States mortgage industry, want to give borrowers a three-month break from making mortgage payments  and possibly extend the break to 12 months  if the coronavirus crisis has reduced their income, sickened them or kept them from working.

The industrys plan would let borrowers call or go online to temporarily freeze their payments and modify their loans with less paperwork than normal. It would not offer any forgiveness on the loans, which means the borrowers would eventually have to make up the lost payments, although they would have some flexibility in how they did so.

In return, the industry says, it needs comprehensive support from the government as soon as possible. That help could potentially include access to loans and liquidity programs provided by the Federal Reserve, which would require Congress to loosen rules governing the Feds emergency powers.

The industry groups said the most vulnerable companies were dozens of nonbank lenders, which sprouted up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and make home loans that are often pooled by Ginnie Mae, a government-sponsored company that, unlike Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, does not help backstop mortgage servicers. The servicers are still required to make regular payments to mortgage investors if borrowers miss payments.

David H. Stevens, a housing official under President Barack Obama and a former chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the industry needed the federal government to immediately mobilize a response bigger than what the Fed did to prop up the mortgage market during the 2008 crisis.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:34:12|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Saeb Erekat, secretary general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee stated on Tuesday that Israel is now controlling 95 percent of the West Bank's Jordan Valley.

He said in an emailed press statement that 12,700 Israeli settlers exploit 95 percent of the territory, while 55,000 Palestinians are living in the remaining 5 percent.

"Intensifying settlement in the Jordan Valley area in the West Bank and the Dead Sea is part of the Israeli annexation plan and stealing the Palestinian land which all are part of the American Deal of the Century," said Erekat.

Israeli settlement activity is considered illegal under international law and has been one of the major hurdles to the stalled peace talks between Palestine and Israel since 2014.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in November 2019 that the U.S. government will no longer consider Israel's West Bank settlements "inconsistent" with international law, in a move believed to further dim the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
SCHENECTADY - State Police are investigating a deadly encounter between a 34-year-old man who allegedly pointed a weapon, possibly a pellet gun, at two city officers, before being shot dead inside an apartment building Tuesday morning.

Police Chief Eric Clifford said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the incident began with officers responding at 8:11 a.m. to a call of a man and woman arguing and fighting inside a second-floor apartment at 780 Albany St. with music blasting to mask the dispute.

The address is at the Joseph L. Allen Apartments. Named in honor of the citys first black City Council member, who died in 2015, the three-story building features studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments in the citys Hamilton Hill neighborhood.

Clifford said the building superintendent, who went to see what all the commotion was about, told dispatchers that the man inside the apartment pointed a weapon at him.

After police arrived, a man pointed a gun out the door of the apartment into the hallway where officers were standing, Clifford said.

At that point, two officers fired shots, and the door closed, he said.

From there, officers ordered the man and woman inside the apartment to come out.

The woman complied and was taken into custody but the man did not come out despite verbal commands and efforts to contact him by phone.

The departments tactical unit was called in, Clifford said.

We attempted to get some technology in there, both in the form of a a drone and a robot. We werent able to do either one, so we ended up sending officers in there,  said Clifford. He said they used a key to get into the apartment.

The man, who Clifford identified as Michael Wallace, was treated on the scene by city firefighter paramedics and later taken by ambulance to Ellis Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

He said the two officers who fired their weapons, who have 8 years and 5 1/2 years on the force, have been placed on administrative leave, in keeping with department policy.

Theyve been sent home with specific instructions on their well being, he said. We want to make sure theyre doing well themselves and then as the investigation progresses, well look and see what we have, all the actions taken, and well take it from there, said Clifford.

Clifford said he spoke to the state attorney generals office, which is empowered to investigate when police shoot unarmed people, and asked the State Police to take on the investigation.

The Schenectady Police Department will cooperate fully with both agencies and any requests that they have, Clifford said.

A spokesperson for the attorney generals office said their office has been in communication with the Schenectady police and are collecting and analyzing the facts of the incident to determine whether it falls under their jurisdiction under the governors executive order.





Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney told the Times Union earlier in the day Tuesday that the man had a pellet gun modeled after a Glock.

Asked about the weapon, Clifford said the weapon was left inside the apartment and police as of Tuesday afternoon had not inspected it.

It resembles a handgun to us, but we believe it may be a BB gun or a pellet gun, but that has not been confirmed yet, he said.

Still Clifford said, hes viewed body worn camera (footage) and Im comfortable with the actions that the officers took.

A gun is a gun, officers have seconds to make decisions, so if you point a BB gun at a police officer, its basically going to be the same thing as a real gun, added the chief.

The woman who emerged from the apartment, spoke with police, and does not appear to have suffered any physical injuries, said Clifford.

She will most likely not face any criminal charges.

While the attorney generals office can investigate police shootings that involve unarmed people, Carney said that office could still scrutinize the case if it is found that the man had a weapon.

If they want to exert jurisdiction, it will be their investigation, Carney said.

Mike Goodwin contributed reporting to this article.
Amid the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has helped the coronavirus pandemic send prices crashing to the $20 level, Odessan Kirk Edwards wants to point out just how linked the Saudis are to Texas.

He has penned an opinion column noting that the nation is importing 1 million barrels a day of crude from Saudi Arabia and that Texas largest refinery, at Port Arthur, is owned by the Saudi kingdom.

What Im trying to do is educate Texas consumers, especially our energy friends on the Gulf Coast, that the largest supply of gasoline is from Saudi Arabia, the same people who are trying to put us out of business, Edwards, president of Latigo Petroleum, told the Reporter-Telegram in a phone interview.

As consumers, why do we do that? he said.

Though he just released the column, he said people have been shocked to learn, first that the United States is continuing to import oil, and secondly, that the Saudi-owned Motiva refinery at Port Arthur -- not only the largest in Texas but the fifth largest in the world -- doesnt use any U.S. crude in its operations.

We need to invest in our refineries so they can process the light sweet crude that has been coming out of the Permian Basins unconventional shales, rather that the heavier crudes that have come from the Middle East and South America, Edwards said.

Furthermore, he said Texas schools and hospitals, the states rainy day fund, all of which are supported by taxes paid by Texas residents and corporations, do not receive tax revenues from the Saudis.

Edwards is calling on the Trump administration to levy a $40 per barrel tariff on Saudi oil coming into the United States, which he said could generate $1.25 billion per month for the federal government. He said the government could then direct those funds to oil-producing states such as Texas and New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, told the Reporter-Telegram by email, Mr. Edwards is stating what many PBPA members are thinking.

I dont know what the correct answer is, but it seems outrageous that another country can purposely attack such an important part of the U.S. economy and there is nothing we can do about it.

There are always strong arguments to be made on whether Saudi is our ally or our enemy, Shepperd said. Regardless of that, a global meltdown in the global oil markets is not good for our national security.

Every other industry seems to be poised to receive a government bailout, and that in itself is a topic on which good people can disagree. Unlike the airlines that have only shrunk seat size and vastly increased their profits, the oil industry in America isnt asking for a corporate bailout, he said.

Anticipating such calls for tariffs and quotas, Mike Sommers, president and chief executive officer of the American Petroleum Institute, recently published an opinion column in Fortune magazine detailing why such moves would be counterproductive.

Spokesmen for the API referred the Reporter-Telegram to a portion of that column, which read, This is a challenging situation, compounded by the impact of the coronavirus, but interventions like protectionist trade measures are not the answer  Weve seen time and again that free market policies provide greater stability and growth. Certain reactions in times of global market unrest  such as tariffs or sanctions  ultimately hurt U.S. producers and consumers  Instead, the administration should resolve these issues diplomatically and engage with our global supply partners to address the currently oversupplied market environment.

Said Edwards, We in the Permian Basin can handle a price war with the Saudis  we do it every couple of years  but this, in conjunction with a pandemic, is crippling to our industry.

He said he has been in touch with members of Congress representing the Permian Basin and said they are looking at a package to help everyone effected by the pandemic -- individuals and businesses alike.

It (the relief package) cannot come at a better time, Edwards said.
A family-run engineering company in Wales developed a special ventilator to help tackle coronavirus in just three days - and are now manufacturing a 100 a day.

The Covid Emergency Ventilator was devised with the help of a senior NHS consultant and has already successfully treated a coronavirus patient.

Engineers CR Clarke - who usually design plastic fabrication equipment for industry - were approached by Dr Rhys Thomas who was concerned at the lack of intensive care unit ventilators.

It took just three days to build the device on a small industrial park in Ammanford, south Wales.

Pictured: The Covid Emergency Ventilator which has been given the go-ahead by the Welsh Government

Pictured: Staff at work at the engineering firm CR Clarke, who usually design plastic fabrication equipment for industry

Pictured: Part of the ventilator which has been given the go-ahead by the Welsh Government

On Saturday, it succesfully treated a patient and now the Welsh Government has given the go-ahead for production of 100 ventilators a day.

Dr Thomas, a consultant anaesthtatist at Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen, devised the machine based on advice from Italian doctors fighting Covid-19.

He said : 'Although it won't replace an ICU ventilator, the majority of patients won't need intensive care if they are treated with this ventilator first, releasing ICU ventilators for more serious Covid-19 cases and other general medical cases.'

'The machine has other benefits in that it will clean the room of viral particles and only supply purified air to the patient. The patient can self-care as specialist nurses are not required releasing them for other duties.'

It took just three days to build the device on a small industrial park in Ammanford, south Wales

The Covid Emergency Ventilator was devised with the help of a senior NHS consultant and has already successfully treated a coronavirus patient

The innovation has been praised by Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price for placing Wales 'on the front foot' in the battle against the virus.

He said: 'This has been a truly amazing achievement.

'I cannot praise too highly Dr Rhys Thomas for his skill, his dedicated staff at Glangwili hospital who tested the device, as well as CR Clark & Co for responding so swiftly.

'It's fantastic that we have such brilliant expertise in Carmarthenshire to create and deliver this new device in volume at such short notice.

'I also commend the Welsh Government for its confidence in Dr Rhys' ability by giving his life-saving device the immediate go-ahead for production.

'This is an outstanding example of co-operation at its best. It shows that Wales, as a small nation, can get things done quickly as we face the biggest challenge of our generation.'
By PTI

BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday hit out at Jyotiraditya Scindia, saying that he `auctioned' Madhya Pradesh's mandate, and also refuted the claims that Scindia was denied ticket for the Rajya Sabha by the party leadership.

Singh alleged that the reason Scindia left the Congress was he wanted to become a Union minister once again.

Scindia quit the party to join the BJP earlier this month, triggering the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government and paving the way for the saffron party's Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take oath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday.

ALSO READ| Shivraj Chouhan passes MP floor test as Congress gives Assembly proceedings a miss

In an open letter, Singh said, "When Scindia himself went out to auction Madhya Pradesh's mandate, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah were obviously present there to grab it. But auctioning ones own house cannot be termed an honourable deal. "It is a very painful development. It has decimated the hopes and struggles of not just the Congressmen but all those who believed in the Congress ideology," Singh said.

In the 2000-word letter, which he also shared on Twitter, Singh further said, "Scindia joined the BJP at a time when the saffron government (at the Centre) is trying to divide the country as per the RSS's agenda. Some people are saying as there was no possibility for Scindia to get proper post and honour in the Congress, he joined the BJP, but this is wrong. If he wanted to become Madhya Pradesh Congress president, then it had been offered to him in 2013 but then he preferred to remain a union minister," the senior Congress leader claimed.

Congress politics is not about power, our fight is against Sangh ideology | Facebook

https://t.co/aVMNhR8fII  digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) March 24, 2020

"In 2018 too, after the Congress won the state polls, it had offered him the deputy chief ministers post, but Scindia refused it and insisted on making his supporter Tulsiram Silawat deputy CM. But Kamal Nath did not agree, and the recent development has proved he (Nath) was right as Silawat joined the BJP at a time when the dreaded coronavirus has turned into a pandemic and as the states health minister, it was his primary responsibility (to tackle it)," the former chief minister said.

"Scindia wanted to make this person deputy chief minister but he was not only found to be against the Congress's ideology but also highly irresponsible," Singh alleged. The Congress leader also refuted the allegations that the party did not want to offer Scindia a Rajya Sabha seat.

"As per my information, nobody opposed it as the Congress had the requisite number of MLAs to win two seats of the upper house from Madhya Pradesh. So it was not an issue. The issue was (he wanted to become) a minister in the central government, and at present it is only possible for Modi and Shah to offer that," Singh alleged.

ALSO READ| Kamal Nath meets Sonia Gandhi after collapse of Madhya Pradesh government

"All those people in the country who are fighting against the RSS's ideology without any greed, they are all with Congress because the country is standing at ideological cross roads. At this juncture, Scindia's joining the BJP only proves that he wanted to use Congress workers' and supporters' struggle and ideological commitment only for his own personal power. As long as there was guarantee of power in the Congress, he remained with it, when it is weakened, he went to the BJP," Singh further said.

He also said that the party gave Scindia a lot of opportunities and he was close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's family.

Singh also claimed that he, alongwith late Arjun Singh, brought Jyotiraditya's father late Madhavrao Scindia into the Congress's fold in 1979 on the directive of Sanjay Gandhi. Singh pointed out that he himself stayed away from power for ten years after the Congress lost power in the state in 2003 because of his personal commitment to the party.
A creative pilot has urged people to comply with the latest coronavirus self-isolation advice by spelling out the words 'stay home' with his flight path.

Using the flightradar24 graphics system - which traces flight patterns to a map - the unidentified Austrian pilot 'drew' his message earlier this month during a one-hour flight in a DA40 single-engine aircraft that began and ended in Wiener Neustadt.

Austria has recorded over 5,000 confirmed cases of the killer virus, with 28 people losing their lives.

A creative pilot has urged people to comply with the latest coronavirus self-isolation advice by spelling out the words 'stay home' with his flight path

Some aviation enthusiasts wondered whether the fact he wasn't at home made him hypocritical.

But 'John M', writing on avweb.com's comment section, said: 'A solo flight in your own airplane does not break any social distance rules and is a great way to ditch cabin fever. Just avoid the pilots lounge and the community coffee pot and you should be fine.'

It's not the first time a pilot has used a flight tracking site's graphics system to trace a message over a map beneath.

The coronavirus crisis has hit the global travel industry particularly hard, with countries around the world locking down and ordering their citizens to go into isolation

In November 2019, a Boeing 747 pilot traced a message to mark the aircraft's final journey.

The plane had been part of Israeli airline El Al for 48 years, and made one last trip from Rome to Tel Aviv before hitting retirement.

To mark the plane's final journey, the pilot 'drew' an outline of the aircraft while he was flying over the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the most infamous plane drawings dates back to 2015 and involved an American pilot drawing a naughty image over central Florida.

Screen grabs of the rude flight path went viral on the internet after they were shared by Flightradar24.
Amid fears the coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy deep into recession there's one group that's received an unexpected boost - fishermen at Kenya's Lake Victoria.

Cheaper Chinese imports have dried up and wary customers are also turning away from Chinese fish.

That's good news for fisherman like Maurice Misodhi, based out of Dunga Bay near Kisumu.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FISHERMAN AND ASSISTANT CHAIRMAN AT BEACH MANAGEMENT UNIT AT DUNGA BEACH, MAURICE MISODHI, SAYING:

"The fishermen are really now smiling at the Lake Victoria region because we are receiving more visitors. Right now when you see Dunga, Dunga is really crowded with a lot of the residents of Kisumu coming to buy the fresh fish because people fear the Chinese boxed fish due to the coronavirus."

Kenya bought $23.2m of frozen fish from China in 2018 and the local industry has long complained that the cheaper imports have strangled their trade.

Previously, fishermen at Dunga Bay would sell around half their catch - eating, bartering or giving away the rest.

Now they're reportedly selling 90% and prices have also shot up.
(Alliance News) - Applegreen PLC on Tuesday said it expects the Covid-19 outbreak to hurt profit in its financial year to the end of June as it announced a range of cost-cutting measures.

The roadside service station owner said that although trading was in line with expectations in the first ten weeks of 2020, footfall and volumes in the last two weeks have been hurt due to containment measures taken by customers and imposed by the government.

Applegreen said that in order to conserve cash, it will defer development capital expenditure, implement a freeze on recruitment, defer executive director bonuses and defer proposing a final dividend for 2019. Additionally, it will take advantage of government relief measures and begin negotiations with landlords on rental holidays.

Separately, the roadside retailer said profitability for financial 2019 was in line with consensus, driven by "solid" like-for-like growth across the business, particularly in non-fuel. Full unaudited results for the year to June 30, 2019 will be published on Friday.

The stock was trading 11% lower at 201.00 pence each on Tuesday afternoon in London.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Nu Metro has announced the closure of all its cinemas with immediate effect.

The company said this was because of the imminent national lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

This serves to confirm that Nu Metro management has decided to close all of its cinema complexes and accompanying operations in South Africa with immediate effect, following the governmental announcement of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Nu Metro stated.

We at Nu Metro consider the health of our customers and staff as top priority and we would again like to encourage all South Africans to follow all health, hygiene and other legal regulations as communicated by the Department of Health.

The company said its cinemas will remain closed until the end of the lockdown or as otherwise directed by the South African government.

It said that its operations in Mozambique and Zambia will continue with strict precautionary measures as determined by the respective governments.

Precautionary measures

This closure comes after both Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor last week announced a range of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 at their premises.

Aside from improved cleaning protocol and the provision of hand sanitisers, Ster-Kinekor said it would only have screenings between 12:00 and 18:00 each day, in addition to capping the number of tickets for each show to 100.

It also changed bookings to leave seats open between ticket holders.

Ster-Kinekor has yet to announce its plans regarding the lockdown.
Pakistan on Monday authorised the army to deploy across the country and in the capital Islamabad in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The interior ministry announcement, which came as the death toll from coronavirus rose to six, means troops will be able to assist the civilian government with logistics and in providing supplies, if needed.

It also means troops could, if called on, help enforce any eventual curfews as the crisis worsens -- as observers fear it will in a country with large illiterate populations in crowded urban centres where many people are ignoring guidelines on "social distancing".

Since Pakistan's birth in 1947, the military has exercised direct rule for about half of the country's history, most recently under General Pervez Musharraf who seized power in 1999 for a period of nearly a decade.

In a statement, the interior ministry said it was "pleased to authorise" deployment of "sufficient" troops, depending on needs.

The orders came as health authorities confirmed 805 cases of coronavirus so far, including the six fatalities.

Pakistani officials have given conflicting advice on the best course of action against the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has argued the impoverished nation cannot afford the type of wide-scale lockdowns being implemented in the West, saying people living below the poverty line would be unable to support themselves without working.

But Pakistan's two most populous provinces of Punjab and Sindh -- home to some 160 million people -- have issued their own lockdown decrees for an initial period of two weeks.

Pakistan's constitution allows the civilian government to call for military aid in case of disasters and natural calamities, such as in the aftermath of a 2005 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people.
Future Market Insights, Dubai, UAE, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global agritourism market is set to reach a massive valuation of US$ 662.1 Bn during the forecast period (2019-2029), as projected by a new report of Future Market Insights (FMI). Leading market players are investing in collaborations and acquisitions of smaller players, with increased focus on a wider range of offerings, and innovative marketing and services.

Low awareness among consumers about agritourism is a major barrier to market growth in developing countries. Advertising is thus essential for the agritourism market, states the FMI report.

Request report sample with 250+ pages to gain in-depth market insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-11129

Agritourism Market: Key Findings

Millennials will remain the key target demographic that will choose to take up agritourism tools and will continue to generate profitability.

Individual travelers will account for a larger share of the total market value, driven by higher awareness and easier availability of farm study tours.

Off the farm activities will account for 60% of the total demand share, with substantial impetus coming from direct marketing efforts.

Europe and North America will retain leading positions in the agritourism market, while developing nations in Asia and Latin America will display strong growth.

Agritourism Market: Key Driving Factors

Easy access to agritourism packages through online sales channels is a key growth driver for the market.

Novel off the farm activities such as musical festivals and haunted hay rides are generating profitable opportunities.

Low prices associated with on-farm fruit and vegetable harvests is increasing the popularity of agritourism among potential visitors.

Favorable government initiatives towards protection of environment and agricultural land is a major driver for global demand.

Agritourism Market  Key Restraints

Low awareness among tourists about agritourism options, especially in developing regions remains a key factor that can hamper the market growth.

Limitations of seasonality and unpredictability of weather will limit growth of the agritourism market.

High liability, property tax, and insurance costs, is a deterrent to agritourism businesses.

Explore the global agritourism market report with 41 illustrative figures, a data table and the table of contents. You can also find a comprehensive market segmentation on https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-11129

Competition Landscape of Agritourism Market

Some of the key players in the global agritourism landscape that are covered in this study include, but are not limited to, Expedia Group, Missao, Domiruth Peru Travel, Field Farm Tours, Quadrant Australia, Bay Farm Tours, Select Holidays, AGRILYS Voyages, Star Destinations, Agritourismo France, Trump Tours, AL VERNETO, Farm to Farm Tours, A.C.T. Tours, and Star Destinations and others. Leading market players remain focused on capitalizing on collaborations within the industry. Market leaders are also targeting social media advertising, service innovations, and new product launches to strengthen their foothold in the global agritourism market.

More About the Report

This Future Market Insights study of 300 pages offers actionable insights on the agritourism market. The market analysis is based on activities (overnight stay, special events & festivals, off the farm, recreation activities & events), tour types (group travelers and individual travelers), and consumer demographic (me, women, and kids), age group (15-25, 26-36, 36-45, 46-55, and 55 years and above), booking channel (online and offline) across six regions (Latin America, North America, Europe, South Asia & Pacific, East Asia, and MEA).

Explore Extensive Coverage of FMIs Travel & Tourism Landscape

Camping and Caravanning Market - Obtain valuable insights on the global camping and caravanning market with exhaustive segmental analysis, market statistics, key influencing factors, prominent players and critical developmental strategies adopted by them for a predefined projection period.

Wildlife Tourism Market - FMIs report on the global wildlife tourism market offers an in-depth commentary on the market poised for prolific growth. The study covers comprehensive evaluation of key impacting forces, revenue sources, and market leaders along with instrumental market strategies.

Vacation Ownership Market - Get a deep-dive analysis on the vacation ownership market with crucial insights on growth levers, opportunities, restraints, regulatory policies, regional market forecast and key forte of market leaders.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMIs latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and take critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition.

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Abba Kyari, President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of deliberately risking the health of Nigerians after his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari tested positive to COVID-19.

Abba Kyari,the Chief of Staff to the President, who recently returned from Germany, has now tested positive to Coronavirus.

Also, one of the Presidents daughters, is on self-isolation after she returned from the UK late last week.

Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, has now accused Buhari of having waited for Abba Kyari and his daughter to return to the country before restricting flights.

There are rumours that the dreaded disease has spread fast in the Presidential Villa with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, confirming the status of Abba Kyari.

Omokri tweeted, Even when @Atiku knew his son was abroad, he called for closing down Nigerias borders. That is LEADERSHIP.

General @MBuhari didnt restrict flights UNTIL his daughter and Abba Kyari returned. He deliberately risked the health of Nigerians to protect his family!
Alex Salmond has vowed evidence of a plot to discredit him will see the light of day after he was acquitted of a string of sexual offences, including attempted rape.

The former first minister of Scotland thanked his supporters as he left court and said the ordeal of his arrest and trial was nothing compared to the nightmare every single one of us in this country is living through due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He was cleared of 13 charges by a jury following an 11-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

A charge that had originally been on the indictment was dropped earlier in the proceedings.

Mr Salmond had denied all the charges and giving evidence claimed some were deliberate fabrications for a political purpose.

The jury, which took less than six hours to reach its decision, returned not guilty verdicts on 12 charges and returned a not proven verdict on a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape.

Speaking outside court, Mr Salmond said: Just over a year ago when we finished civil action, judicial review, I said I had great faith in the courts system of Scotland  that faith has been much reinforced today.

He added: There is certain evidence that I would have liked to have seen led in this trial but for a variety of reasons we were not able to do so.

Those facts will see the light but it wont be this day.

During a procedural hearing of the case, reporting of which was banned until the end of the trial, Mr Salmonds defence team claimed the Scottish Government and those working there turned to the criminal process to try to discredit him after he won a civil case into how the administration handled sexual harassment complaints against him.

Judge Lady Dorrian rejected an application for this evidence to be led at the trial, saying the judicial review was wholly irrelevant.

Mr Salmond thanked those who have sent him messages, his brilliant legal team and the court service, who he said have been courteous beyond limit.

The 65-year-old was first arrested and charged by Police Scotland in relation to the allegations in January 2019.

Alex Salmond elbow bumps his lawyer Gordon Jackson QC (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Before finishing his statement, he told those gathered outside the court to go home to stay safe from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: Whatever nightmare I have been in over these last two years, its as of nothing compared to the nightmare that every single one of us in this country is living through. People are dying  many more are going to die.

Reacting to the verdict, Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP and the Scottish Government face serious questions over the national political scandal that led to the Salmond trial.

Jackson Carlaw said the SNP faces serious questions (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Carlaw said: As we all know, Scotland is dealing with a much more severe challenge today than this high-profile court case.

That said, there are now some very serious questions facing the SNP, the Scottish Government and Nicola Sturgeon.

The court case may be over but for them this is just the beginning.

He added: Clearly, there is still a lack of information which needs to be fully interrogated and the Scottish Parliament inquiry will provide that opportunity.

This remains a national political scandal with profound questions of integrity for the First Minister and her SNP government.

However, that opportunity must be deferred for the time being while all our efforts and resources concentrate on Covid-19.

Scottish Labours equalities spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said the trial had been an extremely traumatic time for all involved.

She said: The verdict of this trial does not take away from the serious concerns about the Scottish Governments handling of this.

We would expect questions about this to be fully explored during parliamentary scrutiny of this.

Ms Sturgeon said: The court has reached a verdict and that must be respected. I am a strong believer in a vigorous, robust, independent judicial process where complaints of this nature, if they come forward, are properly and thoroughly investigated, due process takes its course and a court reaches a decision, and thats what has happened today.

I have no doubt that there will be further discussion around this issue in due course, in the fullness of time  and I will welcome that. But that time is not now.

This country faces a crisis right now bigger than anything we have faced before and as First Minister my duty to the public is to do everything I can to focus 100% on steering us through that crisis, and that is what I intend to do.
 Flash

China urged the United States to stop politicizing COVID-19 and stigmatizing China, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday.

Geng made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a question regarding recent allegations from the U.S. side.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on March 21 that he wished "China would have told us more about what was going on in China." Meanwhile, the White House is reportedly launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies that focus on accusing China of orchestrating a cover-up and creating a global pandemic.

Geng said the Chinese side has noticed relevant reports and added that on March 20, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China, Russia and Iran of "carrying out disinformation campaigns related to the coronavirus pandemic."

Calling the U.S. accusations clumsy slander, Geng stressed China has kept the World Health Organization (WHO) and relevant countries and regions, including the United States, updated with its domestic epidemic situation in an open, transparent and responsible manner.

China's efforts have been appreciated by the international community, Geng said, adding that Chinese people have gone all out to fight against COVID-19 in the past two months and won precious time for other countries.

"With routine exchanges of information with the WHO and other countries including the United States since Jan. 3, China announced the closure of Wuhan's outbound channels on Jan. 23," the spokesperson said.

On Feb. 2, the U.S. government announced its decision to completely ban foreigners who had visited China in the past 14 days from entering the country when only around 10 confirmed cases were found. Within 50 days, the number soared to around 30,000, said Geng. What effective measures have the United States taken in the 50 days?"

Saying the United States has completely wasted precious time won by China in COVID-19 fight, Geng reiterated that defaming, scapegoating and shifting blame to others is immoral and irresponsible.

"It will do nothing to help the U.S. COVID-19 prevention work and global cooperation in pandemic control," Geng stressed.

China called on the United States to manage its own business well and play a constructive role in international cooperation on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding global public health security, Geng said.
PHOENIX, Arizona  A man is dead and his wife is in critical condition after they reportedly swallowed chloroquine phosphate, thinking it would help prevent them from catching the COVID-19 coronavirus.

NBC News reports that the woman said she heard President Trump mention the benefits of chloroquine in combating the coronavirus. Chloroquine phosphate is not the medication form, however. It is an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks, according to azfamily.com.

The woman tells NBC news she had used chloroquine to treat her koi fish. I saw it sitting on the back shelf and thought, Hey, isnt that the stuff theyre talking about on TV? said the woman, who does not want to be identified, according to NBC News.

The Associated Press reports the man and woman, both in their 60s, became extremely ill within 30 minutes of swallowing a mixture of chloroquine phosphate with water.

I started vomiting, the woman tells NBC News. My husband started developing respiratory problems and wanted to hold my hand. Both were taken to the hospital but the man could not be resuscitated.

Health officials are urging people not to try to self-medicate during the coronavirus pandemic. No drugs have been approved to treat the virus, reports say.

Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so," Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director, tells azfamily.com. The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health.

The AP reports Trump falsely stated last week that the Food and Drug Administration had just approved the use of an anti-malaria medication called chloroquine to treat patients infected with coronavirus. The FDA chief clarified the drug still needs to be tested for that use, but Trump overstated the drugs potential upside in containing the virus, according to the AP.

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Cleveland, Childrens Hunger Alliance to provide free meals for children in wake of COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak

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Coronavirus prompted Cleveland, Cuyahoga and Summit counties, communities to restrict services, but adjustments are being made
The Met Gala being canceled could well end up being the best thing to happen to eager fashion fans who have always wanted to attend, thanks to a group of online style lovers who are hosting a digital version of the star-studded event.

Despite Anna Wintour's annual ball - which is known as 'fashion's biggest night out' - being put on hold indefinitely in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, social media users are determined to ensure that the first Monday in May is still honored as a day dedicated to style and sophistication - at least online.

A group of high fashion fans are coming together on Twitter to host a digital version of the Met Gala in an attempt to maintain a sense of normalcy - and fun - during this otherwise stressful time.

She's got competition! Fashion lovers revealed that they will host an online version of the Met Gala after Anna Wintour's star-studded event was canceled because of the coronavirus

Come one, come all! A Twitter user called Aria Olson set up the digital event last week, calling for users to take part in spite of the official event's cancelation

Chin up: Aria wants her event to provide some light-hearted relief for Twitter users amid the stress and upset that the coronavirus pandemic has caused

The online event is the brainchild of Aria Olson, a member of the High Fashion Twitter subculture on the social media site, which sees likeminded fashion-focused users coming together to discuss different major events in the industry, including Fashion Month and, of course, the Met Gala.

Having already set up the HF Twit Met Gala account back in January - when the Met Gala was still due to go ahead as usual - Aria announced last week that the online event will still take place, in a bid to bring the online community together amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

'Although this years official Met Gala has been indefinitely postponed, the HFTwit Met staff would like to announce that the High Fashion Twitter Met Gala will still be happening on the first Monday in May!' she wrote.

'Given the anxiety and stress that the Covid-19 outbreak is causing, we believe that continuing to move ahead with the HFTwit Met Gala is the right choice. Hopefully, this event will serve as a little spot of joy and unity for this amazing community.'

According to the official event description, the HF Twitter Met Gala aims to 'inspire discussion and debate' among followers, with the account explaining: 'The high fashion twitter met gala event is an online event that celebrates the art of fashion in relation to the annual metropolitan museum met gala.'

Although no further details about this year's event have yet been shared, the likelihood is that it will see members of the High Fashion Twitter, or hf twitter, community come together to offer up their very honest thoughts on the event, its attendees, their outfits, and the event's theme, as they have done in years past.

Aria is credited with being the mastermind behind the official online event however, after she tweeted back in November to ask her fellow hf twitter members: 'can we make our own version of the met gala?

'everyone who wants to participate could post their looks the day of. We could have a couple people "host" and compile a thread of all of the attendees looks. maybe get an outfit voting thread going too... food for thought.'

First Monday in May: 'Given the anxiety and stress that the Covid-19 outbreak is causing, we believe that continuing to move ahead with the HFTwit Met Gala is the right choice,' Aria said

Iconic: Wintour, 70, who is pictured at the event in 1994 (left) and 1996 (right), has hosted the event since 1995, but attended for many years before that

Speaking to Nylon about her digital Met Gala, Aria said she hopes that the event helps to take people's minds off the much more stressful and upsetting content that is currently flooding social media.

'If you've spent more than five minutes on any social media platform [these days], you get this apocalyptic sense of dread leaking out of every crevice,' she said.

'People are scared, people are anxious. It feels like everything is crumbling, not just because of COVID-19, but the larger political climate in a lot of countries.

'It's difficult to find moments of beauty and joy in desperate times, and without those moments, it's so easy to fall into apathy and cynicism.'

Disappointment: Meghan Markle was rumored to be attending this year's event with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful

This year's official Met Gala was postponed 'indefinitely' in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak last Monday, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the glitzy event is held every year revealed that the May 4 gala is one of a number of events that have been called off in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The news came just days after the museum announced it would close its doors 'until further notice' after two of its employees were found to be suffering from symptoms associated with the disease.

This is the first time that the event - for which tickets can cost up to $35,000 a person - has been called off in the 22 years that Vogue editor-in-chief Wintour has chaired it, a job that she took on back in 1995 when she made her debut as the hostess of the star-studded party.

Since then, the event has become a must-attend for Hollywood's most prominent and glamorous stars, with A-listers going above and beyond to embrace each year's fashion-focused theme, while also showcasing their own style credentials on the red carpet.

Indeed, over the years, the outfits that have made their way up the famous steps to the museum have become all the more bizarre and over-the-top, with stars like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jared Leto, and Rihanna pulling out all the stops to make a lasting impression.

While last year's theme - Camp: Notes on Fashion - saw Katy turning up dresses as a chandelier, while Gaga did a full costume change in front of photographers, this year's theme, About Time: Fashion and Duration, was set to be even more flamboyant.

And not only that, it was reported earlier this month that Meghan Markle was set to make her Met Gala debut at this year's event, with sources revealing to The Sun that the former royal was planning to attend alongside her close friend, British Vogue editor Edward Enninful.

Missing out: It was announced in November that Meryl Streep (pictured in September 2019) would co-chair the 2020 Met Gala. This would have been her first time attending the event

Iconic: Streep, 70, never attending a Met Gala comes as a shock given her previous role in The Devil Wears Prada where the character hosted her own version of the event

Joining the stars: Other co-chairs for the event included actress Emma Stone (left), Louis Vuitton's Nicolas Ghesquiere (middle), and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (right)

The source said Meghan was expected to adopt a 'glamorous androgynous' look for the prestigious fashion bash, adding: 'The Met Gala is for the Whos Who of showbusiness.

'Naturally Meghan was one of the first names on the guest list, and Edwards team are excited that the two will go together.

'Meghan is keen to step out occasionally without Harry so that she can establish herself once more in Hollywood.'

Now it seems Meghan may well have missed her opportunity, with the Met putting a hold on the event for the foreseeable future, having already closed its doors to the public 'until further notice'.

According to Vogue.com, an email sent out to staff members on Monday afternoon stated that any and all 'programs and events' due to be held by or at the Met through May 15 had been 'canceled or postponed', 'in deference' to CDC guidance that all gatherings of more than 50 people should be called off.

This year's Met Gala was also due to be the first time actress Meryl was going to attend; despite portraying a character based on Wintour in the popular movie The Devil Wears Prada, the Oscar winner had never actually been a guest at the star-studded party.

Her debut as a co-chair would have also been her first time attending the party - which was due to celebrate an exhibition around the theme, About Time: Fashion and Duration, which would have featured 160 pieces of women's fashion from the last 150 years.

When speaking to The New York Times, Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explained the inspiration behind the new exhibit and theme.

'I wanted to do an exhibition focused on the collection, but not a traditional masterworks exhibition,' he said. 'Something that connects to the zeitgeist, and what people are talking about now.'

Star-studded: The event is widely viewed as being the hottest ticket in town for Hollywood A-listers like the Kardashians (pictured)

Wacky: Celebrity attendees at the Met Gala always push the boundaries when it comes to their fashion choices, with Jared Leto (left) and Lady Gaga (right) making quite a statement in 2019

Lit up: Katy Perry arrived on the red carpet at last year's event dressed like a chandelier

The show, which was set to be designed by Es Devlin, who created the sets for Beyonce's Formation tour, aimed to create a timeline of women's fashion starting from the 1870s up until now.

About 70 per cent of pieces featured during the exhibit were set to come from the museum's current collection. The other 30 per cent would have come from outside donors.

Bolton and his team picked the theme on the heels of last gala's Camp: Notes of Fashion theme, which proved to be a huge success for the museum.

Although attendance at the event has reportedly waned over the last couple of years, the event is still widely viewed as being the hottest - and most expensive - ticket in the industry, with a single chair said to be priced at a whopping $35,000, while tables can run anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000.

Although the inner workings of the Met Gala have always been kept tightly under wraps, Wintour offered intrigued fashion fans a slight insight into the behind-the-scenes planning back in 2016 when she allowed documentary filmmakers to follow the process for the movie The First Monday in May.

In the documentary, viewers were given the chance to see just how much control Wintour has over every aspect of the event, from the guest list to the table arrangements to the performances.

The Vogue Editor-in-Chief is also known for implementing a strict list of rules at the event - although they are not always followed by attendees, particularly when it comes to the alleged social media ban, which is usually flouted by almost every single star in attendance.

Some celebrities have even decided not to attend; Gwyneth Paltrow dubbed it 'un-fun,' 'crowded,' and 'boiling,' while Amy Schumer called the ball 'punishment.'
The jury will resume its deliberations when the court reconvenes today. (stock photo)

The jury has begun deliberating in the trial of three Dublin men who are alleged to have raped a woman and left her in the middle of nowhere.

The three men, who are now in their early 20s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping a woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5, 2016.

The trial heard that the then 18-year-old woman was allegedly driven to Dollymount Strand, raped by three men in turn and then left in the middle of nowhere.

Empty

The three men were all teenagers at the time of the alleged offences.

Their lawyers told the jury that the woman had initiated sex and had consented.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens completed his charge before the jury began its deliberations.

Due to the developing national coronavirus situation, the jury deliberated in an empty courtroom rather than the smaller jury room as would be the usual practice.

The jury will resume its deliberations when the court reconvenes today.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Several more people now face criminal charges in the killings of two brothers whose bound bodies were found in a Philadelphia river almost six years ago, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Tam Minh Le, a native of Vietnam, was sentenced to death in the August 2014 murders of 31-year-old Vu Kevin Huynh and his 28-year-old brother Viet.

Prosecutors alleged that Tam Minh Le tortured and stabbed them and another man over a $300,000 drug debt, then dumped them into the Schuylkill River, their faces covered with duct tape and their legs weighted down with cement. The third man survived.

Authorities have since alleged that 48-year-old Lam Trieu originally ordered the kidnapping of the brothers. Lam Trieu, whom authorities described in a detention order as a "gangster and drug dealer" from New York with a lengthy criminal record, faces trial in June on conspiracy, extortion, and drug and racketeering counts.

Prosecutors stressed that Lam Trieu didn't order the murders but note that "when one sends three goons to collect a $300,000 drug debt, it is reasonably foreseeable that events can go off track and someone can be seriously hurt or killed."

And although Lam Trieu was reportedly upset about the killings, prosecutors allege in the detention order that he ordered some of his co-defendants to return to Philadelphia and execute the surviving man "to prevent him from being a witness."

Three other men accused of having helped Le face kidnapping, racketeering, extortion and conspiracy counts; a fourth is alleged to have acted as a lookout. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a sixth man, Hai Nguyen, 37, pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to FBI agents about helping Le escape to upstate New York.

All are in custody save one defendant the FBI believes to have fled to Vietnam; a $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to arrest.

Lam Trieus attorney, Paul Lieber, said the case is pending in court and declined comment.
Kerlink (AKLK FR0013156007), a specialist in solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), and ZENNER IoT Solutions GmbH, the leading LoRaWAN system integrator and solution provider in Germany, have collaborated on the largest LoRaWAN deployment in that country, including up to 3,000 Kerlink Wirnet LoRaWAN gateways.

The network is operated by Netze BW, the largest distribution network company for electricity, gas, and water in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany's third-largest state.

Kerlink, a leading provider of solutions for designing, launching, and operating public and private LoRaWAN IoT networks, offers a comprehensive product portfolio of industrial-grade network equipment, best-of-breed network-core, operations, and management software, and value-added applications. The company has more than 120,000 installations in 69 countries in all the primary IoT verticals.

ZENNER IoT Solutions is a subsidiary of ZENNER International GmbH Co. KG and part of Minol-ZENNER Group. ZENNER International applies innovative system solutions based on IoT technologies as part of its digitalization strategy, from project development to measurement-data acquisition and processing to applications at the end user. Focused on the digitalization of the energy and water supply industries, the company offers a broad and diversified portfolio of products, solutions, and services worldwide. Minol-ZENNER Group operates the biggest LoRaWAN network in Germany. The infrastructure now comprises over 6,000 IoT gateways, with which over 800,000 measuring devices and sensors communicate on LoRaWANnetworks.

"This major deployment in Baden-Wurttemberg demonstrates the excellent scalability, flexibility, and robustness of LoRaWAN networks, and the reliability of Kerlink LoRaWAN gateways," said Dr. Gerald Troppenz, business development manager ZENNER IoT Solutions. "Kerlink's flexible configurations simplified making its carrier-grade hardware compatible with our ELEMENT-IoT platform a comprehensive middleware for device, network, data, and user management."

"This partnership with ZENNER IoT Solutions is an important expansion of Kerlink's business in Germany and demonstrates once again the best-in-class quality of our products for industrial-grade private IoT networks," said Etienne Ghidossi, Kerlink key account manager. "Leveraging its strong field experience with equipment deployed in demanding environments, Kerlink offers carrier-grade gateways designed for enhanced radio performance, especially in ultra-dense 3G/4G cellular settings, such as urban areas."

Further information available:

www.kerlink.com

www.zenner-iot.com

www.minol.de/minol-zenner-gruppe

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005448/en/

Contacts:

Mahoney Lyle

Sarah-Lyle Dampoux

+33 (0) 6 74 93 23 47

sldampoux@mahoneylyle.com
By Peter Nurse

Investing.com - European stock markets traded sharply lower Monday, with investors worried about the extent of support from policymakers to combat the economic damage from the coronavirus.

At 03:35 ET (0835 GMT), the U.K.'s FTSE index was trading 4.5% lower, France's CAC 40 was down 4%, while the DAX dropped 4.5%. The broader based Stoxx 600 Europe index dropped 4.5%.

The coronavirus crisis could cost the German economy as much as 729 billion euros in 2020, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday.

"The costs will probably exceed everything known from economic crises or natural disasters in Germany in recent decades," Ifo President Clemens Fuest said in a statement.

The statement comes after Germany imposed a two-week nationwide ban on all non-essential business and social meetings. At the same time, U.S. politicians failed to agree on the terms of a funding package of more than $1 trillion, resulting in it not getting enough votes in a key Senate procedural vote late Sunday.

All the while, the number of confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus continues to rise. Globally, there are now over 341,000 confirmed cases, more than doubling in the last week, and approaching 15,000 deaths.

Trillions of dollars of support have been injected into markets and the broader economy in the last week or so, but investors are still looking to policymakers for more in the coming days with companies losing customers and workers being thrown out of jobs.

In corporate news, Airbus (PA:AIR) shares slumped 7.6% after it announced the signing of a credit facility for 15 billion euros ($16.1 billion) to bolster its financial position as the pandemic cripples the travel industry.

The European planemaker added it was withdrawing its 2020 financial guidance, dropping a proposed 2019 dividend that had a cash value of 1.4 billion euros and suspending funding to top up staff pension schemes.

Royal Dutch Shell (AS:RDSa), meanwhile, said it will cut its capital spending program by over $5 billion as part of a package of measures aimed at saving between $8 billion and $9 billion. Shell shares dropped 3.1%.

Story continues

Also in the energy sector, Total (PA:TOTF) announced plans to step up cost cuts and suspend its share buyback program in order to deal with a slump in oil prices. Total stock fell 2.6%.

French state-controlled power group EDF (PA:EDF) said that it was currently forecasting 2020 core earnings at the lower end of its 17.5-18 billion euros ($18.7-$19.3 billion) forecast target range. EDF shares dropped 3%.

Economic indicators are limited in number in Europe Monday, with the eurozone consumer confidence figure, at 11 AM ET (1500 GMT), set to show a sharp drop, unsurprisingly.

However, the PMI data coming out later this week in the U.S., U.K. as well as the euro zone will be of interest as they are likely to provide the most comprehensive overview so far of the coronavirus impact.

The positive tone seen in the oil markets as last week drew to an end has also largely disappeared.

At 03:35 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% lower at $22.39 a barrel, recovering a little. The international benchmark Brent contract fell 5.7% to $25.45.

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,492/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.0705, up 0.1% on the day.

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Three people tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, taking the total cases in the state to 15, as the government urged the public to support its fight against the deadly virus by staying at home.

All the latest cases -- two women and a 74-year old man, had travelled to foreign countries, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar said.

More than 15,000 people, including 382 in Coimbatore, were under home quarantine across the state.

"All 3 travelled abroad.74 Y M return from USA at #Stanley (hospital),52 Y F return from USA at #Stanley,25 Y F return from Swiss (Switzerland)at #KMC," the Minister said in a tweet.

All three patients were in isolation and stable, he said, adding, they were residents of different localities in the city.

With the new patients, the total number of positive cases of the virus in the state has reached 15, including a 45 year-old man who was earlier discharged following treatment.

So far, 2,09,163 passengers have been screened with 15,298 under follow up, the minister said, apparently referring to home quarantine.

As many as 743 samples have been sent for tests with results of 608 of them returning negative and 120 awaited.

Stressing on staying at home to stem the virus spread, the Minister called for people's cooperation.

"#StayAtHomeSaveLives:Kindly cooperate in our fight against #corona. Stay at home to prevent the spread of disease. Pls share the awareness messages to friends and family. Lets take care of each other," he tweeted.

Earlier, he announced that a 350-bed isolation ward at a city government hospital will be ready by Wednesday.

Further, the city-based Apollo Hospitals has informed the government about its preparedness to treat coronavirus patients at a 100-bed facility.

The Centre has also approved a COVID19 testing lab at Apollo, he added.

A report from Coimbatore said 382 people with symptoms of fever and cold were under observation in their homes.

Health department officials were monitoring them at regular intervals, Collector K Rajamani said in a release.

Similarly, the department was screening all foreigners arriving in the city and the district residents returning from abroad at the airport, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
E-commerce Bahraini platform, Homiez, will offer BenefitPay as a payment method to 150+ vendors currently on the platform.

Integrating BenefitPay will be an added valuable feature that will create convenient and secure payment transactions for vendors and consumers, in addition to enriching the existing features and robust business process extensions on the platform.

Established in 2018, the comprehensive and innovative platform allows vendors to promote their business and sell their products and services to a wider segment, ultimately connecting consumers to a variety of goods and services.

Homiezs current category list, subject to expansion, includes: grocery, all retails products under the market category, maintenance and services, stationary, spa and fitness, flowers and confectionery, food and catering, as well as cleaning services and laundry.

Abdulwahed AlJanahi, Chief Executive of Benefit, said: Creating such partnerships is in line with our mandate to offer innovative solutions to strengthen relationships between businesses and their consumers. Homiez integrating BenefitPay will ensure a fast, reliable, and familiar service that is increasing in demand. It pleases us to support and assist homegrown establishments further expand their services and we look forward to it.

Sadeq Abdulrasool, Chief Digital Officer of Homiez said: We are happy to announce this initiative, and we look forward to this fruitful partnership. Offering "BenefitPay" as a payment solution is in line with our mission of providing the best customer experience, ultimately providing our customers with additional payment methods when purchasing through Homiez. In the occasion of this partnership, we will be offering free deliveries for all purchases made via BenefitPay.

This partnership comes in line with the kingdoms vision to create an ecosystem that allows for innovative collaborations, as well as its vision of creating a cashless economy by offering various innovative digital choices such as BenefitPay, which has revolutionised electronic financial services in Bahrain, servings over 300,000 users.-- Tradearabia News Service
New Delhi [India], Mar 24 (ANI): In a sigh of relief to patients suffering from coronavirus, the Health Authority has decided to introduce a package for its treatment under the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana Scheme (AB-PMJA) insurance programme.

According to officials, the decision was taken in the latest governing body meeting of the program.

"Now eligible beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat- PMJAY can avail free of cost treatment for influenza-like illnesses. For COVID-19 testing and treatment is available free-of-cost at government-designated testing centers and public hospitals for all," said AB-PMJAY CEO, Dr Indu Bhushan.

"Once the government allows treatment at private hospitals, COVID19 patients can seek treatment at private health set up," the official added.

Bhushan said that a patient can avail treatment at the empanelled private hospitals free of cost if they test positive for coronavirus.

The Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), a flagship healthcare scheme, provides a cover of Rs 5 Lakh per family per year to around 50 crore poor and vulnerable individuals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SEA GIRT, NJ, UNITED STATES 03.24.2020 - A New Jersey Army National Guard UH-72 Lakota helicopter from the 1-224th Security and Support Battalion returns to the National Guard Training Center at Sea Girt, N.J., after an observation mission flying over COVID-19 Community-Based Testing Sites in Paramus and Holmdel, March 24, 2020. The testing sites, established in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are staffed by the New Jersey Department of Health, the New Jersey State Police, and the New Jersey National Guard. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Matt Hecht)

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Coronavirus: Albania release 600 detainees for 3 months 123 people have tested positive and 5 dead in country

(ANSAmed) - TIRANA, MARCH 24 - Starting Tuesday about 600 detainees, or 10% of the total prison population, will be transferred for three months to their homes. The decision was made by the government as a measure to prevent a possible spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in penitentiaries. Justice Minister Etilda Gjonaj said that the measure will affect those that must serve a sentence of up to 3 years and those over age 60, if they have up to 5 years left to serve and suffer chronic health issues. None of those to be released, the minister added, have been found guilty of serious crimes. In Albania, 123 COVID-19 cases have been recorded including 47 in the past three days.



Five people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.



(ANSAmed).




The Sikkim Assembly on Tuesday



passed the Rs 9,100-crore budget for the fiscal 2020-21.

The 32-member state legislature passed the budget by voice vote on the second and final day of the budget session.

The appropriation bill, authorising the state government to withdraw budgetary funds from the consolidated fund of Sikkim, as well as the second supplementary demands for grant of Rs 216 crore to meet additional expenditure in 2019-20, were also passed by the House.

The assembly also passed a number of other bills, including the Sikkim Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Sikkim Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Sikkim Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Officials said that for the first time in the history of Sikkim Assembly, media personnel were barred from covering live proceedings of the House in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After having been AWOL for almost a week, Joe Biden emerged from hiding to attack President Trump for the latter's handling of the coronavirus epidemic. Putting aside his flattened affect and his more bizarre moments, such as his confusion and face-rubbing before starting to speak and his losing track of the TelePrompter, the speech is a tissue of lies. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy's famous line about Lillian Hellman, "Every word he says is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

If you have the time and stomach to watch it, here's Biden's coronavirus update, which his campaign intends to function as an alternative to Trump's actions as president (starting at 1:44):

I'm about to deliver remarks on the Coronavirus pandemic. Tune in to watch live: https://t.co/HpaqlEb7D1  Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 23, 2020

This post doesn't have the space to address each lie, but here are the top ones:

1. Biden falsely claims thatTrump is not doing enough to protect American workers. Trump's words and actions show that his priority is enabling health care workers to do their jobs; keeping Americans safe from disease; and keeping Americans, both individuals and corporations, solvent. To that end, he has cut massive amounts of red tape to speed supplies to health care workers and possible life-saving drugs to all Americans. Democrat governors have praised his efforts. It was the Democrats who refused to pass a major relief bill so they could insert their favorite boondoggles.

2. Biden says Trump is engaging in demoralizing political attacks, implying he (Biden) would never do something like that. Are Biden and his handlers so clueless that they don't realize that this video and another Monday video are political attacks intended to undermine the president during a grave crisis? They're either buffoons or hypocrites. Neither is a good look.

3. Biden boasts that he was demanding action on January 27 while falsely implying that Trump did nothing. Trump did the most important thing of all: on January 31, he closed America's borders to Chinese flights, buying America valuable time. Biden then accused Trump of "fearmongering" and "xenophobia."

4. Biden falsely implies that Trump hasn't been calling on his military resources. Six days ago, Trump was already sending Navy hospital ships to hot spots. Then, on Sunday, Trump deployed the National Guard to help California, New York, and Washington, the three states with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases.

5. Biden falsely implies that Trump didn't invoke the Defense Production Act to increase available medical supplies. First, remember that it's the Obama administration's fault that we have a critical shortage of N95 respirator masks. Second, it's Trump who has cut red tape so that America's businesses, just as they did in World War II, can provide necessary materiel to win the war. Third, Joe and his team forgot that Trump already invoked the Defense Production Act six days ago.

6. Biden falsely says the economic stimulus isn't providing direct relief to workers, et al. As noted in Item 1, above, it's the Democrats who are holding up the economic stimulus bill, not the president. The more pertinent point is the nature of the original bipartisan bill, which does indeed provide money to keep businesses viable during the coronavirus, rather than just sending checks to individuals. Ben Shapiro provides the best answer to the fundamental dishonesty behind Biden's claim:

Their solution: radically escalated unemployment insurance for 4-6 months. And then what? Where do all those unemployed go back to work, exactly, when the companies no longer exist?  Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 23, 2020

7. Biden falsely says Trump is trying to destroy Obamacare to rid Americans of protection for pre-existing conditions. The truth is that Trump has been adamant about protecting pre-existing conditions, something he reiterated on Sunday:

I can make this commitment to you: The Republican Party is fully backing preexisting conditions. Now, if we could get a great healthcare plan, which would need the House to do  but if we can get a great healthcare plan, we will only do it if we have preexisting conditions totally backed. So, we're backing preexisting, but we'd like to get rid of bad healthcare.

8. Biden falsely says Trump is silencing the people doing the work. Again, this is a lie. One of the hallmarks of the Trump press conferences is how he routinely hands the mic over to the experts at the podium so Americans can hear directly from them, without any intermediaries. Biden, on the other hand, actually hid behind an intermediary:

Everyone knows that we're facing a real crisis from the coronavirus. But do you know how we got here and what we need to do next? Ron Klain, former White House Ebola Response Coordinator, breaks it down for us: pic.twitter.com/XRkIw2EzM4  Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 21, 2020

The reality is that Trump is an energetic, proactive leader who is doing yeoman's work, pulling together every sector of government and the free market to deal with the coronavirus. Biden is a senile old man, long past his prime, who is a ventriloquist's dummy for cynical Democrats who need a placeholder for this election. He'd be pathetic were it not for the fact that he's always been an important player in this morally corrupt system.
[March 24, 2020] Desert Financial Donates $500K to Valley Food Banks and United Way Amidst COVID-19 Fallout

Desert Financial Credit Union will donate $500,000 in emergency funds to five Valley non-profits supporting critical community needs in the wake of COVID-19. United Food Bank and St. Mary's Food Bank will each receive $150,000 from the credit union, while Midwest and Desert Mission Food Banks will each receive $50,000. Valley of the Sun United Way will receive an additional $100,000. "We are making this donation immediately in order to support these vital non-profits with distributing essential resources," said Jeff Meshey, President & CEO of Desert Financial. "We are a local credit union with an 80-year history in the Valley, and we are committed to helping this community - our community - through this unprecedented challenge." More than 650,000 Maricopa County households were struggling to meet basic needs as recently as last month, according to some sources. With the arrival and resulting fallout of COVID-19, that number has already increased exponentially. St. Mary's Food bank reported that the demand for their emergency food boxes doubled overnight. The United Food Bank was expecting to serve three times as many individuals in the coming week. "Seeing a huge surge of families in need while simultaneously losing much of our grocery rescue donations has made for a challenging time at St. Mary's," President and CEO Tom Kertis said. "And this could be only the beginning. But we have great friends and partners in our community. This incredible gift from Desert Financial will help ease the strain and allow us to continue to say 'Yes' to every family that needs help during this pandemic. We will be here for them because companies like Desert Financial are here for us." Desert inancial's food bank donations are strategically placed to reach communities across the state, helping make more resources available to more of those in need.



"In United Food Banks' 35-year history, we've never seen so much food leave from our warehouse in one week," said Dave Richins, CEO of United Food Bank. "A donation like this from Desert Financial is needed right now more than ever to help us deliver nutritious meals to Arizonans in need during this crisis." The Valley of the Sun United Way donation will go to a COVID-19 response fund addressing critical needs as they arise.

Desert Financial plans to continue working with existing non-profit partners and the broader community to identify emergency needs. Work has already begun in this area. For example, Desert Financial worked with Valley-based non-profit A New Leaf to purchase a month's worth of toilet paper addressing critical shortages for their housing program. The credit union also purchased food to help A New Leaf meet increased demand for children staying home from school. In addition, the Desert Financial Foundation is developing programming to help members and individuals facing financial difficulty, including webinars on crisis budgeting, resources for employers and more. The credit union's Random Acts of Kindness program is also continuing, with new restrictions in place following CDC and state health guidelines for social distancing. Members of the public are able to submit their ideas for Random Acts of Kindness here. For more information on Desert Financial Credit Union, along with interviews or images, please contact Melissa Forbes of ANDERSON Advertising & Public Relations at (702) 856-9059 or [email protected]. About Desert Financial Credit Union With more than 80 years in Arizona, Desert Financial is the state's largest homegrown credit union with $5 billion in assets, more than 320,000 members and nearly 50 locations across the Valley. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Financial prides itself on sharing success with its members, its team and the wider community. In 2019, Desert Financial gave nearly $11M to Valley nonprofits, the community and members. Learn more at desertfinancial.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005701/en/

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The move comes after Afghan president and his rival failed to form a new govt that threatens to stall US peace efforts.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday announced a $1bn cut in American aid to Afghanistan after he failed to convince Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political foe to end a feud that has helped jeopardise a US-led peace effort.

The United States also is prepared to cut another $1bn worth of assistance in 2021 and is conducting a review of all of our programmes and projects to identify additional reductions and reconsider our pledges to future donor conferences for Afghanistan, Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeos statement came as he flew home from a fruitless day-long effort in Kabul to end competing claims to the presidency by Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah and win their agreement to form an inclusive government.

The harshly worded announcement at the end of the mission he undertook despite the spreading global coronavirus pandemic underscored how badly stalled the US-led effort to end Americas longest war and decades of strife in Afghanistan has become.

The US deeply regrets that Ghani and Abdullah were unable to agree on an inclusive government, said Pompeo, adding that their failure has harmed US-Afghan relations and sadly, dishonours those Afghan, Americans, and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure.

Pompeo also met separately with Afghan leader Abdullah Abdullah at the Sepidar Palace in Kabul on Monday, but he failed to negotiate an agreement with Abdullahs rival, Ghani [Sepidar palace via AP]

The US pays billions every year towards the Afghan budget, including the countrys defence forces.

Afghanistan barely raises a quarter of the revenue it needs to run the country, giving Pompeo considerable financial leverage to force the two squabbling leaders to overcome the impasse.

On his way back to Washington, DC, Pompeo landed at a military base in Qatar for a 75-minute meeting with Taliban officials, including their top negotiator, Mullah Baradar Akhund.

Ghani-Abdullah settlement

Speaking to reporters after departing Qatar, Pompeo declined to detail how the $1bn in aid cuts would be apportioned or whether he set a deadline for Ghani and Abdullah, who had served as the countrys chief executive, to settle their dispute.





But he indicated that the aid cut could be cancelled if they came to an agreement.

We are hopeful, frankly, that they will get their act together and we wont have to do it. But were prepared to do that, he said.

In the meantime, he said, the US would continue backing Afghan security forces while continuing a phased conditions-based troop withdrawal as specified in a deal signed with the Taliban in Doha on February 29.





He said despite continuing fighting, the Taliban largely have fulfilled a commitment to reduce violence and were working to form a team for intra-Afghan talks.

Pompeos mission came nearly a month after his last visit to Doha for the signing of the February 29 deal with the Taliban. Ghanis government was not a party to the agreement.

The agreement was to have been followed by the opening by March 10 of negotiations on a political settlement to decades of strife between the Taliban and a delegation of Afghans that would include government officials.

Intra-Afghan talks stalled

But the process stalled over a Taliban demand for the release by Kabul of 5,000 prisoners and the feud between Ghani and Abdullah, both of whom claimed the presidency following a disputed September election marred by allegations of fraud.

While in Kabul, Pompeo met with Ghani and Abdullah, separately and together.

Absent from the meetings was the chief US negotiator, Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran diplomat. It was not immediately known why Khalilzad was not included.

A senior State Department official, speaking before the meetings ended, said the purpose of Pompeos visit was to try to mediate a solution between the two men.





The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved  soon, that could affect the peace process  our agreement with the Talibs could be put at risk, the official said.

Pompeos visit was also extraordinary for the fact that the US, like the United Nations, had earlier said it would not be drawn into mediating feuding Afghan politicians as it did in 2014 presidential polls.

While the Afghan election commission this time gave the win to Ghani, Abdullah and the election complaints commission charged widespread irregularities to challenge Ghanis win.

A spokesman for Ghani declined to comment, saying details of the meetings had not yet been released.

Omid Maisam, a spokesman for Abdullah, said that if there were more meetings a solution was not impossible and that they wanted a peaceful end to the crisis.
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed.

So, the natural question for Thomson Resources (ASX:TMZ) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

See our latest analysis for Thomson Resources

When Might Thomson 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. In December 2019, Thomson Resources had AU$93k in cash, and was debt-free. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through AU$349k. Therefore, from December 2019 it had roughly 3 months of cash runway. That's a very short cash runway which indicates an imminent need to douse the cash burn or find more funding. Importantly, if we extrapolate recent cash burn trends, the cash runway would be noticeably longer. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

ASX:TMZ Historical Debt, March 23rd 2020

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

Whilst it's great to see that Thomson Resources has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced AU$3.3k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. Over the last year its cash burn actually increased by 10%, which suggests that management are increasing investment in future growth, but not too quickly. However, the company's true cash runway will therefore be shorter than suggested above, if spending continues to increase. Admittedly, we're a bit cautious of Thomson Resources due to its lack of significant operating revenues. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.

Story continues

How Easily Can Thomson Resources Raise Cash?

Given its cash burn trajectory, Thomson Resources shareholders should already be thinking about how easy it might be for it to raise further cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash to drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

In the last year, Thomson Resources burned through AU$349k, which is just about equal to its AU$356k market cap. That suggests the company may have some funding difficulties, and we'd be very wary of the stock.

Is Thomson Resources's Cash Burn A Worry?

There are no prizes for guessing that we think Thomson Resources's cash burn is a bit of a worry. In particular, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap suggests it isn't in a good position to keep funding growth. While not as bad as its cash burn relative to its market cap, its increasing cash burn is also a concern, and considering everything mentioned above, we're struggling to find much to be optimistic about. Its cash burn situation feels about as comfortable as sitting next to the lavatory on a long haul flight. It's likely to need more cash in the near term; and that could well hurt returns. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 6 warning signs for Thomson Resources (4 are a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course Thomson Resources may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this 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.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has urged Ghanaians to pray in an attempt to control the coronavirus pandemic.



The NDC flagbearer disclosed his support for President Akufo-Addos declaration of Wednesday, March 25 as a national day for prayer and fasting on his Facebook.



We must act even as we pray! I have made a firm commitment to support the authorities in whatever way possible, and whenever called upon, to combat this pandemic. Over the last week, I have forcefully, thanks to my Communications Team, led a public education drive that is promoting effectively the introduction, education and practice of the recommended WHO protocols aimed at helping stop the spread of the COVID-19.



I have also already announced that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is committed to assisting government in this fight by availing all technical and logistical resources at our disposal. As evidence of our seriousness in that respect, we have assembled a technical team to guide our efforts and to lead the NDCs response to the evolving situation. The team is an assembly of experts from the many fields that will be required to implement a national action plan on COVID-19.



President Akufo-Addo has declared Wednesday (25th March 2020) as fasting and prayer sessions to seek Gods intervention following the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana.



Whilst we continue to adhere to these measures and ramp up our efforts to defeat this virus, I urge all of us also to seek the face of the Almighty. So on Wednesday, 25th March 2020, I appeal to all Ghanaians  Christians and Muslims to observe a national day of fasting and prayer. Let us pray to God to protect our nation and save us from this pandemic, he said.



I thank the women and men of God who prayed for the nation with me on Thursday and with the Vice President on Friday for their intervention, he said.













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.

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The aftermath of four young girls who died as a sacrifice and after they were sexually abused urged the detectives to work harder. Yoo Seung Ho and Lee Se Young fight back to gather more evidence to capture the suspect.

Episode 4 opens with Dong Baek joining the cult ceremony rites. He disguised himself as one of the baptized participants to hold the hand of cult leader Park Gi Dan. Just in time, detective Han Su Mi arrived and saw Dong Baek hold tightly the leader's hand. In a few minutes, Dong Baek read the mind and past actions of the cult head. His face turned red and fumed with anger as he told the leader that he committed murder. He then told Dong Baek to not give such accusations to the famous man in the country. Dong Baek was about to punch but Han Su Mi stopped him.

Han Su Mi tried to acquire a search warrant and look for more evidence in Park Di Gan's house. Dong Baek helped her secure the documents. When Han Su Mi reached the house, the housekeeper burnt the journals and repainted the walls. Dong Baek felt weak, knowing that parts of the clues that point to the cult leader as the murderer are gone.

Meanwhile, Goo Kyung Tan, the team chief, contacted a media reporter. They plan to broadcast the crime the cult leader did to the young girls. But the reporters decline to help them with no legal support and bases only from Dong Baek's telepathic accounts. Han Su Mi asked Dong Baek that they need to check all the details and connect all of his recollections of the crime.

Dong Baek's partner Oh Se Hoon said that a missing piece that was used to rape the victims was not in the report and a pair of gloves was found by the police. Dong Baek's memories from the cult leader showed him as the one holding the hammer. Han Su Mi concluded that the missing gloves were left in the crime scene. They went right away to the site and found the missing gloves in one of the pipe holes, though they needed equipment to get it. Han Su Mi and Dong Baek went out of the cave then saw men with a cement mixer truck about to fill the ground. They tried to stop the truck unloading the cement but Dong Baek was knocked down by the men.

They lost all the evidence in putting the cult leader to prison. Dong Baek called the office, and the police commissioner put him on witness stand for a trial. They directed him not to use any of his telepathic abilities to anyone to avoid any indefinite accusations. Before Dong Baek accepted the rules, he stood up and exposed cult leader Park Di Gan to the public. All the media in the room made Dong Baek's exposure to a live broadcast. Park Di Gan was furious. The police then forced and grabbed Dong Baek out of the room.

The following day, Han Su Mi called Dong Baek to meet her at the cult house. As soon as Dong Baek arrived and went inside. He saw the body of cult leader Park Di Gan in his blood lying on the floor dead. Han Su Mi at a loss for words before urging Dong Baek to touch the people in the room to get their memories and find out who killed the leader.
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Vilnius, Lithuania, March 24, 2020  Russian authorities should stop censoring news outlets reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak and allow journalists to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 20, Russias state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy and independent news site Govorit Magadan to remove articles about the COVID-19 outbreak from their websites and social media, according to staffers at those outlets, who spoke to CPJ, and media reports.

The regulator required Ekho Moskvy to remove an interview with a disease expert who compared the governments handling of the COVID-19 outbreak to the Soviet mismanagement of the Chernobyl disaster, according to Vitaly Ruvinsky, the editor-in-chief of the outlet, who communicated with CPJ via email.

Govorit Magadan editor-in-chief Tatyana Brais told CPJ in a phone interview that Roskomnadzor ordered her outlet to take down a report about the pneumonia death of a man in a local hospital.

Russian authorities should stop censoring Govorit Magadan, Ekho Moskvy, and all other outlets reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, said Gulnoza Said, CPJs Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. Roskomnadzor should provide media with clear and fair criteria for reporting on the outbreak, and ensure that its regulations do not censor independent journalism.

On March 18, Roskomnadzor published a warning that it would take punitive measures against the dissemination of false information and attempts to sow panic among the public and provoke public disturbance. The statement did not specify any penalties that may be imposed on journalists or their outlets.

Ruvinsky said that Ekho Moskvy removed the article in question, and plans to appeal the decision in court. He also added that Roskomnadzor did not provide media outlets with criteria or any instructions on what can and cannot be reported about coronavirus.

Police in Magadan, a city in northeastern Siberia where Govorit Magadan is based, opened an investigation into the outlet for spreading false news, interrogated Brais yesterday, and ordered a linguistic investigation of the article in question, Brais told CPJ.

CPJ called the police officer in charge of the Govorit Magadan investigation, but he did not pick up the phone.

In response to CPJs emailed request for comment, Roskomnadzors press office sent a statement saying that the regulator was executing the decision of the Prosecutor Generals Office to remove inaccurate information that was creating a threat of massive disruption of public order and safety.
ATLANTA, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power remains committed to providing its 2.6 million customers safe and reliable service, while offering important safety tips and storm resources as the spring storm season arrives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. March, April and May are typically the most active months 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 has been closely monitoring the potential threat posed by COVID-19 since January. The company remains 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 regularly provides information and updates on the virus to employees, including prevention recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, and is following the latest developments and updates from public health officials and medical professionals.

The company's investments in Smart Grid technology and increased automation in recent years mean an increased ability to more quickly isolate outages to smaller numbers of customers and reroute power remotely for improved reliability. In addition, the company's comprehensive pandemic plans 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.

Making Repairs  Georgia Power crews focus on repairs that return power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time.

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.

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).

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With 2020 theatre currently on pause, we look back over these last few months to remind ourselves of some of the top talent that has so far graced the stage.

The Wicker Husband

Laura Johnson and the cast of The Wicker Husband

 Johan Persson

The Watermill Theatre's new musical by New Zealand-born composer and lyricist Darren Clark is based on Ursula Wills-Jones' short story, of an Ugly Girl who asks the magical Old Basket Maker to weave her a husband made from wood. As the last show we caught before the theatre shutdown, our WhatsOnStage reviewer loved "this beautiful and bewitching, fresh and entirely original musical" that comes to an end "as devastating as it is unexpected". Played at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury





The Seven Streams of the River Ota

Richard Frechette in The Seven Streams of the River Ota

 Elias Djemil-Matassov

Robert Lepage's show returned to London to mark 75 years since the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, and what a tribute it paid! Over the course of seven unforgettable hours, the play charts a group of loosely related people from the 1945 bombing to their return in 1999. WhatsOnStage's chief critic Sarah Crompton "can't imagine loving anything better this year" than this "testament to the way art can increase compassion and understanding". Played at the National Theatre





Oliver Twist

The company of Oliver Twist

 Anthony Robling

Ramps on the Moon  a consortium of theatres that put D/deaf and disabled artists and audience members at the heart of major productions  presented an accessible adaptation on the Charles Dickens tale earlier this month. But could they breathe new life into the classic story? Our WhatsOnStage reviewer thought so, calling it "a perfect canvas, on which director Amy Leach orchestrates a sharp and inclusive vision". Played at Leeds Playhouse before a UK tour





The Last Five Years

Oli Higginson and Molly Lynch in The Last Five Years

 Pamela Raith

This Jason Robert Brown musical is a two-hander that moves backwards in time for one character and forwards for the other. Confused yet? Don't be  this version of a five-year relationship was "the definitive production" according to our WhatsOnStage reviewer. "This staging adds so much more to the musical than ordinarily, and [director] O'Boyle's choices enable him to mine Brown's lyrics and come up with gold". As for the two performers, Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson (Lydia White stepped in to cover Lynch's illness at short notice) were a complete triumph, so let's hope for another run in the very near future. Played at Southwark Playhouse





Uncle Vanya

Richard Armitage and Aimee Lou Wood in Uncle Vanya

 Johan Persson

The Chekhov play was back on the West End stage again and though you might assume this to be just another version of the classic, our WhatsOnStage chief critic Crompton was caught offguard. "When a play written in 1898 can make you feel so deeply, then you know you are witnessing something very special", and lead Toby Jones "makes Vanya both infinitely loveable and consistently irritating". The show was so transformative to another of our WhatsOnStage staff that he wrote a blog highlighting the relevance of this playwright to a modern audience. Played in the West End at the Harold Pinter Theatre





Once

Emma Lucia and Daniel Healy in the Once UK tour

 Mark Senior

" 'Lonely is a big part of the world nowadays', muses one of the characters in Once", and truer words have never been spoken by our WhatsOnStage reviewer in light of the current situation. Once in the West End at the Phoenix Theatre, this touring version first opened at Croydon and is "a beautiful love story full of buckets of charm and heart-fluttering moments". And in these perfect, final words courtesy of our reviewer, "despite us all feeling loneliness, feeling it together can make it somewhat better". Played at Fairfield Halls before a UK tour





The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel

The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel

 Manuel Harlan

This anarchic story was brought to life by theatre company Told By An Idiot, who imagined a situation where Chaplin and Laurel created a professional partnership together. The company narrated the resulting relationship through physical theatre and mime, with the occasional song thrown in. And we loved it! Our WhatsOnStage reviewer described it as, "inventive, highly physical, carefully crafted chaos". Played at Wilton's Music Hall





You Stupid Darkness!

The cast of You Stupid Darkness!

 Ali Wright

This Sam Steiner play marked a transition period in Paines Plough's artistic directorship, as the two previous leaders  James Grieve and George Perrin  left and Katie Posner and Charlotte Bennett took over. The show is also dangerously poignant, in that it imagines a world slowly falling apart and a quartet of call centre workers determined to bring some light into people's lives. Our WhatsOnStage reviewer commented that the show "projects a message of community spirit despite its dystopian setting" and singled out Lydia Larson as one to watch, "Larson's pace, delivery and characterisation are effortlessly funny". Played at Southwark Playhouse





The Welkin

Maxine Peake and Ria Zmitrowicz in The Welkin

 Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Maxine Peake, Ria Zmitrowicz and Cecilia Noble were a force to be reckoned with in this world premiere, with Lucy Kirkwood "a playwright of dazzling ambition" with concepts that "range high and wide" according to our WhatsOnStage chief critic Crompton. And with a back catalogue that includes Chimerica and Mosquitoes, it's an accurate statement. This work is a fictional historical courtroom drama that brings a 12-strong jury of matrons to judge if the accused is pregnant so the court can decide whether to hang her or not, "A brilliant, brave, bold and intelligent three hours in the theatre. It is, for all the seriousness of its subject, often very funny yet at the close, profoundly moving." Played at the National Theatre





Pass Over

Paapa Essiedu and Alexander Eliot in Pass Over

 Marc Brenner

Antoinette Nwandu's play fused the book of Exodus with Waiting for Godot and modern-day stories taken from the headlines of the last decade. With Paapa Essiedu as the lead, Indhu Rubasingham's production revolved around black male friendships and dangerous interactions with the police. Our WhatsOnStage reviewer found it "a witty, humorous gem of theatre, exploring issues of race in a refreshingly satirical way". Played at Kiln Theatre
The James "Kraig" Kahler case file

On Thanksgiving weekend in 2009, James "Kraig" Kahler  who was in the process of getting a divorce from his wife Karen Kahler  shot and killed her in her grandmothers home in Burlingame, Kansas.

Kahler also shot his two teenage daughters, Emily and Lauren, and his wifes grandmother, Dorothy Wight. He spared the life of his 10-year-old son, Sean.

Kahler had served as Columbias Water & Light director for 14 months, until he was charged with third-degree domestic assault. Karen Kahler had filed for an order of protection against him. He was asked to resign by then-city manager Bill Watkins.

In February 2018, the Kansas Supreme Court quashed Kahlers appeal. His attorney's legal argument about the constitutionality of the Kansas statute that abolished the insanity defense wasnt strong enough to reconsider the sentence, according to previous Missourian reporting.
Ethnic Kachin students attend their graduation ceremony at Mai Ja Yang National College in the border town of Mai Ja Yang, which abuts China, in northern Myanmar's Kachin state, Feb. 29, 2020.

High school graduates in northern Myanmars Kachin state saw their prospects for higher education and good jobs disappear when armed conflict between government forces and a rebel ethnic army resumed about nine years ago.

Seeking autonomy for the northernmost state on Myanmars borders with China and India, Kachin insurgents had fought government forces since 1961 in one of the countrys multiple, long-running military conflicts that have retarded economic and political development.

A bilateral cease-fire between the warring sides in 1994 ended large-scale fighting and provided a semblance of normality for ordinary people in the conflict zone. Kachin leaders even struck a deal with the central government to let Kachin students attend government-run universities.

But fighting resumed in June 2011 when Myanmar soldiers broke the 17-year-old truce by attacking Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops, with hostilities spilling over into neighboring northern Shan state. Thousands of civilian died, and more than 100,000 were displaced.

The resumption of fighting also meant a breakdown of the agreement between the government and the KIAs political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which allowed ethnic Kachin high school graduates to attend government-run colleges.

For 17 years, those who passed the ninth standard in the KIOs secondary high schools were allowed to take the tenth standard examination in a government school, and if they passed that, they could attend university, said Yaw Saung, spokesman for the KIOs Central Education Department in the remote mountainous town of Laiza.

But beginning in 2010 and 2011, there was no longer any contact between us [and government authorities] with regard to education, he said.

As a result, nearly 1,000 students who had passed their matriculation exams were not able to go to college in the years that followed renewed fighting.

They passed the time remaining in their own regions and running around while avoiding the war, said local educator Lu Lu Aung. They didnt have the chance to continue their education.

Students who excel

In response, the KIO decided to set up its own institution of higher learning for ethnic students. It opened Mai Ja Yang National College in Mai Ja Yang, a border town in KIO-controlled territory that abuts China, in September 2015.

The university offers degree programs in computer science, environmental conservation, business management, agriculture, nursing, law, English, and political science with courses taught in the local language Jinghpaw as well as in English and Chinese.

The school hires ethnic Kachin nationals who have at least a masters degree from schools inside Myanmar or from universities abroad to teach the courses.

The KIO knew about this situation and made sure to open this school, said Lu Lu Aung, now the college's dean.

The subjects are appropriate to our region and also necessary for our region, she said. Therefore, the students will get information on these subjects. And we will teach them so that we produce students who excel in these subjects.

Kachin students say the subjects and the three languages in which they are taught make Mai Ja Yang National College a more attractive alternative to government-run schools in other parts of Myanmar.

We were able to learn skills that we can put to practical use outside  skills that are really good, skills that are at a world level, said graduate Bauk Pan.

We also learned about our own people, she said. Because of these strengths, I attended this school.

Kachin student Bauk Pan attends the commencement ceremony of the first graduating class at Mai Ja Yang National College in the border town of Mai Ja Yang, northern Myanmar's Kachin state, Feb. 29, 2020. Credit: RFA video screenshot Degree not recognized

But graduates also say they are now concerned about finding suitable jobs because their academic degrees are not recognized by the Myanmar government.

Because it is not a school legally recognized by the government, I have questions about the extent to which [my degree] will be useful in Myanmar and whether it will be accepted, said law student graduate Saing Nu Pan.

She and Bauk Pan were among the 82 graduating students that participated in the colleges first commencement ceremony on Feb. 29.

They and their classmates had passed their college matriculation exams while attending government-run and KIO-run high schools.

Before the fighting between the KIA and Myanmar forces erupted anew, the KIO operated 263 schools with more than 25,000 students, according to the organization's Central Education Department.

During the hostilities about 150 schools were closed and over 10,000 students fled to town to escape the armed conflict.

Though students in primary and middle schools began taking classes in town, they were still barred from entering college because the education agreement between KIO and the government was null and void.

But the KIO has made sure that ethnic students will no longer be shut out of the higher education system, said Nay Win, Kachin states minister for social affairs.

They now have the chance to attend an official school, he said.

It doesnt matter which one is of a higher level and which one is of a lower level, every citizen who has officially passed the tenth standard [in secondary high school] can attend an official school opened by the state and shall have their full rights.

Reported by Elizabeth Jangma for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Than Than Win. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Rescuers are seen at the cabin of oil tanker HD06 which caught fire on the Dong Nai River in southern Vietnam, March 23, 2020. Photo courtesy by Dong Nai Police.

Fire engulfed a tanker carrying 700 cubic meters of oil on the Dong Nai River Monday night, fatally burning two crew members.

There were three people on board at the time of the incident, and one of them is still missing by Tuesday morning.

The HD06 vessel with 1,000 tons load capacity, registered in the Mekong Delta's Long An Province, was sailing near the Bien Hoa Inland Container Depot in Bien Hoa Town of Dong Nai Province as its engine exploded and started burning at around 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Eyewitnesses said the fire rose tens of meters high and quickly spread to the cabin where the three were staying.

Rescuers rushed to the scene right after they saw the fire, which took them two hours to put off.

They found two crew members suffering critical burns in the cabin and rushed them to hospital but they succumbed to the injuries later.

The oil cargo is left intact. Police are investigating further and continuing searching for the remaining crew member.
Eric Weissberg, a gifted multi-instrumentalist whose melodic banjo work on the 1973 hit single Dueling Banjos helped bring bluegrass music into the cultural mainstream, died on Sunday in a nursing home near Detroit. He was 80.

Juliet Weissberg, his wife of 34 years, said the cause was complications of Alzheimers disease.

Though the theme songs to the film Bonnie & Clyde (1967) and the CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, both recorded by Flatt and Scruggs, preceded Dueling Banjos in exposing wide audiences to bluegrass, neither made it to the pop Top 40. Dueling Banjos, which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1972 movie Deliverance, fared far better, rising to No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart.

The soundtrack to Deliverance was also certified gold, for sales of more than 500,000 copies.

But Mr. Weissberg  who also played fiddle, mandolin and guitar  produced much more than a one-hit wonder. More than a decade before Dueling Banjos, he had distinguished himself as a member of two popular folk groups, the Greenbriar Boys and the Tarriers, and as an in-demand session musician in New York.

As a session player he appeared on Judy Collinss Fifth Album, contributing guitar to her 1965 version of Pack Up Your Sorrows. He played banjo on John Denvers 1971 Top 10 pop hit, Take Me Home, Country Roads. His fretwork was heard on albums like Bob Dylans Blood on the Tracks (1974), Billy Joels Piano Man (1973) and the Talking Heads Little Creatures (1985). He collaborated with jazz musicians like Bob James and Herbie Mann as well.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 24, 2020 | 04:25 PM | FRANKFORT





There are now 163 cases of COVID-19 in the state, with 39 new cases since Monday. That is the largest one-day increase so far in the Commonwealth. Those numbers include one new case in Christian County, and the two new cases in McCracken County. There have been no new deaths related to the virus.







Beshear says state workers will be donating time at food banks across the state. The Governor said he knows that Trigg, Graves, and Christian counties need help preparing more meals for seniors. He encouraged Kentuckians to reach out to their local elected officials if they can help.





Beshear also announced new restrictions on non-life-sustaining businesses, the new restrictions will go into affect on Thursday by 8 pm.



"At the very least, these types of stores will stay open - groceries, drug stores, pharmacies, banks, agriculture, gas stations won't close. Manufacturing key to our national interests or life-sustaining goods will remain open," Beshear said.



Additional information on what will fall under this new order will be available Wednesday.











During his Tuesday COVID-19 press conference, Governor Andy Beshear provided an update, and announced the new actions he is taking in his attempt to reduce the spread of the virus.
Nesmi Orslom relished his Cuba vacation to the very end: "In every city that we went, to every bar to have a drink, we always ordered a pina colada or a mojito!"



But now he is in a hurry to leave, anxious to get out of a country that on Tuesday is set to start isolating tourists due to the new coronavirus.

The 34-year-old arrived in Cuba on March 10 for the honeymoon he has spent the better part of a year planning.

Did he picture the trip ending up like this? "Absolutely not," he said.

"When we left the situation was very different than how it is now" -- both in the Netherlands, which at that point had not instituted any lockdown measures, and in Cuba, where the first confirmed case was reported March 11.

Now Orslom is waiting in line at the Air France counter at the airport in Havana, hoping to find a flight out.

From Tuesday, Cuba -- which has so far counted 40 cases of the new coronavirus, which the government says have all been "imported" -- will close its borders to tourists for a month and isolate in hotels those who remain.

"If we can go home today, it will be a relief," Orslom said.

Air France is set to suspend its daily flight from Havana starting Wednesday, leaving the embassy to take care of special arrangements.

France's Air Caraibes and Panama's Copa Airlines will also stop their flights the week after. Spain's Iberia and Air Europa have cut back on their services.

As Latin American countries slowly began to close themselves off from the outside world against the threat of the virus over the last few weeks, Cuba continued to try to woo tourists -- who brought in USD 3.3 billion in 2018 -- with wide-open borders and touting itself as a safe destination.

Now those tourists wander nervously around Havana airport, looking for flights home, under ads touting the picturesque Varadero beaches, trips in vintage cars and charming Cuban music.

"Better to be confined at home than elsewhere," said 57-year-old Regine Paumer, who arrived from Nantes, France on March 16 with her husband -- but without their friends, who canceled at the last minute.

"We don't speak Spanish, a little English," she said. "It's a bit of a hassle."



When President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Friday the move to close the country's borders in just three days, there were 60,000 tourists still on the island, including 5,000 French and 10,000 Canadian travelers.

By Monday, the government said only 32,500 remained: 3,000 French, 1,500 Spanish and several thousand Canadians, according to diplomatic sources.

Sitting on the floor near her suitcase, 26-year-old Alice Careil tried to keep her spirits up.

"I'm a little tan, so we did take little advantage of (the trip)," she said. "After that, it's true that we were a little tense over the last few days."



She and her partner arrived March 14 and had planned to stay until Wednesday.

"We were told to come back to France quickly," she said. But their Air Caraibes flight was already canceled.

Since then, she has been frustrated.

"We have to register on a list to get a place on Air France," she said.

"There are not very many (seats), and there are already 400 names." She waited at the airport from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Sunday and came back at 9:30 am Monday.

Tourists are still allowed to stay after Tuesday. But "things change very quickly," said Careil.

"There are some countries, really not far, in South America, that have completely closed their borders. So if things change in two days, we are stuck. We are not going to spend a month here, even if it is really pretty!"



And they would still need to find somewhere to stay. Many homestay casas have closed their doors to tourists, meaning they have to find lodging at state-run hotels, which can be three or four times more expensive.

Slovenian Mara Marinich, 62, was due to go home Tuesday.

"I had a return ticket through Alitalia from Havana to Rome to Trieste, but all of my flights were canceled," she said.

At the casa she was staying, she was told everyone had to leave.

"I don't have the money to buy another ticket," she said. And "I don't have the money to pay for a hotel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Her husband, Paul Ahn, who jokingly refers to himself as a moula, or male-doula, said he was still grieving that he would miss the birth experience.

I completely understand the policy and it makes sense, he said. As a dad and partner, theres not much I could do to support my wife in the pregnancy process, and being there in labor is one of the few things that I could do, and I guess Im just sad that Im not able to do it.

Bailey Nolan, 34, is having a baby girl in July and was planning to give birth at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, part of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital network. She said she spent all of Monday on the phone with family members and insurance providers trying to figure out what to do.

Her plan is to drive to Philadelphia, where she has a cousin who is an obstetrician. When she is ready to deliver, they will go to the emergency room there. She said a representative for her insurance company told her that it would be difficult to switch providers and suggested this was her best option.

I havent had the best experience in hospitals, and I am not going to deliver alone, she said. If something happens, if there is some kind of emergency, I need someone who knows me to help make decisions in a time of stress.

She believes it is irresponsible to put women in this position.

It is not the 1950s, you cant just expect them to go in and sedate them and push out a baby, and then they come home and dad is there smoking a cigar, she said. That is not our reality anymore.

Jesse Pournaras, a doula based in New York City, created a petition asking Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to review the no-partners policy. The petition has received more than 200,000 signatures since it was launched.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a joint press conference at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on June 30, 2019.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked South Korean President Moon Jae-in for medical equipment to help combat coronavirus, according to a state-funded news agency.

During a phone call between the two leaders, Moon said the country will provide "maximum support" if it is available, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported.

The South Korean leader also told Trump the support could require approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and Trump responded that he would seek the approval within the day, according to the outlet. It was not immediately clear what type of medical equipment Trump was seeking.

South Korea has been praised for its swift and effective response to COVID-19, marked by rapid mass testing. The country, which has seen its number of new daily infections generally decline over the past several weeks, has exported test kits around the world.

The White House confirmed that the two leaders spoke on Tuesday but did not say whether Trump made such a request.

"Today, President Donald J. Trump and President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea discussed their nations' respective efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic," the White House said. "President Trump reiterated his commitment to employ the full weight of the United States Government and work with global leaders to save lives and restore economic growth."

The phone call lasted 23 minutes and was made at Trump's "urgent request," Yonhap reported. It was the first phone call between the two leaders this year.

Moon also used the call to praise the Federal Reserve's decision to expand its currency exchange program, according to Yonhap. The Fed has announced it would extend lines known as dollar swaps to central banks in a number of countries, including South Korea, amid rising demand for dollars around the world.
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks in an almost empty mall amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dubai

By Lisa Barrington

DUBAI (Reuters) - Residents in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states are urging telecom firms to further ease restrictions on free internet calls as coronavirus separates families and forces people to work and study from home.

The UAE's two telecommunications firms Etisalat and Du said they recently enabled Microsoft Teams over both wifi and mobile data connections as well as Blackboard, Zoom and CloudTalk -- but appear to continue to block more popular applications.

"Please just listen to us. Unblock Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, even if it's just temporary. 80% of the country is away from their homes," urged Twitter user @danielmarcevans.

"If not now during the spread of the virus to allow us to communicate with our families, then when?" user Basem Saif tweeted on Sunday.

Applications that use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services  free Internet-to-Internet voice and video calls - are restricted to varying degrees in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but not in Bahrain or Kuwait.

Expatriates make up the majority in many Gulf states, particularly the UAE, the region's business and tourism hub.

The UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)declined to comment on VoIP availability. State-controlled Etisalat and DU directed Reuters questions to the TRA.

Virgin Mobile, part of Du, did not respond to comment requests, but told one customer complaining about VoIP restrictions on Twitter it was "working" on the issue.

Oman, while still blocking WhatsApp - owned by Facebook Inc - said Skype for Business, Google Meet, Zoom and WebEx were now useable. Its Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said the move was to help business continuity and communication.

In Qatar, where VoIP applications must also be authorized, a Vodafone Qatar customer helpline said Whatsapp and Skype are restricted, but Zoom and WebEx are available on mobile data.

"Please please please unblock VoIP apps, it's really hard to work and teach remotely when we have to use a VPN," university worker Shaima Sherif tweeted at Qatar's telecoms regulator and firms, referring to the virtual private networks (VPN) used by many to by-pass state internet restrictions.

Story continues

"In this time of fear, when everyone is being price sensitive, it is ridiculous to have to use a VPN," said a Dubai-based consultant who pays $10-20 a month for VPN, and who declined to be identified due to sensitivities.

Qatar's communications regulatory authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SMEX, a Lebanon-based digital rights advocacy group, urged all countries to remove VoIP bans during the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE likely blocks the apps to support its telecoms firms and for national security reasons, SMEX Executive Director Mohamad Najem told Reuters, saying pushing specific VoIP programs helps "control data and the flow of information".

Sultan al-Qassimi, a writer and member of the ruling family of the UAE Sharjah emirate, also supports lifting restrictions.

"The benefit to the entire economy outweighs the benefit to a single firm," he said in a Twitter post.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Ghaida Ghantous; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous, William Maclean)
Advertisement

Authorities in Wuhan have started to disinfect the city's high-speed railway stations as officials prepare to lift travel restrictions in and out of the provincial capital, which has been on lockdown due to the novel coronavirus since January.

Rescue officers and firefighters donning goggles and hazmat suits have decontaminated Hankou Railway Station and Wuhan Railway Station, two of the city's major transport hubs, in the past few days.

Both terminals stayed closed for more than two months to stem the epidemic.

A video released by the state-run Global Times shows workers carrying out a thorough deep clean at Hankou Railway Station

The major railway terminal in Wuhan had been shut for 58 days before being decontaminated by the Blue Sky Rescue Team

The video shows officers in full-body protective suits blasting disinfectant with huge sprayers at the entrance hall, escalators, waiting rooms, seats, stairs and platforms. The station welcomed the first train to arrive after the lockdown on Saturday

Wuhan, a city of some 11 million, was the centre of the coronavirus pandemic after an outbreak emerged there in late December.

After more than eight weeks of draconian measures, the city has witnessed a sharp drop in the number of patients. It reported zero new cases for five consecutive days between March 19 and 23.

Authorities are due to ease the lockdown in Wuhan on April 8 while the transport restrictions in other parts of Hubei will be removed after tonight.

The epicentre shifted to Europe in March, with Italy and Spain among the worst affected.

Eighty firefighters from the Wuhan Fire Brigade are pictured being gathered in front of Wuhan Railway Station on Tuesday

The officers' main task was to disinfect everything that passengers would touch in the station, however small they seemed

This aerial photo taken today shows a bullet train leaving Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province

Footage released on social media by the Global Times, a state-run newspaper, shows workers at the Blue Sky Rescue Team sterilising Hankou Railway Station last week.

The 18-platform hub is one of the biggest train stations in China and handles up to 159,000 passengers a day during peak seasons.

Occupying 193,000 square metres (47 acres), the building had remained shut for 58 days before the deep clean on Friday.

The video, made in an almost Hollywood style, shows officers in full-body protective suits blasting disinfectant with huge sprayers at the entrance hall, escalators, waiting rooms, seats, stairs and platforms.

The officers used chlorine dioxide, a bleaching agent, to cleanse the station thoroughly.

It took 80 officers two hours to sterilise 80,000 square metres (19 acres) in Wuhan Railway Station, according to authorities

China will lift restrictions on movement in most areas of Hubei province on Wednesday, ending a two-months lockdown

While people will be able to leave the province after midnight on Tuesday. Restrictions on Wuhan will remain until April 8

On Saturday, Hankou Railway Station welcomed the first train to arrive after the lockdown.

Officials arranged the special railway service to transport nearly 1,000 migrant workers from other parts of Hubei to Wuhan, according to a government notice.

Eighty firefighters from the Wuhan Fire Brigade today sanitised another main station, Wuhan Railway Station.

China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan and the wider province on January 23 as the virus began to spread

The move to end the lockdown shows the authorities' apparent faith in the success of the drastic measures in much of China

It remains unclear, however, whether other cities and provinces will allow people leaving Hubei to enter their jurisdictions

The officers convened in front of the station at 9am before being divided into eight teams to carry out the crucial project.

The officers' main task was to disinfect everything that passengers would touch, however small they seemed.

It took the teams two hours to sterilise 80,000 square metres (19 acres) of the building, according to Wuhan Fire Brigade.

China's National Health Commission today reported seven new deaths and 78 new cases, including 74 imported infections and one domestic case, a doctor, in Wuhan.

The medic works at the Hubei Provincial People's Hospital and was diagnosed yesterday, according to the local health authority.

Worldwide, more than 17,400 people have been killed by the contagion and over 400,400 people have been infected.
Against the backdrop of the coronavirus (COVID-19), telecom provider Flow is encouraging its customers to remain indoors and enjoy premium ent
Fiddler crabs have a simple solution to life's daily perils: run.

University of Cincinnati biologists are using this compulsion to test the crabs' color vision using simple modified electronics.

Most people can detect a huge variety of colors -- more than 1 million. We can even tell when one shade is slightly different from another. UC biologist John Layne wants to know if crabs can do likewise.

Layne and his students created a miniature movie theater that uses a stripped-down liquid crystal display like the kind found in many computer monitors. A crab is placed in a little glass arena under a tilted screen projecting a video illuminated in color by blue and green light-emitting diodes.

The video shows a looming stimulus -- a round ball that appears to approach the crabs quickly on screen -- like the famous boulder scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

And like Indiana Jones, the crabs react in kind.

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"They run like a bat out of hell. Their reaction is not subtle. They will sprint really fast and bang into the wall," Layne said.

The consistent reaction to the approaching virtual ball helps UC biologists measure the spectrum of visible light the crabs can see.

"We're using it to test color discrimination. For an animal to have color vision, what that really means is the ability to discriminate different wavelengths of light," Layne said. "They can see green light. They can see blue light. But can they tell the difference? That's the test."

Layne and student co-authors Jeremiah Didion and Karleigh Smith described their vision-testing device in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Researchers have only begun to explore the complex visual abilities of animals. While we can see about 1 million colors, some spiders are believed to see 100 times that. And the reigning record holder? Scientists believe it's the mantis shrimp, which has four times as many color receptors as we do.

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"Just having these color cells doesn't mean they use them for color vision like we do. They might just have these cells that cover more of the spectrum to capture more light," Layne said. "That would be advantageous for animals that live in dim or dark conditions."

Fiddler crabs usually have the opposite problem: too much light, Layne said. Their eyes sit on tall eyestalks that serve as periscopes to peer across the mudflats. Their eyes wrap around the tips of these eyestalks.

"Part of their eye is staring at the sun at all times. That is a problem for them," Layne said.

They compensate with screening pigments that prevent their vision cells from getting fried by excessive solar radiation, he said.

Layne keeps his fiddler crabs in ingenious tanks that mimic the changing tides, draining from one tank to the other and back in slightly more than six-hour intervals. At "low tide," the tank's algae-covered rocks are exposed for the crabs. A second tank is full of deep sand so the crabs can dig burrows that periodically flood with rising tide.

The male crabs skitter sideways, holding their larger "fiddle" claw in front of them like a gladiator's shield. Some are right-clawed; some left-clawed. It's random. Females have two equally small front claws.

Didion is continuing his biology studies at Case Western Reserve University. He said insights we gain from animals can lead in surprising directions.

"The value of studying the animal kingdom is exploration. You feel like a modern-day explorer," Didion said. "You never know where the next big contribution to science will come from."
"Stedman did not arrive from Chicago until Thursday ... he'd been on planes, so Stedman is like, 'What's the procedure for coming home?' The procedure is ... you ain't coming and sleeping in my bed!" she said. "He goes, 'I'm not?' And I go, 'Have you not been paying attention to the news? Social distancing does not mean you go and sleep in the same bed with the person! When you just got off American Airlines!'"
Boeing Co. has suspended production of its KC-46 Pegasus tanker and P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Monday.

The aerospace company, which hosts part of its production in Washington state, has halted its commercial and military-derivative aircraft operations in the Puget Sound region, a company spokesman said in a statement. Both the P-8 and KC-46 are assembled in facilities in Renton and Everett; the intelligence gathering aircraft is a 737 commercial derivative, while the KC-46A is based on the 767 airliner.

"We're actively engaged with our defense customers to minimize any impacts on their missions," the spokesman said. Some work will continue to fix the tanker's remote vision system, or RVS, he added.

"Certain non-production work for all commercial derivative aircraft programs, including for the KC-46 remote vision system enhancements, will continue being done by employees working remotely," he said.

Related: Here's How a Navy Hospital Ship Will Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic

The tanker requires a fix to its RVS, a critical capability that permits the in-flight operator to view the refueling system below the aircraft. The tanker's expected readiness has been pushed back at least to the 2023-2024 timeframe because of an RVS glitch, which doesn't allow an airman to look at a clear, aligned visual of the boom connecting to another aircraft.

Despite that issue, the Air Force accepted its 31st tanker earlier this month, around the same time the State Department approved the first KC-46 sale to Israel. That country would become the second foreign military customer of the tanker, behind Japan.

Meanwhile, Boeing expanded its P-8 reach by delivering the first submarine-hunting and anti-surface warfare aircraft to the United Kingdom last fall. The U.S. Navy and Australia already fly the long-range aircraft, and the Indian Navy flies the P-8I variant. Norway has also bought into the program.

Boeing said it will shut down its Puget Sound operations starting Wednesday, with the intention of keeping plants closed for at least 14 days.

"This necessary step protects our employees and the communities where they work and live," said Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun in a news release. "We continue to work closely with public health officials, and we're in contact with our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders who are affected by this temporary suspension. We regret the difficulty this will cause them, as well as our employees, but it's vital to maintain health and safety for all those who support our products and services, and to assist in the national effort to combat the spread of COVID-19."

The shutdown comes as the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers recently delivered a bleak message about the industry to Congress: Given the coronavirus' spread, more than 500,000 aerospace jobs are at risk, depending how long quarantine and stay-at-home mandates continue, it said.

In a March 23 letter sent to lawmakers, the trade union group, which advocates for aerospace and related jobs in both the U.S. and Canada, said industries have already begun notifying thousands of workers that, without additional financial support from the government, layoffs are on the horizon, according to Air Force Magazine.

"This strategic industry cannot be saved without first ensuring the economic security of the workers who make it thrive," said IAM International President Robert Martinez, as reported by the magazine.

That includes "all provisions in the applicable collective bargaining agreements," in addition to salaries, benefits and health insurance, he said.

"It is vitally important to our national security, our domestic supply chain, and our role in the global economy that this industry and the workers which are its backbone receive immediate financial support," Martinez added.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: The Latest on the Military's COVID-19 Response
McDonald's Corp said on Sunday it would temporarily close all its restaurants in the UK and Ireland by Monday evening because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We have taken the difficult decision to close all McDonald's restaurants in UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23rd March at the latest," the company said in a tweet.

Restaurants have been forced to shut doors or limit service to delivery and takeaway in many parts of the world in efforts to curb the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

In China, the epicenter of the virus, McDonald's has reopened 95% of its restaurants, Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said on Friday.

Separately, the fast-food chain has suspended share buybacks to help it navigate through the crisis, but has not changed its dividend policy.

McDonalds is one of the largest exporters of Irish beef by volume, with the company spending 163m on Irish produce for export to McDonalds restaurants across the UK and Europe. It purchases about 40,000 tonnes of Irish beef annually. One in every five burgers sold in its outlets across Europe is of Irish origin. According to the company, Northern Ireland farmers benefit from 23m worth of income annually for products such as beef and milk.

There are 95 McDonalds restaurants in operation in the Republic of Ireland and 30 restaurants in Northern Ireland. It employs almost 6,000 people in the Republic and more than 3,000 in Northern Ireland.

The Irish Farmers Journal describe the news as a "massive blow" for the Irish beef trade. According to the Irish Farmers Journal, "The move will have the biggest effect on Dawn Meats, which has produced over one billion beef burgers for the fastfood chain since a 300m deal was signed between the two companies in 2012. Dawn Meat's production site at Carrolls Cross in Waterford now produces more than 400m beef burgers a year for McDonald's outlets in Ireland, the UK and Continental Europe." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
[March 24, 2020] AICPA-Led Coalition Expands Support for Small Business Funding

More than a dozen new members have joined an American Institute of CPAs-led group advocating the use of payroll processors to quickly distribute governmental funds to small businesses so they can meet payroll and avoid layoffs. The new members are: Alliance Payroll, Asure Software, BenefitMall, CheckWriters, Council for Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement, EmployCo USA, Green Dot, Gusto, OnPay, National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Paycom, Paylocity, PPI Business Services, PrimePay and Thomson Reuters (News - Alert). They join the existing coalition of the AICPA, Paychex and Intuit and the International Franchise Association. All members have signed the following open letter:







An Open Letter to President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Members of Congress Our nation is taking unprecedented steps to address the current coronavirus pandemic, keep our citizens safe and American workers on the job. Broad governmental proposals for bank loans and direct loans are good steps, and fast action is required. We need to quickly take an additional step to ensure small businesses continue to keep their employees paid. Small businesses are the heart of the American economy and employ roughly 60 million people. We know the impact that layoffs have on workers' lives and business operations, so it's critical we keep as many people on the payroll as possible. The problem: It takes time to create new processes to distribute funds to small businesses - speed is of the essence here. An efficient and effective process would be to leverage established small business payroll processing that is already in place and can be marshalled immediately to protect jobs and preserve resiliency within the small business sector. Payroll processors produce approximately 40 percent of all payroll payments in the United States, and their customers are mostly small businesses of 500 employees or less. We urge the federal government to use these existing systems to direct funds to small businesses so they can make payroll and not shut down due to restrictions caused by the pandemic. As policymakers determine how to help those affected during this time of crisis, we encourage the use of payroll processors to provide the payments to those who work at millions of small businesses across the country. This direct funding of payroll accounts will not solve all the funding problems currently facing small businesses, but it's a step in the right direction and has numerous benefits. It is a faster and more efficient process that does not require small businesses to get loans, and it ensures employees directly receive money. In addition, small businesses that use this federal funding facility would be required to maintain their workforce, which would dramatically reduce layoffs. We believe multiple initiatives and tools are required to keep small businesses in operation. The direct payments and loans to small businesses will play an important role, but we recognize these will take weeks to implement. We are also convinced that proposed direct payments to individuals will not prevent small businesses from laying off employees. Small businesses need to make payroll now - the clock is ticking. As the federal government focuses its attention on America's economic engine - small businesses and their millions of employees - direct funding of their payroll can help. The payroll processing companies and the 45,000-plus CPA firms in America have long been partners in helping small businesses thrive in good times, and we have a role to play in the grave challenges we face today. The program would not cover all small business employees, such as gig-economy workers, who would need to be supported through other measures. But we have the expertise and systems in place to help a significant part of the small business sector and its employees, many of whom are hourly workers who are most in need. We want to help the federal government move quickly and aggressively, as we know that many employees who are laid off will not be rehired immediately. Small businesses will wind down operations, and it will be difficult to cycle back up. The pandemic will pass, but the economic impact will last. Ensuring we can rebound quickly is essential for the long-term health of our economy.

About the American Institute of CPAs The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world's largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 429,000 members in the United States and worldwide, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, offers specialized credentials, builds the pipeline of future talent and drives professional competency development to advance the vitality, relevance and quality of the profession. About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) is the most influential body of professional accountants, combining the strengths of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA (News - Alert)) to power opportunity, trust and prosperity for people, businesses and economies worldwide. It represents 657,000 members and students across 179 countries and territories in public and management accounting and advocates for the public interest and business sustainability on current and emerging issues. With broad reach, rigor and resources, the Association advances the reputation, employability and quality of CPAs, CGMAs and accounting and finance professionals globally. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005754/en/

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Showbiz personality and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Image Bureau, George Quaye, has suggested to President Akufo-Addo the need to lock down the country before its too late to contain the spread of the coronavirus.



Ghana has since recorded 24 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with one death involving a Lebanese national. A lot of Ghanaians are getting scared over the increased numbers.



George Quaye, in a long Facebook post on Sunday, commended the President for his efforts so far to curb the virus and further raised questions about a lockdown.



But the next couple of days if not weeks are going to be the most challenging, Sir. The numbers are rising and if whats happened and still happening in other countries is anything to go by, then we know the normal protocols spelt out in your earlier addresses may not be enough, Sir, he wrote.



God knows I dont want us to be locked down. But if that is what could save us from whats already here and could get worse, then why wait to do it when it could be too late? he questioned.



I only worry because I see countries that are better resourced in almost everything than us struggle with this thing. I see them bury their citizens in scary large numbers. I worry, Sir.



Mr. President, I dont know if my family and I can survive a lockdown. But I do know for sure that if this thing gets out of control, we will definitely not survive. So I ask in all humility Sir, by not locking us down now, are we giving tomorrow the best possible chance? Thank you, Sir. God bless you and God bless our homeland Ghana!



The world is currently struggling to contain the pandemic. More than 13,000 have already been killed in Italy, USA, China, among others, by the virus. Ghana is hoping not to get there.

Source: Daily Guide









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.

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Disadvantaged by poverty, unsanitary housing and poor to non-existent health services, the people of Rio de Janeiro's teeming favelas are preparing for the worst when the coronavirus takes a grip on Brazil. "The irony is that the disease was brought to Brazil by plane, by the rich, but it is among the poor that it will explode," said Paulo Buss, director of the center for international relations at Fiocruz, a benchmark public health research center. The confirmation on Saturday of a first case of COVID-19 in the City of God, an emblematic favela which inspired the 2002 film of the same name, has set alarm bells ringing. Almost a quarter of Rio's inhabitants -- or 1.5 million people -- live in the favelas, crowded jumbles of tin-roof shacks and narrow, impromptu streets. They are often situated on the hills overlooking wealthy neighborhoods. That is the case of the Tabajaras favela, which has a spectacular view of the famous Copacabana beach district below. "Here, people are very afraid," said Vania Ribeiro, vice president of the local neighborhood association. "The nearest health center is the same that the elderly people in Copacabana and tourists from all over the world use," she said. - 'Social vulnerability' - The usual guidelines for how to protect oneself from the coronavirus, "social distancing" and "barrier gestures," are difficult to apply here. "We are told that we have to wash our hands all the time, but what if the running water is regularly cut off? We're hardly going to wash our hands with mineral water!" Ribeiro said. Rio city hall told AFP it had "intensified prevention campaigns in the favelas," as the number of coronavirus cases in Brazil has shot to 1,546, with 25 deaths, making it the hardest-hit country in Latin America. The standard advice from municipal authorities recommends that people who feel they may be infected self-isolate in a separate room from the rest of their family. "If your home only has one room, infected people should stay at least a meter away from other family members," says city hall. "Official statistics show that most of the favela houses have two or three rooms, with five to eight inhabitants. How can you isolate an infected person in these conditions?" asked Buss. Beyond the high population density, unsanitary conditions in some dwellings also pose problems. "In the favela, most houses have few windows, which prevents good air circulation, prevents daylight from entering and promotes the spread of respiratory diseases," said Patricia Canto, pulmonologist at the National School of Public Health. In particular, tuberculosis continues to wreak havoc in the favelas, with infection rates sometimes 10 times higher than the national average. "For the coronavirus, we say that we must protect the most vulnerable by talking about the elderly, but we must not forget the cases of social vulnerability," said Canto. - Informal economy - In the favelas, many people depend on the informal economy to make a living, and confinement risks taking away all forms of subsistence. Rio has so far escaped the total confinement regime being experienced in much of Europe and neighboring Argentina. But schools and shops have been closed, as have beaches and other tourist spots, where many street vendors from poor neighborhoods sell their products. "People who do not have a formal job must continue to go out to work because they have no choice. Either they die of hunger, or they risk dying by catching the coronavirus," said Joelma Sousa, of the NGO Redes da Mare, located in a set of favelas near Rio's international airport. But Sousa is especially worried about the hit and miss nature of the health services. "The clinics are sorely lacking in equipment and staff. These days, they are closed at 3:00 pm, three hours earlier than normal, because there is no doctor left," she said. In Tabajaras, Ribeiro says locals are facing another problem. "Here, the most practical way to climb the heights of the hill is by motorbike taxi. We are going to ask the police to no longer make it compulsory for passengers to wear a helmet, otherwise the same helmet will pass from head to head." That is just one of the many daily puzzles for poor neighborhoods in Rio in the midst of a global pandemic.
THOUGH OFTEN DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO NUCLEAR WAR OR A SIMILARLY CHAOTIC SCENARIO, CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT PLANS CAN BE TRIGGERED EVEN BY POPULAR, NONVIOLENT OPPOSITION TO AN UNPOPULAR WAR ABROAD. IT EXISTS SOLELY TO KEEP THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN PLACE, REGARDLESS OF THE COST.

WASHINGTON DC  Last week, Newsweek published a report entitled Inside The Militarys Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government, which offers vague descriptions of different military plans that could be put into effect if the civilian government were to be largely incapacitated, with a focus on the potential of the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to result in such a scenario.

The articles author, William Arkin, largely frames these plans as new, though  buried deep within the article  he eventually mentions that such contingency plans can be traced back to the Eisenhower administration (though they were in place before) and have since been developed and updated by most subsequent administrations, largely through the issuance of executive orders. Arkin also points out that some of these Continuity of Government, or COG, plans include the devolution of leadership and Constitutional authority, which he notes could circumvent the normal Constitutional provisions for government succession, and military commanders could be placed in control around America.

Yet, there are key aspects of COG and its development that Arkin leaves out. For instance, in his timeline on how such plans have developed in the post-World War II era, he conveniently fails to mention any of the Reagan administrations major changes to COG, including the Reagan-era Executive Order on which all current COG programs are based. Indeed, many of the extra-Constitutional aspects of COG that Arkin mentions began during the Reagan administration, when these plans were redrafted to largely exclude members of Congress, including the Speaker of the House, from succession plans and even moved to essentially eliminate Congress in the event of COG being implemented, with near total power instead being given to the executive branch and the military. It was also during this time that the devolution aspect of COG was hammered out, as it created three president-cabinet teams to be stationed in different parts of the country outside of the nations capital. Arkins decision to not mention how COG was a major focus of the Reagan administration is striking given that that administration poured hundreds of millions of dollars annually into COG planning and development and also conducted COG drills on a regular basis.

Furthermore, the Miami Herald revealed in 1987, that the COG programs of that era were deeply connected to what the Herald termed a virtual parallel government outside the traditional cabinet departments and agencies that began operating almost from the day Reagan took office and included many of Reagans closest advisers, including then-CIA Director William Casey. The Herald further claimed that this parallel government had been responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal (i.e. involved in arming the Nicaraguan rebels) as well as the drafting of martial law plans for national emergencies, i.e. COG, as well as the monitoring of U.S. citizens considered potential security risks.

Other key players in those Reagan-era COG developments, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Director James Woosley and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, are also left unmentioned in Arkins article. Not mentioning Cheney and Rumsfeld are particularly glaring omissions given that they were involved in the implementation of aspects of those COG plans that went live in the wake of the September 11 attacks, when both men were serving in key posts in the George W. Bush administration.

While Arkins omission of the role of the Reagan administration and leading neoconservatives in the development and use of COG is significant, arguably more significant is his failure to mention one of COGs major components, one that has gone essentially unmentioned by well-known media outlets for well over a decade  Main Core.

THE GOVERNMENTS DATABASE OF POTENTIAL TROUBLEMAKERS

When Reagan issued Executive Order 12656, he created COG plans that could be implemented during any national security emergency, which the E.O. loosely defined as any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological emergency, or other emergency, that seriously degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United States. E.O. 12656 also put the National Security Council (NSC) in charge of developing and administering COG policies. The NSC official placed in charge of this secret COG program was Oliver North, whose name would later become infamous for the key role he played in the Iran-Contra Scandal. During the Iran-Contra hearings in the late 1980s, then-Representative Jack Brooks (D-TX) attempted to ask the following question to North: Colonel North, in your work at the NSC, were you not assigned at one time to work on plans for the continuity of government in the event of a major disaster? Brooks, however was immediately cut off by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who stated  I believe that question touches upon a highly sensitive and classified area, so may I request that you not touch upon that, sir. Brooks protested, but North was ultimately not required to give an answer.

As the de facto leader of COG development and planning during the Reagan administration, North oversaw the creation of a controversial database that later became known simply as Main Core. The Main Core database, first built using the stolen PROMIS software (more information on PROMIS here and here), was essentially a list of American dissidents and potential troublemakers. A senior government official with a high-ranking security clearance and service in five presidential administrations described the database to journalist Chris Ketcham in 2008 as follows:

A database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived enemies of the state almost instantaneously.

In 1993, Wired magazine stated that:

Using PROMIS, sources point out, North could have drawn up lists of anyone ever arrested for a political protest, for example, or anyone who had ever refused to pay their taxes. Compared to PROMIS, Richard Nixons enemies list or Sen. Joe McCarthys blacklist look downright crude.

Main Core is the aspect of COG that is most often ignored in reporting on these types of plans, with Arkins article being just a more recent example. While most of the rare mentions of COG in the mainstream touch on how those plans would result in the implementation of martial law and the suspension of the Constitution, they even more rarely  if ever  mention Main Core. Indeed, the last mainstream reports on Main Core were written over a decade ago  all in 2008  by Chris Ketcham in Radar, by Scott Horton in Harpers and by Tim Shorrock in Salon.

Given that COG is now creeping back into mainstream reporting, revisiting Main Core is essential as the database still exists and has grown considerably since Oliver North first oversaw its creation in the early 1980s. In Ketchams 2008 article on the subject, he quotes then-senior government officials who said that, at the time, the number of unfriendly Americans on that database was approximately 8 million. Ketcham further notes that, in the event COG is implemented, these individuals could be subject to anything ranging from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

Tim Shorrock, in his coverage of Main Core, noted that the database was seen in use at the White House following the September 11 attacks and there is strong evidence pointing to it having been used by the George W. Bush administration to guide its domestic surveillance activities in the post-9/11 era. A government official who had told a reporter about having seen the database operational at the White House following September 11th turned white as a sheet when the reporter mentioned the name Main Core specifically. Shorrocks reporting also details how Main Core includes vast amounts of information on those unfriendly Americans, including the fruits of the vast domestic surveillance programs of the NSA and other U.S. federal agencies that continue today and are now set to be expanded due to the current coronavirus crisis.

In a report written last year on the involvement of U.S. and Israeli intelligence and their private sector allies in pushing for new, troubling pre-crime programs, I noted that Main Core is not only available to U.S. intelligence but also Israels intelligence apparatus and that Israeli intelligence was involved in the creation and expansion of Main Core. That report also detailed how Main Core was used by members of Reagans NSC to blackmail members of Congress, a practice that is likely to have continued under subsequent administrations. It also noted how Main Core today likely involves the same software now used by every U.S. intelligence agency and numerous other federal agencies that is marketed by Palantir, a company created and owned by Trump ally Peter Thiel. Palantirs software boasts predictive policing capabilities and tracks a category of person using the label subversive, very much in keeping with the spirit of Main Core.

MAIN CORE AND BILL BARRS POWER GRAB

Though Main Core was reportedly in use after September 11 to target unfriendly individuals for increased domestic surveillance, concern that COG plans in the age of coronavirus could take a more drastic turn and involve the detention of Americans included in that database now seems more plausible than ever. On Saturday, Politico reported that the Department of Justice has demanded new emergency powers during the current pandemic and these powers include being able to indefinitely detain Americans without trial. Politico also noted that the DOJs controversial new requests span several stages of the legal process, from initial arrest to how cases are processed and investigated. Per the DOJs requests, indefinite detention would emerge through a new ability whereby the Attorney General or a judge could pause court proceedings whenever courts are fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation.

What Politico did not include in its report is that current Attorney General William Barr has spent the past several months fine-tuning and implementing a pre-crime program. Officially known as the National Disruption and Early Engagement Program (DEEP), it aims to identify, assess and engage potentially violent individuals before they strike. Barr first announced this program last October in an official memorandum and therein stated that the program was to be implemented sometime over the course of 2020 and would involve an efficient, effective and programmatic strategy to disrupt individuals who are mobilizing towards violence, by all lawful means.

A training conference for that program took place this past December and involved members of the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and private sector partners. One recent DOJ statement regarding an arrest made last year in Nevada, claimed that that specific case was part of the DOJs National Disruption and Early Engagement Program, suggesting that this program is already in use  at least in some parts of the country.

In his memorandum, Barr further notes that the programs early engagement tactics were born of the posture we adopted with respect to terrorist threats following the September 11 attacks, essentially stating that this pre-crime program will utilize methods from the War on Terror domestically and on a massive scale.

Given the context of the current coronavirus crisis, the DOJs recent request for sweeping new powers and the role of Main Core in COG plans, one part of Barrs pre-crime memorandum stands out. In the part of the document where Barr outlines what actions will be taken once an individual is deemed potentially violent or threatening, he writes that those individuals will be subject to detention, court-ordered mental health treatment and electronic monitoring, among other measures.

The possibility of pre-crime detention was also present in the DOJs recent request for new emergency powers in light of the coronavirus crisis, as it specifically asks that those new powers apply to any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil process and proceedings. Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told Politico that the inclusion of the term pre-arrest likely means that you could be arrested and never brought before a judge until they decide that the emergency or the civil disobedience is over. I find it absolutely terrifying.

Thus, if DOJ is granted these new powers it has requested, the William Barr-led Department of Justice will not only be authorized to indefinitely detain Americans without trial, it will be able to detain them without any proof of those detainees having committed a crime or even having plans or the intent to commit a crime. Instead, the DOJ only needs to argue that the individual was mobilizing towards violence, an extremely vague phrase that could potentially be used against anyone who expresses discontent with the government or government policy.

Furthermore, with the FBI having recently flagged conspiracy theorists (and by extension those who distrust or question government narratives of both past and present) as a domestic terror threat, the DOJ could even make the case that failure to blindly trust government narratives presents a threat to the public order. Given that the Main Core database in its current form contains bulk surveillance gathered from social media, phone conversations/messaging apps and even financial information (i.e. purchasing history, etc.) on Americans deemed unfriendly often for the slightest and most trivial reason, this unprecedented power grab by the DOJ has an authoritarian and Orwellian potential to target legitimate dissent like never before.

With the specter of COG now snaking its way into mainstream discourse during the coronavirus crisis, it is essential that Americans stay vigilant, as these Orwellian and dystopian solutions to allegedly protect us from the current pandemic have been in place long before COVID-19 made its appearance on the world stage or landed on U.S. shores.

It is also essential to remember that COG, Main Core and the DOJs pre-crime program were all created and are currently controlled by extremely corrupt and fundamentally untrustworthy individuals who have not only been involved in, innumerable scandals, over the years, but have also installed and supported some of the most authoritarian, savage and horrific dictators the world has ever seen. To trust them with such unprecedented and dangerous powers in a period of national confusion and panic is tantamount to beckoning the horrors of those dictatorships  past and present  to come home to roost.
Gov. Greg Abbott asked President Donald Trump on Monday to issue a major disaster declaration and provide Texas with direct federal aid to address shortages of supplies related to the unfolding coronavirus crisis.

In a letter to the president, Abbott said the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.

Abbott added that federal assistance is necessary to save lives, to protect property, public health, and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a larger disaster.

The governor said Texas faces shortages of protective and medical equipment, testing supplies, hospital beds and "a healthy and adequate cadre of medical personnel."

Texas receives more disaster declarations than any other state in the nation and is still recovering from Hurricane larvey and the subsequent four major disasters, of which the last is Tropical Storm Imelda, Abbott wrote. The constant bombardment of disasters places Texas at an economic disadvantage to combat the spread of this pandemic.

Already, Abbott has issued executive orders limiting gatherings to 10 people or fewer and barring dine-in eating and drinks at bars and restaurants, among other restrictions. He said in the letter to Trump that Texas faces $21 million in costs related to the states coronavirus response, and an additional $30 million in purchase orders, as of Saturday.

The funds Abbott requested would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agencys crisis counseling assistance and training program and grants reserved for emergency protective measures.

Abbotts comments mirror those from his news conference Sunday, when he made a plea for help from the federal government but did not specifically mention Trump. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also called on Trump in the latest episode of his podcast to invoke the Defense Production Act and force private manufacturers to make ventilators and other medical equipment.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
By David Morgan and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A far-reaching coronavirus economic stimulus package remained stalled in the U.S.

By David Morgan and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A far-reaching coronavirus economic stimulus package remained stalled in the U.S. Senate on Monday as Democrats said it contained too little money for states and hospitals and not enough restrictions on a fund to help big businesses.

A 49-46 vote left the $2 trillion measure short of the 60 votes needed to advance, as the chamber remained deadlocked for a second day. Only one Democrat, Senator Doug Jones, voted with Republicans to advance the bill.

Congress has already passed legislation to blunt the economic toll of the pandemic that has killed more than 550 people in the United States and sickened more than 43,800, thrown millions out of work and led state governors to order nearly a third of the nation's population to stay at home.

Tempers frayed as Republicans accused Democrats of obstruction during a national emergency, but negotiators from both parties and Republican President Donald Trump's administration returned to private rooms where they have spent days trying to agree on a relief package.

"Why are the American people still waiting? Why are Democrats filibustering the bipartisan bill they helped write?" Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Democrats said they were close to an agreement with Republicans. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a modified version of the legislation could pass on Monday. But they insisted it needed to include more oversight provisions for a $500 billion fund to help large businesses.

"Take a deep breath. We're gonna pass this bill," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said.

But the Senate's No 2 Republican, John Thune, told reporters when asked if he thought there would be a deal on Monday night: "It doesnt look like it at the moment. But you know, I hope Im wrong."

'HIP-DEEP NEGOTIATING'

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administration's point person on coronavirus legislation, shuttled in and out of Schumer's office.

"His folks are hip-deep negotiating with Mnuchin, which is a good sign," Democratic Senator Chris Coons said.

Trump's administration launched a major push last week for action to blunt the economic impact - and steep stock market decline - from the pandemic, after Trump himself spent several weeks dismissing the virus' risks.

The Senate measure includes financial aid for ordinary Americans, small businesses and critically affected industries, such as airlines.

Republicans said Democrats were seeking to add unrelated provisions, such as expanded tax credits for wind and solar power and increased leverage for labor unions.

Democrats said Republicans were trying to add provisions that would exclude nonprofit groups from receiving small-business aid, and extend a sexual abstinence-education program that is due to expire in May.

Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi released her own version, which would add billions of dollars to help states conduct elections by mail.

Republicans normally hold a slim 53-47 majority in the chamber, short of the 60 votes they need to advance most legislation.

But the coronavirus has trimmed their ranks, making it even harder to advance legislation without significant support from Democrats.

Republican Senator Rand Paul said on Sunday he tested positive for the virus. But since he kept circulating on Capitol Hill after getting tested, including an alleged visit to the Senate gym, several other Republicans decided to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure.

Paul said he would not even know he had contracted the disease if he had not ignored recommendations and sought testing. "The broader the testing and the less finger-pointing we have, the better," he said in a statement.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said her husband, John Bessler, contracted pneumonia and coughed up blood after contracting the disease. She said she was not at risk because she had not seen him in person for two weeks.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Andy Sullivan and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Zealanders living in Australia are calling on the government to give them full access to Centrelink payments as the coronavirus crisis puts thousands out of work.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asked Scott Morrison to lift the ban on Kiwis receiving unemployment benefits in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic.

'I have specifically sought could we have a short-term exemption? Just for these exceptional circumstances for New Zealanders to be supported,' she said.

'Not least because it will encourage compliance during this time when we need people to be self-isolating for instances.'

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asked Scott Morrison to lift the ban on Kiwis receiving unemployment benefits in Australia

Her call comes as more than 100,000 Kiwis living in Australia signed a Change.org petition asking for the Australian Government to reinstate full Centrelink support for New Zealand citizens living in Australia.

'There is a relatively small number of Kiwis living in Australia who have found themselves suddenly out of work because of the COVID-19 outbreak and consequential shutdowns,' the petition said.

Alax Robinson, who created the petition, said he received a text message on his way to work which advised him he no longer had a job.

'My mum is here with me, is high-risk for COVID-19, and now can't return to New Zealand. And I've heard from hundreds of Kiwis with heartbreaking stories,' he said.

'Our home is here, our families are here, and we want to stay here. Many of us cannot simply uproot our lives here and head back to NZ. We have families, we are part of our communities.'

Mr Robinson wrote an open letter to the Minister for Government Services, Stuart Robert to 'reinstate the reciprocal agreement' between Australia and New Zealand.

Her call comes as more than 100,000 Kiwis living in Australia signed a Change.org petition asking for the Australian Government to reinstate full Centrelink support for New Zealand citizens living in Australia

According to the Centrelink website, New Zealand citizens living in Australia can claim the Age Pension, the Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment.

Centrelink's online portal crashed for the second day in a row on Tuesday despite the Australian Government assuring tens of thousands of people seeking welfare they would be able to access it.

About 123,000 logged on to the MyGov portal on Tuesday morning.

It crashed on Monday after it was overwhelmed by almost 100,000 newly unemployed Australians, many of whom were making their first approach to Centrelink.

Centrelink will boost its workforce by 5,000 people to deal with the influx of applicants and extend call centre hours.

But there will be fewer workers at the centres because of social distancing requirements. No pop-up shopfronts are planned.

Many families, workers and business owners have been forced to seek social security as the pandemic throws the national economy into chaos.
Four NATO Cooperative Service members in Afghanistan test positive for Corona. NATO has given this information. After this information, there was a stir in the NATO army residing in Afghanistan. Despite the agreement on peace talks between the US and the Afghan government, thousands of NATO personnel are present in Afghanistan. In such a situation, fear of corona has arisen on these workers.

For your information, let us tell you that till now 3 lakh 86 thousand 932 cases of Corona have been reported. The death toll from infection has reached 16 thousand 748. Currently, two lakh 67 thousand 791 people are infected in all areas of the world. Most of the total number of dead worldwide is from China, Italy and Iran. This virus was started from China. Now Italy and Iran have become two major focal points of this disease, the death toll here is constantly increasing.

Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Trump government of America has threatened Afghanistan that if all the rival leaders here fail to agree to form a new government, then all the help to the country will be reduced further. The announcement was made on Monday after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah.

Also Read:

One woman's negligence causes havoc, infecting more than 5000 people

While whole world is quarantine, China to Lift Lockdown after months

The speed of the corona increasing continuously, the number of infected reaches over 3 lakhs

Corona: Italy gets relief after over 6000 deaths, death toll comes down
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Bathurst Resources (ASX:BRL) share price has dived 57% in the last thirty days. And that drop will have no doubt have some shareholders concerned that the 69% share price decline, over the last year, has turned them into bagholders. What is a bagholder? It is a shareholder who has suffered a bad loss, but continues to hold indefinitely, without questioning their reasons for holding, even as the losses grow greater.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for Bathurst Resources

Does Bathurst Resources Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

Bathurst Resources's P/E of 2.11 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. If you look at the image below, you can see Bathurst Resources has a lower P/E than the average (6.7) in the metals and mining industry classification.

ASX:BRL Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 24th 2020

This suggests that market participants think Bathurst Resources will underperform other companies in its industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with Bathurst Resources, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

Story continues

Bathurst Resources's earnings per share fell by 26% in the last twelve months.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

So What Does Bathurst Resources's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt totals just 4.2% of Bathurst Resources's market cap. So it doesn't have as many options as it would with net cash, but its debt would not have much of an impact on its P/E ratio.

The Verdict On Bathurst Resources's P/E Ratio

Bathurst Resources's P/E is 2.1 which is below average (11.5) in the AU market. The debt levels are not a major concern, but the lack of EPS growth is likely weighing on sentiment. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become more pessimistic about Bathurst Resources over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 4.9 back then to 2.1 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

But note: Bathurst Resources may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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.
MANILA, Philippines  Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles clarified that health workers are not required to apply for accreditation from the Department of Health (DOH).

Nograles said health workers may present their professional license cards issued by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and an ID card issued by their employer.

These ID cards are enough for them to be exempted from the strict protocols imposed under the enhanced community quarantine due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Napaka-importante po ng tungkulin at trabaho ng ating mga health workers, the Spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said.

Our health workers, you are our real-life heroes. We thank you for your sacrifice and your service to the nation. Alam ko po kung gaano kahirap ang trabaho po ninyo at ang tungkulin ninyo kaya hindi namin kayo pahihirapan dito sa accreditation IDs, he added.

Nograles assured that the government has provided free transport service for health workers affected by the suspension of mass transport during the course of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. MNP (with details from Rosalie Coz)

The post Health workers need no DOH accreditation amid enhanced community quarantine Palace appeared first on UNTV News.
Moroccos Ministry of Health decided to supply health facilities across the country with chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine, whose tests on patients infected with the coronavirus proved encouraging.

The decision was made after consultations with the technical and scientific committee of the national program for the prevention and control of influenza and acute respiratory infections, the Health Ministry said in a press release.

The health department, which has made efforts to ensure the medications availability, urges that chloroquine stocks must be managed by the heads of regional supply and pandemic units at the level of regional health directorates.

The Ministry of Health emphasized that all prescriptions must be made on a normative prescription including all necessary information concerning the dose and instructions for usage. The drug use will be limited to cases admitted to hospitals.

As the drug was under clinical trials across the world with many health experts believing chronoquil may prove an effective treatment to cure people with COVID-19, Morocco, in an anticipatory move, had purchased the entire stock of Nivaquine, an antimalarial drug produced based on chloroquine.

According to press reports, the Moroccan authorities bought all the stock of Nivaquine, produced in by the Sanofi laboratories in its factories in Casablanca.

Morocco also placed an order for an additional quantity of Nivaquine from Sanofi laboratories.

Morocco has confirmed 143 novel coronavirus patients as of March 23. Five patients have recovered, and four have died.

Coronavirus Cases worldwide reached 392,435 and deaths 17,148.
Dog owners passionately defend their dog breed of choice, but is your precious poodle really smarter than a Labrador retriever?

It's time to put those weekly dog park arguments to rest. If youre looking for a definitive answer to the question of whether or not your pup is smarter than the average dog, then author and professor of canine psychology Stanley Corens 2006 book, "The Intelligence of Dogs," is an excellent reference point. Its widely accepted among the community of canine devotees as an accurate representation of the trainability and overall intelligence of breeds recognized by the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are only expected to cause more troubles following their exit -- and they could even kill the monarchy.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will finally mark their last day as members of the royal family on March 31. From that day onward, they will no longer enjoy the royal perks which they have enjoyed before.

Though their departure would mean less expense for the monarchy, it negatively echoed the statement made by Sir David Attenborough years ago about the danger of shifting from being royals to becoming "ordinary" and revealing so much about royal life.

Following the release of the palace's 18-month-old 1969 documentary "Royal Family" that year, Sir Attenborough responded to the series and said that it exposed too much information about the monarchy.

"You're killing the monarchy, you know, with this film you're making," the documentary maker uttered. "The whole royal institution depends on mystique and the tribal chief in his hut."

He pointed out that if any member of the tribe sees everything inside the hut, the whole chiefdom's system becomes damaged and gradually loses its strengths.

Thus, like the tribe he mentioned, the monarchy could receive a ticking bomb upon completely losing Prince Harry and Meghan and letting the two damage the royal family's foundation.

In addition, even the royal author Ingrid Seward wrote in her 2000 book "The Queen and Di: The Untold Story" seconded Sir Attenborough's warning for the royal family.

She said, "It was a warning which was ignored, and, in retrospect, the program came to be seen to have given fateful encouragement to exactly the kind of intrusive interest in their lives which the Royal Family were at such pains to avoid."

Sussexes Will Be Ordinary Upon Breaking Away

In January, The Atlantic's Tom McTague claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex can fully decide for themselves starting next month after they successfully shooed off royal neutrality.

McTague added that since they chose to have ordinary lives, they will soon start to behave like normal people. Because of this, people will treat the soon-to-be-former-royals as ordinary.

Previously, Valentine Low, the Times of London's royal correspondent, also compared the two with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

According to Low, the royal couple of Windsor became unimportant people after the Duke renounced his throne. What they feared that time could also happen to Prince Harry and Markle.

As part of their transition, they can no longer be able to use their HRH titles starting next month. Moreover, from that day onwards, they will be funded by Prince Charles' Duchy of Cornwall estate and will officially no longer be senior members of the royal family.

Despite these changes, Prince Harry expressed his excitement to the Russian hoaxers, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarovi (who pretended to be the young climate change activist, Greta Thunberg and her father Savante) in a leaked hoax phone call earlier this month.

Harry said that he is "much more normal than my family believes" and that he and Meghan are excited about finally getting away from the royal restrictions soon -- even if that means damaging the monarchy.
Representative image

Delhi Police cleared New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area on March 24 amid a complete lockdown in the national capital over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Shaheen Bagh area had witnessed a sit-in protest against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) for around 100 days. The protest has been largely led by women. The sit-in started on December 15, 2019, soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre passed CAA in Parliament.

Demonstrators have also been appealing to the Central to revive the economy, to take steps for tackling unemployment and women's safety.



#WATCH Delhi Police clears the protest site in Shaheen Bagh area, amid complete lockdown in the national capital, in wake of #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/N6MGLTLs5Z

 ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

While thousands of people  including celebrities from various fields  had joined the protest in the past, there have been efforts from various corners to remove the blockade. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi government had earlier placed restrictions on the assembly of more than five people. Consequently, the number of protesters had significantly decreased.
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According to an old Jewish proverb, those who need the services of a thief must take him down from the noose. In the case before Israel, the thief is being accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, but has nonetheless convinced the citizenry that his services are essential. In this regard, Israels interim prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has turned himself into a vital cure for a horrible epidemic. In addition, he is demanding that the political hangman, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and his associates restore him to the status of permanent prime minister. On March 22, Netanyahu appealed once again to his rival Gantz to join a unity government to tackle the coronavirus crisis. With the help of this tiny virus, the larger-than-life accused has successfully placed responsibility at the door of his accuser and created conflict in the accuser's camp.

Blue and White, established in late 2018, rode the waves of voter disgust with Netanyahu to its current position at the head of a slim, 61-seat Knesset majority, and its leader has been tasked with forming the next government. Over 1.2 million Israelis who voted for Blue and White were fed up with Netanyahus indecent assault on Israeli democracy and his abuse of the states social fabric. In the run-up to the March 2 elections, Gantz tweeted, Support Blue and White in the polling booth, or else youll get an Erdogan entrenched in the PMs residence, referring to Turkish strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also announced categorically that his party would not join a government led by an indicted prime minister, the first article in Blue and Whites contract with its voters. Had this been a legal document, a decision by Gantz and his friends to join a Netanyahu-led government would have been the basis for a damage award on the grounds of a contract violation.

The problem is that the contract includes another commitment, the violation of which could be considered deceit if not outright vote theft. In March 2019 during Gantz's early days in politics, he announced that he would not conduct a dialogue with the political leadership of Israels Arab community because it speaks out against the State of Israel. Thus, the second article in Blue and Whites contract with its voters promises that any government the party forms will only include Zionist, or patriotic, parties. In light of the March 2 election results, which gave Blue and White 33 Knesset seats and the Arab Joint List 15, Gantz had no choice but to chip away at this pledge and invite the Arab political leadership for talks.

Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who has built a reputation for himself as the archenemy of the Arab lawmakers, swallowed the bitter pill of political cooperation with the Arabs in his quest to unseat Netanyahu. The head of the small Telem faction in Blue and White, Moshe Yaalon, a former general considered a straight shooter, also decided that the first article in the contract with voters was so crucial that it justified violating the second. Yaalon failed, however, to convince Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, his two fellow Telem colleagues, to follow in his footsteps. Hauser and Hendel, both of a distinctly right-wing persuasion, had had firsthand experience with Netanyahus deceptiveness  the former as his cabinet secretary and the latter as his spokesperson  and thus had set out to topple him. Now they are refusing to cooperate with the Joint List even at the cost of perpetuating Netanyahus grip on power. There are increasing signs in recent days that Gabi Ashkenazi, a member of the Blue and White leadership, is leaning toward joining the two rejectionists and accepting Netanyahus call to join a unity government under his leadership for the first 18 months of the term.

As always, unity relates only to parties for which most of their voters are Jewish. (Luckily, members of the arch-racist Otzma Yehudit, disciples of Rabbi Meir Kahane, failed to get elected.) Netanyahu, the person who enabled Hamas to receive Qatari cash aid, has in the publics eyes turned the elected representatives of the states Arab minority, among them two medical doctors, into terror supporters. This campaign of incitement by Netanyahu and his allies against the states Arab citizens has infuriated many Israelis who devoted most of their lives to protecting the security of the state. Writing in Haaretz on March 23, Ephraim Halevy, former Mossad chief and former chair of the National Security Council, condemned the rejection of the Joint List as legitimate political partners: Anyone who disqualifies the Arab MKs disqualifies their supporters, including the doctors who are currently saving the lives of Israelis  Jews, Arabs and Druze alike. This is a disgrace and, worse, a self-inflicted wound.

Had Netanyahus performance in the critical fight against the coronavirus epidemic been flawless, and if he were indeed irreplaceable, as he claims, Gantz, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, would have been justified in thinking about subordinating himself under the great leaders command, at least temporarily. Senior health system sources have claimed, however, that contrary to the story Netanyahu presents in public, he excludes top Health Ministry professionals and leading epidemiologists from the decision-making process on the epidemic. The results are apparent in the contradictory instructions issued to the public and the lack of coordination among authorities.

A March 23 report by the State Comptrollers Office, the government watchdog, points to flaws in the preparedness of the Health Ministry, HMOs and hospitals in dealing with resurgent and new epidemics. The comptroller found that the national preparedness plan fails to set out the number of isolation rooms required and that the Health Ministry lacks a plan to rectify the shortage in hospital beds, medical teams and equipment in the event of a flu pandemic. The review also found that the inventory of medicine would suffice for only 16% of the population rather than the required 25%.

The transitional prime ministers handling of the current crisis is reminiscent of another of his performances in the health care arena. Netanyahu bears responsibility for the prolonged abandonment of Israels elderly, the group most vulnerable in the current epidemic. In a 2017 report, the comptroller pointed to the many serious flaws in the quality of home care  to the point of neglect  provided to 165,000 elderly Israelis. In May 2019, the same comptroller warned that the Health Ministry had not prepared for the significant growth expected in the number of elderly, including the need for dedicated wards and units and additional dedicated beds and nursing support and rehabilitation.

Those in Blue and White's leadership who advocate joining a unity government argue that despite Netanyahus actions and failures, he still commands significant power. They warn of the irreversible political damage to the fragile alliance that could be caused by the fear being generated by the coronavirus and of the Arabs. A Channel 12 poll released March 12, however, indicates that the coronavirus and incitement against the Joint List have not undermined the position held by the center-left political bloc, which has maintained public support for its 61 Knesset seats.

The Supreme Court has ordered a vote to replace the current Knesset speaker, Likud's Yuli Edelstein, by March 25. With a new speaker and with new committees, Blue and White could advance legislation blocking Netanyahu from being tasked with forming the next government and in the process bringing him closer to the defendants box. Gantz and his friends must now decide which is wiser: legitimizing a citizen under indictment who is eroding the states democracy or approving that same citizen's delegitimization of 15 democratically elected, law-abiding Arab citizens.
We talked a lot about flattening the curve, and one of the goals of that is not to exceed the health care system capacity, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health. Were doing all this because we want to avoid stressing the health care system, to the point where in Italy they are having hospitals that are absolutely full and not having enough of the ventilators.  Its been hugely concerning for obvious reasons.
Skyhorse Publishing has laid off 30% of its workforce due to declining sales caused by the outbreak of the new coronavirus. The layoffs were announced to staff yesterday. In addition to declining sales, Skyhorses decision to delay publication of some titles to later in the year has hurt its cash flow, Skyhorse CEO Tony Lyons explained to employees on what necessitated the cuts.

Its so sad to have to do this. We had to let a terrific group of publishing professionals go, but there was no alternative under the circumstances, Lyons said in a statement issued to PW. We believe these staff cuts will enable us to continue to succeed as a company in the long run.

Lyons said that, just a few weeks ago, with the signing of the Woody Allen memoir (released yesterday) and plans for Skyhorse to publish its first edition of the World Almanac, we were expecting to have a terrific year. But to paraphrase William Faulkners Nobel Prize acceptance speech, I believe book publishing will not only endure; it will prevail. Because books are the 'props, the pillars' that help us all 'endure and prevail.' By any measure, they are as essential as any staple I can think of."
Gujarat Congress MLAs who were



kept in a resort in Jaipur returned to the state on Tuesday after the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for March 26 was postponed.

Three candidates from the BJP and two from the Congress were in the fray for four RS seats from the state.

The EC on Tuesday announced postponement of election to 18 Rajya Sabha seats.

"All our 68 MLAs who were shifted to Jaipur (last week) have returned to Ahmedabad," said a party source.

They were shifted to Jaipur to stop the BJP from indulging in horse-trading after five Congress MLAs resigned, reducing the party strength from 73 to 68 in the 182-member Assembly.

While the Congress had earlier stated the EC could conduct polls on March 26 by taking necessary precautions, on Tuesday its state unit chief Amit Chavda said "however, now when the Election Commission has taken a decision keeping in mind the well-being of people, we accept it".

"Whenever (RS) elections will be held, both our candidates will win," he said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently has 103 MLAs in the Assembly.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the Rajya Sabha election.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

The Bharatiya Tribal Party has two MLAs, Nationalist Congress Party one and there is one Independent legislator.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the reins of power



changed from the hands of the Congress to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, a woman collector who had allegedly hit a leader of the saffron party during a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act was transferred.

Video clips had shown Rajgarh Collector Nidhi Nivedita purportedly slapping a man during the BJP rally on January 20.

Nivedita was on Tuesday shifted to the MP secretariat as deputy secretary while Neeraj Kumar Singh was appointed in her place in Rajgarh.

After the January 20 incident, BJP leaders, in the opposition at the time, including current chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had condemned her behaviour and demanded action against her.

The Chouhan government on Tuesday also transferred Rewa Municipal Corporation commissioner Sabhajit Yadav, who has had run-ins with prominent BJP leaders in the state.

In November last year, Yadav had also written an open letter to Chouhan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who took oath on Monday night, proved his majority by winning the trust vote in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The Congress MLAs boycotted the state Assembly proceedings which have now been adjourned till March 27.

As the House assembled on Tuesday, Chouhan moved a trust vote which was approved unanimously. Senior BJP MLA Jagdish Devda acted as the protem speaker.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati had resigned late Monday night, hours after Chouhan took oath as chief minister of the state.

In his resignation letter submitted to Deputy Speaker Hina Kavre, Prajapati said he is resigning as speaker of the state Assembly on moral grounds. Prajapati, the Congress MLA from Gotegaon, was elected as speaker amid protests by the BJP in January last year after Kamal Nath became chief minister of the state.

Senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra has said that amid the reduced strength of the House due to the resignation of MLAs and demise of two MLAs, the BJP required 104 MLAs to prove majority and the party got support of 112 MLAs including SP, BSP and independents.

He further said that the supplementary budget would be presented on March 27.

On Tuesday, Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Vivek Tankha had objected to four-day assembly session in Madhya Pradesh.

"It's difficult to believe that assembly session has been convened. As public servants were busy staging a coup in Bengaluru, Delhi and Bhopal for the past two weeks instead of caring for public health. After assuming power, they are busy in proving the majority. It's called 'Kalyug'," Tankha had tweeted.

Kamal Nath resigned as chief minister last week after his government lost majority following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs.

Chouhan, 61, was back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday night for a record fourth term. The legislator from Budhni took oath of office at a simple function in Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.

No other minister or Deputy Chief Minister took oath with Chouhan. It is speculated that Chouhan-led government could go for two Deputy Chief Ministers including one from Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp.

Chouhan has decided to prove his majority for which a four-day special session of the state assembly is going to begin from Tuesday. Three sittings will be held during the four-day session, an official from the Assembly secretariat said late Monday night.

Earlier, Kamal Nath had to resign as chief minister of the state last week after his government lost majority following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs.

In the 230-member Assembly, the BJP has 107 legislators. The Congress' strength reduced to 92 following the resignation of its 22 MLAs. At present, 24 seats in the Assembly are lying vacant, reducing the size of the House to 206.
A couple who split up in the UK were shocked to match with each other on Tinder 18 months later after they both moved to Australia.

Tina Sarrou and Harrison Kingshott are now expecting a baby after the one-in-a-million love match Down Under.

They split up in 2016 after Tina grew bored with Harrison living the lad lifestyle.

But unbeknownst to each other, they then both moved to Australia and were living just two streets apart when they swiped right with each other on Tinder.

Tina Sarrou and Harrison Kingshott are now expecting a baby after the one-in-a-million love match Down Under

The pair split up in 2016 (pictured together during their first relationship) after Tina grew bored with Harrison living the lad lifestyle

After recoupling, they are now due to have a baby next month and have returned to Seaford, East Sussex, to set up home.

Harrison admitted that the initial split was his own fault.

'I was a sesh gremlin,' he said. 'I used to go out all the time. I was one of them boyfriends who would go out on the beer too much.

'I moved to Australia to get away from Tina. I was sick of us being at one another's throats all the time.

'That was the furthest geographical place away from her. I would still be there now if we hadn't met back up.'

After recoupling following a 'first date' in Sydney Harbour, they are now due to have a baby next month and have returned to Seaford, East Sussex, to set up home

Harrison packed his bags and went in 2016, while Tina, 32, had always wanted to move to Australia and so decided to go the following year - having forgotten all about her ex.

But she was only there two weeks when bizarrely she matched with him on Tinder - even though he was casually seeing someone else at the time.

'What are you doing here?' she messaged him before the pair met up that night.

Tina recalled: 'He took me to Sydney Harbour and we just hit it off straight away. It was really nice seeing him again and he always makes me laugh so much.

The pair are now engaged after Harrison proposed in Turkey last year - where they went on their first ever holiday together

'We ended up getting a hotel and at the time he said he was seeing and living with another girl but it wasn't serious.'

By the following day they were back together after Harrison's then-girlfriend kicked him out for spending the night with Tina.

The pair have been loved up ever since and are excited to raise a family together.

Harrison is often mistaken for James Corden and joked that he will be naming their baby Neil, from the show Gavin and Stacey, if it's a boy.

The plumber added: 'I am the real-life Smithy. We sound the same too, both being southerners. I get it on a weekly basis and I have scammed so many free drinks because of it.

The pair have been loved up ever since they reunited and are excited to raise a family together

'People have asked me to phone their mums so they can see me. I say I will do it if you buy me a Bacardi.

'I always tell people it is not me, but they call me a liar and then I just go along with it.

'The fatter I get the more I look like him.'

He and Corden even share the same birthday - August 22 - although Harrison is 28.

Tina recognises the resemblance but believes her man is even funnier and better looking than the millionaire chat show host.

The salon owner added: 'He is always being asked for selfies and it has gotten out of hand since Carpool Karaoke took off - which I love.

Tina admitted she never thought she'd end up with Harrison after how they broke up, but said he's always made her laugh

Harrison is often mistaken for James Corden and joked that he will be naming their baby Neil, from the show Gavin and Stacey, if it's a boy

'Harrison will come into my salon and my clients will go, "Do you know who he looks like?" and I say, "Yes, we get it all the time".'

The pair are now engaged after Harrison proposed in Turkey last year - where they went on their first ever holiday together.

'I never ever thought I would end up with Harrison again after how we broke up,' Tina added.

'But he always finds a way to make me laugh no matter what and we are so happy together.'
[March 24, 2020] UCHealth Leads Investment Into ClinOne - a Remote Clinical Trial Patient Management Technology Company

ClinOne, an industry leader in remote clinical trial patient management, added the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund as the lead investor for their Series-A financing, with a first closing of $3.6 million. The fund is affiliated with the Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver and counts UCHealth and Children's Hospital Colorado as limited partners. Through the ClinOne and ClinTrialConnect platforms, the company allows pharmaceutical sponsors, research sites and clinical trial participants to perform and automate key clinical trial operational tasks including clinical trial recruitment, study execution, compliance and patient retention from any location world-wide. ClinOne's modules span patient recruitment, remote consent (eConsent), patient reported outcomes and surveys (ePRO), dosing management, remote vital sign management data collection and seamlessly integrates with home healthcare visits and telemedicine video visits. "Our fund invested in ClinOne as it is clear to us that clinical trial management needs to be both digitized - with new workflow tools that better manage and retain patients, and virtualized - by allowing patients to be managed at home and aoid trips to the hospital/research site whenever possible", said Steven Lindseth, General Partner at the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, "This need is especially acute now during the current pandemic, as the FDA's recent guidelines stipulate. ClinOne's recent partnership with our portfolio company BioIntelliSense, as an example ,will enable remote patient monitoring to come to clinical trial management in more robust ways". (Link to press release about your partnership with BioIntelliSense).



"Through these uncertain times, it is comforting to know that technology exists to allow individuals to participate in clinical trials with minimal physical contact with the research site itself. This funding will allow us to expand our product suite and sales efforts to meet the high demand we are seeing " said Rob Bohacs, co-founder and CEO of ClinOne. About ClinOne

The ClinOne solution and its suite of products were created to improve clinical trial enrollment and remote patient compliance. The company's sole mission is to allow important trial details to be at the fingertips of participating researchers, patients and caregivers completely remotely. ClinOne conducts clinical trials in 55 countries across 43 languages. About The CU Healthcare Innovation Fund The CU Healthcare Innovation Fund is located on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. The fund invests in companies that have developed meaningful partnerships with the institutions on the campus. The $50 million fund invests across digital health, therapeutics and devices. For more information visit www.cuvcfund.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005481/en/

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Boris Johnson and London mayor Sadiq Khan appeared to blame one another after pictures showed London commuters crammed into Tube trains on Tuesday morning.

The prime minister announced a series of strict measures on Monday to tackle coronavirus, aimed at keeping more people at home unless they are classed as essential workers.

Transport for London (TfL) has cut services by 50% in recent days, which it claims has contributed to an 87% reduction in passenger numbers.

Images taken in central London after the lockdown started on Tuesday, however, showed hundreds of commuters standing and sitting in close proximity on Tube trains.

A packed carriage full of passengers travelling on the Victoria line on Tuesday. (Getty)

The mayor said in a statement on Tuesday that more needed to be done by employers to help alleviate the strain on the capitals transport networks.

TfL  which is chaired by Khan  has suspended the Circle and Waterloo & City lines, and reduced frequencies on other parts of the Underground network.

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

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the government should be doing more to make people work from home. (PA)

The mayor said growing numbers of TfL staff are off sick or self-isolating, which means we cannot run more services than we currently are.

He added that many people still travelling are on zero-hours contracts, work in the gig economy or are freelancers.

He said that a proper package of support from the government for these workers would alleviate this situation.

TfL has reduced its services by 50 per cent in recent days. (AP)

Johnson, however, raised concerns about cutbacks in London Underground services to explain the lack of available trains.

His official spokesman said both the PM and transport secretary Grant Shapps had spoken to the mayor.

The spokesman said: The prime minister raised with the mayor the issue of reduced services on the tube and its impact on people trying to get to work. But this is a matter for TfL.

The transport secretary has also spoken to the mayor of London on this issue where they discussed looking at ways to make sure appropriate timetabling is in place to ensure it is safe for those who need to get to work because they cannot do this from home.

Story continues

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the normal number of trains should be running. (PA)

Health secretary Matt Hancock meanwhile said the Underground should be running in full to help commuters maintain social distancing and slow the spread the virus.

He said Tube trains should be operating at maximum capacity so people are obeying the two-metre rule

Hancock claimed there is no good reason why TfL reduced Tube train frequencies, and it should be running in full so passengers are spaced out.

He added: We should have more Tube trains running.

But a spokesman for Khan insisted ministers have been told countless times that TfL cannot run a full service due to levels of staff sickness and self-isolation.

TfL pledged to continue to run as much of a Tube service as we possibly can.
Houstonians had plenty to say after Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a stay-at-home order that will begin midnight on Tuesday.

Different from a shelter-in-place order, the city's stay-at-home order asks residents to stay in their homes by all means possible but allows them to pick up groceries and prescriptions and go to public parks. Sixteen businesses deemed essential by the federal government are also permitted to stay open and include Houston's transportation and petrochemical sectors.
Forty years ago, on March 24, 1980, iconic Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated by a sniper while saying mass.

The assassination, which was orchestrated in part by notorious right-wing extremist and death squad leader Roberto dAubuisson, helped definitively plunge El Salvador into a 12-year civil war that killed more than 75,000 people.

A post-war United Nations truth commission attributed the blame for approximately 85 percent of serious acts of violence committed during this war to agents of the State and allied paramilitary groups and death squads.

But the blame hardly stops there.

Shortly before his death, Romero  who had become a champion of the poor and a staunch critic of capitalism, arguing that the root of all violence is institutional violence  penned a letter to then-US President Jimmy Carter. In it, he urged Carter to withhold military aid to the Salvadoran junta in light of the rampant killings, forced disappearances, and other atrocities that were already taking place in the country.

Right-wing terrorism

And yet, despite all of Carters purported concern for human rights, the aid went through  as it would during the subsequent administrations of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, ultimately adding up to billions of dollars worth of lethal encouragement for a maniacally trigger-happy right-wing.

But, hey, this was the Cold War, and the very future of capitalist tyranny  pardon, freedom and democracy  was at stake.

As it so happens, Romero was not the only one to have given Carter a heads-up about the lay of the land in El Salvador.

In his book Weakness and Deceit: America and El Salvadors Dirty War, former New York Times correspondent Raymond Bonner notes that, just days before Romeros assassination, Carters very own ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, wrote in a classified cable: The daily total of dead, many among them teenagers bearing marks of brutal torture, result from right-wing terrorism.

Whites analysis did not succumb to the anti-communist hysteria that was so in vogue in Washington either. In El Salvador, the rich and powerful have systematically defrauded the poor and denied eighty percent of the people any voice in the affairs of their country, the diplomat explained, adding that the incipient conflict was not the fault of the good old communist menace but rather of decades of oppression and a studied refusal on the part of the elite to make any concessions to the masses.

Floodgates of aid

Whites reference to terrorism was not the only time the t-word was used in the context of El Salvador, by US officials themselves.

A 1993 New York Times article quotes then-US Representative Robert G Torricelli (D-NJ) as saying how it was now clear that while the Reagan Administration was certifying human rights progress in El Salvador they knew the terrible truth that the Salvadoran military was engaged in a widespread campaign of terror and torture.

Granted, this had already been clear for about 12 or so years. In one horrifyingly shameless episode, Reagan certified El Salvadors allegedly improved human rights performance  a condition for yet again opening the floodgates of US aid  right after the 1981 massacre of some 1,000 civilians in the town of El Mozote by the US-trained and equipped Atlacatl battalion of the Salvadoran army.

Moreover, the same NYT article mentions that the Reagan team withheld its own evidence of the death squad activities of the coconspirator of Romeros assassination, Roberto dAubuisson, from members of Congress who argued that Washington should have no dealings with terrorists.

Neoliberal violence

The late dAubuisson, it bears mentioning, was so excessively right-wing that he perceived even certain US policies to be communist in nature. He was also the founder of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party, which governed the country from 1989-2009 and continues to be a major political force.

Anyway, who said terrorists cannot be mainstream?

Meanwhile, US blame for the violent landscape in El Salvador extends far beyond the civil war.

During the conflict, countless Salvadorans fled north to the US, many of them to Los Angeles, where gangs formed as a means of communal self-defence. When the war ended, the US undertook mass deportations of gang members back to a country whose infrastructure and social fabric had already been torn apart.

Now, El Salvador ranks among the worlds most violent homicide capitals. But while there is a prevailing tendency to reduce the arrangement to one of gang violence, period, the reality is far more complex.

As California State Universitys Dr Steven Osuna points out in a recent paper on the transnational moral panic surrounding the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, the violence perpetrated by such marginalised populations will never equal the viciousness of what neoliberalism and transnational capital have produced for the majority of the country  alienation, domestic uncertainty and desperation.

War without end?

Noting that El Salvador began the twenty-first century with even greater inequality, poverty, and migration levels than at the end of the civil war in 1992  indicating, of course, that the very socioeconomic causes of the conflict were anything but resolved  Osuna posits that the violence of poverty  is rooted in past and present capitalist relations of exploitation, all of which are exacerbated by neoliberalism and punitive populism.

In other words, kind of what Romero said.

And what do you know: The party responsible for dragging El Salvador into the post-war neoliberal abyss was none other than dAubuissons ARENA  with plenty of moral support, to be sure, from that neoliberal behemoth known as the United States.

Nowadays, the US charmingly persists in backing Salvadoran state security forces known for extrajudicial executions and other grave human rights abuses  while Salvadorans fleeing the violent milieu find themselves up against an ever more fanatically militarised US border.

Indeed, a February Human Rights Watch report documented how the US has literally been deporting Salvadoran migrants to their deaths.

And as the US continues to back institutional violence in a country long terrorised, one can safely say that  40 years after the launch of the civil war in El Salvador  the war rages on.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
As the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Western Australia continues to rise, some of Perth's most prestigious schools have switched to online learning in a bid to stay ahead of the curve.

All Saints' College principal Belinda Provis announced the independent school would switch to online lessons from Friday, with Tuesday set to be the last day students sat in class.

Elite schools across Perth are switching to online learning amid COVID-19 fears. Credit:dotdot72@yahoo.com

Under the new online program, students will have to check in at the beginning of every school day and take part in timetabled lessons, although lesson-by-lesson attendance would not be monitored.

While all classes will be online, parents will still have the option to send their children to school, where they will be monitored by on-campus staff while they follow the curriculum online.
Area school districts will keep their campuses shut through April 24, adding three weeks to an already disruptive gap in the classroom calendar in response to the stay-at-home order issued by local civil authorities.

For educators and parents in Bexar County, it cemented in place for an entire month perhaps the most challenging aspect of the battle to contain the spread of COVID-19  the need to teach more than 300,000 primary, elementary, middle and high school kids at home.

Students are using online platforms and paper packets to learn lessons administered from a distance by their teachers. Classes are to resume Monday, April 27  unless the closures are extended again.

We are holding out hope that we may return this school year, but as we continue to see with COVID-19, things are constantly changing, North East Independent School Districts superintendent, Sean Maika, wrote in a message to parents.

Alamo Heights, Comal, East Central, Edgewood, Fort Sam Houston, Harlandale, Judson, Lackland, Northside, Randolph Field, San Antonio, Somerset, Southside, Southwest, South San Antonio, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City and Medina Valley ISDs, also announced the extended closures.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Hours earlier, as Whitney Weddels health and registered nurse class wound down on a video conference tool called Zoom, her East Central High School students seemed to have more questions about when theyd see each other in real life than the skills they had just watched Weddel practice at her home.

Are we still going to graduate? one asked. Are we going to graduate on Zoom? another followed up.

You know were not going back to school, right? another said, taking a guess.

Weddel told them to be hopeful, and pivoted to a short lesson in what they could control amid the rapid changes and uncertainty.

We can control our positivity, she said before they signed off. Keep it positive. Be hopeful. I love you.

An order restricting residents activity by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, issued Monday evening to slow the spread of COVID-19, will remain in effect until April 9 once its approved by the City Council. That vote is scheduled for Thursday.

Businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations and pharmacies can remain open, but all others must close. The order provides an exemption for schools for the purposes of facilitating distance learning. A similar directive was issued by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Northside ISD superintendent Brian Woods said the order prompted the district to reevaluate its operations and take immediate action to scale down staff that reports physically to work.

Last week, districts extended closures through April 3, with a return to campus set for April 6, though some warned the closures could last longer.

Most school districts began distance learning this week. Several districts provided students with Chromebooks, internet hotspots or other devices to continue their studies online.

A month from now, we hope to continue to engage (students) again in a physical classroom, as well as our robust digital one, said SAISD superintendent Pedro Martinez on Tuesday. Moving forward, every student will continue their studies in both the physical and virtual environments to prepare them best for the world that awaits them upon graduation.

The districts have also committed to providing free meals to students throughout the duration of the closures, which the new restrictions still allow.

On ExpressNews.com: Digital divide suddenly wider

The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent mandates prohibiting gatherings have prompted the state to waive testing requirements for the STAAR exams; the College Board will administer Advanced Placement Exams online in May and most area colleges and universities converted to online classes for the rest of the spring semester. Most local universities with on-campus residents have also asked students to move out of their dorms.

The K-12 school closures have caused proms and other end-of-year traditions to be canceled or postponed for some students, but the school districts said Tuesday thay had not rescheduled graduation ceremonies.

I dont want them out of school too much longer, Ebony Rice, 25, a nurse whos been watching her two nephews and a niece study both online and with paper handouts from NEISD, said before Tuesdays announcement. But weve got to keep everyone safe.
WASHINGTON  Federal emergency response teams toured a convention center in New York City on Monday, a sign that a much-needed temporary hospital is on the way. California has received hundreds of thousands of masks for those on the front lines of the outbreak. And President Trump said desperately needed protective equipment was on its way to Washington State.

In spots around the nation, the gears of the federal governments response to the coronavirus outbreak have begun turning. But as the Federal Emergency Management Agency grapples with a crisis whose breadth poses challenges it has never confronted before, state and local leaders lament the time already lost and say the delivery of essential supplies remains far too slow to address their quickly expanding list of needs.

There has been a little bit of progress. But not fast enough, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who is the chairman of the National Governors Association, said on Monday, an echo of the mix of appreciation and frustration being expressed by governors and city leaders nationwide.

Most pressing: urgent shortages of protective equipment in particular, like gloves and masks.

We need them for correctional officers. We need them for health care workers. We need them for police officers, Mr. Hogan said. We need them for all front-line people. All the people who are doing the testing.
The San Francisco Art Institute will not accept students for the fall semester after almost 150 years in operation, ending the legacy of a once-storied school that produced famous artists like Annie Leibovitz, Kehinde Wiley and Catherine Opie.

The institute announced Monday in a schoolwide letter that it plans to suspend classes after the spring semester. Graduating students will receive their degrees in May, but faculty and staff were told to prepare for mass layoffs. One senior official close to the decision-making process said the school was likely to close because of mounting debt.

We are looking down the barrel of a gun, Gordon Knox, the college president, told faculty during a town-hall meeting in late February. Like many art schools across the country, declining enrollment and financial hardships have plagued the institution for years. In 2017, S.F.A.I. spent millions on a second campus on the citys waterfront. This year, the school abandoned another costly project to build new dormitories. The final straw for the faltering institution was when discussions to merge with a local university collapsed after the coronavirus sent the Bay Area into a lockdown. Pam Rorke Levy, the institute boards chair, estimated the universitys total debt was around $19 million but likely to increase because the school is not earning revenue during the health crisis.
Around the world, the spread of coronavirus has brought out the best in people, who've rushed to offer help to neighbors, the needy, and the elderly, offered words of support and encouragement, and found novel ways to entertain others on the internet.

But it's also brought out the worst in people. In the US and in Europe, selfish shoppers are panic buying things like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, stock piling far more than they need and even attempting to sell it at a profit. Meanwhile, others are misbehaving in different ways, refusing to take the threat seriously and ignoring social distancing protocols.

Now, users of the crowd-sourcing definition website Urban Dictionary have coined a name for such people: Covidiots.

Selfish: The spread of coronavirus has brought out the worst in some people  and now social media users have come up with a name to describe the badly behaved people

Do you really need that, sir? A 'covitiot' is someone who hoards goods like toilet paper  like this man, who appears to have bought four packs of 30 rolls, or 120 rolls in all

Two ways: Another definition is someone who 'ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety

Going viral: A few popular definitions have been posted on the site and shared on social media

Several Urban Dictionary users have shared definitions by far. The current favorite, with the most thumbs-up votes, offers two uses: 'Someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety,' and 'A person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbors.'

Usage examples include, 'Did you see that covidiot with 300 rolls of toilet paper in his basket?' and 'That covidiot is hugging everyone she sees.'

Another popular definition explains that a covidiot is:

1. A stupid person who stubbornly ignores 'social distancing' protocol, thus helping to further spread Covid-19.

2. A stupic person who hoards groceries needlessly spreading Covid-19 fears and depriving others of vital supplies.

Used in a sentence, someone could say, 'Are you seriously going to visit grandma? Dude, dont be such a covidiot,' or 'See that guy with the 200 toilet paper rolls? What a covidiot.'

Word of the year: Twitter users are warning others not to behave that way and sharing examples of real-life covidiots

The term is quickly catching on, with Twitter users sharing screengrabs of the definition and warning others not to behave that way.

'The weather may be nice. But dont be a #COVIDIOT. Stay isolated. Stay safe. Reduce the infection. Save lives,' wrote one.

'Raise your hand if you're dealing with a #COVIDIOT in your life,' complained another.

Some are even suggesting that it could be added to the Oxford English Dictionary as 2020's word of the year.

Others are sharing examples of covidiots, citing people they've spotted in real life filing shopping carts with toilet paper or Facebook friends spreading misinformation.

Several are pointing to politicians, with many giving the president the title  or assigning it to Senator Rand Paul, who tested positive for COVID-19 and exposed countless others to it.

'Rand Paul, while awaiting test results, used the Senate gym and pool,' wrote Georgia congressional candidate Nabilah Islam, adding the hashtag #covidiot.

Several stories of people ignoring social distancing or stocking goods like toilet paper have made headlines in recent weeks.

This weekend, a viral video showed a woman who had cleared out a local Dollar Tree of all of its toilet paper.

Another shopper who was shocked by the woman's greed filmed her loading the boxes of toilet paper into her truck, narrating what she was doing.

She said that when the toilet paper hoarder first noticed the other shopper checking out her stash, she got nasty and rude  and the hoarder continue to behave defiantly, as other shoppers watched on and called out her greedy actions.

The woman, who proclaimed that she was a Donald Trump supporter, also indicated she had a right to buy it all since the store sold it to her.

Rules don't apply to them! On New York City's Staten Island, Irene Sanzone and John Fuchs, Jr. got married at Our Lady of Pity Catholic Church on Sunday

Who cares? Gen Z partiers are still taking spring break trips to Florida

Meanwhile, others are still flouting social distancing mandates.

On New York City's Staten Island, Irene Sanzone and John Fuchs, Jr. got married at Our Lady of Pity Catholic Church on Sunday.

According to the New York Post, there were 20 to 25 guests, several of whom were elderly.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, slammed the ceremony for violating its guidelines and said the couple should not have gone through with it at this time.

And in Florida, spring breakers are still seen partying, meeting in large groups on boats in Boca Raton.

'While Lake Boca Raton has always served as a social gathering spot for many boaters, and will again, now is not the time for parties and tie ups on the water,' Boca Raton authorities said.

While the ages of the revelers is unconfirmed, college students are typically those who go on spring break trips, and are members of Generation Z.




CAIRO  Egyptian lawmaker Samir Ghattas, an independent, called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to facilitate free coronavirus testing during a March 16 parliamentary session, a few days after activists accused the government of taking advantage of the crisis.

Egyptian activists denounced the government for allegedly seeking to make money off poor laborers working in the Gulf. The hashtags saboubet corona and sabouba trended for days on social media. The word sabouba in Egyptian slang means a quick buck.

Several Gulf countries including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia had imposed restrictions on visitors from Egypt, demanding certificates from the Egyptian Health Ministry proving they were not carriers of the virus. They stipulated that testing had to be done and authenticated by the Health Ministry within 24 hours prior to arrival to their states.

The Health Ministry offered testing for 1,050 Egyptian pounds (about $66), high fees for Egyptians, especially poor laborers. Results take three or four days. Quicker testing in a matter of hours is available for 2,500 pounds (about $158).

The cost is high compared to the low income of Egyptians. I call for using part of the 100 billion Egyptian pounds (about $6.3 billion) the president allocated for handling the pandemic to offer the test for free, at least to those who cannot afford it, Ghattas told Al-Monitor. We are talking about a number of family members getting tested at once, he added.

As the scene outside the Health Ministry's laboratories remained chaotic for days, social media users ridiculed the crowds for waiting on the street with no precautionary measures.

Independent journalist Selim Azouz tweeted March 8, To the authority of a quick buck  the countries that required certificates proving Egyptians traveling there were free of the virus  should not be turned into easy money.  Enough.

Another Egyptian user tweeted, We are the only country that treats any crisis as a chance for a quick buck.

One video showed people outside the lab sharing water from a single bottle.

I have been waiting here since 6 a.m. to get tested. The test is very expensive for us. We worked in the Gulf because we couldnt make a living in our homeland. This is not the way the government should treat us, one worker told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity while queuing with his family outside the laboratories of the Health Ministry in downtown Cairo.

Ghattas called for allowing hospitals affiliated with medical schools around the country to take the test, arguing, The clinical professors working at those hospitals are the ones who taught the health minister herself.

However, the situation has changed significantly since Egypt suspended all international flights as of March 19 through March 31 and most of the Gulf countries closed their borders. Thousands of Egyptian workers who got tested at the labs were left unable to travel anyway.

Ghattas also voiced concerns over the efficiency of the Health Ministry's measures to combat the epidemic, questioning the governments crisis management strategy.

What happens now are decisions being made as the need arises rather than a clear strategy, argued Ghattas.

For weeks, Education Minister Tarek Shawky has insisted on keeping schools open against the wishes of worried parents. A few days before schools were finally closed, Shawky said that students should keep one meter of distance from each other, remarks that stirred ridicule on social media.

I wonder whether he has ever visited the public schools where there are over 80 students in each class, Ghattas said.

Following the premiers decision to temporarily shut down schools and universities, Shawky praised the wise call that came just in time.

The government has been making decisions, always followed by further adjustments, Ghattas said.

For example, there are 300 families quarantined in their homes in the Nile Deltas Dakahlia province. We dont have enough information about the situation there, he said. The government needs to be more transparent with regard to the crisis.

The governors of the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates locked down hotels and resorts in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, placing tourists and workers under 14-day quarantine there.

Egypt, a third-world country of about 100 million people and a flawed health care system, has been subject to widespread criticism for taking no effective precautionary measures to vet arriving passengers from abroad for fear of harming tourism, a major contributor to the fragile national economy. Critics speculated that the government was keeping confirmed coronavirus cases under wraps for economic reasons.

Since the first case was announced in mid-February, the government has been taking disjointed measures to address the problem.

Schools, universities, cinemas and theaters have now been closed and prayers at mosques and churches halted. People were asked to avoid public gatherings, restaurants and cafes. Thousands of public and private sector employees were offered paid leave.

Demand across the country for disinfectants, soap and face masks has surged and prices have skyrocketed as a result.

The situation spiralled further out of control as Egyptians started hoarding groceries to the extent that many stores are now almost empty of basic commodities.

As of March 18, the Health Ministry has reported 210 cases of infection, with a death toll of six and 28 recoveries.

All the newly reported cases are in isolation in hospitals undergoing medical treatment in accordance with the World Health Organizations guidelines, Health Ministry spokesman Khalid Megahed was quoted by the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper as saying.
The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which relies on restaurant donations and chef talent for fundraisers that bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, on Monday started delivering food to restaurants that have been substantial supporters over the years. The food will be used to make meals for the respective restaurants laid-off workers.

In the first of seven deliveries this week, food bank staff brought 2,500 pounds of raw ingredients to Yonos restaurant in Albany and its sibling, dp: An American Brasserie. Co-owner Dominick Purnomo estimated that it will provide about 50 meals for each of his approximately 50 employees who are now without paychecks. Other recipients will be New World Bistro and Troys Dinosaur Bar-B-Que as part of the food banks Community Table program, said its marketing director, Bethany Stiles.

The food bank will also be contributing 6,000 pounds of food to Feed Albany, a campaign started last week by Purnomo; Joe Bonilla, managing partner and co-founder of the marketing firm Relentless Awareness, which counts members of the food and beverage industry among its clients; Matthew T. Peter, executive director of the Albany Parking Authority and an Albany County legislator; Jason and Kay Pierce, co-owners of Savoy Taproom in Albany.

Feed Albanys goal is to use donated and purchased food to provide perhaps 1,000 meals a day for hospitality-industry employees who lost their jobs as result of the government-mandated closure, organizers said, as well as those who get food or meals from pantries. Using restaurant kitchens donated for the purpose, the food is being prepared by cooks who are volunteering their time in exchange for a small stipend. (The arrangement prevents them from running afoul of rules governing eligibility for unemployment benefits.)

Approximately 1,000 meals were being made Monday in the kitchen at Yonos, and more will be produced in the coming days at Savoy, where the food banks big delivery is set to arrive on Wednesday. Two other kitchens are already committed to the effort, representatives said. Other restaurants set to receive food for their employees from Feed Albany are 3 Fish, Bombers, Cafe Capriccio, Cafe Hollywood, Cider Belly, El Loco Mexican Cafe, El Mariachi, Lark Tavern, LAX, Lionheart, Pint Sized and Susies.

Jason Pierce said he is also arranging for otherwise dark or under-utilized professional kitchens in more Capital Region locations to come online for the effort soon. In addition, Feed Albany will provide meals ands food that volunteers and members of the Albany County Sheriffs Office will deliver to St. Vincents Food Pantry and two other pantries in the city.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Once were fully up and running with the spaces we have, we should be able to produce roughly 8,500 to 9,000 meals per week, Pierce said. That should increase as we get more kitchens, in Troy, Saratoga and Schenectady.

Feed Albany is paying for the food with private donations and grants, Pierce said, and distributors including Sysco have agreed to donate food.

I hadnt realized the extent of the need or how it was being changed by whats happening with the virus, he said. For instance, many of volunteers who deliver or help cook meals for those unable to cook for themselves are seniors for whom it is now considered unsafe to continue to do so. As a result, the preparation and delivery system in place has been taxed, Pierce said, but some of the slack is being taken up by younger people, now unemployed, who are eager to be part of the relief effort.

Pierce said, At this point, were getting new requests every 5 to 10 minutes through our website from people in need, but were also hearing from so many people who want to help. Its really extraordinary.
Galveston County officials plan to issue a shelter-in-place order Tuesday for all county residents due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The order - which has not yet been signed by County Judge Mark Henry or the countys 13 mayors - was discussed Monday afternoon, after the county reported six additional coronavirus cases, bringing the countywide total to 18.

Dr. Philip Keiser, the countys local health authority, said in a statement the growing number of cases is evidence of community spread.

As we look at the pattern of testing, we can assume (the virus) is everywhere, Keiser said. And you should assume that too.

Santa Fe Mayor Jason Tabor first announced the countywide order on a Facebook live stream Monday evening. A county spokesman said the order is not official because it hasnt yet been signed by the county judge and the countys 13 mayors.

The shelter-in-place order would go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and continue through midnight April 3. Residents can still go outside to exercise, for example. But the order requires people using shared or outdoor spaces to maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from any person when they are outside their residence.

County residents may only leave their residence for essential activities, such as obtaining necessary supplies like food or household cleaning products, or seeking medical care.

The order also mandates that all businesses cease operating during this time period. Essential businesses - such as health-care providers, government offices and grocery stores - would remain open. Trash collectors and childcare providers would also be exempted under the order.

Additionally, Galveston County requires anyone in a household who has tested positive for coronavirus to isolate at home for 14 days until otherwise directed by the local health authority.

nick.powell@chron.com
Researchers at the HSE Institute of Education have used regional data to describe, for the first time in Russia, how inequality in access to education affects different parts of the Russian Federation. The research findings reveal that the key determining factors are the local economy and the proportion of people with a university degree: urbanised regions with well-developed economies and educated inhabitants are more likely to have good-quality schools, with a large proportion of students scoring highly in the Unified State Exam and going on to university. In contrast, poorer regions with low human capital see many of their school students drop out after the 9th grade, limiting their chances of further education.

Factors Determining Differences

Multiple factors determine whether or not young people have access to good education. Their own abilities and motivation certainly play a role, as well as family background. Indeed, parents' educational, financial and occupational status and cultural capital have all been found to 'program' their children's academic success.

According to a recent study, children raised in families with a high occupational and educational status have double the chances of enrolling in a prestigious university compared to their peers from low-resource families. Teens from more advantaged families are often in a better position, since their parents tend to value good education and invest in their children's schooling. In contrast, students from less educated families, although they may perform fairly well academically, often make no attempt to enter a prestigious university, because they lack parental support and tend to underestimate their own capabilities.

In addition to this, teachers' skills and school characteristics certainly play a role. Many students attending ordinary general schools switch to vocational colleges after the 9th grade. In contrast, students in higher-status schools such as gymnasiums, lyceums and schools offering advanced courses in certain subjects are much more likely to continue through to the 11th grade and then go on to university.

Andrey Zakharov and Kseniya Adamovich examined regional socioeconomic differences for their role in either enhancing or limiting access to educational resources, determining students' choice between the academic track (i.e. eleven grades of general school plus university) and the vocational track (i.e. nine grades of general school plus vocational college/technical school), and attaining certain learning outcomes (reflected in USE scores in Russian and mathematics).

The research is based on Rosstat's 2013-2015 regional statistics and on data available from federal and regional departments of education.

Baseline Imbalances

The main reason why some regional educational systems perform better than others is the broader disparity across Russian regions in terms of economic development (measured by per capita GRP, gross regional product), urbanisation (percentage of urban population), human capital, and other indicators.

Thus, in Moscow, 48% of inhabitants have completed higher education, compared to 22% in Chechnya. In terms of economic development, the inequalities across Russian regions are even greater, with the GRPs of Russia's richest 10% exceeding those of the poorest 10% by nearly 4.5 times.

Similarly, the financing of education varies from 40,400 to 114,000 roubles per student per year depending on whether a region is rich or poor.

There is little difference across regions in terms of student coverage by lyceums, gymnasiums and schools offering advanced courses in certain subjects, which is 10% or less for each type of such elite schools. It is common, however, for ordinary schools to have classes with advanced curricula in certain subjects, and as many as 25% of school students attend such classes in some parts of Russia, such as Ivanovo, Murmansk and Kemerovo regions.

However, the proportion of students who drop out after the 9th grade varies from more than 60% in Chechnya and Orenburg and Astrakhan Regions to less than 40% in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kalmykia and Tuva.

Access to quality education is linked to the state of regional economies. Having analysed regional per capita funding of schools, teacher expertise and availability of advanced schooling options, the authors found that schools in highly urbanised regions with well-developed local economies and better educated populations tend to be more generously financed and to employ better qualified teachers - i.e. those having a high qualification category and work experience of five and more years; such regions also tend to have plenty of elite schools and courses available.

'These regions include Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tatarstan and, to a lesser extent, Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions', according to Adamovich.

In contrast, the education prospects are not so good for young people in depressed regions with a less educated population, due to the limited number of advanced school courses and highly qualified teachers, resulting in fewer students staying in school for the 10th and 11th grades.

According to the researchers, these 'outsider regions' include the republics of Altai and Tuva and certain parts of the North Caucasus.

Adults' Education Affects Children's Prospects

The proportion of residents with higher education appears to be the single most important characteristic positively associated with the proportion of students attending elite schools such as lyceums, gymnasiums and those with a strong focus on humanities. The availability of highly qualified teachers also tends to be greater in regions with higher overall human capital.

According to the researchers, this association between human capital and access to quality schooling may be due to the fact that educated families are more likely to value higher education as a way 'to maintain and perhaps enhance the family's socioeconomic status'. On the other hand, well-educated and affluent parents can afford to hire private tutors and pay for university preparation courses for their child. 'By doing so, they create a demand for quality education and advanced curricula', Adamovich notes.

Accordingly, regions with more developed economies tend to have a higher proportion of students attending elite schools which offer advanced courses in humanities and mathematics - or attending advanced classes in ordinary schools.

The choice of educational path is also largely determined by factors such as human capital and urbanisation: the larger a region's urban and university-educated population groups, the greater the proportion of school students likely to choose the academic track and go on to university.

The researchers found that regional economies, in particular the per capita financing of schools, have direct implications for the average Unified State Exam (USE) score in mathematics (but no statistically significant correlation was found for USE results in Russian).

In addition to this, the USE results both in mathematics and Russian were found to be positively associated with the proportion of students attending lyceums and gymnasiums, while the results in mathematics were better in regions with more schools offering advanced courses in science and engineering, and the results in Russian were positively associated with the proportion of schools focusing on the humanities.

The average USE score in the Russian language was also found to be higher in regions with more school dropouts after the 9th grade, explained by the fact that only well-performing students in such regions choose to go to the 10th and 11th grades.

Double Advantage - Double Deficit

The researchers note that socioeconomic differences, as well as regional disparities in access to education, tend to exacerbate already existing inequalities.

As a result, young people in more affluent regions enjoy a double advantage created by their parents' human capital and higher income leading to investment in children's education and by better institutional access to elite education resources.

In contrast, young people in depressed regions face the double disadvantage of having lower-income, less educated parents and limited opportunities of high-quality schooling.

Stratification and Sorting

'Greater access to advanced education resources in regions with higher human capital confirms the validity of the effectively maintained inequality theory', the researchers argue, 'while the high school dropout rate after the 9th grade in regions with lower human capital is consistent with the maximally maintained inequality theory'.

According to the latter theory, differences in access to a certain level of education are maintained as long as there is competition for this type of education, and children from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds are more likely to win this competition. If, however, access to a certain level of education is universal, inequalities are transferred to the next level of the education system, e.g. to higher education.

As a manifestation of effectively maintained inequality, the formally universal access to education comes with substantial differences , e.g. in school curricula, for different social strata. It is no accident that some researchers describe schools as 'sorting machines' which divide students into categories based not only on their academic performance but also on their parents' socioeconomic status. Resource-rich families tend to choose more prestigious schools for their children, a choice which is likely to result in better education and successful careers. In contrast, children of poorer parents are less likely to benefit from schooling as a social elevator.

The resulting situation 'cannot be accepted as natural from the education policy perspective', according to Zakharov and Adamovich, who emphasise the importance of equal access to resources for creating a universal education space and conclude that a country as big as Russia 'needs to find ways to smooth out the regional imbalances in access to education'.

###
Nobody sharpened this dynamic  and still sharpens it  better than Norman Lear, the 97-year-old producer who, with many collaborators, turned the sitcom on its head 50 years ago by giving it a realistic edge, first with All in the Family and later with The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times and the original rendition of One Day at a Time. Even as a boy, Lear has recalled, he had an insatiable interest in the lives of other people, glimpsing into passing apartment windows from his seat in an elevated subway car and wondering: Who are they? Whats it like in there?
With the number of coronavirus cases rising in the country, several parents want schools to not reopen soon and have suggested that academic loss if any can be reduced by curtailing the summer vacation.

Several schools, which are already offering classes through digital modes of learning, say a decision in this regard will be taken only after March 31 once a review of the situation is done and also if the lockdown is curtailed.

According to a survey by online platform Localcircles.com, 81 per cent parents are in favour of schools being shut through May and reopening on June 1. Over 10,000 parents were interviewed for the survey.

"The way cases are rising, I believe even if the lockdowns are eased, schools should not reopen for at least a month. Kids are very sensitive and their safety should be of utmost concern," Ritvik Ahuja, an architect by profession told PTI.

Another parent PK Shukla, said, "Schools are already conducting online sessions, assignments are being done online. I am sure with technology at hand, lot can be managed so there is not going to be much academic loss".

Echoing similar concern, Shweta Babber, an IT professional said, "The loss of the number of days in the academic calendar can be made up by not giving any summer vacation this year".

Rashi Kuldeep, who is admission counsellor at a private school in Gurgaon, said, "We have not suspended any academic activity, we have just moved it online. Even for admissions that were supposed to happen in the new session, all of that is going on online. But as a parent, I believe the schools should continue to reamin closed till the situation is completely in control."



The classes and examination have been suspended in all schools till March 31.

Jawahar Navodya Vidyalayas (JNVs) across the country have already announced advanced summer break and will reopen on May 22.

Delhi government has called a meeting on March 26 to discuss measures that can be taken if need arises to keep schools closed after March 31 in view of the coronavirus situation.

According to a senior official of the Directorate of (DoE), in case schools need to be closed further, we need to have an alternate plan so that academic loss of students can be minimised.

"With the kind of situation around, if need arises ,of course this step will be taken. We will review the situation after March 31 and also see if the lockdown is lifted," said Principal of a school in Mayur Vihar, who did not wish to be identified.

A representative of a private school chain with schools in Gurgaon and Noida said, "As of now no decision can be taken unilaterally. The government is assessing the situation and we are following the directives. The CBSE will issue instructions in this regard after March 31. Students safety is of priority for us, for parents as well as the government".

Coronavirus cases crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

As 32 states and union territories announced complete lockdown till March 31 to deal with the pandemic, authorities are taking a serious view of people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely crucial to contain the spread of the viral infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Said funding will also give the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) the means to insure and purchase previously uninsured loans, the Financial Post reported.

The government will do whatever it takes to support Canadians and we are prepared to take further action as necessary to meet the challenges ahead, Finance Minister Bill Morneau assured.

Housing has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus, with the desire for buying homes in Canada significantly dwindling over the last few weeks, Point2 Homes reported.

The outbreak has shattered seasonality, transforming the spring months, which was normally the time when the housing market was starting to pick up speed, into a period of anxious down time, Point2 Homes noted.

Much of the activity associated with homebuying and home selling is simply on hold, as people and institutions alike are trying to see where the pandemic is headed.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday assured that enough supplies of food and other essential services were available in the state and urged people not to travel unnecessarily in light of the coronavirus outbreak

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday assured that enough supplies of food and other essential services were available in the state and urged people not to travel unnecessarily in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Thackeray said that he had held a meeting regarding food supplies. "We have enough supplies, there is no reason for worrying. Siddhivinayak temple and Lalbaugcha Raja have come forward for help," ANI quoted him as saying said.

Thackeray thanked the Central Government for heeding to his requests to cancel domestic flights and also to postpone the filing of GST returns.

Earlier in the day, Union finance minister Nirmal Sitharaman announced a slew of measures aimed at bringing relief to businesses, including deferring the last date of filing income tax returns and GST returns to 30 June. The Centre has also decided to increase the number of testing labs, said Thackeray.

Referring to the measures taken by the state government, he said that district borders have been sealed. However, the chief minister said that the movement of people working in the agricultural sector and the provision of agricultural supplies have not been restricted.

Seeking to allay fears over the provision of essential services in urban areas, he said that such services will continue uninterrupted.

Those working in offices and factories providing these essential services should have the names of their companies on the written on their vehicles and should carry company ID proofs, he said.

If the companies or employees manufacturing essential goods or providing essential services are facing any problems, please contact your nearest police station or dial 100 and the police will assist you in reaching your destination, Thackeray added.

If the companies or employees manufacturing essential goods or providing essential services are facing any problems, please contact your nearest police station or dial 100 & the police will give you full assistance. pic.twitter.com/csGlDt0l5I  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) March 24, 2020

He also thanked the Maharashtra Police for the recovery of lakhs of masks which were found to be hoarded in Mumbai but cautioned against the use of force.

"If people are moving out for essentials, be gentle with them and ask them not to move out without any reason. I am asking police that we are not stopping people from living, just changing the lifestyle a bit," ANI quoted Thackeray as saying.

Reiterating the motto "stay home, stay safe", he advised people to avoid unnecessary travel. "Do not travel unnecessarily. Don't strain our resources. If possible don't step out. We will come out of this successfully, we need your co-operation," Thackeray said.

Six more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, taking the total count in the state on Tuesday to 107.

With inputs from ANI.
To offset the crushing costs of trying to stem a global epidemic, the World Bank and partners announced the creation of pandemic bonds several years ago: the idea was to leverage private capital from Wall Street firms that would help stricken poor countries.

But since the bonds were launched in 2014, backed by about $190 million in promised financing from donor countries, investors have reaped more profits than countries battling epidemics. And even in the current pandemic, any payout to stricken countries would barely make a dent into what the outbreak has cost them.

Even in the current pandemic, any payout to stricken countries would barely make a dent into what the outbreak has cost them.

The countries that need help are not the ones getting the funds, said Felix Stein of the University of Cambridge, who has researched the bonds. Its the Wall Street investors that are benefiting.

The bonds are a form of disaster insurance and work essentially like this: the World Bank sells bonds to private sector investors, who get a yearly return, partly paid for by donor countries. If an epidemic occurs, the investors lose the capital they initially used to buy the bonds. That money is sent as aid to countries affected by the epidemic.

The problem, experts say, is that investors like Baillie Gifford and Amundi and Oppenheimer were getting high returnsas much as 11 percent a year.

And the bonds required a certain number of people to die before countries receive any payout, among other conditions, complicating any immediate efforts to snuff out the virus.

Upon their launch, the bonds were described by the World Bank as a way to help prevent a high-severity infectious disease outbreak from becoming a pandemic by making essential financing available to key responders.

According to the bonds criteria, 12 weeks must pass before a payout for a coronavirus epidemic can be made. The outbreak must also be sustained, have affected at least two countries, and have caused at least 250 deaths.

The World Bank said that date would be met on March 23 and that a decision for a payout would then be made by an independent agency. The bank said the maximum potential payout was about $196 million. Only the worlds poorest countries are eligible for funds, making any immediate payout unlikely, as the hardest-hit countries include China, Italy, Iran, Spain and South Korea.

Taxpayers in Australia, Germany and Japan and the International Development Association, meanwhile, have put up about $176 million so far to back the bonds.

In a 2019 paper published in the BMJ, Clare Wenham of the London School of Economics and a colleague found that as of last year, the pandemic bonds had paid nearly $115 million to investors while providing only $61 million via a cash window mechanism to Congo, for its most recent Ebola epidemic.

Wenham said the payout conditions are too arbitrary and long.

By the time the required number of people die in a certain number of countries, the pandemic is clearly going to have spread quite significantly, she said, describing the mechanism as flawed and overcomplicated.

At the time this article was written, the new coronavirus had infected more than 307,000 people. The illness has been deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, meaning it will likely reach every country in the world. For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Wenham said the bonds might work better if the payout was linked to another trigger, like when the WHO declares a global health emergency like it did in late January.

If the whole idea is to help prevent a pandemic, it doesnt make sense to wait until the pandemic is spreading before paying out, she said.

Olga Jonas, an economist at Harvard University who previously worked at the World Bank, says its unclear why the pandemic bonds are even necessary.

The World Bank has ample financial capacity to finance responses to outbreaks because it has $29 billion of liquid assets, she said.

Earlier this month, the World Bank announced it would make $14 billion available to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank declined to say if the pandemic bonds would be continued in another form after COVID-19.

(The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. )

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Global airlines urged governments on Tuesday to speed up bailouts to rescue the air transport industry as they doubled their estimate of 2020 revenue losses from the coronavirus crisis to more than $250 billion.

"We clearly need massive action very quickly and urgently," Alexandre de Juniac, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told reporters.

With planes unable to fly because of travel restrictions, compounded by a plunge in demand over fears of contagion, airlines worldwide have grounded most of their fleets, and many have said they need government support to survive.

The industry is now contemplating months without flying. Ryanair, Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers, said on Tuesday it did not expect to operate flights in April or May.

Many will not survive such a hammer blow to their finances. IATA said that without government support, up to half of airlines face possible bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

"We have a liquidity crisis coming at full speed - no revenues and costs still on our (books), so we desperately need some cash," de Juniac said.

Airline stocks have been among the biggest casualties of a financial market rout sparked by fears of a global recession, but Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said the full extent of coronavirus's impact on the aerospace industry could turn out to be even worse than current dire forecasts.

"Hence our recommendation that investors continue to avoid the sector until we see airline stability," he said.

IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said European airlines were most at risk, with airline capacity in the European region forecast to be down 90% for the second quarter of 2020.

Analysts have said indebted Norwegian Air is one of the most vulnerable, but it was helped by a small government cash injection on Tuesday as it began talks with creditors worried about its liquidity.

IATA broadly stuck to a forecast made last week that government bailouts worth about $200 billion were needed, even as it more than doubled its estimate for revenue losses in 2020 to $250 billion, compared with the $113 billion forecast it made just 2-1/2 weeks ago. That would represent a 44% decline on 2019's income.

De Juniac, a former Air France-KLM boss, brushed aside a growing debate about whether relief for airlines should come with strings attached, such as new commitments on climate goals.

But he said the airline industry would continue efforts already under way to curb emissions once the crisis recedes.

"We are in an emergency situation. It's no time for requirements. I'm sorry for that. We need a full speed massive rescue package now," de Juniac said.

With airlines at the front of bailout queues, green advocates fear climate action may lose momentum.

In the United States, Republicans have opposed providing bailouts to passenger and cargo carriers, proposing help in the form of $58 billion in loans and saying the government could demand stock, options or other equity in return.

IATA, which groups some 280 airlines including most of the world's largest network carriers, said signs of a deep recession could delay a recovery in airline travel - in contrast with the fast rebound seen after previous epidemics.

That could mean "more of a U-shaped than V-shaped recovery," Pearce said, referring in the latter instance to the shape of the graph of air travel indicators seen after the SARS outbreak in 2003.

IATA says 2.7 million jobs are supported by the airline industry, with tens of thousands already being furloughed.

"There are a very large number of airlines that are more or less breaking even and ... facing losses. Those airlines are very fragile," Pearce said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
A number of factors could potentially derail the convention  even if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does ease its restrictions on travel and gatherings by July. Which is a big if.

Even still, states tend to elect their convention delegates at state conventions in the late spring or early summer  and many of those are already being postponed.

And with Bernie Sanders still in the race and the next few primaries already postponed, Biden may not be able to clinch the nomination for some time. This means that he and his team cannot take charge of the convention-planning process.

Reid wrote to us on Monday night explaining where things stand.
<! Patience Ozokwor >

Veteran Nollywood sweetheart Patience Ozokwor, born 14 September 1958 is a Nigerian actress who will keep you glued to your screen when watching her display wickedness for which she is always cast for in roles.

The 61 year old won the Best Supporting Actress 2012 and 2013 award at the 10th Africa Movie Academy Awards. Ozokwor was among 100 Nigerians honored by the government to celebrate the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 2014.

Mama G as she is fondly called, was born in the village of Amaobo, Ngwo, Enugu State, Nigeria, and attended Abimbola Gibson Memorial School in Lagos. Ozokwor had a passion for acting since she was at primary school, where she would act in different stage plays. She later attended Institute of management and technology Enugu, where she obtained a degree in fine and applied arts.

Before starting as an actress, she was already a star before acting and first made it into radio drama. She took part in a soap opera by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) titled Someone Cares. Ozokwor was married at age 19 and has three biological children and five adopted ones who all bear her name.

She lost her husband in the year 2000 and expressed her lifes biggest regret as not being able to marry the man of her choice, and also her children preventing her from remarrying after she lost her husband.

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The major insurance companies refusal to pay legitimate payouts to businesses affected by Covid-19 has been branded as deeply cynical and not acceptable.

Thousands of pubs, restaurants, and other businesses that shut their doors to comply with the Governments request have been told by insurance firms that, because they acted voluntarily, there is no onus on them to pay out.

Businesses have also flagged that uncertainty about the designation of Covid-19 is also being used by insurance companies as a reason for not making payments.

The issue was raised at a private briefing of political leaders on Monday by Independent TD Mattie McGrath who said he got little succour from the Taoiseach.

Mr McGrath said when he raised it, Mr Varadkar simply responded: How it works is that 100 people pay and one claims. They cannot pay out to everyone.

Such is the level of anger, the Irish Examiner has confirmed that the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) and some publicans have engaged lawyers to force the insurance industry to pay.

Adrian Cummins, CEO of the RAI, has said his members over the years have pumped billions into the coffers of the main insurance providers, and now is the time for them to pay up.

The reaction so far has been absolutely awful. Many of our members have been told because they acted on a voluntary basis to shut their doors, they have been told their business disruption policies do not apply. It is scandalous, he said.

I have been given permission by my board to instruct our lawyers to challenge this  and we will, for our members, he added.

The RAI, which represents 2,500 restaurants, is in discussions with barrister Gareth Robinson.

He said vintners have engaged leading legal firm Arthur Cox to pursue the matter from their end.

It is understood the RAI is talking to its members to allow them to be reviewed legally in preparation for a series of court cases against insurers refusing to pay out.

Fianna Fails Michael McGrath and Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty have called on the finance minister to convene a meeting of the insurance bosses and bring them to heel.

Mr McGrath said the stance taken by the insurance companies is deeply cynical.

The decision to close was voluntary in name only, especially in light of the new additional powers signed into law allowing the minister to order to closure of any premises found open.

The Government must act now, and I am calling on Paschal Donohoe to convene a meeting with the insurance companies to deliver a workable package for companies, he said.

Mr Doherty hit out at the failure of the Central Bank to exercise its legal powers and force the insurance companies to start paying out.

The Central Bank totally failed us in the last crash and are about to do so again. The minister must act decisively by talking to the industry and make them play their part in this national effort, he said.

Mr Doherty wrote to Mr Donohoe outlining proposals to rescue small businesses.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has consulted with his former boss, Barack Obama, about choosing the right candidate for his vice if he were to be elected as president of the United States.

Biden has, on several occasions, pledged to pick a woman as his running mate.

Biden, who has managed to extend his advantage over his sole remaining challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders, revealed some aspects of his discussions during a fundraising call for over 70 Georgia donors on Sunday night.

When discussing his pick for a running mate, Biden said, I have to start that vetting process relatively soon, meaning in a matter of weeks.

I think there will be a group that is in excess of six or seven people that I look at, Biden said, according to Reuters.

They have to be prepared, Biden added. Once I pick someone, God willing, if Im the nominee, that theres not going to be any snafu.

Last month at the CNN-Univision debate in Washington, Biden said: I commit that Id pick a woman as vice president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be vice president.

Biden told reporters that he thought there were plenty of capable female candidates fit for the job.

And the most important thingand Ive actually talked to Barack about thisthe most important thing is that there has to be someone who, the day after theyre picked, is prepared to be President of the United States of America if something happened, Biden said on March 22, according to The Hill.

At a CNN town hall in February in Manchester, New Hampshire, Biden remarked about how he would like his relationship with his vice to be similar to that he and Obama had, calling it simpatico, NBC reported.

Biden said it his relationship with Obama worked so well because there was hardly any disagreement over major issues, although there was sometimes disagreement on tactics, Biden said on the call.

Biden said he is fully confident the elections will take place in November this year.

I know theres a lot of rumors and speculation as to, is the other guy going to try to postpone the election in November and all that. Theres no need to do that. You know, we voted in the middle of the Civil War, we voted in the middle of World War One and Two, Biden said.

The idea of postponing the electoral process seems to me out of the question.
The airline industry can be accused of many sins.

It is infested with brassy billionaires, such as the avaricious Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyJet, and the egregious Sir Richard Branson.

It is responsible for pollution that is poisoning the planet.

Customer service is sometimes woeful and industrial relations, wherever the main fault lies, are abysmal.

So I absolutely understand why many people have deep misgivings about plans for a Government bailout that are being hatched with the help of investment bankers from the august City firm, Rothschild.

The airline industry is infested with brassy billionaires such as the founder of EasyJet Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (pictured)

Plenty of angry passengers can't see why British taxpayers owe the airlines any favours, particularly at a time when so many industries are in distress and in need of a helping hand  resulting in a bill we will all have to pay in the end.

As one City friend of mine put it: 'I'd be happy to see them go bust, as many airlines have over the years. Someone else will pick up the pieces and re-start them.'

I sympathise with that viewpoint, but I don't agree.

Yes, it sticks in the craw. Nonetheless, it is a case of when, not if, there will be a bailout.

The only reason one has not been pushed through already is that the Government is trying to craft an arrangement that is structured in such a way that taxpayers are not taken for a ride. This is the right approach.

However under serving some operators may be, it would cause far greater harm to let them go under at this point.

It would be another huge blow to confidence in the stock market, as millions of small pension savers have already seen their nest-eggs drastically eroded.

In the short term, it could jeopardise the transport of medical cargoes. And when we eventually emerge from this trauma, we will need a strong aviation industry to power economic recovery.

Therefore, just as we did with the banks a decade ago, we need to hold our noses and bail them out, because deciding not to do so out of misplaced moral scruples would be a worse evil.

What the Government absolutely must do is make sure it is shortterm help and not a free ride.

There must be stringent conditions attached to state support.

These should include a ban on dividend payments for the duration and a ceiling on bosses' pay and bonuses.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor (pictured), has of course already launched unprecedented help, including 330billion of loan guarantees to businesses to get them through the crisis

Wealthy shareholders, including the likes of Sir Stelios and Branson's Virgin Group, which owns a major stake in Virgin Atlantic, should also be forced to put their hands into their own, very deep pockets.

In an ideal world Sir Stelios would be made to repay the dividend of around 60million he was due last week.

This may not be legally enforceable, but it is a moral imperative, considering he and his family, as major shareholders in EasyJet, have had around 400million in dividends in the last four years, including the latest payout.

BA's parent IAG proposed a dividend of more than 300m in February, when the ravages of the coronavirus were already apparent.

Investors who have received this largesse, including the Qatari state airline which has a large stake, should certainly share in the pain.

The Government, on behalf of taxpayers, should take a controlling shareholding in any airlines that are saved by an injection of public money.

That way, as and when they recover, taxpayers will take a share in the upside.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, has of course already launched unprecedented help, including 330billion of loan guarantees to businesses to get them through the crisis.

But many airline operators have gone into this crisis laden with debt, loans taken on to buy planes that now lie idle, and cannot realistically burden themselves with billions more.

With fleets of planes grounded as the entire planet has become a virtual no-fly zone, even those that have plenty of shortterm liquidity, such as BA's parent company IAG, will burn through cash at an alarming rate.

The losses suffered by the airlines are mind-boggling.

Industry body IATA reckons the industry had lost more than 94billion in sales by the first week of March. That will already have ballooned.

Not all of the airline industry may actually want to be bailed out. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA's parent, appears keen to avoid it, but with the entire industry at a standstill, he may be unable to hold that line.

There are concerns in Government that relatively strong operators such as IAG might be perfectly happy to see weaker rivals go under, leaving them in a position to clean up when the crisis is over.

Whatever bailout deal is put together, the Government needs to ensure we do not end up with a monopoly able to charge what it likes.

This is by far the biggest crisis the aviation industry has suffered in its existence.

Coronavirus puts September 11, previously the worst, entirely in the shade.

Here in Britain the tab will run to unknown billions. It will take time for holidaymakers and business flyers to regain sufficient confidence to travel.

We must save the industry because we need it for our future prosperity.

But that does not mean giving opportunist bosses and owners carte blanche to exploit this crisis of humanity for their own gain.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 23:42:53|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government on Tuesday ordered a partial curfew starting from Wednesday, according to the state news agency SANA.

The curfew begins from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and will be applied in all Syrian provinces until further notice, according to the report.

The latest measure came one day after the Syrian government declared the first coronavirus case in the country. It is one in a series of steps the government has gradually taken to protect against the COVID-19.

Over the past week, the government shut down schools, government institutions, and ministries as well as restaurants, cafes, and marketplaces.
SPRINGFIELD - The federal court system in Springfield was among the latest institutions to fall victim to the rapid domino effect of the coronavirus pandemic, with courtrooms and related offices shut down on Monday after an employee reported symptoms.

U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni said the courthouse has been limping along via teleconferencing since the crisis began to ramp up earlier this month.

However, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, chief justice for Massachusetts, ordered a temporary shutdown of the court system in Springfield pending further order of the court, according to a memo dated today.

An employee of the clerks office for the United States District Court who works in the Springfield courthouse has reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19, Saylors directive reads.

The clerk is directed to work with all potentially affected employees to ensure their ongoing health and safety and to try to maintain continuity of operations to the extent it is reasonable and safe to do so, it continues. The clerk is further directed to work with the General Services Administration and other federal agencies with operations in the building to consider potential future steps, including determining whether and when it is safe to reoccupy the building.

The General Services Administration (GSA) maintains and manages all federal properties.

Mastroianni said the employee in question has exhibited symptoms but has not yet been able to get tested for the virus.

The employee has not yet been able to be tested because of the problem thats been talked about across the country. There is not mass testing available, Mastroianni said during an interview on Monday afternoon. Hes working with his health care professional.

Most employees at the federal courthouse -- which handles matters from all four western counties -- had been working remotely prior to today, Mastroianni said.

We are endeavoring and to keep the federal court system available and operational to a limited extent, the judge said.

Emergency matters which arise will be farmed out to the Worcester federal courthouse for the time being.

Everyone is mostly working from home anyhow. We were operating with an extreme skeleton staff, Mastroianni said, adding that he has conducted entire hearings working from his own home, attorneys working from theirs and a court stenographer also working from hers -- thanks to teleconferencing.

The news relative to the federal courthouse came within hours of the state courthouse in Springfield being shut down for a week as an emergency measure after a court officer there tested positive for COVID-19.

Mastroianni said teleworking on networks such as the Zoom app, which facilitates webinars and videoconferencing, has prevented court matters from coming to an absolute halt.

The key now is designating whats considered an emergency, what matters can be continued and what needs to be addressed, he said.

Mastroianni added that new protocols are continually being explored to establish responses to the coronavirus outbreak -- including how the courthouse may be deep-cleaned after the disclosure from the employee in Springfield.

This is all new to everyone, he said.

The Springfield federal courthouse at 300 State St. has four courtrooms including bankruptcy court, a U.S. Probation office, U.S. Attorneys Office, U.S, Marshals Office, clerks office, a GSA office and local office for U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal.

William Tranghese, a spokesman for Neal, said all employees of that office began working remotely today after a week of planning.
It has already been dubbed "the doomsday scenario" and last night it was discussed on the margins of a meeting of party leaders in Government Buildings.

It centres on what happens if Dail Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail and President Michael D Higgins become incapacitated as a result of the coronavirus. With no Leas Ceann Comhairle as yet elected by this Dail, the Presidential Commission, which performs the functions of Mr Higgins in the event he is unable to, would not be able to sit. It is the very definition of a constitutional crisis.

Last night, the Taoiseach is understood to have approached Independent TD Denis Naughten, who unsuccessfully challenged Mr O Fearghail last month, about becoming the Dail's deputy chairman temporarily. "It's a doomsday scenario," said a source. "The proposal was to set aside standing orders until the end of September and appoint an agreed Leas Ceann Comhairle until then."

But Mr Naughten's name was vetoed by other party leaders and now the matter goes back to the Dail business committee on Thursday.

Mr Varadkar's proposal hit the rocks on a day when it became apparent that even as the greatest public health crisis the State has ever faced worsens, the political consensus around how to respond to it has shattered.

The party leaders' meeting lasted some two hours with various officials briefing on the state of play.

TDs' gripes about testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages were addressed by HSE boss Paul Reid who gave assurances that huge orders of PPE and testing kits were on the way.

The Government briefed on further supports likely to be announced for the unemployed today, but with no specifics as officials work overtime to hammer out the detail.

As many businesses report that insurance companies are rejecting their claims for loss of business, the Taoiseach was said by three sources in the meeting to have noted that if every business claimed for their premises being forced to close, the insurance industry wouldn't be able to cover the cost. The realities of this crisis are hitting home every day.

Earlier, the practical difficulties of enforcing social distancing were evident as the Taoiseach and the Health Minister arrived at the offices of the charity Alone in Dublin to meet those running a special Covid-19 helpline for the elderly. "That's not two metres," said Simon Harris as he passed journalists straining to keep away from him. "I'm not sure two metres is going to work," Mr Varadkar observed.

Whatever about social distance, all the leaders were keen to put political distance between themselves and their opponents.

At Leinster House, Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald called for a shutdown of all non-essential businesses. But Mr Varadkar signalled earlier that while further restrictions were likely to be announced today, a full lockdown was not.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin called for more detail on where in the country there were clusters of coronavirus cases, more support for businesses and for the State to cover 75pc of wages for workers made redundant in recent days. But it was notable that he broadly aligned with the Taoiseach in the belief that a full lockdown was not necessary.

It was evidence once more that the slow march towards an historic FF-FG government continues. Talks on that continue this week. Mr Martin said "there is very little in terms of a programme for government" hammered out.

But how can there be when this crisis is increasingly likely to become all-consuming for the next administration?
A total 152 trains have been suspended as travel demand plummets due to the novel coronavirus, leaving the railway sector facing losses of VN90 billion (US$3.8 million) since the outbreak began, according to the Ministry of Transport.

A carriage of Ha Noi  Yen Bai train is completely empty. The train was rescheduled to run on weekend only.

The ministry warned that worse was to come for the sector, with productivity drastically dropping by 40 to 80 per cent compared to the same time last year.

Vu Anh Minh, head of Vietnam Railway (VNR) Members Council, said the challenges were unprecedented.

As of Thursday, Ha Noi Railway Transport Company halted all tourism trains numbered SP1, SP2, SP3 and SP4 connecting Ha Noi and the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

SE19 and SE20 trains connecting Ha Noi and the coastal city of a Nang were also suspended. Passengers can ask for ticket refunds without being charged fees.

Trains running between Ha Noi and Nghe An Provinces Vinh City, Hai Phong City and Thai Nguyen Province were also cancelled or rescheduled.

The company is considering suspending one pair of Reunification trains connecting Ha Noi and HCM City, only allowing four pairs per day.

In the south, Sai Gon Railway Transport Company has stopped trains travelling to the tourism hotspots of Quy Nhon, a Nang and Phan Thiet till the end of April.

To help stop the bleeding, the ministry asked the Government to reduce operating expenses for halted trains.

Sai Gon Railway Transport Company is also offering up to 50 per cent off early bookings for trains numbered SE3/4, SE7/8, SE9/10 with transport distances of more than 900km and SE21/22, SE25/26 with distances of more than 600km.

Discounts of 5 per cent, 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 50 per cent will be applied for tickets bought five, 10 to 19, 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 days prior to departure days, respectively.

To make up for the losses, VNR is accelerating its express delivery services using passenger trains which allow transporting bulk packages and cash on delivery.  VNS
Bangladesh pharma regulator allows mass production of dot blot test kit but researchers say it has its limitations.

Dhaka, Bangladesh  A group of scientists in Bangladesh has developed a $3 testing kit they claim can detect coronavirus in less than 15 minutes.

The South Asian nations pharmaceutical regulator  the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA)  gave its green light for the mass production of the kit last Thursday, saying it would ease the pressure on the pathology services struggling with coronavirus detection.

Bangladeshs largest vernacular daily Prothom Alo reported last week that only 1,732 testing kits are available in a country of nearly 180 million people.

Besides, according to a report of The Business Standard, the Bangladesh government has so far prepared only 29 intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients in five Dhaka hospitals.

Most private hospitals that have ICU facilities are refusing to admit patients with even mild symptoms amid the COVID-19 scare.

Similar kit developed in China

The kit developed by Bangladeshs Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited is similar to one developed in January by scientists in China as the coronavirus outbreak intensified in the Chinese province of Hubei.

A report by The Guardian said the Australian regulatory authority urgently approved four Australian companies to import the testing kit developed by the Chinese scientists after those companies sought to supply it into the Australian market.

Bangladesh is already struggling with coronavirus testing, with reportedly only 1,732 testing kits are available in a country of nearly 180 million people [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

Some experts say that because the kit looks for antibodies produced by the white blood cells in response to the virus rather than the virus itself, there is a margin of error where it could return a false negative if used at the wrong time.

The standard laboratory test for coronavirus is known as reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which detects the viruss genome rather than antibodies produced to fight it.

Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, leader of the Bangladeshi research team that invented the kit, told Al Jazeera that their test, known as the dot blot test, looks for antibodies in the blood that are created in response to a given virus.

Coronavirus or any types of virus enter the body through the nose, mouth or eyes, then attaches to cells in the throat that produce a protein, said Sil.

He said viruses are made up of an outer shell of protein, which carries the viruss DNA or RNA  the genetic code with the instructions for making new copies of the virus.

Its cheap to produce

The infected cell reads the RNA and begins making proteins which eventually multiplies the virus, said Sil.

But as the infection progresses inside the human cell, the human immune system at one stage produces specific antibody in blood to fight against the specific virus, he said.

Antibodies are one of the key weapons against viruses in our immune systems arsenal, he said.

Our dot blot test detects the specific antibody in the blood created by the white blood cell in response to coronavirus, he said adding that the antibody assays use blood serum, saliva and sputum samples to provide the results within few minutes.

Dr Sil invented a similar kit for detecting the SARS coronavirus while working in Singapore during the outbreak of the respiratory disease in 2003. The Chinese government later bought the patent of the kit he developed as it was proven to be effective in detecting the SARS coronavirus in most cases.

The best part of this rapid kit is its cheap (approximately $3) to produce unlike the RT-PCR testing kit which one is expensive, he said.

An RT-PCR kit costs about $120 to $130. A specialised biosafety lab is also needed to house a PCR machine, each of which may cost $15,000 to $90,000, Dr Mohibullah Khondoker, a member of Dr Sils research team said.

Khondoker said only a few pathological laboratories in Bangladesh has the desired biosafety level to conduct RT-PCR tests, whereas our rapid dot blot test can be conducted by most of the laboratories.

Limitations of the dot-blot kit

Dr Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon, researcher at Centre for Big Data Research in Health, University of New South Wales in Australia, however, said dot blot test has its disadvantages.

Shawon said the rapid kit looks for antibodies in the blood produced in response to infection by coronavirus, whereas the RT-PCR looks for the virus itself (through RNA extraction) in respiratory specimens.

Since the rapid test relies on the presence of a sufficient amount of antibodies in the blood, factors like timing of the test, previous infections, immune status of a person, cross-reaction with other antigens, can produce false results, he said.

Most private hospitals that have ICU facilities are declining to admit patients even with mild symptoms amid COVID-19 scare [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

The Australia-based researcher said the false results could take two forms: false-negative and false-positive.

The false-negative results will tell a person who is actually infected with coronavirus that they are not, which could lead to them spreading it further because they do not think they need to take precautions.

On the other hand, a false-positive result tells a person that they are infected when, in fact, they are not. This might be less dangerous than false-negatives in the case of a highly contagious virus-like coronavirus, said Dr Shawon.

Several labs around the world are trying to develop such a rapid kit, but none has received approval from public health authorities because of lack of reliability and validity of these kits, he said.

While rapid kits can be used as a screening tool, their efficacy in detecting true-positive and true-negative cases need to be assessed before any approval by the regulator can be made, he added.

A better option in current situation

When asked about the supposed disadvantages of the test kit, Dr Sil said, The rapid dot blot test could record false-negative if used at a wrong time.

Sometimes, it takes more than three days to develop antibodies in the blood cell, so if a test is conducted before three days, then it might come as false-negative, he said.

Under normal circumstances, RT-PCR is the only gold standard test for detecting coronavirus, but the current situation is anything but normal. Here, a rapid dot blot test can be given a shot as countries like Bangladesh are suffering from acute coronavirus test kit crisis, he added.

Dr Khondorker told Al Jazeera that Bangladesh has one of the most fragile healthcare systems in the world.

There is no health insurance facility for most of the people, and people cant afford even basic healthcare. So when we developed our kit, we kept the cost in mind and tried to make it as cheap as possible, he said.

Khondoker added that they are working day and night to increase the efficiency of the test kit.

You understand this is no less than a war-like situation now. There are possibilities of witnessing a boom of coronavirus-affected patients in the next few weeks. It is impossible to test them all with methods like RT-PCR as that method is not only expensive but also time-consuming, he said.

But our method gives result within 15 minutes and, at present, I would say it works in 90 percent of cases.
The mastermind, 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz, was sentenced to three years in prison.

A court in Krakow has found three Polish men with right-wing, pro-Russian leanings guilty of committing terrorist acts for their roles in firebombing a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine in 2018.

They were convicted on March 23 of torching a Hungarian-funded cultural center in Ukraine's westernmost Zakarpattia region where more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.

The mastermind, 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz, was sentenced to three years in prison.

His accomplice, Tomasz Rafal Szymkovwiak, 23, was given two years.

A third suspect, 26-year-old Adrian Marglewski, who cooperated with investigators, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to do community service for 40 hours a month.

A court in Krakow has found three Polish men with right-wing, pro-Russian leanings guilty of committing terrorist acts for their roles in firebombing a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine in 2018.

The incident occurred in February 2018.

They were convicted on March 23 of torching a Hungarian-funded cultural center in Ukraine's westernmost Zakarpattia region where more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside.

The mastermind, 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz, was sentenced to three years in prison.

His accomplice, Tomasz Rafal Szymkovwiak, 23, was given two years.

A third suspect, 26-year-old Adrian Marglewski, who cooperated with investigators, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to do community service for 40 hours a month.

Prokopowicz is a member of the ultra-right, pro-Russian Zmiana party, whose founder  Mateusz Piskorski  was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of spying for Russian and China.

Szymkovwiak and Marglewski are members of the neo-Fascist Falanga group whose members have been known to have participated in the war in Ukraine's east on the side of Russian-backed separatists.

Prokopowicz and Szymkovwiak had plead not guilty.

Read alsoRFE/RL: Berlin prosecutors investigate German journalist named in Ukraine arson attack

During the trial on January 14, Prokopowicz told the court he received instructions and money for the arson attack from a German journalist who has worked as a consultant for a German member of parliament with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Prokopowicz named Manuel Oschsenreiter, who has denied the allegation as "false" through the lawmaker.

Oschsenreiter is known to have ties to Zmiana and is editor of the right-wing German magazine Zuerst! (First!).
[March 24, 2020] 3D Bioprinting Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2020 - 2025)

NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global 3D Bioprinting Market (henceforth referred to as the market studied) was valued at USD 586.13 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 1949.94 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 21.91%, during the period of 2020-2025 . The global 3D bioprinting market is expected to experience growth, owing to its revolutionary breakthrough in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877809/?utm_source=PRN

- 3D bioprinting is an emerging field represented by various biologically applied deposition and assembling systems, which include direct writing, photolithography, microstamping, extrusion, laser writing, stereolithography, electro-printing, microfluidics, and inkjet deposition. Healthcare is one of the major markets where 3D bioprinting is bringing a seismic change. This is majorly because of the increasing investments in healthcare applications, such as model and organ prototyping and production throughout the globe, and growing innovations in healthcare through 3D printing.

- The primarily growing bioprinting applications include 3D bioprinted tissue and hair follicles, as they are very beneficial to cosmetics companies, especially in Europe, where animal testing for cosmetics was banned in 2013. For a cosmetic company, the advantage will be the ability to economically and ethically test products (i.e., not on animals) across varying skin types, for more accurate results.

- Several companies are undergoing extensive R&D expenditures to boost the market growth by making significant product developments and innovations. For instance, Organovo, a medical laboratory and research company, has been at the front of the R&D of 3D bioprinting in the country.

- The market is viewing strategic partnerships and collaborations as a lucrative path towards the expansion of the market presence, by leveraging the various skills and expertise of the other players in the market. For instance, in December 2019, CELLINK, a Swedish 3D bioprinter manufacturer collaborated with microgravity manufacturer, Made In Space., with the aim to identify 3D bioprinting development opportunities for the International Space Station (ISS).



Key Market Trends

Drug Testing to Hold Major Share



- 3D bioprinters are of the highest importance for drug testing and clinical trial applications expected to drastically reduce the need for animal trials (therefore not only being ethically beneficial but also being cost-effective).

- Traditionally, clinical trials for new drug development invoved testing on animals with artificially induced affected tissues. With the advent of 3D bioprinting, drug developers will be able to address the complications associated with human clinical trials of new drugs, by identifying them in a short period (since these can be tested with human-like 3D printed tissues). Thus, they are expected to reduce the losses incurred during late-stage failures.







- In April 2019 , NIBIB-funded researchers at the University of Minnesota (UMN) created a new, dynamic 3D Bioprinted tumor model in a laboratory dish to screen anticancer drugs and study the spread of cancer and primary site tumor growth.



Asia-Pacific Anticipated to Witness Fastest Growth





- Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market for 3D bioprinting, mainly due to a strong existing consumer base that will drive demand for 3D bioprinting, huge scope of 3D printing in medical services, increasing R&D for 3D printing, and government support and tax incentives.

- The Chinese researchers have made rapid advancements in 3D-bioprinting technology, such as Liquid-in-liquid printing method. This method involves liquid polymers that create a stable membrane where they meet. The resulting liquid structures, as they claim, can hold their shape for as long as 10 days, before they begin to merge. Using this new technique, they were able to print an assortment of complex shapes. This is further leading the path to print complex 3D-printed tissues made, by including living cells.

- The Japanese government estimates that the regenerative medicine industry is presumed to grow to JPY 1 trillion by 2030, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) expects that emerging and innovative technologies, such as 3D bioprinting, will lead the market in near future.

- In July 2019 , the Government of India (GoI) also agreed to collaborate with the United States in the research and development of 3D bioprinting regenerative medicine. This co-operation involves the exchange of faculty members and students for the exchange of scientific ideas/information and technologies, as well as the joint use of scientific infrastructure for research, especially in the areas of 3D bioprinting.

- The Government of South Korea announced plans to invest about USD 37 million to boost the development of 3D printing across the country. The country's Ministry of Science announced plans to spend a considerable portion of its budget on a plethora of 3D applications, in order to strengthen its competitiveness and ability to meet the demand.



Competitive Landscape

The 3D bioprinting market is highly competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with a prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability.



- In January 2020 , 3D Systems and CollPlant Biotechnologies announced a joint development agreement to play a pivotal role in advancing and accelerating innovations in the biomedical industry. This alliance will be focusing on the development of regenerative medicines with the help of 3D bioprinting.

- In September 2020 , CELLINK launched its newly developed BIO X6, which is a six-printhead bioprinting system that allows the combination of various materials, tools, and cells. It also offers an intelligent exchangeable printhead system backed by CELLINK's patented Clean Chamber Technology. This product will help to enhance advanced research and clinical applications.



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- 3 months of analyst support



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Mike Pence encourages Americans to pray, keep donating to church

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As churches have made the hard choice of suspending services, churchgoing Americans should continue to send their donations as ministries are playing a vital role in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, Vice President Mike Pence said at a White House press briefing Saturday.

Americans are responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic with common sense, compassion and generosity, Pence said and praised religious leaders and faith communities for their continued service.

Making the hard choice to suspend services, to have online services, even while those ministries are continuing to support food banks and come alongside of the most vulnerable, he said.

And of course the chorus of prayers that is coming up from communities of faith around the country is making the difference that it always has in the life of this nation.

He and President Donald Trump had promised to remind people that on the weekends that youre not in the pews, its still a good idea, if you can, to go ahead and make that donation. He explained that all the ministries are continuing to play a vital role in our communities and we encourage your continued support.

Also on Saturday, Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, tested negative for coronavirus, according to a statement tweeted by his press secretary, Katie Miller, The Hill reported. A member of the vice presidents staff had recently tested positive for COVID-19.

As of early Sunday, there were over 300,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 184 countries, areas or territories, with a death toll of over 13,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the United States, the number of confirmed cases jumped to more than 26,000 with more than 340 deaths.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Saturday issued a stay-at-home order for nearly all of the states 9 million residents, according to NBC News.

We must flatten the curve and ensure residents are practicing social distancing, Murphy said. Even with this order in effect , life in New Jersey does not have to come to a complete standstill.

California, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania are among the states that have taken such desperate measures.

However, amid the coronavirus scare, stories of hope and resilience are emerging.

Last week, a 90-year-old Seattle woman, Geneva Wood, who contracted coronavirus at a senior care facility, recovered, according to CBS News. A CDC investigation found that 62 percent of the roughly 130 elderly residents had become infected at Life Care Center and more than a quarter of them have died.

Wood has five kids, 11 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

Her grand-daughter-in-law, Kate Neidigh, said, The love of her family had been a driving force in everything she did pre-coronavirus. No way was this going to change after-the-fact.

Meanwhile, a recent video clip of a 6-year-old girl teaching a Bible verse, 2 Timothy 1:7, from memory to her 7-year-old brother to calm his fears over the novel coronavirus pandemic is going viral on social media.

My son Brandon has crippling fear cause of his #autism. His sister taught him a scripture she learned at @FellowshipMiss2 Church to help, tweeted Sheletta Brundidge, a mother of four and childrens author, with the video. Stop letting your fear of #Coronavirus be bigger than your faith in God. Plead The Blood, pray and wash your hands. Amen!

Governments around the world are scrambling to limit the spread of the coronavirus and are facing criticism of anxious citizens and journalists.

At the press briefing Saturday, President Trump defended his administrations response in the initial days of the coronavirus crisis.

I get a lot of credit for having closed our country very early to a very heavily infected country, China, he said. Unfortunately, China  I wish China would have told us more about what was going on in China long prior to us reading about it.

President Trump was responding to a report in The Washington Post claiming that U.S. intelligence agencies issued ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus but Trump and lawmakers played down the threat.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati resigned late Monday night, hours after senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister of the state.

In his resignation letter submitted to Deputy Speaker Hina Kavre, Prajapati said he is resigning as speaker of the state Assembly on moral grounds.

Prajapati, the Congress MLA from Gotegaon, was elected as speaker amid protests by the BJP in January last year after Kamal Nath became chief minister of the state.

Kamal Nath resigned as chief minister last week after his government lost majority following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs.

Chouhan, 61, was back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Monday night for a record fourth term.

The legislator from Budhni took oath of office at a simple function in Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.
The White House in Washington D.C., the United States, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

China has called on the United States to manage its own business well and play a constructive role in international cooperation on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding global public health security.

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China urged the United States to stop politicizing COVID-19 and stigmatizing China, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday.

Geng made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a question regarding recent allegations from the U.S. side.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on March 21 that he wished "China would have told us more about what was going on in China." Meanwhile, the White House is reportedly launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies that focus on accusing China of orchestrating a cover-up and creating a global pandemic.

Geng said the Chinese side has noticed relevant reports and added that on March 20, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China, Russia and Iran of "carrying out disinformation campaigns related to the coronavirus pandemic."

Calling the U.S. accusations clumsy slander, Geng stressed China has kept the World Health Organization (WHO) and relevant countries and regions, including the United States, updated with its domestic epidemic situation in an open, transparent and responsible manner.

China's efforts have been appreciated by the international community, Geng said, adding that Chinese people have gone all out to fight against COVID-19 in the past two months and won precious time for other countries.

"With routine exchanges of information with the WHO and other countries including the United States since Jan. 3, China announced the closure of Wuhan's outbound channels on Jan. 23," the spokesperson said.

On Feb. 2, the U.S. government announced its decision to completely ban foreigners who had visited China in the past 14 days from entering the country when only around 10 confirmed cases were found. Within 50 days, the number soared to around 30,000, said Geng. "What effective measures have the United States taken in the 50 days?"

Saying the United States has completely wasted precious time won by China in COVID-19 fight, Geng reiterated that defaming, scapegoating and shifting blame to others is immoral and irresponsible.

"It will do nothing to help the U.S. COVID-19 prevention work and global cooperation in pandemic control," Geng stressed.

China called on the United States to manage its own business well and play a constructive role in international cooperation on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding global public health security, Geng said.
New York, USA, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per a new report published by Research Dive, the global medical marijuana market is set to rise at a CAGR of 28.7% and is anticipated to generate a revenue of $36,205.4 million during the period of forecast from 2019 to 2026. The segmentation of the market has been done on the basis of application, route of administration, distribution channel, and region. The report provides in-depth insights on drivers, vital segments, opportunities, restraints, and key players of the market. As per our analysts, rapid growth in the legalization of cannabis worldwide is a significant factor escalating the growth of medical marijuana market. Increasing agricultural crisis coupled with sanctions and softening testing for marijuana all over the globe is building huge growth opportunities for medical marijuana industry. However, lack of safety and inadequate information about cannabis in the developing countries will likely hamper the growth of global medical marijuana market.

Download Sample, to know what are the driving factors and restrain in the industry. https://www.researchdive.com/download-sample/59

Pain Management Segment to be Most Lucrative

On the basis of applications, the global market for medical marijuana is segmented pain management, nausea, muscle spasms, anorexia, seizures, and others. The pain management segment accounted for $2,068.3 million revenue in 2018 and is expected to grow at 28.2% CAGR by the end of 2026. This segment is likely to generate a revenue of $15,133.9 million during the forecast period. This is majorly due to the increasing necessity of pain management across the globe.

Inhalation Segment to Dominate the Industry

Based on route of administration, the global medical marijuana market is segmented into inhalation, oral, and topical. The inhalation segment accounted for $3,463.2 million in 2018, and is estimated to garner a revenue of $25,162.8 million by the end of 2026. This segment is likely to grow at a CAGR of 28.1% owing to its properties such as quick effects and reduction noxious effects. On the other hand, the topical segment is anticipated to grow at 30.2% CAGR and is expected to generate a revenue of $7,965.2 million till 2026.

Online Segment to Grow at Healthy Rate

On the basis of distribution channel, the global medical marijuana market is segmented into dispensaries and online. The online segment for medical marijuana accounted for $1,014.9 million in 2018, and is all set to grow at a CAGR of 32.3% during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the growing demand for marijuana from the healthcare sector. On the other hand, the dispensaries segment for medical marijuana is expected to grow at 27.6% CAGR and is estimated to garner a revenue of $26,647.2 million by the end of 2026.

Geographical Analysis and Prominent Players of the Market

Based on region, the global medical marijuana market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and LAMEA. The North America market for medical marijuana is anticipated to generate $11,404.7 million and all set to rise at a CAGR of 26.6% by 2026. This is majorly due to the House Judiciary Committee legalized marijuana on the federal level in this region.

Asia Pacific region will have lucrative opportunities for the market investors to grow over the coming years, Inquire now https://www.researchdive.com/purchase-enquiry/59



The major players of the global medical marijuana market include Aurora Cannabis, Inc., ABcann Medicinals, Inc., Aphria, Inc., Cannabis Sativa Inc., Canopy Growth Corporation, Emerald Health Therapeutics, GW Pharmaceuticals, Green Relief Inc., mCig, and Insys Therapeutics, Inc. These players are heavily investing in R&D activities to develop marijuana based therapeutic drugs in order to gain competitive advantage in the global medical marijuana market.

Asia Pacific region will have lucrative opportunities for the market investors to grow over the coming years


China is bracing for hundreds of thousands of workers isolated in Wuhan to return to Beijing and Shanghai amid new claims the virus is not yet completely defeated in the city where it was first detected.

Internal notices sent to companies in Beijing say up to 300,000 people from Hubei will begin to arrive from Tuesday. In a bid to stop the virus from re-emerging in its most populous cities during the upheaval, the government has put harsh new restrictions on foreigners entering the country.

China's workers and consumers are slowly returning to business as usual, but the world's second-biggest economy took a massive hit in January and February. Credit:Getty

The Chinese central bank said it expected the nation's economy to return to its potential output "rather swiftly" in a sign the government is preparing to ramp up production and further lift domestic restrictions.

The company notice, seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, warned Beijing based-employees to maintain their self protections. "Starting from tomorrow, there will be 300,000 people returning from Hubei to Beijing," it said.
Aligarh/Moradabad : , March 24 (IANS) Even as anti-CAA protests in Lucknow and Deoband have been called off in view of the Corona scare, women protesters have continued their agitation, ignoring the appeals issued by religious leaders.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Eidgah in Moradabad on Sunday during the Janata Curfew call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At 5 p.m., when the entire country rang bells and beat 'thalis' to express their gratitude to Corona warriors, the protesters in Moradabad beat 'thalis' to express their protest against citizenship laws.

The Moradabad police have now decided to book the protesters who had gathered at Eidgah on Sunday.

Amit Kumar Anand, additional superintendent of police (city), said, "Around 500 protesters reached Eidgah ground and started a sit-in protest there. Their act may fuel the epidemic. We are going to book them under IPC section 188 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by a public servant) and other relevant sections for posing threat to others' lives." One of the organizers at the sit-in site, Waqi Rashid, said, "Coronavirus cannot be controlled by a one-day curfew." In Deoband, the home to one of the largest Islamic seminaries of the world, the anti-CAA protest was called off.

In Aligarh, over 500 women protesters are continuing with their sit-in against the Citizenship (amendment) Act (CAA). The protest against the CAA is going on at Aligarh's Shah Jamal Idgah ground since January 29.

The district administration had served a notice to the organizer two days ago asking them to vacate the place for 10 days amid coronavirus fears or "face legal action". However, neither the protesters nor the organizers have paid heed to it.

Aligarh district magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said, "Action will be taken against them." The administration has, meanwhile, decided to screen people coming from Delhi, Noida, Agra and Mathura.

Public announcements are being made by the municipal corporation officials, urging people to stay indoors to combat the spread of Covid-19.
The COVID-19 economic crisis is entering its third week, and still the federal government has passed no big rescue package. The Republican Senate leadership is trying to whip up votes for a mostly garbage plan. It would cut checks of $1,200 to most adults, plus $500 for children, which is at least not nothing, but also would create a $500 billion slush fund for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to use on whatever corporate bailouts he deems necessary, with no conditions or requirements.

It is both far short of what is necessary, and wildly unfair. So far Senate Democrats are putting up a surprising amount of resistance. On Sunday night they filibustered the bill, meaning it would need 60 votes to pass. It went down 47-47 because five Republican senators are in coronavirus quarantine. On Monday they filibustered it again, though by a narrower margin. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi released a sketch of a plan which is a lot better than the Mnuchin slush fund, but arguably still short of what's needed. Democrats in the House and the Senate will need to agree to a very aggressive plan and stick to it, if they want to save America as a whole.

There is a very dangerous line of thinking that is common in Democratic circles in times of emergency. It goes something like this: In times of crisis, it is important for Democrats to behave responsibly and not exploit the situation for political gain. Therefore, they should negotiate with Republicans to get something rather than hold out for unrealistic, utopian demands and risk disaster.

The problem here is that so-called "utopian demands" are really just the bare minimum of what is necessary to actually address the crisis, and letting Republicans get their way will lead to a disaster that is only somewhat less bad than what would happen if we do nothing. Moreover, Democrats have all the political leverage in this situation, because Trump will take most of the blame if the economy collapses. The only way to actually rescue the whole American population is to exploit that political leverage.

Story continues

The coronavirus situation thus far bears a marked resemblance to what happened with the bank bailout passed in fall 2008. The Bush administration, led by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, wanted a preposterously unfair rescue  shoveling hundreds of billions of dollars of cash and credit into the banks to restore the pre-crisis status quo, but doing little or nothing for the rest of the population. Because Democrats controlled the House, and because many Republicans refused to vote for what looked like big-government socialism anyway, and because Barack Obama was widely expected to be the next president, Democrats had enormous leverage over Paulson.

But instead of pushing for a better response that would aid workers and hold Wall Street accountable, Obama whipped Democratic votes for Paulson's bill, which eventually passed in modified form after it failed the first time. Democrats refused to exploit their leverage because they thought it would be irresponsible. In Reed Hundt's book A Crisis Wasted, administration insiders were clear about this choice. "We could have forced more mortgage relief. We could have imposed tighter conditions on dividends and executive compensation," admitted economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. As Obama told a group of liberal writers in 2010, they "didn't do what Franklin Delano Roosevelt did, which was basically wait for six months until the thing had gotten so bad that it became an easier sell politically."

As historian Eric Rauchway writes in his book Winter War, Obama's line here is a straight-up lie told by Herbert Hoover. In reality, Hoover did not want sensible, bipartisan solutions to fix the Great Depression  he wanted Roosevelt to abandon his New Deal program, which Hoover viewed as creeping communism that would "break down our form of government [and] crack the timbers of our Constitution." But again, the point of Roosevelt's New Deal was to fix the Depression and prevent it from happening again  especially by instituting harsh new financial regulations. Indeed, once Roosevelt was in office he quickly and easily fixed the banking panic that had been sweeping the nation for months using tools Hoover had dismissed out of hand.

The sensible, pragmatic, responsible thing to do in 1932 and in 2008 was to tell Republicans to either do as they were told or go pound sand, and the same is true today. Democrats should propose a solution that is both fair and big enough to address the crisis, and tell Republicans to take it or leave it. As the crisis gets worse and worse, and the bodies start piling up, Republicans almost certainly will fold  indeed, at least one Republican senator has already argued the Republican plan should be more fair. Among other things, Democrats should demand much larger checks to individuals that will go out automatically in future crises, an even bigger upgrade to unemployment insurance funded by the federal government, budget backstops for state and local governments who are getting slammed, wartime-style mass state purchasing of medical equipment, and requirements that any company that gets rescued keeps its staff on payroll. But to make that demand, House Democrats will actually have to write a bill doing so.

Gutless centrists will no doubt characterize this as "taking the American people hostage." In reality, it is Republicans who are taking the people hostage to try to get through a giant bailout for the rich. Democrats, should they choose to play the same kind of hardball, would be trying to save the American people in the only way it can be done  through politics.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Several U.S. senators have quarantined themselves after contact with Sen. Rand Paul, but neither Ohio senator is doing so because they didnt interact with the Kentucky Republican before his Sunday coronavirus diagnosis.

The Ohioans also said its been weeks since they frequented a U.S. Senate gymnasium where Paul worked out before testing positive for the disease thats killed thousands around the world.

Rob has not been in close proximity with Senator Paul and thus has been advised that he can continue to work with his colleagues on passing legislation to address this crisis, said a Monday evening statement from Emily Benavides, spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown had no contact with Paul and hasnt been to the gym in recent weeks because hes been practicing social distancing as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises, his office said.

Utah Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee voluntarily quarantined themselves after exposure to Paul.

Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with CDC guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor, said a statement from Romneys office. He has no symptoms but will be tested. He urges members to pass a relief package as quickly as possible that provides assistance for families, workers and small businesses.

We want to be clear, Senator Paul left the Senate IMMEDIATELY upon learning of his diagnosis. He had zero contact with anyone & went into quarantine. Insinuations such as those below that he went to the gym after learning of his results are just completely false & irresponsible! https://t.co/yqfxydsXBG  Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2020

Several senators criticized Paul for not quarantining himself while he awaited his test results, potentially spreading the disease to colleagues. Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also criticized him for using the gym reserved for Senators on Sunday, even though it was supposed to be closed, and swimming in its pool. She said Paul attended votes last Wednesday, and at least two Republican caucus lunches on Thursday and Friday, after he was tested and before he got his results.

This, America, is absolutely irresponsible, Sinema said in a statement on Twitter. You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus.

Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally agreed in her own statement.

As we ask Americans to sacrifice their livelihoods and alter their behavior to save lives, we must ourselves model appropriate #coronavirus behavior, she wrote. No one is too important to disregard guidance to self-quarantine pending test results.

I couldn't agree more @kyrstensinema. As we ask all Americans to sacrifice their livelihoods and alter their behavior to save lives, we must ourselves model appropriate #coronavirus behavior. No one is too important to disregard guidance to self-quarantine pending test results. https://t.co/0zQx8yrJA4  Martha McSally (@SenMcSallyAZ) March 23, 2020

Paul, who is a physician, posted a statement on Twitter that said he left the Senate immediately after receiving his diagnosis, and went into quarantine without having contact with anyone.

He later released a press statement that said he took a COVID-19 test last Monday, because he and his wife traveled extensively before social distancing practices were implemented and hes at higher risk for serious complications for the virus because part of his lung was removed several months ago. He thought he wouldnt test positive because he had no symptoms or contact with anyone who was sick or who tested positive for the virus. The statement said he still has no virus symptoms despite the positive test result.

For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol," said Paul. The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined. It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested.

Perhaps it is too much to ask that we simply have compassion for our fellow Americans who are sick or fearful of becoming so," he continued. Thousands of people want testing. Many, like David Newman of The Walking Dead, are sick with flu symptoms and are being denied testing. This makes no sense. The broader the testing and the less finger-pointing we have, the better.

My husband has coronavirus. I love him & not being able to be by his side is one of the hardest things about this disease. So many are going through this & much worse. I pray for him & you & meanwhile I will do all I can to get help to the American people.https://t.co/fqQU6tA29r pic.twitter.com/SjyfdQxe1R  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 23, 2020

Common Cause legislative affairs director Aaron Scherb said Pauls failure to quarantine himself potentially endangered the hundreds of individuals he came into contact with in the U.S. Capitol complex in addition to U.S. senators, including janitors, police officers, and food service workers. His use of the Senate gym after its March 19 closure to stop the spread of COVID-19 calls into question his ability to follow rules, said Scherb, adding that Paul should have known better because hes a doctor.

As a U.S. senator, he should certainly set an example for everyone else especially during a pandemic like this, said Scherb. I am sure he wouldnt be the first Senator who has ignored rules. Some of them think theyre invincible.

He said Pauls diagnosis would likely curtail further use of the Senate gym during the pandemic, and would make the coronavirus issue even more personal for Senate members.

The average age of the U.S. Senate is above 60, said Scherb. They are not immune to this.

In addition to Paul, Romney and Lee, Republican senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Rick Scott of Florida are in self-quarantine after interacting with people who later tested positive for the virus. Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Monday that her husband was diagnosed with the virus, but said she wont self-quarantine or get tested because they were in different places for the last two weeks and I am outside the 14-day period for getting sick.

U.S. House of Representatives members Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, and Ben McAdams, a Utah Democrat, have been diagnosed with the virus, and multiple legislators who interacted with them have self-quarantined.

Portman last week introduced a bipartisan resolution that would let the Senate vote remotely during national crises where its not safe to convene in the Capitol. The measure he drafted with Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin would give the bodys majority and minority leaders joint authority to allow secure remote voting for up to 30 days, after which the Senate would have to vote to renew the remote voting.

In times of a national emergency, the Senate must be able to convene and act expeditiously even if we cant be together in person, said a statement from Portman. Its during times like this, when we have a pandemic affecting every corner of society and we are asking people to stay in their homes, that we should have the ability to convene the Senate and get our work done even if we cant be in the Capitol.

In a Sunday press conference, President Donald Trump said he would be totally in favor of Congress voting remotely on a temporary basis, given the number Congress members who could potentially test positive for the virus.

Its a terrible thing thats going on, Trump said of the legislators who have been diagnosed with coronavirus. The hidden enemy. I call it the hidden enemy. And I think theyll all be fine.

More coronavirus coverage:

Democrats including Ohios Sherrod Brown block Senate GOP coronavirus bill

President Trump suspends student loan interest, allows payment delays during coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus causes suspension of the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals

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U.S. government may issue coronavirus relief checks to workers

Federal judge halts upcoming food stamp cut amid coronavirus concerns

Sen. Sherrod Brown criticizes President Trump over pandemic office closure claim

Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez close DC offices over coronavirus

Ohio gets more than $15 million in federal money to fight coronavirus

Does lack of paid sick days put Ohio at risk of coronavirus outbreak?

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown introducing bill to give workers sick days during public health emergencies like coronavirus
New Delhi/Lucknow, March 24 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has urged the party workers in Uttar Pradesh to help people without any prejudice in the wake of lockdown due to coronavirus.

In a letter to the district and city party presidents, she said as the country was reeling under the Covid-19 spread, it's the time to be aware and help each other. She urged the party workers to make a WhatsApp group and ask any person with Covid-19 symptoms to go for test.

"If any Congress worker comes to know of any infected person, he should inform the departments concerned, and make a list of people old and ill people to help them," Priyanka wrote.

She said people should be reached through WhatsApp and other means to make them aware of coronavirus. "You should take utmost care that no rumour is spread," the Congress leader said.

She also urged them to help the administration in implementing the lockdown.
(Photo : Picture From Pxhere Official Website) Meteor Electricity

In a refreshing new study, scientists have found a superconducting material inside one of the biggest meteorites on earth located in Australia! This significant study could point towards proper utilization of materials from outer space!

Superconductors are known as the material which can conduct electrical current easily and without resistance. These are the materials being desired by quantum computer companies and other tech companies hoping to efficiently improve the way energy is transferred.

The existence of superconductivity elsewhere

According to Ivan Schuller one of the lead authors of the study from the University of California San Diego in a statement given to Gizmodo, "The big takeaway is that there is superconductivity in the sky, naturally occurring,"

Read Also: Japanese Hayabusa 2 Spacecraft Fires Into Near-Earth Asteroid: What Happened Next Shed Light On How Planets Are Formed

According to Schuller, the main focus is not just meteorites but rather superconductors! Just six years ago, the team under Schuller started to use a technology called the Magnetic Field Modulated Microwave Spectroscopy or MFMMS.

The MFMMS methodology starts with the scientist piecing together tiny sample fragments into a cavity which is filled with microwaves along with an oscillating magnetic field right before cooling it. Then the samples show transition from the known conductors into superconductors, the process in which they absorb microwaves changes drastically!

The findings on the largest meteorites and its implications

A graduate student by the name of James Wampler had finally measured the superconducting transition between two different meteorite fragments namely the Mundrabilla meteorite as well as the GRA 95205. The superconducting material found was an alloy classified with indium, lead, and tin, which confirm this material as superconductors previously known to scientists!

Since it is the very first evidence of superconductivity in space, this study has made a huge progress for humanity as Wampler tells Gizmo that "I don't remember the moment when I found it," continuing with "Your first reaction is that it's faking you out, it's something else. It's very cynical, not in a bad way, but being cynical makes you double check yourself."

The findings were brought to scientists Yimei Zhu as well as Shaobo Cheng at the Brookhaven National Lab to be properly inspected using electron microscopes. Once properly confirmed, the study should be a solid find.

The implications of these alloys

According to Munir Humayan, "The problem with non-obvious sources of contamination is that they aren't obvious," and that "This paper opens the door on an entire field of inquiry to look at rare metals like these indium-tin-lead alloys not known from meteorites previously."

Read Also: NASA Detects Two Asteroids Coming Towards Earth: Can these Rocks Cause Damages?

The findings have shown that for meteorites to develop superconductors, their components would have had undergone chemical changes which involve heating and recrystallization during a solar systems very formation. Although the alloy is not a superconductor when placed in room temperature, there are still quite a few locations in space that have a 5-degrees-Kevlar temperature.

The possible implications of these superconducting meteors could entail the disruption of magnetic fields surrounding Earth resulting in phenomena which is then potentially visible to the telescopes on Earth. This hypothesis may still require a lot more evidence, modeling, and research to hold strong ground.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Block Buddy Pro is partnering with Global Response Management to provide education about regional anesthesia nerve blocks to high-risk, low-resource areas across the globe with their mobile app. Block Buddy Pro is partnering with Global Response Management to provide education about ultrasound guided nerve blocks to high-risk, low-resource areas. The Block Buddy Pro mobile app will be utilized by GRM medics in the field when performing life-saving operations across the globe.

Block Buddy, the company behind the popular Block Buddy Pro mobile application, is proud to announce their new partnership with Global Response Management.

Block Buddy Pro is a mobile application that provides education for anesthesia providers about performing ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks and point of care ultrasound (POCUS). The app contains lessons with videos, detailed images, and descriptions for dozens of different nerve blocks, along with various other tools and resources.

Global Response Management (GRM) is a medical not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides emergency and trauma care in low-resource and high-risk areas across the globe. The Block Buddy Pro app will be utilized by GRM medics in the field when performing life-saving operations and procedures. Importantly, the app offers offline access that medics will use in areas with little to no WiFi access.

To learn more about Global Response Management, and to learn how you can contribute, visit global-response.org.

Block Buddy Pro can be purchased in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. To learn more about Block Buddy, please visit myblockbuddy.com.

About the Owners

The creators of Block Buddy, Scott Urigel and Jeff Molter are highly skilled and respected anesthesia providers who share a passion for providing their expertise and knowledge to areas around the world that may not have access to quality medical education. Jeff and Scott are committed to improving the lives of patients and increasing the knowledge of their peers.

Both Scott and Jeff have received numerous awards and accolades for their service over the years. Most recently, Scott Urigel was honored with the Alice Magaw Outstanding Clinician Award at the 2019 American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Annual Conference. And Jeff Molter received the CRNA of the Year Award at the 2019 Ohio State Association of Nurse Anesthetists (OSANA) Conference. To learn more about Scott and Jeff, visit myblockbuddy.com/category/instructors/.


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 14:28:30|Editor: ZD

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A resident applauds to pay tribute to medical staff in Paris, France, March 23, 2020. As of Monday, France has detected 19,856 cases of coronavirus infection, and 860 people had died from COVID-19, French Health Minister Olivier Veran announced at a daily update. In the last 24 hours, 3,176 more people were diagnosed with the virus, which claimed 186 new lives. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
A pregnant woman stranded in Guatemala fears she might not be able to come back to Australia amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Leanne Campion said the airports and borders were shut in the central American country within hours of the announcement.

The Melbourne woman, who is 19 weeks pregnant, was urged by local and Australian doctors to return home as soon as possible.

'The medical system does struggle here, it's certainly nothing on par with what we have in Australia,' she told 3AW.

'That's one of my biggest concerns.

'If I did have to stay and have the baby here, it may not get the care it would at home.

'My pregnancy has also been deemed a high-risk pregnancy, so my doctors here and also in Australia have recommended I come home, sooner rather than later.'

The Melbourne woman, who is 19 weeks pregnant, was urged by local and Australian doctors to return home as soon as possible (stock)

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

Ms Campion moved to Guatemala in August last year to be with her partner.

She said the Guatemalan Government made the decision last Monday to close the borders and the airports.

With only a few hours notice, Ms Campion and her partner, along with many people from other countries have been left stranded.

'I do have a ticket to come back to Australia but with the border closing and also with there being no flights for the next couple of months,

'I'm definitely trying to get home as soon as I can and unfortunately it will be without him [her partner].

'The most important thing is to come home is for the health of the pregnancy and our baby in the future.'

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia's borders will be closed from 9pm on Friday night.

Only Australian permanent residents and citizens will be allowed to enter the country.

The dramatic decision comes as most of Australia's positive coronavirus cases are confirmed to come from overseas.

Australia now has 1,972 positive cases of the deadly virus and the death toll has risen to eight.
Cooper seeks federal disaster declaration

Gov. Roy Cooper has requested a major disaster declaration for the state of North Carolina due to the continuing impacts of COVID-19 on North Carolina.

Its important that we help North Carolinians stay protected from the health impacts of COVID-19 and recover economically from the financial impacts this crisis is having on our state, Cooper said in a letter to President Trump.

In requesting the major disaster declaration, Governor Cooper asked the federal government to provide individual assistance for those affected, including crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance and Small Business Administration assistance, among other programs.

Governor Cooper issued a state of emergency for North Carolina to respond to the Coronavirus COVID-19 crisis on March 10. President Trump followed by declaring a national emergency on March 13, opening Public Assistance for North Carolina, which reimburses government offices and non-profits for actions that protect public health and safety. Eligible counties and communities may qualify for financial reimbursements for the cost of taking prudent actions to reduce the impacts of COVID-19, while also protecting lives and public health.

California, New York and Washington have already received major disaster declarations for COVID-19.
Manipur attack: Mortal remains of Assam Rifles personnel to head to their homes

PM Modi to visit Manipur, Tripura on Jan 4 to inaugurate several Developmental projects

1st COVID19 case in North-East, Manipur woman who returned from UK tests positive

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Imphal, Mar 24: Manipur has reported its first case of coronavirus after a 23-year-old woman who returned from the United Kingdom tested positive.

The woman is reportedly a student in the UK. This is the first case in the northeast.

Meanwhile, the patient has been put under isolation at a hospital, and her family members too have been quarantined.

The family is being tested for the pandemic disease.

Manipur is among the 32 states and union territories that are under a complete lockdown to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus.

Coronavirus recession could be worse than 2009, warns IMF

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India inched up to 492 with nine fatalities reported so far, but health experts have warned that a big jump could be imminent, which would overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure.

The government has decided to halt all the domestic flights from Tuesday midnight with majority of the country under complete lockdown to stop the spread of COVID19.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 11:01 [IST]
HK extends travel ban to all non-locals amid pandemic

Global Times

By Zhang Han and Li Aixin Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/23 21:28:40

Hong Kong will ban all non-local residents from entering the city through flights and suspend transit services at the airport starting Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Monday, a move which analysts believe is the "strictest-ever" measure to deal with the mounting pressure of COVID-19 in the city as an international hub with a prosperous service sector.

People cannot enter through the mainland, Macao or Taiwan if they have been overseas in the past 14 days. All new arrivals, regardless of departure origin, have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, Lam said at a press conference on Monday.

She also said passengers coming from the US, the UK and the EU, even without any suspicious symptoms, need to accept nucleic acid testing.

Analysts noted such "strictest-ever" methods are necessary for Hong Kong, a gateway in South China. Otherwise, it could be a loophole in epidemic control work for the whole country if the city fails to curb the infections.

The measures are more stringent than those carried out during the 2003 SARS outbreak, which shows authorities are upgrading their methods amid a surge in imported cases from the COVID-19 pandemic, Tian Feilong, an expert in Hong Kong and Macao studies and associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing, told Global Times on Monday.

Tian also noted the latest measure shows that the Special Administrative Region government prioritizes residents' lives and health, while sharing the responsibility of epidemic prevention and control with the Chinese mainland under the "one country, two systems" principle. "It is a rational decision consistent with the needs of the current epidemic situation in Hong Kong," Tian said.

The Chief Executive also proposed a ban on alcohol at 8,600 bars, restaurants and entertaining centers as a few clustered infections have emerged from gatherings and banquets. She also noted that authorities will consult with the catering industry on diverting business operators from eat-in to delivery services.

Among 356 infections in Hong Kong so far, many turned out to have traveled overseas or contracted the virus through gatherings such as banquets and parties.

Police have found more than 40 people violating the home quarantine rules, with some destroying the smartband aimed at tracking people under home quarantine, Hong Kong media reported.

The smartband was designed to detect the real-time location of a quarantined person through analyzing the signal changes of telecommunications networks, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. But some people cut the band or turned them off to avoid being monitored.

Hong Kong has implemented compulsory home quarantines to all passengers to the city by putting electronic wristbands on arrivals. Yet some people supposed to undergo quarantine have shared their experience on social media of "escaping the home quarantine" and went shopping, which "exposed the loophole in relying on a tracking band and self-discipline to carry out the quarantine rules," Tian said.

A large number of foreigners work and live in Hong Kong, and not all of them strictly obey the government's isolation order, "which also brings risks to the city," he said.

Loose implementation of the quarantine rules in Hong Kong has prompted some analysts to warn that no place should be exempt from epidemic control. Otherwise, the mainland may have to pay the price.

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Ha Vi Lam, 30, working in Macau (China), boarded a plane home on March 18 and transited in Malaysia.

However, he was estranged at the airport as the Malaysian government had enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO), which bans all foreigners from entering Malaysia in two weeks starting on March 18, in an attempt to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

The airports hotel also shut down and refused services to new guests due to the MCO, forcing him to stay at the airports transit lounge.

Along with support for his meals, the embassy is helping Lam to seek a flight home, which is expected to be after March 31, following the end of the MCOs two-week enforcement.

In case of emergency, Vietnamese citizens in Malaysia are recommended to contact the embassys round-the-clock hotline (60) 1136 682 866 or email address vnemb.my@mofa.gov.vn.
By Trend

Three groups of information exchange via internet have been created in the Azerbaijani parliament, Trend reports on March 24 referring to the Azerbaijani parliament.

The groups are created for online communications between the leadership of the Azerbaijani parliament and the heads of committees and commissions; between the leadership of the parliament and the leaders of political parties represented in the parliament; and between the leadership of the parliament and senior officials of the Office of the Azerbaijani parliament and the Department of Affairs of the Azerbaijani parliament.

Taking into account the systemic measures which are taken against the spread of coronavirus in the country, the groups were created to restrict direct communication among people in the administrative building of the Azerbaijani parliament and to work via mobile communication or internet in accordance with the order of the chairman of the Azerbaijani parliament dated March 18, 2020.

On March 23, a meeting of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ali Asadov. The situation in connection with coronavirus in Azerbaijan was discussed and a decision was made to impose a special quarantine regime to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Taking into account the experience of various countries in combating the coronavirus COVID-19 worldwide and in order to protect the populations health and prevent its spread in the country and possible consequences caused as a result of infection,

Azerbaijan announced a special quarantine regime from 00:00 (GMT+4) March 24 till 00:00 April 20 in accordance with the Article 25 of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic about Sanitary and Epidemiologic Wellbeing.

In accordance with the requirements of the regime, passengers should use ground transportation, rather than metro.
Warning: This article contains material that may be sensitive.

Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  As Womens Month comes to a close, its worth noting that this year, the Philippines has maintained its rank as the most gender-inclusive nation in Asia and the top 16th worldwide according to a report of 153 countries by the World Economic Forum. The Philippines has closed its gaps in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, and health. Political empowerment is the only gap that has widened over the past couple of years.

However, these statistics fail to tell a nuanced story of women at the margins. Many Filipino women remain to be victims of violence, discrimination, and exploitation.

There are glaring gaps in pro-women legislation, one of the most crucial being that of safe abortion. The Philippines has among the most restrictive laws against abortion in the world, and access to the safest options remains a labyrinthine process at best.

Archaic laws fail our women

Abortion is criminalized under our Revised Penal Code of 1930, which penalizes women and those who assist them with imprisonment. Provisions on abortion were lifted from Spanish Penal Code dating back to 1870, according to a policy brief by Atty. Clara Rita Padilla, Executive Director of advocacy organization EnGendeRights. Looking at the code, language alone betrays its outdated state: Article 258 imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if the abortion is done for the purpose of concealing her dishonor. The section on abortion is just above Section Three, which is about penalizing duels  arranged combat with matched weapons and set rules declining in popularity by the 19th century.

Taking a closer look at our laws, therapeutic abortion may be interpreted as legal; this is abortion performed to save a womans life and other justifiable grounds such as rape and incest. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs lists the Philippines' abortion policy as legal to save a woman's life.

Our 1987 Constitution states equal protection for the life of the mother and the unborn child, but was also clear about women's rights to health, equality, and role towards nation-building. There was no other mention of the unborn's rights, thus Padilla argues in her policy paper that prenatal protection does not undermine womens rights. Furthermore, looking at the principles of necessity of Article 11 of the Penal Code, circumstances may be justified as necessary to save a woman's life.

The interpretation of these policies is ambiguous at best, and in reality, many Filipino women are denied quality abortion and post-abortion care out of moral judgments or fear of penalization.

Tirelessly working around the gaps

The Philippines has a number of womens rights advocacy groups. One of these is the southern-based Womens Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), with its Philippine office helmed by Executive Director Marevic Parcon.

Kahapon lang, meron kaming tatlong requests by email. One of them said, 'Currently looking for surgical abortion, I hope you could help me,' Parcon shares about the nature of their work, which involves advocating for the decriminalization of abortion and leading women to reputable information sources. She mentions that in times of national calamity, their work only increases: With each and every disaster, we see a higher incidence of gender-based violence, higher incidence of unwanted pregnancy, and thus, more and more attempts at unsafe abortion.

Despite the constant efforts of womens rights advocates, there is only so much that can be done if systemic changes in pro-womens legislation move at a snails pace. One of the institutions that Parcon endorses is the World Health Organization, which has verifiable and scientific information. WGNRR is advocating for decriminalization of abortion. We give them websites that they can go to, but for access, tali rin ang mga kamay namin.

The reality of Filipino women looking for safe abortion

According to Parcon, there is no one profile to summarize those seeking help from WGNRR: Some of them are students na nagkaroon ng acquaintance, for example, nagkaroon ng inuman tapos nagkaroon ng sexual violence. Ang iba ay kabataan sa urban poor setting.

What is common among them all, shares Parcon, is the palpable desperation and mental anguish in their tone. She explains, You can tell sa boses nila, most of them are in a desperate situation, and some of them are already admittedly suicidal. You can actually tell that some of these are entrapment. Meron na ngang mga request for tulungan man lang silang makabili online. We don't know where the women will go after.

A national study by Singh and colleagues estimates that six in 10 Filipino women have experienced an unintended pregnancy at some point in their lives. About 1.43 million pregnancies each year, nearly half of all pregnancies in the Philippines, are unintended.

The same study has surveyed the top reasons why Filipino women undergo abortion: 75% of women cited a lack of funds required for raising an additional child; 57% said that they had enough children or their pregnancy came too soon after their last birth; 46% said that they were too young (specifically younger than 25); nearly one-third of the women cited health risks; 13% of the women were survivors of rape. In truth, it is difficult to pin down accurate statistics on violence against women due to the immense stigma and added danger placed upon those who do come forward to report.

Abortion for more than just physical health

Physical health is one of the major reasons women terminate their pregnancy, especially for women-at-risk (e.g. less than 18 years old, less than 4 9 in height, with preexisting medical conditions). The aforementioned study by Singh reports that eight in 10 women who succeed in ending their pregnancy have health complications, with more than half of them having severe complications. Women from impoverished and rural areas are the ones most at risk: they lack access to safer methods and service providers, thus experiencing higher rates of severe complications.

However, Parcon highlights a less-often talked about aspect of a womans health that deteriorates significantly due to lack of access to safe abortion in the Philippines: There is an immense mental anguish that a woman has to go through, and its not even because of the abortion itself. Its because of, first of all, the inaccessibility of safe services, and second, the stigma and how people will look at her.

They feel that they are alone. Feeling nila, bahala na, kahit nakakatakot yung mga unsafe practices na gagawin nila. Yung iba, nagpapatadyak sa balakang, tumalalon, nagpapamasahe sa tiyan, nagpapa-catheter na lang, explains Parcon. There is a feeling of hopelessness among those who consult with WGNRR, and a frustration from members of the organization with their hands tied by the law.

Current options afforded to Filipino women

Its clear that unintended pregnancy is common in the Philippines, and despite restrictive legislations, so is abortion. Given the failure of our current laws and the long-overdue need for safe abortion, where can Filipino women turn? What other policies and protections are afforded to them?

Survivors of sexual violence and those who cannot afford to have a child are entitled to safe abortions and humane, nonjudgmental, compassionate care afterwards.

Section 3 of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10354) has implications for post-abortive care: women needing care for post-abortive complications and all other complications arising from pregnancy, labor and delivery and related issues shall be treated and counseled in a humane, nonjudgmental and compassionate manner in accordance with law and medical ethics.

There was a proposed National Policy on the Prevention and Management of Abortion Complications by the Department of Health, but further developments seem to have halted on this front. While these ideals and standards for post-abortive care are at a standstill, Parcon mentions that there are still hospitals capacitated by DOH for post-abortive interventions.

As for victims of sexual violence, Madami nang nagconsult sa amin na [survivors.] We refer them to psychosocial counseling, and then report the cases to the Womens and Childrens Protection Desk concerned, explains Parcon.

The legalization of abortion has been a long-standing and divisive debate, from the exact definition of when human life begins, to the implementation of contradictory and outdated policies. Frontliners remain to be health workers, as well as non-government organizations such as WGNRR and EnGendeRights who continue the fight for safe, legal abortions in the Philippines while doing what they can in their power to assist girls and women in need.

Amid heated debates, remember the women caught in the middle of it all: those who cannot exercise bodily autonomy, who are forced into bearing children out of traumatic assault, and whose health and even lives are endangered due to a lack of options.
Students sue to stop Christian university from merging with art college in Tennessee

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Students and faculty at Watkins College of Art in Nashville are suing to stop the school from being absorbed by the nearby Christian nondenominational Belmont University.

On March 10, two students who are members of the LGBT community and one instructor filed legal actions in Davidson County Chancery Court to stop Belmonts acquisition of the secular, four-year art college, which has faced declining enrollment and financial uncertainty in recent years.

The merger drew concern from community members and a legislator who accused the Watkins board of trustees of acting in secrecy to complete the deal with Belmont without government oversight or the public being informed.

Questions were also raised about whether non-Christian faculty at Watkins would be able to keep their jobs once the merger is complete in fall 2020.

The agreement called for Watkins' 13-acre campus, which is about six miles from Belmonts campus and said to be worth about $15 million to $20 million, to be sold. The proceeds from the sale would be used to create an endowment for Watkins College of Art students at Belmont.

But a collective of students, faculty members and alumni have banded together in an attempt to keep Watkins College of Art open in its current form, work toward a partnership with a different institution or change existing policies at Belmont for the benefit of all current and future Watkins students.

The boards lack of transparency has severely impacted the lives of current students, reads a press release from Save Watkins collective.

The plaintiffs allege a breach of faith by the Watkins Institute commissioners and the colleges board of trustees. They requested a restraining order to immediately halt any actions by the Watkins board toward dissolving or altering the Watkins Trust, or selling any Watkins property while the matter is being considered."

The plaintiffs argue that Watkins College of Art is a public institution and the agreement between Watkins and Belmont is invalid.

Watkins College of Art was founded as a gift to the state to be held in trust for the benefit of Nashvilles youth. It was founded on land willed to the state for an educational institute by Samuel Watkins.

But in 1974, the Watkins governing board filed a charter to become a nonprofit organization. According to a legal response filed on behalf of Watkins College of Art, the institution has "no tie to the state of Tennessee" except for three commissioners appointed by the governor.

"The state has no voting control and no oversight powers with respect to Watkins' management and operations," the legal response reads.

As Inside Higher Ed points out, Watkins is technically a private institution with a unique relationship with the state as it is audited under government auditing standards that are rarely applied to private institutions. The management of the Watkins board is at all times to be subject to inquiry by the authority of the state.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the Watkins commissioners and board of trustees can unilaterally transfer the schools associated property to a private religious institution without legislative or judicial oversight and extinguish the Watkins public trust.

The plaintiffs also question whether the schools trustees and administrators were allowed to conduct negotiations with Belmont, a school with a Baptist heritage, in secret and subsequently ignore an open records request.

Additionally, the lawsuit asks the court to determine if the dissolution of Watkins College violates the terms of Samuel Watkins 1880 will.

According to court documents, the student plaintiffs  Kenneth Straw and Amari Harris  are concerned that as members of the LGBT community they will not be welcome at the private Christian university.

Straw argues that had he known about the merger three days earlier, he would have had time to reconsider signing his lease.



It doesn't get much clearer that Watkins is a public educational institution, yet the current commissioners and board seek to ram through an insider deal that gives $20 million in state property proceeds to a private religious institution without public scrutiny or legislative oversight, adjunct professor Mark Schlicher, the third plaintiff, said in a statement.

The plaintiffs' request for a restraining order to halt the merger immediately was denied. However, a hearing for a temporary injunction against the order took place last Friday.

"In this case, Plaintiffs present affidavits containing hearsay, opinion, and mere speculation," the Watkins College of Art legal response reads. "The affidavits and Complaint together fail to establish that Watkinss actions will cause irreparable harm. Plaintiffs are unable to establish standing to challenge Watkinss actions and fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."

Watkins President J. Kline, who played a large part in organizing the deal, was removed from overseeing the transition process in February after criticism of the merger. The transition instead will be coordinated by Watkins Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Cary Beth Miller.

Watkins officials maintain that the college considered other offers before agreeing to the deal with Belmont. However, Sen. Brenda Gilmore earlier this month questioned why neighboring historically black colleges Tennessee State University and Fisk University were not approached for a potential deal.

In a letter, Gilmore called for a suspension of the Watkins-Belmont deal and called on Watkins commissioners and trustees to answer community questions about the deal at a public meeting.

Gilmore said she found it troubling that she  a state senator from the district where the campus is located  was not informed about the deal. A Watkins spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that school officials will meet with Gilmore next week.

James H. Clayton III, a duly appointed commissioner of trustees, filed an affidavit on March 19, explaining that the board turned to a "distinguished higher education consulting firm" in 2019 to assess the institution's financial struggles and declining enrollment.

The firm's report indicated that Watkins' depleted endowment would be insufficient to sustain continued operating losses, Clayton relayed. According to Clayton, Watkins would be required by federal laws and regulations to "teach out" existing classes through graduation years if it were to close down rather than merge.

"The cost of the teach out would be considerable," Clayton explained. "The only potential sources of funds to pay for the teach out would be (a) through the sale of the Campus coupled with a short-term lease obligation, or (b) if obtainable, a commercial loan secured by the Campus. Either option would severely deplete the Campus equity and result in fewer funds distributed to appropriate nonprofit entities as Watkins finalizes its ultimate dissolution and winding up process."



In fall 2019, Clayton said the board created a special committee comprised of current and former trustees and commissioners to review all possible strategic options. Such options included attracting unrestricted gifts, obtaining significant loans secured by the campus or merging with another college or university with "overlapping curricula and a stable financial future."



Clayton stressed that the committee determined that a merger was the "only viable option."



He stated that the committee approached colleges and universities around the Middle Tennessee area and Belmont "was determined to be the most suitable merger partner for a number of reasons, including that Belmont currently offers many of the same degrees and degree paths as Watkins."

Clayton assured that the board considered "feasible alternatives" to the merger.

"Ultimately, the Board determined that a Belmont merger containing the favorable terms outlined in the Term Sheet was the best available strategic decision for Watkins," he wrote.



A legal response filed by the office of Attorney General Herbert Slatery III on March 19 contends that the "petitioners do not appear to have the authority to challenge the actions" of Watkins College of Art.



The attorney general's office argues that Tennessee law dictates when the actions of a nonprofit organization can be challenged and who may bring such a challenge.



One stipulation states that a proceeding may only be brought by a "director, the attorney general, or the corporation directly..."

"Petitioners do not allege that they are directors, members, or other legal representative, nor have they brought this action as a derivative proceeding," the legal response from the attorney general's office contends.

Watkins argued in its legal response that Tennessee law makes clear that nonprofit corporations "are not answerable to the communities they serve or their employees with respect to asset sales or mergers."

Earlier this month, the New York-based commercial real estate company Somera Road offered to buy the Watkins campus for $17 million and offered a generous leaseback agreement in which Watkins College of Art could stay one-year rent-free and then pay rent that is 30 percent under market rate.

The deal would also include a $1 million escrow fund to cover short-term financial needs, according to Nashville Scene.

In a media statement, the Watkins board of trustees said that it appreciates Someras offer and will review it along with multiple other offers for the property."

Save Watkins is also calling on Republican Gov. Bill Lee to remove one of Watkins' commissioners, Susan Basham, after a process server for attorneys retained by plaintiffs said he was threatened with a gun by a man presumed to be Bashams husband at her home last Tuesday.

A police report of the incident was filed.
SINGAPORE, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants was announced in a virtual event streamed throughout the region on Tuesday 24th March. The 2020 list includes seven new entries, with Japan the best-represented nation boasting 12 restaurants.

William Drew, Director of Content for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, said: "We are, of course, experiencing unprecedented times in the restaurant sector across Asia. It is more important than ever to support restaurants all over the continent in their recovery, to recognise each other's achievements over the last 12 months and broadcast a message of solidarity."

Odette in Singapore claimed top honours for a second year, retaining the dual titles of The Best Restaurant in Asiaand The Best Restaurant in Singapore.

Individual Country Awards :

Japan

Den (No.3) retains the title of The Best Restaurant in Japan while La Cime (No.10) in Osaka has double reason to be proud. As well as rising four places, the restaurant's chef, Yusuke Takada, is this year's recipient of the peer-voted Inedit Damm Chefs' Choice Award.

Newcomers to the list include Tokyo restaurants Ode (No.35) and Inua (49).

Japanese chefs were also honoured in individual award categories. Yoshihiro Murataof Kikunoi restaurant in Kyoto is this year's recipient of the American Express Icon Award while Natsuko Shoji of Ete claims the Asia's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Valrhona.

Greater China

Hong Kong restaurant The Chairman (No.2) claims the title of The Best Restaurant in China, sponsored by Cinco Jotas.

Hong Kong counts eight restaurants on the list, including Amber (No.31), the 2020 winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award, sponsored by Beronia. The award is presented to the restaurant with the highest environmental and social responsibility rating, as determined by 50 Best's audit partner Food Made Good Global.

Chef Andre Chiang has a new restaurant on the list in the form of Sichuan Moon in Wynn Palace, Macau. Debuting at No.23, Sichuan Moon claims the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Legle.

Mume (No.18) retains the title of The Best Restaurant in Taiwan, sponsored by Dalmore, for a second year while JL Studio, the 2019 recipient of the Miele One To Watch Award, enters the list at No.26.

Thailand

Suhring (No.6) claims the coveted title of The Best Restaurant in Thailandfor the first time.Thailand's seven entries include newcomer 80/20, debuting at No.47.

Sorn rises 32 places to No.16 this year, making the Bangkok restaurant the 2020 recipient of the Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles.

Singapore

In Singapore, chef Bjorn Frantzen's Zen makes a dramatic debut on the list at No.28. A fine-dining institution in Singapore since 1994, Les Amis (No.11) is this year's winner of the prestigious Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award.

South Korea

South Korea features three restaurants on the 2020 list, including first-time entry Hansikgonggan (No.34), headed by Cho Hee-sook, who is named Asia's Best Female Chef 2020. The popular Mingles (No.14) holds its title as The Best Restaurant in Korea for a fifth consecutive year.

Regional

Ministry of Crab in Colombo (No.30) is named The Best Restaurant in Sri Lankawhile Locavore (No.37) in Bali claims The Best Restaurant in Indonesiatitle.

Indian Accent is awarded The Best Restaurant in Indiafor a sixth year while Bukhara re-enters the list at No.45. Masque in Mumbai is the 2020 winner of the Miele One To Watch Award.

Other country winners include Toyo Eatery (No.44), winning The Best Restaurant in Philippinestitle for a second year.

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CONTACT: CatchOn, A Finn Partners Company, Email: asias50best@finnpartners.com, phone: +852 2566 8988
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has urged the Centre to provide wage subsidy to migrant workers, who are deprived of their livelihood due to the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown.

The letter dated March 23 states that the whole world is grappling with a deadly pandemic at the moment, which has necessitated measures like lockdowns, social distancing and home quarantines to control further spread of the novel coronavirus. While there is no denying the importance of these, it has led to widespread economic disruption especially in the informal sector, the letter adds.



Congress President & CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes a letter to PM Modi urging him to provide immediate support to workers in the informal sector. pic.twitter.com/yHrB6dXh7i

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 24, 2020

Stating that India has more than 44 million construction workers, it states how lakhs of such daily wage labourers are now looking at a precarious future. To ease their suffering, the Congress president urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled government at the Centre to consider providing wage subsidies to them.

Mentioning how Canada has done the same as a part of their COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, it told the Centre to consider advising Workers Welfare Boards to roll out welfare measures including wage support.

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 letter also pointed out how the Building and Other Construction Workers Act of 1966 guarantees multiple welfare measures, including the constitution of two welfare funds. The welfare boards have reportedly collected cess totalling Rs 49,688.07 crores already, of which only Rs 19,379.922 crores have so far been spent, it reminded.



Congress President & CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes a letter to Rajasthan CM Shri @ashokgehlot51 urging him to provide relief to workers in informal sector from the economic shock of COVID-19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/ojKUNz2DzA

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 24, 2020



Congress President & CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes a letter to Punjab CM @capt_amarinder urging him to provide relief to workers in informal sector from the economic shock of COVID-19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/ENEHJW0mqs

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 24, 2020



Congress President & CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes a letter to Puducherry CM Shri @VNarayanasami urging him to provide relief to workers in informal sector from the economic shock of COVID-19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/x0WstKu39J

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 24, 2020

Similar letters were shared with the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Puducherry also -- all of which are ruled by the Congress party.
As the entire country observed 'Janata Curfew' on March 22, there was a significant dip in air pollution levels across the country. Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Lucknow witnessed clean air as the Air Quality Index stayed within two digits.

According to data by the Central Pollution Control Board, air pollutants in Delhi was at 126 micrograms per cubic metre at 1 AM on March 22, which nearly halved by 1 PM. However, pollution levels in Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida remained at 'poor' and 'moderate' despite shutdown of commercial establishments and industrial activities.

Kolkata recorded a significant improvement in air quality. The PM 2.5 air quality index (AQI) was 'satisfactory' in all the automated air monitoring stations in the city during the day, an official of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board said.

"The reduction of private vehicles, other non-essential transportation, no construction activity have all contributed to improvement in air quality. However, the other contributing factors like landfills, waste to energy plants, thermal power plants continue to bear on the pollution load," said Kanchi Kohli, researcher at Centre for Policy Research.

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

As the COVID-19 crisis persists, the pollution levels may further reduce to lower levels but the long term issue of climate change persists. When governments rebuild their economy, it is likely that clean energy may take a backseat.

According to a report, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has prepared a list for petrol, diesel and electric vehicles to be airlifted from China. However, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers may have to stop pause production in April and May since China is the only source for some of the components.

In the current normal, environmental concerns were the collateral. According to Kohli, government spending and business practice will both need to build greater social justice, environmental consciousness and lower ecological footprint as a core ethic. India can no longer rely on technological solutions and mitigation measures alone.

It remains to be seen whether the current crisis will have a long term impact on change in business operations with greater sensitivity towards environment or will it be business as usual once the crisis subsides.
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modis call for a first-of-its-kind janata curfew on March 22 was by the people, for the people. It was symbolic of Indias resolve to fight the deadly coronavirus disease (Covid-19) which has thrown global social life and the economy out of kilter. With a rising number of cases in India, we must be prepared to tackle a burgeoning social and economic crisis.

While the public health care system, both at the central and the state level, is dealing with the challenge, the private sector is also fully geared up to assist and support the State in testing, making beds and quarantine facilities for treatment available, training health care workers as well as providing 24x7 helplines and spreading awareness through social media and other such tools.

With the government allowing testing and issuing guidelines for testing in private laboratories, it is necessary to step up capabilities in testing and treatment. The private sector has been in close touch with the government on private-public partnerships (PPP) relating to Covid-19. A powerful ecosystem will soon evolve through PPP to address the medical concerns of this crisis.

There is no room for complacency. The publics adherence to self-isolate is extremely critical. Also, a combination of health responses, larger public discipline and timely identification of vulnerability, both relating to health care and the economy, is vital in dealing with the challenges thrown up by the spread of the disease.

On the economic front, while companies have been requested not to retrench employees, we must also focus on the unorganised sector, where daily wage earners will be severely affected. A methodology to directly transfer money into their accounts is critical.

Industry has been an active participant in supporting the government in collecting and submitting data and analysing the impact of Covid-19 across sectors and the country at large. In particular, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has developed a guide for organisations based on best practices globally. A survey conducted by FICCI shows that there has been a major impact on companies even in the early stages of the crisis. Hence, going forward, with containment measures, it is important to work on a national reconstruction plan to address the damage to the economy.

Over the past few quarters, the Indian economy has experienced a significant slowdown, and is in serious danger of recording growth of below 4% in the coming quarters. To make matters worse, the pandemic has severely impacted efforts that were being made towards economic recovery and has derailed several significant sectors  tourism, hospitality, aviation, financial markets, manufacturing and information technology. There is an urgent need to address the pain points of the industry that could help minimise the impact on economy in general, and Indian businesses in particular. Indisputably, this calls for a combination of monetary, fiscal and financial market measures.

The role of the task force constituted by the PM and led by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be pivotal in framing a national reconstruction plan.

The foremost requirement in the rebuilding exercise is to relax the mandatory filing norms and defer/waive the interest payment and tax liabilities of the companies impacted heavily by the outbreak. Additionally, maintaining liquidity at surplus levels and special liquidity support for companies, non-banking financial companies and banks that come under strain due to the intensifying risk aversion in the financial markets or due to large demand shock will also be crucial.

All payments towards the service of principal, interest and taxes should be deferred by two quarters at this point. These two quarters should not be considered for the calculation of non-performing assets.

As the industry body, several recommendations are being submitted by FICCI to the government to consider including as part of this exercise. In crisis resolution, it is important to look for a silver lining. We must look for potential opportunities even now. Businesses including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, solar power, electric vehicles are facing disruption in supply chains due to the impact of the virus in China. A concerted strategy must be developed for them along with special considerations for manufacturing critical items in the health care sector.

At one end, social distancing, work-from-home and public curfews are keeping people apart. Yet, in innumerable ways, they are bringing the worlds largest democracy together as a collective force. In response to the PMs address, several people and organisations have come forward to help the vulnerable; some by reducing their salaries, others by paying wages to their staff and supporting workers during self-quarantine. There is a long list of sacrifices being made. We need to get into mission-mode to defeat the spread of Covid-19 and build a new, stronger and healthier India. Together, lets make this happen.

Sangita Reddy is joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group and president, FICCI

The views expressed are personal
Amy Klobuchar spoke of her husband's frightening coronavirus symptoms on Tuesday and revealed he is still in the hospital on oxygen.

The former presidential hopeful appeared via video link on Good Morning America to discuss her husband John Blesser's condition and reveal that she has not been able to get a test for the virus.

He was hospitalized on Monday after coughing up blood. Klobuchar, in a statement, said he had also been diagnosed with pneumonia.

On Tuesday, she revealed he had no preexisting conditions, is 52 and in good health and that he has no idea where he contracted the virus.

'He started to feel sick about 12 days ago or so and the minute he started to feel that he had a cold he sequestered himself in the apartment, but to be safe he did that and that's where he stayed until he started coughing up blood and then he got the test.

'We don't know how he got it. No one around us got it. Maybe it was a random thing,' she said.

Klobuchar had been traveling for 14 days before her husband was diagnosed so had not come into close enough contact with him to be exposed.

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Amy Klobuchar spoke of her husband's frightening coronavirus symptoms on Tuesday and revealed he is still in the hospital on oxygen

Klobuchar's husband John Blesser, pictured with her and their daughter Abigail in February last year, had no preexisting conditions but is now in the hospital

Senator @amyklobuchar says she was not tested for coronavirus although her husband was diagnosed with COVID-19 because she did not qualify and reiterates the importance of following the rules when it comes to testing. https://t.co/73VccF1DcT pic.twitter.com/qK43zYqPVU  Good Morning America (@GMA) March 24, 2020

With tests for the virus in such short supply, her doctor advised her she did not need one. She has been quarantining away from her husband since she returned home as a precaution.

'Today he is still on oxygen, the reason he was hospitalized was he had pneumonia, he was coughing up blood.

'His oxygen levels are dangerously low. He got a test last Wednesday and we didn't get the results until yesterday, over the weekend we suspected that he had it.

'That's the story of a lot of people and I think, a lot of Americans have this and worse going on one of the hardest things about this disease is you can't go and visit your loved ones. As much as I love your show, I would much rather be with him.

'All you can do is call and email and text and try to reach the caretakers who are taking care of him - I've never even met them - to try to get updates.

'This is all Americans. Everyone is going to know someone in their family where this happens.

'I just want to say, that's who I am thinking about right now - it's the reason I am here, in my office, getting the funding that we need for a medical surge and helping people who are out of work.'

Klobuchar also said she did not begrudge not being able to get a test.

She does not have any symptoms and has not been around her husband for 14 days.

'Why would I get a test when other people who are sick can't get a test?' she said.

Klobuchar and her husband last month. She said the hardest thing about the virus was not being able to see him or visit him

There are now more than 46,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and 586 people have died.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was tested a week ago for coronavirus but continued working at the Capitol because he 'felt that it was highly unlikely' he was sick since had no symptoms of the illness.

Paul announced Sunday that he had tested positive for the virus - becoming the first case of COVID-19 in the Senate and raising fears about further transmission of the virus among senators, including some who are in their 70's and 80's.

'Since nearly every member of the U.S. Senate travels by plane across the country multiple times per week and attends lots of large gatherings, I believed my risk factor for exposure to the virus to be similar to that of my colleagues, especially since multiple congressional staffers on the Hill had already tested positive weeks ago,' Paul said on Monday.

'For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol.'

He said current federal guidelines would not have called for him to get tested or quarantined.

'It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested,' he said.

Paul had surgery last year to remove part of a lung damaged in a 2017 assault by a neighbor who attacked him over a long-standing landscaping dispute.
The coronavirus pandemic could lead to economic losses of nearly Rs 1.3 trillion in various sectors across Pakistan, international media reported. Pakistan has till now reported 873 cases of COVID-19 infection and six deaths. According to reports, the aforementioned losses will be incurred on account of the drop in the GDP growth because of reduction in the services sector, including airline business and others, Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) loss, the massive decline in imports, exports, reduction in remittances, and disruption in food supplies.

Read: WHO Reveals Coronavirus Does Not Spread Airborne As People Stockpile Masks Globally

The preliminary assessment of losses done by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stood at USD 5 billion, however, Pakistan's top officials argued that these estimates were less than the expected actual losses. The Planning Commission of Pakistan estimated that the size of the country's GDP stood at Rs 44 trillion and one-fourth stood at Rs 11 trillion, so the disruption caused by Coronavirus was expected to cause at least 10 per cent losses in the last quarter (April-June) that would stand at Rs 1.1 trillion at least.

Read: World Cup 2019: Netizens Go Gaga Over West Indies Team As They Dismantle Pakistan Batting Line-up In Just 21.4 Overs

The country's Federal Board of Revenue had already slashed its target from Rs 5.555 trillion to Rs 5.238 trillion. Now, amid the pandemic, it is estimating a nationwide collection of only Rs 4.4 trillion till June 2020. Federal secretary commerce Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, talking to international media revealed that the exports might also face a loss in the range of USD 2 to USD 4 billion as the pandemic has cancelled a majority of it.

First doctor dies

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old Pakistani doctor reportedly died after contracting the novel coronavirus while treating the COVID-19 patients in Gilgit region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. His death marks the first death of a healthcare worker in the country. According to reports, the deceased named Usma Riaz had treated the patients who recently returned from Iraq and Iran.

Read: First Doctor Dies From Coronavirus In Pakistan

Read: 6 Pakistan Officials Suspended For Taking Selfie With Coronavirus-infected Colleague
Now that the world faces the crisis caused by coronavirus, the steps to implement the Minsk agreements are needed more than ever.

"Right now, we need the steps to further implement the decisions of the Normandy Summit in Paris, to implement the Minsk agreements," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after a video conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that "the situation in eastern Ukraine remains a priority of German foreign policy."

This, he said, includes further disengagement of forces, a larger number of crossing points in order to provide civilians with everything necessary, the real ceasefire regime.

"Coronavirus does not recognize borders, and right now we must together prevent the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine," Maas said. First and foremost, the people living in the conflict-torn area, especially the elderly residents, should be provided with everything necessary, including medicines.

German Foreign Minister also welcomed the impulses of new President of Ukraine Zelensky, who made possible holding negotiations and high-level meetings in the Normandy format. But there is much work ahead, the diplomat said.

As noted, the German Government reaffirms its support for Ukraine on the path towards peace, support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly condemns Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

The German Foreign Minister also recalled the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights which indicated that prisoners in the so-called "L/DPR" were being systematically tortured, and stressed that the German Government strongly condemned that and called for an immediate clarification of the situation.

Russia, Maas said, "must use its influence on separatists in eastern Ukraine" in order to end the conflict as soon as possible.

He also expressed his hope for a personal meeting with Kuleba in the foreseeable future in order to work together to "end the war in Ukraine", which has been making people suffer for too long.

The German Foreign Minister also thanked the Ukrainian side for the fact that many Germans had managed to return home from Ukraine amid border closure thank to the efforts of Ukrainian airlines.

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Mexican president asks people not to stop going out

The president then said that Mexicans are very resistant because of their culture, seeming to suggest that Mexicans will fare better than other countries because of their ancient roots.

The President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico is defying international health recommendations by telling citizens they should continue to frequent local businesses amid the coronavirus.

In a Facebook video he uploaded on Sunday evening, he said that people should not take the exaggerated measures of staying indoors and participating in social distancing.

"YOUR ACTIVITIES WILL STRENGTHEN THE ECONOMY"

We are going to continue to lead a normal life, and in the [right] moment, the president will tell you all when to protect yourselves, he said in the video.

He suggested that people continue to go to local businesses like restaurants as long as they maintain a safe distance from one another. In the video, hes promoting the restaurant La Teca in Oaxaca, a state in southwestern Mexico.

If you are able to do it and have the economic capacity, continue to take your family out to eat at restaurants because this strengthens the local economy, he said.

He then pointed out that there have been only two confirmed cases in Oaxaca. However, experts have repeatedly said that theres likely many more unconfirmed cases as many public hospitals continue to refuse to test people with symptoms.

Governments and the World Health Organization have asked people to participate in social distancing and stay indoors if possible in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some governments, like those of Spain and Italy, have forced people to quarantine amid the outbreaks.
ALBANY - National Grid is taking the extraordinary step of delaying an April 1 rate increase that would have raised electric and natural gas bills for its upstate New York customers due to the corona virus outbreak.

The delay would be for three months. A reduction of a low-income customer credit that was also set to begin April 1 will now be delayed until July 1 as well.

We have made the commitment to help our customers through these challenging times and this is another step on that journey, Badar Khan, National Grids interim president of U.S. operations, said in a statement. "We will continue to closely monitor our customers needs during the pandemic and find new ways to assist where we can.

The rate increase, which was approved by state regulators in 2018, would have increased electric bills by 4 percent and gas bills by 5 percent starting in April.

National Grid suspended collection activities and will not disconnect customers who do not pay their bills during the outbreak. And it has pledged $500,000 to community-based groups in New York and New England where its U.S. operations are located to help those in need amid the financial fallout from the virus outbreak.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Under the 2018 deal with the state Public Service Commission, National Grid was told to phase in a $16 increase to a customer's average combined gas and electric bill over three years instead of an immediate $22 increase in 2018.

An average monthly National Grid bill is about $200, although that number varies by the time of year and how much gas and electricity a household uses.
WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that its reviewing a request from the oil and gas industry to ease enforcement of hazardous air and water pollution and other regulatory issues during the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposal is drawing objections from public health and environmental advocates. A former Obama-era EPA enforcement official, Cynthia Giles, says the request amounts to seeking a nationwide pass for the industry on almost all environmental rules.

The American Petroleum Institute made the request in a letter to President Donald Trump last week and to the EPA on Monday. The oil and gas trade group is citing potential staffing issues during the outbreak, saying worker shortages could make compliance with a range of regulations difficult, such as monitoring, reporting and immediately fixing hazardous air emissions.

Bethany Aronhalt, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, compared the request to businesses asking for flexibility on tax deadlines during the outbreak. In no way would this jeopardize safety, health or the environment, Aronhalt said.

EPA spokesman Corry Schiermeyer said the agency was evaluating the request. The agency understands that the COVID-19 response poses many challenges to our partners and appreciates all they are doing to plan and prepare, Schiermeyer said.

Giles, a former assistant administrator for the EPA enforcement office from 2009 to 2017, said EPA policy explicitly prohibits the agency from promising waiving of enforcement of environmental and public health laws. She called the trade groups request alarming and wildly overbroad.

Trump has sought to soften regulation for the oil, gas and coal industries throughout his administration. He also stresses his desire to ease the impact on businesses from the wide economic shutdown accompanying the coronavirus outbreak, which has millions sheltering in their homes to slow the spread.

The oil and gas groups request also comes as Saudi Arabia and Russia wage a crude-oil price war threatening the market share for U.S. producers, sinking crude prices well below $30 a barrel.

The oil and gas industry already is a major contributor of hazardous pollutants through air and water emissions, especially for Houston and other cities clustered among oil installations on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Ever since the outbreak of coronavirus and its crippling effect that has led to social distancing everywhere, the world's economy has been hardly hit. Most of the industries have been severely impacted by this global crisis.

Despite all of these, major fashion brands (mensxp.com/fashion/trends/74116-how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-creating-problems-for-the-global-fashion-industry-everyone-else.html) have come forward to help and offer their services in whatever way they can to combat COVID-19. Be it making masks or sanitisers, these brands are offering their units to manufacture essential items amidst the global health crisis. The same is being served to the hospitals and health workers.

Here's a comprehensive list of fashion brands that show how these companies are pitching to help fight the deadly virus with their unique ways.

Check it out.

1. Prada

The infection rates are increasing by the day, but Miuccia Prada's initiative is unforgettable. Patrizio Bertelli, the CEO along with the chairman Carlo Mazzi, has donated six intensive care units to hospitals in Milan, namely Buzzi Sacco, Vittore Buzzi And San Raffaele. We all know that Italy was hit hard with more than 27,000 cases. This is a great initiative for a luxury brand like Prada to have come forward and help in combatting the novel coronavirus.

2. Giorgio Armani

To contain the pandemic rages, even iconic brands like Giorgio Armani are working with the medical community and doing their best to support health centres during such global crisis. The brand has pledged 1.25 million Euros. This has gone to a group of Italian hospitals and Institutions.

3. LVMH

LVMH, the fashion conglomerate, has not just donated $2.2 Million to the Red Cross Society of China but has also converted the making of their cosmetic factories into producing hand sanitisers. The same has been supplied free of charge to the healthcare workers and the French government. The brand has also announced that it will donate 40 million masks to France.

4. Pyer Moss

The creative director and founder of Pyer Moss, Kerby Jean-Raymonda took to his Instagram account to talk about how the centres are suffering due to shortage of supplies. To combat this issue, the brand has converted the NYC office into a donation centre that includes latex gloves and N 95 masks. Kerby, besides these supplies, will be donating $5,000 from his own pocket for masks and gloves and serve the public health professionals who are looking for help.

5. Versace

The Italian luxury fashion company, Versace has also come forward to help with the national disaster and catastrophes. Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck, have together donated $200,000 to San Raffaele Hospital. In February, the brand took an initiative to combat the issue by donating around $1 Million to the Red Cross Foundation, China.

6. Coty

Not just fashion brands, but even beauty brands are committed to providing help in all the ways possible. Coty, the manufacturer of Calvin Klein and many other fragrances, is using its unit to make a hydroalcoholic gel to help in emergency services. The company said in a statement that, We stay close to our communities during these exceptionally challenging times."

7. StockX

A marketplace known for its secondhand items has a unique approach towards the contagious virus. While most of us are at our homes and are self-quarantining, the ones who are suffering from it, should not be neglected. Social distancing has led to a shortage of supplies and meals as well. Hence, StockX, with its #FlexFromHome initiative, donated $20,000 to Feeding America along with meals for people.

8. Bulgari

Italy has been impacted quite a lot but brands like Bulgari are committed to taking the right actions during such a global crisis. The brand has gone all the way with the donation that will allow the purchase of the microscopic acquisition system. It is an equipment that helps in developing effective vaccination against the contagious virus.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 19:49:45|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Tuesday warned against formalism and bureaucracy in poverty alleviation to ensure the decisions and plans of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee can be fully implemented to win the battle against poverty in all respects.

Frauds in poverty alleviation will be severely punished, said Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He made the remarks when visiting the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development for research and discussion.

The sense of responsibility and urgency in winning the decisive battle in poverty alleviation should be enhanced, while blind optimism, fatigue and muddling through mentality should be avoided, he said.

More should be done to help the disadvantaged find jobs elsewhere, alleviate poverty through consumption, and speed up the resumption of poverty alleviation projects to make up for the losses caused by the epidemic, Wang said.
B ritain's streets were empty on the first morning of Boris Johnson's new police-enforced lockdown to curb movement amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister on Monday night ordered people only to leave their homes under a list of very limited purposes, banned public gatherings of more than two people and ordered the closure of non-essential shops.

Images emerged on Tuesday morning that showed that capital's usually bustling streets were desolate.

Others showed military vehicles on Westminster Bridge delivering face masks to St Thomas' Hospital.

'You must stay at home': PM announces tougher measures to stop coronavirus spread

The new measures are the most stringent in peacetime Britain, reflecting what Mr Johnson said was a "moment of national emergency" and "the biggest threat this country has faced for decades".

He added that the measures will be under constant review and will be considered for relaxation in three weeks if the evidence allows.

Police will have powers to hand out fines to any not following the new rules and disperse any public gatherings.

The last time the UK was asked to adjust its behaviour this radically was more than 70 years ago in the Second World War.

Britons have been ordered to only leave their homes to shop for basic necessities as infrequently as possible, and to only perform one form of exercise a day.

They can also seek medical help, provide care to a vulnerable person or travel to work if absolutely necessary.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home, he said.

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You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

A failure to follow the rules could see police dispersing gatherings and imposing fines, which Government officials said would start at 30.

After the UK death toll hit 335, the PM also ordered the immediate closure of non-essential stores including those selling electronics and clothing.

He also said any ceremonies, such as weddings and baptisms, would be banned but funerals could still go ahead.

The Prime Minister also ordered a ban on all public gatherings of more than two people  other than those they live with.

Other premises to join pubs and restaurants in being closed are libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms, places of worship and hotels.

The government faced mounting pressures on Monday to impose stricter measures to encourage social distancing after Britons parks and beaches were seen full of people at the weekend.

But, Mr Johnson has faced calls for further clarity over the restrictions as police chiefs warned of phone lines being inundated with calls on Monday night with questions about what movements are still permitted, while MPs also called for answers.

Lincolnshire Police warned of an extremely high volume of calls, and Humberside Chief Constable Lee Freeman said his force had received a number of calls on the subject which he said he was unable to answer.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: There now needs to be clear guidance to employers and workers about which workplaces should close  and the Government must close the loopholes to give security to all workers, including the self-employed, as well as renters and mortgage holders.
As the country moves towards a state of virtual lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic, many have been forced to stay at home. The coronavirus pandemic spreading across the world has resulted in a lot of companies asking their employees to work from home. Here is the dystopian binge list with five great films on disease outbreaks and five great books on pandemics you can watch and read during lockdown. (Image: Reuters)

Movie | Contagion | 2011 | Based on the past SARS and swine-flu epidemics. (Image: News18 creative)

Movie | Blindness | 2008 | Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Portuguese author Jose Saramago. (Image: News18 creative)

Movie | Panic in the streets | 1950 | Set in New Orleans, the story follows the relentless efforts a handful of public officials must make to prevent an epidemic of Pneumonia plague. (Image: News18 creative)

Movie | The Andromeda Strain | 1971 | Based on Michael Crichtons seminal novel of the same name. (Image: News18 creative)

Movie | Outbreak | 1995 | Based on Richard Prestons non-fiction best-seller The Hot Zone-which details the origins of viral hemorrhagic fevers of Central Africa. (Image: News18 creative)

Book | The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton (Image: News18 creative)

Book | The Masque of the red death by Edgar Allan Poe (Image: News18 creative)

Book | The Plague by Albert Camus (Image: News18 creative)

Book | The Stand by Stephen King (Image: News18 creative)

Book | Zone One by Colson Whitehead (Image: News18 creative)
THE UNDOCUMENTED AMERICANS

By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Its odd that despite the ongoing upheaval over the future of the United States as a nation of immigrants, those whose livelihoods are being debated  as in, will they one day be granted a pathway to citizenship, or forced onto a plane with a one-way ticket out of the country  rarely have the opportunity to speak for themselves from a meaningful platform. Those who do get the chance are often expected to conform to liberal Americas strict definition of brown perfection: always grateful, never entitled, burning the midnight oil to earn perfect grades that will get them into an elite college and, later, a prestigious yet morally laudable career path like medicine or public interest law, so they can one day repay their equally perfect parents who sacrificed everything to give them a better life in the United States. These young immigrants are, ahem, universally and exceptionally articulate.

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio knows that, read in a certain way, her personal story fits the definition. Through hard academic work, she became one of the first undocumented students to be accepted into Harvard University and is now a Ph.D. candidate at Yale. Her parents brought her to the United States illegally from Ecuador when she was 5.

Now, in her captivating and evocative first book, The Undocumented Americans, Cornejo Villavicencio aims to tell the full story of what it means to be undocumented in America, in all of its fraughtness and complexity, challenging the usual good and evil categories through a series of memoir-infused reported essays. In doing so, she reveals how her subjects, including her own family members, struggle with vices like adultery and self-harm, even while doing backbreaking, demeaning work to support their families. Writing honestly about one of the most politicized groups in the country, she says, requires you to be a little bit crazy. And you certainly cannot be enamored by America, not still. That disqualifies you.

Over about a decade of sporadic reporting, Cornejo Villavicencio traveled the country, gaining access to vigilantly guarded communities whose stories are largely absent from modern journalism and literature. (And Im a professional immigration writer, so you can take my word on this.) Among them are a support group in New York, where undocumented workers grapple with crippling physical and mental illness as a result of the toxins they were exposed to while doing cleanup after 9/11; a pharmacy in Miami where people without papers can buy prescription psychotropic drugs; and an impromptu intervention outside a work center for undocumented day laborers on Staten Island, where a sun-baked and work-hardened group of men confront a friend who they say is the smartest and most eloquent among them, but who has become a homeless alcoholic because of unprocessed trauma in his past.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Anti-graft laws will not be suspended, even as President Rodrigo Duterte chooses to maximize the special powers granted to him by Congress, a senior minority lawmaker clarified Tuesday.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Duterte's power to disburse and reallocate funds to act on the COVID-19 crisis will still have to be at par with the rules of the Supreme Court.

"It doesn't mean that the Anti-Graft Law will be suspended...Ang disbursement ay dapat susundin ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema (He should still follow the rules on disbursement based on the decision of the Supreme Court)," Drilon said.

"One of the major provisions of the bill is: the acquisition of medical supplies will not have to be under the Procurement Act. Ibig sabihin, pwedeng negotiated purchases (This means, purchases can be negotiated). But having said that, it doesn't mean that the Anti-Graft Law will be suspended. Kung may overpricing, meron pa ring pananagutan, so binigyan lang ng leeway ang Ehekutibo kasi kailangan nila iyan (If there is overpricing, someone still has to be accountable, so the Executive was given leeway because they need it)," the senator added.

Under Section 4(11) of Senate Bill 1418 or the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act", which was approved by both chambers of Congress before dawn, Duterte may undertake the procurement of specific resources to act on the crisis and may be exempted from Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

These goods include personal protective equipment, surgical equipment, medical and laboratory devices, medical supplies, tools, and other consumables such as alcohol, sanitizers, and common medicines, among others. Testing kits and other necessary equipment may be determined by the Department of Health and other relevant government agencies.

It is the DOH which will prioritize the allocation of these goods to COVID-19 referral hospitals, private hospitals, and public and private laboratories with existing capacities to test suspected patients.

'Duterte admin has enough authority, but does it have enough money on COVID-19 fight?'

Meanwhile, Drilon raised the fact that while the President can maximize his authority via granted special powers, he has to ensure that he has enough funds to carry out his functions.

"Ang major problem ay ang kaban ba ng bayan. May sapat bang pondo ang gobyerno ngayon (Our major problem is our public funds. Does the government have enough money today?) There is enough authority but whether there is cash, I am not [authorized] to say," Drilon said.

The Monetary Board announced on Monday that it has approved a a 300-billion bond repurchase deal between the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bureau of the Treasury to boost funds in combatting the outbreak. Through the agreement, BSP will buy debt papers from the Treasury, which the latter must repay within six months.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/business/2020/3/23/central-bank-300-billion-bond-buying-coronavirus.html

"Ang Executive branch, nasa kanila kung paano ito gagamitin at ang importante may sapat na pondo ang pamahalaan para patugunan ang pangangailangan natin during the period of emergency," Drilon said.

[Translation: It is up to the Executive Branch on how they will utilize this. What matters is that the government has enough funds to respond to our needs during the period of emergency.]

Under the measure, Duterte will also be given authority to provide an emergency subsidy to 18 million low-income households worth between 5,000 and 8,000 for a month to two months, and provide compensation of 100,000 to public and private health workers who may contract severe COVID-19 infection while in their line of duty. Health workers who may die while fighting the pandemic will be compensated 1 million.

He may also reshuffle savings within the executive department in the 2020 budget to fight the contagion and deliver aid to the affected communities.

SB 1418 is now up for the President's signature, just two days after he certified the measure as urgent.

Duterte's powers will be in full force for only three months, unless extended by Congress, or withdrawn sooner via a concurrent resolution.

On March 16, the President placed the Philippines under a state of national calamity for six months amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Health Department reported on Tuesday that the cases have surged to 501, with the death toll remaining at 33, and recoveries at 19.
Snatching a piece of asteroid Bennu was supposed to be  well, not easy, but certainly manageable: scope out the space rock, find some flat spots, swoop down at one, come back home.

But when NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at Bennu in December 2018, the scientists and engineers on the mission realized that the asteroid was much, much rockier than they had expected. Like, boulders everywhere. Boulders as big as buildings. Boulders you do not want your fancy spacecraft to bang into.

OSIRIS-REx, which launched in 2016, has a lidar navigation system that would have allowed the spacecraft to recognize obstacles based on the echoes of a light beam the probe produced. But once the mission revealed Bennu's surface in all its rocky glory, scientists and engineers decided it was time to come up with something new.

Related: OSIRIS-REx: NASA's asteroid sample-return mission in pictures

An artist's depiction of how OSIRIS-REx will use Natural Feature Tracking to compare real-time images of the asteroid's surface to a bank of previous photos in order to steer itself to the sampling site. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

"Boulders as big as buildings. Boulders you do not want your fancy spacecraft to bang into."

The result is a process the team is calling Natural Feature Tracking, which relies on the massive image database that OSIRIS-REx has built up in the months since it arrived at Bennu and began taking images of the space rock from every angle possible.

As the probe embarks on a sampling attempt, it will begin taking still more such photos, which its computer system will automatically compare to the archived images showing the path it should be following. If those views don't line up, the spacecraft will automatically retreat for another attempt, rather than risk damage on the perilous surface.

If the system works as planned, it should boost OSIRIS-REx's accuracy: Whereas its lidar system was only designed for accuracy within a site 164 feet (50 meters) across, Natural Feature Tracking will be accurate enough to tackle a target area just 10% that size, NASA officials said in a statement.

Scientists on the OSIRIS-REx mission have selected two target sampling sites on Bennu, dubbed Nightingale and Osprey. The mission's window for sampling opens in late August in order to ensure that the spacecraft can leave Bennu next year. If all goes well, scientists should have their space rock on Earth in 2023.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday hailed the release of National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah from over seven months detention after nullificationof Art 370 and demanded the release of all detainees in the Union Territory.

Welcoming the release of its vice-president, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference also sought the release of all political detainees and others languishing in jails inside and outside J&K since the nullification of Article 370 and revocation of J&K special status.

NC president Farooq Abdullah expressed happiness over the revocation of Omar's PSA detention, but said total redemption of the situation was not possible until all political detainees were not released.

I am glad to see him out from the detention, which has lasted for around eight months. Total redemption of the situation is not possible until all political detainees and others are not released at once. I express my gratitude to those people, politicians, parliamentarians, who have all along been seeking his release, he said.

Several other party leaders, including Members of Parliament, also welcomed the release of the party's vice president.

The leaders also asked for the immediate release of party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar who is also detained under PSA.

The party has also demanded the release of all political leaders who are under house detention including NC's Kashmir unit's provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani, besides leaders Chowdhary Ramzaan, Mohammad Shafi Uri, A R Rather, Shameema Firdous and others.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti also welcomed Omar's release from the detention.

Iltija, whose mother is still under detention under the Public Safety Act, said for all its talk of women power and women emancipation, the Centre seems to fear the women the most referring to her mother's detention.

Glad he will be released. For all their talk of nari Shakti & women emancipation, seems like this regime fears women the most (sic), Iltija wrote on Mehbooba's Twitter handle the government ordered his release.

She has been tweeting from her mother's handle ever since the PDP president and former chief minister was detained in August last year.

CPI(M) secretary Ghulam Nabi Malik, while welcoming Omar's release, urged the government to release political leaders, activists and civil society members, detained arbitrarily after August 5, 2019.

Omar's release is a step to correct one wrong among many wrongs. Though late, the decision to revoke the PSA imposed against Omar Abdullah is a welcome one. In the wake of spread of deadly coronavirus, the government should release all the detainees, who were detained after August 5, including PDP president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti, Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement chief, Shah Faesal, the CPI(M) secretary said in a statement here.

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference also welcomed Omar's release, but demanded the release of its chairman Sajad Lone.

We at @jkpc welcome the release of Omar Abdullah. We demand the release of @sajadlone and @mehboobamufti. We also strongly demand the release of hundreds of others detained under PSA. @jkpc demands the release of our workers being held under PSA on Srinagar Central Jail and jails outside J & K, JKPC leader Imran Reza Ansari said on Twitter.

The recently-launched Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari also welcomed the release of former chief minister and demanded that all other political detainees, including Mehbooba, be also released at the earliest in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In a statement issued here, Bukhari termed the revocation of the PSA against Omar a significant move that will help in making the situation more conducive in Jammu and Kashmir.

He demanded the other chief minister -- Mehbooba Mufti -- besides hundreds of political activists currently detained in and outside Jammu and Kashmir jails be freed especially in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An estimated 80.44 per cent of the 12,04,834 students passed the class 12 state board examinations in Bihar, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.

The girls outshone boys this year in the intermediate results of the Bihar School Examination Board, an official said.

Neha Kumari topped the science stream securing 476 out of 500 marks with 95.2 per cent, BSEB chairman Anand Kishore said while announcing the results.

Kausar Fatma and Sudhanshu Narayan Choudhary were toppers in the commerce stream with 95.2 per cent while Sakshy Kumari topped the arts stream by scoring 474 marks.

A total of 80.44 per cent students of all the three streams - arts, commerce and science - passed the class 12 examination this year, Kishore said.

The pass percentage in 2019 was 79.76, he said.

The intermediate examinations were conducted in February this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A raft of new restrictions on how we go about our daily lives will be announced today as the battle against Covid-19 is stepped up.

Outdoor activities are expected to be further curtailed while limits will be applied to public transport and some non-essential businesses.

The Irish Independent understands the Government is hesitant to move into full lockdown mode  but the moment has come for tougher measures. Last night UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told families in the UK, including Northern Ireland, to stay at home except when shopping for basic necessities and to perform one type of exercise a day.

Two more people have died from coronavirus in Ireland and another 219 cases have been confirmed, the Department of Health said yesterday. This brings the number of cases to 1,125. So far six people have died from coronavirus here.

Speaking this morning after a board meeting held by conference call late on Monday night, ICOS President Jerry Long said that it is vital, throughout this national public health emergency, that we can preserve our agri-food supply chain in its entirety.

There are a huge number of vital services required to keep our safe food production system running; we need feed, fertiliser, fuel, veterinary supplies, animal movement, milk recording, artificial insemination, milking machine service and repair, hardware supplies and so on.

Our farming businesses are quite complex operations now, and the authorities must recognise that fact when we inevitably move towards tighter movement restrictions.

Co-op stores moving to a call and collect model, increased emphasis on delivery direct to farm, all farmer communications moving towards phone and email only, demonstrate that our supply chain is one of the tightest in the economy, and that we can and must preserve it intact so that we can continue to feed the population.

Its also important to note that in both New Zealand and the UK, which have declared general lockdowns in their economies, they have recognised and preserved the place of the agri-food supply chain, with those key services being maintained, while maintaining best practice in physical distancing.

Jerry Long was given a strong mandate by the Dairy and Agri Co-ops to emphasise to the Minister, on a conference call later this afternoon, that the sector can and will continue to produce top quality safe food, while protecting the health of staff, farmers, and the public.




March 24 : The auspicious time to pray and celebrate the victory of the good over evil will soon approach our lives in a few days time. This is one of the most awaited Hindu festivals and named as Chaitra Navratri 2020. The first day of the festival will be celebrated on March 25, 2020 s per the Hindi Calendar . The festival is a nine-day celebration (March 22  April 2) which is observed with utmost importance by all who are strong Durga Maa devotees.

Chaitra Navratri is also called as Vasant Navami in certain parts of India, wherein all pray to Goddess Durga during these 9 days. In a year, Hindu devotees celebrate two Navratris: One is Chaitra Navratri celebrated in the months of March - April. Then, comes the Sharada Navratri which will be celebrated between September  October. On March 25, the first day of Chaitra Navratri will begin and on April 2, 2020, the festival will end with the Ram Navami celebrations. In March, Hindu devotees will also celebrate the festivals like Gudi Padwa (in Maharashtra and Goa) and Ugadi (in Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh).

Chaitra Navratri Tithi & Puja Timings on March 25, Wednesday:

Sunrise: March 25, 2020 6:29 am

Sunset: March 25, 2020 6:36 pm

Pratipada Tithi starts by March 24, 2020, at 2:58 pm and ends by March 25, 2020 at 5:27 pm

Ghatasthapana Muhurta extends from March 25, 6:29 am until March 25, 10:31 am

Additional Information: The above panchang is generated for Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. To change the date and place, go to Panchang .

Importance of the Ghatasthapana Muhurta (Kalash Sthapana or Kalashsthapana) for Chaitra Navratri 2020

While performing the Chaitra Navratri rituals, care should be taken to observe the puja during the Ghatasthapana Muhurta timing. During the above mentioned time, the invocation of the Goddess takes place. It is prohibited to do the puja at any other time or night time or during the Amavasya time  as that would invite the wrath of Shakti Devi. On the first day, people worship Goddess Shailaputri in order to attain salvation in life.

Please note: Religious festivals in March 2020
Two police officers have been injured in a suspected riot at a prison as tensions over coronavirus soar inside jails across the UK.

Police were called to Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, Scotland, on Monday after rioting prisoners carrying metal bars were said to have 'smashed up' part of the jail and stabbed a prison officer who had been taken hostage.

The riots comes after it was announced that prisons across England and Wales would be shutting down jail visits in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 which has now claimed the lives of 422 people in the UK.

A number of prisons have already confirmed cases of COVID-19 as cases soar across the UK and Boris Johnson orders Britons to stay inside.

However anxiety inside jails over coronavirus continues to grow due to the close proximity of prisoners and fears staff will go off sick with the disease.

Today video footage from Addiewell Prison showed a prisoner laughing as he filmed the vandalism done to the private jail's Forth D hall.

Police were called to Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, Scotland, on Monday after rioting prisoners carrying metal bars were said to have 'smashed up' part of the jail (pictured, prisoners with lengths of metal)

Video footage from Addiewell Prison showseda prisoner laughing as he filmed the vandalism done to the private jail's Forth D hall (pictured, a rioting prisoner inside the prison)

The prisoner said: 'Mate, you's have lost the plot. Have you trashed the whole place?'

He also asked a bare-chested prisoner in the video: 'Where's your cosh,' before the thug brings a length of metal into shot.

A source told the Daily Record: 'A hardcore of prisoners at HMP Addiewell went on the rampage and smashed things up, leading to a lockdown.

'They situation there has been growing more tense every day, as there is no effective way to apply social distancing inside a jail.

'Prisoners are angry that others with symptoms are not been taken of the premises until they are confirmed as suffering from the virus.'

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said the incident had now been dealt with.

She said: 'An incident took place yesterday in HMP Addiewell where a small number of individuals were involved in a disturbance in one section of the establishment.

'The incident was brought to a safe conclusion and the prison was secured on Monday night. The individuals involved have been reported to Police Scotland.'

Today the Ministry of Justice confirmed that visitors would no longer be allowed to enter the establishments in an effort to keep staff, inmates and families safe and protect the NHS's ability to cope with the surge in coronavirus cases.

One prisoner carries a metal pole into the view of the camera at Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, Scotland

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said the incident had now been dealt with at Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, Scotland (pictured)

A message of their Twitter page read: 'We have suspended all prison visits in England & Wales for today. This is while we ensure safe & secure functioning of our prisons while enforcing social distancing.

'If you have a visit booked today, please do not attend. Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives.'

The Prisoner Officer's Association (POA) also confirmed that inmates would be locked up for most hours of the day and would be let out only to access necessities such as showers or to use the phones and exercise.

National chair of the POA, Mark Fairhurst, confirmed that the new plans were approved on Monday night after talks with the government brought to light that more prisoners were showing symptoms of the coronavirus.

He told The Independent: 'More and more staff are self-isolating, more and more prisoners are showing symptoms of Covid-19, and in order to protect staff, prisoners and the general public, it is now necessary to self-isolate our prisoners to stop the spread.'

He added: 'We've continued to work normally for as long as we possibly can and I think families of prisoners will be relieved that they're not at risks and prisoners will be relieved that their loved ones will be safe at home instead of travelling all over the country into packed visit halls and putting themselves at risk.

'In my local prison, HMP Liverpool, prisoners have been asking why they haven't been locked down yet, so we're hoping there will be a sensible reaction from prisoners. They must realise that this is for their safety and their loved ones.'

Addressing the Prime Minster's new coronavirus lockdown rules on Monday, the POA General Secretary Steve Gillan said: 'The POA recognise that Prison staff are key workers, but the Prime Minister statement is a game changer.

In a statement on Twitter the Ministry of Justice said they had suspended all prison visits in England and Wales

'It was always envisaged that regimes would be kept as normal as possible, but that position has now altered and the POA will continue to work with Government and Employer to keep our members and prisoners as safe as possible.

'These restrictions will bring their own challenges operationally, but the Director General Phil Copple has made the correct decision.'

According to the new prison restrictions, essential workers such as kitchen, laundry and cleaning staff, will be unlocked to carry out their work and prison staff will be briefed on arrival for duty.

The latest announcement comes as it was revealed today that a prisoner has contracted the virus at the all-male Oakwood Prison near Wolverhampton and is in self-isolation.

G4S, the private company which runs the jail, said it was continuing to monitor national guidance.

John Whitwam, managing director, G4S custodial and detention services, said: 'We have confirmed one case of coronavirus at HMP Oakwood.

'The health and safety of our staff and the people in our care is our top priority and we have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases.

'We are in regular discussion with Public Health England and following their guidance.

'The person concerned had already been self-isolating since Tuesday, in accordance with national guidance, and will remain in isolation and in regular consultation with our on-site health professionals. His family have been contacted and will be kept up-to-date.'

Oakwood joins HMP Manchester and HMP High Down in having confirmed cases of coronavirus.

It is believed visits to Oakwoood have reduced amid the crisis.

Oakwood joins HMP Manchester (pictured) and HMP High Down in having confirmed cases of coronavirus

The POA said it 'praised the decision of the Secretary of State for Justice and the Director of Public Sector Prisons for their decision to place Prisons in England and Wales on immediate lockdown'.

Last week it was revealed that almost 1,000 prison officers have gone into self-isolation and some security procedures may have to be halted if there are staff shortages amid the coronavirus outbreak, it is understood.

Prison cell searches and drug tests for inmates might be scrapped in a bid to cope with absences during the crisis.

Some 900 prison officers were off work and self-isolating on Thursday

'Core security processes' will 'cease' and prisoners will need to be confined to their cells if jails in England and Wales do not have enough staff, according to official guidance seen by BBC News.

Meals, medication, prisoner safety and family visits will be prioritised.

The number of prison officers off work rose on Friday, sources told the BBC.

The guidance is also said to advise against starting new offender behaviour programmes like those put in place for sex offenders.

The news came after a former chief inspector of prisons called for low-risk inmates to be released from prison to avoid them becoming 'incubators' for coronavirus.

Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Nick Hardwick suggested prisoners with only a short amount of their sentence left to serve could be freed to help ease the pressure on the prison system.
The indomitable nature of the human spirit is explored on the palate of the Byzantine Renaissance and the ethnic blending that accompanied the resurrection of the Roman Empire in the last half of the first millennium in Robert E. Englekirks new novel, Five Women of Byzantium (published by Archway Publishing).

Presenting the Byzantine effort to make a better future when it emerged, the novel reveals the indomitable nature of mankind. Recounting its Renaissance in the 6th through 10th centuries, Englekirk demonstrates how women played a vital role in the process. Five Women of Byzantium describes how five empresses  Aelia Pulcheria, Theodora, Irene of Athens, Zoe Karbonopsina and Empress Zoe Porphyrogenita  were instrumental in altering history through their involvement in governance and social evolution.

Our many current religious persuasions evolved during this period. An understanding of the many contentious issues that these people dealt with allows a better perspective on our current persuasions, the author says, adding It describes the long subdued involvement of women in politics; history was told by men and edited by the Church. Understanding the current conflict in the Middle East requires some understanding of its historical progenitors.

Five Women of Byzantium is available for purchase on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Women-Byzantium-Robert-Englekirk-ebook/dp/B0851YMFP1

Five Women of Byzantium

By Robert E. Englekirk

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 438 pages | ISBN 9781480885110

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 438 pages | ISBN 9781480885134

E-Book | 438 pages | ISBN 9781480885127

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Robert Englekirk applies his creative engineering capabilities (J. Paul Getty Center in Brentwood, Horton Plaza in San Diego, Dolby Theatre in Hollywood) to an assessment of the history of the Byzantine Empire. His goal was to discover how these people were able to advance civilization in an otherwise Dark Age. In addition to engineering books, the author has written Appreciating Italy, Dawn or Dusk, World Enough for Me and A Farewell to Reason.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit http://www.archwaypublishing.com or call 888-242-5904.
The Order of Malta Ambulance Corps (Order of Malta) have today announced that volunteers are currently preparing to provide national support to the Health Service Executive (HSE) as the health crisis caused by COVID-19 continues to develop.

The Order of Malta is one of the largest providers of first aid and voluntary ambulance services in Ireland and is listed as a Voluntary Emergency Services resource available to the HSE under the Framework for Major Emergency Management.

Following a call for support made by the HSE, the Order of Malta is now beginning to mobilise volunteers and equipment to assist in providing healthcare services to people across the country.

Comdr. John Wright, National Director for the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps stated, while our top priority is the safety and health of our volunteers throughout this time, we are confident in the measures we have put in place to ensure our organisation is prepared and ready to provide assistance to the HSE in the form of personnel and other assets, including vehicles and equipment as needed. Our COVID-19 task-force is assessing the situation as it develops, and we are in regular communication with the HSE and other emergency bodies.
What has the U.S. contributed to global human rights cause as certain people in the U.S. have kept pointing fingers at the human rights situation in other countries? Frequently declaring wars and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, the U.S. is the creator of numerous severe humanitarian disasters in the world and its human right records are bad.

The State Council Information Office of China recently issued a report on the human rights situation in the U.S. titled The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019. The irrefutable facts in the report show the world that the U.S., though burdened by domestic human right issues, has kept trampling on human rights in other countries and pursuing hegemony in the name of human rights, creating a large number of human rights disasters.

U.S. militarism has led to chaos and serious humanitarian disasters. In a speech delivered in June 2019, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter pointed out that the United States had only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its more than 200-year history, making the country the most warlike nation in the history of the world.

The United States had been at war for decades, including the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and so on. These wars caused large casualties and aggravated the situation of terrorism in those countries.

The estimated cost of the United States global war on terror since late 2001 stood at 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars and it was estimated that up to 801,000 people have died in post-9/11 wars, according to reports released by the Costs of War project based at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in 2019.

Statistics showed that the Afghanistan war claimed the lives of more than 40,000 civilians and around 11 million Afghan people became refugees. More than 200,000 civilians died in the Iraq war and around 2.5 million became refugees. The death toll of civilians in the Syrian war surpassed 40,000 while 6.6 million fled the country.

The U.S. adopted the zero-tolerance immigration policy, but it was the culprit of the worsening immigration problems in the Americas. The families in the migrant caravans trudging toward the U.S. border are trying to escape a hell that the U.S. has helped to create. Hegemony worshippers in the U.S. are obsessed with wars and killing and dont care about the right to survival and development of tens of millions of people.

The U.S. unilateral sanctions have grossly infringed on human rights in other countries. At present, the novel coronavirus epidemic is spreading globally. Working together to fight the epidemic and maintaining global public health security is the proper approach to promote human rights development. However, the United States has gone the other way by continuing to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran. Such practice has violated the humanitarian spirit.

In the book Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions, U.S. scholar Joy Gordon said that what we should know from Iraq is this: that causing destitution in distant lands does not make the world a better place, or make the United States, or anyone else, more secure.

Waving the big stick of sanctions, the U.S. is trampling on the human rights of other countries.

According to a report by the United Nations on May 28, 2019 titled Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba, the economic and commercial embargo in almost six decades was a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cubans.

In a statement published by the UN website on Aug. 8, 2019, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointed out that the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela would have far-reaching implications on the rights to health and to food in a country where there were already serious shortages of essential goods.

At the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council on Sept 9, 2019, the U.S. unilateral sanctions were condemned by representatives of relevant countries and non-government organizations. However, the U.S. turned a deaf ear to the call of justice from the international society, and took human rights as a bargaining chip to punish other countries, which is typical political bullying.

The U.S. has been wantonly pursuing unilateralism. It bragged about its human rights situation and shirked international responsibilities. At the crucial moment when the world is fighting against the coronavirus, the U.S. announced to cut its funding to the WHO by half in the 2021 fiscal budget.

In recent years, the United States withdrew from multilateral mechanisms out of its own interest, including the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the UN Global Compact on Migration, and refused to ratify multiple key international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The U.S. bullying actions have threatened international institutions. John Bolton, former U.S. national security adviser, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, warned in September 2018 and in March 2019 respectively that if the International Criminal Court (ICC) went ahead with investigating personnel from the United States and its allies on their crimes in the war in Afghanistan, the United States would impose retaliatory measures against the personnel that were directly responsible for the investigations such as a ban on their entry to the United States, fund freeze and even economic sanctions on the ICC.

Adopting UN human right rules that fit its own interests and abandoning those that dont, the U.S. has become a stain on international human rights cause with its double-standard practices.

The self-touted world human rights defender couldnt hide the truth that it has adopted double standards on human rights issues and used them to maintain hegemony. International morality and human conscience cannot be violated; international human rights cause is not a pie in the sky, and it marches forward only when countries work to promote common development and prosperity.

The U.S. is advised to lay down arrogance and prejudice, seriously face up to and examine its own serious human rights issues, stop making troubles in the world under the guise of human rights and stop the hegemonic actions that create human rights disasters, and fulfil its international human rights obligations.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
Help India!

Mahesh Trivedi for TwoCircles.net

With the Novel Coronavirus playing havoc and devil-may-care citizens throwing health advisories to the winds, the State government finally on March 23 shook off its slumber and extended the lockdown from five cities and a district (Kutch) to entire state till March 31. The BJP-controlled Gujarat govts order of a complete lockdown came after a prominent lawyer threatened to move the Gujarat High Court in an urgent public interest litigation against the saffron partys Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for its lackadaisical attitude towards safety measures.

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The deadly virus has infected 471 people across India according to latest figures while the number of Coronavirus positive cases in Gujarat shot up from just two on March 19 to a worrisome 30 within four days what with the rare infection claiming the life of a 67-year-old man in Surat and local transmissionand not international travelbeing responsible for five of the 12 cases reported in one single day on March 23. According to Dr Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary in the state health department, as many as 11,108 people have been home-quarantined and 224 others have been sent to mandatory government quarantine facilities, while 10 FIRs have been filed for breach of the quarantine protocol.

The doctor-population ratio in India itself is mere 1:1,560 and the nurse-population ratio is 1:700 and there is only one hospital bed for 1,826 people, said Diabetologist Dr Mayur Patel. As of March 23, 422 samples of suspected patients have been tested. From these, 30 have been found to be positive, 375 negative while results of 17 are awaited from a Pune lab.

In response to Modis appeal for a five-minute clapping and clanging of thalis at 5 pm on March 22 to express the nations gratitude towards medicos serving Coronavirus patients, scores of his frenetic supporters not only gathered in large numbers in defiance of the social distancing advisory but also took out a rally, burst crackers and even danced on the streets as policemen simply winked at them. This time, in order to not leave anything to chance after witnessing how frenzied Modi fans in Ahmedabad brushed aside the curfew and thronged the streets on the Janata Curfew Day on March 22, the Vijay Rupani regime will keep four companies of Rapid Action Force and five companies of State Reserve Police Force on their toes to implement the lockdown and make sure the citizens remain indoors.

But as citizens try to observe the lockdown, in yet another controversial measure, the BJP government has decided to name and shame infected people by pasting eye-stickers outside quarantined homeswhose walls will also be sanitizedto caution visitors and passers-by.

Gujarat High Court advocate Iqbal Masud Khan told Two.Circles.net that while posh areas like Nehru Nagar were being sprayed with sanitizers on the Janata Curfew Day, little attention was being paid to eastern Ahmedabad having a dense population of the poor where such sanitization was more important.

Heaps of garbage was seen even a day after the Janata Curfew in the old-city localities of Khadia, Jamalpur, Shahpur and the poorer suburbs Bapunagar, Gomtipur, Rakhial, etc., said Khan, adding that that such ill implemented anti-corona measures were being taken by saffron leaders only so that they can score some brownie points ahead of the next elections.

Even as a 1,200-bed hospital in Ahmedabad and two 250-bed hospitals in two major cities are being readied and hostels are being vacated in case the Coronavirus goes out of control, Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra has admitted that the civic body would not be able to handle the crisis even if 2 per cent of the eight-million population of the city is affected because of not following self-isolation.

However, one silver lining among the Corona scare is that as educational institutions are closed, the Rupani regime has come up with a unique initiative to reach out to school students and ensure there is no academic loss amid the outbreak. Students of Classes 7 to 9 and 11 are able to revise and practise their subjects from the comfort of their homes using regional TV channels that began broadcasting daily hour-long tutorials, from March 19. Less is actually more. Lesser the contacts with persons and objects, safer you are, says neurologist Dr Sudhir Shah. He also encouraged staying at home with family as it not only increases bonds but also raises immunity.

To sum up, as Coronavirus threatens to penetrate deeper into Gujarat, one can only follow the advice of Dr Ronak Gandhi, Zen counsellor and founder of Loving Center for Transformation, We are in a very difficult time right now. It is in our hands where we go from here. Each and every one of us is a decisive force.
With new studies pointing to chlorination of water as one of the potential ways to combat novel Coranavirus COVID-19, Alkali Manufacturers Association of India (AMAI) has kicked off an outreach programme beginning World Water Day (22nd March) aimed at raising awareness on chlorination of drinking water for disinfection.

The campaign will entail close liaison with Public Health Engineering Departments (PHEDs) and municipal bodies across different States in the country. AMAI is the august body of manufacturers engaged in production of chemicals such as Caustic Soda and Soda Ash with Chlorine as a by-product.

"Our confidence stems from the successful training sessions on water chlorination and chlorine safety carried out in several States in the last few months in association with municipal bodies. We firmly believe the disease burden owing to water borne diseases can be significantly brought down through chlorine disinfection. This also ties in with achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Water and Sanitation for All by 2030," said Jayantibhai Patel, President, AMAI.

The States where AMAI has recently conducted training sessions on disinfection through water chlorination and chlorine safety include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Meghalaya,Telangana and Goa.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 has come as a challenge. As other human coronaviruses have been shown to be sensitive to chlorination, the COVID-19 virus is likely to be more sensitive to chlorine," said Patel.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a technical paper released earlier this month titled 'Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Waste Management for the COVID-19 virus' has stated that the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygienic conditions is essential to protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 outbreak.

"WHO guidelines recommend chlorination with a 0.5 ppm free residual chlorine in water distribution for disinfection. AMAI members are making adequate availability of chlorine at all locations to meet the enhanced demand for drinking water disinfection and the Alkali industry is fully committed to supporting the government's effort", stated K. Srinivasan, Secretary General AMAI.

According to AMAI, in India, 163 million people lack access to safe water. The World Bank estimates that 21 per cent of communicable diseases in India are linked to unsafe water and the lack of hygiene practices.

AMAI is advocating use of chlorine to disinfect drinking water and waste water. The Association has been imparting free training to municipal water treatment and sewage treatment personnel on chlorination techniques and safe handling of chlorine.

"The chlor-alkali industry also produces sodium hypochlorite and calcium hypochlorite which have been recommended by WHO, UNICEF and Government of India for cleaning of disinfected surfaces, disposal of used infected masks and for sanitation and hygiene. The industry is fully geared to meet the rise in demand", stated AMAI.

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.)
Quebec Premier Francois Legault hit the pause button on his provinces economy on Monday, ordering all non-essential businesses to close until April 13 as the number of COVID-19 cases more than doubled to 628.

Legault said the businesses will be ordered to close no later than midnight Tuesday, adding that grocery stores and pharmacies will be among those allowed to remain open.

Effectively, Quebec will be on pause for the next three weeks, he said.

Its important, in order to give us all the chances to reduce the spread of the virus, to take this decision, which is difficult, but in my opinion necessary.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Quebec jumped by 409 since Sunday, with 45 people hospitalized  20 of them in intensive care.

Legault noted that the province is now grouping probable and confirmed cases, which accounts in part for the major increase.

Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebecs public health director, said the increase in positive cases was expected, given the massive increase in testing in recent days.

The provinces earlier March break and close ties to hard-hit nations such as Italy are also factors, he said.

But while many or most cases remain linked to travel, he noted the province is also beginning to see community transmission.

When we told you no weddings, no funerals, its not because we dont find them important, he said. Its because there are situations where people who dont know theyre sick, but are sick, can contaminate others.

He called on Quebecers to stay home and avoid all travel, including within the province.

There have been four deaths in the province, all linked to the same seniors residence.

Legault announced that from now on, seniors home residents are asked to not to leave without supervision, citing the potentially disastrous consequences of the virus running rampant within a group that is statistically the most at risk of complications.

However, he stressed that Quebecers of all ages are to consider themselves essentially locked down.

What were saying is confinement, except for essential services, he said. Were at that point.

He said the measures do not apply to police, firefighters, health-care workers, grocery store employees, journalists or anyone who can do their jobs completely from home.

The full list of businesses and services that are allowed to remain open was published late Monday. It includes teachers working online, infrastructure maintenance, sanitation, manufacturers of food and medical supplies, hotels, movers, restaurants offering takeout only, banking and public transportation.

The provincially run alcohol and cannabis stores can also stay open.

But constructions sites and aluminum smelters will have to close, he said.

Most people diagnosed with COVID-19 experience mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the majority of those who contract the virus recover. Some may have few, if any symptoms, or may not know theyre infected because symptoms of the novel coronavirus are similar to a cold or flu.

However, for some, including Canadians aged 65 and over, those with compromised immune systems and those with pre-existing conditions, the illness can be much more severe. Among the Canadians diagnosed with the illness so far, 10 per cent have required hospitalization, with fewer than five per cent of cases requiring admission to the ICU.

Read more about:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not expected to accept an offer from U.S. President Donald Trump to help Pyongyang combat the coronavirus pandemic, without Washington's sanctions relief. / Korea Times file



By Kang Seung-woo



The U.S. offer to help North Korea fight the coronavirus pandemic is unlikely to be accepted by Pyongyang, according to pundits, Tuesday. In addition, the U.S. humanitarian approach to the North is not likely to give South Korea leeway for inter-Korean quarantine cooperation, they added.



On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's younger sister and close adviser, announced U.S. President Donald Trump had written a personal letter to his brother about cooperation on the fight against the virus  although the reclusive country claims there are no cases of the COVID-19.



"At this point in time, I doubt it," said Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.



"Though North Korean statements have recognized the severe threat COVID-19 is for the country, it does not acknowledge any cases though that seems very unlikely. The spread would have to get much worse and North Korea would be more likely to accept assistance through an international organization rather than the United States directly."



Van Jackson, a professor of Victoria University of Wellington and former Pentagon official, echoed Roehrig's view.



"If North Korea is in dire circumstances as a result of the COVID-19, Kim Jong-un would be willing to at least explore receiving assistance from the United States. But it's not clear at this point if North Korea has experienced the pandemic the way most nations have," he said.



"And Kim is on an openly hostile footing toward the U.S. in a bid to get sanctions relief. If sanctions relief were forthcoming in tandem with medical assistance, then I'm sure Kim would take the offer seriously. But otherwise, I have doubts."



Although she praised the personal relationship between the two leaders, Kim Yo-jong hinted the anti-epidemic work based on it was not enough to accept the U.S. offer, saying the relations between the two countries and their development should not be judged in haste in the light of the personal relations.



"The Kim regime is still likely to limit the level of cooperation with Seoul and Washington because Pyongyang's price for improving diplomatic relations is much higher than humanitarian aid alone," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of Ewha Womans University in Seoul.



As the U.S. and the United Nations are making humanitarian exemptions to sanctions on North Korea, speculation is rampant that they may create more diplomatic maneuvering room for the South to seek inter-Korean cooperation that has been at a standstill due to the deadlock in the denuclearization talks between the U.S. and the North.



The North has yet to respond to the South's proposal for joint quarantine efforts as the coronavirus has swept the world.



However, North Korea watchers do not buy into the idea.



"South Korea's great recovery from the coronavirus puts President Moon Jae-in in a stronger position to offer assistance to North Korea. But Kim Jong-un has shown us all that he does not view South Korea as an equal, so he might be too proud to accept South Korean or even U.S. assistance," Jackson said.



Roehrig also doubted that that would do much to change the current situation on denuclearization and inter-Korean relations as the U.S. is set to keep sanctions in place until there is progress on the North's denuclearization.



"As to U.S. assistance to North Korea with COVID-19, if anything actually happens, it would be a humanitarian exemption and would not create momentum for greater sanctions relief," he said.


A kind stranger has touched hearts everywhere after he purchased 30 cups of coffee to give to unemployed people waiting for hours outside of Centrelink.

Hundreds of people lined up in massive queues, stretching down the road from Centrelink on Tuesday after 88,000 workers lost their jobs when the government closed all pubs, bars, cinemas and gyms indefinitely to slow the spread of COVID-19.

But a good Samaritan's act of compassion has warmed hearts everywhere after he anonymously ordered 30 takeaway coffees for those waiting in the rain to seek unemployment benefits.

The kind-hearted man was at Fuel Espresso cafe in Brookvale on the northern beaches of Sydney when he decided to make the spontaneous purchase - as staff delivered the hot beverage to people.

Mia was standing in a queue outside Centrelink in Brookvale when a cafe delivered 30 coffees after an anonymous customer purchased it for those waiting in the rain

'This made my day. Waiting in the massive queue for Centrelink, staff from Fuel Espresso offered a free coffee,' Mia said in a Facebook group.

'A customer paid for 30 coffees for all people waiting in the rain. It's important to see good things in a difficult time. This lifted my spirit. Thank you so much for all your kindness. You've lifted the spirit of a lot more people than 30 today.'

Some people speculated the good Samaritan's name 'didn't make a big deal about it' after he paid for the coffees.

His random act of kindness struck a chord with hundreds of Australians amid the coronavirus crisis that has gripped the world.

Hundreds of people lined up in massive queues, stretching down the road from Centrelink on Tuesday after 88,000 workers lost their jobs (picture of people waiting in a line outside of Centrelink in Bondi Junction in Sydney on Tuesday)

'Glad to see the kind of spirit in Australia community, together we will pull through these hurdles,' one said.

A second said: 'I love seeing this. Spread the love and care in our community, we are all humans in this together struggling.'

A third said: 'Such a beautiful gesture. What a lovely person.'

And another said: 'Lovely. What a kind thought. A great example for all of us. It only takes something little to share live and support.'

Many described the man as a 'champ' who 'absolutely made' their day as others called on Australians to band together to get through this pandemic.

A passerby said she noticed another round of free coffees being delivered to those waiting outside of Centrelink the day before.

'This just happened at Brookvale Centrelink queue again! Another customer prepaid for everyone in line. Fuel espresso just taking a round of orders again. Kindness wins,' she said.
In this article:

Bloodied Bruce Willis and Bonnie Bedelia wrapped in blanket in a scene from the film 'Die Hard 2', 1990. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)

Settle in for a night of cinematic escapism, feel good comedy, adventure and lesser known foreign film treats as TopFilmTip brings you the best free films on TV tonight for Tuesday 24 March.

Leaving a promise as a waitress tip, Kind-hearted cop Nic Cages lottery win drives wedge through his marriage: bitter sweet romcom IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 6:55pm - Sony Movie UK

Orphaned by fire, three siblings are shuffled from guardian to guardian trying to keep their family fortune from avaricious uncle: fantastical fun A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS 6:55pm - Film4

Millionaire Mel Gibson tips scales on son's amoral kidnappers by placing bounty on their heads in taut, table turning 1990s thriller RANSOM 9pm - ITV4

FILM 'RANSOM' BY RON HOWARD (Photo by Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma via Getty Images)

Weakly-led colonising crew fall apart amid the ironic inception of Xenomorphia in body splooping, enigma demystifier ALIEN COVENANT 9pm - Film4

Kiwi geneticist's mutant flock unleashes onslaught of carnivorous were-sheep in offal-pit diving irreverent gore-comedy BLACK SHEEP 11:55pm - Horror Channel

Juxtaposed morally flexible cops Nic Cage & Elijah Wood plan heist of crooks treasure trove in angst inducing thriller THE TRUST 11:20pm - Sony Movies UK

Read more: The best comedies to stream in the UK

Serial killing, inner-monologuing, man murderer feeds his homicidal compulsion with scaffolding, ocular icicles, engines & jet fuel DIE HARD 2 11:20pm - Film4

Bruce Lee teaches art of fighting without fighting before proceeding to then fights swathes of henchmen in his last & most iconic film ENTER THE DRAGON 11:25pm - ITV4

Enter The Dragon, poster, from top: Ahna Capri, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Bruce Lee on poster art, 1973. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Train traveller Emily Mortimer slips further into murky misadventure of murder & smuggling in icy psychological thriller TRANSSIBERIAN 01:15 am - Sony Movies UK

Young lady helplessly flees stab-happy, inexplicably motivated, bullet proof serial killer in John Carpenters self scored slasher HALLOWEEN II 2:30am - Horror Channel

Upon growing embers of the Arab spring, maid's witnessing of murky murder prompts Egyptian detective to delve deeper into corrupt political power: unrivalled neo-noir THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT 1:45am - Film4.

Follow TopFilmTip on Twitter for daily film recommendations.
Here's what you need to know about what's happening in San Jose.

Downtown San Jose sites bought by Dillabough-led group

An increasingly active developer and investor has bought several parcels in downtown San Jose that include the City Lights Theater and several nearby properties.

Read the full story on Mercury News.

19-year-old suspect identified in fatal shooting at San Jose supermarket

A man who was arrested following a fatal shooting inside a San Jose supermarket has been identified by police Monday.

Read the full story on CBS San Francisco.

San Jose families create masks for health care workers

While some people are issuing push-up and baking challenges during the shelter-at-home order, others are picking up the needle and thread. The goal? To reduce the nationwide shortage of masks for doctors and nurses.



Read the full story on NBC Bay Area.

Authorities ID 47-year-old man killed in hit-and-run at busy intersection

The collision occurred on McLaughlin Avenue at Story Road.

Read the full story on Mercury News.

Santa Clara Convention Center converting into medical site amid shortage of hospital beds

The City of Santa Clara is one of eight cities in California that will be home to a federal medical station to treat patients that are not in critical need of care.

Read the full story on KTVU Fox 2.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
At least seven Bills were passed in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday even as the Congress and JD(S) boycotted the proceedings, leaving the Opposition benches completely empty.

The Congress did not show up in the Assembly as a sign of protest against the BJPs dictatorial ways, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah told reporters.

We wanted the session to be curtailed and adjourned on Monday itself by passing just the Finance Bill (Budget) and not any other Bills. While the CM agreed, the Law Minister did not. On the floor of the House, the government started tabling the Bills that could have waited. We decided to boycott the Assembly as there is no value to the Opposition, Siddaramaiah said.

The JD(S) also staged a walkout after Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri refused to allow a discussion on an alleged scam at the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank. I will allow it after the chief ministers response on the budget discussion, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said, which irked JD(S) leader H D Revanna. This is not done, he said, leading his partymen out of the House.

With both Opposition parties out, seven Bills were passed with little or no debate. They were: Karnataka Appropriation Bill (two of them), Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Regulation of Stone Crushers (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill and Sarvajna Kshetra Development Authority Bill.

The legislature session, which started with Governor Vajubhai R Valas address on February 17 continued till 21, resumed on March 2 and ended Tuesday. In total, the House was in session for 21 days and saw 106 hours of business. The Constitution debate lasted 27.46 hours. Of the 26 Bills that were tabled, 25 were passed. Of the 3,612 questions received, 2,519 were answered, Kageri said, before adjourning the Assembly sine die.
[March 24, 2020] Tickeron Announces AI-Generated 401(k) Reporting And Analysis Tool

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickeron, an artificial and human intelligence platform delivering unparalleled trading insights and analysis, today announces its groundbreaking 401(k) Report feature providing plan sponsors, plan advisors and plan participants with artificial intelligence analysis unveiling deep insight into close to 26,000 U.S. company 401(k) plans. Founded by Sergey Savastiouk, who serves as the company's CEO, Tickeron is a subscription-based market intelligence platform giving access to the latest trading news and AI-generated predictions. The 401(k) Report feature provides users with plan details, general statistics, plan menu, diversification analysis, fees & expenses, and fundamentals. "We're bringing unprecedented access and transparency to plan information and design. For example, the public forms required by the DOL provide a lot of information, but there is practically no standard for reporting tickers or names of funds included in plan menu. Our tool addresses the issue head-on by rating the plan administrator's reporting quality," said Savastiouk. "We also rate plans by issuing a Diversification Score (DivScore) that indicates how well the portfolio is diversified."



The artificial intelligence details fundamentals for each security held in the 401(k) plan. This analysis gives the plan administrator and plan participants a sense of the company or funds' revenue, manager tenure, P/E ratio (valuation), risk, and other key metrics. "Taking a closer look at the fundamentals of each security can help investors determine if any of the securities are potentially overvalued, too costly, falling short on dividend yields, too risky, too big or small, and so on. We simplify this otherwise tedious process for all parties by analyzing each security in the plan and breaking down its fundamentals in an easy-to-understand format."

For media inquiries, please contact Brian Hart at (866) 225-0920 ext. 101 or [email protected]. About Tickeron:

Tickeron is an artificial and human intelligence platform delivering unparalleled trading insights and analysis to self-directed investors and investment advisors. To learn more about Tickeron, please visit tickeron.com. Follow Tickeron on Twitter at @Tickeron. The detailed charts provided by Tickeron are subject to certain limitations disclosed on tickeron.com that investors should review before making an investment. Tickeron's investment advice relies on historical information. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing in securities involves significant risks, including the risk of loss of the entire investment. Brian Hart

Flackable

(866) 225-0920 ext. 101

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tickeron-announces-ai-generated-401k-reporting-and-analysis-tool-301028475.html SOURCE Tickeron

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Bucharest, Romania -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/24/2020 -- Distante Rutiere is an online platform that allows tourists and travelers calculate the distance that they have to travel from city to city. It also helps them estimate the amount of fuel needed to cover the distance. It is not just a normal distance calculator but assists the travelers with the best route possible. There are situations where people find themselves stuck in long traffic jams. The time that they should ideally spend sightseeing, they are actually spending in the traffic. This platform is the perfect solution for avoiding high traffic routes and take routes that are fuel efficient. It also suggests which route has a nearest gas station so that the drivers don't have to worry about running out of fuel.



Coming to calculating the road distance from City A to City B, drivers will have a clear idea as to how much distance they have to cover in how many hours. They can accordingly plan their trips or a stay at a nearby motel to continue with their travel plans. The Distante Rutiere platform is extremely easy to use. Above everything else it is free and reliable too. The auto routes and road map also help the drivers stay on path without getting deviated. They can reach their desired destination without any confusion. The site also offers some great information for tourists on how to travel to Romania, places to visit and the beautiful monasteries to be explored.



To know more visit http://002.ro/



About http://002.ro/

Distante Rutiere, http://002.ro/ based out of Romania allows travelers to calculate the road distance from one city to another. They can also calculate the time that will be taken to reach the destination and how much fuel would be necessary to complete the travel.



Media Contact



Distante Rutiere

Address: Aleea Padurii Nr. 9B, Bl. A, Postcode 012455

Phone: +40739092569

Email: Press@002.ro

Website: http://002.ro/
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO) is partnering Ology Bioservices Inc. to manufacture Inovio's DNA vaccine (INO-4800) for prevention of infection with the COVID-19 virus, the companies announced on Tuesday. The aim of the program is to rapidly and efficiently deliver the vaccine to the Department of Defense (DoD) for upcoming clinical trials. Under this program, the DoD has awarded Ology Bioservices with a contract valued at $11.9 million to work with Inovio on DNA technology transfer to rapidly manufacture DNA vaccines. This work is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs with funding from the Defense Health Agency. Ology said the Advanced Development and Manufacturing Facility operated by it was designed to respond to just such emergencies. Given the current global health crisis, prophylaxis/vaccine development is critical to defend against the coronavirus disease 2019. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:41:56|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- As the novel coronavirus is claiming countless lives around the world, the "Stay Home" slogan has become popular in Syria in a bid to prevent the deadly virus from finding its way to the Syrians.

The slogan has become a hashtag used on social media in Syria. It has also replaced the network name on cellphones by cellular providers.

Over the past week, the Syrian government has applied a series of measures, which gradually stopped all actions that involve human interactions and crowds.

The measures included suspending schools, universities, as well as some ministries, and closing marketplaces and restaurants.

The government also stopped public transportations across the country.

All these steps led to the latest measure, which is imposing a partial 12-hour curfew in the country, a decision that was taken two days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Syria.

The new measure was largely supported on social media, with some voices calling for a full lockdown in the country to eliminate any possibility of virus spread.

Some other voices demanded a solution for the poor people, those who work on daily basis to make a living, and those who cannot have the luxury of just staying indoors.

Kinda Makdissi, a Syria woman from Damascus, told Xinhua she supports the full lockdown because it was successfully implemented in some other countries.

She said people should also take care of the poor people through providing them with daily help of food and other basic necessities.

But for Munsef Rabbah, another resident in Damascus who is under a voluntarily full-day curfew, staying at home is driving him crazy.

He said he has turned a little paranoid and obsessed with cleaning. "This is driving me crazy. I hope this won't take long."

His wife is using lots of sanitizers and cleaning chemicals that one day his throat got hurt.

"I told her to go easy on the cleaning stuff because she got also paranoid and obsessed with cleaning," he said.

On the streets in Damascus, life has gradually faded away during the day with the suspension of most services except for the groceries and convenience stores that sell foodstuff.

At night, few cars are seen as people opt to stay indoors, and with the new curfew, the capital's streets will surely be empty by nightfall.

During the curfew, the Syrian Interior Ministry said facilitations are provided to ambulances, firefighters, main services establishments (electricity, water, and communications), health workers, and the press.

Also, the Ministry of Information launched an awareness campaign to avoid the infection through road boards.

The boards show a number of measures and recommendations which help confront the virus, mainly sending a message of staying at home as the most recommended measure against the COVID-19.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 24)  Millions of Filipinos are stuck at home under a lockdown as authorities try to stop COVID-19 from spreading faster.

Sixteen-year-old Marcus Chu is one of them. But hes not just killing time playing video games or watching Netflix.

The Grade 10 student is using a 3D printer to make frames that will serve as face shields for medical frontliners.

Once the frame is printed, an acetate is attached to make a reusable face shield.

I share sympathy with the doctors that are in the frontline because Ive seen posts online about how theyre struggling, Chu told CNN Philippines over the phone.

A total of 501 Filipinos have been infected with the dreaded virus as of Tuesday, and hospitals are overwhelmed.

Chu said he would rather help in his own little way than do nothing at home.

Luckily, he got the 3D printer as a gift from his parents last Christmas. He said he is thankful it gave him an opportunity to do something to make a difference.

Chu said he plans to make at least a hundred pieces, or until his raw materials last.

It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to print one frame, he explained.

He has finished over 20 pieces so far which have been sent to a hospital in Quezon City.

His dad, Gifford, said Marcus had a light-bulb moment when he saw a Facebook post about health workers needing protective gear.

Im happy that my son is trying to help in his own little way," Gifford Chu said. "I hope all our frontliners will be safe."
An Allentown landlord says he is taking responsibility for letters threatening to evict tenants during the coronavirus pandemic.

The notice, which was posted all over social media, acknowledged that some tenants may be out of work during the Pennsylvania shutdown but continued to say that Hyman Properties would set move-out dates for anyone unable to pay their rent in full by April 6.

This is one of the least compassionate things I've ever seen. We need our leaders to step up and end evictions and rent... Posted by Allentown Coalition for Economic Dignity on Monday, March 23, 2020

Owner Nat Hyman sent apologies to his tenants, saying that his company has to pay its lenders, too. He told lehighvalleylive.com that he did not read the letter before it went out and that the part about eviction was simply inappropriate.

"I have to take responsibility for it.  Somebody put out a letter. It was wrong and it shouldnt have been done, Hyman, a former Allentown mayoral candidate, said on Tuesday morning. The Morning Call and WFMZ also reported on Hymans apology.

Heres a written apology from Nat Hyman, which he says hes posting on Facebook shortly: pic.twitter.com/928uNqG7Zw  Andrew Wagaman (@AndrewWagaman) March 23, 2020

Hyman Properties owns 40 buildings in Pennsylvania, including 15 in Allentown. Hyman said his property management company will work with tenants in good standing to develop payment plans.

Evictions are not possible until at least April 3 anyway while Pennsylvania courts are closed. Pennsylvania lawmakers are drafting a bill that would limit evictions during a state of emergency like the current pandemic.

But Hyman said his company still needs to pay its own bills and employees. He said that he and his wife have received death threats over the initial letter.

At this point, he said there is not much more he can do than apologize.

Of course I regret the whole thing, Hyman said. I regret that I was so vilified about it. Its shocking to me that it went viral the way it did.

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.

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[March 24, 2020] Publix Super Markets Charities Donates $1 Million to Feeding America Member Food Banks

As part of Publix Super Markets Charities' ongoing support of hunger relief efforts and to help communities in our area during the coronavirus pandemic, Publix Charities announced today it will donate $1 million to Feeding America member food banks across the Southeast. "I want to thank Publix Super Markets Charities for this generous donation," said Publix CEO Todd Jones. "During these unprecedented times that have affected nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives, many people may not know where their next meal is coming from. This donation will provide assistance to those impacted and help continue the work that Publix, Publix Charities and Feeding America do every day to alleviate hunger in the communities we serve." "Feeding America is thankful to Publix Super Markets Charities for its generous support of member food banks across the Southeast during this time of increased need," said Feeding America Vice President of Corporate Partnerships Lauren Biedron. "This generous donation will help food banks provide food and other essential supplies to people hardest hit by this pandemic." The $1 million donation will be distributed to the following Feeding America member food banks throughout our seven-state operating area:







Food Bank Location Donation Alabama Community Food Bank of Central Alabama Birmingham $40,000 Feeding the Gulf Coast Theodore $40,000 Food Bank of North Alabama Huntsville $20,000 Montgomery Area Food Bank Montgomery $20,000 Florida All Faiths Food Bank Sarasota $25,000 America's Second Harvest of the Big Bend Tallahassee $20,000 Feeding Northeast Florida Jacksonville $50,000 Feeding South Florida Pembroke Park $125,000 Feeding Tampa Bay Tampa $100,000 Harry Chapin Food Bank Fort Myers $50,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida Orlando $100,000 Treasure Coast Food Bank Fort Pierce $50,000 Georgia America's Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia Savannah $15,000 Atlanta Community Food Bank Atlanta $100,000 Feeding the Valley Midland $5,000 Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Athens $5,000 Golden Harvest Food Bank Augusta (News - Alert) $15,000 Middle Georgia Community Food Bank Macon $5,000 Second Harvest of South Georgia Valdosta $5,000 North Carolina Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina Raleigh $15,000 Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Raleigh $5,000 Manna Food Bank Asheville $5,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Charlotte $50,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina Winston-Salem $5,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina Fayetteville $5,000 South Carolina Harvest Hope Columbia $25,000 Lowcountry Food Bank Charleston $25,000 Tennessee Chattanooga Area Food Bank Chattanooga $5,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee Maryville $5,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Nashville $40,000 Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee Kingsport $5,000 Virginia Feed More Richmond $20,000

About Publix Super Markets Charities George Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets and affectionately known as "Mr. George," believed in giving. From the day he opened his first Publix, he made sure his associates, customers and community were taken care of. In 1966, Mr. George established the Foundation with the vision it would continue giving long after he was gone. Publix Super Markets Charities remains committed to serving the communities in which Publix operates. To learn more, visit www.publixcharities.org. About Feeding America Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. To learn more, visit www.feedingamerica.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005657/en/

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Linkedin Retno L.P. Marsudi Jakarta  Wed, March 25, 2020 09:05 658 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d32dfd 2 Opinion Retno-Marsudi,COVID-19,cooperation,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi,ASEAN Free

The coronavirus nightmare is unfolding around the world, and we have been forced to adjust our lives to face this new reality, limiting the people we meet and the places we go.

No country, no matter how powerful or prosperous, is immune to COVID-19. At least 187 countries have reported cases of the virus.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 290,000, with nearly 13,000 deaths according to the World Health Organization. It took three months to reach the first 100,000 cases but only 12 days to reach the next 100,000.

COVID-19 is hardly the only global health crisis in recent times. It evokes the memory of other respiratory illnesses that also stirred global panic, namely SARS and MERS. Yet, while both SARS and MERS had higher mortality rates, neither can rival COVID-19 in terms of the number of people infected.

COVID-19 has impacted the world economy in an unprecedented way, disrupting global supply chains and the movement of people. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has predicted that a longer and more intensive COVID-19 outbreak could cut global growth to a mere 1.5 percent in 2020.

In this climate of uncertainty, many countries have taken drastic measures to contain the virus, including by closing their borders. Some others have imposed mandatory self-quarantine.

As each nation defends itself from the pandemic, which is temporary in nature, we must not lose sight of the importance of expanding international cooperation to beat the virus. Our collective fight against COVID-19 must focus on four key areas.

The first is enhanced global solidarity against COVID-19. Although the threat of COVID-19 is short-term, cooperation and friendship extended at difficult times like these leave a lasting impression. Some say, A friend in need is a friend indeed. We share the responsibility to ensure all countries have the necessary support and capacity.

Second, an effective containment strategy requires coordinated measures. There is still much that is unknown about COVID-19. Global health crises of this scale and complexity require more coordinated global responses. These will strengthen trust and confidence between countries.

Information-sharing, technical assistance and the joint production of basic medical equipment would go a long way to combat the virus. Countries should work together to develop a cure for COVID-19 instead of looking for ways to monopolize a future vaccine. Discussion must be geared toward securing funding for COVID-19 preparedness and responses.

Seeing the need for a coordinated strategy to fight COVID-19 in the region, Indonesia has taken the lead in calling for a virtual ASEAN Summit and an ASEAN+3 Emergency Meeting. At the global level, we need a stronger coordination mechanisms to prevent future pandemics.

Third, we must address the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19. Some countries are more vulnerable than others to external shocks, including the impact of COVID-19. Concessional financing and debt relief by major donors and international financial institutions would provide breathing space to fight COVID-19 and handle its associated costs.

We must seek to revive international trade as an engine for growth. Relaxing import tariffs on goods needed to combat COVID-19 could be a start.

The United Nations secretary-general has reminded us that COVID-19 is essentially a human crisis.

As businesses struggle to keep their employees on the payroll, people are losing their jobs and the health benefits that come with them. Low-wage workers and people working in informal sectors are among those affected the most. Our efforts against COVID-19 must include measures to soften this blow.

In this regard, the upcoming extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders Summit, which will discuss efforts to mitigate the human and economic impacts of COVID-19, is very timely.

Fourth, we must invest in resilient and affordable national health systems. COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic of our time. We need a national health system that can withstand the threat of a pandemic. We must use this painful experience to enhance our crisis preparedness strategy and capacity to act early against future pandemics.

National health systems must also be affordable. People must be able to afford to get tested or treated for any disease.

Indonesia is now chairing the Foreign Policy and Global Health (FPGH) initiative, established in 2007 to integrate health issues with foreign policy discussion and decision-making. The theme of Indonesias chairmanship is Affordable Health Care for All. Our collective experience with COVID-19 shows that the issue of affordable health care is not only relevant to Indonesia but to all countries in the world.

Indonesian government has continued to work hard to fight COVID-19 in the country. Measures we have taken include establishing a taskforce for COVID-19 mitigation, allocating special budget to support the countrys economy, and improving the capacity of hospitals to conduct COVID-19 testing.

Difficult times can reveal peoples true colors. We must not allow COVID-19 to divide us since we do not have the luxury of time or options. Now is the moment to unite, enhance global solidarity and promote coordinated action against COVID-19.

The writer is Indonesian foreign minister.
Burma Myanmar Bans Beach Tours Amid COVID-19

Chaungtha Beach in Ayeyarwady Region. / Salai Thant Zin / The Irrawaddy

Yangon  The Ayeyarwady regional government has banned tour groups from visiting popular beaches at Chaungtha and Ngwesaung and Gawyingyi Island after Myanmar reported two COVID-19 cases.

The decision was made after an urgent proposal by parliamentarian U Khin Win to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

All tours to beaches like Shwe Thaung Yan and pagodas, including Mawtinzun, Zalon and Akauk Taung, would end from March 25.

All hotels and guesthouses would be told not to accept any visitors, U Kyaw Myint, the regional municipal minister, told The Irrawaddy.

There are 72 hotels and 107 guesthouses at Ngwesaung and Chaungtha beaches.

The health ministry said a 36-year-old traveling from the United States and 26-year-old returning from Britain, both Myanmar nationals, had tested positive for COVID-19.

Globally, more than 330,000 people have tested positive with the coronavirus and nearly 15,000 were killed by the virus, according to the World Health Organization on March 23.

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You can read Boris Johnsons full speech at the bottom of this article.

Boris Johnson has announced an Italy-style lockdown on the UK to fight the coronavirus outbreak with gatherings of more than two people banned.

Police will enforce the new restrictions, including by issuing fines and dispersing gatherings.

Almost all shops are required to shut and draconian measures on when people can leave have been implemented.

The prime minister, who had appeared reluctant to introduce the measures, announced them in a speech on Monday evening.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together, Johnson said, adding that the measures are vital to protect the NHSs capacity to deal with sick people in hospital.

Boris Johnson has announced new measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak. (Pool via AP)

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

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The measures are set to last three weeks initially.

The public has been told they should only leave to go for exercise, shopping for necessities, medical reasons, and travelling to and from work if needed.

Weddings and baptisms should not go ahead, but funerals can still take place. Places of worship must shut, the PM said.

No more than two people who are not part of the same household will be allowed to meet, Johnson said.

The move towards a lockdown like those seen in Italy, Spain and France comes after it became clear many people were not listening to government advice.

Pubs continued to be packed after Johnson said not to go to them, scenes of revellers enjoying a final night out were broadcast on Friday after they were told to close, and parks were filled over the weekend as people tried to get outdoors.

From Monday night, only supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies can be open and people will only be able to leave the house once a day to exercise and once to go to the shop.

The measures have been introduced after 335 patients who tested positive for coronavirus died.

Story continues

The number of confirmed coronavirus in the UK rose by almost 1,000 to 6,650 in Mondays report from the Department of Health. The rise of 967 is the biggest leap in cases yet.

Globally, there are more than 370,000 confirmed cases and more than 16,000 deaths. 6,000 of those are from Italy, according to Johns Hopkins University, the worst-hit country from the coronavirus, which continues to keep its population under lockdown.

Johnson had previously made it clear he was prepared to introduce stricter measures.

Matt Hancock criticised people who had disregarded government advice. (PA Images)

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, previouslycriticised those who had ignored the government advice.

We will act if we need to, he told the BBC.

As health secretary, it is my job to protect life and the way that we protect life from a virus like this is to stop its spread and the way that you stop its spread is by people not interacting with others.

Here is Johnsons statement, broadcast on Monday night, in full:

Good evening,

The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades  and this country is not alone.

All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.

And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.

And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.

Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.

And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.

To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it  meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

So its vital to slow the spread of the disease.

Because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHSs ability to cope  and save more lives.

And thats why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.

And though huge numbers are complying  and I thank you all  the time has now come for us all to do more.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction  you must stay at home.

Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

 shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

 one form of exercise a day  for example a run, walk, or cycle  alone or with members of your household;

 any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and

 travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.

You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine  and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.

If you dont follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

To ensure compliance with the Governments instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:

 close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;

 we will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with;

 and well stop all social events , including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.

I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to peoples lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.

And thats why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.

And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.

But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.

Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7,500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.

With the time you buy  by simply staying at home  we are increasing our stocks of equipment.

We are accelerating our search for treatments.

We are pioneering work on a vaccine.

And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.

I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus.

Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline.

But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.

Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together, to halt the spread of this disease, to protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

And I know that as they have in the past so many times, the people of this country will rise to that challenge.

And we will come through it stronger than ever.

We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.
PITTSBURGH, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today endorsed Ben Salango for West Virginia Governor in the state's primary election on May 12, 2020.

USW District 8 Director Billy Thompson said that West Virginia's working families need a strong governor they can trust to promote education, protect health insurance and prioritize creating good jobs.

"Ben Salango has experience fighting for working families and improving their lives as an attorney, County Commissioner, and small business owner," said USW District 8 Director Ernest R. "Billy" Thompson. "We are endorsing Ben because he is a friend to working families across West Virginia and knows how to get things done."

Thompson said that Salango understands the breadth of challenges facing West Virginia and will work to improve the standards of living for everyone.

"We need elected leaders who bring communities together to solve problems instead of dividing people and creating new ones," he said. "Ben Salango will unite West Virginia to fight for a better future."

Other West Virginia candidates endorsed by the union for statewide office include: John Perdue for Treasurer, Natalie Tennant for Secretary of State, Isaac Sponaugle for Attorney General, Mary Ann Claytor for Auditor and Bob Beach for Agriculture Commissioner.

Visit the West Virginia AFL-CIO at https://www.wvaflcio.org/ for more information about candidates the union has endorsed in other races.

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in manufacturing, metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

More information, contact: Heather Anderson - (304) 489-3961; [email protected]

Tony Montana  (412) 562-2592; [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


Mumbai, March 24 : Barely had Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his Tuesday night speech announcing a three-week-long lockdown, panicky Mumbaikars and others across the state hotfooted to shops and stores to stock up essentials for the next three weeks.

This was a triple whammy for Maharashtra in past three days with the Sunday 'janata curfew', Monday's total lockdown followed by a nationwide lockdown, coming as it did on the eve of the state New Year, Gudi Padva (March 25).

In many parts of the city, and its suburbs, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and other towns, chaos reigned as hordes of anxious people trooped out armed with cloth bags to buy foodstuffs.

However, in Mumbai, there was hardly anything available in many of the stores leading to heated exchanges among the proprietors and patrons.

At one shop in Andheri, police was summoned after a huge standoff on who would buy potatoes, leading to minor fisticuffs.

Mumbai DCP Pranaya Ashok, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Thane and Pune Commissioners of Police made fervent appeals to the people not to panic as all shops with adequate stocks would be open as usual.

Late on Tuesday night, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray addressed the state and appealed for calm, advised people to refrain from panic buying or hoarding stuff unnecessarily and assured everything would be available as commited by his government.

In some areas, many shopkeepers, sensing potential crises, had already shut their establishments and left for their homes, and after Modi's speech, many prospective buyers encountered only locked shutters.
LONDON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 29, Pax Romana, London's premier antiquities auction house, will conduct a carefully curated no-reserve auction of ancient jewellery, weaponry and classical art. All items have been authenticated by Dr. Ivan Bonchev (PhD, University of Oxford).

Greek bronze winged helmet, Late Classical of Chalcidian type, circa 400 BC, heavy sheet metal with cheek-pieces, plume-holder, and distinctive wings. Ex Axel Guttmann collection. Estimate 40,000-60,000 ($49,000-$73,600) Roman marble head of Hercules, perhaps based on a Greek 4th century BC prototype by Lysippos, very fine condition, 245 x 85mm (with stand). Estimate $6,000-12,000 ($7,360-$14,730)

"This is our finest sale to date, with many unique artifacts and important works of art from distinguished collections," Dr Bonchev said. "As always, we've prepared a selection that spans a wide price range to accommodate beginners as well as advanced collectors and dealers. All can find something in our sale."

The auction's centerpiece is a spectacular circa 400 BC Greek bronze winged helmet with provenance from the legendary collection of Axel Guttmann (1944-2001). Starting out with a Roman helmet purchased in 1982, Guttmann built a world-renowned collection, which he housed at his private museum on the outskirts of Berlin.

"We are privileged to offer this highly important helmet that was once part of his landmark collection," Bonchev said. "Without question, it is the best helmet I have ever handled." Of Chalcidian style and formed of heavy sheet metal, its design incorporates cheek-pieces, a long plume-holder at its crown, and a pair of magnificent wings. It is estimated at 40,000-60,000 ($49,000-$73,600).

Two other helmets of exceptional quality and rarity share the spotlight in the Ancient Weaponry portion of the sale. A superb Greek Illyrian bronze helmet of domed form, with two corrugated parallel ribs to the upper region and a flaring neck guard, is similar to an example from the Christos G. Bastis collection auctioned by Sotheby's in 1999. It could reach 25,000-50,000 ($30,700-$61,400). Estimated at 20,000-40,000 ($24,500-$49,100), a museum-quality Villanova (Etruscan) hammered bronze helmet with an attractive punched geometric pattern comes from a 50-year Cambridgeshire (England) family collection.

An enviable selection of ancient, wearable jewellery is led by a circa 100-300 AD Roman gold ring with high-relief cameo depicting Hercules and the Nemean Lion, a ferocious monster in Greek mythology. "In its day, this ring was as much a status symbol as the costliest diamond Rolex watches are today," Dr. Bonchev noted. Estimate: 6,000-12,000 ($7,360-$14,730)

A substantial, circa 100 AD Roman gold intaglio ring with a sophisticated openwork design has a central carnelian bezel carved with a depiction of Salus Invctus (Roman god of safety and well-being) riding in a chariot. Estimate: 5,000-8,000 ($6,140-$9,820)

A rare Greek limestone head of the god Apollo dating to circa 300 BC exhibits facial features and curly hair that would have required considerable artistic talent to achieve. Similar to an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, it is estimated at 15,000-30,000 ($18,410-$36,800).

Boasting extraordinary size and beauty befitting the goddess of love, a monumental Roman bronze statuette of Venus, circa 100-200 AD, is estimated at 15,000-30,000 ($18,410-$36,800).

The mysteries of Ancient Egypt are embodied in a circa 764-332 BC wood statue of the god Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Its form represents the wrapped deceased, and on the figure's head is a striped tripartite headdress with a crown of ostrich feathers and cow's horns. Estimate: 6,000-8,000 ($7,360-$9,820)

All auction items come with a professional Certificate of authenticity signed by Dr Bonchev. The company ships worldwide. All packing is handled by white-glove specialists in-house. View the fully illustrated catalogue and sign up to bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers. Questions: call Pax Romana, London, on +44 7424 994167 or email [email protected]. Online www.paxromana.auction.

Media Contact:

Dr. Ivan Bonchev

+44 7424 994167

[email protected]

SOURCE Pax Romana Auctions

Related Links

http://www.paxromana.auction


China on Tuesday said it will lift the travel curbs in Hubei province, where the deadly coronavirus first emerged last year, on Wednesday and will end the three-month lockdown of its capital Wuhan on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine over the city with a population of over 11 million as the COVID-19 began to abate.

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus cases were first detected in December last year on Monday reported one new confirmed case of the COVID-19 after reporting zero cases for five consecutive days.

Hubei province and Wuhan which together have over 56 million population were kept under strict lockdown since January 23 with a ban on all movement of people and transportation.

Residents currently living in other parts of Hubei province will be able to travel with a green health code starting Wednesday, according to a government notice, state-run People's Daily reported.

China to lift travel curbs of coronavirus-hit Hubei province on March 25 and to end lockdown of Wuhan on April 8, official media here reported.

The Hubei Health Commission announced on Tuesday that residents of Wuhan would be allowed to travel outside the city starting April 8 in a bid to resume the outbound movement of people, state-run CGTN TV reported.

Local officials announced plans to gradually ease the severe measures as the virus cases dropped dramatically in recent days.

Hubei, however saw seven new deaths, all of which were in Wuhan, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 3,160.

The province still has 4,200 patients being treated in hospitals of which 1,203 were still in severe condition and another 336 in critical condition, according to China's National Health Commission.

Hubei has so far reported a total of 67,801 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 50,006 in Wuhan.

On Tuesday, the NHC reported 78 new confirmed cases, including 74 imported infections, while the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 3,277 after seven more fatalities.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 81,171 by the end of Monday. This included 3,277 people who died of the disease, 4,735 patients who were still being treated and 73,159 patients discharged after recovery, the NHC said on Tuesday.

Also on Monday, seven deaths and 35 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with all the deaths in Hubei Province.

According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 16,559 with 381,598 cases reported in 168 countries and territories.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the US hard with over 45,000 cases and over 500 deaths registered.

Amazon is teaming up with a Bill Gates-funded research programme to pick up and deliver coronavirus test kits in Seattle amid the ongoing global pandemic.

The e-commerce giant has said that a group of medical, public health and research organisations, collectively called The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, is collecting nasal swabs from people across King County in Seattle, reported Reuters.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the US hard with over 45,000 cases and over 500 deaths registered. King County, which is a part of Washington State, has been one of the worst-hit places.

According to a report in SCAN, Amazon Care, the e-commerce giant's arm that provides medical care to employees, will provide the infrastructure needed for the effort to combat the spread of the pandemic.

However, it is still not clear whether UPS and FedEx, which specialise in such deliveries, will be part of the effort.

Amazon Care was launched in September 2019 as a pilot project to deliver quality healthcare to employees and their families in Seattle.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates

The coronavirus pandemic has affected 195 countries across the world and infected over 3,50,000 people. At least 16,000 deaths have been reported so far. Over a lakh people have recovered globally, which shows almost an 85 percent recovery rate.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: The number of COVID-19 positive cases in Kashmir went up to four on Tuesday after three suspects returned positive results, officials said.

This has taken the total number of positive cases in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to seven -- four in the Kashmir Valley, three in Srinagar City.

Two men -- one with travel history to Saudi Arabia and another the Andamans -- tested positive for coronavirus disease in Srinagar, while another from Baramulla district also tested positive, the officials said.

"Two more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Full details regarding the second being ascertained," government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.

#COVID19 #JammuAndKashmir

2 more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Full details regarding the second being ascertained.@diprjk @ HealthMedicalE1  Rohit Kansal (@kansalrohit69) March 24, 2020

#COVID19#JammuAndKashmir

Another positive case in Kashmir division. Patient, from Bandipora, with history of travel outside J&K but no history of travel abroad. Contact tracing on. @diprjk @HealthMedicalE1  Rohit Kansal (@kansalrohit69) March 24, 2020

One of them, a 57-year-old man, had a recent travel history to Saudi Arabia. He had returned to Kashmir on March 16, the same day a woman from Khanyar became the first Coronavirus positive patient in Kashmir.

The other person -- a 65-year-old man -- had traveled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and returned to Kashmir via Delhi, they said.

With this, the number of Coronavirus positive cases in Srinagar City has gone up to three.

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation immediately rushed teams to the residences of the patients and sanitized their houses and the neighborhood within a 300-metre radius.

SKIMS Director A G Ahangar said a sample that had come from government medical college Baramulla for testing tested positive on Tuesday.

He said there were now four positive coronavirus cases in the Kashmir Valley. To prevent further spread of the virus, the administration in Jammu and Kashmir has enforced a lockdown across the union territory till March 31.

Curfew-like restrictions have been put in place in Kashmir to ensure that the unnecessary movement of the people is curbed. More than 4,000 people are under self-isolation or in various quarantine facilities in Jammu and Kashmir.
San Francisco had some good news Monday for nurses working long hours under trying conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

At a press conference, Mayor London Breed said the city has hired 82 nurses over the weekend to shore up hospital staffs.

She also announced San Francisco has received 1 million masks from the state for our front line health responders, our paramedics, our firefighters, our police officers.

Additionally Facebook donated 100,000 masks and 400,000 gloves, and the freight forwarding company Flexport chipped in 60,000 masks, 34,000 gloves, 2,000 surgical gowns and 50 thermometers.

This is a problem all over the country, Breed said. There have been real challenges for hospitals everywhere to get access to PPE [Personal Protective Equipment]. It is the thing we need most, in order to protect not only the people who are at the hospitals taking care of patients but also to make sure our first responders have the support and equipment that they need.

SFGATE has learned that some San Francisco General Hospital nurses have been working 16-hour shifts, going through up to 60 pairs of gloves per day and double-masking  wearing a surgical mask over an N95 mask to keep the latter from getting dirty, thereby extending its lifespan.

Brent Andrew, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital chief communications officer, said that while he hadnt observed any instances of double-masking, he had heard about the practice. He said working extra hours is optional for nurses.

No nurses are forced to work 16-hour shifts. They get overtime for it, Andrew said.

However, Nato Green, who negotiates union contracts for nurses employed by the city of San Francisco, said in an email late Monday that San Francisco has maintained a policy of mandatory overtime for nurses and does not pay overtime for nurses who work beyond their shift voluntarily, even if their managers ask them to.



Andrew said ZSFG has only two person under investigation cases in the intensive care unit that potentially are COVID-19 infections, but they havent been confirmed. The hospital has 397 beds total.

Some COVID-19 cases do not require acute care and can be treated via self-isolating at home or another location, Andrew said.

Breed said there were 131 confirmed COVID-19 infections in San Francisco as of Monday afternoon.

Reducing the number of patients in the health care system is a top priority, Dr. Grant Colfax, the citys director of public health, said during the press conference.

Hospitals in the city are working together to prepare for the surge [of COVID-19 cases], Colfax said. Our first task is to decompress the hospital and healthcare system as much as possible.

We are restricting visitors to hospitals, long-term care facilities and residential facilities to protect the health of the most vulnerable populations. We have canceled or postponed elective surgery and routine medical appointments, moving services to television and video conferences.

Colfax noted that the city has ordered enhanced cleaning of single-room-occupancy housing, expanded shelter hours, and increased meals served at shelters and navigation centers to improve the health and safety of vulnerable populations."

Andrew said while Zuckerberg San Francisco General tracks the percentage of homeless patients admitted, he currently did not have that data.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

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---

Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
C.J.H. Moore is a California native who was raised in Compton and has nurtured a passion for literature since the third grade. He has published his latest book Natural Born Gangster: The Legend of Chris Bell: a potent novel that brings the realities of urban gang culture to life in a gripping Chicago success story.

Chris Bell was born on the West Side of Chicago and attended Catholic elementary school on the South Side. He was an unusual and gifted star child who was beyond his mother's understanding. His gang activities kept him out of the regular sequential leap from grade to grade. He joined his first martial arts gang, GGWB (Good Guys Wear Black), just after kindergarten, because he was being bullied everyday by an older kid. He earned his high school diploma by challenging the GED at his mother's behest, after reading books on math, language arts, classics, and Aesop's Fables, which he loved the most, in local libraries day and night, well before his eighteenth birthday, and earned the title "the richest man in the world" by working and fighting in the underground. In his youth, he consolidated the dangerous Black Disciples and Vice Lord gangs of Chicago and all their subdivisions to complete his dream in building another Black Wall Street on the West Side. After he met Madi, Derek Jenkins, and the Stepfather, he moved closer to his dreams. When the Shadow of Knights confiscated sixty tons of drugs and guns off the Chicago streets and placed them on the FBI's doorstep, the ghetto ninjas were a marked group.

Published by Page Publishing, C.J.H. Moores engrossing book is a fast-paced work of fiction that keeps the pages turning until the final chapter.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Natural Born Gangster: The Legend of Chris Bell 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.
Real estate investment trusts (Reits) are losing their appeal as a defensive investment amid the coronavirus pandemic that is keeping consumers at home and causing economic activity to pause.

Asian Reits have slumped by 43.8 per cent this year through March 19, according to Bloomberg data, while the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index has shed 27.8 per cent. Shares of Link Reit, Asias biggest real estate investment trust, have fallen 13.4 per cent in Hong Kong in the same period. Link shares rose about 1 per cent in 2019 despite the social unrest last year that forced it to temporarily close some of its shopping centres n the city amid escalating violence.

Reits have slumped along with global equity markets as the worsening Covid-19 pandemic is likely to freeze up credit markets and push some sectors to the brink, according to Principal Global Investors. Falling rents and closure of retail stores could weaken Reits income, hurting dividend prospects.

Two situations when Reits defensive attributes do not work: credit crisis and stagflation, said Shern Ling, the Singapore-based portfolio manager at Principal, who is part of the real estate group that manages US$80 billion in assets.

The massive wave of government lockdowns is raising concern that many service companies such as restaurants and cinemas may face credit risk issues and credit markets have been seizing up as a result, he said. So over the past couple of weeks concerns over a potential credit crunch have come to the fore.

The pandemic has infected nearly 3500,000 people worldwide and killing over 16,000 of them. It has also halted economic activity, particularly hammering the travel and hospitality industry, and severely disrupting supply chains as factories remain shut to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

Reits are vehicles that own real estate that generates a steady rental income, providing predictable returns to unit holders. They typically hold properties such as office, retail, and industrial spaces. Because of the nature of their business and staggered leases, they tend to have very stable cash flow income streams.

Story continues

Reits own multiple properties with multiple tenants, so its two layers of diversification, and the leases tend to be staggered between three and five years, so you only have 20 to 30 per cent of your leases coming up for maturity in any given year, Ling said.

Colliers expects the coronavirus outbreak to affect Hong Kongs leasing market this year. Photo: Sun Yeung

Colliers International expects the leasing market in Hong Kong to fall across the board this year, with retail rents likely to see the biggest drop of 16 per cent, followed by an 8.3 per cent decline in office rents this year.

Still, Reits can eventually buttress investors defensive strategy amid interest-rate cuts and other stimulus measures to shore up economies. Real estate, including Reits, is likely to benefit as their financing costs comedown.

With more accommodating monetary conditions, alongside more balanced supply-demand dynamics, and positive long-term structural trends, such as increased digitisation, APAC real estate markets should remain resilient through a potential down-cycle, said Jonathan Hsu, head of property research for Asia at London-based M&G Real Estate.

Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described as false, a publication that the party will be distributing sanitisers at its headquarters today, 24 March 2020 to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.



The party said it suspects the publication to be coming from some faceless persons wishing to divert attention from the governments poor handing of the coronavirus pandemic.



The NDC, however, has formed an 11-member response team to help the government, if need be, to fight the coronavirus outbreak.



The team is also meant to educate the public on the disease.



Ghana has recorded 27 cases of the pandemic with two death, so far.









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




Haiti - Social : More than 1,000 Haitians left the DR voluntarily





Since the closure of all the borders of the Dominican Republic (March 18) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30298-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-march-18-2020.html more than one Thousands Haitians have left Dominican territory, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.



According to Joshua Gastelbondo, the head of mission of the IOM in the Dominican Republic, 1,124 Haitians, men, women and children, crossed the common border, which was opened "a few minutes a day" to allow voluntary return



"Due to the coronavirus, Haitian migrants no longer see opportunities and many prefer to return home for a certain time" said Gastelbondo, explaining that the economic measures announced by the Dominican government to help the most disadvantaged population do not reach not Haitians, who work mainly in the informal sector...



The economic impact was significant in the border area, where the population lives on binational trade and it was also felt in the Dominican urban areas, where the Haitians work mainly on construction sites, which are now at stop due to the state of health emergency https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30316-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-march-20-2020.html



Sylvestre Fils Dorcilus, the general coordinator of the Observatory of Migration and Cross-Border of Haiti (OMTT), said that there were daily returns from Haitians, some because of Covid-19 and others not, to which are added deportations "The Dominican Republic continues to expel Haitians every day at the border. Upon arrival, Haitian immigration officials are forced to open their doors to let their citizens in" said Dorcilus.



Gastelbondo warned that the situation could change when the number of cases of coronavirus in Haiti increases "When the situation in Haiti worsens, the border will require special measures" According to him, the border area needs a different epidemiological policy, coordinated between the two countries, in particular, by the local authorities of the municipalities on both sides of the border.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30344-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-march-23-2020.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30316-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-march-20-2020.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30298-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-march-18-2020.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 18:53:02|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday that a 1-billion-U.S. dollar reduction in economic aid to Afghanistan would not have an impact on the country's key sectors and departments.

"Governments always have plans for prudential circumstances. We also had some basic plans for the unexpected situation," Ghani said in a televised speech.

"I can assure you that the reduction in U.S. assistance will not have direct impact on our departments and sectors. We will try to fill the vacuum with the help of alternative resources." he said.

On Feb. 18, the Afghan election commission declared Ghani winner of the presidential election nearly five months after the voting, but his rival Abdullah Abdullah disputed the result.

Both Ghani and Abdullah took oath as president of Afghanistan on March 9.

After talks with Afghan leaders during a visit to Afghanistan on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is reducing assistance by 1 billion U.S. dollars to Afghanistan this year due to the Afghan leadership's failure to form an inclusive government.

During the meetings in Kabul, Pompeo reportedly failed to make compromise between Ghani and Abdullah to form a unity government.

However, Ghani noted that the United States did not suspend its assistance to Afghanistan but had made providing the assistance conditional.

"We will continue our efforts to resolve the issue through negotiations," Ghani said.

Following his meeting with Afghan leaders in Kabul on Monday, Pompeo had a brief stay in Doha, Qatar, where he met with the Afghan Taliban's political chief Mullah Baradar.

The U.S. and Taliban inked a deal in the Gulf state of Qatar on Feb. 29.

Under the agreement, the United States would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 within 135 days and all the U.S.-led coalition forces would return home within 14 months from Afghanistan depending on Taliban's meeting the conditions envisaged in the agreement, including severing ties with terrorist groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaida.

In his speech, Ghani also renewed his call on Taliban to agree a ceasefire as the country was facing challenges amid COVID-19 outbreak.

Some 42 COVID-19 cases and one death were reported in Afghanistan since mid last month.
The News Broadcasters Federation, the largest trade organization that represents the combined interests pertaining to the news broadcasting industry, on Monday, sought the immediate intervention of the Government of India, to overcome the larger economic, social, financial and business impact arising out of the combat measures and lockdown initiatives across the country that threatens the survival of the news television channels.

The news broadcasters serve as an influential, public awareness and emergency communications system to get information on the doorsteps of the common citizens across the length and breadth of the country. The 24- hour news cycle is the most contextual and relevant medium to draw public attention to the issues and provide key safety messages in the shortest time to the public at large.

The Honble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, during his televised address to the nation, on March 19, 2020, equated the news broadcasting sector in line with Essential Services, and the address to television channels on March 23, 2020, are crucial acknowledgement of the important role of news broadcasters in rendering public service in such a critical situation which the nation is facing currently.

In the memorandum presented to the Prime Ministers Office, Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Finance, GST Council, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and Department of Telecommunications, the News Broadcasters Federation, sought the government intervention to combat the financial and business impact on the News Broadcasting Sector.

To overcome the financial impact the News Broadcasters Federation has requested the government to relax and offer tax concessions including lowering GST rates and filing dates, postponing the deadline for TDS payments, for at least a minimum period of three months, until June 30, 2020. The federation has also asked the government to waive off the fees for news channels on DD Freedish platform for the month of March and April 2020. The NBF has also sought extension in deadlines for compliance, since employees handling regulatory issues are currently working from home.

The News Broadcasters Federation strongly stands and supports the Government of Indias proactive measures to combat spread of COVID-19 virus, which has posed a health and economic threat to the country. This extraordinary situation required the government to take extraordinary measures to save the news broadcasting sector that performs a public service for free. Else, we perish, said Arnab Goswami, President, News Broadcasters Federation.

The memorandum comes in the wake of the wake of the measures taken to combat spread of COVID-19 virus, the news broadcasters are facing slowdown of business operations and severe shortfall revenue as it has curtailed the flow of advertisement which is the largest source of revenue for FTA news broadcasters. The measures have also severely impacted cash flows due to lower collections of payments since clients are also scaled down their business operations. At the same time, the operating costs on connectivity and communications have tremendously increased due to the lockdowns while ensuring the safety of employees.

About News Broadcasters Federation:

News Broadcasters Federation, the largest-membership driven organization of news broadcasting fraternity operating across the length and breadth of the country. NBF is founded and funded by the television channels and digital news outlets in almost every single language and region of India, who keep the citizens abreast on the latest developments even from the smallest cities and towns. Our member broadcasters deliver news and information to more than 100 crore viewers from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and Gandhi Nagar to Guwahati, through a network of over 100,000 journalists and employees.

The News broadcasters constitute the single largest genre consisting of 45% of the 885 private satellite channels, as permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. According to the report What India Watched 2019 by BARC, News television viewership (viewing minutes) by 38% during the same period. In 2019, news broadcasters witnessed a 23% growth in viewing minutes, garnering 9.2% of the total television viewing - the highest ever share in the last four years. Significantly, children below 14 years contributed 6% of viewership for news channels. However, the advertising volume had decreased by 32% in 2019 alone, impacting the viability of news broadcasters. The news broadcasting sector constitutes about Rs6,000 crores to the countrys economy and provides employment directly and indirectly to about a million people.

Also Read:

COVID-19: No newspapers on Monday owing to Janta Curfew

Reeling under Covid-19 impact, AROI seeks bailout package from Govt
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier speaks to the media about the German government's proposed new federal budget on March 23, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

The German government will return to its savings policy once the coronavirus crisis is over, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told ZDF broadcaster on Tuesday, adding that Europe's largest economy had committed to paying debt back from 2023.

Germany on Monday agreed a package worth up to 750 billion euros ($812.25 billion) to mitigate the damage of the coronavirus outbreak on Europe's largest economy, with Berlin aiming to take on new debt for the first time since 2013.

"Once the crisis is over - and we hope this will be the case in several months - we will return to austerity policy and, as soon as possible, to the balanced budget policy," he said.

Germany was taking the money out under favorable capital market conditions, added Altmaier.

"The conditions are only so favorable because everyone believes in us and trusts that we will only do this as long as is necessary," he said.

The government expects the pandemic to plunge the economy into recession.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has said his latest budget plans are based on the assumption that gross domestic product will shrink by roughly 5% this year.

Germany has 27,436 confirmed coronavirus cases and 114 people have died, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Tuesday.

The government has announced a range of measures to cushion the blow for companies during the crisis and Altmaier reiterated that the state was prepared to buy stakes in companies that were struggling but only in the most extreme cases.

Seeking to reassure firms and freelancers, Altmaier also said it should be clear from the middle of next week where they can obtain aid to help tide them over during the crisis and German authorities were trying to avoid bottlenecks.

"It should be as unbureacratic as possible," he said, reiterating that the government was doing what it could to ensure that coronavirus does not lead to job losses.
Carmakers in China began to resume work and production before mid-February after the Chinese New Year holiday, which was extended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.



Traditionally, business people would make wishes for a flying start of the new lunar year. Instead, what awaited these auto companies this February was a tough time with obstacles abounding.

According to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the country's passenger vehicle sales plunged around 80% compared with a year earlier.

Geely, one of China's biggest auto brands, reopened its showrooms after the holiday, but some saw fewer than 10 customers a day.

However, the company noticed that a higher ratio of these visitors decided to buy, and realized that most people coming at such a time were in urgent need of a car.

To meet this pressing demand amid the outbreak, Geely turned to its online sales channels. On Feb. 10, the first day when the employees of its headquarters began to resume work, the company rolled out a new service: delivering cars to doorsteps for customers to test drive and purchase.

The service required customers to first pay an online deposit of 2,000 yuan (US$281.21). It would also help buyers with registering for license plates and signing up for insurances.

Geely's e-commerce company saw the number of its orders from Feb. 10 to 16 increase 586% year on year, and 2,402% month on month.

Another Chinese carmaker, Great Wall Motors, also stepped up its online marketing efforts soon after the holiday. It offers consultation and order placing services online, as well as virtual reality and live video car viewing options. Moreover, the company actively promoted its cars over China's popular livestreaming platforms together with its distributors.

Others also took advantage of livestreaming channels to advertise throughout the outbreak. Tesla and SAIC Motor even had senior managers themselves in front of cameras to boost sales.

These online activities have become quite important with the drastic drop in showroom customers, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). It wrote in a recent report, "Active online marketing can help distributors maintain communication with targeted consumers, and facilitate the decision-making of eager buyers during the outbreak."

The report also said that sales are expected to rebound as pent-up demand unleashes after the epidemic is under control.

For some auto companies, the rebound has already begun. "Deliveries are growing again in March, and are slowly beginning to normalize," said Volkswagen CEO Herbert Deiss at the company's 2020 annual media conference.

A part of the recovery could be attributed to government support. Changsha, the closest Chinese provincial capital to the COVID-19 epicenter Wuhan, launched a new policy on March 14 to help its local automakers: Through June 30, people who buy cars made in Changsha could get a Changsha license plate and the government would offer subsidies of up to 3,000 yuan per car.

The next day, showrooms saw surges in both foot traffic and deals reached. The Xingsha exhibition hall of Shanghai Volkswagen in the city received 40 groups of customers and sold three Lavida models, which was covered by the subsidy policy. The visitor number was still half the normal amount, but 20% to 30% higher than the previous weekend.

Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong province, also implemented its own subsidy policies in March. In addition, the city announced more incentive measures on March 20 specially to boost the consumer spending in the automobile sector. The measures cover aspects like encouraging purchases of new energy vehicles, facilitating technological upgrading, and creating a sound environment for auto-related consumer spending. In addition, Foshan, Xiangtan and Zhuhai also launched their respective policies.

On March 18, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on its website streamlined policies facilitating new model launches, loosening restrictions on application documents, and extending the grace period for companies to rectify problems.

According to the weekly reports of CPCA, the retail sales in the last week of February as well as the first and second weeks of March were down 61%, 50%, and 44%, respectively, from last year, suggesting a stable improvement on a weekly basis.

Concrete policy effects may not be seen until April, the latest weekly report said.

According to documents from Geely and Great Wall Motors, the two companies are anticipating sale increases after the outbreak from pent-up demand. Both also believe that, despite the epidemic's impact on production and sales, the effects would not last long.

Meanwhile, international carmakers are also expressing confidence in the Chinese automobile market after witnessing China's efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak.

"The crisis management in China seems very successful from where we stand, so we have hopes that our business in China could wrap up with a quite satisfactory annual result," Deiss said at the livestreamed Volkswagen media conference.
Weve known for a long time that the Valhalla will be gifted with an F1-inspired, turbocharged and electrified V-6, and we recently reported that Aston Martin was hard at work on this very engine. We had no idea, however, it will pay homage to one of the industrys most creative engineering minds. Enter the TM01, named after the great Tadek Marek.

As incredible as it may seem, Aston Martin hasnt had a production-ready engine built in-house since 1968. Thats about to change once the mid-engined Valhalla hits the streets in 2022.

Whats new about the Valhalla V-6 engine?

Aston Martins new in-house-developed twin-turbocharged V-6 will have a hot-vee configuration.

A handful of carmakers are already using this approach including the likes of Porsche, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG.

A hot-vee turbo engine is essentially a regular V with the turbocharger (or turbochargers) positioned inside the valley formed by the cylinder banks. The solution entails a couple of benefits, including less turbo lag (as the exhaust gasses have to travel on a shorter path) and better efficiency (the turbos temperature remains higher, which keeps boost steady) for crisper oomph delivery.

Aston Martin has been testing the 3.0-liter powerplant on the dyno so we can only guess that the Brits are applying the finishing touches. The engines R&D was thought out with hybridization in mind right off the bat, although Aston Martin is still coy on details such as power and torque, which will vary according to each application of this powertrain. That means that its not just the Valhalla that will benefit from this new engine tech as Aston Martin clearly has plans to trickle it down throughout its lineup.

Other engine characteristics we can report on at this time are:

Overall weight of under 200 kilos (441 pounds)

Equipped with a dry sump system

Will meet future Euro 7 emission requirements

Compatible with both hybrid and plug-in-hybrid systems

Who was Tadek Marek?

Polish-born engineer Tadek Marek joined Aston Martin in 1953, swapping boats from Austin. Previously, he had worked for Fiat in Poland and General Motors and even raced at the 1937, 1938, and 1939 Monte Carlo Rally in Fiat 1100, Lancia Aprilia, and Opel Olympia, respectively.

His first task at Aston Martin, however, was to improve on the DB2s 2.6-liter inline-six engine developed by WO Bentley in the mid 1940s.

Mareks first standalone project came with the development of the DBR2, which got a new 3.6-liter, all-alloy straight-six unit developed integrally under Mareks supervision. The rock-solid reliability and versatility of this powerplant determined Aston Martin to use it for the likes of DB4, DB5, DB6, including the first wave of DBS models produce before the brand introduced its first V-8 in 1969. This, too, was developed by Marek.

The V-8 displaced 5.4 liters and was, towards the end of the 1990s, slapped with a supercharger by Callaway, allowing the extraction of no less than 600 horsepower in the 1998 V8 Vantage LeMans V600. In standard spec, Mareks V-8 was a constant presence in Aston Martins cars throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the first-gen Virage.
Stimulus legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to cope with impact of the coronavirus pandemic would create a $50 billion fund to stabilize states education budgets, including a minimum of roughly $15 billion specifically for K-12 school districts.

In addition, the Houses Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act would loosen rules under the E-Rate program in order to help schools and other organizations provide internet-connected devices and mobile broadband internet access to students. And it would provide $200 million to Project SERV grants, which assist schools that are affected by natural disasters and community violence, as well as additional money for Head Start.

The bill would provide emergency funds for our schools and universities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a Monday announcement.

The $50 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund for education in the House Democrats bill would be available until September 2022. The fund is $30 billion bigger than the proposed education fund in the Senate coronavirus legislation from Republicans that was introduced late last week,which has been the subject of intense negotiations since, including at least two failed procedural votes as of late Monday.

Theres intense demand from the K-12 community for Washington to provide a significant stimulus for schools , in order to help them weather the impacts of the coronavirus on the economy, tax revenues, and upcoming state budgets. But theres a long way to go before House and Senate agree on a Phase III stimulus package to send to President Donald Trump.

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

The House bill calls for states to provide at least 30 percent of their money under the stabilization fund, or about $15 billion, to local school districts. Each districts funding would be based on the number of children counted under Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act. And at least 30 percent of the states money would have to be earmarked for institutions of higher education. The money could be used on everything from sanitizing schools to purchasing education technology, according to a summary of the legislation from House Democrats.

The size of the state grants would be based on the following two factors: 61 percent of each grant would be based on the population ages 5 to 24, and 39 percent would be based on children counted under Title I of ESSA.

In order to get stabilization fund money, states would have to agree that their spending on schools for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022 would be at least the average of their school spending from the three prior fiscal years.

The $50 billion in state stabiliziation funding is still short of $75 billion several K-12 education groups said they wanted in a letter sent to Congress over the weekend. In the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Education Department provided $53.6 billion for a state stabilization fund.

Emergency Connectivity Under E-Rate

In order to help efforts to educate students who are learning at home, the bill would establish a $2 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund under the federal E-Rate program to help schools and libraries provide:



Off-site Wi-Fi hotspots;

Connected devices to students, staff, and library patrons; and

Mobile broadband internet access through the Wi-Fi hotspots or connected devices.

Priority for this program is supposed to be for students and others who are not believed to have broadband internet access at their homes. The money would be available in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021. Right now, the Federal Communications Commission cant use the E-Rate program to fund students home use of wireless devices and services. We reported Friday that officials were mulling changing the E-Rate rules to support more remote learning as at least 123,000 public and private schools have shut down due to the coronavirus.

Cleaning Schools and Counseling Students

The $200 million in additional Project SERV grants in the House bill could be used to help elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools clean and disinfect affected schools, and assist in counseling and distance learning and associated costs, the bill language states.

Last week, the Trump administration proposed $100 million in Project SERV grants for K-12 and higher education for similar purposes.

In addition, Head Start would receive an additional $1 billion in the House bill.

Click here for a fact sheet about the legislations education provisions .

Photo: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the Capitol on March 13, 2020. -- J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
Stocks in Asia jumped on Tuesday as authorities ramped up stimulus measures to combat the economic impact of the global coronavirus outbreak.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was among the region's major markets that the saw the largest increase. It surged 7.13% by the close to 18,092.35 as shares of index heavyweights Fast Retailing and Softbank Group soared 13.79% and 18.95%, respectively, while the Topix rose 3.18% to end its trading day at 1,333.10.

In South Korea, the Kospi rose 8.6% to close at 1,609.97.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also jumped 4.25%, as of its final hour of trading, with shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Tencent gaining 4.71%.

Mainland Chinese stocks also saw gains on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 2.34% to about 2,722.44 while the Shenzhen composite added 2.105% to around 1,666.22.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 4.17% to close at 4,735.70.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 5.02%.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced an open-ended asset purchase program on Monday. The central bank said the program will run in the "amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions and the economy."

"The Fed has committed to buying debt, not just government and residential mortgage backed securities but now for the first time commercial mortgages (paper backed by office buildings and the like)," Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note.

"Unlike during the post (global financial crisis) when there were quantitative limits on how much the Fed would buy each month, purchase amounts are now unlimited," Attrill said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-24 18:57:47

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TAIWAN / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Release project, the next generation social media dispersed platform, has launched a new trading competition on the P2PB2B platform that gives P2PB2B traders the chance to compete for a share of a $45800 prize pool. Release social media platform which aims to merge social media and e-commerce to create a futuristic "social commerce". The Project REL Trading Competition initiated by Release enables users to demonstrate their market knowledge and trading skills so as to place among the top traders at the end of the competition.Competition InfoThe competition commenced on 21st March 2020, 09:00 (UTC+0) and will end on 19 April 2020 09:00 (UTC+0). If users trade with pairs from Release Project's active competitions, they become a participant automatically. The active REL trading pairs include -- REL/BTC, REL/ETH, and REL/USD.For maximum transparency, a regularly updated list of the current best performers is provided on the P2PB2B website, allowing participants to easily track their position and expected reward. Competition participants are automatically ranked every hour based on the amount of generated trading volume made during the competition period.At the end of the competition, the top traders get a fraction of the prize pool of 10 000 000 000 REL (worth $45800). The reward pool distribution is:1st place - 2 500 000 000 REL2nd place - 1 500 000 000 REL3rd place - 1 000 000 000 RELOther - 5 000 000 000 RELTo make the most of your market knowledge and trading skills, visit the Project REL Trading Competition at - https://p2pb2b.io/trading-competition/REL/2 About Release Project:Release Project has combined the three emerging technologies: Blockchain + Big data + AI (artificial intelligence) in order to improve social media. RELEASE social media platform aims at "Social Commerce" of social media and shopping. Our next-generation social media distributed platforms reward users including both contributors and evaluators for posting good quality and worthy articles.About P2PB2B:P2PB2B is the next generation crypto exchange, established in 2014. The main distinguishing feature of P2PB2B is our Exceptional processing speed, with servers processing up to 10,000 trades every second and supporting up to 1,000,000 TCP connections. The P2BB2B platform supports over 200 cryptocurrencies and fiat money, including BTC, ETH, USD, and others. With our optimized user interface, we offer robust security with our WAF (Web Application Firewall).Contact DetailsName: Tadashi HorieEmail: support@ release.co.jp Company: Release Co,.Ltd.Website: https://release.co.jp/rel/ SOURCE: Release Co,.Ltd.
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for economic relief for construction workers in the apprehension of 'a prolonged economic downturn'.

The construction sector, she said employed around 44 million workers who were now "stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihoods due to the stringent lock down measures'.

She requested that large-scale subsidies for the construction workers be announced, on the lines of what has been provided by countries like Canada as part of its Covid-19 economic response plan.

In the letter dated March 23, the interim president of the Congress said that there were enough provisions within the Building and Other Construction Workers Act to announce such measures.

It provides for various welfare measures for workers. The Act also provides for constitution of State Welfare Boards and the constitution of welfare fund,' she said.

She also highlighted that only Rs 19,379 crore of the Rs 49,668 crore cess collected for the welfare boards has been used and suggested now was the time to spend that money for the welfare of the workers.

Her son Rahul Gandhi, the former President of the party, has repeatedly suggested that the government was not prepared enough for the Coronavirus pandemic or the financial 'tsunami' that would wreck devastation in the coming days.

Some other senior leaders of the party, including its leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have also suggested that the government does not have enough resources to deal with the global pandemic or its economic fallout.

Former Union Minister and senior party leader P Chindambaram has also asked the Centre to now announce some economic measures to deal with the ongoing healthcare and financial crisis.

All eyes will be set on the measure the Prime Minister announces in his address to the nation later during the day.
A former actor on the zombie apocalypse TV series The Walking Dead has described how he may have picked up the coronavirus in Australia and was hit with a $US9,116 ($A15,736) medical bill on his return to the US.

Daniel Newman, 38, was in Australia from February 25 to March 3 to take part in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with fellow celebrities Sam Smith, Dua Lipa, Kesha and thousands of other revellers from around the world.

The American actor had a minor cough in his final week in Australia but presumed it was a common cold and endured the long flight back to the US with a coughing passenger sitting directly behind him.

Walking Dead's Daniel Newman pays $9k for coronavirus test... but won't get results because his symptoms 'aren't severe enough'

'Three days later, my symptoms worsened,' Newman wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Times.

'Going for walks with my dog would leave me out of breath.

'I coughed at night and had difficulty breathing when I tried to sleep.

'I heard news that someone in my Mardi Gras group tested positive for the coronavirus.'

Newman described how when he arrived in his home city of Atlanta he called his doctor and urgent-care clinics seeking a coronavirus test but had no luck.

On March 14 he drove to a hospital that had a tent set up next to the emergency room.

TV star: Newman appears in the show The Walking Dead

The tent had a line of potential coronavirus patients waiting to get their temperatures taken.

Newman said most patients were told to go home and self-quarantine but when a nurse recognised him from The Walking Dead she gave him 'preferential treatment'.

He was admitted to the ER where he was tested for the virus.

The actor was told to go home, but not because he tested negative.

Newman never found out if he had coronavirus.

He said the doctor told him 'the government won't allow us to process your samples' because of limited capacity.

He could breathe on his own so was not deemed a 'severe' case and was sent home.

'As I checked out of the ER, they told me I'd be responsible for the bill of $US9,116, even though they never processed the coronavirus test,' he wrote.

The actor, who played the character of Daniel on The Walking Dead from 2016 to 2018, compared the coronavirus pandemic to the show's storyline.

'The Walking Dead is one scenario of the apocalypse: Society shuts down, stores are ransacked, and the power goes out,' he wrote.

'No one can go to work, no one can function.

'New groups form in isolation.

'The echoes of my acting work in today's world are eerie.

'We have to find a way to survive - and to be prepared for what's next.'
The United States of America has been witnessing an inclining trend of coronavirus cases over the past few days. It had increased from a thousand to more than 26,000 cases as of March 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. This is due to the increasing number of testing for the COVID-19 all over the country, as stated by a recent medical article.

The White House had already asked the public to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people. This is just part of the guidelines given to the public, but it is not yet a mandatory order.

Here is how some states are handling the COVID-19 situation:

Alabama

On March 13, Kay Ivey, governor of Alabama, had issued a state of emergency. The governor said that every public school will not be operational from March 18 until April 6.

On Friday, its first case of the COVID-19 was reported. By Tuesday, 29 cases were already reported.

California

On March 23, President Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard to assist in California, Washington, and New York.

Governor Gavin Newsom was reported to have asked the assistance of the US President to help the state of California. Newsom is given the power to control the National Guard troops in the state.

On March 19, the governor had requested all Californians to stay in their homes. The citizens of the state were only allowed to go outdoors for necessary errands, work for essential jobs, and exercise.

On March 17, the governor of California had already asked the closure of all restaurants in the states. This order was made after the closing of bars, wineries, breweries, and similar businesses. Restaurants are still allowed to provide delivery services and carry-out orders.

Arkansas

Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas, stated through a news conference on March 16 that restaurants can stay open on their discretion. Many of the businesses in the state had already closed based on their own choice.

Hutchinson mandatorily asked all of the schools in the state to postpone operations from March 17 to March 27.

Colorado

Jared Polis, Colorado's Governor, followed the example of other states by not allowing on-site dining at restaurants and bars in the entire state. However, the state allows take-out services. The order takes effect on the morning of March 1.

Only five customers will be permitted to go inside a restaurant to pick up orders. The customers are also advised to observe 1.8-meter distances from each other.

The order of the governor will last for a minimum of 30 days.

Alaska

Mike Dunleavy, the governor of Alaska, released a public announcement on March 16 that museums, state-run libraries, and archives will not be operational until the end of March. Boarding school programs had been ordered to send their students home.

Schools in the state are closed until March 30.

Check these out:

Arizona

Doug Ducey, the governor of Arizona, in partnership with Superintendent Kathy Hoffman, had released a public announcement of the closure of schools in Arizona on March 13. Schools in the state will be suspended from March 16 to March 27. The closure of the schools in the state does not cover childcare centers.

Also, Ducey announced the cancellation of mass gatherings of 50 or more attendees. The state had not adopted aggressive approaches to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19. They have not closed restaurants, bars, and other businesses in the region.
A gym which was forced to close after the government introduced restrictive measures to slow the spread of coronavirus has urged customers 'not to eat bats'.

New Dimensions Health Club, in Sydney's west, on Monday erected a sign out the front vowing to suspend memberships until they were able to reopen again.

Management discouraged members from calling to inquire about policies and procedures surrounding the forced shut down.

The sign also addressed the COVID-19 crisis with a message for guests about their eating habits.

'P.S. Do not eat bats,' the message read.

'P.S Don't eat bats, ffs' was scrawled on the sign, which told patrons their membership had been suspended

'Your membership has been suspended. You do not need to call/email or do anything.'

The coronavirus crisis is widely believed to have spread from a food market in Wuhan, China, and has been linked to the consumption of bats.

There are at least 379,000 cases spread through every country in the world, including 1,886 confirmed infections in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will meet with health chiefs on Tuesday to discuss the nation potentially entering 'stage two' measures for lockdown this week.

Authorities have so far resisted calls to enter a full nationwide lockdown similar to what was ordered in Britain and New Zealand overnight.

New Dimensions Health Club in Sydney's west posted the controversial sign after it was forced to close on Monday

Poll DO YOU FIND THE SIGN OFFENSIVE? YES NO DO YOU FIND THE SIGN OFFENSIVE? YES 84 votes

NO 652 votes Now share your opinion





Health Minister Greg Hunt couldn't describe exactly what a stage two lockdown would look like or when it would come in, but said discussions would take place tonight.

'The general direction obviously is about people spending more time at home [and] obviously keeping distance,' he said.

'We are developing a staged approach. We recognise and appreciate what has happened in other parts of the world and indeed all of us are learning from each other.

'But obviously this notion of greater isolation, more time at home, less time out in groups, [is] what we are encouraging.'

Stage two will not be the final stage of lockdown.

'I think I should be very upfront and honest... Right as we speak, those next stages are being designed and the timing and the implementation measures for it are being carefully considered.'
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 24, 2020 | MURRAY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 24, 2020 | 11:29 AM | MURRAY

Murray-Calloway County Hospital says it is accepting donations of medical supplies as hospital staff make preparations to handle any potential influx of patients due to COVID-19.



The hospital says that at this time it has enough protective equipment to care for patients and staff. However, if this situation becomes critical in Calloway County, they want to be prepared.



The Foundation at MCCH is now collecting commercial grade donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospital and clinic use. Donations being accepted include face shields, N95 3M 1860 masks, protective eyewear, goggles, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer and other supplies required for staff safety. The PPE will then be distributed to medical personnel to use while interacting with possible and known COVID-19 patients.



The hospital says neighbors and community groups have also asked about making cards to let medical staff who are working around the clock know they are thinking of them. They say the easiest way to show support is through a simple cell phone video. If you would like to send a message of support, you can email a video no longer than 20 seconds to marketing@murrayhospital.org. The videos will be shared throughout the hospital areas to employees.



Anyone who has medical supplies or comfort care items to donate should contact Keith Travis, Philanthropy Officer, at ktravis@murrayhopsital.org or marketing@murrayhospital.org at 270-227-0253 or 270-762-1908 so a drop off time and location can be arranged.



Its amazing how people can come together to support one another in a time of crisis, said MCCH CEO Jerry Penner. Weve seen many posts from friends and neighbors offering donations to help the staff at MCCH. The entire campus community deeply appreciates the outpouring of support. We are grateful for the communitys willingness to help one another. Were all in this together.
The most enjoyable part of the project was looking back to realize I helped a lot of people and made their day brighter, Cunico said. The adults at the party I was hosting were all smiles and cheerful. I was happy to see them dance, eat and take pictures at the photo booth. As soon as they walked in they had surprised looks on their faces. I think they enjoyed every moment of the party.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with industry representatives from ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CII and several local chambers from 18 cities across the country via video conference in the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

The Prime Minister said that while the government was working on giving a fillip to the pace of growth in the country, an unforeseen hurdle in the form of COVID-19 came in front of the economy. He said that the challenge posed by the pandemic is "graver than even that posed by the World Wars and we need to be on constant vigil to prevent its spread," read a statement.

Prime Minister Modi said that the fulcrum of the economy is trust. Trust has a unique yardstick - it is earned or lost in difficult and challenging times, he said and added that the parameters of trust are at a critical juncture in various sectors of the economy.

He said that several sectors like tourism, construction, hospitality and daily life engagements including the informal sector have been hit due to COVID-19. The impact on the economy will be felt for some time to come.

The industry representatives thanked the Prime Minister for leading from the front and taking swift, front-footed action to counter the threat, read the statement.

They informed the Prime Minister about the steps being taken by them to maintain supply lines of essential items and medical equipment including ventilators, assistance in the creation of isolation wards, utilization of CSR funds for combating COVID-19 and provision of assistance to migrant labor.

Moreover, the discussion was held regarding specific issues being faced by sectors like banking, finance, hospitality, tourism, infrastructure, and industry representatives requested for help to overcome these challenges through financial and fiscal assistance. Industry representatives also appreciated the importance of instituting a lockdown, irrespective of economic losses, to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Prime Minister thanked the industry representatives for speaking in one voice on the needs of the unorganized sector and said that this marks a new dawn of economic integration.

He asked them to allow employees to work from home wherever doing so is feasible through using technology. He exhorted them to adopt a humanitarian approach and not to cut down on the workforce in spite of the negative impact on their businesses.

Prime Minister Modi said it is imperative that the production of essential items should not be impacted at this time, and black marketing and hoarding be prevented. He reminded them about the importance of 'swachhta' and following medical advice to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at factories, offices, and workplaces.

The Prime Minister added that social distancing remains the biggest weapon in the fight against preventing the spread of coronavirus. He also requested them to use their CSR funding for humanitarian causes related to the pandemic at this critical juncture.

Principal Secretary, Cabinet Secretary and Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade also participated in the meeting.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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In 2020, there will be an estimated 1.8 million new cancer cases diagnosed and over 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States.

In the midst of several cancer awareness events this spring, Mediaplanet announces the launch of the March edition of "Future of Cancer Care."

In 2020, there will be an estimated 1.8 million new cancer cases diagnosed and over 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States. Yet it is also the year in which a collective hope for a cure is stronger than ever, making it an exciting time in cancer treatment innovation. Between advancements in pharmaceutical research boosting disease-specific drug approvals and the growing industry of personalized medicine, a collective hope for a cure is stronger than ever. In response, this campaign will give healthcare professionals and patients the power of knowledge to manage their own healthcare and, most importantly, understand the current, most effective diagnosis and treatment options leading to a cure, both on a personal and global level.

Fran Drescher, star of The Nanny and the upcoming NBC sitcom Indebted, graces the cover of the print publication. Leading the charge in inspiring patients, families, and healthcare professionals, Drescher started the Cancer Schmancer nonprofit after her own battle with uterine cancer. Her mission is to drive awareness in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, research, and care.

This became particularly important after Dreschers own cancer was not properly diagnosed. I started the Cancer Schmancer movement to empower people to transform from patients into medical consumers, Drescher says. She wants everyone to recognize the early warning whispers of the cancers that may affect them, and to know the tests that are available, because all too often theyre not even on the menu at the doctors office.

The print component of "Future of Cancer Care" is distributed within today's edition of USA Today in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C./Baltimore markets, with a circulation of approximately 200,000 copies and an estimated readership of 600,000. The digital component is distributed nationally through a vast social media strategy and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign and more stories, click here.

This campaign was made possible with the support of American Society of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Personalized Medicine Coalition, Prostate Cancer Foundation, The Lustgarten Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Kidney Cancer Association, Jimmy V. Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, City of Hope, UC Davis Health, Myriad Genetics, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Athenex Oncology, St. Lukes University Health Network, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Fran Drescher, Mark Nofri, and more.

About Mediaplanet

Mediaplanet specializes in the creation of content marketing campaigns covering a variety of industries. We tell meaningful stories that educate our audience and position our clients as solution providers. Our unique ability to pair the right leaders with the right readers, through the right platforms, has made Mediaplanet a global content marketing powerhouse. Our award-winning stories have won the hearts of countless readers while serving as a valuable platform for brands and their missions. Just call us storytellers with a purpose. Please visit mediaplanet.com for more on who we are and what we do.

Press Contact

Mac Harris

(646) 922-1418

mac.harris@mediaplanet.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:23:19|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 24, 2020 shows a street view in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed four more deaths from COVID-19 and up to 50 new cases, bringing the total number of the infected to 316. The Iraqi authorities took several measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, including imposing a nationwide curfew until March 28. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

BAGHDAD, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed four more deaths from COVID-19 and up to 50 new cases, bringing the total number of the infected to 316.

So far, a total of 316 cases have been confirmed in the country, 27 of whom have died and 75 others have recovered, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Health Minister Jaafar Sadiq Allawi, who heads the Iraqi crisis committee to contain COVID-19, said in a statement that the reason behind high mortality among detected cases is that most patients have reached an advanced stage of infection until they decide to go to hospitals.

The Iraqi authorities took several measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, including imposing a nationwide curfew until March 28.

To help Iraq cope with the spread of COVID-19, a Chinese team of seven experts arrived in Baghdad on March 7.

They are working with their Iraqi counterparts in the fight against the viral respiratory disease, which has largely been under control in China through a nationwide campaign since late January.
Two of the country's biggest house builders, Glenveagh Homes and Ballymore Developments, have secured planning permission for 'fast-track' plans for more than 330 residential units at two separate sites in Dublin.

This follows An Bord Pleanala giving the green light to Glenveagh Homes to construct 192 apartments at Castleknock, Dublin 15.

The appeals board has granted planning permission for the proposal for five five-storey apartment blocks at Balroy House, Carpenterstown Rd, Castleknock in the face of widespread local opposition.

In total, 125 objections were lodged against the proposal and one of those to object was former Labour TD, Joan Burton.

Ms Burton was a TD at the time of making a joint objection with Cllr John Walsh (Lab). The Burton objection claimed that the proposal was "detrimental to the local environment" and "damaging to residential amenity".

The objection claimed that "the scale and height of the proposed five-block, five-storey over-basement development is inappropriate and out of keeping with the pattern of development in the surrounding area".

Elected councillors for the area claimed that the development's density was too high and there was no capacity in schools or childcare there.

However, the An Bord Pleanala inspector in the case, senior planning inspector Ronan O'Connor, stated that "the provision of a higher-density residential development at this location is desirable with regard to its intermediate suburban location and its proximity to high frequent transport services". Mr O'Connor stated that in addition, the site is located in an area with a wide range of social infrastructure facilities.

He said: "The height, bulk and massing, detailed design and layout of the scheme are acceptable. I am also satisfied that the development would not have any significant adverse impacts on the amenities of the surrounding area."

He further stated that the future occupiers of the scheme will benefit from a high standard of internal amenity.

The appeals board has also granted planning permission to Ballymore Property Developments for 142 residential units at Seamount Rd and Seamount Abbey at Malahide in north Dublin.

The appeals board found that the proposal would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenities of the area.
New Phuket Provincial Hall convention hall to become COVID-19 field hospital

PHUKET: The convention hall at the new Phuket Provincial Hall, the one completed building at the site on the south side of Phuket Town, will be converted into a field hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients, the Phuket Governor has announced.

COVID-19Coronavirushealth

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Tuesday 24 March 2020, 12:25PM

The convention hall at the new Phuket Provincial Hall will be converted into a field hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

At least 100 beds along with the required medical equipment will be installed in the building, which so far has served as the venue for only a handful of government meetings.

The ground-floor level, which can accommodate 40 beds, will be used initially to treat COVID-19 patients who do not have serious symptoms, Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana explained.

The second floor of the building can accommodate a further 70 beds, he added.

Patients suffering severe symptoms and who need respirators will continue to be treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital, the Governor said.

Pillows, beds and blankets will be provided by private businesses, Governor Phakaphong noted, adding that the field hospital is expected to open on Friday (Mar 27).

Governor Phakaphong inspected the building yesterday (Mar 23), joined by Phuket Vice Governors Pichet Panapong and Wongsakorn Noonchukhan and a host of other officials.

The new convention hall has not been officially opened yet. It is in the same compound as the Phuket Provincial Hall, Governor Phakaphong said.

Plus, there are four hotels in Phuket Town that have also offered their support to accommodate Person Under Investigation (PUI) cases [people so far only suspected of being infected with the virus] without any payment. They have room for another 400-500 patients, he said.

Governor Phakaphong did not identify which hotels had offered to accommodate PUIs.

Phuket Provincial Health officials yesterday (Mar 23) confirmed four new cases of people being infected with COVID-19 in Phuket, bringing the official total number of people in Phuket confirmed as infected with the virus since the outbreak began to 17.

So far 612 people have been put under observation for possible infection of the virus, officials said yesterday.

In total, 569 Persons Under Investigation (PUI) had been checked and gone home.

The remaining 41 remain in hospital under observation.

Of those 41 still in hospital, 26 are waiting for test results to confirm whether they have COVID-19, officials said. (See story here.)
In an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21 day nationwide lockdown that will bring everything except essential services to a halt in India. From the corridors of power in New Delhi to the bylanes of Hyderabad to a village in Nagaland, the entire country shuts down starting 12 a.m. on the intervening night of March 24 and 25.

Making a case for his decision, in a televised address, PM Modi said: "India is at the stage where our actions today, will decide to what extent we can bring down the impact of this disaster. This is the time to strengthen our resolve again and again."



He warned that if these 21 days are not observed as a lockdown, it will take India back 21 years. "This lockdown will be strictly imposed in every village and every lane. According to health experts, 21 days are necessary to break the cycle of coronavirus," he asserted.





He urged fellow Indians, through his televised address - the second of this kind in less than a week - to forget the outside world for 21 days. "Forget every work except the work of staying at home. With this order, we have drawn a 'lakshan rekha' around your house from now onwards," Modi said.



Noting many able nations have failed in controlling the virus, he stressed that social distancing is the only way out.



The Prime Minister said WHO figures, on the number of days it took for the first, second, and third lakh infections to spread, to emphasise the need of the complete nationwide lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus. He said the coronavirus has now started spreading faster.



However, the first thing that comes to any and every citizen's mind soon after the announcement was - "What about ration, milk or drugs?" However, it was announced that all essential services that were functional on March 22, during the Janata curfew, will remain operational during the upcoming complete nationwide lockdown. It includes grocery stores, pharmacists among others.



Meanwhile, Modi announced a Rs 15,000 crore package for medical infrastructure to combat Covid-19. This was done to acquire medical equipment and protective gear, testing facilities and ventilators. He told the nation, "I have appealed to state governments to make the public healthcare the highest priority right now. I am also sure that private companies will also join in the efforts to curb the infection."



Rarely does a nation come to a point where it needs to be shut down completely. A shut down in India, which has 133 crore people, means a greater challenge for the administration. Soon after his announcement, long queues were spotted outside grocery stores, from across India, sparking off panic. The PM had to take to Twitter to reassure that all essentials will be made available, through this period.



As the clock strikes twelve on Tuesday night, India's unprecedented, unheard of tryst with a complete lockdown, will begin till mid-April.
Opinion Article

24 March 2020

Following on from last week's blog post 'Revenue Management strategies to deal with COVID-19', we have devised some more strategies on how to manage hotel closures, what to do about an increased amount of cancellations and what policies OTAs have enforced in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Managing Closure:

Be prepared for guests to be phoning direct to ask for advice and support, this is the time to keep reservations staff on and well briefed about closure, how to cancel or re-book reservations. Whilst many of the conversations at this time will be regarding cancellations, this is still a great time to ask to stay in touch and build relationships.

Ensure reservations staff stick to government guidelines when communicating to guests.

UKHospitality is a good source of up to date briefings on government policy as it unfolds.

For hotels that want to offer rooms the Government is maintaining a central booking system for hotels willing to accommodate NHS staff. If you wish to volunteer your premises to support the national effort to tackle the virus then please do contact UKHospitality at [email protected] .

. Keep an eye on whether hotel rooms may be needed to support patients that are coming out of hospital but need to be on quarantine. The UK has not yet reached that stage but there may be contingency plans you can put in place should the opportunity arise

Ensure sales teams maintain relationships with key accounts, and keep the communication going; situations change daily and for those that require hotel accommodation throughout this period ongoing communications will be key.

When should I start accepting reservations after closure?

The UK government as of today (24th March) is still talking about a "12 week window". However, looking across to Italy and Spain and their tough measures on travel, for example Spain extending confinement for a further two weeks to April 11th, and adding some realism to this, where hotels have closed, we are discussing re-opening dates with flexible inventory levels from mid-May for city hotels to early-mid June for hotels that are regional with limited to no corporate business.

Managing staff on Furlough or WFH (Working from Home)

Keep communicating with staff when they are at home on furlough. Many chose this profession because its people facing so will find time at home and being isolated particularly difficult. Keep regular team meetings going - ideally by video call. See here for some suggestions on how to support team members.

 Please see government advisories regarding reclaiming salaries for staff.

How do I keep what future business I have?

That's a tough one - we are now starting to see more cancellations (in the UK) further out, towards May and into June, as guests become less confident about travel windows, and our hotels are now showing minimal pick up for the next 30 days, clearly with cancellations outpacing new reservations.

For leisure destinations we are seeing pick up in the summer - and on non-refundable rates but we are reviewing the use of these daily since travel behaviours may have to change in the light of managing re-infection.

It's important to balance out the current strategies of OTAs on cancellation policies with what your property needs in the future. For many of us, dealing with closure is top of mind right now, but bear in mind that the principle of flexible vs non-refundable rates is to share the risk of a guest not showing up. If the hotel wants to take that risk, then offer a fully cancellable rate up to day of arrival. If the hotel wants the guest to take on some of the risk of not showing up then, when the time is right, protect the inventory and gain commitment from the guest to stay through deposits or prepayment.

Here is a round up of things to know about cancellations now:

Expedia has consulted with hotels regarding their roll out of the Global Cancelation Waiver Program - this program allows guests to cancel and claim a refund for non-refundable prepaid bookings made prior to March for stays between March 20th and April 30th 2020. Every property with outstanding non refundable pre-paid bookings between those stay dates is automatically enrolled to this program. Expedia does not earn compensation on these cancelled bookings. Hoteliers had until midnight PST on Friday, March 20, to opt out of the program. It's likely that this stay date horizon may be reviewed. Hotels that participate will benefit from additional boosts to exposure over the next 12 months. Booking.com has not been quite as communicative as Expedia with hotels on its policy regarding management of refunds for Non-Ref bookings, they declared Force Majeure through their web site, last week - which was a surprise to many - with the result as follows: "

We expect partners to refund any prepayment and waive any cancellation costs (fees, expenses and/or other amounts) in situations where the guests/travellers requested cancellations as a result of Force Majeure. Booking.com will waive the commission in these cases."  Stay dates where this applies vary per region  For EMEA as at 20th March it was as follows: Reservations with a check-in between 20 March 2020 and 13 April 2020. This changes daily so check the extranet.  Note: we couldn't find any restrictions that applied specifically to guests visiting the UK, so please check with your Booking.com account manager regarding the specific situation. In support of giving guests flexibility, Expedia has also announced on their extranets, that Expedia group web sites have stopped displaying non-refundable rates for booking windows between 3- 60 days, this is a temporary measure "which allows travellers to the flexibility to respond to ongoing changes resulting from COVID-19". - If you have a significant number of pre-paid rates then this affects you. Check whether you are visible on Expedia over the next 60 days now.  This is particularly relevant for the serviced apartment community and leisure hotels where full prepayment is a frequent requirement, so all rates need to be re-loaded as flexible if you require visibility.  We have noticed that this policy applies to no-shows where the criteria were met. Also, it's not possible to re-book these reservations for a client to another date - they are automatically cancelled. Pre-paid rates remain a key booking choice for many hotels and apartments, particularly for offers, so the ongoing policies of OTAs to deal with pre-paid rates in this manner needs to be monitored, particularly when thinking about seasonal offers, so consider softening up all future rates and adding back required restrictions in the future if you need to.  For an idea about what other hotels are doing in terms of cancellation policies please follow this link.

Green shoots?

If you want an idea of how long this lasts when comparing to other countries, Adara provider of travel data and intelligence shows inbound travel to China, showing some green shoots of recovery - see here.
WASHINGTON  Invoking the coronavirus crisis, the Justice Department has asked Congress to let more federal inmates serve their time at home and to steer scarce masks and testing kits to federal prisons ahead of other agencies, according to draft legislation submitted last week to congressional leaders.

The department has also asked Congress to relax speedy trial rules and expand opportunities for law enforcement officials to use video conferencing for certain preliminary federal criminal and detention proceedings, like arraignments for newly arrested people.

Authorizing the general use of teleconferencing for these preliminary proceedings would ensure that defendants are able to access courts shortly after their arrest, the Justice Department wrote. It also would limit any disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

Those proposals are among a handful that the Trump administration has told congressional leaders that it is making a priority  and that lawmakers of both parties are considering enacting  after both Republicans and Democrats reacted skeptically to more sweeping ideas in the proposal, according to congressional aides.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill on Monday abolishing the death penalty. Colorado is the 22nd state to ban capital punishment since it was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976.

Polis also commuted three death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole, saying the "commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the state of Colorado, and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the state of Colorado."

Polis stated that he commuted the sentences "after a thorough outreach process to the victims and their families," and while he understands "some victims agree with my decision and others disagree, I hope this decision provides clarity and certainty for them moving forward." The state's last execution was in 1997, NBC News reports.

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- The IGP has asked police MTTD to cease all motor traffic checks

- The police administration have also asked personnel to keep good personal hygiene and carry hand sanitizers

- The directive from the IGP is to take effect immediately

- Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Inspector General of the Ghana Police Service, James Oppong-Boanuh, has directed personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to suspend all routine motor checks across the country with immediate effect.

The directive is a measure to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease which has so far infected 27 persons in the last few days in Ghana.

The checks include stopping and inspection of vehicle documents.

READ ALSO: 7 biggest coronavirus news of Monday, March 23, 2020

An internal wireless message issued by the Police Administration in Accra on Monday, March 23, 2020, asked the personnel to be used only for traffic management duties, education and awareness creation.

Personnel have also been reminded to carry hand sanitizers and disinfect their hands anytime they come into contact with any other person.

Personnel have also been encouraged to wash their hands with soap and under running water.

So far, 27 cases of the COVID-19 have been recorded in the country, according to the Ghana Health Service website.

Two persons have died from the disease.

In the wake of the outbreak, the IGP ordered an immediate closure of all police training schools across the country following an outbreak of the Coronavirus disease.

The action took immediate effect, following confirmed cases of the deadly Coronavirus in the West African nation.

The Ghana Police Service in a wireless message has since directed a suspension of all recruit training activities at various training schools in Koforidua, Kumasi, Pwalugu and Ho.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: MTN Ghanas CEO explains why it is hard to reduce cost of data

The move, according to the Service, is a precautionary measure as the deadly disease sparks fears in Ghana.

The service also directed all recruits to be released to report back to their various homes and wait for further directives.

All Commanding Officers are to ensure that the necessary protocols are in place for the recall of the recruits to resume training when directed the wireless message ended.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Chinas Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Jack Mas Foundation have delivered the first batch of protective and medical equipment to Ethiopia.

The Chinese billionaire promised to donate face masks, testing kits and protective clothing for the fight against the deadly virus in Africa.

The coronavirus cases on the continent have risen to over 1,000 in the last couple of days.

Faces of Ghana: A Mysterious Voice Speaks to Me When I'm Working - Engineer Explains | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Kasapreko offers cheaper hand sanitizers to Ghanaians to fight coronavirus

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
T he Government has launched a new NHS Volunteer Responders scheme looking for 250,000 helpers to help the fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Within a day of its launch, more than 400,000 Brits had signed up to help support the health service over the coming weeks.

Announcing the scheme on Tuesday, March 24, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it would help the NHS and local services support vulnerable people.

He said: "People can come and help and to make sure that the NHS and local services that are needed get all the support that they can."

Here are your questions answered on the NHS Volunteer Army:

Who is being asked to join?

People in good health are being asked to join the national effort to ensure vulnerable people are safe and well at home and to support local services.

How many people are needed?

At least a quarter of a million.

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

What are volunteers being asked to do?

As many as 1.5 million vulnerable people across England have been instructed to shield themselves from society to ensure they do not get the virus.

The volunteers will help ensure these people have vital supplies such as food and medicines.

They may also be asked to drive people to appointments or make regular phone calls to those in isolation.

What about local schemes already in place?

These people are not intended to replace local schemes already set up to help the vulnerable, but to provide additional assistance to the NHS.

The National Care Force has also been launched as a platform to connect volunteers to local care homes in need of support.

How will we know who needs help?

GPs, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, NHS 111 advisers and social care staff will all be able to request help for at-risk patients through a call centre run by the Royal Voluntary Service, which will match people who need help with volunteers who live near them.

How can they join?
Nurses working day and night to battle a recent onslaught of coronavirus cases have been spat at and denied entry into stores just for wearing their uniforms.

After several nurses reported the dangerous encounters, Gold Coast Health told staff in a recent email to no longer wear their uniforms out in public.

The incidents are believed to be caused by frightened people who think they are at risk of catching the virus from healthcare workers, according to the Courier Mail.

Nurses have reported being spit at and denied access to stores after working long hours to treat a high volume of coronavirus cases

The fears are completely unfounded, with staff treating COVID-19 patients required to be fully decontaminated at the end of their shift to avoid spreading the virus.

The email from Gold Coast Health noted the virus had left many members of the public frightened and caused some to lash out at nurses.

It said one nurses was spat at while travelling to work while another was refused entry to a store because of their work uniform.

'Sadly, fear is one of the identified risk factors for violence and aggressive behaviour,' the email read.

'We have, overnight, heard multiple reports of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour towards our staff wearing their uniform in the community. This greatly saddens us, and we will be increasing our public messaging about supporting the well-being of our health heroes at this time.'

The incidents are believed to be caused by frightened people who think they are at risk of catching the virus from healthcare workers

A doctor working at the same hospital as the abused nurses said exhausted staff had been sacrificing family time and cancelled leave just to help those impacted by the virus.

'The scrubs are a symbol of what our staff do. It's a sad time to see our community attacking those that sacrifice so much to help people,' he said.

The doctor said those abusing nurses were more likely to become infected from not self isolating than through interactions with staff.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Gold Coast Health for comment.
STAMFORD, Conn., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR) ("Aircastle") announced today the receipt of the final regulatory approval that is a condition to closing Aircastle's previously announced merger with an entity controlled by affiliates of Marubeni Corporation ("Marubeni") and Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited ("Mizuho Leasing"). The parties received clearance from the competition authority in Morocco on March 24, 2020.

Aircastle expects to complete the merger on or about March 27, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of the remaining customary closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement and discussed in detail in the definitive proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Aircastle on January 23, 2020. Upon completion of the merger, Aircastle's shareholders will be entitled to receive $32.00 in cash for each common share of Aircastle (other than shares already owned by Marubeni and its affiliates).

Commenting on the approval, Michael Inglese, Aircastle's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are pleased to have reached this milestone in our pending merger with Marubeni and Mizuho Leasing, who have a long-term horizon and remain committed to our strategy and the aviation industry. We look forward to the new investment opportunities that lie ahead for Aircastle together with Marubeni and Mizuho Leasing."

About Aircastle Limited

Aircastle Limited acquires, leases and sells commercial jet aircraft to airlines throughout the world. As of December 31, 2019, Aircastle owned and managed on behalf of its joint ventures 287 aircraft leased to 85 customers located in 49 countries.

Contacts:

Aircastle Advisor LLC The IGB Group Frank Constantinople, SVP Investor Relations Tel: +1-203-504-1063 [email protected] Leon Berman Tel: +1-212-477-8438 [email protected]

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "seeks," "estimates" and variations on these words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.

All statements, other than historical facts, including statements regarding the expected timing of the closing of the transaction; the ability of the parties to complete the transaction considering the various closing conditions; the expected benefits of the transaction; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. The inclusion of such statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates or expectations will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations include, among others, that (i) one or more closing conditions to the transaction may not be satisfied or waived, on a timely basis or otherwise; (ii) the business of Aircastle may suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the transaction and there may be challenges with employee retention as a result of the pending transaction; (iii) the transaction may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; (iv) legal proceedings may be initiated related to the transaction; (v) changes in economic conditions, political conditions and changes in laws or regulations may occur; (vi) an event, change or other circumstance may occur that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; and (vii) other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Aircastle's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including Aircastle's 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are available on the SEC's Web site (www.sec.gov). There can be no assurance that the merger will be completed, or if it is completed, that it will close within the anticipated time period or that the expected benefits of the merger will be realized.

In addition, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Aircastle to predict or assess the impact of every factor that may cause its actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Aircastle expressly disclaims any obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement to reflect future events or circumstances.

SOURCE Aircastle Limited

Related Links

http://www.aircastle.com


 Read the full article on Motorious

How is the collector industry adapting to so many shutdowns?

Collector and Classic Car Auctions have been around since the early 1970's which is when notable Kruse International held their first collector car auction in Auburn, IN. The Kruse classic car auction quickly grew and became a destination event for car guys each Labor Day. Although, Kruse International was plagued with economic disruptions and legal debacles they enjoyed some successes that include being purchased by eBay in 1999 for stock valued at $130 Million.

Thomas Barrett, a car collector from from Phoenix, AZ was inspired by the success of Kruse International in the early 70's and decided to hold his own auction to cull his personal collection. Later, Barrett partnered with a friend Russell Jackson to form what is now arguably the most well-known collector car auction on the planet, Barrett-Jackson. Over the past 5 decades many others have joined the auction industry that is focused on a hobby and relentless passion for the automobile.

As the use of technology has become more prevalent and purchasing items online has become the norm the collector car market has also transitioned to an online model. Most physical car auctions include the ability to bid and purchase by phone or through a myriad of platforms such as Auction Mobility and Proxibid. Many of the collector car classified sites also include auction platforms as demonstrated by Hemmings and Motorious. The collector car market is very different from the retail daily driver market in that most people are looking for a unique vehicle that is typically not found within driving distance of their home.

According to Speed Digital, a technology provider for Collector Car dealers, approximately 80% of collector vehicles are sold online with the first "tire kicking" being at the moment the vehicle is unloaded from the transporter. The past decade has seen the rise of a once obscure company Bring-a-Trailer (BaT) that originated as a grass roots community discussing cars. BaT is now the preeminent online destination for purchasing collector cars and boasts a bid of $3.125 Million for a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari (did not meet reserve).

Story continues

2015 Ferrari LaFerrari - BaT

As the COVID-19 Pandemic spreads across the United States and "Social Distancing" has become part of our daily vocabulary many of the physical auctions have been forced to either postpone or take the auction completely online. The following auctions have online only offerings within the next few months.

Pros & Cons of online only auctions

Pros

Reduced travel costs - Both consigning and buying online can have significantly reduced costs associated with personal travel (airfare, hotels, meals). Reduced transportation costs - There is the potential that also the cost of shipping associated with transporting vehicles to and from the venue is reduced. This is especially true if the vehicle is a "no sale" as the consignor is on the hook for transportation to the venue and then back after the auction. Flexibility - Technology allows the use of alerts on particular vehicles making a better use of time as compared to being on site watching vehicles cross the block that are of no interest to the buyer. Leveraging a larger car community - Platforms such as Bring-a-Trailer allow commenting which provides information and sometimes specific expertise from a worldwide audience.

Cons

No physical inspection - There is no substitute for a personal physical inspection. While websites offer numerous photographs, videos and detailed descriptions there are always opportunities for errors. Missed comradery - Many of the annual auction events provide an opportunity for enthusiasts to get together. These events have become a highly anticipated pilgrimage to the hobby and a chance to bond with like-minded individuals.

As the COVID-19 Pandemic subsides will we see more online auctions or will the car community bounce back to reveling in exhaust filled venues listening to the chatter of the auctioneer?

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Southeast Texas residents soon could be required to stay at home, outside from a strict list of exceptions.

Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel on Tuesday afternoon announced that local judges have discussed a stay at home order, and are prepared to issue one if necessary.

An announcement regarding the decision, he said, should be made by noon Wednesday.

McDaniel said the order would make allowances for trips to a grocery store, to feed an animal or to tend to a few other essential matters.

If you do not have to go somewhere  you should stay at home, he said.

McDaniel later added that if judges go that route, they plan to give residents 24 hours to prepare before the order would go into effect.

Related: Random acts of kindness spreading all around the nation lifting spirits among COVID-19 pandemic

While McDaniel spoke to the press, Beaumont announced its seventh positive case of coronavirus. Hardin County has two positive cases, and there have been one each reported in Orange and Liberty counties. Jasper, Newton and Tyler counties have not reported any cases.

More Information Helpful numbers (409) 550-2536: Hotline for residents of Jefferson, Hardin, Jasper, Orange and Newton counties who have symptoms that could be coronavirus and want to be tested. 211, Option 6: For general coronavirus inquiries. See More Collapse

Officials have said repeatedly that they are expecting an increase in positive cases as testing ramps up.

The five-county hotline set up Friday to streamline coronavirus screening and response received 648 calls, as of Tuesday afternoon.

Nearly 110 callers have been referred for testing and 14 were tested at the drive-thru site at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport by 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. McDaniel said he expected to end the day at 25 completed tests, which are averaging about five minutes per patient.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

The judge said he hopes the testing center to be able to bump that number up to about 30 or 40 cases on Wednesday, which should put a dent in the backlog of about 70 people who have been scheduled for testing but have not yet completed the process.

The turnaround time for submitted test kits is three to six days.

It was unclear Tuesday how many test kits were at the facility, but McDaniel said it got a delivery of kits earlier in the day and the company that supplied them is expecting to have enough to last the counties at least into early next week.

Test kits and personal protective equipment are being set aside for medical providers and first-responders, should a need arise.

Related: Jefferson Co. opens first drive-thru test site

And only people who have been screened and receive a unique number and an appointment time are allowed to enter the testing area. Everyone else will be turned away by a police officer stationed at the beginning of the drive-thru.

The five-county coalition also is looking for nurse volunteers, either to man the hotline, (409) 550-2536, which operates Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or the drive-thru clinic.

McDaniel said theyre also accepting donations of personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and other medical supplies.

Any donations must be new in the original box, and brought to the Jefferson County Courthouse with information about who was making the donation and how to contact them.

Related: Port Arthur clinic to practice telemedicine after coronavirus closing

While a stay-at-home order would further restrict what businesses can be open and where residents can go, it differs from a shelter in place, as residents still are allowed to leave their homes for specific reasons and critical infrastructure is allowed to remain open.

The federal government has identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors, which include food and agriculture, healthcare and public health and water and wastewater systems.

Shelter in place, on the other hand typically means residents are not allowed to leave their homes and often is used during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and chemical explosions.

A growing list of Texas cities and counties have issued such orders, including the cities of Austin and Houston and Dallas and Tarrant counties. Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, issued a Stay At Home To Save Lives order effective through April 3.

States including Washington, Oregon and California have issued orders to keep residents at home.

Rebecca Hennes in Houston contributed.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
European markets closed sharply higher Tuesday on the back of stimulus measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve the day before, and as the number of new coronavirus cases in Italy slowed for a second day.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up by 7.5% provisionally, with the insurance sector surging 14.2% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses ended in positive territory. Global stock markets are being boosted by the Fed's pledge Monday that it will run an open-ended asset purchase program amid the global coronavirus outbreak. The pledge is a new chapter in the Fed's "money printing" as it commits to keep expanding its balance sheet as necessary, rather than a commitment to a set amount. On Wall Street, stocks rebounded from sharp losses in the previous session, as investors grew hopeful that U.S. lawmakers would be able to reach a deal on economic stimulus.

Sentiment may also have been lifted by news that Italy, the European epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, experienced a smaller daily increase in the number of new confirmed cases for a second consecutive day on Monday.
Foreign workers and non-citizens could soon be entitled welfare benefits after students and apprentices were given an extra $550 a fortnight to help them deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston has used her newly supercharged powers to give people on Youth Allowance access to a coronavirus supplement given to other unemployed people.

'Many students, particularly those that support themselves, also have incomes from casual work to support their study,' she told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

'These are the kinds of people - for instance, people from the regions who go to the city to study to become doctors and nurses and teachers - who find themselves having to rely on their own incomes to support themselves through study while the government provides them with the study allowance.'

Senator Ruston is also examining all visa categories to see if there are foreign workers who should be given welfare.

The government already flagged people who were on the pathway to citizenship would have welfare waiting periods waived so they could access the same benefits as Australian jobseekers.

Students and apprentices were given an extra $550 a fortnight to help them deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus

Social services organisations are relieved by changes made so far.

Australian Council of Social Services head Cassandra Goldie said the organisation would also continue to advocate for others who needed support including asylum seekers, people with a disability and their carers.

'While well need more certainty over the longer term, the $550 fortnightly supplement comes as a huge relief to many right now,' she said.

'The current events highlight just how important it is for all of us that we have a strong, safe, adequate social safety net for everyone, and that government provides adequate resources for it to respond, including in times of crisis.'

Parliament agreed on Monday to give the social services minister supercharged powers to make changes to welfare payments without needing parliamentary approval for the rest of the year.

Senator Ruston is also looking at using that power to change the taper rate, which calculates what proportion of welfare payments people can receive if they are earning some income.

The level of a partners income can also affect welfare payments, and Senator Ruston said she was working through what changes might be needed.
Air Peace has refuted claims that it airlifted a passenger suspected of having Coronavirus from Lagos to Kano.

Earlier on Tuesday, a viral post on Twitter by Ali Grema said a pilot with Air Peace, who arrived in Kano from Lagos, refused to allow passengers disembark after suspecting that a passenger on the flight had Coronavirus.

The Twitter user who shared the video wrote;

Read Also: Prayers Cant Cure Coronavirus  Comedian Ali Baba

Happening now! #AirPeace pilot in Kano from Lagos refusing to open flight until @NCDCgov come to quarrantine suspected #Covid19 passenger and others welldone Pilot! NCDC act fast, 20 million Kano inhabitants with Corona will be a disaster if care is not taken pic.twitter.com/aEkHiivtjm  Ali Grema (@AliGrema) March 24, 2020

Reacting to the incident, Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Toyin Olajide, said that the delay was caused by a 13-year-old child, who became sick due to flight phobia and vomited inside the aircraft.

He said, We did not carry any passenger that had COVID-19.

What happened was that a 13-year-old boy was travelling by air for the first time. He was with his parents. While airborne, he started vomiting. The pilot promptly called Port Health even when it was obvious that he was suffering from flight phobia.

The captain also informed the control tower about the incident but some people made a video of it and started circulating false information about what really happened.

When the aircraft landed, it was delayed for 50 minutes so that Port Health officials could examine the boy.

They checked his temperature and certified him okay. They also disinfected the aircraft and we boarded passengers to Abuja.
The Rochester City Council failed to find unanimous support for declaring a local emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council member Shaun Palmer raised questions about the merits of the measure that passed on a 6-1 vote Monday afternoon.

"We dont really have a choice in that, do we?" he said, pointing to similar declarations by the state and county. "We have to follow what the governor says, and we have to follow what the Olmsted County Health Department says."

City Attorney Jason Loos said the move primarily indicates that the city is taking the issue seriously.

The council also voted 6-0, with Palmer abstaining, to support a potential statewide shelter-in-place declaration.

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Rochester Mayor Kim Norton said the resolution seeks to show Gov. Tim Walz that the city would support a decision to restrict movement outside of homes.

"I think hes trying to gauge whether were ready to move in this direction," she said.

Rochester Deputy City Administrator Aaron Parrish said the move follows other declarations of support.

"The League of Minnesota Cities has forwarded a similar request," he said. "We understand Mayo Clinic has done the same, as well as the city of Minneapolis."

In a third vote Monday, the council passed a resolution encouraging non-essential businesses to close and residents to stay at home as much as possible. It also encouraged an end to all non-essential gatherings and urged people to maintain 6 feet between them and people who are not members of their household.

The resolution was approved on a 5-2 vote, with Palmer and Council President Randy Staver opposed.

Staver said his opposition was based on the citys inability to enforce the recommendations.

"This one just does not carry any weight," he said. "I dont mind making the statement, if we wish, but when it takes the form of a resolution adopted by the council, I just dont see this one rising to that level."

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Council member Mark Bilderback said encouraging physical distancing is an important message.

"Even though there is nothing we can do to enforce it, the fact that we are saying it adds a little more weight to it," he said.
New York City plans to release about 300 nonviolent inmates from Rikers Island, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday, after the city's first prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

The prisoners all have light sentences, less than a year, and were found guilty of misdemeanor charges, de Blasio said. The city has incarcerated more than 5,000 inmates, housed mostly at Rikers. About 500 of those inmates are serving sentences for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies; De Blasio said he has the authority to release those in this category.

De Blasio said he won't release inmates serving time for domestic violence or sexual assault.

He said he wants to release inmates who are over age 70 or who have any of the five preexisting health conditions that make them most vulnerable to the coronavirus but that he doesn't have the authority to release everyone in that category. He said the city will be working through the legal issues with prosecutors and the state case-by-case to try to release those inmates.
With a run on rice, beans, eggs and other pantry staples clearing shelves in traditional grocery stores, several area restaurants and bars across the city have converted some or all of their operations to makeshift grocery stores after the COVID-19 outbreak led to a shutdown of dine-in business last week.

Heres a list of San Antonio-area restaurants and food distributors doubling as grocery stores during the coronavirus outbreak. This list will be updated once a day. To add your business to this list, email details to pstephen@express-news.net.

Not restaurants, but alternative groceries:

EVO Entertainment Group: This chain of entertainment complexes has launched a market selling butter, eggs, milk, ground beef and more, plus packaged meal kits and more for online order and curbside pickup or delivery. 18658 Interstate 35 N. in Schertz, 210-764-6986, evo-entertainment.com

Food Related: The San Antonio-based food wholesaler has added online ordering and curbside pickup of a wide range of staples at its Schertz warehouse. 17401 Triton, www.FoodRelated.com

Restaurant Depot: This wholesale retail store is normally only open to members from the food and beverage industry. It has temporarily opened their doors to the public during the coronavirus outbreak. 3333 Fredericksburg Road, 210-736-3361, restaurantdepot.com

Restaurants:

Big Lous Pizza: Bodega stocked with meat, produce, bread, rice, beans, toilet paper and more 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 2048 S. WW White Rd., 210-337-0707, biglouspizza-satx.com

Bill Miller Bar-B-Q: Up to 12 rolls of toilet paper per customer and half-gallons of milk available at all locations while supplies last. Multiple locations, billmillerbbq.com

Botika: Boxes of beef, chicken, eggs, cheese, butter, tortillas, fresh produce, pasta, toilet paper, milk and more for delivery or pickup, $65. 303 Pearl Pkwy., 210-670-7684, botikapearl.com

Candlelight Coffeehouse: Milk, eggs, meat, poultry, pasta, rice, beans, coffee, bread, toilet paper, wine, beer and more. Suppliesalso available for delivery through Grubhub, Favor, DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats. 3011 N. St. Marys St., 210-738-0099, candlelightsatx.com

Cheesy Janes: Dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, toilet paper, laundry detergent and more available 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. 4200 Broadway St., 210-826-0800, cheesyjanes.com

Cookhouse Restaurant: New website provides options to buy meal kits with ingredients and recipes. Also sells grocery kits with meat, dairy and produce. Live instructional videos from the staff are scheduled throughout the week. 720 E. Mistletoe Ave., 210-320-8211, cookhouseathome.com

The County Line: Curbside marketplace stocked with toilet paper, sugar, flour, eggs, bacon, milk and more available daily. 10101 Interstate 10 Frontage Road, 210-641-1998, countyline.com

Earl Abels: Grocery packages of milk, butter, flour, sugar, eggs, meats, toilet paper and more starting at $30. 1639 Broadway, 210-444-9424, earlabelssa.com

Fratellos Italian Market & Deli: Meatballs, marinara sauce, beans, rice, milk, eggs, butter, deli meats, ground beef and more for takeout by phone order. Two locations: 2503 Broadway, 210-444-0277; 115 Plaza de Armas, Suite 107, 210-963-8430, fratellosdeli.com

Fruteria-Botanero: Toilet paper, fresh meat, beans, rice and other staples 12-5 p.m. daily. 1401 S. Flores St., 210-251-3104, thefruteria.com

Grayze: Order online and pick up packages of milk, eggs, beans, rice, bacon, coffee, toilet paper, sanitizing wipes and more for $35. 521 E. Grayson St., 210-481-8776, grayzeongrayson.com

Hearthstone Bakery Cafe: Steaks, eggs, pasta, flour, milk and more for curbside pickup with order by phone. 4212 McCullough Ave., 210-826-5668, hearthstonebakerycafe.com

J-Prime Steakhouse: Selling packages of fresh produce for $20 as an add-on option to to-go orders with delivery via UberEats. 1401 N. Loop 1604 W., 210-764-1604, jprimesteakhouse.com

Jasons Deli: Meat, cheese, fresh produce, eggs, bread and more in addition to family meal packages of prepared food at all locations 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. jasonsdeli.com

Jet-Setter: Eggs, milk, fresh produce, pasta and more 2-7 p.m. Monday-Friday. 229 E. Houston St., 210-272-0457, jet-settersa.com

Julians Italian Pizzeria & Kitchen: Eggs, butter, bread, toilet paper, bleach, soy milk, paper towels and more for curbside pickup. 17230 Bulverde Road, Suite 110, 210-267-1223, julianspizzeria.com

La Gloria: Toilet paper, fresh meat, beans, rice and other staples 12-5 p.m. daily. 100 E. Grayson St. in Pearl, 210-267-9040, lagloria.com

La Panaderia: Selling baskets of bread, eggs, beans, milk, sanitizing wipes, a concha and more for $25. Two locations: 301 E. Houston St., 210-592-6264; 8305 Broadway, 210-375-6746, lapanaderia.com

Larder: Dairy, eggs, produce, meat, breads, prepared foods, sauces and more available for pickup at the store or Hotel Emma valet. 136 E. Grayson St. in Pearl, 210-448-8355, larderatemma.com

Lubys: Grocery kits containing a box of protective gloves, toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, dinner rolls, eggs and milk for $15 available for pickup at all locations while supplies last. lubys.com

Marioli Mexican Cuisine: Large pantry boxes delivered with 5 pounds of beef, 5 pounds of chicken, 30 eggs, rice, beans and much more starting at $100. Details updated regularly at Facebook: @Mariolicuisine. 18730 Tuscany Stone, 210-496-1111, mariolicuisine.com

Mi Tierra: Eggs, beans, bottled water, toilet paper, prepared food from its kitchen and more 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. 218 Produce Row, 210-225-1262, mitierracafe.com

Mina & Dimis Greekhouse: Eggs, butter, cheese, bread, beans, potatoes, onions, bacon, pasta, meatballs, bottled water, toilet paper are available in addition to curbside pickup of the restaurants menu 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 7159 W. U.S. 90, 210-674-3464, agreekhouse.com

Picnikins Cafe & Catering: Online ordering for home grocery delivery (starting at $6) of fresh meat, produce and toilet paper in the San Antonio area. picnikins.com

The Rustic: Menu packages of fresh meats, poultry and seafood along with a bag of vegetables, fruit and butter for $65 available for takeout when ordered by phone 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. 17619 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 204, 210-245-7500, therustic.com

Saltgrass Steak House: All locations are taking phone orders for cut steaks, seafood, poultry, dairy, produce and more for pickup. For the complete list of locations visit saltgrass.com.

Sangria on the Burg: Quarantine packages of milk, beans, eggs, rice and toilet paper, $25 during normal business hours. 5115 Fredericksburg Road, 210-265-3763, sangriaontheburg.com

Still Golden Social House: Orders of rice, beans, meat, produce and more available for free pickup of $4 delivery in a 5-mine radius. Also delivering beer, wine and cocktail kits. Details at Facebook: @StillGoldenSH. 1900 Broadway, 210-616-2212, stillgoldensa.com

Stone Werks: Grocery kits of ground beef, chicken breast, milk, butter, produce, eggs, wine and more for $50 while supplies last. Multiple locations, visit stonewerks.com for details.

Suck It The Restaurant: Rice, toilet paper and a range of Asian groceries and snack foods. 7220 Louis Pasteur Drive, Suite 125, 210-560-2113, suckitsanantonio.com

Teka Molino: Beef, eggs, milk, bread, toilet paper sold individually and meal kits containing enchiladas, refried beans, rice, salsa, tortillas, margarita mixes and more for $115. 7231 San Pedro Ave., 210-344-7281, Facebook: @TekaMolino

Tenko Ramen: Zucchini, apples, onions, eggs, lettuce, teas and more available for pickup or delivery with online order. 312 Pearl Pkwy., Bldg. 6, 210-267-2996, tenkotogo.com

Whiskey Cake: Survival kits of beef, chicken, dairy products, fresh vegetables, eggs and more that changes daily. Check Facebook: @WhiskeyCakeSa for daily kit details. Pickup from car in line that forms at 11 a.m. 15900 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 21200, 210-236-8095, whiskeycake.com

The Winchester: Selling grocery packages with meat, dairy, eggs, produce for $55 with optional add-on items. Exact items updated daily at Facebook: @thewinchester78209. 5148 Broadway St., 210-721-7762, thewinchestersanantonio.com

Paul Stephen is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen
Scott Morrison will meet with health chiefs today to discuss a plan for increased restrictions on Australians to fight coronavirus.

Australia appears set to move into 'stage two' measures this week, but resisted calls for a full lockdown as was ordered in Britain and New Zealand overnight.

Health Minister Greg Hunt deferred questions about what stage two may look like and when it would come in, but said discussions would take place tonight.

'The general direction obviously is about people spending more time at home [and] obviously keeping distance,' he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt deferred questions about what stage two may look like and when it would come in, but said discussions would take place tonight

Scott Morrison will meet with health chiefs today to discuss a plan for increased restrictions on Australians to fight coronavirus - which could empty streets like this one in the Sydney CBD even more

'We are developing a staged approach. We recognise and appreciation what has happened in other parts of the world and indeed all of us are learning from each other.

'But obviously this notion of greater isolation, more time at home, less time out in groups, [is] what we are encouraging.'

After Mr Morrison and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee met today, the issue would be discussed by the National Cabinet tonight.

Mr Hunt stressed that stage 2 was 'not the last stage' and a graduated series of steps to a full lockdown - if required - was being ironed out.

'We have always indicated as the Prime Minister said and the national cabinet said, this was stage one,' he said.

Empty tables and chairs are seen after NSW began shutting down non-essential businesses and moving toward harsh penalties to enforce self-isolation as the spread of coronavirus

Joggers get some exercise outside - an activity that would still be allowed under the strictest lockdown so long as they run solo

Gyms across Australia were shut at 12pm on Monday by order of the government's stage 1 restrictions, forcing this pair to work out in a park in Sydney

Yoga studios were also closed, so that activity was moved to a basketball court in a Sydney park for this trio

'I think I should be very upfront and honest about that. Right as we speak, those next stages are being designed and the timing and the implementation measures for it are being carefully considered.'

The minister said people concerned about catching or spreading coronavirus didn't need to wait for restrictions to increase and could isolate themselves now.

'If you can take steps to spend time at home, do that,' he said.

What stage 2 might look like is not clear, but it would not be close to the lockdowns about to be enforced in NZ or Britain, or in other European countries.

Daily Mail Australia has been told the government will only push ahead with even more draconian 'stage two' restrictions if coronavirus transmissions in the community continue to escalate or Australians fail to 'socially distance'.

Stage two would almost certainly see the forced closure of 'non-essential' businesses and other restrictions, although the Federal government is keeping mum on just what exactly those will be.

Measures would likely include closures of more non-essential businesses, and lower limits for group gatherings - currently at 100 indoor and 500 outdoor.

Some of or all of New Zealand's level 3 restrictions could be imposed, such as closing libraries, museums, food courts, and, pools.

Face-to-face GP consultations are also banned, but Mr Hunt implied those would still be necessary for many cases.

However, in his speech he announced a massive rollout of telehealth that every Australian would be able to access and encouraged to use.

Mr Hunt also announced that Australia was more than doubling vital health resources like masks, ventilators, and test kits.

A Sydney train station sits abandoned on Tuesday as more people work from home, avoid going out, or simply take less crowded modes of transport

People who did take the trains wore masks to protect themselves from fellow travellers who might be carrying coronavirus

This commuter went all out and wore a ventilator mask and gloves as he waited for his train

Ventilator capacity is at 2,000 but will soon be doubled to 4,000 by better utilising current stock - and will be boosted to 9,000 within weeks.

'Today work is being done, led by the Chief Scientist Alan Finkel in conjunction with others, which could add an additional 5,000 invasive and non-invasive respiratory and ventilator units to the Australian capacity,' Mr Hunt said.

Millions of masks will also arrive in Australia soon to keep health workers safe and not transmitting coronavirus to patients or their families.

Mr Hunt said 30 million would arrive within two weeks and another 24 million by the end of April.

A huge increase in testing for coronavirus is also on the horizon after deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly, admitting the testing guidelines would soon change.

Only those people who had arrived from overseas, or been in contact with someone who had a confirmed case, had qualified to get one of the limited amounts of tests.

A nurse takes a sample for testing at the newly opened COVID-19 drive-thru testing facility at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre in Adelaide on Tuesday

Mr Hunt said 97,000 new kits arrived last week and another 100,000 were on the way, 63,000 of which were the highest-grade PCR tests

The guidelines for testing for COVID-19 will be changed this week to drop the overseas travel component, as the coronavirus spreads

Mr Hunt said 97,000 new kits arrived last week and another 100,000 were on the way, 63,000 of which were the highest-grade PCR tests.

'They will allow us to assist with greater testing of health workers themselves to give them confidence, and, where appropriate, patients,' he said.

Mr Hunt had also ordered 1.5 million 'point-of-care tests' which can give an accurate result in as little as 15 minutes and be used by a GP.

'As we receive these newly approved - only approved over the weekend and in some cases in the last four hours - what are called point-of-care tests or finger-prick tests, they will be deployed, which will then allow for greater testing of patients within the general practice setting,' he said.

About 149,000 people in Australia have been tested - 558 tests per 100,000 people - about the same as South Korea and far higher than Britain's is 117, and the U.S. 22.

However, questions have been raised about whether the right people are being tested since the borders were closed to non-residents on Friday night.

Sydney Airport was busy with passengers coming back home or trying to get back to Queensland before the state shuts its borders

A family returns home to Sydney Airport on Tuesday ahead of potential lockdowns

A man sits with his trolley piled high with luggage at Sydney Airport on Tuesday

There were fears airports could close with new restrictions in coming weeks as domestic travel is discouraged, borders are closed, and states impose quarantines on domestic arrivals

The Health Department said criteria would be changed to better reflect the current situation, but did not specify what the new guidelines would be.

'As we learn more about the virus, we have continued to review the testing criteria,' it said on Monday night.

'In light of our stronger travel restrictions, the focus logically moves to the community with COVID-19 symptoms, on top of returned travellers and close contacts of cases.'

The announcement followed comments on Q&A by deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly, admitting the testing guidelines would soon change.

'We'll be removing the traveller component, but we're working on that at the moment,' he said, and promised an announcement this week.
With the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepping down from their roles as senior royals next week, a question mark remains over what the pair will do next.

After Prince Harry was caught on camera asking former Disney CEO Bob Iger to consider Meghan for voiceover roles, another famed animated series has expressed interest in giving them a job - The Simpsons.

Speaking to The Sun, The Simpsons producer Al Jean revealed there had been talks within the shows team about potentially bringing them on.

He said, Weve talked about Harry and Meghan. I heard she wants to do voiceover work.

AFP via Getty Images

So if theyre reading this, give us a call! he said.

Prince Harry was filmed telling Iger that Meghan was open to doing voiceovers at the London premiere of The Lion King as the Duchess greeted Jay-Z and hugged Beyonce (who paid homage to her in their BRIT Awards speech).

AFP via Getty Images

As Meghan and Beyonce met, Prince Harry was heard saying, You know, [Meghan] does voiceovers.

Did you know that? You seem surprised, he told Iger. Shes really interested.

Sure, wed love to try, Iger appears to say in response.

Meghan has since reportedly signed a voiceover deal with Disney.
It was none other than Karl Marx who said, History repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce.

That describes perfectly Bernie Sanders role in dismantling the Democratic Partys nominating process from the inside.

Many of us who grew up in the Cold War years recall a movie titled The Manchurian Candidate. The plot concerned a soldier captured during the Korean War who was brainwashed by the Communists to become an assassin after returning home.

The movie came out a year before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That certainly qualifies as tragedy.

But the emergence of Sanders as a sort of Manchurian candidate in the Democratic presidential primary process is a comedy - at least if youre looking at it from the Republican side.

Sanders was never actually brainwashed by the commies. It was more of a light rinse, as in the old joke about the gaffes of Mitt Romneys father George.

That was revealed in a recent New York Times article on how the Soviets tried to take advantage of the then-Mayor of Burlington, Vt., when he visited the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

The Times reporters got access to 89 pages of documents showing how the Soviets tried to manipulate the mayor as part of a Sister Cities program.

Nothing in the documents suggests that Mr. Sanders was the only local American official targeted for propaganda, or even that he was particularly receptive to it, though they do describe him as a socialist. But the documents do show the Soviets intensive preparation to use Mr. Sanderss interest in their country to their advantage.

The Soviet Union is gone, but Sanders is still playing a role that could have come out of a different Cold War movie. Thats Bananas, a comedy about a wacky New Yorker who joins a rebellion in an island nation resembling Cuba.

Much hilarity ensues. But for Democrats, this joke has to be getting stale.

No other Democrat has done as good a job of pointing that out as James Carville, the Louisianan who guided Bill Clinton through two successful runs for president.

We have candidates on the debate stage talking about open borders and decriminalizing illegal immigration, he wrote at the peak of the primary race. Theyre talking about doing away with nuclear energy and fracking.

Carville blames this lurch to the left primarily on those candidates efforts to outflank Sanders.

He argues that if Sanders hadnt been in the race, the debate might have moved to the middle, where fresh faces like Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and New Jerseys own Senator Cory Booker might have gotten a hearing. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was another moderate who would line up well against President Trump.

Biden? Not so well. Trumps biggest weaknesses are that hes old, hes got a big mouth and hes got a short fuse.

Bidens got just as big a mouth and an even shorter fuse. And hes even older. If Biden wins the nomination as expected, he will be the first presidential candidate ever whose ability to run for a second term is in doubt even before his first term begins.

The good news for Democrats is that this race is coming to a close. The emergence of the corona virus has ended any effective campaigning by Sanders. Sure, he can campaign on the internet. But there hes just another old crank.

More good news is that the crisis may cause the cancellation of the party convention, which is now set for mid-July in Milwaukee. That further deprives Sanders of an opportunity to parade his views before the public.

The cancellation would move the proceedings to the telephone and the internet, the modern equivalent of the old smoke-filled room that was so successful for the Democrats in the past.

Sanders has shown that someone with his views cant win their nomination, even with big advantages in money and organization. But he also showed how easy it is for a self-described socialist and political independent to game their current nomination process.

I suspect a few of the wiser voices in the party will point out that theres a bit too much democracy in the Democratic process. The partys three prior presidential winners, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, were all moderate-to-liberal in their views. They were also relative newcomers - not like Biden, who first ran for president way back in 1988.

It's always a mistake to nominate the candidate who argues he should be next in line. Such candidates are rarely next in line for the White House. But thanks to Sanders, the Democrats had to settle on such a candidate.

If the party leaders are smart, theyll realize its time to bring the curtain down on this farce.
MUMBAI, IndiaAs the world practices social distancing to keep the novel coronavirus at bay, 40-year-old Lata Jadhav still spends 13 hours a day in eight different homes in suburban Mumbai. Working as domestic help, she cooks, cleans, and picks up waste. She has heard of the COVID-19 pandemic from her employers, most of whom are now working from home. Already apprehensive, her fears escalated when another domestic worker in Mumbai tested positive for the virus after contracting it from her U.S.-returned employers. Jadhav quickly bought a mask, but social distancinga choice between life and livelihoodis unthinkable to her.

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If I sit at home, I will lose pay for the days off. I have two daughters to marry, and loans to pay off, says Jadhav. I earn 14,000 rupees (U.S.$183) a month and 8,000 goes as monthly installment on my loans. My husband runs a food stall but is now out of work as the government has cleared all vendors from streets. Illness or its anticipation cannot be excuses to miss wages. Every day of work counts.

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In a public address to the country on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown, calling on Indians to stay indoors, asserting that social distancing is the only way to stop the coronavirus. India will have to pay a very high price if social distancing is not adhered to, said Modi.

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But although limiting human-to-human interactions is the only way to control the spread of the coronavirus, public health experts say social distancing is not an option for the hundreds of millions in Indias unorganized sector. Tactics being employed in other countries are just arent possible here.

"Sanitation workers are required to work under subhuman conditions without any medical protection."  Milind Ranade

These are workers who need their daily wages to sustain their families and to afford food and nutrition. They work in crowded markets and travel by public transport. It is extremely difficult for them to adopt the social distancing approach, says K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a not-for-profit public-private health initiative.

Indias informal sector is the backbone of its economy. According to the Economic Survey of 201819, almost 93 percent of the countrys total workforcean estimated 437 million peopleis informal. This includes agricultural, construction, manufacturing, sanitation, and domestic workers. Although this sector contributes to nearly half of the countrys GDP, such workers enjoy virtually no legal safeguards, working in poor conditions and living off paltry wages. India has two of the largest social security schemes in the world, and yet a majority of the workers live without basic protections like proper safety gear and medical facilities, says C.K. Saji Narayanan, president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a New Delhibased trade union in India.

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Workers in the informal sector have indefinite working hours, no paid sick leaves, and no social security benefits. Laws and schemes exist, but they have failed to reach over 90 percent of the beneficiaries, says Narayanan. As there are no safeguards to their livelihoods, they cannot afford missing work. Staying home could mean no food on the table for days.

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One area of the unorganized sector, which has always been worrying for human rights groups, is the sanitation chain, where workers handle fecal sludge and human waste, cleaning manholes, public toilets, sewers, and septic tanks. About 5 million people work in sanitation in India, and according to a study, one of them died every five days in 2017 and 2018. Milind Ranade, the founder of Kachra Vahatuk Shramik Sangh, a Mumbai-based organization focused on labor issues, says that despite the fear and panic over the COVID-19 outbreak, about 6,500 contractual laborers in the Mumbai civic authoritys sanitation department have not been provided with proper masks, hand gloves, shoes, or uniforms. For wages as low as Rs 250 (U.S.$3.27) a day, these workers continue to collect, segregate, and dispose waste.

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Although the government is advising people not to venture out, sanitation workers are required to work under subhuman conditions without any medical protection, says Ranade. The COVID-19 epidemic can be fatal for them.

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Sachin Randive, a 30-year-old sewer cleaner in Mumbai, says that despite being aware of the coronavirus threat, he is compelled to go to work to keep the pot boiling at home. Every day when I leave for work, my mother asks if Im carrying a mask. Of course, I am scared. I want to stay home, but missing pay is not an option, says Randive.

A 201718 government survey, the Periodic Labour Force Survey, found that 54.2 percent of regular wage workers in Indias nonagriculture sector were not eligible for paid leave, 71.1 percent had no written job contract, and 49.6 percent were ineligible for any social security benefits. Reddy feels that along with social distancing, India will need an empathetic, humanitarian response, as in any disaster situation like floods or earthquakes, where essential supplies are provided free for people in Indias informal workforce.

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If you advise them to remain in isolation from travel and work, you also have a moral responsibility to ensure that you are looking after their immediate survival needs, he says.

The informal nature of their work is not the only challenge confronting Indias poor. In Indian cities, theres simply not enough room for social distancing. As per World Bank data for 2018, India has a population density of 455 people per square kilometer, as opposed to 148 in China, 275 in the United Kingdom, and 36 in the United States. India ranks 29th in the world in terms of population density, and its cities, which house 31 percent of its 1.3 billion people, fare much worse on the density scale. With a population of 20 million, Mumbai, for instance, has a population density of more than 32,000 per square kilometerone of the most crowded urban areas in the world. Over 41 percent of Mumbais population lives in its slums, and the citys largest slum, Dharavispread over 2.1 kilometershouses 277,136 people per square kilometre. Social distancing in such a crowded setup is far from practical, say experts.

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Inequality in access to basic necessities is also a roadblock in approaching measures like washing hands, prescribed by the World Health Organization. If there is no water, how will they wash their hands? asks Yogesh Jain, co-founder of the Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a public health NGO based in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. According to a 2016 report, nearly 76 million Indians do not have access to a clean water supply.

Social distancing is for the middle class and upper middle class, hardly a possibility for the poor population of the country. What India really requires is physical distancing and social solidarity. With the raging caste and class issues, we are already a very distant society, says Jain. The WHO guidelines are applicable to the world, but not to the worlds poor.

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Anant Bhan, a global health, bioethics, and health policy researcher, meanwhile feels that there should be a certain accountability on the part of contractors and employers. They must ensure that these workers have paid leavesas well as access to personal protection items like soaps and sanitizers, he says.

While a solution looks far from the offing, domestic workers like 45-year-old Surekha More continue to go to work. More migrated from her remote village in the western Indian state of Maharashtra to Mumbai a year ago. Previously employed as a daily wage farmworker in her village, she would earn Rs 100 (U.S.$1.30) for 10 hours of work every day. Now, she lives in a 50-square-foot decrepit shanty in an overcrowded slum with her husband and four children.

Theres barely a place for the five of us to sleep, says More. How do we keep distance?
The fine weather on the way ploughing is top priority for many farmers like David Ashmore Knockullard, Corries, Co Carlow. Spring barley will end up in this field next week. Ploughing by John Treacy. Photo Roger Jones.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is prepared to consider exempting tillage farmers from the two/three crop requirement under Greening due to the exceptionally wet weather.

The autumn weather in 2019 proved very difficult for Irish tillage farmers, with rainfall above average across the main crop growing areas of the country. As a consequence of this poor weather a limited exemption to crop diversification was introduced by the Department in January 2020.

The weather to date in 2020 has also proved extremely challenging, with record levels of rainfall in February, and has left tillage farmers with limited crop options.

Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the recent wet weather, the Department has decided to extend the possible exemption for 2020 to all tillage farmers. Consequently tillage farmers may choose the crop options that best suit the soil conditions and the time of the year. If as a result of these choices a farmer does not comply with the Crop Diversification rules an exemption may be granted.

Farmers who wish to request this exemption may do so as part of their 2020 BPS application, and each such request will be considered by the Department on a case by case basis.

Any queries with regard to this exemption can be directed to the Greening Unit at greening@agriculture.gov.ie
BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's transport ministry said Monday it will adopt stricter management over sailors on international ships amid the country's battle of preventing imported novel coronavirus disease cases.

Yang Xinzhai, an official with the Ministry of Transport, said that containing imported infections by sailors has been a focus of their anti-virus works, as China has suspended all international cruise lines originating from ports on the Chinese mainland since late January.

By the end of May, the country will see around 10,000 Chinese crews disembarking from ships, Yang said, therefore, precise measures should be adopted to strengthen epidemic control and prevention during their shift changes.

Ship crew members who have sailed for more than 14 days and show no symptoms before arrival will be allowed to go ashore, while those with interval time less than 14 days will be required to quarantine for further observation.

Foreign sailors who sailed through countries or regions with a serious epidemic situation within the past 14 days will not be granted entry at sea ports in accordance with related policies, Yang said.
Lidl is to install protective screens at the checkouts of its stores (Getty Images)

It is one of the few essential businesses that remains open in the UK amid the lockdown instigated by the coronavirus outbreak.

However, Lidl is one of several supermarkets taking extra steps to ensure both its customers and staff stay safe - by installing protective screens at the checkouts of all its stores throughout the country.

The new measure is intended to provide extra reassurance to those shopping and working on its premises.

Christian Hartnagel, CEO of Lidl GB, said: The safety of our colleagues and customers continues to be a key priority for us, which is why all of our stores here in Great Britain will be fitted with protection screens at checkouts.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

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We hope that this additional safeguard will help to provide extra reassurance for those both working and shopping in our stores.

We are eternally grateful to all of our store teams who are working hard every day to support their communities. And, we would once again like to thank customers for their consideration during this very challenging time.

The supermarket currently has 800 stores in the UK, and last week announced that it was creating up to 2,500 more jobs to meet demand brought on by the pandemic.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Morrisons, Sainsburys and Aldi will also be putting up protective screens.

We're installing new protective screens at all our store checkouts this week, to help keep our customers and our colleagues safe. Morrisons - Feeding the Nation #ItsMoreThanOurJob pic.twitter.com/HxsskNCJB8  Morrisons (@Morrisons) March 23, 2020

Read more: People are being urged to stop buying dairy and gluten-free foods unless they need them

Story continues

David Potts, the chief executive for Morrisons, told The Guardian that they had hired 83 fitting teams to instal them with urgency.

He said: The wellbeing of colleagues is paramount.

The supermarket has also placed hand sanitiser at every till and has marked out areas on its floors so people can maintain social distancing.

Sainsburys is also asking customers to use cards at its tills and cash at self-service checkouts.

Read more: This top-rated slow cooker will make mealtime easy

Meanwhile, Waitrose has introduced new "two-metre marshalls" to tell people to stand further apart if necessary, and may operate a one-in one-out policy depending on how busy their stores get.

They have also ordered special protective visors for staff who wish to use them, and are operating fewer tills to maintain social distancing between employees.

Tesco had added tape to its floors to encourage shoppers to maintain social distancing.

Many retailers have asked customers to stand at least a metre away from staff, and the contactless spending limit has also been raised to 45 per transaction.

Read more: The foods being ignored by UK coronavirus panic-buyers

However, there have been increasing worries that shop workers, who are encountering hundreds of people a day, arent being adequately protected.

Paddy Lillis, the general secretary of the shop workers union Usdaw, said: We have increasing concerns about the safety and welfare of staff in stores.

The scenes in stores over the weekend and behaviour of some customers mean that supermarkets need to go further to protect the health, safety and welfare of shop workers.

We are calling on retailers to continue to improve their stores and procedures to help protect staff.

A petition for masks and gloves to be supplied has been signed by more than 3,000 supermarket workers on employee campaigning platform Organise.
National parks in Rwanda and Congo are temporarily shutting their doors to tourists and researchers to protect Africas endangered chimpanzees and mountain gorillas from contracting coronavirus.

Virunga  Africas oldest national park  in the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to around one-third of the worlds last remaining mountain gorillas. There are just over 1,000 left globally. Following advice from scientific experts that primates are probably susceptible to complications arising from the Covid-19 virus, Virunga will bar visitors until 1 June.

Human origin diseases are a persistent threat to mountain gorillas, from common colds to coronavirus, Cath Lawson, Africa conservation manager at the World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF) told The Independent.

It is not yet known for sure if non-human great apes are susceptible to the Sars CoV-2 virus which causes the disease Covid-19 in humans but they are susceptible to infection with other human respiratory illnesses so we assume that they are susceptible and action is being taken on that basis, said Ms Lawson.

In neighbouring Rwanda, tourism and research activities have also been temporarily stopped in three national parks that are home to primates.

Rwanda has halted visits to Volcanoes, Gishwati-Mukura and Nyungwe parks. The countrys fourth national park, Akagera, which is not home to primates, will remain open. Government officials are monitoring the park entry gate so visitors are screened and temperatures checked before entry.

But the lockdown overall will have a major impact on the sustainability of these parks as safari and gorilla tracking permits make up the bulk of their revenues, conservationists warn. In the DRC a permit can cost up to $400 (348), while in Rwanda it can fetch as much as $1,500 (1,170).

Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park alone earned $19.2m (16.4m) in revenue in 2018, according to latest data from the Rwanda Development Board.

Dave Wilson, head of commercial development at African Parks which runs Akagera in Rwanda said despite the park remaining open there is almost no footfall due to travel restrictions.

We have to maintain a frontline of defence [for the parks wildlife] and we are going to experience even more pressure as job layoffs happen, he said via telephone. We are seeing an almost total collapse of the tourism industry and that has huge implications  certainly in the next couple of weeks we are going to be without visitors at all.

Rwanda has closed its borders, except for goods, cargo and returning citizens. Many African countries have taken similar steps. Despite the drop in tourist numbers, wildlife still need human protection. Akakegra is home to rhinos and lions that are threatened by trafficking and hunting.

Rhino horn, elephant ivory and bush meat poaching those are the sorts of by-products of the encroachments that we are starting to see, said Mr Wilson. We have a responsibility to make sure that we are maintaining that protected area.

But contingency plans to shield parks from sustainability issues are being developed and implemented according to WWF.

Right now, minimising human-mountain gorilla interaction, and the opportunity for disease transmission, is the priority, said Ms Lawson. Only essential monitoring is happening, with application of best practice approaches such as maintaining 10 metres distances and wearing a face mask.

In 2018, the mountain gorilla subspecies was reclassified from critically endangered to endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to population growths.

These gains, said Ms Lawson, could be quickly reversed by the introduction of disease.
In these turbulent, uncertain, and downright scary times, community non-profits have a special role to play. Thankfully were seeing an uptick in leadership from many leading non-profits engaged in the hospitality sector, providing much-needed support and resources to communities in crisis. One of the most important of these is the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, an accredited and vetted non-profit based in New York City, with resources available nationwide.

First, a note on nomenclature: restaurant workers as defined by the RWCF is a broad term, referring more generally to workers and business owners in the hospitality sector. So yes, baristas and coffee business owners are very much part of this community, and are represented on the RWCFs board by Sam Penix, a career coffee professional and small business co-owner at Everyman Espresso in New York City, and Amanda Whitt, a past Brewers Cup competitor and Sprudge collaborator now working in the spirits industry.

Other board members include Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy; Jayanthi K. Daniel, executive officer to the Chief of Staff in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; ex-PDT and Momofuku bartender and noted beverage journalist John deBary; Michael Hamill Remaley, an experienced organizer of philanthropic and non-profit organizations in New York City including Bridgespan, the New York Community Trust, and Philanthropy New York; and many more. See here for the complete board. RWCF Board Members are volunteers and take no salary for their participation.

In partnership with Southern Smoke Foundation, the charitable 501c3 created by James Beard Award winning Houston chef Chris Shepherd, the RWCF is working to deliver funds to impacted workers and business owners around the country, including direct crisis relief for individual workers and zero-interest loans for hospitality business owners in need. A complete FAQ is available here for those interested in applying; the formal application process is managed by Southern Smoke and can be accessed here.

To learn more I spoke with Sam Penix from his home in Manhattans East Village.

Donate here to the RWCF Relief Fund. Click here for more information on applying for the RWCF Relief Fund in collaboration with Southern Smoke. Follow RWCF on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Hey Samthanks for talking with us more about your work at RWCF. For folks just hearing of the non-profit now, tell us more about what you do.

Sam Penix: Sure! The Restaurant Workers Community Foundation is a non-profit whose aim is to improve the quality of life for all restaurant workers. Were a national organization, but a lot of our board members are based in New York City because thats where our founders live. We also have folks who have volunteered to be on the board from other parts of the nation, including Seattle and Los Angeles. We have a fairly diverse board, with people who actually work in restaurants ranging from behind the counter workers at coffee shops and bars to people who are in local government or non-profit work or communications, things like that, as well as business owners and chefs. I met co-founder John deBary at a coffee cocktail competition like seven years ago. We stayed friends.

How did the organization start?

Afetr the 2016 election, many of us in the New York City hospitality industry were wondering what to do next. John deBarys husband, Michael Hamill Remaley, was working for Philanthropy New York at that time; he knows everything there is to know about running a non-profit efficiently, legally and structurally, because thats what hed done professionally for the last 15 years. They started putting the organization together and weve spent the years since getting everything up and running. That means we were ready to hit the ground once all this went down with Coronavirus.

Talk to me in your words about RWCFs response effort now.

We have a crisis relief fund, which people can donate to on our website, and that money is specifically earmarked to support workers and owners impacted by COVID-19. The details of how these funds are distributed is outlined in a statement on the website, but I can tell you that 50% is going to individual grantsmeaning, restaurant workers or food workers in crisis, with issues like medical needs prioritized. Say you are an HIV positive restaurant worker and you just got fired. Youre immunocompromised with nothing in your bank account. You go through an application process and upon approval you would get money.

How are folks vetted?

Were working with a partner in Houston called Southern Smoke, who will be processing our applications. 50% of the money raised goes to that. Another 25% of that is going to non-profits doing work directly related to helping people; things like food banks and community funds, which are so important right now with the impact of COVID. And then another 25% will be provided for zero interest loans for employers to re-open.

I think its so important to note that none of our board members take a salary. Your donations are passed through us efficiently to an organized effort to help people. Unless specified by the donor, 100% of the COVID-19 Emergency Fund is going to help people in the industry affected by this crisis.

Sprudge is a coffee websitecan you clarify for me how RWCF thinks about coffee workers as part of the wider hospitality community?

Yeah, absolutely. You know, its so interestingat RWCF we make no distinction between a barista and a restaurant server. I know that for people who work in the coffee industry, we dont necessarily think of ourselves as restaurant workers. As a coffee person myself, its true that when people keep saying restaurant workers my mind is likehey, I dont run a restaurant! In my own mind I certainly make the distinction between a full service food business and a cafe, but heres the real truth: most people outside of the coffee industry dont use our terms the same way. What matters most is getting the help and relief to everyone. One of our big goals at RWCF is to be mainstream.

In a way, by understanding coffee work as part of restaurant work, I feel more connected to the other parts of the hospitality industry at large, if that makes sense. As a coffee person sometimes we silo ourselves around other coffee people, but at a time like this were all in a similar position. All food service and restaurant workers are united by this massive problem; it makes me realize how similar our jobs are. Because I would say that, you knowwe sell coffee at my cafe, and pastries or whatever, but its not the only value we bring to our neighborhoods, and its not the only thing that we sell, you know? And thats true also for bars and restaurants. Food is not really about just eating. And coffee is not about just coffee. I dont just sell coffeeI sell coffee and community and connectivity to the physical world. And although the physical world is dangerous right now, and weve had to change our space and business model to accommodate that, I think that were still in a position to provide that sense of community in an altered way.

This work has reminded me that Im not alone as a member of the coffee community. Bar workers, servers, everyone working in bars and cafes, were all under the same blanket of the hospitality industry. And thats why Restaurant Workers Community Foundation supports everyone, from baristas to bartenders to servers to small business owners across the field.

Youve had some extraordinary donations come in for the COVID fund. Tell me more about that.

Yeah its been really amazing, the outpouring of support. Beam Suntory has committed $500,000 for the fund. Brown-Forman (who own Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve and other brands) have committed to match donations up to $100,000. Weve also received thousands of individual donations from 46 different states, most at around the $50 range, with more coming in all the timethe Bernie Sanders campaign listed us as a donation resource, and thats been incredible. Were seeing a massive grassroots support coming from social media links. Theres even more info on our Instagram.

Its important to note how this is different from something like a virtual tip jar. Those are important too, but our fund is tax deductible and really well-organized: you know for sure where your money is going and how it will be used. Its also really important to note that there are more than a million restaurants in the US with 15.6 million workers. Though its amazing that donations are adding up quickly and so many people have confidence in RWCFits still not enough! We have a lot more work to do and the need is so massive.

Thank you Sam.

Donate here to the RWCF Relief Fund.

Click here for more information on applying for the RWCF Relief Fund in collaboration with Southern Smoke.

Jordan Michelman (@suitcasewine) is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network.
Shoppers have queued outside a gun shop to stock up on weapons as the coronavirus pandemic forces all non-essential businesses to close.

Dozens of New Zealanders flocked to weaponry retailers after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that non-essential businesses would close for at least four weeks from 11:59pm on Wednesday.

The restrictions come as New Zealand escalates its COVID-19 alert level from three to four in response to the country witnessing a large increase in confirmed coronavirus cases in recent days.

A video sent to NewsHub shows dozens of people snaking around the Gun City building in Wairau Park, on Auckland's North Shore, to collect guns and ammunition.

A long line was pictured outside the Penrose Gun City store on Tuesday as panic buyers stocked up on weapons

Further south, in central Auckland, similar scenes were captured outside the Gun City outlet in Penrose.

Photos showing a long row of customers lining the building, standing about a metre apart to comply with social distancing measures.

Auckland man Ralph Klis said the lines resembled those outside discount food warehouse PAK'nSAVE in the thick of the panic-buying madness.

He added that scenes of fear-driven behaviour were a disappointing sight as the country battles a crisis.

'Amongst great New Zealanders there would be always exceptions,' Mr Klis wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

'The ones queuing up like crazy for toilet papers and the ones massively queuing up for... guns.

'Gun shop next door is busy like I've never seen before. Sad times New Zealand, truly sad times.'

News of the upgrade on Wednesday spurred panic, with kiwis also scrambling to supermarkets to stockpile supplies, despite the stores remaining open as an 'essential service'.

Police said they are aware of the queues and are 'currently monitoring the situation'.

'Police attended this morning between 7am and 8am, and provided reassurance advice to both members of public and staff at the store,' a statement sent to Newshub read.

'Our priority as police is to keep all New Zealanders safe, and we want to remind people not to panic in this unprecedented time, maintain a safe distance from others, look after one another and stay safe.'

Under alert level four, schools have been closed and public transport and air travel are only permitted for essential services - the only businesses permitted to remain open.

On Tuesday, 40 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New Zealand, bringing the country's total to 155.




Vanessa Morgan celebrated her 28th birthday in self-quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But the Canadian actress didn't let isolation get her down, thanks to her new husband Michael Kopech. She took to Instagram Monday with a cake from Kopech, realistically decorated as a container of Lysol disinfecting wipes.

The 28-year-old posted photos of the cake, writing: 'Thankyou all so much for the Birthday Messages! Ahaha never thought a Lysol cake would be my dream cake but here in 2020, yup it is!'

Clean cake: Vanessa Morgan took to Instagram Monday with a cake from husband Michael Kopech, realistically decorated as a container of Lysol disinfecting wipes

She added, 'Been a weird Birthday for me, not getting to be with my family or my friends and in self quarantine, so feeling really sad today. But thanking all of you for helping me put a smile on my face today. Hope everyone is staying strong at home. i love you.'

The star also posted a photo after cutting in, revealing the delicious rainbow birthday cake filling.

Morgan unboxed the cake on her Instagram story to Jeremih's Birthday sex, writing: 'Baby got me the best Birthday cake.'

Birthday girl: The 28-year-old posted photos of the cake, writing: 'Thankyou all so much for the Birthday Messages! Ahaha never thought a Lysol cake would be my dream cake but here in 2020, yup it is!'

Quarantine vibes: She added: 'Been a weird Birthday for me, not getting to be with my family or my friends and in self quarantine, so feeling really sad today. But thanking all of you for helping me put a smile on my face today'

Sweet tooth: She also posted a photo after cutting in, revealing the delicious rainbow birthday cake filling

Best husband ever: Morgan unboxed the cake on her Instagram story to Jeremih's Birthday sex, writing: 'Baby got me the best Birthday cake'

Delicious: She was beaming as she posed with the creative cake, pretending to lick the fondant icing in one photo

Gal pals: Morgan also shared some birthday wishes from friends, including a video from her Riverdale costar Camila Mendes of them dancing on a boat

She was beaming as she posed with the creative cake, pretending to lick the fondant icing in one photo.

Morgan also shared some birthday wishes from friends, including a video from her Riverdale costar Camila Mendes of them dancing on a boat.

The Riverdale star married Kopech, 23, in January at the Historic Walton House in Homestead, Florida.

The couple got engaged back in July, only a year after going public with their relationship.

Kopech and Brielle Biermann broke up just two months earlier after dating for two years.
Pandemics and politics are never far apart. While nations battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak, most governments would grasp that a botched response could well lead to political instability. Countries such as Iran, which were already under the weight of economic sanctions, are fracturing as the death toll mounts, while the future of political leaders in Italy and Spain is heavily reliant on slowing the spread. There is no such concern in one country.

Far from humbled by its initial heavy-handed response to reports of a new deadly virus within the city of Wuhan  censoring the doctors who were trying to alert authorities  the Chinese government is showcasing its success in combating the outbreak as a point of national pride and validation for its authoritarian regime. Often criticised for its iron-grip control over public discourse and movement, Beijing feels vindicated by its effectiveness in handling the crisis.

China is using the pandemic to challenge America's usual leadership role during a global crisis. Credit:ICHPL

With new cases of infection reportedly close to eliminated, China has turned its attention to donating large quantities of supplies  including test kits, protective wear and ventilators  and deploying medical staff fresh from fighting the virus at home, to countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. While all have welcomed the humanitarian aid with open arms, for experts and commentators suspicious of China's growing global influence alarm bells are sounding.
24 March 2020 LSE: PDL

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra", "the Company" or "the Group")

South Africa 21 Day Lockdown to combat Coronavirus

On 23 March 2020, a Directive was issued by the South African Government requiring a 21 day national lockdown, effective midnight Thursday 26 March 2020 to midnight Thursday 16 April 2020, in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country (the "Lockdown Directive"). The Lockdown Directive requires all non-essential businesses and activities to be suspended, and that people should remain at home. The full statement by President Ramaphosa can be accessed here: http://www.thepresidency.gov.za./speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-escalation-measures-combat-covid-19-epidemic%2C-union.

Petra is currently carrying out a detailed review of the Lockdown Directive in order to comply with the measures required, which will involve placing its mining operations in South Africa on care and maintenance for the duration of the lockdown. The Company will issue a further statement in due course once its review and planning has been completed.

Petra supports the Government of South Africa's decisive measures to combat this unprecedented threat. The health, safety and wellbeing of all Petra people remains our top priority and the Company is committed to protecting the ongoing viability of its operations and the livelihoods of its employees, contractors and stakeholder beneficiaries.

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds, London Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203 Cathy Malins investorrelations@petradiamonds.com Marianna Bowes Des Kilalea

About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and a consistent supplier of gem quality rough diamonds to the international market. The Company has a diversified portfolio incorporating interests in three underground producing mines in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan and Koffiefontein) and one open pit producing mine in Tanzania (Williamson). Petra also conducts a limited exploration programme in Botswana and South Africa.

Petra's strategy is to focus on value rather than volume production by optimising recoveries from its high-quality asset base in order to maximise their efficiency and profitability. The Group has a significant resource base of ca. 250 million carats, which supports the potential for long-life operations.

Petra conducts all operations according to the highest ethical standards and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process. The Company aims to generate tangible value for each of its stakeholders, thereby contributing to the socio-economic development of its host countries and supporting long-term sustainable operations to the benefit of its employees, partners and communities.
Kolkata, March 24 (IANS) Two more persons were detected coronavirus positive in West Bengal, taking the count of such cases in the eastern state to nine. So far, one of the patients in the state has succumbed to the disease.

According to the ID Hospital, Beliaghata, swab samples of both new patients tested positive at the virology lab of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases on Monday night.

However, an official said, the samples have been sent for second confirmatory test. The results are expected by the evening.

Both of them, kept in isolation at the ID Hospital, have recent history of foreign travel. While one of them returned from London, another had visited Egypt.

Earlier, seven persons tested positive for the deadly infection, one of whom died on Monday night.

--IANS

ssp/tsb
D octors and nurses across the world have pleaded for more supplies to treat a surging number of coronavirus patients.

Global medical staff have been facing severe shortages of equipment, like masks and ventilators, which are critical in their battle against Covid-19.

The call comes as governments continue to roll out stringent measures, which have put 1.5 billion people - more than a fifth of the world's population - under some form of lockdown.

It comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an historic announcement on Sunday ordering Brits to stay at home while all non-essential shops and businesses close.

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

Himalayan nation Nepal has also become one of the latest countries to compel its citizens to stay at home, joining large parts of Europe, south-east Asia and the entire west coast of the United States.

By closing businesses, clearing streets and imposing social distancing rules, authorities hope they can slow the Covid-19 spread and keep their healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed.

In France, doctors scrounged masks from construction workers and factory floors.

Francois Blanchecott, a biologist on the front lines of testing, told France Inter radio: "There's a wild race to get surgical masks.

Doctors and nurses have been issued guidelines by Nice during the coronavirus outbreak / PA

"We're asking mayors' offices, industries, any enterprises that might have a store of masks."

The race to find equipment came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the outbreak was accelerating and called on countries to take strong, coordinated action.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We are not helpless bystanders," noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide, but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000. "We can change the trajectory of this pandemic."

Stocks continued to fall on Wall Street even after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis, while partisan divisions stalled efforts to pass a colossal aid package in US congress.

A person has a sample collected to be tested for COVID-19 on March 23, 2020 / AFP via Getty Images

Asian stock markets reacted more positively on Tuesday, with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea posting significant gains.

The move towards lockdowns has been influenced by the apparent success of such measures in China, where the virus was first found late last year in the city of Wuhan.

China barred people from leaving or entering the city on January 23 and in succeeding days expanded what at the time were unprecedented measures to most of Hubei province and its tens of millions of residents.

Medical staff treat COVID-19 coronavirus patients at a hospital in Wuhan / AFP via Getty Images

On Tuesday, after more than a week in which the government said the vast majority of new virus cases were imported from abroad rather than community spread, authorities said the restrictions in Hubei would end and people who were cleared would be able to leave the province after midnight.

Authorities said Wuhan will remain locked down until April 8.

The scramble to marshal public health and political resources intensified in New York, where a statewide lockdown took effect on Monday amid worries the city of 8.4 million is becoming one of the world's biggest hot spots.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues 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 Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA 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 A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and almost 100 have died.

Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies, while the state's governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to convert a New York City convention centre into a hospital.

"This is going to get much worse before it gets better," Mr Cuomo said.

In Italy, declines in both new cases and deaths for a second consecutive day provided a faint glimmer of hope. Officials said on Monday that the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier.

The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country, and pushed the health system to the breaking point there and in Spain.

The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with the coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. More than 100,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.

In Thailand, the prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government is declaring a state of emergency to control the outbreak.

London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Waterloo station looking empty PA Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn

In the US, president Donald Trump said he believes the American economy, which has been virtually shut down, could be reopened in weeks, not months.

Amid complaints of hospitals running low on masks, gloves and other critical gear, Mr Trump signed an executive order making it a crime to stockpile supplies needed by medical workers.

US attorney general William Barr said investigators will go after those hoarding goods on "an industrial scale" and price gouging.

China is now sending planeloads of protective gear and doctors to Europe, as the crisis continues to ease there.

On Capitol Hill, a nearly two trillion-dollar (1.72 trillion) plan that would prop up businesses and send checks to American households has stalled. Democrats argued that it was tilted toward corporations rather than workers and health care providers.

Meanwhile, industries both big and small keep shutting down. Boeing announced it was suspending production in the Seattle area, where it has two mammoth aircraft plants employing about 42,000 people.

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe and the head of the International Olympic Committee will hold talks on Tuesday as they consider postponing this summer's games in Tokyo.

More than 381,000 people worldwide have been infected and over 16,500 have died from the virus, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Observed on the first day of the Chaitra month, Gudi Padwa marks reaping of Rabi crops.

Gudi Padwa is a spring festival which is celebrated mostly in Maharashtra and Goa to mark the beginning of the new year.

This year, Gudi Padwa falls on 25 March. Observed on the first day of the Chaitra month, Gudi Padwa marks reaping of Rabi crops.

The day is celebrated as Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The Sindhi community celebrates it as Cheti Chand and pray to Lord Jhulelal, believed to be an incarnation of the Hindu god Varuna.

Significance of the festival

The festival is considered to be important for Marathis and Konkanis because they believe that Lord Brahma created the universe on this day.

Gudi Padwa is also celebrated to commemorate the coronation of Lord Ram. It is believed that Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya after his victory over Ravana and people welcomed him by raising flags (like a gudi).

What people do to celebrate the festival

People decorate their houses with lights, flowers and rangolis on this day. Apart from this, a Gudi is installed at the main entrance of the house or on one of the windows. The Gudi is made using a wooden stick, a garland made of sugar candy, neem leaves, a kalash (pot) and a piece of clean cloth.

Processions are taken out and people prepare dishes like sakkar bhaat (sweet rice), shrikhand and puran poli. A special dish is also made on this day using neem leaves and jaggery.
State Unemployment Call Centers Overwhelmed Due to Coronavirus

Massachusetts is moving to a virtual platform after its call center was overwhelmed with residents inquiring about unemployment benefits. The state's Department of Unemployment Assistance is holding a number of virtual town halls to help residents who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to go online was made after an "unprecedented" call volume overwhelmed the state's call center last week, according to Rosalin Acosta, MA secretary of labor and workforce development. The state is planning to redeploy hundreds of its employees in an effort to get the call center better staffed as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, the town halls will guide residents through each step of filing a claim using streamed virtual meetings. Callers may also ask questions and interact with government officials. For more information on the town halls, visit the website.

Massachusetts joins a number of other states that are providing guidance to workers who have lost their jobs as the world grapples with fallout from COVID-19. Illinois has experienced a surge in applications for unemployment insurance over the past week, and tens of thousands of workers in the state are temporarily out of work.

According to the Illinois Policy organization, more than 64,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed in the state from March 16-18. The Illinois Department of Economic Services (IDES) was forced to adopt emergency rules to establish who qualifies for benefits during the emergency.

The state's call center has also been overwhelmed and offices are closed to the public. Illinois recommends residents file their claims online through the IDES website.

Michigan received more than 100,000 unemployment insurance claims last week, compared to the state's usual average of 5,000. The state is making benefits available to workers who have been temporarily laid off or lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Workers who are unsure if they meet the qualifications are encouraged to file at no cost.

Of course, the Michigan Works! unemployment offices are currently closed, and the call center and online systems have been overwhelmed. To begin the online application, residents can visit the state website.

California has also seen a giant surge in unemployment claims, especially since Governor Gavin Newsom's executive order waives the usual one-week unpaid waiting period. Those who have lost a job or had hours reduced due to coronavirus may file, as well as parents who have to stay home to care for a child due to school closures. For more information, visit the Employment Development Department website.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
A woman wearing a face mask walks through the Jewish district in central Rome, Italy, during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 24, 2020. (Vincenzo Pinto / AFP via Getty Images)

Italy CCP Virus Death Toll Rises Again With 743 New Deaths

The death toll from the CCP virus in Italy has risen by 743 over the past 24 hours to a total of 6,820, according to the head of the Civil Protection Agency on Tuesday.

On Monday, 602 people died, and a day before that, on Sunday, 650 died. The highest death toll to date was recorded on Saturday when 793 people died, officials said.

The disease is caused by the new coronavirus, which The Epoch Times refers to as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Italian authorities on Monday hoped that the daily drop in deaths would mark a turning point in the fight against the viral pandemic.

The Civil Protection Agency said 8,326 people recovered from the CCP virus, which is 894 more people than yesterday, according to state-backed ANSA.

Officials said the number of new confirmed cases dropped for a third consecutive day, saying 3,612 contracted the virus. On Monday, 3,780 tested positive and 3,957 contracted the virus on Sunday. The total number of confirmed patients rose to 69,176, ANSA reported.

Hospital employees wearing protective masks and gear tend to patients lying in bed at a temporary emergency structure set up outside the accident and emergency department, where any new arrivals presenting suspect new coronavirus symptoms will be tested, at the Brescia hospital, Lombardy, on March 13, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

The measures we took two weeks ago are starting to have an effect, Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli said, The Local reported. Data over the next several days will allow researchers to see if the growth curve is really flattening, he remarked, adding that the actual number of infected people is probably about 10 times higher than the official county.

It came as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Tuesday that his government will increase fines for people flaunting national lockdown rules, Reuters reported.

Those who are caught leaving their home without a valid reason for doing so will face fines of between 400 euros and 3,000 euros ($430 to $3,227), Conte said. Previous fines were about 206 euros.

All businesses deemed nonessential will have to remain closed until April 3, Conte said. However, there has been speculation that the date will probably be pushed back.

Conte said he is hoping to do away with the lockdown as soon as possible. But it is early to say when this crisis will end, he told La Stampa on Monday

Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri noted that Italys economy contracted sharply in March and will likely do the same in April amid the lockdown measures, according to Bloomberg News.

Nearby France and Spain have also implemented strict lockdowns as CCP virus cases in the two respective countries continue to rise. Spanish authorities on Tuesday reported that more than 500 people died in the previous 24 hours, raising the death count to 2,696.

The Spanish Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced that more than 39,000 cases are present in the country after a sharp rise over the previous day.
NAVFAC Southeast Awards Contract for Dry Dock Recapitalization Project at NSB Kings Bay

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200323-09

Release Date: 3/23/2020 12:53:00 PM

From Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast Public Affairs

Jacksonville, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded a $191.9 million fixed-price award-fee contract March 20 to Alberici-Mortenson, Joint Venture out of St. Louis, Missouri. The first phase of the Design-Bid-Build contract is for the recapitalization of the dry dock at Naval Submarine Base (NSB) Kings Bay, Georgia.

"The overhaul and restoration of the Kings Bay Dry Dock is the most important strategic deterrence enterprise modernization effort outside of the construction of the new COLUMBIA-class SSBN, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine," said TRIDENT Refit Facility Commanding Officer Capt. Paul Dinius.

The Navy's submarines serve as the nation's sea-based deterrent strategies. The Dry Dock Recapitalization Project at NSB Kings Bay is in direct support of the future of Submarine Warfare. The new COLUMBIA-class submarine is replacing the OHIO-class submarine.

"There have been several dedicated teams brought to bear for this effort,' said NAVFAC Southeast Deputy Construction Management Officer Travis Baker. "So many have worked tirelessly to ensure the project would be ready for award and of high quality."

Dinius explained, "This will be the hardest single effort executed in this region since the construction of the Dry Dock more than 30-years ago, but I'm confident that Team Kings Bay is ready for the challenge."

The work to be performed includes concrete and steel repairs, overhaul and repair of the steel caisson and upgrades to power distribution, chilled water and fire detection and alarm systems. The entire superstructure will be re-coated, along with replacement of the roof, wall panels, and other plumbing and piping. The control system, electronic components and the auxiliary seawater system will also be upgraded.

All existing training and maintenance facilities will be retrofitted and some new facilities will be constructed to support the next generation of submarines.

"The window of opportunity to perform the majority of the work is limited," said Baker. "The sheer magnitude of the work to be accomplished combined with the limited time to accomplish everything is almost overwhelming."

In order to meet this tight deadline, NAVFAC Southeast has established a Construction Management Office (CMO) on site at NSB Kings Bay with dedicated resources capable of supporting 24 hour a day activities.

"We have been successful in pulling several dedicated teams together to prepare for this effort," said Baker. "Our team has worked tirelessly to ensure the project would be ready for award and be of high quality."

Baker explained that this is the most significant project he has ever seen in his career both in terms of importance and scale. "The amount of senior level leadership and supported command focus and support has been unparalleled."

The contract also contains unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative contract value to $592.3 million.

The work is expected to be complete by July 2023.

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Chevron shares surged Tuesday after the company announced cost-cutting measures, but promised not to slash its dividend despite mounting pressure from falling crude prices.

"Our dividend is our number one priority and it's very secure," Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "We're taking actions to preserve cash. It will have some impact on production in the near term, but we've stayed with our financial priorities, which include protecting the dividend."

The oil giant said it will cut its capital spending plans for 2020 by 20% and suspend its buyback program in an effort to reduce costs. Shares jumped 22.7% on the news.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices have been nearly cut in half over the last month as oil gets hit on the demand and supply side. The contract is trading around $24.35. As recently as January it traded above $63. International benchmark Brent crude has also taken a hit. It currently trades around $28.11 per barrel.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to demand destruction for crude as travel comes to a near standstill and global economies grind to a halt. In the midst of this, a price war broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia, with each country seeking to grow its market share. The OPEC+ production cuts that are currently in place expire at the end of this month, meaning nations will soon be allowed to produce as much oil as they want.

Saudi Arabia announced plans to increase its daily production to a record 12.3 million barrels per day in April. By comparison, the kingdom pumped roughly 9.7 million bpd in February. Russia is among the other OPEC+ nations that has said it, too, could ramp up production.

As a potential oil glut has sent prices deeper into bear market territory, President Donald Trump said last week the U.S. could intervene "at the appropriate time."

Wirth said Chevron is operating under the pretense that the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia will rage on.

"Certainly political dialogue is always helpful, but I don't think we can count on it. We're taking actions on the things that we can control. We're preparing for a difficult market," he said. "It's an uncertain market, which is why we've taken actions on the things we can control."

Chevron shares moved higher on Tuesday, although the stock has shed 48% this year.

"This is the fourth time in my career I've seen [crude] prices drop by more than 50% in a very short period of time," Wirth said. "We've been here before, we know what to do, we're taking action."
A 15th resident at a Linn County veterans home has tested positive for coronavirus, the facility announced on Monday night.

According to a Facebook post by the Oregon Veterans Home, the resident had previously tested negative for the virus but was retested at the request of the homes medical director, after the person began showing symptoms of the virus.

The Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home in Lebanon has now been linked to at least 16 positive cases of coronavirus, including 15 residents and one employee. One resident, a man in his 90s, died Sunday morning after testing positive for the virus on March 11.

The Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday night.

The new positive test brings Oregons total count of coronavirus cases so far to 193. There are positive cases in 19 of Oregons 36 counties: 69 in Washington County, 30 in Marion, 21 in Multnomah, 21 in Linn, 14 in Clackamas, 10 in Deschutes, six in Yamhill, four each in Lane and Benton, three in Polk, two each in Jackson in Umatilla and one each in Clatsop, Douglas, Grant, Hood River, Josephine, Klamath and Union counties.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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As part of its measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, the federal government has asked public servants to work from home from Tuesday, March 24.

The directive was given by Mrs Yemi Esan, the head of service of the federation, in a memo circulated to public servants on Monday, March 23.

Head of Service Yemi Esan in a memo, asked some public servants to work from home.

The memo informed that public servants on level 12 should stay away from work while those who would remain at work should limit the number of visitors that they receive.

Part of the memo read: Government is concerned about the welfare and safety of all public servants just as it is about other Nigerians.

All public servants are, therefore, strongly advised to follow the measures being put in place by the government to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

As a further step to check the spread of COVID-19, all non-essential public servants on grade level 12 and below are to work from home with effect from Tuesday 24th March 2020 until further notice.

The post FG asks public servants to work from home over COVID19 appeared first on .

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As the killer coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the world, panicked foreign nationals stuck in Australia are scrambling for advice on what to do.

There are more than 7.3millions migrants living in Australia, with the greatest majority of those - 992,000 - being born in England. There are 651,000 people from China in Australia, 592,000 from India and 568,000 from New Zealand.

About 9.4million people travelled to Australia from overseas in 2019, mainly from China, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

Governments have issued advice to foreign nationals living in Australia to return home if possible - but many are finding it difficult to fly given border restrictions and lockdowns are in place across the world to stop the spread of the virus.

Countries around the world are calling home their citizens as international travel becomes a high-risk amid the coronavirus pandemic

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison closed Australia's borders, meaning that anyone who arrives in the country must self-isolate for 14 days. He has also advised against international and domestic travel - urging Australians abroad to come home.

Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and United States, are making similar calls.

About 700,000 UK nationals travel to Australia every year - however the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has urged everyone to come home on Monday if commercial flights are still an option. There are also warning against non-essential travel.

Several airlines around the world are cutting their routes and flights due to the pandemic.

Anyone wishing to return to the UK is urged to contact their travel provider as soon as possible during these 'unprecedented times' - however Qantas is still offering direct flights between Perth and London until Friday.

They have also been asked to check what countries they are allowed to be in between flights, such as Thailand, due to lack of consular assistance available.

Around 700,000 UK nationals travel to Australia every year - however the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has urged everyone to come home on Monday if commercial flights are still an option

High Commissioner Vicki Treadell said: 'We understand the urgency of the current travel situation and are speaking to airlines to find workable solutions to get British travellers in Australia back to the UK.

'We are committed to regularly updating our social media pages with existing commercial options open to British travellers.'

People are also being urged to have the capability to leave at a moment's notice.

Anyone who is unable to return back to the United Kingdom is asked to follow the advise of the Department of Health, find suitable accommodation and keep up-to-date with travel advice and families.

Online, expats are encouraging one another to contact their local MP from back home for help.

The US Department of State called home their citizens on Thursday.

'Many countries are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks and implementing travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, closing borders, and prohibiting non-citizens from entry with little advance notice,' an advisory reads.

'Airlines have cancelled many international flights and several cruise operators have suspended operations or cancelled trips.

'If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may be severely disrupted, and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe.'

The U.S. Department of State called home their citizens on Thursday

If you are currently outside of the United States you have been urged to check with your airline immediately regarding alternative routes and 'have a travel plan that does not rely on the U.S. Government for assistance'.

A Department of State spokesperson said they are considering all options assisting people in countries where air travel has been suspended.

'US citizens should monitor the relevant embassy or consulate website and enroll in STEP.state.gov for the most up-to-date information,' the spokesperson said.

Singaporeans are also frequent travellers to Australia - however Singapore Airlines has temporarily suspended flights between the two countries.

Singaporeans are also frequent travellers to Australia - however Singapore Airlines has temporarily suspended flights between the two countries. Pictured: People returning from foreign countries to Queensland

The flights are suspended between March 30 and April 11 - giving nationals just six days to return home.

The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs have asked citizens to return home quickly.

An advisory was also aimed at students who may be studying at universities abroad.

'We encourage you to return home soon. The global COVID-19 situation is very fluid and uncertain. Other than travel restrictions and reduction of services, as cases grow, there may be a strain on medical facilities,' the Singapore Ministry of Education Website read.

'Should you fall ill, medical care may not be readily available. And with the increasing disruption to travel routes, you may face issues booking flights when you do decide to return.'

China, where the pandemic began, has enacted several measures since their rate of infection slowed. Pictured: People returning from foreign countries to Queensland

The government said they will assist with airlines to facilitate flights to key cities in Singapore.

China, where the pandemic began, has enacted several measures since their rate of infection slowed.

Earlier this month the consulate in Iran was evacuated due to the country's high-risk of the pandemic.

However some local governments are urging their citizens abroad not to return home in case they bring a case of COVID-19 with them.

Qingtian's government, in China's southeastern province of Zhejiang, urged citizens abroad to 'not to come home without careful consideration', according to Fortune.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that the country would close - bar essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies - from 11.59pm Wednesday.

She announced earlier in the month that anyone who enters the country would need to quarantine for 14 days.

Air New Zealand reduced long-haul flights by 85 per cent after Prime Minister Ardern announced the quarantine rule.

Tasman and Pacific Island flights will be significantly reduced by 80 per cent between April and June.

Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said there was no guarantee that New Zealand would be able to bring citizens home from abroad.

'The government is doing all it possibly can with the utilities we've got here and abroad, but we can't give anyone a blanket assurance of that type [that they will definitely get home],' he said, according to Radio NZ.

'What we're trying to do is alert [New Zealanders] to making the plans they need to make, making it clear they can contact us ... we've been giving them information, but as many as we possibly can, where we can and with the utilities and assets we've got to do the job, we can ensure that we can maximise this effort. But I cannot and no-one can give this guarantee.'

The government is working with Air New Zealand regarding mercy flights.
Im Jake Silverstein. Im the editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine, and for a couple weeks now, weve been producing the magazine fully remotely. Were figuring out a way through it, and part of what I think were all learning is necessary as an office, as a group of colleagues, is that were just much more involved in the realities of each others domestic lives than we ever were before.

We sort of see them happening in the background of our video calls when were having meetings. Were starting to get used to certain people popping in. Some peoples kids pop in for technical support on some of the video calls now and again. And were developing relationships with kids and spouses and stuff like that. So around about the same time that we left the office and started working remotely, one of the two deputy editors of the magazine is Jessica Lustig, and Jessicas husband began having flu-like symptoms around that time, and they quickly got worse to the point that he was tested for Covid-19 and tested positive. One of the things that Jessica started to say to us after about a week of living with this experience was that she felt she needed to write about it. Of course, when she said, I want to write something about this, I said, are you sure? It just seems like a lot. And she said to me, I just feel like its in me. I feel like I have something that I need to tell people. And to me whats so unusual or complicated about this situation that we find ourselves in is that, because were all isolated from each other, we often dont really know how this thing looks when you get it. And so I think Jessica realized that she was experiencing something that had clarified for her certain realities about Covid-19 and about what this outbreak is going to be like for many, many, many people that hadnt yet reached the rest of us. So heres Jessicas story read by Julia Whelan. Its called What I Learned When My Husband Got Sick with Coronavirus. [MUSIC]

How are you doing, love? I call to my husband from the living-room floor, where I now sleep each night on a roll-up foam sleeping pad that my daughter has used on camping trips, topped with a couple of thin blankets. Its quite literally hard to sleep on the floor, but after trying the couch and then, on the floor, the couch mattress  a bit of fabric stretched over some coiled rings  the floor itself has been a relief.

I need some help, he whispers hoarsely, shivering inside the wool undershirt and sweater he insists on wearing. I didnt want to wake you. I forgot to put the Advil in the plastic dish in the bathroom that is now his. I cant leave the bottle in there. It has to stay uncontaminated in the other bathroom so that I can dispense the capsules into the dish and keep the bottle protected. Anything my husband, T, touches has to stay in his room or be carefully taken from his room to the kitchen, where I stand holding dishes while our 16-year-old daughter, CK, opens the dishwasher and pulls out the racks so I dont have to touch anything before she closes it again. She turns on the faucet for me, and I hit the soap dispenser with my elbow to wash my hands.

My husband, a tall, robust 56-year-old who regularly goes  regularly went  on five-hour bike rides from our Brooklyn neighborhood to Jamaica Bay in Queens and back, has been lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, or curled on his side, wearing the same pajama bottoms for days because it is too hard to change out of them, too hard to stay that long on his feet, too cold outside the sheets and blankets he huddles beneath. It has been 12 days since T woke up in the middle of the night on March 12th with chills. The next day, just as reports were growing more urgent about the coronavirus spreading in the United States, he thought he felt better, but then the chills came back, along with aches and a fever of 100.4.

Since then, T has been confined alone in our bedroom at the front of the apartment, where he complains of hearing trucks idling at the curb just outside and long blasts from the ships in New York Harbor a few blocks west. He creeps out only to go to the bathroom. The bedroom door stays firmly shut to keep out the cat, who is determined to get in and who howls outside it at night.

What to do if you are sick with coronavirus disease 2019, reads the sheet T is handed at the clinic two days after his symptoms begin. Separate yourself from other people and animals in your home. By then, he has a fever of 101.5. He tests negative for the flu. Then, because he is considered high risk with what his medical chart calls severe asthma that sent him to the emergency room with an acute attack a few months ago, he is tested for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus  just days before a national shortage of testing supplies emerged and the restrictions were tightened further.

Now we live in a world in which I have planned with his doctor which emergency room we should head to if T suddenly gets worse, a world in which I am suddenly afraid we wont have enough of the few things tempering the raging fever and soaking sweats and severe aches wracking him  the Advil and Tylenol that the doctors advised us to layer, one after the other, and that I scroll through websites searching for, seeing our of stock again and again.

We are living inside the news stories of testing, quarantine, shortages, and the diseases progression. A friend scours the nearby stores and drops off a bunch of bodega packets of Tylenol. Another finds a bottle at a more remote pharmacy and drops it off, a golden prize I treasure against the feverish nights to come.

His doctor calls three days later to say the test is positive.

I find T lying on his side, reading an article about the surge in confirmed cases in New York State. He is reading stories of people being hospitalized, people being put on ventilators to breathe, people dying, sick with the same virus that is attacking him from the inside now.

CK and I had settled in to watch Chernobyl, the HBO series about the 1986 nuclear accident and its aftermath, when T first felt sick and went to lie down in the bedroom. We stopped after three episodes. That time, when we would sit on the couch watching something together, is behind us. Now there is too much rushing back and forth, making sure T has a little dinner  just a tiny bowl of soup, just an appetizer, really, that he is unable to smell, that he fights nausea to choke down  taking his temperature, monitoring his oxygen-saturation levels with the fingertip pulse oximeter brought by a friend from the drugstore on the doctors advice, taking him tea, dispensing his meds, washing my hands over and over, texting the doctor to say T is worse again, standing next to him while he coughs under the covers, rubbing his knees through the blankets.

You shouldnt stay here, he says, but he gets more frightened as night comes, dreading the long hours of fever and soaking sweats and shivering and terrible aches. This thing grinds you like a mortar, he says.

CKs high school, closed on March 13, is now preparing with the rest of New York Citys public schools to begin distance learning. For days she and her classmates have received instructions about what to expect, turning administrator and teacher directives into endless memes, feeds filling with repeated admonitions  this is regular school. This is not vacation. I start an email to her principal, guidance counselors, and teachers. I am writing to let you know what CK has been going through at home. The draft sits open all day.

I am texting the doctor. I am texting Ts five siblings on a group chat, texting my parents and my brother, texting Ts business partner and employees and his dearest friends and mine, in loops and loops, with hearts and thankful prayer-hands emoji. He is too exhausted, too weak, to answer all the missives winging to him at all hours. Dont sugarcoat it for my family, he tells me. He has asked for the gray sweater that was his fathers, that his father wore when he was alive. He will not take it off.

Its as if we are in a time warp in which we have accelerated at 1 and 1/2 time speed, while everyone around us remains in the present  already the past to us  and they, blissfully, unconsciously, go about their ordinary lives, experiencing the growing news, the more urgent advisories and directives, as a vast communal experience, sharing posts and memes about cabin fever, about homeschooling, about social distancing, about how hard it all is, while were living in our makeshift sick ward, living in what will soon be the present for more and more of them. I took out the kitty litter, CK says, and I saw some people standing on the corner, and I was like, I want to see strangers. And then I heard them saying, Its actually been really nice. Its been a chance to connect as a family. And I was like, no, actually, I dont want to see strangers, and I came back in.

CK and I confine ourselves to the half bathroom, the one with the litter box, which she is now in charge of. Over the past days and days, drifty, dreamy CK has become my chief assistant on my nursing/housekeeping/kitchen rotations, feeding the cat and cleaning the litter box, folding laundry, preparing Ts small meals, washing dishes and pots, coordinating with me in a complicated choreography when I come out of the sickroom holding dishes so we can get them into the dishwasher without my touching the handles or having to wash my dry, raw hands even more. I feel like were talking to each other more like equals now, she says. She is right.

I am consumed with trying to keep us safe. I wipe down the doorknobs, the light switches, the faucets, the handles, the counters with disinfectant. I swab my phone with alcohol. I throw the days hoodie into the laundry at night as if it were my scrubs. I wash all our towels again and again. When CK wants to shower, I wipe down the whole main bathroom  where T refills his water cup, where he has had diarrhea, where he coughs and spits out phlegm  with bleach, take out Ts washcloth, towels, and bathmat and replace them with clean ones, telling CK to try not to touch anything, to shower and go right back to her room. Then I do the same. If T needs to use the bathroom before were ready to shower, I do the whole bleach routine again before we go in. Twice, in the first week of the illness, I eased him into an Epsom-salt bath. But not since then. He is too weak. It would be too much. There is no way. When he shuffles down the hall from the bedroom to the bathroom, he lists against the wall. He splashes water on his face in the bathroom, and that has to be enough.

I run through possibilities. Im not so worried about CK getting sick. I can nurse her too. Its if I get sick. I show her how to do more things, where things go, what to remember, what to do if  what if T is hospitalized? What if I am? Could a 16-year-old be left to fend for herself at home alone? How would she get what she needed? Could she do it? For how long?

The one thing I know is that I could not send her to my parents, 78 years old and nearby on Long Island. They would want her to come, but she could kill them, their dear grandchild coming forward to their embrace, radioactive, glowing with invisible incubating virus cells. No. Not them. Someone else would have to take her, someone who has a bedroom and a bathroom where she could isolate and be cared for. Someone would.

I lie awake at 4 a.m., on the floor, listening, thinking, wide awake with adrenaline.

The nights are hardest, when the fear and dread descend, T feverish, lying on his back, murmuring hoarsely about anomie, saying he almost just called CK by the name of his 20-years-ago ex-girlfriend. Three times we have tried to decide whether we need to go to the emergency room while on speaker phone with the doctor, once after I burst into sobs in the bathroom, saying out loud, Im afraid to make the wrong call. Each time we decided to stay at home. He doesnt have trouble breathing, and that would be the reason to go to the hospital.

We do a video call on one of these nights with a New York University emergency-room doctor, one of 250 who have been mobilized to do urgent-care video calls with patients who have flu-like symptoms. She tells us that they are seeing this illness run two to three weeks. She tells us that T is OK to stay home if his oxygen-saturation reading doesnt get too low, if he is not struggling to breathe. He is not. When I opened the bedroom door to check on him and find him sleeping, I tiptoe closer and bend to make sure he is alive, to make sure he is still breathing, as I used to do when CK was an infant, asleep in her crib.

On one of the worst nights, I stay next to the bed, rubbing his body through the piled-on blankets, trying to comfort him. I hear myself start to hum, low, the only song I would  the song both my mother and my grandmother used to sing to me. When my mother sang it, it was Tura Lura Lura with When Irish Eyes Are Smiling cut into it after the words Thats an Irish Lullaby. When my grandmother sang it to me, it was Tura Lura Lura with the words changed to Thats a Russian Lullaby. That is the song of my early childhood, and more than four decades later, I am humming it to my gravely ill husband.

Now we live in a dystopian story, I say to CK in the kitchen.

Yeah, she says. And then  lots of people already did.

Out on the street, T somehow looks even more frail, his 6-foot-1 frame stooped and swaddled in his winter jacket over another jacket over his fathers gray wool sweater over a Duofold wool undershirt over a white ribbed tank. He says its cold, blinking in the March sun over the white surgical mask he wore at the clinic when he was tested.

We both wear disposable gloves. I put my hand through the crook of his arm, and we slowly start for the clinic. The day before was one of the harder ones, with T lightheaded and nauseated most of the day, eating only if I spoon-fed him, coughing more and using his albuterol inhaler more, then coughing more again. He was soaked in sweat in the morning and by evening was lying curled up, looking apprehensive. I coughed up blood just now, he told me quietly.

We talked to his doctor on speakerphone. We are all kind of working blind, he told us. Many patients, he said, seem to begin to feel better after a week. But others, the more serious and severe cases, take a downturn, and the risks rise as the virus targets the lungs. Pneumonia is a common next step in that downward progression. We read about it in the patients admitted to the hospital. Now the doctor called in a prescription for antibiotics to the CVS pharmacy that would close in less than an hour. I texted Ts friend down the block, and he texted back that he would pick up the medicine. I asked if he would get oranges too. T has been accepting a little fresh-squeezed juice or cut-up pieces, and we were down to one last orange. They suddenly seemed an unimaginably exotic treat.

The doctor told us to go back to the clinic for chest X-rays first thing in the morning. Now we slowly walk the three blocks, T coughing behind his mask. As we move along the street, we see some other people too  fewer than a few days ago before Governor Andrew Cuomo directed New Yorkers to stay indoors as much as possible. Some joggers go by. Just over a week ago, that was still me. Now I point out the buds about to bloom on the branches we pass, drawing Ts attention away from the few passers-by so we wont see if they start or turn around. A few are wearing their own masks, but they are walking upright, striding along, using them as protection for themselves. Not like us.

At the clinic, another couple wearing masks opens the door and walks in. A man in a mask sits in the waiting area. T eases into a chair and leans against the wall with his eyes closed. I go to the desk. My husband has already tested positive for Covid-19, I tell the attendant, whose eyes meet mine over her mask.

She hands me a mask. Ts doctor is working at a different clinic today, so well see another doctor, and they will compare notes. We wait, wearing our masks. Ts eyes are still closed. I look out the window behind us, where people on the street are walking along as if it were an ordinary day. A man opens the door of a tiny cafe across the street with his bare hand and goes inside.

Another attendant comes to the desk, and the first attendant murmurs quietly to her. The second attendant puts on a mask.

We are called inside. The nurses, in masks, check Ts vitals. He has a slight fever, just over 99 degrees, but that may be lowered because of the recent ibuprofen and acetaminophen in his system. His blood pressure is fine. His pulse is fine. His oxygen-saturation is fine. We tell them about the fevers, the sweats, the nausea, the coughing, the spots of blood he is continuing to cough up, the lower oxygen-saturation number we recorded at home this morning.

When the nurses leave, T leans back in the examination chair, resting his head with his eyes closed. Out in the hall, I hear someone telling a patient that he has been sick for a long time. Its time to go to the hospital five blocks away.

The doctor comes in, wearing a mask and a plastic shield over it. T, shivering in a paper gown, follows her out for the X-ray. That was strangely difficult, he says when he returns. Just holding my arms above my head. The X-ray looks different from the one a week ago, the doctor tells us after consulting with the radiologist. Now it shows pneumonia in the left lung. Ts doctor was right to order the antibiotics last night. Ts lungs sound all right when she listens through a stethoscope  he is not wheezing. He is not having breathing problems. He can keep being treated at home. But now were going to be watching you even more closely, she says.

At the door of the clinic, we stand looking out at two older women chatting outside the doorway, oblivious. Do I wave them away? Call out that they should get far away, go home, wash their hands, stay inside? Instead we just stand there awkwardly until they move on. Only then do we step outside to begin the long three-block walk home.

I point out the early magnolia, the forsythia. T says he is cold. The untrimmed hairs on his neck, under his beard, are white. The few people walking past us on the sidewalk dont know that we are visitors from the future.

A vision, a premonition, a walking visitation. This will be them  either T in the mask, or  if theyre lucky  me, tending to him.

This was recorded by Audm. Audm is an app you can download to listen to lots of audio stories from publishers such as The New York Times.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wants expanded absentee voting, voters to be able to social distance and other measures when they go to the polls in the November election so that they can remain safe from exposure to the coronavirus.

Blumenthal's proposal comes as some lawmakers speculate President Donald Trump may move to delay the election because of the global pandemic, given that several states have already postponed their primaries.

So far, the Republican incumbent and his Democratic rivals - former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders - have not said they want to postpone the November contest.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wants voters to be able to social distance when they go to the polls in the November election so that they can remain safe from exposure to the coronavirus. Voters are pictured in New Hampshire during the 2016 presidential election

So far, President Donald Trump and his Democratic rivals - former vice president Joe Biden (left) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders - have not said they want to postpone the November election

There have been more than 43,000 confirmed cases in the US of the infection, also known as COVID-19, which has been blamed for 553 known deaths.

Federal health officials have warned that the worst of the pandemic has yet to hit the U.S.

More than 46,000 people tested positive for coronavirus by Monday night, and close to 600 deaths have been blamed on the infection

Trump has left it up to each state how they choose to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, prompting governors to issue local lockdowns which have impacted residents and non-essential businesses and services.

States that have issued shelter-in place orders, so far, are California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Among lawmakers who have speculated Trump may seek a delay of the election is Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, reports Just the News.

Blumenthal, also a Democrat and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, looking ahead suggests voters consider alternative voting methods before the outbreak forces a delay to the November vote.

'The general election cannot be delayed in my view without substantial disruption,' Blumenthal told Just the News on Friday. 'It has to be done before the end of the year because the Constitution requires that the results be done.'

He said options to consider include expanded absentee voting, remote voting and rethinking 'how we can allocate space and distribute people so they're not standing next to each other in polling places.'

'We're the United States of America,' he said. 'Democracies can conquer these kinds of logistical challenges. We should plan to have our election in November. The primaries, perhaps, should be delayed and again, expanded absentee ballots.  I think we need to think through how to do it.'
MUSKEGON, MI  Even though Mercy Health has asked for and received donated protective masks, some nurses in Muskegon have said theyre not allowed to wear them and have filed labor complaints.

Nurses working at Mercy Healths Hackley Campus claim employees were told not to wear donated masks, or masks they brought to work themselves, that they need for protection against coronavirus COVID-19.

Furthermore, they say there is a hospital policy that restricts their access to their own or donated personal protective equipment.

The hospitals chief medical officer said he knows of no such policy, that the hospital is providing appropriate protective equipment for staff at this stage of the pandemic -- but not necessarily the type that have been donated -- and there may be good reason nurses were asked to remove certain types of masks.

The Michigan Nurses Association on Monday, March 23, filed labor complaints with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Labor Relations Board.

The more detailed MIOSHA complaint alleges that administrators with the health systems Hackley campus have enacted a policy restricting the ability of nurses to utilize personal or donated N95 respirator masks.

This past weekend, we had nurses in the E.R. that had the N95 masks and were told by management to throw them away because they were donated, said Justin Howe, who works as a registered nurse in Hackleys intensive care unit. It blows my mind because here we are in this national shortage.

Howe serves as president of the Mercy Health Partners R.N. Staff Council, a local with the Michigan Nurses Association, which filed the complaints.

Last week, the MNA issued a statement complaining that Mercy Health Hackley was not properly screening patients for COVID-19 and wasnt providing adequate equipment for its nurses.

On Monday evening, March 23, Mercy Health issued a press release saying it was seeking donations of personal protection equipment for health workers. That includes the N95 masks as well as face shields, isolation gowns, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer and supplies for powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) hoods.

Howe said that while hes grateful the hospital is accepting the donations, he expects that the N95 masks in particular be distributed to nurses so we can protect ourselves and take care of the community, take care of our patients.

He said the hospital is providing staff with surgical masks, but they dont filter out virus particles.

There are a lot of unknown factors, especially in the E.R., Howe said. Thats ground zero for protection of the staff and patients.

Grill said he was unaware of any nurse being told to throw away a mask they brought to work themselves. However, he said N95 masks need to be properly fitted and inspected to make sure theyre not damaged.

If a staff member wants to bring in an N95 mask, we are not telling them to throw it away, he said. We are requesting to fit test them.

Grill said N95 masks are not to be simply worn around the emergency department or, for example, the hospital lobby. He said theres too much risk of damage to the masks that are in short supply.

N95 masks would be appropriate for certain procedures, but must be worn with surgical masks and facial shields, the latter of which are needed to protect the eyes, he said.

Instead, the hospital is providing PAPR hoods for staff to wear, which fully cover their heads and can be cleaned and reused, Grill said. Those are safer and are the preferred protective equipment currently, he said. If all 20 of the hospitals PAPR hoods are in use, staff would be provided N95 masks, surgical masks and face shields, he said.

Howe said there is a very limited number of PAPR hoods in the emergency room and in the inpatient care area. Some are in incident command, from which the nurses would need to order them, he said.

Mercy has told employees that donated supplies need to be taken to incident command too, Howe said. Some of those donations are coming from other area labor unions, he said.

Once theyre donated, were not seeing them on the floor, he said.

Muskegon County has three cases of the coronavirus COVID-19, according to the Muskegon County health department. The third patient is a boy with no travel history, the health department reported Tuesday.

Neither of the first two have been in contact with Mercy Health hospitals in Muskegon and Shelby, Grill said. He didnt know about the third person with a diagnosis, which was revealed on Tuesday.

MLive has complete coverage on coronavirus COVID-19, including maps of known cases, at mlive.com/coronavirus.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

More on MLive:

Nurses say Mercy isnt properly screening for coronavirus, protective gear inadequate

Heres what to know about coronavirus impacted hearings at Muskegon County courts

West Michigan hospitals fighting coronavirus get stockpiled masks
T he UK's youngest MP Nadia Whittome has returned to her former job as a care worker to help with the coronavirus crisis.

The Nottingham East MP said she will donate the salary receives from her part-time role at ExtraCare in Nottingham to a local Covid-19 support fund.

The 23-year-old said: "I am returning part-time to my previous job as a care worker because social care is already in crisis and the care system is in serious danger of falling apart at the seams during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Care workers work tirelessly to support communities, yet rarely receive recognition and pay that reflects their contribution."

The NHS has called for retirees and former health workers to return to their previous roles during the outbreak and Health Secretary Matt Hancock said around 7,500 have done so as of Monday.

The MP for Lewes in East Sussex said she was returning to nursing because "the NHS will be getting unprecedented numbers of patients needing care, but also because staff are liable to get sick themselves."

Ms Caulfield, who used to work at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Brompton, says her former colleagues in the NHS are working long hours.

She added: "They can only go at 110% pace for so long and will need breaks themselves.

"I am very happy to use that time to help those who are ill during this time.

"I have got all my training for that hospital. I have still got that uniform.

"For me it's very easy to get back into the swing of things, others will need more help to do that."
Dr. Lisa Dana has worked as a pediatrician in San Francisco for 20 years. She sees hundreds of local kids at Golden Gate Pediatrics with locations in both S.F. and Mill Valley, and is also part of the clinical faculty at UCSF.

In recent weeks, Dana has been fielding lots of questions from parents concerned about COVID-19, the highly contagious virus gripping the world. Below she answers some of the most common questions shes receiving and in general she advises parents to call their doctors if they're concerned.

SFGATE: Is it true that children are at a lower risk for complications if they contract the virus?

Dr. Lisa Dana: Children appear to have a milder course, but children with underlying medical issues can be at risk for more severe disease. This can include asthma, autoimmune diseases, heart disease and diabetes. But we're getting new information daily.

SFGATE: Is it true kids aren't dying from coronavirus?

Dr. Dana: There have been reports of fatalities in children and we're hearing more reports about children and teens being affected in the U.S.

SFGATE: If I know my teenager vapes, should I be concerned that she may be at an increased risk for complications if she catches coronavirus?

Dr. Dana: If you have a history of vaping, you may be at significantly increased risk for complications. Your lung function has been weakened by vaping, and will make COVID-19 more deadly. Vaping with marijuana or nicotine are both equally dangerous.

SFGATE: If my teenager is going crazy at home, can I let them go out with friends to a park or the beach even though a shelter-in-place order is in effect?

Dr. Dana: Teenagers need to stay home with their families. If they meet up with friends, they can spread the virus. Many teens have mild, unrecognizable symptoms. Keep your teens home. They can meet on social media. As much as you can preach for them to stay six feet apart, they just can't seem to do it. They think they are immune from the virus. They are not.

SFGATE: Is it OK to let my kids ride their bikes and skateboards?

Dr. Dana: If your child injures themselves on a bike or skateboard, they will need to go to the ER. The ERs are stretched and are in short supply of PPE (personal protective equipment). That broken arm or laceration that could have been avoided will take that PPE from someone who desperately needs it.

SFGATE: Is it OK to take my kids to the grocery store with me?

Dr. Dana: If possible, do not take your kids to the grocery store or pharmacy. The more people in those crowded locations, the more likely the virus will continue to spread.

SFGATE: Is it OK to take my kids with me on walks with the dog? Can my child pet other peoples dogs?

Dr. Dana: Take your family on a walk with your dog. You should keep your distance from other families. You should never be so close to another family that you can pet their dog.

SFGATE: Can the children visit with their grandparents?

Dr. Dana: The best way you can keep your grandparents alive is to Facetime with them or give them a call. Do not visit them. That visit could be a death sentence.

SFGATE: What should I do if I think my child has coronavirus?

Dr. Dana: If you are concerned that your child may have COVID-19, call your doctor to make an appointment for advice on how to manage symptoms and to set up an appointment. In our office we are seeing patients virtually whenever possible. It is best to stay home. If your child is in respiratory distress and is having difficulty breathing, go to the emergency room and/or call 911.

SFGATE: Are children being tested?

Dr. Dana: Children are being tested. The state is rolling out more testing sites daily.

SFGATE: How can I keep my child comfortable if she has coronavirus?

Dr. Dana: Fluids, rest and healthy meals will help with the mild symptoms of COVID-19. These mild symptoms include sore throat, cough, diarrhea, low grade temp, and/or achiness.

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.
As Iowans continue to fight against the spread of COVID-19 with extraordinary public health measures, its important that National Ag Week is now. Our farmers and the entire Iowa food and ag community are continuing to step up, providing food and energy security when it matters most.

Food is a year-round essential, but this situation has called special attention to the critical role our farmers and food industry plays in ensuring access to quality, nutritious food, no matter the circumstances. Its in moments like these that the adage if you ate today, thank a farmer, especially rings true.

The examples of Iowans pitching in and overcoming hardship to keep food accessible are remarkable. Dairy operations, such as Stensland Family Farms in Larchwood and AE Dairy in Des Moines, are making extra milk deliveries to grocers and shifting production to keep milk available. Cedar Ridge Distillery in Swisher has converted its grain-intensive operation into a make-shift hand sanitizer production facility and is giving away thousands of bottles for free. Farmers are upholding biosecurity best practices as they continue to feed and raise livestock.

Nonprofits fighting food insecurity are also rising to the challenge of maintaining services. The DMARC food bank network is implementing new health measures to keep its mobile food pantry running while also collaborating with Food Bank of Iowa and Des Moines Public Schools to provide grab-and-go meal packages at schools. Northeast Iowa Food Bank is continuing its emergency boxes and elderly nutrition programs in addition to shifting its mobile pantry to a curb-side pick-up model.

Logistics companies are working overtime to facilitate shipments of essential food, supplies, and household items, a task made easier thanks to Gov. Reynolds transportation waivers. Public employees, including those at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, will continue to perform essential functions to secure supply chains and ensure food safety.

As a national leader in production of corn, pork, eggs, ethanol, biodiesel and soybeans, Iowans always bear a tremendous responsibility to keep people fed and the economy moving. Now is no different. One in five Iowans work in jobs connected to agriculture, and 85 percent of our states land is dedicated to food and fuel production. National Ag Week might normally be time for meetings and celebrations of Iowas role as a global agriculture leader. This year, our state will celebrate by showing why leadership matters, and why the nation can count on our agriculture and resilience at any hour.

This week and every week, we say thank you to all of the Iowa families, biofuels workers, livestock producers, truckers, and everyone involved in ag from the farm gate to the grocery shelf, who are digging deeper and coming together as a community.

Mike Naig is secretary of the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

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Edamah, the real estate investment arm of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, said it will be deferring rent payments for its retail, food and beverage (F&B) and commercial portfolio for April and May in view of the new Coronavirus (Covid -19) situation.



In line with its efforts to support those tenants impacted by the global Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah) has announced that it will be deferring rent payments for all affected businesses across its retail, food and beverage (F&B) and commercial portfolio for April and May.



Edamah, the real estate investment arm of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, follows on from its earlier measures which exempted selected tenants from paying rent in March.



CEO Amin Alarrayed confirmed that the company continues to support the national efforts to limit the repercussions of the Covid-19 on a local level and reduce the impact on various sectors.



"We are also working on developing plans to ensure business continuity for small and medium enterprises," he stated.



Alarrayed affirmed that Edamah was one of the first companies to support entrepreneurs in the commercial sector by providing relief measures to safeguard economic development in light of the current situation.



"At Edamah we consider this our duty as an integral part of Team Bahrain," he stated.



Alarrayed also stressed that the company will continue to offer real estate management and development services as part of its efforts to stimulate economic growth.-TradeArabia News Service
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As schools close across the United States due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), Advanced Placement (AP) exams will be held online and shortened to 45 minutes.

College Board, which administers the exams, announced that traditional face-to-face exam administrations -- which are typically two to three hours long -- wont take place.

Students will instead take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home for the 2019-2020 administration only. Educator-led development committees are currently selected exam questions that will be administered.

Due to some schools losing instructional time earlier than others, the exam will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March.

For students who want to take the exam sooner rather than later, or for students who want more time to prepare, there will be two different testing dates for each AP subject. The full exam schedule, specific free-response question types that will be on each AP exam, and additional testing details will be available by April 3, according to College Board.

Students can take the streamlined exams on any device they have access to, including a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.

For low-income and rural students, College Board is working with partners to ensure students have the tools and connectivity they need to review AP content online and take the exam. You can reach out to College Board at https://collegeboard.tfaforms.net/74 if you need mobile tools or connectivity.

When it comes to test security, the exam questions are designed and administered in ways that prevent cheating. College Board uses a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software, to protect the integrity of exams.

College Board said students remain eager to take AP exams to have a chance to earn credits. It surveyed 18,000 AP students and 91% indicated they want to complete this important step and urged College Board to not cancel this opportunity they have been working toward.

Well continue to support students with free resources through exam day, said College Board. "And while we encourage students to wait until closer to the test date to decide, any student already registered for an exam can choose to cancel at no charge.

College Board will unlock any relevant free-response questions in AP Classroom for digital use to allow students access to practice questions. Beginning Wednesday, students and teachers can attend free, live AP review courses delivered by teachers from across the country.

And students dont have to worry about colleges not accepting their scores. According to College Board, colleges are supporting this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they worked hard to earn.

53 The coronavirus life in New York City: The new normal

SAT, ACT TEST CANCELLATIONS

College entrance exams are being canceled or rescheduled.

The College Board announced it is canceling the May 2 SAT administration, as well a make-up exam scheduled for March 28.

Students who already registered for the May exam, whose March test centers were closed, or who dont receive March scores because of any irregularities will receive refunds, the College Board said.

The ACT, which also administers college placement exams, announced it has rescheduled the April 4 national ACT test to June 13 in response to concerns of coronavirus.

All students currently registered for the April 4 exam will receive an email from ACT in the coming days informing them of the postponement and instructions for free rescheduling to June 13 or a future national test date.

Students who cant or dont want to reschedule can receive a refund of their April registration fee.

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I understand what Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia was trying to say. After all, he is the governor of all Virginians and cannot cater to one faith group above another. But his tweet could easily be misunderstood, and it does call for a response.

On Monday night Gov. Northam tweeted, Tonight, I held a call with faith leaders across Virginia. I'm grateful for their leadership in bringing people together spiritually, while remaining physically apart.

This virus does not care who we pray to or how we worship  we must all work together in fighting against it.

Mr. Governor, with all respect, it certainly does matter who we pray to. (I beg forgiveness of grammatically sensitive readers who will be distracted by the sentence-ending preposition. Please overlook this fault.)

Again, I understand what Gov. Northam was saying and doing. And I appreciate him reaching out to a wide coalition of faith leaders which would have included Christians, Jews, Muslims and others.

This is in harmony with the words of President Trumps National Day of Prayer Proclamation, which said, In our times of greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty. As we continue to face the unique challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are unable to gather in their churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship.

So, yes, I agree that these faith leaders have a responsibility to their respective communities. And I agree that they should be encouraged in serving those communities during the present crisis.

I also agree that we must all work together in fighting against COVID-19, regardless of our particular religious beliefs or practices.

And, while the wording is odd, I understand the governors point about the virus: it doesnt care whether we are Muslims who worship Allah, Hindus who worship Krishna, or atheists who do not worship a creator. It infects and kills indiscriminately.

In that sense, it is totally impartial and shows no favoritism.

Skin color doesnt matter. Ethnicity doesnt matter. Political affiliation doesnt matter. Religious dogma doesnt matter.

People from all backgrounds from around the world are dying. The virus doesnt care.

With all that, I agree, affirming Gov. Northams desire to work with all the faith communities in his state.

At the same time, I categorically differ with the possible implication of his tweet, namely, that during a crisis of this magnitude, who we pray to or how we worship is irrelevant.

Of course this matters, quite deeply so, unless prayer and worship are just things we do. In other words, if prayer and worship are simply religious rites practiced by devout people to make them feel better, then who we pray to doesnt really matter.

But if prayer and worship are meant to connect us to the one true God, then you better believe we need to get this right. As I tweeted in response, With all respect, Governor, yes, we must all work together, but NO, it matters who we pray to. There's an infinite difference between praying to THE God vs. a god. (See also my separate tweet here.)

To underscore the point (albeit in exaggerated form), do you think it matters whether we pray to Satan or to the God of the Bible? Or whether we pray to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, or to the Lord? Do you think it matters if we pray to some nebulous, New Age spiritual force or to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe?

Only one has the power to save and deliver. Only one can calm the storm. Only one can intervene.

But theres another reason that it matters who we pray to. As I tweeted on Sunday, We don't know that the coronavirus is a divine judgment, but we do know that we have many sins as a church & as a nation, & we also know that we need God's mercy. So now is a great time to search our hearts, repent, & cry out. God will accept our repentance & hear our cries.

The point is that we dont just need an end to the virus, we need a change of heart and mind. We need national (and international) repentance. We need soul searching and life transformation. We need moral guidance as much as we need divine mercy.

That can only come from the God of the Bible, as offensive as that may sound to practitioners of other faiths (or to the non-religious.) And so, while the virus does not care who we pray to or how we worship (seeing that the virus is not a sentient being), the one true God cares.

He cares about who we pray to. About how we worship. And about how we live. Lets be sure we get this right.

Thats why President Trumps prayer proclamation did well to make frequent reference to God, to quote several verses from the Bible (1 Peter 5:7; Luke 1:37; and Psalm 91), and to speak of our Father.

Who we pray to really does matter, especially during times of crisis. It affects how we live as well.

The virus might not care, but the one true God certainly does.
Big names from Bollywood industry including Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Katrina Kaif have no excuses but the determination to follow the workout regimes in full power at home during the self-isolation period.

Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, whose will to remain fit is quite vivid in the latest post he shared on social media on Tuesday. Clad in a gym outfit, the 77-year-old took to Instagram and shared a selfie.

Having weights and treadmill in the background, the Big-B captioned the post as "Keep the gym going .. build resistance .. fight fight fight !!! "

Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, and Manish Malhotra expressed their respect and love for the Dadasaheb Phalke Awardee in the comment section.

On the other hand, the ever-young star of Bollywood Anil Kapoor is all burning it out in the video he shared on Instagram on Tuesday.

The actor is pushing himself harder as he is seen in the exercise bikes indoors and his gym instructor motivating him to do further.

"Let's keep moving ( indoors )! There's no escaping my workout when my trainer @marcyogimead is staying with me! #QuarantineandWorkout #StayHomeStayFit," the 63-year-old actor wrote the caption.

Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif has provided a full-fledged workout routine, detailing the type of exercise and the count of each to be followed.

The 36-year-old shared the working out video on Instagram.

"Since we are all practicing #SocialDistancing @yasminkarachiwala and I worked out at our homes and put the workouts together for you to do at yours. Stay home stay safe #Warmup1.Squat with feet hip-width apart - 2 sets x 25 reps2.Squat with feet wide parallel- 2 sets x 25 reps 3.Squat with feet wide turnout- 2 sets x 25 reps4.Squat with feet together- 2 sets x 25 reps

#Workout:1.Forward and Backward Lunge - 2 sets x 15 reps 2. In Hover, Hip Dips - 3 sets x 20 reps3.Curtsy Lunge to Side Kick - 3 sets x 15 reps 4.Suicide Push- 3 sets x 15 reps 5.Landis or Single Leg Squat - 3 sets x 15 reps 6. Squat Jacks - 3 sets x 25 reps ", the 'Bharat' actor captioned the post.

Many actors are finding their engagements to make the most of the time during the self-isolation period. Many are indulging in their favourite hobbies, while others are using their social media platforms to entertain the audience.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Less than a week ago, West Virginia held the distinction of being the only US state without a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. Since then, 20 people have tested positive for the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

With just 1.8 million residents, the Appalachian state is one of the least populated in the United States. But with the coronavirus now inside state lines, it faces a potentially significant health crisis, with West Virginians possibly finding themselves more affected than any other US state.

A string of health concerns means the states residents may be more susceptible to coronavirus than others: The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions particularly hard. Only Maine (20.6 percent of its population is 65 years old or older) and Florida (20.5 percent) have populations older than West Virginias, where 19.9 percent of the population fits that age profile. In 2018, it was home to around 360,000 people aged 65 or older.

By a host of measures, however, West Virginia lags behind those states: Maine is known for its high quality of nursing homes and Medicare, the national health insurance programme. Florida, for its part, has a robust, multi-faceted economy.

On the other hand, while nearly 14 percent of adult Americans reported smoking every day in 2018, that jumps to 25 percent in West Virginia. The state also ranks first nationally in adults reporting poor health and has the second-highest lung cancer mortality rate, as well as high levels of heart attacks and strokes.

Members of the West Virginia National Guards Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosive (CBRNE) Battalion and 35th Civil Support Team (CST) provide assistance for COVID-19 swabbing for the staff of a nursing facility in Morgantown, West Virginia [Handout/US Army National Guard/Davis Rohrer/Reuters]

None of those numbers is lost on Tina Coleman, who runs a flower and gift store outside the town of Welch in McDowell County in the south of the state. Once a mining powerhouse, the county is West Virginias poorest and one of the most impoverished counties in the US.

Colemans 74-year-old mother lives with her and suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a serious lung ailment.

Normally, I would bring her with me [to the store], but now I leave her at home, she told Al Jazeera. I strip my clothes off as soon as I walk in the door and go straight to the shower.

Colemans husband is a diabetic and she said she was told by a local doctors wife on Thursday morning that insulin supplies in the area are almost out, although that could not be independently confirmed. Luckily, Colemans husband has a months supply on hand.

Healthcase system in decline

Many West Virginians live in rural hollows and small, former mining communities that suffer more from underlying health conditions than most other US states as a result of the coal industry, which has employed tens of thousands of workers over decades. Black lung disease or progressive massive fibrosis caused by chronic inhalation of coal dust is thought to afflict one in five former miners across the Appalachia region.

Last year, West Virginia ranked 48th out of 50 states for quality of healthcare, according to the US News & World Report, in an assessment of access, quality, affordability and healthcare outcomes.

Additionally, the state has been hammered by the opioid epidemic that, in recent months, has created a spike in cases of HIV centred on Cabell County in the north of the state.

Local health departments in West Virginia have experienced a 20 percent decrease in funding from the state government in the last decade.

Homes sit in front of the Consol Coal Shoemaker Mine facility along the Ohio River in Benwood, West Virginia [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters]

That makes it harder to respond to an event [such as the coronavirus pandemic], when you have no surge capacity because you are full out to start with, said Diane Gross, regional epidemiologist with the Monongalia County Health Department and an adjunct professor at West Virginia University in Morgantown. As a state, we may be particularly hard hit by this crisis because we are having a number of [existing] public health and medical crises, including the opioid crisis.

She suggested the reason West Virginia was the last US state to identify a positive coronavirus case could have been due to lower travel activity, less access to healthcare and low levels of testing.

Early last week, President Donald Trump caused angst among some West Virginians by claiming it would not need federal help as it had not, at that time, reported any cases of the virus.

State officials, however, have attempted to mobilise quickly. Testing centres have been set up in several towns, including Morgantown. Children dependent on now-closed schools for food have been able to collect meals from their local bus stops. Some elderly centres that have closed in McDowell County are offering grab and go food packages that can be picked up at noon each day.

Members of the West Virginia National Guards special response teams provide hands-on personal protective equipment instruction to the staff of Cabell Huntington Hospital to help prepare the facility for potential future cases of novel coronavirus in Huntington, West Virginia [Handout/US Army National Guard/Edwin L Wriston/Reuters]

On Thursday, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced the state bought 100,000 surgical masks, some to be used by medical workers. The one advantage that we might have is that its given us some time to prepare a little more and potentially learn of the lessons other states and countries have had, Gross said.

As of Monday, however, just 448 tests had been conducted and Tina Coleman believes the state authorities are absolutely not prepared to deal with the unfolding crisis.

There should be a plan in place for this. You cant just shut the whole state down, she said.

Shes worried by the fact that McDowell County is home to a high number of elderly residents.

Are they going to have what they need to ride this out?
Married At First Sight's Ivan Sarakula has suggested the coronavirus pandemic is a conspiracy.

The real estate agent, 30, told Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt there was 'more to the story that we don't know' and even said the global health crisis seemed 'fishy' to him.

The conversation began when Ivan told the Brisbane radio hosts he was planning to visit his 'wife', Aleks Markovic, in Perth.

'There's some pretty crazy stuff going on': Married At First Sight's Ivan Sarakula (pictured) has suggested the coronavirus pandemic is a conspiracy

One of the presenters said that interstate travel would be difficult given the national response to coronavirus, to which Ivan replied: 'Yeah, this rubbish... yeah, if you buy into it, it's hard.'

Ivan went on to speculate: 'I don't know if it's a lie, mate, but there's some pretty crazy stuff going on. In China, I watched some videos last night of spraying the streets and all sorts of jazz.

'I don't know, I think there's more to the story that we don't know... there's just something going on that's just fishy.'

Strange: The real estate agent, 30, told Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt there was 'more to the story that we don't know' and even said the global health crisis seemed 'fishy' to him. Pictured with Aleks Markovic

The stunned hosts asked Ivan whether he was still going to work as usual.

'I'm definitely still working, depending on who's out there. If they're coughing and spluttering, I guess you don't shake anyone's hand if they've got symptoms of the flu anyway,' he said.

The radio trio reminded Ivan that he shouldn't be shaking anyone's hand, given how easily coronavirus can spread.

Back to work: Ivan said he was still working as usual, but assured the radio presenters that he wasn't shaking anyone's hand 'if they've got flu symptoms'

As of Tuesday morning, there are 1,716 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including seven deaths.

To limit the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a stage-one lockdown on Monday, enforcing the closure of pubs, clubs, gyms, cinemas and other indoor gathering spots.

However, some businesses have dodged the ban, including real estate agencies.

There has actually been a sharp upturn in business for real estate agents amid the coronavirus pandemic, as people seek to sell their homes and investment properties as the world heads toward recession.
Actor Sakshi Tanwar believes it is hard for women to break away from the confines of their domestic life and its responsibility as they are burdened with inherent guilt.

The actor, who features in the short film Ghar Ki Murgi, a tribute to selfless homemakers, believes the social conditioning of women stops them from enjoying freedom.

Guilt is a very woman thing. Sometimes this responsibility is not even put upon us we willing take up on us. I am sure, when you will have a chat with your family, they will say, ok, go take a break. But sometimes out of our own guilt we never bring it up, Saksh told PTI in an interview.

Today in educated homes, the scenario is far more different. Some people understand and respect that the woman is working and there are some men who are sharing the responsibility, she added.

In Ghar Ki Murgi, directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Sakshi plays Seema Batra, a homemaker who struggles to find her place in the household as she to fulfils her responsibilities towards her family.

However, the actor said she has had a very different life from what her character has in the short, but she drew a lot of inspiration from her mother while essaying the role.

I have got help for everything. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have a family who is doing everything for me and I can happily go and do what I like. Though I don't live this life, but I don't think there is anything in this film that is not believable. I may not have lived it but I have seen this life.

I have seen it, in reference to my mother, this happens in every house. We all have taken our mothers for granted. I am still in a way taking my mother for granted. This is the story of every house. If not the whole thing, maybe a part of it is," Sakshi said.

Ghar Ki Murgi, penned by Nitesh Tiwari, had its India premiere on the digital platform, SonyLIV, on International Women's Day, March 8.

Sakshi will next be seen in Akshay Kumar-starrer "Prithviraj", to be released in November 2020 and has also signed a new web show.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (CSE:CMC)(OTCQB:CWSFF) ("CIELO"/"Company") announces that Renewable U Medicine Hat Inc. ("Renewable U Medicine Hat") has informed CIELO that it has secured an agreement in principle to purchase 80 acres of land in Cypress County, Alberta, which is near Dunmore, approximately 3 kilometers southeast of Medicine Hat. Renewable U Medicine Hat has also advised CIELO that it has the funding in place to close the contemplated Purchase and Sale Agreement, which will be subject to a number of closing conditions that are anticipated to be satisfied on or before July 1, 2020.

Renewable U Medicine Hat is the company with which CIELO has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU")(see February 26, 2019 Press Release) to fund all aspects of building and placing on production a joint venture facility in, or within, 50 kilometers of Medicine Hat ("JV Facility"). The JV Facility is being designed and engineered to initially convert up to 8 tonnes per hour of multiple waste feedstocks (about 65,000 tonnes/year) into 4,000 liters an hour 32.7 Million liters/year of renewable fuels that can be blended into conventional highway transportation, marine and aviation/jet fuels. It is contemplated that the JV Facility will operate 341 days a year and cost approximately $50 million to build and commission. During construction, CIELO expects to employ approximately 50 - 70 people and, once on production, CIELO expects that the JV Facility will employ approximately 25 full-time employees.

The 80-acre parcel of land is located directly east of Canadian Pacific Railway's ("CP") Dunmore Rail Yard and is optimally located between the TransCanada #1 Highway and CP's main line. This location will provide Cielo with the flexibility to bring in various waste feedstocks and ship the renewable fuel end-products out by rail and or by ground transportation.

Don Allan, President and CEO of CIELO, stated "Renewable U Medicine Hat, after scoping out multiple locations, presented us the land in Cypress County, which is perfectly located and ideal for future expansion opportunities. We are extremely excited to see our partners show their conviction and belief in CIELO by initiating this significant investment. This will allow CIELO to move forward with the applicable regulators and local residents to apprise them of our plans to build a green facility to convert waste into renewable fuels."

Renewable U Medicine Hat's Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Jackson, stated, "We are extremely pleased to have found a location that is situated within Cypress County where local investors and partners reside that share our vision of creating a world class facility!"

On Friday, March 27, 2020 at 11 AM EST (9 AM MST), Cielo's President & CEO, Don Allan, will be providing an update on the Company's current operations and anticipated upcoming milestones. Management will be available to answer questions following the presentation on the webinar platform. To ask a question, you will need to be logged into the GoToWebinar platform or by emailing your question(s) beforehand to RBMilestone@cielows.com.

Date: Friday, March 27, 2020

Time: 11 AM EST / 9 AM MST

Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5572786030699110156

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company.

Cielo Waste Management Corp.

Don Allan, President / CEO / Director

Investor Contacts

RB Milestone Group, LLC

Trevor Brucato, Managing Director

New York, NY & Stamford, CT

tbrucato@rbmilestone.com

About CIELO Waste Solutions Corp.

CIELO Waste Solutions Corp. is a publicly traded company with its shares listed to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CMC", as well as OTC Markets Group, on the OTCQB, under the symbol "CWSFF". CIELO is a waste to renewable energy company with a game changing technology engineered to help solve the world's garbage crisis. CIELO's technology transforms landfill garbage into renewable high-grade diesel and aviation jet fuel. CIELO's proven and patent-pending technology is currently being deployed in the Company's Aldersyde, Alberta Renewable Diesel Facility, where wood waste is currently being converted into renewable fuels.

CIELO is headquartered in Alberta, Canada with plans to build and operate green facilities across North America as well as globally.

CIELO has already begun expanding its footprint by signing multiple Memorandums of Understanding pursuant to which third parties are in negotiation with CIELO to build, at no cost to CIELO, Joint Venture Renewable Diesel Facilities in Grande Prairie, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, Alberta as well as in Nova Scotia. Each JV Facility is projected to cost approximately $50 million to build, commission and place on production. CIELO will be the general contractor and operator of all the proposed JV Facilities. The feedstock that will be used in the Company's green facilities is the world's most available and inexpensive feedstock - garbage; including household, commercial/ construction/demolition garbage, used tires, railway ties and telephone poles as well as all types of plastic that currently cannot be recycled.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.

Forward looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Cielo is making forward looking statements related to the joint venture with Renewable U Medicine Hat and with respect to the 80-acre parcel of land anticipated to be purchased by Renewable U Medicine Hat, as well as the anticipated effects and opportunities resulting from each. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are described herein. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, neither the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise. The CSE and the OTCQB have not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this Press Release.

SOURCE: Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/582254/Cielos-JV-Partner-Secures-80-Acre-Site-for-Renewable-Fuel-Facility-Near-Medicine-Hat-AB
French diagnostics firm Biomerieux said Tuesday it had secured emergency approval from US regulators for a coronavirus test that can produce results in 45 minutes, potentially offering a new tool for stemming the outbreak.

The company said its Biofire Covid-19 test was developed with funding from the US Defense Department, which will be distributing the tests while Biomerieux awaits full commercial approval for the US market and elsewhere.

Biomerieux said it is ramping up production at its sites in Salt Lake City, Utah, so that its kits -- which rely on easy-to-use nasal swabs -- could be widely available in the coming weeks.

Health experts have urged early and widespread testing to find and isolate individuals who are carrying the highly contagious virus as the best way of curbing an outbreak that has already killed nearly 17,000 people since it was first reported in China in December.

But many testing labs have been overwhelmed and require hours if not days to produce results, a bottleneck that can prove deadly as the number of cases increases exponentially once a country reports its first cases.

Biomerieux said its coronavirus test is the first of three under development for the virus, whose technical name is SARS-CoV-2.

They include a real-time DNA test for coronavirus that has already been approved by French regulators, which could soon be approved by European and US regulators as well.

"We are making every effort to provide a comprehensive diagnostic approach that meets the highest performance and quality standards to help physicians mount an effective response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," Mark Miller, chief medical officer at Biomerieux, based in the southeastern French city of Lyon, said in a statement.

On Friday, the FDA said it had issued its first emergency approval for a rapid Covid-19 test to the California-based firm Cepheid, which also said it could produce results within an hour.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple's request for its popular watches to be excluded from tariffs on Chinese imports was approved by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, according to a letter dated Friday from USTR to the company. President Trump imposed a 15 percent tariff on a list of goods in September that included the Apple watch. He cut in half those tariffs as part of an initial trade deal with Beijing that went into effect Feb. 15. Apple argued in its request last year that its product, as a consumer electronic device, should be exempted because "it is not strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs."
The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has led to all releases being postponed along with production being put on hold. So far, several Hollywood, as well as Bollywood biggies, have halted productions midway. However, Salman Khan is already prepping for his next.

Salman Khan, who was shooting for Radhe before the pandemic, has only 10 days remaining of the film's schedule. With his calendar clear in the coming months, the actor is confirming dates for his next projects and getting them ready to go on floors.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the actor will prepone the shooting date for his next entertainer, Kabi Eid Kabhi Diwali. The film releasing in Eid 2021, was set to on the floors toward the end of 2020, but now will commence shoot, two months in advance.

The cameras for Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali are expected to start rolling as earlier as August 2020. Directed by Farhad Samji, the multi-starrer is said to be a family drama with Salman fighting for a larger cause in an unseen avatar alongside brother-in-law Aayush Sharma and Pooja Hegde.

The report in Mumbai Mirror quoted a source as saying, "There's a beautiful mature love story between the two characters, and Pooja's track acts as the catalyst to the plot," It is said to be a film high on action.

On the other hand, the makers have not yet announced the completion of Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai which is scheduled for a release in Eid 2020.

The film directed by Prabhu Deva, also stars, Disha Patani as Salman Khan's love interest alongside Randeep Hooda and Jackie Shroff. The film is a remake of South Korean film titled The Outlaws. This is the second time Salman is remaking a South Korean film after Bharat, which was based on the South Korean film, Ode to My Father.

Avengers Director Joe Russo Is A Salman Khan Fan, Says 'He Is Magnetic On Screen'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:19:05|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported the first indigenous case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that might have been transmitted by an overseas returnee on Monday, a health official said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that the patient might have gotten infected from a shared staircase.

The man, surnamed Liu, is 42 years old and lives in Haidian District. He had no travel history to Hubei or other high-risk areas two weeks before the onset of illness.

His downstairs neighbor, surnamed Li, returned from Britain on March 5 and was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient on March 12. Li ventured out for activities in the community and went to a supermarket while under quarantine through shared building stairs. He began to have symptoms on March 9 and walked to the hospital via the stairs on March 11.

Liu developed fever and fatigue on March 10 and was confirmed as being infected with COVID-19 on March 23. He is the first indigenous COVID-19 case infected by a patient returning from overseas in Beijing, and his symptoms were mild, according to Pang Xinghuo, with the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control.

"Liu had used the same stairs and might get infected there," said Pang, who added that thorough disinfection had been conducted in areas where they visited or lived.

Liu's wife so far has no relevant symptoms and tested negative for the coronavirus.

Beijing reported a total of 142 imported confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, according to local health commission.

The capital city has demanded all arrivals from overseas to undergo concentrated quarantine and nucleic acid testing (NAT) starting from Wednesday as the number of imported cases of COVID-19 continues to increase.
PUNE: The Pune police have set-up WhatsApp lines for grievance redressal of citizens in times of complete prohibition of vehicular movement and assembly.

The lines were activated on Tuesday morning. The four WhatsApp lines can be reached on 9145003100; 9168003100; 8975953100; 8975283100, according to Bachchan Singh, deputy commissioner of Pune police (crime).

As of Tuesday 5pm, we have received 5,764 calls and texts out of which 2,500 were pertaining to todays concerns, 1,240 have been replied. Grievances regarding serious ailments, hospital visits, urgent airport travel, emergency scenario are being helped on priority, read a statement from the team.

The grievance redressal team, headed by DCP Singh is functional around the clock. It consists of six officials working during the day and two during the night.

We could cater to at least 60% of it till 5pm. Since numbers are increasing, we are giving priority based in urgency. We will increase staff and ensure everyone is replied to- be it rejection or permission, said Ravindra Shisve, Joint Commissioner of Police, Pune.

For the IT companies and other organisations, the police have issued an email address ( punecitypolice.grievance@gmail.com ) to address their concerns.

We urge citizens to check various prohibitory guidelines which is made publicly available. This will help police in prioritising grievances. We are also working towards automating the process to smoothen the grievance redressal system and make it more efficient, read the statement.

The police are also monitoring and decimating information through their social media handles.
Actor Neetu Chandra, who was in California, USA, for the shooting for her next action thriller movie, had to return to India in the first week of March when her parents panicked after coronavirus was declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation. Before she left the country, the 35-year-old actor recalls, Everything was shutting down  from bars and restaurants to the workplaces. We were allowed limited food and if we would ask for more, they would tell us to come tomorrow. It was difficult to survive there, away from the family.

Since her shooting was also cancelled, she decided to return to India for the time being, but never thought that the Covid-19 crisis would stretch for so long and also affect India. My parents told me that before it becomes worse and everything gets locked down, you come back. People had predicted that by April, it might affect 65% of the people in California. So I rushed back. But I feel scared for my friends in California and I video call them to check if they are fine, Chandra says.

Also read: Theatre closures, releases cancelled: Four Bollywood actors wholl be hit the hardest because of Covid-19 lockdown

Though she didnt face any trouble at the airport when she returned to India, the actor says, I felt like its a scene from a movie. It was very scary. There was, of course, a panic situation at the airport and people were looking at me with suspicion that Im a carrier of the virus. But I was properly checked and was allowed to enter [the country]. Im happy that I returned safely and am now spending quality time with my family.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Using the Name CCP Virus Holds Chinese Regime Responsible for Global Crisis, Expert Says

The virus that has caused the current pandemic should be called the CCP virus, as it distinctly draws attention to the entity responsible for the viruss spread, a China expert said.

Its clearly not because of China or the Chinese people that were dealing with a global pandemic, said Robert Spalding, former senior director for strategy at the White House National Security Council and author of Stealth War: How China Took Over While Americas Elite Slept, in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Its because of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Spalding said its important to distinguish between the Chinese regime and Chinese people, and cast light on the fact that the regimes secrecy and control is the reason that we are dealing with a pandemic today, which has caused trillions of dollars in economic destruction across the globe.

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump and administration officials have drawn criticism for labeling the virus Chinese virus or Wuhan virus, a reference to the central Chinese city where the outbreak originated last December. The Chinese regime and some U.S. politicians have blasted the word choice, saying it was racist and stigmatized the Chinese people and Wuhan.

Its not racist at all, not at all. It comes from China, thats why. I want to be accurate, Trump said at a press briefing on March 18.

The best way to avoid such accusations is to brand it the CCP virus, Spalding said.

He said that for decades, the Chinese regime has been pushing the idea that any criticism of the regime is a criticism of China and the Chinese people, in order to stir up nationalism among Chinese citizens and insulate itself from outside criticism.

In this case, the regime wants to make sure that any criticism of the CCPs initial mishandling of the outbreak gets levied on the Chinese people, so that they can say, Americans really hate China and the Chinese people, or that this is all about just racism, Spalding said.

Similarly, The Epoch Times editorial pointed out that the name CCP virus is needed to distinguish the victims from the victimizer.

The people of Wuhan and of China are the victims of the CCPs arrogance and incompetence, expressed in this viral pandemic, it stated.

Josh Rogin, a national security columnist for The Washington Post, made a similar case in a March 19 op-ed titled Dont blame China for the coronavirusblame the Chinese Communist Party.

Our beef is not with the Chinese people; our problem is with the CCP  its internal repression, its external aggression, and its malign influence in free and open societies, Rogin wrote.

Mark Hemingway, senior writer for RealClearPolitics, also suggested the name change in a commentary on March 20.

Countering CCP Propaganda

Since the CCP viruss global spread, the Chinese regime has deployed an aggressive global propaganda campaign to deflect attention from its initial coverup of the outbreak. It has attempted to shift the narrative by suggesting that the virus may have originated from overseas, such as the United States, and by portraying itself as a leader in global efforts to contain the pandemic.

Spalding said the U.S. government and the West need to actively counter such propaganda by refuting and calling it out within 24 to 48 hours. This, he noted, was the policy that Taiwan authorities adopted to combat disinformation from the Chinese regime ahead of its presidential election in January.

If theres no response from the other side, then they [the CCP] can control the narrative, he said.

Therefore, its important for the United States to come out very quickly and very hard to denounce that kind of rhetoric, Spalding said.

He added that Western media also ought to familiarize itself with the nature of the CCP to avoid unintentionally parroting its propaganda.

They need to become more educated about what the Communist Party is and how they go about doing things, Spalding said.

He pointed to a recent example, of comments made by Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai opposing the promotion of conspiracy theories that the CCP virus originated from the United States.

Cuis statement, which conflicts with recent claims by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian that the virus was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. Army, led to a Bloomberg media report which postulated that the differing views represented an internal split in Beijing over how to handle relations with Trump.

Spalding said the media dont understand that no Chinese politicians, no Chinese ambassadors, no Chinese official thats under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party will say anything other than what the Party sanctions them to say.

They dont realize that this is actually part of their whole [propaganda] campaign, Spalding said, adding that having two messages is really to deflect from the fact that this is a deliberate attempt by the Party to portray the United States as the creator of the coronavirus.

Grassroots Effort

A recent appeal submitted to the White House petition website also urged for the novel coronavirus to be called the CCP virus to accurately reflect its origin.

Its Chinas ruling Communist Party (CCP) that has sickened Chinese peopleand by extension, the world, the petition stated. Its the totalitarian nature and callous dishonesty of the Chinese Communist Party that has brought about this public health catastrophe.

The petition has garnered more than 20,000 signatures in five days. The website requires that the petition garner 100,000 signatures by April 10 to receive a response from the White House.

Daniel Lou, a Chinese-American businessman and volunteer fundraiser for Trumps reelection campaign, signed the petition. He did this because its important to pinpoint the root cause of what happened, Lou told The Epoch Times.

If U.S. officials and media outlets start using the term, then it would indicate a rejection of CCP narratives surrounding the virus, Lou said.

That means that the world would have finally identified the right cause of the entire problem.
Nollywood actress, Stella Damascus has made a passionate appeal to her fans to stay at home if they are not needed out.

Speaking via her official Twitter handle, she further stated that the only condition they should go out should be if there is an emergency that requires them.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Test Result Of Atikus Daughter-In-Law, Grandchildren Released

She made the appeal following report that the confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria has soared to 40.

She wrote: Please stay home if you dont need to be out there. If there is no emergency please stay https://t.co/hGxL9LyYKR will not only be saving your life but the lives of everyone around your neighborhood. God help and bless us all.
Photo: Wes Hicks/Unsplash

Missed the most recent top news in Charlotte? Read on for everything you need to know. Doctors, elected leaders call for statewide shelter-in-place order Read the full story on WCNC. CMPD make arrest in southwest Charlotte homicide Read the full story on WCNC. These Charlotte-area grocery stores are offering hours just for seniors during coronavirus outbreak Read the full story on WCNC. NCGOP moving forward with electing and seating delegates Read the full story on Spectrum News North Carolina. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

The request comes as patients in multiple hospitals across North Carolina are in critical condition.

The suspect has been charged with murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, and four counts of shooting into an occupied property.

To help with social distancing, these stores are offering special times for the elderly to shop.
Aytu BioScience, Inc. AYTU announced that it has extended the distribution right to commercialize the clinically-validated and commercially-used coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) IgG/IgM Rapid Test in North America. Following this, the company will gain the right to distribute and commercialize the COVID-19 rapid test in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Per the company, the COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test has been licensed from a Hong Kong Corporation named L.B. Resources, Limited. The test is intended for professional use and usually delivers results between two and 10 minutes at the point-of-care.

Point-of-care testing means that results will be delivered right where patients are tested including hospitals, urgent care centers or emergency rooms instead of samples being sent to a laboratory.

Notably, Aytu BioScience is seeking expedited regulatory clearance for this rapid test from Health Canada and COFEPRIS (Comision Federal para la Proteccion contra Riesgos Sanitarios), the respective regulatory bodies in Canada and Mexico.

Shares of Aytu BioScience were up 37.5% on Monday following the aforesaid announcement. In fact, the stock has rallied 16.9% in the past year against the industrys decline of 17.1%.

The World Health Organization recently declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, given the alarming levels of its spread and severity. With the global coronavirus outbreak relentlessly posing a threat to human health, a speedy development of vaccines is the need of the hour.

The coronavirus pandemic, which killed more than 16,000 people globally, prompted healthcare systems to prioritize caring for the COVID-19 patients over other activities.

Several drug/biotech companies are working to make new antibodies, drugs and vaccines to fight the disease.

We note that efforts to develop a vaccine for combating the deadly novel coronavirus accelerated in the last couple of weeks. Last week, Moderna, Inc., MRNA dosed the first participant in the phase I study of mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273) against SARS-CoV-2. Several others like Novavax, Inc. NVAX and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. INO are also pursuing the same objective.

Story continues

We remain upbeat about the developments as several companies along with global authorities are working closely to introduce a treatment as early as possible to eliminate this deadly virus.

Zacks Rank

Aytu BioScience currently carries Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Orphaned or Unaccompanied Children Face Tragedy in Hubei Province

Chinese authorities imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province on Jan. 23 in an effort to contain the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Many parents suspected or confirmed to have the virus have been forcibly removed for quarantine, leaving behind elderly or underage children to fend for themselves.



Video 1:

Location: Xiaogan City, Hubei Province

A video released on March 14 revealed that a child starved to death when they were left home alone in Xiaogan, Hubei Province. It is believed the child died more than ten days before building managers found his body.

Man: See? A child starved to death at home in Lisi community. Its rotten, carried away in tarp. Doctors came to disinfect the surroundings.



Video 2:

Location: Huanggang City, Hubei Province

A teenager with cerebral palsy was left home alone in Huanggang City, Hubei Province, when his father was quarantined after showing symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus. 17-year-old Yan Cheng died from inadequate care a few days later.

Netizen The Silent Power described how Yan Cheng died due to the ignorance of the ruling communist regime.

She said:

In those four days, 23, 24, 25, and 26, Yan Cheng had eaten twice. No one went to change his diapers, he was all wrapped up by stools and urine.

On the 27th, no one went to see Yan Cheng and he did not eat anything. On the 27th, no one went to see Yan Cheng and did not eat anything.

On the morning of the 28th, Yan Chengs second aunt and the village doctor went to feed him and change his clothes. The village doctor was outside and never went inside Yan Chengs home. When cleaning Yan Cheng and changing his diaper, his aunt found that his whole body was wet, because no one had changed his diapers for 6 days. It already became impossible for him to eat anything on the 28th, and he could not even swallow the porridge.

On the morning of the 29th, someone from a temporary isolation point in the township came to pick Yan Cheng up. The village director and the director of the township health center went together. They took him away at 12 oclock. At about 2 pm, the village director called his father. He said that Yan Cheng had already died. During this outbreak of pneumonia, this child did not die because of the novel coronavirus. He died of cold. He died of starvation.



Video 3:

Location: Shiyan City, Hubei Province

A tragic story has emerged from Shiyan City in Hubei Province. On Feb. 24, a boy less than six years old spent several days alone with his grandfathers dead body. He was only found when a coronavirus worker went to his residence to take peoples temperature. The grandfather was found neatly covered by a blanket. The boy said he had survived eating cookies.



Video 4:

Location: Wuhan City, Hubei Province

A Wuhan girl was left alone at home after her parents were both taken away for quarantine. A woman from the community sent her food and tried to soothe her, only to break down herself.

Woman: Be a good girl in there. Dont cry. Did you hear? Dont cry, will you?
The Los Angeles office of the Writers Guild of America West. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The Writers Guild of America, which many in Hollywood believed would strike this year, has been trying to reach an extension of its contract with film and television studios after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person meetings.

Talks between the two groups, which usually involve as many as 100 people or more, were scheduled to begin Monday at the Sherman Oaks offices of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

However, such a large meeting was not possible because of new statewide rules on social distancing intended to reduce the spread of the virus.

Instead, some exchanges via phone or email have taken place in recent days, said people familiar with the communications who were not authorized to comment.

In an email to members on Tuesday, the union's leaders said it could not effectively negotiate this important three-year agreement in our usual fashion and that it may not be possible to bargain a new three-year contract by the May 1 deadline. But members could continue to work under the existing 2017 agreement and the union would not be asking for strike authorization in the interim, the email stated.

WGA leaders said they were discussing several options with the companies, including a potential contract extension, but added: This is not a time for rash decisions or pressured outcomes. Instead we are conferring with public health authorities, financial analysts, other guilds and unions, legislators, benefit fund experts and others to gather information as the situation continues to evolve.

The WGA, a 10,000-member union, has asked the studios to extend the contract to Sept. 1, giving the sides more time to bargain at a time when production has shut down, people familiar with the matter said.

"Nothing has been worked out as yet," WGA spokesman Neal Sacharow said. "The WGA is evaluating the situation."

The producers' alliance, however, favors an earlier end to a contract extension  by June 30  in order to avoid creating further uncertainty in the industry already roiled by the coronavirus outbreak. The contract for Hollywood's largest union, SAG-AFTRA, also expires June 30.

Story continues

"When this coronavirus passes, and work can resume, it's critical that those who make a living in industry know that there will be no further disruptions of their ability to make a living," said a person close to the AMPTP who was not authorized to comment. "A critical component in doing so is having agreements in place with all unions in industry. We call on the WGA to work together to achieve that goal as soon as possible."

Some in the industry believe the AMPTP also is concerned that postponing the contract several more months would put the union in a stronger position to strike, if parties can't agree on terms.

Unlike actors, directors and below-the-line crew members, many writers can still work during the production shutdown.

The producers' alliance is expected to press the WGA to adopt framework of the deal recently negotiated by the Directors Guild of America, which includes increases in minimum salaries and a nearly 50% increase in residuals for members working on original shows made for subscription video on-demand series.

However, the WGA is looking to improve on terms of the DGA agreement and has issues unique to its members that need to be negotiated.

Until just a few weeks ago, film and television business executives had been making contingency plans to prepare for a possible strike by writers, which would be the first walkout since the 2007-08 strike that lasted 100 days.

Now, the focus has shifted to shutting down or canceling productions and focusing instead on development until restrictions on gatherings are lifted.

The pandemic has created new worries for writers and other industry workers, thousands of whom have suddenly lost their jobs. Studios and other companies are facing massive financial losses.

The WGA talks would be followed by similar talks with SAG-AFTRA, which has also held informal talks with AMPTP and has not asked for an extension of its contract, said one person close to the talks who was not authorized to comment.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo teen is accused of breaking into an automobile dealership after hours and driving off the lot in a stolen car.

Police said after they arrested Tarshawn Antwon Dixon, 19, in the stolen Saturn Vue, following a chase, he bonded out of jail and returned to the dealership to grab another set of car keys.

Dixon, of 1008 Logan Ave., was arrested for two counts of third-degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, eluding and reckless driving.

The saga started around 11:55 p.m. Monday when a patrol officer noticed the Saturn speeding in the area of East Fourth and Sumner streets. The vehicle didnt stop and headed into a neighborhood with speeds around 50 mph in a 25-mph zone, according to police

The chase came to an end when the Saturn theft the roadway in the 300 block of Wendell Court and wasnt able to continue, and Dixon was arrested. Police found that the Saturn came from C&S Auto, 1225 Commercial St., and determined Dixon had entered the building before the chase and took keys for the vehicle.

Then around 3:25 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a burglary alarm at C&S and found Dixon about five blocks away with another set of keys. He was arrested and then released from jail again.

Coronavirus myths, WHO responds

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The United States called on the Russian Federation to immediately release the Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainian political prisoners, who are not provided with medical care in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia continues to arrest Crimean Tatars and extend detentions of those facing politically motivated prosecution, even as it fails to adequately provide basic medical care for the imprisoned in the face of COVID-19. We urge Russia to release all Ukrainian political prisoners immediately, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine posted on Twitter.

As Ukrinform reported, Crimean Tatar Server Mustafayev involved in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case has symptoms of coronavirus disease. However, he still has not received proper medical care in the Russian pre-trial detention center.

As of the morning of March 24, Ukraine confirmed 84 coronavirus cases, including three lethal ones. One patient recovered and was discharged from a hospital.

ish
On March 22, Laos Party General Secretary and President Bounhang Vorachith led a Party, National Assembly and Government delegation to lay wreaths at the museum dedicated to Kaysone Phomvihane  the first General Secretary of the LPRP.

To mark the day, the countrys media ran articles and broadcast Vorachiths speech, in which he affirmed that the formation of the LPRP was an inevitable outcome of the struggle for national independence and the revolution following a socialist orientation.

Over the past 65 years, the party has fulfilled its noble mission, bringing Laos into a new era, he said, calling on the entire Party and people to work with resolve to realise the 10th National Party Congresss resolution, and conduct all-level Party congresses towards the successful organisation of the 11th National Party Congress.
Nearly one in five people around the world are currently subject to lockdown measures as a result of coronavirus.

The UK population was far from alone in grappling with the surreal reality of what several newspapers dubbed house arrest as it awoke on Tuesday to unprecedented nationwide restrictions on personal freedoms.

More than 1.5bn people in continents the world over were subject to government-imposed lockdowns on Tuesday, as the number of people infected during the Covid-19 pandemic rose to more than 330,000.

This does not include those across China  save for those living in the outbreaks epicentre in Hubei province  who have already been allowed to emerge from their homes, meaning nearly a third of the worlds population has been affected thus far by such restrictions.

Addressing the nation on Monday night, Boris Johnson became the latest world leader to announce a ban on social gatherings and confine citizens to their homes except in the case of very limited circumstances.

No prime minister wants to enact measures like this, the prime minister said. But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

With major European nations such as Italy, France, Germany and Spain all having preceded him in enforcing stay-at-home measures, Mr Johnson had been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis.

The prime minister also faced criticisms over mixed messaging that saw public spaces bustling over the weekend  despite health secretary Matt Hancocks claim the government had embarked upon the biggest public communications campaign in history.

In the United States, more than 142 million people are currently under lockdown across at least 16 states, accounting for nearly half the population.

An exasperated-sounding Donald Trump, however, signalled he may wish to end such measures earlier than his public health advisers would wish in order to protect the economy, declaring: Our country wasnt built to be shut down.

Im not talking about months, I can tell you that, he later added, appearing to mock experts by saying: If it were up to the doctors, they may say, Lets keep it shut down. Lets shut down the entire world.

India  where nearly 500 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed  accounted for by far the largest portion of those on lockdown worldwide.

Nearly two thirds of its 1.3bn inhabitants are currently living under lockdown conditions, with many fearing destitution as borders close and the government grapples with how to offer financial support.

In Africa, where the virus has reached the vast majority of countries, the continents largest nation South Africa joined Tunisia and Nigeria in imposing self-isolation measures.

Growing numbers of African countries have closed borders and look set to follow suit with home confinement measures.

The Middle East is also bracing for such restrictions.

While parts of Israel and Palestine have already been placed on lockdown, Syrians rushed to buy food and fuel on Monday amid expectations the countrys first officially reported case would lead to restrictions on movement.

In Jordan, where residents face a year in jail if they leave their homes even to buy food, an armed forces official told the Middle East Monitor that up to 880 violations of the lockdown had been clocked within 24 hours.

In contrast, those in Chinas hard-hit Hubei province prepared to end their official lockdown imminently, save for those in Wuhan, who will continue to be subject to restrictions until 8 April.

The nation is cautiously celebrating a pause in the number of new domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases, after much of the country returned to work in mid-February.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation warned the outbreak was accelerating globally, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide, but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000.

We are not helpless bystanders, the UN agencys director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, urging countries to coordinate their efforts.

We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.
I tested positive for the coronavirus on Feb. 7 while I was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. It was a stressful six weeks, full of uncertainties, frustration, isolation  and finally relief. At the end of it, I recovered. But my journey wasnt over.

My symptoms were mild all along. I had a dry cough and light fever for about a week; the symptoms resolved within three days of being admitted to a hospital in Tokyo. The doctors and nurses monitored my vitals but administered no treatment to fight the disease because there is none. Still, I was trapped even after my symptoms passed because, to be cleared and discharged, I needed negative results on two consecutive nasopharyngeal coronavirus tests performed 24 hours apart. The doctors gave me 14 tests over my 28-day stay, some just the throat, some throat and nasal, and in the end just nasal swabs, per the Japanese testing guidelines.

Although the test was readily available at the hospital, the results were taking anywhere from a day to a week to come back. It took three weeks for me to get my first partial negative result (nasal positive, throat negative). And then the results kept flipping back and forth. After 28 days in an isolation room within the hospitals infectious disease unit, I finally received my two negative nasal test results and was discharged March 5.

Once discharged, I was free to do as I wished. I was ecstatic. I had begun to wonder whether I would ever be truly free again. I reveled in the bright sunshine of that late winter afternoon. I basked in its healing warmth and felt the wind on my face, the whisper of spring in the newly budding flowers. A rebirth, it seemed. I was finally reunited with my husband, who had waited in Tokyo for me. (He never contracted the virus.) For the 28 days we were apart, I survived by texting, calling and FaceTiming him from my hospital room. He even came to see me a couple of times. He would stand in a parking lot outside my window to see me because he wasnt allowed to visit. It is a true test of marriage to go through something like this and come out okay on the other side. We were overjoyed when I knocked on the door to his hotel room and were finally reunited.

Rebecca ended up hospitalized with COVID-19 and Kent Frasure was quarantined but never became ill. Courtesy of Rebecca Frasure

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said I could come home after a five-day wait in Japan, to ensure I did not have a recurrence of symptoms, after which I would be removed from the Do Not Board list and permitted to return home to Portland, Ore. But there is still one crucial piece of the puzzle we dont yet have: Epidemiologists still dont know if I am immune to the coronavirus. The disease isnt understood well enough. And I wasnt given any particular guidance on how to behave. My husband and I are abiding by the state and federal mandates the same as everyone else.

It was weird being around other people at first. In Tokyo, people dined at restaurants, shopped and took the subway. At that time, almost nobody had gone through what I had. There was no social distancing yet, let alone the lockdown that is probably inevitable. We tried not to go into crowded spaces, while still attempting to experience some of the vacation we had planned. We did a bit of sightseeing but also just rested and tried to decompress and process all that we had been through.

Rebecca Frasure recovered from the disease after a nearly month-long stay in a hospital in Tokyo. She and her husband, Kent Frasure, came back to their Forest Grove home on Tuesday, March 10.

On March 10, the CDC emailed that we could return home on a commercial flight. Because we had been on the Do Not Board list, there was a bit of a delay checking in at Haneda Airport, but officials soon reviewed our CDC note and we received our boarding passes. A customs agent at San Francisco International Airport asked me and my husband whether we had been on the Diamond Princess. Our passports must have still had a warning on them. We were escorted to a makeshift CDC checkpoint, where officials asked to see our hospital-issued immigration paperwork (which confirmed we were virus-free) and the CDC email. We made our connecting flight.

Once we returned to Portland, the virus was already here. I was concerned about any stigma I might bear, not just from having contracted the virus, but for having been on the cruise ship. Once it was public that I had tested positive, I received threatening messages not to come back to the United States because people thought I would bring it back home. Our faces have been all over the news, and we were among the few people speaking about those events. It was a risk, but we believed it was important to get the word out.

Instead, the people who know us have been extremely supportive. Our employers, friends and family are thrilled to have us home and arent afraid to be near us. (However, we arent going around shaking hands or hugging gratuitously.) In observance of the scientific consensus, I am working from home. I dont go out unnecessarily  just trips for groceries or takeout. I stay the appropriate distance from others when I am in public. These are common decencies everyone has been asked to follow, and my husband and I do not consider ourselves exceptions.

Still, I find my personal odyssey so reassuring. I did recover, as many thousands have also done now. If you find you have contracted the disease, all hope is not lost. I am acutely aware of the impact of losing certain freedoms for the month I was trapped in a small hospital room. (If you have a mild case and can spend the course of the infection in your own bed instead of in the hospital without endangering others or your own health, you should.) And, yes, that period was insanely difficult. But it can be done, and my liberation made me so grateful for the quotidian things I had taken for granted: the gym, fresh air, decent food, human contact, grocery shopping, house cleaning, the daily grind.

If we collectively succeed in limiting the spread of covid-19, the fear surrounding it will subside. We can manage with a few changes right now, and it will make a big difference in the long run. Then, hopefully, tens of millions of Americans will soon be able to say what I welcome gratefully: I had the coronavirus, and I beat it.
The Irish embassy in Chile has said it is continuing to work on a repatriation flight for Irish citizens stranded in Peru.

The date of the flight is dependent on permission from Peruvian authorities.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 20:00 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d36e92 1 National COVID-19,death-toll,pandemic,coronavirus,novel-coronavirus,SARS-CoV-2,isolation,quarantine Free

For many who have confronted grief in the face of the death of a loved one, we have at least one thing to be grateful for: being able to be at their bedside so they do not have to die alone.

However, amid the coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc in the world with the number of infections rising rapidly to 400,000 with over 16,000 deaths, this all changes.

The sad thing for suspected COVID-19 patients is they have to die alone, catching their last breath alone, read a post on Instagram account @nonznonz on Monday morning.

The account owner Leonita Triwachyuni Agustina Sutrisna is the daughter of the late Prof. Dr. Bambang Sutrisna a renowned lecturer at the School of Public Health at the University of Indonesia and an epidemiologist.

Read also: COVID-19: Inadequate medical supplies take toll on lives of Indonesian medical workers

Bambang who was quarantined at Persahabatan Hospital, East Jakarta, a referral hospital for COVID-19, after experiencing fever and shortness of breath died on Monday at 8.30 a.m.

Want to cry for help? No nurse around. The isolation room was closed, family members could not even see him, the post states.

[Did you] know what my father did when he was out of breath last night? He called his children and child-in-law, asking for help.

All I could do was to call the hospital to notify them [about my fathers condition], because we were not even allowed to visit him.

She wrote further saying that previously her father had insisted on practicing even though family members advised him not to.

It turned out one of his patients was a suspected COVID-19 patient with a critical lung condition. The patient also insisted on going home [from Bintaro Hospital] despite his condition.

The effect? My father got fever and shortness of breath. His condition kept deteriorating before he was pronounced dead.

Read also: Point of no return for nurses, doctors during COVID-19 outbreak

Bambang is among six doctors who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far infected more than 600 people and claimed 55 lives in Indonesia.

The daughter who is also a doctor at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta, said that she could not meet her parents because of self-distancing measures and regretted those who did not follow this call as it could harm others.

"Funeral? Bathing the deceased? There's no such thing. We couldn't do any of that. We couldn't even choose the grave that my dad had purchased," she added.

Meanwhile, the son of pastor Aslam Nathanael of Bethel Church of Indonesia (GBI) Sukawarna, who died on Saturday in Bandung, West Java, took to Twitter on Sunday telling how he was unable to see his father for the last time after he was isolated at Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS) in Bandung.

"We were told to hold a funeral immediately within four hours after his death," the son Ricky Ravasia wrote.

"My mom suggested San Diego Hills burial site because that was the place where my dad wanted to be buried. However, we were rejected. I am not sure what the reason was," Ricky wrote.

He added that the late Aslam was finally buried in Pandu burial place in Bandung only attended by himself and his brother-in-law as his mother was still in an isolation room of the RSHS.

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesia to provide financial incentives for frontline doctors, nurses

"I was brokenhearted as I couldn't see my dad's face for the last time, without prayers, without mom by my side, [...] I didn't even have time to buy flowers, there was just a cross with his name written on it and the best picture of him," he added.

A similar story came from the colleagues of a private employee, who was also taken by COVID-19 three days after he was admitted to Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta.

The colleagues stated that the employee died in an isolation room without the attendance of family and loved ones, not even flowers.

"Forgive us who couldn't be by your side at your very last time. You know we loved you and we wont stop praying for you," wrote the colleagues in the employee's obituary. (trn)
Social media giant Facebook is reportedly planning to buy a multi-billion dollar stake in Indian telecom major Reliance Jio. Mark Zuckerberg-led social media conglomerate was close to signing a preliminary deal to buy 10 per cent stake in Mukesh Ambani's Jio, Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The report stated that the talks between Facebook and Reliance have been halted due to travel ban across the world in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The deal will help Facebook expand its reach in the Indian digital market. Jio, the telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), is present in a number of segments including mobile telecom, home broadband and even e-commerce.

ALSO READ: Facebook offers six months' bonus to 45,000 employees to help face coronavirus

Reliance Jio presently commands a subscriber base of 370 million in India. Analysts at Bernstein have valued the company at over $60 billion.

Reliance Jio started commercial operations in September 2016. The telecom company started a price war in the Indian telecom sector by offering 4G data at very cheap rates and voice calls for free. Even in present times when the AGR crisis has the telecom sector on edge, Jio seems to be placed in a good spot.

ALSO READ: RIL to consolidate digital businesses under holding co; to offload Jio's Rs 1.08 lakh crore debt

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries has been looking to become a net-debt zero company. Reliance Jio has already partnered with Microsoft to offer cloud computing services to businesses. Google has also been in talks with Reliance Jio, the Financial Times report said.

Under its plan to become a net-debt zero company, last year, Reliance Industries announced plans to reconstitute Jio into a separate company - an umbrella body for all digital businesses under the conglomerate - and list it on the market. Under this arrangement, RIL will infuse Rs 1.08 lakh crore in Jio through a rights issue. The new entity will also acquire Rs 65,000 crore equity held by RIL in Jio.
The US also for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus, taking the total number of fatalities to 550 by Monday night.

Washington: Over 10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in a single day in the US, raising the number of COVID-19 patients to 43,734, as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vital medical supplies and personal protective equipment.

The US also for the first time registered over 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus, taking the total number of fatalities to 550 by Monday night.

Till Monday, 43,734 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day, according to Worldometers, a website which compiles COVID-19 cases.

On Monday, Trump signed the executive order aimed at preventing hoarding of critical medical supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak. He warned that his government would take action against hoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protective equipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.

"Very simply, we will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit," he asserted, warning that the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute fraudulent schemes related to the pandemic that has killed more than 15,000 people worldwide.

New York State, in particular New York City, emerged as the hotspot of one of the worst public health crisis in the US in recent memory. Nearly one in every two Americans infected by novel coronavirus are from New York City which reported 5,085 news cases on Monday taking the total to 20,875.

As many as 157 residents of New York, a city which has one of the highest concentration of people in the country, have died of coronavirus so far. Of the total deaths in the city so far, 43 were reported on Monday.

Health officials warned that COVID-19-related casualty figures in New York are expected to jump significantly in the coming days. White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah L Birx told reporters that New York City, the New York Metro area of New Jersey and parts of Long Island have an attack rate close to one in 1,000. This is five times of what the other areas are seeing.

"Though high throughout lab investigations we are finding that 28 percent of the submitted specimens are from that area, whereas it is less than 8 percent in the rest of the country," she said.

"So to all of my friends and colleagues in New York, this is the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self-isolate at this time. Clearly, the virus has been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community," Birx said.

Trump told reporters at a White House news conference that New York along with other hotspots such as Washington State and California is the top priority for his administration. "Essential medical supplies and emergency equipment are being rushed to New York." he said, adding the Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing eight million N-95 respirator masks and 13.3 million surgical masks across the country right now.

"Focusing on the areas with the greatest need, we have shipped 73 pallets of personal protective equipment to New York City and 36 pallets to the State of Washington. In the past 96 hours, FEMA has also received donations of approximately 6.5 million masks. We are focused on some of the hotspots," Trump said.

He also announced that clinical trials for existing drugs that may prove effective against the virus will begin in New York."The federal government is working to help obtain large quantities of chloroquine. It will be a big game-changer. So, we will see distribution starting tomorrow (Tuesday) early morning in New York. I think a lot of people are going to be hopefully very happy with the results. We all will be watching it closely," Trump told reporters.
With Odisha government restricting the movement of people after imposing total lockdown in all the 30 districts, the Odisha Police on Tuesday asked the district police authorities to exempt doctors, nurses and other health personnel from its purview.

The doctors, nurses and other health personnel of both the government and private sectors should be allowed free movement till March 27 on production of their identity cards, DGP Abhay said in separate letters to SPs/DCPs/DIGs/IGs of all the districts and the CP of BhubaneswarCuttack.

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel are crucial for society in general, more so in the current scenario. We are working to develop a web-based system of passes for all exempted category, the letter said.

The health personnel should be allowed to move, during the lockdown till March 27, in their vehicles on showing their identity cards, with name, designation and photograph, issued by the government or a private hospital, the letter added.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionrate stopped issuing passes for the persons engaged in the fight against COVID-19 due to huge crowd in front of the police stations in the city.

We are cancelling process of issuing passes to emergency workers as too many people are congregating and social distance cannot be maintained. Please use your I-Card for the moment. We will introduce an IT Platform by tomorrow to automate the process of issue of vehicle passes, the Commissioner of Police, Sudhanshu Sarangi, said in a tweet.

He said those require to travel on medical emergencies will be allowed if there is a patient.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest airline, said Tuesday it has asked 12 cabin crew members to self-isolate after their colleague on a Incheon-New York flight was diagnosed with the new coronavirus.







The infected flight attendant flew with the 12 others on the flight OZ222, which left Incheon last Tuesday (Korean time) and returned on the flight OZ221 from New York on Thursday (U.S. time), according to Asiana.







The purser reportedly traveled in his private car to Samcheok, Gangwon Province, on Saturday and Sunday.







On Sunday, the cabin crew member showed symptoms, such as a fever, and on the following day, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 at a local health center, a company spokesman said over the phone.







As the health authorities usually conduct an epidemiological investigation on people who might have been in contact with an infected person during the 24 hours before the person shows suspected symptoms of the coronavirus, the 12 crew members are not subject to self-quarantine, the company said.







But the company put the 12 employees in self-quarantine for 14 days in a preemptive measure to prevent the spread of the virus, the spokesman said.







Asiana said it is cooperating with the health authorities and will take additional steps depending on the results of the investigation into the places and people the purser visited and met. (Yonhap)


JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- The number of cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Mississippi rose to 320 as of Tuesday afternoon, with 10 of those cases in Jackson County, according to the Mississippi Department of Health.

Tuesdays update from the MDH reported 71 new cases across the state, including three new cases in Jackson County. Coastwide, there were 39 total cases, with one fatality -- which remained the states only fatality thus far. Of Mississippis 82 counties, 58 now have at least one confirmed case of the virus.

Other data from the health department:

Hinds (31), DeSoto (29) and Harrison (24) were the counties with the most cases, as of Tuesday afternoon.

38.4 percent of all cases statewide were in the 60-and-above age group, considered the most at-risk group. The 40-49 age group was the second highest with 57 cases, followed by 50-59 (47), 18-29 (46) and 30-39 (41). Only five cases had been reported among those under the age of 18.

71 percent of cases did not require hospitalization. 27 percent were hospitalized. In two percent of the cases, the disposition was unknown.

60 percent of COVID-19 patient have been female.

A total of 1,872 people have been tested for COVID-19 (includes testing by the MDH laboratory, only).

Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that he planned to issue an executive order that further restricts peoples physical interactions to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but he is not issuing a stay-at-home order, and it was not immediately clear whether any steps will be taken to enforce the things he is ordering.

Reeves said his executive order will tell businesses to allow every possible employee to work from home. He said it will define essential businesses to give clear guidance to our partners on the local level, should they decide to take additional action."

Understand that we are not at the end of this pandemic. In fact, we may still be at the beginning stages of this fight," Reeves said during a news conference outside the Governors Mansion.

Locally, residents across Jackson County are in the midst of their first week under government restrictions, which has ordered restaurants, bars and similar businesses to limit service to carryout, curbside or delivery.

In Ocean Springs, officials were forced to crack down on some businesses there were continuing to allow customers to dine at the business on outside patio or courtyard areas.

Most public parks are closed, including those in Pascagoula, which initially remained open. The beaches in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula were still open to the public as of Tuesday afternoon, but with a limit of no more than 10 in a group.

In Pascagoula, the City Utilities Department was forced to close until April 6 after an employee was found to have symptoms common to COVID-19. Residents are encouraged to use the departments dropbox for payments.

In Moss Point, a similar situation occurred when an employee there also began exhibiting symptoms of the virus. As a result, the Citys Planning/Code Enforcement and Utilities departments will be closed through April 6.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A number of high profile prisoners, including President Trump 's former lawyer Michael Cohen, gangster and rapper Takeshi69, celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti and Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, have launched legal bids to be released from prison out of fear of contracting the coronavirus behind bars.

Rapist and disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein, 68, is so far the highest profile criminal to have tested positive for COVID-19 after reportedly catching it while imprisoned on the notorious Rikers Island, New York City's main jail complex, before being transferred and later isolated at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York.

On Monday, President of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Michael Powers, confirmed Weinstein to be one of two prisoners in isolation at the facility.

Those who are filing legal bids to escape prison to avoid the virus fear US prisons could become a breeding ground for the coronavirus to spread, and are eager to avoid Weinstein's situation.

Some prisons in the US are already looking at releasing low level offenders to reduce population and stem the spread of the virus.

Rapist and disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is serving 23 years for rape and sexual assault, is being held in prison isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus

Rikers Island Jail complex, New York, where Harvey Weinstein is thought to have caught the coronavirus. There are concerns that US prisons could become a breeding ground for the virus

Takeshi69, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, told the Manhattan Federal Court in a letter that he is experiencing shortness of breath, a symptom of the coronavirus. He also said that he has asthma and was recently hospitalized with bronchitis and sinusitis on 31 October, which would put him in the high-risk category.

Hernandez's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, wrote in the letter on Sunday: 'While I recognize that his release date is only about four months away, given the health crisis that is currently tearing through this region and Mr. Hernandez's compromised medical condition, please strongly consider modifying Mr. Hernandez's sentence so as to immediately make him eligible for home confinement.'

Daniel Hernandez, aka Takeshi69, is due to be released on 31 July, but has requested he is released early to avoid the coronavirus as it spreads through the New York prison system

He is due to complete his sentence on July 31 after he was imprisoned for committing nine federal crimes, including racketeering and drug charges. He was facing a much longer sentence, but this was reduced after he cooperated with investigations into other gang members.

The letter claims that the warden of the facility Hernandez, 23, is incarcerated in will not allow him to go to hospital, 'despite recommendation of the facility's medical director' that he is treated by a hospital doctor.

In contrast to Hernandez's appeal, Michael Cohen, 53, Trump's ex-fixer serving a three-year sentence for fraud and perjury at Otisville Federal Correctional Facility, New York, has not cited any specific medical needs as a reason for him to be released.

Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen, sentenced to 3 years in prison for fraud and perjury, has also lodged a plea to be released from prison, despite having no underlying health conditions

Otisville Federal Correctional Institution, where Michael Cohen is currently incarcerated

Therefore, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom McKay wrote in a letter to the Manhatten federal judge that Cohen's claim 'applies equally to every inmate' in the New York prison system.

McKay wrote: 'Cohen has not even attempted to argue that he is uniquely at risk as compared to other inmates. Nor could he: He is 53 years old and in good health.'

Cohen's fellow lawyer Michael Avenatti, 49, famous for representing celebrities including Stormy Daniels and serving time for trying to extort sportswear giant Nike, also requested to be released from prison to avoid the coronavirus.

His own representative said that when he visited Avenatti in prison, he saw that the jail was 'completely unprepared' for the coronavirus outbreak, with no hand sanitizer or checks on people coming in and out of the prison.

'That's a small indicator of a big problem,' said Avenatti's lawyer Dean Steward to CNN. 'I'm putting together a motion to get him out on bail based almost exclusively on the illness factor and how bad it's going to be once a person gets it in there. A guard or somebody will get it; it will be a horror show.'

Despite his concerns, a federal judge rejected Avenatti's plea to be released early, dismissing concerns that a recent case of pneumonia puts him at high risk.

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti - famous for representing Stormy Daniels - and his representative, believe the prison system is not fit to cope with the coronavirus outbreak

Bernie Madoff, serving 150 years in prison, has a terminal kidney disease. Catching the coronavirus could be fatal to someone with his condition and of his age

Another high profile detainee considering filing for release is Bernie Madoff, the man behind an infamous ponzi scheme that landed him with a 150 year prison for fraud, money laundering, perjury and false statements.

Madoff, 81, applied for compassionate leave last month due to his terminal kidney disease, and is reportedly considering applying for release once more due to the threat posed by the coronavirus to those in poor health.

Speaking to Daily News, Madoff's lawyer said: 'This health crisis may further accelerate his death. I think this serves as potentially another additional reason why continuing to keep him in confinement is not in his interest nor in the public's best interests.'
[March 24, 2020] Lexogen Inks Distribution Deal For India With Intra Globus Biosystems Pvt. Ltd (IGB)

VIENNA, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexogen is pleased to announce the appointment of Intra Globus Biosystems Pvt. Ltd (IGB) as its official distributor in India, as a further step in growing its operations in the APAC region. IGB, a subsidiary of Integrated Gulf Biosystems LLC, is a well-established organization headquartered in Dubai, UAE, with a reputation of customer service excellence of many years and being an expert in the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) space. Lexogen has already been working with IGB for distribution of its RNA sequencing kits in the Gulf region. "Expanding IGB's commercial responsibility, to serve our existing Indian customers and to meet the needs of the rest of research community, was an utmost necessity, given the very fast pace of rapidly expanding Indian market environment," said Paolo Marcandalli, Lexogen Sr. Manager Global Distributor Sales. "The Indian scientists are making major leaps and bounds in the field of RNA to better understand disease and thereby finding pathways to a cure. The market is looking for ease of use, cost effective and quality solutions in their attempt to analyze transcriptomes. The synergy of the Lexogen portfolio backed with the IGB team's customer focus and NGS market skills will be a major boost for customers in their pursuit to achieve their goals quickly," said Prabhu Sampath, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrated Gulf Biosystems LLC and Intra Globu Biosystems Pvt Ltd.



About Integrated Gulf Biosystems LLC and Intra Globus Biosystems Pvt Ltd (IGB)

IGB is a complete solution provider in the fields of life sciences. Founded in 1999 in UAE, the experience, expertise and commitment demonstrated by the company has laid a strong foundation for growth and performance that have helped it expand its footprint significantly across the globe, with a presence in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Libya. As the company expands its portfolio with newer technologies, it has expanded its operation into the growing market of India with the branch entity Intra Globus Biosystems Pvt Ltd. Across geographies, IGB remains rooted in its value of creating excellence with regionally deployed teams, and using local expertise.

Web: www.igbiosystems.com Contact at IGB:

Manoj Kumar

Marketing

Email: [email protected]

About Lexogen

Established in 2007, Lexogen is a transcriptomics and Next-Generation Sequencing company, focusing on the development of innovative methods for RNA analysis. Its portfolio includes multiple innovative and well-established protocols for RNA sequencing sample preparation, external RNA spike-in controls, as well as bioinformatics tools and sequencing services. Lexogen is a privately held company, headquartered in Vienna, Austria with a subsidiary in New Hampshire, US.

For more information about Lexogen visit www.lexogen.com and follow @lexogen. Contact at Lexogen:

Jekaterina Aleksejeva

Senior Marketing Manager

Email: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/472869/Lexogen_logo_Logo.jpg

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The Pennsylvania House on Tuesday approved a bipartisan proposal to postpone the 2020 primary by five weeks, until June 2, and allow counties to consolidate polling places amid concerns about the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

Representatives unanimously approved the changes in an amendment to a preexisting Senate bill, increasing the prospects the legislation will be on its way to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature by the end of the week.

The proposal also would make several permanent changes to election law, most notably allowing county officials to begin counting absentee and mail-in ballots by 7 a.m. on election days to speed up the posting of returns.

With elections only a month away, and positive coronavirus tests increasing daily, we are at a crossroads, Rep. Kevin Boyle (D., Phila.) said on the House floor before the vote. He noted the risk of infection to voters and poll workers, especially older citizens: Pennsylvania must be realistic regarding the impact of the virus on the April 28 election.

Some lawmakers and officials had feared conservative House Republicans, especially from rural areas relatively untouched by the coronavirus, would blow up a delicate deal reached over the weekend. After days of discussion, legislative leaders and members of Wolfs administration agreed over the weekend to postpone the election, then scrambled to write its final language.

House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny), whose control of how legislation advances made his support important, had remained silent as the deal was made. Turzai said Tuesday that the bill would be scheduled for a final House vote Wednesday. That, combined with his joining the other representatives in unanimously approving the amendment, suggested he will allow the bills passage without challenge, all but clearing its way.

Boyle, after Tuesdays vote, said Republicans accepted the primary postponement but balked at two provisions, one that would have sent applications for mail-in ballots to every registered voter and another that would have allowed county boards of election to start counting mailed votes before an election day. Both were scrapped to win Republican support.

If the amended bill, S.B. 422, is approved Wednesday by the House, it will go to the Senate for a concurrence vote, and then to the governors desk. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) has said he would support postponing the election.

There has been a growing clamor for Pennsylvania to join several states that have postponed their primary elections due to the pandemic, because voters use shared equipment and congregate in public spaces.

Elections officials have struggled to prepare for April 28 because some locations are now unwilling to serve as voting divisions and poll workers have said they wont show. Election materials have also been hard to obtain as demand increases for absentee ballots, and elections offices have been hampered by government shutdowns.

Postponing the election until June 2, lawmakers and elections officials said, would give counties time to adjust, even if the crisis has not passed by then. Moving the election would also give voters more time to register to vote or to request and submit absentee ballots.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus is challenging underdog campaigns in the Pennsylvania primary election

In another one-time move meant to give counties more flexibility, they will be allowed to consolidate polling places up to 60% without receiving the usual court approval.

That would give elections officials more breathing room to find new locations and staff them with fewer poll workers. But solving that administrative problem could also increase the public health challenge by packing voters into fewer polling places.

Other changes are intended to permanently alter the states Election Code, after the state last year enacted the most sweeping changes in decades.

Chief among those is a proposal to allow county officials to begin counting absentee and mail-in ballots when polls open at 7 a.m. on an election day. At that time, counties would be allowed to open the ballots and tally votes, but not record the results. Campaigns and political parties would be allowed to observe that process but barred from disclosing information.

County officials had said the new law, which prohibited counting absentee ballots until regular polls closed, could delay results for days.

We dont want to be the Iowa Democratic Party during February 2020 during their caucuses, and we dont want to be Florida back in 2000, Boyle said. We dont want a delay of several weeks before theres actually a result.

 READ MORE: Pennsylvanias presidential election could be too close to call for days because of a new law

Rep. Garth Everett (R., Lycoming), the chair of the House State Government Committee and author of the amendment, initially sought to allow counties to begin counting absentee ballots three weeks before an election.

Some people were a little queasy about opening ballots before the election and the possibility of results leaking out, Everett said. We caucused on it, and there was obviously a lot of opposition to it.

He went with 7 a.m. on an election day instead.

The bill would also make a number of smaller changes, including allowing voters who request absentee ballots to vote in person by bringing their mail-in ballot to the polling place and turning it over to be marked as spoiled.
Peachtree Special Risk Brokers LLC, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of RLA Insurance Intermediaries.

RLA Insurance Intermediaries was founded in 2010 by Jeff Hays and Chris Skaletsky as a wholesale insurance broker serving retail insurance agents. The firm specializes in offering professional lines, property and casualty, and healthcare coverages to meet the needs of businesses throughout the U.S.

Following the acquisition, the RLA Insurance Intermediaries team will continue doing business from its existing headquarters in Boston, Mass., and other locations in West Palm Beach, Fla.; Brentwood, Tenn.; Potomac Falls, Va.; and Manassas, Va. The offices will continue under the leadership of Hays and will form a new stand-alone operation within Brown & Browns Wholesale Brokerage Segment.

Brown & Brown, Inc. is an insurance brokerage firm providing risk management to individuals and businesses.

Source: Peachtree Special Risk Brokers LLC

Topics Mergers Agencies Massachusetts
Rutgers researchers are testing a new, much faster COVID-19 test that could revolutionize the way medical personnel test for the coronavirus.

If all goes well, the test could be completed in about 45 minutes at a hospital, instead of being sent to a laboratory that may take five days or more for a result, according to a statement from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Cepheid, the molecular diagnostics company in California that developed the test, said it has emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration and could begin shipping it out as early as Monday, following Rutgers initial evaluation.

The medical schools Public Health Research Institute has worked with Cepheid for nearly two decades on the development of rapid tests for infectious diseases, so the institutes lab was asked to review and essentially test the test before it hit the market.

Dr. David Alland, director of the Public Health Research Institute, called the results wonderful.

The first prototype provided very accurate results, even detecting the virus in small amounts, Alland said. The company has now developed test cartridges that can be placed in its GeneXpert testing instrument, simplifying the process.

The beauty of the system is that the entire test, the entire laboratory that does the testing, is this cartridge you hold in your hand, he said.

The tests wont be available for drive-up testing facilities, however, which have been popping up in the state. They can only be performed on-site at facilities that own a GeneXpert molecular testing platform, an automated instrument that can process samples.

Alland said that he knows of at least three facilities in New Jersey with access to GeneXperts: his lab, University Hospital in Newark and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Cepheid did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about the cost of the instrument and which facilities in New Jersey have them. The companys website says there are over 23,000 in use worldwide, about 5,000 of which are in the U.S.

Alland said that while no single test is going to solve all coronavirus testing problems, this on-site test will be critical in hospitals, where medical professionals are trying to quickly triage patients and decide whether they need to be isolated to protect others.

Immediately its going to make a difference in the health of our sick patients and infection control in the hospital," he said. "This test is to diagnose whether patients are sick with COVID or another disease ... and to diagnose whether healthcare workers are sick with COVID or another disease, and then we need to get that person out of the hospital.

But in the long-term, he said, the test has the potential for widespread use  possibly even in pharmacies or in portable units, like a truck. That could help prevent or contain future outbreaks of COVID-19.

In other parts of the world, he said, tuberculosis test cartridges and portable GeneXpert instruments have been taken village-to-village to combat the spread of TB.

For now, only laboratories or hospitals cleared for high-level research by the federal government under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments will be able to do the test, Alland said, but the government can issue waivers to allow more facilities to do it.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has a waiver and University Hospital is accredited under CLIA, so both could use the test. The Public Health Research Institutes laboratory is working to obtain a waiver so it can help the state by performing testing on samples from sick patients, Alland said.

The thing is I have to balance the use of these tests for research and these tests for clinical diagnosis, he said, so the lab is unlikely to shift all its instruments to patient testing.

For instance, he said, he expects Cepheid and Rutgers will work to see if different collection methods could affect the tests accuracy, which could be important if the U.S. runs out of the swabs currently being used for specimen collection.

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Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Enoki mushrooms have been recalled by a California company because they could be contaminated with listeria.

Guans Mushroom Co. of Commerce, Calif., is recalling cases of its 7.05-ounce packages of enoki mushrooms. The mushrooms are white with long stems and small caps.

The mushrooms were distributed in New York and Pennsylvania in retail stores, according to the companys announcement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The 7.05-ounce clear, plastic packages say Enoki Mushroom in English, Korean and French.

The UPC code is 859267007013 and package code 14-1 at lower right corner.

The product is being shipped in a white cardboard box. The box contains Guans logo in green and the number 02473.

According to the FDA, listeria is an organism that can cause serious infections in young children, frail or elderly people and in people with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms for normally healthy people include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria can cause miscarriage and stillbirths in who are pregnant.

Earlier this month, Sun Hong Foods of Montebello, Calif., recalled enoki mushrooms for the same reason, however those mushrooms were not distributed in Pennsylvania.

Guans Mushroom Co. of Commerce, Calif., is recalling cases of its 7.05-ounce packages of enoki mushrooms because they may be contaminated with listeria. The mushrooms were distributed in New York and Pennsylvania.

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Global specialty insurance wholesaler AmWINS Group announced that Mark R. Bernacki will join the firm as president of AmWINS Special Risk Underwriters (SRU) and executive vice president of AmWINS Group, effective March 30, 2020.

In his role, Bernacki will drive strategy and build capacity for SRU, which underwrites risks on behalf of domestic and international carriers and distributes exclusively through AmWINS brokers. Also, as executive vice president for AmWINS Group, he will lead the alternative risk team and work with Underwriting Division President Bob Petrilli to grow the division organically and through mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining AmWINS, Bernacki spent 14 years at Beazley Group, where he most recently served as head of global property and as a member of the executive committee. He left Beazley last April. Prior to his tenure at Beazley Group, Bernacki worked at Liberty Mutual Group in various roles, including vice president of broker operations for Liberty Mutual Property.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., AmWINS operates through 115 offices globally and handles premium placements in excess of $17.4 billion annually.

Topics Underwriting
InfromaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams Wins 2020 Secure Campus Award for mass notification. This award highlights the benefits InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams offers to higher education institutions to reach their people in the applications they frequently use with critical messages. - Pat Scheckel

InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams from Singlewire Software, a leading mass notification technology developer, has earned a 2020 Secure Campus Award from Campus Security & Life Safety magazine. The software won a Gold Award in the Emergency Notification/Mass Notification category. InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams was selected by an independent panel of judges from the security industry based on criteria that included features, innovation, user friendliness, interoperability, quality, design, market opportunity, impact in the security industry, technical advances, and scalability.

Singlewire Software is dedicated to providing college and university campuses with the tools they need to enhance safety and communication, said Pat Scheckel, vice president of product management at Singlewire Software. This award highlights the benefits InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams offers to higher education institutions to reach their people in the applications they frequently use with critical messages.

InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams is a mass notification system that allows colleges and university campuses to add value to existing devices by leveraging them for safety and communication. With the ability to reach mobile and on-premises devices and well as collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, InformaCast Fusion offers the speed, reach and flexibility organizations need to utilize technology thats already in place to keep people safe and informed. It can connect to a wide range of IoT devices, including IP phones, IP speakers, desktop computers, panic buttons, digital signage, mobile phones, door access control systems and more to provide organizations with a powerful mass notification ecosystem.

We are pleased to be a vital part of providing solutions that will protect our children and young adults in the learning environment, said Ralph C. Jensen, editor-in-chief of Campus Security & Life Safety magazine. Within the security industry, we all have a vested interest in protecting learning spaces and providing security to our valuable assets, the children.

To learn more about InformaCast Fusion with Microsoft Teams and how it can help colleges and universities provide a secure campus experience, visit https://www.singlewire.com/notification-informacast-and-microsoft-teams.

About Singlewire Software

Singlewire Software, based in Madison, Wis., is the developer of InformaCast, a leading software solution for fast and reliable emergency notifications. More than 7,000 organizations in over 50 countries use InformaCast for emergency mass notifications. Whether its an active shooter, severe weather, or another crisis situation, InformaCast helps reach the right people, with the right information, to increase awareness, safety and security. To learn more, visit http://www.singlewire.com/informacast.

About 1105 Medias Infrastructure Solutions Group

1105 Medias Infrastructure Solutions Group includes several leading industry media brands that provide new product and technology solutions for security professionals: Campus Security & Life Safety, http://www.campuslifesecurity.com, Security Today, http://www.securitytoday.com, and GovSec. The brands print, digital, custom media and research products integrate physical and IT security coverage and provide the smartest, most cost-effective solutions for reaching security decision makers.
Taylor Swift says the leaked 2016 phonecall between her and Kanye West proves she was framed (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

Taylor Swift has said a leaked 2016 phone call between her and Kanye West proves she was framed.

The now infamous call between the pop titans caused years of bad blood, with allegations of lies on both sides.

The row centred on Wests song Famous and to what extent Swift was aware of the lyric I made that bitch famous, which she later objected to and called misogynistic.

Wests wife, Kim Kardashian West, shared a snippet of the conversation on Snapchat, which appeared to reveal Swift approving of a portion of the lyric.

A full recording of the 25-minute conversation was apparently leaked at the weekend and Swift said on Monday that it proved she had been telling the truth.

Taylor Swift (Isabel Infante/PA)

She wrote on her Instagram Story: Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years) SWIPE up to see what really matters.

Swiping up led to a donation page for the Feeding America non-profit organisation.

The World Health Organisation and Feeding America are some of the organisations Ive been donating to, Swift said in a separate post. If you have the ability to, please join me in donating during this crisis. Swipe up.

Swift and West have been involved in one of the most high-profile feuds in modern pop music. It was triggered by West interrupting the then 19-year-old Swift on stage at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where she had won the prize for best female video.

Video of the Day

He told a stunned Swift Imma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.

The moment has gone down as one of the most quoted in awards show history. It led to years of ill-feeling between two of the worlds biggest pop stars.

On 2016 song Famous, West rapped: I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.

During the phone call, Swift reminded West that before the VMAs incident she had already sold seven million copies of her album Fearless.

The phone call and Kardashian Wests sharing of a portion of it reignited the feud and led to Swift retreating from the public eye to deal with the backlash.

Her next album and tour, Reputation, was dark in theme and dealt with betrayal. During concert performances Swift relied heavily on snake imagery, after trolls used the snake emoji to insinuate she had lied about her conversation with West.
In sharp contrast to the bumbling, often chaotic, stance of Boris Johnson, Monday night's Prime Ministerial address was more decisive, but still fell short of the impressive quality of Leo Varadkar in his St Patrick's Day speech, where he struck a chord with many by demonstrating confident leadership.

Ironically, Boris's hero is Winston Churchill, the great wartime leader, whose decisive leadership was crucial to the British people during the dark days of the Second World War.

Boris, who is an accomplished writer, has written a very readable account of Churchill's wartime premiership. Without doubt, Boris would like to imitate the great leadership shown by Churchill during the course of his current premiership.

Perhaps, with Brexit, he had hoped to repeat Churchill's outstanding political leadership. However, in the meantime, Covid-19 has abruptly and savagely intervened, wiping away Brexit and everything else from the political agenda.

Britain, Ireland, Europe, America and the rest of the world are faced with the disastrous crisis of coronavirus. This "unprecedented crisis" - as former Labour PM Gordon Brown has termed it - is a grave challenge to our way of life, healthwise, socially, economically and politically.

This mega-crisis calls for leadership of the highest calibre and, to date, we have not seen it from an uncertain British government and, especially, its head, Boris Johnson.

No wonder that a recent public survey found that only 36% of the public have confidence in the Prime Minister on giving good advice about coronavirus.

The continent of Europe has now been recognised as the centre of this global pandemic, causing its complacent governments and citizens to panic about their basic welfare.

However, in the EU, as well as in the south, governments have speedily introduced social distancing and other restrictive actions to deal with the pandemic. Lockdowns and border closures have been commonplace throughout continental European countries.

Social distancing, in the absence of a vaccine, which is, by the best estimates, at least a year away, is the best way to contain the spread of this virulent disease.

By contrast, the Westminster government was much slower in introducing a more aggressive strategy of containment, which would have lessened the pressure on the heath service in dealing with and containing Covid-19, which has a lethal capacity 10 times that of influenza.

The World Health Organisation has given universal advice, that stresses the importance of tracing and isolating victims of the virus. Its advice to all countries is to "test, test, test".

The British government approach to testing, however, has been inconsistent and confusing.

At Stormont, we have at last witnessed a remarkable and welcome coming together of the Executive and the Assembly in trying to navigate a sensible and effective way through this enormous attack on our way of life.

This has been achieved despite Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill's unnecessary attempt to upstage Arlene Foster over the difficult issue of the timing of school closures and the fissure that public spat revealed.

It would seem that issue has now been resolved by the collective decision of the Executive to close schools this week.

Political play-acting by Sinn Fein, or other parties, has no place at this crucial moment in our history.

Playing politics at this time is a thoughtless and irresponsible act of sabotage. As Arlene Foster has rightly said: "The coronavirus has no political consideration. It is neither British nor Irish, unionist or nationalist. Politics must be set aside."

Now what is required is a united Executive agreeing a decisive programme of action to curb this pandemic.

Central to this must be a strategy between north and south to work together to defeat the spread of this disease throughout our vulnerable island.

There is good evidence that, despite political bickering on the fringes, there is considerable co-operation between top health officials on both sides of the border.

This co-operation needs to be intensified in the coming weeks by the respective ministers of health, Robin Swann and Simon Harris.

The political channels of communication between the two administrations should be as open as possible in order to jointly tackle and defeat this common enemy.

The lives of many people, particularly the seriously ill and the elderly, are in imminent danger if we do not act together, with strict measures of social control, including travel, over the whole population of this island.

None of us are casual bystanders in this real life-and-death drama, but, rather, we are active participants and potential victims at the interface with this invisible and powerful enemy.

Therefore, we must observe a strict social discipline and, thereby, preserve not only our own lives, but the lives of our friends and neighbours.
The novel Coronavirus has infected more than 3,50,536 people and claimed the lives of more than 15,000 people, so far, across the globe.

Scientists across the globe are struggling to find a cure for the deadly virus and meanwhile, people can only take preventive measures which are practising social distancing by sitting indoors and washing hands.

However, some people are failing to understand the grim situation. Recently around six Pakistani government officials have been suspended for taking a selfie with their colleague who tested positive for Coronavirus.

The revenue officials unknowingly got in close contact with a colleague who had returned from Iran and later tested positive with the virus.



Pakistan has over 804 positive Coronavirus cases and six deaths across the nation. Sindh province is the most hit with around 350 cases and now the government has taken stringent measures to further stop the outbreak.

The Sindh province is now on lockdown for a period of two weeks.

6 officials of Sindh revenue dept suspended for taking a "selfie" with a #coronavirus patient. pic.twitter.com/AYmlhkMEYZ  Sameer Mandhro (@smendhro) March 22, 2020

According to Gulf News, an official said that the six officials went to pay a visit to their colleague as a gesture after their colleague returned from pilgrimage after over a month.



 Reuters

By that time, he was not showing any symptoms of the virus neither had complained about any unwellness. All the six colleagues and the host took a selfie. A few of them later posted that picture on their social media account. When the man tested positive a few days ago, all those who were in contact with him were being spotted and isolated, he said.



 Reuters

Many countries across the world are on lockdown and we must stay indoors as that is the only way to end this pandemic.


New Yorkers from all walks of life are succumbing to the coronavirus.

A Brooklyn principal, a Manhattan drag queen and a local basketball star have all lost their lives making up some of the 125 deaths that the city has so far recorded.

Dezann Romain, 36, died after suffering complications due to the coronoavirus.

She was the head teacher at the Brooklyn Democracy Academy in Brownsville.

It is the first known death of a city public schools staffer related to the pandemic.

Brooklyn principal, Dezann Romain, 36, has died due to complications from coronavirus. She was principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy

'It is with profound sadness and overwhelming grief that we announce the passing of our sister, CSA member Dezann Romain, Principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy, due to complications from Coronavirus,' the union said in a statement.

'Our prayers are with her family and school community as we mourn alongside them. Please keep Principal Romain in your thoughts and continue to do everything possible to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe during this health crisis.'

Romain worked at a transfer school that helps students who have dropped out of high school. She had been promoted from assistant principal in 2017.

The Academy is a transfer school for students who struggled in other schools

'This is painful for all of us, and I extend my deepest condolences to the Brooklyn Democracy Academy community, and the family of Principal Romain,' Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said in a statement to the New York Post.

'We're all experiencing a deep sense of confusion, uncertainty and sadness and it's more important than ever to provide support to one another.

'We'll be there for the students and staff through whatever means necessary during this impossibly difficult time.'

Nashon Wooden, who performed regularly as a drag queen as Mona Foot died at the age of 50

Across the East River in Manhattan, Nashon Wooden, who performed regularly as a drag queen as Mona Foot died at the age of 50.

'I lost my best friend today from the coronavirus, Nashom Wooden,' wrote Project Runway winner Geoffrey Mac in an emotional Instagram post.

'I just want to make sure that everybody out there stays healthy, and takes care of each other because the virus is really real. And I'm just so sorry,' the fashion designer said.

With the city's hospitals struggling to cope it appears that Wooden had been sent home from the hospital after his symptoms were not serious enough to be admitted.

Wooden had been a part of the nightlife in the city since 1989.

Although his character of Mona Foot had more or less retired by 2017, he appeared at an outdoor drag festival in 2018 dressed as Wonder Woman according to the Page Six.

As well as appearing from time to time as Mona, Wooden was also part of a singing trio known as The Ones.

The group had a single, Flawless, which was released in 2001 and then sampled by George Michael in one of his own tracks.

Wooden was turned away from a hospital because his symptoms were not deemed to have been serious enough

A local one-time basketball star also lost his life on Monday.

Former St. John's guard Lee Green, 49, passed away from the pandemic.

Green was a retired Brooklyn police officer and had played for St. John's from 1991-94, reaching two NCAA Tournaments.

Former St. John's player Lee Green, 49, died of the coronavirus on Monday

'He was our defensive lockdown guy,' St. John's director of sports medicine and longtime head trainer Ron Linfonte said to the New York Post. 'He could score if he needed to. He was one of the guys who really relished the role of 'give me your best player and I'll lock him down.' He sacrificed his offense a lot for the good of the team, and he was everybody's favorite.'

It's believed that Green did not have any preexisting medical conditions. He contracted the virus while working as a DJ at an event.

'It's crazy,' said Sterling Nunnally to the Post, one of Green's friends. 'He was healthy and smiling and everything when I saw him recently.'

'To tell you the truth,it's scary, because it's like nobody knows what's going on. You turn around, one day you're talking to somebody and the next day they're not there anymore.'
Mumbai: Actor Sakshi Tanwar believes it is hard for women to break away from the confines of their domestic life and its responsibility as they are burdened with inherent ?guilt?.

The actor, who features in the short film ?Ghar Ki Murgi', a tribute to selfless homemakers, believes the social conditioning of women stops them from enjoying freedom.

Guilt is a very woman thing. Sometimes this responsibility is not even put upon us we willing take up on us. I am sure, when you will have a chat with your family, they will say, ok, go take a break. But sometimes out of our own guilt we never bring it up, Saksh told PTI in an interview.

Today in educated homes, the scenario is far more different. Some people understand and respect that the woman is working and there are some men who are sharing the responsibility, she added.

In 'Ghar Ki Murgi', directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Sakshi plays Seema Batra, a homemaker who struggles to find her place in the household as she to fulfils her responsibilities towards her family.

However, the actor said she has had a very different life from what her character has in the short, but she drew a lot of inspiration from her mother while essaying the role.

I have got help for everything. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have a family who is doing everything for me and I can happily go and do what I like. Though I don't live this life, but I don't think there is anything in this film that is not believable. I may not have lived it but I have seen this life.

"I have seen it, in reference to my mother, this happens in every house. We all have taken our mothers for granted. I am still in a way taking my mother for granted. This is the story of every house. If not the whole thing, maybe a part of it is," Sakshi said.

'Ghar Ki Murgi', penned by Nitesh Tiwari, had its India premiere on the digital platform, SonyLIV, on International Women's Day, March 8.

Sakshi will next be seen in Akshay Kumar-starrer "Prithviraj", to be released in November 2020 and has also signed a new web show.
Afghanistan's Minister of Public Health Ferozuddin Feroz in a press conference on March 24 said it is estimated that more than 16 million people in the country may contract coronavirus. According to the reports, Feroz said that half of the country's population is at risk of getting infected by the COVID-19 if the necessary measures are not taken.

Read: COVID-19: Sikhs In New York Pack Free Meals For Over 30,000 People In Self-isolation

Media reports suggest that the ministry of health has made demands to the government, including ordering of restrictions in movement during the daytime, closing restaurants, parks, baths, swimming pools and shutting down of passenger transportation in major cities.

Feroz also urged the government to order people to self-isolate themselves in their homes in Herat, the most affected city in Afghanistan. On Monday, however, the Ministry of Public Health had accused the government of neglecting its duties and using the virus for political gains.

Afghanistan has so far recorded 42 Coronavirus cases, of which 2 cases came in the last 24 hours. There are currently 40 active cases in the country and one person has died in the country as of March 24, while one has been treated successfully.

Read: Anand Mahindra Offers To Make Ventilators, Temporary Care Facilities To Tackle COVID-19

Coronavirus outbreak

The COVID-19 has claimed more than 17,100 lives across the world and has infected nearly 3,92,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

Read: COVID-19 Outbreak: Man In Taiwan Fined Rs 24 Lakh For Clubbing Amid Lockdown

Italy, Spain, and Iran are the most affected countries outside mainland China, where, as of March 23 the combined death toll stands at 10,700. Italy has surpassed China to record the most number of deaths in the world due to the virus outbreak, while Iran and Spain both have crossed the 1,500 mark.

Read: US Should Lift Sanctions If It Wants To Help Iran Battle COVID-19: Hassan Rouhani


Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, speaks to members of the media at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 24, 2020. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Donald Trump and his top economic aide Larry Kudlow suggested Tuesday that a massive coronavirus stimulus bill could provide the foundation for an economic revival in the United States.

"Our people want to return to work," Trump tweeted. "They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together."

He added that "THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM"  a stance he has repeatedly voiced in recent days. "Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!"

TRUMP TWEET

Meanwhile, Kudlow told reporters at the White House that the economic stimulus bill in Congress could set the country up for a rebound in the U.S. economy in the second half of 2020.

Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, echoed Trump's remarks from a Monday evening news briefing that some states with low numbers of confirmed cases might be able to ease off their restrictions quickly. That relief could come soon after the White House's 15-day guidelines on social distancing expire next week, Kudlow said.

Trump has shown a sudden impatience with the extreme efforts in an increasing number of states to slow the spread of the deadly virus by shutting down restaurants and ordering people to stay in their homes.

Those actions have already had devastating impacts on the economy, driving stocks drastically lower and prompting a rapid surge of unemployment.
Mefloquine tablets While it may be tempting to attribute anxiety, depression, paranoia, or other mental health symptoms to the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, these symptoms may be an early warning sign of idiosyncratic quinoline neurotoxicity, and must be taken seriously.

The Quinism Foundation has called on state boards of pharmacy to enact uniform restrictions on the dispensing of the quinoline antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, mefloquine, primaquine, tafenoquine, and quinine to limit hoarding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"State boards of pharmacy must take immediate action to protect the public's health," said Dr. Remington Nevin, MD, MPH, DrPH, a former U.S. Army public health physician and Johns-Hopkins trained psychiatric epidemiologist and drug safety expert, who now serves as Executive Director of The Quinism Foundation. "Inaction or delay will lead to shortages of these drugs, particularly hydroxychloroquine, for existing indications, and to the substitution of more dangerous quinolines, such as mefloquine, for off-label self-treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19."

"Although only chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have demonstrated limited antiviral activity against coronavirus in published studies, and while hydroxychloroquine in particular has shown limited evidence of clinical efficacy, as highlighted by recent high-profile statements," Dr. Nevin noted, "interest in other antimalarial quinolines has increased significantly as a result of a perceived common efficacy among drugs of the class."

Dr. Nevin noted that such interest is not without basis. "All antimalarial drugs of the quinoline class are amphiphilic weak bases, which lead to their accumulation in acidic cellular endosomes, the property thought to at least partly underlie the observed antiviral activity of certain previously-tested drugs," said Dr. Nevin. [1,2] "However, the same common properties that likely underlie the effectiveness of these quinoline antimalarial drugs against the virus may also underlie their common dangers."

"While hydroxychloroquine is among the safest drugs of the quinoline antimalarial class, all antimalarial quinolines share a common toxicity," said Dr. Nevin. [3] "In susceptible individuals, these drugs act as idiosyncratic neurotoxicants, potentially causing irreversible brain and brainstem dysfunction, even when used at relatively low doses. This drug-induced dysfunction causes a disease of the brain and brainstem called quinoline encephalopathy, or quinism, which can be marked acutely by psychosis, confusion, and risk of suicide, and by lasting psychiatric and neurological symptoms."

"Symptoms of chronic quinoline encephalopathy include tinnitus, dizziness, vertigo, paresthesias, visual disturbances, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, agoraphobia, paranoia, cognitive dysfunction, depression, personality change, and suicidal thoughts, among others, " said Dr. Nevin. "Particularly among military veterans, in whom these drugs have been widely used for decades as prophylactic antimalarials, these symptoms can mimic and be mistaken for those of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury." [3]

"During World War II-era studies, when many antimalarial drugs of the quinoline class were first synthesized, clinical researchers found that many caused a syndrome marked by psychosis, confusion, dizziness, and other psychiatric, cognitive, and neurologic adverse effects," said Dr. Nevin. [4] "Other researchers studying the drugs' toxicity in animals noted they caused widespread and irreversible neurotoxic injury to neurons throughout the brainstem and limbic system." [5]

Dr. Nevin noted a recent report by an ad-hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identified a critical need for additional research on the long-term effects of antimalarial quinolines. Dr. Nevin also emphasized that the Quinism Foundation has recently called on Congress to fund research into chronic quinoline encephalopathy. [6]

"Although antimalarial quinolines have been commonly prescribed and used by millions of people for prevention of malaria, and more recently, in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, a substantial minority will need to discontinue the drugs early during use owing to the development of prodromal neuropsychiatric symptoms," said Dr. Nevin.

"Even hydroxychloroquine, which is commonly described as 'safe', is associated with reports of neuropsychiatric adverse effects comparable to those reported from mefloquine," said Dr. Nevin [7], "including serious adverse effects such as neurotoxic vestibulopathy and psychosis." [8,9]

Dr. Nevin noted that mefloquine (previously marketed as Lariam) now contains a boxed warning, cautioning of the need to immediately discontinue the drug at the onset of even seemingly mild symptoms such as abnormal dreams, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, depression, restlessness, or confusion, as these may be considered "prodromal to a more serious event." [10]

Dr. Nevin emphasized the importance of recognizing and properly reporting adverse effects from these medications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "While it may be tempting to attribute anxiety, depression, paranoia, or other mental health symptoms to the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. Nevin, "these symptoms may be an early warning sign of idiosyncratic quinoline neurotoxicity, and must be taken seriously."

Dr. Nevin noted that adverse effects from hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, mefloquine, primaquine, tafenoquine, and quinine may be reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch program, at

https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program.

About The Quinism Foundation

The Quinism Foundation, founded in January 2018, in White River Junction, Vermont, promotes and supports education and research on quinism, the family of medical disorders caused by exposure to quinoline drugs, including mefloquine, tafenoquine, and chloroquine.

Dr. Nevin is a board-certified occupational medicine and preventive medicine physician and former U.S. Army medical officer and epidemiologist. He is author of more than 30 scientific publications on malaria and the quinoline antimalarials, including Neuropsychiatric Quinism: Chronic Encephalopathy Caused by Poisoning by Mefloquine and Related Quinoline Drugs, published in the Springer Nature book, Veteran Psychiatry in the US."

(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0_20).

References

1. Vincent MJ, Bergeron E, Benjannet S, et al. Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread. Virology journal. 2005;2:69.

2. Yao X, Ye F, Zhang M, et al. In Vitro Antiviral Activity and Projection of Optimized Dosing Design of Hydroxychloroquine for the Treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Clinical infectious diseases. 2020. In press. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa237.

3. Nevin RL. Neuropsychiatric Quinism: Chronic Encephalopathy Caused by Poisoning by Mefloquine and Related Quinoline Drugs. In: Ritchie EC, Llorente MD, eds. Veteran Psychiatry in the US. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2019:315-331.

4. Nevin RL, Croft AM. Psychiatric effects of malaria and anti-malarial drugs: historical and modern perspectives. Malaria journal. 2016;15:332. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918116/.

5. Nevin RL. Idiosyncratic quinoline central nervous system toxicity: Historical insights into the chronic neurological sequelae of mefloquine. International journal for parasitology Drugs and drug resistance. 2014;4(2):118-125. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4095041/..

6. The Quinism Foundation. The Quinism Foundation and Veterans for Common Sense Call on Congress to Fund Research into Chronic Quinoline Encephalopathy. March 9, 2020. Available at: https://quinism.org/press-releases/congress-research-chronic-quinoline-encephalopathy/.

7. Mascolo A, Berrino PM, Gareri P, et al. Neuropsychiatric clinical manifestations in elderly patients treated with hydroxychloroquine: a review article. Inflammopharmacology. 2018;26(5):1141-1149.

8. Chansky PB, Werth VP. Accidental hydroxychloroquine overdose resulting in neurotoxic vestibulopathy. BMJ Case Reports. 2017;2017:pii: bcr-2016-218786.

9. Ward WQ, Walter-Ryan WG, Shehi GM. Toxic psychosis: a complication of antimalarial therapy. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 1985;12(5 Pt 1):863-865.

10. Nevin RL. A serious nightmare: psychiatric and neurologic adverse reactions to mefloquine are serious adverse reactions. Pharmacology research & perspectives. 2017;5(4):e00328.
Max Verstappen should not fear coronavirus, according to his boss Dr Helmut Marko.

The brash, tough and plain-speaking 76-year-old Austrian told Kronen Zeitung newspaper: "It would be best if Max caught the virus now."

But Marko, the head of Red Bull's notorious driver program, does not mean that he wishes his star driver any harm.

"He told me on the phone that he was terrified of the possibility of becoming infected," he said.

"But at 22 years old, he is not part of any risk group. And after getting over the virus he would be immune and could just go for the title."

(GMM)
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Loop Insights Inc. (MTRX.V) (the "Company" or "Loop") maintains a positive outlook for the year ahead. Retailers are already working to rebuild their businesses during these unprecedented times, and Loop is here to assist them. Loop is focused on bringing new technologies and tools to brick and mortar retail helping global businesses recover and create new profitable strategies.

A message from Loop's CEO, Rob Anson:

The Covid-19 crisis has shaken the market unlike we've ever seen. During this time, Loop's team is working remotely and fully operational. We have created a strong educational strategy, for our customers, that includes regular delivery of press releases, blogs, social media content, videos, and podcasts. Over the next months, expect to see consistent, engaging updates from Loop with a steady news flow on company progress.

Since the start of 2020, our team has worked tirelessly to complete the commercialization of our solution stack and the introduction of new disruptive technologies and licensing models. With the product being commercialized, by Q2 2020, Loop will benefit from an operational cost reduction of roughly 40%. Additionally, now with a lean and agile team, we are shifting focus on leveraging partnerships, building our client base, and ultimately increasing sales and revenue.

Loop's latest product milestones have attracted interest and opened up conversations with companies in Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, and Mexico. We are exploring several strategic partnerships that will help achieve global scale. Our revenue model consists of licensing and re-seller distribution agreements, which is designed to grow exponentially as we close deals with large-scale venues, operators and umbrella companies. This ongoing revenue stream adds long-term value to our shareholders.

As I am extremely confident that Loop will continue to flourish during 2020, I will look to bolster my personal position with continued open market buying. I would also like to advise past participants in previous equity raises that we are in the process of finalizing the repricing of associated warrants.

Story continues

Loop's ability to enhance customer engagement and build new line revenue opportunities is what brick and mortar retailers need coming out of this market volatility. During this time of crisis, Loop has remained focused on leveraging partnerships, increasing education around our solution stack, reducing our burn rate, and implementing revenue streams. Stay tuned for more announcements to come.

More About Loop: Loop Insights Inc. (MTRX.V) is a Vancouver-based technology company that has developed a unique proprietary platform that combines the power of IoT and AI to level the playing eld between brick and mortar retailers and their online competition. Loop gives brands and retailers the ability to connect their physical and digital assets, regardless of hardware or IT networks, thus enabling rapid deployment and global scale. Retailers and brands benet from making real-time, data-driven decisions that help them curate unique personalized customer experiences in stores.

For More Information, Please Contact:

LOOP Insights Inc.

Soy Garipoglu, Manager, IR

T: 778-990-8985

E: ir@loopinsights.ca

CHF Capital Markets

Cathy Hume, CEO

T: 416-868-1079 x 231

E: cathy@chfir.com

LOOP Website: www.loopinsights.ai

Facebook: @LoopInsights

Twitter: @LoopInsights

LinkedIn: @LoopInsights



Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Loop's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Loop believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, Loop does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of Loop should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that Loop will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's 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.

SOURCE: Loop Insights Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/582232/Loop-Insights-Releases-Company-Outlook-for-2020




So far, 424 positive coronavirus aka COVID-19 cases have been detected in India, said data available on the Ministry of Health and Welfare's website. 9 people have lost their lives, while 34 lucky persons have been cured as they followed doctors instructions correctly and carefully.

Coronavirus: With 81 fresh cases of novel coronavirus aka COVID-19, the total number of positive cases shoot up to 424 on Monday, March 23, confirmed the data shared by The Ministry of Health and Welfare. Till now 9 persons have lost their lives and 34 persons have been cured, the data added.

To curb the spread of the deadly virus, the Centre and the state governments are taking every possible measure. Prime Minister and Chief Ministers have been continuously urging people to stay indoors as isolation, proper hygiene are only ways to stay safe and cure.

Most of the states have announced lock down to control the situation, while Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan imposed curfews to control jaywalkers who are risking others lives along with themselves.

However, essential and emergency services will be provided during the clamp down.

Public transport including metro, bus services, and railway have been shut indefinitely. In view to problems faced by airport staff, crew members and passengers in commuting within the city and reaching the airport, all airlines suspended passenger domestic flights from March 25. Notably, the cargo carriers and plans on evacuation duty will continue to run.

To help the economical weaker section and daily wage workers, the governments have announced relief packages. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced to double widow and old age pensions for the month April. Also masks, hand wash soaps and sanitizers are being distributed.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had a video conferencing with news channels owners and editors and briefed them about their duty to serve people by provide the correct information and spreading awareness about the virus.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Courtesy / Contributor

After warning people not to use its vodka to make hand sanitizer, Titos Handmade Vodka announced on Monday that it is working on the real deal. The Austin-based company is set to produce and distribute 24 tons of hand sanitizer to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our team at the distillery has been working hard to get all of the pieces in place to begin production on a hand sanitizer that adheres to industry and governmental guidance, The company said in the release.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The State government, which is all set to introduce English medium in all government schools, has decided to convert all primary, upper primary, high schools, from Class I to VI, under all managements into English medium from the coming academic year. The government, however, has granted permission to continue one Telugu medium school at each mandal headquarters for the students, who wish to study in Telugu medium.

This decision was taken following court directions on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a petitioner for continuing Telugu medium schools also in the State. During the hearing of the PIL, the Commissioner, School Education, proposed continuation of one school in Telugu medium in all districts.He also requested the court to permit all minor medium schools such as Urdu, Tamil, Kannada, Odia to continue classes in their respective mediums.

The government accepted the proposal and stated that these minor medium schools, under all managements except unaided schools, may continue with their respective mediums.

In an order, the government stated that transportation charges shall be paid to the students travelling from villages beyond the neighbourhood of the school as per the rates and procedure laid down under the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) of Samagrashiksha from time to time for providing access to school.

Govt instructions

One school should be identified by the mandal educational officer concerned to run/continue Telugu medium school at mandal headquarters

Wide publicity should be given on the location of Telugu medium school in the said mandal to enable parents to join/continue their children in such schools

Telugu is a compulsory subject in all remaining schools which will run in English and other vernacular language media

SCERT should take necessary action for designing and development of textbooks and teacher handbooks

Enure supply of Telugu medium textbooks to the schools

The second-year Intermediate examination, which was scheduled for March 23, has been postponed
(Photo : REUTERS/Damir Sagolj) Visitors check their phones behind the screen advertising facial recognition software during Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) at the National Convention in Beijing, China April 27, 2018.

The growing interest in artificial intelligence or better known as AI, has grown even stronger over the years as computers have become even more powerful. Scientists have been able to develop AI technology that mimics the function of the human brain itself!

The recent invention of a nanoscale device

A paper was published in the Nature Nanotechnology of Mar. 23, announced the invention of a nanoscale device--it was based on a very unique material platform which can, later on, achieve optimal digital in-memory computing while also being very energy efficient. The report was given by researchers from the NUS Nanoscience as well as the Nanotechnology Initiative or better known as the NUSNNI.

Read Also: Scientists Have Found Superconductors Inside One of Earth's Biggest Meteorites in Australia

This invention was found to be highly reproducible as well as durable, which is very much unlike the conventional organic electronic devices which people are used to.

Over about a decade, A.I. technology, along with its ability to learn has gained quite a significant pace in revolutionizing many industries. The world gathers data while the computer can sort it out, but unfortunately, we may be facing a future where there is no longer a capability of generating enough energy to supply our computational needs.

Scientists behind this technology

According to a leading Principal Investigator involved with this project who is from the National University or Singapore or NUS, Professor Thirumalai Venky Venkatesan, there are quite a lot of A.I. predictions to start an industrial revolution and that the current sustainability of the A.I. algorithms on massive database is not enough.

Venkatesan gave a statement saying that "It is clear that we will have to rethink our approaches to computation on all levels: materials, devices, and architecture." He, later on, explained that "Fundamentally, the devices we are demonstrating are a million times more power-efficient than what exists today,"

Read Also: BlueDot: Fighting the Deadly Coronavirus Outbreaks with A.I.

The invention is a brainchild of the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science in Kolkata, India's very own Professor Sreebrata Goswami and according to the Professor, "We have been working on this family of molecules of redox-active ligands over the last 40 years. Based on the success with one of our molecular systems in making a memory device that was reported in the journal Nature Materials in 2017, we decided to redesign our molecule with a new pincer ligand." The Professor explained that this strategy would allow them to engineer the molecule that can function similar to an electron sponge.

The future for A.I. technology

According to Dr. Sreetosh, "We believe we are only scratching the surface of what is possible with this class of materials."

Recently, the device was discovered to be able to drive to self-oscillation or even exhibit purely unstable, chaotic gems. These discoveries come closer to being able to replicate how the brain functions.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday discussed with with European Commission's President Ursula Von Der Leyen the emerging global situation due to the spread of coronavirus.

In a telephonic conversation with Leyen, Prime Minister Modi expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the European Union due to COVID-19, a statement form the Prime Minister's Office said.

The prime minister emphasised upon the need for coordination and cooperation among all countries to fight the pandemic, the statement said.

The prime minister also dwelt on the steps taken by India for containing the spread of the coronavirus infection.

Von Der Leyen mentioned that the prime minister's leadership in taking early measures has been the key to preventing a rapid spread of the disease in India.

She also expressed her appreciation for the assistance rendered to the European citizens in India in this situation.

The European Commission president emphasised the importance of maintaining a steady supply of essential items, including medicines and coordinated efforts for vaccine development.

The two leaders discussed possible cooperation within the G-20 framework, and the forthcoming video-conference in this context.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- An online platform was opened Monday to offer overseas Chinese health advice on COVID-19 prevention and treatment as the fight against the virus becomes a worldwide task.

Launched by the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation on China's leading mobile payment service Alipay, the platform gathers experienced medical professionals who treated COVID-19 patients in Wuhan and fought the virus on the frontlines.

The platform is also inviting volunteer health workers to join the forces and contribute to helping overseas Chinese combat the virus.

The two foundations were respectively set up by Jack Ma in his name and Alibaba Group, the leading Chinese tech giant founded by Jack Ma.
Looking over the news this morning, I read my morning paper. I scanned the front pages of the New York Times and CNN websites and a few of the other mainstream news sources. I browsed Twitter. I turned on the TV. And one name was nowhere to be found: Joe Biden.

Its yet another surreal turn for the former vice president, who was politically dead and buried this time a month ago after the Nevada caucuses gave Bernie Sanders his third straight victory. What followed was one of the swiftest and most dramatic turnarounds in presidential-primary history, clearing the Democratic field of all of Bidens opponents but Sanders and leaving Biden as the de facto presumptive Democratic nominee after landslide wins in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona a week ago. This is supposed to be a happy occasion!

But since then, Biden has all but vanished from the news, going days on end with no public appearances and little in the way of coordinated messages from surrogates. The rapid escalation of the coronavirus outbreak has more Americans than ever glued to their television and Internet news sources. But they are not celebrating the Democrats front-runner, waxing enthusiastic about the promise of his presidency, or even listening to his advice. Instead, they are watching President Trump and various state governors, mayors, and county executives of both parties grapple with a situation that evolves daily. Some wags on Twitter have already started talking about how Democrats should be running the omnipresent Andrew Cuomo against Trump.

Biden is frozen in place, without a lot of modern precedent to fall back on. He cant use his own office to get in the news or do anything useful, because he has been out of office for eight years. He cant hold campaign rallies, which are unsafe for crowds and particularly hazardous to a 77-year-old candidate. His partys leaders on Capitol Hill seem uninterested in getting him involved in negotiations, even within their own party. He cant even formally celebrate wrapping up the nomination, because Sanders stubbornly insists on continuing his campaign. So Biden is reduced to reading embarrassingly halting statements off cue cards in an empty room.

Story continues

This is a bizarre situation for the man who may well be the next president of the United States. It is too early, and events are too volatile, to reliably predict how the coronavirus outbreak will alter the outcome of the election. Trump could end up benefiting from the rally-around-the-leader effect of crises, or he could be sunk by public discontent with his leadership, a faltering economy, and a generally sour national mood. By any estimation, however, Biden was already at least a tossup chance to win in November before this, and the central theory of Trumps reelection (a booming economy) is now out the window. There is every reason to take seriously the significant likelihood that Biden will be the leader of the free world ten months from now. And almost nobody cares to hear from him in an hour of peril. It is hard to recall a time when a major-party presumptive nominee has been so invisible and so irrelevant on the national stage.

This could be to Bidens benefit, of course. During the TARP negotiations in the fall of 2008, John McCain suspended his campaign to dive into the D.C. swamp, while Barack Obama stayed on the trail issuing gaseous generalities. Obama was widely celebrated for his cool, calm decision to do absolutely nothing and let other people take responsibility. The bottom dropped out of McCains campaign after that.

In 1918, the Spanish-flu outbreak was followed by landslide defeats for the governing Democrats in the 1918 midterms and the 1920 presidential election. More than 60 percent of the national popular vote went to little-known Ohio senator Warren G. Harding and his call for a return to normalcy. Harding, while earning some notices in the Senate debates over the Treaty of Versailles ending the First World War, was not associated with responses to the Spanish flu. As with Obama and Harding, Bidens best bet may be to commit himself as little as possible and hope the public turns against Trump without his help.

Biden can only benefit right now from staying far away from the House Democrats. The endorsement of Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip, was pivotal to the South Carolina revival that turned around Bidens fortunes. It was Clyburn who reportedly told House Democrats on a Thursday conference call on the coronavirus relief package, This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. The result was a House bill that has blown up negotiations over a laundry list of progressive policy wishes unrelated to the coronavirus, a move of staggering political tone-deafness.

Given the concerns over Bidens accelerating senior moments on the trail, an interlude of minimal exposure may also be a good way of avoiding further uncomfortable questions about his fitness for the job. Nobody wake Joe.

Still, the national challenges ahead will demand something more than an ability to melt into the scenery. It might be time to start checking in on Joe Biden.

More from National Review
The latest victim of trolls is superstar Amitabh Bachchan who had tweeted his opinion on the astrological relevance behind the Janta Curfew initiated by our Prime Minister that took place on 22nd March 2020 at 5:00 PM until 5:05 PM. Check out the tweet below.

He tweeted with his own picture, T 3479 - AN OPINION GIVEN: 5 pm; 22nd Mar, Amavasya, darkest day of month; virus, bacteria evil force at max potential & power! Clapping shankh vibrations reduce/ destroy virus potency Moon passing to new nakshatra Revati. Cumulative vibration betters blood circulation.

And the minute this tweet went live, the remarkable actor started getting trolled for it. Fans were quick to call out how this post should be removed as this is spreading fake information about Coronavirus. Some went as far as asking the Mumbai Police to book the actor. Below are a few reactions to Amitabh Bachchan's opinion.

Why on earth doesnt @Twitter add a medically dangerous misinformation category in its terribly designed report feature?  Krish Ashok (@krishashok) March 23, 2020

Hollywood icons are questioning their govt's COVID preparedness, donating medical supplies, spreading responsible health messages



Our sycophantic 'icons' are spreading superstition which is not just irresponsible but CRIMINAL



Shame on you, @SrBachchan !https://t.co/puvjLkn2xs  Chirpy Says (@IndianPrism) March 23, 2020

@MumbaiPolice book this man for spreading dangerous misinformation regarding the #COVID19outbreak  Cow Momma (@Cow__Momma) March 23, 2020

@TwitterIndia @TwitterSupport This is the most famous personality of bollywood spreading fake news about COVID-19, please take action. Save lives    (@Guru_balaji_) March 23, 2020

Amitabh Bachchan has deleted the tweet. Keep the pressure up. Don't let anyone get away with any kind of nonsense.  Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) March 23, 2020

With such heavy trolling and backlash, Amitabh Bachchan deleted his tweet and has now written a lovely poem on how remarkable unity was seen and felt when the entire nation stood together for the Janta curfew. It will surely make you smile!

T 3478 - Historic .. we are ONE .. and we have WON !



     ,     ,

    

    ~ AB



At 5pm March 22nd the entire nation came out & applauded

NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS ! PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN - JAI HIND pic.twitter.com/Kb07wsVxew  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 22, 2020

We hope you are staying at home and keeping safe.
The City of Laredo has announced yet another case of COVID-19, or coronavirus, in Laredo, making it the third case confirmed today in the Gateway City.

With the case, the confirmed total in Laredo stands at nine.
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Market Highlights

RTD Alcoholic Beverages Market is expected to garner a revenue of USD 32 Billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2024. RTD alcoholic beverages are ready to consume drinks containing low amounts of alcohol. The entrance of new market players in the global RTD alcoholic beverages market is increasing the challenges faced by the existing players. Manufacturers of RTD alcoholic beverages are facing threats due to the implementation of stringent regulations and amendments in laws and taxation policies. For instance, in South Africa, spirit coolers can only be sold at liquor stores and cannot be consumed by people under the age of 18. However, the rising demand for innovative flavors in RTD alcoholic beverages by millennials is expected to render lucrative opportunities to market players during the forecast period.

Key Players

Some of the key players in the global RTD Alcoholic Beverages Market Size are Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (Belgium), Carlsberg Breweries A/S (Denmark), Suntory Holdings Limited (Japan), Diageo PLC (UK), Pernod Ricard SA (France), Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (Japan), Bacardi Limited (Bermuda), Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. (US), The Brown-Forman Corporation (US), Molson Coors Brewing Company (US), Davide Campari Milano SpA (Italy), Shanghai Bacchus Limited (China), Halewood International Limited (UK), Global Brands Ltd (UK) and Heineken N.V. (Netherlands)

Key Developments

In February 2019, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV acquired Cutwater Spirits, a US-based spirits company, with an aim to expand its premium canned cocktails segment in the US market.

In January 2018, Diageo PLC launched its first pre-mixed gin & tonic under its brand Tanqueray.

Industry Segment

The global RTD alcoholic beverages market has been segmented on the basis of base type, packaging type, and distribution channel.

By base type, the global RTD alcoholic beverages market has been divided into whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, and others. The rum segment is expected to dominate the global RTD alcoholic beverages market during the research period as different flavors infuse easily in rum. Thus, the increasing demand for new flavored RTD alcoholic beverages is driving the growth of the segment. However, the vodka segment is expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period due to the high ability of vodka to blend with different juices to form vodka-based cocktails.

The global RTD alcoholic beverages market has been segregated, by packaging type, into bottles and cans. The bottles segment is expected to gain the larger market share owing to the high impermeability of glass bottles. RTD alcoholic beverages can be stored in glass bottles for longer durations. However, the cans segment is expected to register the higher growth rate during the forecast period due to the ease of consumption.

By distribution channel, the global RTD alcoholic beverages market has been classified as store-based and non-store-based. The store-based segment has further been divided into supermarkets and hypermarkets, specialty stores, and others. The store-based segment is expected to garner the larger market share in 2018 due to the high availability of RTD alcoholic beverages in supermarkets and hypermarkets. Moreover, consumers, especially in the UAE, prefer to buy alcoholic beverages from duty-free shops. However, the non-store-based segment is expected to register the higher CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing presence of third-party online retailers and prominent market players in e-commerce.

Some of the strategies followed by the players operating in the market were product launches, innovations, mergers, and expansions.

Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/rtd-alcoholic-beverages-market-7920
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the government welcomes the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) decision to set up a Coronavirus team.

He however warned that government is against the politicization of issues of COVID-19 in Ghana.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the Minister said the government encourages various groups who seek to educate the public on the outbreak of Coronavirus to do so but without malice.

That in itself will be welcome. We will only caution that after telling everybody else, please refer to the Ghana Health Service materials and the facts about this outbreak; how we can fight against it, he said.

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Sunday assembled an 11-member team to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

The team according to former President John Mahama, had submitted a proposal of a national action plan on combating the novel coronavirus to the Speaker of Parliament.

But Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said while the government has no problem with the action taken by the NDC, it will not countenance any attempt to politicize issues about the pandemic.

He added that any group seeking to help in sharing COVID-19 education must route their advisories through the Information Ministry.

This is not a time for politicizing matters. If ordinarily, this group is to share public education materials and help spread the word, nothing will stop them from so doing. What we caution against is the politicization of matters at this time when literally the nation is at war. Partisan politizing of materials will not serve anybodys interest at this point in time. If they have any expert advice that they want to put together, I dont know whether it is for their partyJust like we are encouraging all other groups that if they want to put together and share as advisory, they are free to do so and route it through the Ministry of Information. We will be happy to receive anything they may have in dealing with a very complex situation such as this, he said.

Members of NDCs 11-member committee

1. Nana Kofi Quakyi (Assistant Professor in Public Health/Specialist in Health Economics)

2. Dr. Vida Yarkong (PhD in Interdisciplinary Medicine)

3. Dr. Prosper Akanbong  Immediate Past CEO of Tamale Teaching Hospital and Physician Consultant

4. Dr. Jehu Appiah: Senior Medical Consultant and former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association

5. Prosper Bani  Former Minister of Interior and former Head of UNDP's Crisis Prevention and Recovery Team for Africa

6. Dr. Zanetor Rawlings  Medical Doctor

7. Alex Segbefia  Former Minister of Health

8. Mintah Akandoh  Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee of Heath

9. Prof. Margaret Kweku  UHAS

10. Dr. Jonas Asamoah  Public Health Expert, Hawa Memorial Hospital, Osiem.

11. Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh  (Communications Specialist) NCB-HQ

Coronavirus cases in Ghana

As at noon on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, Ghana had recorded 52 cases of Coronavirus with two persons dying as a result.

The number of active cases is 52.

---citinewsroom
" " The marbled white butterfly (Melanargia galathea) population rose by up to 66 percent in 2019 in England. Naturfoto Honal/Getty Images

After years of declining populations, there's happy news of a bright spot for butterflies.

In both the United Kingdom and pockets of North America, butterfly numbers are bouncing back. For some species, this population news signifies that 2019 was their best year for growth in more than two decades, according to the journal Butterfly Conservation.

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Regardless of location, the butterfly populations that experienced the most growth benefited from unusually warm and wet climate conditions. These ideal circumstances resulted in a greater number of caterpillars that successfully cocooned and lived through their immature stages of development to emerge as healthy adult butterflies.

In North America, for example, the 2019 count of monarch butterflies after their migration from Canada to Mexico revealed a 144 percent increase in population over the previous year. And, in the U.K., one of the species that exhibited substantial population growth in 2019 was the marbled white butterfly, which rose by 66 percent, according to Butterfly Conservation.

For some geographically restricted populations, the population boom may have saved them  for now  from extinction. The lulworth skipper, one of the U.K's smallest butterflies, is found primarily along a stretch of coast in southwest England. This diminutive flying insect in shades of moss green, burnished copper and charcoal has experienced plummeting population numbers in recent years. However, in 2019, its population rose 138 percent.

In addition to favorable weather for butterfly development, experts point to intensive conservation efforts in recent decades. Much of the work by volunteers and nonprofit organizations, such as butterfly waystations and education efforts, has turned around long-term population decline for some butterfly species.

While this is great news for butterflies  and the people who admire them  scientists warn that the war to save them isn't yet won. Take the monarch butterfly population native to California, for example. Despite the baby boom for their cousins overwintering in Mexico, California monarchs lost 86 percent of their population in 2019.

"We're really heartened to see a shift in the fortunes of many of our most-loved species," said professor Tom Brereton, associate director of monitoring and research at Butterfly Conservation in southwest England. "The long-term situation for butterflies in general does remain a cause of concern though, with more species declining than increasing since the 1970s."

Now That's Amazing Traveling as many as 4,000 miles round trip, monarchs are considered the long-distance superstars of butterfly migration. They head south from Canada and the northern United States before cold weather comes, migrating to the warmer climates of California, Florida and Mexico, all in the space of two months or less.
A fitness fanatic has issued a warning to young people about the coronavirus after it left him fighting for life.

Derek Aitken was struck down with the virus after a weekend of partying for a friend's 40th birthday in Albury on the NSW-Victoria border.

The 41-year-old was suffering cold sweats and fever before he felt tightness in his chest and shortness of breath, so he flew home to Los Angeles to be tested.

The freelance event producer was shocked to hear he had tested positive for coronavirus three days later.

Derek Aitken was left fighting for his life after contracting the deadly coronavirus

A doctor with sample equipment at the coronavirus testing facility at Adelaide's Repat Hospital in March

'It was an agonising wait and was such a shock to be told I had it as I am really healthy, I eat clean and go to the gym six times a week,' Mr Aitken told The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Aitken's symptoms got rapidly worse, including intense joint pain and breathing difficulties to the point he 'thought he was going to die'.

'There were days I went to bed and didnt think I would get up the next morning,' he said.

Mr Aitken became completely bed-ridden, living on soup, liquids and paracetamol, with his family becoming worried for his welfare after becoming so run down.

Mr Aitken suffered extreme symptoms, leaving him bed-ridden for more than a week, with this family concerned for his life

After nine days Mr Aitken's symptoms began to subside and four days later he is waiting on doctors to confirm the virus has left his body.

He issued a warning to young people who might feel they are immune to the virus after his harrowing ordeal.

'Younger people are getting it and fit people are getting it,' Mr Aitken said. 'I got away lightly and didnt need ventilators, but the symptoms are different and vary in severity from person to person.'

There are currently more than 2,000 cases of coronavirus in Australia, with eight deaths, all of whom were over 70 years old.

More than half of Australia's coronavirus cases are people under the age of 50, with three per cent under the age of 20.
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Members of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force hold a press briefing Tuesday at the White House as authorities on the local and state levels continue taking drastic measures to slow the spread of the disease.

The outbreak has been expanding rapidly in the United States and roiling markets as the economy has ground to a halt amid restrictive measures meant to contain the virus.

Trump on Tuesday vowed to restart the sputtering economy by Easter, despite rapidly rising cases of covid-19.

Trump initially downplayed the impact of the outbreak but has since changed his tune. Earlier this month, he declared a national emergency, a move that freed up financial resources to assist Americans affected by the health crisis. Even so, critically needed testing has been slow to roll out.

Health officials for weeks have been urging Americans to take strong precautions as coronavirus cases multiply. Earlier this month, the WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic, saying it expects "to see the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher."

Task force members include Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli, among others.

The coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, has spread to dozens of countries, with more than 407,000 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 18,000 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 46,500 cases in the United States and at least 590 deaths, according to the latest tallies.

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Health officials in two Montana counties have called on Yellowstone National Parks superintendent to lock the gates.

In a statement released late Monday, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said it is taking the requests from local partners seriously and would announce any decisions in the near future.

""Yellowstone has received a substantial number requests to temporarily close, from state and local partners, including the governors of Montana and Wyoming, health officials from all surrounding counties, and local government leadership," he said in a statement. "The park began receiving these requests late in the day on Sunday, March 22, through today and we immediately began conversing with National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to determine the best course of action. I have been in direct contact with the governors, many local leaders, and health officials within our gateway communities and counties"

Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow was unable to comment on the possibility of further closures there. Flathead County hasnt yet requested any.

We are watching closely the visitation numbers that are occurring there and hearing from the park. Were really following their lead at this point, said County Health Officer Hillary Hanson.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which operates lodging facilities in Yellowstone, has closed all its facilities through at least May 21, according to a Montana Free Press story. Delaware North, which operates Yellowstone General Stores, has closed all its stores other than the Mammoth General Store through May 21.

Most roads and facilities are scheduled to open April 17 through early June. In March and April, a quiet season for Yellowstone as it transitions from winter to summer recreation and roads are plowed, visitation is fairly low. The average number of visitors in March is about 22,000 while April is double that at 44,000.

Yellowstone did close its Albright Visitor Center and the Boiling River to public use. The park news release also encouraged park fans to enjoy Yellowstone online via webcams, virtual tours, photo galleries, apps, videos, and other digital content.

Those measures didnt seem to alleviate the concerns in Gallatin and Park counties. In letters, the health officials voiced concerns that encouraging tourism during the COVID-19 outbreak is dangerous since it could increase the likelihood of transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Our shared ability to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak will be greatly complicated and imperiled by the arrival of thousands of tourists to our community, wrote Matt Kelley, health officer for Gallatin County, in a letter dated March 22.

It is imperative that you understand that Yellowstone is not simply an expanse of wide open land, Kelleys letter continued. It is a massive tourist attraction that attracts millions of people to our communities from all over the world. Most of those tourists congregate in visitors centers, rest rooms, gift shops, restaurants, and park attractions.

Marysue Costello, president and CEO of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, said closing Yellowstone isn't business friendly or probably what some stir-crazy stay-at-home workers want to hear, but she's trying to be optimistic and hope disease concerns can be tamped down soon enough to not affect the gateway community's economy too badly.

The county health officials' request came days after the Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, announced that parks would not be charging admission fees, nor would any access fees be levied at Bureau of Land Management properties.

The agency has allowed the closure of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado at the request of the governor following a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident. Yosemite and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks have also been shuttered.

Not closing national parks allows the Trump administration to "create a facade of normalcy," according to Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Encouraging mass park visitation amid a pandemic is irresponsible and endangers visitors and local communities.

Doug Morris, a National Park Service retiree who now serves on the Executive Council of the Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks, is especially concerned for park employees. Those people are all forced into close contact with visitors, especially in parks where large crowds assemble in one place, he said. Its not clear how much the fee waiver contributed to a busy weekend in Glacier, but Morris called the decision irresponsible.

Glacier saw heavy traffic in the Apgar and Lake McDonald areas, according to the park's Facebook page, and because snow is still covering many popular trails and parking areas have been full, the available attractions don't allow for adequate social distancing or limited group sizes. The situation has placed national park employees at risk, including those "cleaning restrooms, emptying trash, answering visitor questions, and ensuring visitor safety and resource protection."

I think the situation warrants the first priority (be) given to the safety of people," Morris said, "And those decisions should be delegated to park superintendents consistent with what the CDC guidelines are saying.

The concerns about public recreation spots attracting people during a challenging time hasnt been limited to national parks. Illinois has closed its state park system. Oregon and Washington have closed all state campgrounds. In contrast, Georgia is using a portion of one campground as an isolation post for residents who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In perhaps one of the stranger closings, the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming has closed all of its bathrooms to the public because it doesn't have proper protective equipment for its employees who clean the facilities.

"All of this is extremely difficult to near impossible to find right now without a multi-week wait," according to Kristie Salzmann, Shoshone public affairs officer.

Asked if the forest wasn't concerned about the hazards of people defecating and urinating near the outhouses because they had to go, Salzmann said, "Part of why we wanted to get the word out via this release prior to closing toilets was to allow the public to plan accordingly. We know that people will still need to go to the bathroom, but for the time being, we are mitigating the risk of exposure to our employees."
Around 3.25 lakh N-95 and 22 lakh three-ply surgical masks, total worth 15 crore, were seized in raids conducted by the Mumbai crime branch in two warehouses in Sahar village, Andheri (East) and one in Bhiwandi. Four people were arrested for being involved in the racket. There has been a shortage of masks in the city.

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, along with Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh, addressing the media said, There is a shortage of masks in the market. Police got a tip-off and conducted the raids. Strict action will be taken against all the accused for stocking the masks illegally.

The accused were selling the masks at high rates to make a profit. The three-ply mask which costs 2 in the market was being sold at 20 by the accused. They were also selling the N-95 masks, which cost around 100, for 300 in the black market, said Akbar Pathan, deputy police commissioner. Based on a tip-off, a raid was conducted at Akhil warehouse and Gulam warehouse, at Sahar village on Monday night and masks were seized. Owners of the warehouses, Shahrukh Akhil Shaikh and Gulam Murtuza Munshir, were arrested and probe revealed that they had also stored masks at a warehouse in Bhiwandi, said a crime branch official. Four teams, led by senior police inspector Mahesh Desai, along with police inspector Sanjiv Gavade and assistant police inspector V Kore then raided the Bhiwandi warehouse.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:32:56|Editor: ZD

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Photo taken on March 24, 2020 shows empty restaurants and shops in Houston, Texas, the United States. A "stay home - work safe" order has been issued on Tuesday for the fourth largest U.S. city of Houston and Harris County where the city is located to help fight the spread of COVID-19. The order will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night and will last until April 3. (Photo by Lao Chengyue/Xinhua)

HOSUTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A "stay home - work safe" order has been issued on Tuesday for the fourth largest U.S. city of Houston and Harris County where the city is located to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

The order will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night and will last until April 3. The order was announced Tuesday morning at a joint press conference with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

"To put simply, this means that all of us should stay home unless our jobs are essential for the health and safety of our community," Hidalgo said.

"I can say to you without reservation that Harris County Judge and I are standing together on this order. This is a public health crisis," Turner twitted.

According to the federal government's guidelines, there are 16 sectors considered essential, including public health and food.

Turner said grocery stores, health centers and parks will keep open under the order, but asking people to keep "social distance" which is about 1.8 meters.

"My destiny is in your hands. Your destiny is in my hands. Where we go from here is dependent on how we recognize the crisis we are in," said the mayor.

Houston's "stay home" order came after Dallas, another big city in the state of Texas, issued a similar shelter-in-place order that took effect Monday night at 11:59.

As of March 24, there are more than 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections in the state of Texas.
NEW YORK, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The HVAC Services Market was valued at USD 7.17 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 14.77 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 12.5% over the forecast period 2020 - 2025. The growing construction business in major emerging economies and the growing end-user markets, such as the data center market, etc., are major factors driving the growth of the HVAC services market, over the forecast period. Some of the benefits of adopting HVAC systems include energy-efficient, improved results, and lifespan, among others. According to British Petroleum (BP) PLC, China is the largest consumer of primary energy in the world, using some 3.3 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 2018.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05877814/?utm_source=PRN

- The HVAC service market has a direct correlation with the HVAC equipment market. Any changes in demand for the equipment will impact the service market positively as higher demand for new equipment leads to higher installation or retrofitting services. HVAC companies offer a variety of services for both non-commercial and commercial property owners. These services not only give attention to improving the performance of the equipment but can potentially reduce energy costs as well.

- Factors such as technological innovations and climate changes have increased the adoption of HVAC equipment. Global warming that has led to changing and unpredictable weather conditions has also increased the need for air conditioning equipment.For instance, According to the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association, in 2018, the global demand for air conditioners stood at 110.97 million units. According to the report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Global energy demand from air conditioners is anticipated to triple by 2050, requiring new electricity capacity the equivalent to the combined electricity capacity of the US, the EU and Japan today. The global stock of air conditioners in buildings would grow to 5.6 billion by 2050.

- Moreover, At the 2019 AHR Expo in Atlanta, Samsung HVAC North America announced that it would expand its residential and commercial air conditioning business in the region by building, training, and supporting a network of specifying representatives, distributors, and installers. Hence with the growth in adoption of air conditioners, the need for installation and maintenance and repairs of such equipment is expected to boost the market's growth positively.

- The growth in the construction industry and the rising disposable income in developing countries, has increased the availability of HVAC equipment for a broader consumer base. For instance, According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction sector's output in the United States is expected to amount to approximately USD 1.58 trillion by 2028. HVAC services are expected to witness a significant market growth majorly due to the increased need to install and maintain the energy efficiency of the existing systems.



Key Market Trends

Residential Segment is Expected to Register a Significant Growth



- The HVAC services demand in the residential sector, is primarily due to the growing population in Asia-Pacific, thereby leading to new installations. The market in developed regions, like Europe and North America, is mainly from the maintenance and replacement services.

- With the backdrop of rising global temperatures and improving living standards, market penetration for A/C systems is expected to grow substantially from current levels in developing nations. For example.

- Amidst the global financial crisis and housing market collapse, an overhang of housing in many mature economies led to a breakdown in prices of existing homes and stifled new residential construction spending.

- Starting from 2023, all new residential central air-source heat pump systems and air-conditioning sold in the United States will be required to meet new minimum energy efficiency regulations and standards. The latest minimum energy efficiency standards for these equipment types went into effect in 2015, and for the first time, different standards were set for cooling central air conditioners sold in the southern parts of the United States and those sold in the northern regions. The new regulations continue to set different cooling efficiency levels for air conditioners in the south, and they also require an increase in the heating efficiency of all air-source heat pumps.

- Many buildings are serviced by an overall HVAC system while having problematic areas with different time and temperature requirements. A solution is to 'zone' your structure by installing separate time and temperature controls for individual areas - zoned areas can provide better conditions as occupants will have greater control over their respective environments. It is also an effective energy cost-saving measure as HVACs can then be turned down or off in unused or unoccupied zones.

- According to an Aeroseal report, Variable speed heat pumps can trim monthly homeowners' costs by up to 40%. Proper insulation for a building or home, on its own, can improve HVAC efficiencies by up to 30%.



The United States is Expected to Hold Major Share



- Growing government support, in the form of higher budget allocations, designed to increase home ownership and sustainable community development, and the increasing affordability of housing, may contribute to the ever-growing residential construction sector. In addition, increased construction activities, rapid urbanization, infrastructural reforms, and HVAC unit replacements, are some of the major factors supporting the growth of HVAC services market in the country.

- The HVAC Industry is moving towards smart technologies in the United States, as the region is witnessing a high level of IoT integrations. State policies and regulations also govern the demand for HVAC services in the country. For instance, according to Aeroseal, LLC, in the northern US, furnaces must have a 90% efficiency rating, but in southern states, only an 80% efficiency rating is required. This indicates that HVAC services industry tend to be fueled by local and regional regulations.

- The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) estimates that 76 million primary occupied U.S. homes (64% of the total) use central air-conditioning equipment, and about 13 million homes (11%) use heat pumps for heating or cooling, and by 2023, all new residential central air-conditioning and air-source heat pump systems sold in the United States will be required to meet new energy efficiency standards, thus fueling the growth of the HVAC services.

- According to IEA, in the United States, more than 90% of households have air conditioning equipment, compared to just 8% of the 2.8 billion people living in the hottest parts of the world. The growing use of air conditioners in homes and offices around U.S. will be one of the top drivers stressing the need for the HVAC services in the region.



Competitive Landscape

The HVAC services market is highly competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with prominent shares in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and profitability. The companies operating in the market are also acquiring start-ups working on HVAC services technologies to strengthen their product capabilities.



- March 2020 - Gardner Denver has completed the merger with the Ingersoll Rand's Industrial segment on February 29, 2020. The newly merged company, named Ingersoll Rand Inc.This newly merged company will have a significant dominance in the mission-critical flow control and industrial technologies market with an extended product portfolio.

- February 2020 - Johnson Controls has announced the launch of fully integrated, factory-built and installed wrap-around heat exchangers (WAHX) to its YORK Solution Indoor and Outdoor air-handling units. This newly developed product will help the company in terms of meeting a growing need for energy-efficient dehumidification methods in a compact footprint.

- February 2020 - Comfort Systems USA, Inc. has entered into a agreement to acquire the Starr Electric Company, Inc. headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. Starr is an important force in electrical contracting and related services across North Carolina, with deep experience in the industrial, medical and educational sectors. This will help Comfort systems to expand their footprints with the help of Starr's expertise.



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A $350,000 reward has been offered to help solve a Valentines Day robbery in which an armed bandit fled a Melbourne shopping centre with bags of cash.

An Armaguard van was parked outside a pizza shop at Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre and two security guards were inside collecting cash when they were ambushed, about 8.14am on February 14, 2018.

Police said the robber aimed his gun at the guards and demanded they hand over satchels of cash.

Police are hunting for this motorcyclist who held up a van with a firearm at Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre in Mulgrave. Credit:Victoria Police

They complied, before the armed man fled into an underground carpark and escaped on a black motorbike along Police Road, Mulgrave.
By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) - Phillips 66 is delaying three sizeable scheduled shutdowns at its refineries this year, the company said on Tuesday, because of concerns that coronavirus could spread among the refineries' workers if the maintenance goes ahead.

The scheduled shutdowns, also known as turnarounds, are for plant maintenance, repairs and upgrades, and often last several months. The company did not identify which U.S. refineries would be affected.

The company also said its first-quarter refinery utilization should be around the low-to-mid 80% range, adding it was nearing minimum crude rates at "many" of its refineries. Company executives, speaking on a conference call on Tuesday, declined to elaborate on the expected shutdowns.

Fuel demand around the globe has dropped precipitously as people stay indoors and avoid cars and airplanes in response to the growing pandemic, which has sickened more than 377,400 people and killed more than 16,500, according to a Reuters tally. Research firm Rystad Energy expects global road fuel demand to fall 8.5% in 2020, and more than 20% in April.

That, and the global price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, have pushed prices to levels not seen in nearly 20 years, with U.S. crude lately trading at $23 a barrel.

Phillips 66 said it had concerns about a lack of available labor force to perform work on refineries, in addition to fears about the possibility of contractors catching the virus, executives said the conference call. It came as the company cut its expected capital expenditures by roughly 18% for 2020.

The refiner did not say how low individual refineries could cut their output before having to shut units or idle plants. It signaled that a 60% utilization level would be too low for a plant to maintain operations.

Executives on the call said that with refineries running at reduced rates, catalysts are not being burned as quickly, allowing the company additionally to delay some work on gasoline-producing units.

Story continues

Several other refiners are delaying turnarounds on coronavirus concerns including Citgo's refinery in Lemont, Illinois, and BP Plc and Husky Energy Inc's joint-venture refinery in Lima, Ohio.

Phillips 66 shares were up 5.8% at $44.52 at midday on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Laura Sanicola in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Coronavirus threat impacts cancer treatments and screening

Local cancer patients undergoing active treatment are to have their treatment plans reviewed by their specialist teams as hospitals reconfigure their services to protect patients from infection, reduce attendances and manage rising demand.

The case-by-case review will mean some patients treatment plans may be changed while others are suspended or discontinued. Staff at Nobles Hospital are linking with specialist teams at various UK hospitals to discuss the best treatment options, and patients will be contacted to discuss their risk and to advise them of the next steps.

New guidance from NHS England recommends that some chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments should cease or be shortened and that outpatient consultations be replaced with telephone or telemedicine clinics. The measure is a clinical decision taken in the interests of patients, weighing the benefit of the therapy against the risk to patients with weakened immune systems of contracting, and being able to fight, Covid-19.

A video telemedicine link has been established between the Oncology Day Unit at Nobles and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for clinicians to liaise about patient care, as the situation evolves.

Those attending the Oncology unit at Nobles for an appointment are asked to call the ward from their car before entering, and no one should arrive without an appointment.

Additionally, endoscopy procedures at Nobles have been temporarily suspended to reduce the risk of patient infection. Patients currently referred for bowel or upper gastrointestinal investigations will have their case reviewed by a consultant, and telephone consultations will be offered where appropriate.

The Islands breast screening programme has also been temporarily suspended. This follows a decision by the Greater Manchester Breast Screening Programme to suspend its services during the current outbreak.

The Greater Manchester operation administers the Isle of Mans breast screening programme, providing letters and reporting, therefore the local imaging service cannot run. It is not possible to say at present when appointments will be rebooked.

Patients who have been recalled to a second assessment following their recent breast screening should attend as per their appointment letter. Patients with queries can call 642570 to leave a message and a member of the screening team will call them back.

Patients with questions about their revised cancer treatment plan should contact their clinical nurse specialist, and anyone who is concerned about potential symptoms of cancer should contact their GP as usual for advice and support.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 21:46:35|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the African continent has reached 58 as confirmed positives cases surpassed 1,788 as of Tuesday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed on Tuesday.

The Africa CDC, specialized agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), in its latest situation update issued on Tuesday revealed that some 13 African countries have so far reported 58 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The highly coronavirus-affected African countries include South Africa with 402 cases, Egypt with 336 cases, Algeria with 230 cases and Morocco with 134 cases as of Tuesday morning, according to the Africa CDC.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also disclosed that some 184 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across 11 countries.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the African continent, figures from the Africa CDC also show that more than 130 new confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported across the continent since the center's recent report on Monday morning, in which the number of positive cases has climbed from 1,654 on Monday morning to 1,788 as of Tuesday morning.

The number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 58 as of early Tuesday from 52 that was reported on early Monday, while the number of people who have recovered from the virus has also increased from 169 on Saturday morning to 184 as of early Tuesday, according to the Africa CDC.
An airplane loaded with Chinese medical supplies landed in Morocco on Monday to help the North African country avert a coronavirus outbreak.

RAM showed on its social media platforms the airplane, which came after talks between Moroccos Foreign Minister and his Chinese counterpart.

China expresses its solidarity with the peoples and countries hit by the virus as they try to face the pandemic and the difficulties relating to it, Chinese news agency Xinhua said quoting Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Although China is still fighting the pandemic, it will nevertheless help supply other countries facing the virus and facilitate their access to supplies, he said.

Humanity will triumph against the virus, he said, promising to share Chinas experience against pandemics and send medical staff.

Morocco took strict measures against the spread of the virus imposing a quarantine across the country and asking non-essential businesses to close.

Coronavirus cases reached 143 cases including four deaths as the country watches closely the health conditions of 2117 contact cases.
Until a week ago Amy Thomas was earning a decent living. She worked two jobs, lived out of home and was paying off a car loan. Now suddenly, like thousands of other young people, the 19-year-old has no work, little income and faces the prospect of moving in with family.

I just feel really scared, I feel everything is out of my control, she says. Right now were in the unknown and nobody likes that.

Amy Thomas had been working at both a restaurant and shoe store Credit:JOE ARMAO

A month ago, I was doing 40 hours or 35 hours a week. I was able to afford my rent and still pay for my car that I just bought.

She is not alone. Many of her friends have experienced a similar loss of work, either losing jobs entirely or having their shifts cut.
Organ transplantation is one of the success stories of modern medicine. Around 139,000 transplants are performed annually across the world. One of the most recent success stories is a double-lung transplant for a patient with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in China.

Successful organ donation is a fairly recent phenomenon, still only decades old. The first successful kidney transplant was performed by a group of surgeons led by Dr Joseph Murray in Boston in 1954 between the identical Herrick twins  the recipient lived for eight years.

But the story does not really begin there. As a concept, transplantation of body parts can be seen as early at the third century, with the Arabian physicians Cosmos and Damien depicted in several famous paintings successfully transplanting an entire leg.

But in order for transplants to be medically viable, scientists first had to work out how to preserve them. At this time it was unknown that without a means of preserving an organ when removed from the body, the condition rapidly deteriorated.

Recommended Teen speaks out after receiving double lung transplant due to vaping

And so the science of organ preservation is fundamental to todays success. This has its origins in the late 18th century, at the time of the French Revolution, when scientists sought to identify the parts of the brain and body that were essential for maintaining life.

Julien Jean Cesar le Gallois, a French physiologist born in 1770, carried out a series of experiments in which he injected blood back into severed heads, limbs and organs to see whether they could be revived. His work was followed in 1887 by Jean-Baptiste Vincent Labordes gruesome attempt to revive the head of a guillotined prisoner with fresh blood. Needless to say, this wasnt successful. In his second attempt, he claimed to have kept the head alive for a full minute, although  unsurprisingly  the prisoner never regained consciousness after the execution.

Grisly as these early experiments were, they laid the foundation of our understanding of the role of individual organs and the idea of keeping them alive in isolation by reinstating the blood flow.

By using this device to pump warm blood serum through organs  perfusing them  they were able to keep them alive outside the body for hours at a time

In the 20th century, the French surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel further advanced the science of organ preservation. Much of his work focused on keeping tissues and organs alive outside the body, but he was a controversial figure, believing that it was possible to select elite individuals and make them immortal.

In the early 1900s, together with the famous American aviator and engineer Charles Lindbergh, he designed the perfusion pump: a device made out of a series of glass chambers that was able to preserve organs at normal and low temperatures. By using this device to pump warm blood serum through organs  perfusing them  they were able to keep them alive outside the body for hours at a time.

Pioneer: French surgeon Alexis Carrel (Getty)

Carrel fell from favour at the time of the Second World War and his work stopped abruptly. But his research was the basis for the design and development of modern preservation techniques and the equipment used for cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Before the development of modern preservation techniques, surgical teams in the early 1960s would travel with the recipient to the donor hospital to ensure that the time between organ removal from the donor and implantation was at a minimum. This meant that the ability to preserve an organ outside the body would be groundbreaking, enabling establishment of successful transplant programmes of living and deceased donors.

In the late 1960s, American surgeon Folkert Belzer was the first to develop a machine that allowed organs to be perfused at low temperatures. He was able to keep dog kidneys viable for up to three days with a plasma-based solution. Belzer developed a portable system to allow the transport of organs, but the machine was cumbersome and heavy, requiring a specially adapted van equipped with a tail lift. As the success of organ transplantation grew, it was clear that simpler methods were needed.

Traditionally the operation was performed by making a large incision in the patients side, which took many weeks to recover from. Nowadays, patients are commonly discharged two days after donation

Despite Carrels earlier work on warm perfusion, the focus at the time was still firmly on preservation at low temperatures. Organs could be preserved for longer at such temperatures, providing a window in which to transport the organ from the donor to the recipient centre. The Australian surgeon Geoffrey Collins was the first to introduce the technique of packing organs in ice  static cold storage  requiring only a preservation solution designed to prevent cellular damage and an ice box. Organs could be preserved in this way for up to 24 hours.

Then in the 1980s, the English surgeon Neville Jamieson, along with the American scientist James Southard and Belzer, developed a preservation medium called the University of Wisconsin solution designed to maintain the organ at a low temperature. This remains the gold standard solution used in transplantation today.

Over the past 60 years, transplantation has evolved considerably. New surgical techniques have been adopted to increase the number of living donor transplants. One of the most successful aspects has been the introduction in 1995 of keyhole surgery for living kidney donation by Lloyd Ratner at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Traditionally the operation was performed by making a large incision in the patients side, which took many weeks to recover from. Nowadays, patients are commonly discharged two days after donation.

The way we preserve organs is also changing, driven by the need to reduce the transplant waiting lists and improve the quality of available organs. Revisiting the theories of le Gallois and Carrel, over the past 15 years there has been renewed interest in warm preservation techniques. Maintaining circulation at normal or near-normal body temperature after the organ has been removed from the donor using specially adapted machines is becoming common practice in a number of transplant centres across the world.

Organs are perfused with blood-based solutions and provided with supplements and nutrients to support metabolism. This has been particularly beneficial in allowing function to be assessed in order to determine suitability for transplantation. Organs are routinely maintained in this way for a number of hours. Remarkably, in the past few months  January 2020  scientists succeeded in maintaining livers for seven days using warm perfusion.

So, perhaps le Gallois dream of maintaining any part of the body alive indefinitely is becoming closer to reality. What is in no doubt is that the field of transplantation has a bright future, building on the work of those early physicians and pioneering surgeons.

Michael Nicholson is a Professor of Transplant Surgery at the University of Cambridge, Sarah Hosgood is a Senior Research Associate in Surgery, University of Cambridge. This article first appeared on The Conversation
Award-winning talk show host Ellen Degeneres is breaking her silence amid the controversy surrounding her "diva" attitude towards her staff.

Over the weekend, a social media post went viral after comedian Kevin T. Porter called the host as "one of the meanest people alive."

"Right now we all need a little kindness. You know, like Ellen Degeneres always talks about! She's also notoriously one of the meanest people alive," he posted in his Twitter account.

Porter also encourages netizens to share the "most insane stories [they've] heard" about Degeneres.

"Respond to this with the most insane stories you've heard about Ellen being mean & I'll match every one w/ $2 to @LAFoodBank," the comedian posted in his Twitter account.

Ellen Degeneres and Her "Diva" Allegations

A slew of different "horror stories" concerning the 62-year-old TV personality was exposed.

This includes "The Ellen Degeneres Show" former head writer Karen Kilgariff, who was allegedly "fired" for not crossing the picket line during a writer's strike.

TV writer Benjamin Siemon also claimed in his series of tweets that every staff member was required to chew gum before talking to the host.

He points out that the Emmy Award winner has a "sensitive nose" and added that if the host "thinks that you smell, you will be sent home."

In his second post, he wrote: "A new staff member was told every day she picks someone different to really hate. It's not your fault, just suck it up for the day and she'll be mean to someone else the next day. They didn't believe it but it ended up being entirely true."

A former staff also outed the multi-talented host and producer after the online user labeled Degeneres as "Queen of Social Distancing" for not allowing her staff to be in the same room as hers.

Ellen Subtly Address Twitter Accusations

One of America's most beloved hosts subtly hits back at accusations after she posted a video wearing a black slogan shirt that says "Staff."

In her Instagram video, the Louisiana born A-lister was building a Lego set in which she captioned: "Don't count me out yet, LEGO."

Fans immediately noticed that the host was looking a little upset and some even claimed that Degeneres is using this to address the allegations about her "diva" behavior.

One online user commented: "Must be super hard to fill all the time in quarantine with your billion-dollar mansion and unlimited options."

Degeneres Says She "Misses Her Staff"

Following her Instagram video, the host tells fans "she misses her staff."

In a candid video, Degeneres admits that she was missing the people she works behind the camera during her self-isolation.

"This was my show staff's planned spring break week. I've asked them all to continue to stay home with their loved ones, and disconnect for a week. And I wish I hadn't. I miss them. But I'll be posting lots more next week when they're back. Until then, enjoy today's Safer-at-Home Spring Break 2020. Day 1," she wrote on her Instagram.

The host also mentioned that she feels "a little anxious" with all the major changes in everyone's lives; however, she reminded everyone to "stay safe" and to "pay attention to what they're [officials] telling us to do."

Degeneres also assured the fans that this "will pass much faster" if everyone participates and does its part.

READ MORE: Kim Kardashian Slams Taylor Swift Over Leaked 2016 Convo With Kanye West




Holt Christian charity feeds one million in Malawi

The North Norfolk charity Aid Africa, based in Holt, has been working in the remote rural areas of southern Malawi for the last 15 years and, in that time, has provided the basis for over a million meals. Tony Rothe reports.



Lynda and Dave Mills, who live in Fakenham, run Aid Africa from their charity shop in Holt. Lynda says: Dave and I have been working amongst the vulnerable communities for 15 years now, spending up to six months of each year feeding the hungry, restoring safe water, providing education, and so much more.



We were amazed when we realised that, since 2005, Aid Africa has provided the basis for over a million meals, brought clean water to thousands, empowered hundreds of kids with secondary education, built dozens of houses for the vulnerable and saved untold numbers of babies with our goats milk.



Good news is refreshing! Thanks to our supporters and friends, weve also built infrastructurecommunity centres, bridges, new water lines, and provided training in conservation farming, reforestation, animal husbandry, and lots of other subjects directly relevant to those we serve.



Lynda recounts the story of Memory, pictured right, a 12-year-old girl desperate for a uniform as shed been turned away from school without one. Her father had died several years before and her mother had gone to Mozambique three months earlier to try to find food for the family, but had not returned. Memory was in the care of her 15-year-old brother who roasted and sold little bags of peanuts to support them both.



Lynda says: We provided a uniform, and the one-off fee she needed so she was able to return to school. We also gave her a blanket, some food, and repaired their roof before the rains came. Just one little girl, but so typical of the challenges faced by the people of Malawi.



Were celebrating 15 years, but if were to continue we need more help, either by volunteering in the Holt Charity Shop for a few hours a week, or with donations. A 10 Standing Order will provide maize for 150 meals each month!



Donations can be made by calling at the shop, at 7 Shirehall Plain in Holt,

or via the website, www.aid-africa.com/donations ,



or via PayPal using email: info@aid-africa.com .



The top photo shows the women distributing maize.

Both photos are courtesy of Aid Africa.





Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in North Norfolk?
We want to assure our customers that the Coronavirus has not impacted our ability to support them if called to a wild fire event, said Dan Snyder, CEO of Neptune Aviation.

The US aerial firefighting industry remains mission-ready for this years wild land fire season, despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions on international travel, as the industry increasingly seeks global market opportunities.

Wildfires are going to happen, and we need to be ready to fight them, said Dan Snyder, Chief Operating Officer of Neptune Aviation Services in Missoula, Montana. We still have crews in the hangar putting our tankers through winter maintenance.

Neptune Aviation Services has nine BAe 146 regional jets converted to aerial tankers. Snyder added that annual training has been completed for most of the companys flight crews, which are ready for immediate dispatch. That includes enough to cover for any pilots who might become sick.

When our flight and maintenance crews are working on active fires, they eat in restaurants and stay in hotels. That is probably the biggest issue for us when dealing with the virus, Snyder reported. We are, of course, following the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), which have been applied to our staff in Missoulaand anyone out in the field. That includes encouraging headquarters staff to work at home, and for those in the field to let us know immediately if they feel sick. We want to assure our customers that the Coronavirus has not impacted our ability to support them if called to a wild fire event, Snyder stressed.

The Coronavirus has had a definite impact on the international operations of Portland, Oregon-based Columbia Helicopters, according to Keith Saylor, the companys Director of Commercial Operations. Given the fact that we have firefighting and logistical support contracts in several countries, the recent border closings have made it difficult for our employees to travel, he reported.

Columbia Helicopters supplies aerial firefighting services in the US as well as Chile and Australia, and is supporting the oil and gas extraction industries in Papua New Guinea. The operator is also providing transportation services in Afghanistan under contract to the US Department of Defense.

For its US aerial firefighting services, the companys three Columbia Model 234 helicopters are supported by a staff of 16. As Saylor explained, the company is participating in the telecommunications solution to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Where possible, employees are working at home, he noted. But, for those who must be on site, we have adjusted work schedules and minimized the number of those working on our aircraft at any one time.

Nonetheless, Saylor stressed that Columbia Helicopters has a sufficient number of employees in-house to cover for absent flight crews and mechanicsfor short periods of time. We want to assure people that the same high standards of readiness will continue to be provided, and safety will remain the number one priority for our employees and aircraft, he said. Columbia has ensured all of our employees are aware of the facts and are following the CDC guidelines to prevent the contraction and spread of all diseases as they work at home or abroad."

At Helimax Aviation, only pilots and mechanics are expected to report for work as usual, with everyone else working at home, explained Josh Beckham, the Sacramento, California-based companys General Manager. We still have active contracts and are supporting our customers, he said.

Currently, two of the companys CH47D helicopters are on firefighting contracts in Chile, which has closed its borders due to the pandemic. This, reported Beckham, has delayed Helimaxs ability to send relief crews, and has caused those already in country to extend their end dates.

Were asking the pilots and mechanics in Chile to remain in their hotel if they get sick, but so far, nobody has become ill, he stressed. Weve supplied extra hand sanitizers in our facilities and are promoting all measures to protect themselves from the virus.

Travis Storro, Chief Operating Officer of Timberline Helicopters, Inc. in Sandpoint, Idaho, reported that the operator remains committed to its customers even under current business conditions.

We are doing as much as we can by road and limiting air travel when possible to avoid unnecessary exposure, said Storro. Our maintenance crews are preparing our fleet for the coming fire season, and we continue to support our construction customers in the field to the greatest extent possible.

In that regard, Storro explained that staffing levels generally fluctuate, based on seasonal and projected workloads. However, he added, if crews become ill and unable to work, Timberline Helicopters will cover with available staff. But with the high skill level required to do precision external load operations and aerial firefighting, its not always easy to find people to cover in a pinch, he cautioned.

According to Storro, Timberline Helicopters is progressing with the completion of an additional UH-60A+ to its fleet, along with operating its existing aircraft. The hangar crew has been instructed to be diligent with personal and facility hygiene, and anyone who feels sick should not come to work. At this time, we have no reason to shut down any operations at our facilities at this time, as doing so may cripple our fire season readiness.

Its difficult to tell what impact the current health emergency will have on our operation, at this time, said Rick Livingston, owner of Intermountain Helicopter in Sonora, California. We are a very small operator, proceeding in a business as usual mode, unless things become really drastic. Intermountain Helicopter operates a single Bell 212, under call when needed contracts with the US Forest Service and Calfire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) for this season.

Columbia Helicopters, Helimax Aviation, Intermountain Helicopter, Neptune Aviation Services, Timberline Helicopters are members of the American Helicopter Services And Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA), the Washington-based trade association representing the interests of the privately operated aerial firefighting industry before the US Forest Service and other government agencies tasked with federal wildland management.
The world was shocked when it learned that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry were planning to resign from royal duties, despite the fact that it was common knowledge the couple was pretty unhappy with royal life and the negative coverage that they had been receiving in the media.

The couple announced they wanted a quiet, more private life with each other and their son, Archie Harrison, and also that they wanted to be away from the glaring spotlight that comes along with being part of the royal family. Now that Mexgit will be final in a very short time, fans around the world are anxious to see how things will unfold.

Life will be dramatically different for Meghan and Prince Harry. For the past few months, rumors have been endlessly swirling regarding their relationships with the other royals.

So, how is Queen Elizabeth going out of her way to normalize with Prince Harry and Meghan?

Is there tension between the Sussexes and Queen Elizabeth?

Although fans knew that Meghan and Prince Harry were having a hard time, no one  not even Queen Elizabeth  expected them to step back from their positions. Her Majesty has the unique position of looking at the situation from the point of view of both the ruling monarch as well as Prince Harrys grandmother.

While the queen is no doubt sad to see them go, we also know that she wants her grandson and his wife to be happy. Even so, there are reports of tension between the Sussexes and Queen Elizabeth.

Some fans noticed the friction at some of Meghan and Prince Harrys final royal duties, and no one held back their opinion regarding the situation. Everyone noticed how bitter the royals seemed toward each other, and it left quite a few people worried about what will happen once the split is officially final.

Queen Elizabeth obviously still loves Meghan and Harry

Queen Elizabeth II | Samir Hussein/WireImage

The royals have a strong family bond, and even Megxit cant destroy that. Things are more than awkward right now, and most likely will take a while to get back to normal.

In the midst of all of the tension and bitterness, Glamour reports that the queen certainly has not forgotten Meghan and Prine Harry one bit. First and foremost, she had a private lunch with Prince Harry. According to Hello Magazine, the two spent four hours together. Whats more, Her Majesty told Prince Harry that he is always welcomed back should he ever change his minds.

Queen Elizabeth also reached out to both of them as a couple when she invited them to a church service in Windsor, an invitation that they happily accepted. It was a really sweet gesture that the Queen asked them to church, a source told People. Its telling in the sense that these two are still her family. And as a family, they all love each other.

The Queen personally invited Harry and Meghan to join her for the service, a royal source told BAZAAR. She has continuously made sure that they feel welcome and loved.

Fans were quick to notice just how delighted the couple looked as they arrived at the chapel to see the queen and spend some time with her before they step down and leave the United Kingdom to begin the newest chapter of their lives.

Queen Elizabeth is going out of her way to normalize with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Despite everything that is going on, it appears that Queen Elizabeth is working hard to keep things as normal as possible in her relationship with Meghan and Prince Harry. After Megxit was announced, her majesty made several statements about them, assuring the public that they will always be valued family members. In one of her statements, she noted that Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved members of her family.

I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life, she said in a statement. I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole familys hope that todays agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.

Although the couple no longer wishes to carry out royal duties on behalf of the queen, it is wonderful that she is going out of their way to maintain her relationship with them. Things can get pretty hectic whenever a major change is taking place, and we can only imagine that even with all that is happening behind palace doors, Queen Elizabeth looks forward to seeing Meghan and Prince Harry live the life that they want and deserve.
Radio star Jackie 'O' Henderson broke down in tears on Tuesday while speaking about the devastating impact of coronavirus on families.

The mother-of-one, 45, struggled to speak as she discussed the inevitable job losses and mental health toll of the pandemic on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

'I tell you, there's going to be people that are losing their jobs over this,' an emotional Jackie told listeners.

'I couldn't imagine that kind of burden and stress': Radio star Jackie 'O' Henderson broke down in tears on Tuesday while discussing the devastating impact of coronavirus on families

'I couldn't imagine that kind of burden and stress when you're responsible for your family and feeding your family and it's just so uncertain what's going to happen,' she added.

As she discussed the financial and mental health effects of COVID-19 with co-host Kyle Sandilands, Jackie started to cry.

'I do genuinely worry for people out there,' she said.

Heartbroken: 'I do genuinely worry for people out there,' Jackie said. 'It's just bad in every way, isn't it? You just feel bad for all of those families'

'It's just bad in every way, isn't it? You just feel bad for all of those families.'

Jackie explained that she was keeping her nine-year-old daughter, Kitty, at home and trying to remain upbeat for her during the crisis.

Kyle and Jackie O are not immune to COVID-19 fears, telling listeners earlier this month that a staff member had been tested for the virus.

Keeping calm: Jackie explained that she was keeping her nine-year-old daughter, Kitty, at home and trying to remain upbeat for her during the crisis

Jackie is broadcasting from her home, while Kyle is going to the KIIS FM studios in North Ryde on occasion but mostly working from home.

The government has announced an emergency stimulus package worth $84billion to keep the country afloat in the worst economic crisis in 100 years, as thousands are expected to lose their jobs.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there are 2,008 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia and eight deaths.

Changes: Jackie is broadcasting from her home, while Kyle Sandilands (pictured) is going to the KIIS FM studios in North Ryde on occasion but mostly working from home
The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the army have announced new protocols to tackle the swift spread of Covid-19, including a ban on persons showing symptoms from boarding service aircraft, advising pilots not to step out of the cockpit and restricting the movement of army personnel in the 82 districts that are in lockdown.

The army has also directed soldiers to also keep a daily log of who they meet. Last week, the army had confirmed its first case of Covid-19  a 34-year-old soldier had tested positive in Leh. It had then banned all entry and exit to and from the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre where the man was posted.

The air force has asked its crew to have minimal contact with travellers. Passengers will be briefed to avoid any unnecessary contact with persons/aircraft surfaces, the IAF advisory said.

The army has restricted movement of personnel and shut its canteen stores department outlets in 82 districts that are in lockdown. The army has also instituted mechanisms to trace contact history and asked personnel to maintain a daily contact log.

Other measures in place include cancellation of all non-essential training, conferences and travel, and avoiding any assembly of more than 50 personnel.

Fresh instructions to combat Covid-19 were also issued by the navy after the lockdown of 82 districts that include key bases such as Mumbai and Vizag, two officials said asking not to be named.

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A large number of the overseas Vietnamese community in the US have been striving to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 by sewing face masks for use in hospitals due to a scarcity of protective equipment for medical workers.

In Seattle, Washington DC, a tailor shop owned by Kati Nguyen has become a hub for Vietnamese nationals to come and sew face masks.

The novel coronavirus epidemic is wreaking its havoc on the US, with the number of infections keeping rising considerably across the country. As face masks are among items much sought after, medical workers are most vulnerable to virus infection as they directly treat infected patients.

Many Vietnamese nationals living there called on the OV community to join hands in sewing face masks to be distributed to hospitals. Kati Nguyen, who lives in Seattle, Washington DC, is one of the community leaders in these efforts.

As far as I know, many nurses have cried in despair that they do not have enough face masks to wear at work, posing a great infection threat, said Kati Nguyen. A Vietnamese expat like me wants to do something significant for the society.

After being sewn, the face masks are given to doctors.

By using Facebook, Kati Nguyen has rallied members of the OV community to join her in the fight against the COVID-19. Since the inception of her idea, she has received enthusiastic responses, with some heading to her home to sew the masks, others taking cloth to produce them in their own home, while others provided their own cloth in order to create more masks.

All Vietnamese people have been enthusiastic in responding to the appeal as they think about assisting the hospital. The hospital is safe, so medical workers can save patients, said Trang, one of Kati Nguyens friends in the group.

Members of the OV community present face masks to medical workers.

However, Kati Nguyen said her group is faced with a scarcity of materials to make masks.

The biggest difficulty is that materials are in short supply because shops have closed while supply sources by friends are limited. So we are trying to get materials from other sources.

At present the group have sewn hundreds of face masks which have been sent to various doctors and nurses working throughout the US.

It is hoped that if movement becomes popularised among the Vietnamese community in the US then the efforts will ultimately turn into a successful endeavor for Kati Nguyen.

Hundreds of face masks are due to be sent to hospitals.

When I posted on the Facebook page for Vietnamese people living in Seattle, I received huge responses with many people asking me how to sew masks. OVs not only living in Washington, but also in California, Texas, Oregon and Atlanta are ready to learn from my experience and sew masks themselves before distributing them to hospitals, Kati Nguyen said. VOV
Infosys on Tuesday said the US Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded the investigation into the whistleblower allegations made last year, and that it does not anticipate any further action by the regulator.

IMAGE: Infosys CEO Salil Parekh. Photograph: Abhishek N Chinnappa / Reuters.

In October last year, Infosys had informed stock exchanges of having received anonymous whistleblower complaints alleging certain unethical practices by the top management. It then started a probe into the matter and roped in external investigators.

US market regulator SEC had also initiated a probe into the matter.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Infosys said it has received a notification from the SEC stating that its investigation has concluded. The company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter."

The Bengaluru-based company said it has responded to all the inquiries received from Indian regulatory authorities and that it will continue to cooperate with the authorities if there are any additional requests for information.

In January this year, Infosys had said its audit committee had found no evidence of financial impropriety or executive misconduct, virtually giving a clean chit to CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy who were accused by anonymous whistleblowers of rigging the company's balance sheet.

Rosen Law Firm had stated it was preparing a class-action lawsuit to recover losses suffered by Infosyss investors in the US on account of the development.

While announcing the findings of the audit committee, Infosys had said it intended to vigorously defend the litigation.

Shares of Infosys were trading at Rs 564.60 apiece, up 7.20 per cent from their previous close on BSE.
School Superintendent William Hite speaks about the City's response to the coronavirus in Philadelphia during a news conference at the Fire Department's Emergency Operations Center Mar. 12, 2020. Read more

The Philadelphia School District is planning to distribute computers to children who lack them, and aims to put a new distance learning plan in place by the second week of April, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Tuesday.

Were going to get the technology out to any child that says they need the technology, Hite said at a news conference.

The news came as advocates called on the state to require districts to provide education for all students, including English-language learners and children with disabilities, during coronavirus-outbreak shutdowns.

Pennsylvania schools are now closed through April 6. Learning has been optional in Philadelphia  school system officials had made online resources available to students, as well as paper packets, but because of state concerns that all kids have access to technology, no assignment could be graded or made mandatory.

 READ MORE: Read more: As coronavirus closes schools, wealthier districts send laptops home with students. What about poorer districts?

According to district data, 41% of students in grades 3 through 8 have a computer at home; 51% of students in grades 9 through 12 do.

School computers will be repurposed and lent to children who lack them, Hite said. The School District will also have to purchase a number of new Chromebooks, he said.

Were trying to get the best deal, Hite said. Were doing an inventory of the machines that we have in schools that we could redeploy.  Naturally, its going to take some time to work through the logistics of this plan.

The cost to the district is still unclear, Hite said, but would be tabulated in time to present a figure to the Board of Education at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday.

The superintendent said the district is also working with Comcast and others to provide internet access and mobile hot spots. Comcast has already offered low-income families two free months of internet access.

Remote learning will look different for different students, with individual schools calling the shots on how the technology will be used, Hite said. Once all children have technology, he said, the district will address expectations for teachers."

He said the district is also exploring using broadcast TV, including local partners and the districts public-access cable channel, to provide educational programming.

Pennsylvania officials on Monday extended the school shutdown through April 6. Kansas and Virginia have already canceled in-person instruction for the rest of the school year.

I could envision something like that happening here in Pennsylvania if this goes much longer, said Hite.

The third marking period was supposed to close at the end of March; Hite said that because of the coronavirus closures, the marking period will remain open and could be used to determine final grades.

 READ MORE: Read more: All Pa. schools closed through April 6; longer-term closures expected

While Pennsylvania could allow schools to reopen after April 6, the week of April 6 through 10 was already planned as the districts spring break, so Philadelphia schools cannot reopen before April 13, Hite said.

This is an extraordinary time that we are trying to navigate through, he said.

Hite dismissed the possibility of extending the instructional year through the summer for most students, saying the district needs time to ready buildings for fall.

He said the district could institute an extended learning year plan inside schools, if public health conditions allow, for some students, including English-language learners and students with special-education plans whose needs cant be met during the shutdown.

New instructions from the state now give Philadelphia and other districts the ability to offer formal education to most students, Hite said.

The updated Pennsylvania Department of Education guidance said we no longer had to wait until we could provide services to everyone before we provided any service whatsoever, Hite said.

While the department on Tuesday said it strongly encourages districts to provide education during the shutdown, advocates pushed the state to make that recommendation a requirement.

We need more rigorous guidance to ensure all schools provide the level of educational services that support students, Maura McInerney, legal director of the Education Law Center, said Tuesday. The nonprofit sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera on Monday, voicing concern that children with the greatest needs will be irrevocably harmed" if they do not receive services while schools are closed due to the coronavirus.

 READ MORE: Pa. schools close till April 6; long-term closures expected elsewhere amid coronavirus outbreak

The letter cites deep disparities in educational resources between well-funded and underfunded school districts, and asks the state to order districts to minimize unequal access to technology.

Previously, the state Education Department told districts that if they provide education during the shutdown, all students must have equal access, including those with disabilities. As a result, some districts say they have been awaiting clarity on how to provide online learning without violating those students rights.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over the weekend said federal law protecting students with disabilities should not keep schools from providing distance learning.

The Education Law Centers letter said states are not allowed to unilaterally deny educational services" for more than 10 days to students with disabilities.
TROY  The Troy Atrium has been quiet the last couple of weeks as the Troy winter farmers market takes a break during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But that doesn't mean their products, ranging from milk and cheese to vegetables and other produce, isn't available.

Local stores, including the Honest Weight Food Co-op, Healthy Living Market in Wilton and Superior Merchandise in Troy, are carrying many of the farmers' products. Others are instructing customers that they can order by phone and pick up at the farm. Some are even offering home delivery.

And many, said market manager Steve Ridler, are going online.

Ridler said this was perhaps the best time of the year for the market to go on hiatus. It's the end of winter and fresh produce offerings have largely been reduced to some remaining root vegetables, ranging from carrots to rutabagas that had been harvested the preceding autumn.

Farmers' markets give growers the chance to sell directly to consumers, eliminating the middleman and keeping more of the proceeds for themselves. The Troy market draws as many as 10,000 customers on Saturdays to the downtown area. The winter location, in the public space of the Troy Atrium, has been off limits after public mall spaces were closed statewide to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But food stores continue to operate, and Dale Cornell of Cornell Farms has made outdoor space available on Saturdays and Sundays to other dealers, including Battenkill Creamery, Maynard Farms and to products from the Argyle Cheese Farmer.

"We try to keep it limited," he said, so that customers and vendors can maintain a safe social distance from one another. The Cornell farm store, at the intersection of New York Route 7 and Tamarac Road in the hamlet of Boyntonville, Rensselaer County, is surrounded by open fields, giving vendors and shoppers space to stretch out.

"We don't want to add to the problem," Cornell said.

Produce including radishes, kale, spinach and lettuce mix were available last weekend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Meanwhile, it's not clear how quickly the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market might resume. Ridler said he's in regular contact with the county Health Department and city officials. The market traditionally moves outdoors at the beginning of May, and some customers may have been hoping that might be moved up. But Ridler, who is already is making social distancing plans and acquiring such items as sinks and hand sanitizers, says that's not in the cards.

"We're holding off," Ridler said. "We want to be part of the solution."

The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market has posted a comprehensive list of alternative sources for vendors' products at troymarket.org/alternatives

And the Argyle Cheese Farmer just launched its new website on Tuesday, where customers can place their orders. The site, cheesefarmer.com, gives customers the option of having their purchase shipped, or they can pick it up at any one of four locations during certain hours and days.

Argyle Cheese Farmer also plans to open a processing plant and retail store in coming months in Hudson Falls, said Marge Randles, who co-owns the business with her husband David.
On Sunday, Sify.com reported that thousands of FEFSI workers are jobless and are unable to lead their routine life due to the lack of income. Most of these FEFSI workers are daily wagers so their income depends on film shoots. As film shoots in TN have been called off due to the corona outbreak, now all these 25,000 members of FEFSI are jobless.

In his statement, FEFSI's President RK Selvamani said he got a phone call from one of his members saying that he couldn't even provide proper food to his family.

According to Selvamani, nearly 15,000 workers are unable to fulfill the basic needs of their family members. Now, Suriya, Karthi and their dad Sivakumar donated 10 lakhs to the FEFSI workers.

Selvamani requested affluent actors and producers to donate Rs 1 crore rupees so that FEFSI can at least provide rice bags to their members.
She did it! Michigans Genavieve Linkowski has made it through all three Hollywood week rounds of American Idol, landing in the top 40. The Goodrich native delivered a stellar performance of In My Blood by Shawn Mendes earning her a spot as one of the top 20 women remaining in the competition.

Linkowski made it this far two years ago, but was eliminated. Not this time. And she knew it after she nailed the performance. I didnt expect Katys reaction. I was looking at her the whole time," Linkowski said on the show which aired on March 23, 2020. I love seeing her grow in real time, Perry said. I think I just gave a performance that will not send me home and Im really excited, added Linkowski.

RELATED: Michigan rocker, Todd Michael Hall, loses The Voice battle, receives shocking save

In My Blood is a song about struggling with pain and not giving up. She had to deal with that after the tragic death of her sister, Corinn, who died in a car crash last year. Corinn was by her sisters side in 2018 when Genavieve made it to the final round of Hollywood week before being eliminated.

It fits her story, the idea of giving up because she struggled after her sisters passing, said Craig Linkowski, Genavieves father.

Whats next: The top 40 round has also been pre-recorded. The contestants traveled to a Disney resort in Hawaii where they performed in front of an audience on a beach. They will then learn their fate on whether they made it as a finalist or not. This season, America will vote each week on who stays and who goes home until theres a winner.

How you can watch: The Top 40 take the stage next Sunday, March 29 at 8 p.m. on ABC and on Hulu Live TV.

How coronavirus is affecting the show: Every Idol round has been pre-recorded so far. Once the show gets to the live shows with the finalists, it will be postponed for the time being due to the pandemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 16:25:55|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- About 85 percent of all industrial enterprises with an annual turnover of 20 million yuan (2.8 million U.S. dollars) in virus-hit Hubei Province had resumed production as of Monday, according to the provincial department of economy and information technology Tuesday.

As of March 23, 13,155 such enterprises in Hubei had resumed work, with 1.71 million employees having returned to their posts, accounting for 60.3 percent of the total.

The department has been providing assistance to enterprises on issues such as manpower shortage, logistics and capital flow to help them resume work in an orderly manner, it said.

So far, of the 103 enterprises with an annual revenue or output value of over 1 billion yuan in Hubei's raw materials industry, 87 have started work, with a resumption rate of 84.47 percent. All 28 enterprises in the pharmaceutical industry with an annual revenue or output value of more than 1 billion yuan have resumed work.
Police booked 33 people for violating rules under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the national capital and parts of Haryana were locked down on Monday (March 23) to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), said Muhammad Akil, police commissioner of Gurugram.

Later, the government decided to extend anti-coronavirus preventive measures to the remaining 15 districts of the state that are also effective March 24 midnight, i.e., night intervening Monday and Tuesday.

Akil said the 33 offenders have been booked under Section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a government official) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were found guilty of unnecessarily attempting to cross over to neighbouring Delhi without any valid documents. However, no arrests were made, he added.

Gurugram residents need to cooperate with the police and restrict their movements, else we will be forced to impose curfew under Section 144 of the CrPC [Code of Criminal Procedure]. The authorities dont want to take such extreme steps, he said.

The Gururgam-Delhi border did not experience any traffic snarls on Tuesday, with the police saying that they implemented a time-bound action plan to prevent congestion. Gurugram sealed its road borders with Delhi on Monday, triggering chaos and massive traffic snarls in the morning. The Millennium City, along with Delhi, is under lockdown till March 31.

All the borders have been sealed and prohibitory orders have been imposed limiting movement across the city, police said.

Construction work has been suspended in Gurugram and migrant labourers are leaving the district in droves, they added.

Police deployment was increased to 20 personnel at 83 checkpoints and over 25 cops were deployed at 11 places bordering Delhi. Barricades were put up at all traffic junctions and residential areas to ensure no outsider tries to enter or exit unless there is any emergency.

Gurugram is undertaking such stringent measures, as people are not practising social distancing. People are still roaming on streets despite repeated bids to create social awareness. We are trying to ensure residents get all essential services and dont have to suffer for lack of any basic amenities, the police chief said.

Akil said all resident welfare associations (RWAs) would have access to their domestic helps if any households find it difficult to do their daily chores on their own. Many senior citizens are living alone in condominiums, as their children live abroad. We have informed all the station house officers [SHOs} concerned to respond to the senior citizens calls and to ensure their needs are taken care of, he said.

Help is at hand from the police. Any person facing any issue can contact the nearest police station in Gurugram, or the deputy commissioners of police and commissioner of the district. The police control room number is 100, 1091, and 108 for medical emergency.

Police have distributed around 15,000 three-layer masks and hand sanitisers to all their personnel and have directed them to wash their hands once every half-an-hour.

Gurugram has reported eight Covid-19 positive case to date.

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BBC one has announced a Eurovision special for 2020 after this year's song contest was cancelled.

Eurovision: Come Together will air on Saturday May 16 which would've been the date of this year's competition final.

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The BBC say of the special: "BBC One and Graham Norton bring the country together for a special Eurovision broadcast - Eurovision: Come Together on Saturday 16 May.

"Produced by BBC Studios the show will feature classic Eurovision performances, a look at what would have been in 2020 and entertaining interviews, including this years UK entry James Newman."

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed earlier this month the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest would not go ahead as planned.

They said in a statement: "Over the past few weeks, we have explored many alternative options to allow the Eurovision Song Contest to go ahead.

"However, the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe  and the restrictions put in place by the governments of the participating broadcasters and the Dutch authorities - means the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has taken the difficult decision to not continue with the live event as planned."

The 65th Eurovision Song Contest was due to be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in May 2020.

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It's been announced that the plan is for the contest to return to the Netherlands next year.

Songs submitted for this year's competition will not be eligible but acts are welcome to return.

They said: "The Reference Group, the Song Contests governing board, has decided that, in accordance with the Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, this years songs will not be eligible to compete when the Contest returns in 2021.

"At their discretion, Participating Broadcasters may decide which artist(s) to send in 2021, either this years representative or a new one.

"We ask for your continued patience while we work through practical implications of these ideas in the coming days and weeks."

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Meanwhile, the BBC has also confirmed that Graham Norton will be back on Friday nights with his chat show from April 10 on BBC One.

Although not quite as usual, but still featuring the biggest stars and the best stories, including the famous Red Chair - now relocated to the comfort of your own armchair at home.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll out 'emergency welfare measures' for construction sector workers whose livelihood has been affected due to Coronavirus Outbreak

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll out "emergency welfare measures" for the construction sector workers.

Referring to the "extraordinary circumstance" due to COVID-19, Gandhi in a letter to Prime Minister Modi on Monday requested him "to consider advising the State Building and Other Construction Worker's Welfare Boards to roll out emergency welfare measures, particularly wage support, to the construction workers who are in distress."

"We are in the midst of the worst global pandemic. This has necessitated stringent measures for containment and management of COVID-19 transmission. These measures have led to widespread economic disruptions that had a debilitating impact on the informal sector," Gandhi has added in the letter.

The Congress president said that several countries around the world, most notably Canada, have announced wage subsidy measures as a part of their COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

In the letter, Gandhi has mentioned that over the last week, lakhs of migrant workers in major cities across India have left for their hometowns and villages fearing a prolonged economic downturn.

"As the second-largest employer in India, over 44 million construction workers are now faced with a precarious future. Many are stranded in cities and are deprived of their livelihood due to the stringent lockdown measures," he said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country has reached 482.
Many colleges are resuming classes online amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the transition from in-person courses to online isnt an easy one for many students and faculty. One Rice University-based organization is looking to help.

Rices OpenStax, a nonprofit education technology initiative that offers educational services and around 40 free textbooks online, is allowing students and faculty to access many materials and services without cost through the end of the semester.

The organization  founded by a Rice professor who hoped that reducing the cost of textbooks would stop students from dropping out  began waiving subscription fees for its educational services about two weeks ago when classes began more rapidly moving online, said OpenStax managing editor Daniel Williamson.

Online services from OpenStax include a tutoring program that allows faculty to assign homework and quizzes, which costs $10 per semester per person, and Rover, a platform that allows students to show their work problems and get step-by-step feedback, which costs $22, Williamson said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas colleges postpone graduations as COVID-19 pandemic rages on

The OpenStax textbooks, peer-reviewed by professors, are available in digital PDF versions and cheaper $30 print editions. Its supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation.

Were trying to do our best to at least make sure theres no price tag attached to the transition. Williamson said, and the need for such a support system is already evident.

More than 3 million students across the country are using OpenStax this semester, including more than 370,000 from Texas and 90,164 from the greater Houston area. More than 7,600 institutions use the system. The company has saved students about $900 million since publishing its first textbook in 2012, according to its data.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas colleges cancel classes, prepare for online education

A 2017 study by market research firm Wakefield Research found that 85 percent of the college and university students in the United States who were surveyed had either waited to buy course materials until after the first day of class or did not purchase the necessary materials  a 5 percent jump from the research companys 2016 study.

Nearly all the students said the cost was the reason for not buying their books and half admitted their grades suffered as a result, according to the study.

Within the past week alone, we have definitely seen a huge shift, Williamson said. This rapid shift to digital learning or social distance learning has exposed a lot of inequities in our higher ed system.

Coronavirus focing higher education institutions to go online for coursework has helped OpenStax officials identify which colleges and students have experience or plans in place when it comes to online learning  and which ones dont.

More than 30,000 students and more than 500 faculty have signed up for OpenStax accounts in the past five days, giving them access to its services, downloadable PDF versions of books, as well as useful note-taking and highlighting features, Williamson said. The OpenStax team of 85 have also been actively working to address the growing needs of faculty.

Related: Cheap textbooks from Rice's OpenStax bring $8.2 million in savings

Theyve posted a blog about quickly transitioning to online learning, which has been read by thousands of professors, many of whom have asked for more information, Williamson said. The initiative also hosted a webinar that maxed out with more than 400 attendees, and OpenStax is offering one-on-one support sessions for faculty members seeking assistance and aiming to get their courses online.

One of the most important things to dive into is how faculty are really concerned that they are keeping the approaches equitable, Williamson said, which has been OpenStaxs focus since its inception  to improve access and learning for everyone.

Many students are returning home, but might have poor internet connection, which makes live-streaming a class or proctoring exams difficult, Williams said.

How do we make sure students have the resources and tools that they need, if they are coming from a (more) disadvantaged background than (their) more resourced peers? Williams said. Thats going to be a big challenge, even coming from a K-12 space.

For students, the concern has been keeping the costs of an online education down. The costs of textbooks are known to be a deterrent.

If youre asked to buy a textbook, this could [be] the difference between you succeeding and dropping out of college, Williamson said.

brittany.britto@chron.com
Researchers have made the startling discovery that traces of the coronavirus lingered around for more than two weeks on the Diamond Princess after passengers had left the one-time quarantined ship.

Traces of new coronavirus were found on surfaces in cabins where people who were infected with the virus had stayed for up to 17 days after they had left, according to a study released Monday along with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The passengers had showed symptoms or were asymptomatic, researchers of the CDC study say.

Traces of the coronavirus were found on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had more than 700 confirmed cases of the deadly flu-like illness, after it was vacated, researchers say. The vessel is seen docked in Yokohama Port near Tokyo in February

The traces were found on surfaces in cabins where people who were infected with the virus had stayed, for up to 17 days after they had left. Passengers are pictured on deck just before they left the vessel in February

The passengers whose rooms were found to have traces of the coronavirus had showed symptoms or were asymptomatic. Health officials are pictured suiting up in protective gear to treat passengers from the Diamond Princess

It was not possible to determine whether the new traces caused any infections, Bloomberg reports.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been diagnosed around the world with the coronavirus since the global pandemic began in Wuhan, China, in December.

There have been more than 43,000 confirmed cases in the US of the infection, also known as COVID-19, which has been blamed for 553 known deaths.

More than 46,000 people tested positive for coronavirus by Monday night, and close to 600 were dead

How the number of coronavirus infections have escalated over time

How the number of deaths related to coronavirus infection have risen over time

An earlier study found that the virus was able to stay viable on plastic and stainless steel for as many as three days, although levels fell dramatically over time.

The virus was less stable on copper, where no viable trace of the virus was found after 4 hours.

It also was not as stable on cardboard, which showed no trace of the virus after 24 hours, according to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The latest study from the CDC looked at rooms that were not yet cleaned. Cleaning, researchers have confirmed, is a highly effective way of killing the virus.

The CDC also said that the spread of infection aboard the Diamond Princess happened before the ship went into quarantine. Infections among crew members rose after.

On the vessels sister ship, the Grand Princess, members of the crew are believed to have contracted the virus and then passed it on to passengers, according to the study.
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva thanked those who voluntarily donated to the Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus which was established under the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev, aiming to take preventive measures and speed up the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

The First Vice-President also donated her annual salary to the Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus.

The Fund aims to stem the spread of coronavirus and provide financial assistance to measures being implemented in order to prevent the spread of the infection in Azerbaijan.
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2020 / Lucky Minerals Inc. (TSXV:LKY)(OTC:LKMNF)(FRA:LKY) ("Lucky" or the "Company") announces that, further to its news release dated December 5, 2019, it has received shareholder and TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") approval for the shares for debt transaction to settle the second and final aggregate of $114,057.15 in indebtedness of the Company to certain creditors, including 3 persons who are officers and/or directors of the Company through the issuance of 2,281,143 common shares of the Company ("Settlement Shares") at a deemed price of $0.05 per Settlement Share (the "Debt Settlement"). Accordingly, the Company also announces that it has completed the Debt Settlement. The Settlement Shares are subject to a four month hold period, expiring July 12, 2020.Directors and officers of the Company and subsidiary participated in the Debt Settlement and converted $93,913.45 of their outstanding debt consisting of employment fees, technical committee fees, directors fees, consulting fees, and government and community relations regarding the Montana property project as follows: Santiago Yepez Davila received 568,775 Settlement Shares, Joao Carrelo received 311,199 Settlement Shares, Steve Cozine received 95,753 Settlement Shares, Robert Rosner received 287,808 Settlement Shares, and Geologic Systems Ltd., a company owned by Shaun Dykes, received 439,867 Settlement Shares. Of this amount, creditor, American CuMo Mining Corporation ("American CuMo"), a company sharing one common director and officer of the Company, participated in the Debt Settlement and converted $8,743.35 of its outstanding debt of consulting fees into a total of 174,867 Settlement Shares.Participation by insiders constitutes a related party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relied upon exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, with respect to the issuance of the Settlement Shares to the directors and officers.Also at the annual and special meeting of shareholders held on March 5, 2020, Lucky's shareholders approved the continuance of the Company (the "Continuance") from the jurisdiction of Canada under the Canada Business Corporations Act into the jurisdiction of British Columbia under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). Accordingly, effective March 11, 2020, Lucky has continued into British Columbia under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) and the Notice of Articles and the articles of Lucky replaced the existing Articles of Incorporation and the bylaws.The full text of the Articles are available on SEDAR under Lucky's profile at www.sedar.com The TSX-V has also approved the change in Lucky's constating documents resulting from the Continuance.About LuckyAn exploration and development company targeting large-scale mineral systems in proven districts with the potential to host world class deposits. Lucky Minerals owns a 100% interest in the Fortuna and Emigrant Projects.The Company's Fortuna Project is a royalty-free 550km2 (55,000 Ha, or 136,000 Acres) exploration concession. Fortuna is located in a highly prospective, yet underexplored, gold belt in southern Ecuador, adjacent to some of the world's largest discoveries in gold and copper.The Emigrant Creek Project covers a 15 km2 area in an intensely altered and mineralized porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum system in southern Montana.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD"Adrian Rothwell"Chief Executive OfficerFurther information on Lucky can be found on the Company's website at www.luckyminerals.com and at www.sedar.com , or by contacting Adrian Rothwell, President and CEO, by email at investors@ luckyminerals.com or by telephone at (866) 924 6484.Neither the 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 does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any Lucky common shares in the United States.Cautionary Statement Regarding Adjacent Properties and Forward-Looking InformationThis news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related exploration and development; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund exploration and development; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in input costs; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or inability to obtain permits encountered in connection with exploration activities; and labor relations matters. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations also include risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations.The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of
US airlines are teetering on the brink of collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic that left flights almost empty.

Even with sharply reduced schedules, airlines are consolidating some of the remaining flights because passengers aren't showing up.

An official of one major U.S. airline, who asked that they and their airline not be identified, ticked off more than a dozen flights that departed on Tuesday morning with fewer than 10 passengers on board. In a few cases, the passengers were outnumbered by pilots and flight attendants.

'There are no passengers,' said the official, noting that the average flight was just over 20% full and that figure is expected to drop into the teens by the weekend.

Airline service in the United States is teetering on the brink of collapse. A passenger removes her goggles and face mask used to fend off coronavirus at the request of a TSA agent as she goes through a security checkpoint, Tuesday

American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions made to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Monday

Above is the latest number of coronavirus cases in the US and confirmed deaths as of Tuesday

On Monday, the Transportation Security Administration said it screened 331,000 people at airport checkpoints. That was an 86% drop from the corresponding Monday a year ago, when officers screened more than 2.4 million people.

Major airlines are drafting plans in case they must shut down domestic flights because of a lack of air traffic controllers or airport screeners.

'We have plans in place in case that happens,' the airline official said. 'It's a dire situation.'

An official at another major carrier called it 'prudent contingency planning' given that health experts advise against gathering of more than 10 people.

'We do not have plans to voluntarily ground, (but) we're wary of government actions ... that could force us to ground the airline,' such as the Federal Aviation Administration closing control towers or airspace or governors ordering that airports be shut down, said the person, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss planning that has not been made public.

The Wall Street Journal reported that government agencies were considering ordering a shutdown of virtually all passenger flights within the U.S. The newspaper said President Donald Trump and his advisers are reluctant to order a shutdown partly because passenger planes also carry U.S. mail and vital cargo.

American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Monday

Passengers wear protective gear to fend off coronavirus as they wait to go through a TSA security checkpoint, Tuesday at JFK airport in New York

Even with sharply reduced schedules, airlines are consolidating some of the remaining flights because passengers aren't showing up. The TSA said 24 screeners and six other employees at 14 U.S. airports have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the past two weeks

The FAA, which provides air traffic control across the country, declined to comment on whether the agency was considering ordering a shutdown. 'We dont comment on speculation,' said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. 'The FAA is focused on the health and safety of its workforce while continuing to provide a safe air transportation system.'

Airport towers at Chicago's Midway International Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas remained closed Tuesday, nearly a week after shutting down because some employees tested positive for the new coronavirus. FAA workers at eight other facilities have also tested positive.

Administration officials have repeatedly declined to rule out the possibility of halting domestic airline travel while saying no such shutdown was imminent. President Donald Trump said Monday he was not considering new travel restrictions.

'They thought we were going to have bans within the United States. We didn't do that,' he said at a White House briefing. 'We are not going to have that. Hopefully that will take care of itself.'

The airlines and their labor unions are lobbying Washington for relief. A proposal by Senate Republicans would provide $50 billion in loan help and another $8 billion for cargo carriers, but the airlines say they need cash grants to avoid layoffs in an industry that employs about 750,000 people.

House Democrats propose $40 billion in grants to airlines and contractors to preserve pay and benefits for workers. Democrats would add provisions including telling airlines to cut carbon emissions in half by 2050 and to include labor union representatives on their boards. Prominent House Republicans immediately trashed the proposal.

U.S. airlines have already cut most of their international flights and have announced plans to reduce service within the U.S. by up to 40% in April. Those drastic planned cutbacks in service now seem hopelessly optimistic, given the few people who continue to fly.

More than 8,300 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday, according to tracking service FlightAware. In some cases, airlines consolidated flights to avoid flying empty planes.

United Airlines canceled 51% of its flights, American dropped 46% of its schedule and Delta scrapped 39%, according to FlightAware. Southwest canceled 15%.

Some air traffic control towers were closed Tuesday. File image shows air traffic controllers talk with pilots inside the control tower at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California June 2016

On Tuesday, United Airlines canceled 51% of its flights, American dropped 46% of its schedule and Delta scrapped 39%, according to FlightAware. Southwest canceled 15%. Pictured, idled Delta Air Lines planes sit parked on the now unused fifth runway of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia on March 22

As recently as March 8, TSA screened more than 2 million travelers, but the numbers have steadily declined ever since.

The TSA said 24 screeners and six other employees at 14 U.S. airports have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the past two weeks. The most recent confirmed cases were at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Indianapolis International Airport and McCarran in Las Vegas.

The new virus and a global recession will do more financial damage to airlines than previously estimated, according to an industry trade group.

The International Air Transport Association said Tuesday that it now estimates that passenger revenue worldwide could fall as much as $252 billion, or 44%, compared with last year because of the decline in travel. That is based on strict travel restrictions lasting up to three months, followed by a slow economic recovery.

Less than three weeks ago, the group estimated the virus could reduce airline revenue by up to $113 billion compared with 2019, before a new round of travel restrictions that have stopped most international air travel.

Delta Air Lines is the world's biggest and most profitable airline. On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's cut Delta's credit rating from investment grade to speculative, or junk, status.
Quarantine caused by the global outbreak of COVID-19 is forcing people across the world to find ways to entertain themselves.

In Michigan, people are lighting up.

According to a Twitter survey conducted by the health blog bodynutrition.org, Michigan residents are smoking marijuana more than any other state during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Analysts used trends software with direct access to geotagged twitter data to arrive at the conclusion.

All Michigan residents, most businesses ordered to stay home to slow spread of coronavirus

More than 200,000 tweets since March 1 were tracked, specifically tweets and hashtags about using marijuana, including phrases such as "smoke weed," "get high," and all related slang terms, were considered.

Michigan legalized recreational marijuana in November 2018 and the market, and regulation, has continued to develop since.

Here are 30 feel-good movies to make you smile during coronavirus outbreak

Overall, the southern half of the U.S. has the most activity when it comes to smoking weed, with the exception of Michigan, which was the number one state overall. The top marijuana using states during the coronavirus outbreak are as follows, according to the survey:

1. Michigan

2. Georgia

3. Texas

4. Louisiana

5. Hawaii

6. Nevada

7. Maryland

8. Delaware

9. New Mexico

10. California
Ukraine and Germany aim to maintain and even increase the trade turnover between the countries, which made up EUR 9.5 billion last year.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba stated this following online talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Today we have also discussed life after the virus, that is, how relationships will develop after the situation stabilizes. Together with our German counterpart, we are set to work on developing trade between Ukraine and Germany. Last year's turnover made up almost EUR 9.5 billion. We will work to ensure that despite the global economic crisis unfolding in our eyes, this volume at least not to decrease but, perhaps, even increase, said Kuleba.

He added that the parties discussed new opportunities for trade and business between the two countries, and paid special attention to the energy sector, which has "a great prospect".

iy
Saudi Arabia's King Salman will chair an extraordinary virtual meeting of the leaders from the Group of 20 major economies on March 26 to advance a global coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak, a statement said on Wednesday.

The kingdom, which holds the G20 presidency this year, called last week for the leaders to speak by video-conference amid criticism that the group has been slow to respond to the global crisis.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's export of chemical products to Iran decreased by 20.1 percent compared to the same period of 2019 and amounted to $77.5 million from January through February 2020, Turkeys Trade Ministry told Trend.

Turkey's export of chemical products to Iran amounted to $37.3 million in February 2020, showing a decrease of 7.8 percent compared to February 2019.

From January through February 2020, Turkeys export of chemicals to world markets increased by one percent compared to the same period of 2019, and amounted to $3.2 billion.

Over the reporting period, Turkeys export of chemicals amounted to 10.9 percent of the country's total export.

Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to $1.5 billion in February 2020, which is 7.8 percent less compared to February 2019.

In February 2020, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to 10.3 percent of the country's total export.

According to the ministry, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to $20.6 billion from February 2019 through February 2020.

Turkey's foreign trade turnover in Jan. 2020 amounted to $33.9 billion.

In Jan. 2020, Turkey's export increased by 6.4 percent compared to Jan. 2019 and amounted to $14.8 billion.

Turkey's import increased by 18.8 percent in Jan. 2020 compared to Jan. 2019, amounting to $19.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
A Christian school has told families God is 'not surprised' by the COVID-19 pandemic in a school newsletter about online classes.

Chairo Christian School has more than 1,700 children and teenagers enrolled at campuses across Victoria in West Gippsland, South Gippsland, the Latrobe Valley, and near Pakenham on the outskirts of Melbourne.

In the school newsletter on Friday, Executive Principal Simon Matthews said students would not need to come to class from Monday due to the 'challenges' presented by coronavirus.

A Christian school has told families God is 'not surprised' by the COVID-19 pandemic in a school newsletter about online classes

'In making this decision, our starting point is that God is not surprised by the pandemic that we are experiencing,' Mr Matthews said.

'He is Lord over all creationincluding virusesand as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians, '' in Jesus all things hold together''.

'What a great hope this can be for us as a Christian school community.'

The newsletter came before the Victorian government brought the school holidays forward to start on Tuesday to help teachers prepare for the possibility of remote learning if it is needed after April 14.

For now, kindergartens and childcare centres remain open.

Mr Matthews continued: 'This is a significant decision that has only been made after much consideration, consultation and prayer.'

'In making this decision, our starting point is that God is not surprised by the pandemic that we are experiencing,' Executive Principal Simon Matthews said

There are now 411 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Victoria after 64 people were diagnosed overnight

'We understand that this decision will not be easy for families.

'Please know that we are praying for you and your children, that the overriding outcome of this time will be that you will know, in even greater ways, the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus.'

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

There are now 411 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Victoria after 64 people were diagnosed overnight. Twelve people are in hospital, including the two patients in intensive care.

The increased tally comes as the first full day of Victoria's shutdown sees all schools closed, empty courts and most of the hospitality industry crumbling.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the measures were tough, but they had to be in order to curb the spread of the deadly illness.

He implored people to follow the isolation, social distancing and shut down rules.

'People have got to step up and take this seriously otherwise we're going to finish up in a really difficult situation and frankly, if people don't want to take my word for it, turn your TV on - have a look at Italy, have a look at Spain, have a look at France,' Mr Andrews told Triple M Melbourne on Tuesday.

'I can make all the rules in the world but if people don't follow them, they simply won't work.'

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Matthews said Chairo Christian School - like all schools - is 'founded on and operates' according to a particular view of the world.

'As a Christian school, our foundation is the Bible, and what that book tells us about God, about ourselves as humans, and about the world that we live in,' he said.

'The understanding that Christians find in the Bible provides a view that our world, and everything in it, belongs to God.

'This view of everything in life provides a confidence and comfort that God knows all things and understands what we are experiencing.

'As the foundation that we operate from, this allows us to share the messages that we have been with our families in these uncertain and challenging times that we are all currently living through.'
As tens of thousands join the ranks of the unemployed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it's crisis time for the older jobless, many of whom are at risk of never being able to fully recover.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said "many thousands of Australians will lose their jobs.

People queue for access to a Centrelink service centre in Sydney. Credit:AAP

They are lining up at Centrelink offices as we speak. Something unimaginable at this scale only weeks ago. They have lost their jobs, many, and we know many more will."

Senior sources in the banking and the forecasting sectors said their analysis showed Australia was headed for an unemployment rate of 15 per cent or more, up from 5.1 per cent now, with 2 million people out of work.
Donald Trump says the top health official leading the administration's coronavirus response "understands" the president's demands to end the effective US shutdown.

Asked if Dr Anthony Fauci agrees with him, the president said: "He doesn't not agree with me."

The president has suggested he won't extend an effective shutdown meant to curb the spread of the virus as the White House approaches the end of a 15-day closure, despite surges in Covid-19 cases that have ballooned to more than 40,000 across the US. The World Health Organization has warned that the pandemic is "accelerating" despite global quarantine attempts.

Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not attend Monday's briefing. The doctor has repeatedly contradicted the president's wildly optimistic or false claims and has reportedly growing frustrated with the administration.

He recently said in an interview: "I 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."

After arguing that business as usual should continue in the coming weeks to keep the economy moving, the president said on Monday that doctors in his administration haven't "endorsed" easing those restrictions but he claimed "they're OK with it".

Asked whether any health officials agree that guidelines should be eased within a week, the president said: "If it were up to the doctors, they may say, 'Let's keep it shut down. Let's shut down the entire world.'"

The president said that the economy was a "fine-tuned machine" but said that the pandemic "just happened  this horrible virus came from... wherever."

He said that Dr Fauci "fully understands that" but refused to answer whether health officials in his administration support potentially life-saving quarantine efforts while the number of cases continues to climb.

The president has not provided any scientific basis for determining the outbreak would slow by May or June, but the economic crisis in its wake has emerged as an existential threat to his presidency after he has touted the stock market's success as proof of his legitimacy in office.

Stock market gains made during his presidency have been virtually eliminated since the virus panicked world markets, while unemployment claims could reach as high as 30 per cent.
A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

Is there any good news at all during this shocking shutdown of the United States? This global disruption by an invisible demon? It's a stretch, but I am seeing lots of examples of how this crisis is inspiring incredible creativity all around the world:

 Nurses and doctors are using social media and creating hashtags like #StayAtHome and #GetMePPE to call for help.

 Medical pros are reorganizing emergency rooms and setting up makeshift facilities and even figuring out ways to upgrade ventilators.

 Countless organizations and individuals are donating masks and other supplies.

 There's a "worldwide hackathon" underway to solve some of the supply shortages.

 Grocery stores are setting up seniors-only hours.

 Restaurants and breweries are turning into delivery services overnight.

 Smart thermometers are being used to map cases.

 Rival newspapers in the United Kingdom published front pages with the same message: "When you're on your own, we are there with you."

 In Argentina, major papers ran identical headlines: "We stop the virus together, let's make responsibility go viral."

 Schools are using Zoom and other forms of video chat software to reconnect students with their friends.

 TV networks are getting creative too, with town hall events and extra hours of news coverage.

 Late-night stars are shooting their shows from their homes. In turn, CBS News is using the "Late Show" set for its morning show, while its usual digs are closed.

 Celeb DJ/producer/rapper D-Nice is "spinning records on his Instagram Live" for a virtual quarantine party.

 Musicians, comedians and other artists are holding live-streamed performances from their homes.

 Rita Wilson is rapping in quarantine!

 Madonna posted on social media from her bathtub.

 Americans are following Italy's lead and singing from their windows.

 Through the hashtag #SolidarityAt8, residents are cheering for health care heroes at 8 p.m. local time.

 Some of the best "content" from this crisis is homemade, from users who are making videos just to pass the time. For example: This "Love is Blind" parody.

 "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" returned on Sunday for one night only to raise money for The Actors Fund.

We are all connected

On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," I asked AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson if the company's networks have been able to keep up with increased demand. Yes, he said: "Face-to-face communication that once existed is now happening over mobile devices. It's happening over WiFi. And the infrastructure is holding up quite well. We're seeing some signs of stress. We're having to go out and do some augmentation of networks, and so we're sending our employees out to get that done. But right now, the network is performing quite well." This is a testament to America's investment in communications infrastructure, he said, crediting AT&T along with rivals Verizon and T-Mobile. Clare Duffy has our full story here...

Netflix's response to the crisis

Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos joined me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" and said the streaming service hopes to make staying at home "a little more bearable."

 Sarandos said streaming video hopefully makes people "feel a little less isolated while we are being physically isolated..."

The-CNN-Wire &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
PM said he wants remove 'dil ki doori and Dilli ki doori': Omar Abdullah after meet on J&K

Restore statehood first, if you want elections in J&K: Omar Abdullah to Centre

Govt needs to give sense of security to people cutting across religions in J&K: Omar

J&K govt orders release of former CM, Omar Abdullah

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the release of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah.

An order revoking the detention of Abdullah was ordered by the Jammu and Kashmir government a while ago.

The order comes, days after the government decided to release his father and also former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah. The Abdullah's have been in detention since the decision to revoke Article 370 was made on August 5 2019.

Azad meets Abdullah, demands release of J&K leaders

The order to detain them was passed under the Public Safety Act. The government has over the past couple of months released several politicians in Jammu and Kashmir. Former CM of J&K, Mehbooba Mufti however continues to remain under house arrest. No decision regarding her has been taken as yet by the J&K government.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 10:49 [IST]
Ventilators used in veterinary clinics for cats and dogs are being urgently sought for use in human hospitals to assist with the rising number of critical coronavirus patients.

The Australian Veterinary Boards Council has agreed to assist the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society in locating additional ventilators and other supplies across Australia in response to a possible high demand at intensive care units.

Respirators are an essential medical tool in dealing with coronavirus - but their numbers are limited. Credit:Getty

"Many ventilator models used by vets are exactly the same as the machines used in human hospitals, which means the intensivists are already familiar with their use. They just need to know where to find them," said Dr Julie Strous, executive director of the veterinary council.

"Having the vet ventilator inventory ready to go means the doctors are well-prepared should the need arise. Its better to have too many machines than not enough."
tech2 News Staff

As coronavirus outbreak is getting worse with a worldwide spread, people have been advised to socially distance themselves and work from home. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also encouraged his employees to do so.

An email was sent by Satya Nadella to the company's employees where he asks his employees to work together to fight the pandemic. He emphasised on the fact that the employees can stay at home while being productive.

(Also read: COVID-19: How Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Instagram are helping users cope with the pandemic)

Coming together to combat COVID-19 https://t.co/cwfksZhKwd  Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 21, 2020



The Microsoft CEO has also tweeted announcing that they are collaborating with CDC to make its Coronavirus Self-Checker available to everyone. Since the healthcare departments are overwhelmed with patients at the moment, this step is aimed to lessen their burden so that the healthcare workers can concentrate on providing the treatment to people who need it most.

We're partnering with the CDC to make its Coronavirus Self-Checker available to all. In addition to helping users self-assess using CDC's protocols, it will free healthcare workers to provide critical care to those who need it most. https://t.co/i9G9Et6DyS  Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 23, 2020



Microsoft has also launched a COVID-19 tracker website so that people from all across the world can stay updated about the number of cases, deaths, recovered cases around them. Right now, the website shows 446 active cases, 37 recovered cases and 9 fatal cases in India.
In a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, where confirmed cases have more than tripled in the past week, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has announced a nationwide curfew for the next 21 days.

Beginning Monday evening, residents are ordered to stay inside their homes from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m., according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Excluded from the 11-hour-long curfew are employees in certain industries, including food service, health care and the media.

Violators will be punished with a 10,000-riyal ($2,662) fine, and with jail time after multiple violations. The Ministry of Interior said it will take the necessary steps to enforce the new regulations.

The move comes as the countrys Health Ministry announced 51 new patients on Monday, bringing the total number of known cases in the country to 562. Of the confirmed cases, 33% are due to people coming into direct contact with infected individuals, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, the government has ordered the closure of malls, cafes and restaurants, and has suspended schools and universities. Most government operations, including non-urgent court hearings, are paused.

The eastern province of Qatif, the epicenter of the virus in the kingdom, has effectively been on lockdown since March 9 with residents barred from traveling in and out.

Across the region, countries are grappling with how best to contain the pandemic. The United Arab Emirates announced Monday it's closing all shopping and commercial centers for the next two weeks. Tunisian President Kais Saied ordered the army to enforce a nationwide lockdown announced Friday.
Tuolumne County Courthouse View Photo

Sonora, CA  In response to the coronavirus pandemic, all jury trials at superior courts across California are suspended for 60 days.

If you were required to report to jury duty over the next two months, you can now ignore the summons. Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, issued the order on Monday.

She says, Courts cannot comply with these health restrictions and continue to operate as they have in the past. Court proceedings require gatherings of court staff, litigants, attorneys, witnesses, and juries, well in excess of the numbers allowed for gathering under current executive and health orders. Many court facilities in California are ill-equipped to effectively allow the social distancing and other public health requirements required to protect people involved in court proceedings and prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

Cantil-Sakauye adds, Even if court facilities could allow for sufficient social-distancing, the closure of schools means that many court employees, litigants, witnesses, and potential jurors cannot leave their homes to attend court proceedings because they must stay home to supervise their children. These restrictions have also made it nearly impossible for courts to assemble juries.

In addition, the required time periods to begin criminal and civil trials are expanded by 60 days.
(Photo : Screenshot From Pxhere Official Website) Coronavirus Fake Cure

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) has become the world's top priority, criminals have started to adjust as well by counterfeiting surgical masks to manufacturing fake coronavirus 'cures.' The lowlifes that are exploiting this pandemic have now become the target of global law enforcement operations.

The global law enforcement operations regarding the matter

According to Catherine De Bolle, executive director for the Europol, the public should not buy medicines online that claim that they are the cure to the coronavirus. In a tweet by the executive director, it was explained that the medicines are not only fake but they are also dangerous!

pic.twitter.com/fuDBIlaXci Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol: "Criminals abuse fears around the pandemic by selling medicines online which claim to cure the coronavirus. Not only are these medicines fake, but dangerous too. Don't buy them!" #COVID19 March 23, 2020

This warning comes shortly after the announcement of Europol's success with Operation Pangea, a global law enforcement operation, operating in 90 countries that were coordinated by none other than INTERPOL. According to the acting INTERPOL secretary-general, Mr. Jurgen Stock, "Operation Pangea shows that criminals will stop at nothing to make a profit,"

Operation Pangea has specifically targeted criminal groups that are involved in trafficking as well as the production of these counterfeit medicines. The growing panic over the coronavirus pandemic has become a criminal's biggest business opportunity, and according to Stock, "The illicit trade in such counterfeit medical items during a public health crisis shows their total disregard for people's well-being or their lives."

Operation Pangea

From Mar. 3 to 10, the operating law enforcement officers were able to catch 34,000 counterfeit surgical masks, bringing them out of circulation. According to Europol, these were being commonly sold as a medical product across about 2,000 links to sites that are selling fake COVID-19 products.

About 4.4 million units of certain illicit pharmaceuticals were recently seized, and the situation was described by Europol as a "worrying increase in unauthorized antiviral medicines and the antimalarial chloroquine," as well as supposed immune-boosting drugs.

Read Also: Moderna's Experimental Coronavirus Vaccine Might Become Available to Aid Workers

The Europol reports regarding the statistics for Operation Pangea can be found on Europol's website.

The result of operations made by Operation Pangea has 121 arrests, as well as $14 million in potentially dangerous drugs, were seized. According to Europol, the success of their operations has led to the dismantling of 37 organized crime groups, which includes the action taken by the United States Department of Justice, which happened over the weekend to take down a specific site that sells a coronavirus vaccine kit that does not exist.

The fight against the coronavirus has taken a cyber-form

The battle against the coronavirus also includes the battle against false information as well as the spreading of fake cures through the internet, which potentially may cause even more damage to people rather than actually help them.

Read Also: Piers Morgan Rants During a Debate with Matt Hancock on Good Morning Britain; Frontliners Safety at Risk Amid Coronavirus Pandemic!

Fake news has caused turmoil in the economic sector as the hoarding, and unmannerly behavior of some people were attributed to what the media had to say about the ongoing pandemic.

So far, Operation Pangea has a force of about 3,000 cybersecurity professionals who are committed to helping the hospitals and healthcare facilities fight against the COVID-19 in any way possible.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Two more patients have been tested positive for coronavirus in Srinagar on Tuesday, taking the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory to 6, J&K government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.

Two more cases reported positive in Srinagar. One has confirmed travel history outside India. Details regarding the second are being ascertained, Kansal said.

Now, both Jammu and Srinagar have an equal number of positive cases.

On last Wednesday, a woman with travel history to Saudi Arabia had tested positive in Srinagar. The day after the woman, who the is the mother-in-law of a senior police officer escaped screening at Srinagar airport on March 16 by leaving from VIP gate, tested positive, authorities imposed lockdown in Srinagar and other parts of Jammu and Kashmir to prevent spread of the virus.

With detection of two more positive cases on Tuesday, the authorities would now have to do herculean task of finding and screening all the contacts of the two patients.
It is hoped that the mass layoffs will only be temporary as coronavirus spreads.

Truckmaker AB Volvo said on Friday it would put all its 20,000 staff in Sweden on a short-term, temporary layoff scheme starting next week as it plans to close all production in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The company earlier this week said production at its large plants in Gothenburg and in Ghent, in Belgium, would be halted, and that facilities at subsidiary Renault Trucks in France would also temporarily close.

We have reached a frame agreement with the Swedish unions about short-term, temporary layoffs of all employees in Sweden starting next week, Volvo spokesman Claes Eliasson said.





The exact details will be decided in local agreements. There will be expections, with key functions and so on.

Eliasson said he could not say for how long the situation would continue.

We of course hope for it to be as short as possible. But we are doing this to protect staff, the company and society, he said.

On Thursday Volvos board withdrew its proposal for an extraordinary dividend in light of the high uncertainty over the impact from the coronavirus spread.
[March 24, 2020] The Crypsis Group Named to Forbes List of America's Best Startup Employers

MCLEAN, Va., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Crypsis Group, a leading incident response, risk management and digital forensics firm, today announced that the company has been recognized as part of Forbes' inaugural list of America's Best Startup Employers for 2020. This prestigious award is presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The awards list was announced on March 10, 2020 and can currently be viewed on the Forbes website. Forbes and Statista analyzed more than 7 million data points to identify the top startup employers. In particular, three aspects of each company were assessed during the evaluation: employer reputation, employee satisfaction, and company growth. Out of the thousands of qualified organizations in the United States, 500 companies earned this distinction, and The Crypsis Group is ecstatic to be recognized as one of Forbes' 2020 list of America's Best Startup Employers. "We are onored to be named to Forbes' list of America's Best Startup Employers," said Bret Padres, CEO, The Crypsis Group. "At Crypsis, we strive to create an environment where our employees' feedback is heard, and they are armed with the tools and resources they need to be successful. We place high value in providing a positive, caring company culture, which includes effective and regular communication between leadership and their teams and promoting employee growth and development."



For more information and the full list of winners, visit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/vickyvalet/2020/03/10/meet-americas-best-startup-employers-2020/#1b8b8c846f79. 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/the-crypsis-group-named-to-forbes-list-of-americas-best-startup-employers-301028496.html SOURCE Crypsis

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AIR Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) has temporarily suspended all regional flights effective from today due to increased entry restrictions and lockdowns by countries, which strive to stop mass transmission of the coronavirus disease.

The Tanzanian national carrier made the announcement yesterday, listing the affected routes as Entebbe (Uganda), Bujumbura (Burundi), Hahaya (Comoro), Lusaka (Zambia) and Harare (Zimbabwe).

ATCL regrets to inform our esteemed customers and the entire public that from 25th March, 2020 all regional flights will be temporarily suspended, said in a statement issued yesterday.

This is due to the ban and entry restrictions imposed by several governments and locking down their countries in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak, the statement signed by ATCL Managing Director and CEO, Eng Ladislaus Matindi, added.

However, Eng Matindi said all other domestic flights on the ATCL network will not be affected by the announcement, though there would be frequency reduction due to shrinking of volumes on some routes.

Most travellers were taking precautions on an unnecessary trip, he said while apologising for any inconvenience caused to passengers.

The coronavirus, which started in China, has in recent days made its way across the continent, largely spread by passengers travelling across borders.

Eng Matindi said the ATCL was taking precautions and necessary measures to protect their passengers from contracting the deadly virus, which has killed more than 15,000 people, a chunky of them in Asia, Europe.

We wish to assure our esteemed customers that Air Tanzania has taken measures ensuring safety and health of our passengers by disinfecting all aircrafts and positioning sanitizers in all essential areas like offices, airport before boarding and inside the aircrafts, he noted adding that all their staff have been instructed to wear service gears (gloves and masks) during flight.

The Airline has updated its cancellation, rebooking and refund policy to all passengers holding ATCL tickets.

The airline will waive all penalties on reservation changes, re-issues and refunds to affected passengers, pledged Eng Matindi.

The ATCL had already cancelled flights to Mumbai, India while abandoning plans for maiden trip to China.

East African Community (EAC) member countries are taking drastic measures to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

While governments of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi, each on their own, have suspended international flights, with Burundi going the extra mile by suspending even domestic flights as all its neighbours have reported Covid-19 cases.

President Paul Kagames government in Rwanda has taken several measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases rose to 17 since March 14.

The latest measure came into force at midnight March 20 as it suspended arrival and departure of commercial flights for an initial period of 30 days that also affects national carrier  RwandAir.

Uganda that registered its first Covid-19 case on the weekend, has taken several measures including closing its borders.

No person is allowed to enter the country starting yesterday in a bid to prevent introduction of coronavirus to the landlocked East African nation.

We have decided to prohibit all passenger planes coming from outside Uganda from landing at any of the airports of Uganda.

Only cargo planes will be allowed to fly in and out of Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni said in a televised address to the nation over the weekend.

President Museveni added that relief and emergency planes belonging to the United Nations (UN) and humanitarian agencies will be allowed to land at specified locations.

He further ordered that no Ugandan or foreign national be allowed to enter the country through its land or any other entry, except for cargo truck drivers whose crew members should not exceed three people.

No buses, mini-buses, private cars, or motorbike taxis will be allowed to enter the country, Mr Museveni said.

Meanwhile, Burundis Minister of Public Security, Mr Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, announced suspension of all flights in and out of the country, including Melchior Ndadaye International Airport at Bujumbura.

The borders will remain open and we strongly advise citizens not to travel to countries that already have COVID-19 cases, said Mr Bunyoni of the country that is one of 15 countries in Africa to not yet register any positive case of the coronavirus.
Coronavirus cases in the country rose to 519 and one more death from the infection was reported on Tuesday taking the toll to ten, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up to stop the pandemic in its march.

As 32 states and union territories imposed complete lockdown till March 31, the Centre asked them to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders.

Cases were booked against hundreds of people in different parts of the country including in Delhi for violating prohibitory orders. In Hyderabad, police said it had to resort to mild caning against the violators.

With the lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Prime Minister Modi while interacting with senior journalists from the print media via video links said citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office(PMO), Modi said it is critical to improve social cohesion to safeguard national security.

During the interaction, Modi emphasised the need to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour-mongering.

"He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of spread of the virus through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers," said a statement issued by the PMO.

According to the statement, Modi underlined that "it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up".

Two states - Punjab and Maharashtra - and a UT - Puducherry - have already declared curfew in their respective areas.

States like Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday decided to expand the lockdown to cover all the districts in the state.

In Maharashtra, a 65-year-old coronavirus patient died in Mumbai, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to three in the metropolis, according to state officials. The western state, with 107 cases, has accounted for the highest number of this viral infections followed by Kerala(91).

The man recently returned from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to Ahmedabad. He later complained of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

The patient was brought to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on March 20 for treatment, but his health condition deteriorated further.

The man also had pre-existing ailments, including high blood pressure and severe diabetes, the statement said, adding he died late Monday evening.

According to the data updated by the Union Health ministry on Tuesday evening, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 519, including 470 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals.

The latest death In Mumbai has not been taken into account by the health ministry.

The earlier nine deaths were recorded in Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.

Forty people have been cured/discharged/migrated, according to the official data.

Authorities have also taken a serious view of several people continuing to venture out despite the lockdown considering that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely critical to contain the spread of the disease.

A top functionary of the central government called up some of the chief ministers and apprised them of the necessity of imposing the curfew if people continue to venture out of their homes.

The state governments and the union territory administrations have been advised to impose curfew wherever necessary as many people continue to go out of their homes despite the lockdown ordered to check the spread of the virus, a government official told PTI.

The state governments have been told that public gatherings could lead to escalation of the prevailing situation.

"Now, it is up to the state governments to take action as per the local situation and give necessary instructions to the district magistrates who have the powers to impose curfew," the official said.

In Kerala, the latest state to order a lockdown, buses went off the roads and shops, barring those selling essentials, remained shut but violations were galore, prompting police to book culprits.

Autorickshaws and private vehicles, including two-wheelers, were seen plying at several places disregarding instructions that people should not venture out without any valid reason.

At some places in Haryana, police had a tough time to persuade people who were out for non-essential work and sent them back to their homes.

In Bhiwani, at a check barrier, police had to deal with number of two-wheeler riders many of them who were out on roads for non-essential work.

We are persuading them and sending them back to their homes, said a police personnel on duty at one check barrier.

Police in Telangana had to resort to mild caning at some places after many people hit the streets disregarding the advice to remain indoors.

channels showed footage of violators of lockdown being made to do sit ups as punishment in the presence of a woman police official near Hyderabad.

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba asked state governments to immediately identify and earmark hospitals to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to chief secretaries of all the states, Gauba also said it is absolutely essential that surveillance and contact tracing of all positive cases is taken up and no suspected or high risk person is left out.

"All states should immediately identify and earmark hospitals dedicated for management of COVID-19 cases and ensure that they are in a state of full readiness to deal with the situation in the event of a further spike in the number of confirmed cases," he said.

In Delhi, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the status of containment and management of COVID-19 in the country and emphasised on the quality and sturdiness of the community surveillance and contact tracing.

As on date, cumulatively 1,87,904 persons are under surveillance, and around 35,073 have completed 28 days observation period as on day, an official statement said. Vardhan visited the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Control Room and the Testing Laboratories, and reviewed the current status there with the senior officials.

He also interacted with the National Health Mission(NHM) MDs and senior surveillance officers of the states/UTs through a video conference.

You all form our frontline warriors, who through supporting people with correct, timely and vital information, are rendering yeoman service to the nation."



I salute the scientists who work with the testing procedures, and put themselves at risk in their line of duty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CCP virus has prevented many from engaging in social activities. That includes attending church and confessing their sins.

The Catholic Church of St. Edward the Confessor in Maryland also had to shut its doors due to the outbreak, but that didnt stop a Maryland priest from offering confession services.

Father Scott Holmer said he found a way to get around this obstacle and started administering confessions by car to worshippers at the parking lot of his church on Friday, March 20.

Holmer said he got the idea of offering drive-through confessions after learning about South Koreas drive-through testing for the illness.

They were testing people for the coronavirus in South Korea through drive-throughs, Holmer told Reuters. Well, why not treat people with confession through drive-throughs? So, then I grabbed some cones, the sign, and the chair, put it in the parking lot, and then I just sat there.

Holmer said at first he didnt expect people to come, which was true, not many did and just a few cars stopped to ask for his services. However, things turned around after a video about him gained some media attention and went viral.

Wednesday night I think the news was starting to break by this point. We had quite a few, maybe eight. And then last night (March 19) I just lost count, Holmer said.

As to why people are venturing outside to confess when many remain in self-isolation at home, Holmer explains that theyre looking for something beyond the physical.

I think the vaccine for fear is faith, and so knowing even though that all the world goes completely chaotic, you can always hold on to your relationship with God, Father Holmer said.

And in times like these, for some, having something to hold onto could make all the difference, the Father said.

Holmers words hold true for this penitent, who said the meaning of confession is quite profound.

Its about renewal. Nobodys perfect and the one thing about confession is that it allows us to be able to become renewed, penitent Joel Dearring said.

Drive-throughs, drive-ins, and similar initiatives are popping up across the United States in an attempt to fill the void left by shuttered businesses, churches and services as U.S. officials ordered strict restrictions to help contain the spread of the CCP virus.

NTD News 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.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Refat Chubarov believes that Moscow tries to intimidate all of us on the eve of May 3  the date of holding of the international peace non-violent campaign World against violation and occupation

Refat Chubarov Open source

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened the criminal case against Head of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov as the committee reported.

The investigative authorities of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Crimea and Sevastopol city opened the criminal case against Chair of public association Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov who is charged with the organization of mass unrests involving violence, the message said.

The Investigative Committee accuses Chubarov of the organization of mass unrest near the building of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

In the result of the mass unrests organized by Mejlis leader, the extraordinary session of the lawmakers of the Supreme Council was disrupted, at least 80 Crimeans were injured and got traumas of varying degrees of severity, two of them  a man and a woman  died, the message said.

Refat Chubarov commented on this information on Facebook and noted that Moscow tries to intimidate all of us on the eve of May 3  the date of holding of the international peace non-violent campaign World against violation and occupation. Dignity march. And of course, the signal to everyone who in any form confronted, confronts and will confront the Russian aggression and fight for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea.

As we reported, the border guards of Bucharest airport confiscated the passport of Chairman of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov. He was held in the transfer zone of the airport for over three hours.
Hong Kong Closes Airport to International Tourists, Transit Passengers

2020-03-23 -- Authorities in Hong Kong said on Monday they would close the city's airport arrivals to non-residents amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the city, where new infections had previously been slowed by containment measures.

"From Wednesday onwards we will disallow non-Hong Kong residents coming from overseas countries arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport," chief executive Carrie Lam said in a public announcement.

"After more than two months of epidemic prevention work, during which time the situation has been constantly changing, based on expert opinion, we are bringing in these measures based on their effectiveness," Lam said, adding that the ban is currently indefinite.

"We are basing our decisions on science, on facts and figures, on evidence," she said. "The politics of pressure are not something that come into the formula."

"It would be very risky to base public health positions just because certain people have demanded ... it."

By Monday, Hong Kong had 356 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four deaths, more than doubling the number of cases since the beginning of March.

Lam's administration has faced growing calls for the city close its borders, especially in the early weeks of the COVID-19 epidemic, when people were bringing the virus from mainland China.

A two-week ban on transit passengers will also come into effect on Wednesday.

Non-residents arriving from mainland China, Macau or Taiwan will still be allowed in, as long as they haven't traveled anywhere else in the world in the past 14 days.

Recent sudden upsurge

A 14-day quarantine rule that had previously applied to arrivals from mainland China and the rest of the world will now also be applied to people arriving from Macau and Taiwan.

Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 after flying into the city has been taken immediately to coronavirus testing centers, in measures which took effect on March 20.

Those who test positive for the virus are being taken to hospital, while others are being allowed to go home to quarantine themselves, state broadcaster RTHK reported.

Senior microbiologist Ho Pak-leung of the University of Hong Kong said the city has seen a sudden upsurge in coronavirus cases in recent days.

He called for an immediate, and enforceable, lockdown and the closure of public venues.

"Can't they suspend licenses temporarily for some high-risk venues such as wedding venues and bars?" Ho said. "They could also run reduced timetables on public transportation."

"If it becomes inconvenient to take public transportation, then people won't go out as often," he said. "We definitely need to implement social distancing."

Lam's announcement came amid ongoing social tensions, as a population exhausted by police violence over months of anti-extradition and pro-democracy protests has repeatedly tried to put pressure on its government to act decisively to stem the epidemic in the city of seven million people, who live in some of the most densely populated areas on the planet.

Police once more fired tear gas at a gathering of around 100 protesters in the New Territories town of Yuen Long, eight months after a brutal attack on passengers in the Yuen Long MTR station by gang-linked thugs wielding bats and rods.

Triad gang links

Protesters chanted "Free Hong Kong! Revolution now!" and repeated calls for Lam to begin an independent inquiry into police violence, stop calling protesters "rioters," release arrested protesters and allow fully democratic elections.

The white-clad attackers -- some of whom were later confirmed to have links to Hong Kong's criminal gangs, the triads -- laid into passers-by and passengers on a train in the station on July 21, 2019, beating them up with rods and sticks and leaving 45 people in hospital.

Hong Kong police failed to respond to more than 24,000 emergency calls from the area as the white-shirted mob ran amok, bludgeoning passengers for 39 minutes before police arrived on the scene, leaving 45 people in hospital.

Video footage at the time showed police officers chatting to men who closely resembled the attackers.

Police have said the protesters had "provoked" the attackers, but there is scant evidence on video footage to support this view.

Thirty-seven people, some of whom have links to triad organizations, were arrested in the wake of the attack, and seven of them face charges of "rioting."

Under the "one country, two systems" framework agreed before the 1997 handover to Chinese rule, Hong Kong was promised the maintenance of its freedoms of speech, assembly and political participation.

The protests that erupted in June 2019 in response to plans to allow extradition to mainland China were largely triggered by the erosion of those freedoms, particularly following a series of high-profile interventions by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in the city's political life, including the debarring of pro-democracy lawmakers and would-be election candidates for their political views.

Frontline protesters, eyewitnesses, journalists and human rights groups have repeatedly said that the majority of violence during the protests has originated with the Hong Kong police, who have been widely criticized for the excessive use of tear gas, water cannon, pepper spray, as well as both non-lethal and live ammunition weapons on unarmed protesters.

Reported by Man Hoi-tsan and Lu Xi for RFA's Cantonese and Mandarin Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ALG , a subsidiary of TrueCar , and the industry benchmark for determining the future resale value of a vehicle, is providing an updated 2020 new vehicle sales forecast to account for the quickly evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the latest economic outlook. ALG will be revising its forecast weekly along with major new developments.



15.3M (Optimistic):

Movement restrictions lifted May 1 Stimulus packages deployed and having a positive impact



13.2M (Mixed):

Multiple social distancing periods limit out of home activity Stimulus packages deployed and having a positive impact Supply disruption due to production stoppages



11.2M (Cautious):

Ongoing social distancing and limited out of home activity through summer Prolonged downturn, limited success of stimulus packages Increased unemployment throughout 2020



With the temporary closure of dealerships across the nation, continued declines in the stock market and ongoing uncertainty around the short/mid-term strategy to battle COVID-19, ALG expects further declines in our annual automotive sales forecast. While events continue to unfold daily, it seems the most likely outcome is vehicle sales landing in the mid 13 million range for 2020, said Eric Lyman, Chief Industry Analyst for ALG.

A dependable personal automobile will continue to play a critical role in daily life. Even during stay at home orders vehicles will be used to get essential employees to work, deliver food, run critical errands and provide a safe transport in a time when public transportation is limited or unavailable, continued Lyman.

We cannot stress this enough, automotive sales will return, said Morgan Hansen, Vice President, Data Science at ALG. The aging U.S. vehicle fleet and growth of millennial market are underlying pillars of strength in mid to long-term auto sales. Natural replacement demand remains steady at roughly 15.5 million vehicles per year. Sales below this figure are not lost, but merely deferred until we see a return to our daily routine.

Added Lyman, Online shopping and digital retailing will play a critical role in mitigating the drop in vehicle sales. Automakers are already rolling out innovative incentive products to stimulate consumer demand but the industry must iterate on existing sales practices and become more accommodating to shoppers in a stay at home environment.

Note: All scenarios are absent severe impacts and speculative pessimism from:

Widespread supply chain or vehicle production disruption

Prolonged social distancing beyond 6 months

Prolonged closure of auto dealerships beyond 45-60 days

Stimulus packages delayed or ineffective

Significant and sustained declines in macro-economic fundamentals (demand)

About ALG

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, ALG is an industry authority on automotive residual value projections in both the United States and Canada. By analyzing nearly 2,500 vehicle trims each year to assess residual value, ALG provides auto industry and financial services clients with market industry insights, residual value forecasts, consulting and vehicle portfolio management and risk services. ALG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TrueCar, Inc., a digital automotive marketplace that provides comprehensive pricing transparency about what other people paid for their cars. ALG has been publishing residual values for all cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. for over 55 years and in Canada since 1981.

About TrueCar

TrueCar is a leading automotive digital marketplace that enables car buyers to connect to our network of 16,500 Certified Dealers. We are building the industry's most personalized and efficient car buying experience as we seek to bring more of the purchasing process online. Consumers who visit our marketplace will find a suite of vehicle discovery tools, price ratings and market context on new and used cars -- all with a clear view of what's a great deal. When they are ready, TrueCar will enable them to connect with a local Certified Dealer who shares in our belief that truth, transparency and fairness are the foundation of a great car buying experience. As part of our marketplace, TrueCar powers car-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including AARP, Sams Club, and American Express. Nearly half of all new-car buyers engage with TrueCar powered sites, where they buy smarter and drive happier. TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Austin, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts.

For more information, please visit www.truecar.com , and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. TrueCar media line: +1-844-469-8442 (US toll-free) | Email: pr@truecar.com
Transport: A victim of the virus is evacuated from the Mulhouse civil hospital in eastern France, at the epicentre of the outbreak in France. Picture: AP

The number of people dying from coronavirus in Italy dropped again yesterday, fuelling hopes the country may have reached the peak of its devastating outbreak.

The government announced a death toll of 602, a fall from the 651 who died on Sunday and the record 793 who died on Saturday. The new figure was the smallest one-day increase in the overall death toll since Thursday, suggesting mortality rates might be gradually tapering off.

The total number of deaths is now 6,078 and more than 63,000 have been infected, making Italy by far the worst afflicted country in the world.

But the decline in the daily tally will provide a glimmer of hope that the unprecedented national lockdown imposed two weeks ago is at last having an effect, although scientists and politicians said it was still too early to say for sure.

Italy's prime minister said the pandemic was challenging the entire "social and economic endurance" of the nation and no one knows when it will end.

"It's too early to say," Giuseppe Conte said.

"We have not yet reached the most acute phase of the contagion and the numbers are increasing still. In the next few days we are waiting to see what will be the effect of the measures we took."

The worst affected part of Italy is the north, in particular the region of Lombardy, which includes Milan.

Attilio Fontana, the governor of the region, said he could hardly recall what his life was like before Lombardy was hit by what he called "this bastard virus".

The mayor of one of the worst-hit towns in the region, Bergamo, revealed that despite it being at the centre of the virus he had brought his two daughters back from the UK because he feared the British government was hugely underestimating the threat.

Giorgio Gori accused Boris Johnson's administration of failing to heed the warning provided by Italy's traumatic experience and high death toll.

One of his daughters was studying at a college in Somerset, while the other was doing a Masters in Kent.

"When I saw what the English government was thinking about this problem, I decided to bring them back because I think that even if we are at the centre of the epidemic, probably they are more secure here than in England, because I don't understand why the government didn't decide in time to protect their citizens."

Meanwhile, a 95-year-old grandmother became the oldest person in Italy to recover from the coronavirus.

Alma Clara Corsini was admitted to a hospital near Modena in the north of Italy on March 5 and despite her advanced age managed to fight off Covid-19 without the help of anti-viral medication.

"I'm fine, I'm absolutely fine," she told local media, praising the doctors and nurses who helped her recover.

One newspaper said Ms Corsini had been the "pride of staff" during her treatment at a hospital in Pavullo. Ms Corsini returned to the nursing home in which she lives in the town of Fanano, near Modena.

In France, scientific experts are today due to advise the government on how long they think the country should extend a 14-day lockdown that started a week ago.

Top health officials have hinted it could last six weeks at least.

The announcement comes as the country's state council rejected calls for "total confinement" as hundreds of doctors called for absolute lockdown in a petition published yesterday.

Currently, the French are allowed to go out with a written justification for vital work or medical reasons, to buy food or to exercise.

While the council stopped short of forcing people to stay in at all costs, it said that conditions to leave should be tightened as France is struggling to get a grip on the epidemic, particularly in the east of the country. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
SPRINGFIELD  While the casinos remain closed statewide due to the caronavirus, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is carrying on by way of telephone conference meetings.

The five-member commission is meeting by phone on Wednesday -- both at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m.,

At the 10 a.m. phone conference, the commission will lay out plans for additional phone meetings to tackle issues such as a review of reports on revenues, responsible gaming and other issues.

At the 2 p.m. meeting, the commission will discuss the status of the three licensed gaming establishments in Massachusetts, shut down by the coronavirus.

MGM Springfield, Plainridge Park and Encore Boston Harbor all closed on March 15, as directed by the Gaming Commission, to help protect the public from the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus.

The shutdown was slated to last two weeks, or until at least Sunday, March 29, with the commission planning to reassess the situation.

The planned phone meetings are in line with guidance from Gov. Charlie Baker regarding the Open Meeting Law by using remote collaboration technology, commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.

As we all continue to navigate this unprecedented and rapidly evolving situation, the MGC remains focused on its regulatory duties, maintaining operational functionality with the assistance of technology, Driscoll said Tuesday, in emailed comments.

After Wednesdays planning meeting, potential future phone meetings to conduct commission business are proposed this Thursday, and on April 9. The agenda will be set at the planning meeting.

The phone meetings and subsequent audiotapes of the meetings will be open to the public, Driscoll said. The directions for access to the meetings and audiotape are available on the commissions website at https://massgaming.com/

Some of the issues slated for discussion at the proposed Thursday meeting include: Plainridge Park racecourses request for approval of racing officials ad key operating personnel; and a discussion of Plainridge Parks live racing kick-off, according to the commissions agenda planning notes.

In addition, the discussion is slated to include a GameSense report related to problem gambling and related issues; a request by the Encore casino to delay the launch of the Play My Way program; and a Springfield Lottery Impact study; and an MGM enhanced code of ethics, the commission notes state.

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Arlene Foster has said sweeping new Covid-19 restrictions will last more than three weeks (Liam McBurney/PA)

Office workers gather on both sides of Donegall Street following a fire alarm as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Belfast City Council workers continue working as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

The Westlink in west Belfast at 8.45am as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

The Department of Health has confirmed a total of five people have now died after contracting the coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

The patient who was in their eighties and had underlying health conditions has sadly died at Antrim Hospital.

In addition, an earlier death has also been confirmed as Covid-19 related.

Health Minister Robin Swann stated: My deepest sympathies are extended to the families affected.

These deaths must never become mere statistics. Behind each of them is a family plunged into grief.

The Public Health Agency confirmed there has been 24 new case of coronavirus confirmed since yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 172 in Northern Ireland. There has been 2989 tests for the virus as of Tuesday morning.

Ruth Burke was the first woman to die of the virus.

Her daughter Brenda said her mother suffered illnesses over the years and the virus was the last straw.

I dont want my mother to be a statistic, she was a strong person, she told the BBC.

In an emotional Facebook post she appealed to people to wise up and take the necessary precautions and look after others and not to panic buy.

It comes as First Minister Arlene Foster said everyone is "going to have to make sacrifices" as attempts are made to slow down the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference at Stormont with Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, she said the challenge of slowing down coronavirus is immense "but not impossible".

Mrs O'Neill said shops and service providers including hairdressers, salons and gyms should not be open, saying the advice is not to shut your doors in a few days or a few weeks.

Supermarkets, pharmacies,credit unions and post offices can all stay open. "If you are not an essential service, shut your doors," she said.

The list of facilities that can remain open also includes credit unions and post offices," she said. "Hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts and caravan and camping sites should all be closed, except where caravans are being used as permanent residences."

Arlene Foster said she understood people are frustrated.

"It is a question of us trying to get messages out to people in terms of what we're doing," she said, adding she was disappointed a package had not been announced by Westminster on Tuesday to support people who are self-employed.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Coronavirus: Northern Ireland enters 'lockdown' [Photos] Close In pictures, the coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland: Ellie McAuley tends to the lambs on her family farm as Northern Ireland goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The Westlink in west Belfast at 8.45am as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph People queue outside Iceland in east Belfast. Pic Presseye All play parks in the Belfast area have been closed by Belfast City Council for the next 3 weeks as the country tries to tackle the coronavirus. Pic Pacemaker Belfast City centre on Tuesday with most businesses closed due to the Coronavirus, with restrictions on movements in Northern Ireland expected to last longer than three weeks. PHOTO COLM LENAGHAN/PACEMAKER PRESS Belfast City centre on Tuesday with most businesses closed due to the Coronavirus, with restrictions on movements in Northern Ireland expected to last longer than three weeks. PHOTO COLM LENAGHAN/PACEMAKER PRESS General view of family members praying in St Peters Cathedral in west Belfast. The church remains open for individuals who wish to pray but all services have been cancelled. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E The Westlink in west Belfast at 8:45am as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Office workers gather on both sides of Donegall Street following a fire alarm as Belfast goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Belfast City Council workers on the city streets as Northern Ireland goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Graffiti on the walls at freedom corner in east Belfast as COVID-19 claims a third life in Northern Ireland on March 23rd 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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Whatsapp In pictures, the coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland: Ellie McAuley tends to the lambs on her family farm as Northern Ireland goes into its first day of lockdown on March 24th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)




The governor of Connecticut said Tuesday that schools are unlikely to reopen until the fall, as the state continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, according to WCBS-880.

I really think thats the likelihood, Gov. Ned Lamont told WCBS-880. You just look at Italy and you look at Wuhan province, you see what the life cycle was there and you worry that if people get back too quickly that therell be a second iteration of this virus. So April 20 is the minimum, probably the school year.

On Monday, Lamont he ordered Connecticuts public schools to remain closed through at least April 20, an extension from the original closure through the end of March.

A total of 10 Connecticut residents have died from COVID-19 as of Monday, while 54 more remained hospitalized. The state reported 415 confirmed cases of the disease, including 88 new cases on Monday.

That number is fewer than the total cases in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced there were 777 coronavirus cases. Massachusetts, as of Monday, had one fewer death than Connecticut with nine.

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced all schools in the state would be closed until April 6.

Some school districts, like Boston, closed for even longer. Boston Public Schools are closed until April 27.

Sign up for free text messages about important updates on coronavirus in Massachusetts

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In mid-March, when Chinese factories began resuming operation, material supplies to Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises were restored.

"More input materials arrived in mid-March, Nguyen Xuan Duong, chair of Hung Yen Garment, said, adding that more shipments will come in the second half of March and early April.



Some subsidiaries of Vinatex, the largest textile and garment producer in Vietnam, confirmed that the input material supply has resumed since early March.



According to Le Tien Truong, general director of Vinatex, companies have been speeding up production since the second half of March to offset the output decrease in the months before, when they lacked materials.



Truong hopes the current production would make up for the 5.3 percent decline in export turnover in the first two months of the year, which never happened in recent years.



He said the quick customs clearance procedure helps in the resumption of material supply. More than 1,000 goods carrying trucks got customs clearance a day at border gates over the last week, half of which carried materials for production.

I n mid-March, when Chinese factories began resuming operation, material supplies to Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises were restored.

In March, many online trading sessions were organized by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), connecting 20 Vietnamese textile and garment companies and Chinese producers in Hangzhou and Zhejiang. A number of domestic enterprises successfully fulfilled orders for fabric imports.

The problem for now, according to Cao Huu Hieu, deputy general director of Vinatex, is that companies need to arrange the production plans in a reasonable way. Besides, the decreased demand in Covid-19 will affect the companies business in the last six months of the year.



However, Hieu commented that Covid-19 is testing the endurance of the Vietnams textile and garment industry and forcing enterprises to re-organize their production.



Duong also commented that Covid-19 has helped detect vulnerabilities of the textile and garment industry. Enterprises have to manage themselves to overcome difficulties. For example, while waiting for input materials from China, they can make face masks from antibacterial fabric.



Doximexs general director Tran Viet said his company hasn't suffered heavily from Covid-19 because it ownx a closed production chain. The company can make fabric itself, especially knitted fabric.



The company can also earn money from making face masks from antibacterial fabric. To date, it has provided 5 million masks to the market and provided antibacterial fabric to other garment companies.



Making face masks also has helped Thai Nguyen Investment & Trade JSC increase domestic sales by 240 percent in February compared with the same period last year.

Linh Ha

US has no plan to suspend import of Vietnamese garment-textiles: ambassador The US Government has no plan to suspend the import of Vietnamese garments-textiles, said Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc.
New York, March 24 : A prediction by Stanford University biophysicist and Nobel laureate Michael Levitt that new coronavirus is set to disappear soon as the world observes social distancing has given a booster shot to the world that is currently reeling under the pandemic.

Levitt, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, earlier predicted about the epidemic in China that it would get through the worst of its devastating outbreak before several other health experts predicted.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, he said: "What we need is to control the panic... we're going to be fine," he said, adding that the data doesn't support the doom epidemiologist have been warning about.

"Numbers are still noisy but there are clear signs of slowed growth," he was quoted as saying.

According to Johns Hopkins University's data, there are now 35,224 cases and 471 deaths in the US.

Globally, there are close to 4 lakh cases and over 17,000 deaths as of now.

Levitt said that social-distancing mandates and getting vaccinated against the flu are both critical to the fight against the spread.

The Nobel laureate also blamed the media for fanning out panic.

Earlier, when China started reporting more deaths from COVID-19, Levitt sent out an optimistic report.

"This suggests that the rate of increase in number of the deaths will slow down even more over the next week," he said in a note that went viral on Chinese social media.

He predicted mid-February peak with a total tally of about 80,000 cases and 3,250 deaths.

"As of March 16, China had counted a total of 80,298 cases and 3,245 deaths".

Levitt said that overreaction could trigger another crisis, with lost jobs and hopelessness around.
The coronavirus pandemic continues. Iran has been particularly hard hit, with an estimated 20,000 people infected and 1,433 deaths as I write. Irans response to the pandemic has been severely hampered by the Trump administrations sanctions, which have just been increased. The sanctions limit the medical supplies and other help that can be sent to Iran.

More than two dozen organizations, including some faith-based organizations (the Presbyterian Church USA, the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends Committee on National Legislation are three) have written the president, asking him to suspend the sanctions for at least 120 days. A group of economists has likewise sent a letter to the president, asking him to stop the sanctions not only on Iran but also on Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

Currently, the president has sole authority to order sanctions with no Congressional oversight. Congresswoman Omar from Minnesota has introduced a bill in the House to provide Congressional oversight to sanctions: "Congressional Oversight Over Sanctions Act" (H.R. 5379).

I urge representatives Jim Hagedorn and Angie Craig to co-sponsor this legislation and senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith to introduce similar legislation in the Senate.

It would be in our and the worlds best interest in the midst of this pandemic to lift the sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea. This is the humane thing to do. Please join me in urging the Trump administration to do so.

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Rich Van Dellen,Rochester
A single mum who taught her ten-year-old daughter via distance learning for three years while they travelled around the world has shared the lessons every parent should know.

Thousands of parents across the globe have found themselves at home with their children in recent weeks, as governments try to slow and stop the spread of coronavirus by keeping families at home.

Evie Farrell, 45, from Sydney, said while she is 'no expert' at schooling, she has been inundated with messages from friends over the past few weeks asking how they should manage their kids being at home.

Evie taught Emmie via the NSW Distance Education program between 2016 and 2019.

A single mum who taught her ten-year-old daughter via distance learning for three years while they travelled around the world has shared the lessons every parent should know (Emmie pictured)

Evie Farrell, 45, from Sydney, said while she is 'no expert' at schooling, she has been inundated with messages from friends about how to manage it (Evie and Emmie pictured)

Thousands of parents have found themselves at home with their children in recent weeks, as governments try to slow and stop the spread of coronavirus (Emmie pictured working)

So what are Evie's top tips?

What are Evie Farrell's top tips? * Take a break if you need to. * Teach them life skills like laundry, washing, mending or cooking. * Try sneaky learning like maths while you're baking, reading while you're watching subtitles or spelling through pop quizzes. * Use equipment like iPads and Apple Pens, which help make learning fun. * Use online courses and podcasts to aid learning. Evie likes Squiz Kids - which is about news and current affairs. * Teach them how to react in a crisis by guiding them through it. * Consider your child's mental health. Advertisement

The first thing the 45-year-old said you absolutely must do is avoid stressing out and don't worry about your kids falling to the bottom of the class or even worse.

'Your kids are not going to bottom out if you don't have a rigorous schedule,' Evie wrote on her website.

'In fact, they will probably learn more with you right now.'

She recommends if you're struggling with the schoolwork, then parents should take a break and either think about teaching them some life skills like laundry, washing, mending or cooking - or try some 'sneaky learning'.

'You could do maths while you're baking, or reading while you're watching subtitles or spelling through pop quizzes,' she said.

Evie said Emmie also loves learning with the Apple Pen, which has been a help.

Evie's tips include 'sneaky learning' - and you can do this by teaching maths while doing some baking with your children (Evie and Emmie pictured)

She recommends if you're struggling with the schoolwork, then parents should take a break and either think about teaching them some life skills like laundry, washing, mending or cooking (Evie and Emmie pictured)

Evie is also a fan of online courses that teach kids to learn a language, draw or dance.

She regularly uses the podcast Squiz Kids - which is an eight-minute news and current affairs for children that is fun and informative, and has a quiz at the end.

'Learn about what is happening - knowledge helps calm and understanding. Teach kids about medicine and viruses. Help them understand,' she said.

Evie said equipment like iPads and Apple Pens can also help with kids learning and to get them excited about learning (Emmie pictured working)

Elsewhere, Evie said one of the most important lessons you can teach your kids how to react in a crisis (Emmie and Evie pictured in Europe)

Elsewhere, Evie said one of the most important lessons you can teach your kids how to react in a crisis.

'When we were robbed of everything except the clothes we were wearing in Spain, I stayed calm,' she said.

'I didn't stress. I worked through what we needed to do and I solved the problem with Emmie by my side.

'We talked about how we felt and what it meant to us, and how lucky we were to be okay. This to me is what teaching our kids is all about - giving them the skills to be able to respond well to events in their lives that they will need to deal with.'

While the mum-of-one said she of course knows how important it is to place a value on formal education, at a time like this during the coronavirus crisis, mental health should be the most important thing (Emmie and Evie pictured)

While the mum-of-one said she of course knows how important it is to place a value on formal education, at a time like this during the coronavirus crisis, mental health should be the most important thing for kids right now.

'Do the work at your own pace,' she said.

'Don't get stressed. Take a break when you need to. School and the rigour and routine will always be there.

'This is an uncertain and unprecedented time for all of us. We need to be kind to ourselves and our families and look after each other.'
THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF AIRICKCA GORDON-TAYLOR, COUSIN OF EMMETT TILL

Washington, D.C.  The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) issued the following statement on the passing of Airickca Gordon Taylor, cousin of Emmett Till.

It is with great sadness that the Congressional Black Caucus learns of the passing of Airickca Gordon Taylor, cousin of Emmett Till. Mrs. Gordon Taylor was known for her work speaking out against racial violence, her work with families also impacted by hate crimes, and her work with young people. In her role as executive director of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, she worked relentlessly to preserve Emmett Tills legacy through enrichment programs for youth that focused on black history, creative arts, health and education. This is a tremendous loss to the entire CBC family. Consistent with Mrs. Gordon Taylors lifes work, we will also redouble our efforts to ensure that Emmett Till, who was lynched 65 years ago, is never forgotten. We extend our sincerest condolences to Mrs. Gordon Taylors husband, her mother, her family and all those impacted by her remarkable life and work.

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Less than a month ago, the CBC along with an overwhelming majority of House members passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act to fulfill our nations long overdue promise of declaring lynchings a federal crime. We will continue our efforts to ensure that this critical bill is finally signed into law.
Principals and teachers are already planning for the possibility that schools will be closed until at least July and children restricted to remote learning for all of term two.

And parents have even been warned to prepare for the chance that home schooling may extend into term three.

Parents have been warned to prepare for the prospect of no return to classes in term two. Credit:Janie Barrett

Victorias Department of Education and Training is yet to rule on whether primary and secondary students will return to class when school resumes on April 15, or be required to learn remotely.

A decision is set to be announced closer to the start of term two.
Case against Russian historian accused of student murder reaches court

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

13:03 24/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI)  The Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg on Tuesday registered a criminal case against history professor Oleg Sokolov, who stands charged with the murder of his postgraduate student Anastasia Yeshchenko, the United press service of the citys courts reports.

The hearing date is not scheduled yet. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, the case is not to be heard through video conference link.

Investigation into the defendant was completed, the indictment was approved. In addition to the murder, the historian is accused of ammunition trafficking.

According to investigators, rescuers pulled the 63-year reader out of a local river early on November 9 and hospitalized. Womans severed hands and a nonlethal pistol were found in his backpack. Other parts of her body were found in his flat. The man was arrested when left the hospital the next day. He voluntary surrendered.

The victim was identified as the 24-year postgraduate student of the St. Petersburg State University and Sokolovs partner.

The professor pleaded guilty. He said that he gunned the woman and broke up her body.

Sokolov is a historian and ideologist of reconstruction of Napoleonic period battles. He has been conferred the Legion of Honor, the French national award instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte.




We are handling these using our authority under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. We are contacting businesses directly  some businesses say they have only increased prices in response to suppliers increasing prices. We ask for information on suppliers so that we can follow up with those entities. We have not taken any enforcement actions to date, Joseph said in an emailed statement.
MOSCOW -- On March 16, the day Russia recorded a spike in coronavirus cases and officials began urging the population not to panic, political analyst and Kremlin critic Valery Solovei made a guest appearance on the radio station Ekho Moskvy.

The government was failing to cope with the threat, he told listeners, and asserted that the authorities were lying about the scale of the epidemic. He dismissed the official figure of 93 cases and no deaths, as well as any suggestion that Russia wouldnt be hit hard by the pandemic.

Seemingly surprising the host, Aleksei Solomin, Solovei claimed that there were actually at least 1,600 confirmed deaths and predicted that 2 million Russians would soon be infected. He did not cite evidence.

When asked by Solomin where he had gotten his information, Solovei responded, Not all officials have lost their conscience."

(Solovei was more specific when asked by RFE/RL about his sources, saying the death toll he cited came from a government official he declined to name. He did not provide any other evidence.)

Soloveis claims of a state cover-up soon spread online, tapping a climate of suspicion about the authorities version of events. On March 20, authorities ordered Ekho Moskvy to remove the interview from its website as part of "measures to prevent the spread of false information related to the coronavirus, and the radio station complied. Solovei was threatened with a 100,000 ruble ($1,300) fine.

Russia is rife with skepticism over the governments response to the coronavirus pandemic. With its official caseload at 495 infections and zero deaths as of March 24, Russia has so far avoided the fast spread that is seen in many other countries and which is expected with such a highly infectious illness. But with almost 200,000 tests conducted, many distrust that low number, and others point to reports of a 37 percent rise in pneumonia cases in January as evidence that something is amiss.

WATCH: A massive construction effort in Golokhvastovo, southwest of Moscow, to build a hospital for treatment of COVID-19. The site is expected to have 500 patient beds and dormitories to house 1,000 staff. City officials say the hospital could open its doors within a month.

The deaths of two Muscovites who were initially reported as victims of the new virus were subsequently chalked up by officials to other ailments the patients suffered from. The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which monitors the spread of the virus, has continued to list one death in Russia since March 19, when the first of those two deaths was reported.

In a country were many citizens still remember the Soviet governments secrecy over the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, distrust is high.

In response, the government has launched a campaign to control the information space, wielding a new law banning the spread of what it calls fake news. President Vladimir Putin signed the law in March 2019, but it wasnt until October that a Russian court punished someone under its auspices, fining a publishing house and its editor a combined 260,000 rubles ($3,300) for posting videos warning of a revolution in Russia.

Now, the law -- which carries a fine of up to 400,000 rubles -- is being cited readily in what the government says is an effort to control dangerous misinformation and critics call a means to deter dissent.

This is a pointless practice, but it fits into the Russian style of governance, Solovei told RFE/RL in a phone interview. One can trace it back to the Chernobyl catastrophe, and see its continuation in contemporary Russian history, when deaths and diagnoses have been covered up.

On March 19, police in St. Petersburg said they had summoned a man for questioning after he sent voice messages with information about the COVID-19 pandemic that didn't reflect reality. The same day, a woman in Russias Far East was charged for a social-media post suggesting a local person had contracted the virus. Such information is a lie, the police said in a statement. And that evening, a woman in the Lipetsk region was disciplined for claiming cases of COVID-19 had been discovered locally. Three cases had indeed been recorded, authorities said, but all patients had since recovered.

Some of those targeted by the new law have apologized publicly, potentially aiding the states cause but raising questions among government critics about possible coercion.

On March 20, after she was fined 30,000 rubles ($380) for a message claiming that her city in Tatarstan would be locked down due to fears over the virus, a resident of Nizhnekamsk, Oksana Garipova, issued a public apology on a local radio station.

Im deeply sorry, she said on the broadcast. Please, dont believe everything people say.

Three days later she was brought to Moscow to appear on the popular talk show Let Them Talk, where she told viewers across the country that the punishment she received was fair.

Reached by phone, she told RFE/RL the message she was fined for had been a bad joke played on friends and refused to comment further.

On March 23, the government raised the stakes: Anyone who spreads "fake news" about the coronavirus, it announced, could soon face criminal charges. If such measures are introduced, they would significantly increase the costs -- up to potential prison terms -- for violators.

The Kremlin appears to be banking on success in preventing the coronavirus from causing a major public-health problem in Russia. Putin is one step away from securing constitutional changes that would allow him to run for reelection in 2024 and potentially remain president until 2036. A nationwide vote that was meant to cement those changes is scheduled for April 22, and postponing it due to the pandemic would be a headache for Putins government.

According to Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, holding the vote is the Kremlins main priority, and efforts to control information fit into that broader goal.

If you describe the situation as well-managed, saying everything is under control and there is no big risk to the national vote, then you can still hold it, she said. But if you lose control of the information space, if you let panic unfold and people become anxious, you wont be able to hold the vote in such circumstances.

The Russian authorities have themselves stood accused of sowing disinformation abroad about the coronavirus. Excerpts of an internal EU document leaked to the press on March 16 said that pro-Kremlin media outlets were actively spreading disinformation about the pandemic in a bid to "undermine public trust" in Western countries.

Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the report was based on "groundless accusations, but his response came two weeks after the Kremlin made its own broadside, alleging that malign actors from abroad had been working to sow confusion within Russia.

On March 4, Putin said that the Federal Security Service, or FSB, had determined that the spread of provocative fake stories was being organized from abroad. The aim of such fake stories is clear: to sow panic in the population, he said.

Aleksei Goreslavsky, who leads a government center that informs Russian citizens about the COVID-19 situation, claimed that the authorities have uncovered several dozen deliberate campaigns to distribute voice messages peddling fake news about the epidemic.

We are cooperating with colleagues in the Interior Ministry and FSB, and all those cases where there are signs of deliberately misleading will be passed to them for investigation, he said in an interview on state TV.

His statement came the day after the March 19 wave of disciplinary action against alleged violators of the fake news law.

Many of those cases are still being investigated. Solovei said he is yet to receive notice of a fine from the authorities for his statements about the coronavirus death toll in Russia.

But he expressed confidence that his status as a well-known public figure would protect him from repercussions, and even make the authorities think twice.

Thats the only thing in Russia that can protect you, he said. Publicity.
An Indian-origin British MP said that she will be returning to her previous role of a care-worker on Tuesday to join the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the UK.

Nadia Whittome, born in the UK to a Punjabi father, became the youngest MP in the House of Commons representing her birthplace of Nottingham in central England after her win in the December 2019 General Election.

The 23-year-old Labour Party MP said she would donate the salary from her part-time role at ExtraCare retirement home to a local COVID-19 support fund.

"I am returning part-time to my previous job as a care worker because social care is already in crisis and the care system is in serious danger of falling apart at the seams during the COVID-19 pandemic," Whittome said in a statement.

"Care workers work tirelessly to support communities, yet rarely receive recognition and pay that reflects their contribution," she said.

In a swipe at UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is leading on visa changes for Britain's post-Brexit points-based immigration system based on skills, the Opposition MP said that the government views care-workers as not skilled and that her return to the "frontline job" was an act of solidarity with her colleagues and the elderly, who are in the high-risk category of the coronavirus outbreak.

"I hope that my returning to care work will give profile and recognition to the workers responsible for the dignity, well-being and health of so many, she said.

Her move comes as the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) had appealed to former and retired doctors, nurses and care-workers to return to work to assist with the immense workload as a result of the rapid spread of the deadly virus.

Whittome has criticised the government for not going far or fast enough to stop the spread of coronavirus in the UK, where the death toll hit 335 and a three-week lockdown is in place to enforce strict social distancing rules.

The UK on Monday enforced the strictest curbs on movement of people for at least three weeks as the death toll from COVID-19 in the country rose to 335.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man has made the most of working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic by using a video conference to fool his co-workers into thinking he lives in a luxury apartment building.

Andrew Eckel, a 36-year-old software engineer living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, took to Imgur last week to share a behind-the-scenes look at how he pulled off the prank that had his colleagues wondering how he could afford such a stylish place.

To trick he colleagues, he found a photo of a sleek bedroom in a high-rise building on Flickr, printed the image onto nine pages, and taped it together to make his background.

Pulling pranks: Andrew Eckel, 36, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, revealed that he tricked his co-workers into thinking he lives in a luxury apartment building during a video chat

Hilarious: He found a picture of a stylish bedroom in a high-rise building on Flickr, printed the image onto nine pages, and taped it together to make his background

Andrew explained that he was inspired by the fantasy video phone booth on Pee-wee's Playhouse when he came up with the idea.

He admitted that he spent the full 90-minute meeting with his co-workers pretending the background was his bedroom.

'I told them that before we all hung up I wanted to show them what I had "made" over the weekend,' he told Bored Panda. 'They said sure, and I said, "Its back here, by the window," pointing at the paper backdrop. Then I tapped on the paper and zoomed out the camera.'

Luckily for Andrew, his co-workers got a kick out of the harmless prank and took it in stride, though they did confess to being confused as to how he 'could afford such a stylish place.'

'They were laughing and laughing, especially when I moved the camera around the room to show them how flimsy the backdrop was that had fooled them all,' he said.

Dedicated: Andrew admitted that he spent the full 90-minute meeting with his co-workers pretending the background was his bedroom

Fooled: Some of his co-workers told the software engineer that they were initially confused as to how he 'could afford such a stylish place'

'One co-worker said she was wondering why I wasnt using the nice office chair seen behind me, and another said she thought I lived in a Westin,' he added.

'The style of the fake room doesnt really match my aesthetic, and a room with a sleek, curvy window like that wouldnt be affordable in my area. I had purposely positioned my head to hide that window until late in the call.'

In just four days, his Imgur post has been viewed more than 176,000 times, and many people praised him for the prank.

'Should have kept it going and do a different backdrop every meeting,' one person commented.

'The fact that you thought of this, went through with it, and pulled it off is awesome,' someone else responded.

'Now you gotta fool them thinking there's someone there living with you,' another joked,

Going viral: Andrew shared the prank on Facebook and Imgur, where it was liked more than 176,000 times

He was right! 'I thought the prank would appeal to a lot of people,' Andrew said

Not everyone was impressed, however.

'With the money you spent for the printer ink you could've gotten an actual luxury apartment,' one person noted.

'I'm really confused what makes that luxury,' another admitted. 'It's a made bed, a ceiling to floor sheer drape, a chair, and a dresser. Not expensive.'

Not wanting to make the bed was actually one of the reasons Andrew came up with the plan.

'A lot of people arent really in the habit of making their beds every day, and I cant be the only person who didnt want to show a messy bedroom this week. I thought the prank would appeal to a lot of people,' he told Bored Panda.

As for his critics who didn't think the room looked luxurious, he noted that a reverse image search shows that the photo is of a building designed by renowned British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.
The emergency welfare payment for workers who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis will increase to 350 per week.

And in a significant new move the Government will also pay 70pc of employee wages up to 410 per week for businesses who are willing to meet the remainder of their staffs weekly payment.

Read More

The measures are part of the Governments on-going plan to limit the impact of the deadly virus on workers and employers as they prepare to announce more stringent social distancing rules.

Last week, the Government introduced the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment which was initially set at 203 per week.

However, the Cabinet today agreed to significantly increase the payment for those who are out of work due the Governments demand that businesses close during the crisis.

The payment, which is available to employees and self-employed workers who are down income because of the coronavirus, will now increase to 350 per week.

The Government also announced a new payment for companies whose income has dropped by 25pc but still want to retain their staff.

In these cases, the State will pay 70pc of employee salaries up to 410 per week and the company will be asked to pay the remaining 30pc.

The new aid for businesses is in line with several other EU states where governments are introducing major stimulus packages to deal with the global pandemic.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a rescue package which would see the state pay 80pc of salaries up to 2,700 a month for workers who were retained in jobs Mr Johnson said the scheme will last for at least three months.

Meanwhile, The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has proposed a 1.7bn plan in which the State would pay 75pc of wages for three months, up to 40,000 of pay per worker.

Read More

Employers would contribute 25pc in a scheme that it said could be modeled on maternity benefit arrangements.

Ibec proposed that the Government funds at least 70pc of wages for 20 weeks for up to 500,000 workers at a cost of 4bn.
Point Pleasant Beach has temporarily closed its boardwalk and plans to ban rentals in the borough until the worsening coronavirus pandemic in New Jersey is brought under control, the mayor said Tuesday.

Mayor Paul Kanitra said Fridays warm weather drew big crowds to the boardwalk and raised concerns that people were getting too close to one another, which could spread the virus.

The boardwalk is incredibly narrow and even if youre keeping your distance, youre still passing people who are breathing, talking, and maybe coughing or sneezing," Kanitra said by phone Tuesday. "This is something we thought was an appropriate measure to take.

Borough workers are putting up barriers perpendicular to the shoreline, which will still allow access to the beach. The mayor warned, though, that if proper social distancing isnt practiced among early-spring beachgoers that our hands will be forced and additional measures will have to be taken.

Point Pleasant Beach is also closing access to its inlet. On Friday drivers were pulling up beside one another where they were only separated by a couple of feet and congregating in the area, Kanitra said.

The decision was made after consulting with the police department and borough officials, including the Office of Emergency Management as well as the Ocean County Sheriffs Office, according to the mayor. The governors office was also looped in on the boroughs plans. Discussions began four days earlier when borough leaders checked the forecast for Friday, Kanitra said.

The borough is also drafting a resolution that would prohibit homeowners from renting out their properties during the coronavirus pandemic. While visitors dont generally flock to Point Pleasant Beach in large numbers until later in the spring, officials were concerned an early influx would put a strain on the town.

Most of the special officers that bolster the boroughs police dont begin working until close to Memorial Day. The mayor also noted that local grocery stores and restaurants arent stocked or staffed as they are during the busy summer months.

Our resources are stretched pretty thin now, Kanitra said.

The mayor made it clear Point Pleasant Beach will be prepared to welcome visitors back when the time is right.

Our tourists are incredibly important and we dont take these measures lightly, he said. We look forward to welcoming the state back when its appropriate.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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"Our scientists at the CDI have given our health network a crucial tool to treat New Jersey patients in real-time," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Now their innovation will help others at this time of urgent need."

"A coronavirus test fits within our company's mission: to save lives and improve health care by allowing clinicians to treat patients faster and more effectively," said John Sperzel, president and chief executive officer of T2 Biosystems. "With this partnership, our company and the team at Hackensack Meridian Health are leveraging our strengths to benefit patients suspected of primary or secondary infections associated with COVID-19."

Under this agreement, T2 Biosystems is authorized to adapt the CDI-developed COVID-19 test to the T2 Biosystems platform, and market and distribute the test in places of need amid the expanding pandemic. The test will be capable of running on the T2Dx Instrument, the same instrument which runs the FDA-cleared T2Bacteria and T2Candida Panels. The T2Bacteria and T2Candida Panels enable the rapid identification of sepsis-causing bacterial and fungal pathogens, providing results in three to five hours directly from whole blood, enabling clinicians to target therapy for patients with secondary bacterial or fungal infections associated with primary COVID-19 infections.

The CDI's diagnostic tool, in use under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization guidance since March 12, has significantly shortened the timeline for COVID-19 testing in the Hackensack Meridian Health network. The test has allowed health professionals in the New Jersey locations to quarantine and treat patients suspected of having COVID-19 more rapidly, allocate critical resources more effectively and, in the case of a negative result, spare the patient unnecessary time in the hospital.

"The test, a highly sensitive and accurate novel assay, provides definitive results quickly. It combines in a new format the best elements found in the CDC and WHO diagnostics," said David S. Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. "The CDI scientists who worked tirelessly on this rapid test should be commended for moving fast to use their expertise to save lives."

CDI experts, including Yanan "Nancy" Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., began work on the test in mid-January, following the outbreak of the virus first identified in China in December 2019.

Two weeks ago, the center received live virus and viral RNA, a crucial step toward bringing the test to use in clinical settings. The CDI validated the results in days and completed FDA requirements to administer the test. The Hackensack Meridian Health network has been able to test about 90 patients per day.

The pandemic has accelerated the need for testing: the World Health Organization has confirmed about 335,000 cases globally and the most recent reports indicate a death toll of approximately 14,500 people. In the United States, more than 33,400 cases have been reported across all 50 states, with more than 400 deaths, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures available this week.

Increased testing is needed to slow the spread of the virus from overwhelming the nation's health care systems, according to health experts.

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 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 T2 Biosystems

T2 Biosystems, a leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, is dedicated to improving patient care and reducing the cost of care by helping clinicians effectively treat patients faster than ever before. T2 Biosystems' products include the T2Dx Instrument, T2Candida Panel, the T2Bacteria Panel, and the T2Resistance Panel and are powered by the proprietary T2 Magnetic Resonance (T2MR) technology. T2 Biosystems has an active pipeline of future products, including products for the detection of additional species and antibiotic resistance markers of sepsis pathogens, and tests for Lyme disease.

SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health

Related Links

http://www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org


An employee of the Plymouth Sheriff Department has tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Boston Globe.

Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald Jr. said in a statement that the employee received the positive COVID-19 test on Friday, the Globe reports.

McDonald said the department learned of the positive result on Monday, the Globe reports.

Those possibly affected will be isolated and not allowed to return to work for 14 days or until they test negative for the virus, McDonald said, according to the Globe.

There are now nine deaths associated with coronavirus illness, and at least 777 cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts, public health officials said Monday.

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BRIDGEPORT  The city school board will ask its attorneys to determine if it can waive a 30-day time limit to pick a new chair.

If they say no, we will vote for a chair on March 30, Board Vice Chair Hernan Illingworth said during a virtual meeting of the board on Monday.

Eight of nine board members participated in the discussion which was broadcast live from the district website. Chris Taylor did not participate.

Originally, the board was to pick a new chair on March 23.

The coronavirus pandemic, however, canceled the boards ability to meet together in a city building. Board bylaws call for a certain protocol to elect a new chair, including public input and a paper ballot.

Illingworth called the current circumstances unprecedented.

Its unchartered waters, he said, asking his fellow board members to weigh in.

Under current rules, the board could forfeit its right to make the decision if it goes past 30 days, which is April 1. Even up against a deadline, some board members didnt see the rush.

My personal opinion, we have a fully capable interim chair, said board member Jessica Martinez, referring to Illingworth.

Martinez was board chair until the school board removed her from the position on March 2.

Uncomfortable with the meetings virtual format, Martinez said the board should wait until the pandemic is over.

We need to give the community time on how to weigh in, Martinez added. They dont have a vote but they have a voice.

Board member Joseph Sokolovic said it is not that hard to adjust the process to allow public input. The board has changed chairs and filled board vacancies often enough to adjust its procedures, Sokolovic said.

Acting Schools Superintendent Michael Testani said he also has been assured that there can be public input  virtually.

Board member John Weldon said he also liked the idea of a virtual election. I dont think it is something we can delay much longer, said Weldon.

Weldon, Sokolovic and Illingworth have each expressed interest in becoming the new, permanent chair.

Illingworth said he is willing to be the defacto-leader of the board for as long as he is called to do so.

As for a virtual election, Illingworth suggested nominations could be made the same way they always are and that instead of paper ballots  as board bylaws call for  members would email their vote to Rita Valle, the superintendents assistant. She would then read them off to the public.

Board member Bobbi Brown called it important to have a chair, but also wants to hear what the attorneys have to say. The boards attention, she added, should be on how the school district is handling distance learning as well as its ever precarious budget situation.

I dont want to make the decision because we are rushed, she said.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
Children with separated parents will be allowed to visit both of them despite the coronavirus lockdown, the government has confirmed.

Last night Boris Johnson issued a ban on visiting any household other than the household you are currently in.

That sparked questions about whether children who split their time between two parents, would be able to visit both households under the new rules.

And this morning Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove added to the confusion when he told ITVs GMB: You should not be moving children from home to home.

Later, however, he admitted he had not been sufficiently clear before clarifying to BBC Breakfast that he had got it wrong, and children can move between both their parents after all.

One of the things I'm anxious to do is make sure we minimise social contact, he said.

But children under the age of 18 can see both parents.

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

Co-parenting is proving tricky for many parents during coronavirus outbreak. (Getty Images)

While schools shutting and the UK virtually being placed on lockdown is a tricky enough situation to navigate for all parents, for those who have separated from their childs other parent it is even more difficult, particularly in light of yesterdays new guidance.

One parent who has been left feeling unsure about how to co-parent with her ex-partner is Keira OMara, founder of The Online Baby Show (a free 3 day resource for pregnant women and new parents in lockdown with experts, shopping and celebrity interviews).

The 42-year-old from Birmingham separated from the father of her oldest children, aged 13 and 10, almost seven years ago.

Before the coronavirus outbreak the children stayed with their father every Wednesday overnight and every other weekend from Friday evening to Monday morning, but outbreak has meant the have already missed some overnights with their dad.

Story continues

They are missing their dad. They face time every day but it is not the same, Keira explains.

She says she is finding the new rules and this mornings confusion surrounding them difficult to deal with and she is torn about what to do for the best. .

When I think about the mental health of my children, and the parent not seeing them, I want them to go between the two homes, but I do think that it is risky, she explains.

The situation is confounded by the fact she also has a 9 month old baby.

I am so torn. We will absolutely go with government advice though. They just need to be 100% clear on what that is as it is a very grey area at the moment.

Its about realising that sometimes there might be a difference of opinion but that ultimately we both love our children and will put them first, she adds.

There was some confusion about whether children who live across two households would be able to visit their other parent. (Getty Images)

Read more: Online classes and activities children can take part in during the coronavirus outbreak

What do the legal experts say?

Cara Nuttall, Partner at JMW Solicitors and children law specialist is urging the government to clarify the new lockdown measures for separated parents. Formal child agreements and orders are vital for giving certainty of routine for separated parents and children, but they can never cover all eventualities, she says.

Unexpected circumstances will always arise, however COVID-19 has heralded many more uncertainties than a minor swap or simple adjustment and has created significant stress and confusion among many parents.

Nuttall says a huge number of people are extremely concerned about the new measures so it's vital that the government makes its expectations clear, with guidelines confirming that children can indeed continue to move between homes.

However, it's vital that routine never trumps safety, she continues. The first and most important consideration is what is best - and safest - for the health and wellbeing of both the children and wider family.

While guidelines do state that children can move between homes during this period of lockdown, it will undoubtedly be more difficult for children to do this in the same way as before.

Nuttall suggests parents try to work together in the best interests of children and remember that, when the dust does settle, judges will be looking keenly into the manner in which parents conducted themselves - and indirect contact - during this time.

Whatever families decide, child focus and recognition of relationship must remain the priority, she continues. There is no merit - tactically or practically - in insisting on adherence to routine if it places anyone at risk.

Read more: Coronavirus sees 2000% surge in 'I Don't Want To Wash My Hands!' book

Nuttall says courts will not enforce adherence to an order over safety and wellbeing and will not endorse any parent doing so.

Parents must remember that these are exceptional times, and everyone is muddling through. The court will view anything that happens now in context - the only thing likely to harm a parents' long-term position is a refusal to be sensible and child-focused.

As Nuttall points out these are exceptional circumstances, but in an already fraught time, it can be difficult navigating tricky family relationships.

Co-parenting can be challenging at the best of times, so the covid-19 outbreak is adding fuel to the fire for some, explains Emma Bradley, childcare.co.uks parenting expert.

The latest announcement was misleading and we have since had clarification that children can still move between both households.

Bradley suggests parents of children who split their time in two households judge things based on their own personal situation.

Obviously children that usually have regular contact with both parents will want to continue seeing their parent outside the home as normal. Yet this might not be practical and is not black and white.

If one parent is still working outside of the home those children will be exposed to greater risks than if they stay at home with a parent not working. If both parents are working from home there is less risk and you may continue to share childcare, she adds.

Co-parents should try to keep up communication if they are unable to be with their child physically. (Getty Images)

Read more: Best apps to help you stay connected to loved ones while practicing social distancing

How to successfully co-parent during coronavirus outbreak

Bradley has put together a list of tips to help co-parents navigate the situation since lockdown has been imposed.

Try to make decisions together

Bradley believes that parents need to make the decision on access between them, particularly in the case of younger children. Don't ask the children to make a decision as that is just too big a responsibility for them, she explains. As adults we are struggling to understand the logistics ourselves which makes it impossible for primary school aged children to understand.

Teenagers may be better placed to have an opinion and share a preference for how they would like to see contact maintained, but use with caution, she adds.

Maintain contact through technology

She suggests setting regular times to FaceTime or phone the other parent. Children may not want to stay on the call for long as it is not the same as physically being together but the other parent could read a story or a chapter of a book or something similar to maintain the relationship.

Be communication positive

Relations between separated couples may be strained, but now more than ever it is important that they attempt to communicate in a positive way for the benefit of their shared child(ren) who will be feeling sad and confused at not seeing both parents, Bradley advises. Talk to your ex calmly and understand that everyone will be feeling emotional at this time, she adds.

Look to the future

And remember that this is not forever, this is for a period of three weeks initially and it is a public health measure designed to save lives.
At least 53 nursing care facilities are battling with Covid-19 cases across the United States, according to a report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Louisiana, New York and Georgia were the top three states in the US with at least seven nursing facilities in each location impacted by the novel virus, the report released on Sunday reveals, which compiled information from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three states were placed in the agencys top tier category for states dealing with outbreaks in nursing home facilities. The top tier means between seven to 25 facilities in each state are impacted, as of Thursday.

Another tier has three states  Washington, New Jersey, and Illinois  which report four to six nursing facilities with confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Then 20 states follow the top six with one to three facilities impacted by the virus. There are 24 states across the US with no confirmed or suspected Covid-19 cases in any nursing facility.

Nursing facilities are a concern for health officials who want to avoid a coronavirus cluster that could severely impact the elderly population.

Although Louisiana, New York and Georgia reportedly have the most facilities impacted with cases, there are more individuals within these nursing facilities whove contracted the virus in both Washington state and New Jersey.

Washington state previously was the epicentre for the virus in the US before New Yorks case numbers largely surpassed the state.

In the states Kirkland Life Care Centre, it saw at least 35 deaths from the virus. At least 55 people have died in nursing facilities alone across the nation from the virus, according to the Washington Post.

Most people who contract Covid-19 will experience minor flu-like symptoms  such as fever, tiredness, and a dry cough  and will recover within two weeks.

But for others, specifically the elderly or immunocompromised, symptoms can be more severe and potentially cause death.

Keeping the virus out of nursing facilities is a concern for health professionals as they attempt to contain the spread.

Specific facilities experiencing outbreaks have prevented its residents from receiving visitors, or limited the number of visitors, to prevent more cases. Workers at some of the facilities are also ordered to wear personal protection equipment (PPE) when helping their patients.

Individual state governors, including Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, are encouraging people to avoid visiting family members in person at these facilities. Instead, video chats and phone calls are recommended.

On a federal level, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services offered released guidelines on 9 March for how facilities should curb the pandemic that involved limiting visitors. Stricter guidelines were later released prohibiting visitors for all people within these facilities unless the patient is about to die. Communal dining and activities were also ordered to stop.
With 14 more people in Kerala testing positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday the total number of infected by coronavirus in the state rose to 105, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said and warned that the government will henceforth strictly enforce a lockdown.

The number of people under observation has also risen to 72,460 out of which 71,994 are in their homes and 466 in hospitals.

Out of 14 fresh cases six were from Kasaragod in north Kerala which bore the maximum brunt after some people who returned from Persian Gulf countries flouted guidelines and roamed around freely before they tested positive.

Last week a man who returned from Dubai had slipped out of home quarantine and participated in weddings, sport events and many other functions. The police have impounded passports of two such persons.

The CM said among the 14 to test positive is a health worker who cared for Covid-19 patients.

Follow coronavirus live updates here.

He said the state will enforce the lockdown strictly in view of increasing number of cases and alerted local bodies and others to prepare facilities for more isolation wards.

It seems some people have taken the lockdown casually. We will be forced to enforce it strictly. Passes will be issued to those who want to come out of their houses citing proper reasons. Others will be dealt with seriously, he said adding police were given strict instructions to enforce the lockdown.

Police said they registered 402 cases against those who flouted lockdown guidelines in the state. Director General of Police Loknath Behra said police will increase their vigil and will show no leniency towards those who come out of their houses without valid reasons.

Some people have taken it lightly. We will not allow this to happen, said the DGP.

After Maharashtra, Kerala has reported maximum number of cases. It was the first to report three cases in the country two months ago. All three were later discharged.

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By Express News Service

Is there another filmmaker in Tamil cinema who so cared about the joint family setup, of the quiet bonds that form between members?

Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan, known as Visu, made a career out of dissecting the psyche of the middleclass.

The director also donned several hats including writer, actor (stage, film and television) and talk-show host.

Here, we talk to actors and directors who had first-hand experience witnessing the various facets of this legendary writer-director.

SP Muthuraman, Director

Im proud that he got introduced as an actor through my film, Kudumbam Oru Kadhambam (1981). The film was adapted from a play and we made him reprise his role from the play in the feature film version too.Working with him in Netrikann (1981) was an unforgettable experience. His dialogues elevated the film to the next level and the variation he showed while writing the father and son roles of Rajini is truly remarkable. Though he is known for his heartening family films, he was equally competent in writing mass dialogues for commercial films. Rajinikanths Chakravarthy in Netrikann says, Kudi, lady rendume illadhavan pedi. This simple dialogue was enough to explain the characters nature and it was a hit among the audience as well.

People usually say that Im a budget-conscious director. But he made Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986) at a really small budget. AVM Saravanan sir often lauds this nature of Visu sir. He always worked towards cost-cutting for the benefit of producers.He was a big name on the small screen too. Im genuinely happy that many people benefitted through the charity he did through his talk shows like Arattai Arangam and Makkal Arangam.

MS Baskar, Actor

He was like the eldest brother in my family. When I was trying to make inroads in the field of dubbing, he gave me the opportunity to act in front of the camera in Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi (1987). We have since been constantly in touch. Even a few days back, I had a conversation with him, where he said, Mathavangaluku oru week la 7 days, enakku 4 dhaan. He would have dialysis on the other days. I wanted to visit him and invite him to my daughters wedding. Im shocked. When my wedding happened, Visu anna couldnt make it because of the death of his elder brother, Kishmu. I am saddened by the death of the eldest member of my family. Now, with the lockdown in place, I feel pained that I wouldnt be able to see his face, one last time. But I still believe he will always be in all of our hearts.

Chinni Jayanth, Actor

The first time I saw him was in the 70s when he was part of the drama, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. When I met him in the late 80s, I narrated one of his dialogues from the play. He was overwhelmed and hugged me tightly. He always wanted to cast me in a film, and one day, I got a call from Kuriakkose Ranga who said Visu sir wanted to meet me. It was just after the superhit success of Kizhakku Vaasal. I had no dates then. When I met Visu sir, he said he had created this role just for me. I told him this is something that should be done by Rajini. The character was named Telex Pandian, a play on Rajinis iconic role in Moondru Mugam. The film offered to me was Pattukotai Periyappa.

I played a police officer in that film. He even told producer Rama Narayanan that he wouldnt film those portions without me. Rama Narayanan was also asked to give me the salary I quote. I felt blessed to be acting under Visu sirs direction. Even with a horde of talented artistes around, I was given the most dialogues. He was a huge fan of cinema and a great artist. He always appreciated my mimicry of Rajinikanth. Legendary personality saar avaru. He always had the welfare of writers in his mind. People would come to Visu sir for script advice. He delivered huge successes with the smallest of budgets.

Sve Shekhar, Actor

We are vaada poda friends. Ours was a 50-year-long friendship. He was just four years elder to me; I always knew him as a multi-talented and versatile artiste. Our close association began right from our stage days. In fact, my first outstation play came through Visu. Ive worked in almost 30 films of his. We were always in touch, even till his last days. He was struggling for the past ten days owing to kidney-related ailments. He was having daily dialysis. I was told that he had a massive attack on Monday, and was taken to the hospital. This is a huge loss.

Kasthuri Raja Actor

Ive worked with him from Manal Kayiru till Sakalakala Sammandi... Almost in 15-16 films. All my cinema knowledge has come from him. I learned unforgettable lessons in being a producers director, and most importantly, never to give false hopes to anyone. He instilled discipline in me and tamed my wildness to make me a gentleman. Cinema la enakku aana aavanna solli kuduthavaru avaru. I can boldly say that I loved him the most. He loved me too. He always appreciated my work.

Madhumita, Actor

A lot of people criticised his films for being dramatic, and while other filmmakers would take that as an insult, Visu sir took it as a compliment because he has a background in drama, and believed it to be the purest form of art. An actor has the luxury of having multiple takes but a stage performer has only one shot, and from that perspective, Visu sir was right to do what he did.Even today, his films have so much impact on society. In terms of family values, relationships, interpersonal drama, theres so much to learn from them. Ellame edharthama sollirupaaru.

He portrayed whatever we would see every day in a middle-class family but the characters he wrote were iconic. Personally, its a big loss because when I got back from Los Angeles to India to direct a film, he was the first person to support me, after my family. When my father organised a Tamil Mandram in Indonesia, Visu sirs Arattai Arangam and Makkal Arangam were conducted there.

When I decided to make my debut film, Vallamai Tharayo, he asked me if I wanted to go ahead with such a risky film for a first venture. When I explained how writing about interpersonal relationship between two characters is a strength of mine, he gave me the confidence that I could pull it off, and even helped me with roping in assistant directors and technicians. When KD released, I tried to make him watch it because I wanted him, my guru, to see how I have evolved. Unfortunately, he could never see it. I think he would have been proud of trusting my potential.

Rekha, Actor

Visu sir was a gentleman dedicated to his work. He taught acting to each and everyone on his sets, including Aachi amma (Manorama). Even if one were an acting legend, he would still enact how he wanted a scene. I was not an experienced actor then, and he used to teach me all the nuances before the shots. He preferred a natural look for all the actors in his films, and was against make-up. If you see me in Varavu Nalla Uravu (1990) and Vedikai En Vaadikkai (1990), I would look quite close to how I looked in person. The only time you saw him smile on the sets was during the breaks. He was always trying to cut costs. This is a huge loss for the industry. We dont have any filmmakers like him, who could make such beautiful family dramas.

(With inputs from Avinash Ramachandran, Gopinath Rajendran, Kirubhakar Purushothaman and Navein Darshan)
Coronavirus has already pushed the world economy into a 'deep recession', according to Goldman Sachs.

The slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will cause the global economy to shrink by 1 per cent this year, analysts at the investment bank said.

That is weaker than the year following the global financial crisis just over a decade ago.

Goldman's warning came as Lord King, former governor of the Bank of England, said the uncertainty caused by coronavirus would be even worse than the 2008 crash.

The slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will cause the global economy to shrink by 1% this year, analysts at Goldman Sachs said

And in a startlingly bleak forecast, James Bullard, president of the St Louis Federal Reserve, said the US economy would shrink by 50 per cent in the second quarter of the year as unemployment jumped to 30 per cent.

King, 71, said: 'I think this is much more serious and much more difficult to cope with.

'In the financial crisis, we were dealing with a relatively small number of financial institutions, we knew broadly what we had to do.

'In this case, the situation is extremely uncertain.'

He added that the Government should commit to borrowing 'whatever is necessary' to allow businesses and the self-employed to survive until the pandemic passes.

The Government has already committed to pay 80 per cent of people's wages if they are forced to stop working, up to a maximum of 2,500 per month, which Goldman's analysts believe will cost 40billion.

By the 2024-25 financial year, Goldman thinks public sector borrowing will have grown to 4 per cent of Britain's economy, compared to 2.25 per cent had the virus not hit.

Analysts at Swiss bank UBS have predicted that Europe's economy will shrink by 4.5 per cent this year, similar to 2008.
Maharashtra PWD minister Ashok



Chavan on Tuesday said six hotel management students from Nanded, who went to Mauritius for internship, are unable to return home due to cancellation of international flights following the coronavirus pandemic.

Chavan has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, asking him to speak to the Centre and get the stranded students' visa extended to save them from facing further trouble.

In the letter to Thackeray, Chavan, who hails from Nanded district, said these students were due to return to India on Tuesday following completion of four-month-long internship which was part of their hotel management course.

"Their Mauritian visa expires tomorrow (Wednesday)," the minister said.

Cavan said the students tried to get in touch with the Indian embassy in the island nation for assistance, but did not get any response.

The Congress minister urged Thackeray to speak to the Centre to get their visa extended.

"If that is not done, the students can be in legal trouble since their stay will become illegal. The Indian embassy in Mauritius should help them with accommodation as well," he said.

"Similarly, the students should be given air tickets to facilitate their return to India by the first available flight after normalcy is restored," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has spread to more than 150 countries, has caused large-scale disruption in global flight operations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medicaid expansion

Concerns about COVID-19 are also forcing the campaign supporting Medicaid expansion to make some changes.

Healthcare for Missouri will be pausing its public events until further notice, said A.J. Bockelman, the groups campaign manager, in a Monday email to supporters. The campaign is following federal, state and local guidelines, he said.

Thats why in the weeks ahead, well look to hold virtual events to keep our grassroots supporters like you involved in our campaign, Bockelman wrote.

But the changes wont hamper the campaigns plan to get expansion in front of voters in November.

Healthcare for Missouri has said it needs 172,000 signatures from registered Missouri voters by May 3 to place the question on the ballot.

Because it got an early start, the campaign will make that deadline, Bockelman wrote.

The push for Medicaid expansion officially kicked off in September and had gathered 75% of signatures by early February.
According to wealth professionals like Robert Westley, vice president and wealth adviser at Northern Trust in the greater New York region, estate planning isnt only about money. If you have assets that you want to go to certain people, you should create a document that specifies who gets what, Westley said. Specifically, for those with young children, a will is necessary because it names the guardians of minor children, and you will want to ensure that you, and not the courts, are naming their guardians.
A man, who recently returned from Egypt, has died in the city of Dnipro, while a woman died in Ivano-Frankivsk.

A male patient, 47, has died shortly after being admitted in grave condition to a hospital in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, local health officials say, adding that his coronavirus test results have not returned yet.

The man recently returned from Egypt and felt unwell, but did not seek medical help until his condition worsened significantly.

Read alsoUkraine security officials nab online troll spinning fake news on coronavirus

Meanwhile, a woman, 60, has died in an Ivano-Frankivsk hospital in western Ukraine. She was earlier admitted with a coronavirus suspicion but her test results haven't returned from a Kyiv lab by the time she was pronounced dead.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ministry of Health stated that the number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine increased to 97.
Police are receiving dozens of calls a day about people breaching self-isolation orders, with some Victorians admitting they flouted quarantine rules to go to restaurants and the cinema because they wanted to get a break from it.

Victoria Police has started patrolling public places to ensure people are complying with restrictions on gatherings, and door-knocking the homes of people who have been ordered to self-isolate.

A preschooler was among 64 new cases of coronavirus confirmed on Monday, bringing the total number of Victorians diagnosed to 411. Twelve people were in hospital on Tuesday - six more than the previous day - including two in intensive care.

Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said some "selfish" Victorians were putting lives at risk by not taking the new restrictions seriously.
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Linkedin Benny Mawel (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura  Tue, March 24, 2020 12:07 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d0f6b7 1 National Papua,separatists,TPNPB,West-Papua,West-Papua-Liberation-Army,Air-Force,TNI,TNI-AU,military,cenderawasih Free

An Indonesian Air Force CASA CN A-2909 plane was shot at by a faction of the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) while flying over Serambakon district in Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua, at 4,800 feet on Monday.

The plane, which had taken off from Jayapura, was shot at on Monday at 8:50 a.m. local time.

The plane managed to land in the capital of Pegunungan Bintang, Oksibil, but five holes were found on the planes body, Cenderawasih Military Command spokesperson Lt. Col. Eko Daryanto said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Eko said the plane was not heavily damaged and could still function.

The TPNPB took responsibility through its spokesperson, Sebby Sambom, who resides in Papua New Guinea.

"The headquarters of TPNPB is responsible for the shooting. This war will continue," Sebby said in a press release seen by The Jakarta Post on Monday. He claimed that the plane had been transporting military and police personnel to Oksibil.

Sila Papare Airfield commander Air Commodore Tri Bowo, however, said the plane was carrying 3 tons of foodstuff and other materials owned by the Pegunungan Bintang regency administration.

Eko said this was not the first shooting to take place in Pegunungan Bintang recently. On March 2, trucks belonging to a state-owned enterprise were shot at by an armed group in Oksop district.

Papua has seen an escalating number of shootings since the beginning of the year. Shootings happened in several regions, such as Nduga regency, Intan Jaya, Mimika, Pegunungan Bintang and Keerom.

Cenderawasih Military Command deputy head Lt. Col. Inf Dax Sianturi said he believed the armed groups were conducting the shootings to thwart two national events that would be held in Papua this year, namely the regional elections and the National Games (PON). (aly)
The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) on Tuesday alleged that policemen defaced their anti-CAA graffiti on the walls of the university, a charge denied by police.

The graffiti had been painted while the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was underway outside the gate of Jamia Millia Islamia.

The students claimed that their protest-related graffiti and verses of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Manto were specifically targeted.

The JCC, a group comprising Jamia Millia Islamia students and alumni of the university, had called off its sit-in protest against the new citizenship law last week in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The JCC members claimed that policemen came along with painters on Tuesday morning and defaced the graffiti.

"Are paintings also violating lockdown? Susceptible to Coronavirus infections? So why are these at Jamia being painted over? Such vindictivenes in the garb of locking down. Shame! @DelhiPolice ..An absolute shame. #WeWillRiseAgain #jamia #Inquilabliveson #inquilabzindabad," the JCC tweeted.

The JCC members also alleged that essential supplies, which were to be sent to riot-hit northeast Delhi, kept in the tents were stolen.

"You may erase the graffiti, you may steal the tents but you cannot suppress our voice because ideas are bulletproof," the JCC tweeted.

However, the senior police officer of southeast district denied the allegations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after the COVID-19 pandemic led Gov. Ned Lamont to permit towns to change the way they adopt budgets, municipalities have been left to figure out the details.

For some, it could mean changing or foregoing altogether the annual budget referendum. For towns without a public vote process, it means moving to virtual budget meetings and other work-arounds.

Lamont stated on Saturday that he was extending budget adoption deadlines and suspending the in-person budget adoption requirement for municipalities.

Easton First Selectman David Bindelglass said the towns attorney is trying to clarify what is required of officials under the mandate.

Easton is very proud of its tradition of a town meeting form of government and we are looking for guidance to see how we can maintain or come closest to maintaining that tradition within the provisions of the executive order, Bindelglass said in an email.

Oxford was also trying to find a way to preserve the town meeting, said First Selectman George Temple. Temple said he will be discussing the budget situation with corporation counsel Kevin Condon and Jack Kiley, the chairman of the Board of Finance.

Well be looking over the governors orders and deciding what to do, Temple said. Obviously, I prefer the towns input during the Town Meeting and would like the residents to have the right to vote on the education and town budget. Participation is important and I believe if we can postpone, we will do so.

The towns budget referendum usually takes place in mid-May.

In Seymour, First Selectman W. Kurt Miller said they are taking a wait and see approach to the vote on the towns municipal and Board of Education budgets.

The referendum vote usually takes place in early May.

We will make decisions at some point in April, Miller said. It will be based on whats going on at that time.

Monroe also was supposed to have a budget referendum in May, but First Selectman Kenneth Kellogg announced Sunday night on the towns web page that the 2020-21 town budget would be passed without a referendum.

I have been in touch with the leadership on our Town Council and Board of Finance, and we will have further information in the future regarding the budget process which will provide opportunity for public input, Kellogg said in the post.

Not all towns have referendums  Ansonia, Derby and Fairfield are among those that dont  but nearly every town is seeing its budget process affected by COVID-19.

Trumbull is planning to hold budget meetings online and stream the audio for the public. The Town Council is expected to pass a final budget by mid-June, about a month later than usual. Municipal fiscal years run from July 1 to June 30.

Stratford Town Council Chairman Chris Pia said officials there were working with the towns information technology professionals and lawyers on a way to conduct virtual budget workshops and hearings, if necessary.

Stratfords charter sets a deadline of May 12 for the council to pass a budget for the next fiscal year. Though Lamonts executive order includes a 30-day extension, Pia said he hopes Stratford wont need it. He said the details of the process are being ironed out and said hes confident that more information will be announced within the next week.

Were going to have a transparent budget process, he said.

Sheltons city charter calls for the mayor to present his budget to the Board of Aldermen and Board of Apportionment and Taxation by March 22, but Mayor Mark Lauretti said he plans to release his budget within the next couple of weeks.

Lauretti said his budget is nearly complete but has made no final decisions about bypassing the Board of Apportionment and Taxation as of yet. In Shelton, the Board of Aldermen give final approval of the budget no later than May 31, by city charter.

In Bridgeport, the annual budget is approved by the City Council. Under normal circumstances, that legislative body would vote on a final budget in early May. Budget Committee co-chairman Councilman Scott Burns noted Monday that the governor provided a 30-day extension, so the final vote deadline has been pushed back until early June.

Burns said there have been preliminary talks about what to do should restrictions on public gatherings continue for several weeks. While the council and its committees are trying to conduct regular business starting Monday night through online-conferencing, Burns said that format is not ideal for budget deliberations, particularly where there is a lot of back-and-forth between department heads and committee members.

Thats obviously really hard and not something we would prefer, Burns said. (We would) rather have the face-to-face interaction.

As for public hearings, in Bridgeport the only ones that tend to draw a crowd are for education spending. It has not been uncommon in recent years to count the number of residents turning up for hearings on other parts of the budget on one hand.

Usually we get a big turnout for education and thats totally understandable, Burns said. A lot of the other public hearings we dont get a lot of foot traffic. At this point, were in a little bit of a waiting hold (to determine how to proceed).
Gandhinagar, March 24 : With four more new coronavirus positive cases reported in Gujarat, the total such cases in the western state climbed to 33 on Tuesday, as the authorities decided to put the entire state under lockdown.

Out of the four new cases since Monday, three got the infection locally while one got infected abroad, including a man, 32, from Surat had travelled to Saudi Arabia. Another man, 66, got infected locally. One man aged 53 and one woman aged 54 in Gandhinagar got infected locally.

Gujarat is the only state in the country which has a list of 27,000 passengers, the residents who returned from abroad since March 1.

"We have screened 10 lakh persons under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) till date, including patients complaining of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), 108 services complaints about breathlessness and 104 complaint calls," said Jayanti Ravi, Principal Secretary Health.

"Out of total 33 positive cases in Gujarat, we have re-sent blood samples of six patients after a week's treatment for testing and they have been found stable," added Ravi.

The Secretary said that 11,108 people in the state were under home quarantine. "We have received 2,424 calls regarding COVID-19 on the 104 services. We have a total of 1,583 isolation beds in the state in government hospitals and 609 ventilators. In the private hospitals those which are linked with the government, we have total 15,00 ventilators," added Ravi.
The eurozone economy has suffered an 'unprecedented collapse' because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a closely-watched indicator.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) released by IHS Markit shows a slump in March 'far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis'.

The survey shows the the services sector taking the biggest hit, especially tourism and restaurants, after millions of people across Europe were ordered to stay at home.

Companies in the service sector are cutting jobs at the fastest pace since May 2009, the latest figures show.

This graph published by IHS Markit shows the purchasing managers' index (PMI) slumping to its lowest level on record, lower than during the financial crisis of 2008-09. It also shows how the PMI index has been correlated with gross domestic product (GDP) over the years

The PMI reading released today is the lowest since records began in 1998.

This month's figure is 31.4, compared to 51.6 last month. Any reading below 50 points indicates economic contraction.

Manufacturing has also suffered, with factory output registering its largest monthly contraction since April 2009 and supply chains suffering.

According to the latest figures, manufacturers have reduced their payroll numbers to an extent not seen since July 2012.

Germany and France both saw their largest drops in service sector activity on record, while both countries' manufacturing industries were also hit.

There were already fears for Germany's economy even before the crisis hit after it narrowly avoided a recession last year.

The rest of the euro area reported an even steeper decline than seen in both France and Germany, economists say.

The tourism sector has been hard hit by the crisis, with popular destinations such as Rome (pictured) left deserted by travel bans and lockdowns

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, says the survey suggests an annual contraction of 8 per cent, although that forecast is likely to worsen.

'Business activity across the eurozone collapsed in March to an extent far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis,' he said.

'Steep downturns were seen in France, Germany and across the rest of the euro area as governments took increasingly tough measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

'The March PMI is indicative of GDP slumping at a quarterly rate of around two per cent, and clearly there's scope for the downturn to intensify further as even more draconian policies to deal with the virus are potentially implemented in coming months.

'Demand for many goods and services has fallen dramatically, while near-record supply chain delays have stymied production and business closures mean an increasingly large proportion of the economy is being mothballed.

'Employment is already falling at a rate not seen since July 2009 as despair about the outlook broadens. Business sentiment about the year ahead has plunged to the gloomiest on record, suggesting policymakers' efforts to date have failed to brighten the darkening picture.'

European leaders have pledged an unprecedented array of economic measures to reduce the impact of the health crisis.

Governments have unleashed billions in public spending, including in Italy which is now at the forefront of the global crisis.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has hailed his 25billion (23billion) programme as an 'Italian model' that other countries could emulate.

His plan includes a ban on layoffs, tax credits to keep businesses alive and direct payments for self-employed and seasonal workers such as tour guides.

The European Central Bank has also announced a 750billion bond-buying scheme, days after it unveiled a stimulus package that failed to calm anxious markets.
LONDON -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Britons on Monday to stay at home to halt the spread of coronavirus, imposing curbs on everyday life without precedent in peacetime.

All but essential shops must close immediately and people should no longer meet family or friends or risk being fined, Johnson said in a televised address to the nation.

Johnson had resisted pressure to impose a full lockdown even as other European countries had done so, but was forced to change tack as projections showed the health system could become overwhelmed.

Deaths from the virus in Britain jumped 54 to 335 on Monday as the government said the military would help ship millions of items of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks to healthcare workers who have complained of shortages.

From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home, Johnson said in a televised address, replacing his daily news conference.

They would only be allowed to leave their homes to shop for basic necessities, exercise, for a medical need, to provide care or traveling to and from work where absolutely necessary.

Thats all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home, he said, adding that people should not meet friends or family members who do not live in their home.

If you dont follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings, he warned.

The new measures would be reviewed in three weeks, and relaxed if possible.

These rules are not optional, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

The opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn said he supported the measures, and police chiefs said the moves were sensible, and that they would be working with the government on how to enforce them.

The government will close all shops selling non-essential goods, Johnson said, including clothing stores, as well as other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

The British Retail Consortium said shop owners understood the gravity of the situation.

The tougher tone followed evidence at the weekend that many were ignoring official guidelines about social distancing as they flocked to parks and beauty spots.

Under the new measures, the government will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public who do not live together, and stop all social events, including weddings and baptisms but not funerals.

Parks would remain open for exercise but gatherings would be dispersed, Johnson said.

Later on Monday, Britains lower house of parliament is expected to approve emergency legislation giving authorities sweeping powers to tackle the outbreak, including the right to detain people and put them in isolation to protect public health.

Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there wont be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses, Johnson said in his address.

Earlier, in a letter pleading with him to increase PPE supplies, more than 6,000 frontline doctors warned they felt like cannon fodder and were being asked to put their lives at risk with out-of-date masks, and low stocks of equipment.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted there had been issues but promised action was being taken. He said the army would drive trucks throughout the day and night to get supplies to medical staff.

Its like a war effort - it is a war against this virus and so the army have been incredibly helpful in getting those logistics so we can get the supplies to protect people on the front line, he told the BBC, saying the health service now had 12,000 ventilators, 7,000 more than at the start of the crisis.
The New York City jail system that includes Rikers has reported at least 19 inmates and 12 staff members being diagnosed with coronavirus

Harvey Weinstein tested positive for the coronavirus at a state prison in New York while serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, the head of the state correctional officers union said Monday.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

The 68-year-old former film producer, who was hospitalized with heart issues in recent weeks, was diagnosed and quarantined just days after being transferred to the states maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.

Weinstein was previously locked up at New York Citys notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has had a spate of coronavirus cases.

The state prison system confirmed that two inmates at Wende have tested positive for COVID-19, but did not identify them because it said it cant comment on individual inmate medical records.

Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said Weinstein was one of the prisoners with the virus. Five officers and two supervisors at Wende were also placed in isolation because of possible exposure to the virus, he said.

The Niagara Gazette first reported Weinsteins diagnosis.

Weinsteins spokesman and defense lawyer said Monday they will neither confirm nor deny whether Mr Weinstein has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, saying they wanted to protect his privacy.

Weinstein was sent to Wende last Wednesday, the day before the state prison system stopped accepting inmates from local jails in an effort to stymie the spread of coronavirus.

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.

The New York City jail system that includes Rikers has reported at least 19 inmates and 12 staff members being diagnosed with coronavirus as of Saturday night.

Between his conviction and his move to state prison, Weinstein split time between a cell at Rikers and a room at Bellevue Hospital.

He left court in an ambulance after the guilty verdict and detoured to Bellevue, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. He later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery. After his 11 March sentencing, he returned to the hospital with more chest pains.

In addition to heart issues, Weinsteins lawyers have said he is 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.

For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough, and the vast majority recover. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

An effort by Los Angeles prosecutors to have him arraigned there on charges he raped a woman and sexually assaulted another in 2013 has been put on hold because of the crisis. The LA County district attorneys office made a formal request Monday to take temporary custody of Weinstein, but said it wasnt clear that would happen. No court dates have been set.
NEWSWATCH: Brands around the world are spreading the word, encouraging people to follow important guidelines set out by the government like washing hands and staying home to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Image source: The Coca Cola Company.

Coke puts social distancing message in Times Square https://t.co/Bf3Nen1RXr pic.twitter.com/8dJPJf3TuL

 Ad Age (@adage) March 23, 2020

Social distancing is a thing. So, stay in and order your fave pizza for delivery. Order now: https://t.co/NBy4N1j0pQ pic.twitter.com/g1MmAv2Zqp  Debonairs Pizza (@DebonairsPizza) March 23, 2020

In order to stand together, we need to stay apart.



Keep safe fam.  pic.twitter.com/vmPdmxT1IO

 KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) March 23, 2020

WE CARE FOR YOUR SAFETY! Remember to keep a safe distance when you shop. We are practicing safe distancing, are you? pic.twitter.com/ZZ2hDaDQ34  Boxer (@BoxerStores) March 25, 2020

In these trying times, we encourage all AXE men to give themselves and others a little space. #SocialDistancing pic.twitter.com/V1ggDMnRb3

 AXE South Africa (@AXE_SA) March 20, 2020

Help us flatten the curve. Wash your hands for 20 seconds. 

Sanlam - keeping you in safe hands for over 100 years. #FlattenTheCurve pic.twitter.com/W5jbJW441f

 Sanlam (@sanlam) March 23, 2020

Strict advice to maintain distance from others hasnt been followed by everyone, with many continuing to ignore the rules set out to protect them. With the South African government announcing a national lockdown, commencing from midnight on Thursday, 26 March, it's more important than ever to adhere to these guidelines to help flatten the curve.In the USA, the Coca-Cola company has put up a billboard in Times Square , one of the most crowded places on Earth to send a social distancing message as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. The billboard puts space between the letters in the brands normally tightly connected script logo.On social media, Nike released a new advertising campaign to express the importance of social distancing during this time. "If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance," the ad reads. "Play inside, play for the world."Meanwhile, here at home, many restaurant chains followed suit. Popular pizza chain, Debonairs Pizza has added "Stay Home" to its logo to promote the concept of social distancing on social media.Nando's also shared a post:KFC South Africa has shared a video on its Twitter page saying: "In order to stand together, we need to stay apart. Keep safe fam."Meanwhile, Wimpy added "apart" to its tagline to prove the point:Retail chain Boxer took a similar approach, reminding customers to keep a safe distance when they shop:Axe South Africa did the same and posted a video on social media asking "Axe men" to give themselves and others a little space.Insurance brand, Sanlam used its well-known logo to promote hand washing:Great examples of how brands remain creative while also helping our communities stay informed throughout these trying times.
When customers step in for a cup of coffee at Ritual Coffee Roasters on Valencia Street, a sign informs them that cash is no longer welcome. The coffee shop wants customers to use contactless forms of payments to pick up their cups of joe, in an effort to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

More and more businesses are turning away from cash, fearing that the virus could be sitting on banknotes and coins, as it changes hands from person to person in everyday transactions.

Looking at the situation with COVID-19 getting worse, we decided to switch, said Eileen Rinaldi, owner of Ritual Coffee. Cash is notoriously covered with germs, and its a matter of eliminating that point of contact.

The reluctance to take cash is emerging even though San Francisco ordered most businesses to accept cash last year, out of a concern that the trend to cashless payments was shutting out those without access to smartphones and credit cards. The city said its still enforcing the rule and does not plan to lift it temporarily.

Were not currently engaged in any discussions about a freeze on this important equity policy, said Gloria Chan, spokeswoman for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. As a city, we still need to ensure everyone can purchase goods, whether or not they have access to credit or noncash forms of payment.

Still, fears of cash abound. Other companies, like food delivery service DoorDash, are providing cashless options for payments. And on Saturday, cash toll collection on all seven Bay Area bridges was temporarily suspended under Gov. Gavin Newsoms orders, to curb the spread of the virus.

But public health experts say the risk of the virus passing from cash to people is small, and that contactless forms of payments  phones and debit or credit cards  are no better than cash.

My impression is that there is a very low likelihood of the virus passing from cash to person, said George Rutherford, a UCSF professor of epidemiology and an infectious disease expert. Its a relatively uncommon occurrence but thats not to say it cant happen.

Cash does carry a risk of transmitting the virus, Rutherford said, but the chances are far smaller compared with other methods. Credit or debit cards and phones are just as likely to be transmitters of the disease.

Viruses dont just reside on just paper money, theyre on plastic as well, Rutherford said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus is thought to be mainly passed between people in close proximity by respiratory droplets, such as coughs and sneezes.

The novel coronavirus can live on surfaces such as cardboard for up to 24 hours and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, in a scientific paper published early in the outbreak. The researchers did not test whether it can live on cash.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

For Ritual Coffee, stringent precautions are necessary for its workers and its survival as a business. Only three of its six locations are open amid the shelter-in-place order that saw nonessential businesses close. Coffee shops, considered essential, can operate on a to-go basis only.

Ritual Coffee doesnt observe an outright ban (people can pay with cash if thats all they have, Rinaldi said) but the emphasis on cashless payments is made clear with notices plastered on the shops wall and on its website asking customers to use Apple Pay or a credit or debit card. Not cash. The virus is the main reason for the switch, but Rinaldi says safety concerns are also paramount.

Were operating out of the doorway here (Valencia Street location) and we dont want a lot of cash sitting in the register, she said. My whole business has changed. Were pivoting to selling items like liquid soap, which is a need, and loaves of bread instead of pastries.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika
Scientists agree that the main means by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus jumps from an infected person to its next host is by hitching a ride in the tiny droplets that are sprayed into the air with each cough or sneeze. But with deliveries now at holiday levels as locked-down Americans shop online rather than in person, the question remains: Can you catch the coronavirus from the parcels and packages your overburdened mail carrier keeps leaving at your door?

The first formal process for curbing the spread of infection by detaining travelers from an affected region until their health was proved was instituted in what is now Dubrovnik, Croatia, in 1377, against the bubonic plague. (This temporal buffer was originally 30 days, but when that proved too short, it was extended to 40 days, or quaranta giorni, from which we derive the word quarantine.)

Mail disinfection soon followed, as the then Republic of Venice extended and formalized the quarantine process to include cargo. Items that were considered particularly susceptible, including textiles and letters, were also subject to fumigation: dipped in or sprinkled with vinegar, then often exposed to smoke from aromatic substances, from rosemary to, in later years, chlorine. Once the items were treated, a distinctive wax seal or cancellation was usually applied to them, so the recipient would know where and when the disinfection had been carried out. (Such marks often provide the only remaining evidence of the ebb and flow of disease; some minor outbreaks of plague or typhus in remote areas of medieval Europe, for example, would have been lost to history without their postal traces.)

The diseases changed, but for centuries mail disinfection techniques remained largely the same. As recently as 1900, during a plague outbreak in Honolulu, letters were routinely disinfected by clipping off the two opposite corners of each envelope and then spreading a batch of mail out in an airtight room filled with sulfur fumes for three hours.
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting tremendous strain on local restaurants, one technology company is using its expertise to help these small business owners during the crisis.

For Las Vegas restaurants, app developer, MobileSoft, is waiving all set-up fees (a $399 value) on its custom branded mobile app packages. MobileSoft has been publishing branded mobile apps for restaurants for years. Echo & Rig Butcher & Steakhouse at Tivoli Village, Subway and Pietros Pizzeria in Philadelphia are just a few examples of the many restaurant clients the company has served.

The apps allow owners to connect with customers, offer promotions, and take mobile orders in a time when restaurants are forced to close dining rooms and employ curb-side pick-up systems and other means to connect with customers. As a native of Las Vegas and local business leader, it means so much to me that our peers are stepping in to support this critical piece of our local economy, said Jacob Gallegos, MobileSofts marketing director. So, we feel its important to do our part, too.

Added Jason Soto, MobileSofts vice president and general manager: This is how our company can reach out to restaurant owners and show them were here to help during this unsettling time.

To take advantage of the offer, restaurant owners can visit https://mobilesoft.com/restaurant, choose a mobile app package and during check-out, use coupon code: WECARE. This code waives all set-up costs for restaurant owners wanting a custom branded mobile app published on the Google Play and Apple Store and available to all smartphone devices.

For more information, visit: https://mobilesoft.com/restaurant | Coupon Code: WECARE | ZERO Set-Up Fees.
Actor Shivrajkumar will star in the yet-untitled Kannada remake of Tamil film Asuran, according to a report by Cinema Express.

Currently busy shooting for Bhajarangi 2, Shivrajkumar will next commence work on RDX, in which he will be seen playing a police officer returning to solve a case after many years in coma. He is expected to take up the Asuran remake later this year.

As per the report, Asuran director Vetrimaaran will be venturing into the Kannada film industry as a producer with this remake, which will be directed by Jacob Varghese, who is known for his films like Savari and Prithvi.

Based on popular Tamil novel Vekkai, Asuran turned out to be a blockbuster with over 100 crore in gross earnings. It is the violent revenge story of a farmer who avenges the ruthless murder of his elder son and featured Dhanush in dual roles, playing his character over two generations. The film, which was produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu, also starred Manju Warrier, Teejay and Pasupathy in key roles.

Asuran is also being remade in Telugu. Titled Naarappa, which is being directed by Srikanth Addala, the remake stars star Venkatesh in the titular role. The project, bankrolled by Suresh Productions, went on floors in January. Priyamani has been roped in to play the leading lady.

The makers have so far unveiled five different posters which feature Venkatesh in a blood-soaked, intense avatar. The shoot of Naarappa began in Anantpur in January. Mani Sharma has been signed as the composer.

Also see: Alia Bhatt quashes rumours of exiting SS Rajamoulis RRR, reveals release date of motion poster

Venkatesh will be seen in two different avatars in the movie, and the team will first start filming the portions which have him as a middle-aged man. He has grown a beard and will be sporting a salt-and-pepper look to suit the part. He will be accompanied by Priyamani, who plays his wife in the film. Once they complete these portions, the team will take a break for a month to let Venkatesh lose a few kilos for the younger part, a source said.

While Venkatesh will reprise Dhanushs role from the original, Priyamani will slip into the shoes of Manju Warriers character from Asuran.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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A subtitled compilation of Italian mayors (rightly) losing their sh*t over people not self-isolating has gone viral after hitting social media earlier in the week. Italy is currently one of the countries hit hardest by coronavirus, with over 60,000 cases reported.

The clip of the mayors has quickly racked up over six million views on Twitter, thanks to quotes like 'Im getting news that some would like to throw graduation parties. We will send over the police. With flamethrowers' and 'Im going to address you all. Where the f*ck are you all going?'.
Penn State students will get to choose whether their Spring 2020 transcript shows letter grades or more of a pass / fail designation, under plans currently in development by university administrators.

The student option is being developed in response to the universitys decision earlier this month to shift all courses to an online learning platform in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. Online classes started March 16, upon the end of Penn States previously scheduled spring break, and on March 18, administrators decided to finish the semester that way.

We were concerned... with the rapid adaptation our students had to endure, that perhaps their performance might not be quite what they would have liked it to be should things have continued as normal, Provost Nick Jones, the schools top academic officer, said Tuesday in explaining the new grading policy.

Under the still-emerging plan, which was announced at a virtual town hall with students and parents, professors will continue to assign regular grades to all undergraduate student coursework.

At the end of the semester, each student will have approximately a week after receiving his or her grades to decide whether they want them stirred into their overall grade-point average, or if they would like the credits assigned with no impact on GPA.

If Ive been earning an 'A' all semester, I likely want to keep that 'A', said Yvonne Gaudelius, associate dean for undergraduate education. Whereas for others who maybe their learning has been disrupted, or they... dont perhaps have the same access to wi-fi, those types of things, we want to give those students more flexibility.

Students choosing the latter option could accept the credits with a satisfactory grade (for Cs or better), a passing grade for a D, or a no-grade designation if they failed the course. More details will be announced later this week.

Several other Pennsylvania colleges have adopted similar grading policies for the spring semester.

Among other topics covered in Tuesdays session:

Commencement exercises - President Eric Barron said degrees will be conferred at the regular time, though the usual May commencement exercises are being postponed because of the high likelihood that the university wont be permitted to have a gathering of 45,000 people anywhere on campus at that point.

Barron said he and his staff will likely try to hold some form or virtual commencement in May with the typical pageantry of a commencement but with names going up on the screen instead.

That was paired Tuesday, however, with the promise of some kind of broader community celebration later in the year, as the coronavirus restrictions ease. You want to be together... to have that moment of sharing, to have that moment where youre looking around your Penn State campus and feeling those feelings about what it has meant to be here for a degree, Barron said.

The public celebration, Barron said, is yet-to-be-defined, but will be planned out as the pandemic passes.

Refunds - The university is planning to give parents and other housing and dining service customers a prorated refund for the balance of the semester that is being conducted remotely.

We know that youre not using the end of your housing contract, and not using those food plan elements, and so the university has made the decision to refund on a prorated basis those dollars back to students and their families, Barron said.

There will be no refunds for tuition, however, because that covers the academic side of the students experience and Barron said everyone at Penn State is redoubling their efforts to make sure that those educational opportunities have not been compromised.

Retrieval of belongings - Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said Penn State is still setting up a plan for students to return to campus to retrieve their belongings from residence halls at a future date, in compliance with the states guidelines for social distancing and the like.

Should any individual student have a pressing need to get personal property before, Sims said, they are invited to contact the universitys Housing or Residence Life offices to make specific arrangements, Sims said.

The 2020-21 academic year - Barron and other administrators said plans are to revert to normal operations for the 2020-21 academic year, but since that will ultimately depend on the status of the current pandemic, there is also rigorous work being done on a Plan B if it is needed.

It is truly something that is changing very, very rapidly and so part of this is just one step at a time, Barron said.

The parent / student town hall was preceded earlier Tuesday by a separate session for Penn State staff and faculty, where Barron announced that the university is guaranteeing full payment of salaries and benefits to all existing employees through April 30.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > CAA: Should the United Nations norms be respected in Domestic (...)

by Ram Puniyani

In the wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the UN High Commissioner, Michele Bachelet, has filed an intervention in the Supreme Court petition challenging the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act, as she is critical of the CAA. Responding to her, Indias Foreign Minister S. Jai Shanker strongly rebutted her criticism, saying that the body (UNHCR) has been wrong and is blind to the problem of cross-border terrorism. The issue on hand is the possibility of scores of people, mainly Muslims, being declared as stateless. The problem at hand is the massive exercise of going through the responses/documents from over 120 crore of the Indian population and screening documents which, as seen in Assam, yield results that are far from truthful or necessary.

The issue of the CAA has been extensively debated and despite heavy critique of the same by a large number of groups and despite the biggest mass opposition ever to any move in Independent India, the government is determined on going ahead with an exercise which is reminiscent of the dreaded regimes that are sectarian and heartless to its citizens, that have indulged in extinction of large mass of people on grounds of citizenship, race etc. The Foreign Ministers assertion is that it is a matter internal to India, where Indias sovereignty is all that matters! As far as sovereignty is concerned, we should be clear that in current times any sovereign power has to consider the need to uphold the citizenship as per the principle of non-discrimination which is stipulated in Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political (ICCPR) rights.

Can such policies, which affect a large number of people and are likely to affect their citizenship, be purely regarded as internal? With the World turning into a global village, some global norms have been formulated during last few decades. The norms relate to human rights and migrations have been codified. India is also signatory to many such covenants including ICCPR, which deals with the norms for dealing with refugees from other countries. One is not talking of the Chicago speech of Swami Vivekananda, which said that Indias greatness has been in giving shelter to people from different parts of the world; one is also not talking of the Tattariaya Upanishads Atithi Devovhav or Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam from Mahaupanishad today.

What are being talked about are the values and opinions of organisations which want to ensure to preserve of human rights of all people worldwide. In this matter India is calling the United Nations body as a foreign party; having no locus standi in the case as it pertains to Indias sovereignty. The truth is that since various countries are signatories to the UN covenants, UN bodies have been monitoring the moves of different states and intervening at legal level as Amicus (Friend of the Court) to the courts in different countries and different global bodies. Just to mention some of these, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has often submitted amicus briefs in different judicial platforms. Some examples are their intervention in the US Supreme Court, European Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, and Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These are meant to help the Courts in areas where UN bodies have expertise.

Expertise on this has been jointly formulated by various nations. These interventions also remind the nations as to what global norms have been evolved and what are the obligations of individual states to the values which have evolved over a period of time. Arvind Narrain draws our attention to the fact that commission has intervened in the European Court of Human Rights in cases involving Spain and Italy to underscore the principle of non-refoulement, which bars compulsory expulsion of illegal migrants... Similarly, the UN has intervened in the International Criminal Court in a case against the Central African Republic to explicate on the international jurisprudence on rape as a war crime.

From time to time organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been monitoring the status of human rights of different countries. This puts those countries in an uncomfortable situation and is not welcome by those establishments. How should this contra-diction between internal matter, sovereignty and the norms for human rights be resolved? This is a tough question at the time when the freedom indices and democratic ethos are sliding downwards all over the world. India too has slid down on the scale of these norms.

In India we can look at the intervention of the UN body from the angle of equality and non-discrimination. The democratic spirit should encourage us to have a rethink on the matters which have been decided by the state. In the face of the greatest mass movement at Shaheen Bagh, the state does need to look inwards and give a thought to international morality, the spirit of global family to state the least.

The popular perception is that when Christians were being persecuted in Kandhamal the global Christian communitys voice was not strong enough. Currently in the face of the Delhi carnage, many Muslim majority countries have spoken. While Mr Modi claims that his good relations with Muslim countries are a matter of heartburn to the parties like the Congress, he needs to relook at his self-gloating. Currently Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia and many Muslim majority countries have spoken against what the Modi regime is unleashing in India. Bangladesh, our neighbour, has also seen various protests against the plight of Muslims in India. More than the internal matter etc. what needs to be thought out is the moral aspect of the whole issue. We pride ourselves in treading the path of morality. What does that say in the present context when while a large section of local media is servile to the state, sections of global media have strongly highlighted what is happening to minorities in India.

On only hope is that the Indian Government wakes up to its international obligations, to the worsening of Indias image in the world due to CAA and the horrific violence witnessed in Delhi.

The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.
IMPORTS and exports of vital cargo supplies including medical equipment could be put at risk unless the Government provides urgent and significant supports for the country's airport ground handling firms, according to representatives for the companies.

Income continuance and designating the work as an essential service during the pandemic are two of the key requests made this week by the ground handling firms to ministers including Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Transport Minister Shane Ross.

The main ground handling firms here - Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), Swissport, Menzies and Aer Lingus owner IAG - employ about 1,400 people at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

Between them, they handle about 140,000 tonnes a year in cargo.

Roughly 40pc of the cargo in and out of the gateways is handled by IAG, 30pc by WFS and 30pc by Swissport.

Normally, that cargo includes pharmaceuticals, valuable electronic equipment and food. For WFS, typically 40pc of the cargo would comprise pharmaceuticals.

But Simon Coomber, general manager of WFS, said the mix had now dramatically changed, with pharmaceuticals currently accounting for about 80pc of the cargo the firm is handling.

Brendan Byrne, chairman of WFS, said the ground handling companies also needed a deferment of corporation tax payments, a holiday from employer PRSI, and a suspension of business rates and rents in order to protect jobs and ease liquidity issues. They also want the Government to provide a guarantee to banks and other financial institutions so they will continue financing the aviation sector.

"We're not doing this from purely a WFS perspective," said Mr Byrne.

"We're doing this from an Ireland perspective. We are a critical part of this, but the problem is that nobody knows how important we are."

With airlines facing their own liquidity issues, the ground handling firms are suffering from late payments, which are exacerbating their own financial difficulties.

The firms have also told ministers that income support needs to cover a significant part of the wages of staff who would have to be temporarily laid off.

Aside from pharmaceutical firms, air cargo users in Ireland include companies such as Apple, EMC, Danone and Intel.

WFS recently let go about 10 staff and now has 90. Mr Byrne said training each staff member costs about 5,000, as they need to learn how to handle dangerous goods, pharmaceuticals and other types of sensitive cargo, as well as using X-ray machinery and learning security protocols.

WFS handles cargo for Emirates, American Airlines, Delta and Lufthansa.
Ukraine's tax service abolishes penalties for non-registration of tax, excise invoices amid quarantine

13:20, 24.03.20 2888

No sanctions will be imposed for violations related to electronic administration of VAT and excise tax from March 1 to May 31, 2020.
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Hundreds of residents across the United States are either lining up in frigid temperatures on foot or waiting patiently in their cars to be tested for the coronavirus.

Drive-thru sites have been opening in several states such as New York, New Jersey and Illinois, in order to make it quicker and safer to test people.

But the system has been marked by inconsistencies, delays, and shortages. Photos taken on Tuesday show massive lines of people on foot snaking around a hospital in New York City.

New Yorkers were seen bundled up as they braved spring temperatures that ranged from the low 40s to the low 50s. Some wore masks and tried to abide by the social distancing requirement of 6 feet.

Many people who have symptoms and a doctor's order have waited hours in lines just to get tested.

In other parts of the US, residents of New Jersey, Illinois and Washington, DC, were seen waiting in long drive-thru lines for testing. Doctors and nurses in protective equipment were seen prepping tests and reaching into vehicles to administer tests on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, California has admitted that the state has fallen behind New York and other hot spot states when it comes to testing for the coronavirus and tracking cases.

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New Yorkers were seen bundled up as they braved spring temperatures on Tuesday. Some wore masks and tried to abide by the social distancing requirement of 6 feet

Many people who have symptoms and a doctor's order have waited hours in lines just to get tested. New YYorkers are seen lined up outside Elmhurst Hospital Center on Tuesday

New York City has more than 13,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as residents of the Big Apple flocked to a testing location in Elmhurst, Queens, on Tuesday

People line up to get a test at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York. There are now more than 35,000 cases of COVID-19 in the United States as governments scramble to contain the spread

A nurse in protective gear tests for the Covid-19 virus at a drive-through location at Bryant Health's LifePointe campus in Lincoln, Nebraska

Nurses in protective gear handle a collected test for the Covid-19 virus at a coronavirus drive-through location at Bryant Health's LifePointe campus in Lincoln

Members of the Maryland National guard stand in a mobile testing site for coronavirus, COVID-19, that is being setup in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Health next to FedEx field in Landover, Maryland on March 24

Some 1.7 billion people have been asked to stay home in over 50 countries and territories around the world as governments battle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, according to an AFP tally March 23. Members of the Maryland National guard walk near a tent at a mobile testing site for coronavirus, COVID-19

An armored vehicle stands behind a military supported testing facility in Maryland

A member of the military police with the Maryland National guard stops people, that wanted to be tested for coronavirus (COVID-19), from entering a mobile testing site

A member of the medical team speaks with a woman outside the Coronavirus testing tent at Brooklyn Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn in New York

Medical personal leaves a Coronavirus testing tent at Brooklyn Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn in New York, New York, USA, 24 March 2020

Nurses Teresa Adkins, left, and Hope Ridgeway work at a Mobile Health Unit for drive-thru coronavirus testing at Robert C. Byrd Clinic on the campus of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, W.Va., Tuesday

Dr. Lauren Miller, left, and Dr. Micah Moore look over notes at a Mobile Health Unit for drive-thru coronavirus testing at Robert C. Byrd Clinic on the campus of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

President Donald Trump had previously promised that states and retail stores such as Walmart and CVS would open drive-thru test centers.

And several drive-thru test sites have popped up in locations in more than 30 states  in state parks and parking lots, next to medical centers and universities, at the Mississippi state fairgrounds and near where the Jacksonville Jaguars play.

The governor of Maryland this past week ordered vehicle emission inspection programs across the state to stop so that the locations can be used as drive-thru centers to test for the virus.

But the testing centers haven't been perfect. Some have opened only to be shut down shortly afterward because of shortages of supplies and staff.

On Friday, hundreds of cars lined up outside New Jersey's first large-scale drive-up testing site at Bergen County Community College in Paramus.

Health officials had said the drive-up testing facility had the capacity to take in 2,500 specimens a week.

But authorities were forced to close off the entrances to the site just four hours after opening due to a surge in demand.

Dr Brett Giroir, the federal health official tasked with overseeing testing, said at a White House briefing Saturday that so far about 195,000 people have been tested in the US. That figure does not include some people who have been tested in private labs and those who were tested on Monday and Tuesday.

In other parts of the US, residents of New Jersey (testing pictured Tuesday), Illinois and Washington, DC, were seen waiting in long drive-thru lines for testing

Medical personnel (pictured in Holmdel, New Jersey, on Tuesday) in protective equipment were seen prepping tests and reaching into vehicles to administer tests on Tuesday

Medical staff and volunteers from Children's National Hospital test children, who arrived with a doctors referral, for the coronavirus at a drive-thru test site in Washington, DC, on Tuesday

Efforts to contain the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic have caused travel disruptions, sporting event cancellations, runs on cleaning supplies and food and other inconveniences. Medical personnel test children in Washington, DC, on Tuesday

Workers test residents in a drive through testing site in downtown Dallas, Texas, after Dallas County as well as other multiple counties in Texas are starting a mandatory shelter in place

Dr. Elissa Palmer stands on a ladder to test a patient in a truck for the coronavirus at a drive thru testing site Tuesday in Las Vegas. UNLV Medicine, the clinical arm of the UNLV School of Medicine, started conducting COVID-19 testing by appointment for people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines

A health care worker with the UNLV School of Medicine tests a patient for the coronavirus at a drive thru testing site Tuesday in Las Vegas

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three weeks to six weeks to recover.

In Utah, the health department said it isn't in charge of the sites and isn't tracking them.

North Carolina's health director said the state is leaving testing to the private sector and declined to say how many sites there are.

By contrast, in Rhode Island, health care organizations are running the sites in partnership with the state health department.

In Houston, cars lined up for more than a mile outside a hospital when the city's first drive-thru testing site opened. US Rep Sheila Jackson Lee said they administered fewer than 200 tests in the first six hours.

Dozens of people waiting in cars at a center in Homestead, Florida, on Wednesday, waited their turn to speak with a screener wearing a gown and mask and carrying a clipboard. Some were apparently turned away. Others were waved through, had their temperatures checked and were swabbed for samples.

There are more than 50,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States with 628 deaths

But supply shortages have shut down drive-thrus in several states, including Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina, and Utah. One Las Vegas site was closed because it didn't have enough workers.

New York state opened several centers to great fanfare on Tuesday. By Friday, however, New York City's health department issued an alert saying only people who require hospitalization should be tested, due to shortages of protective equipment such as face masks.

Drive-thru sites in New York state remain open, but only to people who meet certain criteria.

The 20 sites in greater Philadelphia are testing about 1,000 people a day, but that hasnt cleared the pent-up demand.

Nevada Gov Steve Sisolak said he has begged the federal government for additional test kits and supplies, but the state received a notice Thursday that all of its requests for drive-thru testing pods and testing kits 'are on an indefinite backlog, without any estimate of a timeline for delivery.'

'This is our unfortunate reality Nevada. It's up to us,' he said.

The sites themselves are dotted with tents and traffic cones. The most notable features are medical personnel wearing masks, gloves and protective smocks or other clothing.

They take nose and throat swabs from people sitting in their cars or help people go inside for the test.

Cars wait in line for a COVID-19 drive-thru test site for medical personnel and first responders operated by the Illinois National Guard on Tuesday in Chicago

The Illinois National Guard operates a COVID-19 drive-thru test site for medical personnel and first responders on Tuesday in Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city plans to reserve thousands of hotel rooms for people with mild cases of the coronavirus and others unable to return to their homes while awaiting test results

A first responder is seen speaking with a patient in a vehicle while they wait in line for a coronavirus test in Chicago on Tuesday

Meanwhile, California officials have admitted that they are behind on testing for the virus and tracking the cases in the state. Medical personnel collect a sample from a patient at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic on March 12 at a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco, California

Medical personnel take a sample from a person at a drive-thru Coronavirus COVID-19 testing station at a Kaiser Permanente facility on March 12 in San Francisco

Some states have as few as one drive-thru site. Montana's sole site is in Billings, the state's largest city. Others have a few dozen.

In Rhode Island, the National Guard have been on hand to set up the state's three drive-thru sites and even to swab patients. State officials said they are testing around 100 to 200 people a day at all testing sites, including three drive-thrus.

Gov Gina Raimondo said they want to perform 500 to 600 per day, but they dont have the supplies they need.

6'It is our absolute top priority to get to a place where everyone who needs it can be tested and youll get the results very quickly,' Raimondo said at a news conference held via Facebook Live on Friday.

'Then if youre positive, we can get you quarantined.'

The vast network of drive-thru sites at retail chains that Trump said more than a week ago was coming has so far failed to materialize.

CVS has opened one site in Massachusetts, which it calls a 'model for testing'. Walmart launched two sites Sunday, and Walgreens said it's launching one, all three in Illinois.

Only health care workers and first responders are allowed, and Walmart said a maximum 150 tests per day could be performed at its federal sites.
WASHINGTON  Opal Foster went to work last Wednesday at a small printing company in Rockville, Maryland. By lunchtime, the graphic designer had been laid off.

The companys main customers  private schools, entertainment venues and national museums  had closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, so business had nearly come to a halt.

The single mother, who has a son with Down syndrome, will rely on some freelancing to help make ends meet and turn to family and area food banks to help fill her cupboards.

For the short-term, thats the Band-Aid on the wound, said Foster, 45, who is African American. But that doesnt pay my car note. That doesnt pay my rent.

Foster is among thousands of employees at small businesses, restaurants, hotels, bars and manufacturing companies who lost their jobs in recent days because of the pandemic. Civil rights groups worry those workers, many of whom are people of color, will be sent in a downward spiral, scraping to pay bills and feed their families.

We know that when the economy goes into decline, people of color always bear the brunt, said Teresa Candori, communications director for the National Urban League. We will be fighting to make sure the most vulnerable communities are not an afterthought.

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It's unclear if Washington's recovery plans will go far enough to get these workers through the hardship. National lawmakers are at odds over what to include in Congress' latest stimulus bill aimed at providing relief for workers and businesses hit hard by the outbreak. Republicans and Democrats differ over some key provisions, including the length of time for unemployment benefits and issues like funding for food stamps.

Opal Foster and her 12-year-old son, Jeremiah, participated last fall in the Prince George's County Parents of Down syndrome "Angel Walk,'' which aims to raise awareness. Foster was recently laid off because of the coronavirus outbreak.

National civil rights leaders have called for a meeting with congressional leaders to push for more help for low-income workers, who are disproportionately communities of color. Those groups historically have been overlooked or left behind by the federal government during major crises, said Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Story continues

She called the coronavirus an equal-opportunity pandemic.

If you think about (Hurricane) Katrina, if you think about other catastrophes, a lot of times bailouts ended up taking care of the top and then it trickles down to the people, Campbell said. Our federal government has to be bold about responses as this is an ever-evolving pandemic that can become a real catastrophe for people's daily lives.

Many blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and other communities of color saw their household wealth decline during the 2008 Great Recession and have yet to fully recover, raising questions about whether the latest financial downturn will set them back even further. The median wealth of middle-class black people dropped to $33,600 in 2013, down 47% from before the recession. For Hispanics, median wealth fell to $38,900, a 55% decline since 2007. White families saw their median wealth decline by 31% to $131,900, according to the Pew Research Center.

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Graphic explainer: Congress' $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package

Lynette Jefferies helped out at The Spice Suite in Washington, D.C. , March 20, 2020. The store is temporarily closing because of the coronavirus

'Its almost like doomsday is coming'

For some small business owners, the pandemic has meant shutting down because of local restrictions, or losing customers afraid of going about their normal routine.

On a recent afternoon, the smell of spices welcomed visitors as they walked into The Spice Suite, a quaint shop in Washington, D.C. Small glass bottles of spices lined the shelves. Olive oils in silver dispensers were stacked along one wall. Customers Janel Jackson and Kashmiere Apollon, both regulars, sniffed spices and lined them up at the cash register.

A Costco-size bottle of Germ-X rested on the edge of a table at the front of the store. Apollon pressed down on the pump, squirting the sanitizer into her hands. She had heard the store would temporarily close that day.

Its going to be terrible, she said. So many people frequent this place.

Angel Gregorio, the boutique's owner, had made the tough decision the night before to close for at least two months. Gregorio opened the store five years ago and won a $50,000 grant from the city last year to renovate. That work had recently been completed.

Lynette Jefferies, owner of My Desserts Diva, said the economic impact of the coronavirus has hurt her and many other entrepreneurs, particularly businesses owned by black women.

Gregorio, who is black, said uncertainty and fear of the spread of coronavirus has kept many of her customers away.

What weve noticed is that folks are just not sure, just generally, about whether to leave'' their homes, Gregorio said. And then coming to get spices, its like I used to come out specifically for the Spice Suite but since Im in the grocery store and been in this line for two hours, I may as well just get these big-box brands while Im here."

Still, shes grateful for loyal customers who came to shop in recent days. Its almost like doomsday is coming, and everyone just wants to get what they can until we get further notice about how to proceed, she said.

Gregorio said small businesses like hers will need financial aid from federal, state and local governments to help recover and make our employees whole.

Closing the store has a ripple effect.

Lynette Jefferies, owner of My Desserts Diva, sells her baked goods, including peach pound cake and sweet potato tarts, out of Spice Suites. Shes among the 20 black women who sell their goods at the shop.

Jefferies said this would probably be her last time selling desserts in person for a while. She plans to focus on online sales and take advantage of the time shut indoors to work on an e-cookbook.

It hurts a lot, she said. This is my livelihood. This is how I pay my bills.

Unemployment: US weekly jobless claims jump amid coronavirus layoffs

More: Unemployment claims, a gauge of layoffs, may hit record 2.5M this week

'I'm heartbroken'

Other small-business owners weren't sure whether they should close their doors and start letting workers go.

Kookie Park spent the weekend weighing whether to open her cafe in downtown Washington, D.C., this week. With many of her regulars working from home because of the coronavirus, the number of customers coming to buy fried chicken, fried fish and other popular items off the hot buffet has dropped from about 600 a day to barely 100 by the end of last week.

Day by day, and I'm losing more people because now people are not coming to work, said Park, who along with her husband, Dae Kim, owns the Cornerstone Cafe.

There was much less food to prepare, so only half of Parks eight workers were called into work. With nearby hotels expected to shut down, she expects even fewer customers.

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Park plans to pay her workers, all of whom are Latinos, for at least the next two weeks. After that, shes not sure.

I'm heartbroken, said Park, who is Korean American. I mean, I have to pay rent myself, too, so I'm worried about that, too. But as a boss, I want to take care of them because they've been working with me such a long time and I want to go through this hard time together. ... They have their own families, so it's kind of hard for them, too.''

Park is hoping the city will help small businesses like hers and Congress will step up with aid. The last time the cafe suffered was when the federal government shut down in 2018. That was a long 35 days, but it wasnt like this.

This time, I'm not sure, she said. I don't know because nobody knows.

Kashmiere Apollon (left) and Janel Jackson shopped at the Spice Suite in Washington, D.C., March 20, 2020 hours before the shop was to temporarily close because of the coronavirus. "It's going to be terrible,'' Apollon said of the closing.

Many people can't work from home

Experts said its unclear how many jobs will be lost because of the outbreak. But many who have already lost their jobs and who could lose their jobs soon include service workers and other jobs that are disproportionately done by people of color, they said.

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits increased last week by 70,000 to 281,000, according to a Labor Department report. It attributed the initial jump to COVID-19 and cited layoffs in various fields, including hotel and restaurants.

Many people of color are in jobs that dont have the option of working at home, said Danyelle Solomon, vice president of Race and Ethnicity Policy at Center for American Progress.

You can't really work from home if you're waiting tables, cooking, taking care of folks as a home aide, or the health care workers who are in the hospitals right now, said Solomon, co-author of a report released last week on the pandemic and its impact on the racial wealth gap.

According to the CAP report, 16% of Latino workers and 20% of black workers are able to work from home, compared with 30% of white workers.

The report also found that blacks, Asians and Latinos are overrepresented in typically low-paying jobs in the restaurant and hotel fields. Nearly 14% of workers in the accommodation and food services fields are black and 27% are Latino, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

A case for increasing current jobless benefits: We helped jobless workers survive the Great Recession. Here's what to do on coronavirus.

Those jobs often dont offer comprehensive health care and other benefits, such as 401(k) and paid sick leave, Solomon said.

People of color were not sitting in the best economic situation to begin with and this pandemic is only going to exacerbate that problem, she said.

She said those workers can't respond to "economic shocks," whether it's dealing with a flat tire or losing a job because of a pandemic.

"It's much harder for you to weather that storm if you don't have those extra resources that folks with wealth have," she said.

Communities of color were particularly hard-hit during the 2008 recession, and some are still struggling from that, said Shaomeng Jia, an economics professor at Alabama State University.

People at an economic disadvantage are already not doing so great in a good day, let alone in a rainy day, he said.

Jose Ricardo is already bracing to dip into his savings to pay next months bills for his mobile home in Chula Vista, California. Ricardo, a waiter at a Japanese restaurant in San Diego, is working only 16 hours a week, down from the usual 32 hours two weeks ago.

Im really nervous, said Ricardo, 61. We are used to working hard.

With new restrictions on restaurants to serve takeout only, Richardo no longer has the extra income from tips. He makes $12 an hour.

People pay tips because they get a service. Were taking care of them, he said. Now, with takeout, they pick it up and bye-bye.

Ricardo, who lives with his wife, mother-in-law and two children, said hes anxiously waiting to see how lawmakers will help him and other workers.

He's holding out hope. We will recover for sure, he said.

In Native American lands, the economic pains of the coronavirus has been felt as fewer tourists visit, forcing the closures of some restaurants, museums, cultural centers and gaming operations, said Kevin Allis, head of the National Congress of American Indians.

Not only do the businesses shut down, no longer providing income for tribal governments to run its programs, almost all the employees are tribal members, said Allis of the Forest County Potawatomi community in Wisconsin. So when these places shut down, not only now does the government have no more money coming to it, it experiences an enormous unemployment rate that further cripples and has a catastrophic effect on these particular communities.

Melanie Campbell, (center) president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, talked to a group of Black women March 5, 2020 in front of the U.S. Capitol. The women were attending a conference focused on issues including the Census, voting rights and health care.

'You can only find jobs if they're there'

Foster, who was recently laid off from the small printing company, plans to post her resume online but is sure that because of the outbreak, many companies wont be conducting in-person interviews until at least May. Thats if theyre hiring at all.

You can only find jobs if they are there, said Foster, who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ill keep trying.

Though her now former boss promised to put her and others back to work when the economy starts up again, Foster said she needs a salary now.

A day after being laid off, she hurried to get her root canal  two of them  before her benefits run out at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, shes putting on hold plans to take her son, Jeremiah, to Legoland in Florida this summer. It would have been their first true vacation, she said. The amusement park might not even be open by then  plus, she said, she has to stretch the little savings she has.

We didnt have a whole lot extra, but we were making it, she said. Ironically, we were just kind of getting on track when the rug was pulled out from under us.

Contributing: Nichelle Smith

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus unemployment: Job layoffs hurting blacks, Latinos the most
Islamabad has restricted the border to contain COVID-19, stranding UK travellers, some of whom need medicine to survive.

London, United Kingdom  Dozens of British nationals, many of them dependent on complex medication to survive, are stranded indefinitely in Pakistan due to new border restrictions imposed by Islamabad to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan, on Saturday, abruptly halted inbound international, chartered and private flights until at least April 4, a move which also disrupted most outbound flights.

Meanwhile, several British nationals in Pakistan had booked tickets to travel on Emirates airline to return to England, but that carrier on suspended all flights on Sunday.

By Monday, as the UK announced a lockdown, the Foreign Office advised British nationals abroad to return to home  but for many, this advice came too late, as borders across the world had already been tightened to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, a writer, is among those stranded in Pakistan.

Within hours of creating an email account to communicate with other British nationals, at least 130 people contacted her, among them doctors eager to return to help combat the pandemic and Britons with serious health issues.

The thing that is recurring is that a lot of these people have underlying health conditions. Theyre (the British High Commission) going to have a lot of blood on their hands because theres a lot of people here with health concerns and low medical supplies, Manzoor-Khan told Al Jazeera by phone, adding that she felt abandoned by the High Commission.

I am worried. Im here with my little brother and elderly grandma, shes 83. We can stay self-isolated and go to shops. But the government advice [in Pakistan] has only just become quite serious. Even so, I dont feel confident about accessing healthcare here.

On Tuesday, Al Jazeera found only a handful of outbound flights from Pakistan to the UK, available on Qatar Airways. But the cost of these single flights was upwards of 1,000 pounds ($1,174), an unaffordable price for many who have already paid out large sums for previous bookings.

Aisha Khan (not her real name), a 48-year-old from Birmingham, is asthmatic and dependent on insulin. She was set to return to the UK on April 8, but after the new restrictions were enforced in Pakistan, she wanted to arrange an earlier flight.

She travelled to Islamabad International Airport to make a new booking but was told by flight attendants to return to Azad Kashmir, where she had been staying, until further announcements.

With only a temporary supply of insulin and asthma pumps, enough to last two to three weeks, Jan said, My asthma is unstable. If anything triggers me, I end up in intensive care. Its really worrying  We just want to get back to our family.

Muhammad Asad (not his real name), is a kidney transplant patient stuck in a remote village near Islamabad. He was due to fly back to the UK on March 28 on Emirates.

Because Im a kidney transplant patient, I desperately need my immunosuppressant medication. I wasnt sure how much extra I had brought with me, he told Al Jazeera.

He tried every avenue, including asking relatives from the UK to send his medication to Pakistan by post, and finally secured a months supply from a specialist hospital in Islamabad.

As someone who has received an organ donation, and is, therefore, at high risk from the coronavirus, Asad is among the 1.5 million Britons who have now been advised by the UK government to self-quarantine for at least 12 weeks in total isolation  something he will do when he is finally able to return home.

But like many others, he feels frustrated by the lack of decisive action from the Foreign Office.

If people with low immune systems board these flights, theyre damned with the coronavirus around, Asad said. The other dilemma is if I go on a plane with the virus circulating, Im also under threat of picking it up.

Several people who contacted the British High Commission in Pakistan asking for help on Twitter have received the same copy and pasted message: Please contact your travel company or transport provider as soon as possible for the latest information on available options. Speak to local travel companies in Pakistan. Contact your airline. Plan ahead, but be prepared that your plans may need to change.

In Pakistan, there are more than 900 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least seven people have died from the COVID-19 disease.
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Commuters with rail season tickets will get a refund as part of the Governments rescue package.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers holding monthly or annual passes will get their money back for time unused on their tickets, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Ministers also announced that passengers with advance tickets for travel over the coming months will be able to claim a refund.

Rail passengers will receive refunds on their season tickets after the government said commuters working from home would not lose out financially. According to official figures, more than 600 million journeys were made last year with a season ticket

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, pictured, said he wanted to 'ensure no-one is unfairly out of pocket for doing the right thing'

Almost one in 20 journeys were taken using tickets brought in advance. Commuters with advanced tickets arent usually able to claim refunds

The rail network has seen passenger numbers fall by 70 per cent since the beginning of the crisis. Pictured here is Bristol Temple Meads this morning which would normally be packed with commuters

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the move will help commuters working from home and ensure no-one is unfairly out of pocket for doing the right thing.

More than 600million journeys were taken with a season ticket last year, according to official figures. Some season ticket holders could be in line for refunds worth thousands of pounds each.

Almost one in 20 journeys were taken using tickets brought in advance. Commuters with advanced tickets arent usually able to claim refunds.

Ticket holders are being told to contact their operator for details of how to claim a refund.

The government has suspended franchise agreements with rail companies for six months, which will be then reviewed depending on the coronavirus situation.

Rail operators will continue to operate a limited day-to-day service for a small management fee. The services are necessary to ensure key workers can continue to operate.

According to the Department of Transport, use of the railway network has fallen by 70 per cent.

Season ticket holders will be able to reclaim a refund for the unused time on their tickets.

Mr Shapps said: We are taking this action to protect the key workers who depend on our railways to carry on their vital roles, the hardworking commuters who have radically altered their lives to combat the spread of coronavirus, and the frontline rail staff who are keeping the country moving.

People deserve certainty that the services they need will run or that their job is not at risk in these unprecedented times. We are also helping passengers get refunds on advance tickets to ensure no-one is unfairly out of pocket for doing the right thing.

These offers will give operators the confidence and certainty so they can play their part in the national interest.

Paul Plummer, Chief Executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said:

The rail industry is working together so that people and goods can keep making essential journeys during this unprecedented national challenge, getting key workers to hospitals, food to shops and fuel to power stations.

The industry strongly welcomes the Department for Transports offer of temporary support and while we need to finalise the details, this will ensure that train companies can focus all their efforts on delivering a vital service at a time of national need.

We would like to thank our people, who continue to do an incredible job in difficult circumstances.

Tube trains were packed again today despite the Government's unprecedented lockdown that started just hours earlier to save lives and take pressure off the NHS

NHS sonographer Nicola Smith tweeted: 'This is my tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now I'm risking my health just on the journey in?!

This comes as London's Tube network was packed during rush hour again today despite Boris Johnson's historic decision to shut down Britain because of coronavirus with NHS workers saying their lives are being put at risk as they head out to treat patients.

Travellers in the capital were certainly not able to stick to social distancing on their Tube journey to work this morning, hours after the Prime Minister warned all but essential workers to stay at home.

Many people were nose-to-nose with people on the Tube, trains and buses as well as platforms despite being told to be two metres apart to avoid catching coronavirus, which has claimed 335 lives so far.

Sharing a horrifying picture, NHS sonographer Nicola Smith tweeted: 'This is my tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now I'm risking my health just on the journey in?! @SadiqKhan put the tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or @BorisJohnson start policing who's getting on. Help me!'.

After completing her journey to the Imperial College NHS Trust in west London, she said: 'Seats on the train all had at least one person so people needed to stand. I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in the hospital.'

Ms Harris said the reduction in Transport for London services meant 'you now have more people waiting and piling onto the tubes and trains. The issue is key workers aren't just health professionals - I think we under-estimated how many people are needed to keep things running.'

Robert Tay, from Romford, took a picture of a packed London bus this morning and said: '@BorisJohnson @TfL @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan Are you seriously telling me this is a bus full of 'key workers'?'

Chris Kaye-York filmed scores of people rushing through a London Tube station's ticket barriers and said: 'Still? Really? Get a grip'.

Aslef union organiser Finn Brennan wrote: 'Getting lots of reports of early trains being full on the Underground. If the Government doesn't shut construction sites and pay self employment, people will die'.

But Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said today that 20 per cent of Transport for London staff are now off work because they are either unwell or self-isolating, and said: 'It is simply not possible for us to increase train and bus services'. He added: 'I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now. Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it's absolutely necessary. Ignoring these rules means more lives lost'.

Packed London Underground tube train and platforms this morning as commuters still use public transport despite Boris Johnson's message to stay at home

This CCTV on the westbound Jubilee Line showed just how busy platforms are as workers kept commuting

The PM has said only key workers whose jobs are crucial to fighting coronavirus must go to work but 'vague' definitions and reduced train services has led to packed trains

Travellers on the Jubilee Line were in eachother's faces and armpits despite being warned to stay two metres apart

Robert Tay, from Romford, took a picture of a packed London bus with people stood on the bottom and top decks this morning and said: '@BorisJohnson @TfL @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan Are you seriously telling me this is a bus full of 'key workers'?'

Who should still be going to work? London Mayor warns government's rules are too LOOSE London Mayor Sadiq Kahn has warned that the government risks undermining its coronavirus lockdown by allowing too many people to go to work. Boris Johnson left some wriggle room in his announcement this evening, merely saying that people should only travel to work if it was 'absolutely necessary'. The government laid out who was counted as a 'key worker' and still permitted to send their children to schools last week. But Mr Khan said the definition was too wide, and many would be confused about who was allowed to leave the house. He said the Welsh and Scottish First Ministers agreed with him. 'The only people that should be leaving home are those that are essential to look after us,' he told the BBC. He added: 'In my view the only construction workers that should be working are those that are needed for safety.' Advertisement

Concerned passengers have shared the shocking images of carriages as cramped as in a normal rush hour and many called for ministers and London Mayor Sadiq Khan to act.

Platforms were also crowded and there were long queues, with similar scenes on many rail and bus services.

Transport bosses accused commuters of putting lives at risk by ignoring government advice against all but essential travel.

But passengers said the drastically reduced timetable was to blame, causing overcrowding that makes it more likely the virus will spread. Many said they had no choice but to travel as they had to work.

Fred Scott, a commuter on the Hammersmith and City line, wrote on Twitter: 'On a 6.40 train from Upton Park going to Hammersmith. If one person on here has the virus then that will affect others, who will take that elsewhere. Lockdown needed.'

Fin Brennan, of the Aslef train drivers' union, said: 'This is endangering the health of the vital workers who have to use the system.

'I'm being sent pictures of crush-loaded platforms at some Jubilee line platforms this morning. Drivers and other frontline staff are furious.'

One Tory MP told the Mail: 'This is exactly the reason why we will have to take additional powers to force people to stay home... It exposes a complete contradiction in the Government's approach. On the one hand, people are being told to avoid all travel, on the other hand they have no choice but to go into work as normal as their offices are still open.'

Labour transport spokesman Andy McDonald said the images were alarming, adding: 'The Government must help keep transport workers and the public safe by urgently extending financial assistance to the self-employed and other workers so nobody risks losing their income by staying at home, and make it clear that workers in all non-key sectors of the economy must not travel to work.'

The Government has set out its key worker definition to battle coronavirus - but many believe it is too vague and is leaving many schools and parents confused about who is eligible

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would speak to Mr Khan about increasing the frequency of trains on the London Underground, where 40 stations have been closed by TfL and some main routes have trains running only once every 18 minutes.

Rail services which had been slashed by up to 50 per cent, with some axed, may be partly restored as ministers fear the reduced service is worsening the spread of the virus.

The Government had said the changes would discourage unnecessary journeys, allowing key workers to commute safely.

But in a U-turn yesterday, Mr Shapps said he was 'concerned' by the images of crowded trains and added: 'We are working with train operators to introduce a small number of trains for key workers to have space to be safe.'

The Department for Transport is identifying those lines that need more trains. It said: 'We are aware of some instances of overcrowding on certain train services this morning, and are working with operators regarding capacity on specific lines as needed to make sure there is space to be safe.'

C2C, which runs commuter services between Essex and London, is thought to have been identified as a line in need of increased capacity.

Passenger watchdog Transport Focus said: 'The Government should continue to review what measures are needed to make sure social distancing on trains services is safe.'

The RMT union said: 'We know that many people who are not traditionally employed, whether they are self-employed, on zero-hour contracts or in the gig economy, feel they have no choice but to go to work because of their financial situation. We therefore call on the Government to do far more to help these workers.'

Vernon Everitt of TfL said: 'To save lives, everyone must follow the Government and Mayor's instructions to stay at home and only travel if absolutely essential. Only critical workers should be using public transport, and no one else.'
Australians stranded on a cruise ship are terrified they will be left to die after the captain confirmed there was a case of coronavirus on board.

The Costa Victoria has already been denied entry into ports in both Asia and Europe including Croatia, the UAE and Israel.

The cruise liner said they would carry out an emergency docking in Venice on March 28 despite Italy's coronavirus death toll surging past 6,000.

But passengers have now told their concerned friends and family that there is a case of COVID-19 on the ship and they are required to stay in their room.

Tory Archbold - whose mother Greta, 70, is one of 250 Australians stranded on board - is pleading for the Australian Government to intervene.

Tory Archbold (right) - whose mother Greta (left) is one of 250 Australians stranded on board - is now pleading for the Australian Government to intervene

There are believed to be up to 250 Australians on-board the cruise ship, whose passengers are mostly over the age of 65

'All Australian passengers have been messaging their families to say the captain advised coronavirus was onboard last night and they have been told to stay in their rooms  it has caused widespread panic,' Ms Archbold told Daily Mail Australia.

'As this is an Italian ship they are only able to dock in Italy.

'Once there is a case of coronavirus onboard they are in isolation for two weeks and no dock will accept them until all passengers are cleared of coronavirus.

'It's a death sentence for the Australians on board unless we can find a solution.'

Ms Archbold says her mother is on antibiotics and is high risk if she gets coronavirus.

'There are no testing kits being given out and no one will say who has it so everyone is panicking.

'It could be anyone.'

Ms Archbold said she had been communicating with the families of those on board to try and find a solution.

She said there has been no official correspondence from the ship.

'There is limited WiFi connection [on Costa Victoria] and they are charging to use it,' she said.

Ms Archbold said there are many elderly Australians on the cruise who had not set up access to global roaming to communicate with their families.

The cruise liner said they would carry out an emergency docking in Venice on March 28

Australia's coronavirus tally could hit 2000 cases by the end of the Tuesday

'There is a feeling of complete isolation with no solution in sight,' she said.

'We are working together to ensure they focus on the right mindset to get them through this challenging time.

'We are asking the government to help. How can we get these Australians off and back into the country when global borders are closing?

'These people are parents and grandparents. They belong in a country where they can be properly cared for.'

Ms Archbold said they learned something was wrong about one-week ago when they were sailing through the Suez Canal. She questioned why they were in such a dangerous part of the world when everything was beginning to lockdown.

'I feel very concerned. They've got a very uncertain future,' she said.

'They don't know when they're going to be able to dock and how they're going to get back to Australia.

'This obviously is a death sentence,' Ms Petrovic wrote on Facebook

Ms Petrovic shared a message sent to her by her relative expressing concern for the health of elderly passengers

'You don't want anyone to be docked in a country that currently has the worst cases of coronavirus in the world. It just puts peoples lives at risk.'

Coronavirus has killed more people in Italy than in any other country.

A lockdown imposed on March 12 in Italy has been extended beyond the original 25 March end date. Nearly all Italians have been told 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

Lauren Petrovic said her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were on the cruise ship said the passengers 'will have no right to medical assistance if they fall ill'.

'This obviously is a death sentence if they are to be let off here without assistance or any avenue to safely come home to Australia,' Ms Petrovic wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

'They will be potentially left to die.'

Before passengers reported there was COVID-19 onboard, Italian-based Costa urged passengers to leave the ship when it docks in Venice on Saturday.

'The itinerary of Costa Victoria was modified given the pandemic alert issued by the World Health Organisation which brought local authorities to apply restrictions for the disembarkation of our guests compromising their cruise experience onboard,' a spokesperson said in a statement.

'Most likely, despite all the efforts made to readjust the program, the only viable itinerary for Costa Victoria at present is to perform technical calls whenever it will be allowed and go straight to the designated port of disembarkation Venice on March, 28th.'

The Australian government closed borders to non-residents on Friday and anyone who enters the country must self-isolate for 14 days.

Border controls are also in place for South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, with only freight and essential travel exempted. Queensland will close its borders on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Australians face six months of severe but necessary restrictions, with pubs, bars, nightclubs, cinemas and other indoor venues forced to close. Supermarkets, petrol stations and pharmacies remain open.

There are more than 1,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia and seven people have died.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted DFAT for comment.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the Government is monitoring more than 30 cruise ships with over 3,000 Australians on board.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in discussions with Costa Cruises regarding the Costa Victoria, which is scheduled to dock in Venice on 28 March,' the spokesperson said.

'We have raised our concerns in relation to the suitability of Venice as a port for Australians to disembark at this point in time given the serious issues associated with the impact of coronavirus in that part of Italy.

'We are therefore working with Italian authorities to identify an alternative port for passengers to disembark safely and to return to Australia.'
FRIDLEY (dpa-AFX) - Ford Motor said Tuesday that it is working with 3M and GE Healthcare to increase production of respirators for healthcare workers, ventilators for coronavirus patients. The partnership will help to meet a surge in demand for personal protective equipment due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Ford and 3M are partnering to increase the production of 3M's powered air purifying respirators, or PAPRs. 3M's powered air purifying respirators use a waist-mounted, battery-powered blower that sends filtered air into a hood that helps provide respiratory protection for workers, including those in healthcare. Ford is exploring production of the new PAPR in a Ford facility in addition to 3M production. Meanwhile, Ford and GE Healthcare are working together to expand production of a simplified version of GE Healthcare's existing ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing. The ventilators could be produced at a Ford manufacturing site in addition to a GE location. Ford, in cooperation with the UAW, plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields per week and leverage its in-house 3D printing capability to produce disposable respirators for healthcare workers. On Monday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it would manufacture more than 1 million protective face masks per month. The company would donate the face masks to police, EMTs and firefighters, as well as to workers in hospitals and health care clinics. Last Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he 'had a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators.' General Motors (GM) said last Friday that it collaborated with Ventec Life Systems to enable Ventec to increase production of its respiratory care products to support the growing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
Teachers Yesenia Moreno, from left, Heather Ferdrick and Reyna Labra play with a group of toddlers Mrach 24, 2020, at the Nook Daycare in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. Most Illinois day care centers have been closed because of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus, but Nook Daycare is one of several hundred providers to apply for an emergency license to stay open. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 05:45:07|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's death toll from COVID-19 approached 2,000 after 122 new deaths were reported on Tuesday; Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia reported the first death from the novel coronavirus.

The death toll in Iran surged to 1,934, while the total number of coronavirus infections rose to 24,811 after 1,762 news cases were reported. Of all the reported cases, 8,913 have recovered.

The ground force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will launch a "biological defense" exercise and disinfection operations across the country on Wednesday amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

All medical centers of the IRGC ground force, including field hospitals, will be used at full capacity during the exercise, IRGC ground force commander Mohammad Pakpour said.

Saudi Arabia registered on Tuesday the first death from COVID-19, which was a 51-year-old Afghani resident in Medina who died on Monday night.

The Saudi Health Ministry also announced 205 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 767, of whom 28 have recovered.

Israel reported two new deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday, including a 67-year-old woman and an 87-year-old man. The total number of confirmed cases in Israel climbed to 1,930, after 488 new cases were reported, which was the biggest single-day rise in the country so far.

Turkey's death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 44 after seven more patients died on Tuesday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted. Turkey's total number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased to 1,872, after 343 new cases were detected.

Iraqi Health Ministry confirmed four more deaths from the virus and 50 new cases on infections, bringing the total number of the infected to 316.

The United Arab Emirates recorded 50 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 248.

Lebanon reported 37 new cases, as the total number of the confirmed cases reached 304. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon is seeking foreign aid to fight COVID-19.

Egypt announced 36 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 402. Meanwhile, one more death from the disease was reported, as the total death toll rose to 20. The total number of the cured in Egypt rose to 80, after 12 patients left hospitals on Tuesday.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced a nationwide partial curfew (from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.) as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. All commercial centers and shops will be closed from 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday and closed all day on Friday and Saturday, he said.

Algeria said the death toll from COVID-19 rose to 19 after two new deaths were reported. The total number of the infected soared to 264, after 34 new cases were confirmed Tuesday, when the country started a curfew in the capital Algiers and a 10-day lockdown in neighboring province Blida.

Moroccan Health Ministry confirmed 27 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 170, of whom five have died and six have recovered.

Tunisia reported 25 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 114. Three of the patients have died, while the first confirmed case has recovered.

Qatar reported 25 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 526, of whom 41 have recovered.

The Omani Ministry of Health reported 18 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 84. Oman decided to suspend all international and domestic flights starting from March 29, excluding the trips to and from Musandam governorate and air cargo flights.

Kuwait reported two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 191. The Health Ministry said that the new cases included a Philipino and an Indian.

In Khartoum, the Sudanese government announced the third COVID-19 case, who was a Sudanese citizen coming from an Arab country.

The Syrian government ordered to impose a partial curfew, starting from Wednesday, in all Syrian provinces. This came one day after the Syrian government declared the first coronavirus case in the country.
Australians are also banned from travelling overseas under a further crackdown

Weddings have been limited to the couple, the celebrant and witnesses

Food courts, nail salons, museums and libraries are among those ordered to shut

He said people should stay in their house and not go to anyone else's home

'No party is worth someone's life,' he told reporters on Wednesday morning

Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews has warned Australians not to have parties

Australians have been told no party is worth someone's life, as draconian new measures to stop the spread of coronavirus are introduced.

'There's absolutely no need for anybody to be having a party. Parties should not be occurring,' Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Wednesday morning.

'People should be staying in their house and not going to anyone else's house. There's no need. Not is now the time to party.

'If you can stay at home you must stay at home. It is very, very simple. You should not be having friends over for a dinner party.

'You should not be going out shopping unless you need to. Shop for what you need when you need it.

Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews has warned Australians not to have parties, and said no gathering is worth someone's life

It comes as Scott Morrison restricted social gatherings to ten people, put a blanket ban on overseas travel and ordered more workplaces to close in his latest measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus

There are now more than 2,200 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia, including eight who have died. Globally at least 417,000 people have been infected

'We cannot have people queueing for intensive care beds. That will mean they will die. We've got to buy time and part of that is everybody doing the right thing.'

It comes as Scott Morrison restricted social gatherings to ten people, put a ban on overseas travel and ordered more workplaces to close in his latest measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister met with his 'war cabinet' in Canberra on Tuesday night to discuss further health and safety measures as national cases of COVID-19 soared past 2,300 and an eighth person died.

Beginning on Wednesday night, Australians will be banned from eating at shopping centre food courts, and the number of people at weddings, funerals and social gatherings will be limited to curb the spread of coronavirus.

NO HOUSE PARTIES OR LARGE INDOOR GATHERINGS: Under new social distancing measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, Scott Morrison urged against hosting parties and intimate gatherings inside people's homes. The prime minister said the number of guests at people's homes should be kept to a minimum, meaning large birthday celebrations and barbecues are prohibited.

'These will be a significant sacrifice, I know. We've all been to those events as extended families and gatherings. And gathering together in that way, even around the large family table in the family home when all the siblings get together and bring the kids, these are not things we can do now,' he told reporters on Tuesday. 'All of these things present risks and they obviously present them to the elderly members of our families as well, who we need to protect.' He said state authorities will consider putting measures in place that could potentially lead to penalties for those who organise such events. Advertisement

'This will be a significant sacrifice, I know,' Mr Morrison told reporters following an emergency meeting of state and territory leaders.

The new rules come after registered and licensed clubs, entertainment venues, cinemas, casinos, nightclubs, indoor sports venues, including gyms, and places of worship were ordered to close as part of 'stage one' restrictions rolled out on Monday.

Takeaway services at restaurants, cafes and food courts will still be allowed to operate.

He also unveiled strict restrictions that would effectively ban large weddings by limiting the number of people in attendance to five - including the couple and the celebrant.

'Large gatherings for weddings, sadly, won't be possible under these new arrangements,' he said.

'Sadly, also, and I know this will be very difficult, funerals to no more than 10 persons observing the rules around the four-square-metre rule and the social distancing practices.

Mr Morrison announced there is now an outright ban on travelling internationally, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel.

He said it is clear from the numbers of people still travelling that some are defying advice not to travel anywhere in the world.

The prime minister urged all Australians to stay refrain from leaving their homes unless 'absolutely necessary' - such as going out for groceries or medical needs.

Leaving the house for brief walks or exercise can continue as long as those activities are done in small groups.

Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to provide takeaway services, the prime minister said

Under the tight new restrictions, weddings could go ahead only with five people present, after it emerged 37 people became sick with coronavirus at a wedding in Stanwell Tops, NSW (pictured) earlier this month

The prime minister urged all Australians to stay refrain from leaving their homes unless 'absolutely necessary'

Those who could work from their home were advised to do so if possible.

'You should only go outside your home to go to those essential things I talked about, not to go and congregate in groups. We need you to stop doing that. That is not going to help,' Mr Morrison added.

'Visits to your premises, to your house, to your residence, should be kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests.'

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

Galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSLs and swimming pools also must close.

Social sports such as large groups of people playing soccer in a park have also banned, and boot camps and personal training will be restricted to a maximum of 10 people.

Yoga and barre sessions, as well as spinning and other exercise sessions, can continue so long as they abide by the 10 people or fewer rule as well.

'You can see what we're trying to do, limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmitting of the virus through the social interactions which are not considered necessary,' Mr Morrison said.
A call center agent career is lucrative and exciting for anyone who enjoys helping people. Getting this job can be a challenge. It would help if you started by understanding the job description, skills required, and how to pass an interview.

Image: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

Customer care contributes to the success of an organization. This fact has created opportunities for customer care representatives. Only a few are lucky enough to get these jobs. If you intend to apply for a job in the field, we have broken down the essentials that you need to be aware of.

What is call center agent?

This is the person who handles the incoming and outgoing customer calls in the business. They handle account inquiries, customer concerns, and any support issue.

READ ALSO: Want to know the highest paying jobs in the Philippines?

What does a call center agent do?

The responsibilities of customer care representatives vary from one company to another. However, the main responsibilities include;

Management of both inbound and outbound calls

As a customer representative, you should pick and make calls. You are required to follow the call center agent script so that you can handle the clients correctly.

Client engagement

The representative is required to identify the needs of a client and answer any question. Every inquiry made should be provided with a direct and helpful answer.

Upselling

The representative should sell products to the clients. You also have to build product knowledge and assist the rest of the departments in hitting their goals.

Build a relationship with the clients

It is the responsibility of this representative to maintain a relationship with the customers. You should keep a record of all the conversations that you have with the client to assist you in building a relationship.

How to be a good call center agent

To offer the best client experience, you need to have call center agent skills that allow you to relate well with clients. Some of these skills include;

Knowledgeable about company products and its inner workings.

It would be best if you were detailed oriented to allow you to pick up on the details provided by the customers with accuracy.

You should be flexible. This will allow you to adapt to the queries of the customers and the different situations that you may face.

This will allow you to adapt to the queries of the customers and the different situations that you may face. Empathetic to the clients. You should strive to understand the situation from the customers standpoint. This applies even when you are dealing with a demanding customer.

You should strive to understand the situation from the customers standpoint. This applies even when you are dealing with a demanding customer. You need to be calm when you are under pressure. You will handle hundreds of people in a day and should maintain composure the entire time.

You will handle hundreds of people in a day and should maintain composure the entire time. You should have good communication skills. You need to express yourself perfectly in both written and verbal communication.

Call center agent script

These scripts provide customer care representatives with guidance on how to deal with a customer in a variety of situations. They provide scenarios and the interaction between ana gent and the customers. There are different types of scripts. To offer you a better understanding of these crops, here is a sample conversation of a call center agent and an angry customer.

Agent script sample

Situation: A customer is calling about her internet connection.

A customer is calling about her internet connection. Goal: Answer customers' inquiries in a timely manner.

Customer's profile

Gender : Male

: Male Age: 20-30yrs old, calm

Here is the script:

Company representative: Hello, my name is Janet. How may I be of assistance today?

Customer: I would like to make a complaint about the slow internet connection in my place. I have not worked because of your incompetence.

Company representative: Im sorry for the inconvenience. I am sure the issue will be resolved. Let me work on helping you immediately! Can I please get the name on the account?

Customer: The account name is, Johnson Mungai .

. Company representative: Thank you; please stay in the line as I check your connection from our end. When did this problem start?

Customer: A few hours ago.

Company representative : I am sorry, but we are having a connectivity problem in your area. There are technicians on the ground trying to fix the problem, I am sorry for the inconvenience caused.

: Customer: How long will it take to fix the problem?

Company representative : Our team is working hard to make sure you have a fast connection as soon as possible.

: Customer: Oh, I see,

Company representative: I am really sorry Sir but we will ensure we find a permanent solution to this problem.

Customer: Okay

Okay Company representative: Is there anything else that I can assist you with, today.

Is there anything else that I can assist you with, today. Customer: No thank you

No thank you Company representative: You are very much welcome, Mr Johnson! Have a great day and thank you for calling us today.

Application for a customer care position

Image: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

If you have the skills mentioned above, you should consider applying for the job. There are several stages taken during the call center agent hiring process.

You are required to send your documents to the hiring company, and you will later be invited for an interview. So what are some of the call center agent interview questions to expect, and how should you answer them?

Whats your idea of a functional customer care facility?

This question is asked to gauge how well you know these facilities. You should find out the type of call center you are applying for. Inbound call facility receives calls from customers, while outbound facilities make calls to customers. Show you knowledge of the two types of center, but you should pay attention to the kind of center you are applying to.

Why do you want to work in this position?

This question is supposed to gauge your knowledge of the demands and atmosphere of a call center. You should state how you are suited to work in the call center atmosphere.

How can you handle angry customers?

You will always be required to deal with angry customers. You need to offer a response that emphasizes the importance of having empathy and staying calm. Always provide an answer that shows that you have self-control.

Can you work with multiple call lines?

The answer should always be yes. If you have the experience, you should highlight the maximum number of calls you have ever handled in a day. If you do not have the experience, you should highlight the positions that you have had to multi-task.

The four questions gauge if you have the qualifications of a call center agent. They also determine if you know what to expect in the working environment. If you answer the questions thoroughly, you are more likely to get hired.

How to make a resume for call center agent without experience

When you are looking for an entry-level job, you need to create a resume that makes you stand out. Highlight your education background and the knowledge that you have gained through other activities such as volunteering. Your CV should have four main sections.

Personal information

Core skills and knowledge

Education background

Experience

Referees

Each section should highlight your core competencies. Avoid adding any detail that may compromise your application.

What to expect working in a call center in the Philippines

The Philippines have a lot of opportunities for call center agents. If you want to consider a career in the region, you need to know what to expect.

How much does a call center agent earn in the Philippines?

Companies pay different amounts for the customer care position. However, the average rate for a call agent is 81.90 per hour. You may find companies that will pay more depending on the workload that you are expected to handle in an hour.

How many hours does a call center agent work?

The number of hours that you work as a call agent is dependent on the organization that you are working for. However, most agents work for eight hours or more.

What kind of occupation is call center agent in Pag-IBIG?

If you choose to work at Pag-IBIG you will need to be flexible in your working hours. You will work in shifts, and you will be required to handle customers from different parts of the country. The pay is within the average 81.90 per hour.

The Philippines have a lot of opportunities for anyone who would want to be a call center agent. However, there are a lot of people who are looking to get employed, and this creates a high competition for these positions. Read through the article to understand how you can gain a competitive edge over your competitors.

READ ALSO: Work from home Philippines: 5 tried-and-true variants

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Precious Williams, 22, pregnant and suffering from cough and sore throat, is checked at a screening station for COVID-19 set-up in Watts Health Center in South Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Three days ago, Precious Williams began to feel sick. The young pregnant mother had a runny nose, a sore throat and shortness of breath  just some of the symptoms associated with novel coronavirus.

Concerned for her unborn child, the 22-year-old went to the Watts Health Center in South L.A. like she always has for her medical needs.

Ive been coming here since I was a child, she said. Its where Ive gotten all my shots, where I got all my dental done  everything.

Ada Gomez, 59, suffering from low fever, cough and sore throat, at COVID-19 screening station set-up in Watts Health Center, Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

These clinics are very important for people around here, she added.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, community clinics and health centers in Los Angeles County have helped mitigate the spread of the virus and prevented sick patients from overwhelming hospitals, which don't have enough beds, staffing or protective gear to treat a flood of patients.

Community clinics that typically handle primary care including checkups and prescribe patients insulin for diabetes or medicines for their high blood pressure have been canceling their regular appointments and seeing more patients with symptoms that match those of the coronavirus.

Clinic leaders say they know they play an important role in reducing the impact on overloaded hospitals, but worry about not being able to provide the necessary primary care to their communities.

Plus, clinic healthcare workers say they too are running low on masks, gowns and other equipment they need to protect staff against the novel coronavirus. Even for them, a virus surge could eventually force them to close their doors.

Intensive care beds at Los Angeles Countys emergency-room hospitals are already at or near capacity, even as those facilities have doubled the number available for COVID-19 patients, according to data obtained by The Times.

That is why public and health officials ordered Californians to stay home in an effort to create social distance among people to help "flatten the curve" of the disease's spread and provide much needed relief to hospitals.

Story continues

"Even if half of Californians end up with the coronavirus, if it's spread out over six months, then it's more likely there will be appointments and walk-in clinics and ventilators at hospitals to treat everybody who is at that level of need," said Steven Wallace, a professor in the community health sciences department at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. "If it all happens in six weeks, then the lines at the clinics will look like the lines out of Costco."

The Watts Health Center had been open for only an hour when Williams and nine others sought urgent-care services on a recent rainy Thursday morning. They all reported having flu-like symptoms; more patients would come later in the day.

Healthcare workers check patient Netia Jone at a screening station for COVID-19 set up at the Watts Health Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Community clinics and health centers are a vital part of the country's healthcare system but the current crisis has created revenue and resource challenges.

"The normal routine of a community health center is very different than what they're being asked to do right now," Wallace said. "They're set up for primary care, they're set up for a child coming in with an earache or an adult coming in for diabetes. They're not set up for a contagious pandemic."

"They don't have a stockpile of masks for their providers to wear," he added.

In Los Angeles County, more than 350 community clinics and health centers provide primary care and preventive services to 1.7 million patients a year, many of whom live in poverty or are uninsured, said Louise McCarthy, president of Community Clinics Assn. of Los Angeles County, a coalition of private and non-private community centers.

Unlike hospitals, clinics aren't equipped to have ventilators, but they do have test kits. But McCarthy said clinics and health centers are facing a shortage of such kits and other supplies.

Dr. Oliver Brooks looks on as healthcare worker Lucy Arias checks a patient for fever at a coronavirus screening center at Watts Health Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

"There are not enough masks, there are not enough gloves, gowns, goggles and all of that," McCarthy said. "It's a challenge. Every day we're trying to get a delivery of supplies."

She said some facilities have to turn to private sellers such as Amazon to obtain supplies, spending more than what they normally would. And with a small stock of test kits, doctors reserve testing based on the criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Sion Roy, president of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., said the physicians group has tapped into membership dues to purchase $100,000 worth of masks and other personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses.

The association is working with vendors to set up a more efficient supply chain and has asked any of its 7,000-plus member physicians to apply for financial assistance for the supplies on its website.

We are just trying to do whatever we can do to help, but it is a real challenge, Roy said. Across the county and across the nation, its a crisis.

McCarthy said many of the clinics and health centers have had to scale back services and tell patients not to come to the clinic or center unless they've been told to by their doctor or if they have an emergency.

"But that means they have seen a significant drop in the numbers of visits they have per day and that then connects us to a revenue problem, which is that clinics get paid by the visits," she said. "If you're not providing visits, you're not getting paid and how do you pay your staff?"

Public health officials have urged doctors to take visits over the phone or video conference. But for federally qualified clinics and health centers getting reimbursed by Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, that is currently not available. McCarthy said state and federal officials are working to make it possible. She said she worries that some clinics may end up closing in the end if the situation doesn't change.

"It's really scary times for us right now," she said. "We want to be open to the public and provide services and make sure patients get everything they need but also make sure our employees stay employed and have the health benefits we provide and the income that we provide them so they can pay their rent."

Doctors and nurses at clinics and health centers said they worry about the impact this crisis will have on the preventive care they have made a priority in low-income communities, where diabetes, mental health issues, heart disease and other problems are common.

Precious Williams, 22, pregnant and suffering from cough and sore throat, puts on a face mask at a station set up for COVID-19 screening at Watts Health Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The outbreak has forced the Watts Health Center, one of seven clinics operated by the Watts Healthcare Corp., to make organizational shifts while putting a strain on the clinic.

Dr. Roderick Seamster, president of the corporation, said the clinics are still seeing patients diagnosed with HIV, diabetes and parents who need WIC, the federal nutritional program for women, infants, and children. They've implemented a strict screening of patients and staff at every entrance. Many of the patients are told to sit outside if they have symptoms of the flu.

Seamster said the clinics are located in low-income neighborhoods, including housing projects such as Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts. The Watts Health Center provides an array of services, including dental, vision, pediatrics and a substance abuse program The center has two mobile units that provide free HIV testing and mammograms, both of which have been placed on hold because of the coronavirus.

Despite the distress the center has faced, Seamster said it has not turned anyone away. The clinic has about 30 kits to test for the coronavirus. So far, based on the criteria it is following, the clinic has performed very few tests  and none have turned up positive for the virus.

"Even if we don't have enough resources, we share the ability to refer patients to a coalition of clinics," he said. "We look out for each other to get it done."

As rain pelted the white triage tent outside the Watts Health Center, Williams, the young expectant mother, sat on a blue chair wearing a surgical mask. Nearby, three children were coughing while two teens sat leaning forward with their heads down, each suffering from a sore throat.

Struggling to breathe, Netia Jones, 58, said she had asthma and needed a nebulizer that the clinic had.

"I don't want to be here because of the virus," she said, breathing heavily. "I'm afraid of it."

Nearby, slouched on a chair and wearing a mask, was Ada Gomez, 59, who came to the clinic to get a second opinion about her illness. She had a dry cough, a fever and the sore throat. She went to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, worried that she was infected with the coronavirus, but the doctors told her she didn't meet the criteria for testing and to stay home.

Gomez said she wanted to get a second opinion from doctors at the clinic.

"We have great doctors here," she said. "I've been coming here for four years."

Times staff writer Ben Poston contributed to this report.
All the more reason to get right from the start the balance of privacy and public health. To earn and keep the public trust while reaching for powerful tools with potential for abuse, an administration must communicate with nuance and transparency. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has squandered credibility in communicating about the coronavirus  from falsely claiming that tests were available to all who wanted them to overplaying the potential of remedies for the virus. Barring a dramatic change in President Trumps communication style  loose with facts, scant on details  tech companies must be prepared to correct the administration if and when it misrepresents facts and be as transparent as possible about what data they are using and how.
It considers the panic virus to be more frightening than coronavirus infection

Ministry of Health of Ukraine encourages people to fight against the "panic virus". This is stated in the Ministrys message on its Telegram channel.

"Due to a three-week quarantine in Ukraine that is introduced in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the population is beginning to feel panic. But you should remember that the 'panic virus' is more terrible than a coronavirus infection. Take care of your mental and physical health," the statement said.

As of now, there is no information on the exact number of coronavirus infected people in Ukraine. However, according to Ukraine's Deputy Ministry of Health, it has increased.

As we reported earlier, the Minister of Health, Illya Yemets, is asking the Verkhovna Rada to introduce a state of emergency due to the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine.

On March 23, the Ukrainian government made a decision to introduce a state of emergency in Donetsk, Ternopil and Cherkasy. Such measures were taken in order to prevent the spread of Covid-2019.

Currently, the emergency situation is imposed in nine regions of Ukraine.
Francis Chan tells Church: Coronavirus is 'one of our greatest opportunities to reach a lost world'

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Francis Chan encouraged the Church to view the coronavirus pandemic as one of our greatest opportunities to reach a lost world and show them we havent lost our love, joy, and peace instead of succumbing to fear and anxiety.

We can do all things through Christ, and that means even during this time, Chan said in a March 20 video message posted on his Crazy Love YouTube channel.

There needs to be this resilience in us as believers. I think that is what the world, in the church, is being shown right now is how vulnerable, how volatile we are that one little thing could mess things up.

Chan stressed that for seven years, hes been exhorting Christians to prepare to live out their faith and thrive in their walk with God regardless of the circumstances surrounding them.

Thats been our heart for you guys as elders in the church, he said. There's going to come a day when we won't have the luxury of all the leaders being together with all of the people, and you need to be ready for that. It's kind of crazy. I've been preaching that for seven years. And then two weeks after I leave, you're living [that]. And the whole country is having to live that.

I believe it's God's grace on us to show us: Am I prepared? Have I lost my love, my joy, my peace? he continued. This is the fruit of the Spirit, guys, take advantage of this time. Don't miss this opportunity. This is one of our greatest opportunities for reaching out to a lost world and showing them that we haven't lost our love, joy, and peace.

Even at this moment, the enemy can't take that away from us, he concluded. We love the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Church is alive and well.

The coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, has affected over 46,168 people in the United States as of Tuesday and led to 544 deaths, the CDC reports. Health officials have said social distancing is key to slowing the spread of the virus, prompting many churches around the country to suspend worship services. Many states have also imposed a ban on gatherings considered non-essential.

In February, Chan and his family moved to Hong Kong to become international missionaries. Opening his video message, the pastor admitted that he wished he could be in the United States right now because everything is so crazy.

But I thought, well at least I could send you a quick video and just share some thoughts that God has put on my heart for the church during this time, he said.

The Crazy Love author encouraged Christians to not lose their love for others amid the outbreak, offering the reminder that believers are supposed to be people who are loving that are concerned that hundreds of people every day are dying and many headed to an eternity apart from Christ.

Thats my prayer for you guys, he said. Number one is that you stay loving, that during this time that you really be thinking, God, I love you. What do you want me to do? Look at the others around you in love and [ask], How can I serve these people? Because this is one of the greatest opportunities we've ever had as a Church.

Second, Chan encouraged Christians to rejoice in the Lord despite difficult circumstances, adding: I know it's a weird time. You can't gather together as a big church, but don't stop rejoicing over the fact that you can be alone in your room, even if you're isolated, and be in the presence of Almighty God.

Finally, the pastor called on believers to not lose your peace or succumb to fear.

The crux of everything we believe is that I don't have to fear death, he emphasized. The resurrection of Christ took away all of that fear. ... I sure hope that right now, you are so fearless for yourself. It not, the first thing you have to do is get alone with God and say, Why this fear? You don't want me living like this.

This is a time where we thank God and go, God, it is so good that I am with you, and nothing, nothing can separate me from your love, he concluded. I'm loved by you and nothing can separate this  no disease, no death, no life, death, angels principalities, nothing can separate me from the love of God.
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Supreme Court Makes It Easier for Criminal Aliens to Fight Deportation

Over the objections of the Trump administration, the Supreme Court has made it easier for federal courts to review deportation orders made against immigrants convicted of serious crimes.

Under federal law, courts of appeal had been allowed to review only constitutional claims or claims involving questions of law, which meant that permanent residents convicted of specific crimes were unable to have federal courts review factual issues related to their removal orders.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) bars judicial review of any final order of removal against an alien who is removable by reason of having committed a criminal offense, except where there are constitutional claims or questions of law.

During oral arguments before the justices on Dec. 9, 2019, Frederick Liu of the U.S. solicitor generals office, said it has been the goal of Congress since 1996 to streamline and expedite the removal of criminal aliens, yet the immigrants in this case would have criminal and non-criminal aliens alike receive judicial review of all constitutional claims, of all questions of law, and of all mixed questions.

The justices didnt seem sympathetic during that hearing. Justice Elena Kagan suggested at that time that if what the law requires is unclear, the presumption of reviewability should carry the day.

As a result of the new opinion, factual matters will now be considered questions of law subject to judicial review.

The Supreme Courts 72 decision March 23 in Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr and Ovalles v. Barr, two cases that were consolidated, was written by Justice Stephen Breyer. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion that Justice Samuel Alito joined.

Pedro Pablo Guerrero-Lasprilla and Ruben Ovalles had asked the courts to reopen their deportation cases. Ovalles was deported in 2004, Guerrero-Lasprilla in 1998.

The Board of Immigration Appeals found that both men had waited too long to try to have their cases reconsidered. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the question of whether the appeals were timely was one of fact, and so it had no power to review it.

There is a strong presumption in favor of judicial review of agency actions that can only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence that Congress intended to bar judicial review, Breyer wrote.

The court has consistently applied the presumption of reviewability to immigration statutes. And we see no reason to make an exception here.  Interpreting the [statute] to exclude mixed questions would effectively foreclose judicial review.

The fact that the INA statute allows appeals for questions of law, he wrote, does indeed include the application of law to established facts. That is particularly so given that the statutory context and history point to the same result.

In his dissent, Thomas wrote that the courts opinion effectively nullifies a jurisdiction-stripping statute, expanding the scope of judicial review well past the boundaries set by Congress.

Dan Stein, president of the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR), criticized the Supreme Court ruling.

This case underscores one more time how difficult it seems to be for Congress to rein in the judiciarys refusal to respect Congresss constitutional right to limit elements of judicial review in immigration proceedings, Stein told The Epoch Times.

In the case, a lower administrative body had made a factual determination on whether the deportable criminal aliens had exercised due diligence that, notwithstanding, prevented them from making a timely motion to reopen a case. It is clear from the facts of the case that they did not have any reasonable excuse for failing to make a timely Motion to Reopen.

Instead, the majority opinion of the Supreme Court creates a fiction that there is some mixture of law and fact here, and that this gives a license to allow judicial review where Congress has explicitly sought to prevent it. And in this case, the opinion undermines Congress explicit desire to expedite the removal of deportable criminal aliens.

While the ultimate outcome is unclear once it goes back to the lower court, the decision still blasts a hole in Congressional efforts to curtail impractical and delay-inducing layers of judicial review of immigration proceedings. Apparently, the judiciary just cant help itself.
The announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 21-day nationwide lockdown from Tuesday midnight in view of the coronavirus threat led to panic-buying of essential items in many parts of the national capital.

WATCH: Large crowd outside a store in Mumbai after PM Modi's announcement of lockdown

The prime minister appealed to people not to panic, saying thronging shops will pose the risk of spread of COVID-19.

'There is absolutely no need to panic; the Centre and states will work together to ensure availability of essential commodities, medicines, etc,' he said.

However, people fearing shortage and rise in prices of the commodities queued up in front of grocery stores, vegetable vendors and medical shops.

"I had already purchased groceries and other items to meet my family's needs till March 31. I need more items now as the lockdown has been extended," Amit Prakash, who was standing outside a grocery store in Laxmi Nagar, said.

Hectic-buying of food items which started after the 'Janta curfew' on Sunday and announcement of a lockdown by the Delhi government intensified shortly after the prime minister announced the nationwide lockdown on Tuesday.

"I have never witnessed such a chaos in my life. All our stocks, including rice, flour, bread, biscuits, edible oils, have been sold out," the owner of a general store in Shakarpur said.

The people feared that restrictions would only intensify further due to the coronavirus threat in the coming days, and the shortage of food items would accentuate.

"The rates of vegetables, rice, flour and other food items are already high. The problem is growing due to the sudden increase in demand and restrictions due to the lockdown in the city.

"The government must act against hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities," Shailesh, a businessman in Patparganj, said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines to be followed during the 21-day complete lockdown, assuring that fair price shops and those dealing with food, groceries, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish, animal fodder will remain open.

Dense crowds were also seen outside medicine shops in the city.

"People are behaving like they never went to school. This time they should set an example. Our government has promised us that there will be no shortage of essential supplies. One should keep patience and not panic. We will all sail through this," a medical store owner in Jungpura said.

Ananya Sundaray, a resident of Malviya Nagar, said, "After I heard about the lockdown, I and my two flatmates rushed to a nearby market, as stores downstairs were closed. There were long queues in almost all the shops. We bought flour, rice, soyabean, sugar, vegetables and maggie packets."

But some people also talked of having patience and cooperate with the coordinate with the government in these extraordinary times.

"As soon as the complete lockdown was announced, we decided to call up water suppliers and departmental stores if they would be operational.

"After assistance from suppliers, we decided to stay indoors and not queue up outside shops," Nandita, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, said.

Another resident of Lajpat Nagar Neena Gupta said, "Anticipating lockdown, we had stocked all essentials a few days ago. But now that the government has assured there won't be cut down on essential supplies, we feel better."

Delhi has so far reported 30 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths.
Explained: Why you could be booked under Section 188 IPC if found flouting lockdown

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: With most parts of the country under a lockdown, the government has decided to take stringent measures to ensure that it is strictly followed.

Under Section 3 of the Epidemic Disease Act of 1897, there are several penalties prescribed for disobeying any regulation.

In this context one must take a look at Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, which will be used by the police to ensure that the lockdown is enforced properly.

100s booked across India for violating lockdown norms

Section 188 deals with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant. The provisions say that if a person disobeys a direction by a public servant lawfully empowered to promulgate such an order, the person can be punished with simple imprisonment of up to one month or with fine with may be Rs 200 or both.

However in case if such disobedience causes or trends to cause danger to human life, health or safety, or causes or tends to cause a riot or affray, the person shall be punished with a jail term which may extend up to six months or with fine of Rs 1,000 or both.

It is not necessary that the offender should intend to produce harm, or contemplate his disobedience as likely to produce harm. It is sufficient that he knows of the order which he disobeys, and that his disobedience produces, or is likely to produce, harm.

Coronavirus: Difference between curfew and lockdown, explained

On the other hand Section 3 of the Epidemic Disease Act of 1897 says, "any person disobeying any regulation or order made under this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

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Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 12:44 [IST]
Australia on Tuesday imposed overseas travel ban using biosecurity powers and limited gatherings at weddings and funerals as it stepped up efforts to control the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus that has infected over 2,000 people in the country.

The virus has claimed the lives of eight people in Australia after a 70-year-old woman died of the disease on Tuesday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said the Smart Traveller do not travel advice was now no longer a warning, but an order, according to a report in The West Australian.

That will turn into a ban using the biosecurity powers that were afforded to us by the Governor-General through the Minister for Health, he was quoted as saying in the report.

The Australian ministry of health defines biosecurity as all the measures taken to minimise the risk of infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria or other micro-organisms that can harm people, food security and economy of the country.

"People shouldn't be doing it right now," he said in a press briefing after the Cabinet meeting.

"No one should be getting on a plane and going overseas. We have been making the point for some time," he said.

Morrison also limited gatherings with only five people allowed at weddings and 10 at funerals.

He also announced closure of services like real estate auctions, open house inspections, arcades, galleries, museums and play centres.

"People should stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary they go out," he said, urging people to keep visitors to their homes to an "absolute minimum.

"People should not congregate together in groups, inside or outside," he said.

The state of New South Wales have reported 818 confirmed cases, while Victoria recorded 64 new cases, taking the total number of infections in the state to 411.

It is also estimated that over two million Australians could lose their jobs following the coronavirus crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 24, 2020] Canadian Biotechnology Company STEMCELL Technologies Provides Critical Support to Sequence the COVID-19 Virus, Accelerating Vaccine Development

Canada's largest biotechnology company, Vancouver's STEMCELL Technologies, has been making significant contributions to the fight against COVID-19. Human tissue culture systems developed by STEMCELL were used by researchers at China's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to grow lung airway cells that could successfully propagate the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Scientists were then able to isolate the virus, obtain the viral gene sequence, and quickly make the data available to researchers globally. This viral gene sequence is essential for increasing our understanding of the virus, accelerating vaccine development. STEMCELL is now supporting this groundbreaking research by providing COVID-19 researchers in China with complimentary cell culture media and ongoing technical support from in-house scientists. "I was very proud when I first heard that our China CDC customer isolated and identified the novel coronavirus using the PneumaCultTM media that my team developed. It took researchers 3 months to identify the SARS virus 17 years ago. This time the virus was isolated, sequenced, and published within weeks! As a scientist, it is deeply fulfilling that my team was able to support China's novel coronavirus investigation and the research team at the China CDC to help resolve this pandemic."





Dr. Juan Hou

Senior Scientist, Pulmonary, R&D

STEMCELL Technologies In the coming weeks, STEMCELL's products will play a critical role in enabling researchers to develop treatments for COVID-19. STEMCELL is committed to developing additional advanced cell culture systems for modeling various lung cell types, which will provide a deeper understanding of the infection method of respiratory viruses. These human cell culture systems will provide access to fundamental information in virology, both accelerating the discovery of effective treatments and vaccines, as well as enhancing the ability to be prepared with rapid-response systems in the case of future outbreaks.

"At STEMCELL, we are Scientists Helping Scientists. We work collaboratively alongside researchers around the world as partners in their research programs. We are both thrilled and humbled to be able to support the effort to combat this global crisis, and are committed to continuing our support to prevent this from happening again."

Dr. Allen Eaves

Founder, President, CEO

STEMCELL Technologies About STEMCELL Technologies STEMCELL Technologies is Canada's largest biotechnology company, with over 1,500 employees and year-on-year growth of approximately 20% for the last 26 years. Based in Vancouver, it supports life sciences research globally with more than 2,500 specialized reagents, tools, and services. STEMCELL offers high-quality cell culture media, cell separation technologies, instruments, accessory products, and educational resources that are used by scientists performing stem cell, immunology, cancer, regenerative medicine, microbiology and cellular therapy research globally. Find more information at www.stemcell.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005760/en/

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The U.S. said it will cut assistance to Afghanistan by $1 billion this year and threatened more cuts could come as a breakdown in talks over forming a unity government threatened to derail a U.S.-engineered peace deal.

Hours after departing Kabul on Monday, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement saying the U.S. "deeply regrets" the failure of President Ashraf Ghani and former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah to form a unity government. He said the U.S. is imposing the $1 billion cut in assistance because of the breakdown, which dates from disputed national elections late last year.

"Their failure has harmed U.S.-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonors those Afghan, Americans and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure in the struggle to build a new future for this country," Pompeo said. He added the administration could cut aid by another $1 billion in 2021. The U.S. has earmarked $4.35 billion in funding for 2020, according to the latest report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released on Jan. 30.

The inability of Afghan leaders to broker an agreement imperils a peace deal reached between the U.S. and the Taliban last month to bring an end to what has become America's longest war. The deal reached in Doha was expected to lead to talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban starting around March 10, a deadline that has already passed.

In a televised address to the nation, President Ashraf Ghani said the government would ensure the U.S. action won't affect key sectors. "The U.S. has not yet cut the aid, but they made it conditional and we will make efforts to convince them through dialog and negotiations" to not withdraw that support, Ghani said.

Even with Ghani and Abdullah both claiming victory in last year's election, the peace deal called for a team of Afghan representatives that was expected to include more than just government officials. That opened the door to Ghani and Abdullah being represented in talks with the Taliban, the militant group ousted by the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. But the politics of achieving that have, so far, proved elusive.

"They still can't see their way towards putting together the team, an inclusive team," Pompeo told reporters on this plane en route back to the U.S. "That's why you see in our statement that we are disappointed that they've not been able to do that."

The impasse between Ghani and Abdullah is a repeat of the previous presidential election in 2014 between the same candidates, when there also were disputes over vote-counting and fraud. Then, Secretary of State John Kerry intervened and brokered a last-minute deal that gave Ghani the presidency but created the chief executive's position for Abdullah. Pompeo couldn't get the two politicians to agree to a similar compromise.

Pompeo said he believed progress has been made in other ways since the Taliban deal was struck, citing a lack of attacks on U.S. forces over the past three weeks. And he suggested the U.S. could revisit its decision to cut aid.

"We are hopeful, frankly, that they will get their act together and we won't have to do it," Pompeo said on the plane. "But we're prepared to do that."

Despite almost two decades of war and $900 billion in spending by the U.S., the Taliban are at their strongest since being ousted by American forces. Taliban forces control or contest about half the country, while opium production has been near record levels over the past year.

The cut in aid may leave some Afghan military units unable to function, said Belqis Roshan, an independent member of parliament from the western province of Farah bordering Iran.

"Most of the U.S. financial aid is allocated for Afghan forces, for their salaries and for purchasing or updating Afghan military equipment," Roshan said. "The $1 billion cut in aid means a substantial financial cut for our security sector. The U.S. action will weaken our security sector by the time our forces are still fighting a resurgent Taliban, which poses a threat to anyone in Afghanistan."

One key area of disagreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban has been in the release of prisoners. The peace deal in Qatar called for about 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be released, but those efforts have stalled amid the Ghani-Abdullah power struggle.

In a snub to the Afghan leaders, Pompeo said Taliban officials -- whom he also met with on Monday in Qatar -- were living up to their commitments.

"They committed to reducing violence and they've largely done that," Pompeo said. "And they are working towards delivering their team to the ultimate negotiations."
On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump said he wants the nations economy opened up by Easter, and may soon loosen federal guidelines for social distancing in place to combat COVID-19, the new coronavirus.

The governors of Illinois and Iowa reacted very differently to that news.

Illinois now has 1,535 confirmed cases and 16 deaths. Iowa, in contrast, has 124 confirmed cases and announced its first death Tuesday, a woman, between the ages of 61-80, in Dubuque County.

I think the president is not taking into account the true damage that this will do to our country if we see truly millions of people die, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said his daily news conference. And that's what I think would happen. That's what the scientists, doctors tell us would happen. If you don't have these restrictions on, the damage that would be done, the lives that would be lost, the overrunning of our health care system would lead to real devastation. So, I'm very, very concerned about what the president is saying.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, on the other hand, shares Trumps desire to re-open American businesses as soon as possible, though unlike the president, she would not make predictions or put timelines on such actions.
Guwahati/Imphal/Agartala, March 24 : People from all walks of life, including traders and transporters, on Tuesday fully followed the lockdown, imposed on the seven northeastern states in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials said.

The authorities, specially the health services officials, have further stepped up their efforts and campaign against the COVID-19, after a 23-year-old Manipuri woman who returned from the United Kingdom last week tested positive, making it the first case in the northeast region of India.

The woman, who is now undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal, did not reveal her travel history earlier before she was detected positive with the novel coronavirus.

The officials of the Manipur health services said that on March 19 the younger brother of the woman had arrived in Kolkata from Atlanta. Both stayed in a hotel in Kolkata and arrived in Manipur capital Imphal on March 21 by a private airliner via Agartala airport (Tripura) along with 108 other passengers.

Majority of the northeastern states declared the lockdown until March 31, while Nagaland enforced it for indefinite period, Mizoram till March 29 and Meghalaya imposed the lockdown until March 29 with a break on March 26 to facilitate people to buy essential items and daily necessities.

During the lockdown period, various state governments of the region also announced a diverse sops and free rice supply and financial supports to the working class people especially the daily wage earners besides medical help.

In the lockdown period, banking services, shops and markets dealing with groceries, vegetables, medicine, milk, cooking gas, and petrol pumps would remain open in most of the northeastern states.

Most state governments also arranged alternate duty roster for their employees asking a large numbers of government staffs to come to office alternatively and to work from their residence.

However, just before and during the lockdown period, prices of various essentials, vegetables, meat, rice, and other commodities including soaps and disinfectants are soaring up. Availability of transport fuel becomes scarce.

The officials of the enforcement departments of various northeastern states are visiting in the markets to check the prices of the essentials, vegetables, meat, rice, and other supplies.

Assam Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb warned the traders and suppliers to take stern actions if they increase the prices of the essentials and try to hoard the commodities especially rice, potato and onion. In Guwahati, Sarma had urged people not to frighten as basic essential services would be available during the lockdown period.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed district Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to ensure that there is no shortage of essential commodities in the state.

In Agartala, according to Tripura Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar, 11 passengers, who came to Agartala with the same flight of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infected Manipuri girl are in home quarantine and another 47 people arrived in Tripura from abroad are in special surveillance.

He said the state, district and sub-divisional control rooms are being opened to monitor the situation round-the-clock.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to plead guilty to 84 involuntary manslaughter counts in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California's history. The plea by California's largest utility was announced on Monday by its parent PG&E Corp, three days after the utility accepted tighter oversight and pledged billions of dollars to improve safety and help wildfire victims, under an agreement California Governor Gavin Newsom.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to plead guilty to 84 involuntary manslaughter counts in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California's history.

The plea by California's largest utility was announced on Monday by its parent PG&E Corp, three days after the utility accepted tighter oversight and pledged billions of dollars to improve safety and help wildfire victims, under an agreement California Governor Gavin Newsom.

That agreement ended a major roadblock to PG&E's planned emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as Newsom devotes his attention to the coronavirus outbreak in his state.

Pacific Gas & Electric said it entered its plea through a March 17 agreement with the Butte County District Attorney's office, which would end all state criminal proceedings against the San Francisco-based company related to the Camp Fire.

The fire began on Nov. 8, 2018, and destroyed much of the town of Paradise, which had about 26,000 people, and nearby Concow. More than 18,000 buildings were destroyed. PG&E also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully starting a fire.

"We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident," PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said in a statement.

Under the agreement, PG&E would pay a maximum $3.5 million fine plus $500,000 in costs, and up to $15 million to provide water to residents after the fire destroyed the utility's Miocene Canal.

Some fire victims would receive payouts under PG&E's proposed bankruptcy reorganization plan, which was submitted on March 16, PG&E said.

The settlement requires approval by the Butte County Superior Court, and by the federal bankruptcy court overseeing PG&E's Chapter 11 case.

PG&E and its utility unit filed for bankruptcy in January 2019, citing more than $30 billion in potential liabilities from California wildfires in 2017 and 2018 linked to its equipment.

The company previously reached $25.5 billion of settlements related to wildfires in 2015, 2017 and 2018, including $13.5 billion for victims and $12 billion for insurers, cities, counties and other public entities.

Under the settlement with Newsom, PG&E agreed to pay no shareholder dividends for three years, saving about $4 billion, and pursue a "rate-neutral" $7.5 billion financing package that would benefit ratepayers.

PG&E also agreed to put itself up for sale if it cannot emerge from Chapter 11 by a state-imposed June 30 deadline, before the next wildfire season begins.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Marguerita Choy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Coronavirus has become a problem for the whole world. It can also give some relief to some prisoners. The court, in a hearing commenced with automatic cognizance of the security arrangements of the prisoners from the corona, said that under the right to life found in Article 21 of the Constitution, it is necessary to ensure that the corona infection does not spread in the jails. The court has issued these orders in order to reduce the congestion in the jails so that a certain distance between the inmates can be ensured and they can be protected from infection. Keep in mind that a few days ago a large number of prisoners have been released in Iran.

Corona: Man returned from Dubai furious over quarantine system of this hospital

In this order, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said that overcrowding in jails is a matter of serious concern. Especially in view of the corona epidemic. The court ordered each state and union territory to constitute a high power committee. This committee will include the chairman of the State Legal Service Committee, Principal Secretary Home or Jail and DGP Prison.

Corona will die with malaria medicine ICMR approves treatment

In its statement, the court further said that this high power committee will decide which category of prisoners can be released on interim bail or parole for how long. The court said that for example, the release of those prisoners who are guilty or under consideration for a sentence of 7 years or less can be considered. Or those who have been convicted less than the maximum punishment prescribed in the law. The court made it clear that the High Power Committee will have the right to decide which category of prisoners will be released. The committee will take appropriate decision after considering the nature, severity and how many years punishment has been taken.

First case of Corona came in Kanpur, couple returned from America
Trading update: A pharmacy in Rathmines. Uniphar is committed to keeping pharmacies supplied during the coronavirus outbreak

Shares in diversified healthcare services group Uniphar rose as much as 7pc yesterday after it said it was performing "ahead of expectations" so far this year.

The company is benefiting from a recent "significant spike" in demand across all of its three divisions, as Government and the wider healthcare sector ramp up Covid-19 related work.

It expects increased demand to continue across the group as it prepares for the full impact of the coronavirus crisis in the next 12 weeks, according to a trading update.

However, this will likely increase costs as it invests in additional resources to manage higher volumes.

The company is also preparing for a possible delay in medical device revenue, if certain "non-urgent" elective surgeries have to be postponed. Such a delay, were it to last three months, could have a one-off impact of 5m on earnings.

Ger Rabbette, Uniphar CEO, said: "We are closely monitoring the development of the Covid-19 situation.

"We are focused on the key role our organisation plays in ensuring patients have access to life-saving medicines, and on anticipating and overcoming the challenges which face us all in the coming weeks and months."

Uniphar, which raised 150m from its IPO last year, said it had a "strong" capital structure in place, with significant cash resources available.

At the year-end December 31, it held a net cash position of 26m, made up of 116m of cash and cash equivalents, and 90m of bank debt.

In addition to this, it has undrawn committed and uncommitted facilities of circa 55m. Analysts said the company's balance sheet was in "stellar shape".

Allan Smylie, of Davy Stockbrokers, said Uniphar's stock price was "absurdly cheap given its defensive model and net cash balance sheet".

The company will release its full-year results for 2019 on Friday.

Elsewhere, drug firm Amryt Pharma, which is focused on finding treatments for rare conditions, said its revenues last year grew 13pc to $154m (143m).

The impact of Covid-19 to date on Amryt's business has been minimised, it said in a trading update.

It added that it does not anticipate significant changes to its existing revenues as a result of the deadly virus.

At the end of December, the company had $65m, with no debt facilities due to mature before September 2024.
Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Detroit.

Brilliant Detroit dedicated to helping kids succeed

Brilliant Detroit is dedicated to building neighborhoods where families with children from birth to age 8 have what they need to be school-ready, healthy and stable.

Read the full story on CBS Detroit.

Governor extends restaurant, bar dine-in closures

The restaurant and bar dine-in shutdown is now scheduled to end on April 13

Read the full story on Eater Detroit.

Detroit announces food drop times, locations

Detroit ISD food drop-off locations for breakfast and lunch will be every Monday and Thursday at the following locations and times.

Read the full story on theparisnews.com.

Thanks to overwhelming support, Detroit Metro Times is pressing forward

To paraphrase one of the Motor City's most notable mayors, "Detroit ... you done set us up for a comeback!"

Read the full story on Detroit Metro Times.

Pickup driver flees scene after causing another car to crash into home, police say

The driver of a pickup truck fled the scene after causing another car to crash into a home on Detroit's west side, police said.

Read the full story on Graham Media: ClickOnDetroit.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
After warnings Monday from the World Health Organization that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating and will get worse, as astronomical rates of new U.S. cases raised alarms, Washington put the final touches on a $6 trillion stimulus package to offset a dramatic drop in growth.

Across the world, more than 400,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19  with both Europe and America accounting for 85% of the new cases, according to WHO officials. The outbreak also forced the International Olympic Committee to officially postpone the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

While the WHOs director general said there was still time to change the trajectory, he noted the growth rate was accelerating. It took 67 days from the first cases to hit 100,000  but the subsequent 100,000 increases have occurred far more rapidly.

The outbreak continues to swamp Italy, which is now grappling with 60,000 infections and a death toll that recently surpassed Chinas, where the coronavirus first reared its head. The U.K. saw its caseload surge to more than 8,000, just as Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a countrywide lockdown, and France reported that its infections have topped 22,000 on over 1,000 deaths.

Over a dozen U.S. states are directing citizens to stay indoors, and countless businesses and public spaces shut down, as infections continue to surge and are now close to 50,000 nationwide a result of increased testing results being reported.

The number of coronavirus diagnoses in the U.S. as of Tuesday.

In New York  where a surge in new cases in New York City has made the state the worst-hit in the nation  Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for stricter enforcement of state-wide social distancing measures, especially in the city.

We havent flattened the curve, and the curve is actually increasing, Cuomo said Tuesday, calling the rates of new diagnoses astronomical  even as President Donald Trump hints at re-starting the economy within a matter of weeks. Calls are growing for the president to order a nationwide lockdown, an outcome hes resisted as the economic toll mounts.

Story continues

Weve closed businesses, weve reduced street density, and weve increased testing to the highest level in the country, Cuomo added, issuing a stark warning that the state could be overwhelmed within two to three weeks.

No one is testing more than we are testing. So in many ways, we have exhausted every option available to us, the governor said. The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought, that is a bad combination of facts.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House task force, said Tuesday that the country has ramped up testing in the last eight days, completing more than 300,000 tests in that time. Of those cases testing positive, the rate in New York is five times the rest of the country.

Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the country, said that while there was still need to implement strict restrictions on movement especially in New York, Florida and other hard-hit areas it is possible that parts of the country are relieved sooner than others.

Profound ramifications

Stocks surged Tuesday, offsetting the prior days steep losses as market participants anxiously awaited further fiscal stimulus measures from policymakers to combat the pandemic, which has brought the economy to a screeching halt.

The shutdown of major cities is expected to batter a previously hot U.S. jobs market. In a research note to clients on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank said that an economic shock of this magnitude has the potential to have profound ramifications for the labour markets on both sides of the Atlantic.

With activity in both Europe and the U.S. all but frozen, Deutsche added that such output losses could mean job losses potentially in excess of 15 million in the US and possibly approaching that number in Europe  though those stunning losses may be helped by the vast amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus being planned.

However, the U.S.s shutdown is being exacerbated by a lack of widespread testing, and critical supplies needed to manage the rising caseload.

Ford (F), 3M (MMM) and General Electric (GE) joined other companies in announcing a partnership to pivot and produce personal protective equipment for health workers, including face shields, respirators and ventilators. The timeline for ventilators was less certain, but Ford said it is using car parts for air flow, such as those used in an F-150, for the equipment.

Additionally, New York has also been aggressive in testing potential treatments, starting trials of the malaria pill, hydroxychloroquine. However, the drug has been a point of controversy, with health experts waiting for a clinical trial to prove its efficacy while Trump has promoted the drug as a potential game changer.

AbbVie reported a failure in its clinical trial Tuesday for a drug that could have been used as a treatment for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences received orphan disease designation for its remdesivir which is expected to produce positive results by next month.

Some states have taken to limiting prescriptions, as reports of hoarding of the drug and off-label use increase, shorting the supply for individuals who is it to treat arthritis or lupus.

Cuomo also said he is looking to increase the needed bed capacity from the current 53,000 to more than 140,000. The 1,000-bed alternative sites, like the Javits conference center, will not be enough. He has been reaching out to hotels to use rooms and state universities to use dorm rooms.

Anjalee Khemlani is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @AnjKhem

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Houston hotel operators are shutting down properties, furloughing thousands of workers and struggling to pay their debts as a sharp decline in demand grows deeper each day.

Properties once bustling with activity from business travelers and conference-goers are now being operated by skeleton crews. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, swimming pools and fitness centers have been closed to the few guests that remain.

Were seeing anywhere from 5 to 10 percent occupancy, which is kind of our new norm, said Scott Austin, senior vice president of operations with American Liberty Hospitality, a hotel management and development company with seven Houston properties.

The coronavirus, which has shuttered bars and narrowly limited restaurants to pickup and delivery, is taking a particularly distressing toll on the hospitality industry. Convention and business travel began shutting down weeks ago and the pace has only quickened, leaving owners to grapple with whether to stay open or close their doors until business comes back.

The first blow came in early March with the cancellation of CERAWeek, a major energy conference where attendees had booked more than 11,700 room nights at area hotels. Since then, meetings and business travel, the primary demand drivers for Houston hotels, have all but disappeared.

What were seeing now is the trickle down, said Bill Franks, a Houston-based hotel consultant. Everybody is canceling. No one is traveling.

On HoustonChronicle.com: New coronavirus addendum will allow buyers, sellers to cancel Texas housing contracts

Thousands of workers who clean guest rooms, prepare and deliver room service and greet customers have seen their jobs go away. Across Texas, nearly 269,000 direct and indirect hotel jobs will be eliminated in the coming weeks due to the coronavirus, according to a new analysis of Oxford Economics data by the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Thats based on a total of 659,000 hotel-supported jobs in the state.

Unfortunately, this situation will likely get worse before it gets better, Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson said last week on a conference call with investors. There have been historically high levels of cancellations for stays in the first half of this year.

While hotel operations are seeing signs of improvement in China, where new occurrences of the virus are slowing, properties in Europe and North America are seeing occupancies of less than 25 percent, compared with around 70 percent a year ago, Sorenson said.

In some instances it makes more sense to close properties than it does to operate with a handful of guests.

In The Woodlands, Howard Hughes Corp. ordered the temporary closures of three of its hotel properties: The Woodlands Resort, the Westin The Woodlands and the Embassy Suites by Hilton at Hughes Landing. The closings were effective Sunday afternoon.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Tenants, landlords adapt as coronavirus crimps incomes, lifestyles

Houston-based American Liberty, which has furloughed at least 500 workers across its 16-property portfolio, is keeping its properties open because there is still some transient business.

Were realizing staying at home isnt an option for everyone and travel for some is still a must, Austin, its vice president of operations, said.

It can also be easier to ramp up operations once business returns as opposed to closing when there are still significant ongoing expenses, like keeping the utilities running and hiring security.

But without money coming in, hotel owners  many of whom are small businesses with loans on their properties  face calamitous outcomes should they miss their debt payments.

Last week, industry leaders met with White House officials to ask for help as travel ground to a halt and many hotels were on the verge of shutting their doors. They made requests for low-interest loans and programs to help employees.

Hotel operators two largest expenses are labor and debt service, said Nick Massad Jr., chief executive of American Liberty, whose holdings iclude the Embassy Suites and Sam Houston Hotel downtown.

If we can get those two in control and control our other fixed operating expenses, he said, we may be able to survive this.

Coronavirus updates: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

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SMITHFIELD, Va., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump issued a proclamation declaring March 24, 2020 as National Agriculture Day, highlighting the critical and foundational nature of farmers in the American economy and American way of life.



In his proclamation the President stated, As our Nation continues to face the unique challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, we pay tribute to the unbeatable strength of America's agricultural producers as they once again answer the call to feed our country and the world. On this National Agriculture Day, and now more than ever, we salute and honor the men and women who contribute daily to our national prosperity.

At Smithfield Foods, we join the White House in rising up to salute our American food heroes, including the 40,000 Smithfield employees on our farms and in our facilities, thousands of family farmers and other partners in the supply chain who feed millions of people in the United States and around the world every day.

Smithfield Foods President and CEO Kenneth M. Sullivan recently highlighted the critical and essential nature of agriculture and food workers in our nations ongoing response to COVID-19, noting that it is expressly because of the dedication of agriculture and food workers that we continue to have food on tables across America.

U.S. agriculture and food workers are the lifeblood of our communities and our economy, today more than ever, Sullivan stated. I applaud the President for honoring and celebrating the vital role these hardworking men and women are playing during this crucial time. We all owe them a great debt of gratitude.

About Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing Good food. Responsibly. and have made us one of the worlds leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including many industry firsts, such as our ambitious commitment to cut our carbon impact by 25 percent by 2025. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our neighbors in need. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich and Nathans Famous, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn and Instagram .
OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Hecla Mining Co. (HL) announced Tuesday that it is suspending operations at Casa Berardi until April 13, 2020 in compliance with the Quebec Government COVID-19 order for the mining industry. The company's estimates for production and cost will be reviewed with the first quarter earnings release. Casa Berardi will have limited operations to protect the facilities and environment while operations are suspended. However, the miner confirmed that it does not have a case of COVID-19. The Government of Quebec ordered the mining industry to reduce to minimum operations as part of the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
With the coronavirus pandemic still accelerating in many parts of the world, individuals are coming up with contributions in varying shapes and forms. One such contribution, angled at American individuals to track the spread of the coronavirus in the country, is covidnearyou.org  a free to use tracking website that offers you details about the spread of SARS-CoV-2 across USA. Additionally, the website also asks you about any symptoms that you might be facing, asking you if you're feeling fine, or a bit under the weather. Depending on your response, the site offers you either a simple form asking if you've received the flu vaccine, or which of 14 selected symptoms might you be facing.

Additionally, scrolling down on the website shows past two weeks of COVID-19 activity in whichever region you wish to search for. You can do this by simply entering the ZIP code. However, the tracking service appears to be offline or broken at the moment, since the latest numbers on the website remain unavailable. If you aren't feeling well, you can select the listed symptoms on the site (or opt for other and describe your problem precisely), following which you would be asked more details, such as how many days has it been since you fell sick, if you've consulted a doctor, if you've received a flu vaccine, if you have remained in quarantine, if you've recently been in contact with anyone who may have tested positive for COVID-19, and lastly, if you have any travel history that you would like to disclose.

The website was built by a group of 30 volunteers in USA working in multiple technology giants. The project was started by Sidewalk Labs' product head, Prem Ramaswami, when both he and his wife were down with COVID-19 symptoms, but were denied tests by a doctor since they were not clearly in contact with a known COVID-19 patient. He then contacted John Brownstein, the chief innovation officer of Boston Children's Hospital and one of silicon valley's favourite doctors, who then directed him towards the idea of such a website. Ramaswami subsequently brought together a group of his coder friends, who work in myriad IT-related jobs in USA in companies such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, CloudFlare, MongoDB and other technology majors, who worked for six straight nights to come up with this website.

Covidnearyou also partners with Harvard Medical School, which offers it reliable content access, therefore making it a very trustworthy website. Going forward, it remains to be seen if such public web hostings see a better response than government-run sites for being information sources. More importantly, it also marks the initiation of a new website that can help many ease their tensions with a lightweight, easy to run and use source of comprehensive information on COVID-19.
Entire Haryana went under lockdown on Tuesday, a day after the state government issued the order to help check the spread of coronavirus.

The Haryana government had earlier ordered lockdown in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panchkula districts till March 31 but later decided to extend the measure to the entire state.

However, all essential and emergency services are exempted, officials said.

During the lockdown, all commercial establishments, shops and factories will remain closed, except those dealing in essential commodities like food, grocery, medicines, etc., they said.

Other essential services such as water supply, sanitation and electricity supply are also exempted from the lockdown, the officials said.

Public transport services, including taxis and auto-rickshaws, will be off the roads in the state, they said.

"We will ensure that the lockdown is strictly enforced, though essential and emergency services will be maintained," state Home Minister Anil Vij said.

Police personnel and administration officials could be seen appealing to the people at many places across the state to stay indoors.

State borders will remain sealed during the lockdown period and inter-state bus services suspended.

Section 144 of the CrPC which prohibits the assembly of five or more people has been imposed in the state.

Those violating the lockdown will invite punishment under the law, Vij warned while appealing to people to cooperate with the government.

So far, 14 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

On Monday, the state government announced a special financial aide of Rs 1,200 crore per month for the poor and low income groups like daily wagers, labourers, street vendors and construction workers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By The Associated Press Mar. 22, 2020 | 09:08 PM | WASHINGTON

Top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House teetered Sunday over a now nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package, as the coronavirus crisis deepened, the nation shut down and the first U.S. senator tested positive for the disease.

As President Donald Trump took to the podium in the White House briefing room and promised to help Americans who feel afraid and isolated as the pandemic spreads, the Senate voted against advancing the rescue package. But negotiations continued on Capitol Hill.

I think you'll get there. To me it's not very complicated: We have to help the worker. We have to save the companies," Trump said. We're enduring a great national trial and we will prove that we can meet the moment. We're at war."

At the otherwise emptied out Capitol, the draft aid bill was declared insufficient by Democrats, who argued it was tilted toward corporations and did too little to help workers and healthcare providers. The setback sent Republicans back to the negotiating table.

With a population on edge and shell-shocked financial markets poised for the new work week, doubts emerged about the fate of an agreement that would provide some relief against health and economic crises that are likely to stretch for several months.

Americans don't need to see us haggling endlessly, warned Senate Majority Leader McConnell, R-Ky., his voice rising on the Senate floor. He sought passage of the package by Monday.

But Democrats say the largely GOP-led effort does not go far enough to provide health care and unemployment aid for Americans, and fails to put restraints on a proposed $500 billion slush fund for corporations.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the draft package significantly cut back our hospitals, our cities, our states, our medical workers and so many others needed in this crisis.

While the congressional leaders worked to send help, alarms were being sounded from coast to coast about the wave of coronavirus cases about to crash onto the nation's health system.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had dire, urgent news from the pandemics U.S. epicenter: April and May are going to be a lot worse, he said on NBCs Meet the Press.

De Blasio all but begged Washington to help procure ventilators and other medical supplies. He accused the president of not lifting a finger to help.

Trump urged Congress to get a deal done and, during the Sunday briefing, responded to criticism that his administration was sluggish to act. He cited his cooperation with the three states hardest hit  New York, Washington and California  and invoked a measure to give governors flexibility in calling up the national guard under their control, while the federal government covers the bill.

But even as Trump stressed federal-local partnerships, some governors, including Republican Greg Abbott of Texas, expressed unhappiness with Washington's response. The president himself took a swipe hours earlier at Gov. J. B. Pritzker, D-Ill., saying that he and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News" should not be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings."

This came as the first senator, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, announced he tested positive for the coronavirus. Paul, who is a doctor and close ally of the president, said in a tweet he was not showing symptoms and was in quarantine.

Paul was seen at a GOP senators' lunch on Friday and swimming in the Senate gym pool on Sunday morning. His office said he left the Senate immediately after learning his diagnosis.

A growing list of lawmakers have cycled in and out of isolation after exposure, and two members of the House have said they tested positive. Five senators were in self-quarantine Sunday evening.

In recent days, Trump invoked the Defense Protection Act, a rarely used, decades-old authority that can be used to compel the private sector to manufacture needed medical supplies like masks and ventilators. Officials said Sunday that it would be used voluntarily and businesses would not be compelled to act.

We are a country not based on nationalizing our business, said Trump, who has repeatedly railed against socialism overseas and among Democrats. Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well."

The president tweeted Sunday that automakers General Motors and Tesla were given the go ahead to make ventilators and other products. But no automaker is anywhere close to making medical gear such as ventilators and remain months away, if not longer. Nor do the car companies need the presidents permission to move forward.

Two days after he lashed out at a reporter who asked about his message to frightened Americans, Trump said, ``For those worried and afraid, please know as long as I am your president, you can feel confident that you have a leader who will always fight for you.

But minutes later, when he learned that rival Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was one of those in isolation, he declared "Romney's in isolation? Gee, thats too bad."

Trump said he was not being sarcastic. He also, at one moment, incongruously complained about the lawsuits and scrutiny has faced in his short political career, saying I think it's very hard for rich people to run for office.

The urgency to act is mounting, as jobless claims skyrocket, businesses shutter and the financial markets are set to re-open Monday eager for signs that Washington can soften the blow of the healthcare crisis and what experts say is a looming recession. Stock futures declined sharply as Trump spoke Sunday evening.

Officials late Sunday put the price tag of the ballooning rescue package at nearly $2 trillion. That does not include additional measures being taken by the Federal Reserve to shore up the economy.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was leading a third day of nonstop talks on Capitol Hill, said the plan was meant to prop up the nations weakened economy for the next 10 to 12 weeks.

Mnuchin said workers and businesses will get assistance to help cover payrolls for the next 10 weeks; unemployment insurance; and a one-time bridge payment of about $3,000 for a family of four. Hospitals, he said, will get approximately $110 billion for the expected influx of sick patients.

The treasury secretary said a significant part of the package will involve working with the Federal Reserve for up to $4 trillion of liquidity to support the economy with broad-based lending programs.

But Democrats have pushed for add-ons, including food security aid, small business loans and other measures for workers  saying the three months of unemployment insurance offered under the draft plan was not enough.

They warned the draft plan's $500 billion for corporations does not put enough restraints on business, saying the ban on corporate stock buy-backs is weak and the limits on executive pay are only for two years.

We're not here to create a slush fund for Donald Trump and his family, or a slush fund for the Treasury Department to be able to hand out to their friends, said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. We're here to help workers, we're here to help hospitals.

The president, when pressed by a reporter, dodged a question as to whether his own business would seek federal funds. He also said, unlike his predecessors at times of national crisis, he would likely not call any past presidents for advice, saying I don't think I'm going to learn much.

The details are coming from drafts of both bills circulating among lobbyists but not yet released to the public. They were obtained by The Associated Press.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is seen in Albuquerque, N.M., in a file photograph. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

New Mexico Issues Stay-at-Home Order to Limit COVID-19 Spread

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Monday that all New Mexico residents must stay at home, saying that the approach is the only way to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The public health order will be effective on Tuesday at 8 a.m. local time and last until at least April 10.

Lujan Grisham said that residents need to avoid gatherings and avoid face-to-face contact as much as possible and practice social distancing.

All New Mexicans are instructed to stay at home except for outings essential to health, safety, and welfare, Lujan Grisham wrote in an announcement.

It is urgently important that New Mexicans understand: You must stay home. Dont panicbut its no time for business as usual. This is life-and-death, and the most important thing the average New Mexican can do to help, right now, is stay at home, she added.

All businesses except those deemed essential to public health, safety and well-being will be ordered closed. Our society must continue to operatebut in an extremely limited way.

Essential services include health care services, grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, utilities, child care for essential workers, banks & credit unions, shelters, emergency services, and infrastructure operations.

Right now, every time you leave your house, you are putting yourself, your family and your community at risk, Lujan Grisham said, according to a statement.

As we wait for the federal government to get states the help we need in expanding capacity and testing materials and financial assistance, staying home is the one action all of us, individually and as a group, can control, she added. Please stay home. Help protect New Mexico.

The order also restricts gatherings of five or more people in outdoor spaces.

Does this order mean you cannot walk your dog? No. Does it mean you cant go for a jog? No, the governor said. But you should not do those things in a groupand you should be home as soon as possible.

At least 12 other states have issued similar stay-at-home orders.

Businesses that violate the order could lose their licenses to operate and face civil or criminal penalties, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

New Mexicans wishing to report a violation will soon be able to call the non-emergency COVID-19 state hotline, 1-833-551-0518, the statement reads.

New Mexicans who experience fever, cough, or shortness of breathsuspected symptoms of COVID-19should call their doctor or the states health hotline on 1-855-600-3453.

Testing and travel guidelines for New Mexicans can be found here.

The Epoch Times 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.
Ventilators, masks and gowns are in short supply nationwide as COVID-19 continues to spread. Area officials are tracking that equipment locally to determine whether more is needed in the Chippewa Valley.

Angela Weideman, Chippewa County public health director, said she has been in contact with the hospitals, EMS agencies and nursing homes in the county, trying to determine the total number of ventilators here.

We have a team looking into that right now, Weideman said. I know, for the most part, who has them but I dont know the exact number at each place.

For instance, the EMS agencies in Chippewa County have three ventilators. Many of the nursing homes have them  but those are already in use.

Chippewa County emergency management director Dennis Brown has been working with Weideman to track and compile the list of area ventilators. He declined to say a number at this time.

Hospitals have some ventilators. Eliminating elective surgeries frees up some ventilators, Brown said. Ventilators arent in any real use in this area  theres been no surge in our area.

As of Monday afternoon, Chippewa County still has just one positive COVID-19 case; that person remains in isolation at home, and never needed to use a ventilator or stay at an area hospital, Weideman said. That person, who is under age 30, had visited another area where COVID-19 cases are higher. Weideman said the persons condition hasnt changed since they announced the confirmed case on Thursday.

There are now at least 15 confirmed COVID cases in western Wisconsin, but no deaths reported.

Weideman urged area residents to not get complacent because there have been relatively few confirmed cases locally.

People might look at that case total and say, Thats a low number, Weideman said. Its really important for people to follow the mitigation efforts.

Other areas of the state have been hit much harder so far by the spread of COVID-19; Milwaukee County has 243 of the states 457 confirmed cases through mid-day Tuesday, including three of the states five deaths. The other deaths have occurred in Fond du Lac and Ozaukee counties.

Weideman wouldnt rule out that some of the area ventilators could be moved around to other areas where the machines are needed now.

We have a regional consortium for preparedness, she said. We share when we can share.

Karen Kraus, public relations specialist at HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Josephs Hospitals, said the number of available ventilators in the area fluctuate daily; she also couldnt provide a number that is at each facility.

There have been four confirmed COVID-19 cases in Eau Claire County. Kraus didnt know whether any of those individuals had been treated in the HSHS hospital system, and if so, if any had needed the use of a ventilator.

Like Brown, Kraus noted that elective surgeries have been canceled, which frees up beds and ventilators.

Kraus said the hospital system is preparing to obtain more gowns and masks and other equipment that physicians will need, and theyve been working closely with their vendors.

From the HSHS standpoint, we are OK, Kraus said. We are taking measures to conserve, but we arent panicking. We are using our (supplies and equipment) as needed.

Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation has started collecting homemade face masks that will be distributed to patients in the hospital system. The foundation posted on its Facebook page asking people who are staying home and need a project to sew masks. If they cannot obtain elastic, they will accept masks with ties.

Sewn masks will alleviate the shortage and will be distributed to patients to help provide a protective barrier, so that medical-grade N95 masks may be conserved for our health care providers, the Facebook post reads.

Those homemade masks can be dropped off from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Acoustic Cafe, 505 S. Barstow St., in Eau Claire.

Kraus praised the collaboration efforts of all the area medical systems as they prepare for more cases.

Erma Radke, OakLeaf Surgical Hospital spokeswoman, said she couldnt comment at this time, other than to say they are in contact with the other area hospitals and working with them.

Like Weideman, Kraus urged people to not back off the social distancing guidelines.

Just because its something you cant see, it doesnt mean its not real, Kraus said. People have to take it seriously.

Just because its something you cant see, it doesnt mean its not real. People have to take it seriously. Karen Kraus, public relations specialist at HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Josephs Hospitals

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[March 24, 2020] City of Newark, NJ Partners With 120Water For Post Lead Service Line Replacement Program

ZIONSVILLE, Ind., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 120Water , a comprehensive digital water platform in use at over 170,000 locations across the nation, has been selected by the City of Newark, NJ to manage The Newark Way of Thinking & Drinking, a post lead service line (LSL) replacement program to ensure residents have clean, safe and reliable drinking water. Click to Tweet .

Newark began a 30-month LSL replacement program in 2019 with the goal of replacing approximately 18,000 LSLs that deliver drinking water to residents--at no cost to homeowners. The program is both highly complex and challenging given that water at the tap must be validated to be lead compliant six months after service lines are replaced, and Newark has a large population of renters who are transient and may not feel engaged with the effort. 120Water and Newark together developed a program, called The Newark Way of Thinking & Drinking, to educate residents about the LSL replacement program and the actions they can take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water, and to increase the rate of return of water testing kits. Newarks effort to proactively communicate to residents is a modelof what a modern lead service line replacement program should be, said Megan Glover, CEO of 120Water. The six-month post replacement sampling validates if the line replacement has effectively removed the lead threat in the drinking water, and is crucial to the success of the program.



The communications program developed by 120Water and Newark includes a variety of communication tactics to engage Newark residents, including a multi-step direct mail campaign with educational content, interactive games, and a viral program to encourage residents to share the clean water mission. Theres an emphasis on engaging kids in the community with puzzles, stickers, and games that make the subject of clean drinking water fun and educational. Six months after an LSL is replaced, the 120Water solution triggers the mailing of a verification testing kit to residents with simple, step-by-step directions to fill the bottle and return it in the mailer provided. Results go directly to a state certified laboratory where they are analyzed. The verification and results are automatically tracked via 120Waters cloud-based software, where the data can be leveraged to trigger follow-on communications if appropriate.

Since tap water must be retested after a lead service line is replaced, we must rely on residents and landlords to ensure the testing takes place accurately and on time, said Tiffany Stewart, Assistant Director at Newarks Department of Water. 120Water serves as an extension of our staff to educate residents about the importance of the lead drinking water program, gain their cooperation, and ultimately create better public health. About 120Water

Water professionals across the country rely on 120Water to streamline and modernize their most complex drinking water initiatives from source, to tap, to inbox. The 120Water platform is comprised of sample & filter kits, cloud-based software, and services used to manage and execute water programs at scale while saving operational resources. 120Water solutions are used in 170,000 locations across the United States for clients including the city of Newark (NJ), Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Chicago Public Schools, Indiana Finance Authority, and Mott McDonald. More information is available at 120WaterAudit.com and on Twitter @120_Water. For information contact: Linda Muskin, 847-432-7300

[email protected] Mara Conklin, 847-816-9411

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm tonight on issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is Modi's second address to countrymen in less than a week as India is ramping up efforts to curtail the spread of the highly contagious virus.

"Will address the nation at 8 PM today, 24th March 2020, on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19," read a tweet by the Prime Minister.

In his previous address to the nation on Thursday, the Prime Minister had urged people to follow a 'Janta Curfew' on Sunday which was, by and large, a success as citizens remained indoors. As of now, almost the entire country is under lockdown to restrict public movement in a bid to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus.

Prime Minister Modi will also communicate with the people of his Lok Sabha constituency -- Varanasi -- on March 25 to discuss the situation arising out of coronavirus pandemic.

The number of coronavirus positive patients in India rose to 471 on Monday, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The Central government has taken several steps to contain the spread of the virus, including stoppage of all incoming passenger traffic on 107 immigration check posts at all airports, seaports, land ports, rail ports, and river ports.

The Indian Railways has also cancelled all passenger train operations till March 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since 1983, Christian Helping Hands in Pearland has provided food and clothing to under-served families in the area, and while resources have been affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit group remains on the front lines of outreach.

We are shorthanded, but we know the ropes,said founder Hita Dickson, 74.

The organization, which serves Pearland, Friendswood, Brookside Village and Manvel with food and vouchers for clothes, medicine and emergency lodging, has scaled down out of necessity.

The facility will remain closed to the public for now, but a core volunteer crew of about 12 mostly older people will continue to distribute to families that provide proof of identification via a drive-up distribution system that adheres to the social distance and safety precaution guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Virus affecting operations

For instance, CHH, which is open Monday through Thursday, is asking clients arriving to pick up items to limit the number of family members coming with them and to not to bring children if possible. On a recent day, the CHH served from 20 to 40 families.

CHH volunteers follow safeguard protocols suggested by the CDC  washing their hands every 15 minutes, using disinfecting wipes to clean surfaces and practicing social distancing methods.

Representatives for each family receive at least two grocery carts of food in an outside area with lines designated for distancing purposes.

More Information Christian Helping Hands Inc. What: The nonprofit group provides food and clothing to underserved families in Pearland, Friendswood, Brookside Village and Manvel. Where: 3402 Swensen Drive at Old Alvin Road (across from Alexander Middle School) Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday To help: The group is accepting food donations, hygiene products and household cleaning supplies. More information: Call 281-485-9776 or email Christian Helping Hands at info@christianhelpinghands.org See More Collapse

They park the car, walk up and stand behind a certain line and we take their information and (they) go stand someplace else, Dickson said. Or what often happens is a volunteer will take a grocery cart to a vehicle, bring it back and before anyone touches it again, that cart gets wiped down and then the process starts all over again.

CHH is asking those receiving items to limit what they take and seek help from other food pantry services.

Its a lot of food, Dickson said of what her group provides. But on the other hand were asking them not to come back for at least a month because we have to restock (for others).

CHH receives donations from local grocery stores but the virus is cutting those resources because those stores are selling much of their food. Donations are still coming in, however.

Donation: 1,500 pounds of carrots

According to Dickson, in one week, CHH received 1,500 pounds of carrots, and someone recently brought in 60 pounds of fresh lemons and grapefruits.

The big needs, said Dickson, are the same needs everywhere  hand sanitizers, household cleaners, soap, toilet papers, laundry detergent and bread products.

Brazoria County has reported novel coronavirus cases, including some in the Pearland/Alvin area.

Christian Helping Hands serves 32 registered families on a regular basis. In normal times, about 100 volunteers keep operations moving throughout the week, with clients sitting in a reception room.

For now, CCH is down to a skeleton crew.

The bottom line for Christian Helping Hands, said Dickson, is that people still need to be helped and somebody still has to help them.

I was a co-founder of this organization and I cant ask somebody do something if I cant, in good faith, do it myself, she said.

Dickson said clients have been equally vigilant and respect social distancing guidelines.

Everybody is trying to get through this, everybody understands, said Dickson.

yorozco@hcnonline.com
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The State government has requested the Ministry of External Affairs to assist students from Andhra Pradesh stuck in Philippines, United Kingdom, Georgia and Kazakhstan, for their safe return.

Praveen Prakash, Principal Secretary of Chief Minister and Principal Secretary (GAD-Political), wrote separate letters to the joint secretaries of the Ministry of External Affairs, with copies to Indian ambassadors and high commissioners of the respective countries, in this regard. Copies of the letters were also sent to PS to the Minister of External Affairs.

In the letter addressed to Vishvas Vidu Sapka, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, with a copy to Jaideep Mazumdar, Ambassador of India to the Philippines, Praveen Prakash said about 70 students and professionals from AP, who were presently in Manila, wanted to return due to closure of the universities in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

He requested the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ambassador to help those 70 in returning home and shared the phone number of one Chandaka Roshika, who represented the students group.

In the letter to Sandeep Arya, Joint Secretary Ministry of External Affairs with a copy to Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, the official explained that around 34 students and professionals from the State are presently in London and want to return to their native place due to the closure of their universities. A list of the names and contact numbers of those stuck in London was also provided.

Similarly, in the letter written to Sandeep Arya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, with a copy to KD Dewal, Ambassador of India to Armenia (concurrently accredited to Georgia), Praveen Prakash said about 10 students and professionals from Andhra Pradesh, were stuck in Tbilisi, Georgia

In the letter to Manish Prabhat, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, and copy to Prabhat Kumar, Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan, the official said as many as 25 students and professionals from the State were presently in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and wanted to return to the State.

Contact numbers of Ravi Shankar, assistant commissioner of AP Bhavan, Medapati S Venkat, advisor to Government of AP (NRT Affairs), and president of AP Non Residental Telugu Society, were also provided for coordination.
People need faith, but they need safety just as much.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on church leaders of all faiths to conduct services without the actual attendance of parishioners, so as not to create crowds and thereby not contribute to the spread of the coronavirus.

"I thank those church leaders who understand the threat and conduct worship services without attendees, online. I am sure that other heads [of churches] will follow suit in such forced practice. Indeed, today people really need faith, but they need basic safety just as much," Zelensky said in a video address on Monday.

The president once again urged citizens to stay home and not to go outside without an urgent need.

Read alsoCargo plane brings to Ukraine COVID-19 tests, protective gear from China

"This applies not only to the elderly, but to all citizens. Don't expose yourself and others to risk," he said.

Zelensky noted that even the richest countries openly acknowledge that their health care systems aren't prepared to withstand heavy inflows of infected patients.

"Therefore, task No. 1 is to minimize the spread of the virus," the president concluded.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 11, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to introduce quarantine across Ukraine from March 12 to April 3 due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Renault Nissan Automotive India Limited (RNAIPL) India has suspended operations at its manufacturing facility at Oragadam, Chennai. In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, the facility will remain closed until further notice. The company has reiterated that the safety and health of all its employees, partners and local communities is of topmost priority for the carmaker.

Commenting on the situation, Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO and Managing Director, Renault India Operations, said, The health, safety and well-being of all Renault employees, dealers and other partners, their families and community at large is of utmost priority. In view of the escalating COVID-19 situation and to help prevent the spread of the virus, production has been temporarily suspended at our Alliance Plant. We will await further notifications from the state government to resume operations.

RNAIPL has also announced that it will take all the necessary actions to safeguard the well-being of its employees and partners, and will closely monitor the situation. All employees in the companys corporate and regional offices including Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune will continue to work from home.

Renault
Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogois nomination to the Rajya Sabha, his speech in Parliament and television interviews have generated considerable discussion. Earlier, former CJI Ranganath Mishra was a Rajya Sabha member, winning the election on a Congress ticket seven years after retirement. Advocate Baharul Islam too was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket who but he resigned later and became a judge in the Gauhati High Court.

A section of opinion shared in the media states that Gogois nomination to the Rajya Sabha will break the Code of Omerta that prevented judges from talking about corruption and loss of independence. Who are we fooling by saying so and on whose behest? In 2010, former law minister Shanti Bhushan moved an application in the Supreme Court, accusing eight former CJIs of corruption. He also wrote that two former Chief Justices told him while they were in office, their immediate predecessor and immediate successor were corrupt judges. Names of these four CJIs were also mentioned in the application.

In 2015, former SC judge Markandey Katju told a gathering of Punjab & Haryana High Court lawyers that 50% of the higher judiciary (SC and HC judges) was corrupt. In April 2017, a CJI-headed SC bench summoned Justice CS Karnan of Kolkata High Court in contempt of court, and Karnan in turn summoned the CJI and six other SC judges to appear at his residence. Karnan did appear before the SC later but reiterated his charges against the CJI and six SC judges. Karnan was finally retired but the sordid drama uncovered the state of morality and conduct in higher echelons of the judiciary.

In January 2017, the Bar Council of India informed the apex court that its ongoing pan-India drive found the number of 'genuine lawyers' was just about 55-60%. So, how many non-genuine lawyers became judges over the years? There was also a CD circulating in 2012 of a politician putting a prospective judge through a personal physical, filmed by his driver. Post-retirement employment of judges in tribunals, commissions or other assignments has been ongoing for years. Whether and how such promises do or do not affect judgments is for the readers to discern.

Vague judgments which help governments of the day also have been practised in the past several days. Same goes for post-retirement judicial assignments but in this case anything not palatable to the government of the day can be muzzled. Report of the one-man judicial committee of L Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, on OROP is in the freezer since October 26, 2016 though it was a 10-month sojourn for Reddy visiting 20 cities/towns, enjoying hospitality of the army and multiple states, at the end of which he thanked the powers for enabling his char dham yatra in style.

The revelation by Gogoi about a lobby influencing the judiciary is nothing new except that he put the number at half a dozen. It boils down to corruption and integrity of judges, same as what Shanti Bhushan wrote to the SC and Markandey Katju told lawyers of Punjab & Haryana High Court. How is judiciary held to ransom  money, fear of life, career progression or promises of post- retirement employment? If judiciary was or is being controlled, what about bodies like the Election Commission of India and Comptroller and Auditor General that are supposed to be constitutionally protected?

January 12, 2018 witnessed an unprecedented spectacle of four senior SC judges, including Ranjan Gogoi, publicly protesting against the CJI and holding a joint press conference about problems they said were afflicting the functioning of the top court. Did such open protest befit senior judges of SC or was it better for them to jointly meet the Prime Minister or the President and brief them about the problems or irregularities in the SC? Given the lobby/controller theory, are we in for more such public protests? What about decorum of the SC?

Many judgments in high-profile cases were given during Gogois tenure as CJI which are well known. But isnt it surprising that the plea to open inquiry into ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley was not entertained on the grounds that the case was too old? Was this due to pressure from the lobby/controllers/government? Can Gogoi throw some light on how his work was interfered with and how did he clean house? How come the SC didnt take suo-moto notice of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah allegedly publicly preaching secession and demanding imposition of Sharia even before abrogation of Article 370?

Discussion over how soon a Chief Justice or CJI should be inducted in Parliament post retirement only results in mudslinging. Every government rules the roost and does what it wants. Induction of Gogoi into the Rajya Sabha is very good especially with many in Parliament, even ministers, making fools of themselves periodically on electronic media through nonsensical statements. Gogoi says he was looking forward to enjoying a retired life till he received the call (on behalf of the President) about nomination to the Rajya Sabha, which he could not refuse. This is akin to the former Chief of the army Staff (COAS) saying he was looking forward to retired life, probably running a school, knowing fully he was to be the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Gogoi would have been sounded in advance about his nomination: standard procedure in all such cases.

Assam is an important state, what with the turbulence on account of the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act related protests that caused cancellation of the Modi-Abe annual summit at Guwahati last year. Post signing of the New Bodo Accord, Prime Minister Modi visited Assam on February 7 to a tumultuous welcome and addressed a massive rally at Kokrajhar. Gogois inclination for politics would have been gauged by the governmentusefulness as an asset with Assam going to polls next year. Hence the strategy to tap him through nomination to the Rajya Sabha and fix him through the grilling on Republic TV, where he looked uncomfortable, obviating possibility of him switching to another party. We may see a bigger political role for Gogoi in future  in Assam, in the Union Cabinet, or even as Vice President.

Finally, it is about the lobby/controllers, referred to by some as the 'Lutyens' Gang'. But tentacles of Indias deep state are spread pan-India and its core holds every the government to ransom  refer to the Vohra Committee Report of 1993. Where the media has been branding someone as the most corrupt politician in the country, how is he back in Parliament, even heading an important standing committee, after a brief detention? Obviously we lack the will to demolish the core and only scratch the surface periodically for political brownie points.

(The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views are personal)
MH17 Case Hearings Postponed Until June 8 to Give Defense More Time - Dutch Court

Sputnik News

20:40 GMT 23.03.2020

Court proceedings regarding the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) have been suspended until June 8 following a brief Monday hearing that was limited due to COVID-19 novel coronavirus-related restrictions.

During a 45-minute Monday hearing, presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis announced that the court agreed with the assertion by lawyers of Russian national Oleg Pulatov that the defense should receive more time to prepare.

"The court suspends the examination of the Pulatov case until June 8, 10 a.m., and the defense will be able to speak at that time," Steenhuis said, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The Dutch judge clarified that this would mean the other three defendants facing various charges of murders - Russians Sergey Dubinsky and Igor Girkin and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko - would also have their trials delayed. Pulatov is the only suspect who has secured a defense team.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has argued that the investigation into the deaths of 298 people aboard the downed MH17 on July 17, 2014, has been "biased and one-sided" due to the fact that investigators have ignored relevant evidence offered by Russia.

According to the Associated Press, Steenhuis also granted prosecutors the ability to share a redacted version of the investigation dossier with the legal teams for family members of the 298 victims killed in the MH17 downing.

The trial website managed by the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands notes that the defense will have to inform the court and prosecution prior to June 8 about whether they intend to raise preliminary objections or wish to present investigation requests.

Monday's brief hearing was noticeably limited and closed to relatives, the public, press and other parties interested in the proceedings. It was, however, available for livestream on the court's website. Those within the courtroom were seated in an adjusted format to comply with restrictions implemented to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The decision to adjourn hearings until June 8 comes shortly after a representative for the court said that it is not required to provide translation of materials in the 36,000-page MH17 crash case file.

"Judging by my experience, related to availability and busyness of qualified staff, it will take one and a half years at least to translate all these documents," Elena Tais, the head of the Netherlands-based Russian translation agency RLTS, told Sputnik earlier this month.

A Sputnik

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African countries gear up to respond to new cases of coronavirus which began to appear on the continent in February.

By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ

Governments around the world continue to adopt measures to deal with the new coronavirus pandemic. However, international attention has mostly been focused on the worst-hit countries, like China and Italy.

The attitude adopted regarding Africa was a perceived exclusion of the continent from the coronavirus. Now Egypt, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal and South Africa dominate the list of affected African countries.

Thirty-six of the continents 54 countries now have confirmed cases. A total of roughly 800 people are infected by the Covid-19 virus. Chad and Niger confirmed their first cases only last week.

Health care provision concerns

Africa has an approximate population of 1.2 billion people. A sizeable percentage of that population lives below the poverty line and has poor access to healthcare.

Many sub-Saharan African countries do not have well-equipped isolation wards. Nor do they have properly qualified health-care workers to deal with Covid-19 patients.

Presently, forty-three countries have testing capabilities. Thats up from only two when the outbreak began. Many do not have enough ventilators to respond to the needs of the coronavirus patients.

Although Africa has relatively few coronavirus cases, it is necessary to contain its spread before fragile healthcare systems are overwhelmed.

What is being done?



With the number of infected people rising, many African countries are taking their cue from China and other countries. Precautionary measures now being implemented are aggressive.

Countries like Angola, Cameroon and Senegal have shut their sea, land and air borders. Rwanda has also suspended all international commercial flights for a month. Almost all the other countries have set in place strict screening protocols at points of entry. Visitors from high-risk countries are placed under compulsory quarantine.

There are also massive sensitization campaigns, bans on public gatherings, school closures and restriction of movement in public places.

The Churchs response

Church leaders recognize that churches are a potential place for the spread of coronavirus. Several Bishops Conferences across the continent have issued letters to the faithful asking for cooperation with the government as regards healthcare safety measures.

Many dioceses have suspended the public celebration of Mass, discouraged the use of holy water fonts and have postponed celebrations of weddings and social celebrations. The reception of Holy Communion is also restricted to the hands and the sign of peace is either suspended or done in a way that carries minimal infection risks.
Playa del Carmen motorcycle driver suffers serious head injuries

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The driver of a motorcycle was rushed to hospital with head trauma after colliding with the side of a car.

The accident happened along Playa del Carmen Boulevard Monday afternoon when the driver of the bike crashed into the side of a passing car.

Paramedics had to immobilize the wounded man to transfer him to the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). Due to the seriousness of his injuries, the ambulance in which he was transported was escorted by a police unit. There is no word on his condition. His identity has not been revealed.
Saudi Arabia imposes curfew, UAE halts passenger flights as coronavirus grips Middle East

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 7:40 AM

Saudi Arabia is set to impose a nationwide curfew starting on Monday to fight the deadly coronavirus that hit more people in the kingdom and across the Middle East, while the United Arab Emirates will suspend all passenger flights.

Saudi King Salman ordered an 11-hour curfew from 7 pm to 6 am to contain the spread of the COVID-19, state news agency SPA reported Monday.

The curfew, which will take effect on Monday evening and last for 21 days, it added.

The decree came as Saudi Arabia reported 119 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 511 - the highest among the Persian Gulf Arab states which registered more than 1,700 in total. Bahrain reported a second coronavirus death on Sunday, taking the region's total deaths to four.

On Saturday, Jordan imposed its own nationwide curfew, limiting the mobility of 10 million citizens except for emergencies and essential services.

UAE to suspend all passenger flights

In another measure taken by the region to curb the spread of the virus, the UAE announced on Monday that it will suspend all passenger and transit flights to and from the country for two weeks, subject to review.

Emirati authorities "have decided to suspend all inbound and outbound passenger flights and the transit of airline passengers in the UAE for two weeks as part of the precautionary measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19", the state news agency WAM said.

Cargo and emergency evacuation flights will be exempt and the decision will take effect in 48 hours.

It came after the Dubai-based airline, Emirates, said it would suspend passenger operations - with the exception of repatriation flights to 13 destination - by March 25.

Oman prevents public gatherings

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, authorities in Oman on Sunday banned public gatherings, limited staffing at state entities and closed currency exchange bureaus.

They also urged the private sector to facilitate remote working and called on commercial businesses and individuals to limit cash transactions, according to state television.

Iraq reports three new deaths, extends curfew in Baghdad

Iraq on Sunday said that three more people have died from the virus, bringing the total deaths in the country to 20.

Also on Sunday, the Iraqi government extended a curfew on travel in and out of Baghdad until March 28. It was imposed on March 17 for a week.

The government also extended a ban on all flights to and from the country's airports until March 28.

Syria confirms first coronavirus case

In neighboring Syria, the first case of the coronavirus, a 20-year-old woman, was reported on Sunday.

Health Minister Nizar al-Yaziji told state media that "necessary measures" had been taken regarding the patient, who he said would be quarantined for 14 days and given medical checks.

President Bashar al Assad issued a prisoner amnesty on Sunday in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The Syrian government also decided to impose a ban on public transport as it stepped up a lockdown introduced in recent days.

Turkey coronavirus deaths rise to 30

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said death toll from coronavirus jumped by nine to 30 on Sunday as the number of confirmed cases increased by 289 to 1,256.

He noted that a total of 20,345 tests had been conducted.

UN warns of frightening situation in Gaza

Earlier on Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry announced the first two coronavirus cases in the Gaza Strip.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory had warned of frightening consequences of coronavirus in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007.

Jamie McGoldrick told UN News in an interview published on Saturday that a possible COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza can be terrible due to the Israeli blockade and limited health facilities in the enclave.

The Israeli blockade has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty in the besieged enclave.

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Welcome to Week Three of The End Of The World As We Know It. Like most of you, Im just as baffled as when it all kicked off.

At the beginning of March, I wrote that my default position on these health scares is weary scepticism. But when my trusty GP advised me to cancel a routine visit to his surgery, just to be on the safe side, I was prepared to admit that something out of the ordinary was going on.

Trouble is, I still cant work out whats occurring. And what really bothers me is that Im not particularly confident that anyone else has a clue, either.

Temporary laws have an unfortunate habit of becoming permanent. And, as this column constantly points out, if you give anyone any modicum of authority, they will always, always, always abuse it

Initially, I was reassured by Boris Johnsons cool-headed, measured reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.

There was no complacency, but he managed to convey the impression that everything was under control.

Yet within a couple of days, the Government had switched to full headless chicken mode and we were hearing alarmist predictions of a half a million dead.

Since then the country has been put on a war footing with the daily introduction of ever more draconian restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly.

Our rookie Chancellor has been widely acclaimed for ripping up his recent optimistic Budget and hosing down the coronavirus crisis with hundreds of billions of pounds of borrowed money.

Were assured he had no option, although any Labour Chancellor who attempted such a reckless gamble with the nations finances would have been excoriated by the same people now cheering Rishi Sunak to the rafters.

Grizzled old socialist O.J. Corbyn can only wail like a jilted lover, as the Tories enact the Lefts wildest totalitarian fantasies. Cue Gladys Knight. It Should Have Been Me!

Initially, I was reassured by Boris Johnsons cool-headed, measured reaction to the coronavirus outbreak. There was no complacency, but he managed to convey the impression that everything was under control

Yesterday, in another move which would have been unimaginable a month ago, a Conservative Government effectively renationalised the railways.

At this rate, theyll be re-opening the coal mines and appointing Arthur Scargill as head of a reconstituted National Coal Board.

All bets are off. We are truly living in a Looking Glass World. Youd be forgiven for thinking that ministers are making it up as they go along. There is the justified suspicion that they are simply covering their backsides and would rather be monstered for doing too much, rather than too little.

But, to be fair, what else can they do? Which one of us would envy their position? Not me, guv. I have enough trouble deciding whether to watch the latest Netflix blockbuster or another rerun of Minder.

The politicians can only take crucial  and potentially fatal  decisions based upon the evidence with which they are presented. Boris, like me, is a committed civil libertarian.

He must have hated having to put the country in lockdown last night. So Im relieved the Government has agreed that the unprecedented package of emergency powers drawn up to tackle the spread of the virus will be reviewed after six months.

Were assured he had no option, although any Labour Chancellor who attempted such a reckless gamble with the nations finances would have been excoriated by the same people now cheering Rishi Sunak (above) to the rafters

Temporary laws have an unfortunate habit of becoming permanent. And, as this column constantly points out, if you give anyone any modicum of authority, they will always, always, always abuse it.

On the other hand, if our leading scientists and best medical minds tell the Prime Minister that failure to act will result in hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths, he must accept that advice. The experts may be horribly wrong.

They might be making it up as they go along, too. But would you take the risk? The only way you could test their prognosis to destruction would be to do nothing and tally up the eventual body count.

So Im reluctant to point the finger at anyone in government who has been thrust into such an invidious and unenviable position. My concern all along has been about a lack of joined-up thinking.

Yesterday, in another move which would have been unimaginable a month ago, a Conservative Government effectively renationalised the railways. At this rate, theyll be re-opening the coal mines and appointing Arthur Scargill (pictured above) as head of a reconstituted National Coal Board

For instance, its madness telling everyone to stand 6ft apart and then cutting Tube and rail services in half, ensuring that those who have to travel on public transport are crammed together like sardines.

And how does shutting pubs and restaurants, to stop people transmitting the virus, square with allowing demented scrums of greedy hoarders to climb all over each other in supermarkets trying to get their hands on the last pack of toilet roll?

Whats more, the policy of refusing to elaborate on the underlying medical conditions of those unfortunate people whose deaths have been attributed to Covid-19 has only added to the fear and confusion.

Still, whatever reservations we might have about the course of action the Government has embarked upon, we can only hope and pray it works. Look on the bright side, and look after yourselves, however inconvenient self-isolation might be.

You can make your own sanitiser with vodka, apparently. Mix it with soda water, ice and a slice of lime and sip it regularly, rather than waste time rubbing it on your hands.

With any luck, it may not be The End Of The World As We Know It. And I feel fine. For now.

One casualty of the crisis has been the Ann Summers chain of sex shops, which is closing for the duration.

But not before selling out of its entire stock of edible, penis-shaped pasta. Call me old-fashioned, but thats a new one on me.

Still, now we know what penne means in Italian. I suppose Ann Summers could always start flogging sexy nurses uniforms to panicbuyers who want to pretend to work for the NHS, so they can jump the queue for essential supplies such as lager and toilet rolls.

Come to think of it, theres probably a niche market for key worker outfits.

On my first local paper, there was a reporter who kept a shepherds crook in his car boot, so he could take advantage of the pubs opening all afternoon when the livestock market came to town.

One casualty of the crisis has been the Ann Summers chain of sex shops, which is closing for the duration. But not before selling out of its entire stock of edible, penis-shaped pasta

Later, when I wrote for Londons Evening Standard, we backed on to Smithfield meat market, where the pubs were allowed to open all night.

Some of Fleet Streets finest stuck on the overnight shift would often sneak out in the early hours for a swift pint.

The bars were only supposed serve bona fide traders, and at least one enterprising hack is said to have owned a bloodstained white coat to help him pass muster.

The standing joke was that no one knew if he was a butcher ...or a surgeon from nearby Barts hospital.

You cant shame these morons

Todays edition of Makes You Proud To Be British comes live from every major supermarket in the country.

Its pointless saying that those subhuman morons who day after day after day have stripped the shelves bare  depriving the elderly, the vulnerable and key NHS staff of everything from food to bog rolls  should be ashamed of themselves.

They have no shame. They should have been dragged into the car park and clubbed like baby seals.

Todays edition of Makes You Proud To Be British comes live from every major supermarket in the country

Belatedly, the stores have introduced dedicated shopping hours for health workers and the vulnerable.

Even these sessions have been gatecrashed by gannets desperate for stuff they dont need and almost certainly couldnt afford to buy, if they had to pay cash.

The only good news is there will be a day of reckoning when the hoarders have to pick up their credit card bills for this disgusting selfish avarice.

Lets hope they all go bankrupt.

At the weekend, we took a drive in the Hertfordshire countryside to stop us going stir crazy. Just before the Potters Bar junction above the M25 turning, there was an electronic message board exhorting motorists: Covid-19. Remember to wash your hands.

What, while youre driving? Imagine being pulled over by Plod with your hands in a bucket and singing God Save The Queen, twice. Would you mind blowing into this, sir?

One of the most bizarre panic-buying images was the sight of grown men pushing trolleys piled high with bleach and detergent.

When was they last time any of them nipped out for a crate of Domestos? They probably have no idea what it is. I was reminded of the classic episode of Rumpole, when Horace went shopping with She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Spotting a large tin of Vim in her basket, he inquired: What do we do with all that Vim? Do we eat Vim?
Press Release

March 24, 2020 Sen. Francis Pangilinan's position on the Special Powers Measure had he been allowed to vote while on 14-day quarantine

Senate specifies prompt and free testing, support for front-liners, cash transfers to vulnerable "We would have voted 'Yes' but with serious reservations. The original draft bill was an attempt to get 'unli' emergency powers and 'unli' spending powers. While it limited the exercise of these powers to two months, it also gave the President the power to extend it to however long he wants, and was quiet on how much and how it would be spent. The Senate limited the powers to 90 days and any extension will require Congressional approval. My colleagues in the Senate, and with our submitted written amendments, took away those dangerous provisions, particularly the government's prerogative to take over companies (except to direct the operation of health facilities and passenger vessels) while the COVID-19 crisis rages. The Senate was also able to provide for what our people need now and what we, echoing the clamor of the people and various experts, have been calling for: prompt and free testing, support to front-liners, and cash transfers to the vulnerable. In a major way, in the Senate version, we were able to exert our influence on the Executive on how the crisis must be addressed -- not in the haphazard, confusing, and damaging way that it has so far faced this life-and-death situation. The Senate version, now fully adopted by the House of Representatives, put some order, transparency, and accountability in the chaos, as it (1) prioritizes the distribution of medical supplies and the augmentation of the budget; (2) limits the President's power to realign funds to "Savings" within the Executive branch; (3) grants grace periods for loans and rental payments; (4) includes an expanded and more comprehensive 4Ps; (5) provides P5,000 up to P8,000 emergency subsidy a month, for a period of two months, to 18 million low-income families; (6) exempts from import taxes the importation of equipment and supplies needed for COVID-19 response; (7) grants P100,000 or P1,000,000 to public and private health workers who may contract or die from COVID-19; (8) requires the President to report to Congress weekly all acts performed pursuant to the Act, including the amount and corresponding utilization of funds used, augmented, reprogrammed, reallocated, and realigned; (9) removes from the President the delegation of penal powers and specifies punishable acts under the law; (10) clarifies that the Constitution prevails over any provision of the law; and (11) makes the effectivity of the law three months unless extended by Congress. These sweeping revisions would not have been possible without the inspiring effort of concerned Filipinos who voiced their opposition to the original version via the email and social media accounts of their legislators. And as we said in our phone-in verbal explanation of vote, our 'Yes' vote comes with both a warning and an admonition. It is a warning and an admonition to the IATF that our people deserve better from them. And that the incoherent and often confusing, conflicting, and haphazard policy pronouncements in the past two weeks ought to be the last coming from IATF. We will call them out should we see that the law and funding we have put in place are not being implemented as envisioned. Beginning today and until the day we have defeated this virus, we would urge and call out the IATF and this administration to ensure that the law is effectively implemented, and the health and welfare of our citizens are protected and upheld. But as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The proof of the law is in the implementation." Note: Senate Rules require physical presence for a senator to be able to vote in plenary debates. We sought the suspension of the rule but this was not allowed by the Majority and instead we were given the opportunity to make manifestations via phone patch. Thus only 12 votes were officially counted in the Senate. But 8 senators who were not physically present during the voting were allowed to manifest what their vote would have been had they been present during the voting.
Terrence McNally has died aged 81 of complications due to the coronavirus.

The Tony-winning playwright died on Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, a spokesperson told Deadline.

McNally collected four Tonys throughout his career, including two Best Play awards for Love! Valour! Compassion! and for Master Class. His other two Tonys were in the Best Book of a Musical category, for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime.

His other works include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Full Monty, The Ritz and Lips Together, Teeth Apart.

In recent years, McNally wrote the book for the musical theatre adaption of Anastasia (2016) and authored the play Mothers and Sons (2014).

His works explored the topics of human relationships, at times through the lens of homophobia, AIDS, and love.

He received a Lifetime Achievement Awards during the 2019 Tonys.

McNally was a lung cancer survivor with chronic lung disease. Hes survived by his husband Tom Kirdahy.

Many paid tribute to McNally and his work after the news of his death broke on Tuesday.

Heartbroken over the loss of Terrence McNally, a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly. Grateful for his staggering body of work and his unfailing kindness, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote.

Author John Scalzi tweeted: Were going to lose a lot to this thing before its over, money the very least of all.

Actor and playwright Jeremy O Harris said the news of McNallys death had left him broken.

This is so dark, he wrote. I met Terrence when my friend James Cusati-Moyer starred in his play Fire and Air @classicstage. His kindness and candour were unmatched. RIP TERRENCE. You were a gift.
Initial inattention. Overwhelmed hospitals with shortages of masks and nurses. A dangerous public official whose stubbornness likely cost lives. Political fighting and attacks on media. Lockdowns. Isolation orders. Drastic changes overnight.

Sound familiar?

Before the coronavirus hit, this was New Jerseys last great public health crisis: the Spanish flu.

The first report of a flu-related death in New Jersey came out of Camp Dix in Lakehurst in mid-August of 1918.Trenton Evening Times

As the death toll climbed, Gov. Wallace Edge and the state health board called for a statewide quarantine in early October 1918. Bars and saloons, churches, restaurants and theaters were all closed, with gatherings banned and travel discouraged. School closings were not mandatory, but most schools shuttered.

This is the greatest emergency that has ever confronted New Jersey, said Dr. Jacob C. Price, head of the state health board.

Newark mayor Charles P. Gillen resisted the shutdown, however. Newark had been battling an outbreak for two weeks, with deaths and infections steadily rising, according to a University of Michigan study, but Gillen believed he could tame the pandemic with a robust public information campaign led by health officials.

LATEST CORONAVIRUS UPDATES FROM NJ.COM

He allowed restaurants and saloons to stay open. They could sell alcohol prescribed by a doctor as long as patrons were not allowed inside  the side-door provision.

Why was Gillen resistant? One reason might have been that the 18th amendment  Prohibition  was not yet ratified by the states. Closing saloons, many believed, would grease the skids for prohibition. Bars would never re-open, they said. They even argued whiskey could cure the flu. Newark police wanted to enforce the state closures, but Gillen insisted they allow local saloons to operate even after the state said it was a violation of the law and a danger to society.

Headline from the Trenton Evening Times during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.Trenton Evening Times

Reporters exposed that many saloons were violating the order by selling liquor without a prescription and allowing patrons inside, according to the Michigan project. Gillen went to war with the Newark Evening News, threatening to shut down the paper at one point, and his office took over all communications about the flu while changing how daily figures were totaled.

Gillen lifted the citys quarantine on Oct. 21 without state approval, declaring the threat over. He again attacked the Evening News, declaring its reporting and editorials a vile lie from beginning to end. He banned the paper from his office until it learns to print the truth about these affairs.

In October, when Gillen pulled his stunts, the states death rate was at its highest, with 8,500 deaths in New Jersey among the 200,000 nationwide.

The state board censured Gillen at a meeting in Trenton and maintained the quarantine in most parts of the state. Closures gradually ended and most of the state was back up and running by early November.

Life was back to normal by November.Trenton Evening Times

Newarks struggles were exacerbated by an overwhelmed hospital system, an insufficient response from Essex County officials and the arrival of about 500 homeless individuals seeking housing after a munitions plant explosion near Perth Amboy destroyed nearby communities right before the breakout, according to Stuart Galishoff in The Bulletin of the History of Medicine.

The war ended on Nov. 11 and, for the most part, life went back to normal. The chaos was largely forgotten to time even though the pandemic technically stretched into 1920, with even President Woodrow Wilson stricken. In the end, the flu pandemic killed an estimated 675,000 in the U.S. with as many as 50 million deaths worldwide.

Ten-thousand New Jerseyans were among the victims, including more than 2,000 in Newark.

Historians believe Gillen deserves much of the blame after failing to properly prepare the city and adopt the quarantine order.

If Gillen had secured more medical personnel to care for the people of Newark, if he had opened more hospitals, pandemic expert Jennifer Harmsen told WBGO, if he had enforced the state quarantine in Newark, if he had set aside his political views, could Gillen have saved more lives? I believe he could have.

Headline from the Trenton Evening Times during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.Trenton Evening Times

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticized Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for spreading lies about the CCP virus pandemic.

Khamenei has made dangerous fabrications regarding the new illness, Pompeo said in a scathing statement on March 23.

Irans role in the spread of COVID-19, which originated in China last year, include its primary airline running dozens of flights between Tehran and China in February, further infecting the Iranian people, Pompeo said.

At least five foreign countries first cases of coronavirus were directly imported from Iran, putting millions more lives at risk, he added.

Irans leaders also ignored warnings from health officials in the country and denied the first domestic death from the virus for at least nine days.

Pompeo also alleged that Iran is misrepresenting U.S. sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, which dont target imports of food, medicine, and medical equipment, or other humanitarian goods.

Iranian documents show their health companies have been able to import testing kits without obstacle from U.S. sanctions since January, he said.

Khamenei rejected the United States offer of millions of dollars in medical assistance because he works tirelessly to concoct conspiracy theories and prioritizes ideology over the Iranian people, Pompeo added.

Pompeos rebuttal came after Khamenei made a number of dubious claims in an address to his people, including promoting a conspiracy theory from the Chinese Communist Party that the U.S. military brought the illness to China in the first place.

Rejecting a U.S. offer of assistance, Khamenei said: I do not know how real this accusation is but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication? Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.

He also claimed that the CCP virus is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians, which they have obtained through different means.

You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person, he said.

Some of the statements were also posted on Twitter, where they remained untouched as of March 23.

In one post, Khamenei said that offers of assistance from the United States were strange.

Based on the words of your own officials, you face shortages in the U.S. So use what you have for your own patients, he said, before making the claims.

While most other countries have seen mortality rates of 3 percent or lower, Iran has recorded more than 1,800 deaths from COVID-19, for a mortality rate of about 7.8 percent. The rate in the United States, which has about 500 deaths, is 1.2 percent.

While Iran has officially reported approximately 23,000 cases, experts believe the country has been manipulating the number of cases and deaths.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic. Some Trump administration officials have been calling it the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus.

From The Epoch Times
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's eight-month detention ended on Tuesday after the administration revoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against him.

The National Conference leader, who turned 50 on March 10, has been under detention since August 5, when the Centre announced the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and its bifurcation into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The order revoking the PSA against him was issued by Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra. Abdullah was booked under the stringent act on February 5, hours before his six-month custody under preventive detention was to end.

The government has revoked his detention with immediate effect, the order stated.

Abdullah's mother was the first to arrive at the makeshift detention centre after came in that her son was about to be released. He was kept at the state guesthouse Hari Nivas, just a few hundred metres from his official residence.

His father, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, was also charged under the PSA and released on March 13 after 221 days in detention. PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti continues to be under detention.

On February 5, Omar Abdullah, who was junior foreign minister and commerce minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, was served with a three-page dossier that was challenged in the Supreme Court by his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot.

The Supreme Court last week asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to inform by this week if it was releasing him.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah told the counsel appearing for the Centre that Abdullah's sister's plea against his detention would be heard on merit if he was not released soon.

The petition, which may now become infructuous, could have come up for hearing on Wednesday or later this week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday supported the prime minister's call for a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to protect the people from coronavirus infection.

"I am happy that Rajasthan was the first state to declare a complete lockdown. I support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a 21-day lockdown. Together we must fight it and defeat it," Gehlot said in a tweet.

Reviewing the lockdown situation with all the district collectors and superintendents of police, Gehlot said that coronavirus infection can be avoided only through social distancing.

He said there will no obstruction in the supply of essential services during the lockdown.

"The district collectors and SPs should ensure that the lockdown instructions are followed completely otherwise the government will be forced to impose curfew," the chief minister added.

The chief minister said the system of issuing permits should be made online as much as possible for the common people so that they do not face problems.

State Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the people coming from outside should be closely monitored so that there is no community spread of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Helping children grow into self sufficient adults might be the point of parenthood, but it isn't always easy to let go.

And Reese Witherspoon reflected on that as she promoted her new show Little Fires Everywhere, based on the book by Celeste Ng.

Speaking out: Reese Witherspoon reflects on how daughter Ava's college applications felt like 'an arrow to the heart'; the two are seen in May last year

The mother-of-three explained how the book struck a chord with her, reading it as her eldest child was making plans for college.

'My daughter was applying for college back then, so it hit me like an arrow in the heart,' she told the magazine Emmy.

'It's so difficult to articulate what motherhood means, and there are so many passages in the novel that did,' she explained.

The Oscar-winning actress has kids Ava, 20, Deacon, 16, and Tennessee, seven.

She quoted her favorite quote from Ng's book: 'It was like training yourself to live on the smell of an apple alone, when what you really wanted was to devour it, to sink your teeth into it and consume it, seeds, core, and all.'

Reese said of the passage: 'It's such a vivid way to describe the loss of your children as they grow up.'

Cover girl: 'My daughter was applying for college back then, so it hit me like an arrow in the heart,' she told the magazine Emmy; Reese is seen with Kerry Washington, her co-star

Reese's media company Hello Sunshine jumped on Ng's book, when she sent it over before publication, having seen Big Little Lies.

The author told the magazine: 'This just may be the only thing that's ever made me believe in manifesting things into the universe, speaking them into existence!'

While Little Fires is streaming now on Hulu, production for season two of Witherspoons Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak two weeks ago.
A doctor looking at a patient's CT scan at a temporary hospital in Wuhan, China, on March 5, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

China Lifts Travel Curbs in Hubei, While Residents Continue to Question Official Figures

Chinas Hubei Province, epicenter of the CCP virus outbreak, on March 24 announced it will lift travel restrictions on people leaving the region.

The move came amid a five-day period from March 19 to March 23 where Chinas National Health Commission reported no new infections of the CCP virus in Wuhan, where the virus originated.

Citizens on the ground have a different view.

The Hubei Health Commission announced it would lift transport restrictions and curbs on outgoing travelers starting March 25, provided they had a health clearance code.

Wuhan, which has been in total lockdown since Jan. 23, will see its travel restrictions lifted on April 8.

The announcement, reported by state-run news agency Xinhua, noted however that all schools in Hubei, including colleges, technical schools, high schools, middle schools, primary schools, and nurseries, would remain closed.

Schools have been closed since the end of the last semester prior to Lunar New Year on Jan. 25.

New Infections

On March 24, Chinas National Health Commission announced four new domestic CCP virus infections. Those patients were from Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Foshan of eastern Chinas Guangdong Province. The remaining cases reported were of imported infections.

State-run media The Paper reported that the Beijing and Shanghai cases were as a result of those patients being infected from a person who recently came back to China from overseas.

China News, a state-run media, reported that the case in Wuhan is a doctor from Hubei General Hospital.

The doctor has been working in the hospital in recent days. We cant rule out that the doctor was infected inside the hospital, the report said.

The Guangdong case is a 51-year-old Hubei man who works in Foshan. On Jan. 15, the man went to his hometownXianning city in Hubei Provincefor the Lunar New Year. On March 17, he left Xianning and arrived at Huizhou city in Guangdong with a friend and stayed there for two days.

On March 19, he went back to his home in Foshan and visited a hospital on the second day because of a fever. On March 23, he was reported as having been infected.

This case has alarmed Chinese netizens because Chinese authorities have claimed that there have been no new infections in Xianning for one month. Netizens have thus questioned where the man contracted the virus, with some suspecting that this is an indication that the outbreak in Xianning may still be severe.

Wuhan Residents Remain Skeptical

Chinese officials recently reported no new domestic infections in Wuhan City from March 19 to March 23. However, the Hubei provincial health commission confirmed on March 23 that relapsed patients and asymptomatic patients are not included in this count, drawing questions as to the reliability of this data.

Meanwhile, residents on the ground told The Epoch Times that they dont trust the official figures.

We know the situation from several channels; the new infections arent zero, Mr. Wang, a resident in Wuchang district, Wuhan city, told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on March 23.

Wang said he knew many relapsed cases and new infections in Wuhan that werent reported by the government. He added that the relapsed cases were particularly alarming because he heard of many patients relapsing after recovering from the disease. Some of these people had been virus-free for more than a month, but recently relapsed.

On March 24, Luo Bin, a resident in Wuhan, said in his daily YouTube video that one of his aunts family members had relapsed recently.

State-run media Peoples Daily reported on March 22 that all three members of a Wuhan family recently relapsed and were being treated at a hospital again. Among them, the 70-year-old parent was in critical condition.

On March 24, Zhang Yong, a Wuhan resident, told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times: [The government] is still trying to hide the truth.  Two people from the residential compound I live in were diagnosed with the virus in the past two days. But they [the government] didnt report.

Zhangs mother died of the virus in February, but wasnt counted as a confirmed case because the hospital where she was diagnosed with the illness was not a designated hospital.

My family has six members; two died of the virus. You know, many families in Wuhan lost all their members [to the virus], Zhang said. In my neighborhood, two children died of hunger after all their guardians died of the virus.

Zhang said the devastation from the outbreak was taking a mental toll on residents.

We, the survivors of the CCP virus, are facing issues such as how to make a living, how to stay safe, and other difficulties, Zhang said. More and more, people are struggling to cope with the pressure and fear.
On the Frontline Against China, the US Coast Guard Is Taking on Missions the US Navy Can't Do

Competition with China has drawn more Pentagon resources to the Pacific, but the most visible U.S. military presence there...
Did you lose your job in New Jersey as a result of the coronavirus outbreak? Businesses across the state want to know and they are looking for people to fill a variety of positions immediately, according to New Jerseys COVID-19 Information Hub.

Coronavirus cases in New Jersey soared to 2,844 on Monday, pushing the state to the second highest total for positive tests in the nation. Twenty-seven people in the state have died from the illness.

To limit spread of the virus, Gov. Phil Murphy last week ordered the closure of all non-essential retail businesses. But essential businesses  those selling food, medicine and supplies  remain open and need workers.

Some essential businesses in the state have already announced they are hiring. Dozens more have recently submitted their information to the states coronavirus information hub in an effort to find hundreds of employees.

Here are the 41 companies that have contacted the state to announce they are hiring:

Amazon is hiring 3,400 warehouse and shopping team members across all of its sites in New Jersey as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In a file photo, the outbound shipping dock at Amazon's West Deptford fulfillment center.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Shipping, logistics and transportation

Amazon: The nations largest e-commerce business is hiring 3,400 warehouse and shopping team members across all of its sites in New Jersey. The company pays a starting wage of $17 an hour and has openings for all shifts, including overnight.

UPS: The company is looking for part-time package handlers to work daytime and overnight shifts. There are 1,696 openings across all UPS sites and earnings start at $14 an hour.

FedEx: FedEx is hiring about 350 package handlers for daytime, evening and overnight shifts at its Dayton, Edison, Woodbury Township and Trenton sites. No experience is required and the pay is between $13.60 and $15.25 an hour.

PIM Brands: About 53 people are needed to fill a variety of positions at the Allendale and Somerset locations. Resume and proper licensing is required. All shifts are available, including overnight.

Johanna Foods: About 41 workers are needed to fill production, packaging, maintenance and utility jobs at the location in Flemington. A resume is required for the maintenance mechanic position. Shifts are evening or overnight.

Customized Distribution Services: Warehouse operators and laborers are needed to fill about 35 jobs at four New Jersey locations. The jobs pay $11.60 to $12 an hour and all shifts are available.

ShopRite is hiring 1,450 workers to work daytime and evening shifts at 145 of its stores in New Jersey. Above, the ShopRite on Morris Turnpike in Springfield.

Grocery and food delivery

ShopRite: The supermarket chain needs 1,450 workers for daytime and evening shifts at 145 of its stores in New Jersey. The pay starts at $11 an hour and higher for positions including cashier and clerks in the grocery, health/beauty, dairy and produce departments. A full list of locations hiring is available here.

Nabisco (Mondelez International): About 13 day-shift jobs are open at seven of the companys sites in New Jersey. They are looking for merchandise stockers and sales resourcing specialists. Pay is $15 an hour.

Kings Food Markets: The food market is hiring 100 clerks, cashiers, and cleaners for all shifts at its stores across New Jersey. The pay is $11-$15 an hour and no experience required.

Price-Rite: Stores in Camden, Garfield and Paterson are hiring clerks and cashiers for 30 positions. Pay starts at $11 an hour.

151 Foods: About 65 jobs are available at the companys store in Bellmawr. 151 Foods seek to hire a for production, packaging, sanitation and maintenance. Some experience is required, all shifts are open and the jobs pay $11 to $22.45 an hour.

Blue Apron: The ingredient-and-recipe meal-kit service seeks to hire about 280 production assistants for all shifts in its fulfillment center in Linden, Union County. No experience is required and the pay is $13 an hour.

HelloFresh: About 14 managers and supervisors are needed for the daytime and overnight shifts in Newark.

McCaffreys Food Markets: Full and part-time positions are open at locations in Princeton and West Windsor. The company is hiring 15 people to work as cashiers, clerks and maintenance during the daytime and evening. The pay is $11 an hour.

Heritages Dairy Stores: The company is looking to hire about 64 people at 13 stores. Open positions are picker/packer, store manager and customer service/food preparation. Daytime and evening shifts are available and the company pays $11 an hour and higher.

More than 1,000 jobs are up for grabs at Wawa stores across New Jersey. Above, the Wawa on Route 206 in Bordentown in an April 2016 file photo. (Michael Mancuso | For NJ.com ) TT TT Michael MancusoTT TT Michael Mancuso

Convenience stores

Wawa: There are 1,020 customer service associate jobs available at more than 250 Wawa stores across New Jersey. The chain is looking to hire for all shifts, including overnight. Pay is between $11.50 and $14.50 an hour but associates receive a temporary increase during the COVID-19 crisis.

Health and human services

BAYADA Home Health Care: About 317 jobs at 75 locations across New Jersey are available for candidates with certifications in areas including nursing, social work, occupational and physical therapy. All shifts are available and the list of locations is here.

Bancroft Health: Direct support professionals are needed to fill about 300 jobs across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. In New Jersey, the jobs are in Cherry Hill, Mount Laurel, Woodstown, Plainsboro, Toms River, Voorhees and Swedesboro. No experience is necessary and the pay is between $12 to $18 an hour with a 3% quarterly bonus. All shifts are available.

Community Options, Inc.: About 21 direct support professionals are needed for the daytime, evening and overnight shifts at five New Jersey locations. No experience required and the pay is $12 an hour.

CompleteCare Health Network: Eight locations across New Jersey are hiring about 144 workers for all shifts to fill nursing positions. Certification is required and the jobs pay $15 to $32 an hour.

Fellowship Senior Living: Nurses and health aides are needed to fill about 20 positions in Basking Ridge. The jobs pay $14 to $16.50 an hour and all shifts are available.

Premier Supports: Direct support professionals are needed to help fill about 30 jobs in Bridgewater. The jobs pay $12 an hour and all shifts are available.

NeuroRestorative: Direct support professionals are needed to fill about 30 jobs at six locations in New Jersey. A drivers license is required and all shifts are available.

Inspira Health: The company is looking to fill about 100 positions in nursing, lab assistant and food service aide at sites in Bridgeton, Mullica Hill, Vineland and Woodbury. The company is hiring for daytime, evening and overnight shifts.

Gold Medal Home Health: About 10 direct support professionals are needed to fill positions. The Wayne-based company is hiring for all shifts and pays $14-$16 an hour.

The Arc of Mercer County: There are about 10 full-time openings for assistant group home managers. All shifts, including overnight, are available and the pay is $16 an hour. Experience and a drivers license is required.

The Arc of Cape May County: Direct support professionals are needed to fill about 15 jobs during the evening and overnight shifts in South Dennis. No experience is required, but applicants should be high school graduates and have a drivers license. Pay is $12 an hour.

21 Plus: Direct support professionals are needed to fill about 20 jobs for all shifts at five New Jersey locations. Pay is $12.51 to $12.81 an hour.

Spring Hills Senior Communities: About 80 certified nursing assistant jobs are open at 10 sites across New Jersey. A resume is required and the company is hiring for daytime, evening and overnight shifts.

Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health: The company seeks to hire about 30 direct support professionals for evening and overnight shifts at five New Jersey locations. The pay is $14.50 an hour.

Caring World & Health Services: Twenty-three workers are needed to fill about 23 day-shift jobs in North Brunswick and Piscataway. The pay is $11 an hour. For bi-lingual home care case coordinators, the pay is competitive.

Atlantic Health System: Registered nurses and certified aides are needed to fill about 50 positions at hospitals in Hacketstown, Morristown, Newton, Pompton Plains and Summit. Wages are based on experience.

Quality Management Associates: Direct Support Professionals are needed to fill about 30 evening and overnight jobs in Burlington, Camden and Cumberland counties. No experience is required and the wages start at $12 an hour.

Always Caring Health: The home care provider based in West New York has about 50 openings for certified home health care aides. The jobs pay $11-$12 an hour and the available shifts are daytime and evening.

Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey: There are about 95 openings for registered nurses, certified assistants and aides for all shifts at sites across New Jersey. Wages range from $17 an hour to $50 an hour.

Janitorial

ServiceMaster Commercial Cleaning by Alliance: The company is looking to hire 25 cleaners and five supervisors for evening shifts at several locations in New Jersey. Experience is required and the jobs pay $11 for cleaners and $14 for supervisors.

Other essential businesses

F&S Produce Co.: The business in Vineland is looking to hire production workers to fill 50 slots on its daytime and evening shifts. The pay is $11 an hour and no work experience required.

Custom Building Projects: There are about nine openings for experienced packagers and forklift operators to work all shifts at the Logan Township facility. Pay is $14-$14.25 an hour

Securitas Security Services: About 20 security officers are needed to work various shifts at eight locations in New Jersey. A SORA license is required and the pay is $12 to $16 an hour.

Maron Security Agency: Security officers are needed to fill 15 positions in Ocean, Middlesex and Monmouth counties. No experience is required, all shifts are available and the pay is $11 to $14 an hour.

Wedgewood Veterinary Pharmacy: Five to 10 pharmacy technicians are needed for daytime and evening shifts at the Swedesboro location. The pay is $14 an hour and up. No experience required.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday expressed concern over alleged black marketing of essential commodities during the coronavirus outbreak. She also appealed to people not to venture out unnecessarily and adhere to the lockdown imposed in the entire state to contain the crisis.

A Raj Bhavan release said that the governor raised concern that essential items are being black marketed and asked ration and medicine shops and vegetable vendors not to overcharge commodities.

Asking shop-owners to charge legitimate prices, the governor termed as unpardonable the alleged black-market of masks and sanitizer.

She also advised people to maintain a distance with one another or stand in a queue while purchasing essential commodities.

The chief ministers office also said the government has been monitoring the situation following allegations of black marketing of essential items at Medininagar, the district headquarters of Palamau.

A CMO statement said a vigil against alleged black marketing began after Chief Minister Hemant Soren came to know that flour, rice, vegetables, pulses and milk were being sold at twice their prices.

Palamau Deputy Commissioner Santanu Agrahari informed the chief minister that instructions have been issued to all magistrates of the district to keep a strict vigil and take stringent action against those indulging in such activities, the statement said.

Soren asked the administration to stop the movement of people on the streets.

Soren also thanked Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for sending off 50 labourers of Jharkhand from Bilaspur to their home state during the day.

We are all together in this hour of crisis. Thank you," he said in a message to Baghel.

Meanwhile, BJP state unit president Deepak Prakash claimed that ration shops in Ramgarh and other districts were closed and called upon the government to ensure that foodgrains reach people in rural areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chaudhary Charan Singh Agricultural University in Haryana on Tuesday announced that it will donate Rs 1.5 crore to the state government's corona relief fund created to prevent the spread of the global epidemic.

"The management of CCSHAU has decided to donate part of their salaries to Corona relief fund. The university family will collect an amount of about one crore fifty lakh rupees.

"All the employees including officers, teaching community and non-teaching staff will be giving some portion from their one month salary, which will be contributed to the fund," university Vice Chancellor KP Singh said.

The university has already distributed about 300 masks made by its Department of Textiles and Apparel Designing.

"Skilled girl students residing in the university have been provided uninfected material for making masks in their houses and this process of distributing masks will continue.

"The masks will be distributed free of cost to the families residing at the university to prevent them from getting coronavirus," Singh added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irish forecourt and motorway services station operator Applegreen expects to take a hit to profits this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but said it is too early to estimate how much lower profits will be.

The company has also frozen recruitment, scrapped a planned shareholder dividend and postponed bonus payments for executives in relation to its 2019 performance. It is in talks with landlords over rent holidays.
The lieutenant governor of Texas is facing backlash after suggesting many grandparents in America would be willing to risk their health in order to see a resurgence in the economy amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlsons show Monday night where he shared his thoughts.

No one reached out to me and said, As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?" Patrick said. And if thats the exchange, Im all in.

The Republican who turns 70 next week said Monday he believed there are lots of grandparents would make this choice and said Lets get back to work. Lets get back to living.

Seeking to clarify his remarks, Carlson said, Youre basically saying that this disease could take your life but thats not the scariest thing to you. Theres something that would be worse than dying.

Patrick responded, Look, Im going to do everything I can to live but if you said, Are you willing to take a chance? and you know if I get sick Ill go and try to get better but if I dont, I dont.

Patricks remarks echoed remarks shared by President Donald Trump earlier Monday during a briefing at the White House who seeks to businesses reopen their doors.

Our country wasnt built to be shut down. This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down, the president said.

Soon after Patricks appearance on the Fox News, he faced backlash online.

The hashtag #NotDying4WallStreet trended overnight on Twitter, with people sharing responses to Patrick and the presidents comments.

Cases of COVID-19 passed 381,000 globally as of Tuesday morning. In the United States, there are more than 43,500 cases, including at least 541 deaths.

More than a dozen states, including Pennsylvania, have issued orders for residents to stay home seeking to slow the spread of the virus. Pennsylvanias 644 cases include at least one juvenile.
Police in Cumberland County have been advised to give businesses 48 hours to comply before taking the owners in front a judge for violating Gov. Tom Wolfs shutdown order, which went into full effect Monday morning as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to grow.

Cumberland County District Attorney Skip Ebert issued an advisory memo Monday on enforcement of Wolfs directive, which ordered the closure of all non-life-sustaining businesses.

If an officer encounters a non-compliant business, Ebert advised, they should provide the owner with a copy of Wolf's order, and then return in 48 hours. If the business has not closed, the officer should submit a report to Ebert, who will schedule an emergency hearing before a judge.

Wolfs emergency order, first issued on March 19, includes a list of what businesses are and are not considered to be immediately essential to life. But over the weekend, Wolfs office announced that enforcement would be postponed to Monday, given that thousands of Pennsylvania businesses had requested waivers regarding their life-sustaining status.

The Pennsylvania State Police and Wolfs office released further guidance on Sunday, outlining a number of sections of the Pennsylvania code that provide for crimes and penalties relating to obstructing the lawful duties of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which could be used against non-compliant business owners.

Ebert said he didnt want officers out on the street debating with businesses as to their life-sustaining status and the applicability of such penalties; officers should not be put in a position to make that determination unilaterally, Ebert said.

Thats why we have to have the intercession of the court. I really didnt want the police officers individually getting into confrontations, Ebert said. Their job is to say I believe it should be closed, then come to me for a determination.

What businesses are considered life-sustaining in Pennsylvania? Here is the updated list Search to see if your business or a business you patronize is permitted to be open under Gov. Tom Wolf's closure order.

If Ebert believes the officer is correct in asserting the business must close, hell request a hearing before the common pleas court to adjudicate if the business is or is not in compliance with Wolfs order, and the applicable legal mechanisms.

If our judge here says you have to close and they dont close, then it becomes an issue of criminal contempt of court, Ebert said.

Ebert said hes hoping for voluntary compliance, as are local departments.

We really do not want to be caught up in doing that, said Sgt. David Miller, spokesperson for the Carlisle Borough Police Department.

The department has broadcast messages on social media detailing Wolfs order and encouraging compliance so that officers can concentrate on other matters.

Please dont put us in that situation, Miller urged local businesses.

As of Monday, Cumberland County had 12 known presumed-positive cases of COVID-19, up one case from last week, according to the state health department. Statewide, the number of known cases increased by 165 on Monday, to 644 cases.

Wolf also issued a shelter-in-place order for the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia regions on Monday, requiring residents to stay at home except for immediate necessities in order to reduce the spread of the disease, which can cause severe respiratory distress. Pennsylvania has seen six deaths linked to the disease, according to state health officials.

Email Zack at zhoopes@cumberlink.com.

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In this file photo taken on Feb. 21, 2020, Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. The disgraced Hollywood mogul has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. AFP



Harvey Weinstein tested positive for the coronavirus at a state prison in New York while serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, the head of the state correctional officers union said Monday.



The 68-year-old former film producer, who was hospitalized with heart issues in recent weeks, was diagnosed and quarantined just days after being transferred to the state's maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.



Weinstein was previously locked up at New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has had a spate of coronavirus cases.



The state prison system confirmed that two inmates at Wende have tested positive for COVID-19, but did not identify them because it said it can't comment on individual inmate medical records.



Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said Weinstein was one of the prisoners with the virus. Five officers and two supervisors at Wende were also placed in isolation because of possible exposure to the virus, he said.



The Niagara Gazette first reported Weinstein's diagnosis.



Weinstein's spokesman and defense lawyer said Monday they ''will neither confirm nor deny whether Mr. Weinstein has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus,'' saying they wanted to protect his privacy.



Weinstein was sent to Wende last Wednesday, the day before the state prison system stopped accepting inmates from local jails in an effort to stymie the spread of coronavirus.



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 they'll appeal.



The New York City jail system that includes Rikers has reported at least 19 inmates and 12 staff members being diagnosed with coronavirus as of Saturday night.



Between his conviction and his move to state prison, Weinstein split time between a cell at Rikers and a room at Bellevue Hospital.



He left court in an ambulance after the guilty verdict and detoured to Bellevue, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. He later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery. After his March 11 sentencing, he returned to the hospital with more chest pains.



In addition to heart issues, Weinstein's lawyers have said he is 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.



For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough, and the vast majority recover. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.



An effort by Los Angeles prosecutors to have him arraigned there on charges he raped a woman and sexually assaulted another in 2013 has been put on hold because of the crisis. The L.A. County district attorney's office made a formal request Monday to take temporary custody of Weinstein, but said it wasn't clear that would happen. No court dates have been set. (Yonhap)


This photo taken on March 23, 2020 shows employees eating during lunch break at an auto plant of Dongfeng Honda in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. STR | AFP | China

The fast-spreading coronavirus has prompted many countries around the world to effectively shut down in order to contain the outbreak. The draconian measures have placed massive restrictions on the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people, from so-called lockdowns and school closures to strict regulations on social distancing and bans on public gatherings. It is an unprecedented response to an intensifying global health crisis, leaving many to wonder exactly when things might revert to normal. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he believes the country can "turn the tide" within 12 weeks, while President Donald Trump has suggested the U.S. can open up again "fairly soon." However, health experts are much more cautious. That's because lifting restrictions to alleviate the economic and social damage of a prolonged period of lockdown could risk a second wave of coronavirus cases.

'We are in it for the long haul'

"We are in it for a long haul, at least for another month or two," Eric Feigl-Ding, a global health economist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Monday. "This is not disappearing in the next three weeks, no matter how we wish to compare to Wuhan," Feigl-Ding said, referring specifically to coronavirus cases in the U.S. "This is not Wuhan  we can't divert one-quarter of all of the doctors and nurses from other parts of the country to come to one epicenter like China did." "So, again, we are in it for at least two months or more. And maybe the vaccine will arrive earlier than 12 months if we get really successful trials that get to terminate early so we can give it out to everyone sooner," he added.

Since emerging from Wuhan, China, in late 2019, the coronavirus has spread to 190 countries, areas or territories. To date, it has infected over 390,000 people globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, with 17,156 deaths. The outbreak has been recognized as a pandemic by the WHO, with the United Nations health agency repeatedly underlining the importance of nations moving to impose sweeping public health measures. "I cannot see that all of a sudden, next week or two weeks from now it is going to be over. I don't think there is a chance of that," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview on NBC's "TODAY" show late last week.

When will a vaccine be ready?

At present, there is no vaccination available for the coronavirus and health experts do not expect it to become available to the public for a long while. Intensive and socially disruptive measures are required in order to "suppress the transmission to low levels," according to professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London. "It is likely such measures  most notably, large scale social distancing  will need to be in place for many months, perhaps until a vaccine becomes available," Ferguson said in a report published March 17. In the same report, scientists at Imperial College London estimated it could take up to 18 months, at least, to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine, a popular spritual landmark in Bangkok on January 27, 2020. MLADEN ANTONOV | AFP via Getty Images

In its absence, the WHO has stressed the need for citizens to take collective action. The health agency has encouraged people around the world to wash their hands regularly, avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth, maintain social distancing, practice respiratory hygiene and seek medical care if they have a fever, cough or any difficulty breathing.

Herd immunity vs. flattening the curve

One other so-called exit strategy for the coronavirus pandemic could occur when enough people have developed an immunity to the outbreak through infection. This controversial concept is known as "herd immunity." It is reportedly being used in Sweden, and appeared to be put in place in Britain and the Netherlands before both countries recently changed their approach, after warnings that this method would most likely overwhelm their health systems and death tolls would surge.
By Lisa Barrington and Yousef Saba

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain reported the Arab Gulf's first death from the coronavirus on Monday and Saudi Arabia urged its citizens to stay at home, as the region broadened measures to shield populations and economies from the outbreak.

Qatar, where most of the population is made up of expatriates, reported 38 new cases including three Qataris who had been in Europe, state news agency QNA said. This took Qatar's tally to 439 and the total number of infections in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to 1,042.

Member states have restricted entry and movement.

Saudi Arabia, which along with Kuwait suspended all international flights and closed most public spaces, said it was considering suspending work for the private sector after doing so for the government sector, except health and security.

"We hope citizens will stay at home and not go out unless needed," Saudi Health Minister Tawfiq Al Rabiah told a news conference on Monday.

The kingdom, which announced 15 new cases on Monday, ordered the private sector to give two-week mandatory sick leave for pregnant women and employees with conditions that leave them vulnerable, state media reported.

The 65-year-old Bahraini woman who died from the coronavirus had underlying health conditions, Bahrain's health ministry said on Twitter.

Dozens of Bahrain's reported 227 cases were among citizens evacuated from Iran last week. A health ministry press conference said the deceased woman was among those evacuees from Iran.

Bahrain state media on Sunday showed footage of a quarantine center set up on a barren island connected to the mainland by a causeway. Dozens of beds ready for patients lined large marquees with air conditioning units, cupboards and colorful carpets.

A ministry of health official also told the press conference that the hundreds of prisoners pardoned and released by Bahraini authorities last week had been tested and found to be clear of the virus. Rights groups linked the releases to efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

Story continues

Across the Gulf, patriotic Twitter hashtags and social media images circulated with the phrase "We are all at home for the sake of ..." using the relevant Gulf country and its flag.

Gulf Arab states have announced stimulus packages and incentives for the private sector to mitigate the impact on their economies from the outbreak, which has disrupted global travel and led to lockdowns in many countries.

The central banks of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait cut benchmark interest rates on Monday.

NO PRAYERS OR PARTIES

The UAE health ministry on Monday ordered the temporary suspension of wedding celebrations and other social parties for four weeks as of Wednesday, state news agency WAM said. It also banned prayers at houses of worship including mosques.

The government earlier issued a tweet reassuring people about supplies of goods after a rush on supermarkets.

Dubai, the region's tourism and business hub, ordered bars and lounges to close until the end of March, according to a government circular issued on Monday. Authorities also ordered desert and cruise tour operators to stop work.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi have closed gyms, public gardens, arcades and spas as well as stock market trading halls.

While restaurants remain open in the UAE, other Gulf states are now permitting only food delivery. Qatar on Monday banned people from eating at restaurants and cafes, state media said, joining Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in doing so.

Oman on Monday suspended public Friday Muslim prayers and canceled all non-urgent surgery in hospitals.

Many of the coronavirus cases in the Gulf are linked to travel with Iran, which has recorded 853 deaths and 14,991 infections. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a new appeal on Monday for people to avoid unnecessary trips.

The UAE sent two planes carrying 32 tonnes of medical supplies, including gloves and surgical masks, to Iran on Monday, the UAE government said in a Twitter post.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba, Stephen Kalin, Parisa Hafezi, Aziz El Yaakoubi; Dahlia Nehme; Writing by Lisa Barrington and Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Alex Richardson, Mark Heinrich, Peter Graff, William Maclean)
Since the vote, Netanyahu has become the face of Israels aggressive response to the outbreak. Appearing on television almost nightly, he has announced ever tighter restrictions on movement and far-reaching public surveillance, including the use of security agencies to track the cellphone data of citizens without their consent. The high court ruled that program could not continue without parliamentary oversight.
Oregon State Police are looking for a man who assaulted another driver on the side of Interstate 5, then drove away in his truck Monday morning.

Troopers responded at around 7:50 a.m. to reports of a fight between two men on the southbound shoulder of the interstate near milepost 229, just before the Corvallis-Lebanon exit.

The suspect left before police arrived, driving away in a white Ford pickup truck towing a utility trailer. Police said an ambulance took the injured man to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis. State Police Capt. Tim Fox said the man had serious head injuries, but did not know his status as of Monday evening.

Fox said the two men were traveling in separate vehicles, and that troopers believe the dispute happened because of some kind of disagreement involving driving. Fox said police are investigating whether either man had a weapon, and whether either man had been using alcohol or drugs at the time of the assault.

Fox said police have not yet identified the suspect and are asking any witnesses to the assault to contact the state police at 800-442-0776.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Burma Suu Kyi Consoles Myanmar People Amid COVID-19, Stresses Health Guidelines, Calm

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. / Ministry of Information

YANGONMyanmars de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi consoled her fellow citizens and told them not to fear but to be careful after the country recorded its first cases of COVID-19 late on Monday, as the disease is controllable and the fatality rate is low.

A 36-year-old traveling from the United States and a 26-year-old returning from Britain, both Myanmar nationals, have tested positive for COVID-19.

In her televised message to the country on Tuesday, the State Counselor encouraged the people to strictly follow instructions from the Health Ministry while urging anyone to report immediately to a hospital if they have virus symptoms because early treatment can reduce fatality.

Please dont hide it. If you are under home quarantine, please follow the guidelines strictly, she said. Myanmar currently has thousands of people under home quarantine, many of them migrant workers recently returned from Thailand.

In her message, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi offered assurance that there would be no food shortage in the country but warned against hoarding supplies and said people must buy only what they really need, in order to avoid panic buying.

The government will not shut down markets and shopping centers, she said.

She stressed that Myanmar will face the challenges of COVID-19 with the strength of the people because public participation is pivotal in the fight against the disease.

She emphasized that her government is tackling the situation responsibly and with transparency through real time updates.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Imposes Community Quarantines After COVID-19 Patient Visit

Myanmar to Quarantine Arrivals from All Countries Over COVID-19

Myanmar Health Ministry: Both Coronavirus Patients Stable
New Delhi: At a time when several states and UTs are under complete lockdown to prevent coronavirus COVID-19 from spreading, Delhi Police has been very active on Twitter to help Delhites with their queries. Same thing happened on Tuesday (March 24, 2020) when a user asked DP, "sir main within 2km k under apne dost k ghar ja skta hun kisi kaam se? #LockdownQuery" (Sir, can I go within 2 km to my friend's house for some work?) to which the Delhi Police official Twitter account replied, "            #StayAtHomeSaveLives" which means "If you are a true friend then stay at home. Make a video call instead."

           #StayAtHomeSaveLives  Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) March 24, 2020

The Twitter accounts of Delhi Police, Mumbai Police and Bengaluru Police have been very active in the past few years and they reply to queries/reports in a very quick time.

Some of their tweets and traffic rule campaigns have also gone viral on social media.

The National capital along with 31 other states and UTs covering 560 districts have been completely locked down amid COVID-19 outbreak.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has jumped to 519 with 9 fatalities as on March 24 07:00 PM.
In a small town near Machu Picchu, Michael and Kortni Steltz woke up early on March 16 to news from the Peruvian government.

The coronavirus had prompted the country to declare a state of emergency and close its borders. The Steltzes had until the end of the day to get out.

In a panic, the Schroon Lake residents joined thousands of people boarding trains out of Agua Calientes to the nearest city with an airport. They enlisted family, friends and travel agents to try to book a flight for them out of Peru. But the Steltzes could not get a ticket.

A week later, Michael, 24, and Kortni, 22, are still stuck in Peru, with international flights grounded. They are among about 200 New Yorkers and at least 2,500 Americans who have self-reported on a public Google document that they stranded in the country, as of Monday.

Other New Yorkers are stuck in Morocco, Argentina, Ukraine, Honduras, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Spain, France, Dominican Republic, El Salvador and on cruise ships in various locations, according to Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer's office. New Yorkers in Austria, Peru, Thailand, the Philippines, Columbia, and Zimbabwe have also contacted the office of U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, for help, an aide said.

Sunday night, the Trump administration brought 103 Americans stranded in Brazil back to the U.S., President Donald Trump announced Monday night.

On Friday, the State Department created a task force to repatriate thousands of Americans back to the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the State Department is making efforts to help Americans in countries where flights to the U.S. have been canceled.

It organized repatriation flights that brought many Americans, including some New Yorkers, back home from Morocco late last week. At least one constituent in Guatemala from the district of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, has also been repatriated, she said.

"Were working very hard  long  on getting a young group of people out of Peru," Trump said Sunday. "Weve removed some, and the rest are being removed with the cooperation of the Peruvian government. And we're also dealing with Honduras on getting some people out that got caught up. And we are working on that very well  again, with the Honduran government's work."

Deidry Gomez, 24, of the Bronx, traveled to Honduras on March 14 to visit her grandparents and has not been able to get back.

"Borders were suppose to close for a week and they keep extending it making me worry when exactly I will be able to leave," she wrote in an email.

Stranded New Yorkers are concerned they may run out of money or medications before they can get home. They feel frustrated and left behind and wonder when help is coming.

The State Department has no count or estimate of how many U.S. citizens are stranded abroad.

We dont know the full scale of it yet, Pompeo said Friday. Well try to get everybody back.

The State Department took the rare step Thursday of issuing a Level 4 Travel Advisory, urging all Americans to avoid international travel and return to the U.S. if they can. Pompeo in a briefing at the White House Friday urged Americans overseas to book a commercial flight home now or risk being stuck abroad for weeks or months.

But in some countries, where commercial flights have been reduced or altered, grabbing a flight home is not so easy.

Rita Lenda, 65, and Michael Katz, 66, of Katonah, Westchester County, showed up at the airport in Cusco, Peru on March 16, after hearing about the nation's border closure, to find the airport guarded by soldiers holding guns.

"Hundreds and hundreds of people crowded at the gates," Lenda wrote in an email. "Outside flights had stopped flying within just a few hours of the president announcing border closing."

David Wang, 27, of Manhattan was also outside the Cusco airport that day waiting for over seven hours to try to find a way out.

"I was so desperate, I was asking to buy tickets off other people," Wang wrote in an email. "The airport was complete chaos, it felt dystopian and as if it came out of some end of the world movie. People were in hysterics. People crying as they were not allowed into the airport."

Many New Yorkers in Peru told the Times Union that the since the borders closed, they have repeatedly booked flights out of the country, only to find them canceled hours or days later.

Bailey Bass, 23, of Garrison, Putnam County, said the U.S. Embassy in Lima told to her to try to book a commercial flight through one of two airlines. She and multiple family members each spent hours trying to book a flight to no avail.

"No commercial airlines are flying from Peru until April," she said. "Most airlines aren't flying from Peru until May."

All the New Yorkers interviewed by the Times Union said they'd contacted the U.S. Embassy in Peru and completed online State Department forms to receive help from the agency. But communications have been sparse, they said.

"For four days we were left completely in the dark," said Erin Carden, 26, of Brooklyn. "We received absolutely no information from the embassy despite the fact that its main priority is to communicate with the American people in Peru and keep them safe. The consulate was closed and the line for the U.S embassy in Lima kept ringing and ringing. I could not believe it."

Daniel Huang, 23, of New York City described communications from the U.S. embassy as "minimal."

"Many Americans stuck with us feel abandoned by the government," he said. "It particularly hurt when we heard news of embassy employees evacuating the country without trying to help the 1600+ Americans currently trapped in the country."

Many people also said they contacted their members of Congress for help. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said his office has received numerous such pleas.

"The Administration has been far too slow to respond and help get our citizens back home in a timely manner," Tonko said Monday. "While I applaud hardworking diplomats for their efforts around the world, the political leadership in Washington, D.C. has not provided a timely, streamlined nor robust process, which has led to unnecessary confusion and panic for our citizens around the globe.

Members of Congress have called on the State Department to charter commercial aircraft to rescue Americans abroad, including Schumer.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. said she's been "frustrated with the lack of information and transparency coming out of the State Department."

"There were a lot of vulnerable constituents traveling at the beginning of this pandemic and the federal government has a responsibility to provide clear answers to questions and deliberate action to get them home safely, she said.

The Americans in Peru are hopeful that the State Department will organize flights to bring them back  like the agency did for U.S. travelers in Morocco on Friday.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that efforts were underway to rescue 300 Americans from Peru, including many from Alabama.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Were trying to get them out with military, Trump said.

A Pentagon spokesperson said Monday no such military operation currently exists.

The State Department did not respond for requests for comment Monday about its efforts to get Americans out of Peru and other countries. On Friday, a spokesperson said the agency was doing everything it could to help Americans abroad.

Multiple New Yorkers told the Times Union said they had been contacted by the State Department over the past few days regarding possible repatriation flights this week. As of Monday, they were unsure when such flights might occur and whether they would leave from airports in Cusco, as well as the capital city of Lima. Bus and car travel has been essentially shut down between the two cities, adding to the challenge.

The State Department is also trying to organize repatriation flights out of Guatemala and Honduras, Gillibrand's office said.

Other Americans are taking matters into their own hands. They established Facebook groups, What's App communications and a detailed Google document listing everyone's location and contact information.

Some Americans in Peru and Honduras are trying to charter private planes for themselves or groups out of the country. One woman told the Times Union the total cost of the charter flight out of Honduras she was trying to organize was over $77,000 or about $500 per person. She was looking for someone who could front the money and collect payment from the stranded Americans.

Michael Katz in Peru said someone volunteered to front funds for six or seven planes out of Lima and Cusco, Peru over the coming days, but exact details were unclear.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers are trying to make do in hostels and hotels while cities and towns in Peru operate in lockdown.

"I am to wear a face mask at all times and cannot be outside past 8 PM," wrote Eury Fabian, 26, from the Bronx. "In previous occasions, I was stopped by the police who are currently patrolling the streets; they rush us to make our trips quickly and if we dont wear masks or travel alone we could end up in jail. There is no access to transportation, everything is by foot."

Mariana Hand, 23, a medical scribe and certified nursing assistant from Westchester County, said she's concerned they will be struck in Peru indefinitely.

"This has also become a financial burden as we still have to pay for everything and we are not working," Hand said. "Since Im involved in the healthcare field, I am sad that I cant be working to help out in any way I can. I do worry some about getting sick, but I worry more about spreading it."

Rita Lenda said she is worried for her health. She has diabetes and another health condition and she only has a few days of medication left.

"This morning I woke up with heart palpitations and very short breathing. They have oxygen tanks here which I can get for a nominal fee but my heart continues to palpate, my blood pressure feels very high and I am overall feel(ing) myself going down," she said. "I am no longer a young woman and I am feeling every minute of this."

Asked if he had hope they would get out of Peru soon, Rita's partner, Michael Katz, said, "not at all."

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Oh, how the elites laughed and scorned and mocked Alaska's former governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's warning, more than a decade ago, that President Obama's proposal for a government takeover of health care would result in "death panels" deciding who would receive medical care and who would not: who would live, who would die.

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil. Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

That was 2009; fast-forward to 2020, and lo! in the Italian government-dominated health care system, we learned last week:

Italians over 80 'will be left to die' as country overwhelmed by coronavirus Hardest-hit region drafts new proposals saying who will live and who will die Coronavirus victims in Italy will be denied access to intensive care if they are aged 80 or more or in poor health should pressure on beds increase, a document prepared by a crisis management unit in Turin proposes. Some patients denied intensive care will in effect be left to die, doctors fear.

The document states:

Should it become impossible to provide all patients with intensive care services, it will be necessary to apply criteria for access to intensive treatment, which depends on the limited resources available[.]

This week, as the Wuhan COVID-19 continued its devastation, government officials lowered the age of medical care access even more, to 60.

Dr. Gai Peleg told Israeli television that in northern Italy, the orders are not to allow those over 60 access to respiratory machines. (snip) Peleg said that, from what he sees and hears in the hospital, the instructions are not to offer access to artificial respiratory machines to patients over 60, as such machines are limited in number.

This would accelerate Italy's grim death statistics. The country, which has been hit hard by Wuhan COVID-19, marked a grim milestone Thursday as its number of deaths from the rampaging global coronavirus outbreak surpassed those in China.

The country's death toll hit 3,405 as of Thursday, an increase of 427 compared to Wednesday, according to Italy's Civil Protection Department.

Italy has been staggering under the effects of the pandemic for weeks. Hospitals and even some morgues in the hard-hit northern Italian city of Milan are stretched beyond capacity.

The threat to limit  or even deny  the use of respirators to those over 60, or 80, then, is real because of Italian demographics.

One factor in the high death toll so far is the high median age in Italy, which is 47 years, compared to 37 in China and 38 in the U.S. Stated as a percentage of the total population, Italy has more people over the age of 80, 90, or 100 than any other major industrialized country except Japan. With the average age of a COVID-19 victim in Italy over 80, that is a factor in the denial of medical care, with most of the elderly victims already suffering from serious underlying medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, or hypertension.

Let's repeat Palin's chilling prophecy:

And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care.

Who is laughing now? Who is crying?

Image credit: Wikimedia, public domain.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The governor and attorney general of Texas are moving to ban most abortions in the state during the coronavirus outbreak, declaring they dont qualify as essential surgeries.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that the order issued over the weekend by Gov. Greg Abbott barred "any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother."

Failure to comply with the order can result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time, Paxton said.

"No one is exempt from the governor's executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers," Paxton said. "Those who violate the governor's order will be met with the full force of the law."

The issue also has flared in Ohio, where abortion clinics received letters Friday from Republican Attorney General Dave Yost ordering them to cease all "non-essential" surgical abortions. Yost wrote that the procedures violate a March 17 order issued by the state health director.

However, representatives of Ohio clinics said that they were in compliance with the health director's order and planned to continue providing abortions.

Amid the moves by Ohio and Texas, a coalition of anti-abortion groups urged its allies across the nation to ask governors to ban most abortions on the grounds they were not essential.

"If abortion is a 'choice' then abortion is an elective procedure," said Mark Harrington, president of the anti-abortion group Created Equal.

Abortion-rights leaders nationwide decried the tactic, saying it was an affront to women grappling with difficult decisions amid the disruptions of the pandemic.

"Abortion is time-sensitive, essential health care," said Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the National Abortion Federation. "Women deserve better than a craven exploitation of a health care crisis in furtherance of an anti-abortion agenda."

In Ohio, abortion clinics planned to remain in operation.

Jennifer Branch, an attorney for the Womens Med Center of Dayton, said the clinic had already taken steps to minimize the use of personal protective equipment -- one of the issues raised in the states order.

The CEOs of two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Ohio are said their clinics also were in compliance, having cut back on the use of equipment that is in short supply.

Cleveland-based Preterm, the busiest abortion clinic in Ohio, is not open on Mondays but said it was continuing to take appointments for later in the week.

Bethany McCorkle, a spokesman for Yost, said the orders sent to three abortion clinic operators werent politically motivated, but rather, were due to complaints from the public. She said they were similar to orders sent to a urology practice.

In Texas, Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order from Abbott, but it was hailed by anti-abortion activists.

The abortion industry has been consuming and hoarding medical supplies that are in desperate need around the state including masks, gloves, and other protective gear for medical professionals, said Texas Right to Life.

Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, called on abortion clinics nationwide to temporarily halt abortion services.

"Abortion clinics conducting business as usual in the presence of a life-threatening disease shows just how callous pro-abortion groups and abortionists are to protecting life at any stage," said Tobias.

Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, director of state media campaigns for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Planned Parenthood clinics were intend on remaning in operation.

While public health providers work together in our communities to care for patients whose health care cant wait, some anti-abortion activists are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to push their ideological agenda, she said. This is not a time to play politics.

There were no immediate reports of other states planning to target abortion clinics with restrictions related to COVID-19, even in Republican-governed states that have been active in passing anti-abortion legislation in recent years.

In Idaho, the governor's office said the state "has not mandated providers stop procedures of any type. Health systems are determining what procedures are considered elective internally."

The executive director of Georgia Right to Life, Zemmie Fleck, said she has not heard of any plans by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to curtail abortions because of the coronavirus. But she suggested such a step would be warranted.

"Already we see people, even people that I know personally, whose elective surgeries have been postponed due to this pandemic," she said in a phone interview. "I would say the same should apply to the abortion industry as well."

Diane Derzis, owner of the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, told The Associated Press that the clinic had not been told by the state to stop providing the procedure.

"It is our contention that we are an essential service," Derzis said by phone from Alabama, where she lives.

A spokeswoman for Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves did not immediately respond to a question from the AP on Monday about whether he will order a halt to abortions.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan says Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's order, issued Friday, to prohibit elective procedures does not extend to abortions. Whitmer supports abortion rights.

Similarly, in North Carolina, health department spokeswoman Sarah Peel said abortion clinics would not be covered by a directive asking hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to suspend all elective and non-urgent procedures and surgeries.

These medical procedures are defined as those that would not cause harm to the patient if put off for at least four weeks, a letter to hospitals says. So surgical abortions are "not something that would need to be postponed," said Peel.

He department is in the administration of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who supports abortion rights.
However, there are no provisions that would allow an administrative suspension of the signature rules. Instead, it would require a change in state law, and lawmakers in both parties have shown little interest in relaxing ballot access rules in Illinois amid the uncertainty over when the General Assembly can reconvene in Springfield.
A convenience store owner has come up with an genius way of stopping panic-buyers stocking up on toilet roll.

Redfern Convenience Store owner Hazem Sedda is charging customers $3.50 for their first pack but then charging $99 for those who want to buy a second pack.

A picture taken from inside the shop in Sydney's inner west showed the fully stocked shelves with a message 'don't be greedy, think of other people'.

The Redfern Convenience Store came up with a genius idea to prevent shoppers from hoarding toilet paper by telling them two rolls will set them back $99 (pictured)

Mr Sedda told Daily Mail Australia he originally put a one packet per customer sign up but it was being ignored.

'Everyone was taking two or three and telling me it was for their mum or sister. It was annoying they kept ignoring the sign,' Mr Sedda said.

'When I put the two pack for $99 everyone was just taking one. No no one came up with two.'

Mr Sedda said helping the community by making sure everyone could find toilet paper was the reason for the idea.

'All the old people and all the desperate people were able to get some as well, that was the whole point,' he said.

Redfern Convenience Store owner Hazem Sedda (pictured right with journalist Ben Fordham) said he got a great deal of pleasure out of helping his community, especially in times of crisis

He said since the lockdown he had seen plenty of new faces in the store.

Customers have been coming from Glebe, Mascot and other areas of Sydney just to buy toilet paper, some after looking for more than a week.

Mr Sedda also encouraged the community spirit in the caption to his social media post.

'For all our customers. We do have toilet paper. And we are doing our best to keep them in stock for you,' he wrote.

'Please only buy what you need dont "buy to stock up  as a lot of people are desperate for one roll.'

The post drew widespread praise online with some branding the idea 'fantastic' and 'brilliant'.

'This is the BEST idea!!,' one user wrote.

'I love you guys,' another added.

'Redfern Convenience Store real MVP,' another replied.
A member of NDRF prepares to spary disinfectants as a precautionary measure against Covid19 in front of Charminar, Hyderabad. AP Photo

Hyderabad: The lockdown in Old City was complete and purposeful. While most preferred to stay at home, the law enforcing agencies ensured complete lockdown. Only essential service providers were allowed to step out of their homes. People rushed to make their purchases early and youth from the area were not allowed to sit on chabutras.

Vehicular movement dropped in the early hours. Police personnel did not allow people to roam around on the streets and allowed motorists only after they explained the reasons for coming out.

Roads in Charminar, Moghalpura, Chanch-alguda, Dab-eerpura, Falaknuma, Bahad-urpura, Barkas, Tappachabutra, Mall-epally, Golconda, Tolichowki et al wore a deserted look. The police did not allow auto-rickshaws and cabs to ply anywhere.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corp-oration (GHMC) authorities took up a massive sanitation initiative. Teams from Disaster Response Force conducted cleaning operation and sprayed disinfectants at public places, particularly near places of worship. Sanitation teams cleared garbage in many parts of Old City.
For professional musicians, quasi-quarantines and social distancing have led to serious financial difficulties. But a group of musicians in Nashville is hosting a live, virtual concert in an effort to regain some of that lost income, and at the same time offer some inspiration and connection through live music.

Nashville musicians violinist Deena Rizkalla, 27, and percussionist Ben Andrews, 29, have been playing music professionally for several years. Rizkallas main genre is classical while Andrews plays popular music, classical, country, and folk.

When the Rizkalla and Andrews learned that large public gatherings and venues would be shut down indefinitely due to social distancing protocols, they were devastated.

Crowds are our business, so when you take away crowds we have no business, Andrews explained.

Ben Andrew is a professional percussionist, and one of many Nashville musicians impacted by social distancing protocols. (Courtesy of Deena Rizkalla)

We were all very upset, and we were kind of watching. We have gigs booked months in advance into May into June, and as the days go by, theyre just dropping, Rizkalla said.

Spring is an especially busy time for professional musicians as well, and many musicians make the majority of their income during these months. Andrews lost over $2,000 worth of work over two days. Rizkalla and her colleagues have continued to play music despite not being able to perform in front of an audience, and Andrews has kept making music as well.

The Show Must Go On

In an effort to keep performing music despite the pandemic, Andrews and Rizkalla organized a virtual live concert called Corona Concert No. 1, which streamed on Facebook on March 18.

The 12 musicians who performed in the concert followed all of the guidelines outlined by the federal government. The show took place in Andrews basement and included a variety of genres, from classical to soul. Over 1,000 people tuned into the concert, and the musicians were able to raise almost $5,000. Even though the concert was virtual, being able to play live music was incredibly satisfying for the musicians.

Ben Andrews and Deena Rizkalla are hosting virtual concerts to help professional musicians in Nashville and to keep live music alive and well. (Courtesy of Deena Rizkalla)

For me it felt almost exactly the same, Rizkalla said. I still felt the same concert jitters that I usually do before going on stageeven more so because people were literally saying how they felt in the moment.

Audience members made nearly 300 live comments on Facebook, and the concert received broad praise and support. People shared the concert on social media, and one person even hosted a watch party. Andrews and Rizkalla may experiment with encouraging musicians to try their own home setup, which they can feature on their platform.

I want there to be a great sense of community both within the Nashville music community and also within the global community at large. Were all literally isolating ourselves from each other. I want there to be a sense community and warmth and welcoming in the midst of this period of isolation, Andrews said.

Sharing the Beauty

Andrews and Rizkalla also hope the musicians can feel a sense of validation. Being a professional musician is an arduous line of work, and they hope audiences gather that musicians are talented, hardworking, and entrepreneurial. And of course, they hope audiences enjoy the closest thing to a live concert that they can provide.

For me, music performance is an expression of the soul, Andrews said. I really believe in the power of music to transcend what verbal communication can do. Music adds an extra element that I think is so innately human that you cant get anywhere else.

Andrews and Rizkalla hope to have weekly virtual concerts following their premiere on March 18, and hope their efforts inspire other musicians across the country.

When were playing live music you can see in real-time, were into it, and were communicating with each other, and were making something that we think is beautiful, and we want other people to experience this beautiful thing with us, Rizkalla said.
A second senior military officer in Egypt has reportedly died of the novel coronavirus on March 23 and the official death toll in Egypt stands at 19 from 366 cases reported nationwide. As per the reports, head of major infrastructure projects at the military engineering authority, Major General Shafee Dawood became the latest high ranking personnel to die from COVID-19 in hospital. He is reportedly the second person to die after Major General Khaled Shaltout, the army's chief of water management, died from the deadly pandemic on late March 22.

READ: Egypt Arrests Activists Seeking Release Of prisoners Over Fear Of Coronavirus Outbreak

According to the state-based media, Shaltout contracted the disease after actively working for "sterilization" procedures to curb the virus. Some other high ranking officials in the Egyptian army have also been confirmed to have been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, security sources reportedly said. As per the international media reports, the army released a video the previous week which showed the tanks spraying disinfectant in major Cairo areas which included the central metro station in Tahrir Square.

READ: Egypt Charges Activists Calling For Prisoners' Release

South Africa overtakes Egypt (327 cases) to become the country with the most Coronavirus cases in Africa with 402 Coronavirus cases.  Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) March 23, 2020

'Full transparency'

Khaled Megahed, Health ministry spokesperson reportedly said on March 22 that COVID-19 infections have been identified in 24 of the country's 27 governorates. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reportedly said on March 22 that the government is dealing with the pandemic with "full transparency" and working hard to contain the spread of the deadly virus. The Egyptian government has been reportedly criticised on social media for its slow handling of the deadly disease. The authorities have implemented strict measures to limit social interaction in the country of 100 million inhabitants.

READ: Egypt Locks Down Major Red Sea Tourist Resort

READ: Johnson County Says Virus Hasnt Spread Since Egypt Cruise
Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones has revealed that the highly-popular BBC drama will not return for a third season - despite fans being desperate to know what happens next.

Season two concluded in the autumn of 2017 and saw Suranne's character - titular GP Gemma Foster - learn that her damaged son Tom had run away, following his parents messy divorce.

Yet the fate of Tom, it seems, will never be known.

The end? Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones has revealed that the highly-popular BBC drama will not return for a third season - despite fans being desperate to know what happens next

Speaking to the latest edition of Radio Times, Suranne, 41, was asked whether the Doctor Foster chapter was closed for her, to which she replied: 'Yes.'

She elaborated: 'I havent said that before in interviews, as I tend to say: who knows?

'I loved it, I love [writer] Mike Bartlett, I love [the producers] Drama Republic.

'Series one was amazing, series two, equally, peaked at nearly ten million viewers and pushed in crazy directions. But I think Gemmas done.'

End of the road for Tom: Season two concluded in the autumn of 2017 and saw titular GP Gemma Foster learn that her damaged son Tom [played by Tom Taylor] had run away, following his parents messy divorce

Suranne also answered questions about the second season of her Sky Atlantic show Save Me, and her answers may have in fact shed some light about why she is uninterested in following through with the story of her missing on-screen son Tom [played by Tom Taylor].

'Im in no rush to do anything about missing children, and Ive read some scripts recently  television drama seems to be fascinated by them, but it doesnt hold any interest for me at the minute.

'Im being careful about what I swap my family life for.'

Doctor Foster's first season followed Gemma as she learnt her husband Simon [Bertie Carvel] was having an affair with one of her patients Kate [Jodie Comer].

Done: 'Series one was amazing, series two, equally, peaked at nearly ten million viewers and pushed in crazy directions. But I think Gemmas done,' the actress said

High drama: Doctor Foster's first season followed Gemma as she learnt her husband Simon [Bertie Carvel] was having an affair with one of her patients Kate [Jodie Comer]

The series climaxed with her confronting the pair, with season two picking up following Gemma and Simon's divorce.

The storyline of the second series saw Gemma struggle with Simon and his now-wife Kate returning to live in the area, buying a lavish house, having a baby and seemingly flaunting their happiness in Gemma's face - manipulating Tom in the process.

Ultimately, things unravelled for Simon, whose financial problems soon became clear, and he and Gemma's hatred for one another led to Tom's disappearance.

Hopes dashed: Fans of the show were desperate to know what happens next, with both the cast and writer of the series often teasing that the story could still continue. Yet Suranne has seemingly dashed these hopes

Fans of the show were desperate to know what happens next, with both the cast and writer of the series often teasing that the story could still continue.

Yet Suranne has seemingly dashed these hopes.

Just last month, however, it was announced that the BBC's newly-commissioned series Life will be a spin-off of the show.

Creator and writer Mike Bartlett told The Sun that Life will 'share a universe with Doctor Foster' and that 'all the lead characters may feature' - giving fans hope that star Suranne could crop up in it.

The six-part drama follows the stories of the residents of a large house in Manchester, divided into four flats - one of which is occupied by a former-Doctor Foster character.

Anna Baker, played by Victoria Hamilton, was Gemma's neighbour in Doctor Foster - and she will now appear in Life.

The character, however, has changed her name to Belle. She's a pilates instructor now, whose life is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of her chaotic 15-year-old niece Maya [Erin Kellyman].

Mike said: 'In the last series of Doctor Foster Anna split up with Neil and moved away. But I loved her as a character and suspected that was really the start of her story, rather than the end.

Continuation: Just last month it was announced that the BBC's newly-commissioned series Life will be a spin-off of Doctor Foster and follows former-Doctor Foster character Anna Baker, played by Victoria Hamilton

'In Life we find her living alone, under a different name, in a new city. Its one of four story strands that make up the series, the other three being new, completely different interconnected stories that explore the epic and extraordinary in our everyday lives.'

Full interview: The new issue of Radio Times is out now

The series will also star Alison Steadman, Peter Davison and Adrian Lester.

Suranne appearing in Life is yet to be known, but she will definitely be back on screens in acclaimed series Gentleman Jack, which she starred in last year.

She plays Anne Lister who encounters a potentially blossoming and dangerous romance with another woman, which she records in a cryptic diary that no one can decode.

Of what she can tease about the second run, Suranne was equally cagey.

'Nothing for now,' she said, but added: 'Ive been invited to executive produce the series, so were working on the scripts and putting it together now. We start filming in June and were really excited to start the next chapter.

'Anyone whos read the bit in Anne Listers diaries after the marriage will know whats coming, but Sally [Wainwright] puts it together brilliantly  it feels vibrant, but it has real emotional depth.'

The new issue of Radio Times is out now.
KABUL  Washingtons unprecedented threat to cut $1 billion in Afghanistan funding  a response to the refusal of rivals in Kabul to work together to advance peace  comes at a time when the impoverished nation risks being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday both President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, blamed one another for failing to resolve the feuding, which prompted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to threaten the massive funding cut.

Pompeo called out the two leaders as he ended a rushed visit to Afghanistan on Monday, defying a near-global travel ban because of the virus. He left Kabul without being able to secure a power-sharing deal.

Ghani told the nation in a televised address that Abdullahs power-sharing demands were unconstitutional. For his part, Abdullah said Pompeos visit was a missed opportunity.

Pompeo said the Trump administration would slash $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan and reduce all cooperation unless Ghani and Abdullah agree on forming a new government. Speaking to reporters aboard his plane on the return flight home, Pompeo said he was hopeful the two rivals will get their act together and we wont have to cut the assistance. But were prepared to do that, he said.

Earlier, he said Ghani and Abdullahs leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests. Apart from reducing assistance by $1 billion this year, another $1 billion will be cut in 2021 if the bickering continued, Pompeo said.

Ghani seemed unfazed, though his government covers barely 25% of its budget, according to John Sopko, U.S. Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. More than 75% of all expenses, including the running of government ministries, is covered by the international community.

Sopkos regular reports have also criticized the Afghan government for widespread corruption and Transparency International has ranked Afghanistan among the most corrupt,at 173 out of 180 countries. The United States alone pays $4 billion annually toward Afghanistans security forces.

Kathy Gannon and Rahim Faiez are Associated Press writers.
WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic and the countrys collapsing economy are forcing Democrats and Republicans to rethink the messaging they thought would help them win Novembers elections for White House and congressional control.

Shattered, certainly for now, is President Donald Trumps ability to tout a brawny economy and record stock market prices as the predicate for his reelection. And it could be hard for Republicans to call Democrats socialists with a straight face as Congress approaches a bipartisan deal on a near $2 trillion rescue package that would essentially have government drive the economy indefinitely.

Democrats say theyre the party that will protect peoples health care, but its unclear that would be heard by people focused mostly on when life will return to normal. And by pounding away at Trumps competence, theyd risk alienating voters who, during a stressful time, want policymakers to produce solutions, not partisan wrangling.

Were in the middle of a hurricane. We dont know all the political consequences. We dont know if its a Cat 1 or a Cat 5, said GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak, referring to categories used to express the strength of storms.

Trump has seized public attention with almost daily briefings about the governments response to the pandemic. Thats left former Vice-President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, and his partys congressional candidates searching for ways to break into the news cycle.

Clearly, campaign themes are changing.

Five political advertisers had run ads mentioning the coronavirus through last week, according to Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks ad data. That included one in Florida, in Spanish, by Biden, and two by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

In times like this, we must work together, Collins, who faces a competitive November reelection in a state that prizes independence, tells the camera.

Priorities USA, the largest outside Democratic political organization, planned to start ads Tuesday in election battlegrounds Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The spot contrasts the skyrocketing number of coronavirus cases with Trumps own words, including, We have it totally under control, and ends with the words, AMERICA NEEDS A LEADER WE CAN TRUST displayed against a black background.

GOP operatives say Republican candidates must emphasize rallying behind the effort to battle the twin crises.

The message is, We all need to come together, support the president and vice-president and do all we can to fight the virus, Republican strategist John Feehery said. Throw everything else out the window.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee provided a memo last week offering guidance to its candidates.

Remind followers through your actions that you take this seriously and would be a calm voice through crisis, the House Democratic political arm said in the guidance obtained by The Associated Press.

It urged candidates to discuss the significance of health care access and affordability  issues that helped the party capture House control in 2018. It suggested asking voters, How are you doing? and Do you need anything during phone calls.

Among the first to test the new political world will be two rivals for an open seat in a narrowly divided House district in Los Angeles northern suburbs.

Republican Mike Garcia and Democrat Christy Smith face a special election in May, when voters seem certain to still be focused on the virus and the battered economy. As elsewhere, efforts to curb the infections spread means campaign phone calls and digital communications are replacing public events.

Both concede its hard to get peoples attention, but each said they are already sharpening their appeals to voters.

During tough times, people retrench their patriotic feelings and remember what the important things are, and thats God, country and family, Garcia, a Trump supporter and former Navy fighter pilot, said in an interview. Were all on the same team.

Smith, a state assemblywoman, said Americans will rise to the occasion but added, Patriotism alone doesnt set food on peoples tables. She said Trumps virus response has put the U.S. woefully behind the infection and its time for a reckoning on what effective government looks like.

Both parties say its too early to know if the virus will be contained and the economy resuscitated by the time voters focus on the fall campaigns  and whether theyll blame or laud Trump and the GOP for the outcome.

Either way, Trump is casting himself as a wartime president in hopes of garnering the broad public support that usually goes to national leaders in times of crisis.

A Trump campaign fundraising committee emailed supporters Tuesday that despite the emergency, Democrats have proved yet again that theyd rather HURT our Nation than work with their President and do whats right.

Biden used a fundraiser, held by phone, to swipe at Trump, whos made numerous false statements about the virus, including on its seriousness and the availability of tests.

We need to tell the American people the truth, the unvarnished truth, Biden said.

Look what we have in the White House right now, said Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., using that same theme. Bustos, who heads House Democrats campaign arm, cited Trumps lashing out at reporters during new briefings and said, We all look for leaders to lead in a crisis.

Democrats are also using the virus spread to reprise their call for better health care.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats marked Mondays 10th anniversary of President Barack Obama signing his health care overhaul into law. We couldnt need it more than during this pandemic, Pelosi told reporters about the statute. She blamed Trump for making mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake in handling the outbreak.

And on the Senate floor Monday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., underscored something both parties will be looking for: ways to taint the other for using the life-altering crises to seek political gain.

McConnell accused Democrats of viewing the chambers blocked economic bill as a juicy political opportunity and trying to stuff it with environmental requirements and other priorities.

Are you kidding me? This is the moment to debate new regulations that have nothing to do with this crisis? he said.

Still, Republicans concede the party faces a huge downside should the virus remain uncontrolled.

If we become Italy, said the consultant Mackowiak, citing the country with the highest death toll so far, theres no question the party in power would pay a political price for that. Absolutely no question.
Farzana Ali is interested in a career in diagnostic radiology, using her medical and biomedical engineering backgrounds to focus on designing templates for brain images.

Medical Students Journey Inspires UB Community

Farzana Ali learned many important skills throughout her four years as a medical student in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. But to the many people who came in contact with her along the way, it was she who was teaching valuable lessons  in patience and perseverance.

I came here to be of service and to contribute as much as I can, but in the process I got so much more in return. I got so much love and care from the entire UB community, and that has been very fulfilling for me.  Farzana Ali Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Class of 2020

Education a Path to Reclaim What Was Lost

Farzana first dreamed of becoming a doctor as a child growing up in Bangladesh and later started on the path as an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University after her family immigrated to the United States in 2002. But the journey took a tragic turn three years later when a drunk driver struck her familys vehicle and Farzana suffered a spinal cord injury. Her sister and aunt were killed. I had some doubts right after my spinal cord injury, but in my heart I knew I still wanted to be a doctor, Farzana says. But the questions I had were about if it would actually be possible for a person with such a high level of injury to fulfill the requirements of becoming a doctor. Her focus was on recovering and getting integrated back into the community, but she knew a long road lay ahead. When I left the hospital, I had to go to subacute care in a nursing home, and I was a quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair, Farzana says. I needed extensive support for my daily activities, but that actually motivated me to work harder to get out of there. I thought that even if I could not go home, I would just go back to school and resume my education and live on campus. I was so dependent on others, I wanted to be more independent, and I saw education as a way to get back to my normal life.

Interview Process Creates Immediate Bonds

Charles M. Severin, MD, PhD, and Farzana Ali formed a bond from the moment they met during her medical school admissions interview in 2016.

One of Farzanas first contacts at the Jacobs School when she interviewed for admission in 2016 was Charles M. Severin, MD, PhD, former associate dean of medical education and admissions. From the beginning, he made an attempt to make a connection with me and the family members of mine that were present, Farzana says. It made me feel at home. It just set the tone for a wonderful day and made me not be nervous despite being in a new environment. During the interview process, which she describes as very open and honest, Farzana says a retired faculty member showed interest in her other skills and the languages she had learned (she speaks five fluently), rather than focusing on her disability. When I met with Dr. Severin, his primary focus was what a student like me might need to succeed in an environment like UB, she says. It was such a unique experience after coming from so many other interviews. It just stood out to me, what I could expect from the UB community. Based on her application and interview, Severin says the admissions committee saw a woman who had the brain and heart of a physician. Between her academic performance and MCAT score, she convinced everyone that she could handle the volume of information presented in our modules and pass her licensing examinations, he says. This told us she had the brain of a physician. After reading the essay she wrote in her application and reviewing her life experiences, Severin says the committee was convinced she would display empathy with patients and earn their trust. It was equally important that we determine she had the heart of a physician, he says. Furthermore, we saw a woman with an unwavering commitment to becoming a physician. In spite of what happened to her, she had a very positive attitude that we hoped her classmates would witness.

Remarkable Work Ethic Displayed

David A. Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs, recalls conversations he had with Severin after Farzana was admitted. He says they focused on making sure the school put in place all of the necessary steps to provide accommodations in both the clinical and preclinical tracks that she would be engaged in. Just in terms of laying the groundwork, meeting with course coordinators and looking at access issues at the various hospitals, making sure that connectivity for things such as her iPad were in place, he says. We had to make sure her personal aides were certified and HIPAA compliant in the hospitals and had the appropriate authority and access to accompany her, Milling adds. All of those things had to be in place to ensure that she was successful. Milling says Farzana met any challenges head-on with a relentless work ethic. She is tenacious, he says. Her quiet self-confidence is just remarkable in terms of how she carries herself and shows everyone through her intellectual ability that she is willing to put in the work to do what it takes to be the best physician that she can be.

Drive to Succeed Powers Through Obstacles

Severin says his interactions with Farzana were eye-opening in many respects. I can honestly say that I have learned over these past four years that if an individual has a goal they truly want to achieve, absolutely nothing will stop them from accomplishing this goal, he says. During final examinations in several of her clerkships, Farzana was required to examine standardized patients in the Jacobs Schools Margaret L. Wendt Foundation Clinical Competency Center, subsequently record what she observed and ultimately diagnose their medical conditions. On some of those occasions, acting as an intermediary, Severin helped Farzana examine the patient. Because of her physical disability, she needed Severin to hold the diaphragm of a stethoscope to a patients chest so that she could hear their heart and lungs, or she asked Severin to palpate/percuss an abdomen to determine if any organs were enlarged. That was my only role. She was the one that ultimately assessed the patients medical condition, Severin says. All I did was  for a moment  become her hands. She had the more difficult task of assessing the medical condition and subsequently determining a treatment plan. To actually see someone with Farzanas limitations successfully accomplish this was amazing to me. Time after time, I saw her drive to succeed. She taught me to never prejudge or underestimate what an individual can accomplish, Severin adds.

Many University Resources Play Key Roles

For her part, Farzana says the entire UB community has been very supportive of her during her four years of medical school. It was more than I expected from a medical school, she says. I came here to be of service and to contribute as much as I can, but in the process I got so much more in return. I got so much love and care from the entire UB community, and that has been very fulfilling for me. Severin points out that one of the Jacobs Schools primary missions is to foster a cooperative atmosphere. The actions of everyone these past four years is an example of this mindset. After Farzana was accepted to our school, we wanted to ensure that she would receive the same education as the other students in her class, he says. Furthermore, we wanted her to know that she received the same education. Every module leader, clerkship director, faculty and staff member anticipated potential problems due to her disability and made adjustments without compromising her education, Severin says. Everyone at the school accepted the challenge of doing their part to ensure she would receive a quality medical education. Several other UB offices played a major role in providing accommodations for Farzana during her time in Buffalo  including Accessibility Resources, Facilities Planning and Design, Campus Living, and Parking and Transportation Services. I have always felt that everyone at this university wanted Farzana to succeed. I think they all deserve some credit in her success, Severin says.

A Mothers Love Gives Strength to Her Daughter

Shamsun Ali accompanied her daughter to Buffalo to help her navigate the demands of being a medical school student.

Another essential component in Farzanas journey to becoming a graduating member of the Jacobs Schools Class of 2020 is her mother, Shamsun. She suffered severe brain and leg injuries in the 2005 car accident that injured Farzana, but she eventually made remarkable recoveries. She is very determined and hardworking, which I think contributed to her recovery process, and that also encouraged me to work harder, Farzana says. Shamsun was working as a quality control officer at an electrical engineering firm on Long Island, but after Farzana was accepted into the Jacobs School, she retired from the position to move to Buffalo with her daughter. I am truly grateful for that because she loved her job, and it was a great sacrifice on her part, Farzana says. She has been constantly present in not only my personal care needs but also when I needed things done to be ready for school. Every evening we go over the things that need to be set up for my next day at school. Severin says Shamsuns tireless actions embody the phrase a mothers love. During these past four years I have seen Farzanas mother do whatever she could to help make her daughters dream of becoming a physician come true, he says. Her mother would be at the school from early morning until late at night. When I saw what her mother was doing for Farzana, that motivated me to help make sure Farzanas dream came true, Severin adds.

Deans Rapport With Students Provides Support

Milling says he considers Farzana a true trailblazer at the Jacobs School. In my opinion, she is a role model in terms of her work ethic, her professionalism and her can do attitude, he says. She knows what she wants and is always willing to stretch the limits on what she can do. She has taught us all important lessons throughout her time here. Farzana is grateful for and humbled by the accolades and says she feels her courage came from people like Milling, Severin and Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. I faced challenges with courage because I knew I had all this support behind me. And thats the support that every student gets in this medical school, she says. The deans make a personal effort to connect with the students. I think its important for every student to know that they can be a trailblazer in any field that they are passionate about, Farzana adds. Im grateful that I was able to do that for the disabled community. Farzana says she was particularly grateful to receive the Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship from the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement when she entered the Jacobs School in 2016. That was a great feeling to be accepted into the community at that time, she says.

Interest in AI Use in Diagnostic Radiology

As laser-focused as Farzana was throughout medical school, she is equally clear about her future. She is returning to Stony Brook University to complete her doctoral degree in biomedical engineering and plans to pursue a career in diagnostic radiology. I am very passionate about programming. I grew up playing video games and was always fascinated with the coding, programming and graphic design that went into them, Farzana says. I was also fascinated by the human body, which made me choose the medical profession, she says. I felt like biomedical engineering is a path to combine both of my passions. As she learned about programming and the computer-aided diagnostic process, it sparked an interest in the field of radiology. It is very adaptive to innovation, technology and programming advancements. So I feel like with my computer skills, I can be a valuable member in the radiology community, Farzana says. And my ultimate goal is to be a female leader in diagnostic radiology. I want to advance the field of diagnostic radiology so that physicians are more comfortable in using artificial intelligence and more knowledgeable about the value in using computer-aided diagnosis in medical imaging.

Dream Realized, But Learning Never Ends
The women-led protests in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) has come to an end on Tuesday after the police moved in and cleared the venue.



AFP

The police action came under Section 144 of CrPC which came into effect in the national capital as the country battles the Coronavirus outbreak. After the restrictions were announced, most of the protesters had left the venue by Monday evening, but some had stayed back. Read more



Over 100,000 Covid-19 Patients Have Recovered Around The World So Far, 37 In India

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that while the number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 3,50,000 worldwide since the outbreak began in December, more than 1,00,000 people have recovered.

AFP

Across the world, more than 15,000 have died of the infection so far, mostly in Italy, China, Spain and Iran. In China, more than 81,000 cases have been confirmed with more than 72,000 recoveries and more than 3,200 deaths. Read more



USA Just Reported 10,000 New Coronavirus Cases In A Single Day, Shows How Fast It's Spreading

More than 10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in one day in USA. This raises the tally to 43,700. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to stop hoarding of important medical supplies along with personal protective equipment.

Agencies

The US has also had more than 130 deaths in a day due to coronavirus. The total deaths are 550 as of Monday night. Read more



Tihar Jail's Solution To Prevent Coronavirus: Release 3000 Inmates To Reduce Congestion

Social distancing and cleanliness - have been the two talked about precautionary measures to stop the spread of novel coronavirus. Many of the countries including India, are in lockdown, and restrictions are in place to tackle COVID-19 crises.

The rising cases is not helping matters and governments across the world are being forced to take significant steps. Some really absurd yet necessary, like releasing prisoners early or on parole to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Read more

23-Year-Old Woman In Manipur Tests Positive For Coronavirus, First Case In Northeast

The northeast region of the country, which was so far untouched by the coronavirus pandemic, has reported its first case.

A 23-year-old woman tested positive for the coronavirus in Manipur, the first confirmed case in the Northeast, officials said. Read more

After Air India, IndiGo Employees Who Are Working Selflessly Are Mistreated, Shunned By Society

A day after national carrier Air India said that its crew members who flew to Italy to bring back stranded Indians during the coronavirus crisis were being ostracised by their communities, IndiGo also said that some of its employees are facing the same mistreatment due to the line of their duty.

BCCL

The airlines sought support of the public in these trying times. Read more
The number of coronavirus cases in San Antonio rose to 57 on Monday, as city and county officials ordered residents to stay home to help curtail further transmission of the virus.

Up 12 cases from Sunday, the total includes 16 cases related to community spread, or local infections from an unknown source, and 28 stemming from travel. Six are still under investigation by the Metropolitan Health District. The count also includes the citys first death, a woman in her 80s who died Saturday in hospice care after receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff announced joint public health emergencies on Monday evening that require residents to stay at home unless they are completing essential activities, such as fetching groceries and medical supplies, seeking health care or emergency services or caring for a pet. Exercising outdoors is allowed, so long as people stay at least six feet from each other. Critical businesses, such as health care providers and those that maintain utilities and infrastructure, will be allowed to operate.

The orders, which go into effect 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, came just days after health officials confirmed that the coronavirus is circulating in the city.

On ExpressNews.com: Were at war: What to expect as coronavirus continues to spread in San Antonio

With hopes of containing the virus all but gone, local officials expect the number of cases to continue to rise for some time before leveling off.

The health department has already shifted its priorities to slowing the local rate of infection, so that hospitals do not become overburdened with patients. Much of that will be accomplished by keeping members of the public apart to reduce transmission.

Our message at simple: you must stay at home, Nirenberg said. The best way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus is through strict social distancing. Staying at home and social distancing will save lives.

Metro Health had initially investigated each of the citys confirmed coronavirus cases, tracing the recent contacts of the infected person. Now, it is only conducting contact tracing for local clusters of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, according to new guidelines released Saturday.

Now that the virus is spreading locally, Metro Health is also no longer recommending self-quarantine for residents who have been exposed to the coronavirus if they are not exhibiting symptoms. People who become mildly ill should stay home for at least a week after they become sick, and until they have been symptom- and fever-free for three days.

Because testing remains limited, Metro Health will not test the close contacts of people who have been confirmed to have the virus. Instead, it will reserve testing for those at a high-risk of developing complications and those who are hospitalized.

As of Monday afternoon, Metro Healths lab had processed 400 coronavirus tests, 42 of which came back positive. Testing is also being conducted through commercial laboratories and some hospitals.

On ExpressNews.com: Containing it may no longer be an option: With first cases of community coronavirus transmission, San Antonio officials brace for more

In the past few days, there has been an uptick in cases, and potential exposures to the virus, in the San Antonio area.

A health care worker at Haven for Hopes clinic was exposed to the coronavirus by an infected family member. CentroMed, which operates the shelters Sarah E. Davidson Clinic, learned Friday of the employees possible exposure and ordered the person to undergo a two-week self-quarantine at home.

The clinic was shut down, along with another location with which it shares staff, La Paloma de Paz Shelter Clinic. Both clinics are being sanitized, and staff from both locations have been sent home, CentroMed said. Metro Health is reaching out to patients who had contact with the worker.

Residents of Guadalupe County were alerted Sunday of another coronavirus exposure that occurred earlier this month, at an H-E-B Plus in Schertz, near the corner of Interstate 35 and F.M. 3009. It was related to the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in Guadalupe County, officials there said.

The exposure occurred on March 16 between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. While officials there said the risk to shoppers was low, they advised residents who had visited the store during that time frame to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19, including fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Additional cases have been reported in surrounding counties.

On Monday, Comal County announced its fourth case, in a person who had recently traveled. The person is hospitalized outside the county, officials there said.

Cases have also been confirmed in Kendall, Hays and Wilson counties.

Staff writers Joshua Fechter and Jeff Flinn contributed reporting. | Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
The Dean of the School of Communication Studies at the Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, Professor Kwame Karikari, has called for the revival of the Pan-African spirit in order to deal with emerging threats to the existence of Africans as a people.



That, he said, was for Africans to stand up as a people to control, once and for all, their resources and protect, secure and command their own destiny as a people.



That is the only way to uplift ourselves from the doom and gloom imposed on us for centuries. As a generation, we owe it to our patriotic forefathers and mothers, as a duty, a responsibility to give meaning, grace and respect to their toils and labour and to continue their gallant and heroic work, he said.



Prof. Karikari, who is also the Board Chairman of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), made the call in his presentation titled: Pan-Africanism today; where are we? at the maiden Kwame Nkrumah Annual Lecture on Pan-Africanism organised by the Bisa Aberwa Museum in Takoradi in the Western Region.



Objective



Prof. Karikari said in the present time when many developments seemed to blight the heroic struggles of Africans, the significance of organising the lecture should serve as an important reminder of the work and sacrifices that our forefathers and mothers made to bring us the progress we have achieved so far.



It is a commemoration of the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), the first Pan-African gathering on the African continent by African patriots, which was held at the Roger Club in Accra on March 11, 1920 and organised by the indefatigable African nationalist, Casely Hayford, he recalled.



Moreover, he said, it was a commemoration of great Pan-African initiatives that took place exactly a century ago this year, 2020, adding that in August 1920, a convention of leaders of African descent in New York City adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.



A year earlier, he said, what is now recognised as the first of the Pan-African congresses organised by W.E.B. Du Bois brought together Africans from the continent and the Diaspora.



Two years later in 1921, Du Bois and his colleagues held the second Pan-African congress, he added.



Prof. Karikari said earlier on August 1, 1914, Marcus Garvey had also founded a radical mass organisation, the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League or the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).



In West Africa, the initiatives and Pan-Africanists thoughts of the Liberian Edward Wilmot Blyden in the late 1880s influenced the emerging generation of Western educated Africans. The concrete and immediate manifestation of his influence was the organisation of the NCBWA in 1920, he said.



Challenges



Today, he said, the spirit of Pan-Africanism, the fervour for standing up for Africa, was at the lowest ebb and the only remaining source of unrelenting sentimental expression of Pan-Africanism came from popular music.



All over the African world, citizens have become inward looking in relation to Pan-African issues and interests. Governments compete with one another, instead of cooperating, over international finance resource for investment and development, he said, adding: This recession of the Pan-African feeling and sentiment has given way to or been replaced by narrow sentiments of ethnocentrism, leading to xenophobic tendencies all over.



Thus, Prof. Karikari said, nowadays, among civil society, the time-tested tradition of solidarity across borders and across the seas over critical issues of rights and other legitimate interests was an alien phenomenon, if it ever happens at all.



Bisa Aberwa Museum



The Bisa Aberwa Museum is the brainchild of Kwaw Paintsil Ansah, one of Africas most respected filmmakers, better known for his FESPACO award-winning Love Brewed in the African Pot and Heritage Africa.



The four-storey museum, located at Nkotompo, near the Effia Nkwanta Hospital, Sekondi in the Western Region, offers on display sculptural and pictorial specimens of personalities whose sacrifices have shaped African history, both within the continent and in the Diaspora.



The artifacts capture events within the slave dungeons in Africa, the toils of Africans on the slave plantations and highlights of the civil right movement, culminating in the election of the first African American President of the United States of America.



International curators, historians and Pan Africanists who have passed through the production centre located within the TV Africa building in Accra envisage that the museum will be the heritage centre for people of African descent.

Source: Daily Graphic









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.

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The Madhya Pradesh Economic



Offences Wing has closed a case against former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family members, where they were accused of falsifying a property document while selling land, an official said on Tuesday.

Scindia quit the Congress on March 10 and later joined the BJP. His resignation from the Congress triggered a revolt in the Madhya Pradesh party unit, with 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also tendering their resignations. This led to collapse of the Kamal Nath-led state government last week.

On March 12, when the Congress was in power in the state, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) decided to verify facts afresh into the complaint against Scindia and his family of allegedly indulging in wrongdoing while selling a land in Gwalior in 2009.

"The complainant, Surendra Shrivastava, approached us for the second time on March 12 seeking a re-look into his complaint against Scindias. We forwarded the complaint to our Gwalior office which, after a re-investigation, closed it," a top EOW official said.

According to sources in the EOW, it closed the case against Scindia and his family on Friday.

Incidentally, Kamal Nath also stepped down as chief minister on Friday after his government was reduced to a minority.

On March 12, Shrivastava filed a fresh complaint against Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sqft than the original agreement in 2009, the EOW official said.

He initially lodged the complaint on March 26, 2014 against Scindia, who was then a Congress leader, and his family. But it was investigated and closed in May 2018 (when the BJP was in power in the state), the official said.

Earlier this month, 22 MLAs loyal to Scindia resigned from the Congress, paving way for the BJP to come to power in the state again.

Senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister of the state on Monday night.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EDWARDSVILLE  Chief Madison County Judge Bill Mudge Monday issued an order suspending the speedy trial rule in local criminal cases.

He said all jury and bench trials are suspected for 30 days, but the order may be extended for an additional 30 days. An Illinois statute allows the speedy trial rule to be extended for up to 60 days.

Its a huge deal, Mudge said.

Under the new rule, a delay in the trial will not be attributed to either the defense or the prosecution. Normally the prosecution bears the burden of bringing the case to trial within 120 days of the charge being filed if the defendant is in custody or 160 days if the defendant is free on bail.

Normally the defense asks for delays  known as continuances in legal terms  so that the time between the charge and the trial is often more than the rules demand. The burden of bringing the case to trial is on the prosecution.

Mudge acknowledged the order is an unusual departure from normal procedure in an unusual situation.

This right is considered one of the most important in the Constitution. Without it, criminal defendants could be held indefinitely under a cloud of unproven criminal accusations. The right to a speedy trial also is crucial to assuring that a criminal defendant receives a fair trial according to AnnenbergClassroom.Org.

In addition to the order for delays is trial, Mudge issued an order delaying all arbitration, mediation, foreclosures, and any hearings or trials associated with such dockets for 30 days.

All orders of protection, stalking orders and no contact orders are automatically continued. In some cases, such orders can be dismissed soon after they are filed, but the judges order extends them for 30 days. Any motions in those cases must be heard by the assigned judge, but the hearing is to be conducted remotely via telephone or other electronic means.

No more weddings will be conducted for 30 days.
Anupama Venugopal Nadella, wife of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadealla, hasdonated Rs 2 crore to the Chief Minister Welfare Fund to be used to help the poor during the lockdown period.

Telangana is currently under lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Several prominent personalities have extended their support and announced donations for the government initiatives to help the poor with supply of essential commodities during the lockdown period in the state, an official release said.

A cheque for Rs 2 crore has been handed over to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao by Anupama's father and former senior IAS officer KR Venugopal, it said.

Government employees and teachers have donated a day's basic salary.

Employees joint action committee leaders Karem Ravinder Reddy and Mamata have handed over a cheque for Rs 48 crore to the chief minister, it said.

Telugu film actorNitin donated Rs 10 lakh.

The chief minister has thanked them all, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TEHRAN, Iran, March. 24

Trend:

New Managing Director of Iran Khodro Car company (IKCO) Farshad Moghimi announced the company's plans for the new Iranian year (started on March 20, 2020).

Iran Khodro Industrial Group has targeted production of 600,000 cars and vans for next 12 months, Moghimi told Trend.

The managing director added that last Iranian year, IKCO was able to deliver more than 405,000 vehicles despite all the problems and obstacles caused by the sanctions.

Moghimi said that by facilitating production conditions, the strategies of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade and new year's production targets will be met by the country's car industry.

He went on to say that the New Year slogan Leap in Production will be implemented.

Referring to measures and various mechanisms introduced in the domestic production of auto parts, he noted that 51 types of parts produced by domestic part manufacturers in the past year.

The empowered domestic manufacturers have continued to develop and increase auto parts manufacturing, the managing director said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest professional development event, real or virtual, in the history of speech-language pathology and audiology was held yesterday, attracting over 42,000 participants worldwide for this online event.

After the California Speech Language Hearing Association (CSHA) was forced to cancel its annual conference last week due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it collaborated with SpeechTherapyPD.com on this timely, unprecedented online event focused on teletherapy. The event not only meets unprecedented need for information on this subject, but it also supports the profession in providing much-needed continuing education units for licensure.

The webinar, entitled Teletherapy Bootcamp, included seven hours of instruction addressing all things teletherapy for speech-language hearing professionals, from early intervention, to pediatric, school-based and adult therapy.

"This webinar is the unanticipated, initial result of several months of conversation with CSHA about the changing nature of professional development in our field and the growing need for virtual offerings," said Darla Torkelson, CEO of SpeechTherapyPD.com.

"When CSHA was forced to cancel our conference last week, we immediately went to work with SpeechTherapyPD to explore ways to meet the immediate needs in the field," said CSHA CEO Brian Lewis. "To say we're thrilled with the number of participants is a huge understatement."

CSHA will continue to explore innovative online professional development opportunities for its members.

About CSHA

CSHA supports a community of over 3,000 California speech-language pathologists, audiologists, speech language pathology and audiology support personnel, and students who provide life-changing support to those with speech, hearing and language challenges. CSHA empowers practitioners to change lives by providing a collaborative environment for resources and research, connections and continuing education, evidence-based practice, strategic advocacy, and thought leadership.

About SpeechTherapyPD.com

SpeechTherapyPD.com serves speech-language pathologists and SLPAs worldwide by providing meaningful online learning opportunities and continuing education experiences that inspire clinicians and enhance therapy on a holistic level.

Media Contacts:

CSHA: Kevin Swartzendruber, [email protected], 916-546-6599

SpeechTherapyPD.com: Chad Torkelsen, [email protected], 503-929-0355

SOURCE California Speech Language Hearing Association
Piet Queisser, a kindergartner at Cooper Elementary in Cherry Hill, talks with teacher Jill Hammel via FaceTime. Hammel uses technology to keep up with her students while school is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

Kindergarten teacher Jill Hammel is keeping up with her class: Emily has a loose tooth that could fall out any day; Angelos little brother took his first steps; Sammy has a new betta fish; and Piet made chocolate chip cookies.

Schools may be shut down by the coronavirus, but the Cherry Hill educator is using technology to teach remotely by posting assignments online every morning and chatting with students via FaceTime to give them a new sense of normalcy.

With the pandemic disrupting classroom learning across the region and around the world, teachers are trying to keep instruction going and staying connected to their students during a hiatus that could last weeks and possibly longer. Some have come up with unique distance learning techniques, from rap videos to story time.

In Philadelphia, where few students have access to laptops and devices, the district created learning guides for various subjects. On Monday, it added nine new hotlines in 10 languages to answer questions from families in their native language, including Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Hammel, a full-day kindergarten teacher at James F. Cooper Elementary, shares lesson plans with her 21 students on Google Classroom, sends photographs and videos, and talks to parents  some every day. She also uses ClassDoJo, a messaging app. She may soon add a Zoom meeting so the entire class can log in simultaneously via video conference or phone.

She relies heavily on Google Classroom, a free app that allows students to access 20-minute assignments from a computer or mobile device. Teachers can track student progress, grade coursework, and provide feedback.

Hammels students were already accustomed to using online learning in the classroom, so the transition has been relatively smooth, with only a few technical glitches. Parents, many juggling working remotely at home, are playing the role of teacher.

Were all learning together, Hammel said.

By the time the virtual school day begins at 9 a.m., Hammel has posted the days assignments on Google Classroom. On Monday, she began with a message: I miss you all and cant wait until we are back in school together. She instructed students to read I Will Take a Nap! and answer questions, write in a journal, complete math problems, and do a hands-on creative activity.

Hammel also does birthday shout-outs, reads aloud, and answers questions virtually from students and parents. They send videos and dozens of photos to her, too that she shares with the entire class and via social media. Hammel also uses old-fashioned phone calls and FaceTime, Apples video and calling service, to connect virtually with her students and their parents.

During the first week of distance learning, Hammel called every family twice. The conversations were partly academic, partly social and personal. For most calls, she asked the student to select a favorite classroom book aloud via Facebook. Students share whats happening in their lives  something they typically do at school during circle time.

Angelo Cabello, 5, was proud to inform Hammel that his 18-month-old brother, Sal, took four steps. I know how to read, he said excitedly.

His mother, Christine, said she maintains a normal school day, although Angelo gets easily distracted. Hammels assignments help keep Angelo focused, and she added handwriting and math workbooks.

He misses school. He wants to see his friends, said Cabello, 36, an academic coordinator at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Hammel choked up, and tried to reassure Angelo that the class will be together again very soon.

Sammy Klein asked Hammel to read Elmo, which she did for the fourth time that day. She wished Emily Dworkin, 5, and her twin, Samantha, happy birthday, and told Emily to let her know when her tooth falls out so it could be added to the class tooth tally. Sienna Pacitti, 5, said she was mad about the school closure.

We want them to feel cared for at a time when their lives are changing, said Hammel.

To connect with her students, Jacki Tiger, a fourth-grade teacher at Hurffville Elementary in Washington Township, has turned her washer and dryer into a whiteboard. She writes on the appliances and livestreams math lessons. She has dubbed the instruction Live From the Laundry Pile!

Elsewhere in South Jersey, Carrie Merritt, a first-grade teacher at the Ocean City Primary School, reads a story and dresses up as a character from the book of the day. Her Read Aloud lessons are uploaded to YouTube and distributed on the schools website.

This is a fun way to get to kids, said Merritt. Its just cool.

Shannon Smith has become known as the Prince(ipal) of Barnegat at Russell O. Brackman Middle School after she made a rap video to the tune of Will Smiths 90s hit, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. School staff got into the fun and music teacher Erich Wald produced the song.

Smith said a social studies teacher had his students create a rap using their vocabulary words as an enrichment activity. The school, which enrolls nearly 750 sixth through eighth graders, uses Group Meet for math so students can view the lessons online, she said.

Theyre making it fun," Smith said. My message to students and teachers is that we will get through this one step at a time  together.
Spike of prices, three cases of poisoning after Trump acclaimed chloroquine as treatment for COVID-19. Nigerias Center for Disease Control issued a warning, however, that the World Health Organization has not approved the use of the drug against virus and warned the public about self-medicating. (Photo : Pixabay)

Prices spike and three cases of poisoning in Nigeria reported due to the use of chloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. Nigeria's Center for Disease Control issued a warning, however, that the World Health Organization has not approved the use of the drug against virus and warned the public about self-medicating.

The demand for the drug also surged in Lagos, a city with a population of 20 million people, as health officials warned Nigerians against self-medicating. Oreoluwa Finnih, Senior Health Assistant to the governor of Lagos disclosed that three people were hospitalized in Lagos for chloroquine overdose. In a text message, Finnih assures people not to panic and notes that "Chloroquine is still in a testing phase in combination with other medication and not yet verified as a preventive treatment or curative option."

There were 30 COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as of March 22.

In a White House briefing last week, Trump claimed that the Food and Drug Administration evaluated chloroquine for the treatment of the coronavirus. He approved it very quickly as it showed encouraging results. The FDA stated after the briefing that it had not approved the drug for COVID-19 treatment, and is still evaluating its effectiveness against the disease.

Stocking of Medicine

After White House briefing, Nigerians stock up on said medication, and a subsequent spike in the price of as much as 400% took place in minutes. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a 'run on the drug' caused a shortage of this lupus and malaria medicine.

ProPublica's Charles Ornstein reported that people with no known illness are stocking up in case they get the disease, and that leaves lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients short of medication. He furthers that taking more potent drugs to suppress their immune system could render them vulnerable to more severe consequences in case they get COVID-19.

Price Spike

Kayode Fabunmi, a Lagos-based lawyer, relayed that pharmacists would say to every incoming customer that Donald Trump said this medicine cures coronavirus. The price would continue to soar. The original price was at 200 naira (around 50 cents); then it becomes 500 naira ($1.38), and then 1,000 naira.

Still, the Lagos State Health Ministry says there is no "hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in the prevention or management of coronavirus infection."

Use of Chloroquine

Chloroquine is used to treat malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Malaria is an endemic disease in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, and for many years, it was commonly treated with chloroquine. However, at least 40 countries, including Nigeria, have phased it out as a frontline antimalarial drug and replaced it with other medications with widespread resistance.

Doctors in China, the United States, and other countries have reportedly used the drug experimentally to manage COVID-19, but there is not enough clinical evidence of its effectivity.

According to Dr. Michel Yao, an Africa emergency response program manager for the World Health Organization, the WHO's position that any medication should be based on evidence is clear. He added that for now, WHO has no evidence from any trials that would allow WHO to make a formal recommendation.
My wife and I were scheduled to fly out from London on March 14 to Delhi for our usual stay at our Delhi home in the spring. Unfortunately, the Delhi airport was shut because of fears about foreign travellers bringing coronavirus into India.

Since then we have been marooned in London waiting for the airport to open. Meanwhile, given the rise of coronavirus cases in London (and the UK) and the threat they pose to the National Health Service (NHS) with its inadequacies to cope with the need for ICUs and respirators by the aged likely to be infected by the coronavirus, after various ...
[March 24, 2020] TeleHealth Services and Banyan Virtual Nurse System Help Hospitals Respond to COVID-19

TeleHealth Services and Banyan Medical Systems have launched a new partnership to jointly provide audiovisual telenursing solutions at no cost to TeleHealth Services client hospitals for COVID-19 patients in furtherance of Banyan's TAP4H program. Through Banyan's tech-enabled staffing solutions, nursing staff can conduct virtual care visits through centralized workstations within their hospitals or in remote locations to reduce the risk of spreading the disease and augment care for more patients. The AV technology provided by TeleHealth enables virtual care for isolation room patients using a networked TV, mounted camera, and an integrated pillow speaker for patient and nurse interaction. In addition to providing the Telehealth Aid Program for Hospitals (TAP4H) program, Banyan is partnering with TeleHealth to offer the solution to select TeleHealth Services hospitals, equipping up to five isolation rooms at no cost as part of a rapid response program to help hospitals deliver needed care while addressing potential nurse shortages in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The new partnership enables Banyan to offer a joint solution to additional hospitals including TeleHealth Services' interactive software, AV integration, services and support. "We understand the demands on nurses and clinical staff in hospitals every day. This pandemic has the potential to quickly overwhelm hospital staff and capacity," said TeleHealth Services General Manager Kevin Colores. "TeleHealth Services' expertise with interactive patient care technology and AV systems both inside and outside the patient room is a key factor in rapidly deploying this telenursing solution. We are collaborating wth Banyan to quickly help hospitals during this crisis, facilitating interactions without the need for direct contact that can spread the disease."



The virtual care system can be configured to operate with fully trained and appropriate managed staff within 14 days. By conducting certain clinical assessments from a remote workstation, nurses who also may be at risk for the virus are better protected. The telenursing solution also conserves PPE (personal protective equipment) for hospitals. Remote staff can supplement existing patient care professionals with admissions, education, patient requests, safety companionship, and discharge planning. The system can be also used to support safe visitation from other medical professionals (hospitalists, specialists, etc.) and pastoral care. "Hospitals are looking for new and creative approaches to treat patients while protecting staff from exposure to the coronavirus," said Tony Buda, CEO of Banyan Medical Systems. "We are working with TeleHealth Services to offer solutions that help hospitals minimize risks with fewer direct contacts between patients and staff. Our partners at MarinHealth, located near San Francisco, are using telenursing to treat patients remotely and triage the coronavirus patients due to concerns about spreading the virus inside the hospital."

MarinHealth Chief Nursing Officer Karin Reese added, "MarinHealth has been using the Banyan platform for case management and fall prevention, but COVID-19 has caused us to expand the functionality so providers can treat patients while reducing their exposure, while preserving our precious supply of PPE. This fast-moving requirement for virtual access is essential for health systems to continue to be able to provide safe care across the nation." The TeleHealth Services Client Outcomes Team responded to the initial COVID-19 outbreak in early February. A coronavirus video message campaign was produced to help hospitals quickly inform patients and visitors using their Tigr Interactive Patient Education and Engagement System. Approximately 40 U.S. hospitals are now broadcasting the video on patient televisions and other public areas about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The brief two-minute video (www.telehealth.com/responding-covid-19-outbreak) uses federal "plain language" and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for clarity. About Banyan Banyan Medical Systems is a next generation care delivery services and technology company focused on improving patient outcomes and lowering the cost of healthcare for hospitals nationwide. Banyan currently enables over one third of the nation's healthcare systems with technology that integrates systems across the enterprise, combined with high-fidelity two-way communication that harmoniously joins local hospital staff with virtual medical professionals to provide the best patient care, at the point of need, wherever it is required; thus driving up efficiency and improving patient health and satisfaction. For more information, please visit www.banyanmed.com. About TeleHealth Services TeleHealth Services is driven to enhance the patient experience and positively impact health outcomes using innovative patient engagement and audiovisual technologies. With 60 years of patient-centered expertise and 2,500+ healthcare clients, the company designs and delivers turnkey solutions that increase patient satisfaction, improve quality of care, and maximize clinical and operational efficiencies. For more information about TeleHealth Services, please visit www.telehealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005200/en/

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Considering the most recent news and announcements from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Habitat for Humanity International, Governor Bill Lee and local authorities, Habitat of Humanity of Cleveland has made the decision to close its offices and ReStore until Tuesday, April 7.

These precautionary measures have been taken to limit the potential spread of the virus, to support the employees in this challenging time and to ensure it maintains its ability to serve the community, for the long term. The senior leadership team remains vigilant and is monitoring the situation in real time and responding rapidly as conditions evolve, said officials.

Housing problems persist, and Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland will continue its efforts to advocate for those in need of a safe and affordable place to call home. To donate or learn more visit www.habitatofcleveland.org.




The second joint Russian-Turkish patrol in the northern province of Idleb began, before being halted following due to security concerns reports Al-Masdar.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation between the warring parties in Syria announced the start of the second joint Russian-Turkish patrol along the M4 highway (Aleppo-Lattakia).

On the Mar. 23, 2002, in the de-escalation zone in Idleb, and according to the Russian-Turkish agreement, the second joint Russian-Turkish patrol was conducted on the M4 highway, which links the cities of Aleppo and Lattakia, the reconciliation center statement said.

The statement pointed out that the patrol was cut short again due to security concerns.

They added that the Turkish side pledged to take measures in the near future to liquidate the extremist groups that hinder the movement of joint patrols on the M4 highway in the safe corridor.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that Russia and Turkey will establish a six kilometre deep safe zone on the M4 highway to allow the resumption of traffic along this major roadway in northwestern Syria.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that the agreement between Russia and Turkey on Idleb was a source of concern in the United States, and they were using any excuse to promote anti-Russian hysteria.

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.
Three more people died in Santa Clara County from the COVID-19 coronavirus and 19 additional confirmed cases were reported Monday evening.

The new death toll Monday was 13 and confirmed cases rose to 321 as residents statewide continue to work from home and shelter in place.

According to county data, as of 5 p.m. Sunday, nine men and four women had died. Four of the deaths were people between 81 and 90 years old.

Two deaths were in people 71 to 80 years old, four deaths were in people 61 to 70 years old, two deaths were in people 51 to 60 years old and one death was in a person 41 to 50 years old.

Of those infected, 116 people are hospitalized, 91 people are assumed to have contracted the disease through community transmission and 28 cases were associated with international travel.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said late Monday that she's made a conditional offer to former San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer to become Oakland's interim police chief.

Schaaf said Manheimer is undergoing a required state background check and tentatively is expected to begin her job in Oakland on April 6.

Until Schaaf hires a new permanent chief, Manheimer would replace former Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who Schaaf fired without cause on Feb. 20 after Kirkpatrick clashed with the city's Police Commission.

Kirkpatrick, who was chief for three years, has said that she plans to file a wrongful termination suit against the city.

Oakland's leadership ranks have been thinning because Fire Chief Darin White recently announced he is leaving his post to become the new chief in San Rafael and former City Administrator Sabrina Landreth left her post on March 11.

San Francisco supervisors on Monday proposed housing thousands of homeless people in hotel rooms amid the statewide shelter-in-place order over the COVID-19 coronavirus.

During a virtual news conference, Supervisors Matt Haney, Hillary Ronen, Dean Preston and Shamann Walton, said they were seeking a resolution to house people living on the streets and in encampments in order to protect them from exposure to COVID-19.

"We have a very urgent crisis in our city," Haney said.

"There are over 4,000 people who are unsheltered and living on our streets. Those people are unable to abide by the rules and procedures to keep themselves safe and that puts all of us at risk.

"It's also a huge concern and risk for people who are in shelters. We know that shelters are not built or organized as places where people can have distance," he said, calling shelters "dangerous," as the virus appears to transmit easily in congregate settings.

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Monday evening ordered all jury trials in the state superior courts suspended for 60 days in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The chief justice said courts are not able to operate as usual while observing social distancing and other health directives of federal, state and local authorities.

"Courts cannot comply with these health restrictions and continue to operate as they have in the past," Cantil-Sakauye wrote in the order.

The order allows some exceptions. It says superior court trial judges may conduct trials during the suspension "upon a finding of good cause shown or through the use of remote technology, when appropriate."

The chief justice wrote in the order that in addition to courts' difficulty in providing for social distancing during trials, the closure of schools means that many court employees, trial participants and potential jurors must stay at home with their children.

Leaders of organizations in Sonoma Valley are forming a task force to ensure residents have food during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and subsequent shelter in place order.

The Sonoma Valley Food Security Task Force is campaigning to raise money to support key service providers and food security programs that include the Redwood Empire Food Bank, Friends in Sonoma Helping (F.I.S.H.), La Luz Center, Sonoma Overnight Support and other nonprofit organizations that provide food programs and other basic needs services.

The task force's efforts will support Sonoma Valley residents from Schellville to Kenwood, and the task force will be coordinated by Sonoma Mayor Logan Harvey and leaders of other organizations.

The majority of Sonoma Valley's existing volunteer base is comprised of dedicated residents 60 and older, but they are at higher risk from the virus. Many regular volunteers are no longer able to help, and local organizations have struggled to find replacements. The need for new volunteers is immediate and acutely felt in the Sonoma Valley, according to the task force.

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will have a meeting Tuesday, but in these days when public gatherings are on hold because of the COVID-19 coronavirus, it won't be anything like usual.

It's likely that at least some of the five supervisors will not physically be in the supervisors' meeting chamber in downtown Martinez - instead their images and/or voices brought into the chambers.

Having elected officials take part in this way is now possible because Gov. Gavin Newsom recently suspended certain parts of the Ralph M. Brown open-meeting act.

A recent Piedmont City Council meeting, for instance, featured two council members and two staffers in the meeting chamber, and three councilors and two other staffers taking part via speakerphone.

The main agenda items Tuesday will be an update on the COVID-19 coronavirus and guidelines for county meetings consistent with new "social distancing" guidelines; a presentation on homelessness issues in Contra Costa County; and a presentation on emergency psychiatric services available in the county.

Tuesday will see showers. Highs will be in the mid 50s. West winds will be 10 to 20 mph.

Tuesday night will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows will be in the mid to upper 40s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph.

Wednesday will be partly cloudy in the morning, then becoming sunny with a chance of showers. Highs will be in the 50s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph. The chance of showers is 40 percent.

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 Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that all non-essential businesses and services in the country will be shut for at least four weeks

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has refused to say whether Australia will follow New Zealand's lead and enter a month-long lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.

New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that all non-essential businesses and services in the country will be shut for at least four weeks - with the lockdown enforced by the military.

But as the number of Australians testing positive to the virus climbs toward 2,000, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack couldn't give a clear answer about whether Australia would follow suit when speaking on Sunrise on Tuesday.

When presenter Natalie Barr asked what the trigger would be for Australian government to lock the nation down, Mr McCormack seemed to suggest the nation's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy would have to make the call.

People wearing masks walk past the entrance of closed nightclub Metro Threatre in Sydney after a shutdown of non-essential services was put in place from 12pm on Monday

'We take out advice from the chief medical officer. We've done that the whole way through,' he said.

'We closed our borders to China even before the United States of America did. We've taken [Mr Murphy's] advice. He's doing a magnificent job.'

'I know the Prime Minister is leading from the front as well. We're making sure that we take the right advice, we follow the right advice. We want Australians as best we can to get through this crisis.'

Mr McCormack's message to Australians was to stay home and rely on My Gov website for information.

He also said the amount of people to lose their jobs as the economy shuts down 'very, very unfortunate' but that most businesses would remain open.

There have been 1,886 cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Australia. Seven people have died

PRI*147514025 An empty George Street in Sydney is seen, after a shutdown of non-essential services was put in place from 12pm on Monday

Prime Minister Scott Morrison shut down gyms, pubs, cafes and restaurants across the country from 12pm on Monday.

But many Australians have encouraged the Scott Morrison to follow Ms Ardern's lead and commit to a full level four lockdown.

'Why can't we get clear messaging like this in Australia,' wrote marketing expert Paula Rodgers alongside a clear graph of the four alert levels in New Zealand.

'Arden announced a wage guarantee a full week before a shut down. That's responsible and smart. Australia is making it up as we go along,' added journalist Osman Faruqi.

'Props to Jacinda Ardern for making the tough decisions early. New Zealand will escape this pandemic in much better shape than Australia... This is what real leadership looks like,' tweeted another.

UNSW Professor Bill Bowtell said Australia should immediately implement identical measures if it was to have a chance at containing the virus.

'New Zealand isn't doing it for the fun of it, they are doing to for very well-considered reasons,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

New Zealand has four coronavirus alert levels. It has just moved in to level three and will be at the highest level by Wednesday

New Zealand capital Wellington is a ghost town as the country begins shutting down to combat the coronavirus pandemic

'We need to stop the threat of the virus and this is the way to do it. The virus move a lot faster than how slow our response has been.'

Professor Bowtell, who led Australia's response to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, said Australia adopted Britain's strategy instead of 'obvious' better-planned ones in Asia that have had success.

'There's been conflicting, contradictory advice that barely lasts form day to do. What has to happen now is a very considered shut down,' he said.

People are seen queuing outside a Centrelink office in Bondi Junction, Sydney, on Tuesday, March 24

However, Mr Morrison has resisted calls to beef up restrictions in an attempt to minimise the impact a lockdown would have on the economy.

New Zealand confirmed 36 new cases on Monday, bringing its total to 102 with two of them considered community transmissions.

The alert level gives Ms Ardern's government sweeping powers to restrict movement, lock people at home, and requisition resources to fight the deadly virus.
Gov. Phil Murphy and other New Jersey officials will hold another press conference Tuesday on their efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The daily briefing, in which the latest coronavirus numbers are announced, is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Rutgers Universitys Newark campus and can seen on the governors YouTube channel. NJ Advance Media will add the live stream to this post when it becomes available.

The briefings generally run for about 90 minutes as multiple officials, including state heath Commissioner Judy Persichilli, offer information and field questions from the media. On Monday, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal spoke at the briefing about the states enforcement efforts of the stay-at-home order and price gouging.

Grewal and Murphy also said state officials continue to monitor that stores are price gouging during the outbreak.

There is a special place in hell for people who take advantage of this health crisis, the governor said Monday. There sure is heck no time for it in the war that were under.

Often the press conferences start several minutes late as officials gather the latest information on the number of positive tests by county and statewide.

On Monday, Murphy said New Jersey residents should expect all schools in the state to remain closed for a long and extended period of time due to the coronavirus outbreak, though no timetable has been determined.

All non-essential retail businesses in the state are closed. Residents should remain home unless their job is considered essential or if they are shopping for food or attending to a medical need. Outdoor exercise is permitted, too.

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The Australian share market finished session higher on Tuesday, 24 March 2020, as investors chased for bottom fishing after global authorities ramped up stimulus measures to combat the economic impact of the global coronavirus outbreak. All sectors finished in green with financials, energy, materials, and real estate issues being notable gainers. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced 189.67 points, or 4.17%, to 4,735.70. The broader All Ordinaries added 189.17 points, or 4.14%, to 4,753.30.

Investors were encouraged after the U. S.

Federal Reserve announced an open-ended asset purchase program on Monday, while Germany is set to unveil major stimulus measures as the death toll from the virus rises throughout Europe.

The Fed said it would purchase Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning, showing the central bank is willing to go far beyond the $700 billion in new purchases announced last week. The region was also up on hopes that US lawmakers will bridge their differences and pass a US$1.8 trillion economic support package.

Shares in banks and financials inclined as the country's central bank continued to flood the financial system with liquidity. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) pumped A$6.88 billion (S$5.95 billion) into the financial system on Tuesday, well above its original intention. Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed the most among the four.

The energy stocks advanced, with Santos up 20.6%, New Hope Corp up 17.2%, and Woodside Petroleum up 5.6%.

The real estate sector was boosted by a 12 per cent rise in Goodman Group and 18 per cent gain in GPT.

Gold miners were also big improvers with Ramelius Resources (RMS) jumping 24%. Perseus Mining (PRU) is also lifting more than 23% while Saracen Minerals (SAR) and Resolute Minerals (RSG) are both climbing more than 18%.

GrainCorp dragged on the consumer staples sector when it started trading for the first time since the United Malt demerger, falling 31 per cent. And Virgin Money dropped nearly 16 per cent as the UK, where it is based, implements tougher measures to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

CURRENCY: The Australian dollar climbed 1.5 per cent to $0.5915 and away from a 17=year low of $0.5510.

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The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday formed a three-member panel to examine the situation in all correctional homes of West Bengal and prepare a report on the number of inmates who could be granted bail or parole to avoid crowding in jails, in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee formed the committee with Justice Dipankar Datta, the chairman of State Legal Services Authority, as its head, and sought a report on the correctional homes by March 31.

The Director General (prisons) and principal secretary, home department, are the two other members of the high court-constituted panel.

The committee has been asked to propose criteria for granting bail to undertrial inmates and suggest whether prisoners in jail for over 10 years be granted parole under the present circumstances.

The high court took up the issue suo moto in light of a Supreme Court direction on Monday, asking all state governments and Union territories to set up high-level committees to determine the class of prisoners who could be released on parole for four to six weeks.

The apex court said prisoners convicted of or charged with offences having prison terms up to seven years can be given parole to decongest the jails.

It had also said that several prison staff enter the prisons regularly, and so do visitors and lawyers and therefore, there is a high risk of transmission of COVID-19 to the prison inmates.

Taking up a separate PIL which sought steps by the state and the Centre to prevent the spread of the pandemic, the division bench on Tuesday did not pass any order after stating that it was satisfied with the actions taken by both the governments in this regard.

The court administration has, meanwhile, communicated to its judges and all lower courts in the state a letter by the West Bengal government that sought consideration of bail prayers of undertrial inmates so as to reduce overcrowding in correctional homes, a top HC official said.

"On a direction by Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan, we have forwarded the communication to the judges of the high court and all subordinate courts in the state," Calcutta High Court Registrar General Rai Chattopadhyay said.

In the letter, State Advocate General Kishore Dutta requested Chief Justice Radhakrishnan to "issue appropriate administrative directions to all the judges in West Bengal, including the judges of the high court, to consider liberally granting bail to undertrial inmates with a view to reduce the correctional home population considering the present novel coronavirus scare".

Most lawyers in the state have stopped appearing for hearings following a resolution passed by the West Bengal Bar Council for non-participation in judicial proceedings at the Calcutta High Court and other courts in the state till March 31 in view of the prevailing situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus: French govt urges 'return to the fields' 200,000 direct jobs available, says minister

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, MARCH 24 - France has urged its citizens to return to the fields. Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has called for those not currently working due to the coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic to take to the fields and ''join the large army of French agriculture'' seeking manpower.



''There is now the chance to have 200,000 direct jobs in agriculture trades,'' the minister told BFM-TV, calling on those willing and able to do so to ''take to the fields'' in an already difficult context in which France has millions of unemployed citizens as well as hundreds of thousands kept at home due to COVID-19 measures. (ANSAmed).




Fundamental solution needed to eliminate abuse of women



Public rage is soaring at a "sex slave" video case, in which heinous predators made and distributed videos and photos of women being abused, including underage girls, for commercial gain through group chat rooms of the Telegram messenger service.



On Monday, President Moon Jae-in stepped in, calling for a thorough investigation of the incident  widely known as the "Nth room case"  and working out fundamental measures to eliminate similar crimes. He instructed the police to investigate not only the operators of more than 60 chat rooms but also all members, estimated at around 260,000, by activating a special unit if necessary.



At least 74 women, including 16 minors, were sexually abused and exploited for several months, as they were enslaved with threats of spreading their photos. On March 16, the National Police Agency arrested a 25-year-old man, Cho Ju-bin, who was accused of forcing victims to film videos containing sexual content, which he then distributed via paid chat rooms on Telegram. The police also rounded up 123 others for their suspected involvement in the case.



Belatedly, the political parties are scrambling to enact a law aimed at strengthening the punishment of digital sex crimes. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is vowing to pass bills to prevent this kind of cybersex crime. The opposition parties also made election pledges to establish an investigative organization exclusively responsible for such crimes and making it mandatory to deal with them with close international cooperation.



However, the politicians' moves do not make much sense. It was only recently that some civic groups submitted a legislative petition against such content  only to be snubbed by lawmakers. As President Moon said, cybersex crimes are acts of "murdering" character that deserve harsh punishment. This society cannot resolve these problems with one-off punishments. When law enforcement officers cracked down on the controversial chat rooms, the suspects moved to other online messenger platforms and opened new sites.



All this shows why Korea needs more radical measures to banish this kind of human garbage from society for good. We welcome the police's decision to disclose the personal information of the main culprits to prevent similar crimes and additional victims. The government should drastically strengthen the punishment of these digital predators. Politicians ought to follow through by enacting laws with far stiffer penalties instead of using the case only to their advantage in the upcoming April 15 general election.












Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister

Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation'

How Punjab became the first state to impose curfew amid coronavirus fear among people

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Chandigarh, Mar 24: With the residents of Punjab least bothered about the State government's decision on the lockdown call, the Punjab government was the first state to clamped a curfew to fight coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that he was forced to take the step in the larger interest of the state, and its people.

As the Punjab Chief Minister received information that his people in the state were moving around as usual in towns, mohallas and cities despite the lockdown, he termed people's negligence of the lockdown as unacceptable and said that it was his duty as the state's chief to save Punjab.

100s booked across India for violating lockdown norms

Tough measures were followed after the state government announced on relief measures, including food and medical facilities for the poor, the state government also the dates for paying water and electricity bills. He also extended the clearing farm loans too.

On Sunday, the Punjab government announced a lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus in the state. Till Monday morning, the state reported 21 coronavirus cases.

It is reportedly said that people began to gather at several places, including Amritsar, Ludhiana and Moga. The people were largely seen assembling at markets despite the lockdown order.

Also, the Police officials were seen announcing in these shopping areas, urging people not to gather and warned them of strict action.

On the other side, the Chief Minister, who was the first to impose curfew in the state announced several relief measures including free food, shelter and medicines for the needy and also deferred the payment of electricity, water and sewerage bills.

Coronavirus: Difference between curfew and lockdown, explained

It is reportedly said that Singh sanctioned Rs 20 crore out of the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for free food and medicines for those in need. Meanwhile, the Cabinet ministers in Punjab announced to contribute their one month's salary to the fund.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 10:13 [IST]
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Artist Scott LoBaido has installed large THANK YOU signs outside two of Staten Islands hospitals to show his gratitude for everything being done to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19).

On Saturday, the artwork was spotted along Seaview Avenue across the street from Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze. LoBaido brought an identical piece of work to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton on Monday.

Its amazing how effective these two big words are to our frontline heroes, LoBaido told the Advance/SILive.com. Thats all I have to say.

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

Posted by Staten Island Advance on Sunday, March 22, 2020

LoBaido added that Staten Island University Hospitals Princes Bay site will receive its own THANK YOU sign Tuesday.

Each of the THANK YOU letters stands approximately 8 feet tall. A heart is in the center of the "O" in YOU.

This way everybody knows this county, this city, this state, this country appreciates you more than you could ever imagine, LoBaido said of the huge signs.

The artist has made a name for himself with his patriotic flag paintings and politically charged artwork. But he also has created art installations to show community support, including a memorial for Hurricane Sandys victims and a piece honoring Autism Awareness Month.

Recently, LoBaido spearheaded a protest against the rise in speed cameras on Staten Island. Volunteers gathered at sites where cameras are located to hold signs he designed.
The Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Margaret Harris on Tuesday said that with a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, the country could become the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Europe is still the centre of the pandemic, but there had been "a very large acceleration" in cases in the US," WHO spokesperson said at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, as quoted by NHK

The WHO said that, as of last Saturday, 75 per cent of new infections around the were from Europe, and 15 per cent from the United States.

Harris said that about half of the new cases over the past 24 hours were from Europe, while 40 per cent were from the US.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the United States has risen above 600, with more than 50,000 cases of infection confirmed, the John Hopkins University of Medicine said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said that he would like to have the country open up by Easter holidays, amid the coronavirus global pandemic which is continuing to impact the country and has claimed over 16,231 lives globally.

"I would love to have it opened by Easter (April 12). It is such an important day for other reasons, but I will make it an important day for this too. I would love to have the country opened up by Easter," said Trump during a Town Hall organised by Fox News to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak situation in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump is finally taking the coronavirus contagion seriously.

Only a week ago, Trump told Americans the pandemic was nothing to worry about. Relax, he said. Were doing great.

But after casualty projections soared and financial markets plummeted, he appeared to realize the crisis will define his presidency and determine whether he wins a second term.

Unable to stage mass rallies, his favorite way to communicate to his base, Trump began holding daily televised briefings with a unifying theme: Your Wartime President in Action.

Unfortunately, much of what he says amounts to self-promotion and wishful thinking.

Last Monday, he unveiled a new set of guidelines  15 Days to Slow the Spread  for minimizing social interaction.

On Tuesday, he urged Congress to pass a $1 trillion economic stimulus package.

On Wednesday, he ordered Navy hospital ships to New York and California and said he might invoke the Defense Production Act, a law that allows him to order companies to produce needed equipment.

On Thursday, he declared the Food and Drug Administration had approved two anti-malaria drugs for use against the coronavirus. It could be a game-changer, he said.

On Friday, he said hes closing the U.S. border with Mexico to most traffic.

On Saturday, he said private industry has stepped up to produce surgical masks and ventilators, and blamed past administrations for any shortages that exist.

All that in addition to his earlier claim Google was rolling out a website to direct anxious Americans to coronavirus testing sites in Walmart parking lots.

Alas, most of those pronouncements were what tech companies call vaporware  promises of products that dont yet exist.

The corrections quickly piled up. The Google website (actually built by Verily, a Google cousin) is available only to residents of two Northern California counties. Congress is still wrangling over the stimulus; the check is not in the mail.

The hospital ships are being refitted and wont sail for at least two weeks. Trump hasnt used the Defense Production Act to order any equipment. The newly manufactured masks wont be available for weeks.

And the FDA hasnt approved any drugs for use against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Its merely collecting data on an accelerated basis to see if they work.

If the presidents goal was to reassure Americans, his salesmanship didnt do the trick.

The Standard & Poors 500 Index dropped more than 4% on Friday, closing out the worst week since the 2008 stock market crash. Wall Street has now erased all of the gains accumulated during the Trump administration.

That left the president to fall back on a familiar gambit: hectoring reporters over their coverage.

When a TV correspondent asked the president for his message to Americans who are scared, Trump snapped, I say that youre a terrible reporter.  It is a bad signal that you are putting out.

For a conventional politician, that would have been a softball question. When it was posed to Vice President Mike Pence, he swung for the bleachers: I would say, Do not be afraid. Be vigilant.

Even odder, there was some good news in the briefings, delivered by less bombastic officials such as Pence and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.

Despite plenty of problems, the pace of coronavirus testing is increasing. Pence said Saturday more than 195,000 tests have been administered, a sharp increase from earlier estimates.

Trump rebuked governors for expecting his administration to provide lifesaving supplies, saying, We are not a shipping clerk. But the federal government has stepped up shipments of medical supplies, although many hospitals still face shortages of critical gear.

As Trump noted, some companies have begun to retool production lines to produce masks for medical workers and ventilators for patients, although its not clear how long that will take. Dozens of laboratories are searching for a therapeutic drug or a cure, although vaccines are at least a year away.

We havent been given the credit that we deserve, the president complained Friday. He may turn out to be right  but if so, hes partly responsible.

He has over-promised and under-delivered  like a real estate promoter selling condos, not a leader steeling his people for difficult times ahead. A more sober description of the situation  one that acknowledges when things go awry  would be more convincing.

If the president and his aides can manage the crisis successfully  slowing the spread of the virus, getting medical equipment where its needed, easing the carnage to the economy  hell deserve the credit he seeks. Right now, hes demanding praise for work he hasnt done.

In the America of Trumps briefings, everyone who needs a test can already get one. Every hospital can order surgical masks on the phone. A vaccine will be ready in record time. The economy will roar back like a rocket ship.

I hope hes right. I hope all those good things come true. If they do, Ill give him the credit he deserves.

Until then, Im going to listen to Dr. Fauci and minimize contact with others. And so, I hope, will you.

Doyle McManus is a Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times and director of the journalism program at Georgetown University.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to rapidly evolve, the federal government is announcing $23.3 million in total support for the University of Saskatchewan's (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac), one of the largest and most advanced infectious disease research facilities in the world.

As part of the government's $275-million fund for COVID-19 health research, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that VIDO-InterVac will receive $12 million to help address Canada's shortage of vaccine manufacturing capacity, as well as $11.3 million for continued operational funding for high containment laboratories over the coming year.

"This new federal funding recognizes that VIDO-InterVac is at the forefront of global efforts to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 and other infectious disease threats," said USask Vice-President of Research Karen Chad. "This is critical work at VIDO-InterVac that will help protect the health and safety of all Canadians, as well as people around the world."

VIDO-InterVac is constructing a pilot-scale manufacturing facility on campus to accelerate vaccine development in Canada and abroad.

"The $12 million enables us to build the facility to Good Manufacturing Practices standards as required for human vaccine production," said VIDO-InterVac Director Volker Gerdts. "We expect to begin vaccine production in a little more than a year."

The $12 million is from Western Economic Diversification's Regional Economic "Growth Through Innovation" program.

There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19 coronavirus. VIDO-InterVac is the first lab in the country to have a vaccine candidate in animal testing. The vaccine was made in February, and researchers expect to know in about four weeks whether the vaccine works in an animal model. Clinical testing of this vaccine in humans could start as early as this fall.

The $11.3 million comes through the Canada Foundation for Innovation under the federal Major Science Initiatives program which funds the operations of major science facilities.

"InterVac is part of the national and global response to emerging disease threats such as COVID-19 in humans and African swine fever in animals," said Gerdts, who is participating in three World Health Organization expert groups on animal model and vaccine development for COVID-19.

As one of the few Canadian research facilities with regulatory approval to work on the new virus, VIDO-InterVac was the first lab in the country to isolate the virus. This was done over five weeks ago, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Sunnybrook. The isolated virus was made available to federal and provincial laboratories.

VIDO-InterVac is also the first lab in Canada, and one of the very few in the world, to establish an animal model for COVID-19. Suitable animal models are critical to evaluate vaccines, antivirals and therapeutics. The lab's animal model is now available to industry and academic partners from around the world.

In addition to vaccines, VIDO-InterVac is also testing antivirals and therapeutics from various Canadian and multinational companies, including two in China.

A world leader in developing vaccines and technologies to combat infectious diseases, VIDO-InterVac was recently awarded $1 million through the federal rapid research funding initiative for research projects aimed at addressing COVID-19.

In last week's provincial budget, the Saskatchewan government announced $400,000 for VIDO-InterVac's manufacturing facility. Innovation Saskatchewan also recently announced $200,000 for VIDO-InterVac's COVID-19 research.

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Google Doodle, a temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages, on Tuesday featured an animation of banh mi, the popular Vietnamese street food sandwich that is a melting pot of cultures and savory ingredients.

Banh mi literally means bread and is based on a type of baguette that was introduced to Vietnam in the mid-19th century.

The animated banh mi Doodle was rolled out in Vietnam and more than ten other countries including the United States, Canada, Singapore, France, Australia and Switzerland, celebrating the addition of the banh mi entry into the Oxford English Dictionary nine years ago on March 24.

Google's animated Doodle shows the making of a typical banh mi. It begins with a thin-crusted baguette being split lengthwise and dressed with condiments such as chili sauce, seasoning sauce, and mayonnaise.

It is then filled with a wide variety of savory ingredients, such as ham, cucumber slices, cilantro, and pickled carrots.

A regular loaf of 'banh mi thit.' Photo: Chanh Niem / Tuoi Tre

A loaf of Vietnams banh mi is a combination of Vietnamese and French cultures, Google wrote in a passage introducing banh mi.

Over time, bread continues to be developed and modified with many new forms and ways of combining ingredients, meeting the culinary and taste needs of Vietnamese people.

Vietnamese people consider banh mi as both a convenient meal to take away and a main or side dish that is full of nutrients.

On this occasion, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has also organized a number of activities in the city, featuring culinary experts and celebrities, to further promote banh mi.

In addition, on Tuesday, a number of food delivery apps are also offering several discounts related to banh mi.

Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 HHen Nie dons the 'banh mi' costume at a press meeting in Ho Chi Minh City November 21, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Besides Google and Oxford English Dictionary, many international culinary and media experts have also given recognition to Vietnams banh mi.

A story run in The Guardian about the world's best street food and written by foodie Richard Johnson in 2012 ranked banh mi in second.

The dish was also praised by the BBCs correspondent David Farley as the best sandwich in the world in 2014, and by the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain in the show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on CNN.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
NEW HAVEN  The debate over using Career High School as a coronavirus-related shelter continues.

City officials briefed the Board of Education on the evolving situation at Hill Regional Career High School, where an emergency shelter has been set up for people experiencing homelessness who also test positive for COVID-19 but do not require hospitalization.

As officials answered questions in the boards first virtual meeting Monday since the state waived public meeting requirements, not all board members liked the answers.

Currently we believe the disease clears typically in about 14 days, said New Havens Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal. Many cases are mild or moderate and do not require hospitalization.

Dalal said theres about an 80 percent chance people who test positive will be sent back to their homes, but some people dont have homes.

Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana said the use of Career High School as an emergency shelter predates his arrival in the city in 2009 and it became a regional shelter in 2011 because of the impact Tropical Storm Irene had on the region. .

Board member Darnell Goldson, who has repeatedly criticized the action since it was announced last week, accused the city of running a shelter-slash-hospital-slash-prison in the Hill neighborhood.

To suggest its just a shelter is dead wrong. There was no community input or notice about this, he said.

Goldson suggested the surrounding community, which he emphasized is a black and brown neighborhood, could be in danger, referencing a homeless man who tested positive for COVID-19 and was reported to have left Yale New Haven Hospital on Sunday before being found in Milford hours later.

Were working with the New Haven Police Department to establish a security plan that will ensure the safety of those individuals inside and the safety of them not leaving the facility. I cant agree with the terminology calling it a jail, Fontana said. This is a shelter facility for medical monitoring that will occur inside.

Goldson said constituents are reaching out to him, panicked about whether the school will be ready to operate again in the near future. He said the virus could potentially lay dormant in the ventilation system for hours and that some students and teachers left personal belongings in the school before it closed.

Board Secretary Ed Joyner said he believed Goldson made his motion with prejudice and that it was inappropriate for him to challenge city staff and Mayor Justin Elicker.

I will rely on the expertise of people like (Health Director) Martiza Bond, Justin Elicker and scientists and mathematicians, Joyner said.

Joyner said the pandemic represents a life-or-death situation, so it would be necessary to treat it with gravity and take seriously health guidance to halt the transmission of the virus.

Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, a pediatrician, said she appreciated how hard Elicker and his team were working to provide an around-the-clock response to the pandemic, but she still questioned whether a school is the best location for an emergency shelter. She said concerned parents in the community are getting technical answers instead of direct information, and she wants clearer information for Hill residents and Career families.

Additionally, Jackson-McArthur reaffirmed Goldsons questions about cleaning up the school after breaking down the shelter.

We would be following (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines on how to clean a building. We wouldnt be doing anything that would increase the risk to anyone, Elicker said. It increases the safety to the city by making sure homeless individuals who do not have a place to self-isolate have a place to self-isolate.

Fontana said the city would invite in federal officials to follow the CDC guidelines for cleaning the building, which would likely be overkill.

That school will be cleaner than it was in a long time, he said.

Goldson proposed a resolution to state, on the record, the boards disapproval of using the high school as a site. Jackson-McArthur and he were the only ones to vote in the affirmative. Jackson-McArthur said she understands Elicker was following advice, but she wished it had gone differently.

Id just like to remind people that the motion is not against Mayor Elicker, its against using this school, Goldson said.

On Sunday, Goldson started an online petition accusing Elicker of ignoring community concerns and focusing on consolidating his power through emergency orders. It had almost 100 signatures as of 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Later in the meeting, Goldson repeatedly questioned interim Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey about whether there was a plan for reopening the schools. Tracey assured him that the district has reopened schools every year and the central office staff review and adjust plans daily. She said that the decision to close schools was one made by Gov. Ned Lamont, likely until fall, and the district has no authority to reverse it.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
The trial of a Sydney man accused of drowning his stepson in a bathtub has been adjourned to enable a juror to be tested for COVID-19.

Charlie Younes, 45, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering Steven Copo, also known as Steven Copo Horton, at his ex-partner's new home at Emerton.

The 18-year-old was born with severe intellectual and physical disabilities and was incapable of walking and talking, but could move about by crawling or shuffling along on his bottom.

Charlie Younes, 45, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering Steven Copo

Steven Copo Horton died in the bathtub in October 2013 at a house in Sydney's west

In line with recent government advice on social distancing, the jurors have been spread out in the courtroom while the public has been able to watch the proceedings from the neighbouring courtroom via audio visual link.

The Crown's final address was due to start on Tuesday, but Acting Justice Peter Hidden said he had received a medical report on a juror.

The man had been sent for X-rays and placed on antibiotics, after developing a respiratory tract infection three weeks ago and a dry recurrent cough.

'I think the risk to others at this stage is extremely low, if not zero,' the doctor wrote.

The man has informed the judge he is feeling well, while his fellow-jurors indicated they were happy to continue with the trial.

But the judge said while the court appreciated the jury's dedication, it had a heavy responsibility in the current climate to protect all those involved in its proceedings.

The juror then arranged to be tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning and will ask for the results to be expedited.

The judge wished him 'all the best' and adjourned the trial until the results were known.
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to hold a press conference on the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 14,900 people in the city.

Earlier on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said a "troubling and astronomical" number of coronavirus cases has increased the urgency across the state for more hospital beds as the outbreak spreads "unabated." Cuomo was speaking at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, where the Army Corps of Engineers is building four FEMA hospitals with 250 beds each for coronavirus patients.

On Friday, de Blasio said New York City had become the epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak in the nation. At that point the city had a third of all coronavirus cases in the nation. He also warned that the city will run out of protective gear for medical workers in two or three weeks if cases keep rising at this rate.

"If you feel afraid, you are not alone, if you're anxious you are not alone," de Blasio said. "New Yorkers are so strong. There are other places in this country this might be a particularly shock to the system, but here ... we are tough people by nature."

The coronavirus has infected at least 46,500 people in the U.S. and had killed at least 590 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tom Hanks revealed that he and his wife Rita Wilson are feeling better on his Twitter account on March 23, almost two weeks after they first announced their positive diagnosis for the CCP virus.

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.

Hey, folks. Two weeks after our first symptoms and we feel better, the actor tweeted.

Sheltering in place works like this: You dont give it to anyone  You dont get it from anyone. Common sense, no? Hanks continued as he encouraged people to adhere to government requests for social-distancing.

Going to take a while, but if we take care of each other, help where we can, and give up some comfortsthis, too, shall pass. We can figure this out. Hanx.

The couple was discharged from hospital last Monday, according to a spokesperson, and are now self-quarantined in a rented home in Queensland, Australia.

On March 11, Tom Hanks announced on his Instagram account that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first public announcement of infection among Hollywood celebrities.

The couple, who have been married since 1988, were in Australia when they began experiencing symptoms of the SARS-like disease.

Wilson had given a series of concerts in Australia and Hanks was filming an Elvis Presley biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann on the Gold Coast. The film was scheduled to be released in 2021.

Hello, folks. @ritawilson and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too, Hanks wrote at the time.

To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive, Hanks continued.

Queensland Health officials say they believe the couple contracted the CCP virus before arriving in Australia.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "Evaluating the Trump Administration's Policies on Iran, Iraq and the Use of Force" in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo Leaves Kabul; No Word on Political Power-Sharing Deal

KABUL, AfghanistanU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Afghanistan on March 23 without saying whether he was able to broker an agreement between the countrys squabbling political leaders.

Pompeo was in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a U.S. peace deal signed in February with the Taliban. Hed traveled thousands of miles amid a near-global travel shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel.

But as his plane took off from Kabul, there was still no announcement on whether hed worked out a solution to Afghanistans political impasse between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah. There were reports in the Afghan capital that Pompeo had given Ghani and Abdullah until the following day to come up with a compromise, but there was no indication either side had offered to step aside.

Since the U.S.Taliban deal was signed, the peace process has stalled amid political turmoil, as Ghani and Abdullah remained deadlocked over who was elected president in the September 2019 presidential polls. They both declared themselves the winner in dueling inauguration ceremonies earlier this month.

Pompeo met separately with Ghani and then Abdullah on March 23 before meeting together with both Afghan leaders. His schedule also had Ghani and Abdullah coming together for a one-on-one meeting, presumably to discuss a possible compromise.

The United States pays billions every year toward the Afghan budget, including the countrys defense forces. Afghanistan barely raises a quarter of the revenue it needs to run the country, giving Pompeo considerable financial leverage to force the two squabbling leaders to overcome the impasse.

The political turmoil has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks that would include the Taliban. Those talks are seen as a critical next step in the peace deal, negotiated to allow the United States to bring home its troops and give Afghans the best chance at peace.

We are in a crisis, a State Department official told reporters accompanying Pompeo. The fear is that unless this crisis gets resolved and resolved soon, that could affect the peace process, which was an opportunity for this country that (has) stood in this 40-years-long war. And our agreement with the Talibs could be put at risk.

The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. concerns.

The United States and NATO have already begun to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan. The final pullout of U.S. forces isnt dependent on the success of intra-Afghan negotiations but rather on promises made by the Taliban to deny space in Afghanistan to other terror groups, such as the insurgents rival Islamic State group.

But within days of the United States and the Taliban signing the peace deal in Qatar on Feb. 29, Afghanistan sunk into a political crisis with Ghani and Abdullah squaring off over election results and Ghani refusing to fulfill his part of a promise made in the U.S.-Taliban deal to free up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The insurgents were for their part to free 1,000 Afghan officials and soldiers they hold captive. The exchange was meant to be a goodwill gesture by both sides to start the negotiations.

Washingtons peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been trying to jump-start talks between Afghans on both sides of the conflictthe next critical step in the U.S.Taliban dealtweeted early March 23 that the two sides are talking about the prisoner exchange.

Surprisingly, Khalilzad was not in attendance at Pompeos meetings with Ghani or Abdullah, but is in the Afghan capital. Ghani has been critical of Khalilzads talks with the Taliban, saying they were too secretive and the Afghan government was kept out of the loop until all the details had been worked out.

The intra-Afghan negotiations were never going to be easy but since Washington signed the peace deal with the Taliban, it has struggled to get the Afghan government to at least offer a unified position.

Pompeos visit is also extraordinary for the fact that the U.S., like the United Nations, had earlier said it would not be drawn into mediating between feuding Afghan politicians as it did in 2014 presidential polls. While the Afghan election commission this time gave the win to Ghani, Abdullah and the election complaints commission charged widespread irregularities to challenge Ghanis win.

In Afghanistans previous presidential election in 2014, also marred by widespread fraud and deeply disputed results, Ghani and Abdullah emerged as leading contenders. Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry mediated between the two and eventually cobbled together a so-called unity government, with Ghani as president and Abdullah holding the newly created but equal in status post of the countrys chief executive.

However, the Ghani-Abdullah partnership was a difficult one, and for much of its five years triggered a parliamentary paralysis leading up to the September balloting.

By Kathy Gannon & Rahim Faiez
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called for Australia to shutdown completely in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Abbott, who was Health Minister in 2005, said he believes Australia's response to the pandemic has been 'better' than other countries.

He told 2GB's Alan Jones that there needs to be a balance between catering to the health emergency and the economic impact of the virus outbreak.

'We need to have a very, very complete shutdown now to do everything we humanly can to prevent the spread of the disease,' Mr Abbott said.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called for Australia to shutdown completely in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic

'There is a sense that the more complete the shutdown is the shorter it will be.

'You can only put the economy into a coma for so long, it can't be indefinite but the more complete it is now the more likely it is to be short-lived.'

He said the shorter the shutdown is, the less impact will be done to the economy as possible.

Mr Abbott said this will allow smaller businesses to minimise financial risk after the compulsory shutdown.

The former Member for Warringah made similar comments in 2005 during a health conference about the dangers of bird flu.

He said at the time there would be a pandemic that would potentially kill 48,000 Australians and hospitalise a further 150,000.

Mr Abbott said in that conference that while the World Health Organisation would declare a pandemic it 'may be prudent' for Australia to commence border security measures.

Currently anyone entering Australia must declare where they have been and if they have COVID-19 symptoms must be tested.

Anyone who enters the country must isolate for 14 days.

Australians have also been advised against leaving the country - and cancel any non-essential domestic travel - as a travel ban grips the world.

Anyone overseas has also been urged to return home if it is possible.
Concerns have been raised over the safety of adults with learning disabilities and the staff at day care centres.

Belfast Trust has come under fire after it emerged social distancing measures have not yet been put in place at its adult day care centres.

Staff have also complained that they have not been given the proper equipment to reduce the spread of the virus.

Under the latest government guidance, at risk groups include people aged under 70 with an underlying health condition, including a learning disability or cerebral palsy.

Despite this, service users are still being taken to and from the centres by bus and are still able to interact with one another without proper distance measures being put in place.

A spokesman from the trust said: Belfast Trust is actively reviewing the provision of day care as part of the management of Covid-19.

Changes to services at these day centres will be implemented following a risk assessment process to ensure vulnerable individuals and carers are identified.

Belfast Trust will directly communicate with service users and families next week in advance of any changes and where appropriate alternative support will be provided as far as possible until such times services return to normal.

The Alliance Partys health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw said: I fully recognise the value of the Adult Day Centres, both for the service users and their families.

I sincerely hope that the risk assessment is carried out with the utmost urgency and issues such as protective clothing and materials for the staff are secured without further delay Paula Bradshaw

As such, I would not like to see them close down, however, I have been contacted by members of the Belfast staff teams, who are really concerned about the high probability of community transmission, given their close proximity on the buses, the continued use of the rooms for many people and the lack of personal protective equipment and personal intimate care equipment.

It would appear from this trusts statement that the management has only just woken up to the risks posed by Covid-19, especially among this very vulnerable group of people.

I sincerely hope that the risk assessment is carried out with the utmost urgency and issues such as protective clothing and materials for the staff are secured without further delay.

Officials are asking people to avoid going out in public as much as possible to slow the spread of coronavirus and reduce the pressure on the health service.

This includes avoiding the use of public transport where possible, avoiding large and small gatherings in public spaces and even avoiding visiting friends and family in their homes.

Last week, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and gyms should close their doors.

On Saturday, he urged people to refrain from visiting their mums on Mothers Day.

Schools will remain open in the coming weeks and months for the children of key workers to attend. However, parents are being asked to only send their children to school if they cannot find alternative childcare.

It has been introduced to slow down the spread of the virus, while also allowing vital staff, such as doctors and nurses to go to work as the health service faces its greatest ever challenge.

Day centres for adults with learning disabilities play a vital role, not only offering social opportunities for the people who use them, but they also provide important respite for families.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Justin W. Keener d/b/a JMJ Financial for failing to register as a securities dealer with the SEC. Keener allegedly bought and sold billions of newly issued shares of penny stock, generating millions of dollars in profits.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Miami, Florida, alleges that between January 2015 and January 2018, Keener engaged in the business of purchasing convertible notes from penny stock issuers, converting the notes into shares of stock at a large discount from the market price, and selling those newly issued shares into the market at a significant profit. Keener allegedly purchased convertible notes from more than 100 separate issuers and sold more than 17.5 billion shares of newly issued penny stock into the market, generating over $21.5 million in profits. As alleged, Keener was not registered as a dealer with the SEC, in violation of the mandatory registration provisions of the federal securities laws. By failing to register, Keener avoided certain regulatory obligations for dealers that govern their conduct in the marketplace, including regulatory inspections and oversight, financial responsibility requirements, and maintaining books and records.

The SEC's complaint charges Keener with violating the registration provision of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and a penny stock bar.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Antony Richard Petrilla, Hope Hall Augustini, and Joshua Braunstein and supervised by Brian O. Quinn and Carolyn M. Welshhans. The litigation will be led by Messrs. Braunstein and Petrilla and supervised by Jan Folena.
A day after suffering their biggest single-day collapse, benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday staged a sharp recovery in line with global markets as investors held out hopes that measures by governments across the world will offset the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The BSE gauge Sensex closed 692.79 points or 2.67 per cent higher at 26,674.03, after a highly volatile trading session. The index swung between a high of 27,462.87 and a low of 25,638.90 during the day.

Likewise, the NSE barometer Nifty settled 190.80 points, or 2.51 per cent, up at 7,801.05.

Both Sensex and Nifty had suffered their worst ever single-session drop in history on Monday. Indices had closed with up to 13 per cent plunge.

On Tuesday, Indian equities followed an improved investor sentiment in Asia after the Federal Reserve announced limitless bond-buying programme to support the US economy.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Infosys, Bajaj Finance, HUL, Maruti, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries; while M&M, IndusInd Bank, ITC, PowerGrid and L&T were among the losers.

Sectorally, BSE IT, teck, energy, FMCG, auto, bankex, finance and metal indices advanced up to 6.95 per cent.

While realty, capital goods and basic materials indices ended up to 2.01 per cent lower.

In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 1.56 per cent.

"Market seemed to breathe a sigh of relief today after the crash yesterday, in sync with the global markets. In addition to the huge relief package by the US Fed yesterday, there were also expectations of a fiscal package by the government, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

The market came off its highs after no significant announcements by the finance minister and the fact that the economic package was still in development, he said, adding that European and US manufacturing activity data due later, which may indicate the impact of Covid-19 on economies, could influence markets tomorrow.

With the coronavirus lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

Sitharaman told reporters an announcement on the package would be made sooner than later.

On volatility in stocks, she said regulators and her ministry are monitoring developments and volatility in markets.

According to experts, a major package from the government of India and the Reserve Bank is expected shortly, and the market is likely to remain hugely volatile with rising possibility of V shaped recovery occasionally.

The US Fed is now leading from the front with its historic package which includes open-ended purchase of securities, direct loans to companies, purchase of corporate bonds, lending against student loans and credit card loans, they said.

The Federal Reserve on Monday announced it will buy unlimited amounts of US Treasury debt -- essentially printing money for the economy -- as well as new steps to lend directly to small- and medium-sized companies that have been among the hardest-hit as economic activity dries up.

Other central banks are also expected to follow suit with bold measures to ease the severely strained credit and financial markets, experts noted.

Traders said extreme lockdown measures taken by the government of India and authorities across the world still weigh on global investor sentiment.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rallied up to 8 per cent. Exchanges in Europetoo rallied up to 6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated against the US dollar to trade 26 paise higher at 75.94.

Global crude benchmark, Brent crude futures rose 5.22 per cent to USD 28.44 per barrel.

Coronavirus cases in India crossed 500 and one more death from the infection reported taking the toll to ten, as the Centre on Tuesday asked the states and union territories to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders in several parts of the country.

The number of global Covid-19 infections has shot past 3,80,000. Worldwide fatalities topped 16,500.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Our Federalist Moment

Commentary

The debate over the federal Constitution that raged from 1787 into 1788 was fought over a number of concerns, but none was more important than the divisions of power between the states and the federal government.

Not far below that was the concern about the power of the president. That founding debate is underlying our response to the current crisis.

The Articles of Confederation, often referred to as Americas First Constitution, were criticized for not centralizing enough power for government to be effective. The American Revolution was fought under that basic, decentralized structure, but it proved continuously frustrating to George Washington and those attempting to keep an effective army in the field.

The central government had no authority to raise taxes directly but had to rely on the states to raise and submit tax payments. There was no independent executive.

The advocates for the proposed Constitution, referred to as The Federalists, argued for a stronger central government, with powers enough to be effective in the core responsibilities of government.

The opponents, often called the Anti-Federalists, feared centralized power and advocated for a continually weak central government, favoring public authority to be wielded by the state governments who were closer to the people with more knowledge of local circumstances. Power exercised locally would be safer and more appropriate to the situation on the ground, they argued.

The COVID-19 crisis is playing out this founding debate again.

The Anti-Federalist elements are alive and well in our decentralized response. State governors are making decisions for their people with the best local knowledge available to them. The Trump administration is encouraging states to take the lead in caring for the health and safety of their citizens, as was intended by the structure of federalism built into the Constitution.

On the other hand, the presidents declaration of the state of emergency and the role being played by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the rest of the federal government is the kind of response the Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton and George Washington wouldve hoped for from the central government with adequate power.

In Federalist Paper No. 70, Hamilton argued that energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. The nationalization of part of our response is possible only because the Federalists won the argument for an energetic and efficient national government.

As we move forward through these perilous times, its important that we recognize this ingenious balance at the heart of our constitutional system.

There are those calling for ever-more centralized responses and ever-more central control. In nearly every press conference, at least one reporter asks why the federal government hasnt made its basic recommendations into nationwide orders. Someone regularly asks why the president hasnt exercised the emergency powers he put onto the table, and someone else challenges the president to use government force against companies to compel them to manufacture medical supplies.

In this critical time, lets not forget a couple of core principles that inform our constitutional order and that inspired the great debate during 17871788 that has shaped the United States since.

First, decisions are best made by private citizens on the free market during most circumstances. When pundits demand the president engage the power of government to force corporations to produce products, even though the administration gives evidence that private companies are voluntarily stepping up, they have lost track of this essential value.

Most of the time, the free market works. Free decisions will lead to necessary products being produced and to them being distributed where they are most needed. Only when the market and freedom fail, should the government step in with force.

Second, when governmental decisions need to be made, they should be made by the level that has the most local information and is in most direct contact with the people affected. This is the structure built into the systemhealth and safety are primarily the responsibility of the states. The governors have stepped up and are leading with strength and resolve. Only out of absolute necessity should the administration make edicts for the entire nation.

Third, this is one of those moments in national life when Hamiltons wisdom becomes apparent. In times like these, we need energy in the executive to coordinate natural resources and act decisively. We must be careful on this one, with executive power being so prone to abuse, and must ensure that whatever extraordinary actions are taken during such a crisis do not become routine.

The United States is in a perilous time and our Constitution is steering us through it. In many ways, we are living through a Federalist Moment, when the wisdom of the Constitution as it balanced power and levels of governmental authority can be seen clearly.

We must all keep this history, these values, and our Constitutions requirements in mind as we make our way through the challenges ahead.

Gary L. Gregg is director of the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville and host of the podcast Vital Remnants.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
There are increased calls for the United States to suspend economic sanctions against Iran, which some believe hamper Tehran's ability to contain the deadly outbreak of coronavirus that has officially killed nearly 2,000 people.

The United States has offered to help Iran but has shown no desire to ease crippling sanctions reimposed on Tehran shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump exited the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018.

Trump said on March 22 he had offered to help the Islamic republic in its fight against the coronavirus, saying that "Iran is really going through a difficult period with respect to this, as you know."

Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rohani, have long called for the lifting of the sanctions, while dismissing Washington's humanitarian offer as dishonest. "They offer a glass of muddy water but they don't say that they've blocked this nation from [accessing] the main [water] springs," Rohani said on March 23.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went as far as suggesting that the United States might be behind the pandemic and therefore the offer cannot be trusted. "You are accused of creating this virus; I dont know if this is true, but amid such an allegation, how can a wise person trust you and accept your offer of help?" he said in a speech on March 22. "You could be giving medicine to Iran that spread the virus or cause it to remain here permanently."

In a statement issued on March 23, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Khameneis "fabrications" put Iranians and people around the world at greater risk. He also reiterated that U.S. sanctions did not target imports of food, medicine, or other humanitarian goods.

Iran has said it asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion in emergency funding to battle the coronavirus outbreak that, according to Iran's Health Ministry, is killing one person nearly every 10 minutes.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also appealed on March 22 for Trump to lift the sanctions -- which prevent banking transactions well as the export of oil -- on humanitarian grounds until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. "The people of Iran are facing untold suffering as sanctions are crippling Iran's efforts to fight COVID19," Khan said on Twitter. "Humanity must unite to fight this pandemic."

'Maximum Pressure' To Continue

While continuing to pressure Tehran amid the pandemic, U.S. officials have blamed much of the crisis on mismanagement by Iranian leaders, who are accused of a slow initial response.

Criticism also came for the failure of Iranian officials to quarantine the city of Qom, the epicenter of the outbreak in Iran and from where the virus is believed to have first spread to the rest of the country.

"Our policy of maximum pressure on the regime continues," Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iranian affairs, told reporters last week. "U.S. sanctions are not preventing aid from getting to Iran."

China and Russia, allies of Tehran and signatories to the 2015 nuclear accord, have also made a similar appeal for the lifting of U.S. sanctions. "We called and are calling on the United States to abandon the inhumane practice of applying unilateral sanctions against Iran, which has an acute shortage of means to solve urgent health issues in the current situation of the spread of the coronavirus," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry made a similar demand on Twitter. "Continued sanction on Iran was against humanitarianism and hampers Iran's epidemic response & delivery of humanitarian aid by the UN and other organizations," it tweeted on March 16.

The Guardian reported on March 18 that Britain was also privately pressing the United States to ease sanctions on Iran to allow it to help fight against the coronavirus, which, according to figures released by Irans Health Ministry on March 24, has infected 24,811 Iranians. The official death toll -- which has been criticized by many as being underreported -- stands at 1,934.

On March 20, some 25 organizations in the United States, including the International Crisis Group, Oxfam America, and the National Iranian American Council, called on U.S. leaders to lift the sanctions for 120 days to offer Iranians relief at this critical time.

"Sanctions have harmed the public health sector in Iran by slowing or entirely blocking the sale of medicine, respirators, and hygienic supplies needed to mitigate the epidemic, and broad sectoral sanctions continue to negatively impact ordinary Iranians by shuttering civilian-owned businesses and decimating the value of the rial, making it harder to procure food, medicine, and other basic needs, the organizations said in a joint online statement.

There have also been calls on social media by U.S. lawmakers, including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. "Iran is facing a catastrophic toll from the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. sanctions should not be contributing to this humanitarian disaster," he tweeted on March 18. "As a caring nation, we must lift any sanctions hurting Irans ability to address this crisis, including financial sanctions."

Human Rights Watch said in an October 2019 report that U.S. sanctions have drastically constrained Iran's ability to finance humanitarian imports, including vital medicines and medical equipment.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 7:02PM

by Claudio Alves

Alfre Woodard is one of the great American actresses of our time. If there were any doubts about that, last year's Clemency must have surely killed them for good. Still, for people obsessed with movie awards, Woodard's mastery might not be obvious. Her sole Academy Award nomination came in 1983 for a film that few remember, Cross Creek. The lack of recognition for that feature doesn't mean it doesn't deserve praise and it certainly doesn't reflect lackluster acting. But we're here to talk about a different performance.

The 1992 drama Passion Fish was up for Actress and Screenplay and it's easy to imagine that a third nomination for Woodard nearly materialized...

Directed and written by John Sayles, the film tells the story of two women stuck together by life's unexpected tragedies. The first one we meet is May-Alice Culhane, a soap opera star who's been involved in a violent car accident. In the aftermath, she lost mobility and feeling of the lower half of her body and has decided to get herself drunk on equal doses of self-pity and booze. Reluctant to hear her doctor's advice, she even goes back to her home state of Louisiana. Unemployed and desperately lonely, the actress wallows away in front of the TV, antagonizing her nurses in a cruel game of deliberate abrasiveness. That is until Chantelle arrives at her place.

She's May-Alice's new nurse and, for the first time, the wheelchair-bound thespian of day-time television seems to have found someone as stubborn as her. Cagey and resilient, the nurse slowly cracks the facade of prickly self-hatred worn by the other woman and the two learn to live together, one miserable step at a time. Passion Fish is made of two interlacing character studies, using the contrasts between the two women as well as startling similarities to investigate their inner lives, the way they are haunted by the past and prefer to either ignore or surrender to the challenges life puts in front of them. It's a tale of two women, two addicts, two complicated personalities that are never sugarcoated by the script or the actresses who play them.

In the role of the paraplegic actress, Mary McDonnel has the showier part, but that doesn't mean Alfre Woodard's Chantelle is short-changed. As the film goes along, it becomes more focused on the plight of the caregiver than the melodrama of her patient. Part of that comes from the way John Sayles' camera is positively besotted by Alfre Woodard's expressive countenance, staging entire scenes that hinge on the most minute movements of her face. Since Chantelle is a stubborn woman who insists on keeping things to herself, barely revealing anything about her life unless she's forced to, our awareness of her psychology depends heavily on the emotional information Woodard can wordlessly telegraph.

Thankfully, filling silences with a novel's worth of bruised feeling and challenging emotions is this actress's specialty. We can see that throughout her career, injecting a heartbreaking sense of tragedy into Tyler Perry movies, adding astringent complexity to Spike Lee's Crooklyn, making Clemency's last scenes into something out of a passion play directed by Dreyer. In Passion Fish, she isn't asked to go that far, but the modesty of these dramatic heights never stop Woodard from doing her best. Scenes of reluctant seduction, for example, could be an atonal bit of sexy comic relief. However, she makes them into little spectacles of intimacy and joy bursting through the concrete floor of Chantelle's stoic attitude.



Other great acting showcases are the final scenes of Passion Fish when Woodard is finally given some melodrama to bite into and delivers beautifully. Chantelle's past comes back to haunt her with sadness and guilt. Her drug addiction problems come to light and a daughter that now lives with her grandfather spends the summer with her mother. By the water, talking to her kid, Chantelle allows herself a moment of vulnerability and Woodard plays the scene with as much intensity as contention. She cries, she tenses up and she melts, she gives the audience a summary of the trials and tribulations of an estranged mother with just a handful of poignant stares and wavering line deliveries. Later, on a boat with May-Alice and contemplating the future, Woodard's even better.

It's not all made up of powerful silences, of course. Hell, Woodard even has a shouting scene in the middle of the film, when Chantelle has had enough of May-Alice's bitchiness after a day of self-imposed sobriety. That could have been her Oscar clip, but the Academy chose to ignore Woodard as they are prone to do. Curiously, despite getting less precursor attention McDonnell managed to get into the Best Actress lineup. Maybe the cause of such a snub was the unshowy nature of the part, maybe it was category confusion (despite winning the Spirit award for Best Supporting Actress, Woodard is a borderline lead), maybe it was too much competition.

Whatever the reason, Alfre Woodard should have more than a single Oscar nomination and it's a tragedy that she's stuck at one.
Bass University co-founder Mike Iaconelli. The Bucket List series will give you fishery-specific information that would otherwise take a lifetime to accumulate. Believe me, Ill be watching them to learn some lessons myself.

Founded in 2009 by Mike Iaconelli and Pete Gluszek, The Bass University (BU) offers acclaimed bass fishing education programs in three formats: online, in the classroom, and on the water. Now, with the new program, entitled The Bucket List, in which BU hosts visit Americas best bass fisheries to fish with the professional anglers who know those fisheries best.

Like other The Bass University comprehensive educational video instructional videos, The Bucket List will be streamed at http://www.bassu.tv.

Ive been fortunate to travel the country to fish many of our nations best bass waters, but not everyone has that same opportunity, said Bass University co-founder Mike Iaconelli. The Bucket List series will give you fishery-specific information that would otherwise take a lifetime to accumulate. Believe me, Ill be watching them to learn some lessons myself.

The first episode will take place on Lake Champlain, on the New York/Vermont border, and the site of Iaconellis first professional win. Hell be joined by his Bass University co-founder Pete The Dean Gluszek; another former Lake Champlain winner. The pair will revisit some of the spots where Ike caught his winning fish 20 years ago. Whether you fish there every weekend or youre planning your personal bucket list trip, and you wont want to miss the two episodes that will unveil many of the two pros hard-earned secrets.

The next edition will be on Lake Chickamauga, one of the best trophy fisheries in the southeast. There we will pick the brain of legendary Tennessee angler Wesley Strader - who has a lifetime of experience there  and the tournament hardware to prove it.

Until now, weve focused on proven fishing techniques and strategies with universal applications, Gluszek said. Well continue to provide that information in these episodes. However, weve had strong demand for fishery specific content; our goal at BU is to give the fishermen what they want, and The Bucket List is the next step in that process.

New episodes will be released every Wednesday. They are available in their entirety by subscribing to http://www.bassu.tv.

Also, in keeping with the need to balance the publics needs for Social Distancing and feeding their fishing habit, due to the current situation involving the COVID19 Coronavirus, The Bass University is currently offering $50 off annual subscriptions or 50 days free. Now is the perfect time to homeschool with the bass university and be ready to go when the time comes.

For more information about the Bass University, go to http://www.bassu.tv, and to see a teaser, click here: https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/bu-bucket-list-lake-champlain-ep-1

Media Contacts: The Bass University

Justin Kimmel

Justin@thebassuniversity.com

(404) 660-0185
Wuhan, March 24 : The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic originated last December, will lift outbound travel curbs from April 8 after over two months of lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday.

People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei province if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases, Xinhua news agency quoted a circular issued by the provincial COVID-19 control headquarters as saying.

Other areas in Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, will lift outbound transportation restrictions from Wednesday, the circular said.

The development came as Wuhan for the last five days did not report any domestic coronavirus case.

On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city's public transport and all outbound flights and trains, in an attempt to contain the epidemic within its territory.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in China increased to 81,545, while the death toll stood at 3,281, according to the latest updates by the Washington-based John Hopkins University.

The number of global confirmed cases was 381,598, while the death toll stood at 16,559, the updates revealed.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SSW) said today it is reducing activity at its Blitz project due to the COVID-19 threat.

The company said contractors involved in "growth capital activities" are being demobilised.

Workers are also required to work remotely if not required on site.

Sibanye also received a forece majeure notice from one of its equipment suppliers.

"The Blitz project accounts for the majority of contract workers at the US PGM operations and these decisions are likely to temporarily impact growth from Blitz in 2020 and delay the projects development schedule. In addition, we have received a force majeure notice from the manufacturer of the mills to be used in the expansion of the concentrator. Further detail will be provided once we have concluded a full impact assessment," said the company in a statement.

Sibanye said operations may escape total closure since PGM operations are a critical infrastructure industry as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, with PGMs essential components of many chemical, medical and biochemical applications.

Blitz is a platinum-palladium project in Montana, U.S.
The comments of Justin Curtis, attorney for James River Water Authority, in Consultants recommend keeping pumping station at Rassawek (The Daily Progress, Feb. 26 in print) are perplexing.

He notes that Dominion Energy was allowed to continue operating a transmission line across the historic James River even though the Army Corps of Engineers had not completed an Environmental Impact Statement.

For six years, preservation and conservation groups called for an EIS to be initiated for that project in order to identify alternatives to the proposed project that both protected historic, cultural and scenic resources and delivered electricity to the Peninsula.

In 2017, despite that opposition and without preparing an EIS, the Corps issued a permit to construct an electrical transmission line crossing Americas founding river  the James, at Surry-Skiffes Creek. That same year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Virginia filed a lawsuit alleging that the Corps had violated federal law by issuing a permit without fulfilling its National Environmental Policy Act obligations, namely completing an EIS.

While the case was awaiting a final decision, the transmission line was completed and energized. Last March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit determined that Dominions transmission line was permitted unlawfully and ordered the Corps to prepare an EIS. The Corps initiated the EIS process in July 2019, which ultimately may identify installation alternatives and lead to the restoration of the James River.

Curtiss assertion is curious. Is it a good business practice to invest funds in a project that might ultimately be dismantled? Or is this a strategy to destroy the sacred site of Rassawek and beg for forgiveness when a better alternative is determined?

Following the flawed process that resulted in an unlawfully permitted transmission line is no precedent that warrants repetition at another site so significant to Virginias history and so sacred to the Monacan Indian Nation.

Elizabeth S. Kostelny

Richmond

References:

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Elizabeth S. Kostelny is chief executive officer of Preservation Virginia.
COVID-19 has drawn comparisons to devastating periods such as WWII, the 2008 financial crisis and the 1918 Spanish flu.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the world body wants $2bn to help poor countries combat coronavirus  and he warned that a massive, coordinated package would also be needed to deal with the pandemics social and economic impact around the world.

The package needs to make households be afloat, make businesses be afloat, keep societies being afloat, Guterres told a virtual news conference.

This will require a double-digit of GDP [gross domestic product] support in the developed world and creating the conditions through the IMF [International Monetary Fund], through the swaps among central banks, through the creation of new facilities, Guterres said.

So far, more than 351,00 people have been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 15,330 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

The spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus has drawn comparisons with devastating periods such as World War II, the 2008 financial crisis and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

We need a much stronger coordination, said Guterres, adding that he had written to the worlds 20 largest economies  the G20 or Group of 20 nations  and would join their virtual meeting later this week.

That coordination would mean making sure that not only the developed countries can respond effectively to the disease, but that there is massive support to the developing world not to let the disease spread like wildfire, he said.

Guterres said he would launch a $2bn humanitarian appeal on Wednesday.

He also called for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives, Guterres said.

The UN has been trying to mediate an end to conflicts in countries including Syria, Yemen and Libya, while also providing humanitarian assistance to millions of civilians.

End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world, Guterres said. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.
Int'l travellers who test COVID positive at the airport will not be allowed to go to their destinations

Who is Firhad Hakim? Know Kolkata's New Mayor Age, Education, Family and Other Details

225 arrested in Kolkata for violating restrictions

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Kolkata, Mar 24: Police arrested 255 people in Kolkata on Monday evening for violating the restrictions imposed in the metropolis in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

The arrests were made after 5 pm when the lockdown came into effect, they said, adding that those held will be prosecuted under sections dealing with disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant.

Naka checkings are underway at every important junction of the city, officials said.

The lockdown, which will continue till March 27, was clamped to prevent further spread of the virus.

Kolkata's police commissioner Anuj Sharma urged the people to stay at home and cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order.

SC expresses satisfaction over governments fight against coronavirus

I appeal to all citizens to #StayHome and cooperate with the administration. @KolkataPolice will continue the drive against violators, he tweeted.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also appealed to the people to follow the guidelines set by the government and not to come out of their homes unless there is an emergency.

She also asked them to cooperate with the government to fight the menace.

In West Bengal, a person has died and six COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 8:14 [IST]
[March 24, 2020] Richard Law joins Grant Thornton to enhance its corporate value offerings

Richard Law has joined Grant Thornton (News - Alert) LLP as a managing director in the firm's Corporate Value Consulting practice. In this role, he will help the firm's clients speed and enhance their transaction processes. Law has more than 25 years of valuation experience with a focus in providing fair value and fair market value analyses. He has issued valuation opinions for a variety of purposes, including financial reporting, tax planning and compliance, as well as management planning, dispute resolution and litigation support. "Rich boasts decades of valuation work in industries ranging from consumer products to business services to industrial products - making him an unparalleled source of transaction knowledge," said Scott Davis, national managing partner of Financial Advisory Services for Grant Thornton. "Some of our clients' biggest issues center on value. Rich will help them grow and succeed when it comes to these issues. And he will help Grant Thornton expand our corporate valuation practice both locally and nationally." Before joining Grant Thornton, Law was a managing director in Alvarez & Marsal's valuation services practice in New York, where he specialized in the valuation of intangible assets and business interests, including business enterprie, common equity, preferred stock, warrants, stock options, debt securities and other liabilities. Prior to that, Law worked in the valuation practices of American Appraisal and Arthur Andersen.



Law is a charted financial analyst. He received a master's of business administration degree from Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor's degree in finance from Seton Hall University. For additional information about Grant Thornton's corporate value consulting services, visit: www.grantthornton.com/corporate-value-consulting.

About Grant Thornton LLP Founded in Chicago in 1924, Grant Thornton LLP (Grant Thornton) is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, one of the world's leading organizations of independent audit, tax and advisory firms. Grant Thornton, which has revenues in excess of $1.9 billion and operates more than 50 offices, works with a broad range of dynamic publicly and privately held companies, government agencies, financial institutions, and civic and religious organizations. "Grant Thornton" refers to Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL). GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another's acts or omissions. Please see grantthornton.com for further details. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005468/en/

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Mainland China saw a doubling in new coronavirus cases driven by a jump in infected travellers returning home from overseas, raising the risk of transmissions in Chinese cities and provinces that had seen no new infections in recent days.

China had 78 new cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, a two-fold increase from Sunday. Of the new cases, 74 were imported infections, up from 39 imported cases a day earlier.

The Chinese capital was the hardest-hit, with a record 31 new imported cases, followed by southern Guangdong province with 14 and the financial hub of Shanghai with nine. The total number of imported cases in China stood at 427 as of Monday.

Beijing has imposed tough screening and quarantine protocols, and has diverted all incoming international flights to other Chinese cities, but that has not stemmed the influx of Chinese nationals, many of whom are students returning home from virus-hit countries.

The number of local infections from overseas arrivals - the first of which was reported in the southern travel hub of Guangzhou on Saturday - remains very small.

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 Monday, Beijing saw its first case of a local person being infected by an international traveller arriving in China. Shanghai reported a similar case, bringing the total number of such infections to three so far.

But authorities are taking no chances.

Beijing's city government further tightened quarantine rules for individuals arriving in China from overseas, saying on Tuesday that everyone entering the Chinese capital will be subject to centralised quarantine and health checks.

Those entering the city who have travelled from overseas to China in the past 14 days will also be subject to centralised quarantine and testing for the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 3,300 and infected nearly 82,000 in mainland China.

CONCERNS

Of China's four new locally transmitted infections on Monday, one was in Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province. This follows five days of no new infections in the city, the epicentre of the outbreak in China.

Guangdong reported on Monday a local case linked to an infected individual from Hubei.

Policymakers are conscious of the potential social instability and economic disruption that a new wave of infections could cause, especially in Hubei, where factories and businesses are only just starting to resume.

A private survey on Tuesday suggested that a 10-11% contraction in first-quarter gross domestic product "is not unreasonable".

Many Chinese say they remain worried about the possibility of a new wave of infections as more people return to work as severe travel restrictions are eased with slowing infections.

They are also cautious of spending too much, concerned about job security as the economy slows.

The epidemic has hammered all sectors of the economy - from manufacturing to tourism. To persuade businesses to reopen, policymakers have promised loans, aids and subsidies.

In Beijing, the city is reopening the Badaling section of the Great Wall, an infamously crowded part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the impoverished province of Gansu, government officials are each required to spend at least 200 yuan ($28.25) a week to spur the recovery of the local catering industry.
[March 24, 2020] Blue Ridge Networks Announces Mark Webber as New Vice President of Sales

CHANTILLY, Va., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Ridge Networks announced today that Mark Webber has joined the company's executive team in the position of Vice President of Sales. As Vice President of Sales, Mr. Webber will lead the strategy and direction for the Blue Ridge Networks sales team. In this capacity, he will guide sales strategy for all of the company's products and solutions while supporting overall success for customers spread across the world and in several different market verticals. Previously, Mr. Webber spent three years as Vice President of Sales for Blue Ridge Networks' partner Vericlave. His proven success in leading cyber security business development and technical marketing will allow Mr. Webber to maximize Blue Ridge Networks' sales opportunities and industry leadership. Mr. Webber brings more than 20 years of expeience in the technology industry where he has directed sales teams, developed sales processes and strategies, and delivered a seamless buying experience for customers and partners.



In addition, Webber has been a technical leader in the telecommunications and networks space, as well as served his country as a US Army Reserves Aviation Officer. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Wentworth Institute of Technology and is currently pursuing a Master's of Science in Cybersecurity from Southern New Hampshire University. "Mark Webber has proven to be a talented and savvy strategist with extensive knowledge of the challenges and opportunities within the cybersecurity industry," said Srini Mirmira, President of Blue Ridge Networks. "I'm confident that he will be a great asset as we position Blue Ridge for continued growth in the coming years. We're excited to welcome him to the Blue Ridge Networks team and we're looking forward to the value he will bring to our current and future customers."

"Blue Ridge Networks has been a cornerstone of cyber security innovation for intelligence agencies and other organizations globally," said Mark Webber. "I am excited to have the opportunity to drive their solutions into critical infrastructure organizations and enterprises to help defend their systems from cyberattacks." About Blue Ridge Networks

Based in Northern Virginia, Blue Ridge Networks is a visionary cybersecurity pioneer providing proven network access and endpoint security solutions. Its products isolate, contain, and protect critical operations and endpoints to provide a new layer of cybersecurity defense that eliminates vulnerability to cyber-attacks. Blue Ridge solutions have protected critical operations for some of the largest US government, financial, healthcare, and other critical infrastructure customers for more than twenty years with no reported breaches. For more information, please visit www.blueridgenetworks.com , or contact us at [email protected] . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blue-ridge-networks-announces-mark-webber-as-new-vice-president-of-sales-301028724.html SOURCE Blue Ridge Networks

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The University of Tampa in Florida announced through its social media account that five of their students who went to a spring break trip were confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Pres. Donald Trump and his administration are very serious in taking on the COVID-19 pandemic. They are doing everything to slow down the transmission of the virus even if it includes the country to shutting down schools and business establishments.

In fact, Pres. Trump has restricted the gathering of more than 50 persons and to observe proper social distancing. However, for some, they are not taking the problem seriously. In fact, many beachgoers, mostly college students, went to beaches in Florida to party.

It was also reported in the recently published article by Latin Post that younger generations or those who age from 20 to 44 years old are most of the time easily get infected by the virus because of their reckless behavior that includes not following the guidelines and advices from the President and Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

FLORIDA COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

There were five Florida college students who tested positive for the virus according to the announcement of the University of Tampa. They are now in the process of recovering from the infectious and deadly virus that killed almost 400 individuals in the country.

The school decided not to mention any details of the students to protect them and their families from any forms of discrimination. However, it is still not clear until now as to where they have traveled and how many were with them. Contact tracing is very important because those who have direct contacts with them may also be infected by the virus.

None of the students decided to be admitted in the hospital, Instead, they chose to stay at their homes and were reportedly self-isolating.

In a recently published article, these five students traveled together during the school's spring break from March 8 to 15 amid the threat of COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the school also released a statement through their social media account. The school wrote: "UT has been notified that five UT students, traveling together and with other UT students during Spring Break, have tested positive for COVID-19. We sincerely wish our students, and any others who may be affected, a full and rapid."

What is alarming is four out of five students who tested positive for COVID-19 returned to the school after their break, while one did not. This means that students, teachers, and other personnel in the school who have direct contact with the students also need to self-quarantine because there is a big chance that they are also infected.

Meanwhile, The University of Tampa has recently announced also that another student, the sixth-student, was also confirmed positive for the virus after it traveled internationally during the school's spring break.

SPRING BREAK IN FLORIDA

Spring break in the state of Florida was greatly criticized because amid the advice, guidelines, and warnings from the federal government, CDC, and health experts to avoid mass gatherings and to practice social distancing, still many went to the beaches to party.

It can be recounted that Governor. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. had refused to shut down the popular beaches in the state following the decision of the local governments.

In an interview with the Governor, he said: "[The government] wants you to social distance, of course. But they actually encourage people to get fresh air. They just don't want you congregating in big groups. And so if you have a Floridian that goes and walks their dog, like a married couple on the beach, as long as you're not within six feet of each other, they view that as a healthy thing."

Moreover, following the criticisms, the mayors in Miami, Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Naples, and Jacksonville have since closed their beaches for beachgoers and visitors.

Read related articles:
Manitoba schools are being instructed to shut down their play structures due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba schools are being instructed to shut down their play structures due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The Manitoba School Board Association has told all school divisions in the province to suspend access to play structures and  where possible  dismantle equipment in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

"Effective March 23, 2020, all school divisions have been asked to close or limit access to play structures as quickly as possible," MSBA President Alan Campbell said in a written statement sent to the Free Press.

"While green spaces will be maintained where feasible, the objective is to reduce shared play structure surfaces, benches, etc., as areas where social distancing could be hindered and COVID-19 could be transmitted from person to person."

The Winnipeg, Rolling River and River East Transcona divisions, among others, have announced their intention to comply with the recommendation.

A Winnipeg School Division maintenance worker puts up a sign on an empty playground at Mulvey School Tuesday morning. The Manitoba School Boards Association has recommended all provincial schools close their play structures on school grounds immediately. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

Radean Carter, senior information officer for the Winnipeg School Division, said staff are working quickly to print signs warning children to stay away from the structures.

"Manitoba School Boards Association risk management team has recommended that all school divisions close playgrounds and remove swings. Our building department is working on having signs printed and laminated to put up at our 89 play structures and is removing swings as requested," Carter said in a written statement.

Lisa Herie has two children  one in kindergarten, one in Grade 3  enrolled in River East Transcona. She said the decision did not come as a surprise to her and shes pleased to see Manitoba schools taking this step.

She added that her children are disappointed they cant play on the structures, but that she and her husband have had conversations with them, so they understand the serious nature of the pandemic.

"They were already aware we werent going to parks anyway, because we werent supposed to be around other people. Theyve been well-versed with what we can and cant do, and the why," Herie said.

"Theyre disappointed; they want to be able to go and burn some steam off at the park, but they understand why they cant, that its serious, and theres a good reason for it and its not just because Mom and Dad dont want to go to the park."

The Manitoba School Boards Association has recommended all school divisions close playgrounds and remove swings. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

Herie said that while practising social distancing in recent days, her family has had to get creative in order to keep the children occupied and entertained.

"Last week we threw the sleds in the trunk and took them to an empty hill where they could toboggan for a bit. They have a yard to run in. Well go on more walks with them," she said.

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.

"Were finding things to keep them moving and still go outside. Its just part of the challenge."

In a written statement posted to its website, the River East Transcona School Division called the play structures "high touch areas" when announcing its decision to comply with the recommendation.

"These structures are high touch areas and with the public health directive to maintain a 2-metre distance, we encourage parents, students and community members to instead use the open large spaces such as fields and parks," the statement reads.

On Tuesday, Manitoba announced its 21st presumptive or confirmed case of COVID-19.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
WASHINGTON - Here's a massive messaging problem facing President Donald Trump as he indicates he wants to curtail his administration's social distancing recommendations as soon as next week: How do you argue for reopening the economy when science says doing so will cost lives?

Trump's comments have driven to the forefront a public debate over whether and when to put people back together in public. Those who think we should, and soon, are struggling with how to articulate that in a way that doesn't sound callous. They haven't been successful.

The chief example of this is Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is 69, old enough to be in a high-risk category for the virus. He literally said he would be willing to risk his life to go back to work.

"No one reached out to me and said, 'As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?' " he said on Fox News on Monday. "And if that's the exchange, I'm all in."

Patrick used his own personal willingness to be more exposed to the coronavirus to argue that the rest of the nation should be OK with it, too. "I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me," he said. The not-so-subtle message: Senior citizens' lives are worth the risk.

Contrast that with new New York Times reporting that as Fox News was downplaying the seriousness of the virus to its viewers, the channel's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, canceled his 89th birthday party "out of concern" for his health.

Fox News host Ed Henry didn't come off much better Tuesday when trying to frame Trump's thinking on reopening the economy to pose a question.

"The best estimate of the mortality rate is . . . less than 1%," he said. "Now, every life matters, and you don't want to minimize any of them. But when the mortality rate is that low, what is the balance?" He asked Peter Hotez, a doctor and global public health expert, what he'd advise the president weighing those mortality rates.

Hotez, as nearly every public health expert has done, pushed back on the notion that coronavirus isn't that serious or that people can be protected from it if they're out and about: "That may sound like a low mortality rate, but that's about five-six times higher than influenza," he said, stressing that hospitals are already overwhelmed, including by people under 44, who the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said make up about a third of hospitalizations. "Even though they're not dying, their lives are being saved by being in ICU and being taken care of."

Trump has tried to flip the "death" argument the other way, that people will die if the economy doesn't open up: "I'm talking about where people suffer massive depression where people commit suicide, where tremendous death happens," he said Monday.

We haven't seen evidence of mental health strains from a shuttered economy causing the kind of death toll he's talking about. And as Trump considers lifting federal social distancing guidelines, the World Health Organization is warning that the United States could be the next epicenter of the virus.

Tom Inglesby, head of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, warned disaster would greet Americans if they went back to loosened restrictions on public gatherings.

"To drop all these measures now would be to accept that COVID [patients] will get sick in extraordinary numbers all over the country, far beyond what the US health care system could bear," he tweeted Monday night as Trump was holding a news conference indicating he was inclined to loosen social distancing as soon as next week.

Some prominent Republican lawmakers are also saying it's a bad idea.

"It would be a major mistake to suggest any change of course when it comes to containment," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told my Washington Post colleagues Monday, citing Anthony Fauci, a prominent White House coronavirus task force member urging more social distancing. "I just spoke with Dr. Fauci - he believes that, if anything, we should be more aggressive and do more . . . You can't have a functioning economy if you have hospitals overflowing."

And Tuesday, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is in House Republican leadership, argued that even if you push people out the door and to work, "there will be no normal functioning economy" if Americans are overrun by the virus.

Trump's argument also ignores that it isn't only older people who will die of the coronavirus. And then what about all the people who need medical care for the serious non-coronavirus medical problems that Americans face every day?

"That's not just for folks with coronavirus, that's for all the health-care challenges," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking from one of the hardest-hit areas in the nation, told Fox News on Tuesday. "All the folks with cancer and heart disease. We have to protect everyone in danger by keeping our hospitals going. And that means that social distancing is the key to slowing this thing down."

The coronavirus is forcing society to weigh extremely difficult decisions, about livelihood vs. lives. If the virus rampage gets worse, medical professionals warn we could be weighing lives vs. lives. Against that backdrop, it's very hard for Trump to argue for opening up the economy without sounding like they're willing to risk that.
March 24 : The most awaited Telugu New Year ( Ugadi 2020) will be celebrated on March 25, 2020, with gusto and pomp. This festival is one of the main festivals of the people of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. This festive season, make sure to wish all your family members through these lovely Whatsapp Status videos. Feel free to download them and share them as you please. Alongside, browse through our artistic collections of Whatsapp Stickers, wishes, greetings for Ugadi and welcome good luck in the best way possible.

Wish 1: Ugadi WhatsApp Status Video Free Download

Wish 2: Ugadi WhatsApp Status Video Free Download

Wish 3: Ugadi WhatsApp Status Video Free Download

May you have a happy and a prosperous new year ahead

Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Celebrate New year

Image Source: Prokerala.com May you find happiness this Ugadi

Let love and good health be with you always

Wishing you a Happy Ugadi

Image Source: Prokerala.com Whatsapp status posts for Ugadi

Take time to dream

Take time to love

Praying that this New Year brings loads of happiness to all of you

May you have a great Ugadi
Hero Cycles today said that it is setting aside Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to address and mitigate the impact of coronavirus pandemic on partners and the community at large.

"As an organisation that stands for the principles of business with a humane approach, we are allocating Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to help the entire ecosystem around our organisation survive this crisis," Pankaj M Munjal, chairman HMC, Hero Motors Company said in a statement.

The company is also reaching out to different state governments to offer all possible help, he added.

Hero Cycles has also set up an emergency monitoring cell headed by Munjal to closely monitor the economic repercussions of the pandemic and, its impact on the organisational supply chains.

The cell is overseeing planning of supply chain resumption as and when the situation normalises, medical support for employees and their families, and support for communities around key manufacturing facilities, the company said.
The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, formed by Congress to assess various military issues, will recommend making women eligible for the U.S. military draft,A Politico reported on Tuesday.

This is a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency, the commission wrote in a report to be released on Wednesday.

The report was required by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017. The recommendations therein are non-binding, but could provide support to Congress members should they wish to allow the draft to apply to women.

Currently, male U.S. citizens are required to register for the draft, although no one has been conscripted into the army in 40 years. The U.S. formally barred female soldiers from combat roles until 2015, when then-defense secretary Ash Carter canceled the Pentagons longstanding ban. The military has since integrated around 224,000 women into combat positions, and 30 women have completed the elite Army Ranger school as of summer 2019.

Objections to women serving in combat are due in large part to natural physical differences between men and women that have practical consequences for the lethality of gender-integrated fighting units, the report reads. Proponents of allowing women in combat roles, meanwhile, have urged the commission to reconsider longstanding Pentagon policy.

Today, womenare able to hold any military job for which they are qualified, Katey van Dam, a Marine Corps veteran and attack helicopter pilot, told the commission in 2019. As society expects opportunity parity for women, it is time to also expect equal civic responsibility. In the event of a major war that requires national mobilization, women should serve their country to the same extent as male citizens.

More from National Review
In light of the UAE governments decision to close all commercial centres for a renewable two-week period, Aldar Properties has taken the decision to adhere to this directive a day earlier than required, and close all malls operating under its retail portfolio, effective today (March 24).

This includes Yas Mall, World Trade Center Abu Dhabi (WTC), Shams Boutik at Al Reem Island, and Al Jimi Mall and Remal Mall in Al Ain.

However, supermarkets, hypermarkets and pharmacies are excluded from the closures and will remain open during the period, while F&B outlets will be restricted to home deliveries only, as instructed by the government, said the statement from Aldar.

This move is in line with Aldars commitment to support all initiatives announced by the government, which continue to prioritise the health, safety, and wellbeing of all people living in and visiting the UAE, stated the developer.

Aldar said ensuring the health and safety of its customers, communities, staff and partners remained the utmost priority for the company.

The company will continue to work closely with all relevant authorities to ensure the effective implementation of all directives issued by the government, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people not to strain the resources by travelling unnecessarily.

"Do not travel unnecessarily. Don't strain our resources. If possible don't step out. We will come out of this successfully, we need your co-operation," Thackeray said.

Thackeray held a meeting regarding food supplies. "We have enough supplies. Siddhivinayak and Lalbaugcha Raja have come forward for help," he said.

"If people are moving out for essentials, be gentle with them and ask them not to move out without any reason. I am asking police that we are not stopping people from living, just changing the lifestyle a bit," he added.

Pune District Collector has instructed all petrol/diesel pumps of the district to stop providing petrol/diesel to the vehicles in the district. Only those involved in emergency/essential services should be allowed to fill fuel at petrol pumps.

Six more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, taking the total count in the state on Tuesday to 107.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 22private laboratory chains having around 15,500 collection centres spread all over the country have been registered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) till Tuesday for conducting COVID-19 tests, health ministry officials said.

Besides, 118 government laboratories have been included in the ICMR network of COVID-19 testing.

The network has a capacity to test 12,000 samples daily. In the last five days, on an average, 1,338 samples have been tested by the government labs each day, an ICMR official said.

In Delhi, three private diagnostics -- Lal Path Labs, Rohini;Dr Dangs Lab in Safdarjung Development Area and Laboratory Services, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Sarita Vihar -- have so far been given approval for conducting COVID-19 tests.

The Centre on Saturday issued guidelines recommending that maximum rate for coronavirus tests by private laboratories should not be more than Rs 4,500 while appealing for free or subsidised testing in this hour of national public health emergency.

The ICMR guidelines recommended that the maximum cost for testing sample should not exceed Rs 4,500. This may include Rs 1,500 as a screening test for suspect cases and an additional Rs 3,000 for confirmation test.

The order issued by the Union Health ministry stated that failure to comply with the guidelines will result in legal action.

According to the guidelines on sample collection and testing, the ICMR has called for ensuring appropriate biosafety and biosecurity precautions while collecting respiratory samples (oropharnygeal and nasal swab) from a suspect patient.

It also called for home collection of samples.

Preferable home collection of samples may be done by all the private laboratories which will help avoid the contact of people with the suspect cases during local travel to reach the laboratory, the guidelines stated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Within the first two weeks of March, Louisiana had "the fastest growth rate" of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, as the governor warns that the state could become "the next Italy" unless dramatic containment efforts are supported by immediate federal aid.

The state has confirmed more than 1,300 confirmed Covid-19 cases and at least 46 deaths, as of Tuesday, with roughly half of all cases coming from New Orleans and neighbouring Jefferson Parish.

With a population of fewer than 400,000 people, the rate of infection in New Orleans rivals counties across New York state despite having a fraction of the population. New Orleans also has more than double the number of total cases than all of Los Angeles county, which is more than 20 times larger.

Within a week, the state had reported more than 1,000 new cases after reporting fewer than 100, a "ten time increase in seven days", Governor John Bel Edwards said at a press conference on Sunday.

On Tuesday, the governor's office confirmed it has requested the president approve a major disaster declaration for the state to fast-track millions of dollars in federal relief to support the state's overwhelmed resources. Governor Edwards said at the current rate, the state's healthcare capacity could be overrun by the beginning of April. There are only 381 intensive care beds available.

He has issued a statewide "stay-at-home" order for its 4.6m residents

Governor Edwards warned: "There is no reason to believe that we won't be the next Italy ... In the last two weeks our growth rate has been faster than any state or country in the world. ... This is why it matters."

Despite the sobering data set to dramatically impact a relatively small population, the state has largely been left out of the national response, with Donald Trump mobilising federal relief to New York, California and Washington.

In his request to the White House, the governor said the state has incurred more than $65.6m in costs to battle the virus and contain the outbreak.

He said: "We have overwhelmed our stocks of key resources needed for our hospitals, first responders and emergency managers."

Louisiana's health secretary Rebekah Gee warned on Sunday that the state "needs to be a priority" as the federal government prepares aid for hard-hit cities and states.

She said: "Louisiana needs help. We need more people. We need more creative solutions, and we need more assets to be deployed here so we can solve this problem."

The state's labour secretary Ava Dejoie also reported that 71,000 people filed new unemployment applications last week -- a spike of nearly 50 times the weekly average.
The boy was set upon by two Rottweilers in the attack

The horrific attack by two dogs on an eight-year-old boy who died after suffering gruesome injuries at his Dublin home was caught on CCTV, it is believed.

The boy suffered devastating injuries to his head and body in the incident on Sunday afternoon.

He has been named locally as Glen Murphy.

It is understood the tragic youngster had been under sustained attack from the animals for a number of minutes.

Security footage on CCTV is being examined by gardai but is believed to have recorded the horrific incident.

The boy was set upon by two Rottweilers in the attack at around 4pm at the family's property on the Blessington Road, west of Tallaght.

He was found by a relative and rushed by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital with serious injuries before he was later transferred to Crumlin Children's Hospital.

The dog warden was notified about the incident and the dogs, believed to be pets and guard dogs, were confiscated and put down.

A full investigation into the incident was launched, led by gardai at Tallaght Garda Station.

The home, a detached property off the Blessington Road, is situated at the bottom of a storage yard from which a self-storage container business is run, with the storage units situated beside and behind the house.

"This is a very tragic incident. It's understood that one dog turned and the other joined in. The dogs would have been very familiar to the child and their surroundings and they have never caused any issues before," a source said.

Gardai and the emergency services rushed to the scene when the alarm was raised.

"At approximately 4pm, a male child (8) was seriously injured following a reported attack by a number of dogs at a house in the Tallaght area," a garda spokesperson said after the incident.

Distraught

Gardai confirmed at lunchtime yesterday that the young boy had died.

A source told the Herald the family were "utterly distraught" following the tragedy.

Local councillor Charlie O'Connor said the community reacted with deep shock on hearing of the news of the dog attack, but their shock was compounded when they had heard that the young boy had died.

"Everybody's reaction has been the same, and that's a reaction of shock and sadness," said Mr O'Connor.

"It's an extraordinary incident and nobody can get to grips with it, and for it to happen while there is already so much bad news in the community surrounding coronavirus just makes it worse.

"You can only feel for the family at this awful time, and they will have the support of the whole community."

South Dublin County Council has confirmed its dog warden was contacted by An Garda Siochana about the incident and confiscated the dogs and organised having them destroyed.

"The council can confirm that the dog warden works for the council. As this is an active investigation, all other queries should be directed to An Garda Siochana," a spokeswoman said.
AT&T has announced it will waive domestic wireless voice and data overage fees for customers nationwide.

The fees will be waived retroactive to March 13, according to an announcement released by John Emra, AT&Ts Connecticut president. The company will not terminate the service of any wireless, home phone or broadband residential or small business customer because of their inability to pay their bill due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Emra said.

Jeff McElfresh, AT&Ts chief executive officer, said in a statement that company officials understand connectivity is always essential to our customers - doctors and nurses, first responders, governments, banks, grocery stores, pharmacies and others delivering vital services.

Its even more critical during a public health crisis thats challenging everyone, McElfresh said. In fact, as a critical infrastructure provider, AT&T views it as our civic duty to step up and keep our customers and communities connected.

AT&T has a entire page on its website devoted to coronavirus-related issues.

Jeff Kagan, a Georgia-based telecommunications analyst, said AT&Ts announcement is a recognition that people cant afford now what they could afford a month ago, because of the decline in business activity associated with the coronavirus.

This is not a question of them expecting to recover whatever amount they will lose because of it, Kagan said. Its a question of them doing the right thing, something that I think their customers will appreciate.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
Shoppers Stop, Indias premier fashion and beauty destination has introduced an innovative creative which transformsits identity into a heart and infinity sign to salute and applaud frontline professionals for their dutiful actions during these tough times. Today, even as the world fights together against the outbreak of Covid-19, these professionals are relentlessly and dedicatedlyworking to serve and protect the citizens of the country. It is imperative that every individual observes social distancing and maintains proper personal hygiene.

Let's all #KeepTheLoveAlive and applaud the millions who strive tirelessly and provide essential services to make sure our lives don't come to a standstill. A special shoutout to our own staff across the country for having faith and confidence and diligently providing for the customers during this difficult time.

#ThankyouBolaKya #StrongerTogether #StayHealthy #FlattenTheCurve #WorkFromHome #ShoppersStop #StartSomethingNew

As a responsible brand, Shoppers Stop believes that social distancing will help contain the virus. Their creative highlights how important it is to keep the love alive even during such trying times.It is our duty to support our frontline professionals by doing as little as staying indoors and maintaining personal hygiene. Shoppers Stop is extremely grateful to these professionals and urgeseach one to stay safe and healthy during this time. So do your bit, stay indoors, show support and keep the love alive by shopping through Shoppers Stop app.

Let's stay safe, and come out stronger, together!
For two weeks beginning March 25, Egypt will impose a nationwide, overnight curfew to combat the novel coronavirus, the government said.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly announced in a televised news conference March 24 that from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., Egyptians are required to stay inside their homes. In addition, malls and stores selling more than basic goods can only remain open until 5 p.m. during the week and must close during the weekend. Restaurants can provide delivery only.

We have to take further protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic, Madbouly said. Were cautious with the timing to not harm the living conditions of certain social segments or the economy.

Mass transportation will be suspended during the curfew hours, and schools and universities are closed for least 15 more days. The prime minister also encouraged citizens to limit their travel between Egypts provinces.

Curfew violators could be fined up to 4,000 Egyptian pounds ($254) and possibly jailed.

In a March 24 tweet, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Egyptians to comply with the new rules. I bet on the awareness of the great Egyptian people and their ability to overcome crises and challenges at various difficult times, he said.

Egypt, the Arab worlds most populous country, has recorded 366 cases of coronavirus and 19 fatalities, including two high-ranking military officers. Many of the countrys early cases were tied to passengers on a luxury cruise ship in the Nile River.

To fund its coronavirus response plan, the government has allocated 100 billion Egyptian pounds ($6.4 billion). Across Egypt, schools, mosques and churches are closed, and air traffic is suspended through the end of March.

Egypt is the latest country in the region to enact a nationwide curfew. Jordan is under a nationwide lockdown and announced March 23 plans to launch a doorstep delivery service to feed its millions of citizens ordered to stay indoors.

This story contains reporting from Agence France-Presse.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said building sites can continue to operate in Ireland despite calls for them to be shut to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Unite trade union demanded work be halted saying social distancing measures cannot be maintained on construction sites.

It has become increasingly clear to our members, who work on sites throughout the country, that adequate social distancing cannot be maintained either on-site or, in many cases, when travelling to and from sites, said Unites regional officer for construction Tom Fitzgerald.

The result is that approximately 150,000 construction workers are not only themselves susceptible to the spread of Covid-19, but are also at risk of bringing the virus back home to their families and communities, further increasing the strain on our health services, said Mr Fitzgerald.

However, construction activity is set to continue with workers being told to practise strict social distancing.

The Taoiseach said that significant construction activity is taking place on important pharmaceutical and health-related projects.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) also issued a joint statement highlighting the essential projects that workers are delivering.

Construction workers are to be commended for continuing to operate safely as they deliver essential projects that enable essential services including emergency health facilities, sewerage, electricity, power, data and water, all critical to society, said CIF director general Tom Parlon.

CIFs Tom Parlon: Praise for construction workers. Picture: Conor McCabe

We urge contractors and workers to work together to enforce social distancing regardless of any impacts on productivity or deadlines, he said.

The CIF said that social distancing is also critical off-site and said that workers should not travel in groups and while visiting local businesses must maintain the 1-2 metre distance guideline.

General secretary of Ictu, Patricia King, said they will continue to watch the situation closely.

Essentially, workers should adhere to social distancing guidelines, carry out regular hand washing, and use gloves and masks if possible to help contain the spread of the virus in the workplace, said Ms King.

A similar debate is taking place in the UK with construction activity allowed to continue despite calls for building sites to be shut.

Major construction firms such as Multiplex, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments Plc, and Galliard Homes said they will begin closing all building sites from today.

The Construction Industry Council in the UK was seeking much-needed clarity from the government on the status of building sites under the Covid-19 measures, which will remain in place for at least three weeks.

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SRL Continuity Opinion Changes: Lloyd's Syndicates (Argo, Canopius, The Hartford, Tokio Marine Kiln)

Syndicate Research Limited (SRL)

Continuity Opinion Actions October 2019 - February 2020:

Argo syndicate 1200

February 28 2020 - B (Average), negative outlook, Continuity Opinion of Lloyd's syndicate 1200 (Argo Managing Agency) placed under review for possible downgrade following the announcement of further deterioration on the syndicate's reserves and of revisions to the syndicate's ex-catastrophe current accident year loss ratios at Q4 2019.

Navigators syndicate 1221

February 20 2020 - B+^ (Above Average) Continuity Opinion of Lloyd's syndicate 1221 (Navigators Underwriting Agency) affirmed. Outlook changed from stable to negative in light of further deterioration on reserves relating to The Hartford's Global Specialty International book, primarily written in Lloyd's, at Q4 2019 and the potential for this and previously declared deterioration in 2019 to position the syndicate's performance in line with the B (Average) peer group.

Canopius syndicate 1861

December 12 2019 - B-^ (Below Average), stable outlook, Continuity Opinion of Lloyd's syndicate 1861 (Canopius Managing Agents) upgraded to B^ (Average) reflecting potential continuity for policyholders with the combined syndicate 1861 and 4444 opertion's underwriting team. The outlook for the Continuity Opinion remains stable.







Tokio Marine Kiln syndicate 557

October 21 2019 - B+ (Above Average) Continuity Opinion of Lloyd's syndicate 557 (Tokio Marine Kiln Syndicates) affirmed. Outlook changed from negative to stable, reflecting the expectation that future returns have the potential to be consistent with the B+ (Above Average) Continuity Opinion peer group.

Ceasing Syndicates & Summary text prior to ceasing:

1980: 2018 annual loss 73% NPE. Backing reliant on third party support.

2014: Internal scorecard for record to-date  C+/B- (s).

2468: positioned at the bottom end of the B- (Below Average) peer group.

5678: RITC business releases underpinned profitability 2012-14. No new RITC business and new account written 2015+. Losses 2016 to 2018.

Syndicate Research Limited (SRL) provides independent research on all active syndicates trading at Lloyd's. SRL's Continuity Opinions are opinions on individual Lloyd's syndicates' relative, potential continuity prospects for policyholders.

In October 2014 SRL took on the rights to the Continuity Opinions previously offered under Moody's Analytics Lloyd's Market service.

More information available at www.syndicateresearch.com

 2020, Syndicate Research Limited ("SRL"). All Rights Reserved.

Users should refer to the Disclaimer at: https://www.syndicateresearch.com/disclaimer/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005533/en/
T he first day of Londons lockdown has largely worked. The streets are empty, essential supplies are being delivered, the army is assisting and millions of us are working from home. But one thing isnt going to plan.

This morning, as happened yesterday, there were scenes of packed peak-hour Tubes, trains and buses. This makes a mockery of advice to keep at least two metres apart to limit the risk of infection.

Passengers are right to be angry that they are being put at risk. Transport staff fear for their safety too. This cant go on. The Government, the Mayor and transport bosses need a better plan.

While millions of people are working from home  or, for a time, not able to work at all  huge numbers of us still need to travel. That doesnt just mean NHS staff or teachers keeping schools open for key workers, but everyone who keeps our city fed, safe and functioning  from engineers who make sure our broadband works to delivery drivers who bring food and fill the supermarket shelves.

They need to travel, and they have a right to do so in safety.

Last week transport bosses prepared a plan which saw some Tube stations close altogether and which cut back the frequency of services. For most of the day, this plan works. Overall demand on the Tube has fallen by 85 per cent this week.

But its not enough to cope with the pressure of peak travel so far in the morning. National rail services, running less often, are also crowded in places.

The obvious thing to do would be to roll back some of the cuts. But theres a problem. Already around 750 Tube drivers are self-isolating, and as the coronavirus crisis grows, staff shortages will grow too.

Londons transport bosses say they cant run more trains and they want to make sure they have staff to keep lines open.

We understand the challenge but in the next few days more frequent services are necessary.

What matters most is that only essential workers travel. But what counts as essential?

Many building sites remain open, and it is impossible for people on them to work remotely. Around half of Londons construction workers are self-employed and, without any other reliable income, will keep coming to work.

The pressure of numbers is causing overcrowding. One answer would be to shut construction sites.

It might come to that, but there should be no reason why, when run properly, work cannot continue at a reduced level. Construction firms should stagger their start times so not all their workers have to come in at once.

They could also limit the amount of work being done on sites.

We need a plan for this, fast. The order from the Prime Minister is clear and it is right  travel only for essential reasons and keep apart when you do.

If your journey isnt essential, stay off the Underground.

Listen to today's episode of The Leader podcast:



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Keep yourself connected

These are frightening days. Asked to keep apart even from loved ones, cut off from the things and places we enjoy, life has closed in.

London, a city of energy, has fallen silent. Not knowing when this will end makes the isolation worse.

One thing will help all of us through this: staying connected. Our need for human contact hasnt changed and isnt banned.

Neighbours are forming new bonds, artists are sharing skills online; we can keep talking, share ideas, read the same things. Small incidents that might have passed unnoticed a week ago  a short morning run, a trip to the shops, picking up a paper like the Evening Standard  are becoming vital moments of connection with a wider world which has not gone away.

Digital links can help us do more than read worrying messages on social media, and we should encourage people who have never used WhatsApp or video messaging before to try them.

This strange time will not last forever, and when we emerge from it our mental health needs to be as strong as our physical wellbeing.
"We feel if asocial distancing' is not implemented seriously, by end-April hospitals may be full of patients and the situation could be totally unmanageable," a concerned A.M. Deshmukh, President of Microbiologists Society, India (MSI), told this agency.

Mumbai: At the current speed at which COVID-19 is spreading in the country, India is at the threshold of a major medical calamity within a month, and the country must implement a 'Janata Curfew' for at least two weeks, warns a leading microbiologist.

Expressing worries over the manner in which people are blatantly flouting norms of asocial distancing' and continue to crowd in open, Deshmukh said this poses a huge risk of spreading the virus by 'contact'.

The MSI had shot off a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that in view of this, the 'Janata Curfew' of March 22 must be extended and continued for at least another 14 days to effectively check the spread of the coronavirus.

Catch all Live updates on Coronavirus.

The MSI statement came even as Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and Congress state President Balasaheb Thorat expressed distress over the hordes which trooped out after yesterday's 'Janata Curfew' in Mumbai on Monday (March 23).

The crowds thronged despite statewide near-total lockdown implemented since midnight of March 22-23 till March 31 by Thackeray, along with prohibitory orders right up to Nagar Panchayat jurisdictions.

Deshmukh explains that the COVID-19 has an incubation period of 14 days after which the patient tests either negative or positive, but if infected (positive) he/she will be hospitalized, like in China, Italy, Iran, Germany, Spain, Portugal, US, UK, etc.

"We are confident that by implementing 'Janata Curfew' for another 14 days will control the outbreak and we will succeed to bring the outbreak in reverse direction," said the MSI plea to the PM.

Referring to global statistics that COVID-19 commands upto 2 per cent death rate, Deshmukh pointed out that if the WHO-declared pandemic is not controlled immediately, then in the next quarter, everyone in this country could be a potential infectee.

Deshmukh said any major spread could be catastrophic for India's 125-crore population, though the silver lining is the ensuing heat of summer may have an adverse impact on the coronavirus.

"Moreover, India has severe limitations in the health-care sector, like shortages of beds, ventilators, medical and para-medical staff, etc, so even a miniscule percentage of the affected population poses a monumental challenge," Deshmukh said.

He admits that such a long period of 'Janata Curfew' would play havoc with the poor, daily wage-earners, senior or single citizens, the sick or handicapped, especially in the big cities.

"They are the responsibility of the government and society... The government and society must take proper care of such persons by ensuring they get proper meals and other life essentials. It is for the larger good of the government and people, so they can do this much for this helpless class," Deshmukh urged.

With around 350 members, the Maharashtra-based MSI was founded in 1996 as an apex body of microbiologists and works in different spheres including environment, agriculture and academic.
Can you remember a time before coronavirus? Our lives have changed dramatically in a matter of weeks, as the coronavirus outbreak has been certified as a pandemic and New York has gone from a bustling state to one effectively sheltered in place. As new information floods in everyday from public health experts and government officials, our feelings about the seriousness of the pandemic or who we trust to provide reliable information about coronavirus can shift in days.

Now, a technology company has started tracking our attitudes about these matters in an attempt to give governments a better idea of how its citizens are responding to the crisis. Elucd, a Brooklyn-based data analytics company that has partnered with the New York Police Department on projects like tracking how safe New Yorkers feel in their neighborhoods, is now doing similar sentiment polling on New Yorkers opinions and feelings about the coronavirus pandemic. As part of a new partnership with Elucd, starting this week, City & State will begin publishing the findings of that polling in our midday email, First Read Session Update.

While the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations are providing regular updates on the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths, its not as easy to get hard data on citizens thoughts and attitudes about the pandemic back to those government officials. Thats where Elucd comes in.

Elucds first client was the NYPD, and its partnership allows the department to understand how the public perceives police and how safe people feel in their neighborhoods. But observing the quickly intensifying attitudes around coronavirus, Michael Simon, co-founder and chief executive officer of Elucd, said he saw an opening for the company to help. It became very clear to us, from what we were hearing from our city partners, that everyone was becoming alert and alarmed at the same time about what was coming down the pike, Simon told City & State. And we thought, what we know how to do is to move very, very fast and instantly enable them to hear from the people they serve. The company is working directly with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios office, and also shares the results of its polling  which dates back to March 15 in New York  with over 40 different towns and cities across the state on an ongoing basis, including Rochester, Albany and Syracuse.

While Elucd is conducting this sentiment polling across the nation and in other states, the statewide polling in New York  which now has roughly 5% of the confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide  offers some interesting insights. Take, for example, a question asking to what extent respondents were practicing social distancing. Last Tuesday, only 23% of respondents said they were social distancing most of the time. By Sunday, the day an effective lockdown ordered by Cuomo went into effect, that number was up almost 30 points, to 55%. Elucd is also able to break down this data demographically to tell what age groups, for example, might not be following social distancing  a data point that can help governments in targeting their public information efforts.

Simon also said that when comparing New Yorks polling information to the nationwide results, it seems that New Yorkers are taking the threat of the pandemic a bit more seriously than the average person living in the United States  perhaps because of the high number of cases in the state. This is evidenced by a data point showing that the share of New Yorkers who believe the current state of closed schools, businesses and public places will last four to six months is now higher than the number of people nationwide who believe it could last that long.

To conduct this polling, Elucd relies on digital ad networks  the ads that pop up with questions to answer when youre reading an article online, scrolling through your Instagram feed or looking around for pantry recipes. Simon said that with this method, the company is able to collect responses from a broad demographic range, and from different respondents each day. They can also reach people on any device  whether theyre working from home, working at a hospital or on the go.

Technology companies like Elucd have emerged as potential partners for government in dealing with the pandemic, and Simon said the tech community has in some ways rallied to provide what help it can. In the circles that I operate in, this is the No. 1 thing people are grappling with, Simon said. My observation is there is a real sense of obligation. We have talent, know-how and we can move very fast.
If you're an extrovert and the thought of weeks or months of social distancing has you jumping out of your skin, rest assured. Your feelings are normal. And we're here to help.

"We are social beings," Jaime Blandino, a clinical psychologist in Decatur, Georgia, told CNN. "My most extroverted clients are having the hardest time."

An extrovert is someone who gets his or her energy from other people. When they can't spend time with others, "they might not know what to do with themselves," she said.

Blandino's practice has closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and she and her colleagues have moved to seeing all their clients through telehealth.

Her message to her clients is simple: "It's normal to feel abnormal in a situation that's not normal."

"I didn't know anybody who didn't feel a surge of anxiety when these new rules were introduced," she said.

As the US government prepares for a potential months-long fight against Covid-19, extroverts will need to learn to create their own plans on how they might manage their own psyche as social distancing, quarantines and shelter in place orders become more commonplace.

And if you're an introvert, quietly excited about the prospect of more alone time, we've got a separate guide on how you can make the most of social distancing.

Use technology to connect with friends

Your "usual habits are going to be disrupted," said Gretchen Rubin, the author of "Outer Order, Inner Calm" and host of the "Happier" podcast. An important strategy is to "reimagine what you want and get out in front of it."

In terms of social connection, "nothing can beat real life," she said, but the second best way to interact can be through images. There are plenty of apps offering video chat or live broadcast functions, ranging from Skype to House Party. You could use one to connect with a friend you haven't seen in awhile.

She recommended "lots of touches" -- virtually, of course -- including writing physical cards to your friends, hosting a virtual family reunion and even basic lifestyle hacks like sending more voice memos rather than text messages.

"People have more time, and they want to hear your voice," she said.

Or you can create more group text message threads with friends and family, knowing that at any given moment, somebody on the thread might be free and able to write back.

In Italy, where the whole country has been in lockdown for more than a week, throngs joined in a singing flash mob belting out the country's national anthem from their apartment balconies.

No judgment if you want to round up your neighbors -- through virtual means, please -- and try the same.

"We could come out of this closer," Rubin said. "We're all going through something big together."

Socially, we're living in a backwards time

Blandino, the therapist, said that mental health professionals have traditionally advocated for in-person social experiences as antidotes to anxiety and depression, prizing real connections over virtual ones. That's now changing.

"Some of the things that we'll recommend now go against what we used to advise," she said. "We're in a backwards time."

And while her introverted clients may be feeling less stressed, and sometimes even emboldened by social distancing, Blandino said both extroverts and introverts can leverage technology to weather the storm.

Another option to feel connected is to host watch parties and virtual movie nights, watching the same movie from different locations using Netflix.

She even said you might consider keeping the TV on in the background with a familiar film or show from your childhood.

"Hearing human voices is soothing," she said.

It's a time to shine for any technology offering a way to connect with others.

The Bumble dating app is seeing a spike in how people are using the app to meet dates. a company spokesman said. That uptick includes a 21% uptick in video call usage, along with a separate 21% increase in what the company calls "quality chats" -- in which two people have a more substantive back-and-forth.

Practice physical distancing, not social distancing

Even with social distancing, it's still important to to go for walks, take a bike ride or hang out near your neighbors, said Dr. Don Dizon, a professor of medicine at Brown University.

Even if you're in an area that now must shelter-in-place, it's still fine to go out for a walk and feel the sun on your skin as long as you're keeping proper distance from others.

"There is no national lockdown," he says. "It doesn't say that you can't go outside." At least not yet.

And he advises picking apart the concept of social distancing to make it feel less scary.

As physician and researcher Dr. William Dale has said, policies to contain Covid-19 are actually "physical distancing." There's still plenty of room to practice emotional and social connection, despite being physically separate.

Dizon said he was finding time for online gaming. And he's been using Twitter, Instagram and TikTok to stay up to date with medical colleagues around the globe, sharing both funny videos and substantive scientific data.

Find some time to read

To help relax, now might be a good time to start up a book club on Facebook, Dizon added.

From Plato to Thoreau, generations of philosophers, poets and prophets have celebrated solitude, stillness, and taking time to get to know thyself.

"Extroverts are very plugged in," Blandino said. "This is a time to practice slowing down and introducing new routines."

There's no shortage of literature on that topic, and taking a moment to sit quietly with a book you've always wanted to read may be one of the best ways for extroverts to seek tranquility.

"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone," the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century.

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness," philosophical writer Kahlil Gibran advised in his book "The Prophet."

Encouraging others in social distancing, Dizon had shared Gibran's popular adage with his social media followers. It's long been a popular reading at weddings, a meditation on how to carve out productive solitude within marriages.

Now extroverts might consider Gibran's fuller text in their quest to maintain sanity in the age of coronavirus:

"Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

"Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."
WALLINGFORD  Ray and Barbara Dalio and Dalio Philanthropies have given $500,000 to Connecticut Food Bank as part of a $4 million donation to support medical care and food assistance to people in Connecticut affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funds will support Connecticut Food Bank and its network by providing significant funding during a time of increased challenges facing the food bank in sourcing and transporting food to meet rising need across the region.

Connecticut Food Bank serves two-thirds of the state, providing food assistance through a network of 600 partners and programs. More than 144,000 people each month visit the Connecticut Food Bank network seeking food. The food bank expects the number of food insecure individuals to grow significantly as a result of measures taken to reduce spread of Coronavirus.

We have seen an increase in requests for food from our agencies, said Connecticut Food Bank Senior Director of Development Beverly Catchpole in the statement. Pantries are trying to give their visitors enough food to help them if theyre required to stay at home for extended periods. And they are also starting to see more visitors as businesses across the state are forced to furlough or lay off workers.

Catchpole said that the food bank is experiencing increased operational costs to meet needs. Our trucks are making more trips to pick up and distribute food. We have fewer volunteers that help reduce time and expense in our warehouse. But we know that we are an essential service for people who are struggling.

Connecticut Food Bank is doing amazing work on the ground to make sure Connecticut families in need have food during this crisis, said Barbara Dalio. We hope others join in support of this important cause.

For more information about Dalio Philanthropies, visit www.daliophilanthropies.org.

Community partners launch response fund

DERBY - In response to COVID-19, the Valley Community Foundation (VCF), Valley United Way, Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Health & Human Service Council (Council) have come together to establish the Valley Community COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to rapidly deploy resources to organizations who support those in the area who are most significantly affected by the pandemic, according to a statement.

The fund will provide flexible resources to organizations throughout the Valley that serve the Valley region, especially to those who are disproportionately impacted by coronavirus and the economic consequences of the outbreak.

The fund is designed to complement the work of federal, state, and municipal government efforts and expand local capacity to address all aspects of the outbreak as efficiently as possible, members said. It will serve as the repository for donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations with VCF serving as the backbone and fiscal agent. To support the Valley Community COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, visit www.valleyfoundation.org. Gifts via credit card are strongly preferred over checks to reduce processing time. Checks can however be made out to Valley Community Response and Recovery Fund and mailed to 253-A Elizabeth St., Derby, CT 06418.

High school reunions planned

BRIDGEPORT  The 50th Year Reunion for Central High School, Bridgeport, has been set for Sept. 26 at the Stone Barn at Whitney Farms, Monroe, CT. Alumni may obtain further information by sending an email to CENTRALBPT1970@GMAIL.COM or by joining the Facebook group Bridgeport Central High School Class of 1970.

SHELTON  Shelton High School Class of 1975s 45th reunion is scheduled to be held April 25 at Vazzy's in Shelton, 706 Bridgeport Ave, Shelton, 7-11 p.m. in the private party room (The Shelton Room). Tickets are $45 and include a hot and cold hors doeuvres buffet and a DJ. Reservations are due by April 1.

Checks or money orders can be sent to: Barbara Harris Staring, 5725 Anderson Road, Oriskany Falls, NY 13425. Include with your payment your FB name or an email so we can confirm receipt.

Flea market postponed

The Great Hill United Methodist Church, Seymour, Indoor Flea Market scheduled for March 28 has been postponed. A new date is to to be announced.

Church activities postponed

Bingo events scheduled for March 27, April 3 and 17 are cancelled as well as the roast beef dinner for April 25 at Christ Church, Ansonia. Watch for future events when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

Art league cancels Goldenbells show

HAMDEN  The Hamden Art League is postponing its 2020 Goldenbells Art Exhibit and Sale, which was scheduled for April 7. This postponement follows the warnings of the medical community, and our state and federal governments, about the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and their calls for 'social distancing' to keep everyone safe.

We hope to reschedule this exhibit sometime later this spring or summer. We encourage our members and guest artists to keep the artworks they had intended to exhibit, keep working, and we'll stay in touch as to whether a future date is possible for our 2020 Goldenbells Art Exhibit and Sale. We wish everyone good health, members said.

For the latest updates go to Facebook, visit hamdenartleague.org, or call 203 287-1322 with any questions or suggestions.

YMCA announces changes

WALLINGFORD  As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, Wallingford Family YMCA is working closely with local, state, and federal authorities to respond to the unique needs of the community. As the situation evolves and continues to change rapidly, so too will the responses of Y.

Per the governors executive order, Wallingford Family YMCA has closed its East Side and West Side Branches until further notice. Updates are posted at www.wallingfordymca.org with information on an anticipated reopening.

For now the full-time early childcare center, The Learning Community, remains open. Families will be notified of any changes.

For more information, contact Sean Doherty at sdoherty@wallingfordymca.org
ANN ARBOR, MI  With the coronavirus pandemic throwing wrenches into the normal workings of institutions across the world, professors at the University of Michigan have had to adjust their course plans and figure out the best alternative methods of teaching classes.

For some educators, that means dissecting every part of the syllabus and figuring out what works, and what doesnt.

Seniors have left campus, not knowing when they might return for commencement, and most of the rest of the student body has gone home to take the remainder of their courses online, at least through the summer.

University of Michigan spring, summer courses will be all online

Monica Dus, an assistant professor of biology at UM, said her neuroepigenetics class reads scientific manuscripts each time they meet, and they talk about them together as a class before doing an assignment. When she revamped her syllabus to fit the mold of the online class, she thought it would be a seamless transition.

Dus quickly found out that wouldnt be the case.

When we moved online, it was clear that the participation portion, when I give people points just for participating, thats just not going to work out, Dus said. Its just hard when you have a class of 30 people.

Another round of adjustments had to be made, and Dus said she had to simply forego the participation points in her grading. She then realized how overwhelmed her students were, trying to deal with so many new and different things like leaving school early, finishing a full courseload online and the possibility of they or their families being infected with COVID-19.

Dus decided to scrap her plans and have her students read scientific literature directly related to COVID-19.

I polled them and 90% of them said yes, Dus said. I selected six articles, and some of them are not even published  theyre in pre-prints where scientists put them online and its available to everybody, and theyre peer-reviewed by journals, and a lot of the papers were reading are literally a couple of days or a week old.

While the students are learning to read scientific literature, they are also figuring out how to communicate it to other people. It would have been much easier to do in a classroom setting, but Dus said they are now using BlueJeans, a video conferencing program, to present the papers to one another. All 30 students log onto BlueJeans, while only the students presenting appear on video. The paper shows up on a shared screen, and Dus acts as moderator.

Students who have questions can put them in a chat thread, and the presenting students can answer those questions. At the end of the class, everyone takes part in a discussion.

Dus said she wanted to avoid a simple lecture format in her class.

At least here, theyre the ones teaching  Im not lecturing them at all, Dus said. I might just pause them and add a few things or ask them questions I prepared in the chat, and some students would reply and I will say those things out loud.

Its a really flipped classroom where the students are teaching each other and Im just moderating and adding and correcting things, and they thought that went pretty well."

Steven Clark, a biology professor at UM, said his introductory biology class covered COVID-19 in early February and he plans to circle back to it at the end of the semester. The rest of the course will remain the same because its a precursor for other biology courses, and students need to be prepared to move on to other courses, he said.

The trickiest part, Clark said, was simply getting acclimated to online learning and teaching, which can be difficult for classes like introductory biology, which has about 500 students.

There are extensive aspects of the courses that involve personal interactions, Clark said. We can record our lectures, but what we know from past years is that students who dont come to class but watch the lecture at home struggle to master the material.

Along with the introductory course, Clark also teaches a 300-level biology class and a graduate student instructor (GSI) training course. In the GSI course, Clark said there are active learning modules in which students work in small groups facilitated by the GSI. Clark said its much harder now to replicate those groups online.

In Clarks 300-level biology class  science outreach for biology  students develop hands-on activities that communicate scientific ideas to the general public. His class works with UMs Museum of Natural History to make this happen, but things are a little trickier now that the museum is closed.

Students were scheduled to run activities with museum visitors on an undergraduate outreach day April 18, but that has since been canceled. Now, students are recording videos of their activities and sharing them with the rest of the class for feedback.

The Museum of Natural History is an integral part of that class where my students were planning to practice and run their activities with the museum visitors, Clark said. We are adapting, but definitely missing out on the human interaction component.

There have been a lot of moving pieces for professors, but also for students, Clark said. Hes been lenient with his students in terms of due dates for assignments, because theres been so much more to their lives than classes lately.

I think a lot of students are overwhelmed, not just with the move to remote learning, but also because they are moving back home and dealing with how they are personally affected either by the virus or how it is affecting what everyone can do... We realize our class is just one of a large number of issues students are dealing with," Clark said.

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Three professors from Michigan Technological University and Texas A&M University are investigating a method to store power generated by alternative power sources by making use of unused and abandoned underground mining sites in Michigans Upper Peninsula.

If proven successful, the project could deliver a blueprint for providing continuous power from intermittent and zero-emission sources.

To meet the increasing demand for electricity across the globe, two relatively new sources of energy have dominated construction activity in many areas  wind turbines and solar arrays. The advantage of these generation sources is that, once installed, they have no fuel costs or emissions and contribute minimally to global warming trends.

One major impediment to wind and solar energy is that they are intermittent; that is, they only generate electricity part of the time (roughly 25% to 33%), as there are periods when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. That poses major challenges to the electric grid, which requires instantaneous, balanced power to keep supply and demand consistent.

About MTEC Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC) is one of 21 SmartZone Incubators in the state of Michigan. MTEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

Realizing the opportunity and potential, researchers Tim Scarlett and Roman Sidortsov of Michigan Tech and Joseph Dancy, a Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC) board member and professor in the Texas A&M College of Law, have decided to investigate different methods to store power generated by alternative means. Storage can offer relatively environmentally friendly support to the existing electric grid, said Sidortsov. This is one step in the right direction, accelerating change toward a low-carbon future.

The three professors work with a larger team, supported by the Sloan Foundation, and are currently looking at using the historic copper and iron mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They are investigating pumped storage  saving excess renewable power generated during sunny or windy days for use during periods of high demand  using old mine shafts. This is achieved by pumping the underground water up to the surface during periods of conventional excess power generation, then allowing the water to drain back into the shaft to generate power during periods of demand. This process would be a closed-loop system to reduce environmental impacts. Pumped storage is a simple and proven method for managing intermittent power generation from renewable sources, said Dancy.

Scarlett also noted that the former mining communities have vibrant cultural heritage. In addition to investigating the feasibility of pumped storage, the researchers realized the importance of protecting the cultural history of each area. If we are successful, we might not only provide high-demand power from green power sources, but establish a design process that builds on community history and identity, said Scarlett.

Dancy extended the trios research by looking at the applicability of pumped storage to solar facilities being constructed in West Texas, another historical mining area that is in the midst of a major renewable power construction boom. Texas has its own power grid, with rules that are somewhat different from those in Northern Michigan.

Dancy presented his Texas findings to the North Texas Renewable Energy Group earlier this month.

Last summer, Dancy and Dan Jamison, CEO of MTEC SmartZone, visited the LAnse Warden power plant, a biomass generating facility on the shores of Lake Superior, as they investigated opportunities for businesses in the energy sector in the surrounding area. Several local manufacturers are also attempting to address niches in the power sector.

Currently, the team is looking to secure funding so student researchers can begin initial work this summer.

MTEC's mission is to facilitate the creation and ongoing success of high-tech value propositions in conjunction with the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Since 2003, the MTEC SmartZone has provided mentoring, technical support and other services to local companies that have led to the creation of over 800 high-tech jobs in the Houghton and Hancock area.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, in collaboration with more than 100 economic development partners, markets Michigan as the place to do business, assists businesses in their growth strategies, and fosters the growth of vibrant communities across the state. MEDCs Entrepreneurship & Innovation initiative establishes Michigan as the place to create and grow a business by providing high-tech startup companies with access to a variety of critical resources, such as funding and expert counsel, from ideation to maturation. For more on MEDC Entrepreneurship & Innovation, visit michiganbusiness.org/entrepreneurship

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.
President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in called Monday for a thorough investigation into shocking sex crimes against women, including underage girls, in which group chat rooms of the Telegram messenger service were used.



He described the acts of the offenders in the so-called Nth room case as "cruel" behavior that destroyed the lives of victims and said he "feels sympathetic" to the "justifiable" public fury over it.



At least 74 women, including 16 minors, were sexually abused and exploited for several months, as they were virtually enslaved with threats of spreading photos of their naked bodies, according to police. They were forced to photograph or film themselves doing sexual acts, even grotesque ones. Those were shared with a host of viewers in the chat rooms. The number of members, who paid money for the materials, reportedly reaches 260,000.



Moon stressed the need to probe all members of the chat rooms, not just those who uploaded and distributed the photos and videos. according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.






A Chinese restaurant has put up a huge banner to celebrate the fact that the United States and Japan have been hit by the novel coronavirus.

The red banner was placed in front of the restaurant yesterday and read: 'Huge congratulations to the American epidemic and long live the epidemic in little Japan.'

The owner of the local restaurant franchise in north-eastern China's Shenyang has been sacked after the company faced backlash on social media.

The red banner was placed in front of the restaurant in northern China yesterday and read: 'Huge congratulations to the American epidemic and long live the epidemic in little Japan'

A Chinese restaurant has put up a huge banner to celebrate the 'coronavirus epidemic in the US and Japan' during the pandemic. A Chinese woman is seen wearing a protective mask as she has her temperature and identification checked in Beijing

The restaurant owner, known by their surname Hui, installed the banner - without alerting the head office beforehand - as an attempt to attract customers, said the franchise, Mama Yang, in a statement.

The food chain said the controversial sign was taken down within two hours and Hui had been detained by local police for further investigation.

'We are deeply sorry for the negative societal effect it has caused,' the statement continued.

It has sparked outrage on Chinese social media after the Japanese press reported on the incident.

'This is so, so embarrassing,' one commenter wrote on the Chinese Twitter-like Weibo.

Another one said: 'It represents a large number of Chinese people with narrow-minded nationalism.'

Anti-Japan sentiment has been deep-rooted among Chinese nationalists as territorial disputes and World War II grievances have marred the Japan-China relationship for decades. Tourists are pictured visiting the area around Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on March 11

Tensions between the two countries flared when the dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea inflamed nationalistic sentiment on both sides and impaired economic ties. Pictured: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang

Anti-Japan sentiment has been deep-rooted among Chinese nationalists as territorial disputes and World War II grievances have marred the Japan-China relationship for decades.

The Japanese Imperial Army was responsible for the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, a campaign of rape, murder and looting, in which an estimated 300,000 people died.

Japanese air strikes during the war also inflicted severe damage on Chinese civilians in Chongqing, killing an estimated 32,000 people.

Tensions between the two countries flared when the dispute over the Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea inflamed nationalistic sentiment on both sides and impaired economic ties.

Chinese nationalists use phrases like 'little Japan' to dismissively refer to the island country and its citizens.

Chinese nationalists use phrases like 'little Japan' to dismissively refer to the island country and its citizens. Residents are pictured in Tokyo as Japan counts down till the 2020 Olympics

China also had a history of anti-Americanism, beginning with the general disdain for foreigners in the early 19th century. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping

China also had a history of anti-Americanism, beginning with the general disdain for foreigners in the early 19th century.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, the US provided economic and military assistance to the Chinese Nationalist Party against the Japanese invasion.

But the US-China relations soured after Mao Zedong claimed the communist victory in the civil war while the Nationalist Party leader Chiang Kai-shek moved to Taiwan to establish his government.

Friendly relations were restored after US President Nixon visited China in 1972, signalling a diplomatic re-approach.

But large-scale anti-American sentiment significantly increased after President Trump launched a trade war against China last year.

The relations even intensified during the coronavirus pandemic as the two countries keep firing at each other with accusations and slanders.

The relations even intensified during the coronavirus pandemic as the two countries keep firing at each other with accusations. Medics are seen escorting a patient in Bloomington

But large-scale anti-American sentiment significantly increased after President Trump launched a trade war against China last year. President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on Saturday

The news comes as China's ambassador to the United States has slammed rumours which claimed the novel coronavirus originated in an American military lab.

Cui Tiankai, Beijing's top man to Washington, commented on the topic in a new interview after a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs this month accused the US military of bringing the virus to Wuhan.

Mr Cui, 67, said he stood by the remarks he made in an earlier programme, during which he branded the conspiracy theory as 'crazy'.

Mr Cui told news program Axios on HBO that, eventually, people would need to find out where the virus originally came from, but he said 'this is the job for scientists'.

The novel coronavirus has infected over 81,000 people in China and the death roll has surpassed 3,200.

Worldwide, more than 15,400 people have been killed by the contagion and around 359,000 people have been infected.
Victoria Beckham has joined the millions around the world who are working from home amid the coronavirus crisis.

The mother of four shared a throwback snap to mark the occasion on Tuesday, posting the photo from her Spice Girls days which showed her working at a computer.

It was a rare smiling snap of the star, who has perfected her signature pout over the years, as she declared that 'for as long as this is our new normal we will make it positive.'

Work it: Victoria Beckham has joined the millions around the world who are working from home amid the coronavirus crisis, announcing the news with an iconic Spice Girls throwback

'#TeamVB is WFH. And for those of us with kids we are also all working around a classroom schedule Keep smiling!' she wrote.

'For as long as this is our new normal we will make it positive x (All technology accepted!!!!!) xxxx VB'.

Victoria and husband David are parents to Brooklyn, 21, Romeo, 17, 15 and Harper, eight.

While their eldest has spent the past few days in the US with his actress girlfriend Nicola Peltz, Victoria and David are self isolating in London with their three other kids.

Smiling: It was a rare smiling photo for the star, who has perfected her signature pout over the years, as she declared that 'for as long as this is our new normal we will make it positive'

Victoria took to her Instagram Stories to show sweet footage of David leading an art class for Romeo, Cruz and Harper on Monday, the first day of no school for millions across the UK.

Victoria revealed that David was moonlighting as an art teacher for the day, with his heavily tattooed arms in shot.

She proudly showed off her husband getting stuck in with their daughter's creation, writing alongside one video: '@davidbeckham has some teaching skills.'

School time! Victoria took to her Instagram Stories to show sweet footage of husband David leading an art class for their children Romeo, Cruz and Harper on Monday

The creative type: Victoria revealed that David was moonlighting as an art teacher for the day, with his heavily tattooed arms in shot

Later, Victoria filmed Harper using an Ipad to practice her math skills with the help of digital games.

Meanwhile on Sunday Victoria uploaded a sweet flashback image of her children to mark Mother's Day, and 'sent the virtual hugs to all mums', urging her fans to 'be resilient' amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Highlighting that the COVID-19 outbreak may keep children apart from their children this year, Posh Spice, 45 - who shares her children with husband David, 44 - penned:

Proud: She proudly showed off her husband getting stuck in with their daughter's creation, writing alongside one video: '@davidbeckham has some teaching skills'

'Today we celebrate a Mothers Day like no other in the experience of our generation.

'So many of us wont be able to see our mums today. Most of us will be sending them virtual love and gratitude, while thinking especially of the families with those on the frontlines taking care of others.

'We will all continue to be kind and resilient. Sending love to everyone today from us all x VB @davidbeckham @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham #HarperSeven.' [sic]
He ran the department so well and with such dignity and caring for the patients we care for at Cook County, Dunne said. He was always very patient-centered, and also (concerned) for his staff, people who worked in the department. He helped them in any way he could and treated them with the utmost respect.
PARIS - France has urged its citizens to return to the fields. Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has called for those not currently working due to the coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic to take to the fields and ''join the large army of French agriculture'' seeking manpower.



''There is now the chance to have 200,000 direct jobs in agriculture trades,'' the minister told BFM-TV, calling on those willing and able to do so to ''take to the fields'' in an already difficult context in which France has millions of unemployed citizens as well as hundreds of thousands kept at home due to COVID-19 measures.


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Linkedin Asip Hasani and Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Tulungagung, East Java/Pontianak, West Kalimantan  Tue, March 24, 2020 14:14 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d1a519 1 National coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,ritual,talisman,Dayak,virus-corona,tetek-melek,tolak-bala,Tulungagung,East-Java Free

Villagers in Wajak Kidul hamlet, which is located some 10 kilometers from Tulungagung regency, East Java, have placed homemade masks around their homes as they believe the objects can protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The villagers call the masks, which are made of coconut palm fronds and have a human likeness drawn on them, tetek melek. They put them above the doors and windows of their homes, hoping that the deadly disease will stay away.

"Every time we turn on the television, we watch news about the coronavirus. Everyone here talks about the virus every day," said Supani, a 80-year-old farmer in Wajak Kidul.

The outbreak, he added, reminded him of several pandemics that hit the hamlet decades ago, when he was a boy. One of the pandemics was a skin disease known locally as pageblug.

"During pageblug, my grandfather told villagers to make tetek melek masks and place them around the house," he said.

Yasmini, a Wajak Kidul villager in Tulungagung, East Java, looks at a 'tetek melek' mask fastened on the outer wall of her home. Some villagers put the masks around their houses in an effort to ward off the coronavirus. (JP /Asip Hasani)

On Wednesday after working in his rice field, Supani took some dried coconut fronds that had fallen to the ground and cut them into three pieces of about a meter each.

Using liquid whitewash, or kapur, he coated the fronds before drawing human faces on them with charcoal.

"When we start drawing that human face we must be spiritually clean," he said.

Supanis method was soon followed by other residents in his neighborhood. Now, dozens of houses in Wajak Kidul are decorated with tetek melek.

Wajak Kidul villagers have reason to worry about their safety.

In February, a migrant worker who had recently arrived to her home village of Tulungagung from Taiwan, began to experience symptoms consistent with COVID-19. She died several days after being admitted to Iskak General Hospital but the authorities declared her negative for the coronavirus.

Nevertheless, there are at least four suspected COVID-19 patients in Iskak General Hospital at the moment.

Hundreds of others in Tulungagung and its neighboring regencies have been put under surveillance for COVID-19.

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa declared a state of emergency in COVID-19 outbreak mitigation following the spread of the virus in 34 of the province's 39 regencies and cities.

In West Kalimantan, some Dayak communities have conducted traditional rituals to ward off the coronavirus.

A Dayak Kanayatn resident, Kusnadi Isim, told The Jakarta Post that the tolak bala ritual to drive evil spirits away was usually held in sacred places called panyugu or pantak.

"The ritual includes washing away sesajen [offerings] that are put on a small boat," Kusnadi said, adding that people had been prohibited to leave their homes sometime after the ritual.

At least 1,421 West Kalimantan residents had been put under surveillance as of Monday. Twenty one people are in isolation at referral hospitals as patients under surveillance (PDP). Two have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and one of the PDP died on Saturday. (vny)
The Rev. Rod Clark holds services in the parking lot of his church in McAllen, Texas. (Delcia Lopez / Monitor)

Gavin Newsom was the first governor to order his citizens to stay at home, shutting down California's economy, the world's eighth-largest, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next day, Friday, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, followed suit.

But not so in Texas and Florida, the nation's second and third most populous states, where a small-government philosophy  less taxes, fewer regulation and a weaker safety net  has long held sway.

About one-fifth of Texas' 29 million people lacks health insurance, and nearly one-quarter of Florida's 21 million residents are elderly. But the governors of those states have resisted stay-at-home orders, despite mounting criticism.

Urban mayors in both states have canceled events like Miami's Ultra electronic music festival and Austins South by Southwest and have opened a handful of testing sites. They complain the patchwork of policies has made it nearly impossible to limit the disease's spread.

But the governors, who are Republican, fear overreacting.

The vast, vast majority of people are testing negative for this, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Sunday briefing at one of the state's three coronavirus test sites.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, says his state's size makes a stay-at-home order unnecessary. (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pointed to the state's vast rural stretches in arguing against ordering residents to stay home.

"What may be right for places like the larger urban areas may not be right for the more than 200 counties that still have zero cases of COVID-19, Abbott said.

Officials in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, the state's largest cities, disagree. On Monday, San Antonio issued a stay-at-home order and Austin was expected to follow suit on Tuesday.

Im hopeful the governor will reconsider," Clay Jenkins, the Dallas County judge, or chief executive, said at a Sunday briefing.

There, Jenkins displayed a chart showing the projected spread of the coronavirus far exceeded Texas' available hospital beds. According to the projection, a statewide stay-at-home order could decrease coronavirus deaths from 430,000 to 5,000.

Story continues

He noted that Dallas has 250,000 uninsured residents, the most of any U.S. city.

Those folks arent going to the doctor. If we dont do something its going to be very, very bad here, he said.

On Sunday, Abbott created a "strike force" of public and private sector officials to get Texas more medical supplies and deployed National Guard troops to assist local test sites. He promised that Texas would soon perform up to 20,000 coronavirus tests a week  but in Dallas County, just a couple of hundred of people had been tested, said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.

The availability of testing isnt there, he said.

Johnson, a former state legislator elected mayor last year, has faced tough decisions since the start of the crisis, when he canceled the citys St. Patricks Day parade. He and Houstons mayor, Sylvester Turner, declared emergencies before the governor did, but he said the orders have been difficult to enforce without statewide support.

It makes all the economic pain youre inflicting on one city a wasted effort if a neighboring city is doing something different  if people are continuing to congregate on the other side of an imaginary line, he said. The approach probably should have been statewide from the outset. I think the governor is there now.

Turner declined to issue a stay-at-home order Monday, citing the need for "economic balance."

In some cases, for many people, that can be worse than the virus itself, he said.

Lina Hidalgo, the county judge for Harris County, which includes Houston, said local officials had planned to create 10 testing sites, but the federal government only sent enough supplies for four and they were delayed. As of Monday, three test sites had opened capable of testing up to 250 people a day with results taking several days.

We do expect there to be a waiting list," Hidalgo said. There is a triage process going on behind the scenes."

Hidalgo has been conferring with officials in California and Washington as she tries to increase testing capacity. With testing so limited, she said, All we have left is the blunt tool of social distancing.

Hidalgo worries Texas will soon look like Italy, with rampant coronavirus infections and deaths, especially in places like the county jail.

Italy has an award-winning healthcare system. We have 20% uninsured, she said. Theyre overwhelmed. You can bet wed be overwhelmed if we saw the kind of spike theyve seen.

In Texas, drive-through coronavirus testing just started Thursday and has been slow to expand, even in Dallas and Houston, where police and firefighters have tested positive for the virus.

So far, 10,000 Texans have been tested, less than half of California's number. New York is now testing 16,000 daily and has tested 75,000 total.

Even Florida, a small-government state led by Republicans with a smaller population of about 20 million, had tested more people than Texas as of Sunday.

The unknown is whether every city is going to look like New York in a couple weeks, or whether weve interrupted community spread, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "Without the testing, its hard to know."

The first coronavirus case was reported in a Houston suburb on March 4, about a month after California.

Two days after Californias first confirmed COVID-19 fatality, Gov. Gavin Newsom convened top officials and ran a series of scenarios for worst-case spread and created pandemic response plans, he later said.

Newsom declared a statewide emergency and sought both early federal assistance  asking for protective masks from the CDC  and community compliance through new rules for elder care and caution in attending large events. He ordered more help for seniors, renters and the homeless; delayed income tax filings and loosened rules on commercial trucking and election procedures.

But in Texas, Abbott waited until Thursday to issue an order closing schools and dine-in restaurants and limiting gatherings to 10 people, as of Saturday.

The traditional disaster model we have applied for so long does not apply, Abbott conceded in announcing the measures. What were dealing with now is not a local disaster: Its an international pandemic.

The same day, Newsom ordered all of California's 40 million residents to stay home for two weeks. The next day, Cuomo issued a similar order covering 19 million residents of New York. In the last three days, other states have followed suit with stay-at-home orders: Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana, Ohio, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia.

Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, warned coronavirus is spreading faster there than anywhere else in the world, with more cases per capita than any state other than Washington and New York. He said they were on pace to run out of hospital beds in as soon as a week.

Theres no reason the believe we wont be the next Italy, he said Sunday.

Newsom has said California needs 20,000 additional hospital beds; Cuomo said New York needs an additional 50,000. Both said they dont have enough life-saving ventilators needed to treat critical coronavirus patients. New York state has at least 5,000, but expects to need about 30,000, Cuomo has said.

Ventilators are to this war what missiles were to World War II," he said Friday.

Abbott has yet to address Texas' ventilator supply. He has praised the presidents handling of the outbreak, waited to issue a disaster declaration and activate the National Guard and was still investigating Sunday how to add hospital beds.

On Sunday, he ordered elective hospital procedures postponed (a day after Dallas County officials did) and suspended regulations limiting hospital room capacity.

These orders will free up countless hospital beds across the state of Texas to treat COVID-19 patients, he said, although it wasn't clear how many added beds would be provided.

Texas has 2.9 hospital beds per 1,000 people, about the national average according to regulators. Thats less capacity than Italy (3.2 beds per 1,000 people) where hospitals have been overwhelmed by coronavirus, and far less than South Korea (12 beds per 1,000 people).

The looming shortage has alarmed local Texas officials.

While the California Legislature approved up to $1 billion in emergency spending on coronavirus efforts  a plan that was written and enacted in a matter of hours with broad bipartisan support  Abbott has yet to commit to tapping the states rainy day fund of more than $11 billion to help the unemployed or issue a special open enrollment for health insurance, as California and New York have. Texas' legislature meets every other year  in the interest of small government  and isn't due to reconvene until January unless Abbott calls a special session.

Youve had a state government that for weeks has been hands off and trailing behind the crisis, said Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party.

In Florida, DeSantis refused to issue a stay-at-home order, despite pleas from local leaders and Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner, who warned in a letter last week that, We cannot afford to lose another week.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez closed dine-in restaurants and bars March 16 only to see people continue to party to the north on Fort Lauderdale beaches.

Its frustrating, because you get blamed for things that you have no say over, said Suarez, a Republican who is self-quarantined at home after testing positive for the virus.

Suarez has posted videos online encouraging Floridians to stay at home, but said he's not he can legally order them to do so the way the governor can.

Some state parks and beaches remained open this weekend, including Pepper Park Beach on the Treasure Coast north of West Palm Beach.

Jim Crist, 58, had heard about the first local coronavirus infection earlier that day. But he and his wife still came to the beach to celebrate his birthday, sharing subs and scotch with friends after their favorite seafood restaurant closed its dining room Friday.

Were being safe. Were distancing. Just let us have this, Crist said.

On Monday, the beach was closed along with all others in St. Lucie County.

It's not clear Florida and Texas officials realize how dire the situation already is.

On March 15, North Texas nursing home resident Patrick James, 77, died at a Dallas-area hospital, a day after he was tested for COVID-19.

At the time we were in a little bit of a family panic to get some action, said stepson Greg Brandt, 55.

He said the state sprang into action. Abbott visited and promised to get everyone tested, including his mother Jean James, 75, a retired teacher who had self-quarantined.

But the family didnt receive results of James test until days after he died.

Hennessy-Fiske reported from Houston and Kaleem from St. Lucie County, Fla. Times staff writers John Myers in Sacramento and Meredith Blake in New York contributed to this report.
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

IMAGE: Security personnel on alert in Srinagar. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo

The report (external link) in the Economic Times that India has signed a contract with a Turkish firm to build fleet support vessels for the Indian Navy at the Vizag-based Hindustan Shipyard Limited gives much food for thought.

What is so startlingly new about Turkey's 'brotherly' relationship with Pakistan? Tomorrow, Trump too may have one with Imran Khan.

Will that mean India should turn its back on the US?

Fleet support vessels are not exactly super secret stuff.

There are fishing boats and luxury yachts that could be more sophisticated.

The only surprising part is why India requires someone to make such vessels when it can already build submarines and aircraft carriers.

Presumably, Turkey can build the vessels at competitive price and Turks have better technology.

Be that as it may, what takes our breath away is something else -- India is partnering with Turkey despite President Recep Erdogan's unhelpful remarks about the situation in J&K.

Now, that is of some significance since Indian diplomacy takes umbrage at any foreign country casting aspersions on the government's moves to 'integrate' J&K.

The 'normalisation' of relations with Turkey suggests that Indian nerves are no longer on edge.

A degree of composure has appeared.

It could be because the high-octane campaign by Pakistan on Kashmir issue has fallen flat on the world stage and Prime Minister Imran Khan has also mellowed.

For a foreseeable future, he will be struggling with the coronavirus.

In this backdrop, unsurprisingly, Delhi decided to revive the advantageous commercial deal with the Turkish firm.

Why can't the same pragmatism calm down our nerves vis-a-vis Iran which also is preoccupied with its own problems lately?

Again, why can't we resume the purchase of palm oil from Malaysia, now that Mahathir Mohamad has lost power -- although he's been replaced by an ethno-nationalist coalition (external link)that is riding the wings of Malay-Muslim centrality, which makes the Chinese and Indian communities somewhat insecure?

Much depends on the feedback the MEA gets from the missions in these countries.

Ankara, Tehran and Kuala Lumpur are major regional capitals who pursue multi-vector foreign policies.

Each has its compulsions with regard to the so-called Ummah.

Over and above, the political personalities at the helm of affairs -- Erdogan and Mahathir in particular -- also played their part.

The rendering of their moves on the diplomatic chessboard, therefore, should be undertaken by our missions with sensitivity and understanding.

Put differently, what prompted these countries to articulate unfriendly opinions regarding J&K?

Evidently, an Islamist party is in power in Turkey, which is regarded as a co-mentor (alongside Qatar) of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Erdogan's affinity with the Ottoman conception of ittihad-i Islam and his pan-Islamic foreign policy is well-known. His embrace of the Arab Spring as the harbinger of popular Islamist transformation in the Middle East was a reflection of it.

Erdogan's Turkish (Anatolian) Islamism cherishes ittihad-i Islam as an ideal to be realised and prompts him to establish contacts with religious figures and leaders elsewhere in the Muslim world.

The Turkish Islamist thought believes that Muslims are one nation, but superficially divided into national-ethnic-sectarian identities and, furthermore, Muslims should aspire to go beyond whatever divides them and work to develop into one Muslim State.

Suffice to say, one force behind Erdogan's foreign policy has been connected to the ideological factor.

Therefore, the optics of Erdogan's articulations on the J&K situation can be put in proper perspective.

Simply put, it is not to be regarded as 'anti-Indian'.

Both Erdogan and Mahathir had a convergence with regard to the Saudi leadership of the ummah.

The Islamic Summit in Kuala Lumpur last December was an audacious initiative by the two leaders to challenge the Saudi leadership.

Imran Khan astutely created synergy out of it by inserting Kashmir issue as a litmus test of Saudi resolve to champion Muslim issues worldwide.

In the event, the Saudis reined in Imran Khan, while Erdogan and Mahathir ended up awkwardly holding the Kashmir baby, which was certainly not their baby.

What was needed on our part was a candid conversation with Erdogan and Mahathir, but on the contrary, we chose a sledge hammer approach that vitiated our relations with the two friendly countries.

When it comes to Iran, it is nothing less than tragic that we are no longer on talking terms with that country, which had once argued on India's behalf at the UNHRC in Geneva in 1994 to derail an OIC move (masterminded by Pakistan) on Kashmir, which had reasonable chance of garnering majority support.

And all this is due to Foreign Minister Zarif making a mild reference to Kashmir on his twitter page! Tehran has said much harsher things in 1992-1993 over the destruction of Babri Mosque and the communal riots that ensued.

But in asides their diplomats also told us that Iran's constitution obliged them to speak up on Muslim issues and there should be no hard feelings.

In fact, when then PM Narasimha Rao took the personal initiative (despite the MEA's reservations) to pay a visit to Tehran in 1993 -- just months after the Mumbai riots in which Iranian properties were vandalised -- the Iranian leadership at the highest level accorded to him a red carpet welcome.

Rao was the first leader of a non-Muslim country to be received by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and to address the Majlis, apart from being accorded a reception at Imam Khomeini's mausoleum in Qom, the throbbing heart of the Iranian religious establishment.

None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements.

Thus, the decision to resume business as usual with Turkey is a sober, mature rethink.

Hopefully, Delhi will put behind the rancour in the relations with Kuala Lumpur and Tehran as well.

These are influential regional powers in India's extended neighbourhood.

The Iranian foreign ministry statement (external link) on March 22 regarding the Afghan situation is an explicit signal of its readiness to work with like-minded regional countries (such as India, Russia) to reorientate the peace process through a regional effort to make it truly 'Afghan-led' and 'Afghan-controlled.'

It only testifies to India's strategic convergence with Iran.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar served the Indian Foreign Service for more than 29 years. He has served as India's ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan and has been a contributor to Rediff.com for well over a decade.
Chennai: Hyundai Motor India Ltd suspended manufacturing operations at its Chennai facility from Monday till further notice.

In a release, the South Korean multinational automotive manufacturing giant stated that the firm is giving utmost importance to safety, health and hygiene of its employees, customers, business partners and the communities in every situation.

Keeping this in mind, Hyundai Motor India Ltd will be taking the preventive counter-measure of suspending its manufacturing operations at the Chennai plant from Monday, (March 23, 2020) till further notice to stop the spread of Covid-19. We will await further notifications from the state government to resume plant operations, the release stated.

In addition to the suspension, HMIL, under the Hyundai Cares Programme, has initiated various initiatives aimed at promoting safety and welfare of all its stakeholders.

Among others the firm established a 24 hour roadside assistance to customers in case of any emergency.

The customers who are not able to avail vehicle warranty/ extended warranty/ free service due to health emergency or dealership shutdown in affected cities the HMIL will offer extended support of two months.

India Yamaha Motor (IYM) Pvt. Ltd has also suspended manufacturing operations at its plants in Chennai, Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad (Haryana) till March 31.

Keeping in mind the safety, health and hygiene of our employees, customers, business partners and the community in general in the wake of Covid-19 threat, the operations at the Chennai plant will be suspended from March 24 to March 31.

The employees working at the head office and area offices have been provided with the option to work from home till March 31.

Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt. Ltd will also be temporarily halting operations at its manufacturing plant at Oragadam, Chennai till further notice.

A release stated that health and safety of its employees, partners and local communities are given priority.

Meanwhile, the two-wheeler giant TVS Motor Company on Monday decided to halt all manufacturing operations at its plants in India and Indonesia till further notice to combat the spread of Coronavirus. All required employees have already been provided with work from home facility.

TVS Motor Company has assured that it will protect jobs and salaries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company also assured that, it would work closely with their dealers and suppliers and extend all support to them in the face of this unexpected difficulty.
Popular comedian, Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM), has mocked Ghanaian prophets over why God did not reveal the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to them long before now.



In a sarcastic Twitter post on Saturday, he wondered why some of them were able to declare Ghanas 2020 election results but not the pandemic.



Dear God, on the 31st, you told your prophets about the results of the 2020 election, but you forgot to mention that corona was coming? Oh why? GOD: I am surprised some of u still trust those LYING CLOWNS (laughs), he posted on Twitter.



COVID-19 has so far killed thousands around the world, with many others still being infected.



Government has put in place a number of measures to curb the spread of the virus in Ghana; one being the quarantining of all passengers disembarking at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).



President Akufo-Addo also announced the closure of Ghanas borders on Sunday midnight, as well as a called for national fasting and prayers to God to help humanity in time like this.



KSMs tweet on Saturday received a lot of reactions, some of which criticised prophets over their prophetic activities.









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
UN Chief Calls for Global Ceasefire in Face of Pandemic

By Margaret Besheer March 23, 2020

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for a global cease-fire as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives," Guterres told journalists via a video press conference.

As of Monday, there were more than 350,000 confirmed cases worldwide of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. More than 15,000 people have died.

Guterres urged warring parties to silence their guns, end airstrikes, create humanitarian corridors and open windows for diplomacy.

"End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world," Guterres said. "It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever."

As the pandemic has spread across the world in recent weeks, the war in Syria entered its 10th year and the Yemen crisis started its sixth. Conflicts in Africa continue, including in Libya. In South Sudan, the United Nations has expressed concern recently about the escalation of inter-communal violence in parts of the country. Meanwhile, tens of millions of people are internally displaced and refugees from violence across the globe.

The U.N. remains open in the face of the pandemic. Guterres has sent all but the most essential staff from the organization's New York headquarters home to work.

The secretary-general has been meeting virtually with senior staff from around the U.N. system, in order to keep humanitarian, peacekeeping and COVID-19 response operations going while protecting staff and the people they are assisting.

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Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 23, 2020) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB: NGPHF) (the "Company" or "Northern") announces that it has agreed to sell a one per cent gross revenue royalty ("GRR") on its Bissett Creek Project to Electric Royalties Ltd. ("ERL") for $500,000 in cash and two million common shares of ERL (of which half are subject to a 12 month hold period and half to an 18 month hold period) (the "Consideration Shares"). The transaction is subject to, among other things, regulatory approval, the completion of due diligence by ERL and ERL completing its going public transaction which will involve a financing of not less than $3.5 million. Under the terms of the agreement ERL also has a two-year option to acquire an additional half of one per cent GRR by paying $750,000, of which 25 per cent can be paid in ERL shares. Northern has the option to buy back half of one per cent of the initial GRR at any time after 12 months by returning the Consideration Shares or paying $1.5 million in cash.

Gregory Bowes, CEO of Northern, commented that: "Bissett Creek is a high margin project and the sale of a small royalty has very little effect on its economics. The proceeds will provide a non-dilutive source of liquidity that will enable the Company to continue waiting for a turnaround in graphite prices which it believes will come even if automobile manufacturers are only modestly successful at achieving their stated fleet electrification goals." He added that: "We are happy to support ERL in bringing more attention to the electric metals/minerals space by selling a royalty on what we believe is one of the world's highest quality, undeveloped graphite projects."

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that major automobile makers have committed over US$300 billion to developing electric vehicles ("EVs") and that there are over 100 lithium ion battery ("LiB") mega-factories in the pipeline. This will require annual world graphite production to more than double. Volkswagen has committed US$91 billion to electrifying its fleet and in doing so, its battery demand alone will increase to 300 gWh which will require an estimated 40 per cent increase in world graphite production. Daimler (Mercedes) has committed US$34 billion to developing EVs and securing its battery requirements which have been estimated at 200 gWh. China wants 25 per cent of new vehicles sold to be electric by 2025 which requires more than 300 gWh of batteries. The outlook for graphite demand is very robust while at the same time, there are no new graphite mines currently under construction .

Story continues

Brendan Yurik, CEO of Electric Royalties Ltd, commented that: "We are excited to become a financial partner to Northern through a non-dilutive royalty financing given its project is conveniently located in Canada, is in easy transportation distance to announced new battery factories, has high estimated operating margins, has high quality graphite for battery and industrial uses, and is essentially shovel ready."

About Northern Graphite

Northern's 100% owned Bissett Creek graphite deposit is located in the southern part of Canada with ready access to labour, supplies, equipment and concentrate transportation whereas most of the Company's peers are located in the northern part of Canada or Africa. Bissett Creek is an advanced stage project with a full Feasibility Study and a Preliminary Economic Assessment which contemplates doubling production after three years of operation. Permitting is well advanced and the Company is in a position to make a construction decision subject to financing.

The Bissett Creek Project has a reasonable capital cost, an initial production rate that is realistic relative to the size of the current market (and which can be expanded as demand grows), and it has the highest percentage of large/XL flake. The latter will enable the Company to initially focus on high margin, value-added industrial markets and expand into the LiB market as conditions warrant. Unlike many graphite deposits, essentially all Bissett Creek production is "battery grade".

About Electric Royalties Ltd

Electric Royalties is a royalty company set to take advantage of the demand for a wide range of commodities (lithium, vanadium, manganese, tin, graphite, cobalt, nickel & copper) that will benefit from the drive to electrification (cars, rechargeable batteries, large scale energy storage, renewable energy generation and other applications).

Electric vehicle sales, battery production capacity and renewable energy generation are slated to increase significantly over the next several years and with it the demand for these targeted commodities. This creates a unique opportunity to invest in and acquire royalties over the mines and projects that will supply the materials needed to feed the electric revolution.

Electric Royalties currently has a portfolio of nine royalties under binding letters of intent and plans to focus predominantly on acquiring royalties on advanced stage and operating projects to build a diversified portfolio located in jurisdictions with low geopolitical risk.

Qualified Person

Gregory Bowes, B.Sc. MBA, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information in this news release.

For additional information, please contact:

Gregory Bowes, CEO

(613) 241-9959

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; economic and technical studies, graphite prices, project economics, permitting, the development timeline and the graphite market. All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

Neither the 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53683
Maple Leaf Canada will start paying workers at its production and distribution facilities, including those at the Brandon plant, an extra $80 a week during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced on Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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BRUCE BUMSTEAD/BRANDON SUN Brandon Sun Maple Leaf Foods employees work at Brandons hog processing plant cutting floor in this 2009 photo. (File)

Maple Leaf Canada will start paying workers at its production and distribution facilities, including those at the Brandon plant, an extra $80 a week during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced on Monday.

The president of the union representing workers at the Brandon plant said that in effect, it will be an extra $2 an hour for workers up to a maximum of $80 per week.

Jeff Traeger, the president of UFCW Local 832, said hes appreciative of the extra support, but both he and the national union dont believe that the Maple Leaf initiative nor current plans put forward by the federal government to support workers during the pandemic is sufficient.

"Its significant, $2 an hour if paid for the whole year would be $4,000," he said. "Do I think its far enough? No. And I said the same thing when we saw that in the retail stores because these people are coming to work, theyre working extremely hard and theyre putting themselves in harms way to make sure we all have food on the table.

"I also know that employers right now are doing very well, especially in retail with the volume and Maple Leaf and other pork producers because of the ability to sell their product in Asia right now. Theyre all making lots of money so we think they should be going a little further to share it with our members."

Traeger added that the union thinks a $5 per hour bonus would be warranted. They believe that no one should be making less than $15 an hour right now, because thats the poverty line in the province.

On a national scale, Traeger said that UFCW started lobbying the federal government on Monday to switch to the European model of unemployment insurance during the pandemic where an employee getting laid off or self-isolating keeps getting paid and receiving benefits from their employer while getting subsidies to cover the cost from the government.

When it comes to measures being taken at the plant to keep workers safe and healthy, Traeger is much more on board with what is being done.

"Theyre actually trying to be as progressive with that as possible," he said.

He said that Maple Leaf is taking the temperature of every employee entering the plant to make sure no one is coming inside with a fever. Inside the plant, breaks are being spread out as much as possible to encourage social distancing and visitors have been barred from entering the facility.

Sanitization efforts have also been stepped up for both equipment and common areas in the plant.

Employees turned away at the door or not feeling well and having to stay at home are getting paid for the first week through a benefits plan held in joint trust by the company and UFCW.

For the second week and beyond, employees are asked to apply for employment insurance, and Maple Leaf is topping up the difference between those payments and the money they receive from their weekly indemnity plan.

"I think that what Maple Leaf has done has gone very far," Traeger said. "Wed always be interested in hearing newer and better ways to make sure that our members are protected at work."

Maple Leaf also announced $2 million in funds on Monday going to emergency food relief efforts in Canada on top of the $500,000 the company already committed last week.

Additionally, Maple Leaf announced it would be giving $2.5 million to the Canadian Frontline Healthcare Professionals Protection Fund in support of front line medical workers.

 cslark@brandonsun.com
When local school districts closed due to the coronavirus, making sure students in need dont go hungry became a real concern for school officials.

Brian Walmsley, superintendent of Richmond Community Schools, said the district launched a breakfast and lunch program, similar to the federally funded summer program Meet Up and Eat Up, and began delivering meals to students March 18.

In a press release, he outlined how the program would work:

The food service department will be providing free breakfasts and lunches for all children up to the age of 18 and students with disabilities, ages 18 to 26, with an active IEP, regardless of whether they are a Richmond student or not. The school district will have three buses that will travel to various bus stops throughout the district on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays, students will receive a lunch for Monday and Tuesday, as well as a breakfast for Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesdays, students will receive a lunch for Wednesday and Thursday, as well as a breakfast for Thursday and Friday. On Fridays, students will receive a lunch for Friday and a breakfast for Monday.

Hoping to add a little surprise for students and parents picking lunches up at the 21 bus stops in the district, Walmsley incorporated what he called celebrity volunteers who are on board one of the three buses delivering food. The celebrities includes teachers, para-pros, food service employees and members of the Richmond School Board.

The idea is to say were going to get you through this, and if they see their teacher on the bus and can get a wave and a thumbs up, thats great, Walmsley said in a phone interview.

In a team effort, kitchen staff prepared the meals; bus drivers delivered them, and 53 volunteers will be on board the buses at different times for support.

Walmsley said they delivered 400 breakfasts and lunches on Wednesday and plan to do the same, if not more, three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for the next few weeks.

The deliveries, which include three buses making a total of 21 stops, are designed to keep the gathering of parents at the bus stops to a minimum, perhaps just 10 or 12 picking up the meals, Walmsley said.

The meals include foods from all five food groups  dairy, meat, grain, fruits and vegetables  which could be cereal, protein bars, milk and fruit for breakfast and salad, sandwiches and a vegetable, like sliced carrots, for lunch.

Walmsley said the districts biggest undertaking is making sure they can get the foods they need delivered. So far, they havent faced any shortages in the food supply chain.

Meals in Memphis

In Memphis, Superintendent Brad Gudme said the district delivered a weeks worth of breakfast and lunches to 40 families, which include about 90 students, March 17. He said they decided to provide a full weeks worth of meals in order to limit contact between those delivering the meals and the families receiving them.

The meals are available to children younger than 18 years old in the community who are in need. They dont have to be a student in Memphis Community Schools. Those interested in having the meals prepared for their students can call the district and get on the recipient list.

Food Service Director Laura Nickelson said the program provides food from the five major food groups in what she would call grocery style fashion because items are provided in bulk instead of as individual servings. For example, a family will get gallons of milk based on how many children they have, and sandwiches wont be prepared; instead, a loaf of bread with lunch meat and cheese is provided.

All of the people Ive talked to are very happy with this because they like having the option to make up their own meals, Nickerson said.

Volunteers delivered the meals, including members of the schools food service staff and even Gudme, who said he made stops at 17 residences.

Someone came to the door at every house but one and I just said hi to the families and they were all very appreciative, he said.

Gudme said the meal program will shift to pick-up instead of a delivery status to simplify things. He said if someone isnt in a position to come to the school and get the meals on Tuesday, arrangements will be made to deliver them.

We have a great community here, and we are all coming together for this, Gudme said.

Nickelson said the list of families is growing, too. She said anyone who wants the meals needs to contact her as soon as possible so she can order enough supplies. To sign up to receive the meal plan, email Nickelson at lnickelson@memphisk12.org.

Barb Pert Templeton is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at barbperttempleton.reporter@yahoo.com.
The Disney+ streaming service has gone live in the UK, bringing relief to millions of parents stuck at home with their kids during the coronavirus lockdown.

Subscribers will have access to a library of content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

The platform's archive contains more than 350 TV shows  including some 600 episodes of The Simpsons.

Users will also be able to stream original programming that is exclusive to the service  such as the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise, the Mandalorian.

Following in the footsteps of Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video, Disney+'s UK launch will see bitrates temporarily capped to lower the strain on networks.

Scroll down for video

The Disney+ streaming service has gone live in the UK, bringing relief to millions of parents stuck at home with their kids during the coronavirus lockdown

The Disney+ streaming platform first launched to viewers in the United States in November 2019.

The service is seen as the latest challenger to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Disney+ costs 5.99 for a monthly subscription or 59.99 to sign up for a year.

'I think the one thing that we are going to be doing in Europe over time is creating original content for the markets, as we see fit and as the audience demands, zaid president of Disney+ content and marketing,Ricky Strauss.

He added that he is hopeful that the Marvel original shows  including The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Loki and WandaVision  will still launch as planned in the autumn, despite their production being suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.

'Those are all still programmed for the fall of 2020, so hopefully, depending on what happens in the state of our world, when we are able to get back into production, we are hoping to launch those shows in the fall.'

'Look what has arrived. Two hours early. Amen Disney,' tweeted Adam Bysouth

Disney confirmed the UK launch date for the streaming service back in January.

Its arrival now comes as thousands of children in the UK are at home after nurseries and schools officially closed while Britain fights to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The UK's Department for Education has urged parents to keep their children at home unless their work is deemed 'critical' to the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and they have no other childcare option.

'DisneyPlusUK launches at 1am,' wrote Twitter user @oohgaryc, who added  by means of an animated gif, that he was 'truly, truly grateful, and terribly happy'

The Disney+ streaming platform first launched to viewers in the United States in November 2019. The service is seen as the latest challenger to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. Disney+ costs 5.99 for a monthly subscription or 59.99 to sign up for a year

'Look what has arrived. Two hours early. Amen Disney,' tweeted Adam Bysouth.

'DisneyPlusUK launches at 1am,' wrote Twitter user @oohgaryc, who added  by means of an animated gif, that he was 'truly, truly grateful, and terribly happy.'

Meanwhile, Richard Devine appeared overwhelmed by the choice on offer, tweeting: 'By the time I decide what to watch, lockdown will be over.'

'We are responding to the request of European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton to work together to ensure the smooth functioning of the broadband infrastructure,' said Disney direct-to-consumer chairman Kevin Mayer.

'In anticipation of high consumer demand for Disney+, we are proactively instituting measures to lower our overall bandwidth utilisation by at least 25% in all of the markets launching Disney+ on March 24th.'

'In the coming days, we will be monitoring Internet congestion and working closely with Internet service providers to further reduce bitrates as necessary to ensure they are not overwhelmed by consumer demand.'

'We look forward to the launch of Disney+ and hope it will provide a much-needed respite for families in these challenging and trying times.'

In France, meanwhile, the launch of the new streaming service is to be delayed.

'To our French fans, the Disney+ service is coming, but at the request of the French government, we have agreed to postpone the launch until Tuesday, 7 April 2020,' Mr Mayer added.
Midland County recorded no new positive coronavirus cases Tuesday while Gladwin County had one, according to information released in the state's 2 p.m. daily update online. Isabella County saw its first two cases while Bay County added an additional one, which was reported by the Daily News Monday evening.

There were 463 new positive cases reported Tuesday in Michigan with nine deaths, compared to 293 new cases and seven deaths reported Monday.

Overall Michigan has 1791 cases reported Tuesday with 24 deaths.

Midland County Department of Public Health continues to encourage residents to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

 Continue to practice social distancing as recommended by federal, state and local officials.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

 Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

 Disinfect commonly touched surfaces.

 Stay home when you are sick.

 Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

If you have symptoms or have concerns about the coronavirus, call your primary health care provider. If you do not have a primary doctor, call the MidMichigan Health COVID-19 hotline at 800-445-7356 or 989-794-7600; one of the urgent care centers; or one of the emergency departments.

Providers will first perform initial testing to rule out other common respiratory illnesses, like the flu, which are a more likely cause of the symptoms.

"By calling ahead, this allows for appropriate precautions to take place to limit exposure to others," Sherry Anderson, MidMichigan Health regulatory compliance manager, said in a previous story. "The provider will then evaluate the individual and, based on their signs/symptoms and risk factors, will decide if the patient should be tested."
Los Angeles officials took the lead Monday in extending coronavirus school closures until May 4, but its possible  if not likely  Bay Area schools will take similar action in the coming days.

Local and state education leaders said they are in frequent contact with health officials to determine next steps, while making plans for how to educate the states 6.2 million students over the long haul.

Los Angeles Unified schools will now be closed for at least seven weeks.

Were providing as much information and as many resources as possible to help districts prepare for both the current moment and a possible future where schools do not reopen in 2019-20, said Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Board Association. There is no indication of a statewide directive on closing schools for this current academic year, but many school districts are making contingency plans for a scenario where public health concerns prompt them to make that decision on their own.

A handful of other districts or counties across the state, including Ventura County and Bonita Unified in Los Angeles County, have already extended closures to the first week of May.

San Francisco spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said the district has yet to push back the Apr. 6 reopening of schools, but is preparing for various scenarios. The school board is expected to meet Tuesday to discuss closure plans.

Oakland officials said they werent extending the three-week closure yet.

The current goal is to coordinate decisions so county districts are offering a more uniform approach to closures, said Michelle Smith McDonald, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Department of Education.

Currently, the vast majority of Californias 10,000 schools have shuttered to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

With kids out of class for what appears to several weeks to months, state officials are providing clearer guidance on how to teach remotely.

Schools should continue to educate students and take daily attendance to adhere to compulsory education requirements, said Scott Roark, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

So far, it appears few teachers or districts have been taking daily attendance.

Whether teachers grade the work is up to local districts, Roark said, adding education officials will be releasing additional information about that soon.

Part of that guidance will include an understanding that grading assignments should not be punitive to students during this time, he 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.

Not all students have access to Wi-Fi or computers at home, raising questions about the ability for all students to participate in distance learning.

State and federal officials have urged local education officials to consider a wide range of options depending on student needs, including video conferencing, digital lessons, pick-up paper packets of work, or other types of learning activities.

In Los Angeles, Superintendent Austin Beutner announced $100 million in emergency funding to help increase digital access to schooling. In addition, Verizon will provide free Wi-Fi access to students, Beutner said.

Bay Area districts are also ramping up access to technology, including checking out computers and boosting connectivity to the internet.

We estimate about one-half of our students are continuing to learn at the pace they had been at school; one-quarter are doing okay, but additional work is needed to make sure students are getting the full benefit of the learning; and one-quarter arent getting the learning opportunity they should be, Beutner said. These are truly uncharted waters and there is no map for this.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
Despite indications of an impending economic crisis, all signs still point to growth for Berghof in 2020. It didnt take the company long to add yet another addition to its group, and the integration process is in full swing. As of January 1st, 2020, the Berghof group of companies headquartered in Eningen, Germany, has acquired Gigahertz-Optik GmbH, which is located in the bavarian city Tuerkenfeld near to Munich. By this the Berghof Group grows from five to six subsidiaries and from eight to nine business units.

For over 30 years, Gigahertz-Optik has been successful in delivering metrological solutions for optical radiation for industrial applications, both nationally and internationally. In preparation for their impending retirement, the two founders and previous owners Wolfgang Daehn (second from right) and Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Anton Gugg-Helminger (second from left) have been searching for a strong new home for their company to make sure that their lifes work will be in good hands, and that it continues to prosper and grow. Therefore we are more than happy that we have reached an agreement for the purchase of our company with our partner of choice, said Mr. Daehn and Mr. Gugg-Helminger with pride. In addition, the corporate cultures of both organizations blend perfectly together with their strong focus technology and their large groups of engineers.

The founders will spearhead the companys integration under the Berghof Group umbrella until their retirement. Frank Reimann has been appointed as the new CEO, bringing more than 25 years of leadership experience from the fields of photonics, optics, measurement technology and technical ceramics. The entire team, along with the companys headquarters in Tuerkenfeld will remain intact.

With this strategic new addition to the group, Berghof is sending a clear message that the group will place much more focus on the field of photonics than ever before. For the Berghof Group, this field is interesting for three reasons: first, Berghof Fluoroplastics Technology GmbH is one of the leading manufacturers of high-performance optical materials based on Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Second, optical measurement devices play a key role in the laboratory industry, the playground of Berghof Products + Instruments GmbH. And third these systems are one of the key technologies in the field of autonomous driving, which in turn brings the Testing unit of Berghof Automation GmbH into play.

With the acquisition of Gigahertz-Optik the Berghof Group expands its product portfolio in the field of optical measurement to include light meters, spectroradiometers and other optical measurement systems as well as related recalibration services, Dr.-Ing. Bernd Arnold (far right) and Heinz-Uwe Vogel, CEO and CFO of the Berghof Group, are pleased. The integration of Gigahertz-Optik into the Berghof Group is already in full swing. Cross-functional teams are already working on their first joint projects.
Boris Johnson has placed the UK on lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, with a ban on public gatherings of more than two people, to be enforced by police.

The prime minister detailed a short list of reasons why individuals may leave their homes as he ordered the immediate closure of all shops selling non-essentials items.

We will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public  excluding people you live with, he said.

And well stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

In an unprecedented televised address to the nation, Mr Johnson set out the only reasons people may leave their homes, which are: for one form of exercise a day; shopping for essentials; travelling to and from essential work, and for medical needs.

Thats all  these are the only reasons you should leave your home, he said.

You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.

If you dont follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

Shopping for basic necessities should be as infrequent as possible, and the exercise may be alone or with members of the same household, he said.

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Anyone who is not following the rules could be fined, and police will have powers to disperse gatherings.

Although parks will remain open for exercise, gatherings will be dispersed.

To ensure compliance with the instruction stay at home, Mr Johnson said all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores, would be closed.

Libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship will also be shut, the prime minister announced.

Mr Johnson assured the public that the restrictions are to be kept under constant review, and they could be relaxed in three weeks if evidence shows the government is able to do so.

He said that no prime minister wants to enact measures like this, adding: To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it  meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.

His call came after the UK death toll hit 335.
Around 200 vehicles were seized on Monday, the first day after curfew was extended till end of this month. (PTI)

Hyderabad: A day after lockdown began in Telangana to contain the spread of coronavirus, police started strict enforcement of the restrictions on the movement of people on Tuesday, urging them to refrain from non-emergency outings and resorting to mild caning at some places.

As many people hit the streets disregarding the advice to remain indoors, police put up barricades on several roads here and other places in the state and 'counselled' and sent back home those who came out without valid reasons.

People rushed to procure vegetables and other essential commodities and also made purchases for the Ugadi (Telugu New Year) festival falling on Wednesday.

News channels showed footage of violators of lockdown being made to do sit ups as punishment in the presence of a woman police official near here.

Additional DGP (law and order) Jitender said the situation in the state was totally peaceful.

The police strictly enforced the lockdown, declared till March 31 under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and took action, including 'mild' caning, against violators at some places and seized vehicles, officials said.

Police conducted checks at all toll plazas located at the inter-state borders where hundreds of vehicles were stranded after being denied permission to enter.

However, as announced earlier, vehicles carrying essential goods were allowed, official sources said.

Police Commissioners of Cyberabad and Rachakonda personally monitored the situation and checked a few vehicles and passed appropriate instructions.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat told that around 200 vehicles were seized on Monday for violations.

Police also warned that vehicles of those people, who venture on to streets without a valid reason and supporting documents, would be seized.

Any congregation of more than five persons in public places is prohibited as per the Government Order notifying the lockdown in the state where the number of COVID-19 cases stood at 36.

"Residents shall stay at home and come out only for permitted activities while strictly observing social distancing norms. In any case, not more than one person will be permitted, excluding the person driving the vehicle," the GO stated.

Responding to the state governments call for lockdown, people in some of the villages in Telangana voluntarily isolated themselves by putting up barricades and fences.

They also put up placards saying that no one should enter their village.
With coronavirus taking a heavy toll on health of people across the globe, Jammu and Kashmir hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with the crisis.

Srinagar: With coronavirus taking a heavy toll on health of people across the globe, Jammu and Kashmir hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with the crisis.

There have been over three lakh coronavirus cases, claiming over 15,000 lives across the world so far. Most of these deaths have taken place in developed countries where health infrastructure is far better than India.

India is not only under-equipped to handle an epidemic like that, but its population is also closely packed with a culture that does not encourage social distancing.

Among Indian states, Jammu and Kashmir is one of the states further worse off because for a population of 1.25 crore, there are around 180 ventilators in the Union Territory's hospitals. Almost all are occupied by the patients at all times, rarely leaving any space for COVID-19 patients if the need arises.

In Kashmir alone, for a population of 70 lakh, there are just 93 ventilators in hospitals. Almost all are occupied by patients suffering from various ailments.

"Although only one patient has been tested positive in Kashmir so far. Gods forbid, if the virus spreads in Kashmir, our health system is in poor state. We are not in a position to deal with any eventuality and there will be a crisis situation," a senior doctor at Shar-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura Srinagar, said.

The doctor said there are just four ventilators in isolation wards in Kashmir hospitals where patients with symptoms of coronavirus are kept. "The ventilators are already occupied by patients in cardiology and wards of other departments. Patients having coronavirus symptoms can't be shifted to ICU as they have to be isolated. Our hospitals are most poorly equipped across India," the doctor said.

Doctors have also have raised concerns about the lack of proper and adequate protection gears and safety equipment like N95 masks, PVC coated gowns and ventilators in hospitals.

Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) led by Dr Suhail Naik has written a letter to Basheer Ahmad Khan, the newly appointed advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir saying that hospitals in Kashmir lack proper and adequate personnel protection gear especially N95 Masks, PVC coated gowns, goggles and other equipments."

The doctors' body has requested the L-G's office to procure adequate amount of ventilators to augment the capacity of district hospitals and to open new medical colleges in the Valley.

Medical staff including doctors, nurses and lab technicians say they fear for their safety and don't want to serve in wards where patients with coronavirus symptoms are lodged.

A SKIMS doctor tweeted, "We are in the middle of the battleground, the way armed forces are being provided the arms and personal protection likewise docs and medical staff must be equipped with who designated personal protective equipment in order to bend the curve of transmission. Otherwise be ready for the calamity which can create havoc."

A doctor at GB Panth Hospital Srinagar said there is no protective gear for doctors and paramedics. "Even N95 masks and sanitisers are not available for doctors and paramedics who are working in ICUs," the doctor said.

Shortage of proper protection equipment has been one of the reasons for infections among health workers. There have been sporadic reports of doctors/nurses testing positive in rest of the India as well, increasing the sense of insecurity among medical personnel.

Principal Government Medical College Srinagar Dr Samia Rashid said, "We had a detailed meeting with MoS Jitendra Singh to discuss our preparedness for Covid 19. We highlighted the issue of shortage of ventilators with him and Director NHM. We have been promised 40 high end ventilators by the end of this month. We have enough ventilators to contain the situation right now but our manpower to run them all is not sufficient. We are already in process to address them."

Deputy Medical Superintendent SKIMS Soura Dr Ghulam Hassan Yatoo said 29 patients having coronavirus symptoms were put under observation at the hospital. "Nine have been discharged while 20 are still under observation among them one is positive," he said.

He said SKIMS received 20 ventilators on Friday. "I have to check when they will be made operational," he added. The hospital also has to increase the oxygen capacity before making them operation, sources said.
Woody Allen has accused publisher Hachette of dumping his memoir like nuclear poison after it was hit with public outrage fueled by MeToo and a walkout by staff.

The director wrote that Hachette imprint Grand Central 'dumped the book like it was a hunk of Xenon 135', an isotope found in nuclear reactors.

Allen, 84, accused Hachette of 'cowering' in the face of MeToo but boasts he knew his book would be published somewhere 'because you can't keep the truth bottled up forever'.

Allen claimed there was a silent majority of Hollywood actors and directors who supported him but could not speak up because they feared being fired.

In self-pitying parts of the book, titled Apropos of Nothing, Allen compared himself to victims of McCarthyism, defendants at the Nuremberg trials and authors who were banned in America, such as D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce.

Woody Allen has accused publisher Hachette of dumping his memoir like nuclear poison after it was hit with public outrage fueled by MeToo and a walkout by staff

Allen, 84, accused Hachette of 'cowering' in the face of MeToo but boasts he knew his book would be published somewhere 'because you can't keep the truth bottled up forever'

Allen's book was published on Monday with little advance notice by Arcade, an imprint of Skyhorse, which has in the past published books by JFK conspiracy theorists.

The filmmaker lashes out at the response to Hollywood during the MeToo movement, which began in 2017 and caught up with him the following year.

Actors vowed to stop working with him because they sided with his daughter Dylan Farrow, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was seven years old.

Allen's book was published on Monday with little advance notice by Arcade, an imprint of Skyhorse, which has in the past published books by JFK conspiracy theorists

Others objected to his marrying Soon-Yi Previn in 1997, who was effectively his step daughter and 35 years younger than him.

Additionally, Amazon backed out of a $73 million deal to release Allen's next four films, he was cut out of a PBS poetry documentary and his latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, was not released in the US because nobody would distribute it.

Allen became, as he describes it, a 'toxic pariah'.

He writes: 'I had appeared in a film, The Front, about the McCarthy era and was very aware of what Lillian Hellman referred to as ''scoundrel time,'' when so many frightened or opportunistic men and women behaved badly.

'Any number of actors and show people said to me and various friends of mine privately how appalled they were by the clearly unjust, disgusting publicity I was receiving and that they were solidly on my side, but when asked why they didn't speak out and say something, they all admitted they feared professional repercussions.

'I thought it was ironic as that was the exact reason women gave for not speaking up over the years against their various harassers: that their careers would suffer'.

When Allen tried to make another film, he found he was unable to do so because he was essentially blacklisted.

He claimed some actors told him privately: 'I waited my whole life for this phone call and now I can't take the job'.

Amazon backed out of a $73 million deal to release Allen's next four films, he was cut out of a PBS poetry documentary and his latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, was not released in the US because nobody would distribute it. Pictured: Allen with Selena Gomez and Timothe Chalamet on the set of Allen's movie in September 2017

Others objected to his marrying Soon-Yi Previn (pictured together in 2015) in 1997, who was effectively his step daughter and 35 years younger than him

Allen claims the press 'lumped me in with any number of men who were charged, convicted, or admitted to sex crimes... despite the fact the accusation against me had repeatedly been found not to have occurred'.

Allen writes he did tell Hachette that there would 'undoubtedly be blow back' about his memoir from people wanting to 'suppress it by any means necessary'.

But he claimed that his editors 'loved the book' and vowed to 'stand firm' if things turned difficult.

Then came the walkouts from Hachette's own staff and the outrage that another Hachette imprint had already released the book by Allen's estranged son Ronan Farrow about his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, which kick-started the MeToo movement.

Allen writes: 'When actual flak did arrive they thoughtfully reassessed their position, concluding that perhaps courage was not the virtue it was cracked up to be and there was a lot to be said for cowering.

'Anyhow they dumped the book like it was a hunk of Xenon 135.

'I understood their panic and while yes, it was appalling, I was less stricken than friends and loved ones.

Employees at the publisher had a walkout after Allen's estranged son Ronan Farrow (pictured with his mother Mia Farrow) shamed Hachette for printing the book while also publishing his book Catch and Kill, which reports on Harvey Weinstein

Allen writes he did tell Hachette that there would 'undoubtedly be blow back' about his memoir from people wanting to 'suppress it by any means necessary'. Pictured: The Hachette employee walkout

'They carried on like pirates, railing against the publisher's volte face, calling Hachette craven and invoking censorship, freedom of speech, McCarthyism, Fahrenheit 451, omitting only the destruction of the library at Alexandria in 46 B.C. and the book burning and torch light parades of thirties Berlin.

'I knew Apropos of Nothing would land somewhere because you can't keep the truth bottled up forever'.

In extracts of the memoir already made public, Allen opened up about his controversial relationship with Soon-Yi.

He admits in a queasy passage that in the early days of their relationship 'lust reigned supreme and we couldn't keep our hands off each other'.

Allen dedicated the memoir to his 49-year-old wife and writes: 'For Soon-Yi, the best. I had her eating out of my hand and then I noticed my arm was missing'.

Allen, 84, began a relationship with ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow's adopted daughter when Soon-Yi was 22.

He writes that despite the 35-year age gap between them, she was 'ready to ripen superbly if only someone would show her some love'.

Allen also claims that his son Ronan Farrow may be Frank Sinatra's son because Mia may have still been sleeping with him when they were together.
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and all its chapters across the country continue to urge Congress to include organizational non-profits in the next stimulus package. Non-profit member organizations, 501(c)(6) organizations, are left out of the most recent legislation, meaning numerous organizations like NAWBO will not receive any relief during this time of crisis.

"If the lawmakers don't include organizations like ours in the stimulus, it will set back women business owners decades," said Chair of the NAWBO National Board Jeanette Armbrust. "Women business owners rely on resources provided by groups like NAWBO to receive continuing education, tools to scale their businesses, and networking opportunities. Without any relief, these organizations will close, and our economy will suffer."

NAWBO started back in 1975 as a women's advocacy organization because women could not join chambers of commerce. Today, we represent the fastest growing economic sector in the country, employing 9.4 million and generating $1.6 trillion in revenue. We want to continue to be a resource to our communities," expressed the 50-plus Chapter presidents from:

Atlanta Houston Oregon Bakersfield Indianapolis Orlando Buffalo Niagara Inland Empire Philadelphia Central Coast CA Inland Northwest/Spokane Phoenix Central Illinois Iowa Richmond Central Jersey Kansas City Sacramento Valley Charlotte Kentucky Salt Lake City Chicago Lakeland Metro San Antonio Cleveland Los Angeles San Diego Columbus Ohio Memphis San Francisco Bay Area Dallas Minnesota Santa Barbara Delaware Nashville Sedona-Verde Valley Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach NAWBO Silicon Valley Greater DC New Mexico South Jersey Greater Detroit New Orleans Southern Nevada Greater Raleigh New York City Tucson Greater Tucson Orange County Ventura

During this pandemic, even while we face our own challenges, NAWBO National and our chapters have stepped up our efforts to connect and support women businesses owners around the nation through:

Virtual programming to provide ideas and inspiration (webinars, video chats and more).

Resource center to give women entrepreneurs the most up-to-date information and resources.

Advocacy page with updates on how NAWBO is the voice of women and small business owners during this time.

We have also opened up these normally member exclusive opportunities to the public at no cost to ensure the fastest growing economic sector we represent continues to thrive.

About NAWBO

Founded in 1975, NAWBO is the unified voice of America's more than 10 million women-owned businesses representing the fastest-growing segment of the economy. NAWBO is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries. NAWBO develops programs that help navigate women entrepreneurs through the various stages of their business growth.

To learn more, please visit www.nawbo.org.

SOURCE National Association of Women Business Owners

Related Links

http://www.nawbo.org


Descending as it did during the islands cocoon-like winter months, the coronavirus has transformed outsiders from an economic lifeblood to an existential threat. On Shelter Island  about two hours and 45 minutes from Manhattan  New Yorkers quickly bought up groceries. In Hawaii, some residents of the Big Island worry that sickened vacationers will overwhelm their hospitals. And six months after it was slammed by Hurricane Dorian, tiny Ocracoke, N.C., on the Outer Banks, is closed to visitors, leaving inhabitants wondering how it will ever recover if the virus deprives it of a vital summer tourist season.
A popular Australian fine dining restaurant is now offering takeaway food and delivery services in response to hospitality businesses being forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Situated in Melbourne's south, Ben Shewry's Attica has quickly diversified the brand to allow the business to thrive during the tough crisis restrictions that restrict customers from dining out.

The company offers high quality food and was named in the world's 50 best restaurants list in 2018.

A popular Australian restaurant is now offering takeaway food and delivery services in response to hospitality businesses being forced to shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic

Two take-home options are available for customers to order through Attica At Home and both are suitable for two people.

The first option 'Attica Classic's at Home' is somewhat ambiguous due to the unique titles of each meal, which includes A Simple Dish of Potato Cooked in the Earth it was Grown, The Dish that Saved Attica aka Spice Crusted Lamb Shoulder and Plight of Bees (Truffle version).

In comparison, the second option is far more family orientated and casual, as Ben's family lasagne, an Attica salad and garlic bread are included in the package.

The first fancier takeaway option is priced at $95 for pickup or $110 for delivery while the second option costs $60 pickup or $75 delivery.

A 500 millilitre tub of buttermilk ice-cream with an apple swirl is also available for $25 pickup.

Ben Shewry's Attica has quickly diversified the brand to allow the business to thrive during the tough crisis restrictions that restrict customers from dining out

Two take-home options are available for customers to order through Attica At Home and both are suitable for two people

In addition to the business's new service, Attica has launched a pop-up bake shop

To accompany either meal choice, a line of beverages are also available to order if desired.

A 750 millilitre bottle of red or white wine can be added to the order for $35 and is handpicked to perfectly match the meal.

Alternatively pre-made signature cocktails are also available for $19 or a four-pack of beer for $25.

In addition to the business's new service, Attica has also launched a pop-up bake shop, also in full swing as of March 24.

The new bakery is open from 9am to 12pm Tuesday to Saturday and the Attica At Home service is accessible from their website.
He was born with a birth defect causing a severe deformity of his hind limbs and tail. Due to being unable to correct the deformity and the pain his deformed hind limbs were causing, they were amputated. However, Lieutenant Dan, who is a hound dog, doesn't let the adversity stop him from living his life to the fullest. This rescue pup loves to wrestle, play, run, hike and swim just like any other dog. He brings inspiration to those around him and keeps his family laughing with his silly antics and big personality.

"Lieutenant Dan is the epitome of inspiration, passion and energy, showcasing that no matter what challenges you, you can overcome it," said Ethan Mandel, Cadbury Brand team. "With almost 200,000 votes cast, America showed love and support to all of our finalists. We'd like to thank everyone who participated in our second annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts."

This year's Cadbury Bunny Tryouts saw over 4,000 entries from all 50 states. With the help of instafamous pet influencer, Jiffpom, the Cadbury team narrowed down the competition to 10 incredible finalists which included a mini horse, llama, duck, hamster, pig, dogs and cats. For the first time, America had an opportunity to influence the selection of the newest Cadbury Bunny by voting online, and their favorite, Lieutenant Dan, was the winner!

"The outpouring of support for our Lieutenant Dan was just amazing! We received so many heartwarming messages saying how much joy and inspiration he brings to people's day," said Laura Person, Lieutenant Dan's owner. "We love him but to see the love America showed for him means so much to our family. We are thrilled for him to be the next Cadbury Clucking Bunny and his rambunctious spirit shows how excited he is as well."

To celebrate his victory, Lieutenant Dan will be receiving $5,000 and the Cadbury brand has also donated $10,000 to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the longest-standing animal welfare organization in North America which serves as the nation's leading voice for animals.

Follow along to get the latest information from Cadbury USA:

https://www.facebook.com/CadburyUSA/

https://twitter.com/CadburyUSA

https://www.instagram.com/cadburyusa/

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019, is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 16,500 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty.

For 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit: www.thehersheycompany.com

Follow:

https://twitter.com/hersheycompany

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company/?trk=top_nav_home

https://www.facebook.com/HersheyCompany/

https://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany

https://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany/

Contact:

Kaylee Dugan

Phone: 717-203-3113

[email protected]

Casey Hamilton/Zeno

Phone: 973-836-9562

[email protected]

SOURCE Cadbury
Worried pharmacists claim they have been 'completely forgotten' by the government after they failed to provide them with enough gloves or facemasks to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic.

Pharmacists across Britain are still dealing with hundreds of patients every single day while the rest of the country is on lockdown at home.

They say they are being forced to buy their own disposable gloves and are only allowed to use up limited supplies if they come into contact with someone who has coronavirus.

Although people with symptoms are being urged to stay at home, chemists say concerned family members are still coming in and putting theirs and other people's lives at risk.

One London pharmacist told MailOnline her boss banned her from wearing a facemask because they would 'frighten patients'.

She also claimed abusive customers frustrated by prescription delays have threatened to 'burn down the pharmacy' and one even spat on vital medical supplies in a fit of rage.

London pharmacist Nikita Patel, 28, told MailOnline her boss banned her from wearing a facemask because they would 'frighten patients'

Worried pharmacists claim they have been 'completely forgotten' by the government after they failed to provide them with enough gloves or facemasks. Pictured: A pharmacist at work in Enfield, north London

Today hundreds of people across Britain (St Albans, Hertfordshire pictured) were seen waiting for pharmacies to open

A Boots pharmacy in London is pictured with empty shelves after people started stockpiling pain relief medication

Ms Patel claims hundreds of other pharmacists have taken to social media to express similar frustrations (posts pictured)

On Friday, NHS England wrote to every health trust to inform them they had sent out a delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) to each GP surgery, dental practice and community pharmacy in the country.

Health officials claim pharmacists have 'limited need' for protective gloves, masks and aprons.

But pharmacists up and down the country say they are being forced into close contact in a confined space with as many as 200 people a day and have not got enough equipment to protect them.

Nikita Patel, 28, is a locum pharmacist from London and works at a number of chemists across the capital.

Speaking to MailOnline, she said: 'I worked from 7.30am to 9pm yesterday and saw about 200 patients.

'People aren't meant to be coming in if they've got symptoms, but some people are walking in saying things like 'oh my son has it, but I still need to talk to you.'

'I have seen patients who have tested positive one or two days later and there's nothing I can do about it.

Crowds of people are pictured waiting for a pharmacy to open today in Batheaston, Somerset

Patients are pictured queuing six feet apart along a high street in London today

'It's very scary. I could have caught it from someone and be going to work every day infecting other people. That could have fatal consequences.

'I know doctors and nurses are doing an amazing job, but everything seems to be about them, there's nothing about pharmacists.

'We have been completely forgotten. We are all doing our best and we deserve to be protected.'

The 28-year-old, who qualified five years ago, said she has been forced to buy her own disposable gloves at some pharmacies because there aren't any being provided for staff.

In another chemist she worked at over the past week there were only regular surgical masks available, which do not offer the right protection against COVID-19 and can risk spreading the virus further.

At a different pharmacy in the capital, staff only had facemasks that had gone out of date and were no longer effective.

Ms Patel claims hundreds of other pharmacists have taken to social media to express similar frustrations.

One chemist wrote on Facebook: 'Inadequate PPE and uncertainty about public and personal safety at work thus pharmacy inadvertently causing more spread...'

A sign on the door of one pharmacy in London reads: 'Respect social distancing'

Ms Patel added: 'People are also getting really abusive if their medication isn't ready.

'A colleague of mine burst into tears yesterday because they said 'if I don't get this and I die it's on you'.

'One man wanted to see me in the consultation room, but I explained we are trying to practice social distancing so I could only offer to see him in a quiet corner.

'He didn't like that so he walked out spitting on everything as he went.

'People started going crazy, saying 'what are you going to do about that, you have to throw that away.

'But we can't just throw stuff away, we need that stuff, so we wiped down as much as we could but we had to chuck some baby supplies out.'

Another chemist complained on social media: 'Disgraceful verbal abuse off patients.

'The lack of testing for COVID-19 means right now 60 per cent of my work force can't even be in work because they are self-isolating.

'This will ultimately mean people will die because there aren't enough people to dispense all medication.'

Today hundreds of people across Britain were pictured waiting for pharmacies to open.

Patients are pictured queuing for a pharmacy in Emmer Green, Reading, today

While some were abiding by social distancing rules, which require people to be at least six feet apart in public spaces, many others were not.

Shelves were also seen empty as people stockpiled pain relief medication.

Pharmacists are allowed to continue going to work so they can give out life-saving medical supplies to patients, despite the Prime Minister imposing an obligatory lockdown last night.

But there was fury last week after Mr Johnson failed to explicitly name them in his list of healthcare 'key workers'.

Ravi Sharma, England's Director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, told MailOnline the Government is not giving pharmacists enough support.

He said: 'Pharmacists are putting their lives on the line to help other people. These are front line staff.

'If they don't get adequate protection or the right quality protection, they could get COVID-19 and they are their whole team won't be able to work and their pharmacy could close. Where will people get their medicine from then?

'These are our NHS heroes. So we were really disappointed not to have been recognised explicitly on the list of key workers for the brilliant work pharmacists are doing around the clock to fight this pandemic. From a morale perspective, it's a massive kick in the teeth.

He added: 'I volunteered in a pharmacy on Saturday and we are still seeing people who are symptomatic coming in. People lean in over the counter and put you at risk. The Government needs to be clearer in its advice.'

Ms Patel also fears the spread will continue in pharmacies nationwide if no action is taken.

She said: 'They are refusing to give us testing kits, so we could already have it and be passing it on.

'We are in contact with people every day. We don't have the option of leaving stuff at the door like delivery drivers do. We should be protected.'

A NHS England spokesman said: 'The Department of Health and Social Care has secured millions more items of personal protective equipment which is going out to frontline staff, and every community pharmacy across England should have received a delivery.

'While the NHS is using high quantities of equipment to protect staff and combat the virus, the full weight of the Government is behind ensuring our staff have the high-quality protective equipment they need.'
In an attempt to help the Lebanese overcome their country's unprecedented economic crisis, a group of young Lebanese expats has recently launched the online platform JobsForLebanon.com. The free job posting platform is accessible to people from various skills and aims to facilitate the recruitment of qualified people in Lebanon.

"What if we could create jobs in Lebanon," a targeted campaign which was recently launched, is inviting Lebanese around the world to join forces to hire qualified talents inside Lebanon. Helping them find paid jobs and develop their careers is in fact one way to help face the country's economic crisis in a sustainable way.

JobsForLebanon.com relies on SmartRecruiters, an innovative, robust and scalable recruitment software system. Designed to increase the productivity of recruiters and used by 4,000 companies, including IKEA, McDonalds and Twitter, this system promotes collaboration with recruiting teams. "It is a complete recruiting product modeled on SmartRecruiters to create jobs, receive applications, send offers and hire people. With this job portal, we are creating links with all existing initiatives," Roy Baladi, who launched the project, told LOrient-Le Jour. Baladi lives in San Francisco and heads the communications department at SmartRecruiters.

In four days, JobsForLebanon.com was visited by people from 126 countries. Some 84 jobs were posted and 616 applications were submitted. Companies from all over the world, including Angola, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, France and the United States, have posted specific job vacancies looking for professionals of all ages: producers, graphic designers, writers, developers, animators, social network specialists, math and piano teachers, accountants and CFOs (Chief Financial Officer)," said Baladi. "A second targeted campaign for Lebanon will be launched this week.





Hiring Lebanese talents

It was during his last stay in Lebanon in December that Baladi and a few of his friends "decided to act" to find a solution for unemployment caused by the financial and economic situation in the country. They, thus came up with the idea of creating JobsForLebanon.com to hire top talent on freelance basis. "The banks have failed and half the country, including my childhood friends and family members, is without work," he said. "I was not particularly a gifted kid in school, and seeing much brighter, cultured, skilled, and educated people jobless made me feel guilty and angry." He called for sparing "90 seconds" to watch their campaign video and share it. "It is very possible that we'll reach the global diaspora and create an alternative economy through this website."





Hashtag #MakeLebanonWork

The objective of JobForLebanon.com is to join forces with Lebanese expatriates from around the world to create jobs on mainly freelance, but also full-time bases. The message of these young expats is strong and engaging. Lebanon is suffering. The economy is collapsing. Businesses are closing by the dozens. Unemployment rate is skyrocketing, but they are over sixteen million Lebanese outside Lebanon and you are one of them, like me and me and me. So if you want to be part of the change, to help those who are struggling to create the Lebanon our youth dream of; a Lebanon that has a chance for a future; a Lebanon youll be proud going back to, you can do it by providing jobs for those who are there fighting to realize their dream. It sounds impossible? Just go to JobsforLebanon.com and post a job your company would give to a freelancer, an applicant from Lebanon. There are thousands of highly skilled people. People with the experience you are looking for: consultants, lawyers, designers, high tech architects, animators, editors, translators, and so many more. Join us. Together, we can unleash the power of the Lebanese community. No matter where we are. Together, we can keep the economy alive, contribute to change and actively participate in a new Lebanon. Together we can make Lebanon work."

The targeted campaign explains its objective as follows: "Lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. The Lebanese pound is losing its value, businesses are closing at a frightening pace, unemployment is skyrocketing. This crisis is affecting all segments of society.

Job opportunities are vanishing. Highly educated, experienced, and talented individuals are sliding into poverty or fleeing the country.

Nows the time for us, the 16 million Lebanese living abroad, to get involved. Lets create an alternative economy to revive the Lebanon

we know and love. Lets act. Lets #MakeLebanonWork."

The team also developed the Bayt.com mobile app to facilitate the process of finding and applying for jobs, receiving job application updates and staying connected to employers. For jobs in the Middle East, Handiss app is the talent management tool used by the construction industry to hire full-time engineering and architectural professionals, contractors and freelancers. Its a beautiful, hopeful initiative that opens up new international horizons for young people.





Who are they?

The initiators of this project are:

Production: Roy Baladi and Nicolas Sakr

Finance: Yalda Aoukar

Communications: Neal e-Jor and Kinda Awad

Marketing: Michelle Hajjar, Georges Achkar and Anita Karam

Creative affairs: RheaNasard

Product and Design: Edwin Baladi

Design: Fabienne Weiszegger

Partnerships: Audrey Issa





(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 20th of March)




Last August, President Donald Trump stood before workers in Western Pennsylvania, where Shell Oil was building a new natural gas processing facility, and celebrated the nations shale boom.

"Thats our gold, Trump declared. Thats gold underneath our feet."

For almost the entirety of his administration, Trump has bragged about U.S. energy dominance and the riches that oil and gas would bring to the country thanks to his administrations full-throated support. Now, however, Trumps dream of a golden, dominant energy industry is almost gone and, industry executives said, so is his full-throated support.

The collapse of energy prices because of the coronavirus crisis, combined with Saudi and Russian refusals to curb production, has already forced the suspension of the Shell project that Trump touted in Western Pennsylvania. The crash is also estimated to knock out about half of all shale producers, according to analysts at Raymond James Inc., if prices remain at between $20 and $30 per barrel. (The price as of midday Monday was $22.73 per barrel by the standard West Texas Intermediate benchmark.) A price at that level would cost thousands of jobs and deal a serious blow to the vision of U.S. energy independence.

"There is no sugar-coating it, U.S. oilfield activity will collapse with oil prices well below $30," on the WTI benchmark, said analyst Praveen Narra of Raymond James in a market update published on March 23. "The pace of rig count declines is likely to occur at a pace we have not seen before."

Worse, some industry executives say, Trump seems either not to recognize the threat or to be unwilling or unable to address it, touting instead his excitement over lower prices for consumers.

"Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!" Trump tweeted on March 9, as the domestic oil price fell by 25 percent.

In POLITICO interviews, half a dozen industry officials who have talked with White House officials in recent days described Trump as slow to comprehend the twin body blows a global pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia would have on an industry he has long supported. Oil prices at $20 a barrel threaten to rain destruction on an industry that has donated $1.8 million to Trump's reelection campaign and employs hundreds of thousands of people in states key to any hope to beat his eventual Democratic rival for the presidency.

Story continues

Already, Trumps favorability is quite low in Texas  45 percent in a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll from early February, before the coronavirus crisis  compared to other predominantly Republican states, and he similarly lags in next-door New Mexico, a Democratic-leaning state which he hopes to win.

The president wants lower gas prices to a point, but this well exceeds that point, and the administration knows this, said Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary LLC, a Denver-based oil services firm, and a major Republican donor who regularly speaks with senior White House officials. The bigger worry for the administration from what I understand is helping an industry that consumers think produces fountains of gold. People that have spoken to the White House - myself included - are concerned that the administration doesnt realize that the U.S. oil industry will eventually cease to exist at sub-$30 oil.

The White House declined to comment for this story.

So far, the energy sector has been the target for relatively little direct assistance through federal legislation, compared to the transportation and financial services industries. But most industry executives said they can live with that if the administration exacts diplomatic pressure on Russia and Saudi Arabia to rein in production, a move that, if successful, could raise prices back up and put more cash in the industrys coffers than a bailout.

Oil prices began falling over the winter when Russia refused to enter a new agreement with Saudi Arabia and its fellow OPEC members to cut oil production to prop up prices. Saudi Arabia responded by saying it would lower its own prices and raise production in a bid to steal market share from Russia and bring it back to the negotiating table. Those moves represented a breakdown in the pact between the two nations that had kept their crude production in check over the past four years  a strategy that had paved the way for U.S. shale producers to move aggressively into the global market.

When the coronavirus started to hit in full force, global demand plunged, sending prices plummeting.

Trumps first shot at convincing Saudi Arabia that a flood of oil during a global pandemic could seriously hurt the U.S. economy came in a telephone call with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on March 9, just as the kingdom was starting to put its foot on the production gas pedal. A White House spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO the two leaders talked, but gave no indication how the call went.

Two people with knowledge of the call told POLITICO that Trump told the Saudi leader that he was fine with the kingdoms plans to produce more oil to try to squeeze Russia out of certain markets. He only asked that the coming flood of oil not drive prices down far enough to hurt U.S. producers.

Keep [prices] low, but keep it viable for U.S. drillers to remain in business, was Trumps message, according to a former senior administration official who was briefed on the call. It wasnt a difficult conversation. It was just, Hey, want to make sure were on the same page here. Saudi said, We gotcha.

But the size of the resultant wave of oil, which caused prices to drop by more than 25 percent in the two weeks since the phone call, caught the administration off guard, the official said.

"No one thought it would go quite this low," the person said. "It was, woah, we didnt think it would get to this."

At a Thursday press conference, Trump again praised low gasoline prices as a stimulus to the economy, though he noted it would also damage the oil industry.

Its like a massive tax increase, Trump said before correcting himself to mean a tax decrease. Thats bigger than any tax increase  decrease that you could give. You know, we can give all these big tax cuts, but theyre paying so little for gasoline. But, on the other hand, it hurts a great industry and a very powerful industry.

That statement gave some in the industry a glass-half-full outlook. One lobbyist who requested anonymity to discuss relations with the White House said that Trumps even mentioning a possible downside to the collapse in oil prices should be considered progress.

Thats as close as hes ever going to get to saying theres a happy medium on oil prices, the lobbyist said. Hes beginning to understand.

Not everyone shared that view, however.

This is a very powerful industry, quoted a second longtime industry lobbyist who requested anonymity to speak candidly about his quarrels with the administration. What the f--- does that mean? Do you understand that youre seeing an inordinate amount of pressure on one of the largest resources in this countrys economy?

The only direct federal aid the administration has offered is a plan to expand the U.S. strategic reserve, which would provide a short-term surge in demand and boost in prices. The Department of Energy said it will buy 77 million barrels, an amount for which Senate Republicans offered $3 billion in an aid bill they offered Sunday but which failed to garner enough votes. But even that volume would be a relative drop in the bucket when Saudi Arabia is talking of increasing its own production by more than 3 million barrels per day.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchins proposal to spend another $20 billion on buying oil, floated on Thursday, was instantly dismissed as unrealistic as the country is already almost out of space to store it. By summer, oil companies may have to pay customers to take the oil off their hands, Mizuho bank energy analyst Paul Sankey wrote last week.

Instead, Trump will rely on his complicated relationships with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia  the crown prince known as MBS and Russian President Vladimir Putin  to try to preserve oil prices.

Trump might have some success in persuading Saudi Arabia to reduce production, but he has little hard leverage, said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, senior oil analyst at Rystad Energy. The best option would be to remind the 34-year-old crown prince that Trump stuck by him even after the kingdoms killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and its imprisonment of Canadians sparked widespread condemnation.

The U.S. response to that was very mild in comparison with many other Western nations who were quick to condemn it, Rodriguez-Masiu said. The U.S. was in particular silent.

The former senior administration official said that was, in fact, the administration's own understanding of its leverage in any future outreach to Saudi Arabia over the oil market war.

Among this administration, theres a feeling of, We stuck by you when no one else would,  the former official said. Who was there when you kidnapped Canadians? Who stuck with you with Jamal Khashoggi? Who stuck with you when you were an international pariah?

Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has made the Mideast a key part of his White House portfolio, enjoys a good relationship with the Saudi crown prince. But the rest of the presidents team is largely untested, and industry officials openly doubt that he has the right people in place to wring concessions from two countries accustomed to hardball negotiations over oil drilling.

The administration waited until last April to swear in retired Army General John P. Abizaid to the long-empty position of U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The National Security Council only recently chose Major General Miguel Correa to permanently handle matters pertaining to the Persian Gulf and North Africa, a hire the White House hasnt formally announced yet.

In recent days, the State Department has stayed in contact with foreign governments to help calm the energy market, a senior department official said in call late Friday with reporters.

Weve been engaged, multiple parts of the U.S. government have been engaged, urging greater calm to the market when the economy is facing some real challenges, the official said.

When asked by POLITICO whether that diplomatic message gets muddied by Trumps repeated praise for low gasoline prices, the official simply said no and declined to elaborate.

In this top-down administration, energy executives are counting on personal appeals to Trump to bolster their cause. But they arent sure how to make the approach.

On March 19, industry representatives discussed with administration officials a draft letter asking Trump to redouble efforts to pressure Saudi Arabia to curb production, a person involved with the group told POLITICO. But staff at the State Department suggested sending the letter instead to Kushner instead, as the statement might be "too blunt" for the president, the person said.

At that point the companies threw the letter away, the person added.

In the absence of action by Trump, some officials outside the administration are making their own overtures to influential industry figures outside the United States.

Ryan Sitton, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, the entity that regulates oil and gas drilling, told POLITICO that he called OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo on Friday and talked to the cartel leader for an hour about how the oil crash was hurting the global economy. Sitton said Barkindo told him that he couldnt take any official action until OPECs next meeting in June.

I might connect with the Saudi oil minister and the Russia oil minister, Sitton continued. He also said he talked to White House officials, though he said the Covid-19 response was distracting them from the havoc in the energy industry.

They dont have a lot of bandwidth, Sitton said. Yes, they know the energy industry is sharing in the crisis, but theyve got a whole lot of areas that are bigger priorities right now. My objective is to find solutions so when the president does have the bandwidth to move on this we have some options for him to move positively."


A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a resolution suggesting that the coronavirus is a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins.

In the resolution introduced on Monday, state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz is calling on lawmakers to designate March 30 as a A State Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer in Pennsylvania.

The Clinton County Republican said Pennsylvanians may be comforted by turning to a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer.

In her resolution, Borowicz states: The united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our new divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

PennLive reached out to Borowicz but could not immediately reach her.

Borowicz last year sparked controversy when she offered up an evangelically fervent prayer before the start of the House of Representative session. The prayer was widely seen as having been divisive and proselytizing in nature. Both run counter to prayer guidelines set by the chamber.

Borowicz states in the resolution: It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow; and with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth.

Borowicz adds that nations are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world just like humans are.

She calls that on March 30, all Pennsylvanians abstain from ordinary secular pursuits and to unite in their homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion...

Pennsylvania Republican State Rep Stephanie Borowicz has introduced in response to #COVID19 a resolution designating March 30, 2020 as A State Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer in PA. I do believe this is the stupidest resolution Ive ever seen a politician introduce. pic.twitter.com/QSP9kzNon7  Rep. Kevin J. Boyle (@RepKevinBoyle) March 23, 2020

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed Tuesday there were 207 new coronavirus cases in the state. That brings the statewide total to 851.

The report of 207 new cases is the largest one-day total so far in Pennsylvania. As of Friday afternoon, Pennsylvania had the 10th-most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to CNN. New York had the most with 25,665 and West Virginia still having the least reported cases (in the continental U.S.) with 20.

Borowicz, an evangelical Christian, echoes rhetoric recently espoused by prominent evangelical leaders, including some with close ties to President Trump. Some of them have claimed to have the power to cure the coronavirus through prayer.

Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas, a megachurch, last week delivered a sermon suggesting that the coronavirus is a judgement from God.

Trumps spiritual adviser, Paula White-Cain, has called on Christians to continue praying for an end to the pandemic, referencing the Old Testament story of a plague God sent on the Israelites for a failed rebellion against His chosen leader, Moses, and his brother, Aaron.

The resolution has engendered outrage from among other lawmakers.

Rep. Kevin Boyle, Democratic Chair for the House State Government Committee, took to Twitter to offer his thoughts: I do believe this is the stupidest resolution Ive ever seen a politician introduce.

Rep. Dan Frankel, Democratic Chair for the House Health Committee, said in a statement to PennLive:

Its painfully ironic that in her resolution Rep. Borowicz references Lincoln, who sought to unite a nation divided by the moral virus of slavery. Its ironic because right now the Pennsylvania government is working to unify to combat this epidemic of the Coronavirus. Borowicz, using archaic language specific to her personal faith tradition, simply divides us by forcing her belief system on others.

In her resolution, Borowicz cites a proclamation from President Abraham Lincoln designating March 30, 1863 as a day of fasting and prayer.

Frankel said his office remains focused on helping Pennsylvanians heed the guidance of public health experts, who recommend social distancing to stave off the contagion rate of coronavirus.

As a public servant, I believe that is my role, not directing the personal faith practices of my fellow Pennsylvanians, Frankel said.

This report has been updated.

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An uninsured Massachusetts woman who is also battling cancer was hit with a $35,000 hospital bill after she tested positive for coronavirus.

Danni Askini, who has lymphoma, said she started having symptoms of the virus at the end of February.

On February 29 she visited the ER at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center where she says she was initially denied a test for coronavirus.

Massachusetts woman, Danni Askini, who is also battling cancer was hit with a $35,000 bill after she tested positive for coronavirus

Danni Askini, who has lymphoma, said she started having symptoms of the virus at the end of February. On February 29 she visited the ER at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (partial bill breakdown) where she says she was initially denied a test for coronavirus

Askini's hospital bill shows that the COVID-19 test alone cost her $907 (highlighted left)

According to her hospital bill, Askini visited the same ER on March 1. She says she didn't receive a test on that visit either.

It wasn't until her third visit on March 6 that she received a test for the coronavirus after her symptoms worsened.

During her first ER visit, Askini was not insured. She and her husband were preparing to move to Washington, DC, where she was about to start a new job, according to Time.

And after her treatment, she received the bill totaling 34,927.43.

'I was pretty sticker-shocked,' she told the news site. 'I personally don't know anybody who has that kind of money.'

In a tweet, Askini shared a photo of her bill that revealed the COVID-19 test alone cost her $907.

During her first ER visit, Askini (pictured) was not insured. She and her husband were preparing to move to Washington, DC, where she was about to start a new job. And after her treatment, she received the bill totaling 34,927.43

'I was pretty sticker-shocked,' Askini said about the bill she received from the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (file image). 'I personally don't know anybody who has that kind of money'

'I got excellent care, I am immunocompromised, but this will take a decade to pay off,' she tweeted.

Askini has also tweeted her story at President Donald Trump asking him to 'please help'.

Her treatment and testing took place before Congress passed a bill to provide free testing for the coronavirus.

Askini has since re-applied for Medicaid with hopes that the program will retroactively cover her bills.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of teenagers have been stuck in quarantine in a hostel near Lima, Peru as a result of borders closing and flights being canceled.

Wellesley resident Jenna Holland, who attends Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, is one of the group. The 16-year-old went on a study abroad program called The Traveling School along with 15 girls of similar ages and four teachers.

President Donald J. Trump opened Sundays White House press conference with an update on their situation.

Were working very hard on getting a young group of people out of Peru, said Trump. Weve removed some and the rest are being removed with the cooperation of the Peruvian government.

As you might imagine, this is a complex situation, and we are committed to the health and wellbeing of our group as we work to bring them home, states the schools website. Like many of you, our students are grappling with what experiential education looks like in a very different setting.

According to her father, the teachers are using the experience as a learning opportunity.

Getting her on a plane and back to us, itd mean everything to our family, said father Peter Holland in an interview with WBZ. I think everybody is feeling that the simple things in life right now are what matters.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has also been working to bring the girls home by working with the State Department and in some cases with other travelers who have been able to make it back to the U.S.

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Related Content:
Borno State Government Stops Visits To IDP Camps



As the world battles the Coronavirus pandemic, the Borno State government has banned visitors to all Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the state.

The 4-week ban was announced by Chairperson of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo. According to her, the state took the decision as one of the strategies to prevent importation of the virus at the camps, adding that the measure became necessary as some of the neighbouring countries like Chad Republic and Cameroon have recorded suspected cases.



Kolo explained that despite closure of the borders by the neighbouring countries, there was still influx of IDPs into the state. The Borno SEMA Boss directed all camp managers from Gamboru-Ngala, Damasak, Kalabalge, Banki, Bama and Monguno not to accept IDPs from any neighbouring country into their camps.



We know we have a lot of threat around us following sighting of suspected cases of the virus in Cameroon and Chad and we have some border towns very close to those countries. We do not want to go to the issue of response because even in developed countries, it was difficult for them to contain this pandemic. So at our own level, we are positioning ourselves to see how best we can stop the virus from transmitting in the state she said
GREENVILLE, S.C., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Medical Laboratory Services (PMLS), an industry leading diagnostic laboratory, headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, is announcing today they are now validated for COVID-19 testing. The laboratory is currently increasing its testing capacity of 1,000 tests per day with plans to reach 28,000 per week in the coming weeks. Now available to hospitals and physicians offices throughout the United States, the test is developed under CDC guidelines for patient testing under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

Developed at PMLS's 40,000 sqft COLA and CLIA regulated laboratory, results of this molecular diagnostic test are anticipated to be provided within 24 - 48 hours upon lab receipt of the testing sample. Lead times may extend due to volume. Assisting with PMLS's testing capacity and quick turn around of results is their use of OnGen, a cloud-based Laboratory Information System (LIS) which allows testing orders to be entered and communicated directly to laboratory instruments. Expedited detection of the virus will enable further efficiency in response time to employ the appropriate courses of action for containment of the virus.

"We are proud of our team for working diligently around the clock so that we could attain validation status and increase access to testing, which is urgent at this time," Kevin Murdock, Founder of Premier Medical Laboratory Services said. "Our lab is at the forefront of the most advanced technology and science available, providing cutting edge diagnostics to help flatten the curve of this global pandemic."

According to recent statements by the FDA, rapid detection of COVID-19 cases in the United States requires wide availability of diagnostic testing to control the emergence of this rapidly spreading, severe illness. The World Health Organization has urged all countries to test every suspected case. "We have not seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Premier Medical Laboratory Services' COVID-19 test is a part of their comprehensive respiratory pathogen test. It is developed to determine the full causation for symptoms that a patient may be experiencing, as COVID-19 can exist as a co-infection. These results deliver vital knowledge - ruling out or detecting multiple causative pathogens and allowing a physician to provide the most suitable care for their patients during this critical time.

Hospitals and physicians offices can provide COVID-19 testing by clicking on the following link for easy account activation with PMLS: www.premedinc.com/covid-19

ABOUT PREMIER MEDICAL LABORATORY

Premier Medical Laboratory Services (PMLS) is a CLIA and COLA regulated laboratory based in Greenville, South Carolina focused on providing clinically meaningful results to medical practitioners. Premier Medical Laboratory Services offers a variety of highly specialized tests including: the only Type II Diabetes molecular predisposition test available in the U.S., advanced cardiovascular testing, hereditary cancer screening, carrier screening, women's health panels, pharmacogenomics, serum allergy testing, blood wellness, Hepatitis C genotyping, respiratory pathogens, gastrointestinal pathogens, and more. In addition to its specialty programs, Premier Medical Laboratory offers a comprehensive testing menu of general chemistry, immunoassay, and hematology tests. The company also is proud to offer a patient friendly billing policy. For more information, please visit www.PreMedInc.com or call 1.877.335.2455.

Media Contact:

Kristina Loughrey

[email protected]

864.360.5848

SOURCE Premier Medical Laboratory
Ghana's coronavirus cases have risen astronomically to 52, according to Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu.



He made this disturbing disclosure at a press conference on Tuesday.



According to him, 25 new cases are imported from the 1,030 people who are under mandatory self-quarantine in some hotels in Accra.



"Out of the 185 test results received, we have 25 of those quarantined tested positive. If you add on to the earlier number of 27, it means we have 52 tested positive in our country at the moment. Those in quarantine, we have actually deployed psychologists to have chats with them. We are also in the process of handing them over to our case management teams we have set up. We have started taking them to isolated centers for case management," the Health Minister said.



Ghanas president Nana Akufo-Addo announced in an address to the nation on Saturday that all borders  air, land and sea  will be closed to human traffic from Sunday midnight in a bid to contain the Covid-19 disease.



This closure will not apply to goods, supplies and cargo, he said in the address.



He warned that anybody who arrives in the country within the next two weeks will undergo mandatory quarantine and tested for the coronavirus.



In a related development, Immigration officials say 21 persons have been arrested at the Elubo border for attempting to enter Ghana illegally.





Ghana's coronavirus cases have risen astronomically to 52, according to Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu.



He made this disturbing disclosure at a press conference on Tuesday.



According to him, 25 new cases are imported from the 1,030 people who are under mandatory self-quarantine in some hotels in Accra.



"Out of the 185 test results received, we have 25 of those quarantined tested positive. If you add on to the earlier number of 27, it means we have 52 tested positive in our country at the moment. Those in quarantine, we have actually deployed psychologists to have chats with them. We are also in the process of handing them over to our case management teams we have set up. We have started taking them to isolated centers for case management," the Health Minister said.



Ghanas president Nana Akufo-Addo announced in an address to the nation on Saturday that all borders  air, land and sea  will be closed to human traffic from Sunday midnight in a bid to contain the Covid-19 disease.



This closure will not apply to goods, supplies and cargo, he said in the address.



He warned that anybody who arrives in the country within the next two weeks will undergo mandatory quarantine and tested for the coronavirus.



In a related development, Immigration officials say 21 persons have been arrested at the Elubo border for attempting to enter Ghana illegally.

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.

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Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to reports that his son refused to isolate himself upon return.

Atiku had on Sunday revealed that his son tested positive for the deadly disease.

He said he has been moved to Gwagwalada specialist hospital.

But reports on Monday emerged that Atikus son attended a popular club in Abuja, as well as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDPs rally that was held in Ibadan.



But reacting Atiku in a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe debunked the reports.

Describing the reports as a false narrative, Atiku said his son returned to the country on 17th March via Switzerland from some business engagements in France and Switzerland and isolated himself when he returned to Abuja.

He urged Nigerians to disregard the perfidious information that his son accessed open location.

The statement reads, The clinical case attended a private meeting of six (6) persons same day in Lagos, stayed in his private house for the night and took an Aero 5.20pm flight to Abuja on the 18th.

The case did not travel with his family or any other but travelled alone by Emirates Airline.

The case wore face mask as a precautionary measure since his arrival in Nigeria.

The case did not show symptoms of infection and voluntarily placed a call to NCDC on arrival in Abuja late on the 18th to inform them he had returned from COVID-19 prone country and desired to be tested.

On the 19th, NCDC took his blood sample which result came positive on the 20th. He subsequently went into self-isolation to protect his family within his own house.

Meantime his son has since tested negative while his wifes result is being awaited. The two persons are currently in self-isolation.

We urge members of the public to disregard the perfidious information that the case accessed open location. He was not at Play Lounge nor any other club in Abuja as being mischievously bandied about.

The case neither attended the Friday Jumua prayers nor any social gathering until his evacuation to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital on the 20th where he is being treated and managed.

We thank Nigerians for their prayers and support through this difficult time. Once again, it needs to be restated that the risk and danger of #COVID19 is real.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Dublin Bus sacked a long-serving driver after he declared 10 buses defective over a two-day period because of collapsed cushions on his drivers seat.

All of the buses were subsequently examined by Dublin Bus engineers and mechanics, who could find nothing wrong.

One of the buses the driver complained about had been fitted with a new seat two days earlier.

When asked by an inspector to point out the defect, the driver allegedly pointed to a crease on the side of the seat cloth.

Some of the buses were in instances where the driver had taken over from colleagues who had driven them without complaint.

The driver was sacked by Dublin Bus for gross misconduct after it found the complaints were not genuine but instead a deliberate disruption of Dublin Bus services.

He worked for Dublin Bus from September 2001 until his dismissal on May 31 last year.

The driver sued for unfair dismissal at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and adjudication officer Jim Dolan concluded the complaint of unfair dismissal is not well founded.

Mr Dolan found that, on the balance of probabilities, the seats in question were not defective and the decision to dismiss was proportionate.

Sanction

The driver told the WRC he has a back-disc issue, which could be compounded if the seat is not correctly fitted.

He argued that he reported the defects in a bid to ensure his workstation was conducive to his personal needs.

It was argued on behalf of the driver at the WRC that Dublin Bus did not act in a reasonable manner and that the sanction of dismissal was disproportionate.

The driver was seeking reinstatement to his position.

It was submitted on behalf of the driver that he was acting for the good of all concerned in reporting defects as detected by him.

It was further submitted that the driver did his duty and followed company policy.

It was argued at the WRC that the records will show he was a vigilant driver and took health and safety as important for him, his colleagues and most importantly the public.

The WRC hearing was told that the mans experience as a union representative compelled him to speak up on behalf of his co-workers and himself.

The driver had a similar issue before Christmas 2018 which resulted in his dismissal. However, he appealed internally and this was reduced to a final written warning.

The driver stated that he highlighted faults as he saw them and the complaints were genuine.

The WRC was told the driver was not refusing to do his duty as it was his duty to report faults.
New Delhi

Till Tuesday evening, north-west Delhis Ashok Vihar had 16 houses whose outer walls had been plastered with red notice labels by the district administration announcing that around 25 occupants had been put under home quarantine.

It was last week, on March 19, when a 22-year-old man after having returned home from the United Kingdom had tested positive for Covid-19 and was shifted to a government-run quarantine facility in Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur.

Government rules mandate that anyone returning to India after travelling abroad or anyone who has come in contact with a carrier/potential carrier of the disease but have not shown symptoms are required to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. This is mainly because most people who develop symptoms of COVID-19 do so within 12 days of getting infected with the virus. The incubation period varies from 2-14 days, which requires them to be in quarantine for at least two weeks.

According to local resident welfare associations (RWA), initially, neighbours of the 22-year-old  whose houses are under quarantine  had made frantic calls to the association, with some even calling the police, fearing that they might have been infected.

However, as days passed and the city was put under a lockdown from Monday, people have become more accomodating to their neighbours in quarantine.

Initially, there was some panic in F and H blocks where a number of houses were marked. People started viewing it as a high-risk area. I got calls from many people asking me what to do, as vegetable vendors and domestic helps were still going in and out of all the quarantined houses. We then had to call up families in quarantine and tell them to ensure that outsiders do not enter or exit their houses. People are still anxious, said HC Gupta, president, Federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs.

The families under isolation have reached an arrangement to ensure that they keep getting their essential supplies.

Family members of houses under quarantine call up vegetable vendors, who leave the required items at the doorsteps, which they collect later. For groceries too, neighbours have come forward to help buying a bulk of the items and leaving it at their doorsteps to be collected later, he said.

Gupta added, around 3.5 lakh people reside in Phase I-IV of Ashok Vihar. Despite the lockdown, many people are still stepping out for no reason while some are letting domestic helps in. We have been issuing circulars repeatedly asking people to stay indoors and take all the precautions. Only one entry gate has been kept open for essential services. Even newspaper vendors have been barred from entering, he said.

Shashi Aggarwal, a resident of H-block, too confessed that the situation initially was that of panic.

There were some concerns when the case was detected. However, right now we are following all necessary precautions. Doorbells have been sanitised, entry gates cleaned regularly, said Aggarwal.

Though an essential service, it was after three days on Tuesday that the garbage collection vehicle had come in the area. On Tuesday, there was a long queue of people holding out their bins to be emptied into the vehicle.

Also, not many were aware of the order that was issued by the Centre-run Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) on Monday about garbage being generated in residences of those under quarantine to be treated as biomedical waste which was to be collected separately.

Yogesh Verma, local councilor and deputy mayor, north corporation, claimed, We are ensuring sanitation workers reach the respective areas. The order (of treating garbage from quarantine homes as biomedical waste) was issued yesterday, for which an agency has been hired by the Central government that will be collecting the waste from houses under quarantine.

On Tuesday, people could also be seen queuing up at local pharmacists for medicines for common flu, sanitisers and masks. Ashok Monga, who owns a chemist shop in the nearby market, said, Throughout the day people kept coming in to ask for medicines for cold and cough. There is a queue for masks and sanitisers, as the number of houses under quarantine here has gone up over past few days. We are using gloves while catering to customers.

Mayank Kukreja, 22, a resident of F-block who had returned from Ireland eight days ago and has since tested negative for Covid-19, said he had put himself under voluntary self-quarantine.

He is worried for his mother, who has had flu symptoms even before he came back and is planning to get her tested., but local clinics here refused to see patients with cold and cough.

Though I tested negative, I have remained under isolation ever since my return. We have not let anyone in or out. I am worried about my mother, who had flu like symptoms before I returned. But the clinics here are refusing to treat flu patients and rather asking us to take her to a hospital, said Kukreja.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer from the north-west district, said that their teams have been communicating all government advisories to residents but still they had been receiving some calls daily. We are in constant touch with the RWAs. If there is any violation of quarantine rules, we inform the health department. On Tuesday, we received a call from Wazirabad area where the caller informed us that a person had come back from abroad and that we should take him away. We had to counsel them over the phone, the officer said.

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LUDHIANA: Indias largest bicycle maker Hero Cycles announced the setting up of a Rs 100 crore contingency fund on Tuesday to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The fund will be used as and when required to support employees, suppliers, customers and communities across India.

The organisation has also reached out to the governments of Punjab, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where it has major facilities, offering help to address the crisis.

An emergency monitoring cell headed by Pankaj Munjal, chairman, Hero Motors Company, will closely monitor the economic repercussions of the pandemic and its impact on organisational supply chains.

The cell is overseeing the planning of supply chain resumption as and when the situation normalises, medical support for employees and their families, and support for communities around key manufacturing facilities.

This global pandemic has unleashed unforeseen consequences and economic crisis across industries. We understand that long-term lockdowns are bound to impact the supply chains and livelihoods associated with our business. At such a time, we want to make sure that we do our best in cushioning our partners, distributors, associates, employees as well as the communities we work in against economic troubles. As an organisation that stands for the principles of business with a humane approach, we are allocating Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to help the entire ecosystem around our organisation survive this crisis. We are also reaching out to different state governments to offer all possible help, Pankaj Munjal said on Tuesday.
As hacking bid fails, WHO warns impersonators are posing as the agency to steal money and sensitive information.

Hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month, sources have told Reuters, amid what a senior agency official said was a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks.

WHO Chief Information Security Officer Flavio Aggio said the identity of the hackers was unclear and the effort was unsuccessful. But he warned that hacking attempts against the agency and its partners have soared as they battle to contain the coronavirus, which has killed more than 16,000 people worldwide as of Tuesday.

The attempted break-in at the WHO was first flagged to Reuters by Alexander Urbelis, a cybersecurity expert and lawyer with the New York-based Blackstone Law Group, which tracks suspicious internet domain registration activity.

Urbelis said he picked up on the activity around March 13, when a group of hackers he had been following activated a malicious site mimicking the WHOs internal email system.

I realised quite quickly that this was a live attack on the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic, he said.





Urbelis said he did not know who was responsible, but two other sources briefed on the matter said they suspected a group of hackers known as DarkHotel, which has been conducting cyber-espionage operations since at least 2007.

Messages sent to email addresses maintained by the hackers went unreturned.

When asked by Reuters about the incident, the WHOs Aggio confirmed that the site spotted by Urbelis had been used in an attempt to steal passwords from multiple agency staffers.

There has been a big increase in targeting of the WHO and other cybersecurity incidents, Aggio said in a telephone interview.

There are no hard numbers, but such compromise attempts against us and the use of (WHO) impersonations to target others have more than doubled.

Stealing money

The WHO published an alert last month  available here  warning that hackers are posing as the agency to steal money and sensitive information from the public.

And government officials in the United States, Britain and elsewhere have issued cybersecurity warnings about the dangers of a newly remote workforce as people disperse to their homes to work and study because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The motives in the case identified by Reuters are not clear. United Nations agencies, the WHO among them, are regularly targeted by digital espionage campaigns and Aggio said he did not know who precisely at the organisation the hackers had in their sights.

Cybersecurity firms including Romanias Bitdefender and Moscow-based Kaspersky said they have traced many of DarkHotels operations to East Asia  an area that has been particularly affected by the coronavirus.





Specific targets have included government employees and business executives in places such as China, North Korea, Japan and the United States.

Costin Raiu, head of global research and analysis at Kaspersky, could not confirm that DarkHotel was responsible for the WHO attack but said the same malicious web infrastructure had also been used to target other healthcare and humanitarian organisations in recent weeks.

At times like this, any information about cures or tests or vaccines relating to coronavirus would be priceless and the priority of any intelligence organisation of an affected country, he said.

Officials and cybersecurity experts have warned that hackers of all stripes are seeking to capitalise on international concern over the spread of the coronavirus.

Urbelis said he has tracked thousands of coronavirus-themed web sites being set up daily, many of them malicious.

Its still around 2,000 a day, he said. I have never seen anything like this.
Another pastor has been put before the court in the Ashanti Region for holding church service in defiance of the presidents directive against such gatherings as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The pastor, who is the General Overseer of Truth to Heaven Ministry, Apostle Moses Daganu Ametepe and five of his Church members were arrested on Sunday for holding service at Dompoase-Aprabon in the Ashanti region.

The other members are Eric Anim Acheampong, Richard Addai, Richard Domfe Mensah, Johnson Kwame and Rexford Agyei.

During the court proceedings, the magistrate, Her Worship Rosemarie Afua Asante, asked the prosecution to amend the charge sheet to include the Restrictions of Imposition Bill which was recently passed by Parliament.

She subsequently granted the six persons bail to the tune of GHS10,000 with two sureties each.

The case was been adjourned to Thursday, 26th March, 2020. Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie granted bail

Meanwhile, another pastor, Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie and his son, Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie Junior have also been granted bail after flouting the directive.

Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie, who is the head pastor of Open Arms Ministries, was arrested last Wednesday with two of his members for holding service despite the ban but they were granted bail by the police.

A few days later, the police moved in to arrest the pastor against at his Church's premises at North Suntreso for holding a Church service on Sunday.

During the court proceedings, the prosecutor, Chief Supt. Kofi Blagodzi, indicated that the two were arrested for violating article 58 of the 1992 Constitution after they defied the directive of the President.

The two accused persons pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution, the accused persons said they were rather having a meeting to take a decision on the way forward for the Church and were not more than 25 persons at the time.

The prosecution further added that 23 other persons who were in the Church on Sunday, have absconded.

Their lawyer, John Brefo prayed the court to grant his clients bail.

The Magistrate cour presided over by Her Worship Rosemarie Afua Asante subsequently granted Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie and Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie Junior bail to the tune of GHS10, 000 with two sureties each and are supposed to reappear in court on Thursday, 26th March 2020.

---citinewsroom
Helping Philadelphias estimated 5,700 homeless people, especially those who suffer from addiction, during the coronavirus crisis presents city and nonprofit leaders with unique problems and no easy solutions. Read more

The city is planning to turn a Center City hotel into Philadelphias first coronavirus quarantine site, and use it to house homeless people who test positive for the virus, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

The city will rent all 13 floors of the Holiday Inn Express near 13th and Walnut Streets, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans.

The hotel, which has more than 100 rooms, is expected to open as a quarantine site by the end of the week. People showing signs of the virus and awaiting test results will quarantine on certain floors, one of the sources said. Anyone who tests positive will be treated in isolation by medical staff on other floors.

City Managing Director Brian Abernathy said he would not confirm any quarantine sites the city opens during the coronavirus crisis, but spoke about the citys plan for the facilities, which he said are for people who dont have any other place to shelter.

That could include health-care workers who show symptoms during a shift and cannot go home, Abernathy said. Decisions about which non-homeless people will use the facilities will be made on a case-by-case basis, he said.

It would depend on the advice of doctors about how someone should specifically quarantine, he said.

The city will provide food to everyone at the quarantine sites and will offer other services to homeless people, including help with finding permanent housing.

Helping Philadelphias estimated 5,700 homeless people, especially those who suffer from addiction, during the coronavirus crisis presents city and nonprofit leaders with unique problems and no easy solutions. Providers have already had to overhaul and, in many cases, drastically curtail their services as they struggle with the reality that social distancing isnt built into their service models.

Homeless people who are diagnosed with or test positive for the coronavirus at one of the citys federally qualified health centers will be transported to a quarantine site, Abernathy said. The city is exploring options for handling people who are diagnosed with the disease but refuse to quarantine. People with positive test results will not be allowed to come and go from the facility, he said. The city is still working to assemble the support staff and medical personnel needed to operate the site  and gather needed supplies like masks and gloves, one of the sources said.

Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district includes the Center City hotel, said he supports the plan.

I told them that any hotel in my district would be great, Squilla said.

Squilla was one of the most vocal opponents of a plan  which was abandoned after neighbors complained  to open a supervised injection site in South Philadelphia as part of Mayor Jim Kenneys effort to combat the opioid crisis.

But Squilla said the coronavirus pandemic is different.

I dont mind. I mean, listen, I think we need to do it, Squilla said. Its got to be somewhere.
[March 24, 2020] Nokia delivers record 5G capacity gains via software upgrade



Press Release Nokia delivers record 5G capacity gains via software upgrade Lab test used Sprint 5G with E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and MU-MIMO to deliver huge network capacity gains

Vastly increases network capacity delivering up to four times the capacity

Operators to benefit as demand for 5G services set to double by 2022, according to Statista1 24 March 2020 Espoo, Finland  Nokia today announced that it hit a milestone in the delivery of enhanced 5G capacity via a software upgrade on Nokias commercial AirScale solution. The lab test delivered approximately 3Gbps total downlink cell throughout and was performed using Sprint 5G with a software upgrade of E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and Multi-User-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)  the first time this has been achieved. When the service is made commercially available, it will allow operators to vastly increase their network capacity via a software update without having to invest in additional spectrum. The test, which utilized Sprints 2.5 GHz spectrum as well as commercial devices such as hotspots, leveraged Massive MIMO to achieve 16 layers of MU-MIMO to deliver up to four times the total downlink cell throughput. Typically MIMO consists of 2 layers of network capacity. Massive MIMO, which was invented by Nokia Bell Labs, considerably multiplies the capacity of a wireless connection without requiring additional spectrum. Nokias AirScale Dual Mode Massive MIMO for 5G and LTE solution was used to deliver multi-gigabit cell downlink throughput. The servce uses existing hardware but requires an upgrade to the software in the base station which can be performed remotely. This means that operators will be able to offer enhanced services without any requirement for site visits to change hardware or transport.



EN-DC allows devices to add throughput to LTE and 5G networks  resulting in higher user throughput. Typically, operators use two radios for LTE and 5G, however, for this test Nokia used a single AirScale unit. Nokia and Sprint have launched 5G service in areas of four cities in the U.S, which are New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Phoenix. Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia, commented: This is the latest achievement from our long-standing relationship with Sprint. The demand for 4G and 5G mobile data continues to rise exponentially and this impacts network capacity. This test is an important milestone as it will help operators to vastly increase capacity now and in the future, helping to deliver excellent customer experiences while keeping costs to a minimum.

Resources: Webpage: 5G

YouTube: Sprint and Nokia launch 5G in New York, LA, Washington DC and Phoenix

Web page: Nokia AirScale Notes to Editors: 1.) https://www.statista.com/statistics/271405/global-mobile-data-traffic-forecast/ About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks. Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia. Media Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone: +358 10 448 4900

Email: [email protected]



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A man in Missouri was arrested after police say he filmed himself licking a row of deodorant at Walmart to make a statement about coronavirus.

In the video  which can be seen here  a man stands in front of shelves of deodorant and asks Whos scared of coronavirus? Dont touch your mouth? before licking a row of merchandise.

The video appears to have been shared to Snapchat before making its way to Twitter where its been viewed more than 4 million times as of Tuesday.

A man in Missouri was arrested after police say he filmed himself licking a row of deodorant at a local Walmart.

The coronavirus, which has infected nearly 400,000 people worldwide, is believed to be transmitted person-to-person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Police in Warren County said the man has been arrested, according to a statement posted to Facebook Monday. He was identified in court records Tuesday as Cody Lee Pfister, 26, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hes charged with a second degree terrorist threat, the outlet reported.

The incident took place on March 11, according to the Post-Dispatch.

. 

Officials said the department had received reports of the video from all over the world.

This particular video ... has gained some international attention and we have received numerous reports about the video from locals, nearby residents, as well as people from the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the statement released on Facebook March 23 said. We take these complaints very seriously and would like to thank all of those who reported the video so the issue could be addressed.

Warren County is located just west of St. Louis.

On Sunday, British news broadcaster Piers Morgan posted to Twitter calling for the mans arrest and the denial of healthcare should he contract the virus.

Other Twitter users shared his outrage.

Arrest and lock up, one user wrote.

Ive had people tell me Im paranoid for not taking the item at the front of the display and washing packaging when I get home, wrote another. THIS IS WHY, HATERS. THIS IS WHY.

Arrest him, wrote a third. How sad that this generation does stupid crap like this to feel important and relevant.

Earlier this month, a man in Texas was sentenced to 30 days in jail and more than $2,000 in fines and restitution for opening and licking a carton of Blue Bell ice cream at Walmart last year, CNN reported.
C hina will lift restrictions on movement in most areas of Hubei province, ending a lockdown of the area brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.

People who are cleared will be able to leave the province after midnight on Tuesday.

Restrictions on the hardest-hit area of Wuhan, a city of 11 million where the virus originated, will remain until April 8.

China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan and the wider province on January 23 as Covid-19 began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday, when many Chinese travel.

Hubei has had almost no new infections for more than a week.

It comes on the first day of a near-lockdown in the UK.
Visakhapatnam: Owing to the lockdown across the state, people who have to travel due to an emergency are having a tough time. So are the sick and the old who cant get their medicines or go to hospital.

With cabs and autorickshaws also off the streets from Monday, patients from neighbouring states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh who come to Vizag for treatment are stranded.

N. Srilatha, a cancer patient from Bilaspur, said that she could neither get an ambulance nor a hired vehicle to reach the hospital in Vizag for chemotherapy.

If I miss a session in the treatment schedule, there is a risk of the disease returning or turning into advanced stage of cancer. Though the police allow patients to travel, it is hard to find a vehicle during the lockdown period she said.

Many heart patients in neighbouring states come to hospitals in Vizag for regular check-ups and to get their medicines. The ban on travel means they are confined to their homes without getting proper treatment.

This was the case of M.V.A. Mohan Rao, a heart patient living in Vizianagaram, who said, The medicines for my health issue are available only at one or two pharmacies in Vizag. I tried to buy it online but in vain. Im not in a position to go myself, and police personnel wont allow my son to travel.

Vizianagaram deputy transport commissioner Ch Sri Devi said: Ambulances are free to move across the district. If any patient or a family member carries the prescription the police will permit them. But strict action will be taken on those who try to roam unnecessarily by showing fake medical slips.
The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 23 reportedly met the Taliban leaders in Qatar in a bid to end the political deadlock. According to international media reports, Pompeo flew to Qatar after a surprise visit to Kabul. The recent meeting marked the highest-level talks ever between the two sides as he sought to break an impasse over Afghanistan through shuttle diplomacy.

While speaking to an international media outlet, State Department Morgan Ortagus said that Pompeo went into a closed-door meeting with three Taliban leaders including Mullah Baradar, who is an Afghan insurgents formerly imprisoned top negotiator. Ortagus said that the US will press the Taliban to comply with the agreement signed last month. He further added that if the Taliban deliver on commitments on terrorism and other things that they are committed to, then the US is also very much committed to reducing the force and meeting the obligations.

Read: US Envoy Says Afghanistan Held First Prisoner Exchange Talks With Taliban

According to reports, Pompeo also held a separate and joint meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his archival Abdullah Abdullah. The State Department official reportedly said that Pompeo met with the leaders to help push, to encourage and to point out what US expectations are and what assessment is if they dont do the right thing.

Pompeos visit to Qatar came right after the Afghan governments and Talibans fist discussion on prisoner exchange. The United States special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, took to Twitter and said that the prisoner-swap was urgent as the coronavirus pandemic was complicating the diplomatic contacts. In a tweet thread, he further added that all sides conveyed their strong commitment and also agreed to follow-on technical meeting in the next two days.

Read: Coronavirus: Taliban Advises People To Pray; Assures Passage Of Health Organisations

US-Taliban deal

The US signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on February 29 which laid out the timetable for America's full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the period of 14 months marking the US' exit from its longest war. According to international reports, the accord is expected to lead the way for a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government, and if it turns out successful, it would end an 18-year-long conflict.

The deal was signed in a conference room of luxury Doha hotel, with Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker, Mullah Baradar alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Reportedly, as Baradar and Khalilzad finally inked the accord, the people in the room shouted, 'Allahu Akbar'. Before that Pompeo had also urged the insurgents to 'keep your promises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda'.

Read: Kabul Attack: President Ashraf Ghanis Office Condemns Heinous Taliban Attack Amid Dialogue

Read: Afghan Peace Deal: Ashraf Ghani Agrees To Release 1,500 Taliban Prisoners To Initiate Talk
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently signed and promulgated Directive No.11/CT-TTg on urgent tasks and solutions to help businesses overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ken Atkinson, founder and senior board advisor at Grant Thornton Vietnam

Ken Atkinson, founder and senior board advisor at Grant Thornton Vietnam, assesses the impact of the economic measures to facilitate businesses in the face of the global pandemic.

First and foremost, we really need to put matters into perspective and try to avoid any unnecessary panic, as Vietnam has done and continues to do a great job in terms of containing the spread of the virus. So far the number of cases is much lower than most of our regional neighbours and so far there have been no fatalities.

The government has been working hard and in addition to efforts on the medical front they are also evaluating how to help support business. Directive 11 is a move in this direction and covers a broad range of measures. This can be considered timely, in view of the strains being put on government departments with containment and prevention being the initial primary focus and certainly much needed to support businesses.

The measures outlined in Directive 11 are fairly wide-ranging but all positive and designed to support business generally. Some of the measures are not new and have been in process for some time, such as removing obstacles and reviewing and cutting administrative procedures. Hopefully more attention will be focused on these matters as a result of the directive, and in particular for industries that have been hit the hardest in the initial phase of COVID-19 like aviation, ground transportation, and tourism and hospitality.

However, as those of us who live here know there is often disconnect between the good intentions of central government and implementation and understanding at a local level. If government efforts and measures are to achieve the desired results, these issues need to be addressed.

Of course whatever measures are taken will not alleviate the immediate challenges faced by various sectors of the economy, for example tourism and hospitality. No measures are going to bring back tourists until regionally or globally COVID-19 is seen to be under control and such enablers like visa exemptions are reinstated and quarantine requirements removed.

Tourism numbers have dropped dramatically (well over 50 per cent) and are set to drop further with the temporary withdrawal of visa exemptions from European countries and total loss of inbound visitors from our three largest inbound markets of China, South Korea, and Japan.

Certainly helping speeding up the disbursement of investment capital and committed public spending on infrastructure will help support the economy generally, as will any measures to assist the import and export of goods, to keep production moving. In fact, trade volumes held up well in the first two months of the year in spite of the outbreak, largely due to mobile phone exports and in particular Samsungs exports and move of some manufacturing to Vietnam.

The main things that business needs generally and the economy needs is keeping people in jobs and generating income, so the focus needs to be on helping companies weather the downturn in business, reducing costs of doing business, and encouraging people to spend. Therefore, reducing and/or deferring corporate income tax, social and health insurance costs, and value-added tax are critical, as is the acceleration of public investment as called for under Directive 11.

Several potential measures have been suggested but it seems that we are waiting for further approvals and more detailed implementation measures before these can be put into effect. So swift action on these is recommended as keeping people employed and incentivising companies to minimise layoffs is also a key to supporting business and the economy. Similar measures were introduced during the SARS crisis so we already have a template for these measures which were applied successfully at that time.

Access to working capital loans and rescheduling of existing loans for financially sound businesses is also imperative, as addressed as part of the credit support package announced by the State Bank of Vietnam, but this needs to cover well-managed and viable small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as big business.

Unfortunately, most lending in Vietnam is asset based, whilst many of the businesses needing financial support will probably not have assets to pledge to secure emergency funding and this is something that will have to be addressed by the government.

In fact, if the outbreak lasts over six months, nearly three-quarters of firms in Vietnam could go bankrupt as their revenues will fail to cover operational expenses, according to a survey by the Private Economic Development Research Board with the Governments Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform.

The next step major step after prevention and containment and immediate support for business is to prepare marketing and promotion plans, to be implemented as soon as we see that COVID-19 is under control and the number of new cases starts to fall globally. This will be important especially for such sectors as tourism, transportation, and trade so plans need to be ready to be implemented at the press of a button to let the world know Vietnam is again open for business.

However, with the new measure to suspend visa exemptions for several countries, along with e-visas too, the message is clearly that Vietnam is closed to visitors from Europe and other countries with a high number of cases.

So this will make it harder to reinvigorate trade and tourism from those countries, when e-visas and visa exemptions are reinstated. This is a good illustration of the dilemma facing the government, when having to make conservative decisions regarding containment and prevention versus business needs.

In addition, there needs to be a reliable source of up-to-date information regarding such things as changes in and travel restrictions, areas that are quarantined, advice on containment and prevention. This source needs to be widely publicised to avoid the spread of false or inaccurate information to business and the public at large. The foreign business chambers would be a good vehicle for distributing information to foreigners living and working in Vietnam.

To conclude, the situation is of concern to all of us but I personally see no need for panic and COVID-19 needs to be kept in perspective. Businesses should have proper contingency plans in place in case of quarantine requirements for staff and/or offices.

The government will need to look at financial and non-financial measures to support business, and the government and private sector will need to have appropriate plans in place for promoting Vietnam and the fact that the country is again open for business.

It will be difficult for many businesses and for families with loved ones diagnosed with the virus but Vietnam has shown resilience in the past and also has a good track record in containment, prevention, and treatment. VIR

Ken Atkinson (founder and senior board advisor at Grant Thornton Vietnam)
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to hold a press conference on the COVID-19 outbreak, which has infected more than 20,800 people in the state as of Monday.

New York has been the hardest hit state in the country, recording more cases of the coronavirus than South Korea, France or Switzerland, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. On Monday, Cuomo issued an emergency order Monday directing hospitals to increase their capacity by 50% but asked they try to go above that threshold if possible.

Cuomo also estimated up to 80% of the state's more than 19.4 million residents will get the coronavirus. Last week, Cuomo estimated there are likely "tens of thousands" of COVID-19 cases in the state among residents who didn't know they had it.

"Many people will get the virus but few will truly be in danger," he said Monday.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. stands at more than 46,400 and at least 593 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 12:53 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d124d6 1 National Indonesia,health,hygiene,poverty,Jakarta-COVID-19,clean-water,sanitation Free

As COVID-19 spreads throughout the nation, the 20-second hand-washing routine has echoed across the airwaves and has been religiously inscribed on both conventional and social media.

From medical professionals to celebrities, everyone and their mothers have preached about the importance of hand washing  still deemed the best weapon against the new coronavirus strain, in the absence of a working vaccine or antiviral drug.

In Indonesia, however, hand washing appears to be a luxury activity for the tens of millions of citizens who have no access to clean water.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data in 2018 shows that just 74 percent of the population has access to clean drinking water, and an even lower percentile for regions outside urban areas.

The data also indicates interregional water inequality, with citizens in the eastern half of the country having lower access to clean water than those in the western half of the country.

Read also: Some Indonesians try to ward off COVID-19 with talismans, rituals

The BPS data from 2019 shows that only 76.07 percent of the population had access to public hand-washing facilities that provided soap. Papua recorded the lowest figure with 35.55 percent of the regional population having access to such facilities, followed by East Nusa Tenggara with 51.92 percent and Aceh with 64 percent.

None of the country's 34 provinces recorded figures above 90 percent, not even Jakarta, which recorded 73.18 percent.

In the capital Jakarta, which has emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country with 579 confirmed infections and 49 deaths as of Monday, a lack of access to clean water still haunts many low-income families given the absence of regulations in property rights, among other reasons.

The Jakarta administration has set a target of expanding the citys tap water coverage to 82 percent by 2023 from the current figure of 62 percent, although experts believe the real figures might actually be lower. Nila Ardhianie, the director of the Amrta Institute for Water Literacy, said that coverage could range between 30 and 35 percent based on users' water needs.

As a result, untapped households  especially in North and West Jakarta  have had to resort to buying from water vendors commonly operating by cart, with each person spending as much as Rp 360,000 per month, she said.

Households in Jakarta commonly comprise four to five family members, with a median income of Rp 3.36 million for poorer households, according to 2019 BPS data  meaning that water consumption is likely to add a significant burden to these families spending.

The sluggish progress in expanding tap water coverage, especially to low-income households, has been attributed by the Coalition of Jakarta Residents Opposing Water Privatization (KMMSAJ) to the privatization of water utilities.

The KMMSAJ filed a civil lawsuit against water privatization in 2013, arguing that private operators Aetra and Palyja had failed to provide clean water for all households.

Read also: What you need to know about Jakartas water privatization

At the moment, low-income groups are faced with difficulties in maintaining hygiene  they can hardly afford to wash their hands, let alone gain access to drinking water. As a result, they are very prone to being revictimized by the coronavirus infection, the group said in a statement issued on Sunday. March 22 is celebrated as World Water Day.

The group called on the Jakarta administration to take over the citys tap water management in order to provide good quality and affordable water for all layers of society, rather than allowing private companies to focus water resources on lavish gated communities, apartments, hotels, malls and office buildings.

Only then, the group argues, can people follow proper social-distancing etiquette and maintain good hygiene, as officials have called for in a bid to suppress further transmission of the virus.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said last year that his administration would gradually take over the management of tap water from private operators in spite of a recent Supreme Court ruling that backed continued privatization.

He said that the takeover was important in order to correct the existing agreement between the government and the two private operators, which has allowed the firms to manage the citys tap water uninterrupted from 1997 to 2023.

Jakarta-owned tap water company PAM Jaya president director Priyatno Bambang Hernowo told The Jakarta Post on Monday that his office was still in the process of negotiating a new agreement on the takeover with the two private firms, saying that the company would in the meantime be focused on maintaining clean water provision amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Priyatno gave an assurance that the company would reach even more households by June, adding as many as 30,000 new customers in North and West Jakarta. Additionally, the company has set up a number of portable sinks in public spaces including transportation hubs and stations, and was planning to add more at 30 points across the city in the next two weeks.

Read also: Indonesians show generosity in crowdfunding initiatives to fight COVID-19

Amrtas Nila urged the Jakarta administration to go beyond what was already being done, underscoring the importance of good hygiene as the first line of defense against the coronavirus and a wide array of other diseases.

Residents who face economic difficulties during this pandemic and hence cant fulfill their monthly water payments should be given an exemption. They should allow residents to report their water needs to call centers, she said.

Activist Sandyawan Sumardi, who leads the House of Humanitarian Solidarity of Jakarta, said the government's handling of the outbreak was "extremely bad and late" when it came to protecting lower-income families.

The urban poor have little or no access to hospitals due to the high costs, and [cant be expected to lead] a hygienic lifestyle because they have no hand sanitizers or masks, let alone think about social distancing, he said.

If they dont go out to work for just one day, they wont be able to eat.

Although the majority of Indonesias confirmed cases are still centered on Java, experts have voiced concerns about the virus spreading further across the country, including into rural areas where the healthcare system is still largely inadequate. The first confirmed case in Ambon, for instance, had a history of travel from Bekasi in West Java, just on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Meanwhile, communities have moved fast to raise donations to ensure that low-income families can get access to masks and hand sanitizers, while the University of Indonesia has plans to set up 44 portable hand-washing stations in public spaces across Greater Jakarta, including in traditional markets.
Several educational institutions in Lucknow have switched to virtual classrooms amid the lockdown over rising novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases.

For instance, City Montessori School (CMS) has adopted e-learning for its students to compensate for days missed due to the lockdown.

CMS is using the Google Classroom platform, a free web service that aims to simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way.

Google Classroom is an easy platform for students to access lessons, study materials and submit assignments shared by their teachers. It is a versatile application that can be used on a desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile phone. It is convenient for both students and teachers, said Geeta Kingdon, president of CMS.

Each teacher and student has been provided with a unique email id to log in to Google Classroom and access study materials. The schools information technology department carried out a Google Classroom refresher course for all the teachers after Holi as the authorities anticipated closure over the Covid-19 scare.

Hemant Kumar, father of Annanya Verma, a grade three student of CMSs Gomti Nagar Campus, said that her daughter was getting regular lessons and assignments from her teachers. Annanya has learnt how to use Google Classroom well, he said.

Shilpa Arora, mother of Anwita, a class five student of the CMSs Gomti Nagar campus, expressed satisfaction as her daughters time was being productively utilised, despite the lockdown. Anwita learns her lessons and completes her daily assignments. Initially, she found it a little difficult to access online resources, but she got a lot of support from her teacher. Now, she can do it easily, Arora said.

City International Schools students are following a daily timetable of two to five hours of home study. The timetable includes brushing up of spoken English in front of a mirror, experiential learning and doing worksheets designed as self-learning lessons, Google Hangout webinars and assignments posted on Google Classroom, said Sunita Gandhi, director, City International School.

Online learning is the best way to educate children, who otherwise would have suffered immensely because of the mandatory closure of schools to maintain social distancing because of the Covid-19 outbreak, Gandhi said.

Study Hall School teachers are sharing assignments and complementary videos online daily to students between grades one and eight. We are sending worksheets and projects to students. We are also sharing some self-explanatory videos to make them understand the concept, said Shalini Sinha, principal of Study Hall.

Study from home is a good initiative. Students need to prepare the topics assigned by their teachers and repost the videos, she added.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 24 : With people violating lockdown norms in Kerala on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for its strict implementation as the number of coronavirus positive cases increased by 14 to 105.

"Among the positive cases are one health professional, eight who returned from Dubai (UAE), and one each from Qatar and the UK," said Vijayan. The total number of people under observation at homes increased to 71,944 and 466 in hospitals.

"At no cost would this (violations) be allowed. From now on, every time a person drives out he will have to keep with him a declaration about his destination. This will have to be shown to the police.

"In private vehicles, apart from the driver there should be only one adult member. Anyone who violates the guidelines will be taken to task and there will be no mercy shown to the law-breakers," said Vijayan.

During the day, State Police chief Loknath Behra took to the streets in the state capital to advise people against making needless trips.

Stating that every day the shops selling essential items should open between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m,", the Chief Minister warned the profiteers of tough action.

Vijayan also said several places had been identified that could be converted into medical facility centres.

"We have also sought support from volunteers, whose service might be required, to do the job of patient bystanders. A good number of youths are ready for it and this is a positive sign," said Vijayan.

According to the state police headquarters, 402 cases have been registered against violators of the lockdown guidelines.
The U.S. government will have more work to do to stop the economic fallout from the coronavirus after it passes a massive stimulus bill, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday.

"Legislation isn't enough ... We need demand demand from real people," the "Mad Money" host said.

The demand from American consumers will return when they are healthy enough to shop, go out to eat and attend large events, Cramer said.

"The problem? That can't happen until we have enough ventilators and enough testing to cover the whole population," Cramer said. "The lack of those things and surgical masks are what makes this situation so dangerous. Without them the patient could die and healthcare providers could get sick."

Cramer said he is confident Congress will "one way or another" be able to come to terms on a coronavirus relief package, even as the economic stimulus bill before the U.S. Senate again failed a key procedural vote Monday.

"Once Congress passes this bailout bill, both businesses and individuals will have some cash. But wouldn't it be better to have actual customers?" Cramer said.

While the economic relief package may put a short-term stop to the uncertainty and financial pain facing many Americans, the end of the COVID-19 crisis relies on the availability of medical supplies and equipment, Cramer argued.

"It ends when we get all the ventilators we need. It ends when we get gloves and masks and spare ICU beds," he said. "It ends when we can test everyone who feels sick. It ends when we feel safe going outside again."

The American people want a "sense of hope" that there will be an end date to the new stay-at-home reality, Cramer said.

"A realistic date would at least give us something to look forward to," he said. "However, it's not realistic until the government goes on a war footing and bends over backward to make more ventilators, more masks, and more test stations."
Rhylee Gerber from Below Deck hopes her stepfather John Lowrey will be discharged from the hospital soon.

She shared on Twitter and Instagram that Lowrey decided against having a pacemaker and that her family was looking into hospice care. She added that visitation has been extremely limited due to the coronavirus too.

Rhylee Gerber|Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Lowrey was initially hospitalized when doctors suspected he had blood clots in his heart. However, upon additional investigation, physicians learned Lowrey had congestive heart failure and anemia. Lowrey, who also has stage 4 bone cancer was hospitalized in mid-March.

Gerber announced her stepfather had bone cancer in May

Gerber made the heartbreaking announcement in May 2019 that Lowrey had metastatic bone cancer. At the time she had planned to spend the summer working on a fishing boat in Alaska. In light of Lowreys diagnosis, she wanted to be closer to her family who lives in Florida.

She shared the news because her former employer was less than understanding with the situation, taking negative shots at the deckhand too. Gerber shared a screenshot of the text exchange she had with her former employer, which became rather heated. My stepfathers situation cannot be helped, she wrote. Ive taken on financial obligations as well as the burden of knowing this isnt easy for my mother or my stepdad and is likely to just get harder.

Gerbers former boss then lashed out at her. Times up. Thanks for screwing us all over. Luckily, even at this late date. Your position has easily been filled, the employer wrote. Such a disappointment, but we shouldve seen it coming. Laughing stock is the crazy thing! You[re] getting more popular than you can imagine. Everyone is waiting on you to become a porn star at this point. Lets hope you do better at that than fishing.

The family also faced skyrocketing medical expenses

Gerbers stepfather needed treatment, which they hoped would extend his life. The treatment, Provenge was going to set the family back $22,000 per treatment and Lowrey needed three treatments. Gerber started a GoFundMe to help her family cover the costs.

Rhylee Gerber | Photo courtesy of Rhylee Gerber

Thankfully the drug maker saw Gerbers fundraiser and was able to work with the family to reduce the cost. Her mother, Judy wrote a message of gratitude on the GoFundMe. We feel very fortunate and blessed and lucky that we have two wonderful daughters that reached out through the gofund me program to help us with this, Judy wrote. And were grateful that the pharmaceutical company was able to reach out to us and give John the treatment that he needs.

Gerber was once again faced with more costs. When Lowrey was recently hospitalized, she was shelling out hundreds of dollars to ensure her stepfather had the right medical equipment at home and maintain the property while her mother was by her stepfathers side. As a result, she auctioned off her gorgeous green BCBG dress, which she wore on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. She sold the dress on eBay and now prepares to make sure her beloved stepfather gets home soon.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 24, 2020 17:29 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d31a82 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,social-distancing,police,National-Police,Polri Free

The National Police are set to press criminal charges against those who continue to hold mass gatherings after being warned against doing so amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. M. Iqbal said people who persisted to gather in large numbers could be punished by up to 12 months imprisonment or fined up to Rp 900,000 (US$56.25). Those charges, he said, were stipulated in articles 212, 216 and 218 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

If people do not listen to our warnings, our officers will press charges based on prevailing laws, Iqbal said during a press conference on Monday. We have to do this since public health is our top priority at the moment."

According to the KUHP, those who violently defy state officers, including the police, face up to one year and four months imprisonment or a fine of up to Rp 450,000. The law also states that people who continue to gather after three warnings by law enforcement officers face up to four months and two weeks imprisonment or a fine of up to Rp 900,000.

Read also: More than 1 billion told to stay home worldwide over virus

Iqbal said the police had deployed 460,000 personnel to disperse mass gatherings across the country. However, he said police officers would not charge anyone without warning them first.

If they dont listen to us, we will take further action, he added. We have ended many mass gatherings, including several wedding receptions, over the past few days and we havent encountered any rejections from the public when performing such actions.

National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis issued an edict on Friday banning mass gatherings in both public places and on private property, following President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction for all people to work, study and worship from home in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

As of Tuesday morning, Indonesia has reported 686 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 55 deaths.(glh)
In light of the coronavirus pandemic statewide warnings have been released to keep people socially distanced, or to keep people from coming into close contact with one another. Across the state, people are urged to practice self-isolating in an attempt to slow the spread of this virus.

However, self-isolation is far from isolating in modern times. Social media and the internet have opened a world of connectedness that has never been experienced before. With this unlimited resource of information, its almost impossible to miss an article, post, or meme having to do with the virus. One click leads to another. In no time, the situation begins to feel hopeless.

A helpful way to overcome feelings of doom and gloom may lie in the outdoors. Nature may benefit mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Being outside in March may not sound ideal, but according to an article from the University of Minnesota, exposure to nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. (https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing)

Connecting with nature does not have to involve a hike or even leaving your backyard. Below are five ways to get outside and recharge this week. A little time with nature may do you some good.

Read a Book

The sun is finally showing itself here in Central New York. Take a book outside and read. Whether on your porch or on a picnic blanket, taking time to be outside with a favorite character or story can rejuvenate. Ask friends to join in on a virtual book club or invite them to a virtual reading challenge.

Find a Favorite Trail

Although you should be practicing a social distance of at least six feet from other persons, you can still head outside to immerse yourself in nature. Spring is an exciting time in the woods. Birds are migrating back, woodland creatures are awakening from their hibernation, and streams are running with snowmelt. There are many public trails in Central New York. Whether you are a seasoned trail user or not, getting outside is good for physical and mental well-being. Perform an exercise in wonder when walking. Take your mind off of the virus and enjoy the view. Always check local trail conditions before heading out. Dress appropriately and bring water and food. Do not forget to check for ticks when you get back inside! Please note that many public spaces, including nature centers and museums, are closed or are in the process of closing. Trails at parks, nature centers and nature preserves may still be open to the public. Call ahead and check social media accounts for the most up to date information.

Identify a Tree

Ever wonder what that tree is in your backyard? This could be an excellent time to find out. There are many resources online for you and friends to figure out what that tall, dark, and handsome .. .I mean budding, tree might be. Once you identify one tree, who said you cannot try to figure out another? Remember not to share personal or physical materials such as books or electronic devices and to keep a distance of at least six feet from other persons.

Squirrel Spy

Squirrels are all over the place in Central New York. Take a step outside and its likely that within a few minutes, you will notice one of the grayish-brown creatures darting around. Although it may seem mundane, watch the squirrel quietly for three minutes. What do you notice? Taking time to observe this furry friend can help one think about something other than novel COVID-19. You may even make a new friend (just never touch or get too close to a wild animal).

Take a Photo

Spring is here and that means that the outside world is about to burst with life. Take a single picture of the same place or plant once a day or once a week over the course of the next month. At the end of the month, reflect on the photos. You may see a great amount of change has taken place or maybe it stayed the same. You may be surprised at what you find!

Join a Group

Even looking at photos of nature can help calm the mind. According to the same article from the University of Minnesota, individuals who looked at scenes of nature felt a more positive mood and a sense of vitality (https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing). There are several environmental groups, with focuses ranging from activism to native plants, in Central New York. A quick google search can help get you in touch with local, state, and national environmental groups. Although many meetings and public gatherings are postponed or canceled, you can still connect by reading articles, exploring photos, and learning about nature from groups that are passionate about the natural world.

But in all things, keep your distance

The novel COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly throughout the United States. It is believed that COVID-19 spreads through close, person-to-person contact. It is recommended that in public spaces, all persons situate themselves to be at least six feet away from one another. The CDC has provided several ways to help slow the spread of this virus (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html).

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Walmart officials announced a senior shopping hour  6-7 a.m.  for those 60 and up every Tuesday to the end of April, joining most other grocery chains with such arrangements in New Mexico.

In a news release, the company said the senior shopping time will start one hour before stores open to the public, and pharmacies will be available during this time, as well. Vision centers will also be open to help with emergency and essential needs only.

Other grocery locations with special hours for seniors 60 plus and high-risk individuals include the following:

 Smiths Food & Drug from 7-8 a.m., Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

 Albertsons from 7-9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays

 Whole Foods from 7-8 a.m., all week long

 Target stores from 8-9 a.m. on Wednesdays.

Most of these companies also offer curbside pickup with fees waived and all stores have noted that product availability has been limited.

Dollar General recently announced the first opening hour, 8-9 a.m., each operating day will be reserved for senior customers. The stores will also be closing an hour early to allow for time to restock shelves.

We request that customers respect these hours for the health of our community during this time of uncertainty, Aubriana Martindale, Smiths corporate affairs manager said in a statement. We appreciate all of our customers for their kind consideration, whose concern contributed to our decision to provide allocated hours for seniors.

The city of Albuquerque keeps an updated webpage at http://www.cabq.gov/news/coronavirus-impacts-on-city-services for services affected by the virus. Scroll to the bottom of that page for grocery store information.
Businesses, workers, households and the Queensland health system will receive a multibillion-dollar boost as the coronavirus pandemic bites and preparations are made to essentially seal off the state's borders.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said $1.2 billion of the $4 billion rescue package would go towards a health response plan to bring on more paramedics, expand fever clinics and provide "hundreds more beds if and when needed".

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad reveal details of the government's $4 billion coronavirus relief package.

Addressing media on Tuesday morning, Ms Palaszczuk said an expansion of community screening, contact tracing and 13 Health services would also be included.

"We know that over the coming weeks and months there is going to be a huge demand on our hospitals, not just in Queensland but nationwide," she said.
Nothing goes without saying, and I have said and written many times that my father, Harry Weinstein, was crucial to my cooking and eating life. If you have browsed this blog over... Read more
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Vladimir Putin wore a full hazmat suit today while visiting Russia's main coronavirus clinic as the country accelerates its preparations for the pandemic.

The Russian president toured Komunarka hospital in Moscow, seeing Covid-19 patients being treated.

The Kremlin is speed-building a new coronavirus hospital but Putin checked the existing facilities currently handling the bulk of Russia's officially-declared 495 cases, fewer than Luxembourg.

He passed on his 'warmest words of gratitude' to medics.

Russian president Vladimir Putin (front) wearing a yellow protective suit visits a hospital for patients with infected with COVID-19, in Kommunarka on Tuesday

Russian president Vladimir Putin (left) is helped by a specialist wearing a protective suit to take off protective gloves while visiting a hospital for COVID-19 patients

Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured with Denis Protsenko, chief physician of a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the hospital on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia

'I watched them working. They are all in combat posts,' he said. 'I do not want to use these military expressions, but really everything works like clockwork.'

He claimed Russia had 'a good, well-coordinated machine' to tackle coronavirus.

'People know what to do, how to do it, they have everything, they effectively use the available equipment and facilities.

'You can just see from the side how this is all set up.

'And for grave patients, care is visible, three specialists are working around the bed.'

Extraordinary pictures show how Moscow's new coronavirus hospital is '40 per cent built' in just 12 days

A mammoth 92 million construction operation is seeing the rise of a 500-bed infectious diseases clinic from an open field

The 861,113 square feet complex is expected to take its first patients next month

Chief doctor Denis Protsenko said medics were ready to cope with either a Chinese-style scenario or one more like Italy.

'Our hospital is really ready to transform if there are a large number of patients,' he told Putin. 'I have studied in Europe, and [this hospital] is much better...

'It is just like (being in) space.'

Meanwhile extraordinary pictures show how Moscow's new coronavirus hospital is '40 per cent built' in just 12 days.

Describing the project as 'gigantic' - and eventually creating 656 beds - he has promised Vladimir Putin it will be completed 'in the coming weeks'

The hospital is being erected 40 miles southwest of the Kremlin, and will open with 223 intensive care beds and 277 regular hospital beds

A mammoth 92 million construction operation is seeing the rise of a 500-bed infectious diseases clinic from an open field.

The 861,113 square feet complex is expected to take its first patients next month.

Some 5,000 workers are being encouraged with music and 'motivational posters' to complete the hospital as Russia's coronavirus infections rise more sharply - even though they are well behind other large countries.

'They started construction on 12 March,' said Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

Describing the project as 'gigantic' - and eventually creating 656 beds - he has promised Vladimir Putin it will be completed 'in the coming weeks'.

One Soviet-style poster shows the powerful mayor pointing his finger and saying: 'Construction workers! We are counting minutes.'

Another reads: 'Tired and given up? Make way for real fighters!'

Another shows a doctor with patients, reading: 'Construction worker! We need this (coronavirus) centre.'

The construction of new hospital for Covid-19 patients in Moscow pictured on March 12

The Moscow infectious diseases hospital is to be constructed 800km away from the nearest house in Moscow. Pictured: Two diggers on the site on March 12

Construction on the site where the first infectious diseases hospital is to be built in a currently empty field in Moscow. Pictured on March 12

'We have very tight deadlines, and anything that allows us to speed up work is very important for us,' said deputy mayor Andrei Bochkarev.

'On my order, a series of posters was developed, and we will play music at the site.'

The hospital is being erected 40 miles southwest of the Kremlin, and will open with 223 intensive care beds and 277 regular hospital beds.

'I am asking you to understand my decision,' said the mayor.

'I guarantee that it will not pose any threat to the local population.'
India: Hindu leader threatens Christians with new wave of persecution

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The chief of a Hindu nationalist group has launched a nationwide campaign against forcible conversions to Christianity.

In a media interview, Milind Parande, the General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, claimed that Hindus were being forced to convert to Christianity and Islam.

They (Christian missionaries) are destroying the ancient culture and indigenous religion of the tribals (aborigines), Parande told the Times of India. They are resorting to trafficking of their children. The VHP will not allow this heinous conspiracy to succeed.

Issues like love jihad, where Hindu girls are lured to marry Muslims, are also being brought back. Every year, we bring back at least 2,000 people who have got converted.

Several Indian states have had draconian anti-conversion laws, termed as Freedom of Religion Acts, for decades but no Christian has been convicted of forcibly converting anyone to Christianity.

Most attacks on Christians are launched under the pretext of the alleged forcible conversion of Hindus.

According to Indias own population data, the conspiracy of mass conversions to Christianity does not hold up, says the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. "In 1951, the first census after independence, Christians made up only 2.3% of Indias overall population. According to the 2011 census, the most recent census data available, Christians still only make up 2.3% of the population."

Attacks on Christians have been on the rise since Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took office as prime minister in 2014.

Since the current ruling party took power in 2014, incidents against Christians have increased, and Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences, noted Open Doors' World Watch List, which ranked India as the 10th worst country for Christians.

The view of the Hindu nationalists is that to be Indian is to be Hindu, so any other faith  including Christianity  is viewed as non-Indian. Also, converts to Christianity from Hindu backgrounds or tribal religions are often extremely persecuted by their family members and communities, Open Doors added.

At least one Christian was attacked every day last year, according to Open Doors.

Earlier this month, authorities in a southern Indian state of Karnataka removed a statue of Jesus and 14 crosses from a Christian property after radical Hindu groups alleged a Christian center was being used for religious conversions.

The 12-foot statue and crosses were taken down from Mahima Betta, a Catholic cemetery and center, in Doddasagarahalli, about 30 miles north of Bangalore in Karnataka state, according to Catholic News Agency.

Officials had recently called all communities and said there had been complaints about conversion, J.A. Kanthraj, a spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bangalore, told the Indian news channel NDTV. People, however, said there was no problem and no conversion was happening. But two days ago, the tahsildar (official) brought police and a JCB loader, and without any notice, oral or written, they removed the statue and the stations of the cross.

During his first official visit to India, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Modi's record in governance and his willingness to discuss religious freedom. While Trump was in the country, the city of Delhi, the nations capital, was witnessing religion-based violence.

Less than 10 miles from Hyderabad House, where Trump and Modi met in Delhi, a targeted spate of violence killed at least 53 people, mostly from the Muslim minority. Trump told reporters during a news conference that he and Modi did talk about religious freedom for a long time, and stressed that he really believes religious freedom is what Modi wants.
Her experiences are rendered vividly and with an admirable lack of self-pity. There is the school trip to Lourdes where, as a pious 13-year-old, plunked into the holy waters, her hopes of a miracle vanish: After months of thinking about how it would feel, it was already over. My skin was instantly dry. Apart from the purple mottle left by the cold, nothing felt different.

Gleeson has an eye for telling detail: the scent of lilies and formaldehyde that fills with harsh sweetness the summer room where the body of her former boyfriend, Rob, lies. She touches his shoulder. I run my fingers over the joint, but the terrain is not the same. I know the swell of that clavicle, the drumlin of bone, which now juts strangely, broken for sure. I pull my hand away as if scalded. Just a few days before she had begun a relationship with Robs flatmate  a relationship that would be forged in shared grief. A rambling Ginsberg-style poem is threaded through the searing essay: snapshots of Rob (who had an encounter with Ginsberg) in bars, on roller coasters, night swimming. The poem itself is prosaic, but intercut with the terrible events of his death, the reminiscences glow eerily.

Constellations has the makings of an enthralling memoir structured around these experiences. But although the first third of the book sets out in that direction, the remainder meanders. The other essays and poems feel as though they were written as separate pieces at different times and dont enhance or engage with one another. Its not just that the subject matter is diverse; diverse subjects can be pleasingly knit together. But Gleesons essays have no formal consistency. One is an extended riff on the subject of hair; another is a collection of 20 poems and brief meditations structured by the McGill Pain Index (in which patients are asked to choose among collections of words to characterize their pain). Although the poems are weak, the structure is intriguing, yet none of the other essays pick up on the form or play with medical terms.

Gleesons book has a conversational style, and we feel we are in the company of an appealing, sharp-witted person, a member of a lively Irish artistic scene that her writing draws on to good effect. When she veers into cultural critique, however, her observations lose their fresh particularity. She trots out well-worn feminist lines about the politics of Irish abortion, patriarchy and the church with no particularly new insights or analysis, or even surprising anecdotes. She asserts that simply by virtue of being female, female writers are still deemed lesser but offers little evidence. (Her own book  a prizewinning best seller in Ireland  certainly did not follow this pattern.)

In an essay on women adventurers, she complains that the names of the first women to reach the North and South Poles or summit Mount Everest are not famous and not considered real firsts  not as significant as the achievements of their male counterparts, and asks, What women are lost to history in this erasure? She writes about the Japanese climber Junko Tabei, who scaled Everest in 1975, but elides the male Sherpa, Ang Tsering, who dramatically saved Tabeis life, digging her out of the snow when she was unconscious.

Seriously? A woman scaling Everest more than two decades after Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay should be considered a comparable achievement? Tabei herself said, I did not intend to be the first woman on Everest; rather, she wished to be viewed as the 36th person to scale the mountain, just as she wanted women to be evaluated on a par with men in the workplace in Japan.

For a book that begins as a literary work, the final chapter closes it disappointingly, with a long poem addressed to Gleesons daughter with trite you-go-girl encouragement and New Age affirmations. She warns her daughter of inevitable discrimination: Your girlness, that unfairness / Is an ongoing thing; earnestly exhorts self-empowerment (Embrace heights, Dont be afraid, Sing louder); and closes with the usual affirmation of goodness (Assume there is goodness all around / unless there is not, / and even then, be the goodness).

Like most truisms, this is sound advice, but it is not a good poem by any stretch. Indeed, its not clear why its written as a poem at all  the verses lack musicality and the line breaks feel random. Yet while this, and indeed much of the book, fails to sustain its incisive beginning, the best of these essays  as with the best of Olsteins meditations  would be a shame to miss.
(Alliance News) - Ovoca Bio PLC has bought the remaining shares in IVIX LLC that it did not already hold, it said on Tuesday.

The women's health-focused firm, based in Dublin, has paid approximately USD5 million for the remaining 40.1% it did not hold. The first 50% was bought in September 2018 for USD4.1 million, and another 9.9% was bought in March last year for USD2 million.

IVIX is a Russian biopharmaceutical company which has developed BP-101, a treatment for premenopausal women who have a condition causing a "distressing" lack of sexual desire.

The drug was submitted for approval to the Russian Ministry of Health in September last year, and Ovoca Bio said it could be on the market by the end of 2020 in Russia.

Ovoca Bio Chief Executive Kirill Golovanov said: "The acquisition of the remaining stake in IVIX is a significant milestone in Ovoca's development as a biopharmaceutical company focused on women's health.

"With full control, we can accelerate the development of BP-101 as we pursue marketing authorisation and potential partnering opportunities in Russia and establish a clinical programme to meet the needs of patients and regulators in western markets."

Ovoca Bio shares closed 7.1% higher in London on Tuesday at 7.50 pence per share.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
A Northern Ireland firm has offered to construct dormitories and additional wards for hospitals to help them deal with the coronavirus crisis.

BS Holdings in Belfast said it contacted the Department of Health around three weeks ago.

The firm, which usually makes heating and cooling systems, said it was able to diversify to build dormitories for medical staff as well as wards for people receiving treatment for Covid-19.

The pre-fabricated buildings could also be used as morgues.

Owner Brian Hood said it would take less than a week to manufacture an eight-bed ward or dorm, while it would only take two or three days to install on-site and get it up and running.

The cabins come with heating, electrics and ventilation, and cleaning facilities,

Mr Hood said the firm would pull out all the stops if it helps to save people from the coronavirus. It currently makes pre-fabricated plant rooms, but he said it can easily switch.

Work is drying up, so it is giving the workforce something to do, but its also for the local community if people are needing that service.

Mr Hood said that BS Holdings would join forces with MAW Engineering to build the cabins, Flogas to heat and power them and Robinson Services for cleaning.

He said the Department of Health was approached around three weeks ago, but he had not received any enquiries yet.

The Department of Health did not reply to a request for comment.

Mr Hood said that the cabins could also be used as morgues, with space for 130 bodies.

Many other firms are also adapting. Retailers and food companies are taking their businesses online, as are firms from across a range of other sectors, from fitness to those helping fight the virus head on.

Bangor business Active Health Solutions had planned for its second branch opening this week, but instead has now moved its business entirely online - including pilates classes, physiotherapy and podiatry consultations.

A Coleraine-based food wholesaler has begun to offer home deliveries as it moves to the retail market. Lynas Foods usual customers include restaurants and cafes which have all been forced to close.

The firm said that all eight of its Lynas Food Outlets would be open for local communities, but it has also created a new website for home delivery.

It said it understood that many within our communities cannot visit a food shop.

Lynas said it would deliver within a 15-miles radius of any of its eight food stores across Northern Ireland.

Drinks giant Diageo is now producing hand sanitiser for health services across the globe. That will include around 500,000 litres of grain spirit (96% alcohol) for the UK and Ireland alone.

Meanwhile, technology firm Locate a Locum says it has seen a huge surge in locum pharmacists who want to work in order to give tired and sick pharmacists a break.

And commercial property giant CBRE, which has a major operation in Northern Ireland, is working with the NHS to find properties and premises to assist with its ever-expanding needs.

CBRE said:The greatest needs at the current time are car parking to enable NHS staff to access hospitals quickly, overnight beds for staff and storage facilities within a 15-minute walk of an NHS hospital.
The Ubbi Dubbi Dance Festival, which was scheduled to happen in Texas on April 18-19, has been postponed due to coronavirus pandemic.

Dance acts including Kaskade, Gryffin, Illenium and CamelPhat were set to perform at the festival.

Due to the unpredictable and potentially long-term effect of the coronavirus pandemic, Ubbi Dubbi will be postponed until Friday, October 30 & Saturday, October 31 at the Houston Raceway Park with an all new line up.

"Ubbi Dubbi will also return to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in April 2021 with an artist lineup we already know you will love, the organisers said in a statement shared on the festival's website.

Fans who have purchased tickets for Ubbi Dubbi will be able to transfer them for the October event, or receive a refund.

Till Monday, 43,734 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DALLAS, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank and Comerica Charitable Foundation announced today that it will invest $4 million in community programming support and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

"The impact of COVID-19 on the nonprofit organizations that care for and provide critical services to our communities is extraordinary. Serving and supporting our communities during this unique time in history is of critical importance," said Curt Farmer, Chairman and CEO, Comerica Incorporated and Comerica Bank.

These funds will be primarily deployed to Community Development Financial Institutions to support strategic programs designed to meet the needs of small and micro businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19. Community service organizations that provide services to youth, seniors and other vulnerable populations also will receive funds as part of this effort, particularly those organizations addressing food insecurities and access to health care. We also are expediting $500,000 of planned funding to several local United Way organizations in our markets.

In addition to these contributions, Comerica is discussing various loan payment deferral and fee waiver options with its business customers who have been impacted by COVID-19. And, for our personal customers experiencing financial difficulty as a result of COVID-19, we are asking that they contact us to discuss fee and penalty waivers, loan deferrals and other considerations that best meet their circumstances. Comerica customers can call (888) 444-9876 to discuss their unique situations.

"Comerica is a relationship bank. Partnering with our customers and helping them navigate these difficult times is why we are here," said Farmer. "For more than 170 years we have supported our customers through the hardships of world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession and many other monumental challenges, and we will continue to do so."

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $73 billion at Dec.31, 2019, and celebrated its 170th anniversary in August 2019.

SOURCE Comerica Bank

Related Links

http://www.comerica.com


Samsung often uses its in-house Exynos processor in its Galaxy phones, but a new petition circling the Web complains about its inferior performance.

Samsung Galaxy users complain about Exynos processor, start petition

The petition, titled Stop selling us inferior Exynos phones!, belongs to a Daniel H. who intends it for Samsung. Daniel says that Samsung uses its own in-house Exynos SoC in phones outside the US, along with its own ISOCELL-branded camera sensors. In the US, however, Samsung uses Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC chips and Sony camera sensors.

He believes that Qualcomm and Sony parts are superior in performance. As a result, he wants Samsung to stop using their inferior parts in non-US phones. He essentially wants Samsung to use the same parts in non-US phones as it uses in US phones.

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Phones with Exynos SoC chips are shown to perform slower, have less battery life, use inferior camera sensors and processing, overheat and throttle faster, amongst other issues, Daniel says in his change.org petition.

The reason behind his petition is that he believes Samsung cheats non-US customers. The Korean giant charges more for its Galaxy flagships outside the US while using these presumably inferior components, Daniel says.

Currently, the inferior Exynos petition had 2,300 signatures when reported by Android Central. It now has 20,732 signatures as of this writing. Daniel has a personal goal of 25,000 signatures, and it looks as if hell get those signatures, if nothing else.

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Exynos processor brand: Samsungs reality, Androids dream

What Galaxy processor petition signers may not realize about the Exynos SoC is that it is not only Samsungs brand. It is also the dream of every Android OEM. Every Android phone maker dreams of a day when it can place its own processor into its mobile phones.

Xiaomi tried to do this with its Surge processor lineup, but financial circumstances have put an end to the Chinese OEMs ambition. Developing a phone processor takes money and R&D (research and development). Without money, there can be no R&D, and there can be no R&D without money.

How does Samsung get the funds to research and develop its Exynos processor brand? It gets them from placing Exynos SoCs into phones for sale. Without someone buying the companys SoC and using it, Samsung couldnt continue to make it better nor keep its processor line.

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Non-US customers pay more for phones, but US customers pay more for data

A common complaint in Europe and Asia is that their customers pay more for phones than US customers. The petition states that customers are paying more for phones that dont perform as US flagships do. And yet, what Daniel H. and other protestors may not realize is that American customers pay far more for 4G and 5G data than their international counterparts. Non-US customers pay more for phones, US customers pay more for data. No customer base, whether global or national, gets everything they want.

Non-US Galaxies come with colors, features, and Editions American versions do not

Non-US Galaxies such as the Korean Editions, often come with unique colors that are exclusive only to South Korea, Samsungs home country. Samsung doesnt sell these versions to US customers and doesnt concern itself with what American buyers think about the matter. Special Burgundy, Red, and Blue colors go to non-US markets but rarely touch down in the USA. Special edition phones go live in South Korea but never arrive in the US.

Galaxy processor petition signers forget when Exynos saved Android flagships

Then theres that time when Samsungs Exynos SoC saved the Galaxy lineup from the overheating Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor. Samsungs Exynos performed so well that year that Qualcomm asked Samsung to design the 820 for Android flagships. If the Exynos SoC is that terrible, what motivated Qualcomm to go with an inferior processor design option?

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Samsungs 2019 processor market share is motivation for 2020

Last but not least, Samsungs recent win over Apple in its 2019 processor market share is motivation to continue down the same path for 2020. Why would Samsung stop using Exynos chips when Exynos has now surpassed Apples A-series chips in usage? Increasing sales in India reveal that, contrary to Daniels petition, not everyone dislikes Exynos chips.
About 4:20 a.m. the officers were traveling, without lights and sirens activated, north on Kimball Avenue waiting to turn left onto Belmont Avenue in the Avondale neighborhood, according to police. A Chevrolet Equinox was traveling south on Kimball Avenue at a high rate of speed when it crashed into the officers vehicle, officials said.
Bhopal: A day after assuming office, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan passed the floor test in the state Assembly on Tuesday by voice vote.

No member of the opposition Congress was present in the House.

As the special session of the state Assembly began, Chouhan moved a one-line proposal to seek trust of the House, which was endorsed by members through the voice vote.

Senior BJP MLA Jagdish Devda, one of the members of the speaker's panel, was on the chair of Speaker.

After Chouhan passed the floor test, the House was adjourned till March 27.

In the morning, the BJP issued whip to its MLAs to support the trust vote.

Earlier, Kamal Nath resigned as chief minister of the state last week after his government lost majority following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs.

Chouhan, 61, is back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister for a record fourth term.
As many as 87 people, including some anganwadi workers, who came in contact with a 41-year-old woman diagnosed with COVID-19 have been home quarantined in Maharashtra's Pune district, a health official said on Tuesday.

The woman, who is also an anganwadi (state-run woman and child care centre) worker in Panshet region of Velha tehsil, is admitted to a city-based hospital and continues to be on ventilator support due to respiratory failure, he said.

She tested positive for COVID-19 earlier after her throat swabs were sent to the National Institute of Virology to check for the possibility of swine flu (H1N1).

Her five close relatives - son, husband, sister, sister's husband and the latter's daughter - also tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, the official said.

"She attended a meeting of anganwadi workers in Velha on March 7 and 8. After Holi, she visited a doctor as she had cough and other complaints and later she was admitted to Bharti Hospital," a senior official from the district administration said.

All the anganwadi workers who attended the meeting work in different villages of the Velha tehsil.

"Several teams of health officials have tracked down the anganwadi workers who were sitting close to the woman during the meeting and they have been quarantined," the official said.

So far, at least 87 people, including some children, their parents and anganwadi workers, have been quarantined at their respective homes in different villages in Velha tehsil as a precautionary measure, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man wielding a pickaxe was killed by an officer responding to a disturbance Monday afternoon at a West Side home.

Family members called police at 3:44 p.m. saying they were afraid because a man had a knife in their home in the 500 block of Glendale Avenue, San Antonio police said.

The man was later identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office as 46-year-old Carlos Delgado.

Officer Douglas Greene, an SAPD spokesman, said Delgado had a pickaxe and was confrontational with the officer when she arrived. It is unclear when Delgado exited the home.

We still need to review the video to see exactly what happened, but at some point she felt compelled to fire her weapon, Greene said.

The officer fired two shots as they were in the middle of the dead end street, police said. Delgado was hit once in his upper torso.

He was pronounced dead shortly after EMS arrived, Greene said.

We do have family members here. Theyre being cooperative and talking to the officers, Greene said.

Police are also investigating whether Delgado was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the incident occurred.

The officer, who has been with the department for two years, was not injured, police said. She will be placed on administrative duty as police investigate the shooting.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
As of Monday evening there were 28 mobile sample-collection sites in Missouri, and at least nine sites in the St. Louis metro area. A list of providers with sites can be found on the DHSS website. All of the large hospital systems around St. Louis have set up the sites where people can get tested in their cars to limit exposure to others.

In Illinois on Tuesday, Gov. J.B Pritzker emphasized the states efforts to expand testing. Illinois now has capacity for 2,000 tests per day, including about 600 tests a day from state health department labs. Pritzker said he hopes to increase that through more labs and hospital-based testing so that more than 4,000 people will soon be tested for the virus each day.

Testing helps demonstrate the actual reach of COVID-19 and informs us how we can potentially isolate the outbreak, Pritzker said.

The total number of COVID-19 tests completed each day for Missouri patients remains unclear as private labs including LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics are now handling most of the states testing and, before this week, only reported positive results to the state.
History repeats itself: Officials have rescheduled Computex for September but did you know that a similar virus had an identical effect on the trade show years ago? In 2003, the SARS outbreak in Asia prompted event coordinators to push that years show back to September.

Computex, one of the largest annual computer expos in the world, will not take place in early June as originally scheduled.

Organizers on Tuesday said that to protect the health and safety of all participants, Computex has been rescheduled to September 28  30 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

Computex 2019 attracted a record number of people as more than 42,000 visitors from 171 countries convened in Taiwan for the five-day event. Thats far fewer than the 182,000 people that assembled in Las Vegas this past January for the Consumer Electronics Show but its still a significant number.

The fact that Computex has been delayed could take on an even greater significance this year. Thats because CeBIT, another trade show staple dating back to 1970, was canceled after the 2018 edition due to declining visitors and a reduction in exhibitor bookings.

Organizers said 5G, smart solutions, gaming and start-ups will take center stage at this years Computex.

Masthead credit: Grzegorz Czapski
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Federal and state officials said Tuesday that they are prepared to investigate and take action against anyone in the medical community either illegally stockpiling or helping to stockpile two anti-malarial drugs that the president has touted as possible coronavirus treatment.

The statement, issued by northern Ohio U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman, southern Ohio U.S. Attorney David DeVillers, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the Ohio Pharmacy Board, comes after pharmacy board staff noticed a statewide spike in off-label prescriptions of the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and expressed concern that people were hoarding the drug even if they didnt have a medical need for it.

These are extraordinary times for the world, our nation, and the great state of Ohio. While we are seeing the absolute best of our healthcare professionals as they help to address the COVID-19 crisis, we will remain vigilant to address any self-serving behavior by any member of the medical community. Be assured that we will do our due diligence in holding accountable anyone who may be prescribing outside a legitimate medical purpose. Where we find doctors or others who are abusing their professional licenses to help themselves or associates, we will move swiftly to identify and prosecute any wrongdoing that is a violation of federal or state law. We are committed to pursuing all remedies to address misconduct associated with the allegations leading to the Board of Pharmacy action, including seeking criminal penalties where appropriate.

The pharmacy board passed an emergency rule Sunday that required pharmacists who prescribe the drugs for coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, treatment to only do so if the patient has a confirmed case. If the person receives the prescription, they can only receive a 14-day supply and no refills. The new rule is needed to make sure the drugs are available for one of their primary approved purposes: treating autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

The authorities who made the statement said they were aware of the allegations that led to the rule.

Officials have said there are preliminary reports from China and France suggesting the drug could be helpful in treating coronavirus. However, Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, has described their current status as for "experimental, compassionate use.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in a tweet. However, some doctors criticized the president for overhyping the benefits of an unproven treatment, which they said could exacerbate existing supply issues for patients who need the drug.

NBC News reported that an Arizona man died and his wife is hospitalized after the couple ingested chloroquine phosphate, thinking it would protect them from contracting the coronavirus. The ingredient they sought was listed on a parasite treatment for fish, and the wife told NBC News they ingested the substance after watching Trump talk about chloroquine during televised briefings .
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
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Indian market is down by about 40 percent from the record high witnessed in January 2020 which has pushed the S&P BSE Sensex as well as Nifty50 to multi-year lows but analysts at top brokerage firms advise investors to avoid bottom fishing at current levels.

Credit Suisse in a note to its clients said that almost 45 percent of the top 200 stocks by market cap are down by about 30 percent from their respective life highs, but we still do not believe it is time to bottom fish.

Valuations are looking attractive now as the Nifty forward P/E is down 17 percent from January 2020 high, and is back to 2017 levels. Stocks that are worth monitoring include names like NTPC, Ambuja Cements, Cipla, Godrej Consumer, and Shriram Transport.

Morgan Stanley in its note to clients said that multiple indicators suggest a bear-market trough, but it is tough to call absolute bottom with precision, but it's close on many metrics.

The search for the elusive bottom continues. Morgan Stanleys Ridham Desai writes in his note to clients that while it's not possible to call an absolute bottom with precision, the market could be nearing it, based on many metrics.

Morgan Stanley has cut its Sensex EPS growth for the third time after the virus outbreak and now expects it grow 10 percent, down from the earlier forecast of a 20 percent growth.

The broking firm has added BPCL, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Prudential, and Titan to its Focus List. It has dropped Bharat Electronics, Indian Hotels, M&M, M&M Finance and NTPC from that list.

The global investment bank has raised positions in financials by 300 bps, Energy by 200 bps, and materials by 200 bps. It trimmed position in technology by 300 bps & industrials by 400 bps.

: The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms, and CNBC-TV18 reports. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Johnson orders lockdown of Britain



Boris Johnson declared a moment of national emergency last night as he finally imposed a near full lockdown of Britain to protect against the spread of coronavirus. Police will enforce new quarantine rules under which people will be allowed to leave their home only for essential supplies, one form of daily exercise, medical care or absolutely necessary work. The prime minister closed all shops selling non-essential goods, playgrounds, libraries and churches. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating around the globe.  The Times

> Today :

> Yesterday:

More:

Who can still go out and why?  Daily Mail

Lockdown explained: breaking down Johnsons measures  Daily Telegraph

What are the new restrictions?  The Guardian

Why do UK coronavirus recoveries seem so low compared with other countries?  Daily Telegraph

How safe are our young? Daily Telegraph

The Prime Minister had been holding out against lockdown

Boris Johnson will order police to enforce a strict coronavirus lockdown, with a ban on gatherings of more than two people and strict limits on exercise, as he told the British public: You must stay at home. The prime minister ratcheted up Britains response with an address to the nation on Monday evening, warning that people would only be allowed outside to buy food or medication, exercise alone once a day, or to travel to work if absolutely necessaryIt is understood that Johnson himself had until now been holding out against a lockdown.  The Guardian

But Hancock had advocated a harder line  FT

 And Gove not ruling out tighter restrictions  The Guardian

William Hague: Rigorous testing is the route back to a free society

No one can now be in any doubt: this is the most serious social and economic crisis since the Second World War. If mishandled, the consequences will include millions of lives lost, devastating economic depression, social unrest and political upheaval. There can be few greater tests of decision-making and leadership. In Britain, as in many countries, the decisions made so far involve a vast increase in the role and power of the state. Never in peacetime has a government taken over so rapidly the financing and direction of so many areas of the economy, and never in history has it intruded so minutely into how individuals live alongside each other.  Daily Telegraph



Raab orders UK citizens to fly home

All British travellers should return to the UK immediately or risk being stranded as the likelihood grows that most air links will close within the next 48 hours, the UK government said on Monday. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, called on UK citizens still abroad to contact their tour operator or airline while flights were still available. We are strongly urging UK travellers overseas to return home now where and while there are still commercial routes to do so, he said.  FT

One million Brits ordered to catch next flight home  The Times

Get home within 48 hours, orders Foreign Secretary  Daily Telegraph

Emergency Coronavirus Bill passes without opposition

Emergency legislation giving sweeping powers to ban gatherings and forcibly quarantine suspected coronavirus patients was passed by MPs on Monday night, despite continued worries about civil liberties and the potential effect on vulnerable people. The coronavirus bill, which will be in force for two years, completed all its stages through the Commons in one day without opposition MPs forcing any votes after Downing Street offered the concession that it would be reviewed every six months. Labour welcomed the move, but expressed concern at some of the measures in the 329-page bill, which will go to the Lords later in the week, notably changes to rules over mental health and the provision of social care.  The Guardian

Bill will put vulnerable people at risk, warn charities  The Guardian

Sunak to announce emergency package for self-employed

MILLIONS of self-employed workers hit by the coronavirus shutdown are poised to be offered 80 per cent of their income under an emergency package to be unveiled on Wednesday. Boris Johnson and his Chancellor will finalise details of the funding plan today as senior Tories warned the Government they had just 48 hours to save Britains five million self-employed. Ex-Tory Business Secretary Greg Clark led calls for the plan to be comparable to the job retention scheme for employees, whereby companies who keep their workers will receive 80 per cent of their wage bill.  The Sun

Chancellor under growing pressure as five million uncovered  Daily Telegraph

Arlene Foster: More support needed to help self-employed  Shropshire Star

John McDonnell challenges Sunak on measures  The Guardian

Landlords barred from evicting firms that fail to pay rent  Daily Telegraph

Yesterday :

Hunt calls for more NHS equipment

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for more testing and tracing to break the chain of transmission. He told MPs that this could be more important than social distancing and called for scientists and civil servants to be mobilised. Mr Hunt also warned that it may be too late to avoid Britain becoming like Italy, which has suffered one of the worst outbreaks. He told Parliament: Now is the time for a massive national mobilisation behind testing and contact tracing. Whilst welcoming Boris Johnsons ambition of 250,000 tests a day, he said that just 5,500 people had been tested on Saturday  no significant increase on a week ago.  Daily Mail

UK failing to hit test target of 10,000 a day  Daily Telegraph

Hospital becomes the first in UK to cancel all routine cancer surgery  Daily Telegraph

NHS has more than doubled number of ventilators  The Sun

British manufacturers rush to make 30,000 extra ventilators  The Times

NHS currently has access to 8,175 ventilators including 691 from private hospitals  Daily Mail

Over 7,500 clinicians to rejoin the NHS  The Guardian

Army may build field hospitals in conference halls  The Times

Military planners considering using Londons Excel Centre as field hospital  Daily Mail

Seven in 10 patients admitted to intensive care units in the UK were overweight or obese, and seven in 10 cases male  Daily Telegraph

Today :

UK Government races to build antibody testing kit



The UK Government is working with the inventors of the home pregnancy test to develop a coronavirus testing kit in Britain and Senegal. Mologic was granted 1million to produce two different types of test which reveal if someone has ever had the deadly virus in the past. The kits  one will look for antigens in spit, the other will scour blood for antibodies  could also tell if a person currently has the infection. But the company, who laboratory in Bedfordshire was visited by Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month, estimates it will be up to six months before Brits can use them.  Daily Mail

HIV drug to be trialled on coronavirus patients  Daily Telegraph

Frost: Brexit deadline should not be extended

On Friday, Mr Frost showed signs of being infected with coronavirus a day after his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, tested positive for the disease. Number 10 confirmed Mr Frost is now self-isolating. Despite the coronavirus pandemic derailing face-to-face negotiations, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said Brexit talks with the EU will continue in the upcoming days. Last week, the EU drafted a post-Brexit trade deal proposal, covering areas such as security, foreign policy and fisheries. The 441-page draft legal text was sent to the 27 EU states, ahead of being presented to the UK this week. However, according to political analysts, much of the draft will be outright rejected by the UK because of references to EU law and fishing.  Daily Express

>Yesterday: Patrick Nicholls in Comment: Patrick Nicholls: Fishing. My part in the movement to take control of it back from the EU.

Salmond acquitted of sexual offence charges

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond walked out of Edinburghs High Court a free man on Monday after a jury acquitted him of all 13 sexual offence charges brought against him in a two-week trial. Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Mr Salmond, who had told the court that some of the charges against him were political fabrications, said the trial had reinforced his faith in Scotlands court system. Mr Salmond, also a former leader of the Scottish National party, made clear that he intended to pursue those in the Scottish government and SNP that his defence lawyers suggested had orchestrated the allegations against him.  FT

Salmond faces new police investigation following allegations made by four women  The Times

Sturgeon under pressure over SNPs handling of Salmond allegations  The Times

Salmond may sue Scottish government for ruining three years of his life  The Times

Comment:
(Bloomberg) --

Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and an outspoken skeptic of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, donated more than 1,000 ventilators to officials in Los Angeles to meet demand as the pandemic becomes more severe.

The billionaire said in a tweet he helped acquire 1,255 of the machines from China last week and arranged them to be air-shipped to Los Angeles. He thanked Tesla staff and customs officials in China and Los Angeles for assistance.

Elon Musk: how about this? I told you a few days ago he was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters in a briefing Monday. They arrived in Los Angeles and Elon Musk is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real time. Its an heroic effort.

Musks move comes after he tweeted dismissively about whether there will even be a ventilator shortage. The entrepreneur had also called the panic surrounding the outbreak dumb and said that kids are essentially immune despite evidence that it can be serious for some children. Musk spent days dueling with local officials over a county shelter-in-place order before Tesla finally idled production at its lone U.S. car-assembly plant.

Musks fortune has been whipsawed by the spread of the Coronavirus. His net worth surged to about $45 billion in February, but has dropped to $27 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the worlds 500 wealthiest people.

Tesla now joins General Motors Co. in providing ventilators after one Tesla customer urged him to re-purpose Teslas factory to produce the machines.

Newsom said six California companies have offered their facilities to manufacture gowns and hes in conversation with another 25 providers that want to start 3D printing masks for health-care workers.

Updated models predict the state is 50,000 hospital beds short to meet needs as the pandemic spreads, the governor said. For the health-care workers who will staff those additional beds, Newsom said the state is looking to procure 1 billion gloves and more than 500 million masks.

Story continues

Thats not a typo, Newsom said.

Related: Musk Talks Ventilators With Medtronic as It Doubles Production

(Updates with Musks net worth decline in fifth paragraph)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Colorado's governor on Monday abolished the state's death penalty and commuted the sentences of all three death row inmates to life without parole, drawing harsh criticism from a district attorney whose office prosecuted the condemned men.

The action by Governor Jared Polis to sign the repeal of the state's death penalty law was expected, as he had indicated support for doing away with capital punishment as it was being debated in the state legislature last month, but the fate of the death row inmates remained unknown until yesterday.

Polis said in a statement that he was sparing the inmates' lives not due to any change in their individual cases but to reflect the new legislation.

Colorado has abolished the death penalty, becoming the 22nd US state to repeal the punishment (death chamber at a Texas prison is pictured above)

Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, on Monday signed the repeal of the state's death penalty law, stating that capital punishment 'never has been administered equitably in the State of Colorado'

'The commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the State of Colorado, and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the State of Colorado,' said Polis, a first-term Democrat.

The move was blasted by Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, whose predecessors secured convictions and death sentences for all three of the death row inmates.

STATES WITHOUT DEATH PENALTY: Alaska (1957) Colorado (2020) Connecticut (2012) Delaware (2016) Hawaii (1957) Illinois (2011) Iowa (1965) Maine (1887) Maryland (2013) Massachusetts (1984) Michigan (1847) Minnesota (1911) New Hampshire (2019) New Jersey (2007) New Mexico (2009) New York (2007) North Dakota (1973) Rhode Island (1984) Vermont (1972) Washington (2018) West Virginia (1965) Wisconsin (1853) Advertisement

'With a mere stroke of his pen and buried under the coverage of an urgent, global pandemic, Gov Polis wiped away three separate unanimous jury verdicts for some of the worst murderers in our state's history,' said Brauchler, a Republican.

He continued: 'we will save no money. We are not safer. We are not a better people. And the only lives spared are those who commit the ultimate acts of evil against us.'

Instead of facing execution, death row inmates Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap - all convicted of murders - will spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ray and Owens were sentenced to death for their roles in the killings of two witnesses to another murder, Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, in 2005.

Polis' predecessor Governor John Hickenlooper suspended Dunlap's execution in 2013, while also in effect placing a moratorium on death penalties in the state of Colorado.

At the time, he said this was because of his larger objection to the death penalty.

For Dunlap at least, life without parole could be a fate worse than death. Speaking in 1997, 9News reported that Owens said death did not scare him, and that a life sentence would be greater punishment.

'If you want to make me hurt, life in jail,' he said. 'I ain't afraid of death. Death ain't gonna bother me.'

Marshall-Fields' mother, state Senator Rhonda Fields, released a statement condemning the governor's decision.

'In a stoke of a pen Gov Polis hijacks justice and undermines our criminal justice system,' she tweeted. 'Words cant express my dispointment [sic] and sense of emptiness. The system failed my son, our family and those who served as citizen jurors.

Polis acknowledged the polarizing nature of the repeal, writing: 'while I understand that some victims agree with my decision and others disagree, I hope this decision provides clarity and certainty for them moving forward. The decision to commute these sentences was made to reflect what is now Colorado law, and done after a thorough outreach process to the victims and their families.'

The death sentences of (L to R) Nathan Dunlap, Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray have been commuted to life in prison without parole

Owens and Ray were convicted of ordering the murders of two witnesses to another killing, Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, in 2005 (pictured together)

Colorado's Former Death Row Inmates Nathan Dunlap Dunlap murdered four people and committed armed robbery at a Chuck E. Cheese. The restaurant had fired him and he wanted revenge. He has spent nearly 24 years on death row when Polis commuted his sentence. Sir Mario Owens Owens murdered a witness and his fiance who was going to testify against his friend for murder. He has spent 11 years, 282 days on death row before being spared by Polis. Robert Ray Ray ordered the killing of witnesses in his pending murder trial, and was involved in the same case as Owens as his co-defendant. He served 9 years, 324 days on death row before his sentence was commuted. Advertisement

Colorado has executed just one inmate, Gary Lee Davis, by lethal injection since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 after a four-year nationwide moratorium.

The state's Democrat-controlled Legislature passed repeal legislation this year after picking up the support of some Republican lawmakers.

Colorado has now become the 22nd state without the death penalty. Twenty eight states still have capital punishment statutes on their books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Capital punishment also remains in the criminal code of the federal government and U.S. military justice systems.

Five prisoners have been executed in the United States this year.

Under the new Colorado law, state prosecutors will no longer be able to seek capital punishment in any murder case filed after July 1.

The death penalty trial of a man accused of murdering a police officer got underway in a suburban Denver county this month, but was paused until April 6 due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
Drive-through seafood sales a success in S Korea's Pohang

March 24,2020 | Source: Korea Bizwire

Special drive-through seafood sales to help fish farmers struggling with the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak have ended in a major success in South Korea.



The city of Pohang and the Pohang Fish Farmers Association held a series drive-through sales on March 14 and 15 as well as Saturday and Sunday to sell raw fish fillets.



The city implemented a drive-through system in which drivers can purchase seafood from their cars to ensure social distancing.



Prepared stocks of seafood, 300 boxes on March 14, 500 boxes on March 15, 1,500 boxes on Saturday, and another 1,500 boxes on Sunday were all sold out.



The drive-through sales were initially held at one location on March 14 and 15. Following a rise in demand, organizers expanded beyond Guryongpo Beach to Chilpo Beach on Saturday and Sunday.



The city decided to offer additional items for sale, including parboiled octopus and farm crop packages, in addition to raw fish fillets.



Deviating from the original plan of holding the event until Sunday, the city seeks to meet popular demand by holding another round of seafood sales in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area next weekend.



The city is also considering holding additional rounds of sales in town to the extent that it doesnt hurt local seafood restaurants.



The association spent a certain portion of the profits to buy lunch boxes and other necessities for medical staff, who are fighting the coronavirus outbreak both day and night.



We are working with Coupang, Shinsegae, and other distributors to boost seafood consumption through online shopping and quick delivery services, said Chung Jong-yeong, head of fisheries promotion at the city of Pohang.

 2013-2020 Kobiz Media Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theme(s): Others.
The court should also proactively provide bail to undertrials unless it is necessary to send the person to judicial custody.

As COVID-19 pandemic worsens, the prisons can possibly become an epicentre of the viral outbreak. The high rate of ingress and egress, closed spaces, sub-par medical care and overcrowding make prisons immensely vulnerable.

The lockdown of prison and the fear of the COVID-19 outbreak has led to prison break and riots in Dum Dum Central Jail, Kolkata resulting in one death. Earlier, similar instances have been reported in Brazil, Italy and Columbia. With the cases of infection rising across the country, the preparedness of 1,339 prisons in India is a pressing concern.

On 23 March, the Supreme Court in a suo moto writ petition, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, restricted the physical presence of all undertrial prisoners before the courts and transfer of prisoners. The court further ordered for development of readiness and response plans for prisons and establishment of a High Powered Committee in each of the states/ Union Territories for release of the inmates.

In the present situation, protecting the right to health of every individual, including prisoners is the utmost priority of the government. The proactive intervention in this direction from the Supreme Court must be applauded. However, the current preparations by the state government and prison authorities seem insufficient to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

Framework to deal with disasters

Model Prison Manual, 2016, provides for extensive guidelines for prisons to act during epidemic situations. The guidelines include permanent segregation sheds for every prisoner, the infected prisoner to be detained in a separate building and treatment of patients' clothing and infected barracks.

Further, Guidelines on Management of Biological Disaster by National Disaster Management Authority requires the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to prepare a plan for the management of pandemics and calls for pandemic preparedness of every sector, which includes prisons.

However, the nature of coronavirus pandemic makes the above guidelines wholly insufficient. For instance, there are now confirmed reports of infected people without symptoms driving the spread of COVID-19. It is difficult to imagine how an overcrowded Indian prison will be able to put into practice any form of social distancing.

Therefore, the need of the hour is for the states and the judiciary to put their heads together and adopt unconventional measures to protect not only the inmates but also every other human being who interacts with the prison system on a daily basis.

Measures taken so far

Everyday prisons experience a high influx of visitors, including lawyers, medical officials, visitors, correctional staff, etc. which increases chances of infection even if inmates themselves may be under a complete lockdown. As a measure to check the spread of the virus, states such as Delhi and Odisha have restricted visitors and have made arrangements for visits through video conferencing.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates

Further, steps were taken for the creation of isolation wards, a preliminary examination of inmates, the supply of masks and sanitisation and cleanliness of prison campus and wards. Moreover, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have taken steps to transfer the inmates from congested prisons to other prison facilities to ease overcrowding.

While the above measures are a good starting point, a lot more needs to be done on a priority basis to effectively curtail this pandemic.

What else can be done?

Prison staff

Along with restriction on visitors, additional measures are required to protect staff from contracting the infection. The understaffed prison authorities cannot afford rotational leave for the staff; hence, additional care and sanitisation should be adopted in the prison facility. All the prison staff should be provided with gloves, masks and gowns.

Individual health screening

The health screening of inmates should not be dependent solely on temperature screening and other symptoms should also be examined. Temporary isolation of any and every new inmate followed by observation of visual signs of respiratory illness and questions on the history of contact with a potential COVID-19 patient should be mandated in every prison.

Releasing prisoners

As a measure to control the COVID-19 outbreak, Iran has temporarily released 85,000 prisoners. Adopting similar measures, the Supreme Court has ordered the establishment of a High Powered Committee to decide on the release of prisoners on parole or an interim bail. However, the selection of inmates to be released on parole should not be made merely on the basis of severity of offences or number of years sentenced.

As per Prison Statistics 2018, as on 31 December 2018, there were 61,621 inmates who were above 50 years in prisons across the country. This demographic is most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. To prevent deaths, interim bail should be provided to every prisoner above 50 years and those with medical conditions.

Decongestion of prisons

Overcrowded prison increases the chances of a rapid spread of infection among the inmates. Transfer of inmates to other prison facilities might be effective in states with lower occupancy in prisons but increases the possibility of infection in the process of transfer.

States with high occupancy in the prisons, like Uttar Pradesh (176.5 percent), Sikkim (157.3 percent), Delhi (154.3 percent) and others, places near the prison facilities should be identified for temporary prison facilities to ease overcrowding.

The option of the temporary release of prisoners should be explored. The court should also proactively provide bail to undertrials unless it is necessary to send the person to judicial custody.

COVID-19 pandemic requires urgent measures to be taken. Traditional measures adopted during floods and other natural disasters, like shifting inmates to other prison facilities are ineffective as well as dangerous in such a pandemic situation. In addition to the guidelines under the Model Prison Manual and the orders of the Supreme Court, its essential for the states to take proactive steps to avoid situations of prison riots and deaths while we still can.
The U.K. government backs six projects aimed to fight the coronavirus outbreak, promising $23 million (20 million) in funding. The projects, including two focused on vaccination trials, will help fast track the development of a vaccine to stop the spread of the coronavirus, leading to the death of more than 16,500 people across the globe.

Image Credit: PhotobyTawat / Shutterstock

The U.K. government will fund the six new projects, including others developing antibodies to help target the virus, examining how people at the highest risk could be identified, and how existing treatments can be used for the treatment of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Whether testing new drugs or examining how to repurpose existing ones, U.K. scientists and researchers have been working tirelessly on the development of treatments for coronavirus. The projects we are funding today will be vital in our work to support our valuable NHS and protect peoples lives, Alok Sharma, UKs Business Secretary, said.

Vaccine development

The coronavirus disease emerged in late December 2019, in Wuhan City in Hubei Province, China. Since then, the novel coronavirus has spread to 168 countries and has touched all continents except Antarctica.

So far, the virus has infected 381,621 people in the world, with China and Italy reporting the highest number of cases. Italy has reported a sharp increase in cases and deaths, with 63,927 confirmed cases and 6,077 deaths, while China has 81,553 cases and 3,281 deaths.

The United States, Spain, Germany, Iran, and France report high transmission rates. The U.S. has 46,442 infections, Spain has 35,136 infections, Germany has 29,056 cases, Iran has 23,049 cases, and France with 20,123 confirmed cases. The United Kingdom has 6,726 infections and 336 deaths.

Scientists across the globe race to develop the vaccine that could help humanity combat the invisible enemy. The coronavirus, officially called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes severe respiratory disease and pneumonia-like illness to vulnerable populations, including older adults and those who have underlying medical conditions.

Treatments and therapies

Currently, NHS patients who are being treated for COVID-10 have signed up to take part in the trials spearheaded by leading institutions in the country, including the University of Edinburgh, Oxford University, Queens University Belfast, the University of Liverpool, and the Imperial College London.

The University of Oxford aims to develop manufacturing processes to produce a safe and harmless virus, adenovirus vaccines at a million-dose scale. In the advent that the clinical trials come out successfully, they can immediately make the vaccines available for vulnerable populations as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the Imperial College London will receive funding for its research to develop antibodies that can target the SARS-CoV-2, which can lead to a new therapy for treating COVID-19. The scientists have already identified antibodies that may attach to the proteins from the coronavirus. They are working with Chinese scientists to develop antibody therapy to kill the virus.

The University of Oxford will also receive funding for a clinical trial of using existing drugs that may help treat patients who are hospitalized due to COVID-19. The doctors will see if the drugs are safe and effective. The trials use an adaptive design, which means it can test new treatments as they become available. The doctors will use current HIV treatments, including lopinavir-ritonavir and low-dose corticosteroids.

Amid a global health emergency, the U.K. is using all its extensive research expertise to develop new vaccines to target this international threat quickly. This investment will speed up globally-recognized vaccine development capabilities and help us find a new defense against this disease, Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, said.

Studying the disease mechanism

Another project includes one that will review the disease and how it affects different patients. It will shed light on who older adults or those with comorbidities are at a higher risk of severe COVID-19. The scientists will collect samples and information from COVID-19 patients in the U.K. to answer questions about the virus.

Some of the data to be gathered include who are at the highest risk of severe disease, what happens to the immune system, how to diagnose the condition accurately, how long are the patients infectious, what are the effects of the drugs, and which body fluids can carry the virus.
Arlene Sorkin, who founded the non-profit organization IlluminArt Productions as a way to deliver important, live-saving messages to a wide audience in a creative way, said that during this stressful time, just as in theater, the show must go on.

The organization is working to find creative solutions to bring programming, their Teaching Artists and their Touring Company into your own home during this pause in our lives caused by the coronavirus.

Before the virus hit, we were facilitating six after-school programs, pushing in to 22 classrooms at eight schools, three programs with adults in English as a second language classes, programs with seniors at the JCC, the Staten Island Pride Center and the West Brighton Senior Center, and three Arts Empowerment programs for substance abuse prevention. But only two of those programs were completed and others are in various stages."

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

Sorkin said the greatest challenge is their two mural projects since they cant be completed until schools are open.

However, at this time we can do some virtual art technique classes, in addition to the theater activities classes. There are eight programs that were scheduled to start so we are working on ways to make them happen virtually.

IlluminArt Productions is conducting virtual after school programs online. (Courtesy/Arlene Sorkin)

Their Touring Company meets on Zoom, a video conferencing platform, and, since they will not do most of the 19 performances scheduled for the rest of the school year, they will create scenes on appropriate topics using Zoom. The first one is talks about how people are feeling about being stuck at home.

All of the programs are funded by local foundations, city agencies, primarily the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Arts Empowerment).

As soon as schools closed their management team, which includes Sorkin, Artistic Director Ariel Marcus, Program Manger Keith Taylor, Director of Education Sarah Law, Education Manager Kasia Klimiuk, Social Worker Jessica Maldonado, and Production Engineer Alan Labiner, began Zoom meetings to discuss how to keep their students engaged.

This week IlluminArt plans to launch three platforms on YouTube:

Touring Company scenes that will continue lessons for their existing classes in IlluminArt classrooms and general arts activities broken down by age group in Imagine with IlluminArt.

In addition, there are Zoom classes with students and senior centers that are utilizing it.

Visit www.illuminart.org and check social media for updates.

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A LIMERICK mother is "devastated" after callous thieves broke into her nail bar and "ransacked" the place.



Henry Street gardai have launched a probe into the attack at the Porcelain Doll nail bar at Foxes Bow, which left its owner Stacey Mulcahy in tears.



It's a double blow for her, having shut her business down on public health advice due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

"As far as we know, they broke in last night. They took the lock off the front of our shutters with a wheel brace and broke our windows, and smashed the bottom of our front door," she told the Limerick Leader.

"They ransacked the whole place, went inside the rooms, took our everything, broke things. They took a little bit of retail product so we will be keeping our eye out for that."



In a post to Facebook, the businesswoman added: "It's times like this you wonder why, why you work so hard to have something destroyed in an instant. I can't put into words how devastating this is to a small business in these times. Gutted is the only word that comes to mind."





It's not the first time Stacey's nail bar has been targetted: back in 2016, thieves took her phone from the front counter.

The device contained more than 1,000 pictures of her little girl Sophie, who tragically died from a genetic disorder in 2014.

Henry Street Gardai are investigating this incident, and are appealing to local businesses which may have closed circuit television (CCTV).



Blood was also seen splattered at the site, with Stacey saying she hopes this might lead to the identifier of the vandal.

"It was awful to see, disgusting. But at least it means I might get something out of it," she added.



She said she believes there are people out there who actually enjoy targeting businesses and individuals when they are at heir most vulnerable



"That's their time to pounce. That's when they see an opportunity. It's really sad. I've been crying solid for four hours," Stacey added.



The attack took place between around 7pm last night.



If you have any information, please contact Henry Street garda station at 061-212400.
Karnataka imposes weekend curfew to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases; details here

Crime rate in Bengaluru: Murders and burglary cases dropped in 2021 in Karnataka's capital

Coronavirus pandemic: Bengaluru Police provide food to needy during lockdown

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Mar 24: The Bengaluru City Police on Tuesday was showered with praises for showing their humane side while helping the needy during the state-wide lockdown in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, when scores of people were off the street in heart of the city, the police came forward to provide food to daily wagers, homeless and other people affected by the lockdown imposed in Karnataka.

Around 6-7 people were served food by the police.

The incident happened in the afternoon, when police personnel carrying food packets in vehicles for their colleagues on duty were seen feeding homeless people on pavements.

Meawhile, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa had extended the lockdown to cover the entire state, including Bengaluru, in a fresh order beyond the nine districts that was earlier under restrictions.

The chief minister even asked people not to hoard groceries or fall prey to panic.

The lockdown mentioned all shops, commercial establishments, offices, workshops, godowns dealing shall close their operations subject to exceptions, while all industries and factories except those dealing with essential goods and services, food, medical equipment, drugs, fuel, agricultural inputs etc, to remain closed.

Meanwhile, eight new positive coronavirus cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Tuesday, taking the tally to 41 in the state, the health department said.

"Till date 41 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state which includes one death and 3 discharged," the department said.

According the department bulletin, 37 positive patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and their condition is stable. Of the 41 confirmed cases, six are transit passengers hailing from Kerala who have landed in airports and being treated in Karnataka.
Police in New Delhi break up the longest-running protest against a new citizenship law amid coronavirus lockdown.

Police in Indias capital has broken up the longest-running protest against a new citizenship law, citing a ban on public gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of people, many of them women, have been staging a sit-in protest since early December on a street in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, which has become a focal point for opposition to the law seen as discriminating against Muslims.

Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the protesters early on Tuesday and told them to leave, said Delhis joint police commissioner, DC Srivastava.

It is a dangerous environment, with this coronavirus, we urged them to leave, he told reporters.

Some demonstrators resisted the police, and at least nine people had been detained, six of them women, Srivastava said, adding there was no violence.

Television showed police bulldozers taking down tents and billboards at the protest site.

Delhi is under a lockdown until the end of the month to halt the spread of the coronavirus, and public gatherings of more than five people have been banned.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, which eases the path for non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries to gain citizenship, triggered weeks of sometimes violent protests against Modis government after it was passed in December.

At least 78 people have been killed in demonstrations triggered by the law across the country, a large number of them in northeast Delhi during violence last month.

Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and it has deepened concern that Prime Minister Narendra Modis administration is undermining Indias secular traditions.

Modis ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denies any bias against Indias 180 million Muslims.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the protest at Shaheen Bagh had become a thorn in the governments side, and there had been calls by hardline Hindu groups linked to Modis alliance and residents in the area to clear it out.

India has reported 471 cases of the coronavirus, but health experts have warned that a big jump is imminent, which would likely overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure.
The Syrian regimes forces launched an attack on the villages of al-Ftira and Sfuhon, but were stopped by Turkish backed forces, who destroyed a tank reports Zaman Al-Wasl.

On Sunday, Syrian regime forces launched an attack on the southern region of Idleb province in a renewed breach to the three-week-old ceasefire.

The Russian-led forces used the heavy artillery and mortars in the attack on the villages of al-Ftira and Sfuhon, south of Idleb city.

The Turkish-backed Syrian forces thwarted the attack and destroyed a tank, rebel source said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish army has constructed a new outpost as more military reinforcements keep pouring into the last rebel stronghold in northern Syria, according to activists.

The observation point set in the village of al-Mshayrfa on the M4 highway links Jisr al-Shughour with Bashar al-Assads hometown of Lattakia.

Turkey, which backs rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad, agreed a ceasefire with Russia two weeks ago after months of fighting displaced nearly 1 million people in Idleb. Moscow supports Syrian regime forces.

The truce halted a terrifying three-month air and ground campaign that killed hundreds and sent 1 million people fleeing towards the Turkish border.

The agreement did not force the Assad fighters to roll back significant military gains made in Russian-backed offensive over the past three months  a key Turkish demand prior to the talks.

Last Friday, the Turkish Defense Ministry assured in a statement that the planned deployment and distribution of troops in Idleb is continuing, and there are no withdrawals of troops from the region.

To stop the bloodshed and humanitarian crisis, and ensure the security of troops as well as safe return of civilians to their homes, all decisions taken under the Moscow deal are being implemented with utmost care, according to Anadolu Agency.

The regime offensive in Idleb province and parts of Aleppo has displaced more than 1,041,000 people from their homes and killed 700 people, including 91 women, 212 children and 17 rescue workers, over the past three months, the Syrian Response Coordination Group said.

According to the local monitor, Russian and regime airstrikes have targeted 20 refugee shelters, 88 educational facilities, nine Civil Defense centers, 32 health centers, eight ambulances, 14 furnaces and a bakery, 31 worship, and 23 other facilities such as water and power plants.

The nine-year-old war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and forced 13 million people from their homes, half of whom have left their shattered homeland.

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.
Australians are rallying around their favourite small businesses in order to save them after Scott Morrison ordered a mass shutdown.

Pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants were forced to close their doors or switch to a takeaway business model to stop the spread of coronavirus on Monday.

Many customers have been left devastated by the lockdown and many want to do more to ensure businesses stay open and people keep their jobs.

The Deakin Business School associate professor of marketing, Nichola Roberston, said there were many things Australians could do to make sure their favourite businesses survive.

Business experts said that Australians should make choices to continue to support their local shops (pictured) through the coronavirus shutdown

Customers should purchase online or over the phone rather than going into the business. Pictured: Friends enjoying a last coffee before non-essential venues were closed on Monday

She told ABC: 'I really think the choices we make as customers now have the potential to really meaningfully help those that need it.'

Dr Robertson emphasised that Aussies should not stop shopping but simply change the way that they engage with these stores.

She said that small businesses are also altering the way they provide their services to fit with the current environment of coronavirus shutdowns.

Instead of going into the businesses, Dr Robertson advised that customers could do their shopping online or engage with the stores over the phone.

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

She noted that some shoppers felt so passionately about their local cafe or pub that they were even setting up crowdfunding pages to keep them afloat.

Dr Robertson said another way to provide support for local businesses was to purchase a gift voucher.

She said that being a patient and understanding customer was also essential throughout this difficult time.

'We need to be more tolerant if things fail. Expecting a more adequate service level rather than their desired service level, because we're all in unprecedented times,' Dr Robertson said.

She also said that leaving a kind online review or spreading positivity on social media would really help some businesses.

'Telling others what the business is actually doing to keep its customers safe and healthy if they're taking precautions  people can help by liking these sort of posts, commenting, sharing and following,' Dr Robertson said.

Customers could also support their local businesses by purchasing gift cards and leaving positive reviews online. Pictured: Another cafe in Sydney closed its doors on Monday

HOW TO HELP KEEP YOUR FAVOURITE BUSINESS OPEN Keep shopping with the business online and over the phone Set up a crowdfunding page Purchase gift vouchers Leave a positive online review Spread the word on social media Offer to volunteer Advertisement

Dr Robertson also suggested that shoppers could go one step further and offer practical help to their local businesses.

If a store was short staffed she said the customers could then become voluntary or partial employees.

The Federal Government's latest economic stimulus package offered up to $100,000 to try and keep Australia's small businesses afloat.

Banks have also announced a pause on small business loan repayments in an attempt to save the economy.
Butte County Superior Court suspends evictions in Butte County

The Butte County Superior Court has suspended all evictions for a temporary period. The Butte County Superior Court applied for the order Monday. Tenants facing eviction should note the stay is only temporary, and you should not stop making future living arrangements or communicating with landlords. The suspension will last until May 31, 2020.

Chico PD adding extra precautions due to coronavirus pandemic

The Chico Police Chief says that the department will practice social distancing as much as they can. And starting Tuesday officers will begin wearing respirators. The chief says officers will continue to respond to all crimes in progress. And adds that his department has not received any guidelines on how to enforce the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom.

$100M in homeless aid coming to CA cities and counties during pandemic

California is distributing $100 million to its largest cities and every California county. All this money comes from Senate Bill 89, it authorizes $1 billion of aid to combat the coronavirus. Local housing assistance programs known as a continuum of care will receive nearly $30 million - adding up to $100 million.

Blood donations needed during coronavirus pandemic

The U.S. Surgeon General is asking people to give blood. The response to the coronavirus has severely impacted the U.S. blood supply. Through the end of June - Blood bank Vitalant has had more than 1,400 blood drives canceled. Equal to 41,000 uncollected blood donations. Healthy donors are being asked to schedule an appointment at Vitalant centers in Chico, Redding and Yuba City.

California scrambling to obtain virus protection gear

California Governor Gavin Newsom says that the need for protective medical equipment is astronomical right now. The governor says the private industry is now stepping up to help. Six California companies want to repurpose facilities for gowns and the governor said he is in talks with 25 companies that want to start 3D printing masks

Senate fails to advance coronavirus stimulus package

Lawmakers in the Senate will work for a third day to advance an economic stimulus package. To help businesses damaged by the coronavirus outbreak. The Senate will be back in session at 10 a.m. this morning. Lawmakers failed to advance the package on Monday, 60 votes are needed to move the aid bill to a final vote.

2020 Olympics have been postponed

Japanese leaders and Olympic organizers have agreed to postpone the upcoming 2020 summer Olympics to 2021. The delay comes amid concerns that the event could have increased the spread of the coronavirus. Canada had already pledged not to participate if the Olympic's continued as planned.
France's coronavirus lockdown should last at least six weeks in total, a committee of scientific experts advising the government on the outbreak said today.

The scientific council added that it was 'indispensable' to extend the measure from its initial duration of two weeks, having first been imposed last Tuesday.

The council of doctors and sociologists was created by the health ministry to advise President Emmanuel Macron and the government on the best way to combat the coronavirus.

The Carroussel bridge and the Louvre palace in Paris, pictured, remained empty today on the eighth day of France's nationwide lockdown

The nationwide lockdown orders all in France to stay inside except for essential trips outside such as shopping.

Speaking after talks with the experts at the Elysee Palace, Health Minister Olivier Veran said that the figure of six weeks was an 'estimation' and no one knew at this stage how long the confinement would last.

'They said that we need to be prepared that the confinement will last more than two weeks and that maybe it could be even more like five or six weeks,' he said.

'It (the lockdown) will last as long as it needs to,' he added.

A traffic board, pictured, reads 'Covid-19 avoid contact' on a deserted highway near Rennes, western France

The experts said that the lockdown was currently the 'sole strategy that is realistic in operational terms,' adding that other strategies like mass testing or isolating all those who may have the virus were not realisable on a national scale.

It said three weeks of lockdown would be needed before an estimation of its impact can be made.

The virus has already killed 860 people in France.
The number of COVID-19 cases in



Madhya Pradesh went up to eight on Tuesday after a man tested positive for the coronavirus in Gwalior, an official said.

Earlier, six COVID-19 cases were reported from Jabalpur, while a woman was found positive for the viral infection in Bhopal on Sunday.

On Tuesday, a 36-year-old man tested positive for the coronavirus in Gwalior, the state health department's additional secretary Sapna Lowanshi told PTI.

The man returned to his home in Gwalior last week from Khajuraho in Chhattarpur district, and possibly might have come in contact with some foreign tourists there, sources said.

The condition of all coronavirus patients in the state was stable, Lowanshi said.

In a related development, the Madhya Pradesh government, through an order, reserved the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to treat COVID19 patients.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Farms and food are undervalued in day-to-day life, Lyons said. Many people expect food to be in their kitchens without understanding the foods value or the work it takes to get it grown, harvested, transported and sold. The big question for food production is labor. Our agricultural system already barely functions with lack of adequate labor. Farming is often thought of as unskilled labor, but in fact, it is highly skilled. It is extremely difficult to harvest radishes, kale, or tomatoes quickly, cleanly, beautifully, and not pick bad ones, all fast enough to get the job done before the end of the day. Obviously farmers do not have a work-from-home option. We need to take this opportunity to re-evaluate priorities on what food is worth to people, and to reconsider how farmers and farm workers are treated and valued. The food system is not as resilient to shock as we might think, and this health crisis will test its limits.
Police have released CCTV images of four men following a racially-aggravated assault at a west London pub.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating an assault of a barman which took place on Portobello Road in Notting Hill on Saturday, February 15.

The victim, aged in his 20s, reported being racially abused and then assaulted, with an item of jewellery stolen from him at around 11.30pm.

Officers have released images of four men they want the public's help to identify following the alleged attack on February 15 (left and right)

No arrests have yet been made, but police would like the public's help in identifying the men seen in four CCTV images (left and right)

A police spokesman said no arrests have been made at this time.

Officers have released images of four men they want the public's help to identify.

The first man is described as white, aged in his mid to late 30s with shoulder length, dark hair, while the second man is white, in his mid to late 30s with short hair.

Police said the third man is white, aged in his early 30s, of muscular build with short hair and was described to have a tattoo on his right arm above the elbow.

The fourth man is described as white, aged in his early 30s, and had dark hair.

Anyone with information should call the Central West robbery team on 0207 321 8015 quoting CAD 31/16FEB, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The tally for the number of Covid-19 positive cases in Maharashtra crossed the 100-mark after four new cases were confirmed by the states health department on Tuesday.

None of these cases are from Mumbai - three of them are from Pune and one from Satara. These people have travel history to Peru, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

This has taken the total number of cases in Maharashtra to 101. So far, three Covid-19 patients have died in the state, including a 68-year-old Fillipino and two other men, both aged 63.

The overall number is touching 500 in India. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, according to the health ministry.

More on Covid-19:

 Your guide to staying safe

 What you need to know today

 How difficult it is to maintain 1-metre distance

 How coronavirus is different from seasonal flu and common cold

Maharashtra has now pipped Kerala to emerge as the state with the highest number of active cases. Kerala has 95 such cases, according to the health ministry.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday announced a curfew in the state to check the spread of Sars-CoV-2 virus.

We are enforcing sancharbandi (curfew) for the entire state from midnight tonight (monday). We have reached a critical stage in the war against virus, but the next few days are extremely crucial, Thackeray said.

The state has been under a near-total lockdown since midnight (March 22-23) with all public transport - even the Mumbai suburban trains - closed.

Now, extending the ban to even private vehicles, Thackeray said on Monday that bare minimum movement would be permitted, that too only for emergencies or essential services.
Several rounds of rain will target eastern Asia through the weekend, raising the risk for flooding and some snow.

Periods of rain and thunderstorms first drenched parts of China through the middle of the week as a storm system organized over the country. The storm slowly shifted into the East China Sea.

The heaviest rain fell across South Korea on Thursday and Thursday night. The highest rainfall total was on the island of Jeju, south of the Korean Peninsula, where the city of Seogwipo recorded 85 mm (3.3 inches). Into the weekend, Jeju and the rest of southern South Korea will have occasional showers.

The threat for heaviest rain has shifted into Japan, including Honshu and the city of Tokyo, through Sunday morning.

Tropical moisture surging northward will bring the heaviest rain to Kyushu, Shikoku and western Honshu. Kyushu is expected to receive the heaviest rain with 150 mm (6 inches) forecast in some locations, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.

As of Friday evening, local time, southwestern Japan had been hit the hardest. On the western side of Kyushu, the city of Hirado recorded 134 mm (5.3 inches), while 109 mm (4.3 inches) fell on Fukue Island.

Cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki reported around 64 mm (2.5 inches) as of Friday evening.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"With yet another round of rain on the way this weekend, many places are likely to total 50-75 (2-3 inches) of rain in the span of just a few days," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis.

Even lesser-hit areas in Japan could end up with at least 25 mm (1 inch).

"Flash flooding will be a concern for any areas hit by downpours several times. Ponding in low-lying and poor drainage areas could occur with almost any downpour," Travis added.

The risk for mudslides in rugged terrain will also increase as the second round of rainfall falls through Sunday morning.

A man with a protective mask stands in the rain near an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Tokyo Monday, March 23, 2020. Shares dropped in Hong Kong and South Korea early Monday. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 index held steady, gaining 0.8% on news the International Olympic Committee plans to discuss potentially changing the timing of the Tokyo Games, due to begin in July. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). The IOC since postponed the Tokyo Games to 2021.

"The storm will pull cooler air behind it, bringing in the chill that has settled over northeastern China. This will allow precipitation late Saturday night into Sunday morning across central Honshu to end as snow, especially in the higher elevations," added Travis.

Story continues

Tokyo is likely to miss out on the wintry weather, although a few flakes are not out of the question for northwestern parts of the city.

Other than along the southeast coast, mostly dry conditions will return to most of Japan on Sunday as the storm system departs to the east. Meanwhile, yet another storm looks to bring more rain to eastern China.

The rain in eastern China on Sunday is likely to bring yet another round of unsettled weather to portions of Japan before the middle of the week.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Page Content





The first confirmed positive case came via the UK-Miami to the island and the second was a student returning from New York.





The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) over the weekend collected forms that were filled in by incoming passengers with residency on Sint Maarten, and an overview of the information was provided to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Monday.





These were the last flights to bring Sint Maarten residents back home before the closure of the countrys airspace on Sunday midnight for incoming passengers.





These persons had to register with CPS and as such have done so.





Totals as of: March 20



Self-quarantined: 42

Self-isolation: 40

Suspected cases: 13

Positive: 1

Negative: 9

Pending: 3





Totals as of: March 23

Self-quarantined: 322

Self-isolation: 57

Suspected cases: 22

Positive: 2

Negative: 12

Pending: 8





The numbers on Friday, March 20 were as of 8.00pm and by March 23 increased to final totals up to that day. The number of self-quarantined persons are mainly returning residents who have to stay confined at home.





The spike from 42 to 322 comes from all those returning over the weekend who have been compliant and registered with CPS to be monitored, and we appreciate their compliance.





The self-isolation cases are those who have dialed 914 as a result of the public awareness campaign and are being monitored for symptoms.





The suspected cases are a subset of the self-isolation cases (13 of the 40 persons) by Friday (22 of the 57 persons) by Monday. Tests are being run by Institute Pasteur in Guadeloupe and we are currently awaiting tests on eight patients.





We ask the community to remain vigilant with hygiene practices throughout the day, remain indoors at home as much as possible.





Those that returned from abroad, while CPS has access to the flight manifest, it would be a gesture of good faith to call, register and email the form to CPS  surveillance@sintmaartengov.org - in order to be monitored even if you have no symptoms as this time or call 914 for more information, Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs said on Monday.





Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Sunday that the country has two confirmed positive cases of coronavirus COVID-19, and both are in mandatory self-isolation at home and are recovering.
A mother and daughter team have turned their shared hobby into a successful business, selling handmade fine china mugs with hand painted designs. They are hoping to be up and thriving again when the current Covid-19 economic storm passes.

From their workshop in north Dublin, Pamela and Suzanne Hughes hand-fire and paint the porcelain mugs which are stocked in over 70 retailers around the country and available online. Hughes had spent seven years living in London where she worked in fashion buying for retailers such as TK Maxx and Primark. Her mother had bought a kiln and started making mugs as a hobby.
gettyimagesbank



By Park Jae-hyuk



A possible postponement or cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could serve to offer momentum for Korea to resume talks with Japan regarding a bilateral currency swap deal, according to domestic economists, Monday.



Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University's School of Business, told The Korea Times that Seoul should offer to reestablish a currency swap line with Tokyo at this moment, because Japan is also in a dilemma over its spending on the Summer Games.



"Japan will not be able to continue ignoring Korea, as it is awaiting the Olympics," he said. "Both Korea and Japan need bilateral cooperation at this moment, because both of them are suffering difficulties."



Kwak Soo-jong, a former professor at George Mason University, shared this view, saying both countries would benefit from the currency swap resumption under the current economic crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic.



"If the Tokyo Olympics is postponed or cancelled over the coronavirus, Japanese companies will be unable to retrieve their investments in infrastructure. Then the Japanese government will issue new currency to offset their losses, but this will depreciate the Japanese yen and could bring the Japanese economy into crisis," he said, defining the Korea-Japan currency swap as a "win-win agreement."



Their remarks came as calls have grown for the Moon Jae-in administration to sign a currency swap deal with Japan to mitigate the pandemic's impact on the local financial market.



Since the Korea-Japan currency swap deal ended in 2015, the two countries have failed to reestablish their currency swap line because of ongoing historical disputes which have developed into a trade war.



Although Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said "a currency swap with Japan would be meaningful," Friday, a day after Korea signed the deal with the United States, some Japanese commentators have opposed a resumption of the deal.



The commentators said their country would gain nothing from a currency swap deal with Korea.



The Korean economists denied the claim, but admitted that the Korean government should preemptively ask the Japanese counterpart to reopen the agreement.



Kim said President Moon should learn from China's Deng Xiaoping, who pursued economic cooperation with Japan, despite their historical dispute.



"Japan can issue a key currency  the Japanese yen  and its dollar reserves amount to $1.3 trillion, the second-largest in the world," he said. "Korea should seek to improve its relationship with Japan in a future-oriented view."



Kwak said Korea may face another financial crisis if Japanese firms rush to retrieve their investments from the Korean financial market to offset their losses from the postponement or cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.



In this regard, the economist urged Korea to start talks with Japan without delay.



But still, the finance ministry has remained cautious about a currency swap with Japan.



When asked about a currency swap with Japan, during a meeting with foreign reporters, Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki declined to comment on the progress of the deal, saying "We will make efforts to sign agreements with additional countries."


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- A wedding held on Staten Island in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has drawn the ire of local church leaders, who on Monday are reiterating to priests new guidelines amid a statewide lockdown.

The Archdiocese will be certain to reiterate our guidelines to all of our priests so that they understand what the exact boundaries are regarding what they can and cannot do during this COVID-19 crisis, said Archdiocese of New York spokesman Joseph Zwilling.

A wedding held at Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church in Bulls Head over the weekend was attended by about two dozen guests, a wedding party and a white Rolls-Royce, according to a New York Post report.

Any wedding scheduled to take place during a pandemic thats hit New York City harder than any place in the country should be postponed unless it is an emergency situation, Zwilling said Monday.

Even then, he said, only the bride, groom, two witnesses and the officiant should be present.

We will be sure that all priests are given clear instructions, including this particular priest."

Houses of worship were not included in the non-essential entities ordered to shut down by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. However, it is strongly recommended no congregate services be held and social distance maintained, according to a press release posted Friday on the governors website.

Last week, the Archdiocese of New York cancelled Mass going forward, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan has urged archdiocesan parishioners to keep those affected by the disease in their prayers.

Let us pray for all who are sick, as well as doctors, nurses, caregivers, and all those working hard to combat the disease, he said. "We should also remember those whose lives have been otherwise disrupted, especially anyone who has lost income from a loss of work during this difficult time.

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Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday said hes moving closer to ordering children day care centers closed in New Jersey amid the coronavirus outbreak, but has held off until a plan could be put in place to make sure emergency and medical workers workers have day care options.

I am personally migrating toward a decision that, assuming first-responders and health-care workers (can be addressed), that we are gonna find a way to bring this down for the foreseeable future, Murphy said at Rutgers-Newark during his daily coronavirus press briefing.

Murphy has ordered all public and private schools to close until further notice, as well as non-essential retail businesses, to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. But he has allowed day care centers to remain open, specifically to make sure emergency and medical workers are covered as they fight the pandemic.

The state approved additional funding for such centers.

When you put in place the steps you have put in place, you have to be mindful of the fact that were trying not to tilt the machine so much that it falls off the tracks, Murphy said Tuesday.

But critics fear keeping the centers open exposed children and workers to the virus that has gripped the globe. State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, called on the governor to find a solution.

Murphy said Tuesday hes spoken with Vitale and state officials are working on a plan.

The governor said hes heard that 85% of day care facilities in the state have already voluntarily shuttered  though, he said, he has no basis on which to validate that number.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said a solution is needed because 40% of nurses across the state are single parents or primary caregivers.

We need the nurses on the frontlines, Persichilli said. Good child care is imperative.

She said safe, good, responsible child care close to hospitals is in the works.

We havent quite gotten there yet, Persichilli said. But we will figure this out.

New Jersey now has at least 3,675 known cases of the coronavirus, including 44 known deaths, state officials announced Tuesday. Thats the second most number of cases in the U.S., after New York.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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As new deaths and cases of coronavirus emerge, the UK woke up on Tuesday to a nation-wide lockdown after Prime Minister Boris Johnson, alarmed at people not taking social distancing seriously, announced new curbs, allowing people to leave homes for only four specified reasons.

Declaring the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic as a national emergency, Johnson said the police will have powers to enforce the curbs described as the toughest in living memory; they are similar to those introduced recently in France and other European countries.

Coronavirus-related deaths and cases in the UK continued to mount: 422 deaths and 8,077 cases as on Tuesday. Health officials are expecting and gearing up for an Italy-like spike in the near future.

Setting out the curbs to last three weeks, Johnson said in a TV address on Monday: From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home. Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.

That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes: shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible; one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household; any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

Thats all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home, he said, imposing restrictions the likes of which the UK with a long history of struggles for liberty, freedom of movement and civil rights has never seen.

However, the challenge to enforce social distancing remained. On Tuesday, commuters posted images of crowds on London Underground, and police officials pondered whether they have enough personnel and powers to ensure that social distancing is obeyed.

Besides the closure of pubs, restaurants and theatres announced last week, Johnson said authorities will also close shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

Johnson said: No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this. I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to peoples lives, to their businesses and to their jobsAnd I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review.

We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to. But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.

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Other factors, such as the age of those infected and the timing of Germanys outbreak, also play a role in the differing death rates. But testing widely has been key. Germany, with 31,150 cases at midday Tuesday, appeared to have a larger outbreak than France, with 20,149. But the higher death rate in France implies there were more undiagnosed cases there. Frances outbreak could be larger than Germanys.
While the novel coronavirus ripples across the world, bringing death and disruption to lives, institutions and businesses, I think about the message young people need to hear.

I asked adults whove survived tough times to share thoughts to possibly lead to a discussion among parents and children.

***

My caregiver and I were talking about that this morning, said Ray Lindsey, 93, who said it makes sense that that young people are worried about the future.

He said he told his caregiver that its important to accept that bad things are always going to come along. Because young people take their lead from adults, he said its important that adults talk, honestly, about what it means to look for ways to be positive during tumultuous times.

While its not always easy, sharing personal stories about tough times, anger and fear lets young people know their worries are natural.

I served on a destroyer in the South Pacific during World War II, said Lindsey, who lives in Forest Grove. We had suicide planes and bombs. I had friends die. I went through a lot of things I wouldnt wish on anyone, but I did it and got on with my life.

He and his wife raised three kids, and he now has three grandchildren.

Then my wife got Alzheimers disease, he said. It was hell. I spent three years taking care of her at home. She couldnt walk. I fed her. She died 10 years ago. Ive been on my own.

Lindsey told his young caregiver Monday that even with ups and downs, she should always remember the world is beautiful.

We may not see it in the moment, he said. But there are good things in this life.

***

Barbara Cameron and her son, Ted, in her kitchen.

Barbara Cameron and her husband, Jim  both 81  have been talking frequently with their five grown children in the past week while in their Milwaukie home. (You might remember our story about Barbara Camerons pie-making competition with her son Ted.) The youngest and his wife have two kids, 9 and 5, and they are stuck at home.

I told them to not worry about missing school, said Cameron. Love, hold and listen to them. Thats what they will remember years from now. Done right, these times, which seem so awful, could be the most memorable in a childs life.

The key, she said, is that parents not hide what they are worried about. Children sense that fear, and keeping it hidden only makes it worse.

We had a period of time when Jim had no steady work and we had financial problems, said Cameron. We were honest with our kids. The two youngest went out with Jim to help him with his job of delivering phone books. They watched their father mow lawns to make money.

To this day, she said, they remember how wonderful it was when we were able to pay to get hash brown potatoes at McDonalds.

Cameron said once a month the children and grandchildren all return home for a big dinner.

We start each meal saying were grateful for each other, she said. The tough times have done that for us.

Because of social isolation measures, the family wont meet in March.

But we will one day, she said. We all know that. Thats called optimism and hope. Thats what we need more than ever now, and it starts with the young people.

***

As a way to honor veterans, the Vital Life Foundation held a ceremony last summer in Aurora. Hattie Kelley met Jim Shotwell, a pilot and the owner of the fighter plane.Photo by Gary Tetz

Hattie Kelley, 96, grew up in the toughest of times. She was born in 1923 and remembers the Great Depression. As a way to save money, her mother told Kelley she could have either peanut butter or jelly, but not both, on a graham cracker.

In grade school, she helped the family financially by working in the California fields.

Ive seen a lot, she said from her Portland home. Let me tell you something. We always come out of it. Thats the message that young people need to hear from people who have lived through those times.

Kelley is always impressed when she gets a chance to meet with young people.

During whats going on with this virus now, adults need to talk to them, she said. Be honest with them. Theyre the next generation and they will come together to make a difference just like all the previous generations have done.

***

Eva and Les Aigner, who have a message of hope for young people, posed while at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.Photo by Gary Tetz

Les and Eva Aigner have a message for young people: We are stronger than we think we are.

During World War II, she and her husband both lost families in Nazi concentration camps.

Les and I lived through hard times, said Eva Aigner, 81. We eventually made it to America. We had nothing. We learned to live without, to cope. 

The couple has two children, four grandsons and a great-grandchild.

The message we have always passed on to the young is to never give up, she said. If my husband and I had given into the grief so long ago, we would not be here."

She hopes that is a message parents, in the coming days and weeks, share with their children.

 Tom Hallman Jr; thallman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8224; @thallmanjr

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The company said it will have an adverse impact on revenue

Jubilant Foodworks in a regulatory filing after market hours yesterday announced that it has suspended dine-in facility across all Domino's Pizza restaurants. The company said this is in view of the emergent situation due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

This crucial step will help to support several initiatives taken by the Central and State Government authorities to control potential transmission of COVID-19 and to maintain social distancing.

The company further said that it will mitigate the impact and promote the takeaway and delivery channels but in spite of this there will be an adverse impact on the revenue of the company.

Shares of Jubilant Foodworks were trading 3.33% lower at Rs 1245.45 on BSE.

Jubilant FoodWorks is part of Jubilant Bhartia group and is one of India's largest food service Company, with a network of 1,325 Domino's Pizza restaurants across 282 cities (as of 31 December 2019). The company has the exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino's Pizza brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The attack, one of the deadliest recently, came as the military tried to launch an offensive against the armed group.

Boko Haram fighters killed at least 50 Nigerian soldiers in an ambush near Goneri village in northern Yobe state, according to military officials and villagers.

The Nigerian military suffered some casualties in the unfortunate attack, defence ministry spokesman John Enenche told journalists in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Enenche did not disclose the exact number of casualties, but local witnesses who spoke to German press agency dpa on the telephone placed the death toll at between 50 and 75 people.

The ambush occurred near the town of Goneri in eastern Borno State on Monday, according to Enenche.

The army is saying the situation has subsided, Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris reported from Abuja.

After the attack they called in the air force and raided the position of the fighters and succeeded in killing all of them  although the military here did not give the actual number of Boko Haram fighters that were killed.

The attack, one of the deadliest against troops recently, came as the military tried to launch an offensive against the armed group that began over the weekend, a military official with knowledge of the operation told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media about the matter.

The troops were able to fight back and escape from the ambush on Saturday, he said. At a place called the Gorge, the soldiers were attacked from the rear when they advanced.

Boko Haram fighters inflicted heavy casualties by firing on the vehicles with rocket-propelled grenades and assault weapons, he said. Those who survived are being treated at hospitals in Damaturu and Maiduguri.

A senior army officer also confirmed the attack, saying he lost a friend and calling it a huge setback for Nigerias army.

Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands in its 10-year armed uprising in northern Nigeria.
I find it odd Mayor Rick Chrest of the City of Brandon has been silent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. When the past city manager Rod Sage news came out regarding Christine Mitchells overdose at his home and subsequently died, he was quick to come to Rods defence publicly. Is it not a mayors duty to address the public in times of crisis? Mayor Rick where are you?

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

"I find it odd Mayor Rick Chrest of the City of Brandon has been silent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. When the past city manager Rod Sage news came out regarding Christine Mitchells overdose at his home and subsequently died, he was quick to come to Rods defence publicly. Is it not a mayors duty to address the public in times of crisis? Mayor Rick where are you?"

 A recent Sound Off to the Sun

Rather than publish this in the regular Sound Off section on Page A2, I thought I would take a moment to address this comment, seeing as how it isnt necessarily a fair comment, but one that might be lurking in the minds of other Brandon residents.

At the heart of the statement is a belief that every politician must be seen and heard by the electorate in times of strife, grief, disaster or even triumph. It demands that our elected officials have to get out in front of the cameras and lead by saying more than pleasantries.

Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen, seen here at right while announcing that Manitoba's public schools would be closed for three weeks as a proactive measure to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The declaration was made at a press conference at the Manitoba legislature by Minister Goertzen who was accompanied by the Premier Brian Pallister (second from right), chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin (second from left), and Health Minister Cameron Friesen (left). 200313 - Friday, March 13, 2020.

And while there is certainly something to be said for a nation that can look toward its leaders in times of crisis for words of comfort or inspiration, there are also times that mayors, premiers and prime ministers need to stay out of the way. And the COVID-19 situation our society is facing is a perfect example.

After three cases of the coronavirus were confirmed on March 12 in Winnipeg, it was the City of Brandons director of risk and emergency management, Brian Kayes, who was out in front speaking to media about the measures the city would be enacting.

"(Coronavirus) does seem to be moving into North America  were not sticking our head in the sand. We are putting into place a number of different plans that are meant, at this particular point, to limit the spread," Kayes told the Sun at the time.

And last week Thursday, it was acting city manager Dean Hammond who was quoted when the city announced that Brandon Transit had temporarily stopped collecting bus fares as a result of the pandemic. Kayes was quoted in our article on that announcement, too. The mayor was not included.

But I would ask, why should he have been? The city pays employees such as Hammond and Kayes to do a job, and to speak for the city when it is warranted. As an expert in disaster management, Kayes is the right spokesperson for the city when it comes to planning and explaining how the city will deal with a hazard like COVID-19. Mayor Chrest, whose comments would not be unwelcome, of course, was not vital to the citys message in this case.

And to be fair to the mayor, he has not abstained completely from media interviews  he has gone on the record for both the Sun and the CBC in the past week and a half to address media questions about city councils response, and spoken to the growing stress within the business community. But he has given the team at city hall some time to shine, and show leadership as well. That, to me, is the sign of a good public servant.

MIKE DEAL/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, and Lanette Siragusa, provincial lead, health system integration, quality and chief nursing officer for Shared Health, heading in to speak during the province's latest COVID-19 update.

There are other examples, not the least of which is our own provincial government. Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, and Lanette Siragusa, Shared Health chief of nursing, have been the provincial governments main spokespeople to the public. And while the premier and other ministers have held press conferences, its Roussin and Siragusa who have been given wide latitude to address the provinces implementation of new health measures and provide COVID-19 updates.

Theyre the experts, not the premier or his ministers. Again, this is what strong leaders do  allow others to speak, knowing that they have the knowledge and expertise to answer media questions.

Perhaps the one exception to the rule has been Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who  after staying out of much of the spotlight since his humbling minority government win  has been holding daily briefings to address the countrys concerns, provide national updates and provide a measured, level-headed response to media questions.

A poll published last week by the Angus Reid Institute suggested that Canadians were generally responding well to federal and provincial handling of this pandemic. As CBC reported, the poll suggested that more and more Canadians believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a serious threat to Canada  as they should. But it also found that 87 per cent of respondents said they trust the information coming from their local health authorities and medical health officers "a great deal" or "a fair amount."

Contrast this to our neighbours south of the border, where U.S. President Donald Trump has been contradicting his own public health experts for weeks, much to the dismay of medical professionals across the nation, and to the confusion of ordinary Americans.

We are very lucky as Canadians to have leadership that knows when to let the experts speak  and even more importantly, leadership that knows when to listen to those experts when crises emerge.

 Matt Goerzen, editor
Carole Detemple, English teacher at the International Bilingual School (EIB), gives English online lessons from her home in Montrouge near Paris as a lockdown is imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in France. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)

A deserted classroom is seen at the International Bilingual School (EIB) in Paris as a lockdown is imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus spread in France. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)

Susana Lorenzo, Spanish teacher at the International Bilingual School (EIB), gives Spanish online lessons from her home in Paris. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)

Anais, a student at the International Bilingual School (EIB), attends her online lessons in her bedroom in Paris. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)

Valentine, a student at the International Bilingual School (EIB), attends her online lessons in her bedroom in Paris. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 01:49:07|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration will use the Defense Production Act (DPA) on Tuesday for the first time, to procure some 60,000 test kits to aid against the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a senior emergency management official.

Peter Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN that the administration had decided to use the law, which President Donald Trump recently said he would invoke, because "there's some test kits we need to get our hands on."

Gaynor said the federal government is also going to insert "DPA language" into "mass contracts that we have for the 500 million masks."

Trump signed an executive order on March 18 to invoke the DPA but has since been under pressure from state governors to actually take action. He tweeted Tuesday morning that the law "is in full force, but haven't had to use it."

Passed by Congress in 1950 as a response to the Korean War, the DPA gives the president the authority to ask private companies to ramp up production of national defense-related items.

By invoking the law, Trump now has the authority to direct companies to boost production of medical supplies such as respirators, gowns and ventilators, as well as control the distribution of those items.

The president, however, was reportedly faced with pushback from business leaders who opposed him executing the wartime power, citing concerns over loss of profit as a consequence.

He resisted calls to use the law at a White House news briefing Sunday, saying "the concept of nationalizing our businesses is not a good concept." The DPA, however, does not authorize the government to take ownership of companies or industries.

The country is scrambling to fill the gap in the supply of critical medical equipment such as masks.

Gaynor said during CNN's "State of the Union" program Sunday that he could not give the number of medical masks the federal government could provide for hospitals. "When it comes to supplies, we have been shipping from the national stockpile for weeks."

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar testified before senators in late February that the country has "30 million N95 respirators in the strategic national stockpile," and that it needs 300 million for healthcare workers.

In another development, Trump signed an executive order Monday using the authority he is given under the DPA to prohibit price gouging and hoarding of medical supplies deemed vital amid the spread of COVID-19.

The president told reporters at the White House on Monday that the HHS will designate certain items as "scarce," making it a crime to excessively stockpile items that are so designated.
Los Angeles, March 24 : Model Chrissy Teigen has fired up her social media war of words with US President Donald Trump by attacking him for complaining about the pain of a coronavirus test.

Fuelled by actress and writer Sarah Thyre's comments on Trump's complaints, Teigen reminded him that she had given birth twice -- and his COVID-19 check-up cannot be more painful, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Teigen retweeted Thyre's post, in which she wrote: "Our s**tprez is b***hing about how invasive the Covid test is and excuse me, I've had multiple hands shoved up my vagina to try to pull out a single d**n baby -- and you are b***hing about a swab up your f**king nose that could save millions of lives."Then Teigen added: "My vagina was ripped to my a**hole giving birth to (daughter) Luna... f**k your swab pain. they had to put a garbage bag at the end of the bed to collect my blood before stiching me up, where I then had to pee using a water bottle as a pain fountain for 3 months. so yeah. the swab, I bet it's super rough."Teigen's rant is the latest in a long line of social media attacks on Trump, which began as soon as he took office.
At 26, one is in the prime of life. What were you doing then? Saving lives? Possibly not. Dying because you risked your life to save others? Not if you are reading this article. Well for Usama Riaz, life was cut short when he died at the age of 26.

So who was he you may ask? A celebrity, no, but a hero for sure. The man was a doctor and why did he die? Because he was treating patients affected by coronavirus. He is the first doctor in Pakistan to die due to the disease which has claimed the lives of over 15,000 people.

He got the virus while treating people in the Gilgit region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. His patients had recently returned from Iran and Iraq. He was part of a 10-member team which was screening people who returned from Iran via Taftan. Pakistan shares a border with both Iran and China.

Riaz belonged to Chilas in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). He came home on Friday night but could not get the next day. He was first rushed to a military hospital and then to district hospital. He was put on ventilator and died on Sunday, according to his family.

It is with extreme sadness that the Gilgit-Baltistan health department confirms that Usama Riaz who played a key role in the war against coronavirus has passed away, the GB government tweeted on Monday.

Usama proved himself the real hero by sacrificing his life to save others," GB Information Minister Shams Mir said.

Pakistan Medical Association of Gilgit-Baltistan blames the government for Riaz's death.

"Riaz had contracted COVID-19 due to the negligence of government and its health department, President PMA G-B Zulfiqar Ali said.

This also opens up a whole new can of worms. The main issue is why are doctors not getting their Personal Protection Equipment? What is the point of them doing their duties if they are not safe themselves? This rant by an Indian doctor using Riaz's death as a perfect example pretty much sums it up:

Please don't send me to war without weapons @PMOIndia Please arrange #PersonalProtectiveEquipment for us doctors ASAP. We need #N95masks #HazmatSuits to defeat #Corona. Sincerely yours, an Indian Doctor. https://t.co/syDwod0zBd  Dr.Kamna Kakkar (@drkamnakakkar) March 23, 2020





Riaz himself knew the risks he was taking, but he did not shun from doing his duty. The first doctor who died from coronavirus in France had actually come out of retirement to save lives. Just shows their selflessness. If they can be this selfless, can't the people in authority at least ensure they have the proper protective gear? How will they protect the patients if they cannot save themselves? Losing a doctor means you lose a potential number of patients.

Not just in the subcontinent, the problem is all over the world. Take a look at what is going on in USA:

Dear America,

Were running out of PPE. Our hashtag is #GetMePPE. Please help us get it out there.



,

An ER Doc https://t.co/o34Dy3xofT  Sam Ghali, M.D. (@EM_RESUS) March 20, 2020

Im lucky, @VP. I got the last pair of googles in the ER for today. Its 9AM. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/b96Ye2Bdgv  Chris Bennett, MD  (@cleebennett) March 19, 2020

This is what hospitals are currently doing to try to keep staff healthy:



Stapling elastic bands on expired procedural masks.



Horrified? Yep, so am I. https://t.co/ToxS0iHEmD #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/x5sJhaeRtx  Megan Ranney MD MPH (@meganranney) March 20, 2020

According to management Im wearing the last n95s available in house for now. They are telling us that we put our name on it and place it in a bag for up to FIVE days. All our airborne rooms are FULL of r/o covid and this is just in the ICU#getmeppe pic.twitter.com/ldRbAr8SLx             (@nursinterrupted) March 17, 2020

I dont think Ive ever seen an N95 with someones name on it, but here we are. pic.twitter.com/lOxrt7J0yU  Screaming Pectoriloquy (@Caulimovirus) March 20, 2020

so my whole hospital is out of N95s and procedure masks...



i have 1 N95.



i'm covering for 240 hours.



awesome.  EM Sushi | raw but prepared (@raw_em_md) March 20, 2020

The bottom line is this. Get those who save us the tools to keep themselves safe. Only then can they do their duty flawlessly. Having said that, they are still doing it, but at a great risk. Make their job easier, and the result shall be good for everyone.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 13:01:07|Editor: ZD

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KAMPALA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has recorded eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to nine, a top health official said here Monday.

Health Minister Ruth Aceng told reporters that all the eight new cases are Ugandan nationals, who arrived in the east African nation from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates aboard Emirates and Ethiopian airlines on March 20-22.

"The ministry of health appeals to all those travelers who have been to Dubai in the past two weeks to immediately call the health desk for further follow-up," she said.

The minister said a total of 2,661 travelers have been identified as potential risks who are under either self-quarantine or institutional quarantine.

"A total of 1,356 people are under follow-up, 774 people of whom are under institutional quarantine while 582 people are still under self-quarantine. A total of 1,305 risk travelers have completed their 14 days of follow-up," said Aceng.

"I would like to appeal to the general public to cooperate with the measures being taken by government to prevent further spread of COVID-19," said Aceng.

"We continue to appeal to the general public to remain calm and take preventive measures -- wash your hands always and maintain social distancing of four meters," she said.

Uganda recorded its first confirmed case on Saturday after a 36-year-old Ugandan male returned to the country from Dubai.

Uganda has since issued stringent measures aimed at containing the spread of the disease. The country's borders are closed to incoming or outgoing international travelers, except cargo and emergency landings.

The country has also banned all public gatherings and closed schools, centers of worship, among others, for more than one month.

Security agencies in the country have arrested dozens of people, including foreigners, for violating the guidelines issued by the government.
The influx of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases has overwhelmed healthcare systems across the globe, including the United States. The country has seen a sharp increase in its infection and death toll, prompting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to launch an online triage system to help residents make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care.

The novel coronavirus self-checker, called Clara, is a bot used as a triage system to assess the severity of cases, and at the same time, lessen the burden on doctors and health workers in clinics and hospitals.

All residents in the United States can use the bot to help them make decisions about seeking proper medical care. The bot will ask many questions, including what symptoms are present, if the patient has an underlying medical condition, or he or she had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.

The bot also asks questions about the symptoms experienced, such as if they are gasping for air or they have difficulty breathing. Further, the location of the patient or if they have been in contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19.

Lessen healthcare burden

The purpose of the self-checker for COVID-19 is to ease the burden on healthcare workers who are now scrambling to treat patients with the infectious disease.

The new bot can alleviate crowding, giving the best advice for the patient even before they go to the hospital. For those with symptoms, contact with a known case of coronavirus, and those who had a recent travel history to an affected place, Clara will advise them to visit the doctor.

The common signs and symptoms of the novel coronavirus include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, appearing between two and 14 days after exposure. In some cases, people may manifest gastrointestinal symptoms. For those with signs of COVID-19, getting immediate medical attention is crucial.

It is essential to filter patients who need urgent medical care and those who do not to lessen the work burden of nurses and doctors in hospitals.

Prioritize testing

The WHO and health authorities encouraged manufacturers to ramp up efforts to provide testing kits to help trace people with the virus. Today, the guideline states that those with the most severe symptoms should be prioritized for COVID-19 testing.

Testing is the key to know who is infected and how to prevent it from spreading to others. If many people are tested, they know about their COVID-19 status, isolating themselves if they are positive. This way, many lives of people are safe.

The WHO asked many residents to support its call to test every suspected case. When many patients are being tested, more will be quarantined and isolated in order not to transfer the virus to other people.

"To support our call to test every suspected case, we are also working hard to increase the global supply of diagnostic tests. There are many companies globally that produce diagnostic kits, but WHO can only buy or recommend kits that have been evaluated independently, to ensure their quality," WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement.

The United States is now in third place in terms of the number of cases with 43,901. Italy is the new epicenter of the pandemic with 63,927 infections and 6,077 deaths. The total number of infections worldwide is 378,601, while the death toll reached 16,505.
Finish the Fight! The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote will be published on August 18, 2020, the hundredth anniversary of the landmark passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, in conjunction with extensive print and digital coverage of the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment by The New York Times.

Spearheaded by Veronica Chambers, senior editor, Special Projects, and featuring contributions from numerous New York Times writers, including Overlooked editor Amisha Padnani and culture writer Jennifer Schuessler, Finish the Fight! will center on the often-overlooked women from marginalized backgrounds who worked to secure voting rights for women. Those chronicled include Yankton Sioux writer and advocate Zitkala-Sa; Mary Church Terrell, who cofounded the National Association of Colored Women (NACW); and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who, at sixteen years old, helped the New York City women's movement lead one of the biggest suffrage parades in U.S. history.

Ten of the women featured will have a custom portrait created by an artist of a similar background.

"It took nearly three-quarters of a century from Seneca Falls to ratification for women to win the vote," said Veronica Chambers. "So many movements and moments are interwoven into the suffrage story: from the abolitionist movement to temperance, from anti-lynching crusades to the labor movement and immigrant rights. It's been exciting to work with a talented team of journalists, as well as an amazing group of illustrators, to tell this story to a younger audience and to kick off the larger scope of coverage The New York Times will devote to the hundredth anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment."

"This vibrant book will empower my daughters, our daughters, and ultimately each of us who cares about human rights," said Kwame Alexander, founding editor of Versify. "Versify is proud to publish Finish the Fight! and celebrate the names and achievements of the little-known women who helped clinch ratification, and whose stories have yet to be told."

Versify senior executive editor Margaret Raymo acquired North American rights from Kim Witherspoon of InkWell Management Literary Agency, who represented The New York Times.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media

For nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has published some of the world's most renowned novels, nonfiction, children's books, and reference works. As part of a leading global learning company, it is uniquely positioned to offer educational and entertaining content for all audiences. Its distinguished author list includes ten Nobel Prize winners, forty-eight Pulitzer Prize winners, fifteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. Current and recent authors include Tim O'Brien, Natasha Trethewey, Paul Theroux, Alison Bechdel, Adam Hochschild, Tim Ferriss, and a celebrated roster of children's authors and illustrators, including Kwame Alexander, Lois Lowry, and Chris Van Allsburg. HMH is also home to The Best American Series, The Whole30, Weber Grill, How to Cook Everything, and other leading lifestyle properties; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children's books and characters, including Curious George, The Little Prince, and The Polar Express. HMH Productions develops and produces media and licensed products related to brands such as Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail. HMH Audio publishes audiobooks of HMH frontlist and backlist titles.

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The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) is a global media organization dedicated to enhancing society by creating, collecting, and distributing high-quality news and information. The company includes The New York Times, NYTimes.com, and related properties. It is known globally for excellence in its journalism, and innovation in its print and digital storytelling and its business model. Follow news about the company at @NYTimesPR.

Contact:

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Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom always praised China for its efforts to contain the virus. Because of that, he became a subject of a blame game as people consider him as one of the reasons why coronvirus has become a pandemic. As of March 23, the total cases of COVID-19 wordlwide is 349,751 with 15,306 deaths, and 100,345 recovered patients based on worldometers.

Last Friday, the WHO chief mentioned the efforts of the Chinese in dealing with COVID-19. He also tweeted about the impressive performance of Xi Jinping who is leading the charge against the pathogen.

The current news is positive saying that Wuhan, the ground zero of the COVID-19 contagion, has beaten the disease according to the Chinese head Xi Jinping. Reports indicate that there are zero new cases for coronavirus, which is indeed a reason to celebrate. When the question about the WHO chief and the Chinese leader's relationship was raised, Xi Jinping seems to put it off.

Last March 11, WHO declared the coronavirus a global pandemic after months of infecting thousands of people around the world. Some would praise the World Health Organization, but Bradley Thayer, a political science professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and Lianchao Han, the vice president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China voiced their opinions.

Both asked why the WHO chief only declared coronavirus as a pandemic on March 11 when the disease has advanced and brought devastation to the world's population.

The statistic is high, with many cases and Italy now surpassing China in deaths, the U.S. had a 51.3% jump and with 14,250 cases. Death toll is now 205% from 36.7%, and more than 10,000 are already dead from the diease with no cure yet.

Also read: China's Secrecy Under Strain, Reeling From Continuous Spread of Coronavirus

Wuhan is the center of coronavirus where it all started, with the first case in late November that has been understated. The world is now in lockdown and everyone is affected with no exception. Schools are closed and economies are endangered, facing recession.

Many events were cancelled including G7, which was supposed to be held at Camp David in June. Many countries are rushing to contain and delay COVID-19, while China is being the model on how to save their respective countries.

The Hills reports that Tedros was not concerned about the crisis, but politicized the virus and helped Xi disown any hand in the worldwide outbreak. It further adds that the WHO Chief is actively defending the Chinese regime from gross violation of human rights. It is even said that Tedros, who was elected as WHO Chief in 2017, doest not deserve his position because apart from not being a trained medical doctor, he lack experience in managing global health issues.

Other sources added, "The coronavirus pandemic has shown that Tedros is not fit to lead the WHO," they said. "Because of his leadership, the world may have missed a critical window to halt the pandemic or mitigate its virulence."

Related article: Coronavirus Origin: Is It Really a Bio-weapon Created in a Wuhan Laboratory?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Dublin, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Agricultural Biotechnology: Emerging Technologies and Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The study scope includes key agricultural biotechnology tools (i.e., next-generation DNA sequencing, biochips, RNA interference, synthetic biology tools, and gene editing tools); synthetic biology-enabled chemicals and biofuels; biotech seeds; and biologicals.



The report analyzes these technologies and products to determine present and future market sizes, and to forecast growth from 2019 through 2024. The report also discusses industry strategic alliances, industry structures, competitive dynamics, patent status and market driving forces.

The research provides in-depth coverage of the agricultural biotechnology industry structure, including genomics technology providers (e.g., genome editing, NGS and microarray companies); major seed companies; biotech trait companies; synthetic biology tools companies; companies developing plant feedstocks; and agricultural biologicals companies. It provides an in-depth analysis of major industry acquisitions and alliances during 2018 and 2019.



96 agricultural and biotechnology companies are profiled in this report.



The report includes:

32 data tables and 60 additional tables

A detailed review of the global markets for agricultural biotechnology and other emerging technologies

Analyses of the global market trends with data from 2018 to 2019, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024

Discussion of key agricultural biotechnology tools such as next-generation DNA sequencing, biochips, RNA interference, synthetic biology tools and genome editing tools, and assaying their role in enhancing the marketplace

Underlying market opportunities for biotechnology tools, genomic-enabled products, and biotech seeds enhancing growth for the coming five years

Key merger and acquisitions, joint ventures, and alliances within the large biotechnology companies, allowing them to participate in the upside of new genomics technologies that will enhance their breeding, seed development, and biologics programs

Company profiles of market-leading participants, Ajinomoto Co, BASF, Cibus, Novozymes, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Qiagen

Story continues

Market Insights



Global megatrends are driving the need for higher agricultural yields, creating strong tailwinds for innovative seed traits and biological pesticides and stimulants.

World population growth, coupled with rising incomes, lead to consumption of higher-quality foods, including meat. This, in turn, creates higher consumption of feed crops, including maize, soy, and wheat. At the same time, the total acreage of arable land available for producing crops is under pressure from a range of forces, including growing populations, urbanization, and global warming.



These global forces are creating leverage in the industry to increase productivity and crop yields. Biotechnology provides strategic tools for the agricultural industry to meet these market demands. This report examines the role of these technologies in agriculture and quantifies their market impact.



Reasons for Doing the Study



Agriculture is a fundamental and strategic component of a country. As a result, agricultural technologies provide competitive geographic advantage and are highly desirable. Biotechnologies address the pressing industry need for higher crop yields and other desirable traits. Agricultural biotechnology is a key and growing component of the global agriculture industry and is thus of interest to a wide audience.



This report seeks to provide a qualitative and quantitative description of the agricultural biotechnology industry so that emerging market opportunities can be identified and exploited by the reader. The report does this by examining the main product applications and markets, thereby helping companies to prioritize product opportunities and strategic opportunities. The report highlights key market and industry trends, as well as quantifying the main market segments, in order to help the reader better understand industry structure and changes occurring in the industry.



Rapid changes in technology-intensive fields such as DNA sequencing, gene editing, and synthetic biology are driving new products and applications in agriculture. These developments create unique market opportunities. This report analyzes these trends and their impact on future markets for agricultural products.



Based on these market and technology dynamics, it is especially timely to examine the agricultural biotechnology industry.

Key Topics Covered



Chapter 1 Introduction

Study Goals and Objectives

Reasons for Doing the Study

Scope of Report

Methodology

Information Sources

Geographical Breakdown

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights



Chapter 3 Overview

Scope of Report

Agricultural Biotechnology Market

Industry Growth Driving Forces

Life Cycle Status

Agricultural Biotechnology Industry

Chapter 4 Technology Background

Introduction to Crop Technologies

Plant Modification Platforms

Agricultural Biotechnology Tools

Next-Generation Sequencing

Biochips

RNA Interference

Gene Editing

Synthetic Biology

Seed Technologies

Development of a Genetically Modified Seed

Agricultural Biologicals

Chapter 5 Agricultural Biotechnology Applications

Applications Overview

DNA Sequencing Applications

Biochip Applications

RNAi Applications

RNAi-based Insecticides

RNAi-based Crop Traits

Advantages of RNAi in Agriculture

Synthetic Biology Applications

Biofuels

Renewable Chemicals

Gene Editing and Engineering Applications

Chapter 6 DNA Read, Write and Edit Industries

Agricultural Seed Genomics Industry

Biotech Traits Industry

Sequencing Industry

Sequencing Instruments Industry

Long Read Sequencing Industry

Gene Editing Industry

Agricultural Biologicals Industry

Chapter 7 Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances

Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances

Key Trends

Discussion of Corporate Deals

Chapter 8 Agricultural Biotechnology Markets

Forces Driving Industry Growth

Global Demographic and Land Use Trends

Demand for Higher Yields

Rise of the Middle Class in Developing Countries

Advances in DNA Read, Write and Edit Technologies

New Commercialization Pathways

Emergence of Critical Mass in Plant Traits Industry

Market Summary

Market for Agricultural Biotechnology Tools

Biochips

Gene Editing Tools

RNAi Tools

DNA Sequencing

Synthetic Biology Tools

RNAi Market

Gene Editing Market

Gene-edited Biologicals

Gene-edited Seeds

Biotech Seed Market

Synthetic Biology Market

Polymers

Enzymes

Other Renewables

Biofuels

Biologicals Market

Agricultural Biotechnology Regional Markets

Agricultural Biotechnology Market by Region

Market for Biotechnology Tools, by Region

Synthetic Biology-Enabled Market by Region

Biologicals Market by Region

Market for Biotechnology Seeds by Region

Chapter 9 Patents

Sequencing-Related Patent Issues

Synthetic Biology Industry Patent Analysis

Gene Editing-Related Patents

Gene Editing Patents (Sangamo Case Study)

Biotech Seed-Related Patents

Chapter 10 Company Profiles

Adama Agriculture Solutions Ltd.

Advanta Ltd.

Agbiome Llc

Agrisoma Biosciences Inc.

Agrivida Inc.

Agreliant Genetics Llc

Ajinomoto Co. Inc.

Amfora Inc.

Arborgen Inc.

Arcadia Biosciences Inc.

BASF AG

Bayer Ag

Beam Therapeutics Inc.

Benson Hill Biosystems Inc.

Bgi Shenzhen

Calyxt Inc.

Cardea Bio

Cargill, Inc.

Caribou Biosciences Inc.

Caszyme

Certis Usa Llc

Cibus Inc.

Corteva Inc.

Crispr Therapeutics Ag

Danaher Corp.

Depixus

Diversity Arrays Technology

Dlf Seeds A/S

DNA Electronics Ltd.

Eurofins Scientific

Evogene Ltd.

Evolva Sa

Forrest Innovations

G+Flas Life Sciences Inc.

Genapsys Inc.

Gencove Inc.

Genus Plc

Ginkgo Bioworks

Genecopoeia

Harvest Genomics

Illumina Inc.

Inari

Intrexon Corp.

Isagro Spa

Joyn Bio

Kaiima Bio-Agritech Ltd.

Kaveri Seed Company Ltd.

Keygene N.V.

Koch Agronomic Services Llc

Kws Saat Se

Maronne Bio Innovations Inc.

Meiogenix

Metahelix Life Sciences Ltd.

Newleaf Symbiotics Inc.

Nexgen Plants Pty Ltd.

Nomad Bioscience Gmbh

Novozymes A/S

New England Biolabs

Nucelis Llc

Ontera

Origin Agritech Ltd.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Pacific Biosciences Of California Inc.

Pairwise Plants Inc.

Performance Plants Inc.

Perkinelmer Inc.

Phalanx Biotech Group

Pivot Bio

Plant Bioscience Ltd.

Plant Health Care Inc.

Precision Biosciences

Promega Corp.

Qiagen Nv

Qtlomics Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Quantapore Inc.

Quantum Biosystems Inc.

Rahan Meristem Ltd.

Real-Time Genomics Inc.

Recombinetics Inc.

Rnagri

S&W Seed Co.

Sakata Seed Corp.

Sangamo Therapeutics Inc.

Sigma Aldrich Corp.

Syngenta Ag

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Trace Genomics Inc.

Trigall Genetics

Tropic Biosciences Uk Ltd.

Ugentec

UPL Ltd.

Verdeca

Vilmorin & Cie Sa

Vhl Genetics

Yield10 Biosciences Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hib70i

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IRCTC fell 5% to Rs 858.50, extending its losing streak to seventh consecutive session.

The stock hit a lower circuit of 5% for seventh consecutive session. The outbreak of COVID-19 has made travellers reconsider going on vacation in this middle of a global pandemic, putting pressure on travel and tourism industry.

The stock has tumbled 30% in seven trading sessions from its previous closing high of Rs 1228.05 hit on 13 March 2020.

To curb the coronavirus outbreak, Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, on 22 March 2020 announced that all passenger train services on Indian Railways including premium trains, mail/express trains, Konkan Railway, etc will be cancelled till 31 March 2020.

In an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19, complete lockdowns were announced in India's 30 states/Union Territories and a total of 548 districts.

Shares of IRCTC have tanked 57% from its record high level of Rs 1995 registered on 25 February 2020. The stock was listed on stock exchanges on 14 October 2019 at Rs 644, a premium of 101.25% to the IPO price.

Although Coronavirus started in central China, it is spreading faster in the rest of the world. The epidemic has grown to infect over 382,570 people with over 16,578 fatalities. India has reported 10 deaths and over 511 cases so far

IRCTC, a Mini Ratna public sector enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways, is the sole entity authorized by Indian Railways (IR) to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India. IRCTC operates in four business segments, namely, internet ticketing, catering, packaged drinking water and travel & tourism. The Government of India holds 87.40% stake in the company as on 31 December 2019

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:33:10|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Tuesday that Lebanon is seeking foreign aid to fight COVID-19, or novel coronavirus.

"We do not have all the necessary material and equipment but we are contacting all countries for aid to fight the virus," Aoun was quoted as saying by a statement released by the presidency.

He added that this aid will be delivered to all those who are combatting the pandemic.

Aoun's remarks came during his Skype call with the employees of Rafic Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), the leading COVID-19 testing and treatment center in the country.

"The Lebanese are praying for you today because you are facing a war against humanity. You are helping the Lebanese by supporting them while they are at hospitals and citizens feel at ease because they know where to go if they get infected," Aoun told the employees at RHUH.

The president also spoke with Lebanese Red Cross members saying that he appreciated their sacrifices.

Lebanon's financial crisis has caused a dollar shortage since September 2019, which has restricted the ability of importers to import vital medical supplies, including masks, gloves, ventilators and other equipment.

The Lebanese government has also not reimbursed public and private hospitals for bills, including from the National Social Security Fund and military health funds.

This has made it harder for the hospitals to purchase medical supplies and hire additional staff to reduce the burden on overworked nurses.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased to 304 cases.
MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambican troops battled Islamist insurgents in a town in a northern town on Monday close to billion-dollar gas projects being developed by Exxon Mobil and Total, police said.

The General Commander of Mozambique's police, Bernardino Rafael, said the insurgents attacked Mocimboa da Praia and its army barracks before dawn on Monday, wounding dozens of people.

Mocimboa da Praia is about 350 km (220 miles) by road from the city of Pemba in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado and is just south of the Afungi peninsula, where gas projects worth $60 billion are located.

The town is strategically important to the projects. Until recently it was the main airport for workers travelling to the site, before a landing strip was built at Afungi itself, and its port is also used for some cargo deliveries for the projects.

"Mocimboa da Praia is currently an active combat zone," Rafael told reporters at the police headquarters in Maputo.

The army was doing all it could to restore security, he said warning people to stay away.

Security analysts said parts of the town, including the army barracks, were reportedly occupied by the attackers.

The insurgents started staging attacks in Cabo Delgado in 2017, threatening security in a nation set to become a global gas exporter following one of the biggest gas finds in a decade offshore Cabo Delgado.

Little is known about the insurgents, though initial attacks were claimed by a group known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama. More recently, Islamic State has claimed a number of attacks.

More than 900 people have been reported killed in the province since 2017, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, an NGO.

The frequency of attacks has been increasing, leaving some analysts concerned that the insurgency could be a growing threat and that it could cause disrupt the gas boom.

Alexandre Raymakers, Senior Africa Analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said the attack highlighted serious gaps in security and raised questions about Mozambique's ability to defend the developments.

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While Raymakers said the LNG infrastructure and personnel will remain "aspirational targets" for now, the insurgents will likely be emboldened by their successes and seek to increase the tempo of their operations.

Total said it was aware of the developing situation in Mocimboa do Praia, but the Afungi site remained secure and all of members of its team accounted for.

Both Exxon and Total said the safety of their employees was a priority and they were monitoring developments and working with the relevant authorities on security.

Reuters reported in January that the oil companies had requested more government troops be bought in to protect the site amid a rise in the number of attacks.

(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and Emma Rumney in Johannesburg; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
As Ghana is making everything possible to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic among its citizens, Gifty Anti, a broadcaster, has opened up on how she is surviving under compulsory quarantine following the directive by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



The Stand Point Host, who described the situation as uncomfortable but very necessary explained in a post on her Facebook timeline that when she returned to the country via a British Airways (BA) flight on Sunday with other passengers, No one. Absolutely no one was allowed to go home or see relatives who had come to meet them".



According to her, the National Security Minister, his deputy, BNI director and other security operatives, as well as the police, military and health professionals were all at the airport to ensure that no one escapes.



She said, immediately they arrived at the airport, they were screened and after they picked their luggage, they waited to be bused to a hotel where they were to be quarantined.



She added, This morning, I opened my door and the military guy on the floor said, Madam please go back inside.



"Well, I was just looking!!! So, they leave the food at your door, knock and leave. No human contact. The only human contacts are the fully PPE clothed health officials who come to take our samples for testing. Quite an uncomfortable process, though very necessary.



She noted Ghana is taking this seriously and we the citizens must take it seriously too. Its not fun to be under compulsory quarantine but it is very necessary!!!



Read Gifty Anti's full post below:





BackgroundPresident, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ordered the closure of Ghanas borders from Sunday, March 22, 2020.This is to help reduce further spread of the Coronavirus infection rate in the country.Anybody who comes into the country, before midnight on Sunday, will be mandatorily quarantined and tested for the virus," the president directed.









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.

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Devin McCourty thought he was going to leave New England this offseason.

Thats how he opens a new essay in The Players Tribune, anyway.

But the longtime safety decided to decided to come back to New England on a two-year, $23 million deal. It all but ensures the soon-to-be 33-year-old will retire a Patriot.

McCourty explains he decided to stay for two reasons.

The first is simple: He wanted to keep playing alongside his brother, Jason, and the Patriots wisely picked up his option in February.

I got what I wanted, McCourty writes. "I get to play with my brother again. Were keeping the family together. "

The second reason is a bit tricker.

McCourty said after a decade in New England  and three Super Bowl victories  he was ready for a new challenge. With Tom Brady departing after two decades of his own, the defensive captain has found theres no bigger test than sticking around and to see if he can shepherd the Patriots into the next era.

People are going to say that because Toms gone, the dynasty is over, McCourty writes. "Theyre already burying us, far as I can tell. And thats fine. Let em. Weve never listened to the noise, and were not about to start now. But the task is definitely taller this coming year than it has been in years past. Theres more work to do. And its not gonna be so easy this time around.

"Thats where the new challenge comes in.

I thought I had to leave New England to find what I was looking for. But it turns out that there is no greater challenge for me right now than leading this Patriots team into a new era and helping ensure that this next wave of players can continue our legacy and build on what weve already achieved as a franchise.

With Brady gone, the Patriots are truly entering uncharted territory, but hes far from the only one to depart this offseason. The defense has seen some serious turnover.

Starting linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins signed lucrative deals elsewhere, safety Duron Harmon was traded to the Lions, defensive captain Elandon Roberts landed in Miami, and special teams standout Nate Ebner left, too.

Itll be on McCourty to help their replacements produce the same way in 2020.

Related content:
March 24 : ZEE5, Zee Group's over-the-top (OTT) platform has been named Indias Most Desired Video Streaming Brand by TRAs. Many Bollywood celebrities like Dia Mirza, Kunal Khemu and Karisma Kapoor have bestowed an outstanding performance for the series on ZEE5.

At the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2020, Dia Mirza was awarded Best Actress for her performance in ZEE5 Original series Kaafir. Whereas Karisma Kapoor who ruled the silver screen for decades marked her digital debut with Ekta Kapoors OTT platform ALT Balajis and ZEE5 Mentalhood.

The nineties star, who made a comeback with "Mentalhood" after nearly eight years, judges digital space as a more creative platform than films. According to her, it allows filmmakers to work more innovatively. The actor believes that it's a very different platform. OTT platform is a perfect entertainer. It gives a chance to actor to speak more and work more creatively. It actually gives a voice to express.ss

Mentalhood is a drama web series created by Ekta Kapoor and produced by Rupali Guha under her banner Film Farm India for the online streaming platform ALT Balaji.

It is also available on ZEE5. It also stars Dino Morea, Sanjay Suri, Shruti Seth, Sandhya Mridul and others.

The show explores a different kind of mothers that exist and how they deal with crazy and unreasonable expectations and eccentricities to raise their children. They are like goddesses with many hands that multi-task and have gotten into the habit of constant worrying and guilt feelings.

The show was been loved thoroughly by the masses and social media pages were flooded with praises for Karisma and other leading actors of the show.
US doctors are hoarding supplies of drugs that are being tested for treating coronavirus, a disconcerting new report reveals.

A ProPublica investigation found that doctors are prescribing drugs like hydroxychloroquine, a therapeutic approved for treating malaria and lupus that President Trump has hailed as a promising drug for coronavirus, to themselves.

The Illinois Pharmacists Association was alerted to the trend its director called 'disturbing' over the weekend, and it has issued a warning against prescribing these sorts of drugs without an established relationship with patients who have meet criteria.

And Illinois isn't the only place facing this unsettling issue.

Pharmacists in Miami and Houston have had similarly suspicious prescriptions called in by doctors making large orders of the drugs to stockpile and lupus patients throughout the US have complained they can't get their medications.

Hydroxychloroquine has shown some potential for treating coronavirus in China, where production of the drugs has resumed (pictured). In the US, doctors are prescribing the drug to themselves and hoarding it

President Trump touted the drug as a 'game-changer' despite the fact that it has not been proven effective for coronavirus, fueling interest in and shortages of hydroxychloroquine

'Its disgraceful, is what it is,' said Garth Reynolds, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association of doctors' behavior in the state.

'And completely selfish.'

He told ProPublica that his association received a slew of complaints starting on Saturday from pharmacists who were getting calls from doctors trying to prescribe drugs like hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to themselves, friends and family members.

Hydroxychloroquine is sold under the brand name Plaquenil and dates back more than half a century.

It was developed as a less toxic version of a successful anti-malaria drug.

In 1956, it was approved for treating symptoms of the autoimmune diseases lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

About 1.5 million Americans are thought to have lupus, a rare disorder which causes a wide array of symptoms - including everything from pain and fatigue to fever, rah, kidney and memory problems and blood clotting.

Rheumatoid arthritis is similarly rare, striking about 41 out of every 100,000 people each year, causing them inflammation that drives joint pain and damaging multiple body systems.

And not all of those patients are on Plaquenil, meaning that there's neither a massive supply nor demand of it sitting on pharmacy shelves.

Some pharmacists have seen their stocks of the drugs depleted almost immediately.

More than 25,000 Americans now have coronavirus and more than 300 have died. Distress over the pandemic has fueled a scramble for unproven drugs like hydroxychloroquine, which is being tested as an experimental treatment in the US

Chloroquine is FDA-approved for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis in addition to malaria in the US, and companies are already reporting shortages of it

SMS Pharmacy Solutions in Miami had some 800 tablets of Plaquenil on Monday morning. Within an hour, they were completely sold out, pharmacy president Brian Brito told ProPublica.

One doctor requested 200 of the tablets, but the pharmacy turned him down.

'People are losing their minds about this product,' Brito told ProPublica.

'We're selling so much of this stuff and people are just stockpiling it prophylactically if anybody in their family gets sick - they're just holding on to it.

Other pharmacists reported that doctors called in prescriptions for chloroquine, claiming it was for spouses or family members with lupus, and they needed unlimited refills.

Pharmacists are doing their best to bat back inappropriate requests for the drug. West Virginia's pharmacy association issued an order that only 30 tablets of the drug can be prescribed at a time.

But since President Trump touted hydroxychloroquine as a 'game-changer' last week, demand and prescriptions have surged.

A University of Utah drug shortage monitoring program reports shortages already for hydroxychloroquine tablets made by four companies - Amneal, Mylan, Major and Teva.

Tablets made by Zydus, Concordia (which makes the brand name drug, Plaquenil), Sandoz and Prasco are still available.

Access to hydroxychloroquine was expanded for experimental treatment of COVID-19 under compassionate use in the US.

Doctors are only meant to prescribe it some coronavirus patients, largely for the purpose of collecting data on the drug's effects in combination with the common antibiotic, azithromycin.

But health officials and the FDA have repeatedly cautioned that the drugs are unproven.

Studies in China and France are among those that have suggested the treatments could help combat COVID-19 symptoms.

However, Dr Anthony Fauci of the White House's coronavirus task force has repeatedly warned that the drug is not proven and should not be seen as a magic bullet.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (NOVAGOLD or the Company) (NYSE American, TSX: NG) today released the following statement from its Chairman and largest shareholder, Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, and President and CEO Gregory Lang regarding the strategy adopted by NOVAGOLD in response to the COVID-19 global health crisis.



Along with many of our peers in the mining industry, we feel that it is important to share with all our stakeholders the specific actions that we have taken to meet the challenge posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Physical Health and Minimizing Risk of COVID-19 Exposure

NOVAGOLDs most important objective during this period is to secure the health and safety of its employees, partners, and contractors. As so many other companies have done, in recognition of the major threat posed by COVID-19, NOVAGOLD has implemented a wide-ranging set of policies at its offices in Salt Lake City and Vancouver, as well as at the Donlin Gold LLC office in Anchorage and Donlin Gold site, designed to ensure the safety and well-being of all employees and the people associated with them. In that regard, to reduce risk, our office employees have been asked to work from home, avoid all non-essential travel, adhere to good hygiene practices, and, if they must visit the office, engage in social distancing.

NOVAGOLD and its partner Barrick Gold through Donlin Gold LLC have implemented a wide-ranging set of policies consistent with the State of Alaskas requirements, recommendations, and precautions for State activities and aimed at achieving the same objectives at the Donlin Gold project site:

Screening all employees and contractors visiting the Donlin Gold project site prior to their departure for site and periodically during their stay. Should any individual exhibit any symptoms of illness, they will be evaluated to determine if they need to be isolated and evacuated from site;

Increased housekeeping staff and implementing more frequent sanitization practices;

Regularly conducting safety meetings designed to address sound hygiene and sanitization practices; and

Requesting all employees to monitor their health and consult the site medic if feeling any symptoms of illness.

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In addition, Donlin Gold LLC has reached out to Calista Corporation (Calista) and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), Donlin Golds Native Corporation partners and owners of the projects subsurface and surface rights, respectively, to offer help and assistance with COVID-19 related issues at this time of great need.

While the 2020 drill program continues at this date, NOVAGOLD recognizes that the crisis is fluid and is monitoring the State of Alaska health recommendations and will make the necessary adjustments including pushing back the timeline for the remainder of the program.

Financial Health

As befits a company whose corporate strategy is focused on maintaining the full integrity as well as enhancing the durability of its option value for shareholders, it should also be mentioned that, as the challenges posed by COVID-19 go beyond the physical health of a corporations staff, we wish to assure our shareholders that the Companys financial health remains exceptionally robust to weather the current crisis.

A unique feature and benefit of being a NOVAGOLD shareholder is not only owning a piece of one of the rarest gold assets in the world but also a Company with a strong balance sheet and projected expenses that are comfortably within its means. NOVAGOLD has not needed to go back to the market in more than eight years to raise funds and is conservatively managed to avoid any need to seek financing in the near term. In 2020, we are projecting expenses of $31 million. With $148.5 million in cash and term deposits as of November 30, 2019, the management team can focus entirely on moving Donlin Gold forward while addressing the safety and health of our employees, contractors, partners and communities in which we operate without the distraction of needing to raise additional capital. We have a strong balance sheet, which does not include an additional $75 million expected to come from Newmont Mining next year, and $25 million more in 2023, or a further $75 million contingent payment on top of that which we could receive if and when the Galore Creek project owners approve a construction plan.

Based on these commitments and projected needs, the Company believes it has sufficient funds to advance Donlin Gold without the need to raise capital until markets, and indeed the rest of the world, are considerably healthier and a construction decision is made.

NOVAGOLDs Overall Approach to Risk

The composition as well as nature of much of the Companys ownership base is reflective of much of NOVAGOLDs philosophy. First and foremost is our recognition that, while the upside of NOVAGOLD is clearly extraordinary, little of that would matter were its management not attuned to the many risks that characterize todays world. In the Chairmans Q&A section of our 2019 Annual Report, which was written around the New Year and hence did not reference the COVID-19 pandemic, we address NOVAGOLDs positioning in terms of its downside protections. The following excerpt should re-assure our employees, shareholders, contractors, partners and communities of the economic security of the Company as we focus on responding to the COVID-19 global health crisis:

14. Do you still see NOVAGOLD as well-positioned in terms of its downside protections, or is the gold market past the need for that?

One should never be past thinking in terms of downside protection. Indeed, as a seasoned player in the natural resources space who strongly believes in the notion that if an investor has covered the downside the upside will take care of itself, let me actually highlight the downside protections weve put in place for NOVAGOLDs owners in order to ensure that your company, effectively an unexpiring warrant without time decay, is positioned to prosper.

As a pure play on a federally permitted mining project  on Native Corporation land already designated for mining  we believe Donlin Gold will constitute the largest single pure gold mine in the world, in one of the few parts of the world where mining is welcomed and the rule of law isnt a novelty. The project has tremendous support at the local, state, and federal levels.

And we have a well-managed, tier-one partner in Barrick Gold. Moreover, as of fiscal year-end 2019, NOVAGOLD had a balance sheet that, between cash on hand and receivables, was approximately $248 million, with maybe more to come. With federal permitting behind us, and Galore Creek monetized, NOVAGOLDs current obligated burn rate is nominal at a time when we are flush with cash.

What this means is that, were the gold price to go down before they revive in full, and should we face challenging times, we simply could not go out of business under any reasonable scenario. While I dont believe that the fundamentals of gold, or the industry, require a washout to set the stage for golds next big move higher, these head fakes do happen. Shakeouts before a blistering move upward are classic chart patterns. Think of a V-bottom and you may recall a few. This is assuredly not a scenario our shareholders should fear  the Electrum team having been in that movie several times over the years and knowing well from firsthand experience how to position our portfolio companies in order to identify opportunity in market displacements.

We have thus deliberately positioned NOVAGOLD in such a manner that we likely would not need to raise capital, even if the resumption of the gold bull market is delayed by a temporary downturn in gold price  including a sharp one. If anything, under certain circumstances, the company might determine that its shares are worth more than the metal itself and buy some back. Put differently, an investor can expect that, when gold is acknowledged to have put in its bottom, we will not have diluted our fully intact optionality on our reserve base. For an investor, these robust downside protections provide a true differentiator.

For complete access to NOVAGOLDs 2019 Annual Report, you can use the following link: https://bit.ly/32Sr1vz .

To conclude, all our stakeholders should know that there is absolutely nothing more important to us than their health and safety, and that of their families and our partners. We are committed to maintaining maximum vigilance as we monitor this crisis, and to follow the guidelines set out by the relevant authorities as well as the best practices standards of our peers in the industry.

On behalf of the NOVAGOLD management and board of directors, we wish you, your families and loved ones good health, strength, and courage.

Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan

Chairman Gregory A. Lang

President & CEO

About NOVAGOLD

NOVAGOLD is a well-financed precious metals company focused on the development of its 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska, one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated mineral resource categories, inclusive of proven and probable mineral reserves (541 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 2.24 grams per tonne in the measured and indicated resource categories on a 100% basis),1 Donlin Gold is regarded to be one of the largest, highest-grade, and most prospective known open pit gold deposits in the world. According to the Second Updated Feasibility Study (as defined below), once in production, Donlin Gold is expected to produce an average of more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100% basis. The Donlin Gold project has substantial exploration potential beyond the designed footprint which currently covers three kilometers of an approximately eight-kilometer long gold-bearing trend. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on state permitting, optimization work, community outreach and workforce development in preparation for the construction and operation of this project. With a strong balance sheet, NOVAGOLD is well-positioned to fund its share of permitting and optimization advancement efforts at the Donlin Gold project.

Scientific and Technical Information

Some scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to the Donlin Gold project is derived from the Donlin Creek Gold Project Alaska, USA NI 43-101 Technical Report on Second Updated Feasibility Study prepared by AMEC with an effective date of November 18, 2011, as amended January 20, 2012 (the Second Updated Feasibility Study). Kirk Hanson, P.E., Technical Director, Open Pit Mining, North America, (AMEC, Reno), and Gordon Seibel, R.M. SME, Principal Geologist, (AMEC, Reno) are the Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the independent technical report, each of whom are independent qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101.

Clifford Krall, P.E., who is the Mine Engineering Manager for NOVAGOLD and a qualified person under NI 43-101, has approved and verified the scientific and technical information related to the Donlin Gold project contained in this press release.

NOVAGOLD Contacts:

Melanie Hennessey

Vice President, Corporate Communications

Jason Mercier

Manager, Investor Relations

604-669-6227 or 1-866-669-6227

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, potential, possible, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results will, may, could, would or should occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on several opinions, estimates and assumptions that management of NOVAGOLD considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the impact of precautionary measures that we have adopted on the safety and well-being of our and Donlin Golds employees, the ability of the Company, the sufficiency of funds to continue to advance development of Donlin Gold; expectations regarding the price or performance of gold; the potential development and construction of Donlin Gold; perceived merit of properties; the advancement of optimization studies at Donlin Gold; potential opportunities to enhance or maximize the value of Donlin Gold; sufficiency of funds for the Company to advance Donlin Gold without additional financing; the timing and likelihood of permits; opportunities to reduce capital outlays and improve project economics; mine life and production estimates at Donlin Gold; the exploration potential of Donlin Gold; mineral reserve and resource estimates; work programs; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; benefits of the Donlin Gold project and market prices for precious metals; whether the final $75 million promissory note from the sale of Galore Creek will mature and be payable, and future share price performance of NOVAGOLD. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent NOVAGOLDs management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the need to obtain additional permits and governmental approvals; the timing and likelihood of permits; the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for continued cooperation between NOVAGOLD and Barrick Gold Corp. for the continued exploration, and development and eventual construction of the Donlin Gold property; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the development and operation of properties; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; whether a positive construction decision will be made regarding Donlin Gold or Galore Creek; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in reports and documents filed by NOVAGOLD with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections of NOVAGOLD on the date the statements are made. NOVAGOLD assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (CIM Definition Standards). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Industry Guide 7 (SEC Industry Guide 7), and resource and reserve information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. NOVAGOLDs disclosure concerning Reserve & Resources Estimates remains consistent with NI 43-101. Under SEC Industry Guide 7, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. SEC Industry Guide 7 normally does not permit the inclusion of information concerning "measured mineral resources, "indicated mineral resources or "inferred mineral resources or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute "reserves under SEC Industry Guide 7 in documents filed with the SEC. Investors should also understand that "inferred mineral resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Disclosure of "contained ounces in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves under SEC Industry Guide 7 as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves are also not the same as those of SEC Industry Guide 7, and reserves reported by NOVAGOLD in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves under SEC Industry Guide 7. Donlin Gold does not have known reserves, as defined under SEC Industry Guide 7. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with SEC Industry Guide 7.

On October 31, 2018, the SEC adopted a final rule (New Final Rule) that will replace SEC Industry Guide 7 with new disclosure requirements that are more closely aligned with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101. Companies must comply with the New Final Rule for the Companys first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, which for NOVAGOLD would be the fiscal year beginning December 1, 2021. The New Final Rule provides that SEC Industry Guide 7 will remain effective until all registrants are required to comply with the New Final Rule, at which time SEC Industry Guide 7 will be rescinded. While early voluntary compliance with the New Final Rule is permitted, NOVAGOLD has not elected to comply with the New Final Rule at this time.

1 Donlin Gold data as per the Second Updated Feasibility Study (as defined herein). Donlin Gold measured resources of approximately 8 Mt grading 2.52 g/t and indicated resources of approximately 534 Mt grading 2.24 g/t, each on a 100% basis and inclusive of mineral reserves. Mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with NI 43-101.




Intel said Monday that it will send 1 million pieces of protective equipment to healthcare workers from the coronavirus.

Hospitals around the country have warned they are running low of masks, eyewear and gloves to protect nurses and doctors from infection when they care for patients.

Intel initially said the company would obtain the equipment from its factories, where workers wear head-to-toe bunny suits to protect against even microscopic particles that could wreck the tiny features on its computer chips. However, the company said Tuesday that such gear is not suitable for medical use.

Instead, the company said the donated equipment will come from protective equipment required by local regulations and for on-site emergency response personnel. The company said it is working with its suppliers to obtain additional items.

We are immensely grateful to the healthcare workers who are at the front lines of slowing this pandemic, said Todd Brady, Intels director of public affairs.

Intel is Oregons largest corporate employer, with 20,000 employees at its campuses in Washington County. The company has said its operations have been relatively normal throughout the outbreak, though its stock is down sharply in recent weeks  from a peak near $70 last month to $49.58 at Mondays close.

Intel has continued operating factories all over the world and proceeded with construction on a multibillion-dollar factory expansion in Hillsboro.

Intel has allowed many employees to work from home in recent weeks but several employees and Intel contractors have expressed concern privately to The Oregonian/OregonLive that they are concerned they have been unable to maintain a safe distance from their colleagues.

Intel maintains that it is taking steps to ensure workers have a safe work environment.

When Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued an order Monday requiring Oregonians to generally stay home, she specifically exempted manufacturing and construction. Brown said those industries can continue operating so long as they take steps to prevent the spread of the virus.

This article has been updated to indicate that Intel now says the protective equipment is not coming from its factories.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
With more than 25,000 positive tests and 210 deaths, New York has become the epicenter of coronavirus cases in the United States, but in recent days, the numbers in Louisiana, New Jersey and several other states also have been skyrocketing.

Louisiana, which reported no cases until mid-March, topped the 1,000 mark and the state has seen more than 500 new cases reported since the weekend, with 1,388 cases and 46 deaths by Tuesday afternoon.

Gov. John Bel Edwards requested a federal major disaster declaration.

In his request to the President, Edwards said Louisiana has more cases per capita than any state, except for New York and Washington.

"We have overwhelmed our stocks of key resources needed for our hospitals, first responders and emergency managers," he wrote.

New Jersey added more than 800 cases from Monday to Tuesday, for a total of 3,675 positive tests and 44 deaths. That makes New Jersey the second-highest state case total in the nation. Last week alone, New Jersey cases increased tenfold.

The state is under a stay-at-home order. Gov. Phil Murphy said not everyone is adhering to the mandate.

"We must have 100% compliance. This is about public health and it's about people's lives. Your employees' lives, their families' lives, and your life," he said.

Michigan's total rose from just 65 cases about week ago to 1,791 on Tuesday afternoon, including 15 deaths. Pennsylvania saw a spike of more than 200 cases overnight, bringing the total to 851 cases statewide. Of those cases, seven people have died.

Florida and Georgia -- two states where political leaders have faced criticism over their timing on enacting restrictions -- both crossed the 1,000-case mark over the weekend and continue to rise significantly each day. As of Tuesday evening, Florida recorded 1,461 cases and 17 deaths, while Georgia reported 1,097 cases and 38 fatalities.

Additionally, Indiana went from a handful of cases about a week ago to 365.

California teen's cause of death is 'complex'

The death of a Los Angeles County resident may be the first juvenile to have died from the novel coronavirus in the United States.

But hours after saying the person died from Covid-19, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued another news release, saying there might now be an "alternate explanation" for the death.

The department characterized the case as "complex" and despite early testing indicating a positive result for Covid-19, further investigation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be required.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN the person who died was a teenager.

The teen lived in Lancaster, California, according to county officials.

The news came as more than 52,000 coronavirus cases were reported in the country by Tuesday evening, with nearly half in New York. At least 701 people have died.

Coronavirus-related deaths in children remain relatively rare.

"In the mortality data that has been provided to us, there has been no child under 15 that has succumbed to the virus in Europe," Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said during a briefing Monday. "There was the one 14-year-old in China. So we still see that there is less severity in children, and so that should be reassuring to the moms and dads out there."

According to studies, two children, a 10-month-old infant and a 14-year-old boy, died in China after being infected with the novel coronavirus.

The 10-month-old who died had a preexisting condition. The child experienced multi-organ failure and died four weeks after being admitted to a hospital in Wuhan, according to research published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 14-year-old boy from Hubei province died February 7. No further details were available on his death, which was reported in a study published last week in Pediatrics that looked at 2,143 children with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.

New York governor demands ventilators

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanded the federal government take dramatic action to send thousands of stockpiled ventilators immediately to his state first, saying the Empire State's immense coronavirus caseload threatened catastrophe in days without it.

He said New York needs 30,000 more ventilators on top of the 7,000 it has.

Cuomo wants all of what he called a current federal stockpile of 20,000 ventilators to brace for the coming "apex" in cases, which he says will arrive in as soon as 14 days.

"We need the federal help, and we need the federal help now," Cuomo said. "New York is the canary in the coal mine. New York is going first -- we have the highest and fastest rate of infection."

"(After) we get over that curve ... I'll send ventilators, I'll send health care workers ... around the country."

The governor said his state was trying to address two other needs: more hospital beds and more medical staff.

He said the state needed 140,000 hospital beds for an anticipated patient apex in as in soon as two weeks, yet the state now has only 53,000 beds. Cuomo said he was speaking to hotel owners "about taking over their hotels" to place some patients.

"I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds that we need," he said.

About 1,000 beds are being set up in Manhattan's Javits Convention Center. Those beds generally will be for noncritical overflow patients, freeing up intensive care units in hospitals, Cuomo said.

More than 40% of US live in states with stay-at-home orders

Cuomo's comments come as general stay-at-home orders -- intended to slow the spread of the disease so medical professionals can better handle incoming cases -- will be in effect in at least 17 states by Wednesday.

While President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to soon transition away from social distancing to help the economy, public health experts and physicians are generally urging they stay in place longer, as cases are nearly overwhelming health care systems in New York City and other areas.

"The (distancing) we have put in place over the last eight days ... you won't see the impact of that for at least another seven or 14 days," said Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, on NBC's "Today" show.

"What we're seeing in hospitals right now are people who most likely got exposed and sick more than two weeks ago," she said on "Today."

White House aides are scrambling to find a compromise option. Discussions include a phased system in which younger people -- potentially under 40, according to one option -- return to the workplace or business first, followed gradually by people slightly older until most of the country is back to normal, officials say.

Last week, the White House released guidelines urging Americans to avoid eating at bars or restaurants and skip out on gatherings with more than 10 people for the rest of March.

Health officials have said a lack of firm federal direction and residents ignoring social distancing guidelines could result in more sharp increases of cases and hospitalizations that will overwhelm the country's health system.

"I think we're far away from (the end of social distancing), quite frankly," said Dr. Celine Gounder, a CNN medical analyst and infectious disease specialist at New York's Bellevue Hospital Center.

'Like going to war with a water gun'

Supply shortages aren't unique to New York. Doctors have sounded the alarm on dwindling medical supplies across the country.

When it comes to personal protective equipment, Dr. Jason Halperin of Crescent Care in New Orleans told CNN staff was in "urgent need of everything."

Working in a hospital without that protective equipment, a nurse in a South Texas hospital told CNN, is like "going to war with a water gun."

"Everything is limited," the nurse said, "PPE, ventilators, beds, negative pressure rooms, nurses, etc."

One Seattle intensive care nurse told CNN she was told to wear a single N95 mask "indefinitely."

"We're being told that we have to use these until they're soiled, and if they get to that point, we have to show them to our (supervisor)."
British tourists stranded abroad as the coronavirus pandemic paralyses international travel will be offered emergency loans to get them home, the Government said today amid fears from some that they will be left to 'live on the streets'.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs that the UK was putting pressure on airlines to help lower the price of tickets, having yesterday advised more than a million Brits abroad to return home.

It came as a junior doctor stranded in India while visiting family pleaded for help to get her home so she can join the fight to save lives.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs that the UK was putting pressure on airlines to help lower the price of tickets, having yesterday advised more than a million Brits abroad to return home

Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, has been touring the world as Miss England to carry out humanitarian charity work, after taking a career break from her job at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, in November.

Despite her best efforts to return to the UK to resume work Ms Mukherjee has been unable to secure a flight after the Indian Prime Minister imposed a travel ban and cancelled all flights leaving the country.

Addressing the Commons today Mr Raab said 'where commercial routes are limited or prevented by domestic restrictions, we're in close contact with the airlines and local authorities in those countries to overcome those barriers to enable people to return home'.

He added: 'We are helping to reduce travel costs by encouraging airlines to have maximum flexibility on changing return tickets.

'Where people are in real need, our consular teams will work with them to consider their options and, as a last resort, we offer an emergency loan.'

Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, has been touring the world as Miss England to carry out humanitarian charity work, after taking a break from being a junior doctor at Pilgrim Hospital, Lincolnshire

Ms Mukherjee arrived in India at the start of March to begin a four week trip when the spread of COVID-19 took hold globally, leaving the pageant winner feeling 'guilty' as colleagues back home endured 13 hour shifts to tackle the deadly virus.

She is currently self-isolating with family in Kolkata, in the country's east.

The medic said: 'It was last week that everything started to change very rapidly. I started getting emails from work asking me to return.

'My colleagues were telling me they are doing 13 hour shifts seven days a week and having to do night shifts too. When I heard that I felt so guilty, I really wanted to go back to work.

'I knew how badly I was needed so I emailed telling them I was willing to come back but now I'm stuck here and I don't know when I will be able to come home.

Despite her best efforts to return to the UK to resume work Ms Mukherjee has been unable to secure a flight after the Indian Prime Minister imposed a travel ban and cancelled all flights

She arrived in India at the start of March to begin a four week trip when the spread of COVID-19 took hold globally, leaving the pageant winner feeling 'guilty' as colleagues fought the virus

'I had a flight booked for Saturday morning but after four hours of waiting on the runway the captain told us to disembark from the plane and all other flights had been cancelled due to a national travel ban.

'It would be really helpful if the UK government could do something to help British nationals get home.

'I know this is a global pandemic but I have no idea how to handle the situation.

'As Miss England you are expected to wear the crown and dress up but I kept looking at the news and seeing the death toll rising in the UK and I didn't feel like dressing up.'

India's Union Health Ministry says the current number of infections is 450, with nine people known to have died from COVID-19.

After her flight home was cancelled while she sat on the runway the Miss England beauty queen has said she is relying on the British government to get her home

Ms Mukherjee was born in Kolkata, India, but moved to Derby with her parents and brother when she was nine years old.

Last August, the talented beauty started her first shift as a junior doctor just hours after taking home the Miss England crown.

At the start of this month she flew back to her country of birth to start a humanitarian tour with the Coventry Mercia Lions, a group that supports several international charities, and her mother, Mita.

But on Saturday Ms Mukherjee's trip was cut short and she was forced to leave her mum behind to fly from Delhi to Kolkata to stay with her aunt, uncle and grandmother after her mum was unable to book onto the same flight - missing Mother's Day with her daughter.

Miss Mukherjee, 24, is currently in isolation in Kolkata, awaiting information from the government

Now Ms Mukherjee's mother has been forced to stay in Delhi where they left each other and stay with other family friends for the foreseeable.

Ms Mukherjee said: 'I booked the first flight I could after my last commitment in India, it was a week before we were meant to be flying to Pakistan for our next trip.

'When we got to the airport there were lots of flight cancellations. The Prime Minister of India had made an announcement about imposing a national curfew and a travel ban from the following day.

'We were hoping to be out of the country by the end of the day because it would be the last day that we could travel. I got on the flight and they started doing the safety checks.

'I actually fell asleep because it was really early in the morning but when I woke up an hour had gone by and we were still on the ground.

British National claims she was told 'money talks' by British embassy in India as tourists face the STREETS Former civil service worker Esther Hulme, 25, from Leeds said she was thrown out of two hotels with her partner in Goa, India, as fears grow that tourists may carry coronavirus. Ms Hulme, who was on a year-long round-the-world-trip said: 'I feel completely and utterly abandoned. I am relying of the good nature of strangers to provide support that we have not been able to get from our own country. 'We have been ask to leave two properties because of the risk they believe we pose, the latest accommodation asked us to stay indoors all times because they didn't want to enrage the neighbours, we even had to leave our money to pay for the apartment in a separate store room where it would be collected because nobody wanted contact with us.' Former civil service worker Esther Hulme, 25, from Leeds said she was thrown out of two hotels with her partner in Goa, India, as fears grow tourists carry coronavirus 'I have called the embassy every day for the last three days. I was told "money talks" on one occasion. On another occasion I explained we were to be on the street without any certainty of shelter, they responded they don't help with accommodation... I had to spell it out to them that I was scared for my safety.' Another British National stuck in Goa, credit control worker Stephanie Pollard, 29, told the MailOnline: 'We are worried that the situation is getting worse, and people are becoming much more hostile towards tourists now, telling them they have to leave hotels, they are then faced with the problem that new hotels won't accept them. Ms Hulme travelling India before the lock down and coronavirus fears 'We worry what will happen, with regards to medical attention for tourists if or when we contract the virus. The government needs to help us get back home, now. This has been arranged for those stranded in Peru. Why can the same not be arranged for those in India?' Ms Pollard said: 'There is no information on rescue flights home. We feel very much abandoned and are increasingly hearing of other countries that are organising to get their citizens out of India despite the flight ban they are able to arrange this, yet the UK government cannot.' Advertisement

'I asked the flight attendant and she told me they were trying to fix a technical problem with the aircraft. After another couple of hours the captain asked the passengers to disembark from the plane and told us that it wouldn't be going.

'It was such an anxiety provoking situation I thought how am I going to get home and back to work.

'Everyone was crying, desperately trying to get home. I felt like a refugee. Now I'm here I'm having to self isolate because my grandmother is 92 and vulnerable. I'm literally stuck in my room feeling completely useless.'

A single rescue flight has been put on to bring British Nationals home from Goa, south India, tomorrow after tourists were reportedly thrown out of their hotels amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Up to a million UK tourists are believed to be stranded abroad, with the British High Commission in India announced this morning that it would be putting on another TUI flight tomorrow, with just 123 seats available, after an earlier flight filled up.

Four 'key worker' British Nurses stranded in Cambodia as all air travel is cancelled to the UK In Cambodia a total shutdown of airlines has meant many feel they are left without a way out. Elaine Morley one of four British nurses stuck in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, told Sky News: 'The consular support is not there, this is all we got .. a leaflet. Nobody can help us get home or help financially, can anybody help us find accommodation. 'There are no other ways of getting home, we've looked at connecting routes, land borders, but even as you book the flights within 30 minutes you get an email saying its cancelled. 'We just can't get home, we can't find any route. And we've done all this ourselves British embassy haven't done anything at all. We are key workers we work at a mental health hospital as nurses and we were supposed to be home tomorrow.' 'We just don't know where to turn to. Before we left we contacted everyone and they said it was ok to travel. Holiday insurance says we can claim but not until we get home so we've paid for two flights upfront but still haven't got home.' Advertisement

The 1.50am flight from Goa to Manchester is now full, with the high commission warning 'we cannot guarantee the availability of seats '.

Among those who remain stranded is credit control manager Stephanie Pollard, 29, currently in Goa, who has revealed that tourists are being told to leave their hotel rooms.

Ms Pollard told the MailOnline: 'We are worried that the situation is getting worse, and people are becoming much more hostile towards tourists now, telling them they have to leave hotels, they are then faced with the problem that new hotels won't accept them.

'We worry what will happen, with regards to medical attention for tourists if or when we contract the virus. The government needs to help us get back home, now. This has been arranged for those stranded in Peru. Why can the same not be arranged for those in India?'

Ms Pollard said: 'There is no information on rescue flights home. We feel very much abandoned and are increasingly hearing of other countries that are organising to get their citizens out of India despite the flight ban they are able to arrange this, yet the UK government cannot.'

British Nationals in Pakistan charged the cost of four flights for a single journey to the UK Thousands of British Nationals stranded in Pakistan have been 'left without answers from the Foreign Office' after the Islamabad embassy shut its doors without warning along with the city's international airport. The country saw a spike in coronavirus cases overnight, taking Pakistan's total to 800, with its first death recorded yesterday - an individual who had attended a feast of 2,000 people in the 10 days before his death. Now an official government enforced lock down has meant British Nationals attempting to speak to consulates in Islamabad were turned away from the embassy. A notice outside of the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan British National Nahid Khaliq, who was on a three week trip visiting family in Rawalpindi near Islamabad said: 'I have been left abandoned and stranded in Pakistan, the FCO have urged british citizens to return to the UK, I am desperate to do so but the airports have shut down and so has the embassy. British National Nahid Khaliq, who was on a three week trip visiting family in Rawalpindi near Islamabad and has not received any response from the British Embassy 'I have no point of contact as the FCO phone line is just ringing and the British Embassy in Pakistan has no one in the office to speak with - despite taking risks and attending in person today.' Adding: 'The British High Commission is telling us to book flights from Qatar Airways from Islamabad but the airport is closed. Online the airline is selling flights for extortionate price, over 1000 for one way. 'I will pay the price to get home but many won't be able to. 'The risk of the virus here is high as people live in joint families with elderly and the young. (...) I am currently living with my elderly aunt who is in her 70s.' The lock down comes as an education minister in Pakistan's southern Sindh province says he has tested positive for the coronavirus, although he did not visit any hospital where infected people are being treated. Saeed Ghani urged people to follow the policy of social distancing to avoid the disease. He said he still had no symptoms of the infection and he has isolated himself at home. The lockdown also has been extended to Pakistan's part of disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir after a person was tested positive there. Advertisement


Thousands light a #candleofhope in the darkness



Tens of thousands of Christians across Britain united to pray as part of the National Day of Prayer and Action on Sunday (22 March), responding to the call made by Presidents of Churches Together in England (CTE).



Amid the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, candles were lit in thousands of homes across Britain at 7pm on Mothering Sunday, symbolising the light of Christ shining into the darkness.



Even those living in social isolation were able to unite in this act of prayer, standing together in solidarity and faith at this time of global crisis.



Social media was flooded with images as people shared their #candleofhope. So many photos were shared that the hashtag #candleofhope became Twitters second most trending hashtag in the UK during the evening.



More than 71,500 people viewed the online call to prayer from CTEs Presidents, where church communities were called to pray and to light a candle in the windows of your homes as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope in prayer.



Christians across the globe also took part, with photos shared from Malta, Canada and the USA.

Christians are encouraged to continue to pray #prayersofhope and to show acts of kindness to those around them, whilst ensuring they abide by all government health advice.



Baptists Together joined in the call to prayer with our latest prayer broadcast, which went live at 7pm.







In sharing his thanks to all who took part in the day of prayer, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, one of CTEs Presidents, encouraged Christians to 'Please commit to praying each day, as well as taking action to look out for your neighbours.'



Churches Together in England is the national ecumenical body which supports and encourages churches to work together in unity at a national, county and local level. In fact, CTE unites the widest range of church traditions in Europe, including Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, Free Church, Orthodox and Pentecostal churches.



Baptist minister the Revd Dr Paul Goodliff, General Secretary of CTE, says of the day of prayer, 'The heart of Churches Together in England is to see churches working and worshipping together. How significant to see thousands of Christians uniting as one by praying and lighting their #candleofhope, symbolising Christs light shining into the darkness.'



The call to prayer, issued by CTEs Presidents on Tuesday (17 March), encouraged churches: Whether you are continuing to worship as congregations or not, we have the great privilege and freedom to be able to call upon God, wherever we are, individually and corporately, for healing in our nation.



It was later that day that churches across the UK were advised to cease gathering in person until further notice, due to the rising number of coronavirus cases. But despite church buildings and gatherings having to close, the overwhelming response to this national call to prayer shows that the church is still very much alive.



Dr Goodliff added, 'The church has certainly not closed. Although we are not able to gather together in person at this time, we as the diverse range of churches across England are seeking creative ways to continue to serve our communities, to support one another and to worship and pray together. The sheer number of churches sharing prayers, messages and services online this Sunday are testament to this.'



'The family of fifty churches in CTE agree with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York; We urge you sisters and brothers to become a different sort of church in these coming months: hopeful and rooted in the offering of prayer and praise and overflowing in service to the world.'



This call to prayer was supported by CTEs 50 member churches (including Baptists Together) as well as Christian bodies across Britain, including the Evangelical Alliance, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Cytun and Church of Scotland.



Presidents of Churches Together in England who issued this call to prayer are:

Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator

Archbishop Angaelos of London, Archbishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of London and CTE President for the Orthodox Churches

Pastor Agu Irukwu, head of RCCG UK and CTE Pentecostal President



Baptists Together joined in the call to prayer with our latest prayer broadcast, which went live at 7pm. For more on our prayer broadcasts, click here.

Baptist Times, 24/03/2020
Boris Johnson made an extraordinary plea for research labs to lend the government coronavirus testing kit as recently as Sunday, it was claimed today.

The desperate appeal from the PM will fuel a growing backlash over the speed of efforts to ramp up the UK's testing capacity.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other experts have warned that mass checks are crucial for keeping the spread of the killer disease under control.

Countries like South Korea and China have been praised for their wide-scale testing regimes, which seem to have helped limit cases.

However, the UK shelved efforts to test everyone with symptoms earlier this month, when the response moved into a 'delay' phase.

Instead people who thought they had the illness were urged to self-isolate unless their conditions became so severe they needed medical help.

The desperate appeal from Boris Johnson (pictured in Downing Street last night) will fuel a growing backlash over the speed of efforts to ramp up the UK's testing capacity

Amid criticism, Mr Johnson then declared last week that there would be a big expansion of tests from under 5,000 a day to 25,000.

Ministers now hope a test could be ready soon that does not need to be processed in a lab and will give results much more quickly.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied last night that the government had been slow to act, telling Channel 4 News: 'We've been ramping up the testing as much as possible, as fast as possible, throughout.'

But according to Politico, a Downing Street aide sent a message to research institutes on Sunday asking to borrow expensive equipment currently needed to carry out tests.

'We urgently need to scale up testing. There is only a limited supply of these machines, so the PM is making an urgent appeal for you to lend us your machine(s) for the duration of the crisis,' the email reportedly said.

'We will meet all expenses and assume all liabilities and requirements associated with the use of these machines for this purpose. We undertake to return or replace the equipment when the emergency is over. We would very much like to collect any machines you have tomorrow (Mon 23) or Tuesday.'

An accompanying letter from Mr Johnson said 'there are no machines available to buy' and asked the institutes to cooperate 'in the national interest.'

He added: 'if you have any staff who are experienced in using the machines  that would also be very helpful.'

A source told Playbook 'It's great that they are ramping up testing. But it should have been done weeks ago. This is costing lives every day.'

Government sources denied that the letter was the first time officials had been in touch with labs.

The PM's spokesman said: 'it is no secret we are rapidly scaling our efforts to develop testing capacity.'
Like most restaurants, cafes and eateries, Teibels offers a curbside service to remain open during this coronavirus pandemic. It felt surreal to dashboard dine on the restaurants food while parked in its lot at the intersection of U.S. 30 and U.S. 41. Yet the meals familiarity felt comforting amid all this chaos, while also helping to contribute in some way to another local business.
We were so incredibly privileged to be traveling with a tie to an institution that was able to make something like that happen for us, said Stirrat, 20, who lives in Tucson, Arizona. There was no way we could have predicted what was going on, and it was really scary. I would ask people to have a lot of sympathy, a lot of empathy and try to understand that being stuck in a foreign country during a pandemic, its not a time to assign blame."
(Corrects MARCH 23 story to identify consultancy, paragraph)

OSLO, March 23 (Reuters) - Spending on new oil and gas projects could fall by more than two thirds this year if oil prices remain at the current levels, the Oslo-based Rystad Energy consultancy said on Monday.

Crude oil prices dropped more than 60% since the start of the year as demand fell due to travel and business restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, while Russia and Saudi Arabia ended an agreement to curb production.

Investments are likely to fall to $61 billion or by 68% if the Brent crude price stays at around $30 a barrel, and to $82 billion, in case the price rises to $40 a barrel, compared with $192 billion spent in 2019.

North Sea oil was trading at $25.7 a barrel by 1533 GMT on Monday.

"Upstream players will have to take a close look at their cost levels and investment plans to counter the financial impact of lower prices and demand," said Audun Martinsen, head of Rystad's energy service research.

"Companies have already started reducing their annual capital spending for 2020," he added.

Anglo-Dutch major Shell and Norwegian independent oil firm Aker BP, 30% owned by BP, said on Monday they would cut capital spending by 20%.

French energy group Total said the company would seek to reduce total spending by more than $3 billion, including $2.5 billion to come from exploration and production.

Rystad said it still expected major projects, including ExxonMobil's Greater Liza development off Guyana, to be sanctioned this year.

The majority of the producing North Sea oil and gas fields could make money at $30 a barrel of oil thanks to improvements made since the last market downturn in 2014-16, but most yet to be approved projects were at risk, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a note on Monday.

"Most FIDs (final investment decisions) for 2020 are off the table. At current prices, nearly two-thirds of development spend could be wiped from our forecast over the next five years," Neivan Boroujerdi at the consultancy added. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Ed Osmond)
WHO'S MAKING A QUICK BUCK? Jeff Bezos, Amazon - $3.4 billion Laurence Fink, BlackRock - $25 million Lance Uggla, IHS Markit - $47 million James Murren, MGM Resorts International (outgoing) - $22.2 million Advertisement

Jeff Bezos and other top executives offloaded shares just in time before the coronavirus pandemic slashed their company values, saving themselves billions.

Executives at top US traded companies sold around $9.2 billion in shares of their own companies between the start of February and the end of last week, analysis from the Wall Street Journal has revealed.

The quick move to offload shares looks to have saved the executives - who are already among the richest people in the country - billions, as they ditched them just in the nick of time before the markets plummeted.

The analysis estimates that the sales prevented the top bosses losing around $1.9 billion between them, as the S&P 500 stock index plunged about 30% between February 19 and March 20.

Jeff Bezos and other top executives offloaded shares just in time before the pandemic slashed company values, saving themselves billions. Bezoz offloaded $3.4 billion in shares in the first week of February

Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock, sold $25 million of his company shares on February 14, saving himself potential losses of more than $9.3 million

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos was by far the biggest seller, offloading $3.4 billion in shares in the first week of February, saving him a staggering $317 million than if he had kept the stock through to March 20.

It also saw the billionaire sell as much stock in that one week as he has in the last year, the Journal reported.

The sale accounted for around 3% of Bezos's total Amazon shares, and made up over a third of all stock exchange sales during this timeframe.

Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock, also acted to offload stock as the US geared up for the coronavirus to reach new heights, selling $25 million of his company shares on February 14, saving himself potential losses of more than $9.3 million.

A spokesperson for BlackRock told the Journal his sales were a small percentage of his holdings and that he had sold a similar amount of stock the same time in 2019.

The boss of IHS Markit, Lance Uggla, also sold $47 million of his shares around February 19, which would by now have plummeted by $19.2 million.

More than 150 top bosses who sold at least $1 million worth of stock in February and March had not sold any stock in the last 12 months, the Journal found.

James Murren, outgoing CEO of MGM Resorts International which like the rest of the hotel industry has been hard hit by the global outbreak, sold $22.2 million of his companys stock on February 19 and 20, before it fell by $15.9 million.

One month later on March 22, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said Murren would lead the state's response to the crisis.

There is no suggestion that the selling of shares by any of the executives was done due to information about the coronavirus pandemic.

However, sales made in this timeframe dwarfed the sales of $6.4 billion made in the same period in 2019.

Top bosses aren't the only ones who jumped to salvage their own wealth as the mounting pandemic threatened to hit the economy.

It emerged at the weekend that the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, sold $3.5 million of his own shares just days before the first reported US death from the coronavirus.

Jeffrey Sprecher, the husband of junior Georgia Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, offloaded the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) shares on February 26 - before the shares plunged by nearly 25 percent.

Sprecher sold the stocks for an average price of $93.42 each, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Sprecher and his wife Loeffler also sold $15.3 million worth of ICE shares on March 11, at an average price of about $87, according to the SEC filings.

Loeffler has been accused of corruption after it emerged that she sold off $3.1 million in stocks in the days after she attended a coronavirus briefing for senators on January 24.

A number of other US senators were exposed last week after they appeared to offload stock while reassuring the public everything was under control.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr sold up to $1.7 million worth of stock on February 13 in 33 separate transactions after offering public assurances the government was ready to battle the virus. His financial filings were first reported by ProPublica.

Burr has agreed to be questioned by the Senate Ethics Committee over the move.

Senator Kelly Loeffler, her husband Jeffrey Sprecher and Vice President Mike Pence in January. Sprecher offloaded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) shares on February 26 - before the shares plunged by nearly 25 percent

Republican Senator James Inhofe and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein also sold stock, according to filings, but both said they were not involved in the transactions.

Inhofe said he has divested most of his stock and is not involved in investment decisions. Feinstein's money is in a blind trust.

While the rich manage to stay rich, ordinary workers across the US increasingly find themselves jobless overnight.

More than 37 million workers could lose their jobs in the short term due to the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on the nation's businesses, according to the US Private Sector Job Quality Index, Cornell University Law School's project.

A number of US senators were exposed last week after they appeared to offload stock while reassuring the public everything was under control over the outbreak

These shock estimates mean around a quarter of the current working population will find themselves out of work in the near future.

Low-paid, hourly workers are expected to be hardest hit, meaning it is those who can least afford to lose their jobs who face the biggest risk, the research finds.

A staggering 35.2 million low-wage and low-hour jobs, with a weekly average income of under $800, are vulnerable to being laid off right now, compared with just 1.9 million high-wage jobs.

The bleak outlook comes as state shutdowns have been ramping up across the nation, forcing restaurants, bars, retailers and hotel groups to shut up shop and lay off workers, as officials desperately try to slow the spread of the killer virus.

New York City's iconic Strand bookstore became one of the latest victims this week, as it announced it had been left with no choice but to lay off 89 percent of its workforce after being ordered to shut under state Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive order.

Meanwhile airline Westjet announced it is letting almost half of its 14,000 staff go to try to stabilize the company during this time.

Workers are hoping the federal relief package which politicians continue to fight over will provide some aid for those newly unemployed.
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has been working to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus inside Santa Rita Jail, but even after instances of confirmed exposure, testing has been slow and difficult to come by.

The jail has not had any confirmed cases as of Tuesday. But one deputy with a suspected case was denied a test at a Hayward testing facility that opened on Monday, according to Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly.

Hayward spokesperson Chuck Finnie said in an email that he could not confirm or deny whether a deputy was denied testing at the Hayward site but said that only 192 tests were conducted on Monday and they relaxed rules about who could be tested throughout the day.

A Santa Rita inmate was exposed to the virus last week by an Oakland Police Department detective who tested positive for coronavirus, according to documents and two sources with knowledge of the situation.

The detective conducted an interview of a suspect in custody. The inmate was placed in quarantine, according to records obtained by Bay City News. Oakland police did not return a request for comment.

Contra Costa County is working on setting up a temporary "remote hospital" location, possibly at the former Los Medanos Community Hospital building in Pittsburg, to expand the county's medical treatment capability in expectation of a surge of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases, health officials said Tuesday.

Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County's health officer, told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that plans are in the works to set up a remote hospital facility for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Contra Costa County Health Services spokesman Karl Fischer built upon that, saying in a subsequent interview that current plans would see the new remote center hosting COVID-19 patients who couldn't otherwise isolate -- homeless patients, those who live in places where isolation is impractical or impossible -- but who don't require ICU-level care.

These plans, Fischer said, have not yet been finalized, and there are several potential sites other than the old Pittsburg hospital. The timing for opening that center isn't certain.

Los Medanos Community Hospital closed in 1994, and part of the building now hosts Contra Costa County Health's Pittsburg Health Center.

Seven Bay Area governments Tuesday ordered all commercial and academic medical labs to begin expanding the kind of data they report from tests involving the novel coronavirus.

Public health officers in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, along with the city of Berkeley, now require the labs to report the results of all tests -- including those with negative and inconclusive results -- to the health care provider that ordered the test and to the appropriate state and local health officials.

Until now, those labs were only required to report positive test results for the virus, also known as COVID-19, which made it difficult for public health officials to know how many people were being tested overall, according to a news release announcing the order.

Also, labs now are required to report "information that allows health officials to better locate the person tested," according to the release.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously passed a temporary moratorium on evictions caused by rent nonpayment due to financial hardship from the effects of the novel coronavirus crisis.

The ordinance, brought to the board by Supervisor Dave Cortese and President Cindy Chavez, is effective immediately and temporarily blocks evictions of residential tenants who can provide documentation of hardship caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Such hardship includes job loss, wage loss, the need to miss work because of school closures affecting one's children, the need to miss work to care for a sick or infected family member and nonpayment of rent due to out-of-pocket medical expenses.

The moratorium does not forgive rent nonpayment or excuse rent payments that are still due as the coronavirus crisis continues.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to establish a moratorium on residential and commercial evictions through May 31 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The moratorium will not absolve residents and business owners from paying rent or making mortgage payments and tenants will still be obligated for rent due, according to the county. Earlier this month, the board also declared a local state of emergency due to the outbreak.

The moratorium is intended to help residents who may not be working or earning income during the state's shelter-in-place order as well as businesses that have been deemed non-essential during the order and are not collecting revenue.

Residents can visit the county's coronavirus website at santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus, call 211 or text "COVID19" to 211211. As of Tuesday morning, the Santa Cruz County Public Health Department has confirmed 24 cases of the virus.

The Alameda County Public Health Department on Tuesday reported the county's second death caused by the novel coronavirus.

County health officials didn't disclose any details about the death of the second COVID-19 victim.

The county reported its first coronavirus-related death on Monday and said the person was elderly and had underlying conditions that placed them at greater risk of serious illness.

Health officials said Alameda County now has 135 coronavirus cases, an increase of 23 from the total of 112 cases reported on Monday.

A fourth deputy with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

A day earlier, the sheriff's office confirmed three deputies had contracted the coronavirus.

The fourth deputy, who was assigned to the custody division of the county's jail system, is said to be in home quarantine.

A San Francisco police sergeant has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Police Department said Tuesday.

The sergeant was assigned to the Special Victims Unit at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St., and went home sick on Friday and stayed home Monday. The department was notified of the positive test Tuesday morning.

The sergeant's work partner, who did not come into the office Monday or Tuesday, has also reported feeling unwell and is self-quarantining, according to police.

The SVU office was closed for deep cleaning following the notification of the positive test Tuesday morning.

Police said members of the unit had already been divided into separate teams working from home, the office and other department locations, and "our fervent hope is that few other members will be affected."

A 22-year-old man died in a crash on state Highway 17 south of Los Gatos in unincorporated Santa Clara County early Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officers responded at about 2:55 a.m. to the crash reported on southbound Highway 17 south of the South Santa Cruz Avenue on-ramp.

The 22-year-old, whose name isn't yet being released, was driving a 2017 Mazda when the vehicle veered onto the right shoulder and sloped embankment, then swerved across the highway and hit the concrete center divider and came to rest in a lane of the highway, according to the CHP.

The man may have removed his seatbelt just prior to the Mazda being hit by a Toyota Prius, causing him to be partially ejected. He was pronounced dead at the scene, CHP officials said.

A man died Tuesday morning after his vehicle crashed through a guardrail along northbound Interstate Highway 680 in San Ramon and rolled over, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The man's Jeep Grand Cherokee drove off the freeway and down into a drainage culvert after hitting the guardrail near the exit for Bollinger Canyon Road, according to the CHP.

Officers responded to the scene around 7 a.m. and closed only a transition lane to the Bollinger Canyon Road exit. Traffic is flowing freely at the crash site and Caltrans workers are repairing the guardrail late Tuesday morning, a CHP spokesman said.

Officers are still investigating the crash, which had no known witnesses. The victim was a 32-year-old man from San Ramon whose name was not immediately released, according to the CHP.

A 24-year-old Oakland man died in Clayton on Tuesday when a vehicle he was in crashed into an unoccupied and parked work truck, police said.

Clayton police received a report at 9:36 a.m. of the collision along the 5400 block of Clayton Road.

The driver of the vehicle, a 26-year-old woman from Pittsburg, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Officers pronounced the vehicle's male passenger dead at the scene.

Officers determined that the woman was under the influence of alcohol during the collision and booked her into Contra Costa County Jail after she was released from the hospital. Clayton police did not immediately release the names of the driver or the passenger.

A 24-year-old man who suffers from medically documented psychiatric issues was charged with murder and premeditated attempted murder Tuesday for allegedly killing his father and wounding his mother in a knife attack at their home in Hayward last Wednesday night, authorities said.

William East-McCormack is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail on charges stemming from the alleged attack in the 30000 block of Vanderbilt Street in Hayward at about 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday. His arraignment hasn't yet been scheduled.

East-McCormack is charged with murder for the stabbing death of his father, 57-year-old Michael McCormack, and premeditated murder for allegedly stabbing his mother, who currently is in stable condition at a hospital, according to police.

East-McCormack also is charged with felony making criminal threats for allegedly threatening his half-sister.

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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said today there are no current plans for a statewide shelter-in-place order because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris answered questions from reporters on a conference call this afternoon.

Ivey said state officials are trying to strike the balance between protecting public health and stressing the need for people to return to work.

Folks, at this point, we have no current plans to do so," Ivey said. "We have seen other states in the country doing that as well as other countries. But however, yall, we are not California, were not New York, we arent even Louisiana. And Alabama will continue to work in consultation with Dr. Harris and his team and well make that decision if and when its best for our state. But as for now, were not planning to issue that.

My priority is to keep the Alabama economy going as much as possible while we take extraordinary measures to keep everyone healthy and safe.

The Birmingham City Council approved Mayor Randall Woodfins request for a shelter-in-place order for the city today. The order allows people to leave their homes for certain activities deemed essential, such as buying groceries, going to the doctor, caring for the elderly or a dependent, or working at certain types of jobs.

Related: Birmingham shelter in place order: Heres what it means.

Alabama is under a statewide order that prohibits gatherings of 25 or more people or any size where people cant stay six feet apart. The order does not apply to workplaces.

Two of Alabamas top lawmakers, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, and Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said today a statewide shelter-in-place order is needed. They said the governor has provided strong leadership state during the pandemic but support that additional step that so far has been adopted only in Birmingham.

Anything to flatten the curve and to save lives is what Im a proponent of, Daniels said. "And yes, the economy is going to take a hit whether we do this or not. But Id rather save lives first while at the same time strategically planning how were going to make a comeback economically.

I think thats whats going to be needed for us to be able to stay ahead of this in the state of Alabama, Singleton said.

Ivey and Harris answered other questions submitted for todays conference call:

The governor said there are no plans to close state parks.

Ivey said she has confidence that legislative leaders will adjust their schedule to respond appropriately to the pandemic. Lawmakers are on spring break and scheduled to return March 31. (The House is scheduled to meet Thursday but has already announced that wont happen). The governor noted that the state income tax deadline has been moved to July 15 and said it will be hard to pass budgets without knowing how much revenue is coming in. The regular session must end by May 18 but legislators could meet in special session to pass the education and General Fund budgets, which take effect Oct. 1.

Harris said the state has been preparing for a surge in demand on hospitals and the need for critical equipment such as ventilators. Weve seen whats happened in other parts of the world and the country, particularly in larger cities. And we know that over the course of two or three weeks, the situation can look a lot different than it does now. We have a group thats worked very hard trying to find resources like tests and trying to find ventilators both within the state and without. We have all of our hospitals connected electronically with an up to the date inventory of what they have available, what they need and what things they can share. We continue to do that with the understanding that were competing with other states who are trying to do the same thing.

Ivey said the question of availability of ventilators came up on a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence. She said some Alabama companies have shown an interest in supplying key equipment but cant switch gears and do that overnight.

Harris was asked about plans being made for hospitals that are concerned about exceeding their capacity. We have been planning for some time for the possibility of a hospital surge," Harris said. "We have a group thats meeting to put together requirements for how we would expand bed capacity in an emergency situation or a surge situation. When we have that plan fully worked out in terms of what is needed, then Alabama Emergency Management Agency will certainly put that plan into place. Harris said the plan could include temporary hospital space.

Harris said about 8-9% of patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been hospitalized.

Harris was asked if the Department of Public Health can say how many tests have been conducted statewide and how many of those have been processed. Harris said ADPH cannot provide that number now because some tests go to private labs, including some out of state. He said ADPH should eventually have that number. ADPHs latest numbers show 242 confirmed cases and 2,321 tests completed.

Harris was asked if there are plans for testing sites in Dallas, Perry, Lowndes, Autauga, or Butler counties. Harris said there were, but the limiting step is obtaining the screening kits and the personal protective equipment for workers. He said people can still be referred to places for testing in those counties if they call the hotline, 1-888-264-2256. Baptist Health opened an appointment only screening and testing clinic in Prattville on Monday. The number is 334-747-0150.

Ivey said she is coordinating pandemic responses with governors of other southeastern states.

Harris reiterated an often made point that people without symptoms do not need to be tested. And its not because there arent asymptomatic people who could be positive but because given the test capacity that we have we want to test those people who are most likely to be positive so that we are most able to get useful information on that, Harris said.

Ivey was asked if government should be focused more on stopping the spread of the virus and public health or the economy. The governor said: "The safety and well being of Alabamians is paramount. However, I agree with President Trump, who thinks that a healthy and vital economy is just as essential to our quality of life. Manufacturers and business owners are producing the medicines, the protective health equipment, the food we need. Its a balance. And were trying to strike the appropriate balance as we move forward."

Harris was asked what he was doing to get state health care workers more supplies. He said ADPH was working hard to find supplies from all possible sources. He said the state received a shipment from the strategic national stockpile from the federal government last week and a second shipment today. ADPH issued its full stockpile of protective personal equipment for health care workers last week. We are continuing to try to source it from any place we can, although every other state is doing the same thing," Harris said. He said they are prioritizing hospitals, nursing homes, but also clinic testing sites.

Harris was asked if the ADPH will provide information in languages other than English. He said some materials are already translated into other languages including materials from the CDC already on the ADPH website. He said more materials will be translated.

Harris was asked if he agrees with an assertion by President Trump that Americans can expect to return to normal in a matter of weeks, not months. Harris said there are too many unknowns to say at this point.
WASHINGTON  Concerned about widespread shortages of masks and other supplies for health care workers, U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Brian Schatz introduced legislation Monday that would force President Donald Trump to use a war-time law allowing the government to oversee private sector manufacturing and distribution of the goods during the coronavirus outbreak.

The legislation comes as some Connecticut hospitals may within days of running out of personal protective equipment for their staffs.

Governors have complained to Trump that they are competing against each other and the federal government in bids to obtain this equipment amid spiking supplies, according to media reports.

Unsure when more will be available, local hospitals and health centers said Monday they are trying to conserve and reuse their supply of high-demand equipment, like masks.

The current system, in which states and hospitals are competing against each other for scarce equipment, is both unnecessary and barbaric, said Murphy, D-Conn. Its time to centralize the critical medical supply chain and distribution during this public health crisis.

Trump has signed the Defense Production Act, allowing him broad authority to direct the production of goods for national security reasons, but he has not yet used it to address shortages of masks, gloves, gowns, swabs, ventilators and other critical medical supplies. The bill from Murphy and Schatz, D-Fl., would force Trump to use the act and direct the distribution of supplies to states and hospitals to reduce competition.

CNN reported that business leaders have contacted the White House urging the administration not to use the law, concerned that it would create problems for their businesses including profit losses.

Connecticut requested over 250,000 each of masks, gloves, surgical gowns, coveralls and face shields from the Strategic National Stockpile on March 11. The governors office said Wednesday it expected to receive some of the supplies soon, but did not respond to questions Monday about whether shipments arrived.

But the shipments expected were only a small fraction of the states request. Connecticut expects to receive about 34,000 respirators and 82,000 face masks or surgical masks. It expects about 45,000 gloves to arrive and just 65 out of 250,000 coveralls requested.

Connecticut hospitals are doing their part by assessing supplies, eliminating unnecessary use, and looking for additional resources, said Fiona Phelan, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Hospital Association. Businesses and the public can play a part, too. We are aware that businesses such as dental offices, veterinary clinics, and even construction companies may have supplies like respirators that could be used in the hospital. We encourage individuals and businesses who may want to donate these supplies to contact 211.

Connecticut residents are encouraged to donate gloves, masks and other items through the United Ways 211 page. There, they can fill out a form detailing what they have and how they can be contacted.

United Way spokeswoman Annie Scully said that hundreds of residents have already completed the intake form. She said everyone who fills out the form will receive an email that thanks them for the donation, confirms the offer has been received and makes clear that if it is necessary to mobilize their donation, they will be contacted directly.

The State of Connecticuts framework for donations will ensure that the donation is received by the appropriate hospitals and long-term care facilities, she said.

Meanwhile, some health facilities said Monday they have enough supplies for now, but are bracing for the impact that an onslaught of patients will have.

At present time, we are in good shape, said Jim Cardon, chief clinical integration officer and cardiologist at Hartford HealthCare, the umbrella to seven acute hospitals, including Hartford Hospital and St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport.

However, he said, as more patients come in, it is expected that supplies will deplete and the system is accepting donations of PPEs. Those interested in donating are asked to email COVIDDonations@HHCHealth.org.

Another healthcare organization, Optimus HealthCare, also is in decent shape, for now. The federally qualified health center, which has 30 locations statewide, received a donation of small N-95 masks on Friday, said Optimus CEO Ludwig Spinelli.

But he said workers are being asked wear the same mask for a whole day.

Conservation is key, he said.

emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
As he fights the USs largest coronavirus outbreak, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has rejected Donald Trumps view that protecting the American economy is of paramount concern.

Mr Trump has tended toward the optimistic while also foregrounding the economy in many of his statements. He recently opined that the country may start to return to normal after just 15 days, and that we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself!

Saying that our country wasnt built to be shut down, the president insisted at a White House press briefing that America will again and soon be open for business. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting.

But Mr Cuomo, whose state has seen more than 20,000 coronavirus cases, is warning that the coronavirus crisis will get much worse before it gets better, and that economic considerations must take a back seat to saving peoples lives.

He expanded on the theme during a press conference at a Manhattan convention centre being turned into a temporary hospital.

My adage in these disasters, emergencies has always been: Do everything you can, prepare for the worst, hope for the best. This is a public health emergency. This is a matter of life and death. The economy we can fix. You know the old expression, a rich person is a person who has their health.

Anything else you can remedy. You cant remedy a loss of your health. You cant remedy loss of life. And that has to be the first priority.

In a tweet mentioning his brother Chris, a CNN host, Mr Cuomo put it more bluntly: If its public health versus the economy, the only choice is public health. You cannot put a value on human life. You do the right thing. Thats what Pop taught us @ChrisCuomo

Other governors besides Mr Cuomo are putting the safety of their citizens ahead of concerns about economic fallout. Several large states, including Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey are now in some form of shutdown, meaning one in three Americans is now under orders to stay at home.

Californias Gavin Newsom, in particular, has pursued strict social distancing measures that, thanks to the states sheer size, will inevitably make a major impact on the US economy.

Nonetheless, Mr Trumps economy-first thinking has plenty of support on the right. Referencing reports that unemployment might reach 30 per cent, Fox News host and commentator Laura Ingraham tweeted: Cannot be allowed to happen to our great country.

And the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, went so far as to say that if he had to choose between the lives of older Americans and the future of the economy, he would pick the latter.

No-one reached out to me and said, as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if thats the exchange, Im all in.
FM Zarif: US impeding global fight against coronavirus

Iran Press TV

Monday, 23 March 2020 9:25 AM

Iran's foreign minister has slammed the US for not heeding a global call on Washington to lift sanctions against Tehran so that the country can fight the coronavirus outbreak.

"Iranian people appreciate the growing global campaign of government and civil society leaders calling for lifting of illegal US sanctions. US is NOT listening, impeding global fight against COVID-19," Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday.

"The ONLY remedy: DEFY US mass punishment," he added.

Russia, China, Pakistan as well as different medical organizations and rights groups have urged the administration of US President Donald Trump to lift the sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Monday that the total number of people infected with the coronavirus had risen by 1,411 to 23,049 and the death toll from the virus had reached 1,812 in the past 24 hours.

While the US administration claims there are no sanctions on medicine going to Iran, many banks and companies have refrained from taking part in any such ventures out of fear of getting caught up in US secondary sanctions.

Iran has called on the United Nations to urge the US to lift sanctions, and China and Russia have urged the US to do so as well, but Washington remains obdurate in its "maximum pressure"

campaign against Tehran.

The US issued a new set of sanctions on Wednesday, aimed at the transport of petrochemicals from Iran.

In a message issued to the American people on Friday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the "brutal" US sanctions unilaterally imposed on the Iranian nation are robbing a great number of Iranians of health, jobs and sources of income.

"At a time that the Iranian people are harmed by both the deadly coronavirus and the most brutal form of US economic terrorism in history, the US government is not willing to abandon its malicious policy of maximum pressure; and is thus in practice aiding the spread of this virus with its sanctions," he said.

Rouhani urged the American people not to allow the current administration's hostile attitude toward Iran to tarnish history of their country.

The US reinstated its sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after leaving a UN-endorsed nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of world countries.

Tehran sued Washington at the International Court of Justice afterwards and the tribunal ruled that the US should lift its sanctions on humanitarian supplies.

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New Instagram, Facebook series 'The Bible Quarantine' helps teens stay spiritually healthy

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As many Americans self-quarantine amid the coronavirus outbreak, Nick Hall, the founder of the millennial-led evangelism movement PULSE, has launched a new Instagram TV series to help millennials and teens stay spiritually healthy.

Titled The Bible Quarantine, the social media series explores relevant topics such as the meaning of church when people physically cannot meet together for worship and how to deal with fear in the face of the uncertain.

Each episode, available on both Instagram and Facebook, is seven to eight minutes long and is posted every night at 9 p.m. ET. The series first episode, Closed on Sunday, received an initial 11,400 views across all platforms.

If Im honest, this started as a goofy idea. I posted an image of a show idea called The Bible Quarantine with the caption Because man shall not live on Netflix alone. I was half-joking, but it got a very strong response because people are looking for hope and encouragement during this time of uncertainty, Hall said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

According to Hall, the episodes are designed to encourage you, make you laugh, and challenge you to make the most of this pause in our busy lives.

Lets stay connected to Jesus and each other while we practice wisdom during this season. Who knows what will God say to us when we pause and let Him speak?, Hall added.

Leveraging technology for the Gospel amid social distancing, PULSE also released Move Closer, a mobile app featuring devotional content, Scripture study plans and videos to engage users in uplifting discussions on a variety of topics.

We have a choice, Hall said. We can sit in fear or we can use this forced Sabbath as a time to slow down and come back to what matters. ... I think Gods Word is going to speak to us during this time  and I believe this can be a life-defining season if we invite God in.

As of Saturday afternoon, the number of novel coronavirus cases has topped 266,000 in 182 countries and territories with 11,100 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13 and on Monday urged the public to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

The administration's call for at least 15 days of social distancing has prompted many churches to provide online alternatives to on-campus worship.

Its important to be spending time in community with Gods people even if its online, Max Lucado, pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, told The Christian Post.

Recognizing that many churches arent equipped to livestream their entire service, Lucado opted to host a weekly Facebook live service, something he said is easily accessible for most people with an internet connection.

Every week, we do a 15 to 20 minute message and a time of prayer and reflection, Lucado told CP, adding he will continue to do so for as long as this lasts.

I think this is a time where we need to be feeding our faith, he continued. If you feed your faith, your fears will starve. If you feed your fears, your faith will starve. Our tendency is to feed our fears. We have to do intentional things to feed our faith.

Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen also canceled all his worship services at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, to help contain the coronavirus. The pastors message was instead broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, Roku, AppleTV and online at JoelOsteen.com and saw record-breaking numbers.

We saw 4.51 million people tune in throughout the weekend across platforms, the church shared with CP.

This broke our previous record of 4.17 million in November of last year when we broadcast Kanye Wests Sunday service from Lakewood. This number could increase throughout the week.
She's recently become an advocate for social distancing, encouraging her 167 million followers to stay safe at home.

But Kylie Jenner is starting to find herself bored while being holed up in her California mansion with her two-year-old daughter Stormi to avoid the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

The 22-year-old mogul took to Instagram on Monday, sharing some selfie videos while hanging out on her couch.

Bored girl: Kylie Jenner took to Instagram on Monday to share some selfie videos with her followers and declared herself 'bored' amid social distancing to prevent the novel coronavirus spread

Sitting in a black sweatshirt, with a white cross detail on the upper left and a swirled design on one sleeve, she wrote about herself 'she's bored.'

Kylie is most often seen on her social media with extra-long long hair often reaching her waist or farther thanks to extensions and her large wig collection.

But recently she has been showing her fans her natural hair, which is in a very short 'long bob' cut, and that she recently bleached to a golden blonde.

Short look: The 22-year-old is most often seen with extra long hair thanks to extensions and her large wig collection, though she has started showing off her natural hair

The reality TV star still had her nails done in a long pink style that was caught in her boomerang video.

Going makeup-free, the Kylie Cosmetics mogul still had a plump pink pout and long eyelash extensions giving her a wide-eyed look.

In a second video using a butterfly covered filter, Kylie put her hood up over her hair and scrunched her nose adding on to how bored she was.

Lighter: She recently bleached her own hair to a golden blonde hue

Also on Monday, she shared a message with her followers about the importance of social distancing.

The post, shared from the account agirlhasnopresident, said 'I just want to make this point in case people haven't realized it yet, the longer you don't comply with social distancing, the longer we're going to have to do it.'

Over the weekend she kept herself busy showing off some of her multi-million dollar purse collection, monogrammed Louis Vuitton chopsticks and sharing a throwback photo with her sister Kendall.

Last week, Kylie shared with her Instagram followers that she got used to staying home all the time while pregnant with Stormi.

Fresh: The Kylie Cosmetics mogul seemed to go makeup-free for the videos on Monday, but still had long eyelash extensions and a plump and pink pout

'I'm on day 8. My pregnancy prepared me for this, I didn't leave the house for months,' she said last Wednesday.

After falling pregnant by rapper Travis Scott in 2017, Kylie took extensive measures to conceal her growing baby bump.

She hid it with baggy clothing in Instagram snaps and kept out of the public eye as much as possible throughout the end of 2017 and the start of 2018.

She only confirmed her pregnancy when she announced the news that she had given birth to a baby girl on February 1, 2018.
The mayor of Moscow has ruled out self-isolation for president Vladimir Putin, 67 while ordering people over 65 years old and those with chronic illnesses to stay at home for more than two weeks or escape to their country houses to avoid coronavirus.



Mayor Sergei Sobyanin made the announcement via his website saying the elderly must comply with an at-home regimen between March 26 and April 14 to protect them from the bug which has infected 438 people, mostly in Moscow.



The mayor, who is incharge of heading Russia's overall coronavirus response, said: 'You may not like it and even oppose it, but trust me, it is dictated by sincere concern for you.'



You can go to the shop or the pharmacy only when you need to,' Sobyanin said, listing a number to call if help is needed. 'The best thing to do, if you can, is to go to your dacha, especially since the weather promises to be warm.'



But those in the age group complying with the rules will be compensated with a total of 4,000 rubles (43), he said.



He also advised young people to 'avoid personal communication with older people' to prevent infection from spreading and help their older neighbours who live alone.



The measures would not affect 67-year-old President Vladimir Putin because he 'works where he lives', his spokesman said, adding that the Kremlin is asking everyone involved in his meetings get tested beforehand.



On Monday, Russia confirmed 71 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country's official number of cases up to 438.









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.

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A woman employed with an airline posted an emotional appeal on Twitter urging people to not spread rumours and harass people in the aviation sector, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"While my job requires me to be on duty, my company is taking complete precautions. Some people have been spreading rumours in my locality that I am suffering from coronavirus," she said.

She further said that neighbours were also harassing her mother and local shops were refusing to sell her daily essentials.

She said "Whenever I am not at home, my mother is being harassed. She is not able to purchase groceries as shopkeepers refuse to sell it to her. They tell her since your daughter has coronavirus you might spread it to others as well."

The airline employee is heard saying in the video: "We are taking more precautions than anyone else and we will be the first ones to go to a hospital if any symptoms arise."

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday stated that he was "deeply distressed" by this particular behaviour towards aviation professionals.

Speaking to ANI, he said: "I am deeply distressed to know that some aviation professionals who have been at the forefront of India's efforts to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 and even rescued fellow citizens from around the world are being harassed by their neighbours, RWAs and others."

The government had stopped operations of all domestic flights, except cargo, from March 24 midnight to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The impact of COVID-19 and the oil price plunge in the Middle East and the Caucasus and Central Asia has been substantial and could intensify, says an International Monetray Fund blog by Jihad Azour. This blog is part of a series providing regional analysis on the effects of the coronavirus.

With three-quarters of the countries reporting at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 and some facing a major outbreak, the coronavirus pandemic has become the largest near-term challenge to the region. Like much of the rest of the world, people in these countries were taken utterly by surprise with this development.

This challenge will be especially daunting for the regions fragile and conflict-torn states -- such as Iraq, Sudan, and Yemen -- where the difficulty of preparing weak health systems for the outbreak could be compounded by reduced imports due to disruptions in global trade, giving rise to shortages of medical supplies and other goods and resulting in substantial price increases.

Beyond the devastating toll on human health, the pandemic is causing significant economic turmoil in the region through simultaneous shocks -- a drop in domestic and external demand, a reduction in trade, disruption of production, a fall in consumer confidence, and tightening of financial conditions.

The regions oil exporters face the additional shock of plummeting oil prices. Travel restrictions following the public health crisis have reduced the global demand for oil, and the absence of a new production agreement among Opec+ members has led to a glut in oil supply. As a result, oil prices have fallen by over 50 percent since the start of the public health crisis. The intertwined shocks are expected to deal a severe blow to economic activity in the region, at least in the first half of this year, with potentially lasting consequences.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region began rising sharply in late February, with a high concentration of cases in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Oil prices fall

Oil prices have been forced downward owing to falling global demand (due to the pandemic) and rising supply (stemming from a price war between suppliers).

Channels of economic impact

Heres what we know. First, measures to contain the pandemics spread are hurting key job-rich sectors: tourist cancellations in Egypt have reached 80 percent, while hospitality and retail have been affected in the UAE and elsewhere. Given the large numbers of people employed in the service sector, there will be wide reverberations if unemployment rises and wages and remittances fall.

Production and manufacturing are also being disrupted and investment plans put on hold. These adverse shocks are compounded by a plunge in business and consumer confidence, as we have observed in economies around the world.

In addition to the economic disruptions from COVID-19, the regions oil exporters are affected by lower commodity prices. Lower export receipts will weaken external positions and reduce revenue, putting pressures on government budgets and spilling over to the rest of the economy. Oil importers, on the other hand, will likely be affected by second-round effects, including lower remittance inflows and weaker demand for goods and services from the rest of the region.

Finally, sharp spikes in global risk aversion and the flight of capital to safe assets have led to a decline in portfolio flows to the region by near $2 billion since mid-February, with sizable outflows observed in recent weeks -- a risk I underscored in a recent blog. Equity prices have fallen, and bond spreads have risen. Such a tightening in financial conditions could prove to be a major challenge, given the regions estimated $35 billion in maturing external sovereign debt in 2020.

Against this challenging backdrop, the region is likely to see a big drop in growth this year.

Equity markets are down across the Middle East since February and sovereign spreads have widened, with global risk sentiment at a historic high.

Policy priorities

The immediate policy priority for the region is to protect the population from the coronavirus. Efforts should focus on mitigation and containment measures to protect public health. Governments should spare no expense to ensure that health systems and social safety nets are adequately prepared to meet the needs of their populations, even in countries where budgets are already squeezed. Governments in the Caucasus and Central Asia, for example, are increasing health spending and considering broader measures to support to the vulnerable and shore up demand. In Iran, where the coronavirus outbreak has been particularly severe, the government is ramping up health spending, providing additional funding to its Ministry of Health.

Beyond that overarching imperative, economic policy responses should be directed at preventing the pandemic -- a temporary health crisis -- from developing into a protracted economic recession with lasting welfare losses to the society through increased unemployment and bankruptcies. However, the uncertainty about the nature and duration of the shocks has complicated the policy response. Where policy space is available, governments can achieve this goal using a mix of timely and targeted policies on hard-hit sectors and populations, including temporary tax relief and cash transfers.

Temporary fiscal support should consist of measures that provide well-targeted support to affected households and businesses. This support should aim to help workers and firms weather the significant, but hopefully temporary, stop in economic activity that the health measures being implemented to control the spread of the coronavirus will entail. This support will have to take account of the fiscal space that is available, and where policy space is limited be accommodated by reprioritising revenue and spending objectives within existing fiscal envelopes. Where liquidity shortages are a major concern, central banks should stand ready to provide ample liquidity to banks, particularly those lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, while regulators could support prudent restructuring of distressed loans without compromising loan classification and provisioning rules.

When the immediate crisis from the coronavirus has begun to dissipate, consideration could be given to more conventional fiscal measures to support the economy, such as restarting infrastructure spending, although fiscal space has been significantly eroded over the last decade. Given the nature of the current slowdown, trying to stimulate the economy at this time is unlikely to be successful and would risk eliminating the limited fiscal space that is still available.

Many countries are already introducing targeted measures. For example, several countries-- Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, to name a few -- have announced large financial packages to support the private sector. These packages include targeted measures to defer taxes and government fees, defer loan payments, and increase concessional financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Other countries, particularly the regions oil importers, have more limited policy space. Lower revenues resulting from lower imports -- on top of additional pandemic mitigation spending -- are expected to widen fiscal deficits in these economies. And while well-targeted health spending should not be sacrificed, very high debt in many of these oil-importing countries means that they will lack the resources to respond adequately to the broader economic slowdown. As such, these countries should try to strike a balance between easing credit conditions and avoiding vulnerability to capital outflows, and, where possible, allow the exchange rate to cushion some of the shocks. Sizeable financing needs are likely to arise in some countries.

Support from the IMF

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have been in continuous interaction with the authorities in our region to offer advice and assistance, especially those in urgent need of financing to withstand the shocks. The Fund has several tools at its disposal to help its members surmount this crisis and limit its human and economic cost, and a dozen countries from the region have already approached the Fund for financial support. Work is ongoing to expedite approval of such requestslater this week, our Executive Board will consider a request from the Kyrgyz Republic for emergency financing, likely the first such disbursement since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few other requests will be considered by the Executive Board in the coming days.

Now, more than ever, international cooperation is vital if we hope to prevent lasting economic scars.

* Jihad Azour is the Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF
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In the midst of a global pandemic, COVID-19 has forced all involved with patient care to be innovative and adaptive. Deployed as an emergency department (ED) physician, on the frontlines of medicine, my team and I work tirelessly to take care of and research the COVID-19 patient. I have seen COVID-19, and I have seen the fear instilled in the eyes of my patients that receive this diagnosis, akin to a first-time cancer diagnosis. COVID-19 is undoubtedly here, with community spread, and will visit every hospital in the country at some point and at some capacity. While this pandemic unfolds, a trend is evolving within every hospital in the country. People are coming together as teams to help prepare for the evolving tsunami on the horizon.

There is a national trend for decreased ED censuses with more emergent pathology presenting as COVID-19 unfolds. That begs the question, what is an emergency? To a homeless patient suffering from uncontrolled schizophrenia with nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep, at below-freezing temperatures, well, thats an emergency. Chronic back pain, asymptomatic hypertension, vaginal bleeding, stroke, myocardial infarction, cough, and fever? Well, those again are emergencies for the person that is suffering. We, as ED physicians, know this, and we take care of everyone irrespective of the complaint, without question. Questions are brewing among those responsible for patient care, however. Such as when there is no personal protective equipment (PPE) available for use in the ED, what will we utilize to protect ourselves and our families? While these questions constantly come up, I am finding solace in the ED. There is calm, and there is purpose.

Social media is one such avenue from which physicians gain assistance in treating COVID-19. As much as social media has contributed to the hysteria that is the COVID-19 pandemic, social media is also saving lives. Behind the scenes, leaders are utilizing social media outlets with the objective of unifying physicians in order to treat COVID-19. Some successes from this are:

Facebook emergency medicine groups sharing knowledge and experience. This is unprecedented in the history of medicine, and single-handedly is saving lives. It was from a Facebook colleague where I learned the skillset and precautions needed during intubation, so that at 2 a.m. I could safely, and successfully intubate my first COVID-19-rule out. Similar talks are ongoing on how to connect a single ventilator to 4 patients or how to devise your own PPE. #Covidhacks

EM:RAP live streams. COVID-19 have connected collaborators and viewers from all across the globe, sharing stories and experiences as to pass the knowledge of how to take care of the Covid-19 patient. One evening, I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture from an Italian physicians experience with patients in the hot zone.

Twitter has provided case studies, reports, and even patient experiences regarding COVID-19. It was through this outlet that people were reporting diarrhea is their first symptom of COVID-19, which then influenced protocols for donning PPE for most patients.

It is thought that the most mainstream technological advances in medicine are in the literature, but instead, they are on social media. Physicians across the globe are saving lives because of social media. For example, social media outlets have touted the hashtag #GetMePPE as our ED and ICU teams prepare for the surge of incoming critically ill patients. Currently, PPE is literally under lock-and-key, and it is much like telling our soldiers to give up their arms as they fight for their lives in times of war. From social media, we know that impending shortages will happen, meanwhile governmental agencies consciously are telling physicians to don bandanas or scarves as PPE. We, as ED physicians and providers, are sacrificing our livelihoods fully aware of the mortality and daily deaths occurring from this virulent virus. This is knowing full well our reserves in PPE are dwindling, and this has prompted officials and news outlets to run stories prompting national headlines in PPE shortages. Comparably, no guidance exists for how to ration other resources, such as ventilators, medications, or each other; however, social media is actively involved in creating informal policies to help mitigate these issues.

As my team enters the COVID-Cabana (restricted part of our ED for COVID-19-possible patients), we know we will diagnose COVID-19, irrespective of PPE, irrespective of the ability to test, irrespective of our families and home lives, and we dedicate ourselves to the cause. Every day for the foreseeable future, ED physicians will be responsible for making decisions on which patients have COVID-19, which patients can be safely discharged with COVID-19, as well as resuscitating COVID-19 patients that are on the brink of death. Our ED census is markedly reduced in this time of war, which through our social media collaborators, we know is the calm before the storm. Our peers from the coasts suggest that this lull in the patient census is to be expected just prior to the influx of patients that arrive in full respiratory distress or even multi-system organ failure. The videos on social media of physicians and teams of being overwhelmed and stretched thin are factual and palpable. This epidemic is nothing short of frightening, and in the wake of impending surge, know that physicians, nurses, technicians, custodians, interpreters, registration workers, are all working tirelessly in suboptimal conditions to ensure that the patient is cared for.

When the dust settles, we will emerge victorious, albeit with more gray hair. Regardless, this experience will allow us to become better individually, as a system, and as a global, unified, social team. Are we scared? Absolutely! Do we discover pride in working with our team to help our communities? Absolutely! Those of us on the frontlines serve proudly, with the opportunity to help those in need.

Nicholas Pettit is an emergency physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Chances, amounts of weekend snow still up in the air
The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The governors Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mukhtar Gidado, announced this in a statement on Tuesday.

This comes a day after the governor took the test having had contact with the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, was confirmed to have been infected with the virus.

Details shortly
Shrimp tempura, miso soup, sashimi.

You heard it here first: Thats what Gov. Phil Murphys loves to order at a Japanese restaurant. Especially so during the current shutdown over the coronavirus crisis.

Ordered takeout for dinner last night from one of our favorite restaurants,'' Murphy tweeted from Sansu Japanese Steak House in Fair Haven last night. Please remember to support your local businesses during this time. Were all in this together.''

"The Murphys are trying to do takeout every other day as a family to support local small businesses,'' said Alyana Alfaro, a spokesperson for the governors office. "The plan is to keep trying out new ones, different types of food. It was the governors idea to get Japanese last night.''

Inside secret: The Murphy family usually share an order of edamame (boiled or steamed soybeans) when they go out for Japanese, according to his spokesperson.

Sansu, on River Road in Fair Haven, opened in 2011. Its a glittery, upscale casual haunt with tile floors, booths, sushi bar and a cascading wave painting in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e painter Hokusai.

Calls to the restaurant were not answered on Monday.

Ive never eaten at Sansu but I will now since it has gotten the governors seal of approval. I love sushi and especially sashimi. Contrary to what most people think, sushi is not raw fish  thats sashimi, thinly sliced raw fish. Sushi is vinegared rice that may or may not include raw fish. But you knew that.

The restaurants name derives from San, the Japanese word for mountain, and Su for water. "Both stem from the very fundamentals of our dishes,'' according to the web site. We strive to make the best using healthy, natural, fresh and tasteful ingredients that will electrify your taste buds. The food is here to dazzle your eyes . . .

Interior, Sansu, Fair Haven

The menu  "authentic Japanese cuisine with a new up beat modern touch''  is wide-ranging. Appetizers include shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings), yakitori (chicken skewers), Bang Bang shrimp and soft-shell crab, although we love the sound of the sweet baby octupus (marinated sweet chili flavored baby octopus).

This fish sure looks tasty and fresh!

The governors Twitter post, unfortunately, received an overwhelming amount of negative responses. In fact, we couldnt find a positive one. Jeez, people, its just takeout, its supporting local business in a time of crisis, and dont you know tomorrow is Great American Takeout day?

Restaurants are among the "essential'' businesses allowed to stay open during the statewide lockdown, which took effect 9 p.m. Saturday. Retail businesses that can stay open include grocery stores, food banks, pharmacies, medical marijuana dispensaries, gas stations, auto mechanics and repair services, convenience stores, banks, hardware and home improvement stores and laundromats.

Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteGenovese or via The Munchmobile @NJ_Munchmobile. Find the Munchmobile on Facebook and Instagram.
The Bergen County Executive, who has provided updates to the public and implemented safety regulations in the county hardest hit by the coronavirus, has self-quarantined after holding a conference with a person infected with the virus.

Despite showing no symptoms of COVID-19, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco would be self-quarantining for 14 days after attending a press conference with a person who tested positive for the virus. The press conference was March 15, said Michael Pagan, spokesman for Tedescos office.

In attendance at the March 15 press conference was Holy Name Hospital CEO Michael Maron, who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Also in attendance was Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5th Dist.), Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin and Teaneck Township Manager Dean Kazinci.

Tedesco has led the charge to inform the public during the pandemic and has pushed various county executive orders - some of which were ultimately superseded by Governor Phil Murphy - to try to fight the spread of the coronavirus in Bergen County. Since the states first confirmed case, a Fort Lee health care worker, the county has had the most cases of the virus in the state.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 701 cases in Bergen County. New Jersey now has at least 3,675 known cases of the coronavirus, including 44 deaths, officials announced.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
On Tuesday, China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.

There are signs that life is returning to normal in the region, with authorities reopening a popular section of the iconic Great Wall.

The Hubei Health Commission announced it would lift curbs on outgoing travellers starting March 25, provided they had a health clearance code.

The provincial capital Wuhan, where the virus first appeared and which has been in total lockdown since January 23, will see its travel restrictions lifted on April 8.

But there are also fears about a second wave of infections in the country, created by people arriving from overseas. As nations across the globe battle to contain the pandemic, Chinas tally of imported cases has soared.
DECATUR  The city of Decatur declared a state of emergency Monday related to the spread of COVID-19, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker detailed multifaceted efforts to stock up on personal protective equipment for medical workers.

No cases have been confirmed in Macon County, according to the county's Crisis Communication Team, which is made up of local government and health leaders. Ten tests had been completed in Macon County as of noon Monday, with eight negative results and two pending results, officials said.

Additionally, three Macon County residents have been tested outside of Macon County, with two negative test results and one test result pending.

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, who issued the declaration, said one major concern she has is that people are skeptical about whether officials are sharing accurate testing information. Officials have said that tests are not widely available and patients must meet specific testing criteria as a result.

"We are just being so careful about who is tested and we are trying to reserve those tests for the most critical patients," Moore Wolfe said. "If someone is in the ICU and is a COVID-19 patient, healthcare workers need to know as soon as possible. We cant lose any of those medical workers who are on the frontlines of this.

The emergency declaration allows the city to take measures such as suspending utility shutoffs for people who cannot pay their bills, the mayor said.

"We want people to pay their water bills and they will still have to," she said, "but the declaration gives the city the ability to say okay we wont shut your water off for a specific amount of time."

Statewide, cases have been confirmed in 31 of the state's 102 counties. Officials announced 236 new confirmed cases of the virus Monday afternoon, bringing the total to 1,285, and three new confirmed deaths, bringing the total to 12.

Pritzker, speaking at a daily news conference to address residents about the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic, said President Donald Trump was responsive to the states needs in a phone call Monday, one day after the pair feuded on Twitter.

The governor also announced a new partnership with the manufacturing and biotech industries in the state to produce needed supplies and called for donations of personal protective equipment, or PPE.

My administration continues to work day and night to scour the globe in the global supply chain, Pritzker said of the hunt for medical supplies needed to deal with COVID-19.

Pritzker said as the state tries to ramp up its preparation efforts in terms of supplies, it is working with in-state manufacturers and trying to purchase supplies on the marketplace. In an effort to bid for ventilators, Pritzker said Illinois was competing with the federal government. In another case, it was bidding against other states and other countries.

He said the first shipment of medical supplies from the federal government came on March 12, and a duplicate order came on March 20, but the two shipments combined equaled only a fraction of the states request.

He said the total requests and shipments were as follows: 2.34 million protective N95 masks requested, 246,860 received; 900,000 surgical masks requested, 91,298 received; 7.4 million gloves requested, 325,082 received; 924,000 gowns requested, 91,298 received; 47,500 goggles requested, none received; 120,000 face shields requested, 111,978 received.

He said the state also requested 4,000 respirators but received none.

He said the state made another request for hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, gowns, goggles and meals ready to eat, but the March 22 shipment the state received contained the same shipment it received March 12 without any of the other items.

Pritzker said he spoke to Trump around noon Monday and the president was very responsive. He said he talked to Trump about a need for masks and ventilators, and noted he has called on the president to use the National Defense Production Act to make the federal government a single purchaser for the necessary equipment rather than having states bid each other up.

The president was very responsive, frankly ... he didn't so much like the idea of invoking the Defense Production Act, but he did say, you know, What do you need? Let me see if I can get that for you, Pritzker said of the call. It seems like he's being very responsive to what I asked for. And I hope that we'll be able to receive those items in relatively short order.

The pair spoke hours after Pritzkers Monday morning appearance on Good Morning America and struck different tones than they did Sunday on Twitter when they traded barbs.

Partisan bickering regarding the COVID-19 response prompted a statement from Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, Monday afternoon.

"Fighting for our state through this pandemic is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue, Durkin said in a statement. We share a common enemy and share the same goal of working together to eradicate COVID-19. As in all emergencies, time spent on blame or fault provides little or no merit nor solutions. Despite the challenges, the time is now and we must be vigilant and united to defeat this virus.

Pritzkers office also announced that the state has executed contracts to purchase 2.5 million N95 masks, 1 million disposable surgical masks, 11,000 gloves and 10,000 personal protection kits.

Per the partnership with the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or iBIO, some companies will begin manufacturing products ranging from medicine and therapies, N95 masks, gloves, gowns, ventilators and sanitizer and other medical equipment.

Pritzker said some facilities would be repurposed to manufacture needed equipment and all would meet social distancing and other guidelines.

While the task is daunting, manufacturers stand ready to once again answer our nations call, conquering obstacles and leading the way forward, said Mark Denzler, IMA president and CEO. The Illinois Manufacturers Association and the 592,000 women and men working on factory floors across our state are proud to support Gov. J.B. Pritzkers efforts to combat and contain this virus, producing life-saving products in desperate need across Illinois.

The IMA and iBIO are also organizing medical supply donation programs, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will direct donated supplies to the health care and emergency response providers across the state with the most need.

I would also like to make a direct ask to the owners of tattoo parlors and nail salons and elective surgery centers and other facilities temporarily closed during this crisis, to contact my administration about their stores of PPE, Pritzker said.

Pritzker said those looking to donate PPE can email the administration at ppe.donations@illinois.gov.

Macon County's Crisis Communication Team said a mask drive would be conducted from 1 to 3 p.m. on the next three Thursdays at the Decatur Civic Center. Masks will be distributed to both Decatur Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. Mary's Hospital, organizers said. Masks are recommended to be placed in Ziploc bags in quantities of 25 or more.

Pritzker also noted that the states unemployment claims website is on a new platform designed for increased demand. He encouraged those affected by COVID-19 to apply for unemployment online rather than by phone at https://www2.illinois.gov/ides/Pages/default.aspx.

Analisa Trofimuk contributed reporting.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Tuesday (24 March) has issued an advisory on two additional precautionary measures for preschool and primary school students in light of the recent spike in imported cases of COVID-19 in the republic.

Two Additional Precautionary Measures

Students staying in the same household as a person who has returned to Singapore from any country from Wednesday, 25 March 2020, 2359hr, will be placed on 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA).

Students staying in the same household as a person who had returned to Singapore from the UK, US or ASEAN countries on or after 14 March 2020, will be placed on LOA. The students LOA will start from the day the person in the household returned to Singapore.

Preschool, additional precautionary measures

Image source: iStock

These measures are in addition to the earlier announced 14-day LOA issued to students and staff of schools, preschools and student care centres if they returned from overseas on or after 14 March. Employers are encouraged to provide flexible work arrangements for their employees to accommodate such exceptional circumstances.

The MOE and MSF said they will continue to monitor the situation closely, and work with schools, preschools, student care centres, parents and the community to ensure that our schools, preschools and student care centres remain safe. We also urge all other students and staff who are staying with persons on LOA or Stay-Home Notice to monitor their health, see a doctor if they are sick and return to school only when fully recovered.

Stricter measures as more new imported cases are reported

In a statement on Tuesday evening, the multi-ministry taskforce announced tighter measures to fight against the further spread of the coronavirus here.

In announcing its strictest measures to date, the multi-ministry taskforce said all centre-based tuition and enrichment classes will be suspended to reduce the intermingling of students from different schools and enhance the safety of students.

Story continues

moe kindergarten registration 2020

Image Source: theAsianparent File Photo

Gatherings outside school and work will also be limited to a maximum of 10 people from Thursday (26 March) at 11.59 pm to 30 April 2020.

The duration of the stricter measures may also be extended if the situation does not improve here, the task force added.

The post MOE: Additional Precautionary Measures For Preschool and Primary Schools Amid Rise In COVID-19 Cases appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids.
Gov. Ned Lamont made himself a hero to some members of the National Rifle Association this week.

As the clock ticked down to Lamonts mandate that only essential businesses would be allowed to remain open during the pandemic, lines wrapped around some gun shops as ammunition and weapons were purchased like toilet paper at grocery stores.

Then Mondays deadline arrived  and gun shops made the governors list of essential businesses.

Your NRA would like to thank Gov. Lamont for upholding the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their loved ones, the NRA/Institute for Legislation Action responded.

For gun owners, no right is more essential than that of self-defense. And the NRA thrives on societal worst-case scenarios.

Lamonts announcement came on the same day NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre announced layoffs and salary reductions resulting from the impact of the coronavirus. Six years ago, LaPierre advised Americans to build arsenals as he predicted a wave of disease.

Its here, and that remains the wrong response.

The announcements come as spikes in gun sales are being reported across the nation. The NRA tweeted Americans are flocking to gun stores because they know the only reliable self-defense during a crisis is the #2A.

Some states, notably New York and California, put gun shops on the non-essential list. Pennsylvanias decision to do the same resulted in a flash lawsuit from the Firearms Policy Coalition. It was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania within 48 hours.

Lamonts decision might not have drawn much attention, except that Connecticut put itself on the front lines of the national discourse over gun safety after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14, 2012.

After the NRA promoted a video of a disabled cancer survivor firing rounds from her semi-automatic rifle in response to the pandemic, absolutely no one was surprised the senator who responded was Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

Murphy, a Democrat, accused the NRA of urging people to stockpile assault weapons, instead of food.

So Lamonts inclusion of gun shops on his list came a surprise, and drew more nuanced pushback from the Newtown Action Alliance, which identified why this is precisely the wrong time to encourage sales of weapons.

Panic buying of guns and ammunition will result in more guns in homes with children, domestic violence victims and individuals with suicidal ideation, resulting in an increased number of deaths due to unintentional shootings, homicides and suicides, the alliance wrote in a statement.

Domestic violence experts are fearful because shelters are at capacity while abusers are in isolation with partners and children. The states hotline for neglected children saw the figure for a typical weeks volume of calls drop from 126 to 39 last week.

So as people being abused may face obstacles calling hotlines, abusers in a heightened home environment can still shop for weapons.

Lamont needs to revise his definition of essential. Guns shouldnt be on anyones shopping list right now.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:00:50|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Tuesday held a virtual meeting on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the situation in the country.

The informal meeting was the first council business since March 13 and followed measures announced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to contain COVID-19 at UN headquarters, including a partial closure of the premises.

Council members heard briefings by Leila Zerrougui, head of the peacekeeping mission known by its French acronym of MONUSCO, and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN undersecretary-general for peace operations.

The council members recognized the improved political and security situation in most parts of the DRC, and stressed that continued cooperation between members of the ruling coalition and their commitment to broad political dialogue are critical to further normalization in the country, according to press elements provided by the Chinese mission to the United Nations, which holds the council presidency for the month of March.

Council members also encouraged the DRC government to continue its efforts for political reforms.

They expressed concern at the continued instability in the east of the country, and welcomed the government's commitment to work with MONUSCO in addressing the security challenges.

The council members encouraged the government to engage with the Security Council and the UN Secretariat on working on the transition compact for a sustainable exit of MONUSCO, including a joint strategy and benchmarks for drawdown.

They expressed concern at the current humanitarian situation, especially the current measles epidemic, and called on partners to step up their support. They welcomed the progress made on combating the Ebola virus, noting the absence of new cases over the last month.

They welcomed the steps taken by the Congolese authorities to contain COVID-19, and called on the United Nations to continue working with the Congolese authorities to prevent the further spread of the virus, while ensuring the safety and security of UN personnel.
BOSTON, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Burns & Levinson won an international parental kidnapping case on March 13 on behalf of pro bono client Nelio Nelson Gomes Da Silva, who sought the return of his 10-year-old daughter to Brazil after the child's Brazilian mother brought her to the U.S. in 2016 without his knowledge or consent. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the district court's ruling in favor of Da Silva, a Brazilian citizen, and affirmed the judgment ordering the child's return to Brazil.

Burns & Levinson filed the action, Nelio Nelson Gomes Da Silva v. Marcelene De Aredes, for Da Silva in federal court in Boston in 2018 under the Hague Convention, a treaty that addresses international parental child abductions. The mother raised several defenses available under the Hague Conventionincluding the child was now "well-settled" in the U.S. and should not be returned and faced a "grave risk of harm" if returned to Brazil  all of which were unsuccessful.

After a four-day trial, the judge found that the mother wrongfully brought the child to the country, and the mother's defenses were not supported by the evidence. The mother filed an appeal to the First Circuit, which backed the lower court's findings regarding the mother's lack of evidence.

The Burns & Levinson team included partner Susan Stenger, who won the appeal, and partner Elizabeth Crowley and associate Katie M. Dalton, who tried and won the lower court case.

"It has been a long road for our client, but we are thrilled with the First Circuit's decision affirming the District Court of Massachusetts' decision. Our client, the minor child's father, has waited patiently to be reunited with his beloved daughter," said Crowley.

About Burns & Levinson LLP

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South Africa has imposed a 21-day lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases more than triple. Curfews have also begun in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and will soon be rolled out in Sudan, as the continent tries to contain the accelerating coronavirus outbreaks.

South Africa infections

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 21-day lockdown in a televised address to the nation on Monday, insisting that the continent's most advanced economy needed to escalate its response to the coronavirus outbreak "(to) avoid a human catastrophe".

However, the death toll from Covid-19 instead accelerated, climbing from 402 to 554.

While coronavirus cases were slow to arrive in Africa, the virus is spreading quickly, and on Tuesday businesses in South Africa raced to make plans for the nationwide lockdown set to begin on Thursday at midnight until 16 April.

South Africa has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa and public health experts are worried that it could overwhelm the health system if infection rates continue to rise.

String of curfews

Elsewhere in west Africa, Senegal registered 12 new cases on Monday taking its total up to 79, while Cote d'Ivoire recorded 25 more cases.

Both their presidents have declared states of emergency, imposing curfews and travel restrictions on their populations.

Other countries in West Africa such as Mauritania and Burkina Faso, the hardest-hit country in the region with 99 cases and four deaths, have also announced curfews in recent days.

Sudan, which so far has two confirmed cases, said it will impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew from Tuesday at 8 pm (1800 GMT) to curb the spread of the outbreak.

Nigeria top aide infected

In Nigeria, where a 67-year old man became the first patient to die on Monday, reports have emerged that the president's chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus.

The aide Abba Kyari, in his 70s, and brought the disease into the immediate circle of 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari.

There are no reports as to whether Buhari, who has suffered from medical ailments in the past, has been tested.

Kenya in search of aid

Kenya, meanwhile, confirmed nine more cases of Covid-19 Tuesday bringing its total to 25. Health minister Mutahi Kabwe told reporters the cases are spread out in four counties: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale and include 7 Kenyans and 2 foreigners.

The news comes as authorities in Nairobi seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis, as the disease cripples crucial tourism and farm exports.

Tunisia army on patrol

The IMF has already granted Tunisia a loan of about 370 million o stave off the economic fallout from Covid-19.

The north African country has 89 confirmed cases of the virus and on Monday ordered the army to patrol the streets to force people to respect a general lockdown.

DR Congo mining on hold

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, mining companies have begun downsizing their operations and the government has ordered a 48-hour lockdown in part of its copper and cobalt heartland.

The lockdown order was issued late on Sunday after two people tested positive for the virus in the capital Lubumbashi.

However, Congo's health minister said late on Monday that the cases were negative.

Uganda, Ethiopia shut borders

Uganda confirmed eight new cases on Monday, bringing its total to nine. All the eight cases are Ugandan nationals who travelled back from Dubai, health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said, urging Ugandans to remain calm.

The country last week shut Entebbe national airport and on Monday banned all incoming flights.

Ethiopia on Monday also shut its land borders to nearly all human traffic in its efforts to curb the virus spread.

Africa's second-most populous country has so far recorded 11 infections and no deaths, but officials have struggled in recent days to enforce prevention measures including bans on large gatherings.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday urged G-20 leaders to assist the continent with $150 billion in emergency funding (139 billion euros).

African finance ministers have also called for a $100 billion stimulus (93 billion euros) package, including a suspension of debt service payments.

Panic in Madagascar

On the ocean island of Madagascar, where 17 cases have been confirmed, panic buying has seen supermarket prices sky-rocket, with a kilo of rice jumping from 70,000 to 120,000 Malagasy Ariary (17 to 30 euros).

More than 1,400 cases of coronavirus have now been reported across Africa, according to a United Nations rally.
Everyone in UK must stay home to fight coronavirus, prime minister says

At least 573 people have now died in the United States from the novel coronavirus -- and officials say the pandemic is accelerating.

In the United States, there are more than 41,700 diagnosed cases of the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, known officially as COVID-19, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus spans every U.S. state as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, forcing millions of Americans to stay home in an effort to contain the disease.

Over 372,000 people around the world have been diagnosed and more than 16,300 people have died across the globe, mostly in Italy and China.

Monday's biggest developments:

Everyone in UK must stay home The pandemic is 'accelerating,' WHO director-general says Diagnosed cases soar to over 20,000 in New York Amy Klobuchar's husband tests positive for coronavirus

Here's how the news developed Monday. All times Eastern.

11:46 p.m.: Effects of virus felt by Minnesota's top officials

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that he is in self-quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for the coronavirus.

Walz, who is the first U.S. governor to self-quarantine, will continue to run the state from his home in St. Paul. The 55-year-old said he is healthy and not showing any symptoms.

His disclosure came on the heels of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar's announcement that her husband was being hospitalized after contracting the virus.

On Sunday, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan announced that her brother, Ron, died from COVID-19 on Saturday. He had been fighting cancer at the time he contracted the virus, Flanagan said on Instagram.

"To many, he'll be a statistic," Flanagan said in the post. "But to me, Ill remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband."

9:21 p.m.: Inmate in NYC detention center is latest to test positive

Story continues

An inmate at a federal detention facility in New York City is the latest U.S. prisoner to test positive for the coronavirus.

Sources tell ABC News that an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan has tested positive for COVID-19. The inmate is currently being housed at a local hospital, sources say.

When reached about a possible case of COVID-19 at MCC New York, Tyrone Covington, president of union that represents the facility's officers and staff, said he was outraged it could be a possibility.

Over the weekend, three inmates in the Bureau of Prisons tested positive for the coronavirus: two in Oakdale, Louisiana, and one in Brooklyn, New York. Two other Bureau of Prisons staff members -- one in Kansas and one in Texas -- have tested positive for the virus.

Separately, sources say that one staff member and three inmates have tested positive in Atlanta, and eight inmates and staff await test results in Yazoo, Mississippi.

7:28 p.m.: Flights worldwide down by half, says flight data service

As airlines continue to eliminate flights in response to governmental travel restrictions and plunging demand, an airline data-tracking service reports that the number of flights worldwide is down by half.

FlightAware says that as of this past Sunday, March 22, the overall decrease in worldwide commercial flight volume this year compared to last was 48%.

The airline industry could take a hit of up to $113 billion as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to industry experts.

5:45 p.m.: Florida gov. orders self-isolation for NY-area visitors

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an executive order that mandates anyone who travels to Florida from the greater New York City area will have to go into a 14-day self isolation period.

"Today, there's over 190 direct flight from the New York City area to the state of Florida. And I'd would reckon, given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it that is positive for COVID-19," he said in a news conference.

The order applies to anyone traveling to Florida from "an area with substantial community spread," but it specifically mentions New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Florida currently has about 1,100 positive cases and 14 deaths related to the virus. DeSantis has previously blamed visitors from New York for the cases in Florida and called on the White House to suspend flights from there and other states with a high number of outbreaks.

As of Monday morning, New York state had more than 15,000 coronavirus cases.

4:40 p.m.: Everyone in UK must stay home

PHOTO: A man wears a mask in Trafalgar Square as the spread of the coronavirus continues, in London, March 23, 2020. (Hannah Mckay/Reuters)

Everyone in the United Kingdom "must stay at home," Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday.

Residents can only leave the house to shop for basic necessities, for one form of exercise per day, for medical needs and to travel to and from work when absolutely necessary and working from home is not possible, Johnson said.

Coronavirus map: Why flattening the curve for coronavirus matters

At least 6,724 people in the United Kingdom have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 300 of those have died.

Gatherings outside the home of more than two people are now banned, the U.K. prime minister said.

Johnson said all unnecessary shops will close, as well as libraries and gyms. All social events must be canceled, including weddings, but excluding funerals, he said.

4:28 p.m.: Instacart plans to hire 300,000 more shoppers

PHOTO: People wait in line to buy food at a grocery store in Los Angeles, March 21, 2020. (Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images)

As the demand for grocery delivery grows, Instacart says it plans to hire 300,000 more personal shoppers across North America over the next three months.

The company, which uses personal shoppers to fulfill orders for customers, also noted how the hiring initiative can help provide flexible job opportunities for those who need it.

Meanwhile, CVS said it's hiring 50,000 full and part-time employees nationwide.

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.

3:14 p.m.: Criminal consequences possible for those who violate NJ rules

PHOTO: A man is pushed in his wheelchair to the Path train station where service operates on a weekend schedule due to the coronavirus outbreak, March 23, 2020, in Hoboken, N.J. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

In New Jersey, where at least 27 people have died from coronavirus, those who violate social distancing rules or keep non-essential businesses open could face criminal consequences, said Gurbir Grewal, the state's attorney general.

"The time for warning is over," Grewal said Monday. "If you're a retail store or an entertainment center and you stay open, or if you're a bar and keep serving patrons in your establishment, consider this as your final warning. Your actions are against the law in New Jersey, and you will be held accountable/"

How to avoid panicking in coping with coronavirus outbreak

"The same goes for individuals," Grewal said. "If you and your friends decide to throw a party at your home and you invite 20 of your closest friends, stop. Law enforcement officers will have to break that party up, and their will be criminal consequences."

Over 2,800 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the Garden State.

3:03 p.m.: Rhode Island becomes 8th state to postpone presidential primary

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo says she will sign an executive order to move the state's presidential primary from April 28 to June 2.

The governor also said she will make the election predominantly vote-by-mail. Applications and stamps will be sent to voters in the coming weeks, added Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.

Indiana, Connecticut, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland as well as Puerto Rico have all moved their primaries in the wake of the pandemic.

2:56 p.m.: Virginia schools closed until end of year, North Carolina schools shuttered until May 15

In Virginia, where there are 254 confirmed coronavirus cases, all schools will remain closed until the end of the academic year, Gov. Ralph Northam announced.

The state is working to provide meals to students in need, Northam said.

Businessman donates laptops to single mom whose six kids need homeschooling amid coronavirus pandemic

Telemedicine is having a moment. How can patients make use of the growing industry?

In North Carolina, all public K-12 schools will be closed until May 15, Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday.

The governor said he arrived at this date by looking at guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health officials. The order would be adjusted if guidance changes, he said.

1:55 p.m.: Over 6,000 dead in Italy

PHOTO: Operators sanitize each other after service on an ambulance for the transport of coronavirus patients in Settimo Torinese, Northern Italy, March 23, 2020. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Italy, hardest hit by deaths from the pandemic, reported 601 more fatalities in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total death toll to 6,077.

The total confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has climbed to 63,927, according to the country's Civil Protection Agency.

MORE: What US can learn from Italy about responding to coronavirus

12:08 p.m.: The pandemic is 'accelerating'

PHOTO: A health worker arrives to the subway station wearing a face mask as people walk around Times Square as the coronavirus outbreak continues in New York, March 21, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

The coronavirus "pandemic is accelerating," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Monday.

Almost every country in the world has reported cases, he announced in a Geneva press conference.

"It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases. Eleven days for the second 100,000 and just four days for the third 100,000," he said.

PHOTO: A 'don't panic' sign hang on the entrance of a closed food market that was shut down in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 23, 2020. (Oded Balilty/AP)

11:50 a.m.: Non-essential businesses closing in Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan

A stay-at-home advisory has been issued in Massachusetts, urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel from Tuesday until April 7.

Also beginning Tuesday, all "non-essential" businesses in Massachusetts will be closed, though Gov. Charlie Baker encouraged restaurants to continue to offer food for take-out and delivery.

PHOTO: The 'Make Way for Ducklings' statues in Boston Public Gardens dressed in surgical masks and St Patrick's Day attire in Boston, March 23, 2020. (CJ Gunther/EPA via Shutterstock)

PHOTO: Empty roads are seen during the coronavirus outbreak in Dorchester, Mass., March 22, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images)

In Maryland, where there are at least 288 diagnosed cases, all non-essential businesses must close by 5 p.m. Monday.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he is not issuing a shelter-in-place order or forcing people to stay home but noted that unless Maryland residents have a critical reason to leave their homes, they should stay put.

Michigan officials are also ordering the temporary closure of non-critical businesses. Residents must say in their homes unless going somewhere is necessary.

11:39 a.m.: Minnesota governor to self-quarantine

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Monday morning he will self-quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday night.

"Im using this as an opportunity to lead by example," Walz said in a statement. "Though Im feeling healthy and not showing any symptoms, Im going to work from home and model the protocol we are asking all Minnesotans to follow."

11:16 a.m.: Diagnosed cases soar to over 20,000 in New York

PHOTO: A visitor wearing a face mask waits to be tested for the coronavirus, at the main entrance to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, March 23, 2020, in New York. (John Minchillo/AP)

In New York state, where diagnosed coronavirus cases have soared to over 20,000, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said testing is also on the rise, with 16,000 tests now conducted per day.

About 25% of testing nationwide is now in New York state, Cuomo said Monday.

PHOTO: A member of Joint Task Force 2, composed of soldiers and airmen from the New York Army and Air National Guard, wears a face mask while carrying paper towels during the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle, N.Y., March 23, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

PHOTO: A medical worker walks past a line of workers and visitors waiting to be tested for coronavirus, at the main entrance to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, March 23, 2020, in New York. (John Minchillo/AP)

Cuomo on Monday issued an emergency order to all hospitals requiring them to increase capacity by 50%, with a goal of increasing capacity by 100%. Four facilities in the state are being converted into hospitals.

Of those diagnosed in New York, 13% are hospitalized, the governor said. New York state has reported 157 deaths.

"We were not ready to deal with this. And other situations will happen," Cuomo said. "Let's at least learn from this to be prepared for the next situation, as dramatic as this one has been."

Cuomo once again got personal at Monday's news conference, saying a silver lining he's gained during the pandemic is the "beautiful gift" of more time with his daughter.

PHOTO: A nearly empty Times Square is seen, March 23, 2020, in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP/ Getty Images)

10:50 a.m.: Amy Klobuchar's husband tests positive for coronavirus

Former Democratic presidential candidate and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says her husband, John Bessler, received positive coronavirus test results Monday morning.

Bessler suffered a bad cough, including coughing up blood, and now has pneumonia and is on oxygen but not a ventilator, Klobuchar said in a statement.

MORE: Tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus in the US and around the world

"He is exhausted and sick," she said.

Bessler waited five days for the test results, Klobuchar said on a press call with a vote-by-mail advocacy group.

"John and I have been in different places for the last two weeks and I am outside the 14-day period for getting sick, my doctor has advised me to not get a test," Klobuchar said. "As everyone is aware, there are test shortages for people who need them everywhere and I dont qualify to get one under any standard."

MORE: A timeline of how coronavirus got started

"I love my husband so very much and not being able to be there at the hospital by his side is one of the hardest things about this disease," she wrote. "I hope he will be home soon. I know so many Americans are going through this and so much worse right now. So I hope and pray for you, just as I hope you will do for my husband. Meanwhile I am working in the Senate to get help to the American people."

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

9:20 a.m.: New Jersey testing site reaches capacity before it opens

In northern New Jersey, hit hard by the outbreak, a testing site at Bergen County Community College reached capacity even before it opened Monday morning, reported ABC New York station WABC.

8:39 a.m.: Doctor's plea for supplies

A Massachusetts emergency room doctor, who made a sharp-worded appeal on Facebook for the need for protective gear, told ABC News he's since received a number of donated supplies.

"Since that post went out, people have been showing up in our ER, donating whatever they have, people have been making masks," Dr. Josh Lerner, who works at the Leominster campus of UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, said in an interview Monday on "Good Morning America."

"People are dropping off food, any type of personal protective equipment. Painters, contractors are giving us their supplies. A neighbor of mine dropped off a box of N95 masks this morning, left it on my porch," Lerner continued. "So we are being heard by the American people."

PHOTO: Health care workers from Virginia Hospital Center put on their personal protective equipment before people arrive at a drive-through testing site for the novel coronavirus in Arlington, Virginia, on March 20, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

But Lerner said it's unclear how long the supplies will last as his emergency room starts to see an influx in acute cases of patients sickened with the novel coronavirus disease.

"I think something to keep in mind is that, for any one patient, there are multiple health care workers who are at the bedside," he said. "We could be talking about many, many supplies being used at any one time at the bedside. And so, at this moment, I don't know how many more days of supplies we have, but we are sort of using them as judiciously as possible."

Lerner called on the U.S. government as well as leaders at the local, state and federal levels to "work together" rather than "debate with one another."

"We as an entire nation need to come together to fight this," he said.

7:48 a.m.: Spain reports 462 deaths in past 24 hours

Spain's health ministry on Monday reported 462 deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

PHOTO: A man wearing a face mask is wheeled into La Paz hospital in Madrid, March 23, 2020, amid a national lockdown to fight the spread of the coronavirus. (Pierre-philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images)

The country's death toll from COVID-19 has now topped 2,000. Spain has the third-highest number of recorded deaths in the outbreak, following China and Italy.

With over 33,000 diagnosed cases, Spain is behind the United States and Italy in the highest national total outside China.

5:39 a.m.: Wuhan, China, reports no new cases for 5 straight days

The Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has reported no new confirmed cases for the past five days.

The city is still considered a high-risk zone but signs of life are reappearing on the streets as authorities begin to relax some of the strict measures that were put in place. Road checkpoints are being removed and some private vehicles have returned to the streets. The city's subway system remains shut down but has begun trial runs as health workers disinfect the subway cars and stations.

PHOTO: Workers wearing face masks remove barriers on a street in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as the city has started to loosen its lockdown, in Hubei province, China, on March 21, 2020. (China Daily/Reuters)

City leaders met Monday to discuss scheduling the resumption of work and production. Monday marks two months since Chinese authorities placed Wuhan on lockdown as the virus spread like wildfire throughout the city and the greater Hubei province.

"The meeting emphasized the need to make overall plans to restore economic and social order, and actively and steadily promote orderly resumption of work and production," the Wuhan government said in a statement Monday. "It is necessary to speed up the resumption of production and industrial enterprises, the return of stores and supermarkets as soon as possible, the orderly restoration of public transportation, the safe and orderly movement of personnel, and the guarantee of resumption of production and market."

4:09 a.m.: Florida closes all state parks

Florida is closing all of its state parks to the public due to the coronavirus crisis.

At the direction of the governor and to successfully uphold social distancing guidance from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said it will close all state parks to the public, effective Monday. The Sunshine State is home to nearly 200 state parks and trails.

PHOTO: A beach entrance is closed off along the boardwalk in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 22, 2020. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

A notice on the Florida State Parks website said the Department of Environmental Protection "has taken many measures to continue providing resource recreation at our state parks during this time, such as limiting operating hours and reducing visitor capacity at parks with high visitation."

"Unfortunately," the notice continued, "this has not resulted in the reductions needed to best protect public health and safety as Florida continues to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."

There are more than 1,000 diagnosed cases of the novel coronavirus in Florida, and at least 13 of those patients have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

3:42 a.m.: U.S. Secret Service employee tests positive

A U.S. Secret Service employee is in quarantine after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the agency confirmed in a statement late Sunday night.

"The Secret Service has conducted a comprehensive contact trace assessment and determined that the employee has not had contact with any Secret Service employee or protectee for nearly three weeks," the agency said.

Further information about the employee's identity was not provided due to privacy considerations.

3:00 a.m.: Japan to begin quarantining all visitors from the US

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that his country will require a 14-day quarantine to all visitors from the U.S. amid an escalating number of coronavirus infections around the globe.

The quarantine requirement includes Japanese and American citizens and will go into effect Thursday until the end of April. The move comes after Japan raised its travel advisory for the U.S., urging Japanese citizens not to make nonessential trips to the nation.

PHOTO: Visitors wearing protective face masks amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus look at blooming cherry blossoms at Ueno park in Tokyo, Japan, on March 22, 2020. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

Abe said the new requirement is in line with containment measures taken by other countries, including the United States, which has reported a surge in new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

MORE: Olympic flame to arrive in Japan as plans for Tokyo Games forge ahead despite pandemic

3:00 a.m.: Plan for Olympics not yet decided

Japan appears to have successfully slowed the spread of the virus on its soil, with just 1,101 diagnosed cases as of Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Still, Abe said a decision to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, slated to kick off on July 24, "may become inevitable" if the pandemic makes it impossible to hold the event safety.

PHOTO: The Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame is displayed in the city of Ofunato in Japan's Iwate prefecture on March 23, 2020. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

The International Olympic Committees executive board has announced a plan to analyze the situation over the next few weeks and make a decision that could include the option to postpone, although the board emphasized that it has no current plans to outright cancel the games. A number of Olympic athletes have called on organizers to postpone or cancel the games due to the pandemic.

If it is difficult to hold in a complete way, a decision of postponement would be unavoidable, Japan's prime minister said during a parliamentary session in Tokyo Monday.

ABC News' Clark Bentson, Aicha El Hammar, Rachel Katz, Alexander Malin, Phoebe Natanson, Kirit Radia, Olivia Rubin, Quinn Scanlan, Christine Theodorou, J Gabriel Ware, Ivan Pereira and Karson Yiu contributed to this report.

Everyone in UK must stay home to fight coronavirus, prime minister says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
$5 Trillion Down the Drain

Commentary

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone should read Robert Higgs economic classic Crisis and Leviathan. The critical warning of this masterpiece is that government always uses a crisisfrom the Civil War to the Great Depression to World War IIto expand power, not only during the emergency but also afterward. Emergencies tend to ratchet up the cost and power of government permanently.

That expansion of government authority is especially unwise now, given that when this coronavirus fiasco is finally over, it may go down in history as one of the greatest government screwups in American history. Thats saying a lot.

As a nation, we spend just short of $5 trillion a year in Washington and at least another $1 trillion at the state and local level. Our government spends 1 of every 3 dollars that passes through the U.S. economy. It is the largest enterprise in the history of the world.

You dont have to be an Ayn Rand devotee to see how the government has stumbled in its primary function: protecting the health and security of the public. Every citizen should ask elected officials: How was the health security system in America, with $1 trillion of federal tax dollars spent, so radically unprepared and ill-equipped?

As an aside, it is astonishing that even after the government collapse, we still have politicians who are peddling Medicare for All. Is there any sane person who wants to expand the states control of the medical care system after this?

At the center of this calamity is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a $10-billion agency that did not have a screen or easily administered test to find out whether citizens had contracted the virus. My Heritage Foundation colleague Robert Moffit, a health care expert, recently explained the problems at the CDC. He said, Germany and Japan quickly developed diagnostic testing for the new virus, and South Korea was soon testing large numbers of patients quickly. By comparison, the American performance was subpar. He says that private pharmaceutical companies were developing tests, but public health authorities were restricted to using the failed CDC test.

These failures wound up costing the U.S. economy at least $1 trillion of lost output. How is it that Korea had more effective screening than we did?

President Donald Trumps adversaries blame this mess on his proposed cuts in funding at the National Institutes of Health and the CDC. But those cuts never happened. Trump must take some of the blame because he was president when the CDC failed us. But its doubtful more money would have averted this crisis. The CDC was too preoccupied looking into gun control, climate change, and gay and transgender issues.

Despite this epic failure, few, if any, will be fired at the CDC, the NIH or the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump cant fire the incompetents because a corrupt civil service system protects almost all government workers.

The politicians say that no one saw the coronavirus coming, but this, too, is a cop-out. We have confronted killer viruses since the Middle Ages and the days of the bubonic plague. A century ago, we had influenza, which killed more than half a million Americans, and yet 100 years later, the government is less prepared for a pandemic than they were then.

How indefensible that in this advanced technological ageover 50 years after we put a man on the moon and a time when we have cellphones for less than $100 with the computing power of all the computers used during the World War-erathe central government planners had no contingency plan to deal with a pandemic? So, we have been stuck with a Soviet-style shutdown of the entire American economy with curfews, food rationing and the equivalent of martial law in major cities such as San Francisco.

The most bizarre outcome of all of this is we now have politicians telling us that to solve the destruction that the government failed to prevent, we need more governmental authority and bigger budgetsmore programs, more bureaucrats and more giveaways. Estimates are now $2 trillion to $3 trillion of new government spending. The stimulus plans have never worked and may even cause more long-term damage to the economy than this mendacious, microscopic virus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants not just temporary but permanent paid sick leave for workers, underwritten by financially strapped businesses. Just as Higgs warned, she sees this crisis as something that must not go to waste in advancing a liberal agenda.

Perhaps if any good comes out of this dismal performance by the political class, it is that we will have more Americans who have learned that, as Ronald Reagan put it, government is not the solution; government is the problem. There must be some better way for the folks in Washington to waste $5 trillion a year.

Stephen Moore is an economics journalist, author, and columnist. The latest of many books he co-authored is Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy. Currently, Moore is also the chief economist for the Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
KABUL - Washingtons unprecedented threat to cut $1 billion in Afghanistan funding  a response to the refusal of rivals in Kabul to work together to advance peace  comes at a time when the impoverished nation risks being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday both President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, blamed one another for failing to resolve the feuding, which prompted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to threaten the massive funding cut.

Pompeo called out the two leaders as he ended a rushed visit to Afghanistan on Monday, defying a near-global travel ban because of the virus. He left Kabul without being able to secure a power-sharing deal.

Ghani told the nation in a televised address that Abdullahs power-sharing demands were unconstitutional. For his part, Abdullah said Pompeos visit was a missed opportunity.

Pompeo said the Trump administration would slash $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan and reduce all co-operation unless Ghani and Abdullah agree on forming a new government. Speaking to reporters aboard his plane on the return flight home, Pompeo said he was hopeful the two rivals will get their act together and we wont have to cut the assistance. But were prepared to do that, he said.

Earlier, he said Ghani and Abdullahs leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests. Apart from reducing assistance by $1 billion this year, another $1 billion will be cut in 2021 if the bickering continued, Pompeo said.

Ghani seemed unphased, though his government covers barely 25% of its budget, according to John Sopko, the U.S. Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. More than 75% of all expenses, including the running of government ministries, is covered by the international community.

Sopkos regular reports have also criticized the Afghan government for widespread corruption and Transparency International has ranked Afghanistan among the most corrupt at 173 out of 180 countries. The United States alone pays $4 billion annually toward Afghanistans security forces.

I can assure you that the reduction of the U.S. assistance would not have a direct impact on the system, Ghani said in his speech.

From Kabul, Pompeo flew to the Persian Gulf to meet with a leader of the Taliban, the Afghan insurgent group that last month signed a peace deal with the U.S. as a first step toward withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan by mid-2021.

As part of the deal, rival factions in Afghanistan were to come together in all-Afghan talks about shaping the countrys future. However, Washington made clear from the start that the pace of a U.S. troop withdrawal is linked to the Taliban clamping down on terror groups and aiding in the fight against the militant Islamic State group  not on the success of intra-Afghan talks.

Ghani and Abdullah, his main rival in last Septembers disputed presidential polls, have been waging a bitter power struggle that has seen both men declare themselves president in competing inauguration ceremonies earlier this month.

After meeting the chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Qatar, Pompeo told reporters he was satisfied the Taliban were keeping their side of the deal, had reduced violence and were ready to start negotiations with the leadership in Kabul.

In an English-language statement Tuesday, the Taliban said Baradars meeting with Pompeo stressed that only a strict implementation of the peace deal would pave the way for intra-Afghan negotiations along with enduring peace and cease-fire, including a future Islamic government in accordance with the agreement.

The statement also said Pompeo assured the Taliban that the U.S. forces withdrawal will continue in accordance with the declared timetable.

The squabbling between Ghani and Abdullah  both linked to powerful warlords, all with heavily armed militias  put a pall over the deal since its signing on Feb. 29.

Ghani has also refused to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners the deal promised would be freed as a good-will gesture ahead of intra-Afghan talks. Separately, the Taliban were to free 1,000 Afghan officials and military personnel they hold captive.

While the rest of the world struggles with the coronavirus pandemic, Afghans have vented their frustrations on social networks and local media over the governments lack of action. Afghanistan has registered only 42 cases of the virus though there are fears the true figure could be far greater after more than 137,000 Afghans have returned since the start of the year from Iran, the scene of the Middle Easts largest outbreak. Many of the returnees visited the southern Herat province and later dispersed throughout Afghanistan with no follow-up or documentation, according to officials. Iran has had more than 1,800 deaths and over 23,000 infected with the virus.

Pompeo said that despite the threatened aid cuts, Washington remained committed to the Afghan people. As a demonstration of that, he said, the U.S. would provide $15 million in assistance to help Afghanistan fight the spread of the coronavirus.

___

Gannon reported from Islamabad.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reccently hosted a high-level virtual meeting, bringing together key UN agencies, the chairs of its Executive Council and Regional Commissions, and private sector leaders to become part of a Global Tourism Crisis Committee, formed as UNWTO prepares to launch a global guide for recovery.

Since the start of the pandemic, UNWTO has been working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to guide the tourism sector as it faces up to the COVID-19 challenge. This meeting, hosted in Madrid but conducted virtually for reasons of public health, further emphasised the call for international cooperation to underscore a united response based on the latest public health recommendations and reflecting the deep economic ripple effect and social cost of the pandemic.

Unprecedented

This unprecedented public health emergency has already become an economic crisis which will come at a social cost, said UNWTOs Zurab Pololikashvili. The secretary-general added that tourism is the hardest hit sector and all our best estimates have been overtaken by the changing reality.

Without any certainty over how long this crisis will last or what the final economic and structural impact on tourism might be, all participants were united in their deep concern over the millions of jobs that are at risk of being lost. With small and medium-sized enterprises making up 80 per cent of the sector worldwide, the wider social impact of the crisis will go far beyond tourism, making it a key concern for the international community.

Coordination is paramount

Tourism has proven in the past to be a reliable partner to lead recovery for societies and communities, but only if the economic policies of governments and the support packages of donor and financing agencies reflect how the sector touches on every part of society.

The livelihoods of millions of people and their families are at stake, be it in urban centres or in remote communities where tourism is sometimes the main income generator and a vehicle for social inclusion, protecting heritage and kickstarting development, Pololikashvili said.

This requires political recognition and cooperation across ministries, involving the public and private sectors and set against the backdrop of wider action plans by financial institutions and regional bodies.

All welcomed UNWTOs tagline to Stay home today so you can travel tomorrow, which is promoted on digital media through the hashtag #TravelTomorrow.

UNWTO recommendations for recovery

In the coming days, UNWTO will release a set of recommendations for recovery. The document will highlight the steps governments and other authorities need to take to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and to then accelerate recovery.

The meeting will be factored into UNWTOs recommendations. These will be complemented by a dynamic component aimed at engaging with innovators across the world through an innovation challenge centred on tourisms response. Launched with the support of WHO, this challenge will identify new ideas that can be implemented to help tourism return to sustainable growth.

Participants in the coordination meeting agreed that this is a shared challenge that can only be tackled by working together, with recovery dependent on a joint effort on a scale never seen before.

Global Tourism Crisis Committee

The participants accepted UNWTOs invitation to be part a global coordination committee which will hold regular virtual meetings to evaluate and advance recommendations as the situation evolves.

The UNs key tourism related agencies will all be participating, along with WHO and the main representatives of the airline and maritime transportation sectors, as well as the private sector.

UNWTO members are a critical part of this committee, represented through the regional chairs and the chair of the Executive Council.

From within the United Nations, the virtual meeting was attended by WHO Director of Health and Multilateral Partnerships Gaudenz Silberschmidt (sitting in for director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus), the secretary-general of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), Dr Fang Liu, and the secretary-general of the IMO (International Maritime Organization), Kitack Lim

UNWTO Members were represented by the chair of UNWTO Executive Council Najib Balala, cabinet secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya, and by the Chairs of UNWTOs Regional Commissions: for Africa, Ronald K. Chitotela, Minister of Tourism, Zambia; for the Americas, Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica; for Asia and the Pacific, Mohd Daud, undersecretary of Tourism Policy and International Affairs, Malaysia, and for South Asia, Ali Waheed, Tourism Minister, Maldives; for Europe, Harry Theoharis, Minister of Tourism, Greece; and for the Middle East, Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, undersecretary for Tourism, UAE. Special interventions were made by Reyes Maroto, Minister of Tourism, Spain, and by Ahmed bin Aqil Alkhateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia.

Representing the private sector were the chair of the Board of UNWTO Affiliate Members and also director of IFEMA Ana Larranaga; Alexandre de Juniac, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, (Iata); Adam Goldstein, Global Chair, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA); Agnela Gittens, director general of the Airports Council International (ACI), and Jeff Pool from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). - TradeArabia News Service
Scott Morrison sparked panic across Australia when he appeared to suggest all shopping centres would close while announcing new coronavirus restrictions.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday night announced a range of new measures - including limiting the number of people at weddings and funerals, as well as closing food courts at shopping centres and beauty salons.

Australians will also be banned from travelling overseas under a further crackdown on international trips as the government tries to stop the spread of the COVID-19.

While announcing the measures, Mr Morrison sparked confusion when he appeared to say 'food courts and shopping centres will not be allowed to continue'.

When later questioned, he explained only food courts 'in' shopping centres would be closing.

Mr Morrison then admitted he had never even heard of barre classes, despite also forcing them to shut their doors during Tuesday night's announcement.

Barre is a workout routine combining pilates, dance, yoga and strength training.

'I might need help with that, I'm not sure what that is,' Mr Morrison said about the latter before spelling the word 'barre' out for reporters.

Other forced closures from midnight on Thursday include real estate auctions, which were initially exempt from the stage one lockdown, and businesses that provide personal service 'where there is a lot of contact'.

Those services include beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons and tattoo parlours.

Hairdressers and barbershops will remain open for business provided they adhere to social distancing guidelines and limit the number of people on their premises, with customers spending no more than half-an-hour getting their hair done.

Mr Morrison also unveiled strict restrictions that would effectively ban large weddings from taking place.

'In places of worship and other similar type venues there has been a very difficult decision to make tonight in relation to weddings and in relation to funerals,' he said.

Scott Morrison announcing new restrictions on businesses on Tuesday night. He inadvertently suggested all shopping centres would close across Australia in an embarrassing blunder while announcing the measures

The prime minister later admitted he hadn't heard of barre - a combination of pilates, dance, yoga and strength training

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

'Now, weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple, the celebrant and the witnesses. No more than five people.'

'This is not an easy decision. Where we have already found, and Dr Murphy can speak to this, some of the events that have been some of the major transmitting events, it has been exactly these types of events, particularly weddings.

'And that is why, regretfully, we have to be able to put these arrangements in place.'

Australians will also be banned from travelling overseas under a further crackdown on trips as the government tries to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr Morrison said it is clear from the numbers of people still travelling that some are defying advice not to travel anywhere in the world.

Small exceptions will be made for aid workers and other vital government travel.

There are 2,363 cases of coronavirus in Australia as of Wednesday morning
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 01:43:16|Editor: huaxia

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Armenian President Armen Sarkissian (L) meets with Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong in Yerevan, Armenia, on March 23, 2020. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on Monday highly praised China's leading role in jointly fighting against COVID-19 across the world. (Chinese Embassy in Armenia/Handout via Xinhua)

YEREVAN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on Monday highly praised China's leading role in jointly fighting against COVID-19 across the world.

During his meeting in Yerevan with Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong, the president highlighted the cooperation with China and stated that the exchange of experience and information with different countries on the matter can play a very vital role in raising the efficiency of the fight against the disease.

"China's initial success of the battle against the virus has fully reflected the extraordinary leadership of the Chinese government, strong cohesion of the Chinese society and the remarkable social responsibility of the Chinese people," said the president.

He stressed that China's support both in the form of consulting and devices and medical items is very important for Armenia in the fight against the virus.

Tian, for his part, introduced anti-epidemic measures taken in China and vowed to further cooperate with Armenia to win the battle against the virus.

According to the Armenian government, 194 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the country by Monday.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday called on his successor Shivraj Singh Chouhan and assured him of the opposition party's help for the state's development.

Chouhan was sworn in as the state's Chief Minister on Friday night.

"I met chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. I assured him we are going to be with him for the state's development," Nath told reporters after the meeting.

Asked that the Congress had skipped the Assembly session in which Chouhan won a trust vote on Tuesday, Nath said they did not have information about the session.

"The trust vote was a formality which needed to be completed," he added.

Nath resigned as the chief minister after 22 Congress MLAs quit the House, reducing his government to a minority.
An employee wearing a protective mask sews surgical masks at a leather workshop turned into a mask factory, close to Vigevano, Lombardy, on March 19, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Hunt for Medical Gear to Fight CCP Virus Becomes All-Consuming

PARISThe hunt for masks, ventilators, and other medical supplies consumed Europe on March 23, as CCP virus infections soared and political paralysis stalled efforts for a quick aid package from Congress.

The Epoch Times 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.

The risk to doctors, nurses, and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected, accounting for roughly 12 percent of the countrys total cases.

British health workers pleaded for more gear, saying they felt like cannon fodder. In France, doctors scrounged masks from construction workers, factory floors, an architect.

Theres a wild race to get surgical masks, Francois Blanchecott, a biologist on the front lines of testing, told France Inter radio. Were asking mayors offices, industries, any enterprises that might have a store of masks.

Health care workers say theyre being asked to reuse and ration disposable masks and gloves. A shortage of ventilators, crucial for treating serious COVID-19 cases, has also become critical, as has a lack of test kits to comply with the World Health Organizations exhortations to test as many people as possible.

The delay shook investors, as has the accumulation of canceled events large and small, the soaring numbers of unemployed, and a widespread pullback in spending.

Worldwide, nearly 350,000 people have been reported to be infected and 15,000 have died from the virus that first emerged in central China in late 2019. The dangers to Europe and the U.S. have grown exponentially over the past month, although Germany on March 23 cautiously reported some flattening of its infection curve.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Over 100,000 people are reported to have recovered.

Italys infections have continued to spike, hitting 59,000 cases and 5,476 deaths, and Indias prime minister asked, with mixed results, his nation of 1.3 billion people to stay home. The arrival of the global pandemic in Syria as well as the Gaza Strip has raised concerns it could run rampant in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Mideast.

With weddings and other large gatherings banned in many places, an untold number of burials are going forward with nothing more than a minister, a funeral home staffer, and one loved one to bear witness.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged that postponing this years Summer Olympics could be unavoidable. Canada and Australia added to the pressure on Olympic organizers by suggesting they wouldnt send athletes to Tokyo this summer. The International Olympic Committee said it would examine the situation over the next few weeks.

If it is difficult to hold in a complete way, a decision of postponement would be unavoidable, Abe said.

Scientists in London predicted that the pandemics death toll could easily top 1 million in the U.S. alone.

UK Warns Toughening Virus Restrictions

The British government warned March 23 that it may introduce more draconian measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus if people persist in ignoring social distancing recommendations and crowding public places.

Following a busy weekend at UK parks and food markets, there were growing calls for the government to impose tighter restrictions with more rigorous enforcement, including the potential involvement of military personnel.

Officials at Snowdonia National Park in Wales, which had its busiest visitor weekend in living memory, has urged the government to be more explicit with its social distancing advice. They said all the main parking lots would be closed and Snowdonia administrators are exploring options to close down the most popular mountains and sites if the situation continues.

Responding to the visibly high use of parks and the London Underground during the virus pandemic, London Mayor Sadiq Khan implored people to stay at home unless they absolutely need to move about the city.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed frustration as well. Hancock said the government would consider locking down the country if the public kept disregarding calls to stop mingling in groups. Hancock described those not heeding official recommendations to stay two meters apart from others as very selfish.

The UK had the 10th-highest number of virus cases in the world, 5,903, and the sixth-highest number of virus-related deaths as of March 23, according to tallies from Johns Hopkins University.

New infections are increasing at an exponential rate, raising concern that the country will be on a trajectory like Italys in a week or two if containment efforts are not successful.

In the UK, photos of people enjoying the sunny weekend outdoors and of London Underground trains packed with individuals afraid of losing jobs are giving the British government pause.

The prime ministers spokesman, James Slack, said the government was analyzing data on public transit use, foot traffic in stores, and park visits to gauge whether people were practicing proper social distancing.

If that data shows they havent stopped, then we will need to take further measures, Slack said. We wont hesitate to do so, and we will do so quickly.

While Britain has ordered bars and restaurants to close, the governments repeated urging for people to go out only for essential reasons such as food shopping or to exercise has offered wiggle room to a public unaccustomed to confinement.

With health officials warning that thousands could die if action is not taken immediately, the governments messages have become direr, and its willingness to entertain a nationwide lockdown like the ones imposed in Spain and Italy have become more serious.

This is not the sort of thing that anybody would want to do, but of course it is the sort of thing we might have to do in order to protect life, Hancock told Sky News. If you do go out, you must not get closer than two meters from someone who isnt in your household.

Hancock suggested the military would be brought in to help distribute protective equipment to the National Health Service in what he characterized as a war effort.

It is a war against this virus, Hancock told the BBC. The army have been incredibly helpful in getting those logistics so we can get the supplies to protect people on the front line.

Hancock said the equipment was like having armor to guard against the virus.
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SecuredTouch, the global provider of behavioral biometrics based advanced fraud detection solutions has been awarded Best Product at the 2020 LSA (Loyalty Security Association) Lion's Den.

As the concluding highlight of the Spring conference, Lion's Den is an audience favorite where companies get just 5 minutes to pitch a new product, service, idea - or even a concept - and convince the judges that their product is the silver bullet to make Loyalty Programs secure.

SecuredTouch presented it's product alongside Riskified, PerimeterX, and HooYu.

The Ringmaster was Chris Staab, CEO, Loyalty Security Association and The Lions were executive leaders from global companies:

World of Hyatt

International Airlines Group

Wyndham Rewards

Head for Points

Through an interactive role-playing narrative, Lewis Duker, Account Executive at SecuredTouch, assumed the role of a fraudster and took the audience on a journey as he took over Staab's - aka the good user's - loyalty account.

Afterwards, he revealed how behavioral biometrics solves pain points of loyalty fraud prevention teams. He demonstrated how this approach provides a complete overview of the customer journey to detect fraud before it happens.

Considering loyalty fraud exploits business models where a traditional payment gateway is not applicable, the audience was very engaged and interested. "It's not just about identifying fraudsters but identifying good users so you can take control, optimize experience, and provide a proactive approach before damage is done," Duker explained.

The judges were impressed with the flexibility of the SecuredTouch product, even in the most challenging scenarios where your "best customers look like your worst fraudster."

During the presentation of the Best Product award, the judges extended their praise, stating, "Your product stood out from the rest. We were impressed with the different behavioral elements for early detection during the fraud journey and how the product doesn't collect user data. It's a well-rounded tool that addresses all our needs."

About SecuredTouch

SecuredTouch is the expert in behavioral biometrics-based fraud detection solutions for online retailers and financial institutions.

Patented technology addresses multiple fraud use cases in a single solution. It adapts to identify both manual and automated attack vectors ensuring early detection before a transaction can take place. By operating continuously and invisibly in the background, customers benefit from reduced fraud losses and a fast track to transaction completion for trusted users.

SecuredTouch award-winning solutions are used by clients around the world

For more information visit www.securedtouch.com or follow us on social media: LinkedIn , Twitter & Facebook

SOURCE SecuredTouch
World CP Day.

Cynthia Frisina is the mother of a daughter with cerebral palsy, Vice President of Partnerships, Cerebral Palsy Foundation, AACPDM Community Council, CPISRA Global Advisory Board, and Creator of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day.

Sixteen years ago this month I sat in a doctors office, learning that my 2-year-old daughter had cerebral palsy (CP) after being concerned for more than a year that she wasnt meeting her developmental milestones. I didnt understand at the time that cerebral palsy was the most common motor disability in children, impacting more than 1,000,000 Americans and more than 17,000,000 people worldwide. No one explained to me that cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the developing brain, nor the concept of neuroplasticity, nor the importance of early diagnosis and intervention in terms of improving outcomes. We were sent on our way with very little in the way of next steps, information or hope.

Thank goodness times are changing because of families, individuals with CP and clinicians who have worked hard to change the status quo. As a result of years of relationship building and advocacy, we are now seeing promising new research initiatives, exciting collaborations, and major corporations like Lexus, Gillette, Microsoft, Apple, Allergan, Ipsen and others supporting initiatives that are improving the lives of people with cerebral palsy. America is taking notice.

Related: Why We Shouldn't Compare Our Children's Diagnoses

Its been incredible this year to witness major brands realizing the importance of broader representation in their advertisements. I believe its the beginning of a snowball effect towards supporting our cerebral palsy awareness efforts which ultimately will contribute to funding for more research, explains Christina Smallwood, mom of a 6-year-old daughter with CP and creator of @fifiandmo.

Christina and her daughter Finley.

Related: What I've Learned From Dating With Cerebral Palsy

What a change this is from when my daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy 16 years ago. When we initially received her diagnosis, I assumed there must be standards of care, treatment protocols, parent support, federally funded research and even a national cerebral palsy awareness day where the community comes together  like there was for almost every other disability. I couldnt have been more mistaken.

Story continues

Joining forces with another determined mom, we formed a volunteer nonprofit organization in 2004 called Reaching for the Stars: A Foundation of Hope for Children With Cerebral Palsy  an education and advocacy group run by parent volunteers with the goal of improving the lives of people with cerebral palsy and changing the status quo.

Together, we worked to establish National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day in 2006 through Congressional support to bring attention to the fact there wasnt federally funded research for cerebral palsy despite it being so common. We collaborated with Senator Johnny Isakson (Georgia) and his staff to begin the process of establishing March 25 as National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. Senator Isakson supported this initiative since 2006, alongside Senator Robert Casey (Pennsylvania), and Senator Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire) in subsequent years. With Senator Isaksons recent retirement, Senator Kelly Loeffler (Georgia) also recognized the importance of this national awareness day and has continued the support of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day as the lead Congressional sponsor for 2020. We could not be more grateful for the support of these committed U.S. Senators for the past 14 years.

Related: What We Hope You'll Think About During Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month

With March 25 established as National CP Awareness Day, we selected the color green to represent the day. Little did we guess that soon we would be turning America green with support of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness!

Jennifer Lyman, mother of a teen son with CP and Chair of the Community Council for the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine explains, National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day celebrates the abilities, capabilities, diversity, and extraordinary accomplishments of those 1,000,000 Americans who live with cerebral palsy. It may only be one day a year, but for those of us who love someone with CP, it serves to highlight the need for continued research, education, and advocacy that will allow our loved ones to achieve their potential.

In 2014, we expanded National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day to include the tradition of producing an annual green t-shirt that people everywhere could wear to show their support and created a symbolic green ribbon. We increased our research advocacy, testified before Congress and established the hashtag #GoGreen4CP. The #GoGreen4CP movement began spreading across America. People of all ages and backgrounds embraced National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day and began engaging their communities to participate in school events, wear green, light up buildings in green, encourage employment diversity initiatives, and advocate for change.

Michael Kutcher, motivational speaker, advocate, adult with CP and twin brother of actor Ashton Kutcher explains, National CP Awareness Day provides a sense of community for all of us impacted by cerebral palsy and our families. All too often people go through life feeling they dont belong, or they are different. National CP Awareness Day celebrates unity, promotes awareness and reinforces the importance of bringing us all together despite challenges.

Michael Kutcher

Michael Kutcher

In 2019, Reaching for the Stars and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation merged together and have been committed to making an even greater impact for National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month and Day. Our campaign GoGreen4CP.org is all about going green, celebrating diverse influencers in our community, and making a difference. Our campaign website educates people about CP, how to change perspectives and how to take action.

Wendy Sullivan, mom of a daughter with CP who has served on the boards of several CP organizations and has been involved in advocating for more cerebral palsy research for over a decade adds, National CP Awareness Day is important to highlight the most common motor disability in children with lifelong impact and how it affects families and individuals. Im passionate about the need for more CP research funding because I believe so much more can be discovered about causation, prevention and treatment. Bringing awareness is the first step to changing outcomes forever.

Wendys daughter Kelsey, a high school senior, goes on to say, As a teenager with cerebral palsy, I care about National CP Awareness Day because most people dont think about people with CP on a regular basis. Awareness is the first step in helping others understand that having CP is a challenge, but you can live a full life, go to college and make a difference in the world.

My youngest daughter, Cathryn  the original inspiration for National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 14 years ago  is now a senior in high school. She is straight-A honors student, adaptive track and field athlete on the cusp of a promising college experience combining academics and adaptive sports. She is a U.S. Paralympic High School Track and Field All-American. Cathryns remarkable progress, and the way that cerebral palsy is now being diagnosed earlier and treated more effectively, gives me great hope that National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day and our related advocacy efforts are actually making a difference.

National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day provides people with CP a way to feel connected to a larger community, be represented in ways they havent been before and feel less alone while navigating the world with a disability, Cathryn says.

However, there is much more to be done. In this time of great uncertainty, people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities risk being overlooked again. Many of those with cerebral palsy are at higher risk for secondary complications and illnesses like COVID-19. Cerebral palsy research remains underfunded compared to the number of people impacted, and unemployment is a very real issue.

In spite of the challenges, its energizing to see how our community is pulling together and supporting each other all over the world. As schools and employers scramble to put in place more virtual learning and working environments, new opportunities will be created. New approaches to healthcare delivery and serving the community will lead to fresh breakthroughs benefitting our community.

Meeting the needs of this moment and people with cerebral palsy will require our very best collaboration, compassion, creativity and patience  today more than ever  which is what National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day is all about. We may have to social distance for now, but we can still wear green on March 25 and make a great impact. Together, we are stronger.

To learn more, visit Cerebral Palsy Foundation and Go Green for CP.

Read more stories like this on The Mighty:

8 Tips for Finding the Right College When You Have Cerebral Palsy

How Cannabis Helps With My Cerebral Palsy Symptoms

Why I'm Finally Claiming the 'Disability' Label as Someone With Mild Cerebral Palsy
24.03.2020 LISTEN

And it shall come to pass as Africa never trusted her facilities and expertise, would export her sons and daughters in the name of seeking healthcare abroad sequel to the outbreak of the global epidemic coronavirus, christened: COVID-19.

The destination of these beautiful souls of the African land is Asia, specifically; China, where the disease was birthed.

Within a fortnight, the Chinese built a hospital purposely to admit coronavirus patients. As do dictators, the Chinese government imposed a total lockdown of the country. A state of emergency - STAY AT HOME.

It didn't take long, as Italy, Spain, Iran and the United States are facing the fury of this novel coronavirus, the Chinese are reporting zero cases inland, inside mainland China, safe imported cases by their countrymen from abroad.

If their citizens abroad could be brought back home to seek healthcare, and they're now recording lower death rates, far below that of Italy, why not open their hospital which is becoming empty of patients as the days progress to their allies?

Which of China's allies would with haste jump to embrace such goodwill benevolent spirit of offer?

It's those whose DNA is of legendary affinity to freebies. Those, 54 of them, who couldn't, judging by their vast resources, collate them in cash and in kind to build a befitting headquarters for their Presidents and heads of States, but went to the same China to seek housing - the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

That building, the AU offices, I learn the Chinese hid bugging gadgets there, and they eavesdrop on discussions made by the African leaders.

We couldn't trust them when we sought housing from them. They did, as do voyeurs, intruded in and saw our nakedness. In their sight, we're nude, not clothed.

Is it the lives of our people that we can place in their custody?

Oh Africa, where did we go wrong?

All the herbs that surround us are laden with medicinal value, the very source of Western artificial drugs, we don't value it, but the imported artificial ones made by the whiteman.

Imagine the Hawk who recently swooped on the Hen and her chicks. After trying without success to prey to extinction all the chicken family, the Hawk now comes back as a physician who only posses the magic cure for the ailment that's ravaging the land of the Hens.

The Hen that's without second thought, accept this offer has never experienced the plunder and the pillage that Africa has gone through in the hands of the Chinese.

Where Africa discovered bequeathed resources in her land, be it gold in the belly of the soil, or the precious rose tree that do not only give healing powers, but the best of long lasting furniture; China picks her Trident, forking the betters without a proper account to the African that sits by the riverside and wash the hand with spittle.

We'll only mention without details, the channelling of our sauna and fauna through pipes that irrigates industries in the Chinese land. Not for trophy hunting, but our rhinos are stolen for their horns. One they believe rekindles the dying libido of the Asian giants.

The anger of the African reading this piece is still simmering for revenge. I must halt it here revealing to light the evils these detractors mastermind in the ungodly darkness.

Our attention should be on the coronavirus now. It'll be of no use to arm and fight back what the Chinese have stolen from the Africans, but we have the strength today to stop the mass exportation of our African souls to China which would be a mass grave for our people, after, for rituals, the organs of our people are traded there.

I've read a number of books written by Robert Greene. The likes of: 33 Strategies Of War, The Art Of Seduction, and The Art Of Mastery. The one that has left a lasting guideline on my life is his masterpiece: The 48 Laws Of Power.

In that book, he calls: "to be able to say NO to a free gift/offer, is a source of power" (sic).

We're not new to disease outbreaks. Our forebears, without knowledge in Western medicine, met and battled disease outbreaks. They won. The fierce deadly one was the Gold Coast Influenza (1918-1919). We're descendants of those great men of Africa of old.

If through their toxified foods exported to us we're not annihilated, and for the betters of our land is their target when we're no more, we're staying and make use of the healing powers of the African God in our natural medicine.

If it's to the Africans that China is placarding her empty beds in the media, we're now the proverbial Mouse who was told the evil thoughts of the former friend Cat.

The One Ghana Movement is not only gathering patriotic Ghanaians to redeem and rebuild from the debris the fallen walls of Ghana, but through this writeup alerting all Africans the cloud that portends to hang our African space very soon.

Awake Africa!

Long live Africa!

*Written by: Charles Yeboah (Sir Lord)*

*Founder of One Ghana Movement (#1GhM)*

*Contact/WhatsApp: +233249542111*

*Email: [email protected]*
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

R0mesh Sobti's term as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of private sector lender IndusInd Bank has come to an end, signalling the end of an association which lasted a little over 12 years.

After his 12-year-long stint at the bank, Sobti will now be handing over the reins to Sumanth Kathpalia.

Prior to joining IndusInd Bank, Kathpalia, a chartered accountant, has been associated with ABN Amro Bank, Citibank and Bank of America. Though he has operated across segments, he is best known for his expertise in the consumer business.

Also Read | Sumant Kathpalia, a veteran banker who built IndusInd's consumer business, takes charge

Sobti made his bow in the banking sector with State Bank of India in the early 70s. His ambition can be gauged from the fact that he left a cushy job to take more challenging roles at a young age with multinational biggies like Standard Chartered (earlier ANZ Grindlays Bank) and ABN AMRO.

When he joined IndusInd on February 1, 2008, the bank's market cap was a mere Rs 6,000 crore. Since then, in the last 10 years, the exceptional growth that the bank has been clocking has seen its market value soar 19 times.

Following news of Sobti's retirement from the bank, IndusInd Bank's stock fell over 30 percent, hitting an 8-year low of Rs 235.55 in trade, while its market capitalisation fell to below the Rs 20,000 crore mark. The share price has almost halved in less than a month.
The ministry of health has called on the Chinese government to lend its technical support to the fight against Coronavirus (COVID19), ...





The ministry of health has called on the Chinese government to lend its technical support to the fight against Coronavirus (COVID19), in the country, following 40 confirmed cases, two discharged and one death recorded.





Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, made the plea, when Zhou Pingjian, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, made a donation of medical supplies and equipment to the ministry, on Monday in Abuja.





Ehanire commended the Chinese government for winning the fight against COVID19 as businesses and organisations have been allowed to reopen.





He said that the measures implemented by the Chinese government during the outbreak would be instructive to the country in order to control the virus.





The minister said the experience in China reinforced the importance of listening to science and public health experts during the pandemic.





He, therefore, asked the Chinese government to support Nigeria with its public health experts that would aide the country to review its strategies.





He said Nigeria would like to learn from the Chinese government on how they were able to put in place unprecedented containment and social distancing measures.





Ehanire said the country need mobility for contact tracing, ventilators, testing kits, and personal protective equipment,(PPE), to aide the fight against COVID-19 in the country.





Earlier, Pingjian said they would not forget sympathy and support extended by Nigeria when the Chinese people were in the most challenging stage of battling the epidemic.





Virus respect no borders. In the face of public health emergencies, a common challenge humanity, the most powerful weapon we have is solidarity and cooperation, he said.





To protect the health and wellbeing of the Nigerian people and actually all the people living in Nigeria, the authorities have been working assiduously on the epidemic response in a science based, rational and professional way from day one.





The ambassador said the Chinese government have full confidence in Nigerias determination and capacity to defeat the virus ultimately.





He advocated for Nigerians to continue to treat the Chinese national in the country as their bothers and sisters.





You throw a peach to me, and I give you a white jade for friendship. t is Chinas traditional virtue to repay goodwill with greater kindness, he said.





Zhou noted that China would support Nigeria in the fight against COVID19 and stand ready to assist, to the best of its capacity.





He said despite the daunting task of epidemic control remaining in China, China would try its best to provide medical supplies to Nigeria and do whatever it would do to support the country.





China will continue to share information and experience with Nigeria, and strengthen cooperation on containment, treatment and vaccines in response to the COVID-19 challenge, with a view to building together a community of shared health for mankind, he said.





The items donated were, gloves, N-95 mask, surgical mask, shoe cover, head cover, digital clinical thermometer and hand held non-contact infrared thermometer.





Others are hand sanitisers with dispenser stands and refills, chlorine disinfectant bleach, disposable surgical gown, white safety boots, liquid hand wash, couch rolls , Tyvek suit, Goggles, laptop, desktop, printer, copier and scanner machine.




Province says travel will be allowed for people with health clearance, while imported cases increase across the country.

Chinas Hubei province, the original epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, is due to begin relaxing many travel restrictions to and from the region after months of lockdown.

The Hubei Health Commission announced on Tuesday that it would lift curbs on outgoing travellers starting March 25, provided they had a health clearance code.

The provincial capital Wuhan, where the virus was first detected late last year, will see travel restrictions lifted on April 8. The city has been in total lockdown since January 23.

The announcement, which came as more countries across the world are introducing drastic measures to restrict movement, marked a significant moment in Chinas efforts to tackle COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Starting from midnight, people will be able to get in a car and drive freely around the province; they will be able to use public transport and from different cities to different counties, Al Jazeeras Katrina Yu, reporting from the capital, Beijing, said.

However, the easing of the restrictions for travel outside Hubei comes with strict conditions attached, Yu added.

200318091505922

Travellers will need a Green Code  a type of barcode  on their mobile phones indicating their health status and will also have to undergo a test to prove they are coronavirus-free.

Crucially, the measure only applies to migrant workers who will be able to board government-chartered buses and trains that will transport them to their workplaces in other provinces.

This is point-to-point travel, Yu said. There are still many limitations as people are worried here in China that there could be a second wave [of infections].

Imported cases increasing

Indeed, the risk from overseas infections appears to be on the rise.

China had 78 new cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, a twofold increase from Sunday. Of the new cases, 74 were imported infections, up from 39 imported cases a day earlier.

Beijing was the hardest-hit, with a record 31 new imported cases, followed by southern Guangdong province with 14 and the financial hub of Shanghai with nine. The total number of imported cases stood at 427 as of Monday.

Only four new cases were local transmissions. One was in Wuhan which had not reported a new infection in five days.

In other parts of the country, authorities have continued to impose tougher screening and quarantine and have diverted international flights from Beijing to other Chinese cities, but that has not stemmed the influx of Chinese nationals, many of whom are students returning home from virus-hit countries.

Beijings city government tightened quarantine rules for individuals arriving from overseas, saying on Tuesday that everyone entering the city will be subject to centralised quarantine and health checks.

The southern city of Shenzhen said on Tuesday it will test all arrivals and the Chinese territory of Macau will ban visitors from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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The number of local infections from overseas arrivals  the first of which was reported in the southern travel hub of Guangzhou on Saturday  remains very small.

On Monday, Beijing saw its first case of a local person being infected by an international traveller arriving in China. Shanghai reported a similar case, bringing the total number of such infections to three so far.

The rise in imported cases and the lifting of restrictions in some cities to allow people to return to work and kick-start the battered Chinese economy has raised concerns about a second wave of infections.

A private survey on Tuesday suggested that a 10-11 percent contraction in first-quarter gross domestic product in the worlds second-largest economy is not unreasonable.

The epidemic has hammered all sectors of the economy  from manufacturing to tourism  and policymakers have promised loans, aid and subsidies in an effort to persuade businesses to open.

In the impoverished province of Gansu, government officials are each required to spend at least 200 yuan ($28.25) a week to spur the recovery of the local catering industry.

The official China Daily warned in an editorial on Tuesday that maintaining stringent restrictions on peoples movements would now do more harm than good.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A dispute in the Nile Basin that had looked well on its way to a satisfactory resolution has once again flared into a crisis. And with international attention distracted by the coronavirus epidemic, chances are that it will get worse.

Talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, hosted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, had initially showed some promise. In January, the parties issued a joint statement saying they had agreed on a schedule for filling the dams reservoir.

The fill schedule has been the biggest bone of contention between the parties. Ethiopia had wanted to fill the dam within three years, allowing it to generate power for domestic consumption and export. Since the filling of the dam will reduce flows downstream, Cairo wants the process extended to as long as 15 years, to minimize the reduction in flow to Egypt during the fill.

With American mediation, it looked like a middle ground could be found, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin indicated a final agreement on all outstanding issues was imminent.

But Ethiopia skipped the latest round of talks in Washington last month, and has entered into a war of words with both the U.S. and Egypt. The Ethiopians say they can proceed with the filling of the reservoir without an agreement. Mnuchin has warned Addis Ababa against doing so until an agreement had been signed. In response, Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew has condemned Mnuchins statement as undiplomatic.

For its part, Cairo has said it would use all available means to defend the interests of its people. Ethiopias leading officers have warned they would retaliate if there were any attacks on the dam.

The details of the American proposal remain undisclosed, but some reports indicate Egypt felt under pressure to make more concessions than it had hoped. Since U.S. mediation was their idea, the Egyptians found it harder to refuse. Leaked reports suggest there is disagreement over how much water will flow through the dam, with Ethiopia wanting to limit the flow to 31 billion cubic meters annually and Egypt requesting a minimum of 40 bcm. The normal flow, when the Blue Nile is unobstructed, is 49 bcm; the U.S. proposal is believed to include a compromise of 37 bcm.

Story continues

The renewed disagreement between the negotiating parties comes as the mediators attention is distracted. Just two weeks ago, President Donald Trump pledged to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi that the U.S. would keep up its tireless efforts to broker an agreement. But Treasury now has its hands full with combating the effects of the epidemic, and may not have the bandwidth to resolve the GERD dispute.

The fear in Cairo is that Ethiopia will see this as an opportunity to resume its strategy of creating facts on the ground, and eventually to impose its preferred outcome on the downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan. If Ethiopia no longer feels bound to resolve the dispute before filling the reservoir and operating the dam, Egypt will feel pressure to take action to defend what it sees as a threat to its vital interests.

At its core, the problem for Ethiopia is one of opportunity costs and national pride. The longer a fill takes, the longer Ethiopia must wait to begin to reap the benefits anticipated from power generation. As officials in Addis Ababa point out, 70% of Ethiopians currently live without electricity, and the country desperately needs the revenues that would come from power exports.

As for Egypt, it has a fixed and increasingly stretched supply of water to sustain a rapidly growing population. Cairo also worries that if Ethiopia is allowed to do as it pleases with the Nile waters, other upstream Nile Basin countries might feel entitled to do likewise, disrupting and reducing the flow to Egypt.

There is an offramp to resolve this dispute and address the interests and concerns of both parties: Egypt, with the help of its international partners, should offer Ethiopia financial incentives to slow down its fill schedule. This would both offset Ethiopias opportunity costs and allow Egypt time to improve its consumption practices at home.

Researchers at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs have floated a proposal in which the European Union would help to determine a price tag for a slower fill and help Egypt with financing to pay Ethiopia to cover that cost. The plan requires Cairo to make firm commitments to improving its water management, which involves both better governance and less wasteful spending.

A resolution along these lines is urgently required, or the advances made under American mediation will be irretrievably lost.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Timothy Kaldas is an independent risk adviser and nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Our families have so many other worries, Mitchell said. We cant have any shakiness on our side influence their stress levels. We need to be that rock for them. We have to figure out how we can offer all our services in the absence of our volunteers warm hearts and busy hands. Its a struggle.
She said she was apprehensive that her passport could be canceled. That just makes me nervous anytime someone messes with my passport any way, Ms. Dillard, a Milwaukee native, said in an interview on Monday. She said she was also considering staying in Ghana.

A spokeswoman at the State Department in Washington did not have an immediate comment when asked about the notice to cancel stranded Americans passports.

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged President Trump on Monday to provide Americans overseas the support that they need during what he called an unprecedented pandemic.

No American should ever have to worry that they might be abandoned abroad by our government, Mr. Menendez wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump.

The senior State Department officials said that in some cases, foreign governments had imposed restrictions to contain the virus that prevented American flights from departing.

One of the officials said that had been the case in Peru, where 15 students from Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina who were training to be paramedics and physician assistants were trying to leave.

The official said fewer flights were able to fly in and out of Peru because the international airport in Lima, the capital, had been shut down for the duration of the countrys quarantine. That means flights have had to fly through military airports, which do not have the capacity to manage all the additional air traffic.
The Northwest Territories government is closing the Liard Highway (Highway 7) to traffic in an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The highway will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday from Kilometre 1 to Kilometre 5, the territorial government said in a news release on Monday.

Emergency and enforcement vehicles will still be allowed through.

The Liard Highway runs south to British Columbia and is one of two highways that connect the Northwest Territories to southern Canada. The other, Highway 1, remains open "for limited exceptions," and drivers are advised to use that road to enter or leave the territory.

Dr. Kami Kandola, the N.W.T.'s chief public health officer, banned most travel into the territory by land, air and port starting on Saturday, as part of measures to protect the territory's residents against the novel coronavirus.

N.W.T. residents, supply chain workers and select others are exempt from the ban.

The commissioner of the Northwest Territories made the order to close the Liard Highway under the Public Highways Act in order to support Kandola's order related to travel restrictions.

The territorial government says it is unsafe and illegal to drive on a closed highway.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As New York State Department of Labor has been overwhelmed with thousands of people attempting to file for unemployment insurance benefits, MTX quickly implemented an Emergency Response Management (ERM) Solution to handle the sudden surge of calls and to reduce the amount of time taken to process unemployment insurance claims, ensuring New Yorkers who have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are getting their benefits on time.

MTX's Emergency Response Management (ERM) Solutions reduce the burden that government agencies experience as a result of the sudden impact of the Coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare, unemployment, child care, and education.

After closing all Child Care Centers, the State of Massachusetts re-opened 300 Child Care Centers for children of medical professionals, emergency workers and others who are expected to keep working during the COVID-19 pandemic. MTX is supporting this effort with a customized ERM solution to quickly process emergency child care licensing requirements.

NYS and Massachusetts' situations are just a few examples of many state government departments in need of an ERM solution as they struggle to find a way to handle the stress on their current systems. MTX's Emergency Response Management (ERM) solutions are customized and deployed in less than 48 Hours for State Government Departments such as Departments of Health, Health and Human Services, Hospitals, Education Institutions, and Early Child Care, to name a few.

MTX CEO Das Nobel, says "MTX is working alongside Healthcare Professionals, Government Officials, and the essential personnel on the battleground to help fight this crisis. I couldn't be more proud of how quickly our qualified team at MTX has rallied together to provide solutions that help the public sector handle this unprecedented crisis."

MTX Emergency Response Management (ERM) Solutions can be integrated with a variety of service providers to ensure a unified rapid response plan including Call Center Automation, Public & Media Communications Management, Health Care and Recovery Plan Management, Intake Response Management App and Remote Quarantine Health Management and Messaging, Volunteer Registration, and IT Assessments.

To learn more about ERM Solutions, visit MTXb2b.com and register for an upcoming Webinar: Learn How Emergency Response Management (ERM) Solutions can Flatten The Curve on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at 3 PM EDT.

About MTX

MTX Group, Inc is a global cloud technology partner that enables organizations to become a fit enterprise through digital transformation and strategy. MTX is powered by the Maverick Artificial Intelligence platform and has deep expertise in the public sector providing proprietary designs and innovative concept accelerators.

For media inquiries and to learn more about how MTX is providing mission-critical technology solutions to assist U.S. Government Agencies Emergency Response Management Programs, please reach out to [email protected].

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March 24 : Gudi Padwa 2020 is considered to an auspicious day of the year and opens the doors of happiness, hopes and new ambitions for all. The festival will be celebrated on March 25, 2020, and will be observed religiously by Maharashtra and Goa. The day is also known as Samvatsar Padvo in many places, as it marks the new beginning of a new cycle of sixty years.

It is the first day of the Shukla Paksha of the Chaitra month as per the Hindi Calendar. It is the Marathi New Year as per the Luni  Solar Calendar. The same festival is called Yugadi or Ugadi 2020 and celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with a lot of pomp and rituals. In the Sindhi community, it is celebrated as the festival of Cheti Chand. The day is also marked as the first day of the nine-day festival of Chaitra Navratri 2020.

Gudi Padwa Tithi & Puja Timings on March 25, Wednesday

Sunrise March 25, 2020 6:29 am

Sunset March 25, 2020, at 6:36 pm

Pratipada Tithi starts by March 24, 2020 at 2:58 pm and ends by March 25, 2020, at 5:27 pm

Additional Information: The above panchang is generated for Mumbai, Maharashtra. To change the date and place, go to Panchang

Please note: Religious festivals in March 2020

Significance of Gudi Padwa 2020

This festival marks the onset of the spring season and therefore holds an important place in the lives of farmers all over India. The season of Gudi Padwa or Ugadi brings the Rabi Season to an end and then the Kharif season begins again. Since the day is considered as the New Year, mythology also reveals that the universe was created by Lord Brahma on this blessed day.

Watch Gudi Padwa 2020 WhatsApp Status Video!
Vijayawada: A 25-year-old youth from the temple town of Srikalahasti tested positive for Covid-19. He recently returned from London and developed symptoms on March 20. This took the number of positive cases to eight in the state.

According to a release from the director of health and family welfare, a man aged 25 years arrived to Chennai from London on March 18 by Flight BA35 at 11.30 pm and travelled by car to Sriakalahasti at 3 am on March 19. He developed symptoms on March 23 and was admitted in the Ruia Hospital at Tirupati on the same day.

As many as 453 new foreign returnees arrived in the state and all of were are kept under strict isolation and were being monitored. All labs were made functional 24x7 from Tuesday and an order was placed for equipment required for three more labs set up at Kadapa, Visakhapatnam and Guntur.

Dedicated teams and GPS-enabled vehicles were working for sample collection while 12,131 beds are arranged at district and sub-district levels for quarantine facility. A senior officer has been deployed at government hospital, labs and quarantine facilities and special officers at madnal level were deputed to monitor the follow-up of foreign returnees.

All village and ward secretaries were assigned 10 foreign returnees each to monitor home isolation twice a day. Principals of medical colleges were empowered to recruit manpower to increase capacity of labs to handle 1,000 samples a day.

As many as 14,907 foreign returnees were under surveillance in the state. A total of 13,290 persons were under home isolation while 2,723 completed 28 days of observation and 84 were in hospital.

A close contact of a Covid-19 positive patient with travel history from Madina admitted at TBCD Hospital, Visakhapatnam, tested negative. The total number of samples tested till March 23 were 168 and out of them seven tested positive. On Tuesday, 61 samples were tested and out of them, one tested positive. The results of 14 samples are still awaited.

Four labs located at Chittoor, Krishna, East Godavari and Anantapur started testing samples in two shifts and each lab can test 30 samples per shift in a day.
Manipur has confirmed its first case of COVID-19. The patient is a 23-year-old woman from the Thangmeiband area in Imphal.

According to sources, the 23-year-old had recently returned from the UK. She has been admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) and is currently undergoing treatment.

The Manipur government had taken several measures against the spread of coronavirus. On Saturday, it had ordered the shutdown of all shopping complex malls, restaurants, cinema halls and tourist spots in the state.

The Manipur government had also directed to close down all restaurants and public eating points, hotels with restaurants, conference halls, drama theatres in the state. It had also imposed restrictions on gathering public gatherings by ordering that not more than

30 people can assemble to attend religious, social functions.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country were 446 as of 9:00 am on March 24. Globally, the number has climbed to over 3,81,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including around 16,000 deaths.

Also Read: Coronavirus in Pune: 16 cases reported; city under lockdown

Also Read: Coronavirus: Lockdown in 75 districts; trains, metros, interstate-state bus services shut till March 31
A Winnipeg city councillor who abruptly left a public meeting last week over COVID-19 concerns is now in self-isolation due to travel.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/3/2020 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg city councillor who abruptly left a public meeting last week over COVID-19 concerns is now in self-isolation due to travel.

Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) departed midway through an innovation committee meeting March 16, complaining surfaces within the council chambers werent wiped down well enough to combat the risk of novel coronavirus. He also reported hearing a lot of coughing.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg city councillor Shawn Nason (Transcona).

Nason remained absent for the rest of the weeks city hall meetings, including when council cast its final 2020-23 budget vote Friday.

The councillor said Monday his absence is due to self-isolation, following a short trip to the United States.

Nason said he went to Grand Forks, N.D., to handle a private family matter March 11-12. Initially, he believed he wasnt required to stay at home following the trip.

"As I understood, there were no restrictions at that time There was no language of you must (isolate after travel),'" he said.

Hours after he left the March 16 meeting, the councillor said he was told all city staff who had travelled to the U.S. in the previous 14 days were advised to self-isolate at home.

He plans to remain in isolation until March 26, and has joined many other Winnipeggers in working from home during that period.

"I did my best to try to participate fully and completely (at council), but at the same time not put anybody at risk," said Nason.

Warnings about how best to cope with the risk of COVID-19 have evolved throughout Canada over the past two weeks.

On March 13, the federal government asked all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside Canada and to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning home from other countries. On March 15, the Manitoba government also advised all international travellers to self-isolate for two weeks upon their return to the province.

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When he decided to attend a public committee meeting on March 16, Nason said he didnt believe travel to the United States that took place before March 13 required isolation.

He said he hadnt experienced symptoms of illness, and didnt believe he had received a clear order to stay home.

"I dont even want to second-guess choices We need to work forward on how we can help our community," said Nason. "Its a learning (period) and (an) ever-evolving situation."

The councillor said he remains symptom-free.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
A border collie on death row has won a reprieve after the animal shelter housing him agreed not to put him down following a campaign by dog-lovers.

Five-year-old Benji was due to be destroyed after apparently attacking another dog at Mayhew animal rescue service in Kensal Green, where the Duchess of Sussex is patron.

But news of the proposed killing caused uproar, with thousands signing a petition to save the animal and Berkshire-based rehoming organisation Border Collie Spot launching legal action last month against the destruction order after being refused permission to take him on.

An injunction was issued, with the case stayed for six weeks to try to resolve the matter without further legal costs.

Amid a storm of publicity and misinformation and negative feedback shared on social media  which Mayhew described as very hurtful and upsetting  an independent clinical animal behaviourist was commissioned by the charity to examine Benji. Following his report, Mayhew said it had now decided against euthanising the dog.

Duchess of Sussex during a visit to Mayhew / PA

In a statement, chief executive Caroline Yates and Svetlana Ignatieva, chair of the board of trustees, said the assessment concluded that with a robust behaviour modification programme, Benjis dog aggression could be controlled to an acceptable level by an owner with the right skill level.

They said: In this exceptional case we have therefore decided that Benji will not be euthanised.

"Benji will continue to be looked after at Mayhew while we explore options for his behavioural training and rehoming.

The Duchess chose the Mayhew as one of her first patronages. She visited the centre last year and posted pictures of another visit in January, shortly before leaving for Canada.

The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to Mayhew / PA

Benji had been temporarily kennelled at Mayhew while his owner was treated for cancer. When his owner died, the Mayhew  which also serves as Brents animal pound  assumed legal responsibility for the pet.

During an initial assessment, Benji was reportedly involved in a dog-on-dog incident, leading to the last resort decision to put him down.

Friends of the owner felt his behaviour was out of character because he was mourning the loss of his owner and missing another dog he had grown up with who had been housed elsewhere.

Mayhew said its staff had correctly identified Benjis behaviour as unpredictable dog-to-dog aggression.
(Newser)  Fourteen inmates escaped a jail in Washington state on Monday, and six were still on the loose by Tuesday morning. Residents of Yakima were told to stay inside as authorities reported the escape from Yakima County Jail in the city's downtown, per NBC News. At one point, authorities said 12 inmates had made a run for it after using a table to bust open an exterior fire door, per the Yakima Herald. However, they later said eight inmates had been captured and six were still missing. "Despite the governor's shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, apparently they didn't want to do that," Sheriff Robert Udell says in a video, adding that "they decided to break down the door and leave." A cellphone video shows the inmates jumping a fence and running in all directions seconds before correctional officers appear, per KNDU.

story continues below

Missing are Tyrone Adam Mulvaney, 34; Andrew Derrick Wolfley, 26; Neftali Serrano, 27; Fernando Gustavo Casteneda-Sandoval, 31; Hugo Alejandro Amezcua-Hernandez, 28; and Miguel Angel Chavez-Amezcua, 27. Mugshots are here. Held on charges including assault and unlawful imprisonment, they're likely to be barefoot or wearing orange sandals, in addition to green shirts marked with "YCDOC." "We need your help to get these guys back in custody 'cause we don't know what they're going to be doing when we haven't our eyes on them," Udell says. Per NBC, "the sheriff's office did not immediately respond to questions regarding if any inmates in the jail had tested positive or were showing symptoms of [COVID-19]." There were 41 confirmed and presumptive cases in the county as of Monday night. (Read more jailbreaking stories.)
But Mr. Modi did not make clear how people would get food, water and other necessities during the lockdown, or how they would maintain a safe distance from one another in the cramped spaces where many now live.

The Home Ministry issued a statement after Mr. Modi spoke saying that food shops, banks, gas stations and some other essential services would be exempt from the lockdown. But the ministry warned that anyone who refused to follow the restrictions faced up to a year in jail.

Mr. Modi acknowledged that his decree would create a very difficult time for poor people.

Even before he spoke, confusion about Indias restrictions was widespread. Police officers have aggressively shut down some food stores, despite government directives to keep them open. Officers have also beaten journalists, accusing them of violating lockdown rules even though government directives explicitly allow journalists to work.

Westerners have been evicted from hotels across the country, and some European embassies have reported that a few of their citizens have been assaulted; many Indians believe that Westerners carry the virus.

That belief is not entirely unfounded. So far, most of Indias cases have come from foreign travelers or Indians returning from overseas. Community transmission has remained low or nonexistent, Indian officials have said.

Before India shut down international flights over the weekend, Indians landing back at home described utter chaos. Huge crowds were pushing and shoving and passengers were squeezed together in jammed arrival halls. People stood for hours with little food or water.

Aaliyah Khan, a researcher at a military research organization, arrived at New Delhis international airport on Saturday afternoon and was shuffled around by health and immigration authorities for more than 30 hours before being admitted to a government quarantine center 50 miles away.
Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley's head of global autos and shared mobility research, told CNBC on Tuesday that though Ford will survive the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus, its stock may not have bottomed just yet.

"That doesn't mean Ford can't go from $4 to $2 along the way  this is fluid," Jonas said on "Squawk on the Street."

Jonas said the automaker has had its execution issues. But he pointed to the company's $30 billion in liquidity in its industrial operations as well as a strong treasury and financial team born of the 2008 financial crisis, in which the company did not receive a bailout. He said the board's decision to suspend its dividend because of the coronavirus also indicated the company's commitment to staying afloat.

"I said that's it  they're all in. It's all about survival," Jonas said of the dividend decision, which accompanied Ford's withdrawal of 2020 guidance last week.

He added that Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford "will do whatever it takes for Ford to survive" and preserve the company's legacy. Bill Ford is the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford.

The coronavirus pandemic has posed significant challenges for Ford. The company said Tuesday that it would not reopen its North American manufacturing plants on March 30 as originally planned because of stay-at-home orders prompted by the outbreak.

The automaker originally closed its plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on March 18 after succumbing to pressure from the United Auto Workers. The labor union wanted the factories closed in order to protect workers from the virus.

General Motors and Fiat Chrysler also closed their plants in North America through the end of March. GM plans to resume production on March 30, while Fiat Chrysler said it will reassess the situation at the end of its hiatus.

Despite these setbacks, Jonas said there is much to look forward to for automakers that survive the next three months, citing the "unprecedented stimulus" of economic aid that will include direct payments to most Americans.

"You're going to sell a boatload of cars later this year, and your stocks won't just recover, they'll multiply," Jonas said.

Jonas also described the country's current "war-like environment" that has prompted automakers like Tesla, Ford and GM to begin working with medical partners to manufacture equipment such as respirators. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shown a particular ability to rally public-private partnerships, Jonas said.

This kind of humanitarian effort is a good tactic against bankruptcy, according to Jonas.

"If there is a moment where auto companies, including Tesla, need to go to Washington and say, 'Hey, we're too important to fail,' they need to show that they did everything they could," he said.
PM urges media to act as link between government and people

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the media to act as a link between the government and the people. He said that the media should provide continuous feedbag at both the national level.

Earlier the PM interacted with over twenty journalists and stakeholders from the print media from all over the country via video conference.

The Prime Minister said that media has played a praise-worthy role in disseminating information to every nook and cranny of this nation. He said that the network of media is pan-India and spread across cities and villages. This makes the media all the more significant in fighting this challenge and spreading correct information about it at micro level.

He said that newspapers carry tremendous credibility and the local page of a region is widely read by people. It is therefore imperative that awareness about coronavirus is spread through articles published in this page. It is essential to inform people about where the testing centres are, who should get tested, whom to contact to get tested and follow home isolation protocols. This information should be shared in newspapers and web portals of the paper, the Prime Minister said. He also suggested that information like location of availability of essential items during lockdown can also be shared in the regional pages.

Ensure operational continuity of print and electronic media says I&B Ministry

Prime Minister asked the media to act as a link between government and people and provide continuous feedback, at both national and regional level. He underlined the importance of social distancing, asking media to generate awareness about its importance, inform people about the lockdown decision by states, and also highlight the impact of spread of the virus, through inclusion of international data and case studies about other countries in the papers.

Underlining that it is imperative to keep the fighting spirit of the people up; PM emphasised that it was important to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumour mongering. Citizens need to be assured that the government is committed to countering the impact of COVID-19.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 14:51 [IST]
A medical worker in protective clothing at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

The condition of three critically ill Covid-19 patients including a British man and a Vietnamese woman on ventilators has worsened.

All three are being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, with information of the third patient, a Vietnamese, not revealed.

Doctors have had to perform blood filtration on the three patients and put them on a life support machine called Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to allow their lungs and hearts to improve and function properly, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

The Vietnamese woman, 64, was suffering from vestibular disorder as an underlying condition. She experienced breathing difficulties that escalated into respiratory failure on March 15.

Doctors had inserted a breathing tube and used a ventilator, among other measures, to help stabilize her. She was later transfered to the ICU.

However, she continued to experience respiratory failure the following day. Her lungs were heavily damaged and her blood had to be filtered continuously.

Blood filtration is a standard treatment for people in critical condition including those who suffer from septic shock, multiple organ failure, and metabolic disorders.

Two days later, doctors decided to use the ECMO on her.

The British patient, 69, had several underlying conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.

Since March 15, he has been put on a ventilator and had his blood filtered. Two other people at the same hospital have also been put on ventilators.

The Vietnamese woman is the aunt of 26-year-old Nguyen Hong Nhung, Hanoi's first Covid-19 patient who had landed March 2 in Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54 that flew in from London. She was confirmed infected on March 7, a day after Nhung, while the British man, who was among several patients from that flight, was confirmed infected on March 8.

The National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi is currently treating 46 Covid-19 patients out of the 106 active cases in Vietnam. Of the 46, 34 are Vietnamese, while the remaining are foreigners. Starting Tuesday, it has transfered less serious cases to other hospitals in the city to reduce the work load.

The critical cases were discussed at a meeting on Monday attended by Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son, Director of Medical Examination Department Luong Ngoc Khue and infectious disease experts.

WHOs updated Covid-19 diagnostic and treatment guidelines and that of other countries were brought up at the meeting. While some drugs are being clinically tested, there is no specific medication which cures Covid-19 and all current drugs are used to treat the symptoms, experts said at the meeting.

The country has confirmed 123 infection cases. Of these, 17 have been discharged from the hospitals. Of the currently active cases, 14 have tested negative either once or twice.

Many of the active cases are Vietnamese nationals returning from Europe and the U.S. and foreigners visiting from the same regions.

Most patients are in stable condition with no symptoms of fever, severe cough or breathing difficulties. X-ray images of their lungs show that they are normal. However, some are being treated for lung infections.
The Telangana Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Tuesday said the government employees and teachers have donated a day's basic salary amounting to Rs 48 crore to the Chief Minister's Welfare Fund (CMWF) to fight the menace of coronavirus.

Actor Nithiin has also donated Rs 10 lakh to the fund.

Earlier in the day, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's wife Anupama Venugopal Nadella donated Rs 2 crore to the state government to help the poor with the supply of essential commodities during the lockdown.

Her father KR Venugopal handed over the cheque to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Geniece Bastain

I couldnt be more grateful; I didnt know where the next dime was coming from.

Geniece was overwhelmed and shocked as she held her financial assistance card in her hands six months ago. I cant even describe the feeling that I got, she says.

After riding out the hurricane in a church for three days, going back home was devastating.

I went back to the apartment after the hurricane, there was nothing to go back to. The apartment was there, the building was there - but when I opened the door, all the ceiling was on the floor; the water was ankle deep, she said.

A wave of relief came when she got a call from the Bahamas Red Cross and received immediate funding in the form of a cash card and additional money to help pay rent on a new apartment. She got the card when it felt like she didnt know where to turn next.

Im shocked because I didnt expect this and it came at a really, really good time.

The American Red Cross worked alongside the global Red Cross network to distribute more than $14.8 million in financial assistance since the storm, much of it in the form of debit cards and rental assistance directly to people like Geniece. The money is just one of many ways the Red Cross has been able to help people affected by the storm.

With limited mobility and a recent diabetes diagnosis, Geniece says she constantly counts her blessings now, one of the greatest being that call from the Red Cross.

In the six months since, she has been able to get into a new apartment, replace the essential household items she needed to live and help out her son and two granddaughters.

Im actually thankful to God that he allowed me to be positive about this and look at the whole thing and see the blessing in it and allow me to move forward. A long, long way Ive come.

Geniece is looking at her long-term goals too, saying shes looking forward to the next steps but always grateful for coming this far in the six months since the storm.

Im very, very thankful for the Red Cross and all the other groups of people who helped me and still are helping me. The Red Cross is always there so Im grateful for the Red Cross, very much.

Sheikadena Sawyer

Dorian was the hurricane of all hurricanes, its never been like this.

As she reflects on the six months since Hurricane Dorian uprooted her life, Sheikadena Sawyers face turns from sadness to contemplation as she thinks about how far her family has come. From riding out Hurricane Dorian in a school in Abaco and listening to the roof peel off as she, her three children and husband hid under a bathroom sink for 3 hours, to continuing work as a registered nurse in Grand Bahama.

Sheikadena immediately started pitching in after the storm, using her nursing skills to attend to the injured. She hasnt stopped, even though her own family was deeply affected. They eventually left Abaco and came to another islandGrand Bahamato stay with family and work to get back on their feet.

I lost everything. When I came out of Abaco, we basically had the clothes we had on.

For her, the loss is deep with so much of the island she calls home destroyed. Before the hurricane, if you had seen Abaco...paradise. And to see what that did, I said look at my island, its gone. Thats the most hurtful part, she said.

But the Red Cross was there to provide immediate financial assistance to her family. She says it came at the most crucial time, that instead of falling apart she felt like she was empowered to start putting her life back together. A volunteer who helped her evacuate was there when she received the money in the form of a debit card, and says she mostly spent the funds on food and school needs for her childrenlike uniforms and workbooks.

Looking at her children in their new school clothes, she is happy they were able to get back in school soon after Dorian, even if it meant leaving their home in Abaco.

It wasnt her first experience in a hurricane, but it has affected her like no other. Sheikadena and her family are working to restore their home and want to move back there, an idea she remains optimistic about. Until then, shell continue helping others as a nurse as much as she can.

The American Red Cross has been there with food, shelter, everything. My family really appreciates it because we left Abaco with nothing, so everything was needed, she said.

The American Red Cross in the Bahamas

The American Red Cross has been helping in the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian hit last September, providing emergency shelter items, food, clean water and millions of dollars in cash and rental assistance to families. It is because of the generosity of the American people that the Red Cross is able to provide continued support to families. In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Red Cross continues to keep safety the main priority and is adapting our programs and efforts to follow all health guidelines while still delivering our mission. The Red Cross is working to mitigate the spread of the virus through community-based health and hygiene information and working in a contactless environment to maintain safe distance.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police have intensified actions against this who defied the lockdown that was announced by the state government in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. In Thiruvananthapuram city limits, more than 50 cases were registered against the offenders, mostly private vehicle owners.

The government had announced that private vehicles will be allowed to ply, but set a condition that only people with emergency needs should make use of the relaxation. However, a handful of people made use of this relaxation throwing into wind the caution.

In the initial hours, police had a watchful approach, but after coming under criticism during the review meeting held under the monitoring of Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, the cops sprung in to action.

ALSO READ: Life comes to a standstill in Kerala following lockdown

Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay himself led the operations, checking the vehicles and asking the commuters their reason for hitting the roads.

Police sources said the public were not fully cooperating with the lockdown announcement and some were even objecting to being turned away.

The Commissioner said they have registered 52 cases in the city limits and more cases will be registered if needed.

He said people, who are not executing any emergency tasks , are also coming to the streets and that is not a good gesture.

" We are checking the intention of the commuters and turn away those who are travelling without valid reasons," he said.

The Commissioner added that the people should cooperate with the police and remain at home.

Special Branch sources said they are collecting details of the opened shops that did not sell essential commodities. " Many of those shops, including boutiques and paint shops, were closed and legal action will be taken against them. We will check whether their licenses could be cancelled. The numbers of the private vehicles that plied unnecessarily has also been noted down. They will also have to face legal action," Special Branch sources said.
Here are three of the more unexpected takeaways that could slow the pandemic:

The contagion has a weakness: clusters.

Though a few people catch the virus from random strangers, many more cases are arising within clusters of family members, friends and work colleagues. No one knows yet why this is so, but the experts see it as an opening.

You can contain clusters, Dr. David L. Heymann said. You need to identify and stop discrete outbreaks, and then do rigorous contact tracing.

Easier said than done, though: Doing so takes intelligent, rapidly adaptive work by health officials, and near-total cooperation from the populace, Donald explains.

The healthy should be at home. The sick should be someplace else.

Americans must be persuaded to stay home, the experts told Donald. But thats not enough.

Instead of advising the infected to remain at home, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now does, the experts said that people with the virus should be isolated and cared for away from those they were most likely to pass the virus to  their families.

For most patients, a cross between a dormitory and a first-aid clinic, supervised by nurses, would do, along the lines of the temporary hospitals that Wuhan, China, had set up.

Everyone should have to wear a mask in public.

There is little evidence that walking around in a flat surgical mask gives a healthy person much protection  which is why many officials have said not to bother. But the experts Donald spoke to all agreed that it was important for all sick people to wear them to contain their coughs.

How do you achieve that, if wearing a mask marks you out as infected? The lesson from Asia, the experts told Donald, is to make masks mandatory for everybody. Then the sick automatically have one on, and there is no stigma attached. The Asian approach is less about data than it is about crowd psychology, he writes.
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Linkedin Eric Knecht (Agence France-Presse) Beirut, Lebanon  Tue, March 24, 2020 09:26 659 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206d068ea 2 World Syria,Syria-war,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,health,SARS-CoV-2 Free

The spread of coronavirus to Syria brings the prospect of a deadly outbreak to a population devastated by nine years of war, with ravaged hospitals and tightly-packed camps likely to accelerate infection, doctors and aid workers said on Monday.

The Syrian government announced on Sunday its first case after unconfirmed reports suggested the virus had been detected but covered up, a charge officials denied while rolling out tight measures as the disease swarmed neighboring countries.

In the rebel-held northwest, no cases have been confirmed, but patients have been showing possible symptoms for weeks and 300 test kits should arrive in the next two days, the World Health Organization and a medics group said.

"Health infrastructure and basic services have all been decimated over much of the country ... and Syrians are very likely to be some of the most vulnerable to the spread of the virus globally," said Rachel Sider, policy and advocacy adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

"What's very clear is they're nowhere near ready for an outbreak," said Sider.

In Damascus on Monday, crowds of pedestrians, many in masks, still filled some streets, despite curbs like shutting schools and businesses, banning public transport and suspending flights.

The army command declared on Saturday it had prepped military hospitals and gave orders to minimize gatherings.

Samer Khodr, head of Damascus hospital, said all private and public hospitals across the country were ready under a national plan to tackle the virus.

Residents say prices of disinfectants and masks have skyrocketed in the capital, where panic buying has also gripped shoppers in recent days.

The head of a local Damascus-based NGO said there was limited capacity to determine cases, with only one main lab testing for the virus so far. Some cases were being treated in military hospitals, the person added, asking to remain anonymous.

Despite just a single case declared, one diplomat said the virus was likely more widespread than known, owing to low testing capacity and lack of transparency.

The Syrian Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said doctors had received threats from the government not to disclose cases. "Doctors have been instructed to refer to cases that are suspected to be corona infections as severe pneumonia," said its director Rami Abdulrahman.

A U.N. source said three Syrians who tested positive at the weekend in Beirut, which is trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak, had recently arrived from Syria.

The government has denied covering up any cases, though close ties with its top regional ally Iran, the worst hit country in the Middle East, had increased the likelihood of the virus gaining a foothold.

Militias backed by Iran, which operates military and civilian flights to Syria, fight alongside Syrian army soldiers. Thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran and other countries also usually visit Damascus.

In parts of Syria outside state rule, Kurdish-led forces in the northeast and Turkey-backed opposition groups in the northwest have also closed crossings.

Displaced Syrians in the northwest live in overcrowded makeshift camps, leaving medics worried that an outbreak would be particularly lethal.

A Russian-backed Syrian government offensive there has uprooted nearly 1 million people in recent months and left its infrastructure in tatters.

Ahmad al-Dbis of the US-based medical charity UOSSM, which operates in opposition territory, said fighting in the past year had destroyed much of the region's medical facilities and left a stock of only 175 ventilators.

"Countries like Italy, France, Spain and others couldn't escape from the coronavirus crisis so what will it be like for northwest Syria?" said Dbis.

The arrival of test kits this week, though limited, will allow doctors to finally begin checking for the virus. A handful tests were shipped to Turkey so far but no cases have come back positive.

"There are many cases coming to facilities and hospitals with the symptoms but we don't have the capacity to make the diagnosis," said Bashir Taj Aldin, a doctor with the Syrian American Medical Society which operates in Idlib.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday discussed the evolving situation in the region arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a telephonic conversation, the two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Both the leaders exchanged Navroz greetings, noting that the festival symbolises the shared heritage and cultural linkages between the two countries.

"The leaders discussed the evolving situation in the region, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to boost cooperation," the statement said.

On Monday, Modi thanked President Ghani for his contribution to the coronavirus emergency fund.

"Thank you Afghanistan, for contributing USD 1 million to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund in solidarity with our South Asian neighbourhood. Tashakkur President Ashraf Ghani," the prime minister had tweeted.

Besides Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal have contributed to the fund.

Addressing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders and representatives on March 15, Modi had proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: 30 states, UTs under lockdown; Shaheen Bagh cleared by Delhi Police

Also Read: Coronavirus update: PM Modi to address nation at 8pm today
An emergency hospital with 4,000 beds being set up at the Excel centre, in Londons Docklands, to treat coronavirus victims will be ready within a week, with other similar facilities being organised urgently throughout the country.

The facility, which has been called NHS Nightingale, is due to take 500 patients when it opens next week, rising to two wards of 2,000 each by the first week of April.

Health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed: We will, next week, open a new hospital  a temporary hospital  the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the Excel centre in London. The NHS Nightingale Hospital will comprise two wards, each of 2,000 people. With the help of the military and with NHS clinicians, we will make sure that we have the capacity that we need.

A number of hotels near hospitals are also being considered for treatment of virus victims including, The Independent understands, one near St Thomass Hospital in London. Hotels near hospitals are seen, say Whitehall officials, as one of the best places to deal with overspill of patients.

Plans being drawn up will aim to provide emergency facilities for every region of the UK, with personnel from the Ministry of Defences Covid Support Group filling the gap from peacetime capability to virtually a wartime one.

The mission is being run from the Headquarters Standing Joint Command in Aldershot, which coordinates resilience missions for the state. Planners have been studying the situation in the worst affected countries in Europe, like Italy and Spain, as well as other states internationally to find the lessons learned that could inform the strategy to be used in Britain.

Welcome to lockdown Britain Show all 20 1 /20 Welcome to lockdown Britain Welcome to lockdown Britain Westminster Bridge stands deserted on the morning after Boris Johnson announced the UK was in lockdonw PA Welcome to lockdown Britain The clock tower in Leicester on the day after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown PA Welcome to lockdown Britain The A23 north of Brighton is relatively empty on the morning after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown AFP/Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain The Bullring in Birmingham on the day after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown PA Welcome to lockdown Britain A sign informing residents that bingo is cancelled for the forseeable future in Eyam, Derbyshire AFP/Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Empty streets in Skegness the day after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown PA Welcome to lockdown Britain Reverend Paul Unsworth prepares food parcels for the homeless in London Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Streets of Windsor are deserted on the morning after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown AP Welcome to lockdown Britain The Greyfriars Bobby statue in Edinburgh after Boris Johnson urged the public to stay indoors Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Gallowtree Gate in Leicester on the day after the prime minister put the UK in lockdown PA Welcome to lockdown Britain An isolated couple watch the prime minister's announcement that the UK is to be put in lockdown in Weybridge, Surrey Reuters Welcome to lockdown Britain People jog in Battersea Park in London the morning after the prime minister announced the UK is going into lockdown with people only allowed outside for essentials and daily exercise Reuters Welcome to lockdown Britain McDonald's on High Wycombe High Street High Street displays a sign for takeaway only shortly before closing indefinitely as the prime minister announced that the UK is tto be put in lockdown Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Deserted streets of Bristol after Boris Johnson urged people to stay indoors Tom Wren/SWNS Welcome to lockdown Britain Kathryn Hadley and her husband David who are in self-isolation in their home in Clutton, Somerset. David has terminal cancer and Kathryn is in a wheelchair Tom Wren/SWNS Welcome to lockdown Britain Residents of Marsden, West Yorkshire head home from the shops on the day Boris Johnson urged the public to stay indoors AFP/Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Dennis's kebab van remains open for business in a deserted High Wycombe High Street as the prime minister announces that the UK is to enter lockdown Getty Welcome to lockdown Britain Drawings of rainbows stuck on a tree in Davenham, Cheshire Reuters Welcome to lockdown Britain Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London after the prime minister announced the UK is to enter lockdown PA Welcome to lockdown Britain Deserted streets of Bristol after Boris Johnson urged people to stay indoors SWNS

The emergency hospitals will be staffed by NHS personnel, with the armed forces helping with supplies and logistical organisation, although this may change in the future of the need arises.

Reservists have been called up, although those already working in hospitals will continue to do so. Medics doing regular service may be involved and specialists in treating traumas, the most common factor in battlefields, are receiving training to deal with Covid-19.

Almost every government department, it is believed, has asked for help from the military under the terms of Military Aid to Civil Authorities, which allows the armed forces to be deployed to help civil powers in emergencies. Although they will be available to help the police if there is looting and to guard quarantine zones if these are established, defence officials say they do not foresee any public order role at present.

More than 2,000 service personnel are currently on 24 hours notice to deploy and 1,500 are on 48 hours notice. Up to 700 members of the forces have been used so far to deliver supplies and around 150 drivers are being trained to drive lorries to deliver oxygen to hospitals.

Armed forces personnel are going through the same checking system as the rest of the population, with people showing symptoms being tested.

Senior officers say that they know that contraction of Covid-19 cannot be avoided, but the numbers may remain low because the majority of those deployed are relatively young and fit.
Credit: Herring & HerringWhile you may not be able to see Metallica live for a bit, you can still watch them from the comfort of your own home.

The metal legends have launched a new online concert series dubbed #MetallicaMondays. Each Monday at 8 p.m. ET, Metallica will upload full video of a past concert on their YouTube and Facebook pages.

The first broadcast is of 'Tallica's June 2019 show at Ireland's historic Slane Castle, and is streaming now.

"While we're all doing our part and staying home, we find ourselves missing live music, so how about we dive back into a few of our favorite shows at a socially responsible distance?" Metallica says. "Not to sound too cheesy, but now more than ever, we're in this together, and staying connected is how we'll get through it."

This week, Metallica announced that their upcoming South American tour with Greta Van Fleet would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the 'Tallica-headlined Epicenter and Welcome to Rockville festivals have been canceled.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
New York Times Beijing bureau chief Steven Lee Myers (C) speaks with other journalists after the daily Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing on March 18, 2020. - China on March 18 announced it would expel American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers in one of the communist government's biggest crackdowns on the foreign press, escalating a bitter row over media freedoms. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

US Newspapers Call on China to Reverse Expulsion of Journalists

BEIJINGPublishers of three U.S. newspapers urged China on March 24 to reverse a decision to force out about a dozen of their American journalists, saying in an open letter that the expulsions come at a time of shared crisis for the world.

China announced on March 18 it was revoking the press accreditations of all American journalists in the China bureaus of the three newspapers that were due to expire at the end of 2020, effectively expelling them.

We strongly urge the Chinese government to reverse its decision to force the Americans working for our news organizations to leave, the publishers of News Corps Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times said.

The decision is uniquely damaging and reckless as the world is fighting a global coronavirus pandemic, they said.

Perhaps more than any major news event in modern history, this moment underscores the urgent importance of both probing, accurate, on-the-ground reporting from the centers of the pandemic and of sharing the information.

The expulsions were the latest escalation in a dispute with the United States over media freedom and access, which last month saw the United States require that Chinese state media register as foreign embassies.

China then expelled three Wall Street Journal reporterstwo Americans and an Australianafter the paper published an opinion column calling China the real sick man of Asia.

The United States then cut the number of journalists allowed to work at four major Chinese state media outlets there from 160 to 100, citing a deepening crackdown on independent reporting in China.

By Huizhong Wu and Gabriel Crossley
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 02:38:44|Editor: zyl

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Military trucks carry bodies of patients who died from COVID-19 infections from Bergamo to Bologna, Italy, on March 24, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 6,820 lives in locked-down Italy by Tuesday with the cumulative number of cases reaching 69,176, according to new data released by the Civil Protection Department. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

ROME, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 6,820 lives in locked down Italy as of Tuesday with the cumulative total number reaching 69,176, according to new data released by the Civil Protection Department.

Speaking at a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli said Italy reported 5,249 new cases of coronavirus and 743 new deaths on Tuesday and that 54,030 people are currently positive for the coronavirus, one month after the pandemic broke out in northern Italy on Feb. 21.

As well, a total of 8,326 patients have recovered, said Borrelli who is also the national commissioner in charge of the coronavirus emergency.

The numbers are up from an official tally on Monday evening of 50,418 active infections, 6,077 deaths, and 7,432 recoveries.

Borrelli also confirmed that former Civil Protection Department chief Guido Bertolaso has tested positive for the virus.

Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council, denied media rumors that the nationwide lockdown, which under the current government decree expires on April 3, might be extended to the end of July. "Absolutely not," Locatelli said.
BERLIN, March 23 (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 22,672 and 86 people have died from the disease, a tally by public health agency Robert Koch Institute (RKI) showed on Monday.

That compares with 18,610 cases and 55 deaths on Sunday, when RKI warned that the actual number was likely higher as not all local health authorities had submitted their figures over the weekend. (Reporting by Thomas Seythal and Markus Wacket Editing by Michelle Martin)
UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester announced Tuesday that all its staff that provides direct patient care would be required to wear masks to add another layer of protection from the coronavirus for its healthcare workers.

The announcement came a day after Gov. Charlie Baker said that millions of masks have been ordered to help bolster the supplies of medical facilities across the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With an increased supply expected as more and more COVID-19 confirmed cases appear daily, some have wondered and even suggested that all Americans should wear masks in public as preventive measures against COVID-19.

Last week in a Boston Globe op-ed, two healthcare professionals - Shan Soe-Lin, the managing director of the Boston-based Pharos Global Health Advisors and a lecturer in global health at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University, and Robert Hecht, the president of Pharos Global Health Advisors and a clinical professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health - advised the public to disregard advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and wear masks in public to prevent the spread of the virus.

The CDC advises only people who are sick to wear masks as preventative measures.

While it is true that N95s and surgical masks  which have become scarce due to hoarding  should be prioritized for use by medical professionals at greatest risk for infection, the rest of us could and should wear other protective face coverings, they wrote in the piece published on March 19.

Director of Public Health in Worcester, Dr. Michael Hirsh, disagreed and cited a recent study published by the surgeon general. In fact, he said, the study showed in some cases wearing a mask may actually increase the odds of spreading the virus.

Wearing a mask can actually promote runny noses and coughs because people get congested in them, Hirsh said. And after four hours theyre mostly ineffective. And in addition, when you take them off, you actually shower more droplets then if you didnt have one on all along.

In agreeing with the CDC guidelines, Hirsh said, he only advised people who felt symptomatic to wear masks. In hospitals, he said, patients are asked to wear masks to reduce the showering of droplets in the air.

But for you as a private citizen walking around the streets of Worcester, I dont think masks are effective at all, Hirsh said.

The Boston Medical Center said in a statement that it also agrees with the CDC guidelines and has not recommended the general public to wear masks.

Dr. Eric Holbrook, co-director of the Sinus Center at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, echoed that sentiment.

Its not my expertise, but as far as I understand, it helps decrease the aerosols from people who have it, so they dont spread it," Holbrook said. I dont think that is something we should be practicing at this point - everybody wearing masks."

In the case of a hospital like UMass Memorial Medical Center, healthcare workers are surrounded by potential cases of the virus, unlike individuals practicing social distancing.

We believe that universal masking is the best approach in this stage of the pandemic and its evolving epidemiology," President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care Dr. Eric Dickson said in a statement. We are doing this to help protect our caregivers, their patients and the families our caregivers leave at home every day.

Beyond the scientific debate, theres not much of an argument around the waning protective supplies at medical facilities. Theres a reason why even Soe-Lin and Hecht specifically advised the public to wear non-medical masks. There may be a shortage of medical masks for healthcare workers, who unlike much of the general public cant work from home or isolate themselves.

Healthcare workers are being put in situations where they could endanger their own health. Thats why we need these [personal protective equipment] supplies to last as long as possible, Massachusetts General Hospital president Peter Slavin said on Today last week. It would be unfortunate if healthcare workers found themselves in a position that they had to treat these patients without protective equipment. It would be like sending soldiers into war without helmets or armor. That would be a tragic situation.

Boston Medical Center shared similar concerns. The facility said in a statement that its conserving personal protective equipment and aggressively sourcing new supplies. Boston Medical Center is also utilizing equipment provided by other industries such as construction masks and respirators. Its also accepting and seeking donations.

To avoid using masks that are vital to hospital staff, in their op-ed in the Globe Soe-Lin and Hecht suggested using scarves, bandana-style neck gaiters, and other similar face coverings.

Until new shipments of masks arrive, alternatives are being developed. Worcester Polytechnic Institute harvested thousands of gloves and masks to offer to the states hospitals. The university is also looking into the possibility of 3D printing to create personal protective equipment. WPI is also planning to sew masks as part of production to help resupply hospitals.

Were talking more about homemade masks over the course of the week, Hirsh said. Its been kind of going back and forth in the hospital setting and also in the community. Its definitely going to be something, if we run out, we will use anything.

Government officials like Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey called on President Donald Trump to fully utilize the Defense Production Act, that permits the federal government to impose some control over private-sector industries for the production of material that is deemed necessary for national defense or public health and safety.

Implementing the act would bolster production of personal protective equipment in the United States.

I think a lot of the factories that are making other things may switch their attention to producing appropriate masks and gowns and respirators, Hirsh said.

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The New Mexico Gas Company announced Tuesday a $150,000 donation to the New Mexico Association of Food Banks to support their hunger relief networks that are under stress due to the coronavirus crisis.

We know food banks across the state have experienced fewer donations and increased demands on their services over the last week, said company president Ryan Shell in a statement. We believe this contribution will immediately assist New Mexicans who are struggling as a result of this significant disruption in all of our lives.

The association represents five organizations that provide hunger relief services across the state including: Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque, The Food Depot in Santa Fe, Echo Food Bank in Farmington, The Community Pantry in Gallup, and the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico in Clovis.

Association chair Sherry Hooper, noted the generosity of New Mexico Gas Company makes their common goal a tangible reality.

The New Mexico Association of Food Banks is incredibly grateful to New

Mexico Gas Company for demonstrating such a commitment to those in need during these unprecedented times, she said. Their philanthropic leadership is an example to all.

The gas companys funding for New Mexicos food banks comes from the $5 million Emera Economic Development Fund. The contribution comes from shareholder

investments and not customer rates, according to a news release.

The New Mexico Gas Company is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the state serving some 530,000 customers. It is a subsidiary of Canada-headquartered Emera Inc.
A doctor treating coronavirus patients in New York City has detailed the gut-wrenching realities of life right now in the emergency room.

Dr. Craig Spencer, the Director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at Columbia Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, has quite a bit of experience with fast-spreading deadly diseases: He treated ebola patients in West Africa in 2014, and survived the virus himself.

But in an alarming new Twitter thread, Dr. Spencer has illustrated how working on the COVID-19 frontline has presented unprecedented terrors.

Chilling: Dr. Craig Spencer, Director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at Columbia Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, shared what it's like to be an ER doctor now

Experience: Dr. Spencer treated ebola patients in West Africa, and survived the virus himself (pictured with Mayor Bill de Blasio after being released from the hospital in November 2014)

Viral: On Twitter, he gave a chilling account of a day in his life treating coronavirus patients

Responding to followers who asked for more details about his experience, he tweeted a thread called 'A Day in the Life of an ER Doc - A Brief Dispatch from the #COVID19 Frontline.'

He began: 'Wake up at 6:30am. Priority is making a big pot of coffee for the whole day, because the place by the hospital is closed. The Starbucks too. It's all closed.

'On the walk, it feels like Sunday. No one is out. Might be the freezing rain. Or it's early. Regardless, that's good.

'Walk in for your 8am shift: Immediately struck by how the calm of the early morning city streets is immediately transformed. The bright fluorescent lights of the ER reflect off everyone's protective goggles. There is a cacophony of coughing. You stop. Mask up. Walk in.

'You take signout from the previous team, but nearly every patient is the same, young & old: Cough, shortness of breath, fever.

Scary: Two hours into his shift, he's already put two people on life support. Every patient has the same terrible symptoms

'They are really worried about one patient. Very short of breath, on the maximum amount of oxygen we can give, but still breathing fast.

'You immediately assess this patient. It's clear what this is, and what needs to happen. You have a long and honest discussion with the patient and family over the phone. It's best to put her on life support now, before things get much worse. You're getting set up for that, but...

'You're notified of another really sick patient coming in. You rush over. They're also extremely sick, vomiting. They need to be put on life support as well. You bring them back. Two patients, in rooms right next to each other, both getting a breathing tube. It's not even 10am yet.

'For the rest of your shift, nearly every hour, you get paged: Stat notification: Very sick patient, short of breath, fever. Oxygen 88%.

'Stat notification: Low blood pressure, short of breath, low oxygen.

'Stat notification: Low oxygen, can't breath. Fever. All day...

All COVID: He is afraid to remove his mask even to eat or drink. He also said it seems like all the heart attack and appendicitis patients disappeared

'Sometime in the afternoon you recognize you haven't drank any water. You're afraid to take off the mask. It's the only thing that protects you. Surely you can last a little longer  in West Africa during Ebola, you spent hours in a hot suit without water. One more patient...

'By late afternoon, you need to eat. Restaurant across the street is closed. Right, everything is closed. But thankfully the hospital cafeteria is open. You grab something, wash your hands (twice), cautiously take off your mask, & eat as fast as you can. Go back. Mask up. Walk in.

'Nearly everyone you see today is the same. We assume everyone is #COVID-19. We wear gowns, goggles, and masks at every encounter. All day. It's the only way to be safe. Where did all the heart attacks and appendicitis patients go? Its all COVID.

'When your shift ends, you sign out to the oncoming team. It's all #COVID-19. Over the past week, we've all learned the signs  low oxygen, lymphopenia, elevated D-dimer.

Heading here: Dr. Spencer described a hectic scene not dissimilar to those being pictured in Italy (pictured: hospital in Cremona, Italy on March 23)

Going home: At the end of the day, he wipes everything down twice, walks home, and strips outside his front door to protect his family

'You share concerns of friends throughout the city without PPE [personal protective equipment]. Hospitals running out of ventilators.

'Before you leave, you wipe EVERYTHING down. Your phone. Your badge. Your wallet. Your coffee mug. All of it. Drown it in bleach. Everything in a bag. Take no chances. Sure you got it all??? Wipe is down again. Can't be too careful.

'You walk out and take off your mask. You feel naked and exposed. It's still raining, but you want to walk home. Feels safer than the subway or bus, plus you need to decompress.

'The streets are empty. This feels nothing like what is happening inside. Maybe people don't know???

'You get home. You strip in the hallway (it's ok, your neighbors know what you do). Everything in a bag. Your wife tries to keep your toddler away, but she hasn't seen you in days, so it's really hard. Run to the shower. Rinse it all away. Never happier. Time for family.

The future: He notes that all the people in the hospital now were infected a week ago, and the numbers will skyrocket

'You reflect on the fact that it's really hard to understand how bad this is  and how bad its going to be  if all you see are empty streets.

'Hospitals are nearing capacity. We are running out of ventilators. Ambulance sirens don't stop.

'Everyone we see today was infected a week ago, or more. The numbers will undoubtedly skyrocket overnight, as they have every night the past few days. More will come to the ER. More will be stat notifications. More will be put on a ventilator.

'We were too late to stop this virus. Full stop. But we can slow it's spread. The virus can't infect those it never meets. Stay inside. Social distancing is the only thing that will save us now. I don't care as much about the economic impact as I do about our ability to save lives.

'You might hear people saying it isn't real. It is. You might hear people saying it isn't bad. It is. You might hear people saying it can't take you down. It can.

'I survived Ebola. I fear #COVID-19,' he concluded. 'Do your part. Stay home. Stay safe. And every day I'll come to work for you.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 04:57:10|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that Moscow urges Washington to immediately lift its inhumane sanctions against Tehran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The Russian side reaffirmed its intention to continue the comprehensive development of Russian-Iranian trade and economic ties and investment projects, including helping to increase the supply of agricultural products, which Iran urgently needs due to U.S. sanctions, it said in a statement.

"Sergei Lavrov emphasized that the Russian Federation strongly urges Washington to immediately lift its inhumane sanctions that prevent the respective governments from fully combating COVID-19," it said.

The ministers also discussed pressing issues on the international agenda, including the Syrian settlement and the situation in Afghanistan.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the privatevehicles carrying employees of firms and organisattions providing essential services such as IT and banking should have a sticker of the company.

Also, the employees in the vehicle should carry the company's identity card, he said in a televised address.

"I request the police to allow smooth passage of these vehicles after they display the identity," Thackeray said.

He also thanked the central government for accepting his suggestion to stop domestic flights.

Thackeray also appreciated that the central government has deferred the deadline for filing income tax and GST returns from the earlier March 31.

"The Centre has also accepted our demand for increasing the number of (coronavirus) testing facilities," the chief minister said while thanking the state's people for cooperating with the government's efforts to tackle the epidemic.

He had been getting a complaint from the police about traffic on roads in the morning, and from people that vehicles of staff of companies or establishments providing essential services are not being allowed to ply, he said.

"Need of the hour is cooperation from both sides," he said, directing that such vehicles should have a sticker and employees should carry I-cards.

"You have understood the seriousness of the situation. We have to stop the spread of the virus in the areas where it has not reached and also stop itwhere it has started," Thackeray said.

Employees of firms providing essential services including Information Technology andbanking should call 100 to ensure safe travel, he said.

The chief minister thanked the police for seizure of hoarded masks, and said people should not exploit the situation for their selfish gains.

"We have not stopped living, but only changed the way we live. Stay home, stay safe. There is enough stock of food grains. I have given instructions to ensure proper distribution of food grains," he said.

It was not the time to roam around, the chief minister said.

"Blood supply is necessary (at hospitals), and NGOs have started blood donation camps. People are coming forward to help ," he said.

As of Tuesday, Maharashtra had 107 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Lagos state government has asked all attendees of the African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) held on 14th March at Eko Hotels to go into isolation.

According to the state government, they may have come in contact with one of the confirmed cases in Lagos and are most likely to have been exposed to COVID19 Infection.

The information was given via the official twitter account of the state government on Tuesday.

It tweeted: I hereby notify you that all participants at the African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) held on14th March at @EkoHotels may have come in contact with one of the confirmed cases in Lagos and are most likely to have been exposed to #COVID19 Infection.

Read Also: Senate Adjourns Plenary Over Coronavirus Outbreak
Bengaluru, March 24: With the Government of India suspending all domestic airline services from March 25 amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country, a group of Kashmiri students held protest at Bengaluru Airport on Monday asking the government how they would return to their state. The Kashmiri students have requested the government to take them back to their home.

Upset with the suspension of the domestic flights by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, one of the Kashmiri students said, as quoted by news agecny ANI, "We've booked tickets to Kashmir for flights scheduled on 27&28 March; now this order has been issued. What will we do now?" Shaheen Bagh Protest Site Cleared, Security Tightened Amid Imposition of Section 144 and Delhi Lockdown as COVID-19 Cases Rise.

Here's the ANI tweet:

Karnataka: A group of Kashmiri students held protest at Bengaluru Airport y'day after suspension of operations of domestic airlines. A student says, "We've booked tickets to Kashmir for flights scheduled on 27&28 March;now this order has been issued.What will we do now?" #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/yCHvq9zp8W  ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020

Earlier on Monday, the Union government in a statement said that no domestic commercial passenger flight would be allowed to operate in the country from March 25 onward. The decision was taken by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry in order to restrict travel amid the coronavirus pandemic. The government had already banned international flights for a week from Sunday.

Apart from this, a total of 30 states and union territories were put under lockdown till at least March 31. The cumulative area put under prohibitory measures include 548 out of the 720 districts of India. The provinces where statewide lockdown has not been imposed include Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. The three states have exempted certain areas from the restrictions. Among the union territories, Lakshadweep Islands has put certain restrictions. Till now India recorded 75 new cases of coronavirus, taking the overall toll of COVID-19 patients in the nation to 471. The fatality toll also jumped to 9.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 24, 2020 09:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday directed the police across the state not to obstruct media and press personnel who are on duty.

Addressing a press conference at Pragathi Bhavan, Mr Rao said, I came to know that on Monday night some police personnel behaved roughly with press reporters. This is unfortunate. I am instructing the DGP to ensure that such incidents should not be repeat and to send a message to the police that the state government has exempted the media from the lockdown.

The Chief Minister said that the state government had traced 19,313 foreign-returned persons and all of them were under surveillance of official machinery and directed seizure of their passports.

Stating that one of the foreign-retuned persons in Nirmal town tried thrice to escape from quarantine. He cautioned that if any one of them try to act over smart then their passports will be suspended.

Mr Rao said that the samples of 114 persons including 82 foreign returnees and 32 locals had been sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune and their reports were awaited. Out the 36 positive patients of Covid-19, one was discharged after treatment, he added.

The Chief Minister announced that the supply of rice to the white card holders will commence from Thursday and Rs 1,500 financial aid will be directly credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Representative image (REUTERS/Amit Dave)

Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has asked states to transfer funds to construction workers via the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode.

Around 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with construction welfare boards. About Rs 52,000 crores is available as cess fund.

An advisory has been issued on March 24, by Gangwar to all chief ministers, Lieutenant Governors of all the states/union territories.

In the letters, the minister said: "Under Section 60 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996, all states/UTs have been advised to transfer funds in the account of construction workers through DBT (direct benefit transfer) mode from the cess fund collected by the Labour Welfare Boards under the BOCW cess Act."

It is mentioned in the letter that about Rs 52,000 crore is available as cess fund collected by states and UTs, and about 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with these construction welfare boards .

The minister has stated in the letter that in this challenging situation, it is imperative that we devise probable mechanism to support unorganised workers, who sustain their livelihood on daily wages.

The minister also said that state building and construction workers welfare boards have collected sufficient funds.

The cess has been levied and is being collected at 1 per cent of the cost of construction as notified by the central government in its official gazette.

The BOCW Welfare Cess, 1996, provides for levy and collection of cess at such rate not exceeding 2 per cent, but not less than 1 per cent of the cost of construction as the central government may notify.

(With inputs from PTI)
Three more people died in Santa Clara County from the COVID-19 coronavirus and 19 additional confirmed cases were reported Monday evening.

The new death toll Monday was 13 and confirmed cases rose to 321 as residents statewide continue to work from home and shelter in place.

According to county data, as of 5 p.m. Sunday, nine men and four women had died. Four of the deaths were people between 81 and 90 years old.

Two deaths were in people 71 to 80 years old, four deaths were in people 61 to 70 years old, two deaths were in people 51 to 60 years old and one death was in a person 41 to 50 years old.

Of those infected, 116 people are hospitalized, 91 people are assumed to have contracted the disease through community transmission and 28 cases were associated with international travel.

The county also said eight of the deaths were in people with preexisting conditions and five were in those without preexisting conditions.

The city of San Jose and Santa Clara County supervisors will decide Tuesday whether they will put up $2 million each for an over $11 million financial assistance program for low-income, homeless and housing insecure residents.

The county sheriff's office announced Monday that a prisoner at the county's main jail tested positive for the coronavirus and a San Jose police officer may have been exposed.

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.
A pharmacist fills a prescription at the Rock Canyon pharmacy in Provo, Utah

Reuters

President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted two drugs  chloroquine and hydroxychloroquineas potential treatments for the new coronavirus.

The drug is often used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria. It is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and a limited number of other conditions.

But people who need the medication to treat their chronic illness have reported shortages when they go to refill their prescriptions at the pharmacy.

Linda Epstein, who has been taking hydroxychloroquine to treat her Lupus symptoms for over 30 years, told Business Insider that she fears that she may soon run out of her own life-saving supply as individuals rush to stock up.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted two drugs as potential treatments for the new coronavirus, putting those who rely on the medication to treat chronic illnesses at risk of shortages.

The drugs  chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are often used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria. It is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and a limited number of other conditions.

Trump has praised the medicine in recent White House press briefings as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19. On April 5, Trump said that Americans have "nothing to lose" by taking the drugs to treat COVID-19.

"I'm trying to save lives," Trump said at his press briefing, doubling down on the benefits of the medication. "I want them to try it and it may work and it may not work. But if it doesn't work, it's nothing lost by doing it."

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the disease, though researchers have been testing a number of existing drugs for any potential leads.

Anecdotal evidence has indicated that the drugs helped COVID-19 patients, though there have not been any peer-reviewed or clinical data to suggest it's an effective treatment against the virus.

Story continues

Trump said at a briefing on Monday that the drug would soon be widely distributed in New York.

"You can look from any standpoint tomorrow in New York, we think tomorrow pretty early, we think the hydroxychloroquine ... it's looking very, very good," Trump said of the drug. "It's going to be distributed. We have 10,000 units going, and it will be distributed tomorrow. It'll be available, and they already have it and are going to distribute it to many people in New York City and New York."

This is not the first time Trump praised the drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Trump claimed at a briefing last week that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the drug to treat coronavirus. "It's shown very encouraging  very, very encouraging early results," he said. "And we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. ... it was approved very, very quickly and it's now approved, by prescription."

But according to the CDC, there are no FDA-approved drugs specifically for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

The FDA even issued a statement after Trump's briefing last week, saying that it has as of yet no approved the drug for use against COVID-19, and said it was working hard to address an "increased demand" for the medication.

"We will take all steps to ensure chloroquine remains available for patients who take it to treat severe and life-threatening illnesses such as lupus," the FDA said.

Still, those who take the medication to treat chronic illness have reported that an increase in demand has led to shortages.

One woman with lupus told ProPublica that pharmacies near her in Santa Rosa, California, have run out of the drug. Another lupus patient in South Lyon, Michigan, told Business Insider's Andrew Dunn that she could not get a hold of the medication either.

Linda Epstein, who has been taking hydroxychloroquine to treat her Lupus symptoms for over 30 years, told Business Insider that she is excited for the potential use of chloroquine to treat coronavirus. However, she fears that she may soon run out of her own life-saving supply as people rush to stock up on it.

"My most recent problem is, patients with coronavirus have discovered another use for this drug, which I'm very happy about," she said. "I think that anybody who is critically ill deserves a life-saving medication option. And if it works, people should have it. But I'm encountering a shortage now."

Hospital clinicians get into their protective equipment before testing patients for the coronavirus, Covid-19 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts on March 18, 2020, as the hospital has set up three tents in the parking garage where patients who have been pre-screened can show up for testing.

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor/Getty Images

Epstein, who lives in Los Angeles and is also an ICU nurse, said she only has a remaining seven weeks left of her three-month prescription.

"I'm lucky enough," she said. "But I called my pharmacy and they are completely wiped out."

Taking the drug prophylactically  or to prevent disease  is not without risks. Short-term side effects of the medication include nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Serious side effects or prolonged treatment include liver failure, hearing loss, and muscle paralysis.

A man in Arizona died and his wife is under critical care after self-medicating with chloroquine phosphate, according to Arizona's non-profit health system Banner Health. The substance is an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks, it added.

Banner Health recommended against people taking the drug to treat COVID-19.

"Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so," Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director, said in the press release. "The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health."

Nigeria has also recorded cases of chloroquine poisoning after Trump's endorsement, according to CNN.

"Patients that need it should be given a chance to have it," Epstein said. "What's happening is, people are running to their doctors to have them write a prescription as a 'just-in-case' medication. And this has created a run on the supply."

"This is a very powerful medication that needs to be monitored, and you shouldn't self-medicate with it," Epstein added.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ABBA is one of the most significant pop groups of the 1970s. They also deserve recognition for being one of the few Swedish acts to garner a major international fan base. The bands music reliably has a renaissance every few decades, showing the group has major inter-generational appeal.

ABBA was huge. However, they werent as huge in the U.S.A as they were in other countries. This raises the question: Did they ever have a number-one hit in the United States?

Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Frida Lyngstad and Benny Andersson from ABBA | RB/Redferns/Getty Images

The only ABBA number-one hit

The answer is yes. They had a single number-one hit in America. Dancing Queen was the only song which hit number-one.

This is pretty astounding. For all their popularity, they only hit number-one a single time. They did manage to have a few more top-ten hits in the United States, specifically The Winner Takes It All, Waterloo, and Take a Chance on Me.

Dancing Queen by ABBA, the groups only number-one hit

In a way, it feels right Dancing Queen is the biggest ABBA song. Its probably the most beloved ABBA song all these years later. Its so big it appeared in both Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again, in addition to the cult classic comedy Muriels Wedding. The cover by the A-Teens remains a favorite as well.

The song was capturing hearts before it was even released. ABBAs Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote the song together, but the bands female members Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad got to sing it. The latter said Out of pure happiness that I would get to sing that song, which is the absolutely the best song ABBA have ever done.

What makes Dancing Queen so special?

AbbA and their manager Stikkan Andersson in 1978 at the groups newly completed, custom-built recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden | Keystone/Getty Images

What makes Dancing Queen so legendary? Major songwriter Pete Waterman says the songs success comes with its mix of sounds. He says the song manages to take influence from the Beatles, the Bee Gees, and Elton John at the same time. Stereogum further notes ABBAs influences were all over the place, including the folks songs of Sweden, Italian ballads, and German music-hall music. Drawing from a mix of genres helps a song to appeal to a wide audience, a trick which has profoundly influenced everyone from Elvis Presley to Ariana Grande.

Waterman also praised the tracks lyrics. He said Its..got what all great pop songs have  a great first line. Friday night and the lights are low  boosh! Youre away. All great records start with a bang.

The lyrics of Dancing Queen arent as revered as the best work of Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen. However, it does paint a vivid, nostalgic tableau of youthful dancing. So many songs have been written about dancing and yet Dancing Queen is one of the few to have an emotional impact. Its remained popular for decades and will likely be popular for decades to come.

Also see: Did Pink Floyd Ever Have a Number-One Hit?
Work from home is the new norm as coronavirus pandemic sweeps the world. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

The UK has woken up to stricter measures on Tuesday 24 March to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on gatherings of more than two people.

As per the new rules, people should leave home only to exercise once a day, travel to and from work where absolutely necessary, shop for essential items and to fulfil any medical or care needs.

Instead of travelling to offices, many people are working from home for the first time to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Although an increasing number of employers are ditching the traditional office nine-to-five in favour of flexible working, some are still hesitant to allow staff to work from home.

Staying at home, self-isolating and social distancing is crucial to keep safe and stop the spread of Covid-19. And yet many workers  even those with underlying health concerns or vulnerable family members  are still struggling to get permission to work remotely.

Going remote doesnt mean everythings about to change, says Paul Pellman, CEO of Kazoo, an employee experience platform. At the heart of it, your work is still your work, and your relationship with your manager and colleagues is still based on trust, communication, and a shared commitment to success.

Its important that employees already have lines of communication and trust established before urgent situations arise like the current Covid-19 pandemic. Regular one-on-one meetings should provide an open, honest atmosphere for these conversations to take place. This frequent two-way dialogue is key to empowering employees to have conversations with their managers to get the results they desire.

Read more: How to avoid cabin fever when working from home

First, it can help to make a plan with colleagues about how you can work from home. Depending on your work, you might want to outline what you can get done and highlight that you are able to get things done even when you are out of the office. You can suggest using certain apps or software so your manager can see what you are working on, such as Trello.

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Its important to suggest ways in which you can keep in touch remotely. If email is too slow, instant messaging platforms such as Slack can be helpful.

Pointing out that employees are likely to be more productive when working from home is also useful. If workers are worried about their health when commuting or working in an office, it is probable that they arent getting much done. Instead, allowing people to telecommute and stay safe is far more likely to boost trust, motivation and productivity during this challenging time.

Being at home may also be a better place to work in general, too. According to a 2017 Stanford study, remote employees had a 13% improvement in performance, in part because they were more likely to work the full workday and because it was easier to concentrate.

Most importantly, remind your boss of the current public health emergency. More than 330 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, including young people. Thousands of people have been infected by Covid-19 and the number of cases is rising, leaving a huge number of vulnerable people at risk. If people fail to follow the new lockdown rules and leave their homes without a valid reason, they can now be fined.

Read more: Five apps to help you work from home during coronavirus pandemic

Companies and managers who prioritise their employees understand that putting their employees health and emotional well-being at the forefront of their crisis response strategy is key, Pellman says.

Once companies do have a remote work policy in place, they need to think about the role managers play in creating a better employee experience for remote teams, he adds. This starts with over-communication and setting clear expectations for work-from-home employees around what work they will be doing, how their work will be completed, and how their role within the team and organisation are crucial to ensuring they are engaged in and enjoy their work.

Its also important for managers to regularly check-in with workers throughout the day, too. Not just to make sure expectations are being laid out clearly, but also to check how they are feeling both physically and emotionally.
Smart refrigerator market has witnessed a remarkable surge in sales through online channels. Customers can avail heavy discounts from online sales channels as compared to retail stores. In addition, relative advantages offered in terms of delivery, payment, and installation services, have encouraged people to buy electric appliances from online portals. E-commerce firms have been collaborating with smart refrigerator manufacturers for facilitating faster delivery, advanced offerings, and convenience to customers. For 
Exempting churches from coronavirus quarantine is dangerous,' secular group warns

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive order exempting churches from a statewide ban on gatherings of 50 people or more has been denounced by a secularist group that is urging her to revoke the religious exemption.

Whitmer, a democrat, issued the order limiting gathering numbers in response to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus and later added an exemption for houses of worship.

Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter to the governor on Monday calling the exemption dangerous and unconstitutional.

The exemption invites houses of worship to violate the stay-at-home directive, putting the public health at risk, Laser wrote.

Attendance at these gatherings is dangerous not just for the individuals who attend, but for all of us. COVID-19 spreads exponentially, so it is critical that we flatten the curve by maintaining social distance.

Laser argued that there was no federal constitutional requirement that the state exempt houses of worship from such bans.

On the contrary, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from exempting houses of worship from this general public-safety ban, she continued.

 when deciding whether to grant religious accommodations, government must do no harm to others; and it therefore is forbidden to grant a religious exemption that puts people at risk. The separation of church and state does not require a religious exemption but rather prohibits it.

Americans United called on Whitmer to immediately revoke the exemption for houses of worship, reiterating the concerns for public health.

Last week, Whitmer issued an executive order prohibiting "all assemblages of more than 50 people in a single indoor shared space and all events of more than 50 people," later adding an exemption for "a place of religious worship."

Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, took to his official Facebook page to thank the governor for clarifying that religious services were exempted.

"People have a God-given right to assemble and worship, and that right is secured by both the United States and Michigan Constitution. While I do not think that that right can be taken away by an Executive Order, I believe that as Christians we also have a duty to love our fellow man and play our role within society," he wrote.

"At times, we cancel services because the meteorologist predicts inclement weather. Why do we do this? Because we want people to stay safe."

For her part, Whitmer told Fox News Sunday anchor John Roberts that she believed the government did not have the right to order houses of worship to close over the pandemic.

Well, you know, the separation of church and state and the Republican legislature asked me to clarify that, said Whitmer.

That's an area that we don't have the ability to directly enforce and control. We are encouraging people, though, do not congregate.
The ability to accurately monitor drug levels and biological molecules inside patients in real time has remained largely elusive.

Most of the implantable monitors invented so far rely on high tech and expensive detectors such as CT scans or MRI. Using ultrasound - which is cheap and portable - as a means to track a disease state as in response of a tumour to a new drug or the risk of a heart attack with the rise of a diagnostic protein called troponin has always been more a Blue Sky than reality.

Now Melbourne, Australia researchers have developed the first biosensor that can be used in vivo, inside a body, able to emit signals that can be detected by common ultrasound scanners.

The technology - published today in the journal ACS Sensors - has been granted an international provisional patent. The team led by Dr Simon Corrie and Dr Kristian Kempe, from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science and Monash University in Australia, has developed a nanoparticle that alters its stiffness in response to pH changes in the body, with these changes picked up by ultrasound.

To date ultrasound imaging uses what is a called a contrast using gas-filled microbubbles. However according to Dr Corrie these last only 10-20 minutes making long term tracking within a body impossible.

The new technology which was developed with colleagues at Monash University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, can be inserted deep into the tissues and measure biomarkers such as, pH (as a measure of whether a tumour is shrinking following chemotherapy) and in the near future more complex markers such as oxygen (as an indicator of stroke injury) or disease-related proteins.

According to Dr Corrie the advantage of the technology is that, eventually, it will be able to be "read" by "something as simple as a mobile phone which can currently record ultrasound, making it able to monitor patients in remote areas, without the need for big hospital labs," he said.

The technology has been tested in an animal model to detect changes in pH levels. It will now be tested in an animal models of disease to determine whether it can accurately monitor rapidly changing pH levels, initially focussing on cancer and stroke. The goal, according to Dr Corrie, is to give clinicians the power of being able to have a patient sit in a chair and, as they are infusing the drugs, using commonly available ultrasound to monitor drug levels or organ response in real-time, adjusting dosages as a function of the patient's needs.

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A Northwestern Lehigh School District employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, the school district informed parents via a letter.

The employee works at Weisenberg Elementary School and Northwestern Lehigh High School, and had not been to a district building or participated in any district initiatives since March 16.

Since Gov. Tom Wolf announced that all K-12 Pennsylvania schools would be closed starting March 16, the district has offered daily Grab-n-Go meal programs at its Weisenberg or Northwestern elementary schools.

Unfortunately, we expect that this may be the first of many additional reports of positive COVID-19 tests in our Northwestern Lehigh community in the coming days and weeks. This is consistent with what is happening nationally, the letter from Superintendent Jennifer Holman.

The news comes as the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Tuesday there are 851 COVID-19 cases total, with 207 new cases as of midnight.

There are now 60 COVID-19 cases in the Lehigh Valley: 33 reports in Northampton County and 27 in Lehigh County.

The state Department of Health does not require the district to send community notifications when a staff member tests positive, however, out of an abundance of caution and a strong motivation to keep our community as healthy as possible in the midst of this pandemic, I felt it was important for you to be aware, Holman wrote.

The locations where this employee worked have been thoroughly deep cleaned and sanitized as have all the buildings of the Northwestern Lehigh School District.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:16:52|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Minister of Health of Libya's UN-backed government, Ehmid Bin Omar, on Tuesday announced the first novel coronavirus infection in the country.

"On Tuesday, the first infection of the novel coronavirus has been recorded in Libya. It has been confirmed through tests," the minister said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Health will take all measures and provide healthcare to the patient. We ask the citizens to commit to precautionary measures issued by the Ministry of Health and the National Center for Disease Control," Bin Omar added.

The minister provided no further details about the new infection.

The UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj recently declared state of emergency and mobilization against the virus.

The government's measures against the coronavirus include closing airports, border crossings, education institutions and mosques, banning large gatherings, and imposing curfew.
Representative image

MedPlus, Indias second largest retail pharmacy chain, has invited merchant bankers for pitches for a proposed IPO in FY21 even as the domestic market was singed in the global meltdown, sources told Moneycontrol.

The company held initial discussions with merchant bankers and is likely to shortlist at least three of them for the proposed listing. Due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the market has tanked further post these deliberations, so the selection of advisors may take time," said a source.

"Valuations have been badly hit due to the current conditions and it is unclear when the process will be launched. The promoters wanted to get feedback and will take a call once things settle down, but the initial plan was to target late FY21," the source added. If these plans fructify, it will set a precedent as MedPlus would become the countrys first listed retail pharmacy chain.

Another source said MedPlus is looking to raise between Rs 800 crore and Rs 1,000 crore via the initial public offering (IPO) and this is likely to be a mixture of primary and secondary issue of shares. "The listing will help reduce debt at the promoter level and also provide growth capital for store expansion.

In November last year, MedPlus founder and CEO Madhukar Gangadi, a Wharton graduate, said the Hyderabad- headquartered chain was looking at an IPO to raise more than Rs 700 crore. Moneycontrol.com is awaiting a response from MedPlus promoter Madhukar Gangadi and has sent email reminders. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the firm.

In January 2018, MedPlus raised around $115 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs to buy out its existing private equity investors, including US-based Mount Kellett Capital Management, TVS Capital Funds and Ajay Piramals India Venture Advisors. The three investors together held a 69 percent stake in MedPlus. Later, Azim Premji's investment arm PremjiInvest picked up a minority stake for around Rs 200 crore.

On July 17, 2018, Factordaily.com reported that Amazon was in early talks to invest in MedPlus.

MedPlus operates around 1,650 stores, of which about 100 are run through the franchisee model. The total number of retail pharmacies in India is estimated to be 850,000 and less than 5 percent, or around 6,000, come under organised pharmacy stores.

Largely focused on south India until now, the 14-year-old MedPlus has expanded to West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra. The company claims on its website that it serves around 3.5 lakh customers a day and has more than 10,000 employees. The pharmacy chain also operates online store MedPlusMart, lab testing centres MedPlus Pathlabs and surgical equipment distribution business RiteCure.

The company is targeting to end FY20 with Rs 2,600-2,700 crore in revenue and an EBITDA of Rs 70-75 crore, with around 17-18 percent of overall business generated through the digital platform.

The Indian retail pharmacy segment is estimated to be worth $18 billion and is expected to touch $50 billion by 2025, data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion revealed. Other significant players in the domestic retail pharmacy segment included Netmeds, Medlife and market leader Apollo Pharmacy.
With more airlines cancelling flights, the worlds planemakers have been forced to cut spending, staff and output.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on aerospace manufacturing, with Boeing Co saying it would halt production of most wide-body jets and Airbus SE, restarting only partial output after a four-day shutdown as suppliers cut jobs.

With airlines unable to fly because of a collapse of demand over fears of contagion, reinforced by air travel restrictions, planemakers and their suppliers are under pressure to save cash to ride out a liquidity squeeze.

Moodys cut its outlook for the aerospace and defence industry to negative from stable and warned that even when markets recover, the damaged balance sheets of most airlines will hurt demand for new aircraft.

Global passenger capacity fell 35 percent last week, the worst since the start of the crisis, according to data from airline schedules firm OAG, which said deeper cuts were likely in the coming weeks.

More than 2,500 planes have already been grounded this year, data from Cirium shows, with taxiways, maintenance hangars and even runways at the biggest global airports turning into giant parking lots.

On Tuesday, Asian jet fuel refining margins  the difference in value between raw crude and the refined product  turned negative for the first time in more than a decade, suggesting there was no recovery timeframe in sight for the aviation industry.

Large US carriers have drafted plans for a possible halt in US passenger air traffic, four officials said on condition of anonymity, though there is no plan in place and US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not considering a domestic travel ban.

US planemaker Boeing faces the shutdown of key assembly lines for the second time in a year after being forced to halt production of its grounded 737 MAX aircraft in January.

Production of long-haul jets like the 787 and 777 in Washington state will pause for 14 days starting Wednesday, forcing the worlds largest industrial building, the giant Boeing wide-body plant at Everett north of Seattle, to fall silent for the first time in recent memory.

As the crisis deepens, US legislators are considering changing some of the about $58bn in proposed emergency loans to the airline industry to cash grants to cover payroll costs, four people familiar with the matter said.

Brazils Embraer SA, the worlds third-largest aircraft maker, said on Sunday it would furlough all non-essential workers in Brazil, where it makes regional jets, and further measures could be announced later this week.

Joining the list of temporary shutdowns is Bombardier, which is suspending Canadian production of business jets, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Airbus had called for strong government support for airlines and suppliers but stopped short of calling for direct aid for the company, which has secured an extra 15 billion euros ($16.14bn) of commercial credit lines.

The European planemaker has, however, told officials privately that it may need European government help if the crisis lasts for several months, Reuters reported last week.

Industry executives said the biggest source of alarm was the global supply chain of thousands of suppliers who would be severely hurt by abrupt stop-start movements in plane output. Many are already severely stressed by the year-long 737 MAX grounding.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Monday said in a letter to Congress that more than 500,000 US aerospace production jobs could be in jeopardy, and called for a relief package that included provisions to protect against layoffs.

Engine maker GE Aviation announced plans to cut its US workforce by about 10 percent, according to a letter to staff.

Montreal-based training specialist CAE Inc is laying off 465 manufacturing workers and slashing executive salaries and capital spending.

German aircraft-engine maker MTU Aero Engines said it would shut output in some European plants for three weeks.

The shutdowns are designed in part to allow for deep cleaning and the re-organisation of factory workers, who must avoid working in clusters, slowing output.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs and MLCs have pledged a donation of their one-month salary each to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF).

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu discussed the donations with his party leaders through a video conference on Tuesday.

Naidu has also announced a donation of Rs 10 lakh on his behalf and on his family's behalf. These funds may be used by the government in the battle against the coronavirus epidemic.

He called upon the people to generously contribute to the governments as part of their support to the cause of fighting the deadly virus. Following his call, the MLAs and MLCs donated a one-month salary.

Meanwhile, TDP MP K. Rammohan Naidu announced a month salary for Srikakulam coronavirus patients.

He also announced Rs. 70 lakh under Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme meant to fight the virus.

K. Rammohan has also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sanction financial assistance for small traders and daily wage workers who are suffering due to lockdowns and curfews.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 200 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Florida Monday as the states death toll increased to 18. The total number of coronavirus cases in Florida now stands at 1,227, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health. The numbers include 1,147 Florida residents and 80 non-residents.

The Twitter hashtags #Floridalockdown and #Floridacoronavirus were trending on Twitter on Sunday, and many social-media users responded to requests made by the World Socialist Web Site to speak on conditions in their counties and workplaces.

A university registrar living in Broward County who asked to be kept anonymous said that, fortunately, he is able to work remotely, but that this is not the case for other university staff, such as custodial workers, whose work requires the university to be physically open and operating.

A COVID-10 testing site in Florida (Photo: wikipedia.org)

When asked about the economic conditions might be for such workers, he responded, At the risk of being hyperbolic, catastrophic? These are people, potentially, living check to check with the prospect of not having income for the foreseeable future. These are individuals who may not already be in the best of health, and now this is thrown into their laps? This could be a death blow for some.

Corryne who works as a waitress explained that she and her boyfriend have both been laid off from work with no pay. When asked how long she thought they could survive without work, she predicted, Maybe two months? If Im super diligent about it. But its not like that is money that is saved for emergencies. Its literally all the money I have. March is our busiest month of the year, and by the time work starts back up, well be out of season and playing catch up all year.

Another student living in Palm Beach County spoke to our reporters about health policy in the state. For starters, not a single primary care physician can be reached. Trump is saying the test is free. Yea, if you wait on the phone for two hours and meet an inordinate number of criteria.

She also spoke about the drive-through testing center that was recently opened in Palm Beach County, explaining that people have to call first and be screened. She reported that even if the person is accepted for a test, the testing sites are not taking any more appointments until April.

As of Monday morning, Florida had performed only 11,000 tests. Medical professionals are still awaiting the results of 932 of those tests. Hillsborough County received 900 test kits on Saturday and will reportedly be opening a drive-through testing center at Raymond James Stadium, though it is clear that these limited efforts will not be adequate to accommodate the influx of patients.

An administrative worker named Jen who lives in Pinellas County expressed deep concern over the fact that the surgical center where she is employed has yet to notify their patients about their response to COVID-19.

Ninety percent of our patients are seniors, and as of today we have publicly told our patients nothing. The clinics should be closed for their safety, but we have failed to even tell them whether we are taking precautions. Employees have been receiving emails from human resources saying that more info is coming soon. We still have appointments booked for Monday, Jen explained.

Jen also spoke on her struggle finding needed supplies in Pinellas County stores. Its scary to try to get food. I wear a mask, but not many do. You have to go to multiple places if one is wiped out. It just feels like theres no end in sight. I worry a lot about getting the virus transferred to me while at work or in the store and then bringing it home to my family. I have a 78-year-old mother. Shes in good health and takes great care of herself, but her age definitely has her in one of the at-risk categories.

While workers reported that there was not a shortage of food in the stores, two Florida residents reported chilling scenes in which armed policeman have been patrolling the meat section and other sections containing the most popular items. One worker commented, People are panic-buying everything. My grandmother went grocery shopping and had to stand in a line of 200 people. We have tried to get her to use a grocery delivery service, but even that is delayed by several days.

Melanie who lives in Brevard County also expressed concern over the lack of basic supplies noting that she cannot find baby wipes for her toddler who has had a 100-degree fever for four days. I havent gone out since Thursday, but my dad is out every morning to see if there are wipes. He says he cant find chicken and was finally able to get bread only today, after four days of trying. Melanies father works as a mystery shopper to supplement his social security benefits, but that all of those jobs have dried up. He does it to pay off medical debt, so I guess he just wont be able to pay.

Workers across almost every industry are feeling the effects of the pandemic. Meridith, who lives in Alachua County and owns a small hair salon, told the WSWS that she had to shut down her business a week ago. Im not bringing ANY money in. I will owe my home mortgage and my business rent on the first. I will be using money intended to pay the IRS to live on. I dont want to get behind on bills. I dont want to destroy my credit. I can juggle things for maybe two months, but the savings that I had has been destroyed by the market collapse.

A freelance writer named Alexa who lives in Marion County explained that like many gig-economy workers, she and her family are living paycheck to paycheck. There is no way we can go longer than a month at this rate. We will have to make tough choices in the coming days so that we can save as much as we can for the long haul. By the looks of it, help isnt coming any time soon.

Melissa, a student and waitress who works in Lee County, said that her restaurant had been forced to move to takeout and delivery only. I have been a server there for almost two years, and when I worked yesterday it was so slow. The cost of living in Florida is very high, so without an income we are screwed. Weve waited out six months of slow season for March and April, and our sales on a normal Saturday in season are about $13,000 to $14,000, but yesterday [Saturday evening] we probably only made about $2,000.

A high-school student who just turned 18 and attends school in Seminole County also spoke to the WSWS about her conditions. Frankly, a lockdown is needed. My abuelo [grandfather] is already in the hospital due to other issues, and if he gets infected, theres no way he has the strength to survive. In Florida a quarter of the population is older than 60.

The young high school student, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that the current conditions are also going to heavily impact what she does after graduation. The current situation actually swayed my decision to stay local for UCF [University of Central Florida] instead of FSU [Florida State University], since the situation is still very much unpredictable. Financially, Im trying to pay for college on my own, but I know that pretty much everything Ive been working for during the past four years is crumbling. My family is at least here to help.

A current FAU (Florida Atlantic University) student named Corryne, who is studying psychology and planning to attend medical school, said that FAU was one of the last state universities to move online. Corryne explained that students had organized petitions calling for the school to move classes online that garnered over 10,000 signatures before the university administration took action.

Pretty much all of my friends are from other states but live on campus, and they had very little warning before they had to pack up and leave for the semester, Corryne explained.

Students across the state and throughout the country face similar conditions. A young international student named Alicia, who attends Florida State University (FSU) in the state capital of Tallahassee, wrote that she is struggling financially due to her international status and job prospects: As an international student, Im only allowed to work on campus. I would need a different kind of visa to do other work, or a green card. Right now, Im depending on my family and student loans. I need a job, but thats pretty much impossible right now.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-25 06:01:51|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabian G20 Presidency will host the virtual G20 Summit on response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 26, the G20 Saudi secretariat said on Tuesday.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will chair the meeting to advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications, it said in a statement.

The leaders of G20 members will be joined by their counterparts from some invited countries, including Spain, Jordan, Singapore and Switzerland, as well as international organizations, including the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the statement said.

The chairing states of some regional organizations, including Vietnam, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, South Africa, the chair of the African Union, the United Arab Emirates, the chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Rwanda, the chair of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, will also be invited to the meeting, it added.

The summit will be held at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues raging across the world, posing a grave threat to the human health and safety while fueling worries about its huge impact on the global economy.
The shockwaves from Four Corners Killing Field report will be felt for some time.

What we saw on our televisions last week was video of an Australian soldier shooting an unarmed Afghan in front of other soldiers, including a superior and, unusually, a camera. The soldier was not under threat and there was no apparent justification. That was just one of a number of incidents.

On seeing the program, one former Special Forces officer observed that the Digger elite had transformed into the cast of Westworld  a sci-fi series in which people act out violent fantasies against androids in a glam, shoot-em-up world. But in the wild-west Oruzgan province of Afghanistan, the victims were not robots. Instead there was real blood, real tears and, as it turns out, a real reckoning.

There was also telling content in the program's sideline commentary. We heard soldiers expressing shock and disapproval of their own. One said, "Well, I guess we are not trying to win the war any more." It is a collective expression of what some of them call the "little voice"  the voice of conscience that was somehow silenced in some.
Alex Salmond is tipped to make a dramatic SNP leadership comeback bid after he was cleared of sex assault charges this week.

Well-placed sources say he thinks Scottish independence is going nowhere under Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and wants to lead a re-energised drive to break away from the rest of the UK.

Mr Salmond, 65, is believed to be planning to run for the partys leadership on a dream ticket with SNP MP Joanna Cherry.

Alex Salmond leaves the High Court in Edinbrugh on Monday. Could the former SNP leader be preparing a stunning bid to return to leadership?

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell. Scotland's First Minister said she would not support a 'wildcat referendum,' similar to the illegal independence vote in Catalonia in Spain in 2017 which resulted in its leaders being jailed

It is thought Mr Salmond, who has already led the SNP on two separate occasions since 1990, would be content to be deputy to Miss Cherry, a barrister who led a legal bid to use the Scottish courts to block Brexit last year.

Tellingly, Miss Cherry was the first senior figure after the trial to call for Mr Salmond to be let back in to the party. According to one source, the hostility between Miss Sturgeon and Miss Cherry is such that the two cannot bear to be in the same room.

She heaped more pressure on Miss Sturgeon by throwing down the gauntlet to her low-profile but powerful backroom fixer husband Peter Murrell, the SNPs chief executive.

Miss Cherry called on Mr Murrell to let Mr Salmond back into the party without delay and lead an investigation into the handling of the allegations against him.

Mr Salmonds acquittal has seen the opening shots in a bloody political battle between his supporters and backers of Miss Sturgeon, who have been accused of plotting against him, for control of the party.

The two rival factions spent yesterday hurling claim and counter-claim against each other.

Allies of Mr Salmond questioned the way Miss Sturgeons office is run by chief of staff Liz Lloyd, and claimed Miss Sturgeon is more interested in transgender rights than the rights of Sots to be free.

They said she was terrified Mr Salmond would grab back the job she inherited from him in 2014.

Allies of Miss Sturgeon claimed Mr Salmond was deluded to believe he could lead the party for a third time, and suggested he was using his acquittal to settle scores with political foes not involved in the court case and seeking to portray himself as a bigger victim than victims of rape.

Joanna Cherry was the first senior figure after the trial to call for Mr Salmond to be let back in to the party. According to one source, the hostility between Miss Sturgeon and Miss Cherry is such that the two cannot bear to be in the same room

Miss Sturgeon is expected to step down some time after next years Scottish Parliament elections.

According to some SNP insiders, her chosen heir and successor is Angus Robertson, who was the partys Westminster leader until he lost his Commons seat in 2017.

An intriguing dress rehearsal of a possible future Salmond vs Sturgeon SNP leadership battle by their most vocal respective cheerleaders, Miss Cherry and Mr Robertson, is already under way.

They are in a head-to-head contest to be SNP candidate for the Scottish Parliament seat of Edinburgh Central.

Claims from four more women Mr Salmond is facing another possible police probe after further claims by four women. It is understood the women made complaints about the former first minister of Scotlands behaviour in London during the initial Police Scotland probe. A source said the force had referred the complaints to the Metropolitan Police but it is unclear if a new inquiry has been launched. The complaints are said to relate to Mr Salmonds two stints as an SNP MP, The Times reported. He was MP for Banff & Buchan from 1987 until 2010 and MP for Gordon between 2015 and 2017. A source close to Mr Salmond said: These are comparatively minor allegations. The Met declined to comment. Advertisement

Mr Robertson has already taken a swipe at Miss Cherry, saying the marginal seat needs a full-time candidate.

Miss Cherry, the Westminster MP for Edinburgh South West, countered by pledging to quit the Commons if she wins the Scottish Parliament seat.

The two mirror the independence split between Miss Sturgeon and Mr Salmond. Miss Sturgeon has dismissed calls to defy Boris Johnsons ban on rerunning the 2014 independence referendum.

She said she did not support a wildcat referendum similar to the illegal independence vote in Catalonia in Spain in 2017 which resulted in its leaders being jailed.

Mr Robertson takes a similar stance.

Supporters of Mr Salmond and Miss Cherry favour a legal challenge against Mr Johnsons veto, leading to speculation they could attempt a Catalan-style revolt if they take over the SNP.

Independence is going nowhere under Sturgeon, said a prominent SNP activist. Her top priority is hanging on to the baubles of office, the lifestyle, chauffeurs. Alex would re-energise the independence movement and be a dream ticket with Joanna [Cherry].

Miss Sturgeons allies say she is equally determined to get independence.
The Miss Ghana 2020 finale which was scheduled to take place in May 2020 has been postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Inna Miriam Patty, CEO of Exclusive Event Ghana, organisers of the Miss Ghana pageant, announced on Sunday that a new date would be communicated depending on how the world fares with the pandemic.

Contestants of the pageant, she also noted, won't be converging for tasks in the next four weeks.

This is in line with the ban on public gathering by President Akufo-Addo to stem the spread of coronavirus.

To keep ladies occupied during this four weeks period, weekly individual tasks will be given to each contestant and she will submit via video presentation and sent through email.

These weekly assignments in addition to voting will be used in the judging process to help prune contestant numbers to 16, Inna said.

Each week, we shall evict five contestants starting from Sunday, March 29, Sunday, April 5 and final 4 will be evicted on Sunday 12th April, she added.

Thirty beautiful young ladies have so far qualified for the preliminary stage of this year's pageant. The suspension on activities was to prevention any spread of coronavirus among contestants. Organisers have streamlined activities until the suspension on group gathering has been lifted and society returns to normalcy.

---Daily Guide
The conservative movement has long fostered a paranoid strain that spreads conspiracies and rejects scientific expertise. The 1925 Scopes "monkey trial," in which a Tennessee teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution, is well known. So is the John Birch Society's 1950s hysteria over the fluoridation of water, which its members insisted was a Communist plot to poison Americans. And George Wallace was renowned for, among other things, his denunciations of "pointy-headed" intellectuals.

Still, the Republican Party retained a deep reservoir of respect for science, for intellectual prowess, for simple facts. During the 1950s and '60s, William Buckley, an Ivy League-educated intellectual, was a leading light of the conservative movement. The GOP embraced the science necessary to get to the moon. It supported vaccinations and funded research.

But somewhere along the way, that all changed. The GOP is now "the stupid party," as Bobby Jindal, the Republican then-governor of Louisiana, put it. The nadir of its decades-long descent into know-nothing, flat-Earth denialism was its embrace of Donald J. Trump, the "very stable genius" who denied that the coronavirus pandemic was a crisis until a few days ago.

Just ask longtime Republican political consultant Stuart Stevens, who wrote an opinion essay decrying the GOP's "toxic fantasies." Stevens said, "Don't just blame President Trump. Blame me  and all the other Republicans who aided and abetted and, yes, benefited from protecting a political party that has become dangerous to America. Some of us knew better."

The Trump administration slashed funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dismantled the National Security Council's global health security office and ignored warnings from infectious disease experts who said the coronavirus would have dire consequences. Then Trump stood before the cameras for weeks and insisted, "The risk to the American people remains very low."

But as Stevens noted, this didn't start with Trump. The GOP's distaste for science, distrust of experts and dismissal of facts have taken a couple of generations to culminate in this manmade disaster. While nature created the novel coronavirus, the Republican Party created the conditions for the Trump administration's wretchedly incompetent response.

Over the years, several unfortunate trends came together in the Republican Party, producing a deadly confluence that disrespects science and downplays expertise. One of those trends was the acceleration of efforts by large industries to sow doubts about the science that held them responsible for causing widespread harm. Dependent on contributions from those industries, the GOP went along, some of them denouncing climate change as a "hoax."

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There is also a cultural component to the crazy. Modern science tends to dispute some long-held beliefs of religious conservatives, including the notion that homosexuality is a mental illness. Mainstream psychologists denounce so-called conversion therapy, which claims to "cure" gays and lesbians. But the Republican Party long ago arranged a marriage of convenience with socially conservative Christians; thus the anti-gay plank in the GOP platform was laid.

Of course, as Stevens noted, some Republicans knew better. In a Feb. 27 audio recording, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is overheard warning a group of wealthy members of a private club that the coronavirus could wreak havoc, "probably ... akin to the 1918 pandemic" that killed millions. That was weeks before Trump acknowledged the coming crisis. But did Burr share that with Republican voters, who depend on Fox News for their information?

Of course not. His silence helps explain why, even now, so many elderly Trump-loving voters are ignoring warnings about avoiding crowds and cruises. They believe the propaganda that was spewed for so long, the insistence that the coronavirus warnings are a hoax. That makes them a danger not only to themselves but to the rest of us.

It took the Republican Party a while to put the entire nation at risk, but their self-serving idiocy has now brought us to the brink of disaster.
From a jaguar on the loose to an elaborate hoax involving burning underwear, the Olympic torch relay has had its fair share of mishaps. As Japan postpones the 2020 relay after the Games were delayed over the new coronavirus, AFP looks back at some of the trials and tribulations of the event, first run ahead of the Berlin Olympics in 1936. - Flaming underpants - Probably the most memorable stunt surrounding the torch relay came in 1956 when an Australian student named Barry Larkin fooled crowds with a homemade torch topped by burning underpants. Larkin managed to get his torch -- a wooden chair leg crowned with a metal pudding container holding the fiery underwear -- up the stairs of Sydney's Town Hall and deliver it to city mayor Pat Hills, cheered on by tens of thousands. The university student even arranged his own fake motorcycle escort but when he started to run out from the crowd, he found himself flanked by genuine police outriders as the crowd closed in around him. The mayor sensed nothing wrong as he took the flame from Larkin, giving the first part of his prepared remarks before realising something was amiss. - Jaguar on the run - A 17-year-old jaguar named Juma was lined up for photos as the torch passed through the Amazon in northern Brazil during the relay for the Rio Olympics in 2016. But Juma escaped its handlers and four tranquilliser darts fired at the animal failed to slow it down. After it threatened a vet, soldiers opened fire on the jaguar -- in danger of extinction and the symbol of the Amazon -- and shot it dead. - Fried doves - The climax of the relay -- the lighting of the Olympic cauldron -- has provided some unforgettable moments such as Mohammad Ali trembling to light it as he suffered from Parkinson's disease, and an archer's blazing arrow in Barcelona. But things have not always gone smoothly. The most grisly blunder came in Seoul in 1988 when dozens of doves released earlier in the opening ceremony alighted on the cauldron. When the flame was lit, several of the birds were incinerated, to the horror of watching spectators. Legendary Australian athlete Cathy Freeman was also left hanging at the Sydney opening ceremony when a platform supposed to rise after the lighting of the flame got stuck for around three minutes. "We've got a slight technical hitch. Nothing that can't be fixed," said one reassuring voice in her earpiece. "F---, f---, f---, f---," screamed another. - Heated protests - The torch relay has been the target of several protests, most notably during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics as demonstrators took China to task over its Tibet policy. Protests started even when the flame was lit in ancient Olympia and dogged the relay throughout its journey to China, notably as it passed through London, Paris and San Francisco. In Japan, monks at an ancient Buddhist temple pulled out of hosting a torch ceremony because of the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. The relay ahead of Sydney 2000 also suffered from isolated protests. One spectator grabbed it out of the hands of former world surfing champion Tom Carroll as he travelled along the New South Wales south coast and tried to hurl it into Kiama harbour before being wrestled to the ground. A high-school student also tried to put out the torch with a fire extinguisher. - Lighting hiccups - Although the Olympic flame is supposed to be eternal, problems with the lighting mechanism have caused it to go out several times. In 2012, officials had to hastily relight the flame from a stand-by "mother flame" when it vanished from the side of Paralympic badminton star David Follett's wheelchair in blustery weather in southwest England. Olympic torches made by a Russian missile manufacturer for the Sochi Winter Games in 2014 were dogged with problems, going out several times and having to be discretely relit by secret service officers. - Inauspicious start - The Olympic torch has been into space, deep underwater and has even scaled Mount Everest. As the Olympic museum website puts it: "Over the last 80 years, the Olympic torch has been carried by hundreds of thousands of people and travelled on every imaginable form of transport, though mostly by foot." The flame made its first appearance in modern times at Amsterdam 1928. But the first relay took place in Berlin 1936, forever known for the heroics of sprinter Jesse Owens but also tainted by its hosting by Nazi Germany. The jaguar later escaped Australian sporting icon Cathy Freeman was left hanging for several long minutes when the ramp failed to move The torch relay for Rio was accompanied by heavy security The Berlin 1936 Olympics will always be remembered for Jesse Owens
Organized in response to the spread of the new coronavirus and the shutdown of commercial spaces, a coalition of African-American independent booksellers and publishers convened a national video conference call the evening of March 22 to survey the state of black books around the country.

The conference attracted nearly 200 callers from around the country (more than 300 registered for the call) to join a conversation, about whats going on with black books in the wake of virus, said Paul Coates, publisher of Black Classic Press, one of the organizers of the event and panel moderator. Another organizer, Katura Hudson, marketing director of Just US Books, said they hoped the event would be positive and focused on listening, providing support, and sharing ideas. Among the area of concerns were the impact of social distancing, complicated by the digital divide (especially for the elderly) between the mainstream population and black communities, the closing of libraries, cancellation of book festivals, the impact of public health decisions on essential or nonessential stores, and adjusting to curbside pickups while attempting to stay in contact with readers now forced to shelter in place.

Panelist member Troy Johnson, founder of online black book site AABLC.com, cited the digital divide as a concern, as did James Fugate, co-owner of 32 year old Eso Won Bookstore in Los Angeles, who said we get calls from the elderly that cant come into the store now, but cant use online technology. He called the pandemic the biggest challenge the store has faced ever. This may go on for a long time and we need your support. We can weather this thing and keep getting good books out.

Store owners recognized the need for an online presence in spite of Amazons dominance, which was noted. There was also some criticism by various callers of the use of social media despite its popularity and pervasive use by the public in general and in particular by African Americans. But others cited the importance of bookstores and publishers using digital strategies to connect with black readers.

Ramunda Young, cofounder of MahoganyBooks in Washington DC., a 13 year-old black independent store that began as an online-only retailer, said online sales have been our bread and butter as our first 10 years were online before opening our physical store. As a black bookselling community, we must learn to embrace the online portions of our businesses better." Young reminded the audience that 90% of African Americans have a smartphone with internet access, and 54% of those are digital natives, or young people who have always had online access. She added: We must take advantage of social media as the numbers are powerfully for us.

Shirikiana Gerima, cofounder of Sankofa Video, Books, Cafe in Washington D.C., said her store remains open because it also has a cafe (tables had to be removed) for takeout and customers can buy books but cant stay in the store. Sankofa is situated across the street from Howard University, closed because of the pandemic, and depends on the patronage of student customers now sent home. Gerima said she hopes to work with Howard professors to put lectures on the stores YouTube channel. Were looking to find new ways to operate, she said, including moving more book sales online. But the store is also facing a separate and ongoing threat, Gerima said, gentrification, which, in her case, is rapidly escalating property taxes that she said were higher than her monthly mortgage

Kassahun Checole, president of Africa World Press/Red Sea Press, a publisher and distributor of books on Africa and the African diaspora, said that most of his staff has been sent home. Were filling a few orders a week but our expansion into South Africa has come to a total stop. Right now the virus has put us out of business but well keep at it. We need to do more business online, he said.

The conference call included another international presence: Kadija George, a U.K.-based writer, journalist, and editor, and now a doctoral student studying British black publishing and bookselling, spoke about her research into British bookselling and about the 50th anniversary of black bookstores in England. Also speaking on the call was poet, author, and radio host, E. Ethelbert Miller, a Howard University and Washington D.C. literary icon, as well as a number of independent black booksellers from around the country among them Donya Craddock, owner of the 12 year old Dock Bookshop in Dallas-Fort Worth, and Janet Jones, founder of 12 year old Source Booksellers in Detroit.

In a rousing comment on the call Miller took note of power of social media, citing the masses of black people on Twitter and other platforms looking for books. But he also took note of the absence of in-store contact, in effect the loss of a competitive advantage for indie stores. When you cant hug the author; intimacy is important. Checole called social distancing a new challenge. Weve lost the person to person bond because of the virus. So we have to expand and find new ways to connect and grow.

Coates closed out the call by noting it was the first in a series of conversations intended to identity good ideas and strategies to support independent black books. Im not asking for suggestions about what I can do. Weve got some very creative people here and we want to know what youre doing. This is a conversation that all of you can join, he said. And despite the challenges, Coates added, no one says theyre closing, theyre all fighting back.

Clarification: MahoganyBooks co-owner Ramunda Young's comment has been clarified and expanded.
Carolyn Greene addresses the Williamstown Select Board during her time as chair of the Mount Greylock School Committee.

Carolyn Greene Lone Applicant for Mount Greylock School Committee Post

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The vacant seat on the Mount Greylock School Committee likely will be filled by a very familiar face.

On Thursday evening, Superintendent Kimberley Grady told the remaining six members of the panel that there is one applicant still in the running for the post vacated by Dan Caplinger last month.

Two Williamstown residents applied for the position by the Wednesday deadline, but Grady mentioned at the end of a 45-minute meeting held by teleconference that the field has narrowed to one: former School Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Greene.

"I understand the complexities of regional budgets and collective bargaining agreements, am familiar with school committee policies, and appreciate having established protocols," Greene wrote in her application for the position. "I understand what it means to be an effective school committee member and can hit the ground running mid-year. Having served at the state level, I am familiar with the challenges faced by districts across Massachusetts and in Berkshire County as well."

Greene, who served on the Mount Greylock School Committee from July 2009 to November 2018, is the director of commencement and academic events at Williams College.

She chaired the feasibility study that resulted in forming the shared services agreement between Mount Greylock and School Union 71 -- the "Tri-District" arrangement that was the precursor to fully regionalizing the preK-12 district in 2017.

She also served as the Division VI chair of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and as a member of the Berkshire County Education Task Force.

Greene chaired the School Committee through some tumultuous periods, including a 2014 push by some town officials in Lanesborough to break up SU 71.

She is looking to come back at a time when there are new challenges facing the district: a contentious debate about whether to build an artificial turf field and a social media campaign against Grady that prompted two of the district's principals to make a public statement that their departures are not tied to any concerns about the administration.

Greene is not unaware of the issues facing the School Committee.

"But I care about the district, and I believe in the value of the work," she wrote in an email replying to a question about her decision. "And if it's too stressful, I can choose not to run in 2020. I've had over a year of civilian life and it's been great. But the idea of serving on the committee post-regionalization and post-building project (almost), getting to work with all three schools, knowing what I know now, it could be quite rewarding."

It is the second time in 10 months that an interim appointment is being made to fill an unexpired term on the School Committee. In June, a joint meeting of the School Committee and the Select Boards from Lanesborough and Williamstown selected Jamie Art from a field of five applicants to fill a then-vacant seat.

The committee and boards had set March 23 as the date to make this appointment, but that meeting was canceled because of uncertainty about whether the three bodies could meet given concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grady said Thursday that she has a call in to the district's counsel to find out whether all bodies need to meet and vote on Greene's application since she is the only current candidate.
Faustina Tays body was discovered in a car park under her employers fourth-storey home in Beirut.

Beirut, Lebanon  On the morning of March 13, Faustina Tay sent a final desperate message to an activist group she had contacted about the abuse she was suffering at the hands of her Lebanese employers.

God please help me, the 23-year-old Ghanaian domestic worker wrote.

About 18 hours later, she was found dead.

Tays body was discovered in a car park under her employers fourth-storey home in Beiruts southern suburbs, between 3 and 4am on March 14.

A forensic doctor who examined her body found that her death was caused by a head injury as a result of falling from a high place and crashing into a solid body.

The doctor found no marks of physical assault. A search of Tays employers home found no signs of a struggle, and the death was being investigated as a suicide, according to a police report.

Hussein Dia, whose home Tay had lived and worked in for 10 months at the time of her death, told Al Jazeera he and his family had been sleeping when she died.

Dia said he did not know what had driven the 23-year-old to take her own life, and denied he ever physically assaulted her  I never laid a hand on her.

But in the week before her death, Tay sent dozens of texts and more than 40 minutes of voice messages to Canada-based activist group, This Is Lebanon, and her brother in Ghana, providing detailed accounts of recurrent physical abuse.

This Is Lebanon names and shames employers accused of maid abuse online in an attempt to resolve issues facing domestic workers on a case-by-case basis.

Human Rights Watch found in a 2010 report that Lebanons judiciary fails to hold employers accountable for abuses, while security agencies often do not adequately investigate claims of violence or abuse.

Tay sent dozens of texts to her brother in Ghana, pleading for help [Courtesy of Demanya family]

Tay told the group that Dia and Ali Kamal, the owner of the domestic workers agency that had brought her to Lebanon, had each beaten her twice between January 16 and March 6.

Kamal had beaten her along with one of his employees, Hussein, she said.

In the messages, Tay repeatedly expressed concerns that speaking about her ordeal could lead to more abuse, and the confiscation of her phone, which she said had taken place once before.

She also feared much worse.

Im scared. Im scared; they might kill me, she said, in a chilling voice note to activists.

Modern-day slavery

The manner of Tays death is not uncommon in Lebanon, a country with about 250,000 domestic workers. Two die each week, according to the countrys General Security intelligence agency, with many falling from high buildings during botched escape attempts, or in cases that are ruled suicides.

Domestic workers like Tay are employed under the countrys notorious kafala system, which ties their legal residence to their employer, making it very difficult for them to end their contracts.

This sponsorship system, which is in place in several Middle Eastern countries, has facilitated a range of abuse, such as non-payment of wages, a lack of rest time and days off, and physical and sexual assault.

Lebanons former Labour Minister Camille Abousleiman likened the system to modern-day slavery, and began a process of reform that is still in its early stages.

Women who come to Lebanon for domestic work from a host of Southeast Asian and African countries such as the Philippines, Nepal and Ethiopia are usually looking to support their families back home and eventually return.

Tays case sheds light on the type of abuse that ends with many returning to their families in coffins.

Migrant domestic workers carry placards during a protest in the Lebanese capital Beirut in 2019 [Anwar Amro/AFP]

From Accra to Beirut

A little more than 10 months before her death, Tay had been running a small noodle business in Ghanas capital Accra, with financial help from her brother Joshua Demanya, who works as a driver.

Demanya told Al Jazeera that he had advised his sister against going to Lebanon because there have been stories of people who go there and suffer so much they run away.

Tay ignored her brothers advice and arrived in Beirut on May 5 to begin working at Dias apartment, where he lives with his wife, Mona, and their three children.

There, she did not have her own room, instead, she slept on a sofa in the kitchen. She complained that she was overworked, had no days off and was usually only able to get to sleep at 2am and was woken up at 8am.

I should have stayed

She quickly regretted her decision to leave Ghana. In November 2019, she texted her brother: I should have stayed [and] continued with my business.

In January, she told her employers that she could not work for them any more, and asked to be sent back home. They refused  I paid $2,000, and I said, Take it easy on us, well let you travel after Ramadan,' Dia recalled telling her.

That was when Tay said Dia beat her for the first time, on January 16, before taking her to Kamals agency, where she said Kamal and Hussein beat her.

Both denied the claims when contacted by Al Jazeera. Kamal said his agency, established in 1992, brings roughly 1,000 domestic workers into Lebanon every year. The state would have closed us a long time ago, if they mistreated domestic workers, he said.

Kamal informed Tay that the only way she would get back home was if she worked two more months with the Dia family, to pay for her ticket back to Ghana.

Sri Lankan domestic workers in a shelter run by Caritas, a group working to protect migrant worker rights [Anwar Amro/AFP]

She agreed.

But when the agreement came due in March, she contacted This Is Lebanon and said Dia was refusing to let her leave. A few days later, on March 10, she said Dia, Kamal and Hussein beat her again.

My boss beat me mercilessly yesterday [and] dis (sic) morning he took me to the office [and] I was beaten again, this is the second time they beat me up in the office.

Dia said he had taken Tay to the agency with the intent of letting her travel, but received a call two hours later from the agency: Weve worked it out, shell travel in July.

Demanya said his sister had agreed out of fear.

Faustina sent several photos to her family in Ghana [Courtesy of Demanya family]

I dont want to die here

Al Jazeera informed Lebanons Labour Ministry of Tays case. An adviser to Labour Minister Lamia Yammine said that the names of Tays employers had been noted and the ministry would be informed if they applied to be allowed to employ another domestic worker.

She said they would be permanently blacklisted if it is proven later on that the suicide was caused by abuse.

On March 12, Tay sent a series of pictures to her brother, appearing to show an inflamed hand, a bruise on her forearm and a scratch underneath her eye that she said were caused by the beatings.

She also shared a picture of a bloody tissue that she said was the result of a nosebleed.

Despite the abuse, she described, Tay expressed a strong will to live.

Im very, very weak, she said in a voice message, describing pain in her wrist, legs and neck.

Please, help me. Help me to go back to my country for treatment. Please, I dont want to die here.
According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the Point of Care (POC) Hemoglobin Analyzer market was valued at USD 772.23 Million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 1.87 Billion by the year 2027, at a CAGR of 11.7%. Increasing incidences of anemia and other related illnesses across the world, increasing demand for blood glucose level meters, and increased awareness about Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzers is bolstering industry growth.

Anemia is widely prevalent in the developing world and is a public health challenge in many countries. Hemoglobin (Hb) assessment is a reliable indicator of anemia screening. However, there are multiple techniques with different applications available for Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer and through normal techniques. The direct cyanmethemoglobin method has been the most popular method for hemoglobin estimation. However, other methods like hemoglobin color scale, Sahli technique, Lovibond-Drabkin technique, Tallqvist technique, copper-sulfate method, HemoCue, and automated hematology analyzers are also available. Each method has a different working principle and its own advantages and disadvantages.

It has been observed that Non-invasive methods of estimation like HemoCue are apt for initial screening of anemia because it is reliable, portable, does not require a power supply, easy-to-use in poor resource settings, and does not involve extensive training of health workers. Hemoglobin color scale developed by HCS is another potential method that can be used in field situations. New novel product developments like these tailored for the developing world are expected to drive industry growth.

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North America and Europe are expected to occupy significant market share during the forecast period Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer industry. These regions have well-developed economies, and significant investments in R&D are made by each country. Hospitals and clinics are well-equipped, and Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer device usage is very common. Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer market growth will also be propelled by the Asia-Pacific region and parts of Africa. In these regions, incidences of anemia are very high and regular blood testing is required to monitor the prognosis of the disease. Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer devices like the DiaSpect Tm, manufactured by EKF Diagnostics are popular in these parts as the machine is portable, low-cost and provides a reliable measure of blood Hb levels. More R&D is however required to make similar Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer products available in these regions at a lower cost.

Further key findings from the report suggest-

Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer machines operating on Non-Invasive methods are expected to see maximum growth rate during the forecast period. Growth is being augmented by convenience and ease of operation that these machines provide to patients. Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzers are easier to use than previous bulky versions. Also, results could be read by the patient easily.

North America had the largest share in the Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer industry in 2019, chiefly because of a high disposable income, a greater awareness about diseases in the population, high investments in research and development, and more companies operating in the marketplace.

Asia Pacific region will witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period on account of the greater population and more incidence of diseases. There is also an urgent need to supply Clinics and Diagnostic centers in the region with point-of-care hemoglobin meters, which could measure other diseases like diabetes and HIV.

Regions in Africa and Latin America are also expected to see accelerated growth. For example, Brazil is enacting new regulations and setting standards to expedite the process of point-of-care device adoption. The Brazilian medical device market regulator ANVISA recently discussed revisions to planned requirements for custom-made devices, which included POC machines. Under the new regulatory system, patient-specific devices will require only registration with ANVISA, after which they could be marketed.

The Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer industry is dependent on the point of care diagnostic market in general. Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer machines, although easily available in most countries, are bound by stringent laws relating to their usage in certain settings. The lack of standardized laws in many developing countries could be a significant market restraint.

By Applications, Anemia diagnosis occupies the largest market share for the Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer industry. Due to the greater multi-functionality of Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer machines, the demand for diabetes, HIV, and other types of testing is also increasing.

Hospitals are the largest buyers and users of these Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer products. Most hospitals are large institutional buyers and have a huge demand for these machines. They have specialized diagnostic divisions which are involved only in testing services. The demand from hospitals will be a major growth driver for the industry.

Personal user sub-segment is also increasingly becoming an important End User, showing lucrative growth during the forecast period. Due to convenience and ease-of-operation, this sub-segment is seeing augmented growth. The easy availability of many of these products on online channels makes it convenient for people to buy them. Most of these Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer machines, especially the non-invasive ones, do not require supervision during their operation.

Many companies like HemoCue Diagnostics (A Danaher Company), EKF Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, Infopia Co Ltd, Empatica Inc., Roche Holding AG, Ceragem Medisys, Convergent Technologies, Trinity Biotech plc, and I-Sens Inc., amongst others are operating in the burgeoning Point of Care Hemoglobin Analyzer.

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For the purpose of this study, Reports and Data has segmented the industry by Method, by Application, by End-Use, and by Region:

Method (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Invasive methods Direct cyanmethemoglobin method HemoCue method Sahlis method Hb color scale method Copper sulphate method

Non- Invasive methods Occlusion spectroscopy Pulse co-oximetry Trancutaneous Reflection Spectroscopy Others



Application (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Diabetes diagnosis

Anemia diagnosis

Others

End-Use (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

Hospitals

Personal Use

Diagnostic Centers

Others

Region (Revenue, USD Million; 20172027)

North America U.S. Canada Mexico

Europe Germany France U.K. Spain Italy Benelux Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China India Japan South Korea Singapore Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East and Africa

Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America



To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/point-of-care-hemoglobin-analyzer-market

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A team of nine doctors deployed to Iran by international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders  known by its French acronym, MSF  is expected to head back home without even starting its relief operations aimed at containing the novel coronavirus outbreak.

While we offer our gratitude to MSF, with the national mobilization plan in place and all medical capacities of our armed forces used to fight the coronavirus, there is no need for hospital beds to be set up by foreign workers at the moment. This presence is canceled, tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Irans health minister and spokesman for the recently established Committee to Combat Coronavirus. Iranian officials have not explained whether MSFs donated medical items were turned back as well.

Earlier this week, Irans Ambassador to Paris, Bahram Qassemi, proudly declared that two different shipments of medical supplies had departed from the French city of Bordeaux to be delivered in Tehran. Strengthening international solidarity in an anxious world hit by the coronavirus is a must, Qassemi wrote. The MSF team, comprised of nine emergency and intensive care unit medical doctors and logisticians, was planning to set up a 50-bed inflatable field hospital in the central city of Isfahan, one of Irans worst-affected areas.

Irans abrupt decision on MSF came only two days after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast serious doubt on US offers to help battle the outbreak. Khamenei renewed accusations that the epidemic could be some biological war waged by the US government and that any mission by US doctors in Iran could be for an assessment of the impact of the poison on the ground rather than for sincere help.

It was not immediately clear if MSFs departure was in line with Khameneis assertion. But Irans hard-liners had already expressed their unease. Expelling MSF will be a decision based on wisdom because their presence is a cover for nonhumanitarian activities, said Hossein Shariatmadari, a close aide to the supreme leader. As France has in practice repeatedly proven its enmity against Iran, the question is why our officials allowed the group to enter in the first place, he said, describing the permit as dangerous recklessness.

The move against the MSF team appeared to be in stark contrast with Irans open appeals for international aid, which have been repeatedly made since the outbreaks alarming dimensions began to come to light. We heard the Iranian authorities calls for more support to help them cope with the outbreak, the MSFs representative in Iran, Julie Reverse, said last week.

Ranking as the Middle Easts top biggest victim to the coronavirus, Iran recorded 1,934 deaths and nearly 25,000 infected cases as of March 24. The same day, President Hassan Rouhani was once again dismissive of the pressure for a lockdown on the country, where the festive mood for the Persian New Year has been tremendously shattered by the pandemic. The failure to impose travel restrictions during the holidays has fueled fears for a fresh wave of cross-infections unless the holidays are extended. Nonetheless, Rouhani told Iranians there will be no such extension and even the limited measures in force will be lifted on April 3, the official closure to the national holidays.
An employee at the Indiana Department of Revenue moves her computer equipment from her office at the State office complex in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 24, 2020, to allow her to work from home. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered state residents to remain in their homes except when they are at work or for permitted activities, such as taking care of others, obtaining necessary supplies, and for health and safety. The order is in effect from March 25 to April 7. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) (Michael Conroy/AP)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Destroying Constitutional Fraternity: NPR-NRC from Assam to (...)

There was public alarm following enactment of the CAA-2019. The 2003 Rules [Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003] may not have been examined in detail had the CAA-2019 not been enacted with the intention of the countrywide NPR-NRC. Now the 2003 Rules stand exposed as providing definite possibilities for malafide/ targeted use in the NPR-NRC process. [Ref. 1]

The Assam Experience

The NPR-NRC was conducted in Assam to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants and their descendants settled in Assam. It was problematic due to defective documentation, local officials exercising discretion arbitrarily, and the dreadful finality of detention centres. [Ref. 1]

Concluding a Supreme Court-monitored exercise that took five years and cost Rs 1220 crores, the final NRC released on 31.08.2019 revealed that, of 32.9 million people who applied for citizenship, 1.9 million people (nearly six per cent) were illegal migrants or foreigners. [Ref. 2] The fact that over 60 per cent of 1.9 million foreigners were Hindus, may be reason for the unseemly haste with which the government introduced the CAA-2019 as a Bill on 09.12.2019 in the Lok Sabha, and signed by the President on 12.12.2019.

From Assam to All-India

Some issues concerning the Assam NRC experience bear noting, because similar issues may arise when the NPR-NRC clubbed with Census 2021 begins in other States beginning 01.4.2020:

 Only a very few of the 1.9 million persons whose names were not found in the NRC after the two-level appeal procedure, could afford to petition the Guwahati High Court for relief. But of the 787 petitions between 2010 and 2019, 97 per cent failed to convince the Court regarding their citizenship and were confirmed as foreigner. [Ref. 3] Thus the discretionary power of the Local Registrar marking D (doubtful citizen) for the 1.9 million exclusions was effectively final.

 The basis of exclusion of an individual by the Local Regsitrar is inadequacy or absence of primary document(s) or corroborating document(s) for proving citizenship. This could be because the applicants documents were not available/ never prepared/ defaced or lost in natural disaster, etc./ had spelling error mismatch/ name was different as for married women/ no corroboratory document, or the Local Registrar not accepting its validity, etc. For one or more of the foregoing reasons, tens of millions of Indians across would be unable to prove their citizenship and, even excluding the possibility of malafides at the local level, would be marked D.

 Anomalous situations had arisen in the Assam NPR-NRC process, such as one member of a family being lucky to have been listed and another of the same family being unlucky to have been left out. This could be due to discretionary powers vested with the Local Registrar to mark a person D.

 Careful reading of the 2003 Rules [Ref. 1] show that when the NPR-NRC is conducted countrywide beginning 01.4.2020, there is huge scope for malafide/ targeted exclusion of individuals/ families.

 The cost of the Assam NPR-NRC was Rs 1220 crores spread over five years. This was accompanied by social disruption and violence, which cannot be costed, but it is reported that over 60 persons were killed in the NRC-related violence, and people spent more than Rs 7800 crores on hearings. [Ref. 2] That is, individuals together spent over six times more than the government on the NPR-NRC. Considering the seriousness of being consigned to a detention camp, many people reportedly sold their land (land documents being unacceptable to prove citizenship) to finance attending hearings at the Taluk/District. These facts and figures translated to the all-India scale are mind-boggling.

Foreigners provide Opportunity

Each person, whose name is not found in the NRC, is a foreigner, to be lodged in a detention centre, and wait for five years to apply for Indian citizenship. Muslims being outside the ambit of the CAA-2019, each detenue needs to prove that he/she is Hindu/ Sikh/ Christian/ Jain/ Buddhist/ Parsi and also that he/she has come to India from Afghanistan/ Pakistan/ Bangladesh. The impossibility of producing documentary proof of religion and country of origin while under detention is obvious. But even if that is done, it would be to the satisfaction of the same official system which disenfranchised them for want of documentation. Each application would thus provide opportunity for counterfeiters, crooks, touts, etc. This cannot be in the national interest.

Census-NPR-NRC-CAA are Linked

The title of the Enumerators and Supervisors Manual of 2020 is Instruction Manual for Updation of NPR 2020, and paragraph 1.6 reads: The Government has decided to update the NPR database alongwith Houselisting and Housing Census phase of Census of India 2021 during AprilSeptember 2020. The Governments prevarication regarding conduct of countrywide NPR-NRC as part of the 2021 Census have aggravated public suspicions and reduced public trust in the establishment.

Following Tamil Nadus recent discomfort with the NPR, Home Minister Amit Shah assured that nobody will be marked D (doubtful citizen) ..., and nobody needs to fear about NPR. [Ref. 4] Since his earlier statementslike NRC issue never having been discussed and there being no detention centreswere shown to be wrong, these assurances lack credibility. Knowledge of the direct connection between the NPR, NRC and CAA-2019 are undoubtedly cause for several States opposing the NPR.

Questionable Propriety

The 2020 Enumerators and Supervisors Manual begins with a reference to the 2010 NPR process: National Population Register (NPR) of all the usual residents in the country was created in 2010. The field work for NPR data collection was undertaken alongwith Houselisting and Housing Census 2010. Thus, linking the NPR-NRC process with the Census was started by the UPA-2 Government.

The current NPR-NRC riding on the back of Census 2021 would save separate expenditure for the NPR-NRC. But the question is really about the propriety of the NPR-NRC itself, which requires every individual to apply for citizenship, provide documentary proof of citizenship to the satisfaction of a Local official, run the risk of being marked D for want of documents and being consigned to a detention centre. Incidentally, the Government has not come up with clear answers regarding what documents are necessary.

Bottom-line

The jointness of the NPR-NRC-CAA triad can no longer be denied. The 2003 Rules along with the 2020 NPR Instruction Manual, present real-time opportunity for officials to exclude individuals/ families from citizenship, for reasons ranging from simple corruption or political rivalry against individuals, to targeting a class of people based upon religion, caste, gender, ethnicity, language, etc. This is not a reflection on the integrity of officials, but points at the influence of powerful persons on official functioning. The 2003 Rules also permit arbitrary review of any persons inclusion in the NRC. [Ref. 1]

The Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality or otherwise of the CAA-2019. But whatever judgment is delivered in this matter, the following substantive issues concerning the NPR-NRC remain:

1. 1.3 billion people will have to bear the burden of proving their citizenship to a disinterested/ inefficient/ motivated or hostile bureaucracy (or out-sourced agency as in the case of Aadhaar), and be put to risk, trouble and expense, particularly because of documentation.

2. The work of implementing the NPR along with Census 2021 will be done by officials in addition to their normal duties. This will inevitably result in overwork and poor quality of work, affecting primary governance adversely.

3. Public expenditure for NPR-NRC and individual expenses combined with workdays/ livelihoods lost, will together add a large negative dimension to national and state economies which are already staggering due to multi-dimensional failures and other reasons.

4. Social tensions are sure to intensify as millions of people jostle to acquire documents which they do not possess, in order to satisfy officials who have huge discretionary powers, which will determine their identity as citizens or non-citizens with consequent effects on their progeny, livelihoods and property.

5. Several states are opposing or expressing reservations concerning the NPR-NRC. This is already causing public angst, which can have unpredictable fallout in law and order terms and adversely affect development, progress and national security, to the advantage of Indias hostile neighbours.

Forcing the NPR-NRC on a reluctant population despite widespread public and political opposition or discomfort in 19 States, using the defective 2003 Rules, and with the looming spectre of the CAA-2019, is inexcusable hubris. It adversely affects constitutional Fraternity by destroying the dignity of the individual and militating against the integrity of the nation.

The Government would be well advised to actively and transparently consider the foregoing five substantive issues in the public and national interest. It needs to finally drop the All-India NPR-NRC, initiate genuine and honest public consultation, and adopt people-friendly governance.

References

1. S.G. Vombatkere; Questioning the 2003 Citizenship Rules: The Villain of NPR-NRC; Countercurrents.org; <https://countercurrents.org/2020/03...> ; March 9, 2020.

2. Rahul Karmakar; Over 19 lakh excluded from Assams final NRC; The Hindu;<https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...> ; August 31, 2019.

3. Suhrith Parthasarathy; For a universal status of personhood; The Hindu; <https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/le...> ; March 11, 2020.

4. No papers needed for NPR: Shah; Deccan Herald; 13.3.2020; p.1.

S.G.Vombatkere was awarded Visishta Seva Medal (VSM) in 1994 for distinguished military service rendered in Ladakh, and retired after 35 years in uniform with the rank of Major General from the post of Additional DG in charge of Discipline & Vigilance at Army HQ. Email: sg9kere[at]live.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-24 22:33:09|Editor: yan

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TOKYO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's education ministry on Tuesday unveiled guidelines for schools reopening in April to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

"The situation has not improved. We want schools to prepare for reopening without lowering their guard," Japanese Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference on the matter.

The guidelines for schools preparing to reopen their doors to students in the new academic year, urge that schools remain well ventilated, gatherings in groups be avoided, as well as conversations held at close range, be it between students or students and teachers.

Students and teachers are also being asked to wear face masks, regularly check their body temperatures and wash their hands thoroughly before eating school lunches, according to the guidelines.

Students who are confirmed infected will be suspended from school, along with those they have had close contact with, the guidelines also said

School operators, under the guidelines, will be required to liaise closely with local health officials and authorities, and when an infection is confirmed, decide if only the infected individual be suspended, order a partial shutdown, or a complete shutdown of the school.

"We want schools to carefully consult with the prefectural governments in deciding when to reopen classes, taking into consideration how the virus has been spreading locally," Hagiuda also told a parliamentary session.

On Feb. 28, the education ministry asked schools nationwide to shut down until the end of spring break in early April and for students to remain indoors while at home, as efforts were ramped up to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Japan.

Some schools in Japan reopened for lessons on March 16 after being shut for around two weeks, however, as the requested shutdown by the ministry was not mandatory.

At the time, education boards of Toyama, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu and Naha cities as well as Okinawa Prefecture, initially, decided to resume classes at their elementary and junior high schools, as they judged the virus had not affected their communities.

Hagiuda said that education ministry could henceforth ask for schools to be shuttered again should needs dictate, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, if a state of emergency over the pneumonia-causing virus is declared, having the power under a new law to compulsorily close schools.

The new guidelines come as Japan's health ministry and local governments said Tuesday the total number of people infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan stood at 1,172, with 32 new cases recorded by 10 local governments including 17 cases in Tokyo, with the capital now confirming the most cases nationwide, as of 6:45 p.m. local time here.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 52 people, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.

Of the 1,172 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan, the majority are now in Tokyo, which has confirmed 171 cases, followed by Hokkaido with 163, Aichi Prefecture has 145 cases, while Osaka Prefecture has confirmed 134 COVID-19 infections, according to the latest statistics from health ministry and local authorities.
The Kardashians have been staying home in their mansions and practicing social distancing as the coronavirus crisis worsens.

And on Monday, Kim shared video to her Instagram Story showing her and Momager Kris Jenner eating lunch together while seated six feet apart at a large dining table.

The two are neighbors in the exclusive gated community of Hidden Hills in the western suburbs of Los Angeles.

Social distancing: Kim Kardashian shared video to her Instagram Story Monday showing her and Momager Kris Jenner eating lunch together while seated six feet apart at a dining table

The video, which appears to have been shot in Kim's cavernous kitchen, shows Kim and Kris sitting with place mats in front of them and drinking from glasses with straws.

'Hey guys!' Kim begins, her voice echoing around the room. 'So today is the first day I'm having someone from the outside come into my home... my mom.'

'We are sitting six feet apart having lunch together,' the reality star, 39, explains.

'We went for a walk six feet apart, we went in my back yard. So i just want to encourage you that social distancing really is the way to go.'

Ladies who lunch: The video, which appears to have been shot in Kim's cavernous kitchen, shows the two women with place mats in front of them and drinking from glasses with straws

Room to roam: 'We went for a walk six feet apart, we went in my back yard. So i just want to encourage you that social distancing really is the way to go,' Kim told her followers

Air: Kris chimed in: 'I think it really did make me feel better to go outside for a bit today.' Kim then encouraged fans to 'get outside for a few minutes' or, as Kris suggested, 'open a window'

Kris, 64, chimed in: 'I think it really did make me feel better to get outside for a bit today.'

Kim then encouraged her fans to 'try and get outside for a few minutes' or, as Kris suggested, 'open a window.'

As for how she's passing the time, Kim said she's been organizing pictures, cleaning her pantry, writing letters to her kids and doing 'some things I haven't done in a really long time.'

'I'm just trying to look on the bright side,' she added.

Estate living: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians reality stars are self-isolating in their mansions in the exclusive gated community of Hidden Hills in the western suburbs of LA

Earlier on Monday, Kim had shared that cosmetics brand KKW BEAUTY will be temporarily closing its fulfillment center amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a post shared to Instagram and Twitter, the brand wrote that the centers closure comes in wake of current health orders in California introduced by Governor Gavin Newson to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

While this remains a difficult time for us all, we have been so inspired by all of the amazing support we are seeing within our community and would like to thank you for your patience and understanding, continued the post.

Although the website 'remains available to accept orders, the fulfillment center cannot guarantee delivery dates at this time,' it continued. Your order will receive top priority as soon as we can resume shipping.
Chennai, March 24 : The Tamil Nadu government here on Tuesday reported six more coronavirus positive cases, which raised the total number of infected persons in the state to 18.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar tweeted about the new cases in Chennai and said that five of them had returned from abroad while one is a local person.

All the six are in isolation in hospitals and are under treatment.

One of the patients is a 65-year old male who had returned from New Zealand and is now admitted to a private hospital.

On Monday, a 54-year old man was admitted to the Rajaji Hospital in Madurai without any travel history.

Out of the total infected persons in the state till now, one person has been discharged from the hospital and the total number of active cases now stands at 17.
- The government announced a total ban on all international passenger flights coming into the country until further notice

- Kenya Airways and other airlines affected by the suspension have until midnight of March 25 to make last flights

- Kenya's confirmed cases jumped to 16 after an additional person who was infected by a coronavirus patient tested positive on March 23

Kenya Airways (KQ) will be making its last flight from USA following the government's ban on incoming passenger flights effective Wednesday, March 25.

As a result, the national carrier has offered complimentary tickets to Kenyan citizens who may want to fly back home but are still stuck as the plane was set to depart New York on Tuesday, March 24.

READ ALSO: Catholic priest who donated nose mask to younger patient succumbs to COVID-19

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe addressing the media on coronavirus spread. The government suspended all incoming flights. Photo: Ministry of Health.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Raila asema hakukutana na Naibu Gavana wa Kilifi aliyenaswa na COVID-19

"As our last flight departs JFK today (March 24), we are offering one-way complimentary tickets to Nairobi, to Kenyan citizens in urgent need. Please contact our team on +1(866)5369224 for more information. All passengers will be subjected to entry/screening procedures instituted by the Ministry of Health," he airliner stated.

On Sunday, March 22, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced a government directive to suspend all international flights effective midnight of March 25 in light of COVID-19 pandemic.

The suspension, however, exempted cargo flights which he said their crew members must observe strict guidelines.

"Whereas we had allowed Kenyans to come into the country, we have observed that there are those who are not observing this; we have therefore decided that all persons who violate self-quarantine would be forced to quarantine and thereafter arrested and charged," Kagwe warned.

Kenya medics at an isolation unit in Mbagathi Hospital. The country reported 16 confirmed cases. Photo: Ministry of Health.

Source: UGC

Kenya's confirmed cases jumped to 16 after an additional patient tested positive on March 23.

The person was infected by an individual who flew back from overseas.

At the same time, the government cleared 96 out of 646 cases who had come into contact with coronavirus patients.

The remaining 550 were still on the follow up list and would be discharged based on test results conducted during the mandatory 14 days quarantine period.

"All the patients except one who is at the Coast are still in stable condition and improving. Other 11 individuals are currently admitted at the Mbagathi Hospital waiting for test results," Kagwe said.

All the cases except the latest one were all imported from other countries reporting coronavirus.

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.

God is punishing Kenyans with Corona Virus: Corona Virus in Kenya | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Egyptian security forces under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi have arbitrarily arrested and tortured children as young as 12 while prosecutors and judges turned a blind eye, an international rights group said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the US, France and other European Union countries to halt their support to Egyptian security forces until authorities take steps to end the abuses and hold accountable those responsible.

"Children are describing being waterboarded and electrocuted on their tongues and genitals, and yet Egypt's security forces are facing no consequences," said Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at HRW.

A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry was not available for comment.

The New York-based group said it documented abuses against 20 children between the age of 12 and 17 at the time of arrest. Fifteen of them said they were tortured in pretrial detention, usually during interrogation while held incommunicado, HRW said.

Seven children said security officers tortured them with electricity, including with stun guns, it added.

The group quoted a boy it said was arrested at age 16 as telling a relative that he worried he might "never marry or be able to have children" because of what security officials had done to him.

HRW said it and Belady, an organisation aiding street children, corroborated statements from the children, families and lawyers, using court documents, appeals to authorities, medical records and videos.

Egypt's government has launched a crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of Islamists, along with pro-democracy advocates. It has also imposed tight control of the media and rolled back freedoms won in a 2011 uprising.
Major airlines would receive billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal bailout money in the coronavirus stimulus package working its way through Congress, but many of the estimated 4,000 noncitizens who work at San Francisco International Airport might not get a dime.

The $2 trillion coronavirus relief legislation by Senate Republicans that was the starting point for negotiations includes $58 billion for passenger and cargo airlines and $1,200 in direct cash payments for American adults who earn less than $75,000.

But advocates are concerned that none of the money in that proposal was earmarked for noncitizens  not just undocumented immigrants, but those who are here legally but lack citizenship. They make up a large part of the workforce of the hospitality and transportation industries, sectors hit hard by the pandemic. San Francisco labor leaders say nearly one-third of its members are noncitizens, including large numbers of hotel and restaurant workers.

This is really the most vulnerable population of the vulnerable population, said Erin Quinn, attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco.

A global pandemic of this scale has really shown us how connected we all are, Quinn said. Our destinies, our health are all tied together. So we cannot afford to leave anyone out of the conversation right now.

Roughly one-third of poorer Californians are noncitizens and the effect on them  and the overall economy  could be devastating if they lose their incomes, said Caroline Danielson, a senior policy fellow at the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California who has studied the economic impacts of the pandemic.

They make up a sizable share of our economy, Danielson said.

Although the initial Senate GOP legislation would increase unemployment benefits, noncitizens with U.S. work permits wouldnt be eligible for them, said Rudy Gonzalez, executive director of the San Francisco Labor Council. His member unions represent 100,000 people in the city, 20% of whom he expects to be out of work over the next few weeks as the pandemic takes hold and hotels and restaurants empty.

The problems we face every day regarding homelessness and access to health care are going to become far worse than we expected if everyone doesnt get some kind of help, Gonzalez said.

Many other noncitizens are working in jobs that dont have union representation.

Erika Garcia, 44, of Windsor, is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who cleans houses in Sonoma County. With the state under a stay-at-home order, Garcia has been left without work and no way to pay the $1,600-a-month rent for the home where she lives with her husband and two teenage children.

We cant work, she said. I make up half of our household income and we pay rent. Were a low-income family.

Garcia added that she and others in the cleaning industry are helping families with sanitation. In the end were the ones exposed to all of this, but are the ones who are forgotten.

Often, noncitizens like Garcia look to nonprofits to help when government fails to provide assistance.

On Monday, Santa Clara County launched an $11 million relief program that will be funded by public money and donations from Silicon Valley companies, including $2 million from Cisco. To be eligible, a household must make less than 80% of the areas median income and document loss related to the pandemic. The program is being administered by Sacred Heart Community Service.

Immigration status doesnt matter for eligibility, according to Sacred Heart.

In late 2017, organizers in the North Bay established the UndocuFund to help undocumented immigrants who were victims of wildfires. The group has raised more than $7.5 million since then. Last week the organization shifted its resources to aid undocumented workers affected by the pandemic.

Organizers have received more than 990 calls and messages from immigrants looking for help after losing their jobs or having their hours cut, said UndocuFund coordinator Omar Medina.

And theyre still coming in, he said.

Medina estimated the group had about $220,000 in available funds as of Monday, almost certainly short of what will it will take to help everyone who needs it.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Washington pushed back on the initial Senate package. Whatever emerges from the Senate will still have to go through the House.

California Sen. Kamala Harris wants the Senate bill to include direct cash payments to people who live and work in the U.S., said spokesman Chris Harris. Coronavirus doesnt discriminate based on immigration status, and neither should governments response to this crisis.

Fremont Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna supports legislation that would give every adult in America making under $130,000 annually at least $1,000 a month, irrespective of immigration status. Immigrants could immediately receive cash payments based on their previous tax returns if they filed with an individual tax identification number, he said.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli. Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez
Eric Maywar was hired by Trentons Division of Economic Development five years ago and started the Trenton Eat Local Club.

Once a month, 15-25 members of the Facebook-based group gathered at a local restaurant to try foods from Trentons diverse eateries and meet new people.

This month will be the first that the club doesnt meet in person, but that hasnt stopped it from helping out local businesses in these trying times.

With the coronavirus rapidly spreading throughout New Jersey and Gov. Phil Murphys mandate banning gatherings of more than 10 still in effect, the Trenton Eat Local Club members are now picking one restaurant per week to order takeout from.

I think its vital to keep this going, Maywar said. Now that restaurants cant have dining, we wanted to find a way to continue to support the local businesses now because they need it even more.

The first restaurant selected was the 1911 Smokehouse BBQ.

The West Front Street joint has already taken measures to help its community. It is offering family meal packages of a whole chicken, two large sides and four corn muffins for $15. Prior to the pandemic, a whole chicken by itself was $13.50.

Were not trying to price gauge, Executive Chief Reggie Hallett said. We know that people arent going to have money. We want to do what we can so people dont have to worry about feeding their kids. They already have enough to worry about.

Around the corner on South Warren Street, The Big Easy of Trenton Restaurant is offering minimally priced meals for the homeless. It is providing approximately 30 purchase order meals per day to individuals in distress.

We are not only committed to providing services to people that can pay our everyday prices, but also help those who are in need of help, Big Easy owner Olugbala Sababu said. There is no profit in it for me.

Both The Big Easy and 1911 Smokehouse have also implemented delivery options. The Big Easy did not delivery prior to the pandemic, while 1911 Smokehouse only self-delivered to downtown Trenton during lunchtime. The Smokehouse has now extended its delivery area and times and is keeping its service workers on staff to make deliveries.

Across the city in Chambersburg, the Italian Peoples Bakery has always utilized delivery. Owner Matthew Guagliardo, however, has seen the types of orders drastically change over the last couple of weeks.

Im seeing a lot of people ordering just bread and not sandwiches, he said. Every once and a while, Id see someone get a thick bread or a couple of rolls, but never like this. Orders of multiple dozen of rolls are coming through.

While these three eateries have kept their doors open, some have elected to shutdown. The Brothers Trattoria in Capital Center closed last week and doesnt plan on reopening until the pandemic passes. It was in operation for over 25 years.

It was a very hard decision, but if this is going to help, we have to do what is the best for everybody owner William Lioni said while cleaning up his restaurant. Money is money, but you can always make money. We dont want peoples lives to be put at risk with getting this virus. We might be closed for another two-three weeks, but were expecting something from the government.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told NJ Advance Media that the city has a plan in place to help its local businesses.

We are an urban enterprise zone, Gusciora said. We have over a million dollars in the account. We are looking to set up a no-interest loan program to try to keep some of these businesses afloat.

As the pandemic grows and restaurants continue to provide affordable meals, they will rely not only on the Trenton Eat Local Club, but all of their local clients to continue ordering as they give back to their city.

Long-standing businesses in the city are really going the extra step to help out the community in this time of need, Gusciora said. While we care about the businesses, they still care about their customers and care about keeping them for the long run. They are great and should be honored for doing this.

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Richard Greco covers Mercer County news for NJ.com and may be reached at rgreco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Richard_V_Greco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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Here are some stocks that are in the news today:

State Bank Of India: The bank said it has made payment of yearly interest to the bondholders of Basel III compliant AT1 bonds.

Century Enka: The company has temporarily shut down its plant operation at Pune.

Omax Autos: The company has decided to temporarily shut down its manufacturing units in UP, Haryana and Karnataka.

Dr Reddy's Labs: The board will meet on March 27 to consider raising of funds through the issuance of commercial papers.

Finolex Industries: Manufacturing plants and offices in Maharashtra will be closed till March 31.

Usha Martin: Company announced the temporary shut down of plant operations in Punjab due to COVID-19.

Amber Enterprises: Company announced the temporary closure of manufacturing operations across India till March 31.

GNFC: TDI-II plant at Dahej resumed its normal production after the completion of scheduled maintenance.

Sterlite Technologies: The board will meet on March 24 to consider and approve share buyback.

TTK Prestige shuts its operation at manufacturing units at Hosur and Coimbatore

Indiabulls Housing Finance - Brickwork Ratings has reaffirmed long-term rating at BWR AA+ and Perpetual Debt at BWR AA. Watch on long-term rating resolved to Negative Outlook

Yes Bank to consider a proposal of fund raising on March 26

HUL signed agreement to acquire with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals' hygiene brand 'VWash'

20 Microns - Brickwork Ratings assigned ratings as BWR BBB to the Fund Based facilities of Rs 89.23 crore and BWR A3+ for the Non-Fund based facilities of Rs 26.08 crore

HCL Technologies releases BigFix 10
Importance of Fish & Fishery in Manipur

Manipur state is nestled in the Eastern-most corner of North-East India, covering a total area of 23,327 sq.km with suitable climate and soil condition for crop farming. Agriculture forms the back-bone of states economy, contributing 50-60% to the states GDP and engaging about 80% of the state total populations. The climatic condition is widely influenced by the topography of the hilly regions and hence ranged from tropical to sub-alpine with average annual rainfall of 1467mm. Around 80% of the total state populations are non-vegetarian and the food items includes chicken, fish, beefs, muttons, porks etc with pork ,chicken and fish are the most preferred. Fish is however the only animal protein sources widely accepted and consumed by almost all the people including the vegetarian sect of the people.



Manipur has diversified water bodies with 56,461.05 hectares suitable for fish farming of which only 18,600 hectares or 32.94% of the total potential water areas are so far developed and used for fishery purposes. With Barak River as the biggest river basin, the state has more than 15 meandering rivers, covering a length of 2000km. Each of the river system has characteristic ecological conditions and diverse fish population. The water-logged marshy and swampy areas, canals and wetlands of the state covered about 5,000 hectares( Economic Survey of Manipur-2008-09).



The state is also home to the largest fresh water lake of North-East India, the LOKTAK LAKE, covering an area of 24,672 hectares. It is the most important inland water resources of the state with floating mat vegetation (basically called Phum). Fishing and other fishery activities carried out in and around the lake accounts for about 50% of the total fish production of the state. The state has around 153 floodplains wetlands (locally called Pat) accounting for 28.34% of the total valley area.



The Loktak Lake and Pats supports a huge fisher flocks livelihood. Being an agrarian state, Manipur has huge area covered by paddy field especially in the valley districts. Keeping fish along with the paddy has been in practice since ages ago. Though there is no systematic method followed, integration of fish cum paddy with fish as the secondary crop has been considered as one of the best alternatives for ensuring the diversity of food basket without compromising on the sociological and environmental functions of the fields.



Manipur shares a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and is immensely endowed with diverse biological resources. The state fish faunal diversity has been seen to be influenced by the Burmese fish faunas which has been clearly highlighted by the presence of many indigenous fish species in Manipur and Myanmar (Burma) water but not found in any parts of India.



The number of fish species found in Manipur was reported to be 125.Pengba which is also state fish of Manipur was found abundantly in the water bodies of Loktak Lake and Nambul River. However with the construction of the Ithai barrage across Manipur River for the operation of Loktak Hydro Electric Project, the fish population was reported drastic reduction in the wild. The water bodies of Manipur are diverse and harbour various aquatic grasses. Hence grass carp and common carp are the mainstay carp species in the extensive aqua system. The fox nuts (locally called Thangjing) which is a delicacy in the state is widely culture by many farmers in homestead ponds.



Most of the aquatic plants are highly marketable for their flowers, roots, rhizomes and stems, fruits and seeds for various purposes including medicinal use. Fisheries has been playing an integral role in the Manipuri society as fish forms a part and parcel of every Manipuri dish served on the table.



Fish has thus been termed to be the most widely accepted food items in the state. It is consumed by almost all people irrespective of age, culture, religion and food habits including the vegetarian sect of people. Fishes of all sizes and varieties are found in the market in the form of live and fresh, frozen, dried, smoked, canned and fermented and consumed as curry, boiled, fried or chutney. Fish plays a major role in many customary and religious rituals of the Manipuri such as traditional use of fresh Nganap and Catfish in the marriage rituals, Ngamu in healing rites, Ngamu and Phabounga in rituals conducted for newly born child.



Being one of the most commonly accepted food items, fish is generally used to serve in most of the common feast. The pool barb has been widely consumed by the Manipuris in fermented form (locally called Ngari). Due to its flavour and nutritive value, Ngari has become an irreplaceable and inseparable ingredient of almost all Manipuri dishes such as Kangsoi, Iromba, ametpa, Singju etc. As the state fish production could not meet the consumers demand, Manipur imports various forms of fish (frozen. Dried, smoked, canned) from other states like Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh etc.



Canned or tinned fish widely consumed in the state are imported from Myanmar. The price of fish and fishery product in the state are thus very high. v Fish culture in Manipur was believed to have started since paddy culture began, fish-cum paddy culture in the paddy fields traditionally with the fish as the secondary crop. With the increase of demand of fish for food, slowly fish culture in separate pond began and later improves with better culture practices and technologies. Fish farming practices in the state is more or less pond-based with several species stocked in the same pond (Poly-culture) or integrated with agro/animal husbandry taking advantage of the rich aquatic microorganism and aquatic floras of the water Monoculture practices are rarely seen or reported.



Aquaculture methods in the state are mostly traditional especially in the hilly regions though few semi-intensive and intensive system are being taken up in the valleys. Integration of fish with horticulture, agriculture crops and livestock has been a traditional practices in Manipur over the centuries. The present estimated per hectare production of fish in the state is 700- 1800 kg/ha/year.



There are 123 fishing villages in the state with 34,064 fishermen out of which 8,395 fishermen are full time fishers. The fishermen of the state are mostly concentrated in and around Loktak Lake in Moirang. Around 55 rural and urban hamlets encircled the water bodies and the lake, thus has a population of about 1, 00,000 people harbouring the majority of the state total fishermen in and around it.



Marketing of fish is one of the biggest business in the state because the state consumed a huge amount of fish. Though there is huge demand for the fish in the state, state farmers and fishers faces many constraints and issues in fish production. Some of the constraints are: technical constraints; financial constraints; social constraints; environmental problems and other issues. The water resources of the state have a potential of producing around 64,000 metric tons of fish annually with multiple water bodies not utilized/ poor utilized or sparsely stocked. To make Manipur a self-sufficient state in fish production, the various underutilized water bodies needs to be judiciously explored and utilized sustainably.



Proper stocking strategy with diverse fast growing fish species, up gradation of quality fish seed production for natural water bodies management and development will enhance the fish basket of the state. The state should take vehement steps in conserving the native fish species which are threatened in their natural system.



Judiciously harnessing the untapped and potential resources using modern technologies can not only bridge the demand- supply gap of the fish in the state but also produce surplus that can be supplied to the neighbouring states too, which will directly or indirectly uplift the livelihood of many resources dependant fishers, exalt employment and income generation and elevate the nutritional security of the people.
The coronavirus has hit Marriott International's business worse than 9/11 and the Great Recession combined, CEO Arne Sorenson said Tuesday.

"What we're seeing is dramatically worse than what we saw in those two prior crises," Sorenson told CNBC's Seema Mody on "Squawk Alley."

In those two crises, the worst quarterly declines in global revenue Marriott experienced was around 25%, Sorenson said in a Twitter video last week. Sorenson told CNBC he used to think those declines would be "the worst we'd ever seen."

"We're now seeing revenue down 75% plus, probably I suspect nearing a 90% decline in the United States. And obviously at those levels there just isn't any business in hotels," said Sorenson, who suspended his salary for the year.

Shares of the world's largest hotel company were soaring Tuesday, rising more than 11% to around $78 each as Wall Street optimistically awaited Washington lawmakers to pass an economic stimulus bill.

Marriott stock, like so many in the travel sector, has been pummeled as the coronavirus spread around the world and upended daily life. It is down around 48% for the year.

Sorenson, who underwent surgery in late 2019 for pancreatic cancer, said Marriott has seen its business pick up in China and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, including Taiwan and Singapore. Occupancy in mainland China, where the global pandemic began, has picked up from the single digits to near 20%, he said.

Yet as the pandemic was taking root in the U.S., Marriott recently furloughed around two-thirds of its 4,000 corporate employees, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Marriott announced last week it was beginning to furloughing tens of thousands of workers at the properties it manages. They will not be paid but those who receive health benefits will continue to have them.

Sorenson said the company took a "furlough approach," instead of terminating employees, while ensuring the impacted workers are still "eligible for the unemployment insurance and other tools that are out there."

Separately, CVS Health and Albertsons both announcing plans in the last 24 hours to hire some of the furloughed hotel workers, an encouraging sign for those who are looking to earn some income.

The U.S. tourism industry has asked for $150 billion in relief to offset a dramatic decline in travel due to the coronavirus. Sorenson said the money would be used to support workers and the operators and owners of the hotel buildings.

"They tend to be locally focused. They've got mortgages. They've got capital that they need to make sure they can tap into to survive this crisis and reopen," he said. "When you talk about the $150 billion, we're really talking about tools that might be available to both of those communities in order to support them as we go through it."
Mumbai, March 24 : Actor Swwapnil Joshi, who is receiving praise for his performance in his latest Marathi web series "Samantar", feels self-quarantine in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic has given him quality time to spend with his family.

"I think everyone should take some time out to empty himself/herself, so that some kind of intellectual growth happens. This phase for me and for my family is a blessing in disguise. Not that we as a family do not spend time together, we do go for family dinners and shopping at malls and hotels. Now we are doing everything in a more participatory manner. Like in the kitchen we are helping each other to cook. We sit and watch films together, and chat over chai because we are not ordering food or sitting in a public place. Home is home after all," Swwapnil told IANS.

Sharing a special chat he had with his daughter, the actor said: "Both my kids are very naughty. My daughter is four and my son is three. She sees that I don't step out and she says, 'why are you not going out? Is your school closed?' When I said yes, she asked me why am I not doing homework like she does, (and whether I was) in winter or summer vacation? I said I don't have to do homework, and she replied, 'I think I should join your school, in my school the teacher gives us homework. Your school is so much fun! Take me to your school'." He laughed and added: "When will a father get a chance to have such an intellectual conversation with his four years old daughter?"

"Samantar" is directed by Satish Rajwade, and produced by Arjun Singgh Baran and Kartk D. Nishandar. The series streams on the OTT platform MX Player.
Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting to discuss the coronavirus relief bill (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Washington is still yet to commit to a $1.8 trillion (1.548 trillion) rescue package for Americans affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

With a wary population watching and waiting, Washington laboured under the size and scope of the rescue package  larger than the 2008 bank bailout and 2009 recovery act combined.

Democrats are holding out as they argue the package is tilted toward corporations and should do more to help suddenly jobless workers and health care providers with dire needs.

We're very close to reaching a deal.Senator Chuck Schumer

In particular, senator Chuck Schumer wants constraints on the largely Republican-led effort to provide $500 billion (430 billion) for corporations, which Democrats have called a slush fund.

Mr Schumer wants the bill to limit stock buy-backs, CEO pay and layoffs.

Were very close to reaching a deal, he said on Monday.

Central to the emerging rescue package is as much as $350 billion (301 billion) for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home.

The package also proposes a one-time rebate of about $1,200 (1,032) per person, or $3,000 (2,580) for a family of four, as well as extended unemployment benefits.

Hospitals would get about $110 billion (94.6 billion) for the expected influx of sick patients.

But Democrats are pushing for more healthcare dollars for the frontline hospitals and workers.

The urgency to act is mounting, as jobless claims skyrocket and financial markets are eager for signs that Washington can soften the blow of the healthcare crisis and a looming recession.
Noul co-founder and CEO David Lim poses during an interview with The Korea Times at the company's headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, March 18. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



Noul seeks to win WHO validation on malaria diagnosis device next year



By Nam Hyun-woo



YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province  With the global COVID-19 outbreak, the field of diagnostics is garnering unprecedented attention, as countries struggle to keep up with the fast spread of the deadly virus.



David Lim, co-founder and CEO of blood cell diagnostics firm Noul, says this highlights the importance of decentralization in diagnostics, which can help the world to detect diseases faster and prevent epidemics more effectively.



"Every blood cell diagnosis is bound to be centralized at large labs because of facilities, infrastructure and workforces. This results in a long period of time in testing and raises the risks of an infected sample shutting down the whole lab, because it can contaminate thousands of other samples that come into the lab," Lim said during an interview with The Korea Times.



"Along with COVID-19, the world is expected to face more contagious diseases in the future, and many of them could become chronic and last for years. Under the current centralized diagnostics infrastructure, the role of local clinics will be seriously limited. This triggers the necessity for a decentralized diagnostics platform, on which local clinics and even medically underdeveloped areas can diagnose malaria, cancer and other serious diseases."



Noul was established in 2015 as a startup developing artificial intelligence-based diagnostics devices. Its core product is the miLab diagnosis device and test cartridge, which enables fully automated testing.



Conventional blood cell diagnostics requires processing of collecting venous blood, smearing and staining and microscopy analysis. These processes are mostly done manually by experienced technicians, thus taking anywhere from one to 66 days for results and requiring large labs, a significant workforce and facilities for water waste.



According to the company, it combined the whole process of blood cell diagnostics into the device  which is the size of a small conveyor toaster  and can produce test results in 15 minutes.



Instead of the conventional labor-intensive sample preparation, miLab tests blood with cartridges, which uses solid chemicals instead of liquid reagents for staining. With a few drops of finger-pricked blood in the cartridge, miLab automatically does the smearing, staining, digital microscopic imaging, and AI analytics. By using different cartridges, the device can diagnose various other oncology diseases including breast and thyroid cancers.



Since it is equipped with a 3G or LTE communications module and even runs on a battery, the device is useful in rural settings for containing the outbreaks of communicable diseases, Lim said.





Noul's miLab diagnosis device / Courtesy of Noul



"This is somewhat similar to the concept of blockchain, whose core idea is decentralization," Lim said. "We believe miLab can improve the diagnostics system in Korea, where all patients flock to large hospitals for diagnosis, forcing serious or emergency patients to wait. Since miLab does not require space, liquid reagents, water or diagnostics specialists, it will help smaller clinics to diagnose serious diseases and large hospitals to save costs."



Currently, miLab's prime target is malaria, a disease that requires more than 500 million tests to be carried out each year. There are portable devices for malaria screening, but there is no portable device that can make a confirmed diagnosis, Lim said, casting a rosy outlook on the market potential. Screening tests help evaluate the risks of conditions which could turn into a certain disease, while diagnosis tests confirm the presence of the disease.



"Though the public attention is on COVID-19, malaria remains a deadly disease, killing more than 400,000 people a year, and there are so many diseases like malaria," Lim said.



Noul's effort in fighting malaria has been recognized internationally.



In December last year, the company won the People's Choice Award at the 2019 Grand Challenges meeting, co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for miLab's potential in malaria diagnosis in Africa, where has underdeveloped medical infrastructure.



Currently, the company is seeking to win WHO Prequalification on miLab in the third quarter of next year, which means the device has unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy assessed by the organization. Given the WHO uses approximately 4 trillion won a year to battle against malaria, miLab's winning of the prequalification raises the chances of the WHO purchasing the device in large quantities, according to Lim.



Noul is also applying for the validation process of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), which is a Geneva-based organization collaborating with the WHO in the development of urgently needed diagnostic tests. Industry officials said a FIND validation will increase the chance of the WHO granting a waiver on its own validation before awarding prequalification.



"Currently, we don't think there is a rival," Lim said. "Malaria costs a significant portion of GDP in Africa and the world has a huge demand for malaria diagnosis devices, but not many firms were interested in this while we are looking at a huge market."



MiLab was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and CE marked for the European market last year. Lim said Noul plans to get the CE In-Vitro Diagnostics mark and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval this year.





Noul co-founder and CEO David Lim poses with the company's AI-powered automated diagnosis device miLab during an interview with The Korea Times at the company's headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, March 18. Courtesy of Noul